Around 10 October 44 BCE: To Quintus Cornificius (in Africa) from Cicero (at Rome)
Cicero approves of Octavian's alleged attempt to assassinate Antony, and has 'great hope' in him
Tratorius has explained to me the whole situation involving your governorship and the state of your province.1 So many things are intolerable, everywhere! But the higher your position, the less you should endure what has happened to you. Nor should the things you endure temperately because of your noble spirit and disposition go unavenged, even if you are not afflicted by them. But more of this later.
I am sure that the goings-on of the city are being sent to you. If I thought otherwise, I would have written to you in detail myself, especially about Caesar Octavian’s attempt.2 It is commonly thought to be a crime invented by Antony, as an excuse to make an attack on the young man’s money;3 but sensible people and good men both believe that he did it, and approve of it. In short, I have great hope in him. There is nothing he cannot be expected to do for the sake of praise and glory.
But Antony, our dear friend, so understands how very much he is hated that although he caught his would-be killers in his own house, he does not dare to make the fact public. And so on October 9th he set out for Brundisium to meet the four Macedonian legions—he hopes to win them over to his side with money, and to lead them on to the city, and set them on our necks.
There you have the state of the Republic, if it is possible for a Republic to exist in a military camp. I often grieve for your misfortune, because you are too young to have had a taste of the Republic in full health.4 And until this point, we could at least have hope; but now even that has been snatched away. For what hope can there be, when Antony dared to say in a public meeting that Cannutius ‘is seeking a place for himself among those men who can have no place in the State,5 while he is still alive’?
For my part, I endure both these things, and everything that can happen to a human being, while being very grateful for philosophy, which not only distracts me from my worry, but even arms me against all of fortune’s attacks. I think you should do the same, and you should not count anything which you are not responsible for as an evil. But you know this better than me.
I always approved of our dear Tratorius, and now I have really recognised the extent of his loyalty, hard work, and good sense regarding your business.
Take care of your health. Nothing else could make me more glad.
Read Ad Familiares 12.23 in Latin here | Check the glossary here
Cornificius’ predecessor as governor of Africa, Gaius Calvisius Sabinus, was a Caesarian, and had left two legates in Utica.
i.e. Octavian’s (alleged) attempt to have Antony assassinated (Nicolaus, Vit. Aug. 30; Plutarch, Antony 16.4; Suetonius, Augustus 10.3; Appian, Civil Wars 3.39). The last time Cicero mentioned Octavian by name, it was just as ‘Octavian,’ without the ‘Caesar,’ and back in April he had made a point of refusing to address him as ‘Caesar.’
Possibly the money Octavian had inherited through Caesar’s will.
Cornificius was quaestor in 48 BCE. He may have been around 30 years younger than Cicero.
i.e. the Liberators.