§14.1.1deverti ad illum de quo tecum mane. nihil perditius; explicari rem non posse.
I called on the man of whom I spoke to you this morning. I turned aside to the house of that man I spoke of with you this morning. Nothing could be more desperate; the situation, he says, cannot be unravelled. Nothing could be more ruined, and the situation cannot be resolved, he says.
"etenim si ille tali ingenio exitum non reperiebat, quis nunc reperiet?"
quid quaeris? perisse omnia aiebat (quod haud scio an ita sit; verum ille gaudens) adfirmatque minus diebus xx tumultum Gallicum.
'For if a man of such genius could find no way out, who will find one now?' In short, he kept saying that all was lost (which I rather suspect is true, though he says it with relish), and he affirms there will be a Gallic uprising in less than twenty days.
in sermonem se post Idus Martias praeterquam Lepido venisse nemini.
He says that since the Ides of March he has entered into confidential talk with no one except Lepidus.
ad summam non posse istaec sic abire.
In short, matters cannot pass off like this.
o prudentem Oppium! qui nihilo minus illum desiderat, sed loquitur nihil quod quemquam bonum offendat.
What a shrewd man Oppius is — who longs for Caesar no less than the rest, yet says nothing that could offend any loyal man! O wise Oppius!
sed haec hactenus.
But enough of this. But enough of this.
§14.1.2tu, quaeso, quicquid novi (multa autem exspecto) scribere ne pigrere, in his de Sexto satisne certum, maxime autem de Bruto nostro. de quo quidem ille ad quem deverti, Caesarem solitum dicere,
"magni refert hic quid velit, sed quicquid vult valde vult"
; idque eum animadvertisse cum pro Deiotaro Nicaeae dixerit; valde vehementer eum visum et libere dicere; atque etiam (ut enim quidque succurrit libet scribere) proxime, cum Sesti rogatu apud eum fuissem exspectaremque sedens quoad vocarer, dixisse eum,
"ego dubitem quin summo in odio sim quom M. Cicero sedeat nec suo commodo me convenire possit? atqui si quisquam est facilis, hic est.
Pray do not hesitate to write to me whatever news there is (and I am expecting a great deal), especially whether there is any certain news about Sextus, and above all about our friend Brutus. Please do not be slow to write whatever news there is (and I expect much), in particular whether the report about Sextus is certain enough, and above all about our Brutus. Concerning him, indeed, the man I had turned aside to visit told me that Caesar used to remark, 'It matters greatly what this man wants, but whatever he wants, he wants intensely'; and that Caesar had noticed this when Brutus spoke on behalf of Deiotarus at Nicaea — he seemed to speak with great force and freedom. And further — for I like to write down whatever occurs to me — quite recently, when at Sestius' request I had been at his house and was sitting waiting to be summoned, he said: 'Am I to doubt that I am held in the deepest hatred, when Marcus Cicero sits waiting and cannot meet me at his own convenience? And yet, if anyone is easy-going, this man is.' And yet, if anyone is easy-going, it is he.
tamen non dubito quin me male oderit. "
haec et eius modi multa. sed ad propositum. quicquid erit non modo magnum sed etiam parvum scribes. equidem nihil intermittam.
'Nonetheless, I do not doubt that he bitterly hates me.' Such remarks, and many of the kind. But to the point: you will write whatever there is, great or even small. For my part, I shall let nothing slip. These and many other things of this kind. But to the point. Whatever happens, you will write not only of great things but even of small. For my part, I will omit nothing.