登陆注册
37754100000038

第38章 To ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)(5)

As to M.Octavius,I hereby again repeat that your answer was excellent:I could have wished it a little more positive still.For Caelius has sent me a freedman and a carefully written letter about some panthers and also a grant from the states.I have written back to say that,as to the latter,I am much vexed if my course of conduct is still obscure,amid if it is not known at Rome that not a penny has been exacted from my province except for the payment of debt;and I have explained to him that it is improper both for me to solicit the money and for him to receive it;and I have advised him (for I am really attached to him)that,after prosecuting others,he should be extra-careful as to his own conduct.As to the former request,I have said that it is inconsistent with my character that the people of Cibyra should hunt at the public expense while I am governor.

Lepta jumps for joy at your letter.it is indeed prettily written,and has placed me in a very agreeable light in his eyes.I am much obliged to your little daughter for so earnestly bidding you send me her love.It is very kind of Pilia also;but your daughter's kindness is the greater,because she sends the message to one she has never seen.Therefore pray give my love to both in return.The day on which your letter was dated,the last day of December,reminded me pleasantly of that glorious oath of mine,which I have not forgotten.I was a civilian Magnus on that day.

There's your letter completely answered!Not as you were good enough to ask,with "gold for bronze,"but tit for tat.Oh,but here is another little note,which I will not leave unanswered.Lucceius,on my word,could get a good price for his Tusculan property,unless,perchance,his flute-player is a fixture (for that's his way),and I should like to know in what condition it is.Our friend Lentulus,I hear,has advertised everything for sale except his Tusculan property.I should like to see these men cleared of their embarrassments,Cestius also,and you may add Caelius,to all of whom the line applies,"Ashamed to shrink and yet afraid to take."I suppose you have heard of Curio's plan for recalling Memmius.

Of the debt due from Egnatius of Sidicinum I am not without some hope,though it is a feeble one.Pinarius,whom you recommended to me,is seriously ill,and is being very carefully looked after by Deiotarus.So there's the answer to your note also.

Pray talk to me on paper as frequently as possible while I am at Laodicea,where I shall be up to the 15th of May:and when you reach Athens at any rate send me letter-carriers,for by that time we shall know about the business in the city and the arrangements as to the provinces,the settlement of all which has been fixed for March.

But look here!Have you yet wrung out of Caesar by the agency of Herodes the fifty Attic talents?In that matter you have,I hear,roused great wrath on the part of Pompey.For he thinks that you have snapped up money rightly his,and that Caesar will be no less lavish in his building at the Nemus Diame.

I was told all this by P.Vedius,a hare-brained fellow enough,but yet an intimate friend of Pompey's.This Vedius came to meet me with two chariots,and a carriage and horses,and a sedan,and a large suite of servants,for which last,if Curio has carried his law,he will have to pay a toll of a hundred sestertii apiece.There was also in a chariot a dog-headed baboon,as well as some wild asses.

I never saw a more extravagant fool.But the cream of the whole is this.He stayed at Laodicea with Pompeius Vindullus.There he deposited his properties when coming to see me.Meanwhile Vindullus dies,and his property is supposed to revert to Pompeius Magnus.Gaius Vennonius comes to Vindullus's house:when,while putting a seal on all goods,he conies across the baggage of Vedius.In this are found five small portrait busts of married ladies,among which is one of the wife of your friend--"brute,"indeed,to be intimate with such a fellow!and of the wife of Lepidus--as easy-going as his name to take this so calmly!Iwanted you to know these historiettes by the way;for we have both a pretty taste in gossip.There is one other thing I should like you to turn over in your mind.I am told that Appius is building a propyheum at Eleusis.Should I be foolishly vain if I also built one at the Academy?"I think so,"you will say.Well,then,write and tell me that that is your opinion.For myself,I am deeply attached to Athens itself.I would like some memorial of myself to exist.Iloathe sham inscriptions on statues really representing other people.But settle it as you please,and be kind enough to inform me on what day the Roman mysteries fall,and how you have passed the winter.Take care of your health.Dated the 765th day since the battle of Leuctra!

