Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §12.27.1-12.27.3

Assessment of Cotta's Villa and Delaying the Return to Rome

Passage 299 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero discusses the evaluation of Cotta's villa, coordinates the financial arrangements for his son, and deliberates with Atticus on finding an excuse to delay his return to Rome regarding Brutus's movements.

§12.27.1de Siliano negotio, etsi mihi non est ignota condicio, tamen hodie me ex Sicca arbitror omnia cogniturum.
As to the business with Silius, although the terms are not unknown to me, yet I think that I shall learn everything today from Sicca.
Cottae quod negas te nosse, ultra Silianam villam est, quam puto tibi notam esse, villula sordida et valde pusilla, nil agri, ad nullam rem loci satis nisi ad eam quam quaero.
As for Cotta's villa, which you say you do not know, it is beyond Silius's villa, which I think is known to you; it is a shabby and very small little villa, with no land, and not enough space for anything except for the very purpose I am seeking.
sequor celebritatem.
I am looking for a frequented place.
sed si perficitur de hortis Sili, hoc est si perficis (est enim totum positum in te), nihil est scilicet quod de Cottae cogitemus.
But if the matter of Silius's gardens is completed—that is, if you complete it (for everything is placed in your hands)—there is of course no reason for us to think about Cotta's.
§12.27.2de Cicerone ut scribis ita faciam; ipsi permittam de tempore.
As to Cicero, I will do as you write; I will leave the time to him.
nummorum quantum opus erit ut permutetur tu videbis.
You will see to how much money will need to be remitted by exchange.
ex Aledio quod scribas si quid inveneris scribes.
If you find anything to write from Aledius, you will write.
et ego ex tuis animadverto litteris et profecto tu ex meis nihil habere nos quod scribamus: eadem cotidie quae iam iamque ipsa contrita sunt.
Both I perceive from your letters, and you surely from mine, that we have nothing to write: the same things every day, which by now are thoroughly worn out.
tamen facere non possum quin cotidie ad te mittam ut tuas accipiam.
Yet I cannot help sending to you every day, so that I may receive your letters.
§12.27.3de Bruto tamen, si quid habebis.
About Brutus, however, if you have any news.
sciri enim iam puto ubi Pansam exspectet.
For I think it is already known where he is waiting for Pansa.
si, ut consuetudo est, in prima provincia, circiter Kal. adfuturus videtur.
If, as is the custom, it is at the edge of the province, he seems likely to arrive around the Kalends.
vellem tardius; valde enim urbem fugio multas ob causas.
I could wish it were later; for I am desperately avoiding the city for many reasons.
itaque id ipsum dubito an excusationem aliquam ad illum parem; quod quidem video facile esse.
And so I am doubting this very thing, whether I should prepare some excuse to him; which indeed I see is easy to do.
sed habemus satis temporis ad cogitandum.
But we have enough time to think.
Piliae, Atticae salutem.
My greetings to Pilia and Attica.

Notes

  1. 12.27.1Cottae — The genitive Cottae stands for Cottae villa (Cotta's villa), with villa omitted based on the context of the preceding Silianam villam. Such ellipses of nouns with possessive genitives are common in informal epistolary style.
  2. 12.27.2permutetur — The verb permutare in financial contexts means 'to bill or remit money by exchange'. The subjunctive present passive permutetur is used impersonally ('money is remitted by exchange'), with the partitive phrase nummorum quantum acting as the virtual subject for the amount to be remitted.
  3. 12.27.3dubito an — The construction dubito an followed by the subjunctive (parem) expresses a hesitating affirmation or a leaning toward a positive action ('I am doubting whether I should prepare...').

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §12.27.1-12.27.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:12.27.1-12.27.3

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