Marcus Caelius Rufus→Marcus Tullius Cicero|c. 50 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome|AI-assisted
I do not know how anxious you are about the peace of your province and the neighboring regions. I am certainly in great suspense. If we could manage matters so that the scale of the war matched the strength of your forces, and you gained just as much glory as you need for a triumph while avoiding that dangerous and serious contest, nothing could be more desirable.
But as things stand, if the Parthian moves at all, I know the struggle will be no small one. Your army can scarcely guard a single pass. No one takes this into account. Everything is expected from the man placed in charge of public business, as if he had been denied nothing that might have left him fully prepared.
Added to this, because of the dispute over the Gallic provinces, I do not see a successor coming for you. Although I think you have already decided what you will do about this, I thought I should let you know what I foresee, so that you might decide earlier. You know the usual pattern: a decision will be made about the Gauls; someone will veto it; then someone else will appear and block the other provinces unless the senate is allowed to decide freely about all of them. In this way there will be much playing about, and for a long time - so long that we may spend more than two years in these tangles.
If I had anything new to write about public affairs, I would have followed my usual habit and carefully told you both what had happened and what I hoped would come of it. In truth everything seems stuck in a ditch. Marcellus keeps pressing that same motion about the provinces, but so far he has not been able to secure a full senate.
If this year passes in this way, Curio will be tribune next year, and the same action about the provinces will come on stage. You can easily see how simple it will then be to block everything, and how much Caesar and those who care nothing for the republic when their own interest is involved hope for just that.
CCIX (Fam. VIII, 5) M. CAELIUS RUFUS TO CICERO (IN CILICIA) ROME (AUGUST) How far you are anxious about the peaceful state of your province and the neighbouring regions I don't know: for myself, I am in great suspense. For if we could only arrange matters in such a fashion, that the war should just be of a magnitude to correspond with your forces, and that we should gain just enough success for a triumph, without encountering the serious contest awaiting you, then nothing could be so much to be wished. As it is, if the Parthian stirs at all, I know that the struggle will not be a slight one. Moreover, your army is scarcely large enough to hold a single pass. No one, however, takes that into account; but everything is expected from a man at the head of a public department, as though he had been refused nothing which was required to put him in the most absolute state of preparation. Added to this, I don't see any chance of a successor being named for you, owing to the controversy about the Gauls . Although on this point I think you have settled in your own mind what to do, nevertheless, to enable you to settle it the earlier, I thought, as I now foresee that contingency, that I ought to keep you informed. For you know the way things commonly go: a settlement of the Gauls will be passed; some one' will be found to veto it; then up will get some one else to veto the other provinces, unless the senate is allowed to pass a vote about them all without interference. This is the sort of game that will be kept up briskly and long, and so long that more than two years will be wasted in these intrigues. If I had any news in politics to tell you, I would have followed my usual habit of carefully retailing in my letter not only what had happened, but also what I expected to be the result of it. In point of fact, everything seems to have stuck, so to speak, in the ditch. Marcellus is trying to push that same motion about the provinces, but has not as yet succeeded in getting a quorum. If, after this year is over, Curio as tribune, and the same motion about the provinces come upon the stage, you cannot fail to see how easy it will be to stop all business, and how much Caesar , and those who care nothing for the Republic when their own interests are involved, hope that it may be so.
