Ad Atticum 10.4
Ad Atticum 10.4
Headnote
Cicero to Atticus, written from the Cumaean villa on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of May 49 BC (the manuscript dateline: Scr.\ in Cumano xvii K. Mai.\ a.\ 705 (49)). The letter opens as a reply to a packet of Atticus’s letters, one of them “the size of a volume,” and quickly turns to the two grievances that govern it: the two “supreme commanders” — Caesar and Pompey — whom Cicero now ranks beneath himself in fortune and in conscience, on the doctrine he had laid down in his own philosophical books that nothing is good but the honourable and nothing evil but the base; and his nephew Quintus the younger, whose journey to Caesar (after a meeting with Hirtius) and whose denunciation of Cicero’s plan to leave Italy have just been reported to Cicero by what channel he does not say. Section 5 carries the daggered crux non tam where the manuscripts plainly stumble. The boy’s father, Cicero’s brother Quintus, “lies broken in grief”; the uncle, with characteristic legal precision, asks Atticus to lay no blame on either kinsman, since the trouble is the boy’s nature — the same nature, he says, that ruined Curio and the younger Hortensius.
Sections 7–11 are the letter’s second movement: a day-of dispatch from the visit Curio paid him at Cumae on the Ides of April. Curio — the tribune-turned-Caesarian who had crossed the Rubicon with Caesar and was now en route to take over Sicily — speaks with his usual candour and tells Cicero, in effect, everything: the Pompeian exiles will be recalled; the Spanish provinces will fall to Caesar; Caesar will then take an army to wherever Pompey is; Pompey’s death will be the end of [Greek: of the matter] (the manuscript daggers illi, which the translation marks); a great slaughter was narrowly averted when Caesar lost his temper at Metellus the tribune; Caesar himself is not cruel by nature but only as clemency suits him politically. The vignette is one of the most valuable inside views of the Caesarian camp that survives. Curio also volunteers that Cicero may sail to Greece openly through his province, which is the practical gain Cicero records at the end of section 10. The closing paragraph turns to domestic instructions: refer the Oppii to Terentia; advise on the route to Rhegium; look after Tiro. There are no Greek phrases in this letter, but three daggered cruxes survive in the transmitted text (sections 5, 8, and 11), each marked with \ in the translation.
I received many letters from you on the same day, every one of them carefully written, and one of them in particular — the one that was the size of a volume — worth reading over and over, as in fact I do. In writing it you have not undertaken the labour in vain; you have done me a very great kindness. So I ask you most earnestly to do it as often as you possibly can, for as long as it is possible — that is, for as long as you know where I am. As for lamentation, which is what we do every day, let there now be either an end to it altogether, if that is possible, or at any rate some measure to it, which surely is possible. For I no longer dwell on the standing I have lost, the offices, the position in life; I think instead of what I have achieved, what I have given, by what praise I have lived, and finally — in these evils — what difference there is between me and those men on whose account we have lost everything. These are men who thought they could not secure the licence of their appetites unless they drove me from the city. Where the good faith of their compact and their criminal collusion has burst out, you see.
multas a te accepi epistulas eodem die omnis diligenter scriptas, eam vero quae voluminis instar erat saepe legendam, sicuti facio. in qua non frustra laborem suscepisti, mihi quidem pergratum fecisti. qua re ut id, quoad licebit, id est quoad scies ubi simus, quam saepissime facias te vehementer rogo. ac deplorandi quidem, quod cotidie facimus, sit iam nobis aut finis omnino, si potest, aut moderatio quaedam, quod profecto potest. non enim iam quam dignitatem, quos honores, quem vitae statum amiserim cogito, sed quid consecutus sim, quid praestiterim, qua in laude vixerim, his denique in malis quid intersit inter me et istos quos propter omnia amisimus. hi sunt qui, nisi me civitate expulissent, obtinere se non putaverunt posse licentiam cupiditatum suarum. quorum societatis et sceleratae consensionis fides quo eruperit vides.
The one burns with fury and crime, and does not let up at all but grows heavier by the day; just now he drove us from Italy, now from one quarter he tries to pursue us and from another to strip us of our province; nor does he any longer refuse but in a way demands that, being what he is, he should also be called a tyrant.
alter ardet furore et scelere nec remittit aliquid sed in dies ingravescit; modo Italia expulit, nunc alia ex parte persequi, ex alia provincia exspoliare conatur nec iam recusat sed quodam modo postulat ut, quem ad modum est, sic etiam appelletur tyrannus.
