Servius Sulpicius Rufus (the younger)

Reading notes

• Ad Atticum 10.14 §3 A tiresome scruple about his son's service at Brundisium

  Servius's son had served in Caesar's army during the blockade of Pompey at Brundisium, and the father frets over having let him take Caesar's side. Brundisium, the great port on Italy's heel, was where Pompey embarked for Greece in March 49 BC.

• Ad Familiares 4.3 §4 Your son Servius, in all the liberal arts

  The younger Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the addressee's son, was then in Rome and a frequent companion of Cicero. The "liberal arts" (artes ingenuae) are the studies fit for a free-born gentleman: literature, rhetoric, and philosophy.

• Ad Familiares 4.6 §1 Your son Servius, by every office that the moment allowed, has shown me both how much he himself thought of me

  The younger Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the addressee's son, was in Italy (he was attached to Caesar's circle) and called on the grieving Cicero in person, performing the duties of condolence on his absent father's behalf.

• Ad Familiares 11.24 §2 You have Servius for the most affectionate of friends

  Servius Sulpicius Rufus the younger, son of the jurist (cos. 51) and a cousin of Decimus Brutus, was acting at Rome in Decimus's interest; Cicero reassures him of this support.

• Ad Familiares 13.27 §4 your son Servius

  The younger Servius Sulpicius Rufus was studying at Rome under Cicero's supervision while his father governed Achaea. Cicero's warm mention of the son serves both as a personal update to the father and as a further bond of intimacy reinforcing the chain of recommendation letters.