§3.7.1Brundisium veni a. d. xiiii Kal. Maias.
I arrived at Brundisium on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of May.
eo die pueri tui mihi a te litteras reddiderunt, et alii pueri post diem tertium eius diei alias litteras attulerunt.
On that day your boys delivered to me a letter from you, and other boys brought another letter three days after that day.
quod me rogas et hortaris ut apud te in Epiro sim, voluntas tua mihi valde arata est et minime nova.
As for your asking and urging me to be with you in Epirus, your goodwill is very pleasing to me and not at all new.
esset consilium mihi quidem optatum, si liceret ibi omne tempus consumere; odi enim celebritatem, fugio homines, lucem aspicere vix possum, esset mihi ista solitudo, praesertim tam familiari in loco, non amara;
It would indeed be a desirable plan for me, if it were permitted to spend all my time there; for I hate publicity, I flee from people, I can scarcely look upon the light; that solitude, especially in so familiar a place, would not be bitter to me.
sed itineris causa ut deverterer, primum est devium, deinde ab Autronio et ceteris quadridui, deinde sine te.
But to turn aside there for the sake of the journey, first of all it is out of the way, secondly it is a four days' journey from Autronius and the others, thirdly it is without you.
nam castellum munitum habitanti mihi prodesset, transeunti non est necessarium.
For a fortified stronghold would be useful to me if I were residing there, but it is not necessary for one who is passing through.
quod si auderem, Athenas peterem.
But if I should dare, I would head for Athens.
sane ita cadebat ut vellem.
Certainly it was turning out just as I would wish.
nunc et nostri hostes ibi sunt et te non habemus et veremur ne interpretentur illud quoque oppidum ab Italia non satis abesse nec scribis quam ad diem te exspectemus.
Now both our enemies are there, and we do not have you, and we fear lest they interpret that town also as not being far enough from Italy, nor do you write by what day we are to expect you.
§3.7.2quod me ad vitam vocas, unum efficis ut a me manus abstineam, alterum non potes ut me non nostri consili vitaeque paeniteat.
As for your calling me back to life, you achieve one thing, that I keep my hands off myself; the other you cannot achieve, that I should not regret our plan and my life.
quid enim est quod me retineat, praesertim si spes ea non est quae nos proficiscentis prosequebatur? non faciam ut enumerem miserias omnis in quas incidi per summam iniuriam et scelus non tam inimicorum meorum quam invidorum, ne et meum maerorem exagitem et te in eundem luctum vocem; hoc adfirmo, neminem umquam tanta calamitate esse adfectum, nemini mortem magis optandam fuisse.
For what is there to hold me back, especially if that hope is no longer present which accompanied us as we set out? I will not go so far as to enumerate all the miseries into which I have fallen through the extreme injustice and wickedness not so much of my enemies as of those who envied me, lest I both stir up my own grief and invite you into the same mourning; this I affirm, that no one was ever afflicted with so great a calamity, that to no one was death more to be desired.
quoius oppetendae tempus honestissimum praetermissum est; reliqua tempora sunt non tam ad medicinam quam ad finem doloris.
The most honorable time for meeting which has been let slip; the remaining times are not so much for a cure as for the end of pain.
§3.7.3de re publica video te conligere omnia quae putes aliquam spem mihi posse adferre mutandarum rerum.
Concerning the republic, I see that you are collecting everything which you think can bring me some hope of a change in affairs.
quae quamquam exigua sunt, tamen, quoniam placet, exspectemus.
Although these are meager, yet, since it pleases you, let us wait.
tu nihilo minus si properaris nos consequere; nam aut accedemus in Epirum aut tarde per Candaviam ibimus.
Nevertheless, if you make haste, you will overtake us; for we shall either advance into Epirus or travel slowly through Candavia.
dubitationem autem de Epiro non inconstantia nostra adferebat sed quod de fratre ubi eum visuri essemus nesciebamus; quem quidem ego nec quo modo visurus nec ut dimissurus sim scio.
Moreover, it was not our inconsistency that brought about the hesitation regarding Epirus, but the fact that we did not know where we were to see my brother; whom indeed I know neither how I am to see nor how I am to let go.
id est maximum et miserrimum mearum omnium miseriarum.
This is the greatest and most wretched of all my miseries.
ego et saepius ad te et plura scriberem, nisi mihi dolor meus cum omnis partis mentis tum maxime huius generis facultatem ademisset.
I would write both more frequently and at greater length to you, if my grief had not taken away from me all parts of my mind, and especially the capacity for this kind of writing.
videre te cupio.
I desire to see you.
cura ut valeas.
Take care of your health.
data pr. Kal. Mai. Brundisi.
Given on the day before the Kalends of May, at Brundisium.