Laelius on Friendship (M. Tullius Cicero)

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	Laelius on Friendship Author: M. Tullius Cicero	Translator: William Armistead Falconer
23	iam virtutem ex consuetudine vitae nostrae sermonisque nostri interpretemur nec eam , ut quidam docti , verborum magnificentia metiamur , virosque bonos eos qui habentur numeremus — Paulos Catones Gallos Scipiones Philos — his communis vita contenta est ; eos autem omittamus , qui omnino nusquam reperiuntur .	To proceed then, let us interpret the word virtue by the familiar usage of our everyday life and speech, and not in pompous phrase apply to it the precise standards which certain philosophers use; and let us include in the number of good men those who are so considered—men like Paulus, Cato, Gallus, Scipio, and Philus—who satisfy the ordinary standard of life; but let us pass by such men as are nowhere to be found at all.
24	talis igitur inter viros amicitia tantas opportunitates habet , quantas vix queo dicere . principio qui potest esse vita vitalis , ut ait Ennius , quae non in amici mutua benevolentia conquiescit ? quid dulcius quam habere quicum omnia audeas sic loqui ut tecum ? qui esset tantus fructus in prosperis rebus , nisi haberes qui illis aeque ac tu ipse gauderet ? Adversas vero ferre difficile esset sine eo , qui illas gravius etiam quam tu ferret . denique ceterae res , quae expetuntur , opportunae sunt singulae rebus fere singulis — divitiae , ut utare ; opes , ut colare ; honores , ut laudere ; voluptates , ut gaudeas ; valetudo , ut dolore careas et muneribus fungare corporis ; amicitia res plurimas continet : quoquo te verteris praesto est , nullo loco excluditur , numquam intempestiva , numquam molesta est . itaque non aqua , non igni , ut aiunt , pluribus locis utimur quam amicitia . neque ego nunc de volgari aut de mediocri , quae tamen ipsa et delectat et prodest , sed de vera et perfecta loquor , qualis eorum , qui pauci nominantur , fuit . nam et secundas res splendidiores facit amicitia , et adversas , partiens communicansque , leviores .	Therefore, among men like those just mentioned, friendship offers advantages almost beyond my power to describe. In the first place, how can life be what Ennius calls the life worth living, if it does not repose on the mutual goodwill of a friend? What is sweeter than to have someone with whom you may dare discuss anything as if you were communing with yourself? How could your enjoyment in times of prosperity be so great if you did not have someone whose joy in them would be equal to your own? Adversity would indeed be hard to bear, without him to whom the burden would be heavier even than to yourself. In short, all other objects of desire are each, for the most part, adapted to a single end-riches, for spending; influence, for honour; public office, for reputation; pleasures, for sensual enjoyment; and health, for freedom from pain and full use of the bodily functions; but friendship embraces innumerable ends; turn where you will it is ever at your side; no barrier shuts it out; it is never untimely and never in the way. Therefore, we do not use the proverbial fire and water on more occasions than we use friendship. I am not now speaking of the ordinary and commonplace friendship—delightful and profitable as it is—but of that pure and faultless kind, such as was that of the few whose friendships are known to fame. For friendship adds a brighter radiance to prosperity and lessens the burden of adversity by dividing and sharing it.
25	cumque plurimas et maximas commoditates amicitia contineat , tum illa nimirum praestat omnibus , quod bonam spem praelucet in posterum , nec debilitari animos aut cadere patitur . verum etiam amicum qui intuetur , tamquam exemplar aliquod intuetur sui . quocirca et absentes adsunt et egentes abundant et imbecilli valent et , quod difficilius dictu est , mortui vivunt ; tantus eos honos memoria desiderium prosequitur amicorum , ex quo illorum beata mors videtur , horum vita laudabilis . quod si exemeris ex rerum natura benevolentiae coniunctionem , nec domus ulla nec urbs stare poterit , ne agri quidem cultus permanebit . id si minus intellegitur , quanta vis amicitiae concordiaeque sit , ex dissensionibus atque discordiis percipi potest . quae enim domus tam stabilis , quae tam firma civitas est , quae non odiis et discidiis funditus possit everti ? ex quo , quantum boni sit in amicitia , iudicari potest .	Seeing that friendship includes very many and very great advantages, it undoubtedly excels all other things in this respect, that it projects the bright ray of hope into the future, and does not suffer the spirit to grow faint or to fall. Again, he who looks upon a true friend, looks, as it were, upon a sort of image of himself. Wherefore friends, though absent, are at hand; though in need, yet abound; though weak, are strong; and—harder saying still— though dead, are yet alive; so great is the esteem on the part of their friends, the tender recollection and the deep longing that still attends them. These things make the death of the departed seem fortunate and the life of the survivors worthy of praise. But if you should take the bond of goodwill out of the universe no house or city could stand, nor would even the tillage of the fields abide. If that statement is not clear, then you may understand how great is the power of friendship and of concord from a consideration of the results of enmity and disagreement. For what house is so strong, or what state so enduring that it cannot be utterly overthrown by animosities and division? From this it may be judged how great good there is in friendship.
