In the Senate after his Return (M. Tullius Cicero)

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	In the Senate after his Return Author: M. Tullius Cicero	Translator: C. D. Yonge
17	Luci Piso , tune ausus es isto oculo , non dicam isto animo , ista fronte , non vita , tanto supercilio , non enim possum dicere tantis rebus gestis , cum A . Gabinio consociare consilia pestis meae ? non te illius unguentorum odor , non vini anhelitus , non frons calamistri notata vestigiis in eam cogitationem adducebat , ut cum illius re similis fuisses , frontis tibi integimento ad occultanda tanta flagitia diutius uti non liceret ? Cum hoc coire ausus es ut consularem dignitatem , ut rei publicae statum , ut senatus auctoritatem , ut civis optime meriti fortunas provinciarum foedere addiceres ? te consule , tuis edictis et imperiis senatui populi Romani non est licitum non modo sententiis atque auctoritate sua , sed ne luctu quidem ac vestitu rei publicae subvenire ?	Lucius Piso, did you dare at that time with that eye (I will not say with that mind ) with that forehead (I will not say with what character,) and with that arrogance (for I cannot say, after such achievements,) to unite with Aulus Gabinius in forming plans for my ruin? Did not the odour of that man's perfumes, or his breath reeking with wine, or his forehead marked with the traces of the curling-iron, lead you to think that as you were like him in reality, you were no longer able to use the impenetrability of your countenance to conceal such enormous atrocities? Did you dare to continue with that man to abandon the consular dignity,—the existing condition of the republic,—the authority of the senate,—the fortunes of a citizen who had above all others deserved well of the republic, to the provinces? While you were consul, according to your edicts and commands, it was not allowed to the Roman senate or people to come to the assistance of the republic, I will not say by their votes and their authority, but even by their grief and their mourning garb.
18	Capuaene te putabas , in qua urbe domicilium quondam superbiae fuit , consulem esse , sicut eras eo tempore , an Romae , in qua civitate omnes ante vos consules senatui paruerunt ? tu es ausus in circo Flaminio productus cum tuo illo pari dicere te semper misericordem fuisse ? quo verbo senatum atque omnis bonos , tum cum a patria pestem depellerent , crudelis demonstrabas fuisse . tu misericors me , adfinem tuum , quem comitiis praerogativae primum custodem praefeceras , quem Kalendis Ianuariis tertio loco sententiam rogaras , constrictum inimicis rei publicae tradidisti ; tu meum generum , propinquum tuum , tu adfinem tuam , filiam meam , superbissimis et crudelissimis verbis a genibus tuis reppulisti ; idemque tu clementia ac misericordia singulari , cum ego una cum re publica non tribunicio sed consulari ictu concidissem , tanto scelere tantaque intemperantia fuisti ut ne unam quidem horam interesse paterere inter meam pestem et tuam praedam , saltem dum conticisceret illa lamentatio et gemitus urbis !	Did you think that you were consul at Capua, a city where there was once the abode of arrogance, or at Rome, where all the consuls that ever existed before you were obedient to the senate? Did you dare, when you were brought forward in the Flaminian Circus, with your colleague, to say that you had always been merciful? by which expression you declared that the senate and all virtuous men were cruel at the time that I warded off ruin from the republic. You were a merciful man when you handed me over,—me, your own relation,—me, whom at your comitia you had appointed as chief guardian of the prerogative tribe, whose opinions on the calends of January you had asked then, bound and helpless to the enemies of the republic! You repelled my son-in-law, your own kinsman; you repelled your own near relation, my daughter, with most haughty and inhuman language, from your knees; and you, also, O man of singular mercy and clemency, when I, together with the republic, had fallen, not by a blow aimed by a tribune, but by a wound inflicted by a consul, behaved with such wickedness and such intemperance, that you did not allow one single hour to elapse between the time of my disaster and your plunder; you did not allow even time for the lamentations and groans of the city to die away.
