Ad Atticum 1.8
Ad Atticum 1.8
Headnote
Cicero to Atticus, written at Rome shortly after the Ides of February 67 BC, almost a continuation of the previous letter. The first paragraph runs through three business matters that connect the two friends — Acutilius’s lawsuit against Atticus, the settlement of the Tadian dispute, and the anger of an unnamed mutual friend toward Atticus, which Cicero offers to mediate. The second paragraph confirms a payment of HS 20,400 (the famous “Megarian statues” bill) and asks for shipment of more art for the Tusculan villa — specifically Pentelic Hermae with bronze heads, and anything fit for a gymnasium and a colonnade. The closing line of the letter belongs to its own dignity: little Tullia, two or three years old, is demanding her promised present from Atticus and has cited her father as guarantor; for the father, perjury is safer than payment.