The other — the man who once, when we were prostrate at his feet, did not so much as lift us up; who used to say he could do nothing against this man’s will — having slipped from his father-in-law’s hands and his sword, prepares for war by land and sea. It is not an unjust war, granted, and indeed not only dutiful but also necessary; yet for his fellow citizens it will be ruinous if he loses, and disastrous even if he wins.
alter, is qui nos sibi quondam ad pedes stratos ne sublevabat quidem, qui se nihil contra huius voluntatem facere posse, elapsus e soceri manibus ac ferro bellum terra et mari comparat non iniustum ille quidem, sed cum pium tum etiam necessarium, suis tamen civibus exitiabile nisi vicerit, calamitosum etiam si vicerit.
I rank the achievements of these supreme commanders not only no higher than my own, but I do not rank even their fortune higher; theirs has been most flourishing, mine, it seems, has been more roughly handled. For who can be happy when his fatherland is either deserted by itself or crushed? And if, as you remind me, we said rightly in those books of mine that nothing is good except what is honourable, nothing evil except what is base, then surely each of these men is most wretched, for to each of them his country’s safety and dignity has always come second to his own domination and his own private advantage.
horum ego summorum imperatorum non modo res gestas non antepono meis sed ne fortunam quidem ipsam; qua illi florentissima, nos duriore conflictati videmur. quis enim potest aut deserta per se patria aut oppressa beatus esse? et si, ut nos a te admonemur, recte in illis libris diximus nihil esse bonum nisi quod honestum, nihil malum nisi quod turpe sit, certe uterque istorum est miserrimus quorum utrique semper patriae salus et dignitas posterior sua dominatione et domesticis commodis fuit.
A splendid self-knowledge, then, sustains me, when I consider that, as regards the commonwealth, I have either served as well as I could, or at any rate have never thought otherwise than dutifully; and that in this very tempest the commonwealth has gone down, the one that I foresaw fourteen years in advance. With this self-knowledge as my companion, then, I shall set out, in very great grief, and that grief not so much for my own sake or my brother’s — our lives are now lived through — as for the boys, to whom we sometimes think we ought to have presented even a commonwealth to inherit. Of these one tortures me wonderfully precisely because his loyalty is greater; the other (the pity of it! for nothing more bitter has befallen me in all my life), corrupted, no doubt, by our own indulgence, has gone so far that I do not dare to say where. I am waiting for your letter; for you wrote that you would write more when you had seen him in person.
praeclara igitur conscientia sustentor, cum cogito me de re publica aut meruisse optime cum potuerim, aut certe numquam nisi pie cogitasse, eaque ipsa tempestate eversam esse rem publicam quam ego XIIII annis ante prospexerim. hac igitur conscientia comite proficiscar magno equidem cum dolore nec tam id propter me aut propter fratrem meum, quorum est iam acta aetas, quam propter pueros, quibus interdum videmur praestare etiam rem publicam debuisse. quorum quidem alter †non tam† quia maiore pietate est me mirabiliter excruciat, alter (o rem miseram! nihil enim mihi accidit in omni vita acerbius) indulgentia videlicet nostra depravatus eo progressus est quo non audeo dicere. et exspecto tuas litteras; scripsisti enim te scripturum esse plura cum ipsum vidisses.
My indulgence toward him was complete, joined with much severity; and I have suppressed not one offence of his, nor a small one, but many great ones. As for his father’s mildness, it ought rather to have been loved by him than to be so cruelly disregarded. The letter he sent to Caesar we took so heavily that we kept it from you, but we seem to have made his own father’s life unsweet to him. What sort of thing this journey of his has been, and what sort his pretence of piety, I do not dare to say; this much I know — after the meeting with Hirtius he was sent for by Caesar, and they conversed about my state of mind, utterly alienated from his calculations, and my plan to leave Italy; and even this timidly. But it is no fault of ours; it is his nature that is to be feared. This is what corrupted Curio, this is what corrupted Hortensius’s son, not the fault of their fathers. My brother lies broken in grief and is afraid not so much for his own life as for mine. To this man, to this man bring whatever consolations you can, if you can; most of all I should wish for this one — that what has been reported to me may turn out either false or less than the truth. But if they are true, what is going to come of it in this life of flight, I do not know. For if we had a commonwealth, I should not be at a loss for counsel either toward severity or toward indulgence. As it is, I have written these things, whether stirred by anger or by grief or by fear, more harshly than either your love for him or mine demanded; if they are true, you will forgive me; if false, you will gladly rescue me from this misapprehension. Whatever way the thing stands, you will lay the blame neither on the uncle nor on the father.