26	agrigentinum quidem doctum quendam virum carminibus Graecis vaticinatum ferunt , quae in rerum natura totoque mundo constarent quaeque moverentur , ea contrahere amicitiam , dissipare discordiam . atque hoc quidem omnes mortales et intellegunt et re probant . itaque , si quando aliquod officium exstitit amici in periculis aut adeundis aut communicandis , quis est qui id non maximis efferat laudibus ? qui clamores tota cavea nuper in hospitis et amici mei M . Pacuvi nova fabula , cum ignorante rege uter Orestes esset , Pylades Orestem se esse diceret , ut pro illo necaretur , Orestes autem , ita ut erat , Orestem se esse perseveraret ! stantes plaudebant in re ficta ; quid arbitramur in vera facturos fuisse ? facile indicabat ipsa natura vim suam , cum homines , quod facere ipsi non possent , id recte fieri in altero iudicarent . hactenus mihi videor de amicitia quid sentirem potuisse dicere ; si quae praeterea sunt — credo autem esse multa — ab eis , si videbitur , qui ista disputant , quaeritote .	It is said, at any rate, that a certain learned man of Agrigentum sang in inspired strain in Greek verse that in nature and the entire universe whatever things are at rest and whatever are in motion are united by friendship and scattered by discord. And indeed this is a statement which all men not only understand but also approve. Whenever, therefore, there comes to light some signal service in undergoing or sharing the dangers of a friend, who does not proclaim it with the loudest praise? What shouts recently rang through the entire theatre during the performance of the new play, written by my guest and friend, Marcus Pacuvius,at the scene where, the king being ignorant which of the two was Orestes, Pylades, who wished to be put to death instead of his friend, declared, I am Orestes, while Orestes continued steadfastly to assert, as was the fact, I am Orestes! The people in the audience rose to their feet and cheered this incident in fiction; what, think we, would they have done had it occurred in real life? In this case Nature easily asserted her own power, inasmuch as men approved in another as well done that which they could not do themselves. Within the foregoing limits I have, I think, been able to state my estimate of friendship; if there is anything more to be said—and I believe there is a great deal—inquire, if you please, of those who make a business of such discussions.
27	FANNIUS. Nos autem a te potius . quamquam etiam ab istis saepe quaesivi et audivi non invitus equidem , sed aliud quoddam filum orationis tuae . SCAEVOLA. Tum magis id diceres , Fanni , si nuper in hortis Scipionis , cum est de re publica disputatum , affuisses . qualis tum patronus iustitiae fuit contra accuratam orationem Phili ! FANNIUS. Facile id quidem fuit iustitiam iustissimo viro defendere . SCAEVOLA. Quid ? amicitiam nonne facile ei , qui ob eam summa fide , constantia iustitiaque servatam maximam gloriam ceperit ?	FANNIUS. But we prefer to inquire of you. I have, it is true, often questioned those men too, and indeed have not been an unwilling listener, but the thread of your discourse is of a somewhat different texture. SCAEVOLA. You would say so with greater confidence, Fannius, if you had been present recently in Scipio’s country home during the discussion on the Republic. What an advocate of justice Laelius was then against the elaborate speech of Philus! FANNIUS. Ah! but it was an easy thing for the most just of men to defend justice. SCAEVOLA. Well, then, would not the defence of friendship be easy for that man who has preserved it with the utmost fidelity, constancy, and sense of justice, and thereby gained the greatest renown?
