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Cicero · Letters to Atticus §7.25.1

Arrival of Cephalio and Disappointment in Pompey

Passage 165 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero receives Atticus's messenger Cephalio and expresses doubt regarding Atticus's optimistic letter, bitterly criticizing Pompey's political failures and lack of governance skills.

§7.25.1cum dedissem ad te litteras tristis et metuo ne veras de Lucreti ad Cassium litteris Capua missis, Cephalio venit a vobis.
When I had sent you a sad letter—and I fear a true one—concerning Lucretius's letter sent from Capua to Cassius, Cephalio arrived from you all.
attulit etiam a te litteras hilariores nec tamen firmas, ut soles.
He brought also a letter from you, rather cheerful, yet not firm, as is your way.
omnia facilius credere possum quam quod scribitis, Pompeium exercitum habere.
I can believe anything more easily than what you write, that Pompey has an army.
nemo huc ita adfert omniaque quae nolim.
No one brings such news here, and everything is of a kind that I would not wish.
o rem miseram! malas causas semper obtinuit, in optima concidit.
Oh, wretched business! He always prevailed in bad causes; in the best one he has fallen.
quid dicam nisi illud eum scisse (neque enim erat difficile), hoc nescisse? erat enim ars difficilis recte rem publicam regere.
What should I say, except that he knew how to do that (for indeed it was not difficult), but did not know how to do this? For to govern the republic rightly was a difficult art.
sed iam iamque omnia sciemus et scribemus ad te statim.
But any moment now we shall know everything and will write to you immediately.

Notes

  1. §7.25.1tristis et metuo ne veras — The adjectives tristis and veras both modify litteras (accusative feminine plural), the object of dedissem. The phrase metuo ne is inserted parenthetically, creating the sense of 'and I fear they are true,' while veras grammatically agrees with litteras.
  2. §7.25.1quod scribitis, Pompeium exercitum habere — The accusative-and-infinitive clause Pompeium exercitum habere stands in apposition to the relative clause quod scribitis (which serves as the object of scribitis). The entire structure is introduced by quam to complete the comparison.
  3. §7.25.1illud eum scisse... hoc nescisse — In this demonstrative contrast, illud ('that') refers to the chronologically or contextually remoter concept mentioned in the previous sentence (malas causas semper obtinuit, 'succeeding in bad causes'), whereas hoc ('this') anticipates the content of the immediately following sentence (recte rem publicam regere, 'governing the republic rightly').

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §7.25.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:7.25.1

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