ProQuest Dissertations - Historia Antigua

AbstractLetters from far away:Ancient epistolary travel writing and the case of Cicero's correspondenceOrnella Rossi2010In the present work, I address the topic of travel writing in ancient epistolography, principally through acase study of Cicero's correspondence. This choice is due to the fact that, in the panorama of ancientepistolography, Cicero's wide epistolary corpus - no matter how much it may have been revised beforepublication - remains the best and largest example of a 'real' correspondence kept among peopleeducated enough to be able to elaborate on their experiences. Thus, at present I aim to define howtravels were typically described in ancient letters actually meant for an exchange of information, andthereby to establish a few clear categories that could define the typical and original features of ancient'epistolary travel writing'. However, I am here also providing, for each of the categories that I haveidentified, a few selected examples, both from documentary material and from other epistolarycollections, in order to offer a preliminary contextualization of the assets obtained through a closeanalysis of Cicero's letters. In particular, by this, I aim, on one hand, to confirm the presence of certainstructures in documentary letters, and, on the other, to illustrate how, in more literary or fictionalepistolary collections, some features get exploited, and therefore recognized as typical, while someothers get variously abandoned or surpassed.

2Letters from faraway:Ancient epistolary travel writing and the case ofCicero'scorrespondenceA DissertationPresented to the Faculty of the Graduate SchoolofYale Universityin Candidacy for the Degree ofDoctor of PhilosophybyOrnella RossiDissertation Director: prof. Christina S. KrausMay 2010

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4Table of ContentsChapter I - IntroductionI - Travel writing in ancient epistolographv 91.1 — The question 91.2 - Focus and methodology of the present project 111.3 — Structure of the present project 12II — Cicero's correspondence 13II. 1-What we have 1311.2 - Understanding what we have: three preliminary questions 15H.2.a - Chronology of Letters 16II.2.b - Dates of Publication 18II.2.C- Publishing 'real' letters 2411.3 - Travels and Letters 2911.4 - Cicero's view on traveling: is it bad or good? 35Chapter II - Giving one's coordinatesI - Introduction 44II - Giving one's coordinates in Cicero's correspondence 48II. 1 - Giving date and place of dispatch in adscriptio: the traditional dating formula5111.1 .a - Date in adscriptio: distribution within the collection51

II. 1 .b — Date in adscriptio: syntactical structures and information provided57II.2 - Giving date and place of dispatch or composition within the body of the letter58II.2.a - Talking about writing or dispatching the letter at hand: purpose, forms and syntacticalstructures, position in the letter 59II.2.b - Giving date and place of dispatch or composition: forms and syntactical structures,information provided, position in the letter, distribution within the collection, relation withformulas in adscriptio. 71II.2.C - Writing letters and traveling: forms and syntactical structures, information providedand practical issues at the origin of the phrases, emphatic use of some of them83II.2.d-Conclusions 94II. 3 - Giving date and place in which a letter is received 96II.3.a - Talking about receiving a letter or a messenger: forms and syntactical structures,position in the letter, distribution in the collection 96II.3.b - Giving date and place of a letter's reception: information provided and practical issues104II.3.C - Receiving a letter and travelling: forms and syntactical structures, informationprovided and practical issues 110II.3.d - Conclusions 115II.4 —Giving one's coordinates in Cicero's correspondence: conclusive remarks116HI - A look beyond Cicero's correspondence: giving one's coordinates in otherepistolary collections and in documentary letters 122

III. 1 - Documentary letters 123III.2 - Published collections 126IV - Conclusions 130Chapter III - The ItineraryI - Introduction 133II - Itineraries in Cicero's correspondence 135II. 1 - The form of the itinerary: Past itineraries 135II. 1. a- Position in the letter of past itineraries 141II. 1,b - Recurrent syntactical structures in past itineraries 144II. 1 .b.i - Recurrent expressions to introduce a past itinerary 144II. 1 .b.ii — Describing a past itinerary: recurrent syntactical structures 149II. 1 .b.iii - Describing a past itinerary: recurrent vocabulary 153II. 1 .b.iv - The structure of longer past itineraries: logical and syntactical organization158II.2 - The form of the itinerary: Planned itineraries 162II.2.a - Position in the letter of planned itineraries 165II.2.b - Recurrent syntactical structures in planned itineraries 169II.2.b.i - Recurrent expressions to introduce a planned itinerary 169II.2.b.ii - Describing a planned itinerary: recurrent syntactical structures 172II.2.b.iii - Describing a planned itinerary: recurrent vocabulary 178II.2.b.iv - The structure of longer planned itineraries: logical and syntactical organization182

11.3 - Describing one's itinerary: purposes and selection of topics 18311.4 - Describing one's itineraries in Cicero's correspondence: conclusive remarks191III - Epistolary Itineraries beyond Cicero's correspondence 195III. 1 - Itineraries in documentary letters 195III.2 - Itineraries in epistolary collections 199IV - Conclusions 206Chapter IV - The experience of the journeyI - Introduction 213II - The experience of the journey in Cicero's correspondence 216II. 1 — What one sees during a journey 216II. 1.a- Sojourning at a villa 217II. 1 ,b - Being far away from Rome 225II. 1 ,c — Searching for solitudo: letters from periods of sadness 229H.l.d- Conclusions 233II.2 - What one does during a journey 235II.2.a — Sojourning at a villa 236II.2.b - Being far away from Rome 244II.2.b.i — Letters from journeys undergone on a private account 245II.2.b.ii - Letters from journeys undergone while on duty 250II.2.b.iii - Letters from periods of forced displacement 274II.2.c- Conclusions 277

9Chapter I - IntroductionI - Travel writing in ancient epistolography1.1 -The questionIn what measure and in what forms did the ancients describe travels in their letters?How do authors of fictional letters exploit the forms in which travels are typicallydescribed in 'real' letters? How does 'epistolary travel writing' relate to other genres?None of these questions has received a comprehensive answer by modern scholarshipso far and it is the aim of the present work to begin addressing them.Epistolary travel writing is a well-established genre in modern literature (especiallybeginning with the XVIII century) that goes from epistolary collections elaboratedduring real journeys, like Lady Montagu's Turkish Embassy Letters, to epistolarynovels describing fictional journeys with various purposes, like the satirical portrayalof contemporary France in Montesquieu's Lettres Persanes} In the ancient worldinstead nothing quite as recognizable was ever developed and epistolary travelaccounts appear as a multitude rather diverse in aims and traits, which has not yetbeen studied as a whole. Nevertheless investigating this variety and trying to definehow the experience of traveling was presented in ancient letters can be profitable inmany ways.First of all, it can offer a contribution to our understanding of the ancient conceptionof traveling and of writing about it. The way in which the experience of traveling is1 On the theme of traveling in modern epistolary novels cf. the chapter on 'defamiliarization' in BEEBEE(1999: 76-102); with a more limited scope, on the topic of descriptions of places, cf. also OMACINI(2000).

10portrayed in ancient literature has mostly been studied in genres (above all of fictionalcharacter), where traveling appears to have a more evident thematic importance, suchas the epos or the novel. On the other hand, even scholarship investigating ancienttravel writing from a more general perspective has so far given only partial attentionto its realizations in the epistolary genre. 2 Yet the complex and extremely variegatednature of this genre, exquisitely autobiographical but open to endless literaryexploitations, make it worthy of further exploration. Certainly we can learn moreabout the ancient conception of traveling by looking at what writers deemedappropriate to include in their letters about their own traveling experience.Secondly we can unveil new details in the picture of ancient epistolography, byshedding light on the forms and the themes of an epistolary topic, 'traveling', that hasmostly been neglected so far. In fact, if, on one hand, we have a few studies focusedon single letters that elaborate on the writer's traveling experience, 3 on the other,modern scholarship tackling ancient epistolography from a more general point ofview, basically follows in the footsteps of ancient epistolary theorists: thus it mostlyignores the trivial topics typical of the 'informative' letter, while focusing its attentionon more formal epistolary sub-genres (such as recommendations, gratulatory notes,hortatory letters, etc.), or on extremely basic epistolary topoi (for example, theconception of the letter as a dialogue at a distance, or as a means to 'see' thecorrespondent through his or her words). 42 In particular SOLER (2005) and SQUILLANTE (2005: 51-67); on the relevance and the limits of thesestudies cf. Ch. Ill n. 175 and Ch. IV pp. 213-14.3 Cf. for example FASCE (1991), or COVA (1999), on Pliny's descriptions of touristic mirabilia in ep.8.20; or HENDERSON (2006) on the description of a vacation in Baiae and of the journeys there andback in Sen. ep. 53-7.4 Cf. for example CUGUSI (1983) and THRAEDE (1970) and on the limits of these studies and of othermodern scholarship on ancient epistolography cf. Ch. II n. 80 and Ch. Ill nn. 177-8 .

11Finally this study can respond to the curiosity of those who, interested in modernepistolary travel writing, wonder about what the classical precedents for it are.1.2 - Focus and methodology of the present projectWith the present work, I start addressing the topic of travel writing in ancientepistolography, principally through a case study of Cicero's correspondence. Thischoice is due to the fact that, in the panorama of ancient epistolography, Cicero's wideepistolary corpus — no matter how much it may have been revised before publication —remains the best and largest example of a 'real' correspondence kept among peopleeducated enough to be able to elaborate on their experiences. Thus, this first phase ofthe project aims to define how travels were typically described in ancient lettersactually meant for an exchange of information, and thereby to establish a few clearcategories that could define the typical and original features of ancient 'epistolarytravel writing'. At the present stage however, I am also providing, for each of thecategories that I have identified, a few selected examples, both from documentarymaterial and from other epistolary collections, in order to offer a preliminarycontextualization of the assets obtained through a close analysis of Cicero's letters. 5 Inparticular, by this, I aim, on one hand, to confirm the presence of certain structures indocumentary letters, and, on the other, to illustrate how, in more literary or fictional5 At the present stage of my research I am surveying a preliminary selection of material that should besufficiently representative of these different epistolary forms. For documentary letters 1 have analyzedthe texts published in the anthologies: BAGNALL, CRIBIORE, AHTARIDIS (2006), CUGUSI (1992 and2002), HUNT and EDGAR (1932 and 1934), WHITE (1986). For Greek epistolary collections I havestudied the texts contained in the anthologies by COSTA (2002) and ROSENMEYER (2006), both ofwhich also contain a few embedded letters. For Latin epistolography, I am generally limiting myselection to authors up to the III cent. CE (that is Seneca, Pliny the Younger, Fronto, Ausonius, and thepoetic collections of Horace"s Epistles. Ovid's Heroides, Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto), since theseauthors are included in the BTL cd-rom, which 1 have been using to refine my search for the frequencyof specific formulas. Yet I am also including some additional material from Symmachus and SidoniusApollinaris, given the relevance of these authors for the present study: both collections contain in factmany letters written during journeys and assign considerable importance to 'traveling' as a theme.

12epistolary collections, some features get exploited, and therefore recognized astypical, while some others get variously abandoned or surpassed. In the future, I planto broaden the scope of my analysis and include other ancient epistolary texts in amore systematic way, with the purpose of inquiring how each of them relates to andplays with those typical features.1.3 - Structure of the present projectAfter the present introductory chapter, my analysis will be articulated in three parts. Inchapter II, I will analyze the ways in which writers use to communicate the most basicpiece of information that letters, especially if written during a journey, need tocontain, precisely in order to keep the epistolary exchange alive: that is where one isat the present moment, when writing or dispatching the letter at hand, or receiving onefrom the present correspondent. In chapter III instead, I will focus my attention on theway in which letter writers used to describe their itineraries, that is the actualmovement from one place to another. This includes both the description of the journeycovered up to the present moment and the exposition of the itinerary planned for theimmediate future. Providing information about one's past or planned itinerary stillserves the basic purpose of keeping the epistolary exchange going, but it also respondsto the addressee's curiosity about the writer's safe conditions or about his or her futurewhereabouts. Finally chapter IV will be dedicated to analyzing the extent and theforms in which letters written while away from home provide additional informationabout the writer's experience as he reaches a stop or the final destination of thejourney: that is I will begin discussing, in general, what letter writers deem worthy of

14unanimously considered spurious (a rhetorical exercise probably dated to the III-IVcen. CE 8 , but scholars have also impugned the authenticity of the Commentariolumand of the letters to Brutus: while the question about the former is still debated 9 , thereis now agreement on considering the letters to Brutus authentic, except for 1.16(Brutus to Cicero) and 1.17 (the only one from Brutus to Atticus) 10 . From indirectsources then we know about the existence of letters, and even of entire collections,that have not survived to us. 1 ' So, for example, we have numerous quotations fromlost collections (containing at least three or four books each) of correspondencebetween Cicero and Octavian, Pompey, or Caesar; from quotations in Nonius (682Lindsay, quoting B. 1.1.1), we also know that the correspondence with Brutus hadoriginally at least 9 books; and, even the letters to Quintus may have been morenumerous once than what we now have. 12 The history of the tradition of Cicero'sepistolary corpus has been magisterially explored by D. R. Shackleton Bailey andOn the Epistula ad Octavianum, see the still fundamental commented edition by LAMACCHIA (1968)and, more recently, GRATTAROLA (1988).9 On the Commentariolum see the commented edition of NARDO (1970), and in particular theintroduction for the question of its authenticity.10 For a survey on the question about the authenticity of the Epistulae ad Brutum, see ShackletonBailey's introduction to his Cambridge edition (1980: 10-14), and, more recently, CANFORA (1998),within a study aiming to establish the position of this collection in the manuscript tradition of Cicero'sletters." On Cicero's letters known only from indirect tradition, see WEYSSENHOFF (1966 and 1970) and alsoNICHOLSON (1998: 76-9 and in particular n. 35), who says that, on the basis of the quotations we have,the original extent of Cicero's epistolary corpus may have been of at least 79 books, of which 37survive and at least 39 have been lost (of these ones only about 100 fragments survive). Yet, followingCARCOP1NO (1947), Nicholson also warns about the possibility of being misguided by the indirectsources about the real extent of the lost material: book numbers can in fact be easily corrupted andsome authors may have been well imprecise in their quotations. In particular, Nicholson says, 'it ispossible to interpret citations such as "M. Tullius ad Axium lib. II" not as implying two entire books toAxius alone, but rather as documenting a letter taken from the second book of some mixed collection tomany different correspondents grouped together, like our Ad Familiares'. And indeed in ourmanuscripts of the Familiares, we see that each book carries a title drawn from the name of theaddressee of the first letter.'" The indirect tradition for the letters to Quintus is very scarce and actually the first quotation of itappears only in the late IV century grammarian Diomedes (in Keil, Grammatici Latini, I, 381.26,quoting Q.2A .2). Nonetheless, despite the difficult relationship that Cicero and his brother had attimes, they certainly kept corresponding after 54 BCE (where our collection stops) and it is plausiblethat more correspondence with Quintus too once circulated.

15folly discussed in the introductions to his Cambridge commented editions 13 . In thepresent study, unless specified, I'll be relying on the text provided by ShackletonBailey's last critical editions of the corpus for the Teubner series 14 .II.2 - Understanding what we have: three preliminary questionsTwo fundamental questions concerning what we have of Cicero's letters need to beaddressed before proceeding to any further discussion: first, when these letters havebeen written, and second when they have been assembled and published (that is, sincewhen we can expect a knowledge of them in other authors). A third question concernsthe definition of the literary level of Cicero's letters, that is how many of these letterswere clearly meant for diffusion since the beginning and in what measure those thatinstead look more 'real' and 'private' may have been revised and altered in view ofthe publication.13 SHACKLETON BAILEY (1965: 77-101) on Atticus, (1977: 3-20) on Familiares, (1980: 14) on Brutusand Quintus, for which one should go back to the discussion on Atticus, since they have beentransmitted along with it.14 SHACKLETON BAILEY'S Teubner edition of Cicero's letters (1987-8) is the last critical editionpublished by Shackleton Bailey and the more recent Loeb edition with English translation (1998-2002)reproduces its text, with just a few variations (but also adding the Letter to Octavian and the twoInvectives with Sallust, never published before by the author). The Teubner edition maintains the lettersin the traditional order, that is the one in which they appear in the manuscripts; the Loeb edition insteadfollows, as much as possible, a chronological order within each collection, like Shackleton Bailey alsodoes in the commented Cambridge edition (1965-80). The translation of the Loeb edition, for Atticusand the Familiares, is a revision of the one published for the Penguin Classics (1978, in the case ofAtticus, already published in the Cambridge edition in 1965-70); for the other texts it is new. Inaddition to Shackleton Bailey's fundamental works, other important editions of the entire epistolarycorpus are: the Oxford edition by WATT (1952-82), of which Shackleton Bailey edited the volume onAtticus 9-16 in 1961), presenting the letters in the traditional order; the Les Belles Lettres edition byCONSTANS, BAYET and BEAUJEU (1934-96), characterized by the presentation of the letters of allcollections mixed together and following a common chronological order. Of lesser value is the editionby MORICCA and MORICCA CAPUTO in the Corpus Paravianum (1950-5), and of varied quality are theeditions with Italian translation of single books of the Familiares, plus Quintus and Brutus published byMondadori for the Centre di Studi Ciceroniani (1965-89). Then still of use, in order to have a moredetailed picture of manuscript readings, are the extensive critical apparati of the 1893 MENDELSSHON'sedition of the Familiares, and of SJORGEN's editions (1916-60) of Atticus, Quintus, and Brutus. Finally,among the commentaries, the old fashioned and imprecise one by TYRRELL and PURSER (1899-1933;presenting all the letters together in a common chronological order, like the Les Belles Lettres edition)has been surpassed by Shackleton Bailey's Cambridge one.

16II.2.a - Chronology of LettersMany of Cicero's letters are not dated, and even among the ones that do carry a date,either as a subscriptio or within the body of the letter(giving only, with really rareexceptions, day and month, not the year), there are many instances in which thattransmitted date is not reliable, because evidently corrupted or interpolated. The orderin which the letters have been transmitted in the collections is also of little help. Infact, if on one hand the letters of Atticus and those of Quintus and Brutus seem to havebeen organized following a chronological order (even if with several exceptions), 15 onthe other, in the heterogeneous collection of the Familiares, the chronologicalcriterion is just one, and even a minor one, combined with many others. 16 Thereforethe reconstruction of the chronology of Cicero's letters has been one among the mostdifficult tasks for modern scholarship and in many cases it has not been at all possible15 Atticus shows an effort to distribute the material in the books in order to create self-contained units,dedicated to specific periods. So books 1 and 2 have letters of the years 68-59 (with book 2, containingalmost exclusively letters of 59), book 3 has the letters from the period of the exile (58 up to Cicero'sre-entering in Rome in February 57), book 4 covers years 57-54, 5 and 6 cover the trip to Cilicia in 51 -50 (5 has letters of 51 except the last one of 13 February 50, 6 has letters of 50 up to October, whileCicero was in Athens on his way back to Italy), books 7-10 cover Cicero's re-entering in Italy andstationing in Campania from October 50 to may 49 (7 covers the end of Cicero's trip back to Rome andthe beginning of his stationing in Campania up to mid February of 49, 8 covers mid February to 4march 49, 9 covers 6 March - 1 April 49, 10 covers 3 April - 19 may 49), book 11 covers the years 48-47, that is Cicero's trip to Macedonia following Pompey and then the year in Brundisium waiting forCaesar's pardon, books 12 and 13 cover years 46 and 45 (12 has the few letters of 46 and then letters ofMarch and May of 45 up to the 22 nd , 13 has letters of May 23 rd to December of 45), books 14-16 haveonly letters of 44 (14 has April to mid May, 15 from mid May to July 3 rd , and 16 from July 4* toNovember).16 So there are books including letters to or from one single correspondent (1, 3, 8, 14 and 16), or tocorrespondents of a same kind (6 with ex-Pompeians, mostly in exile in 46-45; 7 with people more orless adhering to the Epicurean philosophy); book 13 contains only recommendations; others bookscontain letters of roughly the same period (2 mostly of the period of Cicero's proconsulate, or the seriesof books 10, 11 and 12, all of the years 44-43), and finally there are books (4, 9, 15, and especially 5),in which it is really hard to see any common criterion operating at all. For a clear synopsis on thecontent and organization criteria of Familiares, see SHACKLETON BAILEY (1977: 20-4). For thestructure within single books (in particular book 16), seen as the intentional choice of an editor, cf.BEARD (2002).

20which is therefore suspected to come from a lost collection to 'Axius' instead.Againfrom Seneca, this time in the Epistulae ad Lucilium (written in the years 62-5 CE), weknow that by the early 60's CE, Cicero's letters to Atticus had become diffused andfamous. So, in the opening of Ep. 118.2, Seneca can refer to the collection of Atticusas a term of comparison with his own philosophical - and way more useful -correspondence. Likewise, in Ep. 21.4 he can promise Lucilius to make his nameimmortal like Atticus' one had been made so by the correspondence with Cicero,much more than by his family ties with the imperial house (Atticus' daughter hadmarried Vipsanius Agrippa and her own daughter had been Tiberius' first wife).Finally most of the correspondence of Cicero seems to have been published by thetime of Quintilian's Institutio Oratorio (probably written between 93 and 96), whichshows numerous quotations from Atticus, from the Familiares, and also from thelarger collection to Brutus (all quotations are from lost letters).Sen. Brev. 5 M. Cicero inter Catilinas, Clodios iactatus Pompeiosque et Crassos, partim manifestosinimicos, partim dubios amicos, dum fluctuatur cum re publico et illam pessum euntem tenet, novissimeabductus, nee secundis rebus quietus nee adversarum patiens, quotiens ilium ipsum consulatum suumnon sine causa sed sine fine laudatum detestatur. Quamflebiles voces exprimit in quadam ad atticumepistula iam victopatrepompeio, adhucfilio in hispania fracta arma refovente'. Quid agam' inquit'hie,quaeris? moror in tusculano meo semiliber'(and then a discussion on the meaning of being semiliberfollows). According to indirect sources, Axius was the addressee of a collection in at least two books.31 Sen. Ep. 118.1-2 Exigis a me frequentiores epistulas. Rationes conferamus: solvendo non eris.Convenerat quidem ut tua priora essent: tu scriberes, ego rescriberem. Sed non ero difficilis: benecredi tibi scio. Itaque in anticessum dabo necfaciam quod Cicero, vir disertissimus, facere Atticumiubet, ut etiam 'si rem nullam habebit, quod in buccam venerit scribal'. Numquam potest deesse quodscribam, ut omnia ilia quae Ciceronis implent epistulas transeam: quis candidatus laboret; quisalienis, quis suis viribus pugnet; quis consulatum fiducia Caesaris, quis Pompei, quis arcae petal;quam durus sit fenerator Caecilius, a quo minoris centesimis propinqui nummum movere non possint.Sua satius est mala quam aliena tractare, se excutere el videre quam multarum rerum candidatus sit, etnon suffragari. Cf. in particular Cic. A. 1.12." Sen. Ep. 21.4 Nomen attici perire ciceronis epistulae non sinunt. Nihil illi profuisset gener agrippa ettiberius progener et drusus caesar pronepos; inter tarn magna nomina taceretur, nisi sibi cicero iliumadplicuisset. In addition to these two passages Seneca has a quotation from Atticus also in ep. 97.6 Ipsaponam verba ciceronis, quia resfidem excedit. [Vale Ciceronis epistularum ad atticum liber i]'accersivil ad se, promisit, intercessit, dedit. lam vero - o di boni, rem perditam etiam nodes certarummulierum alque adulescentulorum nobilium introductiones nonnullis iudicibus pro mercedis cumulofuerunt'. Cf. A. 1.16.5, which is also the passage echoed in Val. Max. 9.1.7 (cf. above n. 29).

21These testimonies would lead us to think that Cicero's correspondence had started tobe published pretty early after his death, possibly already under Augustus, and thecommon opinion among scholars is that Tiro started publishing Cicero's letters.During Cicero's lifetime in fact, Tiro had been in charge of editing many of his worksand in particular of administering his huge correspondence; after Cicero's death then,we know that Tiro kept taking care of his literary legacy; finally the existence of anentire book (F. 16) of affectionate letters addressed to Tiro perfectly fits with the ideaof him being the editor of at least part of Cicero's correspondence and wishing toshow how deeply Cicero had loved him. Concerning the format in which thecorrespondence was first published, I agree with Shackleton Bailey's idea (1977: 23-4) that Tiro revised and reorganized the letters, publishing them over time in smallercollections, grouped according different criteria, but maybe mostly by addressee. Assoon as these collections started circulating, other people who happened to have somepieces of correspondence with Cicero of their own, may have added some more itemsto the copy in their possession or they may have even published entire new books. Theformat in which we have received the large and heterogeneous collection of theFamiliares may be the result of a late abridged compilation of the larger material thathad once circulated.The question of the publication of Atticus instead has been complicated by anobservation, made for the first time by BUCHELER (1897). Biicheler noticed that33 We know, for example, that Tiro published a biography of Cicero (mentioned e.g. in Asc. Mil. 43 andTac. Dial. 17.2). and probably a collection of Cicero's witty sayings (cf below n. 36).34 The organization in collections divided by addressee is suggested by the way in which passages arequoted by other authors, and it is the common opinion among scholars that this was the format of thefirst publications; but cf. above n. 11 and Nicholson's observations about the practice of quoting lettersin ancient authors. I believe that other criteria could have been highly possible: indeed theheterogeneous format was chosen for publishing an epistolary collection by Pliny the Younger,undoubtedly a great fan of Cicero's. And heterogeneous are also the poetic epistolary collections ofHorace and Ovid, even if in their case the choice of variety may well have been determined by the factthat a variety of addressees is typical of most poetic collections.

22Asconius Pedianus, who around the years 54-7 CE published a very accuratecommentary on five Ciceronian speeches, shows no knowledge of the letters toAtticus: in fact had he known them, he would not have been so much in doubt on howto interpret two passages in the speeches. 35 So Biicheler reached the conclusion thatthe letters to Atticus were not available to Asconius and therefore that they had notbeen published at the time when he was writing. Thus, they must have been publishedafter Asconius' Commentary and before Seneca's Epistulae, some time between 57and 63 CE. The testimonies from Atticus' letters earlier than that date are thenexplained as having been drawn not from the actual correspondence, but from acollection of Cicero's witty sayings, which, from Quintilian, we know had beenpublished, probably by Tiro, and which may have contained material from hiscorrespondence too. 3The reason for Atticus' resistance to giving away his privatecommunication with Cicero can be explained with a worry of compromising himself.In In toga Candida lb-11, Asconius discusses at length about the fact, reported by his source, thehistorian Fenestella, that Cicero may have defended Catiline in a trial de repetundis that he faced in 65BCE: Asconius wouldn't have wondered so much about the improbability of it, if he had known thatCicero himself had expressed that intention in A. 1.2.1 hoc tempore Catilinam, competitorem nostrum,defendere cogitamus, without though carrying it through. In Milo 37, Asconius wonders about whatwas the almost fatal attack by Clodius to which Cicero was referring to, but he would not, had heknown the dangerous episode happened on the Via Sacra in 57 recalled in A. 4.3.3. For a discussion ofthese passages cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1965: 64-8). For the arguments and the opinions against thisargumentum ex silentio cf. SETAIOLI (1976).36 Quint. Inst. 6.3 5 utinamque libertus eius Tiro aut alius, quisquis fuit, qui tris hac de re libros edidit,parcius dictorum numero indulsissent etplus iudicii in eligendis quam in congerendis studiiadhibuissent: minus obiectus calumniantibus foret, qui tamen nunc quoque, ut in omni eius ingenio,facilius quod reici quam quod adici possit invenieni). Another anthology of witty sayings drawn fromCicero's work was compiled already in Cicero's lifetime, by his friend C. Trebonius, who isaffectionately thanked by Cicero in F. 15.21 (cf. esp. 2. liber iste quern mihi misisti quantam habetdeclarationem amoris tui! primum quod tibifacetum videtur quicquid ego dixi, quod alii fortasse nonitem; deinde quod ilia, sivefaceta sunt sive sic, fiunt narrante te venustissima, quin etiam ante quam adme veniatur risus omnispaene consumitur), written in december 46. NICHOLSON (1998) aims to showhow most of the quotations from all of Cicero's correspondence that we find in other ancient authorsmay well have come from anthologies, and therefore he ends up questioning how deep the knowledgeof Cicero's correspondence actually was even in authors like Quintilian, Pliny the Younger or Fronto. 1agree with Nicholson's point that being Cicero's epistolary collections so large and full of texts quitedifficult to read, many authors may have just drawn specific quotations from repertoires, and thatmaybe even Quintilian did resort to those tools for specific passages. But I also think that thecirculation of such repertoires is not at all in contrast with a good knowledge of Cicero's epistolaryproduction in some authors, like Seneca, Pliny, or Fronto, who explicitly claim such knowledge andshow it in many aspects of their work.

23And the same concern may have operated on Atticus' immediate descendents. Thistheory of a Neronian date for the publication of Atticus has been accepted by manyscholars interested in Cicero's correspondence. Nevertheless, following theconclusions reached by SETAIOLI (1976), I believe that at least some of the letters toAtticus may have well leaked out of his archives much earlier then the age of Nero.After all Nepos did see eleven volumes of them and other people may have receivedaccess to the collection as well, even if they were not allowed to make copies of toolarge extent. Once a portion of the collection was copied, nothing could prevent itfrom circulating wider and wider. At some point then the original selection in 11books, seen by Nepos, was extended to our 16 books, adding material that Atticus, forvarious reasons, had thought to exclude from what he could show to his friends: thiscan explain both the presence of letters earlier than Cicero's consulate and also thechronological misplacements of many items, if we assume that the addition was donewithout Atticus' supervision. So it's probable that such extension took place afterAtticus' death, but when exactly we really cannot tell on the basis of the evidence weSETAIOLI (1976) shows how the Neronian dating became the common opinion among scholars afterit had been accepted in fundamental works on Cicero's correspondence, like PETER'S fundamentalsurvey on Latin epistolography (1901), TYRRELL'S and PURSER'S introduction to their commentededition (1904), SCHANZ' s history of Latin Literature (1927), and BuCHNER's article on RE (1939). Theprovocative study on the date of Atticus published by CARCOPINO in 1947 then caused a universalreaction that brought most scholars categorically to refuse his defense of the Augustan dating (after allcommon opinion before Biicheler) all together with his provocative inferences, and thus to entrenchthemselves behind the Neronian date, as Shackleton Bailey does too. NICHOLSON (1998) agrees withthe common opinion stressing the importance of anthologies in the circulation of Cicero's letters sincethe beginning (cf. n. 36). CUGUSI (1983) instead defends the early date.38 SHACKLETON BAILEY (1965: 69-72) shows how most of the letters that are chronologically misplacedcan have had reasons to be excluded from the collection by Atticus himself, but he does not explore thereasons why the editor of the 16 volumes should have put these letters precisely were they are now.BEARD (2002) instead believes that the chronological misplacements were intentional choices of aneditor who wanted to create a meaningful structure in each book, but the few examples she draws arenot entirely convincing. A systematic study on the traditional order of the letters in Atticus (and in theother collections as well) is still missing.

24have. Many of those who accept the Neronian date for the official publication inferthat Atticus may have received the shape it now has right before that publication. 39II.2.C - Publishing 'real' lettersVariety in topics, style and tone is a characteristic that cannot be missed by anybodywho goes through a few books of Cicero's correspondence. Some letters stand out inthe collection because they are longer than the average, dedicated to a specific topicand written in a style that clearly shows the traces of a rather long labor limae. So, forexample, Q. 1.1 looks like a short essay on how to rule a province, or the famous F.5.12 to Lucceius like one on how to write history. It is not hard to imagine that thesetexts started to circulate among Cicero's friends shortly after having been composed;in fact Cicero himself encourages Atticus to ask Lucceius for a copy of that letter onhistory, since it seemed valde bella. A formal style, and sometimes also a longerdimension, characterize also those letters that have an official function (e.g. Cicero'sreport on his operations in Cilicia in F. 15.1 and 2 to the senate or F. 15.4 to Cato) orthose addressed to less close acquaintances (e.g. the correspondence with AppiusClaudius in F. book 3). Not only the letters addressed to the senate were clearlydestined to be read by a wider audience, but any letter addressed to somebodydifferent than a close and totally trustworthy friend was likely to be forwarded to39 Actually some of the material seen by Nepos may have got lost too: interestingly in fact ourcollection doesn't show any letter of the year of Cicero's consulate proper (we don't have any letterfrom July 65 to December 62), nor, stopping in November 44, any letter of the last year of Cicero's life- and Nepos instead said a consulatu eius usque ad extremum tempus (cf. above n. 27). Of courseNepos' words may be an approximation (we have letters of the period of Cicero's canvassing for theconsulate), but scholars seem to have completely ignored the problem and instead denied the existenceof any lost letter to Atticus, like in the case of the quotation in Sen. Brev. 5, and the quite generalacceptance of the correction ad Atticum in ad Axium (cf. above n. 30) - quotation which of course isinconvenient if one wants to accept the early 60's CE as the date of publication.Cf. A. 4.6.4 Epistidam Lucceio quam misi, qua meas res ut scribal rogo, fac ut ab eo sumas (valdebella est) eumque ut adproperet adhorteris, et quod mihi se itafacturum rescripsit agas gratias.

25many other readers. Cicero seems to have been well aware of this possibility and insome cases he started the circulation himself: this happens especially when he iswriting to Pompey or Caesar, in order to leave a testimony of his own view on thepresent situation and of his attempt to give good advices to the protagonists of thepolitical arena. 42 It is perfectly understandable how a writer may conceive such lettersexactly like any other text meant for publication: indeed they deserve the same formalcare and they rise the same concerns to convey a proper image of oneself to thecommunity of readers.On the other hand however, Cicero's epistolary collection also preserves a greatnumber of letters that clearly have a much more private nature. In several letters infact the writer expresses personal opinions that he does not want to share withanybody else than his addressee. 4In others, quite personal and trivial matters arediscussed, which would be of no interest to anybody else than the single addressee. 44Other letters share jokes and a humorous tone with close friends and would not beCicero himself was used to forward important letters from other people especially to Atticus.42 In. A. 8.2.1 Cicero mentions a letter sent to Caesar, which he would not mind if forwarded tosomebody else: eas [sc. litteras] si quo Me misit, in publico proponat velim. In A. 8.9.1-2 he opens upthe letter saying, again about a missive sent to Caesar, epistulam meam quod pervulgatam scribis essenonfero moleste, quin etiam ipse multis dedi describendam; ea enim et acciderunt iam et impendent uttestatum esse velim de pace quid senserim. From pro Sulla 67 (mid 62 BCE) then we know that a letteraddressed by Cicero to Pompey in defense of his consulate was known to the prosecutor and, evidently,to the public as well: Hie tu epistulam meam saepe recitas quam ego ad Cn. Pompeium de meis rebusgestis et de summa re publico misi, et ex ea crimen aliquod in P. Sullam quaeris. From several passagesof Atticus (A. 12.40.2, 13.26.2 and 13.31.3), we know about a project (probably not carried through) ofpublishing an open 'letter of advice' to Caesar in the second half of 45.43 Cf. for example Cicero's concerns on the safe delivery of a letter in e.g. A. 1.9.1 itaque propter hancdubitationem meam brevior haec ipsa epistula est, quod, cum incertus essem ubi esses, nolebam iliumnostrum familiarem sermonem in alienas manus devenire, or 1.13.1 quibus epistulis sum equidem abste lacessitus ad rescribendum, sed idcirco sum tardior quod non invenio jidelem tabellarium. quotusenim quisque est qui epistulam paulo graviorem ferrepossit nisi earn perlectione relevant?; or even thepractice of destroying a letter after reading it in A. 10.12.3 tu tamen eas epistulas quibus asperius de eoscripsi aliquando concerpito, ne quando quid emanet; ego item tuas. On the element of confidentialityin Cicero' correspondence cf. in particular NICHOLSON (1994).44 E.g. letters like A. 3.7 asking Atticus for advices on what itinerary to follow going to Epirus in exile,or like the many short messages giving Terentia concise instructions in F. 14, or those discussing Tiro'shealth in F. 16.

26understood by external readers. Many of these letters have an informal aspect.Stylistically they resort to a colloquial language, reproducing a real conversation, ofwhich a letter is considered a substitution. 46 In combination with a looser syntax andcolloquial expressions, these letters are often characterized by an abundant use of theGreek language and by the rareness of any rhythmical prose. 47 If compared with the'real' private letters that we can read on ancient papyri, those preserved in theCiceronian corpus show some similarities in the use of specific formulas or phrases,in addition to the reference to several topics concerning everyday life. This has beenextensively shown by Paolo Cugusi, whose work is a milestone of modern scholarshipon Latin epistolography. 48Yet Cugusi himself reaches the conclusion that the differences between documentaryletters and literary ones are much more evident than their similarities: in Cicero'scorrespondence for example, the way in which the same everyday topics are presentedis, of course, much more complex and articulated than in those written by a barelyliterate freedman or by a soldier; similar formulas get often changed in sophisticatedways instead of being passively repeated or even misused; the sermo cotidianusemployed by Cicero and by his correspondents reproduces the way of speaking of' For example, jokes and humor are particularly frequent in the correspondence with Trebatius. On thenecessity of keeping private letters and their jokes secret cf. Cic. phil. 2.7 quis enim umquam, quipaulum modo bonorum consuetudinem nosset, litteras ad se ab amico missas offensione aliquainterposita in medium protulit palamque recitauit? quid est aliud tollere ex uita uiiae societatem,tollere amicorum conloquia absentium? quam multa ioca solenl esse in epistulis quae, prolata si sint,inepta uideantur, quam multa seria neque tamen ullo modo diuolganda!46 On this very common epistolary topos cf. CUGUSI (1983: 32-3 and 73-4).47 Cf. CUGUSI (1983: 83-91) and HUTCHINSON (1998: 9-16).48 Through the analysis of lost literary letters (especially cf. CuGUSf s commented editionEpistolographi Latini Minores [1970 and 1979] and the two introductory articles 'Studisull'Epistolografia Latina' [1970 and 1972], all of which on epistolary fragments up to the Augustanage) and of documentary letters (especially cf. CuGUSrs commented edition Corpus EpistularumLatinarwn [1992 and 2002] along with its indexfontium published as a separate article in 1977),Cugusi's aim has been to reconstruct a more complete picture of the Latin epistolary genre: the bestsynthesis of his conclusions are CUGUSI (1983) and, on Cicero, CUGUSI (1998), supplemented withupdated documentary material.

28mind to publish with the help of Tiro and Atticus. The purpose of the revision musthave been precisely the elimination of any stylistic imperfection and indeed ofanything else that could reflect badly on Cicero's character (or on hiscorrespondents'). 53 We also should not forget that, with good probability, Cicero didnot go through much of that revision on his own: after his death, the work must havebeen carried on by the editor of the first collections, probably the experienced Tiro. 54Unfortunately there is absolutely no way for us to tell how deep the process ofrevision was and how much of what we read now was due to it. Nevertheless I agreewith the idea that persons like Cicero and like many of his correspondents would havecertainly been able to express themselves in already quite refined terms, even whenwriting a short note to a close friend.I also believe that the content, maybe even more than the form, can help us defininghe 'reality' of Cicero's correspondence. The entire corpus is dominated by the presentexperience, from the most important political events to the details of the everyday life,with pieces of information cropping up one after the other to fill each letter like anheterogeneous bulletin. Throughout the collections then there are constant referencesto the problems raised by the epistolary exchange and by the actual movements of themessengers. Constant reference is also made to all of those journeys, either short orlong, that have taken apart Cicero and his correspondents and that have motivated theepistolary exchange as the only possible way to communicate. In the panorama ofancient literary epistolography these are the features that make Cicero'scorrespondence the closest thing we have to 'real' letters, no matter how much revisedOn the difference between the form of a private letter and of a work meant for a wider readership cf.also F. 15.21.4 primum enim ego Mas Calvo litteras misi non plus quam has quas nunc legis existimansexituras; aliter enim scribimus quod eos solos quibus mittimus, aliter quod multos lecturos putamus.54 Cf. above n. 33.

29they may have been or how incredibly more sophisticated they are in comparison tothose 'real' letters that are found in scattered papyri or wooden tablets.II. 3 - Travels and LettersCicero traveled a lot during his life. At the age of twenty eight, in 79 BCE, he leftRome, with his brother Quintus and Atticus among other young people, to go toGreece and to the East: his Grand Tour lasted about two years and allowed him toattend the lessons of some among the most famous philosophers and rhetors of thetime. Less than two years after having returned home, he had to leave again, this timeto spend a year in Sicily, as quaestor (75). Five years later (70) Cicero was again inSicily for about five months, to collect the evidence for Verres' trial. As aconsequence to his conduct in the Catiline's affair, in march 58 Cicero was forced togo into exile and he spent his time mostly in Thessalonica. In august 57 the sentencewas revoked and he reentered in Italy accompanied by a triumphal acclamation. Afterless than six years he had to leave Rome again to perform his duty as proconsul inCilicia (may 51 -december 49). As soon as he got back to Rome, on the eve of the civilwar, he was displaced in Campania in charge of guarding the coasts; in six months thesituation came to a head and Cicero decided to follow Pompey's army to Macedoniaand Epirus (June 49-September 48); yet, seeing the turn things were taking, heeventually decided to abandon the fight and to return to Italy: in October of 48 helanded in Brundisium, where he remained for an entire year, anxiously waiting forCaesar's pardon. In the summer of 44 Cicero tried to go to Greece, as a legate and inorder to check on the progress of his son's education, but he only reached Leucopetraand then decided to go back to Rome and to the political activity. Another attempt to

30escape abroad was made as Cicero, with his brother and his nephew, were proscribedby the triumvirs, in November of 43: also this project was abandoned and Cicero gotkilled in a matter of days. In addition to these trips, longer and motivated by specificreasons, Cicero was used to frequent visits to his many villas, disseminated in Latiumand Campania; in some periods of his life he even spent much more time retired in hisvillas than in his house in Rome (especially in the troubled period preceding his exilein mid 60-59, and above all in the years 46-45, following Caesar's triumph in the civilwar and then after Tullia's death).Cicero's correspondence is the major source for reconstructing his movements as, ingeneral, it is for any event of his life. These are the letters written by Cicero during hisjourneys:• Cicero's longer journeys:o Exile (march 59 - September 57): A. 3; Q. 1.3-4; F. 14.1-4 (to Terentia); F.5.4 (Q. Metellus).o Proconsulate in Cilicia (may 51 - January 49): A. 5-6: A. 7.1-9. F. 2.7 (C.Curio), F. 8-15 (M. Caelius Rufus), F. 8.17 (Cn. Sallustius), F. 8.18 (Q.Minucius Thermus), F. 8.19 (C. Coelius Caldus); F, 3.3-13 (AppiusClaudius Pulcher); F. 7.32 (P. Volumnius Eutrapelus); F. 9.25 (L. PapiriusPaetus);F. 13.1 (C. Memmius), F. 13.47 and F. 13.61-4 (Silius),F. 13.53-7 and F. 13.65 (Q. Minucius Thermus), F. 13.58 (Titius Rufus), F. 13.59(C. Curtius Peducaeanus); F. 14.5 (Terentia); F. 15.1-2 (senate), F. 15.3-4and 6 (M. Cato), F. 15.7-11 (C. Marcellus), F. 15.12-13 (Aemilius Paulus),F. 15.14 (C. Cassius); F. 16.1-7 and 9 (Tiro).

31o Macedonia and Epirus. following Pompey O'une 49 - august 48): A. 11.1-4a; F 14.6 and 7 (Terentia).o Year in Brundisium. waiting for Caesar's pardon (September 48 -September 47): A. 11.5-25; F 14.8-13, F 14.15-17 and F. 14.19-24(Terentia); F. 15.15 (C. Cassius).o Attempt to go to Greece to visit the son (July — august 44): A. 16.3. A. 16.6-7; F. 7.19-20 (Trebatius Testa).• Cicero's shorter journeys:o Campania in charge of guarding the coast (January - iune 49): A. 7.10-10:F. 2.16 (M. Caelius Rufus); F. 4.1-2 (S. Sulpicius Rufus); F. 5.19-20 (L.Mescinius Rufus); F. 121 (T. Fadius); F. 13.48 (C. Sextilius Rufus); F.14.14 and F. 14.18 (Terentia); F. 16.11 -12 (Tiro).oTravels to villas, or longer stays in villas:• 68-mid 60: A 1.10.• mid 60-59: A. 2.1-2 (Antium?), A 2.4-17.• September 57-auril 51: A. 4.4a-14; Q. 2.6, Q. 2.9, Q. 2.10?, Q.2.13; Q. 3.1, Q. 3.5; F. 7.6, 11,F 7.14-15 andF. 7.18 (Trebatius);F 16.10 andF 16.13-15 (Tiro).• September 47- 45 (longer stays, especially in Tusculum andAstura): A 12-13 (year 46-45); F 4.6 (Ser. Sulpicius Rufus); F.5.15 (Lucceius); F. 6.2 (A. Manlius Torquatus), F. 6.11(Trebianus), F 6.19 (Lepta), F 6.20? (C. Toranius); F 7.4 (M.Marius), F. 7.24-6 (M. Fabius Gallus); F 9.4 and F 9.8 (Varro), F

329.11 (P. Cornelius Dolabella), F. 9.12 (Dolabella), F. 9.16, F. 9.18,andF. 9.23 (L. Papirius Paeto); F. 13.15? (Caesar), F. 13.73 (Q.Marcius Philippus); F. 14.20 (Terentia); F 16.17, F. 16.19, F.16.22 (Tiro).• 44j A 14-16. F. 6.17? (Pompeius Bythinicus); F. 7.21-2(Trebatius); F 9.14 (Dolabella = A. 14.7a); F. 11.27 (Matius), F.11.29 (C. Oppius); F. 12.1 (Cassius); F 16.23-4.Scattered references to Cicero's various journeys can also be found in some of hisother works (for example the autobiographical section at the end of the Brutus) and inthose of other ancient writers (especially Plutarch's biography, or Cassius Dio' books36-46 and Appian's 14-17), who may ultimately depend on Cicero's own words andsometimes, more interestingly, also on those works that are now lost. 55 These othersources are the only ones available for those travels belonging to periods of Cicero'slife not covered by the extant letters, that is: his tour in the East in 19-11, 56 his twotrips to Sicily in 75 and 70, 57 and his last movements in the attempt of escaping theexecution at the end of 43. 58Also among the letters by other people preserved within Cicero's correspondence,many were sent while the writer was away from Rome, mostly engaged in a longer"" MARINONE (2004) offers a good synthesis of the literary sources for any event of Cicero's life,presented year by year.56 The longer accounts about this journey are in Cic. Brut. 314-17 and Plut. Cic. 3-5. For other minorreferences cf. MARINONE (2004: 59-60).57 The first trip to Sicily as a quaestor is recalled in Cic. Brut. 318, and Tusc. 5.64 (which in particularhas a famous description of a visit to the tomb of Archimedes in Syracuse on the way back to Rome)and Plut. Cic. 6. Scattered references are also in the Actio Secunda against Verres. For other minorreferences cf. MARINONE (2004: 61-2). The Actio Secunda against Verres is the major source also forthe second trip to Sicily, meant to collect evidence for the trial. Cf. MARINONE (2004: 65-7)58 Cicero's attempt to flee abroad after having been proscribed is recalled, along with the account of hisdeath, in Sen. Suas. 6 (esp. 14-17), quoting Livy"s account, and Plut. Cic. 47-9 (esp. 47). For otherminor references cf. MARINONE (2004: 254-5).

33journey (letters by others will always be distinguished with an asterisk in presentwork):• Letters written from villas: only two official letters by Brutus and Cassius to M.Antony, sent from Lanuvium (*F. 11.2) and Naples (*F. 11.3) in 44.• Letters by people traveling further away from Rome on a private account: only *F.15.19 sent by C. Cassius Longinus at the end of January 45, while he was stayingin Brundisium, on his way back to Rome; 59 *F. 7.29 sent at the end of October of45 by M'. Curius, a business man resident in Patrae; 60 and finally two letters sentby Cicero's son to Tiro, as he was studying in Athens in 44 (*F. 16.21 and *F.16.25).• Letters by people traveling further away from Rome while on duty: two thirds ofthe letters by other people preserved within Cicero's correspondence were writtenby men who were away from Rome while holding some administrative or, aboveall, military office. Almost all of these letters in fact were dispatched around theperiods of the civil wars in 49-48 (thirteen letters, almost exclusively letterspreserved in Atticus) 6]and, even more so, in 43 (forty letters, above all from the59 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1977: 376, ad F. 15.18) "Though legatus to Caesar, he took no part in theAfrican and Spanish campaigns and was now (end of 46) in Brundisium"; and (1977: 309, ad F. 15.15):"According to Dio (42.13.1, 5), after Pharsalia C. Cassius was with Cato in Cyrene, but left him afterPompey's murder and made his way straight to Caesar. In the early months of 47 he was at Rhodes, andin March Cicero told Atticus of a report that Cassius was going from there to Alexandria (A. 11.13.1);but this is contradicted in a letter of May 14 (A. 11.15.2). We do not know where and when he andCaesar met, or what to make of the strange story in Phil. 2.26 of Cassius' attempt to murder Caesar atCydnus in Cilicia. At any rate Caesar pardoned him through Brutus" intercession (Plut. Brut. 6) and,perhaps considerably later, appointed him legatus".60 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (2001: introduction p. 26).61 From the winter/ spring of 49 we have (in chronological order and addressed to Cicero unlessspecified) six letters by Pompey, as he was stationing in the south of Italy in February of 49: *A. 8.11A(from Luceria), *A. 8.12B (to L. Domitius governor of Transalpine Gaul, from Luceria), *A. 8.12C(toL. Domitius, from Luceria), *A. 8.12D (to L. Domitius, from Luceria), *A. 8.12A (to the consuls C.Marcellus and L. Lentulus, from Luceria), *A. 8.11C (from Canusium); three letters by Caesardispatched as he was descending through the Italian peninsula through March and April of 49: *A. 9.6A(on the road between Arpi and Brundisium), *A. 9.7C (to Oppius and Cornelius Balbus, on the road),*A. 10.8B (on the road to Massilia); two letters by M. Caelius Rufus dispatched between March and

34Familiares, but a few also from Brutus),mostly by generals who were at thehead of an army since they were holding the governorship of a province at theoutbreak of the war. Just fourteen more letters belong instead to different periodsand were written by people holding offices in a province.• Letters by people residing further away from Rome due to exile or forceddisplacement: only two letters, both sent by exiles in 46: *F. 4.11 by M. ClaudiusMarcellus and *F. 6.7 by A. Caecina.So far scholars have analyzed Cicero's accounts on his travels or those by his friendsalmost exclusively from an historical perspective. Cicero's correspondence inparticular has proven to be an incredibly rich mine of information on the actualApril, as he had been deployed in Liguria on Caesar's side: *F. 8.15 (on the way to Liguria), *F. 8.16 =*A. 10.9A (from Liguria); then a letter from M. Antony dispatched on May I s ' of 49 from anunidentifiable location (*A. 10.8A). From year 48 instead, we only have one letter sent by Dolabellaprobably in May of 48 and from Caesar's camp in Dyrrachium as Cicero was still in Epirus inPompey's army (*F. 9.9).62 The letters of this period were written between March and July of 43. We have (in chronologicalorder and addressed to Cicero unless specified) eleven letters by L. Munatius Plancus, as governor ofTransalpine Gaul: *F. 10.7, *F. 10.8 (official report to magistrates and senate), *F. 10.9, *F. 10.11, *F.10.15, *F. 10.21, *F. 10.21a, *F. 10.18, *F. 10.17, *F. 10.23, *F. 10.24, and *F. 11.13a (officialreport to magistrates and senate) written along with D. Brutus; nine letters by D. Iunius Brutus, asgovernor of Cisalpine Gaul: *F. 11.4, *F. 11.9, *F. 11.3b (which however is lost except for the initialwords Parmensis miserrimos), *F. 11.10, *F. 11.11, *F. 11.13, *F. 11.19, *F. 11.20, *F. 11.23, *F.11.26; seven letters by M. Iunius Brutus, who had taken control of Greece and of its armies: *B. 2.3,*B. 1.4, *B. 1.4a, *B. 1.6, *B. 1.7, *B. 1.11, *B. 1.13; three letters by C. Asinius Pollio, as governor ofFurther Spain: *F. 10.31, *F. 10.33, *F. 10.32; three letters by M. Aemilius Lepidus, as governor ofNarbonese Gaul and Hither Spain: *F. 10.34, *F. 10.34a, *F. 10.35 (official report to magistrates andsenate); two letters by C. Cassius Longinus, who had taken control of the provinces in Asia: *F. 12.11,*F. 12.12. Then two letters by P. Lentulus Spinther fil., quaestor in Asia: *F. 12.14, *F. 12.15 (officialreport to magistrates and senate); one letter by C. Cassius Parmensis, quaestor in Greece: *F. 12.13;one letter by Ser. Sulpicius Galba, fighting against Antony in Mutina: *F. 10.30.63 Beyond the letters written by men involved in the civil wars, those by people holding offices in theprovinces are (in chronological order and addressed to Cicero unless specified): *F. 5.1 by Q. MetellusCeler, governor of Cisalpine Gaul in 62, *F. 5.3 by Q. Metellus Nepos, governor of Hither Spain in 56,*F. 16.16 and *F. 16.8 by Cicero's brother, the first as he was serving as a Legate in Caesar's army in53, and the second, addressed to Tiro on the way back from Cilicia in 50, then two letters by S.Sulpicius Rufus, governor of Achaea, in spring of 45 (*F. 4.5 which however is a consolation forTullia's death, and *F. 4.12), a series of letters by P. Vatinius, governor of Illyria, between July of 45and January of 44 (*F. 5.9, *F. 5.10c, *F. 5.10b, *F. 5.10a), and finally in 44 we have a letter byPompeius Bithynicus, propraetor in Sicily (*F. 6.16), a letter by C. Trebonius (*F. 12.16), written as hewas stationing in Athens on the way to his proconsulate in Asia, a letter by D. Brutus, as governor ofCisalpine Gaul (*F. 11.4), and one by L. Munatius Plancus, as governor of Transalpine Gaul (*/*". 10.4),all written in 44, before the outbreak of the civil war.

35practice of traveling in the Roman world and, even more so, on Cicero's ownbiography and on the crucial historical events surrounding it. From a formal andstylistic point of view instead, formulas and topics related to the theme of travelinghave received only little attention by scholars interested in defining the typicalcharacteristics of the epistolary genre. In general few, and partial, are the studiesexploring the rhetorical strategies behind Cicero's choices to talk about some factsover others or to present them in a positive or negative light, while describing whatwas going on during some of his journeys. 5 We still miss a study that, in a moresystematic way, could define on one hand the variety of forms and aims with whichCicero has referred to his travel experiences, and on the other the existence ofconsistent patterns running across that variety.II.4 - Cicero's view on traveling: is it bad or good?Most of Cicero's journeys have been imposed on him by a necessity: the exile, theneed of climbing his cursus honorum and to serve in the provinces, that of taking oneside in the civil wars and going to fight for it. In some occasions though he did chooseto leave Rome spontaneously, not only to spend time in his villas and in his honestliterary otium, but also to go much further away, to Greece, as he was a young man. 6664 CASSON's "classic' Travel in the Ancient world (1974), for example, uses Cicero's correspondence asone of his major sources. All biographies of Cicero, again mostly relying on his correspondence (cf.above n. 55), dedicate a considerable space to his travels; yet they are mostly interested inreconstructing his exact itineraries or the purpose and the political implications of them. Of course thereis no need to stress how immense is the literature that draws on Cicero's correspondence to investigate,for example, the events and the military operations of chaotic years like 49 BCE, or the way in which aprovince like Cilicia was administered.65 For example on Cicero's exile, cf. GARCEA (2005) or CLAASSEN (1999).66 Actually according to Plutarch, the first motive for Cicero's long tour in Greece was not justeducational: in fact he would be escaping the risk of retaliations in consequence of his attacks, in thepro Roscio Amoerino, to Chrysogonus, a powerful favorite of Sulla. But cf. Cicero's own claim, in

Later on he deemed it appropriate for his son Marcus to have the same experience.But already when Marcus was only fourteen, Cicero had decided to carry him and theyoung Quintus along with himself and his brother to Cilicia: a very good occasion togain experience from their fathers and from the places they were seeing along theway, like Cicero's beloved Athens (cf. A. 5.10.5 valde me Athenae delectarunt, urbedumtaxat et urbis ornamento et hominum amore in te, in nos quadam benevolentia) orRhodes (cf. A. 6.7.2 Rhodum volo puerorum causa, inde quamprimum Athenas, etsietesiae valde reflani) or some spots in Epirus, like the river Thyamis (cf. A. 7.2.3 Q.Ciceroni obsisti non potuit quominus Thyamim videret).However the view on traveling that emerges from Cicero's correspondence remainsfundamentally negative. Traveling can be first of all a very uncomfortable anddangerous experience, which one would normally avoid as much as possible. So forexample, in a letter to Atticus written in July of 44, while debating whether to go ornot to Greece, Cicero compares the prospect of his long trip to a detestable call toarms, that would take him away from the peace of his homeland: multa me moventin discessu, in primis mehercule quod diiungor a te. movet etiam navigationis laborBrutus 314, to have gone to Greece in order to improve his oratorial style and techniques, and cf. alsoSHACKLETON BAILEY (1971: 11 -12).67 The references to the preparative, above all economical, for Marcus's journey start in march of 45(cf.A 12.24.1,A 12.27.2, A. 12.32.2). Marcus reached Athens in late spring and he remained there tostudy for about a year and a half, with oscillating progress, which constituted a frequent cause ofconcern for Cicero, to the point of inducing him to go and check on him (above all cf, in chronologicalorder,A 12.52.1,A 13.24.1, F. 12.16.1-2, which testifies Marcus wish to visit the province of Asia, A.15.17.4 and *F. 16.21, a long letter written by Marcus to Tiro, giving a detailed account of his life andhis progresses in Athens). At the end of 44 though (cf. Plut. Cic. 45.3), Marcus met Brutus in Athensand finally, with the strong approval of his father, decided to follow his army (cf. B. 1.4a.1, F. 12.14.8,B. 1.14.1).68 The young Marcus and Quintus traveled with Cicero but then they were actually sent to stay with theallied king Deiotarus, a much safer place than the military camps where Cicero was lodging (cf. A.5.17.3).69 The opposition here is actually between the uncomfortable journey and the peaceful life and theliterary otium that Cicero could enjoy in his villas (prediolis nostris), where he ended up spending a lotof time in that period (for Cicero's opinion about leaving Rome as the situation got desperate, cf. belown. 72).

37alienus non ab aetate solum nostra verum etiam a dignitate tempusque discessussubabsurdum. relinquimus enim pacem ut ad bellum revertamur, quodque temporis inpraediolis nostris et belle aedificatis et satis amoenis consumi potuit in peregrinationeconsumimus. consolantur haec: autproderimus aliquid Ciceroni aut quantum proficipossit iudicabimus (A. 16.3.4). In February of 45 instead, writing to Q. PaconiusLepta, Cicero, who had to remain in Rome for a while to look after Tullia, hadpresented even the short trip to reach his villas as a useless journey away from a housethat could offer exactly the same amenities: me Romae tenuit omnino Tulliae meaepartus, sed cum ea, quern ad modum spero, satisfirma sit, teneor tamen dum aDolabellae procuratoribus exigam primam pensionem. et mehercule non tarn sumperegrinator iam quam solebam. aedificia mea me delectabant et otium: domus estquae nulli mearum villarum cedat, otium omni desertissima regione maius. itaque nelitterae quidem meae impediuntur, in quibus sine ulla interpellatione versor (F.6.18.5). Even in the aftermath of Caesar's victories in the civil wars, when manypeople started contemplating the possibility of a voluntary exile far away from Rome,Cicero insisted on suggesting the option of spending one's 'exile' in the comfort ofone's home, still living a retired life far from the irremediably corrupt politicalarena. 70 So, for example, in a letter of the summer of 46, Cicero wrote to M. ClaudiusMarcellus that Rome could be an aptissimum [...] etiam ad exsulandum locum {F.4.7.2) and in another letter he goes on saying: sed tamen, si iam ita constituisses utabesse perpetuo malles quam ea quae nolles videre, tamen id cogitare deberes,ubicumque esses, tefore in eius ipsius quern fugeres potestate. qui si facile passurusesset te carentem patria etfortunis tuis quiete et libere vivere, cogitandum tibi tamenesset Romaene et domi tuae, cuicuimodi res esset, an Mitylenis aut Rhodi malles70 On Cicero's wavering opinion about leaving Rome as the situation got desperate, cf. below n. 72.

38vivere. sed cum ita late patent eius potestas quern veremur ut terrarum orbemcomplexa sit, nonne mavis sinepericulo tuae domi esse quam cumpericulo alienae?equidem, etiam si oppetenda mors esset, domi atque inpatria mallem quam inexternis atque alienis locis (F. 4.8.4).Even more than the fear of being uncomfortable or in danger, that of damaging one'sreputation could discourage eminent persons like Cicero from traveling. The boni virilike him were expected to dedicate their entire lives to serve the country and their netof friendships, and they would be proud of claiming something like what Cicero oncepraised about Plancius: numquam ex urbe is afuit nisi sorte, lege, necessitate (proPlane. 67). Thus leaving Rome to spend time in the leisure of a luxurious villa couldbe considered shameful idleness; going abroad to take care of one's business andescape the problems of the city could be called a true betrayal of one's duties. This isthe kind of reproach that Cicero was trying to avoid, as, on his way to his villa inFormiae in April 59, he decided to give up at least watching the Games in Antium:Volo ames meam constantiam. ludos And spectare non placet, est enimVJtOOoXoiKOV, cum velim vitare omnium deliciarum suspicionem, repenteCtvacpotlVSCOctl non solum delicate sed etiam inepteperegrinantem. (A. 2.10). Thefear of being criticized is probably the most important reason also behind Cicero's71 Already in April 46 Cicero had expressed the same idea referred to his own choice, in terms quitesimilar to what he will say in F. 4.8: Ego cum meis , si quicquam nunc cuiusquam est, etiam inmeis esse malui. quae acciderunt omnia dixifutura. veni domum, non quo optima vivendi condicioesset, sed tamen, si esset aliqua forma rei publicae, tamquam in patria ut essem, si nulla, tamquam inexsilio; nunc autem, si haec civitas est, civem esse me, si non, exsulem esse non incommodiore locoquam si Rhodum aut Mytilenas contulissem (F. 7.3.4-5). Interestingly in the same period, Ciceroresorts to this comparison between Rome and a place of exile also in consolatory letters addressed totrue exiles, this time with the opposite intent of showing how living in Rome is as bad as living away -everybody is politically impotent. Cf. for example two letters addressed to A. Manlius Torquatus at thebeginning of 45: F. 6.1.1 begins with the words Etsi ea perturbatio est omnium rerum ut suae quemquefortunae maxime paeniteat nemoque sit quin ubivis quam ibi ubi sit esse malit, tamen mihi dubium nonest quin hoc tempore bono viro Romae esse miserrimum sit. nam etsi, quocumque in loco quisquis est,idem est ei sensus et eadem acerbitas ex interim rerum el publicarum et suarum, tamen oculi augentdolorem, qui ea quae celeri audiunt inlueri cogunt nee avertere a miseriis cogitationem sinunt. qua re,etsi multarum rerum desiderio te angi necesse est, tamen illo dolore quo maxime te confici audio, quodRomae non sis, animum titum libera; F. 6.4.1 insists on the same terms.

39hesitations, throughout his life, to leave Rome even when the situation appearedparticularly desperate and he, like many others, had started wishing a retired life awayfrom the corruption of the capital. 72 A very clear example of this wavering positioncan be found in a letter that Cicero wrote, in April 46, to M. Terentius Varro (F. 9.2).Despite the fact that Cicero did totally understand Varro's decision to flee theimpotent witnessing of so many disgusting scenes in Rome and to move to Cumae,Cicero said that he had not done the same yet, because he was concerned for whatpeople could say about him: quaeres fortasse cur, cum haec in urbe sint, non absimquern ad modum tu. tu enim ipse, qui et me et alios prudentia vincis, omnia, credo,vidisti, nihil te omnino fefellit! quis est tarn Lynceus qui in tantis tenebris nihiloffendat, nusquam incurrat? ac mihi quidem iam pridem venit in mentem bellum essealiquo exire, ut ea quae agebantur hie quaeque dicebantur nee viderem nee audirem.sed calumniabar ipse; putabam qui obviam mihi venisset, ut cuique commodum esset,suspicaturum, aut dicturum etiam si non suspicaretur: 'hie aut metuit et ea refugit autaliquid cogitat et habet navem paratam.' denique levissime qui suspicaretur et quifortasse me optime novisset putaret me idcirco discedere quod quosdam hominesoculi meiferre non possent. haec ego suspicans adhuc Romae maneo; et tamenXsXrfOOTCOgconsuetudo diurna callum iam obduxit stomacho meo (para. 2-3).In several occasions Cicero wished to abandon Rome and, after all, he did end up living retired in hisvillas for longer periods of time (for Cicero's defense of his own periods of retirement, especially afterthe death of Tullia, cf. below n. 73). So already in the spring of 59, A. 2.5.1 begins with the words:Cupio equidem et iam pridem cupio Alexandriam reliquamque Aegyptum visere et simul ab hachominum satietate nostri discedere et cum aliquo desiderio reverti; sed hoc tempore et his mittentibusaiSeopai Tp&aq icai TpcpdSaq eXKEOUi£nXovq\ alluding to a the project of an expeditionas an envoy to Ptolemy XII of Egypt, that could serve as an excuse to stay away from Rome for awhile. In late summer 46 Cicero approved the choice of Ser. Sulpicius Rufus (F. 4.4.2) and of M'Curius (F. 7.28) to go to Greece, and he elaborates on the inutility of remaining in Rome and on theadvantages of going away and avoiding at least the sight of the disgusting scenes of the city: the sameargument is used by Cicero about in the same period to console his friends in exile (cf. note 71 above).At the beginning of 44 another letter to M'. Curius (F. 7.30.1) recalls the same ideas, interestinglysaying: Ego vero iam te nee hortor nee rogo ut domum redeas; quin hinc ipse evolare cupio et aliquopervenire 'ubi nee Pelopidarum nomen nee facta audiam', and using the same quotation alreadyemployed in F. 7.28.1. The same line is also quoted a few months later, again to express Cicero's wishto leave Rome, in A. 14.2.2 and A. 15.11.3.

40Then he gave Varro two advices: first to avoid anyway the mundane Baiae, and thesuspicion of having left Rome for 'swimming', rather than for 'mourning the lostRepublic', second to dedicate himself to a honest literary otium, by means of which hecould benefit the country at least by writing a 'Republic', if not by building the realone: te vero nolo, nisi ipse rumor iam raucus eritfactus, ad Baias venire, erit enimnobis honestius, etiam cum hinc discesserimus, videri venisse in ilia loca ploratumpotius quam natatum. sed haec tu melius, modo nobis stet Mud, una vivere in studiisnostris, a quibus antea delectationem modo petebamus, nunc vero etiam salutem; nondeesse si quis adhibere volet, non modo ut architectos verum etiam utfabros, adaedificandam rempublicam, et potius libenter accurrere; si nemo utetur opera, tamenet scribere et legere TtoXlZSldg, et, si minus in curia atque inforo, at in litteris etlibris, ut doctissimi veteres fecerunt, navare rem publicam et de moribus ac legibusquaerere. Mihi haec videntur (para. 5). 73 The danger of incurring in the infamy ofbetraying one's duties was also underlying Cicero's long debate with Atticus aboutwhether to go to Greece or not in the spring of 44, in a quite difficult moment for theIn those periods in which Cicero decided to live retired in his villas, he often felt the need of stressinghow his absence from Rome had been well productive and justified. This self-defense becameparticularly insistent after the death of Tullia, as Cicero was resisting the pressure of his friends, whowere trying to drive him out of his sad isolation. Cicero's arguments always insist on two points: hispresence in Rome would be totally useless under the present political circumstances and he was alreadyincredibly active in his literary otium. So in A. 12.21.5 he writes: Quod me in forum vocas, eo vocasunde etiam bonis meis rebus fugiebam. quid enim mihiforo sine iudiciis, sine curia, in oculosincurrentibus iis quos animo aequo videre non possum? quod autem a me homines postulare scribis aut quatenus eos mihi concedere, iam pridemscito esse cum unum te pluris quam omnis illos putem. ne me quidem contemno meoque iudicio multostare malo quam omnium reliquorum. neque tamen progredior longius quam mihi doctissimi hominesconcedunt; quorum scripta omnia quaecumque sunt in earn sententiam non legi solum, quod ipsum eratfortis aegroti, accipere medicinam, sed in mea etiam scripta transtuli, quod certe adflicti etfracti animinonfuit. ab his me remediis noli in islam turbam vocare, ne recidam. In A. 12.40.2-3 he even gets tothe point of claiming that in his villa in Astura he has been able to write more than what his detractorscould ever read (legere isti laeti qui me reprehendunl tarn multa non possunt quam ego scripsi). Cf.also A. 12.23.1;/i. 12.38a. 1; and a letter to Lucceius (F. 5.15.4-5), in reply to his consolation (F. 5.14)and expressed almost in the same terms of the contemporaneous A. 12.21. On Cicero's hyperactiveliterary otium in this period cf. also Ch. IV pp. 243-4.

41Republic. Once he had finally abandoned the project, miraculously stopped by thewinds as he was trying to leave the Italian shores, Cicero realized what people hadbeen thinking of his decision to leave: in particular, a long letter (A. 16.7), writtenright on the way back to Rome, is dedicated by Cicero to a self-defense against hisclosest friends, who were blaming the fact that he was about to abandon his country —and in the most shameful way, since he seemed to be doing so just for the purpose ofhaving a good time as a tourist in Olympia: di immortales, quam valde Me [sc.Brutus] reditu vel potius reversione mea laetatus effudit ilia omnia quae tacuerat! utrecordarer illud tuum 'nam Brutus noster silet'. maxime autem dolebat me Kal. Sext.in senatu nonfuisse. Pisonem ferebat in caelum; se autem laetari quod ejfugissemduas maximas vituperationes, unam, quam itinere faciendo me intellegebamsuscipere, desperationis ac relictionis reipublicae (flentes mecum vulgo querebanturquibus de meo celeri reditu non probabam), alteram, de qua Brutus et qui una erant(multi autem erant) laetabantur quod earn vituperationem ejfugissem, me existimariCicero wavered a lot before taking the decision to leave Rome, always asking the opinion of hisfriends, above all of Atticus. On one hand, he claimed that going to Athens could be beneficial foryoung Marcus and maybe, in the immediate aftermath of Caesar's death, going away from Rome couldbe safer; yet he feared the long journey and indeed the criticism of abandoning Rome in a quite difficultmoment: mA. 14.13.4 we have the clearest synthesis of Cicero's position: Suscipe nunc meamdeliberationem qua sollicitor; ita multa veniunt in mentem in utramque partem. proficiscor, ut viKal. Mai. constitueram, legatus in Graeciam, caedis impendentis periculum non nihil vitare videor, sedcasurus in aliquant vituperationem quod reipublicae defuerim tarn gravi tempore, sin autem mansero,fore me quidem video in discrimine, sed accidere posse suspicor ut prodesse possim rei publicae. iamilia consilia privata sunt, quod sentio valde esse utile ad confirmationem Ciceronis me illuc venire; neealia causa profectionis mini ullafuit turn cum consilium cepi legari a Caesare. tota igitur hac de re, utsoles si quid ad me pertinere putas, cogitabis. Cf. also A. 14.7.2,A. 16.3.4 (cf. above p. 18),F. 11.29.1to C. Oppius. After having abandoned the project, Cicero kept celebrating this resolution and the windsthat miraculously prevented him from sailing away: in addition to A. 16.7.5, cf. in particular F. 12.25.3,andF. 1.15.5.Cicero showed an even deeper uncertainty on whether to leave Rome or not at the outbreak of the civilwar in 49. Before resolving to follow Pompey in Epirus, he had been constantly discussing about it,especially with Atticus. The most interesting testimony of such a debate is in A. 9.10, where Cicerotries to make the point of the development of Atticus' advices, and he quotes the relevant passages of along series of his letters. Cf. also: A. 7.20.2, A. 7.22.1, A. 7.24; A. 8.3.4-6, A. 8.16; A. 9.2a-b, A. 9.19.2-3; A. 10.1.1-la.73 On Cicero"s arrangements in order to visit Olympia. cf. A. 15.25 et velim etiam scire quo dieOlympia, turn mysteria. scilicet, ut tu scribis, casus consilium nostri ilineris iudicabit. dubitemus igitur.est enim hiberna navigatio odiosa, eoque ex te quaesieram mysteriorum diem.

42ad Olympia. hoc vero nihil turpius quovis rei publicae tempore, sed hocdvaffoAdyr/TOV. ego vero austro gratias miras qui me a tanta infamia averterit (A.16.7.5).So embarking in a long journey was a big burden, escaping one's duties wasshameful, but even leaving Rome to serve the Republic as a magistrate, despite beingsomething absolutely necessary, 7was not a truly good experience in Cicero's view.Aside the dangers of the journeys, Cicero's immense ambition resented above all theabsence of an adequate audience for his deeds. In the letter written at the very momentof his assumption of office as proconsul, in August 51, he confesses to Atticus:Laodiceam veniprid. Kal. Sext.; ex hoc die clavum anni movebis. nihil exoptatiusadventu meo, nihil carius; sed est incredibile quam me negoti taedeat, non habeat satis magnum campum Me tibi non ignotus cursus animi et industriaemeae, praeclara opera cesset (A. 5.15.1). During his entire mandate he keepscomplaining about his isolation and he keeps asking his friends to intercede for him inorder to avoid a renewal of the office, almost with the same insistence with which, atthe time of the exile, he was begging Atticus to work for his readmission in Rome.At the end of June 50, as he was finally on his way back to Rome, he concluded aletter to M. Caelius Rufus, with what is probably the clearest expression of his viewon traveling away from Rome: Urbem, urbem, mi Rufe, cole et in ista luce vive! omnisSpending time in a province was necessary in order to proceed in one's cursus honorum, and also togain strong alliances and good economical resources. For example, these are the reasons advanced byCicero to encourage his friend C. Trebatius Testa to follow Caesar in Gaul in 54, which the youngTrebatius seems to have done quite reluctantly. Cf. in particular Cicero's advice of forgetting Rome andits amenities in order to follow Caesar in F. 7.6 (esp. 1 tu modo ineptias istas et desideria urbis eturbanitatis depone et, quo consilio profeclus es, id adsiduitate et virtute consequere) and F. 7.11.3,where Cicero urges Trebatius to avoid wasting time in the province, if he is not able to get the expectedbenefits: remoto ioco, tibi hoc amicissimo animo praecio, ut, si istic mea commendatione tuamdignitatem obtinebis, perferas nostri desiderium, honestatem et facullates tuas augeas; sin autem istafrigebunt, recipias te ad nos.77 For Cicero's complaints about the province, cf. in particular A. 5.10andF. 2.11.1 to M. CaeliusRufus. For his insistent requests of avoiding a renewal of his mandate, cf.: A. 5.18.3, A. 5.20.7, A.5.21.3; F. 2.10.4 again to M. Caelius Rufus, F. 2.7.3 to C. Curius, F. 15.13.13 to L. Aemilius Paulus.

43peregrinatio, quod ego ab adulescentia iudicavi, obscura et sordida est Us quorumindustria Romae potest illustris esse, quod cum probe scirem, utinam in sententiapermansissem! cum una mehercule ambulatiuncula atque uno sermone nostro omnisfructus provinciae non confero. spero me integritatis laudem consecutum: non eratminor ex contemnenda quam est ex conservata provincia. spem triumphi inicis: satisgloriose triumpharem, non essem quidem tarn diu in desiderio rerum mihinocarissimarum. {F. 2.12.2-3).7 A few years before the proconsulate in Cilicia, Cicero had already manifested the same view on thesejourneys imposed by his career. In the pro Plancio (64-67), he had a chance to recall his experience asa quaestor in Sicily and, in a quite lively scene, he pictured his frustration as, while on his way back toRome, he had to realize how nobody had any knowledge whatsoever of his outstanding administration,and he concluded: nam postea quam sensipopuli Romani auris hebetiores, oculos autem esse acrisatque acutos, destiti quid de me audituri essent homines cogitare; feci ut postea cotidie praesentem meviderent, habitavi in oculis, pressi forum; neminem a congressu meo neqite ianitor metis neque somnusabsterruit.

44Chapter II — Giving one's coordinatesI - IntroductionIn times in which the delivery of a letter could be a considerably slow process and notrarely even have an uncertain outcome, it was of the greatest importance to let one'scorrespondent know when a letter had been written, sent, or received. This was ofcourse an even more impellent necessity if one was embarked in a journey taking himor her away from the habitual residence and then on and on from one place to another.Therefore mentioning the place in which one is at a given moment in time, as one iswriting, sending or receiving a letter, is the most basic form in which one can provideinformation about an ongoing journey. Another basic piece of information that onemust share with his or her correspondent concerned the place or places where one isgoing to be in the near future, so that the correspondents may know where to sendtheir messenger the next time they write. Ideally any letter written during a journeyshould provide these fundamental pieces of information, precisely in order to keep theepistolary exchange going - even when no further concern or curiosity on one'sjourney is assumed on the part of the correspondents and no further elaboration isgiven.The 'planned itinerary', that is the way in which one explains where he or she is goingto be in the near future, will be discussed in Ch. Ill, along with other kinds ofitineraries. The present chapter is instead dedicated to exploring the ways in whichletter writers used to communicate where they were at the time in which theycomposed, dispatched or received a letter.

45In addition to the traditional dating formula in adscriptio, which gives date and placeof dispatch, ancient letter writers could provide information about their basiccoordinates also within the body of the letter, especially through a series of ratherstereotyped phrases used to express date and place of composition, dispatch andreception of a letter. A comprehensive analysis of form and usage of these phrases hasnever been offered. In fact, on one hand, a part of modern scholarship has been onlyinterested in the historical data conveyed by the indications of time or place in thetext, like, for example, in the case of Cicero's correspondence, with studies aiming atreconstructing its chronological order or, more in general, Cicero's biography. 79 Onthe other hand, if approaching these expressions from a formal and stylistic point ofview, modern scholars have so far given only partial analyses, on specific phrases orspecific aspects of them: thus it happens that very few of these phrases have foundspace in more general studies interested in defining typical features of ancientepistolary writing. 80Every reference to time or place in Cicero's correspondence is taken into consideration by studiesaiming at reconstructing its chronological order or Cicero's biography; yet none of such studies paysany attention to the phraseology used to communicate these data (cf., for example, SCHMIDT [1884] orthe major commentaries, both Tyrrell-Purser's and Shackleton Bailey's). Other studies are focused ondating formulas in adscriptio and discuss also their formal aspect, with the aim of determining theirauthenticity and explaining their distribution in the collection (cf, for example, STARK [1951],MACLAREN [1970]); yet these works deliberately exclude alternative dating phrases used in the body ofthe text, as not relevant from their point of view (particularly cf. STARK [1951: 180]). Finally amongthe numerous studies specifically dedicated to stylistic or formal aspects in Cicero's Correspondence,no one offers any exhaustive, or even relevant, analysis on the recurrence and the various usages ofphrases mentioning the action of receiving a letter, or of writing or dispatching the one at hand.80 The form of the dating formulas in adscriptio is discussed in several works on ancient epistolographyin general. In particular CUGUSI (1983: 57) offers a brief general overview on adscribed formulas, andcf. also, only on Latin documentary letters, ID. [1992: 21] and [2002: 14]. BABL (1893: 37-8), onlyfocused on Latin letters, and ROLLER (1933: 300 and 475), mostly on Greek ones, also make generalconsiderations on the form of dates in adscriptio. FUNAIOLI (1947: 274-9), discusses the usage of casesemployed to express the place of dispatch in Latin letters, and EXLER (1923: 78-100) the forms used toexpress the time of dispatch in Greek letters. All these works, with the exception of Cugusi's, consider,with no distinction, both formulas in adscriptio and a few examples of'dating phrases' within the bodyof the letter. Yet their scope is limited and especially their discussion of the 'dating' phrases set in thebody of the text is extemely partial. The use of phrases mentioning the action of writing the letter athand is discussed by KOSKENNIEMI (1956: 77-87), who focuses on Greek letters, and anyway does nottalk about their use as alternative 'dating' formulas. In fact he mostly analyses their introductory or

So, my first goal, in this chapter, is focusing on the case of Cicero's correspondenceand defining the forms used to express one's basic coordinates in the letters of thiscollection. In particular, in addition to discussing the usage of the dating formulas inadscriptio, I aim to illustrate the recurrence and the use of the stereotyped phrases thatare employed within the body of the letter to provide indications of time or place. Onone hand, I intend to discuss their syntactical structure, the information they provide(time, place, writer's feelings or actions concomitant with the act of writing,dispatching, or receiving a letter), and the positions they tend to occupy within thestructure of the letter. On the other, I wish to study the distribution, within thecollection, of these different means for providing one's coordinates: in particular I willinvestigate differences and continuities of use, on one side, in Cicero's own letters asopposed to his friends', and, on the other, across different moments and circumstancesin Cicero's own life. Special attention will be given to the usage of dating phrases inletters composed as the writer was embarked on a journey, or sojourning at one of hisvillas, as opposed to staying in Rome.Secondly, within the series of dating formulas and phrases that have been identified inCicero's correspondence, I aim to point out the considerable frequency of structuresthat associate the action of receiving, dispatching, or, above all, writing a letter, withthe action of traveling: that is structures that picture the writer of the letter as takingcare of his correspondence, and above all, as writing a letter, while he is 'on the go':conclusive use, in expressions meant to indicate the purpose for writing (e.g. ergaipa

47cf., for example, A. 16.7.8 Haec scripsi navigans cum Pompeianum accederem XIIIIKal. My aim here is to elucidate the thematic importance of these phrases and howthey insist on a fundamental feature of epistolary writing, that is the temporalcoincidence between the writer's actions and the act of describing them in the letter(cf. ALTMAN [1982: 124]). Thus I wish to show how phrases such as A. 16.7.8 pursuea 'live report' effect, which is often exploited and even pushed beyond realistic limitsin epistolary fictions: cf. for example, in modern times, Richardson's epistolary novelPamela, parodized also in this aspect by Fielding's Shamela. In Cicero'scorrespondence, the frequency of dating phrases like the one of A. 16.7.8 marks themout as a typical ingredient of letters written during a journey. This leads me to theconclusive hypothesis that, more in general, statements recalling these phrases andelaborating on the theme of 'writing while traveling' could be considered as onecharacteristic feature of travel accounts, in ancient epistolography.Finally, in the last section of this chapter, I aim to offer a preliminarycontextualization of the assets obtained through the analysis of Cicero'scorrespondence, by considering a selection, on one hand, of documentary letters and,on the other, of published epistolary collections. Thus I will illustrate the usage, inthese texts, of forms meant to provide the writer's basic coordinates and, in particular,the presence of phrases picturing the image of 'writing while traveling'.For the selection of documentary material and of epistolary collections considered at the presentstage of my work, cf. Ch. I n. 5.

48II - Giving one's coordinates in Cicero's correspondenceIn Cicero's correspondence there are several ways in which writers can keep track ofwhen and where they wrote or dispatched the letter at hand or received one from theirpresent correspondent:1. The simplest way is providing date and place of dispatch at the end of a letter, bymeans of the traditional dating formula in adscriptio, as e.g. A. 3.8 data iiii kal.Iun. Thessalonicae.2. Date and place of dispatch or composition can also be given within the body of theletter, resorting to phrases such as e.g. Q. 2.3.7 Prid. Id. Febr. haec scripsi antelucem, or A. 7.14.1 A. d. VI Kal. Febr. Capuam Calibus proficiscens, cum leviterlippirem, has litteras dedi..3. In several cases no explicit reference is made to the action of dispatching orwriting the letter at hand, yet the writer's coordinates are still provided by simplygiving an account of what one is presently doing, or by sharing some recent pieceof news: cf. e.g. A. 9.11.1 eum ego hodie exspectabam, id estXIII[I] Kal. Apr., orthe opening of many letters written during journeys, like for example A 7.2.1Brundisium venimus VII Kal. Dec. usi tua felicitate navigandi. This way ofproviding one's coordinates will be analyzed in Ch. Ill within the discussion ofaccounts of one's itinerary.4. Finally many letters register the date and place in which one received a letter, orletters, from the person to whom was now responding: e.g. F. 16.9.2 A. d. VKal.Dec. servus Cn. Planci Brundisi tandem aliquando mihi a te exspectatissimaslitteras reddidit datas Id. Nov., quae me molestia valde levarunt. Yet the date of a

letter's reception is rarely the same as the one in which the response wascomposed or, even more so, dispatched.More than a third of the letters that we can now read in Cicero's collections providesome indications about the writer's coordinates in some of these ways. The habit ofproviding date and place of dispatch is also well attested by the great frequency withwhich we find Cicero and others referring to letters they received precisely by theirdate and place of dispatch: e.g. Q. 3.1.13 Quarta epistula mihi reddita est Id. Sept.,quam a. d. IIII Id. Sext. ex Britannia dederas,A. 5.19.1 Obsignaram iam epistulamearn quam puto te modo perlegisse scriptam mea manu, in qua omnia continentur,cum subito Apellae tabellarius a. d. XIKal. Oct. septimo quadragesimo die Romaceleriter (hui tarn longe!) mihi tuas litteras reddidit; or only the place e.g. in A. 5.21.3etsi bellum axgoTeAsiniov habet ilia tua epistula quam dedisti nauseans Buthroto, 'tibi,ut video et spero, nulla ad decedendum erit mora', mallem 'ut video', nihil opusfuit'et spero', or Q. 2.3.7 A te post illam Ulbiensem epistulam nullas litteras accept.. The reference by date and/ or place of dispatch is in general the most common way in which lettersare indicated throughout Cicero's correspondence; cf. other cases in which a letter is referred to by itsdate or place of dispatch: date only: A 1.20.1,-4. 3.8.2, A 3.10.1, A 3.16.1, A 3.23.1, A 3.23.5, A5.3.1 1,A 5.21.3, A. 6.1.22, A. 7.12.1, A. 8.11D.3 (to Pompey), A. 8.15.1 ter, A. 9.2.1, A. 9.5.1, A9.9.1, A. 9.10 (in this letter Cicero surveys a series of letters from Atticus that he had collected in avolumen and he quotes passages from twelve of them, all indicated by date only), A. 9.13a.9, A. 9.14.1,A. 11.21.1, A 12.37.1 bis, A. 13.19.1, A. 13.31.1, A 14.9.3, A 14.13.1, A 14.17.1, A 14.19.1, A14.20.1, A 15.3.1, A 15.4.1, A 15.17.1, A 5.21.3 bis, A 16.11.1, F. 10.20.2, F 11.14.3, F. 16.9.2, 0.3.1.8,£>. 3.1.17, *F. 16.21.1: date and place: A 3.25.1. A 4.18.5. A 4.18.5. A 5.18.1. A 5.19.1. A8.11D.4 (to Pompey), A 9.13.1, A 12.37.1, A 12.37a, A 13.20.1, A 14.20.1, F. 3.11.1, F. 12.10.2,0.3.1.13,0. 3.1.25: place only: A 1.10.1, A 1.13.1, A 1.17.4, A 2.8.1, A 4.16.1, A 5.8.2, A 5.17.1, A5.21.3, A 6.1.1, A 6.1.2, A 6.2.10, A 7.1.9, A 7.24.1, A 9.6.3, A 9.14.1, A 9.14.3, A 9.15.1, A11.6.7, A 16.3.1.F. 3.9.1, F. 4.14.1, F. 11.27.3. O. 23 J, O. 2.13.1; date and place and hour: B. 2.4.1:hour only: A 12.30.2, A 13.23.1.Otherwise a letter can be indicated just by the name of the messenger (e.g. A 3.9.1 iis vero litteris lectisquas Philotimo, liberto meo, dedisti cognovi intellexique in provincia multos fuisse qui nos quo animointer nos sumus esse nollent), or by its content (e.g. 0. 2.6.1 Dederam ad te litteras antea quibus eratscriptum Tulliam nostram Crassipediprid. Apr. esse desponsam, ceteraque de re publicoprivataque perscripseram, or even by quotation A 13.38.1 deinde cum somno repetito simul cum soleexperrectus essem, datur mi epistula a sororis tuaefdio quam ipsam tibi misi; cuius est principium nonsine maxima contumelia - sedfortasse ovx e-naa-rrjaav. est autem sic. 'ego enim quicquid non belle te didpotest').

50On the other hand, about two thirds of the letters contained in Cicero'scorrespondence does not give any explicit indication of date and place. This lack, thatcould appear surprising, can be explained in various ways. First of all, sometimesthere might have been no actual need for providing a precise date or an indication ofplace, either because the correspondence was kept on a daily basis, or because onewas anyway staying in the same place for a long stretch of time (for example very fewof the many letters dispatched daily from Astura in march 45 and collected in A. 12contain some precise indication of date or place), or maybe because the messengerhimself, often a private courier or a friend, could provide that information upon hisarrival (cf. for example F. 12.25.1 Liberalibus litteras accept tuas, quas mihiCornifwius altero vicensimo die, ut dicebat, reddidit, to Q. Cornificius).However itseems that sometimes people could just give their coordinates in a way not as accurateas it would have needed to be. This is, for example, what we gather from a fewinstances in which Cicero appears to have doubts on the date or the place of dispatchof letters he is reading: cf. for example A. 12.49.2 Heri non multo post quam tu a mediscessisti, f puto f quidam urbani, ut videbantur, ad me mandata et litterasattulerunt a C. Mario Cf. C. n. multis verbis, F. 3.11.1 Cum essem in castris adfluvium Pyramum, redditae mihi sunt uno tempore a te epistulae duae, quas ad me Q.Servilius Tar so miser at. Earum in altera dies erat adscripta Non. Apr., in altera, quaemihi recentior videbatur, dies non erat (to Appius Pulcher); 84 deliberately elusive was83 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1977: ad loc.) on the relationship between Cornificius the addressee andthe homonymous person functioning as a courier for the letter: "probably either son of the addressee ora less close relative with the same praenomen (not therefore brother)".84 Cf. also A. 15.15.4 scripsit hoc autem ad Tironem, sibi post Kal. Apr. (sic enim annuum tempusconfici) nihil datum esse. In other cases Cicero's uncertainty could maybe also derive from Cicero'sown failure of remembering an older letter correctly: cf. A. 1.13.1 Accepi tuas tris iam epistulas: unama M. Cornelio quam a Tribus ei Tabernis, ut opinor, dedisti, A. 7.1.9 hanc quoque suscipe curam, quernad modum expediamur; id tu et ostendisti quibusdam litteris ex Epiro Athenis datis et in eo egote adiuvabo, F. 11.27.3 nee vero sum oblitus litterarum tuarum quas ad me misisti cum Caesari obviamvenisses in agro, ut arbitror, Trebulano (to Matius).

