§7.3.6nunc venio ad privata; fere enim respondi tuis litteris de re publica et iis quas in suburbano et iis quas postea scripsisti.
Now I come to private matters; for I have almost replied to your letters about the republic, both those which you wrote in your suburban estate and those which you wrote afterwards.
ad privata venio.
I come to private matters.
unum etiam de Caelio tantum abest ut meam ille sententiam moveat ut valde ego ipsi quod de sua sententia decesserit paenitendum putem.
One thing more about Caelius: so far is he from moving my opinion that I think he himself ought greatly to regret having departed from his own.
sed quid est quod ei vici Luccei sint addicti? hoc te praetermisisse miror.
But what is this, that the Lucceian villages have been adjudged to him? I wonder that you passed this over.
§7.3.7de Philotimo faciam equidem ut mones.
Regarding Philotimus, I shall indeed do as you advise.
sed ego mihi ab illo hoc tempore non rationes exspectabam quas tibi edidit, verum id reliquum quod ipse in Tusculano me referre in commentarium mea manu voluit quodque idem in Asia mihi sua manu scriptum dedit.
But at this time I was not expecting from him those accounts which he presented to you, but rather that balance which he himself in my Tusculan villa wished me to enter into my ledger with my own hand, and which he likewise gave to me in Asia written with his own hand.
id si praestaret, quantum mihi aeris alieni esse tibi edidit tantum et plus etiam mihi ipse deberet.
If he were to make that good, he himself would owe me as much as, and even more than, the amount of debt he reported to you that I have.
sed in hoc genere, si modo per rem publicam licebit, non accusabimur posthac, neque hercule antea neglegentes fuimus sed amicorum multitudine occupati.
But in this sort of matter, if only the state permits, we shall not be blamed hereafter; nor indeed, by Hercules, were we negligent before, but occupied by a multitude of friends.
ergo utemur, ut polliceris, et opera et consilio tuo nec tibi erimus, ut spero, in eo molesti.
Therefore we shall use, as you promise, both your assistance and your advice, and we shall not, I hope, be troublesome to you in this.
§7.3.8de serperastris cohortis meae nihil est quod doleas.
As for the 'knee-splints' of my cohort, there is no reason for you to grieve.
ipsi enim se conlegerunt admiratione integritatis meae.
For they themselves have pulled themselves together out of admiration for my integrity.
sed me moverat nemo magis quam is quem tu neminem putas.
But no one moved me more than he whom you think to be nobody.
idem et initio fuerat et nunc est egregius.
He was excellent both in the beginning and is so now.
sed in ipsa decessione significavit sperasse se aliquid et id quod animum induxerat paulisper non tenuit sed cito ad se rediit meisque honorificentissimis erga se officiis victus pluris ea duxit quam omnem pecuniam.
Yet at the very moment of departure, he indicated that he had hoped for something, and for a short time did not hold to what he had resolved in his mind; but he quickly returned to himself, and, won over by my most honorable favors toward him, valued them more than all money.
§7.3.9ego a Curio tabulas accepi quas mecum porto.
I received from Curius the accounts which I carry with me.
Hortensi legata cognovi.
I have learned of the legacies of Hortensius.
nunc aveo scire quid hominis sit et quarum rerum auctionem instituat.
Now I long to know what kind of man he is and of what things he is advertising an auction.
nescio enim cur, cum portam Flumentanam Caelius occuparit, ego Puteolos non meos faciam.
For I do not know why, since Caelius has occupied the Flumentan Gate, I should not make Puteoli my own.
§7.3.10venio ad
"Piraeea,"
in quo magis reprehendendus sum quod homo Romanus
"Piraeea"
scripserim, non
"Piraeum"
(sic enim omnes nostri locuti sunt), quam quod addiderim
"in. "
non enim hoc ut oppido praeposui sed ut loco.
