Nec eum rerum prolatio nec senatus magistratuumque discessus nec aerarium clausum tardabit. 3. Sed haec, ut scribis, cito sciemus. Interim velim mihi ignoscas quod ad te scribo tam multa totiens. Acquiesco enim et tuas volo elicere litteras maximeque consilium quid agam aut quo me pacto geram, demittamne me penitus in causam?-non deterreor periculo sed dirumpor dolore: tamne nullo consilio aut tam contra meum consilium gesta esse omnia!-an cuncter et tergiverser et iis me dem qui tenent, qui potiuntur? Aidéouai Towaç, nec solum civis sed etiam amici officio revocor, etsi frangor saepe misericordia puerorum. 4. Ut igitur ita perturbato, etsi te eadem sollicitant, scribe aliquid, et maxime, si Pompeius Italia cedit, quid nobis agendum putes. M'. quidem Lepidus-nam fuimus una-eum finem statuit, L. Torquatus eundem. Me cum multa tum etiam lictores impediunt; nihil vidi umquam quod minus explicari posset. Itaque a te nihildum certi exquiro sed quid videatur. Denique ipsam ȧropíav tuam

rerum prolatio] the postponement of business,' i.e. the iustitium: cp. Liv. iii. 27. 2, iustitium edicit, claudi tabernas tota urbe iubet, vetat quemquam privatae quicquam rei agere. That a tumultus was decreed on Jan. 14 (cp. 301. 3), and that this involved a iustitium (cp. Phil. v. 31) and a closing of the treasury (cp. Har. Resp. 55), is maintained by Schmidt (p. 107 ff.).

3. Acquiesco enim] sc. scribens ad te. demittamne] a metaphor from abandoning a favourable position, cp. 383. 5: 456. 2; shall I abandon my present favourable position,' asks Cicero, and throw myself heartily into the cause (of Pompey)?' From the other alternativeawaiting events, temporizing,' and ultimately joining the winning side-he is withheld by his fear of public opinion, to which he alludes as usual in the words of Hector.

qui tenent, qui potiuntur] the party in occupation and possession' (usually the object res, rerum is added): cp. Lebreton, pp. 156-166, and note to Att. vii. 7. 5 (298), sustinuisset, and to 470. 3, si essent nostri potiti.

Aidéoμaι Tpwas] Hom. Il. vi. 442— a frequent quotation of Cicero's. See Index.

misericordia puerorum] his son and nephew. For the obj. genit. cp. Ter. Andr. 260-1, tot me impediunt curae ... amor, misericordia huius, nuptiarum sollicitatio, tum patris pudor.

4. Italia cedet] cp. 2 and Ep. 303.

M'. quidem Lepidus] 321. 1; 340. 3. He and Volcatius Tullus (328.3; 350. 2; 365. 7) had been consuls in 66. Both probably attended Caesar's senate in April (350. 2).

eum finem statuit] laid down that as the limit of the obligation to be loyal to Pompey,' that is, expressed his opinion that only so long as Pompey remained in Italy were his supporters bound to be loyal to his cause. We might render, 'drew the line there.'

L. Torquatus] 321. 1: 327. 1. He left Italy with Pompey (note to 363. 1). lictores] 303 init.

sed quid videatur] 'forecasts.'

'probabilities,'

cupio cognoscere. 5. Labienum ab illo discessisse propemodum constat. Si ita factum esset ut ille Romam veniens magistratus et senatum Romae offenderet, magno usui causae nostrae fuisset. Damnasse enim sceleris hominem amicum rei publicae causa videretur, quod nunc quoque videtur sed minus prodest: non enim habet cui prosit, eumque arbitror paenitere, nisi forte id ipsum est falsum, discessisse illum. Nos quidem pro certo habebamus. 6. Et velim, quamquam, ut scribis, domesticis te finibus tenes, formam mihi urbis exponas, ecquod Pompei desiderium, ecquae Caesaris invidia appareat, etiam quid censeas de Terentia et Tullia, Romae eas esse an mecum an aliquo tuto loco. Haec et si quid aliud ad me scribas velim vel potius scriptites.

306. CICERO AND HIS SON TO TERENTIA AND TULLIA (FAM. XIV. 18).

FORMIAE; JANUARY 22; A. U. C. 705; B. C. 49; AET. CIC. 57.

M. Cicero permittit suis quid Caesare ad urbem adventante faciendum videatur. TULLIUS TERENTIAE SUAE ET PATER SUAVISSIMAE FILIAE, CICERO MATRI ET SORORI S. P. D.

1. Considerandum vobis etiam atque etiam, animae meae, diligenter puto quid faciatis, Romaene sitis an mecum an aliquo tuto loco. Id non solum meum consilium est sed etiam vestrum.

