profecto: adv., really, surely, actually, undoubtedly.
57. expergiscere: expergisci, to wake up.
ingredere: ingredi,to walk.
58. advola: fly to (me).
quantum: obj. of ponam, rely (on).
59. quodque maximum est: and what is most important, emphasizes the following quantum cl.; (id) quod is often used to refer to an entire phrase or cl.
62. permagni nostra interest: idiom, with abl. sg. of possessive + inf. phrase as subj. (here, te…esse), it is of very great importance to us (that).
comitiis: comitia, n. pl., election; sc. in, at the election. The elections for this year, in an act of political disruption typical of the period, had been delayed from July to October 18.
potueris: sc. esse.
63. declarato: declarare, to make clear, declare, declare as elected to office.
cura ut valeas: a conventional closing remark; cp. Eng. “take care of yourself.” No correspondence between Atticus and Cicero exists for the next four months, probably an indication that Atticus in fact complied with his request and returned to Rome, as Cicero requested in this letter.
64. Terentiae: Terentia, Cicero’s first wife and mother of his two children; she encouraged his activities against Catiline and later Clodius, and exerted herself on his behalf during his exile. The two were later divorced, in 48, due to Cicero’s suspicions that she was mishandling their finances.
Tulliolae:little Tullia, a diminutive form of the name of Cicero’s daughter, used as a term of endearment. Born ca. 79 B.C., Tullia was 21 years old at this time and married to Gaius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, a quaestor who lobbied for Cicero’s recall.
65. Ciceroni: Cicero’s son, named Marcus Tullius Cicero for his father; born in 65, he was just seven years old at the time of his father’s banishment.
66. perfertur: fero and a number of its compounds are often used with the sense of bringing news, reporting.
67. incredibilem: PRED. ADJ., placed at the beginning of its cl. for emphasis.
tuam…te: Terentia; Cicero refers to each of the three family members, following the order in the salutation.
68. me miserum: ACC. OF EXCLAMATION.
te…incidisse (70): the inf. used independently (i.e., without an introductory main vb.) to express an exclamation, (to think) that you have….
ista virtute (69): ABL. OF DESCRIPTION, = a person of such excellence.
69. humanitate: here, human kindness.
aerumnas: aerumna,hardship.
70. patre: logically with ex eo as antecedent of quo, the word is attracted into the rel. cl., common when the rel. cl. precedes its antecedent.
71. luctus: grief, sorrow, distress; here, acc. pl.
72. sapere: to have understanding.
73. quae: = et haec, n. pl., referring to dolores miseriasque.
facta: sc. esse.
74. paulo: adv., a little.
AD FAMILIARES 14.1
Clodius was elected tribune for 58 and authored a bill banishing Cicero for his role in the execution of the Catilinarians; from exile in Greece, Cicero writes to his wife Terentia and their daughter Tullia and son Marcus on a wide range of topics. Most of the letter was written in Thessalonica, with a postscript added in Dyrrhachium. November 25, 58 B.C.
Tullius Terentiae Suae, Tulliolae Suae,
65 Ciceroni Suo Salutem Dicit
Et litteris multorum et sermone omnium perfertur ad me incredibilem tuam virtutem et fortitudinem esse teque nec animi neque corporis laboribus defatigari. Me miserum!—te ista virtute, fide, probitate, humanitate in tantas aerumnas propter 70 me incidisse! Tulliolamque nostram, ex quo patre tantas voluptates capiebat, ex eo tantos percipere luctus! Nam quid ego de Cicerone dicam?—qui cum primum sapere coepit, acerbissimos dolores miseriasque percepit. Quae si, tu ut scribis, fato facta putarem, ferrem paulo facilius, sed omnia sunt mea culpa 75 commissa, qui ab eis me amari putabam, qui invidebant, eos non sequebar, qui petebant.
75. ab eis: the senatorial party; from the beginning Cicero had to struggle against their grudging acceptance of him because he was a novus homo, and now, he felt, they were jealous (invidebant) of his accomplishments.
76. qui petebant: the triumvirs, Caesar in particular, who did invite Cicero to join them but whose political philosophy he could not accept.
77. quod si: but if.
apud nos:with me.
tantum: adv., so much.
78. sermo: here, advice.
improborum:wicked, dishonest, treacherous.
