e dismiss any fear of being premature in
sending you this letter, for I was exceedingly anxious that it should
reach you as soon as possible. If the obligations, Curio, had only been
on your side, and as great as they are usually proclaimed by you rather
than as valued by me, I should have been more shy of coming to you for
any request of importance which I might have to make. For it is very
disagreeable to a modest man to ask a great favour from one whom he
thinks under an obligation to himself, lest he should seem rather to
demand than to ask what he is seeking, and to regard it more in the
light of a debt than of a favour. But since your kindnesses to me were
known to the whole world, or rather I should say were made especially
prominent and valuable by the very novelty of my circumstances; and
since it is the mark of a generous heart to be willing, when much is
owed, to reckon the debt at its highest; I did not hesitate to prefer
to you by letter a petition for what was of the highest importance and
most vital consequence to me of anything in the world. For I was not
afraid of being unable to support your kindnesses to me, even though
they were beyond calculation: especially as I felt confident that there
was no amount of favour for which my heart was incapable of finding room
when receiving it, or for which in repayment it could not make a full
and brilliant return. I have concentrated and embarked all my zeal, all
my efforts, all the care and industry of which I am capable, my every
thought, in fact, my whole heart and soul, on securing Milo's
consulship; and I have made up my mind that in this matter I ought to
look not merely for the profit arising from an act of kindness, but also
for the credit of disinterested affection. Nor do I think that anyone
was ever so anxious about his own personal safety and his own fortunes
as I am for his election, on which I have made up my mind that all my
interests depend. To him I see clearly that, if you choose, you can
render such substantial help that we need ask for nothing else. We have
on our side all these advantages: the favour of the loyalists won since
his tribunate on account of his supporting me (as I hope you
understand); that of the common multitude on account of the splendour of
his gladiatorial exhibitions and the liberality of his disposition; the
favour of the young men and of those influential in securing votes, won
by his own eminent powers of captivation, sha