Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 45 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
He came to me kai mala katephes ["and quite downcast"]. And I said, "Su de de ti synnous?" ["And you, why so brooding?"] "You ask?" he said. "A man who has a journey hanging over him, and a journey to war at that, one both dangerous and disgraceful!" "What is forcing you, then?" I said. "Debt," he said, "and yet not even the price of the trip." At this point I borrowed something from your eloquence: for I held my tongue. But he went on, "What torments me most, though, is my uncle." "How so?" I said. "Because," he said, "he is angry with me." "Why do you put up with it?" I said — for I prefer to put it that way rather than "Why do you bring it on yourself?" "I will not put up with it," he said, "for I will remove the cause." And I said, "Quite right; but, if it is no trouble, I should like to know what the cause is." "Because, while I was wavering over which woman to marry, I was not satisfying my mother; and so not satisfying him either. Now nothing matters that much to me. I will do what they want." "I wish you well of it," I said, "and I commend you. But when?" "As for the timing," he said, "it makes no difference to me, since I approve of the thing itself." "But I," I said, "think it should be before you set out. That way you will gratify your father too." "I will do as you advise," he said. So this dialogue concluded. [3] But listen here — you know my day is the third before the Nones of January [3 January]; so you will be present. I had already written this when, look, Lepidus begs me to come. I suppose the augurs want to have him there for the inauguration of a temple. So let us go; me skordou ["no garlic"]. We shall see you, then.
What a delightful letter yours was! Though the procession was unpleasant news; still it is not unpleasant to know everything, even about Cotta. The people were splendid not even to clap Victory because of her bad neighbour. Brutus was staying with me and highly approved of my writing something to Caesar. I assented; but the procession puts me off. Have you really dared to send my book to Varro! I am eager for his opinion. But when will he finish reading it? I agree about Attica. It is something that the spirits are relieved by the spectacle and by the general feeling of religious associations. I wish you would send me Cotta; I have Libo and before that I had Casca. Brutus brought me a message from T. Ligarius that the mention of L. Corfidius in my speech for Ligarius is a mistake. But it is a lapsus memoriae, as they say. I knew that Corfidius was extremely
friendly with the Ligarii; but I see he was dead before the trial. So please get Pharnaces, Antaeus and Salvius to erase the name from all copies.
venit ille ad me kai\ mala kathfh/j . et ego, ' Su\ de\ dh\ ti/ su/nnouj; ' 'rogas?' inquit, 'quoi iter instet et iter ad bellum idque cum periculosum tum etiam turpe!' 'quae vis igitur?' inquam. 'Aes' inquit 'alienum et tamen ne viaticum quidem.' hoc loco ego sumpsi quiddam de tua eloquentia; nam tacui. at ille, 'sed me maxime angit avunculus.' 'quidnam?' inquam. 'quod mihi' inquit 'iratus est.' 'cur pateris?' inquam, 'malo enim ita dicere quam cur committis?' 'non patiar' inquit, 'causam enim tollam.' et ego, 'rectissime quidem; sed si grave non est, velim scire quid sit causae.' 'quia, dum dubitabam quam ducerem, non satis faciebam matri; ita ne illi quidem. nunc nihil mihi tanti est. faciam quod volunt.' 'feliciter velim' inquam 'teque laudo. sed quando?' 'nihil ad me' inquit 'de tempore, quoniam rem probo.' 'at ego' inquam 'censeo prius quam proficiscaris. ita patri quoque morem gesseris.' 'faciam' inquit 'ut censes.' hic dialogus sic conclusus est. [3] sed heus tu, diem meum scis esse iii Nonas Ianuarias; aderis igitur. scripseram iam: ecce tibi orat Lepidus ut veniam. opinor augures velle habere ad templum effandum. eatur; mh\ sko/rdou . videbimus te igitur.
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He came to me kai mala katephes ["and quite downcast"]. And I said, "Su de de ti synnous?" ["And you, why so brooding?"] "You ask?" he said. "A man who has a journey hanging over him, and a journey to war at that, one both dangerous and disgraceful!" "What is forcing you, then?" I said. "Debt," he said, "and yet not even the price of the trip." At this point I borrowed something from your eloquence: for I held my tongue. But he went on, "What torments me most, though, is my uncle." "How so?" I said. "Because," he said, "he is angry with me." "Why do you put up with it?" I said — for I prefer to put it that way rather than "Why do you bring it on yourself?" "I will not put up with it," he said, "for I will remove the cause." And I said, "Quite right; but, if it is no trouble, I should like to know what the cause is." "Because, while I was wavering over which woman to marry, I was not satisfying my mother; and so not satisfying him either. Now nothing matters that much to me. I will do what they want." "I wish you well of it," I said, "and I commend you. But when?" "As for the timing," he said, "it makes no difference to me, since I approve of the thing itself." "But I," I said, "think it should be before you set out. That way you will gratify your father too." "I will do as you advise," he said. So this dialogue concluded. [3] But listen here — you know my day is the third before the Nones of January [3 January]; so you will be present. I had already written this when, look, Lepidus begs me to come. I suppose the augurs want to have him there for the inauguration of a temple. So let us go; me skordou ["no garlic"]. We shall see you, then.
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
venit ille ad me kai\ mala kathfh/j . et ego, ' Su\ de\ dh\ ti/ su/nnouj; ' 'rogas?' inquit, 'quoi iter instet et iter ad bellum idque cum periculosum tum etiam turpe!' 'quae vis igitur?' inquam. 'Aes' inquit 'alienum et tamen ne viaticum quidem.' hoc loco ego sumpsi quiddam de tua eloquentia; nam tacui. at ille, 'sed me maxime angit avunculus.' 'quidnam?' inquam. 'quod mihi' inquit 'iratus est.' 'cur pateris?' inquam, 'malo enim ita dicere quam cur committis?' 'non patiar' inquit, 'causam enim tollam.' et ego, 'rectissime quidem; sed si grave non est, velim scire quid sit causae.' 'quia, dum dubitabam quam ducerem, non satis faciebam matri; ita ne illi quidem. nunc nihil mihi tanti est. faciam quod volunt.' 'feliciter velim' inquam 'teque laudo. sed quando?' 'nihil ad me' inquit 'de tempore, quoniam rem probo.' 'at ego' inquam 'censeo prius quam proficiscaris. ita patri quoque morem gesseris.' 'faciam' inquit 'ut censes.' hic dialogus sic conclusus est. [3] sed heus tu, diem meum scis esse iii Nonas Ianuarias; aderis igitur. scripseram iam: ecce tibi orat Lepidus ut veniam. opinor augures velle habere ad templum effandum. eatur; mh\ sko/rdou . videbimus te igitur.