Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §13.77.1-13.77.3

Recommendation of Bolanus and Return of Fugitive Slave Dionysius

Passage 357 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero assures Sulpicius of his continuous support, recommends his old friend Bolanus, and asks Sulpicius to capture and return his fugitive slave Dionysius, who stole valuable books and fled to Sulpicius's province.

§13.77.1Cum his temporibus non sane in senatum ventitarem, tamen, ut tuas litteras legi, non existimavi me salvo iure nostrae veteris amicitiae multorumque inter nos officiorum facere posse ut honori tuo deessem.
Although in these times I do not indeed frequently go to the Senate, nevertheless, as soon as I read your letter, I did not think that, without violating the rights of our old friendship and mutual services, I could fail to support your honor.
itaque adfui supplicationemque tibi libenter decrevi nec reliquo tempore ullo aut rei aut existimationi aut dignitati tuae deero.
Therefore, I was present and gladly voted a thanksgiving for you, and in no remaining time shall I fail either your interest, reputation, or dignity.
atque hoc ut tui necessarii sciant, hoc me animo erga te esse, velim facias eos per litteras certiores, ut si quid tibi opus sit ne dubitent mihi iure suo denuntiare.
And I would wish that you inform your close friends of this by letter, so that they may know that I am of this mind toward you, and so that, if you have need of anything, they may not hesitate to demand it of me as of their own right.
§13.77.2M. Bolanum, virum bonum et fortem et omnibus rebus ornatum meumque veterem amicum, tibi magno opere commendo.
I highly recommend to you Marcus Bolanus, a good, brave, and in all respects distinguished man, and my old friend.
pergratum mihi feceris, si curaris ut is intellegat hanc commendationem sibi magno adiumento fuisse; ipsumque virum optimum gratissimumque cognosces.
You will do me a very great favor if you see to it that he understands that this recommendation has been of great help to him; and you will find him to be an excellent and most grateful man.
promitto tibi te ex eius amicitia magnam voluptatem esse capturum.
I promise you that you will derive great pleasure from his friendship.
§13.77.3praeterea a te peto in maiorem modum pro nostra amicitia et pro tuo perpetuo in me studio ut in hac re etiam elabores: Dionysius, servus meus, qui meam bibliothecen multorum nummorum tractavit, cum multos libros surripuisset nec se impune laturum putaret, aufugit.
Furthermore, I beg of you most earnestly, in the name of our friendship and your constant goodwill toward me, to exert yourself also in this matter: Dionysius, my slave, who managed my library of great value, having stolen many books and thinking he would not go unpunished, fled.
is est in provincia tua.
He is in your province.
Eum et M. Bolanus, meus familiaris, et multi alii Naronae viderunt, sed, cum se a me manu missum esse diceret, crediderunt.
My friend Marcus Bolanus and many others saw him at Narona, but, since he said he had been manumitted by me, they believed him.
hunc tu si mihi restituendum curaris, non possum dicere quam mihi gratum futurum sit.
If you take care that he is restored to me, I cannot say how pleasing it will be to me.
res ipsa parva, sed animi mei dolor magnus est.
The matter itself is small, but the vexation of my mind is great.
Ubi sit et quid fieri possit Bolanus te docebit.
Bolanus will inform you where he is and what can be done.
ego si hominem per te reciperaro, summo me a te beneficio adfectum arbitrabor.
If through your help I recover the man, I shall consider myself to have been favored with the greatest kindness by you.

Notes

  1. 13.77.1salvo iure — An ablative absolute of the noun ius and the adjective salvus, meaning 'with the right [or duty] being safe.' Here it functions to express 'without violating our old friendship or mutual obligations.'
  2. 13.77.1facere posse ut honori tuo deessem — The construction facere ut followed by the subjunctive means 'to bring it about that, to act in such a way that.' Combined with the preceding negative non existimavi me..., it forms a double negative structure: '[I did not think] I could act in such a way as to fail your honor.'
  3. 13.77.1velim facias — The present subjunctive velim (expressing a polite wish 'I should like, I would wish') is followed by the present subjunctive facias in a subordinate clause where the conjunction ut is omitted.
  4. 13.77.3multorum nummorum — A genitive of value or quality. It modifies the preceding noun bibliothecen, indicating that the library was worth 'many coins,' i.e., of great value.
  5. 13.77.3nec se impune laturum — The future infinitive laturum [esse] from the idiom impune ferre (to get away with something unpunished, to go scot-free). It forms an accusative and infinitive construction dependent on the verb putaret, with the reflexive pronoun se as its subject: 'thinking that he would not carry it off unpunished.'

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §13.77.1-13.77.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:13.77.1-13.77.3

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