Caesar: L. Julius Caesar, uncle of Antony the triumvir, and, by the second marriage of his sister Julia, brother-in-law of Lentulus, the Catilinarian conspirator. He tried unsuccessfully to mediate in 43 B.C. between the senate and Antony (Phil. 8.1). He was placed by Antony upon the list of the proscribed in return for the consent of Octavius to the murder of Cicero, and escaped death only through the devotion of his sister Julia.

certus: here' sure to win.' This expectation was realized.

Thermus cum Silano: the consuls for 64 B.C. (cf. Ep. II.) were L. Julius Caesar and C. Marcius Figulus, so that either another candidate than the three mentioned here came to the front and was elected, or else Thermus became Figulus by adoption and held the office under that name. It was D. Junius Silanus who, as consul designatus, and therefore first speaker in the senate, proposed that Lentulus and his fellow-conspirators should be put to death (Cat. 4.7).

Thermus [gap in text] existimatur: i.e. it is expected that there will be a hard fight between Thermus and Silanus.

ab amicis : ab is not infrequently used to introduce a limitation with adjectives which signify power, equipment, or their opposites, e.g. ab equitatu firmus, Ep. XCVIII. 2; ab omni re sumus paratiores, Fam. 10.8.6, and elsewhere.

Curium obducere: i.e. to run Curius in opposition. Curius, evidently a man held in light esteem, may have been the Quintus Curius who informed Cicero of Catiline's plans.

Thermum fieri: sc. consulem.

si in nostrum annum reciderit, if he goes over to my year, i.e. to the election for 63 B.C.

viae Flaminiae: the great northern thoroughfare from Rome to the Adriatic. The completion (absoluta) of this road would, as Cicero thinks, give Thermus political prestige and influence, and therefore make him a dangerous opponent a year later, although at the time of writing he has few followers (inopes ab amicis). "The great Roman roads, such as the via Appia, Flaminia, etc., were called viae praetoriae or consulares, and were under the charge of curatores." Tyrrell from Momm. St. R. II 3. p.454.

accuderim : the conjecture of Boot (see Crit. App.); a Plautine word.

informata cogitatio, general impression.

Gallia (Cispadana): it possessed the right of suffrage; cf. Phil. 2.76 municipia coloniasque Galliae a qua nos [gap in text] petere consulatum solebamus.

cum [gap in text] refrixerit, when the heat of business in the courts at Rome shall have cooled down. On refrixerit, cf. Intr. 99.

mense Septembri: the ludi Magni or Romani began Sept. 4 and lasted 15 days, and later in the year came the ludi Plebeii, the Saturnalia, etc., so that little legal business could be done between Sept. 1 and Jan. 1.

legati: the reference is to a legatio libera, an unofficial embassy. Senators favored with such a privilege could travel for their own pleasure or profit with the title and the rights of a legatus, and receive supplies from government agents without performing any official duties. The provinces found this senatorial junketing such a burden that Cicero in his consulship placed certain limitations upon it.

Pisonem: proconsul in Gallia Narbonensis. He was afterwards defended by Cicero against a charge of maladministration (repetundae) while governor of this province.

voluntates nobilium: the aristocracy were probably at this moment little inclined to support Cicero's candidacy, and voted for him the next year only because he was the candidate most likely to defeat Catiline and the democrats.

his [gap in text] competitoribus, provided that civilians are my only rivals; for if some one returns from a successful military campaign to stand for the consulship, the result will be more uncertain.

manum: the support of Pompey. By the provisions of the Manilian law, Pompey had the year before been given charge of the war against Mithridates. Cicero's advocacy of that bill would naturally secure for him Pompey's support in the consular election. Atticus, who was at this time in Athens, and therefore nearer than Cicero to Pompey, was asked to make sure of Pompey's assistance; or, perhaps, as Tyrrell thinks, manum refers to the followers of Pompey, some of whom might return to Rome in time for the election.