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Cicero · Letters to Atticus §12.26.1-12.26.2

Sicca's Expected Visit and Declining Nicias' Company

Passage 298 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero writes about Sicca's upcoming visit and declines the company of his friend Nicias, expressing appreciation for his goodwill but preferring solitude in his current state of grief.

§12.26.1Sicca, ut scribit, etiam si nihil confecerit cum A. Silio, tamen se scribit x Kal. esse venturum.
Sicca, as he writes, even if he has accomplished nothing with A. Silius, still writes that he will come on the tenth day before the Kalends.
tuis occupationibus ignosco eaeque mihi sunt notae.
I excuse your business, and it is well known to me.
de voluntate tua ut simul simus vel studio potius et cupiditate non dubito.
I do not doubt your desire that we should be together, or rather your eagerness and longing.
§12.26.2de Nicia quod scribis, si ita me haberem ut eius humanitate frui possem, in primis vellem illum mecum habere.
As to what you write about Nicias, if I were in such a state that I could enjoy his refined company, I should above all wish to have him with me.
sed mihi solitudo et recessus provincia est.
But to me solitude and retirement are my province.
quod quia facile ferebat Sicca, eo magis illum desidero.
Since Sicca bore this easily, I miss him all the more.
praeterea nosti Niciae nostri imbecillitatem, mollitiam, consuetudinem victus.
Besides, you know the weakness, delicateness, and habits of life of our Nicias.
cur ergo illi molestus esse velim, cum mihi ille iucundus esse non possit? voluntas tamen eius mihi grata est.
Why then should I wish to be a burden to him, when he cannot be a source of pleasure to me? Still, his goodwill is pleasing to me.
unam rem ad me scripsisti; de qua decrevi nihil tibi rescribere.
You wrote one thing to me, concerning which I have decided to write nothing back to you.
spero enim me a te impetrasse ut privares me ista molestia.
For I hope I have obtained my request from you that you would spare me that annoyance.
Piliae et Atticae salutem.
My greetings to Pilia and Attica.

Notes

  1. §12.26.1x Kal. — Abbreviation for ante diem decimum Kalendas (Maias), referring to the tenth day before the Kalends of May, i.e., April 22nd.
  2. §12.26.1voluntate tua ut simul simus — The ut-clause (ut simul simus) functions as an appositive (or explanatory) clause to the noun voluntate, meaning 'your desire that we should be together.'
  3. §12.26.2si ita me haberem ut eius humanitate frui possem, in primis vellem illum mecum habere. — Subjunctive imperfect (haberem, possem, vellem) expressing a condition contrary to present fact. It indicates that Cicero's current state of mind does not allow him to enjoy the refined company (humanitas) of the learned Nicias.
  4. §12.26.2quod quia facile ferebat Sicca, eo magis illum desidero. — The relative pronoun quod at the beginning of the clause acts as a connective (referring to the previous clause solitudo et recessus or the state of solitude) and is placed inside the causal subordinate clause introduced by quia. The object illum in the main clause refers to Sicca.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §12.26.1-12.26.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:12.26.1-12.26.2

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