Letter LXII: ad familiares 9.18
Tusculum, about July 20, 46 B.C.discipulos : i.e. Hirtius and Dolabella. Cf. Ep. LXI.7n. obviam (sc. Caesari) : the battle of Thapsus took place in April, 46, and Caesar was on his way back to Rome. He reached the city July 25. eadem (sc. opera): this omission is common in Plautus with eadem and una. Cf. M. G.. 303, and Brix on Trin. 581. Dionysius: sc. the younger. sublatis iudiciis : the orderly administration of justice, with which politics had interfered for many years, had been almost suspended during the Civil War; cf. pro Marc. 23 (delivered in this very year) omnia sunt excitanda tibi, C. Caesar, uni, quae iacere sentis, belli ipsius impetu, quod necesse fuit, perculsa atque prostrata: constituenda iudicia, etc. regno forensi: cf. regnum iudiciale, Ep. 1.1.
quid quaeris: cf. Ep. V.4n. and Intr. 98. id ... nescio: i.e. I do not know of what value this protection is which the friendship of such men as Hirtius and Dolabella gives me. in acie non fui: see Intr. 31 (end). Pompeius: see Intr. 31. Lentulus: on his death, cf. Ep. XXXV.23n. Scipio: Metellus Scipio, while attempting to escape after the battle of Thapsus, fell into the hands of the Caesarians, and was put to death or took his own life (cf. Belt Afr. 96). Afranius: after escaping from the battle of Thapsus, he was captured by a detachment of Caesar's troops, and was murdered during an uprising of the soldiers (cf. Bell. Afr. 95). See also Intr. 33. For an account of Cato's death, see Bell. Afr. 88. hoc primum: pointing back to munio tempora, above.
pavones: Hortensius is said to have been the first to introduce the peacock as a table delicacy, at the dinner which he gave on being elected augur (cf. Varr. N.H. 3.6.6). Cf. also Hor. Sat. 2.2.23-28. In Ep. LXIII. 2 Cicero jestingly remarks upon his boldness in giving a dinner to Hirtius without a peacock. istic: sc. in Naples. iure: with a double meaning, “legal procedure” and “sauce.” Cf. ius Verrinum, in Verr. 2.1.121. Haterius was a jurist, staying probably with Paetus, at Naples. προλεγομένας: (or προηγμένα, as Mendelssohn prefers), with a double reference, to the “principles” of law and to “receipts” in cooking. sus Minervam (sc. docebo) : A favorite proverb in both Greek and Latin for “teaching one's betters.” Cf. Acad. 1.18 non: etsi non sus Minervam, ut ajunt, tamen incite quisquis Minervam docet. Cf. Intr. 102.
si, quomodo video, aestimationes, if, as I fancy, you cannot, etc. See Crit. Append. aestimationes tuas: concretely used for the land which, after its value had been estimated, had been turned over to him as creditor. Cf. bona perdas and aestima donem accipere, Ep. LXI. 7. ollam denariorum implere: this phrase has a proverbial ring to it, and calls up the picture of the miser with his pot of gold, as he is represented in the Aulularia, for instance. In this case, however, the pot of Paetus contained not gold but only silver denarii. The Greek genitive after complere and implere, which is frequent in Plautus (cf., e.g., Amph. 471; Aul. 552, and Brix on Men. 901), is found several times in Cicero. satius est: sc. mori. spero idem istuc: sc. passos esse. In that case, they could not give Paetus dinners to keep him from going to Rome. actum igitur de te est, it is all up with you. Cf. transactum est, Ep. XI.3n. in ludo: i.e. in Cicero's school of oratory. proxima: sc. meae sellae.
