LectitōOpen the reader

Lectitō › Cornelius Nepos › Life of Atticus › Nepos, Atticus 20

Nepos · Atticus

Nepos, Atticus 20

Correspondence with Caesar and Antony

English onlyRead it word by word

Att. 20.1Quamquam ante haec spōnsālia nōn sōlum, cum ab urbe abesset, numquam ad suōrum quemquam litterās mīsit, quīn Atticō scrīberet, quid ageret, inprīmīs quid legeret quibusque in locīs et quamdiū esset morātūrus, sed etiam, cum esset in urbe et propter īnfīnītās suās occupātiōnēs minus saepe, quam vellet, Atticō fruerētur, nūllus diēs temerē intercessit, quō nōn ad eum scrīberet, cum modo aliquid dē antīquitāte ab eō requīreret, modo aliquam quaestiōnem poēticam eī prōpōneret, interdum iocāns eius verbōsiōrēs ēliceret epistulās.And yet even before this betrothal, not only, when he was away from the city, did he never send a letter to any of his own people without writing to Atticus what he was doing, and above all what he was reading, and in what places he was going to stay and for how long, but also, when he was in the city and because of his countless occupations enjoyed Atticus' company less often than he wished, scarcely a day passed on which he did not write to him, now asking him something about antiquity, now putting some question about poetry to him, sometimes teasing him to draw out longer letters.

Att. 20.3Ex quō accidit, cum aedis Iovis Feretriī in Capitōliō, ab Rōmulō cōnstitūta, vetustāte atque incūriā dētēcta prōlāberētur, ut Atticī admonitū Caesar eam reficiendam cūrāret.So it came about that when the temple of Jupiter Feretrius on the Capitol, founded by Romulus, had lost its roof through age and neglect and was falling into ruin, Caesar, at Atticus' prompting, had it rebuilt. Att. 20.4Neque vērō ā M. Antōniō minus absēns litterīs colēbātur, adeō ut accūrātē ille ex ultimīs terrīs, quid ageret, cūrae sibi habēret certiōrem facere Atticum.Nor indeed was he courted any less by letters from Mark Antony when absent, so much so that from the furthest lands Antony made it his careful concern to inform Atticus of what he was doing. Att. 20.5Hoc quāle sit, facilius exīstimābit is, quī iūdicāre poterit, quantae sit sapientiae eōrum retinēre ūsum benivolentiamque, inter quōs maximārum rērum nōn sōlum aemulātiō, sed obtrectātiō tanta intercēdēbat, quantam fuit necesse inter Caesarem atque Antōnium, cum sē uterque prīncipem nōn sōlum urbis Rōmae, sed orbis terrārum esse cuperet.What this means will be more easily judged by one who is able to assess how great the wisdom is of keeping the intimacy and goodwill of men between whom there existed not only rivalry in the greatest matters but disparagement as great as was inevitable between Caesar and Antony, since each of them desired to be the leading man not only of the city of Rome but of the whole world.

Read the Latin itself: tap any word for its meaning and grammar, save words to review, and keep your place.

