accepi litteras tuas, Philotimi, Furni, Curionis ad Furnium, quibus irridet L. Caesaris legationem. Plane oppressi videmur, nec quid consili capiam scio, nec mehercule de me laboro: de pueris quid agam non habeo. Capuam tamen proficiscebar haec scribens, quo facilius de Pompei rebus cognoscerem. 318. CICERO TO ATTICUS (ATT. VII 20). 49 CAPUA; FEBRUARY 5; A. U. C. 705; B. C. 405; AET. CIC. 57. Desperata pace queritur M. Cicero tamen bellum non parari a consulibus, a Caesar omnia acerrime agi. Quaerit ab Attico quid sibi agendum putet. CICERO ATTICO SAL. 1. Breviloquentem iam me tempus ipsum facit. Pacem enim desperavi, bellum nostri nullum administrant. Cave enim putes quidquam esse minoris his consulibus: quorum ergo spe audiendi irridet L. Caesaris legationem] It was extravagant for the Pompeians to ask Caesar to surrender the towns he had taken and retire into his province: for there were considerable forces under Attius Varus in Auximum, and it looks as it an attack on Ancona was being planned (§ 2); and Caesar's enemies would easily find a pretext for war the moment they felt strong enough to declare it: cp. Ferrero ii. 232. quid agam non habeo] what to do.' I do not know Nihil See Madv. 362. habeo quod ad te scribam, at the commencement of the letter, means I have nothing to write to you.' 3. 1. Pacem enim desperavi] See on 310. bellum.. nullum] the military operations on our side are nil.' This is a much stronger expression than non administrant would have been, and may be compared with such colloquial expressions as nullus venit, not a bit of him came,' 441. 4; nullus discederet, not to move an inch,' Att. xv. 22, 1 (755); nullus tu quidem domum, 'don't stir a foot to visit him,' Att. xv. 29, 1 (768). Cave ... consulibus] don't imagine that there is anything which concerns our present consuls less than the war.' This seems more probably right than the other possible rendering, according to which consulibus is not dative but ablative after minoris don't imagine that anything could be more worthless than our present consuls.' quorum ergo] 'on account of whom in the hope of hearing something I came We have vento Capua in heavy rain.' tured to read with Bosius and Boot ergo It has for ego, the reading of the MSS. been thought that we might retain ego and suppose that quorum spe audiendi is an example of that intermediate' construction (Madvig on Fin. i. 60) between quos audiendi and quorum audiendorum: cp. Plaut. Capt. 852 nominandi istorum tibi erit copia (where see Prof. Lindsay's note, and also his note on line 1008); Ter. Heaut. 29 novarum spectandi copia; Cic. Fin. v. 19 causa eorum adipiscendi: cp. De Inv. ii. 5 exemplorum eligendi potestas; Phil. v. 6 facultas agrorum condonandi: Lucret. v. 1225 poenarum solvendi tempus: cp. Roby vol. ii., p. lxviii (many apparent not real examples of this usage are examples as is shown by Dr. Reid on Acad. ii. 128). The fact, however, that aliquid et cognoscendi nostri apparatus maximo imbri Capuam veni pridie Nonas, ut eram iussus. Illi autem nondum venerant, sed erant venturi inanes, imparati. Gnaeus autem Luceriae dicebatur esse et adire cohortes legionum Appianarum, non firmissimarum. At illum ruere nuntiant et iam iamque adesse, non ut manum conserat-quicum enim ?-sed ut fugam intercludat. 2. Ego autem in Italia kâv áro@aveiv nec te id consulo-sin extra, quid ago?—Ad manendum hiems, lictores, improvidi et neglegentes But audiendi has in this instance an object aliquid, and that another genitive follows, makes it slightly different from the other examples cited above, and induces us to follow Bosius in changing ego to ergo. Dr. Reid thinks that a substantive in the ablative has dropped out on which quorum depended, such as vocatu. then ut eram iussus would be somewhat redundant. It would be impossible to take the genitive quorum as governed by audiendi (like àкover), as that construction is found only in Christian writers: ep. Rönsch Itala und Vulgata, p. 438. Müller reads the whole passage thus: Care enim putes quicquam esse minori his consulibus curae (for quo rum). Ego spe, &c. maximo imbri] ablative, like tanta hieme (312. 