s
coming into Rome after passing the Rubicon; nothing of
the manner of fighting at Dyrrachium and Pharsalia; very
little of the death of Pompey; nothing of Caesar's delay
in Egypt. The letters deal with Cicero's personal doings
and thoughts, and with the politics of Rome as a city.
The passage to which allusion is made occurs in the life
of Atticus, ca. xvi: "Quae qui legat non multum
desideret historiam contextam illorum temporum."

[138] Jean George Greefe was a German, who spent his
life as a professor at Leyden, and, among other
classical labors, arranged and edited the letters of
Cicero. He died in 1703.

[139] It must be explained, however, that continued
research and increased knowledge have caused the order
of the letters, and the dates assigned to them, to be
altered from time to time; and, though much has been
done to achieve accuracy, more remains to be done. In my
references to the letters I at first gave them, both to
the arrangement made by Graevius and to the numbers
assigned in the edition I am using; but I have found
that the numbers would only mislead, as no numbering has
been yet adopted as fixed. Arbitrary and even fantastic
as is the arrangement of Graevius, it is better to
confine myself to that because it has been acknowledged,
and will enable my readers to find the letters if they
wish to do so. Should Mr. Tyrrell continue and complete
his edition of the correspondence, he will go far to
achieve the desired accuracy. A second volume has
appeared since this work of mine has been in the press.

[140] The peculiarities of Cicero's character are
nowhere so clearly legible as in his dealings with and
words about his daughter. There is an effusion of love,
and then of sorrow when she dies, which is un-Roman,
almost feminine, but very touching.

[141] I annex a passage from our well known English
translation: "The power of the pirates had its
foundation in Cilicia. Their progress was the more
dangerous, because at first it had been but little
noticed. In the Mithridatic war they assumed new
confidence and courage, on account of some services
which they had rendered the king. After this, the Romans
being engaged in civil war at the very gates of their
capital, the sea was left unguarded, and the pirates by
degrees attemp