Orations |
Translator: C. D. Yonge
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| 397 |
Etenim Dolabella non ita multos secum habuit notos atque insignis latrones : at videtis quos et quam multos habeat Antonius . Primum Lucium fratrem : quam facem , di immortales , quod facinus , quod scelus , quem gurgitem , quam voraginem ! Quid eum non sorbere animo , quid non haurire cogitatione , cuius sanguinem non bibere censetis , in cuius possessiones atque fortunas non impudentissimos oculos spe et mente defigere ? Quid Censorinum ? qui se verbo praetorem esse urbanum cupere dicebat , re certe noluit . Quid Bestiam ? qui consulatum in Bruti locum se petere profitetur . Atque hoc quidem detestabile omen avertat Iuppiter ! quam absurdum autem , qui praetor fieri non potuerit , petere eum consulatum ? nisi forte damnationem pro praetura putat . Alter Caesar Vopiscus ille summo ingenio , summa potentia , qui ex aedilitate consulatum petit , solvatur legibus : quamquam leges eum non tenent propter eximiam , credo , dignitatem . At hic me defendente quinquiens absolutus est : sexta palma urbana etiam in gladiatore difficilis . Sed haec iudicum culpa , non mea est . Ego defendi fide optima : illi debuerunt clarissimum et praestantissimum senatorem in civitate retinere . Qui tamen nunc nihil aliud agere videtur nisi ut intellegamus illos quorum res iudicatas inritas fecimus bene et e re publica iudicavisse .
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Indeed, Dolabella had not with him any great number of notorious and conspicuous robbers. But you see there are with Antonius, and in what numbers. In the first place, there is his brother Lucius—what a fire-brand, O ye immortal gods! what an incarnation of crime and wickedness! what a gulf, what a whirlpool of a man! What do you think that man incapable of swallowing up in his mind, or gulping down in his thoughts? Who do you imagine there is whose blood he is not thirsting for? who on whose possessions and fortunes he is not fixing his most impudent eyes, his hopes, and his whole heart? What shall we say of Censorinus? who, as far as words go, said indeed that he wished to be the city praetor; but who, in fact, was unwilling to be so. What of Bestia, who professes that he is a candidate for the consulship in the place of Brutus? May Jupiter avert from us this most detestable omen! But how absurd is it for a man to stand for the consulship who can not be elected praetor! unless, indeed, he thinks his conviction may be taken as an equivalent to the praetorship Let this second Caesar, this great Vopiscus, a man of consummate genius, of the highest influence, who seeks the consulship immediately after having been aedile, be excused from obedience to the laws. Although, indeed, the laws do not bind him, on account, I suppose, of his exceeding dignity. But this man has been acquitted five times when I have defended him. To win a sixth city victory is difficult, even in the case of a gladiator. However, this is the fault of the judges; not mine. I defended him with perfect good faith; they were bound to retain a most illustrious and excellent: citizen in the republic; who now, however, appears to have no other object except to make us understand that those men whose judicial decisions we annulled, decided rightly and in a manner advantageous to the republic. |
| 398 |
Neque hoc in hoc uno est : sunt alii in isdem castris honeste condemnati , turpiter restituti . Quod horum consilium qui omnibus bonis hostes sunt nisi crudelissimum putatis fore ? Accedit Saxa nescio quis , quem nobis Caesar ex ultima Celtiberia tribunum plebis dedit , castrorum antea metator , nunc , ut sperat , urbis : a qua cum sit alienus , suo capiti salvis nobis ominetur . Cum hoc veteranus Cafo , quo neminem veterani peius oderunt . His quasi praeter dotem quam in civilibus malis acceperant agrum Campanum est largitus Antonius , ut haberent reliquorum nutriculas praediorum . Quibus utinam contenti essent ! ferremus , etsi tolerabile non erat , sed quidvis patiendum fuit , ut hoc taeterrimum bellum non haberemus .
