to this the seal was applied. The chartae (§ 5) were rolled longitudinally and secured in the same way. The letter bore upon the outside merely the name of the person addressed. Cicero (III. 5. 1–13) describes the pro- 18 cess of opening the letter. The seal was first examined, and then the thread was cut in order to leave the seal uninjured. If the letter was preserved the seal was kept attached to it in order to attest its genuineness, EPISTOLAE SELECTAE 1 (Att. 1. 2) Scripta Romae anno 689 (65) CICERO ATTICO SAL. L. Iūliō Caesare, C. Mārciō Figulō cōnsulibus filiolō mē 1 auctum scītō salvā Terentiā. Abs tē tam diu nihil litterārum! 1 an election and The birth of a son; some political planning. INTRODUCTORY NOTE: Written from Rome to Titus Pomponius Atticus, then at Athens, on election day in July, 65. The letter tells of the birth of the writer's son and the condition of his canvass for the consulship. SALUTATION: The same for all the letters to Atticus which are contained in this volume. Attico: the full name is given above. He was Cicero's most intimate and trusted friend, a man of refined and cultivated tastes, extensive learning, and great wealth. He had early devoted himself to a business life and kept resolutely aloof from politics. He had large investments in Greece which required his personal supervision and kept him from Rome much of the time-once for a period of twenty-three years continuously-and thus gained for him the cognomen Atticus. On his return to the capital his house became the resort of the ablest men of all schools and parties, whose love and respect for him are shown by the fact that he lived (109-32) in security through all the revolutions of Marius, Sulla, Caesar, and the second triumvirate. He died by voluntary starvation, when he found himself suffering from an incurable disease. It is largely to him that we owe the letters of Cicero which we possess; none of his own are preserved. 1. Caesare... Figulo. consulibus: i.e., they were consules designati (cf. I. 5. 12), having been chosen the day the letter was written. This is Cicero's way of telling the result of the election. L. Caesar favored the death penalty for the Catilinarian conspirators, though one of them was his brother-inlaw (IV. 6. 36 ff). In the proscription of 43 he narrowly missed sharing Cicero's fate C. Marcius Figulus also favored putting the conspirators to death. filiolo: 'little son,' 'baby boy'-diminutive of filius. me auctum: sc. esse. 'I have been increased,' involving two ideas: (1) 'my family is enlarged' (he already had a daughter); (2) 'my dignity and standing as head of a family have been heightened' by the birth of an heir. 2. scito: This imperative (tense?) was used often with a following infinitive to emphasize a statement (cf. II. 10. 27). abs te litterarum: Ego de meis ad te rationibus scripsi antea diligenter. Hōc tempore Catilinam, competitōrem nostrum, defendere cōgi5 tāmus. Iūdicēs habemus, quos voluimus, summā accūsātōris voluntāte. Spērō, sī absolūtus erit, coniunctiōrem illum nobis fore in ratione petītiōnis; sin aliter acciderit, hūmāniter ferēmus. Tuō adventu nōbis opus est mātūrō; nam prōrsus summa 2 hominum est opīniō tuōs familiārēs nōbilēs hominēs adversāriōs 10 honōrī nostrō fore. Ad eōrum voluntatem mihi conciliandam maximō tē mihi ūsuī fore videō. Quā rē Iānuāriō mēnse, ut constituisti, cūrā ut Rōmae sis. 2 (Fam. 5. 7) Scr. Romae mēnse Aprīlī annō 692 (62) M. TULLIUS M. F. CICERŌ S. D. CN. POMPĒIŌ CN. F. MAGNŌ IMPERĀTŌRĪ S. T. E. Q. V. B. E. Ex litteris tuis, quas pūblicē mīsistī, 1 'no letter from you for so long!' We may supply fuisse or venisse-alas that no letter,' or 'to think that no letter has come' (A. 462, with last note; B. 334; H. 616, 3; H.-B. 596). 3. rationibus: 'plans,' referring doubtless to political matters. 4. competitorem: Twice baffled in his desire to be consul (see Introduction p. 22) Catiline was planning to be candidate for the third time in 64, .to hold office in 63. Cicero had held each of the lower offices in the cursus honorum (I. 11. 19) suo anno, and was ambitious to complete the record by holding the consulship in 63. Recognizing Catiline as a dangerous rival Cicero here proposes to court his favor by serving as his counsel in a pending trial, and join forces with him in the canvass of 64. 'jurymen' (Ar. 1. 1). . . . voluntate: The jury had 5. iudices: quos .. been 'packed' sɔ as to insure acquittal. As it is not certain which this was of the many prosecutions Catiline had to face we do not know who this accommodating prosecutor was. 6, 7. nobis = mihi. ratione petitionis: 'in the conduct of my campaign.' 8. maturo: 'speedy.' 9. hominum: subjective. nobiles homines: 'men of high birth,' who naturally would oppose the advancement of a novus homo like Cicero. 