remarkable punishment which their ancestors had contrived for the
murder of a parent—that of sewing the criminal alive into a sack, and
throwing him into a river—he says, “that the meaning of it was, to
strike him at once, as it were, out of the system of nature, by taking
him from the air, the sun, the water, and the earth; that he who had
destroyed the author of his being, should lose the benefit of those
elements whence all things derive their being. They would not throw him
to the beasts, lest the contagion of such wickedness should make the
beasts themselves more furious; they would not commit him naked to the
stream, lest he should pollute the very sea, which was the purifier of
all other pollutions; they left him no share of anything natural, how
vile or common soever; for what is so common as breath to the living,
earth to the dead, the sea to those who float, the shore to those who
are cast up? Yet these wretches live so, as long as they can, as not to
draw breath from the air; die so, as not to touch the ground; are so
tossed by the waves, as not to be washed by them; so cast out upon the
shore, as to find no rest, even on the rocks.”
This passage was received with acclamations of applause; yet, speaking
of it afterwards himself, Cicero calls it “the redundancy of a juvenile
fancy, which wanted the correction of his sounder judgment; and, like
all the compositions of young men, was not applauded so much for its
own sake, as for the hopes which it gave of his more improved and
ripened talents.”
The popularity of his cause, and the favor of the audience, induced
Cicero, in the course of his plea, to expose the insolence and villany
of the favorite, Chrysogonus, with great freedom. He even ventured
some bold strokes at Sylla himself. He took care, however, to palliate
these, by observing, that through the multiplicity of Sylla’s affairs,
who reigned as absolute on earth as Jupiter in heaven, it was not
possible for him to know everything that was done by his agents, and
that he was perhaps forced to connive at some of the corrupt practices
of his favorites.
Soon after this trial, Cicero set out for the purpose of visiting
Greece and Asia, the fashionable tour of that day with those who
travelled for pleasure or improvement. At Athens he spent six months,
renewing the studies of his youth, under celebrated masters. He was
here initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, the end and aim of which
appear to have been to inculcate the unity of God and the immortality
of the soul.
From Athens, he passed into Asia, where he was visited by the principal
orators of the country. These kept him company through the remainder
of his tour, frequently exercising themselves together in oratorical
exhibitions. They came at last to Rhodes, where Cicero applied to Molo,
and again became his pupil On a public occasion he made an address
at the end of which, the company were lavish of their praises. Molo
alone was silent, till, observing that Cicero was somewhat disturbed,
he said, “As for you, Cicero, I praise and admire you, but pity the
fortune of Greece, to see arts and eloquence, the only ornaments which
were left to her, transplanted by you to Rome.”
Soon after Cicero’s return from his travels, he pleaded the cause of
the famous comedian, Roscius, whom a singular merit in his art had
recommended to the familiarity and friendship of the greatest men of
Rome. The case was this. One Fannius had made over to Roscius, a young
slave, to be trained for the stage, on condition of a partnership in
the profits which the slave should acquire by acting. The slave was
afterwards killed, and Roscius prosecuted the murderer for damages, and
obtained, by composition, a little farm, worth about 800 pounds, for
his particular share. Fannius also sued separately, and was supposed to
have gained as much, but, pretending to have recovered nothing, sued
Roscius for the moiety of what he had received.
One cannot but observe, from Cicero’s pleading, the wonderful esteem
and reputation which Roscius enjoyed—of whom he draws a very amiable
picture. “Has Roscius, then,” said he, “defrauded his partner? Can such
a stain adhere to such a man, who—I speak it with confidence—has more
integrity than skill, more veracity than experience; whom the people of
Rome know to be a better man than he is an actor, and, while he makes
the first figure on the stage in his art, is worthy of the senate for
his virtues?”
His daily pay for acting is said to have been about thirty pounds
sterling. Pliny computes his yearly profit at 4000 pounds; but Cicero
seems to rate it at 5000 pounds. He was generous, benevolent, and a
contemner of money; after he had raised an ample fortune from the
stage, he devoted his talents to the public, for many years, without
pay; whence Cicero urges it as incredible that he, who in ten years
past might honestly have gained fifty thousand pounds, which he
refused, should be tempted to commit a fraud for the paltry sum of four
hundred. We need but add that the defence was effectual.
