Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §11.1.1-11.1.2

Financial Distress and a Plea to Protect Credit

Passage 247 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero acknowledges receiving a letter from Atticus but expresses anxiety over his missing financial manager. He requests Atticus to secure his credit using his funds in Asia and pleads for complete protection.

§11.1.1accepi a te signatum libellum quem Anteros attulerat; ex quo nihil scire potui de nostris domesticis rebus.
I have received from you the sealed document which Anteros brought; from which I could learn nothing about our domestic affairs.
de quibus acerbissime adflictor quod qui eas dispensavit neque adest istic neque ubi terrarum sit scio.
Concerning these I am most bitterly distressed, because the man who managed them is neither there with you nor do I know where in the world he is.
omnem autem spem habeo existimationis privatarumque rerum in tua erga me mihi perspectissima benevolentia.
But I place all hope for my reputation and private property in your goodwill towards me, which has been so fully proved to me.
quam si his temporibus miseris et extremis praestiteris, haec pericula quae mihi communia sunt cum ceteris fortius feram; idque ut facias te obtestor atque obsecro.
If you show this in these miserable and desperate times, I shall bear more bravely these dangers which I share in common with the rest; and that you may do so, I entreat and implore you.
§11.1.2ego in cistophoro in Asia habeo ad sestertium bis et viciens.
I have in Asia, in cistophori, about two million two hundred thousand sesterces.
huius pecuniae permutatione fidem nostram facile tuebere; quam quidem ego nisi expeditam relinquere me putassem credens ei cui tu scis iam pridem minime credere me debere, commoratus essem paulisper nec domesticas res impeditas reliquissem.
By a transfer of this money you will easily maintain our credit; indeed, if I had not thought that I was leaving it settled—believing that man whom you know I ought long ago to have trusted least—I should have delayed for a little while, and not have left my domestic affairs in a state of embarrassment.
ob eamque causam serius ad te scribo quod sero intellexi quid timendum esset.
And for that reason I am writing to you later than I should, because I was late in understanding what there was to fear.
te etiam atque etiam oro ut me totum tuendum suscipias, ut, si ii salvi erunt quibuscum sum, una cum iis possim incolumis esse salutemque meam benevolentiae tuae acceptam referre.
I beg you again and again to undertake to protect me entirely, so that, if those with whom I am remain safe, I may be unharmed along with them, and may attribute my safety to your goodwill.

Notes

  1. 11.1.2ad sestertium bis et viciens — The word 'ad' is used adverbially with numerals to mean 'about' or 'approximately'. 'sestertium' (originally a genitive plural, but treated as a neuter singular noun) represents the unit of 100,000 sesterces; combined with the numeral adverb 'bis et viciens' (22 times), it denotes 2,200,000 sesterces.
  2. 11.1.2quam quidem ego nisi expeditam relinquere me putassem — The relative pronoun 'quam' connects the sentences, referring back to 'fidem' in the preceding sentence, and serves as the object of the infinitive clause 'me... relinquere'. 'expeditam' is a predicative modifier of 'quam' (meaning 'cleared' or 'settled'). The clause 'nisi... putassem' (subjunctive pluperfect) forms a past contrary-to-fact conditional, with 'commoratus essem...' as the apodosis.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §11.1.1-11.1.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:11.1.1-11.1.2

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