Orations |
Translator: C. D. Yonge
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| 163 |
Huius legionis virtutem imitata quarta legio duce L . Egnatuleio quaestore , civi optimo et fortissimo , C . Caesaris auctoritatem atque exercitum persecuta est . Faciendum est igitur nobis , patres conscripti , ut ea quae sua sponte clarissimus adulescens atque omnium praestantissimus gessit et gerit hac auctoritate nostra comprobentur , veteranorumque , fortissimorum virorum , tum legionis Martiae quartaeque mirabilis consensus ad rem publicam recuperandam laude et testimonio nostro confirmetur , eorumque commoda , honores , praemia , cum consules designati magistratum inierint , curae nobis fore hodierno die spondeamus .
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The fourth legion, imitating the virtue of this legion, under the leadership of Lucius Egnatuleius, the quaestor, a most virtuous and intrepid citizen, has also acknowledged the authority and joined the army of Caius Caesar. We, therefore, O conscript fathers, must take care that those things which this most illustrious young man, this most excellent of all men has of his own accord done, and still is doing, be sanctioned by our authority; and the admirable unanimity of the veterans, those most brave men, and of the Martial and of the fourth legion, in their zeal for the reestablishment of the republic, be encouraged by our praise and commendation. And let us pledge ourselves this day that their advantage, and honors, and rewards shall he cared for by us as soon as the consuls elect have entered in their magistracy. |
| 164 |
Atque ea quidem quae dixi de Caesare deque eius exercitu iam diu nota sunt nobis . Virtute enim admirabili Caesaris constantiaque militum veteranorum legionumque earum quae optimo iudicio auctoritatem nostram , libertatem populi Romani , virtutem Caesaris secutae sunt a cervicibus nostris est depulsus Antonius . Sed haec , ut dixi , superiora : hoc vero recens edictum D . Bruti quod paulo ante propositum est certe silentio non potest praeteriri . Pollicetur enim se provinciam Galliam retenturum in senatus populique Romani potestate . O civem natum rei publicae , memorem sui nominis imitatoremque maiorum ! Neque enim Tarquinio expulso maioribus nostris tam fuit optata libertas quam est depulso Antonio retinenda nobis .
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And the things which I have said about Caesar and about his army, are, indeed, already well known to you. For by the admirable valor of Caesar, and by the firmness of the veteran soldiers, and by the admirable discernment of those legions which have followed our authority, and the liberty of the Roman people, and the valor of Caesar, Antonius has been repelled from his attempts upon our lives. But these things, as I have said, happened before; but this recent edict of Decimus Brutus, which has just been issued, can certainly not be passed over in silence. For he promises to preserve the province of Gaul in obedience to the senate and people of Rome. O citizen, born for the republic; mindful of the name he bears; imitator of his ancestors! Nor, indeed, was the acquisition of liberty so much an object of desire to our ancestors when Tarquinius was expelled, as, now that Antonius is driven away, the preservation of it is to us. |
| 165 |
Illi regibus parere iam a condita urbe didicerant : nos post reges exactos servitutis oblivio ceperat . Atque ille Tarquinius quem maiores nostri non tulerunt non crudelis , non impius , sed superbus est habitus et dictus : quod nos vitium in privatis saepe tulimus , id maiores nostri ne in rege quidem ferre potuerunt . L . Brutus regem superbum non tulit : D . Brutus sceleratum atque impium regnare patietur Antonium ? Quid Tarquinius tale qualia innumerabilia et facit et fecit Antonius ? Senatum etiam reges habebant : nec tamen , ut Antonio senatum habente , in consilio regis versabantur barbari armati . Servabant auspicia reges ; quae hic consul augurque neglexit , neque solum legibus contra auspicia ferendis sed etiam conlega una ferente eo quem ipse ementitis auspiciis vitiosum fecerat .