51then a letter from Coelius Caldus, appointed quaestor of Cilicia who was delaying tojoin Cicero's position: F. 2.19.1 accept autem a te missas litteras in Cilicia, cumessem in castris, a. d. XKal. Quint., scriptas humanissime, quibus facile et ofjicium etingenium tuum perspici posset; sed neque unde nee quo die datae essent aut quotempore te exspectarem significabant, nee is qui attulerat a te acceperat, ut ex eoscirem quo ex loco aut quo tempore essent datae. Finally, in considering the lack ofindications of date or place in many letters, we have to keep in mind that what wehave now is a collection of published letters - therefore it is not at all unlikely thatseveral of them, which may have originally carried a date in adscriptio, lost it in theediting process or, later on, in the manuscript tradition.II. 1 - Giving date and place of dispatch in adscriptio: the traditionaldating formulaThe most obvious way to provide information about the date and place in which aletter was dispatched is by adding, at the end of the letter {adscriptio), the datingformula e.g. A. 3.8 l d.(ata) Thessalonicaepridie Kalendas Ianuarias\Il.l.a - Date in adscriptio'. distribution within the collectionIn Cicero's correspondence this formula is attested in 137 occurrences: 106 out of 837in Cicero's own letters, that is in less than one sixth of them; 31 out of 102 in the onesby his correspondents, that is in more than a third of them 85 . The distribution of these5 Among the letters written by Cicero, the 106 that have a date in adscriptio are so distributed: from A.51 out of 438, from F. 45 out of 356 (4 to Trebatius out of 13, 5 to Munatius Plancus out of 15, 1 toAppius Claudius Pulcher out of 14, 4 to D. Brutus out of 14, 20 to Terentia out of 24, 11 to Tiro out of21), from Q. 3 out of 27, from B. 6 out of 16. Among the letters written by others the 31 that have adate in adscriptio are so distributed: from *A. 1 (by Caesar) out of 15, from *F. 26 out of 79 (1 by Ser.

52occurrences within the various collections is interestingly quite uneven. In fact thegreat majority of the letters with a date in adscriptio are concentrated in only eightbooks, that is in: A. book 3 (20 out of 27 letters) and 11 (15 out of 27), F. 10 (13 outof 37), 11 (12 out of 32), 14 (20 out of 24) and 16(11 out of 27), and also in the twobooks of 5. (10 out of 26). 86Both of the two books in A. contain letters written by Cicero while away from Romeand in quite difficult moments of his life: A. 3 contains the letters from the exile, andAll those written between 48 and 47, first while following Pompey to Greece andthen while stuck in Brundisium, waiting for Caesar's pardon. Also most of F. 14 toTerentia is written during these two difficult moments. In F. 16 to Tiro instead half ofthe dates in adscriptio appear in letters sent at various moments from different Italianlocations and the other half within a series of short letters sent as Cicero was on hisway back from Cilicia and as he was greatly concerned for Tiro's health. The lettersof all of these four books have an extremely private nature and were part of a ratherfrequent exchange.F. 10 and 11 and the two books of B. contain instead the epistolary exchange betweenCicero and various leaders of the fight against Marc Antony in the aftermath ofSulpicius Rufus out of 3, 2 by P. Vatinius out of 4, the only 1 by VT Curius, 1 by Caelius Rufus out of17, 2 by L. Munatius Plancus out of 13, the only 1 by Ser. Sulpicus Galba, 2 by C. Asinius Pollio out of3, 1 by L. Aemilius Lepidus out of 2, the only 1 by M. Aemilius Lepidus, 1 by M. Brutus and CassiusLonginus to M. Antony out of 2, 7 by D. Brutus out of 11, 2 by Cassius Longinus out of 3, the only 1by Cassius Parmensis, the only 1 by P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther junior, the only 1 by P. LentulusSpinther to the magistrates and the senate, the only 1 by C. Trebonius), from *B. 4 out of 8 (but cf. also*B. 1.4 of which the end is lost).86 A considerable number of letters with date in adscriptio is also found in A. 1 (7 out of 20) and F. 12(6 out of 33), F. 7 (5 out of 33) and A. 10 (4 out of 24. including Caesar's letter attached to 10.8). In theremaining 23 books of Cicero's correspondence there are only 14 letters with a date in adscriptio: 2 inA. 16, F. 5, Q. 2; only 1 in A. 5, 6, 7, 9, 15, F. 4, 8, Q. 1. No date in adscriptio is present in A. 2, 4, 8,12, 13, 14, F. 1,2,3,6,9,13,15,0.3.87 Among the other letters with date in adscriptio, the aspect seems to be rather private also in the 5letters in F. 7 (4 letters written to the good friend Trebatius Testa, and the friendly request ofrecommendation by M' Curius), and all of the letters to Atticus and to Quintus.

53Caesar's death: all of these letters were in fact written in the years 44 and 43. Almostall of Cicero's correspondents write while at the head of armies stationed in variousmilitary fronts or provinces and their letters mostly consist in bulletins on how theirfront is doing. Cicero's letters in these books, instead, are almost all written fromRome and, in addition to providing updates on the situation in the city, they aregenerally fiery little pieces of paraenetic oratory meant to urge the addressee to keepfighting for the Republic. 88 It is very likely that in these books, both Cicero's lettersand those by his correspondents were expected to be shared with other readers whomay have wanted to learn the news from the various fronts or from Rome.Thus the date in adscriptio is found in quite different kinds of letters: both inextremely private and in public and official ones, both in letters written from Romeand from distant places, both in extremely short letters and in considerably long ones.So how can we explain the uneven distribution of the date in adscriptio within thebody of Cicero's correspondence? Scholars have offered two different explanationsfor this phenomenon, seeing it as a consequence of either the writers' (cf. beginningwith GURLITT [1903]) or the editors' choice (beginning with PETER [1901: 31]). Yethere I wish to provide a new and more comprehensive discussion of the evidence, thattakes into greater consideration the possible reasons behind the writer's or the editor'schoices and that ultimately aims to show how the two explantions are not mutuallyexclusive, but rather they have probably both contributed to the situation we now seein Cicero's correspondence.Exactly the same nature is shared also by the letters of/ 7 . 12 (also all exchanged in 44-43 withleaders of the fight against Marc Antony), 6 of which (all written by Cicero's correspondents) have adate in adscriptio. Among the other letters with date in adscriptio also F. 4.12 (by Servius SulpiciusRufus on the sudden death of M. Marcellus) and 8.4 (by Caelius Rufus, Cicero's 'appointed reporter"from Rome as he was in Cilicia) are bulletins; all the remaining ones (the two by P. Vatinius in F. 5,and Caesar's letter in A. 10.8) have anyway a slightly more formal aspect.

54So, on one hand, we can certainly attribute the presence or the absence of thetraditional dating formula to a deliberate choice of the writer. Indeed some peopleseem to have been particularly diligent in providing a date by means of this traditionaland simple system. For example half of the many letters written by both D. Brutus andM. Brutus have a date in adscriptio. A proof of this personal predilection in the caseof M. Brutus can also be found in B. 2.5 A, where the absence of the date at the end ofa letter recently delivered in the senate and ascribed to M. Brutus is mentioned amongthe arguments to demonstrate that the letter was in fact a forgery: Labeo vero nosternee signum tuum in epistula nee diem appositum nee te scripsisse ad tuos, ut soleres.hoc cogere volebat, falsas litteras esse, et, si quaeris, [sc. senatus] probabat. Like M.Brutus, Atticus too seems to have been particularly consistent in the accuracy withwhich he would provide date and place of dispatch in adscriptio. In A. 3.23.1 Cicerois in fact a bit surprised as he receives a letter from Atticus that does not follow thishabit, but just gives an incidental indication of time within the body of the letter: inaltera epistula praeter consuetudinem tuam diem non adscribis, sed satis significastempus; lege enim ab octo tribunispl. promulgata scribis te eas litteras eo ipso diededisse, id est a. d. IIIIKal. Nov., et quidputes utilitatis earn promulgationemattulisse per scribis.In Cicero's case then, his marked preference for just the most obvious and banalformula in letters written in some of the most difficult periods of his life, like the exileor the forced stay in Brundisium in 47, could maybe be explained as a consequence ofhis depressed mood, that is so constantly and explicitely portrayed in these letters. Infact, as scholarship has failed to notice so far and as we, instead, will illustrate later inthis chapter (cf. below p. 93), letters written in other periods that were generally eithermore positive or more active, show different tendencies: so in the letters from Cilicia

55(A. 5 and 6) or in the ones of the year 49 (particularly A. 1 and 8) or 44 (in particularA. 14), Cicero often likes to provide date and place rather through a series ofstereotyped expressions within the body of the letter. On the other hand the letters ofthe year 45 {A. 12 and 13), another extremely sad period for Cicero after the death ofhis daughter, do not have precise dates at all, probably since the correspondence waskept on a daily basis and over a very short distance (Atticus was mostly in Rome andCicero remained in Astura for several months). Or at other times he may haveoccasionally relied on the courier's voice to provide information about his coordinates(cf. above p. 50). In fact this seems to be the case even with documentary letters,where dates in adscriptio are very often missing, evidently because either theinformation was rather obvious or it was orally supplied (cf. below p. 123).Yet there could be also another reason for explaining why a few books include almostonly letters provided with a date in adscriptio, while many others do not have any.This uneven distribution could in fact also be the consquence of the slow process ofaccretion that is likely to have characterized the publication of Cicero's epistolarycollections (cf. Ch. I p. 21). Thus different editors may have had different tastes inrelation to the presence of that brief appendix at the end of each letter. So, forexample, whoever published the compact book of letters to Atticus from exile {A. 3), 89A formal detail concerning the dating formulas used in A. 3 contributes to the impression ofuniformity that this book about Cicero's exile has. In fact not only almost every letter has a date inadscriptio, but in all of them, these formulas are also introduced by the complete form of the participledata, which is almost never used anywhere else in the collection, except for A. 7.3 and M'. Curius'letter in F. 7.29. In most occurrences in fact the date is given without being introduced by anything (96cases: 30 in A., 35 in F, 3 in Q., 6 in B., 1 in *A., 17 in *F, 4 in *B.), and in a few cases it is introducedby the abbreviated form d. (19 cases:, 10 in F, 8 in *F., and A. 9.9 d. liberalibus). I do not acceptShackleton Bailey's correction (1987: in the text) of the transmitted form data into the abbreviated d. inA. 3.7 d. prid. Kal. Mai. Brundisio proficiscens. In fact the extended form of this formula, with theaddition of the participle proficiscens, has been felt as problematic by some scholars, and varioussolutions have been proposed. Bosius (cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY [1987: in app.]) suggested to expungeproficiscens. Wesenberg (cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY [1965-70: ad loc.]; followed by the text of TYRRELLand PURSER [1899-1933]) proposed to consider proficiscens as belonging to the following letter .4. 3.8,whose opening sentence would therefore read proficiscens scripseram ad te quas obcausas in Epirum non essemusprofecti, quod et Achaia prope esset plena audacissimorum inimicorum

56or the one of those to the wife Terentia (F. 14) evidently did not have a problem withalways leaving the date in adscriptio in its place - indeed a nice marker ofauthenticity. 90 Instead whoever put together that wide anthology of recomendationletters that is F. 13 must have systematically eliminated all of the adscribed dates - arather superfluous detail if one was just intersted in having a series of examples fromwhich to draw phrases and rhetorical colors for writing an effective recommendation.Most of these letters give no indication of time or place even within their body: yet itseems highly improbable that none of these 79 letters, many of which were addressedto just occasional correspondents, ever had a precise date. Thus we can conclude that,although certainly not all letters needed to have an adscribed date, many that indeedmay have had one in the origin can have lost it in some phase of the editing processand of the transmission within the collection. So, in the end, it is quite possible thatoriginally many more than just 138 letters of those that we now read in Cicero'scorrespondence showed a traditional dating formula at their end.et exitus difficilis haberet cum inde proficisceremur. SHACKLETON BAILEY, in his commentary (1965-70: ad loc), says 'as may easily have happened elsewhere d. = dedi or dabam was transcribed as data\that is he proposes to interpret this formula in adscriptio rather as an alternative 'dating' phrase stillbelonging to the body of the text and therefore employing a finite form of the verb, as e.g. A. 14.5 haecscripsi ad te proficiscens Astura 111 Id. Yet, on one hand, a similar extended formula in adscriptio withproficiscens is attested in F. 16.5 Leucadeproficiscens vii id. nov., where it is curiously not questionedby anybody. On the other hand, first of all in Cicero's correspondence, there are no other cases inwhich an abbreviated d. is used in substitution for a finite form of do within the body of the letter (infact SHACKLETON BAILEY [ 1987] prints d. in the text and not dedi or dabam). Secondly, as it will beillustrated later in this chapter, the verb do, when used in reference to the letter at hand within 'dating'phrases, is never used absolutely like it would be in A. 3.7, but it is always accompanied by a deicticexpression such as hanc epistulam, has litteras, or simply has (cf. below p. 61). Therefore 1 do not seeany reasons to change the transmitted text in A. 3.7 data prid. Kal. Mai. Brundisio proficiscens: thisshould be considered a formula in adscriptio, which, despite the addition of the participle proficiscens,is perfectly consistent with the rest of A. 3 in employing the full form data, whether this consistencywas followed by Cicero himself, or by the editor of this book, or even by a later copyst. Actually it isprobable that such consistency was fruit of a more or less ancient editorial choice, rather than ofCicero's own habit: in fact Cicero never used the form data in the other letters written during the exile,that are preserved in the other collections: thus the abbreviated d. is used in F. 14.1 and 2, and no formof do mF. 14.3 and 4 and Q. 1.3.90 The few letters that in these two books do not have a date in adscriptio still make their date clearreferring to a previous letter or to a specific event.

57n.l.b - Date in adscriptio: syntactical structures and information providedThe traditional dating formula in adscriptio always provides an indication of time:either the simple day, or the day and the month (which is the most common form),sometimes also the hour of the day, and in rare occasions even the year. 91The place is instead not always expressed: in Cicero's collection it is present in lessthan a half of the occurrences (63 out of 138). The place can be omitted from theadscribed dating formula either because it had been already made sufficiently clear inthe body of the letter or because it is obvious since the writer has been remaining inthe same place for a long stretch of time. So it happens that Rome is never mentionedin a dating formula. Anyway it is also interesting to observe that only 26 lettersshowing the date in adscriptio are written from Rome, against 112 written along ajourney or while anyway stationing in different places (63 mentioning the place and49 not mentioning it). 92 For indeed the necessity of carefully tracking one's epistolaryDay and month: 130 cases (47 in A., 42 in F, 3 in Q., 6 in B., 1 in *A., 26 in *F, 4 in *B.)\ in 2 casesan unusual formula is used to provide day and month: A. 6.1 post Leuctricam pugnam dieseptingentesimo sexagesimo quinto (which gives by the way a year indication: February 20th, 50), andA. 9.9 d. liberalibus (March 17th). Only day: 8 cases (5 in A., 3 in F.), in which the absence of themonth can be mostly explained with the frequency of the exchange {A. 10.3, 15.26, 16.10 [alsoindicating the hour], 16.13a, F. 16.10 and F. 16.14 are in fact inserted within a preserved series offrequent/ daily letters; F. 14.18 is instead not accompanied by a preserved series of frequent letters, butit is certainly possible that originally it was part of one); in A. 3.16 the month of April is given by themanuscript tradtion, but it is in contrast with the text of the letter, so the month has been expunged byShackleton Bailey. In 3 cases the hour is added to other time indications: F. 16.6 which gives day,month, and hour, A. 16.10 and F. 16.14 which give day and hour; on the practice of noting the hour ofdispatch in a letter (both in adscriptio and within the text), cf. ROLLER (1933: 300). The year is addedin 3 cases by consular name (in the very early letters A. 1.12, 13 and 18), plus the ironic A. 6.1 postLeuctricam pugnam die septingentesimo sexagesimo quinto; STARK (1951), following GURLITT (1903:16), considers the dates with the year contained in A. 1 interpolated; contra MACLAREN (1970),followed by Shackleton Bailey's editions, defends their authenticity, since they all belong to an originalphase of the correspondence with Atticus and they are all contained in letters written in January, i.e. atthe beginning of a new year; on the authenticity of/). 6.1, cf. and MACLAREN (1966).92 The 63 letters that give the place are so distributed: 17 out of 53 in A. (among the remaining 35, 7 arewritten from Rome; 28 away from it), 17 out of 45 in F. (among the remaining 28, 11 are written fromRome; 17 away from it), 1 out of 3 in Q. (the other 2 are written from Rome), none of the 6 in B. (all 6in fact are written from Rome), I out of 1 in *A., 23 out of 26 in *F. (but also the remaining 3 arewritten away from Rome), 4 out of 4 in *B.The place can be expressed by: Ablative + preposition: 27 cases (8 in A., 2 in F., 1 in *A., 13 in *F, 3in *B.). Simple ablative of place from which: 22 (1 in A., 10 in F., 10 in *F., 1 in *B). Locative: 13cases (8 in A. [all from the exile], 2 in F. [from exile], 1 in Q. [from exile], 2 in *F. [by P. Lentulus

58exchange is greater when moving from one place to another. Interestingly in threecases the formula explicitely stresses the fact that the writer is 'on the go': A. 3.7 dataprid. kal. mai. Brundisio proficiscens (a letter written while leaving Italy to go intoexile), F. 16.5 Leucadeproficiscens vii id. nov. (written to the ill Tiro who had toremain behind during the journey back home from Cilicia), and *A. 10.8B xv kal. mai.ex itinere (a letter written by Caesar while he was on the road to Massilia in 49).II.2 - Giving date and place of dispatch or composition within the body ofthe letterThere is a considerable number of letters, both among those by Cicero himself andthose by his correspondents, that, even if not carrying the traditional dating formula inadscriptio, still provide the writer's coordinates by means of a series of ratherstereotyped phrases set in the body of the letter, that explicitely mention the action ofdispatching the letter at hand (e.g. *F. 8.9.2 has litteras a. d. IIII Non. Sept. dedi, cumad earn diem ne profligatum quidem quicquam erat, by Caelius Rufus) or of writing it(e.g. A. 4.9.2 a. d. IIII Kal. Mai. iens in Pompeianum bene mane haec scripsi).Spinther from Pergae]). Ablative plural (either place from which or locative): 7 cases (1 in A., 3 in F., 3in */•".). As GARCEA (2002: 127) notes, with the ablative or the locative the writer's point of view isadopted; with the ablative with preposition, the reader's one. For the use of cases to indicate the placeboth in adscriptio and within the text, cf. also BABL (1893: 37-40), and FUNAIOL1 (1949: 275-8).93 Providing date and place by means of these phrases generally consitutes an alternative to the formulain adscriptio, with the exception of a few letters that contain both a date in adscriptio and a phrase thatmentions place and/ or time of composition or dispatch (cf. below pp. 79-82).

59II.2.a - Talking about writing or dispatching the letter at hand; purpose, formsand syntactical structures, position in the letterIn order to define the forms and usages of 'dating' phrases such as *F. 8.9.2 or A.4.9.2,1 will start by taking into consideration, more in general, all those that mentionthe action of writing or dispatching the letter at hand, whether they provide anindication of place and/ or time or not. In fact the use as an alternative system toprovide one's basic coordinates is only one way of employing phrases referring to theact of dispatching or composing the present letter. In the footnotes however I amalready highlighting in bold those occurrences that also provide an indication of placeand/ or time.In this preliminary discussion, I aim to give an overview on the ways in which verbsof 'writing' and 'dispatching' are used in reference to the present letter, withparticular attention to defining the synctical structures in which they are set and thepurposes they serve. My analysis is here illustrated through a wide selection ofoccurrences, which is meant to be well representative of the various categories I amdefining, while however giving preference to those structures that can are alsoemployed as 'dating phrases'. Thus I have excluded those cases in which the verb of'writing' or 'dispatching' is used in an extremely parenthetical way, such as within arelative clause (e.g. A. 1.18.8 e/ si ex iis quae scripsi multa etiam a me non scriptaperspicis, revise nos aliquando or A. 1.19.11 Cossinius hie, cui dedi litteras, valdemihi bonus homo et non levis et amans tui visus est et talis qualem esse eum tuae mihilitterae nuntiarani), since these cases almost never give any indication of place ortime. I have also excluded both structures in which the verb of'writing' or'dispatching' indicate these actions in quite generic terms rather than making a precisereference to the present letter (e.g. polite periphrases which are extremely frequent in

60more formal letters, such as F. 9.3.1 Etsi quid scriberem non habebam, tamen Caninioad te eunti nonpotui nihil dare), and those in which the verb of 'writing' is referred toa specific passage in the present letter, as opposed to the entire thing, although insome cases a distinction is difficult to draw (e.g. F. 11.5.3 quamquam, cum hortationenon egeas, ut supra scripsi, non utar ea pluribus verbis, F. 13.28.3 Illud quod suprascripsi, id tibi confirmo in meque recipio, te ea quaefecisti Mescini causa quaequefeceris ita bene collocaturum ut ipse iudices homini te gratissimo iucundissimobenigne fecisse). In both these cases in fact the expression is never accompanied byany indication of time and place.In Cicero's correspondence the action of dispatching a letter is indicated by means ofthe verbs do 94 and, much more rarely, mitto; 5 the action of composing a letter insteadby means of the verbs scribo (with its compounds rescribo, 'I write back' andconscribo, 'I finish writing') and more rarely dicto, exaro, and also respondeo.Sometimes a verb of'writing' or 'dispatching' can also remain implied: e.g. A. 14.4.2Cf. MARTIN RODRIGUEZ (1991: 104), on the different constructions of dare: with dative in referenceto the messenger to whom the letter is physically handed; with ad and accusative, in reference to theaddressee to whom the letter ultimately goes.95 In most cases mitto is used in reference not simply to a letter (like e.g. in *F. 8.4.3 Has ego tibilitteras eo maiore misi intervallo quod comitiorum dilationes occupatiorem me habebant etspectare in dies exitum cogebant, ut confectis omnibus tefacerem certiorem. ad Kal. Sext. usqueexpectavi), but rather to what goes along with it, like gifts or in particular exempla, that is copies ofother letters sent in attachement, or in reference to the messenger himself who is carrying the letter: e.g.F. 2.19.2 quae cum essent incerta, existimavi tamen faciendum esse ut ad te statores meos et lictorescum litteris mitterem, or A. 3.8.4 litterarum exemplum quas ad Pompeium scripsi misi tibi. Very rarelyan indication about the writer's coordinates accompanies these phrases with mitto.96 Exaro, dicto and respondeo are attested in reference to the letter at hand only in Cicero's own lettersand not in those of his correspondents. Exaro is only attested in letters of the last years of Cicero's life(from 46 to 43); these occurrences are the first ones in the extant Latin literature to attest the figurateuse of exaro in the sense of writing, that is 'ploughing the paper, the wax tablet' (cf. ThLL vol. 5, 1184,52-9). Dicto is only attested in Atticus and Quintus (and only in reference to the letter at hand).Respondeo is employed in reference to the present letter in Atticus, Familiares and Quintus, butanyway with a quite restricted use: only in phrases having a prevalent introductory or conclusivefunction (cf. also its use in transition formulas within the letter) and it is very rarely accompanied by aprecise indication of place and time.

61haec ego ad te, sc. scripsi.The reference to the letter at hand is stressed, in thegreatest majority of cases, by means of a form of the adjective/ pronoun hie, haec, hocin its deictic function. 98In general there are various reasons for mentioning the action of dispatching or ofwriting the present letter and there are different sets of recurrent phrases used toexpress that:• Sometimes the reference to these actions is made when the writer wants to stressthat a certain piece of information is the most updated he has at the moment inwhich he writes or dispatches the present letter; so phrases such as cum haecscribebam or cum has litteras dabam just become a synonimous of 'at the presenttime': e.g. F. 12.6.2 res, cum haec scribebam, erat in extremum adducta discrimen(to Cassius Longinus), B. 1.10.5 Habes totum reipublicae statum, qui quidem turnCases in which an elliptic sentence, with an implied verb of'writing' or 'dispatching', is used toprovide date or place of dispatch or composition are: A. 2.10 Ab Appi Foro hora quarta. Dederamaliam paulo ante a Tribus Tabernis, A. 13.37.1 Has alteras hodie litteras, and/I. 16.3.6 Haec egoconscendens e Pompeiano tribus actuariolis decemscalmis. In A. 2.10 we probably need to supply theform dedi, given the following dederam and the indication of place from which Ab Appi Foro (asopposed to in which). The same is true for A 13.37.1, since has litteras is more frequently used incombination with do than with scribo (cf. above n. 89). In A. 16.3.6 instead the form scripsi must besupplied, since haec scripsi is the most common phrase with scribo, whereas do is never attested withhaec in these phrases (cf. above n. 89). On the general use, in Cicero's correspondence, of eliding verbsof'writing' or 'dispatching', also when not referred to the letter at hand, cf. HEIDEMANN (1893: 63-9on verbs of'writing', 69-71 on verbs of'dispatching', and cf. also 74-5 on verbs of'saying' inreference to messages orally delivered).98 Rarely a different pronoun is used (such as aliquid, nescio quid, illud, ea or the relatives quod orquae), or no pronoun or adjective at all. In these cases the reference to the present letter is made clearby the context. The use of a verb of 'writing' not accompanied by a form of hie or by any otherpronoun or adjective is particularly common in the case of the postscript formulas (where the formulascripta iam epistula is more common than his litteris scriptis; cf. below p. 62), or in those phrases thathave an exclusively introductory or conclusive function (e.g. in A. 13.34.8 scripsi enim ad te de hortisor Q. 3.7.9 Rescripsi ad omnia; cf. below p. 67), and it is also quite frequent in those phrases thatprovide the reasons for writing the present letter (e.g. A. 8.5.1 eo autem ad te scripsi ut, si tibi fortereddita essel, mihi curares referendam, ne in illius manus perveniret). When a form of hie is used, theneuter haec is the form most frequently used in combination with the verb scribo (and actually neveremployed in combination do or milto in reference to the letter at hand), while has (litteras) is the mostcommon with do (and extremely rare with scribo, exaro, or diclo). On the deictic use of hie in Cicero'scorrespondence, to reinforce the reference to the writer, cf. MENNA (1959: 67-70).

62erat cum has litteras dabam, *F. 12.16.3 Vos quid ageretis in republica, cum haslitteras dabam, non sciebam (by Trebonius).• Often the arrival of a messenger is mentioned as what brings in the most updatednews that one can have 'at the present moment' and, when the messenger has notyet arrived, the expectation for him is of course the only piece of news that onecan provide: e.g. *B. 1.6.3 Cum has ad te scriberem litteras, a Satrio, legato C.Treboni, reddita est epistula mihi a Tillio et Deiotaro Dolabellam caesumfugatumque esse, or in a postscript, F. 1.9.26 Scripta iam epistula superioreaccepi tuas litteras depublicanis, quibus aequitatem tuam nonpotui nonprobare, felicitate quadam vellem consequi potuisses ne eius ordinis quern semperornasti rem aut voluntatem offenderes (to Lentulus); A. 13.14-15.2 quo autem diehas Valerio dabam exspectabam aliquem meorum. The departure of a messengeris instead often mentioned as what puts an end to the letter at hand or motivates itsbrevity: e.g. A. 2.9.1 Subito cum mihi dixisset Caecilius quaestorpuerum seDifferent phrases are employed to relate the most updated piece of news that one has at the verymoment in which he is writing or dispatching a letter. Most often the verb of writing or dispatching isset in a circumstantial clause and in the imperfect tense: cum haec scribebam is the most frequentphrase, although attested only in Cicero's own letters (A. 5.20.5, A. 8.15.3, A. 8.9a.2, A. 15.13a.l, F3.13.2, F 5.12.2, F 6.4.1, F 6.21.1, F 12.6.2, F. 12.10.1, F 12.24.4, Q. 3.2.1, B. 2.1.1, or A. 15.13a.3cum haec scriberem); but cf. also cum has litteras dabam (B. 1.10.5, *F. \2.\63), pridie quam haecscribebam {A. 15.29.3); cf. also the analogous structure with the present participle (F. 6.1.5 Atque haecmihi scribenti veniebat in mentem). The more rare perfect tense is used with cum (*F 8.6.5 cumpriorem partem epistulae scripsi, *F. 8.13.2 cum has litteras scripsi, F. 12.6.1 cum has litteras dedi),quo die {quo die haec scripsi in A. 4.17.4, Q. 2.16.3), pridie quam haec scripsi (F 1.2.4); cf. also thepostscript formula his litteris scriptis (*F 12.15.7). Also more rare is the case in which the piece ofnews is reported in the subordinate clause and the verb of writing or dispatching is in the governingclause, either in the imperfect (A. 4.15.8 haec ego pridie scribebam quam, A. 9.1.1 haec scribebampostquam) or in the perfect (A. 6.9.5 has dedi litteras quo die, *F. 8.9.2 has litteras dedi cum, or with aperiphrasis F 2.19.2 quae cum essent incerta, existimavi tamen faciendum esse ut ad te statores meoset lictores cum litteris mitterem). Finally a clause meaning 'I wrote/1 dispatched this' can also beiuxtapposed to a coordinate clause reporting a piece of news, so that as a whole the two clauses can beinterpreted as a variation on the previous structures, still meaning 'this is what was happening, as I waswriting/ dispatching this letter': with scribo: A. 4.3.5 A. d. viiii Kal. haec ego scribebam hora noctisnona. Milo campum iam tenebat; instead with the perfect: F. 1.1.3 Res ante Idus acta sic est (nam haecldibus mane scripsi), F. 1.2.4 Haec scripsi a. d. XVI Kal. Febr. ante lucem. eo die senatus eratfuturus,F. 11.8.1 Eo tempore Polla tua misit ut ad te si quid vellem darem litterarum cum quid scriberem nonhabebam; omnia enim erant suspensa propter exspectationem legatorum, qui quid egissent nihildumnuntiabatur. haec tamen scribenda existimavi, *F. 8.10.3 Nunc exitus est anni; nam ego has litteras a.d. XIIII Kal. Dec. scripsi (introducing the section of the most updated news).

63Romam mittere, haec scripsi raptim, A. 11.17.1 Properantibus tabellariis alienishanc epistulam dedi, *F. 8.7.1 breviores has litteras properanti publicanorumtabellario subito dedi (by Caelius Rufus). 100The arrival of a messenger or a new letter while one is writing or dispatching the letter at hand canbe expressed through sentences in which the verb of writing or dispatching is set in a circumstantialstructure, such as: in a clause cum and subjunctive (A. 6.8.1 Cum instituissem ad te scriberecalamumquesumpsissem, Batonius [...] epistulam tuam reddidit, A. 10.4.7 Cum haecscripsissem, aCurione mihi nuntiatum est eum ad me venire, venerat enim is in Cumanum vesperi pridie, id estIdibus, Q. 3.1.19 Cum scripsissem haec infima quae sunt mea manu, venit ad nos Cicero tuus adcenam, cum Pomponia foris cenaret. dedit mihi epistulam legendam tuam, *B. 1.6.3 Cum has ad tescriberem litteras, a Satrio [...] reddita est epistula mihi; cf. also with the expression epistulamcomplico, A. 12.1.2 Cum complicarem hanc epistulam, fnoctuabundus f ad me venit cum epistula tuatabellarius and Q. 3.1.17 Cum hanc iam epistulam complicarem, tabellarii a vobis venerunt a. d. XIKal, septimo vicesimo die) or an ablative absolute {A. 8.3.7 Sed ecce nuntii scribente me haec [...],ecce litterae), especially in the common postscript formulas, such as scripta iam epistula, morefrequent in Cicero himself, or his litteris scriptis, more common in his correspondents (A. 9.6.3, A.9.14.3,/f. 13.50.5.F. 1.9.26,F. 16.15.1,5. 1.2.1, *A. 8.12C.4, *A. 9.15A, *F. 12.12.5, *B. 1.4a.4),orin a relative clause introduced by quo die {A. 12.40.5 quo die ego ad te haec misi [...] mihi quoqueeadem [...]et scribuntur et nuntiantur). In other cases the arrival of the messenger is instead mentionedin the subordinate clause and the verb of writing or dispatching in the govening one: with scribo: A.2.12A Litteras scripsi [...] statim uttuas legeram, F. 15.1.1 postea vero quam certissimis auctoribus,legatis, nuntiis, litteris sum certiorfactus, [...] quae ad me delata essent scribenda advos putavi, F.15.3.1 Cum ad me legati [...] venissent [...] putavi [...]me hoc ad te scribere oportere; A. 7.16.2Capua profectus sum Forrmias a.d. Ill Kal.; eodem die cum Calibus tuas litteras horafere nonaaccepissem, has statim dedi; with respondeo: F. 12.18.1 Quod extremumfuit in ea epistula quam a teproxime accepi ad idprimum respondebo, Q. 1.2.4 Nunc respondebo ad eas epistulas quas mihireddidit L. Caesius. Finally in a few cases a clause meaning 'I wrote/ responded this' is justiuxtapposed to a coordinate reporting on the arrival of a messenger, so that as a whole the two clausescan be interpreted as a variation on the previous structures, still meaning 'as this messenger arrived, Iwrote/ responded this': with scribo: A. 1.10.1 Cum essem in Tusculano [...]puer [...] epistulam mihiabs te adlatam dedit nuntiavitque [...] iturum eum qui ad te projicisceretur. eo factum est ut epistulaetuae rescriberem aliquid, B. 2.51 Quae litterae tuo nomine recitatae sint [...]. illud necesse, me ad tescribere quidsentirem, *F. 11.11.1 a te mi litterae redditae sunt [...]. scripsi tibi quae hie gererenlur;with respondeo: A. 1.20.1 Cincius noster earn mihi abs te epistulam reddidit [...]. ei nunc epistulaelitteris his respondebo, F. 2.17.1 Litteras a te mihi stator tuus reddidit [...]. his ego ordine, utvideris velle, respondebo, A. 6.1.1 Accepi tuas litteras [...] iis igitur respondebo, A. 14.9.1 multacognovi ex tuis litteris, quas [...] accepi uno tempore a Vestori liberto. ad ea autem quae requiris brevirespondebo, A. 15.17.1 Duas accepipostridie Idus, alteram eo die datam, alteram Idibus. prius igitursuperiori, A. 16.11.1 Nonis accepi a te duas epistulas quorum alteram Kal. dederas, alteram pridie.igitur prius ad superiorem, F. 9.15.1 Duabus tuis epistulis respondebo: uni quam quadriduo anteacceperam a Zetho, alteri quam attulerat Phileros tabellarius.The expectation for a messenger or a new letter while one is writing or dispatching the present one isexpressed by means of verbs used in the imperfect indicative, which stresses the durative aspect of theaction. The verb of writing or dispatching can be set in the circumstantial clause, with the phrases cumhaec scribebam (A. 8.16.2, Q. 3.3.1) or cum has dabam litteras (A. 3.21.1), or quo die has dabam (A.13.14-15.2.). In other cases the verb of writing or dispatching is in the governing clause and theexpectation can be expressed by means of a subordinate clause (A. 9.2.1 Etsi Non. Mart. [...]exspectabam epistulam a te longiorem, tamen [...] rescribendum putavi) or also a coordinate one (A.13.2b.7 A te litteras exspectabam, nondum scilicet; nam has mane rescribebam).The departure of a messanger is normally expressed by means of sentences in which the verb of writingor dispatching is set in the governing clause and the departure of the messenger in a circumstantialstructure, such as: cum with subjunctive {A. 2.9.1, F. 3.7.1 haec scripsi subito, cum Bruti pueri [...] seRomam properare dixissent, F. 5.5.1 cum T. Pomponius [...] ad te projicisceretur, aliquid mihi

• Other times what is presented as going on 'at the present moment' is not just agenerical piece of information that the writer happens to have or not, but ratherwhat the writer himself is doing or feeling in the very moment in which he iswriting the present letter: e.g. B. 1.18.3 maximo autem, cum haec scribebam,adficiebar dolore, F. 16.10.2 Pompeius erat apud me cum haec scribebam, hilareet libenter (to Tiro), or A. 2.23.1 nam cum vacui temporis nihil haberem et cumrecreandae voculae causa necesse esset mihi ambulare, haec dictavi ambulans.scribendumputavi; A. 6.2.1 Cum Philogenes [...] se statim ad te navigaturum esse diceret, has eilitteras dedi y A. 13.2a.2 ad earn rem cum mitterem Alexandrum, has ei dedi litteras; B. 2.4.1 cum aScaptio certior factus essem non esse eos profectos quibus pridie dederam et statim ire, hoc paululumexaravi ipsa in turba matutinae salutationis) or an ablative absolute (A. 2.19.5 Sed haec scripsiproperans et mehercule timide, A. 4.4.7 haec properantes scripsimus; A. 11.17.1 Properantibustabellariis alienis hanc epistulam dedi) or other participial structures (*F. 8.7.1; A. 14.22.1 Certior aPilia factus mitti ad te Idibus tabellarios statim hoc nescio quid exaravi). In a few cases a clausemeaning 'I wrote/ dispatched this' is iuxtapposed to a coordinate reporting about the departure of amessenger, so that as a whole the two clauses can be interpreted as a variation on the previousstructures, still meaning 'as this messenger was leaving, I wrote this letter': A. 14.20.5 Haec scripsi;statim enim Cassi tabellarius (and cf. A. 1.10.1 above in this note, also mentioning the arrival of themessenger; F. 11.8.1 above n. 99., also communicating the lack of news), A. 4.2.1 nam ut veni Romam,iterum nunc sum certior factus esse cui darem litteras; itaque has alteras dedi and frg. 7.12 to BrutusTurn Flavins 'eras', inquit, 'tabellarii'; et ego ibidem has inter cenam exaravi. The hasting of themessenger is stressed in the majority of cases.101 The feelings that one is experiencing while writing a letter are rarely expressed by means of acircumstantial structure like in B. 1.18.3 (cf. also/4. 8.12.1 Mihi molestior erat etiam quamantefuerat; dictare tamen hanc epistulam malui, F. 13.17.3 mihi certe gratissimum feceris siintellexero has litteras tantum quantum scribens confidebam apud te pondus habuisse). The feelings ofthe writer are instead often mentioned in phrases aimed at expressing the reason for writing a letter: e.g.A. 9.10.1 cum me aegritudo non solum somno privaret verum ne vigilare quidem sine summo dolorepateretur, [...] hoc nescio quid nullo argumentoproposito scribere institui or F. 10.6.3 Haec impulsusbenevolentia scripsipaulo severius, and cf. below p. 66. In general however one's feelings are ratherexpressed by means of an adverb or adverbial phrase: A. 2.18.3 displiceo mihi nee sine summo scribodolore, A. 10.18.2 sed hoc quoque timide scribo, Q. 1.3.3 haec ipsa me quo fletu putas scripsisse?, Q.2.15.3 Haec ita sentio, iudico, ad te explorate scribo, *A. 9.7B.3 haec quam prudenter tibi scribamnescio, *F. 15.19.1 Non mehercule in hac mea peregrinatione quicquam libentius facio quam scribo adte(cf. alsoA 6.1.8, F. 2.7.1, F. 3.10.1 \,F. 4.13.5, F. 9.22.4, F. 12.4.2, F. 14.10.1 where the adverbialphrase mostly just describes the manner in which the present letter is composed).The coincidence between the action of writing or dispatching a letter and some other action performedby the writer, or anyway involving him, is in most cases expressed by means of sentence employingdifferent kinds of circumstantial structures. The most frequent case is that the verb of writing ordispatching is set in the governing clause. In this case the circumstantial structure is almost exclusivelyeither a cum clause with the subjunctive, a participial structure or a combination of both. With scribo:A. 1.10.3 etenim ibi sedens haec ad te scribebam, A. 4.9.2 a. d. IIII Kal. Mai. iens in Pompeianum benemane haec scripsi, A. 6.4.3 Haec festinans scripsi in itinere atque agmine, A. 14.5.3 Haec scripsi ad teproficiscens Astura III Id., A. 14.7.1 ego e Formiano exiens XVII Kal. ut inde altero die in Puleolanumscripsi haec, A. 14.12.3 haec conscripsi X Kal., accubans apud Vestorium, A. 16.1.1 postridie iens adBrutum in Nesidem haec scripsi, A. 16.7.8 Haec scripsi navigans cum Pompeianum accederem XIII1Kal, F. 3.8.10 haec scripsi postridie eius diei, cum castra haberem in agro Moshestiae, F.7.183 has litteras scripsi in Pomptino, cum ad villam M. Aemili Philemonis devertissem, Q. 3.4.6 Haec

scripsi a. d. Villi Kal. Nov., quo die ludi committebantur, in Tusculanum profwiscens ducensquemecum Ciceronem meum, *A. 15.6.2 has tibi litteras exiens in Tusculanum scripsi, *F. 9.6a.l properarem atque essem in itinere praemissis iam legionibus, praeterire tamen non potui quin etscriberem ad te, and with scripsi implied A. 16.3.6 Haec ego conscendens e Pompeiano tribusactuariolis decemscalmis; cf. also with a phrase still indicating the act of writing, A. 4.1.1 CurnprimumRomam venifuit cui recte ad te litteras darem, nihilprius faciendum mihi putavi quam ut tibiabsenti de reditu gratularer. With do: A. 5.5.1 tantum tamen scito, Id. Mai. nos Venusia maneproficiscentis has dedisse, A. 5.11.4 Ego hasprid. Non. Quint, proficiscens Athenis dedi, cum ibi decernipsosfuissem dies, A. 6.8.4 Kal. Oct. Epheso conscendentes hanc epistulam dedimus L. Tarquitio, A.7.14.1 A. d. VI Kal. Febr. Capuam Calibus proficiscens, cum leviter lippirem, has litteras dedi, A.13.38.1 Ante lucem cum scriberem contra Epicureos, de eodem oleo et opera exaravi nescio quid ad teet ante lucem dedi, A. 14.16.1 V Non. conscendens ab hortis Cluvianis in phaselum epicopum hasdedi litteras, cum Piliae nostrae villam ad Lucrinum, vilicos, procuratores tradidissem, A. 16.13.3 indepostridie mane proficiscens has litteras dedi, F 16.3.1 is dies fuit Non. Nov. inde ante lucemproficiscentes a. d. VIII Id. Nov. has litteras dedimus. Cf. also with mitto referred to the messenger,although clearly carrying the present letter, A. 15.18.1 XVII Kal., etsi satis videbar scripsisse ad te quidmihi opus esset et quid tefacere vellem, si tibi commodum esset, tamen cum profectus essem et in lacunavigarem, Tironem statui ad te esse mittendum. With exaro: A. 12.1.1 Undecimo diepostquam a tediscesseram hoc litterularum exaravi egrediens e villa ante lucem, A. 15.1a.1 mansi igitur eo die inSinuessano atque inde mane postridie Arpinum proficiscens hanc epistulam exaravi, F. 12.20.7 haeccum essem in senatu exaravi, and cf. above A. 13.38.1 combined with do. With dicto: A. 2.23.1 see textabove, A. 5.17.1 hanc epistulam dictavi sedens in raeda cum in castra proficiscerer, a quibus aberambidui, and cf. above A. 14.21.4. Only in a couple of occurrences, the circumstantial structure is atemporal clause with simul atque and the indicative: F. 14.7.2 in earn [navem] simul atque conscendi,haec scripsi, *F. 12.12.1 simul ac legiones accept [...] scripsi adte tabellariosque compluris Romammisi.More rarely the verb of writing or dispatching is set in the circumstantial clause and the governing verbdescribes another action performed by the writer or involving him. The circumstantial strucutre can bea cum clause with the subjunctive, or a participial structure: with scribo: A. 7.19.9 Capuam tamenproficiscebar haec scribens, A. 8.2.4 Ego XIII Kal., cum eadem lucerna hanc epistulam scripsissemqua inflammaram tuam, Formiis ad Pompeium, si de pace ageretur, profectus, A. 15.14.4 Hislitteris scriptis me ad mivra£,tn; dedi (cf. postscript formulas), A. 15.27.3 o turpem sororis tuaefilium!cum haec scriberem adventabat aury fiouAvaei cenantibus nobis. But much more often it is a temporal/circumstantial clause (most often introduced by cum) with the imperfect or perfect indicative. Withscribo: A. 2.15.3 Cum haec maxime scribebam, ecce tibi Sebosus!, A. 4.10.2 ad eum postridie manevadebam cum haec scripsi, F. 16.10.2 see text above; and cf. also^l. 5.16.1 itaque subsedi in ipsa via,dum haec [...] summatim tibiperscriberem. With do: A. 5.2.1 A. d. VIId. Mai., cum has dabamlitteras, ex Pompeiano proficiscebam, A. 5.15.3 Iter Laodicea faciebam a. d. Ill Non. Sext. cum haslitteras dabam, in castra in Lycaoniam, A. 7.15.2 Capuam cum venissem a. d. VIKal., pridie quam haslitteras dedi, consules conveni multosque nostri ordinis, A. 7.18.1 ipse cumfratre Capuam ad consules[...] Ill Non. profectus sum, cum has litteras dedi, F. 2.8.3 Ego, cum Athenis decern ipsos diesfuissemmultumque mecum Gallus noster Caninius, proficiscebar inde prid. Non. Quint., cum hoc ad telitterarum dedi. Cf. also with a phrase still indicating the action of dispatching, A. 1.1.1 nos auteminitium prensandi facere cogitabamus eo ipso tempore quo tuum puerum cum his litteris proficisciCincius dicebat, in campo comitiis tribuniciis a. d. XVI Kal. Sext. With exaro: F. 9.26.1 Accubueramhora nona cum ad te harum exemplum in codicillis exaravi. A relative clause (most often eo die quo)can also be used. With scribo: A. 6.1.2 eo ipso die quo haec ante lucem scribebam cogitabam eiusmulta inique constituta et acta tollere. With do: A. 5.21.9 Id. Febr., quo die has litteras dedi, foruminstitueram agere Laodiceae Cibyraticum et Apamense, A. 7.17.5 Ego I III Non. Febr., quo die haslitteras dedi, in Formiano, quo Capua redieram, mulieres exspectabam, A. 8.2.1 alteras eodem die dediquo has ad te, A. 9.17.1 Trebatium VI Kal., quo die has litteras dedi, exspectabam.Finally in a few cases a clause meaning '1 wrote/ dispatched this' is iuxtapposed to a coordinated one.describing another action performed by the writer or involving him, so that as a whole the two clausescan be also interpreted as a variation on the previous structures, still meaning 'as I did that, I wrote/dispatched this letter", or 'as 1 wrote/ dispatched this, I was doing that'. With scribo: A. 13.42.3Scripseram iam: ecce tibi oral Lepidus ut veniam, Q. 2.3.7 Prid. Id. Febr. haec scripsi ante lucem. eodie apud Pomponium in eius nuptiis eram cenaturus, *F. 12.13.3 Cyprum petivimus. ibi quaecognovimus scribere ad vos quam celerrime voluimus. With do: A. 7.21 A eo enim die ego Capua

• Very often writers felt the need to express the reason or the purpose fordispatching or writing the present letter (and in this case the generical, almostatemporal, present tense scribo is often employed instead of the more precise'epistolary' perfect scripsi or imperfect scribebam): e.g. A. 9.16.1 Cum quodscriberem ad te nihil haberem, tamen ne quern diem intermitterem has dedilitteras, F. 7.3.5 Haec ad te scripsi verbosius et tibi molestusfui quod tecum meiturn reipublicae cognovi amantissimum (to M. Marius), F. 1.8.4 Haec ego ad teob earn causam maxime scribo ut iam de tua quoque ratione meditere (toLentulus), *F. 11.9.2 Neque haec idcirco tibi scribo quod te non eademanimadvertere sciam, sed quod mihi persuasissimum est Lepidum recte facturumnumquam, si forte vobis id de hoc dubium est (by Brutus).discessi et mansi Calibus. inde has litteras postridie ante lucem dedi, and cf. also A. 1.10.1 and A. 4.2.1both also mentioning the departure of the messenger and A. 7.16.2 also mentioning the arrival of aletter (cf. above n. 100).102 This kind of phrases almost exclusively use the verb scribo and generally either the generic presenttense scribo, or the perfect scripsi. The purpose or reason can be expressed by means of differentstructures. With ut: with scribo: A. 3.10.3 Haec eo scripsi utpotius... quam ut,A. 5.1.4 haec ad tescripsi, fortassepluribus quam necesse fuit, ut,A. 8.5.1 eo autem ad te scripsi ut, A. 9.10.1 combinedwith a cum clause, see below, A. 11.15.3 Haec ad te scribo non ut... sedut, A. 14.12.3 scribo... nonut... sedut,A. 16.1.6 has scripsi... ne,F. 1.8.4 see text above, F. 2.10.4 haec ad te in praesentiscripsi ut, F. 6.21.2 Haec scripsi, nonut... sedut,F. 7.27.2 Haec tibi scripsi ut, F. 13.4.3 Sed haecquae supra scripta sunt eo spectant ut, F. 13.8.1 hoc idcirco scripsi ut, F. 13.46 ea re utrumque scripsiut, F. 13.47.1 ut..., ob earn rem tibi haec scribo, F. 13.67.2 Haecpropterea scripsi ut, F. 13.69.1 Haecad te eo pluribus scripsi ut, F. 15.2.8 quod ad vos a me scribi non alienum putavi, ,Q. 1.1.8/1 tquehaec nunc non ut... sedut... scribo, Q. 1.1.36 quae supra scripta sunt non ut... scripsi..., sed, *F. 8.9.2tibi magis scripsi ut, *F 15.5.3 Atque haec ego idcirco ad te contra consuetudinem meam pluribusscripsi ut; with do: A. 9.16.1 see text above. With quo: with scribo: A. 3.15.4 neque haec eo scriboquo, A. 8.9.1 eo scripsi quo, F. 10.3.4 Haec amore magis impulsus scribenda ad te putavi quam quo, F.11.29.3 more magis hoc quidem scribo quam quo, F. 16.6.1 Tertiam ad te hanc epistulam scripsieodem die magis instiluti mei tenendi causa..., quam quo. With quod: with scribo: A. 3.10.3 eoque adte minus multa scribo quod, A. \].\.2 ob eamque causam serius ad te scribo quod, A. 12.20.2 Minusmulta ad te scripsi, quod, F. 2.13.2 haec eo pluribus scripsi quod, F. 3.6.5 eoque ad te tardius scripsiquod, F. 4.13.6 hoc scribo parcius quod, F. 6.1.6 Haec eo scripsi quod, F. 7.3.5 see text above, F.13.1.3 nihil scripsi ad te ob earn rem quod, F. 15.3.2 Publice propter duas causas nihil scripsi, quod,Q. 2.3.6 quae tibi eo scribo quod, Q. 3.1.21 nihil fere scribo quod, *F. 8.2.2 hoc ideo scripsi quod, *F.11.9.2 see text above; with m'uto: *F. 8.4.3 Has ego tibi litteras eo maiore misi intervallo quod. Withquia: with scribo: A. 12.53.1 scribo... quia, F. 1.7.8 eo liberius ad te scribo quia, F. 1.7.10 efgjo ad tebrevius scribo quia. With cum and subjunctive: with scribo: A. 1.5.4, etenim cum..., non mihi graveduxi scribere ad te, A. 9.10.1 sed cum..., tecum ut quasi loquerer... hoc nescio quid... scribere institui,A. 10.8.1 sed cum..., nonputo esse alienum me ad te quid de ea re sentiam scribere, F. 5.17.1 cum...,non putavi esse alienum institutis meis haec ad te scribere, F. 13.7.1 cum... existimavi me oportere adte accuratius scribere, F. 13.9.1 cum..., non dubitavi haec ad te scribere; with do: A. 9.16.1 combined

• Finally a generally short phrase mentioning the action of composing a letter orreplying to one recently received can be used with the specific purpose of justconcluding or introducing a letter: e.g. the very end of A. 9.9 A Respondi epistulistribus, sed exspecto alias; nam me adhuc tuae litterae sustentarunt or of Q. 3.7.9Rescripsi ad omnia, mi suavissime et optime frater, vale (and cf. also, as atransition formula referred just to a previous section within the letter, e.g. A.15.29.2 Rescripsi ad omnia tua; nunc nostra accipe); or the very beginning of A.13.23.1 Antemeridianis tuis litteris heri statim rescripsi; nunc respondeovespertinis.with ut, see above. With a participial strucuture or a gerund: with scribo: A. 8.3.7 Haec te scire voluiscripsique sedatiore animo..., nullum meum iudicium interponens sedexquirens tuum, A. 10.4.6 nuncsive iracundia sive dolore sive metupermotusgravius scripsi, F. 1.7.2 unum illudaudeo... nuncquoque re perspecta et cognita scribere, F. 3.7.6 Haec ad te scripsi liberius fretus conscientia officimei benevolentiaeque, F. 5.4.2 qua [oratione] inductus ad te scribere sum conatus, F. 6.12.3 putaviangoris et doloris tui levandi causa... ea quae essent certaperscribi, F. 10.3.4 combined with quo, seeabove, F. 10.6.3 Haec impulsus benevolentia scripsi paulo severius, F. 16.6.1 combined with quo, seeabove, *A. 10.8B. 1 permotus hominumfama scribendum ad te existimavi, *F. 8.16.1 [= A. 10.9a]Exanimatus tuis litteris,... has ad te ilico litteras scripsi. With a nominal phrase: with scribo: F. 7.1.6Haec ad te pluribus verbis scripsi... non oti abundantia sed amoris erga te, F. 11.29.3 combined withquo, see above, *F. 11.20.4 Haec me tibi scribere non prudentia mea hortatur sed amor; with dicto: A.7.13a.3 dictavipropter lippitudinem, Q. 2.2.1 Non occupatione... sedparvula Uppitudine adductus sumut dictarem hanc epistulam. With a coordinated clause: with scribo: F. 5.8.5 quam ob rem satis essehoc tempore arbitratus sum hoc ad te scribere, F. 6.12.3 mihi tamen placuit haec ad te perscribi...enim).103 The verbs more frequently used for these purely introductory or conclusive formulas are scribo andrespondeo. Phrases having a conclusive function commonly use the perfect tense (this is always true forrespondeo), while phrases having an introductory function can often use also the present tense(respondeo in particular only uses either present or future in this case). Phrases set at the beginning of aletter and having the specific function of introducing it are: with scribo: F. 1.5b. 1 Hie quae aganturquaeque acta sint [ea] te et litteris multorum et nuntiis cognosse arbitror; quae autem posita sunt inconiectura quaeque videntur fore, ea puto tibi a me scribi oportere; with do: A. 5.14.1 dederam Ephesopridie; has dedi Trallibus, and, with do implied, A. 13.37.1 Has alteras hodie litteras; with dicto: A.10.3a.l Alteram tibi eodem die hanc epistulam dictavi et pridie dederam mea manu longiorem; withrespondeo: A. 1.16.1 respondebo tibi v ITQOTEQOV, 'OIVTIQIHSX;, A. 13.23.1 see text above. Phrasesset at the end of a letter and having the specific function of concluding it are: with scribo: A. 11.4ahactenus fuit quod caute a me scribi posset, A. 11.9.3 Haec ad te die natali meo scripsi, A. 13.34.8scripsi enim ad te de hortis, A. 15.4.4 erat enim rescribendum tuis, A. 14.6.2 Haec ad te scripsiapposita secunda mensa, A. 14.21.4 Haec scripsi seu dictavi apposita secunda mensa apud Vestorium,A. 15.20.4 haec putavi mea manu scribenda, itaquefeci, F. 2.11.2 ipse dies me admonebal; scripsienim haec ipsis Megalensibus, Q. 2.6.4 A. d. V Id. Apr. ante lucem hanc epistulam dictaveramconscripseramque in itinere, ut eo die apud T. Titium in Anagnino manerem, Q. 3.5.9 Hanc scripsi antelucem ad lychnuchum ligneolum, qui mihi erat periucundus quod eum te aiebant, cum esses Sarni,curasse faciendum, Q. 3.6.6 Omnia fere scripsi, Q. 3.7.9 see text above; cf. also almost at the end of aletter, with scripsi implied, A. 14.4.2 haec ego ad te; and with dedi implied: A. 2.10 Ab Appi Foro horaquarta. Dederam aliam paulo ante a Tribus Tabernis; with dicto: Q. 3.1.19 hoc inter cenam Tironi

68The occurrences of this last category are actually not the only ones to have anintroductory or conclusive function in the letter. In fact most sentences mentioning theaction of writing or dispatching the letter at hand are located either towards thebeginnig or towards the end of the letter, and, even when they are set in the middle,they still mostly appear as transition formulas, introducing a new topic or wrapping up104a previous one:• In particular the great majority of sentences mentioning what one is doing whilewriting or dispatching a letter are set either at the beginning or at the end of theletter (most often scribo is used at the end, do, dicto, exaro and respondeo at thedictavi, ne mirere alia manu esse (which actually is located at the beginning of a long postscript goingon for six more paragraphs) and A. 14.21.4 in combination with scribo, see above; with respondeo: A.9.9 A see text above. Phrases set in the middle of a letter and having a transitional function can eitherintroduce or conlude a specific passage within the letter. Transitional phrases having an introductoryfunction are: with scribo (where scribo always introduces a single sentence and just means 'this is whatI am telling you'): A. 3.15.2 Adprimam tibi hoc scribo, F. 14.1.5 tantum scribo, F. 16.2.1 tantumscribo, Q. 3.1.21 Mud scribo, mihi molestum fuisse; with respondeo: A. 6.2.1 et respondebo primumpostremae tuaepaginae, A. 9.9.1 igitur antiquissimae cuique primum respondebo, A. 15.13.1respondebo igiturprioriprius, F. 3.11.1 respondebo igitur superioriprius, F. 5.2.10 atque hoc ipsotempore tibipaene minitanti nobis per litteras hoc rescribo atque respondeo, F. 5.20.2 itaque huic locoprimum respondeo. Transitional phrases having an introductory function are: with scribo: A. 15.29.2see text above, Q. 3.1.11 Rescripsi epistulae maximae, audi nunc de minuscula; with respondeo: A.6.1.22 habes ad omnia; non, ut postulasti, '%Qii

69beginning): so, for example, the opening of F. 9.26.1 Accubueram hora nona cumad te harum exemplum in codicillis exaravi, or the closing of A. 15.27 o turpemsororis tuaefiliurn! cum haec scriberem adventabat aur% fiouXuosi cenantibusnobis {A. 15.27.3). 105• The arrival, expectation or departure of a messenger is instead recalled mostly atthe beginning of a letter, like for example in A. 11.17.1, opened by the sentence:Properantibus tabellariis alienis hanc epistulam dedi.Sentences mentioning what one is doing while writing or dispatching the letter at hand are found inthe following positions: very beginning of the letter: A. 4.1.1, A 5.2.1, A. 5.16.1, A. 7.14.1, A. 9.17.1,A. 12.1.1, A. 13.38.1 (letter separated from previous one and cut in this point by Cratander), A. 14.16.1,A. 16.1.1, F. 9.26.1,*F. 9.6a.l (by Caesar), also cf. A. 15.18.1; almost beginning: A. 1.1.1, A 2.23.1,A. 5.5.1,/!. 5.17.1, A 7.15.2, A 7.18.1, A 7.21.1, A. 8.2.1, A. 14.7.1, A. lS.la.l, F. 16.3.1, *A. 15.6.2(by Hirtius), *F. 12.12.1 (by Cassius); middle: A 1.10.3, A 2.15.3.A 5.11.4, A 5.15.3,A 5.21.9, A6.1.2, A 6.8.4, A 16.13 J, F. 14.7.2, *F. 12.13.3 (by Cassius); almost end: A 6.4.3, A 7.17.5, A.13.42.3, A 16.3.6, F. 2.8.3, F. 3.8.10, F. 7.183, F. 16.10.2, Q. 2.3.7, Q. 3.4.6; very end: A 4.9.2, A4.10.2, A 7.19.9, A 8.2.4, A 14.5.3, A 14.12 J, A 16.7.8, A 15.273, A. 15.14.4, F. 12.20.7. On theother hand instead sentences mentioning one's feelings or anyway the manner in which one is writingthe present letter are very rarely used in a conclusive or introductory position and they are often justreferred to a specific passage within the letter. Thus they are found in the following positions:beginning: *F. 15.19.1; almost beginning: F. 14.10.1; middle: A 2.18.3, A 6.1.8, A 10.18.2, F. 2.7.1,F. 4.13.5, F. 9.17.3, Q. 1.3.3,2-2.15.3,5. 1.18.3, [*B. 1.17.3]; almost end: F. 3.10.11 (but followedby an evident lacuna, so maybe originally located more in the middle of the letter), F. 9.22.4, F. 12.4.2,*A. 9.7B.3; end: F. 13.17.3.106 Sentences mentioning the arrival of a messenger while writing or dispatching the letter at hand arefound in the following positions: beginning: A 1.10.1, A 6.8.1, A 15.17.1, A 16.11.1, F. 2.17.1, F.9.15.1, F. 12.18.1, F. 15.3.1, *F. 11.11.1; almost beginning: A 1.20.1, A 6.1.1, A. 14.9.1, F. 15.1.1,5.2.51.1; middle: A 8.3.7, A 10.4.7, A 12.1.2, Q. 1.2.4, Q. 3.1.17, Q. 3.1.19; almost end: A 2.12.4, A7.16.2, *B. 1.6.3; end: A. 12.40.5. Sentences mentioning the expectation for a messenger while writingor dispatching the letter at hand are found in the following positions: beginning: A 3.21.1, A 9.2.1;almost beginning/ middle: Q. 3.3.1; almost end: A 8.16.2,/!. 13.14-15.2; end: A 13.2b (in the mss.this sentence was the first of A. 13.3, it was attached to the end of A. 13.2.b by Schmidt, who haddivided 13.2 into three smaller letters). Sentences mentioning the departure of a messenger whilewriting or dispatching the letter at hand are found in the following positions: beginning: A. 2.9.1, A6.2.1, A 11.17.1, A 14.22.1, F. 5.5.1; almost beginning: A 4.2.1, F. 3.7.1, B. 2.4.1, *F. 8.7.1; middle:none; almost end: A. 2.19.5, A. 4.4.7, A. 14.20.5; end: A. 13.2a.2 (Schmidt separated A. 13.2 into threesmaller letter and cut the second one after this sentence).The postscript formulas, such as scripta iam epistula, which are mostly used as a messenger brings insomething new, which deserves to be added to an already finished letter, are of course normally placedat the very end ofa letter (A 9.14.3,A 13.50.5,F. 1.9.26, F. 16.15.1, *A. 8.12C.4, *A. 9.15A, *F.12.12.5, *B. 1.4a.4), with a few exceptions due the fact that the writer then kept writing on, so that thepostscript becomes half a letter or more (A. 9.6.3, A. 10.4.7; cf. also the very beginning of B. 1.2.1Scripta et obsignata iam epistula litterae mihi redditae sunt a te plenae rerum novarum, maximequemirabile Dolabeilam quinque cohortis misisse in Chersonesum or *F. 10.15.1 His litleris scriptis quaepostea accidissent, scire te ad rem publicam putavi pertinere, where a postscript formula is used toopen the letter: in both cases the the letter we have preserved in the published collection is just the longpostscript to another letter, that is instead now lost).

70• Often a letter can also be introduced or, above all, concluded by stating (oftenreiterating) the reason for writing it: this is what for example Cato writes at theend of *F 15.5, right before the last greetings: atque haec ego idcirco ad te contraconsuetudinem meant pluribus scripsi ut, quod maxime volo, existimes melaborare ut tibi persuadeam me et voluisse de tua maiestate quod amplissimumsim arbitratus et quod tu maluisti factum esse gaudere.• Finally the most updated piece of news that one has at the present moment isfrequently reported towards the end of the letter, often closing a chronicle ofprevious events, and sometimes at the very end of the letter, offering an emphaticclose to it, like for example Caelius Rufus does, closing *F. 8.13 with theannouncement of the death of Q. Hortensius Hortalus: Q. Hortensius, cum haslitteras scripsi, animam agebat107Sentences mentioning the reason or purpose for writing the letter at hand are found in the followingpositions: beginning: A 8.12.1, A 9.16.1 (letter separated from preivious one and cut in this point byBerolinensis 166 and Urbinas 322), A. 12.53.1, F 13.9.1, F. 16.6.1, 0. 2.2.1, *F. 8.16.1 [= A. 10.9a],*A. 10.8B.1; almost beginning: A 8.9.1, A 9.10.1,/I. 10.8.1, F. 1.7.2, F 5.17.1, F. 13.7.1, F. 13.46, F.13.47.1, [*B. 1.16.1]; middle: A 1.5.4, A 3.15.4, A 8.5.1, A 10.4.6, A 11.15.3, A 12.20.2, F. 1.7.8, F.1.7.10, F. 1.8.4, F. 2.13.2, F. 3.6.5, F. 4.13.6, F. 5.4.2, F. 6.1.6, F. 6.12.3 (bis), F. 6.21.2, F. 7.3.5, F.7.27.2, F. 13.4.3, F. 13.8.1, F. 13.67.2, F. 13.69.1,0. 1.1.8,0. 1.1.36,0.2.3.6,0. 3.1.21, *K 8.4.3,*F. 8.9.2, *F. 11.9.2; almost end: A 3.10.3 (bis), A 5.1.4, A 11.1.2.A 14.12.3.A 16.1.6, F. 2.10.4, F.5.8.5, F. 7.1.6,F. 10.3.4, F. 10.6.3, F. 11.29.3, F. 15.2.8, *F. 8.2.2, *F. 11.20.4, *F. 15.5.3; end: A8.3.7, A 7.13a.3,F. 3.7.6.108 Sentences mentioning the most updated piece of news that one has while writing or dispatching theletter at hand are found in the following positions: beginning: A. 9.1.1, A 15.13a.l (separated fromprevious letter and cut in this point by Ruete, following Graetero), F. 6.21.1, F 12.6.1, B. 2.1.1; almostbeginning: F. 5.12.2, F 6.4.1, F. 11.8.1, F. 12.10.1, Q. 3.2.1; middle: A. 4.3.5, A. 4.15.8, A 4.17.4, A5.20.5, F. 1.1.3, F. 2.19.2, F 6.1.5, F. 12.24.2, 0. 2.16.3, *F. 8.9.2, *F. 8.10.3, *F. 12.16.3; almostend:A6.9.5,A8.9a.2,A 8.15.3, A 15.13a.3, F. 1.2.4 (bis), F 12.6.2,5. 1.10.5, *F. 8.6.5; end: A15.29.3, F. 3.13.2, *F. 8.13.2, *F 12.15.7.

71II.2.b - Giving date and place of dispatch or composition: forms and syntacticalstructures, information provided, position in the letter, distribution within thecollection, relation with formulas in adscriptio.In a good portion of cases, the sentence mentioning the action of writing ordispatching the letter at hand also provide an indication of time or place in which thataction is happening. Most of these occurrences (100 in total) are found in Cicero'sown letters (92 occurrences): 70 in A., 14 in F. (3 to P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, 2to M. Caelius Rufus, 2 to Appius Claudius Pulcher, 2 to Quintus Cornificius, 2 toTiro, 1 to Trebatius Testa, 1 to L. Papirius Paetus, 1 to Terentia), 8 in Q., 2 in B. (oneof which is a fragment quoted by Quintilian). Instead 6 cases are attested in otherpeople's letters: 1 in *A. (by Hirtius) and 5 in *F. (3 by Caelius Rufus, 1 by Caesar, 1by Cassius Parmensis).An indication of time or place can accompany all the different types of phrasesmentioning the action of writing or dispatching the present letter that we have definedabove; for the distribution within each category of the occurrences giving time andplace, see the passages highlighted in bold in notes 99-108 above.• Thus date and place can be given rather incidentally, while presenting the mostupdated piece of news that the writer has at the moment in which he is composingthe letter: e.g. A. 8.9a.2 sed cum haec scribebam VKai, Pompeius iamBrundisium venissepoterat; expeditus enim antecesserat legionesXI Luceria;• or while mentioning the arrival or the departure of a messenger or the expectationfor him: e.g. A. 6.8.1 Cum instituissem ad te scribere calamumque sumpsissem,Batonius e navi recta ad me venit domum Ephesi et epistulam tuam reddidit II

72Kal. Oct., A. 14.22.1 Certior a Piliafactus mitti ad teIdibus tabellarios statim hocnescio quid exaravi, A. 9.17.1 Trebatium VIKal., quo die has litteras dedi,exspectabam. Sometimes however what is given is actually the date and place ofreception of the letter to which one says to be now responding: e.g. A. 1.20.1 Cume Pompeiano me Romam recepissem a. d. IIII Id. Mai, Cincius noster earn mihiabs te epistulam reddidit quam tu Id. Febr. dederas. ei nunc epistulae litteris hisrespondebo. Yet the moment in which the response is composed often does notexactly coincide with the mentioned date of reception: thus these cases will beanalyzed in the section dedicated to phrases mentioning time and place of a letter'sreception (cf. in particular on the difference in time between reception of a letterand composition of the response, pp. 105-7).• Only in very few cases and never with a precise date, while mentioning the reasonwhy one is writing the present letter: e.g. F. 16.6.1 Tertiam ad te hanc epistulamscripsi eodem die magis instituti mei tenendi causa, quia nactus eram cui darem,quam quo haberem quid scriberem.• In several cases time or place are given within purely introductory or closingstatements: e.g. A. 14.21.4 Haec scripsi seu dictavi apposita secunda mensa apudVestorium.• Yet, above all, date and place are given while mentioning what the writer himselfis doing at the moment in which he writes or dispatches the letter at hand: e.g. A.5.21.9 Id. Febr., quo die has litteras dedi, forum institueram agere LaodiceaeCibyraticum et Apamense.Interestingly the great majority of sentences giving time or place of dispatch orcomposition are located either at the beginning of the letter (41 occurrences, 26 of

which as the very opening sentence, 15 as still very close to the beginning) 109 or at theend of it (37 occurrences, 17 of which as the very closing sentence, 18 very close tothe end) 110 : see the passages higlighted in bold in notes 99-108 above, for thedistribution of these occurrences in each position. In fact it seems that the introductoryor conclusive function predominantly possessed by phrases such as haec scripsi or haslitteras dedi is combined with the need of setting the important information aboutone's coordinates in the most evident positions in the letter. 111The information about time and place can be given in a variety of combinations: aprecise date, hour of the day, and place; date and place; date and hour; hour and place;The sentence mentioning the composition or dispatch of the letter at hand can be preceded by one ortwo sentences, which open the letter with one or more of the following topics: the ongoing epistolaryexchange (the arrival of the letter to which one is now responding or the dispatch of the last letter onehad sent to the same addressee: A. 5.17.1, B. 2.4.1; one's excuse for not having what to write or for nothaving written before: A. 4.2.\,A. 5.5.1, F. 3.7.1; the epistolary topos of the capacity of almost'talking' through letters: A. 7.15.2); some very important piece of news, which will often be discussedat length later on in the letter {A. 7.21.1, A. 14.7.1); some very important piece of information aboutone's own condition, especially about one's movements in an ongoing journey (A. 1.1.1, A 5.14. \,A.7.18.1, F. 16.3.1, *A. 15.6.2); a combination of two of the above (A. 15.1a.l reception of letter + one'smovements, Q. 3.2.1 reception of letter + news).110 The sentence mentioning the composition or dispatch of the letter at hand can be followed by one ortwo sentences, which end the letter with one or more of the following topics: one's plans for theimmediate future and especially one's future movements during a journey (A. 8.16.2, F. 1.2.4 bis, F.7.18.3), important instructions (A. 7.16.2, F. 2.8.3), request for a reply (F. 2.11.2), emphatic closingcomment on a situation (A. 8.9a.2, A. 6.9.5), final greetings (A. 2.12.4, A. 6.4.3); a combination of someof the topics above (A. 14.21.4 future movements + greetings, A. 7.17.5 future movements + greetings,A. 16.3.6 instructions + greetings, F. 3.8.10 future movements + request of reply, Q. 2.3.7 instructions+ request of reply + greetings, Q. 2.6.4 future movements + greetings, Q. 3.4.6 future movements +greetings).1 '' Also when the sentence giving time or place of dispatch or composition is located in the middle (23cases) of the letter it often still has an introductory function. Sometimes, it introduces a sectiondedicated to reporting news and follows one dedicated instead to commenting on those given by thecorrespondent's last letter (A. 5.11.4, *F. 8.10.3). Other times it introduces the account of a presentevent after a section dedicated to reporting on past ones (A. 4.3.5). In several cases it can also justbriefly summarize the present situation and serve as a hinge between the account of past events and theplans or expectations for the immediate future (A. 4.17.4,/(. 5.20.5, A. 5.15.3, ^4. 5.21.9, A. 16.13.3, andthe very short A. 6.8.4, F. 14.7.2). In a few cases it can introduce a report on various events aboutwhich one has recently learned, functioning as a postscript (A. 8.3.7, A. 10.4.7, A. 12.1.2, Q. 3.1.17, Q.3.1.19 bis, *F. 12.13.3). Finally a sentence giving time or place of dispatch or composition can be givenin a more parenthetical way, while talking about a present event among others, often one of particularimportance and often in order to stress how updated the information about it is (A. 1.10.3, A. 6.1.2, F.1.1.3, *F. 8.4.3,*F. 8.9.2). The sentence has instead a conclusive function, closing the report on aparticular piece of news, in A. 4.15.8.

74only date; only hour; only place. 112 In some cases, within the sentence mentioning theaction of writing or dispatching the letter, we find only a generic indication of place ortime, which either refers to a more precise date provided in its immediate context: e.gA. 16.1.1 Non. Quint, veni in Puteolanum. postridie iens ad Brutum in Nesidem haecscripsi, or to a previous letter that was sent or received or to a previous meeting: e.g.A. 10.3a.l Alteram tibi eodem die hanc epistulam dictavi etpridie dederam mea manulongiorem. U3 The date, like in the formulas in adscriptio (cf. above n. 91), mostcommonly provide both month and day, unless the month is obvious due to thefrequency of the epistolary exchange. 114 The hour of the day is most commonly eitherDate + hour + place: A 4.9.2, A 4.10.2 (place and date given in previous sentence), A. 5.5.1, A.7.16.2 (precise date given in previous sentence), A. 7.21.1 (place and date given in previous sentence),A. 10.4.7, A. 12.1.1 (date given in reference to last meeting with Atticus), A. 14.12.3 (accubans apudVestorium means at dinner time), A. 15. la. 1 (place and date given in previous sentence, date given inreference to previous letter), A. 16.13.3 (place given in previous sentence, precise date given at thebeginnning of the letter while talking about reception of Atticus' letter), F. 16.3.1, Q. 2.6.4, B. 2.4.1.Date + place: A. 5.2.1, A. 5.11.4, A. 5.15.3, A 5.21.9, .4. 6.8.1 (date and place of a letter's reception aregiven, while the actual date of dispatch is given in A. 6.8.4), A. 6.8.4,A 7.14.1,A 7.15.2,/I. 7.17.5, ^4.7.18.1, A 8.2.4, A 14.5.3, A. 14.7.1, A 14.16.1, ,4. 16.1.1 (precise date given in previous sentence), A.16.7.8, F. 2.8.3, F. 3.8.10 (precise date given in previous sentence), Q. 3.4.6, and also A. 15.18.1. Date+ hour: A. 2.12.4, A. 4.3.5, A. 6.1.2 (precise date given earlier in letter and also in date in adscriptio), F.1.1.3, F. 1.2.4, Q. 2.3.7, Q. 3.2.1 (precise date given in previous sentence) Only date: A. 1.1.1, A 3.21.1(date here given in reference to previous letter and also added in adscriptio), A. 4.15.8 (precise dategiven in previous paragraph), A 4.17.4, A 5.20.5, A 6.9.5, A 8.9a.2,A 8.16.2, A 9.1.1, A 9.2.1, A9.16.1 (date given in reference to previous letter), A 10.3a.l (date given in reference to previous letter),A 9.17.1, A 11.9.3, A 13.23.1 (date given in reference to previous letter), A 13.37.1 (date given inreference to previous letter), A 14.22.1, A 15.29.3, F. 1.2.4 (precise date given in previous paragraph),F. 2.11.2, F. 12.18.1 (date given in reference to letter previously received from Cornificius), F. 16.6.1(date given in reference to previous letter and then also provided in adscriptio), Q. 3.1.17, *F. 8.4.3(precise date given in following sentence), *F. 8.9.2, *F. 8.10.3. Only hour + place: A 8.3.7, A14.21.4, A 16.3.6 (date given in reference to previous letter'). Only place: A 1.10.1 (place given inprevious sentence), A 1.10.3 (place given in previous sentence), A 4.1.1, A 4.2.1, A 5.14.1, A 5.16.1,A 5.17.1,A 6.2.1,A 6.4.3, A 7.19.9.A 13.34.8, A 16.3.6,F. 3.7.1, F. 7.18.3,/ 7 . 12.20.7,/=*. 14.7.2(placegiven in previous sentence), *A 15.6.2, *F. 9.6a.l, *F. 12.13.3 (place given in previoussentence). Only hour: A 9.14.3. A 12.1.2, A 13.2b.7,A 13.38.1, A 14.6.2, A 15.13a.l,A 15.27.3, F.9.26.1, Q. 3.1.19, Q. 3.1.19, Q. 3.5.9, Frg. 7.12 [Quint. 9.3.58].113 Date or place are provided by the immediate context (generally the sentence immediately precedingor following the one mentoning the action of dispatching or writing the letter) in: A 1.10.3, A 4.10.2,A4.15.8,A6.1.2,A7.21.1,A 15.1a.l,A 16.1.1, A 16.13.3, F. 1.2.4, F. 3.8.10, F. 14.7.2, Q. 3.2.1,*F. 8.4.3, *F. 12.13.3. Date and place are actually the ones in which one has received the letter towhich is now responding in: A 1.10.1, A 6.8.1, A 7.16.2, F. 12.18.1, Q. 3.1.19. The date is suggestedin reference to a previous letter that was sent or received, or to a previous meeting: A 3.21.1 (letter hasalso the date in adscriptio), A. 9.16.1, A 10.3a.l,A 12.1.1, A 13.23.1, A 15.1a.l,A 16.3.6, F. 12.18.1actually giving date of letter received, F. 16.6.1 (letter has also the date in adscriptio).114 Day and month are given in: A 1.1.1, A 2.12.4 (Cerialibus), A. 4.9.2, A. 4.10.2 (Parilibus), A.AM A, A. 4.15.8, A 5.2.1, A 5.5.1, A 5.11.4, A 5.15.3, A 5.20.5 (Saturnalibus tertiis), A. 5.21.9, A

75early morning, generally before the departure of the couriers who would be travelingby day, or dinner time, generally upon receiving a new letter, often from a courierwho had been traveling by day. 115 The use of cases matches that seen in adscriptio (cf.above n. 92), although here also partly influenced by the verb used in the sentence.Anyway, similarly to what we see in the dating formulas in adscriptio which nevername Rome, the City is almost never mentioned as a place of dispatch or compositionof the letter at hand even within the body of the letter. Rome is in fact explicitelymentioned only in two letters written right upon re-entering the City after the exile: A.4.1.1 Cumprimum Romam veni fuit cui recte ad te litteras darem, nihil priusfaciendum mihiputavi quam ut tibi absenti de reditu gratularer and A. 4.2.1 nam utveni Romam, iterum nunc sum certior factus esse cui darem litteras; itaque hasalteras dedi. Rome is then clearly meant in two other letters, where Cicero pictureshimself as writing while sitting in the senate or while receiving his many clients: B.2.4.1 itaque maneprid. Id. Apr., cum a Scaptio certior factus essem non esse eosprofectos quibus pridie dederam et statim ire, hocpaululum exaravi ipsa in turbamatutinae salutationis andF. 12.20.7 plura otiosus; haec cum essem in senatuexaravi. In all of the other cases in which a place of composition or dispatch ismentioned (49 cases, cf. above n. 112), the letter is composed away from Rome.6.8.1, A. 6.8.4, A 6.9.5, A 7.14.1, A 1.17.5, A. 7.21.1, A 9.2.1, A. 11.93 (die natali meo), A. 16.1.1, F.1.2.4, F. 2.8.3, F. 2.11.2 (ipsis Megalensibus), F. 3.8.10, F. 16.3.1, Q. 2.3.7, Q. 2.6.4, Q. 3.2.1, Q.3.4.6,5.2.4.1, *F. 8.4.3, *F. 8.9.2, *F. 8.10.3. Only day is given in: A. 43.5. A. 7.15.2. A. 7.16.2, A.7.18.1, A 8.2.4, A 8.9a.2, A 8.16.2, A 9.1.1, A 9.17.1, A. 10.4.7, A 13.37.1, A 14.5.3, A 14.7.1, A14.12.3, A 14.16.1, A 14.22.1, A 15.29.3, A 16.7.8, F. 1.1.3, Q. 3.1.17; also in A 15.18.1.115 Letters are presented as written or dispatched: in the morning with mane (A 2.10 hora quarta, A.4.9.2benemane,A. 4.10.2, A. 5.5.1, A. 13.2b.7,A 15.1a.l,A 16.13.3, F. 1.1.3,5.2.4.1 mane... ipsa inturba matutinae salutationis), or even before dawn with ante lucem (A 6.1.2, A 7.21.1, A 9.14.3 alsomentioning the arrival of a new letter from Atticus, A 12.1.1,A 13.38.1, F. 1.2.4, F. 16.3.1,0.2.3.7,Q. 2.6.4, Q. 3.2.1, Q. 3.5.9); in the evening, often upon receiving one by the present correspondent (A.2.12.4 hora decima, A. 4.3.5 hora noctis nona, A. 7.16.2 hora fere nona, A. 8.3.7 ipsa noclu, A. 12.1.2fnoctnabundusf ad me veni! cum epistula tua tabellarius, F. 9.26.1 hora nona), or especially at dinnertime (apposita secunda mensa'm A. 14.6.2,A 14.21.4, A. 15.13a. 1; inter cenam in Q. 3.1.19, Frg. 7.12[Quint. 9.3.58]; or A 14.12.3 accubans apud Vestorium, A. 15.27.3 cenantibus nobis, Q. 3.1.19 adcenam).

76Among the cases in which instead only the time of dispatch or composition isprovided, 15 belong to letters written from Rome (as we can infer from their contentor from the comparison with other letters); yet, again like in the dating formulas inadscriptio, the majority of these 'dating' phrases as well (the remaining 29occurrences) is employed in letters written while away from Rome.As we have seen above, the greatest number of phrases providing place and/ or timeof composition or dispatch of the letter at hand is attestes in Cicero's own letters. Inparticular they are more frequent in the letters to Atticus, and especially in thosewritten during Cicero's campaign as a proconsul in Cilicia (A. 5 and 6, from may of51 to October of 50), then during the immediately following period in which he wasmoving throughout Campania, in charge of guarding the coastal region (A. 7 through10, from January to may of 49, but in particular A. 7 through 9, up to march 49), andfinally while he was moving from one villa to the other in 44 (A. 14 through 16, butespecially A 14, covering April and May). In fact the letters belonging to these threeperiods of Cicero's life attest more than a half of all occurrences of phrases providingdate and place of dispatch or composition. Furthermore in these letters the phraseshaec scripsi or has litteras dedi are almost always accompanied by a precise date and1 ' 6 Phrases providing only time of dispatch or composition are set in letters written from Rome in: A1.1.1,A4.3.5,A4.15.8,A4.17.4,F 1.1.3, F. 1.2.4 bis, F. 9.26.1, F. 12.18.1,0.2.3.7,0.3.2.1, *A15.6.2, *F. 8.4.3, *F 8.9.2, *F. 8.10.3.Phrases mentioning only the time of dispatch or composition are set in letters written while away fromRome in: written from Italy (mostly from villas) A. 8.16.2, A. 9.2.1, A. 9.14.3, A. 9.16.1, A. 9.17.1, A.10.3a.l,A 11.9.3, A \2.l.2,A. 13.2b.7,A 13.23.1,/). 13.37.1,A 13.38.1,A 14.6.2,A. 14.22.1,A15.13a. 1,^. 15.27.3, A 15.29.3, Q. 3.5.9; and also Q. 3.1.17, Q. 3.1.19 bis, which is written partly fromArpinum and partly from Rome; written from provinces A. 3.21.1, A. 5.20.5, A. 6.1.2, A. 6.9.5, F2.11.2, F 16.6.1.Phrases providing the place (and/ or time) of dispatch or composition are set in letters written whileaway from Rome in: written from Italy (mostly from villas) A. 1.10.1, A. 1.10.3, A 2.10, A 2.12.4, A.4.9.2,A. 4.10.2,/!. 5.2.1,A. 5.5.\,A. 7.\4.],A. 7.15.2, A 7.16.2,/). 7.17.5,/J. 7.18.1, A. 7.19.9,/!7.21.1,/!. 8.2.4, A 8.3.7,/). 8.9a.2, A. 10.4.7, A 12.1.1, A. 13.34.8,/). 14.5.3,/). 14.7.1, A. 14.12.3,A14.16.1, A. 14.21.4, A 15.1a.l,/). 16.7.8,/). 16.1.1,/). 16.3.6,/). 16.13.3, F 7.18.3, F 14.7.2,0 2.6.4,Q. 3.4.6, *A. 9.6A.l;alsoin/). 15.18.1; written from provinces A. 5.11.4, A. 5.14.1,/). 5.15.3, A.5.16.1, A 5.17.1, A. 5.21.9, A. 6.2.1, A 6.4.3, A 6.8.4, A 6.8.1, F 2.8.3, F 3.7.1, F 3.8.10, F 16.3.1,*F 12.13.3.

