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Cicero's Letters to his Friends

Book III

I

M. T. Cicero to Appius Claudius Pulcher Imperator[1]

Rome, 52 B.C.

1 Were the state herself able to give you an account of her present condition, you would not learn it from her more easily than from your freedman Phania; so sagacious is he, and not only that, but also (in no unpleasant sense)[2] inquisitive; he will, therefore, make everything plain to you; for that helps me to make my letter shorter, and is less risky in view of other matters. Now as regards my goodwill towards you, though you can learn it from the lips of that same Phania, I think none the less that I personally have some part to play in the expression of it.

You must convince yourself that you are very dear to me, both on account of the many charms of your character, your courtesy and kindliness, and also because I gather from your letter, and from what many have told me in conversation, that all that has

  1. ↑ Appius Claudius Pulcher, brother of Cicero's enemy Clodius, and the notorius Clodia, was praetor in 57, and propraetor of Sardinia in 56. In 54 he was consul with L. Domitius Ahenobarbus. In 53 he was proconsul in Cilicia, which he governed with ruthless rapacity. Being succeeded in that province by Cicero in 51, on his return to Rome he was impeached by Dolabella, but acquitted. In 50 he was censor with L. Piso. In 49 he joined Pompey, but died in Greece before the battle of Pharsalia. He was an augur, and dedicated a book on augural discipline to Cicero. All the letters in this Book are addressed to him.
  2. ↑ Lit. "so far as to be pleasing."
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