Orations |
Translator: C. D. Yonge
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| 145 |
Quid ego illas istius minas contumeliasque commemorem quibus invectus est in Sidicinos , vexavit Puteolanos , quod C . Cassium et Brutos patronos adoptassent ? Magno quidem studio , iudicio , benevolentia , caritate , non , ut te et Basilum , vi et armis , et alios vestri similis quos clientis nemo habere velit , non modo illorum cliens esse .
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Why should I mention the threats and insults with which he inveighed against the people of Teanum Sidicinum, with which he harassed the men of Puteoli, because they had adopted Caius Cassius and the Bruti as their patrons? a choice dictated, in truth, by great wisdom, and great zeal, benevolence, and affection for them; not by violence and force of arms, by which men have been compelled to choose you, and Basilus, and others like you both,—men whom no one would choose to have for his own clients, much less to be their client himself. |
| 146 |
Interea dum tu abes , qui dies ille conlegae tui fuit , cum illud quod venerari solebas bustum in foro evertit ? Qua re tibi nuntiata , ut constabat inter eos qui una fuerunt concidisti . Quid evenerit postea nescio —metum credo valuisse et arma —conlegam quidem de caelo detraxisti effecistique non tu quidem etiam nunc ut similis tui , sed certe ut dissimilis esset sui . Qui vero inde reditus Romam , quae perturbatio totius urbis ! Memineramus Cinnam nimis potentem , Sullam postea dominantem , modo Caesarem regnantem videramus . Erant fortasse gladii , sed absconditi nec ita multi . Ista vero quae et quanta barbaria est ! Agmine quadrato cum gladiis sequuntur ; scutorum lecticas portari videmus . Atque his quidem iam inveteratis , patres conscripti , consuetudine obduruimus . Kalendis Iuniis cum in senatum , ut erat constitutum , venire vellemus , metu perterriti repente diffugimus .
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In the mean time, while you yourself were absent, what a day was that for your colleague when he overturned that tomb in the forum, which you were accustomed to regard with veneration! And when that action was announced to you, you—as is agreed upon by all who were with you at the time—fainted away. What happened afterward I know not. I imagine that terror and arms got the mastery. At all events, you dragged your colleague down from his heaven; and you rendered him, not even now like yourself, at all events very unlike his own former self. After that what a return was that of yours to Rome! How great was the agitation of the whole city! We recollected Cinna being too powerful; after him we had seen Sulla with absolute authority, and we had lately beheld Caesar acting as king. There were perhaps swords, but they were sheathed, and they were not very numerous. But how great and how barbaric a procession is yours! Men follow you in battle array with drawn swords; we see whole litters full of shields borne along. And yet by custom, O conscript fathers, we have become inured and callous to these things, When on the first of June we wished to come to the senate, as it had been ordained, we were suddenly frightened and forced to flee. |
| 147 |
At iste , qui senatu non egeret , neque desideravit quemquam et potius discessu nostro laetatus est statimque illa mirabilia facinora effecit . Qui chirographa Caesaris defendisset lucri sui causa , is leges Caesaris easque praeclaras , ut rem publicam concutere posset , evertit . Numerum annorum provinciis prorogavit ; idemque , cum actorum Caesaris defensor esse deberet , et in publicis et in privatis rebus acta Caesaris rescidit . In publicis nihil est lege gravius ; in privatis firmissimum est testamentum . Leges alias sine promulgatione sustulit , alias ut tolleret promulgavit . Testamentum inritum fecit , quod etiam infimis civibus semper obtentum est . Signa , tabulas , quas populo Caesar una cum hortis legavit , eas hic partim in hortos Pompei deportavit , partim in villam Scipionis .
