Antony, of whose private life and political conduct they present us with a
full and glaring picture. The character of Antony, next to that of Sylla,
was the most singular in the Annals of Rome, and in some of its features
bore a striking resemblance to that of the fortunate Dictator. Both were
possessed of uncommon military talents—both were imbued with cruelty which
makes human nature shudder—both were inordinately addicted to luxury and
pleasure—and both, for men of their powers of mind and habits, had
apparently, at least, a strange superstitious reliance on destiny,
portents, and omens. Yet there were strong shades of distinction even in
those parts of their characters in which we trace the closest resemblance:
The cruelty of Sylla was more deliberate and remorseless—that of Antony,
more regardless and unthinking—and amid all the atrocities of the latter,
there burst forth occasional gleams of generosity and feeling. But then
Sylla was a man of much greater discernment and penetration—a much more
profound and successful dissembler—and he was possessed of many refined
and elegant accomplishments, of which the coarser Antony was destitute.
Sylla gratified his voluptuousness, but Antony was ruled by it. The former
indulged in pleasure when within his grasp, but ease, power, and revenge,
were his great and ultimate objects: The chief aim of the latter, was the
sensual pleasure to which he was subservient. Sylla would never have been
the slave of Cleopatra, or the dupe of Octavius. Hence the wide difference
between the destiny of the triumphant Dictator, whose chariot rolled on
the wheels of Fortune to the close of his career, and the sad fate of
Antony. Yet that very fate has mitigated the abhorrence of posterity, and
weakness having been added to wickedness, has unaccountably palliated, in
our eyes, the faults of the soft Triumvir, now more remembered as the
devoted lover of Cleopatra, than as the chief promoter of the
Proscriptions.
The Philippics against Antony, like those of Demosthenes, derive their
chief beauty from the noble expression of just indignation, which indeed
composes many of the most splendid and admired passages of ancient
eloquence. They were all pronounced during the period which elapsed
between the assassination of Cæsar, and the defeat of Antony at Modena.
Soon after Cæsar’s death, Cicero, fearing danger from Antony, who held a
sort of military possession of the city, resolved on a voyage to Greece.
Being detained, however, by contrary winds, after he had set out, and
having received favourable intelligence from his friends at Rome, he
determined to return to the capital. The Senate assembled the day after
his arrival, in order, at the suggestion of Antony, to consider of some
new and extraordinary honours to the memory of Cæsar. To this meeting
Cicero was specially summoned by Antony, but he excused himself on
pretence of indisposition, and the fatigue of his journey. He appeared,
however, in his place, when the Senate met on the following day, in
absence of Antony, and delivered the first of the orations, afterwards
termed Philippics, from the resemblance they bore to those invectives
which Demosthenes poured forth against the great foe of the independence
of Greece. Cicero opens his speech by explaining the motives of his recent
departure from Rome—his sudden return, and his absence on the preceding
day—declaring, that if present, he would have opposed the posthumous
honours decreed to the usurper. His next object, after vindicating
himself, being to warn the Senate of the designs of Antony, he complains
that he had violated the most solemn and authentic even of Cæsar’s laws;
and at the same time enforced, as ordinances, what were mere jottings,
found, or pretended to have been found, among the Dictator’s _Memoranda_,
after his death.
Antony was highly incensed at this speech, and summoned another meeting of
the Senate, at which he again required the presence of Cicero. These two
rivals seem to have been destined never to meet in the Senate-house.