77are indeed employed as a substitution for the dating formulas in adscriptio (which onthe other hand are attested in very few of the letters written in these periods). 117 Theremaining occurrences are instead scattered throughout the rest of Cicero's lifecovered by his correspondence, although more frequent in periods in which he was onthe move, but they often do not provide a precise date, but rather just an indication ofplace or a more vague indication of time, such as the hour of the day or a reference toa letter previously received or sent. 118 The same is true for the occurrences found in1,7 The cases in which an indication of time and/or place of dispatch or composition is provided inletters written to Atticus from Cilicia are: A. 5.2.1, A. 5.5.1,A 5.1.1.4, A 5.14.1,,4. 5.15.3,A 5.16.1,A5.17.1,A 5.2Q.5,A. 5.21.9,/! 6.1.2, A. 6.2.1,A. 6.4.3, A. 6.8.1, A. 6.8.4, A. 6.9.5. From the sameperiod there are also 8 cases in F. (which are a half of all the occurrences from Cicero's letters in thiscollection): F. 2.8.3, F. 2.11.2, F. 3.7.1, F. 3.8.10, F. 16.3.1, F. 16.6.1. It is interesting to obeserve thatin the letters of this period Cicero shows a predilection, especially in the letters to Atticus, for thecollocation of the dating phrases toward the beginning of the letter (12 cases), while only 5 cases are inthe middle and 5 toward the end.The cases in which an indication of time and/ or place of dispatch or composition is provided in letterswritten to Atticus from Campania in 49 are: A. 7.14.1, A. 7.15.2, A. 7.16.2, A. 7.17.5, A 7.18.1, F.7.18.3, A 7.19.9, A. 7.21.1, A. 8.2.4, A. 8.3.7, A 8.9a.2, A 8.16.2, A 9.2.1, A 9.14.3, A. 9.16.1, A9.17.1, A. 10.3a.l,/4. 10.4.7. The difference between intial and conclusive collocation of the datingphrases is less marked in this period, although the initial one is still preferred (10 cases; against 6toward the end of the letter and only 2 in the middle). It is also interesting to observe that the letterswritten before the end of February 49 (up to A. 8.3.7) always provide the place. Instead beginning withA. 8.9a.2 our phrases give only the date; in fact through the month of March Cicero had settled inFormiae (half of A. 8 and almost all of A. 9), and then in May he remained in Cumae (almost all of A.10): so he did not need to specify the place of dispatch since it was always the same {A. 10.4.7 specifythe place only in reference to the arrival of a friend with news: Cum haec scripsissem, a Curione mihinuntiatum est eum ad me venire, venerat enim is in Cumanum vesperi pridie, id est Idibus).Most of the cases in which an indication of time and/ or place of dispatch or composition is provided inthe correspondence kept with Atticus in 44 are concentrated in the letters of April and May: A. 14.5.3,A. 14.6.2, A. 14.7.1, A 14.12.3,^4. 14.16.1, A 14.21.4, A 14.22.1,/!. 15.1 a. 1. In July and August, in theperiod in which Cicero was attempting to go to Greece, we have a few more cases: A. 15.27.3, A.15.29.3, A. 16.1.1, A. 16.3.6, A. 16.7.8. Finally two more cases are found in letters written in the fall: A.15.13a.l (which does not provide a precise date and, on the basis of its content, seems to have beenchronologically misplaced among the letters written in the summer), A. 16.13.3. To these we can alsoadd/!. 15.18.1 written in June and F. 12.20.7 to Q. Cornificius, written from Rome in September of 44.In the letters of this period the dating phrases are more often set at the end of the letter (9 cases allexcept two at the very end of the letter) than at the beginning of it (7 cases) or in the middle (only onecase).118 The earliest cases are the temporally vague occurrences in A. 1.1.1 (containing a precise date butreferred to an imminent moment rather than to the present one) and in A. 1.10 (A. 1.10.1, A. 1.10.3 bothonly mentioning the place of composition), which as it can be inferred from the content, were writtenfrom Tusculum in May {A. 1.10) and June (A. 1.1.1) of 67. Only 3 more occurrences are then found inletters written to Atticus up to the time of the exile: A. 2.12.4 (written while stationing in Tres Tabernaeon the way to Formiae), A. 2.10 (written on the same day in which A. 2.12.4 was dispatched, as Ciceroreached the following stop of Forum Appii), and A. 3.21.1 (the temporally vague phrase triginta dieserant ipsi cum has dabam litteras per quos nullas a vobis acceperam is set in a letter provided with adate in adscriptio, like almost all the ones written during the exile: cf. note p.). In these letters our

78the letters of Cicero's correspondents, who also were generally on the move but gavefewer precise dates.' 19In conclusion we can draw a general comparison between the use of formulas inadscriptio and that of phrases mentioning place and/ or time of dispatch orphrases are mostly either at the beginning of the letter (3 cases), or at the end (2 cases), and only in onecase in the middle.Quite a few cases then belong to the rather long period between Cicero's coming back to Rome afterthe exile and his departure for Cilicia (years 57-52). In A. 4, covering this entire period, we have: A.4.1.1, A. 4.2.1, A. 4.3.5, A. 4.15.8, A. 4.17.4, written from Rome, and A 4.9.2, A. 4.10.2 written fromvillas (4.2 and 4.3 are from year 57, all the others from 55); also all of the eight occurrences attested inthe collection to Quintus belong to this period: Q. 2.3.7, Q. 3.2.1 written from Rome, and Q. 2.6.4, Q.3.4.6, Q. 3.5.9 written from villas (2.3 and 2.6 are from 56, all the others from 55), and Q. 3.1.17, Q.3.1.19 bis, which is written over a long stretch of time, partly from Arpinum and partly from Rome.Finally we can add three more letters from F.\ two to Publius Lentulus, both written from Rome inJanuary of 56, (F. 1.1.3, F. 1.2.4 bis) and one to Trebatius Testa, written from the Ager Pontinus on theway to Cumae, in April of 53 (F. 7.18.3 only mentioning the place of composition, with a precise dategiven in adscriptio). It is interesting to notice that in the letters of this period, and especially in those toQuintus, the conclusive collocation of the dating phrase (2 cases in A., 5 in Q., and the letter toTrebatius in F.) is prevalent over the intial one (only 3 cases in A.); many cases are also found in themiddle of the letter (3 in A., 3 in Q. and 3 in the letters to Lentulus).Only very few cases are found in the letters of the years 48 and 47 {A. 11 and most of the letters toTerentia of F. 14), that is of the period in which Cicero followed Pompey's army to Epirus and thenwaited for Caesar's forgiveness in Brundisium: only F. 14.7.2 (actually written in June 49, right as hewas leaving Italy; the phrase gives only the place and it is set in the middle of the letter, while a precisedate is added in adscriptio) and A. 11.9.3 (written in January 47 from Brundisium; at the very end ofthe letter). In fact most of the letters of this period are provided with a dating formula in adscriptio (cf.above pp. 55-6).Very few occurrences are also found among the copious letters of the years 46 and 45 {A. 12 and 13and in more than a hundred from F.), during which period Cicero mostly lived retired in his villas,remaining in each of them for very long stretches of time. In A. there are: A. 12.1.1, A. 12.1.2, A.13.2b.7,v4. 13.23.1, A 13.34.8, A 13.37.1, A 13.38.1, all written from some of the villas; in F. thereare: F. 9.26.1 (to Sulpicius Rufus), F. 12.18.1 (to Q. Cornificius), both written from Rome in the fall of46. It is very interesting to observe that none of these cases provide a precise date, but only the place orthe hour or an indication of time in reference to another letter sent or received. In the letters to Atticusthis can be explained considering that all of these letters, except the first one, were part of a constantdaily exchange, which could make the date a rather obvious detail. These phrases are mostly used witha conclusive function (2 cases in A., all at the very end of the letter) or an opening one (4 cases in A.and the 2 in the F., all at the very beginning of the letter), and only in one case in the middle.Finally only one case of a phrase mentioning date and place of composition is then found among theletters belonging to the year 43, the last of Cicero's life: B. 2.4.1 (written to Brutus from Rome);whereas many letters of this period, both in B. an in /•"., carry a date in adscriptio (cf. above p.). Cf. alsoFrg. 7.12 [Quint. Inst. 9.3.58], which provides the hour of composition, belonged to a letter to Brutusbut it gives no evidence to support any specific date for it.119 Among the cases in which time and place of dispatch or composition are mentioned by Cicero'scorrespondents, only 3 are set in letters written from Rome(*/\ 8.4.3, *F. 8.9.2, *F. 8.10.3 all byCaelius Rufus, updating Cicero on the news from the capital while he was in Cilicia), while most areset in letters composed while the writer was away from Rome, always engaged in some militarycampaign (*A. 9.6A.1 written by Casear in 49, and *F. 12.13.3 written by C. Cassius in 43), except inthe case of Hirtius just travelling to a villa in *A. 15.6.2. The phrase has an introductory position onlyin 2 cases, while in most cases it is set in the middle of the letter, having a more incidental character.

79composition of the letter at hand within the text. Concerning the information theyconvey, we have seen that, first of all, formulas in adscriptio always give at least aprecise date of dispatch, to which the place is added in many cases. Phrases within thetext instead can either give the precise date and/ or the place of dispatch orcomposition, or just they can just provide a more vague indication of time, or evenjust the place. On the other hand these phrases, as opposed to the formulas inadscriptio, can also offer additional information about the writer's presentcircumstances.From the point of view of the forms and the synctacal structures employed, thedifference between the phrases within the body of the letter and the heavily schematicand elliptic aspect of the formulas in adscriptio is certainly evident: cf. e.g. theadscreibed date in F. 16.4 vii id. nov. Leucade, compared with A. 14.12.3 haecconscripsi XKai, accubans apud Vestorium, hominem remotum a dialecticis, inarithmeticis satis exercitatum. Yet it is still true that when one of these phrases gives aprecise date and is located at the very closing of the letter, it really looks like anextended version of a dating formula in adscriptio, and in certain cases the distinctionbetween the two can even become more subtle: compare, for example, F. 16.4 vii id.nov. Leucade, with the more elaborate form of what is still a formula in adscriptio(since it follows the greeting formua etiam atque etiam vale) in F. 16.5 Leucadeprqficiscens vii Id. Nov., and finally the closing phrase in A. 14.5 haec scripsi ad teproficiscens Astura III Id..It is also interesting to observe the existence of a few of letters that contain both a datein adscriptio and a phrase giving an indication of place and/ or time in the body of the120 On the distinction between a formula in adscriptio and a dating phrase within the body of the letter,cf. the question of A. 3.7, which has been discussed above (cf. n. 89).

80letter. Generally this happens when the phrase within the letter is rather generic andonly gives an indication of place and/ or a vague indication of time, and then theformula in adscripto adds a precise date of dispatch. 121 For example, in the opening ofA. 3.21.1 Triginta dies erant ipsi cum has dabam litterasper quos nullas a vobisacceperam, Cicero mentions the time in which he is dispatching the present letter onlythrough an indirect and generic reference to the date in which he received the lastletter from Atticus; 122 then he adds the precise date of dispatch in adscriptio {data vkal. Nov.). 123 In F. 7.18 instead, almost at the end of the letter, Cicero does not giveSometimes this happens also when in the same letter we find more than one phrase giving anindication of place and/ or time of composition or dispatch. For example, A. 6.8 is opened giving theplace and precise date, that is September 29*, in which Cicero received Atticus' letter to which he wasnow responding (A. 6.8.1 Cum instituissem ad te scribere calamumque sumpsissem, Batonius e navirecta ad me venit domum Ephesi et epistulam tuam reddidit 11 Kal. Oct.), while, later in the text, headds the precise date in which he actually composed the present letter, that is October 1 st , and hereiterates the place (A. 6.8.4 Kal. Oct. Epheso conscendentes hanc epistulam dedimus L. Tarquitiosimul e portu egredienti sed expeditius naviganti). In the conclusive paragraph of F. 1.2 instead, Cicerofirst gives the precise date of composition (F. 1.2.4 Haec scripsi a. d. XVI Kal. Febr. ante lucem. eo diesenatus eratfuturus) and, a little later adds a more generic indication of time in relation to the time ofdispatch (de his rebus pridie quam haec scripsi senatus auctoritas gravissima intercessit). Instead onlya generic indication of time or place is provided in both the two phrases mentioning the action ofwriting the present letter in: A. 1.10 (opened by A. 1.10.1 Cum essem in Tusculano (erit hoc tibipro illotuo 'cum essem in Ceramico'), verum tamen cum ibi essem, Roma puer a sorore tua missus epistulammihi abs te adlatam dedit nuntiavitque eo ipso die post meridiem iturum eum qui ad te proficisceretur.eo factum est ut epistulae tuae rescriberem aliquid, brevitate temporis tarn pauca cogerer scribere, andlater adding A. 1.10.3 etenim ibi sedens haec ad te scribebam, ut me locus ipse admoneret), and Q. 3.1,which is written over a long stretch of time and is marked by several 'dating' phrases, corresponding tothe progressive arrival of more pieces of news, (Q. 3.1.7 Cum hanc iam epistulam complicarem,tabellarii a vobis venerunt a. d. XIKal., septimo vicesimo die, Q. 3.1.19 Cum scripsissem haec infimaquae sunt mea manu, venit ad nos Cicero tuus ad cenam, cum Pomponia foris cenaret, and a little laterhoc inter cenam Tironi dictavi, ne mirere alia manu esse).122 In this letter (A. 3.21) dispatched on October 28 th , Cicero is probably referring to the letter hereceived from Atticus, to which he responded in A. 3.20, dispatched on October 5 lh . Cf. ShackletonBailey's commentary (1965-70: ad loc), following HUNTER (1913: 94), says 'this expression [sc.triginta dies erant ipsi] probably means "thirty whole days" (not including the day of writing or the dayon which Atticus' last letter arrived)'. Yet the expression in A. 3.21 results an even more vagueindication of time, considering that in A. 3.20 Cicero does not record the date in which Atticus' letterwas received.123 There are a couple of other cases in which the text of the letter gives a rather generic indication oftime and is followed by a precise date in adscriptio. In the opening of F. 16.6 an indication of time isgiven in reference to another letter Cicero sent to Tiro in the same day but still from Leucas, that is F.16.5 (F. 16.6.1 Tertiam ad te hanc epistulam scripsi eodem die magis instituti mei tenendi causa, quianactus eram cui darem, quam quo haberem quid scriberem), but then the precise date of dispatch isexplicitely given again in adscriptio, along with the new place Cicero had reached (vii Id. Nov. Actiovesperi). In A. 6.1, in the opening, Cicero gives the precise date of reception, i.e. February the 19 th , ofthe letter from Atticus to which he was now responding (A. 6.1.1 Accepi tuas litteras a. d. V TerminaliaLaodiceae; quas legi libentissime plenissimas amoris, humanitatis, offlci, diligentiae. iis igiturrespondebo), then, later in the letter, a more generic indication of time of composition is added {A.

81any indication of time but he only mentions the place in which he has been writing thepresent letter (F. 7.18.3 has litteras scripsi in Pomptino, cum ad villam M. AemiliPhilemonis devertissem, ex qua iam audieram fremitum clientium meorum, quosquidem tu mihi conciliasti); then, in adscriptio, he adds a precise date and alsoreiterates the place (vi Id. Apr. de Pomptino). 124 The case of Q. 2.3 then is interestingbecause here date of composition and dispatch are distinguished. In fact, almost at theend of this letter, Cicero gives a precise date of composition, that is February 12 th (Q.2.3.7 Prid. Id. Febr. haec scripsi ante lucem. eo die apud Pomponium in eius nuptiiseram cenaturus), but then in adscriptio he also adds the date of the actual dispatch,that is February the 15 th (xv kal. Mart). Finally in *F. 8.4, written from Rome byCaelius Rufus, a precise date of dispatch, that is August 1 st , is given both within thebody of the letter and then by the formula in adscriptio: in fact, in the middle of theletter, while reporting a piece of news, Caelius notes, in passing, the present date (*F.8.4.3 Has ego tibi litteras eo maiore misi intervallo quod comitiorum dilationesoccupatiorem me habebant et spectare in dies exitum cogebant, ut confectisomnibus tefacerem certiorem. ad Kal. Sext. usque expectavi), but then he reiterates it1 ?Sin adscriptio, evidently for the sake of clarity (kal. sext.).6.1.2 sin Appius, ut Bruti litterae quas ad te misit significabant, gratias nobis agit, non moleste fero,sed tamen eo ipso die quo haec ante lucem scribebam cogitabam eius multa inique constituta et actatollere), and finally a precise date of dispatch, i.e. February the 20 th , is provided in adscriptio, althoughby means of a jesting formula playing on the date of Clodius' murder {post Leuctricam pugnam dieseptingentesimo sexagesimo quinto), cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1965-70: ad loc).124 Other cases in which the phrase within the body of the letter only gives the place in which the letterwas composed, while the date of dispatch is added in adscriptio are: *F. 12.13, where, in the text,Cassius Parmensis mentions the place he has reached as he is composing the letter (*F. 12.13.3 Nos[...] Cyprum petivimus. ibi quae cognovimus scribere ad vos quam celerrime voluimus), and then, inadscriptio, he adds the date of dispatch, while also reiterating the place (d. Id. Jun. Cypro aCrommyacride); F. 14.7 where, in the text, Cicero mentions the fact of writing while he is at theharbour, and right about to board his ship (F. 14.7.2 navem spero nos valde bonam habere, in earnsimul atque conscendi, haec scripsi), and then adds a precise date in adscriptio (d. vii id. lun.).125 *F. 8.4 is the only letter by Caelius Rufus that shows a date in adscriptio; thus we have no elementsto infer that here he added the adscribed date also in order to respect a habit or a common norm. Inother cases Caelius resorts to a phrase within the body of the text to give the date of composition (cf.

82With the exception of these few cases however, formulas in adscriptio and phrasesmentioning date or place of dispatch or composition within the text show a quite neatdistinction in their distribution throughout Cicero's correspondence. In particular, aswe have seen, adscribed dates are constantly used in the letters from Cicero's exile,and from the years 48-47, while he was following Pompey in Epirus and then waitingfor Caesar's pardon in Brundisium, while 'dating' phrases within the text are adoptedin Cicero's letters from the campaign in Cilicia and from the following period spent inCampania as coastal guard, and also in the letters from periods in which he wasmoving through his various villas in 44. The reasons for choosing one or the other ofthese two 'dating' systems will be further discussed in the conclusion to this analysis(cf. below pp. 116-22). Yet, what we can already conclude is that formulas inadscriptio and phrases mentioning time and place of dispatch or composition withinthe text were generally perceived as two alternative methods for providing one'scoordinates. Despite the possible loss of formulas in adscriptio in the process ofpublication and transmission of Cicero's correspondence, our conclusion is furtherconfirmed by a case such as A. 11.9, which interrupts a stretch of letters that give thedate in adscriptio (A. 11.6 through 12, and in general the greatest majority of theletters of A. 11 and of the year spent in Brundisium), by instead closing the letter withthe phrase A. 11.9.3 Haec ad te die natali meo scripsi; quo utinant susceptus nonessem, aut ne quid ex eadem matre postea natum esset! plura scribere fletuprohibeor.*F. 8.9.2 and *F. 8.10.3). For the rest it is however possible that more of his letters contained dates inadscriptio than what we see in the text we read now (cf. above pp. 51-6).126 Similarly also another letter (A. 10.4) belonging to this same period of time, alternates with lettersshowing a date in adscriptio (A. 10.3 and A. 10.5), and instead gives a precise date through a phrase setin the middle of the letter: A. 10.4.7 Cum haec scripsissem, a Curione mihi nuntiatum est eum ad mevenire, venerat enim is in Cumanum vesperi pridie, id est Idibus.

83II.2.C - Writing letters and traveling: forms and syntactical structures,information provided and practical issues at the origin of the phrases, emphaticuse of some of themPhrases mentioning time and place of composition or dispatch of the letter at hand notonly are mostly used in letters written while away from home, and especially whilemoving from place to place, but quite many of them also explicitely insist on the factthat the writer is composing the letter while traveling:• In a few occasions this is expressed by means of the adverbial phrase in itinere: Q.2.6.4 dictaveram conscripseramque in itinere, A. 6.4.3 Haec festinans scripsi initinere atque agmine, or also Caesar in *A. 9.6A.1 properarem atqueessem in itinere praemissis iam legionibus, praeterire tamen nonpotui quin etscriberem ad te; cf. the phrase ex itinere in adscriptio in *A. 10.8B, also byCaesar.• Yet in most cases a subordinate clause, most often a circumstantial structure (acum clause, a circumstantial participle, or a combination of both), stresses thecoincidence in time between the action of writing or dispatching a letter, morefrequently set in the main clause, and that of arriving somewhere (A. 4.1.1 Cumprimum Romam veni, A. 7.15.2 Capuam cum venissem, A. 7.17.5 in Formiano,quo Capua redieram) or making a stop (F. 3.8.10 cum castra haberem, F. 7.18.3cum... devertissem), or going somewhere (iens in A. 4.9.2, A. 16.1.1, or A 4.10.2vadebam and A. 5.15.3 Iter... faciebam), or departing (exiens in A. 14.7.1 and *A.15.6.2, egrediens in A. 12.1.1, or above all with the verbproficiscor in A. 5.2.1, A.5.5.1, A. 5.11.4, A. 5.17.1, A. 7.14.1, A 7.18.1, A. 7.19.9, A. 8.2.4, A 14.5.3, A15.1a.l,A 16.13.3, F. 2.8.3, F 16.3.1, Q. 3.4.6, and cf. alsoproficiscens inadscriptio in A. 3.7, F. 16.5) or embarking on a boat (with conscendo in A. 6.8.4,

84A. 14.16.1, A 16.3.6, F. 14.7.2), or being right on the go, especially aboard somemeans of transportation (A. 5.16.1 eramus in cursu [...] subsedi in ipsa via, dumhaec... tibiperscriberem, A. 5.17.1 sedens in raeda cum in castraproficiscerer, A.15.18.1 cumprofectus essem et in lacu navigarem, A. 16.7.8 navigans cumPompeianum accederem; also cf. A. 5.14.1 below and Q. 2.6.4, A. 6.4.3, *A.9.6A. 1 using the phrase in itinere above).• In a few instances, the same association between writing or dispatching a letterand traveling emerges instead through the juxtapposition of two coordinatedclauses, like in A. 4.2 A nam ut veni Romam, iterum nunc sum certior factus essecui darem litteras; itaque has alteras dedi, A. 5.14.1 nunc iterconficiebamusaestuosa etpulverulenta via. dederam Ephesopridie; has dedi Trallibus, A. 7.21.1eo enim die ego Capua discessi et mansi Calibus. inde has litteras postridie antelucem dedi, A. 7.16.2 Capua profectus sum Formias a. d. IllKal;eodem die cumCalibus tuas litteras horafere nona accepissem, has statim dedi, *F. 12.13.3127Nos ex ora maritima Asiae provinciae et ex insulis quas potuimusnavisdeduximus, [...] Cyprumpetivimus. ibi quae cognovimusscribere advos quamcelerrimevoluimusThe following list shows all of the occurrences, organized by collection, of phrasesdepicting the action of writing or dispatching the letter at hand while traveling:A. AAA Cumprimum Romam veni fuit cui recte ad te litteras darem, nihilpriusfaciendum mihi putavi quam ut tibi absenti de reditu gratularer. [October 57]A. 4.2.1 nam ut veni Romam, iterum nunc sum certior factus esse cui darem litteras; itaquehas alteras dedi. [October 57]A. 4.9.2 a. d. IIII Kal. Mai. iens in Pompeianum bene mane haec scripsi. [55]A. 4.10.2 Pompeius in Cumanum Parilibus venit. misit ad me statim qui salutem nuntiaret.ad eum postridie mane vadebam cum haec scripsi. [55]127 Cicero in fact used to make a stop in Cales when going from Capua to Formiae and viceversa.

85A. 5.2.1 A. d. VI Id. Mat, cum has dabam litteras, ex Pompeiano proficiscebar. ut eo diemanerem in Trebulano apud Pontium; deinde cogitabam sine ulla mora iusta itinera facere.[51]A. 5.5.1 tantum tamen scito, Id. Mai. nos Venusia mane proficiscentis has dedisse. [51]A. 5.11.4 Ego hasprid. Non. Quint, proficiscens Athenis dedi, cum ibi decern ipsosfuissemdies. [51]A. 5.14.1 Ante quam aliquo loco consedero, neque longas a me neque semper mea manulitteras exspectabis; cum autem erit spatium utrumque stabo. nunc iterconficiebamus aestuosa etpulverulenta via, dederam Epheso pridie; has dedi Trallibus. inprovincia mea fore me putabam Kal. Sext. [July 51]A. 5.153 Iter Laodicea faciebam a. d. Ill Non. Sext. cum has litteras dabam, in castra inLycaoniam. [51]A. 5.16.1 Etsi in ipso itinere et via discedebant publicanorum tabellarii et eramus in cursu.tamen surripiendum aliquidputavi spati, ne me immemorem mandati tui putares. itaquesubsedi in ipsa via, dum haec, quae longiorem desiderant orationem, summatim tibiperscriberem. [August 51]A. 5.17.1 hanc epistulam dictavi sedens in raeda cum in castra proficiscerer. a quibusaberam bidui. [August 51]A. 6.4.3 Haec festinans scripsi in itinere atque agmine. [June 50]A. 6.8.4 Kal. Oct. Epheso conscendentes hanc epistulam dedimus L. Tarquitio simul eportuegredienti sed expeditius naviganti. [50]A. 7.14.1 A. d. VI Kal. Febr. Capuam Calibus proficiscens. cum leviter lippirem, has litterasdedi. [49]A. 7.15.2 Capuam cum venissem a. d. VI Kal., pridie quam has litteras dedi, consulesconveni multosque nostri ordinis. [49]A. 7.16.2 Capua profectus sum Formias a. d. HI Kal.; eodem die cum Calibus tuas litterashorafere nona accepissem, has statim dedi. [49]A. 7.17.5 Ego IIII Non. Febr., quo die has litteras dedi, in Formiano, quo Capua redieram.mulieres exspectabam; quibus quidem scripseram tuis litteris admonitus ut Romaemanerent. [49]A. 7.18.1 ipse cumfratre Capuam ad consules (Nonis enim adesse iussi sumus) III Non.profectus sum, cum has litteras dedi. [49]A. 7.19.9 Capuam tamen proficiscebar haec scribens, quofacilius de Pompei rebuscognoscerem. [49, same day as 7.18]A. 7.21.1 veni Capuam ad Non. Febr., ita ut iusserant consules. eo die Lentulus venit sero.alter consul omnino non venerat vii Id.; eo enim die ego Capua discessi et mansi Calibus.inde has litteras postridie ante lucem dedi. [49]A. 8.2.4 Ego XIII Kal., cum eadem lucerna hanc epistulam scripsissem qua inflammaramtuam, Formiis ad Pompeium, si depace ageretur, profectus; si de bello, quid ero? [49]A. 12.1.1 Undecimo die postquam a te discesseram hoc litterularum exaravi egrediens evilla ante lucem, atque eo die cogitabam in agnino, postero autem in Tusculano, ibiunum diem: V Kal. igitur ad constitutum. [December 46]A. 14.5.3 Haec scripsi ad te proficiscens Astura III Id. [April 44]A. 14.7.1 ego e Formiano exiens XVII Kal. ut inde altero die in Puteolanum scripsi haec.[April 44]

86A. 14.16.1 V Non. conscendens ab hortis Cluvianis inphaselum epicopum has dedilitter as, cum Piliae nostrae villam adLucrinum, vilicos, procuratores tradidissem. [May 44]A. 15.1a.l Heri dederam ad te litteras exiens ePuteolano deverteramque in Cumanum. [...]mansi igitur eo die in Sinuessano atque inde mane postridie Arpinum proficiscens hancepistulam exaravi. [May 44]A. 15.18.1 XVII KaL, etsi satis videbar scripsisse ad te quid mihi opus esset et quid tefacerevellem, si tibi commodum esset, tamen cum profectus essem et in lacu navigarem, Tironemstatui ad te esse mittendum, ut iis negotiis quae agerentur interesse, atque etiam scripsiadDolabellam me, si ei videretur, velleproficisci peti que ab eo de mulis vecturae.[June 44]A. 16.1.1 Non. Quint, veni in Puteolanum.postridie iens adBrutum in Nesidem haec scripsi.[44]A. 16.3.6 Haec ego conscendens e Pompeiano tribus actuariolis decemscalmis. [July 44]A. 16.7.8 Haec scripsi navigans cum Pompeianum accederem XIIII Kal. [August 44]A. 16.13.3 O casum mirificuml vld. cum ante lucem de Sinuessano surrexissemvenissemque diluculo adpontem Tirenum qui est Minturnis, in quoflexus est ad iterArpinas, obviam mihi fit tabellarius [...] itaque eo die mansi Aquini. longulum sane iter etvia mala, inde postridie mane proficiscens has litteras dedi. [November 44]F. 2.8.3 Ego, cum Athenis decern ipsos dies fuissem multumque mecum Gallus nosterCaninius, proficiscebar inde prid. Non. Quint., cum hoc ad te litterarum dedi. [51, to M.Caelius Rufus]F. 3.8.10 De nostris rebus quod scire vis, Tarso Non. Oct. Amanum versus profecti sumus.haec scripsi postridie eius diei, cum castra haberem in agro Moshestiae. [51, toAppius Claudius Pulcher]F. 7.18.3 has litteras scripsi in Pomptino, cum ad villam M. Aemili Philemonis devertissem.ex qua iam audieram fremitum clientium meorum, quos quidem tu mihi conciliasti. [April53, to Trebatius Testa]F. 14.7.2 navem spero nos valde bonam habere, in earn simul atque conscendi. haec scripsi.[June 49, to Terentia]F 16.3.1 Nos apud Alyziam, ex quo loco tibi litteras ante dederamus, unum diem commoratisumus, quod Quintus nos consecutus non erat. is diesfuit Non. Nov. inde ante lucemproficiscentes a. d. VIII Id. Nov. has litteras dedimus. [50, to Tiro]Q. 2.6A A. d. Vld. Apr. ante lucem hanc epistulam dictaveram conscripseramque in itinere.ut eo die apud T. Titium in Anagnino manerem. [56]Q. 3.4.6 Haec scripsi a. d. Villi Kal. Nov., quo die ludi committebantur, in Tusculanumproficiscens ducensque mecum Ciceronem meum in ludum discendi, non lusionis, ea re nonlongius, quod vellem, quod Pomptino ad triumphum a. d. 1III Non. Nov. volebam adesse.[54]*A. 9.6A. 1 Cum Furnium nostrum tantum vidissem neque loqui neque audire meo commodopotuissem, properarem atque essem in itinere praemissis iam legionibus, praeteriretamen non potui quin et scriberem ad te et ilium mitterem gratiasque agerem, etsi hoc etfecisaepe et saepius mihifacturus videor. [March 49, by Caesar]*A. 15.6.2 Rure iam redierim quaeris. an ego, cum omnes caleant, ignaviter aliquidfaciam? etiam ex urbe sum profectus, utilius enim statui abesse. has tibi litteras exiens inTusculanum scripsi. noli autem me tarn strenuum putare ut ad Nonas recurram. [June 44, byHirtius]

87*F. 12.13.3 Nos ex ora maritima Asiae provinciae et ex insulis quas potuimus navisdeduximus, dilectum remigum magna contumacia civitatum tamen satis celeriter habuimus,secuti sumus classem Dolabellae, cui L. Figulus praeerat. qui spem saepe transitionispraebendo neque umquam non decedendo novissime Cory cum se contulit et clausoportu setenere coepit. nos ilia relicta, quod et in castra pervenire satius esse putabamus etsequebatur classis altera, quam annopriore in Bithynia Tillius Cimber compararat,Turullius quaestor praeerat, Cyprum petivimus. ibi quae cognovimus scribere ad vos quamcelerrime voluimus. [June 43, by C. Cassius]This long list of passages first of all shows the diffusion of two actual practices. Thefirst is the habit of dispatching one's letters right before moving from one place toanother: early in the morning as everyone who needed to travel was about to depart,last minute letters could be given to those who were going in the direction of one'saddressees; if one was then embarked in a longer journey, this procedure could berepeated at any stop of the itinerary: cf. A. 7.21.1 eo enim die ego Capua discessi etmansi Calibus. inde has litteraspostridie ante lucem dedi. . So:• This explains the frequency of phrases such as has litteras dedi proficiscens orconscendens, 'I dispatched this as I was leaving/ embarking (on a boat)': A. 5.2.1cum has dabam litteras, ex Pompeianoproficiscebar,A. 5.5.1 tantum tamen scito,[...] nos Venusia maneprojiciscentis has dedisse, A. 5.11.4 Ego hasprid. Non.Quint, proficiscens Athenis dedi, A. 7.14.1 Capuam Calibus proficiscens,[...] haslitteras dedi, A. 16.13.3 inde postridie mane proficiscens has litteras dedi, F. 2.8.3proficiscebar inde [...] cum hoc ad te litterarum dedi, F 16.3.1 inde ante lucemproficiscentes a. d. VIII Id. Nov. has litteras dedimus, and cf. also in adscriptio A.3.7 data prid. Kal. Mai. Brundisio proficiscens, F. 16.5 Leucadeproficiscens viiId. Nov.; or with conscendo A. 14.16.1 conscendens ab hortis Cluvianis inphaselum epicopum has dedi litteras, and A. 6.8.4 Kal. Oct. Ephesoconscendentesbanc epistulam dedimus L. Tarquitio simul eportu egredienti sed expeditiusnaviganti (where L. Tarquitius, who was here the courier, happened to go in the128 Also presenting the letter as written while stationing at a stop are A. 7.16.2, F. 3.8.10, F. 7.18.3;instead the letter is written upon the arrival at one's destination in A 4.2.1, A. 7.15.2, A. 7.17.5.

same direction as Cicero, but expected to be travelling faster). The tense ofproficisor and conscendo is either present or imperfect and always stresses thecontemporaneity between the action of dispatching the letter and that of beingready for departure; an exception is A. 7.18.1 ipse cumfratre Capuam ad consules(Nonis enim adesse iussi sumus) IIINon. profectus sum, cum has litter as dedi,where the perfect profectus sum actually works as a rather generical epistolarytense: in fact this longish letter seems to have been written some time beforeleaving and as Cicero was just imagining to dispatch it, as soon as he would leave;yet a few hours later he received a new letter from Atticus and so he decided tocompose a second brief letter in reply to it, this time really quickly written justbefore leaving: A. 7.19 Capuam tamen prqficiscebar haec scribens, quofacilius dePompei rebus cognoscerem.• Quite frequent are in fact also phrases such as haec scripsi/ exaravi proficiscens orexiens or egrediens, that, like A. 7.19, are always set in rather short letters, writtenvery quickly just as one was about to leave: A. 14.5.3 Haec scripsi ad teproficiscens Astura, A. 15.1 a. 1 mansi igitur eo die in Sinuessano atque inde manepostridie Arpinumproficiscens hanc epistulam exaravi. Q. 3.4.6 Haec scripsi [...]in Tusculanum proficiscens, A. 12.1.1 hoc litterularum exaravi egrediens e villaantelucem,A. 14.7.1 ego eFormiano exiens [...] scripsi haec, *A. 15.6.2 has tibilitteras exiens in Tusculanum scripsi; and cf. also, with scripsi implied, A. 16.3.6Haec ego conscendens e Pompeiano tribus actuariolis decemscalmis.The presentparticiple again emphasizes how composing the letter is the very last thing onedoes as he is just ready to leave;the future participle instead is attested onlyIn general on n the use of the present participle to express an ingressive aspect of the action,particularly with verbs of'going', cf. HOFFMAN-SZANTYR (1963: 234).

89once in A. 8.2.4 Ego XIII Kal., cum eadem lucerna hanc epistulam scripsissemqua inflammaram tuam, Formiis ad Pompeium, si de pace ageretur,profectus; si de bello, quid ero?, which is in fact a longer letter evidentlycomposed with a bit more ease a few hours before the time of departure.• It is very likely that also those phrases employing verbs that mean 'going' and not'departing' or 'leaving', still refer to the action of quickly writing a letter beforedeparting and not of actually writing it while traveling; the present or imperfecttense can be emphasizing again only the fact that one is writing, just as he is readyfor departure. This can certainly be the case in the two short letters closed by thephrases: a. d. IIIIKal. Mai. iens in Pompeianum bene mane haec scripsi (A.4.9.2), and Pompeius in Cumanum Parilibus venit. misit ad me statim qui salutemnuntiaret. ad eumpostridie mane vadebam cum haec scripsi (A. 4.10.2); yet alsothe longer A 16.1, opened by the words Non. Quint, veni in Puteolanum. postridieiens ad Brutum in Nesidem haec scripsi, could have actually been written anddispatched before the departure. Maybe the same interpration can also be given toA. 5.17.1 hanc epistulam dictavi sedens in raeda cum in castraproficiscerer, aquibus aberam bidui, which could vividly depict Cicero as composing this letter in ahurry (cf. a few lines below sed nunc propero. perscribam ad tepaucis diebusomnia), while already seated on his wagon and waiting to go; 130 yet the letter isnot too short and, above all, Cicero says he is dictating it, therefore perhaps reallycomposing it on the road while actually delegating to somebody else the nasty taskof keeping the writing tools steady against the movements of the wagon.130 This is SHACKLETON BAILEY'S (1965-70: ad loc), following HUNTER (1913: 83): 'probably justbefore setting off on the next day's journey'.

In fact there are a few among the phrases of the list quoted above that do explicitelyattest the habit of killing one's traveling time by taking care of one's correspondence:• This, we can imagine, would be easier to do while on board of a boat, providedthat the sea is calm, than while traveling along a bumpy road. So we find Cicerowriting a letter to Atticus while approaching the Campanian shoreline, and in factclosing it with the words haec scripsi navigans cum Pompeianum accederem XIIIIKal. {A. 16.7.8). Similarly we see Cicero writing while on shipboard through the1-5 1Alban Lake on his way to Tusculum, and informing Atticus about his decisionto send Tiro back to him — evidently along with the present letter — in order to dealwith certain matters: A. 15.18.1 XVIIKal., etsi satis videbar scripsisse ad te quidmihi opus esset et quid tefacere vellem, si tibi commodum esset, tamen cumprofectus essem et in lacu navigarem, Tironem statui ad te esse mittendum, ut Usnegotiis quae agerentur interesse, atque etiam scripsi ad Dolabellam me, si eivideretur, velleproficiscipeti que ab eo de mulis vecturae. Also in F. 14.7.2in earn [navem] simul atque conscendi, haec scripsi, Cicero tells his wife he iswriting right on shipboard, this time as he is about to take off from Caieta, 132headed for Epirus and for Pompey's army; in this case he was probably going todispatch the letter at the next stop the boat would make along the Italian coast(maybe along with other letters he was going to write; cf. right after haec scripsi:deinde conscribam ad nostros familiaris multas epistulas, quibus te et Tulliolamnostram diligentissime commendabo); yet he could also have quickly handed thissort of '1 already miss you' brief note to one of his slaves going back home, after131 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1965-70: ad loc).1 * The harbor from which Cicero is taking off is not actually named in this letter, but in A. 8.3.6 whilediscussing about the project of following Pompey, Cicero had said navis et in Caieta est pa rata nobis etBrundisi; then in F. 14.7 Cicero seems to be writing just shortly after having left his wife who was nowstaying in Formiae. Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1977: ad loc.)

91having accompanied him up to the deck of the ship (cf. A. 6.8.4, A. 14.16.1 above,where conscendens seems rather to mean 'as I was ready to go on board'). 133• A letter is instead completed on the road, while Cicero is going from Rome toTusculum, in Q. 2.6 A ante lucent hanc epistulam dictaveram conscripseramque initinere (Shackleton Bailey translates 'I dictated this letter before daylight and amwriting the rest on the road'), maybe aboard the wagon itself; 134 in A. 5.16 insteadCicero opens the letter saying he is writing during a brief stop along the way: Etsiin ipso itinere et via discedebant publicanorum tabellarii et eramus in cursu,tamen surripiendum aliquidputavi spati, ne me immemorem mandati tui putares.itaque subsedi in ipsa via, dum haec, quae longiorem desiderant orationem,summatim tibiperscriberem.• In other cases, all rather short letters, the fact of writing on the go is presented inmore generical terms, and we cannot be sure whether the letter was actuallywritten right while on the move, or during a brief pause, or a longer stop. Themost vague case is Caesar's *A. 9.6A.1 properarem atque essem in itinerepraemissis iam legionibus, praeterire tamen non potui quin et scriberem ad te,which is set within an extremely short letter that does not give any furtherinformation about the ongoing journey. In the initial paragraph of A. 5.14, CiceroIn general, for the practice of reading or writing on shipboard cf. for example Cicero who beganwriting his Topica while sailing from Velia down the Tyrrhenian coast, at the end of July of 44 (F.7.19.4 itaque utprimum Velia navigare coepi, institui Topica Aristotelea conscribere, to TrebatiusTesta), or edited his de gloria a few days later, while sailing past Vibo (A. 16.6.4 cum aulem in navilegerem Academicos, agnovi erratum meum [prohoemium of the de gloria], itaque statim novumprohoemium exaravi et tibi misi. tu illud desecabis, hoc adglutinabis), or also C. Trebonius whocomposed a short poem while on his way to Athens in May of the same year (*F. 12.16 ego tamennactus in navigatione nostra pusillum laxamenti concinnavi tibi munusculum ex instituto meo et dictumcum magno nostro honore a te dictum conclusi et tibi infra subscripsi), or cf. C. Asinius Pollio'spromise in *F. 10.31.1 nunc vero nactus occasionem, postea quam navigari coeptum est, cupidissime etquam creberrimepotero scribam ad te; and in general cf. ANDRE, BASLEZ(1993: 211).134 For the practice of reading or writing aboard a means of transportation during a road trip cf. ANDRE,BASLEZ(1993:211).

vividly depicts himself in the middle of a dusty road, nunc iter conficiebamusaestuosa etpulverulenta via. dederam Epheso pridie; has dedi Trallibus, and thenhe closes the letter with the same image, habes epistulam plenam festinationis etpulveris; reliquae subtiliores erunt; this letter was maybe dictated (cf. ante quamaliquo loco consedero, neque longas a me neque semper mea manu litterasexspectabis), so perhaps it was actually written on the go and then dispatched atthe stop in Tralles. In the immediately following letter, A. 5.15, Cicero begins bysaying Laodiceam veniprid. Kal. Sext., and later Iter Laodicea faciebam a. d. IllNon. Sext. cum has litteras dabam, in castra in Lycaoniam: yet since in A. 5.16.2he says he remained in Laodicea for three days {maxima exspectatione in perditamet plane eversam in perpetuum provinciam nos venisse scito prid. Kal. Sext.,moratos triduum Laodiceae, triduum Apameae, totidem dies Synnade), it is likelythat this letter was not actually composed on the road, but rather quickly puttogether and dispatched right before leaving Laodicea; thus the imperfect iterfaciebam could be interpreted as 'I was about to beign my journey', like we haveseen for other verbs of 'going' above (cf. pp. 88-9). Finally in A. 6.4 Cicero opensthe letter saying Tarsum veni Non. Iun., then goes on with a brief account of whathe had done in the time spent there (which seems to have covered several days)and at the end he closes with the words haec festinans scripsi in itinere atqueagmine: neither this nor other letters though give us any additional information tomake an hypothesis on where Cicero may have actually written this letter (we canonly infer, from the content of A. 6.5.3, that by the end of June Cicero had movedfrom Tarsus): it is possible that he wrote it on the road like he claims, but it mightalso be that he wrote and dispatched it from Tarsus before leaving. In this case thephrase haec festinans scripsi in itinere atque agmine could have the function of

93emphasizing the picture of Cicero being right on the go, but it would actually justrefer to fact that he was generally on the move in this period. The same can be truefor all the other expressions indicating a generic 'traveling' that we seen in thepassages seen above (*A. 9.6A.l,A. 5.14.1, and A. 5.15.1) as well as for theexpression ex itinere that we find in adscriptio in *A. 10.8B.Anyway, no matter where a letter was actually written, it is interesting that a writermay decide to present the image of himself as being in the very middle of a journey.This is especially evident in this last group of passages, but it is also achieved in somemeasure by all the phrases associating the action of dispatching or writing a letter andthat of departing, arriving, or going somewhere. Some letters can emphasize the imageof the writer being on the go also not recurring to these phrases. This is for examplethe case of A. 5.12, a letter written by Cicero from the island of Delos, while on hisway to Cilicia, which begins by saying Negotium magnum est navigare atque idmense Quintili, goes on elaborating on the trip that has taken him to Delos and then isconcluded by the sentence Plura scribam ad te cum constitero; nunc eram plane inmedio mari. With this expression Cicero hyperbolically depicts himself as almost 'onboard' of the mythical floating island, although he was clearly on dry land at themoment, waiting for the sea to calm down (cf. A. 5.12.1 itaque erat in animo nihilfestinare, nee me Delo movere nisi omnia axga rugiwvpura vidissem). Cicero showsin fact a particular predilection for offering emphatic pictures of himself on the go,especially during the journey into the province (cf. e.g. the possibly emphatic closureof A. 6.4, or the picture of Cicero writing on the side of the road in A. 5.16 or seatedon his wagon in A. 5.17, or the image of the dusty road and the dusty letter framing A.5.14) - of all of his journeys this was in fact the one he could be most proud of and, as

94it will be further discussed in Ch. IV (cf. pp. 262-73), it is indeed the one he gives themost details about.II.2.d - ConclusionsThe long series of passages in which the action of writing or dispatching a letter andthat of traveling are associated, on one hand, illustrates the common habit ofdispatching letters right before moving from one place to another or that of usingone's traveling time to take care of some correspondence; on the other hand, theyoften show the writer's choice of insisting on portraying himself as being right on thego-Yet that long series of passages also suggests that phrases like a. d. IIII Kal. Mai. iensin Pompeianum bene mane haec scripsi {A. 4.9.2), withstanding their numerousvariations, are somewhat of a handy, rather stereotyped, way to give one's coordinateswhile traveling. But, unlike the bare date in adscriptio, these phrases have theadditional advantage of providing the addressee with a snapshot of one's life taken inthe very moment in which one is writing or dispatching the letter. In this they follow astrategy that, as we have seen, is employed to provide a vivid opening or closingimage to letters, even when they are not composed during a journey (cf. e.g. theopening of A. 13.38.1 Ante lucem cum scriberem contra Epicureos, de eodem oleo etopera exaravi nescio quid ad te et ante lucem dedi and above p. 64). All the more so,in letters written while traveling, these phrases, which indicate the writer's presentlocation generally along a precise date, and very frequently also mentioning the placeto which one is going to be next (like in A. 4.9.2 above), are most often set at thebeginning or the end of the letter and in this position they grant the greatest evidence

95to a piece of information that is particularly crucial when one is on the move: 135 cf. forexample the insistence with which Hirtius in *A. 15.6.2 repeats, both at the beginningand at the very end of the letter, the place where he is headed to - and where he needsto receive Cicero's response: has tibi litteras exiens in Tusculanum scripsi [...] quidsperes de illis in Tusculanum ad me scribe.Finally if one looks at the distribution of the phrases describing the action ofdispatching or writing a letter while traveling, we can certainly observe that themajority of them is set in Cicero's own letters, especially those addressed to relativesand closer friends, with whom he needed to have a more frequent exchange, and towhom therefore he needed to provide more precise indications about his movements.Yet the fact that a few occurrences are attested also in letters written by others (whichare anyway only less than one eight of those we have from Cicero himself) showshow providing one's coordinates within the body of the letter, through phrases such asHirtius' one, has tibi litteras exiens in Tusculanum scripsi, constituted a stylistic habitshared at least by those who belonged to Cicero's age and socio-cultural milieu. 136Among the passages associating the action of dispatching or writing the letter at hand and that oftraveling, we find: at the very beginning of the letter, A. AAA, A. 5.2.1, A. 5.16.1, A. 7.14.1, A. 12.1.1,A. 14.16.1,/I. 15.18.1,-4. 16.1.1, *A. 9.6A. 1; toward the beginning, A 4.2.1,/). 5.5.1, A 5.14.1, A5.17.1, A. 7.15.2, A. 7.18.1, A 7.21.1, A 14.7.1, A 15.1a.l,F. 16.3.1, *A 15.6.2; in the middle, A5.11.4, A 6.8.4, A 16.13.3,/\ 14.7.2, A 5.15.3, *F. 12.13.3; toward the end, A 6.4.3, A 7.16.2, A7.17.5, A 16.3.6, F. 2.8.3, F. 3.8.10, F. 7.18.3, Q. 2.6.4, Q. 3.4.6; at the very end, A 4.9.2, A 4.10.2, A7.19.9, A 8.2.4, A 14.5.3, A 16.7.8.136 None of the occurrences that I have been able to identiy in the letters of Cicero's correspondence arean exact parallel for a stereotyped 'dating' phrase such as A 14.5.3 Haec scripsi ad te prqficiscensAstura III Id., that is a phrase in its basic form, and complete of both indication of place and precisedate. Yet a precise date is provided through an equally basic structure at least in Caelius Rufus' *F.8.9.2 has litteras a. d. IIII Non. Sept. dedi, cum ad earn diem ne profligatum quidem quicquam erat and*F. 8.10.3 Nunc exitus est anni; nam ego has litteras a. d. XII1I Kal. Dec. scripsi. Hirtius' *A 15.6.2has tibi litteras exiens in Tusculanum scripsi then even more reflects the structure and the framingposition in the letter of the phrases that are most common in Cicero, while only providing an indicationof place (including the association of'writing and traveling') as, for example, in Cicero's A 16.3.6Haec ego conscendens e Pompeiano tribus actuariolis decemscalmis, or A 7.19.9 Capuam tamenproficiscebar haec scribens, quo facilius de Pompei rebus cognoscerem.Traces of the diffusion of phrases providing one's coordinates can perhaps be seen also in the way inwhich, in the letters we do have in the collection, authors refer to some other letters we that are notpreserved to us: cf. for example Cicero referring to some letters written by Atticus in A 1.13.1 Accepi

96II.3 - Giving date and place in which a letter is receivedRecording the date and the place in which a letter was received was certainlyimportant in order to keep careful track of one's epistolary exchange and it was meantto respond to the curiosity of one's correspondent. In fact, given the slowliness andthe uncertainties in the process of dispatch, anyone who had sent a letter wouldnatuarlly wonder whether the letter ever reached its destination and when or underwhat circumstances it was delivered to the addressee. In this way one could judge howfast and efficient the courier was and also how timely the information provided in theletter could still be.II.3.a - Talking about receiving a letter or a messenger: forms and syntacticalstructures, position in the letter, distribution in the collectionThroughout Cicero's correspondence we find an endless number or references to theact of receiving a letter or even just a message orally delivered:• In particular we see a great number of letters carefully recording when and whereone had received the letter, or letters, to which was now responding: e.g. A. 6.1.1Accept tuas litteras a. d. V Terminalia Laodiceae.• The same syntactical structures are used to describe the arrival of a letter alsowhen no indications of time or place are given, or when the letter received comesfrom somebody different than the addressee of the present response: compare fortuas Iris iam epistulas: unam a M. Cornelio quam a Tribus ei Tabernis, ut opinor, dedisti, alteramquam mihi Canusinus tuus hospes reddidit, tertiam quam, ut scribis, iam ora soluta de phaselo dedisti,A. 5.21.3 ilia tua epistula quam dedisti nauseans Buthroto, or A. 1.10.1 Cum essem in Tusculano (erithoc tibi pro illo luo 'cum essem in Ceramico'), verum tamen cum ibi essem, Roma puer a sorore tuamissus epistulam mihi abs te adlatam dedit nunliavitque eo ipso die post meridiem iturum eum qui ad teproficisceretur. eo factum est ut epistulae tuae rescriberem aliquid, brevitate temporis tarn paucacogerer scribere.

97example A 13.19.1 Commodum discesserat Hilaruslibrarius IVKal, cuidederam litteras ad te, cum venit tabellarius cum tuis litteris pridie dads, with A13.30.1 Commodum ad te miseram Demean, cum Eros ad me venit (sc. cum tuislitteris) and A. 9.12.1 Legebam tuas litteras XIIIKal, cum mihi epistula adfertur aLepta circumvallatum esse Pompeium, ratibus etiam exitus portus teneri. Yet inthe second case no information about the writer's coordinates is provided, while inthe third the letter received of course does not define any aspect of the epistolaryexchange in which it is mentioned and the information provided by it is just theequivalent of any other piece of news that the writer happens to obtain and decidesto share with his correspondent.• Similar syncactical structures are also used to describe the arrival of messengerswho do not bring letters, but news and messages orally delivered: e.g. A. 9.2a.3Vixdum epistulam tuam legeram cum ad me currens ad ilium Postumus Curtiusvenit, nihil nisi classis loquens et exercitus; eripiebat Hispanias, tenebat Asiam,Siciliam, Africam, Sardiniam, confestim in Graeciam persequebatur. In somecases the messenger in question comes from the person to whom one isresponding: e.g. F. 16.15.1 Aegypta ad me venit prid. Id. Apr. is, etsi mihinuntiavit te plane febri car ere et belle habere, tamen, quod negavit te potuisse adme scribere, curam mi attulit, et eo magis quod Hermia, quern eodem die venireoportuerat, non venerat. Yet in most cases, like in A. 9.2a.3, the messenger comesfrom somebody else and in any case this form of communication at a distance isonly analogous but not actually part of the epistolary exchange proper.Therefore in the present analysis I will only occasionally refer to these kinds of lessrelevant occurrences (reception of letters from people different than the presentcorrespondent and messages orally delivered), and I will instead focus my attention on

98those cases in which a writer says when and where he received a letter from theperson to whom he was presently responding.First of all, if we look at the distribution of the cases in which date and place of aletter's reception are given in the letter of response, we can observe that the majorityof them is attested in Atticus. Even when no precise reference is made to any place ordate of reception, most letters in Atticus anyway mention the welcome arrival of a newletter or directly respond to its content. In the other collections or in the letters writtenby Cicero's correspondents instead, date and place of a letter's reception are providedless frequently and in general there are fewer references to letters received from one'spresent correspondent. Atticus was in fact Cicero's closest friend and the one withwhom he kept the deepest and tightest epistolary exchange throughout his life: soalmost all letters Cicero wrote in this ongoing conversation responded to one justreceived from Atticus. I is then no surprise that such a frequent epistolary exchangeoften also required a particular care in tracking down the temporal and spatialcoordinates of each of its phases.A variety of phrases built with different syntactical structures can be used to describethe arrival of a letter:• Very often the place or most often only the date in which a letter is received aregiven by means of a simple phrase like accept Id. Sext. quattuor epistulas a temissas {A. 3.15.1), hinged around a series of verbs meaning either 'receiving'(accipio) or 'delivering/ being delivered' (the most common of which are adferoand reddo), or also with phrases indicating the arrival of a messenger with letters(such as venit cum litteris or praesto fuit cum litteris); all of them are mostly

99employed in the 'epistolary' perfect tense.Such short clauses are almost alwaysfollowed by a summary or a comment on the content of the letter received (e.g. A.8.11B.1 A. d. XVKal. Mart. Formiis accepi tuas litteras; ex quibus ea quae inagro Piceno gesta erant cognovi commodiora esse multo quam ut erat nobisnuntiatum, Vibullique virtutem industriamque libenter agnovi), and the letterreceived is also often identified by referring to its date of dispatch (e.g. A. 11.21.1Accepi VI kal. sept, litteras a te datas XII Kal. doloremque quern ex Quinti scelereiam pridem acceptum iam abieceram, lecta eius epistula gravissimum cepi);sometimes also the intention of writing a response right away is added (e.g. F.2.17.1 Litteras a te mihi stator tuus reddidit Tarsi a. dXVIKal. Sext. hisego ordine, ut videris velle, respondebo, and for these cases cf. also above p.62). 138Accipio is the verb most commonly used to describe the arrival of a letter, and it is always in theactive voice and almost exclusively in the perfect form accepi. In alternative, a series of verbs meaning'delivering/ being delivered' can also be employed: reddo and adfero are the most widely used, both inthe active and in the passive voice (e.g. A 8.15.1 A. d. VNon. Mart, epistulas mihi tuas Aegyptareddidit and *A. 8.12D. 1 Litterae mihi a te redditae sunt a. d. XIII Kal. Mart or A. 9.8.1 Cenantibus1I Id. nobis ac noctu quidem Statius a te epistulam brevem attulit and *A. 8.6.2 Litterae mihi a L.Domitio a. d. Xlll Kal. Mart, adlatae sunt); fairly common is also the phrase aliquis venit (cum litteris)or occasionally aliquis praestofuit (cum litteris) (e.g. A. 10.15.1 Servius cum esset apud me, Cephaliocum tuis litteris VI Id. venit or F. 3.5.1 Trallis veni a. d. VI Kal. Sext. ibi mihi praestofuit L Luciliuscum litteris mandatisque tuis); much more rarely we find the verbs do (mostly used in the passive) orperfero (only used in the passive and in contexts that stress the difficulties surpassed to achieve thesuccessful delivery of the letter) (e.g. F. 7.5.2 nam cum de hoc ipso Trebatio cum Balbo nostroloquerer accuratius domi meae, litterae mihi dantur a te and A. 14.21.1 Eros autemfestinavit ut ad melitterae Dolabellae perferrentur). Sometimes a verb of'receiving' or 'delivering' can remain implied:e.g. A. 16.1.1 Non. Quint, veni in Puteolanum. postridie iens ad Brutum in Nesidem haec scripsi. sed eodie quo veneram cenanti Eros tuas litteras (sc. reddidit).138 Other cases in which place and/ or only date of a letter's delivery are given within one simple clauseare: A 3.23.1, A 4.11.1, A 6.1.1, A. 7.2.5, A. 7.19, A 8.15.1, A 9.9.1, A 9.13.2, A 11.2.1, A 11.21.1,A 12.37.1,A 12.42.1,A 13.31.1,A 14.2.1,A 14.8.1,A 15.3.1,A 15.13.1,A 15.17.1,A. 16.11.1,A.16.14.1; F. 9.15.1, F. 10.16.1, F. 12.25.1, F. \b.92,F. 16.15.1; Q. 3.1.13; B. 2.5.1; *A8.12C.1,*A8.12D.1. Cf. also some cases in which two coordinate clauses are used juxtapposing the action ofreceiving the letter and the arrival of a messenger: e.g *frg. of Atticus letter quoted in A 7.7.1'Dionysius, vir optimus, ut mihi quoque est perspectus, et doctissimus tuique amantissitnus, RomamvenitXVKal. Ian. et litteras a te mihi reddidit', and cf. A 11.17.1;/ 7 . 11.6.1, F. 16.14.1; B. 2.5.3; andalso in sentences employing a circumstantial structure A 6.8.1, Q. 3.1.19, F. 3.7.4.For an analogous use of simple clauses in reference to a letter received from a person different than thepresent correspondent cf. for example A 15.9.1 //// Non. vesperi a Balbo redditae mihi litterae foreNonis senatum, ut Brutus in Asia, Cassius in Sicilia frumentum emendum et ad urbem mittendumcurarent. Two coordinate clauses juxtapposing the arrival of a messenger and the action of receiving

100• Also very frequent is the case in which the clause expressing the arrival of a letter,e.g. litteras a te accepi, is joined, by means of a circumstantial structure(especially cum and subjunctive), to another clause describing above all the placein which one was when the letter arrived (e.g. A. 14.19.1 Non. Mai., cum essem inPompeiano, accepi binas a te litteras, alteras sexto die, alteras quarto), oroccasionally also what one was doing (e.g. F. 7.5.2 nam cum de hoc ipso Trebatiocum Balbo nostro loquerer accuratius domi meae, litterae mihi dantur a te), andin particular, in postscript formulas, the fact that one was still writing a letter orwas about to dispatch it or had just dispatched it (e.g. A. 6.8.1 Cum instituissem adte scribere calamumque sumpsissem, Batonius e navi recta ad me venit domumEphesi et epistulam tuam reddiditIIKal. Oct., A. 12.1.2 Cum complicarem hancepistulam, f noctuabundus f ad me venit cum epistula tua tabellarius, or A.14.14.1 ego autem casu, cum dedissem ad te litteras VI Kal. satis multis verbis,tribusfere horispost accepi tuas et magni quidemponderis.).• The same range of meanings can sometimes be expressed by means of a participialstructure, most commonly in the dative case depending on the verb ofthe message are often used in reference to messages or news orally delivered: cf. for example A.11.23.2 Agusius quidam Rhodo venerat VIII Id. Quint, is nuntiabat Quintumfllium ad Caesaremprofectum III J Kal. lun., Philotimum Rhodum pridie eum diem venisse, habere ad me litteras.139 Other cases in which place and date of a letter's delivery are given recurring to a circumstantialstructure {cum and subjuncitve unless specified) are, mostly with the verb of receiving in the governingclause:A 1.10.1,A 1.20.1,/!. 2.8.1, A. 5.21.3, A. 6.9.1, A. 10.1.1,A 10.15.1, A. 14.21.1, A. 15.2.1,A16.13.1; F 2.19.1, F. 3.3.1, F. 3.4.1, F 3.11.1, F 4.2.1, F 9.18.1; & 2.14.1 1 (quo die Romam veni,accepi), Q. 3.1.8 (accepi dum sum in Arpinati), Q. 3.1.17. With the verb of receiving or reading a letterin the subordinate clause: A 2.12.4, A 10.2.1, A 13.32.1, A 15.1.2, F. 3.7.4, F. 10.12.2. Cf. also casesof coordinate clauses juxtapposing the action of receiving the letter and the arrival of a messenger: e.gA 6.8.1 Cum instituissem ad te scribere calamumque sumpsissem, Batonius e navi recta ad me venitdomum Ephesi et epistulam tuam reddidit II Kal. Oct., and also Q. 3.1.19, F. 3.7.4.For the use of circumstantial structures in reference to a letter received from a person different than thepresent correspondent cf. for example F. 15.1.2 a. d. XIII Kal. Oct., cum exercitum in Ciliciamducerem, infinibus Lycaoniae et Cappadociae mihi litterae redditae sunt a Tarcondimoto; also inreference to a message orally delivered cf. for example: F 15.4.3 interim, cum exercitu lustrato iter inCiliciam facere coepissem Kal. Sept., legati a rege Commageno ad me missi pertumultuose nequetamen non vere Parthos in Syriam transisse nuntiaverunt.

101'delivering'(e.g. A. 2.1.1 Kal. Iun. eunti mihi Antium et gladiatores M. Metellicupide relinquenti venit obviam tuuspuer. is mihi litter as abs te et commentariumconsulatus mei Graece scriptum reddidit, or A. 9.8.1 Cenantibus II Id. nobisac noctu quidem Statius a te epistulam brevem attulit).• Quite frequently instead of a subordinate structure, a coordinate one is used tojuxtappose a clause expressing the arrival of a letter and another depicting whereone was at the moment or what one was doing (e.g. A. 3.7.1 Brundisium veni a. d.XIIII Kal. Mai. eo diepueri tui mihi a te litteras reddiderunt, et alii pueri postdiem tertium eius diei alias litteras attulerunt, or A. 14.18.1 atque ego ad eum VIIIId. litteras dederam bene mane, eodem autem die tuas litteras vesperi acceperamin Pompeiano sane celeriter tertio abs te die).• Finally Cicero seems to be particularly fond of structures that stress the suddenand almost 'miraculous' arrival of a letter - an aspect that is of course meant toemphasize how much he is appreciating the letter just received. So we find severaloccurrences of the inverted cum (e.g. A. 5.19.1 Obsignaram iam epistulam earnquam puto te modo perlegisse scriptam mea manu, in qua omnia continentur, cum140 See above n. 94.141 Other cases in which place and date of a letter's delivery are given recurring to a participial structureare: A 2.16.1, A 7.1.1,/I. 14.6.1, A 14.17.1, A. 14.20.1, A 15.2.1 (combined with cum andsubjunctice), A. 16.1.1, F. 14.5.1.For the use of participial structures in reference to a letter received from a person different than thepresent correspondent cf. for example F. 3.12.4 decedenti mihi et iam imperio annuo terminate/ a. d. IllNon. Sext., cum ad Sidam navi accederem et mecum Q. Servilius esset, litterae a meis sunt redditae;also in reference to a message orally delivered cf. for example: *F. 12.15.2 Interim cum per insulas inAsiam naviganti mihi nuntiatum est classem Dolabellae in Lycia esse (by Lentulus).M " Other cases in which place and date of a letter's delivery are given recurring to coordinated clausesare: A. 3.17.1, A. 5.3.1,/(. 5.4.1 bis, A. 7.3.1, A. 9.5.1, A. 9.7.1, A. 10.11.1, A 10.17.1,/*. 11.12.1, A14.17.1,/J. 14.20.1 bis,/*. 15.4.1, A 16.1.1, F. 3.5.1, F. 7.23.4, F. 11.5.1.For the use of coordinated clauses to provide date and place in which a letter is received from a persondifferent than the present correspondent cf. for example A. 9.14.1 Miseram ad te Villi Kal. exemplumepistulae Balbi ad me et Caesaris ad eum. ecce tibi eodem die Capua litteras accepi a Q. PedioCaesarem ad se prid. Id. Marl, misisse hoc exemplo; also in reference to a message orally delivered cf.for example: A. 14.7.1 Postridie Idus Paulum in Caieta vidi. is mihi de Mario et de re publico aliqua,quaedam sane pessima.

subito Apellae tabellarius a. d. XI Kal. Oct. septimo quadragesimo die Romaceleriter (hui tarn longe!) mihi tuas litteras reddidit), or of the adverb ecce tointroduce a clause (e.g. B. 2.5.3 Ecce tibild. Apr. advolat mane Celer Pilus,qui vir, di boni, quam gravis, quam constans, quam bonarum in republicapartium! hie epistulas adfert duas, unam tuo nomine, alteram Antoni), or ofphrases hinged around the adjective mirificus or analogous words (e.g. F. 7.5.2Casus vero mirificus quidam intervenit quasi vel testis opinionis meae vel sponsorhumanitatis tuae. nam cum de hoc ipso Trebatio cum Balbo nostro loquereraccuratius domi meae, litterae mihi dantur a te); in some cases such a'miraculous' arrival can also be elaborated into a longer account, like in the livelyscene sketched in A. 2.12: o suavis epistulas tuas uno tempore mihi datas duas!quibus euayyeAia quae reddam nescio, deberi quidem plane fateor. Sed videovyxvgrjfia. emerseram commodum ex Antiati in Appiam ad Tris Tabernas ipsisCerialibus, cum in me incurrit Roma veniens Curio meus. ibidem ilico puer abs tecum epistulis. ille ex me, nihilne audissem novi. ego negare. 'Publius' inquit'tribunatumpi. petit.' 'quidais?' 'et inimicissimus quidem Caesaris, et ut omnia'inquit 'ista rescindat.' 'quid Caesar?' inquam. 'negat se quicquam de illiusadoptione tulisse.' deinde suum, Memmi, Metelli Nepotis exprompsit odium,complexus iuvenem dimisiproperans ad epistulas {A. 2.12.1-2).143 Other cases in which an inverted cum is used in a sentence providing time and place ofa lettersdelivery are: A. 2.12.1, A. 13.19.1, F. 7.23.1, F. 9.7.1. For the use of an inverted cum in reference to aletter received from a person different than the present correspondent or in reference to a messageorally delivered cf. above p. 97.Other cases in which ecce is used to introduce clauses providing time and place ofa letter's deliveryare: A. 7.19, A 16.13.2; B. 2.5.3; and within a cum and subjunctive: A. 2.8.1, A 14.19.1. For the use ofecce to introduce a clause describing the arrival ofa letter coming from a person different than thepresent correspondent cf. for example A. 8.3.7 Sed ecce nuntii scribente me haec ipsa noctu in Ca/eno,ecce litterae Caesarem ad Corfinium, Domitium Corfini cumfirmo exercitu et pugnare cupiente.Other cases in which the unexpected arrival ofa letter is introduced by words that stress its miraculousaspect are for example the introduction "Sed vide a-uyKUQ-rum' to the account in A. 2.12.1-2 (see above)or the exclamation O casum mirificum! that introduces another longish and vivid account ofa letter's

103The date and place in which a letter is received are normally mentioned at the verybeginning of the letter that one is writing in response: e.g. the opening of A. 3.15.1Accept Id. Sext. quattuor epistulas a te missas. This is true in general, also when thearrival of a letter is mentioned without providing any precise temporal or spatialcoordinate: e.g. the opening of A. 11.22.1 Diligenter mihi fasciculum reddidit Balbitabellarius. accepi enim a te litter as quibus videris vereri ut epistulas Mas acceperim.In fact even when no reference at all is actually made to the proper action of receivingthe letter, the appreciation for it or any comments and replies to its content arenormally the first topic to be discussed: e.g. the opening of F. 5.21.1 Gratae mihi tuaelitterae fuerunt; ex quibus intellexi, quod etiam sine litteris arbitrabar, te summacupiditate adfectum esse videndi mei, or of A. 5.21.1 Te in Epirum salvum venisse et,ut scribis, ex sententia navigasse vehementer gaudeo, non esse Romae meo temporepernecessario submolestefero. Granting priority to the voice and to the requests ofone's correspondent is a polite habit, that is generally shared by letter writers of anyage. Exceptions to this norm are made when there is something so important orsensational to communicate that this piece of news gains the first spot and pushes theresponse to the correspondent's letter into the second position or even further down.This is for example what happens in Q. 2.16, that Cicero writes upon having finallyreceived a letter from Quintus, just arrived in Britannia. Cicero starts with an excusefor not writing in his own hand, since he has been so busy, and with some importantpieces of news from Rome; only after that, he comes to commenting on Quintus'letter: Q.2A 6.4 venio nunc ad id quod nescio an primum esse debuerit. o iucundasdelivery in A. 16.13.1-2; and for the surprising absence of letters coming from the correspondent cf. forexample/I. 14.21.1 Cum paulo ante dedissem ad te Cassi tabellario litteras, V Id. venit nostertabellarius et quidem, portend simile, sine tuis litteris. Another vivid and slightly more elaborateaccount is in A. 2.8.1. Instead A 16.3.1-2 is an interesting case in which the arrival of a group ofmessengers bringing news from Rome and evidently a letter from Atticus as well (cf. Quae cumaudissem [...] lectis vero tuis litteris admiratus equidem sum te tarn vehementer sententiamcommutasse) suddenly induces Cicero to put an end to his journey to Greece and to go back to Rome.

104mihi tuas de Britannia litteras! timebam Oceanum, timebam litus insulae; reliqua nonequidem contemno, sedplus habent tamen spei quam timoris magisque sum sollicitusexspectatione ea quam metu. It can also happen that a new letter was delivered whileone was already responding to a previous one: therefore the reference to the arrival ofthe new letter and the response to it can appear in the middle or at the end of the onethat is being written as a postscript note: e.g. A. 4.18.5 abs teproximas litterashabebam Epheso a. d. VId. Sext. datas, where the arrival of a new letter closesCicero's letter and it is not followed by any comments, or A. 16.15.4 Obsignata iamepistula litteras ate eta Sexto accepi, which is instead extensively elaborated in threemore paragraphs. 144n.3.b - Giving date and place of a letter's reception: information provided andpractical issuesThe pieces of information that are provided while mentioning the arrival of a letter,are offered in various combinations that are analogous to what we have observed forthe dates in adscriptio and above all the other phrases that give date and place ofOther cases in which date and/ or place in which a letter was received are set at the very beginningof the letter are: A 1.10, A. 2.8.1,A 2.16.1,A 3.7.1,/). 3.15.1, A. 3.17.1,A 3.21.1, A 3.23.1, A 4.11.1,A 5.3.1, A 5.4.1, A 5.19.1, A 6.1.1, A 6.8.1, A 6.9.1, A 7.3.1, A 7.23.1, A 8.11B.1 (to Pompey), A8.15.1, A 9.5.1, A 9.7.1, A 9.8.1, A 9.9.1, A 9.12.1, A 10.1.1, A 10.2.1, A 10.11.1, A 10.15.1, A10.17.1,A 11.2.1,A 11.12.1,A 11.21.1,A 12.37.1,A 12.42.1,A 13.19.1,A 13.31.1,A 13.32.1,A14.2.1,A 14.6.1,A 14.8.1,A 14.13.1,A 14.17.1,A 14.19.1,A 14.20.1,A 14.21.1,A 15.2.1,A15.3.1,A 15.4.1,A 15.13.1,A 15.17.1,A 16.1.1,A 16.2.1,A 16.11.1,A 16.13.1,A 16.14.1;F.2.17.1 (to Gn. Sallustius), F. 2.19.1 (to Coelius Caldus), F. 3.3.1 (to Appius Pulcher), F. 3.4.1 (toAppius Pulcher), F. 3.5.1 (to Appius Pulcher), F. 3.11.1 (to Appius Pulcher), F. 4.2.1 (to ServiusSulpicius), F. 7.23.1 (to M. Fabius Gallus), F. 9.1 A (to Varro), F. 9.15.1 (to Paetus), F. 9.18.1 (toPaetus),F. 10.16.1 (to Plancus), F. 11.6.1 (to Decimus Brutus), F. 12.25.1 (toQ. Cornificius), F. 14.5.1(to Terentia), F. 16.14.1 (to Tiro), F. 16.15.1 (to Tiro); Q. 2.14.1; B. 2.4.1, B. 2.5.1; *A 8.12C.1 (byPompey to L. Domitius), *A. 8.12D.1 (by Pompey to L. Domitius). Instead they are set within the firstparagraph and preceded by only one or two sentences in: A 1.20.1, A 2.1.1, A 2.12.1, A 7.1.1, A11.17.1, A 13.38.1, A 14.14.1, A. 14.18.1, and still almost at the beginning of longer letters A 9.13.2,A 15.1.2. Finally they are set in the middle of the letter or towards the end of it in: A 5.21.3, A 7.2.5,12.1.2 (as a postscript), 16.2.3; F. 3.7.4 (to Appius Pulcher), F. 5.20.8 (to Caelius Rufus), F. 7.5.2 (toCaesar), F. 7.23.4 (to M. Fabius Gallus, as a postscript), F. 10.12.2 (to Plancus), F. 16.9.2 (to Tiro); Q.2.16.4, Q. 3.1.8, Q. 3.1.13, Q. 3.1.17, Q. 3.1.19; B. 2.5.3.

dispatch or composition (cf. above pp. 74-5). Most frequently in fact we find eitheronly the date or both the date and the place of reception, while only occasionally alsothe hour of the day is added or only the place is given. 145Of particular interest are those letters that show a precise date for both its dispatch andfor the reception of the letter to which it is responding. These cases are not many, atleast in the form in which we read Cicero's Correspondence today, due to the possibleloss of dating formulas in adscriptio in the process of publication and transmission ofmany portions of the collection (cf. above pp. 53-6). Yet, if we look at the few casesthat do show both dates, we can observe that the date in which a letter was received israrely the same as the one in which the reply is sent, since it could be very difficult tofind a courier to go back right away: 146 this anyway happens for example in A. 1.10.1Cum essem in Tusculano (erit hoc tibipro Mo tuo 'cum essem in Ceramico'), verumtamen cum ibi essem, Roma puer a sorore tua missus epistulam mihi abs te adlatamdedit nuntiavitque eo ipso die post meridiem iturum eum qui ad te proficisceretur. eofactum est ut epistulae tuae rescriberem aliquid, brevitate temporis tarn paucacogerer scribere. ]4J More frequently the reply was dispatched the next day after a1 J Only the date of a letter's reception is given in: A 3.15.1, A 3.17.1, A 3.23.1, A 4.11.1, A 5.19.1,A. 8.15.1,A9.5.1,A9.7.1,A 9.9.1, A. 9.13.2, A. 10.15.1, A 10.17.1, A 11.2.1, A 11.17.1, A 11.21.1,A 12.42.1, A 13.19.1, A 14.13.1, A 14.21.1, A 15.13.1, A 15.17.1, A 16.11.1; /T. 12.25.1, F. 16.15.1;Q. 3.1.13, Q. 3.1.17; *A. 8.12C.1, *A 8.12D.1; and with the date given in reference to a previous letteror some other event, as e.g. in A. 14.2.1 Duas a te accept epistulas fieri: A. 3.21.1, A 10.11.1, A12.37.1, A 13.32.1, F. 9.15.1, F. 16.14.1. Date and hour in: A 2.12.4, A 2.16.1, A 7.19, A 7.23.1, A9.8.1,A 11.12.1,A 13.31.1,A 14.14.1,A 15.4.1;F. 10.12.2: B. 2.5.3. Only the hour in: A 2.8.1. A.12.1.2, A 13.38.1. F. 3.7.4. F. 7.23.4. O. 3.1.19. Date, hour and place in: A 14.17.1, A 14.18.1, A14.20.1, A 16.1.1, A 16.13.1. Date and place in: A 1.20.1, A 2.1.1, A 2.12.1, A 3.7.1, A 5.3.1, A5.4.1, A 5.21.3, A 6.1.1, A 6.8.1, A 6.9.1, A 7.1.1, A 7.3.1, A 8.11B.1, A 10.1.1, A 10.2.1, A 14.6.1,A 14.8.1,A 14.19.1, A 15.1.2.A 15.2.1, A 15.3.1, A 16.14.1; F. 2.17.1, F. 2.19.1, F. 3.3.1, F. 3.4.1,F. 3.5.1, F. 4.2.1, F. 11.5.1, F. 11.6.1, F. 14.5.1, F. 16.9.2; Q. 2.14.1, Q. 3.1.8; B. 2.5.1, *frg. ofAtticus' letter inA 7.7.1. Only place in: A 1.10.1, A 7.2.5, A 16.2.3, F. 3.11. \,F. 7.5.2, F. 7.23.1, F.9.7.1, F. 9.18.1, F. 10.16.1.146 On the figures of the couriers in Cicero's correspondence, and in particular on their movements andtheir speed, cf. PEREZ (1994).147 Another case is A 11.12, which begins saying Cephatio mihi a te litteras reddidit a. d. VIII Id. Mart,vespere. eo autem die mane tabellarios miseram, quibus ad te dederam litteras. tuis tamen lectis litterisputavi aliquid rescribendum esse, and is closed by the same date viii Id. Mart, in adscriptio.

letter was received. This is for example the case in A. 2.12, where almost at thebeginning of the letter Cicero says: emerseram commodum exAntiati in Appiam adTris Tabernas ipsis Cerialibus, cum in me incurrit Roma veniens Curio meus. ibidemilico puer abs te cum epistulis, and almost at end: litteras scripsi hora decimaCerialibus, statim ut tuas legeram, sed eas eram daturus, ut putabam, postridie ei quimihi obviam venisset. 14Yet it was also very common to have to wait a few daysbefore being able to find somebody who was going in the direction of one'scorrespondent. So one might need to wait just two or three days as, for example, in A.3.23, opened by saying^, d. VKal. Dec. tris epistulas a te accepi and then closed inadscriptio by the date data prid. Kal. Dec; or many more days, like in the case of Q.3.1, which does not explicitely mention a date of dispatch, but still makes it clear thatit was written over a span of time of at least twenty days: the letter became therefore asort of diary, recording private and public news and responding to several of Quintus'Other cases in which the response is dispatched the day after a letter from one's correspondent isreceived are: A. 6.1 (beginning with Accepi tuas litteras a. d. V Terminalia Laodiceae, that is Februarythe 19 th , and closed in adscriptio by the unusual date post Leuctricam pugnam die septingentesimosexagesimo quinto, that is February the 20 lh , with an oblique reference to the day of Clodius's murdercf. SHACKLETON BAILEY [1965-70: ad loc.]), A. 6.8 (beginning with Cum instituissem ad te scriberecalamumque sumpsissem, Batonius e navi recta ad me venit domum Ephesi et epistulam tuam reddiditII Kal. Oct. [the strange format of the date, equivalent to prid. kal., is attested in a part of themanuscript tradition and accepted in the text by SHACKLETON BAILEY (1987 and 1965-70: ad loc.)],and later on in para. 4 saying Kal. Oct. Epheso conscendentes hanc epistulam dedimus L. Tarquitiosimul e portu egredienti sed expeditius naviganti), A. 6.9 (which begins with In Piraeea cum exissemprid. Id. Oct., accepi ab Acasto servo meo statim tuas litteras, later on says Ego tabellarios postero diead vos eram missurus, and finally it is closed by Id. Oct. has dedi litteras, quo die, ut scribis, CaesarPlacentiam legiones iiii. quaeso, quid nobis futurum est? in arce Athenis statio mea nunc placet.), A.9.9 (beginning with Tris epistulas tuas accepi postridie Id. erant autem IIII, III, prid. Id. datae, andclosed in adscriptio by d. liberalibus, that is xvi kal. apr.), A. 16.13.3 (O casum mirificum! v Id. cumante lucem de Sinuessano surrexissem venissemque diluculo adpontem Tirenum qui est Minturnis, inquoflexus est ad iter Arpinas, obviam mihi fit tabellarius [...] itaque eo die mansi Aquini. longulumsane iter et via mala, inde postridie mane proficiscens has litteras dedi, B. 2.4.1 Datis mane a. d. Ill Id.Apr. Scaptio litleris eodem die tuas accepi Kal. Apr. Dyrrachio datas vesperi. itaque mane prid. Id.Apr., cum a Scaptio certior factus essem non esse eos profectos quibus pridie dederam et statim ire,hoc paululum exaravi ipsa in turba matutinae salutationis. Cf. also some cases in which the dates areactually the fruit of editors' emendations, based on the content of the letter and the references to otherletters (for which I am following Shackleton Bailey's text): A. 5.3 (beginnning with A. d. V Id. Mai.veni in Trebulamim ad Pontium; ibi mihi tuae litlerae binae redditae sunt tertio abs te die. eodemautem exiens e Pompeiano Philotimo dederam ad te litteras and then closed in adscriptio by APonto ex Trebulano a.d. v id. Mai.), B. 2.5 (saying in para 3: Ecce tibi Id. Apr. advolat mane CelerPilus, and then closed in adscriptio by xiii Kal. Mai.).

letters received in the meanwhile: cf. in particular Q. 3.1.23 Quod multos diesepistulam in manibus habui propter commorationem tabellariorum, ideo multaconiecta sunt, aliud alio tempore. Quintus in fact was stationed in Britannia at thetime, along with Caesar's army, and communications with that region werepresumably rather difficult (and mostly carried through by means of public andmilitary couriers), given the rough and unsettled conditions not only of Britannia itselfbut also of most of Gallia. So at the beginning of Q. 3.1, Cicero says In Arcano a. d.iiii Id. Sept. fui and then he goes on for a few paragraphs mostly reporting on hisinspections of several family villas that he had been visiting until he came back toRome (para. 14 Romam cum venissem a. d. xiii Kal. Oct., absolutum offendi inaedibus tuis tectum); in the meanwhile seven letters from Quintus were delivered tohim at various times: 8 Venio nunc ad tuas litteras, quas pluribus epistulis accepi dumsum in Arpinati; nam mihi uno die tres sunt redditae, 13 Quarta epistula mihi redditaest Id. Sept., quam a. d. IIII Id. Sext. ex Britannia dederas, 14 Reddita etiam mihi estpervetus epistula sed sero adlata, 17 Cum hanc iam epistulam complicarem, tabellariia vobis venerunt a. d. XI Kal., septimo vicesimo die, and finally 19 Cum scripsissemhaec infima quae sunt mea manu, venit ad nos Cicero tuus ad cenam, cum Pomponiaforis cenaret. dedit mihi epistulam legendam tuam quam paulo ante acceperat. Thelatest date is then given in the closing paragraph and it is the one in which Ciceroreceived a letter from Caesar: 25 Ex Britannia Caesar ad me Kal. Sept. dedit litteras,quas ego accepi a. d. IIII Kal. Oct., satis commodas de Britannicis rebus, quibus, neadmirer quod a te nullas acceperim, scribit se sine tefuisse cum ad mare• 149accesserit.Other cases in which a response is sent more than one day after a letter is received are: after just twodays in A. 5.21 (saying in para. 4 eas Laodiceae denique, cum eo venissem, Hi Id. Febr. Laenius mihireddidit datas a. d. x Kal. Oct., and later on in para. 9 Id. Febr., quo die has litteras dedi, forum

108Finally it is appears that letting one's correspondent know when his or her letter wasreceived could be important even if one was permanently staving in one place. Sothere are several cases in which Cicero receives a letter while he is in Rome and thenkeeps record of that moment in his response; this is attested more often in theFamiliares (especially in those bulletins from Rome addressed to generals stationed invarious fronts in the years 44-43), and also in the few occurrences that we have inBrutus and Quintus, whereas this is quite rare in Atticus.Yet it is also interesting toobserve that, once again, the city of Rome is rarely named as the place of a letter'sreception and anyway it never appears in phrases like Romae or cum essem Romae:instead it is only presented as the destination of a movement, either of the person whois receiving the letter or of the messenger who delivers it: e.g. Q. 2.14.1 A. d. IIIINon.Iun., quo die Romam veni, accept tuas litteras datas Placentia, deinde alteraspostridie datas Blandenone cum Caesaris litteris refertis omni officio, diligentia,suavitate, or the fragment of Atticus' letter quoted in A. 7.7.1 'Dionysius, vir optimus,ut mihi quoque est perspectus, et doctissimus tuique amantissimus, Romam venitXVKal. Ian. et litteras a te mihi reddidit', tot enim verba sunt de Dionysio in epistulainstitueram agere Laodiceae Cibyraticum et Apamense), A. 10.17 (beginning with Prid. Id. Hortensiusad me venit scripta epistula. [...] deinde Serapion cum epistula tua; [...] deinde epistula lectacumulatissime cetera, and closed in adscriptio by xvii kal. Iun.); and cf. also through the moderneditors' restitution, F. 14.5 to Terentia (beginning with Prid. Id. Oct. Athenas venimus, cum saneadversis ventis usi essemus tardeque et incommode navigassemus. de nave exeuntibus nobis Acastuscum litteris praesto fuit uno et vicesimo die sane strenue. accepi tuas litteras, and then closed inadscriprio by Athenis a.d. xv kal. Nov.); after three days in A. 7.3 (beginning with and closed A. d.VIII Id. Dec. Aeculanum veni et ibi tuas litteras legi quas Philotimus mihi reddidit, in adscriptio bydata v Id. Dec. a Pontio ex Trebulano); after four days in A. 3.15 (beginning with Accepi Id. Sext.quattuor epistulas a te missas and closed by the date in adscriptio data xiiii kal. Sept.) and F. 10.12 toMunatius Plancus (saying in para. 2 cum a. d. VII Id. Apr. mane mihi tuas litteras M. Varisidiusreddidisset easque legissem, incredibili gaudio sum elatus, and then closed in adscriptio by Hi id. apr.);after five days in A. 3.17 (beginning with De Quintofralre nuntii nobis tristes nee varii venerant ex a.d. IIIINon. Iun. usque ad prid. Kal. Sept. eo aulem die Livineius, L. Reguli libertus, ad me a Regulomissus venit. [...] sedpostridie Sestipueri venerunt, qui a te litteras attulerunt, and closed in adscriptioby data prid. Non. Sept.); after twelve days A. 3 J (beginning with Brundisium veni a. d. XIIII Kal. Mai.eo die pueri tui mihi a te litteras reddiderunt, et alii pueri post diem tertium eius diet alias litterasattulerunt., and then closed in adscriptio by D. prid. Kal. Mai. Brundisio proficiscens).150 Date and place in which a letter is received are mentioned in letters written from Rome in: A. 1.20.1,F. 7.5.2, F. 1.23.1, F. 7.23.4, F. 9.7.1, F. 9.15.1, F. 10.12.2, F. 10.16., F. 11.5.1, F. 11.6.1, F. 12.25.1;Q. 2.14.1, Q. 3.1.17, Q. 3.1.19; B. 2.5.1, B. 2.5.3, *frg. of Atticus" letter quoted in A. 1.1.\.

tua. ]51 Anyway it is still in letters written during journeys, or anyway while awayfrom Rome, that we find the majority of cases in which time or place of a letter'sreception are mentioned. The periods in which we find the greatest concentration ofthem are the years in Cilicia, the first six months of 49 in which Cicero was guardingthe coast in Campania (especially in A. 9 and 10), and the period of April though earlyJuly (A. 14 and 15) and then of the end of October through November of 44 (A. 16), inwhich Cicero was often moving from one of his villas to the other. Numerousoccurrences are also found in other letters written while Cicero was staying at some of1 S?his villas in various moments of his life.Rome is the destination of the person who is receiving a letter or of the messenger also in: A 1.20.1Cum e Pompeiano me Romam recepissem a. d. MI Id. Mai, Cincius noster earn mihi abs te epistulamreddidit quam tu Id. Febr. dederas. ei nunc epistulae litteris his respondebo, F. 11.5.1 Lupus, familiarisnoster, cum a te venisset cumque Romae quosdam dies commoraretur, ego eram in iis locis in quibusmaxime tuto me esse arbitrabar. eo factum est ut ad te Lupus sine meis litteris rediret, cum tamencurasset tuas ad me perferendas. Romam autem veni a. d. V Id. Dec, nee habui quicquam antiquiusquam ut Pansam statim convenirem; ex quo ea de te cognovi quae maxime optabam, F. 11.6.1 Lupusnoster cum Romam sexto die Mutina venisset, postridie me mane convenit; tua mihi mandatadiligentissime exposuit et litteras reddidit. A trip back to Rome can also be recalled without naming thecity: cf. F. 7.23.1 Tantum quod ex Arpinati veneram cum mihi a te litterae redditae sunt ab eodemqueaccepi Aviani litteras, in quibus hoc inerat liberalissimum, nomina sefacturum cum venisset qua egovellem die. In other cases instead the place of reception is a specific location in the city, like the senate(F. 10.16.1 redditae sunt enim frequenti senatu Cornuto, cum isfrigidas sane et inconstantis recitassetlitteras Lepidi, B. 2.5.1 Quae litterae tuo nomine recitatae sint Id. Apr. in senatu eodemque temporeAntoni credo ad te scripsisse tuos), Cicero's home (F. 7.5.2 nam cum de hoc ipso Trebatio cum Balbonostro loquerer accuratius domi meae, litterae mihi dantur a te), or the house of a friend of his (F.9.7.1 Cenabam apud Seium, cum utrique nostrum redditae sunt a te litterae).152 Date and place in which a letter is received are mentioned in letters written while away from Romein the following periods: letters written from villas in the years 67-59, i.e. before the exile (A. 1.10.1, A.2.1.1, A 2.8.1, A 2.12.1, A. 2.12.4, A. 2.16.1) and then in the years 55-53, i.e. between the exile andCilicia (A. 4.11.1; F. 16.14.1, F. 16.15.1; Q. 3.1.8, Q. 3.1.13); letters written from the exile in 58 (A.3.7.1, A. 3.15.1, A. 3.17.1, A. 3.21.1, A. 3.23.1); letters written from Cilicia (A. 5.3.1, A 5.4.1, A 5.19.1,A 5.21.3, A 6.1.1,A 6.8.1, A 6.9.1, A 7.1.1, A 7.2.5, A 7.3.1;F. 2.17.1, F. 2.19.1, F. 3.3.1, F. 3.4.1,F. 3.5.1, F. 3.7.4, F. 3.11.1, F. 14.5.1, F. 16.9.2); letters written between January and May of 49 fromCampania (A 7.19, A 7.23.1, A 8.11B.1 [to Pompey], A 8.15.1, A 9.5.1, A 9.7.1, A 9.8.1, A 9.9.1, A9.12.1, A 9.13.2, A 10.1.1, A 10.2.1, A 10.11.1, A 10.15.1, A 10.17.1; F. 4.2.1); letters from Epirusand then from Brundisium in 48-47 (A 11.2.1, A 11.12.1, A 11.17.1, A 11.21.1); letters from variousvillas in the years 46 and, especially, 45 (A 12.1.2, A 12.37.1, A 12.42.1, A 13.19.1, A 13.31.1, A13.32.1, A 13.38.1; F. 9.18.1); letters from 44 (A 14.2.1, A 14.6.1, A 14.8.1, A 14.13.1, A 14.14.1, A14.17.1,A 14.18.1,A 14.19.1,A 14.20.1,A 14.21.1,A 15.1.2,A 15.2.1,A 15.3.1,A 15.4.1,A15.13.1, A 15.17.1, A 16.1.1,A 16.2.3,A 16.11.1, A 16.13.1, A 16.14.1); finally among the letters byCicero's correspondents, *A 8.12C.1, *A 8.12D.1 are both written by Pompey to L. Domitius fromLuceria in February of 49.

