B.C. 52. from V Kal. Mart., Coss. Cn. Pompeius Magnus (alone); from 1st August, with Q. Metellus Scipio |
CLXXVIII (F V, 17)
TO P. SITTIUS (IN EXILE)
ROME
It was not because1 I had
forgotten our friendship, or had any intention of
breaking off my correspondence, that I have not written to you of late years. The
reason is that the earlier part of them was a
period of depression owing to the disaster which
had befallen the Republic and myself, while the
later period, with your own most distressing and
undeserved misfortune, has made me reluctant to
write. Since, however, a sufficiently long period
has now elapsed, and I have recalled with greater
distinctness your high character and lofty
courage, I thought it not inconsistent with my
purposes to write this to you. For my part, my
dear P. Sittius, I defended you originally, when
an attempt was made in your absence to bring you
into odium and under a criminal charge; and when a
charge against you was involved in the accusation
and trial of your most intimate friend, 2 I took the very greatest
care to safeguard your position and justify you.
And, again also, on this last occasion, soon after
my return to Rome, though I found that your case
had been put on a footing far different from what
I should have advised, if I had been there, still
I omitted nothing that could contribute to your
security. And though on that occasion the
ill-feeling arising from the price of corn, the
hostility of certain persons, not only to
yourself, but to all your friends as well, the
unfairness of the whole trial, and many other
abuses in the state, had greater influence than
the merits of your case or than truth itself, I
yet did not fail to serve your son Publius with
active assistance, advice, personal influence, and
direct testimony. Wherefore, as I have carefully
and religiously fulfilled all the other offices of
friendship, I thought I ought not to omit that of
urging upon you and beseeching you to remember
that you are a human being and a gallant
man—that is, that you should bear
philosophically accidents which are common to all
and incalculable, which none of us mortals can
shun or forestall by any means
whatever: should confront with courage such grief
as fortune brings: and should reflect that not in
our state alone, but in all others that have
acquired an empire, such disasters have in many
Instances befallen the bravest and best from
unjust verdicts. Oh that I were writing untruly
when I say, that you are exiled from a state in
which no man of foresight can find anything to
give him pleasure! As for your son, again, I fear
that, if I write nothing to you, I may seem not to
have borne testimony to his high qualities as they
deserve; while on the other hand, if I write fully
all I feel, I fear that my letter may irritate the
smart of your regret. But, after all, your wisest
course will be to regard his loyalty, virtue, and
steady conduct as being in your possession, and as
accompanying you wherever you may be: for, in
truth, what we embrace in imagination is no less
ours than what we see before our eyes. Wherefore
not only ought his brilliant qualities and extreme
affection for you to afford you great consolation,
but so also ought I and others of your friends who
value you, and always will do so, not for your
position, but your worth; and so, above all else,
ought your own conscience, when you reflect that
you have not deserved anything that has befallen
you, and when you consider besides that the wise
are distressed by guilt, not by
mischance—by their own ill-doing, not by
the misconduct of others. For my part, I shall
omit no opportunity either of consoling or
alleviating your present position ; for the
recollection of our old friendship, and the high
character and respectful attentions of your son,
will keep me in mind of that duty. If you, on your
part, will mention by letter anything you want, I
will take care that you shall not think that you
have written in vain.
ROME