and imposter and grows rich and strong from the ills of others,
blackmailing, dragging, tearing the innocent, as do dogs; but in the
midst of public harmony he is embarrassed and withers away. It is not
friendship or good-will among us that can support this kind of orator.
From what other source do you think he has become rich or from what other
source great? Certainly neither family nor wealth was bequeathed him by
his father the fuller, who was always trading in grapes and olives, a man
who was glad to make both ends meet by this and by his washing, and whose
time was taken up every day and night with the vilest occupations. The
son, having been brought up in them, not unnaturally tramples and dowses
his superiors, using a species of abuse invented in the workshops and on
the street corners.
[-5-] "Now being of such an origin yourself, and after growing up naked
among your naked companions, picking up pig manure and sheep dung and
human excrement, have you dared, O most accursed wretch, first to slander
the youth of Antony who had the advantage of pedagogues and teachers as
his rank demanded, and next to impugn him because in celebrating the
Lupercalia, an ancestral festival, he came naked into the Forum? But I
ask you, you that always used all the clothes of others on account
of your father's business and were stripped by whoever met you and
recognized them, what ought a man who was not only priest but also leader
of his fellow priests to have done? Not to conduct the procession, not to
celebrate the festival, not to sacrifice according to ancestral custom,
not to appear naked, not to anoint himself? 'But it is not for that that
I censure him,' he answers, 'but because he delivered a speech and
that kind of speech naked in the Forum.' Of course this man has become
acquainted in the fuller's shop with all minute matters of etiquette,
that he should detect a real mistake and be able to rebuke it properly.
[-6-] "In regard to this matter I will say later all that needs to be
said, but just now I want to ask the speaker a question or two. Is it
not true that you for your part were nourished by the ills of others and
educated in the misfortunes of your neighbors and for this reason are
acquainted with no liberal branch of knowledge, that you have established
a kind of association here and are always waiting, like the harlots, for
a man who will give something, and that having many men in your pay to
attract profit to you you pry into people's affairs to find out who has
wronged (or seems to have wronged) whom, who hates whom, and who is
plotting against whom? With these men you make common cause, and through
these men you are supported, selling them the hopes that chance bestows,
trading in the decisions of the jurors, deeming him alone a friend who
gives more and more, and all those enemies who furnish you no business or
employ some other advocate, while you pretend not even to know those who
are already in your clutch and affect to be bored by them, but fawn upon
and giggle at those just approaching, like the mistresses of inns?
[-7-] How much better it were that you too should have been born
Bambalio,--if this Bambalio really exists,--than to have taken up such a
livelihood, in which it is absolutely inevitable that you should either
sell your speech in behalf of the innocent, or else preserve the guilty.
Yet you can not do even this effectively, though you wasted three years
in Athens. On what occasion? By what help? Why, you always come trembling
up to court as if you were going to fight in armor and after speaking a
few words in a low and half-dead voice you go away, not remembering a
word of the speech you practiced at home before you came, and without
finding anything to say on the spur of the moment. In making affirmations
and promises you surpass all mankind in audacity, but in the contests
themselves beyond uttering some words of abuse and defamation you are
most weak and cowardly. Do you think any one is ignorant of the fact that
you never delivered one of those wonderful speeches of yours that you
have published, but wrote them all up afterward, like persons who form
generals and masters-of-horse out of day? If you feel doubtful of this
point, remember how you accused Verres,--though, to be sure, you only
gave him an example of your father's trade, when you made water.
