About Triarius you interpret my wishes well. However do nothing without his family's consent. I love him, though he is dead: I am guardian to his children, and feel affection for all his household. As regards the business with Castricius, if he is willing to take money estimated at its present rate instead of the slaves, nothing could be more convenient. But, if things have gone so far that he is taking the slaves away, I don't think it is fair to him to ask him (you ask me to give you my real opinion); for I don't want my brother Quintus to have any bother, and I rather fancy you take the same view. If Publilius is waiting for the equinox, as you say Aledius tells you, I suppose he is going by sea; but he told me he was going by way of Sicily. I should like to know which it is and when. I should like you too some time at your convenience to pay a visit to little Lentulus[[72]] and assign him such of the household as you think fit. Love to Pilia and Attica.
[72]. The son of Tullia and Dolabella, so called because Dolabella was adopted into the plebeian gens of the Lentuli in 49 B.C. in order to stand for the tribunate.
62
XXIX
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
Scr. Asturae VIII K. Apr. a. 709
Silius, ut scribis, hodie. Cras igitur, vel potius cum poteris, scribes, si quid erit, cum videris. Nec ego Brutum vito nec tamen ab eo levationem ullam exspecto; sed erant causae; cur hoc tempore istic esse nollem. Quae si manebunt, quaerenda erit excusatio ad Brutum, et, ut nunc est, mansurae videntur.
De hortis, quaeso, explica. Caput illud est, quod scis. Sequitur, ut etiam mihi ipsi quiddam opus sit; nec enim esse in turba possum nec a vobis abesse. Huic meo consilio nihil reperio isto loco aptius, et de hac re quid tui consilii sit. Mihi persuasum est, et eo magis, quod idem intellexi tibi videri, me ab Oppio et Balbo valde diligi. Cum his communices, quanto opere et quare velim hortos; sed id ita posse, si expediatur illud Faberianum; sintne igitur auctores futuri. Si qua etiam iactura facienda sit in repraesentando, quoad possunt, adducito; totum enim illud desperatum. Denique intelleges, ecquid inclinent ad hoc meum consilium adiuvandum. Si quid erit, magnum est adiumentum; si minus, quacumque ratione contendamus. Vel tu illud "ἐγγήραμα," quem ad modum scripsisti, vel ἐντάφιον putato. De illo Ostiensi nihil est cogitandum. Si hoc non assequimur (a Lamia non puto posse), Damasippi experiendum est.
XXIX
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Astura, March 25, B.C. 45
You say you will see Silius to-day; so to-morrow, or as soon as you can, write, if anything comes of your meeting. I am not trying to avoid Brutus, though I don't expect to get any consolation from him. But there are reasons why I do not want to go there at this particular time. If those reasons continue to exist, I shall have to find some excuse to offer him, and by the look of things at present, I think they will continue.