10 (Fam. 14. 2) Scr. Thessalonicae a. d. III Nōn. Oct. a. 696 (58) TULLIUS S. D. TERENTIAE ET TULLIOLAE ET CICERŌNĪ SUIS Nōlī putāre mē ad quemquam longiōrēs epistolās scrībere, 1 nisi sĩ quis ad mē plūra scripsit, cui putō rescrībī oportēre; nec enim habeō, quod scribam, nec hoc tempore quidquam difficilius facio. Ad tē vērō et ad nostram Tulliolam non queō sine 5 plūrimis lacrimis scrībere; vōs enim videō esse miserrimās, quas ego beatissimas semper esse volui idque praestare debui et, nisi tam timidi fuissēmus, praestitissem. Pisōnem nostrum 2 meritō eius amō plurimum: eum, ut potui, per litteras cohortātus sum gratiasque ēgi, ut debui. In novis tribūnīs pl. intel10 legō spem tē habēre: id erit firmum, si Pompēiī voluntās erit; sed Crassum tamen metuō. Ā të quidem omnia fierī fortissimē et amantissimē videō, nec mīror, sed maereō cāsum eiusmodī, ut tantis tuis miseriis meae miseriae subleventur: nam ad mē 10 A review of the situation after six months; plans for restoration; hopes and fears. INTRODUCTORY NOTE: Written from Thessalonica to his family in Rome on the fifth of October. SALUTATION: Read all the notes on Ep. 9, Sal. 'I have 1-3. Noli putare: see on M. L. 23. 17. nisi si: cf. II. 4. 2. rescribi: impersonal-'an answer be written.' nec habeo, quod scribam: nothing to write,' scribam being subj. of characteristic; non habeo quid scribam (ind. question) would mean 'I don't know (lit. 'have not') what to write' (cf. quid scribam nescio, Ep. 7. 3). difficilius: 'with greater difficulty.' 4-7. non queo: cf. Ep. 9. 27, 28. praestare: for meaning see on IV. 11. 21. praestare debui: regular or irregular tenses? Cf. I. 2. 12. fuissemus: the plural includes his advisers as well as himself. Pisonem: the husband of Tullia, as in Ep. 9. 29, 11. 28. 8-10. merito eius: 'as he deserves.' novis tribunis = = tribunis designatis, who were to hold office in 57. All favored Cicero, and four of themSestius, Milo, Fabricius and Fabiuswere either his personal friends or enemies of Clodius. id firmum: the pronoun refers to spem habere, not to spem alone, hence the gender. Pompeii, Crassum: two of the members of the first triumvirate (See Introduction p. 34, §§63, 64). Caesar, the third, began this year his conquest of Gaul, defeating the Helvetians and the German leader Ariovistus (Caesar, B. G., book I). voluntas: sc. firma. 13. miseriis: price-'at the cost of." P. Valerius, homō officiōsus, scripsit, id quod ego maximō cum 15 flētū lēgī, quemadmodum à Vestae ad tabulam Valeriam ducta essēs. Hem, mea lux, meum desiderium, unde omnes opem petere solebant! te nunc, mea Terentia, sic vexārī, sic iacere in lacrimis et sordibus, idque fierī meă culpă, qui cēterōs servāvī, ut nōs perīrēmus! Quod de domo scribis, hoc est de 3 20 āreā, ego vērō tum dēnique mihi vidēbor restitūtus, sī illa nōbis erit restitūta; vērum haec non sunt in nostrā manū: illud doleō, quae impēnsa facienda est, in eius partem te miseram et dēspoliātam venire. Quod sī cōnficitur negōtium, omnia cōnsequēmur; sin eadem nōs fortūna premet, etiamne reliquiās 25 tuas misera prōicies? Obsecrō tē, mea vita, quod ad sumptum attinet, sine alios, qui possunt, si modo volunt, sustinere, et valētūdinem istam infirmam, sī mē amās, nōlī vexare; nam mihi ante oculos dies noctesque versāris: omnēs labōrēs tē excipere videō; timeō, ut sustineas. Sed videō in tē esse 30 omnia; quārē, ut id, quod spērās et quod agis, cōnsequāmur, 14-17. P. Valerius: unknown. a Vestae: the word aedes or templum is quite commonly omitted with the genitive of the deity's name. tabulam Valeriam: supposed to have been a bank (see Introduction p. 36, §68). unde a qua. opem petere: by asking her to intercede for them with Cicero. te vexari, iacere, etc.: 'alas that' or 'to think that you are,' etc., for mood see A. 462; B. 334; H. 616, 3; H.-B. 596. ... ut 18-21. ceteros servavi: in his consulship (cf. III. 10. 32-37). periremus: 'only to,' etc. Quod scribis: 'regarding what you write.' The whole clause may be thought of as an acc. of specification, like the words quod, ceterum, etc. domo: for the fate of his city home see Introduction, p. 36, $68. It is said to have cost him about $175,000 (how expressed in Latin? Cf. Verr. 13. 