[sect. 5]
Cyprus insula: Cyprus had been taken from the Ptolemies by Cato in 58 B.C.
, and henceforth he was its patronus. It was part of Cicero's province.
Cappadociae regnum : cf. cuius salutem, etc., 6. For Cicero's services to Ariobarzanes, cf. 6; for his services to Cyprus, cf. falso, 2 n. 16.
philosophiam veram: Cicero, in so far as ethics was concerned, was, like Cato, a Stoic.
quae [gap in text] videtur: the innate prejudice of the Romans against what Cicero elsewhere (Att. 2.16.3) calls ὁ θεωρετικὸς βίος was very strong.
a Catone: for a similar effective use of the proper noun for the pronoun, cf. Fam. 2.4.1 quid est quod possit graviter a Cicerone scribi ad Curionem (instead of a me scribi ad te) ?
ex meis litteris: i.e. on the basis of the facts stated in this letter and in Fam. 15.1 and 2, addressed to the senate. For litterae of more than one letter, cf. Ep. XCIX.1n.