PETRARCH AD FAMILIARES (June 16, MCCCXLV)

AD MARCVM TVLLIVM CICERONEM 

LIBER VICESIMVS QVARTVS, Epistula III


Commentary by Mari Tomanelli; revised and edited by Jacques Bailly

Introduction


Francesco Petrarcha, 'Petrarch,' an Italian scholar and poet who lived from 1304 to 1374 CE, is credited with being the founder of the Humanist movement and the Father of the Renaissance. In 1345 in the Biblioteca Capitolare of Verona Cathedral, Petrarch rediscovered a manuscript containing sixteen books of Marcus Tullius Cicero’s letters ad Atticum, three books ad Quintum, two books ad Brutum, and Cicero’s fictitious letter to Octavianus, all of which had been thought lost to the world for hundreds of years. Petrarch personally transcribed the newly acquired works of his literary hero, Cicero. In fact, Petrarch’s rediscovery of the ad Familiares—the collection from which this letter is taken—is considered the beginning of the Renaissance, which started as an effort to revive classical antiquity.

After reading and transcribing so many of Cicero’s works, Petrarch decided to respond to Cicero in a letter of his own:
Although he openly admits his love and devotion for Cicero, his tone is critical: he expresses distaste at Cicero’s “fickleness of disposition” and reproaches against friends, enemies, and even family. Petrarch’s personal letter to Cicero was the first of many letters to figures of the past; after he finished his transcription of Cicero’s ad Familiares, he wrote to Seneca, Varro, Vergil, and others.

How do we have these letters? In 1359, Petrarch reports that he threw away many personal letters between himself and his prominent contemporaries, merely to spare himself the task of sorting so much correspondence. Fortunately, numerous books of prose epistles to 'Socrates,' three books of epistles to Marco Barbato, and, of course, Petrarch’s letters to classical authors survived that purge.


Commentary

Ad Marcum Tullium Ciceronem.

[1] Petrarch delights in gaining insight from his literary model, Cicero, after his personal rediscovery of several books of Cicero’s personal letters to friends.

[1] Franciscus Ciceroni suo salutem. Epystolas tuas diu multumque perquisitas atque ubi minime rebar inventas, avidissime perlegi. Audivi multa te dicentem, multa deplorantem, multa variantem, Marce Tulli, et qui iampridem qualis preceptor aliis fuisses noveram, nunc tandem quis tu tibi esses agnovi. Unum hoc vicissim a vera caritate profectum non iam consilium sed lamentum audi, ubicumque es, quod unus posterorum, tui nominis amantissimus, non sine lacrimis fundit.

Franciscus Ciceroni suo salutem: dixit is omitted, as usual, in this standard epistolary opening (dixit is an 'epistolary' tense: i.e. past tense because when the recipient receives the letter, it will be past). | Epystolas = epistolas. | tuas… perquisitas… inventas: all modify epystolas, the direct object of perlegi. | multumque: adverbial. | rebar: imperfect of reor. | multa ... multa .... multa ... unum ... unus: note the anaphora of multa and unum/unus and antithesis of multa v. unum/unus. | qui: antecedent is ego (Petrarch). | fuisses … esses: subjunctives in indirect questions introduced by qualis and quis. | Audi: imperative. | tui nominis amantissimus: a superlative participle used with objective genitive, “most loving of your name”

[2] Petrarch takes his turn at giving Cicero a piece of advice from his perspective, as a devoted follower and successor.

[2] O inquiete semper atque anxie, vel ut verba tua recognoscas, “o praeceps et calamitose senex,” quid tibi tot contentionibus et prorsum nihil profuturis simultatibus voluisti? Ubi et aetati et professioni et fortunae tuae conveniens otium reliquisti? Quis te falsus gloriae splendor senem adolescentium bellis implicuit et per omnes iactatum casus ad indignam philosopho mortem rapuit?

