Orations (M. Tullius Cicero)

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	Orations Author: M. Tullius Cicero	Translator: C. D. Yonge
523	Haec interposui , patres conscripti , non tam ut pro me dixerim — male enim mecum ageretur , si parum vobis essem sine defensione purgatus — quam ut quosdam nimis ieiuno animo et angusto monerem , id quod semper ipse fecissem , uti excellentium civium virtutem imitatione dignam , non invidia putarent . Magnus est in re publica campus , ut sapienter dicere M . Crassus solebat , multis apertus cursus ad laudem .	I have made this digression, O conscript fathers, not so much for the sake of speaking of myself (for I should be in a sorry plight if I were not sufficiently acquitted in your eyes without the necessity of making a formal defense), as with the view of warning some men of too groveling and narrow minds, to adopt the line of conduct which I myself have always pursued, and to think the virtue of excellent citizens worthy of imitation, not of envy. There is a great field in the republic, as Crassus used very wisely to say; the road to glory is open to many.
524	Vtinam quidem illi principes viverent qui me post meum consulatum , cum eis ipse cederem , principem non inviti videbant ! Hoc vero tempore in tanta inopia constantium et fortium consularium quo me dolore adfici creditis , cum alios male sentire , alios nihil omnino curare videam , alios parum constanter in suscepta causa permanere sententiamque suam non semper utilitate rei publicae , sed tum spe tum timore moderari ? Quod si quis de contentione principatus laborat , quae nulla esse debet , stultissime facit , si vitiis cum virtute contendit ; ut enim cursu cursus , sic in viris fortibus virtus virtute superatur . Tu , si ego de re publica optime sentiam , ut me vincas , ipse pessime senties ? aut , si ad me bonorum concursum fieri videbis , ad te improbos invitabis ? Nollem , primum rei publicae causa , deinde etiam dignitatis tuae . Sed si principatus ageretur , quem numquam expetivi , quid tandem mihi esset optatius ? Ego enim malis sententiis vinci non possum , bonis forsitan possim et libenter .	Would that those great men were still alive, who, after my consulship, when I myself was willing to yield to them, were themselves desirous to see me in the post of leader. But at the present moment, when there is such a dearth of wise and fearless men of consular rank, how great do you not suppose must be my grief and indignation, when I see some men absolutely disaffected to the republic, others wholly indifferent to every thing, others incapable of persevering with any firmness in the cause which they have espoused; and regulating their opinions not always by the advantage of the republic, but sometimes by hope, and sometimes by fear. But if any one is anxious and inclined to struggle for the leadership—though struggle there ought to be none—he acts very foolishly, if he proposes to combat virtue with vices. For as speed is only outstripped by speed, so among brave men virtue is only surpassed by virtue. Will you, if I am full of excellent sentiments with respect to the republic, adopt the worst possible sentiments yourself for the purpose of excelling me? Or if you see a race taking place for the acquisition of honors, will you summon all the wicked men you can find to your banner? I should be sorry for you to do so; first of all, for the sake of the republic, and secondly, for that of your own dignity. But if the leadership of the state were at stake, which I have never coveted, what could be more desirable for me than such conduct on your part?
525	Haec populum Romanum videre , animadvertere , iudicare quidam moleste ferunt . Poteratne fieri ut non proinde homines de quoque ut quisque mereretur iudicarent ? Vt enim de universo senatu populus Romanus verissime iudicat nullis rei publicae temporibus hunc ordinem firmiorem aut fortiorem fuisse , sic de uno quoque nostrum et maxime qui hoc loco sententias dicimus sciscitantur omnes , avent audire quid quisque senserit : ita de quoque ut quemque meritum arbitrantur existimant .	For it is impossible that I should be defeated by wicked sentiments and measures,—by good ones perhaps I might be, and I willingly would be. Some people are vexed that the Roman people should see, and take notice of, and form their opinion on these matters. Was it possible for men not to form their opinion of each individual as he deserved? For as the Roman people form a most correct judgment of the entire senate, thinking that at no period in the history of the republic was this order ever more firm or more courageous; so also they all inquire diligently concerning every individual among us; and especially in the case of those among us who deliver our sentiments at length in this place, they are anxious to know what those sentiments are; and in that way they judge of each one of us, as they think that he deserves.