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Nor is this the case with respect to this man alone; there are other men in the same camp honestly condemned and shamefully restored; what counsel do you imagine can be adopted by those men who are enemies to all good men, that is not utterly cruel? There is besides a fellow called Saxa; I don't know who he is; some man whom Caesar imported from the extremity of Celtiberia and gave us for a tribune of the people. Before that, he was a measurer of ground for camps; now he hopes to measure out and value the city. May the evils which this foreigner predicts to us fall on his own head, and may we escape in safety! With him is the veteran Capho; nor is there any man whom the veteran troops hate more cordially: to these men, as if in addition to the dowry which they had received during our civil disasters, Antonius had given the Campanian district, that they might have it as a sort of nurse for their other estates. I only wish they would be contented with them! We would bear it then, though it would not be what ought to be borne; but still it would be worth our while to bear any thing, as long as we could escape this most shameful war. |
| 399 |
Quid ? illa castrorum M . Antoni lumina , nonne ante oculos proponitis ? Primum duos conlegas Antoniorum et Dolabellae , Nuculam et Lentonem , Italiae divisores lege ea quam senatus per vim latam iudicavit ; quorum alter commentatus est mimos , alter egit tragoediam . Quid dicam de Apulo Domitio ? cuius modo bona proscripta vidi . Tanta procuratorum est neglegentia . At hic nuper sororis filio infudit venenum , non dedit . Sed non possunt non prodige vivere qui nostra bona sperant , cum effundant sua . Vidi etiam P . Deci auctionem , clari viri , qui maiorum exempla persequens pro alieno se aere devovit . Emptor tamen in ea auctione inventus est nemo . Hominem ridiculum qui se exserere aere alieno putet posse , cum vendat aliena .
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What more? Have you not before your eyes those ornaments of the camp of Marcus. Antonius? In the first place, these two colleagues of the Antonii and Dolabella, Nucula and Lento, the dividers of all Italy according to that law which the senate pronounced to have been carried by violence; one of whom has been a writer of farces, and the other an actor of tragedies. Why should I speak of Domitius the Apulian? whose property we have lately seen advertised, so great is the carelessness of his agents. But this man lately was not content with giving poison to his sister's son, he actually drenched him with it. But it is impossible for these men to live in any other than a prodigal manner, who hope for our property while they are squandering their own. I have seen also an auction of the property of Publius Decius, an illustrious man; who, following the example of his ancestors, devoted himself for the debts of another. But at that auction no one was found to be a purchaser. Ridiculous man to think it possible to escape from debt by selling other people's property! For why should I speak of Trebellius? on whom the furies of debts seem to have wreaked their vengeance; for we have seen one table avenging another. |
| 400 |
Nam quid ego de Trebellio dicam ? quem ultae videntur Furiae debitorum ; vindicem enim novarum tabularum novam tabulam vidimus . Quid de T . Planco ? quem praestantissimus civis , Aquila , Pollentia expulit et quidem crure fracto : quod utinam illi ante accidisset , ne huc redire potuisset ! Lumen et decus illius exercitus paene praeterii , T . Annium Cimbrum , Lysidici filium , Lysidicum ipsum , quoniam omnia iura dissolvit , nisi forte iure Germanum Cimber occidit . Cum hanc et huius generis copiam tantam habeat Antonius , quod scelus omittet , cum Dolabella tantis se obstrinxerit parricidiis nequaquam pari latronum manu et copia ?
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Why should I speak of Plancus? whom that most illustrious citizen Aquila has driven from Pollentia,—and that too with a broken leg; and I wish he had met with that accident earlier, so as not to be liable to return hither. I had almost passed over the light and glory of that army, Caius Annius Cimber, the son of Lysidicus, a Lysidicus himself in the Greek meaning of the word, since he has broken all laws, unless perhaps it is natural for a Cimbrian to slay a German. When Antonius has such numbers with him, and those too men of that sort, what crime will he shrink from, when Dolabella has polluted himself with such atrocious murders without at all an equal troop of robbers to support him? |
| 401 |
Quapropter , ut invitus saepe dissensi a Q . Fufio , ita sum eius sententiae libenter adsensus : ex quo iudicare debetis me non cum homine solere , sed cum causa dissidere . Itaque non adsentior solum sed etiam gratias ago Fufio : dixit enim severam , gravem , re publica dignam sententiam : iudicavit hostem Dolabellam ; bona censuit publice possidenda . Quo cum addi nihil potuisset —quid enim atrocius potuit , quid severius decernere ?—dixit tamen , si quis eorum qui post se rogati essent graviorem sententiam dixisset , in eam se iturum . Quam severitatem quis potest non laudare ?
