Ad Familiares 5.20
Ad Familiares 5.20
Headnote
Cicero to M. Mescinius Rufus, written from the neighbourhood of Rome a few days after the Nones of January 49 BC — Perseus dateline Scr. ad urbem paulo post prid. Non. Ian. a. 705 (49). Cicero, returned from his Cilician governorship in late 50, has not yet entered the city: a triumph is still notionally in prospect and he is holding imperium outside the pomerium. The political weather has already broken — by 7 January the Senate will pass the senatus consultum ultimum against Caesar — but the business of this letter is the one Cicero left unfinished behind him: the rendering of his provincial accounts under the Lex Iulia of Caesar’s consulship, which required them to be deposited at two cities in the province and then transcribed, word for word, at the treasury.
The recipient is Cicero’s quaestor of 51–50, M. Mescinius Rufus, who is unhappy about how those accounts were finished. The argument runs through every standard category of the dispute: the role of Cicero’s secretary M. Tullius and of Mescinius’s brother M. Mindius in producing the books; an arrangement that freed one Volusius from a heavy liability and shifted it back onto the original contractor Valerius’s sureties (a piece of legal contrivance Cicero is proud of and credits to his friend the jurist G. Camillus); a deposit, on Pompey’s authority, of money belonging to one Lucceius in a temple, used by Pompey himself; the missed deadline within which a returning governor had to name his beneficiaries for their share of the official allowance; and a final 100,000 sesterces over which Mescinius is still aggrieved. Cicero’s closing point is sharp: of the 2,200,000 sesterces he had deposited with the publicans at Ephesus, Pompey has carried the lot off (for the war), so the 100,000 in dispute should be borne in proportion. The tone moves between formal self-defence and the intimacy of an old patronage relationship — “take all this for a joke, just as I take you” — and the last line refuses Mescinius’s apparent suggestion that the letter be destroyed.
I would have come to meet you somehow or other, if you had been willing to come where you had said you would. Therefore, although you did not want to inconvenience me on your own account, I should like you to take it as certain that, had you sent for me, I would have put your wish before my own convenience. To what you have written, I could in fact reply on each particular more conveniently if my secretary M. Tullius were here. Of him I am sure — at any rate as far as the rendering of accounts is concerned (in other matters I cannot vouch for him) — that he has done nothing knowingly contrary either to your interest or to your reputation; and further, that if the old law and custom for the rendering of accounts still held, I would never have rendered them without first having gone over them with you, and finished them with you, as the bond of our intimate connection required.
quoquo modo potuissem, te convenissem, si eo, quo constitueras, venire voluisses. qua re, etsi mei commodi causa commovere me noluisti, tamen ita existimes velim, me antelaturum fuisse, si ad me misisses, voluntatem tuam commodo meo. ad ea, quae scripsisti, commodius equidem possem de singulis ad te rebus scribere, si M. Tullius, scriba meus, adesset. A quo mihi exploratum est in rationibus dumtaxat referendis (de ceteris rebus adfirmare non possum) nihil eum fecisse scientem, quod esset contra aut rem aut existimationem tuam; dein, si rationum referendarum ius vetas et mos antiquus maneret, me relaturum rationes, nisi tecum pro coniunctione nostrae necessitudinis contulissem confecissemque, non fuisse.
What I would have done, then, at Rome had the old practice still stood, that — since under the Julian law the accounts had to be left in the province and to be entered word for word at the treasury — I did in the province; and I did it not in such a way as to draw you into my judgement, but giving you exactly that much consideration which I shall never regret having given. The whole of my own secretary, of whom you are now suspicious, I handed over to you. You attached to him M. Mindius your brother. The accounts were finished, with you, in my absence; to them I added nothing beyond a reading. I took the book from my own secretary, on the same footing on which I took it from your brother. If it was a matter of compliment, no greater could I have shown you; if of trust, I trusted you almost more than I trust myself; if of vigilance — to see that nothing was entered otherwise than was both honourable and useful to you — there was no one to whom I had rather given the business than the one I did. This much at any rate was done as the law required: that in two states, Laodicea and Apamea, the ones which seemed to us the foremost — since it had to be so — we deposited the completed accounts after collation. So to this point I answer first: that although for good reasons I was in haste to render the accounts, I would still have waited for you, had I not regarded accounts left in the province as already rendered. Wherefore —
quod igitur fecissem ad urbem, si consuetudo pristina maneret, id, quoniam lege Iulia relinquere rationes in provincia necesse erat easdemque totidem verbis referre ad aerarium, feci in provincia, neque ita feci ut te ad meum arbitrium adducerem, sed tribui tibi tantum, quantum me tribuisse numquam me paenitebit. totum enim scribam meum, quem tibi video nunc esse suspectum, tibi tradidi. tu ei M. Mindium, fratrem tuum, adiunxisti. rationes confectae me absente sunt tecum; ad quas ego nihil adhibui praeter lectionem. ita accepi librum a meo servo scriba, ut eundem acceperim a fratre tuo. si honos is fuit, maiorem tibi habere non potui, si fides, maiorem tibi habui quam paene ipsi mihi; si providendum fuit ne quid aliter ac tibi et honestum et utile esset referretur, non habui cui potius id negoti darem, quam cui dedi. illud quidem certe factum est, quod lex iubebat, ut apud duas civitates, Laudicensem et Apamensem, quae nobis maxime videbantur, quoniam ita necesse erat, rationes confectas conlatas deponeremus. itaque huic loco primum respondeo me, quamquam iustis de causis rationes deferre properarim, tamen te exspectaturum fuisse, nisi in provincia relictas rationes pro relatis haberem, quam ob rem
What you write about Volusius is not a matter of accounts. Men expert in the business — and chief of them, both as the most expert of all and the most attached to me, G. Camillus — have shown me that the obligation could not be transferred from Valerius to Volusius, and that Valerius’s sureties remain bound. Nor was the sum 3,000,000 sesterces, as you write, but 19,000; for the money under the name of Valerius the contractor had been provided to us, and from that I entered in the accounts the balance that remained.
