Marcus Tullius Cicero→Marcus Fadius Gallus|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome|AI-assisted
I had only just returned from Arpinum when your letter was delivered to me. From the same messenger I also received Avianius's letter, which contained this very generous offer: when he came, he would enter the debt on whatever day I chose.
Please put yourself in my place. Would it suit either your sense of propriety or mine first to ask about the date and then to request more than a year's credit? Everything would have been easy, my dear Gallus, if you had bought the things I wanted and only up to the amount I had intended. Still, the very purchases you write that you made will not only be approved by me, but gratefully approved. I clearly understand that you acted not only with zeal but with affection when you bought things that pleased you - you, a man I have always judged to have the most refined taste in every matter - because you thought they were worthy of me.
Yet I would like Damasippus to hold to his decision, because I truly want none of those purchases. Not knowing my habits, you paid for those four or five things about as much as I value the whole class of statues altogether. You compare those Bacchae with Metellus's Muses. What resemblance is there? First, I would never have thought even the Muses worth that much, and I would have done so with the approval of all the Muses. Still, they were suitable for a library and fitted my studies. But where in my house is there room for Bacchae?
"But they are pretty," you say. I know them very well and have often seen them. If I had approved them, I would have commissioned you by name for statues I knew. The statues I usually buy are those that decorate a place in my exercise court in the style of Greek gymnasia. As for a statue of Mars, what use is that to me, an advocate of peace? I am glad there was no statue of Saturn. I would have thought those two statues had brought me debt. I would rather there had been some Mercury; then, I suppose, we might have transacted more successfully with Avianius.
The table support you had meant for yourself you may have if you like it. If you have changed your mind, of course I will have it. For that amount of money, I would much rather have bought a stopping place at Tarracina, so that I would not always be a burden to a host.
In general I see that the fault lies with my freedman, whom I had given very definite instructions, and likewise with Junius, whom I think you know as a friend of Avianius. I have laid out some new sitting rooms in a small colonnade at my Tusculan place, and I wanted to decorate them with paintings. If anything of that kind delights me, it is painting. Still, if I must have these items, please tell me where they are, when they are to be fetched, and by what kind of transport. If Damasippus does not hold his position, we will find some pseudo-Damasippus even at a loss.
As for what you write to me a second time about the house, I had already entrusted that matter to my Tullia as I was setting out, since I had received your letter at that very hour. I had also spoken with your Nicias, because, as you know, he is close to Cassius. But when I returned, before I read this latest letter from you, I asked my Tullia what she had done. She said she had approached Licinia - though I think Cassius is not very close to his sister - and that Licinia said she did not dare, while her husband was away, to move house without his presence and knowledge. Dexius has gone to Spain.
I am deeply grateful that you value our way of life together so highly: first, that you would take that house so you could live not only near me but practically with me; and second, that you are in such a hurry to move. But may I not live if I concede that you want this more than I do. So I will try everything. I see how much it matters to me and to both of us.
If I accomplish anything, I will let you know. Please reply on every point, and, if you think fit, tell me when I should expect you.
