Letters to Atticus Passage 9

de tuo autem negotio saepe ad me scribis. cui mederi nunc non possumus; est enim illud senatus consultum summa pedariorum voluntate nullius nostrum auctoritate factum. nam quod me esse ad scribendum vides, ex ipso senatus consulto intellegere potes aliam rem tum relatam, hoc autem de populis liberis sine causa additum. et ita factum est a P. Servilio filio qui in postremis sententiam dixit, sed immutari hoc tempore non potest. itaque conventus qui initio celebrabantur iam diu fieri desierunt. tu si tuis blanditiis tamen a Sicyoniis nummulorum aliquid expresseris, velim me facias certiorem.

You often write to me about your own business. At present I cannot remedy it. That decree of the Senate was passed with the complete approval of the backbenchers and on the authority of none of my circle. The fact that you see my name among those appointed to draft it lets you understand from the decree itself that another matter was then referred to us, while this provision concerning free peoples was added without cause. It was done by P. Servilius's son, who spoke near the end of the division, but it cannot now be changed. Accordingly, the meetings that were crowded at first have long ceased to be held. If, however, you squeeze some small amount of money from the Sicyonians by your blandishments, please inform me.

Tu m’écris souvent au sujet de ton affaire. Nous ne pouvons maintenant y porter remède, car ce sénatus-consulte a été adopté par l’enthousiasme extrême des sénateurs sans magistrature, sans l’autorité d’aucun de nous. Si tu vois mon nom parmi les rédacteurs, le sénatus-consulte lui-même peut t’apprendre qu’une autre question avait alors été soumise; cette disposition concernant les peuples libres fut ajoutée sans motif. P. Servilius le fils, qui donna son avis parmi les derniers, fut l’auteur de cet ajout, mais il est impossible de le modifier en ce moment. Aussi les assemblées judiciaires qui se tenaient d’abord ont-elles cessé depuis longtemps. Si, par tes caresses, tu parviens néanmoins à tirer quelques sous aux gens de Sicyone, je voudrais que tu m’en informes.