§8.16.1exanimatus tuis litteris, quibus te nihil nisi triste cogitare ostendisti neque id quid esset perscripsisti neque non tamen quale esset quod cogitares aperuisti, has ad te ilico litteras scripsi.
\nDriven to distraction by your letter, in which you showed that you were thinking of nothing but what is sad, and yet did not write in detail what it was, though at the same time you did not fail to reveal what sort of thing it was that you were thinking, I wrote this letter to you immediately.
per fortunas tuas, Cicero, per liberos te oro et obsecro ne quid gravius de salute et incolumitate tua consulas; nam deos hominesque amicitiamque nostram testificor me tibi praedixisse neque temere monuisse sed, postquam Caesarem convenerim sententiamque eius qualis futura esset parta victoria cognorim, te certiorem fecisse.
By your fortunes, Cicero, by your children, I beg and entreat you not to take any too serious resolve concerning your safety and well-being; for I call gods and men and our friendship to witness that I forewarned you and did not advise you rashly, but made you aware after I had met Caesar and had learned what his intention would be once victory was won.
si existimas eandem rationem fore Caesaris in dimittendis adversariis et condicionibus ferendis, erras; nihil nisi atrox et saevum cogitat atque etiam loquitur; iratus senatui exiit his intercessionibus plane incitatus est; non me hercules erit deprecationi locus. §8.16.2qua re, si tibi tu, si filius unicus, si domus, si spes tuae reliquae tibi carae sunt, si aliquid apud te nos, si vir optimus, gener tuus, valemus, quorum fortunam non debes velle conturbare, ut eam causam in quoius victoria salus nostra est odisse aut relinquere cogamur aut impiam cupiditatem contra salutem tuam habeamus—denique illud cogita, quod offensae fuerit in ista cunctatione te subisse;
If you think that Caesar's policy in dismissing his adversaries and offering terms will be the same, you are mistaken; he thinks and even speaks of nothing but what is harsh and cruel; he left the city angry with the senate, and is clearly incited by these intercessions; by Hercules, there will be no room for entreaty.\n\nTherefore, if you are dear to yourself, if your only son, if your house, if your remaining hopes are dear to you, if we or that excellent man, your son-in-law, have any influence with you—whose fortunes you ought not to wish to ruin, so that we should be compelled to hate or abandon that cause in whose victory our safety lies, or else hold an impious desire against your safety—finally, think of this: what offense you have incurred in that hesitation of yours.
nunc te contra victorem Caesarem facere, quem dubiis rebus laedere noluisti, et ad eos fugatos accedere, quos resistentis sequi nolueris, summae stultitiae est.
Now, to act against the victorious Caesar, whom you did not want to harm when things were uncertain, and to join those who are fled, whom you did not want to follow when they were resisting, is the height of folly.
vide ne, dum pudet te parum optimatem esse, parum diligenter quid optimum sit eligas. §8.16.3quod si totum tibi persuadere non possum, saltem, dum quid de Hispaniis agamus scitur, exspecta; quas tibi nuntio adventu Caesaris fore nostras.
Take care lest, while you are ashamed of being too little of an aristocrat, you choose too little carefully what is best.\n\nBut if I cannot persuade you of the whole of this, at least wait until it is known what we are doing about the Spains; which I announce to you will be ours upon Caesar's arrival.
quam isti spem habeant amissis Hispaniis nescio; quod porro tuum consilium sit ad desperatos accedere non medius fidius reperio. §8.16.4hoc quod tu non dicendo mihi significasti Caesar audierat ac, simul atque 'have' mihi dixit, statim quid de te audisset exposuit.
What hope those men can have when the Spains are lost, I do not know; furthermore, what your plan is in joining desperate men, by my faith, I cannot find.\n\nThis which you signified to me by not speaking, Caesar had heard, and as soon as he said 'hail' to me, he immediately set forth what he had heard about you.
negavi me scire, sed tamen ab eo petii ut ad te litteras mitteret, quibus maxime ad remanendum commoveri posses.
I denied that I knew, but nevertheless I asked him to send a letter to you, by which you might be most powerfully moved to remain.
me secum in Hispaniam ducit; nam nisi ita faceret, ego, prius quam ad urbem accederem, ubicumque esses, ad te percucurrissem et hoc a te praesens contendissem atque omni vi te retinuissem. §8.16.5etiam atque etiam, Cicero, cogita ne te tuosque omnis funditus evertas, ne te ciens prudensque eo demittas unde exitum vides nullum esse.
He is taking me with him to Spain; for unless he did so, before I approached the city, wherever you were, I should have run to you and urged this upon you in person and held you back with all my might.\n\nAgain and again, Cicero, think lest you utterly ruin yourself and all your family, lest with full knowledge and foresight you plunge yourself into a place from which you see no escape.
quod si te aut voces optimatium commovent aut non nullorum hominum insolentiam et iactationem ferre non potes, eligas censeo aliquod oppidum vacuum a bello, dum haec decernuntur; quae iam erunt confecta.
But if either the voices of the aristocrats move you, or you cannot bear the insolence and boasting of certain men, I think you should choose some town free from war while these matters are being decided, which will soon be finished.
id si feceris, et ego te sapienter fecisse iudicabo et Caesarem non offendes.
If you do this, I shall judge that you have acted wisely, and you will not offend Caesar.