Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §11.25.1-11.25.2

Hopes in Decimus and the Need for Marcus Brutus

Passage 262 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero, prompted by Lupus, writes a brief letter to Decimus Brutus, emphasizing that all hope rests on him and his colleague. He expresses a strong desire for Marcus Brutus's arrival to mitigate the critical internal troubles in Rome.

§11.25.1exspectanti mihi tuas cotidie litteras Lupus noster subito denuntiavit ut ad te scriberem si quid vellem.
While I was waiting daily for your letter, our friend Lupus suddenly informed me that I should write to you if I wished anything.
ego autem, etsi quid scriberem non habebam (acta enim ad te mitti sciebam, inanem autem sermonem litterarum tibi iniucundum esse audiebam), brevitatem secutus sum te magistro.
I, however, although I had nothing to write (for I knew that the official records were being sent to you, and I kept hearing that empty chatter in letters was unpleasant to you), have followed brevity, with you as my teacher.
scito igitur in te et in conlega spem omnem esse.
Know, therefore, that all hope lies in you and in your colleague.
§11.25.2de Bruto autem nihil adhuc certi; quem ego, quem ad modum praecipis, privatis litteris ad bellum commune vocare non desino.
But regarding Brutus, there is nothing certain yet; whom I, just as you instruct, do not cease to summon by private letters to our common war.
qui utinam iam adesset! intestinum urbis malum, quod est non mediocre, minus timeremus: sed quid ago'? non imitor lakwnismo\n tuum; altera iam pagella procedit.
Would that he were already present! We would fear less the internal evil of the city, which is not moderate. But what am I doing? I am not imitating your laconism; already a second page is proceeding.
vince et vale.
Conquer and fare well.
xiiii K. Quintil.
June 18.

Notes

  1. §11.25.1exspectanti mihi — Dative complement of denuntiavit. The present participle exspectanti modifies the pronoun mihi, describing the state of 'me who was waiting daily for your letter.'
  2. §11.25.1te magistro — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the pronoun te and the noun magistro without a participle, meaning 'with you as my teacher' or 'following your instruction.'
  3. §11.25.2qui utinam iam adesset! ... minus timeremus — Connection of relative (qui at the beginning of the sentence). The particle utinam with the imperfect subjunctive adesset expresses an unfulfilled wish in the present, while the following timeremus (imperfect subjunctive) functions as the apodosis of a contrary-to-fact condition implied by the wish.
  4. §11.25.2lakwnismo\n — A Latin transcription of the Greek accusative noun λακωνισμόν (laconism, Spartan brevity). It reflects Cicero's common epistolary habit of inserting Greek terms in correspondence with close friends.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §11.25.1-11.25.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:11.25.1-11.25.2

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.