Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §11.7.1-11.7.3

Urging Decimus Brutus to Act Independently

Passage 243 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero informs Decimus Brutus of the meeting at his house and strongly urges him to act independently for the liberty and safety of the state, without waiting for the decrees of a Senate that is not yet free.

§11.7.1Cum adhibuisset domi meae Lupus me et Libonem et Servium, consobrinum tuum, quae mea fuerit sententia cognosse te ex M. Seio arbitror, qui nostro sermoni interfuit;
When Lupus had brought together at my house me and Libo and Servius, your cousin, I think you have learned what my opinion was from M.
reliqua, quamquam statim Seium Graeceius est subsecutus, tamen ex Graeceio poteris cognoscere.
Seius, who was present at our conversation; as for the rest, although Graeceius followed Seius immediately, yet you will be able to learn it from Graeceius.
§11.7.2caput autem est hoc, quod te diligentissime percipere et meminisse volo, ut ne in libertate et salute p. R. conservanda auctoritatem senatus exspectes nondum liberi, ne et tuum factum condemnes (nullo enim publico consilio rem p. liberavisti, quo etiam est res illa maior et clarior) et adulescentem vel puerum potius Caesarem iudices temere fecisse, qui tantam causam publicam privato consilio susceperit, denique homines rusticos, sed fortissimos viros civisque optimos, dementis fuisse iudices, primum milites veteranos commilitones tuos, deinde legionem Martiam, legionem quartam, quae suum consulem hostem iudicaverunt seque ad salutem rei p. defendendam contulerunt.
But the chief point is this, which I wish you to grasp and remember most diligently: that in preserving the liberty and safety of the Roman people, you should not wait for the authority of a Senate that is not yet free, lest you should both condemn your own deed (for by no public counsel did you liberate the republic, which makes that deed even greater and more glorious) and judge that the young man, or rather boy, Caesar, has acted rashly, who undertook so great a public cause on private counsel, and finally, that you should judge that rustic men, but most brave heroes and excellent citizens, were mad—first the veteran soldiers, your fellow-soldiers, then the Martian legion and the fourth legion, who judged their own consul to be an enemy and betook themselves to defending the safety of the republic.
voluntas senatus pro auctoritate haberi debet, cum auctoritas impeditur metu.
The will of the Senate ought to be held as authority, when authority is hindered by fear.
§11.7.3postremo suscepta tibi causa iam his est, ut non sit integrum, primum Idibus Martiis, deinde proxime exercitu novo et copiis comparatis.
Lastly, the cause has already been undertaken by you on these terms, so that it is no longer an open question, first by the Ides of March, and next recently by the raising of a new army and forces.
quam ob rem ad omnia ita paratus, ita animatus debes esse, non ut nihil facias nisi iussus, sed ut ea geras quae ab omnibus summa cum admiratione laudentur.
For which reason you ought to be so prepared, so minded for all things, not that you should do nothing unless ordered, but that you should perform those actions which may be praised by all with the greatest admiration.

Notes

  1. §11.7.1quae mea fuerit sententia — An indirect question clause with the subjunctive perfect fuerit, serving as the direct object of cognosse (a contracted form of cognovisse, which is the infinitive in the accusative-and-infinitive construction governed by arbitror).
  2. §11.7.2ut ne... exspectes — A noun clause functioning either as an extension of volo or in apposition to the preceding demonstrative hoc. With ut ne, it expresses a strong exhortation or prohibition ('that you should not wait for').
  3. §11.7.3ut non sit integrum — A consecutive (result) clause based on the Latin idiom integrum est (meaning 'it is an open question / one has a free choice') combined with the negative non, expressing that the matter is no longer open or there is no room to turn back.
  4. §11.7.3tibi — Dative of agent, qualifying the perfect passive participle suscepta, indicating the agent of the action ('undertaken by you').

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §11.7.1-11.7.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:11.7.1-11.7.3

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