I come to 'Piraeea,' in which I am more to be blamed because, as a Roman, I wrote 'Piraeea' and not 'Piraeum' (for so all our countrymen have spoken), than because I added 'in.' For I did not prefix this to it as a town, but as a place.
et tamen Dionysius noster et qui est nobiscum Nicias Cous non rebatur oppidum esse Piraeea.
And yet our Dionysius and Nicias of Cos, who is with us, did not think that Piraeea was a town.
sed de re videro.
But I shall see about the matter.
nostrum quidem si est peccatum, in eo est quod non ut de oppido locutus sum sed ut de loco secutusque sum non dico Caecilium,
"máne ut ex portu ín Piraeum"
(malus enim auctor Latinitatis est), sed Terentium cuius fabellae propter elegantiam sermonis putabantur a C. Laelio scribi,
"
heri áliquot adulescéntuli coíimus in Piraéum,
"
et idem,
"
Mercátor hoc addébat, captam e Súnio. "
quod si δήμουσ oppida volumus esse, tam est oppidum Sunium quam Piraeus.
If indeed there is a mistake on my part, it lies in this, that I spoke of it not as a town but as a place, and followed—I do not say Caecilius, 'How in the morning from the harbor into the Piraeus' (for he is a bad authority on Latinity), but Terence, whose plays, because of the elegance of their language, were thought to be written by C. Laelius, 'Yesterday a few of us young men met in the Piraeus,' and the same writer, 'A merchant added this, that she was taken from Sunium.' But if we wish 'demes' to be towns, Sunium is as much a town as Piraeus.
sed quoniam grammaticus es, si hoc mihi ζήτημα persolveris, magna me molestia liberans.
But since you are a grammarian, if you solve this question for me, you will free me from great trouble.
§7.3.11ille mihi litteras blandas mittit; facit idem pro eo Balbus.
He sends me flattering letters; Balbus does the same on his behalf.
mihi certum est ab honestissima sententia digitum nusquam.
I am resolved not to move a finger's breadth from the most honorable opinion.
sed scis illi reliquum quantum sit.
But you know how much is my outstanding debt to him.
Putasne igitur verendum esse ne aut obiciat id nobis aliquis, si languidius, aut repetat, si fortius? quid ad haec reperis?
"solvamus"
inquis.
Do you think, therefore, that we must fear lest someone either cast this in our teeth, if we act rather weakly, or demand it back, if we act more vigorously? What do you find to say to this? 'Let us pay,' you say.
age, a Caelio mutuabimur.
Come, we shall borrow from Caelius.
hoc tu tamen consideres velim; puto enim, in senatu si quando praeclare pro re publica dixero, Tartessium istum tuum mihi exeunti,
"iube sodes nummos curare. "
Yet I would like you to consider this; for I think that, if ever I speak splendidly in the senate for the republic, that Tartessian of yours will say to me as I go out: 'Please order the money to be paid.' What is left?
§7.3.12quid superest? etiam.
Oh, yes.
gener est suavis mihi, Tulliae, Terentiae.
My son-in-law is agreeable to me, to Tullia, and to Terentia.
quantumvis vel ingeni vel humanitatis, †satis†; reliqua, quae nosti, ferenda.
He has as much talent or culture as you please—sufficiently so; the rest, which you know, must be tolerated.
scis enim quos †aperierimus†. qui omnes praeter eum de quo per te egimus, †reum† me facerent.
For you know whom we have rejected; all of whom, except him whom we dealt with through you, would make me a defendant.
ipsis enim expensum nemo feret.
For no one will enter a loan to them.
sed haec coram; nam multi sermonis sunt.
But of these things in person, for they require much talk.
Tironis reficiendi spes est in M'. Curio, cui ego scripsi tibi eum gratissimum facturum.
The hope of restoring Tiro lies in Manius Curius, to whom I wrote that he would do a very great favor to you.
data v Idus Decembr. a Pontio ex Trebulano.
Given on the 9th of December, from the house of Pontius in Trebula.