Lettres à Atticus Passage 4

Cicero noster quo modestior est eo me magis commovet. ad me enim de hac re nihil scripsit ad quem nimirum potissimum debuit; scripsit hoc autem ad Tironem, sibi post Kalend. Aprilis (sic enim annuum tempus confici) nihil datum esse. tibi pro tua natura semper placuisse teque existimasse †id etiam ad dignitatem meam pertinere eum non modo perliberaliter a nobis sed etiam ornate cumulateque tractari. qua re velim cures (nec tibi essem molestus, si per alium hoc agere possem) ut permutetur Athenas quod sit in annuum sumptum ei. scilicet Eros numerabit. eius rei causa Tironem misi. curabis igitur et ad me si quid tibi de eo videbitur scribes.

The more restrained our young Cicero is, the more his conduct affects me. He wrote nothing about this matter to me, though surely he ought chiefly to have written to me. Instead, he wrote to Tiro that since 1 April he had received nothing, for that date completes the annual period. In keeping with your character, it has always been your wish and your judgment that †it also concerns my dignity for him to be treated by us not merely with great generosity but honorably and abundantly. I therefore ask you to arrange, and I would not trouble you if I could conduct the matter through anyone else, for enough money to cover his annual expenses to be transferred to Athens. Eros, of course, will provide it. I sent Tiro for this purpose. Please attend to it, then, and write to me if you have any observation about him.

Plus notre cher Cicéron montre de réserve, plus il me touche. Il ne m’a rien écrit à ce sujet, alors que c’est évidemment à moi surtout qu’il le devait; mais il a écrit à Tiron que, depuis les calendes d’avril, date où se termine son année, il n’avait rien reçu. Conformément à ton caractère, tu as toujours jugé bon, et tu as estimé que †cela même concernait ma dignité, qu’il fût traité par nous non seulement avec une très grande générosité, mais encore honorablement et avec largesse. Aussi voudrais-je que tu veilles, et je ne t’importunerais pas si je pouvais m’adresser à un autre, à faire transférer à Athènes la somme nécessaire à sa dépense annuelle. Éros la comptera, bien entendu. J’ai envoyé Tiron à cette fin. Tu t’en chargeras donc et tu m’écriras ce qui te paraîtra bon à son sujet.