These letters were written between September 44 and July 43 B.C. The translation is by W.G. Williams (1927). Click on the L symbols to go to the Latin text of each section. Click on ** to go to the translator's footnotes.
CONTENTS: 1 2 3 5 6 10 12 13 14 16 19 20 22 to L. Munatius Plancus ; 4 7 8 9 11 15 17 18 21 23 24 from L. Munatius Plancus ; 25 26 to C. Furnius ; 27 to M. Aemilius Lepidus ; 28 to C. Trebonius ; 29 to Appius Claudius ; 30 from Ser. Sulpicius Galba ; 31 32 33 from C. Asinius Pollio ; 34a 34b 35 from M. Aemilius Lepidus
← Book 9
CICERO TO PLANCUS, ** GREETING
I have been absent from Rome, on my way to Greece, and besides, ever since I was recalled from the middle of my journey by the voice of the Republic, I have never been left in peace, thanks to M. Antonius, whose arrogance - no, that is a vice one finds everywhere - whose brutality is such that he cannot endure any liberty, I will not say of language, but even of look, in any man alive. And so I am profoundly concerned, not indeed about my own life, the claims of which I have satisfied, whether you reckon my age or my achievements or (if that indeed has anything to do with the matter) my renown ; but what worries me is my country, and most particularly, my dear Plancus, the anxious anticipation of your consulship, ** which is so distant that we can only pray that we can keep on drawing the breath of life until the commonwealth reaches that day. For what hope can possibly exist in a commonwealth in which everything lies crushed by the armed forces of one so desperately violent and intractable, in which neither the Senate nor the people has any power at all, in which there are neither laws nor law-courts, nor any semblance or vestige whatever of a constitution ?
2 But since, as I suppose, a report of all transactions is being transmitted to you, there is no reason why I should write an account of every detail. This much, however, is due to my affection for you - an affection which, conceived from the days of your boyhood, I have not only preserved but even encouraged to grow - and that is to admonish and exhort you to throw all the weight of your anxious deliberations into the betterment of the Republic. If its existence is prolonged up to the day of your consulship, the ship can be easily steered ; but to secure that prolongation we need not only untiring assiduity, but also exceptionally good fortune.
3 But, for one thing, we shall have your services, I hope, considerably earlier than that, and for another, over and above my bounden duty to consider the interests of the Republic, I am besides so sincere in my support of your claims, that I devote all I have to give in the way of counsel, earnestness, service, effort, hard work, and assiduity, to the furtherance of your advancement. For so, I am convinced, can I most easily satisfy the claims of that Republic which is the object of my dearest affection, and also those of that friendship between us which I consider it our duty most religiously to foster.
4 That you should value our friend Furnius ** as highly as his own refinement of mind and deserts demand, is no surprise to me, and I am glad of it ; and I wish you to believe this, that whatever favour or kindness you bestow upon him, I welcome it as accounting it bestowed upon myself.
[2] L { late in September, 44 }
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
In view of our close intimacy the compliment ** paid you would not have lacked my enthusiastic support, had I been able to attend the Senate either with safety or with honour. But neither can any man whose political opinions are in favour of liberty move about without danger, when there is this unlimited licence of the sword, nor does it seem consistent with my dignity to express my feelings about the Republic in a place where I should be heard better and at closer quarters by armed men than by senators.
2 And for that reason, while you will not have to regret the lack of any act of service or devotion on my part in private affairs, even in public affairs also I shall never fail to uphold your position, yes, and at my own personal risk too, if there be any occasion necessitating my intervention. In such matters, however, as can be carried through just as well in my absence, I beg of you not to take exception to my having some consideration both for my own safety and my own dignity.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
Though I was exceedingly pleased to see Furnius for his own sake, I was the more pleased because in listening to him I seemed to be listening to you. He set out before my eyes your gallantry in the military world, your justice in the administration of your province, and your wisdom in every relation of life ; and he touched, moreover, on what our familiar intercourse had already taught me, your charm of manner, and furthermore your splendid generosity towards himself - all of which gave me pleasure, but this last evoked my gratitude as well.
2 As to myself, Plancus, I have acquired a close friendship with your family established long before you were born, but an affection for yourself dating from your early boyhood, and, now that you are of mature age, an intimacy that is firmly based at once on my devotion and on your judgment ; for these reasons I am extraordinarily eager to support your high position - a position which I maintain we ought to hold in common. You have gained all the highest distinctions - virtue your guide, fortune your comrade - and you have gained them in early youth, despite the jealousy of many, all of whom you have crushed by your ability and application. As matters stand to-day, if you listen to me (who am wholly devoted to you and allow no man's claim to stand higher in your regard on the score of length of friendship), there is no position for the rest of your life that you will not further secure from a sound establishment of the Republic.
3 You know of course - nothing can have escaped you - that there was a time when men thought that you were too much of a time-server ; and I too should have thought so, had I imagined that you actually approved what you only tolerated. But when I began to understand your sentiments, I suspected that you saw the limitations of your power. Now the case is altered. The decision on all points lies with you, and your decision is untrammelled. You are consul-designate in the prime of life, your eloquence is of the highest order, and the State is more destitute of such men than ever. I implore you by the immortal gods, throw all your mind into the careful consideration of such measures as may bring you the highest dignity and glory. Now to that glory there is but one path, especially in these days when the Republic has been harassed to death for so many years - and that is upright administration of that same Republic.
4 It was rather an impulse of affection that induced me to write to you in this strain, than that I ever supposed you needed such warnings and directions ; for I know you draw all such inspirations from the same springs as myself ** ; so I will make an end. For the present I thought I should merely hint at things, to show you my affection rather than make a show of my sagacity. Meantime I shall attend with hearty goodwill and assiduity to whatever I think concerns your high position.
PLANCUS TO CICERO, GREETING
I am greatly obliged to you for your letter, which I observe you write as a result of what you were told by Furnius. The excuse I offer for the time that has elapsed is that I had heard of your having set out from Rome.- and only knew of your return shortly before I was apprised of it by your letter. For it seems impossible that I should omit any act of service to you, however slight, without incurring very serious blame ; and for the due performance of such service I have countless reasons, whether in your close intimacy with my father, or my reverence for you from my boyhood, or your affection for me - an affection I reciprocate.
2 For that reason, my dear Cicero (and our respective ages permit it), be assured that you are the only man alive in honouring whom I have but consistently observed the sacred reverence due to a father. All your counsels therefore are, as it seems to me, not more fraught with wisdom - and that is of the highest - than with a sincerity which I can gauge by my own innermost feelings. It follows that if my sentiments were to differ from yours, your admonishment would assuredly be enough to restrain me, and if I were in doubt, your exhortation enough to impel me to follow whatever course you deemed to be the best. As it is, however, what is there that could possibly draw me in any different direction ? Whatever advantages I possess whether bestowed upon me by the bounty of fortune or won by my own exertions, although you, in your love for me, attach too high a value to them, are yet, even in the opinion of my bitterest enemy, so considerable, as to appear to lack nothing but an honourable reputation. **
3 Be assured then of this one fact, that whatever my powers can accomplish, my prudence foresee, or my personal influence prescribe, all that will ever be at the disposal of the Republic. I am well aware of your political attitude ; and had I the opportunity (and indeed I long for it) of being actually with you, I should never disagree with your policy ; and even as it is, I shall not be so ill-advised as to put it in your power to censure any act of mine with justice.
4 I am eagerly awaiting news on all matters, so as to know what is done in Hither Gaul, and what in the City, in the month of January. Meanwhile what causes me the greatest solicitude and anxiety is the fear that, tempted on all sides by the weaknesses of their enemy, these Gallic tribes may look upon our difficulties as their opportunity. But if my success is in proportion to my deserts, I shall at any rate satisfy not only yourself, whom it is my chief desire to satisfy, but also all men who are patriots. Be sure to keep well, and love me as I love you.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
I have received two letters from you, each the exact copy of the other, and this in itself I regarded as a proof of your affectionate care ; for I saw clearly that you were making every effort to have your most anxiously awaited letter safely delivered to me. It gave me a double satisfaction, which made it difficult for me to decide upon comparison, whether I should attach the greater value to your affection for me, or to your feelings towards the Republic. Speaking generally, in my judgment, the love of one's country is paramount, but personal love and community of aspirations certainly carry with them a greater charm. And so your reminding me of my close intimacy with your father, and of that friendliness you had displayed towards me from your boyhood, and of even-thing else connected with that sentiment, brought me a joy beyond belief.
2 Again the declaration of the feelings you entertained, and would continue to entertain, as regards the Republic, gave me the greatest pleasure, and my joy was all the more intense because it came as an addition to what you had previously said. And so I not only exhort you, my dear Plancus, but I even implore you in all earnestness (as I did in the letter to which you replied in such very courteous terms), to throw yourself with your whole mind and with every impulse of your heart into the cause of the Republic. There is nothing that can bring you greater material advantage or greater glory, as there is nothing in all human affairs more brilliant or more excellent than to deserve well of the Republic.
3 For hitherto (your consummate courtesy and wisdom permits me to express my thoughts unreservedly) it seems to me that you have succeeded in matters of the greatest import by the favour of fortune ; and although you could not have done so without personal merit, your achievements are attributed mainly to fortune and the circumstances of the time. In these most difficult times whatever assistance you render to the Republic will be entirely and exclusively to your own credit. How Antony is hated by all citizens, except the brigands, is beyond belief. There are high hopes of you, and great expectations of your army ; so, for heaven's sake, take care you do not miss the opportunity of winning all that popularity and renown. I am advising you as a son ; I am favouring your interests as my own ; I am exhorting you as one speaking both for his country and to a very dear friend.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
The statement of our friend Furnius ** as to your attitude of mind towards the Republic was most acceptable to the Senate and highly approved by the people of Rome ; the letter, however, which was read out in the Senate appeared by no means to harmonise with what Furnius had said.
For you were the advocate of peace, at a time when your own most distinguished colleague ** was being blockaded by those ruffianly brigands who ought either to lay down their arms and beg for peace, or, if they demand it in battle-array, it is by conquest, and not by compact, that peace must be secured. But as to the letters on that subject, whether we take yours or that of Lepidus, you will best discover the construction put upon them from that excellent man, your brother, and from C. Furnius.
2 However, although I never thought you lacked sagacity yourself, and you were sure to have Furnius's and your brother's friendly and faithful watchfulness to fall back upon, none the less my affection for you inspired me with the desire, in view of the very many ties of intimacy between us, that some warning should reach you under the seal of my own personal authority as well.
Believe me, therefore, Plancus, that those steps in official promotion you have so far ascended (and you have reached the most important of them) will be universally regarded not as so many badges of merit, but as mere titles of public office, unless you identity yourself with the liberty of the Roman people, and the authority of the Senate. Disengage yourself, I pray, while there is yet time, from those to whom you are so closely bound, not by your own choice, but by the chains of circumstance.
3 Amid the confusion of public affairs several men have been called consulars, but not a single one of them has been esteemed a consular unless he was a man conspicuous for his consular spirit in relation to the Republic. It behoves you then, to be the sort of man firstly, to burst the bonds of your partnership with disloyal citizens, who have no resemblance whatever to yourself ; and, secondly, to offer your services as adviser, leader, and commander, both to the Senate and to the whole body of loyalists ; and, lastly, to make up your mind that peace is not to be found in the mere cessation of hostilities, but in dissipating the very apprehension of arms and slavery. If that is what you will do and feel, then will you not only be a consul and a consular, but also a great consul and a great consular. Otherwise the dignity you enjoy amid all those very impressive official titles of yours will be worse than non-existent ; it will be a ghastly travesty.