The words o praeceps et calamitose senex are based on Cicero ad Octavum 6.1 O meam calamitosam ac praecipitem senectutem, while the words verba tua recognoscas are reminiscent of Cicero Epistulae ad Brutum 24.1 verba tua recognosce.
 
ut… recognoscas: a parenthetical remark; subjunctive used to express purpose. | quid ... voluisti: understand a verb meaning "to accomplish" or the like. | profuturis: future active participle (of prosum) modifying simultatibus, which is abl. of means. | Ubi: “why?” seems more suitable than "where/when?" | conveniens: takes dative case. |  te senem adolescentium bellis: adolescentium refers to Cicero’s younger contemporaries, Octavian and Antony, whereas senem is in apposition to te which refers to Cicero himself. Cicero was in his 60's by the time he took a stance on the civil war; as an advocate for the return to a republic, he attacked Antony in a series of famous speeches called the Philippics. | iactatum: modifies te, understood from the previous clause.

[3] Cicero did not take his own advice.

[3] Heu et fraterni consilii immemor et tuorum tot salubrium praeceptorum, ceu nocturnus viator lumen in tenebris gestans, ostendisti secuturis callem, in quo ipse satis miserabiliter lapsus es.

Immemor: modifies the subject of ostendisti, Cicero; takes objective genitive, “unmindful of….” | secuturis: future active participle of the deponent verb, sequor. | lapsus es: perfect passive of labor.

[4] Petrarch questions why Cicero was fickle in his judgments of others—both personal acquaintances and political colleagues.

[4] Omitto Dionysium, omitto fratrem tuum ac nepotem, omitto, si placet, ipsum etiam Dolabellam, quos nunc laudibus ad caelum effers, nunc repentinis malidictis laceras: fuerint haec tolerabilia fortassis. Iulium quoque Caesarem praetervehor, cuius spectata clementia ipsa lacessentibus portus erat; Magnum praeterea Pompeium sileo, cum quo iure quodam familiaritatis quidlibet posse videbare. Sed quis te furor in Antonium impegit?

Sentence structure:
iure quodam familiaritatis: ius familaritatis = "by the right of your intimacy," i.e. "because you are on friendly terms." | videbare: a 'syncopated' form of videbaris.

[5] Petrarch accuses Cicero of not genuinely protecting the Republic, but instead supporting those who endorsed him. The quotation is again from Cicero Epistula ad Brutum (24.7).

[5] Amor credo reipublicae, quam funditus iam corruisse fatebaris. Quodsi pura fides, si libertas te trahebat, quid tibi tam familiare cum Augusto? Quid enim Bruto tuo responsurus es? “Siquidem” inquit, “Octavius tibi placet, non dominum fugisse sed amiciorem dominum quaesisse videberis.”

Here Petrarch quotes a letter reportedly from Brutus to Cicero nam si Octavius tibi placet a quo de nostra salute petendum sit, non dominum fugisse sed amiciorem dominum quaesisse videberis (Cicero Epistulae ad Brutum, 24.7).

Amor credo reipublicae: credo is parenthetical and so does not affect the syntax of the rest. amor is subject of impegit te (understood from the previous sentence). | quam: antecedent is reipublicae. | funditus: adverb "fundamentally," "at its base." | corruisse: perfect active infinitive of corruo. | Quodsi: "but if." | quid tibi tam familiare cum Augusto: understand est: quid = "why"; tibi depends on tam familiare, which = tanta familiaritas. | responsurus es: an alternative to the future respondebis as English "you are going to reply" vs. "you will reply." responsurus is future active participle of respondeo. |  siquidem: = si quidem. | fugisse…quaesisse: perfect active infinitives dependent on videberis; note clever parallelism of clauses. | videberis: second person singular future passive indicative.

[6] Petrarch joins 'Brutus' in castigating Cicero for not following his own philosophy.

[6] Hoc restabat, infelix, et hoc erat extremum, Cicero, ut huic ipsi tam laudato malidiceres, qui tibi non dicam “malifaceret,” sed “malifacientibus non obstaret”. Doleo vicem tuam, amice, et errorum pudet ac miseret, iamque cum eodem Bruto “his artibus nihil tribuo, quibus te instructissimum fuisse scio.” Nimirum quid enim iuvat alios docere, quid ornatissimis verbis semper de virtutibus loqui prodest, si te interim ipse non audias?

