HermitshCicero by Claude

Letter · 16 March 44 BC · Romae

Ad Familiares 11.1

Ad Familiares 11.1

Headnote

Decimus Brutus to Marcus Brutus and Cassius, from Rome on 16 March 44 BC — Perseus dateline Scr. Romae xvii K. Apr. a. 710 (44). The letter is written the day after the Ides, on the morning after Decimus has had Hirtius (the consul-designate and Caesarian moderate) at his house overnight. Marcus Brutus and Cassius, the praetors at the head of the conspiracy, are with their party on the Capitol; Decimus, who was Caesar’s intended governor for Cisalpine Gaul, is sounding out the ground from his own house in the city.

The position laid out here is grim and fast-moving. Antony, as relayed through Hirtius, will neither hand over the province nor guarantee the conspirators’ safety in Rome, and the veterans and the urban plebs are stirred up. Decimus proposes the workaround for which the technical name was legatio libera — a free, fictitious embassy that would let the praetors leave Italy without resigning their offices — and floats Rhodes as a refuge if that fails. The calculus in section 4 (Sextus Pompeius in Spain, Caecilius Bassus in Syria as the only ground to stand on) and the bleak ladder of section 3 (return to Rome / live in exile / take up the last resort) show how completely the assassins, within a day, had lost the initiative.

Learn what state we are in. Last evening Hirtius was at my house; he laid out what Antony’s frame of mind is — the worst, naturally, and the most faithless. For Antony was saying that he could neither grant the province to me nor judged that any of us was safe in the city, so worked up are the tempers of the soldiers and of the populace. Both of these I take to be false, and I take it to be true what Hirtius was making plain: that Antony is afraid that, if we had any moderate support for our standing, no role at all would be left to his side in the state.
Qvo in statu simus cognoscite. heri vesperi apud me Hirtius fuit; qua mente esset Antonius demonstravit, pessima scilicet et infidelissima. nam se neque mihi provinciam dare posse aiebat neque arbitrari tuto in urbe esse quemquam nostrum; adeo esse militum concitatos animos et plebis. quod utrumque esse falsum puto vos animadvertere atque illud esse verum, quod Hirtius demonstrabat, timere eum ne, si mediocre auxilium dignitatis nostrae habuissemus, nullae partes iis in re p. relinquerentur.
Caught in these straits, I decided to ask for a legatio libera for myself and for the rest of our number, so that some honourable pretext for setting out might be found. He promised that he would secure this; but I do not trust that he will secure it, so great is the insolence of the men and the harrying of us. And if they do grant what we are asking, even so I think that not long afterwards we shall be declared enemies, or interdicted from water and fire.
Cum a in his angustiis versarer, placitum est mihi ut postularem legationem liberam mihi reliquisque nostris, ut aliqua causa proficiscendi honesta quaereretur. haec se impetraturum pollicitus est, nec tamen impetraturum confido; tanta est hominum insolentia et nostri insectatio. ac si dederint quod petimus, tamen paulo post futurum puto ut hostes iudicemur aut aqua et igni nobis interdicatur.
“What then,” you say, “is your plan?” We must give ground to fortune, leave Italy behind, and remove ourselves — to Rhodes, I think, or somewhere in the world. If the turn of events is better, we shall come back to Rome; if middling, we shall live in exile; if the worst, we shall come down to the last resorts.
’ quid ergo a est’ inquis ’tui consili?’ dandus est locus fortunae, cedendum ex Italia, migrandum Rhodum aut aliquo terrarum arbitror. si melior casus fuerit, revertemur Romam; si mediocris, in exsilio vivemus; si pessimus, ad novissima auxilia descendemus.
It will occur perhaps to one of you, at this point, why we are waiting for the last extremity rather than setting something in motion now. Because we have no ground to stand on except Sextus Pompeius and Bassus Caecilius, who, I think, will be the steadier once this news about Caesar reaches them. We shall come up to them with time enough to spare, once we know what their strength amounts to. On Cassius’s behalf and yours — if you would have me undertake anything, I shall undertake it; for Hirtius is asking me to do this.
succurret fortasse hoc loco alicui vestrum cur novissimum tempus exspectemus potius quam nunc aliquid moliamur. quia ubi consistamus non habemus praeter Sex. Pompeium et Bassum Caecilium; qui mihi videntur hoc nuntio de Caesare adlato firmiores futuri. satis tempore ad eos accedemus, ubi quid valeant scierimus. pro Cassio et te si quid me velitis recipere recipiam; postulat enim hoc Hirtius ut faciam.
I beg you to write back to me as soon as possible (for I do not doubt that, on these matters, Hirtius will be informing me before the fourth hour); write back where it is we can meet, and where you would have me come.
rogo vos quam primum mihi rescribatis (nam non dubito quin de his rebus ante horam quartam Hirtius certiorem me sit facturus); quem in locum convenire possimus, quo me velitis venire rescribite.
After my last conversation with Hirtius I decided to demand that we be allowed to stay at Rome under a public guard. That, I do not think they will grant us — we shall be putting them in very great odium. Still, I thought nothing should go unasked that I had judged to be fair.
post novissimum Hirti sermonem placitum est mihi postulare ut liceret nobis Romae esse publico praesidio. quod illos nobis concessuros non puto; magnam enim invidiam iis faciemus. nihil tamen non postulandum putavi quod aequum esse statuerem.

Cite this passage

Ad Familiares 11.1

Pick a format and click Copy. The permalink jumps any reader to this exact section.

Support this project

Free to read here. Buy the ebook to support the work.

Kindle