Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §15.17.1-15.17.4

News of Sulla's Death and Appeal for Letters to Cassius

Passage 386 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero complains and excuses himself to Cassius regarding the hastiness of the couriers and the lack of letters, and reports the death of Publius Sulla in Rome along with the reactions of Caesar and others. He then quotes a Stoic ethical doctrine on the occasion of Pansa's departure, urging Cassius to keep in touch.

§15.17.1praeposteros habes tabellarios; etsi me quidem non offendunt; sed tamen, cum a me discedunt, flagitant litteras, cum ad me veniunt, nullas adferunt.
You have very backward couriers; though to be sure they do not offend me; but yet, when they depart from me, they demand letters, but when they come to me, they bring none.
atque id ipsum facerent commodius, si mihi aliquid spati ad scribendum darent; sed petasati veniunt, comites ad portam exspectare dicunt.
And they would do that very thing more conveniently if they gave me some space of time for writing; but they come wearing traveling hats, and say that their companions are waiting for them at the gate.
ergo ignosces; alteras iam habebis has brevis; sed exspecta pa/nta peri\ pa/ntwn. etsi quid ego me tibi purgo, Cum tui ad me inanes veniant, ad te cum epistulis revertantur?
Therefore you will excuse me; you will now have this second short letter; but expect "everything about everything." Though why do I excuse myself to you, when your men come to me empty-handed, but return to you with letters?
§15.17.2nos hic, ut tamen ad te scribam aliquid, P. Sullam patrem mortuum habebamus;
We here, to write something to you after all, had news that P.
alii a latronibus, alii cruditate dicebant; populus non curabat, combustum enim esse constabat.
Sulla the father was dead; some said by robbers, others by indigestion; the people did not care, for it was established that he had been cremated.
hoc tu pro tua sapientia feres aequo animo; quamquam pro/swpon po/lews amisimus. Caesarem putabant moleste laturum verentem ne hasta refrixisset; Mindius macellarius et Attius pigmentarius valde gaudebant se adversarium perdidisse.
You, in accordance with your wisdom, will bear this with an even mind; although we have lost the "face of the city." They thought Caesar would take it hard, fearing lest the auction-spear had grown cold; Mindius the butcher and Attius the perfume-seller were very glad that they had lost a rival.
§15.17.3de Hispania novi nihil, sed exspectatio valde magna; rumores tristiores sed a)de/spotoi.
From Spain nothing new, but expectation is very great; rumors are rather gloomy but without an author.
Pansa noster paludatus a. d. iii K. Ian. profectus est, ut quivis intellegere posset, id quod tu nuper dubitare coepisti, to\ kalo\n di' au(to\ ai(reto\n esse; nam quod multos miseriis levavit et quod se in his malis hominem praebuit, mirabilis eum virorum bonorum benevolentia prosecuta est.
Our friend Pansa set out in military cloak on the third day before the Kalends of January, so that anyone could understand, what you recently began to doubt, that "the beautiful is desirable for its own sake"; for because he relieved many of their miseries and because he showed himself a human being in these evils, a wonderful goodwill of good men accompanied him.
§15.17.4tu quod adhuc Brundisi moratus es valde probo et gaudeo et me hercule puto te sapienter facturum, si a)keno/spoudos fueris; nobis quidem qui te amamus erit gratum.
That you have stayed at Brundisium until now I highly approve and rejoice, and indeed I think you will act wisely if you are not vainly busy; to us at least who love you it will be pleasing.
et amabo te, cum dabis posthac aliquid domum litterarum, mei memineris.
And please, when you send any letters home hereafter, remember me.
ego numquam quemquam ad te, cum sciam, sine meis litteris ire patiar.
I will never, as far as I know, allow anyone to go to you without a letter from me.
vale.
Farewell.

Notes

  1. §15.17.2P. Sullam patrem mortuum habebamus — The imperfect habebamus takes the noun P. Sulla patrem and the adjective (participle) mortuum in the accusative. Rather than simply "we had a dead Sulla," this syntactic structure expresses that "we had the news" or "we found ourselves in the situation of P. Sulla being dead."
  2. §15.17.2hasta refrixisset — The word hasta (spear) symbolizes public auctions of confiscated property in Rome. The verb refrixisset (subjunctive pluperfect of refrigesco, "to grow cold") metaphorically expresses the cooling of interest or decrease in buyers for the auctions. It satirizes Caesar's fear that, with Sulla's death, his main buyer is gone and the auction business will stagnate.
  3. §15.17.3to\ kalo di' au(to\ ai(reto — Greek τὸ καλὸν δι' αὑτὸ αἱρετόν, meaning "the honorable/virtuous is desirable for its own sake." This is a standard formula representing the core Stoic ethical doctrine. Cicero uses it to tease Cassius, who was leaning toward Epicureanism, by pointing out Pansa's public-spirited action.
  4. §15.17.4amabo te — A colloquial and epistolary idiom of entreaty meaning "please" or "do me a favor," leading into the perfect subjunctive of entreaty (mei memineris). Originally "I will love you," it became a formulaic way to make a request while softening the command and showing affection.
  5. §15.17.4cum sciam — The conjunction cum here has a restrictive function, which, with the present subjunctive sciam (from scio, "to know"), forms a parenthetical restrictive clause meaning "as far as I know."

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §15.17.1-15.17.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:15.17.1-15.17.4

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