§15.26.1de Quinti negotio video a te omnia facta.
Regarding Quintus's business, I see that everything has been done by you.
ille tamen dolet dubitans utrum morem gerat Leptae an fidem infirmet filio.
Yet he is grieving, hesitating whether he should comply with Lepta's wishes or break faith with his son.
inaudivi L. Pisonem velle exire legatum ψευδεγγράφῳ senatus consulto.
I heard a rumor that L. Piso wants to go out as a legate under a forged decree of the senate.
velim scire quid sit.
I should like to know what that is about.
tabellarius ille quem tibi dixeram me ad Brutum esse missurum in Anagninum ad me venit ea nocte quae proxima ante Kal. fuit litterasque ad me attulit; in quibus unum alienum summa sua prudentia, idem illud, ut spectem ludos suos.
That courier of whom I had told you that I would send him to Brutus came to me in my Anagnian villa on that night which was closest before the Kalends and brought me a letter; in which there was one thing foreign to his supreme prudence—that very same thing, that I should watch his games.
rescripsi scilicet primum me iam profectum, ut non integrum sit; deinde ἀτοπώτατον esse me qui Romam omnino post haec arma non accesserim neque id tam periculi mei causa fecerim quam dignitatis subito ad ludos venire.
I wrote back, of course, first that I had already set out, so that it is no longer an open question; secondly, that it is most absurd for me, who have not approached Rome at all since these hostilities, and have done so not so much for the sake of my safety as of my dignity, suddenly to come to the games.
tali enim tempore ludos facere illi honestum est cui necesse est, spectare mihi ut non est necesse sic ne honestum. quidem est.
For at such a time, to hold games is honorable for him for whom it is necessary, but for me to watch them, just as it is not necessary, so it is not even honorable.
equidem illos celebrari et esse quam gratissimos mirabiliter cupio idque ita futurum esse confido et tecum ago ut iam ab ipsa commissione ad me quem ad modum accipiantur hi ludi, deinde omnia reliquorum ludorum in dies singulos persequare.
Indeed, I wonderfully desire them to be celebrated and to be as popular as possible, and I trust that it will be so, and I plead with you to write me from the very opening how these games are received, and then to follow up all the details of the remaining games day by day.
sed de ludis hactenus.
But so much for the games.
§15.26.2reliqua pars epistulae est illa quidem in utramque partem, sed tamen non nullos interdum iacit igniculos virilis.
The remaining part of the letter is indeed ambivalent, yet it occasionally throws out some manly sparks.
quod quale tibi videretur ut posses interpretari, misi ad te exemplum epistulae; quamquam mihi tabellarius noster dixerat tibi quoque se attulisse litteras a Bruto easque ad te e Tusculano esse delatas.
That you might be able to judge what sort of thing it seems to you, I have sent you a copy of the letter; although our courier had told me that he had brought a letter to you too from Brutus, and that it had been delivered to you from Tusculum.
§15.26.3ego itinera sic composueram ut Nonis Quintilibus Puteolis essem; valde enim festino, ita tamen ut quantum homo possit quam cautissime navigem.
I had arranged my journeys so that I should be at Puteoli on the Nones of July (July 7); for I am in a great hurry, yet in such a way as to sail as cautiously as a man can.
§15.26.4M. Aelium cura liberabis;
You will free M.
me paucos pedes in extremo fundo et eos quidem subterraneos servitutis putasse aliquid habituros.
Aelius from his anxiety; [tell him] that I had thought that a few feet at the edge of the property, and those indeed underground, would involve some servitude.
id me iam iam nolle neque mihi aquam esse tanti.
That I now do not want this, and water is not of such value to me.
sed ut mihi dicebas, quam lenissime, potius ut cura liberetur quam ut me suscensere aliquid suspicetur.
But as you were telling me, do it as gently as possible, rather so that he may be freed from anxiety than that he should suspect that I am angry at all.
item de illo Tulliano capite libere cum Cascellio loquere.
Likewise, speak freely with Cascellius about that Tullian head.
parva res est, sed tu bene attendisti.
It is a small matter, but you paid good attention to it.
nimis callide agebatur.
It was being managed too craftily.
ego autem si mihi imposuisset aliquid, quod paene fecit nisi tua malitia adfuisset, animo iniquo tulissem.
Moreover, if he had imposed something upon me, which he almost did had your shrewdness not been present, I would have borne it with an uneasy mind.
itaque, ut ut erit, rem impediri malo. octavam partem †tuli luminarum medium ad strane memineris cui Caerellia† videris mancipio dare ad eam summam quae sub praecone fuit maxima.
Therefore, however it will be, I prefer the matter to be blocked. †...remember... to Caerellia† see that you transfer it by mancipium at that sum which was the highest under the auctioneer.
id opinor esse C_C_C_L_X_X_X_.
I think that is 380,000.
§15.26.5novi si quid erit atque etiam si quid prospicies quod futurum putes, scribas ad me quam saepissime velim, Varroni, quem ad modum tibi mandavi, memineris excusare tarditatem litterarum mearum.
If there is anything new, and even if you foresee anything that you think will happen, I would like you to write to me as often as possible. Remember to excuse the slowness of my letters to Varro, as I commissioned you.
mundus iste cum M. Ennio quid egerit de testamento (curiosus sum enim) facias me velim certiorem.
I would like you to inform me what that Mundus has done with M. Ennius concerning the will (for I am curious).
ex Arpinati vi Non.
From my Arpinum villa, six days before the Nones of July (July 2).