Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §4.13.1-4.13.2

Planned Return to Rome, Political Inquiries, and Book Copying

Passage 91 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero reports his arrival in Tusculum and planned return to Rome, expresses relief at his absence from senate debates, asks for political updates, and mentions Crassus's departure and the copying of his books on oratory.

§4.13.1nos in Tusculanum venisse a. d. xvii Kal. Dec. video te scire.
I see you know that we arrived at our Tusculan villa on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of December.
ibi Dionysius nobis praesto fuit.
Dionysius was there at our disposal.
Romae a. d. xiiii Kal. volumus esse.
We want to be in Rome on the fourteenth day before the Kalends.
quid dico "volumus" ? immo vero cogimur.
Why do I say "we want"? Nay, rather we are compelled.
Milonis nuptiae.
Milo's wedding.
comitiorum non nulla opinio est.
There is some expectation of the elections.
ego, ut sit rata, afuisse me in altercationibus quas in senatu factas audio fero non moleste.
For my part, even assuming it is realized, I am not sorry to have been absent from the altercations which I hear took place in the senate.
nam aut defendissem quod non placeret aut defuissem cui non oporteret.
For I should either have had to defend what did not please me, or to fail him whom I ought not to have failed.
sed me hercule velim res istas et praesentem statum rei publicae et quo animo consules ferant hunc σκυλμὸν scribas ad me quantum pote.
But, by Hercules, I should like you to write to me as much as possible about those affairs of yours, the present state of the republic, and with what spirit the consuls bear this trouble.
valde sum ὀξύπεινοσ et, si quaeris, omnia mihi sunt suspecta.
I am very hungry for news, and, if you ask, everything is suspect to me.
§4.13.2Crassum quidem nostrum minore dignitate aiunt profectum paludatum quam olim aequalem eius L. Paulum, item iterum consulem.
Indeed, they say that our friend Crassus set out in his general's cloak with less dignity than once his contemporary L. Paulus, likewise consul for the second time.
o hominem nequam! de libris oratoriis factum est a me diligenter.
Oh, what a worthless scoundrel! As for the books on oratory, I have dealt with them diligently.
diu multumque in manibus fuerunt.
They have been in my hands for a long time and much.
describas licet.
You may copy them.
illud etiam atque etiam te rogo, τὴν παροῦσαν, ne istuc hospes veniam.
This I ask you again and again, to tell me the present situation, so that I do not arrive there as a stranger.

Notes

  1. §4.13.1ut sit rata — The feminine singular nominative adjective "rata" agrees with the implied "opinio" from the preceding "opinio comitiorum". Accompanied by the subjunctive "sit" in a purposive or concessive clause, meaning "even assuming it is realized" or "so that it may be validated".
  2. §4.13.1defendissem ... defuissem — Pluperfect subjunctives expressing a past counterfactual condition (the apodosis of an unfulfilled conditional clause), indicating what would have happened if the speaker had been present in the senate.
  3. §4.13.1quantum pote — An archaic or colloquial abbreviation of "quantum potest", meaning "as much as possible".
  4. §4.13.2describas licet — The impersonal verb "licet" (it is permitted) taking a subjunctive ("describas") directly without the conjunction "ut".
  5. §4.13.2τὴν παροῦσαν — A Greek participle with the article in the feminine accusative singular. Meaning "the present...", with a noun like κατάστασιν (situation, state) implied. It functions as the object of "rogo" (or in apposition to "illud").

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §4.13.1-4.13.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:4.13.1-4.13.2

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