Am I to condole with you about Fannius?[1] He used to indulge in mischievous talk about your remaining at Rome: while L. Lentulus had promised himself Hortensius's town house,[2] Cæsar's suburban villa, and an estate at Baiæ. This sort of thing is going on upon this side in precisely the same way. The only difference is that in the former case there was no limit. For all who remained in Italy were held to be enemies. But I should like to talk over this some time or other when my mind is more at ease. I am told that my brother Quintus has started for Asia, to make his peace. About his son I have heard nothing. But ask Cæsar's freedman Diochares, who brought the letter you mention from Alexandria. I have not seen him. He is said to have seen Quintus on his way—-or perhaps in Asia itself. I am expecting a letter from you, as the occasion demands. Pray take care to get it conveyed to me as soon as possible.
27 November.
CCCCXVII (F XIV, 9)
TO TERENTIA (AT ROME)
Brundisium (17 December)
Sorrow for the illness both of Dolabella and Tullia is an
addition to my other miseries. Every single thing goes
wrong, and I don't know what to think or do about anything.
Pray take care of your own and Tullia's health.
Good-bye.*
- ↑ C. Fannius, tribune in B.C. 59. He was sent to Sicily B.C. 49 (vol. ii., p. 252), but appears not to have gone, or at any rate he soon returned and joined Pompey in Epirus (ib. p. 308). Whether he fell at Pharsalia, or afterwards with Pompey, we have no other information.
- ↑ L. Cornelius Lentulus Crus, one of the consuls of the previous year. Hortensius—-the famous orator—-was noted for the splendour of his villas; his town house, in which Augustus afterwards lived, is described by Suetonius as a "moderate building" (Aug. ch. 72); but that was in view of the splendid buildings of the imperial age. It seems to have
