§3.13.1quod ad te scripseram me in Epiro futurum, postea quam extenuari spem nostram et evanescere vidi, mutavi consilium nec me Thessalonica commovi, ubi esse statueram quoad aliquid ad me de eo scriberes, quod proximis litteris scripseras fore uti secundum comitia aliquid de nobis in senatu ageretur; id tibi Pompeium dixisse.
As to what I had written to you, that I would be in Epirus, after I saw our hope grow thin and vanish, I changed my plan and did not move from Thessalonica, where I had resolved to stay until you should write something to me about what you had written in your last letter—that after the elections some action would be taken concerning us in the senate, and that Pompey had told you this.
qua de re quoniam comitia habita sunt tuque nihil ad me scribis, proinde habebo ac si scripsisses nihil esse neque me temporis non longinqui spe ductum esse moleste feram.
Since the elections have been held concerning this matter and you write nothing to me, I shall take it just as if you had written that there is nothing, and I shall not be annoyed at having been led on by the hope of a time not far off.
quem autem motum te videre scripseras qui nobis utilis fore videretur, eum nuntiant qui veniunt nullum fore.
Furthermore, as for that movement which you wrote you saw, which seemed likely to be useful to us, those who come here report that there will be none.
in tribunis pl. designatis reliqua spes est.
The remaining hope is in the tribunes of the plebs elect.
quam si exspectaro, non erit quod putes me causae meae, voluntati meorum defuisse.
If I wait for this, there will be no reason for you to think that I have failed my own cause or the will of my family.
§3.13.2quod me saepe accusas cur hunc meum casum tam graviter feram, debes ignoscere, cum ita me adflictum videas ut neminem umquam nec videris nec audieris.
As to your often accusing me of why I take this misfortune of mine so heavily, you ought to forgive me, since you see me so afflicted as you have never seen or heard of anyone.
nam quod scribis te audire me etiam mentis errore ex dolore adfici, mihi vero mens integra est.
For as to what you write, that you hear I am also affected by mental aberration from grief—indeed, my mind is sound.
atque utinam tam in periculo fuisset! cum ego iis quibus meam salutem carissimam esse arbitrabar inimicissimis crudelissimisque usus sum; qui, ut me paulum inclinari timore viderunt, sic impulerunt ut omni suo scelere et perfidia abuterentur ad exitium meum.
And would that it had been so in that danger! when I found those, by whom I thought my safety was most cherished, to be most hostile and cruel; who, as soon as they saw me yield a little to fear, pushed me in such a way as to abuse all their wickedness and treachery to my ruin.
nunc quoniam est Cyzicum nobis eundum, quo rarius ad me litterae perferentur, hoc velim diligentius omnia quae putaris me scire opus esse perscribas.
Now, since we must go to Cyzicus, where letters will be delivered to me more rarely, I would wish you to write all the more diligently everything that you think I need to know.
Quintum fratrem meum fac diligas; quem ego miser si incolumem relinquo, non me totum perisse arbitrabor.
See that you love my brother Quintus; if I, miserable as I am, leave him safe, I shall not think that I have entirely perished.
data Nonis Sextilibus.
Given on the Nones of August.