19	nondum palam factum erat occidisse rem publicam , cum tibi arbitria funeris solvebantur : uno eodemque tempore domus mea diripiebatur , ardebat , bona ad vicinum consulem de Palatio , de Tusculano ad item vicinum alterum consulem deferebantur cum , isdem operis suffragium ferentibus , eodem gladiatore latore , vacuo non modo a bonis sed etiam a liberis atque inani foro , ignaro populo Romano quid ageretur , senatu vero oppresso et adflicto , duobus impiis nefariisque consulibus aerarium provinciae legiones imperia donabantur .	It was not yet openly known that the republic had fallen, when you thought fit to arrange its interment. At one and the same moment my house was plundered and set on fire, my property from my house on the Palatine Hill was taken to the house of the consul who was my neighbour, the goods from my Tusculan villa were also taken to the house of my neighbour there, the other consul; when, while the same mob of artisans were giving their votes, the same gladiator proposing and passing laws, the forum being unoccupied, not only by virtuous men, but even by free citizens, and being entirely empty, the Roman people being utterly ignorant what was going on, the senate being beaten down and crushed, there being two wicked and impious consuls, the treasury, the prisoners, the legions, allies and military commands, were given away as they pleased.
20	Horum consulum ruinas vos consules vestra virtute fulsistis , summa tribunorum plebis praetorumque fide et diligentia sublevati .	But the ruin wrought by these consuls you, O consuls, have prevented from spreading further by your virtue, being assisted as you have been by the admirable loyalty and diligence of the tribunes of the people and the praetors.
21	quid ego de praestantissimo viro , T . Annio , dicam , aut quis de tali cive satis digne umquam loquetur ? qui cum videret sceleratum civem aut domesticum potius hostem , si legibus uti liceret , iudicio esse frangendum , sin ipsa iudicia vis impediret ac tolleret , audaciam virtute , furorem fortitudine , temeritatem consilio , manum copiis , vim vi esse superandam , primo de vi postulavit ; postea quam ab eodem iudicia sublata esse vidit , ne ille omnia vi posset efficere curavit ; qui docuit neque tecta neque templa neque forum nec curiam sine summa virtute ac maximis opibus et copiis ab intestino latrocinio posse defendi ; qui primus post meum discessum metum bonis , spem audacibus , timorem huic ordini , servitutem depulit civitati .	What shall I say of that most illustrious man, Titus Annius? or, who can ever speak of such a citizen in an adequate or worthy manner? For when he saw that a wicked citizen, or, it would be more correct to say, a domestic enemy, required (if it were only possible to employ the laws) to be crushed by judicial proceedings, or that if violence hindered and put an end to the courts of justice, in that case audacity must be put down by virtue, madness by courage, rashness by wisdom, hand by hand, violence by violence, he first of all prosecuted him for violence; when he saw that the very man whom he was prosecuting had destroyed the courts of justice, he took care that he should not be able to carry everything by violence. He taught us that neither private houses, nor temples, nor the forum, nor the senate-house could be defended from the bands of domestic robbers without the greatest gallantry, and large resources and numerous forces. He was the first man after my departure who relieved the virtuous from fear, and deprived the audacious of hope; who delivered this august body from alarm, and the city from slavery.
