Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §13.67.1-13.67.2

Recommendation of Andron of Laodicea for Protection

Passage 350 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero recommends Andron of Laodicea, with whom he became close during his governorship of Cilicia, to the current governor of the province, requesting his protection and support.

§13.67.1ex provincia mea Ciliciensi, cui scis trei=s dioikh/seis Asiaticas adtributas fuisse, nullo sum familiarius usus quam Androne, Artemonis filio, Laudicensi, eumque habui in ea civitate cum hospitem tum vehementer ad meae vitae rationem et consuetudinem accommodatum;
From my province of Cilicia, to which as you know three Asiatic districts (τρεῖς διοικήσεις) were annexed, there is no one with whom I associated more intimately than Andron, the son of Artemon, of Laodicea; and in that city I regarded him both as my guest-friend and as a man highly adapted to my way of life and habits.
quem quidem multo etiam pluris postea quam decessi facere coepi, quod multis rebus expertus sum gratum hominem meique memorem.
Indeed, I began to value him even much more after I left the province, because I found by experience in many matters that he is a grateful man and mindful of me.
itaque eum Romae libentissime vidi; non te enim fugit, qui plurimis in ista provincia benigne fecisti, quam multi grati reperiantur.
Therefore, I was very glad to see him at Rome; for it does not escape you, who have done kindnesses to very many people in that province of yours, how few grateful men are to be found.
§13.67.2haec propterea scripsi, ut et me non sine causa laborare intellegeres et tu ipse eum dignum hospitio tuo iudicares.
I have written this so that you might understand that I do not bestir myself without reason, and that you yourself might judge him worthy of your hospitality.
feceris igitur mihi gratissimum, si ei declararis quanti me facias, id est si receperis eum in fidem tuam et quibuscumque rebus honeste ac sine molestia tua poteris adiuveris.
You will, therefore, do me a most agreeable favor if you show him how much you value me—that is, if you receive him into your protection and help him in whatever matters you can, honorably and without trouble to yourself.
hoc mihi erit vehementer gratum idque ut facias te etiam atque etiam rogo.
This will be exceedingly pleasing to me, and I ask you again and again to do so.

Notes

  1. 13.67.1trei=s dioikh/seis — A Latin transliteration of the Greek τρεῖς διοικήσεις. It refers to the three judicial and administrative districts of Phrygia (Laodicea, Apamea, and Synnada) annexed to the province of Cilicia during Cicero's governorship.
  2. 13.67.1pluris — Genitive of value. Used with the verb facere (to value, esteem) to mean "to value more highly."
  3. 13.67.1quam multi grati reperiantur — An indirect question clause depending on the impersonal phrase non te fugit (it does not escape you). Although formally meaning "how many grateful men," it is contextually understood in an ironical or rhetorical sense as "how few."

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §13.67.1-13.67.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:13.67.1-13.67.2

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