Marcus Tullius Cicero→Gaius Scribonius Curio|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome|Human translated
I easily perceived from your letter what I always wished: both that I am very highly valued by you and that you understand how dear you are to me. Since each of us has achieved this, it remains for us to compete with each other in services, in which I am willing either to surpass you or to be surpassed by you with equal mind. That it was not necessary for my letter to be delivered to Acilius, I readily accept. I understand from your letter that Sulpicius's assistance was not much needed by you, given that your affairs are so contracted that, as you write, they have neither head nor feet. I would indeed wish they had feet, so that you might return someday; for you see that the old urbanity has already dried up, so that our friend Pomponius can rightly say: "unless we few preserve the ancient Attic glory." So he succeeds you, and we succeed him. Come then, I beg you, lest even the seed of urbanity perish along with the republic.
DCXCIV (Fam. VII, 31) TO MANIUS CURIUS (AT PATRAE) ROME (FEBRUARY) I had no difficulty in gathering from your letter, what I have always been anxious for, that I am very highly valued by you, and that you are fully aware how dear you are to me. As, then, we are both convinced of that, it remains for us to enter upon a rivalry of good offices. In that contest I shall be equally content to surpass you or to be surpassed by you. I am not displeased to find that there was no need for my letter being handed to Acilius . I gather from your letter that you had no great occasion for the services of Sulpicius , because your affairs had been so much reduced in magnitude, that they had “neither head nor feet.” I could wish that they had “feet,” that you might come back to Rome some day. For you see that the old fountain of humour has run dry, so that by this time our poet Pomponius might say with good reason: “We only guard — a dwindling band — The ancient fame of Attic land.” So he is your successor, I his. Come, therefore, I beg, lest the seed for the harvest of wit perish along with the republic.
XXXI. Scr. Romae mense Februario a.u.c. 710. CICERO CURIO S. D.
Facile perspexi ex tuis litteris, quod semper studui, et me a te plurimi fieri et te intelligere, quam mihi carus esses; quod quoniam uterque nostrum consecutus est, reliquum est, ut officiis certemus inter nos, quibus aequo animo vel vincam te vel vincar abs te. Acilio non fuisse necesse meas dari litteras facile patior; Sulpicii tibi operam intelligo ex tuis litteris non multum opus fuisse propter tuas res ita contractas, ut, quemadmodum scribis, nec caput nec pedes: equidem vellem, uti pedes haberent, ut aliquando redires; vides enim exaruisse iam veterem urbanitatem, ut Pomponius noster suo iure possit dicere: "nisi nos pauci retineamus gloriam antiquam Atticam." ergo is tibi, nos ei succedimus. Veni igitur, quaeso, ne tamen semen urbanitatis una cum re publica intereat.
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I easily perceived from your letter what I always wished: both that I am very highly valued by you and that you understand how dear you are to me. Since each of us has achieved this, it remains for us to compete with each other in services, in which I am willing either to surpass you or to be surpassed by you with equal mind. That it was not necessary for my letter to be delivered to Acilius, I readily accept. I understand from your letter that Sulpicius's assistance was not much needed by you, given that your affairs are so contracted that, as you write, they have neither head nor feet. I would indeed wish they had feet, so that you might return someday; for you see that the old urbanity has already dried up, so that our friend Pomponius can rightly say: "unless we few preserve the ancient Attic glory." So he succeeds you, and we succeed him. Come then, I beg you, lest even the seed of urbanity perish along with the republic.
Human translation - ToposText / Shuckburgh
Latin / Greek Original
XXXI. Scr. Romae mense Februario a.u.c. 710. CICERO CURIO S. D.
Facile perspexi ex tuis litteris, quod semper studui, et me a te plurimi fieri et te intelligere, quam mihi carus esses; quod quoniam uterque nostrum consecutus est, reliquum est, ut officiis certemus inter nos, quibus aequo animo vel vincam te vel vincar abs te. Acilio non fuisse necesse meas dari litteras facile patior; Sulpicii tibi operam intelligo ex tuis litteris non multum opus fuisse propter tuas res ita contractas, ut, quemadmodum scribis, nec caput nec pedes: equidem vellem, uti pedes haberent, ut aliquando redires; vides enim exaruisse iam veterem urbanitatem, ut Pomponius noster suo iure possit dicere: "nisi nos pauci retineamus gloriam antiquam Atticam." ergo is tibi, nos ei succedimus. Veni igitur, quaeso, ne tamen semen urbanitatis una cum re publica intereat.