§5.2.1A. d. vi Idus Maias, cum has dabam litteras, ex Pompeiano proficiscebar ut eo die manerem in Trebulano apud Pontium.
On May 10th, when I was sending this letter, I was setting out from my Pompeian villa so that I might stay that day in Trebulanum with Pontius.
deinde cogitabam sine ulla mora iusta itinera facere.
Thereafter I was thinking of making regular journeys without any delay.
in Cumano cum essem, venit ad me, quod mihi pergratum fuit, noster Hortensius; cui deposcenti mea mandata cetera universe mandavi, illud proprie, ne pateretur quantum esset in ipso prorogari nobis provincias.
When I was at my Cuman villa, our friend Hortensius came to me, which was very pleasing to me; to him, as he requested my commissions, I entrusted the rest generally, but that one specifically: that he should not permit, as far as was in his power, our provinces to be prorogued.
in quo eum tu velim confirmes gratumque mihi fecisse dicas quod et venerit ad me et hoc mihi praetereaque si quid opus esset promiserit.
In this matter I should like you to encourage him and tell him that he has done me a favor both because he came to me and because he promised me this and whatever else might be necessary.
confirmavi ad eam causam etiam Furnium nostrum quem ad annum tribunum pl. videbam fore.
I have also secured for this cause our friend Furnius, whom I saw would be tribune of the plebs for the coming year.
§5.2.2habuimus in Cumano quasi pusillam Romam.
We had, as it were, a little Rome in Cumanum.
tanta erat in his locis multitudo; cum interim Rufio noster, quod se a Vestorio observari videbat, strategemate hominem percussit; nam ad me non accessit.
So great was the crowd in these places; while in the meantime our friend Rufio, because he saw he was watched by Vestorius, outwitted the man by a stratagem; for he did not come to me.
itane? cum Hortensius veniret et infirmus et tam longe et Hortensius, cum maxima praeterea multitudo, ille non venit? non, inquam.
Really? When Hortensius came, though weak and from so far, and being Hortensius, and moreover a very great crowd besides, did that fellow not come? "No," I say.
"non vidisti igitur hominem?"
inquies.
"Did you not see the man then?" you will say.
qui potui non videre cum per emporium Puteolanorum iter facerem? in quo illum agentem aliquid credo salutavi, post etiam iussi valere cum me exiens e sua villa numquid vellem rogasset.
How could I not see him when I was making my way through the market of Puteoli? In which place, I believe, I greeted him as he was doing something, and afterwards even bade him farewell when, as he was coming out of his villa, he had asked me if I wanted anything.
hunc hominem parum gratum quisquam putet aut non in eo ipso laudandum quod laudari non laborarit?
Would anyone think this man ungrateful, or not rather to be praised for the very reason that he did not labor to be praised?
§5.2.3sed redeo ad illud.
But I return to that subject.
noli putare mihi aliam consolationem esse huius ingentis molestiae nisi quod spero non longiorem annua fore.
Do not think that I have any other consolation for this immense trouble except that I hope it will not be longer than a year.
hoc me ita velle multi non credunt ex consuetudine aliorum; tu qui scis omnem diligentiam adhibebis tum scilicet cum id agi debebit, cum ex Epiro redieris.
Many do not believe that I want this so much, judging by the custom of others; you who know will employ all diligence at the time, of course, when the matter needs to be dealt with, when you return from Epirus.
de re publica scribas ad me velim si quid erit quod †operare†.
I should like you to write to me about the republic if there is anything worth writing.
nondum enim satis huc erat adlatum quo modo Caesar ferret de auctoritate perscripta, eratque rumor de Transpadanis eos iussos iiii viros creare.
For not yet had it been sufficiently reported here how Caesar takes the written resolution, and there was a rumor about the Transpadani that they had been ordered to elect quadrumviri.
quod si ita est, magnos motus timeo.
If this is so, I fear great disturbances.
sed aliquid ex Pompeio sciam.
But I shall know something from Pompey.