Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §12.22.1

Conflict with Antony and the Political Situation

Passage 290 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero reports to Cornificius on the difficult political situation in Rome, including the unequal verbal struggle against Antony, the absence of key republicans, and the status of the consuls Pansa and Hirtius, while vowing to stand by the republic and protect his friend's dignity.

§12.22.1nos hic cum homine gladiatore omnium nequissimo, conlega nostro, Antonio, bellum gerimus, sed non pari condicione, contra arma verbis.
We are waging war here with that most wicked gladiator of a man, our colleague, Antony, but not on equal terms, with words against arms.
at etiam de te contionatur, nec impune; nam sentiet quos lacessierit.
Indeed, he even delivers speeches against you, and not with impunity; for he will realize whom he has provoked.
ego autem acta ad te omnia arbitror perscribi ab aliis; a me futura debes cognoscere; quorum quidem non est difficilis coniectura.
However, I think that all past events are being fully written to you by others; from me you ought to learn of future things, the conjecture of which is indeed not difficult.
oppressa omnia sunt, nec habent ducem boni, nostrique tyrannoctoni longe gentium absunt.
Everything is oppressed, the good citizens have no leader, and our tyrant-slayers are far away from the world.
Pansa et sentit bene et loquitur fortiter; Hirtius noster tardius convalescit.
Pansa both holds good sentiments and speaks courageously; our Hirtius is recovering rather slowly.
quid futurum sit plane nescio; spes tamen una est aliquando p. R. maiorum similem fore.
What is to happen I plainly do not know; yet there is one hope, that some day the Roman people will be like their ancestors.
ego certe rei p. non deero et, quicquid acciderit a quo mea culpa absit, animo forti feram; illud profecto, quoad potero, tuam famam et dignitatem tuebor.
I, at least, will not fail the republic, and whatever happens, provided my own fault be absent from it, I will bear with a brave heart; this indeed I will certainly do, as far as I am able: I will protect your reputation and dignity.

Notes

  1. 12.22.1homine gladiatore — homine gladiatore stands in apposition. In Latin, homo combined with a noun or adjective (especially pejorative ones) emphasizes the quality or conveys contempt. Here it is used to disparage Antony as 'a gladiator of a man.'
  2. 12.22.1longe gentium — The adverb longe (far away) is constructed with the partitive genitive gentium (of nations, of the world), forming an emphatic spatial expression meaning 'far away in the world.'
  3. 12.22.1fore — fore is an alternative form of the future infinitive futurum esse, serving as the predicate verb of the accusative-and-infinitive clause in apposition to the noun spes (hope). The subject accusative of the infinitive is p. R. (for populum Romanum), meaning 'the hope that the Roman people will someday be like their ancestors.'
  4. 12.22.1quicquid acciderit a quo mea culpa absit — In the relative clause a quo mea culpa absit modifying quicquid acciderit (future perfect), the subjunctive absit is used to express a conditional or restrictive nuance ('provided that my own fault is absent from it').

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §12.22.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:12.22.1

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