Marcus Tullius Cicero→Lucius Munatius Plancus|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
What welcome news it was, two days before the victory, to hear of the support you were bringing, your zeal, your speed, and your forces. And yet, even after the enemy has been routed, all hope still rests on you. The most notorious leaders of those outlaws are said to have escaped from the battle of Mutina, and it is no less welcome to destroy the final remnants than to repel the first assault.
I was already waiting for a letter from you, as were many others. I also hoped that Lepidus, warned by the crisis facing the republic, would act with you and with the republic.
So devote yourself to this task, my dear Plancus: make sure that no spark of this most foul war is left. If that is done, you will have given the republic a blessing beyond human measure, and you yourself will win eternal glory.
DCCCXLIX (Fam. X, 14) TO L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS (IN GALLIA COMATA) ROME, 5 MAY: WHAT a pleasant report it was that we received two days before that of the victory of the support you were bringing up, of your zeal, your rapid movements, and the forces at your disposal! And yet even now that the enemy have been repulsed our whole hope is in you. For the most notorious ringleaders of those outlaws are said to have escaped from the battle of Mutina . Now it is no less satisfactory to wipe out the last part of an invasion than to drive off the first. As for me, I am anxiously looking for a letter from you, and my anxiety is shared by many. I am in hopes, too, that Lepidus — warned by the present state of public affairs-wilt act with you and the Republic. Therefore, my dear Plancus , make it your special aim that not a single spark of that most abominable war be left alight. If this is accomplished, you will have done the state a service more than human and will also win imperishable honour for yourself. 5 May.
XIV. Scr. Romae III. Nonas Maias a.u.c. 711. CICERO PLANCO SAL.
O gratam famam biduo ante victoriam de subsidio tuo, de studio, de celeritate, de copiis! Atqui etiam hostibus fusis spes omnis est in te; fugisse enim ex proelio Mutinensi dicuntur notissimi latronum duces; est autem non minus gratum extrema delere quam prima depellere. Equidem exspectabam iam tuas litteras, idque cum multis, sperabamque etiam Lepidum rei publicae temporibus admonitum tecum et reip.[ublicae] esse facturum. In illam igitur curam incumbe, mi Plance, ut ne quae scintilla taeterrimi belli relinquatur; quod si erit factum, et rem publicam divino beneficio affeceris et ipse aeternam gloriam consequere. D. III. Non Mai.
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What welcome news it was, two days before the victory, to hear of the support you were bringing, your zeal, your speed, and your forces. And yet, even after the enemy has been routed, all hope still rests on you. The most notorious leaders of those outlaws are said to have escaped from the battle of Mutina, and it is no less welcome to destroy the final remnants than to repel the first assault.
I was already waiting for a letter from you, as were many others. I also hoped that Lepidus, warned by the crisis facing the republic, would act with you and with the republic.
So devote yourself to this task, my dear Plancus: make sure that no spark of this most foul war is left. If that is done, you will have given the republic a blessing beyond human measure, and you yourself will win eternal glory.
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
XIV. Scr. Romae III. Nonas Maias a.u.c. 711. CICERO PLANCO SAL.
O gratam famam biduo ante victoriam de subsidio tuo, de studio, de celeritate, de copiis! Atqui etiam hostibus fusis spes omnis est in te; fugisse enim ex proelio Mutinensi dicuntur notissimi latronum duces; est autem non minus gratum extrema delere quam prima depellere. Equidem exspectabam iam tuas litteras, idque cum multis, sperabamque etiam Lepidum rei publicae temporibus admonitum tecum et reip.[ublicae] esse facturum. In illam igitur curam incumbe, mi Plance, ut ne quae scintilla taeterrimi belli relinquatur; quod si erit factum, et rem publicam divino beneficio affeceris et ipse aeternam gloriam consequere. D. III. Non Mai.