22	quam rationem pari virtute animo fide P . Sestius secutus pro mea salute , pro vestra auctoritate , pro statu civitatis nullas sibi inimicitias , nullam vim , nullos impetus , nullum vitae discrimen vitandum umquam putavit ; qui causam senatus , exagitatam contionibus improborum , sic sua diligentia multitudini commendavit ut nihil tam populare quam vestrum nomen , nihil tam omnibus carum aliquando quam vestra auctoritas videretur ; qui me cum omnibus rebus quibus tribunus plebis potuit defendit , tum reliquis officiis , iuxta ac si meus frater esset , sustentavit ; cuius ego clientibus , libertis , familia , copiis , litteris ita sum sustentatus ut meae calamitatis non adiutor solum , verum etiam socius videretur .	And Publius Sextius following the same line of conduct with equal virtue, courage, and loyalty, thought that there were no enmities, no efforts of violence, no attacks, no dangers even to his life, which it became him to shun, in defence of my safety, of your authority, and of the constitution of the state. He, by his diligence, so recommended the cause of the senate, thrown into disorder as it was by the harangues of wicked men, to the multitude, that your name soon became the most popular of all names, your authority the object of the greatest affection to all men. He defended me by every means that a tribune of the people could employ; and supported me by every sort of kind attention, just as if he had been my own brother; by his clients, and freedmen, and household, and resources, and letters, I was so much supported, that he seemed to be not only my assistant under, but my partner in calamity.
23	iam ceterorum officia ac studia vidistis , quam cupidus mei C . Cestilius , quam studiosus vestri , quam non varius fuerit in causa . quid M . Cispius ? cui ego ipsi parenti fratrique eius sentio quantum debeam ; qui , cum a me voluntas eorum in privato iudicio esset offensa , publici mei benefici memoria privatam offensionem oblitteraverunt . iam T . Fadius , qui mihi quaestor fuit , M . Curtius , cuius ego patri quaestor fui , studio amore animo huic necessitudini non defuerunt . multa de me C . Messius et amicitiae et rei publicae causa dixit : legem separatim initio de salute mea promulgavit .	Now you have seen the kindness and zeal of the others; how devoted to me was Caius Cestilius, how attached to you, how uniformly faithful to our cause. What did Marcus Cispius do? I know how much I owe to him and to his father and brother; and they, though they had some personal grudge against me on their own private account, still disregarded their private dislike out of recollection of my services to the state. Also, Titus Fadius, who was my quaestor, and Marcus Curtius, to whose father I was quaestor, cherished the memory of our connection with all zeal, and affection, and courage. Caius Messius made many speeches in my behalf, for the sake both of our friendship and of the republic. And he at the beginning proposed a special law respecting my safety.
24	Q . Fabricius si , quae de me agere conatus est , ea contra vim et ferrum perficere potuisset , mense Ianuario nostrum statum reciperassemus ; quem ad salutem meam voluntas impulit , vis retardavit , auctoritas vestra revocavit .	If Quintus Fabricius could only have effected, in spite of violence and arms, what he endeavoured to do in my behalf, we should have recovered our position in the month of January. His own inclination prompted him to labour for my safety, violence checked him, your authority recalled him.
25	iam vero praetores quo animo in me fuerint vos existimare potuistis , cum L . Caecilius privatim me suis omnibus copiis studuerit sustentare , publice promulgarit de mea salute cum conlegis paene omnibus , direptoribus autem bonorum meorum in ius adeundi potestatem non fecerit . M . autem Calidius statim designatus sententia sua quam esset cara sibi mea salus declaravit .	Of what disposition towards me the praetors were, you were able to form an opinion when Lucius Caecilius, in his private character, laboured to support me from his own resources, and in his public capacity proposed a law respecting my safety, in concert with all his colleagues, and refused the plunderers of my property permission to support their actions by legal proceedings. But Marcus Calidius, the moment he was elected, showed by his vote how dear my safety was to him.
