place
Italia
Italy
The Italian peninsula; in Cicero's letters of the civil war years synonymous with the homeland Pompey's army left behind in 49 BC.
Reading notes
- Ad Atticum 8.7 §2 who is leaving Italy
Pompey's decision to evacuate Italy and cross to Greece, abandoning Rome and the homeland to Caesar, is what Cicero cannot forgive; it transforms the war from a defence of the state into flight. This crossing (from Brundisium, March 49) is the hinge of the whole book.
- Ad Atticum 9.3 §1 all Italy is held by arms and garrisons
By March 49 Caesar's forces controlled the Italian interior and coast, hemming in those who wished to follow Pompey. Cicero reads Pompey's apparent willingness to leave Domitius behind as a sign that the routes out are now closed.
- Ad Atticum 15.5 §3 Whether to leave Italy itself
Cicero is weighing self-imposed exile abroad (he would soon set out for Greece) against simply staying away from Rome; the dilemma of where to be safe runs through all these post-Ides letters.
- Ad Familiares 14.12 §1 come safe into Italy
Written from Brundisium in November 48 BC, soon after Cicero's return from the Pompeian camp following the defeat at Pharsalus; the anxiety pervading the letter reflects his uncertainty over Caesar's likely treatment of him.