Reflecting the contradiction of the typeface itself, this specimen publication reflects on the tension between personal, informal writing and public writing, and how this line becomes blurred in historical contexts. The text is a personal letter from the first century BCE, written by Cicero during Caesar’s dismantling of the Roman Republic. The letter, drawn from a repository of his writings from the time, is considered one of the most important historical resources of the period — characterised by the repression of public institutions and increasingly propagandistic official communication. Because of this, Cicero’s letters, precisely because they were written for a private and unofficial audience, represent an unexpectedly truthful account of the events of the period.