6). Imbri is the correct form of the abl.: cp. Phil. v. 15; Dr. Reid on De Sen. 34 (Crit. note). Neue-Wagener 13 362 gives many examples. Illi... venerant] C, the Ms. which Cratander used, is said by him to have the reading illi autem adhuc, id est Nonis, nondum venerant. This reading may be right, and is adopted by Wesenberg; for this letter was written on the morning of the 5th, as is shown by the use of hodie in 2, and we read at the end of the letter that the consuls are to arrive on their appointed 5th.' Boot, seeing that some statement of the time at which the consuls were expected would naturally find a place in the sentence, proposed to read Nonis for inanes. We might also suppose that ad Nonas fell out before inanes, and that C preserved a part of the right tradition by introducing the Nones, but preserved it in the wrong place. Cicero heard the report that they were expected by February 5th,' and that they were without equipment or preparation of any kind, bare and bootless.' But we confess that inanes, imparati seem strange epithets, VOL. IV. especially the former ('empty-handed'), to indicate, as would appear, that they had no forces. Possibly inanes is a corruption of mane, and the curious use of inanes led to a gloss imparati. If the consuls had been expected mane early in the day,' there would be special point in saying that Lentulus arrived sero late in the day' (319. 1). illum] Caesar. ruere] is dashing headlong.' intercludat] 312. 4. must 2. Ego... ago ?] Now, were the scene Italy, Bid me to die, and I will dareon that point I am not asking your counsel --but if the issue is to be decided out of Italy, what am I to do?' According to a frequent practice, Cicero quotes but a couple of words of the saying he had in his mind. So we often quote but a few words of a proverbial expression, 'Needs or When thieves fall out Cf. Hamlet, iii. 2, 358, While the grass grows, -the proverb is something musty.' The quotation is attributed by Peerlkamp to Diphilus (though we cannot find it in Meineke), and is said to run κἂν ἀποθανεῖν δέῃ με θάνοιμ' EKOVOLOS (we have in Aristoph. Lys. 123 ποιήσομεν, κἂν ἀποθανεῖν ἡμᾶς δέῃ, which has somewhat of a proverbial tone). Consulere, with a double accus. of the person and of the thing, is rare except in the comic writers (e.g. Plaut. Men. 700, consulam hanc rem amicos). The Thesaurus quotes Statius (Theb. vii. 628), non vos longinqua sorores Consulimus. The acc. of the person is of course quite regular, and the acc. of the thing (esp. when a neut. pronoun, cp. note to 429. 2) not very rare, Plaut. Most. 1102 consulere quiddamst quod tecum volo, Cic. De Divin. i. 3: ib. ii. 10: Mil. 16 (these last two passages we owe to Dr. Reid): Liv. ii. 28. 2 rem delatam consulere: Verg. Aen. xi. 343. lictores] cp. 303 init. and note. E duces; ad fugam hortatur amicitia Gnaei, causa bonorum, turpitudo coniungendi cum tyranno: qui quidem incertum est Phalarimne an Pisistratum sit imitaturus. Haec velim explices et me inves consilio, etsi te ipsum istic iam calere puto. Sed tamen quantum poteris. Ego si quid hic hodie novi coguoro, scies. Iam enim aderunt consules ad suas Nonas. Tuas cotidie litteras exspectabo. Ad has autem cum poteris rescribes. Mulieres et Cicerones in Formiano reliqui. 319. CICERO TO ATTICUS (ATT. VII. 21). CALES FEBRUARY 8; A. U. C. 705; B. C. 49; AET. CIC. 57. M. Cicero Attico scribit se Capuae fuisse, eo alterum consulem usque ad vii Id. Febr. non venisse, nihil agi neque a consulibus neque a Pompeio. De mandatis a C. Cassio tribuno pl. adlatis ad consules, de summa sua consilii inopia. CICERO ATTICO SAL. Veni 1. De malis nostris tu prius audis quam ego. Istim enim emanant. Boni autem hinc quod exspectes nihil est. Capuam ad Nonas Febr., ita ut iusserant consules. Eo die coniungendi] On the apparently passive use of the gerund see Roby ii. pref. lxiv-lxvii. The examples collected there under class c especially illustrate the present passage, because here the gerund may be regarded as rather reflexive than passive; among the best of the examples are signo recipiendi dato, Caes. B. G. vii. 52. 1; lusus exercendique causa, Liv. v. 27. 2; vix spatium instruendi fuit, Liv. xxxi. 21. 6; potestatem defendendi, Cic. Mil. 11. See Dr. Reid on Acad. ii. §§ 26, 101. Phalarimne an Pisistratum] Phalaris was typical of the worst kind of tyrant, Pisistratus of the best. calere] This is not nearly so strong an expression as to be in hot water.' It means little more than 'to have one's hands full,' to have plenty of business of one's own to occupy one': cp. Fam. viii. 6. 4 (242), Si Parthi vos nihil calfaciunt, nos Lentulus venit sero, alter consul omuino non venerat VII Idus. Eo enim die ego Capua discessi et mansi Calibus. Inde has litteras postridie ante lucem dedi. Haec Capuae dum fui cognovi: nihil in consulibus, nullum usquam dilectum. Nec enim conquisitores pаivoжроσwεiv audent cum ille adsit, contraque noster dux nusquam sit, nihil agat; nec nomina dant. Deficit enim non voluntas sed spes. Gnaeus autem noster-o rem miseram et incredibilem!-ut totus iacet! Non animus est, non consilium, non copiae, non diligentia. Mittam illa, fugam ab urbe turpissimam, timidissimas in oppidis contiones, ignorationem non solum adversari sed etiam suarum copiarum. 