The only one of your letters, which I have not answered, is the most eloquent of them all, dealing with the country's peril. I have no answer to make: I am very much upset. But the Parthians, whose sudden retreat left Bibulus half dead with fright, have taught me not to be much alarmed at anything.
On the 6th of December I came to Aeculanum, and there I read your letter, which Philotimus handed to me. I was pleased at the first glance to see it was
erant a te ipso scriptae, deinde earum accuratissuma diligentia sum mirum in modum delectatus. Ac primum illud, in quo te Dicaearcho adsentiri negas, etsi cupidissume expetitum a me est et te approbante, ne diutius anno in provincia essem, tamen non est nostra contentione perfectum. Sic enim scito, verbum in senatu factum esse numquam de ullo nostrum, qui provincias obtinuimus, quo in iis diutius quam ex senatus consulto maneremus, ut iam ne istius quidem rei culpam sustineam, quod minus diu fuerim in provincia, quam fortasse fuerit utile. Sed "quid si hoc melius?" opportune dici videtur ut in hoc ipso. Sive enim ad concordiam res adduci potest sive ad bonorum victoriam, utriusvis rei me aut adiutorem velim esse aut certe non expertem; sin vincuntur boni, ubicumque essem, una cum iis victus essem. Quare celeritas nostri reditus ἀμεταμέλητος debet esse. Quodsi ista nobis cogitatio de triumpho iniecta non esset, quam tu quoque adprobas, ne tu haud multum requireres illum virum, qui in sexto libro informatus est. Quid enim tibi faciam, qui illos libros devorasti? Quin nunc ipsum non dubitabo rem tantam abicere, si id erit rectius. Utrumque vero simul agi non potest, et de triumpho ambitiose et de re publica libere. Sed ne dubitaris, quin, quod honestius, id mihi futurum sit antiquius. Nam, quod putas utilius esse, vel mihi quod tutius sit, vel etiam ut rei publicae prodesse possim, me esse cum imperio, id coram considerabimus quale sit. Habet enim res deliberationem; etsi ex parte magna
in your handwriting; and I was highly delighted at the care and attention it showed. First you say that you disagree with Dicaearchus.[15] Now, though I was exceedingly anxious, and that with your approval, not to stay in my province more than a year, it was not my own efforts that gained the point. For you should know that no word was ever said in the House about any of us provincial governors outstaying the term of our appointment; so that now I am not to be blamed even for making a shorter stay in my province than was perhaps to my advantage. But "all for the best" is an apt saying, as it is in this case. For, if peace can be patched up, or the loyalists can be made to win the victory, I should be sorry not to assist or at any rate have a hand in the matter. But, if the loyalists are conquered, I should share their defeat wherever I were. So my speedy return ought not to cost me any regret. If this idea of a triumph that you approve had not come into my head, you would find me not far short of the ideal statesman I sketched in the sixth volume.[16] What would you have me do, you devourer of those books of mine? Even now I will not hesitate to throw away my great ambition, if that course is better. One cannot of course play both parts at once, the selfish candidate for triumph and the independent politician. But doubt not that I shall take honesty to be my best policy. As for your point that it were better for me, whether for my private safety, or for the public welfare, that I should retain my command, we will talk it over together. It is a matter for deliberation,