Mid July 44 BCE: To Gaius Ateius Capito (in Epirus) from Cicero (in Pompeii)
The last letter about Buthrotum
I don’t doubt that you are surprised and even angry that I plead with you so often about the same subject. Atticus, the man who is my dearest friend, and who is closely joined with me in all things, has a very great deal at stake. I understand how devoted you are to your friends, and how devoted they are to you. You can really help us with Plancus. I am aware of your kindness, and I know how agreeable you are to your friends. No-one can help us with this cause more than you. The situation is as secure as it ought to be—the consuls have decreed it in accordance with their assessors, after a law and a senatorial decree gave them the authority to review it. Still, we believe everything depends on the generosity of your friend Plancus, whom we think will both approve the consular decree out of a sense of duty and for the sake of the Republic, and will do this gladly for our sakes. So please help us out, my Capito; I ask that you do this as an urgent and pressing favour.
Read Ad Atticum 16.16f in Latin here | Check the glossary here