Cicero to M. Junius Brutus, written from Rome — the first of four consecutive letters of recommendation to Brutus during his proconsulship of Cisalpine Gaul (the standard dating is 46 BC, though the manifest carries a year-range placeholder). The municipality of Arpinum, Cicero’s native town, holds revenue-bearing lands in Cisalpine Gaul whose proceeds finance the local cult and the upkeep of public buildings, and Cicero is sending three Roman knights from Arpinum — Q. Fufidius, M. Faucius, and Q. Mamercius — to inspect them and collect rents. The closing section explains the family stake: this year Cicero has put forward his son Marcus the younger, his nephew Quintus the younger, and M. Caesius for the three aedileships — the only magistracy elected at Arpinum — and the success of the municipal finances under his old friend Brutus’s protection will redound to the family’s prestige.