CCCCLXXXVII (F VI, 13)
TO Q. LIGARIUS (IN EXILE)
Rome (September)
Although in your present circumstances I was bound, in
view of our friendship, to write you some word either of
consolation or support, yet up to this time I had omitted
doing so, because I did not think myself able by mere words
either to soften or remove your grief. When, however, I
began to entertain a strong hope that it would not be long
before we had you here in full enjoyment of your civil
rights, I could not refrain from declaring my opinion and
wishes to you. To begin with, then, I will say this, of which
I have a clear knowledge and full perception—that Cæsar
will not be very obdurate to you. For circumstances, as well
as the lapse of time and public opinion, and—as it seems to
me—even his own natural disposition, daily render him
more indulgent. And that I not only perceive in the case of
others, but I am also told it in regard to yourself by his
most intimate friends, to whom, ever since the news from
Africa first arrived, I have never ceased in conjunction
with your brothers to make representations. Thanks indeed
to their virtue and piety and their unique affection
for you, their constant and unremitting care for your safety
are having such good effect, that I think there is now no
indulgence that Cæsar himself will not grant you. But if
this comes to pass somewhat less quickly than we wish, the
reason is that, owing to the multiplicity of his business,
interviews with him have been somewhat difficult to obtain.
At the same time, being unusually angered at the resistance
in Africa, he seems resolved to keep those in
suspense somewhat longer, by whom he considers himself
to have been involved in the worry of a more protracted
struggle. But even this, I understand, he daily regards in a
more forgiving and placable spirit. Wherefore, believe me,
