Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 60 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
On the day before the Kalends of May, when I had dined and was already growing drowsy, that letter of yours was delivered in which you write about the Campanian land. What can I say? At first it stung me so sharply that it robbed me of sleep, but that was from reflection rather than from distress; and as I pondered, the following considerations more or less came to my aid. First, from what you had written in your earlier letter, that you had heard from a friend of his [Caesar's] that something would be brought forward which no one would disapprove of, I had feared something greater. This did not seem to me to be of that sort. Next, to console myself: the whole expectation of agrarian largess seems to have been channeled into the Campanian land, which land, even reckoning ten iugera apiece, cannot support more than five thousand men; all the rest of the multitude must of necessity be alienated from them. Besides, if there is any one thing which could more violently inflame the spirits of the loyalists, whom I already see to be stirred up, this surely is it, and all the more because, with the harbor dues of Italy abolished and the Campanian land divided up, what domestic revenue is left except the twentieth? And this, it seems to me, will perish at a single little assembly amid the shouting of our hangers-on. [2] As for our friend Gnaeus [Pompey], I now have plainly no idea what he is contemplating. "For no longer with little pipes he blows, but with wild blasts and without a mouth-band" [from Sophocles] -- seeing that he could even be brought to that point. For up to now he kept playing the sophist in this fashion: that he approved of Caesar's laws, but that Caesar himself ought to answer for his measures; that the agrarian law had pleased him, whether or not it could have been vetoed was no concern of his; that as for the king of Alexandria, it had pleased him to have the matter settled at some point; whether Bibulus had then been watching the heavens or not was not for him to inquire into; that in the matter of the publicans he had wished to oblige that order; what would have happened if Bibulus had then come down into the forum he could not divine. But now, Sampsiceramus [Pompey], what will you say? That you have established a revenue for us on Mount Antilibanus, but have taken away the revenue of the Campanian land? Well? How will you maintain this? "I will keep you down," he says, "crushed by Caesar's army." By Hercules, you will hold me down not so much by that army of yours as by the ingratitude of those men who are called the loyalists, who have never rendered me any return or thanks, not only for my services but not even for my conversation. [3] But if I were to rouse myself to that side, I would assuredly by now find some way of resisting. As things stand, I have resolved precisely this: since there is so great a controversy between your friend Dicaearchus and my friend Theophrastus -- your man placing the active life far above all others, while mine places the contemplative life above -- it seems that I have done my duty by each. For I think I have given satisfaction in full to Dicaearchus; now I look to this household [the school of Theophrastus] which not only permits me to rest but reproaches me because I have not always been at rest. Therefore let us bend ourselves, O our Titus, to those splendid studies, and let us at last return to that from which we ought never to have departed. [4] As to what you write about my brother Quintus' letter, to me also it was "a lion in front, but behind— [a serpent's tail]." I do not know what to say; for in his opening lines he so bewails his prolonged stay that he could move anyone, and then again he relents so far as to ask me to correct and publish his annals. There is one point, however, which you mention and which I should like you to attend to, concerning the transit toll: he says that on the advice of his council he has referred the matter back to the senate. Evidently he had not yet read my letter, in which I had written to him fully, after the matter had been considered and examined, that the toll is not owed. I should like you, if any Greeks have now come to Rome from Asia about that case, to see them, and, if you think fit, to explain to them what my view of the matter is. If I can get away, lest a most excellent cause perish in the senate, I will give satisfaction to the publicans; but in this matter (I will speak frankly with you) I am more concerned for the whole of Asia and for the businessmen; for it is of vital interest to them too. This I feel is greatly to our advantage. But you will see to it. As for the quaestors, pray, are they still in doubt even about the cistophorus? For if there shall be nothing else, when we have tried everything, I will not despise even that last resort: we shall see you at our place in Arpinum and entertain you with rustic hospitality, since you have scorned this seaside one.