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Wherefore, as I have often at other times differed against my will from Quintus Fufius, so on this occasion I gladly agree with his proposition. And from this you may see that my difference is not with the man, but with the cause which he sometimes advocates. Therefore, at present I not only agree with Quintus Fufius, but I even return thanks to him; for he has given utterance to opinions which are upright, and dignified, and worthy of the republic. He has pronounced Dolabella a public enemy; he has declared his opinion that his property ought to be confiscated by public authority. And though nothing could be added to this (for, indeed, what could he propose more severe or more pitiless?), nevertheless, he said that if any of those men who were asked their opinion after him proposed any more severe sentence, he would vote for it. Who can avoid praising such severity as this? |
| 402 |
Nunc , quoniam hostis est iudicatus Dolabella , bello est persequendus . Neque enim quiescit ; habet legionem , habet fugitivos , habet sceleratam impiorum manum ; est ipse confidens , impotens , gladiatorio generi mortis addictus . Quam ob rem , quoniam Dolabella hesterno die hoste decreto bellum gerendum est , imperator est deligendus . Duae dictae sunt sententiae quarum neutram probo : alteram quia semper , nisi cum est necesse , periculosam arbitror ; alteram quia alienam his temporibus existimo .
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Now, since Dolabella has been pronounced a public enemy, he must be pursued by war. For he himself will not remain quiet. He has a legion with him; he has troops of runaway slaves, he has a wicked band of impious men; he himself is confident, intemperate, and bent on falling by the death of a gladiator. Wherefore since as. Dolabella was voted an enemy by the decree which was passed yesterday, war must be waged, we must necessarily appoint a general. Two opinions have been advanced; neither of which do I approve. The one, because I always think it dangerous unless it be absolutely necessary; the other, because I think it wholly unsuited to the emergency. |
| 403 |
Nam extraordinarium imperium populare atque ventosum est , minime nostrae gravitatis , minime huius ordinis . Bello Antiochino magno et gravi , cum L . Scipioni provincia Asia obvenisset , parumque in eo putaretur esse animi , parum roboris , senatusque ad conlegam eius , C . Laelium , illiusSapientis patrem , negotium deferret , surrexit P . Africanus , frater maior L . Scipionis , et illam ignominiam a familia deprecatus est , dixitque et in fratre suo summam virtutem esse summumque consilium neque se ei legatum , id aetatis eisque rebus gestis , defuturum . Quod cum ab eo esset dictum , nihil est de Scipionis provincia commutatum ; nec plus extraordinarium imperium ad id bellum quaesitum quam duobus antea maximis Punicis bellis quae a consulibus aut a dictatoribus gesta et confecta sunt , quam Pyrrhi , quam Philippi , quam post Achaico bello , quam Punico tertio ; ad quod populus Romanus ita sibi ipse delegit idoneum ducem , P . Scipionem , ut eum tamen bellum gerere consulem vellet .
