Letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero | Page 4

because she had been indiscreet or unscrupulous in money matters, and
marry at the age of sixty-three his own ward, a young girl whose
fortune he admitted was the main attraction. The coldness of temper
suggested by these transactions is contradicted in turn by Cicero's
romantic affection for his daughter Tullia, whom he is never tired of
praising for her cleverness and charm, and whose death almost broke
his heart.
Most of Cicero's letters were written in ink on paper or parchment with
a reed pen; a few on tablets of wood or ivory covered with wax, the

marks being cut with a stylus. The earlier letters he wrote with his own
hand, the later were, except in rare cases, dictated to a secretary. There
was, of course, no postal service, so the epistles were carried by private
messengers or by the couriers who were constantly traveling between
the provincial officials and the capital.
Apart from the letters to Atticus, the collection, arrangement, and
publication of Cicero's correspondence seems to have been due to Tiro,
the learned freedman who served him as secretary, and to whom some
of the letters are addressed. Titus Pormponius Atticus, who edited the
large collection of the letters written to himself, was a cultivated
Roman who lived more than twenty years in Athens for purposes of
study. His zeal for cultivation was combined with the successful pursuit
of wealth; and though Cicero relied on him for aid and advice in public
as well as private matters, their friendship did not prevent Atticus from
being on good terms with men of the opposite party.
Generous, amiable, and cultured, Atticus was not remarkable for the
intensity of his devotion either to principles or persons. "That he was
the lifelong friend of Cicero," says Professor Tyrrell, "is the best title
which Atticus has to remembrance. As a man he was kindly, careful,
and shrewd, but nothing more: there was never anything grand or noble
in his character. He was the quintessence of prudent mediocrity."
The period covered by the letters of Cicero is one of the most
interesting and momentous in the history of the world, and these letters
afford a picture of the chief personages and most important events of
that age from the pen of a man who was not only himself in the midst
of the conflict, but who was a consummate literary artist.
LETTERS
MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO
I
To ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)

ROME, JULY
THE state of things in regard to my candidature, in which I know that
you are supremely interested, is this, as far as can be as yet conjectured.
The only person actually canvassing is P. Sulpicius Galba. He meets
with a good old-fashioned refusal without reserve or disguise. In the
general opinion this premature canvass of his is not unfavourable to my
interests; for the voters generally give as a reason for their refusal that
they are under obligations to me. So I hope my prospects are to a
certain degree improved by the report getting about that my friends are
found to be numerous. My intention was to begin my own canvass just
at the very time that Cincius tells me that your servant starts with this
letter, namely, in the campus at the time of the tribunician elections on
the 17th of July. My fellow candidates, to mention only those who
seem certain, are Galba and Antonius and Q. Cornificius. At this I
imagine you smiling or sighing. Well, to make you positively smite
your forehead, there are people who actually think that Caesonius will
stand. I don't think Aquilius will, for he openly disclaims it and has
alleged as an excuse his health and his leading position at the bar.
Catiline will certainly be a candidate, if you can imagine a jury finding
that the sun does not shine at noon. As for Aufidius and Palicanus, I
don't think you will expect to hear from me about them. Of the
candidates for this year's election Caesar is considered certain. Thermus
is looked upon as the rival of Silanus. These latter are so weak both in
friends and reputation that it seems pas impossible to bring in Curius
over their heads. But no one else thinks so. What seems most to my
interests is that Thermus should get in with Caesar. For there is none of
those at present canvassing who, if left over to my year, seems likely to
be a stronger candidate, from the fact that he is commissioner of the via
Flaininia, and when that has been finished, I shall be greatly relieved to
have seen him elected consul this election. Such in outline is the
position of affairs in regard to candidates up to date. For myself I shall
take the greatest pains to carry out