110II.3.C - Receiving a letter and travelling: forms and syntactical structures,information provided and practical issuesSo, like the phrases used to provide time and place of dispatch or composition, thosementioning date and place of a letter's reception, consitute a basic way in which onecan provide information about an ongoing journey. Furthermore also the phrasesdescribing the arrival of a letter often consist of structures explicitely stressing thecoincidence between the action of receiving the letter and that of being on the move:A. 1.20.1 Cum e Pompeiano me Romam recepissem a. d. IIHId. Mai, Cincius noster earnmihi abs te epistulam reddidit quam tu Id. Febr. dederas. ei nunc epistulae litteris hisrespondebo. [60]A. 2.1.1 Kal. Iun. eunti mihi Antium et gladiatores M. Metelli cupide relinquenti venitobviam tuuspuer. is mihi litteras abs te et commentarium consulatus mei Graece scriptumreddidit. [60]A. 2.12.2 Sed vide ovyxu@7j(/.a. emerseram commodum ex Antiati in Appiam ad TrisTabernas ipsis Cerialibus, cum in me incurrit Roma veniens Curio meus. ibidem ilicopuerabs te cum epistulis. ille ex me, nihilne audissem novi. ego negare. 'Publius' inquit'tribunatumpi. petit.' 'quidais?' 'et inimicissimus quidem Caesaris, et ut omnia'inquit 'istarescindat.' 'quid Caesar?' inquam. 'negat se quicquam de illius adoptione tulisse.' deindesuum, Memmi, Metelli Nepotis exprompsit odium, complexus iuvenem dimisi properans adepistulas. [59]A. 3.7.1 Brundisium veni a. d. XllllKal. Mai. eo die pueri tui mihi a te litteras reddiderunt,et alii pueri post diem tertium eius diei alias litteras attulerunt. [58]A. 5.3.1 A. d. V Id. Mai. veni in Trebulanum ad Pontium; ibi mihi tuae litterae binaeredditae sunt tertio abs te die. eodem autem exiens e Pompeiano Philotimo dederam ad telitteras; nee vero nunc erat sane quid scriberem. [51]A. 5.4.1 Beneventum veni a. d. VId. Mai. ibi accepi eas litteras quas tu superioribus litterissignificaveras te dedisse, ad quas ego eo ipso die dederam ex Trebulano L. Pontio. acbinas quidem tuas Beneventi accepi, quorum alteras Funisulanus multo mane mihi dedit,alteras scriba Tullius. [51]A. 5.21.4 Laenipueris te dedisse saepe ad me scripseras. eas Laodiceae denique, cum eovenissem. Hi Id. Febr. Laenius mihi reddidit datas a. d. x Kal. Oct. Laenio tuascommendationes et statim verbis et reliquo tempore probabo. [50]A. 6.9.1 In Piraeea cum exissemprid. Id. Oct., accepi ab Acasto servo meo statim tuaslitteras. [50]A. 7.1.1 Dederam equidem L. Saufeio litteras et dederam ad te unum, quod, cum non essettemporis mihi ad scribendum satis, tamen hominem tibi tarn familiarem sine meis litteris adte venire nolebam; sed, utphilosophi ambulant, has tibi redditum iri putabam prius. sin iamillas accepisti, scis me Athenas venisseprid. Id. Oct., e navi esressum in Piraeum tuas abAcasto nostro litteras accepisse, conturbatum quod cumfebre Romam venisses bono tamenanimo esse coepisse quod Acastus ea quae vellem de adlevato corpore tuo nuntiaret,

Illcohorruisse autem in e quod tuae litterae de legionibus Caesaris adferrent; et egi[sse]tecum ut videres ne quid (piXozifiia eius quern nosti nobis noceret; et, de quo iam pridem adte scripseram, Turranius autem secus tibi Brundisi dixerat (quod ex iis litteris cognovi quasa Xenone, optimo viro, accepi), cur fratrem provinciae non praefecissem exposui breviter.haecfere sunt in ilia epistula. [cf. A. 6.9.1, 50]A. 7.3.1 A. d. VIII Id. Dec. Aeculanum veni et ibi tuas litter as legi quas Philotimus mihireddidit; e quibus hancprimo aspectu voluptatem cepi, quod erant a te ipso scriptae, deindeearum accuratissima diligentia sum mirum in modum delectatus. [50]A. 10.1.1 III Non., cum in Laterium fratris venissem. accepi litter as etpaulum lectisrespiravi, quod post has ruinas mihi non acciderat; per enim magni aestimo tibifirmitudinem animi nostri et factum nostrum probari. [April 49]A. 10.2.1 Ego cum accepissem tuas litteras Non. Apr. quas Cephalio attulerat essemqueMinturnis postridie mansurus et inde protinus. sustinui me in Arcano fratris. ut, dum aliquidcertius adferretur, occultiore in loco essemus agerenturque nihilo minus quae sine nobis agipossent. [49]A. 14.8.1 Tu me iam rebare, cum scribebas, in actis esse nostris; at ego accepi XVII Kal. indeversoriolo Sinuessano tuas litteras. [April 44]A. 14.17.1 In Pompeianum veni VNon. Mai., cumpridie, ut antea ad te scripsi, Piliam inCumano collocavissem. ibi mihi cenanti litterae tuae sunt redditae quas dederas Demetriolibertoprid. Kal; in quibus multa sapienter, sed tamen talia, quern ad modum tutescribebas, ut omne consilium in fortuna positum videretur. [44]A. 14.20.1 e pompeiano navi advectus sum in Luculli nostri hospitium VI Id. horafere tertia.egressus autem e navi accepi tuas litteras quas tuus tabellarius in Cumanum attulissedicebatur Non. Mai. datas. A Lucullo postridie eademfere hora veni in Puteolanum. ibiaccepi duas epistulas, alteram Nonis, alteram VII Id. Lanuvio datas. [May 44]A. 15.2.1 XVKal. e Sinuessano proficiscens cum dedissem ad te litteras devertissemquefacutiusf in Vescino. accepi a tabellario tuas litteras; in quibus nimis multa de Buthroto.[May 44]A. 16.1.1 Non. Quint, veni in Puteolanum. postridie iens ad Brutum in Nesidem haec scripsi.sed eo die quo veneram cenanti Eros tuas litteras. [44]A. 16.13.1-2 O casum mirificum! v Id. cum ante lucem de Sinuessano surrexissemvenissemque diluculo adpontem Tirenum qui est Minturnis. in quoflexus est ad iterArpinas. obviam mihi fit tabellarius, qui me offendit %Xi%ov nkoov ogfialvovra.'. ego statim'cedo' inquam 'si quid ab Attico'. nondum legere poteramus; nam et lumina dimiseramusnee satis lucebat. cum autem luceret, ante scripta epistula ex duabus tuis prior mihi legicoepta est. ilia omnium quidem elegantissima. ne sim salvus si aliter scribo ac sentio. nihillegi humanius. itaque veniam quo vocas, modo adiutore te. sed nihil tarn ango

112arbitror, ad ea cognoscenda quae scire volebam aptiorem prudentiorem ve mittere. egoautem et tuas litteras legi libenter et audivi Lucilium diligenter. [51, to Appius Pulcher]F. 7.23.1 Tantum quod ex Arpinati veneram cum mihi a te litterae redditae sunt abeodemque accept Aviani litteras, in quibus hoc inerat liberalissimum, nomina sefacturumcum venisset qua ego vellem die. [December 46, to M. Fabius Gallus]F. 7.23.4 Quod ad me de domo scribis iterum, iam id ego proiiciscens mandaram meaeTulliae; ea enim ipsa hora acceperam tuas litteras. [idem]F. 11.5.1 Lupus, familiar is noster, cum a te venisset cumque Romae quosdam diescommoraretur, ego eram in iis locis in quibus maxime tuto me esse arbitrabar. eo factum estut ad te Lupus sine meis litteris rediret, cum tamen curasset tuas ad me perferendas. Romamautem veni a. d. VId. Dec, nee habui quicquam antiquius quam ut Pansam statimconvenirem; ex quo ea de te cognovi quae maxime optabam. [44, to D. Brutus]F. 14.5.1 Si tu et Tullia, lux nostra, valetis, ego et suavissimus Cicero valemus. Prid. Id. Oct.Athenas venimus. cum sane adversis ventis usi essemus tardeque et incommodenavigassemus. de nave exeuntibus nobis Acastus cum litteris praesto fuit uno etvicesimo die sane strenue. accept tuas litteras, quibus intellexi te vereri ne superioresmihi redditae non essent. omnes sunt redditae diligentissimeque a te perscripta sunt omnia,idque mihi gratissimum fuit. [50, to Terentia]Q. 2.14.1 A. d. IIII Non. Iun., quo die Romam veni, accepi tuas litteras datas Placentia,deinde alteras postridie datas Blandenone cum Caesaris litteris refertis omni officio,diligentia, suavitate. [54]The most frequent case is receiving a letter right upon one's arrival in a place; this canbe expressed through a variety of verbs meaning 'arriving' (above all venio, butoccasionaly also me recipio, and exeo or egredior in the sense of 'disembarking' froma boat, that is reaching a harbour), used in various kinds of circumstantial structures,but above all with cum and the subjunctive (e.g. A. 10.1.1 III Non., cum in Lateriumfratris venissem, accepi litteras, Q. 2.14.1 A. d. IIII Non. Iun., quo die Romam veni,accepi tuas litteras, F. 14.5.1 de nave exeuntibus nobis Acastus cum litteris praestofuit, F. 7.23.1 Tantum quod ex Arpinati veneram cum mihi a te litterae redditae sunt)or, even more often, in a sequence of two coordinated clauses, with the followingstructure: veni plus date and place one has reached in the first clause, ibi or eo die plusexpressions meaning 'I received your letter' or your 'letter was delivered to me' in thesecond one (e.g. A. 5.3.1 A. d. V Id. Mai. veni in Trebulanum ad Pontium; ibi mihi

113tuae litterae binae redditae sunt).Interestingly this coordinated structure takesadvantage of a kind of clause, veni plus date and place reached, that is extremelycommon as an opening formula in letters written during journeys, often followed by afew more sentences elaborating on the itinerary covered thus far: cf. for example A.5.9.1 Actium venimus a. d. XVIIKal. Quint., cum quidem et Corcyrae et Sybotismuneribus tuis, quae et Araus et meus amicus Eutychides opipare et (pi\oTr(>o

114Rather rarely then the reception of a letter is presented as happening while one isabout to leave a place: e.g. F. 7.23.4 Quod ad me de domo scribis iterum, iam id egoproficiscens mandaram meae Tulliae; ea enim ipsa hora acceperam tuas litteras} 5Sometimes a lucky coincidence allows Cicero to receive a letter while he is already onhis way, like vaA. 16.13.1 -2 O casum mirificum! v Id. cum ante lucem de Sinuessanosurrexissem venissemque diluculo adpontem Tirenum qui est Minturnis, in quoflexusest ad iter Arpinas, obviam mihifit tabellarius, qui me offendit %\t%bv TTXSOV6g(iawovra'. i56 Aside this however, there are no cases in which the reception of a letteris presented as taking place as one is 'on the go'. 1order to sail to Greece: viii Id. Sext. cum a Leucopetra profectus (inde enim tramittebam) stadia circiterccc processissem, reiectus sum austro vehementi ad eandem Leucopetram. ibi cum ventum exspectarem(erat enim villa Valeri nostri, ut familiariter essem et libenter), Regini quidam illustres homines eovenerunt Roma sane recentes, in iis Bruti nostri hospes, qui Brutum Neapoli reliquisset. [...] Quae cumaudissem, sine ulla dubitatione abieci consilium profectionis, quo mehercule ne antea quidemdelectabar. lectis vero tuis litteris admiratus equidem sum te tarn vehementer sententiam commutasse,sed non sine causa arbitrabar.When the time spent stationing at a stop in one's itinerary covers a few days, the place is geneticallyindicated by means of a locative or ablative of place, or by means of the phrase cum essem alicubi: forexample Cicero, who, in April 44, was traveling from one of his estates to the other, made a stop inFundi, where he remained for about three days, and later in Pompei where he stayed for about a week:cf. A. 14.6.1 Prid. Id. Fundis accepi tuas litteras cenans, A. 14.19.1 Non. Mai., cum essem inPompeiano, accepi binas a te litteras.155 Cf. also a few cases in which a letter received from a person different than the present correspondentor an oral message are presented as being delivered while one is about to leave a place: F. 3.12.4decedenti mihi et iam imperio annuo terminato a. d. Ill Non. Sext., cum ad Sidam navi accederem etmecum Q. Servilius esset, litterae a meis sunt redditae, *F. 4.12.2post diem tertium eius diei, cum abAthenis proficisci in animo haberem, circiter hora decima noctis P. Postumius, familiaris eius, ad mevenit et mihi nuntiavit M. Marcellum, collegam nostrum, post cenae tempus a P. Magio Cilone,familiare eius, pugionepercussum esse [...] cum non longe a Piraeo abessem, puer Acidini obviammihi venit cum codicillis (by Servius).156 Other cases of such a lucky coincidence are A. 2.12.2 (and cf. above p. for a discussion on othercases stressing the 'miraculous' arrival ofa letter) and, although presented with less emphasis, A. 2.1.1.157 The only apparent exception is given by the common use, in military bulletins, of the genericexpression in itinere in phrases mentioning the delivery ofa piece of news, either through somebody'sletter or above all through a nuntius: F. 15.1.2 a. d. XIII Kal. Oct., cum exercitum in Ciliciam ducerem,inflnibus Lycaoniae et Cappadociae mihi litterae redditae sunt a Tarcondimoto, F. 15.4.3 interim, cumexercitu lustralo iter in Ciliciam facere coepissem Kal. Sept., legati a rege Commageno ad me missipertumultuose neque tamen non vere Parthos in Syriam transisse nuntiaverunt, *A. 9.15A Cum Capuaexissemus, in itinere audivimus Pompeium Brundisio a. d. xvi Kal. Apr. cum omnibus copiis quashabuerit profectum esse (by Matius and Trebatius), *F. 11.13.2 cum in itinere essem, nuntiatum mihiest eum mortuum esse (by D. Brutus), *F. 12.15.2 Interim cum per insulas in Asiam naviganti mihinuntiatum est classem Dolabellae in Lycia esse Rhodiosque navis compluris instructas et paratas inaqua habere (by Lentulus to senate and magistrates).

115II.3.d - ConclusionsPhrases mentioning the action of receiving a letter from the person to whom one waspresently responding can be another means to provide some information about one'sbasic coordinates. Yet the date of a letter's reception is rarely the same as the one inwhich the response was composed or, even more so, dispatched: therefore thesephrases do not constitute a dating system that can actually be an alternative to theformulas in adscriptio.In general the reception of a letter are normally set at the very beginning of the letter,evidently as a sign of polite respect for one's correspondent. Therefore in the veryfrequent cases in which these phrases provide an indication of place and/ or time isthis piece of information concerning the writer's coordinates gains a position ofevidence at the beginning of the letter.The use of these phrases, like those mentioning the time and / or place of dispatch orcomposition, finds the greates number of occurrences in Cicero's own letters: morefrequently in those composed while he was far away from home or moving from oneplace to another, but basically across all periods of his life. Anyway the great majorityof cases belong to the correspondence with Atticus, with whom he kept the mostfrequent epistolary exchange. The occurrences attested in letters by Cicero'scorrespondents on the other hand show the diffusion of these phrases beyond Cicero(cf. *A. 7.7.1 quoting Atticus's letter to Cicero, *A. 8.12C.1 and *A. 8.12D.1 byPompey to L. Domitius).Finally also the phrases mentioning the reception of a letter very often consist ofstructures (either circumstantial structures or coordinated clauses) explicitely stressingthe coincidence in time between the action of receiving a letter and that of being on

116the move: most often while arriving in a place, or also while making a brief stopduring a longer journey; rarely while departing from a place. Yet, with these phrases,the temporal coincidence with the action of traveling is never really pushed at thelevel of hyperbole, as it happens with those mentioning the composition or dispatch ofthe present letter.II.4 - Giving one's coordinates in Cicero's correspondence: conclusiveremarksIn this chapter we moved from the assumption that informing a correspondent aboutone's basic coordinates, that is about when and where one received a letter, or wroteand dispatched the one at hand, was necessary in order to keep the epistolaryexchange going, especially when one was moving from one place to another.Precisely in letters written during journeys, these basic coordinates constituted themost elementary way in which one could provide information about the ongoing trip -even when no further concern or curiosity about it was assumed on the part of thecorrespondent and no further elaboration was given.The analysis of the various ways in which the writer's coordinates are communicatedin Cicero's correspondence has led us to a first set of general conclusions. First of allwe have systematically illustrated that, in addition to the traditional formula inadscriptio, a series of stereotyped expressions set within the body of the letter couldalso be used to express in what moment in time or in what place one was whilecomposing or dispatching the letter at hand, or also while receiving one from thepresent correspondent. In particular we have pointed out that, in the great majority ofcases, these alternative 'dating formulas' have an introductory or conclusive nature

117and they are set either at the beginning (almost always those mentioning the receptionof a letter and in most cases also those mentioning the dispatch of the one at hand) orat the end of a letter (most often those mentioning the composition of the letter athand): thus they have the effect of setting the important piece of information about thewriter's coordinates in the most evident positions. Furthermore, in comparison to theplain formula in adscriptio, these alternative dating phrases have the advantage ofproviding additional information (especially about one's next stop in the itinerary inletters written during journeys), and also of offering a vivid image of the writer:compare, for example, the formula in adscriptio A. 3.9 data id. Iun. Thessalonicae andthe phrases used in A. 7.14.1 A. d. VIKal. Febr. Capuam Calibusproficiscens, cumleviter lippirem, has litteras dedi, A. 16.7.8 Haec scripsi navigans cum PompeianumaccederemXIIIIKal,or B. 2.4.1 itaque maneprid. Id. Apr., cum a Scaptio certiorfactus essem non esse eos profectos quibus pridie dederam et statim ire, hocpaululumexaravi ipsa in turba matutinae salutationis, or also A. 6.9.1 In Piraeea cum exissemprid. Id. Oct., accepi ab Acasto servo meo statim tuas litteras.Secondly, our analysis has confirmed that both dates in adscriptio and dating phraseswithin the text are most frequent in letters written during journeys, or anyway whilemoving from one place to another. Yet we have also observed that, withstanding thepossibility of a loss of many dates in adscriptio due to the process of publication andtransmission of the collection, adscribed formulas and dating phrases within the letterhave a different distribution in the collection. In fact dates in adscriptio are mostfrequently attested, on one hand, in rather formal letters composed by generals onvarious military fronts (and formal are also most of the letters Cicero sent from Romethat show a date in adscriptio). On the other, they appear in Cicero's own privatecorrespondence, but mostly only in letters composed during journeys undergone in

quite sad and inactive circumstances: that is the exile, the campaign in Epirus alongwith the following forced stay in Brundisium in 48-47, and also the series of worriedletters sent to the ill Tiro on the way back from Cilicia. Dating phrases within thebody of the letter instead belong to Cicero's own letters in the great majority of cases,although attested also in those by his correspondents. Furthermore, especially thosementioning the dispatch or the composition of the letter at hand, which are the realalternative to the formula in adscriptio, are mostly concentrated in quite active periodsof Cicero's life, either as he was traveling on official grounds (while he was in Ciliciaand later as he was moving around Campania, in charge of watching the coast in 49),or as he was anyway very active (as he was moving from one villa to the other andfinally attempting to go to Greece in 44).Our conclusion is that there could be two reasons to explain these differences. On onehand with dating phrases, especially those of composition and dispatch, one can givenot only the present date and the present location, but also the place where one isgoing to be next (e.g. A. 7.14.1 A. d. VIKal. Febr. Capuam Calibusprqficiscens, cumleviter lippirem, has litter as dedi): therefore they constitute a handy system toprovide, in one single sentence, all of the important pieces of information necessary tokeep the epistolary exchange going. Thus it is not surprising to find these phrases usedwith particular frequency in periods of Cicero's life when he was on a continuous andrather rapid move. Instead the more simple formula in adscriptio is more frequent inperiods when he was still far away from Rome, but rather stationing in the same placefor longer stretches of time, like during the exile or the year in Brundisium. With onestep further on this line, let us also remember, for example, the complete absence ofeither dating phrases or dates in adscriptio in the daily correspondence kept withAtticus as Cicero remained in Astura throughout the months immediately following

119Tullia's death in 45 (A. 12). On the other hand however, there are letters written whileCicero was very much on the move (the correspondence with Tiro on the way backfrom Cilicia and also the letters from Epirus during the civil war), but that still almostexclusively employ the formula in adscriptio rather then a dating phrase. So, in theend, Cicero's preference for one dating system over the other could also stem from adifferent mental attitude in different moments of his life. In fact it seems significantthat the common and banal date in adscriptio is mostly chosen either in rather formalcorrespondence or in letters having as a real common denominator the fact ofbelonging to periods in which Cicero said he was feeling either very worried (thecorrespondence with Tiro on the way back from Cilicia) or depressed and inactive (theexile, the year in Brundisium, and also the time spent in Epirus along with thehopeless army of Pompey). On the other side it also appears significant that the moresophisticated alternative of dating phrases within the letter, that can playfully addvivid details about the writer's life, is most frequent in fairly positive and activeperiods: in particular in letters in which Cicero presents himself as traveling onaccount of reasons he could be proud of (his proconsulate in Cilicia or his office ascoastal guard in Campania), or at least not ashamed of (his movements from one ofhis beautiful villas to the other, or his attempt to go to Greece and check on his son in44).Thirdly, we have focused our attention in particular on the frequency of phrasesstressing the temporal coincidence between the action of taking care of one'scorrespondence and that of being on the move, whether leaving, or reaching a place,or being right on the go. These phrases, first of all, are shaped in a way that reflectsthe actual practice of exchanging letters during a journey. So one would normally takecare of one's correspondence while stationing at a stop: as soon as one reached a stop,

one would generally meet the couriers with new letters (cf. the frequency of phrasessuch as A. 6.9.1 In Piraeea cum exissem prid. Id. Oct., accepi ab Acasto servo meostatim tuas litteras); one's reply would be written thereafter and then dispatched rightbefore leaving for the next stop, often early in the morning as everybody in need oftraveling departed; then one could keep adding lines to the letter until the very lastminute so that one's correspondent could get news as updated as possible, untilanother courier's exchange was possible at the next stop (cf. the frequency of phrasessuch as A. 7.14.1 A. d. VI Kal. Febr. Capuam Calibusproficiscens, cum leviterlippirem, has litteras dedi). Yet it was also a common habit to take care of one'scorrespondence in order to kill one's traveling time, especially while on shipboard (cf.phrases such as A. 16.7.8 Haec scripsi navigans cum Pompeianum accederem XIIIIKal). Yet we have also recognized the existence of cases, especially in Cicero's ownletters, in which he decides to present the image of himself as being in the very middleof a journey in a rather emphatic or even hyperbolic way. This happens, above all, inthe letters from his journey into Cilicia: cf. the picture of Cicero writing during a briefstop at the side of the road in A. 5.16, or seated on his wagon in A 5.17, or the imageof the dusty road and the dusty letter framing A. 5.14, or finally the image, framing A.5.12, of Cicero almost 'on board' of the mythical floating island of Delos, while hewas stationing there and actually waiting for the sea to calm down. These more or lesshyperbolic images, but also all the other phrases picturing the writer as taking care ofhis correspondence while traveling, in the end have the effect of enhancing the imageof oneself by stressing one's painstaking activism and one's multi-tasking capacities.Thus it is not surprising to find these phrases most frequently employed in positiveand active periods of Cicero's life and, above all, during his journey into the province

- indeed of all his journeys, the one he could be most proud of and the one aboutwhich he gives in fact the most details (cf. Ch. IV in particular pp. 262-73).Finally, we can conclude here with a general observation on the thematic importanceof the 'dating' phrases we have studied in Cicero's correspondence, and, more ingeneral, of all the passages that mention what is going on and especially what one isdoing, while taking care of the present correspondence. All these phrases stem fromthe need of providing one's correspondent with the very most updated news aboutone's circumstances. This need for updating somebody else on one's present conditionas much as possible is at the origin of one of the most typical features of letter writing:a quasi-complete coincidence between the 'time of narration' and the 'time of narratedaction', to use J. G. Altman's terminology (1982: 123). Phrases such as B. 2.4.1 itaquemaneprid. Id. Apr., [...] hocpaululum exaravi ipsa in turba matutinaesalutationis orA. 7.14.1 A. d. VIKal. Febr. Capuam Calibusproflciscens, cum leviter lippirem, haslitteras dedi, ox A. 5.17.1 hanc epistulam dictavi sedens in raeda cum in castraproficiscerer, a quibus aberam bidui obtain an effect of immediacy by which, inAltman's words, epistolary writing typically "plunges the reader in medias res, so thathe feels tuned in to the hotline of events narrated as they occur by the personexperiencing them" (1982: 124). These phrases provide a real snapshot at the life ofthe writer, taken in the very moment in which he or she is writing the present letter (oreven dispatching it, or receiving one) - and putting his or her hands on the physicalmeans, the letter itself, that is the only real bridge able to connect him or her with thedistant correspondent. Thus phrases like the one of B. 2.4.1 constitute one way inwhich a letter can somehow 'recreate' the writer's presence in the eyes of thecorrespondent, one way in which it can become a 'portrait of the writer', a scribentis

imago (cf. Ov. Her. 7.183), which, especially in ancient epistolary theory, wasrecognized among the most fundamental functions a letter could have. 158Ill - A look beyond Cicero's correspondence: giving one's coordinates inother epistolary collections and in documentary lettersThe analysis conducted so far has illustrated various ways in which both Cicero andhis correspondents used to communicate their coordinates when writing a letter: inaddition to the traditional formula in adscriptio, we have seen that a series ofstereotyped phrases set within the text could also be employed to express in whatmoment in time or in what place one was while receiving a letter or, above all, whilecomposing or dispatching the one at hand. These 'dating' phrases generally add someinformation about what is going on, or especially about what one is doing whiletaking care of one's correspondence. In letters written during journeys, which is themost frequent case, these phrases often picture the writer as being on the move whiletaking care of his correspondence. Cicero, in whose letters we find the great majorityof occurrences of these phrases, seems to be particularly fond of such an alternative'dating' system; yet the fact that a number of them is also attested in the letters byCicero's correspondents demonstrates that these phrases constituted a stylistic habitshared in some measure at least by people belonging to Cicero's own age and socioculturalmilieu. In the final section of this chapter, I aim to begin inquiring whetherthe same ways to provide one's coordinates and in particular whether phrases such asA. 16.7.8 Haec scripsi navigans cum Pompeianum accederem XIIII Kal. were commonalso in other periods of time or among writers having different cultural backgrounds158 Cf. the classic work by THRAEDE (1970: 39-47 on Cicero, and 55-61 on Ovid, and 146-61 on lateantique collections).

or different purposes than Cicero and his friends. For the criteria I have adopted inselecting the material to survey at the present stage of my research cf. Ch. I n. 5.III. 1 - Documentary lettersIn documentary letters we can observe that, first of all, in quite numerous cases, noindication is given about the writer's coordinates, neither in adscriptio nor within thebody of the letter: scholars are uncertain on how to explain this lack. 159 Yet, like wehave seen happening in Cicero's correspondence, in many cases writing down the dateor the place in which the letter at hand was dispatched or composed could have wellbeen superfluous, either because obvious (especially the place of dispatch if one wasalways staying in the same spot) or because orally added by the carrier. Anyway whensomebody did need to give his or her coordinates in writing, they almost exclusivelydid so by means of a simple dating formula in adscriptio, which can occasionally befound also at the top of the letter or in margin, 1and which, like in Cicero'scorrespondence, always gives the date and sometimes also the place of dispatch. 161According to EXLER (1923: 98) 'Very frequently the letters are without any date whatsoever.Sometimes the absence of the date may be attributed to the mutilated condition of the papyrus. Butmuch more commonly the date is simply omitted. It is not practicable to give exact figures; but it isapproximately correct to say that in private letters the date is missing almost as frequently as it isgiven; and in official letters the absence of the date is not rare. The reason may be that the need ofdating the letters was not so urgent then it is at present, in view of the fact that the carrier ordinarily wasable to supply by word of mouth such information as the written document might lack'; according toBAGNALL, CRIBIORE, AHTARIDIS (2006: 91-3) dates were used more in certain periods and regions thanin others, and they are generally more frequent up to the I cent. CE, yet they admit that no satisfactoryexplanations have been offered to this phenomenon.160 Cf. EXLER (1923: 78-100) on Greek letters and CuGUSl (1992: 21 and 2002: 14) on Latin ones.Interestingly Exler observes the difference between the use of the adscribed date in letters as opposed toofficial documents not having epistolary format, which instead add the date before the text.161 In the majority of cases people give a date consisting either in year (by regnal/ imperial name),month and day: e.g. pap. CEL 154 VI f/dujs Aug(ustas) [Imp. Antonino] Aug(usto) Pio HI et AurelioCaesare Aufg(usti) Piif(ilio) cos(s); or only in month and day: e.g. pap. CEL 12 J//X EidusSeptembfres; the hour of the day is extremely rare: cf. CuGUSl (1983: 57). Also the place of dispatch ismentioned only in a few cases: e.g. pap. CEL 231 dat(a) XV Kal. Maias Alex(andriae) and, on the caseused to express the place of dispatch in latin letters, cf. FUNAIOLI (1947: 275-9). On the forms used toexpress the time cf. EXLER (1923: 78-100). focuses exclusively on the way in which the indication of

124Yet, also within the body of the letter, I have found a few occurrences of phrasesmentioning the action of writing 162 the letter at hand that provide the writer's locationand sometimes an indication of time: cf. P. Cairo Zen. 59251 [252 BCE] bra da trotaygaipov, nagaytvofiaSa aig Xifiwva, CL/finsnogaufiai/oi rjj fiacnAiovfi awg TWV bg'iwv, xa!imsAa/ifiavofiev raxawg nagaaao'^ai ngbg vfiag, P. Mich. 8.491.7 [II cent. CE] jaivojaxaivo~s SaAw, fi7i T V8f OTI sggw/j,avog i'ysi/ofiTjv aig 'Pdifir/v Il(i%wv fiTjv! ~xa xal axXrigwBTjv aigMicrjvovg, olmw 8s rrjv xa(v)rugiav(wu ayvuiv oil jag amaXt)X(jTaw aig Mitrevoug OTS aoi TTJVemoToA'rjv ravr'rjv eygacpov. SOCOTW O~S OVV, fiqTTjq, csauTJj ngoo'axs, (irjdav diorama nag!£(iotJ-£ / yw jag aig xaXbv ronov ijASov, P. Koln 1.56 [I-II cent. CE ?] jivwo-xaiv as MXw,ondaxaraibi ecpSaxa/iev elg TTJV fifjTgoTroXivlv] xa! euSewg ava^vngbg TTJV adaXyyv o~ov xa!euSvg ajgaipa o~oi, OTI angoaxonog 'qfirjv xa! ao~(l)$ , r)i/.av TWV S'awv SaAovTwv, CEL 105 tab.Vindol. 37 [I-II cent. CE?] hafec tijbi a Vindolanda scribo c[....J hibern[..] unturh..[ ] ius a.[; ]6i and for phrases mentioning the reception of a letter from thetime is given within dating formulas, both in adscriptio and within the text. He notices that generally inadscriptio we find a more elaborate date, structured in the order year, month and day, whereas withinthe text the order is exactly the opposite.162 The verb of'writing' is almost always in an epistolary past tense (the imperfect eygaipov in P. CairoZen. 59251 and P. Mich. 8.491.7, or the aorist eygail/d in P. Koln 1.56), with the only exception of thepresent tense scribo in CEL 105 tab. Vindol. 37. On epistolary tenses in Greek letters, especially intheir use with verbs of'writing' and 'dispatching', cf. KOSKENNIEMI (1956: 189-99). In particularKoskenniemi notices that the aorist eygaipa is the tense most frequently attested and normally employedin the extremely common phrase eyga\]/d aoi o-nox; 'ha eBjji, yet alternating with the perfect yiygaipa inPtolemaic papyri; the imperfect is instead typical in the recurrent phrase ore aoi eygayov, employed insentences mentioning the circumstances under which the writer is composing the present letter (e.g. P.Cairo Zen. 2.59251.2 above; and, with the pluperfect to express the writer's circumstances, e.g. P.Mich. 8.491.7 above or SB 7263.8 ore ydg kygdipofiev aoi ryv imaroX^v, ave-nenXexixeiaav •%).163 For the rest, like we have seen also in Cicero's correspondence, phrases mentioning the action ofwriting the letter at hand are much more frequently attested with a generically conclusive orintroductory function, mostly to express the purpose for writing the letter: e.g. the opening of P. Oxy1482 ygd

125present correspondent cf., for example, pap. CEL 214 O. Bu Njem 103 [259 CE] cumepistulas duas Donatus et [I]ul(ius) Max(imus) supervenerunt nono Idus Ma [...] or apri[ma] befnej. In two cases the letter containing our phrase is also concluded by aprecise date in adscriptio (P. Cairo Zen. 59251 and P. Koln 1.56, which both in factprovided only the location and a vague indication of time within the phrase), in theother two cases instead there is no date in adscriptio and the phrase really appears asan alternative to it (P. Mich. 8.491.7, containing a precise date in the immediatecontext of the phrase; the phrase concluding CEL 105 tab. Vindol. 37, whose line iscorrupted at the end, may also have been closed with a date). Like in Cicero'scorrespondence these phrases are set in evident positions in the letter: either at itsbeginning (P. Koln 1.56) or still toward the beginning (P. Cairo Zen. 59251 and P.Mich. 8.491.7), or at the very end (CEL 105 tab. Vindol. 37). Interestingly all phrasesabove picture the writer as composing the present letter while traveling: either as soonas he or she reached a place (P. Cairo Zen. 59251 ors

III.2 - Published collectionsBeyond Cicero's correspondence, none of the published epistolary collections I haveconsidered, both in Greek and in Latin, show dating formulas in adscriptio} 65 . Thuswe can conclude that adscribed dates were normally considered an unnecessaryappendix by ancient editors, as much as other elements that are still visible indocumentary material, such as the address formula written on the outside, 166 or theprotocol marked in margin by the recipient of a letter, in order to register the date ofits arrival. 167 This confirms the hypothesis that the uneven distribution of the dates inadscriptio in Cicero's correspondence may at least in part be the consequence ofdifferent editors' choices - and it also confirms the exceptionality, in the panorama ofancient epistolography, of its hybrid nature between real and publishedcorrespondence. Furthermore, in published epistolary collections, precise dates aregenerally rather rare also within the body of the letter. Yet we find numerousoccurrences of phrases mentioning the action of composing the letter at hand that stillgive some indication of time and, above all, of place: cf. Ps. Themistocles Ep. 10 aXX'sT/ii js, effii, xai in! ryjg anrjvTjg rjdrj xaSstyfisvog raurt yeyqacpa, Alciphron Ep. 4.18.2(Menander to Glycaera) a Si vw yTrsitge fie ev TleigaiaifiakaxtCpfievov- oiaSa yaq fiou ragovvrfteig aaSeveiag, ag o\ fir) (piXovvreg fie Tgucpag xai aaXaxwviag xaXew eiwB'aatv -imirreiXaitrot kv aarsi fievoutrjj ha, TO, AAqJa rijg Seou, Tain' SOTI'V, Hor. Ep. 1.10.49-50165 On the absence of date in adscriptio in Latin epistolary collections beyond Cicero"s correspondence,f. also CUGUS1 (1983: 166) and BABL (1893: 39), who however notes a few scattered occurrences ofadscribed dates in late antique christian collections.166 Cf. the simple type, for example, in CEL 61 Cassio Secundus or the more complex one addinginformation about the place where the addressee was to be found in CEL. 35 dabis Atico Luciano quiest in Girece Vindonisa.167 Cf. e.g. CEL 140 accepta VI K(alendas) Manias ann(o) VI Imp(eratoris) Traiani n(ostri) perPriscum singul(arem) Avidius Arrianus cornicular(ius) coh(ortis) //[/] lt[ura]eorum scripsiauthenticam epistulam in tabulario cohortis esse.168 In particular cf. Cic. A. 5.17.1 hanc epistulam dictavi sedens in raeda cum in castra proficiscerer, aquibus aberam bidui.

127Haec tibi dictabam postfanum putre Vacunae,/ excepto quod non simul esses, ceteralaetus, Sen. Ep. 86.1 in ipsa scipionis africani villa iacens haec tibi scribo adoratismanibus eius et ara, quant sepulchrum esse tanti viri suspicor, Pliny Ep. 10.17 haectibi, domine, in ipso ingressu meo scripsi (i.e. upon Pliny's arrival in Ephesos as aproconsul),M. Aurelius in Fronto Ep. 2.7 Ego ab hora quarta et dimidia in hanchoram scripsi et Catonis multa legi et haec ad te eodem calamo scribo et te saluto et,quam commode agas, sciscitor,5.54 reversus a conviviopatris libellum tuumaccepi, dimisso iam, ut cognosco, eo per quern fuerat allatus. rescribo igitur vesperamulta quod tu legas die crastino, 5.62 haec obambulans dictavi, nam eum motum inpraesentia ratio corpusculei desiderabat,Auson. Ep. 19.41 haec ad te breuiter etillico uesperis illius secuto mane dictaui. Ita enim tabellarius tuus, ut epistulamreferret, instabat. Symm. Ep. 5.73 cum ad proximo urbi digrederer, scribendis ad te172litteris abstinere non debui, ut te observantia prisci moris absolverem,7.69 deFormiano scribo integer valetudinis, 7.73.1 Mediolanum profectus haec scribo, etCf. also the sophisticated play of a short letter addressed by Pliny to Tacitus (ep. 1.6) and entirelydedicated to the amused account of how Pliny was writing it while in the very midst of a hunting trip:1. Ridebis, et licet rideas. Ego, ille quern nosti, apros tres et quidem pulcherrimos cepi. 'Ipse?' inquis.Ipse; non tamen ut omnino ab inertia mea et quiete discederem. Ad retia sedebam; erat in proximo nonuenabulum aut lancea, sed stilus et pugillares; meditabar aliquid enotabamque, ut si manus uacuas,plenas tamen ceras reportarem. 2. Non est quod contemnas hoc studendi genus; mirum est ut animusagitatione motuque corporis excitetur; iam undique siluae et solitudo ipsumque Mud silentium quoduenationi datur, magna cogitationis incitamenta sunt. 3. Proinde cum uenabere, licebit auctore me utpanarium et lagunculam sic etiam pugillares feras: experieris non Dianam magis montibus quamMineruam inerrare. Vale..170 In particular cf. Cic. A. 13.38.1 Ante lucem cum scriberem contra Epicureos, de eodem oleo et operaexaravi nescio quid ad te et ante lucem dedi.171 In particular cf. Cic. A. 2.23.1 nam cum vacui temporis nihil haberem et cum recreandae voculaecausa necesse esset mihi ambulare, haec dictavi ambulans.172 This is the opening of a short letter, which then goes on with elaborating more on Symmachus'respect for a polite norm that wanted the person who had left on a journey to be the one to start theepistolary exchange with those who had remained home: Nam vetere instituto hie usus increbruil, utingressi iter praelibant primitias scriptionis. Quare familiaris officii invitatus auspicio, fraternamreligionem, quam mihi semper mente exhibes, assiduo sermone testare. Vale. This practice, which isfrequently referred to in Symmachus' letters (e.g. almost with the same phrasing the opening of Ep.8.63.1 admonueras, cum proxime urbe digrederer, si vellem tibi aditum scriptionis aperire, ut priorlitteras incoharem), was part of the complex code of social norms shared by the Roman aristocracy inSymmachus' time. Cf. RlVOLTA TlBERGA (1992: ad loc).

hinc honorificentiam vobis deibitae salutationis exhibeo, Sid. Apoll. Ep. 1.5.9postquae caelestis experimenta patrocinii conducti devorsorii parte susceptus atque etiamnunc istaec inter iacendum scriptitans quieti pauxillulum operant impendo.And forphrases giving one's coordinates while mentioning the reception of a letter: cf., forexample, Ps.-Themistocles Ep. 7.1 'Hxa fioi rag emcrroXag naga o~ou xofii^wv eiq"E

dictavi, in an epistolary past tense, or here also often in the present,providing anindication of time and/ or place, and often employing a circumstantial structure todescribe what one was doing while writing (cf. Ps. Themistocles Ep. 10 km rnrjg arr^vTjgxaSefy/isvog, Alciphron Zsp. 4.18.2 kv [JeiQaisTfiaXaxt^ofisvov, Sen. Ep. 86.1 in ipsascipionis africani villa iacens, Marcus Aurelius in Fronto Ep. 5.62 obambulans,Symm. Ep. Symm. Ep. 5.73 cum ad proximo urbi digrederer, 7.73.1 Mediolanumprofectus, and with a more complex periphrasis Sid. Apoll. Ep. 1.5.9 conductidevorsorii parte susceptus atque etiam nunc istaec inter iacendum scriptitans quietipauxillulum operam impendo). Finally, in the same way we saw both in Cicero'scorrespondence and in documentary letters, we notice that most of these phrasespicture the writer as composing the letter while traveling: either while departing orafter having departed from a place (Ps. Themistocles Ep. 10, Symm. Ep. 5.73, 7.73.1),or while reaching one (Pliny Ep. 10.17 in ipso ingressu meo), or while being at a stop(Alciphron Ep. 4.18.2, Sid. Apoll. Ep. 1.5.9; and while sejourning at a villa Hor. Ep.1.10.49-50post fanumputre Vacunae, Sen. Ep. 86.1, Symm. Ep. 7.69 de Formiand).The theme of writing while 'right on the go' is particularly stressed by Ps.-Themistocles Ep. 10, which pictures the Athenian statesman as writing while alreadyseated on his carriage (km Tijg ajt^vr^q yfrrj xaSety/isvog raur! ykyqaipa, cf. Cic. A. 5.17.1hanc epistulam dictavi sedens in raeda cum in castra proficiscerer); similarlyThemistocles is presented as writing while 'at sea' in another letter, which howeverdoes not employ a phrase explicitely mentioning the action of writing: ep. 3.10>evyo[isv, WOTTSQ kyxaXauy), xar'a Ta%oq, w Tlokiiyvwre, xai k^aX%vreg kt; 'Agyoug kv174 The 'epistolary' perfect tense is used in: Pliny Ep. 10.17 scripsi, M. Aurelius in Fronto Ep. 5.62dictavi, Auson. Ep. 19.41 dictaui, Symm. Ep. 5.73 scribendis ad te Htteris abstinere non debui; aperfect is also used in Ps. Themistocles Ep. 10 jeygcKpa. The 'epistolary' imperfect is used in: Hor. Ep.1.10.49-50 dictabam. The aorist in Alciphron Ep. 4.18.2 yneil;e. Instead the present tense is found in:Sen. Ep. 86.1 scribo, M. Aurelius in Fronto Ep. 2.7 scribo, 5.54 rescribo, Symm. Ep. 7.69 scribo,7.73.1 scribo, Sid. Apoll. Ep. \.5.9 scriptitans quieti pauxillulum operam impendo.

130B-akaaaii scr/isv, o TB nXoug km Ksgxugav Tjfiw Tararai, xai veaAij s'xovrsg ra nXoTaa.7Tsg%6fis3-a. This letter was purportedly composed as Themistocles attempted to leavethe Elean port of Cyllene to reach Corcyra, where he had been held back by the badweather for three days (cf. ep. 20.1). Thus the expression s^eXSovTeg i!j 'Agyovg evSaMcro-fi io-fisv probably does not mean that Themistocles was actually writing thiswhile on ship-board during a storm, but probably that, more generically, at themoment he was on his sail route from Argos to Corcyra. However, the author of thisepistolary novel chooses an expression that anyway plays with the image of the writeras being in the very midst of a journey while giving a live report on it. This strategyresembles what we have already seen happening in Cicero's own letters: in particularcf. the hyperbolic picture Cicero gives of himself as almost 'on board' of the mythicalfloating island of Delos in A. 5.12 Negotium magnum est navigare atque id menseQuintili [...] Plura scribam ad te cum constitero; nunc eramplane in medio mari.IV - ConclusionsIn this chapter we have studied various manners in which, in ancient letters, one couldprovide his or her present coordinates, which, in letters written during journeys, is themost basic way to give information about it. In Cicero's correspondence, this can bedone either with a dating formula in adscriptio (e.g. A. 3.9 data id. Iun.Thessalonicae), or within the body of the letter, in particular by means of phrasesmentioning the action of dispatching or writing the letter at hand (e.g. A. 7.14.1 A. d.VI Kal. Febr. Capuam Calibus prqficiscens, cum leviter lippirem, has litteras dedi, orA. 16.7.8 Haec scripsi navigans cum Pompeianum accederem XIIIIKal.), or also ofreceiving one from the present correspondent (e.g. A. 6.9.1 In Piraeea cum exissemprid. Id. Oct., accept ab Acasto servo meo statim tuas litteras). From the formal point

131of view these phrases show a rather stereotyped appearence, in that they are almostalways hinged around a form of the adjective/ pronoun hie, haec, hoc in its deicticfunction, they employ a limited set of recurrent verbs, they are most often built with acircumstantial structure, mostly expressing what the writer is doing while taking careof his correspondence, and finally, in the greatest majority of cases, they are set eitherat the beginning or at the end of the letter and therefore, on one hand, they have anintroductory or conclusive function in the letter and, on the other, they set animportant piece of information in the most evident position. In comparison to thedating formulas in adscriptio, these phrases have the advantage of providingadditional information (for example, the place to which one is headed next in a trip)and of sketching a vivid little picture of the writer's life in the very moment in whichhe is handling the letter, and thus they contribute to creating a live-report effect, whichis a typical feature of epistolarity. In particular, in letters written during journeys(which is the most frequent case), these phrases providing an indication of place and/or time most often juxtappose the action of taking care of one's correspondence andthat of traveling, thus insisting on the image of the writer as, very actively, receivingletters or composing and dispatching them while right 'on the go'. In fact Ciceroresorts to such phrases, above all, in rather positive or anyway very active periods(during his proconsulate in Cilicia and the follwing months while he was movingtroughout Campania with the task of guarding the coast, and during several months in44, in which he was moving from one to the other of his villas and he made an attemptto go Greece to check on his son). Instead he preferred the more plain and banalformula in adscriptio in periods of forced inactivity or sad confusion (the exile, hiscampaign following Pompey in Epirus and the following year in Brundisium in 48-47).

Cicero seems to have been particularly fond of the alternative dating phrases we havestudied here and his letters in fact attest the greatest majority of them. Yet the fact thata number of occurrences are also found in the much narrower body of letters by hiscorrespondents demonstrates that these phrases constituted a habit that had a widerdiffusion. This has been confirmed by our analysis of a selection from documentarymaterial (also attesting dating formulas in adscriptio) and from other epistolarycollections (not attesting dating formulas in adscriptio). Thus we have reached theconclusion that phrases which, mostly set at the beginning or end of a letter, providean indication of place and/ or time while offering a snapshot at the writer's life,emerge as a common feature of ancient epistolary writing and would deserve a placewithin modern classifications of typical structures and themes in ancientepistolography. Moreover these phrases are everywhere most frequent in letterswritten during journeys, in which case they end up stressing the image of taking careof one's correspondence while traveling. Therefore phrases such as Cic. A. 16.7.8Haec scripsi navigans cum Pompeianum accederem XIIII Kal., above all, appear as atypical ingredient of letters written during journeys.

Chapter III - The ItineraryI - IntroductionIn chapter II we have analyzed the ways in which letter writers used to communicatethe most basic piece of information that is necessary to keep the epistolary exchangegoing: that is where one is at the present moment, when writing or dispatching theletter at hand, or receiving one from the present correspondent.In this chapter instead we will focus our attention on the way in which letter writersused to describe their itineraries, that is the actual movement from one place toanother. This includes both the description of the journey covered up to the presentmoment and the exposition of the itinerary planned for the immediate future. Inparticular the planned itinerary, by informing about where one is going to be next,provides a piece of information which, for the continuation of the epistolary exchange,is as indispensable as giving one's present position: cf. for example Cicero'scomplaints about the lack of such information in A. 4.16.9 Ego ad tepropterea minussaepe scribo quod certum non habeo ubi sis aut ubifuturus sis. Instead the descriptionof an itinerary already covered, especially when it is of a longer extent, is not justfunctional to the maintenance of the epistolary exchange, but it introduces additionaldetails that respond to the correspondent's curiosity or concern about the writer'sconditions and experiences along his journey: cf. for example Cicero's remarks in F.13.68.1 Gratae mihi vehementer tuae litteraefuerunt, quibus cognovi cursusnavigationum tuarum (to Servilius Isauricus).

Modern scholarship has given only very limited space to the analysis of how one'straveling experience was presented in ancient letters. Studies on ancient travel writingtackle epistolary texts almost exclusively from the point of view of their thematicchoices, rather than of the form through which those themes are expressed. 175Scholarship on ancient epistolography, on the other hand, has paid little attention totraveling as a theme, following, in this, the footsteps of ancient epistolary theorists,who exclude the trivial topics of the 'informative' letter from their discussions. 176 As aconsequence, no comprehensive study exists on the most recurrent forms that shapethe description of one's itineraries in ancient letters. 177 The same is true also forstudies focused on Cicero's correspondence in particular. 17Yet reconstructing formsand thematic selections that shaped the presentation of one's itineraries precisely inJoelle Soler's excellent exploration of the development of travel writing in antiquity brieflydiscusses epistolary travel accounts that are found in official reports, namely in the case of Pliny ep. 10,within the category of'voyages factuels' as opposed to 'voyages fictionnelles' (SOLER [2005: 43-54]).In fact Soler strives to define certain formal features that assimilate all texts describing actual journeys(e.g. the bare listing of places and dates, without more elaborate descriptions, or the use of the firstperson in many cases); yet the scope of her investigation is so wide that she really cannot offer anydiscussion of the peculiar forms that characterize travel accounts in epistolary texts. An overview ontravel accounts in Latin epistolography up to late antiquity is offered by SQUILLANTE (2005: 51-67): yether approach is eminently thematic and her analysis remains quite generic and at times even imprecise(yet she rightly observes Cicero's usage of setting a reference to his itinerary and present location at theopening of a letter). Other studies focus on specific cases in which the description of one's travelingexperience is exploited in literary letters: for example on Seneca's elaborate presentation of hisexperience of traveling in his philosophical letters: e.g. CHAMBERT (2005: 64-110), or HENDERSON(2007); yet also in this case the interest remains almost exclusively thematic.176 For a definition of'informative letter', cf. CUGUSI (1983: 106); ancient texts discussing epistolarytheory are collected in MALHERBE (1988).177 Within studies dedicated to defining the typical forms of epistolary writing, we find analyses ofsingle stylistic features and recurrent phrases that can be employed in the presentation of one'sitineraries as well: in particular HEIDEM ANN (1893: 50-7) on the frequent ellipsis of verbs of'moving'in Latin epistolary writing; CUGUSI (1983: 79-80) on the diffusion of phrases with verbs of'knowing',such as •yeivwcrxeiv ire MXca or scire te volo, in ancient, and especially Latin, epistolography, and on thesame formulas in Latin documentary letters cf. also CUGUSI (1992: 24) and (2002: 18); CUGUSI (1989:404-5 and 410) on phrases with cogito, volo and, above all, spew. Yet none of these studies focus onthe specific use of these phrases in recalling one's itineraries. Finally a separate section is dedicated towomen's letters mentioning traveling in BAGNALL, CRIBIORE, AHTARIDIS (2006: ch. 3): yet its purposeis to illustrate another aspect of an ancient woman's life through this documentary material, and verylittle is said about the recurrent forms that these letters share.178 Also within Ciceronian scholarship, we find analyses of single stylistic features that are employedalso in presenting one's itineraries: in particular MUNOZ MARTIN (1991: 340-1) on the use of phraseswith verbs of "knowing", MENNA(1955: 15-19,44-7, 61-3) on various colloquial features, PlERl (1967:209-10) on the use of pronouns of the first person.

'informative' letters can give us a better understanding of how ancient readers mayhave assessed the deviations from such typical traits, in works exploiting the letterform for various purposes.In this chapter I aim to study the ways in which both past and planned itineraries wereincluded in the letters contained in Cicero's correspondence. First I will focus on pastitineraries and secondly on planned ones, since they are slightly different in theirfunctions and their forms. In both cases I aim to study: 1) their relation with the letterin which they are contained (length of the itinerary and position in the letter); 2) thensyntacticalform (most common phrases used to introduce them, other phrases and inparticular verbs employed to express them, internal structure of the longer itineraries);3) their content (in particular what kinds of itineraries are most often described, theway in which places are listed, what aspects of the traveling experience are more oftenstressed). In conclusion then I will compare the assets obtained through the analysis ofCicero's correspondence with a preliminary survey on a selection of material drawnboth from documentary letters and from published epistolary collections, in particulardiscussing the two Greek 'epistolary novels' written in the name of Themistocles andChion of Heraclea.II - Itineraries in Cicero's correspondenceII. 1 - The form of the itinerary: Past itinerariesIn Cicero's correspondence there are different ways in which one can provide more orless elaborate information about the itinerary that has led to the place where one is atpresent:

1. Very frequently the reference to an itinerary can be extremely brief, that ismentioning only one place and only one phase of a trip: either the arrival in theplace in which one is at present (e.g. A. 15.11.1 Antium veni ante H. vi. Brutoiucundus noster adventus), or the departure from it (e.g. A. 14.5.3 haec scripsi adte proficiscens Astura Hi Id., or more rarely the departure from the previous stop,e.g. A. 3.4.1 Miseriae nostraepotius velim quam inconstantiae tribuas quod aVibone quo te arcessebamus subito discessimus), or the permanence in it (e.g. A.3.9.3 me etiam nunc istorum beneficiorum et litterarum exspectatio, ut tibiplacet,Thessalonicae tenet), or even the moment of the travel itself, if one is writingwhile in the very midst of it (e.g. A. 15.18.1 xvii Kal, etsi satis videbar scripsissead te quid mihi opus esset et quid tefacere vellem, si tibi commodum esset, tamencum profectus essem et in lacu navigarem, Tironem statui ad te esse mittendum, utiis negotiis quae agerentur interesset, atque etiam scripsi ad Dolabellam me, si eivideretur, velleproficisci petiique ab eo de mulis vecturae). In the majority ofcases, these brief references to a past or ongoing itinerary are made in connectionwith those phrases mentioning the action of receiving a letter, or of writing, ordispatching the one at hand, which have been analyzed in Chapter II 179 .Cf. other letters mentioning only one phase of a past or ongoing itinerary, described bv means of averb of'moving' (i.e. indicating the arrival in a place or the departure from it): 1) in combination with areference to the action of writing the present letter: A. 5.17.1, A. 14.5.3, A. 14.7.1, Q. 2.6.4, F. 7.18.3, F.\4.1.2,*A 9.6A, *A. 15.6.2. 2) In combination with a reference to the action of dispatching the presentletter:/). 4.2.1, A 5.2.1, A. 5.5.1, A. 7.14.1, A 1.15.2, A. 7.18.1, A. 14.16.1,/). 15.18.1. 3) Incombination with a reference to the action of receiving a letter from the present correspondent: A. 3.7.1,A. 4.13.1, A. 6.9.1,/J. 7.1.1, A 7.3.1,/). 10.1.1, Q. 2.14.1, F. 3.5.1, F. 7.23.1, F. 11.5.1; or incombination with the action of learning a piece of news or of receiving a letter from a correspondentdifferent than the present one: A. 3.4.1, F. 16.11.2, *A. 9.15a.l, *F. 10.21.2, *F. 11.20.2; or incombination with the action of waiting for a messenger or a piece of news, mostly coming from thepresent correspondent: A. 5.6.1. 4) Itinerary mentioned alone: A. 1.20A,A. 8.3.7, /I. 14.1.1,/). 14.17a.3,A. 15.11.1,/). 16.4.1, F. 9.23.1, F. 11.27.1, Frg. Nonius 632 L., *A. 9.13A.1, *F. 4.5.4., *F. 10.9.3, *F.10.15.3, *F. 10.18.4, *F. 11.4.1, *F 12.11.1, *F. 12.14.1.Instead other letters briefly mentioning only the permanence in one place are: 1) in combination withthe action of receiving a letter, a messenger, some news: A. 10.2.1, A. 14.8., /-". 2.17.1, F. 2.19.1, F.3.7.1, F. 3.11.1; 2) in combination with the action of waiting for a letter, a messenger, some news: A.3.9.3, A 3.10.1, A 3.11.1,/). 3.13.1,/). 3.14.2, A 3.15.6, A 3.19.1,/). 5.8.1, A. 9.1.3, F. 14.3.4; 3)

1372. In other cases the itinerary that has just been covered can instead be recalled in aslightly more elaborate way: either because some details of the trip are added, orbecause a longer segment of a journey is described, that is when two or threedifferent places or phases of a trip are mentioned: e.g. A. 5.13.1 Ephesum venimusa. d. xi Kal. Sext., sexagesimo et quingentesimo post pugnam Bovillam.navigavimus sine timore et sine nausea, sed tardius propter aphractorumRhodiorum imbecillitatem or *F. 12.16.1 Athenas veni a. d. XIKal. Iun. atque ibi,quod maxime optabam, vidi/ilium tuum deditum optimis studiis summaquemodestiaefama. [...] 3. ego tamen nactus in navigatione nostrapusillumlaxamenti concinnavi tibi munusculum ex instituto meo et dictum cum magnonostro honore a te dictum conclusi et tibi infra subscripsi (recalling both thearrival at the present stop and the trip to reach it), A. 7.16.2 Nos a consulibusCapuam venire iussi sumus ad Non. Febr. Capua profectus sum Formias a. d. HiKal.; eodem die cum Calibus tuas litteras horafere nona accepissem, has statimdedi (recalling the arrival in one place, the departure from it, and the permanenceat a stop on the way), F. 14.4.2 Nos Brundisii apud M. Laenium Flaccum dies XIIIfuimus, virum optimum, qui periculum fortunarum et capitis suiprae mea saluteneglexit neque legis improbissimae poena deductus est quo minus hospiti etamicitiae ius officiumque praestaret. huic utinam aliquando gratiam referrepossimus! habebimus quidem semper. Brundisio profecti sumus a. d. II Kal. Mai.per Macedoniam Cyzicum petebamus (recalling the permanence at the last placeand the departure from it). Also in the case of these slightly longer or moreelaborate itineraries, the majority is mentioned in connection with phrasespermanence in a place mentioned alone or, rarely, in combination with the actions of writing anddispatching the letter at hand: A 3.2.1, A 3.12.3, A. 9.19.1, A 12.45.1, A. 13.26.2, A. 13.52.2, A.14.21.4, A. 16.11.6,g. 1-4.2, Q. 2.13.1, F. 16.7.1, F. 7.20.1; and cf. cases mentioning a permanence inRome:F. 5.21.3, F. 6.18.5.

eferring to the action of taking care of one's correspondence (for which again cf.Ch. H). 1803. Finally we also find cases of longer itineraries, which mention four or moredifferent phases of a journey, and which often provide many additional details onone's actions along the journey. This kind of longer itineraries is often included inletters that, being part of a less frequent exchange, require a lengthier update onevents occurred over a longer stretch of time: e.g. ^4. 5.12.1 Negotium magnum estnavigare atque id mense Quintili. sexto die Delum Athenis venimus. prid. Non.Quint, a Piraeo ad Zostera vento molesto, qui nos ibidem Nonis tenuit. a. d. viiiId. ad Ceo iucunde. inde Gyarum saevo vento, non adverso. hinc Syrum, indeDelum, utroque citius quam vellemus, cursum confecimus. iam nosti aphractaRhodiorum: nihil quod minus fluctum ferrepossit. itaque erat in animo nihilfestinare, nee me Delo movere nisi omnia anqa. FVQSWVpura vidissem, followed bythe coda, at the closing of the letter, 3. Plura scribam ad te cum constitero; nunceramplane in medio mari; or Cicero's report to his brother Quintus about a tour ofinspections around their villas and properties in Q. 3.1 (Ego ex magnis caloribus(non enim meminimus maiores) in Arpinati summa cum amoenitate fluminis merefeci ludorum diebus, Philotimo tribulibus commendatis. In Arcano a. d. iiii Id.Sept. fui. [...] In Maniliano offendiDiphilum Diphilo tardiorem. [...] 3. Ex eoCf. other letters mentioning these slightly more detailed or longer itineraries: 1) in combination witha reference to the action of writing the present letter: A. 6.4.1, A. \2.\.\,A. 15.1 a. 1, F. 3.8.10, *F.12.13.3. 2) In combination with a reference to the action of dispatching the present letter: A. 5.11.4, A.5.14.1, A 5.15.1, A 6.8.1, A. 7.16.2, A. 7.17.5, A. 7.21.1, F. 2.8.3, F. 16.3.1, *F. 10.23.2-3. 3) Incombination with a reference to the action of receiving a letter from the present correspondent: A.1.20.1, A 2.12.2, F. 3.3.1 and2,A 5.3.1,A 5.4.1, A 14.17.M. 14.20.1,/f. 15.2.1,A 16.1.1, F.14.5.1; or in combination with the action of learning a piece of news or of receiving a letter from acorrespondent different than the present one: A. 3.8.1, F. 15.1.2,*F. 10.11.2, *F. 11.13.2-4; or incombination with the action of waiting for a messenger or a piece of news, mostly coming from thepresent correspondent: A. 5.10.1. 4) Itinerary mentioned alone: A. 3.22.1 and 4, A. 5.7, A. 5.9., A.5.13.1,//. 7.2.1, A. 7.8.4, A. 12.40.2, A 16.10.1, F. 3.6.4, F. 7.19, F. 14.1.3 and 7, F. 14.4.2, *F. 4.12.1-2, *F. 5.10b.l, *F. 12.16.1.

139loco recta Vitularia viaprofecti sumus in Fufidianum fundum, quern tibi proximisnundinis Arpini de Fufidio HS CCCICCCCIC emeramus. ego locum aestateumbrosiorem vidi numquam, permultis locis aquam profluentem et earn uberem.[...] 4. Id. Sept. in Lateriofui. [...] 14. Romam cum venissem a. d. xiiiKal. Oct.,absolutum offendi in aedibus tuis tectum. [...] 21. Cum Romam exArpinatirevertissem, dictum mihi est Hippodamum ad teprofectum esse). In particular thisis the also case of some of the reports or the official dispatches that generals everynow and then needed to send to each other or back to Rome; in this category wefind, for example, Cicero's detailed accounts of his movements and actions inCilicia: e.g. his official report to the senate in F. 15.2.1. Cumprid. Kal. Sext. inprovinciam venissem neque maturius propter itinerum et navigationumdifficultatem venire potuissem, maxime convenire officio meo reique publicaeconducere putavi parare ea quae ad exercitum quaeque ad rem militarempertinerent. quae cum essent a me cura magis et diligentia quam facultate et copiaconstituta nuntiique et litterae de bello a Parthis in provinciam Syriam illatocottidie fere adferrentur, iter mihi faciendum per Lycaoniam etper Isauros etperCappadociam arbitratus sum. erat enim magna suspicio Parthos, si ex Syriaegredi atque irrumpere in meam provinciam conarentur, iter eofsj perCappadociam, quod ea maxime pater et, esse facturos. 2. Itaque cum exercituperCappadociae partem earn quae cum Cilicia continens est iter feci castraque adCybistra, quod oppidum est ad montem Taurum, locavi, ut Artvasdes, rexArmenius, quocumque animo esset, sciret non procul a suis finibus exercitumpopuli Romani esse, et Deiotarum, fidelissimum regem atque amicissimum reipublicae nostrae, maxime coniunctum haberem, cuius et consilio et opibusadiuvari posset res publica. 3. Quo cum in loco castra haberem equitatumque in

Ciliciam misissem, ut et mens adventus iis civitatibus quae in ea parte essentnuntiatus firmiores animos omnium faceret et ego mature quid ageretur in Syriascire possem, tempus eius tridui quod in iis castris morabar in magno officio etnecessario mihiponendumputavi. [...] 8. Ita confirmato Mo ex eo loco castramovi. iter in Ciliciam facere institui, cum hac opinione e Cappadocia discederemut consilio vestro, casu incredibili acpaene divino regem, quern voshonorificentissime appellassetis nullo postulante quemque meaejideicommendassetis et cuius salutem magnae vobis curae esse decressetis, meusadventus praesentibus insidiis liberarit. Occasionally the suspect that previousletters might have got lost induced some writers to offer a summary of the phasesof the journey covered up to that moment: e.g. F. 16.9.1-2 Nos a te, ut scis,discessimus a. d. IIIINon. Nov. Leucadem venimus a. d. VIIIId. Nov., a. d. VIIActum. ibipropter tempestatem a. d. VIId. morati sumus. indea. d. VId.Corcyram bellissime navigavimus. Corcyrae fuimus usque ad a. d. XVIKal. Dec,tempestatibus retenti. a. d. XV Kal. inportum Corcyraeorum ad Cassiopen stadiaCXX processimus. ibi retenti ventis sumus usque ad a. d. Villi Kal. inter ea quicupideprofecti sunt multi naufragia fecerunt. 2. nos eo die cenati solvimus. indeaustro lenissimo caelo sereno node ilia et die postero in Italiam ad Hydruntemludibundi pervenimus eodemque vento postridie (id erat a. d. VII Kal. Dec.) horaIIII Brundisium venimus, eodemque tempore simul nobiscum in oppidum introiitTerentia, quae te facitplurimi. A. d. VKal. Dec. servus Cn. Planci Brundisiitandem aliquando mihi a te exspectatissimas litteras reddidit datas Id. Nov., quaeme molestia valde levarunt. utinam omnino liberassent!), in which Cicerorecapitulates for Tiro the entire itinerary he had covered after their separation,although he had been sending shorter updates all along, for at least the first part of

it (cf. letters F. 16.1, written right after the departure from Patrae on November the3 rd [i.e. Ill Nov.], through F. 16.7, written from the harbor of Corcyra onNovember the 16 th [i.e. XVKal. Dec], while F. 16.9 is written from Brundisiumon November 27 th [i.e. VKal. Dec.]). mn.l.a - Position in the letter of past itinerariesIn the majority of cases the information about where one is at the present moment andabout the itinerary followed to get there are given right at the opening of a letter, andvery often in combination with the reference to the reception of a letter from thepresent correspondent (cf. Ch. II p. 103). This happens both when the reference to theitinerary is shorter (e.g. F. 3.5.1 Trallis veni a. d. VIKal. Sext. ibi mihipraesto fuit L.Lucilius cum litteris mandatisque tuis or A. 5.13.1 Ephesum venimus a. d. xi Kal.Sext., sexagesimo et quingentesimo postpugnam Bovillam. navigavimus sinetimore et sine nausea, sed tardius propter aphractorum Rhodiorum imbecillitatem)and when it is longer. In this case the description can either go on, rathercontinuously, into the middle of the letter (e.g. F. 16.9.1-2, see above p. 140), 183 or itcan consist of a series of shorter references scattered throughout the letter (e.g. Q. 3.1,Other letters that contain considerably long and elaborate itineraries are: 1 4.1,/I. 4.15.5, 1 5.12, A5.16.1, A. 5.20.1-6, A. 5.21,1 16.6, A 16.7,^1. 16.13, A 8.11B.2,! 8.1 ID, Q. 3.1, F. 2.10, F. 15.2, F.15.4.2-8, F. 16.9.1-2, *F. 10.34, *F. 12.13.182 Other letters showing a shorter reference to the recent itinerary right at the beginning are: A. 1.20.1,A. 3.4.1,A 3.7.1, A 4.13.1.A 5.2.U. 5.3.1,1 5.4.1, A 5.6.1, 1 5.9.1, A. 5.10.1, A. 5.13.1, A. 5.17.1,A. 6.9.1,1 7.2.1,1 7.3.1,1 7.14.1,1 9.19.1,1 10.1.1,/!. 12.1.1,1 14.1.1,1 14.16.1,1 14.17.1,115.1a.l,l 15.2.1,1 15.11.1,1 15.18.1,1 16.1.1,1 16.4.1,1 16.10.1,F. 3.5.1, F. 7.23.1, F. 9.23.1,F. 14.5.1, F. 16.3.1,2.2.14.1, *1 9.13A.1, *19.15a.l, *F. S.lOb.l, *F. 10.34.1, *F. 12.11.1, *F.12.14.1. Cf. also cases in which the reference is not made to a movement, but only to the permanence ina place, either short (A. 5.8.1 Me et incommoda valetudo, e qua iam emerseram utpote cum sine febrilaborassem, et Pomptini exspectalio, de quo adhuc ne rumor quidem venerat, tenebat duodecimum iamdiem Brundisi; sed cursum exspectabamus, A. 10.2.1,1 14.8.1,1 14.19.1, F. 2.17.1, F. 3.7.1, F.3.11.1, F. 7.20.1, F. 16.7.1) or longer, especially in the period of the exile (A. 3.2.1, A. 3.10.1,/).3.11.1,13.13.1,1 3.19.1).183 Other letters opened by a longer account of the recent itinerary are: A. 3.8.1-2, A. 5.20.1-6, A.16.13.1-2, F. 16.9.1-2.

see above p. 138); 184 often letters that have been opened by a reference to the itineraryjust covered are also closed by another reference to it, which creates an elegantlyframed structure: e.g. A. 6.4.1 Tarsum veniNon. Iun. [...]. 2 Haec festinans scripsi initinere atque agmine, or, for longer itineraries, see above A. 5.12 beginning with thesentence Negotium magnum est navigare atque id mense Quintili and ending by Plura1 RSscribam ad te cum constitero; nunc eram plane in medio mari.In many cases however a reference to the journey covered up to the present momentdoes not open the letter, but shows up later, either still towards the beginning, or in thevery middle of the letter. In some cases in fact the reference to the itinerary ispostponed after more important comments or pieces of news: e.g. A. 7.21.1 De maltsnostris tuprius audis quam ego; istinc enim emanant. boni autem hinc quod exspectesnihil est. veni Capuam ad Non. Febr., ita ut iusserant consules. eo die Lentulus venitsero. alter consul omnino non venerat vii Id.; eo enim die ego Capua discessi et mansiCalibus. inde has litteras postridie ante lucem dedi, where the information aboutone's present location and recent itinerary is preceded by a bitter comment on thepresent situation; or F. 14.4.2 (see above p. 137), where the entire first paragraph ofthe letter is dedicated by Cicero to a sad complaint on his present condition of exileand on the forced separation from his family.In other cases the account of theOther letters in which a reference to the recent itinerary is made at the very opening of it and thenfollowed by other references scattered throughout the text are: A. 4.1.1 and 4-5, A. 5.15.1 and 3, A.6.8.1 and 4, A. 14.20.1 and 4, Q. 3.1 1,3,4, 14, and 21, *F. 12.16.1 and 3.185 Cf. other letters ending with a reference to the recent itinerary, which resumes or adds further detailsto what had been said earlier in the letter: 1) shorter reference to the itinerary only at the very beginningof the letter and then at the end: A. 5.12 1 and 3, A. 5.14.1 and 3, A. 6.4.1 and 2, A. 16.6.1 and 4, F.3.3.1 and 2, *A. 9.6A, *A. 15.6.2 and 3 (that is the very beginning and the very end of Hirtius' letterquoted as exemplum into the one to Atticus); 2) longer account of the itinerary, mentioned at thebeginning, then throughout the text and finally at the end of it: A. 5.16.1 and 2, A. 16.7.5, 6 and 7, F.15.2.1-2 and 8.186 Cf. other letters in which a rather brief reference to the recent itinerary is set not at the beginning ofa letter, but near it, preceded by some other topic: A. 2.\2.2,A. 4.2.\,A. 5.5.1, A. l.\.\,A. 7.15.2, A.7.18.1, A. 7.20.1,/!. 7.21.1, A. 14.7.1, F. 7.19 (second sentence of short letter), F. 11.5.1, F. 11.27.1, F.14.4.2, F. 16.11.2, *F. 11.4.1; Cf. also cases in which the permanence in a place, rather than a

143recent or ongoing journey - and of one's actions during it - is actually one among themajor topics to which the letter is dedicated, and therefore treated more or less atlength in its body, after a short introduction, or after other equally important topics.For example A. 5.11, begins with a mention of the letters recently received fromAtticus and with Cicero's umpteenth request of help for avoiding a prorogation of hisoffice as proconsul (para. 1); then it goes on with commenting on facts and newslearned from Atticus' letters (para. 2-3); finally only in para 4 and 5 Cicero comes togive an update on his ongoing journey and on his activities there (cf. in particular 4Ego has prid. Non. Quint, prqficiscens Athenis dedi, cum ibi decern ipsos fuissem dies,venerat Pomptinus, una Cn. Volusius. aderat quaestor, tuus unus Tullius aberat.aphracta Rhodiorum et dicrota Mytilenaeorum habebam et aliquid kTUKOOTlCOV. deParthis erat silentium. quod superest, di invent!. 5. Nos adhuc iter per Graeciamsumma cum admiratione fecimus, nee mehercule habeo quod adhuc quern accusemmeorum); then the letter ends with more comments on Atticus' advices and requests(para. 6-7). This is often the case with several of the longest itinerary accounts, andespecially with the military reports. 187Finally in a few letters the only reference to the recent itinerary is made towards theend of the letter. Among these cases we never find long itineraries and the reference tothe most recent phase of one's journey is almost always made in combination with themovement, is mentioned: Q. 1.4.2 nam me Pomponius et Sestius et Piso nosier adhuc Thessalonicaeretinuerunt, cum longius discedere propter nescio quos motus vetarent, or A. 12.45.1, F. 2.19.1, Q.2.13.1.187 Cf. other cases in which an account of the recent itinerary and of the actions performed during it isset not at the beginning of the letter but within its body, and treated, more or less at length, as oneamong other topics of the letter: 1) still set near the beginning of the letter: A. 8.11D.1-3, F. 2.10.2-3, F.15.4.2-8, *F. 4.12.1-2. 2) set in the middle of the letter: A. 4.15.5-6, A. 5.21.4 and 7-9, A. 5.11.4, A.7.8.4,/f. 8.11B.2,/!. 12.40.2-3,/f. 14.17a.3,F. 14.7.2 (but only very brief reference), F. 15.1.2-3,0.2.6.4, *F. 4.5.4., *F. 10.11.2, *F. 10.15.3, *F. 11.13.2-4, *F. 11.20.2, *F. 10.21.2, *F. 10.23.2-3, *F.12.13.3. Cf. also some cases in which a very brief reference to the permanence in a place, either shortor long, rather than a movement, are set in the middle of the letter: A. 3.14.2 Ego propter viaecelebritatem et cottidianam exspeclationem rerum novarvm non commovi me adhuc Thessalonica, or A.3.15.6, A 9.1.3,/f. U.26.2,A. 16.11.6, F. 14.3.4; cf. also, for a permanence in Rome, F. 5.21.3.

mention of the action of writing or dispatching the present letter (e.g. F. 2.8.3 Ego,cum Athenis decern ipsos diesfuissem multumque me cum Gallus noster Caninius,proficiscebar indeprid. Non. Quint., cum hoc ad te litter arum dedi), and, above all,almost always in combination with a reference to the departure from the presentlocation and the itinerary planned for the immediate future (e.g. *F. 10.18.4 Itaque a.d. XV Kal. lun. ab Isara castra movi: pontem tamen quern in Isarafeceram castellisduobus ad capita positis reliqui praesidiaque ibifirma posui, ut venienti Brutoexercituique eius sine mora transitus esset paratus. ipse, ut spero, diebus VIII quibus19,9,has litteras dabam cum Lepidi copiis me coniungam).Il.l.b - Recurrent syntactical structures in past itinerariesIl.l.b.i - Recurrent expressions to introduce a past itineraryLonger itineraries are sometimes preceded by an introductory phrase, stating thewriter's intention to describe the itinerary or also anticipating the most importantelements in it. So, for example, in A. 5.12 Cicero opens the letter with the complaintNegotium magnum est navigare atque id mense Quintili, which summarizes the mostimportant point about the journey from Athens to Delos that is described rather indetail right after; the letter is then elegantly closed by a sentence resuming the openingCf. other letters in which the only reference to the recent itinerary appears at the end or near the endof a letter:/!. 5.1, A. 7.16.2, A 1M.5,A. 14.5.3, F. 2.8.3, F. 3.6.6 (preceded by a long discussion ofAppius Claudius' movement to avoid Cicero, but not actually of Cicero"s own movements), F. 3.8.10,F. 7.18.3, *F. 10.9.3, *F. 10.18.4. In A. 3.22 and F. 14.1, Cicero's trip from Thessalonica toDyrrachium is mentioned as a postscript, after that he had briefly mentioned his permanence inThessalonica earlier in the letter (A. 3.22 me adhuc Plancius liberalitate sua retinet iam aliquotiensconatum ire in Epirum. [...] 4. Ego quod per Thessaliam si irem in Epirum perdiu nihil eram auditurusel quod [et] mei studiosos habeo Dyrrachinos ad eos perrexi, cum ilia superiora Thessalonicaescripsissem). Cf. also cases in which a reference is made not to a movement, but rather to thepermanence in a place, either only short (e.g. A. 14.21.4 Haec scripsi seu dictavi apposita secundamensa apud Vestorium. postridie apud Hirtium cogitabam el quidem Flsi'xiXoiJlOi) or longer (e.g. A.3.9.3 me etiam nunc istontm benefwiorum et litteranirn exspectatio, ut tibi placet, Thessalonicae tenet,A. 3.12.3; cf. also, for a permanence in Rome, F. 6.18.5).

one (Plura scribam ad te cum constitero; nunc eramplane in medio mari). In A. 5.20instead, the long account of Cicero's movements and fortunate military actions ispreceded by the introductory paragraph: Saturnalibus mane se mihi Pindenissitaedediderunt, septimo et quinquagesimo die postquam oppugnare eos coepimus. 'quid,malum? isti Pindenissitae qui sunt?' inquies; 'nomen audivi numquam.' quid egofaciam? numpotui Ciliciam Aetoliam aut Macedoniam reddere? hoc iam sic habeto,nunc hoc exercitu hie tanta negotia geripotuisse. quae cognosce £V £7TlTOJlf]: sicenim mihi concedisproximis litteris. Thus, Cicero opens up the letter bycommunicating, in an ironic way, the most important piece of news of the letter, i.e.his triumph against the city of Pindenissum; thereafter he introduces the accountproper with the phrase quae cognosce EV emTOflfj}In A. 6.8.4, again written fromCilicia, the itinerary is postponed after some comments on the news learned fromAtticus' letter; however it is considered an important topic in the letter and it is in factintroduced by the phrase Sed ad rem.Both longer and shorter itineraries can also be introduced simply by a verb of'knowing 1 or 'learning', especially with the verb scio. In particular we find phrasesmeaning 'I want you to know that', like the imperative cognosce to introduce the longaccount in A. 5.20 (see above p. 145), or the imperative scito, for example tointroduce just a brief reference to one's itinerary in *F. 12.11.1 In Syriam me189 The intention of providing a brief summary of one's recent itinerary and actions introduces a longeraccount also in: A. 5.16 (another letter from Cilicia, beginning by saying 1 Etsi in ipso itinere et viadiscedebant publicanorum tabellarii et eramus in cursu, tamen surripiendum aliquidputavi spati, neme immemorem mandati tui putares. ilaque subsedi in ipsa via, dum haec, quae longiorem desiderantorationem, summatim tibiperscriberem), A. 4.1 (written upon Cicero's triumphal return from the exile,and beginning as 4. Nunc, etsi omnia aut scripta esse a tuis arbilror aut etiam nuntiis ac rumoreperlata, tamen ea scribam brevi quae le puto polissimum ex meis litteris velle cognoscere).190 The same phrase is used to introduce a longer itinerary, that has been postponed in the letter, also inF. 2.10.2 Sed (balbi non sumus) ad rem redeamus. ut optasti, ita est. velles enim, ais, tantum modo uthaberem negoti quod esset ad laureolam satis; Parthos times quia diffidis copiis nostris. ergo itaaccidit.

profectum esse scito ad L. Murcum et Q. Crispum imp. (by Cassius Longinus).Inother cases a phrase meaning 'concerning what you wish to know' introduces theitinerary: for example cf. tamen ea scribam brevi quae te puto potissimum ex meislitteris velle cognoscere, opening the long account in A. 4.1.4, or, before a shorterreference, F. 3.8.10 De nostris rebus quod scire vis, Tarso Non. Oct. Amanum versusprofecti sumus. haec scripsi postridie eius diei, cum castra haberem in agroMoshestiae. Finally in some cases a verb of 'knowing' is used in phrasesmeaning 'as you might already know', to introduce a summary of a phase of one'sitinerary that could be already known to the addressee, provided he had received theletters previously sent: for example cf. A. 7.1.1 sin iam Mas accepisti, scis me Athenasvenisseprid. Id. Oct., e navi egressum in Piraeum tuas ab Acasto nostro litterasaccepisse, or, before a longer account, cf. F. 16.9.1 (see above p. 140), where Cicerorecapitulates his itinerary from the beginning for Tiro, despite having already sent afew updates in the meanwhile.In general however, the use of introductory phraseswith verbs of'knowing' or 'learning' is not limited to information concerning one'smovements, but it is largely attested in Cicero's correspondence to introduce pieces ofnews of any kind, either concerning oneself or others: cf, for example, A. 1.2.1 L.Iulio Caesare C. Mar do Figulo consulibus Jiliolo me auctum scito, salva Terentia,The imperative scito is also used to introduce a brief reference to one's itinerary in A. 5.5.1 tantumtamen scito, Id. Mai. nos Venusia maneproficiscentis has dedisse, or a slightly longer account in A.5.16.2. nos venisse scito prid. Kal. Sext., moratos triduum Laodiceae, triduum Apameae, totidem diesSynnade (preceded also by another introductory phrase).192 Other cases in which a verb of'knowing' is used in phrases meaning 'as you might already know'are: A. 4.13.1 Nos in Tusculanum venisse a. d. xvii Kal. Dec. video te scire, A. 5.20.1 Ephesum utvenerim nosti.193 Cf. also the phrase scire te volo (e.g. in *F. 12.11.2 scire te volo firmapraesidia vobis senatuiquenon deesse ut optima spe et maximo animo rem publicam defendas, and, in reference to a planneditinerary, in A. 14.22.1), which is commonly used in documentary letters, both in Latin and in Greek{yewwo-xetv as SiA

or cf. the use of cognosce in transition formulas, e.g. A. 5.21.10 Habes consilianostra; nunc cognosce de Bruto.It is also interesting to observe that in most cases in which an itinerary, either short orlong, is mentioned within the body of the letter a pronoun of the first person, like eeo.«os or also ipse, mis used to open its first sentence: e.g. F. 2.8.3 Ego, cum Athenisdecern ipsos diesfuissem multumque me cum Gallus noster Caninius, proficiscebarindeprid. Non. Quint., cum hoc ad te litterarum dedi; or, at the beginning of a slightlylonger account, A. 8.11B.2 Ego omnino, ut tibiproximeplacuerat, Capuam veni eoipso die quo tu Teano Sidicino es profectus; volueras enim me cum M. Considio propraetore ilia negotia tueri. cum eo venissem, vidi T. Ampium dilectum haberediligentissime, ab eo accipere Libonem, summa item diligentia et in ilia coloniaThe nominative ego is the most frequently used in this introductory function (e.g. F 2.8.3 above,andA 3.22.4, A. 5.7, A. 5.11.4, A 7.17.5, A 7.21.1, A. 8.3.7, A 8.11B.2,A 14.7.1, A 16.6.1, F. 2.8.3,F. 3.6.4., F. 15.4.2, F. 16.11.2, Q. 3.1.1, *F. 5.10b.2 and 3; and to introduce verbs of staying' cf. alsoA 3.12.3,/f. 3.14.2,/(. 9.19.1, A 10.2.1, A \3.2b.2,A. 14.8.1, A 16.11.6,F 3.3.2, F. 14.3.4, Q.2.13.1,); the accusative me is mainly attested to introduce verbs of'staying' (e.g. A. 3.11.1 Me et tuaelitterae et quidam boni nuntii, non optimis tamen auctoribus, et exspectatio vestrarum litterarum elquod tibi ita placuerat adhuc Thessalonicae tenebat. si accepero litteras quas exspecto, si spes erit eaquae rumoribus adferebatur, ad te me conferam, and ,4. 3.9.3,-4. 3.22.1, A. 5.8.1, F. 5.21.3, F. 6.18.5,Q. 1.4.2); the other cases seem to be extremely rare in this function: cf. the dative with verbs of'staying' in A. 8.11D.3 At mihi, cum Calibus essem, adfertur litterarum tuarum exemplum quas tu adLentulum consulem misisses, F. 7.20.1. Occasionally the plural nos is also employed, both as anominative and as an accusative (e.g. 5.20.5 and A. 6.8.4, A. 7.16.2, A. 4.13.1, A. 5.16.2 and 4, F16.3.1, F 16.9.1 and 2, *F 12.13.3; and to introduce verbs of staying cf. A. 9.1.3, F 14.4.2).Sometimes also ipse/ipsi can be used to introduce a sentence describing the writer's recent movement,but always following one mentioning somebody else's movement in a different direction (e.g. A. 5.20.5above, and A. 3.8.1, A. 5.21.7, A. 7.18.1, A. 8.3.7, *F 10.11.2 bis); in a few cases also a possessiveadjective can assume the function of introducing a reference to a recent itinerary (e.g. A. 3.2.1 ltinerisnostri causa fuit quod non habebam locum ubi pro meo iure diutius esse possem quamfundum Siccae,praesertim nondum rogatione correcta, or A. 3.4.1 Miseriae nostrae potius velim quam inconstanliaetribuas quod a Vibone quo te arcessebamus subito discessimus. adlata est enim nobis rogatio depernicie med). On the use of the first person plural (with 'impersonal' function) as opposed to thesingular as typical of accounts of facts, and in particular of travel accounts, in Cicero's correspondence,cf. PlERl (1967: 209-10). Pieri observes that this impersonal use of the plural attributes a less vividcharacter to such accounts of trivial matters, which, she claims (although quoting only one parallel, i.e.Rut. 1.36 Vincimur et serum vix toleramus iter), is typical of all travel accounts up to RutiliusNamatianus. On the contrary Pieri observes that planned itineraries are instead most often expressed inthe first person singular, which stresses the writer's own intention. Yet our analysis does not confirmher conclusions, neither concerning the use of nos versus ego, nor, more in general, the use of verbsused impersonally versus in the first person singular: in Cicero's correspondence the first personsingular largely prevails in the presentation of one's itineraries, both planned and past ones. FinallyPieri also analyzes the use of the first person plural in Cicero's own letters from Cilicia (PlERl [1967:202-4]), and here she observes how the plural of'modesty' is more frequent in Cicero's letters toAtticus, while the singular in official reports.

auctoritate. fui Capuae quoad consules. iterum, ut erat dictum a consulibus, veniCapuam adNon. Febr.; cumfuissem triduum, recepi me Formias; or finally, tointroduce different phases within a long account, A. 5.20.5. Nos adPindenissum, quodoppidum munitissimumEleutherocilicum omnium memoria in armisfuit; [...] hincexercitum in hiberna agri male pacati deducendum Quintofratri dabam; ipse meLaodiceam recipiebam. This pronoun has generally the function of marking the shiftto a personal piece of information, after a section dealing with comments or pieces ofnews involving other people: so for example F. 2.8.3 follows a paragraph commentingon some news about Pompey, A. 8.11B.2 follows a sentence talking about L.Torquatus, and in A. 5.20.5 the first nos (referred to both Cicero and Quintus) followsa paragraph commenting on the arrival of Bibulus, whereas ipse recipiebam opposesCicero's own itinerary to the direction taken by Quintus. Yet sometimes the personalpronoun is employed in this introductory function also when there is no oppositionwith what precedes it, but just in order to stress that what follows is going to be apiece of information regarding oneself. This is the case for example, when a personalpronoun opens a sentence that is set at the very beginning of a letter: e.g. thebeginning of the rather long account in A. 16.6.1-2 Ego adhuc (perveni enim Vibonemad Siccam) magis commode quam strenue navigavi.In general, first personpronouns can be used to introduce any piece of information about oneself, eithermarking an opposition to what has been said before (cf., for example, *F. 10.24.8), orsimply emphasizing the action described in the present sentence (cf., for example, F.1.2 A, or the opening of A. 6.6.1). Yet, when the pronoun is really employed tointroduce a new topic (i.e. without a marked opposition with what precedes it), we can'^ Other cases in which a first person pronoun opens the very first sentence of a letter and introduces areference to a recent itinerary are: A. 3.2.1, A. 3.4.1, A 4.13.1, 4. 16.6.1, F. 16.3.1, F. 16.9.1, Q. 3.1.1,*F. 5.1 Ob. 1; and with verbs of'stay ing'cf. A. 3.11.1, A 5.8.1, A. 9.19.1, A. 10.2.1, F. 7.20.1.

observe that, unlike in the case of the phrases with verbs of knowing' or 'learning', inCicero's correspondence it is indeed mostly attested to introduce a piece ofinformation concerning one's movements, either covered thus far or planned. 196n.l.b.ii - Describing a past itinerary: recurrent syntactical structuresDespite the existence of a few recurrent forms to introduce a recent itinerary, most ofthe shorter references to it are not introduced by any particular expression. In fact agreat number of letters written during a journey provide some information about itright at their opening, and just by means of a sentence hinged around the verb venio,accompanied by the place to which one has arrived and, almost always, also the dateof arrival: e.g. A. 3.7.1 Brundisium veni a. d. xiiii Kal. Mai. eo diepueri tui mihi a telitteras reddiderunt, et alii pueri post diem tertium eius diei alias litteras attulerunt.Like in A. 3.7.1, the verb venio is most often set in a main clause and used in theperfect tense veni; it is also very frequently coordinated to a sentence mentioning theObservation based on the survey of the occurrences of nos and ego in a sentence's opening position,collected by the BTL electronic thesaurus.197 The three elements, place, date and verb venio, can be ordered in different ways in these phrases; themost common order is place + venio + date: e.g. A 3.7.1 above, and A 4.13.1 (plus scio and nos), A.5.4.1, A 5.6.1, A 5.9.1, A 5.13.1, A 5.15.1, A 6.4.1, A 7.2.1, A 14.17.1, A 15.11.1, F. 3.5.1, *F.12.16.1; cf. also, set not at the very opening of the letter, but later in it, A 4.1.1, A 5.20.2 and 3, A5.21.4, A 7.1.1 (plus sc/o and me), A 7.15.2, A 7.16.2, A 7.20.1, A 8MB.2,F. 3.6.6, F. 11.5.1, F.16.9.1 (plus scio and nos), Q. 3.1.14. Otherwise we find: date + venio +place: e.g. A 5.3.1 A d. vId. Mai. veni in Trebulanum ad Pontium andA 16.1.1,A 16.10.1, F. 9.23.1; cf. also, set not at the veryopening of the letter, but later in it, A 14.20.1,A 16.7.1,A 16.13.1. Place + date +venio (mostly withvenio in subordinate clauses): e.g. A 5.10.1 Vt Athenas a. d. vii Kal. Quint, veneram, exspectabam ibiiam quartum diem Pomptinum neque de eius adventu certi quicquam habebam, and, set not at the veryopening of the letter, but later in it, A 3.8.1, F. 11.27.1, F. 15.4.2 and 3. Date + place + venio: e.g. A.7.3.1 A d. viii Id. Dec. Aeculanum veni et ibi tuas litteras legi quas Philotimus mihi reddidit, and A5.12.1 (after the introductory sentence Negotium magnum est navigare atque idmense Quintili), F.3.3.1, F. 14.5.1, F. 15.2.1, Q. 2.14.1, *A 9.13 A. 1; cf. also, not set at the very opening of the letter, butlater in it, F. 16.9.2 bis. Venio + place + date (never set at the very opening of the letter, but later in it):e.g. A 7.21.1 veni Capuam ad Non. Febr., ita ut iusserant consules, and A 5.16.2 (date + place), A8.11 B.2, A. 16.6.1. Finally, without a date: place + venio: A. 4.1.1 Cum primum Romam venifuitcui recte ad te litteras darem, nihil prius faciendum mihi putavi quam ut tibi absenti de reditugratularer, and F. 1.21.1; cf. also set not at the very opening of the letter, but later in it, A. 4.1.5, A5.20.1, A 7.8.4, A 8.11D.2.A 14.17a.3, F. 3.6.4, F. 14.1.7, F. 15.4.7, *F. 10.34.1. Venio + place: A4.2.1 nam ut veni Romam, iterum nunc sum certiorfactus esse cui darem litteras; ilaque has alterasdedi, and, set not at the very opening of the letter, but later in it, A. 4.1.5, F. 2.10.2.

eception of a letter from the correspondent, right upon one's arrival in this place.Also in the more rare cases in which venio is used in a subordinate clause (almostexclusively circumstantial), it is often dependent on a clause mentioning the arrival ofa letter or of a piece of news: e.g. Q. 2.14.1 A. d. IIIINon. Iun., quo die Romam veni,accept tuas litteras datas Placentia, deinde alteras postridie datas Blandenone cumCaesaris litteris refertis omni officio, diligentia, suavitate.The same standardphrase with venio plus place and date can also be found within the body of the letter,either within a shorter reference to the recent movement or as part of a longer accountand describing one phase of the itinerary: e.g. A. 7.15.2 Capuam cum venissem a. d. viKaL, pridie quarn has litteras dedi, consules conveni multosque nostri ordinis, or A.7.16.2 Nos a consulibus Capuam venire iussi sumus adNon. Febr. Capua profectussum Formias a. d. Hi KaL; eodem die cum Calibus tuas litteras horafere nonaaccepissem, has statim dedi, or, describing different phases in a longer account, A.5.20.1 Ephesum ut venerim nosti, [...] inde oppidis iis quae erant mirabiliter acceptiLaodiceamprid. Kal. Sext. venimus. [...] 2. Inde in castra veni a. d. viiKal. Sept. a. d.Hi exercitum lustravi apudIconium. [...] 3. Tarsum veni a. d. iiiNon. Oct. Within theThe verb venio is used in a main clause, at the very beginning of a letter in: A 3.7.1,-4. 5.4.1, A5.6.1, A 5.9.1,A5.13.1,A 5.15.1, A 6.4.1, A 14.17.1, A 15.11.1, F. 3.5.1, A. 7.2.1, *F. 12.16.1, A5.3.1, A 16.1.1, A 16.10.1, F. 9.23.1, A 7.3.1, F. 14.5.1, *A 9.13A.1,A 5.12.1 (after the introductorysentence Negotium magnum est navigare atque id mense Quintili); and also cf. venio as an infinitive independence of scio (A 4.13.1), or other verbs (*F. 10.34.1 contra eos venire institui). Instead venio isused in a main clause later in the text in: A 3.8.1, A 4.1.4 and 5, A 5.20.1,2 and 3, A 7.8.4, A 7.20.1,A 7.21.1, A 8.11B.2bis,A 14.20.1, A 16.6.1, F. 3.6.6, F. 11.5.1, F. 14.1.7, F. 15.4.3, F. 16.9.1 and 2,*F. 10.34.1; and also cf. venio as an infinitive in dependence of scio (A 5.16.2,A 5.20.1,A 7.1.1), orother verbs (A 7.16.2 nos venire iussi sumus). In general, for the cases in which the phrase with veniois associated with one mentioning the reception of a letter, cf. Ch. II pp. 112-13; or for the associationwith the actions of writing or dispatching the letter at hand, cf. Ch. II p. 89.199 For the verb venio is used in a subordinate clause, at the very beginning of the letter, cf.: with cumvenissem in A 16.13.1, F. 15.2 1, F. 3.3.1; Cum primum veni in A 4.1 1; Vt veneram in A 5.10.1;Tantum quod veneram in F. 7.23.1. Instead venio is used in a subordinate clause later in the text in:with cum venissem in A 4.1.5, A 5.21.4 and 14, A 7.15.2, A 8.11D.2,A 14.17a., A 16.7.5, F. 2.10.2,F. 11.27.1, F. 15.4.2; ut veni in A 4.2.1; ante quam veni in F. 3.6.4; quo ut veni in F. 15.4.7. For theassociation with the actions of receiving a letter (or writing and dispatching the one at hand), cf. n. 198above.