As I was taking a nap after dinner on the last of April, your letter about the Campanian land arrived. Well, at first it startled me so that it banished all desire to sleep, though it was thought rather than uneasiness that kept me awake. The result of my cogitations was something of this sort. First, when you said in your last letter you had heard from a great friend of Caesar’s that some proposal was going to be made to which no one could object, I had feared some sweeping measure; but this I don’t consider anything of the kind. Secondly—and that is some consolation to me—all hope of agrarian distribution seems to have been diverted to the Campanian land. Supposing that the allotments are about 6 acres apiece, that land will not hold more than 5,000 people; so they have to offend all the rest of the masses. Besides, if anything is calculated to arouse a fiercer pitch of indignation in the minds of the conservatives, who are obviously getting roused already, this is the very thing that will; all the more so because there won’t be any home tax left except the 5 per cent., now that the customs duties have been abolished, if the Campanian land is distributed: and that, I fancy, it would take only one petty harangue assisted by the cheers of our lacqueys to abolish. What on earth our friend Gnaeus is thinking of in letting himself be carried so far, I cannot tell:
For up to now he has chopped logic about the matter, saying that he approved of Caesar’s laws, but it was for Caesar to see to their passing: that the agrarian law was sound enough to his mind, but whether it could be vetoed by a tribune or not did not matter to him: he thought it was high time the question was settled with the king of Alexandria: whether Bibulus had been watching for omens or not at that particular moment was no business of his: as for the tax-gatherers, they were a class that he wished to oblige: what was going to happen, if Bibulus came down to the forum on that occasion, he could not have prophesied. But now what has the Pasha got to say for himself? That he imposed a tax on Antilibanus and took it off the Campanian land? Well, I don’t see how he will make it good. “I will keep you in check with Caesar’s army,” he says. No, not me at least; that army will not restrain me so much as the ungrateful minds of the so-called constitutionalists, who have not repaid my services even by thanks, much less by more substantial rewards. But, if I were really to rouse myself to energy against that party, I would certainly find some means of resisting them. As it is, since there is such an endless controversy between your intimate Dicaearchus and my friend Theophrastus, Dicaearchus giving the preference to a practical life, Theophrastus to a contemplative, I have set my mind on making it clear that I have humoured them both. I take it I have fully satisfied Dicaearchus: now I am turning my eye to the other school, which not only gives me permission to take my ease now, but blames me for ever having done anything else. So, my dear Titus, let me throw myself heart and soul into those excellent studies,
and at length seek the home that I ought never to have left.
As for your complaints about my brother Quintus’ letter, to me, too, it seemed “a lion before, behind”—heaven knows what. For the groans in the first lines about his long absence would touch anybody’s heart: then afterwards he calms down sufficiently to ask me to touch up and edit his journal. Please pay some attention to the point you mention about the dues on goods transferred from port to port. He says he referred it to the Senate by the advice of his assessors. Evidently he had not read my letter, in which I told him after careful consideration and research that no tax was legally due. If any Greeks have come from Asia to Rome about it, please see them, and, it you think fit, tell them my opinion. If I can recant, I will do as the tax collectors wish, rather than see the good cause worsted in the House: but, if not, I candidly confess I prefer the interests of the whole of Asia and the merchants, for I feel it is really a matter of great importance to them. I think, however, it is a case of necessity for us. But you will see to it. Are the quaestors, then, still debating about the currency? If there is no escape from it in spite of all our efforts, I shouldn’t turn up my nose at the Asiatic coins as the last resource. I shall see you at Arpinum, and give you a country welcome, since you have despised this at the seaside.
