Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §1.4.1-1.4.3

Urging Atticus' Return, Villa Decorations, and Books

Passage 4 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero urges Atticus to return to Rome to resolve pending matters, expresses his pleasure regarding the acquired statues for his villas, and voices his eager desire to purchase Atticus's library.

§1.4.1crebras exspectationes nobis tui commoves.
You are constantly raising my expectations of you.
nuper quidem cum iam te adventare arbitraremur, repente abs te in mensem Quintilem reiecti sumus.
Indeed, recently, when we thought you were already on your way, we were suddenly put off by you until the month of July.
nunc vero sentio, quod commodo tuo facere poteris, venias ad id tempus quod scribis; obieris Quinti fratris comitia, nos longo intervallo viseris, Acutilianam controversiam transegeris.
Now, however, I feel that you should come at the time you write of, as far as you can do so at your convenience; you will attend the election of my brother Quintus, you will visit us after a long interval, and you will settle the controversy with Acutilius.
hoc me etiam Peducaeus ut ad te scriberem admonuit.
Peducaeus also advised me to write to you about this.
putamus enim utile esse te aliquando iam rem transigere.
For we think it is useful for you to settle that matter at last.
§1.4.2mea intercessio parata et est et fuit.
My mediation is and has been ready.
nos hic incredibili ac singulari populi voluntate de C. Macro transegimus.
We here have settled the business of C. Macer with the incredible and singular goodwill of the people.
cui cum aequi fuissemus, tamen multo maiorem fructum ex populi existimatione illo damnato cepimus quam ex ipsius si absolutus esset gratia cepissemus.
Although we were fair to him, yet we reaped a much greater fruit from the people's estimation of us upon his condemnation than we should have done from his own gratitude if he had been acquitted.
§1.4.3quod ad me de Hermathena scribis, per mihi gratum est.
As to what you write to me about the Hermathena, it is very pleasing to me.
est ornamentum Academiae proprium meae, quod et Hermes commune omnium et Minerva singulare est insigne eius gymnasi.
It is an ornament appropriate for my Academia, since Hermes is the common emblem of all gymnasia, and Minerva is the special insignia of that particular one.
qua re velim, ut scribis, ceteris quoque rebus quam plurimis eum locum ornes.
Therefore, I would like you, as you write, to adorn that place with as many other things as possible.
quae mihi antea signa misisti, ea nondum vidi; in Formiano sunt, quo ego nunc proficisci cogitabam.
As for the statues you sent me before, I have not seen them yet; they are at my villa in Formiae, where I am now thinking of going.
illa omnia in Tusculanum deportabo.
I shall transfer them all to my villa in Tusculum.
Caietam, si quando abundare coepero, ornabo.
I will adorn Caieta if ever I begin to have a surplus.
libros tuos conserva et noli desperare eos me meos facere posse.
Keep your books, and do not despair of my being able to make them mine.
quod si adsequor, supero Crassum divitiis atque omnium vicos et prata contemno.
If I achieve this, I shall surpass Crassus in wealth and look down upon everyone's estates and meadows.

Notes

  1. 1.4.1crebras exspectationes nobis tui commoves — tui is the genitive of the second-person pronoun tu, functioning as an objective genitive modifying exspectationes ("expectations of you").
  2. 1.4.1obieris Quinti fratris comitia — The parallel verbs obieris, viseris, and transegeris can be parsed as future perfect indicatives or perfect subjunctives, expressing the series of actions expected to be accomplished upon Atticus's return.
  3. 1.4.2illo damnato — An ablative absolute referring to the condemnation of C. Licinius Macer ("he being condemned"). In contrast with the subsequent past contrary-to-fact condition (si absolutus esset ... cepissemus), it carries a conditional nuance.
  4. 1.4.3noli desperare eos me meos facere posse — The negative imperative noli desperare is followed by an accusative with infinitive construction (me meos facere posse), where me is the subject accusative of posse, and eos (referring to the books) is the direct object of facere with meos as a predicate accusative.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §1.4.1-1.4.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:1.4.1-1.4.3

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.