Soon after Cicero’s return to Rome, he, being about thirty years of
age, was married to Terentia, a lady of good station in life, and of
large fortune. Shortly after, he was a candidate for the office of
quæstor, in which he succeeded by the unanimous suffrage of the tribes.
The provinces of the quæstors being distributed by lot, the island
of Sicily fell to Cicero’s share. This was called the granary of the
republic, and this year, there being great scarcity at Rome, the people
were clamorous for a supply. As it was a part of the duty of the
quæstors to supply the city with corn, a difficult duty devolved upon
Cicero; for, while he was to see that Rome was adequately furnished, it
was necessary to avoid impoverishing the island. He, however, acquitted
himself with the greatest prudence and address, displaying courtesy to
the dealers, justice to the merchants, generosity to the inhabitants,
and, in short, doing all manner of good offices to everybody. He
thus obtained the love and admiration of the Sicilians, and, at his
departure, they paid him greater honors than had ever been bestowed,
even upon their own governors.
In his hours of leisure, Cicero pursued his rhetorical studies, making
it a rule never to let a day pass without some exercise of this kind.
At the expiration of his year, he left the island, and, on his return
to Rome, he stopped at Baiae, the chief seat of pleasure at that time
in Italy, and where there was a perpetual resort of the rich and great,
as well on account of its delightful situation, as for the use of its
luxurious baths and tepid waters.
Pleased with the success of his administration, and flattering
himself that all Rome was celebrating his praises, he reached this
place, and mingled amongst the crowd. What was his disappointment
and mortification, to be asked by the first friend he met, “How long
since you left Rome, and what is the news there?” “I came from the
provinces,” was the reply. “From Africa, I suppose,” said one of the
bystanders. “No, I came from Sicily,” said Cicero, a little vexed.
“How, did you not know that Cicero was quæstor of Syracuse?” said
another person present; thus showing his ignorance, while he pretended
to be wiser than the rest. This incident humbled Cicero for the time,
and made him feel that he had not yet made himself so conspicuous as to
live perpetually in the eye of so mighty a city as Rome.
Having now devoted himself to a life of business and ambition, he
omitted none of the usual arts of recommending himself to popular
favor, and facilitating his advancement to the highest honors. “He
thought it absurd,” says Plutarch, “that, when every little artificer
knew the name and use of all his tools, a statesman should neglect the
knowledge of men, who were the proper instruments with which he was to
work; he made it his business, therefore, to learn the name, the place,
and the condition of every eminent citizen; what estate, what friends,
what neighbors he had; and could readily point out their several
houses, as he travelled through Italy.”
This knowledge was deemed so necessary at Rome, where the people
expected to be courted by their public men, that every individual who
aspired to official dignities, kept a slave or two in his family, whose
sole business it was to know the name and person of every citizen at
sight, so that he might whisper them to his master as he passed through
the streets, and enable him to salute them familiarly, as particular
acquaintances. Such artifices, which appear degrading in our day, were
by no means beneath the practice of one so elevated in his sense of
propriety as Cicero.
Having reached his thirty-seventh year, and being therefore eligible to
the office of edile, he offered himself as a candidate, and was elected
by the people. Before he entered upon its duties, however, he undertook
the prosecution of C. Verres, the late prætor of Sicily, charged
with many flagrant acts of injustice, rapine and cruelty, during his
triennial government of that island. This was one of the most memorable
transactions of Cicero’s life, and has given him greater fame than any
other.
In order to obtain the evidence, he proceeded to Sicily, where he was
received with the greatest kindness and favor, though every art was
resorted to, by the agents of Verres, to obstruct his inquiries. On
his return, he found the most formidable preparations to resist him.
Hortensius was engaged for Verres and several of the leading families
had taken his part. Cicero, however, produced his witnesses, whose
depositions overwhelmed the criminal with such proofs of guilt, that
Hortensius had nothing to say for his client, who submitted without
defence to a voluntary exile.