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But he, as having no need of a senate, did not miss any of us, and rather rejoiced at our departure, and immediately proceeded to those marvelous exploits of his. He who had defended the memoranda of Caesar for the sake of his own profit, overturned the laws of Caesar—and good laws too—for the sake of being able to agitate the republic. He increased the number of years that magistrates were to enjoy their provinces; moreover, though he was bound to be the defender of the acts of Caesar, he rescinded them both with reference to public and private transactions. In public transactions nothing is more authoritative than law; in private affairs the most valid of all deeds is a will. Of the laws, some he abolished without giving the least notice; others he gave notice of bills to abolish. Wills he annulled; though they have been at all times held sacred even in the case of the very meanest of the citizens. As for the statues and pictures which Caesar bequeathed to the people, together with his gardens, those he carried away, some to the house which belonged to Pompeius, and some to Scipio's villa. |
| 148 |
Et tu in Caesaris memoria diligens , tu illum amas mortuum ? Quem is honorem maiorem consecutus erat quam ut haberet pulvinar , simulacrum , fastigium , flaminem ? Est ergo flamen , ut Iovi , ut Marti , ut Quirino , sic divo Iulio M . Antonius ? Quid igitur cessas ? Cur non inauguraris ? Sume diem , vide qui te inauguret : conlegae sumus ; nemo negabit . O detestabilem hominem , sive quod tyranni sacerdos es sive quod mortui ! Quaero deinceps num hodiernus dies qui sit ignores ? Nescis heri quartum in circo diem ludorum Romanorum fuisse ? te autem ipsum ad populum tulisse ut quintus praeterea dies Caesari tribueretur ? Cur non sumus praetextati ? cur honorem Caesaris tua lege datum deseri patimur ? an supplicationes addendo diem contaminari passus es , pulvinaria noluisti ? Aut undique religionem tolle aut usque quaque conserva .
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And are you then diligent in doing honor to Caesar's memory? Do you love him even now that he is dead? What greater honor had he obtained than that of having a holy cushion, an image, a temple, and a priest? As then Jupiter, and Mars, and Quirinus have priests, so Marcus. Antonius is the priest of the god Julius. Why then do you delay? why are not you inaugurated? Choose a day; select some one to inaugurate you; we are colleagues; no one will refuse. O you detestable man, whether you are the priest of a tyrant, or of a dead man! I ask you then, whether you are ignorant what day this is? Are you ignorant that yesterday was the fourth day of the Roman games in the Circus? and that you yourself submitted a motion to the people, that a fifth day should be added besides, in honor of Caesar? Why are we not all clad in the praetexta? Why are we permitting the honor which by your law was appointed for Caesar to be deserted? Had you no objection to so holy a day being polluted by the addition of supplications, while you did not choose it to be so by the addition of ceremonies connected with a sacred cushion? Either take away religion in every case, or preserve it in every case. |
| 149 |
Quaeris placeatne mihi pulvinar esse , fastigium , flaminem . Mihi vero nihil istorum placet : sed tu qui acta Caesaris defendis quid potes dicere cur alia defendas , alia non cures ? Nisi forte vis fateri te omnia quaestu tuo , non illius dignitate metiri . Quid ad haec tandem ? exspecto enim eloquentiam . Disertissimum cognovi avum tuum , at te etiam apertiorem in dicendo . Ille numquam nudus est contionatus : tuum hominis simplicis pectus vidimus . Respondebisne ad haec , aut omnino hiscere audebis ? Ecquid reperies ex tam longa oratione mea cui te respondere posse confidas ? Sed praeterita omittamus .