CXXV (Fam. VII, 23) TO M. FADIUS GALLUS ROME (MAY) I had only just arrived from Arpinum when your letter was delivered to me; and from the same bearer I received a letter from Arrianus , in which there was this most liberal offer, that when he came to Rome he would enter my debt to him on whatever day I chose. Pray put yourself in my place: is it consistent with your modesty or mine, first to prefer a request as to the day, and then to ask more than a year's credit? But, my dear Gallus , everything would have been easy, if you had bought the things I wanted, and only up to the price that I wished. However, the purchases which, according to your letter, you have made shall not only be ratified by me, but with gratitude besides: for I fully understand that you have displayed zeal and affection in purchasing (because you thought them worthy of me) things which pleased yourself — a man, as I have ever thought, of the most fastidious judgment in all matters of taste. Still, I should like Damasippus to abide by his decision: for there is absolutely none of those purchases that I care to have. But you, being unacquainted with my habits, have bought four or five of your selection at a price at which I do not value any statues in the world. You compare your Bacchae with Metellus 's Muses . Where is the likeness? To begin with, I should never have considered the Muses worth all that money, and I think all the Muses would have approved my judgment: still, it would have been appropriate to a library, and in harmony with my pursuits. But Bacchae! What place is there in my house for them? But, you will say, they are pretty. I know them very well and have often seen them. I would have commissioned you definitely in the case of statues known to me, if I had decided on them. The sort of statues that I am accustomed to buy are such as may adorn a place in a palaestra after the fashion of gymnasia. What, again, have I, the promoter of peace, to do with a statue of Mars ? I am glad there was not a statue of Saturn also: for I should have thought these two statues had brought me debt! I should have preferred some representation of Mercury : I might then, I suppose, have made a more favourable bargain with Arrianus . You say you meant the table-stand for yourself; well, if you like it, keep it. But if you have changed your mind I will, of course, have it. For the money you have laid out, indeed, I would rather have purchased a place of call at Tarracina , to prevent my being always a burden on my host. Altogether I perceive that the fault is with my freedman, whom I had distinctly commissioned to purchase certain definite things, and also with Iunius , whom I think you know, an intimate friend of Arrianus . I have constructed some new sitting-rooms in a miniature colonnade on my Tusculan property. I want to ornament them with pictures: for if I take pleasure in anything of that sort it is in painting. However, if I am to have what you have bought, I should like you to inform me where they are, when they are to be fetched, and by what kind of conveyance. For if Damasippus doesn't abide by hs decision, I shall look for some would-be Damasippus , even at a loss. As to what you say about the house, as I was going out of town I intrusted the matter to my daughter Tullia : for it was at the very hour of my departure that I got your letter. I also discussed the matter with your friend Nicias , because he is, as you know, intimate with Cassius . On my return, however, before I got your last letter, I asked Tullia what she had done. She said that she had approached Licinia (though I think Cassius is not very intimate with his sister), and that she at once said that she could not venture, in the absence of her husband (Dexius is gone to Spain), to change houses without his being there and knowing about it. I am much gratified that you should value association with me and my domestic life so highly, as, in the first place, to take a house which would enable you to live not only near me, but absolutely with me, and, in the second place, to be in such a hurry to make this change of residence. But, upon my life, I do not yield to you in eagerness for that arrangement. So I will try every means in my power. For I see the advantage to myself, and, indeed, the advantages to us both. If I succeed in doing anything, I will let you know. Mind you also write me word back on everything, and let me know, if you please, when I am to expect you.
XXIII. Scr. Romae (ante Tulliae obitum et post initium belli civilis, fortasse a.u.c. 708). M. CICERO S. D. M. FADIO GALLO.
Tantum quod ex Arpinati veneram, cum mihi a te litterae redditae sunt, ab eodemque accepi Avianii litteras, in quibus hoc inerat liberalissimum, nomina se facturum, cum venisset, qua ego vellem die. Fac, quaeso, qui ego sum, esse te: estne aut tui pudoris aut nostri primum rogare de die. deinde plus annua postulare? sed essent, mi Galle, omnia facilia, si et ea mercatus esses, quae ego desiderabam, et ad eam summam, quam volueram; ac tamen ista ipsa, quae te emisse scribis, non solum rata mihi erunt, sed etiam grata; plane enim intelligo te non modo studio, sed etiam amore usum, quae te delectarint, hominem, ut ego semper iudicavi, in omni iudicio elegantissimum, quae me digna putaris, coÎmisse. Sed velim maneat Damasippus in sententia; prorsus enim ex istis emptionibus nullam desidero; tu autem ignarus instituti mei, quanti ego genus omnino signorum omnium non aestimo, tanti ista quattuor aut quinque sumpsisti. Bacchas istas cum Musis Metelli comparas: quid simile? primum ipsas ego Musas numquam tanti putassem, atque id fecissem Musis omnibus approbantibus, sed tamen