§8.1.1cum ad te litteras dedissem, redditae mihi litterae sunt a Pompeio: cetera de rebus in Piceno gestis quae ad se Vibullius scripsisset, de dilectu Domiti, quae sunt vobis nota nec tamen tam laeta erant in iis litteris quam ad me Philotimus scripserat.
Just after I had sent a letter to you, a letter was delivered to me from Pompey. The rest of it, concerning the things done in Picenum which Vibullius had written to him, and about the levy of Domitius, is already known to you all, and yet it was not so cheerful in that letter as what Philotimus had written to me.
ipsam tibi epistulam misissem sed iam subito fratris puer proficiscebatur.
I would have sent the letter itself to you, but my brother's servant was just starting quite suddenly.
cras igitur mittam.
Therefore, I will send it tomorrow.
sed in ea Pompei epistula erat in extremo ipsius manu,
"tu censeo Luceriam venias.
But in that letter of Pompey's there was at the end, in his own handwriting: "I think you should come to Luceria.
nusquam eris tutius. "
id ego in eam partem accepi, haec oppida atque oram maritimam illum pro derelicto habere, nec sum miratus eum qui caput ipsum reliquisset reliquis membris non parcere.
You will be nowhere safer." I took this to mean that he regards these towns and the coast-line as abandoned; and I did not wonder that he, who had abandoned the very head, does not spare the remaining limbs.
§8.1.2ei statim rescripsi hominemque certum misi de comitibus meis, nec non quaerere ubi tutissimo essem; si me vellet sua aut rei publicae causa Luceriam venire, statim esse venturum;
I wrote back to him immediately and sent a reliable man from among my companions, and also to inquire where I would be safest; and that if he wished me to come to Luceria for his own or the public interest, I would come immediately.
hortatusque sum ut oram maritimam retineret, si rem frumentariam sibi ex provinciis suppeditari vellet.
And I urged him to retain the coast-line if he wished grain supplies to be furnished to him from the provinces.
hoc me frustra scribere videbam; sed uti in urbe retinenda tunc, sic nunc in Italia non relinquenda testificabar sententiam meam.
I saw that I was writing this in vain; but as I did then in the case of retaining the city, so now I was testifying to my opinion that Italy should not be abandoned.
sic enim parari video ut Luceriam omnes copiae contrahantur et ne is quidem locus sit stabilis sed ex eo ipso, si urgeamur, paretur fuga.
For I see that preparations are being made in such a way that all forces are being concentrated at Luceria, and not even that place is stable, but from there itself, if we are hard pressed, flight is being prepared.
§8.1.3quo minus mirere, si invitus in eam causam descendo in qua neque pacis neque victoriae ratio quaesita sit umquam sed semper flagitiosae et calamitosae fugae, eundum, ut quemcumque fors tulerit casum subeam potius cum iis qui dicuntur esse boni quam videar a bonis dissentire.
Therefore, you should wonder the less if I unwillingly descend into that cause in which neither peace nor victory has ever been sought, but always a shameful and disastrous flight, since we must go, so that I may undergo whatever chance fortune brings rather with those who are called the "good" citizens than seem to dissent from the good.
etsi prope diem video bonorum, id est lautorum et locupletum, urbem refertam fore, municipiis vero his relictis refertissimam.
Although I see that before long the city will be packed with the good, that is, the refined and the wealthy, and indeed most packed since these municipal towns have been abandoned.
quo ego in numero essem, si hos lictores molestissimos non haberem, nec me M'. Lepidi, L. Volcaci, Ser. Sulpici comitum paeniteret, quorum nemo nec stultior est quam L. Domitius nec inconstantior quam Ap. Claudius.
In which number I should be, if I did not have these most troublesome lictors, nor would I regret my companions Manius Lepidus, Lucius Volcacius, and Servius Sulpicius, none of whom is more foolish than Lucius Domitius, nor more inconstant than Appius Claudius.
§8.1.4unus Pompeius me movet beneficio, non auctoritate.
Pompey alone moves me by his kindness, not by his authority.
quam enim ille habeat auctoritatem in hac causa? qui, cum omnes Caesarem metuebamus, ipse eum diligebat, postquam ipse metuere coepit, putat omnis hostis illi esse oportere.
For what authority could he have in this cause? He who, when we all feared Caesar, loved him himself, and after he himself began to fear, thinks everyone ought to be his enemy.
ibimus tamen Luceriam.
Nevertheless, we shall go to Luceria.
nec eum fortasse delectabit noster adventus; dissimulare enim non potero mihi quae adhuc acta sint displicere.
And perhaps our arrival will not please him; for I shall not be able to disguise that what has been done so far displeases me.
ego si somnum capere possem, tam longis te epistulis non obtunderem.
If I could get any sleep, I would not importune you with such long letters.
tu, si tibi eadem causa est, me remunerere sane velim.
If you are in the same situation, I should indeed like you to pay me back.