526	Memoria tenent me ante diem xiii . Kalendas Ianuarias principem revocandae libertatis fuisse ; me ex Kalendis Ianuariis ad hanc horam invigilasse rei publicae ; meam domum measque auris dies noctesque omnium praeceptis monitisque patuisse ; meis litteris , meis nuntiis , meis cohortationibus omnis qui ubique essent ad patriae praesidium excitatos ; meis sententiis a Kalendis Ianuariis numquam legatos ad Antonium ; semper illum hostem , semper hoc bellum , ut ego qui omni tempore verae pacis auctor fuissem huic essem nomini pestiferae pacis inimicus ; idem P .	They recollect that on the nineteenth of December I was the main cause of recovering our freedom; that from the first of January to this hour I have never ceased watching over the republic; that day and night my house and my ears have been open to the instruction and admonition of everyone; that it has been by my letters, and my messengers, and my exhortations, that all men in every part of the empire have been roused to the protection of our country; that it is owing to the open declaration of my opinion ever since the first of January, that no ambassadors have been ever sent to Antonius; that I have always called him a public enemy, and this a war; so that I, who on every occasion have been the adviser of genuine peace, have been a determined enemy to this pretense of fatal peace.
527	Ventidium , cum alii praetorem , ego semper hostem . Has in sententias meas si consules discessionem facere voluissent , omnibus istis latronibus auctoritate ipsa senatus iam pridem de manibus arma cecidissent .	Have not I also at all times pronounced Ventidius an enemy, when others wished to call him a tribune of the people? If the consuls had chosen to divide the senate on my opinion, their arms would long since have been wrested from the hands of all those robbers by the positive authority of the senate.
528	Sed quod tum non licuit , patres conscripti , id hoc tempore non solum licet verum etiam necesse est , eos qui re sunt hostes verbis notari , sententiis nostris hostis iudicari . Antea cum hostem ac bellum nominassem , semel et saepius sententiam meam de numero sententiarum sustulerunt : quod in hac causa iam fieri non potest . Ex litteris enim C . Pansae A . Hirti consulum , C . Caesaris pro praetore , de honore dis immortalibus habendo sententias dicimus . Supplicationem modo qui decrevit , idem imprudens hostis iudicavit ; numquam enim in civili bello supplicatio decreta est . Decretam dico ?	But what could not be done then, O conscript fathers, at present not only can be, but even must be done. I mean, those men who are in reality enemies must be branded in plain language, must be declared enemies by our formal resolution. Formerly, when I used the words War or Enemy, men more than once objected to record my proposition among the other propositions. But that can not be done on the present occasion. For in consequence of the letters of Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, the consuls, and of Caius Caesar, propraetor, we have all voted that honors be paid to the immortal gods. The very man who lately proposed and carried a vote for a supplication, without intending it pronounced those men enemies; for a supplication has never been decreed for success in civil war. Decreed, do I say? It has never even been asked for in the letters of the conqueror.
529	ne victoris quidem litteris postulata est . Civile bellum consul Sulla gessit , legionibus in urbem adductis quos voluit expulit , quos potuit occidit : supplicationis mentio nulla . Grave bellum Octavianum insecutum est : supplicatio Cinnae nulla victori . Cinnae victoriam imperator ultus est Sulla : nulla supplicatio decreta a senatu . Ad te ipsum , P . Servili , num misit ullas conlega litteras de illa calamitosissima pugna Pharsalia ? num te de supplicatione voluit referre ? Profecto noluit . At misit postea de Alexandrea , de Pharnace : Pharsaliae vero pugnae ne triumphum quidem egit . Eos enim civis pugna illa sustulerat quibus non modo vivis sed etiam victoribus incolumis et florens civitas esse posset .	Sulla as consul carried on a civil war; he led his legions into the city and expelled whomsoever he chose; he slew those whom he had in his power: there was no mention made of any supplication. The violent war with Octavius followed. Cinna the conqueror had no supplication voted to him. Sulla as imperator revenged the victory of Cinna, still no supplication was decreed by the senate. I ask you yourself, O Publius Servilius, did your colleague send you any letters concerning that most lamentable battle of Pharsalia? Did he wish you to make any motion about a supplication? Certainly not. But he did afterward when he took Alexandria; when he defeated Pharnaces; but for the battle of Pharsalia he did not even celebrate a triumph. For that battle had destroyed those citizens whose, I will not say lives, but even whose victory might have been quite compatible with the safety and prosperity of the state.