26	omnia officia C . Septimi , Q . Valeri , P . Crassi , Sex . Quinctili , C . Cornuti summa et in me et in rem publicam constiterunt . quae cum libenter commemoro , tum non invitus non nullorum in me nefarie commissa praetereo . non est mei temporis iniurias meminisse , quas ego etiam si ulcisci possem , tamen oblivisci mallem : alio transferenda mea tota vita est , ut bene de me meritis referam gratiam , amicitias igni perspectas tuear , cum apertis hostibus bellum geram , timidis amicis ignoscam , proditores indicem , dolorem profectionis meae reditus dignitate consoler .	Caius Septimius, Quintus Valerius, Publius Crassus, Sextus Quintilius, and Caius Cornutus, all devoted all their energies to the promotion of my interests and those of the republic. And while I gladly make mention of these things, I am not unwilling to pass over the wicked actions done by some people with a view to injure me. It is not suited to my fortunes at present to remember injuries, which, even if I were able to revenge them, I still would rather forget. All my life is to be devoted to a different object: to that of showing my gratitude to those who have deserved well of me; to preserving those friendships which have been tried in the fire; to waging war against my open enemies; to pardoning my timid friends; to avoiding the showing those who deserted me any indignation at having been forced to leave the city; to console those who promoted my return by a proper display of my dignity.
27	quod si mihi nullum aliud esset officium in omni vita reliquum nisi ut erga duces ipsos et principes atque auctores salutis meae satis gratus iudicarer , tamen exiguum reliquae vitae tempus non modo ad referendam verum etiam ad commemorandam gratiam mihi relictum putarem . quando enim ego huic homini ac liberis eius , quando omnes mei gratiam referent ? quae memoria , quae vis ingeni , quae magnitudo observantiae tot tantisque beneficiis respondere poterit ? qui mihi primus adflicto et iacenti consularem fidem dextramque porrexit , qui me a morte ad vitam , a desperatione ad spem , ab exitio ad salutem vocavit , qui tanto amore in me , studio in rem publicam fuit ut excogitaret quem ad modum calamitatem meam non modo levaret sed etiam honestaret . quid enim magnificentius , quid praeclarius mihi accidere potuit quam quod illo referente vos decrevistis , ut cuncti ex omni Italia , qui rem publicam salvam vellent , ad me unum , hominem fractum et prope dissipatum , restituendum et defendendum venirent ? ut , qua voce ter omnino post Romam conditam consul usus esset pro universa re publica apud eos solum qui eius vocem exaudire possent , eadem voce senatus omnis ex omnibus agris atque oppidis civis totamque Italiam ad unius salutem defendendam excitaret .	And if I had no other duty before me for all the rest of my life, except to appear sufficiently grateful to the very originators and prime movers and authors of my safety, still I should think the period that remains to me of life too brief; I will not say for requiting, but even for enumerating the kindnesses which have been shown to me. For, when shall I, or when will all my relations, be able to show proper gratitude to this man and to his children? What memory, what force of genius, what amount of deference and respect will be a fit return for such numerous and immense services? He was the first man who held out to me the promise and faith of a consul when I was overwhelmed and miserable; he it was who recalled me from death to life, from despair to hope, from destruction to safety. His affection for me, his zeal for the republic, was so great, that he kept thinking how he might not only relieve my calamity, but how he might even make it honourable. For what could be more honourable, what could happen to me more creditable, than that which you decreed on his motion, that all people from all Italy, who desired the safety of the republic, should come forward for the sole purpose of supporting and defending me, a ruined and almost broken-hearted man? So that the senate summoned the citizens and the whole of Italy to come from all their lands and from every town to the defence of one man, with the very same force of expression which had never been used but three times before since the foundation of Rome, and at those times it was the consul who used it in behalf of the entire republic, addressing himself to those only who could hear his voice.