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You will ask whether I approve of his having a sacred cushion, a temple and a priest? I approve of none of those things. But you, who are defending the acts of Caesar, what reason can you give for defending some, and disregarding others? unless, indeed, you choose to admit that you measure every thing by your own gain, and not by his dignity. What will you now reply to these arguments—(for I am waiting to witness your eloquence; I knew your grandfather, who was a most eloquent man, but I know you to be a more undisguised speaker than he was; he never harangued the people naked; but we have seen your breast, man, without disguise as you are)? Will you make any reply to these statements? will you dare to open your mouth at all? Can you find one single article in this long speech of mine, to which you trust that you can make any answer? However, we will say no more of what is past. |
| 150 |
hunc unum diem , unum , inquam , hodiernum diem , hoc punctum temporis , quo loquor , defende , si potes . Cur armatorum corona senatus saeptus est , cur me tui satellites cum gladiis audiunt , cur valvae Concordiae non patent , cur homines omnium gentium maxime barbaros , Ituraeos , cum sagittis deducis in forum ? Praesidi sui causa se facere dicit . Non igitur miliens perire est melius quam in sua civitate sine armatorum praesidio non posse vivere ? Sed nullum est istuc , mihi crede , praesidium : caritate te et benevolentia civium saeptum oportet esse , non armis .
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But this single day, this very day that now is, this very moment while I am speaking, defend your conduct during this very moment, if you can. Why has the senate been surrounded with a belt of armed men? Why are your satellites listening to me sword in hand? Why are not the folding-doors of the temple of Concord open? Why do you bring men of all nations the most barbarous, Ityrcans, armed with arrows, into the forum? He says that he does so as a guard. Is it not then better to perish a thousand times than to be unable to live in one's own city without a guard of armed men? But believe me, there is no protection in that;—a man must be defended by the affection and good will of his fellow-citizens, not by arms. |
| 151 |
Eripiet et extorquebit tibi ista populus Romanus , utinam salvis nobis ! Sed quoquo modo nobiscum egeris , dum istis consiliis uteris , non potes , mihi crede , esse diuturnus . Etenim ista tua minime avara coniunx quam ego sine contumelia describo nimium diu debet populo Romano tertiam pensionem . Habet populus Romanus ad quos gubernacula rei publicae deferat : qui ubicumque terrarum sunt , ibi omne est rei publicae praesidium vel potius ipsa res publica , quae se adhuc tantum modo ulta est , nondum recuperavit . Habet quidem certe res publica adulescentis nobilissimos paratos defensores . Quam volent illi cedant otio consulentes ; tamen a re publica revocabuntur . Et nomen pacis dulce est et ipsa res salutaris ; sed inter pacem et servitutem plurimum interest . Pax est tranquilla libertas , servitus postremum malorum omnium , non modo bello sed morte etiam repellendum .
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The Roman people will take them from you, will wrest them from ) our hands. I wish that they may do so while we are still safe. But however you treat us, as long as you adopt those counsels it is impossible for you, believe me, to last long. In truth, that wife of yours, who is so far removed from covetousness, and whom I mention without intending any slight to her, has been too long owing her third payment to the state. The Roman people has men to whom it can entrust the helm of the state; and wherever they are, there is all the defense of the republic, or rather, there is the republic itself; which as yet has only avenged, but has not reestablished itself. Truly and surely has the republic most high-born youths ready to defend it,—though they may for a time keep in the background from a desire for tranquillity, still they can be recalled by the republic at any time. The name of peace is sweet, the thing itself is most salutary. But between peace and slavery there is a wide difference. Peace is liberty in tranquillity; slavery is the worst of all evils,—to be repelled, if need be, not only by war, but even by death. |
| 152 |
Quod si se ipsos illi nostri liberatores e conspectu nostro abstulerunt , at exemplum facti reliquerunt . Illi quod nemo fecerat fecerunt . Tarquinium Brutus bello est persecutus , qui tum rex fuit cum esse Romae licebat ; Sp . Cassius , Sp . Maelius , M . Manlius propter suspicionem regni appetendi sunt necati : hi primum cum gladiis non in regnum appetentem , sed in regnantem impetum fecerunt . Quod cum ipsum factum per se praeclarum est atque divinum , tum expositum ad imitandum est , praesertim cum illi eam gloriam consecuti sint quae vix caelo capi posse videatur . Etsi enim satis in ipsa conscientia pulcherrimi facti fructus erat , tamen mortali immortalitatem non arbitror contemnendam .