530	Quod idem contigerat superioribus bellis civilibus . Nam mihi consuli supplicatio nullis armis sumptis non ob caedem hostium , sed ob conservationem civium novo et inaudito genere decreta est . Quam ob rem aut supplicatio re publica pulcherrime gesta postulantibus nostris imperatoribus deneganda est , quod praeter A . Gabinium contigit nemini , aut supplicatione decernenda hostis eos de quibus decernitis iudicetis necesse est .	And the same thing had happened in the previous civil wars. For though a supplication was decreed in my honor when I was consul, though no arms had been had recourse to at all, still that was voted by a new and wholly unprecedented kind of decree, not for the slaughter of enemies, but for the preservation of the citizens. Wherefore, a supplication on account of the affairs of the republic having been successfully conducted must, O conscript fathers, be refused by you even though your generals demand it; a stigma which has never been affixed on any one except Gabinius; or else, by the mere fact of decreeing a supplication, it is quite inevitable that you must pronounce those men, for whose defeat you do decree it, enemies of the state.
531	Quod ergo ille re , id ego etiam verbo , cum imperatores eos appello : hoc ipso nomine et eos qui iam devicti sunt et eos qui supersunt hostis iudico . Quo modo enim potius Pansam appellem , etsi habet honoris nomen amplissimi ; quo Hirtium ? Est ille quidem consul , sed alterum nomen benefici populi Romani est , alterum virtutis atque victoriae . Quid ? Caesarem , deorum beneficio rei publicae procreatum , dubitemne appellare imperatorem ? qui primus Antoni immanem et foedam crudelitatem non solum a iugulis nostris sed etiam a membris et visceribus avertit . Vnius autem diei quot et quantae virtutes , di immortales , fuerunt !	What then Servilius did in effect, I do in express terms, when I style those men imperators. By using this name, I pronounce those who have been already defeated, and those who still remain, enemies in calling their conquerors imperators. For what title can I more suitably bestow on Pansa? Though he has, indeed, the title of the highest honor in the republic. What, too, shall I call Hirtius? He, indeed, is consul; but this latter title is indicative of the kindness of the Roman people; the other of valor and victory. What? Shall I hesitate to call Caesar imperator, a man born for the republic by the express kindness of the gods? He who was the first man who turned aside the savage and disgraceful cruelty of Antonius, not only from our throats but from our limbs and bowels? What numerous and what important virtues, O ye immortal gods, were displayed on that single day.
532	Princeps enim omnium Pansa proeli faciendi et cum Antonio confligendi fuit ; dignus imperator legione Martia , digna legio imperatore . Cuius si acerrimum impetum cohibere Pansa potuisset , uno proelio confecta res esset . Sed cum libertatis avida legio effrenatius in aciem hostium inrupisset ipseque in primis Pansa pugnaret , duobus periculosis volneribus acceptis sublatus e proelio rei publicae vitam reservavit . Ego vero hunc non solum imperatorem sed etiam clarissimum imperatorem iudico qui , cum aut morte aut victoria se satis facturum rei publicae spopondisset , alterum fecit , alterius di immortales omen avertant .	For Pansa was the leader of all in engaging in battle and in combating with Antonius; O general worthy of the Martial legion, legion worthy of its general! Indeed, if he had been able to restrain its irresistible impetuosity, the whole war would have been terminated by that one battle. But as the legion, eager for liberty, had rushed with too much precipitation against the enemy's line of battle, and as Pansa himself was fighting in the front ranks, he received two dangerous wounds, and was borne out of the battle, to preserve his life for the republic. But I pronounce him not only imperator, but a most illustrious imperator; who, as he had pledged himself to discharge his duty to the republic either by death or by victory, has fulfilled one half of his promise; may the immortal gods prevent the fulfillment of the other half!