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Those men had learned to obey kings ever since the foundation of the city, but we from the time when the kings were driven out have forgotten how to be slaves. And that Tarquinius, whom our ancestors expelled, was not either considered or called cruel or impious, but only The Proud. That vice which we have often borne in private individuals, our ancestors could not endure even in a king. Lucius Brutus could not endure a proud king. Shall Decimus Brutus submit to the kingly power of a man who is wicked and impious? What atrocity did Tarquinius ever commit equal to the innumerable acts of the sort which Antonius has done and is still doing? Again, the kings were used to consult the senate; nor, as is the ease when Antonius holds a senate, were armed barbarians ever introduced into the council of the king. The kings paid due regard to the auspices, which this man, though consul and augur, has neglected, not only by passing laws in opposition to the auspices but also by making his colleague (whom he himself had appointed irregularly, and had falsified the auspices in order to do so) join in passing them. |
| 166 |
Quis autem rex umquam fuit tam insignite impudens ut haberet omnia commoda , beneficia , iura regni venalia ? quam hic immunitatem , quam civitatem , quod praemium non vel singulis hominibus vel civitatibus vel universis provinciis vendidit ? Nihil humile de Tarquinio , nihil sordidum accepimus : at vero huius domi inter quasilla pendebatur aurum , numerabatur pecunia ; una in domo omnes quorum intererat totum imperium populi Romani nundinabantur . Supplicia vero in civis Romanos nulla Tarquini accepimus : at hic et Suessae iugulavit eos quos in custodiam dederat et Brundisi ad ccc fortissimos viros civisque optimos trucidavit .
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Again, what king was ever so preposterously impudent as to have all the profits and kindnesses, and privileges of his kingdom on sale? But what immunity is there, what rights of citizenship, what rewards that this man has not sold to individuals and to cities and to entire provinces.? We have never heard of anything base or sordid being imputed to Tarquinius. But at the house of this man gold was constantly being weighed out in the spinning room, and money was being paid, and in one single house every soul who had any interest in the business was selling the whole empire of the Roman people. We have never heard of any executions of Roman citizens by the orders of Tarquinius; but this man both at Suessa murdered the man whom he had thrown into prison, and at Brundusium massacred about three hundred most gallant men and most virtuous citizens. |
| 167 |
Postremo Tarquinius pro populo Romano bellum gerebat tum cum est expulsus : Antonius contra populum Romanum exercitum adducebat tum cum a legionibus relictus nomen Caesaris exercitumque pertimuit neglectisque sacrificiis sollemnibus ante lucem vota ea quae numquam solveret nuncupavit , et hoc tempore in provinciam populi Romani conatur invadere . Maius igitur a D . Bruto beneficium populus Romanus et habet et exspectat quam maiores nostri acceperunt a L . Bruto , principe huius maxime conservandi generis et nominis .
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Lastly, Tarquinius was conducting a war in defense of the Roman people at the very time when he was expelled. Antonius was leading an army against the Roman people at the time when, being abandoned by the legions, he cowered at the name of Caesar and at his army, and neglecting the regular sacrifices, he offered up before daylight vows which he could never mean to perform; and at this very moment he is endeavoring to invade a province of the Roman people. The Roman people, therefore, has already received and is still looking for greater services at the hand of Decimus Brutus than our ancestors received from Lucius Brutus, the founder of this race and name which we ought to be so anxious to preserve. |
| 168 |
Cum autem est omnis servitus misera , tum vero intolerabile est servire impuro , impudico , effeminato , numquam ne in metu quidem sobrio . Hunc igitur qui Gallia prohibet , privato praesertim consilio , iudicat verissimeque iudicat non esse consulem . Faciendum est igitur nobis , patres conscripti , ut D . Bruti privatum consilium auctoritate publica comprobemus . Nec vero M . Antonium consulem post Lupercalia debuistis putare : quo enim ille die , populo Romano inspectante , nudus , unctus , ebrius est contionatus et id egit ut conlegae diadema imponeret , eo die se non modo consulatu sed etiam libertate abdicavit . Esset enim ipsi certe statim serviendum , si Caesar ab eo regni insigne accipere voluisset . Hunc igitur ego consulem , hunc civem Romanum , hunc liberum , hunc denique hominem putem qui foedo illo et flagitioso die et quid pati C . Caesare vivo posset et quid eo mortuo consequi ipse cuperet ostendit ?