28	LAELIUS. Vim hoc quidem est afferre ; quid enim refert qua me ratione cogatis ? cogitis certe . studiis enim generorum , praesertim in re bona , cum difficile est tum ne aequum quidem obsistere . saepissime igitur mihi de amicitia cogitanti maxime illud considerandum videri solet , utrum propter imbecillitatem atque inopiam desiderata sit amicitia , ut dandis recipiendisque meritis , quod quisque minus per se ipse posset , id acciperet ab alio vicissimque redderet , an esset hoc quidem proprium amicitiae , sed antiquior et pulchrior et magis a natura ipsa profecta alia causa . amor enim , ex quo amicitia nominata est , princeps est ad benevolentiam coniungendam . nam utilitates quidem etiam ab eis percipiuntur saepe , qui simulatione amicitiae coluntur et observantur temporis causa ; in amicitia autem nihil fictum , nihil simulatum est et , quidquid est , id est verum et voluntarium .	LAELIUS. Really you are employing violence; for what matters it what means you take of forcing me? Forcing me you certainly are. For it is not only hard, but not even right, to withstand the earnest requests of one’s sons-in-law, particularly in a good cause. The oftener, therefore, I reflect on friendship the more it seems to me that consideration should be given to the question, whether the longing for friendship is felt on account of weakness and want, so that by the giving and receiving of favours one may get from another and in turn repay what he is unable to procure of himself; or, although this mutual interchange is really inseparable from friendship, whether there is not another cause, older, more beautiful, and emanating more directly from Nature herself. For it is love ( amor), from which the word friendship ( amicitia) is derived, that leads to the establishing of goodwill. For while it is true that advantages are frequently obtained even from those who, under a pretence of friendship, are courted and honoured to suit the occasion; yet in friendship there is nothing false, nothing pretended; whatever there is is genuine and comes of its own accord.
29	quapropter a natura mihi videtur potius quam indigentia orta amicitia , applicatione magis animi cum quodam sensu amandi , quam cogitatione quantum illa res utilitatis esset habitura . quod quidem quale sit , etiam in bestiis quibusdam animadverti potest , quae ex se natos ita amant ad quoddam tempus et ab eis ita amantur , ut facile earum sensus appareat . quod in homine multo est evidentius , primum ex ea caritate quae est inter natos et parentis , quae dirimi nisi detestabili scelere non potest , deinde cum similis sensus exstitit amoris , si aliquem nacti sumus , cuius cum moribus et natura congruamus , quod in eo quasi lumen aliquod probitatis et virtutis perspicere videamur .	Wherefore it seems to me that friendship springs rather from nature than from need, and from an inclination of the soul joined with a feeling of love rather than from calculation of how much profit the friendship is likely to afford. What this feeling is may be perceived even in the case of certain animals, which, up to a certain time, so love their offspring and are so loved by them, that their impulses are easily seen. But this is much more evident in man; first, from the affection existing between children and parents, which cannot be destroyed except by some execrable crime, and again from that kindred impulse of love, which arises when once we have met someone whose habits and character are congenial with our own; because in him we seem to behold, as it were, a sort of lamp of uprightness and virtue.
30	nihil est enim virtute amabilius , nihil quod magis alliciat ad diligendum , quippe cum propter virtutem et probitatem etiam eos , quos numquam vidimus , quodam modo diligamus . quis est qui C . Fabrici , M ’. Curi non cum caritate aliqua benevola memoriam usurpet , quos numquam viderit ? quis autem est qui Tarquinium Superbum , qui Sp . Cassium , Sp . Maelium non oderit ? cum duobus ducibus de imperio in Italia est decertatum , Pyrrho et Hannibale ; ab altero propter probitatem eius non nimis alienos animos habemus ; alterum propter crudelitatem semper haec civitas oderit .	For there is nothing more lovable than virtue, nothing that more allures us to affection, since on account of their virtue and uprightness we feel a sort of affection even for those whom we have never seen. Is there anyone who does not dwell with some kindly affection on the memory of Gaius Fabricius and Manius Curius, though he never saw them? On the other hand, is there anyone who does not hate Tarquin the Proud, Spurius Cassius, or Spurius Maelius? Against two leaders we had bitter struggles for the empire of Italy-Pyrrhus and Hannibal; for the former, because of his uprightness, we have no great enmity; for the latter, because of his cruelty,this State will always entertain hatred.