28	quid ego gloriosius meis posteris potui relinquere quam hoc , senatum iudicasse , qui civis me non defendisset , eum rem publicam salvam noluisse ? itaque tantum vestra auctoritas , tantum eximia consulis dignitas valuit ut dedecus et flagitium se committere putaret , si qui non veniret . idemque consul , cum illa incredibilis multitudo Romam et paene Italia ipsa venisset , vos frequentissimos in Capitolium convocavit . quo tempore quantam vim naturae bonitas haberet et vera nobilitas , intellegere potuistis . nam Q . Metellus , et inimicus et frater inimici , perspecta vestra voluntate omnia privata odia deposuit : quem P . Servilius , vir cum clarissimus tum vero optimus mihique amicissimus , et auctoritatis et orationis suae divina quadam gravitate ad sui generis communisque sanguinis facta virtutesque revocavit , ut haberet in consilio et fratrem ab inferis , socium rerum mearum , et omnis Metellos , praestantissimos civis , paene ex Acheronte excitatos , in quibus Numidicum illum , cuius quondam de patria discessus honestus omnibus , sed luctuosus tamen visus est .	What could I leave to my posterity more glorious than the fact, that the senate had declared its judgment that any citizen who did not defend me, did not desire the safety of the republic? Therefore your authority, and the preeminent dignity of the consul, had this great effect, that every one thought that he was committing a shameful crime if he did not come to that summons. And this same consul, when that incredible multitude, when Italy itself I might almost say, had come to Rome, summoned you repeatedly to the Capitol; and at that time you had an opportunity of seeing what great power excellence of natural disposition and true nobleness have. For Quintus Metellus, himself an enemy of mine, and a brother of an enemy of mine, as soon as he was assured of your inclinations, laid aside his own private dislike to me and allowed Publius Servilius, a most illustrious man, and also a most virtuous one, and a most intimate friend of my own, to recall him, by what I may call the divine influence of his authority and eloquence, to the exploits and virtues of his race and of their common family, so as to take to his counsels his brother, in the shades below, the companion of my fortunes, and all the Metelli, those most admirable citizens, summoning them as it were from Acheron; and among them the great conqueror of Numidia, whose departure from his country formerly seemed grievous to all the citizens, but scarcely even vexatious to himself.
29	itaque divinitus exstitit non modo salutis defensor , qui ante hoc unum beneficium fuerat inimicus , verum etiam adscriptor dignitatis meae . quo quidem die cum quadringenti decem septem essetis , magistratus autem omnes adessent , dissensit unus , is qui sua lege coniuratos etiam ab inferis excitandos putarat . atque illo die cum rem publicam meis consiliis conservatam gravissimis verbis et plurimis iudicassetis , idem consul curavit ut eadem a principibus civitatis in contione postero die dicerentur ; cum quidem ipse egit ornatissime meam causam , perfecitque astante atque audiente Italia tota ut nemo cuiusquam conducti aut perditi vocem acerbam atque inimicam bonis posset audire .	He, therefore, turns out now, not only a defender of my safety, having been previously to this one kindness of his always my enemy, but even the seconder of my restoration to my dignity. And on that day when you met in the senate to the number of four hundred and seventeen, and when all these magistrates were present one alone dissented; he who thought that the conspirators could by his law be awakened from the shades below. And on that day when in most weighty and copious language you delivered your decision, that the republic had been preserved by my counsels, he as consul again took care that the same things should be said by the chief men of the state in the assembly the next day; and he then spoke on my behalf with the greatest eloquence, and brought the assembly into such a state, all Italy standing by and listening, that no one would listen to the hateful and detested voice of any of my hired or profligate enemies.
30	ad haec non modo adiumenta salutis sed etiam ornamenta dignitatis meae reliqua vos idem addidistis : decrevistis ne quis ulla ratione rem impediret ; qui impedisset , graviter molesteque laturos — illum contra rem publicam salutemque bonorum concordiamque civium facturum , et ut ad vos de eo statim referretur ; meque etiam , si diutius calumniarentur , redire iussistis . quid ? ut agerentur gratiae , qui e municipiis venissent ? quid ? ut ad illam diem , res cum redissent , rogarentur ut pari studio convenirent ? quid ? denique illo die , quem P . Lentulus mihi fratrique meo liberisque nostris natalem constituit , non modo ad nostram verum etiam ad sempiterni memoriam temporis , quo die nos comitiis centuriatis , quae maxime maiores comitia iusta dici haberique voluerunt , arcessivit in patriam , ut eaedem centuriae quae me consulem fecerant consulatum meum comprobarent —	To these acts of his, being not only aids to my safety, but even ornaments of my dignity, you yourselves added the rest that was wanting. You decreed that no one should by any means whatever hinder that matter from proceeding; that if any one did try to interpose any obstacle, you would be very angry and indignant; that he would be acting in a manner contrary to the interests of the republic, and the safety of good men, and the unanimous wish of the citizens; and that such a man was instantly to be reported to you. And you passed a vote that if they persisted in interposing obstacles, I was to return in spite of them. Why need I tell how thanks were given to all those who had come up from the municipal towns; or that they were entreated to be present with equal eagerness on that day when the whole affair was consummated? Lastly, why need I tell what you did on that day which Publius Lentulus has made as a birthday to me, and to my brother, and to our children, to be recollected not only by us, who are now alive, but by all our race for ever? On which day, in the comitia centuriata, which our ancestors rightly called and considered the real comitia, he summoned us back to our country, so that the same centuries which had made me consul should declare their approval of my consulship.
