Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Atticus §9.4.1-9.4.3

Political Theses on Tyranny and Civic Duty

Passage 198 of 461 · Latin

Summary

Cicero tells Atticus that, lacking subject-matter for letters, he has been meditating on a series of Greek "theses" concerning the duties of a citizen under a tyranny and the justice of war to distract himself from grief, and wonders if this letter will arrive on Atticus's birthday.

§9.4.1ego etsi tam diu requiesco quam diu aut ad te scribo aut tuas litteras lego, tamen et ipse egeo argumento epistularum et tibi idem accidere certo scio.
Although I find rest only so long as I am either writing to you or reading your letters, yet I myself lack subject-matter for my letters, and I know for certain that the same is happening to you.
quae enim soluto animo familiariter scribi solent ea temporibus his excluduntur, quae autem sunt horum temporum ea iam contrivimus.
For those things which are accustomed to be written in a relaxed and intimate spirit are shut out in these times, while those which belong to these times we have already exhausted.
sed tamen ne me totum aegritudini dedam, sumpsi mihi quasdam tamquam θέσεισ quae et πολιτικαὶ sunt et temporum horum, ut et abducam animum ab querelis et in eo ipso de quo agitur exercear.
But nevertheless, lest I surrender myself entirely to grief, I have taken up for myself certain, as it were, "theses" which are both political and suited to these times, so that I may both divert my mind from complaints and exercise myself in the very matter which is at issue.
eae sunt huius modi: §9.4.2εἰ μενετέον ἐν τῇ πατρίδι τυραννουμένης αὐτῆς.
They are of this kind:\n Whether one ought to remain in one's country when it is ruled by a tyrant.
εἰ παντὶ τρόπῳ τυραννίδοσ κατάλυσιν πραγματευτέον, κἂν μέλλῃ διὰtou=to peri\ tw=n o(/lwn h(po/lis kinduneu/sein h)\ eu)labhte/on to\n katalu/onta mh\ au)to\s ai)/rhtai.
Whether one ought by every means to strive for the overthrow of the tyranny, even if for this reason the state is likely to risk total destruction, or whether one should beware of the destroyer lest he himself become tyrant.
ei) peirate/on a)rh/gein th=| patri/di turannoume/nh| kairw=| kai\ lo/gw| ma=llon h)\ pole/mw|.
Whether one should try to help one's country under a tyranny by opportunity and argument rather than by war.
ei) politiko\n to\ h(suxa/zein a)naxwrh/santa/ poi th=s patri/dos turannoume/nhs h)\ dia\ panto\s i)te/on kindu/nou th=s e)leuqeri/as pe/ri.
Whether it is statesmanlike to remain quiet, having withdrawn somewhere, while the country is under a tyranny, or whether one should go through every danger for the sake of freedom.
ei) po/lemon e)pakte/on th=| xw/ra| kai\ poliorkhte/on au)th\n turannoume/nhn.
Whether one should bring war upon one's own land and besiege it when it is under a tyranny.
ei) kai\ mh\ dokima/zonta th\n dia\ pole/mou kata/lusin th=s turanni/dos sunapograpte/on o(/mws toi=s a)ri/stois.
Whether, even if one does not approve of the overthrow of the tyranny by war, one should nevertheless enroll oneself with the best citizens.
ei) toi=s eu)erge/tais kai\ fi/lois sugkinduneute/on e)n toi=s politikoi=s ka)\n mh\ dokw=sin eu)= bebouleu=sqai peri\ tw=n o(/lwn.
Whether one should share danger with one's benefactors and friends in political matters, even if they do not seem to have planned well concerning the state as a whole.
ei) o(mega/la th\n patri/da eu)ergeth/sas di' au)to/ te tou=to a)nh/kesta paqw\n kai\ fqonhqei\s kinduneu/seien a)\n e)qelonth\s u(pe\r th=s patri/dos h)\ e)fete/on au)tw=| e(autou= pote kai\ tw=n oi)keiota/twn poiei=sqai pro/noian a)feme/nw| ta\s pro\s tou\s i)sxu/ontas diapolitei/as. §9.4.3in his ego me consultationibus exercens et disserens in utramque partem tum Graece tum Latine et abduco parumper animum a molestiis et τῶν προὔργου τι delibero.
Whether he who has greatly benefited his country, and for this very reason has suffered incurable wrongs and been envied, should still voluntarily run risks for his country, or whether it should be permitted to him to take thought at last for himself and his nearest and dearest, abandoning political struggles against those in power.\n Exercising myself in these consultations and arguing on both sides, now in Greek, now in Latin, I both divert my mind for a moment from my troubles and deliberate on something of practical importance.
sed vereor ne tibi ἄκαιροσ sim.
But I fear lest I be untimely to you.
si enim recte ambulavit is qui hanc epistulam tulit, in ipsum tuum diem incidit.
For if he who carried this letter has walked straight, it will fall on your very birthday.

Notes

  1. §9.4.1soluto animo — Ablative of manner, expressing "with a relaxed mind" or "at ease."
  2. §9.4.2mh\ au)to\s ai)/rhtai — A clause introduced by `μή` after the verbal adjective of necessity `εὐλαβητέον` ('one must beware'), expressing precaution or fear. `αἴρηται` is the 3rd person singular present subjunctive middle/passive of `αἴρω` ('to raise'; in the middle/passive, 'to rise up' or 'to be raised [to power]').
  3. §9.4.2sunapograpte/on o(/mws toi=s a)ri/stois — The verbal adjective `συναπογραπτέον` is compounded with the preposition `σύν` ('together with'), and therefore governs the dative `τοῖς ἀρίστοις` ('the best citizens,' i.e., the Optimates) as the party with whom one should be enrolled.
  4. §9.4.3τῶν προὔργου τι — `προὔργου` is a crasis of `πρὸ ἔργου` ('useful, to the purpose'). Together with the preceding article `τῶν`, it functions substantively, and is governed by `τι` as a partitive genitive ('something of the things of practical use').
  5. §9.4.3in ipsum tuum diem — Refers to 'your very birthday.' Atticus's birthday was on the Ides of March (March 15), which Cicero has in mind here.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Atticus §9.4.1-9.4.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi057.humanitext-lat1:9.4.1-9.4.3

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