Nor is it only by the sale of forged memoranda and autographs that a

countless sum of money was collected together in that house, while

Antonius, whatever he sold, said that he was acting in obedience to

the papers of Caesar; but he even took bribes to make false entries

of the resolutions of the senate; to seal forged contracts; and

resolutions of the senate that had never been passed were entered

on the records of that treasury. Of all this baseness even foreign

nations were witnesses. In the meantime treaties were made; kingdoms

given away; nations and provinces released from the burdens of the

state; and false memorials of all these transactions were fixed up

all over the Capitol, amid the groans of the Roman people. And by all

these proceedings so vast a sum of money was collected in one house,

that if it were all made available, the Roman people would never want

money again.

V. Moreover, he passed a law to regulate judicial proceedings, this

chaste and upright man, this upholder of the tribunals and the law.

And in this he deceived us. He used to say that he appointed men from

the front ranks of the army, common soldiers, men of the Alauda,[33]

as judges. But he has in reality selected gamesters; he has selected

exiles; he has selected Greeks. Oh the fine bench of judges! Oh the

admirable dignity of that council! I do long to plead in behalf of

some defendant before that tribunal--Cyda of Crete; a prodigy even in

that island; the most audacious and abandoned of men. But even suppose

he were not so. Does he understand Latin? Is he qualified by birth and

station to be a judge? Does he--which is most important--does he know

anything about our laws and manners? Is he even acquainted with any of

the citizens? Why, Crete is better known to you than Rome is to Cyda.

In fact, the selection and appointment of the judges has usually been

confined to our own citizens. But who ever knew, or could possibly

have known this Gortynian judge? For Lysiades, the Athenian, we most

of us do know. For he is the son of Phaedrus, an eminent philosopher.

And, besides, he is a witty man, so that he will be able to get on

very well with Marcus Curius, who will be one of his colleagues, and

with whom he is in the habit of playing. I ask if Lysiades, when

summoned as a judge, should not answer to his name, and should have an

excuse alleged for him that he is an Areopagite, and that he is not

bound to act as a judge at both Rome and Athens at the same time, will

the man who presides over the investigation admit the excuse of this

Greekling judge, at one time a Greek, and at another a Roman? Or will

he disregard the most ancient laws of the Athenians?

And what a bench will it be, O ye good gods! A Cretan judge, and he

the most worthless of men. Whom can a defendant employ to propitiate

him? How is he to get at him? He comes of a hard nation. But the

Athenians are merciful. I dare say that Curius, too, is not cruel,

inasmuch as he is a man who is himself at the mercy of fortune every

day. There are besides other chosen judges who will perhaps be

excused. For they have a legitimate excuse, that they have left their

country in banishment, and that they have not been restored since.

And would that madman have chosen these men as judges, would he have

entered their names as such in the treasury, would he have trusted a

great portion of the republic to them, if he had intended to leave the

least semblance of a republic?

VI. And I have been speaking of those judges who are known. Those whom

you are less acquainted with I have been unwilling to name. Know then

that dancers, harp-players, the whole troop, in fact, of Antonius's

revellers, have all been pitchforked into the third decury of judges.

Now you see the object of passing so splendid and admirable a law,

amid excessive rain, storm, wind, tempest, and whirlwind, amid thunder

and lightning; it was that we might have those men for our judges

whom no one would like to have for guests. It is the enormity of his

wickedness, the consciousness of his crimes, the plunder of that money

of which the account was kept in the temple of Ops, which have been

the real inventors of this third decury. And infamous judges were not

sought for, till all hope of safety for the guilty was despaired of,

if they came before respectable ones. But what must have been the

impudence, what must have been the iniquity of a man who dared to

select those men as judges, by the selection of whom a double disgrace

was stamped on the republic: one, because the judges were so infamous;

the other, because by this step it was revealed and published to the

world how many infamous citizens we had in the republic? These then,

and all other similar laws, I should vote ought to be annulled, even

if they had been passed without violence, and with all proper respect

for the auspices. But now why need I vote that they ought to be

annulled, when I do not consider that they were ever legally passed?

Is not this, too, to be marked with the deepest ignominy, and with the

severest animadversion of this order, so as to be recollected by all

posterity, that Marcus Antonius (the first man who has ever done so

since the foundation of the city) has openly taken armed men about

with him in this city? A thing which the kings never did, nor those

men who, since the kings have been banished, have endeavoured to seize

on kingly power. I can recollect Cinna; I have seen Sylla; and lately

Caesar. For these three men are the only ones since the city was

delivered by Lucius Brutus, who have had more power than the entire

republic. I cannot assert that no man in their trains had weapons.

This I do say, that they had not many, and that they concealed them.

But this pest was attended by an army of armed men. Classitius,

Mustela, and Tiro, openly displaying their swords, led troops of

fellows like themselves through the forum. Barbarian archers occupied

their regular place in the army. And when they arrived at the temple

of Concord, the steps were crowded, the litters full of shields were

arranged; not because he wished the shields to be concealed, but that

his friends might not be fatigued by carrying the shields themselves.

VII. And what was most infamous not only to see, but even to hear of,

armed men, robbers, assassins were stationed in the temple of Concord;

the temple was turned into a prison; the doors of the temple were

closed, and the conscript fathers delivered their opinions while

robbers were standing among the benches of the senators. And if I

did not come to a senate-house in this state, he, on the first of

September, said that he would send carpenters and pull down my house.

It was an important affair, I suppose, that was to be discussed. He

made some motion about a supplication. I attended the day after. He

himself did not come. I delivered my opinion about the republic, not

indeed with quite so much freedom as usual, but still with more than

the threats of personal danger to myself made perhaps advisable. But

that violent and furious man (for Lucius Piso had done the same thing

with great credit thirty days before) threatened me with his enmity,

and ordered me to attend the senate on the nineteenth of September. In

the meantime he spent the whole of the intervening seventeen days in

the villa of Scipio, at Tibur, declaiming against me to make himself

thirsty. For this is his usual object in declaiming. When the day

arrived on which he had ordered me to attend, then he came with a

regular army in battle array to the temple of Concord, and out of his

impure mouth vomited forth an oration against me in my absence. On

which day, if my friends had not prevented me from attending the

senate as I was anxious to do, he would have begun a massacre by the

slaughter of me. For that was what he had resolved to do. And when

once he had dyed his sword in blood, nothing would have made him

leave off but pure fatigue and satiety. In truth, his brother, Lucius

Antonius, was present, an Asiatic gladiator, who had fought as a

Mirmillo,[34] at Mylasa; he was thirsting for my blood, and had shed

much of his own in that gladiatorial combat. He was now valuing our

property in his mind, taking notice of our possessions in the city

and in the country; his indigence united with his covetousness was

threatening all our fortunes; he was distributing our lands to

whomsoever and in whatever shares he pleased; no private individual

could get access to him, or find any means to propitiate him, and

induce him to act with justice. Every former proprietor had just so

much property as Antonius left him after the division of his estate.

And although all these proceedings cannot be ratified, if you annul

his laws, still I think that they ought all to be separately taken

note of, article by article; and that we ought formally to decide that

the appointment of septemvirs was null and void; and that nothing is

ratified which is said to have been done by them.

VIII. But who is there who can consider Marcus Antonius a citizen,

rather than a most foul and barbarous enemy, who, while sitting in

front of the temple of Castor, in the hearing of the Roman people,

said that no one should survive except those who were victorious? Do

you suppose, O conscript fathers, that he spoke with more violence

than he would act? And what are we to think of his having ventured to

say that, after he had given up his magistracy, he should still be at

the city with his army? that he should enter the city as often as he

pleased? What else was this but threatening the Roman people with

slavery? And what was the object of his journey to Brundusium? and of

that great haste? What was his hope, except to lead that vast army

to the city, or rather into the city? What a proceeding was that

selection of the centurions! What unbridled fury of an intemperate

mind! For when those gallant legions had raised an outcry against his

promises, he ordered those centurions to come to him to his house,

whom he perceived to be loyally attached to the republic, and then he

had them all murdered before his own eyes and those of his wife, whom

this noble commander had taken with him to the army. What disposition

do you suppose that this man will display towards us whom he hates,

when he was so cruel to those men whom he had never seen? And how

covetous will he be with respect to the money of rich men, when he

thirsted for even the blood of poor men? whose property, such as it

was, he immediately divided among his satellites and boon companions.

And he in a fury was now moving his hostile standards against his

country from Brundusium, when Caius Caesar, by the kind inspiration of

the immortal gods, by the greatness of his own heavenly courage, and

wisdom, and genius, of his own accord, indeed, and prompted by his own

admirable virtue, but still with the approbation of my authority, went

down to the colonies which had been founded by his father; convoked

the veteran soldiery; in a few days raised an army; and checked the

furious advance of this bandit. But after the Martial legion saw this

admirable leader, it had no other thoughts but those of securing our

liberty. And the fourth legion followed its example.

IX. And Antonius, on hearing of this news, after he had summoned the

senate, and provided a man of consular rank to declare his opinion

that Caius Caesar was an enemy of his country, immediately fainted

away. And afterwards, without either performing the usual sacrifices,

or offering the customary vows, he, I will not say went forth, but

took to flight in his robe as a general. But which way did he flee? To

the province of our most resolute and bravest citizens; men who could

never have endured him if he had not come bringing war in his train,

an intemperate, passionate, insolent, proud man, always making

demands, always plundering, always drunk. But he, whose worthlessness

even when quiet was more than any one could endure, has declared war

upon the province of Gaul; he is besieging Mutina, a valiant and

splendid colony of the Roman people; he is blockading Decimus Brutus,

the general, the consul elect, a citizen born not for himself, but for

us and the republic. Was then Hannibal an enemy, and is Antonius a

citizen? What did the one do like an enemy, that the other has not

done, or is not doing, or planning, and thinking of? What was there

in the whole of the journey of the Antonii; except depopulation,

devastation, slaughter, and rapine? Actions which Hannibal never did,

because he was reserving many things for his own use, these men do,

as men who live merely for the present hour; they never have given a

thought not only to the fortunes and welfare of the citizens, but not

even to their own advantage.

Are we then, O ye good gods, to resolve to send ambassadors to this

man? Are those men who propose this acquainted with the constitution

of the republic, with the laws of war, with the precedents of our

ancestors? Do they give a thought to what the majesty of the Roman

people and the severity of the senate requires? Do you resolve to send

ambassadors? If to beg his mercy, he will despise you; if to declare

your commands he will not listen to them; and last of all, however

severe the message may be which we give the ambassadors, the very name

of ambassadors will extinguish this ardour of the Roman people which

we see at present, and break the spirit of the municipal towns and of

Italy. To say nothing of these arguments, though they are weighty, at

all events that sending of an embassy will cause delay and slowness to

the war. Although those who propose it should say, as I hear that some

intend to say,--"Let the ambassadors go, but let war be prepared for

all the same." Still the very name of ambassadors will damp men's

courage, and delay the rapidity of the war.

