Lurco’s proposal was irregular because it was made between the notice of the elections and the elections themselves, which was forbidden by the _leges Aelia et Fufia_ (153 B.C.).
Supposed to allude to the election of a king by boys at the Saturnalia, using beans to vote with; but it is rather dubious Latin. In Seneca’s _Apocolocyntosis_ 9 the same proverbs seem to be referred to in the phrase “_olim” inquit “magna res erat deum fieri: iam famam mimum fecisti_”: whence it has been suggested that _Faba_ or _Fama_ was the name of some well-known farce. Cf. _Laserpiciarius mimus_ (Petronius 33).
quod tu facis, et istos consulatus non flocci facteon.
Quod ad me scribis te in Asiam statuisse non ire, equidem mallem, ut ires, ac vereor, ne quid in ista re minus commode fiat; sed tamen non possum reprehendere consilium tuum, praesertim cum egomet in provinciam non sim profectus.
Epigrammatis tuis, quae in Amaltheo posuisti, contenti erimus, praesertim cum et Thyillus nos reliquerit, et Archias nihil de me scripserit. Ac vereor, ne, Lucullis quoniam Graecum poema condidit, nunc ad Caecilianam fabulam spectet. Antonio tuo nomine gratias egi eamque epistulam Mallio dedi. Ad te ideo antea rarius scripsi, quod non habebam idoneum, cui darem, nec satis sciebam, quo darem. Valde te venditavi. Cincius si quid ad me tui negotii detulerit, suscipiam; sed nunc magis in suo est occupatus; in quo ego ei non desum. Tu, si uno in loco es futurus, crebras a nobis litteras exspecta; ast plures etiam ipse mittito. Velim ad me scribas, cuius modi sit Ἀμαλθεῖον tuum, quo ornatu, qua τοποθεσίᾳ, et, quae poemata quasque historias de Ἀμαλθείᾳ habes, ad me mittas. Lubet mihi facere in Arpinati. Ego tibi aliquid de meis scriptis mittam. Nihil erat absoluti.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae Non. Dec. a. 693_]
Magna mihi varietas voluntatis et dissimilitude opinionis ac iudicii Quinti fratris mei demonstrate est ex litteris tuis, in quibus ad me epistularum illius exempla misisti. Qua ex re et molestia sum tanta
like yourself, and not give a button for consulships.
You write that you have made up your mind not to go to Asia. I would rather you did go, and I am afraid it may cause unpleasantness if you do not. But I cannot blame your determination, especially as I have refused to go to a province.