I suppose you think I have forgotten my old custom and rule and write less frequently than I used; but the fact is that I have not given letters to anyone going to Epirus or Athens or Asia, unless he was going expressly to you, because there was no certainty where you were or where you were going. For our letters are not such that it would do no harm to us, if they are not delivered. They are so full of
quidem fere committamus, lepidum quid ne[[153]] quo excidat.
Consules flagrant infamia, quod C. Memmius candidatus pactionem in senatu recitavit, quam ipse et suus competitor Domitius cum consulibus fecisset, uti ambo HS quadragena consulibus darent, si essent ipsi consules facti, nisi tres augures dedissent, qui se adfuisse dicerent, cum lex curiata ferretur, quae lata non esset, et duo consulares, qui se dicerent in ornandis provinciis consularibus scribendo adfuisse, cum omnino ne senatus quidem fuisset. Haec pactio non verbis, sed nominibus et perscriptionibus multorum tabulis cum esse facta diceretur, prolata a Memmio est nominibus inductis auctore Pompeio. Hic Appius erat idem. Nihil sane iacturae. Corruerat alter, et plane, inquam, iacebat. Memmius autem dirempta coitione invito Calvino plane refrixerat, et eo magis |xvi, 6| nunc totus iacet,[[154]] quod iam intellegebamus enuntiationem illam Memmi valde Caesari displicere. Messalla noster et eius Domitius competitor liberalis in populo valde fuit. Nihil gratius. Certi erant consules. At senatus decrevit, ut tacitum iudicium ante comitia fieret ab iis consiliis, quae erant omnibus sortita, in singulos candidatos. Magnus timor candidatorum. Sed quidam iudices, in his Opimius,
[153]. quid ne added by Tyrrell.
[154]. totus iacet Reid: cociace M.
secrets that we cannot even trust an amanuensis as a rule, for fear of some jest leaking out.
The consuls’ infamy has had a lurid light thrown on it owing to C. Memmius, one of the candidates, reading out in the Senate an agreement made by himself and his fellow-candidate Domitius with them. If they were elected to the consulship, they were both to give the consuls £350 each, if they did not produce three augurs who would depose that they were present at the carrying of a lex curiata—which had never been passed; and two ex-consuls who would depose to having been present at the drafting of a decree for the fitting out of the consular provinces—though there had never been any meeting of the Senate about it at all. As this compact was alleged not to be a mere verbal compact, but one properly drawn up with the sums promised on it, drafts on the bank, and many other documents, Memmius exhibited it, with all the items entered,[[155]] on the suggestion of Pompey. It was all the same to Appius: he had nothing to lose by it. The other has had a sad comedown, and I may say is quite done for. Memmius, however, having dissolved the coalition against Calvinus’ will, has sunk out of mind, and his ruin is all the more irretrievable because we know now that his disclosure annoyed Caesar very much. Our friend Messalla and his fellow-competitor Domitius were very liberal to the people, and could not be more popular. They are certain of election. But the Senate has decreed that a trial with closed doors should be held before the elections, and each candidate’s conduct inquired into by the panels chosen by lot for all of them. The candidates are in a great fright: but some of the jury—among
[155]. Or “cancelled.”
Veiento, Rantius, tribunos pl. appellarunt, ne iniussu populi iudicarent. Res cedit; comitia dilata ex senatus consulto, dum lex de tacito iudicio ferretur. Venit legi dies. Terentius intercessit. Consules, qui illud levi brachio egissent, rem ad senatum detulerunt. Hic Abdera non tacente me. Dices: “Tamen tu non quiescis?” Ignosce, vix possum. Verum tamen quid tam ridiculum? Senatus decreverat, ne prius comitia haberentur, quam lex lata esset; si qui intercessisset, res integra referretur. Coepta ferri leviter, intercessum non invitis, res ad senatum. De ea re ita censuerunt, comitia primo quoque tempore haberi esse e re publica.
xvi, 7