533	Quid dicam de Hirtio ? qui re audita e castris duas legiones eduxit incredibili studio atque virtute , quartam illam quae relicto Antonio se olim cum Martia legione coniunxit , et septimam quae constituta ex veteranis docuit hoc proelio militibus eis qui Caesaris beneficia servassent senatus populique Romani carum nomen esse . His viginti cohortibus , nullo equitatu , Hirtius ipse aquilam quartae legionis cum inferret , qua nullius pulchriorem speciem imperatoris accepimus , cum tribus Antoni legionibus equitatuque conflixit , hostisque nefarios , huic Iovis OptimiMaximi ceterisque deorum immortalium templis , urbis tectis , libertati populi Romani , nostrae vitae sanguinique imminentis prostravit , fudit , occidit , ut cum admodum paucis , nocte tectus , metu perterritus , princeps latronum duxque fugerit . O solem ipsum beatissimum qui , ante quam se abderet , stratis cadaveribus parricidarum cum paucis fugientem vidit Antonium !	Why need I speak of Hirtius? who, the moment he heard of what was going on, with incredible promptness and courage led forth two legions out of the camp; that noble fourth legion, which, having deserted Antonius, formerly united itself to the Martial legion; and the seventh, which, consisting wholly of veterans, gave proof in that battle that the name of the senate and people of Rome was dear to those soldiers who preserved the recollection of the kindness of Caesar. With these twenty cohorts, with no cavalry, while Hirtius himself was bearing the eagle of the fourth legion,—and we never heard of a more noble office being assumed by any general,—he fought with the three legions of Antonius and with his cavalry, and overthrew, and routed, and put to the sword those impious men who were the real enemies to this temple of the all good and all powerful Jupiter, and to the rest of the temples of the immortal gods, and the houses of the city, and the freedom of the Roman people, and our lives and actual existence; so that that chief and leader of robbers fled away with a very few followers, concealed by the darkness of night, and frightened out of all his senses. Oh what a most blessed day was that, which, while the carcasses of those parricidal traitors were strewed about every where, beheld Antonius flying with a few followers, before he reached his place of concealment.
534	An vero quisquam dubitabit appellare Caesarem imperatorem ? Aetas eius certe ab hac sententia neminem deterrebit , quando quidem virtute superavit aetatem . Ac mihi semper eo maiora beneficia C . Caesaris visa sunt quo minus erant ab aetate illa postulanda : cui cum imperium dabamus , eodem tempore etiam spem eius nominis deferebamus ; quod cum est consecutus , auctoritatem decreti nostri rebus gestis suis comprobavit . Hic ergo adulescens maximi animi , ut verissime scribit Hirtius , castra multarum legionum paucis cohortibus tutatus est secundumque proelium fecit . Ita trium imperatorum virtute , consilio , felicitate uno die locis pluribus res publica est conservata .	But will any one hesitate to call Caesar imperator? Most certainly his age will not deter any one from agreeing to this proposition, since he has gone beyond his age in virtue. And to me, indeed, the services of Caius Caesar have always appeared the more deserving of thanks, in proportion as they were less to have been expected from a man of his age. For when we conferred military command on him we were in fact encouraging the hope with which his name inspired us and now that he has fulfilled those hopes, he has sanctioned the authority of our decree by his exploits. This young man of great mind, as Hirtius most truly calls him in his letter, with a few cohorts defended the camp of many legions and fought a successful battle And in this manner the republic has on one day been preserved in many places by the valor and wisdom, and good fortune of three imperators of the Roman people.
535	Decerno igitur eorum trium nomine quinquaginta dierum supplicationes : causas , ut honorificentissimis verbis consequi potuero , complectar ipsa sententia . Est autem fidei pietatisque nostrae declarare fortissimis militibus quam memores simus quamque grati . Quam ob rem promissa nostra atque ea quae legionibus bello confecto tributuros nos spopondimus hodierno senatus consulto renovanda censeo ; aequum est enim militum , talium praesertim , honorem coniungi .	I therefore propose supplications of fifty days in the joint names of the three. The reasons I will embrace in the words of the resolution, using the most honorable language that I can devise. But it becomes our good faith and our piety to show plainly to our most gallant soldiers how mindful of their services and how grateful for them we are; and accordingly I give my vote that our promises, and those pledges too which we promised to bestow on the legions when the war was finished, be repeated in the resolution which we are going to pass this day. For it is quite fair that the honor of the soldiers, especially of such soldiers as those, should be united with that of their commanders.