de Volusio quod scribis, non est id rationum; docuerunt enim me periti homines, in his cum omnium peritissimus tum mihi amicissimus, C. Camillus, ad Volusium traferri nomen a Valerio non potuisse, praedes Valerianos teneri. neque id erat HS x_x_x_, ut scribis, sed HS x_i_x_; erat enim curata nobis pecunia Valeri mancipis nomine; ex qua reliquum quod erat in rationibus rettuli.
But by this you cheat me at once of the fruit of my generosity and of my diligence and also — though about this I least trouble myself — of any common-sense prudence: of generosity, because you would rather it were by my secretary’s favour than by mine that my legate and prefect Q. Lepta has been spared the gravest calamity, especially when they ought not to have been obligated at all; of diligence, because you suppose that, in a service of mine so substantial and at so great a risk, I neither knew nor gave a thought to anything, and that my secretary entered whatever he pleased without even reading it out to me; of prudence, \ when you think the affair was not exactly well thought out on my part. For both the freeing of Volusius was my own counsel, and the contrivance by which so heavy a burden was removed from Valerius’s sureties and from T. Marius himself was my own; the device which everyone not only approves but actually praises — and, if you want the truth, the one person I have noticed it not much pleased was my secretary. But I supposed that it was the part of an honest man, while the public’s claim was preserved, to take thought also for the fortunes of so many — whether friends or fellow citizens.
sed sic me et liberalitatis fructu privas et diligentiae et, quod minime tamen laboro, mediocris etiam prudentiae: liberalitatis, quod mavis scribae mei beneficio quam meo legatum meum praefectumque Q. Leptam maxima calamitate levatos, cum praesertim non deberent esse obligati; diligentiae, quod existimas de tanto officio meo, tanto etiam periculo, nec scisse me quicquam nec cogitavisse, scribam, quicquid voluisset, cum id mihi ne recitavisset quidem, rettulisse; prudentiae, †cum rem a me non insipienter excogitatam quidem putas. nam et Volusi liberandi meum fuit consilium, et, ut multa tam gravis Valerianis praedibus ipsique T. Mario depelleretur, a me inita ratio est; quam quidem omnes non solum probant, sed etiam laudant, et, si verum scire vis, hoc uni scribae meo intellexi non nimium placere. sed ego putavi esse viri boni, cum populus suum servaret, consulere fortunis tot vel amicorum vel civium.
As for Lucceius, the arrangement was this: that on the authority of Cn. Pompey the money in question was deposited in a temple. I acknowledged that this was done by my order. The money Pompey used; that which you had deposited, Sestius. But all this, I gather, has nothing to do with you. As for my not having noticed — I would take it ill if I had not added that you had deposited money in the temple by my order — if that money were not attested by the gravest and most certain monuments: to whom it was given, by what decree of the Senate, by what letters of yours, by what letters of mine, it was handed to P. Sestius. Seeing it stamped with so many traces that one could not go wrong over them, I did not add what was no concern of yours; still, I would rather have added it, since I see you desire it.
nam de Lucceio est ita actum, ut auctore Cn. Pompeio ista pecunia in fano poneretur. id ego agnovi meo iussu esse factum. qua pecunia Pompeius est usus ut ea, quam tu deposueras, Sestius. sed haec ad te nihil intellego pertinere; illud me non animadvertisse moleste ferrem, ut ascriberem te in fano pecuniam iussu meo deposuisse, nisi ista pecunia gravissimis esset certissimisque monumentis testata, cui data, quo senatus consulto, quibus tuis, quibus meis litteris P. Sestio tradita esset. quae cum viderem tot vestigiis impressa, ut in iis errari non posset, non ascripsi id, quod tua nihil referebat; ego tamen ascripsisse mallem, quoniam id te video desiderare.