From this account, it appears, that, of the seven orations on the
subject of this trial, which now remain among the works of Cicero,
two only were spoken, and these contain little more than a statement
of the whole case. The five others were published afterwards, as they
were prepared, and intended to be spoken, if Verres had made a regular
defence.
From the evidence produced, it appears that every species of rapine
was practised without scruple by Verres, during his prætorship. Cicero
estimated the amount of his plunder at 800,000 pounds sterling, or
nearly four millions of dollars. It is shocking to read the black
catalogue of this man’s crimes; yet, such was the corruption of
society, especially among the higher classes, that Cicero, instead of
gaining favor by his exposure of these abuses, brought upon himself
the hatred and ill-will of the largest portion of the nobility.
They doubtless looked upon the public offices as their inheritance,
and did not like to see the accustomed privileges of the provincial
governors abridged. We may add here that Verres continued long in a
miserable exile, deserted and forgotten by his former friends, and
was actually relieved in his necessities by the generosity of Cicero.
He was afterwards proscribed and murdered by Mark Antony, in order to
obtain some fine statues, which he had obtained by robbery, during his
government in Sicily, and which he had refused to part with, even in
the extremity of his poverty.
From the impeachment of Verres, Cicero entered upon the office of
edile, and in one of his speeches gives a short account of its duties.
“I am now chosen edile,” says he, “and am sensible of what is committed
to me by the Roman people. I am to exhibit with the greatest solemnity
the most sacred sports to Ceres, Liber, and Libera; am to appease
and conciliate the mother Flora to the people and city of Rome, by
the celebration of the public games; am to furnish out those ancient
shows, the first which were called Roman, with all possible dignity and
religion, in honor of Jupiter, Juno, Minerva; am to take care also of
all the sacred edifices, and, indeed, of the whole city.”
The people of Rome were passionately fond of the public games and
diversions, and the allowance for them being small, the ediles were
obliged to supply the rest. Many of them, in their ambition to flatter
the people and obtain their favor, incurred such expense in these
entertainments, as to involve themselves in ruin. Every part of the
empire was ransacked for whatever was rare and curious to increase the
splendor of these shows; the forum, in which they were exhibited, was
usually beautified with porticoes for the purpose, and these were
decorated with the choicest pictures and statues, which Rome, and
indeed, all Italy could furnish. Several of the great men of Cicero’s
time had distinguished their magistracy by their magnificence, some of
them having entertained the city with stage plays, in which the scenes
were entirely covered with silver. Cæsar, in the sports exhibited upon
the occasion of his father’s funeral, caused the entire furniture of
the theatre to be made of solid silver, so that the wild beasts trod
upon that metal.
Unseduced by these examples, Cicero took the middle course, which was
suited to his circumstances. In compliance with the custom, he gave
three entertainments, which were conducted with taste, and to the
satisfaction of the people. The Sicilians gave him effectual proofs of
their gratitude by supplying him largely with provisions for the use
of his table and the public feasts he was obliged to provide. Cicero,
however, took no private advantage of these gifts, for he distributed
the whole to the poor.
Soon after leaving the office of edile, Cicero was chosen prætor; a
magistrate next in dignity to a consul. The business of the prætors was
to preside and judge in all causes, especially of a public or criminal
kind. There were eight of them, and their several jurisdictions were
assigned by lot. It fell to Cicero to hear charges of extortion and
rapine, brought against magistrates and governors of provinces.
In this office, he acquired great reputation for integrity and
impartiality—qualities, in the corrupted state of Rome, scarcely to be
found, either in public or private life, among men of high stations.
While he seemed full of employment as prætor, and attentive to his
duties in the senate, Cicero still had a large practice as advocate. It
is evident that nothing but ceaseless industry and wonderful facility
in the despatch of business, could have enabled him to discharge his
multifarious duties, and with such surpassing ability.