536	Atque utinam , patres conscripti , civibus omnibus solvere nobis praemia liceret ! quamquam nos ea quae promisimus studiose cumulata reddemus . Sed id quidem restat , ut spero , victoribus , quibus senatus fides praestabitur : quam quoniam difficillimo rei publicae tempore secuti sunt , eos numquam oportebit consili sui paenitere . Sed facile est bene agere cum eis a quibus etiam tacentibus flagitari videmur : illud admirabilius et maius maximeque proprium senatus sapientis est , grata eorum virtutem memoria prosequi qui pro patria vitam profuderunt .	And I wish, O conscript fathers, that it was lawful for us to dispense rewards to all the citizens, although we will give those which we have promised with the most careful usury. But that remains, as I well hope, to the conquerors, to whom the faith of the senate is pledged; and, as they have adhered to it at a most critical period of the republic, we are bound to take care that they never have cause to repent of their conduct. But it is easy for us to deal fairly by those men whose very services, though mute, appear to demand our liberality. This is a much more praiseworthy and more important duty, to pay a proper tribute of grateful recollection to the valor of those men who have shed their blood in the cause of their country.
537	Quorum de honore utinam mihi plura in mentem venirent ! Duo certe non praeteribo quae maxime occurrunt : quorum alterum pertinet ad virorum fortissimorum gloriam sempiternam , alterum ad leniendum maerorem et luctum proximorum .	And I wish more suggestions could occur to me in the way of doing honor to those men. The two ideas which principally do occur to me, I will at all events not pass over; the one of which has reference to the everlasting glory of those bravest of men; the other may tend to mitigate the sorrow and mourning of their relations.
538	Placet igitur mihi , patres conscripti , legionis Martiae militibus et eis qui una pugnantes occiderint monumentum fieri quam amplissimum . Magna atque incredibilia sunt in rem publicam huius merita legionis . Haec se prima latrocinio abrupit Antoni ; haec tenuit Albam ; haec se ad Caesarem contulit ; hanc imitata quarta legio parem virtutis gloriam consecuta est . Quarta victrix desiderat neminem : ex Martia non nulli in ipsa victoria conciderunt . O fortunata mors quae naturae debita pro patria est potissimum reddita ! Vos vero patriae natos iudico ; quorum etiam nomen a Marte est , ut idem deus urbem hanc gentibus , vos huic urbi genuisse videatur . In fuga foeda mors est ; in victoria gloriosa . Etenim Mars ipse ex acie fortissimum quemque pignerari solet . Illi igitur impii quos occidistis etiam ad inferos poenas parricidi luent ; vos vero qui extremum spiritum in victoria effudistis piorum estis sedem et locum consecuti . Brevis a natura vita nobis data est ; at memoria bene redditae vitae sempiterna . Quae si non esset longior quam haec vita , quis esset tam amens qui maximis laboribus et periculis ad summam laudem gloriamque contenderet ?	I therefore give my vote, O conscript fathers, that the most honorable monument possible be erected to the soldiers of the Martial legion, and to those soldiers also who died fighting by their side. Great and incredible are the services done by this legion to the republic. This was the first legion to tear itself from the piratical band of Antonius; this was the legion which encamped at Alba; this was the legion that went over to Caesar; and it was in imitation of the conduct of this legion that the fourth legion has earned almost equal glory for its virtue. The fourth is victorious without having lost a man; some of the Martial legion fell in the very moment of victory. Oh happy death, which, due to nature, has been paid in the cause of one's country! But I consider you men born for your country; you whose very name is derived from Mars, so that the same god who begot this city for the advantage of the nations, appears to have begotten you for the advantage of this city. Death in flight is infamous; in victory glorious. In truth, Mars himself seems to select all the bravest men from the battle array. Those impious men whom you slew, shall even in the shades below pay the penalty of their parricidal treason. But you, who have poured forth your latest breath in victory, have earned an abode and place among the pious. A brief life has been allotted to us by nature; but the memory of a well-spent life is imperishable. And if that memory were no longer than this life, who would be so senseless as to strive to attain even the highest praise and glory by the most enormous labors and dangers?
