Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §1.7.1

News of Atticus' Mother and Request for Books and Purchases

Passage 7 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero informs Atticus of his mother's well-being and his arrangement to pay Cincius, while urging Atticus to quickly send the purchased items and to prepare the library as promised.

§1.7.1apud matrem recte est, eaque nobis curae est.
All is well with your mother, and she is a care to us.
L. Cincio HS X_X_CD constitui me curaturum Idibus Febr.
I have agreed with Lucius Cincius that I will pay him 20,400 sesterces on the Ides of February.
tu velim ea quae nobis emisse te et parasse scribis des operam ut quam primum habeamus et velim cogites, id quod mihi pollicitus es, quem ad modum bibliothecam nobis conficere possis.
I should like you to take pains that we may have as soon as possible those things which you write that you have bought and prepared for us, and I would have you consider, as you promised me, how you can get together a library for us.
omnem spem delectationis nostrae, quam cum in otium venerimus habere volumus, in tua humanitate positam habemus.
We have all our hope of pleasure, which we wish to enjoy when we retire into leisure, placed in your kindness.

Notes

  1. §1.7.1recte est — An impersonal expression meaning "it is well" or "things are all right." The implied subject refers to the general state of affairs or the mother's condition. The "mother" here refers to Atticus's mother, who was left in Rome.
  2. §1.7.1nobis curae — A double dative construction. 'nobis' is a dative of reference/advantage, and 'curae' is a dative of purpose/result. Together, they mean "she is an object of care to us"—that is, "we are taking care of her."
  3. §1.7.1HS X_X_CD — Monetary unit and Roman numeral notation. 'HS' stands for sestertii. 'X_X' represents 20,000 (an X with a horizontal bar above it denotes 10,000), and 'CD' represents 400, totaling 20,400 sesterces.
  4. §1.7.1velim ... des — The subjunctive of wish 'velim' followed directly by the subjunctive present second person singular 'des' (from 'dare'), functioning as a noun clause with the omission of 'ut'. The same structure applies to 'velim cogites'.
  5. §1.7.1positam habemus — A construction combining the verb 'habere' with a perfect participle ('positam', feminine accusative singular, agreeing with 'spem'). Rather than a simple perfect tense ('posuimus'), it emphasizes the ongoing state resulting from the action ("we hold it placed"). This is a precursor to the compound tenses (have + past participle) in Romance languages.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §1.7.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:1.7.1

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.