X. The most important events, O conscript fathers, are often

determined by very trivial moving influences in every circumstance

that can happen in the republic, and also in war, and especially in

civil war, which is usually governed a great deal by men's opinions

and by reports. No one will ask what is the commission with which we

have sent the ambassadors; the mere name of an embassy, and that sent

by us of our own accord, will appear an indication of fear. Let him

depart from Mutina; let him cease to attack Brutus; let him retire

from Gaul. He must not be begged in words to do so; he must be

compelled by arms. For we are not sending to Hannibal to desire him to

retire from before Saguntum; to whom the senate formerly sent Publius

Valerius Flaccus and Quintus Baebius Tampilus; who, if Hannibal did not

comply, were ordered to proceed to Carthage. Whither do we order our

ambassadors to proceed, if Antonius does not comply? Are we sending an

embassy to our own citizen, to beg him not to attack a general and a

colony of the Roman people? Is it so? Is it becoming to us to beg this

by means of ambassadors? What is the difference, in the name of the

immortal gods, whether he attacks this city itself, or whether he

attacks an outpost of this city, a colony of the Roman people,

established for the sake of its being a bulwark and protection to us?

The siege of Saguntum was the cause of the second Punic war, which

Hannibal carried on against our ancestors. It was quite right to send

ambassadors to him. They were sent to a Carthaginian, they were sent

on behalf of those who were the enemies of Hannibal, and our allies.

What is there resembling that case here? We are sending to one of our

own citizens to beg him not to blockade a general of the Roman army,

not to attack our army and our colony,--in short, not to be an enemy

of ours. Come; suppose he obeys, shall we either be inclined, or shall

we be able by any possibility, to treat him as one of our citizens?

XI. On the nineteenth of December, you overwhelmed him with your

decrees; you ordained that this motion should be submitted to you on

the first of January, which you see is submitted now, respecting the

honours and rewards to be conferred on those who have deserved or do

deserve well of the republic. And the chief of those men you have

adjudged to be the man who really has done so, Caius Caesar, who had

diverted the nefarious attacks of Marcus Antonius against this city,

and compelled him to direct them against Gaul; and next to him you

consider the veteran soldiers who first followed Caesar; then those

excellent and heavenly-minded legions the Martial and the fourth,

to whom you have promised honours and rewards, for having not only

abandoned their consul, but for having even declared war against him.

And on the same day, having a decree brought before you and published

on purpose, you praised the conduct of Decimus Brutus, a most

excellent citizen, and sanctioned with your public authority this war

which he had undertaken of his own head.

What else, then, did you do on that day except pronounce Antonius a

public enemy? After these decrees of yours, will it be possible for

him to look upon you with equanimity, or for you to behold him without

the most excessive indignation? He has been excluded and cut off and

wholly separated from the republic, not merely by his own wickedness,

as it seems to me, but by some especial good fortune of the republic.

And if he should comply with the demands of the ambassadors and return

to Rome, do you suppose that abandoned citizens will ever be in need

of a standard around which to rally? But this is not what I am so much

afraid of. There are other things which I am more apprehensive of

and more alarmed at. He never will comply with the demands of the

ambassadors. I know the man's insanity and arrogance; I know the

desperate counsels of his friends, to which he is wholly given up.

Lucius his brother, as being a man who has fought abroad, leads on

his household. Even suppose him to be in his senses himself, which he

never will be; still he will not be allowed by these men to act as if

he were so. In the mean time, time will be wasted. The preparations

for war will cool. How is it that the war has been protracted as long

as this, if it be not by procrastination and delay?

From the very first moment after the departure, or rather after the

hopeless flight of that bandit, that the senate could have met in

freedom, I have always been demanding that we should be called

together. The first day that we were called together, when the consuls

elect were not present, I laid, in my opinion, amid the greatest

unanimity on your part, the foundations of the republic, later,

indeed, than they should have been laid, for I could not do so before,

but still if no time had been lost after that day, we should have no

war at all now. Every evil is easily crushed at its birth, when it has

become of long standing, it usually gets stronger. But then everybody

was waiting for the first of January, perhaps not very wisely.

XII However, let us say no more of what is past. Are we still to allow

any further delay while the ambassadors are on their road to him? and

while they are coming back again? and the time spent in waiting for

them will make men doubt about the war. And while the fact of the war

is in doubt, how can men possibly be zealous about the levies for the

army?

Wherefore, O conscript fathers, I give my vote that there should be no

mention made of ambassadors I think that the business that is to be

done must be done without any delay, and instantly. I say that it is

necessary that we should decree that there is sedition abroad, that we

should suspend the regular courts of justice, order all men to wear

the garb of war, and enlist men in all quarters, suspending all

exemptions from military service in the city and in all Italy, except

in Gaul. And if this be done, the general opinion and report of your

severity will overwhelm the insanity of that wicked gladiator. He

will feel that he has undertaken a war against the republic, he will

experience the sinews and vigour of a unanimous senate For at present

he is constantly saying that it is a mere struggle between parties.

Between what parties? One party is defeated, the other is the heart

of Caius Caesar's party. Unless, indeed, we believe that the party

of Caesar is attacked by Pansa and Hirtius the consuls, and by Caius

Caesar's son. But this war has been kindled, not by a struggle between

parties, but by the nefarious hopes of the most abandoned citizens, by

whom all our estates and properties have been marked down, and already

distributed according as every one has thought them desirable.

I have read the letter of Antonius which he sent to one of the

septemviri, a thoroughpaced scoundrel, a colleague of his own, "Look

out, and see what you take a fancy to, what you do fancy you shall

certainly have". See to what a man we are sending ambassadors, against

what a man we are delaying to make war, a man who does not even let us

draw lots for our fortunes, but hands us over to each man's caprice in

such a way, that he has not left even himself anything untouched, or

which has not been promised to somebody. With this man, O conscript

fathers, we must wage war,--war, I say, and that instantly. We must

reject the slow proceedings of ambassadors.

Therefore, that we may not have a number of decrees to pass every day,

I give my vote that the whole republic should be committed to the

consuls, and that they should have a charge given them to defend the

republic, and to take care "that the republic suffer no injury." And

I give my vote that those men who are in the army of Antonius be not

visited with blame, if they leave him before the first of February.

If you adopt these proposals of mine, O conscript fathers, you will

in a short time recover the liberty of the Roman people and our own

authority. But if you act with more mildness, still you will pass

those resolutions, but perhaps you will pass them too late. As to

the general welfare of the republic, on which you, O consuls, have

consulted us, I think that I have proposed what is sufficient.

XIII. The next question is about honours. And to this point I perceive

that I must speak next. But I will preserve the same order in paying

respect to brave men, that is usually preserved in asking their

opinions.

Let us, therefore, according to the usages of our ancestors, begin

with Brutus, the consul elect, and, to say nothing of his former

conduct,--which has indeed been most admirable, but still such as has

been praised by the individual judgments of men, rather than by public

authority,--what words can we find adequate to his praise at this very

time? For such great virtue requires no reward except this one of

praise and glory; and even if it were not to receive that, still it

would be content with itself, and would rejoice at being laid up in

the recollection of grateful citizens, as if it were placed in the

full light. The praise then of our deliberate opinion, and of our

testimony in his favour, must be given to Brutus. Therefore, O

conscript fathers, I give my vote that a resolution of the senate be

passed in these words:

"As Decimus Brutus, imperator, consul elect is maintaining the

province of Gaul in obedience to the senate and people of Rome, and as

he has enlisted and collected in so short a time a very numerous army,

being aided by the admirable zeal of the municipal towns and colonies

of the province of Gaul, which has deserved and still does deserve

admirably well of the republic, he has acted rightly and virtuously,

and greatly for the advantage of the republic. And that most excellent

service done by Decimus Brutus to the republic, is and always will be

grateful to the senate and people of Rome. Therefore, the senate and

the Roman people is of opinion that the exertions, and prudence,

and virtue of Decimus Brutus, imperator and consul elect, and the

incredible zeal and unanimity of the province of Gaul, have been a

great assistance to the republic, at a most critical time."

What honour, O conscript fathers, can be too great to be due to such a

mighty service as this of Brutus, and to such important aid as he

has afforded the republic? For if Gaul had been open to Marcus

Antonius--if after having overwhelmed the municipal towns and colonies

unprepared to resist him, he had been able to penetrate into that

further Gaul--what great danger would have hung over the republic!

That most insane of men, that man so headlong and furious in all his

courses, would have been likely, I suppose, to hesitate at waging war

against us, not only with his own army, but with all the savage troops

of barbarism, so that even the wall of the Alps would not have enabled

us to check his frenzy. These thanks then will be deservedly paid

to Decimus Brutus, who, before any authority of yours had been

interposed, acting on his own judgment and responsibility, refused to

receive him as consul, but repelled him from Gaul as an enemy, and

preferred to be besieged himself rather than to allow this city to be

so. Let him therefore have, by your decree, an everlasting testimony

to this most important and glorious action, and let Gaul,[35] which

always is and has been a protection to this empire and to the general

liberty, be deservedly and truly praised for not having surrendered

herself and her power to Antonius, but for having opposed him with

them.

XIV. And, furthermore, I give my vote that the most ample honours be

decreed to Marcus Lepidus, as a reward for his eminent services to the

republic. He has at all times wished the Roman people to be free, and

he gave the greatest proof of his inclination and opinion on that day,

when, while Antonius was placing the diadem on Caesar's head, he turned

his face away, and by his groans and sorrow showed plainly what a

hatred of slavery he had, how desirous he was for the Roman people to

be free, and how he had endured those things which he had endured more

because of the necessity of the times, than because they harmonised

with his sentiments. And who of us can forget with what great

moderation he behaved during that crisis of the city which ensued

after the death of Caesar? These are great merits, but I hasten to

speak of greater still. For, (O ye immortal gods!) what could happen

more to be admired by foreign nations or more to be desired by the

Roman people, than, at a time when there was a most important civil

war, the result of which we were all dreading, that it should be

extinguished by prudence rather than that arms and violence should be

able to put everything to the hazard of a battle? And if Caesar had

been guided by the same principles in that odious and miserable war,

we should have--to say nothing of their father--the two sons of Cnaeus

Pompeius, that most illustrious and virtuous man, safe among us, men

whose piety and filial affection certainly ought not to have been

their ruin. Would that Marcus Lepidus had been able to save them all!

He showed that he would have done so, by his conduct in cases where he

had the power, when he restored Sextus Pompeius to the state, a great

ornament to the republic, and a most illustrious monument of his

clemency. Sad was that picture, melancholy was the destiny then of the

Roman people. For after Pompeius the father was dead, he who was

the light of the Roman people, the son too, who was wholly like his

father, was also slain. But all these calamities appear to me to have

been effaced by the kindness of the immortal gods, Sextus Pompeius

being preserved to the republic.

