Letters to Atticus Passage 3

at mihi, cum Calibus essem, adfertur litterarum tuarum exemplum quas tu ad Lentulum consulem misisses. hae scriptae sic erant, litteras tibi a L. Domitio a. d. xiii Kal. Martias adlatas esse (earumque exemplum subscripseras); magnique interesse rei publicae scripseras omnis copias primo quoque tempore in unum locum convenire et ut praesidio quod satis esset Capuae relinqueret. his ego litteris lectis in eadem opinione fui qua reliqui omnes, te cum omnibus copiis ad Corfinium esse venturum; quo mihi, cum Caesar ad oppidum castra haberet, tutum iter esse non arbitrabar. cum res in summa exspectatione esset, utrumque simul audivimus, et quae Corfini acta essent et te iter Brundisium facere coepisse; cumque nec mihi nec fratri meo dubium esset quin Brundisium contenderemus, a multis qui e Samnio Apuliaque veniebant admoniti sumus ut caveremus ne exciperemur a Caesare, quod is in eadem loca quae nos petebamus profectus celerius etiam quam nos possemus eo quo intenderet venturus esset. quod cum ita esset, nec mihi nec fratri meo nec cuiquam amicorum placuit committere ut temeritas nostra non solum nobis sed etiam rei publicae noceret, cum praesertim non dubitaremus quin, si etiam tutum nobis iter fuisset, te tamen iam consequi non possemus.

While I was at Cales, however, a copy was brought to me of the letter you had sent to the consul Lentulus. It stated that a letter from Lucius Domitius had reached you on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of March, and you appended a copy; you wrote that it was of great importance to the republic that all forces assemble in one place as soon as possible, and that Lentulus should leave at Capua a garrison sufficient for its defense. After reading this letter, I formed the same opinion as everyone else: that you would come to Corfinium with all your forces. Since Caesar had his camp before that town, I did not consider the road there safe for me. While everything was in the utmost suspense, we heard two things at once: what had happened at Corfinium and that you had begun your march to Brundisium. Although neither my brother nor I doubted that we should hasten to Brundisium, many people arriving from Samnium and Apulia warned us to take care lest Caesar intercept us, since he had set out for the same district toward which we were heading and would reach his destination even sooner than we could reach ours. In these circumstances, neither my brother nor I nor any of our friends thought it right to risk having our rashness harm not only ourselves but also the republic, especially since we did not doubt that, even if the road had been safe for us, we could no longer overtake you.

Mais tandis que j’étais à Calès, on m’apporta une copie de la lettre que tu avais envoyée au consul Lentulus. Tu y écrivais qu’une lettre de Lucius Domitius t’avait été remise le treizième jour avant les calendes de mars, et tu en avais joint copie ; tu écrivais qu’il importait grandement à la République que toutes les forces se réunissent au plus vite en un seul lieu, et que Lentulus laissât à Capoue une garnison suffisante. Après avoir lu cette lettre, je partageai l’opinion de tous les autres : tu allais venir à Corfinium avec toutes tes forces. Comme César campait devant la ville, je ne croyais pas pouvoir m’y rendre sans danger. Tandis que nous attendions dans la plus grande incertitude, nous apprîmes en même temps ce qui s’était passé à Corfinium et que tu avais commencé ta marche vers Brindes. Mon frère et moi n’hésitions pas à nous y diriger, mais beaucoup de gens venus du Samnium et de l’Apulie nous avertirent de prendre garde que César ne nous interceptât : il était parti vers les mêmes lieux que nous cherchions à gagner et, plus rapide que nous, arriverait avant nous au but qu’il visait. Dans ces circonstances, ni mon frère, ni moi, ni aucun de nos amis ne jugea bon de risquer que notre témérité nuisît non seulement à nous-mêmes, mais aussi à la République, d’autant que nous ne doutions pas que, même si notre route avait été sûre, nous n’aurions déjà plus pu te rejoindre.