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But if those deliverers of ours have taken themselves away out of our sight, still they have left behind the example of their conduct. They have done what no one else had done. Brutus pursued Tarquinius with war; who was a king when it was lawful for a king to exist in Rome. Spurius Cassius, Spurius. Maelius, and Marcus. Manlius were all slain because they were suspected of aiming at regal power. These are the first men who have ever ventured to attack, sword in hand, a man who was not aiming at regal power, but actually reigning. And their action is not only of itself a glorious and godlike exploit, but it is also one put forth for our imitation; especially since by it they have acquired such glory as appears hardly to be bounded by heaven itself. For although in the very consciousness of a glorious action there is a certain reward, still I do not consider immortality of glory a thing to be despised by one who is himself mortal. |
| 153 |
Recordare igitur illum , M . Antoni , diem quo dictaturam sustulisti ; pone ante oculos laetitiam senatus populique Romani ; confer cum hac nundinatione tua tuorumque : tum intelleges quantum inter laudem et lucrum intersit . Sed nimirum , ut quidam morbo aliquo et sensus stupore suavitatem cibi non sentiunt , sic libidinosi , avari , facinerosi verae laudis gustatum non habent . Sed si te laus adlicere ad recte faciendum non potest , ne metus quidem a foedissimis factis potest avocare ? Iudicia non metuis : si propter innocentiam , laudo ; sin propter vim , non intellegis , qui isto modo iudicia non timeat , ei quid timendum sit ?
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Recollect then, O Marcus Antonius, that day on which you abolished the dictatorship. Set before you the joy of the senate and people of Rome; compare it with this infamous market held by you and by your friends; and then you will understand how great is the difference between praise and profit. But in truth, just as some people, through some disease which has blunted the senses, have no conception of the niceness of food, so men who are lustful, avaricious, and criminal, have no taste for true glory. But if praise can not allure you to act rightly, still can not even fear turn you away from the most shameful actions? You are not afraid of the courts of justice. If it is because you are innocent, I praise you; if because you trust in your power of overbearing them by violence, are you ignorant of what that man has to fear, who on such an account as that does not fear the courts of justice? |
| 154 |
Quod si non metuis viros fortis egregiosque civis , quod a corpore tuo prohibentur armis , tui te , mihi crede , diutius non ferent . Quae est autem vita dies et noctes timere a suis ? Nisi vero aut maioribus habes beneficiis obligatos quam ille quosdam habuit ex eis a quibus est interfectus , aut tu es ulla re cum eo comparandus . Fuit in illo ingenium , ratio , memoria , litterae , cura , cogitatio , diligentia ; res bello gesserat , quamvis rei publicae calamitosas , at tamen magnas ; multos annos regnare meditatus , magno labore , magnis periculis quod cogitarat effecerat ; muneribus , monumentis , congiariis , epulis multitudinem imperitam delenierat ; suos praemiis , adversarios clementiae specie devinxerat . Quid multa ? Attulerat iam liberae civitati partim metu partim patientia consuetudinem serviendi .
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But if you are not afraid of brave men and illustrious citizens, because they are prevented from attacking you by your armed retinue, still, believe me, your own fellows will not long endure you. And what a life is it, day and night to be fearing danger from one's own people! Unless, indeed, you have men who are bound to you by greater kindnesses than some of those men by whom he was slain were bound to Caesar; or unless there are points in which you can be compared with him. In that man were combined genius, method, memory, literature, prudence, deliberation, and industry. He had performed exploits in war which, though calamitous for the republic, were nevertheless mighty deeds. Having for many years aimed at being a king, he had with great labor, and much personal danger, accomplished what he intended. He had conciliated the ignorant multitude by presents, by monuments, by largesses of food, and by banquets; he had bound his own party to him by rewards, his adversaries by the appearances of clemency. Why need I say much on such a subject? He had already brought a free city, partly by fear, partly by patience, into a habit of slavery. |
| 155 |
Cum illo ego te dominandi cupiditate conferre possum , ceteris vero rebus nullo modo comparandus es . Sed ex plurimis malis quae ab illo rei publicae sunt inusta hoc tamen boni est quod didicit iam populus Romanus quantum cuique crederet , quibus se committeret , a quibus caveret . Haec non cogitas , neque intellegis satis esse viris fortibus didicisse quam sit re pulchrum , beneficio gratum , fama gloriosum tyrannum occidere ? An , cum illum homines non tulerint , te ferent ?
