Lucius Munatius Plancus→Marcus Tullius Cicero|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Gaul|To Rome|AI-assisted
I am glad that I made no rash promise to you, and that you did not make empty assurances about me to others. In fact, you have a stronger proof of my affection in this: I wanted you to know my plans earlier than anyone else. I hope you already see my services increasing day by day; I promise that you will know it even more clearly.
As for me, my dear Cicero, as surely as I hope the republic may be freed, with my help, from the evils threatening it, I value the honors and rewards you can bestow. They may fairly be compared with immortality. Yet even without them I would not slacken at all in zeal or perseverance. Unless, among the many excellent citizens, the impulse of my spirit has been singular and my service outstanding, I want no increase in my standing from your vote.
I desire nothing for myself, for that is precisely what I am fighting against. I can readily allow you to be the judge of both the time and the matter. Nothing given by his country to a citizen can seem too late or too small.
On April 26 I got my army across the Rhone by forced marches. From Vienne I sent ahead a thousand cavalry by a shorter road. If Lepidus does not block me, I will satisfy every expectation for speed. But if he sets himself against my march, I will decide what the moment requires. I am bringing troops whose numbers, quality, and loyalty are all completely sound. I ask you to love me, if you know that you will do so in return. Farewell.
DCCCXLII (Fam. X, 9) L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS TO CICERO (AT ROME) NEAR VIENNE IN GALLIA NARBONENSIS (27 APRIL) I am glad that I made no rash promise to you, and that you did not pledge yourself to anything for me without good ground. At any rate you have the stronger evidence of my affection for you in the fact that I wished my plans to be known to you sooner than to anyone else. I hope you clearly perceive that additions to my services are being made every day. I undertake that you shall know it still better. As far as I am concerned, my dear Cicero — as surely as I hope that the state may be relieved through me of the evils that threaten it — though I regard with respect the rewards and honours which you senators have it in your power to bestow — worthy surely to be compared with immortality — yet even without them I am not likely to slacken at all in my zeal and persistence. Unless in the crowd of the most loyal citizens my enthusiasm has been conspicuous and my exertion eminent, I do not desire any accession to my honour by the votes of your house. I covet no honour for myself — it is against such covetousness that I am myself fighting. I am quite content that you should have the decision both of its amount and of its season. A citizen can never think honour paid him by his country either too late or insufficient. I got my army across the Rhone on the 26th of April by forced marches. I sent forward a thousand cavalry from Vienne by a shorter route. If I am not delayed by Lepidus , I shall myself leave nothing to be desired in the way of speed. If; however, he puts himself across my line of march, I shall take such measures as seem necessary. I am bringing a force thoroughly satisfactory as to numbers, nature, and loyalty. I beg you for your affection, as you know that it will be only mutual.
IX. Scr. in Gallia Narbonensi exeunte mense Aprili a.u.c. 711. PLANCUS CICERONI SAL.
Nihil me tibi temere aut te ceteris de me frustra recepisse laetor: certe hoc maius habes testimonium amoris mei, quo maturius tibi quam ceteris consilia mea volui esse nota. In dies vero meritorum meorum fieri accessiones pervidere te spero, cogniturum magis recipio. Quod ad me attinet, mi Cicero—ita ab imminentibus malis res publica me adiuvante liberetur!—sic honores praemiaque vestra suspicio, conferenda certe cum immortalitate, ut sine iis nihil de meo studio perseverantiaque sim remissurus: nisi in multitudine optimorum civium impetus animi mei fuerit singularis et opera praecipua, nihil ad meam dignitatem accedere volo suffragatione vestra. Concupisco autem nihil mihi—contra quod ipse pugno—: et temporis et rei te moderatorem facile patior esse; nihil aut sero aut exigue a patria civi tributum potest videri. Exercitum a. d. VI. Kal. Maias Rhodanum traieci magnis itineribus. Vienna equites mille via breviore praemisi. Ipse, si ab Lepido non impediar, celeritate satisfaciam; si autem itineri meo se opposuerit, ad tempus consilium capiam. Copias adduco et numero et genere et fidelitate firmissimas. Te, ut diligas me, si mutuo te facturum scis, rogo. Vale.
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I am glad that I made no rash promise to you, and that you did not make empty assurances about me to others. In fact, you have a stronger proof of my affection in this: I wanted you to know my plans earlier than anyone else. I hope you already see my services increasing day by day; I promise that you will know it even more clearly.
As for me, my dear Cicero, as surely as I hope the republic may be freed, with my help, from the evils threatening it, I value the honors and rewards you can bestow. They may fairly be compared with immortality. Yet even without them I would not slacken at all in zeal or perseverance. Unless, among the many excellent citizens, the impulse of my spirit has been singular and my service outstanding, I want no increase in my standing from your vote.
I desire nothing for myself, for that is precisely what I am fighting against. I can readily allow you to be the judge of both the time and the matter. Nothing given by his country to a citizen can seem too late or too small.
On April 26 I got my army across the Rhone by forced marches. From Vienne I sent ahead a thousand cavalry by a shorter road. If Lepidus does not block me, I will satisfy every expectation for speed. But if he sets himself against my march, I will decide what the moment requires. I am bringing troops whose numbers, quality, and loyalty are all completely sound. I ask you to love me, if you know that you will do so in return. Farewell.
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
IX. Scr. in Gallia Narbonensi exeunte mense Aprili a.u.c. 711. PLANCUS CICERONI SAL.
Nihil me tibi temere aut te ceteris de me frustra recepisse laetor: certe hoc maius habes testimonium amoris mei, quo maturius tibi quam ceteris consilia mea volui esse nota. In dies vero meritorum meorum fieri accessiones pervidere te spero, cogniturum magis recipio. Quod ad me attinet, mi Cicero—ita ab imminentibus malis res publica me adiuvante liberetur!—sic honores praemiaque vestra suspicio, conferenda certe cum immortalitate, ut sine iis nihil de meo studio perseverantiaque sim remissurus: nisi in multitudine optimorum civium impetus animi mei fuerit singularis et opera praecipua, nihil ad meam dignitatem accedere volo suffragatione vestra. Concupisco autem nihil mihi—contra quod ipse pugno—: et temporis et rei te moderatorem facile patior esse; nihil aut sero aut exigue a patria civi tributum potest videri. Exercitum a. d. VI. Kal. Maias Rhodanum traieci magnis itineribus. Vienna equites mille via breviore praemisi. Ipse, si ab Lepido non impediar, celeritate satisfaciam; si autem itineri meo se opposuerit, ad tempus consilium capiam. Copias adduco et numero et genere et fidelitate firmissimas. Te, ut diligas me, si mutuo te facturum scis, rogo. Vale.