Cicero to Atticus, written at the Trebulan villa of Pontius at first light on 11 May 51 BC, the day after Cicero had arrived there from Pompeii (the journey forecast in Ad Atticum 5.2 of the previous day). The letter is a one-section travel bulletin prefaced by the report that a doubled letter has just come in from Atticus — on the third day from sending, a quick run — and that another, more important one may be in transit unrecovered: a Greek aside (spoudaioteron, “more urgent”) registers the worry.

The rest is logistics and household: a request for the rumour traffic at Rome — the country towns are showing the highest fear, says Cicero, but most of it empty —, a promise to put Atticus in good standing with Lentulus, an affectionate note that Dionysius the tutor is well thought of and that Atticus’s freedman Nicanor is giving outstanding service. The plan for the day is Beneventum, the next stop south. One corrupt verb at the close is preserved with the obeli.