16). hoc est: 'that is,' explanatory, for which we use id est in the abbreviation i.e. de area: even if damages were paid for the building he would not be satisfied unless the site were restored to him. in nostra manu: 'under our control.' 22-26. impensa: incorporated in the relative clause (cf. I. 13. 26). The chief expenses would be in buying votes, hiring gladiators to offset those of Clodius, and supporting Cicero in exile. in partem... venire: to share,' using part of her dowry. The clause is appositive to illud. negotium: Cicero's recall. eadem fortuna: 'the same ill fortune.' reliquias: of her own (dowry) money. quod... attinet: 'as to the expense:' the clause is like that in 1. 19. sine: sustinere: imperative of sino. sumptum. SC. 27-30. infirmam: and yet Terentia is said to have lived to the age of 103. timeo, ut: meaning of ut after a word of fearing? Cf. IV. 7. 3; I. 2. 22. in te esse omnia: 'all depends on you.' servi valētūdinī. Ego, ad quos scrībam, nescio, nisi ad eōs, 4 qui ad mē scribunt, aut de quibus ad mē vōs aliquid scrībitis. Longius, quoniam ita vōbīs placet, non discēdam; sed velim quam saepissimē litteras mittatis, praesertim si quid est fir35 mius, quod spērēmus. Valēte, mea dēsīderia, valēte. D. a. d. III Nōn. Oct. Thessalonīcā. 11 (Fam. 14. 1) Scr. Dyrrhachi a. d. VI K. Dec. a. 696 (58) TULLIUS TERENTIAE SUAE, TULLIOLAE SUAE, CICERŌNĪ SUŌ S. D. Et litteris multōrum et sermōne omnium perfertur ad mē 1 incredibilem tuam virtutem et fortitudinem esse tēque nec animī neque corporis laboribus defatigāri. Mē miserum! tē istā virtute, fidē, probitāte, hūmānitāte in tantās aerumnās propter 5 me incidisse, Tulliolamque nostram, ex quo patre tantas voluptātēs capiēbat, ex eo tantos percipere luctus! Nam quid ego de Cicerōne dicam? qui cum primum sapere coepit, acerbissimos dolōrēs miseriasque percepit. Quae sī, tū ut scribis, 'fātō facta' 31-36. servi: a verb. What case does it govern? Ego, etc.: Terentia seems to have urged Cicero to use his eloquence in his own behalf by writing to men of influence. quos: interrogative (see note on quod scribam, 1. 3). vos: not only Terentia but her friends and advisers as well; so vobis. Longlus: from Rome, i.e., than Thessalonica. He had intended going on to Cyzicus (9. 17). velim. mittatis: see on 9. 38. D. a. d., etc.: explain the abbreviations, and give the date in the short form. Note the several terms of affection addressed to his wife-mea lux, mea Terentia, mea vita-and mea desideria to the family collectively. INTRODUCTORY NOTE: Commenced at Thessalonica and finished at Dyrrachium, to his family at Rome. SALUTATION: cf. with that of Ep. 10, and notice the tender repetition of suae, instead of suis. 3-7. te incidisse: for mood see on Ep. 10. 17. te ista virtute: what ought strictly to accompany te in this construction? See on I. 2. 4. patre: incorporated (10. 22). sapere coepit: seven years old (cf. Ep. 1. 1). In a letter to his brother Quintus our author speaks of the boy at the time of his departure from Rome as 'more intelligent than I could wish, for he realized, poor boy, what was happening.' 8-12. si . putarem: 'if I thought it was fated,' and so inevitable-a familiar source of resignation. ut scribis: How are mood and tense exsed: 'but, as a matter of plained? ... putārem, ferrem paulo facilius; sed omnia sunt mea culpă com10 missa, qui ab iis mē amārī putābam, qui invidēbant, eōs nōn sequebar, qui petebant. Quodsi nostris consiliis ūsi essēmus, 2 neque aput nōs tantum valuisset sermō aut stultōrum amicōrum aut improbōrum, beatissimi viverēmus. Nunc, quoniam spērāre nōs amīcī iubent, dabō operam, nē mea valētūdō tuō 15 labōrī dēsit. Res quanta sit, intellegō, quantōque fuerit facilius manere domi quam redire; sed tamen, sī omnēs tr. pl. habēmus, si Lentulum tam studiōsum, quam vidētur, sī vērō etiam Pompēium et Caesarem, non est dēspērandum. De familia quo modo placuisse scribis amīcīs, faciēmus. Dē 3 20 locō nunc quidem iam abiit pestilentia, sed, quam diū