erant aptum bibliothecae studiisque nostris congruens; Bacchis vero ubi est apud me locus? "At pulchellae sunt." Novi optime et saepe vidi: nominatim tibi signa mihi nota mandasem, si probassem; ea enim signa ego emere soleo, quae ad similitudinem gymnasiorum exornent mihi in palaestra locum. Martis vero signum quo mihi pacis auctori? gaudeo nullum Saturni signum fuisse; haec enim duo signa putarem mihi aes alienum attulisse. Mercurii mallem aliquod fuisset: felicius, puto, cum Avianio transigere possemus. Quod tibi destinaras trapezophorum, si te delectat, habebis; sin autem sententiam mutasti, ego habebo scilicet. Ista quidem summa ne ego multo libentius emerim deversorium Tarracinae, ne semper hospiti molestus sim. Omnino liberti mei video esse culpam, cui plane res certas mandaram, itemque Iunii, quem puto tibi notum esse Avianii familiarem. Exedria quaedam mihi nova sunt instituta in porticula Tusculani: ea volebam tabellis ornare; etenim, si quid generis istiusmodi me delectat, pictura delectat. Sed tamen, si ista mihi sunt habenda, certiorem velim me facias, ubi sint, quando arcessantur, quo genere vecturae; si enim Damasippus in sententia non manebit, aliquem Pseudodamasippum vel cum iactura reperiemus. Quod ad me de domo scribis iterum, iam id ego proficiscens mandaram meae Tulliae; ea enim ipsa hora acceperam tuas litteras; egeram etiam cum tuo Nicia, quod is utitur, ut scis, familiariter Cassio. Ut redii autem, priusquam tuas legi has proximas litteras, quaesivi de mea Tullia, quid egisset: per Liciniam se egisse dicebat—sed opinor Cassium uti non ita multum sorore—; eam porro negare se audere, cum vir abesset—est enim profectus in Hispaniam Dexius—, illo et absente et insciente migrare. Est mihi gratissimum tanti a te aestimatam consuetudinem vitae victusque nostri, primum ut eam domum sumeres, ut non modo prope me, sed plane mecum habitare posses, deinde ut migrare tanto opere festines. Sed ne vivam, si tibi concedo, ut eius rei tu cupidior sis, quam ego sum: itaque omnia experiar; video enim, quid mea intersit, quid utriusque nostrum. Si quid egero, faciam, ut scias: tu et ad omnia rescribes et, quando te exspectem, facies me, si tibi videtur, certiorem.
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I had only just returned from Arpinum when your letter was delivered to me. From the same messenger I also received Avianius's letter, which contained this very generous offer: when he came, he would enter the debt on whatever day I chose.
Please put yourself in my place. Would it suit either your sense of propriety or mine first to ask about the date and then to request more than a year's credit? Everything would have been easy, my dear Gallus, if you had bought the things I wanted and only up to the amount I had intended. Still, the very purchases you write that you made will not only be approved by me, but gratefully approved. I clearly understand that you acted not only with zeal but with affection when you bought things that pleased you - you, a man I have always judged to have the most refined taste in every matter - because you thought they were worthy of me.
Yet I would like Damasippus to hold to his decision, because I truly want none of those purchases. Not knowing my habits, you paid for those four or five things about as much as I value the whole class of statues altogether. You compare those Bacchae with Metellus's Muses. What resemblance is there? First, I would never have thought even the Muses worth that much, and I would have done so with the approval of all the Muses. Still, they were suitable for a library and fitted my studies. But where in my house is there room for Bacchae?
"But they are pretty," you say. I know them very well and have often seen them. If I had approved them, I would have commissioned you by name for statues I knew. The statues I usually buy are those that decorate a place in my exercise court in the style of Greek gymnasia. As for a statue of Mars, what use is that to me, an advocate of peace? I am glad there was no statue of Saturn. I would have thought those two statues had brought me debt. I would rather there had been some Mercury; then, I suppose, we might have transacted more successfully with Avianius.
The table support you had meant for yourself you may have if you like it. If you have changed your mind, of course I will have it. For that amount of money, I would much rather have bought a stopping place at Tarracina, so that I would not always be a burden to a host.
In general I see that the fault lies with my freedman, whom I had given very definite instructions, and likewise with Junius, whom I think you know as a friend of Avianius. I have laid out some new sitting rooms in a small colonnade at my Tusculan place, and I wanted to decorate them with paintings. If anything of that kind delights me, it is painting. Still, if I must have these items, please tell me where they are, when they are to be fetched, and by what kind of transport. If Damasippus does not hold his position, we will find some pseudo-Damasippus even at a loss.
As for what you write to me a second time about the house, I had already entrusted that matter to my Tullia as I was setting out, since I had received your letter at that very hour. I had also spoken with your Nicias, because, as you know, he is close to Cassius. But when I returned, before I read this latest letter from you, I asked my Tullia what she had done. She said she had approached Licinia - though I think Cassius is not very close to his sister - and that Licinia said she did not dare, while her husband was away, to move house without his presence and knowledge. Dexius has gone to Spain.