XV. For which cause, reasonable and important as it is and because

Marcus Lepidus, by his humanity and wisdom, has changed a most

dangerous and extensive civil war into peace and concord, I give my

vote, that a resolution of the senate be drawn up in these words:

"Since the affairs of the republic have repeatedly been well and

prosperously conducted by Marcus Lepidus, imperator, and Pontifex

Maximus, and since the Roman people is fully aware that kingly power

is very displeasing to him; and since by his exertions, and virtue,

and prudence, and singular clemency and humanity, a most bitter civil

war has been extinguished; and Sextus Pompeius Magnus, the son of

Cnaeus, having submitted to the authority of this order and laid down

his arms, and, in accordance with the perfect good-will of the senate

and people of Rome, has been restored to the state by Marcus Lepidus,

imperator, and Pontifex Maximus; the senate and people of Rome, in

return for the important and numerous services of Marcus Lepidus

to the republic, declares that it places great hopes of future

tranquillity and peace and concord, in his virtue, authority, and good

fortune; and the senate and people of Rome will ever remember his

services to the republic; and it is decreed by the vote of this order,

That a gilt equestrian statue be erected to him in the Rostra, or in

whatever other place in the forum he pleases."

And this honour, O conscript fathers, appears to me a very great one,

in the first place, because it is just;--for it is not merely given

on account of our hopes of the future, but it is paid, as it were,

in requital of his ample services already done. Nor are we able to

mention any instance of this honour having been conferred on any one

by the senate by their own free and voluntary judgment before.

XVI. I come now to Caius Caesar, O conscript fathers; if he had not

existed, which of us could have been alive now? That most intemperate

of men, Antonius, was flying from Brundusium to the city, burning with

hatred, with a disposition hostile to all good men, with an army. What

was there to oppose to his audacity and wickedness? We had not as yet

any generals, or any forces. There was no public council, no liberty;

our necks were at the mercy of his nefarious cruelty; we were all

preparing to have recourse to flight, though flight itself had no

escape for us. Who was it--what god was it, who at that time gave to

the Roman people this godlike young man, who, while every means

for completing our destruction seemed open to that most pernicious

citizen, rising up on a sudden, beyond every one's hope, completed

an army fit to oppose to the fury of Marcus Antonius before any one

suspected that he was thinking of any such step? Great honours were

paid to Cnaeus Pompeius when he was a young man, and deservedly; for he

came to the assistance of the republic; but he was of a more vigorous

age, and more calculated to meet the eager requirements of soldiers

seeking a general. He had also been already trained in other kinds

of war. For the cause of Sylla was not agreeable to all men. The

multitude of the proscribed, and the enormous calamities that fell on

so many municipal towns, show this plainly. But Caesar, though many

years younger, armed veterans who were now eager to rest; he has

embraced that cause which was most agreeable to the senate, to the

people, to all Italy,--in short, to gods and men. And Pompeius came as

a reinforcement to the extensive command and victorious army of Lucius

Sylla; Caesar had no one to join himself to. He, of his own accord, was

the author and executor of his plan of levying an army, and arraying

a defence for us. Pompeius found the whole Picene district hostile to

the party of his adversaries; but Caesar has levied an army against

Antonius from men who were Antonius's own friends, but still greater

friends to liberty. It was owing to the influence of Pompeius that

Sylla was enabled to act like a king. It is by the protection afforded

us by Caesar that the tyranny of Antonius has been put down.

Let us then confer on Caesar a regular military command, without which

the military affairs cannot be directed, the army cannot be held

together, war cannot be waged. Let him be made proprietor with all the

privileges which have ever been attached to that appointment. That

honour, although it is a great one for a man of his age, still is

not merely of influence as giving dignity, but it confers powers

calculated to meet the present emergency. Therefore, let us seek for

honours for him which we shall not easily find at the present day.

XVII. But I hope that we and the Roman people shall often have an

opportunity of complimenting and honouring this young man. But at the

present moment I give my vote that we should pass a decree in this

form:

"As Caius Caesar, the son of Caius, Pontiff and Propraetor, has at a

most critical period of the republic exhorted the veteran soldiers to

defend the liberty of the Roman people, and has enlisted them in his

army, and as the Martial legion and the fourth legion, with great zeal

for the republic, and with admirable unanimity, under the guidance and

authority of Caius Caesar, have defended and are defending the republic

and the liberty of the Roman people, and as Caius Caesar, propraetor,

has gone with his army as a reinforcement to the province of Gaul, has

made cavalry, and archers, and elephants, obedient to himself and to

the Roman people, and has, at a most critical time for the republic,

come to the aid of the safety and dignity of the Roman people,--on

these accounts, it seems good to the senate that Caius Caesar, the son

of Caius, pontiff and propraetor, shall be a senator, and shall deliver

his opinions from the bench occupied by men of praetorian rank, and

that, on occasion of his offering himself for any magistracy, he shall

be considered of the same legal standing and qualification as if he

had been quaestor the preceding year."

For what reason can there be, O conscript fathers, why we should

not wish him to arrive at the highest honours at as early an age as

possible? For when, by the laws fixing the age at which men might be

appointed to the different magistracies our ancestors fixed a more

mature age for the consulship, they were influenced by fears of the

precipitation of youth, Caius Caesar, at his first entrance into life,

has shown us that, in the case of his eminent and unparalleled virtue,

we have no need to wait for the progress of age. Therefore our

ancestors, those old men, in the most ancient times, had no laws

regulating the age for the different offices, it was ambition which

caused them to be passed many years afterwards, in order that there

might be among men of the same age different steps for arriving at

honours. And it has often happened that a disposition of great natural

virtue has been lost before it had any opportunity of benefiting the

republic.

But among the ancients, the Rulii, the Decii, the Corvim, and many

others, and in more modern times the elder Africanus and Titus

Flaminius were made consuls very young, and performed such exploits as

greatly to extend the empire of the Roman people, and to embellish its

name. What more? Did not the Macedonian Alexander, having begun to

perform mighty deeds from his earliest youth, die when he was only in

his thirty-third year? And that age is ten years less than that fixed

by our laws for a man to be eligible for the consulship. From which it

may be plainly seen that the progress of virtue is often swifter than

that of age.

XVIII. For as to the fear which those men, who are enemies of Caesar,

pretend to entertain, there is not the slightest reason to apprehend

that he will be unable to restrain and govern himself, or that he will

be so elated by the honours which he receives from us as to use his

power with out moderation. It is only natural, O conscript fathers,

that the man who has learnt to appreciate real glory, and who feels

that he is considered by the senate and by the Roman knights and the

whole Roman people a citizen who is dear to, and a blessing to the

republic, should think nothing whatever deserving of being compared to

this glory. Would that it had happened to Caius Caesar--the father,

I mean--when he was a young man, to be beloved by the senate and by

every virtuous citizen, but, having neglected to aim at that, he

wasted all the power of genius which he had in a most brilliant

degree, in a capricious pursuit of popular favour. Therefore, as he

had not sufficient respect for the senate and the virtuous part of the

citizens, he opened for himself that path for the extension of his

power, which the virtue of a free people was unable to bear.

But the principles of his son are widely different; who is not only

beloved by every one, but in the greatest degree by the most virtuous

men. In him is placed all our hope of liberty, from him already has

our safety been received, for him the highest honours are sought out

and prepared. While therefore we are admiring his singular prudence,

can we at the same time fear his folly? For what can be more foolish

than to prefer useless power, such influence as brings envy in

its train, and a rash and slippery ambition of reigning, to real,

dignified, solid glory? Has he seen this truth as a boy, and when he

has advanced in age will he cease to see it? "But he is an enemy to

some most illustrious and excellent citizens." That circumstance ought

not to cause any fear Caesar has sacrificed all those enmities to the

republic; he had made the republic his judge; he has made her the

directress of all his counsels and actions. For he is come to the

service of the republic in order to strengthen her, not to overturn

her. I am well acquainted with all the feelings of the young man:

there is nothing dearer to him than the republic, nothing which he

considers of more weight than your authority; nothing which he desires

more than the approbation of virtuous men; nothing which he accounts

sweeter than genuine glory.

Wherefore you not only ought not to fear anything from him, but you

ought to expect greater and better things still. Nor ought you to

apprehend with respect to a man who has already gone forward to

release Decimus Brutus from a siege, that the recollection of his

domestic injury will dwell in his bosom, and have more weight with

him than the safety of the city. I will venture even to pledge my own

faith, O conscript fathers, to you, and to the Roman people, and to

the republic, which in truth, if no necessity compelled me to do so,

I would not venture to do, and in doing which on slight grounds, I

should be afraid of giving rise to a dangerous opinion of my rashness

in a most important business; but I do promise, and pledge myself, and

undertake, O conscript fathers, that Caius Caesar will always be such

a citizen as he is this day, and as we ought above all things to wish

and desire that he may turn out.

XIX. And as this is the case, I shall consider that I have said enough

at present about Caesar.

Nor do I think that we ought to pass over Lucius Egnatuleius, a most

gallant and wise and firm citizen, and one thoroughly attached to the

republic, in silence; but that we ought to give him our testimony to

his admirable virtue, because it was he who led the fourth legion to

Caesar, to be a protection to the consuls, and senate, and people of

Rome, and the republic. And for these acts I give my vote:

"That it be made lawful for Lucius Egnatuleius to stand for, and be

elected to, and discharge the duties of any magistracy, three years

before the legitimate time."

And by this motion, O conscript fathers, Lucius Egnatuleius does not

get so much actual advantage as honour. For in a case like this it is

quite sufficient to be honourably mentioned.

But concerning the army of Caius Caesar, I give my vote for the passing

of a decree in this form:

"The senate decrees that the veteran soldiers who have defended and

are defending [lacuna] of Caesar, pontiff [lacuna] and the authority of

this order, should, and their children after them, have an exemption

from military service. And that Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius the

consuls, one or both of them, as they think fit, shall inquire what

land there is in those colonies in which the veteran soldiers have

been settled, which is occupied in defiance of the provisions of the

Julian law, in order that that may be divided among these veterans.

That they shall institute a separate inquiry about the Campanian

district, and devise a plan for increasing the advantages enjoyed by

these veteran soldiers; and with respect to the Martial legion, and

to the fourth legion, and to those soldiers of the second and

thirty-fifth legions who have come over to Caius Pansa and Aulus

Hirtius the consuls, and have given in their names, because the

authority of the senate and the liberty of the Roman people is and

always has been most dear to them, the senate decrees that they and

their children shall have exemption from military service, except in

the case of any Gallic and Italian sedition; and decrees further, that

those legions shall have their discharge when this war is terminated;

and that whatever sum of money Caius Caesar, pontiff and propraetor, has

promised to the soldiers of those legions individually, shall be paid

to them. And that Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius the consuls, one or

both of them, as it seems good to them, shall make an estimate of the

land which can be distributed without injury to private individuals;

and that land shall be given and assigned to the soldiers of the

Martial legion and of the fourth legion, in the largest shares in

which land has ever been given and assigned to soldiers."

I have now spoken, O consuls, on every point concerning which you have

submitted a motion to us; and if the resolutions which I have proposed

be decreed without delay, and seasonably, you will the more easily

prepare those measures which the present time and emergency demand.

