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Epistulae ad Familiares, V. iii.-iv.

to regard you in the light of a cousin[1] to me. As for him, I don't want to give him a thought, though the fact remains that I have twice saved his life in spite of himself. 2 As to my own affairs, not to bother you all with too many letters, I have written fully to Lollius, telling him what I want done about my provincial accounts, so that he may pass on my instructions and bring the matter to your notice. I hope you will always be as friendly to me as you have been in the past, if you possibly can.

IV

M. Cicero to Metellus Nepos, Consul

Dyrrachium, in the earlier half of 57 B.C.

1 The letters of my brother Quintus and my intimate friend, T. Pomponius, [2] had so raised my hopes, that I counted upon no less assistance on your part than on that of your colleague.[3] And so I lost no time in sending you a letter, in which, as the circumstances of the time demanded, I both expressed my thanks to you and asked for your subsequent assistance. Afterwards, I was given to understand not so much from what my friends wrote to me, as by the remarks of those who travelled by this route, that your feelings had changed; and the result was that I did not like to pester you with correspondence.

2 Now, however, my brother Quintus has sent me a full report of the very gracious speech which you delivered in the Senate; and that speech moved me to make an effort to write to you; and I beg and

  1. ↑ As P. Clodius was, his mother Caecilia being the sister of Nepos's father, Q. Metellus Balearicus, consul in 123.
  2. ↑ Atticus, Cicero's greatest friend and correspondent. For the situation as regards Nepos see Chron. Sum. 57 B.C. § 3.
  3. ↑ P. Lentulus Spinther (i. 1-9).
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