Letters to Atticus Passage 1

a Murenae liberto nihil adhuc acceperam litterarum. P. Siser reddiderat eas quibus rescribo. de Servi patris litteris quod scribis, item Quintum in Syriam venisse quod ais esse qui nuntient, ne id quidem verum est. quod certiorem te vis fieri quo quisque in me animo sit aut fuerit eorum qui huc venerunt, neminem alieno intellexi. sed quantum id mea intersit existimare te posse certo scio. mihi cum omnia sint intolerabilia ad dolorem, tum maxime quod in eam causam venisse me video ut sola utilia mihi esse videantur quae semper nolui. P. Lentulum patrem Rhodi esse aiunt, Alexandreae filium, Rhodoque Alexandream C. Cassium profectum esse constat.

I had not yet received any letter from Murena's freedman. Publius Siser delivered the letter to which I am replying. What you write about the letter from Servius the father is no more true than the report that Quintus has reached Syria, although you say there are people who announce it. You wish to be informed of the present or former disposition toward me of each man who has come here. I have perceived no one to be estranged. But I know for certain that you can judge how much that matters to me. Although everything is intolerably painful to me, nothing is more so than seeing that I have entered a cause in which those outcomes alone now seem advantageous to me that I have always rejected. They say Publius Lentulus the father is at Rhodes and his son at Alexandria, and it is established that Gaius Cassius has left Rhodes for Alexandria.

Je n’avais encore reçu aucune lettre de l’affranchi de Murena. Publius Siser m’avait remis celles auxquelles je réponds. Ce que tu écris de la lettre de Servius père n’est pas vrai; il n’est pas vrai non plus, bien que tu dises que certains l’annoncent, que Quintus soit arrivé en Syrie. Tu veux savoir quelles dispositions envers moi animaient ou avaient animé chacun de ceux qui sont venus ici: je n’ai trouvé personne qui me fût hostile. Mais je sais avec certitude que tu peux juger ce que cela importe à ma situation. Parmi toutes les choses qui me causent une douleur intolérable, la pire est de me voir réduit à une situation où seules me paraissent avantageuses les choses que j’ai toujours refusées. On dit que Publius Lentulus père est à Rhodes, son fils à Alexandrie, et il est certain que Caius Cassius est parti de Rhodes pour Alexandrie.