But instant action is necessary. And if we had adopted that earlier,

we should, as I have often said, now have no war at all.

THE SIXTH ORATION OF M. T CICERO AGAINST MARCUS ANTONIUS CALLED ALSO

THE SIXTH PHILIPPIC. ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE.

THE ARGUMENT

In respect of the honours proposed by Cicero in the last speech the

senate agreed with him, voting to Octavius honours beyond any that

Cicero had proposed. But they were much divided about the question

of sending an embassy to Antonius, and the consuls, seeing that a

majority agreed with Cicero, adjourned the debate till the next day.

The discussion lasted three days, and the senate would at last have

adopted all Cicero's measures if one of the tribunes, Salvius, had not

put his veto on them. So that at last the embassy was ordered to

be sent, and Servius Sulpicius, Lucius Piso, and Lucius Philippus,

appointed as the ambassadors, but they were charged merely to

order Antonius to abandon the siege of Mutina, and to desist from

hostilities against the province of Gaul, and further, to proceed to

Decimus Brutus in Mutina, and to give him and his army the thanks of

the senate and people.

The length of the debates roused the curiosity of the people, who,

being assembled in the forum to learn the result, called on Cicero to

come forth and give them an account of what had been done--on which he

went to the rostra, accompanied by Publius Appuleius the tribune, and

related to them all that had passed in the following speech:

I. I imagine that you have heard, O Romans, what has been done in the

senate, and what has been the opinion delivered by each individual.

For the matter which has been in discussion ever since the first of

January, has been just brought to a conclusion, with less severity

indeed than it ought to have been, but still in a manner not

altogether unbecoming. The war has been subjected to a delay, but

the cause has not been removed. Wherefore, as to the question which

Publius Appuleius--a man united to me by many kind offices and by the

closest intimacy, and firmly attached to your interests--has asked me,

I will answer in such a manner that you may be acquainted with the

transactions at which you were not present.

The cause which prompted our most fearless and excellent consuls to

submit a motion on the first of January, concerning the general state

of the republic, arose from the decree which the senate passed by my

advice on the nineteenth of December. On that day, O Romans, were

the foundations of the republic first laid. For then, after a long

interval, the senate was free in such a manner that you too might

become free. On which day, indeed,--even if it had been to bring to me

the end of my life,--I received a sufficient reward for my exertions,

when you all with one heart and one voice cried out together, that

the republic had been a second time saved by me. Stimulated by so

important and so splendid a decision of yours in my favour, I came

into the senate on the first of January, with the feeling that I was

bound to show my recollection of the character which you had imposed

upon me, and which I had to sustain.

Therefore, when I saw that a nefarious war was waged against the

republic, I thought that no delay ought to be interposed to our

pursuit of Marcus Antonius; and I gave my vote that we ought to pursue

with war that most audacious man, who, having committed many atrocious

crimes before, was at this moment attacking a general of the Roman

people, and besieging your most faithful and gallant colony; and that

a state of civil war ought to be proclaimed; and I said further, that

my opinion was that a suspension of the ordinary forms of justice

should be declared, and that the garb of war should be assumed by

the citizens, in order that all men might apply themselves with more

activity and energy to avenging the injuries of the republic, if they

saw that all the emblems of a regular war had been adopted by the

senate. Therefore, this opinion of mine, O Romans, prevailed so much

for three days, that although no division was come to, still all,

except a very few, appeared inclined to agree with me. But to-day--I

know not owing to what circumstance--the senate was more indulgent.

For the majority decided on our making experiment, by means of

ambassadors, how much influence the authority of the senate and your

unanimity will have upon Antonius.

II. I am well aware, O Romans, that this decision is disapproved of by

you; and reasonably too. For to whom are we sending ambassadors? Is

it not to him who, after having dissipated and squandered the public

money, and imposed laws on the Roman people by violence and in

violation of the auspices,--after having put the assembly of the

people to flight and besieged the senate, sent for the legions from

Brundusium to oppress the republic? who, when deserted by them, has

invaded Gaul with a troop of banditti? who is attacking Brutus? who is

besieging Mutina? How can you offer conditions to, or expect equity

from, or send an embassy to, or, in short, have anything in common

with, this gladiator? although, O Romans, it is not an embassy, but a

denunciation of war if he does not obey. For the decree has been drawn

up as if ambassadors were being sent to Hannibal. For men are sent to

order him not to attack the consul elect, not to besiege Mutina, not

to lay waste the province, not to enlist troops, but to submit himself

to the power of the senate and people of Rome. No doubt he is a

likely man to obey this injunction, and to submit to the power of the

conscript fathers and to yours, who has never even had any mastery

over himself. For what has he ever done that showed any discretion,

being always led away wherever his lust, or his levity, or his frenzy,

or his drunkenness has hurried him? He has always been under the

dominion of two very dissimilar classes of men, pimps and robbers; he

is so fond of domestic adulteries and forensic murders, that he would

rather obey a most covetous woman than the senate and people of Rome.

III. Therefore, I will do now before you what I have just done in the

senate. I call you to witness, I give notice, I predict beforehand,

that Marcus Antonius will do nothing whatever of those things which

the ambassadors are commissioned to command him to do; but that he

will lay waste the lands, and besiege Mutina and enlist soldiers,

wherever he can. For he is a man who has at all times despised the

judgment and authority of the senate, and your inclinations and power.

Will he do what it has been just now decreed that he shall do,--lead

his army back across the Rubicon, which is the frontier of Gaul, and

yet at the same time not come nearer Rome than two hundred miles? will

he obey this notice? will he allow himself to be confined by the river

Rubicon and by the limit of two hundred miles? Antonius is not that

sort of man. For if he had been, he would never have allowed matters

to come to such a pass, as for the senate to give him notice, as

it did to Hannibal at the beginning of the Punic war not to attack

Saguntum. But what ignominy it is to be called away from Mutina, and

at the same time to be forbidden to approach the city as if he were

some fatal conflagration! what an opinion is this for the senate

to have of a man! What? As to the commission which is given to the

ambassadors to visit Decimus Brutus and his soldiers, and to inform

them that their excellent zeal in behalf of, and services done to the

republic, are acceptable to the senate and people of Rome, and that

that conduct shall tend to their great glory and to their great

honour; do you think that Antonius will permit the ambassadors to

enter Mutina? and to depart from thence in safety? He never will allow

it, believe me. I know the violence of the man, I know his impudence,

I know his audacity.

Nor, indeed, ought we to think of him as of a human being, but as of a

most ill-omened beast. And as this is the case, the decree which

the senate has passed is not wholly improper. The embassy has some

severity in it; I only wish it had no delay. For as in the conduct of

almost every affair slowness and procrastination are hateful, so above

all things does this war require promptness of action. We must assist

Decimus Brutus; we must collect all our forces from all quarters;

we cannot lose a single hour in effecting the deliverance of such

a citizen without wickedness. Was it not in his power, if he had

considered Antonius a consul, and Gaul the province of Antonius, to

have given over the legions and the province to Antonius? and to

return home himself? and to celebrate a triumph? and to be the first

man in this body to deliver his opinion, until he entered on his

magistracy? What was the difficulty of doing that? But as he

remembered that he was Brutus, and that he was born for your freedom,

not for his own tranquillity, what else did he do but--as I may almost

say--put his own body in the way to prevent Antonius from entering

Gaul? Ought we then to send ambassadors to this man, or legions?

However, we will say nothing of what is past. Let the ambassadors

hasten, as I see that they are about to do. Do you prepare your

robes of war. For it has been decreed, that, if he does not obey

the authority of the senate, we are all to betake our selves to our

military dress. And we shall have to do so. He will never obey. And we

shall lament that we have lost so many days, when we might have been

doing something.

IV I have no fear, O Romans, that when Antonius hears that I have

asserted, both in the senate and in the assembly of the people, that

he never will submit himself to the power of the senate, he will, for

the sake of disproving my words, and making me to appeal to have had

no foresight, alter his behaviour and obey the senate. He will never

do so. He will not grudge me this part of my reputation, he will

prefer letting me be thought wise by you to being thought modest

himself. Need I say more? Even if he were willing to do so himself,

do you think that his brother Lucius would permit him? It has been

reported that lately at Tibur, when Marcus Antonius appeared to him to

be wavering, he, Lucius, threatened his brother with death. And do

we suppose that the orders of the senate, and the words of the

ambassadors, will be listened to by this Asiatic gladiator? It will be

impossible for him to be separated from a brother, especially from one

of so much authority. For he is another Africanus among them. He is

considered of more influence than Lucius Trebellius, of more than

Titus Plancus [lacuna] a noble young man. As for Plancus, who, having

been condemned by the unanimous vote of every one, amid the

overpowering applause of you yourselves, somehow or other got mixed up

in this crowd, and returned with a countenance so sorrowful, that he

appeared to have been dragged back rather than to have returned, he

despises him to such degree, as if he were interdicted from fire and

water. At times he says that that man who set the senate house on fire

has no right to a place in the senate house. For at this moment he is

exceedingly in love with Trebellius. He hated him some time ago, when

he was opposing an abolition of debts, but now he delights in him,

ever since he has seen that Trebellius himself cannot continue in

safety without an abolition of debts. For I think that you have heard,

O Romans, what indeed you may possibly have seen, that the sureties

and creditors of Lucius Trebellius meet every day. Oh confidence! for

I imagine that Trebellius has taken this surname, what can be greater

confidence than defrauding one's creditors? than flying from one's

house? than, because of one's debts, being forced to go to war? What

has become of the applauses which he received on the occasion of

Caesar's triumph, and often at the games? Where is the aedileship that

was conferred on him by the zealous efforts of all good men? who is

there who does not now think that he acted virtuously by accident?

* * * * *

V However, I return to your love and especial delight, Lucius

Antonius, who has admitted you all to swear allegiance to him. Do

you deny it? is there any one of you who does not belong to a tribe?

Certainly not. But thirty five tribes have adopted him for their

patron. Do you again cry out against my statement? Look at that gilt

statue of him on the left what is the inscription upon it? "The thirty

five tribes to their patron." Is then Lucius Antonius the patron of

the Roman people? Plague take him! For I fully assent to your outcry.

I won't speak of this bandit whom no one would choose to have for

a client, but was there ever a man possessed of such influence, or

illustrious for mighty deeds, as to dare to call himself the patron of

the whole Roman people, the conqueror and master of all nations? We

see in the forum a statue of Lucius Antonius, just as we see one of

Quintus Tremulus, who conquered the Hernici, before the temple of

Castor. Oh the incredible impudence of the man! Has he assumed all

this credit to himself, because as a mumillo at Mylasa he slew the

Thracian, his friend? How should we be able to endure him, if he had

fought in this forum before the eyes of you all? But, however, this

is but one statue. He has another erected by the Roman knights who

received horses from the state,[36] and they too inscribe on that,

"To their patron". Who was ever before adopted by that order as its

patron? If it ever adopted any one as such, it ought to have adopted

me. What censor was ever so honoured? what imperator? "But he

distributed land among them". Shame on their sordid natures for

accepting it! shame on his dishonesty for giving it!

