Clodia Letter

Two days before the Ides of May, 45 BC: Clodia Metelli sends greetings to M. Tullius Cicero What a surprise it was, I must tell you, to hear from you, however indirectly. I have, of course, heard nothing except that which your reputation and fame ensure that no one avoids since your egregious assault on my reputation in 56 BC. Nevertheless, I received an inquiry from our friend Atticus the other day about the state of my horti, which I can only assume came at your behest. I see, my Marcus that some things never change. Did you truly think that a change in the tributary of the request, but not the fountainhead would somehow alter my decision? That I wouldn’t immediately see that the request was yours and not Atticus’? Apparently you are still unwilling to undertake tasks of a sensitive and delicate nature yourself1. Sometimes I think that our dear friend Atticus is too good to you. As to the substance of your request about my horti, I must agree with your characterization of their splendor and beauty. The view of the Campus Martius is breathtaking. Also, the location on the Tiber is so gorgeous that it has long been visited by the youths in their leisure for swimming and sunning, a fact that, I must admit, has always made the view doubly pleasurable2. I am glad to see that, although it has been many years, you have not forgotten our time together there3. In 62 BC Cicero asked Clodia to speak to her husband Metellus’s brother, a new tribune, and try to steer him towards a course that was more to Cicero’s liking (Fam. 5.2) 2 Cael. 36 3 Marilyn Skinner notes that in his letters to Atticus, Cicero describes Clodia’s estate on the Tiber as though he knew it very well, but here I take a liberty; there is no concrete evidence that Cicero ever spent time there. 1 However, although I know you have always admired the gardens, I must say that your request still surprised me. I never thought that a man of your political and social standing would stoop to do business with this “Palatine Medea”4. One would think that this mere mulier is not worthy of your attentions5. Furthermore, why would you want to spend your retirement or erect a shrine to your beloved Tullia in a “hostile, disgraceful, cruel, criminal [and] lustful house”6? Such a place would seem to debase and disgrace your beloved, the light of your life, rather than to ennoble and exalt her. Even more perplexing than the reason you would wish to honor your daughter in what you clearly believe to be a shameful and revolting place is why you would think the woman whom you publicly denounced as “not only a whore, but a brazen and dissipated whore” would oblige your request7. How silly you can sometimes be. On the subject of that unfortunate incident of 56, I still do not understand why you felt the need to attack me so brazenly; although I think my ego can withstand a few insults, even ones from a wit of your caliber. It cannot be that you truly believed Caelius’s allegation of quadrantaria Clytemnestra8. You of all people must know that I had no need for the money, for I was willing to take you, a mere novus homo, over much 4 Cael. 18 Throughout the Pro Caelio, Cicero refers to Clodia using the more derogatory term mulier as opposed to femina, the term usually reserved for women of her social stature, 35 times (Anne Leen) 6 Cael. 55 (actually referring to her residence on the Palatine) 7 Cael. 49 8 Roughly translated as “three-penny whore”, referring to the quadrans, the smallest denomination of Roman money, which Clodia was accused of taking from men. 5 wealthier men9. Moreover, you cannot possibly have blamed me for the unfortunate circumstances of your exile. Did I not inform you through our dear friend Atticus about the intentions of both my brother and of the triumvirate, the three men who also betrayed you far more egregiously than I10? I acted as far as propriety could allow. My obligations to my brother prevented me from working outwardly against your exile once he had decided upon it just as your obligations to Terentia forced you speak up at Clodius’ trial in 6211. Still, though your actions could potentially have caused my brother much harm—though thanks to Crassus they did not—my reaction was one of calm understanding rather than an overblown and highly damaging public attack. So you see, my dearest Marcus, why I am unable to sell you the property at this time. It would be improper and unseemly for me to oblige immediately, given the wrongs you have visited upon me, regardless of the fact that I suspect you never fully believed your own accusations. Indeed, by Hercules, I can never be sure when you will turn and use it as evidence of my obliging nature in other matters. However, I am truly sorry for your recent misfortunes and grief. I know that she meant the world to you, even from what you spoke of her to me years ago when she was still of a tender age. On the other hand, I perhaps would be willing to reconsider if, at some point, you ever deign to speak to me face to face. No matter how dear a friend Atticus is, no messenger could 9 Plutarch, Cicero 29.1-5. Plutarch asserts that Clodia wanted to marry Cicero. While there is absolutely to evidence to this fact, it has been suggested that the violent hatred and rage Cicero displayed in the Pro Caelio came from an unresolved personal conflict. 10 Att. 2.9, 2.22. Though Clodia was very loyal to her brother, so much so as to even defy her husband, Metellus, on his behalf, she continued to provide information to Atticus and through him to Cicero for some unknown reason (Skinner). 11 Cicero testified at Clodius’s trial for the Bona Dea scandal, demolishing his alibi and ensuring his conviction, had Crassus not bribed all the jurors. Jeffrey Tatum notes that it has been suggested that he did so at Terentia’s urging either because she though Clodia was having an affair with her husband or because she wished to repay Clodius for prosecuting her half-sister Fabia for incestum with Catiline. replace your personal appearance—Caelius couldn’t, neither could that Catullus. Yes, I think a personal appearance would be sufficient to make me reconsider, and, as for your public tantrum at my expense, I’m sure you could find some way to make it up to me. Take care, and trust that, as always, I am well. Bibliography Secondary Sources: Craig, Christopher P. “Teaching Cicero’s Speech for Caelius: What Enquiring Minds Want to Know”. The Classical Journal. Vol. 90, No. 4 (Apr. – May 1995) pp. 407-422. Everitt, Anthony. Cicero: the Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician. New York: Random House, 2003. Hejduk, Julia Dyson. Clodia: a Sourcebook. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2008. Leen, Anne. “Clodia Oppugnatrix: The Domus Motif in Cicero’s ‘Pro Caelio’”. The Classical Journal, Vol. 96, No. 2, (Dec., 2000 – Jan., 2001), pp. 141-162. Skinner, Marilyn B. “Clodia Metelli”. TAPA 112 (1983), pp. 197-208 Tatum, W. Jeffrey. “Cicero and the Bona Dea Scandal”. Classical Philology, Vol. 84, No. 3, (Jul., 1990), pp. 202-208. Primary Sources: Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Pro Caelio ---. Epistulae ad Familiares 5.2 ---. Epistulae ad Atticum 2.9, 2.22 Plutarch. Cicero 29.1-5