Cicero, being apprehensive of some design against his life, did not
attend; so that the Oration of Antony, in his own justification, which he
had carefully prepared in intervals of leisure at his villa, near Tibur,
was unanswered in the Senate. The second Philippic was penned by Cicero in
his closet, as a reply to this speech of Antony, in which he had been
particularly charged with having been not merely accessary to the murder
of Cæsar, but the chief contriver of the plot against him. Some part of
Cicero’s oration was thus necessarily defensive, but the larger portion,
which is accusatory, is one of the severest and most bitter invectives
ever composed, the whole being expressed in terms of the most thorough
contempt and strongest detestation of Antony. By laying open his whole
criminal excesses from his earliest youth, he exhibits one continued scene
of debauchery, faction, rapine, and violence; but he dwells with peculiar
horror on his offer of the diadem to Cæsar, at the festival of the
Lupercalia—his drunken debauch at the once classic villa of Terentius
Varro—and his purchase of the effects that belonged to the great Pompey—on
which last subject he pathetically contrasts the modesty and decorum of
that renowned warrior, once the Favourite of Fortune, and darling of the
Roman people, with the licentiousness of the military adventurer who now
rioted in the spoils of his country. In concluding, he declares, on his
own part, that in his youth he had defended the republic, and, in his old
age, he would not abandon its cause.—“The sword of Catiline I despised;
and never shall I dread that of Antony.” This oration is adorned with all
the charms of eloquence, and proves, that in the decline of life Cicero
had not lost one spark of the fire and spirit which animated his earlier
productions. Although not delivered in the Senate, nor intended to be
published till things were actually come to an extremity, and the affairs
of the republic made it necessary to render Antony’s conduct and designs
manifest to the people, copies of the oration were sent to Brutus,
Cassius, and other friends of the commonwealth: hence it soon got into
extensive circulation, and, by exciting the vengeance of Antony, was a
chief cause of the tragical death of its author.
The situation of Antony having now become precarious, from the union of
Octavius with the party of the Senate, and the defection of two legions,
he abruptly quitted the city, and placing himself at the head of his army,
marched into Cisalpine Gaul, which, since the death of Cæsar, had been
occupied by Decimus Brutus, one of the conspirators. The field being thus
left clear for Cicero, and the Senate being assembled, he pronounced the
third Philippic, of which the great object was to induce it to support
Brutus, by placing an army at the disposal of Octavius, along with the two
Consuls elect, Hirtius and Pansa. He exhorts the Senate to this measure,
by enlarging on the merits of Octavius and Brutus, and concludes with
proposing public thanks to these leaders, and to the legions which had
deserted the standard of Antony.
From the Senate, Cicero proceeded directly to the Forum, where, in his
fourth Philippic, he gave an account to the people of what had occurred,
and explained to them, that Antony, though not nominally, had now been
actually declared the enemy of his country. This harangue was so well
received by an audience the most numerous that had ever listened to his
orations, that, speaking of it afterwards, he declares he would have
reaped sufficient fruit from the exertions of his whole life, had he died
on the day it was pronounced, when the whole people, with one voice and
mind, called out that he had twice saved the republic(330).
Brutus being as yet unable to defend himself in the field, withdrew into
Modena, where he was besieged by Antony. Intelligence of this having been
brought to Rome, Cicero, in his fifth Philippic, endeavoured to persuade
the Senate to proclaim Antony an enemy of his country, in opposition to
Calenus, who proposed, that before proceeding to acts of hostility, an
embassy should be sent for the purpose of admonishing Antony to desist
from his attempt on Gaul, and submit himself to the authority of the
Senate. After three days’ successive debate, Cicero’s proposal would have
prevailed, had not one of the Tribunes interposed his negative, in
consequence of which the measure of the embassy was resorted to. Cicero,
nevertheless, before any answer could be received, persisted, in his sixth
and seventh Philippics, in asserting that any accommodation with a rebel
such as Antony, would be equally disgraceful and dangerous to the
republic. The deputies having returned, and reported that Antony would
consent to nothing which was required of him, the Senate declared war
against him—employing, however, in their decree, the term tumult, instead
of war or rebellion. Cicero, in his eighth Philippic, expostulated with
them on their timorous and impolitic lenity of expression. In the ninth
Philippic, pronounced on the following day, he called on the Senate to
erect a statue to one of the deputies, Servius Sulpicius, who, while
labouring under a severe distemper, had, at the risk of his life,
undertaken the embassy, but had died before he could acquit himself of the
commission with which he was charged. The proposal met with considerable
opposition, but it was at length agreed that a brazen statue should be
erected to him in the Forum, and that an inscription should be placed on
the base, importing that he had died in the service of the republic.
The Philippics, hitherto mentioned, related chiefly to the affairs of
Cisalpine Gaul, the scene of the contest between D. Brutus and Antony. A
long period was now elapsed since the Senate had received any intelligence
concerning the chiefs of the conspiracy, Marcus Brutus and Cassius, the
former of whom had seized on the province of Macedonia, while the latter
occupied Syria. Public despatches, however, at length arrived from M.