151body of the letter the structure with venio in the subordinate clause is more commonthan when it is set at the opening of the letter. 2Several other verbs of 'moving' can also be used in the same way as venio (cf. belowpp. 153-8): they too can be accompanied by place and often date (e.g. A. 5.2.1 A. d. viId. Mai., cum has dabam litteras, ex Pompeiano proficiscebar, or A. 6.9. \ In Piraeeacum exissem prid. Id. Oct., accepi ab Acasto servo meo statim tuas litteras) and theycan be set at the opening of the letter (A. 5.2.1 and A. 6.9.1 have, for example, thisposition), either in a main clause (generally used in the perfect tense) or, more often,in a subordinate one (e.g. A. 5.2.1 or A. 6.9.1 respectively; sometimes combined withvenio, e.g. F. 14.5.1 Prid. Id. Oct. Athenas venimus, cum sane adversis vends usiessemus tardeque et incommode navigassemus. de nave exeuntibus nobis Acastus cumlitteris praesto fuit uno et vicesimo die sane strenue, or with other verbs of'moving', e.g. A. 12.1.1 Vndecimo diepostquam a te discesseram hoc litterularumexaravi egrediens e villa ante lucem). ' Yet venio remains the verb most frequentlyused in this opening position, while other verbs of'moving' are much more often200 Cf. n. 198 above.201 Other cases in which a recent itinerary is mentioned at the very beginning of a letter by means of aphrase employing a verb of'moving' different than venio are: 1) more precise phrases, mentioning bothplace and date: with the verb of'moving' set in the main clause: A. 14.20.1 advectus sum, A. 15.1a.ldeverteram, F. 16.9.1 discessimus, A. 5.2.1 proficiscebar, A. 16.7.1 reiectus sum austro; and with verbsof 'staying' or 'stopping' cf: F. 16.3.1 commorati sumus, A. 5.10.1 (+ venio) expectabam, A. 10.2.1sustinui me, F. 16.7.1 tenebamur. With the verb of'moving ' set in a subordinate clause: A. 14.16.1conscendens, A. 15.2.1 cum devertissem, A. 12.1.1 postquam discesseram, A. 12.1.1 egrediens, A. 6.9.1cum exissem, A. 15.1a.l exiens, A. 7.2.1 (+ venio) usi tua felicitate navigandi, A. 15.18.1 cumnavigarem, F. 14.5.1 cum navigassemus, A. 16.7.1 cum processissem, A. 7.14.1 profwiscens, A. 15.2.1proficiscens, A. 15.18.1 cum profectus essem, A. 16.7.1 profectus, A. 1.20.1 cum me recepissem, A.16.13.1 (+ venio) cum surrexissem, A. 16.7.1 enim tramittebam: and with verbs of'staying' or'stopping' cf: A. 14.19.1 cum essem in Pompeiano. 2) more generic phrases, mentioning only the placebut not the date: with the verb of'moving' set in the main clause: *F. 10.34.1 castra movi,A. 14.1.1deverti,A. 5.16.1 eramus in cursu, A. 16.6.1 navigavi,A. 16.6.1 perveni enim, *A. 15.6.2 sumprofectus, *F. 5.10b.l profectus sum, *F. 12.11.1 me profectum esse scito, *F. 12.14.1 redii; and withverbs of'staying' or "stopping" cf: A. 3.13.1 me commovi, A. 3.10.1 expectabam, A. 3.19.1 retentussum, A. 3.11.1 ienebai, A. 5.8.1 tenebat. With the verb of'moving ' set in a subordinate clause: A. 3.4.1quod discessimus, *A. 9.6A Cum essem in ilinere, *A. 9.15a.l Cum exissemus, *A. 9.6A Cumproperarem; and with verbs of'staying' or "stopping' cf: F. 3.11.1 Cum essem in castris, A. 3.2.1 quodnon habebam locum ubi.

found later in the body of the letter and generally used in subordinate clauses, mostlydepending on verbs indicating either the reception of a piece of news or an actionperformed by the writer along his journey. 202Other cases in which a recent itinerary is mentioned later in the body of the letter, by means of aphrase employing a verb of moving' different than venio are: 1) more precise phrases, mentioning bothplace and date: with the verb of'moving' set in the main clause: A. 7.18.1 enim adesse iussi sumus, F.16.11.2 accessi, F. 3.6.6 castra movi, *F. 10.18.4 castra movi, A. 5.20.3 discessimus, A. 7.21.1 discessi,*F. 10.23.3 itaque omnis copias Isaram traieci, *F. 10.15.3 itaque in Isara exercitum traduxi, *F.10.9.3 exercitum Rhodanum traieci, A. 5.15.3 iter faciebam, A. 8.11D.1. iterfacere coepi, F. 3.6.6 iterfacio,F. 15.4.8 iter feci, F. 16.9.1 navigavimus, F. 16.9.2 pervenimus, F. 14.4.2 petebamus, F. 16.9.1processimus, A. AAA sum profectus, A. 5.7 proficiscebar, A. 5.21.7 profectus sum, A. 7.16.2 profectussum, A. 7.18.1 profectus sum, F. 2.8.3, proficiscebar, F. 3.8.10profecti sumus, F. 14.4.2 profectisumus, A. 8.11B.2 recepi me, A. 4.15.6 redii, F. 16.9.2 solvimus; and with verbs of'staying' or'stopping' cf.: A. 12.40.2 in hortofui,F. 14.4.2 Brundisii apudM. Laenium Flaccum fuimus, F. 15.4.2biduum Laodiceae fui, deinde Apameae quadriduum, triduum Synnadis, totidem dies Philomela, Q.3.1.1 in Arcanofui, and 4 in Lateriofui, A. 7.21A mansi,A. 15.1a. 1 mansi,A. 16.13.2 man?/, A 5.16.2nos scito moratos triduum Laodiceae, triduum Apameae, totidem dies Synnade, F. 16.9.1 morati sumus,F. 16.9.1 fuimus retenti and retenti sumus, A. 6.8.4 nos etesiae vehementissimi tardarunt, A. 3.9.3 tenet,A. 5.12.1 tenuit. With the verb of'moving ' set in a subordinate clause: A. 16.7. cum accederem, *F.4.12.1 cum navi advectus essem, F. 15.4.8 ut ascenderem, F. 15.4.8 cum castra fecissem, A. 6.8.4conscendentes, A. 7.1.1 egressum, F. 15.1.2 cum exercitum ducerem, A. 5.3.1 exiens,A. 14.7.1 exiens,A. 16.1.1 iens, F. 15.4.3 cum iterfacere coepissem, A. 16.7.7 navigans, A. 5.5.1 proficiscentis, A. 5.11.4proficiscens, A. 14.5.3 proficiscens, A. 15.1a. 1 proficiscens, A. 16.13.2 proficiscens, F. 16.3.1proficiscentes, *F. 4.12.2 cum proficisci in animo haberem, A. 7.17.5 quo redieram; and with verbs of'staying' or 'stopping' cf: A. 5.20.2 cum castra habuissem, F. 3.8.10 cum castra haberem, A. 16.6.1cum constitissem, A. 5.7 cum apud Pompeium fuissem, A. 4.1.4 cum Brundisi essem, A. 5.11.4 cum ibifuissem, A. 8.11 B.2 Capua cum fuissem, F. 2.8.3 cum Athenis fuissem, F. 2.19.1 cum essem in castris,A. 5.20.1 ibi morati biduum and quod idem Apameae quinque dies morati et Synnadis triduum,Philomeli quinque dies, Jconi decern, 3 ibi dies quinque morati, F. 15.2.3 tempus eius tridui quod in iiscastris morabar, F. 15.4.6 Cum essem moratus. 2) more generic phrases, mentioning only the place butnot the date: with the verb of'moving' set in the main clause: A. 5.20.3 contendi, *F. 5.10b.l medetruserunt, A. 4.15.5 me duxerunt and me duxit, A. 2.12.2 emerseram, A. 5.12.1 eram plane in mediomari, F. 15.4.7 exercitum duxi, F. 2.10.2 exercitum adduxi, F. 2.10.3 abduxi exercitum, *F. 10.23.2-3copias adduxi, A. 5.12.1 cursum confecimus, A. 5.14.1 iter conficiebamus, *F. 11.13.4 meum iter eocontuli, A. AAA iter feci, A. 5.20.2 iter feci, A. 5.21.8 Iter igiturfeci, F. 15.2.1 iter feci, A. 5.13.1navigavimus, *F. 12.13.3 navis deduximus, A. 3.22.4 perrexi, A. 5.20.2 perrexi, *F. 12.13.3 petivimus,A. 3.8.1 processimus, A. 8.11D.2 processi, A. 12.40.2 sum a te profectus, Q. 3.1.3 profecti sumus, *F.11.4.1 progressus sum, A. 5.16.4 properabamus, *F. 11.13.2 recurri, *F. 5.10b. 1 relinquere sumcoactus,A. 8.3.7 reverti,A. 5.20.5 me recipiebam, A. 5.16.1 subsedi in ipsa via, A. 16.6.1, A 5.21.7transgressus sum, A. 16.10.1 verti me; and with verbs of'staying' or 'stopping' cf: F. 15.2.2 castralocavi,F. 15.4.4 castra feci, A. 3.14.2 non commovi me, *F. 10.23.2 consedi, *F. 10.11.2 constiti, F.14.3.4 sum Dyrrachii, A. 3.15.6 exspecto, F. 3.3.2 exspectabam, A. 3.12.3 eodem in loco iaceo, A.13.26.2 locum habeo nullum ubi, A. 3.8.2 maneo,A. 9.1.3 morabamur, A. 3.22.1 retinet, F. 14.1.3retinet, Q. 1.4.2 retinuerunt, F. 5.21.3 tenet. F. 6.18.5 tenuit, A. 4.15.5 vixi cum Axio,A. 14.20.4 cumPansa vixi. With the verb of'moving ' set in a subordinate clause: F. 15.4.8 cum abessem, F. 14.7.2 inearn simul atque conscendi, F. 7.18.3 cum devertissem, F. 15.4.8 cum me discedere simulassem, A.14.20.1 egressus, *F. 11.13.2 cum in itinere essem, *F. 11.20.2 cum in itinere essem, *F. 10.21.2 CumIsaram flumen exercitum traduxissem, *F. 10.11.2 cum Rhodanum copias omnis traiecissem, F. 14.5.1exeuntibus, *A. 15.6.2 exiens, *F. 10.11.2 cum iter ad Mutinam dirigerem, F. 7.19 ut primum navigarecoepi, *F. 4.5.4 cum navigarem, F. 15.4.8 simulassem petere, A. 5.17.1 proficiscerer, *F. 4.5.4.rediens, Q. 3.1.21 cum revertissem, A. 5.17.1 sedens in raeda; and with verbs of'staying" or 'stopping"cf: *F. 11.13.3 cum abessem, F. 15.2.3 cum castra haberem, A. 3.8.1 cum Dyrrachi essemus, A.8.11 D.3 cum Calibus essem, A. 16.7.1 cum exspectarem.

153H.l.b.iii - Describing a past itinerary: recurrent vocabularyA rather large range of verbs is employed by Cicero and by his correspondents todescribe a recent itinerary. As we have seen above, venio CI arrive, I come') is the onemost frequently attested (and cf. also its compound pervenio, with only a fewoccurrences): 203 it is most often found at the beginning of a letter, mostly used in amain clause and in the perfect tense veni, and it is mostly coordinated to a clauseindicating the reception of a letter; it is always accompanied by the place of arrivaland, almost always, also by the date of arrival 204 .After venio, the second most frequent verb employed to describe a recent or ongoingitinerary isproficiscor CI leave. I depart'"). Most often it is used in the perfect tenseprofectus sum, 'I left', (or rarely in the pluperfect), to indicate the departure from aprevious stop: e.g. A. 4.1.4 Prid. Non. Sext. Dyrrachio sum profectus, which opens thelonger account of Cicero's re-entering in Rome after the exile. 205 Otherwise it is foundin the imperfect tense proficiscebar or, as it happens in a great number of cases, in aparticipial form, asproficiscens: in these cases the verb rather means 'to be about toleave' and it indicates the departure from the place in which the writer is at present:e.g. A. 5.2.1 A. d. vi Id. Mai., cum has dabam litteras, ex Pompeiano proficiscebar, orA. 14.5.3 haec scripsi ad teproficiscens Astura Hi Id. Other verbs used to describeVox pervenio cf. F. 16.9.2, and A. 16.6.1.204 In F. 7.23.1 Tantum quod ex Arpinati veneram, the place of departure is mentioned instead of that ofarrival.20s For the use of the perfect pro/ecto.s«/n, cf. A. AAA, A. 5.21.7, A. 7.16.2, A. 7.18.1, A 12.40.2, F.3.8.10, F. 14.4.2, Q. 3.1.3, *A. 15.6.2, *F. 5.1 Ob. 1, *F. 12.11.1; for the pluperfect profectus essem in asubordinate clause cf. A. 15.18.1; for the past participle profectus cf. A. 16.7.1.206 For the use of the imperfect proficiscebar cf. A. 5.2.1, F. 2.8.3, A. 5.7; for the participle proficiscenscf.A. 5.5.1,/*. 5.11.4, A 7.14.1,/*. 14.5.3,/*. 15.1a.l,/*. 15.2.1,/*. 16.13.2, F. 16.3.1; cf. also cumproficisci in animo haberem in *F. 4.12.2.The verb proficiscor is accompanied only by the place of departure in: A. AAA, A. 5.2.1, A. 5.5.1, A.5.11.4,/*. 14.5.3,/*. 15.2.1,/*. 16.7.1,/*. 16.13.2, F. 2.8.3, F. 14.4.2, F. 16.3.1, */*. 15.6.2, *F. 4.12.2;by place of departure and place of destination (cf. planned itineraries below p. 176) cf: /*. 5.21.7, /*.7.14.1, A. 7.16.2,/*. 15.1a.!,/ 7 . 3.8.10, Q. 3.1.3; by only by the place of destination (when what is

154the departure from a place are: me commoveo, (innavem) conscendo, discedo,egredior, exeo. Also these verbs are mostly used within participial or circumstantialstructures. 207 For the cases in which these verbs are instead accompanied by the placeof future destination, therefore providing information about one's planned itinerary,cf. below p. 179.A wide range of verbs is then employed to describe, in general, the action of 'going'or 'traveling'. The most frequent expression of 'going' consists in phrases built withthe noun iter, or sometimes also cursus: the most common is iterfacio ('I travel', 'Iam traveling'), but there are also iter confero or dirigo ('I head toward'), iter/cursumconficio ('I finish my journey'), and with the verb 'to be', in itinere/in cursu sum ('Iam traveling'). These expressions happen to be almost exclusively used in reference toland journeys. 208 Instead for describing sea fares specifically, the verb mostcommonly used is navigo. 209 Many other verbs with more generic meanings are alsodescribed is the departure from a previous stop and the place of destination is actually the one in whichthe writer is at present or a stop met along the way): A. 12.40.2, *F. 5.10b. 1, *F. 12.11.1. Cf. also A.15.18.1 with no place expressed along with proficiscor.207 These alternative verbs of 'departing' are attested in reference to the writer's recent or ongoingitinerary in the following cases: for me commoveo (actually used in negative statements, and thereforeequivalent to a verb of'staying') cf.: A. 3.13.1, A. 3.14.2. For (in navem) conscendo (mostly used inparticipial structures) cf: A. 6.8.1, A. 14.16.1, F. \A.12. For discedo (mostly used in main clauses andin the perfect tense) cf.:/l. 3.4.1,/!. 5.20.3,/I. 7.21.1,/!. 12.1.1, F. 15.4.8,F. 16.9.1. For egredior (onlyused in participial structures) cf: A. 12.1.1, and in the phrase egressus e navi A. 7.1.1 and A. 14.20.1.For exeo (only used in circumstantial or participial structures, also in the phrase exiens de navi) cf: A.5.3.1, A. 6.9.\,A. 14.7.1,/!. \5.lz.l,F. 14.5.1, *A. 9.15a. 1. Other verbs of'departing', with extremelyrare occurrences in reference to a recent itinerary are: relinquo in *F. 5.10b. 1, solvo in F. 16.9., sursoin/!. 16.13.1. Cf. also emergo in A. 2.12.2.208 An exception is A. 5.12.1, where cursum confecimus more generically describes the end of Cicero'ssea fare up to Delos.209 Iterfacio is mostly used in governing clauses and in the perfect tense to describe a recent itinerary(A. 4.1.4, A. 5.20.2, A. 5.21.8, F. 15.2.2, F. 15.4.8); otherwise it is used in the imperfect (A. 5.15.1) orpresent tense (F. 3.6.4) to describe an itinerary that is still ongoing; in a few cases iterfacio depends oncoepi or institui (A. 8.11D.1, F. 15.2.8); finally it is set in a circumstantial clause in F. 15.4.3 cum iterfacere coepissem, and Frg. Nonius 632 L. The other phrases with iter/ cursus are only rarely attested:*F. 11.13.3 meumque iter eo contuli, *F. 10.11.2 Cum iter dirigerem, A. 5.12.1 cursum confecimus, A.5.14.1 iter conficiebamus; A. 5.16.1 eramus in cursu; the phrase cum in itinere essem is more common:*A. 9.6A, *F. 11.13.2, *F. 11.20.2. Navigare. when describing a recent itinerary, is used in a mainclause and mostly in the perfect tense: A. 5.13.1, A. 16.6.1, F. 16.9.1 and cf. also A. 7.2.1 usi tuafelicitate navigandi; instead it is set in a circumstantial clause in F. 7.19, F. 14.5.1, *F. 4.5.4; it is also

155used for both land and sea journeys: with the meaning of 'approaching' a place thereare accedo and ascendo ('I climb a mountain'); with the meaning of 'heading' to aplacepeto, pergo, and also contendo; with the meaning of'proceeding' toward a placeprocedo, progredior and also propero ('I haste toward'); with the meaning of'goingback', 'returning', 'retreating' to a place, recurro, redeo, reverto, me recipio and meverto; finally with the meaning of 'going through/ crossing' a place, tramitto andtransgredior? 10 These verbs of are generally accompanied by the place to which onewas headed during the phase of the itinerary that is recalled (e.g. F. 15.4.3. interim,cum exercitu lustrato iter in Ciliciamfacere coepissem Kal. Sept., legati [...]nuntiaverunt), or the place to which one has just gone and is at present (thus becomingsimilar to verbs of 'arriving' e.g. the postscript in A. 3.22.4 quod fetj mei studiososhabeo Dyrrachinos ad eosperrexi, cum ilia superiora Thessalonicae scripsissem), oroccasionally also the place to which one is still headed (e.g. A. 5.15.3 Iter Laodiceafaciebam a. d. in Non. Sext., cum has litteras dabam, in castra in Lycaoniam); and forthe use of these verbs in planned itineraries, cf. below p. 176. 21 'used in circumstantial clauses when referring to a journey still ongoing (i.e. the writer writes onshipboard) in A. 15.18.1 and A. 16.7.7.210 These alternative verbs of'going' are attested in reference to the writer's recent or ongoing itineraryin the following cases: 1) verbs with the sense of'approaching to': for accedo cf. A. 16.7.7, F. 16.11.2;for ascendo cf. F. 15.4.8. 2) verbs with the sense of'heading to': for ^etocf. *F. 12.13.3 and F. 15.4.8cum simulassem petere; for perrexi cf. A. 3.22.4 and A. 5.20.2; for contendo cf. A. 5.20.2. 3) verbs withthe sense of'preceding to': fox procedo cf. A. 3.8.1. A. 8.11D.2,/4. 16.7.1, F. 16.9.1: for progredior cf.*F. 11.4.1; for propero cf. *A. 9.6A properarem atque essem in itinere. 4) verbs with the senseof 'going back' (often similar to verbs of 'arriving' and similarly often set in a main clause and in theperfect tense): for redeo cf. A. 4.15.6, A 7.17.5, *F. 4.5.4, *F. 12.14.1: for me recipio cf. A. 1.20.1, A8.11 B.2, and describing an ongoing itinerary A. 5.20.5 ipse me Laodiceam recipiebam; for reverto cf.A. 8.3.7, Q. 3.1.21; then cf. A. 16.10.1 verti. and *F. 11.13.2 recurri: cf. also A 16.7.1 reiectus sumaustro. 5) verbs with the sense of 'going through': for tramitto cf. A. 16.6.1, A. 16.7.1; then cf. A.5.21.7 transsressus sum. 6) cf. also a few cases employing verbs meaning 'being lead or 'being carried:with navi advehor cf. A. 14.20.1, *F. 4.12.1-2; with duco cf. A. 4.15.5 Reatini me ad sua T£imT]duxerunt [...]me adSeptem Aquas duxit.211 Only the place of arrival (either to the present stop or to a previous one) is mentioned in thefollowing cases: with iterfacio mA. 8.1 ID. 1, F. 15.4.3, F. 15.2.8, Frg. Nonius 632 L, with iter conferoin *F. 11.13.4, with iter dirigo in *F. 10.11.2; with accedo in A. 16.7.1, F. 16.11.2, with ascendo in F.15.4.8, with peto in F. 15.4.8, *F. 12.13.3, with pergo in A. 3.22.1; with procedo in A. 8.11D.1,F.16.9.1, with progredior in *F. 11.4.1; with redeo in A. 4.15.5, *F. 12.14.1, with me recipio in A.

156When describing the action of 'stopping' or 'staying' in a place during a journeyinstead, the phrase most frequently employed is sum plus a locative, or in and theablative, or occasionally also apud and the accusative of the name of one's host: e.g.Q. 3.1.1 In Arcano a. d. iiii Id. Sept.fui, or F. 14.4.2 Nos Brundisii apud M. LaeniumFlaccum dies XIIIfuimus. ' Other expressions commonly used to describe one'spermanence in a place during a journey are: with the meaning of 'remaining' in aplace, maneo, moror and commoror, or more rarely iaceo, locum habeo, or vivo cumaliquo; with the meaning of 'waiting for something' in a place, expecto; with themeaning of 'being retained' in a place, aliquis/aliquid me tenet and retinet (or thepassive teneor/retineor); with the meaning of 'making a stop' in a place, consisto ordeverto. 213 All of these expressions of'staying' or 'stopping' are always accompanied1.20.1, A 5.20.5, A. 8.11B.2, with reverto in A. 8.3.7, with recurro in *F. 11.13.2; with ducor in A.4.15.5 bis. Both place of arrival and departure are mentioned in the following cases: with iterfacio inA. 5.15.1, with cwsum conficio in A. 5.12.1, with navigo in F. 16.9.1, *F. 4.5.4.; with contendo in A.5.20.3; with redeo in A. 7.17.5, with reverto in Q. 3.1.21, with me verto in A. 16.10.1; with adveho in A.14.20.1, *F. 4.12.1. Both the place of arrival and the one touched along the way are mentioned in thefollowing cases: with iterfacio in A. 5.20.3, F. 3.6.6; with pergo in A. 5.20.2, with peto in F. 14.4.2.Only the place of departure is mentioned in the following cases: with iterfacio in A. 4.1.4, with navigoin F. 7.19; with redeo in *F. 4.5.4; with tramitto in A. 16.7.1. Only a place touched along the way ismentioned in the following cases: with iter conficio in A. 5.14.1, with iterfacio in A. 5.21.8, F. 15.2.8,with navigo in A. 15.18.1; with tramitto in A. 16.6.1, with transgredior in A. 5.21 4. Finally some verbsof'moving' can be used absolutely, just to indicate the experience of traveling, without regard to one'slocation; thus no place is mentioned in the following cases: with in itinere/in cursu sum in A. 5.16.1,*A. 9.6A, *F. 11.13.2, *F. 11.20.2, with iterfacio in F. 15.4.8, with navigo in A. 5.13.1, A 7.2.1, A.16.6.1, ^4. 16.7.7, F. 14.5.1; with procedo in A. 16.7.1, A 3.8.1, with propero in *A. 9.6A.212 The phrase alicubi sum is more frequently attested in circumstantial clauses than in independentones: in main clauses cf. A. 12.40.2, F. 14.3.4, F. 14.4.2, F. 15.4.2,0.3.1.1 and 4: in circumstantialclauses, generally dependent on verbs describing the action of receiving a letter or a piece of news orthat of moving to another place cf. A 3.8.1, A AAA,A. 5.1, A. 5.11.4, A 8.11B.2,A 8.11D.3,A14.19.1, F. 2.8.3. Cf. also the verb absum in the sense of'to be at a certain distance from a place' in F.15.4.8 cum [...] abessem ab Amano iter unius diei [...] noctu iter feci, *F. 11.13.3.213 These verbs of'staying/ stopping' are attested in reference to the writer's recent or ongoing itineraryin the following cases: 1) verbs with the sense of'remaining': for maneo (always used in a main clause,mostly in the perfect tense)cf. A. 3.8.2, A. 1.2\.\,A. \5.\&.\,A. 16.13.2; for moror (more frequentlyused in circumstantial clauses) cf. A. 5.16.2, A. 5.20.1 bis, A. 5.20.3, A. 9.1.3, F. 15.2.3, F. 15.4.6, F.16.9.1; for commoror cf. F. 16.3.1; for the phrase vivo cum aliquo cf. A. 14.20.4, A. 4.15.5; for locumhabeo (always in the negative form) cf. A. \3.26.2,A. 3.2.1; for iaceo cf. A. 3.12.3; cf. also me sustineoin A. 10.2.1. 2) with the sense of'waiting for something': for expecto (mostly used in governing clausesand always in either the imperfect or the present tense to describe the action as continuous) cf. A.3.10.1, A. 5.10.1, A. 3.15.6, A. 16.7.1, F. 3.3.2. 3) verbs with the sense of'being retained': for aliquis/aliquid me tenet/ teneor (always used in main clauses) cf. A. 3.11.1, ^4. 5.8.1, A. 5.12.1, F. 5.21.3, F.6.18.5, with the passive teneor F. 16.7.1 and cf. also expectatio me tenet cf. A. 3.9.3; for aliquis meretinet/ retineor (almost always in main clauses) cf. A. 3.22.1,F. 14.1.3, F. 16.9.1 bis, Q. 1.4.2, and in

157by the place in which one is staying and, in the majority of cases also by an indicationof time: either a specific date (e.g. Q. 3.1.1 above) or, more often, the number of daysspent in the place (e.g. F. 14.4.2 above). 214Finally there are some expressions that are specifically employed to describe one'smovement in the context of a military bulletin. Thus we can find, on one hand,phrases mentioning the army {exercitum/ copias) and the action of leading it to a place{exercitum/ copias duco, adduco), or through a place (actually only said of theTICcrossing of a river, with exercitum/ copias traicio or traduco).On the other hand wehave phrases mentioning the military camp (castra) and the action of setting it whenarriving in a place and making a stop (castra loco orfacio),or staying in it (castrahabeo or in castris sum), or moving it, when departing from a place (castra moveo). 2]6the passive form retineor cf. A. 3.19.1;cf. alsoA 6.8.4 nos etesiae vehementissimi tardarunt: detraxitxx ipsos dies etiam aphractus Rhodi. 4) verbs with the sense of 'making a stop': for consisto cf. A.16.6.1, *F. 10.11.2; for deverto cf: F. 1.18.3, and A. 14.1.1,A 15.1a.l,/f. 15.2.1. Cf. also, in a militarycontext, consido in *F. 10.23.2.214 Other cases in which the number of days is given are: with sum in/apud in A. 5.7, A. 5.11.4, A.12.40.2, A. 8.11B.2, F. 2.8.3, F. 14.4.2, F. 15.4.2; with moror in A. 5.16.2, A. 5.20.1 bis and 3, F.15.2.3, F. 15.4.6; with commoror in F. 16.3.1; with expecto in A. 5.10.1; with aliquis/aliquid me tenet/teneor in A. 5.8.1, F. 16.7.1; with consisto in A. 16.6.4; cf. also/f. 6.8.4. With teneo and retineo oftenadhuc(A. 3.22.1, F. 14.1.3, Q. 1.4.2, A 3.11.1) or usque ad and a date (F. 16.9.1 bis) are used. Othercases in which a precise date is given are: with sum in/apud in A. 4.1.4, A. 14.19.1, Q. 3.1.1 and 4; withmaneo (always employing eo die referred to a date previously given) in A. 7.21.1, A. 15.1a. 1, A.16.13.2; with moror in F. 16.9.1; with aliquis/ aliquid tenet/ teneor in A. 5.12.1. Instead cases in whichno indication of time is given are: with sum in/apud in A. 3.8.1, ^4. 8.11D.3, A. 12.40.2, F. 14.3.4, andwith absum in F. 15.4.8, *F. 11.13.3; with maneo in A. 3.8.2, with moror in A. 9.1.3, with vivo cum inA. 4.15.5, A. 14.20.4, with locum habeo in A. 3.2.1, A. 13.26.2, with iaceo in loco in A. 3.12.3, with mesustineo in A. 10.2.1; with expecto in A. 3.10.1, A. 3.15.6,/). 16.7.1, F. 3.3.2; with aliquis/ aliquid tenet/teneor/ retineor in A. 3.9.3, A 3.19.1, F. 5.21.3, F. 6.18.5; with consisto in *F. 10.11.2."" For phrases with exercitum/ copias describing the action of moving the army toward a place (alwaysaccompanied by the place toward which one has been moving, either in the last or in an earlier phase ofthe journey) cf.: with exercitum/copias duco F. 15.4.4 (actually 'moving through a place' perCappadociae regionem) and 7; with adduco F. 2.10.2, *F. 10.23.2; with abduco F. 2.10.3. For phrasesdescribing the action of moving the army across a river cf.: with exercitum/ copias traicio *F. 10.9.3,*F. 10.11.2, *F. 10.23.3; with traduco *F. 10.15.3, *F. 10.21.2.216 For phrases with castra describing the action of staving in the camp (always set in circumstantialclauses and almost always accompanied by the place in which or near which the camp is) cf: withcastra habeo A. 5.20.2, F. 3.8.10, F. 15.2.1; with in castris sum F. 2.19.1, F. 3.11.1. For phrasesdescribing the action of setting the camp in a place (always accompanied by the place in which or nearwhich one has set the camp): with castra facio F. 15.4.4 and 8; with castra loco F. 15.2.2. For castramoveo (only accompanied by the place from which one is departing) cf. F. 3.6.6, *F. 10.18.4, *F.10.34.1.

In a few cases the reference to a recent itinerary can also be made simply by means ofan adverbial phrase (e.g. in itinere or in navisatione) accompanying a verb thatdescribes some actions performed by the writer along the journey: e.g. A. 6.4.2 Haecfestinans scripsi in itinere atque agmine, or *F. 12.16.3 ego tamen nactus innavigatione nostra pusillum laxamenti concinnavi tibi munusculum ex instituto meo etdictum cum magno nostro honore a te dictum conclusi et tibi infra subscripsi.Il.l.b.iv — The structure of longer past itineraries: logical and syntacticalorganizationWhen a longer itinerary is recalled, the most common way to describe it is inchronological order, that is generally beginning with the place from which the lastupdate was sent and ending with the place where one is at present. So, for example, inF. 15.2 (cf. above pp. 139-40), Cicero's report on his movements and his militaryactions in Cilicia begins, at the very opening of the letter, by recalling his arrival inthe region (Cumprid. Kal. Sext. inprovinciam venissem neque maturius propteritinerum et navigationum difficultatem venire potuissem), which is followed by anupdate on the situation he found there; then in para. 2, he mentions how he wentthrough the region and then based his camp near the town of Cybistra {Itaque cumexercitu per Cappadociae partem earn quae cum Cilicia continens est iter fecicastraque ad Cybistra, quod oppidum est ad montem Taurum, locavi), alsocommenting on the reasons for having chosen this place; in para. 3, he says for howlong he remained in this camp (Quo cum in loco castra haberem equitatumque in* 17 Other cases in which the reference to a recent itinerary is made through an adverbial phrase ratherthan with a clause are: A. 6.4.2, Q. 2.6.4, A. 14.8.1,/!. 16.6.4, A. 16.7.6., *F. 12.16.3; in some casesinstead an adverbial phrase is combined with a clause containing a verb of "moving": *A. 9.15a.1, *F.10.11.2.

Ciliciam misissem, ut et meus adventus Us civitatibus quae in ea parte essentnuntiatus firmiores animos omnium faceret et ego mature quid ageretur in Syria scirepossem, tempus eius tridui quod in iis castris morabar in magno officio et necessariomihi ponendum putavi) and then, in the following four paragraphs, he goes ondescribing what he did during this period and also commenting on the generalsituation in the region; finally, in para. 8, almost at the end of the letter, he concludesby saying that, once his job had been accomplished in the area, he decided to movethe camp to another region (Ita confirmato Mo ex eo loco castra movi. iter in Ciliciamfacere institui). Describing one's recent journey in chronological order is commonalso in those cases in which the itinerary is slightly shorter and recalled only in aspecific point of the letter: cf. for example Cicero's account of his tours throughvarious locations in A. 4.15.5-6 His rebus actis Reatini me ad sua TijU7UTJduxerunt utagerem causam contra Interamnatis apud consules et decern legatos, qua lacusVelinus a M'. Curio emissus interciso monte in Nar defluit; ex quo est iliasiccata et umida tamen modice Rosea, vixi cum Axio; quin etiam me ad Septem Aquasduxit. Redii Romam Fontei causa a. d. vii Id. Quint.;or also in those cases in whichthe reference to a recent journey is even shorter, as for example in A. 7.21.1 veniCapuam ad Non. Febr., ita ut iusserant consules. eo die Lentulus venit sero. alterconsul omnino non venerat vii Id.; eo enim die ego Capua discessi et mansi Calibus.inde has litteras postridie ante lucem dedi.In a few cases the chronological order in218 Other cases in which a longer itinerary is organized in chronological order are: A. 4.15.5-6, A. 16.7,A. 16.13.1-2, A 8.11B.2,/). 8.11D,F. 2.10.2-3, F. 15.2, F. 15.4, F. 16.9.1-2, *F. 10.34.1.219 Other cases in which a slightly shorter itinerary is organized in chronological order are: A. 3.8.1-2,A. 7.16.2, A 7.21.1, A. 14.20.1, ,4. 15.1a.l,A 15.2.1, F. 3.6.4, F. 3.8.10, F. 7.19, F. 15.1.2,0.2.6.4,*F. 4.12.1-2, *F. 5.10b.l, *F. 10.11.2, *F. 10.23.2-3, *F. 11.13, *F. 12.13.3. Among the even shorteritineraries, mentioning only two phases of the recent journey, most are also structured in chronologicalorder: most often mentioning the arrival or the stay in a place and then the departure from it, A. 5.3.1,A. 5.7, A. 5.15.1,A 6.4,/). 16.1.1,/*. 16.10.1, F. 2.8.3, F. 14.4.2, F. 16.3.1; instead mentioning thearrival in a place and then the permanence in it, A 5.10.1, F. 3.3.1-2; or two places consecutivelytouched by the itinerary, A. 5.14, A. 7.8.4.

which one's movements are presented reflects the fact that the letter was actuallywritten over a longer span of time and information about one's trips was added atdifferent moments: for example, this happens in Q. 3.1, written over a span of abouttwenty days and, like in a diary, giving a report on Cicero's many tours around hisfamily's villas (cf. above pp. 138-9, or, for a discussion of the time of composition ofthis letter, cf. Ch. II pp. 106-7); or cf. F. 14.1, which was written in Thessalonica (3Plancius, homo officiosissimus, me cupit esse secum et adhuc retinet [sc.Thessalonicae]), but then it was not dispatched until Cicero got to Dyrrachium, as headds in a postscript (7 Dyrrachium veni, quod et libera civitas est et in me officiosa etproxima Italiae, followed, in adscriptio, by the date D. a.d. vi Kal. Dec. Dyrrachi). 220In many cases however longer itineraries may be structured in a different way: that isthey can be opened by a reference to the place that one has reached last in his journeyand in which one is at present, and then go back to the beginning of the itinerary inquestion and describe it in chronological order; almost always they also end with asecond reference to the present place, that recalls the beginning. This is, for example,the way in which Cicero describes his journey from Athens to the island of Delos inA. 5.12.1 (cf. above p. 138). 221 This 'reverse' structure is sometimes also employedAnother case in which a letter adds a new travel phase in the postscript is A. 3.22.221 Other cases in which a longer itinerary is described employing this reverse structure are: A. 4.1(beginning as 1 Cum primum Romam veni fuit cui recte ad te litteras darem, nihil priusfaciendum mini putavi quam ut tibi absenti de reditu gratularer and then going on with the longdescription of Cicero's triumphal welcome in Rome and his first two days there), A. 5.12, A. 5.16(beginning with 1 Etsi in ipso itinere et via discedebant publicanorum tabellarii et eramus in cursu,tamen surripiendum aliquid putavi spati, ne me immemorem mandati tui putares. itaque subsedi in ipsavia, dum haec, quae longiorem desiderant orationem, summatim tibi perscriberem and ending with 4nos in castra properabamus, quae aberanl bidui), A. 5.20 (where the account of Cicero's movementsand military actions opens the letter, saying 1 Saturnalibus mane se mihi Pindenissitae dediderunt,septimo et quinquagesimo die postquam oppugnare eos coepimus and then it ends, in the middle of theletter, with the more detailed description of what happened in Pindenissum and finally mentions thefact that now Cicero and his army are on their way back to Laodicea, 5. cum haec scribebam, intribunali res erat ad HS CXX. hinc exercitum in hiberna agri male pacati deducendum Quinto fratridabam; ipse me Laodiceam recipiebam), A. 5.21 (where the itinerary begins with 4 eas Laodiceaedenique, cum eo venissem. Hi Id. Febr. Laenius mihi reddidit datas a. d. x Kal. Oct. and it ends with 9Id. Febr., quo die has litteras dedi, forum institueram agere Laodiceae Cibyraticum et Apamense), A.

161for shorter itineraries too: for example^. 5.13.1 Ephesum venimus a. d. xiKal. Sext.,sexagesimo et quingentesimo postpugnam Bovillam. navigavimus sine timore etsine nausea, sed tardius propter aphractorum Rhodiorum imbecillitatem.In themajority of cases in which this logical organization of the itinerary is employed, theinitial reference to the place where one is at present is set at the very opening of theletter. This kind of structure in fact allows to provide the fundamental piece ofinformation about one' present coordinates in a position of evidence, which is thestrategy followed in the majority of the letters recalling a recent itinerary only bymeans of a brief reference (cf. above pp. 141-2). 223 We can also observe that this'reverse' structure seems to be preferred when describing sea fares, perhaps because atrip by sea was supposed to be even more dangerous than one by land: thus, informingabout its positive outcome right away could have responded to the correspondent'si • 224greater anxiety about it.Finally concerning the syntactical structure used in the internal organization of longeritineraries, we notice that this is generally in tune with the level of the correspondence16.6 (where the itinerary has a looser logical structure, in fact it begins with the reference to Cicero'sarrival in the place from which he is writing, then goes on commenting on the sea trip that took himthere, then it continues first mentioning the present place, secondly a stop during the journey, andthirdly the present place again; finally it goes back to mentioning how Cicero spent his time during thesea-fare: 1 Ego adhuc (perveni enim Vibonem ad Siccam) magis commode quam strenue navigavi;remis enim magnam partem, prodromi nulli. Mud satis opportune, duo sinus fuerunt quos tramittioporteret, Paestanus et Vibonensis, utrumque pedibus aequis tramisimus. veni igitur ad Siccam octavodie e Pompeiano, cum unum diem Veliae constitissem; ubi quidemfui sane libenter apud Talnamnostrum nee potui accipi, Mo absente praesertim, liberalius. viiii Kal. igitur ad Siccam. ibi tamquamdomi meaescilicet, itaque obduxiposterum diem. [...] 4. cum autem in navi legerem Academicos,agnovi erratum meum. itaque statim novum prohoemium exaravi et tibi misi).222 Other cases in which a shorter itinerary instead is recalled through a similar 'reverse' structure are:mentioning the arrival in a place and then the places touched earlier in the journey, A. 5.4.1, A. 5.9.1, ^4.l.\1.5,A. 14.17.1; mentioning the place in which one has arrived and then the sea-fare that took himthere, A. 5.13.1, A. 6.8.1 (also followed by the imminent departure from the present place), A. 7.2.1, F.14.5.1, *F. 12.16.1; mentioning the imminent departure from the present place and then thepermanence in it.223 The initial mention of the place in which one is at present is not set at the very opening of the letteronly in A. 5.21, and in the shorter references of A. 5.11.4 and/4. 7.17.5." 24 Cases in which a sea journey is recalled through this 'reverse structure' are: A. 5.12, A. 5.13.1, A.6.8, A. 7.2.1, A. 16.6, F. 14.5.1, *F. 12.16. Instead the chronological order is used to describe a seajourney in: A. 16.7, F. 7.19, F. 16.9.1-2.

at hand: so official reports and military bulletins show longer and more elaboratedsentences (e.g. F. 15.2); instead paratactic structures, with frequent ellipses of theverb, are not unusual in more personal correspondence: e.g. A. 5.12, or F. 16.1-2, oreven the series of extremely brief sentences describing Cicero's movementsthroughout Q. 3.1. 225II.2 - The form of the itinerary: Planned itinerariesThere are different ways in which one's future movements can be presented inCicero's correspondence. First of all one needs to communicate his futurewhereabouts in order to keep the epistolary exchange going or in order to arrange ameeting with the correspondent. Thus one can provide at least the indication of thevery next stop (e.g. A. 4.9.2 a. d. IIIIKal. Mai. iens in Pompeianum bene mane haecscripsi), or a more elaborate travel plan listing a series of different stops to be touchedin the next future, sometimes up to the moment in which one expects to meet thecorrespondent (e.g. Q. 2.6.4 A. d. v Id. Apr. ante lucem hanc epistulam dictaveramconscripseramque in itinere, ut eo die apud T. Titium in Anagnino manerem. postridieautem in Laterio cogitabam, inde, cum in Arpinati quinque dies fuissem, ire inPompeianum, rediens aspicere Cumanum, ut, quoniam in Non. Mai. Miloni dies"' In general, on the predilection for paratactic structures in more intimate correspondence cf. MENNA(1959); for the frequent ellipses of verbs of'moving' in Latin epistolary writing cf. HEIDEMANN (1893:50-3). Yet even in more formal correspondence, the description of one's past itineraries is conductedthrough fairly schematic structures, although syntactically more complex. In fact the typical style ofofficial dispatches and military bulletins was characterized by rather schematic sentences, mostlyprovided with a circumstantial or a participial structure (especially the ablative absolute): cf. the classicstudy by FRAENKEL (1956), and on Latin epistolography cf. CUGUSI (1983: 117-18).

prodica est, prid. Non. Romae essem teque, mi carissime et suavissime frater, adearn diem, ut sperabam, viderem).Sometimes, as one is writing the letter, the future itinerary may have not been clearlyestablished yet: in this case the correspondent is presented with alternative plans,almost always along with the promise of a more precise update to come (e.g., alsorequesting the same information from the correspondent, A. 12.41.1 Nihil erat quodscriberem. scire tamen volebam ubi esses; si abes aut futurus es, quandorediturus esses, fades igitur certiorem. et quod tu scire volebas ego quando ex hocloco, postridie Idus Lanuvi constitui manere, inde postridie in Tusculano aut Romae.utrum simfacturus eo ipso die scies). This uncertainty about where to go next isparticularly recurrent in the letters Cicero wrote during the years 46 through 44, as hewas moving from one to the other of his villas. 227A great number of letters provide some indication about where the writer is going to be in the nextfuture. In the majority of cases only one phase/ stop of the future itinerary is mentioned: A 1.4.3, A2.1.1, A 2.13.2, A. 2.15.2, A. 2.17.1, A 3.4.1, A 3.6.1, A. 3.13.2, A. 3.19.1, A 3.21.1, A 3.23.5, A4.5.3, A. 4.9.2, A. 4.10.2, A 4.13.1, A 5.3.3, A 5.7.1, A 5.11.4, A 5.12.1, A 5.14.1, A 5.16.4, A5.17.1, A 5.20.9, A 6.1.24, A 6.5.1, A 6.8.4, A 7.4.3, A 7.10.1, A 7.14.1, A 7.16.2, A 7.17.5, A7.18.1,A 7.19.A 8.4.3, A 8.16.2.A 9.10.2, A 9.15.1,A 9.18.3, A 10.6.3, A 10.7.3, A 10.16.2, A10.17.1, A 10.18.2, A 11.20.2, A 11.23.3, A 12.12.1, A 12.45.1, A 12.46.1, A 13.10.3, A 13.12.4, A13.16.2, A 13.33a.2,A 13.34.1,A 13.43, A 13.47.1,A 13.51.2,A 14.5.3, A 14.7.1,A 14.15.3.A14.19.6, A 14.18.4, A 14.21.4, A 15.1a.l,A 15.3.1,A 15.11.3.A 15.13a.2,A 15.15.4, A 15.25.1,A15.26.3, A 15.27.1,A 15.28.1,A 16.1.1,A 16.3.6, A 16.7.8, A 16.11.6.A 16.12.1,A 16.15.6, F.2.15.5, F. 2.18.3, F. 3.6.6, F. 3.8.10, F. 6.19.2, F. 7.30.1, F. 7.20.2, F. 7.19, F. 8.15.2, F. 13.57.1, F.14.3.4, F. 14.4.3, F. 14.5.2, F. 14.7.2, F. 15.11.2, F. 16.10.1, F. 16.17.2, *A 8.12a.4, *F. 10.18.4, *F.11.9.1, *F. 11.23.2, *F. 12.11.1, *F. 12.12.5. Then there are several cases in which two phases/ stopsare mentioned: A 1.1.2, A 2.5.1, A 2.11.2, A 3.22.1, A 5.2.1, A 5.5.1, A 5.15.3, A 7.7.3, A 8.9.3, A9.1.3.A 10.2.1,A 10.9.1, A 10.12.2, A 13.52.2, A 14.22.1, A 15.3.1,A 15.4.2, F. 2.13.4, F. 3.3.2, F.14.20, Q. 2.13.2, Q. 3.4.6, *A 15.6.2, *F. 10.21.5. Finally in other cases longer itineraries aredescribed, listing three or more phases/ stops: A. 2.8.2, A. 2.9.4, A. 5.21.9, A 6.2.6 and 10, ^4. 6.7.2, A.7.5.3, A. 13.47a. 1-2, A 12.1.1, A 14.2.4, A 14.16.1, Q. 2.6.4, F. 2.17.1 and 4, F. 3.5.4.2 " 7 Other cases in which a future itinerary is presented as being not definitive yet, but still admitting twoor more alternative plans are: A 2.4.6, A 3.14.2, A 3.16, A 3.17.2,/}. 5.4.3, A 5.9.1, A 7.17.1, A7.26.3, A 8.2.4, A 8.16.2, A 9.3.1, A 9.15.1, A 9.17.1, A 9.19.2-3, A 10.6.3, A 10.10.4-5, A 12.40.3and5,A 12.41,A 12.43.1,/). 12.44.3, A 13.13-14.4, A 13.26.2, A. 13.45.2, A 15.4.2,/!. 15.4a, A15.17.2, A 15.23.1, A 15.26.1, A 16.3.4, A 16.4.4, A 16.5.3, A 16.7.1, F. 4.1.2, F. 5.21.5, F. 7.4, F.9.5.1 and3,F. 9.19.2, F. 9.23.1, F. 14.1.3, *F. 8.15.1, *F. 8.16.4, *F. 10.9.2, *F. 11.1.2-3, *F. 11.20.4,*F. 11.28.8. In all of these cases the itineraries recalled only list one or two phases/ stops (never morethan three), although they sometimes discuss pros and cons of the alternative plans quite at length.

In other cases the level of uncertainty about one's future movements is even higherand the alternative plans are actually presented in order to seek advice from thecorrespondent, either about what route to follow (e.g. A. 10.4.12 me tamen consilioiuva, pedibusne Regium an hinc statim in navem, et cetera, quoniam commoror or,commenting on a piece of advice previously received, A 3.15.7 itaque exspectoThessalonicae acta Kal. Sext., ex quibus statuam in tuosne agros confugiam, ut nequevideam homines quos nolim et te, ut scribis, videam etpropius sim si quid agatur, idquod intellexi cum tibi turn Quinto fratri placere, an abeam Cyzicum), or in generalabout the opportunity of a trip (e.g. A. 14.13.4 Suscipe nunc meam deliberationem quasollicitor; ita multa veniunt in mentem in utramque partem. proficiscor, ut viKal. Mai. constitueram, legatus in Graeciam, caedis impendentis periculum non nihilvitare videor, sed casurus in aliquam vituperationem quod rei publicae defuerim tarngravi tempore, sin autem mansero, fore me quidem video in discrimine, sed accidereposse suspicor ut prodesse possim rei publicae. iam ilia consilia privata sunt, quodsentio valde esse utile ad conjirmationem Ciceronis me illuc venire; nee alia causaprofectionis mihi ullafuit turn cum consilium cepi legari a Caesare. tota igitur hac dere, ut soles si quid ad me pertinere putas, cogitabis). This happens especially in someof Cicero's letters to Atticus. In fact Atticus' advices are very often requested andcommented upon in Cicero's letters from exile, then in those written in 49, as Cicerowas mulling over following Pompey's army to Greece, and finally in those of 44, asCicero attempted to go to Greece to see his son. In particular during the exile Cicerowas quite remissive and generally prone to follow Atticus' advices. In 49, heremained in doubt for months before deliberating to follow Pompey; Atticus insteadkept advising him to remain in Italy and in a more neutral position (cf. especially theseries of Atticus' letters quoted in A. 9.10). In 44 too Atticus kept discouraging Cicero

from leaving Rome in a quite difficult moment, and in the end Cicero interrupted thejourney, as he finally realized how shameful his departure could have looked like.II.2.a - Position in the letter of planned itinerariesThe end of the letter is the position most commonly chosen to communicate theitinerary one plans to follow in the immediate future. In most cases the reference tothe planned itinerary is the very conclusion of the letter (e.g. A. 4.9.2 a. d. IIIIKal.Mai. iens in Pompeianum bene mane haec scripsi or A. 8.9.3 Ego Arpini volo esseprid. Kal, deinde circum villulas nostras errare, quas visurum mepostea desperavi),or it is anyway followed by only a few more words, containing greetings, or a finalcomment, or briefly reiterating an important request or a piece of instruction (e.g. A.14.2.4 In Tusculanum hodie, Lanuvi eras, inde Asturae cogitabam. Piliae paratum esthospitium, sed vellem Atticam; verum tibi ignosco. quorum utrique salutem). Thisconclusive position most often hosts shorter references stating where one is going tobe next, as opposed to longer descriptions of one's planned itinerary or discussions onplans still uncertain and pending on the correspondent's advice.Phrases mentioningOther cases in which one's doubts about a future itinerary are presented to the correspondent inorderto seek his advice are: A 3.1,A 3.2.1, A 1.22.2, A. 8.3.5-M. 10.4.12,A 10.11.4, A 11.22.2, A.13.38.2, A. 13.40, A 14.7.2, A 14.13.2 and 4, A 15.3.1, A 15.5.3.A 15.18.1-2, A 15.25.1, A 16.8.1-2,A 16.10.1, A 16.13.1-3, A 16.14.2. Instead the advices received from the correspondent are discussedin: A 3.7.1, A 3.8.3, A 3.10.1, A 3.11.1, A 3.15.6, A 3.20.1, A 7.24, A 8.11B.1, A 8.11D.3-4, A9.5.1, A 9.6.1, A 9.7.2, A 9.9.1, the entire letter A 9.10, A 10.15.2, A 10.18.2, A 11.5 2, A 12.34.1,A 13.39.2, A 14.19.6, A 15.20.1, A 15.21.3, A 16.1.3, A 16.2.4, A 16.6.1, F. 2.16.2 and 6, F.11.29.1, F. 14.19, F. 14.2.4, *F. 10.31.6.229 A reference to a planned itinerary is set at the end of the letter in the following cases: Shorterreference describing a planned itinerary consisting of one or two phases: A. 1.4.3, A. 2.11.2, A. 2.13.2,A 3.6, A 3.13.2, A 3.23.5, A 4.5.3, A 4.9.2, A 4.10.2, A 2.15.3, A 5.3.3, A 5.16.4, A 5.20.9, A7.4.3,A7.11.5,A7.16.2,A 7.19, A 8.4.3, A 8.9.3, A 10.7.3, A 13.12.4, A 13.16.2, A 13.33a.2,A13.47, A 13.51.2.A 13.52.2, A 14.5.3, A 14.15.3.A 14.18.4, A 14.21.4, A 15.13a.2,A 16.15.6,F.2.13.3, F. 2.15.5, F. 2.18.3, F. 3.3.2, F. 3.6.6, F. 3.8.10, F. 6.19.2, F. 7.19, F. 7.20.2, F. 14.5.2, F.15.11.2,F. 16.17.2, Q. 3.4.6, *A 8.12a.4, *F. 10.18.4, *F. 10.21.5, *F. 11.23.2, *F. 12.12.5. Longerreference describing a planned itinerary consisting of three or more phases: A. 2.8.2, A. 2.9.4, A. 14.2.4,Q. 2.6.4. Reference in which the planned itinerary is presented as being not definitive yet, but stilladmitting two or more alternatives: A 2.4.6, A 3.14.2, A. 1.26.3, A. 8.2.4, F. 9.5.1, A 11.20.2, A11.23.3, A 13.26.2, A 15.4a, A 15.17.2, A 16.4.4, F. 5.21.5, F. 9.19.2, *F. 10.9.2, *F. 11.20.4, *F.

the action of writing (and also dispatching) the letter at hand while being about todepart for the next destination are also particularly frequent in the conclusive position(e.g. A. 4.9.2, and in general Ch. II pp. 87-9).The beginning of a letter can also often host a reference to where one plans to be next.It can either be set in the very first sentence of the letter (e.g. A. 4.13.1 Romae a. d.xiii Kal. volumus esse, quod dico 'volumus', immo vero cogimur. Milonis nuptiae, orA. 5.2.1 A. d. vi Id. Mai., cum has dabam litteras, ex Pompeianoprojiciscebar, ut eodie manerem in Trebulano apud Pontium; deinde cogitabam sine ulla mora iustaitinera facere) or, more often, within its first paragraph, sometimes following a briefrecollection of the itinerary covered so far (e.g. A. 15.1a.l Heri dederam ad te litterasexiens e Puteolano deverteramque in Cumanum. ibi bene valentem videram Piliam.quin etiam paulo Cumis earn vidi; venerat enim infunus, cuifuneri egoquoque operam dedi. Cn. Lucceius, familiar is nosier, matrem efferat. mansiigitur eo die in Sinuessano atque inde mane postridie Arpinum proficiscens hancepistulam exaravi). Also the initial position, like the conclusive one, is above alloccupied by shorter references stating one's future location, 230 and often the planned11.28.8. References in which the correspondent's advice about one's planned itinerary is requested orcommented upon: A. 7.22.2. A. 7.24. A. 13.38.2, A 10.4.12, A \l.22.2,A. 13.40,-4. 14.19.6, A. 15.5.3,A. 15.18.2,-4. 15.21.3,-4. 15.25,-4. 16.10.1,F. 14.2.4, *F. 10.31.6.In some letters plans about one's future itineraries are recalled at various points in the text. Generallyearlier in the body of the letter there is a discussion about future plans that are still uncertain or there isa request for the correspondent's advices. At the end of the letter instead, there is a positive statementabout one's very next destination about which one is sure; cf. for example the way in which A. 8.16 isframed: 1 Omnia mihi proviso sunt praeter occultum et tutum iter ad mare superum; hoc enim man utinon possumus hoc tempore anni. illuc autem quo special animus et quo res vocat qua veniam?cedendum enim est celeriter, neforte qua re impediar atque adliger. [...] 2. ego Arpinum cogitabam.Other cases are: earlier reference is set at the beginning of the letter: A. 2.5.1 and 3, A. 3.7.1 and 3, A.3.22.1 and 4, A. 7.17.1 and 5, A. 10.6.1 and 3,-4. 14.7.1 and 2, A. 15.20.1, 3 and 4 (beginning, centerand end), A. 16.7.1 and 8, A. 16.8.1 and 2, Q. 2.13.2 and 3, *A. 15.6.2; earlier reference is set in themiddle ofthe letter:-4. 10.16.2 and 4, A. 6.2.6 and 10, A. 13.47a. 1 and 2, A. 12.40.3 and 5, A. 16.3.4and 6, A. 16.13.1, 2 and 3, F. 2.16.2 and 6, A. 10.10.4 and 5.230 A reference to a planned itinerary is set at the beginning of the letter in the following cases: Shorterreference describine a planned itinerary consisting of one or two phases: A. 2.1.1, A 3.21.1, A. 4.13.1,A. 5.2.X, A. 5.5.X, A. 5.9.1, A. 5.12.1, A 5.14.1,-4. 5.17.1, A 6.5.1,-4. 7.7.3,-4. 7.10.1,-4. 7.14.1,-4.7.18.1,A 10.2.1,-4. 10.17.1,-4. 12.12.1,-4. 12.45.1,-4. 12.46.1,-4. 13.34.1,-4. 13.43,-4. 14.22.1,-4.

itinerary is expressed in combination with a phrase mentioning the action of writing(or dispatching) the letter at hand (e.g. A. 5.2.1 or A. 15.1a. 1 above), or occasionallyalso of receiving a letter from the present correspondent (cf. Ch. II pp. 68-70 and 103-4).The center of the letter instead is where we find the majority of the discussions onitineraries that are still uncertain (e.g. A. 16.5.3 itaque dubito an Venusiam tendam etibi exspectem de legionibus. si aberunt, ut quidam arbitrantur, Hydruntem, si neutrumerit dc

tranquille a Par this. Quintilis, si erit ut volumus, in itinere est per provinciamredeuntibus consumendus; venimus enim in provinciam Laodiceam Sulpicio etMarcello consulibus prid. Kal. Sext., inde nos oportet decedere a. d. iiiKal. Sext,where the planned itinerary is introduced by a sentence mentioning Cicero's positionat the present moment, and it follows a long report about the itinerary covered up tothat point). 231 In this position the discussion about one's future itinerary is in facttreated as one among the topics to which the present epistolary conversation isdedicated, as opposed to a piece of practical information relegated to the frame of theletter.Finally, in many letters we find a reference both to the itinerary covered up to thepresent point and to the plans for the future. In this case, the two itineraries can behosted in two separate points in the letter, almost always with the reference to the pastitinerary set at the beginning or toward the beginning of the letter, and the planned onelater in the letter or at the end of it: e.g. A. 5.3.1 is opened by A. d. v Id. Mai. veniin Trebulanum ad Pontium; ibi mihi tuae litterae binae redditae sunt tertio abs te die.eodem autem exiens e Pompeiano Philotimo dederam ad te litteras, and closed by A.5.3.3 Beneventi cogitabam hodie esse. Nostra continentia et diligentia satis faciemus.A reference to a planned itinerary is set in the middle of the letter in the following cases: Shorterreference describing a planned itinerary consisting of one or two phases: A 1.1.2, A 2.17.1, A 5.7.1, A5.11.4,/!. 6.1.24,/*. 6.8.4, A 9.1.3, A 9.18.3, A 10.12.2, A 13.10.3, A 5.15.3, A 15.11.3,/f. 15.15.4,A. 16.11.6, F. 13.57.1, F. 14.3.4, F. 14.4.3, F. 14.7.2. Longer reference describing a planned itineraryconsisting of three or more phases: A. 5.21.9, A. 6.1.2, A. 7.5.3, F. 3.5.4. Reference in which theplanned itinerary is presented as being not definitive vet, but still admitting two or more alternatives: A.3.4.1,/*. 3.17.2,/). 5.4.3, A. 9.17.1,/*. 9.19.2-3, A. 12.44.3, A. 13.13-14.4, A 13.45.2, A 15.4.2, A16.5.3, F. 4.1.2, F. 14.1.3, *F. 8.15.1-2, *F. 8.16.4, *F. 11.1.2-3. References in which thecorrespondent's advice about one's planned itinerary is requested or commented upon: A. 3.2.1, A.3.8.3, A. 3.15.6, A. 8.3.5-6, A. 9.7.2, the entire A. 9.10, A. 10.11.4, A. 10.15.2, A. 10.18.2, A. 11.5 2, A13.39.2,/*. 14.13.2,/). 16.2.4, A. 16.14.2, A 8.11D.3-4, F. 14.19.For those cases in which a letter shows a reference to one's future itinerary both in the middle andeither at end or at the beginning of it cf. above n. 230. Cases in which the reference to one's planneditinerary is expressed in combination with a phrase mentioning the action of writing (or dispatching)the letter at hand are much more rare in the middle of the letter than they are its end or beginning: cf.only A 5.15.3, A 5.21.9, F. 14.7.2.

Very frequently past and planned itinerary can also be mentioned consecutively(almost always in chronological order), in any position of the letter: e.g. the longaccount of Cicero's movements and actions in A. 5.21.4-8, followed by the expositionof his future plans in A. 5.21.9 (cf. above p. 167). In other cases finally, the samesentence can host a references to both past and planned itinerary: e.g. A. 5.7.1 Egocum triduum cum Pompeio et apud Pompeium fuissem, proficiscebar Brundisium a. d.xifiiij Kal. Iun.II.2.b - Recurrent syntactical structures in planned itinerariesII.2.b.i - Recurrent expressions to introduce a planned itineraryLike in the case of past itineraries, sometimes also the description of a planned one,especially a longer one, can be preceded by an introductory phrase, often hingedaround a verb of 'knowing': e.g. A. 2.8.2 Sed cognosce itinera nostra, ut statuas ubinos visurus sis. Informianum volumus venire Parilibus. inde, quoniamputaspraetermittendum nobis esse hoc tempore Cratera ilium delicatum, Kal. Mai. deFormiano proficiscemur, ut Anti simus a. d. VNon.Mai. ludi enim Anti futuri sunt exa. d. IIII [Kal.J adprid. Non. Mai. eos Tullia spectare vult. inde cogito inOther cases in which past and planned itineraries are mentioned in two different points of a letter(always past itinerary first and planned one second, unless specified) are: A 3.8.1-2 and 3, A 3.13.1and 2, A. 5.3.1 and 3, A. 5.4.1 and 3, A. 5.15.1 and 3, A. 5.16.1-2 and 4, A. 5.20.1-6 and 9, A. 8.3.5-6and 7 (discussion of planned itinerary first), A. 8.1 IB.1 and 2 (discussion of planned itinerary first), A.8.1 ID 1-2 and 3-4, /I. 9.19.1 and 2, A. 12.40.2 and 3-5, A. 14.19.1 and 6, A. 15.11.1 and 3, A. 15.18.1and 2, A 16.4.1 and 4, A. 16.7 1-6 and 8, A 16.11.6 and 6, F 3.3.1-2 and 2, F 3.5.1 and 4, F. 5.21.3and 5, F. 7.19 beginning and end, F. 7.20.1 and 2, F. 14.5.1 and 2, *F. 10.21.2 and 5, *F. 11.20.2 and4. Other cases in which past and planned itineraries are mentioned consecutively are: A. 3.2.1, A 3.7.1,A. 3.11.1, A. 3.14.2, A. 3.19.1-2, A. 3.22.1-4, A. 4.13.1, A. 5.5.1, A. 5.9.1, A. 5.11.4, A. 5.12 1, A 5.14.1,A. 5.21.4-9, A 6.8.1-4,/}. 7.17.5, A 12.45.1,A 13.26.2, A 13.52.2, A 14.16.1, A 14.21.4, A 16.6 1, A16.10.1, A 16.13 1-3, F. 2.17.1, F. 14.1.3, F. 14.3.4, *F 10.9.2 *F 10.18.4. Other cases in which pastand planned itineraries are mentioned within the same sentence are: A. 3.10.1, A 3.15.6,/). 5.2.1, A5.7.1, A 5.17.1, A 7.14.1, A 7.16.2, A 7.18.1, A 10.2.1, A 12.1.1,/). 14.5.3, A 14.7.1, A 15.1a.l,A16.1.1, F. 3.6.6, F. 3.8.10, F. 9.23.1, F. 14.4.3, F 14.7.2, Q. 2.6.4, Q. 2.13.2, */). 15.6.2 *F 12.11.1.Both when past and planned itineraries are mentioned consecutively and within the same sentence, theyare more frequently set toward the beginning of the letter, but for the position at the end of the letter, cf.above pp. 168-9.

Tusculanum, deinde Arpinum, Romam ad Kal. Iun. te aut in Formiano aut Anti aut inTusculano cura ut videamus.Introductory phrases can sometimes also precede plans that are still uncertain: e.g. A.9.3.1 nam ad id quod delibero pertinet, si ille certe nusquam discessit, intellegereGnaeum non essefacilis nobis ex Italia exitus, cum ea tota armis praesidiisqueteneatur, hieme praesertim. nam si commodius anni tempus esset, vel infero mariliceret uti. nunc nihil potest nisi supero tramitti, quo iter interclusum est. In this kindof itineraries however, conclusive phrases, meaning 'I'll let you know as soon as theplan is established' (e.g. faciam te certiorem,faciam ut scias, or sed scies), muchmore than introductory ones, are a recurrent stereotyped element. 2A wide variety of phrases is then employed to ask for the correspondent's advice andto introduce or, even more often, to wrap up the exposition of the plans about whichthe advice is sought: e.g. the recurrent phrase iuva me consilio in A. 10.4.12 me tamenconsilio iuva, pedibusne Regium an hinc statim in navem, et cetera, quoniamcommoror, or A. 13.38.2 tu autem quod ipse tibi suaseris idem mihi persuasum putato.Other cases in which an introductory phrase leads into a planned itinerary are: A. 2.8.2, A. 10.16.2Consilium nostrum spero vacuum periculo fore, A. 12.41 et quod tu scire volebas, A. 14.22.1 primumigitur scire te volui me hinc Arpinum xvi Kal. Iun., A. 15.26.3 Ego itinera sic composueram ut, F. 3.5.4ego tibi meum consilium exponam, F. 3.8.10 De nostris rebus quod scire vis, *A. 15.6.2 noli autem metarn strenuum putare ut, *F. 12.11.1 scito. For the use of introductory phrases with verbs 'knowing' or'learning' in past itineraries and in general cf. above pp. 145-7.234 Other cases in which an introductory phrase precedes a plan with alternatives are: A. 3.16 Totum itermihi incertum facil exspectatio litterarum vestrarum Kal. Sext. datarum, A. 8.16.1 Omnia mihi provisosunt praeter occultum et tutum iter ad mare superum, A. 9.3.1, A. 15.23.1 sedpermulta mihi de noslroitinere in utramque partem occurrunt, A. 16.3.4 multa me movent in discessu, A. 16.4.4 Iter illudBrundisium de quo dubitabam sublatum videtur. A. 15.4.2 quod te a Bruto scribis, ut certior fieret quodie in Tusculano essem futurus, ut ad te ante scripsi, vi Kal.Recurrent conclusive phrases meaning 'I'll let you know as soon as possible' are: faciam te certiorem(A. 2.5.1, A. 3.11.1; with statim A. 2.9 A, A. 13.26.2, F. 5.21.5; sed et faciam ante te certiorem F. 1A, F.9.5.1, F. 9.23.1; F. 9.19.2 non committam ut te sew a me certiorem factum putes\ faciam ut scias (A.5.4.3, A. 7.26.3, A. 16.8.1; with variations A. 3.22.1 ad te statim mittemus ut scias ubi simus, F. 3.5.4faciam ut tibi nota sit omnis ratio dierum atque itinerum meorum, *F. 12.12.5 quid egerim celeriler utscias dabo operamX sed scies (A. 3.14.2. A. 10.11.4, A 12.41, A. 12.44.3, A 13.26.2). scribam (A.12.40.5, A. 16.11.6). These phrases can be employed to offer further updates on a situation that is stilluncertain also regarding topics different than one's planned itineraries (e.g. *F. 11.10.5 Cum primumde Antonio exploratum habuero, faciam te certiorem).

equidem vereor maxime ne in Tusculano opprimar. in turba haec essent faciliora.utrum igitur Asturae? quid si Caesar subito? iuva me, quaeso, consilio. utar eo quodtu decreveris. 235 Also when commenting on the advices received from acorrespondent, various phrases can be used to introduce the exposition of the planproposed by the correspondent and one's comments about it: cf. for example thephrase ego utar tuo consilio et (e.g. A. 9.7.2 itaque utar tuo consilio et ero inFormiano, ne aut ad urbem d/rdUTTJOigmea animadvertatur aut, si nee hie nee illiceum videro, devitatum se a meputet), or phrases introduced by the connecting relativequod, very commonly used in Cicero's correspondence to lead into a new topic in theletter (e.g. A. 3.8.3 quod suades ne longius discedamus dum acta mensis Mai ad nosperferantur, puto me ita esse facturum; sed ubi, nondum statui). However thereference to the advice received is also frequently made by means of incidentalexpressions: e.g. A. 13.39.2 Romam, ut censes, veniam, sed invitus, or A. 12.34.1 erasigitur in Siccae suburbano. inde, quern ad modum suades, puto me in Ficulensir 236fore.235 Phrases used to introduce the request for the correspondent's advices (mostly followed by ne... an topresent different alternatives), or to conclude it are: me consilio iuva (/). 10.4.12, A. 13.38.2, A.15.20.3), incumbe in hanc curam (A. 15.25.1, A. 16.10.1), vide si {A. 16.14.2), suscipe nunc meantdeliberationem qua sollicitor (A. 14.13.4); velim scribas (A. 7.22.2, A. 15.18.1), velim consilium des (A.8.3.6); cogitabis (A. 14.7.2 Haec et cetera quae ad nos pertinebunt, ut soles, cogitabis, ad meque autquod ad rem pertineat, and with little variation^. 14.13.4), videbis (A. 16.13.3 tu quid faciendum sitvidebis); quid censes? (A. 10.11.4, A. 11.22.2), quid mi auctor es? (A. 13.40); ut consilium capiam {A.3.1 ut... certum consilium de tua sententia caperepossemus, and with little variation A. 3.2.1), a teconsilium peto (A. 7.22.2), tuum consilium exquiro {A. 16.8.2).236 Phrases used to introduce or conclude a comment on the correspondent's advices are: utar tuoconsilio et {A. 9.6.1, A. 9.7.2), adsentior tibi et/ ut {A. 9.9.1, A. 10.15.2), phrases introduced by quod (A.3.7.1 quod me rogas et hortaris ut, A. 3.8.3 and A. 10.15.2 quod suades ut/ne, A. 11.5 2 Quod scribisplacereut,A. 14.19.6 Quod autem laudas me quod, A. 16.2.4 Consilium meum quod ais, F. 14.19 quodme propius valtis accedere), other phrases (A. 9.5.1 sunt ista quidem quae disputas difflcillima, A.15.21.3 Tiro negat iam tibiplacere, A. 16.1.3 meam profectionem laudari gaudeo, A. 16.6.2 scribisenim in caelum ferri profectionem meam, F. 11.29.1 Dubilanti mihi, quodscit Atticus nosier, de hoctoto consilio profectionis, quod in ulramque partem in men tern mulla veniebant, magnum pondusaccessit ad tollendam dubitationem iudicium et consilium tuum, *F. 10.31.6 Illud vehementer admiror,non scripsisse te mihi manendo in provincia an ducendo exercitum in Italiam rei publicae magis satisfacere possim.). In general on the use of quod to introduce a new topic in Cicero's correspondence, cf.GARCEA (2003).

172Finally, planned itineraries, like past ones (cf. above pp. 147-9), can often be openedby a pronoun of the first person, most often ego, alerting the reader's attention on thefact that the following piece of information is going to concern the writer's ownactions (generally in opposition to somebody else's actions mentioned in thepreceding sentence). This is particularly common when the reference to the planneditinerary is shorter: e.g. A. 3.23.5 ego in Epirumproficiscar cumprimorum dierumnuntios excepero, F. 16.10.1 ego in Formiano a. d. Ill Kal. esse volo.II.2.b.ii - Describing a planned itinerary: recurrent syntactical structuresMost often planned itineraries are expressed by means of structures introduced byvarious verbs of'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing'. The ones most commonlyOther cases in which the reference to the correspondent's advice is given by means of an incidentalphrase are: with ut (ut censes in A. 7.24, A. 9.9.1, A. 13.39.2; ut tibi placuerat in A. 3.10.1; ut scribis inA. 15.20.1); with relative or causal quod(A. 12.34.1 quod idem video tibiplacere, A. 3.11.1 quod tibiita placuerat, A. 3.15.6 id quod intellexi cum tibi turn Quinto fratriplacere), with other phrases (F.14.2.4 quoniam ita vobis placet, A. 12.34.1 quern admodum suades, F. 2.16.2 nil tamen umquam deprofectione nisi vobis approbantibus cogitavi).Like in the case of the phrases used to pledge further updates (cf. above n. 234), also the most commonphrases used to introduce or conclude a request of advice {iuva me consilio) or a comment on it (utartuo consilio et, ut censes) are attested also in reference to plans not related to traveling (e.g. A.7.21.3,*F. 9.1C.l,orA. 5.13.4).237 A pronoun of the first person (ego unless specified) is used to introduce a brief reference (one or twophases) to a planned itinerary in: A. 2.4.6 (nos), A. 2.11.2, A. 3.6.1 (nobis),A. 3.11.1 (me),A. 3.14.2, A.3.17.2, A. 3.20.1,A 3.21.1 (mihi),A. 3.22.1 (/n

employed are cogito and volo followed by the infinitive; other verbs used to introduceplanned itineraries are: puto, arbitror, statuo, constituo, spero (more often used in thephrase ut spero), cupio (mostly used for plans set in a more distant future or less likelyto actually happen, e.g. F. 7.30.1 quin hinc ipse evolare cupio et aliquopervenire ubinee Pelopidarum nomen nee facta audiam'), placet, in animo est, consilium est, video/videtur. These verbs can be used either to introduce a shorter reference to one's futuremovements (e.g. F. 16.10.1 ego in Formiano a. d. IIIKal. esse volo), or a longeritinerary with multiple phases (e.g. A. 12.1.1 Vndecimo diepostquam a te discesseramhoc litterularum exaravi egrediens e villa ante lucem, atque eo die cogitabam inagnino, postero autem in Tusculano, ibi unum diem: v Kal. igitur adconstitutum. atque utinam continuo ad complexum meae Tulliae, ad osculum Atticaepossem currere!), or they can be repeated in order to introduce single phases within alonger itinerary (e.g. A. 2.9A Antium me ex Formiano recipere cogito a. d. VNon.Mai. Antio volo Non. Mai. projicisci in Tusculanum. sed cum e Formiano rediero (ibiesse usque adprid. Kal. Mai. volo)faciam statim te certiorem).Often the verb of* Other cases in which verbs of'thinking', 'deciding', 'wishing' are used to introduce a planneditinerary or a phase within it are: with cozito: A. 1.4.3, A 2.8.2, A. 2.9.4, A. 2.13.2, A 5.2.1,/I. 5.3.3, A.5.15.3, A 6.2.6, A 7.4.3, A 7.11.5, A 8.16.2, A 9.9.1, A 12.1.1, A 14.2.4, A. 14.18.4, A 14.19.6, A.14.21.4, A 15.17.2, A 15.25.1, A. 16.2.4 bis, A. 16.6.1, F. 2.16.2, F. 2.17.1, F. 4.1.2, F. 7.4, F. 13.57.1,F. 16.17.2, Q. 2.6.4; with volo (or also nolo and maid): A. 2.8.2, A. 2.9.4, A. 2M.2, A. 3.19.1, A. 3.20.1,A. 4.13.1, A 5.9.1, A. 6.7.2, A 7.7.3 A. 7.17.1, A. 8.9.3, A 9.1.3, A. 13.47a. 1, A. 15.18.2, A. 15.20.4, A15.25.1, A 16.6.1, A. 16.13.1, F. 2.16.2, F. 2.17.1, F. 14.1.3, F. 16.10.1, Q. 3.4.6; with puto: A 3.8.3,A. 3.20.1, A. 5.14.1, A. 10.7.3, A. 10.15.2, A 10.17.1, A 12.34.1 bis, A 15.4.2, A 15.4a, A 16.6.1, F.2.17.1, F. 3.5.4, F. 14.20,; with arbitror. A. 15.3.1, A 16.4.4, A 16.12.1, .F. 2.17.1, F. 6.19.2, F. 14.20(ut arbitror), *F. 11.1.3; with statuo: A. 3.8.3, A 3.10.1, A 3.15.6, A 3.19.1, A 5.4.3, A 9.17.1, A15.5.3,A 16.10.1; with constituo: A. 7.26.3, A 12.40.3,A 12.43.2,A 14.13.4 (ut constitueram), A.14.19.6, A 15.3.1, A 15.28.1, A 16.4.4, A. 16.10.1, A 16.11.6, *F. 10.31.6; with spero: A. 6.2.10. F.14.5.2, F. 14.7.2, *F. 8.15.1, and in the phrase ut spero/sperabam: A. 6.5.1, A 6.2.6, Q. 2.6.4, F.2.15.5, *F. 10.18.4; with cupio: A 2.5.1 .A 9.10.2. A 14.22.1, F. 7.30.1; with placet ut: *A 8.12a.4,*F. 11.1.2; with in animo est: A. 3.21.1, A 5.12.1, A 13.10.3, F. 2.13.3; with phrases with consilium:A. 5.5.1 consilium est, A. 7.10.1 consilium capio, *F. 10.9.2 consilium abicio, A. 7.24 a consiHo absum;with de libero: A. 15.5.3; with destino: A. 15.21.3; with opinor (parenthetical opinor, followed byexhortatory subjunctive): A 10.9.1, A 12.46.1; with video/ videtur: A. 4.5.3, A 5.9.1, A 7.26.3 (utv/Weo),A8.11D.4,A9.15.1,A 10.6.1, A 16.1.1, A 16.2.4, F. 5.21.5, F. 9.5.1. In plans withalternatives we also find dubito an.... ne (A. 16.5.3). certum non habeo (A. 12.40.3), conor (A. 13.26.2).On the frequent use of these phrases to express planned itineraries in Cicero's correspondence cf.MENNA (1955: 44-7, in particular on phrases with cogito), and in ancient epistolography in general, cf.

174'moving' can remain implied after these verbs, especially after cogito (e.g. A.12.1.1). 239 The tense of these verbs is generally either an epistolary imperfect (e.g. A.12.1.1), or, even more often, a present (e.g. A. 2.9.4). 240Another quite common way to present a planned itinerary is simply by conjugatingthe verb of'going' or 'staving' in the future indicative. This can be found either inshorter references to future plans or also within longer itineraries. The future howeveris generally not employed to communicate one's plan in simple and positivestatements, which is instead almost always the case with structures with cogito, voloand similar verbs (cf. F. 16.10.1 ego in Formiano a. d. Ill Kal. esse volo). A verb ofCuGUSl (1989: 404-5 and 410, in particular on phrases with spero, which are the most frequentlyattested in documentary letters).239 A verb of going' (or 'staying') is implied in the following cases: with cogito: A. 2.8.2, A 2.13.2, A.5.153, A. 6.2.6,A. 1A3,A. 8.16.2, A. 9.9.\,A. 12.1.1,A 14.2.4, A. 14.18.4, A 14.21.4, A 15.17.2, A.15.25.1,/I. 16.2.4 bis, A 16.6.1, F. 7.4, F. 16.17.2. Q. 2.6.4; with volo (or also nolo and malo): A. 6.7.2.A.9.13,A. 15.25.1: with puto: A. 10.73,A. 15.4a: with statuo: A. 16.10.1: with constituo: A. 16.11.6;with certum non habeo: A. 12.40.3: with destino: A. 15.21.3; with conor. A. 13.26.2: with video/ videor.A. 4.5.3, .4. 10.6.1. On the frequent use of the ellipsis of verbs of'moving' after a verb of'thinking','deciding', or 'wishing', cf. HEIDEMANN (1893: 53-7 and, on the ellipsis of the verb sum in the sameconstruction, when used in the sense of staying', 31-4). Otherwise the verbs of thinking', 'deciding'or 'wishing' are regularly followed by a infinitive (mostly present, except for spero, puto, arbitror, thatare mostly followed by the future) or an ut clause with the imperfect subjunctive.240 The imperfect is used: with cogito: A. 1.4.3, A. 5.2.1, A. 5.3.3, A. 5.15.3, A. 6.2.6, A. 7.11.5, A.8.16.1, A 12.1.1, A 14.2.4, A. 14.18.4, A 14.19.6, A 14.21.4, A. 16.2.4, F. 2.17.4, F. 4.1.2, Q. 2.6.4;with volo (or also nolo and malo): A. 7.17.5, A. 9.1.3, F. 14.1.3, Q. 3.4.6; with puto: A. 5.14.1, A.16.6.1: with arbitror: A. 15.3.1; with constituo: A. 16.4.4; with spero: O. 2.6.4: with in animo est: A.3.21.1, A. 5.12.1, F. 2.13.3; with video/ vide tun A. 5.9.1, A. 8.UD.4. The present is used: with cogito:A. 2.8.2, A. 2.9.4, A. 2.13.2, A. 1.43, A. 9.9.2, A. 15.17.2, A. 15.25.1, A. 16.2.4, F. 7.4, F. 13.57.1, F.16.17.2; with volo (or also nolo, malo): A. 2.8.2, A. 2.9.4, A. 2.11.2, A. 4.13A, A. 6.7.2, A. 7.7.3, A.8.9.3, A 15.18.2, A 15.25.1, A. 16.6.2,/I. 16.13.3,F. 16.10.1, F. 2.17.1; with puto:. A. 3.8.3, A. 10.17.1,A. 10.15.2, A 12.34.1,A 15.4.2, A 15.4a,/ 7 . 14.20. F. 2.17.1. F. 3.5.4; with arbitror. A. 16.4.4,A16.12.1, F. 2.17.1, F. 6.19.2, F. 14.20, *F. 11.1.3; with spero: A. 6.2.10. A 6.5.1, F. 2.15.5, F. 14.5.2,F. 14.7.2, *F. 10.18.4. *F. 8.15.1: with cupio: A. 2.5.1. A 9.10.2. A 14.22.1 F. 7.30.1: with in animoest: A. 13.10.3; with consilium est: A. 5.5.1. a consilio absum: A. 7.24; with opinor: A. 10.9.1, A12.46.1: with video/videtur: A. 4.5.3. A 7.26.3, A 9.15.1, A 16.1.1, A 16.2.4. F. 9.5.1: with dubito: A.16.5.3: with certum non habeo: A. 12.40.3; with conor: A. 13.26.2.Other tenses are more rarely used, but especially found with verbs of deciding'. The perfect is used:with cogito: F. 2.16.2; with volo (or also nolo, malo): A. 3.19.1, A 3.20.1, A 5.9.1, A 13.47a.l; withstatuo: A. 3.8.3. A 3.19.1, A 15.5.3: with constituo: A. 7.26.3, A 12.43.2, *F. 10.31.6: with placitumest ut: *A 8.12a.4, *F. 11.1.2; with consilium cepi: A. 7.10.1. with consilium abieci: *F. 10.9.2; witdelibero: A. 15.5.3: with video/ videtur: A. 5.9.1. The future: withp»to: A 10.7.3; with statuo: A.3.15.6. A 9.17.1; with constituo: A. 14.19.6; with consilium capio: *F. 10.9.2; with video/ videtur: A.10.6.1, F. 5.21.5. The future perfect is used with consituo (A. 16.11.6, A 12.40.3) or with statuo (A5.4.3, A 3.10.1). Also the pluperfect is used with statuo (A 16.10.1) or constituo (A. 14.13.2, A15.28.1, A 16.11.6, A 16.10.1).

