§2.10.1tu vide, quam ad me litterae non perferantur; non enim possim adduci ut abs te, postea quam aedilis es factus, nullas putem datas, praesertim cum esset tanta res tantae gratulationis, de te, quia quod sperabam, de Hillo (balbus enim sum), quod non putaram.
\nSee how letters are not delivered to me; for I cannot be brought to think that no letters were sent by you after you were made aedile, especially since there was so great a matter of so great congratulation, concerning you because of what I hoped, and concerning Hillus (for I am a stammerer) because of what I had not expected.
atqui sic habeto, nullam me epistulam accepisse tuam post comitia ista praeclara, quae me laetitia extulerunt; ex quo vereor ne idem eveniat in meas litteras.
But nevertheless hold this as certain, that I have received no letter of yours since that glorious election of yours, which lifted me up with joy; from which I fear lest the same may happen to my letters.
equidem numquam domum misi unam epistulam quin esset ad te altera, nec mihi est te iucundius quicquam nec carius.
Indeed, I never sent a single letter home without there being another for you, nor is anything more pleasant or dearer to me than you.
sed (balbi non sumus) ad rem redeamus. §2.10.2ut optasti, ita est; velles enim, ais, tantum modo ut haberem negoti, quod esset ad laureolam satis, Parthos times, quia diffidis copiis nostris.
But (since we are not stammerers) let us return to the matter.\n\nAs you wished, so it is; for you say you would wish only that I should have so much of business as would be sufficient for a laurel wreath, and you fear the Parthians because you distrust our forces.
ergo ita accidit; nam Parthico bello nuntiato locorum quibusdam angustiis et natura montium fretus ad Amanum exercitum adduxi satis probe ornatum auxiliis et quadam auctoritate apud eos, qui me non norant, nominis nostri; multum est enim in his locis: 'hicine est ille, qui urbem? quem senatus?' nosti cetera.
Therefore, it has so happened; for when the Parthian war was announced, relying on certain narrow passes of the places and the nature of the mountains, I led my army to Mount Amanus, which was well enough equipped with auxiliary troops and with a certain authority of our name among those who did not know me; for in these places it is of great weight: 'Is this that man who saved the city? whom the senate honored?' You know the rest.
Cum venissem ad Amanum, qui mons mihi cum Bibulo communis est divisus aquarum divertiis, Cassius noster, quod mihi magnae voluptati fuit, feliciter ab Antiochea hostem re iecerat, Bibulus provinciam acceperat. §2.10.3interea cum meis copiis omnibus vexavi Amaniensis, hostis sempiternos; multi occisi, capti, reliqui dissipati; castella munita improviso adventu capta et incensa.
When I had come to Mount Amanus, which is a mountain shared between me and Bibulus, divided by the watersheds, our Cassius, which was a great pleasure to me, had successfully repulsed the enemy from Antioch, and Bibulus had taken over his province.\n\nMeanwhile, with all my forces, I harassed the people of Amanus, our perpetual enemies; many were killed, captured, and the rest scattered; their fortified strongholds were captured by our sudden arrival and burned.
ita victoria iusta imperator appellatus apud Issum, quo in loco, saepe ut ex te audivi, Clitarchus tibi narravit Dareum ab Alexandro esse superatum, abduxi exercitum ad infestissimam Ciliciae partem.
Thus, after a regular victory, having been hailed as imperator at Issus—the place where, as I have often heard from you, Clitarchus told you that Darius was defeated by Alexander—I led my army to the most hostile part of Cilicia.
ibi quintum et vicesimum iam diem aggeribus, viniis, turribus oppugnabam oppidum munitissimum, Pindenissum, tantis opibus tantoque negotio, ut mihi ad summam gloriam nihil desit nisi nomen oppidi. §2.10.4quod si, ut spero, cepero, tum vero litteras publice mittam; haec ad te in praesenti scripsi, ut sperares te adsequi id, quod optasses.
There, for the twenty-fifth day now, I have been besieging Pindenissus, a very strongly fortified town, with earthworks, mantlets, and towers, with such great resources and so much trouble that nothing is lacking for my supreme glory except the name of the town.\n\nIf I take it, as I hope, then indeed I will send public dispatches; I have written these things to you for the present so that you might hope that you are attaining what you wished.
sed ut redeam ad Parthos, haec aestas habuit hunc exitum satis felicem; ea, quae sequitur, magno est in timore.
But to return to the Parthians, this summer has had this sufficiently happy end; for the one that follows, there is great fear.
qua re, mi Rufe, vigila, primum ut mihi succedatur; sin id erit, ut scribis et ut ego arbitror, spissius, illud, quod facile est, ne quid mihi temporis prorogetur.
Therefore, my Rufus, watch, first that a successor may be appointed for me; but if that process is, as you write and as I think, more slow, do that which is easy, lest any of my time be prolonged.
de re publica ex tuis litteris, ut antea tibi scripsi, cum praesentia tum etiam futura magis exspecto.
As for the republic, as I wrote to you before, I expect from your letters not only the present but also even more the future things.
qua re, ut ad me omnia quam diligentissime perscribas, te vehementer rogo.
Therefore, I earnestly ask you to write out everything to me as diligently as possible.