Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §10.14.1-10.14.2

Urging the Eradication of Antony's Remaining Forces

Passage 213 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero emphasizes the importance of eradicating the remaining forces of Antony even after the victory at Mutina, expresses hope that Lepidus will side with the republic, and urges Plancus to completely extinguish the sparks of war.

§10.14.1O gratam famam biduo ante victoriam de subsidio tuo, de studio, de celeritate, de copiis! atque etiam hostibus fusis spes omnis est in te; fugisse enim ex proelio Mutinensi dicuntur notissimi latronum duces; est autem non minus gratum extrema delere quam prima depellere.
What welcome news, two days before the victory, about your support, your zeal, your speed, and your forces! And even though the enemy has been routed, all hope is in you; for the most infamous leaders of the bandits are said to have fled from the battle of Mutina; moreover, it is no less gratifying to destroy the last remnants than to repel the first onset.
§10.14.2equidem exspectabam iam tuas litteras, idque cum multis, sperabamque etiam Lepidum rei p. temporibus admonitum tecum et cum re p. esse facturum.
Indeed, I was already expecting your letter, and that along with many others, and I was hoping that even Lepidus, warned by the critical state of the republic, would act with you and with the republic.
in illam igitur curam incumbe, mi Plance, ut ne quae scintilla teterrimi belli relinquatur.
Therefore, my dear Plancus, apply yourself to this care, so that no spark of this most foul war may be left.
quod si erit factum, et rem publicam divino beneficio adfeceris et ipse aeternam gloriam consequere.
And if this is done, you will both have bestowed a divine benefit upon the republic and you yourself will attain eternal glory.
D. iii Non. Mai.
Dispatched on May 5th.

Notes

  1. 10.14.1O gratam famam — Accusative of exclamation, functioning as a noun phrase expressing joy and relief.
  2. 10.14.1biduo — Ablative of degree of difference, modifying the prepositional phrase ante victoriam to indicate a temporal gap of "two days."
  3. 10.14.2tecum et cum re p. esse facturum — The phrase facere cum aliquo is an idiom meaning "to side with someone" or "to act in someone's interest." Here, esse facturum is a future active infinitive in an accusative-and-infinitive construction governed by sperabam, with Lepidum as its subject accusative.
  4. 10.14.2ut ne quae — The combination ut ne introduces a negative purpose or volitional noun clause. The word quae is the indefinite pronoun aliqua (any), which drops the prefix ali- after ne, in the nominative feminine singular modifying scintilla.
  5. 10.14.2D. iii Non. Mai. — D. stands for Datum (dispatched, lit. 'given'). The expression iii Non. Mai. stands for ante diem tertium Nonas Maias (the third day before the Nones of May, inclusive of the Nones), which corresponds to May 5th.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §10.14.1-10.14.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:10.14.1-10.14.2

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