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Cicero · Letters to Friends §2.15.1-2.15.4

Thanksgiving Negotiations and Defense of Provincial Succession

Passage 35 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero commends Caelius for the successful negotiations regarding the thanksgiving, shares his thoughts on Dolabella and the tense political situation of the republic, and defends his decision to leave the young quaestor Coelius in charge of the province.

§2.15.1non potuit accuratius agi nec prudentius quam est actum a te cum Curione de supplicatione, et hercule confecta res ex sententia mea est cum celeritate, tum quod is, qui erat iratus, competitor tuus et idem meus, adsensus est ei, qui ornavit res nostras divinis laudibus.
It could not have been managed more carefully or more prudently than it was managed by you with Curio concerning the thanksgiving; and, by Hercules, the business was finished according to my wish with speed, and also because he who was angry, your competitor and likewise mine, agreed with him who adorned our achievements with divine praises.
qua re scito me sperare ea, quae sequuntur; ad quae tu te para.
Therefore, know that I hope for those things which follow; prepare yourself for them.
§2.15.2Dolabellam a te gaudeo primum laudari, deinde etiam amari; nam ea, quae speras Tulliae meae prudentia temperari posse, scio cui tuae epistulae respondeant.
I am glad that Dolabella is first praised, and then even loved by you; for as for those things which you hope can be tempered by the prudence of my Tullia, I know to which of your letters they respond.
quid, si meam legas, quam ego tum ex tuis litteris misi ad Appium? sed quid agas? sic vivitur.
What if you were to read mine, which I sent at that time to Appius on the basis of your letter? But what can you do? That is how life goes.
quod actum est, di adprobent.
What has been done, may the gods approve.
spero fore iucundum generum nobis, multumque in eo tua nos humanitas adiuvabit.
I hope he will be a pleasant son-in-law to us, and in this your kindness will assist us much.
§2.15.3res publica me valde sollicitat.
The republic worries me greatly.
faveo Curioni, Caesarem honestum esse cupio, pro Pompeio emori possum; sed tamen ipsa re publica nihil mihi est carius, in qua tu non valde te iactas; districtus enim mihi videris esse, quod et bonus civis et bonus amicus es.
I favor Curio, I desire Caesar to be honorable, I could die for Pompey; but yet nothing is dearer to me than the republic itself, in which you do not boast yourself greatly; for you seem to me to be pulled in different directions, because you are both a good citizen and a good friend.
§2.15.4ego de provincia decedens quaestorem Coelium praeposui provinciae.
Leaving the province, I put the quaestor Coelius in charge of the province.
'puerum?' inquis.
'A boy?' you say.
at quaestorem, at nobilem adulescentem, at omnium fere exemplo.
But a quaestor, but a noble youth, but according to almost everyone's example.
neque erat superiore honore usus, quem praeficerem.
Nor was there anyone who had held a higher office whom I could put in charge.
Pomptinus multo ante discesserat; a Quinto fratre impetrari non poterat; quem tamen si reliquissem, dicerent iniqui non me plane post annum, ut senatus voluisset, de provincia decessisse, quoniam alterum me reliquissem.
Pomptinus had departed long before; it could not be obtained from my brother Quintus; yet if I had left him, unfair people would say that I had not clearly departed from the province after a year, as the senate had wished, since I would have left another self.
fortasse etiam illud adderent, senatum eos voluisse provinciis praeesse, qui antea non praefuissent, fratrem meum triennium Asiae praefuisse.
Perhaps they would also add this, that the senate wished those to govern provinces who had not governed before, whereas my brother had governed Asia for three years.
denique nunc sollicitus non sum; si fratrem reliquissem, omnia timerem.
In short, now I am not anxious; if I had left my brother, I would fear everything.
postremo non tam mea sponte quam potentissimorum duorum exemplo, qui omnis Cassios Antoniosque complexi sunt, hominem adulescentem non tam allicere volui quam alienare nolui.
Lastly, not so much of my own accord as by the example of two very powerful men, who have embraced all the Cassii and Antonii, I wished not so much to win over the young man as not to alienate him.
hoc tu meum consilium laudes necessest, mutari enim non potest.
You must praise this plan of mine, for it cannot be changed.
de Ocella parum ad me plane scripseras et in actis non erat.
You had written to me about Ocella not very clearly, and it was not in the official gazette.
tuae res gestae ita notae sunt, ut trans montem Taurum etiam de Matrinio sit auditum.
Your deeds are so well known that even on the other side of Mount Taurus there has been news about Matrinius.
ego, nisi quid me etesiae morabuntur, celeriter, ut spero, vos videbo.
As for me, unless the Etesian winds delay me at all, I shall, as I hope, see you soon.

Notes

  1. 2.15.2ea, quae speras Tulliae meae prudentia temperari posse — Although ea appears to be the direct object of scio in the main clause, the presence of the following indirect question clause cui tuae epistulae respondeant leaves it syntactically suspended (anacoluthon or topic accusative). It serves as a topicalized accusative at the beginning of the sentence, meaning 'as for those things...'.
  2. 2.15.2quid, si meam legas — An idiomatic ellipsis where the verb of the apodosis (such as quid sentias, quid dicas, or quid fiat) is omitted. The present subjunctive legas represents a hypothetical scenario in the present or future (potential subjunctive).
  3. 2.15.4quem praeficerem — The relative clause qualifying superiore honore usus uses the imperfect subjunctive praeficerem. This is a subjunctive of characteristic (or suitability), indicating the kind of person who 'could be' or 'should be' put in charge.
  4. 2.15.4laudes necessest — A construction where the subjunctive laudes is directly governed by the impersonal phrase necesse est (spelled here as necessest) without the conjunction ut, meaning 'you must praise' or 'it is necessary that you praise'.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §2.15.1-2.15.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:2.15.1-2.15.4

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