Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 58 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
Although before this I thought it very much in our interest that you should be with us, yet truly, once I read the bill, I understood that for the journey which I have resolved upon nothing more desirable could befall me than that you should follow after me as soon as possible, so that, when we have set out from Italy, whether the route must be made through Epirus, we might make use of the protection of you and your people, or whether something else must be done, we might be able to adopt a settled plan in accordance with your judgment. For this reason I beg you to take pains to overtake me at once; and this you can do the more easily since the law concerning the province of Macedonia has been carried. I would plead with you at greater length, were not the matter itself speaking on my behalf before you.
I had been thinking that it would be of the greatest service to me to
have you with me, but when I read the bill, I saw at once that the
most desirable thing in view of the journey I have undertaken would be
that you should join me as soon as possible. Then I should have the
benefit of your own and your friends’ protection, if I passed through
Epirus, after leaving Italy; and, if I chose any other course, I could
lay down fixed plans on your advice. So please be quick and join me. You
can the more easily do so as the bill about the province of Macedonia
has been passed. I would say more, if facts themselves did not speak for
me with you.
Cum antea maxime nostra interesse arbitrabar te esse nobiscum, tum vero, ut legi rogationem, intellexi ad iter id quod constitui nihil mihi optatius cadere posse quam ut tu me quam primum consequerere, ut, cum ex Italia profecti essemus, sive per Epirum iter esset faciendum, tuo tuorumque praesidio uteremur, sive aliud quid agendum esset, certum consilium de tua sententia capere possemus. quam ob rem te oro des operam ut me statim consequare; quod eo facilius potes quoniam de provincia Macedonia perlata lex est. pluribus verbis tecum agerem nisi pro me apud te res ipsa loqueretur.
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Although before this I thought it very much in our interest that you should be with us, yet truly, once I read the bill, I understood that for the journey which I have resolved upon nothing more desirable could befall me than that you should follow after me as soon as possible, so that, when we have set out from Italy, whether the route must be made through Epirus, we might make use of the protection of you and your people, or whether something else must be done, we might be able to adopt a settled plan in accordance with your judgment. For this reason I beg you to take pains to overtake me at once; and this you can do the more easily since the law concerning the province of Macedonia has been carried. I would plead with you at greater length, were not the matter itself speaking on my behalf before you.
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
Cum antea maxime nostra interesse arbitrabar te esse nobiscum, tum vero, ut legi rogationem, intellexi ad iter id quod constitui nihil mihi optatius cadere posse quam ut tu me quam primum consequerere, ut, cum ex Italia profecti essemus, sive per Epirum iter esset faciendum, tuo tuorumque praesidio uteremur, sive aliud quid agendum esset, certum consilium de tua sententia capere possemus. quam ob rem te oro des operam ut me statim consequare; quod eo facilius potes quoniam de provincia Macedonia perlata lex est. pluribus verbis tecum agerem nisi pro me apud te res ipsa loqueretur.