III. (Fam. 14. 1.)

A family letter, addressed to Cicero's wife Terentia, his daughter Tullia, and his son Marcus. It was written from Dyrrachium, B.C. 58, while Cicero was in exile. See Life of Cicero, Introduction, pp. ix-xxi.

TULLIUS TERENTIAE SUAE, TULLIOLAE SUAE,
CICERONI SUO SALUTEM DICIT.

Et litteris multōrum et sermone omnium perfertur ad mē, incredibilem tuam virtutem et fortitudinem esse tēque nec animi neque corporis laboribus defatigāri. Mē miserum! tē istā virtūte, fidē, probitāte, hūmānitāte in tantas aerumnās propter me incidisse! Tulliolamque nostram, ex quō patre 5 tantās voluptātēs capiēbat, ex eō tantōs percipere luctus ! Nam quid ego de Cicerōne dicam? qui cum primum sapere coepit, acerbissimōs dolōrēs miseriasque percepit. Quae si, tū ut scribis, fātō facta putārem, ferrem paulò facilius, sed omnia sunt meā culpā commissa, qui ab eis mē amārī putā- 10 bam, qui invidebant, eōs nōn sequebar, qui petebant.

Quod si nostris consiliis ūsi essēmus neque apud nōs tantum valuisset sermō aut stultōrum amicōrum aut improbōrum, beātissimi viverēmus: nunc, quoniam spērāre nōs amīcī iubent, dabō operam, nē mea valētūdō tuō labōrī dēsit. Rēs 15 quanta sit, intellego, quantoque fuerit facilius manere domi quam redire; sed tamen, si omnīs tribūnōs pl. habēmus, sī Lentulum tam studiōsum, quam vidētur, sī vērō etiam Pompēium et Caesarem, nōn est dēspērandum.

Dē familiā, quō modō placuisse scribis amicis, faciēmus; 20 de locō, nunc quidem iam abiit pestilentia, sed quam diū fuit, mē nōn attigit. Plancius, homō officiōsissimus, mē cupit esse secum et adhuc retinet. Ego volebam loco magis desertō esse in Epirō, quò neque Hispo veniret nec militēs, sed adhuc Plancius mē retinet; sperat posse fieri, ut mēcum 25 in Italiam dēcēdat: quem ego diem sī vīderō et si in vestrum complexum vēnerō ac si et vōs et mē ipsum recuperārō,

5

satis māgnum mihi fructum vidēbor percepisse et vestrae pietātis et meae. Pisōnis hūmānitās, virtūs, amor in omnis nōs tantus est, ut nihil suprā possit: utinam ea rēs ei voluptāti sit! Glōriae quidem video fore.

De Q. fratre nihil ego tē accūsāvi, sed võs, cum praesertim tam pauci sītis, volui esse quam coniunctissimos. Quibus mē voluisti agere grātiās, ēgī et mē ā tē certiōrem factum esse scripsi. Quod ad me, mea Terentia, scribis tē vicum vēnditūram, quid, obsecrō tē, mē miserum !—quid futūrum est? 10 Et, si nōs premet eadem fortūna, quid puerō miserō fiet? Non queō reliqua scribere tanta vis lacrimārum est, neque të in eundem flētum addūcam.

Tantum scribō: si erunt in officio amici, pecunia non deërit; si nōn erunt, tū efficere tuā pecūniā nōn poteris. Per fortūnās 15 miserās nostrās, vidē, nē puerum perditum perdāmus. Cui sī aliquid erit, nē egeat, mediocri virtūte opus est et mediocri fortūnā, ut cētera consequatur. Fac valeās et ad mē tabellāriōs mittās, ut sciam, quid agātur et vōs quid agātis. Mihi omninō iam brevis exspectatiō est. Tulliolae et Cicerōni 20 salutem dic. Valete. D. a. d. vi. K. Decemb. Dyrrachi.

Dyrrachium veni, quod et libera civitas est et in mē officiōsa et proxima Italiae; sed si offendet mē loci celebritās, aliō mē conferam, ad te scribam.

IV. (Att. 3. 27.)

A hasty note, written at Dyrrachium, when Cicero's immediate recall from exile seemed unlikely, and begging Atticus to help him and to protect his family. The precise occasion of the letter is unknown; perhaps it was the affray of Jan. 25, B.C. 57, when Clodius by mob violence prevented the passing of a law recalling Cicero.

CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Ex tuis litteris et ex re ipsā nōs funditus perisse videō : 25 të ōrō ut, quibus in rēbus tui mei indigēbunt, nostris miseriis ne desis; ego te, ut scribis, cito videbō.

V. (Fam. 1. 6.)

B.C. 56. Between this letter and the preceding came Cicero's triumphant return from exile (by a law passed Aug. 4, B.C. 57): see Life of Cicero, Introduction, p. xxi. The Lentulus to whom the letter is addressed (P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther) was consul when Cicero was recalled. He was now proconsul in Cilicia. He had been eager for the office of restoring to the throne of Egypt Ptolemy XII (Auletes), father of Cleopatra, whose subjects had driven him out, but the business had dragged along at Rome, and Lentulus was mortified by having the commission withdrawn after it had passed the Senate. Ptolemy was restored by Gabinius, B.C. 55.

