Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §10.9.1-10.9.3

Plancus's Rapid Advance and Resolve to Save the State

Passage 208 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Plancus declares his early sharing of plans as proof of his love, and reports his rapid military movements, having already crossed the Rhone to secure the state.

§10.9.1nihil me tibi temere aut te ceteris de me frustra recepisse laetor; certe hoc maius habes testimonium amoris mei, quo maturius tibi quam ceteris consilia mea volui esse nota.
I rejoice that I have promised nothing rashly to you, nor you to others about me in vain; certainly you hold this greater proof of my love, in that I wished my plans to be known to you earlier than to the rest.
in dies vero meritorum meorum fieri accessiones pervidere te spero, cogniturum magis recipio.
Indeed, I hope that you clearly perceive that accessions are being made to my merits day by day, and I promise that you will know it even more.
§10.9.2quod ad me attinet, mi Cicero, (ita ab imminentibus malis res p. me adiuvante liberetur!) sic honores praemiaque vestra suspicio conferenda certe cum immortalitate, ut sine iis nihil de meo studio perseverantiaque sim remissurus.
As for me, my dear Cicero (so may the republic be freed from imminent evils with my help!), I so look up to your honors and rewards as things surely to be compared with immortality, that without them I am not going to relax anything of my zeal and perseverance.
Nisi in multitudine optimorum civium impetus animi mei fuerit singularis et opera praecipua, nihil ad meam dignitatem accedere volo suffragatione vestra.
Unless, among the multitude of the best citizens, the impulse of my mind shall have been singular and my service outstanding, I wish nothing to be added to my dignity by your support.
§10.9.3concupisco autem nihil mihi (contra quod ipse pugno); et temporis et rei te moderatorem facile patior esse.
But I covet nothing for myself (against which very thing I myself fight); and I readily allow you to be the moderator both of the time and of the matter.
nihil aut sero aut exigue a patria civi tributum potest videri.
Nothing granted by the fatherland to a citizen can seem either too late or too small.
exercitum a. d. vi K. Maias Rhodanum traieci magnis itineribus, Vienna equites mille via breviore praemisi.
I threw the army across the Rhone on the sixth day before the Kalends of May by forced marches, and sent ahead a thousand cavalry from Vienna by a shorter route.
ipse si ab Lepido non impediar, celeritate satis faciam; si autem itineri meo se opposierit, ad tempus consilium capiam.
I myself, if I am not hindered by Lepidus, will satisfy expectations by speed; but if he opposes himself to my march, I will take counsel according to the circumstance.
copias adduco et numero et genere et fidelitate firmissimas.
I am bringing up forces most strong in number, in kind, and in loyalty.
te ut diligas me, si mutuo te facturum scis, rogo.
I ask you to love me, if you know that you will do so mutually.
vale.
Farewell.

Notes

  1. 10.9.1recepisse — The verb recipere here means "to promise" or "to guarantee". The two accusative-with-infinitive clauses, me tibi temere [recepisse] and te ceteris de me frustra recepisse, share nihil as their object and depend on laetor.
  2. 10.9.1hoc... quo... — A correlative construction with ablatives of degree of difference: quo maturius ("by how much earlier...") corresponds to hoc maius ("by so much greater...").
  3. 10.9.2ita... liberetur — A parenthetical formula expressing a solemn wish, where the optative subjunctive liberetur is accompanied by the adverb ita ("so may...").
  4. 10.9.3a. d. vi K. Maias — Abbreviation for ante diem sextum Kalendas Maias ("the sixth day before the Kalends of May"). Since the Romans calculated dates inclusively, this refers to April 26.
  5. 10.9.3Vienna — The ablative of the town name Vienna (modern Vienne in Gaul). Names of towns express the point of departure ("from") by the simple ablative without a preposition.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §10.9.1-10.9.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:10.9.1-10.9.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.