cenato mihi et iam dormitanti pridie K; Maias epistula est illa reddita in qua de agro Campano scribis. quid quaeris? primo ita me pupugit ut somnum mihi ademerit, sed id cogitatione magis quam molestia; cogitanti autem haec fere succurrebant. primum ex eo quod superioribus litteris scripseras, ex familiari te illius audisse prolatum iri aliquid quod nemo improbaret, maius aliquid timueram. hoc mihi eius modi non videbatur. deinde ut me egomet consoler, omnis exspectatio largitionis agrariae in agrum Campanum videtur esse derivata, qui ager; ut dena iugera sint, non amplius homines quinque milia potest sustinere; reliqua omnis multitudo ab illis abalienetur necesse est. praeterea si ulla res est quae bonorum animos quos iam video esse commotos vehementius possit incendere, haec certe est et eo magis quod portoriis Italiae sublatis, agro Campano diviso, quod vectigal superest domesticum praeter vicensimam? quae mihi videtur una contiuncula clamore pedisequorum nostrorum esse peritura. [2] Gnaeus quidem noster iam plane quid cogitet nescio . phusai gar ou smikroisin auliskois eti, all' agriais phusaisi phorbeias ater qui quidem etiam istuc adduci potuerit. nam adhuc haec esophizeto, se leges Caesaris probare, actiones ipsum praestare debere; agrariam legem sibi placuisse, potuerit intercedi necne nihil ad se pertinere; de rege Alexandrino placuisse sibi aliquando confici; Bibulus de caelo tum servasset necne sibi quaerendum non fuisse; de publicanis voluisse illi ordini commodare; quid futurum fuerit si Bibulus tum in forum descendisset se divinare non potuisse. nunc vero, Sampsicerame, quid dices? vectigal te nobis in monte Antilibano constituisse, agri Campani abstulisse? quid? hoc quem ad modum obtinebis? 'oppressos vos' inquit 'tenebo exercitu Caesaris.' non me hercule me tu quidem tam isto exercitu quam ingratis animis eorum hominum qui appellantur boni, qui mihi non modo praemiorum sed ne sermonum quidem umquam fructum ullum aut gratiam rettulerunt. [3] quod si in eam me partem incitarem, profecto iam aliquam reperirem resistendi viam. nunc prorsus hoc statui, ut, quoniam tanta controversia est Dicaearcho familiari tuo cum Theophrasto amico meo ut ille tuus ton praktikon bion longe omnibus anteponat, hic autem ton theoretikon utrique a me mos gestus esse videatur. puto enim me Dicaearcho adfatim satis fecisse; respicio nunc ad hanc familiam quae mihi non modo ut requiescam permittit, sed reprehendit quia non semper quierim. qua re incumbamus, o noster Tite, ad illa praeclara studia et eo unde discedere non oportuit aliquando revertamur. [4] quod de Quinti fratris epistula scribis, ad me quoque fuit prosthe leon, opithen de—. quid dicam nescio; nam ita deplorat primis versibus mansionem suam ut quemvis movere possit, ita rursus remittit ut me roget ut annalis suos emendem et edam. illud tamen quod scribis animadvertas velim de portorio circumvectionis; ait se de consili sententia rem ad senatum reiecisse. nondum videlicet meas litteras legerat quibus ad eum re consulta et explorata perscripseram non deberi. velim si qui Graeci iam Romam ex Asia de ea causa venerunt videas et, si tibi videbitur, iis demonstres quid ego de ea re sentiam. si possum discedere, ne causa optima in senatu pereat, ego satis faciam publicanis; ei de me (vere tecum loquar), in hac re malo universae Asiae et negotiatoribus; nam eorum quoque vehementer interest. hoc ego sentio valde nobis opus esse. sed tu id videbis. quaestores autem, quaeso, num etiam de cistophoro dubitant? nam si aliud nihil erit, cum erimus omnia experti, ego ne illud quidem contemnam quod extremum est; te in Arpinati videbimus et hospitio agresti accipiemus, quoniam maritimum hoc contempsisti.
