§13.10.1Cum ad te tuus quaestor, M. Varro, proficisceretur, commendatione egere eum non putabam; satis enim commendatum tibi eum arbitrabar ab ipso more maiorum, qui, ut te non fugit, hanc quaesturae coniunctionem liberorum necessitudini proximam voluit esse.
When your quaestor, M. Varro, was setting out to you, I did not think that he was in need of a recommendation; for I thought he was sufficiently commended to you by the very custom of our ancestors, which, as does not escape you, willed that this association of the quaestorship should be closest to the bond of children.
sed cum sibi ita persuasisset ipse, meas de se accurate scriptas litteras maximum apud te pondus habituras, a meque contenderet ut quam diligentissime scriberem, malui facere, quod meus familiaris tanti sua interesse arbitraretur.
But since he had persuaded himself that my letter carefully written about him would have the greatest weight with you, and entreated me to write as diligently as possible, I preferred to do what my intimate friend thought was of so much importance to him.
§13.10.2ut igitur debere me facere hoc intellegas, cum primum M. Terentius in forum venit, ad amicitiam se meam contulit; deinde, ut se corroboravit, duae causae accesserunt quae meam in illum benevolentiam augerent, una, quod versabatur in hoc studio nostro, quo etiam nunc maxime delectamur, et cum ingenio, ut nosti, nec sine industria deinde, quod mature se contulit in societates publicorum quod quidem nollem; maximis enim damnis adfectus est sed tamen causa communis ordinis mihi commendatissimi fecit amicitiam nostram firmiorem.
So that you may understand that I ought to do this, as soon as M. Terentius came into the forum, he betook himself to my friendship; then, as he established himself, two reasons were added which increased my goodwill toward him: one, because he was engaged in this study of ours, in which even now I take the greatest pleasure, and that with talent, as you know, and not without industry; the second, because he early betook himself into the companies of the tax-collectors, which indeed I would rather he had not done; for he was affected by the greatest losses; but nevertheless, the common cause of an order most highly commended to me made our friendship stronger.
deinde versatus in utrisque subselliis optima et fide et fama iam ante hanc commutationem rei p. petitioni sese dedit honoremque honestissimum existimavit fructum laboris sui.
Then, having been active in both sides of the court with the best faith and reputation, already before this change in the republic, he gave himself to candidacy, and regarded a most honorable public office as the fruit of his labor.
§13.10.3his autem temporibus a me Brundisio cum litteris et mandatis profectus ad Caesarem est; qua in re et amorem eius in suscipiendo negotio perspexi et in conficiendo ac renuntiando fidem.
But in these times, he set out from Brundisium to Caesar with letters and instructions from me; in which matter I perceived both his affection in undertaking the business and his fidelity in executing and reporting it.
videor mihi, cum separatim de probitate eius et moribus dicturus fuissem, si prius causam cur eum tanto opere diligerem tibi exposuissem, in ipsa causa exponenda satis etiam de probitate dixisse.
I seem to myself, though I should have spoken separately about his honesty and character if I had first explained to you the reason why I love him so much, to have said enough even about his honesty in explaining the very reason.
sed tamen separatim promitto in meque recipio fore eum tibi et voluptati et usui; nam et modestum hominem cognosces et prudentem et a cupiditate omni remotissimum, praeterea magni laboris summaeque industriae.
But nevertheless, I separately promise and guarantee that he will be both a pleasure and a utility to you; for you will find him to be a modest and prudent man, and most removed from all greed, and besides, of great labor and of the highest industry.
§13.10.4neque ego haec polliceri debeo, quae tibi ipsi, cum bene cognoris, iudicanda sunt; sed tamen in omnibus novis coniunctionibus interest qualis primus aditus sit et qua commendatione quasi amicitiae fores aperiantur; quod ego his litteris efficere volui; etsi id ipsa per se necessitudo quaesturae effecisse debet; sed tamen nihilo infirmius illud hoc addito.
Nor indeed ought I to promise these things, which must be judged by yourself when you have known him well; but nevertheless, in all new associations, it matters what the first approach is like, and by what recommendation the doors, as it were, of friendship are opened; which is what I wished to effect by this letter; although the very association of the quaestorship by itself ought to have effected it; but nevertheless, that bond will be not a whit weaker with this added.
cura igitur, si me tanti facis quanti et Varro existimat et ipse sentio, ut quam primum intellegam hanc meam commendationem tantum illi utilitatis attulisse quantum et ipse sperarit nec ego dubitarim.
Take care, therefore, if you value me as highly as Varro thinks and I myself feel, that I may understand as soon as possible that this recommendation of mine has brought him as much benefit as he himself hoped for and I did not doubt.