§6.7.1quod tibi non tam celeriter liber est redditus, ignosce timori nostro et miserere temporis.
Excuse our fear and have pity on the times that the book was not returned to you so quickly.
filius, ut audio, pertimuit, neque iniuria, si liber exisset (quoniam non tam interest quo animo scribatur quam quo accipiatur), ne ea res inepte mihi noceret, cum praesertim adhuc stili poenas dem.
My son, as I hear, was greatly afraid, and not without reason, if the book should go out (since it is not of so much interest with what mind it is written as with what mind it is received), lest that matter should foolishly harm me, especially when I am still paying the penalty for my pen.
qua quidem in re singulari sum fato.
Indeed, in this matter I am of a singular fate.
nam cum mendum scripturae litura tollatur, stultitia fama multetur, meus error exsilio corrigitur, cuius summa criminis est quod armatus adversario male dixi.
For while an error of writing is removed by an erasure, and foolishness is punished by bad reputation, my mistake is corrected by exile, the chief crime of which is that, being armed, I spoke ill of my adversary.
§6.7.2nemo nostrum est, ut opinor, quin vota victoriae suae fecerit, nemo, quin, etiam cum de alia re immolaret, tamen eo quidem ipso tempore, ut quam primum Caesar superaretur, optarit.
There is no one of us, I think, who did not make vows for his own victory, no one who, even when sacrificing for some other matter, did not nevertheless at that very time pray that Caesar might be defeated as soon as possible.
hoc si non cogitat, omnibus rebus felix est; si scit et persuasus est, quid irascitur ei qui aliquid scripsit contra suam voluntatem, cum ignorit omnibus qui multa deos venerati sint contra eius salutem?
If he does not think of this, he is happy in all things; if he knows and is convinced of it, why is he angry with him who wrote something against his will, when he has forgiven all who prayed much to the gods against his safety?
§6.7.3sed ut eodem revertar, causa haec fuit timoris: scripsi de te parce medius fidius et timide non revocans me ipse sed paene refugiens.
But to return to the same point, this was the cause of fear: I wrote about you sparingly, by Hercules, and timidly, not holding myself back but almost fleeing.
genus autem hoc scripturae non modo liberum sed incitatum atque elatum esse debere quis ignorat? solutum existimatur esse alteri male dicere (tamen cavendum est ne in petulantiam incidas), impeditum se ipsum laudare, ne vitium adrogantiae subsequatur, solum vero liberum alterum laudare, de quo quicquid detrahas, necesse est aut infirmitati aut invidiae adsignetur.
But who does not know that this kind of writing ought to be not only free but also eager and exalted? It is thought to be free of constraint to speak ill of another (yet care must be taken lest you fall into insolence), difficult to praise oneself, lest the vice of arrogance follow, but truly free only to praise another, from which whatever you subtract, it must necessarily be assigned either to weakness or to envy.
ac nescio an tibi gratius opportuniusque acciderit; nam quod praeclare facere non poteram, primum erat non attingere, secundum beneficium quam parcissime facere.
And I do not know whether it happened to you more acceptably and opportunely; for what I could not do excellently, the first thing was not to touch it, the second benefit was to do it as sparingly as possible.
sed tamen ego quidem me sustinui; multa minui, multa sustuli, complura ne posui quidem.
But nevertheless I restrained myself; I reduced many things, removed many things, and did not even put down several.
quem ad modum igitur, scalarum gradus si alios tollas, alios incidas, non nullos male haerentis relinquas, ruinae periculum struas, non ascensum pares, sic tot malis tum vinctum tum fractum studium scribendi quid dignum auribus aut probabile potest adferre?
Just as, therefore, if you remove some steps of a ladder, cut others, and leave some hanging badly, you build a danger of ruin and do not prepare an ascent, so what can a zeal for writing, bound and broken by so many evils, bring that is worthy of ears or commendable?
§6.7.4Cum vero ad ipsius Caesaris nomen veni, toto corpore contremesco non poenae metu, sed illius iudici.
But when I come to the name of Caesar himself, I tremble in my whole body, not from fear of punishment, but from fear of his judgment.
totum enim Caesarem non novi.