'going' in the future indicative is mostly found in sentences where it governs acircumstantial, conditional, temporal or causal clause, or also sometimes within such aclause itself: that is, it generally describes planned itineraries that are presented ashappening under certain conditions. 241 Thus the future is often used in more genericreferences to a planned movement, that are mostly expressed without a precise date(e.g. A. 3.23.5 ego in Epirumproficiscar cum primorum dierum nuntios excepero),and it is particularly common in the case of itineraries involving two or morealternative plans (e.g. A. 2.4.6 nos circiter Kalendas aut in Formiano erimus aut inPompeiano, or F. 9.5.3 Mihi si spatium fuerit in Tusculanum ante Nonas veniendi,istic te videbo; si minus, persequar in Cumanum et ante te certiorem faciam, utlavatio parata sit). The future is also used in combination with certain recurringphrases employed to comment on the correspondent's advices, like utar tuo consilio et(e.g. A. 9.7.2 itaque utar tuo consilio et ero in Formiano, ne aut ad urbemdC7T(XWT](7ig mea animadvertatur aut, si nee hie nee illic eum videro, devitatum se ameputei), adsentior tibi ut... et (e.g. A. 9.9.1 adsentior tibi ut in Formianopotissimumcommorer, etiam de supero mari, ptaboque, ut antea ad te scripsi, ecquonamCases in which the verb in the future indicative, describing the planned movement, is set in asubordinate clause (mostly using the future perfect) are: in a si clause in A 13.13-14.4, F. 7.19, F.9.19.2, F. 14.1.3, F. 15.11.2; in a temporal clause (mostly cum and indicative, or also dum) in/4. 3.22.4,A 5.20.9, A 6.1.24, A 10.2.1, A. 12.12.1, A 12.40.3, Q. 2.13.3. More frequently however the verb inthe future indicative is set in the main clause: governing a si clause in A. 2.11.2, A 3.11.1, A 3.14.2, ^4.3.16, A. 8.2.4, A 9.19.3, A 10.10.5,/*. 11.20.2, A 11.23.3, A 16.4.4, A 16.5.3, A. 8.11B.1, F 5.21.5,F. 9.5.3, *F. 10.9.2, *F. 11.1.3, *F 11.20.4, *F. 11.28.8; governing a temporal clause (mostly cum andindicative, or also dum) in A. 1.1.2, A 3.23.5, A 9.15.1, F. 3.3.2,F. 3.5.4, F 14.3.4, *F. 11.23.2;governing a causal clause (quoniam or quod) in A. 12.45.1, A. 2.8.2, A 9.19.3, A. 3.17.2, F 14.2.4;governing a concessive clause (etsi or quamquam) in A. 13.26.2, F 4.1.2; governing an ablativeabsolute: A. 15.20.4, F. 7.20.2. Less often the main clause mentioning the planned itinerary does notgovern any of such subordinates: A. 2.4.6, A. 5.5.1, A 6.8.4, A 7.7.3, A 9.6.1, A 9.7.2, A 9.9.1, A9.19.3, A 10.6.1, A 13.39.2, A 15.20.3, A 16.13.1, F. 3.5.4, F 9.5.1, ^. 2.13.2, *F 10.21.5, *F.11.9.1, *F 12.12.5.242 However cases in which a date accompanies a planned itinerary expressed with the future indicativeare: A 1.1.2.A 2.4.6, A 2.8.2, A 2.11.2,A 6.1.24, A 7.7.3, A 10.2.1,A 13.13-14.4, F 3.5.4, F 9.5.3,Q. 2.13.2.

modopossim voluntate eius nullam rei publicae partem attingere), or ut censes (A.13.39.2 Romam, ut censes, veniam, sed invitus).Another rather frequent way to communicate one's future whereabouts is usingphrases presenting oneself as on the way or as about to depart for a certain destination:e.g. A. 3.6.1 nobis iter est in Asiam, maxime Cyzicum, or A. 5.7.1 Ego cum triduumcum Pompeio et apud Pompeium fuissem, proficiscebar Brundisium a. d. xifiiij Kal.Iun. These phrases are very often combined with the reference to the action of takingcare of one's correspondence, especially writing or dispatching the letter at hand, andthey are most often set at the very end or at the beginning of a letter: e.g. A. 4.9.2 a. d.IIII Kal. Mai. iens in Pompeianum bene mane haec scripsi, or A. 7.14.1 A. d. vi Kal.Febr. Capuam Calibus prqficiscens, cum leviter lippirem, has litteras dedi. 43 In thiscase, as it has been illustrated in Chapter II (cf. pp. 83-4), the verb of 'going' or'departing' can be either in a main clause (mostly in the epistolary imperfectindicative, but occasionally also in the present or perfect), or, more often, in acircumstantial one. These phrases are commonly used in shorter references to theplanned itinerary, basically just mentioning the next destination like in the examplesabove, but sometimes they can also open itineraries with two, three or even morenumerous phases (e.g. A. 5.2.1 A. d. vi Id. Mai., cum has dabam litteras, exPompeiano proficiscebar, ut eo die manerem in Trebulano apud Pontium; deindecogitabam sine ulla mora iusta itinera facer e, or Q. 2.6 A A. d. v Id. Apr. ante lucemhanc epistulam dictaveram conscripseramque in itinere, ut eo die apud T. Titium inAnagnino manerem. postridie autem in Laterio cogitabam, inde, cum in Arpinati243 Cf. cases in which phrases meaning 'to be on the way' or 'to be about to depart' for a certaindestination are used without a reference to the action of taking care of one's correspondence: A 3.4.1,A 3.6.1, ,4. 3.14.2,A5.7.1,A5.11.4,A5.16.4,A 8.3.6, A 8.4.3, A 10.18.2, A 13.33a.2,A 14.15.3,A 15.13a.2, F. 3.6.6, F. 14.4.3. Instead for cases in which these phrases are combined with a referenceto the action of writing or dispatching the letter at hand cf. Ch. II pp. 87-9, and with the action ofreceiving one from the correspondent cf. Ch. lip. 114.

quinque dies fuissem, ire in Pompeianum, rediens aspicere Cumanum, ut, quoniam inNon. Mai. Miloni dies prodica est, prid. Non. Romae essem teque, mi carissime etsuavissime frater, ad earn diem, ut sperabam, viderem).Other structures sometimes employed to express a planned itinerary are the passiveperiphrastic and the independent subjunctive (mostly hortatory or deliberative). Thesestructures are generally used for plans that are not established with all certainty yet,and in fact they are rarely accompanied by precise dates: e.g. in reference to a plan ofreaching Cyzicus during Cicero's exile, which was never accomplished, A. 3.13.2Nunc quoniam iam est Cyzicum nobis eundum, quo rarius ad me litterae perferentur,hoc velim diligentius omnia quae putaris me scire opus esse perscribas, or, inreference to Cicero's much debated wish to leave Italy and follow Pompey's troops in49, A. 10.12.2 Sed satis lacrimis. napanonXevT^OUigitur et occulte in aliquamonerariam corrependum, non committendum ut etiam compacto prohibiti videamur.Sicilia petenda; quam si erimus nacti, maiora quaedam consequemur, or, about thesame plan, with the hortatory subjunctive, A. 9.19.2 Pergamus igitur quo placet etnostra omnia relinquamus. proficiscamur ad eum cui gratior noster adventus eritquam si una fuissemus. In particular the deliberative subjunctive is quitecommonly used in questions addressed to the correspondent in order to ask for hisadvice about a plan: e.g. A. 7.22.2 Ego quid agam? qua aut terra aut maripersequareum qui ubi sit nescio? etsi terra quidem qui possum? mari quo? tradam igitur istime? facposse tuto (multi enim hortantur), num etiam honeste? nullo modo quidem. a

te petam consilium, ut soleo? explicari res non potest, sed tamen si quid in mentemvenit velim scribas, et ipse quid sis acturus.Finally there are several cases in which the verb of 'moving' or 'staying', referred to afuture plan, remains implied: e.g. A. 13.52.2 egopaulisper hie, deinde in Tusculanum,A. 12.44.3 ego hinc, ut scripsi antea, postridie Idus Lanuvi, deindepostridie inTusculano, A. 14.7.1 ego e Formiano exiens xvii Kal. ut inde altero die in Puteolanumscripsi haec, or, with the ellipsis of all verbs of'moving' or 'staying' in a longeritinerary, A. 7.5.3 ego in Tusculanum nihil sane hoc tempore (devium est TOigdenawedenvet habet alia SiJCr^pTJCTWC), sed de Formiano Tarracinamprid. Kal.Ian., inde Pomptinum fsummamf, inde Albanum Pompei; ita adurbem Hi Non., natali245meo.II.2.b.iii - Describing a planned itinerary: recurrent vocabularyIn planned itineraries, much more often than in past ones, verbs of'moving' or of'staying' can very often remain implied. Withstanding the numerous cases of suchOther cases in which the passive periphrastic is used to express a planned itinerary are: A. 3.13.2, A3.22.1 {faciendum nobiserit ut ab eo discedamus), A. 5.21.9,/!. 10.12.2, A. 13.34.1,A 13.43, ^4.13.47.1, A 13.51.2, A 16.15.6, *F. 8.15.1; cf. with oportet and the infinitive^. 5.21.9.For the hortatory subjunctive used in reference to a planned itinerary cf. A. 9.9.1, ^4. 9.19.2. For thedeliberative subjunctive in questions seeking the correspondent's advice about one's future movements,cf.: A. 7.22.2,A. 8.3.5-6, A 10.11.4, A 11.22.2, .4. 13.38.2; occasionally also the present indicative isused with the same function: cf. A. 13.40 Etsi quid mi auctor es? advolone an maneo? equidem et inlibris haereo et ilium hie excipere nolo. Sometimes future movements include unrealistic alternatives,presented using an hypothetical subjunctive in various tenses, cf: *F. 8.16.4 me se cum in Hispaniamducit; nam nisi itafaceret, ego, prius quam ad urbem accederem, ubicumque esses, ad te percurrissemet hoc a te praesens contendissem atque omni vi te retinuissem, or A. 2.15.3, A. 13.45.2.245 Other cases in which a independent verb of'moving' or 'staying' remains implied in a planneditinerary are: A 2.17.1,A. 3.16,4. 5.21.9, A. 7.5.3, A. 1.1.1,,A. 9.18.3.A 10.4.12, A. 10.9.3,/*. 12.34.1,A. 12.41,4. 12.43.2,/I. 12.44.3, A 13.16.2, A. 13.38.2, A 13.47a.l,A 13.52.2, A 14.7.1,A 14.16.1,A14.22.1, A 15.23.1, A 16.5.3, F. 9.23.1. Alsocf. above n. 239, for the numerous cases of ellipsis of theinfinitive of a verb of'moving' or 'staying' in dependence of verbs such cogito or volo. In fact we caneven imagine that even in this case the entire common phrase cogito/ volo plus the infinitive is implied:on this hypothesis and on the ellipsis of verbs of'moving' in independent position cf. HEIDEMANN(1893:50-3).

ellipses, still a wide range of verbs is employed to describe one's planned movements,as much as when describing past ones. Proficiscor, 'I leave, I depart for' (e.g. A.3.23.5 ego in Epirumproficiscar cumprimorum dierum nuntios excepero) or 'I amabout to depart for' (e.g. A. 5.7.1 Ego cum triduum cum Pompeio et apud Pompeiumfuissem, proficiscebar Brundisium a. d. xifiiij Kal. Iun.) accompanied by the place towhich one is headed, is the one that occurs most frequently. 246 Other verbs commonlyused to describe the imminent or planned departure from a place are exeo, (in navem)conscendo, discedo and, always in more distant or less realistic wishes, evolo. 241One's future itinerary is also often indicated by simply saying 'at this date I will behere, and then here, etc.', that is by using the verb 'to be', sum. In this function, sum isused most of all with verbs of'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing': e.g. A. 6.2.10 egome spero Athenisfore mense Septembri, or A 2.11.2 nos in Formiano esse volumususque adprid. Non. Mai. 24S The planned permanence in a place is also indicated by aseries of verbs of'staying', more commonly maneo, commoror and moror.Proficiscor is used in phrases with verbs of 'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing' in: A 1.4.3, A2.9.4, A. 10.15.2, A. 13.10.3, A. 14.13.4, A. 15.27.1, F. 2.13.3, F. 13.57.1, *F. 10.31.6; in the futureindicative in: A. 2.8.2, A. 3.23.5, A. 13.26.2, *F. 12.12.5, and cf. also A. 8.2.4 profecturus and, as ahortatory subjunctive, A. 9.19.2; in the epistolary imperfect indicative meaning 'I was about to leave'in: A. 5.2.1, A 5.7.1, A. 7.19, F. 2.18.3; in circumstantial structures also meaning 'as I am about toleave' in: A 5.17.1,A 7.14.1, A. 14.5.3, A 14.15.3,A 15.1a.l,g. 3.4.6; in the perfect indicative (orpluperfect subjunctive), accompanied by the final destination of the journey that one has undergone, in:A. 3.1, .4. 7.16.2, A. 7.18.1, A. 10.16.4, F. 3.8.10, F. 14.4.3, *A. 15.6.2, *F. 12.11.1 meprofectum essescito.247 Both exeo and (in navem) conscendo, like proficiscor, are also used in circumstantial structures tomean 'as 1 was about to depart'. For exeo cf: exiens in A. 14.7.1, *A. 15.6.2; instead exeo with verbs of'planning' \r\A. 7.10.1,/). 15.5.3; for conscendo cf. A. 14.16.1, ^4. 16.3.6, F. 14.7.2;and cf. alsoeerediens in A. 12.1.1. Discedo is used: with verbs of'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing' in A. 2.5.1,A 3.8.3, A 3.22.1, A 16.13.1, F. 2.16.2, F. 4.1.2; in the future in A. 15.20.1, F. 14.2.4. Evolo is used:with verbs of'planning' or of'advising' in A. 9.10.2,/). 15.11.3, F. 7.30.1; in the future or present in A.10.10.4, A. 14.7.2. Decedo is used with verbs of'planning' in A. 5.21.9, F. 2.13.3. Cedo is used in thepassive periphrastic in A. 8.16.1, *F. 11.1.3. Cf. also *F. 11.20.4 excedam: A. 6.8.4 navibustranquillitates aucupaturi sumus: A. 10.10.4 me eripiam: A. 9.19.2 relinquamus: A. 3.14.2 iamextrudimur.248 Sum is used in phrases with verbs of'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing' in: A. 2.11.2, A. 3.7.1, A.3.10.1,-4. 3.20.1, A. 4.13.1, A. 5.3.3, A. 5.14.1, A 6.2.10, A^7.26.3, A. 8.9.3, A. 12.34.1, A 13.12.4, A.15.3.1, A 15.4.2, A 15.26.3, A 16.6.2, A 16.12.1, A 16.14.2, F. 3.5.4, F. 14.5.2, F. 16.10.1; in thefuture indicative in: A 2.4.6, A 9.7.2, A 12.45.1, Q. 2.13.2, *F. 11.28.8; in subordinate clauses in: A

The verb venio is also frequently used to indicate one's planned arrival at a certainplace. In this function, venio is most often used with verbs of'thinking', 'deciding', or'whishing' (e.g. A. 2.8.2 In formianum volumus venire Parilibus).Eo_ is anotherverb of 'going' frequently used in planned itineraries, especially for more genericplans, not accompanied by a precise date. 251 Other verbs of'going', 'arriving' or'returning' commonly used to describe a planned itinerary (in most cases a rathergeneric or distant plan) are: phrases with iter or cursus (especially iter faciei), accedo,redeo, me confero and also peto, pergo, revertor; also verbs meaning 'I hasten to'(propero,festino), or 'I flee' (fugio, confugio) are sometimes employed to indicateone's future movements. 252 Planned itineraries by sea are indicated by means of a2.8.2, A 3.4.1, A 6A.24,A. 10.2.1, F. 1A, Q. 2.6.4. On the frequent use of sum in the sense of maneoin Cicero's correspondence cf. MENNA (1955: 15-19).249 Maneo is used: with verbs of 'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing' often while proposingalternatives: e.g. A. 12.41, A. 12.43.2,/*. 16.10.1,A 13.40,F. 11.29.1, *F. 10.31.6; in the future orpresent indicative in A. 8.1 IB. 1, A. 16.8.2; in subordinate clauses in: A. 10.2.1, A. 14.13.4, £>. 2.6.4.Commoror is used: with verbs of'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing' in: A. 9.9.1, F. 2.17.1, F. 6.19.2,F. 14.20, in the future indicative in A. 3.17.2, F. 3.5.4. Moror is used in the future or in si clauses in F.2.15.5, F. 15.11.2, *F. 11.23.2. Other verbs indicating the permanence in a place are: consumo (A.5.21.9, A. 11.5 2. A. 6.2.6), adsum (A. 14.22.1. O. 3.4.6). praestolor (A. 2.15.3. A. 3.20.1 ), me abdo (A.9.6.1, A. 9.19.2). restoiA. 8.3.6). permaneo (A. 12.44.3). immineo (A. 14.16.1).250 Venio is used in phrases with verbs of 'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing' in: A. 2.8.2, A. 7.13, A.12.34.1, A. 13.39.2, A 15.3.1, A 15.5.3, A. 15.26.1, A 15.28.1, A. 16.8.1, A. 16.10.1, A 8.11D.4,F.2.17.1, F. 9.5.1, F. 14.20; in the future indicative in: A. 7.7.3, A. 16.13.1, F. 5.21.5; in the passiveperiphrastic in: A. 13.34.1, ^4. 13.51.2, A. 16.15.6; in the temporal clause cum venero in: A. 5.20.9, A.12.12.1, A. 12.40.3, Q. 2.13.2, also cf. F. 14.1.3 si venero; in other subordinate clauses in: A. 14.22.1,A. 16.6.1,/=: 9.19.2.251 Eo is used in phrases with verbs of'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing' in: A. 3.19.1, A. 3.21.1, A15.4a, Q. 2.6.4, and, in the passive periphrastic, mostly while comparing alternative plans, A. 3.13.2, A.9.17.1, A. 13.47.1, F. 11.29.1, A. 15.4.2, *F. 8.15.1; in the future indicative in: A. 3.7.1, F. 14.3.4; as acircumstantial participle, in the sense of'as I was about to go to' in: A. 2.1.1, A 4.9.2, A. 16.1.1.""" Several phrases with iter are used to describe a planned itinerary: iterfacio is used with verbs of'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing' in: A. 5.2.1, A 5.9.1, A 11.5 2; in the future indicative in F. 3.5.4;in the imperfect or present indicative, meaning 'as I was on my way to this destination' in: A 5.15.3, F.3.6.6; in a subordinate clause in: A 3.1. Other phrases with iter are: iter nobis est in A 3.6.1, A.8.11 D.3, A. 9.1.3 (nobis est implied); A 3.4.1 iter Brundisium versus contuli; A. 10.7.3 cursus habituri.Accedo is used, mostly for distant or generic plans: with verbs of 'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing'in: A 5.9.1, A 11.5 2, A 16.10.1, A 16.13.1, F. 2.17.1, F. 14.19, in the future indicative in A 3.7.1, A11.20.2, F. 4.1.2; in the deliberative subjunctive A 11.22.2; in a subordinate clause: A 16.7.1, *F.8.16.4. Redeo is used, mostly for generic plans, in the future (*F. 10.21.5) or in subordinate clauses inA. 2.9.4, A. 5.21.9,A 13.45.2,/!. 16.6.1, F. 7.19, Q. 2.6.4. Other verbs of 'going' used in reference toone's planned itineraries are: me confero (A. 3.19.1, A 3.11.1, A 3.17.2, A. 14.13.2), peto (A. 7.17.1, A.9.19.2, A 10.12.2, F. 14.4.3), perso (A 9.15.1. A. 9.19.2, A 12.46.1). reverto (A 1.1.2, A 16.5.3, *F.11.1.3), me converto (A. 3.14.2, A. 3.22.1). procedo (A. 6.5.1, A. 16.4.4), excurro "1 run quickly' (A

series of different verbs, the most common of which is navigo.In military bulletinsinstead there are just a few phrases specifically defining planned movements of anarmy and, in general, less space is given to describing planned itineraries than it is toproviding a report on campaigns and itineraries recently accomplished. 254Occasionally one's plan of moving to some other place can be communicated simplyby mentioning what one is going to do in that place, without using a verb of 'moving'or 'staying'. In particular the verb video, especially the phrase te/ vos videbo, issometimes used to mark the end of a planned journey: e.g. Cicero's brief mention ofhis way back to Rome from Cilicia at the closing of F. 2.15.5 ego, nisi quid me etesiaemorabuntur, celeriter, ut spero, vos videbo.Finally, when mentioning a planned journey just in very general terms, especiallywhen asking for the correspondent's advices or responding to them, the plans can beindicated with nouns such as profectio. iter, navigation rather than with a verb and aclause: e.g. A. 9.5.1 sunt ista quidem quae disputas difficillima, iter ad superum,navigatio infero, discessus Arpinum ne huncfugisse, mansio Formiis ne obtulisse nos1.1.2, A 13.45.2). recurro (A. 13.47a.2, *A. 15.6.2); also gbeo(A. 3.15.6). advolo (A. 13.40). vado (A.4.10.2). flecto (A. 5.9.1). tendo(A. \6.53).capesso (A. 10.9.1). devertoriA. 3.7.1). me verlo (A.16.10.1). me recipio (A. 2.9.4). me refero (A. 3.2.1). in reditu pono (A. 6.2.6). percurro (*F. 8.16.4),migro (*F. 11.1.3). vagus sum (A. 7.11.5). erro (A. 8.9.3). For verbs meaning '1 hasten', almost alwaysin the imperfect or present indicative meaning 'I was hastening toward' cf: propero (A. 5.16.4, A. 6.8.4,A. 15.13a.2, A. 15.20.3), festino {A. 5.12.1, A. 15.26.3). For verbs meaning c l flee" cf.: fugio in A. 7.24,confugio in A 3.15.6. Cf. a\so sequor in the sense of'I precede onto a place' e.g. in A 10.18.2 Formiasnunc sequimur, and A. 3.16, F. 9.5.1; and also viso 'I visit a place' in A. 2.5.1.253 Navigo is used in reference to a planned itinerary in A. 8.3.5, A. 9.19.2, A. 10.11.4, A. 16.4.4, F.2.16.2. Other verbs or expressions used to indicate a planned journey at sea are: utor man/ ventis/facilitate navigandi/ navi {A. 8.16.1, A 9.3.1, A. 10.17.1, A. 16.4.4,F. 3.3.2). navem habeo (paratam)/paravi (A. 5.11.4, A 8.3.6, A 8.4.3, A 8.11B.1). tramitto in A 9.3.1. renavieo in A 14.16.1. navemcorripio combined with the Greek napanXexxa in A 10.12.2.254 Phrases specifically used in military contexts to describe a planned itinerary are copiam/exercitumduco(*A. 8.12a.4, *F. 10.31.6). copiis me coniungo (*F. 10.18.4).255 Other cases in which the verb video is used in this function are A 2.11.2, A. 6.2.6, A. 11.23.3, A.14.19.6, F. 2.15.5, F. 15.11.2. With other verbs cf. for example F. 7.20.2 sed valebis meaque negotiavidebis meque dis iuvantibus ante brumam exspeclabis, A. 13.43 sunt omnino milii quaedam agendaRomae, sed consequemur biduo post, A. 13.13-14.4 et tamen obire auctionis diem facile potenmt (estenim Hi Id.) si me in Tusculano postridie Nonas mane convenerint.

gratulationi videamur, sed miserius nihil quam ea videre quae tamen iam, inquam,videnda erunt.n.2.b.iv - The structure of longer planned itineraries: logical and syntacticalorganizationLonger descriptions of planned itineraries always present their phases in chronologicalorder and in a quite plain style. In fact, travel plans are generally expressed by meansof paratactic structures, which mostly list the various phases by asyndeton, orintroduce them with adverbs, such as deinde or inde: e.g. A. 7.5.3 ego in Tusculanumnihil sane hoc tempore (devium est XOig &7taVTCO(JlVet habet alia Sti&XpTJCTTa),sed de Formiano Tarracinam prid. Kal. Ian., inde Pomptinum fsummamf, indeAlbanum Pompei; ita ad urbem Hi Non., natali meo. 257 Subordinate clauses are morerare in describing planned itineraries with multiple phases: circumstantial clauses inparticular are much more rarely used then they are in longer descriptions of pastitineraries (among the few cases, cf. for example A. 6.2.6 Non. Mai. in Ciliciamcogitabam; ibi cum Iunium mensem consumpsissem (atque utinam in pace! magnum2SJ?enim bellum impendet a Parthis), Quintilem in reditu ponere);however purpose ut255 Other cases in which nouns are used instead of verbs to discuss more general planned itineraries are:A. 16.3.4, A 16.2.4, A. 16.1.3, A. 15.25.1,/!. 15.23.1,/*. 15.15.4,/I. 14.19.6, A 5.4.3, A 9.5.1.257 The adverbs that are more frequently used to introduce a phase in a longer planned itinerary are:inde (A. 2.8.2 bis, A. 3.22.4, A. 5.15.3, A. 5.21.9, A. 6.7.2, A. 7.5.3 bis, A. 7.7.3, A. 9.1.3, A. 10.2.1, A.12.34.1,/!. 12.41, A 12.43.2,/}. 14.2.4, A. 14.7.1 utinde,A. 15.1a.l atque inde, A. 15.4a, A. 16.2.4, A16.6.1 atque inde, Q. 2.6.4). deinde (A. 2.8.2, A. 5.2.1, A 8.9.3,/I. 9.1.3, A 10.9.1,/). 12.44.3,/!.13.52.2, F. 3.5.4). autem (A. 12.1.1 postero autem, Q. 2.bA postridie autem), ita{A. 7.5.3, A. 13.47a. 1Hague), ieitur {A. 1.13, A. 12.1.1,/!. 12.34.1). enim (A. 5.5.1 ibi enim). equidem (A. 13.47a. 1). post (A.14.16.1).258 Other cases in which a circumstantial structure is used to connect different phases of a planneditinerary are: with cum and the subjunctive (A. 6.2.6, A. 10.2.1, ^4. \6.2A,A. 16.4.4,/!. 16.6.1, F. 2.13.3,Q. 2.6.4); with cum and the indicative (A. 2.9.4, A. 9.9.1, A. 9.15.1); with dum (F. 3.5.4); with acircumstantial participle (Q. 2.6.4 rediens); with a relative clause (A. 10.12.2 Sicilia petenda; quam sierimus nacti, maiora quaedam consequemur).

183clauses are in several occasions employed to connect two phases in a plan, especiallylinking the departure from a place and the arrival or the permanence at the next stop(e.g. A. 5.2.1 A. d. vi Id. Mai., cum has dabam litteras, ex Pompeianoprojiciscebar, uteo die manerem in Trebulano apud Pontium, or A. 2.8.2 Kal. Mai. de Formianoproficiscemur, utAnti simus a. d. VNon. Mai.).II.3 - Describing one's itinerary: purposes and selection of topicsThe first reason for providing information about an ongoing journey is the need ofcommunicating one's present and future coordinates in order to keep the epistolaryexchange alive. Thus in many cases the reference to one's journey is very brief andthe correspondent is simply provided with two basic pieces of information: on onehand the place in which one has just arrived and from which one is now writing, onthe other, the place or places to which one is going to be next. As we had discussedalso in Chapter II, this need is often simply answered by the date in adscriptio and bya series of brief introductory or conclusive formulas, such as A. 7.14.1 A. d. VI Kal.Febr. Capuam Calibus proficiscens, cum leviter lippirem, has litteras dedi. Then, in aslightly more articulate form, cf. how, for example, Cicero refers to his ongoingitinerary in A. 5.3 (cf. above p. 168), which is opened by a reference to his arrival inthe location where is at present and closed by one to his next destination. 260If communicating one's present and future coordinates is the first reason formentioning one's ongoing journey, the places touched by one's itinerary are of course25 Other cases in which an ut clause is employed to connect two phases in a planned itinerary are: A.1.1.2, A 2.8.2, A. 5.2.1, A. 5.21.9, Q. 2.6.4 bis.260 Often we also see writer's express the need of such pieces of information from a correspondent(either requesting them or complaining about their lack),cf.: A. 2.5.3, A. 4.17.1, A. 4.16.9, A. 5.6.2, A.5.7,4. 5.8.2,4. 5.18.1,4. 12.4.1, F. 3.6.5, F. 7.13.1; and cf. also Ch. II pp. 50-1, for the complaintabout the lack of dates in adscriptio.

the most basic element that one ought to mention. The places touched by one'sitinerary are generally mentioned in a very simple way, basically just quoting theirname. In only rare occasions a brief reference to their geographical location is added:for example, cf. *F. 10.15.3 itaque in Isara, flumine maximo quod infinibus estAllobrogum, ponte uno die facto exercitum a. d. VII Id. Mai. traduxi, where MunatiusPlancus explains the position of the river Isara, as he mentions it for the first time, inthe series of military bulletins he sent to Cicero. Similarly, Cicero feels the need toexplain where the town of Cybistra is located, in the official report he sent to thesenate (F. 15.2.2 Itaque cum exercituper Cappadociaepartem earn quae cum Ciliciacontinens est iter feci castraque ad Cybistra, quod oppidum est ad montem Taurum,locavi, ut Artvasdes, rex Armenius, quocumque animo esset, sciret non procul asuisfinibus exercitum populi Romani esse, et Deiotarum, fidelissimum regem atqueamicissimum rei publicae nostrae, maxime coniunctum haberem, cuius et consilio etopibus adiuvari posset res publico), as well as in the semi-official letter he almostcontemporaneously sent to Cato (F. 15.4.4 itaque exercitum mihi ducendumperCappadociae regionem earn quae Ciliciam attingeretputavi. [...] itaque inCappadocia extrema non longe a Tauro apud oppidum Cybistra castrafeci, ut etCiliciam tuerer et Cappadociam tenens nova finitimorum consilia impedirem), whilethe geographical explanation is slightly more concise, when he names the place toAtticus for the first time {A. 5.18.1 Bibulus nondum audiebatur esse in Syria; Cassiusin oppido Antiochia est cum omni exercitu, nos in Cappadocia ad Taurum cumexercitu ad Cybistra; hostis in Cyrrhestica, quae Syriae pars proxima est provinciaemeae)." Cf. also the position of the Mount Amanus explained in A. 5.20.3. Tarsum veni a. d. Hi Non. Oct.inde ad Amanum contendi, qui Syrian) a Cilicia in aquarum divortio dividit; qui mons erat hosliumplenus sempiternorum, and F. 2.10.2 cum venissem ad Amanum, qui mons mihi cum Bibulo communis

185In some cases further details about one's recent travels are added to the simpleindication of the place where one has just arrived or is going to be next. Thus, a pastitinerary can be described more at length, by recalling various phases in it, or also bymentioning additional details about one's experience along the way. Such elaborationon one's itineraries shows the intention of better responding to the correspondent'sconcern about one's conditions. The same concern is testified also by passages eithershowing appreciation for receiving such information from the correspondent (e.g. F.13.68.1 see above p. 133) or requesting it (e.g. A. 6.1.26 faciesque me [...] certioremet quo modo hiemaris).In particular the discomforts that one has encountered alongthe journey, or instead the fortunate lack of them, are the most common topic,est divisus aquarum divertiis, Cassius noster, quod mihi magnae voluptatifuit, feliciter ab Antiocheahostem reiecerat, Bibulus provinciam acceperat; the position of the city of Laodicea in *F. 12.14.4[Cassius] exclusus enim ab Antiochea Dolabella et in oppugnando male acceptus, nulla alia confisusurbe, Laodiceam, quae est in Syria ad mare, se contulit by Lentulus; the position of a minor locationnear Minturnae in A. 16.13.1 v Id. cum ante lucem de Sinuessano surrexissem venissemque diluculo adpontem Tirenum qui est Minturnis, in quoflexus est ad iter Arpinas, obviam mihi fit tabellarius; theconfiguration of the region near Vibo in A. 16.6.1 Ego adhuc (perveni enim Vibonem ad Siccam) magiscommode quam strenue navigavi; remis enim magnam partem, prodromi nulli. illud satis opportune,duo sinus fuerunt quos tramitti oporteret, Paestanus et Vibonensis, utrumque pedibus aequistramisimus.262 Other cases in which Cicero shows appreciation for receiving an update about the correspondent'sjourney are: for travels by sea: A. 4.16.1 de epistularum frequentia te nihil accuso, sedpleraequetantum modo mihi nuntiabant ubi esses quod erant abs te, vel etiam significabant recte esse, quo ingenere maxime delectarunt duaefere eodem tempore abs te Buthroto datae; scire enim volebam tecommode navigasse, A. 4.19.1 O exspectatas mihi tuas litteras! o gratum adventum! o constantiampromissi etfidem miram! o navigationem amandam! quam mehercule ego valde timebam recordanssuperioris tuae transmissionis S£ppeig, A. 5.21.1 Te in Epirum salvum venisse et, ut scribis, exsententia navigasse vehementer gaudeo, non esse Romae meo tempore pernecessario submoleste fero.hoc me tamen consolor uno: spero te istic iucunde hiemare et libenter requiescere and 3 etsi bellumdCKpcneXevxiouhabet ilia tua epistula quam dedisti nauseans Buthroto, A. 6.8.1 laetatus sumfelicitate navigationis tuae, A. 7.2.1, F. 13.68.1 Gratae mihi vehementer tuae litterae fuerunt, quibuscognovi cursus navigationum tuarum; for travels by land: A. 7.1.1 scis me [...] conturbatum quod cumfebre Romam venisses, F. 12.20.1. For other cases in which Cicero asks his correspondents to keep himwell updated on an imminent or ongoing journey (and, in particular, on where they are going to spendthe winter, since people would generally station in one place during the cold months andcommunication would be more difficult then) cf.: A. 6.1.26, A. 6.2.10 tuorum itinerum tempora sciresane velim, A. 10.5.3 Tu de tuo ilinere quid et quando cogites velim me certiorem facias, A. 13.39.2 sedtamen scire aveo qualis ei totius itineris summafuerit (referred to Brutus' journey, about which Cicerocomplains he has not received any updates), Q. 3.3.1 Quibus in locis et qua spe hiematurus sis ad mequam diligentissime scribas velim, F. 7.9.1 cupio scire quid agas et ubi sis hiematurus, F. 7.10.3 scireenim cupio quid agas, quid exspectes, quam longum istum tuum discessum a nobis futurum putes, F.7.16.3 Quid agalis et ecquid in Italiam venturi sitis hac hieme, fac plane sciam, F. 7.17.3 In Britanniamte profectiim non esse gaudeo, quod et labore caruisti et ego te de rebus illis non audiam. ubi sishibernaturus et qua spe aut condicione perscribas ad me velim.

especially in the case of the more dangerous travels by sea. The factors that can makea travel by land uncomfortable are above all the dusty conditions of the roads (e.g. A.5.14.1 and 3), made even worse in case of bad weather and rain (e.g. A. 7.20.1), andalso the excessive speed that one sometimes needs to maintain (e.g. A. 5.16.1 and 4).By sea instead one can, above all, complain about the contrary winds, which caneither considerably delay one's journey (e.g. A. 16.7.1) or make it very uncomfortable(e.g. F. 14.5.1) or even extremely dangerous (e.g. F. 16.9.1), and also about theconditions of the ship (e.g. A 5.12.1). Finally, when at a stop, one may complainabout the uncomfortable conditions of the deversorium or the house where one isstaying, or about the unpleasantness of one's host (e.g. A. 13.52.2). On the contrary agood trip is one in which these negative elements are absent: one where there is norush (e.g. A. 2.12.2), or the winds are fortunately favorable and one is neither delayed(e.g. A. 7.2.1) nor has to feel sick (e.g. A. 5.13.1), and at the stops one's host isgenerous (e.g. A. 5.9.1), pleasant and makes one feel at home (e.g. A. 16.6.1).Other cases in which the reference to one's recent journey is elaborated with the introduction ofsimilar details (about the weather, the condition of the sailing or of the road, or also about one'sfeelings during the trip) are: for travels by sea: A. 5.13.1 Ephesum venimus a. d. xi Kal. Sext.,sexagesimo et quingentesimo post pugnam Bovillam. navigavimus sine timore et sine nausea, sedtardiuspropter aphractorum Rhodiorum imbecillitatem, A. 6.8.4 nos etesiae vehementissimi tardarunt;detraxitxx ipsos dies etiam aphractus Rhodi, A. 7.2.1 Brundisium venimus vii Kal. Dec. usi tuafelicitate navigandi; ita belle nobis 'flavit ab Epiro lenissimus Onchesmites' (hunc (JKOvSeid^OVTOCsicui voles TCOU uscoxipcoupro tuo vendito), F. 14.5.1, and elaborated into a longer account cf. A. 5.12,A. 16.7.1 viii Id. Sext. cum a Leucopetra profectus (inde enim tramittebam) stadia circiter cccprocessissem, reiectus sum austro vehementi ad eandem Leucopetram. ibi cum ventum exspectarem(erat enim villa Valeri nostri, utfamiliariter essem et libenter), Regini quidam illustres homines eovenerunt Roma sane recenles, in iis Bruti nostri hospes, qui Brutum Neapoli reliquisset, and describinga journey both by land and sea A. 16.6 1. Ego adhuc (perveni enim Vibonem ad Siccam) magiscommode quam strenue navigavi; remis enim magnam partem, prodromi nulli. illud satis opportune,duo sinus fuerunt quos tramitti oporleret, Paestanus et Vibonensis, utrumque pedibus aequistramisimus. veni igitur ad Siccam octavo die e Pompeiano, cum unum diem Veliae constitissem; ubiquidem fui sane libenter apud Talnam nostrum nee potui accipi, illo absente praesertim, liberalius. viiiiKal. igitur ad Siccam. ibi tamquam domi meae scilicet, itaque obduxi posterum diem., F. 16.9.1-2;instead for travels by land cf.: A. 5.14.1, yJ. 6.4.1 Tarsum veni Non. fun. [...]. 2 Haec festinans scripsiin itinere atque agmine, A. 7.14.1 A. d. vi Kal. Febr. Capuam Calibus proficiscens, cum leviterlippirem, has litteras dedi, A. 7.20.1, Frg. Nonius 632 L. cum iter facerem ad Aquinum cum lacernatempestate spurcissima.

In a few cases one can also mention what one is doing while right on the go, as thewriter is on shipboard (A 15.18.1, A. 16.6.4, A. 16.7.6-7, F. 7.19, *F. 4.5.4, *F.12.16.3) 264 or as he is in the midst of a road (A. 5.14.1 and 3, A. 5.16.1 and 4, and alsocf. A. 5.17.1). 265 Interestingly only a very limited set of activities, meant to kill sometraveling time, are named: that is reading in A. 16.6.4, writing in F. 7.19, *F. 12.16.1,or, as we have already seen in Chapter II, taking care of one's correspondence in A.5.14.1, A 5.16.1, A. 5.17.1, A. 15.18.1, A. 16.7.7. The only exception is *F. 4.5.4, inwhich Servius Sulpicius Rufus talks about the panorama that he was contemplatingfrom his boat and about the feelings induced by the view: Quae res mihi nonmediocrem consolationem attulit volo tibi commemorare, si forte eadem res tibidolorem minuere possit. ex Asia rediens cum abAegina Megaram versus navigarem,coepi regiones circumcirca prospicere. post me erat Aegina, ante me Megara, dextraPiraeus, sinistra Corinthus, quae oppida quodam tempore florentissima fuerunt, nuncprostrata et diruta ante oculos iacent. coepi egomet mecum sic cogitare: 'hem! noshomunculi indignamur si quis nostrum interiit aut occisus est, quorum vita brevioresse debet, cum uno loco tot oppidum cadavera proiecta iacent? visne tu te, Servi," A. 15.18.1 xvii Kai, etsi satis videbar scripsisse ad te quid mihi opus esset et quid tefacere vellem,si tibi commodum esset, tamen cum profectus essem et in lacu navigarem, Tironem statui ad te essemittendum, ut iis negotiis quae agerentur interesset, atque etiam scripsi ad Dolabellam me, si eivideretur, velle prqficisci petiique ab eo de mulis vecturae, A. 16.6.4 cum aulem in navi legeremAcademicos, agnovi erratum meum. itaque statim novum prohoemium exaravi et tibi misi, A. 16.7.6. infreto medio hanc epistulam legi, ut quid possem providere in mentem mihi non veniret nisi ut praesensme ipse defenderem. sed haec hactenus; reliqua coram. 7. [...] haec scripsi navigans cumPompeianum accederem xiiii Kai, F. 7.19 itaque utprimum Velia navigare coepi, institui TopicaAristotelea conscribere ab ipsa urbe commonitus amantissima tui. eum librum tibi misi Regio, scriptumquam planissime res ilia scribi potuit, *F. 4.5.4 see above, *F. 12.16.3. ego tamen nactus innavigatione nostra pusillum laxamenti concinnavi tibi munusculum ex instituto meo et dictum cummagno nostro honore a te dictum conclusi et tibi infra subscripsi.' ' A. 5.14.1 Ante quam aliquo loco consedero, neque longas a me neque semper mea manu litterasexspeclabis; cum autem erit spatium utrumque stabo. nunc iter conficiebamus aestuosa etpulverulenta via. dederam Ephesopridie; has dedi Trallibus. [...] 3. Habes epistulamplenamfestinationis el pulveris; reliquae subtiliores erunt, A. 5.16.1 Etsi in ipso itinere et via discedebanlpublicanorum tabellarii et eramus in cursu, tamen surripiendum a liquid putavi spati, ne meimmemorem mandati tui putares. itaque subsedi in ipsa via, dum haec, quae longiorem desiderantorationem, summatim tibiperscriberem. [...] 4. nos in castraproperabamus, quae aberant bidui, andalso cf. A. 5.17.1 hanc epistulam dictavi sedens in raeda cum in castra proficiscerer, a quibus aberambidui.

cohibere et meminisse hominem te esse natum?' crede mihi, cogitatione ea nonmediocriter sum confirmatus. hoc idem, si tibi videtur, fac ante oculos tibi propones.Yet *F. 4.5 actually has a completely different status than the other references toone's experience on shipboard. In fact, first of all, Servius is here probably alludingnot to a recent or ongoing journey but he is recalling one that he had undergonealmost two years before. Secondly this is no ordinary letter, but a well craftedconsolatio that Servius sent to Cicero for the death of Tullia. Thus Servius recalls thetopos of the destroyed city as a symbol of the fragility of human fortunes and humanlife, which is an extremely famous common place, from Herodotus (Hist. 1.5)onward. 267 Yet interestingly Servius inserts the topos into this letter, by transformingit into an episode of his own life, and by disguising it as one of those ordinary piecesof information that one could share about one's own journeys.In general however, despite the addition of details about the comforts or discomforts,or the brief references to one's activities while right on the go, the description of one'strips is generally quite concise: it only summarizes the overall traveling experienceand it offers very little elaboration on the single moments of that experience or on thedevelopment of one's feelings and thoughts during it. Furthermore, the choice oftopics mentioned in describing the moment of traveling itself matches the choicesfollowed while giving an account of a journey as a whole. In fact, as we will discussin Chapter IV, letters written during a journey always give a preference to describingwhat one is doing, over what one is feeling or seeing.The absence of purely descriptive digression concerning the places touched by one'sjourneys seems connected to the generally critical or downright disdainful attitude266 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1977: ad he).267 On the literary sophistication of this letter cf. for example HUTCHINSON (1998: 65-77, and inparticular note 30 p. 69 on the use of this topos in consolatory literature).

openly shown toward the practice of traveling at least by Cicero (cf. Chapter I pp. 35-43). The same attitude equally plays a role on the selection of topics in planneditineraries as well. Thus most planned itineraries, either long or short, are presented inan extremely concise way and mostly reduced to the simple listing of the places whereone expects to be, and of the date in which one is going to be there. Occasionally theexposition of one's planned itinerary can include further information about what onehopes to do in the places where one is going to be (e.g. A. 2.8.2 Sed cognosce itineranostra, ut statuas ubi nos visurus sis. Informianum volumus venire Parilibus. inde,quoniam putas praetermittendum nobis esse hoc tempore Cratera ilium delicatum,Kal. Mai. de Formiano projiciscemur, ut Anti simus a. d. VNon. Mai. ludienimAntifuturi sunt ex a. d. IIII [Kal.J adprid. Non. Mai. eos Tullia spectare vult. inde cogitoin Tusculanum, deinde Arpinum, Romam ad Kal. Iun.), or additional detailsconcerning the journey itself, mostly in reference to the foreseen conditions of the seaand the hope of a good fare (e.g. F. 15.11.2 Ego, si me navigatio non morabitur, quaeincurrebat in ipsos etesias, propediem te, ut spero, videbo).More often additionaldetails are instead added when presenting alternative plans or when seeking ordiscussing the correspondent's advices. So, the discussion can present one's concernwith the choice of the best route: e.g. A. 3.7.1 sed itineris causa ut deverterer, primumest devium, deinde ab Autronio et ceteris quadridui, deinde sine te. nam castellummunitum habitanti mihi prodesset, transeunti non est necessarium,or with theopportunity itself of undergoing a journey. As we have illustrated in Chapter I (cf. pp.268 Other cases in which, within the exposition of a planned itinerary, we find details about a futurepermanence somewhere are: A. 2.8.2, A. 2.\1A,A. 5.15.3, A. 5.21.9, A. 6.2.6, A. 6.1.2, A. 1.53, A.1.13, A. 8.9.3, A. 12.1.1, A. 12.12.1, A. 12.45.1, A 15.13a.2, F. 2.13.3, Q. 2.6.4, Q. 3.4.6, *A. 15.6.2.Instead details about the conditions of a future trip are added to the exposition of a planned itinerary in:A. 4.53, A. 5.12.1, A. 6.1.2, A. 6.8.4, A. 9.\3, A. 10.16.2, F. 14.7.2, F. 15.11.2.269 Cf. other cases in which details are added to the discussion of alternative routes (or also of theconditions of one's future permanence in a place): A. 3.1, A. 3.7.1, A. 3.15.6, A. 3.19.1, ^4. 3.20.1, A.5.9.\,A. 1.22.2, A. 8.3.5-6, A. 8.16.1, A. 93.\,A. 9.9.2, A. 9.19.3, A. 10.11.4, A. 11.5 2, A. 13.38.2, A.15.213,A. 15.25.1,A 16.1.3, ,4. 16.2.4,/). 16.4.4,/f. 16.13.2, A 8.11B.1,/ 7 . 2.11.1,F. 14.1.3.

35-43) in fact, on one hand traveling is generally seen as a much more uncomfortableand dangerous experience than enjoying one's life at home (e.g. Cicero complaintsabout the perspective of going to Greece in 44 in A. 16.3.4). 270 On the other leavingRome may also weaken one's reputation or even harm it: cf., for example, Cicero'sprofound dislike for being far away from the heart of the political scene, even as hewas holding an honorable office as proconsul in Cilicia (e.g. F. 2.12.2-3). 271 Thus,traveling far away from Rome is almost never something to be looking forward to,except in quite extreme circumstances, like when one wishes to escape situations thatare bad beyond repair (e.g. the emphatic beginning of A. 2.5.1 Cupio equidem et iampridem cupio Alexandriam reliquamque Aegyptum visere et simul ab hac hominumsatietate nostri discedere et cum aliquo desiderio reverti; sed hoc tempore et hismittentibus 'aiSiofiai Tpcoag xai TpcodSag bXKecnninXovg', written in thedifficult period before Cicero's exile). 272 Beyond the case of these extremecircumstances, neither Cicero nor anyone of his friends ever express a strong,unquestioned desire to leave the Italian peninsula, just in order to have a business trip,or to see a place or visit a person. Nor there are cases in which a journey so far awayCf. other cases in which details are added to the discussion on the opportunity of undergoing a trip,which could be uncomfortable, dangerous or unpleasant: A. 13.39.2, ,4. 14.13.2, A. 15.20.1, ^4. 16.3.4,F. 2.16.2, *F. 10.31.6; and cf. also A. 15.18.2 domi enim manere, si recte possum, multo malo, A.16.6.2 malo enim vel cum timore domi esse quam sine timore Athenis tuis.271 Cf. other cases in which the concern for one's fame is mentioned while discussing about theopportunity of undergoing a journey (mostly about Cicero's attempted trip to Greece of 44): A. 2.5.3, A.1.22.2, A. 14.1.1,A. 14.13.2.A 15.25.1, A 15.26.1,A 16.1.3.A 16.2.4, A. 16.6.2, A. 16.7.1, F. 2.16.2,F. 11.29.1, *F. 11.1.2.272 Cf. other cases in which the writer expresses a strong wish to abandon the Rome and its desperatepolitical situation are: A. 10.12.2,/). 16.15.6, A. 2.5.1, A. 9.10.2, A. 10.10.4, and with the samequotation from what sounds like a lost play (cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY [1965-7: ad loc.]), A. 15.11.3itaque etsi ne antea quidem dubitavi, tamen nunc eo minus, evolare hinc idque quam primum, 'ubi neePelopidarum facta nequefamam audiam', and the almost contemporaneous F. 7.30.1 quin hinc ipseevolare cupio et aliquo pervenire ubi nee Pelopidarum nomen nee facta audiam'. In letters by otherpeople cf. *F. 11.28.8, *F. 11.1.2-3. The extreme gravity of the present situation and the severity ofone's decision give account for the higher register employed in these passages, always resorting to amore elevate phraseology (e.g. cupio, evolo and cf. above p. 179), and very often also to famousquotations (cf, for example in the passages above, A 2.5.1 quoting //. 22.105, and A. 9.10.2 echoingPlato Letter VII 348a)

191from Rome is imagined in really positive terms and its phases and places ofdestination pictured in more details: instead cf., for example, the extremely brief wayin which Cicero mentions his plan to make a touristic stop in Rhodes, while on hisway to Cilicia (e.g. A. 6.7.2 Rhodum volopuerorum causa, inde quamprimumAthenas, etsi etesiae valde rejlant, and F. 2.17.1 commoraturum me nusquam sanearbitror. Rhodum Ciceronum causa puerorum accessurum puto, neque id tamencertum). 73 Trips to one's villas instead are sometimes presented as something onelooks forward to, although still expressing this in a very concise way: e.g. A. 8.9.3Ego Arpini volo esseprid. Kal, deinde circum villulas nostras errare, quas visurummepostea desperavi, or A. 12.12.1 est igitur animus in hortis; quos tamen inspiciamcum venero.II.4 - Describing one's itineraries in Cicero's correspondence: conclusiveremarksOur analysis has shown how, in Cicero's correspondence, the description of one'sitineraries, both those recently undergone and those planned for the immediate future,is shaped in recurrent forms, that are shared both by Cicero and by the other writers ofthe collection. First of all, itineraries are most often located in the frame of a letter,unless they are considered as one of the major topics to be discussed at length: this isthe case with long reports on past itineraries (e.g. F. 15.1.2-3) or with the discussionof planned itineraries that are still uncertain (e.g. A. 16.5.3), or about which one asksfor the correspondent's advices or he offers comments on them (e.g. A. 11.5.2).Beyond these cases, references to past itineraries are typically set at the beginning of aOn the touristic purpose of this stop cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1965-7: ad A. 6.7.2).

letter (e.g. A. 5.13.1), while planned ones at end of it (e.g. A. 8.9.3). Thus often letterscan appear elegantly framed by references to one's movements (e.g. A. 5.3.1 and 3),while this position also grants evidence to the important practical information aboutone's whereabouts.Itineraries are also expressed through a series of recurrent syntactical structures. Likeany other piece of news or information about oneself, both past and planned itinerariesare sometimes introduced by phrases with verbs of'knowing' or 'learning', such ascognosce, scito, or scire te volui (e.g. *F. 12.11.1 for a past itinerary or A. 2.8.2 foraplanned one); and cf. also phrases such as faciam te certiorem,faciam ut scias, or sedscies, often concluding planned itineraries that are still uncertain (e.g. A. 2.5.1). Aseries of recurrent phrases is also specifically employed to introduce the discussion ofitineraries about which the correspondent's advice is sought (such as iuva consilio,e.g. A. 10.4.12) or commented upon (such as ego utar tuo consilio et, e.g. A. 9.7.2).Otherwise, a pronoun of the first person (ego, but also nos and ipse, all most often inthe nominative) is often used to open a section dedicated to describing one's past or,even more so, planned movements (e.g. A. 8.1 IB.2 and F. 16.10.1 respectively).Yet most typically in Cicero's correspondence one's past itineraries are not introducedby anything. Very frequently they are simply mentioned at the very opening of a letterthrough the phrase 'present location plus veni plus date': e.g. *F. 12.16.1 Athenas venia. d. XI Kal. Iun. atque ibi, quod maxime optabam, vidifdium tuum deditum optimisstudiis summaque modestiaefama. Other verbs of'arriving', 'going' or 'departing'can be used in the same function, although they generally appear in circumstantialclauses, within sentences mentioning the reception of a letter from the presentcorrespondent or the composition and dispatch of the one at hand (and these verbs,unlike venio, can occasionally be introduced by a first person pronoun, e.g. A. 16.6.1):

193e.g.: A. 6.9.1 In Piraeea cum exissemprid. Id. Oct., accept abAcasto servo meo statimtuas litteras. Longer accounts of past itineraries as well can begin with this openingsentence that mentions the arrival in the present location and then proceed to recallingthe previous phases of the journey in chronological order (e.g. A. 5.12). More oftenhowever a long past itinerary is reported in chronological order from the start (e.g. F.15.2).In planned itineraries, the basic structure with the verb of'moving' or 'staying'simply conjugated in the future indicative is actually employed almost only inreference to plans that are presented as not certain yet and happening under certainconditions: in fact the future indicative is mostly found in sentences where it eithergoverns a circumstantial, conditional, temporal or causal clause, or it is set in it (e.g.A. 3.23.5 ego in Epirumproficiscar cumprimorum dierum nuntios excepero). Whenpresenting a plan that is certainly established instead, the structures most frequentlyemployed are phrases with the verb of 'moving' or 'staying' governed by variousverbs of'thinking', 'deciding', or 'whishing', and most commonly cogito and volo(e.g. F. 16.10.1 ego in Formiano a. d. Ill Kal. esse volo or A. 12.1.1). Another ratherfrequent way to communicate one's future whereabouts (particularly in Cicero's ownletters) is using phrases presenting oneself as on the way or as about to depart for acertain destination; these phrases most often use the verb proficiscor and are veryoften combined with the reference to the action of taking care of one'scorrespondence, especially writing or dispatching the letter at hand (e.g. A. 4.9.2 a. d.IIII Kal. Mai. iens in Pompeianum bene mane haec scripsi). Finally the verb of'moving' or 'staying', referred to a future plan, remains often implied (e.g. A. 12.44.3ego hinc, ut scripsi antea, postridie Idus Lanuvi, deindepostridie in Tusculano).Longer planned itineraries are always presented in chronological order and simply

194listing the various stops and phases of the journey, connecting them by asyndeton, orwith adverbs, such as deinde or inde, or also recurring to purpose ut clauses (e.g. A.7.5.3 or A. 5.2.1).Finally our analysis has shown that the description of one's travel experience is, ingeneral, quite concise. In the majority of cases in fact, past and planned itineraries arementioned only through very brief references, only naming the place of arrival anddeparture, or just listing the major stops along the route. No elaboration on the aspectof these places is given, and only occasionally a brief geographical remark is added inorder to clarify the location of some less known sites (e.g. *F. 10.15.3). In addition tokeeping track of one's movements, sometimes more details can be added about thediscomforts of the journey or the fortunate the lack of them, in order to better respondto the correspondent's concern about one's safety (e.g. A. 5.12.1). In a few cases theexperience aboard a means of transportation can be elaborated a bit further by brieflymentioning the activities one performs while 'on the go': the only activities mentionedare however either taking care of one's correspondence, or anyway reading or writing,while only in the quite exceptional case of Servius' consolatio in *F. 4.5.4, thewriter's meditative contemplation of the landscape passing by is mentioned. Nothingmore is deemed worthy of mention about what one sees or feels during the moment oftraveling, and, as we will discuss in Chapter IV, this perspective is true for the overallexperience of a journey as well. Also when pondering alternatives for a planneditinerary, the discussion always revolves around the wish of avoiding risks and aroundthe opportunity itself of undergoing the journey or not - and traveling, unless to one'shome, is never presented as something to look forward to, something to anticipatewith one's imagination.

Ill - Epistolary Itineraries beyond Cicero's correspondenceIII.l - Itineraries in documentary lettersThe way in which one's travels are presented in documentary letters 274 parallels thefeatures we have observed in Cicero's correspondence, yet with a much higher degreeof brevity and compliance to a narrower set of stereotyped forms.In general the reference to one's recent or planned journey only consists in a verybrief mention of the place of departure and arrival or, occasionally, of someintermediate stops: e.g., recalling a past itinerary, BGU3.843 (I-IICE)yiyva)OK£i[v] [os dsJXco, on x^P l G T °i£ Osoiq iKdtfrjv] [sig]'AXsE,dv8piav sE, fjpspag; or BGU27 (II-IIICE) yivcooKsiv os OsXco onsig yfjv sXffXvda rfj rod 'EKsi(p jirjvdg Kai s^sKsvcboapLsv TTJ TOVabzov jU7jvog. dvsfijjv 5s sig 'PCO/UTJV rfj TOV avrov nrjvog KainapsSs^ato ff/idg 6 Tonog cog 6 dsdg fjdsXsv, Kai icad' f]fispav7ipoo8sx6p,[s]6a 8ipnoa>pfav (DOTS sag orjjxspov /xrjSsvaCtKoXsXvoGai T&V jlSTd OITOV, or, also mentioning a planned itinerary, P.Mich. 8.472 (age of Trajan) Tu optime scis quomodo abs te exiverim. a[. . . J a .celerius at [t]e venturum [. . . . J si qufujm para . . [. . ]m mequm has . . [. . ]s mfejis d••[•]•[••]A[l]exandr[ia]m [at?] [i]nven[i] iam naves exisse et non eum vendediscias me domine modo Alfejxandriae esse occasione inventa spero me celerius aput teventurum.Often the reference to one's itinerary is accompanied by a precise date274 For the definition of our sample selection of documentary material cf. Ch. 1 n. 5.275 Other letters mentioning a past itinerary are: P. Cairo Zen. 59251 (252 BC ) OTS 8s OOlsypaipov, napsyivopsda sig ZiSava, ovp.nenopsvp.svot rtjt fiaoiAioorjt sag ra>vbpicov, Kai vnsXapPdvopsv raxscog napsasaOai npdg vpag, P. Oxy. 744 (I BC)yivcooKs cog szt Kai vvv sv'AXst,av5psq apsv: pr) dycoviag sdv dAcogsionopevcovtai syco SV'AXs£,av8psq psvS, BGU 3.843 (I-Il CE Alexandria), P. Koln

1.56 (I-IICE ?) yivcoorcsiv os OsXco, ozi SsKazaioi scpOdKapsv sig zr)v prjzpdnoXiv:Kai sbdscog dvsflrjv npog zi)v b8sXTO pszscopov Kai Spai [&npdo]Konog, zaxv KazanXsvoco, P. Mich. 8.491.7 (II CE)•yeivaxrxeiv o~s SeXw, fi'tirfiQ, on iggajfievog iysvo/iTjv e!$ ¥(i)(j,r)v Ila%d)v fj,fjv! Jfe xai kx\ , nQufor\v si siXav. sniOvp&v oSv npog b pag z& dvanXda KazavzfjaainspisKXsioffjjpsv and zov Sodsvzog [zq> nai]5iq> bno zov Xapnpozdzov fjyspovogKopsdzfouJ Kfai 8]i[d zjauztjv zr)v aiziav OVK taxvaa npog b [p]ag[Kjazavzffaai. 9s&v ovv PovXopsvcov npog zrjv [sopjzrjy [zSjy'Apsavaiavnsipdoopai npog b pag ysvsfaffjai, P. Oxy. 1681 (III CE) aXXd at;i(b pfj ovzcog[sJxsiv, npcozov psv and pspovg nsipav XafSovzgg zfjg fjpszspag yvcoprjg, noXXd8s ps fjnsi^s npog zobg spovg ysvsodat, np&zov psv zd Si' £Viavz[o]v abzovgOsdaaaOai, slza zd PovXsaOai npd xfip&vog KazaXsiy/ai zr)v Atyvnzov. sXni£a)ovv pszd zpsig Kai syco npog bpag sXOsiv Kai zd nspi spov bpiv s^Tjyrfoaoffai,J.E.A. xiii p. 61 (ca 293 CE) yivcboKsiv as oSv GsXco, d8sX

197(e.g. BGU21) or by the number of days that one spent traveling or staying somewhere(e.g. BGU 3.S43). 276 Very often the recollection of one's itinerary openly responds tothe correspondent's concern for one's safety: e.g. the reassuring words that a youngrecruit sends to his mother in P. Mich. 8.491.7 yaivuxrxatv as 3-aAcv, fir/rye,

letters instead, the information about one's itinerary practically happens to be the onlytopic discussed (e.g. 5GC/27). 278The most interesting aspect however is the fact that in real letters one's travels appearto be mentioned almost exclusively by means of a very limited set of stereotypedexpressions, that remain strikingly unchanged throughout places and ages and acrossthe boundary between Latin and Greek. In particular, almost all past itinerariesattested in the selection of letters chosen here are introduced by a formula with a verbof 'knowing', mostly yiyvwo-Keiv as SeXco on or scito/ scias me... (e.g. BGU 3.843,BGU21, or P. Mich. 8.491.7 quoted above); planned itineraries instead are generallyintroduced by a verb of 'planning' or, quite often, of 'hoping' (cf, for example, P.Mich. 8.472 quoted above, or P. Oxy. 1681 eXniC,G) OVV Liszd zpsig Kaisyd)Kpdg v/jdg eXOelv Kai zd nepi e/jov b/jiv s^TjyTjoaaOat), while thesimple future indicative is mostly employed if the plan is presented as still uncertainand dependent on particular circumstances (e.g. P. Koln 1.56 Kaikdvns[paicbo]q) TO (iszecopov Kai (Ojuai [anp6o]Konoq, razoKatanXsvoco)} 1^The reference to one's itinerary is set at the very beginning of a longer letter in: P. Cairo Zen.59251, P. Oxy. 744, P. Mich. 8.491.7, B.G.U. 423, P. Oxy. 1666, J.E.A. xiii p. 61, BGU 3.843, BGU7.1680, P. Mich. 8.472. It frames the letter by mentioning the past itinerary at the beginning of the letterand then giving or reiterating the planned one at end in: cf. P. Koln 1.56, P. Oxy. 14.1773. It constitutesthe main topic of a short letter, practically only framed by the initial salutations and the final greetings,in: BGU. 27, P. Oxy. 1681, BGU 13.2350. Finally there are cases in which the reference to one'sitinerary is generally quite brief and it is curtly given in the middle of the letter, without particularevidence: cf. BGU 4.1204, P. Oxy. 33.2680, P. Gen. 1.74, P. Mich. 3.202, P. Bingen 74, SB 5.8027, P.Vindob. Lai. 1 col. II, Tab. Londin., P. Mich. 8.468 col. II II. 35^1, P. Mich. 8.467." 7 A verb of'knowing" (yifviocrxeiv

199III.2 - Itineraries in epistolary collectionsThe features that characterize the presentation of one's journeys in Cicero'scorrespondence and in documentary letters can be found also in other epistolarycollections.This is particularly evident in collections that strive for creating aneffect of epistolary 'verisimilitude', such as in the 'epistolary novels' written in thename of Themistocles of Athens and Chion of Heraclea (a man lived in the IV centuryBCE, who killed the tyrant of his city, inspired by Plato's philosophy according tothese letters). In fact the authors of these pseudo-historical letters (probably bothdating to the I-IICE) show a clear intention of providing an image of authenticity, theillusion of eavesdropping on the private exchange of important historical figuresduring a crucial moment in their lives: the trip into exile in the case of Themistocles,the trip to Athens to study with Plato in the case of Chion. 281 The 'epistolaryverisimilitude' of these collections has been studied by modern scholarship (inparticular cf. ROSENMEYER [2001: 204-9], and, on Ps.-Themistocles, HODKINSON[2007]); yet no one has ever taken into consideration how 'epistolary verisimilitude'also exploits the forms through which the experience of traveling is recalled.These collections generally respect the initial or conclusive collocation of thereference to one's itineraries, which we have observed both in Cicero'sA planned itinerary is introduced by a verb of planning' or 'hoping' in: P. Cairo Zen. 59251{bneXajiPdvonEv), P. Oxy. 1666 (KEipdoonai), P. Oxy. 14.1773 (soKey/a/iriV); or by sXniCcoorspero in: P. Oxy. 1681, P. Mich. 8.468 col. II 11. 35-41, P. Mich. 8.472; cf. also P. Gen. 1.74 (SfsiJ).Finally the simple future indicative is used when the planned itinerary is still uncertain: governing aconditional clause with savin P. Oxy. 33.2680, SB 5.8027, 105. P. Oxy. 744, P. Koln 1.56, and cf. alsoTab. Vindoniss. 4783 (eliamsi); with no explicit circumstantial clause or for a more certain plan in: P.Mich. 3.202, P. Oxy. 14.1773. In general on the use of periphrases with verbs of'thinking', 'wishing','deciding', and 'hoping" in epistolary writing and, in particular in documentary material, cf. above n.238.280 For the selection of epistolary letters considered in the present study, cf. Ch. 1 n. 5.281 In particular in Chion's collection, ep. 1-5 describe his journey from Heraclea to Athens, ep. 13-16the preparation for his journey home and some of the journey itself.

correspondence and in documentary letters. Thus a reference to the itinerary coveredup to the present moment, or, more simply, to the arrival or to the permanence in thepresent location is given at the very opening of the letter in Ps.-Chion ep. 1.1 (whilementioning the reception of a letter), 3.1, 5.1, and 14.1, or in Ps.-Them. ep. 2.1, 3.1,12.1, 17.1; and cf. also Ps.-Them, ep. 1, beginning with Themistocles' arrival inDelphi, but then adding, almost at the end of the letter, his subsequent arrival inArgos, from where he wrote the letter. On the other hand, a brief reference to the planof leaving for the next stop in the journey closes the letter in Ps.-Chion ep. 2, 3.7, andPs.-Them. ep. 10 (with the image of writing already seated in the wagon and ready todepart), and, set toward the end of the letter, in ep. 8.10; instead a reference to aplanned itinerary is found almost at the beginning of the letter in Ps.-Chion. ep. 12.1,and in the middle in ep. 13.2, and 14.1 (along with the past itinerary). 282 Finally in Ps.-Chion ep. 4 and Ps.-Them. ep. 20 a much more elaborate account of one's journey282 For past itineraries, which are always set at the beginning of a letter, cf. Ps.-Chion ep. 1.1 AnsSwxs/tot Auaig Ttfli kmaroXifv TQITTJV rgikgav ijBij tragi Bv^dvrwv BiaTgi0ovri, Bi' rjg TTJV travTov ovyxyviv xai TrdaiigT'rjg olxiag sBr/Xovg fwi, 3.1 TJoXX^v %dgiv olBa Toig kmo-%ovo~iv r/fiag dvkfioig xai TTJV kv BvQtvriw BiaTgi^vfiiaaa/ikvoig, xahoi TO ngwrov yxSo/iiiv avToTg kneiyo/ievog, 5.1 ASwxgaToug yvwgi/iw BiaXsyo/ieS'a, 14.1 Eig Bv^dvriov SgaavTsgw //.kv, Ta%eT 8' ovv nXw BiaawSeig eyvmvavTog re km/ieivai %govov, ov av /J.01 xaXwg e%eiv Boxoit), xai ngog v/j.ag kxnk/j.ii'ai KgwftvXov TO hegdnovra, haTT)V xdSoBov irga.TTwiJ.sv wiy//,s$a sig TTJV Kkgxvgav, woTteg xai dvaydfisvoi Bisyvwxsi/j,sv, o TSnXovg simsTr/g rj/iTv kykveTO xai TTOXV aipslXsv ov km Kv)\X7)vrig xaTeo-%kSiri/j,av %govov; and ep. 1 Ansg%6//,svoifikv eig Ae)

ecomes the main topic of the letter: the former describes one phase of Chion'sjourney to Athens (his trip from Byzantium to Perinthus and then to Chios), the latterinstead recounts Themistocles' entire journey from Argos to Persia for a friend,Polygnotus, to whom he had purportedly not sent earlier updates. In both cases, likewe see happening in Cicero's correspondence for longer reports on one's pastitineraries (cf. above pp. 144-5), the travel account is introduced by a paragraph thatopens the letter by stating the writer's intention to talk about the ongoing journey;then the itinerary is recalled in chronological order, intertwined with the description ofChion's or Themistocles' actions along the journey, up to the present moment and upto the plans on what to do and where to go next. 283Also the wording used in describing one's itineraries recalls some of the typicalstructures attested in papyri and in Cicero's letters. Thus introductory phrases withverbs of'knowing' appear in Ps.-Chion ep. 3.7 (ylvwaxs), and 3.5 (urS-i). Even moreoften, a verb of 'arriving', mostly in the perfect tense, opens a past itinerary set at theIn Ps.-Them. ep. 20 after the introductory sentence (Tath' JOT/!/, W YloAvyvum, ra avfi^avra •TJ/JM/iera rijv sf 'Agyoui; (pvytjv, a nagsxdAeis jgatp-qvai croi xai kyio yeygaipa), the letter starts recalling thevarious phases of the journey in chronological order: 1) briefly the trip from Argos to Cyllene; 2) thetrip from Cyllene to Corcyra, delayed for three days by the stormy weather, due to which Themistoclesgot really close to getting caught by the Spartans pursuing him; 3) the uncertainties while stationing inCorcyra, where Themistocles was not allowed to stay: first the plan to go to Sicily, then abandoned, andfinally instead the trip from Corcyra to Epirus, to the court of Admetus, king of the Molossians; 4) tripto Pydna briefly mentioned; 5) trip to Ionia, with an unforeseen stop in Naxos due to a storm, whereThemistocles is in danger of being given over to the Athenians; 6) trip from Naxos to Ephesos; 7) tripfrom Ephesus to the Persian capital; 8) meeting with the Persian king and description of Themistocles'acceptance among the king's favorites; 9) conclusion with the threat of a new war against Greece, towhich Themistocles says, at the very end of the letter, that he will never participate: vuv Ss dy xai /liAAoi/imb ov/upogag xa,TaAaf&/3av6fie$a- fikfi7)va jag xai kyaigei T'f/v km TOV

very beginning of a letter, similarly to what we see in Cicero's correspondence withphrases with venio such as A. 3.7.1 Brundisium veni a. d. xiiii Kal. Mai: cf. Ps.-Chionep. 5.1 (ApiyiisSa sig Atyvag), Ps.-Them. ep. 1.1 (Ansgxofisvoi fikv sig AsXpoug), 12.1("Hga/isv sig Tlkgaag), 17.1 (AyiynsSa sig TTJV Kkgxugav), and cf. also 2.1('Elj(i)o-rgaxi(r/j,s$a, [...] im' ASyvaiwv, xai vw kv "Aqjsi kafiAv) and 3.1 {^sC-yo/isv, [...]xai s&XSoinsg it; Agyovg kv SaXawf) ko-fikv). Planned itineraries are introduced by verbsof'deciding' or 'wanting' in Ps.-Chion ep. 14.1 (syvwv), 2 {kyto dk wg/imj/iai), and Ps.-Them. ep. 8.10 (Myvcoxa), and also 1.1 (Stsyvwxeifisv); or they are expressed in thefuture tense when preceded by a conditional clause in Ps.-Chion ep. 12 (aAX' $ av agfyaTO sag, nXsua-oufiai Ssov trw^ovTog). Yet, unlike in 'real' letters, these phrases mentioningChion's or Themistocles' past and planned itineraries never provide a precise date: weonly find a generic mention of the season in Ps.-Chion ep. 12.1 aXX' $ av agfa TO sag,Tt\suo~ov(jt,ai &sou crw^ovrog (vw (ikv jag (iscrouvrog IT/ TOV %siii,

some very interesting elaborations. In particular the theme of the discomforts anddangers of the journey, especially at sea, or of the fortunate lack of them is theelement most frequently recalled. In Ps.-Them. the storm and the contrary windsdelaying Themistocles' journey from Cyllene to Corcyra are briefly mentioned in ep.3.1 (xai k^XSovTsg kt; "Agyouq kv $aXdo~o~7) ko~iiev, o TS nXoug km Kegxugav TjfiTv rerarai,xai veaXi} e%ovreg rd nXoTa dnegxofie^a), and instead the favorable sailing conditionsthat finally allowed him to reach Corcyra in ep. 17.1 (o re nXoug eimer^g TJ/ITV kykve-roxai noXu dcpsiXev ou km KuXXyvqg xareaxe^rjiiev XQOVOU). Then in ep. 20 the same trip isrecalled again and described in greater detail: ep. 20.2-3 xaryXSov km KUXXT/VT/V ro'HXeiwv emveiov. kxsiS'i dk kxivdvveuaafiev imb x^ificovog dva/isTvai roug diwxovrag 7)iidgnXswyaq km Kegxugav wgfiTjfikvoi, xdgirog W-i y £ V Kegxvgaiovg TTgoimTjg'yfikvTjg, rgeTg oXagxaTeizoftsS' Tjfiegag, xai oux kdoxei on (peuyo/iev en AaxeSaifiovioig adrjXov eivai. rerdgrf)dk 'fji&kga nXovg o~

Yet the common epistolary topic of informing about one's recent sea-trip and safearrival' gains even greater space and thematic importance in Ps.-Chion ep. 4. In factChion's account is expanded with a few more details, especially on the experience onshipboard, in a way that surpasses anything we see in Cicero's correspondence, letalone in documentary letters. Almost the entire first paragraph is dedicated todescribing the preparation for the journey and, above all, Chion's incapacity toconvince the crew about a storm he was forecasting (which is then echoed in a pun atthe very end of the letter). Then more than a half of para. 2 is occupied by thedescription of the actual journey, of Chion's feelings during it, of the maneuvers heand his men had to perform in order to fight against the storm, and how, when the sailcould not resist the winds, they had to start rowing with all their strength in order totake the ship to safety (4.2 wg Si avii)x$W £V > z' w S f^sv ZtqAufiPgiav nagaXXatjai,xaTsysXcofirju lip' oig ngoernov, auxopevog ys. xa! fJ^XQ' T Vi anofiaoswg yeXaoSar wg SsTgiaxovrd nov orafiioug an' ai/rijg ngoexoipa/isv, fteivdg 'rjfiag %£.IILU>V xarsAafls. xa! noXvv(lev XQOVOV ovdafiov xa%gfiio~ai TTJV vauv Svvdfiavoi novrjgwg ndvv SiexsifisS-a, fioXig $£ noresmfiovTsg rrjv TlkgivSov IfitafyfisSa ngbg auryv, xwTTfjXarai ayaSoi ysvo^evor roTg (ilv yagitrrioig ov ipoq^xbg TJV 6 avsiiog). Then the description is interrupted by a formula ofpraeteritio, erasing from the account 'some bad things', after which the ship finallyarrived in Perinthus, although welcomed by the 'storm of war' (xa! Bsiva nabovreg, "vaf/,7) Xlyco ra [Israeli, fiserwv nov WXTWV xarrix^fl( iiv £ 'V TIzotvSov. xa! TOTS fisvxaTsdag^ofisv, vnsXsfnsTO fie Tjftiv xa! ersgog %ei/id)v oufiev TOU SaXaTTiov fisTgiwTsgog). The'bad things' that are omitted might be more disgusting details about somebody's seasickness,but they might also be just other maneuvers or other events happened whilegoverning the ship. As it has been observed, the praeteritio can sound as a self-

conscious effort to avoid exceeding the limits in length of the letter, according to atypical epistolary precept (for example cf. Ps.-Dem. 228).Yet here we can add that,beside the generic length of the letter, Chion at this point seems to have surpassed, inparticular, the limits of what a report on a sea-journey was normally expected to be inreal letters. Ps.-Chion ep. 4, with its expanded travel account, has been interpreted as amise en dbyme of Chion's epistolary Bildungsroman and of his evolution from apurely contemplative ideal of life that is not actually able to intervene on reality to amuch stronger one, through which he learns to act bravely when facing realdangers.The external reader is also aware of the tragic destiny that expects youngChion, who will succeed in killing the tyrant of Heraclea, but will also give his life forit: this sheds a much darker light on the closing of the letter with its pun on thecapacity of foreseeing both storms at sea and the much more terrifying 'storms onland' (Keys ouv Ag%s^fiw, on sgi'va

during a journey. Here the winds rather become one of the major forces that determinethe narrative advancement and the fate of Chion: the winds carry Chion to Athens,they force him to stay in Byzantium, allowing him to meet Xenophon, and in the endthey carry him away from Athens back to Heraclea and to his destiny of facing thetruly deadly storm of the civil war.IV - ConclusionsThe analysis conducted in this chapter has shown that the forms and the criteriaadopted in Cicero's correspondence to describe the experience of traveling reflects, ingreat measure, what we see both in documentary letters and in other epistolarycollections. Thus our analysis has led to a first sketch of what the typical traits arewhich characterize ancient epistolary travel accounts, in particular with regard to theact of traveling proper (whereas the experience of the journey as a whole, includingwhat one does, sees or feel while at a stop, willl be discussed in Chapter IV).Thus we have observed that a first typical feature is the collocation of the referencesto one's movements in the frame of the letter. In particular one's past itinerary up tothe present location is generally given in the beginning of the letter (e.g. Cic. A.5.13.1, P. Oxy. 744, or Ps.-Chion ep. 14.1), while one's plans, especially when theyare clearly established, are most often given at the end, although in documentaryletters also planned itineraries are generally mentioned at the beginning (e.g. Cic. A.8.9.3, or Ps.-Chion ep. 2); often one's movements are mentioned both in opening andclosing position, thus actually framing the letter (e.g. Cic. A. 5.3.1 and 3, P. Oxy.14.1773, or Ps.-Chion ep. 3.1 and 7). Sometimes then, one's recent or ongoingjourney is the main topic in the letter, both in the case of some very short notes that

we find in papyri (e.g. BGU 27) and in the long and elaborate reports that we read inpublished collections (e.g. Cic. F. 15.4 or Ps.-Them. ep. 20).Secondly, a series of recurrent syntactical structures typically shape the exposition ofone's itineraries. First of all, phrases with verbs of'knowing', such as cognosce, scito,scire te volui, or yivcDO-xs and jfyvuxrHsw as %Xa> OTI, which are a typical feature of'informative' letters, can be used to introduce past and planned itineraries as well.Actually in documentary material, past itineraries are almost always introduced bysuch phrases (e.g. BGU3.843), while in published collections this structure is attestedmuch more sporadically (e.g. Cassius Longinus in Cic. *F. 12.11.1 for a past itineraryor Cic. A. 2.8.2 for a planned one, or Ps.-Chion ep. 3.7). In published collections infact, past itineraries are more frequently expressed without this introduction, but rathersimply through a verb of'arriving', 'going', or 'staying' plus the place and, at least inCicero's correspondence, plus the date (e.g., with veni, Cic. A. 3.7.1 or C. Treboniusin *F. 12.16.1, or, with AyiypeSa, Ps.-Chion ep. 5.1 or Ps.-Them. ep. 17.1). Inparticular, in Cicero's correspondence, the phrase 'present location plus venz plusdate', set at the very opening of the letter is a very recurrent way to mention one's pastitinerary; also other verbs of'arriving', 'going' or 'departing' can be used in the samefunction, although they generally appear in circumstantial clauses, within sentencesmentioning the reception of a letter from the present correspondent or the compositionand dispatch of the one at hand (e.g.: A. 6.9.1, and cf. P. Cairo Zen. 59251, or Ps.-Chion ep. 1.1).Planned itineraries instead are most commonly expressed through phrases in whichthe verb of'moving' or 'staying' is governed by various verbs of'thinking','deciding', or 'whishing' or, especially in documentary material, of'hoping' (choiceprobably meant to ward off ill-luck, while cogito and volo are the most frequent in

Cicero's own letters): e.g. P. Oxy. 1681, P. Mich. Lat. 8.468, Cic. A. 12.1.1, C.Asinius Pollio in *F. 10.31.6, Ps.-Chion ep. 14.1, Ps.-Them. ep. 8.10. The simplefuture indicative of the verb of'moving' or 'staying' instead is employed almostexclusively in reference to plans that are presented as not certain yet and happeningunder certain conditions, that is in sentences containing a circumstantial or conditionalclause (e.g. P. Koln 1.56, Cic. A. 3.23.5, D. Brutus in *F. 11.1.3, Ps.-Chion ep. 12). InCicero's correspondence and particularly in Cicero's own letters, one's planneditinerary can be expressed also through phrases presenting oneself as about to departfor a certain destination (most often with the verb proficiscor, e.g. A. 4.9.2); finally inmany cases the verb of'moving' or 'staying', referred to a future plan, can just remainimplied (e.g. A. 12.44.3).In Cicero's correspondence, longer accounts of past itineraries are most oftendescribed in chronological order (e.g. L. Aemilius Paulus in Cic. *F. 10.34, Cic. F.15.4 and cf. also the structure of Ps.-Them. ep. 20); yet in some cases they can ratherstart with a sentence mentioning the arrival in the present location and then proceed torecalling the previous phases of the journey in chronological order (e.g. Cic. A. 5.12).Longer planned itineraries are always presented in chronological order and simplylisting the various stops and phases of the journey, connecting them by asyndeton, orwith adverbs, such as deinde or inde, or also recurring to ut clauses (e.g. A. 7.5.3 or A.5.2.1).Finally our analysis has also shown how epistolary travel accounts follow commonpatterns not only from the point of view of the form, but also of the selection of topicsdeemed worthy of mention when it comes to the experience of traveling. In particularthere are a few cases in published collections, in which the writer mentions what he isdoing while on the go: yet we have observed that the only activities named are either

209taking care of one's correspondence, or anyway reading or writing (e.g. Cic. A.16.7.6-7, C. Trebonius in Cic. *F. 12.16.3, or Ps.-Them. ep. 10). Only in theexceptional case of Servius Rufus' consolatio in Cic. *F. 4.5.4, we find the writermentioning instead his meditative contemplation of some Greek cities that werepassing by along the coast. 288 Yet the dangers and discomforts of the journey or thefortunate the lack of them are the aspects of one's traveling experience that arerecalled with the greatest frequency and across all kinds of letters. In documentaryletters the conditions of one's fare are expressed in the most concise and schematicforms, often recurring to a formula of thanksgiving for the gods who have grantedone's safe arrival at destination (e.g. BGU423). In Cicero's correspondence we findmore complex elaborations on the course of the itinerary, that are also expressedthrough a much more varied series of forms, yet nothing that really describes in anydetails what the writer was thinking or doing while on the go (e.g. Cic. A. 5.12.1).More details are added instead in Ps.-Chion ep. 4, thus slightly forcing the effect of'epistolary verisimilitude', otherwise sought in the collection: in the eyes of theexternal reader, Chion's elaborate account, both of the preparation for the trip and ofthe actions taken to face the storm at sea, is meant to anticipate Chion's personaldevelopments and ultimate destiny.Beyond the material considered in the present chapter, references to what one sees while aboard ameans of transportation are instead made, for example, by Pliny the Younger, who, as we will discussin Chapter IV, shows a peculiar predilection for visual descriptions, and therefore he often exploits theletter form as an excuse and a vehicle to produce sophisticated pieces of ekphrasis. Thus cf. thedescription of the landscapes visible while traveling along the road to Laurentum, in the opening of thelong letter entirely dedicated to illustrating the aspect of his villa there: Plin. ep. 2.17.2-3 Aditur nonuna uia; nam et Laurentina et Ostiensis eodem ferunt, sed Laurentina a quarto decimo lapide,Ostiensis ab undecimo relinquenda est. Vtrimque excipit iter aliqua ex parte harenosum, iunctis paulograuius et longius, equo breue et molle. Varia hinc atque indefacies; nam modo occurrenlibus siluisuia coartatur, modo latissimis pratis diffunditur et patescit; multi greges ouium, multa ibi equorumbourn armenta, quae montibus hieme depulsa herbis et tepore uerno nilescunt. Cf. also Plin. ep. 6.24,which celebrates a "local" exemplum of feminine virtue, by recalling the story of a woman who killedherself along with her ill husband. The story of the woman is presented as an anecdote that Plinylearned as he was sailing past her villa, set along the coast of the Lake of Como: Navigabam perLarium nostrum, cum senior amicus ostendit mihi villam atque etiam cubiculum, quod in lacumprominet: 'ex hoc', inquit, 'aliquando municeps nostra cum marito se praecipitavit' (ep. 6.24.2).

If, in conclusion, we push our gaze beyond the texts discussed in this chapter,Seneca's ep. 53 and 57 offers a case in which the elaboration on the discomfortsexperienced along a trip is taken to a much greater length. 8These two letters frame aself-standing cycle, that is set at the opening of book 6 and describes a short vacationSeneca had in Baiae: ep. 53 is opened by the description of the sea journey fromNeaples to Puteoli and ep. 57 by the journey back from Baiae to Neaples by land,while the letters in between describe various moments and events of Seneca'spermanence in the region. 2 ° Yet what this cycle actually portrays is the brave journeyof the wise man through the dangers and the distractions of life: a journey that provesto be inevitable if one wants to train one's soul to be wise and, ultimately, capable offacing death without fear (cf. HENDERSON [2006]). 291 In particular the two trips arepresented as quite dramatic experiences. In ep. 53 Seneca takes off while trusting thecalm sea but underestimating the threatening sky and just hoping to reach hisdestination before the outbreak of the storm. Yet while in the middle of the fare, hegets caught by the winds. Thus, incapable of assessing the actual gravity of theCf. Sen. ep. 53.1-4 ltaque quo celerius evaderem, protinus per altum ad Nesida derexi praecisurusomnes sinus. 2. Cum iam eo processissem ut mea nihil interesset utrum irem an redirem, primumaequalitas ilia quae me corruperat periit; nondum erat tempestas, sed iam inclinatio maris ac subindecrebrior fluctus. Coepi gubernatorem rogare ut me in aliquo litore exponeret: aiebat ille aspera esse etinportuosa nee quicquam se aeque in tempestate timere quam terram. 3. Peius autem vexabar quam utmihi periculum succurreret; nausia enim me segnis haec et sine exitu torquebat, quae bilem movet neeeffundit. Institi itaque gubernatori et ilium, vellet nollet, coegi, peteret litus. Cuius ut viciniamattigimus, non expecto ut quicquam ex praeceptis Vergiliifiat, obvertunt pelago proras aut ancora deprora iacitur: memor artijicii mei vetus frigidae cultor mitto me in mare, quomodo psychrolutam decet,gausapatus. 4. Quae putas me passum dum per aspera erepo, dum viam quaero, dumfacio? Intellexinon inmerito nautis terram timeri. lncredibilia sunt quae tulerim, cum meferre non possem: illud scito,Ulixem nonfuisse tarn irato mari natum ut ubique naufragia faceret: nausiator erat. Et ego quocumquenavigare debuero vicensimo anno perveniam; and ep. 57.1-2 Totum athletarum fatum mihi illo dieperpetiendum fuit: a ceromate nos haphe excepit in crypta Neapolitana. 2. Nihil illo carcere longius,nihil illisfacibus obscurius, quae nobis praestant non ut per tenebras videamus, sed ut ipsas. Ceterumetiam si locus haberet lucem, pulvis auferret, in aperto quoque res gravis et molesta: quid illic, ubi inse volutatur et, cum sine ullo spiramento sit inclusus, in ipsos a quibus excitatus est recidit? Duoincommoda inter se contraria simul perlulimus: eadem via, eodem die et luto et pulvere laboravimus.290 That is: an attack of asthma (ep. 54), a stroll on the beach near the splendid villa where the famousand rich Servilius Vatia had retired (ep. 55), Seneca's attempts to concentrate while disturbed by thenoises coming from the gym near his house (ep. 56).291 On the unity and meaning of the philosophical teaching in this cycle cf. HENDERSON (2006).

situation and of controlling his sea-sickness, he begs to be disembarked at once: infact he cannot even wait to reach the shore, but he throws himself at sea beforehand,miserably swimming up to the reef, like a ridiculous version of Odysseus, or ratherlike the old and inept guberantor Menoetes in Virg. A. 5.172-82. In ep. 57 Seneca, thehumble proficiens on the way to wisdom, still falls a bit in the same kind of mistakehe had made in the earlier journey. So, in order to avoid one danger that he fears, asecond trip at sea, he ends up nevertheless in a quite painful travel. In fact the trip byland takes him through the Crypta Neapolitana, a long and muddy gallery whose air ismade unbreathable by the dust and the smoke of the torches: this time however, hesomehow manages to keep his fears and his pain under control and to get all the waythrough his route and back into light. The epic journey of the man who searcheswisdom is now complete, framed, like in the Aeneid, by an almost deadly storm andwhat feels like a frightening trip to the underworld. 292 Seneca's letters make use of theautobiographical datum in order to create images that can provide a vivid illustrationto his philosophical teaching. In particular Seneca engages with the commonepistolary topic of the 'traveling discomforts and dangers', yet his elaboration on hisfeelings and on various moments of a single fare (especially in ep. 53) surpassesanything we have seen in either 'real' or 'realistic' letters throughout this chapter.This final comparison with Seneca's philosophical letters shows how our analysis, byillustrating what ancient readers normally expected to find in a letter about the writer'stravels, can also contribute to a better understanding how certain texts stretch theepistolary form to serve various purposes - and the measure in which such deviationappeared evident to the readers.292 On the fundamental importance of the epic intertext in this cycle of letters cf. BERNO (2006).

Chapter IV - The experience of the journeyI - IntroductionSo far we have seen that a letter written during a journey first of all should containinformation about one's present and future coordinates, necessary in order to keep theepistolary exchange alive. Secondly the letter can also provide additional informationabout one's past or planned itinerary, in order to respond to the addressee's curiosityabout one's safe conditions or about one's future whereabouts. Finally a letter writtenwhile away from home can also provide information about the writer's experience ashe reaches a stop or the final destination of the journey. So the letter can describe whatthe writer sees or what he does or feels in a place reached along a journey or at the endof it (or also during the journey taken as a whole). The present chapter will bededicated to analyzing the extent and the forms in which that experience is described.This will expand the observations already made in Ch. Ill, where we discussed casesin which a letter describes what one sees, does, or feels specifically along a route, thatis cases in which the description of places seen, or of the writer's actions or feelings isintertwined with the description of the moment of traveling proper.The way in which the experience of traveling is presented in ancient literature hasbeen thoroughly and intelligently explored by Joelle Soler's recent book (2005). Solerillustrates the distinction between, on one hand, texts that report real journeys, likeofficial dispatches (namely she considers the example of Pliny's correspondence withTrajan), or the bare lists of the genre of the itineraria, or the more elaborate periploi,and, on the other, texts that depict fictional journeys such as those present inApuleius' Metamorphoses. Thus Soler shows well how real journeys are principally

213depicted with a pragmatic intent, and how the writer exploits their description toprovide a good image of himself; on the other side the higher the degree of fictionalityis in a travel account, the larger is the space assigned to the element of curiosity and topurely digressive descriptions of interesting places and habits. Yet Soler'scomprehensive study can devote only partial attention to the epistolary genre amongmany other and she does not investigate what topics are typical of travel accountswhen it comes to epistolary writing. Thus, for example, she mentions the purelypragmatic aim of Pliny's correspondence with Trajan (cf. SOLER [2005:46-7]) and theerudite interest combined with a self-praising intent in Sidonius Apollinaris ep. 1.5(SOLER [2005: 340-8]), but she does not pay attention to how the selection of topics inthese texts interacts in particular with the epistolary genre and with the typical formsof epistolary writing. An overview on how the theme of traveling is presented in Latinepistolography is instead offered in the introductory section of Marisa Squillante'sbook on Rutilius Namatianus' de reditu suo (2005: 51-67): yet Squillante's analysisremains very general and, for example, does not even distinguish the description ofthe writer's own traveling experience, from the references to other people's journeysor from travels in images.On the other hand neither general studies on ancient epistolography nor on Cicero'scorrespondence have paid attention to defining the topics selected specifically indescribing the writer's overall experience during a journey. 293 Only partial analysesare dedicated to specific letters or specific topics, such as studies focused on the' In particular modern studies on ancient epistolography generally follow in the steps of ancientepistolary theorists, who ignored all the trivial topics typical of the 'informative' letter, while focusingtheir attention on more formal epistolary sub-genres (such as recommendations, gratulatory notes,hortatory letters, etc.) or on basic epistolary topoi (such as the conception of the letter like a dialogue ata distance, or a means to 'see' the correspondent through his or her words; e.g. THRAEDE [1970]).

descriptions of villas or of touristic mirabilia in Pliny's correspondence,or thosespecifically dedicated to Cicero's letters from exile, or to his trip to Cilicia, or to hisvillas. 295In this chapter I wish to start tackling the question from a wider point of view. Inparticular here I aim to offer, first, a general overview on the space that, in varioustypes of letters written while away from Rome, is assigned to describing the writer'sexperience in the present location, as opposed to other topics, such as comments onpieces of news coming from elsewhere, or requests for the addressee. Secondly, Iintend to investigate what aspects of that experience are most commonly described: 1)whether what the writer sees in a place, or 2) what he does, or 3) what he feels. FinallyI wish to define what elements are more recurrent in each of these categories: that isfor example, whether there are kinds of places that are commonly described more atlength than others, or what kinds of actions and feelings the writers of Cicero'scorrespondence deem worthy of mentioning or not in their letters.The discussion will proceed through the analysis of the three main categories definedabove, and within each of these categories, the material will be divided by type ofletters. Thus I will discuss: 1) what the writer sees: a) letters written while sojourningat a villa; b) letters from longer journeys; c) the search of solitudo in periods ofinactivity and sadness. 2) What the writer does: a) letters written while sojourning at avilla; b) letters from longer journeys, further subdivided in: i) letters from journeysundertaken on a private account; ii) letters from journey undertaken while on duty; iii)294 On Pliny's descriptions of touristic mirabilia cf. for example SAYLOR (1962), LEFEVRE (1988),FASCE (1991), COVA (1999), on the villas cf, for example, LEFEVRE (1977 and 1988), MASELLI (1995),HENDERSON (2003), RIGGSBY (2003).2,5 On Cicero"s letters from the exile and on the importance of the expression of the feelings in them cf.for example GARCEA (2005); on the year in Cilicia and in particular on the definition of the typicalfeatures of official reports cf. for example MUNDT (2004); on Cicero's villas cf, above all, HENDERSON(2007) on the long description of Q. 3.1, and CITRONI MARCHETTI (2006) on the presentation of villasas places eminently fit for practicing noble studies and cultivating one's friends.

letters from periods of forced displacement. 3) What the writer feels. In conclusion afinal section will be dedicated to giving a look at what we find in the epistolary genrebeyond Cicero's correspondence: yet, at the present stage, this will only consist in abrief overview on some particularly interesting renditions of the category of'what onesees during a journey'. This particular category in fact is very tightly connected to theconcept of 'curiosity', which has an important role in fictional travel accounts.II - The experience of the journey in Cicero's correspondenceII. 1 - What one sees during a journeyDescribing the places, the people, the realities one sees along a journey presupposestwo factors. On one hand it presupposes an interest about such matters on the part ofthe reader: that is a reader who is presumably rather unfamiliar with the thingsdescribed, and anyway interested in learning more about them. On the other hand, thepresence of such descriptions in a letter presupposes a writer who has both the willand the need, or rather just the leisure, to write about what shows in front of his eyes,as he travels around or as he stops at a place. My aim here is to define what is theattitude towards this topic shown by Cicero and his friends in their correspondence,and what is the measure and what the forms in which the topic is presented. Thediscussion will proceed through the analysis of three groups of letters: 1) letterswritten by people sojourning at a villa; 2) letters written during longer journeys; 3) thesearch for solitudo in periods of more or less forced inactivity, in particular in theletters Cicero wrote during the exile, during the year he spent in Brundisium, andduring the period he spent retired in his villas after the death of Tullia.

