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Cicero · Letters to Atticus §5.6.1-5.6.2

Arrival at Tarentum and Stay with Pompey

Passage 104 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero reports his arrival in Tarentum on May 18, where he is spending fruitful days with Pompey, while eagerly awaiting letters from Atticus and urging him to settle outstanding financial matters, specifically Caesar's debt.

§5.6.1Tarentum veni at d. xv Kal. Iunias.
I arrived at Tarentum on May 18.
quod Pomptinum statueram exspectare, commodissimum duxi dies eos quoad ille veniret cum Pompeio consumere eoque magis quod ei gratum esse id videbam, qui etiam a me petierit ut secum et apud se essem cotidie.
Because I had resolved to wait for Pomptinus, I thought it most convenient to spend those days until he should arrive with Pompey, and all the more so because I saw that this was pleasing to him, who even requested of me that I should be with him and at his house every day.
quod concessi libenter.
This I gladly granted.
multos enim eius praeclaros de re publica sermones accipiam, instruar etiam consiliis idoneis ad hoc nostrum negotium.
For I shall hear many of his excellent discourses about the republic, and I shall also be equipped with advice suitable for this business of ours.
§5.6.2sed ad te brevior iam in scribendo incipio fieri dubitans Romaene sis an iam profectus.
But I am beginning to be briefer in writing to you, since I am in doubt whether you are in Rome or have already set out.
quod tamen quoad ignorabo, scribam aliquid potius quam committam ut tibi cum possint reddi a me litterae non reddantur.
As long as I remain ignorant of this, however, I will write something rather than run the risk that, when letters from me could be delivered to you, they should not be.
nec tamen iam habeo quod aut mandem tibi aut narrem.
And yet I no longer have anything either to commission you with or to relate.
mandavi omnia; quae quidem tu, ut polliceris, exhauries.
I have commissioned everything; and these matters indeed you, as you promise, will thoroughly dispatch.
narrabo cum aliquid habebo novi.
I will relate when I have some news.
illud tamen non desinam, dum adesse te putabo, de Caesaris nomine rogare ut confectum relinquas.
I will not cease, however, as long as I think you are still there, to ask you that very thing concerning Caesar's debt, that you leave it settled.
avide exspecto tuas litteras et maxime ut norim tempus profectionis tuae.
I eagerly await your letters, and especially that I may know the time of your departure.

Notes

  1. §5.6.1at d. xv Kal. Iunias — The manuscript reading `at d.` is understood as a scribal error for `a. d.` (ante diem). `ante diem quintum decimum Kalendas Iunias` (the 15th day before the Kalends of June) corresponds to May 18 under the inclusive system of Roman calendar reckoning.
  2. §5.6.1petierit — A perfect subjunctive in a relative clause introduced by `qui`, expressing either the characteristic of the antecedent (Pompey) or a causal relation ('since he requested').
  3. §5.6.2committam ut... non reddantur — `committere ut` means 'to bring it about that, to let it happen that'. Here, combined with `potius quam` ('rather than'), it expresses the risk or error of allowing a situation where letters are not delivered when they could be.
  4. §5.6.2Caesaris nomine — `nomen` (literally 'name') is used as a financial and bookkeeping term meaning 'entry, account, debt or claim'. Here it refers to Caesar's outstanding financial account or debt with Cicero.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §5.6.1-5.6.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:5.6.1-5.6.2

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

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