Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 60 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
An outrageous thing! That no one delivered to you the letter I had written in reply to your most delightful letters from Tres Tabernae [Three Taverns]! But you should know that the very bundle into which I had thrown that letter was carried to my house on the very day I had handed it over, and was brought back to me at my place at Formiae. And so I have ordered your letter to be carried back to you, so that you might understand from it how welcome those letters of yours were to me at the time. [2] As for your writing that at Rome there is silence, I thought as much; but, by Hercules, in the countryside there is no silence, and the very fields can no longer endure your rule. Indeed, if you come into this land of the Laestrygonians at Telepylus -- I mean Formiae -- what an uproar of men there is! How angry their spirits! In what great hatred is our friend Magnus [Pompey the Great]! whose surname is growing old together with the surname of Crassus the Rich. I should like you to believe me that I have so far met no one who bears these things as patiently as I bear them. For which reason, believe me, let us philosophize. I can tell you under oath that nothing is worth so much. If you have business with the people of Sicyon, fly to my place at Formiae, from which we are thinking of setting out on the day before the Nones of May.
What a shame! The letter I wrote on the spur of the moment at the Three Taverns in answer to your delightful notes never reached you! The reason was that the packet in which I had put it was taken to my town house the same day, and brought back to me at Formiae. So I have had the letter sent back to show you how pleased I was with yours.
Your news that the uproar has died down in Rome does not surprise me: but I can assure you it has not died down in the country, and the very country cannot endure that despotism you endure. If you come to this “Laestrygonia of the far gates,”—Formiae Odyssey x. 81| I mean—you will find the people raging with indignation, and our friend Magnus—a name which is now growing as obsolete as Crassus’ surname Dives—held in the deepest abhorrence. You may not believe me, but I have not met anyone here who takes the matter as coolly as myself. So follow my advice and let us stick to philosophy. I can take my oath there is nothing like it. If you have a letter to send to the Sicyonians, hasten to Formiae. I am thinking of leaving on the 6th of May.
facinus indignum! epistulam authorei tibi a tribus tabernis rescriptam ad tuas suavissimas epistulas neminem reddidisse! at scito eum fasciculum, quo illam conieceram, domum eo ipso die latum esse quo ego dederam et ad me in Formianum relatum esse. itaque tibi tuam epistulam iussi referri, ex qua intellegeres quam mihi tum illae gratae fuissent. [2] Romae quod scribis sileri, ita putabam; at hercule in agris non siletur, nec iam ipsi agri regnum vestrum ferre possunt. si vero in hanc Telepulon veneris Laistrugonien, Formias dico, qui fremitus hominum! quam irati animi! quanto in odio noster amicus Magnus! cuius cognomen una cum Crassi divitis cognomine consenescit. credas mihi velim, neminem adhuc offendi qui haec tam lente quam ego fero ferret. qua re, mihi crede, philosophomen. iuratus tibi possum dicere nihil esse tanti. tu si litteras ad Sicyonios habes, advola in Formianum, unde nos pridie Nonas Maias cogitamus.
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An outrageous thing! That no one delivered to you the letter I had written in reply to your most delightful letters from Tres Tabernae [Three Taverns]! But you should know that the very bundle into which I had thrown that letter was carried to my house on the very day I had handed it over, and was brought back to me at my place at Formiae. And so I have ordered your letter to be carried back to you, so that you might understand from it how welcome those letters of yours were to me at the time. [2] As for your writing that at Rome there is silence, I thought as much; but, by Hercules, in the countryside there is no silence, and the very fields can no longer endure your rule. Indeed, if you come into this land of the Laestrygonians at Telepylus -- I mean Formiae -- what an uproar of men there is! How angry their spirits! In what great hatred is our friend Magnus [Pompey the Great]! whose surname is growing old together with the surname of Crassus the Rich. I should like you to believe me that I have so far met no one who bears these things as patiently as I bear them. For which reason, believe me, let us philosophize. I can tell you under oath that nothing is worth so much. If you have business with the people of Sicyon, fly to my place at Formiae, from which we are thinking of setting out on the day before the Nones of May.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
facinus indignum! epistulam authorei tibi a tribus tabernis rescriptam ad tuas suavissimas epistulas neminem reddidisse! at scito eum fasciculum, quo illam conieceram, domum eo ipso die latum esse quo ego dederam et ad me in Formianum relatum esse. itaque tibi tuam epistulam iussi referri, ex qua intellegeres quam mihi tum illae gratae fuissent. [2] Romae quod scribis sileri, ita putabam; at hercule in agris non siletur, nec iam ipsi agri regnum vestrum ferre possunt. si vero in hanc Telepulon veneris Laistrugonien, Formias dico, qui fremitus hominum! quam irati animi! quanto in odio noster amicus Magnus! cuius cognomen una cum Crassi divitis cognomine consenescit. credas mihi velim, neminem adhuc offendi qui haec tam lente quam ego fero ferret. qua re, mihi crede, philosophomen. iuratus tibi possum dicere nihil esse tanti. tu si litteras ad Sicyonios habes, advola in Formianum, unde nos pridie Nonas Maias cogitamus.