Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §11.11.1-11.11.2

Exhaustion and Financial Requests Concerning Debts

Passage 256 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero expresses his deep physical and mental exhaustion, stating that he has no energy or reason to write, and even stops expecting Atticus's letters; he then requests help with a debt repayment and financial arrangements while lamenting his wretched situation and the ongoing disparagement from his relative in Achaia.

§11.11.1confectus iam cruciatu maximorum dolorum ne si sit quidem quod ad te debeam scribere facile id exsequi possim, hoc minus, quod res nulla est quae scribenda sit cum praesertim ne spes quidem ulla ostendatur fore melius.
Worn out as I already am by the torture of the greatest griefs, even if there were something I ought to write to you, I could not easily accomplish it; much less so, since there is nothing to write, especially when not even any hope is shown that things will be better.
ita iam ne tuas quidem litteras exspecto, quamquam semper aliud adferunt quod velim.
Thus I no longer even expect your letters, although they always bring something else that I would wish.
qua re tu quidem scribito, cum erit quoi des.
Therefore, do write on your part whenever you have someone to whom you may give them.
ego tuis proximis, quas tamen iam pridem accepi, nihil habeo quod rescribam; longo enim intervallo video immutata esse omnia; illa esse firma quae debeant, nos stultitiae nostrae gravissimas poenas pendere.
As for your last letters, which however I received a long time ago, I have nothing to write back; for after a long interval I see that everything remains unchanged, that those things which ought to be firm are indeed firm, and that we are paying the heaviest penalties for our foolishness.
§11.11.2P. Sallustio curanda sunt HS. x_x_x_ quae accepi a Cn. Sallustio.
Publius Sallustius must be paid the 30,000 sesterces which I received from Gnaeus Sallustius.
velim videas ut sine mora curentur.
I would like you to see to it that they are paid without delay.
de ea re scripsi ad Terentiam.
I have written to Terentia about this matter.
atque hoc ipsum iam prope consumptum est.
And this very sum is already almost spent.
qua re id quoque velim cum illa videas, ut sit qui utamur.
Therefore, I would also like you to look into this with her, so that we may have something to use.
hic fortasse potero sumere, si sciam istic paratum fore; sed, prius quam id scirem, nihil sum ausus sumere.
Here perhaps I might be able to raise money, if I knew it would be ready there; but before I knew that, I did not dare to raise anything.
qui sit omnium rerum status noster vides.
You see what our status is in all things.
nihil est mali quod non et sustineam et exspectem.
There is no evil that I am not both enduring and expecting.
quarum rerum eo gravior est dolor quo culpa maior.
The grief of these things is the heavier, the greater the fault.
ille in Achaia non cessat de nobis detrahere.
That man in Achaia does not cease to disparage me.
nihil videlicet tuae litterae profecerunt.
Evidently your letters have achieved nothing.
vale.
Farewell.
viii Idus Mart.
March 8.

Notes

  1. §11.11.1hoc minus — 'hoc minus' is equivalent to 'eo minus', following a negative clause ('ne... possim'), expressing 'much less so' since there is nothing to write.
  2. §11.11.1immutata esse omnia — 'immutata' is the adjective 'immutatus' (unchanged, unaltered), functioning as the predicate accusative in the indirect discourse depending on 'video'. It indicates that everything remains unchanged.
  3. §11.11.2P. Sallustio curanda sunt — 'P. Sallustio' is a dative of agent used with the gerundive 'curanda sunt', meaning 'must be cared for by Publius Sallustius', referring to the arrangement of the payment.
  4. §11.11.2HS. x_x_x_ — A symbol indicating the amount in sesterces (HS). The numeral X with a bar above (or below) represents 10,000, and three of them together indicate 30,000 sesterces.
  5. §11.11.2ut sit qui utamur — 'qui' is an archaic dative/ablative form of the relative pronoun, equivalent to 'quo' (ablative of means with 'utor'), functioning as the object of 'utamur' ('so that there may be something for us to use').

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §11.11.1-11.11.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:11.11.1-11.11.2

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