Mihi veniunt in mentem haec: Romae vos esse tuto posse per Dolabellam, eamque rem posse nobis adiumento esse, si quae vis aut si quae rapinae fieri coeperint. Sed rursus illud me movet, quod video omnis bonos abesse Roma et eos mulieres suas secum habere. Haec autem regio in qua ego sum nostrorum est cum oppidorum tum etiam praediorum, ut et multum esse mecum et, cum abieritis, commode in nostris esse possitis. 2. Mihi plane non satis constat adhuc utrum sit melius. Vos videte quid aliae faciant isto loco feminae et ne cum velitis exire non liceat. Id velim diligenter etiam atque etiam vobiscum et cum amicis consideretis. Domus ut propugnacula et praesidium habeat Philotimo dicetis. Et velim tabellarios instituatis certos, ut cotidie aliquas a vobis litteras accipiam. Maxime autem date operam ut valeatis, si nos vultis valere. VIII Kal. Formiis.

307. CICERO TO ATTICUS (ATT. VII. 13a).

MINTURNAE; JANUARY 23; A. U. C. 705; B. C. 49; AET. CIC. 57.

De Labieno et Pisone, de genere belli civilis, de summa Cn. Pompeii consilii inopia, de exigua spe sua, de Ciceronibus an in Graeciam amandandi sint, de Tullia et Terentia Romaene remanere possint necne, item de ipso Attico et Peducaeo, de litterarum commercio.

CICERO ATTICO SAL.

1. De Vennonianis rebus tibi adsentior. Labienum nowa iudico. Facinus iam diu nullum civile praeclarius; qui ut aliud nihil

esse tuto] For adverbs with esse cp. note to Ep. 303 and vol. I3, 91.

Dolabellam] 307. 3.

Haec autem regio] this district (sc. Campania and the coast) consists, not only of towns belonging to me, but also of estates of ours,' e.g. at Sinuessa, Cales, Anagnia, Formiae, Cumae (cp. Watson, p.133). Ern. says the towns were devoted to Cicero as being in his clientela; but the reference is rather to the towns over which he had authority: cf. 310. 3.

nostris] praediis is sometimes added: cp. 309. 1; 310. 3; but it is not necessary. Mendelssohn compares 464. 3, in meis esse volui.

hoc tamen profecit: dedit illi dolorem. Sed etiam ad summam profectum aliquid puto. Amo etiam Pisonem, cuius iudicium de genero suspicor visum iri grave. Quamquam genus belli quod sit vides. Ita civile est ut non ex civium dissensione sed ex unius perditi civis audacia natum sit. Is autem valet exercitu, tenet multos spe et promissis, omnia omnium concupivit. Huic tradita urbs est, nuda praesidio, referta copiis. Quid est quod ab eo non metuas, qui illa templa et tecta non patriam sed praedam putet? Quid autem sit acturus aut quo modo nescio, sine senatu, sine magistratibus. Ne simulare quidem poterit quidquam πoditikās. Nos autem ubi exsurgere poterimus aut quando? Quorum dux quam ȧorparýyntos tu quoque animadvertis, quoi ne Picena quidem nota fuerint, quam autem sine consilio res testis. Ut enim alia omittam decem annorum peccata, quae condicio non huic fugae praestitit? 2. Nec vero nunc quid cogitet scio, ac non desino per litteras sciscitari. Nihil esse timidius constat, nihil perturbatius.

paladin.'. One regrets the spite which makes Cicero say that if the defection of Labienus from Caesar has had no other good effect, it has at least had one, it has given Caesar pain. We must, however, remember that Cicero did not yet know whether Caesar was going to be a Phalaris or a Pisistratus.

hoc tamen profecit: dedit illi dolorem] For a sentence in apposition to a demonstrative pronoun cp. Sjögren, p. 162. He compares Att. v. 11. 3 (200), where see note; also Att. xiii. 3. 1 (611).

ad summam] our main interests.' But summa seems to be always used in this sense with a genitive. Perhaps summam is an adjective and r. p. has been lost before pr. We can hardly take ad summam in its ordinary sense (309. 2) of 'in a word,' on the whole.' In Fin. iv. 41 the context seems to show that ad summam = ad summam bonorum. Profectum is of course from proficio: we have gained a solid advantage.' Pisonem] cp. 309. 2. Caesar was married to his daughter Calpurnia.

