Cicero an Cornificius, <i>Ad. Fam.</i> XII 18

The astonishing numerous shortcomings of stylistical, but also of grammatical nature of this letter can’t be laid aside as Cicero’s original faults, because this letter was addressed to the literate Cornificius and therefore Cicero had an imaginable vital interest to come off well as author. Otherwise, however, he had to write many letters in those troublesome years and was thus forced to take recourse to a lot of abbreviations to which the later editor of Cicero’s letters was acquainted just as little as the modern editors of to day