Ad Familiares 15.2
Ad Familiares 15.2
Headnote
Cicero’s second official dispatch from Cilicia to the consuls, praetors, tribunes of the plebs, and Senate, written from the camp at Cybistra on the 22nd of September 51 BC (Perseus dateline: Scr. in castris ad Cybistra vel xi vel x K. Oct. a. 703 (51)). The opening greeting — “If you are in good health, it is well; I myself am in good health” — is the formula si vos valetis bene est, ego quidem valeo, preserved here in its full abbreviated form S. v. v. b. e. e. q. v. The letter is the companion to 15.1, sent at roughly the same moment, and should be read alongside it. 15.1 reports the Parthian crossing of the Euphrates; this one reports what Cicero did about the corresponding instability in Cappadocia.
The substantive thread is the relief of King Ariobarzanes III of Cappadocia (Eusebes and Philorhomaeus, “Pious” and “Lover-of-Rome”) from a plot against his life. The Senate, under a decree moved by Cato, had commended the young king’s safety to Cicero — “a decree which had never been passed by our order in respect of any king” — and Cicero, in the three days his army paused at Cybistra, did the deferred diplomatic work. He summoned Ariobarzanes, walked him through the Senate’s commendation, advised him to look to his own safety; the king at first denied any danger, then on the following day came back to camp in tears with disclosures from his brother Ariarathes that a plot was in fact afoot. Cicero declined to lend him cavalry — the army was needed at the Cilician frontier, and the danger to Syria was nearer — but advised the young king on how to use his royal authority to deal with the conspirators. The closing sentence (“it appears with reason that you have shown so great care and diligence for his safety”) is precisely the formula of a proconsul reporting that the Senate’s vote has been vindicated by events: a prudent piece of political bookkeeping at the moment Cicero needs the Senate to think well of him.
If you are in good health, it is well; I myself am in good health. When, on the last day of July, I had entered the province — not being able to arrive any earlier, on account of the difficulties of the roads and the sea-crossing — I judged it most consonant with my duty, and most conducive to the public interest, that I should prepare what belonged to the army and to the conduct of war. When these matters had been set in order by me, with more care and diligence than means and abundance, and when reports and letters were being brought in almost daily about the war being pushed by the Parthians into the province of Syria, I judged that I must march by way of Lycaonia, the Isaurians, and Cappadocia. For there was strong suspicion that the Parthians, if they should try to issue from Syria and break into my province, would make their way through Cappadocia, since that country was the most open.
S. v. v. b. e. e. q. v. Cum pr. K. Sext. in provinciam venissem neque maturius propter itinerum et navigationum difficultatem venire potuissem, maxime convenire officio meo reique p. conducere putavi parare ea quae ad exercitum quaeque ad rem militarem pertinerent. quae cum essent a me cura magis et diligentia quam facultate et copia constituta, nuntiique et litterae de bello a Parthis in provinciam Syriam inlato cotidie fere adferrentur, iter mihi faciendum per Lycaoniam et per Isauros et per Cappadociam arbitratus sum. erat enim magna suspicio Parthos, si ex Syria egredi atque inrumpere in meam provinciam conarentur, iter eos per Cappadociam, quod ea maxime pateret, esse facturos.
I therefore led the army by that part of Cappadocia which adjoins Cilicia, and pitched camp at Cybistra, a town under Mount Taurus, so that Artavasdes, the king of Armenia, whatever his disposition might be, should know that an army of the Roman people was not far from his borders, and that I might keep King Deiotarus — most loyal a king, and most friendly to our state — in close conjunction with me, by whose counsel and resources the commonwealth could be aided.
itaque cum exercitu per Cappadociae partem eam quae cum Cilicia continens est iter feci castraque ad Cybistra, quod oppidum est ad montem Taurum, locavi, ut Artuasdes, rex Armenius, quocumque animo esset, sciret non procul a suis finibus exercitum p. R. esse, et Deiotarum fidelissimum regem atque amicissimum rei p. nostrae, maxime coniunctum haberem, cuius et consilio et opibus adiuvari posset res p.
