DCCXXXI (A XV, 4, §§ 1-4)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ARPINUM, 24 MAY
ON the 24th of May about four o'clock in the
afternoon a letter-carrier arrived from Q. Fufius.
1 He brought
me some sort of a note from him
expressing a wish that I would restore my favour
to him. It was very awkwardly expressed, as is his
way: unless perchance the truth is that everything
one doesn't like has the appearance of being
awkwardly done. My answer was one which I think
you will approve. I will
reply to your later and fuller letter first. Good!
Why, if even Carfulenus does so—le déluge! 2 Antony's policy—as
you describe it—is revolutionary, and I
hope he will carry it out by popular vote rather
than by decree of the senate! I think he will do
so. But to my mind his whole policy seems to point
to war, since the province 3
is being wrested from Decimus Brutus. Whatever my
estimate of the latter's resources, I do not think
that this can be done without war. But I don't
desire it, for the Buthrotians are being
sufficiently secured as it is! 4 Do you laugh?
In good truth I am vexed that they do not rather
owe it to my persistence, activity, and influence.
You say you don't know
what our men are to do. Well, that difficulty has
been troubling me all along. Accordingly, I was a
fool, I now see, to be consoled by the Ides of
March. The fact is, we shewed the courage of men,
the prudence of children. The tree was felled, but
not cut up by the roots. Accordingly, you see how
it is sprouting up. Let us go back, then, to the
Tusculan Arguments 5
—since you often quote
them. Let us keep Saufeius in the dark about you.
I will never blab. 6
You send me a message from Brutus asking on what
day I am to arrive at Tusculum. On the 27th of
May, as I wrote you word before. And then, in
fact, I should like very much to see you as soon
as possible. For I think I shall have to go to
Lanuvium, 7 and shan't get off without a great deal of
talk. But I will see to it. I now come back to your earlier letter. I will
pass over the first clause about the Buthrotians,
for “That in my heart of hearts is
fixed.” I only hope, as you say, we may
have some opportunity of acting in the matter. You
must be very keen about Brutus's speech,
considering the length at which you discuss it
again. Would you have me treat the subject after
he has actually produced a written oration on it?
Am I to write without being asked by him? That
would be putting one's oar in with a vengeance I
Nothing could be ruder. But some thing, say you,
in the style of Heracleides. 8 Well, I don't decline that much: but it is
necessary first to settle on a line of argument,
and secondly to wait for a more suitable time for
writing. For think what you will of me (though of
course I should like you to think as well as
possible), if things go on as they seem to be
doing-you will not be vexed at my saying
it—I feel no pleasure in the Ides of
March. For Caesar would never have come back :
9 fear would
not have forced us to confirm his acts. Or
supposing me to join Saufeius's school and abandon
the doctrines of the Tusculans, I was so high in
his favour (whom may the gods confound though
dead!) that to a man of my age he was
not a master to be shunned, since the slaying of
the master has not made us free men. I
blush-believe me. But I have written the words,
and will not erase them. I only wish it had been
true about Menedemus. 10 About the Queen I hope it may
turn out to be true. 11
The rest when we meet, and especially as to what
our heroes are to do, and even what I am to do
myself if Antony means to blockade the senate with
soldiers. If I had given this letter to his
letter-carrier I feared he would open it. So I
send it with special care: for I was obliged to
answer yours.
ARPINUM, 24 MAY
