After 9 December 44 BCE: To Lucius Munatius Plancus (in Transalpine Gaul) from Cicero (at Rome)
Cicero tries to flatter Plancus into not siding with Antony
While I was very glad to see Furnius for his own sake, I was even more glad to see him because while listening to him, I felt like I was seeing you. For he told me all about your bravery in military affairs, and your justice in administering the province,1 and your good sense in all respects. He also mentioned how agreeable you are as a companion and as a friend—which I am not ignorant of!—and he also added that you had been extremely generous to him. I was pleased to hear all of this, and I am also grateful for the last part.
I have had a close relationship with your family, Plancus, established some time before you were born, but an affection for you since you were a boy; and now that you have grown up, we have established a friendship based on my fondness and your good judgement. For these reasons, I put unbelievable effort into supporting your position, which I regard as shared with my own. You have attained all the highest distinctions, with virtue as your guide and fortune your companion, and you have won these as a young man, in the face of many who are envious, whom you have overcome through your talent and hard work.2
Now, if you listen to me, your most affectionate friend, and one who cannot allow anyone to claim to have an older relationship—you will gain all further high position, for the rest of your life, from establishing the best form of constitution for the Republic.
Of course, you know (for nothing could escape you) that there was a time when people thought that you bent too much to circumstance; I would have thought it too, if I thought that you approved of the things you endured. But since I understood how you really felt, I thought you had good sense in seeing what it was possible for you to achieve.3 Now the situation is different. You can have your own, free opinion on all things. You are consul-designate,4 in the prime of life and the height of oratorical skill, while the Republic has been terribly deprived of men of your ability.
By the immortal gods, devote your attention and thought to that which will bring you high position and glory. There is but one path to glory, especially now, when for so many years the Republic has been torn apart—and that path is good government of the Republic.
I thought to write you this out of a loving impulse rather than because I thought you needed advice or instruction. I know that you drink in these ideas at the same fountains as I did. So I shall stop here. I thought I should point out just enough to show you the affection I hold for you, rather than to show off my good sense. Meanwhile, I shall devotedly and attentively take care of whatever I think could affect your position.
Read Ad Familiares 10.3 in Latin here | Check the glossary here | Watch an overview of events from the Ides of March onwards here
Plancus was governor of Transalpine Gaul.
This is an interesting way of saying that Plancus was appointed to the praetorship, and then made consul-designate and proconsular governor of Transalpine Gaul by Caesar, rather than being elected to these positions.
Cicero is trying to give Plancus an excuse for siding closely with Caesar in the Civil War, in hopes of getting him on the side of the tyrannicides and against Antony.
For the year 42 BCE.