§5.15.1Laodiceam veni pridie Kal. Sextilis.
I arrived at Laodicea on the day before the Kalends of August.
ex hoc die clavum anni movebis.
From this day, you will move the peg of the year.
nihil exoptatius adventu meo, nihil carius.
Nothing was more eagerly awaited than my arrival, nothing dearer.
sed est incredibile quam me negoti taedeat, non habeat satis magnum campum ille tibi non ignotus cursus animi et industriae meae, praeclara opera cesset.
But it is incredible how weary I am of this business; that course of my mind and industry, not unknown to you, does not have a wide enough field, and my brilliant activity is at a standstill.
quippe, ius Laodiceae me dicere, cum Romae A. Plotius dicat, et, cum exercitum noster amicus habeat tantum, me nomen habere duarum legionum exilium? denique haec non desidero, lucem, forum, urbem, domum, vos desidero.
Indeed, to think that I should administer justice at Laodicea, while Aulus Plotius does so at Rome, and that, while our friend has so great an army, I should have the mere name of two skeleton legions! In short, I do not long for these things; I long for the light, the forum, the city, the home, and you.
sed feram ut potero, sit modo annuum.
But I will bear it as best I can, provided only it be for a year.
si prorogatur, actum est.
If it is prolonged, all is over.
verum perfacile resisti potest, tu modo Romae sis.
But resistance is very easy, if only you are at Rome.
§5.15.2quaeris quid hic agam.
You ask what I am doing here.
ita vivam ut maximos sumptus facio.
As I live, I am incurring the heaviest expenses.
mirifice delector hoc instituto.
I am wonderfully delighted with this practice.
admirabilis abstinentia ex praeceptis tuis, ut verear ne illud quod tecum permutavi versura mihi solvendum sit.
My abstinence, in accordance with your precepts, is so wonderful that I fear I shall have to pay what I negotiated with you by a fresh loan.
Appi vulnera non refrico, sed apparent nec occuli possunt.
I do not rub open the wounds left by Appius, but they are visible and cannot be hidden.
iter Laodicea faciebam a. d. iii Non. Sextilis, cum has litteras dabam, in castra in Lycaoniam.
On the third day before the Nones of August, when I dispatched this letter, I was on my journey from Laodicea to the camp in Lycaonia.
inde ad Taurum cogitabam, ut cum Moeragene signis collatis, si possem, de servo tuo deciderem.
From there I was thinking of going to Mount Taurus, so that, having met Moeragenes, I might, if possible, settle about your slave.
"
clítellae bovi súnt impositae; pláne non est nóstrum onus. "
sed feremus, modo, si me amas, sim annuus adsis tu ad tempus ut senatum totum excites.
"The packsaddle is placed on the ox; clearly it is no load of ours." But we will bear it, provided only, if you love me, that I am here only for a year, and that you are present at the proper time to stir up the whole Senate.
mirifice sollicitus sum quod iam diu mihi ignota sunt ista omnia.
I am wonderfully anxious because all those affairs of yours have now for a long time been unknown to me.
qua re ut ad te ante scripsi, cum cetera tum res publica cura ut mihi nota sit.
Therefore, as I wrote to you before, take care that not only other things but especially the public affairs are made known to me.
plura scribam †tarde tibi redditu iri†, sed dabam familiari homini ac domestico, C. Andronico Puteolano.
I would write more, though it will be delivered late to you, but I was giving this to a close friend and household member, Gaius Andronicus of Puteoli.
tu autem saepe dare tabellariis publicanorum poteris per magistros scripturae et portus nostrarum dioecesium.
You, however, will be able to give letters frequently to the messengers of the tax-contractors, through the directors of the pasture-tax and harbor-dues of our districts.