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Cicero · Letters to Brutus §1.15.10-1.15.13

Warning against Clemency and Urging Return to Italy

Passage 20 of 30 · Latin

Summary

Cicero warns against excessive clemency toward the defeated, justifying his own severe judgments, and urgently requests Brutus to come to Italy with his army as soon as possible for the restoration of order or for the remaining conflict, while also mentioning his care for the children of Lepidus.

§1.15.10satis multa de honoribus; nunc de poena pauca dicenda sunt.
Enough has been said about honors; now a few words must be said about punishment.
intellexi enim ex tuis saepe litteris te in iis quos bello devicisti clementiam tuam velle laudari.
For I have often understood from your letters that you wish your clemency to be praised in the case of those whom you have defeated in war.
existimo equidem nihil a te nisi sapienter; sed sceleris poenam praetermittere (id enim est quod vocatur ignoscere), etiam si in ceteris rebus tolerabile est, in hoc bello perniciosum puto.
For my part, I think that nothing is done by you except wisely; but to pass over the punishment of crime (for that is what is called forgiving), even if it is tolerable in other matters, I think is ruinous in this war.
nullum enim bellum civile fuit in nostra re publica omnium quae memoria mea fuerunt, in quo bello non, utracumque pars vicisset, tamen aliqua forma esset futura rei publicae.
For there has been no civil war in our republic, of all those that have been within my memory, in which war there would not still have been some form of the republic, whichever side had won.
hoc bello victores quam rem publicam simus habituri non facile adfirmarim, victis certe nulla umquam erit.
In this war, I would not easily declare what kind of republic we, the victors, are going to have; for the vanquished, certainly, there will never be any.
dixi igitur sententias in Antonium, dixi in Lepidum severas neque tam ulciscendi causa quam ut et in praesenti sceleratos civis timore ab impugnanda patria deterrerem et in posterum documentum statuerem ne quis talem amentiam vellet imitari.
Therefore, I delivered severe opinions against Antonius, and against Lepidus, not so much for the sake of avenging as both to deter wicked citizens in the present from attacking their country through fear and to establish an example for the future, lest anyone should wish to imitate such madness.
§1.15.11quamquam haec quidem sententia non magis mea fuit quam omnium.
Although this opinion indeed was no more mine than everyone's.
in qua videtur illud esse crudele, quod ad liberos qui nihil meruerunt poena pervenit.
In which, that seems to be cruel, that the punishment reaches to children who have deserved nothing.
sed id et antiquum est et omnium civitatum, si quidem etiam Themistocli liberi eguerunt; et si iudicio damnatos eadem poena sequitur civis, qui potuimus leniores esse in hostis? quid autem queri quisquam potest de me, qui si vicisset acerbiorem se in me futurum fuisse confiteatur necesse est? habes rationem mearum sententiarum de hoc genere dumtaxat honoris et poenae; nam de ceteris rebus quid senserim quidque censuerim audisse te arbitror.
But that is both ancient and common to all states, since indeed even the children of Themistocles were in want; and if the same punishment follows citizens condemned by judgment, how could we be more lenient toward public enemies? Moreover, what can anyone complain about me, who, if he had conquered, must necessarily confess that he would have been more severe toward me? You have the reason for my opinions concerning at least this kind of honor and punishment; for concerning the remaining matters, I think you have heard what I felt and what I decreed.
§1.15.12sed haec quidem non ita necessaria, illud valde necessarium, Brute, te in Italiam cum exercitu venire quam primum.
But these things indeed are not so necessary; that other thing is highly necessary, Brutus, that you come into Italy with your army as soon as possible.
summa est exspectatio tui.
The expectation of you is at its highest.
quod si Italiam attigeris, ad te concursus fiet omnium.
And if you touch Italy, there will be a flocking of all people to you.
Sive enim vicerimus, qui quidem pulcherrime viceramus nisi Lepidus perdere omnia et perire ipse cum suis concupivisset, tua nobis auctoritate opus est ad conlocandum aliquem civitatis statum; sive etiam nunc certamen reliquum est, maxima spes est cum in auctoritate tua tum in exercitus tui viribus.
For whether we shall have conquered (we indeed had conquered most beautifully, had not Lepidus desired to ruin everything and perish himself with his followers), we have need of your authority to establish some state of the city; or whether even now conflict remains, our greatest hope is both in your authority and in the strength of your army.
sed propera, per deos! scis quantum sit in temporibus, quantum in celeritate.
But hasten, by the gods! You know how much depends on moments, how much on speed.
§1.15.13sororis tuae filiis quam diligenter consulam spero te ex matris et ex sororis litteris cogniturum.
How diligently I am consulting for the sons of your sister, I hope you will learn from the letters of your mother and your sister.
qua in causa maiorem habeo rationem tuae voluntatis quae mihi carissima est quam, ut quibusdam videor, constantiae meae.
In which cause, I have greater regard for your will, which is dearest to me, than for my own consistency, as I seem to some.
sed ego nulla in re malo quam in te amando constans et esse et videri.
But in no matter do I prefer to be and to seem consistent than in loving you.

Notes

  1. §1.15.10nihil a te nisi sapienter — An accusative-with-infinitive construction where a verb of action such as factum [esse] or fieri (to be done) is omitted after existimo. It means "nothing [is done] by you except wisely."
  2. §1.15.10non facile adfirmarim — adfirmarim is the first-person singular perfect subjunctive (potential subjunctive), used as a cautious or mild assertion ("I would not easily assert").
  3. §1.15.11omnium civitatum — A genitive of possession or characteristic, indicating that it is "characteristic of all states" or "common to all states." It stands parallel with antiquum as a predicate nominative.
  4. §1.15.11qui si vicisset acerbiorem se in me futurum fuisse confiteatur necesse est — The main structure is necesse est [ut] confiteatur (it is necessary that he confess). The relative pronoun qui acts as the subject of confiteatur. The object of confiteatur is the accusative-with-infinitive clause acerbiorem se... futurum fuisse, which represents the apodosis of a pluperfect subjunctive conditional sentence (si vicisset... acerbior fuissem) adapted into the infinitive.
  5. §1.15.12qui quidem pulcherrime viceramus nisi Lepidus... — In this contrary-to-fact conditional sentence, the verb of the apodosis is in the indicative pluperfect (viceramus, "we had conquered") instead of the subjunctive. This rhetorical usage emphasizes how close the event was to realization or how certain it would have been.
  6. §1.15.13nulla in re malo quam in te amando constans et esse et videri — The construction is malo A quam B (I prefer A to B). With the negative nulla in re, it means "I prefer in no matter to be and to seem consistent than in loving you."

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Brutus §1.15.10-1.15.13. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi059.humanitext-lat1:1.15.10-1.15.13

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