Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §3.4.1-3.4.2

Reply to Appius and Solidarity through Kinship and Augurship

Passage 43 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero receives a letter from Appius at Brundisium and expresses his gratitude for Appius's high regard, emphasizing their strong bond through mutual relatives and the augural college.

§3.4.1pridie Nonas Iunias, cum essem Brundisi, litteras tuas accepi, quibus erat scriptum te L. Clodio mandasse, quae illum mecum loqui velles.
On the day before the Nones of June, when I was at Brundisium, I received your letter, in which it was written that you had entrusted to Lucius Clodius what you wished him to discuss with me.
Eum sane exspectabam, ut ea, quae a te adferret, quam primum cognoscerem.
I am indeed waiting for him, so that I may learn as soon as possible what he is bringing from you.
meum studium erga te et officium tametsi multis iam rebus spero tibi esse cognitum, tamen in iis maxime declarabo, quibus plurimum significare potuero tuam mihi existimationem et dignitatem carissimam esse.
Although I hope my devotion and duty toward you have already been made known to you by many things, I shall nevertheless declare it most especially in those matters in which I shall be able to show most clearly that your reputation and dignity are most dear to me.
mihi et Q. Fabius Vergilianus et C. Flaccus L. f. et diligentissime M. Octavius Cn. f. demonstravit me a te plurimi fieri; quod egomet multis argumentis iam antea iudicaram maximeque illo libro augurali, quem ad me amantissime scriptum suavissimum misisti.
To me, both Quintus Fabius Vergilianus and Gaius Flaccus, son of Lucius, and most diligently Marcus Octavius, son of Gnaeus, pointed out that I am highly valued by you; which I myself had already judged before by many arguments, and especially by that augural book, most delightful, which you sent me, written in a most affectionate manner.
mea in te omnia summa necessitudinis officia constabunt.
All my highest duties of close relationship toward you will remain constant.
§3.4.2nam cum te ipsum, ex quo tempore tu me diligere coepisti, cotidie pluris feci, tum accesserunt etiam coniunctiones necessariorum tuorum (duo enim duarum aetatum plurimi facio, Cn. Pompeium, filiae tuae socerum, et M. Brutum, generum tuum), conlegique coniunctio praesertim tam honorifice a te approbata non mediocre vinculum mihi quidem attulisse videtur ad voluntates nostras copulandas.
For while I have valued you yourself more highly day by day from the time when you began to love me, there have also been added the connections of your relatives (for I value two men of two different generations most highly, Gnaeus Pompeius, the father-in-law of your daughter, and Marcus Brutus, your son-in-law), and especially the connection of our college, approved so honorably by you, seems to me to have brought no small bond for binding our wills together.
sed et, si Clodium convenero, ex illius sermone ad te scribam plura et ipse operam dabo te ut quam primum videam.
But also, if I meet Clodius, I will write more to you from his conversation, and I myself will make every effort to see you as soon as possible.
quod scribis tibi manendi causam eam fuisse, ut me convenires, id mihi, ne mentiar, est gratum.
As for your writing that your reason for staying was to meet me, that, to tell no lie, is pleasing to me.

Notes

  1. §3.4.1quae illum mecum loqui velles — quae is the relative pronoun (neuter plural accusative) serving as the object of loqui (referring to the matters to be discussed), and velles is in the imperfect subjunctive due to sequence of tenses. The phrase illum ... loqui is an accusative with infinitive construction governed by velles.
  2. §3.4.1quod egomet — quod is a relative pronoun in the neuter singular accusative, taking the entire preceding clause (me a te plurimi fieri 'that I am highly valued by you') as its antecedent and serving as the direct object of the transitive verb iudicaram.
  3. §3.4.2duo enim duarum aetatum — duo is the direct object (masculine plural accusative) of plurimi facio, and the subsequent names Cn. Pompeium and M. Brutum stand in apposition to it. duarum aetatum ('of two generations') is a genitive of quality, indicating that they represent two different age groups.
  4. §3.4.2te ut — An inversion (hyperbaton) occurs where the conjunction ut is placed after the pronoun object te. The natural word order would be ut te quam primum videam.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §3.4.1-3.4.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:3.4.1-3.4.2

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