Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §13.50.1-13.50.2

Request for Protection of Manius Curius in Patrae

Passage 340 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero, relying on their mutual respect formed at Brundisium, earnestly requests the recipient to protect his close friend Manius Curius, a merchant in Patrae, from any harm.

§13.50.1sumpsi hoc mihi pro tua in me observantia, quam penitus perspexi quam diu Brundisi fuimus, ut ad te familiariter et quasi pro meo iure scriberem, si quae res esset de qua valde laborarem.
I have taken this upon myself, in view of your respect for me, which I thoroughly perceived as long as we were at Brundisium, to write to you familiarly and, as it were, by my own right, if there should be any matter about which I was deeply concerned.
M'. Curius, qui Patris negotiatur, ita mihi familiaris est, ut nihil possit esse coniunctius.
Manius Curius, who does business at Patrae, is so intimate with me that nothing can be more closely joined.
multa illius in me officia, multa in illum mea, quodque maximum est, summus inter nos amor et mutuus.
Many are his services to me, many are mine to him, and what is greatest, there is the utmost and mutual love between us.
§13.50.2quae cum ita sint, si ullam in amicitia mea spem habes, si ea, quae in me officia et studia Brundisi, contulisti, vis mihi etiam gratiora efficere (quamquam sunt gratissima), si me a tuis omnibus amari vides, hoc mihi da atque largire, ut M'. Curium 'sartum et tectum,' ut aiunt, ab omnique incommodo, des trimento, molestia sincerum integrumque conserves.
Since things are so, if you have any hope in my friendship, if you wish to make those services and devotion, which you bestowed on me at Brundisium, even more pleasing to me (although they are already most pleasing), if you see that I am loved by all your people, grant and bestow this upon me, that you keep Manius Curius 'safe and sound,' as the saying goes, and free and intact from every trouble, loss, and annoyance.
et ipse spondeo et omnes hoc tibi tui pro me recipient, ex mea amicitia et ex tuo in me officio maximum te fructum summamque voluptatem esse capturum.
Both I myself promise, and all your people will guarantee this to you on my behalf, that you will reap the greatest fruit and the highest pleasure from my friendship and from your service to me.
vale.
Farewell.

Notes

  1. §13.50.1sumpsi hoc mihi ... ut ... scriberem — The idiom sumere sibi ('to take upon oneself') takes a noun clause introduced by ut + subjunctive (here the imperfect scriberem) as its object.
  2. §13.50.1Patris — Ablative (or locative) of Patrae (Patrae, -arum, f. pl.), a city in Achaea, Greece, expressing place where ('at Patrae').
  3. §13.50.2sartum et tectum — Originally an architectural and legal term meaning 'repaired and roofed' (from sartus and tectus). Here used idiomatically to mean 'safe and sound' or 'unharmed.'
  4. §13.50.2recipient, ex mea... — The verb recipere ('to guarantee', 'to promise') takes tibi as an indirect object and the accusative with infinitive clause te ... capturum [esse] ('that you will reap...') as its direct object.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §13.50.1-13.50.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:13.50.1-13.50.2

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.