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Cicero · Letters to Friends §1.10.1

Thanks to Lentulus and Urging a Return to Rome

Passage 20 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero mentions that he has thanked Lentulus on the recipient's behalf, urges him to stop relying on letters and return to Rome, and jokingly warns him not to linger in rural Apulia and become isolated from his friends.

§1.10.1cur enim tibi hoc non gratificer nescio, praesertim cum his temporibus audacia pro sapientia liceat uti Lentulo nostro egi per litteras tuo nomine gratias diligenter.
For why I should not grant you this favor, I do not know, especially since in these times one is allowed to use boldness instead of wisdom. I have carefully thanked our Lentulus by letter in your name.
sed tu velim desinas iam nostris litteris uti et nos aliquando revisas et ibi malis esse, ubi aliquo numero sis, quam istic, ubi solus sapere videare.
But I would wish you to stop relying on our letters now and visit us at last, and prefer to be in a place where you are of some account, rather than over there, where you seem to be the only wise man.
quamquam, qui istinc veniunt, partim te superbum esse dicunt, quod nihil respondeas, partim contumeliosum, quod male respondeas.
Although, those who come from there say, partly that you are arrogant because you answer nothing, partly that you are abusive because you answer badly.
sed iam cupio tecum coram iocari; qua re fac ut quam primum venias neque in Apuliam tuam accedas, ut possimus salvum venisse gaudere; nam illo si veneris, tu, ut Vlixes, cognosces tuorum neminem.
But now I long to jest with you in person; therefore, see to it that you come as soon as possible and do not go to your Apulia, so that we may be able to rejoice that you have arrived safe; for if you go there, you, like Ulysses, will recognize none of your own people.

Notes

  1. 1.10.1gratificer — Present subjunctive active, first person singular. It functions as a deliberative subjunctive ('why should I not grant...?') within the indirect question after *nescio*.
  2. 1.10.1aliquo numero sis — The ablative of description *aliquo numero* with *esse* is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to be of some account' or 'to hold some estimation.'
  3. 1.10.1tu, ut Vlixes, cognosces tuorum neminem — A humorous allusion to Ulysses' return in the *Odyssey*. Cicero jokingly warns Valerius that if he remains isolated in rural Apulia away from Rome for too long, he will become like Ulysses, unable to recognize (or be recognized by) any of his own close friends and relations.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §1.10.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:1.10.1

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