Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §13.31.1-13.31.2

Recommendation of Gaius Flavius for Generous Treatment

Passage 328 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero recommends Gaius Flavius, a Roman knight, requesting the recipient to treat him with the utmost respect and generosity based on his close ties to Cicero's late son-in-law Piso and his own respectful behavior.

§13.31.1C. Flavio, honesto et ornato equite R., utor valde familiariter fuit enim generi mei, C. Pisonis, pernecessarius meque diligentissime observant et ipse et L. Flavius, frater eius.
I am on very intimate terms with Gaius Flavius, an honorable and distinguished Roman knight; for he was very closely connected with my son-in-law, Gaius Piso, and both he himself and his brother, Lucius Flavius, treat me with the utmost respect.
quapropter velim honoris mei causa, quibus rebus honeste et pro tua dignitate poteris, quam honorificentissime et quam liberalissime C. Flavium tractes.
Therefore, I would like you, for the sake of my honor, to treat Gaius Flavius as honorably and as generously as possible, in whatever ways you can with propriety and in keeping with your dignity.
id mihi sic erit gratum, ut gratius esse nihil possit.
This will be so gratifying to me that nothing could be more gratifying.
§13.31.2sed praeterea tibi adfirmo (neque id ambitione adductus facio sed cum familiaritate et necessitudine tum etiam veritate) te ex C. Flavi officio et observantia et praeterea splendore atque is inter suos gratia magnam voluptatem esse capturum.
But besides this, I assure you (and I do not do this prompted by self-seeking, but both from intimacy and close relationship, and also from truth) that you will derive great pleasure from Gaius Flavius's sense of duty and respect, and furthermore from his distinguished position and his influence among his own people.
vale.
Farewell.

Notes

  1. §13.31.1C. Flavio ... utor — `C. Flavio` placed at the beginning of the sentence is the ablative object governed by the deponent verb `utor` (to be on intimate terms with). The phrase `honesto et ornato equite R.` stands in apposition to it.
  2. §13.31.1velim ... tractes — `velim` is a present subjunctive of modest wish or polite request ("I should like"). It governs the subjunctive `tractes` in a dependent clause with the conjunction `ut` omitted (`velim [ut] tractes`).
  3. §13.31.1quibus rebus ... poteris — In this relative clause, the antecedent `rebus` is incorporated into the clause with the relative pronoun `quibus`. Syntactically, the whole clause functions as an ablative of means modifying `tractes` ("by whatever means you will be able"). The future indicative `poteris` reflects polite consideration of the recipient's future capability.
  4. §13.31.2atque is inter suos gratia — The textual reading `is` is commonly understood as a scribal error or an archaic variant for the genitive pronoun `eius` (his). Interpreting `is` as a nominative pronoun would leave it without a grammatical function in the clause; hence, it is translated as a genitive modifying `gratia` ("his influence among his own people").

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §13.31.1-13.31.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:13.31.1-13.31.2

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