§9.11A.1ut legi tuas litteras quas a Furnio nostro acceperam quibus mecum agebas ut ad urbem essem, te velle uti
"consilio et dignitate mea"
minus sum admiratus; de
"gratia"
et de
"ope"
, quid significares mecum ipse quaerebam, spe tamen deducebar ad eam cogitationem ut te pro tua admirabili ac singulari sapientia de otio, de pace, de concordia civium agi velle arbitrarer, et ad eam rationem existimabam satis aptam esse et naturam et personam meam.
When I read your letter which I had received from our friend Furnius, in which you urged me to be near the city and wrote that you wished to use "my advice and standing," I was not very much surprised; as for "influence" and "help," I was asking myself what you meant, yet I was led by hope to the thought of supposing that you, in accordance with your admirable and singular wisdom, wished to treat of leisure, peace, and the harmony of the citizens, and I deemed both my nature and my character to be sufficiently suited to that purpose.
§9.11A.2quod si ita est et si qua de Pompeio nostro tuendo et tibi ac rei publicae reconciliando cura te attingit, magis idoneum quam ego sum ad eam causam profecto reperies neminem qui et illi semper et senatui cum primum potui pacis auctor fui nec sumptis armis belli ullam partem attigi iudicavique eo bello te violari contra cuius honorem populi Romani beneficio concessum inimici atque invidi niterentur.
But if this is so, and if any concern touches you regarding the preservation of our friend Pompey and his reconciliation to you and to the republic, you will certainly find no one more suited to that cause than I, who have always been an advocate of peace both to him and to the senate as soon as I was able, and who, even after arms were taken up, have not touched any part of the war, and judged that you were being wronged by that war, against whose honor, granted by the favor of the Roman people, enemies and envious men were striving.
sed ut eo tempore non modo ipse fautor dignitatis tuae fui verum etiam ceteris auctor ad te adiuvandum, sic me nunc Pompei dignitas vehementer movet.
But just as at that time I was not only myself a supporter of your standing but also an adviser to others to help you, so now the standing of Pompey strongly moves me.
aliquot enim sunt anni cum vos duo delegi quos praecipue colerem et quibus essem, sicut sum, amicissimus.
For it is now some years since I chose you two as the ones whom I should especially cherish and to whom I should be, as indeed I am, a most dear friend.
§9.11A.3quam ob rem a te peto vel potius omnibus te precibus oro et obtestor ut in tuis maximis curis aliquid impertias temporis huic quoque cogitationi ut tuo beneficio bonus vir, gratus, pius denique esse in maximi benefici memoria possim.
Therefore, I ask of you, or rather, I pray and beseech you with all my prayers, that amid your greatest cares you impart some time also to this thought: so that by your favor I may be able to be a good man, grateful, and finally dutiful in the memory of the greatest favor.
quae si tantum ad me ipsum pertinerent, sperarem me a te tamen impetraturum, sed, ut arbitror, et ad tuam fidem et ad rem publicam pertinet me et pacis et utriusque vestrum et ad civium concordiam per te quam accommodatissimum conservari.
If these things pertained only to myself, I should nevertheless hope that I would obtain my request from you; but, as I judge, it pertains both to your good faith and to the republic that I be preserved through you in the manner most suited to peace, to both of you, and to the harmony of the citizens.
ego cum antea tibi de Lentulo gratias egissem, cum ei saluti qui mihi fuerat fuisses, tamen lectis eius litteris quas ad me gratissimo animo de tua liberalitate beneficioque misit, †eandem me salutem a te accepisse† quam ille.
Although I had previously thanked you regarding Lentulus, because you had been the safety for him who had been my safety, nevertheless, having read his letter which he sent to me with a most grateful mind about your liberality and favor, I felt that I had received the same safety from you as he did.
in quem si me intellegis esse gratum, cura, obsecro, ut etiam in Pompeium esse possim.
If you understand that I am grateful toward him, see to it, I beseech you, that I may also be able to be so toward Pompey.