2. Hoc cuius modi est? VII Id. Febr. Capuam C. Cassius tribunus pl. venit attulit mandata ad consules ut Romam venirent, pecuniam de sanctiore aerario auferrent, statim exirent. Urbe relicta, redeant: quo praesidio ? deinde exeant: quis sinat? Consul ei rescripsit ut prius ipse in Picenum. At illud totum erat amissum; sciebat nemo praeter me ex litteris Dolabellae. Mihi dubium non erat quin ille iam iamque foret in Apulia, Gnaeus noster in navi. 3. Ego quid agam okéμua magnum,-neque mehercule mihi quidem ullum, nisi omnia essent acta turpissime neque ego ullius consili particeps-sed tamen quod me deceat. Ipse me Caesar sero] cp. note to 318. 1. aiter consul] C. Claudius Marcellus. ante lucem] cp. note to 317. nihil in consulibus] that the consuls are worthless.' Nec enim] the recruiting sergeants do not even dare to show their faces, while Caesar is everywhere, and Pompey never is anywhere or doing anything: the men are not enlisting'; φαινοπροσωπεῖν means to put in an appearance' cp. Att. xiv. 22, 2 (729); or, if we might use an English colloquialism, to show their noses.' The word occurs only in these passages. iacet] cp. 316. 1. timidissimas] faint-hearted.' ignorationem] See the excellent note of Dr. Reid on Acad. i. 42; where he decides that ignorantiam is probably an error for ignorationem. Cicero, he adds, uses iactatio but not iactantia, which is common in Tacitus; probably haesitantiam in Phil. iii. 16 should be haesitationem; on the other hand, Cicero has both toleratio and tolerantia. Cicero seems of set purpose to avoid ignorantia. He says ignoratio locorum in Rep. i. 29, while Caesar (B.C. iii. 68. 2) uses ignorantia locorum. 2. C. Cassius] The tyrannicide: cp. note to 316. 2: 321. 1. mandata] orders from Pompey. sanctiore aerario] Here the fund was kept to meet the exigency of a Gallic war; it was raised from spoil taken in war and the 5 per cent. duty on the manumission of slaves. See Dict. Antiq. i3 37b. Consul] Lentulus; Marcellus had not yet arrived. ut prius ipse in Picenum] This contemptuous reply shows that Pompey cannot be supposed to have been formally invested with full military powers: cp., too, his whole correspondence with Domitius (325, 329, 330): he requests and does not command. For Picenum cp. ad pacem hortatur. Sed antiquiores litterae quam ruere coepit. Dolabella, Caelius 'me illi valde satis facere.' Mira me ἀπορία torquet. Iuva me consilio si potes, et tamen ista quantum potes provide. Nihil habeo tanta rerum perturbatione quod scribam. Tuas litteras exspecto. 320. CICERO TO ATTICUS (ATT. vii. 22). FORMIAE; FEBRUARY 9; A. U. C. 705; B. C. 49; AET. CIC. 57. M. Cicero Attico scribit iam Caesarem totam occupare Italiam, quo iverit Pompeius se ignorare et quo eum sequatur nescire, Attici consilium requirit, honestum non esse se tradere Caesari. CICERO ATTICO SAL. 1. Pedem in Italia video nullum esse qui non in istius potestate sit. De Pompeio scio nihil, eumque, nisi in navim se contulerit, exceptum iri puto. O celeritatem incredibilem! huius autem nostri sed non possum sine dolore accusare eum de quo angor et crucior. Tu caedem non sine causa times, non quo minus quidquam Caesari expediat ad diuturnitatem victoriae et (though indeed it would not be so for me, but for the disgraceful mismanagement of the whole business, and the fact that I was not consulted on any plan); however, I repeat, it is a serious consideration what would be my most becoming course.' Quid agam depends on σkéμua, and is again understood before quod me deceat. The sentence is resumed after the parenthesis by sed tamen, but the quid agam is expanded into the question quid agam quod me deceat. The desirableness of making a parenthesis as short as possible may perhaps account for the omission of esset after ullum and of essem after particeps. antiquiores... quam] but his letter was written before he began to run his headlong course' (318. 1). Ruere is the word by which Cicero often expresses the complete abandonment of all pretence of constitutional action: cp. Att. ii. 14. 1 (41); 15. 2 (42). 1. celeritatem] Caesar's rapidity' became proverbial: cp. Att. xvi. 10. 1 (801) aiunt enim eum Caesariana uti celeritate. Lucan i. 148 says of him successsus urgere suos instare favori Numinis, and compares him to lightning. huius autem nostri] This is a real case of aposiopesis, and is quite different from that supposed example of the same figure in 316. 1. non quo minus] not that anything could be more prejudicial to the chances of a lasting victory or supremacy.' We think of Mommsen's celebrated remark (R. H. ii. p. 142. ed. 1872), "Terror is a bad weapon of proselytism" (Das Entsetzen macht schlecte Propaganda), made in reference to Hannibal. |