[-8-] "But I hesitate, for fear that in saying precisely what fits your
case I may seem to be uttering words that are unfitting for myself.[14]
This I will pass over; and further, by Jupiter, also the affairs of
Gabinius, against whom, you prepared accusers and then pled his cause in
such a way that he was condemned; and the pamphlets which you compose
against your friends, in regard to which you feel yourself so guilty
that you do not dare to make them public. Yet it is a most miserable and
pitiable state to be in, not to be able to deny these charges which are
the most disgraceful conceivable to admit. But I will leave these to one
side and bring forward the rest. Well, though we did grant the trainer,
as you say, two thousand plethra of the ager Leontinus, we still learned
nothing adequate from it.[15] But who should not admire your system of
instruction? And what is it? You are ever jealous of your superiors,
you always toady to the prominent man, you slander him who has attained
distinction, you inform against the powerful and you hate equally all the
excellent, and you pretend love only for those through whom you may do
some mischief. This is why you are always inciting the younger against
their elders and lead those who trust you even in the slightest into
dangers, where you desert them. [-9-] A proof of this is, that you have
never accomplished any achievement worthy of a distinguished man either
in war or in peace. How many wars have we won under you as praetor and
what kind of territory did we acquire with you as consul? Your private
activity all these years has consisted in continually deceiving some of
the foremost men and winning them to your side and managing everything
you like, while publicly you have been shouting and bawling out at random
those detestable phrases,--'I am the only one that loves you,' or, if it
should so chance, 'And what's-his-name, all the rest, hate you,' and 'I
alone am friendly to you, all the rest are engaged in plots,' and other
such stuff by which you fill some with elation and conceit, only to
betray them, and scare the rest so that you gain their attachment. If any
service is rendered by any one whomsoever of the whole people, you lay
claim to it and write your own name upon it, repeating: 'I moved it, I
proposed it, it was through me that this was done so.' But if anything
happens that ought not to have occurred, you take yourself out of the way
and censure all the rest, saying: 'You see I wasn't praetor, you see
I wasn't envoy, you see I wasn't consul.' And you abuse everybody
everywhere all the time, setting more store by the influence which
comes from appearing to speak your mind boldly than by saying what duty
demands: and you exhibit no important quality of an orator. [-10-] What
public advantage has been preserved or established by you? Who that
was really harming the city have you indicted, and who that was really
plotting against us have you brought to light? To neglect the other
cases,--these very charges which you now bring against Antony are of such
a nature and so many that no one could ever suffer any adequate penalty
for them. Why, then, if you saw us being wronged by him at the start, as
you assert, did you never attack or accuse him at the time, instead of
telling us now all the transgressions he committed when tribune, all his
irregularities when master of horse, all his villanies when consul? You
might at once, at the time, in each specific instance, have inflicted the
appropriate penalty upon him, if you had wanted to show yourself in very
deed a patriot, and we could have imposed the punishment in security
and safety during the course of the offences themselves. One of two
conclusions is inevitable,--either that you believed this to be so at the
time and renounced the idea of a struggle in our behalf, or else that you
could not prove any of your charges and are now engaged in a reckless
course of blackmail.
[-11-] "That this is so I will show you clearly, Conscript Fathers, by
going over each point in detail. Antony did say some words during his
tribuneship in Caesar's behalf: Cicero and some others spoke in behalf of
Pompey. Why now does he accuse him of preferring one man's friendship,
but acquit himself and the rest who warmly embraced the opposite cause?
Antony, to be sure, hindered at that time some measures adverse to Caesar
from being passed: and Cicero hindered practically everything that was
known to be favorable to Caesar. 'But Antony obstructed,' he replies, 'the
public judgment of the senate.' Well, now, in the first place, how could
one man have had so much power? Second, if he had been condemned for
this, as is said, how could he have escaped punishment? 'Oh, he fled, he
fled to Caesar and got out of the way.' Of course you, Cicero, did not
'leave town' just now, but you fled, as in your former exile.[16] Don't
be so ready to apply your own shame to all of us. To flee is what you
did, in fear of the court, and pronouncing condemnation on yourself
beforehand. Yes, to be sure, an ordinance was passed for your recall; how
and for what reasons I do not say, but at any rate it was passed, and you
did not set foot in Italy before the recall was granted. But Antony both
went away to Caesar to inform him what had been done and returned, without
asking for any decree, and finally effected peace and friendship with him
for all those that were found in Italy. And the rest, too, would have had
a share in it, if they had not taken your advice and fled. [-12-] Now in
view of those circumstances do you dare to say he led Caesar against his
country and stirred up the civil war and became more than any one else
responsible for the subsequent evils that befell us? Not so, but you,
who gave Pompey legions that belonged to others and the command, and
undertook to deprive Caesar even of those that had been given him: it was
you, who agreed with Pompey and the consuls not to accept the offers made
by Caesar, but to abandon the city and the whole of Italy: you, who did
not see Caesar even when he entered Rome, but had run off to Pompey
and into Macedonia. Not even to him, however, did you prove of any
assistance, but you neglected what was going on, and then, when he met
with misfortune, you abandoned him. Therefore you did not aid him at the
outset on the ground that he had the juster cause, but after setting
in motion the dispute and embroiling affairs you lay in wait at a safe
distance for a favorable turn; you at once deserted the man who failed,
as if that somehow proved him guilty, and went over to the victor, as if
you deemed him more just. And in addition to your other defects you are
so ungrateful that not only are you not satisfied to have been preserved
by him, but you are actually displeased that you were not made master of
the horse.
