cuperem medēri et, ut arbitror, possem, cupiditātēs certōrum hominum nam ex utraque parte sunt qui pūgnāre cupiant impedimentō mihi fuerunt. Omninō et ipse Caesar, amicus noster, minācis ad senatum et acerbas litteras miserat, et erat adhuc impudens, qui exercitum et prōvin- 5 ciam invitō senātu teneret, et Curio meus illum incitabat. Antonius quidem noster et Q. Cassius, nulla vi expulsi, ad Caesarem cum Curiōne profecti erant, postea quam senātus consulibus, praetoribus, tribūnis pl. et nobis, qui prō cōss. sumus, negotium dederat ut cūrārēmus nē quid res publica 10 detrimenti caperet.

Numquam mãiōre in periculo civitas fuit; numquam improbi cives habuerunt parātiōrem ducem. omnino ex

hac quoque parte diligentissime comparātur; id fit auctōritāte et studio Pompei nostri, qui Caesarem sērō coepit 15 timere. Nōbis inter has turbās senātus tamen frequens flagitavit triumphum; sed Lentulus consul, quō mãius suum beneficium faceret, simul atque expedisset quae essent necessaria dē rē pūblică, dixit sẽ relātūrum, nōs agimus nihil cupide eoque est nostra plūris auctōritās. 20 Italiae regiōnēs discriptae sunt, quam quisque partem tuerētur : nōs Capuam sumpsimus. Haec te scire volui. Tū etiam atque etiam cūrā ut valeas mittas, quotienscumque habebis cui dēs. valē. D. pr. Idūs Iān.

litterasque ad mē

Etiam atque etiam

25

ΙΟ

XI. (Fam. 14. 14.)

Written at Minturnæ, Jan. 23, B.C. 49.

Between this letter and the

preceding, Cæsar had crossed the Rubicon, and Pompey and his party, including the Senate, had abandoned the city. Cicero is on his way to Capua; his family are in Rome.

TULLIUS TERENTIAE ET PATER TULLIAE, DUABUS ANIMIS SUIS, ET CICERO MATRI OPTIMAE,

SUAVISSIMAE SORORI S. P. D.

Si vōs valētis, nōs valēmus.

Vestrum iam consilium est,

nōn sōlum meum, quid sit võbis faciendum. Si ille Rōmam modestē ventūrus est, rēctē in praesentia domi esse potestis; sin homō āmēns dīripiendam urbem datūrus est, vereor ut 5 Dolabella ipse satis nobis prodesse possit. Etiam illud metuō, nē iam interclūdāmur, ut, cum velitis exire, nōn liceat. Reliquum est, quod ipsae optimē considerābitis, vestrī similēs feminae sintne Rōmae; si enim nōn sunt, videndum est ut honeste vōs esse possitis.

Quo modo quidem nunc sẽ rēs habet, modo ut haec nōbis loca tenere liceat, bellissimē vel mēcum vel in nostrīs praediis esse poteritis. Etiam illud verendum est, nē brevi tempore famēs in urbe sit. His dē rēbus velim cum Pompōniō, cum Camillō, cum quibus vōbis vidēbitur, cōnsiderētis, ad 15 summam animō forti sītis. Labienus rem meliōrem fecit; adiuvat etiam Pisō, quod ab urbe discedit et sceleris condemnat generum suum. Vōs, meae carissimae animae, quam saepissimē ad mē scribite et vōs quid agātis et quid istīc agatur. Quintus pater et filius et Rufus vōbis s. d. Valete. 20 VIII. Kal., Minturnīs.

XII. (Att. 8. 11. c.)

Written at Canusium in Apulia, Feb. 20, B.C. 49.

Cæsar had over

run Picenum and had laid siege to Corfinium (February 13 or 14), which was held for Pompey by L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, Cato's brother-in-law.

Domitius sent to Pompey for aid, which Pompey refused, ordering Domitius to evacuate the city and come to his own headquarters at Luceria, in northern Apulia. At the same time Pompey determined to abandon Italy, sail to Epirus, and, when he had gathered a sufficient force, to return and resume hostilities. Accordingly he left Luceria and set out for Brundisium (Brindisi), the usual port of departure for Greece and the East.

The present letter was written at Canusium, on the way from Luceria to Brundisium. It is in reply to a letter from Formiæ (February 15) in which Cicero informs Pompey of recent events in that region, and expresses his opinion that the coast can be held, but adds that if Pompey wishes to concentrate all his forces, he is willing to join him at once. Before receiving this reply of Pompey's, Cicero had actually set out, but the activity of Cæsar cut off all access to Pompey, and he retired to Formiæ. See the next letter.

CN. MAGNUS PROCOS. S. D. M. CICERONI IMP.

S. v. b. e. Tuas litteras libenter legi; recognovi enim tuam pristinam virtutem etiam in salūte commūnī. Consules ad eum exercitum, quem in Apūliā habui, vēnērunt. Māgnō opere te hortor, prō tuō singulāri perpetuōque studiō in rem pūblicam, ut tē ad nōs cōnferās, ut commūnī cōnsiliō rei 5 publicae adflictae opem atque auxilium feramus. Censeō, viā Appiā iter facias et celeriter Brundisium veniās.

XIII. (Att. 8. 11. D.)

Written at Formiæ, Feb. 27, B.C. 49. In the first part of the letter Cicero explains his failure to join Pompey. He had started from Formiæ for Luceria. On reaching Teanum, in northern Campania, he heard that Cæsar was advancing rapidly toward Capua and had already reached Æsernia (in Samnium). He therefore went no farther than Cales (a short distance south-east of Teanum) and waited for news. There he received a copy of a letter from Pompey to the consul Lentulus, from which he inferred that it was Pompey's design to raise the siege of Corfinium (see introduction to Letter XII.). It was impossible for Cicero to go thither, since Cæsar was near that city, and he awaited developments in a state of intense anxiety. The next information was that Corfinium