Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §11.19.1-11.19.2

Review of the Senate Letter and Military Concerns

Passage 256 of 413 · Latin

Summary

The writer requests the recipient to review his letter to the senate, expresses anxiety over his difficult situation with only raw recruits, and asks for protection for the people of Vicetia who support them.

§11.19.1ad senatum quas litteras misi velim prius perlegas et si qua tibi videbuntur commutes.
I would like you to read through first the letter which I sent to the senate, and change if anything seems fit to you.
necessario me scripsisse ipse animadvertes; nam cum putarem quartam et Martiam legiones mecum futuras, ut Druso Paulloque placuerat vobis adsentientibus, minus de reliquis rebus laborandum existimavi; nunc vero, cum sim cum tironibus egentissimis, valde et meam et vestram vicem timeam necesse est.
You yourself will notice that I wrote out of necessity; for when I thought that the fourth and Martian legions would be with me, as had pleased Drusus and Paullus with your approval, I thought I had to worry less about other matters; but now, since I am with most needy recruits, it is necessary that I fear greatly both on my own account and on yours.
§11.19.2Vicetini me et M. Brutum praecipue observant.
The people of Vicetia respect me and M. Brutus especially.
his ne quam patiare iniuriam fieri in senatu vernarum causa a te peto.
I beg of you that you do not allow any injury to be done to them in the senate on account of the home-born slaves.
causam habent optimam, officium in re p. summum, genus hominum adversariorum seditiosum et incertissimum.
They have an excellent cause, the highest devotion to the republic, while the class of their adversaries is seditious and most untrustworthy.
xii K. Iun. Vercellis.
May 21, at Vercellae.

Notes

  1. 11.19.1ad senatum quas litteras misi — The antecedent litteras is incorporated into the relative clause quas litteras misi (incorporation of the antecedent). In a standard order, it would be litteras quas ad senatum misi.
  2. 11.19.1velim prius perlegas — The present subjunctive velim expressing a polite desire is followed by another subjunctive perlegas with the conjunction ut omitted (equivalent to velim ut perlegas).
  3. 11.19.1et meam et vestram vicem — The accusative singular vicem of the noun vix (turn, place) is used adverbially with possessive adjectives to mean 'on account of,' 'for the sake of,' or 'concerning the lot of.' Here it functions effectively as the object of timeam.
  4. 11.19.2ne patiare — This negative clause serves as the object clause dependent on a te peto (I beg of you). patiare is the second-person singular present subjunctive of the deponent verb patior (to allow, suffer).

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §11.19.1-11.19.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:11.19.1-11.19.2

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