Cicero · Letters to Atticus §9.17.1-9.17.2

Anticipation of Caesar's Summons and Tiro's Illness

Passage 219 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero, while waiting for Caesar's messenger, anticipates being urged to come to Rome and expresses deep concern over his future course of action and the critical illness of his freedman Tiro.

§9.17.1Trebatium vi Kal. , quo die has litteras dedi, exspectabam.

I am expecting Trebatius on the 27th of March, the day I write this letter.

ex eius nuntio Matique litteris meditabor quo modo cum illo loquar.

From his message and Matius's letter, I shall consider how I should speak with him.

o tempus miserum! nec dubito quin a me contendat ad urbem veniam.

Oh, wretched times! And I do not doubt but that he will urge me to come to the city.

senatum enim Kalendis velle se frequentem adesse etiam Formiis proscribi iussit.

For he has ordered it to be publicly posted, even at Formiae, that he wishes the Senate to be present in full numbers on the Kalends.

ergo ei negandum est? sed quid praeripio? statim ad te perscribam omnia.

Must I then say no to him? But why do I anticipate? I shall write all to you immediately.

ex illius sermone statuam. Arpinumne mihi eundum sit an quo alio.

I shall decide from his conversation whether I must go to Arpinum or somewhere else.

volo Ciceroni meo togam puram dare, istic puto.

I wish to give my young Cicero the plain toga; I think of doing so there.

§9.17.2tu, quaeso, cogita quid deinde. nam me hebetem molestiae reddiderunt.

Please, consider what is to be done next; for my troubles have rendered me dull.

a Curio velim scire ecquid ad te scriptum sit de Tirone.

I should like to know from Curius whether anything has been written to you about Tiro.

ad me enim ipse Tiro ita scripsit ut verear quid agat.

For Tiro himself has written to me in such a way that I fear how he is doing.

qui autem veniunt inde, κινδυνώδη nuntiant.

But those who come from there report things to be critical.

sane in magnis curis etiam haec me sollicitant.

Indeed, amid my great anxieties, these things too cause me worry.

in hac enim fortuna perutilis eius et opera et fidelitas esset.

For in my present fortune his services and his fidelity would have been extremely useful.

Notes

9.17.1exspectabam — The imperfect exspectabam and the perfect dedi in the relative clause are epistolary tenses. Although referring to the writer's present and past, they are put into past tenses from the perspective of the recipient at the time of reading.
9.17.1contendat ad urbem veniam — A construction where the subjunctive present veniam depends directly on contendat (to urge, demand) with the conjunction ut omitted, embedded within the quin clause (nec dubito quin...).
9.17.2esset — Subjunctive imperfect. It functions as the apodosis of a contrary-to-fact condition with the protasis (such as si adesset) implied. It expresses that, in contrast to the reality where Tiro is sick and absent, his services 'would have been' highly useful.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §9.17.1-9.17.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:9.17.1-9.17.2

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