11. Ianuario: This would allow several months for electioneering before the comitia in July. cēpī ūnā cum omnibus incredibilem voluptatem; tantam enim spem ōtii ostendisti, quantam ego semper omnibus tē ūnō frētus pollicebar; sed hoc scītō, tuōs veterēs hostēs, novōs amīcōs vehe5 menter litteris perculsōs atque ex magnā spē dēturbātōs iacere. Ad mē autem litteras quās misisti, quamquam exiguam sīgni- 2 ficatiōnem tuae ergā mē voluntātis habēbant, tamen mihi scītō iūcundās fuisse; nūllā enim rē tam laetārī soleō quam meōrum officiōrum conscientia, quibus sĩ quandō nōn mūtuē respondē10 tur, apud mē plūs officii residēre facillimē patior: illud nõn dubitō, quin, si të mea summa ergā tē studia parum mihi adiūnxērunt, rēs publica nos inter nos conciliatūra coniuncturaque sit. Ac, nē ignōrēs, quid ego in tuis litteris dēsīderārim, scribam 3 apertē, sīcut et mea nātūra et nostra amīcitia postulat: rēs eās 15 gessī, quārum aliquam in tuis litteris et nostrae necessitudinis et rei publicae causā grātulātiōnem exspectāvī, quam ego abs tē praetermissam esse arbitror, quod verērēre, nē cuius animum Cicero had written a long and exultant letter to Pompey, to which the latter had sent a very cold reply not now extant. To this reply of Pompey we here have Cicero's answer. On the general form of the letter read Introductory Note on Roman Correspondence (p. 333), referred to hereafter as R. C. SALUTATION: Formal or familiar? Explain the abbreviations (R. C. §§10, 11). Magno: a title said to have been conferred upon Pompey by Sulla in 81. 1-5. S. T., etc.: see R. C. §13. litteris: an official (publice) dispatch received at Rome in November, 63, announcing the death of Mithridates. Cicero had immediately had a ten days' thanksgiving declared in honor of Pompey spem otii: i.e., abroad, by the ending of the war. te: for case see A. 431, a B. 218, 3; H. 476, 1; H.-B. 438. pollicebar: e.g., in the oration for the Manilian law, beginning with chapter 10. scito: for form see on II. 10. 27; used three times in this letter. veteres hostes, novos amicos: the democrats, who had opposed Pompey up to 71, but had made him consul in 70, and had given him in 66 the command in Asia (M. L., introductory note). Cicero represents them as alarmed by the good feeling now existing (or supposed to exist) between Pompey and the senate. litteris: see on 1. 1. iacere: as in II. 1. 19. = 6-12. litteras: the personal letter to which this is the answer. significationem: 'expression.' quibus et iis (cf. III. 12. 12). non mutue respondetur: 'no fair return is made.' apud me... patior: 'I am well content that the balance of services rendered should be in my favor.' studia: as shown by supporting the Manilian law and proposing the thanksgiving. res publica: 'considerations of the public good.' 13-17. desiderarim: 'have missed.' litteris: the dispatch, 1. 1. vererere: for mood see on II. 1. 23. ne cuius: Some of the conspirators had influential connections, and Pompey was too cautious a politician to express approval of Cicero's acts when it might cost him offenderēs; sed scito ea, quae nos prō salute patriae gessimus, orbis terrae iudicio ac testimonio comprobārī, quae, cum 20 vēneris, tanto consiliō tantaque animi magnitudine ā mē gesta esse cognōscēs, ut tibi multō maiōrī, quam Āfricānus fuit, mē nōn multō minōrem quam Laelium facile et in rē pūblică et in amīcitiā adiūnctum esse patiare. 3 (Fam. 5.5) Scr. Romae a. 693 (61) M. CICERO S. D. C. ANTŌNIŌ M. F. IMP. Etsi statueram nūllās ad tē litterās mittere nisi commenda- 1 ticias-nōn quō eas intellegerem satis apud te valere, sed në iis, qui me rogarent, aliquid de nostra coniunctione imminutum esse ostenderem-tamen, cum T. Pomponius, homo omnium 5 meōrum in te studiōrum et officiōrum maximē cōnscius, tui their support and make them his enemies. animum: see on IV. 8. 14. 19. iudicio ac testimonio: 'the expressed judgment.' quae: cf. quibus, 1. 9. 21, 22. Africanus and Laelius are frequently mentioned by Cicero as ideal friends, the former a great general (see on IV. 10. 14), the latter a wise statesman. quam Laelium: cf. quam Africanus, 1. 21, and see for case A. 407; H. 471, 1. 3 Antony's ingratitude; a favor asked for Atticus. INTRODUCTORY NOTE: Written from Rome to Antony in Macedonia in 61. Antony, said report, had hinted that Cicero was to share the plunder of Macedonia, thus giving the lie direct to Cicero's often-repeated boast of patriotic motives in declining a province (cf. IV. 11. 1-10). Cicero writes to remonstrate against this unwarranted slander, and to ask Antony to aid Atticus in certain business matters in the province. SALUTATION: More or less formal than in Ep. 2? Antonio: on his early career, connection with Catiline, election to the consulship with Cicero, and change of politics see Introduction, p. 20. He is damned with faint praise, III. 6. 11 ff., and his operations against Catiline are described by Sallust (Cat. 5659). Imp.: he received the title imperator for the defeat of Catiline, and governed Macedonia as proconsul in 62 and 61. In 59 he was prosecuted for misgovernment, and in spite of Cicero's defense was convicted and went into exile. 1-7. commendaticias: 'of introduction,' for friends going to Macedonia. non quo ... sed ne: see on M. L. 24. 16; quo is causal, while ne |