For I do not know the whole of Caesar.
quem putas animum esse, ubi secum loquitur? 'hoc probabit, hoc verbum suspiciosum est.
What mind do you think it is, when it speaks with itself? "Will he approve this? This word is suspicious.
quid, si hoc muto? at vereor ne peius sit.
What if I change this? But I fear lest it be worse.
age vero, laudo aliquem; non offendo? Cum porro reprendo aliquem, quid, si non vult? armati stilum persequitur; victi et nondum restituti quid faciet?' auges etiam tu mihi timorem, qui in Oratore tuo caves tibi per Brutum et ad excusationem socium quaeris.
Come now, I praise someone; do I not offend? Furthermore, when I find fault with someone, what if he does not wish it? He prosecutes the pen of an armed man; what will he do to the pen of a conquered and not yet restored man?" Even you increase my fear, who in your 'Orator' guard yourself through Brutus and seek a companion for your excuse.
Ubi hoc omnium patronus facit, quid me, veterem tuum, nunc omnium clientem, sentire oportet? in hac igitur calumnia timoris et caecae suspicionis tormento, cum plurima ad alieni sensus coniecturam, non ad suum iudicium scribantur, quam difficile sit evadere, si minus expertus es, quod te ad omnia summum atque excellens ingenium armavit, nos sentimus.
When the patron of all does this, what ought I, your old friend and now the client of all, to feel? Therefore, in this calumny of fear and torment of blind suspicion, when very many things are written for the conjecture of another's feeling and not for one's own judgment, how difficult it is to escape—even if you have experienced it less because your supreme and excellent talent has armed you for all things—we feel it.
sed tamen ego filio dixeram, librum tibi legeret et auferret aut ea condicione daret, si reciperes te correcturum, hoc est si totum alium faceres.
But nevertheless I had told my son to read the book to you and take it away, or to give it on this condition, that you would undertake to correct it, that is, if you would make it entirely another book.
§6.7.5de Asiatico itinere, quamquam summa necessitas premebat, ut imperasti, feci.
Concerning the Asiatic journey, although the greatest necessity pressed upon me, I did as you commanded.
te pro me quid horter? vides tempus venisse, quo necesse sit de nobis constitui.
Why should I urge you on my behalf? You see that the time has come when it is necessary to decide concerning us.
nihil est, mi Cicero, quod filium meum exspectes.
There is no reason, my Cicero, for you to expect my son.
adulescens est; omnia excogitare vel studio vel aetate vel metu non potest.
He is a youth; he cannot think out all things either because of his zeal, or age, or fear.
totum negotium tu sustineas oportet; in te mihi omnis spes est.
It is necessary that you support the whole business; in you is all my hope.
tu pro tua prudentia, quibus rebus gaudeat, quibus capiatur Caesar, tenes; a te omnia proficiscantur et per te ad exitum perducantur necesse est; apud ipsum multum, apud eius omnis plurimum potes.
You, in accordance with your wisdom, understand by what things Caesar is pleased, by what he is captured; it is necessary that all things start from you and be brought to an end through you; you have much power with him himself, and the greatest power with all his friends.
§6.7.6unum tibi si persuaseris, non hoc esse tui muneris, si quid rogatus fueris, ut facias (quamquam id magnum et amplum est), sed totum tuum esse onus, perficies; nisi forte aut in miseria nimis stulte aut in amicitia nimis impudenter tibi onus impono.
If you convince yourself of this one thing, that it is not of your duty to do what you are asked (although that is great and ample), but that the whole burden is yours, you will accomplish it; unless perhaps I impose a burden on you either too foolishly in misery or too shamelessly in friendship.
sed utrique rei excusationem tuae vitae consuetudo dat.
But the custom of your life gives an excuse for both things.
nam quod ita consuesti pro amicis laborare, non iam sic sperant abs te sed etiam sic imperant tibi familiares quod ad librum attinet quem tibi filius dabit, peto a te ne exeat, aut ita corrigas ne mihi noceat.
For because you have so accustomed yourself to labor for friends, your companions no longer only hope for this from you, but even command it of you. As to what pertains to the book which my son will give you, I ask of you that it may not go out, or that you so correct it that it may not harm me.