[sect. 3]
reliquum est, etc.: the omission of ut is archaic.
mi iucundissime Cicero : adjectives as well as pronouns are sometimes joined with proper names in colloquial Latin. Such adjectives usually express affection, admiration, or sympathy, and are used both with the names of persons addressed or with those of persons spoken of. This usage is very rare in formal Latin, and is employed only under certain well-defined circumstances; cf. Naegelsbach, Stilistik,7 251 ff.
his quoque locis: the use of his shows that Dolabella was in the immediate vicinity of Pompey's headquarters, i.e. that he was in Caesar's camp before Dyrrachium, and not at Rome. Had he been writing from Rome, he would have said illis or istis. Cf. also circumvallato, above.
rusus: an archaic form for rursus; cf. Intr. 81.
tu : the pleonastic use of pronouns is characteristic of the more informal letters. In this letter, for instance, tu is used five times, and in three of these cases quite unnecessarily. Cf. tibi tu, Ep. L. 2.
civitatem: a colloquial substitute for urbs or oppidum. This is its first appearance in this sense in prose. In late Latin and in general in the Romance languages it completely usurped the functions of the two words mentioned above. The history of this word offers another illustration of the connection existing between colloquial Latin and the Romance languages; cf. testificor, Ep. L., 1n.
advolem: cf. advoles, Ep. XXV.4n.
non minimum: non mediocre, non pessimum, and other similar expressions are common in the Letters.