Te tuis negotiis relictis nolo ad me venire, ego potius accedam, si diutius impediere. Etsi ne discessissem quidem e conspectu tuo, nisi me plane nihil ulla res adiuvaret. Quodsi esset aliquod levamen, id
it was full of wise saws, but nothing that could help me. To you he wrote asking if I should like his company. Yes, it would do me some good, as he has so great an affection for me. If you have any news, please write and let me know, especially when Pansa is going.[[57]] I am sorry about Attica, but I believe Craterus. Tell Pilia not to worry: my sorrow is enough for all.
[57]. To his province in Cisalpine Gaul.
XV
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Astura, March 9, B.C. 45
See that my excuses are paid to Appuleius every day, since you do not approve of one general excuse. In this solitude I don't speak to a soul. In the morning I hide myself in a dense and wild wood, and I don't come out till the evening. After you I have not a greater friend than solitude. In it my only converse is with books, though tears interrupt it. I fight against them as much as I can: but as yet I am not equal to the struggle. I will answer Brutus as you suggest. You shall have the letter to-morrow. Give it to a messenger, when you have one.
XVI
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Astura, March 10, B.C. 45
I do not wish you to neglect your business to come to me. I would rather go to you, if you are delayed any longer. However I should never even have come out of sight of you, if it were not that I absolutely could not get relief from anything. If there were any alleviation for my sorrow, it would
32esset in te uno, et, cum primum ab aliquo poterit esse, a te erit. Nunc tamen ipsum sine te esse non possum. Sed nec tuae domi probabatur, nec meae poteram, nec, si propius essem uspiam, tecum tamen essem. Idem enim te impediret, quo minus mecum esses, quod nunc etiam impedit. Mihi nihil adhuc aptius fuit hac solitudine; quam vereor ne Philippus tollat. Heri enim vesperi venerat. Me scriptio et litterae non leniunt, sed obturbant.