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With him I can, indeed, compare you as to your desire to reign; but in all other respects you are in no degree to be compared to him. But from the many evils which by him have been burned into the republic, there is still this good, that the Roman people has now learned how much to believe every one, to whom to trust itself, and against whom to guard. Do you never think on these things? And do you not understand that it is enough for brave men to have learned how noble a thing it is as to the act, how grateful it is as to the benefit done, how glorious as to the fame acquired, to slay a tyrant? |
| 156 |
Certatim posthac , mihi crede , ad hoc opus curretur neque occasionis tarditas exspectabitur . Respice , quaeso , aliquando rem publicam , M . Antoni , quibus ortus sis , non quibuscum vivas considera : mecum , ut voles : redi cum re publica in gratiam . Sed de te tu videris ; ego de me ipse profitebor . Defendi rem publicam adulescens , non deseram senex : contempsi Catilinae gladios , non pertimescam tuos . Quin etiam corpus libenter obtulerim , si repraesentari morte mea libertas civitatis potest , ut aliquando dolor populi Romani pariat quod iam diu parturit ! Etenim si abhinc annos prope viginti hoc ipso in templo negavi posse mortem immaturam esse consulari , quanto verius nunc negabo seni ? Mihi vero , patres conscripti , iam etiam optanda mors est , perfuncto rebus eis quas adeptus sum quasque gessi . Duo modo haec opto , unum ut moriens populum Romanum liberum relinquam —hoc mihi maius ab dis immortalibus dari nihil potest —alterum ut ita cuique eveniat ut de re publica quisque mereatur .
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When men could not bear him, do you think they will bear you? Believe me, the time will come when men will race with one another to do this deed, and when no one will wait for the tardy arrival of an opportunity. Consider, I beg you, Marcus Antonius, do some time or other consider the republic: think of the family of which you are born, not of the men with whom you are living. Be reconciled to the republic. However, do you decide on your conduct. As to mine, I myself will declare what that shall be. I defended the republic as a young man, I will not abandon it now that I am old. I scorned the sword of Catiline, I will not quail before yours. No, I will rather cheerfully expose my own person, if the liberty of the city can her restored by my death. May the indignation of the Roman people at last bring forth what it has been so long laboring with. In truth, if twenty years ago in this very temple I asserted that death could not come prematurely upon a man of consular rank, with how much more truth must I now say the same of an old man? To me, indeed, O conscript fathers, death is now even desirable, after all the honors which I have gained, and the deeds which I have done. I only pray for these two things: one, that dying I may leave the Roman people free. No greater boon than this can be granted me by the immortal gods. The other, that every one may meet with a fate suitable to his deserts and conduct toward the republic. |
| 157 |
IN M . ANTONIVM ORATIO PHILIPPICA TERTIA Serius omnino , patres conscripti , quam tempus rei publicae postulabat , aliquando tamen convocati sumus ; quod flagitabam equidem cotidie , quippe cum bellum nefarium contra aras et focos , contra vitam fortunasque nostras ab homine profligato ac perdito non comparari , sed geri iam viderem . Exspectantur Kalendae Ianuariae , quas non exspectat Antonius qui in provinciam D . Bruti , summi et singularis viri , cum exercitu impetum facere conatur ; ex qua se instructum et paratum ad urbem venturum esse minitatur .
