As yet there are three parties prosecuting Gabinius:first,L.
Lentulus,son of the flainen,who has entered a prosecution for l?se majest?;secondly,Tib.Nero with good names at the back of his indictment;thirdly,C.Memmius the tribune in conjunction with L.
Capito.He came to the walls of the city on the 19th of September,undignified and neglected to the last degree.But in the present state of the law courts I do not venture to be confident of anything.
As Cato is unwell,he has not yet been formally indicted for extortion.Pompey is trying hard to persuade me to be reconciled to him,but as yet he has not yet succeeded at all,nor,if I retain a shred of liberty,will he succeed.I am very anxious for a letter from you.You say that you have been told that I was a party to the coalition of the consular candidates--it is a lie.The compacts male in that coalition afterwards made public by Memmius,were of such a nature that no loyal man ought to have been a party to them;nor at the same time was it possible for me to be a party to a coalition from which Messalla was excluded,who is thoroughly satisfied with my conduct in every particular,as also,I think,is Memmius.To Domitius himself I have rendered many services which he desired and asked of me.I have put Scaurus under a heavy obligation by my defence of him.It is as yet very uncertain both when the elections will be and who will be consuls.
Just as I was folding up this epistle letter-carriers arrived from you and Caesar (20th September)after a journey of twenty days.How anxious I was!How painfully I was affected by Caesar's most kind letter!But the kinder it was,the more sorrow did his loss occasion me.But to turn to your letter.To begin with,I reiterate my approval of your staying on,especially as,according to your account,you have consulted Caesar on the subject.I wonder that Oppius has anything to do with Publius for I advised against it.
Farther on in your letter you say that I am going to be made legatus to Pompey on the 13th of September:I have heard nothing about it,and I wrote to Caesar to tell him that neither Vibullius nor Oppius had delivered his message to Pompey about my remaining at home.Why,I know not.However,it was I who restrained Oppius from doing so,because it was Vibullius who should take the leading part in that matter:for with him Caesar had communicated personally,with Oppius only by letter.I indeed can have no "second thoughts"in matters connected with Caesar.He comes next after you and our children in my regard,and not much after.Ithink I act in this with deliberate judgment,for I have by this time good cause for it,yet warm personal feeling no doubt does influence me also.
Just as I had written these last words--which are by my own hand--your boy came in to dine with me,as Pomponia was dining out.He gave me your letter to read,which he had received shortly before--a truly Aristophanic mixture of jest and earnest,with which I was greatly charmed.He gave me also your second letter,in which you bid him cling to my side as a mentor.How delighted he was with those letters!And so was I.Nothing could be more attractive than that boy,nothing more affectionate to me !--This,to explain its being in another handwriting,I dictated to Tiro while at dinner.