It is pure friendliness that has prompted me to write these words, and I may have been a little too hard upon you ; but if you yourself put them to the test in the only way that is not unworthy of you, you will find them to be words of truth.
PLANCUS TO CICERO, GREETING
I should write more fully about my plans and give you an account of the whole position at greater length, so that you might be the better convinced that I have performed for the Republic all your exhortation imposed upon me, and all I solemnly assured you I would undertake to perform (for I have ever desired to possess your approval no less than your regard, and have not so much sought your aid to be my advocate when at fault, as wished for it to proclaim my merits) ; but I have to be briefer than usual for two reasons; one is that I have already made a full statement in my public despatch, the other that I have instructed M. Varisidius, a Roman knight and an intimate friend of mine, to run over himself and see you, so that you might get full information from him.
2 Heaven is my witness that I have been more than a little annoyed at being anticipated by others, as it seems, in the establishment of a reputation ; but I have controlled myself until I could succeed so far in my undertakings as to achieve something worthy both of the consulship in store for me, and the expectations of all of you. And that I hope, if fortune does not play me false, to accomplish, so that the world may recognise now and remember hereafter, that I have been a powerful means of protection to the commonwealth. I beg you to support with your interest my position in the State, and to stimulate my activity in the future by letting me now enjoy those honours, ** the prospect of which you held out to me when you summoned me to the path of glory. I am positively assured that you are no less able than you are willing to do so. Be sure to keep well, and to love me as I love you.
PLANCUS, IMPERATOR, CONSUL-DESIGNATE, SENDS GREETING TO THE CONSULS, PRAETORS, TRIBUNES OF THE PLEBS, THE SENATE, THE PEOPLE AND COMMONS OF ROME **
If there happens to be a man who imagines that I have kept too long in suspense the general expectation and the hope of the Republic as to my personal sentiments, it is to such a critic that I think I must justify my conduct before making any promise to anybody about my obligations in the future. For to appear to have expiated a past error is not so much my object, as to announce, now that the time is ripe for it, the conclusions I have long since arrived at, and they are those of a sincerely loyal heart.
2 It never escaped my notice that amid such profound and universal anxiety, and the utterly confused state of the country, the most lucrative of all policies was the profession of loyal sentiments, and I observed that not a few have by that profession attained high honours in the State. But seeing that fortune had plunged me into the predicament of having to choose between making hasty promises, and thereby putting serious obstacles in the way of my successful progress, and on the other hand, by the exercise of self- restraint in that respect, securing better opportunities for rendering helpful service, I preferred to clear the path to my country's salvation rather than to my own glorification. For who, occupying the position I now hold, and after such a career as mine is, I believe, generally acknowledged to have been, and with such prospects as I have within my grasp, could possibly either submit to anything like humiliation, or harbour in his heart anything like a sinister desire ?
3 But it necessitated a considerable amount of time, some heavy work, and much expense, for me to make good by their accomplishment the promises I had made to the Republic and all loyal citizens, and to come to the aid of my country not empty-handed, however excellent my intentions, but furnished with resources. I had to strengthen the allegiance of an army, frequently tampered with by the offer of huge bribes, and induce them to look forward rather to the modest rewards of the commonwealth than to the unlimited prodigality of a single citizen ; to strengthen the allegiance of numerous states, laid under an obligation in the previous year by largesses and charters ** of privilege, and induce them to regard all such rewards as of no account, and appreciate the propriety of claiming the same from a more constitutional authority. I had, moreover, to enlist the sympathy of the other officers in command of the neighbouring provinces and armies, so that we might enter into a partnership with the majority for the defence of our liberty and not share with fewer partners the fruits of a victory fraught with ruin to the whole world.
4 I had, however, to fortify my own position by increasing the army and the number of our auxiliaries, so that when I came to give public expression to my convictions, the disclosure of the cause I intended to support, however objectionable to certain persons, might be attended with no personal risk. I shall never therefore hesitate to admit that in many instances, in order to arrive at the due accomplishment of these projects, I have, albeit with reluctance, professed what was false, and, albeit with pain, dissembled what was true ; for the calamity that befell my colleague ** had taught me the extreme danger of a premature declaration by a loyal citizen, when he was not fully prepared.
5 It was on this account also that I gave that gallant and energetic officer, my legate C. Furnius, even fuller messages by word of mouth than appear in my despatch, so that they might be delivered to you with greater secrecy, and I myself might run less risk ; and I have instructed him as to the most suitable measures for the protection of our common safety and for my own equipment. From all this it may be inferred that anxiety to protect the highest interests of the Republic has for long past kept me sleeplessly vigilant.
6 Now that, by the blessing of heaven, we are better prepared at every point, I desire that men in general should have not only better hopes of us, but a sure confidence based on judgment. I have five legions under colours, not only closely bound to the Republic by their own loyalty and gallantry, but also, thanks to my liberality, obedient to my command ; I have a province in the highest state of preparation, thanks to the unanimity of all the communities, and exhibiting the keenest emulation in the performance of their duties ; I have cavalry and auxiliary forces as great as these tribes can muster in the defence of their own lives and liberty.
Speaking for myself, so heartily prepared am I, whether to protect the province, or to go whithersoever the State calls me, or to hand over to a successor my legions, my auxiliaries, and my province, that I should not shrink from turning the whole brunt of the war upon myself, provided that, by any fate of mine, I could either ensure the salvation of my country, or secure her a respite from danger.
7 If I make these promises at a time when all difficulties have been smoothed away, and the country is calm, though I thus forfeit the chance of distinguishing myself, I shall rejoice at the public gain ; but if I am going on to play my part in dangers of a most unmitigated and terrible nature, I commend to your impartial judgment the defence of my policy against the calumnies of the envious.
As for myself, I have secured quite an adequate reward for my services in the prosperity of the commonwealth ; but as to the men who, guided by my authority, but, in a far greater degree, by their confidence in your pledges, could neither be cajoled by any promises nor intimidated by any threats - those men I feel bound to beg of you to regard as commended to your consideration. **
PLANCUS TO CICERO, GREETING
I am very glad that I made no rash promises l to you, or you to the others, about myself. At any rate you possess a greater proof of my affection in my desire that my fears should be known to you earlier than to the rest. But that fresh additions are being made day by day to the list of my services I hope you clearly see ; that you will have fuller knowledge of it I guarantee.
2 As far as I am concerned, my dear Cicero (so may the Republic be delivered by my assistance from the evils that threaten her !). while I have the highest esteem for the honours and rewards you senators can bestow - and they can surely bear comparison with immortality - still, even without them, I do not intend to relax my devotion and perseverance. Unless amid the multitude of most patriotic citizens my enthusiasm has proved unparalleled and my efforts outstanding, I do not desire any addition to be made to my dignity by your flattering votes. 3 I covet no distinction for myself (indeed it is a feeling I instinctively fight against) ; and I am quite willing to leave both the season for it and the substance of it to your discretion. No honour conferred upon a citizen by his country can possibly seem either too late or too little.
I threw my army across the Rhone on the 26th of April, by means of forced marches. I sent forward a thousand horse by a shorter route from Vienna. If I am not hindered by Lepidus, speaking for myself, I shall give you every satisfaction by my rapidity ; if however he proves an obstacle to my line of march, I shall take such measures as the moment demands. The troops I am bringing up are extremely strong in numbers, in the type of man, and in loyalty. I beg you will regard me with affection, in the knowledge that it will be reciprocated. Farewell.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
Although I had been sufficiently informed by our friend Furnius as to your sympathies and your policy in reference to the Republic, still the perusal of your letter gave me a clearer estimate of your whole political attitude. And therefore, although the entire fortune of the Republic is being staked on the issue of one battle ** - and indeed I believe that, as you read these words, that issue will have been already decided - still the mere rumour which has become current of your intentions, has invested you with a great reputation. So if only we had had a consul at Rome, ** the Senate, while honouring you with marks of high distinction, would have formally expressed its gratification at what you have essayed to do already, and are preparing to do in the future. But the time for these amenities, so far from having gone by, is not, in my opinion at any rate, even yet fully ripe. For I always think that the only true distinction is that bestowed as a free gift upon men of mark, not in anticipation of their future services, but in recognition of their conspicuously good work in the past.
2 For this reason (so but there be any constitution left where it is possible for honour to shine forth), take my word for it, you will have more than enough of the most splendid honours heaped upon you. But that honour, which can truly be so termed, is not an incentive for the moment, but the reward of a long career of consistent excellence. Therefore, my dear Plancus, devote yourself heart and soul to the attainment of glory ; come to the rescue of our country, assist your colleague, contribute to the agreement and miraculous unanimity of the whole world.
In me you will find one who will help you in your counsels, promote your advancement, and be in all things your most loving and faithful friend. For to those bonds which have united our hearts - bonds of affection, mutual kindnesses, and long-standing friendship - there has now been added our common love for our country - a love that has made me regard your life as more precious than my own.
March 30th.
PLANCUS TO CICERO, GREETING
I tender you, and shall continue to do so as long as I live, my undying gratitude ; that I can ever prove it, is more than I can say. So great have been your services that I do not think that I can rise to the requital of them, unless indeed, in your own impressive and eloquent words, you intend to regard me as paying the debt of gratitude so long as I bear that debt in remembrance. Had your own son's prestige been in question, you could not, I am sure, have acted with greater kindness. Your first motions in the Senate proposing unlimited grants to me, those later ones drawn up to meet the circumstances and the wishes of my friends, your constant public references to me, and your incessant altercations with my detractors on my account - all this is perfectly well known to me. I have to be more than ordinarily careful to prove myself deserving of your praise as a citizen in public life, and unforgetful of my gratitude to you as your private friend. As to the future, continue your generosity to me, and if in the issue of events you find me the man you wished me to be, take up my cause and defend me.
2 Having thrown my forces across the Rhone and sent my brother forward with 3000 horse, when I was myself marching upon Mutina, I was told on the way of the battle that had been fought, and the delivery of Brutus and Mutina from their blockade. I took note of the fact that Antony and the remnants of his forces which accompanied him had no other place of retreat than in these parts ; and that he had only two chances offered him, one depending on Lepidus himself, the other on his army. Since a certain part of this army is as infatuated as those who were with Antony, I have recalled my cavalry, and myself taken up my stand among the Allobroges, so as to be ready for any emergency as circumstances might direct. If Antony comes here without military support, I fancy I can easily resist him by myself, and discharge my public duties to the satisfaction of the Senate, however warmly he may be welcomed by the army of Lepidus ; but if he brings with him any considerable force, and I find that the veteran tenth legion, which was reclaimed by my efforts and is now with the rest, has relapsed into its former infatuation, even then I shall make every effort to prevent any disaster ; and I hope to succeed in so doing, provided that reinforcements are hurried across from Rome, and by effecting a junction with me make it easier to crush these desperadoes.
