DXXXVII (F VI, 1)
TO AULUS MANLIUS TORQUATUS[1] (AT ATHENS)
Rome (January)
Though the universal upset is such that each man thinks
his position the worst possible, and that there is no one
who does not wish to be anywhere but where he is, yet I
feel no doubt that at the present moment the most miserable
place for a good man to be in is Rome. For though
wherever any man is, he must have the same feeling and
the same pang from the ruin that has overtaken the fortunes
both of himself and of the state, yet, after all, one's eyes
add to the pain, which force us to see what others only
hear,[2] and do not allow us to turn our thoughts from our
miseries. Therefore, though you must necessarily be pained
by the absence of many objects, yet from that particular
sorrow, with which I am told that you are specially overpowered—that
you are not at Rome—pray free your mind.
For though you must feel great uneasiness at being without
your family and your surroundings, yet, after all, the objects
of your regret are maintaining all their rights. They could
not maintain them better, if you were here, nor are they in any
special danger. Nor ought you, when thinking of your
family, to demand any special favour of fortune for yourself,
or to refuse to bear what is common to all. In regard to
- [Footnote: bidder or sector, which was always considered discreditable. He had
begun the business early in the time of the confiscations of his uncle, the dictator Sulla, see de Off. ii. §29, where Cicero speaks of his conduct now as even worse than in the previous matter. In his defence of him in B.C. 60 he put a very different complexion on his character; but his conduct as Cæsar's legatus seems to have alienated him thoroughly. See pp. 51, 53.]
- ↑ Aulus Manlius Torquatus was prætor in B.C. 52, and presided at the trial of Milo. He had supported Cicero at various times of difficulty (de Fin. 2, §72). [Footnote 2: Cicero had suggested just the reverse to Marcellus, p. 184.