同类推荐
  • 医说

    医说

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 女科撮要

    女科撮要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 佛说如意摩尼陀罗尼经

    佛说如意摩尼陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 勇毅

    勇毅

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Around

    Around

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 九尊龙神

    九尊龙神

    起灵大陆,武风盛行,万宗林立,强横的武魂与绚丽的魔法碰撞出激烈的火花。叶国王爷叶苍领兵争夺灵矿脉时,其子出生却惨遭追杀,所幸被人带走逃亡,但成长路上的腥风血雨他又该如何面对?而又是什么让他一步步站在了大陆巅峰,成为一代龙神,留下无数历史传说的呢?
  • 你的船渡我可好

    你的船渡我可好

    ——“做一朵花,一棵草,都比做人好。”——“但起码人一脚下去就都没了。”白孤精致的眉眼尽是不耐烦,撇了撇嘴。——“我叫谭渡,来渡你的。”白孤轻轻地笑了,“你又没有船。”【女强男强,宠文+甜文+爽文】
  • 英语民族史·不列颠的诞生

    英语民族史·不列颠的诞生

    大英帝国雄踞19世纪,其属地与殖民地遍布全球,号称日不落帝国。而新生的美国则称霸20世纪,其政治、经济、文化、军事全方位地影响着20世纪历史进程。自工业革命以来,两个英语国家相续雄霸世界达200余年,这绝不是偶然。温斯顿·丘吉尔以其如椽大笔,深刻而生动地为我们揭示了其中奥秘,这就是其历史名著《英语民族史》,再加上其回忆巨著《第一次世界大战回忆录》和《第二次世界大战回忆录》,几乎完整地描述了英语民族从蛮荒走到世界超强的历史轨迹。地球上一个由讲英语的人口构成的宠大帝国——包括了不列颠、美国、加拿大和澳大利亚等西方强国——历经了漫长曲折的历程而渐渐形成;它们的存在,深刻改变了世界的文明版图,强有力地左右着人类命运和历史的走向……在这部创作时间长达30年的伟大作品中,诺贝尔文学奖获得者、英国历史负盛名的人物丘吉尔以深邃的洞察力和史诗般的笔触,为读者描绘了一幅全景式的“帝国画卷”。
  • 天行

    天行

    号称“北辰骑神”的天才玩家以自创的“牧马冲锋流”战术击败了国服第一弓手北冥雪,被誉为天纵战榜第一骑士的他,却受到小人排挤,最终离开了效力已久的银狐俱乐部。是沉沦,还是再次崛起?恰逢其时,月恒集团第四款游戏“天行”正式上线,虚拟世界再起风云!
  • 女孩们在那年夏天干了什么(千种豆瓣高分原创作品·看小说)

    女孩们在那年夏天干了什么(千种豆瓣高分原创作品·看小说)

    豆瓣阅读征文大赛决选作品所属组别:小说组一位想卸下心灵重负的当事人,一位不知所踪的男校医,一群早已选择遗忘的强奸案受害者,一位临死前仍对真相百思不得其解的结案警察,一场女孩们青春期的集体癔症……十年前一宗扑朔迷离的悬案在一位野心勃勃的年轻女导演冰冷的镜头下重见天日。作品借鉴纪录片中采访对象直视镜头的形式,用第一人称将不同采访对象对事件的还原叙述一一呈现,故事融汇了情欲、暴力、背叛、宽恕等元素,俨然一部青春版的“罗生门”。
  • 中二病也要谈恋爱小说

    中二病也要谈恋爱小说

    常年持续的黑暗时代,终于宣告了终结。向着期盼着的平稳日常,勇太踏出了新的一步。但是,他的右臂突然发生了异变,被封印着的黑炎龙让勇太觉得疼痛不已。可以确定的是,这是因为邪王真眼与黑炎龙之间的共鸣。“这样与你的契约就达成了”就这样勇太与一位少女相遇了。她的邪王真眼..
  • 栀子花的悲伤

    栀子花的悲伤

    她,夏沫儿,可是十足十的追星族。更是不折不扣的花痴。
  • 天元之诅咒之子

    天元之诅咒之子

    昼夜交替之时,黎明,亦或是黄昏?历史的帷幕落下。光明与黑暗同现,十色闪耀于天地之间,诅咒降临。白虹贯穿了光暗,北方的纷寒之地重现人间。无尽混沌汇聚,一切都将归于虚无。时间之轮缓缓碾过,寂定深处微茫着的希望,在轻轻呢喃:是毁灭,还是新生?
  • 快穿猫妖病娇男神快跪下

    快穿猫妖病娇男神快跪下

    天雷滚滚之下,九条命的猫妖倾情终究没有迈出那成仙的最后一步,即将濒死,却被从天而降的飞盘砸中,绑定系统,在万千世界中穿梭,万花丛中过,片叶不沾身。
  • 刺天传

    刺天传

    一代格斗杀手双王,穿越到日薄西山的大周朝,走上一条刺天救国之路——…………………老九建了个群:5319433。对本书感兴趣,对功夫感兴趣,对健身减肥感兴趣,对老九感兴趣的兄弟都可以进来。对了,群里有老九肌肉阳刚的照片——