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For an extraordinary commission is a measure suited rather to the fickle character of the mob; one which does not at all become our dignity or this assembly. In the war against Antiochus, a great and important war, when Asia had fallen by lot to Lucius Scipio as his province, and when he was thought to have hardly spirit and hardly vigor enough for it; and when the senate was inclined to entrust the business to his colleague Caius Laelius, the father of this Laelius, who was surnamed the Wise; Publius Africanus, the elder brother of Lucius Scipio, rose up, and entreated them not to cast such a slur on his family, and said that in his brother there was united the greatest possible valor, with the most consummate prudence; and that he too, notwithstanding his age, and all the exploits which he had performed, would attend his brother as his lieutenant. And after he had said this, nothing was changed in respect to Scipio's province; nor was any extraordinary command sought for any more in that war than in those two terrible Punic wars which had preceded it, which were carried on and conducted to their termination either by the consuls or by dictators; or than in the war with Pyrrhus, or in that with Philippus, or afterward in the Achaean war, or in the third Punic war; for which last the Roman people took great care to select a suitable general, Publius Scipio, but at the same time it appointed him to the consulship in order to conduct it. |
| 404 |
Cum Aristonico bellum gerendum fuit P . Licinio L . Valerio consulibus . Rogatus est populus quem id bellum gerere placeret . Crassus consul , pontifex maximus , Flacco conlegae , flamini Martiali , multam dixit , si a sacris discessisset : quam multam populus Romanus remisit ; pontifici tamen flaminem parere iussit . Sed ne tum quidem populus Romanus ad privatum detulit bellum , quamquam erat Africanus qui anno ante de Numantinis triumpharat ; qui , cum longe omnis belli gloria et virtute superaret , duas tamen tribus solas tulit . Ita populus Romanus consuli potius Crasso quam privato Africano bellum gerendum dedit . De Cn . Pompei imperiis , summi viri atque omnium principis , tribuni plebis turbulenti tulerunt . Nam Sertorianum bellum a senatu privato datum est , quia consules recusabant , cum L . Philippus pro consulibus eum se mittere dixit , non pro consule .
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War was to be waged against Aristonicus in the consulship of Publius Licinius and Lucius. Valerius. The people consulted as to whom it wished to have the management of that war. Crassus, the consul and Pontifex Maximus, threatened to impose a fine upon Flaccus his colleague, the priest of Mars, if he deserted the sacrifices. And though the people remitted the fine, still they ordered the priest to submit to the commands of the pontiff. But even then the Roman people did not commit the management of the war to a private individual; although there was Africanus, who the year before had celebrated a triumph over the people of Numantia; and who was far superior to all men in martial renown and military skill; yet he only gained the votes of two tribunes. And accordingly the Roman people entrusted the management of the war to Crassus the consul rather than to the private individual Africanus. As to the commands given to Cnaeus Pompeius, that most illustrious man, that first of men, they were carried by some turbulent tribunes of the people. For the war against Sertorius was only given by the senate to a private individual because the consuls refused it; when Lucius Philippus said that he sent the general in the place of the two consuls, not as proconsul. |
| 405 |
Quae igitur haec comitia , aut quam ambitionem constantissimus et gravissimus civis , L . Caesar , in senatum introduxit ? Clarissimo viro atque innocentissimo decrevit imperium , privato tamen : in quo maximum nobis onus imposuit . Adsensus ero , ambitionem induxero in curiam ; negaro , videbor suffragio meo , tamquam comitiis , honorem homini amicissimo denegavisse . Quod si comitia placet in senatu haberi , petamus , ambiamus , tabella modo detur nobis , sicut populo data est . Cur committis , Caesar , ut aut praestantissimus vir , si tibi non sit adsensum , repulsam tulisse videatur aut unus quisque nostrum praeteritus , si , cum pari dignitate simus , eodem honore digni non putemur ?
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What then is the object of these comitia? or what is the meaning of this canvassing which that most wise and dignified citizen, Lucius Caesar, has introduced into the senate? He has proposed to vote a military command to one who is certainly a most illustrious and unimpeachable man, but still only a private individual. And by doing so he has imposed a heavy burden upon us. Suppose I agree; shall I by so doing countenance the introduction of the practice of canvassing into the senate-house? Suppose I vote against it; shall I appear as if I were in the comitia to have refused an honor to a man who is one of my greatest friends? But if we are to have the comitia in the senate, let us ask for votes, let us canvass; let a voting-tablet be given us, just as one is given to the people. Why do you, O Caesar, allow it to be so managed that either a most illustrious man, if your proposition be not agreed to, shall appear to have received a repulse, or else that one of us shall appear to have been passed over, if, while we were men of equal dignity, we are not considered worthy of equal honor? |
| 406 |
At enim —nam id exaudio —C . Caesari adulescentulo imperium extraordinarium mea sententia dedi . Ille enim mihi praesidium extraordinarium dederat : cum dico mihi , senatui dico populoque Romano . A quo praesidium res publica , ne cogitatum quidem , tantum haberet ut sine eo salva esse non posset , huic extraordinarium imperium non darem ? Aut exercitus adimendus aut imperium dandum fuit . Quae est enim ratio aut qui potest fieri ut sine imperio teneatur exercitus ? Non igitur , quod ereptum non est , id existimandum est datum . Eripuissetis C . Caesari , patres conscripti , imperium , nisi dedissetis . Milites veterani qui illius auctoritatem , imperium , nomen secuti pro re publica arma ceperant volebant sibi ab illo imperari ; legio Martia et legio quarta ita se contulerant ad auctoritatem senatus et rei publicae dignitatem ut deposcerent imperatorem et ducem C . Caesarem . Imperium C . Caesari belli necessitas , fascis senatus dedit . Otioso vero et nihil agenti privato , obsecro te , L . Caesar —cum peritissimo homine mihi res est —quando imperium senatus dedit ?