omne meum obsequium in illum fuit cum multa severitate, neque unum eius nec parvum sed multa magna delicta compressi. Patris autem lenitas amanda potius ab illo quam tam crudeliter neglegenda. nam litteras eius ad Caesarem missas ita graviter tulimus ut te quidem celaremus sed ipsius videremur vitam insuavem reddidisse. hoc vero eius iter simulatioque pietatis qualis fuerit non audeo dicere; tantum scio post Hirtium conventum arcessitum a Caesare, cum eo de meo animo a suis rationibus alienissimo et consilio relinquendi Italiam; et haec ipsa timide. sed nulla nostra culpa est natura metuenda est. haec Curionem, haec Hortensi filium, non patrum culpa corrupit. iacet in maerore meus frater neque tam de sua vita quam de mea metuit. huic tu huic tu malo adfer consolationes, si ullas potes; maxime quidem illam velim, ea quae ad nos delata sint aut falsa esse aut minora. quae si vera sint, quid futurum sit in hac vita et fuga nescio. nam si haberemus rem publicam, consilium mihi non deesset nec ad severitatem nec ad indulgentiam. nunc haec sive iracundia sive dolore sive metu permotus gravius scripsi quam aut tuus in illum amor aut meus postulabat; si vera sunt, ignosces, sin falsa, me libente eripies mihi hunc errorem. quoquo modo vero se res habebit, nihil adsignabis nec patruo nec patri.
When I had written this much, word was brought to me from Curio that he was coming to see me. He had reached his place at Cumae the evening before — that is, on the Ides. So if any matter comes out in his talk that ought to be written to you, I will append it to this letter.
cum haec scripsissem, a Curione mihi nuntiatum est eum ad me venire. venerat enim is in Cumanum vesperi pridie, id est Idibus. si quid igitur eius modi sermo eius attulerit quod ad te scribendum sit, id his litteris adiungam.
Curio drove past my villa and sent word that he would come along soon, and he hurried on to Puteoli to address a public meeting there. He held his meeting, came back, was with me for a good long while. A foul business! You know the man; he hid nothing. In the first place, that nothing is more certain than that all those who were condemned under the Pompeian law are to be restored; and so he intended to use their services in Sicily. As for the Spanish provinces, he had no doubt they would be Caesar’s. From there, Caesar himself with an army to wherever Pompey was. Pompey’s death will be the end of the business. Nothing came nearer to happening: in a plain burst of anger he had wanted Metellus the tribune of the plebs killed; and if that had been done, there would have been a great slaughter. There are very many men urging slaughter; he himself, however, is not cruel by inclination or nature, but because he thinks clemency wins popular favour. If he were to lose the people’s enthusiasm, he would be cruel. And he was distressed, because he understood that he had given offence to the plebs themselves over the treasury. And so, although it had been wholly settled that he would hold a public meeting before he set out, he had not dared, and had set out in great mental disturbance.
praeteriit villam meam Curio iussitque mihi nuntiari mox se venturum cucurritque Puteolos ut ibi contionaretur. contionatus est, rediit, fuit ad me sane diu. o rem foedam! nosti hominem; nihil occultavit, in primis nihil esse certius quam ut omnes qui lege Pompeia condemnati essent restituerentur; itaque se in Sicilia eorum opera usurum. de Hispaniis non dubitabat quin Caesaris essent. inde ipsum cum exercitu ubicumque Pompeius esset. eius interitu finem †illi† fore. propius factum esse nihil; †ei† plane iracundia elatum voluisse Caesarem occidi Metellum tribunum pl. quod si esset factum, caedem magnam futuram fuisse. permultos hortatores esse caedis, ipsum autem non voluntate aut natura non esse crudelem, sed quod putaret popularem esse clementiam. quod si populi studium amisisset, crudelem fore. eumque perturbatum quod intellegeret se apud ipsam plebem offendisse de aerario. itaque ei cum certissimum fuisset ante quam proficisceretur contionem habere, ausum non esse vehementerque animo perturbato profectum.
When I asked him what outcome he foresaw, what kind of commonwealth, he plainly admitted that no hope was left. He feared Pompey’s fleet. If it put out to sea, he would quit Sicily. “What about,” I said, “those six fasces of yours? If they are from the Senate, why are they laurelled? If from him, why six?” “I wanted them,” he said, “filched from a decree of the Senate; for otherwise it could not be done.” But Caesar now hates the Senate more than ever. “From me,” he said, “everything will proceed.” But why six?
cum autem ex eo quaererem quid videret, quem exitum, quam rem publicam, plane fatebatur nullam spem reliquam. Pompei classem timebat. quae si exisset, se de Sicilia abiturum. quid isti inquam sex tui fasces? si a senatu, cur laureati? si ab ipso, cur sex? cupivi inquit ex senatus consulto surrupto; nam aliter non poterat. at ille impendio nunc magis odit senatum. a me inquit omnia proficiscentur. cur autem sex?