fuit, mē nōn attigit. Plancius, homo officiosissimus, mē cupit esse secum et adhuc retinet. Ego volebam locō magis dēsertō esse in Epirō, quo neque Piso veniret nec militēs, sed adhuc Plancius mē retinet; spērat posse fierī, ut mēcum in Italiam dēcēdat. Quem ego 25 diem sī vīderō et sī in vestrum complexum vēnerō ac sĩ et vōs et mē ipsum recuperārō, satis magnum mihi frūctum vidēbor percepisse et vestrae pietatis et meae. Pīsōnis hūmānitās, virtūs, amor in omnis nōs tantus est, ut 4 'if I had followed my own counsel 14-18. dabo operam: 'I will take pains.' valetudo: what kind of word? habemus: i.e., on our side (cf. 10. 9, 10). Lentulum: the consul-elect; sc. habemus, nostri. Pompeium, Caesarem: cf. 10. 10. 19-21. De familia: on the phrase cf. Ep. 9. 30, and so in the next line; for familia see on II. 8. 15. We do not know to what he refers; he wrote about the slaves in Ep. 9. 30-36. loco: Thessalonica. pestilentia: an epi demic. Plancius: quaestor in Macedonia, at whose house Cicero remained at a guest while in Thessalonica. 23-27. quo. veniret: characteristic 'a solitary spot such as Piso would not visit.' Cicero feared some annoyance from the unfriendly proconsul. Piso: the consul who had obtained Macedonia as his province in return for aid against Cicero. Notice that two Pisos, very different in their attitude toward Cicero, are mentioned in this letter. fructum cepisse: 'reaped a sufficient reward.' pietatis: 'devotion.' per 28-31. Pisonis: the husband of Tullia, a relative of the consul just mentioned. gloriae: same construction as voluptati; what? De Q. fratre: There seems to have been a family quarrel, and Terentia thought that Cicero blamed her. nihil supra possit. 30 quidem video fore. tē Utinam ea res ei voluptātī sit! glōriae De Quinto fratre nihil ego te accusāvī, sed vōs, cum praesertim tam paucī sītis, volui esse quam coniunctissimos. Quibus mē voluistī agere grātiās, ēgī et mē ā tē cer- 5 tiorem factum esse scripsi. Quod ad me, mea Terentia, scrībis tē vīcum vēnditūram, 35 quid, opsecrō tē, mē miserum! quid futurum est? et, sĩ nōs premet eadem fortuna, quid puerō miserō fiet? Non queō reliqua scribere; tanta vis lacrimārum est; neque te in eundem flētum adducam; tantum scribō: Si erunt in officiō amīcī, pecunia non dĕrit; si non erunt, tū efficere tua pecunia nōn 40 poteris. Per fortūnās miserās nostrās, vidē, nē puerum perditum perdāmus; cui si aliquid erit, nē egeat, mediocrī virtūte opus est et mediocri fortūnā, ut cetera consequatur. Fac 6 valeās et ad mē tabellāriōs mittās, ut sciam, quid agātur, et võs quid agātis. Mihi omninō iam brevis expectatiō est. Tulliolae 45 et Cicerōnī salutem dic. Valete. D. a. d. vI K. Decembr. Dyrrhachi. Dyrrhachium vēnī, quod et libera civitas est et in me officiōsa 7 nihil: as in I. 1. 3. vos: all his relatives in Rome. cum praesertim: cf. III. 12. 20, a less common order than praesertim cum. 10. 31. 32-36. voluisti agere: see on Ep. Terentia had sent him the names of those who had aided her. egi: sc. eis gratias. certiorem factum: sc. de eorum officiis. vicum: some city property, probably a part of Terentia's dowry (10. 22-25). The sale of it would reduce the inheritance of her son (puero, 1. 36) as well as her own present possessions. puero: the young Marcus: for case see on Ep. 9. 23. eadem fortuna: cf. 10. 24. moderate energy and moderate good fortune to acquire all else.' . 42-44. fac mittas: see A. 565, note 1; B. 295, 5, 8; H. 565, 4; H.-B. 502, 3, a, footnote 3. tabellarios: see R. C. 81. quid agatis: the words quid agis (agitis) mean both 'what are you doing' and 'how do you do;' in which sense here? brevis expectatio: 'a short time to wait.' He expected his recall to come as soon as Clodius went out of office (when?), or at the worst no later than the inauguration of the new consuls, but he was disappointed. 45, 46. salutem dic: 'give my greeting.' Notice the singular dic addressed to Terentia, followed immediately by the plural valete to all the family. Dyrrachi: case? 47-49. Dyrrhachium veni, etc.: on this addition to the letter see Introductory Note and R. C. §15 ad fin. |