His office of prætor having expired, Cicero now fixed his hopes upon
the consulship. While he was aiming at this, and resorting to all the
ordinary means of attaining his object, by flattering the people,
allaying the hostility of the nobles, and strengthening his interest
on every hand, he was expending large sums of money in decorating his
several villas, especially that of Tusculum, in which he took the
greatest pleasure. This was situated in the neighborhood of Rome,
and furnished him an easy retreat from the hurry and fatigue of the
city. Here he built several rooms and galleries, in imitation of
the schools and porticoes of Athens, in which he was accustomed to
hold philosophical conversations with his learned friends. He had
given Atticus, a lover of the arts, who resided at Athens, a general
commission to purchase for him pictures, statues and other curiosities;
and Atticus, having a rare taste in these matters, thus assisted him to
embellish and enrich his residence with a choice collection of works of
art and literary treasures, of various kinds.
Cicero, being now in his forty-third year, became eligible as consul,
and offered himself as a candidate for that high office. As the
election approached, his interest appeared to take the lead; for the
nobles, envious and jealous of him as they were, were alarmed by the
threatening aspect of the times, and saw the necessity of entrusting
the consular power to strong and faithful hands. The intrigues of
Cæsar, the plots of Cataline, the ambition of Pompey, seemed to heave
and convulse the elements of society to its foundation, and portend a
storm which threatened the very existence of the state. Thus, by the
voices of the people as well as the favor of the patricians, Cicero was
proclaimed First Consul, and Antonius was chosen his colleague.
This year, Cicero’s father died in a good old age, and he gave his
daughter Tullia, in marriage, at the age of thirteen, to C. Piso Frugi,
a young nobleman of great hopes and of one of the best families in
Rome. He was also much gratified by the birth of a son and heir to his
family.
Cicero had now passed through the usual gradations to the highest
honors which the people could bestow, or a citizen desire. He entered
upon his trust with a patriotic determination to discharge its duties,
not so much according to the fleeting humor, as the lasting interests
of the people. The most remarkable event of his consulship was the
conspiracy of Cataline, which he detected by his sagacity, and defeated
by his courage and address.
Cataline was adapted by art and nature, to be the leader of desperate
enterprises. He was of an illustrious family, of ruined fortunes,
profligate heart, undaunted courage and unwearied industry. He had a
capacity equal to the hardiest attempt, a tongue that could seduce, an
eloquence to persuade, a hand to execute. His character, compounded of
contradictory qualities—of great virtues, mastered by still greater
vices—is forcibly drawn by Cicero himself.
“Who,” said he, “was more agreeable at one time to the best citizens?
Who more intimate at another with the worst? Who a man of better
principles? Who a fouler enemy to this city? Who more intemperate in
pleasure? Who more patient in labor? Who more rapacious in plundering,
who more profuse in squandering? He had a wonderful faculty of engaging
men to his friendship and obliging them by his observance; sharing
with them in common whatever he was master of; serving them with his
money, his interest, his pains, and, when there was occasion, by the
most daring acts of villany, moulding his nature to his purposes,
and bending it every way to his will. With the morose, he could live
severely; with the free, gayly; with the old, gravely; with the young,
cheerfully; with the enterprising, audaciously; with the vicious,
luxuriously. By a temper so various and pliable, he gathered about him
the profligate and the rash from all countries; yet held attached to
him, at the same time, many brave and worthy men, by the specious show
of a pretended virtue.”
Associated in the plot with Cataline, were about thirty-five
individuals as leaders, some of them senators, and all of them men of
rank and consideration. Several were from the colonies and the larger
towns of Italy. Among the most important of these persons were Lentulus
and Cethegus, both patricians, possessing powerful family influence;
the two Syllas nephews of the dictator; Cassius, who was a competitor
with Cicero for the consulship, and Autronius, who had obtained an
election to that office, but was not permitted to hold it, on account
of his gross briberies. Julius Cæsar was suspected of being also
engaged in the scheme, but it is probable that while he was willing to
see it attempted, hoping to be benefited by the convulsion that might
follow, he was too wary to commit himself by any overt act of treason.
A meeting of the conspirators was finally held, in which it was
resolved that a general insurrection should be raised throughout Italy,
the different parts of which were assigned to different leaders.