While I held the camp at this place, and had sent the cavalry into Cilicia so that, on the one hand, the news of my arrival, being conveyed to the communities of that region, might steady the spirits of all, and, on the other, that I myself might in good time learn what was being done in Syria, I judged that the three days during which I waited in this camp should be given over by me to a great and necessary duty.
quo cum in loco castra haberem equitatumque in Ciliciam misissem, ut et meus adventus iis civitatibus, quae in ea parte essent, nuntiatus firmiores animos omnium faceret et ego mature quid ageretur in Syria scire possem, tempus eius tridui, quod in iis castris morabar, in magno officio et necessario mihi ponendum putavi.
For when your authority had intervened that I should protect King Ariobarzanes Eusebes and Philorhomaeus, and defend the safety, the security, and the kingdom of that king, that I should be a protection to king and kingdom, and you had added that the safety of this king was a matter of great concern to the People and the Senate — a decree which had never been passed by our order in respect of any king — I judged that I ought to carry your judgement to the king, and to him to promise my protection, my good faith, and my care, so that, since his own safety and the security of his kingdom had been entrusted to me by you, he might say whatever he wished.
Cum enim vestra auctoritas intercessisset ut ego regem Ariobarzanem Eusebem et Philorhomaeum tuerer eiusque regis salutem et incolumitatem regnumque defenderem, regi regnoque praesidio essem, adiunxissetisque saltitem eius regis populo senatuique magnae curae esse, quod nullo umquam de rege decretum esset a nostro ordine, existimavi me iudicium vestrum ad regem deferre debere eique praesidium meum et fidem et diligentiam polliceri, ut, quoniam salus ipsius, incolumitas regni mihi commendata esset a vobis, diceret si quid vellet.
When I had spoken with the king in my council on these matters, at the beginning of his speech he gave you the greatest thanks, as was right, and then thanks also to me, because it seemed to him a thing of high distinction and honour that the safety of his own person was of so great concern to the Senate and the People of Rome, and that I was using such diligence that my good faith and the authority of your commendation could plainly be seen. And at first — which gave me the greatest joy — he spoke with me in such terms that he said he was not aware of any plot, nor even did he suspect any, against his life or his kingdom. When I had congratulated him and said I was glad of it, and yet had urged him as a young man to remember the case of his father’s killing and to keep watchful guard over himself and, taking warning from the Senate, to look to his safety, he then withdrew from me into the town of Cybistra.
quae cum essem in consilio meo cum rege locutus, initio ille orationis suae vobis maximas, ut debuit, deinde etiam mihi gratias egit, quod ei permagnum et perhonorificum videbatur senatui p. q. R. tantae curae esse salutem suam meque tantam diligentiam adhibere ut et mea fides et commendationis vestrae auctoritas perspici posset. atque ille primo, quod mihi maximae laetitiae fuit, ita mecum locutus est, ut nullas insidias neque vitae suae neque regno diceret se aut intellegere fieri aut etiam suspicari. Cum ego ei gratulatus essem idque me gaudere dixissem et tamen adulescentem essem cohortatus ut recordaretur casum illum interitus paterni et vigilanter se tueretur atque admonitu senatus consuleret saluti suae, tum a me discessit in oppidum Cybistra.
On the following day, however, he came to me in the camp together with his brother Ariarathes and with the older friends of his father, in great distress and weeping; and when his brother and his friends did the same, he began to implore my good faith and your commendation. When I asked in surprise what new thing had happened, he said that disclosures of an open plot had been brought to him, which had been concealed before my arrival, because those who could have revealed them had been silent out of fear. But at this moment, in the hope of my protection, several had boldly brought to him what they knew; and among them his brother, most devoted to him and endowed with the highest piety, had said — and he said the same in my hearing — that he had been approached with the offer that he should wish to reign; but that he could not accept this while his brother lived, and yet, before this time, he had never brought the matter into the open, because of the fear of the danger. When he had said these things, I warned the king to employ every diligence in preserving himself, and I urged the friends who had been approved in the judgement of his father and grandfather to defend the life of their king, taught by the very bitter case of his father, with every care and watchfulness.