31	quod si tanta vis probitatis est , ut eam vel in eis , quos numquam vidimus , et , quod maius est , in hoste etiam diligamus , quid mirum est , si animi hominum moveantur , cum eorum , quibuscum usu coniuncti esse possunt , virtutem et bonitatem perspicere videantur ? quamquam confirmatur amor et beneficio accepto et studio perspecto et consuetudine adiuncta , quibus rebus ad illum primum motum animi et amoris adhibitis admirabilis quaedam exardescit benevolentiae magnitudo . quam si qui putant ab imbecillitate proficisci , ut sit per quem adsequatur quod quisque desideret , humilem sane relinquunt et minime generosum , ut ita dicam , ortum amicitiae , quam ex inopia atque indigentia natam volunt . quod si ita esset , ut quisque minimum esse in se arbitraretur , ita ad amicitiam esset aptissimus ; quod longe secus est .	Now if the force of integrity is so great that we love it, whether in those we have never seen, or, more wonderful still, even in an enemy, what wonder that men’s souls are stirred when they think they see clearly the virtue and goodness of those with whom a close intimacy is possible? And yet love is further strengthened by the receiving of a kindly service, by the evidence of another’s care for us, and by closer familiarity, and from all these, when joined to the soul’s first impulse to love, there springs up, if I may say so, a marvellous glow and greatness of goodwill. If people think that friendship springs from weakness and from a purpose to secure someone through whom we may obtain that which we lack, they assign her, if I may so express it, a lowly pedigree indeed, and an origin far from noble, and they would make her the daughter of poverty and want. If this were so, then just in proportion as any man judged his resources to be small, would he be fitted for friendship; whereas the truth is far otherwise.
32	ut enim quisque sibi plurimum confidit et ut quisque maxime virtute et sapientia sic munitus est , ut nullo egeat suaque omnia in se ipso posita iudicet , ita in amicitiis expetendis colendisque maxime excellit . quid enim ? Africanus indigens mei ? minime hercule ! ac ne ego quidem illius , sed ego admiratione quadam virtutis eius , ille vicissim opinione fortasse non nulla quam de meis moribus habebat , me dilexit ; auxit benevolentiam consuetudo . sed quamquam utilitates multae et magnae consecutae sunt , non sunt tamen ab earum spe causae diligendi profectae .	For to the extent that a man relies upon himself and is so fortified by virtue and wisdom that he is dependent on no one and considers all his possessions to be within himself, in that degree is he most conspicuous for seeking out and cherishing friendships. Now what need did Africanus have of me?By Hercules! none at all. And I, assuredly, had no need of him either, but I loved him because of a certain admiration for his virtue, and he, in turn, loved me, because, it may be, of the fairly good opinion which he had of my character; and close association added to our mutual affection. Although many and great advantages did ensue from our friendship, still the beginnings of our love did not spring from the hope of gain.
33	ut enim benefici liberalesque sumus , non ut exigamus gratiam — neque enim beneficium faeneramur , sed natura propensi ad liberalitatem sumus — sic amicitiam non spe mercedis adducti , sed quod omnis eius fructus in ipso amore inest , expetendam putamus .	For as men of our class are generous and liberal, not for the purpose of demanding repayment—for we do not put our favours out at interest, but are by nature given to acts of kindness—so we believe that friendship is desirable, not because we are influenced by hope of gain, but because its entire profit is in the love itself.