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On the day before the Kalends of May, when I had dined and was already growing drowsy, that letter of yours was delivered in which you write about the Campanian land. What can I say? At first it stung me so sharply that it robbed me of sleep, but that was from reflection rather than from distress; and as I pondered, the following considerations more or less came to my aid. First, from what you had written in your earlier letter, that you had heard from a friend of his [Caesar's] that something would be brought forward which no one would disapprove of, I had feared something greater. This did not seem to me to be of that sort. Next, to console myself: the whole expectation of agrarian largess seems to have been channeled into the Campanian land, which land, even reckoning ten iugera apiece, cannot support more than five thousand men; all the rest of the multitude must of necessity be alienated from them. Besides, if there is any one thing which could more violently inflame the spirits of the loyalists, whom I already see to be stirred up, this surely is it, and all the more because, with the harbor dues of Italy abolished and the Campanian land divided up, what domestic revenue is left except the twentieth? And this, it seems to me, will perish at a single little assembly amid the shouting of our hangers-on. [2] As for our friend Gnaeus [Pompey], I now have plainly no idea what he is contemplating. "For no longer with little pipes he blows, but with wild blasts and without a mouth-band" [from Sophocles] -- seeing that he could even be brought to that point. For up to now he kept playing the sophist in this fashion: that he approved of Caesar's laws, but that Caesar himself ought to answer for his measures; that the agrarian law had pleased him, whether or not it could have been vetoed was no concern of his; that as for the king of Alexandria, it had pleased him to have the matter settled at some point; whether Bibulus had then been watching the heavens or not was not for him to inquire into; that in the matter of the publicans he had wished to oblige that order; what would have happened if Bibulus had then come down into the forum he could not divine. But now, Sampsiceramus [Pompey], what will you say? That you have established a revenue for us on Mount Antilibanus, but have taken away the revenue of the Campanian land? Well? How will you maintain this? "I will keep you down," he says, "crushed by Caesar's army." By Hercules, you will hold me down not so much by that army of yours as by the ingratitude of those men who are called the loyalists, who have never rendered me any return or thanks, not only for my services but not even for my conversation. [3] But if I were to rouse myself to that side, I would assuredly by now find some way of resisting. As things stand, I have resolved precisely this: since there is so great a controversy between your friend Dicaearchus and my friend Theophrastus -- your man placing the active life far above all others, while mine places the contemplative life above -- it seems that I have done my duty by each. For I think I have given satisfaction in full to Dicaearchus; now I look to this household [the school of Theophrastus] which not only permits me to rest but reproaches me because I have not always been at rest. Therefore let us bend ourselves, O our Titus, to those splendid studies, and let us at last return to that from which we ought never to have departed. [4] As to what you write about my brother Quintus' letter, to me also it was "a lion in front, but behind— [a serpent's tail]." I do not know what to say; for in his opening lines he so bewails his prolonged stay that he could move anyone, and then again he relents so far as to ask me to correct and publish his annals. There is one point, however, which you mention and which I should like you to attend to, concerning the transit toll: he says that on the advice of his council he has referred the matter back to the senate. Evidently he had not yet read my letter, in which I had written to him fully, after the matter had been considered and examined, that the toll is not owed. I should like you, if any Greeks have now come to Rome from Asia about that case, to see them, and, if you think fit, to explain to them what my view of the matter is. If I can get away, lest a most excellent cause perish in the senate, I will give satisfaction to the publicans; but in this matter (I will speak frankly with you) I am more concerned for the whole of Asia and for the businessmen; for it is of vital interest to them too. This I feel is greatly to our advantage. But you will see to it. As for the quaestors, pray, are they still in doubt even about the cistophorus? For if there shall be nothing else, when we have tried everything, I will not despise even that last resort: we shall see you at our place in Arpinum and entertain you with rustic hospitality, since you have scorned this seaside one.
