Quod meam βαθύτητα in Appio tibi, liberalitatem etiam in Bruto probo, vehementer gaudeo; ac putaram paulo secus. Appius enim ad me ex itinere bis terve ὑπομεμψιμοίρους litteras miserat, quod quaedam a se constituta rescinderem. Ut si medicus, cum aegrotus alii medico traditus sit, irasci velit ei medico, qui sibi successerit, si, quae ipse in curando constituerit, mutet ille, sic Appius, cum ἐξ ἀφαιρέσεως provinciam curarit, sanguinem miserit, quicquid potuit, detraxerit, mihi tradiderit enectam,
CICERO’S LETTERS
TO ATTICUS
BOOK VI
I
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Laodicea, Feb. 23, B.C. 50
I got your letter on the 5th day before the Terminalia[[202]] at Laodicea. I was delighted at its tone of affection, kindness, and obliging zeal. I will not pay “gold for brass” (for that is what you ask for), nor will I start an arrangement of my own, but will keep to your order. You say that the last letter you got from me was from Cybistra dated the 21st of September, and you want to know which of yours I have received. Almost all you mention except those which you say were entrusted to Lentulus’ servants at Equotuticus and Brundisium. So your energy is not a dead loss as you fear, but has been well spent, if you aimed at giving me pleasure. For nothing has ever given me more pleasure.
I am exceedingly glad that you approve of my reserve in the case of Appius and my generosity even in the matter of your friend Brutus. I had feared you might not quite like it. For Appius on his journey sent me two or three letters showing pique, because I revoked some of his enactments. It is as if a doctor, when a patient has been placed under the care of another, should be angry with his successor for changing his prescription. So Appius, having starved the province, let blood, and tried every lowering treatment, hands it to me drained of
[202]. i.e. the 19th of Feb., the Terminalia being on the 23rd.
προσανατρεφομένην eam a me non libenter videt, sed modo suscenset, modo gratias agit. Nihil enim a me fit cum ulla illius contumelia; tantum modo dissimilitudo meae rationis offendit hominem. Quid enim potest esse tam dissimile quam illo imperante exhaustam esse sumptibus et iacturis provinciam, nobis eam obtinentibus nummum nullum esse erogatum nec privatim nec publice? Quid dicam de illius praefectis, comitibus, legatis etiam? de rapinis, de libidinibus, de contumeliis? Nunc autem domus mehercule nulla tanto consilio aut tanta disciplina gubernatur aut tam modesta est quam nostra tota provincia. Haec non nulli amici Appi ridicule interpretantur, qui me idcirco putent bene audire velle, ut ille male audiat, et recte facere non meae laudis, sed illius contumeliae causa. Sin Appius, ut Bruti litterae, quas ad te misit, significabant, gratias nobis agit, non moleste fero, sed tamen eo ipso die, quo haec ante lucem scribebam, cogitabam eius multa inique constituta et acta tollere.
Nunc venio ad Brutum, quem ego omni studio te auctore sum complexus, quem etiam amare coeperam: sed ilico me revocavi, ne te offenderem. Noli enim putare me quicquam maluisse, quam ut mandatis satis facerem, nee ulla de re plus laborasse. Mandatorum autem mihi libellum dedit, isdemque de rebus tu mecum egeras. Omnia sum diligentissime persecutus. Primum ab Ariobarzane sic contendi, ut talenta, quae mihi pollicebatur, illi daret. Quoad mecum rex fuit, perbono loco res erat; post a Pompei procuratoribus sescentis premi coeptus est.
life and cannot bear to see it being fed up by me. Sometimes he is angry, sometimes he thanks me; for no act of mine has reflected on his policy. It is only the difference of my regime that annoys him. There is a very wide difference between a province worn out by expense and losses under his rule and not having to pay a penny out of private or public purse under my administration. I need not mention his prefects, his staff and his legates, the acts of robbery, of rape and insult. But now, upon my word, no private house is managed with such judgement or such economy, or is so well ordered as my whole province. Some friends of Appius put an absurd construction on my policy and declare that I am seeking popularity to damage him, and am acting honourably, not for the sake of my own reputation, but to cause him shame. However, if Appius, as the letter from Brutus which you forward to me shows, expresses his thanks, I am content: but the very day on which I write this letter before dawn I am thinking of annulling many of his wrong enactments and decisions.