§11.12.1Cephalio mihi a te litteras reddidit a. d. VIII Id. Mart. vespere.
Cephalio delivered your letter to me on the evening of March 8.
eo autem die mane tabellarios miseram; quibus ad te dederam litteras.
But on the morning of that day I had sent messengers, to whom I had given a letter for you.
tuis tamen lectis litteris putavi iam aliquid rescribendum esse ea re maxime quod ostendis te pendere animi quamnam rationem sim Caesari adlaturus profectionis meae tum cum ex Italia discesserim.
Nevertheless, having read your letter, I thought that something must now be written back, especially because you show that you are anxious in mind as to what explanation I am going to offer to Caesar for my departure when I left Italy.
nihil opus est mihi nova ratione.
I have no need of a new explanation.
saepe enim ad eum scripsi multisque mandavi me non potuisse, quom cupissem, sermones hominum sustinere, multaque in eam sententiam.
For I have often written to him, and charged many people to say, that I could not, although I had wished to, endure the talk of men, and many things to that effect.
nihil enim erat quod minus eum vellem existimare quam me tanta de re non meo consilio usum esse.
For there was nothing I would have wished him to think less than that I had not used my own judgment in so great a matter.
posteaque quom mihi litterae a Balbo Cornelio minore missae essent illum existimare Quintum fratrem
"lituum"
meae profectionis fuisse (ita enim scripsit), qui nondum cognossem quae de me Quintus scripsisset ad multos, etsi multa praesens in praesentem acerbe dixerat et fecerat, tamen nihilo minus his verbis ad Caesarem scripsi: §11.12.2"de Quinto fratre meo non minus laboro quam de me ipso, sed eum tibi commendare hoc meo tempore non audeo.
And when afterwards a letter was sent to me by the younger Cornelius Balbus that he thought my brother Quintus had been the "trumpet" of my departure (for so he wrote), although I did not yet know what Quintus had written about me to many, even though he had said and done many bitter things face to face, nevertheless I wrote to Caesar in these words: "I am no less anxious about my brother Quintus than about myself, but I do not dare to recommend him to you at this time of mine.
illud dumtaxat tamen audebo petere abs te quod potero, ne quid existimes ab illo factum esse quo minus mea in te officia constarent minusve te diligerem potiusque semper illum auctorem nostrae coniunctionis fuisse meique itineris comitem, non ducem.
However, I will dare to ask of you at least this, which I shall be able to do, that you do not think anything was done by him to make my services to you less complete or my affection for you less, but rather that he was always the promoter of our union and the companion, not the leader, of my journey.
qua re ceteris in rebus tantum ei tribues quantum humanitas tua amicitiaque vestra postulat.
Therefore, in other matters you will grant him as much as your kindliness and your friendship require.
ego ei ne quid apud te obsim, id te vehementer etiam atque etiam rogo. " §11.12.3qua re si quis congressus fuerit mihi cum Caesare, etsi non dubito quin is lenis in illum futurus sit idque iam declaraverit, ego tamen is ero qui semper fui.
That I may not be of any disadvantage to him in your eyes, I earnestly ask you again and again." Therefore, if there should be any meeting between me and Caesar, although I do not doubt that he will be lenient toward him and has already declared so, I shall nevertheless be the one I have always been.
sed, ut video, multo magis est nobis laborandum de Africa; quam quidem tu scribis confirmari cotidie magis ad condicionis spem quam victoriae.
But, as I see, we have to worry much more about Africa, which indeed you write is daily becoming stronger rather with the hope of terms than of victory.
quod utinam ita esset! sed longe aliter esse intellego teque ipsum ita existimare arbitror, aliter autem scribere non fallendi sed confirmandi mei causa, praesertim cum adiungatur ad Africam etiam Hispania.
Would that it were so! But I understand it is far otherwise, and I think you yourself believe so, but write otherwise not to deceive me but to encourage me, especially since Spain is also added to Africa.
§11.12.4quod me admones ut scribam ad Antonium et ad ceteros, si quid videbitur tibi opus esse, velim facias id quod saepe fecisti.
As for your advising me to write to Antony and the others, if anything seems to you to be necessary, I would like you to do what you have often done.
nihil enim mihi venit in mentem quod scribendum putem.
For nothing comes to my mind that I think should be written.
quod me audis erectiorem esse animo, quid putas cum videas accessisse ad superiores aegritudines praeclaras generi actiones? tu tamen velim ne intermittas, quod eius facere poteris, scribere ad me, etiam si rem de qua scribas non habebis.
As for your hearing that I am in better spirits, what do you think when you see that the brilliant actions of my son-in-law have been added to my former griefs? Nevertheless, I would like you not to cease writing to me, as far as you are able to do so, even if you have nothing to write about.
semper enim adferunt aliquid mihi tuae litterae.
For your letters always bring me something.
Galeonis hereditatem crevi.
I have formally accepted the inheritance of Galeo.
puto enim cretionem simplicem fuisse, quoniam ad me nulla missa est.
For I think the acceptance was unconditional, since no notification was sent to me.
viii Idus Martias.
March 8.