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Epistulae ad Familiares, II. vi.

appealing to you had I some important request to make. A man of any modesty finds it repugnant to address such a petition to one whom he thinks he has put under an obhgation to himself, lest he should appear to exact rather than request what he wants, and to reckon the granting of it rather as payment for value received than as an act of kindness. 2 Since, however, on your side, your kindnesses to me are a matter of common knowledge, or it may be that my own unprecedented misfortunes have made them stand out in a strong and clear light, and since it is the mark of a generous disposition to wish to owe most to whom you owe much, I have not hesitated to ask you by letter to do something for me which is more important and more indispensable to me than anything else in the world. For I have never been afraid of being overwhelmed by your services to me, numberless as they are, especially as I felt confident that there was no favour you could do me which my heart could not find room for in the acceptance of it, or fail to recompense abundantly, and even to glorify in the requital.[1]

3 I have irrevocably invested all my aspirations, all my energies, anxieties, exertions, and thoughts, in short, my whole heart and soul, in Milo's election to the consulship; and I have come to the conclusion that it is there[2] that I must look not only for some return for my good offices, but also for some reputation for loyalty.[3]

I doubt if any man has ever been so concerned for his own security and worldly wealth as I am for Milo's promotion to office, upon which depends, I am convinced, all I have in the world, and I realize that you are the one man who can, if you will, help

  1. ↑ He refers to the great opportunities a man in his position has for eulogizing those who do him a service.
  2. ↑ i.e., "in Milo's consulship" not "in Milo himself" (in eo consulatu not in Milone). This would, I think, remove the difficulty so many commentators find in in eo.
  3. ↑ Milo's election would not only strengthen Cicero's position, but enhance his reputation for loyalty to his friends.
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