Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 58 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
Both your letter, and certain good reports, though from not the most reliable sources, and my expectation of a letter from you, and the fact that it had so seemed best to you, were keeping me at Thessalonica until now. If I receive the letter I am expecting, if there will be the hope that was being brought by the rumors, I will betake myself to you; if there will not be, I will inform you what I have done. [2] You, as you are doing, help me with effort, counsel, and influence; cease now to console me, but do not reproach me; when you do that, how I miss your love and your grief! For I think you are so affected by my distress that no one can console you yourself. Sustain my brother Quintus, that best and most kindly of men. I beg you to write me a full account of everything for certain. Dispatched on the fourth day before the Kalends of Quintilis [June 28].
At present I am kept at Thessalonica by your letter and by some good news, which however has not the best authority. Besides I am waiting for your note, and you expressed your desire that I should stay here. As soon as I receive the note I am waiting for, I will come to you, if the hope, which has reached me by rumour, is confirmed. If not, I will let you know my movements. Please continue to
exert your energy, your wits and your influence on my behalf. I don’t ask for encouragement: but please don’t find fault with me; for when you do that, I feel as though I had lost your affection and your sympathy, though I am sure you take my misfortune so to heart, that you yourself are inconsolable. Lend a helping hand to Quintus, the best and kindest of brothers, and for mercy’s sake let me have all the definite news there is.
June 27.
me et tuae litterae et quidam boni nuntii, non optimis tamen auctoribus, et exspectatio vestrarum litterarum et quod tibi ita placuerat adhuc Thessalonicae tenebat. si accepero litteras quas exspecto, si spes erit ea quae rumoribus adferebatur, ad te me conferam; si non erit, faciam te certiorem quid egerim. [2] tu me, ut facis, opera, consilio, gratia iuva; consolari iam desine, obiurgare vero noli; quod cum facis, ut ego tuum amorem et dolorem desidero! quem ita adfectum mea aerumna esse arbitror ut te ipsum consolari nemo possit. Quintum fratrem optimum humanissimumque sustenta. ad me obsecro te ut omnia certa perscribas. data iiii Kal. Quintilis.
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Both your letter, and certain good reports, though from not the most reliable sources, and my expectation of a letter from you, and the fact that it had so seemed best to you, were keeping me at Thessalonica until now. If I receive the letter I am expecting, if there will be the hope that was being brought by the rumors, I will betake myself to you; if there will not be, I will inform you what I have done. [2] You, as you are doing, help me with effort, counsel, and influence; cease now to console me, but do not reproach me; when you do that, how I miss your love and your grief! For I think you are so affected by my distress that no one can console you yourself. Sustain my brother Quintus, that best and most kindly of men. I beg you to write me a full account of everything for certain. Dispatched on the fourth day before the Kalends of Quintilis [June 28].
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
me et tuae litterae et quidam boni nuntii, non optimis tamen auctoribus, et exspectatio vestrarum litterarum et quod tibi ita placuerat adhuc Thessalonicae tenebat. si accepero litteras quas exspecto, si spes erit ea quae rumoribus adferebatur, ad te me conferam; si non erit, faciam te certiorem quid egerim. [2] tu me, ut facis, opera, consilio, gratia iuva; consolari iam desine, obiurgare vero noli; quod cum facis, ut ego tuum amorem et dolorem desidero! quem ita adfectum mea aerumna esse arbitror ut te ipsum consolari nemo possit. Quintum fratrem optimum humanissimumque sustenta. ad me obsecro te ut omnia certa perscribas. data iiii Kal. Quintilis.