Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §12.6.1-12.6.2

Crisis at Mutina and Urging Cassius to Prepare

Passage 272 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero informs Cassius that the messenger Strabo will report on the current situation, and emphasizes that with Decimus Brutus facing an extreme crisis at Mutina, the entire fate of the republic relies on Cassius and Marcus Brutus, urging him to be fully prepared.

§12.6.1qui status rerum fuerit tum cum has litteras dedi scire poteris ex C. Titio Strabone, viro bono et optime de re p.
What the state of affairs was at the time I gave this letter, you will be able to learn from C.
sentiente; nam quid dicam 'cupidissimo tui, qui domo et fortunis relictis ad te potissimum profectus sit? itaque eum tibi ne commendo quidem;
Titius Strabo, a good man and one who thinks most excellently of the republic; for why should I call him 'most devoted to you,' since he set out specifically for you, leaving behind his home and fortunes?
adventus ipsius ad te satis eum commendabit.
Therefore, I do not even recommend him to you; his own arrival to you will recommend him enough.
§12.6.2tu velim sic existimes tibique persuadeas, omne perfugium bonorum in te et Bruto esse positum, si, quod nolim, adversi quid evenerit.
I would like you to think thus and persuade yourself that every refuge of good men is placed in you and Brutus, if, which I hope may not happen, anything adverse should occur.
res, cum haec scribebam, erat in extremum adducta discrimen; Brutus enim Mutinae vix iam sustinebat.
The situation, when I was writing this, was brought to the ultimate crisis; for Brutus was now scarcely holding out at Mutina.
qui si conservatus erit, vicimus; sin, quod di omen avertant! omnis omnium cursus est ad vos.
If he is saved, we have won; but if not—may the gods avert the omen!—every course of everyone is toward you.
proinde fac animum tantum habeas tantumque apparatum quanto opus est ad universam rem p reciperandam.
Therefore, see to it that you have as much courage and as much preparation as is necessary for recovering the entire republic.
vale.
Farewell.

Notes

  1. §12.6.1qui status rerum fuerit — Forming an indirect question clause with the perfect subjunctive verb `fuerit`. It represents a past state relative to the main verb `poteris` (future), or the state at the time of writing from the perspective of the epistolary tense.
  2. §12.6.1cupidissimo tui — The genitive of the personal pronoun `tui` is used here as an objective genitive governed by the adjective `cupidus`, meaning 'most desirous of you' or 'most devoted to you.'
  3. §12.6.2si, quod nolim, adversi quid evenerit — `quod nolim` is a parenthetical clause expressing a hesitant wish ('which I would not wish') in the present subjunctive. `adversi quid` contains a partitive genitive, meaning 'anything of an adverse nature.' The verb `evenerit` is in the future perfect, indicating an action completed prior to the state described in the main infinitive clause.
  4. §12.6.2qui si conservatus erit, vicimus — `qui` is a connecting relative pronoun referring back to `Brutus`. While the condition uses the future perfect `conservatus erit`, the apodosis uses the perfect indicative `vicimus` ('we have won') to rhetorically emphasize the absolute certainty of the future victory as if it were already accomplished.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §12.6.1-12.6.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:12.6.1-12.6.2

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.