V. Scr. Romae mense Sextili (ante Id.) a.u.c. 703. CAELIUS CICERONI SAL.
Qua tu cura sis, quod ad pacem provinciae tuae finitimarumque regionum attinet, nescio: ego quidem vehementer animi pendeo; nam, si hoc more moderari possemus, ut pro viribus copiarum tuarum belli quoque existeret magnitudo et, quantum gloriae triumphoque opus esset, assequeremur, periculosam et gravem illam dimicationem evitaremus, nihil tam esset optandum: nunc, si Parthus movet aliquid, scio non mediocrem fore contentionem; tuus porro exercitus vix unum saltum tueri potest. Hanc autem nemo ducit rationem, sed omnia desiderantur ab eo, tamquam nihil denegatum sit ei, quo minus quam paratissimus esset, qui publico negotio praepositus est. Accedit huc, quod successionem futuram propter Galliarum controversiam non video. Tametsi hac de re puto te constitutum, quid facturus esses, habere, tamen, quo maturius constitueres, cum hunc eventum providebam, visum est, ut te facerem certiorem; nosti enim haec tralaticia: de Galliis constituetur; erit, qui intercedat; deinde alius existet, qui, nisi libere liceat de omnibus provinciis decernere senatui, reliquas impediat: sic multum ac diu ludetur, atque ita diu, ut plus biennium in hic tricis moremur. Si quid novi de re publica quod tibi scriberem haberem, usus essem mea consuetudine, ut diligenter, et quid actum esset et quid ex eo futurum sperarem, perscriberem. Sane tamquam in quodam incili iam omnia adhaeserunt. Marcellus idem illud de provinciis urget, neque adhuc frequentem senatum is efficere potuit. Hoc sic praeterito anno Curio tribunus erit et eadem actio de provinciis introibit: quam facile tunc sit omnia impedire et quam hoc Caesari, qui sua causa rem publicam non curent, sperent, non te fallit.
◆
I do not know how anxious you are about the peace of your province and the neighboring regions. I am certainly in great suspense. If we could manage matters so that the scale of the war matched the strength of your forces, and you gained just as much glory as you need for a triumph while avoiding that dangerous and serious contest, nothing could be more desirable.
But as things stand, if the Parthian moves at all, I know the struggle will be no small one. Your army can scarcely guard a single pass. No one takes this into account. Everything is expected from the man placed in charge of public business, as if he had been denied nothing that might have left him fully prepared.
Added to this, because of the dispute over the Gallic provinces, I do not see a successor coming for you. Although I think you have already decided what you will do about this, I thought I should let you know what I foresee, so that you might decide earlier. You know the usual pattern: a decision will be made about the Gauls; someone will veto it; then someone else will appear and block the other provinces unless the senate is allowed to decide freely about all of them. In this way there will be much playing about, and for a long time - so long that we may spend more than two years in these tangles.
If I had anything new to write about public affairs, I would have followed my usual habit and carefully told you both what had happened and what I hoped would come of it. In truth everything seems stuck in a ditch. Marcellus keeps pressing that same motion about the provinces, but so far he has not been able to secure a full senate.
If this year passes in this way, Curio will be tribune next year, and the same action about the provinces will come on stage. You can easily see how simple it will then be to block everything, and how much Caesar and those who care nothing for the republic when their own interest is involved hope for just that.
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
V. Scr. Romae mense Sextili (ante Id.) a.u.c. 703. CAELIUS CICERONI SAL.
Qua tu cura sis, quod ad pacem provinciae tuae finitimarumque regionum attinet, nescio: ego quidem vehementer animi pendeo; nam, si hoc more moderari possemus, ut pro viribus copiarum tuarum belli quoque existeret magnitudo et, quantum gloriae triumphoque opus esset, assequeremur, periculosam et gravem illam dimicationem evitaremus, nihil tam esset optandum: nunc, si Parthus movet aliquid, scio non mediocrem fore contentionem; tuus porro exercitus vix unum saltum tueri potest. Hanc autem nemo ducit rationem, sed omnia desiderantur ab eo, tamquam nihil denegatum sit ei, quo minus quam paratissimus esset, qui publico negotio praepositus est. Accedit huc, quod successionem futuram propter Galliarum controversiam non video. Tametsi hac de re puto te constitutum, quid facturus esses, habere, tamen, quo maturius constitueres, cum hunc eventum providebam, visum est, ut te facerem certiorem; nosti enim haec tralaticia: de Galliis constituetur; erit, qui intercedat; deinde alius existet, qui, nisi libere liceat de omnibus provinciis decernere senatui, reliquas impediat: sic multum ac diu ludetur, atque ita diu, ut plus biennium in hic tricis moremur. Si quid novi de re publica quod tibi scriberem haberem, usus essem mea consuetudine, ut diligenter, et quid actum esset et quid ex eo futurum sperarem, perscriberem. Sane tamquam in quodam incili iam omnia adhaeserunt. Marcellus idem illud de provinciis urget, neque adhuc frequentem senatum is efficere potuit. Hoc sic praeterito anno Curio tribunus erit et eadem actio de provinciis introibit: quam facile tunc sit omnia impedire et quam hoc Caesari, qui sua causa rem publicam non curent, sperent, non te fallit.