3 This much, my dear Cicero, I can promise you - there will be no lack of courage or careful strategy on my part. What I desire, I solemnly aver, is that no trace of anxiety should be left ; but if there be, I shall yield to no man in courage, or in loyalty, or in perseverance on behalf of you all. Indeed I am making an effort to induce even Lepidus to enter into partnership with me in this business, and I promise to defer to him in every particular, if only he consents to respect the interests of the Republic. The assistants and intermediaries I am employing in this matter are my brother, and Laterensis ** and our friend Furnius. No private causes of offence shall stand in the way of my agreeing even with my bitterest enemy for the salvation of the Republic. But if I prove to have been entirely unsuccessful, nevertheless my courage is high, and perhaps I shall satisfy your expectations by an enhancement of honour to myself. Be careful of your health, and let your affection for me be as mine for you.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
Although I am bound, as a Republican, to rejoice exceedingly at your having given the Republic such powerful support and such valuable aid at an almost desperate crisis, yet, while I shall welcome you with open arms as a conqueror on the restoration of the Commonwealth, what contributes in large measure to my joy is your own position, which, I take it, already is, and hereafter will be, most magnificent. You must never suppose that any despatch ever read out in the Senate was more welcome than was yours. And this was due not only to a certain exceptional importance attaching to your services to the Republic, but also to the impressive dignity of your sentiments and the way you expressed them. To me indeed it was nothing new, because you were not unknown to me, because I remembered the promises contained in the letters you sent me, and thirdly, because I had been made thoroughly acquainted with your purposes by our friend Furnius. But to the Senate your words appeared to transcend all expectation ; not that it had ever entertained a doubt of your good intentions, but it had insufficient assurance either as to how much you were able to do, or as to how far you were willing to go.
2 So, when on the morning of April 7, M. Varisidius ** had handed me your letter and I had read it, you could not believe the ecstasy of my joy ; and as I was being escorted from my house by a huge throng of the most patriotic men and citizens, I immediately made them all sharers in my happiness.
Meanwhile our friend Munatius ** paid me a visit, as he often does. Well, I gave him your letter, for up to that moment he had learnt nothing, I being the first to whom Varisidius had come, saying that such were your instructions to him. A little later Munatius also gave me to read the private letter you had sent to himself and the public despatch too.
3 We decided to lay the letter forthwith before the City praetor Cornutus, who, in the absence of the consuls, was, according to the traditional practice, discharging the consular duties. The senate was immediately convened, and there was a large attendance owing to all the talk and the expectations roused by your despatch. After it had been read out, Cornutus was faced with a religious difficulty, the pullarii ** drawing his notice to the fact that he had not attended with all due formality to the auspices ; and the irregularity was confirmed by our college of augurs, and so the business was put off till the following day. On that day, however, I had a serious altercation in defence of your claims with Servilius, ** who had contrived by his influence that his own motion should be put first ; but a large number of senators turned their backs upon him, and voted for a direct negative. And when my motion, which came next, was being agreed to by a majority of the senate, P. Titius, ** at the instance of Servilius, interposed his veto. The matter was put off till the following day. 4 Up comes Servilius, ready for the fray, "shaking his fists at Jupiter himself," ** whose temple was the scene of the debate. How I crushed him, and with what vehemence of oratory I rolled Titius, for all his vetoing, in the dust, I prefer you should learn from the letters of others - this much only from mine : never could the Senate have been more in earnest, more determined, or more friendly in its appreciation of your achievements than it was on that occasion ; and indeed the Senate is no more friendly to you than the whole body of citizens. It is marvellous how the entire population of Rome, of every class and order, is of one mind in its united desire for the deliverance of the Republic.
5 Go on then in your own way, and commend your name to everlasting remembrance ; as for all these distinctions, a mere congeries of the meaningless symbols of splendour, though possessing the outward appearance of glory, spurn them, deem them ephemeral, mere seductive forgeries, doomed to fade away. True honour lies in worth, which finds its brightest lustre in serving the State with distinction. For so doing you have a brilliant opportunity, and now that you have embraced it, and have it in your grasp, so act as to ensure that the State's debt to you is no less than yours to the State. You will find in me one who will not only encourage, but promote your advancement. So much I consider I owe both to the Republic, which is dearer to me than my very life, and to the intimacy of our friendship.
I may add that, amid all these anxieties which have been my contribution to the maintenance of your high position, it has been a great pleasure that, well acquainted as I was with the shrewdness and honesty of T. Munatius, ** I had a yet clearer proof of it in his extraordinary friendliness towards you, and his careful attention to your interests.
April 11.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
As soon as ever I had the opportunity given me of promoting your advancement, I left nothing undone to do you honour, whether in the way of reward for valour, or of complimentary expression. So much you can see from the decree of the Senate itself ; for it was drafted in the exact terms of the motion I read out from my own manuscript, and it was passed by a full Senate with the greatest enthusiasm and remarkable unanimity.
2 Although the letter you sent me had conclusively proved to me that you were more pleased with the verdict of sound citizens than with any tokens of honour, still I thought it our duty to take into consideration, even though you yourself made no claim, the question of the States great indebtedness to you. You will, I am sure, see to it that your finale accords with your ouverture. ** For the man who crushes Antony will have finished the war. On the same principle, Homer did not give to Ajax or Achilles, but to Ulysses, the title of "Sacker of the City." **
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
What a delightful report we heard two days before the victory about the reinforcements you were bringing up, your enthusiasm, your rapidity, your forces ! And yet even now that the enemy has been routed, all our hope lies in you. For it is said that the most notorious ringleaders of those brigands have escaped from the battle of Mutina. But finally to destroy a foe wins no less gratitude than to repulse his first attack.
2 For my own part, I am eagerly awaiting your despatch, and many others are doing so too ; and I hope also that Lepidus will take warning from the present state of affairs and co-operate with you and the Republic. Therefore, my dear Plancus. regard it as an urgent charge upon you to leave alight no single spark of this most hideous war. If this be done, you will have bestowed a higher than human blessing upon the State, and will yourself win everlasting glory.
May 5th.
PLANCUS TO CICERO, GREETING **
After this letter had been written, ** I thought it of public importance that you should know what has happened subsequently. My assiduity has borne good fruit, I hope, both for myself and the Republic. By means of my busy intermediaries, I urged Lepidus to drop all disputes, to become reconciled with us in a friendly spirit, and to come to the aid of the Republic by joining me in my policy ; to esteem himself, his children, and the City, of greater value than one single desperate and humiliated brigand, and, on these terms to avail himself to the full of my compliance with all his projects. 2 I made some progress with him ; so through my agent Laterensis he has pledged his word to me that he will harry Antony with the sword, should he fail to keep him outside his province ; he has asked me to come over to him, and combine our forces, and he is all the more urgent because it was stated that Antony was strong in point of cavalry, while Lepidus is not even tolerably well supplied in that department. For not many days before, the ten most efficient troopers out of his meagre muster had crossed over to my camp. On ascertaining this, I no longer hesitated, thinking it my duty to encourage Lepidus in keeping to the path of loyalty.
3 I saw the good effect my arrival was likely to have, as I thought I could either with my cavalry hunt down and crush Antony's, or, by having my army on the spot, reform and control that section of Lepidus's army which was corrupt and disaffected. I therefore built a bridge in one day over the Isara, the widest river in the territory of the Allobroges, and took my army across on May 12. When, however, it was reported to me that L. Antonius had been sent with an advanced party of cavalry and some cohorts, and had reached Forum Julii, I sent my brother on the 13th to meet him, and I shall myself follow on closely by forced marches, with four lightly equipped legions and the rest of my cavalry.
4 If we are only helped to a moderate degree by the fortune of the Republic, we shall here find an end alike to the temerity of these desperadoes, and our own anxiety. But should our brigand get early intelligence of our arrival, and again take measures to withdraw into Italy, the duty of meeting him will fall upon Brutus, and he, I am sure, will not be found wanting either in strategy or spirit. In that case I shall nevertheless send my brother with his cavalry to pursue the enemy and protect Italy from being devastated. Mind you keep well and love me as I love you.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
Never within living memory have I seen anything more glorious, more gratifying, or more exactly opportune in point of time, Plancus, than your despatch. It was delivered to Cornutus in a full Senate, just after he had read out the despatch of Lepidus, and a very bleak and shuffling communication that was. Immediately after it yours was read out, and not without loud applause. For most warmly welcome as it was for its actual contents and the zealous services to the State they recorded, it was no less acceptable for its very impressive language and sentiments. The Senate excitedly and insistently pressed Cornutus to put the question of your despatch before the House without a moment's delay. He replied that he wished to consider the matter. When the whole Senate gave angry vent to its displeasure, five tribunes of the plebs brought forward a motion. ** Servilius, on being called upon, proposed that the matter be deferred ; I then formally expressed my opinion, and the Senate agreed with me to a man. What that opinion was you will learn from the decree of the Senate.
2 As to yourself, though you are not lacking in discretion, or, I should rather say, possess it in abundance, still you ought to make up your mind never to refer any question to Rome, and never amid emergencies so sudden and embarrassing to think it incumbent upon you to consult the Senate. Be a Senate unto yourself, and follow whatever path is indicated by your consideration for the public welfare. Make a special point of letting us hear of some brilliant exploit on your part, before we ever expected it to happen. This I promise you. that whatever your achievement, the Senate will heartily applaud it as a proof, not only of your loyalty, but also of your wisdom.
PLANCUS TO CICERO, GREETING
Antony arrived at Forum Julii with his first division on May 15. Ventidius ** is two days' march away from him. Lepidus has his camp at Forum Voconii, ** a place twenty-four miles away, and that is where, according to his own letter, he has arranged to await me. But if only Lepidus himself, and fortune, keep me a perfectly free field, I give you my assurance that I shall speedily settle the business to your satisfaction.
2 I informed you in a previous letter that my brother, exhausted by his incessant exertions and constantly hurrying from place to place, was seriously ill ; but in spite of that, as soon as ever he could put foot to ground, reflecting that his recovery was no greater benefit to himself than to the State, he did not shrink from taking the lead when any danger was to be met. However I not only urged him. but even compelled him to start for Rome, because (as I argued) in his state of health he could more easily wear himself out, than be of any assistance to me in camp, and also because I really thought that the Republic, left desolate by the tragic fall of her consuls, stood in need of such a citizen to act as praetor in the business of the City. And if any man among you disapproves of my action, let me assure him that it was I who lacked prudence in so advising, and not he who lacked loyalty to his country.
3 Anyhow Lepidus - and that is just what I wanted - arranged to send me Apella, for me to use him as a hostage for his own good faith and partnership with me in the administration of the Republic. L. Gellius proved his devotion to me by detaching himself from his three brothers ; he is the man I employed as intermediary in my last mission to Lepidus. I fancy I have found in him a true friend to the State, and I shall be glad to offer my testimony on his behalf, and on behalf of all others who deserve well of the State.
Mind you keep well, and love me as I love you ; and if I deserve it, uphold my position, as indeed you have done hitherto with extraordinary friendliness.
PLANCUS TO CICERO, GREETING
What I had in my mind when Laevus and Nerva ** left me you have been able to gather from the letter I gave them, and from the men themselves, who have participated in all my affairs and deliberations. It has been my lot, as it is often the lot of a man of honour, and anxious to satisfy the claims of the Republic, and indeed of all good men, to pursue a policy of danger to my own satisfaction, rather than one of safety, which might possibly expose me to reproach.
2 So after the departure of his legates, when Lepidus in two letters with no interval between them, begged me to join him, and Laterensis in much stronger terms entreated me, nay almost implored me, to do so, since he dreaded nothing so much as just that which causes me also apprehension, - I mean the fickleness and disaffection of Lepidus's army, - I decided that I ought to show no hesitation in hurrying to his assistance, and facing the common danger. For I was well aware - although the safer course was for me to wait on the Isara until Brutus brought his army over, and then with a colleague in full sympathy with me and with an army of the same mind and loyally inclined towards the Republic, as his soldiers certainly are, to go to meet the enemy - still, as I say, if any disaster befell Lepidus while loyally inclined towards the Republic, I foresaw that the whole blame would be attributed to my obstinacy, or else to my lack of courage - to the former for having failed to come to the relief of one who, though in close union with the Republic, was personally at feud with me, or to the latter for having deliberately withdrawn at such a crisis from a campaign so unavoidable.
