Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §11.23.1-11.23.2

Lepidus's Disposition and Encouragement to Decimus Brutus

Passage 260 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero reports on the situation in Rome and Lepidus's favorable attitude, urging Decimus Brutus to maintain a great spirit supported by his powerful armies. He encourages Brutus to show firm resistance to threats, assuring him that his adversaries will not endure his resolve, and states that he will wait in Italy for Brutus's reply.

§11.23.1nos hic valemus recte et quo melius valeamus operam dabimus.
We are well here, and we will take care to be even better.
Lepidus commode nobis sentire videtur.
Lepidus seems to hold opinions favorable to us.
omni timore deposito debemus libere rei p. consulere.
Having laid aside all fear, we ought to consult freely for the state.
quod si omnia essent aliena, tamen tribus tantis exercitibus, propriis rei p. valentibus magnum animum habere debebas; quem et semper habuisti et nunc fortuna adiuvante augere potes.
But even if everything were adverse, yet, with three such great armies, which belong to the state and are powerful, you ought to have a great spirit; which you both always had and now, with fortune helping, can increase.
§11.23.2quae tibi superioribus litteris mea manu scripsi, terrendi tui causa homines loquuntur.
What I wrote to you in my previous letter with my own hand, people are saying for the sake of terrifying you.
si frenum momorderis, peream si te omnes quot sunt conantem loqui ferre poterunt.
If you bite the bridle, may I perish if all of them, as many as there are, will be able to endure you attempting to speak.
ego, tibi ut antea scripsi, dum mihi a te litterae veniant, in Italia morabor.
I, as I wrote to you before, until a letter comes to me from you, shall delay in Italy.
viii K. Iunias Eporedia.
May 25, at Eporedia.

Notes

  1. §11.23.1debebas — Verbs of obligation, possibility, or necessity (such as debere, posse) often stand in the indicative (here, the imperfect) in the apodosis of a contrary-to-fact conditional sentence, rather than in the subjunctive.
  2. §11.23.2si frenum momorderis — Future perfect of mordeo. The phrase frenum mordere (to bite the bridle), derived from a horse becoming uncontrollable, is an idiomatic expression meaning "to resist vigorously" or "to show a firm/unyielding attitude."
  3. §11.23.2peream si — peream is the present subjunctive (optative) of perire (to perish/die). The formula peream si... (may I perish if...) serves as a strong negative oath, meaning "I am absolutely sure that ... will not happen."

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §11.23.1-11.23.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:11.23.1-11.23.2

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.