Cicero · Letters to Atticus §12.36.1-12.36.2

Apotheosis and Site Selection for Tullia's Shrine

Passage 308 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero insists on building a temple for his deceased daughter, preferring a site outside his villa to avoid future changes of ownership and to achieve her apotheosis. He also asks Atticus to rebuke Brutus for his rude behavior and to urge the architect Cluatius.

§12.36.1fanum fieri volo neque hoc mihi eripi potest.

I want a temple to be built, and this desire cannot be wrested from me.

sepulcri similitudinem effugere non tam propter poenam legis studeo quam ut maxime adsequar ἀποθέωσιν.

I strive to avoid the appearance of a tomb not so much to escape the penalty of the law as to achieve apotheosis (ἀποθέωσιν) to the utmost.

quod poteram, si in ipsa villa facerem; sed ut saepe locuti sumus, commutationes dominorum reformido.

I could have done this if I were to build it in the villa itself; but, as we have often said, I dread the changes of owners.

in agro ubicumque fecero, mihi videor adsequi posse ut posteritas habeat religionem.

Wherever in the land I build it, I think I can manage to ensure that posterity will hold it sacred.

hae meae tibi ineptiae (fateor enim) ferendae sunt; nam habeo ne me quidem ipsum quicum tam audacter communicem quam tecum.

These follies of mine must be borne by you (for I confess they are such); for I have no one, not even myself, with whom I can communicate as boldly as with you.

sin tibi res, si locus, si institutum placet, lege, quaeso, legem mihique eam mitte.

But if the matter, the site, the design please you, please read the law and send it to me.

si quid in mentem veniet quo modo eam effugere possimus, utemur.

If anything occurs to us as to how we can evade it, we shall make use of it.

§12.36.2ad Brutum si quid scribes, nisi alienum putabis, obiurgato eum quod in Cumano esse noluerit propter eam causam quam tibi dixi.

If you write anything to Brutus, unless you think it inappropriate, rebuke him because he was unwilling to stay at his villa in Cumae for the reason I told you.

cogitanti enim mihi nihil tam videtur potuisse facere rustice.

For as I think about it, it seems to me that he could have done nothing more ill-mannered.

et si tibi placebit sic agere de fano ut coepimus, velim cohortere et exacuas Cluatium.

And if you think fit to proceed about the temple as we have begun, I would like you to encourage and urge Cluatius.

nam etiam si alio loco placebit, illius nobis opera consilioque utendum puto.

For even if we decide on another site, I think we must employ his service and advice.

tu ad villam fortasse cras.

You will perhaps go to your villa tomorrow.

Notes

12.36.1quod poteram, si in ipsa villa facerem — A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. While the protasis (`si... facerem`) is in the subjunctive imperfect, the apodosis (`quod poteram`) uses the indicative imperfect `poteram`. In Latin, verbs of ability or obligation (such as `possum` or `debeo`) often take the indicative in the apodosis of contrary-to-fact conditions.
12.36.1quicum tam audacter communicem — The relative `quicum` is an archaic ablative form `qui` with the enclitic preposition `cum` (equivalent to `quocum`). The verb `communicem` in the relative clause is in the subjunctive of characteristic, defining an unspecified antecedent ("someone with whom...").
12.36.2cogitanti enim mihi nihil tam videtur potuisse facere rustice — The dative `mihi` with the present participle `cogitanti` acts as a dative of person judging ("to me thinking," "in my opinion"). The implied subject of the infinitive phrase `potuisse facere` is Brutus, while `nihil... rustice` ("nothing so ill-mannered") serves as the object of `potuisse`.
12.36.2velim cohortere — A construction where the present subjunctive `velim` (expressing a polite wish) is directly followed by the present subjunctive `cohortere` (second-person singular of the deponent `cohortor`, with `-re` instead of `-ris`) without the conjunction `ut`.
12.36.2tu ad villam fortasse cras — An ellipsis of the verb, a frequent feature of epistolary style. Based on the context (`fortasse cras`), a future verb of motion such as `ibis` or `venies` is omitted.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §12.36.1-12.36.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:12.36.1-12.36.2

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