§2.6.1quod tibi superioribus litteris promiseram, fore ut opus exstaret huius peregrinationis, nihil iam magno opere confirmo; sic enim sum complexus otium ut ab eo divelli non queam.
As for what I had promised you in my previous letter, that a work of this travel would come to light, I do not now make any great assurance; for I have so embraced leisure that I cannot be torn away from it.
itaque aut libris me delecto, quorum habeo Anti festivam copiam, aut fluctus numero (nam ad lacertas captandas tempestates non sunt idoneae); a scribendo prorsus abhorret animus.
And so I either delight myself with books, of which I have a delightful abundance at Antium, or I count the waves (for the stormy weather is not suitable for catching lizards); my mind utterly shrinks from writing.
etenim γεωγραφικὰ quae constitueram magnum opus est.
Indeed, the *Geographica* which I had planned is a great work.
ita valde Eratosthenes, quem mihi proposueram, a Serapione et ab Hipparcho reprehenditur.
Eratosthenes, whom I had set before myself as a model, is so vehemently criticized by Serapion and Hipparchus.
quid censes si Tyrannio accesserit? et hercule sunt res difficiles ad explicandum et ὁμοειδεῖσ nec tam possunt ἀνθηρογραφεῖσθαι quam videbantur et, quod caput est, mihi quaevis satis iusta causa cessandi est qui etiam dubitem an hic Anti considam et hoc tempus omne consumam, ubi quidem ego mallem duumvirum quam Romae fuisse.
What do you think will happen if Tyrannio is added? And, by Hercules, the subjects are difficult to explain and uniform, nor can they be written in so flowery a style as they seemed capable of, and, what is most important, any excuse for idling is quite sufficient for me, since I even doubt whether I should settle down here at Antium and spend all this time, where indeed I should have preferred to be a duumvir than to have been at Rome.
§2.6.2tu vero sapientior Buthroti domum parasti.
But you, more wisely, have prepared a house at Buthrotum.
sed, mihi crede, proxima est illi municipio haec Antiatium civitas.
Yet, believe me, this state of the Antiates is very close to that municipality.
esse locum tam prope Romam ubi multi sint qui Vatinium numquam viderint, ubi nemo sit praeter me qui quemquam ex viginti viris vivum et salvum velit, ubi me interpellet nemo, diligant omnes! hic, hic nimirum πολιτευτέον; nam istic non solum non licet sed etiam taedet.
To think that there is a place so near Rome where there are many who have never seen Vatinius, where there is no one besides me who wishes any of the twenty commissioners to be alive and safe, where no one interrupts me, and everyone loves me! Here, here indeed is where one must live a political life; for there it is not only not permitted but even wearisome.
itaque ἀνέκδοτα quae tibi uni legamus Theopompio genere aut etiam asperiore multo pangentur.
Therefore, the *Anecdota*, which we may read to you alone, will be composed in the style of Theopompus or even much harsher.
neque aliud iam quicquam πολιτεύομαι nisi odisse improbos et id ipsum nullo cum stomacho sed potius cum aliqua scribendi voluptate.
Nor do I now engage in any other politics than to hate the wicked, and that very thing with no stomach-ache, but rather with some pleasure in writing.
sed ut ad rem, scripsi ad quaestores urbanos de Quinti fratris negotio.
But to come to the point, I have written to the city quaestors about my brother Quintus' business.
vide quid narrent, ecquae spes sit denari an cistophoro Pompeiano iaceamus.
See what they say, whether there is any hope of denarii, or whether we are to lie low with Pompeian cistophori.
praeterea de muro statue quid faciendum sit.
Besides, decide what is to be done about the wall.
aliud quid? etiam.
Anything else? Yes.
quando te proficisci istinc putes fac ut sciam.
Let me know when you think you will set out from there.