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But, while all slavery is miserable, to be slave to a man who is profligate, unchaste, effeminate, never, not even while in fear, sober, is surely intolerable. He, then, who keeps this man out of Gaul, especially by his own private authority, judges, and judges most truly, that he is not consul at all. We must take care, therefore, O conscript fathers, to sanction the private decision of Decimus Brutus by public authority. Nor, indeed, ought you to have thought Marcus Antonius consul at any time since the Lupercalia. For on the day when he, in the sight of the Roman people, harangued the mob, naked, perfumed, and drunk, and labored moreover to put a crown on the head of his colleague, on that day he abdicated not only the consulship, but also his own freedom. At, all events he himself must at once have become a slave, if Caesar had been willing to accept from him that ensign of royalty. Can I then think him a consul, can I think him a Roman citizen, can I think him a freeman, can I even think him a man, who on that shameful and wicked day showed what he was willing to endure while Caesar lived, and what he was anxious to obtain himself after he was dead? |
| 169 |
Nec vero de virtute , constantia , gravitate provinciae Galliae taceri potest . Est enim ille flos Italiae , illud firmamentum imperi populi Romani , illud ornamentum dignitatis . Tantus autem est consensus municipiorum coloniarumque provinciae Galliae ut omnes ad auctoritatem huius ordinis maiestatemque populi Romani defendendam conspirasse videantur . Quam ob rem , tribuni plebis , quamquam vos nihil aliud nisi de praesidio ut senatum tuto consules Kalendis Ianuariis habere possint rettulistis , tamen mihi videmini magno consilio atque optima mente potestatem nobis de tota re publica fecisse dicendi . Cum enim tuto haberi senatum sine praesidio non posse iudicavistis , tum statuistis etiam intra muros Antoni scelus audaciamque versari .
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Nor is it possible to pass over in silence the virtue and the firmness and the dignity of the province of Gaul. For that is the flower of Italy; that is the bulwark of the empire of the Roman people; that is the chief ornament of our dignity. But so perfect is the unanimity of the municipal towns and colonies of the province of Gaul, that all men in that district appear to have united together to defend the authority of this order, and the majesty of the Roman people. Wherefore, O tribunes of the people, although you have not actually brought any other business before us beyond the question of protection, in order that the consuls may be able to hold the senate with safety on the first of January, still you appear to me to have acted with great wisdom and great prudence in giving an opportunity of debating the general circumstances of the republic. For when you decided that the senate could not be held with safety without some protection or other, you at the same time asserted by that decision that the wickedness and audacity of Antonius was still continuing its practices within our walls. |
| 170 |
Quam ob rem omnia mea sententia complectar , vobis , ut intellego , non invitis , ut et praestantissimis ducibus a nobis detur auctoritas et fortissimis militibus spes ostendatur praemiorum et iudicetur non verbo , sed re non modo non consul sed etiam hostis Antonius . Nam si ille consul , fustuarium meruerunt legiones quae consulem reliquerunt , sceleratus Caesar , Brutus nefarius qui contra consulem privato consilio exercitus comparaverunt . Si autem militibus exquirendi sunt honores novi propter eorum divinum atque immortale meritum , ducibus autem ne referri quidem potest gratia , quis est qui eum hostem non existimet quem qui armis persequantur conservatores rei publicae iudicentur ?
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Wherefore, I will embrace every consideration in my opinion which I am now going to deliver, a course to which you, I feel sure, have no objection; in order that authority may be conferred by us on admirable generals, and that hope of reward may be held out by us to gallant soldiers, and that a formal decision may be come to, not by words only, but also by actions, that Antonius is not only not a consul, but is even an enemy. For if he be consul, then the legions which have deserted the consul deserve beating to death. Caesar is wicked, Brutus is impious, since they of their own heads have levied an army against the consul. But if new honors are to be sought out for the soldiers on account of their divine and immortal merits, and if it is quite impossible to show gratitude enough to the generals, who is there who must not think that man a public enemy, whose conduct is such that those who are in arms against him are considered the saviors of the republic? |
| 171 |
At quam contumeliosus in edictis , quam barbarus , quam rudis ! primum in Caesarem ut maledicta congessit deprompta ex recordatione impudicitiae et stuprorum suorum ! Quis enim hoc adulescente castior , quis modestior , quod in iuventute habemus inlustrius exemplum veteris sanctitatis ? quis autem illo qui male dicit impurior ? Ignobilitatem obicit C . Caesaris filio cuius etiam natura pater , si vita suppeditasset , consul factus esset . ‘Aricina mater .’ Trallianam aut Ephesiam putes dicere . Videte quam despiciamur omnes qui sumus e municipiis id est , omnes plane : quotus enim quisque nostrum non est ? Quod autem municipium non contemnit is qui Aricinum tanto opere despicit , vetustate antiquissimum , iure foederatum , propinquitate paene finitimum , splendore municipum honestissimum ?
