Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
I already asked you earlier, by letter, that, since the case of the people of Buthrotum [a town in Epirus whose territory Caesar had marked for colonial settlement] had been approved by the consuls—who were empowered both by law and by decree of the Senate to investigate, settle, and judge matters relating to Caesar's enactments—you would lend your support to the affair, and so free both our friend Atticus, whose devotion to you I have come to know, and myself, who labor over it no less, from this annoyance. For now that everything has been carried through with great care, much effort, and toil, it rests with you whether we can put an end to our anxiety as soon as possible. And yet I understand that you are a man of such good sense that you see this: if those decrees of the consuls which have been issued concerning Caesar's enactments are not upheld, there will be a great upheaval of affairs.
[2] For my own part, although many of the arrangements Caesar made do not meet with approval—as was inevitable, given so vast a burden of business—still, for the sake of peace and quiet, I am in the habit of defending them most vigorously. And I think you ought to do the very same thing—though this letter is not that of an adviser but of a petitioner. So, my dear Plancus, I ask you, and indeed I implore you (so help me god, in such a way that I could not press the matter with greater zeal or more from the heart), that you handle this whole business, manage it, and bring it to completion in such a way that what we obtained from the consuls without any hesitation—owing to the surpassing goodness and fairness of the case—you should not merely allow us to have obtained without difficulty, but should actually rejoice that we have obtained it. Such goodwill toward Atticus you have often shown, when present, both to him and indeed also to me. And if you do this, you will have me—whom you have always reckoned bound to you by goodwill and by an ancestral tie of friendship—held fast by the greatest of favors; and that you should do this I beg of you most earnestly, again and again.
I asked you before by letter that, since the case of the Buthrotians had been approved by the consuls — who were authorized by law and by decree of the Senate to review, determine, and judge Caesar's acts — you would ratify the settlement. I ask this again now, and I ask it as earnestly as I can. The matter is dear to me because it concerns Atticus, the closest and dearest of all my friends. I beg you to do this for my sake.
iam antea petivi abs te per litteras ut, cum causa Buthrotiorum probata a consulibus esset quibus et lege et senatus consulto permissum erat ut de Caesaris actis cognoscerent, statuerent, iudicarent, eam rem tu adiuvares Atticumque nostrum cuius te studiosum cognovi et me qui non minus laboro molestia liberares. omnibus enim rebus magna cura, multa opera et labore confectis in te positum est ut nostrae sollicitudinis finem quam primum facere possimus. quamquam intellegimus ea te esse prudentia ut videas, si ea decreta consulum quae de Caesaris actis interposita sunt non serventur, magnam perturbationem rerum fore. [2] equidem cum multa (quod necesse erat in tanta occupatione) non probentur quae Caesar statuerit, tamen oti pacisque causa acerrime illa soleo defendere. quod tibi idem magno opere faciendum censeo; quamquam haec epistula non suasoris est sed rogatoris. igitur, mi Plance, rogo te et etiam oro, sic medius fidius ut maiore studio magisque ex animo agere non possim, ut totum hoc negotium ita agas, ita tractes, ita conficias ut, quod sine ulla dubitatione apud consules obtinuimus propter summam bonitatem et aequitatem causae, id tu nos obtinuisse non modo facile patiare sed etiam gaudeas. qua quidem voluntate <te> esse erga Atticum saepe praesens et illi ostendisti et vero etiam mihi. quod si feceris, me quem voluntate et paterna necessitudine coniunctum semper habuisti maximo beneficio devinctum habebis idque ut facias te vehementer etiam atque etiam rogo.
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I already asked you earlier, by letter, that, since the case of the people of Buthrotum [a town in Epirus whose territory Caesar had marked for colonial settlement] had been approved by the consuls—who were empowered both by law and by decree of the Senate to investigate, settle, and judge matters relating to Caesar's enactments—you would lend your support to the affair, and so free both our friend Atticus, whose devotion to you I have come to know, and myself, who labor over it no less, from this annoyance. For now that everything has been carried through with great care, much effort, and toil, it rests with you whether we can put an end to our anxiety as soon as possible. And yet I understand that you are a man of such good sense that you see this: if those decrees of the consuls which have been issued concerning Caesar's enactments are not upheld, there will be a great upheaval of affairs.
[2] For my own part, although many of the arrangements Caesar made do not meet with approval—as was inevitable, given so vast a burden of business—still, for the sake of peace and quiet, I am in the habit of defending them most vigorously. And I think you ought to do the very same thing—though this letter is not that of an adviser but of a petitioner. So, my dear Plancus, I ask you, and indeed I implore you (so help me god, in such a way that I could not press the matter with greater zeal or more from the heart), that you handle this whole business, manage it, and bring it to completion in such a way that what we obtained from the consuls without any hesitation—owing to the surpassing goodness and fairness of the case—you should not merely allow us to have obtained without difficulty, but should actually rejoice that we have obtained it. Such goodwill toward Atticus you have often shown, when present, both to him and indeed also to me. And if you do this, you will have me—whom you have always reckoned bound to you by goodwill and by an ancestral tie of friendship—held fast by the greatest of favors; and that you should do this I beg of you most earnestly, again and again.
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
iam antea petivi abs te per litteras ut, cum causa Buthrotiorum probata a consulibus esset quibus et lege et senatus consulto permissum erat ut de Caesaris actis cognoscerent, statuerent, iudicarent, eam rem tu adiuvares Atticumque nostrum cuius te studiosum cognovi et me qui non minus laboro molestia liberares. omnibus enim rebus magna cura, multa opera et labore confectis in te positum est ut nostrae sollicitudinis finem quam primum facere possimus. quamquam intellegimus ea te esse prudentia ut videas, si ea decreta consulum quae de Caesaris actis interposita sunt non serventur, magnam perturbationem rerum fore. [2] equidem cum multa (quod necesse erat in tanta occupatione) non probentur quae Caesar statuerit, tamen oti pacisque causa acerrime illa soleo defendere. quod tibi idem magno opere faciendum censeo; quamquam haec epistula non suasoris est sed rogatoris. igitur, mi Plance, rogo te et etiam oro, sic medius fidius ut maiore studio magisque ex animo agere non possim, ut totum hoc negotium ita agas, ita tractes, ita conficias ut, quod sine ulla dubitatione apud consules obtinuimus propter summam bonitatem et aequitatem causae, id tu nos obtinuisse non modo facile patiare sed etiam gaudeas. qua quidem voluntate <te> esse erga Atticum saepe praesens et illi ostendisti et vero etiam mihi. quod si feceris, me quem voluntate et paterna necessitudine coniunctum semper habuisti maximo beneficio devinctum habebis idque ut facias te vehementer etiam atque etiam rogo.