§10.33.1S. v. h. e. e. q. v.
If you are well, it is well; I indeed am well.
quo tardius certior fierem de proeliis apud Mutinam factis Lepidus effecit, qui meos tabellarios novem dies retinuit; tametsi tantam calamitatem rei p. quam tardissime audire optandum est, sed illis, qui prodesse nihil possunt neque mederi.
Lepidus brought it about that I should be informed more slowly of the battles fought near Mutina, having detained my messengers for nine days; although indeed it is to be wished that we should hear of such a great calamity to the republic as slowly as possible, but for those who can be of no help and can apply no remedy.
atque utinam eodem s. c.
And would that by the same decree of the senate by which you summoned Plancus and Lepidus to Italy, you had ordered me also to come!
, quo Plancum et Lepidum in Italiam arcessistis me quoque iussissetis venire! profecto non accepisset res p. hoc vulnus.
Surely the republic would not have received this wound.
quo si qui laetantur in praesentia, quia videntur et duces et veterani Caesaris partium interisse, tamen postmodo necesse est doleant, cum vastitatem Italiae respexerint; nam et robur et suboles militum interiit, si quidem quae nuntiantur ulla ex parte vera sunt.
In which if any rejoice at present, because both the leaders and the veterans of Caesar's party seem to have perished, yet afterwards they must needs grieve when they look back upon the desolation of Italy; for both the strength and the youth of the soldiers have perished, if indeed what is reported is in any part true.
§10.33.2neque ego non videbam quanto usui rei p. essem futurus, si ad Lepidum venissem; omnem enim cunctationem eius discussissem, praesertim adiutore Planco; sed scribenti ad me eius modi litteras quas leges et contionibus videlicet, quas Narbone habuisse dicitur, similis palparer necesse erat, si vellem commeatus per provinciam eius iter faciens habere.
Nor did I fail to see of how great use I was going to be to the republic if I had come to Lepidus; for I should have dispelled all his hesitation, especially with Plancus as my helper; but it was necessary for me to flatter him, who was writing to me such letters as you will read and who was clearly similar to his speeches which he is said to have delivered at Narbo, if I wished to have provisions while making my journey through his province.
praeterea verebar ne, si ante quam ego incepta perficerem proelium confectum esset, pium consilium meum raperent in contrariam partem obtrectatores mei propter amicitiam, quae mihi cum Antonio non maior tamen quam Planco fuit
Besides, I feared lest, if the battle should be finished before I could complete what I had begun, my detractors would distort my pious intention into the opposite direction on account of my friendship with Antony, which, however, was not greater for me than it was for Plancus.
§10.33.3itaque a Gadibus mense Aprili binis tabellariis in duas navis impositis et tibi et consulibus et Octaviano scripsi ut me faceretis certiorem quonam modo Nurimum possem prodesse rei p.
Therefore, from Gades in the month of April, having put two pairs of messengers on two ships, I wrote both to you and to the consuls and to Octavian, so that you might inform me in what way I could be of the greatest use to the republic.
sed, ut rationem ineo, quo die proelium Pansa commisit, eodem a Gadibus naves profectae sunt nulla enim post hiemem fuit ante eam diem navigatio.
But, as I calculate, on the very day Pansa joined battle, the ships set out from Gades; for there was no navigation after winter before that day.
et ego me hercules longe remotus ab omni suspicione futuri civilis tumultus penitus in Lusitania legiones in hibernis conlocaram.
And I, by Hercules, far removed from all suspicion of future civil tumult, had stationed my legions in winter quarters deep in Lusitania.
ita porro festinavit uterque confligere, tamquam nihil peius timerent quam ne sine maximo rei p. detrimento bellum componeretur.
Thus, furthermore, both sides hastened to engage, as if they feared nothing worse than lest the war should be settled without the greatest detriment to the republic.
sed si properandum fuit, nihil non summi ducis consilio gessisse Hirtium video.