postero autem die cum Ariarathe, fratre suo, et cum paternis amicis maioribus natu ad me in castra venit perturbatusque et flens, cum idem et frater faceret et amici, meam fidem, vestram commendationem implorare coepit. Cum admirarer quid accidisset novi dixit ad se indicia manifestarum insidiarum esse delata, quae essent ante adventum meum occultata, quod ii, qui ea patefacere possent, propter metum reticuissent. eo autem tempore spe mei praesidi compluris ea quae scirent audacter ad se detulisse; in iis amantissimum sui, summa pietate praeditum fratrem dicere (ea quae is me quoque audiente dicebat) se sollicitatum esse ut regnare vellet; id vivo fratre suo accipere non potuisse; se tamen ante illud tempus eam rem numquam in medium propter periculi metum protulisse. quae cum esset locutus, monui regem ut omnem diligentiam ad se conservandum adhiberet, amicosque in patris eius atque avi iudicio probatos hortatus sum regis sui vitam docti casu acerbissimo patris eius omni cura custodiaque defenderent.
When the king asked from me cavalry and cohorts out of my army, although I understood that, under your decree of the Senate, I could not only do so but was bound to, yet, because the public interest demanded — on account of the daily messages from Syria — that I should bring the army to the borders of Cilicia as soon as possible, and because, with the plot now uncovered, it seemed to me that the king did not need the army of the Roman people but could defend himself by his own resources, I urged him that, in preserving his own life, he should first learn to reign: against those whom he had clearly perceived to be readying a plot against him, he should use his royal right; on those who must be punished, he should inflict punishment; the rest, he should free from fear; he should use the protection of my army for the fear of the guilty rather than for open conflict; and that all, since they knew the decree of the Senate, would understand that I, on your authority, would be a protection to the king if there were need.
Cum rex a me equitatum cohortisque de exercitu meo postularet, etsi intellegebam vestro senatus consulto non modo posse me id facere sed etiam debere, tamen, cum res p. postularet propter cotidianos ex Syria nuntios ut quam primum, exercitum ad Ciliciae finis adducerem, cumque mihi rex patefactis iam insidiis non egere exercitu p. R. sed posse se suis opibus defendere videretur, illum cohortatus sum ut in sua vita conservanda primum regnare disceret; a quibus perspexisset sibi insidias paratas, in eos uteretur iure regio; poena adficeret eos quos necesse esset, reliquos metu liberaret; praesidio exercitus mei ad eorum qui in culpa essent timorem potius quam ad contentionem uteretur; fore autem ut omnes, quoniam senatus consultum nossent, intellegerent me regi, si opus esset, ex auctoritate vestra praesidio futurum.
With him thus reassured, I moved camp from that place; I set out on the march into Cilicia, leaving Cappadocia in this conviction: that by your counsel, by an unbelievable and almost divine chance, my arrival freed from a plot then present a king whom you had addressed with the highest honour — though none had asked it — whom you had commended to my good faith, and whose safety you had decreed to be of great concern to you. It seemed to me not out of place to write this to you, so that you might understand, from what has nearly happened, that you, long before, provided that it should not happen; and I have made you the more eagerly informed because in King Ariobarzanes I think I have perceived such signs of virtue, intelligence, loyalty, and goodwill toward you, that it appears with reason that you have shown so great care and diligence for his safety.
ita confirmato illo ex eo loco castra movi; iter in Ciliciam facere institui, cum hac opinione e Cappadocia discederem, ut consilio vestro, casu incredibili ac paene divino regem, quem vos honorificentissime appellassetis nullo postulante quemque meae fidei commendassetis et cuius salutem magnae vobis curae esse decressetis, meus adventus praesentibus insidiis liberarit. quod ad vos a me scribi non alienum putavi, ut intellegeretis ex iis, quae paene acciderunt, vos multo ante ne ea acciderent providisse, eoque vos studiosius feci certiores, quod in rege Ariobarzane ea mihi signa videor virtutis, ingeni, fidei benevolentiaeque erga vos perspexisse, ut non sine causa tantam curam in eius vos salutem diligentiamque videamini contulisse.