[sect. 3]
aliquid impertias temporis: for Cicero's comments on this phrase, see Att. 8.9. 1.
tuo beneficio: sc. in not forcing him to give up his neutrality, and thus losing a chance to help Pompey.
pius: sc. in remembering the duty he owed to his old friend Pompey.
ad tuam fidem: Caesar steadily maintained that he desired peace.
per te [gap in text] conservari: i.e. that I be not constrained to appear at Rome and thus lose my neutral position, and with it my ability to secure a peaceful solution of the present difficulty.
de Lentulo: Cicero had thanked Caesar in a previous letter for his generosity in allowing Lentulus Spinther, who had been captured at Corfinium, to go free. For Caesar's reply, cf. Att. 9.16. At this time Lentulus was at Puteoli; cf.Att. 9.11.1.
qui fuerat: in 57 B.C.
Lentulus as consul had worked for Cicero's recall from exile. Cf. also Ep. XIV. 2.