§15.1.1o factum male de Alexione! incredibile est quanta me molestia adfecerit, nec me hercule ex ea parte maxime quod plerique mecum,
"ad quem igitur te medicum conferes?"
quid mihi iam medico? aut si opus est, tanta inopia est? amorem erga me, humanitatem suavitatemque desidero.
What a sad thing about Alexio! It is incredible with how much grief he has affected me, and, by Hercules, not chiefly on that account which most people say to me, "To what doctor, then, will you now betake yourself?" What do I want with a doctor now? Or if there is need of one, is there such a dearth? It is his love towards me, his kindness and sweetness that I miss.
etiam illud.
There is also this.
quid est quod non pertimescendum sit cum hominem temperantem, summum medicum tantus improviso morbus oppresserit? sed ad haec omnia una consolatio est quod ea condicione nati sumus ut nihil quod homini accidere possit recusare debeamus.
What is there that is not to be dreaded when so sudden a disease has overwhelmed a temperate man and a supreme physician? But for all these things there is one consolation: that we were born under this condition, that we ought not to refuse anything which can happen to a human being.
§15.1.2de Antonio iam antea tibi scripsi non esse eum a me conventum.
Concerning Antony, I have already written to you before that he was not met by me.
venit enim Misenum cum ego essem in Pompeiano.
For he came to Misenum when I was at my Pompeian villa.
inde ante profectus est quam ego eum venisse cognovi.
He departed thence before I knew that he had arrived.
sed casu, cum legerem tuas litteras, Hirtius erat apud me in Puteolano.
But by chance, while I was reading your letter, Hirtius was with me at my Puteolan villa.
ei legi et egi.
I read it to him and discussed matters.
primum quod † attinet, nihil mihi concedebat, deinde ad summam arbitrum me statuebat non modo huius rei sed totius consulatus sui.
First, as far as [...] is concerned, he conceded nothing to me, but then in conclusion he set me up as the arbiter not only of this matter but of his whole consulship.
cum Antonio autem sic agemus ut perspiciat, si in eo negotio nobis satis fecerit, totum me futurum suum.
With Antony, moreover, we shall act in such a way that he may perceive that, if he satisfies us in this business, I shall be entirely his.
Dolabellam spero domi esse.
I hope Dolabella is at home.
§15.1.3redeamus ad nostros.
Let us return to our friends.
de quibus tu bonam spem te significas habere propter edictorum humanitatem.
Concerning whom you indicate that you have good hope because of the moderation of their edicts.
ego autem perspexi, cum a me xvii Kal. de Puteolano Neapolim Pansae conveniendi causa proficisceretur Hirtius, omnem eius sensum.
But I clearly perceived all his feelings when Hirtius, on the seventeenth day before the Kalends, departed from Puteoli for Naples to meet Pansa.
seduxi enim et ad pacem sum cohortatus.
For I took him aside and exhorted him to peace.
non poterat scilicet negare se velle pacem, sed non minus se nostrorum arma timere quam Antoni, et tamen utrosque non sine causa praesidium habere, se autem utraque arma metuere.
He could not, of course, deny that he wanted peace, but he said that he feared the arms of our friends no less than those of Antony; and yet, though both had a guard not without reason, he himself feared both forces.
quid quaeris? οὐδὲν
What more do you ask? Nothing.
§15.1.4de Quinto filio tibi adsentior.
As to the young Quintus, I agree with you.
patri quidem certe gratissimae bellae tuae litterae fuerunt.
Your beautiful letter was certainly most welcome to his father.
Caerelliae vero facile satis feci; nec valde laborare mihi visa est, et si illa, ego certe non laborarem.
Indeed, I easily satisfied Caerellia; and she did not seem to me to trouble herself much, and if she did not, I certainly would not.
istam vero quam tibi molestam scribis esse auditam a te esse omnino demiror.
But that woman whom you write is troublesome to you, I utterly marvel that she was heard by you at all.
nam quod eam conlaudavi apud amicos audientibus tribus filiis eius et filia tua, †τὸ ἐκ τούτου quid est hoc?†
"quid est aútem cur ego pérsonatus ámbulem?"
Parumne foeda persona est ipsius senectutis? quod Brutus rogat ut ante Kalendas, ad me quoque scripsit et fortasse faciam.
For as to my having praised her among friends in the hearing of her three sons and your daughter, what is the consequence of this? What is this? "But why is it that I should walk around in a mask?" Is not the mask of old age itself ugly enough? As to what Brutus asks, that I should come before the Kalends, he wrote to me as well, and perhaps I shall do so.
sed plane quid velit nescio.
But I clearly do not know what he wants.
quid enim illi adferre consili possum, cum ipse egeam consilio et cum ille suae immortalitati melius quam nostro otio consuluerit? de regina rumor exstinguitur.
For what advice can I offer him, when I myself am in need of advice, and when he has consulted his own immortality better than our peace? The rumor about the queen is dying out.
de Flamma, obsecro te, si quid potes.
As for Flamma, I beg you, if you can do anything, do it.