§10.8A.1nisi te valde amarem et multo quidem plus quam tu putas, non extimuissem rumorem qui de te prolatus est, cum praesertim falsum esse existimarem.
If I did not love you deeply, and indeed much more than you think, I would not have feared the rumour that has been spread about you, especially since I myself considered it to be false.
sed quia te nimio plus diligo, non possum dissimulare mihi famam quoque, quamvis sit falsa, magni esse.
But because I love you more than is fitting, I cannot hide the fact that even a rumour, however false it may be, is of great importance to me.
te iturum esse trans mare credere non possum, cum tanti facias Dolabellam et Tulliam tuam, feminam lectissimam, tantique ab omnibus nobis fias; quibus me hercule dignitas amplitudoque tua paene carior est quam tibi ipsi.
I cannot believe that you are going to go across the sea, when you hold Dolabella and your Tullia, that most choice woman, in such high esteem, and are yourself held in such high esteem by all of us; to whom, by Hercules, your dignity and greatness are almost dearer than to yourself.
sed tamen non sum arbitratus esse amici non commoveri etiam improborum sermone atque eo feci studiosius quod iudicabam duriores partis mihi impositas esse ab offensione nostra, quae magis a ζηλοτυπίᾳ mea quam ab iniuria tua nata est.
And yet, I did not think it was the part of a friend not to be moved even by the talk of wicked men; and I did so all the more eagerly because I judged that harder parts had been imposed on me by our disagreement, which arose more from my jealousy than from any injury of yours.
sic enim volo te tibi persuadere, mihi neminem esse cariorem te excepto Caesare meo, meque illud una iudicare Caesarem maxime in suis M. Ciceronem reponere.
For I wish you to persuade yourself of this: that no one is dearer to me, my Caesar excepted, and that I judge likewise that Caesar places M.
§10.8A.2qua re, mi Cicero, te rogo ut tibi omnia integra serves, eius fidem improbes qui tibi ut beneficium daret prius iniuriam fecit, contra ne profugias qui te, etsi non amabit, quod accidere non potest, tamen salvum amplissimumque esse cupiet.
Cicero chief among his own friends. Therefore, my dear Cicero, I ask you to keep all your options open for yourself, to reject the good faith of him who first did you an injury so that he might grant you a benefit, and on the other hand, not to flee from him who, even if he will not love you (which is impossible to happen), will yet wish you to be safe and most highly honored.
dedita opera ad te Calpurnium familiarissimum meum misi, ut mihi magnae curae tuam vitam ac dignitatem esse scires.
I have sent Calpurnius, my most intimate friend, to you on purpose, so that you might know that your life and dignity are of great concern to me.
eodem die a Caesare Philotimus attulit hoc exemplo:
On the same day, Philotimus brought from Caesar a letter of the following tenor: