Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §10.7.1-10.7.2

Plancus's Devotion to the State and Appeal for Support

Passage 206 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Plancus explains that he leaves the details of his plans to his official dispatch and his messenger Varisidius. He shares his patient efforts to serve the republic and asks Cicero to support his dignity and encourage his pursuit of glory.

§10.7.1plura tibi de meis consiliis scriberem rationemque omnium rerum redderem verbosius, quo magis iudicares omnia me rei p. praestitisse, quae et tua exhortatione excepi et mea adfirmatione tibi recepi (non minus enim a te probari quam diligi semper volui, nec te magis in culpa defensorem mihi paravi quam praedicatorem meritorum meorum esse volui);
I should write more to you concerning my plans and render a fuller account of all matters, so that you might judge more fully that I have performed everything for the republic which I both undertook at your exhortation and promised to you on my own assurance (for I have always wished to be approved by you no less than to be loved, nor did I desire to prepare you as a defender of my faults so much as to have you as a proclaimer of my merits); but two things make me brief: one, that I have detailed everything in my official dispatch, the other, that I have ordered M.
sed breviorem me duae res faciunt, una, quod publicis litteris omnia sum persecutus, altera, quod M. Varisidium, equitem R., familiarem meum, ipsum ad te transire iussi ex quo omnia cognoscere posses.
Varisidium, a Roman knight and my close friend, to go to you in person, from whom you will be able to learn everything.
§10.7.2non medius fidius mediocri dolore adficiebar cum alii occupare possessionem laudis viderentur sed usque mihi temperavi dum perducerem eo rem, ut, dignum aliquid et, consulatu meo et vestra: exspectatione efficerem.
Upon my honor, I was affected with no ordinary pain when others seemed to preempt the possession of praise; but I restrained myself all the while, until I should bring the matter to such a point that I might achieve something worthy both of my consulship and of your expectation.
quod spero, si me fortuna non fefellerit, me consecuturum ut, maximo praesidio rei p. nos fuisse et, nunc sentiant, homines et, in posterum memoria teneant.
This I hope, if fortune does not fail me, that I shall achieve, namely, that men should both realize now and remember in the future that we have been the greatest protection to the republic.
A te peto ut, dignitati meae suffrageris et, quarum rerum spe ad laudem me vocasti, harum fructu in reliquum facias alacriorem.
I ask of you to support my dignity and, by the fruit of those very things in the hope of which you called me to praise, to make me more eager for the future.
non minus posse te quam velle exploratum mihi est.
That you have no less power than goodwill is fully clear to me.
fac valeas meque mutuo diligas.
Farewell, and love me in return.

Notes

  1. §10.7.1scriberem — The imperfect subjunctive expresses a present contrary-to-fact condition's apodosis ("I would write more, [if I could]"). It is contrasted with the following indicative "sed... duae res faciunt" (but two things make me brief), which provides the actual reason for not writing in detail.
  2. §10.7.1quo magis iudicares — The conjunction quo (= ut eo) introduces a purpose clause containing a comparative (magis), followed by the imperfect subjunctive iudicares. The tense is imperfect to sequence with the secondary (or hypothetical) tenses of the main verbs (scriberem, redderem).
  3. §10.7.2dum perducerem — The conjunction dum meaning 'until' is used with the imperfect subjunctive perducerem to denote purpose, intention, or anticipated result ('restrained myself until I should bring'). It implies an intentional effort to reach a goal, rather than a mere point in time which would take the indicative.
  4. §10.7.2quarum rerum spe... harum fructu — A correlative construction where the antecedent noun (res) is attracted into the relative clause (quarum rerum...) and then referred back to in the main clause by the demonstrative (harum). Grammatically, the structure is equivalent to 'facias [me] alacriorem fructu harum rerum, quarum rerum spe...'.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §10.7.1-10.7.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:10.7.1-10.7.2

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