31	eo die quis civis fuit qui fas esse putaret , quacumque aut aetate aut valetudine esset , non se de salute mea sententiam ferre ? quando tantam frequentiam in campo , tantum splendorem Italiae totius ordinumque omnium , quando illa dignitate rogatores diribitores custodesque vidistis ? itaque P . Lentuli beneficio excellenti atque divino non reducti sumus in patriam sicut non nulli clarissimi cives , sed equis insignibus et curru aurato reportati .	On that day what citizen was there who thought it right, whatever his age or state of health might be, to deny himself the opportunity of giving his vote for my safety? When did you ever see such a multitude assembled in the Campus, such a splendid show of all Italy and of all orders of men? when did you ever see movers, and tellers, and keepers of the votes all of such high rank? Therefore, through the active, and admirable, and godlike kindness of Publius Lentulus, we were not allowed to return to our country, as some most eminent citizens have been, but we were brought back in triumph, borne by white horses in a gilded car.
32	possum ego satis in Cn . Pompeium umquam gratus videri ? qui non solum apud vos , qui omnes idem sentiebatis , sed etiam apud universum populum salutem populi Romani et conservatam per me et coniunctam esse cum mea dixerit ; qui causam meam prudentibus commendarit , imperitos edocuerit , eodemque tempore improbos auctoritate sua compresserit , bonos excitarit ; qui populum Romanum pro me tamquam pro fratre aut pro parente non solum hortatus sit , verum etiam obsecrarit ; qui cum ipse propter metum dimicationis et sanguinis domo se teneret , iam a superioribus tribunis petierit ut de salute mea et promulgarent et referrent ; qui in colonia nuper constituta cum ipse gereret magistratum , in qua nemo erat emptus intercessor , vim et crudelitatem privilegi auctoritate honestissimorum hominum et publicis litteris consignarit , princepsque Italiae totius praesidium ad meam salutem implorandum putarit ; qui cum ipse mihi semper amicissimus fuisset , etiam ut suos necessarios mihi amicos redderet elaborarit .	Can I ever appear grateful enough to Cnaeus Pompeius, who said, not only among you who all were of the same opinion, but also before the whole Roman people, that the safety of the republic had been preserved by me, and was inseparably connected with mine? who recommended my cause to the wise, and taught the ignorant, and at the same time checked the wicked by his authority, and encouraged the good; who not only exhorted the Roman people to espouse my cause, but even entreated them to do so, as if he were speaking for a brother or a parent; who, at a time when he was forced to keep within his house from fear of contests and bloodshed, begged even of the preceding tribunes to propose and carry a law respecting my safety; who in a colony lately erected, where he himself was discharging the duties of a magistrate in it, where there was no bribed interrupter, declared that the privilegium passed against me was violent and cruel, confirming that declaration by the authority of most honourable men, and by public letters, and, being the chief man there, gave his opinion that it was becoming to implore the protection of all Italy for my safety; who, when he himself had always been a most firm friend to me, laboured also to make all his own friends also to me.