26 April 44 BCE: To Mark Antony (at Rome) from Cicero (at Puteoli)
Cicero replies to Antony's 'lovingly and respectfully written letter'
[This is the first of two letters from April 26th.]
I would have preferred that you had brought up the subject you raised in your letter in person for one single reason. For then you would have been able to perceive the love I have for you, not just from my speech, but even (as they say) from my face and eyes and expression. For although I have always loved you—first due to your own fondness for me, and after that as a result of your kindness and favours—in these present times, the Republic has so commended you to me that I consider nobody dearer.
And truly, your most lovingly and respectfully written letter has so affected me that I feel like I am not granting a favour so much as receiving one from you, who ask to save my enemy and your friend, but do not want to do it without my consent, although you could with very little trouble. Of course, my Antony, I yield to you in this matter, and I recognise that in writing in such terms you have treated me generously and honourably. And although I would have thought I ought to grant whatever you ask, no matter what it was, I grant it as a concession to my own humanity and nature as well.
For not only did I always have no bitterness in me—so too was I never harsh or severe beyond what was required for the sake of the Republic. In fact, it so happens that I have never felt any distinguished hatred towards Cloelius himself,1 and I have always thought that it is not right to pursue the friends of one’s enemies, particularly those of lower status, so that those men do not deprive us of their support.
As for the young Clodius, I reckon that it is up to you to imbue his ‘impressionable mind,’ as you put it, with the belief that there is no enmity left between our families. I fought with Publius Clodius when I was defending the public interest, and he was defending his own. The Republic stood judge over our disputes. If he were still alive, no conflict between us would remain. Therefore, since in requesting this of me you say that you will not do what is within your power without my consent, you may grant this to the boy as something from me, if you think it right. Not that I ought to expect any danger from him, due to the difference in our ages, nor because a man of my status should shrink from any conflict, but so that we may be more closely connected than we were before. For these enmities have come between us, and your heart has been more open than your house. But that is enough about these things.
One final matter: I will always do whatever I judge that you want and that pertains to your interests, with no hesitation, and with great fondness. I hope you are thoroughly persuaded by this.2
Read Ad Atticum 14.13B in Latin here | Check the glossary here
Cicero called Sextus Cloelius ‘a man without property, without honesty, without hope, without a home, without any character or position, polluted in face, and tongue, and hand, and in every particular of his life’ in Pro Caelio 78 (trans. C. D. Yonge).
In September 44 BCE, Mark Antony would read this letter out to the Senate, in response to Cicero’s first Philippic oration against him.