A letter purportedly from Brutus to Atticus is the source of this quotation: ego vero iam iis artibus nihil tribuo quibus Ciceronem scio instructissimum esse (Cicero Epistulae ad Brutum 25.5: the Loeb translates as " For myself, I no longer allow any value to those arts in which I know Cicero is so well versed." and says the arts in question are philosophy). The letter may not be genuinely from Brutus' pen: Shackleton-Bailey voices his doubts in the Loeb and elsewhere. But Petrarch voices no doubts about it.

Sentence Structure:
huic ipsi tam laudato: Brutus. | qui tibi non dicam “malifaceret,” sed “malifacientibus non obstaret”: the syntax is a bit choppy: qui is the subject of non obstaret, which takes dative malifacientibus, and  non dicam, which has the quasi-quotation "malificeret" as its object, is parenthetical. | errorum pudet ac miseret: pudet is impersonal and takes genitive (pudet me +gen. + “I am ashamed of (gen.)." | fuisse: infinitive in indirect speech dependent on scio. | iuvat: the subject of iuvat is the infinitive phrase alios docere. | prodest: subject is semper loqui ornatissimis verbis de virtutibus. | audias: present active subjunctive in a mixed condition.

[7] Although Petrarch wishes that Cicero could have lived the end of his life more peacefully, at this point such desires are futile.

[7] Ah quanto satius fuerat philosopho praesertim in tranquillo rure senuisse, “de perpetua illa,” ut ipse quodam scribis loco, “non de hac iam exigua vita cogitantem,” nullos habuisse fasces, nullis triumphis inhiasse, nullos inflasse tibi animum Catilinas. Sed haec quidem frustra. Aeternum vale, mi Cicero.

A quote from ad Atticum 10.8.8, where Cicero says tempus est nos de illa perpetua iam, non de hac exigua vita cogitare in the course of expressing his hopes that Caesar will fall within Cicero's and Atticus' lifetimes.

Sentence structure:
quanto satius: ablative of degree of difference with comparative satius. | fuerat: the infinitive phrases which follow are the subject of fuerat, which is to be translated much like a contrary-to-fact "it would have been," which seems as if it would require subjunctive, but indicative is the norm in cases such as satius fuerat + inf. or melius fuit + inf., etc. (cf. A&G §521a note). | philosopho: dative of indirect object. | Sed haec quidem frustra: understand sunt. | Aeternum: an adverb, although identical to the accusative sg. masc./n. case. | mi: vocative form of meus.

