Marcus Tullius Cicero→Gaius Trebatius Testa|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
In every letter I send to Caesar or Balbus there is a regular appendix recommending you, and not an ordinary one, but one marked by some clear sign of my affection for you.
Only put away those foolish regrets for Rome and urban polish. Pursue, with persistence and courage, the plan for which you set out. We your friends will forgive this absence from home just as the wealthy noble matrons who held Corinth's high citadel forgave Medea, when she persuaded them, with hands whitened with chalk, not to blame her for being away from her fatherland. For many men have managed both their own interests and the public interest well far from home; many who spent their lives at home have been judged worthless. You would certainly have been among the latter if we had not pushed you out.
I will write more another time. You have learned how to protect others, so in Britain take care that you are not deceived by the chariot-fighters. And since I have begun quoting Medea, always remember this: the wise man who cannot help himself is wise for nothing.
Take care of your health.
In all my letters to Cæsar or Balbus there is a sort of statutory appendix containing a recommendation of you, and not one of the ordinary kind, but accompanied by some signal mark of my warm feeling towards you. See only that you get rid of that feeble regret of yours for the city and city ways, and carry out with persistence and courage what you had in your mind when you set out. We, your friends, shall pardon your going away for that purpose as much as "The wealthy noble dames who held the Corinthian peak" pardoned Medea, whom, with hands whitened to the utmost with chalk, she persuaded not to think ill of her for being absent from her fatherland: for "Many have served themselves abroad and served the state as well; Many have spent their lives at home to be but counted fools." In which latter category you would have certainly been, had I not forced you abroad. But I will write more another time. You who learnt to look out for others, look out, while in Britain, that you are not yourself taken in by the charioteers; and, since I have begun quoting the _Medea_, remember this line: "The sage who cannot serve himself is vainly wise I ween." Take care of your health.[590]
VI. Scr. Romae mense Maio a.u.c. 700 CICERO S. D. TREBATIO.
In omnibus meis epistulis, quas ad Caesarem aut ad Balbum mitto, legitima quaedam est accessio commendationis tuae, nec ea vulgaris, sed cum aliquo insigni indicio meae erga te benevolentiae. Tu modo ineptias istas et desideria urbis et urbanitatis depone et, quo consilio profectus es, id assiduitate et virtute consequere: hoc tibi tam ignoscemus nos amici, quam ignoverunt Medeae, quae Corinthum arcem altam habebant matronae opulentae, optimates, quibus illa manibus gypsatissimis persuasit, ne sibi vitio illae verterent, quod abesset a patria; nam multi suam rem bene gessere et publicam patria procul: multi, qui domi aetatem agerent, propterea sunt improbati; quo in numero tu certe fuisses, nisi te extrusissemus. Sed plura scribemus alias. Tu, qui ceteris cavere didicisti, in Britannia ne ab essedariis decipiaris caveto et, quoniam Medeam coepi agere, illud semper memento: qui ipse sibi sapiens prodesse non quit, nequidquam sapit. Cura, ut valeas.
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In every letter I send to Caesar or Balbus there is a regular appendix recommending you, and not an ordinary one, but one marked by some clear sign of my affection for you.
Only put away those foolish regrets for Rome and urban polish. Pursue, with persistence and courage, the plan for which you set out. We your friends will forgive this absence from home just as the wealthy noble matrons who held Corinth's high citadel forgave Medea, when she persuaded them, with hands whitened with chalk, not to blame her for being away from her fatherland. For many men have managed both their own interests and the public interest well far from home; many who spent their lives at home have been judged worthless. You would certainly have been among the latter if we had not pushed you out.
I will write more another time. You have learned how to protect others, so in Britain take care that you are not deceived by the chariot-fighters. And since I have begun quoting Medea, always remember this: the wise man who cannot help himself is wise for nothing.
Take care of your health.
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
VI. Scr. Romae mense Maio a.u.c. 700 CICERO S. D. TREBATIO.
In omnibus meis epistulis, quas ad Caesarem aut ad Balbum mitto, legitima quaedam est accessio commendationis tuae, nec ea vulgaris, sed cum aliquo insigni indicio meae erga te benevolentiae. Tu modo ineptias istas et desideria urbis et urbanitatis depone et, quo consilio profectus es, id assiduitate et virtute consequere: hoc tibi tam ignoscemus nos amici, quam ignoverunt Medeae, quae Corinthum arcem altam habebant matronae opulentae, optimates, quibus illa manibus gypsatissimis persuasit, ne sibi vitio illae verterent, quod abesset a patria; nam multi suam rem bene gessere et publicam patria procul: multi, qui domi aetatem agerent, propterea sunt improbati; quo in numero tu certe fuisses, nisi te extrusissemus. Sed plura scribemus alias. Tu, qui ceteris cavere didicisti, in Britannia ne ab essedariis decipiaris caveto et, quoniam Medeam coepi agere, illud semper memento: qui ipse sibi sapiens prodesse non quit, nequidquam sapit. Cura, ut valeas.