Quamquam] The argument seems to be-If it was an ordinary civil war with a public opinion on the other side, this defection would carry weight; but not so when the other side is merely an individual of reckless audacity.

ita... ut] it is a civil war only in the sense that it is the result of the recklessness of an individual citizen, not that it has arisen from any civil differences.' For ita... ut, see vol. 13, p. 84. templa et tecta non patriam sed praedam] Note the alliteration. πολιτικῶς]

he will not be able even to keep up the pretence of acting constitutionally.'

exsurgere] to raise our heads.' Cp. Fam. xii. 10, 4 (910) auctoritate vestra resp. exsurget.

ἀστρατήγητος] ‘how little of the military commander is in our general.'

quoi... fuerint] 'considering that he did not even perceive what was going on at Picenum." Res Picentes or Picenae would have been more normal than Picena. Picenus is used only of things: Picens of both persons and things. By Picena it would seem that Cicero referred to the state of disaffection which prevailed in Picenum: for Caesar had not yet opened his campaign in that district.

condicio] 'convention, agreement, compromise.' So below condicionum amissum tempus est, the opportunity for negotiations has been let slip.'

2. Nihil... perturbatius] cp. 305. 2, plena timoris et erroris omnia.

Itaque nec praesidium, cuius parandi causa ad urbem retentus est, nec locum ac sedem praesidi ullam video. Spes omnis in duabus insidiose retentis, paene alienis legionibus. Nam dilectus adhuc quidem invitorum est et a pugnando abhorrentium. Condicionum autem amissum tempus est. Quid futurum sit non video. Commissum quidem a nobis certe est sive a nostro duce ut e portu sine gubernaculis egressi tempestati nos traderemus. 3. Itaque de Ciceronibus nostris dubito quid agam: nam mihi interdum amandandi videntur in Graeciam. De Tullia autem et Terentia, cum mihi barbarorum adventus ad urbem proponitur, omnia timeo; cum autem Dolabellae venit in mentem, paullum respiro. Sed velim consideres quid faciendum putes : primum πρὸς τὸ ἀσφαλές--aliter enim mihi de illis ac de me ipso consulendum est-deinde ad opiniones, ne reprehendamur quod eas Romae velimus esse in communi bonorum fuga. Quin etiam tibi et Peducaeo-scripsit enim ad me-quid faciatis videndum est. Is enim splendor est

retentus] cp. Att. v. 21. 3 (250), cum Pompeius propter metum rerum novarum nusquam (ie. neither to Spain nor to Syria) dimittatur.

locum ac sedem praesidi] any place for the rendezvous of our forces.'-Watson.

insidiose] 'treacherously,' because these legions were withdrawn from Caesar nominally for the prosecution of the Parthian War, but really were kept by the Senate for the use of Pompey: cp. vol. 1112, p. lxxxiv.

paene alienis] 'which can hardly be called his own at all,' as their sympathies were almost entirely with Caesar.

commissum] we have brought it to this that we must go where the storm impels us': cp. Att. iii. 10, 2 (67). For the metaphor cp. Plut. Caes. 34: a slightly different one in Lucan i. 498 ff.

3. Ciceronibus nostris] his son and his nephew, the son of his brother Quintus.

barbarorum] Perhaps an allusion to the number of Gauls in Caesar's army, but possibly also a general term for the whole forces of Caesar: cp. Lucan 481 ff.

Dolabellae] when I think of Dolabella' for the gen. ep. 464. 1, solet in mentem venire illius temporis, where see note: Fin. v. 2, venit mihi Platonis in mentem; venit in mentem I am reminded, I bethink me,' and hence a gen. naturally follows: ep. Madv. 291, obs. 3. But the nom. is also found, Fam. xi. 29, 1 (762).

paullum respiro] 1 get some heart again.'

aliter] Cicero says that the questions of his own conduct and of the best disposal of his family rest on different considerations. In their case he has only to make up his mind what is the safest course; in mapping out his own conduct he has also to consider what his reputation will demand, and that complicates the question of the disposal of his family, for their remaining in Rome might be injurious to his own dignity. Ad means 'with regard to,' an unusual sense, which, however, is supported by the foregoing πρός.

Peducaeo] For Sextus Peducaeus cp. note on Att. vii. 17, 1 (315).

Is enim splendor est restrum] It might seem from this that Peducaeus as well as Atticus was only a knight; but he was a senator: cp. Willems Le Sénat, i.p.497. But neither was of very high lineage, though their distinction in society was great. Atticus, though only a knight, was quite in the highest social circles in Rome. Like great financiers in all ages, he kept aloof from directly engaging in politics. Vestrum is used when the genitive of the personal pronoun is used in a possessive sense; vestri when it is objective: e.g. 309. 1, vestri similes; Verr. iii. 224, cupidus vestri. Dr. Reid suggests vester both here and in Phil. iv. 1; v. 2.