Aulus Caecina

Reading notes

• Ad Atticum 16.8 §2 Caecina of Volaterrae

  A. Caecina, of the Etruscan town of Volaterrae, an associate of Octavian sent as his messenger to Cicero.

• Ad Familiares 6.5 §1 Your book has been read

  Caecina was an author as well as Cicero's friend; this is likely his inflammatory pamphlet on the civil war (the Liber Querelarum or a related work), which he had sent for Cicero's safekeeping. The 'most careful guard' hints at the political danger of the text under Caesar's dominance.

• Ad Familiares 6.5 §3 the talent of yours by which he is delighted

  Caesar is portrayed as simultaneously admiring Caecina's literary talent and resenting the use to which it had been put against him; the paradox drives Cicero's argument that the same talent will ultimately secure Caecina's pardon.

• Ad Familiares 6.6 §2 you firmly predicted my glorious and swift return

  Caecina had been in the province of Asia when Cicero was in exile (58-57 BC) and reportedly encouraged confidence in his recall; Cicero now uses this memory to establish a reciprocal obligation and to validate Caecina's skill in political prognosis.

• Ad Familiares 6.9 §1 A. Caecina

  Aulus Caecina of Volaterrae, man of letters and Cicero's close friend; a Pompeian who had returned to Italy after Pharsalus and was seeking Caesar's full pardon, which Cicero pursued through several letters (Fam. 6.5-6.9). Distinct from his father, the defendant of the Pro Caecina.

• Ad Familiares 13.66 §1 A. Caecina to you --- a client most especially attached to your family

  Aulus Caecina of Volaterrae, an Etruscan man of letters and son of the defendant of Cicero's Pro Caecina; a Pompeian in the civil war, he had written a pamphlet against Caesar and was living in exile. A 'client' (cliens) of the Servilii by hereditary tie, he hoped the family's patronage and the governor's protection would shelter him.