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THE THIRD PHILIPPIC, OR THIRD SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO AGAINST MARCUS ANTONIUS. We have been assembled at length, O conscript fathers, altogether later than the necessities of the republic required, but still we are assembled, a measure which I indeed have been every day demanding, inasmuch as I saw that a nefarious war against our altars and our hearths, against our lives and our fortunes, wars, I will not say being prepared but being actually waged by a profligate and desperate man. People are waiting for the first of January. But Antonius is not waiting for that day, who is now attempting with an army to invade the province of Decimus Brutus a most illustrious and excellent man. And when he has procured reinforcements and equipments there, he threatens that he will come to this city. |
| 158 |
Quae est igitur exspectatio aut quae vel minimi dilatio temporis ? Quamquam enim adsunt Kalendae Ianuariae , tamen breve tempus longum est imparatis . Dies enim adfert vel hora potius , nisi provisum est , magnas saepe clades ; certus autem dies non ut sacrificiis , sic consiliis exspectari solet . Quod si aut Kalendae Ianuariae fuissent eo die quo primum ex urbe fugit Antonius , aut eae non essent exspectatae , bellum iam nullum haberemus . Auctoritate enim senatus consensuque populi Romani facile hominis amentis fregissemus audaciam . Quod confido equidem consules designatos , simul ut magistratum inierint , esse facturos ; sunt enim optimo animo , summo consilio , singulari concordia . Mea autem festinatio non victoriae solum avida est sed etiam celeritatis .
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What is the use then of waiting, or of even a delay for the very shortest time? For although the first of January is at hand, still a short time is a long one for people who are not prepared. For a day, or I should rather say an hour, often brings great disasters, if no precautions are taken. And it is not usual to wait for a fixed day for holding a council, as it is for celebrating a festival. But if the first of January had fallen on the day when Antonius first fled from the city, or if people had not waited for it, we should by this time have no war at all, For we should easily have crushed the audacity of that frantic man by the authority of the senate and the unanimity of the Roman people. And now, indeed, I feel confident that the consuls elect will do so, as soon as they enter on their magistracy. For they are men of the highest courage, of the most consummate wisdom, and they will act in perfect harmony with each other. But my exhortations to rapid and instant action are prompted by a desire not merely for victory, but for speedy victory. |
| 159 |
Quo enim usque tantum bellum , tam crudele , tam nefarium privatis consiliis propulsabitur ? cur non quam primum publica accedit auctoritas ?
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For how long are we to trust to the prudence of an individual to repel so important, so cruel, and so nefarious a war? Why is not the public authority thrown into the scale as quickly as possible? |
| 160 |
C . Caesar adulescens , paene potius puer , incredibili ac divina quadam mente atque virtute , cum maxime furor arderet Antoni cumque eius a Brundisio crudelis et pestifer reditus timeretur , nec postulantibus nec cogitantibus , ne optantibus quidem nobis , quia non posse fieri videbatur , firmissimum exercitum ex invicto genere veteranorum militum comparavit patrimoniumque suum effudit : quamquam non sum usus eo verbo quo debui ; non enim effudit : in salute rei publicae conlocavit . Cui quamquam gratia referri tanta non potest quanta debetur , habenda tamen est tanta quantam maximam animi nostri capere possunt . Quis enim est tam ignarus rerum , tam nihil de re publica cogitans qui hoc non intellegat , si M . Antonius a Brundisio cum eis copiis quas se habiturum putabat , Romam , ut minabatur , venire potuisset , nullum genus eum crudelitatis praeteriturum fuisse ? quippe qui in hospitis tectis Brundisi fortissimos viros optimosque civis iugulari iusserit ; quorum ante pedes eius morientium sanguine os uxoris respersum esse constabat . Hac ille crudelitate imbutus , cum multo bonis omnibus veniret iratior quam illis fuerat quos trucidarat , cui tandem nostrum aut cui omnino bono pepercisset ?
