Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §12.42.1-12.42.3

Dispatching Messengers and Clodia's Property

Passage 316 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero assures Atticus that he did not mind the lack of letters, promises to send messengers daily, and discusses the purchase of Clodia's property and his upcoming travel plans.

§12.42.1nullum a te desideravi diem litterarum; videbam enim quae scribis, et tamen suspicabar vel potius intellegebam nihil fuisse quod scriberes;
I did not regret a single day without letters from you; for I saw what you were writing about, and yet I suspected, or rather understood, that there was nothing for you to write.
a. d. vi Idus vero et abesse te putabam et plane videbam nihil te habere.
Indeed, on the sixth day before the Ides, I both thought you were away and clearly saw that you had no news.
ego tamen ad te fere cotidie mittam; malo enim frustra quam te non habere cui des, si quid forte sit quod putes me scire oportere.
However, I shall send to you almost every day; for I prefer sending in vain rather than that you should not have anyone to give your letters to, if by chance there should be something you think I ought to know.
itaque accepi vi Idus litteras tuas inanis.
And so on the sixth day before the Ides I received your empty letter.
quid enim habebas quod scriberes? mi tamen illud quicquid erat non molestum fuit, ut nihil aliud, scire me novi te nihil habere.
For what did you have to write? Yet to me, whatever that was was not unpleasant, if for nothing else, at least that I should know that you had no news.
scripsisti tamen nescio quid de Clodia.
You wrote, however, something or other about Clodia.
ubi ergo ea est aut quando ventura? placet mihi res sic ut secundum §12.42.2Othonem nihil magis.
Where then is she, or when is she coming? The matter pleases me so much that, next to Otho's, nothing more.
sed neque hanc vendituram puto (delectatur enim et copiosa est), et illud alterum quam sit difficile te non fugit.
But neither do I think she will sell (for she enjoys it and is wealthy), and how difficult that other matter is does not escape you.
sed, obsecro, enitamur ut aliquid ad id quod cupio excogitemus.
But, I beseech you, let us strive to devise something for that which I desire.
§12.42.3ego me hinc postridie id. exiturum puto sed aut in Tusculanum aut domum, inde fortasse Arpinum.
I think I shall leave here on the day after the Ides, but either to my Tusculan villa or home, and from there perhaps to Arpinum.
cum certum sciero, scribam ad te.
When I know for certain, I shall write to you.

Notes

  1. §12.42.1desideravi — The verb desiderare here means "to regret the absence of, to feel the want of, or to demand." With "nullum diem," it expresses that Cicero did not complain about or feel vexed by the days without letters.
  2. §12.42.1scire me novi te nihil habere — The word novi is the genitive of the neuter adjective novus used substantively, functioning as a partitive genitive with nihil (nihil novi = nothing of new). It is hyperbatically placed before te instead of immediately after nihil. Syntactically, the whole phrase is an accusative with infinitive clause (scire me...) standing in apposition or explanation to the preceding "non molestum fuit" with "ut nihil aliud" meaning "if nothing else."
  3. §12.42.1secundum — The word secundum is used here as a preposition meaning "next to" or "second only to," governing Othonem (referring to Otho's gardens). The sentence spans from the end of section 1 to the beginning of section 2. The ellipsis "nihil magis [placeat]" (nothing more pleases me) should be understood.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §12.42.1-12.42.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:12.42.1-12.42.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

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