34	ab his , qui pecudum ritu ad voluptatem omnia referunt , longe dissentiunt ; nec mirum ; nihil enim altum , nihil magnificum ac divinum suspicere possunt , qui suas omnis cogitationes abiecerunt in rem tam humilem tamque contemptam . quam ob rem hos quidem ab hoc sermone removeamus , ipsi autem intellegamus natura gigni sensum diligendi et benevolentiae caritatem facta significatione probitatis , quam qui appetiverunt , applicant sese et propius admovent , ut et usu eius , quem diligere coeperunt , fruantur et moribus , sintque pares in amore et aequales propensioresque ad bene merendum quam ad reposcendum , atque haec inter eos sit honesta certatio . Sic et utilitates ex amicitia maximae capientur , et erit eius ortus a natura quam ab imbecillitate gravior et verior . nam si utilitas conglutinaret amicitias , eadem commutata dissolveret ; sed quia natura mutari non potest , idcirco verae amicitiae sempiternae sunt . ortum quidem amicitiae videtis , nisi quid ad haec forte vultis . FANNIUS. Tu vero perge , Laeli ! pro hoc enim , qui minor est natu , meo iure respondeo .	From this view those men who, after the manner of cattle, judge everything by the standard of pleasure, vigorously dissent; nor is it strange; for the raising of the vision to anything lofty, noble and divine is impossible to men who have abased their every thought to a thing so lowly and so mean. Therefore let us dismiss these persons from our conversation and let us for ourselves believe that the sentiments of love and of kindly affection spring from nature, when intimation has been given of moral worth; for when men have conceived a longing for this virtue they bend towards it and move closer to it, so that, by familiar association with him whom they have begun to love, they may enjoy his character, equal him in affection, become readier to deserve than to demand his favours, and vie with him in a rivalry of virtue. Thus the greatest advantages will be realized from friendship, and its origin, being derived from nature rather than from weakness, will be more dignified and more consonant with truth. For on the assumption that advantage is the cement of friendships, if advantage were removed friendships would fall apart; but since nature is unchangeable, therefore real friendships are eternal. You now have my views on the origin of friendship, unless you have something to say in reply. FANNIUS. Pray go on, Laelius, and I answer for my friend here, as I have the right to do, since he is my junior.
35	SCAEVOLA. Recte tu quidem : quam ob rem audiamus .	SCAEVOLA. Well said, Fannius. Therefore, let us hear.
36	LAELIUS. Audite vero , optimi viri , ea quae saepissime inter me et Scipionem de amicitia disserebantur . quamquam ille quidem nihil difficilius esse dicebat quam amicitiam usque ad extremum vitae diem permanere : nam vel ut non idem expediret incidere saepe , vel ut de re publica non idem sentiretur ; mutari etiam mores hominum saepe dicebat , alias adversis rebus , alias aetate ingravescente . atque earum rerum exemplum ex similitudine capiebat ineuntis aetatis , quod summi puerorum amores saepe una cum praetexta toga deponerentur ;	LAELIUS. Then listen, most worthy gentlemen, to the points very frequently mentioned between Scipio and me in our discussions of friendship. Now he, indeed, used to say that nothing was harder than for a friendship to continue to the very end of life; for it often happened either that the friendship ceased to be mutually advantageous, or the parties to it did not entertain the same political views; and that frequently, too, the dispositions of men were changed, sometimes by adversity and sometimes by the increasing burdens of age. And then he would draw an illustration of this principle from the analogy of early life.
37	sin autem ad adulescentiam perduxissent , dirimi tamen interdum contentione vel uxoriae condicionis vel commodi alicuius , quod idem adipisci uterque non posset . quod si qui longius in amicitia provecti essent , tamen saepe labefactari , si in honoris contentionem incidissent ; pestem enim nullam maiorem esse amicitiis quam in plerisque pecuniae cupiditatem , in optimis quibusque honoris certamen et gloriae , ex quo inimicitias maximas saepe inter amicissimos exstitisse .	For, said he, the most ardent attachments of boyhood are often laid aside with the boyish dress; but if continued to the time of manhood, they are broken off, sometimes by rivalry in courtship or sometimes by a contest for some advantage, in which both of the parties to the friendship cannot be successful at the same time. But should the friendship continue for a longer time, yet it is often overthrown when a struggle for office happens to arise; for while, with the generality of men, the greatest bane of friendship is the lust for money, with the most worthy men it is the strife for preferment and glory, and from this source frequently have sprung the deadliest enmities between the dearest friends.
