Sextus Pompeius, son of Gnaeus, greetings.

Sextus Pompeius, I write to you as I am told you are in closest proximity to your father. And, despite the natural order of things, you are also in the closest caliber of your father, despite your older sibling. Before the ill tidings, I would like to dispense my congratulations to you for a job well done and battles well fought. You have done Rome well and served to enhance your family’s reputation among your peers. The highest honors go to those that increase the prestige of their gens. Pompeius will most assuredly live forever among the names of the great Romans.

In addition to requesting personally and as Consul a synopsis of the events closing the war with Persia, I would also like to enquire as to the health of your father. The rumors flow like so much sewage in the Cloaca Maxima, and it is hard to decipher the truth amongst it all. Please address the first to the Senate, and the latter to me, as a friend of Magnus, and, I hope, the family Pompeius?

I wish you well Pompeius,
CAESAR