Letter 63 and The Delivery and Confidentiality of Cicero's Letters

Letter 63
This letter is written to Atticus in 45 BCE while Cicero is at his villa in Puteoli. He outlines a Saturnalian dinner party in which Caesar attends with 2,000 of his soldiers. Cicero describes the dinner as being pleasant and with festivities for all types of people. He describes that to his delight, there was no talk of politics and the conversations focused around literary works. Despite the redeeming qualities of this dinner, in true Ciceronian form, he states that although Caesar was a pleasant guest, one time is enough and hopes to avoid another dinner party with the general.



Nicholson Article
This article focuses on the methods and perils of delivering letters during the Late Republican Era in which Cicero was so avidly writing. Nicholson quickly establishes that there was no established postal service until Augustus became emperor. However, that does not mean there was ever a shortage for couriers for hire. The lack of an establish government institution to deliver letters meant that letters and their contents were incredibly vulnerable. A curious courier or spy could very easily intercept a letter and divulge its secrets. However this prompted wealthy citizens to hire personal couriers, often slaves or freedmen, whom they could trust.
As I have quickly learned this semester, Cicero suffered from a severe case of epistolary addiction. The political and social climate in Rome demanded constant updating and forced Cicero into daily exchange of letters with contacts as far as Macedonia. I found it very interesting that Cicero would sometimes send a letter merely because there was a courier leaving and he would hate to miss the opportunity for interaction. This possibly tells me that despite his "friendships" and constant time in the spotlight, Cicero was a lonely individual longing for an equal to relate to. However it could also be seen as a life preservation tactic - if he is up to date with current affairs, then he can better prepare himself.
Ultimately, the efficiency and frequency of visits from letter carriers allowed Cicero to produce 37 extant books and 37 lost books of letters that chronicle the Late Republic from an insiders view, so the current system obviously worked and proved to be a vital tool in the survival of these letters for the use of the modern scholar.