[-13-] "Then with this on your conscience do you dare to say that Antony
ought not to have held the office of master of the horse for a year, and
that Caesar ought not to have remained dictator for a year? But whether it
was wise or necessary for these measures to be framed, at any rate they
were both passed, and they suited us and the people. Censure these men,
Cicero, if they have transgressed in any particular, but not, by Jupiter,
those whom they have chosen to honor for showing themselves worthy of
so great a reward. For if we were forced by the circumstances that then
surrounded us to act in this way and contrary to good policy, why do you
now lay this upon Antony's shoulders, and why did you not oppose it then
if you were able? Because, by Jupiter, you were afraid. Then shall you,
who were at that time silent, obtain pardon for your cowardice, and shall
he, because he was preferred before you, submit to penalties for his
excellence? Where did you learn that this was just, or where did you read
that this was lawful?
[-14-] "'But he did not rightly use his position as master of horse.'
Why? 'Because,' he answers, 'he bought Pompey's possessions.' How many
others are there who purchased numberless articles, no one of whom
is blamed? That was the purpose in confiscating certain articles and
exposing them in the market and proclaiming them by the voice of the
public crier, to have somebody buy them. 'But Pompey's goods ought not to
have been sold.' Then it was we who erred and did wrong in confiscating
them; or (to clear your skirts and ours) it was at least Caesar who acted
irregularly, he who ordered this to be done: yet you did not censure him
at all. I maintain that in this charge he is proven to be absolutely
beside himself. He has brought against Antony two quite opposite
accusations,--one, that after helping Caesar in very many ways and
receiving in return vast gifts from him he was then required under
compulsion to surrender the price of them, and the second, that he
inherited naught from his father, spent all that he had like Charybdis
(the speaker is always bringing in some comparison from Sicily, as if we
had forgotten that he had been exiled there), and paid the price of all
that he purchased.
[-15-] "So in these charges this remarkable orator is convicted of
violently contradicting himself and, by Jupiter, again in the following
statements. At one time he says that Antony took part in everything
that was done by Caesar and by this means became more than any one else
responsible for all our internal evils, and again he charges him with
cowardice, reproaching him with not having shared in any other exploits
than those performed in Thessaly. And he makes a complaint against him to
the effect that he restored some of the exiles and finds fault with him
because he did not secure the recall of his uncle; as if any one believes
that he would not have restored him first of all, if he had been able to
recall whomsoever he pleased, since there was no grievance on either side
between them, as this speaker himself knows. Indeed, though he told many
wretched lies about Antony, he did not dare to say anything of that kind.
But he is utterly reckless about letting slip anything that comes to his
tongue's end, as if it were mere breath.
[-16-] "Why should one follow this line of refutation further? Turning
now to the fact that he goes about with such a tragic air, and has but
this moment said in the course of his remarks that Antony rendered the
sight of the master of the horse most oppressive by using everywhere
and under all circumstances the sword, the purple, the lictors, and the
soldiers at once, let him tell me clearly how and in what respect we have
been wronged by this. He will have no statement to make; for if he had
had, he would have sputtered it out before anything else. Quite the
reverse of his charge is true. Those who were quarreling at that time
and causing all the trouble were Trebellius and Dolabella: Antony did no
wrong and was active in every way in our behalf, so much so that he was
entrusted by us with guarding the city against those very men, and not
only did this remarkable orator not oppose it (he was there) but even
approved it. Else let him show what syllable he uttered on seeing the
licentious and accursed fellow (to quote from his abuse), besides doing
nothing that the occasion required, securing also so great authority from
you. He will have nothing to show. So it looks as if not a word of what
he now shouts aloud was ventured at that time by this great and patriotic
orator, who is everywhere and always saying and repeating: 'I alone am
contending for freedom, I alone speak freely for the democracy; I cannot
be restrained by favor of friends or fear of enemies from looking out for
your advantage; I, even if it should be my lot to die in speaking in your
behalf, will perish very gladly.' And his silence was very natural, for
it occurred to him to reflect that Antony possessed the lictors and the
purple-bordered vesture in accordance with the customs of our ancestors
in regard to masters of horse, and that he was using the sword and the
soldiers perforce against the rebels. For what most excessive outrages
would they not have committed but for his being hedged about with these
protections, when some of them so despised him as it was?
[-17-] "That these and all his other acts were correct and most
thoroughly in accord with Caesar's intention the facts themselves show.
The rebellion went no further, and Antony, far from paying a penalty for
his course, was subsequently appointed consul. Notice, I beg of you, how
he administered this office of his. You will find, if you scrutinize the
matter minutely, that its tenure proved of great value to the city.
His traducer, knowing this, could not endure his jealousy but dared to
slander him for those deeds which he would have longed to do himself.
