Letter 18: Cicero writes to Quintus in Gaul from Rome in July 54 BC.

MARCUS TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS, GREETINGS. 1. With a good pen, ink of the right consistency, and even paper with a smooth edge, the business shall now be done; for you write that you could scarcely read my earlier letter, and in that, my dear brother, there was nothing of what you suppose. For I was neither busy, nor flustered, nor angry with anyone; but I always do this, that whatever pen comes into my hands, I use it just as though it were a good one. 2. But now, my best and most delightful of brothers, attend while I write back to those points which you set down in this same brief letter in a most businesslike way [originally a Greek term, 'pragmatically']. About this you ask that I write back to you concealing nothing, dissembling nothing, indulging you in nothing, genuinely and like a brother: that is, whether you wish me to have said that you should linger there, in order to extricate yourself, if there is cause for it. If, my dear Quintus, it were some small matter in which you were inquiring what I wished, then, even though I was going to leave you free to do what you wished, I would still show what I myself wished; but in this matter you are surely asking this, what sort of year I expect the one to be that follows: I expect it to be either plainly tranquil for us, or at any rate most thoroughly secured, as the daily throng at my house, the forum, and the demonstrations of approval at the theater make plain; nor are people anxious, because of my own confidence in our resources. The fact that we hold the goodwill of Caesar and of Pompey is what makes me confident; but if some madman's frenzy should break out, everything stands ready for crushing him. 3. These things I feel and judge thus, and I write to you with certainty; I forbid you to be in doubt, and I do so not as a flatterer but as a brother. Therefore, for the sake of enjoying our companionship, I would indeed wish you to come at the time you had named; but I prefer rather the course you think the better *** I also reckon those matters of great importance, that competence of yours [originally in Greek, 'self-sufficiency'] and the clearing of your debts. As for this, hold it to be so: that nothing will be more fortunate for us, if we keep our health, than to be free of encumbrances. The things we lack are small, at least by our own standard of living, and they are most easily settled, provided only that we stay well. 4. Bribery is back, on a monstrous scale; there has never been anything to match it. On the Ides of July [July 15] the rate of interest rose from one-third to two-thirds [from four to eight percent], because of the coalition of Memmius with Domitius; Scaurus alone outdoes this coalition; Messalla is flagging. I am not speaking hyperbolically [originally in Greek]: they have actually arranged to declare as much as ten million sesterces for the vote of the prerogative century. The affair is ablaze with ill will. The candidates for the tribunate have entered a mutual bond, with five hundred thousand sesterces apiece deposited with Marcus Cato, to conduct their canvass at his discretion, so that whoever acts contrary to it should be condemned by him; and indeed, if these elections turn out free of bribery, as is supposed, one man, Cato, will have had more power than all the laws and all the courts together.

Well! this time I'll use a good pen, well-mixed ink, and superfine paper. For you say you could hardly read my previous letter, for which, my dear brother, the reason was none of those which you suppose. For I was not busy, nor agitated, nor out of temper with some one: but it is always my way to take the first pen that turns up and use it as if it were a good one. But now attend, best and dearest of brothers, to my answer to what you wrote in this same short letter in such a very business-like way. On this subject you beg that I should write back to you with brotherly candour, without concealment, or reserve, or consideration for your feelings—I mean whether you are to hasten home, as we had talked of, or to stay where you are, if there is any excuse for doing so, in order to extricate yourself from your embarrassments. If, my dear Quintus, it were some small matter on which you were asking my opinion, though I should have left it to you to do what you chose, I should yet have shown you what mine was. But on this subject your question amounts to this—what sort of year I expect the next to be? Either quite undisturbed as far as we are concerned, or at any rate one that will find us in the highest state of preparation for defence. This is shown by the daily throng at my house, my reception in the forum, the cheers which greet me in the theatre. My friends feel no anxiety, because they know the strength of my position in my hold upon the favour both of Caesar and Pompey. These things give me entire confidence. But if some furious outbreak of that madman occurs, everything is ready for crushing him. This is my feeling, my deliberate opinion: I write to you with entire confidence. I bid you have no doubts, and I do so with no intention of pleasing you, but with brotherly frankness. Therefore, while I should wish you to come at the time you arranged, for the sake of the pleasure we should have in each other's society, yet I prefer the course you yourself think the better one. I, too, think these objects of great importance—ample means for yourself and extrication from your load of debt. Make up your mind to this, that, free from embarrassments, we should be the happiest people alive if we keep well. For men of our habits the deficiency is small, and such as can be supplied with the greatest ease, granted only that we keep our health. There is an enormous recrudescence of bribery. Never was there anything equal to it. On the 15th of July the rate of interest rose from four to eight per cent, owing to the compact made by Memmius with the consul Domitius: I wish Scaurus could get the better of it. Messalla is very shaky. I am not exaggerating—they arrange to offer as much as 10,000 sestertia for the vote of the first century. The matter is a burning scandal. The candidates for the tribuneship have made a mutual compact—having deposited 500 sestertia apiece with Cato, they agree to conduct their canvass according to his direction, with the understanding that anyone offending against it is to be condemned by him. If this election then turns out to be pure, Cato will have been of more avail than all laws and jurors put together.

