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you; and the carrier who delivered it was not the man to whom you had handed it, in which case he might have told me from what place or at what time it had been dispatched.

² Anyhow, uncertain as things were, I thought I should make a point of sending my orderlies and lictors to you with a letter; and if you receive it in time enough, you will do me a very great favour if you join me in Cilicia as soon as possible.

For what Curius, your cousin, and a man, as you know, to whom I am greatly attached, and C. Vergilius^[1] also, your kinsman and my very intimate friend, have written to me about you with such careful elaboration has, of course, great influence with me, as the studied recommendation of men who are emphatically my friends is bound to have; but your own letter, especially on the subject of your position, and our being thus associated, carries more weight with me than anything else. No more desirable quaestor could possibly have fallen to my lot. And that is why any such marks of distinction as can find their way from me to you, will so find their way, that the world may recognize that I have shown no lack of regard for your own and your ancestors' prestige. But I can the more easily effect this if you join me in Cilicia; and that I regard as of importance to me and to the state, and most of all to yourself.