§4.19.1o exspectatas mihi tuas litteras! o gratum adventum! o constantiam promissi et fidem miram! o navigationem amandam! quam me hercule ego valde timebam recordans superioris tuae transmissionis δέρρεισ.
Oh, your letters so long expected by me! Oh, your welcome arrival! Oh, your consistency in keeping your promise and your amazing fidelity! Oh, the lovable voyage! Which, by Hercules, I was very much afraid of, remembering the flaying of your former crossing.
sed nisi fallor citius te quam scribis videbo.
But unless I am mistaken, I shall see you sooner than you write.
credo enim te putasse tuas mulieres in Apulia esse.
For I believe you thought your women were in Apulia.
quod cum secus erit, quid te Apulia moretur? num Vestorio dandi sunt dies et ille Latinus ἀττικισμὸσ ex intervallo regustandus? quin tu huc advolas et invisis illius nostrae rei publicae †Germane putavi de nummis† ante comitia tributim uno loco divisis palam, inde absolutum Gabinium dictaturam †fruere iustitio et omnium rerum licentia†.
But since that is otherwise, why should Apulia detain you? Must some days be given to Vestorius, and must that "Latin Atticism" of his be tasted again after an interval? Why do you not fly hither and look upon that state of ours—†really I thought about the money† openly distributed in one place by tribes before the comitia, then the acquittal of Gabinius, the dictatorship, †enjoy the suspension of justice and the license of all things†?
§4.19.2perspice aequitatem animi mei et †ludum et contemptionem Seleucianae provinciae† et me hercule cum Caesare suavissimam coniunctionem (haec enim me una ex hoc naufragio tabula delectat); qui quidem Quintum meum tuumque, di boni! quem ad modum tractat honore, dignitate, gratia! non secus ac si ego essem imperator.
Observe the equanimity of my mind, and †my joke and contempt regarding the Seleucian province†, and, by Hercules, my most delightful connection with Caesar (for this is the only plank from this shipwreck that delights me); how indeed, good gods, he treats my—and your—Quintus with honor, dignity, and favor! Just as if I were the commander-in-chief.
hiberna legionis eligendi optio delata commodum, ut ad me Quintus scribit.
The choice of selecting the winter quarters of a legion has just been offered to him, as Quintus writes to me.
hunc tu non ames? quem igitur istorum? sed heus tu! scripseramne tibi me esse legatum Pompeio et extra urbem quidem fore ex Idibus Ianuariis? visum est hoc mihi ad multa quadrare.
Would you not love this man? Whom then of those fellows? But, list! Had I written to you that I am a legate to Pompey, and indeed that I shall be outside the city from the Ides of January? This seemed to me to suit many purposes.
sed quid plura? coram opinor reliqua, ut tu tamen aliquid exspectes.
But why more? I think we will talk of the rest in person, so that you may still have something to look forward to.
Dionysio plurimam salutem; cui quidem ego non modo servavi sed etiam aedificavi locum.
My best regards to Dionysius; for whom indeed I have not only saved but even built a place.
quid quaeris? ad summam laetitiam meam quam ex tuo reditu capio magnus illius adventus cumulus accedet.
What can I say? To my supreme joy which I receive from your return, his arrival will be added as a great crowning touch.
quo die ad me venies, tu, si me amas, apud me cum tuis maneas.
On the day you come to me, if you love me, stay at my house with your people.