38	magna etiam discidia et plerumque iusta nasci , cum aliquid ab amicis quod rectum non esset postularetur , ut aut libidinis ministri aut adiutores essent ad iniuriam , quod qui recusarent , quamvis honeste id facerent , ius tamen amicitiae deserere arguerentur ab eis , quibus obsequi nollent ; illos autem , qui quidvis ab amico auderent postulare , postulatione ipsa profiteri omnia se amici causa esse facturos . eorum querella inveterata non modo familiaritates exstingui solere , sed odia etiam gigni sempiterna . haec ita multa quasi fata impendere amicitiis , ut omnia subterfugere non modo sapientiae , sed etiam felicitatis diceret sibi videri .	Then, too, disagreements of a very serious nature, and usually justifiable, arise from a demand upon friends to do something that is wrong, as, for example, to become agents of vice or abettors in violence, and when the demand is refused, however honourable the refusal, it is nevertheless charged by those to whom the compliance was denied that the laws of friendship have been disregarded; besides, those who dare demand anything and everything of a friend, by that very demand profess a willingness to do anything whatever for the sake of a friend. By their ceaseless recriminations not only are social intimacies usually destroyed, but also everlasting enmities are produced. So many dangers of this kind, he would say, hover like evil fates over friendships, that it seems to me to require both wisdom and good luck to escape them all.
39	quam ob rem id primum videamus , si placet , quatenus amor in amicitia progredi debeat . numne , si Coriolanus habuit amicos , ferre contra patriam arma illi cum Coriolano debuerunt ? num Vecellinum amici regnum appetentem , num Maelium debuerunt iuvare ?	Wherefore, let us first consider, if you please, how far love ought to go in friendship. Supposing Coriolanus to have had friends, were those friends in duty bound to bear arms with him against their country? Or ought the friends of Vecellinus, or of Maelius, to have supported them in their attempts to gain regal power?
40	tiberium quidem Gracchum rem publicam vexantem a Q . Tuberone aequalibusque amicis derelictum videbamus . At C . Blossius Cumanus , hospes familiae vestrae , Scaevola , cum ad me , quod aderam Laenati et Rupilio consulibus in consilio , deprecatum venisset , hanc ut sibi ignoscerem causam afferebat , quod tanti Tib . Gracchum fecisset , ut quidquid ille vellet sibi faciendum putaret . tum ego , etiamne , inquam , si te in Capitolium faces ferre vellet ? numquam voluisset id quidem , sed , si voluisset , paruissem . videtis , quam nefaria vox . et hercule ita fecit , vel plus etiam quam dixit ; non enim paruit ille Tib . Gracchi temeritati , sed praefuit , nec se comitem illius furoris , sed ducem praebuit . itaque hac amentia , quaestione nova perterritus , in Asiam profugit , ad hostis se contulit , poenas rei publicae gravis iustasque persolvit . nulla est igitur excusatio peccati , si amici causa peccaveris ; nam , cum conciliatrix amicitiae virtutis opinio fuerit , difficile est amicitiam manere , si a virtute defeceris .	As to Tiberius Gracchus, when he began to stir up revolution against the republic,we saw him utterly deserted by Quintus Tubero and by the friends of his own age. And yet Gaius Blossius of Cumae, a protégé of your family,Scaevola, came to me to plead for leniency, because I was present as adviser to the consuls, Laenas and Rupilius,and offered, as a reason for my pardoning him, the fact that his esteem for Tiberius Gracchus was so great he thought it was his duty to do anything that Tiberius requested him to do. Thereupon I inquired, Even if he requested you to set fire to the Capitol? He never would have requested me to do that, of course, said he, but if he had I should have obeyed. You see what an impious remark that was! And, by heavens! he did all that he said he would do, or rather even more; for he did not follow, but he directed, the infatuation of Tiberius Gracchus, and he did not offer himself as the comrade in the latter’s fury, but as the leader. And so, as a result of his madness, being in fear of the special court of inquiry, he fled into Asia, joined our enemies, and paid a heavy and righteous penaltyfor his crimes against the Republic. Therefore it is no justification whatever of your sin to have sinned in behalf of a friend; for, since his belief in your virtue induced the friendship, it is hard for that friendship to remain if you have forsaken virtue.
41	quod si rectum statuerimus vel concedere amicis quidquid velint vel impetrare ab eis quidquid velimus , perfecta quidem sapientia si simus , nihil habeat res viti ; sed loquimur de eis amicis qui ante oculos sunt , quos videmus aut de quibus memoriam accepimus , quos novit vita communis . ex hoc numero nobis exempla sumenda sunt , et eorum quidem maxime , qui ad sapientiam proxime accedunt .	But if we should resolve that it is right, either to grant our friends whatever they wish, or to get from them whatever we wish, then, assuming that we were endowed with truly faultless wisdom, no harm would result; but I am speaking of the friends before our eyes, of those whom we see, or of men of whom we have record, and who are known to everyday life. It is from men of this class our examples should be drawn, but chiefly, I grant you, from those who make the nearest approach to wisdom.
