Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §13.75.1-13.75.2

Recommendation of Avianius Flaccus and Grain Transport

Passage 355 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero earnestly recommends his friend Avianius Flaccus, requesting accommodation for him regarding grain transport and asking the recipient to demonstrate their close relationship to him.

§13.75.1etsi non dubito quin apud te mea commendatio prima satis valeat, tamen obsequor homini familiarissimo, C. Avianio Flacco, cuius causa omnia cum cupio tum me hercule etiam debeo.
Although I do not doubt that my recommendation has sufficient weight with you on its own, yet I comply with the wish of my very close friend, Gaius Avianius Flaccus, for whose sake I not only desire all things but, by Hercules, am also bound to do so.
de quo et praesens tecum egi diligenter, cum tu mihi humanissime respondisti, et scripsi ad te accurate antea; sed putat interesse sua me ad te quam so saepissime scribere.
Concerning him, I pleaded with you earnestly in person, when you answered me most kindly, and I also wrote to you in detail before; but he thinks it is to his interest that I should write to you as often as possible.
qua re velim mihi ignoscas, si illius voluntati obtemperans minus videbor meminisse constantiae tuae.
Therefore, I would like you to forgive me if, in complying with his wish, I seem to remember your constancy too little.
§13.75.2A te idem illud peto ut de loco, quo deportet frumentum, et de tempore Avianio commodes, quorum utrumque per eundem me obtinuit triennium, dum Pompeius isti negotio praefuit.
I ask of you that same thing: that you accommodate Avianius regarding the place where he may transport his grain, and the time; both of which he obtained through my mediation for three years, while Pompey was in charge of that business.
summa est, in quo mihi gratissimum facere possis, si curaris ut Avianius, quoniam se a me amari putat, me a te amari sciat.
The sum of the matter, in which you can do me the greatest favor, is if you see to it that Avianius, since he thinks he is beloved by me, should know that I am beloved by you.
erit id mihi pergratum.
This will be extremely pleasing to me.

Notes

  1. §13.75.1interesse sua — The syntax of the impersonal verb interest (it is of interest/importance to). When the person concerned is expressed by a personal pronoun, the ablative feminine singular of the possessive pronoun (sua) is used instead of the genitive. The substance of the interest is expressed by the accusative and infinitive clause (me ... scribere).
  2. §13.75.1constantiae tuae — The verb of remembering, meminisse, takes its object in the genitive case, hence constantiae tuae. Here constantia means "steadfastness" or "consistency," referring to Cicero's trust that the recipient will remain firm in his promise.
  3. §13.75.2summa est, in quo mihi gratissimum facere possis, si curaris — To the main clause summa est (the main point is this), the following si clause acts as the virtual subject (or complement). The phrase in quo (in which respect) introduces the relative clause in quo... possis, which limits and qualifies summa.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §13.75.1-13.75.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:13.75.1-13.75.2

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