Moreover, the military tribunes who were in the army of Caesar have

erected him a statue. What order is that? There have been plenty of

tribunes in our numerous legions in so many years. Among them he has

distributed the lands of Semurium. The Campus Martius was all that was

left, if he had not first fled with his brother. But this allotment

of lands was put an end to a little while ago, O Romans, by the

declaration of his opinion by Lucius Caesar a most illustrious man and

a most admirable senator. For we all agreed with him and annulled the

acts of the septemvirs. So all the kindness of Nucula[37] goes for

nothing, and the patron Antonius is at a discount. For those who had

taken possession will depart with more equanimity. They had not been

at any expense, they had not yet furnished or stocked their domains,

partly because they did not feel sure of their title, and partly

because they had no money.

But as for that splendid statue, concerning which, if the times were

better, I could not speak without laughing, "To Lucius Antonius,

patron of the middle of Janus"[38] Is it so? Is the middle of Janus a

client of Lucius Antonius? Who ever was found in that Janus who would

have lent Lucius Antonius a thousand sesterces?

VI. However, we have been spending too much time in trifles. Let us

return to our subject and to the war. Although it was not wholly

foreign to the subject for some characters to be thoroughly

appreciated by you, in order that you might in silence think over who

they were against whom you were to wage war.

But I exhort you, O Romans, though perhaps other measures might have

been wiser, still now to wait with calmness for the return of the

ambassadors. Promptness of action has been taken from our side, but

still some good has accrued to it. For when the ambassadors have

reported what they certainly will report, that Antonius will not

submit to you nor to the senate, who then will be so worthless a

citizen as to think him deserving of being accounted a citizen? For at

present there are men, few indeed, but still more than there ought to

be, or than the republic deserves that there should be, who speak in

this way,--"Shall we not even wait for the return of the ambassadors?"

Certainly the republic itself will force them to abandon that

expression and that pretence of clemency. On which account, to confess

the truth to you, O Romans, I have less striven to day, and laboured

all the less to day, to induce the senate to agree with me in

decreeing the existence of a seditious war, and ordering the apparel

of war to be assumed. I preferred having my sentiments applauded by

every one in twenty days' time, to having it blamed to day by a few.

Wherefore, O Romans, wait now for the return of the ambassadors, and

devour your annoyance for a few days. And when they do return, if

they bring back peace, believe me that I have been desirous that they

should, if they bring back war, then allow me the praise of foresight.

Ought I not to be provident for the welfare of my fellow-citizens?

Ought I not day and night to think of your freedom and of the safety

of the republic? For what do I not owe to you, O Romans, since you

have preferred for all the honours of the state a man who is his own

father to the most nobly born men in the republic? Am I ungrateful?

Who is less so? I, who, after I had obtained those honours, have

constantly laboured in the forum with the same exertions as I used

while striving for them. Am I inexperienced in state affairs? Who has

had more practice than I, who have now for twenty years been waging

war against impious citizens?

VII Wherefore, O Romans, with all the prudence of which I am master,

and with almost more exertion than I am capable of, will I put forth

my vigilance and watchfulness in your behalf In truth, what citizen

is there, especially in this rank in which you have placed me, so

forgetful of your kindness, so unmindful of his country, so hostile to

his own dignity, as not to be roused and stimulated by your wonderful

unanimity? I, as consul, have held many assemblies of the people,

I have been present at many others, I have never once seen one so

numerous as this one of yours now is. You have all one feeling, you

have all one desire, that of averting the attempts of Marcus Antonius

from the republic, of extinguishing his frenzy and crushing his

audacity. All orders have the same wish. The municipal towns, the

colonies, and all Italy are labouring for the same end. Therefore you

have made the senate, which was already pretty firm of its own accord,

firmer still by your authority. The time has come, O Romans, later

altogether than for the honour of the Roman people it should have

been, but still so that the things are now so ripe that they do not

admit of a moment's delay. There has been a sort of fatality, if I

may say so, which we have borne as it was necessary to bear it. But

hereafter if any disaster happens to us it will be of our own seeking.

It is impossible for the Roman people to be slaves, that people whom

the immortal gods have ordained should rule over all nations. Matters

are now come to a crisis. We are fighting for our freedom. Either you

must conquer, O Romans, which indeed you will do if you continue to

act with such piety and such unanimity, or you must do anything rather

than become slaves. Other nations can endure slavery. Liberty is the

inalienable possession of the Roman people.

THE SEVENTH ORATION OF M. T. CICERO AGAINST MARCUS ANTONIUS CALLED

ALSO THE SEVENTH PHILIPPIC.

THE ARGUMENT

After the senate had decided on sending them, the ambassadors

immediately set out, though Servius Sulpicius was in a very bad state

of health. In the meantime the partisans of Antonius in the city, with

Calenus at their head were endeavouring to gain over the rest of the

citizens, by representing him as eager for an accommodation and they

kept up a correspondence with him, and published such of his letters

as they thought favourable for their views. Matters being in this

state, Cicero, at an ordinary meeting of the senate, made the

following speech to counteract the machinations of this party, and to

warn the citizens generally of the danger of being deluded by them.

I. We are consulted to-day about matters of small importance, but

still perhaps necessary, O conscript fathers. The consul submits a

motion to us about the Appian road, and about the coinage, the tribune

of the people one about the Luperci. And although it seems easy to

settle such matters as those, still my mind cannot fix itself on such

subjects, being anxious about more important matters. For our affairs,

O conscript fathers, are come to a crisis, and are in a state of

almost extreme danger. It is not without reason that I have always

feared and never approved of that sending of ambassadors. And what

their return is to bring us I know not, but who is there who does not

see with how much languor the expectation of it infects our minds? For

those men put no restraint on themselves who grieve that the senate

has revived so as to entertain hopes of its former authority, and

that the Roman people is united to this our order, that all Italy is

animated by one common feeling, that armies are prepared, and generals

ready for the armies, even already they are inventing replies for

Antonius, and defending them. Some pretend that his demand is that all

the armies be disbanded. I suppose then we sent ambassadors to him,

not that he should submit and obey this our body, but that he should

offer us conditions, impose laws upon us, order us to open Italy to

foreign nations, especially while we were to leave him in safety from

whom there is more danger to be feared than from any nation whatever.

Others say that he is willing to give up the nearer Gaul to us, and

that he will be satisfied with the further Gaul. Very kind of him! in

order that from thence he may endeavour to bring not merely legions,

but even nations against this city. Others say that he makes no

demands now but such as are quite moderate. Macedonia he calls

absolutely his own, since it was from thence that his brother Caius

was recalled. But what province is there in which that firebrand may

not kindle a conflagration? Therefore those same men, like provident

citizens and diligent senators, say that I have sounded the charge,

and they undertake the advocacy of peace. Is not this the way in

which they argue? "Antonius ought not to have been irritated, he is

a reckless and a bold man, there are many bad men besides him." (No

doubt, and they may begin and count themselves first). And they warn

us to be on our guard against them. Which conduct then is it which

shows the more prudent caution chastising wicked citizens when one is

able to do so, or fearing them?

II. And these men speak in this way, who on account of their trifling

disposition used to be considered friends of the people. From which

it may be understood that they in their hearts have at all times been

disinclined to a good constitution of the state, and they were not

friends of the people from inclination. For how comes it to pass that

those men who were anxious to gratify the people in evil things, now,

on an occasion which above all others concerns the people's interests,

because the same thing would be also salutary for the republic, now

prefer being wicked to being friends of the people? This noble cause

of which I am the advocate has made me popular, a man who (as you

know) have always opposed the rashness of the people. And those men

are called, or rather they call themselves, consulars; though no man

is worthy of that name except those who can support so high an honour.

Will you favour an enemy? Will you let him send you letters about his

hopes of success? Will you be glad to produce them? to read them? Will

you even give them to wicked citizens to take copies of? Will you thus

raise their courage? Will you thus damp the hopes and valour of the

good? And then will you think yourself a consular, or a senator, or

even a citizen? Caius Pansa, a most fearless and virtuous consul, will

take what I say in good part. For I will speak with a disposition

most friendly to him; but I should not consider him himself a consul,

though a man with whom I am most intimate, unless he was such a consul

as to devote all his vigilance, and cares, and thoughts to the safety

of the republic.

Although long acquaintance, and habit, and a fellowship and

resemblance in the most honourable pursuits, has bound us together

from his first entrance into life; and his incredible diligence,

proved at the time of the most formidable dangers of the civil war,

showed that he was a favourer not only of my safety, but also of my

dignity; still, as I said before, if he were not such a consul as I

have described, I should venture to deny that he was a consul at all.

But now I call him not only a consul, but the most excellent and

virtuous consul within my recollection; not but that there have been

others of equal virtue and equal inclination, but still they have not

had an equal opportunity of displaying that virtue and inclination.

But the opportunity of a time of most formidable change has been

afforded to his magnanimity, and dignity, and wisdom. And that is the

time when the consulship is displayed to the greatest advantage, when

it governs the republic during a time which, if not desirable, is at

all events critical and momentous. And a more critical time than the

present, O conscript fathers, never was.

III. Therefore I, who have been at all times an adviser of peace,

and who, though all good men always considered peace, and especially

internal peace, desirable, have desired it more than all of them;--for

the whole of the career of my industry has been passed in the forum

and in the senate-house, and in warding off dangers from my friends;

it is by this course that I have arrived at the highest honours, at

moderate wealth, and at any dignity which we may be thought to have: I

therefore, a nursling of peace, as I may call myself, I who, whatever

I am, (for I arrogate nothing to myself,) should undoubtedly not have

been such without internal peace: I am speaking in peril: I shudder to

think how you will receive it, O conscript fathers: but still, out of

regard for my unceasing desire to support and increase your dignity, I

beg and entreat you, O conscript fathers, although it may be a bitter

thing to hear, or an incredible thing that it should be said by Marcus

Cicero, still to receive at first, without offence, what I am going

to say, and not to reject it before I have fully explained what it

is;--I, who, I will say so over and over again, have always been a

panegyrist, have always been an adviser of peace, do not wish to have

peace with Marcus Antonius. I approach the rest of my speech with

great hope, O conscript fathers, since I have now passed by that

perilous point amid your silence.

Why then do I not wish for peace? Because it would be shameful;

because it would be dangerous; because it cannot possibly be real. And

while I explain these three points to you, I beg of you, O conscript

fathers, to listen to my words with the same kindness which you

usually show to me.

What is more shameful than inconsistency, fickleness, and levity, both

to individuals, and also to the entire senate? Moreover, what can be

more inconsistent than on a sudden to be willing to be united in peace

with a man whom you have lately adjudged to be an enemy, not by words,

but by actions and by many formal decrees? Unless, indeed, when you

were decreeing honours to Caius Caesar, well-deserved indeed by and

fairly due to him, but still unprecedented and never to be forgotten,

for one single reason,--because he had levied an army against Marcus

Antonius,--you were not judging Marcus Antonius to be an enemy; and

unless Antonius was not pronounced an enemy by you, when the veteran

soldiers were praised by your authority, for having followed Caesar;

and unless you did not declare Antonius an enemy when you promised

exemptions and money and lands to those brave legions, because they

had deserted him who was consul while he was an enemy.