Cicero expresses his regret at the turn which the affair is taking, and declares that Lentulus has not been fairly treated. He refers to his own exile and finds some consolation for Lentulus in remembering how that ended in increased honor. He urges Gabinius to endure the attacks of his enemies with fortitude and dignity. In closing, Cicero promises to stand by his correspondent to the best of his power. The letter is full of good sense and kindly feeling skilfully expressed.

M. CICERO S. D. P. LENTULO PROCOS.

Quae gerantur, accipies ex Pollione, qui omnibus negōtiis non interfuit sōlum, sed praefuit. Me in summō dolore, quem in tuis rēbus capiō, maximē scilicet cōnsōlātur spēs, quod valdē suspicor fore, ut infringātur hominum improbitās et consiliis tuōrum amicōrum et ipsa die, quae debilitat 5 cōgitātiōnēs et inimicōrum et prōditōrum tuōrum. Facile secundō locō mē cōnsōlātur recordātiō meōrum temporum, quōrum imaginem videō in rēbus tuis; nam etsi minōre in rē violātur tua dīgnitās quam mea adflicta est, tamen est tanta similitūdō, ut spērem tē mihi īgnōscere, si ea nōn 10 timuerim, quae nē tū quidem umquam timenda dūxisti. Sed praestā tē eum, qui mihi ā teneris, ut Graeci dicunt, unguiculis es cognitus: inlūstrābit, mihi crede, tuam amplitūdinem hominum iniuria. Ā me omnia summa in te studia officiaque exspectā; nōn fallam opīniōnem tuam.

15

ΙΟ

VI. (Fam. 7. 1.)

Cicero has observed that his friend Marius did not attend the dedication of Pompey's Theatre and his temple of Venus Victrix, and writes to congratulate him on his superiority to vulgar fashion (see Letter I.). He expresses the hope that it was not ill health that kept his friend away and gives a lively criticism of the performances, which had offended him by their ostentation and brutality. The celebration here described took place in B.C. 55. It lasted for several days and eclipsed anything of the kind that the Romans had ever seen. The theatre, which stood in the Campus Martius, was the first Roman theatre to be built of stone and held forty thousand spectators.

Nothing is known of this C. Marius except what is contained in Cicero's four letters to him. He seems to have been a man of wealth and of cultivated tastes, whose delicate health forced him to live in retirement on his estates in the country.

M. CICERO S. D. M. MARIO.

Si të dolor aliqui corporis aut infirmitās valētūdinis tuae tenuit, quo minus ad lūdōs venirēs, fortunae magis tribuō quam sapientiae tuae; sin haec, quae ceteri mirantur, contemnenda duxisti et, cum per valētūdinem possēs, venire 5 tamen nōluisti, utrumque laetor, et sine dolōre corporis tē fuisse et animō valuisse, cum ea, quae sine causā. mirantur aliī, neglēxeris; modo ut tibi cōnstiterit fructus ōti tui, quō quidem tibi perfruî mirificē licuit, cum essēs in istā amoenitāte paene sōlus relictus.

Neque tamen dubitō quïn tū in illō cubiculō tuō, ex quō tibi Stabiānum perforästi et patefecisti Misēnum, per eōs diēs mātūtīna tempora lectiunculis cōnsumpseris, cum illī intereā, qui tē istīc reliquērunt, spectārent commūnīs mimōs sēmisomni. Reliquās vērō partis diēī tū cōnsūmēbās eis 15 delectationibus, quas tibi ipse ad arbitrium tuum comparārās; nōbis autem erant ea perpetienda, quae Sp. Maecius probāvisset.

Omninō, si quaeris, lūdī adparātissimi, sed nōn tui stomachi; coniecturam enim faciō de meō: nam primum honōris

causa in scaenam redierant ei, quos ego honoris causā dē scaenā dēcēsse arbitrabar; dēliciae vērō tuae, noster Aesõpus, eius modi fuit, ut ei desinere per omnis hominēs liceret. Is iūrāre cum coepisset, vox eum defecit in illō loco 'si sciens fallō.' Quid tibi ego alia nārrem? nōsti 5 enim reliquos lūdōs, qui ne id quidem leporis habuerunt, quod solent mediocrēs lūdi; adparātūs enim spectatio tollēbat omnem hilaritatem, quo quidem adparātū non dubitō quin animō aequissimo carueris: quid enim delectātiōnis

habent sescenti muli in Clytaemnestra? aut in Equō Trō- 10 iānō crēterrārum tria milia? aut armatūra varia peditātūs et equitātūs in aliquā pūgnā? quae populārem admīrātiōnem habuerunt, delectātiōnem tibi nullam attulissent.

Quod si tu per eōs dies operam dedisti Prōtogeni tuō, dum modo is tibi quidvis potius quam ōrātiōnēs meas lēgerit, në 15 tu haud paulō plus quam quisquam nostrum delectationis habuisti; nōn enim te putō Graecos aut Oscōs lūdōs dēsiderasse, praesertim cum Oscos lūdōs vel in senātū vestrō