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Again, how insulting is he in his edicts! how ignorant! how like a barbarian! In the first place, how has he heaped abuse on Caesar, in terms drawn from his recollection of his own debauchery and profligacy For w here can we find anyone who is chaster than this young man? Who is more modest? where have we among our youth a more illustrious example of the old-fashioned strictness.? Who, on the other hand, is more profligate than the man who abuses him? He reproaches the son of Caius. Caesar with his want of noble blood, when even his natural father, if he had been alive, would have been made consul. His mother is a woman of Aricia. You might suppose he was saving a woman of Tralles or of Ephesus. Just see how we all who come from the municipal towns—that is to say, absolutely all of us—are looked down upon, for how few of us are there who do not come from those towns? and what municipal town is there which he does not despise who looks with such contempt on Aricia, a town most ancient as to its antiquity; if we regard its rights, united with us by treaty; if we regard its vicinity, almost close to us; if we regard the high character of its inhabitants, most honorable? |
| 172 |
Hinc Voconiae , hinc Atiniae leges ; hinc multae sellae curules et patrum memoria et nostra ; hinc equites Romani lautissimi et plurimi . Sed si Aricinam uxorem non probas , cur probas Tusculanam ? Quamquam huius sanctissimae feminae atque optimae pater , M . Atius Balbus , in primis honestus , praetorius fuit : tuae coniugis , bonae feminae , locupletis quidem certe , Bambalio quidam pater , homo nullo numero . Nihil illo contemptius qui propter haesitantiam linguae stuporemque cordis cognomen ex contumelia traxerit . ‘At avus nobilis .’ Tuditanus nempe ille qui cum palla et cothurnis nummos populo de rostris spargere solebat . Vellem hanc contemptionem pecuniae suis reliquisset ! Habetis nobilitatem generis gloriosam .
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It is from Aricia that we have received the Voconian and Atinian laws; from Aricia have come many of those magistrates who have filled our curule chairs, both in our fathers' recollection and in our own; from Aricia have sprung many of the best and bravest of the Roman knights. But if you disapprove of a wife from Aricia, why do you approve of one from Tusculum? Although the father of this most virtuous and excellent woman, Marcus Atius Balbus, a man of the highest character, was a man of praetorian rank; but the father of your wife,—a good woman, at all events a rich one,—a fellow of the name of Bambalio, was a man of no account at all. Nothing could be lower than he was, a fellow who got his surname as a sort of insult, derived from the hesitation of his speech and the stolidity of his understanding. Oh, but your grandfather was nobly born. Yes, he was that Tuditanus who used to put on a cloak and buskins, and then go and scatter money from the rostra among the people. I wish he had bequeathed his contempt of money to his descendants! You have, indeed, a most glorious nobility of family! |
| 173 |
Qui autem evenit ut tibi Iulia natus ignobilis videatur , cum tu eodem materno genere soleas gloriari ? Quae porro amentia est eum dicere aliquid de uxorum ignobilitate cuius pater Numitoriam Fregellanam , proditoris filiam , habuerit uxorem , ipse ex libertini filia susceperit liberos ? Sed hoc clarissimi viri viderint , L . Philippus qui habet Aricinam uxorem , C . Marcellus qui Aricinae filiam : quos certo scio dignitatis optimarum feminarum non paenitere .
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But how does it happen that the son of a woman of Aricia appears to you to be ignoble, when you are accustomed to boast of a descent on the mother's side which is precisely the same? Besides, what insanity is it for that man to say any thing about the want of noble birth in men's wives, when his father married Numitoria of Fregellae, the daughter of a traitor, and when he himself has begotten children of the daughter of a freedman. However, those illustrious men Lucius Philippus, who has a wife who came from Aricia, and Caius Marcellus, whose wife is the daughter of an Arician, may look to this; and I am quite sure that they have no regrets on the score of the dignity of those admirable women. |
| 174 |
Idem etiam Q . Ciceronem , fratris mei filium , compellat edicto , nec sentit amens commendationem esse compellationem suam . Quid enim accidere huic adulescenti potuit optatius quam cognosci ab omnibus Caesaris consiliorum esse socium , Antoni furoris inimicum ? At etiam gladiator ausus est scribere hunc de patris et patrui parricidio cogitasse . O admirabilem impudentiam , audaciam , temeritatem ! in eum adulescentem hoc scribere audere quem ego et frater meus propter eius suavissimos atque optimos mores praestantissimumque ingenium certatim amamus omnibusque horis oculis , auribus , complexu tenemus ? Nam me isdem edictis nescit laedat an laudet . Cum idem supplicium minatur optimis civibus quod ego de sceleratissimis ac pessimis sumpserim , laudare videtur , quasi imitari velit ; cum autem illam pulcherrimi facti memoriam refricat , tum a sui similibus invidiam aliquam in me commoveri putat .
