Marcus Tullius Cicero
multa scripsi, in his etiam ut, si tibi videretur, te ad se traferret. Lyso enim noster vereor ne neglegentior sit, primum quia omnes Graeci, deinde quod, cum a me litteras accepisset, mihi nullas remisit. sed eum tu laudas; tu igitur quid faciendum sit iudicabis. illud, mi Tiro, te rogo, sumptu ne parcas ulla in re, quod ad valetudinem opus sit. scripsi ad Curium quod dixisses daret. medico ipsi puto aliquid dandum esse quo sit studiosior.
3Innumerabilia tua sunt in me officia, domestica, forensia, urbana, provincialia, in re privata, in publica, in studiis, in litteris nostris: omnia viceris si, ut spero, te validum videro. ego puto te bellissime, si recte erit, cum quaestore Mescinio decursurum. non inhumanus est teque, ut mihi visus est, diligit. sed1 cum valetudini tuae diligentissime consulueris, tum, mi Tiro, consulito navigationi. nulla in re iam te festinare volo. nihil laboro nisi ut salvus sis.
4Sic habeto, mi Tiro, neminem esse qui me amet quin idem te amet; et cum tua et mea maxime interest te valere, tum multis est curae. adhuc, dum mihi nullo loco deesse vis, numquam te confirmare potuisti; nunc te nihil impedit. omnia depone, corpori servi. quantam diligentiam in valetudinem tuam contuleris, tanti me fieri a te iudicabo.
Vale, mi Tiro, vale, vale et salve. Lepta tibi salutem dicit et omnes. vale.
vii Id. Nov. Leucade.
Letters to Friends
deal, including the suggestion that, if you agree, he should move you over to his house. I am afraid our friend Lyso is a little casual. All Greeks are; also, he has not replied to a letter he received from me. However, you commend him; so you must judge for yourself what is best. One thing, my dear Tiro, I do beg of you: don’t consider money at all where the needs of your health are concerned. I have told Curius to advance whatever you say. I imagine the doctor ought to be given something to make him more interested in your case.3
Your services to me are beyond count—in my home and out of it, in Rome and abroad, in private affairs and public, in my studies and literary work. You will cap them all if I see you your own man again, as I hope I shall. I think it would be very nice, if all goes well, for you to sail home with Quaestor Mescinius. He is not uncivilized, and he seemed to me to have a regard for you. But when you have given every possible attention to your health, then my dear Tiro, attend to sailing arrangements. I don’t now want you to hurry in any way. My only concern is for you to get well.
Take my word for it, dear Tiro, that nobody cares for me who does not care for you. Your recovery is most important to you and me, but many others are concerned about it. In the past you have never been able to recruit yourself properly, because you wanted to give me of your best at every turn. Now there is nothing to stand in your way. Put everything else aside, think only of your bodily well-being. I shall believe you care for me in proportion to the care you devote to your health.
Good-bye, my dear Tiro, good-bye and fondest good wishes. Lepta sends you his, so do we all. Good-bye.
7 November, from Leucas.