Letters to Atticus Passage 2

altera epistula de Madaro scripta, apud quem nullum † φαλάκωμα , ut putas. processit enim, sed minus diutius. sermone eius† sum retentus. quod autem ad te scripseram obscure fortasse, id eius modi est. aiebat Caesarem secum, quo tempore Sesti rogatu veni ad eum, cum exspectarem sedens, dixisse, ego nunc tam sim stultus ut hunc ipsum facilem hominem putem mihi esse amicum quom tam diu sedens meum commodum exspectet? habes igitur φαλάκρωμα inimicissimum oti, id est Bruti.

The second letter concerned Madarus, with whom there is no †bald patch, as you suppose. For it advanced, though for a shorter time. I was detained by his conversation†. What I had written to you, perhaps obscurely, was this. He said that Caesar, when I came to him at Sestius' request and sat waiting, had said to him, "Am I now such a fool as to think that this accommodating man is my friend, when he sits so long waiting for my convenience?" So there you have a "bald patch" most hostile to peace, that is, Brutus' peace.

La seconde lettre parlait de Madarus, chez qui il n’y a aucun †φαλάκωμα, comme tu le penses. Il s’est en effet avancé, mais moins longtemps. Sa conversation† m’a retenu. Ce que je t’avais écrit, peut-être obscurément, est ceci. Il disait que César, au moment où j’étais venu chez lui à la demande de Sestius et attendais assis, lui avait déclaré: «Serais-je maintenant assez sot pour croire que cet homme si accommodant est mon ami, lorsqu’il reste si longtemps assis à attendre mon bon plaisir?» Voilà donc le φαλάκρωμα le plus hostile à la paix, c’est-à-dire celui de Brutus.