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
cenato mihi et iam dormitanti pridie K; Maias epistula est illa reddita in qua de agro Campano scribis. quid quaeris? primo ita me pupugit ut somnum mihi ademerit, sed id cogitatione magis quam molestia; cogitanti autem haec fere succurrebant. primum ex eo quod superioribus litteris scripseras, ex familiari te illius audisse prolatum iri aliquid quod nemo improbaret, maius aliquid timueram. hoc mihi eius modi non videbatur. deinde ut me egomet consoler, omnis exspectatio largitionis agrariae in agrum Campanum videtur esse derivata, qui ager; ut dena iugera sint, non amplius homines quinque milia potest sustinere; reliqua omnis multitudo ab illis abalienetur necesse est. praeterea si ulla res est quae bonorum animos quos iam video esse commotos vehementius possit incendere, haec certe est et eo magis quod portoriis Italiae sublatis, agro Campano diviso, quod vectigal superest domesticum praeter vicensimam? quae mihi videtur una contiuncula clamore pedisequorum nostrorum esse peritura. [2] Gnaeus quidem noster iam plane quid cogitet nescio . phusai gar ou smikroisin auliskois eti, all' agriais phusaisi phorbeias ater qui quidem etiam istuc adduci potuerit. nam adhuc haec esophizeto, se leges Caesaris probare, actiones ipsum praestare debere; agrariam legem sibi placuisse, potuerit intercedi necne nihil ad se pertinere; de rege Alexandrino placuisse sibi aliquando confici; Bibulus de caelo tum servasset necne sibi quaerendum non fuisse; de publicanis voluisse illi ordini commodare; quid futurum fuerit si Bibulus tum in forum descendisset se divinare non potuisse. nunc vero, Sampsicerame, quid dices? vectigal te nobis in monte Antilibano constituisse, agri Campani abstulisse? quid? hoc quem ad modum obtinebis? 'oppressos vos' inquit 'tenebo exercitu Caesaris.' non me hercule me tu quidem tam isto exercitu quam ingratis animis eorum hominum qui appellantur boni, qui mihi non modo praemiorum sed ne sermonum quidem umquam fructum ullum aut gratiam rettulerunt. [3] quod si in eam me partem incitarem, profecto iam aliquam reperirem resistendi viam. nunc prorsus hoc statui, ut, quoniam tanta controversia est Dicaearcho familiari tuo cum Theophrasto amico meo ut ille tuus ton praktikon bion longe omnibus anteponat, hic autem ton theoretikon utrique a me mos gestus esse videatur. puto enim me Dicaearcho adfatim satis fecisse; respicio nunc ad hanc familiam quae mihi non modo ut requiescam permittit, sed reprehendit quia non semper quierim. qua re incumbamus, o noster Tite, ad illa praeclara studia et eo unde discedere non oportuit aliquando revertamur. [4] quod de Quinti fratris epistula scribis, ad me quoque fuit prosthe leon, opithen de—. quid dicam nescio; nam ita deplorat primis versibus mansionem suam ut quemvis movere possit, ita rursus remittit ut me roget ut annalis suos emendem et edam. illud tamen quod scribis animadvertas velim de portorio circumvectionis; ait se de consili sententia rem ad senatum reiecisse. nondum videlicet meas litteras legerat quibus ad eum re consulta et explorata perscripseram non deberi. velim si qui Graeci iam Romam ex Asia de ea causa venerunt videas et, si tibi videbitur, iis demonstres quid ego de ea re sentiam. si possum discedere, ne causa optima in senatu pereat, ego satis faciam publicanis; ei de me (vere tecum loquar), in hac re malo universae Asiae et negotiatoribus; nam eorum quoque vehementer interest. hoc ego sentio valde nobis opus esse. sed tu id videbis. quaestores autem, quaeso, num etiam de cistophoro dubitant? nam si aliud nihil erit, cum erimus omnia experti, ego ne illud quidem contemnam quod extremum est; te in Arpinati videbimus et hospitio agresti accipiemus, quoniam maritimum hoc contempsisti.