I am deeply grateful that you value our way of life together so highly: first, that you would take that house so you could live not only near me but practically with me; and second, that you are in such a hurry to move. But may I not live if I concede that you want this more than I do. So I will try everything. I see how much it matters to me and to both of us.
If I accomplish anything, I will let you know. Please reply on every point, and, if you think fit, tell me when I should expect 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
XXIII. Scr. Romae (ante Tulliae obitum et post initium belli civilis, fortasse a.u.c. 708). M. CICERO S. D. M. FADIO GALLO.
Tantum quod ex Arpinati veneram, cum mihi a te litterae redditae sunt, ab eodemque accepi Avianii litteras, in quibus hoc inerat liberalissimum, nomina se facturum, cum venisset, qua ego vellem die. Fac, quaeso, qui ego sum, esse te: estne aut tui pudoris aut nostri primum rogare de die. deinde plus annua postulare? sed essent, mi Galle, omnia facilia, si et ea mercatus esses, quae ego desiderabam, et ad eam summam, quam volueram; ac tamen ista ipsa, quae te emisse scribis, non solum rata mihi erunt, sed etiam grata; plane enim intelligo te non modo studio, sed etiam amore usum, quae te delectarint, hominem, ut ego semper iudicavi, in omni iudicio elegantissimum, quae me digna putaris, coÎmisse. Sed velim maneat Damasippus in sententia; prorsus enim ex istis emptionibus nullam desidero; tu autem ignarus instituti mei, quanti ego genus omnino signorum omnium non aestimo, tanti ista quattuor aut quinque sumpsisti. Bacchas istas cum Musis Metelli comparas: quid simile? primum ipsas ego Musas numquam tanti putassem, atque id fecissem Musis omnibus approbantibus, sed tamen erant aptum bibliothecae studiisque nostris congruens; Bacchis vero ubi est apud me locus? "At pulchellae sunt." Novi optime et saepe vidi: nominatim tibi signa mihi nota mandasem, si probassem; ea enim signa ego emere soleo, quae ad similitudinem gymnasiorum exornent mihi in palaestra locum. Martis vero signum quo mihi pacis auctori? gaudeo nullum Saturni signum fuisse; haec enim duo signa putarem mihi aes alienum attulisse. Mercurii mallem aliquod fuisset: felicius, puto, cum Avianio transigere possemus. Quod tibi destinaras trapezophorum, si te delectat, habebis; sin autem sententiam mutasti, ego habebo scilicet. Ista quidem summa ne ego multo libentius emerim deversorium Tarracinae, ne semper hospiti molestus sim. Omnino liberti mei video esse culpam, cui plane res certas mandaram, itemque Iunii, quem puto tibi notum esse Avianii familiarem. Exedria quaedam mihi nova sunt instituta in porticula Tusculani: ea volebam tabellis ornare; etenim, si quid generis istiusmodi me delectat, pictura delectat. Sed tamen, si ista mihi sunt habenda, certiorem velim me facias, ubi sint, quando arcessantur, quo genere vecturae; si enim Damasippus in sententia non manebit, aliquem Pseudodamasippum vel cum iactura reperiemus. Quod ad me de domo scribis iterum, iam id ego proficiscens mandaram meae Tulliae; ea enim ipsa hora acceperam tuas litteras; egeram etiam cum tuo Nicia, quod is utitur, ut scis, familiariter Cassio. Ut redii autem, priusquam tuas legi has proximas litteras, quaesivi de mea Tullia, quid egisset: per Liciniam se egisse dicebat—sed opinor Cassium uti non ita multum sorore—; eam porro negare se audere, cum vir abesset—est enim profectus in Hispaniam Dexius—, illo et absente et insciente migrare. Est mihi gratissimum tanti a te aestimatam consuetudinem vitae victusque nostri, primum ut eam domum sumeres, ut non modo prope me, sed plane mecum habitare posses, deinde ut migrare tanto opere festines. Sed ne vivam, si tibi concedo, ut eius rei tu cupidior sis, quam ego sum: itaque omnia experiar; video enim, quid mea intersit, quid utriusque nostrum. Si quid egero, faciam, ut scias: tu et ad omnia rescribes et, quando te exspectem, facies me, si tibi videtur, certiorem.