10 July 44 BCE: To Atticus (at Rome) from Cicero (at Puteoli)
Sextus Pompey writes a letter to the consuls with his demands. Cicero proofreads it
As I told you yesterday (or perhaps today? Quintus said that he would reach you a day after he left), I arrived at Nesis on the 8th. Brutus was there. How upset he was about the ‘Nones of July’!1 He really is very disturbed by it. And so he said that he would give instructions for them to advertise the beast hunt that will take place on the day after the Games of Apollo as being on ‘the day before the Ides of Quintilis.’2
Libo interrupted us.3 He said that Pompeius’ freedman Philo and his own freedman Hilarus had come from Sextus with a letter for the consuls—or whatever they should be called.4 He read us a copy of the letter, in case we had any thoughts. There were a few mistakes in the writing, but otherwise it was serious enough, and not insolent. I only thought one thing needed to be added: ‘To the praetors, tribunes of the plebs, and Senate,’ because Sextus had only written ‘To the consuls.’ This was in case they did not read it in public because it had been sent to them as individuals.
The freedmen also reported that Sextus had been at New Carthage with only one legion, and that the news about Caesar was reported to him the same day that he captured the town of Barea. His capture of the town was followed by marvellous rejoicing, and people changed their feelings towards him and rushed in from all around. But he turned back to the six legions that he had left in Further Spain. He has written to Libo personally that there’s nothing to do unless he can return to his family house.5 The main point of his demands is that all the armies should be disbanded, wherever they are. That’s about it regarding Sextus.
About the Buthrotians, I have been asking everywhere, but I have discovered nothing. Some say that the land-grabbers were cut to pieces, others say that Plancus took a bribe, abandoned them, and fled. And so I feel that I won’t know what really happened unless I get some sort of letter about it immediately.
The route to Brundisium that I was hesitating over no longer seems to be an option. The legions are said to be arriving there. But I have reason to believe that the voyage from here would be dangerous. And so I am deciding on a shared voyage. I found Brutus was more prepared than I had heard; both he and Domitius have very good light galleys, and Sestius, Bucilianus, and the rest have splendid ships besides. I don’t consider Cassius’ fleet, which is very nice, beyond the Strait.6 What somewhat troubles me is that Brutus doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry. First, he waits for reports about the games being finished; then, as I understand it, he is going to make the voyage slowly, stopping in a number of places. However, I think it is better to make the voyage slowly than not to make the voyage at all; and if when we have got some of the way, things seem more certain, I shall make use of the Etesian winds.7
Read Ad Atticum 16.4 in Latin here | Check the glossary here
One of the honours granted to Caesar was that Quintilis, the month of his birth, should be renamed Julius, i.e. July. The Nones of July was July 7th.
Quintilis was the previous name for July.
Libo was Sextus Pompey’s father-in-law.
The consuls were Dolabella and Antony. Cicero did not have a high opinion of them.
The house had been built by Sextus’ father Pompey the Great and was decorated with the rostra from defeated pirates’ ships. Antony had been living in it since the end of the civil war.
The Strait of Messina. Cassius’ fleet would be going a different direction to Cicero after passing through the strait.
The Etesian winds blow annually from May to September.