Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §1.3.1-1.3.3

Death of Atticus' Grandmother and Arrival of Statues

Passage 3 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero informs Atticus of his grandmother's death, the delivery of the purchased statues, his ongoing efforts to reconcile with their mutual friend, and the betrothal of his daughter Tulliola.

§1.3.1aviam tuam scito desiderio tui mortuam esse et simul quod verita sit ne Latinae in officio non manerent et in montem Albanum hostias non adducerent.
Know that your grandmother has died from longing for you, and at the same time because she feared that the Latin festival might not keep its obligation and not bring the victims to the Alban Mount.
eius rei consolationem ad te L. Saufeium missurum esse arbitror.
I expect L. Saufeius will send you a consolation on that matter.
§1.3.2nos hic te ad mensem Ianuarium exspectamus ex quodam rumore an ex litteris tuis ad alios missis; nam ad me de eo nihil scripsisti.
We are expecting you here by the month of January, whether from some rumor or from your letters sent to others; for you have written nothing to me on that subject.
signa quae nobis curasti, ea sunt ad Caietam exposita.
As for the statues you procured for us, they have been landed at Caieta.
nos ea non vidimus; neque enim exeundi Roma potestas nobis fuit.
We have not seen them; for we have had no opportunity of leaving Rome.
misimus qui pro vectura solveret.
We have sent someone to pay for the carriage.
te multum amamus quod ea abs te diligenter parvoque curata sunt.
We are very grateful to you that they have been procured by you so carefully and at so small a cost.
§1.3.3quod ad me saepe scripsisti de nostro amico placando, feci et expertus sum omnia, sed mirandum in modum est animo abalienato.
As to what you have often written to me about placating our friend, I have done and tried everything, but he is alienated to a wonderful degree.
quibus de suspicionibus etsi audisse te arbitror, tamen ex me cum veneris cognosces.
Though I think you have heard of these suspicions, yet you will learn them from me when you come.
Sallustium praesentem restituere in eius veterem gratiam non potui.
I have not been able to restore Sallust, who is present, to his former favor with him.
hoc ad te scripsi quod is me accusare de te solebat.
I have written this to you because he used to accuse me in regard to you.
in se expertus est illum esse minus exorabilem, meum studium nec sibi nec tibi defuisse.
He has experienced in his own case that the other is less exorabile, and that my devotion was not wanting either to him or to you.
Tulliolam C. Pisoni L. f.
We have betrothed Tulliola to C.
Frugi despondimus.
Piso Frugi, son of Lucius.

Notes

  1. 1.3.1desiderio tui — tui is the genitive of the personal pronoun tu, functioning as an objective genitive modifying the noun desiderio.
  2. 1.3.1verita sit — The subjunctive mood (verita sit) in the quod clause indicates a reported or subjective reason, which Cicero humorously attributes as the cause of his grandmother's death.
  3. 1.3.1Latinae — An ellipsis for Latinae feriae (the Latin festival). The festival itself is personified as the subject that might 'not keep its obligation.'
  4. 1.3.3quod ad me saepe scripsisti — The introductory quod-clause is a clause of respect ('As to what you have often written to me...'), used to transition to a new topic.
  5. 1.3.3animo abalienato — Ablative of quality (or ablative absolute) describing the mental state of the omitted subject (our friend Lucceius) as being 'alienated.'
  6. 1.3.3in se expertus est — in se means 'in his own case' or 'by experience in his own person.' The subject of expertus est (perfect of experior) is Sallust, which governs the two following accusative-with-infinitive clauses.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §1.3.1-1.3.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:1.3.1-1.3.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.