§20.1quamquam ante haec sponsalia non solum, cum ab urbe abesset, numquam ad suorum quemquam litteras misit, quin Attico scriberet, quid ageret, inprimis quid legeret quibusque in locis et quamdiu esset moraturus, §20.2sed etiam, cum esset in urbe et propter infinitas suas occupationes minus saepe, quam vellet, Attico frueretur, nullus dies temere intercessit, quo non ad eum scriberet, cum modo aliquid de antiquitate ab eo requireret, modo aliquam quaestionem poeticam ei proponeret, interdum iocans eius verbosiores eliceret epistulas.
Although even before this betrothal, not only did he, whenever he was absent from the city, never send letters to any of his own people without writing to Atticus what he was doing, especially what he was reading, in what places, and how long he was going to stay, but also, when he was in the city and, because of his endless occupations, enjoyed the company of Atticus less often than he wished, scarcely a day passed by chance in which he did not write to him, now asking him something about antiquity, now proposing some poetic question to him, sometimes jokingly drawing out longer letters from him.
§20.3ex quo accidit, cum aedis Iovis Feretrii in Capitolio, ab Romulo constituta, vetustate atque incuria detecta prolaberetur, ut Attici admonitu Caesar eam reficiendam curaret.
From this it happened that, when the temple of Jupiter Feretrius on the Capitol, established by Romulus, was falling into ruin, uncovered by age and neglect, Caesar, at the suggestion of Atticus, took care that it be rebuilt.
§20.4neque vero a M. Antonio minus absens litteris colebatur, adeo ut accurate ille ex ultimis terris, quid ageret, curae sibi haberet certiorem facere Atticum.
Nor indeed was he cultivated any less by letters from Marcus Antonius when absent, so much so that Antonius made it a care for himself to inform Atticus accurately from the furthest lands of what he was doing.
§20.5hoc quale sit, facilius existimabit is, qui iudicare poterit, quantae sit sapientiae eorum retinere usum benivolentiamque, inter quos maximarum rerum non solum aemulatio, sed obtrectatio tanta intercedebat, quantam fuit necesse inter Caesarem atque Antonium, cum se uterque principem non solum urbis Romae, sed orbis terrarum esse cuperet.
What kind of thing this is, he will more easily estimate who will be able to judge of how great wisdom it is to retain the intimacy and goodwill of those between whom there existed not only rivalry for the greatest things but also such great detraction as was necessary between Caesar and Antony, when each of them desired himself to be the leader not only of the city of Rome, but of the whole world.