§10.16.1commodum ad te dederam litteras de pluribus rebus cum ad me bene mane Dionysius fuit.
I had just sent you a letter about several matters when Dionysius came to me early in the morning.
quoi quidem ego non modo placabilem me praebuissem sed totum remisissem, si advenisset qua mente tu ad me scripseras.
I would indeed not only have shown myself placable to him, but would have remitted everything entirely, if he had arrived with the mind about which you had written to me.
erat enim sic in tuis litteris quas Arpini acceperam, eum venturum facturumque quod ego vellem.
For it was thus in your letter which I received at Arpinum, that he would come and do what I wished.
ego volebam autem vel cupiebam potius esse eum nobiscum.
Now, I wished, or rather desired, that he should be with us.
quod quia plane, cum in Formianum venisset, praeciderat, asperius ad te de eo scribere solebam.
Because he had flatly cut this off when he came to the villa at Formiae, I used to write to you rather harshly about him.
at ille perpauca locutus hanc summam habuit orationis ut sibi ignoscerem; se rebus suis impeditum nobiscum ire non posse.
But he, having spoken very few words, had this as the sum of his discourse: that I should forgive him; that he, hindered by his own affairs, could not go with us.
pauca respondi, magnum accepi dolorem, intellexi fortunam ab eo nostram despectam esse.
I replied briefly, felt great pain, and understood that our fortune was despised by him.
quid quaeris? (fortasse miraberis) in maximis horum temporum doloribus hunc mihi scito esse.
What more do you ask? (Perhaps you will wonder) know that among the greatest pains of these times, this is one of the greatest for me.
velim ut tibi amicus sit.
I should like him to be a friend to you.
hoc cum tibi opto, opto ut beatus sis; erit enim tam diu.
In wishing this for you, I wish that you may be prosperous; for he will be a friend only so long as you are so.
§10.16.2consilium nostrum spero vacuum periculo fore.
I hope our plan will be free from danger.
nam et dissimulavimus et, ut opinor, non acerrime adservabimur.
For we have both concealed our intentions and, as I think, we shall not be watched very strictly.
navigatio modo sit qualem opto, cetera, quae quidem consilio provideri poterunt, cavebuntur.
If only the voyage is such as I wish, other things, which indeed can be provided for by counsel, will be guarded against.
tu, dum adsumus, non modo quae scies audierisve sed etiam quae futura providebis scribas velim.
I should like you, while we are still here, to write not only what you know or have heard, but also what you foresee will happen.
§10.16.3Cato, qui Siciliam tenere nullo negotio potuit (et, si tenuisset, omnes boni ad eum se contulissent), Syracusis profectus est ante diem viii K. Mai. , ut ad me Curio scripsit.
Cato, who could have held Sicily with no trouble (and, if he had held it, all good men would have flocked to him), set out from Syracuse on April 24th, as Curio wrote to me.
utinam, quod aiunt, Cotta Sardiniam teneat! est enim rumor.
I wish Cotta may hold Sardinia, as they say! For there is a rumor.
o, si id fuerit, turpem Catonem!
Oh, if that happens, how shameful for Cato!
§10.16.4ego ut minuerem suspicionem profectionis aut cogitationis meae, profectus sum in Pompeianum a. d. iii Idus ut ibi essem dum quae ad navigandum opus essent pararentur.
In order to lessen any suspicion of my departure or intention, I set out for my villa at Pompeii on May 13th, so that I might be there while what was necessary for sailing was being prepared.
cum ad villam venissem, ventum est ad me:
"centuriones trium cohortium, quae Pompeiis sunt, me velle postridie convenire"
—haec mecum Ninnius noster,—
"velle eos mihi se et oppidum tradere. "
at ego abii postridie a villa ante lucem, ut me omnino illi ne viderent.
When I had come to the villa, a message was brought to me: "The centurions of three cohorts, which are at Pompeii, wish to meet me tomorrow" —our friend Ninnius told me this— "they wish to hand over themselves and the town to me." But I departed from the villa the next day before dawn, so that they might not see me at all.
quid enim erat in tribus cohortibus? quid si plures? quo apparatu? cogitavi eadem illa Caeliana quae legi in epistula tua quam accepi simul et in Cumanum veni eodem die, et fieri poterat ut temptaremur.
For what was there in three cohorts? What if there were more? With what equipment? I thought of those same Caelian affairs which I read in your letter, which I received just as I came to my villa at Cumae on the same day, and it was possible that we were being tempted.
omnem igitur suspicionem sustuli.
Therefore, I removed all suspicion.
§10.16.5sed, dum redeo, Hortensius venerat et ad me Terentiam salutatum deverterat.
But, while I was returning, Hortensius had arrived and had turned aside to my house to greet Terentia.
sermone erat usus honorifico erga me.
He had used honorable language toward me.
iam eum, ut puto, videbo; misit enim puerum se ad me venire.
Now, as I think, I shall see him; for he has sent his servant to say that he is coming to me.
hoc quidem melius quam conlega noster Antonius, cuius inter lictores lectica mima portatur.
This indeed is better than our colleague Antony, between whose lictors a litter carrying an actress is borne.
§10.16.6tu quoniam quartana cares et novum morbum removisti sed etiam gravedinem, teque vegetum nobis in Graecia siste et litterarum aliquid interea.
Since you are free from the quartan ague and have got rid of the new disease and even the head-cold, present yourself to us active and well in Greece, and send some letters in the meantime.