§14.12.1o mi Attice, vereor ne nobis Idus Martiae nihil dederint praeter laetitiam et odi poenam ac doloris.
Oh my Atticus, I fear that the Ides of March have given us nothing except joy and the punishment of hatred and pain.
quae mihi istim adferuntur! quae hic video! ὢ.
What things are brought to me from your side! What things I see here! Oh!
scis quam diligam Siculos et quam illam clientelam honestam iudicem.
You know how much I love the Sicilians and how honorable I judge that clientela.
multa illis Caesar neque me invito, etsi Latinitas erat non ferenda.
Caesar granted them many things, and not against my will, although the Latin rights were not to be endured.
verum tamen—.
But yet—.
ecce autem Antonius accepta grandi pecunia fixit legem a dictatore comitiis latam qua Siculi cives Romani; cuius rei vivo illo mentio nulla.
But behold, Antonius, having accepted a huge sum of money, posted a law proposed at the comitia by the dictator, by which the Sicilians are Roman citizens; of which thing there was no mention while he was alive.
quid? Deiotari nostri causa non similis? dignus ille quidem omni regno sed non per Fulviam.
What? Is the cause of our Deiotarus not similar? He indeed is worthy of any kingdom, but not through Fulvia.
sescenta similia.
There are six hundred similar cases.
verum illuc me refero.
But I return to that point.
tam claram tamque testatam rem tamque iustam Buthrotiam non tenebimus aliqua ex parte? et eo quidem magis quo iste plura? nobiscum hic perhonorifice et peramice Octavius.
Shall we not hold, in some part, the Buthrotian affair, which is so clear, so witnessed, and so just? And indeed the more so, the more things that fellow does? Octavius is with me here in a very respectful and very friendly manner.
§14.12.2quem quidem sui Caesarem salutabant, Philippus non, itaque ne nos quidem; quem nego posse esse bonum civem.
Whom indeed his own people saluted as Caesar, but Philippus did not, and therefore neither did I; whom I say cannot be a good citizen.
ita multi circumstant qui quidem nostris mortem minitantur.
So many surround him who indeed threaten our friends with death.
negant haec ferri posse.
They say these things cannot be borne.
quid censes cum Romam puer venerit ubi nostri liberatores tuti esse non possunt? qui quidem semper erunt clari, conscientia vero facti sui etiam beati.
What do you think when the boy comes to Rome, where our liberators cannot be safe? Who indeed will always be famous, and indeed happy in the consciousness of their deed.
sed nos, nisi me fallit, iacebimus.
But we, unless I am mistaken, shall lie low.
itaque exire aveo
"ubi nec Pelopidarum,"
inquit.
Therefore I long to depart "where neither of the descendants of Pelops," he says.
haud amo vel hos designatos qui etiam declamare me coegerunt, ut ne apud aquas quidem acquiescere liceret.
I do not like even these designated officers, who even forced me to declaim, so that it was not allowed to rest even at the waters.
sed hoc meae nimiae facilitatis.
But this is due to my excessive compliance.
nam id erat quondam quasi necesse, nunc, quoquo modo se res habet, non est item.
For that was once, as it were, necessary; now, however things stand, it is not the same.
§14.12.3quam dudum nihil habeo quod ad te scribam! scribo tamen non ut delectem his litteris sed ut eliciam tuas.
How long already I have nothing to write to you! Yet I write, not to delight you with this letter, but to draw out yours.
tu si quid erit de ceteris, de Bruto utique quicquid.
You, if there is anything about the rest, and by all means whatever about Brutus.
haec conscripsi x Kal. accubans apud Vestorium, hominem remotum a dialecticis, in arithmeticis satis exercitatum.
I wrote this on the tenth day before the Kalends of May, reclining at the house of Vestorius, a man remote from dialecticians, but sufficiently practiced in arithmetic.