Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §13.63.1-13.63.2

Recommendation of Marcus Laenius and request to resolve his business

Passage 346 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero recommends Marcus Laenius, whom both he and his brother highly value, and earnestly requests that his business in the province be quickly resolved so he can return.

§13.63.1non putavi fieri posse ut mihi verba dessent, sed tamen in M. Laenio commendando desunt.
I did not think it could happen that words would fail me, but yet in recommending Marcus Laenius they do fail.
itaque rem tibi exponam paucis verbis, sed tamen ut plane perspicere possis voluntatem meam.
Therefore, I will explain the matter to you in few words, but yet in such a way that you can clearly perceive my goodwill.
incredibile est quanti faciamus et ego et frater meus, qui mihi carissimus est, M. Laenium.
It is unbelievable how highly both I and my brother, who is dearest to me, value Marcus Laenius.
id fit cum plurimis eius officiis tum summa probitate et singulari modestia.
This is due not only to his very many services to me but also to his utmost integrity and singular modesty.
Eum ego a me invitissimus dimisi cum propter familiaritatem et consuetudinis suavitatem tum quod consilio eius fideli ac bono libenter utebar.
I dismissed him from myself most unwillingly, both on account of our intimacy and the sweetness of our intercourse, and because I gladly made use of his faithful and good advice.
§13.63.2sed vereor ne iam superesse mihi verba putes, quae dixeram defutura.
But I fear lest you should think that words are now superabundant for me, which I had said would be lacking.
commendo tibi hominem sic, ut intellegis me eum de quo ea supra scripserim debere commendare, a teque vehementer etiam atque etiam peto ut quod habet in tua provincia negoti expedias, quod tibi videbitur rectum esse ipsi dicas.
I recommend the man to you in such a way, as you understand I ought to recommend him about whom I have written those things above, and from you I vehemently beg again and again that you dispatch what business he has in your province, and that you tell him what will seem right to you.
hominem facillimum liberalissimumque cognosces.
You will find him a most easygoing and generous man.
itaque te rogo ut eum solutum, liberum confectis eius negotiis per te quam primum ad me remittas.
Therefore, I ask you that, when his business is finished by your means, you send him back to me as soon as possible, untroubled and free.
id mihi fratrique meo gratissimum feceris.
You will do what is most pleasing to me and my brother.

Notes

  1. §13.63.1quanti faciamus — Subjunctive in an indirect question with the genitive of value quanti. The phrase facere with a genitive means 'to value / esteem at such a rate'.
  2. §13.63.1cum plurimis eius officiis tum summa probitate — The correlative conjunction cum ... tum ... means 'not only ... but also ...,' with emphasis usually placed on the term introduced by tum. Here, his concrete 'services' (officiis) are contrasted with his internal virtues of 'integrity' (probitate) and 'modesty' (modestia).
  3. §13.63.2vereor ne iam superesse mihi verba putes — The conjunction ne introduces a subjunctive clause of fearing after vereor, meaning 'lest / that ...'. The relative clause quae dixeram defutura modifies verba, containing an accusative with infinitive construction ([verba] defutura [esse]) inside.
  4. §13.63.2quod habet in tua provincia negoti — The neuter accusative relative pronoun quod is followed by negoti as a partitive genitive, literally meaning 'what of business he has in your province.'

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §13.63.1-13.63.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:13.63.1-13.63.2

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