Marcus Tullius Cicero→Lucius Munatius Plancus|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
As soon as I had the opportunity to increase your standing, I omitted nothing that could honor you, whether in the reward due to virtue or in the honor of public language. You will be able to learn that from the Senate decree itself. It was written out exactly as I delivered my opinion from a prepared text, and a full Senate followed it with the greatest eagerness and strong agreement.
Although I had clearly seen from the letters you sent me that you take more pleasure in the judgment of good men than in the visible badges of glory, I still thought we had to consider, even if you asked for nothing, how much the republic owed you.
You must connect the ending with the beginning. The man who crushes Antony will finish the war. That is why Homer called neither Ajax nor Achilles, but Ulysses, the sacker of cities.
DCCCLIV (Fam. X, 13) TO L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS (IN GALLIA COMATA) ROME (10 MAY) From the first moment that the opportunity was given me of promoting your position, I omitted nothing that was calculated to do you honour, whether in the way of substantial reward for valour or of complimentary words. That you will be able to learn from the decree of the senate itself: for it was drawn up word for word as I delivered my motion from a written copy; which motion was carried by a full senate with great enthusiasm and striking unanimity. Although I clearly gathered from your letter to me that you cared more for the approval of good men than for the outward badges of distinction, yet I thought that we ought to take into calculation — even if you made no demand — how much was due to you from the Republic. See that you make the end tally with the beginning. For the man who crushes Antony will have finished the war. Just so Homer did not give either Ajax or Achilles the title of" city-sacker," but Ulysses .
XIII. Scr. Romae mense Maio (ante Id.) a.u.c. 711. CICERO PLANCO.
Ut primum mihi potestas data est augendae dignitatis tuae, nihil praetermisi in te ornando, quod positum esset aut in praemio virtutis aut in honore verborum: id ex ipso senatus consulto poteris cognoscere; ita enim est perscriptum, ut a me de scripto dicta sententia est, quam senatus frequens secutus est summo studio magnoque consensu. Ego quamquam ex tuis litteris, quas mihi misisti, perspexeram te magis iudicio bonorum quam insignibus gloriae delectari, tamen considerandum nobis existimavi, etiamsi tu nihil postulares, quantum tibi a re publica deberetur. Tu contexes extrema cum primis: qui enim Antonium oppresserit, is bellum confecerit; itaque Homerus non Aiacem nec Achillem, sed Ulixem appellavit ptolipÒryion.
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As soon as I had the opportunity to increase your standing, I omitted nothing that could honor you, whether in the reward due to virtue or in the honor of public language. You will be able to learn that from the Senate decree itself. It was written out exactly as I delivered my opinion from a prepared text, and a full Senate followed it with the greatest eagerness and strong agreement.
Although I had clearly seen from the letters you sent me that you take more pleasure in the judgment of good men than in the visible badges of glory, I still thought we had to consider, even if you asked for nothing, how much the republic owed you.
You must connect the ending with the beginning. The man who crushes Antony will finish the war. That is why Homer called neither Ajax nor Achilles, but Ulysses, the sacker of cities.
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
XIII. Scr. Romae mense Maio (ante Id.) a.u.c. 711. CICERO PLANCO.
Ut primum mihi potestas data est augendae dignitatis tuae, nihil praetermisi in te ornando, quod positum esset aut in praemio virtutis aut in honore verborum: id ex ipso senatus consulto poteris cognoscere; ita enim est perscriptum, ut a me de scripto dicta sententia est, quam senatus frequens secutus est summo studio magnoque consensu. Ego quamquam ex tuis litteris, quas mihi misisti, perspexeram te magis iudicio bonorum quam insignibus gloriae delectari, tamen considerandum nobis existimavi, etiamsi tu nihil postulares, quantum tibi a re publica deberetur. Tu contexes extrema cum primis: qui enim Antonium oppresserit, is bellum confecerit; itaque Homerus non Aiacem nec Achillem, sed Ulixem appellavit ptolipÒryion.