As you write that you must render this item, I think the same myself, and your accounts will not disagree with mine in any particular: for you will add, on my orders, what I, who did not add it, neither have any reason to deny nor, if there were a reason and you did not wish it, would deny. As to the 900,000 sesterces, that has certainly been entered as you or your brother wished. But if, given that the Lucceius item was insufficiently provided for, there is anything I can even now correct in the rendering of the accounts, I must consider — since I did not act on a senatorial decree — what the laws permit. Certainly, unless I am mistaken, you ought not to have entered those items as money paid in on the basis of my rendered accounts; for there are others more expert in the matter. But have no doubt that I will do everything which I judge to be in your interest, or even what I judge you wish, if I can do it in any way.
sicut scribis tibi id esse referendum, idem ipse sentio, neque in eo quicquam a meis rationibus discrepabunt tuae; addes enim tu, meo iussu, quod ego, qui non addidi, nec causa est cur negem nec, si causa esset et tu nolles, negarem. nam de sestertiis nongentis milibus certe ita relatum est, ut tu sive frater tuus referri voluit. sed, si quid est, quoniam de Lucceio parum provisum est, quod ego in rationibus referendis etiam nunc corrigere possim, de eo mihi, quoniam senatus consulto non sum usus, quid per leges liceat, considerandum est. te certe in pecuniam exactam ista referre ex meis rationibus relatis non oportuit, nisi quid me fallit; sunt enim alii peritiores. illud cave dubites, quin ego omnia faciam, quae interesse tua aut etiam velle te existimem, si ullo modo facere possim.
As to what you write about benefits, please understand that I named as recipients only my own military tribunes, prefects, and members of my staff. In this my reckoning failed me: I supposed time was allowed me to name them, but I was informed afterwards that they had to be named within the thirty days in which the accounts were rendered. I felt it sharply that those benefits had not been kept back for your interests rather than mine, since I have no use for canvassing. As for the centurions, however, and the staff-members of the military tribunes, the matter is open; for that class of benefit had not been defined by law.
quod scribis de beneficiis scito a me et tribunos militaris et praefectos et contubernalis dumtaxat meos delatos esse. in quo quidem me ratio fefellit; liberum enim mihi tempus ad eos deferendos existimabam dari, postea certior sum factus triginta diebus deferri necesse esse, quibus rationes rettulissem. sane moleste tuli non illa beneficia tuae potius ambitioni reservata esse quam meae, qui ambitione nihil uterer. de centurionibus tamen et de tribunorum militarium contubernalibus res est in integro; genus enim horum beneficiorum definitum lege non erat.
There remains the question of the 100,000 sesterces, about which I remember a letter was brought to me from you at Myrina, on a fault which was not mine but yours — on what seemed an error, if there had been one, of your brother and of Tullius. But since the matter could not be put right — the accounts having already been deposited and I out of the province — I believe I wrote back as kindly as I could, in line with my feeling toward you and the prospect of resources we then had. But I do not consider myself bound today by the kindness of that letter, nor do I take your letter today about the 100,000 sesterces as those people take letters who in times like these find letters a nuisance.
reliquum est de sestertiis centum milibus, de quibus memini mihi a te Myrina litteras esse adlatas, non mei errati, sed tui; in quo peccatum videbatur esse, si modo erat, fratris tui et Tulli. sed, cum id corrigi non posset, quod iam depositis rationibus ex provincia decessimus, credo me quidem tibi pro animi mei voluntate proque ea spe facultatum, quam tum habebamus, quam humanissime potuerim, rescripsisse; sed neque tum me humanitate litterarum mearum obligatum puto neque me tuam hodie epistulam de HS c_ sic accepisse, ut ii accipiunt, quibus epistulae per haec tempora molestae sunt.
You must also consider this: that all the money which had come into my hands consistently with the laws I had deposited at Ephesus with the publicans; that it was 2,200,000 sesterces; that the whole of this sum Pompey carried off. Whether I bear that equably or not, you ought to bear the matter of the 100,000 sesterces equably, and to suppose that by so much less reached you either from your maintenance allowance or from my generosity. If you had charged me those 100,000 sesterces, still — such is your charm and the affection you bear me — you would not have wished to take payment by valuation from me at such a time; for to pay in cash, even if I wished to, I had no means. But take all this for a joke, just as I take you. Still, when Tullius is back from the country, I will send him to you, if you think it will be to the purpose. As for why I should want this letter torn up, there is no reason at all.
simul illud cogitare debes, me omnem pecuniam, quae ad me salvis legibus pervenisset, Ephesi apud publicanos deposuisse; id fuisse HS x_x_i_i_; eam omnem pecuniam Pompeium abstulisse. quod ego sive aequo animo sive iniquo fero, tu de HS c_ aequo animo ferre debes et existimare eo minus ad te vel de tuis cibariis vel de mea liberalitate pervenisse. quod si mihi expensa ista HS c tulisses, tamen, quae tua est suavitas quique in me amor, nolles a me hoc tempore aestimationem accipere; nam, numeratum si cuperem, non erat. sed haec iocatum me putato, ut ego te existimo. ego tamen, cum Tullius rure redierit, mittam eum ad te, si quid ad rem putabis pertinere. hanc epistulam cur conscindi velim causa nulla est.