But if there was need of haste, I see that Hirtius did nothing except by the counsel of a supreme leader.
§10.33.4nunc haec mihi scribuntur ex Gallia Lepidi et nuntiantur, Pansae exercitum concisum esse, Pansam ex vulneribus mortuum, eodem proelio Martiam legionem interisse et L. Fabatum et C. Peducaeum et D. Carfulenum;
Now these things are written and reported to me from the Gaul of Lepidus: that Pansa's army has been cut to pieces, that Pansa has died of his wounds, that in the same battle the Martian legion has perished, as well as L.
† Hirtino is autem proelio et quartam legionem et omnis peraeque Antoni caesas, item Hirti, quartam vero, cum castra quoque Antoni cepisset, a quinta legione concisam esse; ibi Hirtium quoque perisse et Pontium Aquilam; dici etiam Octavianum cecidisse (quae si, quod di prohibeant! vera sunt, non mediocriter doleo);
Fabatus, C. Peducaeus, and D. Carfulenus; but that in † Hirtius' battle both the fourth legion and all of Antony's forces alike were cut to pieces, and likewise Hirtius' forces, and that the fourth, when it had also taken Antony's camp, was cut to pieces by the fifth legion; that there Hirtius also perished, and Pontius Aquila; that it is said also that Octavian has fallen (which if true, which may the gods forbid!, I grieve in no small measure); that Antony has shamefully left the siege of Mutina, but has five thousand cavalry, three armed legions under their standards, and one of P.
Antonium turpiter Mutinae obsessionem reliquisse sed habere equitum v legiones sub signis armatas tris et P. Bagienni unam, inermis bene multos; Ventidium quoque se cum legione vii, viii, viiii coniunxisse; si nihil in Lepido spei sit, descensurum ad extrema et non modo nationes sed etiam servitia concitaturum; Parmam direptam;
Bagiennus, and very many unarmed men; that Ventidius also has joined him with the seventh, eighth, and ninth legions; that if there is no hope in Lepidus, he will descend to extremes and stir up not only foreign nations but even slaves; that Parma has been sacked; that L.
L. Antonium Alpis occupasse.
Antony has occupied the Alps.
§10.33.5quae si vera sunt, nemini nostrum cessandum est nec exspectandum quid decernat senatus; res enim cogit huic tanto incendio succurrere omnis, qui aut imperium aut nomen denique populi R. salvum volunt esse.
If these things are true, none of us must delay, nor wait for what the senate may decree; for the situation forces everyone who wishes either the empire or the very name of the Roman people to be safe, to run to the aid of this so great a conflagration.
Brutum enim cohortis xvii et duas non frequentis tironum legiones, quas conscripserat Antonius, habere audio.
For I hear that Brutus has seventeen cohorts and two incomplete legions of recruits which Antony had enlisted.
neque tamen dubito quin omnes qui supersint de Hirti exercitu confluant ad eum.
Nor indeed do I doubt that all who survive of Hirtius' army are flocking to him.
nam in dilectu non multum spei puto esse, praesertim cum nihil sit periculosius quam spatium confirmandi sese Antonio dari.
For in a levy I think there is not much hope, especially since nothing is more dangerous than that a space of time for strengthening himself be given to Antony.
Anni autem tempus libertatem maiorem mihi dat, propterea quia frumenta aut in agris aut in villis sunt.
Moreover, the season of the year gives me greater freedom, because the grain is either in the fields or in the farmhouses.
itaque proximis litteris consilium meum expedietur; nam neque desse neque superesse rei p. volo.
Therefore, in my next letter my plan will be set forth; for I wish neither to fail nor to be superfluous to the republic.
maxime tamen doleo adeo et longo et infesto itinere ad me veniri, ut die quadragesimo post aut ultra etiam quam facta sunt omnia nuntientur.
But I grieve most of all that I am approached by so long and hostile a journey, that everything is reported on the fortieth day after or even later than it was done.