CCXI (F XV, 3)
TO M. PORCIUS CATO (AT ROME)
ICONIUM, 28 AUGUST
Ambassadors sent to me by Antiochus of
Commagene having arrived at the camp at Iconium on
the 28th of August, and having
announced to me that the son of the king of the
Parthians, whose wife was the sister of the king
of the Armenians, had arrived on the Euphrates
with a very large force of Parthians, and a great
host of other nations besides, and had actually
begun the passage of the Euphrates, and that it
was reported that the Armenian king was about to
make a raid upon Cappadocia—I thought
that, considering our close friendship, I ought to
write and tell you this news. I have sent no
public despatch for two reasons: first, because
the ambassadors said that the Commagenian himself
had at once sent messengers and a despatch to the
senate; and, secondly, because I believed that M.
Bibulus, proconsul of Syria, who started thither
by sea from Ephesus about the 13th of August,
seeing that he had had the wind in his favour, had
by this time arrived in his own province, and I
thought that the senate was sure to get more
definite information on all points in a despatch
from him. For myself, considering the
circumstances and the gravity of the war, my chief
anxiety is to retain by my own leniency and
purity, and the loyalty of our allies, what I can
scarcely hope to retain by the amount of my forces
and material resources. I would beg you, on your
part, to continue your habitual affection for me
and the defence of me in my absence. 1
ICONIUM, 28 AUGUST