H.l.a - Sojourning at a villaIn March 45 Cicero writes a short letter to Atticus from his beautiful villa in Astura:CICERO ATTICO SAL. Ne ego essem hie libenter atque id cottidie magis, ni esset eacausa quam tibi superioribus litteris scripsi. nihil hac solitudine iucundius, nisipauluminterpellassetAmyntaefilius. CD d7tspavzoXoyiag dr\8ovgl cetera noliputare amabiliora fieri posse villa, litore, prospectu maris, turn his rebus omnibus,sed neque haec digna longioribus litteris nee erat quid scriberem, et somnus urgebat{A. 12.9). In this short message, Cicero praises some elements of the location in whichhe is spending his time: the peaceful isolation, the villa, the beach, the sight of the sea.Yet, right after, both his praises and the letter are just cut short by simply stating thatthe description of a nice villa and of the pleasant environment surrounding it are notdeemed as a topic worthy of spending too many words about in a letter {neque haecdigna longioribus litteris), at least in Cicero's view.In fact this perspective is confirmed by what we find in the series of other lettersCicero wrote from his villas: in very few of them we find observations on theenvironment, and in any case these observations consist in quite short remarks. In theopening of a letter to Atticus, written from the villa near Puteoli at the end of April of44, Cicero says: Septimo denique die litterae mihi redditae sunt quae erant a te xiiiKal. datae; quibus quaeris, idque etiam me ipsum nescire arbitraris, utrum magistumulisprospectuque an ambulatione dXlZEVSl delecter. est mehercule, ut dicis,utriusque loci tanta amoenitas ut dubitem utra anteponenda sit. dAAOV SaiTOgemjpdzov spya ps/jrjAev, / dAAd AITJV fisya nr)pa, diozpscpsq,eioopocDvzsg / 8si8ipsv: sv Soifj 5s aacoexsjusv fj dnoXeoOai. '(A.14.13.1). Cicero, in response to Atticus' curiosity, briefly praises the amoenitas of the

surroundings of the villa, which offers both a beautiful view from the hills and anequally beautiful walk along the sea. Yet right after, he once again cuts this topic shortby quoting Odysseus' words to Achilles in Iliad9: 'But not of table joys ourthoughts./ Great bane, O King, we see and are afraid. Tis life or death with us, weknow not which.' (77. 9.228-30). By this Cicero states that this is no time for thinkingabout light matters, since the present political situation is of the most extreme gravity.Thus the rest of the letter is dedicated to discussing, first, the most recent news fromvarious fronts in the chaotic aftermath of Caesar's death, and secondly Cicero's owndebated plan to go to Greece.Again, in another short letter to Atticus written in June of 44, Cicero comments on thebeauty of a place, which is probably Astura again, 296 : Narro tibi, haec loca venusta sunt, abdita certe et, si quid scribere velis, ab arbitrislibera, sed nescio quo modo OlKOt^ (piXog. itaque me referuntpedes in Tusculanum.et tamen haec pCOKOypCKpiOL ripulae videtur habitura celerem satietatem. equidemetiam pluvias metuo, si Prognostica nostra vera sunt; ranae enim prjTOpsvovoi V.tu, quaeso, fac sciam ubi Brutum nostrum et quo die viderepossim {A. 15.16a). Theplace is praised for its beauty and for its private isolation, fit to concentrate on one'sstudies without being bothered by visitors, and yet Cicero also adds that 'one wouldsoon get tired of the picture scenery of this scrap of wooded coast' {et tamen haecpCOTCOYpOLCpia ripulae videtur habitura celerem satietatem) 2 7 and that to this heprefers an environment that makes him feel more 'at home' {sed nescio quo modoThis letter does not carry a date or the name of the 'beautiful place' from which Cicero is writing.Yet the observations made about it have induced most editors to hypothesize it was Astura: cf.MARINONE (2004: 242).297 On the controversial meaning of pcOTTOypCHpfa as either 'landscape-painting' or 'tameness of thescenery' cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1967: ad loc).

218oifcog (piAog): 29 * therefore he is going to go back to Tusculum. Then cf. also othercases of extremely concise remarks of appreciation about a villa or its surroundings,such as A. 2.1.11 Amalthea mea te exspectat et indiget tui. Tusculanum etPompeianum valde me delectant, nisi quod me, ilium ipsum vindicem aeris alieni,aere non Corinthio sed hoc circumforaneo obruerunt, or, about a forest near the villaof Antium, A. 2.4.5 Terentiae saltum perspeximus. quid quaeris? praeter quercumDodonaeam nihil desideramus quo minus Epirum ipsam possidere videamur.Cf.also a letter to Lepta, where Cicero expresses some remarks about a small place in theregion of Falernum that he is thinking to acquire and use as a deversorium for whenhe travels along the Appian way; the place is also compared to Lepta's own beautifulvilla nearby: Maculam officio functum esse gaudeo. eius Falernum mihi semperidoneum visum est deversorio, si modo tecti satis est ad comitatum nostrumrecipiendum, ceteroqui mihi locus non displicet. nee ea re Petrinum tuum deseram;nam et villa et amoenitas ilia commorationis est, non deversori (F. 6.19.1).Finally the amenities of a friend's property, which Cicero had occasion to visit along ajourney, are enumerated also in F. 7.20. This letter is in fact completely dedicated topraising Trebatius Testa's properties in the region of Velia, where Cicero made a stopas he was on his way to Greece in the summer of 44. 301 The letter begins with the298 On the interpretation to give to the Greek proverb oixo

words Amabilior mihi Veliafuit quod te ab ea sensi amari. Then after a lovingreference to a certain Rufius, a good slave or freedman of Trebatius, the letter goes onby advising Trebatius to keep his family property there, which is said to be not lessvaluable than the Lupercal in Rome - although Cicero cannot help adding that he stillprefers Rome (quamquam enim Velia non est vilior quam Lupercal, tamen istuc maloquam haec omnia). A sophisticated joke follows the advice, probably on the namedomus Papiriana (from the name of former owners) and on the lotus flower, whichwas perhaps grown in the house and which would anyway prevent anybody fromleaving the place, according to the Homeric myth. 302 The advice is then reiterated bylisting the qualities of the region, which is said to be an excellent hiding place{perfugium), especially precious in those chaotic times, a place loving and secure, wellsecluded (remoto), healthy (salubri) and pleasant (amoeno loco), on which Cicerowould like to be able to count at will in the future: sed in primis opportunum videtur,his praesertim temporibus, habere perfugium, primum eorum urbem quibus carus sis,deinde tuam domum tuosque agros, eaque remoto, salubri, amoeno loco; idque etiammea interesse, mi Trebati, arbitror (F. 7.20.2). The letter is closed by a brief referenceto a book on a medical topic, that Cicero has got from a certain Sextus Fadius,probably as he was still in Velia. Even in this letter however, the importance grantedto praising a beautiful place only stems out of the desire to please a friend and theactual descriptive part still remains a quite concise enumeration of good qualities.this letter must have been a 'thank you" note for Trebatius' hospitality and therefore they proposed tocorrect Talnam in Testam in A 16.6.1. Yet I agree with SHACKLETON BAILEY (1967: ad A 16.6.1), whodeems this hypothesis unlikely also because F. 7.20 never actually mentions Trebatius 7 hospitality.Then again, we can add that, in F. 7.19, while explaining the decision to work on the Topica dedicatedto Trebatius, Cicero simply says: itaque ul primum Velia navigare coepi, institui Topica Aristoteleaconscribere ab ipsa urbe commonitus amantissima tui. Therefore it is more probable that Cicero stayedat Talna"s, but just visited Trebatius' house, maybe as an act of politeness.302 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1977: ad loc).

In one case however, we find a very elaborate description of a series of villas andproperties that Cicero had been recently visiting. This happens in the long letter (Q.3.1) Cicero wrote to his brother in September of 54, as Quintus was campaigning inBritannia with Caesar. Cicero had recently traveled all around Quintus' properties andso he dedicated the first part of the letter to give him a detailed report on his survey ofthe estates, describing all the works of improvement that were in progress at themoment (Q. 3.1-6). The letter then goes on with an update on the conditions ofQuintus' son and with thorough comments and replies to all the questions contained ineach of the many letters Cicero had been receiving from Quintus (Q. 3.1.7-25). Theletter is opened by a praise of the fresh and healthy environment of Arpinum, whereCicero got back, after his tour of Quintus' properties, and where he was as he wrotethe first part of the letter. The report starts with the estate at Arcanum, where Ciceroinspected the works to deviate a stream in order to bring it to flow closer to the house(Q. 3.1.1). The second stop is a villa near Arpinum, formerly belonged to a certainManilius, where Cicero supervised various works (Q. 3.1.1-2): he approves the aspectof the villa and especially the imposing features of the paved porticus, promising totake care of the stuccos and the ceilings too; then he comments on theinappropriateness of building a small court along the colonnade, since the porticoalready constituted a beautiful vault or a good summer room; finally he reports onsome changes done in the baths and on the construction of a large bedroom and of asecond one for the winter, which are admired for their ample size and for their niceposition near the baths and the promenade. After having closed the report on theManilianum estate with a criticism on certain ineptitudes of the architect Diphiluspresiding the works, Cicero moves on to relate about two other estates still nearArpinum (Q. 3.1.3). The first one was recently acquired from a certain Fufidius and

Cicero praises its shady and fresh environment and the potential of mirifica suavitasof the villa, once a few improvements were made. About the second estate, probablyformerly belonged to a certain Babullius or Babuleius, Quintus was uncertain whetherto sell it or keep it, and Cicero gives him an update on its possible market value. Thelast estate Cicero inspected was the one at Laterium (Q. 3.1.4-5). About this one, hereports on the progress in the construction of the segment of the road Quintus was incharge of building. Then he talks about the villa itself. First, he discusses the costs fora new building Quintus wanted to add to the villa, which project Cicero approved,despite the fact that the villa was already charming and outstanding, for its simplebeauty (villa... tamquamphilosopha), in comparison to the neighboring ones.Secondly, he praised the work of the gardener who had made the promenade sogorgeous, by adding ivy everywhere, almost drowning the statues set between thecolumns. Cicero's report is finally concluded by a brief paragraph on the progress ofthe works in Quintus' house in Rome as well (Q. 3.1.6). In this letter, Cicero'saccurate description of Quintus' estates only responds to the need of keeping himinformed about improvements which were being made on them and which Cicerosupervised on his behalf. Thus the places are depicted only as much as Cicerointervened on them and the description is conducted mostly through verbs in the firstperson singular: cf. Q. 3.1.1 vidi, nonprobavi mutarique iussi, Ipromovi, valdeprobavi, 3 vidi, 4perspexi, 5 saneprobavi, topiarium laudavi. Furthermore Cicero'spositive or negative judgments on what he was seeing were again only meant to giveQuintus an idea of the good conditions of an estate, or of the opportunity to makesome changes or not. Thus Q. 3.1.1 villa mihi valdeplacuitpropterea quod summamdignitatem pavimentata porticus habebat is followed by the report on how Cicerodirected the works on the porticus; Q. 3.1.2 Quo loco inporticu te scribere aiunt ut

atriolum fiat, mihi ut est magis placebat by the reasons why Cicero is advisingQuintus to avoid building the atriolum; Q. 3.1.3 ego locum aestate umbrosiorem vidinumquam, permultis locis aquam profluentem et earn uberem praises the Fufldianumestate in order to congratulate Quintus for the good decision he took in buying it; Q.3.1.4 mihi mehercule valdeplacet te ilia ut constitueras addere; quamquam ea villaquae nunc est tamquam philosopha videtur esse quae obiurget ceterarum villaruminsaniam. verum tamen illud additum delectabit again praises the villa at Laterium inorder to approve Quintus' decision to add the little new building to the older, alreadybeautiful, structure; finally in Q. 3.1.5 topiarium laudavi. ita omnia convestivithedera, qua basim villae, qua intercolumnia ambulationis, ut denique illipalliatitopiariam facere videantur et hederam vendere. iam &7to5VT7]piG) nihil alsius, nihilmuscosius, the conclusive praise of the gardener and the description of his work, isstill meant to cheer Quintus up with good news about the beauty of his property. Thus,Cicero's elaborate account in Q. 3.1 is motivated by an eminently practical functionand not by a gratuitous pleasure in describing a beautiful place. 3 3In conclusion, it emerges that in Cicero's own letters, the aspect of a villa and of itssurroundings is allowed a larger space only when it responds to a practical need, likein the case of the long report on Quintus' properties in Q. 3.1. Considerableimportance can be granted also to the polite praise of a friend's estates, like in F. 7.20,although the purely descriptive part still remains quite limited. Yet, especially when itcomes to his own villas, Cicero seems to show no great interest - and even somereserves - on indulging in longer descriptions of their beautiful attractions.303 A practical function is also what inspires other short references Cicero makes to the aspect of this orthat of his villas in order to ask his correspondent's advices or help for improving or decorating them:cf, for example, A. 1.10.3-4, where Cicero presents himself as writing while seating in an area of hisvilla in Tusculum. which, with Atticus" help, he would like to decorate with statues, bas-relieves, and alibrary; cf. also Cicero's similar comments and requests in several other letters he wrote from Rome,about in the same period: in particular cf. A. 1.8.2, 1.9.2, 1.11.3.

Nevertheless, he displays some curiosity about such a topic, when it comes to askingdetails about other people's villas, perhaps again as a sign of polite interest (and cf. A.14.13.1, where also Cicero's remarks on his own villas are presented as prompted byAtticus' request). So, in the closing of a letter of July 61, he prompts Atticus to givean accurate description of the form, the decoration, and the overall lay-out(TOnoOeoiotf^ of his new Amaltheum (a temple and a garden on his Buthrotianestate dedicated to the nymph Amalthea): 305 velim ad me scribas cuius modi sitAfiaXOsiOVtuum,quo ornatu, qua TOTZOdEOlCL, et, quaepoemata quasquehistorias de A/MlAOeig habes, ad me mittas (A. 1.16.18). Cf. also another letterwritten to Dolabella probably in December 45, which Cicero opens by saying:Gratulor Baiis nostris si quidem, ut scribis, salubres repente factae sunt; nisi forte teamant et tibi adsentantur et tarn diu dum tu ades sunt oblitae sui. quod quidem si itaest, minime miror caelum etiam et terras vim suam, si tibi ita conveniat, dimittere (F.9.12.1). Cicero's response implies that Dolabella had offered, at least briefly, somecomments on the natural properties of the region of Baiae where he was sojourning.These passages give evidence of the diffusion of at least short descriptions of thevillas and of their surroundings in letters by people other than Cicero himself. In factin Cicero's correspondence we have no letters by Cicero's friends that are written bysomebody sojourning at a villa (cf. Ch. I pp. 33-4.).On the meaning of the term topothesia, cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY'S comments on the use of the sameterm in A. 1.13.5 TOTZOOsoiav quam postulas Miseni et Puteolorum includam orationi meae (1965: ad1.13.5): 'Servius' definition (ad Aen. 1.159) of topothesia as an imaginary description secundumpoeticam licentiam, opposed to topographia, rei verae description has no relevance. In papyri the wordmeans "plan", "survey"; so in 1.16.18, "lay-out". Here a plan in literary terms, "topographicaldescription", like that of Syracuse in Verr. 2.4.117'.305 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1965 ad/I. 1.13.1).

Il.l.b — Being far away from RomeIn Cicero's correspondence we rarely find references to the beautiful or interestingaspect of places seen while traveling further away from Rome, and even more rarelydo we find ethnographic remarks about the peoples met along the way. Cicero, forexample, had occasion to station in extremely attractive places during his trips to andback from Cilicia. So, as he was stationing in Athens, on his way to the province, hewrote to Atticus (A. 5.10). The letter is opened by giving Cicero's coordinates and bymentioning his wait for the messenger who should bring news from Atticus. Then itgoes on discussing various matters, such as Cicero's frugality in taking advantage ofthe locals and yet his complaints about the fact itself of having to go to the province;thereafter it proceeds to asking news from Atticus and from Rome. Finally, only in thelast paragraph of the letter (A. 5.10.5), when there is practically nothing else importantto say (Quid estpraeterea? nihil sane nisi Mud), Cicero comes to express, veryconcisely, his appreciation for Athens {yalde me Athenae delectarunt, urbe dumtaxatet urbis ornamento et hominum amore in te, in nos quadam benevolentid), along witha brief critical comment on the changes that have occurred since when Cicero hadbeen there as a young man (sed multa. philosophia sursum deorsum. siquid est, est in Aristo, apud quern eram; nam Xenonem tuum vel nostrum potiusQuinto concesseram, et tamen propter vicinitatem totos dies simul eramus). In thesame way, but even more briefly, Cicero expressed his admiration for Athens also onhis way back, again in a letter to Atticus (A. 6.9). Again the letter begins by givingCicero's coordinates and mentioning the reception of the most recent letter fromAtticus; then it proceeds with discussing several topics (Atticus' recent illness, aproblem with a slave that Atticus is asked to investigate, the issue of the problematicsuccession in the province); finally, after having requested a response and news on

specific matters, only at the very closing of the letter, Cicero adds: in arceAthenisstatio mea nunc placet (A. 6.9). 306 Equally brief is the reference to the visit, again onthe way back from Cilicia, that Cicero paid, for his nephew's sake, to the beautifulriver Thyamis running through Atticus' property in Epirus: Q. Ciceroni obsisti nonpotuit quo minus Thyamim videret {A. 7.2.3). 307 Finally, from two letters sent almostat the same time, right before leaving the province (A. 6.7.2 Rhodum volo puerorumcausa, inde quam primum Athenas, etsi etesiae valde reflant and F. 2.17.1 toSallustius Rhodum Ciceronum causa puerorum accessurum puto, neque id tamencertum), we know that Cicero was planning on making a stop in Rhodes, again for thesake of showing the famous sites of the island to his son and his nephew. 308 Yetwhether he made it there or not, certainly we have no trace of that experience at leastin the letters preserved in the collection we can now read.Thus even when Cicero enjoyed a place that he happened to visit, almost no space isgiven to describing it, beyond a concise statement of appreciation, such as valde meAthenae delectarunt, or in arce Athenis statio mea nunc placet. However, also when itcomes to the other places he had to go through in order to fulfill his administrative ormilitary duties, practically nothing is added to what is strictly necessary in order toprovide a report on the present situation. So, for example, in a letter written to Atticusright upon the capture of the city of Pindenissum in December of 51 {A. 5.20), Cicerodescribes the actions that led to his success. As he does so, here and there he adds a306 Cicero's appreciation for Athens and the plan of building a monument in the city to commemoratesuch appreciation, is also expressed at the end of a letter he had sent while he was still in Cilicia: Vnumetiam velim cogites. audio Appium TtpOTtvXov' Eleusine facere; num ineptifuerimus si nos quoqueAcademiae fecerimus? 'puto' inquies. ergo id ipsum scribes ad me. equidem valde ipsas Athenas amo;volo esse aliquod monumentum, odifalsas inschptiones statuarum alienarum. (A. 6.1.26).307 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1968: ad loc): "The river which ran through Atticus' property. Its beautyis praised in Leg. 2.7. but C. probably means only that Quintus wanted to see his uncle's estate and thatthis was why the party stopped at Corcyra".108 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1968: ad loc): ""Cubiebat enim insulam et rei navalis gloria et artiumoperibus et eloquentiae studiis claram adulescentibus ostendere' (Boot).".

few very brief explanations on the topography of the region, in order to give his frienda better picture of where he entered the Parthian territory (A. 5.20.2 Inde in castra venia. d. vii Kal. Sept. a. d. Hi exercitum lustravi apud Iconium. ex his castris, cum gravesde Parthis fet cerisf nuntii venirent, perrexi in Ciliciam per Cappadociae partemearn quae Ciliciam attingit, eo consilio et ut Armenius Artavasdes et ipsi ParthiCappadocia se excludi putareni), or of the strategic position of the mount Amanusthat he had to approach (A. 5.20.3. Tar sum veni a. d. Hi Non. Oct. inde ad Amanumcontendi, qui Syriam a Cilicia in aquarum divortio dividit; qui mons erat hostiumplenus sempiternorum), or finally of the character of the population of town ofPindenissum, which he put under siege and conquered (A. 5.20.5 Nos adPindenissum,quod oppidum munitissimum Eleutherocilicum omnium memoria in armis fuit; ferihomines et acres et omnibus rebus ad defendendum parati).At one point, an eruditecomment is made while mentioning the river Issum, where Cicero pitched camp,precisely in the same spot where Alexander the Great had camped when fightingagainst Darius (A. 5.20.3 castrapaucos dies habuimus ea ipsa quae contra Dariumhabuerat apud Issum Alexander, imperator haudpaulo melior quam aut tu autego) 310 . Yet in general both Cicero's own letters and those by others traveling whileon duty refer to the places they touch only through brief geographical explanations,The same is true also when describing administrative as opposed to military duties. So for exampleCicero, in a letter written little after his arrival in Cilicia, informs Atticus of the miserable conditions ofthe province he had just witnessed, but only to continue with a praise of his own politics of frugalityand of his own capacity to ease that situation: Maxima exspectatione in perditam et plane eversam inperpetuum provinciam nos venisse scito prid. Kal. Sext., moratos triduum Laodiceae, triduumApameae, totidem dies Synnade. audivimus nihil aliud nisi imperata £7tlK£(pdX id solvere non posse,covdgomnium venditas, civitatum gemitus, ploratus, monstra quaedam non hominis sedferae nesciocuius immanis. quid quaeris? taedet omnino eos vitae (A. 5.16.2).310 Cf. also the same reference in F. 2.10.3 (to M. Caelius Rufus) ita victoria iusta imperator appellatusapud Issum, quo in loco, saepe ut ex te audivi, Clitarchus tibi narravit Dareum ab Alexandro essesuperatum, abduxi exercitum ad infestissimam Ciliciae partem. This reference to Alexander the Greatrecalls the very opening of the letter which is marked by an ironic comparison between the obscuresetting of Cicero's own victories and famous Greek regions, like Aetolia or Macedonia, that witnessedimportant Roman triumphs, as well as some of the deeds of Alexander and his father Philip.

added exclusively in order to clarify the report on one's actions: on this usage cf. Ch.Ill pp. 184-5.The only possible testimony to an exception in this panorama is found in a letterCicero wrote in August 54 (Q. 2.16), in response to Quintus, who, at the time, wasdeployed in Britannia with Caesar's army. In this letter, after having updated Quintuson some important matters, mostly of public nature, Cicero says: Venio nunc ad idquod nescio an primum esse debuerit. o iucundas mihi tuas de Britannia litteras!timebam Oceanum, timebam litus insulae; reliqua non equidem contemno, sedplushabent tamen spei quam timoris magisque sum sollicitatus exspectatione ea quammetu. te vero V7IO0EOIV scribendi egregiam habere video, quos tu situs, quas naturasrerum et locorum, quos mores, quas gentis, quas pugnas, quern vero ipsumimperatorem habes! ego te libenter, ut rogas, quibus rebus vis, adiuvabo et tibi versusquos rogas, hoc est Athenas noctuam, mittam. (Q. 2.16.4). From Cicero's words wegather that Quintus had written about 'the places, the natural phenomena and scenes,the customs, the peoples, the fight, and, last but not least, the Commander-in-Chief.Yet this does not mean that Quintus' letter contained a long description of any ofthese elements. What Quintus has shown so far is defined a ' VKOdeoig scribendi\ a'summary', a 'sketch', a 'topic' for writing. So Quintus's letter must have contained asketch of what he had been seeing in Britannia, followed by his promise to write aboutit more at length in a different context: he might have thought about keeping a diary ofnotes, in the style of the commentarii; or, since he is asking verses from Cicero, hemay have been thinking about a work mixing prose and poetry, in the style of theMenippean Satire. 311 So, on one hand, this testimony seems to confirm the fact that a311 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1980: ad loc): "Quintus is generally supposed to have asked his brotherfor some verses in order to palm them off as his own; [...] 1 would sooner believe that they were to be

228very long geographical and ethnographical description was not deemed appropriatefor a letter and should rather be developed in other contexts and other genres. Yet, onthe other hand, if the verses Quintus was asking from Cicero were supposed to beprecisely about what Quintus had seen and experienced in Britannia, and if he hadrequested Cicero to start sending them to him as he was still over there (tibi versusquos rogas... mittam), his letter might have contained enough information for Ciceroto start elaborating some verses out of it. 312 Interestingly however, in comparison tothe other places from which letters of Cicero's correspondence are sent, Britannia wasthe only one to be actually 'exotic' and unexplored for the Romans at the time. Thismay have certainly been the reason - and the justification - for spending a bit morewords on describing something most people must have been wondering aboutII.l.c - Searchine for solitudo: letters from periods of sadnessThe remoteness of a place is deprecated when it brings to a forced inactivity or to aseparation from Rome, the heart of the political scene. So, for example, cf. the use ofthe word solitudo to define the province of Cilicia, in a letter that Cicero sent to Q.Cornificius, who was governor there in 46: F. 12.17.2 puto enim, etiam si rem minusprobabis, tamen in ista solitudine quicquid a me profectum sit iucundum tibi fore; andin general cf. Cicero's own complaints about his separation from Rome and the dullascribed to their real author and recited on some appropriate occasion, or inserted in a prose account byQuintus of the British expedition, after the fashion of a Menippean Satire".312 Yet we cannot be certain about this last point, since Cicero's reply could rather mean that he wasgoing to write his poems upon receiving some parts of Quintus' work attached to a future letter, or theverb mittam could also be just used metaphorically and due to the presence of the famous Greekproverb in the phrase tibi versus quos rogas, hoc est Athenas noctuam, mittam. In Cicero's lettershowever the proverb is used elsewhere (cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY [1980: ad Q. 2.16.4]) in reference tosomething that is actually sent over to the addressee within the present letter: cf. F. 9.3.2 Sed quid egonunc haec ad te, cuius domi nascuntur, yXctVK Sig A Of/vag? nihil scilicet nisi ut rescriberesaliquid, me exspectares. (in reference to the thoughts contained in the present letter sent to Varro), F.6.3.4 sed rursus yXaVK sig A dfjvag qui ad te haec (in reference again to a thought contained inthe present letter sent to A. Torquatus).

emoteness of his province, throughout his whole correspondence from there (cf.below pp. 284-5 and, more in general, Ch. I pp. 35-43).On the other hand however, the isolated nature of a location is often mentioned amongthe positive features a villa can have, since it can reduce the risk of annoyingintrusions in one's free time and it can therefore grant more privacy and tranquility toenjoy one's studies: so on the pleasant isolation Cicero was able to find in Astura cf.A. 12.9.2 nihil hac solitudine iucundius, nisi paulum interpellasset Amyntaefilius andA. 15.16a.l Narro tibi, haec loca venusta sunt, abdita certe et, si quid scribere velis,ab arbitris libera; or on Trebatius' estate in Velia cf. F. 7.20.2 sed inprimisopportunum videtur, his praesertim temporibus, habere perfugium, primum eorumurbem quibus cams sis, deinde tuam domum tuosque agros, eaque remoto, salubri,amoeno loco.Yet it is in the letters written during periods of sadness that the search for isolatedplaces becomes a much more compelling need. The desire of fleeing the humansociety and hiding in isolation is recalled several times in Cicero's letters from periodsof political disillusion, like the difficult months at the beginning of the civil war in 49-48: so cf., for example, Cicero's wish to retire in some deserted location (Quod estigitur meum triste consilium? ut discederem fortasse in aliquas solitudines), into asmall hiding place somewhere in Italy (eo si onere carerem, quamvis parvis Italiaelatebris contentus essern), into some of his 'little properties' (sed mea praediola tibinota sunt; in his mihi necesse est esse, ne amicis molestus sini), that he expresses in aletter he wrote to Caelius Rufus in May 49 (F. 2.16.2 and 6), as he was still worried3,3 Cf. also a letter that Cicero sent from Rome to L. Mescinius Rufus in April 46 and in which hecomplained about the lack of tranquility he could enjoy in his house, due to the too frequent visits ofannoying people: F. 5.21.1 noli enim existimare mihi non solitudinem iucundiorem esse, qua tamenipsa uti non licet, quam sermones eorum qui frequenlant domum meam, excepto uno out summumaltero.

y the constraints of his duties as coastal guard in Campania and tormented by theuncertainties on what course to take in the civil war. 'But, above all, it is in Cicero's letters from the exile and in those from his retirementafter the death of Tullia, that we find such desire mentioned with the greatestinsistence. During the exile, Cicero manifested a deep sense of depression thatinduced him to avoid contacts with others as much as possible (he even avoided tomeet his own brother, cf. Q. 1.3), and to wish for hiding places, far away from crowdsand almost, as he says, far away from the light of the day. So cf., for example, theopening of a letter Cicero sent to Atticus, as he was stationing in Brundisium in April58, with his response to Atticus' suggestion of going to his estate in Epirus A 3.7.1quod me rogas et hortaris ut apud te in Epiro sim, voluntas tua mihi valde grata est etminime nova. set consilium mihi quidem optatum si liceret ibi omne tempusconsumere; odi enim celebritatem, fugio homines, lucem aspicere vix possum, essetmihi ista solitudo, praesertim tamfamiliari in loco, non amara. In fact, throughout hisexile, Cicero kept saying how he hated the crowds that he was forced to endure inThessalonica or Dyrrachium, while longing for Atticus' estate in Epirus and for itsremote nature: in particular cf. A. 3.14.2 andi\ 14.1.3 and 7, while Cicero's desire forthe remoteness of Epirus is accompanied by a declaration of his otherwise completelack of interest for the aspect of the environment in A. 3.19.1.The search for isolation reappears, with even greater insistence, in the letters writtenafter the death of Tullia. In this period as well Cicero repeats over and over again howhe is looking for remote and even dark places, where to hide from others and broodalone over his grief. Thus a short letter sent to Atticus just a few days after Tullia'sdeath, at the beginning of March 45, is mostly dedicated to depict how Cicero spent114 From the same period cf. also A. 10.4.10, and A. 11.9.1.

entire days hidden under the thick branches of a wood near his villa in Astura: Apud Appuleium, quoniam inperpetuum nonplacet, indies ut excuser videbis. in hac solitudine careo omnium colloquio, cumque mane mein silvam abstrusi densam et asperam, non exeo inde ante vesperum. secundum tenihil est mihi amicius solitudine. in ea mihi omnis sermo est cum litteris. eum tameninterpellat fletus; cui repugno quoad possum, sed adhuc pares non sumus. Bruto, utsuades, rescribam. eas litteras eras habebis. cum erit cui des, dabis {A. 12.15). A fewmonths later he opens another letter again with the image of himself wishing to spendtime in the open country-side, in order to find some solace: Nos cumflumina etsolitudines sequeremur quofacilius sustentare nos possemus, pedem e villa adhucegressi non sumus; ita magnos et adsiduos imbris habebamus (A. 13.16.1).Yet, inthe letters of this period unlike in those from the exile, isolation is sought not only inorder to give free rein to one's sadness, but also in order to find the rightconcentration to study and to write, which is considered the most noble way of selfhealing.So, for example, in another of the very first letters sent to Atticus afterTullia's death, Cicero mentions the frantic writing activity he is dedicated to, helpedby the remoteness of his estate: totos dies scribo, non quo proficiam quid sed tantisperimpedior — non equidem satis (vis enim urget), sed relaxor tamen, omniaque nitor nonad animum sed ad vultum ipsum, si queam, reficiendum, idquefaciens interdum mihipeccare videor, interdum peccaturus esse nisifaciam. solitudo aliquid adiuvat, sedmulto plus proficeret si tu tamen interesses (A. 12.14.3). From then on, the isolationgranted by Cicero's villa in Astura is constantly recalled as helping the freneticA * Cicero's hiding in the woods reminds of a topos well attested in Roman elegy: cf., for instance,Propertius depicting himself as wandering alone in the woods and crying for Cynthia's love in 1.18.1-4Haec eerie deserta loca et laciturna querenti,/ et uacimm Zephyri possidet aura nemus./ hie licetoccultosproferre impune dolores,/si modo sola queanl saxa tenere fidem\ or, on the other side, Ovid'sprecept of avoiding isolation as much as possible, in order to avoid exacerbating a broken heart:Quisquis amas, loca sola nocent: loca sola caveto! (Ov. Rem. 579 and then 580-608).

literary activity in which he plunged in this period: cf. A. 12.13.1, A. 12.16.9, A.12.18.1, A 12.21, A. 12.23.1, A. 12.26.2; and Cicero's desire of isolation is alsoimplied in: cf. A. 13.26.2, A. 12.45.1. But above all, on this double sided nature ofCicero's choice of hiding in solitudo, cf. Lucceius' consolatio, written at thebeginning of May 45 (*F. 5.14), which warns Cicero against the danger of slippingfrom that good and productive use of solitudo, into just a dangerous and weakabandonment to a depressed self-pitying. 316 In general on the different reactions togrief (either inactivity or hyperactivity) displayed by Cicero in different moments ofhis life, cf. also below pp. 274-7.Il.l.d — ConclusionsFrom our analysis it has emerged that in Cicero's correspondence the places or thesituations one happened to see during a journey, or even while sojourning at a villa,are generally described only as far as they are of practical interest to the reader, or asfar as the writer intervened on them with his own actions. Thus we have seen that, onone hand, longer descriptions of villas and of their environments are given only forpractical reasons, as it happens in Q. 3.1, where Cicero gives Quintus a detailed reporton the conditions and the improvements made at some of his properties. On the otherhand, even when traveling further away from Rome, the only things that are generallydeemed worthy of mentioning in a letter are the places in which one is operating (e.g.the geographical or rarely also ethnographical explanations in A. 5.20, which,however, consist in extremely brief references), or, more in general, the local" 6 Cf. also other references to Cicero's intense literary work in this period, although not accompaniedby an explicit mention of the isolation that made it possible: A. 12.14.3,/). 12.15, A. 12.20.1, A.12.28.2, A. 12.38.1, A. 12.38a.l,A 12.40.2-3, F. 5.15.3-4 F. 7.25.2.

conditions on which one is intervening (e.g. A. 5.16.2). This is true throughout theentire collection for both Cicero's own letters and those by his correspondents.Aside descriptions having this practical function, almost no space is given todescribing the aspect or any other interesting element of the places one happens tovisit. In fact we only have extremely brief references, in Cicero's own letters, to thebeauty of his villas (cf. A. 15.16a, A. 2.1.11,A. 2.4.5,andF. 6.19.1), and even moreconcise references to beautiful places he happened to visit along his journeys (cf. thereferences to Athens in A. 5.10.5 or A. 6.9 or even more brief to the river Thyamis inA. 7.2.3). In the case of Cicero, the lack of interest in writing at length about theamenities of his villas finds an explicit statement in A. 12.9, where the description ofhis property in Astura is simply cut short by saying that such topic is unimportant and'unworthy' of wasting more words in a letter: sed neque haec digna longioribuslitteris nee erat quid scriberem (and cf. also A. 14.13.1). Very brief, although quitefrequent, are also the references to the search for isolated places, which is a constantelement in letters written in periods of sadness, such as Cicero's exile or the monthsafter the death of Tullia (cf., for example, the references to the woods or to the opencountryside where Cicero used to hide in A. 12.15 andA 13.16.1 or his longing forthe remoteness of Epirus, opposed to crowded Thessalonica in A. 3.19.1).In conclusion, Cicero's view about including longer descriptions of places in letters isnegative, when these descriptions have no practical purpose. Long descriptions ofplaces are absent also from the letters of his correspondents, yet given their morelimited number we cannot be sure of the extent with which Cicero's view was sharedby them; even in the case of the description of Britannia that seems to have beencontained in a letter from Quintus (Q. 2.16.4), we cannot be certain about what Cicerowas actually meaning when he defined it only a ' VTlddsoigscribendV.

II.2 - What one does during a journeyConcern for a friend's safety and curiosity for what he or she is doing are among themost basic reasons why people correspond through letters. Thus asking about what thecorrespondent is doing is a typical ingredient in letters, especially when one's friendhappened to be traveling far away from home, through places where his conditionsmight be more uncertain and difficult to imagine. So in Cicero's correspondence, veryfrequently people close their letters with formulas such as quid agas scire cupio,especially when the addressee is far away from Rome: for example, we see Ciceroasking his brother, who was deployed in Sardinia, quid agas et ut te oblectes scirecupio maximeque te ipsum videre quamprimum (Q. 2.3.7); or, while he himself wasin Laodicea, saying, in response to Atticus' inquiry, quaeris quid hie agam (A.5.15.2); or again Cassius, concluding a letter from his camp in Syria with the promise,quid egerim celeriter ut scias dabo operam (*F. 12.12.5).Our purpose in thissection is to define, on one hand, what space is assigned, in various kinds of letters, todescribe one's actions as opposed to discussing other topics and, on the other, whatattitude what aims lie behind the way in which one's actions are presented. Our17 The verb ago is the one commonly used in these formulas generically asking what the correspondentis doing, such as quid agas scire cupio or aveo or me certiorem facere velim. Such questions can beposed when the correspondent is away from Rome and the writer is in Rome: cf. with quid agas: A.1.6.2, A. 1.14.7,/f. 1.15.2,A2.21.6,F4.14.4,F7.9.1,F7.10.3,F 7.12.2, F. 7.16.3, F. 11.18.2, F.12.18.1, F 12.19.3, B. 1.5.2, Q. 2.3.7; with quid egeris (not a generic question, but rather referred to aspecific matter the correspondent has to deal with): A. 1.15.2, A. 4.16.9; with quid acturus sis: A. 1.6.2,F 4.14.4, F 9.2.5. The question about what the correspondent is doing can also be addressed by peoplewho are away from Rome to those who are in Rome, or, more often, to those who are also away(although sometimes closer than the writer himself): cf. with quid agas: A. 5.7.9, A. 5.9.2, A. 5.10.5, A.5.18.4, A 14.5.1,A 14.6.2,F 2.14.9, F. 6.2.3, F 6.15.1,F. 14.1.5, F. 14.14.2; with quid egeris: A.12.52.2, A. 13.20.3, A. 15.9.2, F 14.4.4; with quid acturus sis: A. 7.13a.3,/f. 7.22.2, F. 5.12.10. Theformula with the impersonal quid agatur is instead used to ask for news on general matters, rather thanasking what the addressee is doing in particular, and it is more common in letters sent by people whoare away from Rome and are asking news from the capital: e.g. A. 3.20.3. Sometimes generic news,involving other people, are asked by formulas such as quid agat as well: e.g. A. 14.8.2 2. In most casesthese questions asking the addressee for news about himself or about more general situations are set inthe closing of the letter: among the passages collected here, only very few are not set in such a position,but rather either at the beginning of the letter (A. 14.5.1,F 7.9.1,F 12.18.1) or in the middle of it (A.5.9.2, A. 13.20.3,/}. 15.9.2, B. 1.5.2, F 14.4.4).

discussion will proceed again through the separate analysis of different groups ofletters: 1) letters written by people sojourning at a villa; 2) letters written duringjourneys further away from Rome, which are going to be subdivided among: a) lettersby people who travel on a private account, b) letters by people who travel while onduty, c) letters by people who are in exile.II.2.a - Sojourning at a villaAlthough we practically have no letters sent from a villa by any of Cicero's friends,there is a great number of them written by Cicero himself, mostly in Atticus'collection, where in fact about two thirds of all letters are sent from some of Cicero'sproperties (cf. Ch. I pp. 30-3 for a scheme of their distribution). These letters arewidely spread throughout Cicero's life and they have differences reflecting thecharacters of each period. However, no matter what period they belong to, letters fromvillas are characterized by being for the greatest part dedicated to discussing mattersthat are not related to the place from which Cicero is writing and to his experiencethere. In fact most of what we read in these letters consists of comments about privateor public matters, or instructions, requests, or questions again concerning matters thathave nothing to do with the villa in which Cicero is sojourning at the moment. Thusthe letters written before Cicero's trip to Cilicia are mostly occupied by discussionsabout either private or public matters, and especially comments on news coming fromRome. The numerous letters written in 49, as Cicero was roaming around Campaniain charge of guarding the coast, are all dispatched from this or that of his villas. Yetthis group makes a bit of an exception among other letters from villas since, in thiscase, Cicero was actually only stationing at his villas while performing a military dutyin a region in which he happened to owe several estates. Thus they mention different

kinds of activities than other letters written from villas; however they are mostlyoccupied by worried comments on events that are taking place elsewhere, like thedangerous situation in Rome, the movements of Caesar's and Pompey's armies, oralso by Cicero's insistent discussions on the opportunity of leaving Italy andfollowing Pompey. Finally another large number of letters is written from villas in theyears 46 through 44, and also these mostly discuss matters of various kinds, notrelated to where Cicero was at the moment. In particular the letters written beforeTullia's death generally discuss public or private news or, especially with Atticus,issues related to Cicero's literary production. After Tullia's death in 45, letters show aconsistent concern with the plan of erecting a shrine in her memory, and Atticus isconstantly given instructions about it. Finally in the letters following Caesar'sassassination in 44, most space is dedicated, first, to a restless exchange of newscoming from various fronts and, secondly, especially with Atticus, to discussing theopportunity of Cicero's plan to go to Greece in the summer of that year.In comparison to the discussion of these other topics, the space dedicated todescribing one's actions while staying at a villa is quite limited. Furthermore there areonly certain kinds of activities that we find generally mentioned in these letters. Firstof all, certain moments of Cicero's life at his villas are recalled since they providedhim with some of those important pieces of news that he then discusses in the letter.So, for example, the reference to the reception of a letter from the addressee or fromsomebody else is sometimes made more vivid by the brief description of what Cicerowas doing as the letter was delivered to him: e.g. A. 2.16.1 Cenato mihi et iamdormitanti prid. Kal. Mai. epistula est ilia reddita in qua de agro Campano scribis. Abrief description of one's actions can accompany also the reference to the action ofwriting or dispatching the letter at hand: e.g. A. 13.38.1 Ante lucem cum scriberem

contra Epicureos, de eodem oleo et opera exaravi nescio quid ad te et ante lucemdedi. deinde cum somno repetito simul cum sole experrectus essem, datur mi epistulaa sororis tuaejilio quam ipsam tibi misi; cuius est principium non sine maximacontumelia - sedfortasse OVK S7t£OTrjOSV. Like we see in these two cases, havingdinner at night, or starting to sleep right after it, or instead writing or reading alreadyvery early in the morning are actions very often mentioned as going on while lettersare delivered at a villa or written and dispatched from it: in general on the referencesto the circumstances under which a letter is received, written, or sent cf. Ch. II pp. 87and 112.In several occasions then, it is a meeting, rather than the arrival of a letter, the eventthat provides Cicero with news to share with his correspondents. So, for example, inJuly 45, Cicero opens a letter to Atticus (A. 13.33a. 1) with a brief description of a visithe received, toward dinnertime, by Varro, and other two friends, while he was stayingat his villa in Tusculum.The episode of the unexpected visit is recalled with ironictones, as Cicero jokes with Atticus about the fact that he found himself forced toinvite the three men to stay for dinner. Then the account proceeds to reporting part ofthe conversation, from which Cicero learned about Caesar's plan of expanding thecapital to the detriment of the surrounding territories. Mentioning such meetings,either at Cicero's or at some of his friends', and reporting on the news obtainedthrough such conversations is found more often in the letters to Atticus, Cicero'sgreatest confidant, then in the Familiares. Then, above all, such accounts are frequent318 A. 13.33a.] De Varrone loquebamur: lupus in fabula. venit enim ad me et quidem id temporis utretinendus esset. sed ego ita egi ut non scinderem paenulam. memini enim tuum 'et mulli erant nosqueimparati'. quid refert? paulo post C. Capito cum T. Carrinale. horum ego vix attigi paenulam. tamenremanserunt ceciditque belle, sed casu sermo a Capitone de urbe augenda, a ponte Mulvio Tiberimperduci secundum montis Vaticanos, campum Martium coaedificari, ilium autem campum Vaticanumfieri quasi Martium campum. 'quid ais?' inquam; 'at ego ad tabulam ut, si recte possem, Scapulanoshortos'. 'cave facias' inquit; 'nam ista lex perferetur; vult enim Caesar', audire me facile passus sum,fieri autem moleste fero. sed tu quid ais? quamquam quid quaero? nosti diligentiam Capitonis in rebusnovis perquirendis. non concedit Camillo.

in periods of greater political uncertainty, during which people's thirst for news wascertainly more burning, particularly in the letters written at the outbreak of the civilwar in 49, or after Caesar's death in 44. In some cases finally a particular meeting or aconversation is something constituting in itself a piece of news, either on private orpublic matters, that deserves to be shared with the correspondent. So in a letter ofDecember of 45 (A. 13.42.1), Cicero gives Atticus a vivid recording, entirely in directspeech, of a conversation he had with their common young and difficult nephewQuintus. The conversation is sketched again with irony, this time more bitter, and withtones that recall typical features of comic dialogues between a youngster in need ofmoney and his old father (cf. in particular two Greek lines that open the dialogue withwhat seems to be two quotations from Menander) 31 . The conversation with Quintus isthe main topic in the letter: no further comments follow it and the letter is then simplyconcluded by a quick reminder of an invitation to Atticus, and an annoyed reference tothe fact that Cicero has been summoned by Lepidus and he has therefore to stopwriting. 320 A similar situation of a rather short letter entirely dedicated to an importantmeeting is found in A. 13.52, which describes Cicero's meeting with Caesar, during abrief stop that Caesar made in Puteoli in December of 45. Once again Cicero givesslightly ironical tones to his account of this event and of the exaggerated display ofentourage and private guard by which Caesar was surrounded.319 Cf. SHAKLETON BAILEY (1966: ad loc).320 A. 13.42 1. Venit ilk ad me Kai /jdAa KarJ](prjq'.et ego '"OV Si dfj Tl ovwovg;"' 'rogas?'inquit, 'cui iter instet et iter ad bellum, idque cum periculosum turn etiam turpel' 'quae vis igitur?'inquam. 'aes' inquit 'alienum, et tamen ne viaticum quidem habeo.' hoc loco ego sumpsi quiddam de tuaeloquentia; nam tacui. at Me: 'sedme maxime angit avunculus.' 'quidnam?'inquam. 'quodmihi'inquit'iratus est.' 'curpateris?' inquam, 'mate enim ita dicere quam cur committis?' 'nonpatiar' inquit;'causam enim tollam.' et ego: 'rectissime quidem; sed si grave non est, velim scire quid sit causae.''quia, dum dubitabam quam ducerem, non satis faciebam matri; ita ne Mi quidem. nunc nihil mihi tantiest. faciam quod volunt.' 'feliciter velim' inquam, 'leque laudo. sed quando?' 'nihil ad me' inquit 'detempore, quoniam rem probo.' 'at ego' inquam 'censeoprius quamproficiscaris. itapatri qttoquemorem gesseris.' faciam' inquit 'ut censes.' hie dialogus sic conclusus est. 2. Sed heus tu, diem meumscis esse Hi Non. Ian.; aderis igitur. 3. Scripseram iam: ecce tibi oral Lepidus ut veniam. opinor,augures vult habere ad templum effandum. eatur; JUJ] OKOpSov. videbimus te igitur.

Beyond meetings that bring in, or themselves constitute, an important piece of news,Cicero's letters may also give an account of particular tasks or duties that he had toperform while staying at a villa. This is for example the case of Q. 3.1, that we haveanalyzed above (pp. 221-3), with its detailed report on Cicero's inspections on thestatus of Quintus' properties. Cicero talks about his duties, this time public ones, alsoin the letters of 49 that he wrote while lodging at his villas, but while actually being incharge of guarding the Campanian coast. So, for example, in a letter sent to Pompey,while stationing in Formiae in February of 49 (A. 8.1 IB), Cicero gives an officialreport on the present situation and on his recent movements through various locationsin Campania and the actions taken at each of these stops. The letter begins with areference to the most recent dispatch received from Pompey, followed by a generalupdate on the situation and a preliminary declaration of being ready to followPompey's instructions (para. 1). Then a more detailed report on Cicero's own actionsoccupies the central part of the letter, treated as its most important topic andemphatically introduced by Ego omnino (para. 2).Finally a discussion on possiblefuture plans and movements, along with a reference to the messenger who is carryingthe present letter, closes it (para. 3-4). The description of Cicero's actions therefore iscentral, but at the same time, is also accompanied by other important topics, such asthe discussion of Pompey's uncertain intentions and of possible plans for the future.The space given to describing Cicero's own action is even more limited in thenumerous letters to Atticus of this same period. In fact, Cicero makes a brief referenceto where he was and what he was doing almost every time he wrote to Atticus, but the321 A. 8.11B.2 Ego omnino, ut tibi proxime placuerat, Capuam veni eo ipso die quo lu Teano Sidicino esprofectus; volueras enim me cum M. Considio pro praetore ilia negotia tueri. cum eo venissem, vidi T.Ampium dilectum habere diligentissime, ab eo accipere Libonem, summa item diligentia el in iliacolonia auctoritate. fui Capuae quoad consules. iterum, ut erat dictum a consulibus, veni Capuamad Non. Febr.; cumfuissem triduum, recepi me Formias.

greatest portion of each letter is rather dedicated to discussing the general situationand the news floating around about Caesar's or Pompey's positions or Cicero's ownworried concern on whether he should follow Pompey or remain in Italy in a moreneutral and safer position. So, to make an example, in A. 7.20, written from Capua inFebruary of 49, Cicero opens the letter by giving some information on his ownmovements and actions, as he recalls to have reached Capua where he is still waitingto meet the consuls, and then he closes it by mentioning the fact of having left hisfamily in Formiae: 1 spe audiendi aliquid et cognoscendi nostri apparatus maximoimbri Capuam veniprid. Non., ut eram iussus. Mi autem adhuc, id est Nonis, nondumvenerant, sed erant venturi inanes, imparati and 2 mulieres et Cicerones in Formianoreliqui. Yet the largest part of the letter discusses the uncertainties of the generalsituation (para. 1) and Cicero's worries for his future plans in the impending civil war(para. 2).Finally letters from villas can also mention the activities in which Cicero wasspending his idle time. Yet the references to this aspect are generally rather brief andnot open to all kinds of activity. In fact, when it comes to the free time Cicero couldenjoy at his villas, throughout his entire life, he almost exclusively talks about hisliterary work: cf, for example, A. 12.3 ne vivam, mi Attice, si mihi non modoTusculanum, ubi ceteroqui sum libenter, sed jJ.OLK(XpCOV VIJOOl tanti sunt ut sine tesim totos dies. [...] ego me interea cum libellis (written from Tusculum in May of 45).Another letter he sent to Atticus from Antium about in April 59 {A. 2.6.1), is openedby Cicero's laments for his lack of inspiration in continuing the complex work of thegeogrqfika that he had started; thus he confesses to be immersed in the most idle kindof otium, spending his time counting the waves, that is doing nothing constructive -and yet also reading from the wide collection of books that he has at his disposal in

Antium: Quod tibi superioribus litterispromiseram, fore ut opus exstaret huiusperegrinationis, nihil iam magno opere confirmo; sic enim sum complexus otium ut abeo divelli non queam. itaque aut libris me delecto, quorum habeo Antifestivamcopiam, autfluctus numero (nam ad lacertas captandas tempestates non suntidoneae); a scribendo prorsus abhorret animus. Other kinds of activities one couldengage in, during one's free time, like for example to go sightseeing or watchinggames, are almost completely absent from Cicero's letters, or even openly criticized.Thus in A. 2.4.5 (see above p. 219) Cicero mentions a visit he paid, along withTerentia, to a beautiful forest, apparently owned by her, near his villa in Antium: 322yet the reference is extremely brief and the purpose of the visit, no matter howpleasant it turned to be, was only practical (cf. the use of the verb perspeximus, 'weinspected', also used to define Cicero's supervision of the works at Quintus' villas inQ. 3.1, cf. above p. 222). In another letter of about the same period (A. 2.10), Ciceroexplicitly says that he is not going to attend the Games in Antium, to avoid anycriticism for spending the time he was away from Rome in such stupid pleasures: Voloames meam constantiam. ludos Anti spectare non placet, est enim VTlOOOXoiKOV,cum velim vitare omnium deliciarum suspicionem, repente &Vct(paivSOG(Xl nonsolum delicate sed etiam inepte peregrinantem. The same judgment on attendingpublic games is interestingly expressed by Cicero also in a letter that in good part isdedicated precisely to the description of the Games held in Rome for Pompey'sTriumph in 55. InF. 7.1.2-3 in fact Cicero describes them at length upon M. Marius'request, an old friend, who could not come to Rome and attend them due to his healthconditions. Yet the description is continuously intercalated by diminishing commentson the poor quality of the various performances and on the bad nature of this kind of322 Cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY (1965-70: adloc. and ad A. 2.12.2 Antiati).

entertainment, which is nothing an educated man like Marius could like. Furthermorethe description is preceded by an entire paragraph (F. 7.1.1) 323 in which the stupidpractice of watching games, that Cicero himself had to endure, is opposed to the moreelevated forms of otium that can be enjoyed at one's villa, like in the meanwhile itwas possible for Marius, who is imagined browsing his books while watching the bayof Stabiae. 324 Certainly Cicero's critical attitude here might be aimed at easingMarius' affliction for having missed such an important event; yet his judgments areperfectly in tune with the way in which watching games is presented elsewhere in hisletters. Thus studying and writing appear as the only really respectable activities topractice in the time that is free from duties and that one can spend away from Rome(cf. the use of peregrinans both in A. 2.10 and A 2.6.1): therefore only this kind ofliterary otium is deemed appropriate to be mentioned when it comes to talking aboutoneself in letters. In fact Cicero's literary productivity even becomes his best defensein the period of strict retirement after the death of his daughter: isolation wasnecessary for him to concentrate on reading and writing, by means of which Cicero" * F. 7.1.1 Si te dolor aliqui corporis aut infirmitas valetudinis tuae tenuit quo minus ad ludos venires,fortunae magis tribuo quam sapientiae tuae; sin haec quae ceteri mirantur contemnenda duxisti et, cumper valetudinem posses, venire tamen noluisti, utrumque laetor, et sine dolore corporis tefuisse etanimo valuisse, cum ea quae sine causa mirantur alii neglexeris, modo ut tibi constiterit fructus oti tui;quo quidem tibi perfrui mirifice licuit cum esses in ista amoenitate paene solus relictus. neque tamendubito quin tu in illo cubiculo tuo, ex quo tibi Stabianum perforando patefecisti sinum, per eos diesmatutina tempora lectiunculis consumpseris, cum illi interea qui te istic reliquerunt spectarentcommunis mimos semisomni. reliquas vero partis diei tu consumebas Us delectationibus quas tibi ipsead arbitrium luum compararas; nobis autem erant ea perpetienda quae Sp. Maecius probavisset.324 Another case in which one's correspondent is imagined dwelling in his estate in the country side isin *F. 16.21, where young Marcus congratulates Tiro for his recent acquisition of a property andpictures him like a good old fashioned Roman farmer: 7 emisse tepraedium vehementer gaudeofeliciterque tibi rem islam evenire cupio. hoc loco me tibi gratulari noli mirari; eodem enimfere loco tuquoque emisse tefecisti me certiorem. habes! deponendae tibi sunt urbanitates; rusticus Romanusfactus es. quo modo ego mihi nunc ante oculos tuum iucundissimum conspectum propono! videor enimvidere ementem te nisticas res, cum vilico loquentem, in lacinia servantem ex mensa secunda semina.Cf. also A. 9.7.3 In Epirum quod me non invitas, comitem non molestum, subirascor. sed vale, nam uttibi ambulandum, ungendum, sic mihi dormiendum. etenim lillerae tuae mihi somnum attulerunt, andalso F. 9.6.5 equidem hos tuos Tusculanensis dies instar esse vitae puto libenterque omnibus omnisopes concesserim ut mihi liceal vi nulla interpellate isto modo vivere. quod nos quoque imitamur, utpossumus, el in nostris studiis libentissime conquiescimus (praising Varro's retired life and literaryactivity in Rome).

was trying to heal his grief (on Cicero's search for solitudo in this period cf. above pp.229-33). Cicero's self-defense against the criticism of those who misinterpreted hisretirement as a weak abandonment to depression is repeated over and over again in theletters of this period: cf., for example, A. 12.40.2-3, where he proudly claims thatthose who dare criticizing him would not be even able to read the amount of text hehad been able to write in this period of necessary otium and distance from Rome (andfor other references to Cicero's defense of his frenetic literary activity and of his needfor isolation in this period cf. above n. 316).II.2.b - Being far away from RomeIn comparison to the letters written from villas, those written while traveling furtheraway from Rome are fewer in number, but, on the other side, we have letters writtenboth by Cicero himself and by others. Furthermore, even more than in the case of thecorrespondence from villas, we have letters from different periods and from quitedifferent kinds of journeys, which therefore show a varied range of choices andattitudes in presenting one's experience in the places reached through those journeys.Thus our discussion here will proceed by distinguishing three types of letters: 1)letters written by people who were traveling on a private account (especially Cicero'sattempted trip to Greece in 44); 2) the numerous letters written by people who weretraveling on duty, which will be further distinguished in: a) official or semi-officialcorrespondence by Cicero, b) official or semi-official correspondence by others, c)private correspondence (mostly by Cicero); 2) letters written by people in exile or inperiods of forced inactivity (especially letters from Cicero's exile, from the year inBrundisium).

II.2.b.i - Letters from journeys undergone on a private accountAmong Cicero's own letters, there is a small series that was sent during a longerjourney that he made on a private account, that is during the trip to Greece heattempted to make in 44, in order to check on his son in Athens. 325 The five letters wehave from this journey (three to Atticus and two to Trebatius Testa) were written asCicero traveled from Pompeii to Rhegium and back between mid July and mid Augustof 44. The earliest letter (A. 16.3), written right before embarking at the harbor ofPompei, is only dedicated to give Atticus last minute instructions on private matters,to comment on news, and to discuss the opportunity of the journey for the umpteenthtime (A. 16.3.4). The second letter (F. 7.20), which Cicero wrote to Trebatius as hewas stationing in Velia, just a few days after leaving Pompeii, is then entirelydedicated to praising that region, where Trebatius possessed some estates (cf. abovepp. 219-20). In the other three letters then, Cicero gives updates on each phase of theongoing itinerary. In A. 16.6, he opens the letter with a rather detailed account on histrip from Pompeii to Vibo, where he was at moment of writing, followed by adiscussion on the possible routes he was going to follow next. Yet, within theexposition of the various phases of the itinerary, very little is said about Cicero'sexperience as he reached each stop: basically only the length of the stay and the factthat the home at which he was hosted was comfortable and pleasant (A. 16.6.1 veniigitur ad Siccam octavo die e Pompeiano, cum unum diem Veliae constitissem; ubiquidemfui sane libenter apud Talnam nostrum necpotui accipi, Mo absentei2> This was the actual reason that motivated the journey. Yet in order to travel at ease, Cicero acceptedan appointment as a member of the staff of Dolabella, who was going to be proconsul in Syria (cf. A.14.13.4): this allowed him to travel up to Athens taking advantage of the military facilities along theroute (cf. SHACKLETON BAILEY 1966: ad he. and 1971: 242).

praesertim, liberalius. viiii Kal. igitur ad Siccam. ibi tamquam domi meae scilicet,itaque obduxiposterum diem). Then, after another lengthy complaint about the needof undergoing the present trip (para. 2), the letter goes on with a series of instructionson private matters (para. 3), last of which there is a request about an editorial issue.Cicero in fact asked Atticus to substitute the preface of his De Gloria, since it turnedout to be same that Cicero had used in his third book of the Academical he hadrealized it as he was reading the Academica on shipboard and so he had written thenew preface right away and attached it to his letter for Atticus (para. 4): cum autem innavi legerem Academicos, agnovi erratum meum. itaque statim novum prohoemiumexaravi et tibi misi. tu illud desecabis, hoc adglutinabis. The same reference to thefact of spending one's time on shipboard by reading and writing is also found in thesecond letter to Trebatius (F. 7.19), written as Cicero was sailing from Velia toRhegium. The letter as a whole is in fact an introductory note, precisely meant toaccompany Cicero's Topica, that he claims to have written on shipboard and then sentto Trebatius as soon as he reached Rhegium: itaque utprimum Velia navigare coepi,institui Topica Aristotelea conscribere ab ipsa urbe commonitus amantissima tui. eumlibrum tibi misi Regio, scriptum quam planissime res ilia scribipotuit. Then also in A.16.7.8 Cicero says that he was at least taking care of his correspondence as he wassailing back toward Pompeii (haec scripsi navigans cum Pompeianum accederem). A.16.7 is the last letter we have from this journey. Like A. 16.6, it is opened with anupdate on a recent phase of Cicero's trip, which is followed by a longer account ofwhat happened as he was stationing in Leucopetra, waiting for favorable winds. Herehe received the visit of a few noble men from Rhegium, who delivered some lettersfor him, informing about the situation in Rome and summoning him there, which

induced Cicero to stop his trip and go back at once (para. 1).Then the letter goes onwith a discussion on the ongoing trip, in response to some criticism from Atticus(para. 2-4), which leads to recalling another significant meeting Cicero had along theway back, as he stopped in Velia again: here in fact he met Brutus, who openlyexpressed his criticism for Cicero's plan to leave Rome and praised him for havingabandoned it. 327 The letter is closed by some more comments on the general situationand final instructions and greetings (para. 6-8).In conclusion, if we look back at this series of letters, it emerges how there are only afew kinds of activities that are recalled as performed by Cicero along his way. Inaddition to some information about his movements and about the comforts offered byhis various hosts, Cicero only mentions, on one hand, a few meetings bringing incrucial news, and, on the other, his literary activity that he kept attending wheneverpossible, that is in the idle time during his fares (and in general on the practice ofreading or writing while on shipboard cf. Ch. Ill pp. 187-9). Instead nothing is saidabout any other activity he may have enjoyed in his free time, or about interestingplaces he may have seen along the way. In fact even the description of Velia in F.A. 16.7.1 viii Id. Sext. cum a Leucopetraprofectus (inde enim tramittebam) stadia circiter cccprocessissem, reiectus sum austro vehementi ad eandem Leucopetram. ibi cum ventum exspectarem(erat enim villa Valeri nostri, utfamiliariter essem et libenter), Regini quidam illustres homines eovenerunt Roma sane recentes, in iis Bruti nostri hospes, qui Brutum Neapoli reliquisset. haecadferebant, edictum Bruti et Cassi, et fore frequentem senatum Kalendis, a Bruto et Cassio litterasmissas ad consularis et praetorios, ut adessent rogare. summam spem nuntiabant fore ut Antoniuscederet, res conveniret, nostri Romam redirent. addebant etiam me desiderari, subaccusari. Quae cumaudissem, sine ulla dubitatione abieci consilium profectionis, quo mehercule ne antea quidemdelectabar.327 A. 16.7.5 nam xvi Kal. Sept. cum venissem Veliam, Brutus audivit; erat enim cum suis navibus apudHaletem fluvium citra Veliam mil. pass. Hi. pedibus ad me statim. di immortales, quam valde ille redituvel potius reversione mea laetatus effudit ilia omnia quae tacuerat! ut recordarer illud tuum 'namBrutus noster silet'. maxime autem dolebat me Kal. Sext. in senatu nonfuisse. Pisonemferebat incaelum; se autem laetari quod effugissem duas maximas viluperationes, unam, quam itinere faciendome intellegebam suscipere, desperationis ac relictionis rei publicae (flentes mecum vulgo querebanturquibus de meo celeri reditu non probabam), alteram, de qua Brutus et qui una erant (multi autemerant) laelabantur quod earn vituperationem effugissem, me existimari ad Olympia. hoc vero nihilturpius quovis rei publicae tempore, sed hoc tivanoXdyriTOV. ego vero austro gratias miras qui me atanta infamia averterit.

7.20, a polite homage to his friend Trebatius, is extremely 'impersonal' (cf. above p.220): Cicero praises various aspects of the place, but never uses verbs in the firstperson referring to the moment of his visit there. 328 This selection of topics, i.e.meetings bringing in news and literary work, matches the one we have seen operatingin Cicero's letters from villas (cf. above pp. 236-44). In fact undergoing a trip on aprivate account resembles the condition of retirement and absence from Rome thatcharacterizes the time spent at one's villa. In particular Cicero's intense literaryactivity during his sea fares and the insistence with which he mentions it in his letterscertainly have the effect of showing the image of a man who can always make the bestand most noble use of every second of time he has to spend away from his politicalduties — especially when he was so deeply feeling the pressure of people's criticismabout his departure (cf. e.g. above A. 16.3.4. and A 16.7.5).Other letters written by people residing far away from Rome on a private account (cf.Ch. I p. 33-4) make no reference instead to the writer's present activities or to hisexperience in the place where he is at present. 329 The only exception is *F. 16.21,which is chiefly dedicated to a long and detailed account of Marcus' progresses in hisstudies. 330 However, when we evaluate this account, we need to consider that even if itIn fact beyond the letter's opening sentence Amabilior mihi Veliafuit quod te ab ea sensi amari (F.7.20.1), the actual description of Trebatius' estate only consists in a list of qualities introduced by theverb videtur, not even accompanied by mihi (F. 7.20.2). Cf. instead Q. 3.1 where the description ofQuintus' properties is conducted mainly through verbs of'seeing' in the first person singular (cf. abovep. 222): yet even in that case the first person perspective is not meant to draw attention on Cicero's ownexperience of those places per se, but rather on his diligence in carrying out their inspection onQunitus' behalf.329 In fact *F. 7.29, in a rather jesting tone, asks for Cicero's support to obtaining a governorship inAchaea; *F. 16.25 is short and simply asks more letters from Tiro; *F. 15.19 mixes some philosophicaljokes to comments on news coming from Rome.330 The account is preceded by an introductory section, first, expressing Marcus'joy at receiving Tiro'sletters (para. 1) and, second, renewing his apologies for his past shameful behavior (para. 2). Then thereport on the present good progresses begins: it occupies the central part of the letter (para. 3-6) and itproceeds by giving account of Marcus' interactions with various teachers. Above all he talks about hisclose relation with the eminent Peripatetic Cratippus, who is seen almost as a father by Marcus and whooften even comes for dinner at his house (para. 3), and with a certain Bruttius, seemingly a professor ofLatin rhetoric, who is praised as a teacher who can combine fun and learning and who is practically

248is about private matters such as one's education, young Marcus' studies were in facthis 'duty' at the moment and the report he sends home about his progresses is, inconcept, not different than the official reports that a general was supposed to sendback to the Senate: in both cases somebody is sending updates back to those whoprovided him with a certain job. So, like typically happens in official reports, Marcus'account aims at offering a positive and optimistic image of himself and of his work -which was particularly needed, after his past misbehaviors. Thus it also happens thatwhat he decides to talk about is only his relation with his professors: what he learnsfrom them and how much time he spends with them. Nothing instead is said abouthow young Marcus actually spent his free time, aside having dinner with Cratippus(*F. 16.21.3), which is of course part of the educational process. However what iseven more interesting is that the only educational experiences mentioned by Marcus'report consists in meetings with people, whether professors or other eminent men, likeEpicrates and Leonides, from whom he could still learn. No visits to interesting sitesor to important festivals are mentioned in this letter. We cannot exclude thatreferences to those other activities might have been mentioned in some other ofMarcus' letters, now lost to us (or in Cicero's own letters, had he ever reached Greecein 44). Yet Marcus' choice of topics in *F. 16.21 certainly matches the generalattitude shown elsewhere in Cicero's correspondence: as we have seen in fact, on onehand, visits to sites or to performances are barely mentioned throughout the collection,on the other, in particular in Cicero's own letters, meetings with people and honestmaintained at Marcus" expenses (para. 4). Then he goes on briefly listing other teachers and scholars heis attending at the moment: Cassius, professor of Greek rhetoric, eminent Athenians such as Epicrates,Leonides, and other scholars from Mytilene invited to Athens by Cratippus (para. 5). The report has awitty closing with a Greek epistolary formula (td /J£V ouv KCtO' f]fiag TaSe), but, right after, acoda is added in which Marcus reassures Tiro of his distance from Gorgias, his former professor ofGreek rhetoric, whom was deemed responsible for Marcus' past bad ways (para. 6). The letter is thenclosed by a rather long section congratulating Tiro on his new land acquisition (para. 7) and finally bysome short instructions and greetings (para. 8).

studies are almost the only kinds of activities that find space both in letters from villasand in those from his private journey to Greece; the same combination of meetingsand studies appears also in *F. 12.16, sent by C. Trebonius as he was stationing inAthens, on his way to his proconsulate in Syria: cf. below pp. 263-4.II.2.b.ii — Letters from journeys undergone while on dutyThe letters that give the greatest space to describing one's actions are found amongthose written during journeys undergone while on duty. In particular official or semiofficialreports are composed precisely with the intention of providing an update onone's actions and on one's progresses in specific tasks. Yet even in the case of privatecorrespondence, like Cicero's with Atticus, a large portion of many letters is dedicatedto reporting on one's actions in handling either public or more private matters.• Letters from journeys undergone while on duty: Cicero's official or semiofficialcorrespondence from CiliciaWithin the collection of the Familiares, Cicero gives account of his actions in Ciliciaespecially in two official dispatches sent to the senate and the magistrates of Rome (F.15.1 and above all F. 15.2), and two more semi-official reports addressed to Cato (F.15.3 and above all F. 15.4).The first official dispatch (F. 15.1) was sent on September the 18 th of 51, as Cicerowas approaching the Taurus Mountains with his army, driven by reports of a Parthianinvasion of Syria. The letter is in fact an update on the present situation, meant toshow its dangers and to ask for reinforcements, that is, it is meant to report on what

Cicero witnessed rather than on his own actions. 331 Of course the entire letter is still ademonstration of Cicero's efficient performance and, even as he is motivating hisdecision to march against the Parthians, he finds a way to include a self-praisingremark on his good administration (F. 15.1.3). 332 Yet what Cicero says to haveactually done is only receiving some letters from his allies (F. 15.1.2), 333 and decidingto start the march against the enemy (F. 15.1.3). 334 About in the same period Cicerodispatched also another letter (F. 15.3), this time semi-official and addressed to Cato,but again meant to provide an update about a general situation, while just marginallyrecalling Cicero's own actionsThe second official dispatch (F. 15.2) was sent just a few days after the first one, onSeptember the 22 nd , as Cicero had already reached the Taurus Mountains and placed331 F. 15.1 begins with an introductory paragraph stating Cicero's reasons for sending a dispatch at thepresent moment, since until now the Parthian threat had seemed to concern only the governor of Syria(para. 1). Then, after reporting on three pieces of intelligence just received about the recent Parthianinvasion (para. 2), Cicero presents his evaluations and the reasons that induced him to lead the armytoward the region in danger (para. 3): in fact he deemed it necessary to show that the Roman army wasnot afraid of the enemy, and he was confident that, although some peoples might have been inclined torebel and side with the Parthians, the ones that had already been visited by Cicero and seen his mosthonest administration would remain loyal to the Romans. Thus, after having explained what thesituation was, the second half of the letter (para. 4-6) is dedicated to the request for more troops, whichis reinforced by a detailed account on the limited forces at Cicero's disposal at the moment (para. 5-6).332 F. 15.1.3 His rebus adlatis, etsi intellegebam socios infirme animates esse et novarum rerumexspectatione suspensos, sperabam tamen eos ad quos iam accesseram quique nostram mansuetudinemintegritatemque perspexerant amiciores populo Romano esse factos, Ciliciam autem Jirmiorem fore siaequitatis nostrae particeps facta esset.333 F. 15.1.2 Regis Antiochi Commageni legatiprimi mihi mintiarunt [...]. quo nuntio adlato, [...]statui exspectandum esse si quid certius adferretur. a. d. XI11 Kal. Oct., cum exercitum in Ciliciamducerem, infinibus Lycaoniae et Cappadociae mihi litterae redditae sunt a Tarcondimoto [...]. eodemdie ab Iamblicho, [...] litterae de isdem rebus mihi redditae sunt.' F. 15.1.3 exercitum ad Taurum institui ducere.33 \F. 15.3 was written at the beginning of September 51 and had the purpose to inform the senate of anintelligence about the threat of a Parthian invasion (in particular cf. F. 15.3.3), and to do so by means ofa less-official letter, since the governor of Syria was supposed to send the official dispatch about it. Forthe same reason Cicero avoids to give any details on the situation also in a gratulatory letter to theconsul M. Marcellus: cf. 15.9 Quae mihi de Parthis nunliata sunt, quia non putabam a me etiam nuncscribenda esse publice, propterea ne pro familiaritate quidem nostra volui ad te scribere, ne, cum adconsulem scripsissem, publice viderer scripsisse.

251his camp near the town of Cybistra.This dispatch is longer than the first one and itis much more centered on Cicero's own actions in dealing with the present situation.In fact it has the purpose of updating the senate on the conditions of their youngprotege, king Ariobarzanes of Cappadocia, and on the general situation in the region,but above all Cicero aims at letting the senate know about how he dealt with thosecircumstances and thus at presenting the entire event as a personal success. Therefore,unlike the previous dispatch just meant to ask for more troops, this letter is focused onCicero's own actions from beginning to end: his wise administration of the army (F.15.2.1), 337 his quick reaction to the Parthian threat (F. 15.2.2) 338 his timely meetingThe letter begins with an update on Cicero's movements and military actions up to the presentmoment (para. 1-2). First of all he recapitulates the update previously dispatched in F. 15.1: his effortin strengthening the army since his arrival in the province, although always in compliance with thepolicy of frugality he had chosen, and then his decision to move closer to the border with Syria, uponreceiving intelligence about the Parthian incursions (para. 1). Secondly he proceeds to an update onwhat he had done after the last dispatch, that is his marching up to the Taurus mountains, where hepitched camp in the city of Cybistra, of which he then explains the strategic position (para. 2). Thecentral body of the letter is then dedicated to a detailed account of the encounter Cicero had withAriobarzanes, the young king of Cappadocia, who was under the protection of the Romans (para. 3-7).The account begins with an introductory section, in which Cicero says that, after having sent a cavalryunit ahead to Cilicia in order to get more intelligence and to show the Roman presence in the region(para. 3), he decided to dedicate the time in Cybistra to meet Ariobarzanes and reiterate the promise ofprotection by the Roman senate and ask him about his wishes (para. 4). The exposition of what Cicerointended to tell Ariobarzanes is followed by the young king's thankful reply and then Cicero's ownsatisfied response to it, all reported in indirect speech and framed by the description of the scene of thisfirst dialogue (para. 5). The first meeting had been smooth, but right the following day, Ariobarzanescame back for a second meeting denouncing the threat of a conspiracy against him. This seconddialogue is again recalled in indirect speech but a bit more at length than the first one: it starts with thedescription of the setting and of the arrival of Ariobarzanes accompanied by a few others, in a visiblyupset state; then Ariobarzanes' speech denouncing the conspiracy is followed by Cicero's advice to beon guard in order to avoid the destiny of his father and grandfather (para. 6). The young king at thatpoint asked for Roman troops, but Cicero denied this request since he thought Ariobarzanes' ownforces would be sufficient to protect him, while Cicero's contingent was already quite scarce. So headvised the young man to make the preservation of his own life the first lesson in the art of ruling, buthe nevertheless promised to come in his help if need should truly arise: the knowledge of the Romanprotection would anyway be enough to scare most threats and enemies away (para. 7). Finally the letteris closed by a conclusive paragraph (para. 8), in which, first, Cicero mentioned his departure fromCybistra, going on with his march toward Cilicia. Then he proudly reiterates the almost miraculousgood timing of his meeting with Ariobarzanes and basically his merits in saving the life of the youngking, whom, Cicero says with a very flattering closing, was absolutely worthy of the so wise and farseeingbenevolence of the senate." F. 15.2.1 Cum prid. Kal. Sext. in provinciam venissem neque maturius propter itinerum etnavigationum difficullatem venire potuissem, maxime convenire officio meo reique publicae conducereputavi parare ea quae ad exercitum quaeque ad rem militarem pertinerent. quae cum essent a me curamagis et diligentia quam facultate et copia constilula [...], iter mihi faciendum per Lycaoniam el perlsauros et per Cappadociam arbitratus sum.

252with Ariobarzanes and the precious advices he gave him (F. 15.2.3-7),and finallyhis prompt departure with mission accomplished (F 15.2.8). 34Another very long and detailed report on Cicero's actions, this time above all on hismilitary operations, is finally offered in the semi-official letter (F. 15.4) he sent to M.Cato at the end of year 51 or beginning of 50, after Cicero had defeated the Parthiansand had been saluted imperator by the troops. The letter has the purpose to gainCato's support in obtaining a Triumph in honor of this victory, and, as ShackletonBailey observes: 'the lengthy account of military operations in this letter [...] mightseem superfluous, since Cato would hear Cicero's official dispatch in the Senate. Nodoubt it was meant to mark the writer's sense of the recipient's importance and alsoreflects well-grounded nervousness about the latter's reaction to his request'. 41 Sincein fact Cato never granted Cicero that support (cf. Cato's reply in F. 15.6.1-2 andCicero's angry comments in A. 7.2.7). Thus in F. 15.4, Cicero's account of his owndeeds occupies almost two thirds of the letter (para. 2-10), it is preceded by anintroductory paragraph, and followed by a very long and rhetorically elaborated pleadfor Cato's support (para. 11-16). The account covers Cicero's operations since hisF. 15.2.2 Itaque cum exercitu per Cappadociae partem earn quae cum Cilicia continens est iter fecicastraque ad Cybistra, [...] locavi.F. 15.2.3-7 Quo cum in loco castra haberem equitatumque in Ciliciam misissem, [...] tempus eiustridui quod in iis castris morabar in magno officio et necessario mihi ponendum putavi. 4. cum enimvestra auctoritas intercessisset ut ego regem Ariobarzanem Eusebem et Philorhomaeum tuerer [...)existimavi me iudicium vestrum ad regem deferre debere eique praesidium meum etfidem etdiligentiam polliceri [...]. 5. Quae cum essem in consilio meo cum rege locutus, initio ille orationissuae vobis maximas, ut debuit, deinde etiam mihi gratias egil [...] cum ego ei gratulatus essem idqueme gaudere dixissem et tamen adulescentem essem cohortatus [...], turn a me discessit in oppidumCybistra. 6. Postero autem die cum Ariarathe, fratre suo, et cum paternis amicis maioribus natu ad mein castra venit perturbatusque etflens, cum idem et frater faceret et amici, meamfidem, vestramcommendationem implorare coepit. cum admirarer quid accidisset novi, dixit ad se indiciamanifestarum insidiarum esse delata [...]. quae cum esset locutus, monui regem ut omnem diligentiamad se conservandum adhiberet [...]. 7. Cum rex a me equitatum cohortisque de exercitu meopostularet, [...] ilium cohortatus sum ut in sua vita conservandaprimum regnare disceret.340 F. 15.2.8 Ita conflrmato illo ex eo loco castra movi. iter in Ciliciam facere institui, cum hacopinione e Cappadocia discederem ut consilio vestro, casu incredibili acpaene divino regem, [...]meus adventus praesentibus insidiis liberarit.341 SCHACKLETON BAILEY (1977: ad loc).

arrival in the province at the end of July of 51, up to the capture of the city ofPindenissum at the end of the year. 342 Cicero's aim in this letter is to demonstrate thegreatness of his activities and his achievements, and therefore it is completelycentered on his own actions. Thus, even more than in the official dispatch of F. 15.2,the entire account is built in the first person singular, describing what informationCicero received or situation he witnessed, what strategies he elaborated, whatinitiatives he took, what orders he gave, what itineraries he followed with the army,what battles he fought. That is for each phase of the account, he describes how hereacted to a situation he met, always explaining the advantages of the strategy hechose, and then, above all, the good results of that strategy. Let us consider, forexample, Cicero's description of the capture of Pindenissum (F. 15.4.10). 343 TheIn the first couple of paragraphs (para. 2-3) of the account in F. 15.4, Cicero talks about hispreliminary actions, right upon his arrival in Asia Minor. So he mentions, on one hand, his honest andefficient administration, shown in each of the cities where he stopped along his way, and, on the other,his various initiatives to solve the difficult situation of confusion in the troops and scarcity of them. Inthe next section of the account (para. 4-6), Cicero begins to present his reactions over the firstintelligence about a Parthian incursion into Syria: while carefully explaining the reasons that motivatedhis strategy to avoid descending directly into Cilicia but rather to move to the border of Cappadocia, hementions how he reached the city of Cybistra and pitched camp there (para. 4). The following twoparagraphs are dedicated to describing two diplomatic successes Cicero achieved while stationing inCybistra: on one hand, the very welcome offer of military help from king Deiotarus (para. 5) and, onthe other, Cicero's intervention to protect the young king of Cappadocia, Ariobarzanes (cf. above F.15.2) (para. 6). After this, Cicero describes his rapid movement towards mount Amanus, after receivingmore intelligence about Parthian incursions into Syria, which were however repelled by the Romantroops stationing in the region (para. 7). The Parthians' withdrawal averted the danger for the moment.Thus Cicero decided to dedicate himself to strengthening the Roman control over the region of MountAmanus, since it hosted many rebellious centers. The account is closed precisely by a thoroughdescription of Cicero's military actions to accomplish that plan (para. 8-10). First with a cunning andvery swift move, on one hand he let the enemies think he was leaving the region, while, on the other, heended up storming on them by surprise and taking a good number of cities and towns; then, aftermoving the camp to the center of the region, he continued to break any resistance left (para. 8-9). Afterthe region had been secured, Cicero led his army against the town of Pindenissum, a last dangerousrampart of the Free Cilicians. The conclusive paragraph of Cicero's account (para. 10) is dedicated tothis last military action: after explaining the dangers presented by the city, Cicero proudly describes theefficient way in which he conducted the siege and how then he captured the city. Afterwards, Cicerosent the army to rest in the winter quarters leaving his brother Quintus in charge of controlling theregion.343 F. 15.4.10 Confectis his rebus ad oppidum Eleutherocilicum Pindenissum exercitum adduxi. quodcum esse! altissimo et munitissimo loco ab Usque incoleretur qui ne regibus quidem umquampamissent, cum etfugitivos reciperent et Parihorum adventum acerrime exspectarent, adexistimationem imperi pertinere arbitratus sum comprimere eorum audaciam, quofacilius etiamceterorum animi qui alieni essent ab imperio nostro frangerentur. vallo et fossa circumdedi, sexcastellis castrisque maximis saepsi, aggere, vineis, turribus oppugnavi ususque tormentis multis, multis

254account begins with a transitional sentence recapitulating the actions of the previousphase and introducing the new scenery, in which Cicero says to have led {adduxi) thearmy to Pindenissum. After this, Cicero describes the situation and presents histhoughts about it {arbitrates sum) that brought him to decide to intervene. Then this isfollowed by the description of Cicero's actions in order to capture the town(circumdedi... saepsi... oppugnavi ususque... magno labore meo sine ulla molestiasumptuve sociorum... rem confeci). Also a nearby population surrenders to Cicero,who takes their hostages (accept). With mission accomplished Cicero closes hisaccount presenting himself as dismissing the army (dimisi) and leaving Quintus incharge of the region (praeposui). 344Within the Familiares other accounts of Cicero's own movements and actions are inthose letters, again semi-official or anyway formal, that he sends to other magistrateswho were in the region and whom Cicero had to meet or anyway to deal with. Inparticular Cicero's movements and a defense of his conduct are frequently mentioned,and often at length, in the correspondence with the evasive Appius Claudius Pulcher,who was Cicero's predecessor as proconsul of Cilicia and who managed to avoid him,despite his repeated requests to meet while he was in the province: e.g. the longaccount of Cicero's own itinerary and of his meetings with Appius' officers in orderto learn his position in F. 3.5.3-4. 345sagittariis, magno labore meo sine ulla molestia sumptuve sociorum, septimo quinquagensimo die remconfeci, ut omnibus partibus urbis disturbatis aut incensis compulsi in potestatem meam pervenirent.his erant finitimi pari scelere et audacia Tebarani. ab iis Pindenisso capto obsides accepi; exercitum inhiberna dimisi; Quintum fratrem negotio praeposui ut in vicis aut captis aut male pacatis exercituscollocaretur.344 On the use of the first person singular in Cicero's official reports from Cilicia cf. PlERl (1967: 202-4).34:> Cicero gives an account of his itineraries in order to show Appius his good will also in F. 3.6.1-2.Then, as Appius had already got back to Rome. Cicero's efforts are recalled again in F. 3.7.2-5 and3.8.2-6, along with a defense of his policy of frugality (Appius had blamed Cicero of having prohibitedsome provincials to go to Rome at public expenses, in order to pay a tribute to him). Cicero recalls his

255• Letters from journeys undergone while on duty: official or semi-officialcorrespondence from other people traveling on dutyTwo thirds of the letters by other people preserved within Cicero's correspondencewere written by men who were away from Rome while holding some administrativeor, above all, military office. Almost all of these letters in fact were dispatched aroundthe periods of the civil wars in 49-48 (thirteen letters, almost exclusively preserved inAtticus) and, even more, in 43 (forty letters, above all from the Familiares, but a fewalso from Brutus), mostly by generals who were at the head of an army since theywere holding the governorship of a province at the outbreak of the war. Just fourteenmore letters belong instead to different periods and were written by people holdingoffices in a province. And in general on the distribution of these letters cf. Ch. I pp.30-4.Most of these letters give space, more or less at length, to describing the writer'sactions in the place where he is at present and in the greatest majority of cases, sincethey were written by generals leading an army, they are focused on militaryoperations. Furthermore most of these letters have a formal tone and most of themwere probably meant to be read in public or anyway to have a rather wide circulationin order to spread important pieces of news. In fact there are several official bulletinsaddressed to the Roman senate and magistrates (like Cicero's F. 15.1 and F. 15.2) orto single magistrates, and, most of all, there are semi-official dispatches sent to Ciceroas an eminent senator to be asked for support (like Cicero did with M. Cato in F.15.4).efforts to reach a meeting also in a letter to the young and also evasive Coelius Caldus {F. 2.19.1),whom he left in charge of the province at his departure. A shorter reference to Cicero's movements andadministration is also in a letter to C. Sallustius, the quaestor in the province of Syria (F. 2.17.2-5).

