Reading Cicero — Epistulae ad Familiares (Adapted)

Reading Cicero — Epistulae ad Familiares (Adapted Short Letter)

By the end of this lesson, you will read and translate an adapted letter from Cicero's Epistulae ad Familiares, understanding both the grammar and the personal and political context of Roman letter-writing.

Who Was Cicero?

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) was Rome's greatest orator, politician, philosopher, and prolific letter-writer. He navigated the crises of the late Roman Republic — the civil wars of Caesar and Pompey, the rise of Octavian — before being assassinated by Mark Antony's agents.

His Epistulae ad Familiares ("Letters to Friends and Family") — 16 books, over 400 letters — are uniquely intimate. Written quickly for private eyes, they show a very different Cicero from the polished speeches: anxious, warm, politically calculating.

Roman Letter-Writing Conventions

A Roman letter follows a standard opening formula:

[Sender] [Recipient] salutem dicit (= s.d.) — "X sends greetings to Y"

Letters close with vale ("farewell") or cura ut valeas ("take care to keep well").

The Passage — Adapted from Fam. 14.1

Cicero Terentiae suae et Tulliolae et Ciceroni salutem plurimam dicit.

Ego vero quam saepe tecum loqui cupio! Sine te vita mihi nulla est. Multa sunt quae me terrent, multa quae non intellego. Quaero a te, mi carissima, ut te quam primum ad nos venire cures.

Roma discessimus propter pericula quae imminebant. Nunc quid fiat Romae, nescio. Spero tamen res meliores futuras esse. Si quid opus erit, scribes ad me.

Vale, mea Terentia, et Tulliolam et Ciceronem meos saluta.

Analysis

Salutation

Cicero Terentiae suae et Tulliolae et Ciceroni salutem plurimam dicit. "Cicero sends warmest greetings to his Terentia and little Tullia and Cicero."

Terentiae, Tulliolae, Ciceroni — all datives (indirect objects of dicit). Salutem is accusative. Plurimam = superlative of multus: "very many/warmest." This letter was written during Cicero's exile (58 BC), separated from his family.