Ipse in Asiam profectus sum Tarso Nonis Ianuariis, non mehercule dici potest, qua admiratione Ciliciae civitatum maximeque Tarsensium; postea vero quam Taurum transgressus sum, mirifica exspectatio Asiae nostrarum dioecesium, quae sex {5} mensibus imperii mei nullas meas acceperat litteras, numquam hospitem viderat. Illud autem tempus quotannis ante me fuerat in hoc quaestu; civitates locupletes, ne in hiberna milites reciperent, magnas pecunias dabant, Cyprii talenta Attica CC, qua ex {10} insula--non ὑπερβολικῶς, sed verissime loquor--nummus nullus me obtinente erogabatur. Ob haec beneficia, quibus illi obstupescunt, nullos honores mihi nisi verborum decerni sino; statuas, fana, τέθριππα prohibeo, nec sum in ulla re alia molestus {15} civitatibus, sed fortasse tibi, qui haec praedicem de me. Perifer, si me amas; tu enim me haec facere voluisti. Iter igitur ita per Asiam feci, ut etiam fames, qua nihil miserius est, quae tum erat in hac mea Asia--messis enim nulla fuerat--, mihi optanda {20} fuerit: quacumque iter feci, nulla vi, nullo iudicio, nulla contumelia auctoritate et cohortatione perfeci, ut et Graeci et cives Romani, qui frumentum compresserant, magnum numerum populis pollicerentur. CICERO, _Ep. ad Atticum_, v. 21. [Linenotes: 1. +in Asiam+, i.e. to the districts N. of the Taurus range, which belonged geographically to Asia in the Roman sense, but were politically attached to Cilicia. --Watson. +Tarso+ = on the R. Cydnus, about twelve miles above its mouth. Pompeius made Tarsus the capital of the new province of Cilicia, 66 B.C. 6-7. +nullas meas ... viderat+ = _had never received demands_ (+litteras+) _from me, never seen a man billeted on them_. The +hospites+ = _soldiers or public officials_. 8. +fuerat in hoc quaestu+ = _had been devoted to gain in the following fashion_. --Tyrrell. 9. +ne in hiberna milites reciperent:+ Mommsen says ‘A town suffered nearly to the same extent when a Roman army took up winter quarters in it as when an enemy took it by storm.’ 15. τέθριππα = _statues in chariots drawn by four horses_. 20-21. +mihi optanda fuerit:+ i.e. because it gave him the opportunity of showing the effect of his personal influence. --T. 23. +compresserant+ = _had stowed away_; lit. _kept back_, rare.] +Cicero as Governor.+ His administration seems to have been just, considerate and popular. For +Cicero’s Ideal of a Roman Governor+, see _Ep. ad Q. F._ i. 1 (Q. Cicero governed Asia as Propraetor 62-58 B.C.) CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR. _Nec quemquam iam ferre potest Caesarve priorem Pompeiusve parem._ --LUCAN. +56 B.C. By the Conference at Luca+ it was arranged:-- (i) to give Caesar a new term of five years’ government in which to complete his work in Gaul (until March 1, 49); (ii) to give Pompeius the government of the two Spains, and Crassus that of Syria, for five years also. It was further agreed that Pompeius and Crassus should have the consulship for 55 B.C.