42	videmus Papum Aemilium C . Luscino familiarem fuisse ( sic a patribus accepimus ) bis una consules , collegas in censura ; tum et cum eis et inter se coniunctissimos fuisse M ’. Curium , Tib . Coruncanium memoriae proditum est . igitur ne suspicari quidem possumus quemquam horum ab amico quidpiam contendisse , quod contra fidem . contra ius iurandum , contra rem publicam esset . nam hoc quidem in talibus viris quid attinet dicere , si contendisset impetraturum non fuisse , cum illi sanctissimi viri fuerint , aeque autem nefas sit tale aliquid et facere rogatum et rogare ? At vero Tib . Gracchum sequebantur C . Carbo , C . Cato , et minime tum quidem Gaius frater , nunc idem acerrimus .	We read that Aemilius Papus was an intimate friend of Gaius Luscinus (so we have received it from our forefathers), that they served together twice as consuls and were colleagues in the censor ship.Again the tradition is that Manius Curius and Tiberius Coruncanius were most closely associated with them and with each other. Well, then, it is impossible for us even to suspect any one of these men of importuning a friend for anything contrary to good faith or to his solemn oath, or inimical to the commonwealth. What is the need of asserting in the case of men like these, that if such a request had been made it would not have been granted, seeing that they were the purest of men, and moreover, regarded it equally impious to grant and to make such a request? But Tiberius Gracchus did find followers in Gaius Carbo and Gaius Cato,and he found a follower also in his own brother Gaius, who though not very ardent then is now intensely so.
43	haec igitur lex in amicitia sanciatur , ut neque rogemus res turpis nec faciamus rogati . turpis enim excusatio est et minime accipienda cum in ceteris peccatis , tum si quis contra rem publicam se amici causa fecisse fateatur . etenim eo loco , Fanni et Scaevola , locati sumus , ut nos longe prospicere oporteat futuros casus rei publicae . deflexit iam aliquantulum de spatio curriculoque consuetudo maiorum .	Therefore let this law be established in friendship: neither ask dishonourable things, nor do them, if asked. And dishonourable it certainly is, and not to be allowed, for anyone to plead in defence of sins in general and especially of those against the State, that he committed them for the sake of a friend. For, my dear Fannius and Scaevola, we Romans are now placed in such a situation that it is our duty to keep a sharp look-out for the troubles that may befall our State. Our political practice has already swerved far from the track and course marked out for us by our ancestors.
44	Tib . Gracchus regnum occupare conatus est , vel regnavit is quidem paucos menses . num quid simile populus Romanus audierat aut viderat ? hunc etiam post mortem secuti amici et propinqui quid in P . Scipione effecerint , sine lacrimis non queo dicere . nam Carbonem , quocumque modo potuimus , propter recentem poenam Tib . Gracchi sustinuimus . De C . Gracchi autem tribunatu quid exspectem non libet augurari ; serpit deinde res , quae proclivis ad perniciem , cum semel coepit , labitur . videtis in tabella iam ante quanta sit facta labes , primo Gabinia lege , biennio autem post Cassia . videre iam videor populum a senatu disiunctum , multitudinis arbitrio res maximas agi . plures enim discent quem ad modum haec fiant , quam quem ad modum his resistatur .	Tiberius Gracchus tried to obtain regal power—or rather, he actually did reign for a few months. Had the Roman people ever heard of or experienced such a thing before? What his friends and relatives, who followed him even after his death, did in the case of Publius ScipioI cannot describe without tears. As for Carbo, because of the short time since the punishment of Tiberius Gracchus,we have borne with him as best we could. Now what is to be expected when Gaius Gracchusbecomes tribune, I am not inclined to prophecy; however, revolution creeps on imperceptibly at first but once it has acquired momentum, rushes headlong to ruin. You see how much mischief has been caused already in the matter of the ballot, first by the Gabinian law,and two years later by the Cassian law.I seem now to see the people estranged from the Senate and the weightiest affairs of state determined by the caprice of the mob. For more people will learn how to start a revolution than how to withstand it.