IV. What? when you distinguished with the highest praises Brutus, a

man born under some omen, as it were, of his race and name, for the

deliverance of the republic, and his army, which was waging war

against Antonius on behalf of the liberty of the Roman people, and the

most loyal and admirable province of Gaul, did you not then pronounce

Antonius an enemy? What? when you decreed that the consuls, one or

both of them, should go to the war, what war was there if Antonius was

not an enemy? Why then was it that most gallant man, my own colleague

and intimate friend, Aulus Hirtius the consul, has set out? And in

what delicate health he is; how wasted away! But the weak state of his

body could not repress the vigour of his mind. He thought it fair, I

suppose, to expose to danger in defence of the Roman people that life

which had been preserved to him by their prayers. What? when you

ordered levies of troops to be made throughout all Italy, when you

suspended all exemptions from service, was he not by those steps

declared to be an enemy? You see manufactories of arms in the city;

soldiers, sword in hand, are following the consul; they are in

appearance a guard to the consul, but in fact and reality to us; all

men are giving in their names, not only without any shirking, but

with the greatest eagerness; they are acting in obedience to your

authority. Has not Antonius been declared an enemy by such acts?

"Oh, but we have sent ambassadors to him." Alas, wretched that I am!

why am I compelled to find fault with the senate whom I have always

praised? Why? Do you think, O conscript fathers, that you have induced

the Roman people to approve of the sending ambassadors? Do you not

perceive, do you not hear, that the adoption of my opinion is demanded

by them? that opinion which you, in a full house, agreed to the day

before, though the day after you allowed yourselves to be brought down

to a groundless hope of peace. Moreover, how shameful it is for the

legions to send out ambassadors to the senate, and the senate to

Antonius! Although that is not an embassy; it is a denunciation that

destruction is prepared for him if he do not submit to this order.

What is the difference? At all events, men's opinions are unfavourable

to the measure; for all men see that ambassadors have been sent, but

it is not all who are acquainted with the terms of your decree.

V. You must, therefore, preserve your consistency, your wisdom, your

firmness, your perseverance. You must go back to the old-fashioned

severity, if at least the authority of the senate is anxious to

establish its credit, its honour, its renown, and its dignity, things

which this order has been too long deprived of. But there was some

time ago some excuse for it, as being oppressed; a miserable excuse

indeed, but still a fair one; now there is none. We appeared to have

been delivered from kingly tyranny; and afterwards we were oppressed

much more severely by domestic enemies. We did indeed turn their arms

aside; we must now wrest them from their hands. And if we cannot do

so, (I will say what it becomes one who is both a senator and a Roman

to say,) let us die. For how just will be the shame, how great will be

the disgrace, how great the infamy to the republic, if Marcus Antonius

can deliver his opinion in this assembly from the consular bench. For,

to say nothing of the countless acts of wickedness committed by him

while consul in the city, during which time he has squandered a vast

amount of public money, restored exiles without any law, sold our

revenues to all sorts of people, removed provinces from the empire of

the Roman people, given men kingdoms for bribes, imposed laws on the

city by violence, besieged the senate, and, at other times, excluded

it from the senate-house by force of arms;--to say nothing, I say, of

all this, do you not consider this, that he who has attacked Mutina, a

most powerful colony of the Roman people--who has besieged a general

of the Roman people, who is consul elect--who has laid waste the

lands,--do you not consider, I say, how shameful and iniquitous a

thing it would be for that man to be received into this order, by

which he has been so repeatedly pronounced an enemy for these very

reasons?

I have said enough of the shamefulness of such a proceeding; I will

now speak next, as I proposed, of the danger of it; which, although it

is not so important to avoid as shame, still offends the minds of the

greater part of mankind even more.

VI. Will it then be possible for you to rely on the certainty of any

peace, when you see Antonius, or rather the Antonii, in the city?

Unless, indeed, you despise Lucius: I do not despise even Caius. But,

as I think, Lucius will be the dominant spirit,--for he is the patron

of the five-and-thirty tribes, whose votes he took away by his law, by

which he divided the magistracies in conjunction with Caius Caesar.

He is the patron of the centuries of the Roman knights, which also he

thought fit to deprive of the suffrages: he is the patron of the men

who have been military tribunes; he is the patron of the middle of

Janus. O ye gods! who will be able to support this man's power?

especially when he has brought all his dependants into the lands. Who

ever was the patron of all the tribes? and of the Roman knights? and

of the military tribunes? Do you think that the power of even the

Gracchi was greater than that of this gladiator will be? whom I have

called gladiator, not in the sense in which sometimes Marcus Antonius

too is called gladiator, but as men call him who are speaking plain

Latin. He has fought in Asia as a mirmillo. After having equipped his

own companion and intimate friend in the armour of a Thracian, he slew

the miserable man as he was flying; but he himself received a palpable

wound, as the scar proves.

What will the man who murdered his friend in this way, when he has an

opportunity, do to an enemy? and if he did such a thing as this for

the fun of the thing, what do you think he will do when tempted by the

hope of plunder? Will he not again meet wicked men in the decuries?

will he not again tamper with those men who have received lands? will

he not again seek those who have been banished? will he not, in short,

be Marcus Antonius; to whom, on the occasion of every commotion, there

will be a rush of all profligate citizens? Even if there be no one

else except those who are with him now, and these who in this body

now openly speak in his favour, will they be too small in number?

especially when all the protection which we might have had from good

men is lost, and when those men are prepared to obey his nod? But I

am afraid, if at this time we fail to adopt wise counsels, that that

party will in a short time appear too numerous for us. Nor have I any

dislike to peace; only I do dread war disguised under the name of

peace. Wherefore, if we wish to enjoy peace we must first wage war. If

we shrink from war, peace we shall never have.

VII. But it becomes your prudence, O conscript fathers, to provide as

far forward as possible for posterity. That is the object for which we

were placed in this garrison, and as it were on this watch-tower; that

by our vigilance and foresight we might keep the Roman people free

from fear. It would be a shameful thing, especially in so clear a case

as this, for it to be notorious that wisdom was wanting to the chief

council of the whole world. We have such consuls, there is such

eagerness on the part of the Roman people, we have such an unanimous

feeling of all Italy in our favour, such generals, and such armies,

that the republic cannot possibly suffer any disaster without the

senate being in fault. I, for my part, will not be wanting. I will

warn you, I will forewarn you, I will give you notice, I will call

gods and men to witness what I do really believe. Nor will I display

my good faith alone, which perhaps may seem to be enough, but which in

a chief citizen is not enough; I will exert all my care, and prudence,

and vigilance.

I have spoken about the danger. I will now proceed to prove to you

that it is not possible for peace to be firmly cemented; for of the

propositions which I promised to establish this is the last.

VIII. What peace can there be between Marcus Antonius and (in the

first place) the senate? with what face will he be able to look upon

you, and with what eyes will you, in turn, look upon him? Which of you

does not hate him? which of you does not he hate? Come, are you the

only people who hate him; and whom he hates? What? what do you think

of those men who are besieging Mutina, who are levying troops in Gaul,

who are threatening your fortunes? will they ever be friends to you,

or you to them? Will he embrace the Roman knights? For, suppose their

inclinations respecting, and their opinions of Antonius were very much

concealed, when they stood in crowds on the steps of the temple

of Concord, when they stimulated you to endeavour to recover your

liberty, when they demanded arms, the robe of war, and war, and who,

with the Roman people, invited me to meet in the assembly of the

people, will these men ever become friends to Antonius? will Antonius

ever maintain peace with them? For why should I speak of the whole

Roman people? which, in a full and crowded forum, twice, with one

heart and one voice, summoned me into the assembly, and plainly showed

their excessive eagerness for the recovery of their liberty. So,

desirable as it was before to have the Roman people for our comrade,

we now have it for our leader.

What hope then is there that there ever can be peace between the Roman

people and the men who are besieging Mutina and attacking a general

and army of the Roman people? Will there be peace with the municipal

towns, whose great zeal is shown by the decrees which they pass, by

the soldiers whom they furnish, by the sums which they promise, so

that in each town there is such a spirit as leaves no one room to wish

for a senate of the Roman people? The men of Firmium deserve to be

praised by a resolution of our order, who set the first example of

promising money; we ought to return a complimentary answer to the

Marrucini, who have passed a vote that all who evade military service

are to be branded with infamy. These measures are adopted all over

Italy. There is great peace between Antonius and these men, and

between them and him! What greater discord can there possibly be? And

in discord civil peace cannot by any possibility exist. To say nothing

of the mob, look at Lucius Nasidius, a Roman knight, a man of the very

highest accomplishments and honour, a citizen always eminent, whose

watchfulness and exertions for the protection of my life I felt in my

consulship; who not only exhorted his neighbours to become soldiers,

but also assisted them from his own resources; will it be possible

ever to reconcile Antonius to such a man as this, a man whom we ought

to praise by a formal resolution of the senate? What? will it be

possible to reconcile him to Caius Caesar, who prevented him from

entering the city, or to Decimus Brutus, who has refused him entrance

into Gaul? Moreover, will he reconcile himself to, or look mercifully

on the province of Gaul, by which he has been excluded and rejected?

You will see everything, O conscript fathers, if you do not take care,

full of hatred and full of discord, from which civil wars arise. Do

not then desire that which is impossible: and beware, I entreat you by

the immortal gods, O conscript fathers, that out of hope of present

peace you do not lose perpetual peace.

What now is the object of this oration? For we do not yet know what

the ambassadors have done. But still we ought to be awake, erect,

prepared, armed in our minds, so as not to be deceived by any civil

or supplicatory language, or by any pretence of justice. He must have

complied with all the prohibitions and all the commands which we have

sent him, before he can demand anything. He must have desisted from

attacking Brutus and his army, and from plundering the cities and

lands of the province of Gaul; he must have permitted the ambassadors

to go to Brutus, and led his army back on this side of the Rubicon,

and yet not come within two hundred miles of this city. He must have

submitted himself to the power of the senate and of the Roman people.

If he does this, then we shall have an opportunity of deliberating

without any decision being forced upon us either way. If he does not

obey the senate, then it will not be the senate that declares war

against him, but he who will have declared it against the senate.

But I warn you, O conscript fathers, the liberty of the Roman people,

which is entrusted to you, is at stake. The life and fortune of

every virtuous man is at stake, against which Antonius has long been

directing his insatiable covetousness, united to his savage cruelty.

Your authority is at stake, which you will wholly lose if you do not

maintain it now. Beware how you let that foul and deadly beast escape

now that you have got him confined and chained. You too, Pansa, I

warn, (although you do not need counsel, for you have plenty of wisdom

yourself: but still, even the most skilful pilots receive often

warnings from the passengers in terrible storms,) not to allow this

vast and noble preparation which you have made to fall away to

nothing. You have such an opportunity as no one ever had. It is in

your power so to avail yourself of this wise firmness of the senate,

of this zeal of the equestrian order, of this ardour of the Roman

people, as to release the Roman people from fear and danger for ever.

