§10.23.1numquam me hercules, mi Cicero, me paenitebit maxima pericula pro patria subire, dum, si quid acciderit mihi a reprehensione temeritatis absim.
Never, by Hercules, my dear Cicero, shall I regret undergoing the greatest dangers for my country, provided that, if anything should happen to me, I am free from the blame of rashness.
confiterer imprudentia me lapsum, si umquam Lepido ex animo credidissem; credulitas enim error est magis quam culpa, et quidem in optimi cuiusque mentem facillime inrepit; sed ego non hoc vitio paene sum deceptus, Lepidum enim pulchre noram.
I would admit that I had slipped through imprudence if I had ever believed Lepidus from my heart; for credulity is a mistake rather than a fault, and indeed it creeps most easily into the mind of all the best men; but I was not almost deceived by this vice, for I knew Lepidus perfectly.
quid ergo est? pudor me, qui in bello maxime est periculosus, hunc casum coegit subire; nam si uno loco essem, verebar ne cui obtrectatorum viderer et nimium pertinaciter Lepido offensus et mea patientia etiam alere bellum.
What is it then? Shame, which is most dangerous in war, compelled me to undergo this hazard; for if I remained in one place, I feared lest I should seem to any of my detractors both to be too obstinately offended by Lepidus and by my inactivity even to nourish the war.
§10.23.2itaque copias prope in conspectum Lepidi Antonique adduxi quadragintaque millium passuum spatio relicto consedi eo consilio ut vel celeriter accedere vel salutariter recipere me possem.
Therefore I led my forces almost into the sight of Lepidus and Antony, and having encamped at a distance of forty miles, with the design that I might be able either to advance quickly or to retreat safely.
adiunxi haec in loco eligendo, flumen oppositum ut haberem, in quo mora transitus esset, Vocontii sub manu ut essent, per quorum loca fideliter mihi pateret iter.
I added these conditions in choosing my position: that I should have a river in front of me, in which there would be a delay in crossing, and that the Vocontii should be close at hand, through whose territories a route might faithfully lie open to me.
Lepidus desperato adventu meo, quem non mediocriter captabat, se cum Antonio coniunxit a. d. iiii K. Iun. , eodemque die ad me castra moverunt.
Lepidus, despairing of my arrival, which he was seeking after in no small degree, joined himself with Antony on the fourth day before the Kalends of June, and on the same day they moved their camp towards me.
viginti millia passuum cum abessent, res mihi nuntiata est.
When they were twenty miles away, the matter was reported to me.
§10.23.3dedi operam deum benignitate ut et celeriter me reciperem et hic discessus nihil fugae simile haberet, non miles ullus, non eques, non quicquam impedimentorum amitteretur aut ab illis ferventibus latronibus interciperetur.
I took care, by the kindness of the gods, both that I might retreat quickly and that this departure should have nothing resembling a flight, and that no soldier, no horseman, nor any of the baggage should be lost or be intercepted by those raging robbers.
itaque pridie Nonas Iunias omnis copias Isaram traieci pontisque quos feceram interrupi, ut spatium ad colligendum se homines haberent et ego me interea cum conlega coniungerem; quem triduo, cum has dabam litteras, exspectabam.
And so on the day before the Nones of June, I threw all my forces across the Isara and broke down the bridges which I had made, so that my men might have time to collect themselves and I meanwhile might join my colleague; whom I was expecting within three days when I was writing this letter.
§10.23.4Laterensis nostri et fidem et animum singularem in re p. semper fatebor; sed certe nimia eius indulgentia in Lepidum ad haec pericula perspicienda fecit eum minus sagacem.
I will always acknowledge both the loyalty and the singular devotion of our friend Laterensis to the republic; but certainly his excessive indulgence towards Lepidus made him less sagacious in perceiving these dangers.
qui quidem cum in fraudem se deductum videret, manus, quas iustius in Lepidi perniciem armasset, sibi adferre conatus est; in quo casu tamen interpellatus et adhuc vivit et dicitur victurus; sed tamen de hoc parum mihi certum est.
And indeed, when he saw that he had been led into treachery, he tried to lay hands upon himself, which he would have more justly armed for the destruction of Lepidus; in which attempt, having been interrupted, he both still lives and is said to be likely to survive; but yet concerning this I have too little certainty.
§10.23.5Magno cum dolore parricidarum elapsus sum iis; veniebant enim eodem furore in me quo in patriam incitati, iracundias autem harum rerum recentis habebant, quod Lepidum castigare non destiteram ut exstingueret bellum, quod conloquia facta improbabam, quod legatos fide Lepidi missos ad me in conspectum venire vetueram, quod C. Catium Vestinum, tr. mil. , missum ab Antonio ad eum cum litteris exceperam numeroque hostis habueram.
To the great grief of the parricides, I escaped them; for they were coming against me, incited by the same madness as against their country, and they had fresh causes of anger on account of these things: that I had not ceased to rebuke Lepidus so that he might extinguish the war, that I disapproved of the conferences held between them, that I had forbidden the envoys sent under the protection of Lepidus to come into my presence, and that I had intercepted Gaius Catius Vestinus, military tribune, sent by Antony to him with letters, and had held him in the number of enemies.
in quo hanc capio voluptatem, quod certe, quo magis me petiverunt, tanto maiorem iis frustratio dolorem attulit.
In this I derive this pleasure, that certainly, the more eagerly they sought me, by so much the greater grief did their frustration bring to them.
§10.23.6tu, mi Cicero, quod adhuc fecisti, idem praesta, ut vigilanter nervoseque nos, qui stamus in acie, subornes.
Do you, my Cicero, perform the same part as you have done hitherto, that you may vigilantly and vigorously support us who stand in the battle line.
veniat Caesar cum copiis quas habet firmissimas, aut, si ipsum aliqua res impedit, exercitus mittatur; cuius ipsius magnum periculum agitur.
Let Caesar come with the strongest forces he has, or, if some matter prevents him, let the army be sent, for whose own part great danger is at stake.
quicquid aliquando futurum fuit in castris perditorum contra patriam, hoc omne iam convenit pro urbis vero salute cur non omnibus facultatibus quas habemus utamur? quod si vos istic non defueritis, profecto, quod ad me attinet, omnibus rebus abunde rei p. satis faciam.
Whatever was at any time to be in the camp of desperate men against their country, all this has now assembled; indeed, for the safety of the city, why do we not use all the resources we have? But if you there are not wanting, surely, as far as concerns me, I will in all things abundantly satisfy the republic.
§10.23.7te quidem, mi Cicero, in dies me hercules habeo cariorem, sollicitudinesque meas cotidie magis tua merita exacuunt ne quid aut ex amore aut ex iudicio tuo perdam.
Indeed, my Cicero, by Hercules, I hold you dearer day by day, and your merits sharpen my anxieties more every day lest I should lose anything of either your love or your high opinion of me.
opto ut mihi liceat iam praesenti pietate meorum officiorum tua beneficia tibi facere iucundiora.
I pray that it may be permitted to me, by the now present devotion of my duties, to make your benefits more pleasant to you.
viii Idus Iun. Cularone ex finibus Allobrogum.
June 6th, from Cularo in the territory of the Allobroges.