§11.2.1litteras tuas accepi pr. Non. Febr. eoque ipso die ex testamento crevi hereditatem.
I received your letter on the day before the Nones of February (4 February), and on that very day I formally accepted the inheritance according to the will.
ex multis meis miserrimis curis est una levata si, ut scribis, ista hereditas fidem et famam meam tueri potest; quam quidem intellego te etiam sine hereditate tuis opibus defensurum fuisse.
From my many most miserable anxieties, one has been lifted if, as you write, that inheritance can protect my credit and reputation; indeed, I understand that you would have defended it with your own resources even without the inheritance.
§11.2.2de dote quod scribis, per omnis deos te obtestor ut totam rem suscipias et illam miseram mea culpa et neglegentia tueare meis opibus si quae sunt, tuis quibus tibi molestum non erit facultatibus.
As to what you write about the dowry, I entreat you by all the gods to undertake the whole matter and protect that poor girl, who is miserable through my own fault and negligence, with my resources if there are any, and with your own means so far as it will not be troublesome to you.
quoi quidem deesse omnia, quod scribis, obsecro te, noli pati.
I beg you, do not allow her to be in want of everything, as you write.
in quos enim sumptus abeunt fructus praediorum? iam illa HS L_X_ quae scribis nemo mihi umquam dixit ex dote esse detracta; numquam enim essem passus.
For into what expenses do the revenues of the estates go? Now, as for those 60,000 sesterces of which you write, no one ever told me that they had been deducted from the dowry; for I would never have permitted it.
sed haec minima est ex iis iniuriis quas accepi; de quibus ad te dolore et lacrimis scribere prohibeor.
But this is the least of those injuries I have received; about which I am prevented by grief and tears from writing to you.
ex ea pecunia quae fuit in Asia partem dimidiam fere exegi.
Of that money which was in Asia, I have collected nearly half.
§11.2.3tutius videbatur fore ibi ubi est quam apud publicanos.
It seemed that it would be safer there where it is than in the hands of the tax-farmers.
quod me hortaris ut firmo sim animo, vellem posses aliquid adferre quam ob rem id facere possem.
As for your exhorting me to be of firm mind, I wish you could bring forward some reason why I could do so.
sed si ad ceteras miserias accessit etiam id quod mihi Chrysippus dixit parari (tu nihil significasti) de domo, quis me miserior uno iam fuit? oro, obsecro, ignosce.
But if to my other miseries there has also been added that which Chrysippus told me was being prepared (you indicated nothing) concerning my house, who has ever been more miserable than I alone? I beg, I entreat, forgive me.
non possum plura scribere.
I cannot write more.
quanto maerore urgear profecto vides.
You surely see with how great a grief I am oppressed.
quod si mihi commune cum ceteris esset qui videntur in eadem causa esse, minor mea culpa videretur et eo tolerabilior esset.
If this were common to me with the rest who seem to be in the same situation, my fault would seem less and thus more tolerable.
nunc nihil est quod consoletur, nisi quid tu efficis, si modo etiam nunc effici potest ut ne qua singulari adficiar calamitate et iniuria.
Now there is nothing to console me, unless you accomplish something, if only even now it can be managed that I may not be afflicted by any singular calamity and injury.
§11.2.4tardius ad te remisi tabellarium quod potestas mittendi non fuit.
I sent back the letter-carrier to you later because there was no opportunity of sending him.
a tuis et nummorum accepi HS L_X_X_ et vestimentorum quod opus fuit.
From your people I received both 70,000 sesterces in cash and what was necessary in the way of clothing.
quibus tibi videbitur velim des litteras meo nomine.
I would like you to give letters in my name to whomever it seems fit to you.
nosti meos familiaris.
You know my familiar friends.
si signum requirent aut manum, dices me propter custodias ea vitasse.
If they require a seal or my handwriting, you will say that I avoided them on account of the guards.