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Moreover, Antonius proceeds to name Quintus Cicero, my brother's son, in his edict; and is so mad as not to perceive that the way in which he names him is a panegyric on him. For what could happen more desirable for this young man, than to be known by every one to be the partner of Caesar's counsels, and the enemy of the frenzy of Antonius? But this gladiator has dared to put in writing that he had designed the murder of his father and of his uncle. Oh the marvelous impudence, and audacity, and temerity of such an assertion! to dare to put this in writing against that young man, whom I and my brother, on account of his amiable manners, and pure character, and splendid abilities, vie with one another in loving, and to whom we incessantly devote our eyes, and ears, and affections! And as to me, he does not know whether he is injuring or praising me in those same edicts. When he threatens the most virtuous citizens with the same punishment which I inflicted on the most wicked and infamous of men, he seems to praise me as if he were desirous of copying me; but when he brings up again the memory of that most illustrious exploit, then he thinks that he is exciting some odium against me in the breasts of men like himself. |
| 175 |
Sed quid fecit ipse ? Cum tot edicta proposuisset , edixit ut adesset senatus frequens a . d . viii . Kalendas Decembris : eo die ipse non adfuit . At quo modo edixit ? haec sunt , ut opinor , verba in extremo : ‘Si quis non adfuerit , hunc existimare omnes poterunt et interitus mei et perditissimorum consiliorum auctorem fuisse .’ Quae sunt perdita consilia ? an ea quae pertinent ad libertatem populi Romani recuperandam ? quorum consiliorum Caesari me auctorem et hortatorem et esse et fuisse fateor . Quamquam ille non eguit consilio cuiusquam , sed tamen currentem , ut dicitur , incitavi . Nam interitus quidem tui quis bonus non esset auctor , cum in eo salus et vita optimi cuiusque , libertas populi Romani dignitasque consisteret ?
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But what is it that he has done himself? When he had published all these edicts, he issued another, that the senate was to meet in a full house on the twenty-fourth of November. On that day he himself was not present. But what were the terms of his edict? These, I believe, are the exact words of the end of it: “If any one fails to attend, all men will be at liberty to think him the adviser of my destruction and of most ruinous counsels.” What are ruinous counsels? those which relate to the recovery of the liberty of the Roman people? Of those counsels I confess that I have been and still am an adviser and prompter to Caesar. Although he did not stand in need of any one's advice; but still I spurred on the willing horse, as it is said. For what good man would not have advised putting you to death, when on your death depended the safety and life of every good man, and the liberty and dignity of the Roman people? |
| 176 |
Sed cum tam atroci edicto nos concitavisset , cur ipse non adfuit ? Num putatis aliqua re tristi ac severa ? vino atque epulis retentus , si illae epulae potius quam popinae nominandae sunt , diem edicti obire neglexit : in ante diem iv Kalendas Decembris distulit . Adesse in Capitolio iussit ; quod in templum ipse nescio qua per Gallorum cuniculum ascendit . Convenerunt conrogati et quidem ampli quidam homines sed immemores dignitatis suae . Is enim erat dies , ea fama , is qui senatum vocarat ut turpe senatori esset nihil timere . Ad eos tamen ipsos qui convenerant ne verbum quidem ausus est facere de Caesare , cum de eo constituisset ad senatum referre : scriptam attulerat consularis quidam sententiam .
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But when he had summoned us all by so severe an edict, why did he not attend himself? Do you suppose that he was detained by any melancholy or important occasion? He was detained drinking and feasting. If, indeed, it deserves to be called a feast, and not rather gluttony. He neglected to attend on the day mentioned in his edict; and he adjourned the meeting to the twenty-eighth. He then summoned us to attend in the Capitol; and at that temple he did arrive himself, coming up through some mine left by the Gauls. Men came, having been summoned, some of them indeed men of high distinction, but forgetful of what was due to their dignity. For the day was such, the report of the object of the meeting such, such too the man who had convened the senate, that it was discreditable for a senate to feel no fear for the result. And yet to those men who had assembled he did not dare to say a single word about Caesar, though he had made up his mind to submit a motion respecting him to the senate. There was a man of consular rank who had brought a resolution ready drawn up. |
| 177 |
Quid est aliud de eo referre non audere qui contra se consulem exercitum duceret nisi se ipsum hostem iudicare ? Necesse erat enim alterutrum esse hostem ; nec poterat aliter de adversariis ducibus iudicari . Si igitur Caesar hostis , cur consul nihil refert ad senatum ? Sin ille a senatu notandus non fuit , quid potest dicere quin , cum de illo tacuerit , se hostem confessus sit ? Quem in edictis Spartacum appellat , hunc in senatu ne improbum quidem dicere audet . At in rebus tristissimis quantos excitat risus !