Text from Francesco Petrarcha's Le Familiari (print), edited by Vittorio Rossi and Umberto Bosco.
Additional Resources:
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Petrarch’s Letters to Classical Authors, www.gutenberg.org
Lewis & Short's Latin Dictionary
Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar
Vocabulary
-que: enclitic; and
A/ab: from (+ abl.)
Ac/atque: and
Ad: towards, to (+ acc.)
Adolesco, adolescere, adolevi, adolectus: to grow (up)
Aetas, aetatis, f.: age, lifetime
Aeternus, -a, -um: lating, enduring
agnovo, agnovere, agnovi, agnotus:
Ah: (interjection)
Alius, -a, -ud: another, other
Amo (1): love
Amicus, i, m.: friend
Amor, amoris, m.: love
Animum, animi, n.: soul, spirit
Anxie: anxiously
Ars, artis, f.: skill
Audio, audire, audivi, auditus: to listen, hear
Avidus, -a, -um: longing eagerly, desirous, eager, greedy
Bellum, belli, n.: war
Caelum, caeli, n.: sky, heaven
Calamitosus, -a, -um: ruinous, destructive
Callis, callis, m.: foot-path
Caritas, caritatis, f.: dearness, costliness
Casus, casus, m.: misfortune
Ceu: as, just as, like
Clementia, clementiae, f.: mercy, moderation, mildness
Cogito (1): to think, consider thoroughly
Consilium, consilii, n.: help, advice
Contention, contentionis, f.: a stretching, exertion, effort
Convenio, convenire, conveni, conventus: to come together, meet, assemble
Corruo, corruere, corrui, corrutus: fall down, collapse
credo, credere, crevi, cretus: to believe
cum: with (+ abl.)
de: from; about (+ abl.)
Deploro (1): to weep bitterly, moan, lament
Dico, dicere, dixi, dictus: to say, speak
Diu: for a long time, all day
Doceo, docere, docui, doctus: to teach, inform, show
Doleo, dolere, dolui, dolitus: to suffer, ache; grieve
Dominus, domini, m.: master, owner
Effero, effere, extuli, elatus: to carry out
Idem, eadem, idem: the same
Epystola, epystolae, f.: letter
Error, erroris, m.: a straying, wandering
Et: and
Etiam: yet, still, now too
Exiguus, -a, um: scanty, small, little
Extremum: at last, finally
Falsus, -a, -um: deceptive, feigned, deceitful
Familiaris, -e: friendly, of a friend, intimate, close; of a house, domestic, belonging to a family
Familiaritas, familiaritatis, f.: familiarity, intimacy, friendship
Fascis, -e, m.: high office, consul
Fateor, fari, fassus: to confess, acknowledge
Fides, fidei, m.: trust, faith, confidence
Fortassis: perhaps, possibly
Fortuna, fortunae, f.: fate, chance, luck
Fraternus, -a, -um: brotherly, fraternal
Frater, fratris, m.: brother
Frustra: in vain
Fugio, fugere, fugi, fugitus: to flee, take flight, run away
Fundo, fundere, fudi, fusus: to pour out, shed
Funditus: from the bottom, from the foundation
Furor: rage, madness, passion
Gesto (1): to carry, bear, have; wear
Gloria, gloriae, f.: glory, fame
Habeo, habere, habui, habitus: to have, hold
Hic, haec, hoc: this (man)
Heu: alas! (interjection)
Iacto (1): to throw, hurl, toss
Iam: now, at the moment
Iampridem: long ago, long since
Immemor: forgetful, negligent, mindless
Impingo, impingere, impegi, impactus: to strike, drive at
Implico (1): to implicate, involve, envelop
in: (+acc) towards; (+acc) against, (+abl) into
indignus, -a, -um: unworthy (of)
infelix: unlucky
Inflo (1): to blow into, inflate, swell
Inhio (1): to gape, gaze, be amazed
Inquieted: restless, unquiet, disturbed
Inquit: he says
Instructus, -a, -um: learned, well-instructed
Interim: meanwhile
Invenio, invenire, inveni, inventus: to find
Ipse, ipsa, ipsud: himself; herself; itself
Ius, iuris, n.: right, duty
Iuvo, iuvare, iuvi, iutus: to help
Lacero (1): to mangle, tear to pieces, mutilate
Lacrima, ae, f.: tear
Lamentum, I, n.: a weeping, moaning
Labor, labi, lapsus sum: to glide, slip
Laudo (1): to praise, commend
Libertas, tatis, f.: freedom, liberty
Locus, i, m.: place
Loquor, loqui, locatus sum: to speak, tell
Lumen, luminis, m.: light
Malidicero, malidicere, maledixi, maledictus  maledicere: to speak ill of
Malifacio, malifacere, malifeci, malifactus  malefacere: to do evil or harm
Minime: least (of all)
Miserabiliter: wretchedly