“Because I did not want twelve; for I could have had them.” Then I said, “How I wish I had asked him for what I hear Philippus has obtained! But I was afraid, because I had been obtaining nothing from him.” “He would gladly,” he said, “have granted it to you. Indeed, suppose you have obtained it; for I will write to him, just as you yourself wish, that we have spoken together about it. What concern is it of his, anyway, where you are, given that you do not come to the Senate? In fact, at this very moment, you would have done his cause least harm if you had not been in Italy.” To which I said that I was looking for retirement and solitude, chiefly because I had lictors. He praised the plan. “What then?” I said. “For my route into Greece runs through your province, since there are soldiers on the upper sea.” “What,” he said, “could be more agreeable to me?” At this point much was said most generously. So this much, at any rate, has been gained: that we may sail not only safely but openly.
quia xii nolui; nam licebat. tum ego quam vellem inquam petisse ab eo quod audio Philippum impetrasse! sed veritus sum, quia ille a me nihil impetrabat. libenter inquit tibi concessisset. verum puta te impetrasse; ego enim ad eum scribam, ut tu ipse voles, de ea re nos inter nos locutos. quid autem illius interest, quoniam in senatum non venis, ubi sis? quin nunc ipsum minime offendisses eius causam, si in Italia non fuisses. ad quae ego me recessum et solitudinem quaerere, maxime quod lictores haberem. laudavit consilium. quid ergo? inquam; nam mihi cursus in Graeciam per tuam provinciam est, quoniam ad mare superum milites sunt. quid mihi inquit optatius? hoc loco multa perliberaliter. ergo hoc quidem est profectum, ut non modo tuto verum etiam palam navigaremus.
The rest he deferred to the next day; of which I shall write to you whatever is worth a letter. There are also matters I passed over: whether he is going to wait for an interregnum, or, in the way he himself put it, have the consulship offered to him — but he does not want it for next year. And there are other matters I shall question him on. To cap it all, he was swearing, a thing he does on no business at all, that Caesar must be most friendly to me. “Why, when did he ever?” “Dolabella wrote to me.” “Tell me what.” He insisted that Dolabella had written — when I was wishing to come to the City — that Caesar gave him the greatest thanks and not only approved but rejoiced. What more do you want? I was set at rest. For that suspicion of a domestic evil and of the talk with Hirtius was lightened. How I long for him to be worthy of us, and how unwillingly I bring myself to suspect what must be suspected of him! But it had to be done — the meeting with Hirtius. Surely there is something in it, but I should wish it to be as little as possible. And we wonder, too, that he has not yet returned. But we shall see to these things.
reliqua in posterum diem distulit; ex quibus scribam ad te si quid erit epistula dignum. sunt autem quae praeterii, interregnumne esset exspectaturus, an, quo modo dixerit ille quidem, ad se deferri consulatum sed se nolle in proximum annum. et alia sunt quae exquiram. iurabat ad summam, quod nullo negotio facere solet, amicissimum mihi Caesarem esse debere. quid enim umquam? scripsit ad me Dolabella. dic quid? adfirmabat eum scripsisse, quod me cuperet ad urbem venire, illum quidem gratias agere maximas et non modo probare sed etiam gaudere. quid quaeris? acquievi. levata est enim suspicio illa domestici mali et sermonis Hirtiani. quam cupio illum dignum esse nobis et quam ipse me invito, †quae pro illo sit suspicandum!† sed opus fuit, Hirtio convento. est profecto nescio quid, sed velim quam minimo. et tamen eum nondum redisse miramur. sed haec videbimus.
You will assign the Oppii to Terentia. For now the danger to the city is empty. Still, help me with your counsel — whether on foot to Rhegium, or from here straight aboard ship, and the rest, since I am lingering. I shall have something to write to you at once as soon as I have also seen Curio. About Tiro, please take care, as you do, that I may know how he is faring.
tu Oppios Terentiae delegabis. iam enim urbis vanum periculum est. me tamen consilio iuva, pedibusne Regium an hinc statim in navem, et cetera, quoniam commoror. ego ad te statim habebo quod scribam simul et videro Curionem. de Tirone cura, quaeso, quod facis, ut sciam quid is agat.