Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §10.2.1-10.2.2

Apology for Senate Absence and Support for Plancus

Passage 201 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero explains to Plancus his inability to attend the senate due to safety and dignity concerns, while promising to support Plancus's honor in private matters and necessary public affairs, even at his own peril.

§10.2.1meum studium honori tuo pro necessitudine nostra non defuisset, si aut tuto in senatum aut honeste venire potuissem; sed nec sine periculo quisquam libere de re p. sentiens versari potest in summa impunitate gladiorum, nec nostrae dignitatis videtur esse ibi sententiam de re p. dicere, ubi me et melius et propius audiant armati quam senatores.
My devotion to your honor would not have been wanting, in keeping with our close relationship, if I had been able to come to the senate either safely or respectably; but neither can anyone who thinks freely about the republic move about without danger in the utmost impunity of swords, nor does it seem to belong to my dignity to express an opinion about the republic there, where armed men hear me both better and closer than the senators.
§10.2.2quapropter in privatis rebus nullum neque officium neque studium meum desiderabis; ne in publicis quidem, si quid erit in quo me interesse necesse sit, umquam deero ne cum periculo quidem meo dignitati tuae; in iis autem rebus, quae nihilo minus, ut ego absim, confici poterunt, peto a te ut me rationem habere velis et salutis et dignitatis meae.
Therefore, in private matters you will not find any duty or devotion of mine wanting; not even in public matters, if there is anything in which it is necessary for me to take part, shall I ever fail your dignity, not even at my own peril; but in those matters which, even though I am absent, can nonetheless be accomplished, I beg of you that you be willing to allow me to take account of both my safety and my dignity.

Notes

  1. §10.2.1nostrae dignitatis — The first-person plural genitive 'nostrae' is a plural of majesty referring to Cicero himself. 'dignitatis' is a genitive of property or character functioning as the predicate of 'videtur esse', meaning 'to belong to / be characteristic of my dignity'.
  2. §10.2.2nullum neque officium neque studium — A double negation where the general negative pronoun 'nullum' is followed by the subdividing 'neque...neque'. In Latin syntax, 'neque...neque' following a general negative does not cancel the negation, but rather strengthens it, meaning 'neither... nor...'.
  3. §10.2.2ut ego absim — The conjunction 'ut' with the subjunctive ('absim', the present subjunctive of 'absum') forms a concessive clause, meaning 'even though I am absent' or 'although I may be away'.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §10.2.1-10.2.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:10.2.1-10.2.2

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