Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 44 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
I am sending this letter on May 3 as I board a small lookout boat from Cluvius' gardens, after handing over the villa at the Lucrine lake to our Pilia, along with the bailiffs and managers. As for me, I am that day bearing down on our friend Paetus' cheese-and-salt-fish dinner. In a few days I shall go to Pompeii, and after that sail back to these kingdoms of Puteoli and Cumae. They would be places one would greatly desire, if the crowd of interrupters did not make them almost places to flee.
But to come to the matter: what a glorious exploit by our Dolabella, what an awakening. I do not stop praising and encouraging him. In all your letters you are right to show what you think both of the deed and of the man. To me our Brutus now seems able to walk through the Forum even with a golden garland. Who would dare harm him with the cross and the rock set before his eyes, especially amid such applause and such approval from the lowest ranks?
Now, my dear Atticus, get me clear. Once I have satisfied our Brutus fully, I want to make a run to Greece. It is very important for Cicero, or rather for me, indeed for both of us, that I interrupt him while he is studying. What, I ask you, is there in Leonidas' letter, which you sent to me, that should make us especially pleased? I shall never think he is praised enough when the praise is phrased, "as things now stand." That is not the testimony of confidence but of fear. I had instructed Herodes to write to me thread by thread, in detail, but so far I have had no letter from him. I am afraid he had nothing he thought I would be glad to learn.
I am very grateful that you wrote to Xeno. It matters both to my duty and to my reputation that Cicero should lack nothing. I hear that Flaminius Flamma is in Rome. I have written to him saying that I instructed you by letter to speak with him about Montanus' business. Please see that the letter I sent him is delivered, and speak with him yourself as your convenience allows. I think, if the man has any sense of shame, he will make sure payment is not made late and to my loss. As for Attica, you did me a great kindness by making sure I knew she was well before I knew she had been unwell.
I despatch this letter on the 3rd, as I embark in a rowing boat from Cluvius' gardens, after handing over the villa at the Lucrine lake to Pilia with its servants and care-takers. Myself I am threatening our friend Paetus' cheese and herrings for that day; in a few days I am going to Pompeii and after that sailing back to my domains here at Puteoli and Cumae. What very attractive places they are, if it were not that one almost has to shun them on account of the crowd of visitors.
But to return to the point, what a magnificent stroke of our friend Dolabella! How it will make people open their eyes. For my part I keep on praising and encouraging him. You are right in what you say in every letter about the deed and about the man. To me it seems that our friend Brutus could walk through the forum with a golden crown on his head now. For who would dare to hurt him with the cross and rock before his eyes, especially when the rabble have shown such applause and approbation?
Now, my dear Atticus, do put things straight for me. I want to run over to Greece, as soon as I have quite satisfied Brutus. It is a matter of great concern to my son, or rather to me, or upon my word to both of us, that I should drop in upon
him at his studies. For what is there to give us any particular satisfaction in the letter of Leonidas, which you have sent to me? I shall never be content with his praise, when it is phrased, "as things go at present." There is no evidence of confidence, rather of anxiety in that. Again I had commissioned Herodes to write to me in detail: but as yet I have not had a single syllable from him. I am afraid he has had no news that he thought would gratify me, if I heard it.
I am very grateful to you for writing to Xeno; for that my son should not be short of money concerns both my duty and my reputation. I hear that Flaminius Flamma is in Rome. I have written to tell him that I have instructed you by letter to speak to him about Montanus' business: and, I should be glad if you would see that the letter I have sent for him is delivered, and would speak with him at your leisure. I think, if the man has any sense of shame, he will see that the payment is not deferred to my loss. You were very kind in informing me of Attica's recovery before I knew of her illness.
v Nonas conscendens ab hortis Cluvianis in phaselum epicopum bas dedi litteras, cum Piliae nostrae villam ad Lucrinum, vilicos, procuratores tradidissem. ipse autem eo die in Paeti nostri tyrotarichum imminebam; perpaucis diebus in Pompeianum, post in haec Puteolana et Cumana regna renavigare. O loca ceteroqui valde expetenda, interpellantium autem multitudine paene fugienda! [2]sed ad rem ut veniam, o Dolabellae nostri magnam a)ristei/an ! quanta est a)naqew/rhsij ! equidem laudare eum et hortari non desisto. recte tu omnibus epistulis significas quid de re, quid de viro sentias. mihi quidem videtur Brutus noster iam vel coronam auream per forum ferre posse. quis enim audeat laedere proposita cruce aut saxo, praesertim tantis plausibus, tanta approbatione infimorum? [3] nunc, mi Attice, me fac ut expedias. cupio, quom Bruto nostro adfatim satis fecerim, excurrere in Graeciam. Magni interest Ciceronis vel mea potius vd me hercule utriusque me intervenire discenti. nam epistula Leonidae quam ad me misisti quid habet, quaeso, in quo magno opere laetemur? numquam ille mihi satis laudari videbitur cum ita laudabitur, 'quo modo nunc est.' non est fidentis hoc testimonium sed potius timentis. Herddi autem mandaram ut mihi kata\ mi/ton scriberet. A quo adhuc nulla littera est. vereor ne nihil habuerit quod mihi, cum cognossem, iucundum putaret fore. [4] quod ad Xenonem scripsisti, valde mihi gratum est; nihil enim deesse Ciceroni cum ad officium tum ad existimationem meam pertinet. Flammam Flaminium audio Romae esse. ad eum scripsi me tibi mandasse per litteras ut de Montani negotio cum eo loquerere, et velim cures epistulam quam ad eum misi reddendam et ipse, quod commodo tuo fiat, cum eo conloquare. puto, si quid in homine pudoris est, praestaturum eum ne sero cum damno dependatur. de Attica pergratum mihi fecisti quod curasti ante scirem recte esse quam non belle fuisse.
