Caesar to Oppius and Cornelius Balbus, Greetings. I am very glad to hear from your letters how strongly you approve of what happened at Corfinium. I shall follow your advice with pleasure – with all the more pleasure, because I had myself made up my mind to act with the greatest moderation, and to do my best to effect a reconciliation with Pompey.

Let us see if by moderation we can win all hearts (omnium voluntatem recuperare) and secure a lasting victory, since by cruelty others have been unable to escape from hatred and to maintain their victory for any length of time except L. Sulla, whose example I do not intend to follow.

This is a new way of conquering, to strengthen one's position by kindness and generosity. As to how this can be done, some ideas have occurred to me and many more can be found. I should like you to turn some attention to the matter.

I have taken N. Magius, a prefect of Pompey. Of course I kept to my policy and set him free at once. So now two of Pompey's prefects of engineers have fallen into my hands and I have set them free. If they have any gratitude, they ought to exhort Pompey to prefer my friendship to that of men who were always the bitterest enemies both to him and to me. […]