Misereo, miserere, miserui, misereritus: to pity
Mors, mortis, f.: death
Multus, -a, -um: much, many, a great number
Multum: much, often, frequently
Nepos, nepotis, m.: nephew
Nihil (indecl.), n.: nothing
Nimirum: certainly, doubtless
Nocturnus, -a, -um: by night, nocturnal
Nomen, nominis, n.: name
Non: not
Nosco, noscere, novi, notus: to come to know, learn, discern
Nullus, -a, -um: not any, none, no
Nunc: now
O: (interjection)
Obsto (1): to stand against, oppose
Omitto, omittere, omisi, omissus: to say nothing of, omit
Omnis, omnis: all, every
Ornatus, -a, -um: distinguished, richly adorned, ornate
Ostendo, ostendere, ostendi, ostentum: to show, exhibit
Otium, otii, n.: leisure, vacant time, relaxation
Per: through
Perlego, perlegere, perlegi, perlectus: to read through, examine thoroughly
Perpetuus, -a, -um: continuous, everlasting, constant
Perquiro, perquirere, perquisivi, perquisitus: to ask diligently after, to search eagerly for
Philosophus, -a, -um: philosophical; (substantive) philosopher
Placeo, placere, placui, placitus: to please, to be pleasing or agreeable, to be acceptable
Portus, portus, m.: a haven, port
possum, potest, potui: to be able, can
posterus, -a, -um: following, next
praeceps, praecipitis: rash, hasty
Praeceptor, oris, m.: a teacher, instructor
Praesertim: especially, particularly
Praeterea: moreover, in addition
Praetervehor, praetervehi, praetervectus sum: to pass over
Prodsum, profui, prodesse: to be useful, benefit
Profero, proferre, protuli, prolatus: carry out, bring
Profession, professionis, f.: business, profession
Prorsum: wholly, absolutely
Pudeo, pudere, pudui, puditus: to make or be ashamed, to feel shame
Purus, -a, -um: pure, unstained, undefiled
Quaero, quaerere, quaesivi, quaesitus: to seek, search for, procure
Quails, -e: of what sort, kind, certain
Quanto: how (much)
Qui, quae, quod: who, which, what
Quidlibet (quid + libet): whatever he/she/it likes
Quis, quid: who, which, what
Quidam, quaedam, quodam: a certain, somebody, something
Quodsi: but if
Quoque: also
Rapio, rapere, rapui, raptus: to drag, seize, snatch
Reor, reri, ratus sum: to reckon, calculate; believe think, suppose
Recognosco, recognoscere, recognovi, recognotus: to know, recollect, recognize
Reipublica, reipublicae, f.: the Roman Republic
Relinquo, relinquere, reliqui, relictus: to leave (behind), abandon
Repentinus, -a, -um: sudden, hasty, unexpected
Respondeo, respondere, respondi, responsus: to answer, reply, respond
Resto (1): to stand firm, stay behind, remain
Rus, ruris, n.: the country, field, farm
Salubris, -e.: healthful, wholesome, beneficial
Saluto (1): to greet, wish health to, pay respect to
Satis: enough, sufficient
Scio, scire, scivi, scitus: to know, understand, perceive
Scribo, scribere, scripsi, scriptus: to write
Sequor, sequi, secutus sum: to follow
Sed: but
Semper: always
Senex, senis, m.: old man
Seneo, senere, senui, senitus: to be old, grow old
Si: if
Sileo, silere, silui, silitus: to be silent, to not speak of
Simultas, tatis, f.: rivalry, hatred, animosity
Sine: without
Siquidem: if only, if indeed
Specto (1): to watch, observe
Splendor, -oris, m.: brilliance, lustre, splendor
Sum, esse, fui: to be
Suus, -a, -um: his/her/its own
Tam: so
Tandem: at last, finally
Tenebra, -ae, f.: darkness, shadow, gloom
Tolerabilis, -e: bearable, endurable, tolerable
Tot: so many
Traho, trahere, traxi, tractus: draw, attract
Tranquillus, -a, -um: quiet, calm, still
Tribuo, tribuere, tribui, tributus: to assign, bestow
Triumphus, triumphi, m.: triumph, ceremonial procession
Tu, tuus: you
Ubi: where, wherefore
Ubicumque: wherever, whatever
Unus, -a, -um: one
Ut: like, as
Valeo, valere, valui, valitus: to be strong
Vario (1): to change, alter, diversity
Vel: or
Verus, -a, -um: true, actual, genuine
Verbum, verbi, n.: word
Viator, viatoris, m.: a traveler, wayfarer
Vicis, vicem, f: fate, condition, misfortune
vicissim: in turn, again
video, videre, vidi, visus: to see; (passive) seem
Virtus, virtutis, f.: courage, excellence, virtue
Vita, vitae, f.: life
Volo, velle, volui: to want, wish