Marcus Tullius Cicero→Gaius Trebatius Testa|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
If you had not left Rome before, you would certainly leave it now. Who needs a jurist amid so many interregna [gaps in normal magistracies]? I would advise every defendant to ask each interrex for two adjournments to consult counsel. Do I seem to have learned enough civil law from you?
But tell me: what are you doing? Is anything happening? I see you are already joking in your letters, and those are better signs than the signa in my Tusculan villa. Still, I want to know what it means. You write that Caesar consults you, but I would rather Caesar were advised by you. If that is happening, or if you think it will happen, endure the military life and stay where you are. I will console myself for missing you with the hope of your advantage.
But if things there are emptier than they sound, come back to us. Either something will eventually happen here, or, if not, one conversation between us, by Hercules, will be worth more than all the Samarobrivas in the world. Finally, if you return quickly, there will be no talk. If you stay away much longer to no purpose, I fear not only Laberius but also our friend Valerius. A British jurist could be turned into a marvelous comic character.
I am not laughing at you, however much you may laugh. As usual, I joke with you about a very serious matter. Joking aside, I advise you with the friendliest possible feeling: if through my recommendation you can keep a position there worthy of you, endure missing us and enlarge your reputation and resources. But if things there grow cold, come back to us.
In any case, may you gain everything you want, certainly by your own merit and also by my great devotion to you.
CLXVI (Fam. VII, 11) TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL) ROME (JANUARY OR FEBRUARY) If you had not left Rome before, you certainly would have left it now. For who wants a lawyer when there are so many interregna? I shall advise all defendants in civil suits to ask each interrex for two adjournments for obtaining legal assistance. Do you think that I have taken a pretty good hint from you as to civil procedure? But come! How are you? What is happening? For I notice in your letter a tendency to be even jocose. These are better signs than the signa in my Tusculan villa. But I want to know what it means. You say, indeed, that you are consulted by Caesar , but I should have preferred his consulting by you. If that is taking place, or you think it likely to take place, by all means persevere in your military service and stay on: I shall console myself for my loss of you by the hope that it will be your gain: but if, on the other hand, things are not paying with you, come back to us. For either something will turn up sooner or later here, or, if not, one conversation between you and me, by heaven, will be worth more than all the Samobrivae in the world. Finally, if you return speedily, there will be no talk about it; but if you stay away much longer without getting anything, I am in terror not only of Laberius , but of our comrade Valerius also. For it would make a capital character for a farce — a British lawyer! I am not laughing though you may laugh, but, as usual, when writing to you, I jest on the most serious subject. Joking apart, I advise you in the most friendly spirit, that if you hold a position for yourself worthy of my introduction, you should put up with the loss of my society and farther your own career and wealth: but if things are stagnant with you there, come back to us. In spite of everything you will get all you want, by your own good qualities certainly, but also by my extreme affection for you.
XI. Scr. Romae (ante m. Martium) a.u.c. 701. CICERO TREBATIO.
Nisi ante Roma profectus esses, nunc eam certe relinqueres; quis enim tot interregnis iureconsultum desiderat? Ego omnibus, unde petitur, hoc consilii dederim, ut a singulis interregibus binas advocationes postulent: satisne tibi videor abs te ius civile didicisse? Sed heus tu, quid agis? ecquid fit? video enim te iam iocari per litteras: haec signa meliora sunt quam in meo Tusculano; sed, quid sit, scire cupio. Consuli quidem te a Caesare scribis; sed ego tibi ab illo consuli mallem: quod si aut fit aut futurum putas, perfer istam militiam et permane; ego enim desiderium tui spe tuorum commodorum consolabor; sin autem ista sunt inaniora, recipe te ad nos; nam aut erit hic aliquid aliquando aut, si minus, una mehercule collocutio nostar pluris erit quam omnes Samarobrive; denique, si cito te rettuleris, sermo nullus erit, si diutius frustra afueris, non modo Laberium, sed etiam sodalem nostrum Valerium pertimesco; mira enim persona induci potest Britannici iureconsulti. Haec ego non rideo, quamvis tu rideas; sed de re severissima tecum, ut soleo, iocor. Remoto ioco tibi hoc amicissimo animo praecipio, ut, si istic mea commendatione tuam dignitatem obtinebis, perferas nostri desiderium, honestatem et facultates tuas augeas, sin autem ista frigebunt, recipias te ad nos. Omnia tamen, quae vis, et tua virtute profecto et nostro summo erga te studio consequere.
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If you had not left Rome before, you would certainly leave it now. Who needs a jurist amid so many interregna [gaps in normal magistracies]? I would advise every defendant to ask each interrex for two adjournments to consult counsel. Do I seem to have learned enough civil law from you?
But tell me: what are you doing? Is anything happening? I see you are already joking in your letters, and those are better signs than the signa in my Tusculan villa. Still, I want to know what it means. You write that Caesar consults you, but I would rather Caesar were advised by you. If that is happening, or if you think it will happen, endure the military life and stay where you are. I will console myself for missing you with the hope of your advantage.
But if things there are emptier than they sound, come back to us. Either something will eventually happen here, or, if not, one conversation between us, by Hercules, will be worth more than all the Samarobrivas in the world. Finally, if you return quickly, there will be no talk. If you stay away much longer to no purpose, I fear not only Laberius but also our friend Valerius. A British jurist could be turned into a marvelous comic character.
I am not laughing at you, however much you may laugh. As usual, I joke with you about a very serious matter. Joking aside, I advise you with the friendliest possible feeling: if through my recommendation you can keep a position there worthy of you, endure missing us and enlarge your reputation and resources. But if things there grow cold, come back to us.
In any case, may you gain everything you want, certainly by your own merit and also by my great devotion to you.
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
XI. Scr. Romae (ante m. Martium) a.u.c. 701. CICERO TREBATIO.
Nisi ante Roma profectus esses, nunc eam certe relinqueres; quis enim tot interregnis iureconsultum desiderat? Ego omnibus, unde petitur, hoc consilii dederim, ut a singulis interregibus binas advocationes postulent: satisne tibi videor abs te ius civile didicisse? Sed heus tu, quid agis? ecquid fit? video enim te iam iocari per litteras: haec signa meliora sunt quam in meo Tusculano; sed, quid sit, scire cupio. Consuli quidem te a Caesare scribis; sed ego tibi ab illo consuli mallem: quod si aut fit aut futurum putas, perfer istam militiam et permane; ego enim desiderium tui spe tuorum commodorum consolabor; sin autem ista sunt inaniora, recipe te ad nos; nam aut erit hic aliquid aliquando aut, si minus, una mehercule collocutio nostar pluris erit quam omnes Samarobrive; denique, si cito te rettuleris, sermo nullus erit, si diutius frustra afueris, non modo Laberium, sed etiam sodalem nostrum Valerium pertimesco; mira enim persona induci potest Britannici iureconsulti. Haec ego non rideo, quamvis tu rideas; sed de re severissima tecum, ut soleo, iocor. Remoto ioco tibi hoc amicissimo animo praecipio, ut, si istic mea commendatione tuam dignitatem obtinebis, perferas nostri desiderium, honestatem et facultates tuas augeas, sin autem ista frigebunt, recipias te ad nos. Omnia tamen, quae vis, et tua virtute profecto et nostro summo erga te studio consequere.