Cataline was to put himself at the head of the troops in Etruria; Rome
was to be set on fire in different places at once, under the direction
of Cassius, and a general massacre of the senate, with all the enemies
of the conspirators, was to be affected under the management of
Cithegus. The vigilance of Cicero being the chief occasion of their
apprehensions, two knights of the company undertook to gain access
to his house early the next morning, upon pretence of business, and,
rushing into his chamber, to kill him in his bed.
But no sooner was the meeting over, than Curius, one of the assembly,
and in the interest of Cicero, sent him a particular account of all
that had transpired. He immediately imparted the intelligence to some
of the chiefs of the city, who assembled at his house that night,
and made preparations for the emergency. The two knights came before
break of day to Cicero’s house, but had the mortification to find it
carefully guarded. Cataline had set out in the hope of surprising the
town of Preneste, one of the strongest fortresses of Italy, and within
twenty five miles of Rome; but Cicero’s messenger anticipated him, and
when the attack was made the next night, he found the place so well
guarded, as to forbid an assault.
Cicero now assembled the senate at the temple of Jupiter, in the
capital, where they were accustomed to meet only in times of public
alarm, and laid before them the facts which we have narrated. Cataline
had returned to Rome, and being a member of the senate, met the charge
with profound dissimulation and the most subtle cunning. Cicero,
however, poured forth upon him such a torrent of invective, and placed
his guilt in so strong a light, that the conspirator became desperate,
made a threatening speech to the senate, and left the hall. That night,
he departed and repaired with expedition to head the forces at Etruria.
The result of the whole enterprise was, that several of the accomplices
were executed, and Cataline himself fell bravely fighting at the head
of those troops he had induced to join his cause. Cicero received the
thanks of the senate, and the most unbounded applause at the hands of
the people.
Cicero’s administration being now at an end, nothing remained but to
resign the consulship, according to custom, in an assembly of the
people, and declare upon oath that he had administered the office with
fidelity. It was usual for the consul, under such circumstances, to
address the people, and on the present occasion an immense concourse
of people met to hear the farewell speech of Cicero. But Metellus, one
of the new tribunes, ambitious to signalize himself by some display
of that remarkable veto power committed to the tribunes, determined to
disappoint the orator and the audience.
Accordingly, when Cicero had mounted the rostrum, and was about to
address the people, Metellus interfered, remarking that he who had
put citizens to death unheard, ought not to be permitted to speak for
himself. This was a reflection upon Cicero, because the associates
of Cataline had been executed by a vote of the senate, without the
ordinary trial. Cicero, however, was never at a loss, and, instead of
pronouncing the usual form of the oath, exalted his voice so that all
the people might hear him, saying, “I have saved the republic and the
city from ruin!” The vast multitude caught the sounds, and, with one
acclamation, declared, “You have sworn the truth!” Thus, the intended
affront of Metellus was turned to the advantage of Cicero, and he was
conducted from the forum to his house with every demonstration of
respect by the whole city.
It was about this period that Cicero is supposed to have pronounced his
oration, still extant, in defence of his old preceptor, Archias. He,
doubtless, expected from his muse an immortality of fame; for Archias
had sung in Greek verse the triumphs of Marius over the Cimbri, and of
Lucullus over Mithridates. He appears, however, to have died without
celebrating the consulship of Cicero; and Archias, instead of adding to
the fame of the orator, would have been buried in complete oblivion,
had not his memory been perpetuated in the immortal pages of his pupil.
Pompey the Great now returned to Rome, in the height of his fame and
fortunes, from the Mithridatic war. It had been apprehended that he
was coming back to Rome, at the head of his army, to seize upon the
government. It is certain that he had this in his power, and Cæsar,
with the tribune Metellus, was inviting him to it. But he seemed
content, for the time, with the glory he had achieved. By his victories
he had extended the boundaries of the empire into Asia, having reduced
three powerful kingdoms there, Pontus, Syria and Bithynia, to the
condition of Roman provinces, taken the city of Jerusalem, and left
the other nations of the east, as far as the Tigris, tributary to the
republic.