[sect. 2]
Pisonem nostrum: cf. Intr. 53. He worked devotedly to prevent Cicero's exile, and afterwards to secure his recall; cf. Fam. 14.1.4; 14.3. 3.-in novis tr. p1.: the new tribunes would come into office Dec.10, and had all promised to help Cicero. One of the number was Milo, leader of the 'physical force' section of the senatonal party.
voluntas erit: sc. firma.
Crassum: cf. Ep. VIII.5n.
P. Valerius: mentioned several times in the Letters, but little is known of him.
a (sc. templo) Vestae: cf. the English expression 'from St. Paul's.' This ellipsis of templum or aedes between the preposition and the genitive of the name of a divinity, according to C. F. W. Mller, appears first in Ter. Ad. 582. ' It belongs, therefore, to the colloquial language of the Scipionic circle, and must be considered rather familiar than vulgar or archaic.' Cf. ad Opis, Att. 14.14.5; ad Apollinis, Ep. XVI. 3; ad Vestae, Hor. Sat. 1.9.35. Somewhat similar is ad L. Tondei (domum) vorsu, C. L. L. 1.1143. See also Intr. 95 and Arch. f. lat. Lex. 11.368. Terentia's half-sister Fabia was a Vestal virgin, and Terentia had probably taken refuge with her.
ad tabulam Valeriam: Pliny, N. H. 35.22, quoted by Hofmann, tells us that there was a painting upon the side wall of the Curia Hostilia, executed by the order of M.' Valerius Maximus to celebrate his victories. Near this painting (the Tabula Valeria) there was probably a banker's stall, to which Terentia was forced to come to make an affidavit with reference to her property, or possibly to secure a loan.
hem: a colloquial word, to be distinguished from the demonstrative particle em. It expresses joy, astonishment, or, as here, grief. It is frequent in comedy; cf. Ter. And. 383, 420, 462. and see Intr. 92.
mea lux, meum desiderium: cf. Fam. 14.5. 1 Si tu et Tullia, lux nostra, valetis; Ep. XI. 6 mea Terentia, fidissima atque optima uxor; Fam. 14.5.2 vos, mea suavissima et optatissima Terentia. Cf. Intr. 49, 52.
unde [gap in text] solebant: as they hoped to win Cicero's legal or political support through her intercession.
iacere, etc.: cf. Ep. XII. 3 eodem in loco iaceo, etc. The infinitives vexari, etc., are exclamatory.
qui ceteros, etc.: the execution of Lentulus and his fellow-conspirators, by which Cicero had saved Roman citizens from murder and arson, was the pretext for his banishment.