§2.7.1de geographia etiam atque etiam deliberabimus.
About the geography I shall deliberate again and again.
orationes autem a me duas postulas; quarum alteram non libebat mihi scribere †qui absciram†, alteram, ne laudarem eum quem non amabam.
But you demand two speeches from me; one of which I had no mind to write because I had broken it off, the other lest I should praise one whom I did not love.
sed id quoque videbimus.
But that too we shall see.
denique aliquid exstabit, ne tibi plane cessasse videamur.
In short, something will appear, lest we should seem to you to have been completely idle.
§2.7.2de Publio quae ad me scribis sane mihi iucunda sunt, eaque etiam velim omnibus vestigiis indagata ad me adferas cum venies, et interea scribas si quid intelleges aut suspicabere, et maxime de legatione quid sit acturus.
What you write to me about Publius is indeed pleasant to me, and I should like you to bring me those matters thoroughly investigated by every trace when you come, and in the meantime to write if you understand or suspect anything, and especially what he is going to do about the embassy.
equidem ante quam tuas legi litteras, †in† hominem ire cupiebam, non me hercule ut differrem cum eo vadimonium (nam mira sum alacritate ad litigandum), sed videbatur mihi, si quid esset in eo populare quod plebeius factus esset, id amissurus.
Indeed, before I read your letter, I was eager to go against the man, not, by Hercules, to postpone my appearance in court with him (for I am of a wonderful eagerness for litigation), but it seemed to me that, if there were anything popular in him because of his having been made a plebeian, he would lose it.
"quid enim? ad plebem transisti ut Tigranem ires salutatum? narra mihi, reges Armenii patricios resalutare non solent?"
quid quaeris? acueram me ad exagitandam hanc eius legationem.
'For why? Did you transfer to the plebeians so that you might go to salute Tigranes? Tell me, are Armenian kings not accustomed to return the salute of patricians?' In short, I had sharpened myself to attack this embassy of his.
quam si ille contemnit, et si, ut scribis, bilem id commovet et latoribus et auspicibus legis curiatae, spectaculum egregium.
If he despises it, and if, as you write, it stirs up anger both in the proposers and in the takers of the auspices of the lex curiata, it is a splendid spectacle.
hercule verum ut loquamur, subcontumeliose tractatur noster Publius, primum qui, cum domi Caesaris quondam unus vir fuerit, nunc ne in viginti quidem esse potuerit; deinde alia legatio dicta erat, alia data est.
By Hercules, to speak the truth, our Publius is treated rather insultingly: first because, though he was once the only man in Caesar's house, now he could not even be among the twenty; secondly, one embassy had been promised, another was given.
illa opima ad exigendas pecunias Druso, ut opinor, Pisaurensi an epuloni Vatinio reservatur; haec ieiuna tabellari legatio datur ei cuius tribunatus ad istorum tempora reservatur.
That rich embassy for collecting money is reserved, I believe, for Drusus of Pisaurum or for the epulo Vatinius; this meager, letter-carrier's embassy is given to him whose tribunate is reserved for those fellows' emergencies.
incende hominem, amabo te, quod potes.
Inflame the man, please, as much as you can.
una spes est salutis istorum inter istos dissensio; cuius ego quaedam initia sensi ex Curione.
Our only hope of safety is the disagreement among those fellows themselves, of which I have sensed some beginnings from Curio.
iam vero Arrius consulatum sibi ereptum fremit; Megabocchus et haec sanguinaria iuventus inimicissima est.
Now indeed Arrius rages that the consulship has been snatched from him; Megabocchus and this bloodthirsty youth are extremely hostile.
accedat vero, accedat etiam ista rixa auguratus.
Let there be added indeed, let there be added also that quarrel over the augurship.
spero me praeclaras de istis rebus epistulas ad te saepe missurum.
I hope I shall often send you excellent letters about these matters.
§2.7.4sed illud quid sit scire cupio, quod iacis obscure iam etiam ex ipsis quinque viris loqui quosdam.
But I wish to know what that is which you hint obscurely, that some even of the board of five themselves are now speaking.
quidnam id est? si est enim aliquid, plus est boni quam putaram.
What on earth is that? For if there is anything in it, there is more good than I had thought.
atque haec sic velim existimes non me abs te κατὰ τὸ πρακτικὸν quaerere, quod gestiat animus aliquid agere in re publica.
And I would have you believe that I am not asking you these things in a 'practical spirit', because my mind is eager to do something in the state.
iam pridem gubernare me taedebat, etiam cum licebat; nunc vero cum cogar exire de navi non abiectis sed ereptis gubernaculis, cupio istorum naufragia ex terra intueri, cupio, ut ait tuus amicus Sophocles,
"
κἂν ὑπὸ στέγῃ
πυκνῆσ ἀκούειν ψακάδοσ εὑδούσῃ φρενί. "
Long ago I was weary of steering, even when it was permitted; but now indeed, when I am forced to leave the ship, with the rudder not thrown away but snatched from my hands, I desire to watch their shipwreck from the land, I desire, as your friend Sophocles says, "even under a roof to hear the thick-falling rain with a sleeping mind.
§2.7.5de muro quid opus sit videbis.
"As to the wall, you will see what is necessary.
Castricianum mendum nos corrigemus, et tamen ad me Quintus HS cciↃↃ IↃↃ scripserat, †non ad sororem tuam HS xxx.
We shall correct the Castrician error; and yet Quintus had written to me of HS 15,000, not to your sister of HS 30,000.
a. † Terentia tibi salutem dicit.
Terentia sends you her greetings.
Cicero tibi mandat ut Aristodemo idem de se respondeas quod de fratre suo, sororis tuae filio, respondisti.
Cicero minor charges you to give Aristodemus the same answer about himself as you gave about his cousin, your sister's son.
de Ἀμαλθείᾳ quod me admones non neglegemus.
As to the Amalthea, what you remind me of we shall not neglect.
cura ut valeas.
Take care of your health.