XIII (F V, 1)
Q. METELLUS CELER TO CICERO
CISALPINE GAUL
Q. Metellus Celer, son of Quintus, proconsul,
greets M. Tullius Cicero. 1 If
you are well I am glad. I had thought, considering
our mutual regard and the reconciliation effected
between us, that I was not likely to be held up to
ridicule in my absence, nor my brother attacked by
you in his civil existence and property for the
sake of a mere word. If his own high character was
not a sufficient protection to him, yet either the
position of our family, or my own loyal conduct to
you and the Republic ought to have been sufficient
to support him. As it is I see that he has been
ruined and I abandoned by the last people in the
world who ought to have done so. I am accordingly
in sorrow and wearing mourning dress, while
actually in command of a province and army and
conducting a war. And seeing that your conduct in
this affair has neither been reasonable nor in
accordance with the milder methods of
old times, you must not be surprised if you live
to repent it. I did not expect to find you so
fickle towards me and mine. For myself, meanwhile,
neither family sorrow nor ill-treatment by any
individual shall withdraw me from the service of
the state.
CISALPINE GAUL