alf-sister, probably older than
herself, of the name of Fabia, who was a vestal virgin. She brought her
husband, to whom she was married about 78 B.C., a fair dowry, about
three thousand five hundred pounds. We have seen how affectionately
Cicero writes to her during his exile. She is his darling, his only
hope; the mere thought of her makes his eyes overflow with tears. And
she seems to have deserved all his praise and affection, exerting
herself to the utmost to help him, and ready to impoverish herself to
find him the means that he needed. Four letters of this period have been
preserved. There are twenty others belonging to the years 50-47 B.C. The
earlier of these are sufficiently affectionate. When he is about to
return to Rome from his province (Cilicia), she is still the most
amiable, the dearest of women. Then we begin to see signs of coolness,
yet nothing that would strike us did we not know what was afterwards to
happen. He excuses the rarity of his letters. There is no one by whom to
send them. If there were, he was willing to write. The greetings became
formal, the superlatives "dearest," "fondest," "best," are dropped. "You
are glad," he writes after the battle of Pharsalia had dashed his hopes,
"that I have got back safe to Italy; I hope that you may continue to be
glad." "Don't think of coming," he goes on, "it is a long journey and
not very safe; and I don't see what good you would do if you should
come." In another letter he gives directions about getting ready his
house at Tusculum for the reception of guests. The letter is dated on
the first of October, and he and his friends would come probably to stay
several days, on the seventh. If there was not a tub in the bath-room,
one must be provided. The greeting is of the briefest and most formal.
Meanwhile we know from what he writes to Atticus that he was greatly
dissatisfied with the lady's conduct. Money matters were at the bottom
of their quarrel. She was careless, he thinks, and extravagant. Though
he was a rich man, yet he was often in need of ready money, and Terentia
could not be relied upon to help him. His vexation takes form in a
letter to Atticus. "As to Terentia--there are other things without
number of which I don't speak--what can be worse than this? You wrote to
her to send me bills for one hundred and eight pounds; for there was so
much money left in hand. She sent me just ninety pounds, and added a
note that this was all. If she was capabl