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But (for this is what I hear is said), I myself gave by my own vote an extraordinary commission to Caius Caesar. Yes, indeed, for he had given me extraordinary protection; when I say me, I mean he had given it to the senate and to the Roman people. Was I to refuse giving an extraordinary military command to that man from whom the republic had received protection which had never even been thought of, but that still was of so much consequence that without it she could not have been safe? There were only the alternatives of taking his army from him, or giving him such a command. For on what principle or by what means can an army be retained by a man who has not been invested with any military command? We must not, therefore, think that a thing has been given to a man which has, in fact, not been taken away from him. You would, O conscript fathers have taken a command away from Caius Caesar, if you had not given him one. The veteran soldiers, who, following his authority and command and name, had taken up arms in the cause of the republic, desired to be commanded by him. The Martial legion and the fourth legion had submitted to the authority of the senate, and had devoted themselves to uphold the dignity of the republic, in such a way as to feel that they had a right to demand Caius Caesar for their commander. It was the necessity of the war that invested Caius Caesar with military command; the senate only gave him the ensigns of it. But I beg you to tell me, O Lucius. Caesar,—I am aware that I am arguing with a man of the greatest experience,—when did the senate ever confer a military command on a private individual who was in a state of inactivity, and doing nothing? |
| 407 |
Sed de hoc quidem hactenus , ne refragari homini amicissimo ac de me optime merito videar . Etsi quis potest refragari non modo non petenti verum etiam recusanti ? Illa vero , patres conscripti , aliena consulum dignitate , aliena temporum gravitate sententia est ut consules Dolabellae persequendi causa Asiam et Syriam sortiantur . Dicam cur inutile rei publicae , sed prius quam turpe consulibus sit videte . Cum consul designatus obsideatur , cum in eo liberando salus sit posita rei publicae , cum a populo Romano pestiferi cives parricidaeque desciverint , cumque id bellum geramus quo bello de dignitate , de libertate , de vita decernamus , si in potestatem quis Antoni venerit , proposita sint tormenta atque cruciatus , cumque harum rerum omnium decertatio consulibus optimis et fortissimis commissa et commendata sit , Asiae et Syriae mentio fiet , ut aut suspicioni crimen aut invidiae materiam dedisse videamur ?
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However, I have been speaking hitherto to avoid the appearance of gratuitously opposing a man who is a great friend of mine, and who has showed me great kindness. Although, can one deny a thing to a person who not only does not ask for it, but who even refuses it? But, O conscript fathers, that proposition is unsuited to the dignity of the consuls, unsuited to the critical character of the times; namely, the proposition that the consuls, for the sake of pursuing Dolabella, shall have the provinces of Asia and Syria allotted to them. I will explain why it is inexpedient for the republic; but first of all, consider what ignominy it fixes on the consuls. When a consul elect is being besieged, when the safety of the republic depends upon his liberation, when mischievous and parricidal citizens have revolted from the republic, and when we are carrying on a war in which we are fighting for our dignity, for our freedom, and for our lives; and when, if any one falls into the power of Antonius, tortures and torments are prepared for him; and when the struggle for all these objects has been committed and entrusted to our most admirable and gallant consuls,—shall any mention be made of Asia and Syria, so that we may appear to have given any injurious cause for others to entertain suspicion of us, or to bring us into unpopularity? |
| 408 |
At vero ita decernunt ‘ut liberato Bruto ' : id enim restabat , ut relicto , deserto , prodito . Ego vero mentionem omnino provinciarum factam dico alienissimo tempore . Quamvis enim intentus animus tuus sit , C . Pansa , sicut est , ad virum fortissimum et omnium clarissimum liberandum , tamen rerum natura cogit te necessario referre animum aliquando ad Dolabellam persequendum et partem aliquam in Asiam et Syriam derivare curae et cogitationis tuae . Si autem fieri posset , vel pluris te animos habere vellem quos omnis ad Mutinam intenderes . Quod quoniam fieri non potest , isto te animo quem habes praestantissimum atque optimum nihil volumus nisi de Bruto cogitare .
