§9.9.1tris epistulas tuas accepi postridie Idus.
I received your three letters on the sixteenth of March.
erant autem iiii, iii, pridie Idus datae.
They had been sent on the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth.
igitur antiquissimae cuique primum respondebo.
Therefore, I shall reply to the oldest first.
adsentio tibi, ut in Formiano potissimum commorer, etiam de supero mari, †plaboque†, ut antea ad te scripsi, ecquonam modo possim voluntate eius nullam rei publicae partem attingere.
I agree with you that I should stay by preference at my Formian villa, and also about the Upper Sea; and I shall †try (or work out)†, as I wrote to you before, how I might manage, with his good will, to take no part at all in public affairs.
quod laudas quia oblivisci me scripsi ante facta et delicta nostri amici, ego vero ita facio.
As for your praising me because I wrote that I have forgotten the past deeds and offenses of our friend, I am indeed doing so.
quin ea ipsa, quae a te commemorantur, secus ab eo in me ipsum facta esse non memini.
Indeed, those very actions done by him against me, which are mentioned by you, I do not remember.
tanto plus apud me valere benefici gratiam quam iniuriae dolorem volo.
I wish the gratitude for a benefit to have so much more weight with me than the pain of an injury.
faciamus igitur, ut censes, conligamusque nos.
Let us therefore do as you advise and collect ourselves.
σοφιστεύω enim simul ut rus decurro atque in decursu θέσεισ meas commentari non desino. sed sunt quaedam earum perdifficiles ad iudicandum.
For I play the philosopher as I hasten to the country, and on the way I do not cease to study my 'theses.' But some of them are very difficult to judge.
de optimatibus sit sane ita ut vis; sed nosti illud
"Διονύσιοσ ἐν. "
Titini filius apud Caesarem est.
As for the optimates, let it indeed be as you wish; but you know that saying, 'Dionysius in.' The son of Titinius is with Caesar.
quod autem quasi vereri videris ne mihi tua consilia displiceant, me vero nihil delectat aliud nisi consilium et litterae tuae.
As for your seeming to fear that your advice might displease me, nothing else delights me but your advice and letters.
qua re fac, ut ostendis, ne destiteris ad me quicquid tibi in mentem venerit scribere.
Therefore, as you show, do not stop writing to me whatever comes into your mind.
mihi nihil potest esse gratius. >
Nothing can be more pleasing to me.
§9.9.2venio ad alteram nunc epistulam.
I come now to the second letter.
recte non credis de numero militum; ipso dimidio plus scripsit Clodia.
You are right not to believe about the number of soldiers; Clodia wrote half as many again.
falsum etiam de corruptis navibus.
It is also false about the destroyed ships.
quod consulem laudas, ego quoque animum laudo sed consilium reprehendo; dispersu enim illorum actio de pace sublata est quam quidem ego meditabar.
As for your praising the consul, I too praise his spirit but censure his counsel; for by their dispersal the negotiation for peace, which I indeed was meditating, was taken away.
itaque postea Demetri librum de concordia tibi remisi et Philotimo dedi.
Therefore, afterwards I returned Demetrius's book on concord to you and gave it to Philotimus.
nec vero dubito quin exitiosum bellum impendeat cuius initium ducetur a fame.
Nor indeed do I doubt that a destructive war is imminent, the beginning of which will be led by famine.
et me tamen doleo non interesse huic bello! in quo tanta vis sceleris futura est ut, cum parentis non alere nefarium sit, nostri principes antiquissimam et sanctissimam parentem, patriam, fame necandam putent.
And yet to think that I grieve at not taking part in this war! In which war there will be such a force of wickedness that, while it is an impiety not to support one's parent, our leaders think that their oldest and most sacred parent, their country, should be starved to death.
atque hoc non opinione timeo sed interfui sermonibus.
And I do not fear this from mere opinion, but I was present at their conversations.
omnis haec classis Alexandrea, Colchis, Tyro, Sidone, Arado, Cypro, Pamphylia, Lycia, Rhodo, Chio, Byzantio, Lesbo, Zmyrna, Mileto, Coo ad intercludendos commeatus Italiae et ad occupandas frumentarias provincias comparatur.
All this fleet from Alexandria, Colchis, Tyre, Sidon, Aradus, Cyprus, Pamphylia, Lycia, Rhodes, Chios, Byzantium, Lesbos, Smyrna, Miletus, and Cos is being prepared to cut off the provisions of Italy and to occupy the grain-producing provinces.
at quam veniet iratus! et iis quidem maxime qui eum maxime salvum volebant, quasi relictus ab iis quos reliquit.
But how angry he will come! And indeed especially against those who wished him most safe, as though abandoned by those whom he abandoned.
itaque mihi dubitanti quid me facere par sit, permagnum pondus adfert benevolentia erga illum; qua dempta perire melius esset in patria quam patriam servando evertere.
Therefore, to me doubting what is proper for me to do, my goodwill towards him brings very great weight; if that is removed, it would be better to perish in one's country than to overthrow the country by trying to save it.
de septemtrione plane ita est.
As to the north, it is plainly so.
metuo ne vexetur Epirus; sed quem tu locum Graeciae non direptum iri putas? praedicat enim palam et militibus ostendit se largitione ipsa superiorem quam hunc fore.
I fear that Epirus will be ravaged; but what place in Greece do you think will not be plundered? For he openly declares and shows to his soldiers that he will be superior even to this man in largess.
illud me praeclare admones, cum illum videro, ne nimis indigenter et ut cum gravitate potius loquar.
You advise me excellently that, when I see him, I should speak not too submissively but rather with dignity.
plane sic faciendum.
Plainly it must be done so.
Arpinum, cum eum convenero, cogito, ne forte aut absim cum veniet aut cursem huc illuc via deterrima.
I am thinking of Arpinum after I have met him, lest by chance I should either be away when he comes or run to and forth on a very bad road.
Bibulum, ut scribis, audio venisse et redisse pridie Idus.
I hear that Bibulus, as you write, came and returned on the fourteenth of March.