3 I therefore proposed to run the risk, in case I might protect Lepidus by being on the spot, and effect an improvement in his army, rather than appear unduly cautious. Anyhow, I don't believe that anybody was ever in such a quandary through no fault of his own. For the very position of affairs, which contained no element of doubt, if only Lepidus's army were out of the way, now causes me serious anxiety and involves serious risk. Indeed, had it been my good luck to be the first to encounter Antony, I swear that he would not have held his ground for a single hour ; such is my confidence in myself, and such my contempt for his stricken forces and the camp of that mule-driver Ventidius. ** But I cannot help shuddering at the thought of some ulcer lying under the skin that may do mischief before it is diagnosed and treated. But undoubtedly, unless I remained in the same place with him, a great risk would be incurred by Lepidus himself, and one equally great by that part of his army which is loyally inclined towards the Republic. Those desperadoes, the enemy, too, would have gained no small an addition to their strength, had they succeeded in withdrawing any of his troops from Lepidus. If I put a stop to all this by my arrival there, I shall thank my good luck and determination - for it was that which prompted me to make the experiment.
4 On May 20th therefore I struck my camp on the Isara ; I left behind me, however, the bridge I had built over that river, after planting a fort at either end, and I posted strong garrisons there, so that when Brutus and his army arrived, they should not be held up, but find the crossing ready prepared for them. I shall myself, I hope, within eight days after the despatch of this letter, effect a junction with the forces of Lepidus.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
Though I looked for no expression of thanks from you, because I knew you to be most grateful in very deed and thought, still (I must confess) it gave me extreme pleasure. For I saw as clearly as what is visible to the eye, that I am beloved by you. You will say "how about previously ?" ** Well, it was always evident to me, but never more conspicuously.
Your despatch was amazingly acceptable to the Senate, not only for its subject matter, itself of the greatest gravity and moment, and indicative of conspicuous courage combined with admirable judgment, but also for its impressive sentiments impressively expressed.
2 But, my dear Plancus, apply yourself with all your energy to the decisive completion of the war. It is in that you will find the culmination of your popularity and glory. All my desires are concentrated in the cause of the Republic ; but, utterly worn out as I am by my efforts to save it, I protest that I am now not much more zealous for my country, than for your renown ; and the immortal gods have, I am glad to think, given you a glorious opportunity of establishing it ; that opportunity I implore you to embrace. The man who crushes Antony will have terminated this most hideous and hazardous war.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
All the news brought us from where you are is so vague, that what I should write to you is not very obvious. At one moment the reports about Lepidus are all that we could wish, at another quite the reverse. What is said about you, however, never varies - that you can be neither cajoled nor conquered ; in the latter case fortune plays a certain part, in the other all is due to your own sagacity.
2 But I had a letter, dated May 15th, from your colleague, which stated that you had written to him saying that Antony was not being well received by Lepidus ; I shall feel more certain about it if you write to me to the same effect ; but perhaps you rather shrink from doing so, because the cheerful tone of your previous letter was not justified. ** As a matter of fact, while it is possible that you might have been mistaken (for who is infallible ?), everybody must see that you could not possibly have been duped. Now, however, you are left without even the excuse of making a mistake ; for the fatuity of "twice against the same stone" ** is held up to reproach in a familiar proverb. But if things are as you wrote to your colleague, we are freed from all anxiety : and yet we shall not really be so, until we are informed that such is the case by yourself.
3 My own opinion, as I have repeatedly written to you, is just this, that the man who obliterates the last traces of this war, will have the credit of its entire completion ; I pray that that man is, and I am confident that he will be, none other than yourself. I am not in the least surprised, and am highly delighted, that the proofs of my devotion to you - and certainly none could be more convincing - are as gratifying to you as I thought they would be ; and if all goes well with you, you will find them yet more convincing and of greater consequence.
May 29th.
PLANCUS TO CICERO, GREETING
I should be ashamed of the inconsistency in the tone of my letters, were it not attributable to the shiftiness of another. I left no stone unturned to join forces with Lepidus for the defence of the Republic, and so resist the desperadoes with less anxiety to you all. There is nothing I did not either pledge myself to do at his request, or promise to do unasked, and I wrote to you two days ago, saying I felt sure I should find Lepidus an honourable man, and have his co-operation in the conduct of the war. I put my trust in his autograph letters, and the personal protestations of Laterensis, who was staying with me at the time, and kept begging of me to be reconciled to Lepidus, and put my faith in him. It has proved impossible to have good hopes of him any longer. Of one thing, assuredly, I have been, or shall be careful - that the interests of the Republic are not betrayed by my credulity.
2 Having taken my army across the river Isara by a bridge that was built in one day, and making as much haste as so important a matter demanded, since he himself had urged me by letter to come as soon as possible, I found his orderly awaiting me there with a despatch in which he gave me strict injunctions not to come, adding that he could settle the business by himself, and that meantime I was to wait for him on the Isara. I shall make no secret to you of my rash determination ; I decided to go all the same, suspecting that he only wished to shirk having to share his glory with another. I thought that, without nibbling a morsel off the hungry fellows credit, I could still be in the neighbourhood for him to fall back upon, so that, if anything untoward occurred, I might give him prompt assistance.
3 That is how I, not being an evil-disposed person, was looking at the matter. But Laterensis, a man of unimpeachable character, sends me a letter in his own handwriting, in which he despairs of himself, the army, and Lepidus s honesty, complains that he has been left in the lurch, and frankly warns me to be on my guard against being imposed upon, adding that for his own part he had kept his word, and urging me to be true to the Republic. I have sent a copy of his original letter to Titius. ** I shall entrust the delivery of all the originals, both those I considered genuine and those I did not think should be relied upon, to Laevus Cispius, ** who has been engaged in all these transactions.
4 There is this further fact, that when Lepidus was haranguing them, his men, disloyal in themselves, and corrupted also by their officers, the Canidiuses and Rufrenuses ** and the rest of that gang - you will know all about them when the time comes - shouted in unison, fine patriots as they are, that what they wanted was peace, and that they were not going to fight for any party, after two illustrious consuls had already been slain, so many citizens lost fighting for their country, and all of them, in fine, condemned as public enemies, and their possessions confiscated. Now this outburst had been neither punished nor quelled by Lepidus.
5 To come here then and expose my very loyal army, my very numerous auxiliaries, the chief men of Gaul, and the entire province to a combination of two armies - this I saw to be the height of madness and temerity. I saw too that, if I were overwhelmed in this way, and had betrayed the State together with myself, not only should I have no honour shown me after my death, but no pity either. I am therefore resolved to return, and will not permit the possibility of such generosity being wasted on a pack of desperadoes.
6 I shall do my best to keep my army advantageously situated, to protect my province, even if that other army has revolted, and to keep my hands free in every respect, until you send reinforcements here, and defend the Republic with as much good fortune here as elsewhere. No man was ever more ready, whether to fight it out, if the opportunity occurs, or to stand a blockade, if it be necessary, or to die, if it so happen, on your behalf. Therefore do I urge you, my dear Cicero, to take steps to send an army across to us as soon as possible, and to make haste to do so before the enemy becomes still stronger, and our own men more disorderly. If only that is done speedily, the traitors will be exterminated, -and victory will ever remain in the hands of the Republic. Be sure you keep well and continue to love me.
7 Am I to write an apology to you for my brother, ** a most gallant citizen and most prompt to answer any call ? As a result of his hard work he has had a slight attack of fever, non-intermittent and troublesome enough. As soon as he can hurry back to Rome, he will not hesitate to do so, and be of service to the State, whatever his sphere of duty. I beg you to regard my position as being in your hands. It is needless for me to have any ambition, as I have in you one who is not only warmly attached to me, but also (and that has ever been my prayer) commands the highest influence. You will yourself consider what you would like to be the extent of your generosity to me, and the time for it. I ask you no more than this - to let me fill Hirtius's place, that you may show your love for me, and I my respect for you.
CICERO TO PLANCUS, GREETING
All our hopes rest on you and your colleague, ** the gods helping us. The cordial agreement between you clearly expressed to the Senate in your joint despatch gave extraordinary pleasure both to the Senate and the entire State.
2 You wrote to me about the land commission ** ; well, had the Senate been consulted, I should have supported whoever proposed the most complimentary motion about you, and that man would certainly have been myself. But so tardy was the expression of opinions and so dilatory the transaction of business, seeing that the matters under discussion were not arriving at a settlement, your brother Plancus and I decided to accept the decree of the Senate which was passed ; and I fancy Plancus has told you by letter, who it was that prevented its being drafted in exact agreement with our wishes. **
3 But if there is anything that disappoints you in the decree of the Senate, or in anything else, rest assured of this, that such is the affection all patriots feel for you in their hearts, that it is impossible to imagine any kind of position, however exalted, which is not yours for the asking. I await your letter with much eagerness, and such a letter too as I above all things desire.
PLANCUS TO CICERO, GREETING
Never, I solemnly aver, my dear Cicero, shall I regret undergoing the greatest danger on behalf of my country, provided that, if anything happens to me, I escape the reproach of rashness. Had I ever trusted Lepidus from the bottom of my heart, I should confess that lack of caution had led me astray. For credulity is more an error of judgment than a crime, and indeed the better the man, the more easily does it creep into his mind. It was not this weakness, however, that all but betrayed me ; no, I knew Lepidus only too well. What was it then ? It was my regard for my reputation, the most dangerous attribute in war, that forced me into this danger. For had I remained in one spot, I was afraid that someone among my critics would suspect me of being unduly obstinate in my quarrel with Lepidus, and even of fostering the war by taking no action.
2 I therefore brought up my troops almost within sight of Lepidus and Antony, and, leaving a distance of forty miles between us, I encamped there with the idea of being able either to make a rapid advance or to retire with perfect safety. I acquired these further advantages in my choice of ground - I should have in front of me a river, to cross which would cause delay, and close at hand were the Vocontii, whose loyalty would keep the road open for me through their territory. Abandoning all hope of my arrival, which he was exceedingly anxious to bring about, ** Lepidus effected a junction with Antony on May 29th, and on the same day they advanced to meet me ; that fact was reported to me when they were twenty miles off.
3 I made every effort, by the blessing of heaven, to make a rapid retreat, without allowing my departure to bear any resemblance to a flight, and to prevent a single foot-soldier or horseman or any piece of baggage being lost or cut off by those hot-headed brigands. And so on June 4th I threw all my forces across the Isara and broke up the bridge I had built, so as to give my men time to pull themselves together, and in the meantime myself to effect a junction with my colleague, whom I am expecting within three days of the date of this letter.
4 I shall always acknowledge the loyalty and singular devotion to the Republic of our friend Laterensis, ** but there is no doubt that his unduly generous estimate of Lepidus impaired his sagacity in appreciating these dangers. It is true that when he realised that he had been lured into a trap, he endeavoured to lay upon himself those hands which he would more properly have armed for the destruction of Lepidus. In that attempt, however, he was interrupted and is still alive, and is likely, it is said, to live. But on that point I cannot be positive. **
5 My slipping from between their hands was a bitter blow to the murderers of their country ; for they were coming stirred by the same mad hatred against myself as against their fatherland. Moreover, they had these fresh reasons for their angry feelings - I had never ceased from goading Lepidus into extinguishing the war ; I condemned the parleys ** that had taken place ; I had forbidden the legates ** sent under the guarantee of Lepidus to come within my sight ; and I had arrested C. Cautious Vestinus, the military tribune sent him by Antony with a despatch, and had treated him as a public enemy. In all this I have the pleasure of being assured that the greater their eagerness to catch me, the keener is their vexation at being foiled.