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They do indeed propose it, “after having liberated Brutus,”—for those were the last words of the proposal; say rather, after having deserted, abandoned, and betrayed him. But I say that any mention whatever of any provinces has been made at a most unseasonable time. For although your mind, O Caius Pansa, be ever so intent, as indeed it is, on effecting the liberation of the most brave and illustrious of all men, still the nature of things would compel you inevitably sometimes to turn your thoughts to the idea of pursuing Antonius, and to divert some portion of your care and attention to Asia and Syria But if it were possible I could wish you to have more minds than one and yet to direct them all upon Mutina. But since that is impossible, I do wish you, with that most virtuous and all accomplished mind which you have got, to think of nothing but Brutus. |
| 409 |
Facis tu id quidem et eo maxime incumbis , intellego ; duas tamen res , magnas praesertim , non modo agere uno tempore sed ne cogitando quidem explicare quisquam potest . Incitare et inflammare tuum istuc praestantissimum studium , non ad aliam ulla ex parte curam transferre debemus .
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And that indeed, is what you are doing; that is what you are especially striving at; but still no man can, I will not say do two things, especially two most important things, at one time, but he can not even do entire justice to them both in his thoughts. It is our duty rather to spur on and inflame that excellent eagerness of yours, and not to transfer any portion of it to another object of care in a different direction. |
| 410 |
Adde istuc sermones hominum , adde suspiciones , adde invidiam : imitare me quem tu semper laudasti : qui instructam ornatamque a senatu provinciam deposui ut incendium patriae omissa omni cogitatione restinguerem . Nemo erit praeter unum me quicum profecto , si quid interesse tua putasses , pro summa familiaritate nostra communicasses , qui credat te invito provinciam tibi esse decretam . Hanc , quaeso , pro tua singulari sapientia reprime famam atque effice ne id quod non curas cupere videare . Quod quidem eo vehementius tibi laborandum est quia in eandem cadere suspicionem conlega , vir clarissimus , non potest . Nihil horum scit , nihil suspicatur ; bellum gerit , in acie stat , de sanguine et de spiritu decertat ; ante provinciam sibi decretam audiet quam potuerit tempus ei rei datum suspicari . Vereor ne exercitus quoque nostri qui non dilectus necessitate , sed voluntariis studiis se ad rem publicam contulerunt tardentur animis , si quicquam aliud a nobis nisi de instanti bello cogitatum putabunt . Quod si provinciae consulibus expetendae videntur , sicut saepe multis clarissimis viris expetitae sunt , reddite prius nobis Brutum , lumen et decus civitatis ; qui ita conservandus est ut id signum quod de caelo delapsum Vestae custodiis continetur ; quo salvo salvi sumus futuri . Tunc vel in caelum vos , si fieri potuerit , umeris nostris tollemus ; provincias certe dignissimas vobis deligemus ; nunc quod agitur agamus . Agitur autem liberine vivamus an mortem obeamus , quae certe servituti anteponenda est .
