Quae scribis K. luniis Antonium de provinciis relaturum, ut et ipse Gallias habeat, et utrisque dies prorogetur, licebitne decerni libere? Si licuerit, libertatem esse recuperatam laetabor; si non licuerit, quid mihi attulerit ista domini mutatio praeter laetitiam, quam oculis cepi iusto interitu tyranni? Rapinas scribis ad Opis fieri; quas nos quoque tum videbamus. Ne nos et liberati ab egregiis viris nec liberi sumus. Ita laus illorum est, culpa nostra. Et hortaris me, ut historias scribam, ut colligam tanta eorum scelera, a quibus etiam nunc obsidemur! Poterone eos ipsos non laudare, qui te obsignatorem adhibuerunt? Nec mehercule me raudusculum movet, sed homines benevolos, qualescumque sunt, grave est insequi contumelia. Sed de omnibus meis consiliis, ut scribis, existimo exploratius nos ad K. Iunias statuere posse. Ad quas adero, et omni ope atque opera enitar adiuvante me scilicet auctoritate tua et gratia et summa aequitate causae, ut de Buthrotiis senatus consultum, quale scribis, fiat. Quod me cogitare iubes, cogitabo equidem, etsi tibi dederam superiore epistula cogitandum. Tu autem quasi iam recuperata re publica vicinis tuis Massiliensibus sua reddis. Haec armis,
the Roman people. Recall your words. Don't you remember how you exclaimed that all was lost if Caesar had a public funeral? And very wise it was. So you see what has come of the funeral.
You say Antony is going to bring a proposal before the Senate on the 1st of June about the allotment of provinces, that he should have Gaul and that both his own and his colleague's tenure should be prolonged. Will the House be allowed to vote freely? If so, I shall rejoice that liberty has been regained; if not, what has this change of masters brought me except the joy of feasting my eyes on the just death of a tyrant? You say there is plundering at the Temple of Ops: I saw it then with my own eyes. Yea, we have been set free by heroes and are not free after all. So theirs is the praise and ours the blame. And you advise me to write history, to collect all the crimes of those who even now have us under their thumb. Shall I be able to resist praising men who have called you in as a witness?[[212]] I give you my word it is not the petty gain that influences me, but it goes against the grain to heap contumely on the heads of benevolent persons whatever their character. But, as you say, I think we can make up our minds with more certainty about all my plans by the 1st of June. I shall be present then, and of course with the assistance of your authority and popularity, and the absolute justice of your case, I shall strive with all my might to obtain the senatorial decree that you mention about the people of Buthrotum. What you bid me consider, I will consider, though it is what I asked you to consider in a former letter. But here you are wanting to get back their rights for your neighbours the Massilians, as though we had recovered the republic. Perhaps they might be restored by arms—but how strong our
[212]. To wills in which legacies were left to Cicero. Cf. Att. XIV. 3.
258quae quam firma habeamus, ignoro, restitui fortasse possunt, auctoritate non possunt.
Epistula brevis, quae postea a te scripta est, sane mihi fuit iucunda de Bruti ad Antonium et de eiusdem ad te litteris. Posse videntur esse meliora, quam adhuc fuerunt. Sed nobis, ubi simus et quo iam nunc nos conferamus, providendum est.
XV
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
Scr. in Puteolano K. Mai. a. 710
O mirificum Dolabellam meum! iam enim dico meum; antea, crede mihi, subdubitabam. Magnam ἀναθεώρησιν res habet, de saxo, in crucem, columnam tollere, locum illum sternendum locare! Quid quaeris? heroica. Sustulisse mihi videtur simulationem desiderii, adhuc quae serpebat in dies et inveterata verebar ne periculosa nostris tyrannoctonis esset. Nunc prorsus adsentior tuis litteris speroque meliora. Quamquam istos ferre non possum, qui, dum se pacem velle simulant, acta nefaria defendunt. Sed non possunt omnia simul. Incipit res melius ire, quam putaram. Nec vero discedam, nisi cum tu me id honeste putabis facere posse. Bruto certe meo nullo loco deero, idque, etiamsi mihi cum illo nihil fuisset, facerem propter eius singularem incredibilemque virtutem.
arms are I do not know—by influence they certainly cannot.