§14.13B.1quod mecum per litteras agis unam ob causam mallem coram egisses.
As for what you are discussing with me by letter, for one reason I should have preferred that you had done so in person.
non enim solum ex oratione sed etiam ex vultu et oculis et fronte, ut aiunt, meum erga te amorem perspicere potuisses.
For you would have been able to perceive my love for you not only from my speech, but also, as they say, from my face, eyes, and brow.
nam cum te semper amavi primum tuo studio, post etiam beneficio provocatus, tum his temporibus res publica te mihi ita commendavit ut cariorem habeam neminem.
For while I have always loved you, prompted first by your devotion and later also by your favor, yet in these times the republic has so recommended you to me that I hold no one dearer.
§14.13B.2litterae vero tuae cum amantissime tum honorificentissime scriptae sic me adfecerunt ut non dare tibi beneficium viderer sed accipere a te ita petente ut inimicum meum, necessarium tuum me invito servare nolles, cum id nullo negotio facere posses.
But your letter, written both most affectionately and most honorably, so affected me that I seemed not to be granting you a favor, but rather to be receiving one from you, since you petitioned me in such a way that, although you could have done it without any trouble, you did not wish to save my enemy, who is your close friend, against my will.
§14.13B.3ego vero tibi istuc, mi Antoni, remitto atque ita ut me a te, cum iis verbis scripseris, liberalissime atque honorificentissime tractatum existimem, idque cum totum, quoquo modo se res haberet, tibi dandum putarem, tum do etiam humanitati et naturae meae.
Therefore, my dear Antony, I waive that matter for you, and in such a manner that I consider myself to have been treated by you most generously and honorably, since you wrote in those terms; and while I thought this ought to be granted to you entirely, however the matter stood, yet I also grant it to my own humanity and nature.
nihil enim umquam non modo acerbum in me fuit sed ne paulo quidem tristius aut severius quam necessitas rei publicae postulavit.
For there has never been anything not only bitter in me, but not even slightly gloomy or severe beyond what the necessity of the republic demanded.
accedit ut ne in ipsum quidem Clodium meum insigne odium fuerit umquam, semperque ita statui, non esse insectandos inimicorum amicos, praesertim humiliores, nec his praesidiis nosmet ipsos esse spoliandos.
Added to this is the fact that there was never any extraordinary hatred on my part even toward Clodius himself, and I have always decided that the friends of enemies, especially those of humbler rank, should not be persecuted, nor should we strip ourselves of these protections.
§14.13B.4nam de puero Clodio tuas partis esse arbitror ut eius animum tenerum, quem ad modum scribis, iis opinionibus imbuas ut ne quas inimicitias residere in familiis nostris arbitretur.
For as to the boy Clodius, I think it is your part to imbue his tender mind, just as you write, with such opinions that he may not suppose any enmities remain in our families.
contendi cum P. Clodio cum ego publicam causam, ille suam defenderet.
I contended with Publius Clodius when I was defending the public cause, and he his own.
nostras concertationes res publica diiudicavit.
The republic has judged our disputes.
si viveret, mihi cum illo nulla contentio iam maneret.
If he were alive, no contention would now remain between me and him.
§14.13B.5qua re quoniam hoc a me sic petis ut, quae tua potestas est, ea neges te me invito usurum, puero quoque hoc a me dabis, si tibi videbitur, non quo aut aetas nostra ab illius aetate quicquam debeat periculi suspicari aut dignitas mea ullam contentionem extimescat, sed ut nosmet ipsi inter nos coniunctiores simus quam adhuc fuimus.
Therefore, since you petition me for this in such a way as to say that you will not use, against my will, what is within your power, you shall also grant this to the boy from me, if it seems good to you, not because either my age ought to suspect any danger from his age, or my dignity dreads any contention, but that we ourselves may be more closely united between us than we have been hitherto.
interpellantibus enim his inimicitiis animus tuus mihi magis patuit quam domus.
For while these enmities were interrupting, your heart was more open to me than your house.
sed haec hactenus.
But enough of this.
illud extremum. ego quae te velle quaeque ad te pertinere arbitrabor semper sine ulla dubitatione summo studio faciam.
This last point: I will always, without any hesitation, do with the greatest zeal what I shall judge you to wish and what concerns you.
hoc velim tibi penitus persuadeas.
I would have you persuade yourself of this thoroughly.