Read in Lectitō

Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×1, indirect statement ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (109 words)
quamquam, conj.however much, although
ante, prep, with acc. and adv.before
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
spōnsālia, -ium n. pl.betrothal; betrothal feast
nōn, adv.not
sōlum (adv.); solum, -ī n.only (nōn sōlum … sed etiam: not only … but also); ground, soil
cum, conj.when, while, after; since; although
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
urbs, urbis, f.city
absum, abesse, āfuī, āfutūrusbe away, be absent, be distant; be wanting
numquam, adv.never
ad, prep. with acc.to, toward; at, near; for
suus, -a, -umhis, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
quisquam, quicquam, indef. pron.any one, anything
litterae, -ārum f. pl.letters (of the alphabet); a letter, dispatch
mittō, mittere, mīsī, missussend
quīn, conj.so that ... not, but that, but
scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptuswrite
quis, quid, interrog. pron.who? which? what?
agō, agere, ēgī, āctusdrive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia
inprīmīs (imprīmīs) (adv.)above all, especially, first of all
legō, legere, lēgī, lēctuschoose, pick out; read
quī, quae, quod, interrog. pron. adj.what?
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n.place, situation
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
quamdiū (adv., conj.)how long; as long as
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
moror, -ārī, -ātusdelay, linger, stay
sed, conj.but
etiam, adv.and now, also, too, even
propter, prep. with acc.on account of, because of
īnfīnītus, -a, -umboundless, countless
occupātiō, -ōnis f.business, engagement, being busy
minus, comp. adv.less
saepe, adv.often, frequently
quam, adv.how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
volō, velle, voluīwish
fruor, -ī, frūctus sum (+ abl.)enjoy
nūllus, -a, -umnot any, none, no
diēs, -ēī, m. and f.day
temerē, adv.rashly
intercēdō, -ere, -cessī, -cessumcome between, pass (of time)
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
is, ea, id, dem. pron.this, that; he, she, it, they
modo, adv.only
aliquis, -quid, indef. pron.someone, any one, something, anything, some, any
dē, prep, with abl.down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of
antīquitās, -ātis f.antiquity, age; long descent
requīrō, -ere, -quīsīvī, -quīsītuslook for, ask after; need
aliquī, -qua, -quod, indef. pron. adj.some, any
quaestiō, -ōnis f.inquiry, examination
poēticus, -a, -umpoetic, of poets
prōpōnō, -pōnere, -posuī, -positusput or set before, offer, propose; set forth, say
interdum (adv.)sometimes
iocor, -ārī, -ātus sumjoke, jest, play
verbōsus, -a, -umwordy, full of talk
ēliciō, -ere, -uī, -ituslure out, draw out, entice
epistula, -ae f.letter
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
accidō, -cidere, -cidīfall to or upon; befall, happen
aedēs, -is f.temple (sg.); house (pl.)
Feretrius, -a, -umFeretrius, a title of Jupiter, to whom spoils were offered (perhaps from ferō or feriō)
cōnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtusset together or up; appoint; determine
vetustās, -ātis f.age, antiquity; the distant past
atque, ac (conj.)and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
incūria, -ae f.carelessness, neglect
dētegō, -ere, -tēxī, -tēctusuncover, unroof; reveal
prōlābor, -lābī, -lāpsus sumslip forward, fall down
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
admonitus, -ūs m.advice, suggestion (only in abl.: admonitū, at the suggestion of)
reficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectusmake anew, renew, repair
cūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumtake care of; (+ gerundive) have something done
neque or nec, conj.and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
vērō, adv.in truth, indeed; however
absēns, -entisabsent, away
colō, colere, coluī, cultustill, cultivate; inhabit; worship
adeō, -īre, -iī, -itusgo to, approach
accūrātē (adv.)carefully, with care
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
ultimus, -a, -umfarthest, last
terra, -ae, f.land, earth
cūra, -ae f.care, concern (cūrae esse: to be a concern)
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.himself, herself, itself, themselves
habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itushave, hold; consider
certus, -a, -umdetermined, fixed, certain; certiōrem facere, to make more certain, inform
faciō, facere, fēcī, factusmake, do; iter facere, see iter
quālis, -eof what sort? what kind of?
facile, adv.easily
exīstimō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusconsider, believe, think
iūdicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumjudge, decide
possum, posse, potuībe able, have power, can
quantus, -a, -umhow great or much?
sapientia, -ae f.wisdom, good sense
retineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentushold or keep back, keep, restrain; hold fast
ūsus, -ūs, m.use; experience
benevolentia (benivolentia), -ae f.goodwill, kindness, favour
que, enclitic conj.and
inter, prep, with acc.among, between
magnus, -a, -umlarge, big, great, mighty; loud
rēs, reī, f.thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
aemulātiō, -ōnis f.rivalry, the effort to equal someone
obtrectātiō, -ōnis f.disparagement, envious detraction
tantus, -a, -umso great or much
necesse, indecl. adj.necessary
uterque, utraque, utrumqueeach, either, both
prīnceps, -ipisfirst, chief; as noun: leader
orbis, -is, m.circle; orbis terrae or terrārum, circle of the earth or lands, earth, world
cupiō, -ere, -īvī, -ītusdesire, long for, wish
Nepos, Atticus. Latin text: A. Fleckeisen, Cornelii Nepotis Vitae (Teubner, 1886), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.