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I am sending this letter on May 3 as I board a small lookout boat from Cluvius' gardens, after handing over the villa at the Lucrine lake to our Pilia, along with the bailiffs and managers. As for me, I am that day bearing down on our friend Paetus' cheese-and-salt-fish dinner. In a few days I shall go to Pompeii, and after that sail back to these kingdoms of Puteoli and Cumae. They would be places one would greatly desire, if the crowd of interrupters did not make them almost places to flee.
But to come to the matter: what a glorious exploit by our Dolabella, what an awakening. I do not stop praising and encouraging him. In all your letters you are right to show what you think both of the deed and of the man. To me our Brutus now seems able to walk through the Forum even with a golden garland. Who would dare harm him with the cross and the rock set before his eyes, especially amid such applause and such approval from the lowest ranks?
Now, my dear Atticus, get me clear. Once I have satisfied our Brutus fully, I want to make a run to Greece. It is very important for Cicero, or rather for me, indeed for both of us, that I interrupt him while he is studying. What, I ask you, is there in Leonidas' letter, which you sent to me, that should make us especially pleased? I shall never think he is praised enough when the praise is phrased, "as things now stand." That is not the testimony of confidence but of fear. I had instructed Herodes to write to me thread by thread, in detail, but so far I have had no letter from him. I am afraid he had nothing he thought I would be glad to learn.
I am very grateful that you wrote to Xeno. It matters both to my duty and to my reputation that Cicero should lack nothing. I hear that Flaminius Flamma is in Rome. I have written to him saying that I instructed you by letter to speak with him about Montanus' business. Please see that the letter I sent him is delivered, and speak with him yourself as your convenience allows. I think, if the man has any sense of shame, he will make sure payment is not made late and to my loss. As for Attica, you did me a great kindness by making sure I knew she was well before I knew she had been unwell.
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
v Nonas conscendens ab hortis Cluvianis in phaselum epicopum bas dedi litteras, cum Piliae nostrae villam ad Lucrinum, vilicos, procuratores tradidissem. ipse autem eo die in Paeti nostri tyrotarichum imminebam; perpaucis diebus in Pompeianum, post in haec Puteolana et Cumana regna renavigare. O loca ceteroqui valde expetenda, interpellantium autem multitudine paene fugienda! [2]sed ad rem ut veniam, o Dolabellae nostri magnam a)ristei/an ! quanta est a)naqew/rhsij ! equidem laudare eum et hortari non desisto. recte tu omnibus epistulis significas quid de re, quid de viro sentias. mihi quidem videtur Brutus noster iam vel coronam auream per forum ferre posse. quis enim audeat laedere proposita cruce aut saxo, praesertim tantis plausibus, tanta approbatione infimorum? [3] nunc, mi Attice, me fac ut expedias. cupio, quom Bruto nostro adfatim satis fecerim, excurrere in Graeciam. Magni interest Ciceronis vel mea potius vd me hercule utriusque me intervenire discenti. nam epistula Leonidae quam ad me misisti quid habet, quaeso, in quo magno opere laetemur? numquam ille mihi satis laudari videbitur cum ita laudabitur, 'quo modo nunc est.' non est fidentis hoc testimonium sed potius timentis. Herddi autem mandaram ut mihi kata\ mi/ton scriberet. A quo adhuc nulla littera est. vereor ne nihil habuerit quod mihi, cum cognossem, iucundum putaret fore. [4] quod ad Xenonem scripsisti, valde mihi gratum est; nihil enim deesse Ciceroni cum ad officium tum ad existimationem meam pertinet. Flammam Flaminium audio Romae esse. ad eum scripsi me tibi mandasse per litteras ut de Montani negotio cum eo loquerere, et velim cures epistulam quam ad eum misi reddendam et ipse, quod commodo tuo fiat, cum eo conloquare. puto, si quid in homine pudoris est, praestaturum eum ne sero cum damno dependatur. de Attica pergratum mihi fecisti quod curasti ante scirem recte esse quam non belle fuisse.