[sect. 2]
peream si: cf. ne vivam, Ep. IV.4n.
isto: archaic form; cf. Servius on Verg. Aen. 8.423 pro huc hoc veteres dicere solebant, sicut pro illuc illo dicimas. See also Intr. 81. In isto the demonstrative particle -c(e) is lacking, as it is in illi below.
discupio , etc., I am dying to see you, etc. Verbs intensified by the addition of dis- belong exclusively to colloquial Latin, and are similar in meaning to those compounded with per- (cf. Intr. 77). Cicero allows such compounds, when not applied to physical matters, only in his more informal writings (cf. discrucio, Att. 14.6.1; dilaudo, Att.4.17.5),but in Latin comedy a considerable list of them is found, discaveo, discrucio, discupio, disperdo, dispereo, dispudet, distaedet.
quam: not to be regarded as exclamatory (how many!), but as intensive; cf. reiecit se in eam flens quam familiariter, Ter. And. 136. We should then consider the phrase elliptical (tam) malta quam (habere possum).
hui : like hem (Ep. XIII. 2) confined to colloquial Latin; cf., e.g., Plaut. Truc. 29; Rud. 154. See also Intr. 92.
ad Alpis versus: the combination ad [gap in text] versus occurs in Caesar, Sallust, and Livy, but not in Cicero. Versus is to be taken adverbially with the preposition. It emphasizes the direction.
illi: for illic; see note on isto above.
se [gap in text] dant, the Domitii are everywhere going wrong. One Domitius surrendered Corfinium, and another has now let himself be killed, so that Caelius is obliged to make a long march to the Alps in the middle of winter. On se dare, see advoles, Epist. XXV. 4 n.
Venere prognatus: i.e. Caesar, who claimed to be descended from Venus.
Psacade natus: i.e. Bellienus. Psacas (Ψακάς) means a crumb, morsel, or anything insignificant. Psacade natus would therefore mean the son of a nobody, and is coined by Caelius to offset Venere prognatus. He wishes that Caesar had shown as much sternness in putting Domitius Ahenobarbus to death after the capture of Corfinium as Bellienus had shown in the case of the other Domitius.
f. s. d.: for filio salutem dices; cf. nos diliges, Ep. XVIII. (end) n. and Intr. 62. The admiration which Caelius felt for Caesar, and his enthusiasm for the latter's brilliant campaign, give to the letter an extravagant and unconventional tone, which naturally finds expression in the use of colloquial and archaic words and phrases. Cf. the notes on nugax, commorit, ambulando confecerunt, malis orbiculatis, etc., quam sollicitus sum, nisi si, peream si, isto, illi, discupio, quam multa, hui, and se [gap in text] dant. The style of the letter confirms the judgment of Tacitus in regard to Caelius (Dial. 21): Sordes autem illae verborum et hians compositio et inconditi sensus redolent antiquitatem, nec quemquam adeo antiquarium puta ut Caelium ex ea parte laudet qua antiquus est.
