[Sidenote: _Between Vibo and Brundisium Apr. 13_, B.C. _58_]
Please attribute my sudden departure from Vibo after asking you to join me there to my misery rather than to caprice. I received a copy of the bill for my destruction, and found that the alteration of which I had heard, took the form of banishment beyond four hundred miles. Since I could not go where I wished, I went straight to Brundisium before the bill was passed; for fear of involving my host Sicca in my destruction and because I am not permitted to stay at Malta. Now make haste and join me; if I can find anyone to take me in. At present I receive kind invitations: but I fear the future. I indeed, Pomponius, am heartily sick of life: and it is mainly for your sake that I consented to live. But of this when we meet. Please do come.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Thuriis IIII Id. Apr., ut videtur, a. 696_]
Terentia tibi et saepe et maximas agit gratias. Id est mihi gratissimum. Ego vivo miserrimus et maximo dolore conficior. Ad te quid scribam, nescio. Si enim es Romae, iam me adsequi non potes, sin es in via, cum eris me adsecutus, coram agemus, quae erunt agenda. Tantum te oro, ut, quoniam me ipsum semper amasti, ut nunc eodem amore sis; ego enim idem sum. Inimici mei mea mihi, non me ipsum ademerunt. Cura, ut valeas.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Tarentino XIV K. Mai. a. 696_]
Non fuerat mihi dubium, quin te Tarenti aut Brundisi visurus essem, idque ad multa pertinuit, in eis, et ut in Epiro consisteremus et de reliquis rebus tuo consilio uteremur. Quoniam id non contigit, erit hoc quoque in magno numero nostrorum malorum. Nobis iter est in Asiam, maxime Cyzicum. Meos tibi commendo. Me vix misereque sustento.
[Sidenote: _Thurii, Apr. 10_ (?), B.C. _58_]
Terentia continually expresses the deepest gratitude to you: and I am very glad of it. My life is one long misery and I am crushed with the weight of my sorrows. What to write I don’t know. If you are in Rome, you will be too late to catch me: but, if you are already on the way, we will discuss all that has to be discussed, when you join me. One thing only I beg of you, since you have always loved me for myself, to preserve your affection for me. I am still the same. My enemies have robbed me of all I had; but they have not robbed me of myself. Take care of your health.