Letters to Atticus Passage 1

quod ad te scripseram me in Epiro futurum, postea quam extenuari spem nostram et evanescere vidi, mutavi consilium nec me Thessalonica commovi, ubi esse statueram quoad aliquid ad me de eo scriberes, quod proximis litteris scripseras fore uti secundum comitia aliquid de nobis in senatu ageretur; id tibi Pompeium dixisse. qua de re quoniam comitia habita sunt tuque nihil ad me scribis, proinde habebo ac si scripsisses nihil esse neque me temporis non longinqui spe ductum esse moleste feram. quem autem motum te videre scripseras qui nobis utilis fore videretur, eum nuntiant qui veniunt nullum fore. in tribunis pl. designatis reliqua spes est. quam si exspectaro, non erit quod putes me causae meae, voluntati meorum defuisse.

After writing to you that I would be in Epirus, I changed my plan when I saw my hope diminishing and vanishing, and did not move from Thessalonica. I had decided to remain there until you wrote something about what you had said in your last letter would happen, namely that after the elections some action concerning me would be taken in the senate. You wrote that Pompey had told you this. Since the elections have now been held and you write me nothing about the matter, I shall take it as though you had written that there was nothing, and I shall not resent having been led on by hope for a time not far distant. As for the political movement you wrote that you saw and that seemed likely to benefit me, those who come here report that there will be none. My remaining hope lies in the tribunes of the plebs designate. If I wait for it, you will have no reason to think that I have failed my cause or the wishes of my family.

Je t’avais écrit que je serais en Épire. Mais, après avoir vu notre espoir s’affaiblir et s’évanouir, j’ai changé de projet et n’ai pas quitté Thessalonique, où j’avais décidé de rester jusqu’à ce que tu m’écrives quelque chose au sujet de ce que tu annonçais dans ta dernière lettre : qu’après les comices une mesure serait prise à notre sujet au Sénat. Tu disais que Pompée te l’avait affirmé. Puisque les comices ont eu lieu et que tu ne m’écris rien à ce propos, je considérerai que tu m’as écrit qu’il n’y avait rien, et je ne supporterai pas avec peine d’avoir été conduit par l’espoir d’un avenir peu éloigné. Quant au mouvement que tu disais apercevoir et qui semblait devoir nous être utile, ceux qui arrivent annoncent qu’il ne se produira pas. Le dernier espoir repose sur les tribuns de la plèbe désignés. Si je l’attends, tu n’auras pas lieu de penser que j’ai abandonné ma cause ou déçu la volonté des miens.