Letter 7.18

I received several letters from you at the same time, though you had sent them at different times. In them everything else pleased me. They showed that you now bear that military service with a steady mind, and that you are a brave and constant man. I had missed those qualities in you for a little while, not because your spirit is weak, but rather because I thought you were burning with longing for us. So continue as you have begun. Bear that service with courage. Believe me, you will gain many things. I will renew my recommendation, but at the right time. Be assured that you are no more concerned than I am that this separation from me be as fruitful as possible for you. Since your securities are weak, I have sent you a little Greek security in my own handwriting. Please inform me about the course of the Gallic war. I trust the least warlike person most. But to return to your letters: the rest was nicely done. This one thing surprises me: who sends several copies in the same wording when he writes by his own hand? As for using a palimpsest, I commend your economy. But I wonder what was on that scrap that you preferred to erase rather than leave these lines unwritten - unless perhaps it was one of your legal formulas. I do not think you erase my letters to put yours in their place. Or are you signaling that nothing is happening, that you are cold, that you do not even have enough paper? That is now your own fault for taking your modesty away with you instead of leaving it here with us. I will recommend you to Balbus in the Roman fashion when he sets out for you. If the gap between my letters is rather long, do not be surprised. I will be away during April. I wrote this in the Pomptine district after stopping at the villa of Marcus Aemilius Philemo, from which I could already hear the roar of my clients, the ones you secured for me. At Ulubrae, in honor of me, a vast force of little frogs had clearly stirred itself up. Take care of your health. April 8, from the Pomptine district. The letter I received from Lucius Arruntius I tore up, though it was innocent. It contained nothing that could not safely have been read aloud in a public meeting. But Arruntius said you had instructed him so, and you had added the same note. So let that stand. What I do wonder is that you have written nothing to me afterward, especially amid such new events.

CLXXII (Fam. VII, 18) TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL) A VILLA IN THE AGER POMPTINUS, 8 APRIL: I have received several letters from you at the same time, written at various times, in which everything else gave me great pleasure; for they showed that you were now sustaining your military service with a brave spirit, and were a gallant and resolute man. These are qualities which for a short time I felt to be lacking in you, though I attributed your uneasiness not so much to any weakness of your own spirit, as to your feeling your absence from us. Therefore go on as you have begun: endure your service with a stout heart: believe me, the advantages you will gain are many; for I will reiterate my recommendation of you, though I shall wait for the right moment of doing so. Be assured that you are not more anxious that your separation from me should be as profitable as possible to yourself than I am. Accordingly, as your “securities” are somewhat weak, I have sent you one in my poor Greek, written by my own hand. For your part, I should wish you to keep me informed of the course of the war in Gaul: for the less warlike my informant, the more inclined I am to believe him. But to return to your letters. Everything else (as I said) is prettily written, but I do wonder at this: who in the world sends several identical letters, when he writes them with his own hand? For your writing on paper that has been used before, I commend your economy: but I can't help wondering what it was that you preferred to rub out of this bit of paper rather than not write such poor stuff as this — unless it were, perhaps, some of your legal formulas. For I don't suppose you rub out my letters to replace them with your own. Can it mean that there is no business going on, that you are out of work, that you haven't even a supply of paper? Well, that is entirely your own fault, for taking your modesty abroad with you instead of leaving it behind here with us. I will commend you to Balbus , when he starts to join you, in the good old Roman style. Don't be astonished if there is a somewhat longer interval than usual between my letters: for I intend being out of town in April. I write this letter in the Pomptine district, having put up at the villa of M. Aemilius Philemo , from which I could hear the noise of my clients, I mean those you confided to me. For at Ulubrae it is certain that an enormous mass of frogs have bestirred themselves to do me honour. Take care of your health. 8 April, from the Ager Pomptinus . P.S. — Your letter which I received from L. Arruntius I have torn up, though it didn't deserve it for it had nothing in it which might not have been safely read in a public meeting. But not only did Arruntius say that such were your orders, but you had appended a similar injunction to your letter. Well, be it so! I am surprised at your not having written anything to me since, especially as you are in the midst of such stirring events.

XVIII. Scr. in Pomptino VI. Idus Apriles a.u.c. 701. CICERO TREBATIO SAL. Accepi a te aliquot epistulas uno tempore, quas tu diversis temporibus dederas: in quibus me cetera delectarunt; significabant enim te istam militiam iam firmo animo ferre et esse fortem virum et constantem; quae ego paullisper in te ita desideravi, non imbecillitate animi tui, sed magis ut desiderio nostri te aestuare putarem. Quare perge, ut coepisti; forti animo istam tolera militiam: multa, mihi crede, assequere; ego enim renovabo commendationem, sed tempore. Sic habeto, non tibi maiori esse curae, ut iste tuus a me discessus quam fructuosissimus tibi sit, quam mihi; itaque, quoniam vestrae cautiones infirmae sunt, Graeculam tibi misi cautionem chirographi mei. Tu me velim de ratione Gallici belli certiorem facias; ego enim ignavissimo cuique maximam fidem habeo. Sed, ut ad epistulas tuas redeam, cetera belle; illud miror: quis solet eodem exemplo plures dare, qui sua manu scribit? nam, quod in palimpsesto, laudo equidem parismoniam; sed miror, quid in illa chartula fuerit, quod delere malueris quam haec non scribere, nisi forte tuas formulas; non enim puto te meas epistulas delere, ut reponas tuas. An hoc significas, nihil fieri, frigere te, ne chartam quidem tibi suppeditare? iam ista tua culpa est, qui verecundiam tecum extuleris et non hic nobiscum reliqueris. Ego te Balbo, cum ad vos proficiscetur, more Romano commendabo: tu, si intervallum longius erit mearum litterarum, ne sis admiratus; eran enim afuturus mense Aprili. Has litteras scripsi in Pomptino, cum ad villam M. Aemilii Philemonis devertissem, ex qua iam audieram fremitum clientium meorum, quos quidem tu mihi conciliasti; nam Ulubris honoris mei causa vim maximam ranunculorum se commosse constabat. Cura, ut valeas. VI. Id. April. de Pomptino. Epistulam tuam, quam accepi ab L. Arruntio, conscidi innocentem; nihil enim habebat, quod non vel in concione recte legi posset; sed et Arruntius ita te mandasse aiebat et tu ascripseras. Verum illud esto: nihil te ad me postea scripsisse demiror, praesertim tam novis rebus.