As to the matters to which your motion before the senate refers, I

agree with Publius Servilius.

* * * * *

THE EIGHTH ORATION OF M T CICERO AGAINST MARCUS ANTONIUS CALLED ALSO

THE EIGHTH PHILIPPIC

* * * * *

THE ARGUMENT

After the embassy to Antonius had left Rome the consuls zealously

exerted themselves in preparing for war, in case he should reject the

demands of the ambassador. Hirtius, though in bad health, left Rome

first, at the head of an army containing, among others, the Martial

and the fourth legions, intending to join Octavius and hoping with his

assistance to prevent his gaining any advantage over Brutus till Pansa

could join them. And he gained some advantages over Antonius at once.

About the beginning of February the two remaining ambassadors (for

Servius Sulpicius had died just as they arrived at Antonius's camp)

returned, bringing word that Antonius would comply with none of the

commands of the senate, nor allow them to proceed to Decimus Brutus,

and bringing also (contrary to their duty) demands from him, of which

the principal were, that his troops were to be rewarded, all the acts

of himself and Dolabella to be ratified as also all that he had done

respecting Caesar's papers, that no account was to be required of him

of the money; in the temple of Ops and that he should have the further

Gaul with an army of six legions.

Pansa summoned the senate to receive the report of the ambassador,

when Cicero made a severe speech, proposing very vigorous measures

against Antonius, which, however, Galenus and his party were still

numerous enough to mitigate very greatly; and even Pansa voted against

him and in favour of the milder measures though they could not prevail

against Cicero to have a second embassy sent to Antonius, and though

Cicero carried his point of ordering the citizens to assume the

_sagum_, or robe of war which he also (waving his privilege as a

man of consular rank) wore himself. The next day the senate met again,

to draw upon form the decrees on which they had resolved the

day before, when Cicero addressed the following speech to them,

expostulating with them for their wavering the day before.

I. Matters were carried on yesterday, O Caius Pansa, in a more

irregular manner than the beginning of your consulship required. You

did not appear to me to make sufficient resistance to those men, to

whom you are not in the habit of yielding. For while the virtue of the

senate was such as it usually is, and while all men saw that there was

war in reality, and some thought that the name ought to be kept back,

on the division, your inclination inclined to lenity. The course which

we proposed therefore was defeated, at your instigation, on account

of the harshness of the word war. That urged by Lucius Caesar, a

most honourable man, prevailed, which, taking away that one harsh

expression, was gentler in its language than in its real intention.

Although he, indeed, before he delivered his opinion at all, pleaded

his relationship to Antonius in excuse for it. He had done the same in

my consulship, in respect of his sister's husband, as he did now in

respect of his sister's son, so that he was moved by the grief of his

sister, and at the same time he wished to provide for the safety of

the republic.

And yet Caesar himself in some degree recommended you, O conscript

fathers, not to agree with him, when he said that he should have

expressed quite different sentiments, worthy both of himself and of

the republic, if he had not been hampered by his relationship to

Antonius. He, then, is his uncle, are you his uncles too, you who

voted with him?

But on what did the dispute turn? Some men, in delivering their

opinion, did not choose to insert the word "war". They preferred

calling it "tumult," being ignorant not only of the state of affairs,

but also of the meaning of words. For there can be a "war" without a

"tumult," but there cannot be a "tumult" without a "war." For what is

a "tumult," but such a violent disturbance that an unusual alarm is

engendered by it? from which indeed the name "tumult"[39] is derived.

Therefore, our ancestors spoke of the Italian "tumult," which was a

domestic one, of the Gallic "tumult," which was on the frontier of

Italy, but they never spoke of any other. And that a "tumult" is a

more serious thing than a "war" may be seen from this, that during a

war exemptions from military service are valid, but in a tumult they

are not. So that it is the fact, as I have said, that war can exist

without a tumult, but a tumult cannot exist without a war. In truth,

as there is no medium between war and peace, it is quite plain that a

tumult, if it be not a sort of war, must be a sort of peace; and what

more absurd can be said or imagined? However, we have said too much

about a word; let us rather look to the facts, O conscript fathers,

the appreciation of which, I know, is at times injured by too much

attention being paid to words.

II. We are unwilling that this should appear to be a war. What is

the object, then, of our giving authority to the municipal towns

and colonies to exclude Antonius? of our authorizing soldiers to be

enlisted without any force, without the terror of any fine, of their

own inclination and eagerness? of permitting them to promise money for

the assistance of the republic? For if the name of war be taken away,

the zeal of the municipal towns will be taken away too. And the

unanimous feeling of the Roman people which at present pours itself

into our cause, if we cool upon it, must inevitably be damped.

But why need I say more? Decimus Brutus is attacked. Is not that war?

Mutina is besieged. Is not even that war? Gaul is laid waste. What

peace can be more assured than this? Who can think of calling that

war? We have sent forth a consul, a most gallant man, with an army,

who, though he was in a weak state from a long and serious illness,

still thought he ought not to make any excuse when he was summoned to

the protection of the republic. Caius Caesar, indeed, did not wait for

our decrees; especially as that conduct of his was not unsuited to his

age. He undertook war against Antonius of his own accord; for there

was not yet time to pass a decree; and he saw that, if he let slip the

opportunity of waging war, when the republic was crushed it would be

impossible to pass any decrees at all. They and their arms, then, are

now at peace. He is not an enemy whose garrison Hirtius has driven

from Claterna; he is not an enemy who is in arms resisting a consul,

and attacking a consul elect; and those are not the words of an enemy,

nor is that warlike language, which Pansa read just now out of his

colleague's letters: "I drove out the garrison." "I got possession of

Claterna." "The cavalry were routed." "A battle was fought." "A good

many men were slain." What peace can be greater than this? Levies of

troops are ordered throughout all Italy; all exemptions from service

are suspended; the robe of war is to be assumed to-morrow, the consul

has said that he shall come down to the senate house with an armed

guard.

Is not this war? Ay, it is such a war as has never been. For in all

other wars, and most especially in civil wars, it was a difference as

to the political state of the republic which gave rise to the contest.

Sylla contended against Sulpicius about the force of laws which Sylla

said had been passed by violence. Cinna warred against Octavius

because of the votes of the new citizens. Again, Sylla was at variance

with Cinna and Marius, in order to prevent unworthy men from attaining

power, and to avenge the cruel death of most illustrious men. The

causes of all these wars arose from the zeal of different parties, for

what they considered the interest of the republic. Of the last civil

war I cannot bear to speak. I do not understand the cause of it, I

detest the result.

III. This is the fifth civil war, (and all of them have fallen upon

our times,) the first which has not only not brought dissensions

and discord among the citizens, but which has been signalised by

extraordinary unanimity and incredible concord. All of them have the

same wish, all defend the same objects, all are inspired with the same

sentiments. When I say all, I except those whom no one thinks worthy

of being citizens at all. What, then, is the cause of war, and what

is the object aimed at? We are defending the temples of the immortal

gods, we are defending the walls of the city, we are defending the

homes and habitations of the Roman people, the household gods, the

altars, the hearths and the sepulchres of our forefathers, we are

defending our laws, our courts of justice, our freedom, our wives, our

children, and our country. On the other hand, Marcus Antonius labours

and fights in order to throw into confusion and overturn all these

things, and hopes to have reason to think the plunder of the republic

sufficient cause for the war, while he squanders part of our fortunes,

and distributes the rest among his parricidal followers.

While, then, the motives for war are so different, a most miserable

circumstance is what that fellow promises to his band of robbers. In

the first place our houses, for he declares that he will divide the

city among them, and after that he will lead them out at whatever gate

and settle them on whatever lands they please. All the Caphons,[40]

all the Saxas, and the other plagues which attend Antonius, are

marking out for themselves in their own minds most beautiful houses,

and gardens, and villas, at Tusculum and Alba; and those clownish

men--if indeed they are men, and not rather brute beasts--are borne on

in their empty hopes as far as the waters and Puteoli. So Antonius

has something to promise to his followers. What can we do? Have we

anything of the sort? May the gods grant us a better fate! for our

express object is to prevent any one at all from hereafter making

similar promises. I say this against my will, still I must say

it;--the auction sanctioned by Caesar, O conscript fathers, gives

many wicked men both hope and audacity. For they saw some men become

suddenly rich from having been beggars. Therefore, those men who are

hanging over our property, and to whom Antonius promises everything,

are always longing to see an auction. What can we do? What do we

promise our soldiers? Things much better and more honourable. For

promises to be earned by wicked actions are pernicious both to those

who expect them, and to those who promise them. We promise to our

soldiers freedom, rights, laws, justice, the empire of the world,

dignity, peace, tranquillity. The promises then of Antonius are

bloody, polluted, wicked, odious to gods and men, neither lasting nor

salutary; ours, on the other hand, are honourable, upright, glorious,

full of happiness, and full of piety.

IV. Here also Quintus Fufius, a brave and energetic man, and a friend

of mine, reminds me of the advantages of peace. As if, if it were

necessary to praise peace, I could not do it myself quite as well as

he. For is it once only that I have defended peace? Have I not at all

times laboured for tranquillity? which is desirable for all good

men, but especially for me. For what course could my industry pursue

without forensic causes, without laws, without courts of justice? and

these things can have no existence when civil peace is taken away. But

I want to know what you mean, O Calenus? Do you call slavery peace?

Our ancestors used to take up arms not merely to secure their freedom,

but also to acquire empire; you think that we ought to throw away our

arms, in order to become slaves. What juster cause is there for waging

war than the wish to repel slavery? in which, even if one's master be

not tyrannical, yet it is a most miserable thing that he should be

able to be so if he chooses. In truth, other causes are just, this is

a necessary one. Unless, perhaps, you think that this does not apply

to you, because you expect that you will be a partner in the dominion

of Antonius. And there you make a two-fold mistake: first of all, in

preferring your own to the general interest; and in the next place, in

thinking that there is anything either stable or pleasant in kingly

power. Even if it has before now been advantageous to you, it will not

always be so. Moreover, you used to complain of that former master,

who was a man; what do you think you will do when your master is a

beast? And you say that you are a man who have always been desirous

of peace, and have always wished for the preservation of all the

citizens. Very honest language; that is, if you mean all citizens who

are virtuous, and useful, and serviceable to the republic; but if you

wish those who are by nature citizens, but by inclination enemies, to

be saved, what difference is there between you and them? Your father,

indeed, with whom I as a youth was acquainted, when he was an old man,

--a man of rigid virtue and wisdom,--used to give the greatest praise

of all citizens who had ever lived to Publius Nasica, who slew

Tiberius Gracchus. By his valour, and wisdom, and magnanimity he

thought that the republic had been saved. What am I to say? Have

we received any other doctrine from our fathers? Therefore, that

citizen--if you had lived in those times--would not have been approved

of by you, because he did not wish all the citizens to be safe.

