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Cicero · Letters to Friends §16.7.1

Report from Corcyra Urging Tiro to Prioritize Health

Passage 397 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero reports that he is detained at Corcyra due to weather conditions, and tenderly urges Tiro to take care of his health before traveling to rejoin them.

§16.7.1septimum iam diem Corcyrae tenebamur, Quintus autem pater et filius Buthroti.
We have now been detained at Corcyra for seven days, while Quintus the father and his son are at Buthrotum.
solliciti eramus de tua valetudine mirum in modum nec mirabamur nihil a te litterarum; iis enim ventis istim navigatur, qui si essent, nos Corcyrae non sederemus.
We were anxious about your health in a wonderful degree, nor did we wonder that there was no letter from you; for sailing from where you are is done with such winds as, if they were blowing, we would not be sitting idle at Corcyra.
cura igitur te et confirma et, cum commode et per valetudinem et per anni tempus navigare poteris, ad nos amantissimos tui veni.
Take care of yourself, therefore, and strengthen yourself, and when you are able to sail conveniently, both as far as your health and the season of the year permit, come to us who love you most dearly.
nemo nos amat qui te non diligat; carus omnibus exspectatusque venies.
No one loves us who does not cherish you; you will come dear to all and eagerly expected.
cura ut valeas.
Take care that you are well.
etiam atque etiam, Tiro noster, vale.
Again and again, our dear Tiro, farewell.
xv K. Dec. Corcyra.
November 17, at Corcyra.

Notes

  1. §16.7.1Buthroti — Locative of Buthrotum. Just like the preceding Corcyrae, it relies on the ellipsis of the imperfect verb tenebantur (or erant).
  2. §16.7.1iis enim ventis istim navigatur — navigatur is the impersonal passive of the intransitive verb navigare, meaning 'sailing is done'. istim is a colloquial or archaic variant of istinc ('from where you are'). iis ventis is an ablative of means or attendant circumstance.
  3. §16.7.1qui si essent, nos Corcyrae non sederemus — qui is a relative connection (qui venti = ii venti). si essent ... non sederemus forms a conditional sentence contrary to present fact (imperfect subjunctive).
  4. §16.7.1amantissimos tui — The objective genitive tui ('of you') modifying amantissimos, which is the superlative of the participle/adjective amans ('loving').

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §16.7.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:16.7.1

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