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Is it not now admitting that he is himself an enemy, when he does not dare to make a motion respecting a man who is leading an army against him while he is consul? For it is perfectly plain that one of the two must be an enemy; nor is it possible to come to a different decision respecting adverse generals. If then Caius. Caesar be an enemy, why does the consul submit no motion to the senate? If he does not deserve to be branded by the senate, then what can the consul say, who, by his silence respecting him, has confessed that he himself is an enemy? In his edicts he styles him Spartacus, while in the senate he does not venture to call him even a bad citizen. |
| 178 |
Sententiolas edicti cuiusdam memoriae mandavi quas videtur ille peracutas putare : ego autem qui intellegeret quid dicere vellet adhuc neminem inveni . ' Nulla contumelia est quam facit dignus .’ Primum quid est dignus ? nam etiam malo multi digni , sicut ipse . An quam facit is qui cum dignitate est ? Quae autem potest esse maior ? Quid est porro facere contumeliam ? quis sic loquitur ? Deinde : ‘nec timor quem denuntiat inimicus .’ Quid ergo ? ab amico timor denuntiari solet ? Horum similia deinceps . Nonne satius est mutum esse quam quod nemo intellegat dicere ? En cur magister eius ex oratore arator factus sit , possideat in agro publico campi Leontini duo milia iugerum immunia , ut hominem stupidum magis etiam infatuet mercede publica .
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But in the most melancholy circumstances what mirth does he not provoke? I have committed to memory some short phrases of one edict, which he appears to think particularly clever; but I have not as yet found any one who has understood what he intended by them. “That is no insult which a worthy man does.” Now, in the first place, what is the meaning of “worthy?” For there are many men worthy of punishment, as he himself is. Does he mean what a man does who is invested with any dignity? if so, what insult can be greater? Moreover, what is the meaning of “doing an insult?” Who ever uses such an expression? Then comes, “Nor any fear which an enemy threatens.” What then? is fear usually threatened by a friend? Then came many similar sentences. Is it not better to be dumb, than to say what no one can understand? Now see why his tutor, exchanging pleas for plows, has had given to him in the public domain of the Roman people two thousand acres of land in the Leontine district, exempt from all taxes, for making a stupid man still stupider at the public expense. |
| 179 |
Sed haec leviora fortasse : illud quaero cur tam mansuetus in senatu fuerit , cum in edictis tam fuisset ferus . Quid enim attinuerat L . Cassio tribuno plebis , fortissimo et constantissimo civi , mortem denuntiare , si in senatum venisset ; D . Carfulenum , bene de re publica sentientem , senatu vi et minis mortis expellere ; Ti . Cannutium , a quo erat honestissimis contionibus et saepe et iure vexatus , non templo solum verum etiam aditu prohibere Capitoli ? Cui senatus consulto ne intercederent verebatur ? De supplicatione , credo , M . Lepidi , clarissimi viri . Atque id erat periculum , de cuius honore extraordinario cotidie aliquid cogitabamus , ne eius usitatus honos impediretur .
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However, these perhaps are trifling matters. I ask now, why all on a sudden he became so gentle in the senate, after having been so fierce in his edicts? For what was the object of threatening Lucius Cassius, a most fearless tribune of the people, and a most virtuous and loyal citizen, with death if he came to the senate? of expelling Decimus Carfulenus, a man thoroughly attached to the republic, from the senate by violence and threats of death? of interdicting Titus Canutius, by whom he had been repeatedly and deservedly harassed by most legitimate attacks, not only from the temple itself, but from all approach to it? What was the resolution of the senate which he was afraid that they would stop by the interposition of their veto? That, I suppose, respecting the supplication in honor of Marcus Lepidus, a most illustrious man! Certainly there was a great danger of our hindering an ordinary compliment to a man on whom we were every day thinking of conferring some extraordinary honor. |
| 180 |
Ac ne sine causa videretur edixisse ut senatus adesset , cum de re publica relaturus fuisset , adlato nuntio de legione quarta mente concidit , et fugere festinans senatus consultum de supplicatione per discessionem fecit , cum id factum esset antea numquam .
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However, that he might not appear to have had no reason at all for ordering the senate to meet, he was on the point of bringing forward some motion about the republic when the news about the fourth legion came; which entirely bewildered him, and hastening to flee away, he took a division on the resolution for decreeing this supplication, though such a proceeding had never been heard of before. |