That is why he introduced the matter of his stripping and anointing and
those ancient fables, not because there was any pertinence in them now,
but in order to obscure by external noise his opponent's consummate skill
and success. Yet this same Antony, O thou earth, and ye gods (I shall
call louder than you and invoke them with greater justice), saw that the
city was already in reality under a tyranny through the fact that all
the legions obeyed Caesar and all the people together with the senate
submitted to him to such an extent that they voted among other measures
that he should be dictator for life and use the appurtenances of a king.
Then he showed Caesar his error most convincingly and restrained him most
prudently, until the latter, abashed and afraid, would not accept either
the name of king or the diadem, which he had in mind to bestow upon
himself even against our will. Any other man would have declared that
he had been ordered to do it by his master, and putting forward the
compulsion as an excuse would have obtained pardon for it,--yes, indeed,
he would, when you think of what kind of votes we had passed at that time
and what power the soldiers had secured. Antony, however, because he was
thoroughly acquainted with Caesar's disposition and accurately aware of
all he was preparing to do, by great good judgment succeeded in turning
him aside from his course and retarding his ambitions. The proof of it
is that afterward he no longer behaved in any way like a monarch, but
mingled publicly and unprotected with us all; and that accounts most of
all for the possibility of his meeting the fate that he did.
[-18-] "This is what was done, O Cicero or Cicerulus or Ciceracius or
Ciceriscus or Graeculus[17] or whatever you like to be called, by the
uneducated, the naked, the anointed man: and none of it was done by you,
the clever, the wise, the user of much more olive oil than wine, you who
let your clothing drag about your ankles not, by Jupiter, as the dancers
do, who teach you intricacies of reasoning by their poses, but in order
to hide the ugliness of your legs. Oh no, it's not through modesty that
you do this, you who delivered that long screed about Antony's habits.
Who is there that does not see these soft clothes of yours? Who does not
scent your carefully combed gray locks? Who is there unaware that you put
away your first wife who had borne you two children, and at an advanced
age married another, a mere girl, in order that you might pay your debts
out of her property? And you did not even retain her, to the end that you
might keep Caerellia fearlessly, whom you debauched when she was as much
older than yourself as the maiden you married was younger, and to whom
you write such letters as a jester at no loss for words would write if
he were trying to get up an amour with a woman seventy years old.
This, which is not altogether to my taste, I have been induced to say,
Conscript Fathers, in the hope that he should not go away without getting
as good as he sent in the discussion. Again, he has ventured to reproach
Antony for a little kind of banquet, because he, as he says, drinks
water, his purpose being to sit up at night and compose speeches against
us,--though he brings up his son in such drunkenness that the latter is
sober neither night nor day. Furthermore he undertook to make derogatory
remarks about Antony's mouth, this man who has shown so great
licentiousness and impurity throughout his entire life that he would not
keep his hands off even his closest kin, but let out his wife for hire
and deflowered his daughter.
[-18-] "These particulars I shall leave as they stand and return to the
point where I started. That Antony against whom he has inveighed, seeing
Caesar exalted over our government, caused him by granting what seemed
personal favors to a friend not to put into effect any of the projects
that he had in mind. Nothing so diverts persons from objects which they
may attain without caring to secure them righteously, as for those who
fear such results to appear to endure the former's conduct willingly.
These persons in authority have no regard for their own consciousness of
guilt, but if they think they have been detected, they are ashamed and
afraid: thereafter they usually take what is said to them as flattery and
believe the opposite, and any action which may result from the words as
a plot, being suspicious in the midst of their shame. Antony knew
this thoroughly, and first of all he selected the Lupercalia and that
procession in order that Caesar in the relaxation of his spirit and the
fun of the affair might be rebuked with immunity, and next he selected
the Forum and the rostra that his patron might be shamed by the very
places. And he fabricated the commands from the populace, in order that
hearing them Caesar might reflect not on what Antony was saying at the
time, but on what the Roman people would order a man to say. How could
he have believed that this injunction had really been laid upon any one,
when he knew that the people had not voted anything of the kind and did
not hear them shouting out. But it was right for him to hear this in the
Roman Forum, where we had often joined in many deliberations for freedom,
and beside the rostra from which we had sent forth thousands and
thousands of measures in behalf of the democracy, and at the festival of
the Lupercalia, in order that he should remember Romulus, and from the
mouth of the consul that he might call to mind the deeds of the early
consuls, and in the name of the people, that he might ponder the fact
that he was undertaking to be tyrant not over Africans or Gauls or
Egyptians, but over very Romans. These words made him turn about; they
humiliated him. And whereas if any one else had offered him the diadem,
he might have taken it, he was then stopped short by that speech and felt
a shudder of alarm.