In a great number of these letters, the account of one's operations is quite long, andthis is especially the case in the period of the civil war of 43. So there are severalletters entirely occupied by a report on the writer's actions and on the general situationin the region where he was at the moment. In some cases the report on the facts isgiven without even being framed by any introductory or conclusive paragraph: this isthe case, for example, of the report on the battle of Mutina that Servius SulpiciusGalba sent to Cicero in April 43 (*F. 10.30); 346 and cf. also *F. 12.15. In other cases,the conclusion to the letter can be slightly longer, like in *F. 10.34, sent to Cicero byM. Lepidus in May of 43 and describing the situation in the region of Narbonese Gauland the conditions of Lepidus' own army and of those under other generals; 347 cf. also*F. 10.17, and *F. 10.32. In other letters instead the account is preceded by anintroductory sentence and concluded by a paragraph exposing one's strategies for thefuture: this is the case, for example, of *F. 10.15, sent by L. Munatius Plancus in mid*F. 10.30 begins with a paragraph (para. 1) describing the situation in the two opposing camps andhow Antony, underestimating Galba's and Pansa's forces, started to draw closer. The opening sentencesimply states that on April the 14 th (the date is at the very opening) Antony's forces approached thecamp where Galba and Pansa were located: A. d. XV11 Kal. Mai., quo die Pansa in castris Hirti eratfuturus, cum quo ego eram (nam ei obviam processeram millia passus centum quo maturius venirel),Antonius legiones eduxit duas, secundam et quintam tricensimam, et cohortispraetorias duas, unamsuam, alteram Silani, evocatorumpartem. Then the letter goes on describing Antony's preliminarymovements and Pansa's and Galba's counter actions, up to the moment in which they finally engagedbattle (para. 2). The battle proper then is described first from Galba's own point of view. In fact, afterjust a brief reference to the general situation, he comes to focusing on what happened to the right wing,at the head of which he was fighting (prima ita pugnatum est ut acrius non posset ex utraque partepugnari; etsi dexterius cornu, in quo ego eram cum Martiae legionis cohortibus octo, impetu primofugaverat legionem XXXV Antoni, ut ampliuspassus D ultra aciem, quo loco steterat, processerit): howthat wing, victorious at first, was then almost surrounded, and how Galba managed to save it and alsoto save himself (para. 3). Then the account proceeds shifting to a different sector of the battle field, thefight with Octavian's forces along the via Aemilia: also on this side Antony managed to have the betterof his opponents at first, fooled by their strategic retreat (and Galba proudly says to have been the lastto withdraw), he even aimed for their camp, where however he found resistance and got stopped (para.4). But at last, as Antony's forces were marching back to their own camp, they were met and finallyrouted by fresh reinforcements led by Hirtius. The letter is concluded with a final balance on the lossesin both camps and with the final sentence 'it has been a victory': res bene gesta est (para. 5).347 In *F. 10.34 the report on the facts starts since its very opening (Cum audissem M. Antonium cumsuis copiis praemisso L. Antonio cum parte equitatus in provinciam meam venire, cum exercitu meo abconfluente fab Rhodanof castra movi ac contra eos venire institui), but the letter is then concludedwith a sentence stating Lepidus' commitment to the Roman Senate and his promise to keep Ciceroinformed about any further developments in the action: Quod ad bellum hoc attinet, nee senatui nee reipublicae deerimus. quae postea egerimus faciam te certiorem.

May of 43 and reporting on his diplomatic action with M. Lepidus and on the militaryoperations following that; 348 cf. also *F. 10.18, and *F. 11.13. However most of theletters specifically dedicated to reporting on one's actions are framed by both anintroductory paragraph and a conclusive one, dedicated either to summarize thecontent of the letter or to ask for support: this is the structure, for example, of *F.10.11, another letter by L. Munatius Plancus, sent at the end of April, shortly after thebattle of Mutina; 349 cf. also *F. 10.23 and *F. 10.21 (both also by L. MunatiusPlancus, and still concerning his diplomatic attempts with Lepidus), and *F. 4.12, and*F. 12.13.In addition to long dispatches specifically meant to offer a report on one's actions oron the situation in one's region, there are also a few short letters entirely dedicated toproviding a brief update on such matters, always accompanied by a request for moresupport. This is for example the case of *F. 11.4, sent by D. Brutus in September of44: it gives a brief report on his recent achievements in Cisalpine Gaul, and it isframed by a request for Cicero's support; cf. also *F. 5.10b, *F. 10.35 *F. 11.11, *F.11.13a, *F. 11.19, *F. 12.11.*F. 10.15 is introduced by a sentence stating Munatius' intention of providing a new update on hisactions, as a follow up to a previous letter (which is lost to us): His litteris scriptis quae posteaaccidissent, scire te ad rem publicam putavi pertinere. Then the letter proceeds with the account ofMunatius' diplomatic action to stop M. Lepidus from joining Antony's side (Plancus' speech isreported in para. 1, Lepidus' response in para. 2). This is followed by a report on Plancus' militaryoperations as a consequence of Lepidus' positive reply (para. 3). The letter is concluded by anexposition of Plancus' strategies for the future, immediately followed by the greeting formula (para. 4):si nos mediocris modo fortuna rei publicae adiuverit, et audaciae perditorum et nostrae sollicitudinishicfinem repehemus. quod si latro praecognito nostro adventu rursus in Italiam se recipere coeperit,Bruti eril officium occurrere ei; cui scio nee consilium nee animum defuturum. ego tamen, si idaccident, fratrem cum equiiatu mittam qui sequatur Italiamque a vastatione defendat. Fac valeasmeque mutuo diligas.349 *F. 10.11 is opened by an entire paragraph dedicated to expressing Plancus' deep gratitude forCicero's political support (para. 1). The central body of the letter, consisting in a long paragraph is thenoccupied by the account of Plancus' military operations and his strategies to prepare to facing Antony'sand Lepidus' forces (para. 2). Finally the letter is concluded by another paragraph stating Plancus'promise to keep doing his best (including trying to prevent Lepidus" alliance with Antony) and so tokeep deserving Cicero's support (para. 3).

Several other letters instead still give considerable space to reporting on the writer'sactions and on the situation in his region, but they intertwine sections dedicated tothese topics with parts concerning other matters, such as comments on news comingfrom Rome or from other regions, or instructions for the addressee. Thus news aboutthe region where one is at the moment and above all, about one's actions are not theonly protagonists of the letter and sometimes they are even discussed only through aseries of more generic comments on various situations rather than by offering anordered report on the facts that have taken place. So for example, information aboutthe writer's operations are mixed with news coming from another region and withmilitary instructions for the addressee in a dispatch sent by Pompey the Great to theconsuls C. Marcellus and L. Lentulus in February 49, at the eve of the civil war (*A.8.12A); 350 andcf. also *A. 9.6A, *A. 9.7C, *F. 5.11, *F. 10.4, *F. 10.9, *F. 10.21a,*F. 10.33, *F. 11.9, *F. 11.10, *F. 12.14, *F. 11.20 and *F. 11.23. Instead in *F.10.24, sent by L. Munatius Plancus in July 43, his actions and the situation in hisregion are discussed, among other topics, with a mix of reported facts and moregeneral comments; 351 cf. also *F. 5.10a, *F. 10.8, *F. 10.31, *F. 12.12, *F. 12.16, *B.2.3.*A. 8.12A The letter begins with a report on the present situation of L. Domitius, governor ofTransalpine Gaul, which Pompey had learned after having summoned Domitius to join him in the southof Italy, (para. 1). The letter goes on with an update on Pompey's own present conditions (para. 2) andthen it proceeds with instructing the consuls on the ways to join him with their armies, while stilladding a few more details about his own situation and strategy for the future (para. 3-4); so forexample, in the concluding paragraph, we read: Quam ob rem plachum est mihi (faltiaf video censeriM. Marcello et ceteris nostri ordinis qui hie sunt) ul Brundisium ducerem hanc copiam quam mecumhabeo. vos honor ut quodcumque militum contrahere poteritis contrahatis et eodem Brundisiumveniatis quam primum. arma quae ad me missuri eratis, iis censeo armetis milites quos vobiscumhabetis. quae arma superabunt, ea si Brundisium iumentis deportaritis vehementer rei publicaeprofueritis. de hac re velim nostros certiores faciatis. ego ad P. Lupum et C. Coponium praetores misiut se vobis coniungerent et militum quod haberent ad vos deducerent35i *p JO.24 is introduced by expressing gratitude for Cicero's support, in particular in relation toMunatius' army (para. 1-2); then it goes on discussing the present situation and giving a report on theforces in his and in Antony's hand (para. 3), thus with a mix of rather generic statements depicting thestable conditions maintained at present (Nos adhuc hie omnia Integra sustinuimus. quod consiliumnostrum, etsi quanta sit aviditas hominum non sine causa talis victoriae scio, tamen vobis

Finally the letters from the civil war of 49 do not give much space to describing thewriter's own actions. In fact, in the turmoil created by Caesar's descent in Italy, mostof these letters are rather all about frantically exchanging information from otherfronts: cf, for example, *A. 8.12A (cf. above n. 350), where Pompey, from Luceria,provides the consuls with a report on the situation of L. Domitius' in Cisalpine Gaul,as he had just learned it from his dispatch. But, above all, almost all of these letters areprincipally focused on the addressee, to whom they give various kinds of instructionsor advices: so Pompey's letters give instructions to other generals on how to join himwith their troops. Also more private letters by Caesar, Antony and Caelius Rufus urgeCicero or others to either stay on Caesar's side or to stay out of the conflict. So if theyadd a few remarks on the writer's own operations, these are generally extremely briefand connected to the instructions imparted for the future strategy. 352In conclusion anyway, the official or semi-official letters written by those friends ofCicero who were traveling on duty are in general quite rich in accounts about thewriter's actions, and above all about on one's military operations. Thus the actionsprobari spero. non enim, si quid in his exercitibus sit offensum, magna subsidia res publico habetexpedita quibus subito impetu ac latrocinio parricidarum resistat) and more precise data concerningthe extent of the troops (copias vero nostras notas tibi esse arbitror. in castris meis legiones suntveteranae tres, tironum vel luculentissima ex omnibus una, in castris Bruti una veterana legio, alterabima, octo tironum. ita universus exercitus numero amplissimus est, firmitate exiguus. quantum autemin acie tironi sit committendum nimium saepe expertum habemus). Thereafter the letter comes todiscussing the necessity of reinforcements, and mentioning how Munatius summoned Octavian to joinhim (para. 4); this is followed by a rather long section with comments on Octavian*s political behavior(para. 5-7) and finally the letter is concluded with some more general remarks on the difficulty of thepresent situation and with a confident statement about the future, provided that Octavian's troopsarrive; an expanded farewell formula then reiterates Munatius' request for Cicero's support (para. 8):Nos interea duriore condicione bellum sustinemus, quod neque expeditissimam dimicationem putamusneque tamen refugiendo commissuri sumus ut maius detrimentum res publico accipere possit. quod siaut Caesar se respexerit out Africanae legiones celeriter venerint, securos vos ab hoc parte reddemus.Tu, ut institutsti, me diligas rogo proprieque luum esse tibi persuadeas.352 Within the correspondence of this period the only letters that give a little more space to describingthe writer's actions are *A. 8.12A by Pompey (see above n. 350) and, although already much moreincidentally, *A. 9.6A and *A. 9.7C by Caesar. Other letters that make a reference, although extremelybrief to the writer's actions are: *A. 8.12C.2, *F. 8.15, and *F. 8.16. Nothing is said about the writer'sown actions instead in:*/). 10.8B, *A. 10.8A, *F. 9.9, and most letters by Pompey (*A. 8.11A, *A.8.12B, *A. 8.12D, *A. 8.11C).

that find space in these accounts are first and foremost the conditions of one's army orthe movements and the operations undertaken with it, as battles or sieges, like, forexample, Galba's detailed report on the battle of Mutina (*F. 10.30), or the one byLentulus Spinther on his chase of Dolabella in the East (*F. 12.14 and *F. 12.15).Diplomatic actions also often find space in these letters, like for example the series ofreports dispatched by L. Munatius Plancus about his attempts at stopping Lepidusfrom joining Antony's side (*F. 10.11, *F. 10.15, *F. 10.21, *F. 10. 18, *F. 10.17).Like in Cicero's correspondence from Cilicia, especially in his official reports, theaccount of the writer's actions is very often accompanied by an explanation of hisstrategy in following that line of action. The exposition of one's plans for the future isalso a frequent topic and also often accompanied by an explanation of one's strategy.Often the explanation of one's line of action coincides with the description of thegeneral situation one has to deal with. In fact reports on what is going on in the regionunder one's control or in the enemy's camp are extremely frequent in these letters andespecially in those of the two civil wars. Yet like in Cicero's own letters, newscoming from the region are reported almost exclusively as far as the writer had to dealwith those circumstances: cf. for example D. Brutus' report on the conditions and therecent movements of Antony's army in *F. 10.11.3-4, which is followed by a requestfor more support for Brutus' own troops, so that, of course, he could resist toAntony's forces (cf. Cicero's analogous request accompanied by a report on thedangerous situation on the Cilician borders in F. 15.1).Beside accounts of military or diplomatic operations, there are extremely few cases inwhich other kinds of activities find space in these letters by Cicero's friends. In factthere is only one case of a letter entirely dedicated to reporting on a piece of news notconcerning military matters: it is *F. 4.12 by Servius Sulpicius Rufus, giving account

of the assassination of M. Claudius Marcellus, happened in Athens in May of 45, asSulpicius was governor of Achaea. However Servius' letter still offers a report on amatter of public interest, and still connected to Servius' responsibilities as a governorof a province.• Letters from journeys undergone while on duty: Cicero's privatecorrespondence from CiliciaIn addition to official or semi-official dispatches, Cicero's correspondence alsopreserves a good number of letters written by people traveling on duty that have amore private nature and anyway discuss private matters. However, most of them donot make any, or almost any, significant reference to what is happening in the placewhere the writer is at present. In certain cases the account of one's actions could beomitted, because the addressee would anyway be able to learn about it from anotherletter, like an official dispatch, or from the courier himself: cf. *F. 10.7.1. 353 Yet wealso often simply have recommendations, or gratulatory notes, or brief requests forpolitical support, that do not add any details about what the writer is doing at themoment. Letters of this kind are more common among those written in periodsdifferent than the civil wars. 354 However, even within the correspondence exchanged*F. 10.7.1 is a short letter that L. Munatius Plancus wrote in March of 43 to request Cicero'spolitical support and it is opened by saying: Plura tibi de meis consiliis scriberem rationemque omniumrerum redderem verbosius, quo magis iudicares omnia me rei publicae praestitisse quae et tuaexhortatione excepi et mea adfirmatione tibi recepi [...]; sed breviorem me duae resfaciunt: una, quodpublicis litteris omnia sum persecutus, altera, quod M. Varisidium, equitem Romanum, familiaremmeum, ipsum ad te transire iussi, ex quo omnia cognoscere posses.354 Letters of this kind are Quintus' gratulatory letter for Tiro's manumission (*F. 16.16, sent in 53),and the one giving him instructions on his trip back from Cilicia as he was ill (*/•". 16.8, sent at the endof 50); then we have Servius Sulpicius Rufus' consolatio for the death of Tullia (*F. 4.5 sent in 45).This letter mentions Servius' recent sea journey in the context of a consolatory argument (cf. Ch. Ill pp.187-8), but then completely avoids any reference to other news from his permanence in Greece andactually it is closed by the sentence: Quod ad me attinet, cum te tranquilliorem animo esse cognoro, deiis rebus quae hiegeruntur quern admodumqueseprovincia habeat certiorem faciam. Vale (*F. 4.5.6).Letters briefly asking for Cicero's political support are: *F. 5.3 (sent by Q. Metellus Nepos in 56), *F.5.9 (sent by P. Vatinius in 45), *F. 5.10c (sent by P. Vatinius in 45), *F. 6.16 (sent by PompeiusBythinicus in 44), *F. 10.34a (sent by L. Aemilius Lepidus), *F. 11.26 (sent by D. Brutus in 43). From

262during the civil war of 43, there are a few letters not making any significant referenceto the writer's present actions, but the most interesting case is that of the letters by M.Brutus. His letters in fact mostly discuss news coming from Rome; furthermore theyare all quite short and even when they do report on some of Brutus' own actions or ofother events happening in his region, they do it quite in brief. 355 In fact in the periodcovered by Brutus' letters not much was going on the front he was holding, that is inMacedonia and Illyria. A little more space to talking about the writer's actions in thepresent place is given in *F. 12.16, which C. Trebonius sent to Cicero in May of 44,as he was stationing in Athens, on the way to his proconsulate in Syria. This letterhowever does not make any reference to the tasks connected to Trebonius' office,unlike for example the letters Cicero sent to Atticus, as he was stationing in Athens,on his way to the proconsulate (cf. below pp. 265-6). The letter begins by mentioninga meeting Trebonius had with Cicero's son as soon as he arrived in Athens: Treboniusgives a very positive report on how he found young Marcus and he even offers to takehim along to Syria. Then the letter goes on by asking news from Rome and wishingfor a period of freedom in peace and quiet, which brings Trebonius to introduce apoem, an invective probably against Antony, that he composed in the little scrambleof otium he could manage to have, that is while he was on shipboard (cf. Ch. Ill p.187). The letter is finally closed by Trebonius' request to be included in some ofCicero's sermones, especially if dealing with Caesar's death, and to obtain Cicero'sprotection for his family as he was away. In fact Trebonius' letter shows the same43 also most of the letters by M. Brutus are either requests for political support, recommendations forothers, or letters commenting on news from Rome.3 " The only letter by M. Brutus giving a bit more space to talking about his actions and the situation inhis regions is *B. 2.3 (see above p. 280). Other letters in which we find a reference to that, althoughextremely brief, are: *B. 1.6, and *B. 1.4a. For the rest M. Brutus' letters are recommendations (*B.1.7, *B. 1.11, and also *B. 1.6) or they simply offer comments on the news coming from Rome(*fi.1.4, and also *B. 1.4a), or ask for Cicero's political support ( *B. 1.13).

combination of topics, a meeting carrying important news and the fact of writingwhile on shipboard, that is also present in Cicero's letters from his attempted privatejourney to Greece, or to his letters from villas.Also within Cicero's own correspondence from his proconsulate in Cilicia, we haveseveral pieces of private correspondence in the Familiares that say practically nothingabout Cicero's actions in the region. 356 They rather offer comments on the newsreceived from Rome or anyway discuss matters not related to what is going on inCilicia. Like in the case of other people's correspondence, most of these letters have aformal character, often recommendations or gratulatory notes, and they have thefunction of maintaining Cicero's social network active and above all to ask forsupport in two issues of great importance to him: avoiding a renewal of his mandateas proconsul for a second year, and obtaining a triumph for his victory. HoweverCicero does give some space to talking about his own experience in Cilicia inparticular in the correspondence with Caelius Rufus and with Tiro, but, above all, hedoes so in the correspondence with Atticus, in which we have more than two fullbooks belonging to this period (in general for the distribution of the letters coveringthis period cf. Ch. I pp. 30-3). In Atticus in fact almost every single letter mentionsmore or less at length Cicero's own actions. In general letters slightly vary in formsand content, from one phase to the other of Cicero's journey to Cilicia; in particularwe can distinguish three groups: letters written during the journey to reach theprovince, those written while in charge of the province, and finally those written onthe way back.356 Letters in which we do not have any significant reference to Cicero's own actions in Cilicia orduring his journey there and back are: F. 2.7, F.2.9, F. 2.12, F. 2.14, F. 2.18, F. 3.4, F. 3.9, F. 3.10, F.l.\\,F. 3.12, F. 3.13, F. 7.32, F. 9.25, F. 13.1, F. 13.53, F. 13.54, F. 13.55, F. 13.56, F. 13.57, F.13.58, F. 13.59, F. 13.61, F. 13.62, F 13.63, F. 13.64, F. 13.65, F 14.5, F. 15.6, F. 15.7, F. 15.8, F15.10, F. 15.1 \,F. 15.12, F. 15.14, F. 16.1, F. 16.2, F. 16.3, F. 16.4, F. 16.6, F. 16.9.

Unlike in the Familiares, in the correspondence with Atticus we have numerousletters dispatched while Cicero was on his way to Cilicia. Book 5 starts with a letterthat Cicero wrote in Minturnae as he had just left Rome and begun his journey. Thisletter and the following seven (A. 5.1-8) were sent as Cicero was traveling through theItalian peninsula down to Brundisium. Another six letters (A. 5.9-14) then followCicero's itinerary through Greece and Asia Minor, until he reached Laodicea and tookoffice. These fourteen fairly short letters, although they generally give some space todiscussing news coming from elsewhere or giving instructions to the addressee, arerather focused on Cicero's own experience in the places where he was at present, inparticular informing Atticus about Cicero's itinerary, both the one recently coveredand the plan for the immediate future. In the letters written while traveling down theItalian peninsula, beside the development of the itinerary, there is not much that isdeemed interesting or appropriate to mention about each stop except for meetings withpeople that bring in relevant news. 357 So in A. 5.1.3-4, as he was still in his villa atArcanum Cicero talks about a domestic quarrel between Quintus and his wifePomponia, depicted in quite lively tones and quite at length (cf. A. 5.1.4 haec ad tescripsi, fortasse pluribus quam necessefuit, ut videres tuas quoque esse partisinstituendi et monendi); in A. 5.2.1-2 Cicero describes two meetings he had while inCumae, one with Hortensius from whom he asked support to avoid the renewal of hismandate as a proconsul, and the second with C. Sempronius Rufus who, despite tryingto avoid Cicero, was caught by him in the market-place of Pompei; finally a long-' >7 Aside meetings cf. also a brief reference to Cicero's health problems as he was stationing inBrundisium in A. 5.8.1 Me et incommoda valetudo, e qua iam emerseram utpole cam sinefebrilaborassem, el Pomptini exspectatio, de quo adhuc ne rumor quidem venerat, tenebat duodecimum iamdiem Brundisi; sed cursum exspectabamus.

awaited meeting with Pompey is mentioned in A. 5.6.1 and A. 5.7.More space isthen dedicated to describing Cicero's itineraries after he left the Italian peninsula, andoccasionally a few details are added on the hospitality received at his stops: cf. A.5.9.1 Actium venimus a. d. xvii Kal. Quint., cum quidem et Corcyrae et Sybotismuneribus tuis, quae et Araus et meus amicus Eutychides opipare et(plXo7rpOOrjVSOTaza nobis congesserant, epulati essemus Saliarem in modum, oron the philosophical conversations enjoyed in Athens in A. 5.10.5 (cf. above p. 225).As he was in Athens, Cicero also informed Atticus about some minor matters hehandled upon his request: Tua negotiola Ephesi curae mihifuerunt, Thermoque,tametsi ante adventum meum liberalissime erat pollicitus tuis omnibus, tamenPhilogenem et Seium tradidi, Apollonidensem Xenonem commendavi. omnia sefacturum recepit. ego praeterea rationem Philogeni permutationis eius quam tecumfeci edidi. ergo haec quoque hactenus {A. 5.13.2). Yet, above all, in the letters of thissecond phase of his journey, Cicero also starts mentioning actions he takes in relationto his official role, that is he begins talking, in particular, about his policy of fairadministration and of the results that this is already producing for him. 359 .As Cicero reached Laodicea, on the 31 s1 of July 51, he officially took over his yearlong-mandate as proconsul. Most of Cicero's correspondence from Cilicia preservedin the Familiares belongs to this central phase and, in particular, seven private lettersto Caelius Rufus. In Atticus instead we have fourteen letters (A. 5.15 to A. 6.6) sentduring this year. The letters to Atticus, which are generally longer or even much358 The meeting with Pompey and the precious political conversations Cicero was hoping to have withhim are anticipated already in A. 5.5.2 Nos Tarenti quos cum Pompeio SiaXoyovq de re publicohabuerimus ad te perscribemus.359 In fact Cicero started mentioning his deliberation to follow such strategy as soon as he landed inActium in mid June 51 (cf. A. 5.9.1); less than a couple of weeks later he had already started to put hisprinciples into practice - and to harvest the first fruits of glory from it (cf. A. 5.10.2); then the sameconcepts and, above all, the exceptional welcome Cicero received from the Greeks are repeated againjust a few days later before leaving Athens (cf. A. 5.11.5).

longer than the ones sent during the journey into the province, still give some space tocomments on news from Rome or requests and instructions for the addressee, yet theirmain focus is definitely on Cicero's own actions in the region where he is at present.The correspondence with Caelius Rufus instead is mainly dedicated to commenting onthose thorough bulletins from Rome, that Cicero had specifically asked from Caelius.Thus the letters to Caelius assign a much more limited space to describing Cicero'sown experience. Therefore the present discussion will mainly focus on the letters toAtticus, while those to Caelius will only be mentioned in margin as a term ofcomparison.First of all, Cicero's military successes, to which his official and semi-officialdispatches are chiefly dedicated, are recalled also in his private correspondence. Inparticular A 5.20, which was dispatched on December the 19 th 51, right upon thecapture of the city of Pindenissum, is a very long letter almost entirely dedicated to anenthusiastic account of Cicero's deeds. In comparison to the version he gives in theofficial reports however, this account is characterized by a markedly ironic tone andby a more succinct treatment of the military operations proper. This is true also foranother rather long account of Cicero's military operations that we find in F. 2.10.2-3to Caelius Rufus. 360 In fact both these characters emerge already from the introductoryIn F. 2.10.2-3 the account is opened by Cicero's admission ofhis good luck in having found achance to get a sprig of laurel without much danger (yelles enim, ais, tantum modo ut haberem negotiquod essel ad laureolam satis; Parthos times quia diffidis copiis nostris. ergo ita accidit). Then it goeson recounting how, upon the news of the Parthian incursion, Cicero had marched to Mount Amanus (atwhich point Cicero does not miss a chance to stress how his good fame helped him to gain support(quadam auctoritate apud eos qui me non norant nominis nostri. multum est enim in his locis: 'hicineest ille qui urbem ... ? quern senatus ... ?' nosti cetera). Yet he goes on confessing how much joy(quod mini magnae voluptati fuit) he received in learning that other Roman generals had actuallyalready dealt with the problem of the Parthians. Then the account proceeds describing Cicero"s raids inthe region of Mount Amanus, for the success of which he received the title of Imperator - as he was inIssus just like Alexander the Great, he says joking. Finally Cicero comes to describing the siege ofPindenissum, which was still going on at the moment: an action, he says again with a bit of a joke,which could bring him some glory except for the obscurity of the name of the town (ut mihi adsummam gloriam nihil desit nisi nomen oppidi). In addition to the longer account of/ 7 . 2.10.2-3, Cicerobriefly mentions his military or diplomatic actions also in F. 2.13.4, F. 2.15.4.

paragraph, where Cicero pokes fun at the obscurity of the city that he had overcomeand states his intention to keep his account brief, in compliance with the limitsironically imposed by Atticus (quae cognosce £V S7IlZOfJ.fi: sic enim mihi concedisproximis litteris). Nevertheless the account starts quite far back, recapitulating theantecedent of the military operations since Cicero's arrival in Ephesos (A. 5.20.1-2). ' After these preliminary events, we come to the description of Cicero's militaryactions proper in the region of Mount Amanus up to the moment in which Cicero'swas saluted Imperator at Issus, which leads to an ironical comparison with the deedsof Alexander the Great (para. 3). This is followed by an update on what was going onwith the other fronts against the Parthians, that is with the armies led by Cassius andby Bibulus (para. 3-4). 362 The military operations are concluded with the capture ofPindenissum, which is introduced by a reference to the fierce nature of its people, andthen is concisely described by listing the means and the conditions of the siege{cinximus vallo et fossa; aggere maximo, vineis, turre altissima, magna tormentorumcopia, multis sagittariis, magno labore, apparatu, multis sauciis nostris, incolumiexercitu, negotium confecimus). The account is closed by depicting the outcome of thecapture of the city and the booty that was being distributed and put on sale right asCicero was penning down the letter - and quite appropriately in the festive day of theSaturnalia (para. 5). After such a satisfied closing of the chapter on military361 Thus it begins even further back than Cicero's formal reports (both in F. 15.2.1 and F. 15.4.2,Cicero's account begins with the words Cum inprovinciamprid. Kal. Sext. venissem, that is with theactual beginning of his mandate as he arrived in Laodicea on July the 31 s '), despite the fact that Atticushad received earlier updates on those antecedents (cf. A. 5.20.1 Ephesum ut venerim nosti) up to arrivalin the camp near Cybistra (A 5.18 and 19).362 It is interesting to see how these pieces of news concerning others are anyway given in a way thatconnects them to Cicero's own actions: Cassius' victory in fact is explained as the result of theencouraging news of Cicero's arrival {A. 5.20.3 scis enim did quaedam KaviKOt, dici item TCI KevdTOD TtoXsfAOV rumore adventus noslri et Cassio, qui Antiochia tenebatur, animus accessit et Part histimor iniectus est), and Bibulus' defeat as the result of an imprudent attempt to emulate Cicero'sconquest of the title of Imperator (A. 5.20.4 Venit interim Bibulus. credo, voluit appellatione hac inaninobis esse par: in eodem Amano coepit loreolam in mustaceo quaerere).

268operations, Cicero does not miss the chance to mention - once again -his diplomaticand administrative successes as well (Haec adhuc. sed adpraeterita revertamur): hispolicy of fairness and frugality which he sincerely enjoys practicing {ego in vita meanulla umquam voluptate tanta sum adfectus quanta adficior hac integritate, nee metamfama, quae summa est, quam res ipsa delectat), his success in saving the life andthe kingdom of Ariobarzanes, his progress in handling Brutus' affair (para. 6). Oncethe most important topic, that is the account of Cicero's deeds is exhausted, the lettercontinues with some comments on news from Rome (para. 7-8). Then Cicero goesback to talking about his actions in the province in order to give Atticus some otherminor pieces of news on private matters, above all about the conditions of youngMarcus and young Quintus (para. 9). The letter is closed with some final instructions,also continued in a postscript (para. 10) and final greetings.Yet even more than military operations, what Cicero absolutely loves bragging aboutthe most with Atticus is his policy of fair justice and frugal administration (as we seealso in A. 5.20.6 above). Over and over again he repeats how he was governing theprovince without exacting a penny from the locals beyond what was strictlynecessary, and how, because of this policy, he gained the greatest admiration andgratitude from them. He does not fail to mention this policy within the officialdispatches about his military operations (cf. above F. 15.1.3, F. 15.2.1, and F. 15.4.2-3), nor in other letters in the Familiares (cf. F. 3.7.2-8 and F. 3.8.2-8 to AppiusPulcher, and the more private F. 2.11.2 and F. 2.13.4 to Caelius Rufus), but it is in thecollection to Atticus that he does not let pass almost a single letter without a referenceto such political strategy. Already in the letters he sent from Greece, as he was on hisway to the province, he started describing the local gratitude for his frugal behavior(cf. above n. 359) Then another extremely warm and hopeful welcome was met in

Ephesos (A. 5.13.1) and then again in Tralles (A. 5.14.2), as Cicero was still headingto Laodicea, and was not even officially proconsul yet (cf. above p. 266). From thenon, almost every single letter Cicero sent to Atticus contains some proud discussion ofsuch policy: socf. A 5.15.2, A. 5.16.2-3, A 5.17.2, A 5.18.2, A 5.20.6, A 5.21.5-8,A. 6.1.2, 15-16 and 21, A. 6.2.4-5, A. 6.3.3. In fact Cicero knew that Atticus was verygood audience in this respect since he fully shared Cicero's opinion about theadvantages of such a policy and he had even encouraged Cicero to adopt it: cf. forexample^. 5.15.2 admirabilis abstinentia expraeceptis tuis, ut verear ne Mud quodtecum permutavi versura mihi solvendum sit (or also cf. A. 5.10.2 or A. 6.2.8-9).Cicero's insistence on this topic of self-praise is so evident that at one point it induceshim to admit that so much bragging about it could become annoying; yet he asksAtticus to bare with him, since, after all, Cicero was precisely following those veryadvices that he had received from him: ob haec beneficia, quibus Mi obstupescunt,nullos honores mihi nisi verborum decerni sino; statuas, fana, TSdpiTTTiaprohibeo,nee sum in ulla re alia molestus civitatibus - sedfortasse tibi qui haec praedicem deme. perfer, si me amas; tu enim me haecfacere voluisti {A. 5.21.7).A second matter Cicero very frequently discussed with Atticus is the complicatedaffair of Marcus Brutus' financial interests in the region. 363 Brutus had recently servedin Cilicia under Cicero's predecessor Appius Pulcher. While there he had offered ahuge loan to the young king of Cappadocia, Ariobarzanes, and one to the city ofSalamis in Cyprus, through a few friends working as nominal creditors. One of them,a certain Scaptius had even obtained a number of troops from Appius Pulcher andtried to extort the money along with the exorbitant interests from the city council ofCaelius Rufus is updated on an even more private matter, that is Cicero's attempt to get somepanthers for him: in particular cf. F. 2.11.2.

Salamis. Atticus had strong connections with Brutus and so he warmly commendedhis interests to Cicero. Cicero did not like the affair too much, since it was a difficultmatter to disentangle and at times it could get openly in contrast with his policy of fairand frugal administration: so cf., for example, Cicero's protest to Atticus' umpteenthreminder to protect Brutus' interests, and even to close an eye on Scaptius's use of thetroops, in A. 6.2.8. Nevertheless Cicero did take care of the matter and constantly sentthorough updates to Atticus, describing what the situation was and, above all, hisinitiatives to deal with it. In a letter written in mid August 51, Cicero brieflycomplained about the fact that Brutus, like Appius, had left without meeting him (A.5.17.6). Yet, about a month after, he wrote again to Atticus, closing his letter with thefirst brief reference to his commitment to look after Brutus' interests (A. 5.18.4). For afew months then Cicero was above all busy with his military operations but, once thecampaigning season was over, he had more time to deal with other matters; so almostall letters he sent to Atticus between January and June of 50 have a more or less longupdate on various developments of Brutus' affair: cf. in particular/I 5.21.10-12, A6.1.3-8, A 6.2.7-9, A. 6.3.5-7.In addition to these major topics however, there is a series of other minor issues aboutwhich Atticus is informed at times: the conditions of the kids and what decisionsCicero is taking about them (topic recalled very often, but always quite briefly: cf. A.5.17.3, A 5.18.4, A. 5.20.9, A. 6.1.12), Cicero reactions to Appius' rude behavior (cf.A. 5.16.4, A 5.17.6, A. 6.1.2, A. 6.2.10), Cicero's handling of the tensions betweenQuintus and Pomponia and its repercussions on young Quintus (cf. A. 6.3.8, A. 6.7.1,and above A. 5.1), meetings with people bringing in news (A. 6.1.25 a gossip learnedin a meeting with P. Ventidius, A. 6.3.9 meeting with Q. Hortensius' son), minormatters Cicero attended to upon Atticus' request (cf. A. 6.1.13), Tiro's illness (A.

6.7.3), and, at the approach of Cicero's departure, the situation in Cilicia and hisdecisions about whom to leave in charge of the province in the wait for the nextproconsul (A. 6.4.1, A. 6.5.3, A. 6.7.2, A. 6.6.3-4). Cicero's past and planneditineraries are also a recurrent topic. Sometimes an update on the general situation inthe province is given, but even when the news are about people other than Cicero andevents in which he was not directly involved, in the end they always have a link withhim (for example cf. A. 5.20.3-4 above p. 227) Finally, like we have seen in thestructure of A. 5.20, comments on news received from Rome and instructions for theaddressee generally have a very limited space in the letters of this period.The situation is quite different in the letters written during Cicero's journey backhome. From this period we have eleven letters in Atticus (A. 6.8 to A. 7.9), and oneletter to Terentia (F. 14.5) and eight to Tiro (F. 16.1 -7 and 9) in the Familiares. In factCicero's comments on the news received from Rome and from other regions gain agreater and greater space. On one hand Cicero was worried about various issues hewould have to deal with upon his return, but above all, it's the fall of year 50, Caesar'smovements are spreading the deepest concerns, and fear for the imminent civil warstarts to be in the air. Some space is still assigned to describing Cicero's past andplanned itineraries, both in the letters written before landing in Brundisium {A. 6.8from Ephesos, A. 6.9 and 7.1 from Athens, and ,4. 7.2 from Brundisium) and in thosewritten while traveling from one villa to the other before reporting himself to Rome.Almost nothing instead is said anymore about what Cicero is doing at his stops. Theonly exceptions are a brief remark on the hospitality received at Corcyra and a visit hemade for young Quintus' sake {A. 7.2.3 in Actio Corcyrae Alexio me opiparemuneratus est. Q. Ciceroni obsisti non potuit quo minus Thyamim videret, cf. above p.226) and the accounts of three relevant meetings he had while in Italy: just a brief

eference is made to his first encounter with Terentia, who had come down toBrundisium to welcome him (A. 7.2.2 Terentia vero, quae quidem eodem tempore adportam Brundisinam venit quo ego inportum mihique obvia inforofuit, L. Pontiumsibi in Trebulano dixisse narrabat etiam earn decessisse), while longer accounts arededicated to two important meetings with Pompey (A. 7.4.2 and A 7.8.4-5), theconversation of which is reported rather in detail, since they both brought importantnews about the dangers of the present situation.Finally, as opposed to what we see in the correspondence from Cilicia, Cicero saysalmost nothing about his present experience in the series of private letters (onlyaddressed to Atticus and Terentia, and cf. Ch. I pp. 30-3 for a list of them) he wrotefrom Epirus, where he stationed in 48, after having joined Pompey's army. All ofthese letters are in fact quite short and mostly give comments or instructions on newscoming from the addressee. Almost nothing instead is said about what Cicero wasdoing or, in general, about what was going on over there. In the beginning thishappened because those pieces of news were left to be delivered orally by the courier,probably in order to conceal the movements and the plans of the army: cf. e.g. A.11.3.1 Quid hie agatur scire poteris ex eo qui litteras attulit or A. 11.4a. 1 Quid sitgestum novi quaeris. ex Isidoro scire poteris. Later, as the situation got worse, thereason also became that nothing relevant, or indeed positive, was going on that couldbe worthy describing. So, in a short letter to Atticus, which is the last one we havefrom this period (A. 11.4), after having given a few brief instructions in response tohis last letter, Cicero sadly admits that there is nothing new or good that is worthy of aletter (meas litteras quod requiris, impedior inopia rerum, quas nullas habeo litterisdignas, quippe cui nee quae accidunt nee quae aguntur ullo modo probentur. utinam

coram tecum olim potius quam per epistulas!),and he concludes by just geneticallymentioning his attempt to keep himself and his family safe, mostly trying to keepdistance from them.II.2.b.iii - Letters from periods of forced displacementThe letters Cicero wrote during periods of forced displacement from Rome, that isduring the exile and during the year he spent in Brundisium, waiting for Caesar'spardon, are characterized by an almost complete lack of reference to his presentactions. From Brundisium we have a series of letters to Atticus and a few letters in theFamiliares, all to Terentia, except one to Cassius (F. 15.15 in which Cicero tries andmakes a balance on the events of the civil war and on the present situation). Thoseaddressed to Terentia are extremely short and entirely dedicated to commenting onnews mostly on private matters and to giving instructions on how to deal with them.The letters to Atticus, are instead mostly dedicated to commenting on the presentsituation and on the news received from Atticus himself or from others: comments onnews about Caesar's movements, discussions on the present conditions and onpossible plans of actions. Instead in all letters of this period, almost nothing is saidabout what Cicero himself was doing at the moment, how he spent his days duringthat year in which he stayed in Brundisium. In fact only a few episodes of Cicero'sown life are recalled: only an episode in which he discovered some hostile letters fromhis brother through friends also stationing in Brundisium (A. 11.9.2 quas [sc. litteras]ego numquam aperuissem nisi res acta sic esset. delatus est ad me fasciculus, solvi, siquid ad me esset litterarum. nihil erat; epistula Vatinio et Ligurio altera, iussi ad eos164 Cf. also in a letter to Terentia, written on the same day July 15: Nee saepe est cui litteras demits neerem habemus ullam quam scribere velimus (F. 14.6).

274deferri. Mi ad me statim ardentes dolore venerunt scelus hominis clamantes; epistulasmihi legerunt plenas omnium in meprobrorum) and even the welcomed visit ofbeloved Tullia is mentioned only very shortly: cf. A. 11.17.1 Tullia mea venit ad meprid. Id. Iun. deque tua erga se observantia benevolentiaque mihi plurima exposuitlitter asque reddidit trinas, F. 14.11 Tullia nostra venit ad me prid. Id. Iun. cuiussumma virtute et singulari humanitate graviore etiam sum dolore adfectus nostrafactum esse neglegentia ut longe alia infortuna esset atque eius pietas ac dignitaspostulabat, F. 14.15 Tulliam adhuc mecum teneo. Yet, a considerable space isdedicated to describing Cicero's depressed feelings at the moment, provoked by thesad comments on the news or the worried discussions about possible lines of actions:cf. also above A. 11.6.2 or F. 14.11 and in general cf. below p. 287.The description of Cicero's own feelings gains even more space and importance in theletters from his exile, where, as we will discuss more at length in the next section, itactually becomes the main topic both in the letters to Atticus and in those to Terentiaand Quintus 365 . Sad comments on news received from the correspondents, worrieddiscussions about future plans and movements, pleads for help are the other majortopics present in these letters. Yet, except for Cicero's sad feelings, nothing at all issaid about how he was spending his time as he was stationing in this or that place. Heonly mentions his whereabouts: his past itineraries or his always worried and doubtfulplans for where to go next, or simply the fact that he was stuck in the same place, likein a limbo, just waiting for news and desperately searching for isolation, especiallyduring the months he spent in Thessalonica (on Cicero's search for solitudo during theexile cf. above pp. 229-33). In fact in Cicero's letters from exile, the lack of referencesto his actions is actually matched by an explicit insistence on his immobility and365 Not as much in the more formal request of support to Q. Metellus in F. 5.4.

inactivity, that makes even writing letters become a burden: cf., for example, A. 3.12.3Ego etiam nunc eodem in loco iaceo sine sermone ullo, sine cogitatione ulla. licet tibi,ut scribis, signijicarim ut ad me venires, id dono tamen et intellego te istic prodesse,hie ne verbo quidem levare me posse, non queo plura scribere nee est quodscribam.If we compare this reaction to the frenetic literary activity by means of which Cicerotried to heal his grief for Tullia's death (cf. above pp. 231-3), the difference could notappear more striking. One reason that could explain such difference may be the factthat at his villa in Astura Cicero had his library at hand and all of what he needed tostudy and write; in fact cf. the first letter he wrote upon his arrival in Astura at thetime: A. 12.13.1 me haec solitudo minus stimulat quam ista celebritas. te unumdesidero; sed litteris non difficilius utor quam si domi essem. In Brundisium or in theplaces where he stationed during his exile instead, he may not have had access toequally rich resources (such lack of tools for writing sophisticated poetry is also oftenlamented, for example, by Ovid in his exile poetry: cf. e.g. Tr. 3.14.25-52). On theother hand, it was not impossible for people to study and write even in exile, relyingon the libraries of their local friends and hosts, and cf. also Seneca's precept for theexile to dedicate himself to studying and writing, both in order to heal one's pain andto provide some form of service to others: Helv. 9.4-8 Brutus in eo libro, quern devirtute composuit, ait se marcellum vidisse mytilenis exulantem et, quantum modonatura hominis pateretur, beatissime viventem neque umquam cupidiorem bonarumartium quam Mo tempore. So, also in Cicero's correspondence, we see the exile A.Caecina writing a letter from Sicily (*F. 6.7) that is precisely dedicated to introduce a366 Other cases in which Cicero's deep sadness is mentioned to excuse the brevity or the suspension ofhis letters are: A. 3.2, A. 3.5, A. 3.7.3, A. 3.8.2 and 4, A. 3.10.3, A. 3.12.3, Q. 1.3.3, F. 14.4.1.

ook that he had just finished and was sending to Cicero along with the letter.Thusin Cicero's case different reactions to a sad situation in different periods of his lifemay also be due to his different perception of the various situations. So, on one hand,the loss of his daughter certainly was the most tragic event, but it was also aninescapable circumstance imposed by fate: Cicero felt the deepest grief, but he alsofelt entitled to react to such a human circumstance and he presented himself as doingit through the most noble activities. Instead, in the case of the year in Brundisium and,even more so, in the case of the exile, Cicero felt responsible for his present sufferingand above all for the loss of his honor. Thus, on one hand, this made him perceive hissadness as even more absolute, and, on the other, it made him loose any drive to apositive reaction but rather sink in a state of depressed inactivity.II.2.C - ConclusionsThe writer's actions find space in different forms and in different measure throughoutCicero's correspondence. In particular in the present analysis, we have distinguishedthree groups of letters: 1) those written while being on vacation at one's villa, 2) thosewritten while undergoing longer journeys, either on a private account or while onduty, 3) those written during periods of forced displacement, such as the exile.Concerning the experience of sojourning at one's villa, we can practically rely only onCicero's own letters. Cicero's letters from his villas are however extremely numerousand spread throughout different periods of his life. Therefore they display a widerange of topics, that vary from period to period. Yet mostly these topics consist incomments on news or on plans for the future, or requests for the addressee. Instead for367 Instead in the only other letter by an exile we have in Cicero's correspondence (*F. 4.11 by M.Claudius Marcellus also from 46) no reference is made to the writer's actions.

what concerns Cicero's own experience in the place where he is at present, only avery limited series of actions is mentioned throughout his entire correspondence.Namely Cicero only mentions: the circumstances under which he wrote or dispatched,or, above all, received a letter which brings in news that are then discussed (e.g. A.13.38.1 or A. 2.16.1); or the circumstances of a meeting bringing in news (e.g. A.13.33a.l); or a particularly important meeting, which constitutes a piece of news initself and it is described more at length (e.g. A. 13.42.1 or A. 13.52); or one's literaryactivity (e.g. A. 2.6.1, and above all throughout the period of retirement after Tullia'sdeath). The letters written from Campania in 49 constitute an exception, since Cicerowrote them while lodging at his villas, but while actually being in charge of guardingthe Campanian coast: thus in these letters Cicero also talks about his public duties(e.g. an official meeting with the consuls in A. 8.1 IB). Nothing else is deemed worthyof being recalled in Cicero's letters, about his life at a villa, and especially about hisfree time. Thus for example Cicero never mentions the fact of going for a stroll or asightseeing, unless this had the practical purpose of inspecting some properties (e.g.the visit to Terentia's land briefly mentioned in A. 2.4.5, or the visits to Quintus'sproperty described at length in Q. 3.1); attending games instead is openly criticized asthe activity of somebody who is inepte peregrinans in A. 2.10; cf. also F. 7.1.2-3where the spectacle of Pompey's triumph in Rome in 55 is opposed to the peacefulliterary otium that M. Marius is imagined enjoying in his beautiful villa.Unlike in the case of letters from villas, those written while undergoing longerjourneys are found both among those by Cicero himself and by his correspondents.Letters from journeys undertaken on a private account are not many: on one hand wehave Cicero's A. 16.3, 6, and 7 and F. 7.19 and 20 to Trebatius Testa, composed whilehe was traveling down the Italian peninsula, in his attempt to go to Athens and check

on his son in 44; on the other hand, among the letters by other people traveling on aprivate account, only *F. 16.21 sent from Athens by young Marcus to Tiro talks aboutthe writer's experience in the present place. Except for A. 16.3, Cicero's letters giveconsiderable space to describing his actions: however, in addition to the progress ofthe itinerary and the quality of the hospitality received, he only mentions the samekinds of activities that we find in letters from villas, that is either meetings that bringin significant news (cf. A. 16.7.1 and 5) or literary activity (cf. A. 16.6.4 and F. 7.19).Marcus' letter instead offers a long and detailed account of his life in Athens,concerning the progress in his studies: thus it is in fact a report on what Marcus dutieswere, not different, in concept, than those dispatched by magistrates back to Rome:interestingly however the only educational experiences mentioned by Marcus consistin meetings with people, whether professors or other eminent men. We cannot excludethat references to other activities, such as visiting interesting sites or importantfestivals might have been mentioned in some other of Marcus' letters, now lost to us.Yet this selection of topics does somehow match the selection of topics (meetingswith significant people and honest studies) that we find operating also in Cicero'sletters both from his attempted trip to Greece and from villas.Yet it is in the letters sent by people traveling on duty that the writer's actions find thelargest space. In particular this is the case of official or semi-official reports, which infact are specifically meant to provide updates on the situations one has encountered inthe region where one is operating and above all on the actions one took to interveneon them. Most of these reports are quite long and take up the entire letter: cf. Cicero'sF. 15.2 and also F. 15.4 (although here the report occupies only the first half of thisextremely long letter), and, by others, cf. *F. 4.12, *F. 10.11, *F. 10.15, *F. 10.17,*F. 10.18, *F. 10.21, *F. 10.23, *F. 10.30, *F. 10.32, *F. 10.34, *F. 11.13, *F. 12.13,

*F. 12.15; and in shorter letters, cf. Cicero's F. 15.1, and by others cf. *F. 5.10b, *F.10.35, *F. 11.4, *F. 11.11, *F. 11.13a, *F. 11.19, *F. 12.11. Other letters instead stillgive considerable space to reporting on the writer's actions and on the situation in hisregion, but they intertwine sections dedicated to these topics with parts concerningother matters, such as comments on news coming from Rome or from other regions,or instructions for the addressee: cf. most of Cicero's correspondence with AppiusClaudius Pulcher (F. 3.3-13), or, by others, *A. 8.12A, *A. 9.6A, *A. 9.7C, *F. 5.10a,*F. 5.11, *F. 10.4, *F. 10.8, *F. 10.9, *F. 10.21a, *F. 10.24, *F. 10.31, *F. 10.33,*F. 11.9, *F. 11.10, *F. 11.20, *F. 11.23, *F. 12.12, *F. 12.14, *F. 12.16, *B. 2.3. Allthese reports describe military or diplomatic operations, with the only exception of*F. 4.12, where Servius Sulpicius Rufus reports on the assassination of M. ClaudiusMarcellus, happened in Athens while he was proconsul of Achaea. In fact we mostlyhappen to have letters by generals deployed on various fronts during the civil wars; onthe other hand even in the case of proconsuls in charge of a province, like for examplein Cicero's case, one's military activities and, above all, one's military successes wereprobably considered the most important topic, since it is through them that one couldachieve the most coveted honors (cf. for example F. 2.10). All of these reports areheavily centered around the person of the writer: in fact the first person singulardominates these accounts, and anyway more general news from the region arereported only in as much as the writer dealt with them or planned to do so.Cicero's correspondence preserves also private letters from people traveling on duty.In the case of Cicero's proconsulate in Cilicia, we have a long series of letters toAtticus {A. 5.1-7.3), and a few more in the Familiares (in particular F. 2.8-15 toCaelius Rufus, almost exclusively belonging to the period spent in Cilicia proper, andF. 16.1 -7 to Tiro, all belonging to the phase of the return trip). These letters cover

Cicero's entire journey to Cilicia and they vary in forms and content, from one phaseto the other. The letters sent during Cicero's trip into the province make frequentreferences to his actions in the present place, yet the only things they mention are: thecourse of his itinerary, the hospitality received at some stops, some relevant meetingsand the philosophical conversations he enjoyed in Athens; beginning with the lettersfrom Athens, they also start talking about his policy of fair administration, that isabout an action that he takes in relation to his official role. The letters written duringthe return trip from Cilicia make shorter references to Cicero's own actions, including:the course of the itinerary, significant meetings, the hospitality received, and also avisit to a beautiful site in Atticus' estate in Epirus (cf. A. 7.2.3); yet these letters aremostly occupied by worried comments on news coming from Rome about thegrowing tension between Caesar and Pompey, in the eve of the civil war. Instead it isin the letters written during the year in which Cicero was actually in Cilicia and incharge as proconsul that his actions gain the largest space, especially in the letters toAtticus (while those to Caelius Rufus are mostly dedicated to comments on the newscoming from Rome). The activities that Cicero's decides to mention in his letters are:his military operations (e.g. A. 5.20 and F. 2.10.2-3, both describing Cicero'ssuccesses less in details than in the official reports and with markedly ironic tones),his policy of fair administration (obsessively recalled almost in each letter in Atticus,cf. A. 5.21.7), the way in which he handled the difficult situation connected withBrutus' interests, in which Atticus too was involved (and therefore constantlymentioned in the letters to him); a series of other minor matters of either public (forexample Cicero's measure in organizing the succession in the province) or privatenature (in particular Cicero's actions to take care of the boys in Atticus, or to getpanthers for Caelius) are also discussed more or less at length. In general the accounts

on Cicero's action that we find in his private correspondence are characterized by aless assertive attitude in comparison to the official reports (cf. the rather frequent useof the first person plural of modesty as opposed to the singular), and by rather ironictones (cf. for example, the ironic report on his military operations or his humorouslyself-conscious remark about his insistence on praising his own policy of frugality in A.5.21.7). On the other hand, even in his private correspondence, Cicero gives thelargest space to actions related to his official duties (either military operations, orfrugal administration, or Brutus' affair), and even when he deals about more privatematters, it almost exclusively concerns tasks that Cicero had to perform upon thecorrespondent's request (e.g. Brutus' affair, although this largely involved Cicero'spublic role as well, or the steps he took with the boys, or what he did about Caelius'panthers). Nothing is said, especially during his permanence in the province itself,about any activity by which Cicero may have further interacted with the places wherehe was, just for his personal sake, or more generally in which he may have spent a fewmoments of free time (except taking care of his correspondence, which he claimed tobe very active about cf. Ch. II pp. 117-18).Beyond Cicero's own correspondence, we do not have many private letters written byother people traveling on duty and very few among them make any significantreference to the writer's present actions. Generally however, even these briefreferences, like the long accounts in Cicero's own private letters, combine one'shandling of both public duties and of the private matters one is taking care of upon thecorrespondent's request (cf. *F. 5.9, *F. 5.10a, or *B. 2.3). In *F. 12.16 instead,which was sent by C. Trebonius as he was stationing in Athens, on the way to hisproconsulate in Syria, we do not find any reference to the tasks connected withTrebonius' office: the letter instead only mentions a meeting (with young Marcus),

and a piece of literary work that Trebonius elaborated in a free moment as he was onshipboard. Thus Trebonius's selection of topics rather resembles Cicero's letters fromthe trip to Greece or those from villas.However, among the numerous letters by people traveling on duty that we read inCicero's correspondence, many do not make any, or almost any, significant referenceto what is happening in the place where they are at present: this happens inrecommendations or gratulatory notes (e.g. F. 15.9 or *F. 16.16); or because suchinformation was already known to the reader form other dispatches (e.g. F. 15.3); orin situations in which either not much was going on or what was actually going onwas not trusted to a written message for fear of interception (e.g. Cicero's letters fromEpirus in 48, or most of Brutus' letters from Greece contained in Brutus).Finally during periods of forced displacement, like during Cicero's exile or during theyear in Brundisium, his letters not only make very scarce references to his actions, butthey also explicitly insist on his state of paralyzed inactivity, especially during theexile. We only have a few letters written by others from exile, and only *F. 6.7 by A.Caecina makes a reference to the writer's actions: interestingly Caecina mentions hisliterary activity, which was in fact what one was advised to practice in exile (cf. Sen.Helv. 9.4-8), but which Cicero instead could not resort to.II.3 - What one feels during a journeyReferences to the writer's feelings are present, of course, in every single letter,because any topic can prompt feelings that the writer decides to share with his readers.In fact the presentation of any piece of news received, or of any activity performed, orof any plan for the future can include a reference to one's worries or one's satisfaction

about them. Yet there are certain groups of letters in which the writer's feelings gainconsiderably more space and a much more significant role. Among the letterscomposed while away from Rome, this happens in particular in the privatecorrespondence Cicero kept during periods of more or less forced political inactivity,that is in the letters he wrote from his villas after the death of Tullia in 45, in thosewritten during the twelve months he spent in Brundisium, waiting for Caesar's pardonin 48-47, and, most of all, in those sent from his exile in 58-57. In these series ofletters in fact Cicero says almost nothing about what he is doing or what he is seeing,except for mentioning his predilection for remote places (cf. above pp. 230-1) anddescribing his past or planned movements in the letters from the exile, or his freneticliterary work, in those after Tullia's death (cf. above pp. 232-3). Yet in all of theseletters, what Cicero mostly says about his present experience is what his feelings are.However also in the private letters from Cilicia, even if they are mostly focused onCicero's actions, considerable space is nevertheless given to the feeling ofhomesickness.Homesickness is in fact probably the most characteristic feeling for letters composedduring journeys. In Cicero's correspondence this feeling is often intertwined with ageneral aversion for traveling far away from Rome, which we have discussed in Ch. I(cf. pp. 35-43). So we have seen how Cicero's dislike for journeys that would takehim out of Italy and therefore very far from Rome is often expressed in letters writtenwhile planning to embark on such a journey. Cicero's deep fears for the safety ofhimself and his family are combined with his concerns on acting as a good citizen inthe numerous letters he sent to Atticus in 49, as he was pondering whether to followPompey's army to Epirus or not. In 44 again, in the imminence of the trip to Greece tovisit young Marcus, Cicero's resistance to abandon the peace and the amenities of his

eloved properties is combined with his concern for preserving his good reputationwhile leaving Italy at such a difficult moment: cf. for example A. 16.3.4.Cicero'scomplaints for his separation from Rome then becomes an extremely recurrent themethroughout his letters from Cilicia, where it is also often combined with the requestfor support in avoiding a renewal of his mandate. In these letters what Cicero says tobe missing the most is the heart of the Roman political scene and an adequateaudience for his deeds: cf. for example A. 5.15.1, 369 Yet it is in the letters writtenduring the exile, that the feeling of homesickness becomes really overwhelming andaddressed to all aspects of Cicero's previous life in Rome. So, for example, in a letterof August 58 (A. 3.15.2), after already five months since the beginning of the exile,Cicero responds to Atticus' criticism against his excessive abandonment to pain. Thushe defends himself by claiming the exceptional depth of his downfall, the abnormaldisparity between his previous conditions and the present one, and so he ends uplisting all the good things he misses: the love of his family, his political activity, hiswealth, his success, in one word his own self. 37In this letter, like in general in thosefrom the exile, homesickness not only appears as a more overwhelming feelingembracing all aspects of Cicero's world, but the feeling itself is analyzed more inA. 16.3.4 multa me movent in discessu, in primis mehercule quod diiungor a te. movet etiamnavigations labor alienus non ab aetate solum nostra verum etiam a dignitate tempusque discessussubabsurdum. relinquimus enim pacem ut ad bellum revertamur, quodque temporis in praediolisnostris et belle aedijicatis et satis amoenis consumi potuit in peregrinatione consumimus. consolanturhaec: aut proderimus aliquid Ciceroni aut quantum profici possit iudicabimus.A. 5.15.1 Laodiceam veniprid. Kal. Sext.; ex hoc die clavum anni movebis. nihil exoptatius adventumeo, nihil carius; sed est incredibile quam me negoti taedeat, non habeat satis magnumcampum ille tibi non ignotus cursus animi et industriae meae, praeclara opera cesset.370 A. 3.15.2 Ad primam tibi hoc scribo, me ita do/ere ut non modo a mente non deserar sed id ipsumdoleam, me tamjirma mente ubi utar et quibuscum non habere, nam si tu me uno non sine maerorecares, quid me censes, qui et te et omnibus? et si tu incolumis me requiris, [et] quo modo a me ipsamincolumitatem desiderari putas? nolo commemorare quibus rebus sim spoliatus, non solum quia nonignoras sed etiam ne scindam ipse dolorem meum; hoc confirmo, neque tantis bonis esse privatumquemquam neque in tanlas miserias incidisse. dies autem non modo non leval luctum hunc sed etiamauget. nam ceteri dolores mitigantur vetustate, hie non potest non et sensu praesentis miseriae etrecordatione praeteritae vilae coltidie augeri. desidero enim non mea solum neque meos sed me ipsum.quid enim sum? sed nonfaciam ut aut tuum anirnum angam querelis aut meis vulneribus saepius manusadferam.

detail. So, for example, in A. 16.3.4, seen above, Cicero gives various reasons why hedoes not like the plan of traveling to Greece and he lists all the things he is going tomiss; yet the only element that actually describes the feeling itself is the verb movet.The same is true in A. 5.15.1, where Cicero lists all things about Rome he misses as heis in Cilicia, but again only the verb taedet describes the actual feeling he isexperiencing. In A. 3.15.2 instead, Cicero not only mentions again the things hemisses (a place where to exist me tamjirma mente ubi utar et quibuscum non habere,the things he has been deprived of quibus rebus sim spoliatus, his wealth neque tantisbonis esse privatum, his loved ones, and his own self desidero enim non mea solumneque meos sed me ipsum), but he also elaborates more at length on the manifestationitself of his painful feelings: how he is pained by the fact of not having lost his mindand therefore being able to fully understand his miseries (me ita dolere ut non modo amente non deserar sed id ipsum doleam), how great is the pain (maeror) of missingeveryone and everything, how he is torn apart by sorrow {ne scindam ipse doloremmeum) whenever he remembers what he has lost. His pain, Cicero explains, is deeperthan any other because it is a desperation that grows instead of diminishing with time,since the further in time his previous life goes, the harder it hurts (dies autem nonmodo non levat luctum hunc sed etiam auget. nam ceteri dolores mitigantur vetustate,hie non potest non et serisu praesentis miseriae et recordatione praeteritae vitaecottidie augeri).Other cases in which Cicero expresses his feelings of homesickness at length during his exile are: A.3.10.2, Q. 1.3.3 and 6, F. 14.4.5. Instead we can observe that the feeling of homesickness does not havea relevant space in the letters from the period Cicero spent in Epirus with Pompey's army and thefollowing year he spent in Brundisium, waiting for Caesar's pardon. In the first case in fact letters aregenerally very short and secretive and mostly discuss news coming from elsewhere or give instructionsto the reader (cf. above p. 274). In the letters from Brundisium on the other hand, Cicero does givespace to describing his own sad feelings, but he mostly complains about his present inactivity andsadness, without elaborating on the things or the persons he misses.

In fact in the letters from exile, not only homesickness, but all sorts of sad feelings,receive the greatest emphasis. The depth of Cicero's pain is an important theme alsoin the letters from other sad periods. So Cicero constantly mentions thepreoccupations and the pains that afflict him in the letters from his year in Brundisium(cf., for example, A. 11.8.1); 372 in the same way almost every letter he sent in the firstfew months after Tullia's death makes a reference to the magnitude of his grief (cf,for example, A. 12.28.2).Yet it is again in the letters from the exile that Cicero'sfeelings are described more in details, and indeed are presented as the most desperate.In fact, on one hand, the death of Tullia was certainly the most tragic event, but it isone that was imposed by destiny, which one must accept and could possibly donothing to avoid. On the other hand, the relegatio in Brundisium was a consequenceof Cicero's own unfortunate choices, of his decision to stay on Pompey's side (cf. A.11.8.1 maximaspoenaspendo temeritatis meae above): so Cicero's letters show thesense of responsibility for his own present hardship and for the possible endangermenthe had exposed his family to, but the hope that forgiveness would eventually comenever really abandoned him. During the exile instead, Cicero not only had beenpushed even further away from Rome and from his loved ones, not only had he beencompletely deprived of his honor, but he also kept blaming himself- even moreharshly - as the real responsible for having made the wrong choices and trusted thewrong persons. During the exile, much more than in any other period of his life, thissense of responsibility for his present pain and for the hardship and dangers he was1 " A. 11.8.1 Quantis curis conficiar etsi profecto vides, tamen cognosces ex Lepta et Trebatio. maximaspoenas pendo temeritatis meae, quam tu prudentiam mihi videri vis; neque te deterreo quo minus iddisputes scribasque ad me quam saepissime and 2 sed augeo commemorando dolorem etfacio etiamtibi.373 A. 12.28.2 Quod me ad meam consuetudinem revocas, fuit meum quidem iam pridem rem publicamlugere, quod faciebam, sed mitius; erat enim ubi acquiescerem. nunc plane non ego victum nee vitamMam colere possum, nee in ea re quid videalur mihi puto curandum; mea mihi conscientiapluris est quam omnium sermo. quod me ipse per litteras consolatus sum, non paenitet me quantumprofecerim. maerorem minui, dolorem nee potui nee, si possem, vellem.

287forcing on his family was matched by a sense of complete hopelessness: so cf. themore elaborate analysis Cicero gives of his sad feelings and of the reasons for them, inA. 3.8.4. 374 Thus the pain Cicero expresses in the letters of this period is complete andabsolute and it even leads him to wish for his death. The theme of the desire of dyingand of the regret for not having already done so is in fact extremely recurrent duringthe exile (cf. for example A 3.7.2), 375 whereas it is not as present in the other sadperiods of Cicero's life. 376In conclusion, looking at the letters in which the description of Cicero's feelings has acentral role, it is interesting to observe that, first and foremost, only sad feelingsreceive this space. Of course, if we look at the body of Cicero's correspondence,positive feelings, of satisfaction or happiness, are present in many ways: in particularwe can recall the sub-genre of the gratulatory letter, in which the expression of suchpositive feelings has a fundamental function. Yet it is also interesting to notice thatpositive feelings, especially concerning the experience of traveling are very rarelydescribed at length but mostly reduced to briefly mentioning one's appreciation of aplace (almost always reduced to a simple sentence with placet or delectat, cf. abovepp. 225-7) or the absence of discomforts in the present accommodation. InsteadA. 3.8.4 Ex epistularum mearum inconstantiaputo te mentis meae motum videre, qui, etsi incredibiliet singulari calamitate adflictus sum, tamen non tarn est ex miseria quam ex culpae nostraerecordatione commotus. cuius enim scelere impulsi etproditi simus iam profecto vides; atque utinamante vidisses neque totum animum tuum maerori mecum simul dedisses! qua re cum me adflictum etconfectum luctu audies, existimato me stultitiae meae poenam ferre gravius quam eventi, quod eicrediderim quern esse nefarium non putarim. me et meorum malorum maeror et metus defratre inscribendo impedit.375 A. 3.7.2 Quod me ad vitam vocas, unum efficis ut a me manus abstineam, alterum non poles ut menon nostri consili vitaeque paeniteat. quid enim est quod me retineat, praesertim si spes ea non estquae nos proficiscentis prosequebatur? nonfaciam ut enumerem miserias omnis in quas incidi persummam iniuriam et scelus non tarn inimicorum meorum quam invidorum, ne et meum maeroremexagitem et te in eundem luctum vocem; hoc adfirmo, neminem umquam tanta calamitate esseadfectum, nemini mortem magis optandum fuisse. cuius oppetendae tempus honestissimumpraetermissum est; reliqua tempora sunt non iam ad medicinam sed adfinem doloris.376 Other occurrences of the theme of the desire of dying in Cicero's letters from exile are: A. 3.3, A.3.4, A. 3.14.1,/!. 3.19.1 and 3, Q. I.3.2.F. 14.4.1.

feelings such as the curiosity for a new place or the excitement in discovering adifferent reality do not emerge from the letters of Cicero's correspondence.Ill - A look beyond Cicero's correspondence: describing what one sees indocumentary material and other epistolary collectionsIn documentary letters observations on the aspect or the peculiar characters of theplaces where the writer is at the moment are extremely rare. In the selection ofmaterial considered in the present study, cf. for example the extremely brief remarkthat the young recruit makes about Rome, in order to appease his mother's concern inP. Mich. 8.491.7 igwrcu trs ovv, /lyrriQ, (rsauTJj ng6

Thus in a collection that generally strives for 'epistolary verisimilitude' like the lettersof Pseudo-Themistocles (cf. Ch. Ill pp. 204), we find a description of interestingthings seen and learned while traveling through Persia {ep. 20.29): 378 the panorama ofmountains and flat valleys which arise Themistocles' admiration; the rivers he had tocross; the level in which different areas were populated; the peoples he met, whoselanguage he even learned. So much curiosity for the external world has been rightlyperceived as a bit odd for a 'realistic' letter (cf. HODKINSON [2007: 274-5] orDOENGES [1981: 383]). In particular this description, along with the numerous directspeeches and with the particularly adventurous nature of Themistocles' journey, haveled interpreters to define this exceptionally long letter as 'novelistic' narrative thatbreaks the epistolary verisimilitude right at the end of the collection. Hodkinson inparticular has shown how ep. 20, has the function of wrapping up the collection with afinal retrospective view on Themistocles' actions, and therefore a more complete andelaborate defense for them. 379The ethnographic interest and the description of remote places shows up with an evengreater importance in collections that, also in general, exploit the letter form in alooser way, such as Ovid's poetic epistles from the exile. The picture of Tomis' gelidlandscapes and of its barbaric inhabitants is vividly sketched throughout Ovid's exilicproduction (cf. in particular Tr. 3.10 or 5.10, entirely dedicated to this topic). Ovidpresents Tomis as a locus horridus that tortures him and, at the same time, matchesPs.-Them. Ep. 20.29 bSavwv Be b'g'rj /lav bXiya xoiXrjv Si SiyXSov ou% vipyA'qv, ntSla M eSeaffdii'qv TZ xaiSidiSsvaa //.sydXa xai oufiafiij avw^aXa. wxefro $s xai elgyd^sro xdXXuar' aiirwv TO nXaiirra, r rj Be egij/iOi^ijgi'a rs xai t^wtov aXXcov 'ifiocrxev aykXa^. xai -nora^QiK; enksutra TTOXXOU; xai e%e(ri navroiois ifiiy^v. r^h} Seano raw avvodwv xai rijf Y\tQ

the deep sadness of his feelings. His descriptions are highly dependent upon literarystereotypes that do not even seem to reflect what the actual conditions of the regionwere.In fact Ovid's ekphraseis on Tomis stem from the epic and the elegiactraditions, rather than from the epistolary one.Elaborate descriptions of places visited by the writer however are present also in thecorrespondence of Pliny the Younger. Pliny's descriptions of interesting sites, or ofhis villas are just one realization of his mannerist and complacent taste forsophisticated descriptions, especially of pieces of that aristocratic world to which hebelonged. Whether or not these letters were 'real' letters actually sent to the addressee,the presence of these long descriptions makes the difference with Cicero'scorrespondence incredibly evident. For example, Pliny dedicates an entire letter (ep.8.20) to describe the phenomenon of the floating islands on the Lake Vadimo: thedescription proper is however preceded by an introductory paragraph that defends thepractice of visiting and appreciating the beauties of Italy as opposed to the stupidmania of traveling abroad;then the description begins by mentioning thecircumstance under which Pliny had occasion to visit Lake Vadimo: exegeratprosocer mens, ut Amerina praedia sua inspicerem. haec perambulanti mihiostenditur subiacens lacus nomine Vadimonis; simul quaedam incredibilia narrantur.{ep. 8.20.3). Thus Pliny seems to share with Cicero the traditional critique against thepractice of traveling, especially far away, for no good reasons, as opposed to enjoyingone's estates in beautiful Italy (cf. e.g. Cic. A. 16.3.4 relinquimus enimpacem ut adbellum revertamur, quodque temporis in praediolis nostris et belle aedificatis et satisamoenis consumipotuit in peregrinatione consumimus, about the perspective of380 The region of Tomis in fact seems to have had a much milder climate and to have been much morecivilized than what Ovid describes: cf. for example FlTTON BROWN (1985).381 Cf. FASCE (1991) and COVA (1999).

having to go to Greece in 44). Yet, unlike Cicero, Pliny does include a longdescription (six paragraphs long) of the amenities that he gets to enjoy nearby, whileperforming the due task of inspecting some family estates. Instead all what Cicerosays about a similar situation, when he had to inspect a piece of land owned toTerentia is: Terentiae saltum perspeximus. quid quaeris?praeter quercumDodonaeam nihil desideramus quo minus Epirum ipsam possidere videamur (Cic. A.2.4.5). Similarly Pliny's two lengthiest descriptions of the villas of Laurentum and ofTusculum are presented as the response to the addressee's concern and to a politerequest of information (cf. ep. 2.17 and ep. 5.6 respectively). 382 This resemblesCicero's request for a description of Atticus' new Amaltheum mA. 1.16.18, orCicero's response to Atticus' request for a description of what he enjoyed most inAstura in A. 14.13.1: yet once again, all what Cicero says about it is just: quibusquaeris, idque etiam me ipsum nescire arbitraris, utrum magis tumulis prospectuquean ambulatione ttAlTGVSl delecter. est mehercule, ut dicis, utriusque loci tantaamoenitas ut dubitem utra anteponenda sit, since for him this is no matter to talkabout at length, and thus the letter immediately moves to discussing more stringentpolitical matters. In other cases however Pliny introduces the description of aninteresting sightseeing that he had recently visited by simply presenting it assomething that is worth of notice that he expects to be of interest for the addressee (cf.ep. 4.30.1 or ep. 8.8.1). 383 Yet in the end what Pliny changes of Cicero's382 Plin. ep.2.\7.\ -2 Miraris cur me Laurentinum uel (si ita mauis), Laurens meum tanto operedelectet; desines mirari, cum cognoueris gratiam uillae, opportunitatem loci, litoris spatium; Plin. ep.5.6.1 -3 Amaui curam et sollicitudinem tuam, quod cum audisses me aestate Tuscos meos petiturum, nefacerem suasisti, dum puias insalubres. Est sane grauis el pestilens ora Tuscorum, quae per litusextenditur; sed hi procul a mari recesserunt, quin etiam Appennino saluberrimo montium subjacent.Atque adeo ut omnem pro me metum ponas, accipe temperiem caeli regionis situm uillae amoenitalem,quae et tibi auditu et mihi relatu iucunda erunt.Plin. ep. 4.30.1 -2 Attuli tibi ex patria mea pro munusculo quaestionem altissima ista eruditionedignissimam. Fons oritur in monte, per saxa decurrit, excipitur cenatiuncula manu facta; ibi paulum

292correspondence is not so much the general ideology but rather the selection of thetopics considered digna litteris.Finally it is only with Christian writers that we find letters that contain extendedaccounts of longer journeys intertwined with descriptions of the interesting sites seenalong the way. For example, Sidonius Apollinaris' ep. 1.5 describes his trip fromLyons to Rome and engages in a sophisticated reuse of the typical forms of letterswritten during journeys. Ep. 1.5 in fact begins with a sentence that mentions Sidonius'arrival in the present location while also naming the reception of a letter fromHerenius, the present correspondent (cf. Ch. II p. 112 and Ch. Ill pp. 160): yet thistypical introductory sentence then turns into a preface on the content of the letter,stating the intention of describing the various places, made famous by poets andwriters, that Sidonius could admire along the way. 384 Thus the body of the letter (para.3-9) accurately describes the journey in its material phases (mentioning the routesfollowed, the means of transportation used, the hospitality received, certaindiscomforts and Sidonius' health conditions) and, above all, the famous places seenalong the way until Sidonius reaches Rome. At this point Sidonius wraps up thedescription with a sentence sketching the picture of himself writing the letter at handwhile lying exhausted in his hotel room: another common structure in letters writtenfrom journeys (cf. Ch. II pp. 94-5). 385 The letter ends with the description of theretentus in Larium lacum decidit; Plin. ep. 8.8.1-2 Vidistine aliquando Clitumnum fonlem? Si nondum(etputo nondum: alioqui narrasses mihi), uide; quern ego (paenitet tarditatis) proxime uidi.Sid. Apol. Ep. 1.5. 1. Litteras tuas Romae positus accepi, quibus an secundum commune consiliumsese peregrinationis meae coepta promoveanl sollicitus inquiris, viam etiam qualem qualiterqueconfecerim, quos autfluvios viderim poetarum carminibus inlustres aut urbes moenium situ inclitas autmonies numinum 2. opinione vulgatos aut campos proeliorum replicatione monstrabiles, quiavoluptuosum censeas quae lectione compereris eorum, qui inspexerinl, fideliore didicisse memoratu.quocirca gaudeo te quid agam cupere cognoscere; namque huiuscemodi studium de affectu interioreprojiciscitur. ilicet, etsi secus quaepiam, sub ope tamen dei ordiar a secundis, quibus primordiismaiores nostri etiam sinisteritatum suarum relationes evolvere auspicabantur.385 Sid. Apol. Ep. 1.5.9 post quae caelestis experimenta patrocinii conducti devorsoriiparte susceptusatque etiam nunc istaec inter iacendum scriptitans quieti pauxillulum operam impendo.

festival that at that moment was being celebrated in Rome in honor of noble Ricimer,and with a sort of encomium in his honor. In this way the disguise of the letter formplays with the erudite aim and with the taste for descriptions of places that hadbecome a trend especially among Christian writers since the II century CE. 86IV - ConclusionsIn Cicero's correspondence the experience that one had while being away from Romeis granted different space in different kinds of letters. In general larger space isassigned to describing one's experience in the present location in letters written duringlonger journeys, and especially during those undertaken while on duty. Instead thereferences to one's present experience are generally much more limited in letterswritten while sojourning at a villa.Generally 'what one does' is the aspect of one's experience that is recalled the most.In particular the activities that are described more at length are those related to tasksthat one had to perform, either concerning one's public duties or private matters. Thusthis is the case of the long reports on one's actions, especially on military operations,that we find in official or semi-official dispatches sent by magistrates in charge of aprovince and of its army (e.g. Cicero's letters from Cilicia and the military bulletinsexchanged by various generals during the civil war of 43). Also in the privatecorrespondence sent by people traveling on duty, we find more or less detailedupdates on the way in which one is handling one's official duties (e.g. Cicero'scorrespondence with Atticus or Caelius Rufus), as well as private matters that are of186 Q- SQUILLANTE (2005: 276-8). The description of the famous places seen along the way acquires aneven more fundamental importance in IV century Egeria's letter-diary (on the epistolary nature of thisextremely long and elaborated travel account cf. NATALUCCI [1991: 30-5]).

interest to the addressee (e.g. Brutus' affair in Cicero's correspondence with Atticus,or cf. F. 2.11.2 to Caelius Rufus or *F. 5.9 by Vatinius). Yet also in letters written bypeople traveling on a private account or even sojourning at a villa, we find some moreor less long reports on 'what one had to do' about matters that are of interest to theaddressee (e.g. Cicero's report on his inspections of Quintus' properties in Q. 3.1 or,young Marcus' 'bulletin' on the progress of his studies in Athens in *F. 16.21).In addition to one's handling of due tasks, also references to the circumstances underwhich one learned some important news constitute a topic that is very frequentlyrecalled, sometimes even described at length, and that gives the opportunity to talkabout the writer's present experience. Thus one may recall what one was doing whilereceiving a letter that brought in important news that are then commented upon (e.g.A. 2.16.1 and in general cf. Ch. II pp. 115-16), or one may describe a meeting thateither brought in news (e.g. A. 13.33a.l) or was significant in itself (e.g. Cicero'smeeting with Caesar to which A. 13.52 is entirely dedicated, or his diplomaticencounter with king Ariobarzanes in the official dispatch ofF. 15.2). Such accounts ofrelevant meetings are found in all kinds of letters, but their presence is particularlyevident in those written either while traveling on a private account or while sojourningat a villa, where longer accounts on one's handling of due tasks are more rare.As it has been illustrated in Ch. Ill (pp. 183-91), references to one's movements or tothe quality of the hospitality received are frequent in letters written while traveling.Instead very little space is assigned to mentioning activities that one chooses toperform in one's free time. In particular, visiting interesting places is mentioned veryrarely and through extremely concise references (e.g. the pleasant visit to inspectTerentia's properties in A. 2.4.5, or the visit to Atticus' estates in Epirus in A. 7.2.3, orto Rhodes in A. 6.7.2), while attending festivals or games is either only briefly

mentioned (cf. the plan of attending the festival in Olympia in A. 16.7.5) or openlycriticized by Cicero as a stupid past-time (cf. A. 2.10, and also F. 7.1.2-3). On theother hand, studying and writing are the only activities that the writers of Cicero'scorrespondence deem appropriate to include in their letters, when it comes to thenownfree time. Cicero mentions his literary activity both in letters written whilesojourning at a villa (e.g. A. 12.3) and while traveling on a private account (cf. A.16.6.4): that is every time he was away from Rome and from his duties for personalreasons. Thus presenting himself as engaged in a fervid literary activity seems often toserve as a defense for one's absence: cf. the recurrent references to Cicero's literaryactivity during his attempted trip to Greece in 44, for which he greatly feared people'scriticism; or cf. the frenetic literary activity in which he pictures himself engagedduring the long retirement in his villas after Tullia's death. Instead Cicero neverpresents himself as studying or writing either during his entire journey in Cilicia orduring periods of forced displacement, such as his exile or the year he spent relegatedin Brundisium. In this respect he shows a different attitude than other writers in thecollection: in fact both *F. 12.16, sent by C. Trebonius while on his way to aproconsulate in Syria, and *F. 6.7, sent by A. Caecina from exile, talk about theirreadings and their own literary production. Cicero's letters from Cilicia rather presenthim as a man fully absorbed in his duty, while those from the exile as one completelyannihilated by desperation. In fact both the letters from the year in Brundisium, andeven more so, those from the exile not only do not talk about what Cicero was doingat present, but they explicitly stress the passive inactivity in which he had drowned(e.g. A 3.12.3).Other aspects of the writer's experience in the present place, such as what one feels orwhat one sees, are generally assigned less space in comparison to the writers' actions.

296However the writer's feelings find a larger space in Cicero's own letters from periodsof sad retirement, that is in the months following the death of Tullia, in the year hespent in Brundisium and, above all, during the exile. Homesickness in particular isquite recurrent also in the letters from other longer journeys, especially in Cicero'sprivate correspondence from Cilicia. Therefore sad feelings are the only ones thatappear elaborated more at length in Cicero's correspondence, while positive feelingsconnected in particular to the experience of traveling and discovering new places, arecompletely absent.In fact also descriptions of what one sees while away from home are generally quiterare and brief. In letters written during longer journeys we never find a longdescription of some interesting places or of the characters of its inhabitants. Thus inletters from journeys undertaken while on duty, we only find very brief geographicalexplanations of places met during one's military operations (e.g. *F. 12.14.4) ordescription of the general conditions of a region or its people, only as far as they werethe object of the writer's intervention (e.g. A. 5.20.5). Very little is said also aboutinteresting places that one decided to visit for one's own sake (e.g. the extremely briefreference to the visit Cicero planned to make in Rhodes on the way back from CiliciainA. 6.7.2, or the still very short ones to his stay in Athens in A. 6.9 or A. 5.10.5).Theonly partial exception is a reference that, in Q. 2.16.4, we find to a letter that Quintushad sent from Britannia in which he had sketched a 'summary' (abnddsoigscribendi to be further elaborated in a separate work) of interesting features of theregion and of the Roman action in it: among all the regions mentioned in Cicero'scorrespondence, Britannia was anyway the most remote and unexplored at the time,and thus the only one that could actually arise some curiosity in the readers and justifyat least a short digressive description in the letter. In letters from villas instead

eferences to the aspect of a location are slightly more elaborate: yet the cases oflonger descriptions either have a practical purpose (e.g. Cicero's report on hisinspections of Quintus' properties in Q. 3.1.1-6), or they are meant as an homage for afriend's properties that one had the occasion to visit (e.g. F. 7.20; and cf. also thepolite request of a description of Atticus new Amaltheum on his Buthrotian estate inA. 1.16.18). Beyond that, the references to the beauty of one's own properties arelimited and explicitly defined as a topic not worthy of a letter: cf. A. 12.9, or A.14.13.1. Finally Cicero's letters written during periods of sadness or forced retirementare characterized by an insisted reference to the search for solitudo, which sometimesleads to a brief description of the isolated places in which Cicero needs to hide (e.g. A.12.15).If we focus our attention on the category of'what one sees in the present location',and we look beyond Cicero's correspondence, we observe that, once again, thesituation we have delineated in Cicero's collection is right in between what we have indocumentary letters and what we have in other published epistolary collections. Indocumentary letters, comments on the aspect of the places visited by the writer areextremely scarce (e.g. P. Mich. 8.491.7) and 'what one does' - and namely 'what onehas to do' — is by far the aspect of one's present experience that is recalled the most.The situation is instead very different when we look at many published collectionsbeyond Cicero's correspondence: in several of these collections in fact, more or lesslong digressive descriptions of places, that aroused the writer's interest and thatexpected to encounter the addressee's (and the external readers') curiosity, areallowed within the letters. Thus in Ps.-Them. ep. 20 the long and 'novelistic' accountof Themistocles' journey into Persia includes a short descriptive digression on theimpressive features of the land and on the characters of its people. Ovid often

298embellishes his poetic epistles from the exile with sophisticated and rather idealizedethnographic or geographic descriptions of Tomis (e.g. Tr. 3.10 or 5.10). The IVcentury Christian Sidonius Apollinaris then dedicates an almost entire letter (ep. 1.5)to describing his journey from Lyons to Rome with specific attention to all the famousplaces that he had seen along the way. Finally in Pliny's correspondence, long anddetailed descriptions of places, buildings, works of art become the sole protagonists inmany letters: these descriptions actually are one of the ways through which Plinydisplays both the elegant aristocratic world to which he belongs, and his ownsophisticated literary ability. Yet it is also interesting to see the particular way inwhich Pliny casts this content into the form of the aristocratic epistolarycommunication that he exploits. In fact several of his letter long descriptions both ofhis villas (cf. ep. 2.17 and ep. 5.6) and of some interesting sightseeing (cf. ep. 8.20)are introduced by forms that match what we have seen in Cicero's correspondence.Yet extremely long description that follow these 'traditional' introductory remarks inPliny's letters completely surpass Cicero's view that describing beautiful places, suchas one's properties, is not a topic digna longioribus litteris (A. 12.9). More in generalanyway, Pliny's letters surpass also the limitations that, throughout Cicero'scorrespondence, are imposed on the kinds of activities deemed worthy of mentionwhen it comes to one's free time. Thus meetings with friends, studying and writing,are still very important activities, but Pliny allows also less 'productive' occupationsin his letters (cf. for example the series of activities that Pliny performs in his typicalday in Tusculum in ep. 9.36): such as hunting, or sailing, or going for a stroll or,precisely, visiting some interesting location.In conclusion, the general overview on the extent and the forms through which thewriter's experience in the present place is described has led to a twofold result. First

of all, it has shown that Cicero's correspondence respects the typical featuresdelineated by SOLER (2005) for travel accounts reporting on real journeys and that thisis true for all types of letters, both those written while traveling on duty or on a privateaccount, and those written while sojourning at a villa. In fact the pragmatic purposeand the intention of providing a good image of oneself are visible, first of all, in themarked prevalence granted to talking about 'what the writer does' and, above all,'what one has to do', over the description of 'what one feels' or of 'what one sees'.The same aims also explain the limitations in the selection of topics, in particularwhen talking about less indispensable matters such as one's free time. Secondly, ifcomparing the choices followed by the writers of Cicero's correspondence to what wesee in other published epistolary collections, certain differences appear evident: forexample in several instances the topic of'what one sees' gains much greater spacethan what we find anywhere in Cicero's correspondence. The preliminary overviewconducted here has stressed that the difference between Cicero and Pliny in describingthe beauties of their estates stems from the same attitude that motivates the differencebetween Cicero and Sidonius Apollinaris or Ps.-Themistocles in describing interestingplaces they met along a journey. In fact the eminently pragmatic treatment of the topicof one's experience in the present place that characterizes Cicero's correspondencedifferentiates it from other published epistolary collections and instead, once more,connects it to 'real' correspondence, no matter how much revised and sophisticated itis.

ConclusionsThe present work has illustrated the existence of a series of recurrent elements, bothformal and thematic ones, that characterize the way in which the experience oftraveling is presented in Cicero's correspondence. Our preliminary analysis of aselection from documentary material and from other epistolary collections has shownthat many of those elements are found beyond Cicero's correspondence, across textsof all levels: therefore they can be considered typical features that characterized thepresentation of one's traveling experience in the epistolary genre.Thus in Ch. II, we have studied various manners in which, in ancient letters, one couldprovide his or her present coordinates, which, in letters written during journeys, is themost basic way to give information about it. This can be done either with a datingformula in adscriptio, or within the body of the letter, in particular by means ofstereotyped phrases that are often set at the beginning or at the end of a letter, and thatmention the action of dispatching or writing the letter at hand, or also of receiving onefrom the present correspondent. In comparison to the dating formulas in adscriptio,these phrases have the advantage of providing additional information (for example,the place to which one is headed next in a trip) and of sketching a vivid little pictureof the writer's life in the very moment in which he or she is handling the letter, andthus they contribute to creating a live-report effect, which is a typical feature ofepistolarity. In particular, in letters written during journeys (which is the mostfrequent case), these phrases providing an indication of place and/ or time most oftenjuxtapose the action of taking care of one's correspondence and that of traveling, thusinsisting on the image of the writer as, very actively, receiving letters or composingand dispatching them while right 'on the go'.

In Ch. Ill we have focused our attention on the way in which letter writers used todescribe their itineraries, that is the actual movement from one place to another. Inparticular one's past itinerary up to the present location is generally given in thebeginning of the letter, while one's plans, especially when they are clearly established,are most often given at the end. A series of recurrent syntactical structures typicallyshape the exposition of one's itineraries. First of all, phrases with verbs of 'knowing',such as scire te volui, which are a typical feature of 'informative' letters, can be usedto introduce past and planned itineraries as well. Actually in documentary material,past itineraries are almost always introduced by such phrases, while in publishedcollections this structure is attested much more sporadically. In published collectionsin fact, past itineraries are more frequently expressed without this introduction, butrather simply through a verb of 'arriving', 'going', or 'staying' plus the place and, atleast in Cicero's correspondence, plus the date, often set at the very opening of theletter. Planned itineraries instead are most commonly expressed through phrases inwhich the verb of'moving' or 'staying' is governed by various verbs of 'thinking','deciding', or 'whishing' or, especially in documentary material, of'hoping'. Thesimple future indicative of the verb of'moving' or 'staying' instead is employedalmost exclusively in reference to plans that are presented as not certain yet andhappening under certain conditions, that is in sentences containing a circumstantial orconditional clause. Finally, from the point of view of the selection of topics deemedworthy of mention when it comes to the experience of traveling, the dangers anddiscomforts of the journey or the fortunate the lack of them are the aspects that arerecalled with the greatest frequency and across all kinds of letters. In rare cases inpublished collections, also what one is doing while on the go is mentioned: yet the

only activities named are either taking care of one s correspondence, or anywayreading or writing.Finally Ch. IV was dedicated to studying the extent and the forms in which a lettercan provide information about the writer's experience as he reaches a stop or the finaldestination of the journey, that is the measure in which a letter can describe what thewriter sees or what he does or feels in a place reached along a journey, or at the end ofit, or also during the journey taken as a whole. In Cicero's correspondence, thepragmatic purpose and the intention of providing a good image of oneself are visible,first of all, in the marked prevalence granted to talking about 'what the writer does'and, above all, 'what one has to do', over the description of 'what one feels' or of'what one sees'. The same aims also explain the limitations in the selection of topics,in particular when talking about less indispensable matters such as one's free time.Secondly, if comparing the choices followed by the writers of Cicero'scorrespondence to what we see in other published epistolary collections, certaindifferences appear evident: for example in several instances the topic of 'what onesees' gains much greater space than what we find anywhere in Cicero'scorrespondence, let alone in documentary material.In fact the eminently pragmatic treatment of the topic of one's experience in thepresent place and the that characterizes Cicero's correspondence differentiates it fromother published epistolary collections and instead, once more, connects it to 'real'correspondence, no matter how much revised and sophisticated it is. Our analysis, byillustrating what ancient readers normally expected to find in a letter about the writer'stravels, can also contribute to a better understanding how certain texts stretch theepistolary form to serve various purposes - and the measure in which such deviationappeared evident to the readers.

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