237. instituto: institutum, custom, practice; Caesar had demonstrated his clementia with other captured officers.
missum feci: = I dismissed, released.
duo praefecti: Magius was one, Vibullius Rufus the other.
238. fabrum: = fabrorum, from faber, smith, engineer.
240. mihi…iis: both dat. with amicus.
241. inimicissimi: i.e., certain senators.
artificiis: artificium,scheme.
244. vellem: I could wish; POTENTIAL SUBJUNCT.
casu: here, misfortune, distress.
246. ex eo…quod: frow the fact that.
247. aliquantum: adv., somewhat.
adquievi: adquiescere,to become quiet, rest, calm down.
249. adhibuisti: here, you showed.
Servius…tuus: i.e., Sulpicius’ son.
250. declaravit: here, not declared, but made clear, demonstrated.
251. faceret: lit., made of = esteemed.
aninium:attitude.
253. oratio tua: i.e., his words.
254. societas…aegritudinis: partnership in my grief, almost a translation of Greek sympatheia, which literally means suffering with another, as does also eccl. Lat. compassio.
auctoritas: i.e., the influence of his advice.
AD FAMILIARES 4.6
We have, preserved amid Cicero’s correspondence (Ad Familiares 4.5), a letter of consolation on the death of his daughter Tullia written to him from Greece in April, 45 B.C., by the noted jurist, orator, and politician Servius Sulpicius Rufus. In the following reply Cicero expresses gratitude for Servius’ kindness but remarks that his sorrow is still hard to bear, because he cannot in these times take an active role in the political and forensic activities that might otherwise provide distraction from his grief. Written from Atticus’ villa at Ficulea, just to the east of Rome, April, 45 B.C.
M. Cicero S.D. Ser. Sulpicio
Ego vero, Servi, vellem, ut scribis, in meo gravissimo casu 245 adfuisses; quantum enim praesens me adiuvare potueris et consolando et prope aeque dolendo, facile ex eo intellego quod, litteris lectis, aliquantum adquievi. Nam et ea scripsisti quae levare luctum possent, et in me consolando non mediocrem ipse animi dolorem adhibuisti. Servius tamen tuus omnibus officiis, 250 quae illi tempori tribui potuerunt, declaravit et quanti ipse me faceret et quam suum talem erga me animum tibi gratum putaret fore; cuius officia iucundiora scilicet saepe mihi fuerunt, numquam tamen gratiora. Me autem non oratio tua solum et societas paene aegritudinis sed etiam auctoritas consolatur; 255 turpe enim esse existimo me non ita ferre casum meum, ut tu tali sapientia praeditus ferendum putas. Sed opprimor interdum et vix resisto dolori, quod ea me solacia deficiunt, quae ceteris, quorum mihi exempla propono, simili in fortuna non defuerunt. Nam et Q. Maximus, qui filium consularem, clarum virum et 260 magnis rebus gestis, amisit, et L. Paullus, qui duo septem diebus, et vester Gaius, et M. Cato, qui summo ingenio, summa virtute filium perdidit, iis temporibus fuerunt ut eorum luctum ipsorum dignitas consolaretur ea quam ex re publica conseque-bantur.
265 Mihi autem amissis ornamentis iis, quae ipse commemoras, quaeque eram maximis laboribus adeptus, unum manebat illud solacium, quod ereptum est. Non amicorum negotiis, non rei publicae procuratione impediebantur cogitationes meae, nihil in foro agere libebat; aspicere curiam non poteram; existimabam, 270 id quod erat, omnes me et industriae meae fructus et fortunae perdidisse. Sed, cum cogitarem haec mihi tecum et cum quibusdam esse communia, et cum frangerem iam ipse me co-geremque ilia ferre toleranter, habebam quo confugerem, ubi conquiescerem, cuius in sermone et suavitate omnes curas doloresque 275 deponerem. Nunc autem hoc tarn gravi vulnere etiam ilia, quae consanuisse videbantur, recrudescunt; non enim, ut tum me a re publica maestum domus excipiebat, quae levaret, sic nunc domo maerens ad rem publicam confugere possum, ut in eius bonis adquiescam. Itaque et domo absum et foro, quod 280 nec eum dolorem, quem de re publica capio, domus iam consolari potest nec domesticum res publica.
256. praeditus: endowed.
259. Q. Maximus: Quintus Fabius Maximus, dictator in 217 B.C. and hero in the war against Hannibal (see Livy’s “Hannibal and the Second Punic War,” below); his son, consul in 213 (hence consularem, ex-consul), predeceased him.
rebus gestis:accomplishments.
260. L. Paullus: Lucius Aemilius Paullus, victor over king Perseus at the battle of Pydna in 168 B.C. in the Third Macedonian War; his triumph was marred by the deaths of his two youngest sons in the same week.
duo: sometimes, as here, used for duos.
261. Gaius: Gaius Sulpicius Gallus, called vester as a member of Servius Sulpicius’ gens, served under Paullus at Pydna and also lost a son.
M. Cato:Marcus Porcius Cato, the famous orator, politician, and censor of the early second century B.C.; four years before his own death, his son died after being elected praetor in 153.
262. iis: here, such.
fuerunt: = vixerunt.
265. ornamentis: here, distinctions, honors.
266. eram…adeptus: adipisci, to gain.
unum manebat illud solacium (267): under Caesar’s rule, with his own political career eclipsed, Cicero’s one comfort had been the love and understanding of his daughter Tullia, who died in February, 45 B.C. (at the age of 33 or 34), two months before this letter was written.
268. procuratione: procuratio, management, conduct.
impediebantur: here, held in check.
cogitationes: i.e., his grief.
