Page:The Letters of Cicero Shuckburg III.pdf/92

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time in this year his dissatisfaction with Terentia culminated in a divorce, and he married a young and rich wife, Publilia. This year consisted of 444 days, 90 days being intercalated to correct the Kalendar, under Cæsar's directions. The letters, though often touching on politics generally, do not contain sufficiently clear indications of contemporary events to allow of their being exactly dated, and the order of their succession is not often clear.

TO M. IUNIUS BRUTUS (IN CISALPINE GAUL)

As Marcus Varro was starting to join you as your quæstor, I did not think that he stood in need of any recommendation: for I thought him sufficiently recommended to you by the custom of our ancestors, which ordained—as you are doubtless aware—that this connexion of a quæstor with his chief should be as nearly as possible that of sons to their father. But as he has convinced himself that a letter from me, carefully expressed in regard to him, would be likely to have great weight with you, and as he pressed me warmly to write as fully as possible, I preferred to do what an intimate friend thought to be of so much importance to himself.

I will shew you, then, that I am bound to act thus. From his first entrance into public life M. Terentius attached himself to me. Presently, when he had established his position, two additional reasons appeared to increase my warm feelings towards him: one was the fact that he was engaged in the same pursuit as myself, that which still forms my greatest delight, displaying, as you are aware, both genius and no lack of industry; the second was that he early embarked on the companies of publicani—unfortunately, as it turned out, for he suffered very heavy losses: still, the interests of an order to which I was very closely bound being thus shared by us both made our friendship all the stronger.

Once more, after an honourable and creditable career on both benches, just before the recent revolution he became*