6 It is for you, my dear Cicero, to stand by us as staunchly as ever, and with all vigilance and energy to reinforce us who are bearing the brunt of the battle. Let Caesar ** come and bring with him his most trustworthy troops, or, if anything prevents his coming himself, let his army be sent ; he is himself involved in no little danger. ** All the desperadoes who were ever likely to take up arms against their country are now gathered together in this one spot.
Why indeed should we not employ all the resources we command for the salvation of the city ? But if you at Rome do not fail us, I assure you that, for my own part, I shall amply satisfy the claims of the ! Republic in every particular.
7 As for you, my dear Cicero, I declare that my love for you increases day by day ; and your kind services daily intensify my anxiety not to forfeit an atom of either your love or your esteem. I pray that I may soon be at your side, and so be permitted, by the dutiful discharge of my obligations to you, to enhance the pleasure you take in doing kindnesses to me.
June 6th, Cularo, in the country of the Allobroges.
PLANCUS, IMPERATOR AND CONSUL DESIGNATE, TO CICERO, GREETING
It is impossible for me not to express my gratitude to you in regard to every detail of your services. But I assure you that I do so with a sense of shame. For neither does the intimate connexion you have encouraged between us appear to require any expression of thanks, nor is it any pleasure to me to repay your wonderful kindness by employing the cheap currency of words ** ; and I had rather prove to you that I am not forgetful by my respectful consideration for you, and unfailing attention to you when we meet. But if life be spared me, by that same respectful consideration and unfailing attention I shall outdo all the gratitude of your friends, and even all the affection of your kinsfolk. As for your love and esteem for me, I find it hard to tell whether it is likely to bring me in greater measure permanent honour or daily delight.
2 You have been concerned about the benefactions to the soldiers ; it was not with a view to my own personal ascendancy (I am sure I harbour no sinister design) that I wished them to be honoured by the Senate, but because in the first place I considered they deserved it ; in the next place, because I desired them to be more closely bound to the Republic to meet any possible emergency ; and lastly, so that I might keep them proof against any temptation from any quarter and guarantee their being as loyal to you as they have been hitherto. **
3 So far we have maintained the whole position here unchanged ; and though I am well aware how great is the general and quite justifiable eagerness for a decisive victory, still I trust that my policy meets with your approval. For if anything should go wrong with the armies here, the State has no large reserves ready to take the field, wherewith to resist any sudden attack or raid on the part of these murderers of their country. What forces I have, I believe you know. There are three legions of veterans in my camp, and one, and that the most splendid of them all, of recruits ; Brutus has under him one legion of veterans, another of two years' service men, and eight of recruits. So taking the army as a whole, it is numerically very strong, but below par in steadiness ; and experience has taught us only too often how far recruits are to be relied upon on the field of battle.
4 Had the strength of our forces, such as it is, been reinforced either by the African army, which consists of veterans, or by that of Caesar, we ** should put the fortunes of the Republic to the test of a battle with an easy mind ; but we a saw that what Caesar could offer us was considerably the nearer at hand, and I have never ceased from urging him by letter to come, nor has he ever stopped assuring me that he was doing so without delay ; though I see that he has meantime turned away from tins purpose, and is taken up with other designs. Nevertheless I have sent our friend Furnius to him with messages and a despatch, to see if he could do any good.
5 Now you know, my dear Cicero, that, as far as affection for Caesar goes, I am with you, whether because, having regard to my intimacy with Julius, while he was alive, I was bound even then to give the young Caesar my support and esteem ; or because young Caesar himself, so far as I had the opportunity of knowing him, was a man of most modest and kindly disposition ; or because, considering the marked friendship between Julius Caesar and myself, not to recognise as his son one who had been adopted as such by his own deliberate choice and that of all of you, strikes me as a breach of honour. 6 But - and whatever I write to you I swear I write more in sorrow than resentment - the fact that Antony is alive to-day, that Lepidus has joined him, that their armies are by no means contemptible, that they are sanguine and daring - all that they can put down to the credit of Caesar. Now I am not going back on past history ; but starting from the time when Caesar spontaneously declared that he was coming to join me, had he but decided to do so, the war would have been either immediately stamped out, or else, to the enemy's overwhelming disadvantage, pushed away into Spain, a country utterly unfavourable to their interests. What his idea was, or what peoples advice he followed, in abandoning a policy so glorious, and, moreover, so imperative and conducive to his own safety, and aspiring instead to a two months' consulship, causing thereby wild and universal panic, and making clownishly importunate demands withal - that is a mystery I cannot fathom.
7 Much, it seems to me, can be done in this connexion, both in the interests of the State and in his own, by his near relations ; but most of all I imagine, by yourself also, whose services to him outweigh those to anybody else, except myself ; for never shall I forget that my obligations to you are as great as they are numerous.
On these matters I have commissioned Furnius to complete negotiations with him ; and should it turn out that I have as much influence with him as I ought to have, he will find that I have given him material assistance. 8 Meanwhile we are carrying on the war under increasingly difficult conditions ; for we do not think that the ground is quite clear for a decisive engagement, and at the same time do not intend, by shirking one, to do anything to make it possible for the Republic to suffer a still more serious disaster. But if either Caesar reviews his own position, or the African legions arrive promptly, we shall relieve you of all anxiety in this part of the world.
I beg you to regard me with as much esteem as ever, and rest assured that I am, in a special sense, ever yours.
In camp, July 28th.
CICERO TO FURNIUS, GREETING **
If it is of importance - and everybody believes it is - to the Republic that you should strenuously support her, as indeed you have consistently done from the beginning, and take your part in the very important operations which are concerned with extinguishing the last embers of the war, it seems to me that there is nothing better or more praiseworthy or more honourable that you could do ; and I am of opinion that you should think less of speedily attaining the praetorship than of devoting your energy, activity, and thoughts to the Republic. I would not have you be unaware of the high reputation you have already gained - a reputation, believe me, second only to that of Plancus, and that too on Plancus s own testimony, supported by everybody's report and acquaintance with the facts.
2 For that reason, if there is still any work left for you to do, you should, in my opinion, throw all your energy into its final completion. What could be more to your honour ? And what again is more precious than honour ? If, however, you consider that you have satisfied the claims of the State, I think you should lose no time in coming to the comitia, since they are going to be held at an early date ; provided only that your hurry to get office detracts in no way from the glory we ** have won. Many most distinguished men, when on public service, have not taken up their year of candidature. And it is all the easier for us not to do so, inasmuch as this is not your appointed year, in the same way as, had you been aedile, ** your year would have come two years later. As it is, it will not appear that you are disregarding any of the customary and (as we may almost call it) statutory period assigned to canvassing. ** I clearly see, however, that, with Plancus for consul, although you might have all your plans arranged without reference to him, still your candidature would gain in distinction if only your operations should have been completed to our satisfaction. 3 Speaking generally, considering your own consummate sagacity and judgment, I do not deem it so very necessary to write at greater length ; but at the same time I do not wish you to be uninformed as to my own opinion, the main purport of which is this : I would have you appraise your general outlook by the standard of true desert, rather than by the prospect of high office, and seek a fuller fruition of your hopes in an abiding renown, than in the rapid attainment of a praetorship. These are the very words I spoke at my house, whither I had invited my brother Quintus, Caecina, ** and Calvisius, ** all of them deeply devoted to you, when Dardanus too, your freedman, was one of the party. My words seemed to meet with unanimous approval. But you will be the best judge.
M. CICERO TO C. FURNIUS, GREETING
On reading the letter in which you made it plain that you must either sacrifice the Narbonenses ** or fight a hazardous battle, I was more afraid of the former course, and am not sorry it has been avoided. You write about the cordial relations between Plancus and Brutus ; well, it is that fact that makes me most sanguine of victory. As to the enthusiasm of the Gauls, we shall some day discover, as you write, who it was that succeeded in exciting it ; though, as a matter of fact, we have discovered it already. ** So naturally, immensely pleased as I was with your letter, the end of it exasperated me ; you write that, if the elections are put off till August, you will return speedily, but if they are already over, with all the more speed, so as not to go on playing the fool at the risk of your life.
2 Oh, my dear Furnius, how little you know of your own case - you, who find it so easy to get up the cases of others ! ** Do you really now regard yourself as a candidate, and do you really entertain the idea of hurrying posthaste to the elections, or else, if they are now over, of staying at home, so as not to be, as you put it, an utter idiot and run a tremendous risk at the same time ? No, I don't believe you have any such thoughts, knowing as I do all your eager aspirations to glory. But if you do think as you write, well then I hold you less to blame than I do my own estimate of you. Are you of all men in such a violent hurry to secure a magistracy of very little account and disgustingly common if you obtain it in the way most candidates do, as to be tempted to abandon so glorious a career, for which you are so universally, justly too, and with sincerity, lauded up to the skies ? Quite so ; what interests you is whether you are to be made praetor at this election or the next, not, of course, that you should so deserve of the Republic as to be deemed most worthy of every conceivable honour.
3 Know you not to what a height you have ascended, or does that make no appeal to you ? If you do not know, then I forgive you ; it is we who are to blame ; but if you do realise it, then how can any praetorship in the world have a greater charm for you than the path either of duty, which attracts but few, or of glory, which attracts the world ? On this point Calvisius, ** a man of sound judgment, and deeply attached to you, and I myself find fault with you daily. As to the elections, since your life depends upon them, we are striving to the best of our ability, as we think it for various reasons to the public advantage, to put them off till the month of January. Success then, and health to you !
CICERO TO LEPIDUS, GREETING
So sincere is my regard for you that I am deeply interested in your advancement to the very highest position ; I am therefore distressed at your having expressed no gratitude to the Senate, when that body had honoured you with the highest marks of distinction. I rejoice that you have set your heart on arranging a peace between the parties in the State ; provided you dissociate that peace from any form of servitude, you will be doing the best you can both for the Republic and for your own position ; but if the peace you propose means the reinstatement of an unprincipled man in a long lease of absolutely uncontrollable tyranny, I would have you know that all men of sound views have made up their minds to accept death rather than servitude.
2 You will therefore act more wisely, in my judgment at any rate, in not mixing yourself up with any such plans for peace as you mention, which satisfy neither the Senate, nor the people, nor any honest citizen. But this you will be told by others, or be informed of it by letter. With your usual perspicacity you will see what is best to be done.
CICERO TO TREBONIUS, ** GREETING
How I should like you to have invited me to that most gorgeous banquet on the Ides of March ! We should have had no leavings. ** But, as it is, they give us such trouble that the heavenly service you have all rendered the Republic is qualified by some grounds for complaint. Indeed the fact that this curse of the country was withdrawn into shelter by you, the most loyal of men, and thanks to your generosity is still alive, makes me sometimes, though it is hardly right of me, a little angry with you ; since you left me with more trouble to deal with by my single self than all the rest of the world without me. For as soon as ever a Senate could be held under free conditions after the most discreditable departure of Antony, ** I resumed that old spirit of mine, which you and that most doughty citizen, your father, have always lauded and loved . **
2 For when the tribunes of the plebs had summoned the Senate on December 20th, and were putting another question before the house, I reviewed the whole constitutional situation, and speaking with intense fervour, more by force of energy than of eloquence, I restored to a drooping and weary Senate its ancient and traditional fortitude. That day's doings, and my vigorous pleading, first inspired the people of Rome with the hope of recovering their liberty. And indeed from that day I have never permitted myself a moment's respite, I will not say from merely thinking, but from acting also in the interests of the State.
