Ad Familiares 13.7
Ad Familiares 13.7
Headnote
Cicero to Gaius Cluvius, written from Rome not before mid-October 45 BC (the manuscript dateline: Scr.\ Romae non ante med.\ m.\ Oct.\ a.\ 708 [709] (45)). Cluvius, on his way to Gaul on a Caesarian land commission, had stopped at Cicero’s house before leaving and heard him out on the matter; this letter is the follow-up in writing, after the question had come to a head in his absence.
At stake is the public revenue of the township of Atella in Campania, which drew its income from tax-paying land held in Cisalpine Gaul. If that land was reallocated to Caesarian veterans, Atella’s exchequer would collapse. Cicero, with characteristic delicacy, is careful to define what he is and is not asking: he acknowledges that Cluvius has a commission from Caesar, not a free hand (negotium datum esse a C. Caesare, non iudicium), and so does not ask him to decide the question in Atella’s favour — only to keep it intact and reserved for Caesar himself, against whom Cicero feels he has a real chance. The leverage he cites is precedent: Cluvius has already done the same for the men of Rhegium, on grounds of personal connection, and the same favour ought to flow to those whose connection runs through Cicero. The signature feature of the letter is its closing tricolon of insurance — if Caesar grants, Cluvius will have earned the credit; if Caesar denies, the effort still counts as service rendered.
When, on your way out to Gaul, you came to my house in keeping with the bond between us and your own great attentiveness towards me, I spoke with you about the tax-paying land which the township of Atella holds in Gaul, and I showed you how strongly I felt that town’s case. Since your departure, however, this business — which is of the highest moment to a most honourable township and one most closely tied to me, and which is at the same time the highest of duties of mine — has come up for decision; and given your singular goodwill towards me I have thought I ought to write to you about it more carefully. I am not unaware of the demands of the moment, nor of what your authority allows you; and I understand perfectly that what you have from C. Caesar is a commission, not a discretion. I therefore ask of you no more than what I think you are able to do and will gladly do for my sake.
Cum in Galliam proficiscens pro nostra necessitudine tuaque summa in me observantia ad me domum venisses, locutus sum tecum de agro vectigali municipi Atellani qui esset in Gallia, quantoque opere eius municipi causa laborarem tibi ostendi. post tuam autem profectionem is cum et maxima res municipi honestissimi mihique coniunctissimi et summum meum officium ageretur, pro tuo animo in me singulari existimavi me oportere ad te accuratius scribere, etsi non sum nescius et quae temporum ratio et quae tua potestas sit, tibique negotium datum esse a C. Caesare, non iudicium, praeclare intellego. qua re a te tantum peto, quantum et te facere posse et libenter mea causa facturum esse arbitror.
First, I would have you reckon what is in fact the case: that the whole fortune of the town rests on that revenue, and that in these times the town is weighed down with the heaviest burdens and afflicted with the worst hardships. This may look to be its lot in common with many others, but believe me: peculiar calamities have come upon this town — which I do not enumerate, for fear that, in lamenting the troubles of those bound to me, I should seem to give offence to men whom I have no wish to offend.
et primum velim existimes, quod res est, municipi fortunas omnis in isto vectigali consistere, his autem temporibus hoc municipium maximis oneribus pressum summis adfectum esse difficultatibus. hoc etsi commune videtur esse cum multis, tamen mihi crede singularis huic municipio calamitates accidisse; quas idcirco non commemoro, ne de miseriis meorum necessariorum conquerens homines quos nolo videar offendere.
And so, did I not have great hope of carrying the town’s case with C. Caesar, there would be no reason for me to press anything from you at this present hour. But because I have confidence — I am persuaded of it — that he will give weight to the town’s dignity, to equity, and to its goodwill towards himself, I have not hesitated to press you to keep this case intact for him.
itaque nisi magnam spem haberem C. Caesari nos causam municipi probaturos, non erat causa cur a te hoc tempore aliquid contenderem; sed quia confido mihique persuasi illum et dignitatis municipi et aequitatis et etiam voluntatis erga se habiturum esse rationem, ideo a te non dubitavi contendere ut hanc causam illi integram conservares.
I would be making this request of you no less even if I had heard of no such thing on your part already; but I have conceived the greater hope of carrying my point since I was told that the men of Rhegium have obtained this same favour from you. They are touched by some bond to you, it is true; but your love for me compels me to hope that what you have granted to those bound to you, you will grant likewise to those bound to me, the more so since I am pressing for this on behalf of these alone, though I have many bound to me labouring under a like case. That I am not doing this without cause, nor pressing my point from any light self-interest, I think you of yourself believe; still, on my own affirmation, take my word that I owe most to this town: never has there been a time, in my honours or in my hardships, when this town’s zeal for me has not stood out as singular.
quod etsi nihilo minus a te peterem, si nihil audivissem te tale fecisse, tamen maiorem spem impetrandi nactus sum, postea quam mihi dictum est hoc idem a te Regiensis impetravisse; qui etsi te aliqua necessitudine attingunt, tamen tuus amor in me sperare me cogit te, quod tuis necessariis tribueris, idem esse tributurum meis, praesertim cum ego pro his unis petam, habeam autem qui simili causa laborent compluris necessarios. hoc me non sine causa facere neque aliqua levi ambitione commotum a te contendere etsi te existimare arbitror, tamen mihi adfirmanti credas velim me huic municipio debere plurimum; nullum umquam fuisse tempus neque honorum nec laborum meorum, in quo non huius municipi studium in me exstiterit singulare.
Therefore again and again, by the perfect bond between us and your unbroken and most generous goodwill towards me, I ask and I press: since you grasp that what is at stake is the fortunes of this town, which is bound to me by the closest of ties, by every service, by every kindness, grant me this much. And it will be of such a kind that, if we obtain from Caesar what we hope, we shall judge it your kindness that we have got it; or if not, even then we shall reckon it as good as obtained, since the effort to obtain it came from you. By this you will not only have done me the most welcome thing, but you will have bound to yourself and to yours, in perpetuity, by the highest of services, men of the finest character and the most honourable standing, men no less grateful, and men worthy in the highest degree of being on your friendship’s roll.
quapropter a te etiam atque etiam pro nostra summa coniunctione proque tua in me perpetua et maxima benevolentia maiorem in modum peto atque contendo ut, cum fortunas agi eius municipi intellegas, quod sit mihi necessitudine, officiis, benevolentia coniunctissimum, id mihi des; quod erit huius modi ut, si a Caesare quod speramus impetrarimus, tuo beneficio nos id consecutos esse iudicemus, sin minus, pro eo tamen id habeamus, quoniam a te data sit opera ut impetraremus. hoc cum mihi gratissimum feceris tum viros optimos homines honestissimos eosdemque gratissimos et tua necessitudine dignissimos summo beneficio in perpetuum tibi tuisque devinxeris.