Cicero to Atticus, written at the Sinuessan villa on 8 November 44 BC — Perseus dateline Scr. in Sinuessano vi Id. Nov. a. 710 (44). A two-paragraph emergency note, sent in haste on the morning of his departure. Cicero, working his way north toward Rome along the Appian Way, has arrived at Sinuessa and learned that Antony intends to halt at Casilinum — which would put the two of them on the same road. Antony moves with what Cicero calls “Caesarian speed,” and would catch him up easily; so Cicero has swerved inland from Minturnae toward Arpinum, aiming to wait at Aquinum or Arcanum.

The letter is essentially a request for instructions: three options — stay at Arpinum, come closer, come to Rome — and which one will depend on what Atticus, in the city, can see of the political weather. “Put your whole mind to this question; for it is a serious matter.” Antony’s march on the senate is now imminent; Cicero will not move again until he knows where it is safe to be seen.