3 Did I not assume that affairs in the city and every transaction is being fully reported to you, I should myself write you a full account of them, hampered as I am by the most pressing engagements. But all that you will learn from others ; I shall give you a few facts, and of them only a summary. We have a stout Senate, though the consulars are some of them timorous, others disaffected. Servius ** was a serious loss. L. Caesar is thoroughly loyal at heart, but his being Antony's uncle ** takes the edge off his proposals. The consuls are admirable ; D. Brutus ** is splendid ; and Caesar is a fine young fellow, and I have great hopes of him in the future. This much, however, you must regard as certain, that had he not promptly enrolled the veterans, and had not two legions of Antony's army crossed over to his command, and had not Antony been faced by so terrible a danger, there is no form of crime or cruelty Antony would not have perpetrated. Although I expect you have heard all this, still I want you to have a clearer knowledge of it. I shall write more fully if I find I have more leisure.
CICERO TO APPIUS, GREETING **
Of my keen interest in your restoration and reinstatement you have, I believe, been informed in the letters of your friends, whom I am well assured that I have most abundantly satisfied ; and, singularly devoted to you as they are, I do not yield to them so far as to admit that they desire your restoration more than I do myself. It is they who must needs yield precedence to me, considering that at the present moment I can serve you more effectually than they ; and to serve you I have never ceased, nor ever shall cease ; indeed, I have already done so in a matter of paramount importance, and have laid the foundations of your restoration. See to it that you keep up your spirits and courage, and be assured of my unfailing support in every respect.
July 6th.
GALBA ** TO CICERO, GREETING
On April 14th, the day on which Hirtius was to have been joined in camp by Pansa, with whom I was (for I had advanced 100 miles to meet him, in order to hasten his arrival), on that day Antony brought out two legions, the second and the thirty-fifth, and two praetorian cohorts, one his own, the other Silanus's, ** with a detachment of reserve men. The reason of Antony's advance to meet us was that he supposed we had no more than four legions of recruits. During the night, however, to ensure our greater safety in reaching his camp, Hirtius had sent us the Martian legion, which I usually commanded, ** with two praetorian cohorts.
2 When Antony's cavalry came in sight, neither the Martian legion nor the praetorian cohorts could be held in check, and we began to follow their lead, being forced to do so, since we had failed to keep them back. Antony contained his forces at Forum Gallorum, ** and not wishing it to be known that he had legions with him, he only allowed his cavalry and light-armed troops to be visible. When Pansa saw the legion advancing against his orders he told two legions of recruits to follow him. As soon as we had crossed the narrow tongue of marsh and woodland, ** we drew up a line of twelve cohorts ; the two legions of recruits had not yet come up. **
3 Suddenly Antony brought his forces out of the village into line, and immediately charged. At first the battle could not have been more keenly fought than it was on either side ; although our right wing, where I was stationed with eight cohorts of the Martian legion, had at the first onset put to flight Antony's Thirty-fifth legion, so that our wing advanced more than half a mile ahead of our line from its original position. Consequently, when the enemy's cavalry were disposed to outflank our wing, I began to retreat and to put out my light-armed troops to oppose the Moorish cavalry, to prevent their attacking our men from the rear. Meantime I became aware that I was surrounded by Antony's troops and that Antony himself was some distance behind me. In a moment I galloped up to the legion of recruits which was coming from the camp, slinging my shield behind me. The enemy were close upon me, and our men were eager to hurl their javelins. I was only saved by a stroke of good luck, for my own men quickly recognised me.
4 There was a prolonged engagement on the Aemilian Road itself where Caesar's praetorian cohort was posted. Our left wing, on which were two cohorts of the Martian legion and a praetorian cohort, being weaker, began to retreat, as it was being outflanked by the cavalry, in which Antony is extremely strong. After all our ranks had made good their retreat, last of all I myself began to retire towards the camp. Antony, assuming that he was victorious, imagined that he could capture the camp, but on arriving there he lost a good many men without achieving anything. On hearing this, Hirtius with twenty veteran cohorts threw himself in Antony's way as he was returning to , his own camp, and annihilated all his forces, having routed them on the very same ground on which the battle had been fought - at Forum Gallorum. At the fourth hour of the night Antony and his cavalry found refuge in their own camp near Mutina.
5 Hirtius retired to that camp from which Pansa had come out, after leaving there the two legions which had been beleaguered by Antony. Thus it was that Antony lost the greater part of his veteran forces. This, however, could not be effected without considerable sacrifice on the part of our praetorian cohorts and the Martian legion. Two eagles and sixty standards have been brought back - all Antony's. It has been a splendid achievement.
The Camp, April 15th.
C. ASINIUS POLLIO ** TO M. TULLIUS CICERO, GREETING
You ought not to think it in the slightest degree surprising that I have not written at all about public affairs since the outbreak of hostilities. For though it is true that the pass of Castulo, ** which has always held up our letter-carriers, has now become more dangerous than ever owing to the increase in brigandage, it is nothing like so great a cause of delay as are the scouts, who, posted everywhere on both sides, search our letter-carriers and detain them. So had not a letter reached me by sea, I should be in absolute ignorance of what was going on at Rome. But now that I have the opportunity, the sailing season having begun, I shall write to you with the greatest gusto, and as frequently as I can.
2 There is no danger of my being affected by the talk of a man, ** who (although nobody likes the sight of him) is not as much hated by men in general as he deserves to be. So thoroughly do I detest him that I regard with disgust whatever I have to do in conjunction with him. Now my own instincts and pursuits incline me to desire peace and liberty ; and so I have often bitterly bewailed that first step in civil war. Seeing, however, that, because I had powerful enemies on both sides, it was impossible for me to be wholly neutral, I fled from the camp ** in which I knew beyond doubt that I should not be safe from the machinations of an enemy. ** Forced to a decision not at all to my liking, lest I should fall into the background, I boldly and unhesitatingly faced the dangers it involved.
3 But as regards Caesar, ** because he treated me as one of his oldest friends, though he never made my acquaintance until he had reached the height of his fortune, my esteem for him was based on the deepest devotion and loyalty. What it was possible for me to achieve on my own initiative, I performed in such a way as to win the heartiest approval of every true patriot ; what I did under orders, I did at such a moment and in such a manner as to make it evident that instructions had been issued to an unwilling agent. The quite undeserved odium I have incurred by this conduct is enough to teach me the joys of freedom and the wretchedness of life under a despotism. If therefore events are so developing as to put all power again in the hands of one man, whosoever that man is, I declare myself his foe ; and in defence of liberty there is no danger from which I should either hold back or seek to excuse myself.
4 But the consuls have given me no guidance as to my line of action, either by a decree of the Senate or by a despatch from themselves ; indeed the single letter I have had, and that only after the Ides of March, was from Pansa. in which he urges me to write to the Senate, offering to put myself and my army at their disposal. Now this, at a time when Lepidus was publicly declaring and writing to everybody that he was in agreement with Antony, put me in a very awkward position ; by what system of supplies was I to bring my legions through his province without his consent ? Or even if I had surmounted all other difficulties, could I wing my way over the Alps too, which are occupied by his guards ? In addition to this, it was impossible for letters to reach their destination ; there are scores of places where they are turned inside out ; and then the carriers also are detained by Lepidus.
5 One fact nobody will question - that I publicly declared at Corduba that I would surrender the province to nobody who had not come with the authority of the Senate. Why should I tell you of the angry disputes I have had about handing over the Thirtieth legion ? Had I done so, everybody knows how much weaker I should have been to support the State. For are there braver men or better fighters in the world than the Thirtieth ? Don't you believe it. You must therefore regard me as one who is, first and foremost, extremely eager for peace (for frankly my desire is the security of every member of the State), and secondly, as one prepared to assert alike for himself and for the State their claim to liberty.
6 That you should have put a dear friend of mine ** on the list of your own, is more gratifying to me than you can imagine ; and yet I am jealous of his walking and joking with you. You will ask how much I value that ? If ever I am permitted to live a life of peace, you will find out ; for I am not going to stir a single step from your side. One thing surprises me vastly - your never having written to tell me whether I can better do my duty by the Republic by remaining in the province, or by bringing my army into Italy. For my part, safer and less troublesome for myself though it be to remain, yet, because I see that at such a crisis there is much greater need of legions than of provinces (especially as the latter can be recovered without difficulty) I have made up my mind, as matters now stand, to start and bring the army with me. As to my next step you will get every information in the despatch I have sent to Pansa, of which I have sent you a copy.
Corduba, March 16th.
C. ASINIUS POLLIO TO M. TULLIUS CICERO, GREETING
With a large sum of ready money, a large quantity of gold, and a larger of silver, amassed from the public revenues, and without even paying his soldiers, my quaestor Balbus ** took himself off from Gades, and, after being weather-bound for three days by a gale off Calpe, ** on June 1st crossed over into the kingdom of Bogudes, ** with quite a nice little nest-egg in his pocket. Having only the rumours of the hour to go upon, whether he is returning to Gades or going on to Rome I do not yet know ; for he chops and changes in the wickedest way every time one has tidings of him.
2 But besides his thefts and robberies and his flogging of allies with rods, he has this too to his credit ("for all the world like C. Caesar," ** as he himself often boasts) : at the games he provided at Gades, on the last day of them, he presented the actor Herennius Gallus with a gold ring, and conducted him to a seat in the fourteen ** rows - for that was the number of rows he had assigned to the equestrian rank ; he extended his own tenure of office as one of the quattuorviri ** ; he held elections for two years on two successive days, in other words, he returned as elected whatever men he pleased ; he restored exiles, not those of recent days, but of the days when the Senate was butchered or expelled by rebels in the proconsulship of Sextus Varus. **
3 In what follows, however, he did not even confine himself to the imitation of Caesar ; for in the course of the games he staged a "Roman drama," ** all about his own expedition to tamper with the loyalty of the proconsul L. Lentulus, ** and (would you believe it ?) he was so much affected by the representation of his own adventures that he burst into tears. Again, at the gladiatorial shows there was a certain Fadius, a soldier of Pompey ; he had been pressed into the gladiatorial school, and having twice defeated his adversary without being paid for it, he objected to binding himself over to be a gladiator, and had sought refuge among the people ; so Balbus first let loose some Gallic horsemen among the crowd (for stones were thrown at him when Fadius was being dragged away) and then carried off Fadius, buried him up to the waist in the gladiators' school, and burnt him alive, while he himself, having lunched, strolled about bare-footed ** with his tunic ungirdled and his hands behind his back, and when the poor wretch shrieked out "I am a born Roman citizen," he answered, "Off with you at once ; implore the protection of the people." ** It is a fact that he has thrown Roman citizens to the wild beasts, among them a certain itinerant pedlar who frequented sales, a very well-known character at Hispalis on account of his deformity.
This is the kind of monster I have had to deal with. But more about him when we meet.
4 But now, and this is the main point, you must decide what you wish me to do. I have three legions firm in their allegiance. One of them, the Twenty-eighth, had been urged by Antony to join him at the beginning of the war, and this is what he promised them ; on the day they came to his camp he would give every single soldier 500 denarii, and in case of victory the same bounties as he would give his own legions - and who anticipated any end or limit to such bounties ? Well, that legion, strongly tempted as it was, I managed to retain, though, on my solemn oath, with difficulty ; and I should not have done so at all, if I had had them all together in one place, seeing that certain cohorts became mutinous, each on its own account. The other legions, too, he never ceased to tempt by means of letters and unlimited promises. And indeed Lepidus pressed me no less, by writing himself and getting Antony to do so, to send him the Thirtieth legion.
5 The army, therefore, which I neither desired to sell at any price nor allowed to be impaired by the apprehension of all the dangers portended, should those two men ** be victorious, that army I say, you ought to regard as retained and kept safe for the Republic, and since I have already carried out your orders, to believe that I should have done whatever else you commanded me to do. I have kept the province peaceful and the army amenable to my authority ; at no point have I passed beyond the bounds of my province ; I have not sent a single soldier, not of the legions only, but even of the auxiliaries, in any direction ; and if ever I caught any of the cavalry trying to desert, I punished them.
