Please read first the dispatch I have sent to the Senate, and change anything that seems right to you. You will see for yourself that I had to write it. When I thought the Fourth and Martian legions would be with me, as Drusus and Paullus proposed and you senators approved, I thought I needed to worry less about everything else.
Now, however, when I am with raw recruits who have almost nothing, I cannot help being very afraid both for my own position and for yours.
The people of Vicetia are especially attentive to me and to Marcus Brutus. I ask you not to allow any wrong to be done to them in the Senate over the matter of their home-born slaves. They have an excellent case, they have shown the highest loyalty to the republic, and the class of men opposing them is seditious and utterly unreliable.
May 21, at Vercellae.
DCCCLXXI (Fam. XI, 19) DECIMUS BRUTUS TO CICERO (AT ROME) VERCELLAE, 21 MAY: I SHOULD wish you to read over first the despatch which I have sent the senate and make any alterations you think right. You will notice that I could not avoid writing it: for while I thought that the fourth and Martian legions would be serving with me, in accordance with the motion of Drusus and Paullus , with the support of you senators, I thought I need not much concern myself about anything else. In present circumstances, however, when I am accompanied by the most ill-equipped raw recruits, it is inevitable that I should be much alarmed both on my own account and on yours. The people of Vicetia show very great attention to me and Marcus Brutus . I beg you to see that no wrong is done them in the senate on the question concerning their home-born slaves. They have a very strong case, are very loyal to the Republic, and have a class of men opposed to them seditious and extremely idle.
XIX. Scr. Vercellis XII. Kal. Iun. a.u.c. 711. D. BRUTUS IMP. COS. DESIG. S. D. M. CICERONI.
Ad senatum quas litteras misi, velim prius perlegas et, si qua tibi videbuntur, commutes. Necessario me scripsisse ipse animadvertes; nam, cum putarem quartam et Martiam legiones mecum futuras, ut Druso Paulloque placuerat vobis assentientibus, minus de reliquis rebus laborandum existimavi, nunc vero, cum sim cum tironibus egentissimis, valde et meam et vestram vicem timeam necesse est. Vicetini me et M. Brutum praecipue observant: his ne quam patiare iniuriam fieri in senatu vernarum causa, a te peto. Causam habent optimam, officium in rem publicam summum, genus hominum adversariorum seditiosum et incertissimum. XII. Kal. Iun. Vercellis.
◆
Please read first the dispatch I have sent to the Senate, and change anything that seems right to you. You will see for yourself that I had to write it. When I thought the Fourth and Martian legions would be with me, as Drusus and Paullus proposed and you senators approved, I thought I needed to worry less about everything else.
Now, however, when I am with raw recruits who have almost nothing, I cannot help being very afraid both for my own position and for yours.
The people of Vicetia are especially attentive to me and to Marcus Brutus. I ask you not to allow any wrong to be done to them in the Senate over the matter of their home-born slaves. They have an excellent case, they have shown the highest loyalty to the republic, and the class of men opposing them is seditious and utterly unreliable.
May 21, at Vercellae.
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
XIX. Scr. Vercellis XII. Kal. Iun. a.u.c. 711. D. BRUTUS IMP. COS. DESIG. S. D. M. CICERONI.
Ad senatum quas litteras misi, velim prius perlegas et, si qua tibi videbuntur, commutes. Necessario me scripsisse ipse animadvertes; nam, cum putarem quartam et Martiam legiones mecum futuras, ut Druso Paulloque placuerat vobis assentientibus, minus de reliquis rebus laborandum existimavi, nunc vero, cum sim cum tironibus egentissimis, valde et meam et vestram vicem timeam necesse est. Vicetini me et M. Brutum praecipue observant: his ne quam patiare iniuriam fieri in senatu vernarum causa, a te peto. Causam habent optimam, officium in rem publicam summum, genus hominum adversariorum seditiosum et incertissimum. XII. Kal. Iun. Vercellis.