Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §12.6.1-12.6.4

Request for Tyrannion's Book and Correction of Cicero's Work

Passage 280 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero writes to Atticus about financial matters, requests a book by Tyrannion, asks for a correction in his own work, and mentions Caesar's reaction and Attica's health.

§12.6.1de Caelio vide, quaeso, ne quae lacuna sit in auro.
Regarding Caelius, please see to it that there is no deficiency in the gold.
ego ista non novi.
I am not familiar with those matters.
sed certe in collubo est detrimenti satis.
But certainly there is loss enough in the exchange.
huc aurum si accedit—sed quid loquor? tu videbis.
If to this is added gold—but what am I saying? You will see to it.
habes Hegesiae genus, quod Varro laudat.
You have that style of Hegesias which Varro praises.
§12.6.2venio ad Tyrannionem.
I come to Tyrannion.
ain tu? verum hoc fuit? sine me? at ego quotiens, cum essem otiosus, sine te tamen nolui? quo modo hoc ergo lues? uno scilicet si mihi librum miseris; quod ut facias etiam atque etiam rogo.
Do you really say so? Was this true? Without me? But how often, when I was at leisure, did I refuse to do so without you? How then will you atone for this? Only in one way, of course, if you send me the book; and I ask you again and again to do so.
etsi me non magis liber ipse delectabit quam tua admiratio delectavit.
Although the book itself will not delight me more than your admiration of it has delighted me.
amo enim πάντα φιληδείμονα teque istam tam tenuem θεωρίαν tam valde admiratum esse gaudeo.
For I love everyone who is a lover of knowledge, and I am glad that you have so greatly admired that very subtle theory.
etsi tua quidem sunt eius modi omnia.
Although all your actions are indeed of that kind.
scire enim vis; quo uno animus alitur.
For you wish to know; by which alone the mind is nourished.
sed, quaeso, quid ex ista acuta et gravi refertur ad τέλοσ? sed longa oratio est, et tu occupatus es in meo quidem fortasse aliquo negotio.
But tell me, please, what from that acute and weighty discussion is relevant to the ultimate good? But that is a long story, and you are busy, perhaps in some business of mine.
et pro isto asso sole quo tu abusus es in nostro pratulo a te nitidum solem unctumque repetemus.
And in return for that dry sun which you have enjoyed to excess in our little meadow, we shall demand from you a bright and anointed sun.
sed ad prima redeo.
But I return to the first point.
librum, si me amas, mitte.
Send me the book, if you love me.
tuus est enim profecto, quoniam quidem est missus ad te.
For it is surely yours, since indeed it has been sent to you.
" Chremés, tantumne ab ré tua est otí tibi, " ut etiam Oratorem legas? macte virtute! mihi quidem gratum est et erit gratius si non modo in tuis libris sed etiam in aliorum per librarios tuos "Aristophanem" reposueris pro "Eupoli. "
'Chremes, is there so much leisure for you from your own business,' that you even read the 'Orator'? Well done! To me indeed it is pleasing, and it will be more pleasing if through your copyists you replace 'Eupolis' with 'Aristophanes,' not only in your own books but also in those of others.
§12.6.4Caesar autem mihi inridere visus est "quaeso" illud tuum, quod erat et εὐπινὲσ et urbanum.
Moreover, Caesar seemed to me to mock that 'please' of yours, which was both archaic and elegant.
ita porro te sine cura esse iussit ut mihi quidem dubitationem omnem tolleret.
Furthermore, he bade you be free from anxiety in such a way that he removed all doubt from me.
Atticam doleo tam diu; sed quoniam iam sine horrore est, spero esse ut volumus.
I am grieved about Attica for so long; but since she is now free from fever, I hope things are as we wish.

Notes

  1. §12.6.1Hegesiae genus — Hegesias was an orator of Magnesia, regarded by Cicero as a prime representative of the Asianic style. Cicero humorously refers to his own preceding series of short, abrupt sentences as the "style of Hegesias" praised by Varro.
  2. §12.6.2et pro isto asso sole quo tu abusus es in nostro pratulo a te nitidum solem unctumque repetemus — A metaphorical contrast between a "dry sun" (sunbathing without oil) and an "anointed sun." Cicero terms Atticus's simple country retreat a "dry sun" and demands in return an "anointed sun," symbolizing luxurious treatment or rhetorically rich material.
  3. §12.6.2"Chremés, tantumne ab ré tua est otí tibi," — A parody of a famous line from Terence's comedy *Heauton Timorumenos* (line 75), where a character questions Chremes about meddling in others' affairs. Cicero playfully teases Atticus for finding time to read his work *Orator* despite his busy schedule.
  4. §12.6.2"Aristophanem" reposueris pro "Eupoli." — In his work *Orator*, Cicero had mistakenly attributed a reference concerning Aristophanes (from *The Clouds*) to Eupolis. Here, he asks Atticus to have his copyists correct this error in all available manuscripts.
  5. §12.6.4"quaeso" — A word used by Atticus in a letter to Caesar. According to Cicero, this expression "please" (quaeso) was somewhat archaic and elegant (εὐπινές) as well as refined (urbanum), but Caesar playfully mocked it.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §12.6.1-12.6.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:12.6.1-12.6.4

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