John Nicholson’s article elucidates some very practical points about transporting and safeguarding the letters for arrival at their intended destinations. He begins by making the point that there was no official postal service for Romans until the time of Augustus (cursus publicus). In Cicero’s days, messengers, tabellarii, or personal servants were employed for this service. The method was by no means safe and one could never be certain that the letters would arrive unscathed. Whether from rain, tampering or robbery, there was a constant fear of correspondences being made read by those of whom they were not intended. Various methods were employed by Cicero and others to help prevent this, or at the very least that their meaning was unknown through a method called en ainigmois (in riddles), but no method was full proof. This interesting, and very pragmatic, article presents some important research to the understanding of Cicero’s body of work.
Letter 63:
In his letter to Atticus in Rome on December 21, 45 BCE, Cicero tells of the banquet hosted by Phillipus in which Caesar was a guest. Caesar, then dictator, brought a large contingent of soldiers with him (2,000 according to the letter) and fortified the villa for safety while pitching a tent outside as well. The banquet appears to have been very elaborate and liberal entertainments (valde copiose) were made even for the freedmen and servants. Cicero mentions that Cicero was a pleasant guest but not the type you would want to have around more than once (semelsatis est). An interesting note, Cicero says there was no talk of politics (spoudaion ouden) but plenty of literature (philologa). Clearly, great expense was taken to ensure the night was a success and that it was all on account of Caesar. I’m sure Cicero would have liked to say plenty more about the banquet but probably thought it wise to hold his tongue.
No comments:
Post a Comment