§3.9.1Quintus frater cum ex Asia discessisset ante Kal. Maias et Athenas venisset Idibus, valde fuit ei properandum, ne quid absens acciperet calamitatis, si quis forte fuisset qui contentus nostris malis non esset.
My brother Quintus, having departed from Asia before the Kalends of May and arrived at Athens on the Ides, had to make great haste, lest in his absence he should suffer some calamity, if by chance there were anyone who was not content with our misfortunes.
itaque eum malui properare Romam quam ad me venire et simul (dicam enim quod verum est, ex quo magnitudinem miseriarum mearum perspicere possis) animum inducere non potui ut aut illum amantissimum mei mollissimo animo tanto in maerore aspicerem aut meas miserias luctu adflictus et perditam fortunam illi offerrem aut ab illo aspici paterer.
Therefore, I preferred that he should hasten to Rome rather than come to me, and at the same time (for I will say what is true, from which you may perceive the magnitude of my miseries) I could not bring myself either to look upon him, who loves me so dearly and has a most tender heart, in such great grief, or to present my miseries and ruined fortune, afflicted as I was with grief, to him, or to allow myself to be looked upon by him.
atque etiam illud timebam, quod profecto accidisset, ne a me digredi non posset.
And I also feared this, which would surely have happened, that he would not be able to depart from me.
versabatur mihi tempus illud ante oculos quom ille aut lictores dimitteret aut vi avelleretur ex complexu meo.
That time was turning before my eyes when he would either dismiss his lictors or be torn by force from my embrace.
huius acerbitatis eventum altera acerbitate non videndi fratris vitavi.
I avoided the outcome of this bitterness by another bitterness, that of not seeing my brother.
in hunc me casum vos vivendi auctores impulistis.
Into this misfortune you, the advisers of my living, have driven me.
§3.9.2itaque mei peccati luo poenas.
Therefore, I pay the penalty for my sin.
quam quam me tuae litterae sustentant ex quibus quantum tu ipse speres facile perspicio; quae quidem tamen aliquid habebant solaci ante quam eo venisti a Pompeio.
Although your letters sustain me, from which I easily perceive how much you yourself hope; which, however, did indeed have some consolation before you came to that point from Pompey.
"nunc Hortensium adlice et eius modi viros. "
obsecro, mi Pomponi, nondum perspicis quorum opera, quorum insidiis, quorum scelere perierimus? sed tecum haec omnia coram agemus;
"Now win over Hortensius and men of that kind." I beseech you, my Pomponius, do you not yet perceive by whose agency, by whose snares, by whose crime we have perished?
tantum dico quod scire te puto, nos non inimici sed invidi perdiderunt.
But we will discuss all these things together in person; I only say what I think you know, that not enemies but jealous men ruined us.
nunc si ita sunt quae speras, sustinebimus nos et spe qua iubes nitemur; sin, ut mihi videntur, infirma sunt, quod optimo tempore facere non licuit minus idoneo fiet.
Now if those things which you hope are so, we shall sustain ourselves and rely on the hope you bid us; but if, as they seem to me, they are weak, what was not permitted to be done at the best time will be done at a less suitable one.
§3.9.3Terentia tibi saepe agit gratias.
Terentia often gives you thanks.
mihi etiam unum de malis in metu est, fratris miseri negotium; quod si sciam quoius modi sit, sciam quid agendum mihi sit.
To me, even one of my evils is a cause of fear, the business of my wretched brother; if I knew what kind of situation it is, I would know what I must do.
me etiam nunc istorum beneficiorum et litterarum exspectatio, ut tibi placet, Thessalonicae tenet.
Even now, the expectation of those benefits and letters, as you wish, keeps me at Thessalonica.
si quid erit novi adlatum, sciam de reliquo quid agendum sit.
If any news is brought, I shall know what is to be done for the future.
tu si, ut scribis, Kal. Iuniis Roma profectus es, prope diem nos videbis.
If you, as you write, set out from Rome on the Kalends of June, you will see us shortly.
litteras quas ad Pompeium scripsi tibi misi.
I have sent you the letter which I wrote to Pompey.
data id. Iun. Thessalonicae.
Given on the Ides of June, at Thessalonica.