539	Actum igitur praeclare vobiscum , fortissimi , dum vixistis , nunc vero etiam sanctissimi milites , quod vestra virtus neque oblivione eorum qui nunc sunt nec reticentia posterorum sepulta esse poterit , cum vobis immortale monumentum suis paene manibus senatus populusque Romanus exstruxerit . Multi saepe exercitus Punicis , Gallicis , Italicis bellis clari et magni fuerunt , nec tamen ullis tale genus honoris tributum est . Atque utinam maiora possemus , quando quidem a vobis maxima accepimus ! Vos ab urbe furentem Antonium avertistis ; vos redire molientem reppulistis . Erit igitur exstructa moles opere magnifico incisaeque litterae , divinae virtutis testes sempiternae , numquamque de vobis eorum qui aut videbunt vestrum monumentum aut audient gratissimus sermo conticescet . Ita pro mortali condicione vitae immortalitatem estis consecuti .	You then have fared most admirably, being the bravest of soldiers while you lived, and now the most holy of warriors, because it will be impossible for your virtue to be buried, either through the forgetfulness of the men of the present age, or the silence of posterity, since the senate and Roman people will have raised to you an imperishable monument, I may almost say with their own hands. Many armies at various times have been great and illustrious in the Punic, and Gallic, and Italian wars; but to none of them have honors been paid of the description which are now conferred on you. And I wish that we could pay you even greater honors, since we have received from you the greatest possible services. You it was who turned aside the furious. Antonius from this city; you it was who repelled him when endeavoring to return. There shall therefore be a vast monument erected with the most sumptuous work and an inscription engraved upon it as the everlasting witness of your godlike virtue And never shall the most grateful language of all who either see or hear of your monument cease to be heard And in this manner you, in exchange for your mortal condition of life, have attained immortality.
540	Sed quoniam , patres conscripti , gloriae munus optimis et fortissimis civibus monumenti honore persolvitur , consolemur eorum proximos , quibus optima est haec quidem consolatio : parentibus quod tanta rei publicae praesidia genuerunt ; liberis quod habebunt domestica exempla virtutis ; coniugibus quod eis viris carebunt , quos laudare quam lugere praestabit ; fratribus quod in se ut corporum , sic virtutis similitudinem esse confident . Atque utinam his omnibus abstergere fletum sententiis nostris consultisque possemus , vel aliqua talis eis adhiberi publice posset oratio qua deponerent maerorem atque luctum gauderentque potius , cum multa et varia impenderent hominibus genera mortis , id genus quod esset pulcherrimum suis obtigisse eosque nec inhumatos esse nec desertos , quod tamen ipsum pro patria non miserandum putatur , nec dispersis bustis humili sepultura crematos , sed contectos publicis operibus atque muneribus eaque exstructione quae sit ad memoriam aeternitatis ara Virtutis .	But since, O conscript fathers, the gift of glory is conferred on these most excellent and gallant citizens by the honor of a monument, let us comfort their relations, to whom this indeed is the best consolation. The greatest comfort for their parents is the reflection that they have produced sons who have been such bulwarks of the republic; for their children, that they will have such examples of virtue in their family; for their wives, that the husbands whom they have lost are men whom it is a credit to praise, and to have a right to mourn for; and for their brothers, that they may trust that, as they resemble them in their persons, so they do also in their virtues. Would that we were able by the expression of our sentiments and by our votes to wipe away the tears of all these persons; or that any such oration as this could be publicly addressed to them, to cause them to lay aside their grief and mourning, and to rejoice rather, that, while many various kinds of death impend over men, the most honorable kind of all has fallen to the lot of their friends; and that they are not unburied, nor deserted; though even that fate, when incurred for one a country, is not accounted miserable; nor burned with equable obsequies in scattered graves, but entombed in honorable sepulchers, and honored with public offerings; and with a building which will be an altar of their valor to insure the recollection of eternal ages.