Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §7.7.1-7.7.2

Advice to Trebatius on Returning or Winning Caesar's Favor

Passage 129 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero mentions his ongoing recommendations and urges Trebatius to return quickly if Britain lacks wealth, or otherwise to strive to become close to Caesar.

§7.7.1ego te commendare non desisto, sed quid proficiam ex te scire cupio.
I do not cease to recommend you, but I desire to know from you what progress I am making.
spem maximam habeo in Balbo, ad quem de te diligentissime et saepissime scribo.
I have the greatest hope in Balbus, to whom I write about you most diligently and most frequently.
illud soleo mirari, non me totiens accipere tuas litteras, quotiens a Quinto mihi fratre adferantur.
I am accustomed to wonder at this, that I do not receive your letters as often as they are brought to me from my brother Quintus.
in Britannia nihil esse audio neque auri neque argenti.
I hear that in Britain there is nothing, neither of gold nor of silver.
§7.7.2id si ita est, essedum aliquod capias suadeo et ad nos quam primum recurras.
If that is so, I advise you to capture some chariot and run back to us as soon as possible.
sin autem sine Britannia tamen adsequi quod volumus possumus, perfice ut sis in familiaribus Caesaris.
But if, even without Britain, we can still attain what we want, see to it that you are among Caesar's intimates.
multum te in eo frater adiuvabit meus, multum Balbus, sed, mihi crede, tuus pudor et labor plurimum. †imperatorem liberalissimum, aetatem opportunissimam, commendationem certe singularem, ut tibi unum timendum sit ne ipse tibi defuisse videare.
In this my brother will help you much, Balbus much, but, believe me, your own self-respect and industry will help most of all. †With a most generous general, a most opportune age, and certainly a singular recommendation, so that the only thing you have to fear is lest you should seem to have failed yourself.

Notes

  1. §7.7.1illud soleo mirari, non me totiens accipere tuas litteras — The demonstrative pronoun `illud` anticipates the following accusative and infinitive clause `non me... accipere`.
  2. §7.7.1neque auri neque argenti — Partitive genitives modifying the pronoun `nihil`. The double negative `neque... neque` following `nihil` does not cancel the negation but specifies and reinforces it.
  3. §7.7.2essedum aliquod capias suadeo — The verb `suadeo` typically governs an `ut`-clause, but here the conjunction `ut` is omitted, and the subjunctive `capias` is directly coordinated. The subsequent `recurras` is likewise dependent on `suadeo`.
  4. §7.7.2ne ipse tibi defuisse videare — `videare` is the second-person singular present subjunctive passive (an alternative form of `videaris`). `defuisse` is the perfect infinitive of `deesse` (to fail, be wanting), which with the dative `tibi` means 'to fail oneself' or 'to neglect one's own efforts'.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §7.7.1-7.7.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:7.7.1-7.7.2

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