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Cicero · Letters to Atticus §8.11C.1

Pompey Urging Cicero to Join Him at Brundisium

Passage 181 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Pompey replies to Cicero, praising his patriotism, informing him that the consuls have joined the army in Apulia, and urging Cicero to travel via the Appian Way to join them at Brundisium immediately.

§8.11C.1S. V. B. E. tuas litteras.
If you are well, it is well.
libenter legi.
I read your letter with pleasure.
recognovi enim tuam pristinam virtutem etiam in salute communi.
For I recognized your old valor even in the common safety.
consules ad eum exercitum quem in Apulia habui venerunt.
The consuls have come to that army which I had in Apulia.
magno opere te hortor pro tuo singulari perpetuoque studio in rem publicam ut te ad nos conferas ut communi consilio rei publicae adflictae opem atque auxilium feramus.
I earnestly exhort you, in keeping with your singular and lifelong devotion to the republic, to betake yourself to us, so that by our common counsel we may bring aid and assistance to the afflicted republic.
censeo via Appia iter facias et celeriter Brundisium venias.
I think you should travel by the Appian Way and come quickly to Brundisium.

Notes

  1. §8.11C.1S. V. B. E. — An abbreviation for *Si vales, bene est* ('If you are well, it is well'). A highly common formulaic greeting used at the beginning of letters, often understood with the addition of 'I am well' (*ego valeo*).
  2. §8.11C.1censeo via Appia iter facias — A construction where the subjunctives *facias* and *venias* follow *censeo* directly without *ut*. While *censeo* often takes an accusative with infinitive (AcI), in the sense of advising or recommending it can govern a subjunctive clause with *ut* omitted.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §8.11C.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:8.11C.1

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