Cicero Letters to his Friends VII.24
Commentary by Michael Gray, revised by J. Bailly
Scr. in Tusculano (ineunte m. Oct.?) a.u.c. 709.
M. CICERO S. D. M. FADIO GALLO.
1 Amoris quidem tui, quoquo me verti, vestigia, vel proxime de
Tigellio; sensi enim ex litteris tuis valde te laborasse: amo
igitur
voluntatem. Sed pauca de re. Cipius, opinor, olim? "non omnibus
dormio:" sic ego non omnibus, mi Galle, servio; etsi quae est haec
servitus? olim, cum regnare existimabamur, non tam ab ullis, quam
hoc
tempore observor a familiarissimis Caesaris omnibus praeter istum:
id
ego in lucris pono, non ferre hominem pestilentiorem patria sua;
eumque
addictum iam tum puto esse Calvi Licinii Hipponacteo praeconio. 2
At
vide, quid suscenseat: Phameae causam receperam, ipsius quidem
causa;
erat enim mihi sane familiaris: is ad me venit dixitque iudicem
sibi
operam dare constituisse eo ipso die, quo de P. Sestio in
consilium iri
necesse erat; respondi nullo modo me facere posse; quem vellet
alium
diem si sumpsisset, me ei non defuturum; ille autem, qui sciret se
nepotem bellum tibicinem habere et sat bonum unctorem, discessit a
me,
ut mihi videbatur, iratior. Habes "Sardos venales, alium alio
nequiorem;" cognosti meam causam et istius salaconis iniquitatem.
Catonem tuum mihi mitte; cupio enim legere: me adhuc non legisse
turpe
utrique nostrum est.
Commentary
In this letter to Marcus Fadius Gallus (Cicero and Atticus' friend,
on Caesar's side in civil war, served in Spain in 49 BCE), Cicero
discusses
difficulties with an influential friend of Caesar's named Tigellius.
On
the same day Cicero wrote this letter he also wrote a letter to
Atticus
(A. xiii.49).
Scr. = scriptum
in Tusculano: Cicero owned a Tusculan villa.
ineunte m. Oct.: ablative absolute; = ineunte mense Octobri.
a.u.c. 709: "ab urbe condita 709"; 709 years from the founding of
Rome,
i.e. 45 BCE.
M. Cicero: Marcus Cicero
S.D.: salutem dicit.
M. Fabio Gallo: Marco Fabio Gallo.
1
- Amoris quidem tui, quoquo me verti, vestigia, vel proxime de
Tigellio; sensi enim ex litteris tuis valde te laborasse: amo
igitur
voluntatem. Sed pauca de re. Cipius, opinor, olim? "non omnibus
dormio:" sic ego non omnibus, mi Galle, servio; etsi quae est
haec
servitus? olim, cum regnare existimabamur, non tam ab ullis,
quam hoc
tempore observor a familiarissimis Caesaris omnibus praeter
istum: id
ego in lucris pono, non ferre hominem pestilentiorem patria sua;
eumque
addictum iam tum puto esse Calvi Licinii Hipponacteo praeconio.
vestigia: a nominative: understand a verb (sunt?).
vel: "for instance."
de Tigellio: this is shorthand for a
longer thought, just as in English, we might say "Concerning Mr.
Smith," and mean (between the lines) "concerning
that unfortunate business with Mr. Smith" or "about the wonderful
news
of Mr. Smith."
Tigellio: M. Tigellius
Hermogenes was
a friend of Caesar's. He was a Sardinian musician and a descendant
of
Phamea (mentioned later in this letter). Horace Sat.
i.3 describes him.
laborasse: shortened, or
"syncopated," form of laboravisse.
sensi: verbs of thinking take acc.
with inf.
amo: this verb means "to love," but
here, you should massage its meaning into something more idiomatic.
Perhaps "I am thankful for ..." or "I appreciate ...."
voluntatem: whose "good will" must this refer to, given the context?
de re: the res referred to is the same referred to in de Tigellio.
Cipius olim: this is shorthand for
Cipius olim dixit. The story is told by Lucilius, as mentioned in
Festus (the Grammarian), P. 173 Müller. Cipius feigned
sleep to avoid having to acknowledge certain actions of his wife.
When
a slave stole wine while Cipius was "sleeping," Cipius said 'non
omnibus dormio.' Plutarch Amat. 16 says the story is told of
Augustus'
jester Gabba.
mi Galle: vocative case.
cum regnare existimabamur: cum temporal clause. Cicero is referring
to
the time he "lorded it over" or
"played the king" in Rome because of his famous actions in quashing
the
Catilinarian conspiracy.
non tam . . . quam: "not so much . .
. as." In the tam clause, you need to understand observabar or
something similar.
hoc tempore: ablative of time, "at
this time."
istum: i.e. Tigellius.
id in
lucris pono: this phrase is used metaphorically to describe what
Cicero
thinks of id.
non ferre hominem pestilentiorem
patria sua: this whole phrase is an infinitive phrase in apposition
to
id. patria sua is ablative of comparison. Tigellius' homeland,
Sardinia, was considered an unhealthy country.
eumque addictum . . . puto esse:
indirect statement; accusative subject eum and infinitive
addictum esse (perfect passive infinitive).
Calvi Licini Hipponacteo praeconio:
Calvus Licinius (82-47 BCE) was a distinguished orator and poet who
composed a
lampoon of Tigellius: 'Sardi Tigelli putidum caput venit' 'for sale
Tigellius, the Sardinian oaf." (Tyrell's translation of Plessis'
Fragment 3 of Calvus). More literally,
"The stinking head of Tigellius the Sardinian is for sale." Hipponax
of
Ephesus was a famous Greek satiricist, so "Hipponacteus" is
synonymous
with "satirical."