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Add to these considerations the way men talk, the way in which they nourish suspicion, the way in which they take dislikes. Imitate me whom you have always praised; for I rejected a province fully appointed and provided by the senate, for the purpose of discarding all other thoughts, and devoting all my efforts to extinguishing the conflagration that threatened to consume my country. There was no one except me alone, to whom, indeed, you would, in consideration of our intimacy, have been sure to communicate any thing which concerned your interests, who would believe that the province had been decreed to you against your will. I entreat you, check, as is due to your eminent wisdom, this report, and do not seem to be desirous of that which you do not in reality care about. And you should take the more care of this point, because your colleague, a most illustrious man, can not fall under the same suspicion. He knows nothing of all that is going on here; he suspects nothing; he is conducting the war; he is standing in battle array; he is fighting for his blood and for his life; he will hear of the province being decreed to him before he could imagine that there had been time for such a proceeding. I am afraid that our armies too, which have devoted themselves to the republic, not from any compulsory levy, but of their own voluntary zeal, will be checked in their ardor, if they suppose that we are thinking of any thing but instant war. But if provinces appear to the consuls as things to be desired, as they often have been desired by many illustrious men; first restore us Brutus, the light and glory of the state; whom we ought to preserve like that statue which fell from heaven, and is guarded by the protection of Vesta: which, as long as it is safe, insures our safety also. Then we will raise you, if it be possible, even to heaven on our shoulders; unquestionably we will select for you the most worthy provinces. But at present let us apply ourselves to the business before us. And the question is, whether we will live as freemen, or die; for death is certainly to be preferred to slavery. |
| 411 |
Quid ? si etiam tarditatem adfert ista sententia ad Dolabellam persequendum ? Quando enim veniet consul ? An id exspectamus quoad ne vestigium quidem Asiae civitatum atque urbium relinquatur ? At mittent aliquem de suo numero . Valde mihi probari potest qui paulo ante clarissimo viro privato imperium extra ordinem non dedi . At hominem dignum mittent . Num P . Servilio digniorem ? At eum quidem civitas non habet . Quod ergo ipse nemini putavi dandum , ne a senatu quidem , id ego unius iudicio delatum comprobem ?
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What more need I say? Suppose that proposition causes delay in the pursuit of Dolabella? For when will the consul arrive? Are we waiting till there is not even a vestige of the towns and cities of Asia left? “But they will send some one of their officers.”—That will certainly be a step that I shall quite approve of; I who just now objected to giving any extraordinary military command to ever so illustrious a man if he were only a private individual. “But they will send a man worthy of such a charge.” Will they send one more worthy than Publius Servilius? But the city has not such a man. What then he himself thinks ought to be given to no one, not even by the senate, can I approve of that being conferred by the decision of one man? |
| 412 |
Expedito nobis homine et parato , patres conscripti , opus est et eo qui imperium legitimum habeat , qui praeterea auctoritatem , nomen , exercitum , perspectum animum in re publica liberanda .
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We have need, O conscript fathers, of a man ready and prepared, and of one who has a military command legally conferred on him; and of one who, besides this, has authority, and a name, and an army, and a courage which has been already tried in his exertions for the deliverance of the republic. |
| 413 |
Quis igitur is est ? Aut M . Brutus aut C . Cassius aut uterque . Decernerem plane , sicut multa ‘consules , alter ambove ,’ ni Brutum conligassemus in Graecia et eius auxilium ad Italiam vergere quam ad Asiam maluissemus ; non ut ex acie respectum haberemus , sed ut ea ipsa acies subsidium haberet etiam transmarinum . Praeterea , patres conscripti , M . Brutum retinet etiam nunc C . Antonius , qui tenet Apolloniam , magnam urbem et gravem ; tenet , opinor , Byllidem , tenet Amantiam , instat Epiro , urget Oricum , habet aliquot cohortis , habet equitatum . Hinc si Brutus erit traductus ad aliud bellum , Graeciam certe amiserimus . Est autem etiam de Brundisio atque illa ora Italiae providendum . Quamquam miror tam diu morari Antonium ; solet enim ipse accipere manicas nec diutius obsidionis metum sustinere . Quod si confecerit Brutus et intellexerit plus se rei publicae profuturum , si Dolabellam persequatur quam si in Graecia maneat , aget ipse per sese , ut adhuc quoque fecit , neque in tot incendiis quibus confestim succurrendum est exspectabit senatum . Nam et Brutus et Cassius multis iam in rebus ipse sibi senatus fuit . Necesse est enim in tanta conversione et perturbatione omnium rerum temporibus potius parere quam moribus . Nec enim nunc primum aut Brutus aut Cassius salutem libertatemque patriae legem sanctissimam et morem optimum iudicavit . Itaque si ad nos nihil referretur de Dolabella persequendo , tamen ego pro decreto putarem , cum essent tales virtute , auctoritate , nobilitate ei summi viri quorum alterius iam nobis notus esset exercitus , alterius auditus .