For all this I shall consider that I have gained a sufficient return in the salvation of the Republic. At the same time had that Republic, and indeed the bulk of the Senate, been properly acquainted with me, the advantage it would have gained through me would have been greater.
I am sending you for your perusal a letter I have written to Balbus, who is just now in the province ; there is also a "Roman drama" ** if you care to read it, for which you must ask my friend Gallus Cornelius. **
Corduba, June 8th.
POLLIO TO CICERO, MANY GREETINGS
If you are well, all is right. I too am well. Lepidus, who detained my letter-carrier for nine days, was the cause of the long delay in my being informed of the battles fought near Mutina, though, of course, the longest possible delay in hearing of such a disaster to the State is a thing to be prayed for - but only by those who can neither improve nor retrieve the position. And how I wish that by the same decree of the Senate as that by which you summoned Plancus and Lepidus to Italy you had ordered me to come too ! Assuredly the Republic would then have been spared this blow. And if there be any who rejoice at the present state of affairs, because both the commanders and the veterans on Caesars side have apparently perished, yet they cannot but mourn presently when they turn their gaze on the devastation of Italy. For if the reports that come in are in any degree true, not only the mature strength but the undergrowth of our armies has perished.
2 Nor did I fail to see how great service I was likely to render the State if I had joined Lepidus ; for I should have dispelled every vestige of hesitation on his part, especially with Plancus to help me. But as he wrote me such letters as I send for your perusal, manifestly in much the same tone as the public speeches he is said to have made at Narbo, it was obviously essential that I should smooth him down, if I wanted to get my supplies when marching through his province. Moreover, I was afraid that, if the battle was over before I finished what I had begun, my detractors would force upon my patriotic project ** an interpretation the very reverse of my intention, all because of my friendship with Antony, which after all was no greater than that with Plancus.
3 In the month of April then I embarked two letter-carriers on two separate ships, and wrote from Gades to yourself and the consuls and Octavian, asking you to inform me by what manner of means I could best serve the Republic. But, according to my reckoning, the ships started from Gades on the very day Pansa fought his battle. For, since the winter, no sailing was possible before that date. And I solemnly aver that I had put my legions into winter quarters in the heart of Lusitania before I had the remotest suspicion that there would be a civil insurrection. And besides both commanders were in as great a hurry to come to blows as if what they feared more than anything was the settlement of the war without the maximum of damage to the Republic. But if there was any need for haste, in my view every single success achieved by Hirtius was marked by the strategy of a consummate commander.
4 Just now r the written and oral reports I receive from Lepidus's Gaul ** are as follows : that Pansa's army has been cut to pieces ; that Pansa has died of his wounds ; that in the same engagement the Martian legion was annihilated, including L. Fabatus, ** C. Peducaeus, and D. Carfulenus ** ; but in the battle fought by Hirtius both the Fourth legion and all Antony's were equally cut up, as also were Hirtius's ; that the Fourth had even captured Antony's camp before it was cut to pieces by the Fifth ; that Hirtius also and Pontius Aquila ** fell there ; that even Octavian is said to have been killed (and if all this is true, which heaven forbid ! I am profoundly grieved) ; that Antony has ignominiously abandoned the siege of Mutina, but that he still has 5000 cavalry, three legions fully armed under their respective standards, and one under Popillius of the Bagienni, ** besides quite a large number of unarmed men ; that Ventidius too has joined him with the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth legions ; that if he has no grounds for hopes in Lepidus, he will have recourse to desperate measures, and stir up not only the tribes, but also the slaves ; that Parma has been sacked, and the Alps occupied by L. Antonius.
5 If all this is true, not a man of us must be idle, or wait and see what the Senate decrees. Indeed, the crisis compels all who desire the empire, or even the very name of the Roman people, to be saved, to aid in extinguishing this appalling conflagration. For Brutus, I am told, has no more than seventeen cohorts and two legions, and those not at their full strength, of recruits, which Antony had enrolled. On the other hand, I have no doubt that all the survivors of Hirtius 's army are streaming to join him. I do not think there is much hope in a levy, especially as nothing could be more dangerous than to give Antony time to establish himself. The season of the year, moreover, gives me more freedom of action, owing to the fact that corn is either stacked on the fields or in the farm-granaries. So I shall give you a full explanation of my plans in my next letter ; you may be sure I have no wish either to fail the Republic or to survive it. What annoys me most, however, is that I can only be reached by a route so long and dangerous, that no news comes in before the fortieth day after the event, or even later.
M. LEPIDUS, IMPERATOR FOR THE SECOND TIME, PONTIFEX MAXIMUS, SENDS GREETINGS TO M. TULLIUS CICERO
If you are well, all is right ; I too am well. When I heard that Antony, having sent L. Antonius ahead with part of his cavalry, was entering my province with his forces, I moved with my own army from the confluence of the Rhone ** and determined to march against them. And so, by a rapid succession of marches, I arrived at Forum Voconii, and encamped beyond that town on the river Argenteus, opposite the Antonians. P. Ventidius ** has joined him with his own three legions, and pitched his camp even further beyond the town than I have. Before that, Antony had the Second legion and a large number of men drawn from the other legions, but unarmed. He has a large force of cavalry, for it all left the battle unscathed, so that there are more than five thousand horse. A good number of infantry and cavalry men have crossed over from him to me, and his forces are dwindling day by day.
2 Silanus ** and Culleo ** have left him. Although by joining Antony against my wishes they had done me a serious injury, for all that, because of my kindly feeling and the close connexion between us, I have determined to spare their lives ; at the same time I do not avail myself of their services ; I keep them outside my camp, and I have not put them in command of any operation.
As far as this war is concerned, I shall not fail in my duty either to the Senate or to the State. I shall keep you informed of whatever I may do in the future.
[LEPIDUS TO CICERO, GREETING]
Although, intimate friends as we are, there has never been a time when we failed to vie with one another in the kindliest mutual devotion, conscientiously maintained in the same spirit on either side, yet I doubt not that in so serious and sudden an upheaval in public affairs some representations based on false rumours have been made to you by my detractors about me. which, being unworthy of me, were enough to cause you, loving the Republic as you do, no little perturbation of mind. That you received those reports with reserve, and decided that they should not be hastily credited, my agents have informed me ; and it has naturally been a great pleasure to me. For I do not forget those earlier favours of yours which, prompted by your goodwill, tended to enhance and dignify my position - favours that will remain for ever fixed in my heart.
2 I earnestly beg of you, my dear Cicero, if there is no doubt in your mind as to my career and devotion - and they are worthy of a Lepidus - as a punctiliously assiduous administrator of public affairs in the past, to look for services equally if not more substantial in the future, and to regard me as deserving the protection of your patronage in exact proportion as your goodness to me increases my indebtedness to you.
The Camp at Pons Argenteus, ** May 22nd.
M. LEPIDUS, IMPERATOR FOR THE SECOND TIME, PONTIFEX MAXIMUS, SENDS GREETINGS TO THE SENATE, PEOPLE AND COMMONS OF ROME **
If you and your children are well, all is right. I also am well. I call gods and men to witness, conscript fathers, what my inclinations and feelings have ever been towards the Republic, and how I have deemed nothing of more vital importance than the general security of life and liberty ; and this should shortly have proved to you, had not the development of my own special policy been wrenched out of my hands by fortune. For my army, rising in mutiny as one man, held to its traditional custom in preserving the lives of its fellow-citizens and the peace of the community, and, to speak the truth, compelled me to undertake the support of so vast a number of Roman citizens in their claims to life and civil rights.
2 And in this matter, I pray and beseech you. conscript fathers, to lay aside private feuds, and consider the highest interests of the State, and not to set down as a crime the mercy shown by myself and my army at a time of civil discord. If you decide to consider the safety and political standing of all parties, you will better promote your own interests, as well as those of the State.
Pons Argenteus, May 30th.
1. Lucius Munatius Plancus was born about 87 B.C. We hear of three of his brothers - Bursa, Cicero's bête noir; Gaius, of whom Pliny the Elder says that he deserved his death by proscription if only for having introduced perfumes into Rome; and Gnaeus, often mentioned in this book by his brother Lucius. In the Gallic and Civil wars Lucius served under Caesar, who shortly before his death nominated him governor of Gallia Comata (i.e., all Gaul except Narbonensis) and also consul for 42, with D. Brutus as his colleague. On Caesar's death, Lucius took up his province, and at first supported the Senate against Antony, but when Lepidus joined Antony he crossed over to their side. After his consulship in 43 he followed Antony to Asia, and became governor of Syria. In 32 he broke with Antony, and being well received by Octavian, he lived at Rome for the rest of his life. It was on his proposal that Octavian was given the title of Augustus in 27. He was censor in 22. He never scrupled to desert the losing for the winning side, and, being a past master in the art of flattery, he was uniformly prosperous in life. Hor. Od. i. 7 is addressed to him.
2. i.e., in 42 B.C.
3. C. Furnius was tribune in 50 B.C. When Cicero was in Cilicia, Furnius undertook to oppose the extension of Cicero's tenure of office beyond the year, and helped Caelius to obtain a supplicatio for him. In the Civil War Furnius fought on Caesar's side. In 44 he was on the staff of Plancus, and conducted negotiations between Plancus and Lepidus. He joined Antony and Lepidus when Plancus did so, and continued in the service of Antony up to the battle of Actium in 31, but was afterwards pardoned by Octavian. Though promised the consulship, he never held that office. Plutarch (Ant. 58) writes of him as being "the cleverest speaker in Rome."
4. Probably a supplicatio, which would confirm Plancus's title of imperator. - Tyrrell.
5. i.e., the study of philosophy.
6. See note on ix. 15. 2.
7. He probably refers to what Cicero says of him in x. 3. 3, "that he was thought too much of a time-server."
8. See note to x. 3. 1.
9. Decimus Brutus, appointed by Caesar to hold the consulship with Plancus in 42.
10. It is not known what they were.
11. It is not quite clear how and when Plancus obtained the title of imperator ; perhaps it was for his victory over the Raeti, for which he triumphed in December 44. The addition of "the people and commons of Rome" to the addressees of the letter is not usual, but two other letters are so addressed - that of Lepidus to Cicero (x. 35), and that of Lentulus (xii. 15). This use of 'populus' points to a time when the patricians alone were so entitled.
12. i.e., in the way of exemption from taxes and grants of citizenship ; this was one of the purposes for which Antony used Caesar's papers and other documents purporting to be Caesar's but really forged by Faberius, who had been his scribe.
13. D. Brutus, now besieged in Mutina.
14. Cf. letter 24. 2.
15. The battle of Mutina.
16. Hirtius had left Rome in January, and Pansa on March 20th.
17. M. Juventius Laterensis was praetor in 51 B.C. and augur in 45 ; he was legate in Lepidus's army in 43, and, when that army joined Antony, committed suicide. He was a man of high principle, conscientious, and unflinchingly loyal to the Republic. He is the Laterensis referred to in viii. 8. 2.
18. Cf. x. 7. 1.
19. A relative of Plancus, but not his brother, who was with him in Gaul.
20. Officials in charge of the sacred chickens, who interpreted the omens 'ex tripudiis' - the way in which the chickens fed and the grain fell to the ground.
