PuRSEK — Cicero's Correspondence during his Proconsulate. 391 



self to acknowledge that the route was strange -when he says, deinde 

 cogitabain sine idla mora iusta itinera facere. If the Trebulanum was 

 where Momnisen places it, a letter would hardly have been delivered 

 there tertio die from Rome (3. 1). The distance would be about the 

 same as to Pompeii, and it was exceptional for a letter to reach that 

 town sooner than the fourth day (of. Att, xiv. 18. 1 tuas litteras 

 vesperi acceperam in PompeiaJio, sane celeriter tertio ahs te die). 



V. 2. 3, — De republica scribas ad me velim si quid erit, quod 

 foperare. 



The attractive correction of Ursinus, odorere, is adopted by most 

 editors, including C. F. W. Miiller. Ascensius, followed by Baiter, 

 reads opperiare, meaning, I suppose, ' which you are waiting for.' The 

 simplest alteration would be quod operae est, ' which is of consequence/ 

 ' worth while (writing about).' The phrase operae esse is often used 

 affirmatively : cf. Liv. ix. 23. 12, castra haleant repetantque, quibus 

 operae est trahere helium; and the well-known line of Ennius (Ann. 

 483, ed, L. Miiller), Lunai portum, est operae, cognoscite, cives. Ou 

 the phrase see Mr. Stanley in the Classical Review, viii. 345, and 

 Roby, ii., p. xlix, and § 1283. 



v. 3. 1. — Quid de his cogites et quando scire velim. 



Madvig (Adv. Grit. iii. 175) rightly looks for the corruption inMs. 

 He supposes the allusion is to Atticus's journey, and conjectures ^^'/Z/s. 

 Ussing suggests viis, and this seems preferable. But I think it more 

 probable that Cicero is referring to his debt to Oppius, which he 

 mentions in so many letters of this period : cf. T. 2 ; 4. 3 ; 5.2; and 

 I suggest Quid de US DCCC cogites et quando (sc. soluturus sis) scire 

 velim. The number would be readily omitted once US became 

 corrupted into Ms. 



V. 3. 2. — Litterae, quarum alterae edictum f publi li michi habebant. 



This is usually altered to P. Licini; but the commentators do not 

 decide whatLicinius is referred to. Schiche (Zu Cicero's Brief wechsel 

 im Jahre 51 : Berlin Progr. 1895, pp. 6, 7) argues strongly for 

 reading P. Lentuli, i.e. Cicero's friend P. Lentulus Spinther, who was 

 governor of Cilicia before Appius Claudius. The objection to this is 

 that Lentuli is not very like li michi. I would rather suppose that the 

 reference is to the edict of Mucins Scaevola, which Cicero appears to 

 have used: cf. Att. vi. 1. 15 Ego tamen habeo (exceptionem) tcroSwa- 



