Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §2.2.1-2.2.3

Reading Dicaearchus, Young Cicero, and a Dinner Invitation

Passage 30 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero requests Atticus to look after young Cicero, shares his enthusiasm for reading Dicaearchus while mocking the tedious Herodes, and mentions the assembly of judges and Antonius's expected return, inviting Atticus to dinner on the eve of the Kalends.

§2.2.1cura, amabo te, Ciceronem nostrum.
Take care, please, of our Cicero.
ei nos θεῖοι videmur.
To him we seem to be "uncles".
§2.2.2Πελληναίων in manibus tenebam et hercule magnum acervum Dicaearchi mihi ante pedes exstruxeram.
I was holding the *Constitution of the Pelleneans* in my hands, and by Hercules, I had piled up a great heap of Dicaearchus before my feet.
o magnum hominem et unde multo plura didiceris quam de Procilio! Κορινθίων et Ἀθηναίων puto me Romae habere.
Oh, what a great man, and one from whom you might learn far more than from Procilius! I think I have the *Corinthians* and *Athenians* in Rome.
mihi †credes lege hec doceo† mirabilis vir est.
Believe me, read, I teach these things; he is a wonderful man.
Ἡρώδησ, si homo esset, eum potius legeret quam unam litteram scriberet.
Herodes, if he were a human being, would rather read him than write a single letter.
qui me epistula petivit, ad te, ut video, comminus accessit.
He who attacked me by letter has, as I see, approached you hand-to-hand.
coniurasse mallem quam restitisse coniurationi, si illum mihi audiendum putassem.
I would rather have conspired than resisted the conspiracy, if I had thought I had to listen to him.
§2.2.3de lolio sanus non es; de vino laudo.
As to the darnel, you are not sane; as to the wine, I praise you.
sed heus tu, ecquid vides Kalendas venire, Antonium non venire? iudices cogi? nam ita ad me mittunt, Nigidium minari in contione se iudicem qui non adfuerit compellaturum.
But hey you, do you not see at all that the Kalends are coming, that Antonius is not coming? That the judges are being assembled? For they send word to me thus, that Nigidius is threatening in an assembly that he will prosecute any judge who is not present.
velim tamen si quid est de Antoni adventu quod audieris scribas ad me et, quoniam huc non venis, cenes apud nos utique pridie Kal.
I would like you, however, to write to me if you have heard anything about Antonius's arrival, and, since you are not coming here, at all events dine with us on the day before the Kalends.
cave aliter facias.
Mind you do not do otherwise.
cura ut valeas.
Take care of your health.

Notes

  1. §2.2.1θεῖοι — The Greek word θεῖος has a double meaning of 'uncle' and 'divine' or 'godlike'. Cicero plays on this homonymy, noting that while young Cicero calls them 'uncles', they seem to him like 'godlike' figures.
  2. §2.2.2si homo esset — Imperfect subjunctive expressing a present contrary-to-fact condition. Here, *homo* is used in the sense of a 'civilized, cultured human being' rather than just a biological human.
  3. §2.2.2coniurasse mallem quam restitisse coniurationi, si illum mihi audiendum putassem — The *si*-clause is in the pluperfect subjunctive (past contrary-to-fact), and *mallem* (imperfect subjunctive of *volo*) expresses a preference. Cicero, who won glory by suppressing Catiline's conspiracy, jokingly remarks that he would rather have been one of the conspirators than be forced to listen to the tedious Herodes.
  4. §2.2.3de lolio — Referring to the ancient proverb or comic idiom (found in Plautus and others) that eating *lolium* (darnel) causes madness or visual impairment, Cicero jokingly tells Atticus 'as to the darnel, you are not in your right mind'.
  5. §2.2.3cave aliter facias — *cave* followed by the present subjunctive (*facias*) functions as a strong negative command or warning, meaning 'take care not to do otherwise' or 'be absolutely sure to do so'.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §2.2.1-2.2.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:2.2.1-2.2.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.