21. P. Servilius Vatia Isauricus, consul with Caesar in 48 B.C . He seems to have been at enmity with Plancus.
22. Tribune of the Plebs. He is again mentioned in x. 21. 3.
23. A proverbial expression of doubtful origin, meaning passionate and unrestrained defiance.
24. The Munatius mentioned in § 2 above.
25. Or, as S. H. Jeyes renders it, "your end shall be of a piece with the beginning."
26. Since Ulysses by the ruse of the Trojan Horse succeeded where Ajax and Achilles had failed.
27. According to our text of the Iliad, Achilles is called πτολίπορθος four times; but the later Romans appear to have followed the text of Aristarchus, who rejected as spurious the lines in which that epithet is applied to
28. Grenoble.
29. The reference is to letter 11.
30. For motions made by tribunes of the plebs in the Senate see Phil. iii. 13, and vii. 1.
31. For this man's rise from slave to consul see Gellius, xv. 4. In early life he contracted for supplying the provincial governors with mules and carriages, and owed his success to his prompt execution of their orders.
32. An inland town about 24 miles due west of Forum Julii, now Le Canet. Forum Julii is the modern Fréjus.
33. Laevus Cispius and Nerva were legates of Plancus. The former is again mentioned in x. 21. 3.
34. See note on § 1 of letter 17.
35. i.e., "did you not think I loved you before ? "
36. See letter x. 15, § 1 and 2.
37. Sc. 'offendere lapidem turpe' = "it does a man no credit to stub his toe twice against the same stone." We would say "A burnt child fears the fire " or "Once bitten twice shy."
38. Probably P. Titius, the tribune of the plebs mentioned in x. 12. 3.
39. See x. 18. 1.
40. Legates or centurions, no doubt, in the army of Lepidus.
41. This is either a postscript to the preceding letter, or (as Tyrrell takes it to be) the beginning of another letter. On the death of the consuls Cicero had written to Plancus urging him to send back to Rome his brother, Munatius Plancus, praetor urbanus, who was serving as legate in his army. To that letter this is a reply.
42. i.e., D. Brutus.
43. Both Plancus and D. Brutus were anxious to be on the Commission to consider the distribution of land to the soldiers.
44. It was probably Servilius, for whom see note on x. 12. 3.
45. This is inconsistent with 21. 2, 'ne venirem denuntiabat,' etc. ("he distinctly told me not to come," etc.). Is it possible that Lepidus had now laid a trap for Plancus ?
46. See note on x. 11.3.
47. Laterensis died. He was an honourable man, staunchly loyal to the Republic, and his suicide is a pathetically moving incident in the campaign.
48. i.e., the conversations between the soldiers on either side.
49. i.e., of Antony.
50. i.e., Octavian,
51. From the plots of Antony.
52. "The cheap currency of words" is taken from S. H. Jeyes's translation.
53. Cf. letter 8. 7 ad fin.
54. i.e., I and Brutus.
55. See note to x. 2. I.
56. Here, and just below ("it is easier for us not to do so") Cicero identifies Furnius's interests with his own.
57. Two years had to elapse between aedileship and praetorship. Furnius appears to have stood in 44 for the aedileship of 43 ; had he been elected, he could not have stood for the praetorship till 42, or held it till 41.
58. The year's canvassing was a matter of custom, not of law.
59. It is uncertain whether this was Cicero's correspondent (vi. 5, 6) or his son, mentioned as a friend of Octavian's in Att. xvi. 8.
60. Probably not the Calvisius whom Antony sent to supersede Cornificius in Africa, but another man altogether, mentioned later in x. 26. 3.
61. i.e., Gallia Narbonensis. The reference is obscure.
62. Cicero hints that it was Furnius himself, and therefore regrets his intention to return to Rome instead of carrying on his good work abroad.
63. Furnius had apparently practised in the law-courts.
64. See note on letter 25 § 3.
65. C. Trebonius began his public life as a supporter of the aristocratic party, and, as quaestor in 60 B.C., opposed the adoption of P. Clodius into a plebeian family. Soon afterwards he changed sides, and as tribune of the plebs in 55 he was the instrument of the triumvirs in proposing that Pompey should have the two Spains, Crassus Syria, and Caesar the Gauls and Illyricum, for a further period of five years. The proposal was carried in the comitia, and is known as the Lex Trebonia . In 48 , as praetor urbanus , he resisted the wild schemes of his colleague, M. Caelius Rufus. Caesar made him consul in October, 45, and promised him the province of Asia. In spite of all this Trebonius took a leading part in the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar, and shortly after the murder proceeded to his province of Asia. He never received this letter, as he was murdered by Dolabella in Smyrna before the end of January. (Joseph, xiv. 223, 225.) - W.W. How.
66. i.e., no Antony still left alive.
67. On November 28th Antony, hearing of the defection of the Fourth Legion, hurried from Rome to Ariminum. Cicero says that "he did not set out, but fled in full uniform"
68. Tyrrell. "Had ever on your lips and in your love," Jeans. The assonance in the Latin is obviously intentional.
69. Servius Sulpicius Rufus, already an invalid, had died when sent by the Senate with two others on an embassy to Antony, then encamped before Mutina, in January, 43.
70. L. Caesar was the brother of Julia, Antony's mother.
71. For Decimus Brutus see note to xi. 1. 1.
72. Gaius Appius Claudius had been governor of Asia in 55-54, and on his return was condemned on a charge of extortion and exiled, but seems to have been restored by
73. Servius Sulpicius Galba, great-grandfather of the emperor Galba, served under Caesar in Gaul, and was praetor in 54. He was now serving against Antony at Mutina.
74. M. Junius Silanus, son of D. Silanus and Servilia, Cato's sister, whose first husband was M. Junius Brutus, by whom she became the mother of M. Brutus, the conspirator.
75. The Martian legion was on this occasion commanded by D. Carfulenus, who fell in the battle (33. 4). It is noticeable that Galba, probably from pique, makes no mention of him.
76. Now Castel Franco, about 10 miles south-east of Mutina, on the Aemilian Road.
77. i.e., on either side of the Via Aemilia from Ariminum to Placentia, here a raised causeway running across the marshy plain.
78. Antony was numerically superior in each of the three divisions of the battle now going on, (i.) on the right, in the swampy ground to the north of the Via Aemilia, Carfulenus and Galba had but eight cohorts of the Martian legion to oppose Antony's full legion, the 30th, (ii.) on the left three cohorts, i.e. the remaining two of the Martian legion and Hirtius's praetorian cohort, had to face Antony's second legion, and (iii.) on the raised causeway, which prevented the two wings from seeing each other, Octavian's praetorian cohort was no match fur the praetorian cohorts of Antony and Silanus.
79. C. Asinius Pollio, the noted orator, poet, critic, and historian, was born in 76 B.C. At the age of 22 he made his mark as a pleader by attacking C. Cato, a creature of the triumvirs. Four years later he had joined Caesar, and was with him when he crossed the Rubicon in 49. He then went to Africa with Curio, after whose defeat and death he crossed over to Greece, and fought on Caesar's side at Pharsalia (48). Having accompanied Caesar in his African and Spanish campaigns (46-5), he returned with him to Rome, but was sent back as governor of Further Spain to resist Sextus Pompeius, and was there when Caesar was assassinated in 44. In this letter he professes neutrality and a desire for peace with liberty, but when Lepidus and Octavian joined Antony in 43, Pollio threw in his lot with them. Antony gave him the administration of Transpadane Gaul, which involved the settlement of the veterans in the lands assigned to them. It was then that Pollio saved from confiscation the property of Virgil, whom he took under his protection. In 40 he was consul, and in 39 was sent by Antony to fight the Parthini, an Illyrian people, whom he defeated, and was rewarded with a triumph. The rest of his life he devoted to literature, and died at his Tusculan villa in A.D. 4, at the age of 80.
80. A pass in the N.E. extremity of Baetica, near the towns Illiturgi and Castillo ; it is now called the Sierra de Cazlona.
81. This is generally taken to be Antony, but it is incredible that Pollio should have referred in such terms to so important a character as Antony, however much he may have personally disliked him. It is far more probable that Pollio means his own mad quaestor Balbus, for whom see letter 32.
82. i.e., Pompey's.
83. Zumpt takes this to be Gaius Porcius Cato, who had been accused by Pollio in 54, but acquitted. Watson thinks it may have been Labienus,
84. C. Julius Caesar. According to Plutarch (Caes. 32) Caesar consulted Pollio as to whether he should cross the Rubicon or not.
85. The poet Cornelius Gallus, the friend of Virgil and Ovid.
86. This Balbus was a nephew of the Balbus defended by Cicero (vii. 5. 2) and a very different man from his uncle. He was an intermediary between Caesar and the consul L. Lentulus Crus in 49. Just before the battle of Pharsalia he ventured to cross over from Caesar's camp to that of Pompey in order to bribe the proconsul Lentulus, who was a strong Pompeian, to desert Pompey and join Caesar. He was suffect consul in 32 and triumphed over Africa in 19.
87. Gibraltar.
88. Bogudes (or Bogus) was king of Mauretania, and a partisan of Caesar's.
89. Balbus impudently claimed to imitate Julius Caesar, especially in extending his tenure of office, as Caesar may be said to have prolonged his own second dictatorship, and in appointing magistrates for the two following years, as Caesar had appointed magistrates for three years in advance just before his assassination.
90. By a law introduced by Roscius Otho in 67 fourteen rows at the public spectacles were assigned to the equites, and Balbus introduced a like law at Gades. The right to wear a "gold ring" was a special privilege of the equites.
91. Gades, being a municipium, was governed by a board of four magistrates instead of a senate.
92. Probably Sextus Quintilius Varus, praetor in 57, who was proconsul of Further Spain in 56.
93. The fabula praetexta, or praetextata, was a drama on a subject taken from Roman history.
94. See note on § 1.
95. i.e., without his calcei {shoes}, just as he had reclined at table.
96. Every Roman citizen had the right of appeal to the people against a death sentence.
97. Antony and Lepidus.
98. Pollio's dramas had a great contemporary vogue, but not one of them has survived.
99. See note on § 1.
100. i.e., his intention, indicated in § 6 of letter 31, to bring his army from Spain into Italy in support of the Republic.
101. i.e., Narbonensis, as distinguished from the Gaul of Plancus (Comata), and the Gaul of D. Brutus (Cisalpina).
102. In Att. viii. 41. 1, L. Roscius Fabatus is mentioned as having, in company with L. Caesar, brought proposals of peace from Julius Caesar to Pompey.
103. See notes on § 1 & 2 of letter 30.
104. A violent anti-Caesarian, who was one of the conspirators. He lent large sums of money to D. Brutus, to enable him to carry on the war (Dio Cass. xlvi.).
105. The Bagienni lived between the source of the Padus and the Maritime Alps.
106. i.e., with the Druentia (Durance), near Avenio.
107. See note on x. 17. 1.
108. See note on § 1 of letter 30.
109. Q. Terentius Culleo was appointed by Lepidus to guard the passes of the Alps, but Antony persuaded him to let him through.
110. The Pons Argenteus was a little north-east of Forum Voconii (Le Canet), on the road between Aquae Sextiae (Aix) and Forum Julii (Fréjus). The river Argenteus still bears the name of Argente.
111. Lepidus does not mention the consuls, knowing that Hirtius and Pansa are both dead. For the expression "People and Plebs" see note on x. 8. 1. Twelve days after he had assured Cicero that " as far as this war is concerned, I shall not fail in my duty either to the Senate or to the State" (x. 34. 2), Lepidus here writes that he has been compelled to join forces with Antony - a volte-face which ruined the prospects of the Senatorial party. That his defection was the result of sudden coercion is hard to believe; it was more probably long premeditated; he had been closely associated with Antony since Caesar's death. Antony had made him Pontifex Maximus, and his son had married Antony's daughter. The reward of his treachery was a place with Antony and Octavian in the second Triumvirate.
Attalus' home page | 09.10.26 | Any comments?