According to a letter from Decimus Brutus quoting Segulius Labeo, Octavian responded by stating that he had no intention of allowing himself to be removed. [1, 2]

The Original Context

In a letter preserved in Cicero's Epistulae ad Familiares (11.20), Decimus Brutus warned Cicero about a witty but dangerous pun (often called an epigram) Cicero had made regarding the young Octavian: [1, 2, 3]

• Latin: "Laudandum adulescentem, ornandum, tollendum."
• English: "The young man must be praised, honored, and lifted up/removed." [1, 2, 3]

Cicero used the word tollendum (from tollere) for its deliberate double meaning: it can mean "to lift up/exalt" or "to eliminate/kill/remove". [1, 2, 3]

Octavian's Response

When the informant Segulius Labeo repeated this joke to Octavian, the future emperor responded directly to the threat hidden in the pun: [1, 2]

• Latin: "...se non esse commissurum ut tolli possit."
• English: "...he would take care that he could not be removed [erased]." [1, 2]

Octavian did not forget this slight; when he formed the Second Triumvirate later that year with Mark Antony and Lepidus, he allowed Cicero to be added to the proscription lists, leading to Cicero's execution. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

If you wish, we can explore:

• The political situation between Cicero and Octavian in 43 BCE.
• How other ancient historians like Appian or Cassius Dio recorded this tension.
• More details on Segulius Labeo and his role as a messenger.