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Caius Caesar, a young man, or, I should rather say, almost a boy, embued with an incredible and godlike degree of wisdom and valor, at the time when the frenzy of Antonius was at its height, and when his cruel and mischievous return from Brundusium was an object of apprehension to all, while we neither desired him to do so, nor thought of such a measure, nor ventured even to wish it (because it did not seem practicable), collected a most trustworthy army from the invincible body of veteran soldiers, and has spent his own patrimony in doing so. Although I have not used the expression which I ought,—for he has not spent it,—he has invested it in the safety of the republic. And although it is not possible to requite him with all the thanks to which he is entitled, still we ought to feel all the gratitude toward him which our minds are capable of conceiving. For who is so ignorant of public affairs, so entirely indifferent to all thoughts of the republic, as not to see that, if Marcus Antonius could have come with those forces which he made sure that he should have, from Brundusium to come, as he threatened, there would have been no description of cruelty which he would not have practiced? A man who in the house of his entertainer at Brundusium ordered so many most gallant men and virtuous citizens to be murdered, and whose wife's face was notoriously besprinkled with the blood of men dying at his and her feet. Who is there of us, or what good man is there at all, whom a man stained with this barbarity would ever have spared; especially as he was coming hither much more angry with all virtuous men than he had been with those whom he had massacred there? |
| 161 |
Qua peste privato consilio rem publicam —neque enim fieri potuit aliter —Caesar liberavit : qui nisi in hac re publica natus esset , rem publicam scelere Antoni nullam haberemus . Sic enim perspicio , sic iudico , nisi unus adulescens illius furentis impetus crudelissimosque conatus cohibuisset , rem publicam funditus interituram fuisse . Cui quidem hodierno die , patres conscripti —nunc enim primum ita convenimus ut illius beneficio possemus ea quae sentiremus libere dicere — tribuenda est auctoritas , ut rem publicam non modo a se susceptam sed etiam a nobis commendatam possit defendere . Nec vero de legione Martia .
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And from this calamity Caesar has delivered the republic by his own individual prudence (and, indeed, there were no other means by which it could have been done). And if he had not been born in this republic we should, owing to the wickedness of Antonius, now have no republic at all. For this is what I believe, this is my deliberate opinion, that if that one young man had not checked the violence and inhuman projects of that frantic man, the republic would have been utterly destroyed. And to him we must, O conscript fathers (for this is the first time, met in such a condition, that, owing to his good service, we are at liberty to say freely what we think and feel), we must, I say, this day give authority, so that he may be able to defend the republic, not because that defense has been voluntarily undertaken by him, but also because it has been entrusted to him by us. |
| 162 |
quoniam longo intervallo loqui nobis de re publica licet , sileri potest . Quis enim unus fortior , quis amicior umquam rei publicae fuit quam legio Martia universa ? Quae cum hostem populi Romani Antonium iudicasset , comes esse eius amentiae noluit : reliquit consulem ; quod profecto non fecisset , si eum consulem iudicasset quem nihil aliud agere , nihil moliri nisi caedem civium atque interitum civitatis videret . Atque ea legio consedit Albae . Quam potuit urbem eligere aut opportuniorem ad res gerendas aut fideliorem aut fortiorum virorum aut amiciorum rei publicae civium ?
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Nor (since now after a long interval we are allowed to speak concerning the republic) is it possible for us to be silent about the Martial legion. For what single man has ever been braver, what single man has ever been more devoted to the republic than the whole of the Martial legion? which, as soon as it had decided that Marcus Antonius was an enemy of the Roman people, refused to be a companion of his insanity; deserted him though consul; which, in truth, it would not have done if it had considered him as consul, who, as it saw, was aiming at nothing and preparing nothing but the slaughter of the citizens, and the destruction of the state. And that legion has encamped at Alba. What city could it have selected either more suitable for enabling it to act, or more faithful, or full of more gallant men, or of citizens more devoted to the republic? |