[sect. 2]
obviam mihi: cf. Cicero's account of his reception on returning from exile in Ep. XV. 5.
mederi: Cicero's absence from Italy while civil war was brewing, his absence from the senate during the stormy debates of the first week in January, as well as his well-known opportunism in politics, and his friendly relations with both Caesar and Pompey, seemed to make him the natural mediator between the opposing factions. That he hoped to effect a compromise is clear from many remarks in the Letters (cf., e.g., Ep. LXV. 5). What many condemn as cowardice in his course during the Civil War finds at least partial justification in his desire to keep a neutral attitude, which would enable him to negotiate a peace.
ex utraque parte : among others Cicero is thinking of the Pompeians Scipio and Lentulus, and the Caesarians Antony and Cassius; cf. Caes. B. C. 1.1-4, and see Ep. LXV. 6 victa est, etc.
minacis [gap in text] litteras : the letter read by Curio in the senate Jan. 1 (see introd. note). Caesar (B. C. 1.5) characterizes the propositions contained in his letter as lenissima postulata. Cicero's characterization of the letter would seem to be justified, however, by Caesar's own statement of his purpose in B. C. 1.22 ut se et populum Romanum factione paucorum oppressum in libertatem vindicaret. See also Dio Cass. 41.1.
provinciam: Caesar was proconsul of Gallia Cisalpina, Illyricum, and Gallia Narbonensis.
Curio meus: cf. Ep. VII.3n. He advised Caesar to advance upon Rome at once, without waiting to offer a compromise.
nulla vi expulsi: Antonius and Q. Cassius, two of the tribunes, vetoed the senatus consultum ultimum (cf. introd. note), and although such action was strictly within the limits of their power, serious threats were made against them in the senate. Cf. Caes. B. C. 1.2 refertur confestim de intercessione tribunorum. Dicuntur sententiae graves: ut quisque acerbissime crudelissimeque dixit, ita maxime ab inimicis Caesaris collaudatur, and according to Dio Cassius 41.3 the consul Lentulus went so far as to summon them ὑπεξελθεῖν πρὶν τὰς ψήφους διενεχθῆναι. The principle that the tribune could not be held responsible for his official acts seems to have been first called into question in the year 98 B.C.
, in the case of C. Furius, who had been tribune in the preceding year, and similar prosecutions occurred in the years 94 B.C.
, 86 B.C.
, 74 B.C.
, 66 B.C.
, and 65 B.C.
(cf. Herzog, 1.1167 ff.; Madvig, Verf. u. Verw. 1.467). The case before us would seem to have been the first instance when an attempt was made to hold a tribune accountable during his term of office. As Caesar puts it, de sua salute septimo die (of the calendar year) cogitare coguntur, B. C. 1.5. Cf. also Appian, Bell. Civ. 2.33. Cicero's words, therefore, nulla vi expulsi, while technically true, misrepresent the real state of the case. It was this infringement of the rights of the tribune which Caesar urged in justification of his advance upon Rome.
ad Caesarem: Caesar was at Ravenna.
senatus, etc.: cf. Caes. B. C. 1.5.
