Letter coll=F:book=2:letter=8 Letter XXXIII: ad familiares 2.8
Athens, July 6, 51 B.C.
This is Cicero's reply to the chronicle of events at Rome, which the agent of Caelius had prepared with such care (Ep. XXXI. I).
[sect. 1]
gladiatorum compositiones: as we might say 'circus posters.' Public announcement was made upon the walls of the number of combatants, the date of the contests, etc. Such an announcement found upon the walls of Pompeii runs as follows: [C]N ALLEI:NIGIDI:MAI:QVINQ[VENNALIS]:GLLADIATORVM]:PAR[IAI]:XXX:ET:E0R[VM]:SVPP[OSITICII]:PVGN[ABVNT]:POMPEIIS:VIII:VII:VI:K.:DEC [gap in text] VEN[ATI0]:ERIT (C.L.L. IV.1179).
Chresti compilationem, the pilfering of Chrestus, i.e. the 'hotch potch' which Chrestus, the agent of Caelius, has taken indiscriminately from the journals of the senate, the records of the courts, and the placards of the games. Perhaps, however, Chrestus was a thief whose exploits formed one of the items in the diary. Cicero really desires to know, cum formam rei publicae viderit, quale aedificium futurum sit.
narrare nemo audeat: for Cicero's distaste for gladiatorial contests, cf. Ep. XIX. introd. note.
πολιτικώτερον [gap in text] cognovi: cf. Ep. XXXI. introd. note.
abs te: cf. Ep. 1.4 n.