[223]. 640 minae.
καί τι σχεδὸν ἐλπίσας· ἀπογνοὺς δ’ ἀλόγως ἀπέστη ἐπειπών “εἴκω· αἰσχρόν τοι δηρόν τε μένειν”—meque |Iliad, ii, 298| obiurgavit vetere proverbio τὰ μὲν διδόμενα—. Reliqua vide et, quantum fieri potest, perspiciamus.
Etsi annuum tempus prope iam emeritum habebamus (dies enim XXXIII erant reliqui), sollicitudine provinciae tamen vel maxime urgebamur. Cum enim arderet Syria bello, et Bibulus in tanto maerore suo maximam curam belli sustineret, ad meque legati eius et quaestor et amici eius litteras mitterent, ut subsidio venirem, etsi exercitum infirmum habebam, auxilia sane bona, sed ea Galatarum, Pisidarum, Lyciorum (haec enim sunt nostra robora), tamen esse officium meum putavi exercitum habere quam proxume hostem, quoad mihi praeesse provinciae per senatus consultum liceret. Sed, quo ego maxime delectabar, Bibulus molestus mihi non erat, de omnibus rebus scribebat ad me potius. Et mihi decessionis dies λεληθότως obrepebat. Qui cum advenerit, ἄλλο πρόβλημα, quem praeficiam, nisi Caldus quaestor venerit; de quo adhuc nihil certi habebamus.
Cupiebam mehercule longiorem epistulam facere, sed nec erat res, de qua scriberem, nec iocari prae cura poteram. Valebis igitur et puellae salutem Atticulae dices nostraeque Piliae.
the land, and had some hopes. When he lost them, he left without an explanation, saying: “I give in, ’Twere shame to tarry long,” and casting in my teeth the old proverb “take the goods the gods provide you.”[[224]] Look after the rest, and let us investigate the matter as thoroughly as possible.
Though I have nearly served my year (for only thirty-three days remain), still I am greatly concerned about my province. Syria is ablaze with war, and Bibulus is burdened with its cares in the midst of his own great sorrow,[[225]] and his legates, quaestor and friends write to me to go to his aid: so, although the army I have is weak—the auxiliaries certainly are good, Galatians, Pisidians, Lycians, the main strength of my force—I have thought it my duty to keep an army facing the foe, so long as I am authorized by the Senate’s decree to be in charge of my province. But what pleases me greatly is that Bibulus gives no trouble. He writes to me about any other topic by preference, and the day of my departure creeps on unnoticed. When it arrives, there is the further problem of my substitute, unless my quaestor Caldus comes, of whom so far I have no news.
I should like to write a longer letter, but I have no news, and care keeps me from jesting; so good-bye, and love to your little daughter and to your wife.
[224]. This proverb is referred to in Plato’s Gorgias 499c, and given in full by Olympiodorus in the form τὰ ἐκ τῆς τύχης διδόμενα κόσμει “make the best of what fortune gives.”
[225]. The murder of his sons in Egypt.