XIV. Scr. Romae mense Quinctili (VI. Kal. Sext.?) a.u.c. 700. MARCUS QUINTO FRATRI SALUTEM. 1. Calamo bono et atramento temperato, charta etiam dentata, res agetur; scribis enim te meas litteras superiores vix legere potuisse, in quo nihil eorum, mi frater, fuit, quae putas; neque enim occupatus eram neque perturbatus nec iratus alicui, sed hoc facio semper, ut, quicunque calamus in manus meas venerit, eo sic utar, tamquam bono. 2. Verum attende nunc, mi optime et suavissime frater, ad ea dum rescribo, quae tu in hac eadem brevi epistula pragmatix«w valde scripsisti. De quo petis ut ad te nihil occultans, nihil dissimulans, nihil tibi indulgens genuine fraterneque rescribam, id est, utrum voles ut dixerimus ad expediendum te, si causa sit, commorere. Si, mi Quinte, parva aliqua res esset, in qua sciscitarere, quid vellem, tamen, cum tibi permissurus essem, ut faceres, quod velles, ego, ipse quid vellem, ostenderem; in hac vero re hoc profecto quaeris, cuiusmodi illum annum, qui sequitur, exspectem: aut plane tranquillum nobis aut certe munitissimum, quod quotidie domus, quod forum, quod theatri significationes declarant; nec laborant, quod mea confidentia copiarum nostrarum: quod Caesaris, quod Pompeii gratiam tenemus, haec me, ut confidam, faciunt; sin aliquis erumpet amentis hominis furor, omnia sunt ad eum frangendum expedita. 3. Haec ita sentio, iudico, ad te explorate scribo: dubitare te non assentatorie, sed fraterne veto. Quare suavitatis equidem nostrae fruendae causa cuperem te ad id tempus venire, quod dixeras, sed illud malo tamen, quod putas magis *** illa etiam magni aestimo, amfilaf¤an illam tuam et explicationem debitorum tuorum. Illud quidem sic habeto, nihil nobis expeditis, si valebimus, fore fortunatius: parva sunt, quae desunt, pro nostris quidem moribus, et ea sunt ad explicandum expeditissima, modo valeamus. 4. Ambitus redit immanis; numquam fuit par: Idib. Quinct. fenus fuit bessibus ex triente. Coitione Memmi est quo cum Domitio: hanc Scaurus unum vincere; Messala flaccet. Non dico Íperbolix«w: vel HS. centies constituerunt in praerogativa pronuntiare. Res ardet invidia. Tribunicii candidati compromiserunt, HS. quingenis in singulos apud M. Catonem depositis, petere eius arbitratu, ut, qui contra fecisset, ab eo condemnaretur: quae quidem comitia si gratuita fuerint, ut putantur, plus unus Cato potuerit quam omnes leges omnesque iudices.