"Because Lucius Opimius the consul has made a speech concerning the

republic, the senators have thus decided on that matter, that Opimius

the consul shall defend the republic." The senate adopted these

measures in words, Opimius followed them up by his arms. Should you

then, if you had lived in those times, have thought him a hasty or a

cruel citizen? or should you have thought Quintus Metellus one, whose

four sons were all men of consular rank? or Publius Lentulus the chief

of the senate, and many other admirable men, who, with Lucius Opimius

the consul, took arms, and pursued Gracchus to the Aventine? and in

the battle which ensued, Lentulus received a severe wound, Gracchus

was plain, and so was Marcus Fulvius, a man of consular rank, and his

two youthful sons. Those men, therefore, are to be blamed; for they

did not wish all the citizens to be safe.

V. Let us come to instances nearer our own time. The senate entrusted

the defence of the republic to Caius Marius and Lucius Valerius, the

consuls; Lucius Saturninus, a tribune of the people, and Caius Glaucia

the praetor, were slain. On that day, all the Scauri, and Metelli, and

Claudii, and Catuli, and Scaevolae, and Crassi took arms. Do you think

either those consuls or those other most illustrious men deserving of

blame? I myself wished Catiline to perish. Did you who wish every one

to be safe, wish Catiline to be safe? There is this difference, O

Calenus, between my opinion and yours. I wish no citizen to commit

such crimes as deserve to be punished with death. You think that, even

if he has committed them, still he ought to be saved. If there is

anything in our own body which is injurious to the rest of the body,

we allow that to be burnt and cut out, in order that a limb may be

lost in preference to the whole body. And so in the body of the

republic, whatever is rotten must be cut off in order that the whole

may be saved. Harsh language! This is much more harsh, "Let the

worthless, and wicked and impious be saved, let the innocent, the

honourable, the virtuous, the whole republic be destroyed." In the

case of one individual, O Quintus Fufius, I confess that you saw more

than I did. I thought Publius Clodius a mischievous, wicked, lustful,

impious, audacious, criminal citizen. You, on the other hand, called

him religious, temperate, innocent, modest; a citizen to be preserved

and desired. In this one particular I admit that you had great

discernment, and that I made a great mistake. For as for your saying

that I am in the habit of arguing against you with ill-temper, that

is not the case. I confess that I argue with vehemence, but not with

ill-temper. I am not in the habit of getting angry with my friends

every now and then, not even if they deserve it. Therefore, I can

differ from you without using any insulting language, though not

without feeling the greatest grief of mind. For is the dissension

between you and me a trifling one, or on a trifling subject? Is it

merely a case of my favouring this man, and you that man? Yes; I

indeed favour Decimus Brutus, you favour Marcus Antonius; I wish a

colony of the Roman people to be preserved, you are anxious that it

should be stormed and destroyed.

VI. Can you deny this, when you interpose every sort of delay

calculated to weaken Brutus, and to improve the position of Antonius?

For how long will you keep on saying that you are desirous of peace?

Matters are progressing rapidly; the works have been carried on;

severe battles are taking place. We sent three chief men of the city

to interpose. Antonius has despised, rejected, and repudiated them.

And still you continue a persevering defender of Antonius. And

Calenus, indeed, in order that he may appear a more conscientious

senator, says that he ought not to be a friend to him; since, though

Antonius was under great obligations to him, he still had acted

against him. See how great is his affection for his country. Though he

is angry with the individual, still he defends Antonius for the sake

of his country.

When you are so bitter, O Quintus Fufius, against the people of

Marseilles, I cannot listen to you with calmness. For how long are you

going to attack Marseilles? Does not even a triumph put an end to

the war? in which was carried an image of that city, without whose

assistance our forefathers never triumphed over the Transalpine

nations. Then, indeed, did the Roman people groan. Although they had

their own private griefs because of their own affairs, still there

was no citizen who thought the miseries of this most loyal city

unconnected with himself. Caesar himself, who had been the most

angry of all men with them, still, on account of the unusually high

character and loyalty of that city, was every day relaxing something

of his displeasure. And is there no extent of calamity by which so

faithful a city can satiate you? Again, perhaps, you will say that I

am losing my temper. But I am speaking without passion, as I always

do, though not without great indignation. I think that no man can be

an enemy to that city, who is a friend to this one. What your object

is, O Calenus, I cannot imagine. Formerly we were unable to deter you

from devoting yourself to the gratification of the people; now we are

unable to prevail on you to show any regard for their interests. I

have argued long enough with Fufius, saying everything without hatred,

but nothing without indignation. But I suppose that a man who can bear

the complaint of his son in law with indifference, will bear that of

his friend with great equanimity.

VII. I come now to the rest of the men of consular rank of whom there

is no one, (I say this on my own responsibility,) who is not connected

with me in some way or other by kindnesses conferred or received, some

in a great, some in a moderate degree, but everyone to some extent or

other. What a disgraceful day was yesterday to us! to us consulars, I

mean. Are we to send ambassadors again? What? would he make a truce?

Before the very face and eyes of the ambassadors he battered Mutina

with his engines. He displayed his works and his defences to the

ambassadors. The siege was not allowed one moment's breathing time,

not even while the ambassadors should be present. Send ambassadors to

this man! What for? in order to have great fears for their return?

In truth, though on the previous occasion I had voted against

the ambassadors being decreed, still I consoled myself with this

reflection, that, when they had returned from Antonius despised and

rejected, and had reported to the senate not merely that he had not

withdrawn from Gaul, as we had voted that he should, but that he had

not even retired from before Mutma, and that they had not been allowed

to proceed on to Decimus Brutus, all men would be inflamed with hatred

and stimulated by indignation, so that we should reinforce Decimus

Brutus with arms, and horses, and men. But we have become even more

languid since we have become acquainted with, not only the audacity

and wickedness of Antonius, but also with his indolence and pride.

Would that Lucius Caesar were in health, that Servius Sulpicius were

alive. This cause would be pleaded much better by these men, than it

is now by me single handed. What I am going to say I say with grief,

rather than by way of insult. We have been deserted--we have, I say,

been deserted, O conscript fathers, by our chiefs. But, as I have

often said before, all those who in a time of such danger have

proper and courageous sentiments shall be men of consular rank. The

ambassadors ought to have brought us back courage, they have brought

us back fear. Not, indeed, that they have caused me any fear--let them

have as high an opinion as they please of the man to whom they were

sent; from whom they have even brought back commands to us.

VIII. O ye immortal gods! where are the habits and virtues of our

forefathers? Caius Popillius, in the time of our ancestors, when he

had been sent as ambassador to Antiochus the king, and had given him

notice, in the words of the senate, to depart from Alexandria, which

he was besieging, on the kings seeking to delay giving his answer,

drew a line round him where he was standing with his rod, and stated

that he should report him to the senate if he did not answer him as

to what he intended to do before he moved out of that line which

surrounded him. He did well for he had brought with him the

countenance of the senate and the authority of the Roman people, and

if a man does not obey that, we are not to receive commands from him

in return, but he is to be utterly rejected. Am I to receive commands

from a man who despises the commands of the senate? Or am I to think

that he has anything in common with the senate, who besieges a general

of the Roman people in spite of the prohibition of the senate? But

what commands they are! With what arrogance, with what stupidity,

with what insolence are they conceived! But what made him charge our

ambassadors with them when he was sending Cotyla to us, the ornament

and bulwark of his friends, a man of aedilitian rank? if, indeed, he

really was an aedile at the time when the public slaves flogged him

with thongs at a banquet by command of Antonius.

But what modest commands they are! We must be non-hearted men,

O conscript fathers, to deny anything to this man! "I give up both

provinces," says he, "I disband my army, I am willing to become a

private individual." For these are his very words. He seems to

be coming to himself. "I am willing to forget everything, to be

reconciled to everybody." But what does he add? "If you give booty and

land to my six legions, to my cavalry, and to my praetorian cohort."

He even demands rewards for those men for whom, if he were to demand

pardon, he would be thought the most impudent of men. He adds further,

"Those men to whom the lands have been given which he himself and

Dolabella distributed, are to retain them." This is the Campanian

and Leontine district, both which our ancestors considered a certain

resource in times of scarcity.

IX. He is protecting the interests of his buffoons and gamesters and

pimps. He is protecting Capho's and Sasu's interests too, pugnacious

and muscular centurions, whom he placed among his troops of male and

female buffoons. Besides all this, he demands "that the decrees of

himself and his colleague concerning Caesar's writings and memoranda

are to stand." Why is he so anxious that every one should have what he

has bought, if he who sold it all has the price which he received for

it? "And that his accounts of the money in the temple of Ops are not

to be meddled with." That is to say, that those seven hundred millions

of sesterces are not to be recovered from him. "That the septemviri

are to be exempt from blame or from prosecution for what they have

done." It was Nucula, I imagine, who put him in mind of that, he was

afraid, perhaps, of losing so many clients. He also wishes to make

stipulations in favour of "those men who are with him who may have

done anything against the laws." He is here taking care of Mustela and

Tiro, he is not anxious about himself. For what has he done? has he

ever touched the public money, or murdered a man, or had armed men

about him? But what reason has he for taking so much trouble about

them? For he demands, "that his own judiciary law be not abrogated."

And if he obtains that, what is there that he can fear? can he be

afraid that any one of his friends may be convicted by Cydas, or

Lysiades, or Curius? However, he does not press us with many more

demands. "I give up," says he, "Gallia Togata; I demand Gallia

Comata"[41]--he evidently wishes to be quite at his ease--'with six

legions, and those made up to their full complement out of the army

of Decimus Brutus,--not only out of the troops whom he has enlisted

himself; "and he is to keep possession of it as long as Marcus Brutus

and Carus Cassius, as consuls, or as proconsuls, keep possession of

their provinces." In the comitia held by him, his brother Carus (for

it is his year) has already been repulsed. "And I myself," says he,

"am to retain possession of my province five years." But that is

expressly forbidden by the law of Caesar, and you defend the acts of

Caesar.

X. Were you, O Lucius Piso, and you, O Lucius Philippus, you chiefs

of the city, able, I will not say to endure in your minds but even to

listen with your ears to these commands of his? But, I suspect there

was some alarm at work, nor, while in his power, could you feel as

ambassadors, or as men of consular rank, nor could you maintain our

own dignity, or that of the republic. And nevertheless, somehow or

other, owing to some philosophy, I suppose, you did what I could not

have done,--you returned without any very angry feelings. Marcus

Antonius paid you no respect, though you were most illustrious men,

ambassadors of the Roman people. As for us, what concessions did not

we make to Cotyla the ambassador of Marcus Antonius? though it was

against the law for even the gates of the city to be opened to him,

yet even this temple was opened to him. He was allowed to enter the

senate, here yesterday he was taking down our opinions and every word

we said in his note books, and men who had been preferred to the

highest honours sold themselves to him in utter disregard of their own

dignity.