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Who then is that man? Either Marcus Brutus, or Caius Cassius, or both of them. I would vote in plain words, as there are many precedents for, one consul or both, if we had not already hampered Brutus sufficiently in Greece, and if we had not preferred having his reinforcement approach nearer to Italy rather than move farther off toward Asia; not so much in order to receive succor ourselves from that army, as to enable that army to receive aid across the water. Besides, O conscript fathers, even now Caius. Antonius is detaining Marcus Brutus, for he occupies Apollonia, a large and important city; he occupies, as I believe, Byllis; he occupies Amantia; he is threatening Epirus; he is pressing on Illyricum; he has with him several cohorts, and he has cavalry. If Brutus be transferred from this district to any other war, we shall at all events lose Greece. We must also provide for the safety of Brundusium and all that coast of Italy. Although I marvel that Antonius delays so long; for he is accustomed usually to put on his marching dress, and not to endure the fear of a siege for any length of time. But if Brutus has finished that business, and perceives that he can better serve the republic by pursuing Dolabella than by remaining in Greece, he will act of his own head, as he has hitherto done; nor amid such a general conflagration will he wait for the orders of the senate when instant help is required. For both Brutus and Cassius have in many instances been a senate to themselves. For it is quite inevitable that in such a confusion and disturbance of all things men should be guided by the present emergency rather than by precedent. Nor will this be the first time that either Brutus or Cassius has considered the safety and deliverance of his country his most holy law and his most excellent precedent. Therefore, if there were no motion submitted to us about the pursuit of Dolabella, still I should consider it equivalent to a decree, when there were men of such a character for virtue, authority, and the greatest nobleness, possessing armies, one of which is already known to us, and the other has been abundantly heard of. |
| 414 |
Num igitur Brutus exspectavit decreta nostra , cum studia nosset ? Neque enim est in provinciam suam Cretam profectus : in Macedoniam alienam advolavit ; omnia sua putavit quae vos vestra esse velitis ; legiones conscripsit novas , excepit veteres ; equitatum ad se abduxit Dolabellae atque eum nondum tanto parricidio oblitum hostem sua sententia iudicavit . Nam ni ita esset , quo iure equitatum a consule abduceret ? Quid ? C . Cassius , pari magnitudine animi et consili praeditus , nonne eo ex Italia consilio profectus est ut prohiberet Syria Dolabellam ? Qua lege , quo iure ? Eo quod Iuppiter ipse sanxit , ut omnia quae rei publicae salutaria essent legitima et iusta haberentur . Est enim lex nihil aliud nisi recta et a numine deorum tracta ratio , imperans honesta , prohibens contraria . Huic igitur legi paruit Cassius , cum est in Syriam profectus , alienam provinciam , si homines legibus scriptis uterentur , eis vero oppressis suam lege naturae .
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Brutus then, you may be sure, has not waited for our decrees, as he was sure of our desires. For he is not gone to his own province of Crete; he has flown to Macedonia, which belonged to another; he has accounted every thing his own which you have wished to be yours; he has enlisted new legions; he has received old ones; he has gained over to his own standard the cavalry of Dolabella, and, even before that man was polluted with such enormous parricide, he, of his own head, pronounced him his enemy. For if he were not one, by what right could he himself have tempted the cavalry to abandon the consul? What more need I say? Did not Caius Cassius, a man endowed with equal greatness of mind and with equal wisdom, depart from Italy with the deliberate object of preventing Dolabella from obtaining possession of Syria? By what law? By what right? By that which Jupiter himself has sanctioned, that every thing which was advantageous to the republic should be considered legal and just. For law is nothing but a correct principle drawn from the inspiration of the gods, commanding what is honest, and forbidding the contrary. Cassius, therefore, obeyed this law when he went into Syria; a province which belonged to another, if men were to abide by the written laws; but which, when these were trampled under foot, was his by the law of nature. |