2
- At
vide, quid suscenseat: Phameae causam receperam, ipsius quidem
causa;
erat enim mihi sane familiaris: is ad me venit dixitque iudicem
sibi
operam dare constituisse eo ipso die, quo de P. Sestio in
consilium iri
necesse erat; respondi nullo modo me facere posse; quem vellet
alium
diem si sumpsisset, me ei non defuturum; ille autem, qui sciret
se
nepotem bellum tibicinem habere et sat bonum unctorem, discessit
a me,
ut mihi videbatur, iratior. Habes "Sardos venales, alium alio
nequiorem;" cognosti meam causam et istius salaconis
iniquitatem.
Catonem tuum mihi mitte; cupio enim legere: me adhuc non legisse
turpe
utrique nostrum est.
Quid: "why."
suscenseat: indirect question.
Phameae: Phamea was the uncle or
grandfather of Tigellius. Cicero took on his case as a favor out of
friendship.
ipsius: refers to Tigellius.
dixitque iudicem . . . constituisse:
a verb of saying with indirect statement. The infinitive of that
indirect statement, constituisse, itself takes a complementary
infinitive phrase operam dare eo ipso die.
quo: what is its antecedent?
in consilium iri necesse erat:
iri is the rare passive infinitive of eo, ire, ivi, iturus.
Translate
"that one go." Necesse est takes either a complementary infinitive
(as
it does here) or a nominal ut clause.
P. Sestio: Sestius was charged in 56
with bribery and corruption and defended by Cicero (Pro Sestio).
nullo modo: "in no way."
me facere posse: indirect statement
with me as accusative subject and posse as infinitive (present
active).
Understand something like in consilium eo die ire as the action to
which
facere refers.
quem vellet: subordinate clauses in indirect speech take the
subjunctive normally. Remember that 'after si,
nisi, numl, and ne, all the ali's drop away' (i.e. quem is aliquem).
si sumpsisset, me ei non defuturum:
a
mixed conditional with pluperfect active subjunctive in protasis and
future active infinitive in apodosis. The whole conditional is in
indirect statement dependent on respondi.
qui sciret . . . habere: relative
clause of characteristic describing ille. Sciret takes indirect
statement.
nepotem: i.e. Tigellius.
unctorem: according to Horace
Tigellius had a talent for singing, so some read cantorem instead of
unctorem.
ut here: means "as" and introduces a parenthetical remark with an
indicative verb.
mi: alternate form of dative mihi.
iratior: what nominative does this modify?
Sardos venalis, alium alio
nequiorem:
an ancient proverb (clearly the Sardinians had a bad reputation):
alio
is abl. of comparison.
Catonem: according to Bailey, the "Cato" was the title of a
panegyric,
which is surprising coming from the
hand of Gallus, an Epicurean. After Cato's death in 46 there were
many
pamphlets for and against his character and record. Cicero himself
wrote one.
me . . . non legisse turpe . . .
est:
the infinitive is the subject of est, and turpe is the predicate
nominative, neuter because infinitives are neuter nouns.
nostrum: nostrum is gen. of nos, used as a partitive genitive.
Vocabulary
addico, -dicere, -dixi, -dictum, to put up for sale
adhuc, up to now, to this point
bellus, -a, -um, pretty, handsome
cantor, oris, m., singer
causa, ae, f., legal case
causa, prep. + gen. for the sake of (the gen. precedes causa)
congnosco, cognoscere, cognovi, cognotus, recognize; know (in
perfect
tenses)
consto, constare, constiti, constatum, decide
desum, deesse, defui, defuturus (+dat), to fail, to disappoint
discedo, -cedere, -cessi, -cessum, to go asunder, part, separate
etsi, although
existimo, -are, to consider, regard, deem
familiaris, -e, friend
fero, ferre, tuli, latus, endure
hipponacteus, -a, -um, adj., biting, satirical
iniquitas, -tatis, f., unfairness, injustice
iratus, -a, -um, angry
lucrum, i, n., profit, gain: ponere in lucris, to regard as a gain
nequam, indeclinable adj., compar. nequior, superl. nequissimus,
worthless, bad
nepos, -otis, m., a grandson or nephew
nequam (indecl.) good for nothing, bad; comparative nequior
observo, -are, pay attention to, pay respect to
operam dare, to pay attention to, to hear a case
pestilens, -entis, adj., pestilential, unhealthy
praeconium, -i, an advertisement
praeter, prep. +acc. except for
proxime, superl. of prope, a short time ago, just now
quidem, postpositive adv., indeed, certainly, at least
quoquo or quo quo, withersoever, to whatever place
recipio, -cipere, -cepi, - ceptum, undertake
salacon, -onis, m., boaster, braggart
sane, (in concessions) admittedly, to be sure
satis or sat, adv., fairly , quite
servitus, -utis, f., the condition of a slave, slavery, servitude
sumo, sumere, sumpsi, sumptum, to take
suscenseo/succenseo, -ere, ui, to be angry, bear a grudge
tibicen, inis, m., a flute player
turpis, -e, adj., disgraceful, shameful
unctor, - oris, m., annointer, rubdown man
uterque, utraque, utrumque, both (of two), either (of two), each
(of
two)
valde, adv., intensely, very much, greatly
vel, for instance
venalis, -e, on sale, to be sold
verto (vorto), vertere, verti, versum, to turn, turn round; often
with
a reflex.: se vertere, to turn oneself
vestigium,i, n. - a foot-step, track, foot-mark; a trace, mark
voluntas, -atis, f., good will
The text of the letter is from from www.thelatinlibrary.com, which
took
it from The Society of Ancient Languages with the kind permission of
its webmaster, Brian M. Kleeman. The text is D. Albert Wesenberg's
Teubner edition of 1885.