Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §4.4A.1-4.4A.2

Request for Library Assistants and Invitation to Visit

Passage 81 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero requests Atticus to send some copyists to help arrange his library, eagerly invites him and his wife Pilia to visit, and comments on the excellent troop of gladiators Atticus recently purchased.

§4.4A.1perbelle feceris si ad nos veneris.
You will do a very handsome thing if you come to us.
offendes designationem Tyrannionis mirificam in librorum meorum bibliotheca, quorum reliquiae multo meliores sunt quam putaram.
You will find a wonderful arrangement by Tyrannio in my library of books, the remains of which are much better than I had thought.
et velim mihi mittas de tuis librariolis duos aliquos quibus Tyrannio utatur glutinatoribus, ad cetera administris, iisque imperes ut sumant membranulam ex qua indices fiant, quos vos Graeci, ut opinor, σιλλύβουσ appellatis.
And I should like you to send me some two of your copyists for Tyrannio to use as binders, and as assistants for other matters, and to command them to take some fine parchment from which to make those labels which you Greeks, I believe, call σιλλύβουσ.
§4.4A.2sed haec, si tibi erit commodum.
But this only if it is convenient for you.
ipse vero utique fac venias, si potes in his locis adhaerescere et Piliam adducere.
You yourself, however, be sure to come, if you can stay in these parts and bring Pilia with you.
ita enim et aequum est et cupit Tullia.
For that is both fair and what Tullia desires.
medius fidius ne tu emisti λόχον praeclarum.
By Hercules, you have indeed bought a splendid λόχον.
gladiatores audio pugnare mirifice.
I hear that your gladiators fight wonderfully.
si locare voluisses, duobus his muneribus liber esses.
If you had wished to lease them out, you would have cleared your expenses on these two spectacles.
sed haec posterius.
But of this later.
tu fac venias et de librariis, si me amas, agas diligenter.
Mind you come, and, if you love me, deal diligently in the matter of the copyists.

Notes

  1. §4.4A.1perbelle feceris si — An idiomatic expression combining the future perfect verb `feceris` with `veneris` (future perfect) in the conditional clause. Literally meaning "you will have done a very beautiful thing if you come," it functions as a polite colloquial formula for making a request or expressing gratitude ("I would be highly obliged if you would...").
  2. §4.4A.1velim mihi mittas — A construction where the present subjunctive `velim` (first person singular of `volo` expressing a softened wish) is followed by `mittas` (present subjunctive) with the omission of the conjunction `ut`. This is a common formula for making polite requests.
  3. §4.4A.1quibus Tyrannio utatur glutinatoribus — The relative pronoun `quibus` (referring to the antecedent `duos aliquos`) is in the ablative as the object of the verb `utatur`. `glutinatoribus` (bookbinders) functions as a predicative apposition in the ablative, agreeing with `quibus`. The relative clause with the subjunctive `utatur` expresses purpose ("for Tyrannio to use as binders").
  4. §4.4A.2si locare voluisses, duobus his muneribus liber esses — A mixed conditional sentence consisting of the protasis `si voluisses` (pluperfect subjunctive, contrary-to-fact in the past) and the apodosis `liber esses` (imperfect subjunctive, expressing a continuing state resulting from the past hypothesis). `liber` (free/exempt) here implies being freed from financial loss or the purchase cost by leasing out the gladiators for two spectacles (`muneribus`).

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §4.4A.1-4.4A.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:4.4A.1-4.4A.2

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

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