Letter 15.3

Envoys sent to me by Antiochus of Commagene came to the camp at Iconium on August 28. They reported that the son of the Parthian king, whose wife was the sister of the Armenian king, had reached the Euphrates with a very large Parthian force and a great host of other peoples besides; that he had actually begun crossing the river; and that the Armenian king was said to be preparing a raid on Cappadocia. Because of our close friendship, I thought I ought to write and tell you this news. I have sent no public dispatch for two reasons. First, the envoys said that the king of Commagene had immediately sent messengers and a dispatch to the senate. Second, I believed that Marcus Bibulus, proconsul of Syria, who sailed there from Ephesus around August 13 with a favorable wind, had by now reached his province, and I thought the senate would certainly receive more definite information on every point from his dispatch. For my part, considering the circumstances and the gravity of the war, my chief concern is to hold, through my own fairness and integrity and through the loyalty of our allies, what I can scarcely hope to hold through the size of my forces or the strength of my resources. I ask you, for your part, to continue your usual affection for me and your defense of me while I am absent.

CCXI (Fam. XV, 3) TO M. PORCIUS CATO (AT ROME) ICONIUM, 28 AUGUST: Ambassadors sent to me by Antiochus of Commagene having arrived at the camp at Iconium on the 28th of August, and having announced to me that the son of the king of the Parthians , whose wife was the sister of the king of the Armenians , had arrived on the Euphrates with a very large force of Parthians , and a great host of other nations besides, and had actually begun the passage of the Euphrates , and that it was reported that the Armenian king was about to make a raid upon Cappadocia — I thought that, considering our close friendship, I ought to write and tell you this news. I have sent no public despatch for two reasons: first, because the ambassadors said that the Commagenian himself had at once sent messengers and a despatch to the senate; and, secondly, because I believed that M. Bibulus , proconsul of Syria , who started thither by sea from Ephesus about the 13th of August, seeing that he had had the wind in his favour, had by this time arrived in his own province, and I thought that the senate was sure to get more definite information on all points in a despatch from him. For myself, considering the circumstances and the gravity of the war, my chief anxiety is to retain by my own leniency and purity, and the loyalty of our allies, what I can scarcely hope to retain by the amount of my forces and material resources. I would beg you, on your part, to continue your habitual affection for me and the defence of me in my absence.

III. Scr. in castris ad Iconium III. Kal. Sept. a.u.c. 703. M. CICERO S. D. M. CATONI. Cum ad me legati missi ab Antiocho Commageno venissent in castra ad Iconium a. d. III Kal. Sept. iique mihi nuntiasset regis Parthorum filium, quocum esset nupta regis Armeniorum soror, ad Euphratem cum maximis Parthorum copiis multarumque praeterea gentium magna manu venisse Euphratemque iam transire coepisse dicique Armenium regem in Cappadociam impetum esse facturum, putavi pro nostra necessitudine me haec ad te scribere oportere. Publice propter duas causas nihil scripsi, quod et ipsum Commagenum legati dicebant ad senatum statim nuntios litterasque misisse et existimabam M. Bibulum procos.—qui circiter Idus Sext. ab Epheso in Syriam navibus profectus erat—, quod secundos ventos habuisset, iam in provinciam suam pervenisse, cuius litteris omnia certiora perlatum iri ad senatum putabam. Mihi, ut in eiusmodi re tantoque bello, maximae curae est, ut, quae copiis et opibus tenere vix possumus, ea mansuetudine et continentia nostra, sociorum fidelitate tueamur. Tu velim, ut consuesti, nos absentes diligas et defendas.