Brutus, giving an account of his successful proceedings in Greece. The
Consul Pansa having communicated the contents at a meeting of the Senate,
and having proposed for him public thanks and honours, Calenus, a creature
of Antony, objected, and moved, that as what he had done was without
lawful authority, he should be required to deliver up his army to the
Senate, or the proper governor of the province. Cicero, in his tenth
Philippic, replied, in a transport of eloquent and patriotic indignation,
to this most unjust and ruinous proposal, particularly to the assertion by
which it was supported, that veterans would not submit to be commanded by
Brutus. He thus succeeded in obtaining from the Senate an approbation of
the conduct of Brutus, a continuance of his command, and pecuniary
assistance.
About the same time accounts arrived from Asia, that Dolabella, on the
part of Antony, had taken possession of Smyrna, and there put Trebonius,
one of the conspirators, to death. On receiving this intelligence, a
debate arose concerning the choice of a general to be employed against
Dolabella, and Cicero, in his eleventh Philippic, strenuously maintained
the right of Cassius, who was then in Greece, to be promoted to that
command. In the twelfth and thirteenth, he again warmly and successfully
opposed the sending a deputation to Antony. All further mention of
pacification was terminated by the joyful tidings of the total defeat of
Antony before Modena, by the army under Octavius, and the Consuls Hirtius
and Pansa—the latter of whom was mortally wounded in the conflict. The
intelligence excited incredible joy at Rome, which was heightened by the
unfavourable reports that had previously prevailed. The Senate met to
deliberate on the despatches of the Consuls communicating the event. Never
was there a finer opportunity for the display of eloquence, than what was
afforded to Cicero on this occasion; of which he most gloriously availed
himself in the fourteenth Philippic. The excitation and tumult consequent
on a great recent victory, give wing to high flights of eloquence, and
also prepare the minds of the audience to follow the ascent. The success
at Modena terminated a long period of anxiety. It was for the time
supposed to have decided the fate of Antony and the Republic; and the
orator, who thus saw all his measures justified, must have felt the
exultation, confidence, and spirit, so favourable to the highest exertions
of eloquence. This, with the detestable character of the conquered
foe,—the wounds of Pansa, who was once suspected by the Republic, but by
his faithful zeal had gradually obtained its confidence, and at length
sealed his fidelity with his blood,—the rewards due to the surviving
victors,—the honours to be paid to those who had fallen in defence of
their country,—the thanksgivings to be rendered to the immortal gods,—all
afforded topics of triumph, panegyric, and pathos, which have been seldom
supplied to the orator in any age or country. In extolling those who had
fallen, Cicero dwells on two subjects; one appertaining to the glory of
the heroes themselves, the other to the consolation of their friends and
relatives. He proposes that a splendid monument should be erected, in
common to all who had perished, with an inscription recording their names
and services; and in recommending this tribute of public gratitude, he
breaks out into a funeral panegyric, which has formed a more lasting
memorial than the monument he suggested.
This was the last Philippic and last oration which Cicero delivered. The
union of Antony and Octavius soon after annihilated the power of the
Senate; and Cicero, like Demosthenes, fell the victim of that indignant
eloquence with which he had lashed the enemies of his country:—
“Eloquio sed uterque periit orator; utrumque
Largus et exundans letho dedit ingenii fons.
Ingenio manus est et cervix cæsa, nec unquam
Sanguine causidici maduerunt rostra pusilli(331).”
Besides the complete orations above mentioned, Cicero delivered many, of
which only fragments remain, or which are now entirely lost. All those
which he pronounced during the five years intervening between his election
to the Quæstorship and the Ædileship have perished, except that for M.
Tullius, of which the exordium and narrative were brought to light at the
late celebrated discovery by Mai, in the Ambrosian library at Milan.
Tullius had been forcibly dispossessed (_vi armata_) by one of the Fabii
of a farm he held in Lucania; and the whole Fabian race were prosecuted
for damages, under a law of Lucullus, whereby, in consequence of
depredations committed in the municipal states of Italy, every family was
held responsible for the violent aggressions of any of its tribe. A large
fragment of the oration for Scaurus forms by far the most valuable part of
the discovery in the Ambrosian library. The oration, indeed, is not
entire, but the part we have of it is tolerably well connected. The charge
was one of provincial embezzlement, and in the exordium the orator
announces that he was to treat, 1st, of the general nature of the
accusation itself; 2d, of the character of the Sardinians; 3d, of that of
Scaurus; and, lastly, of the special charge concerning the corn. Of these,
the first two heads are tolerably entire; and that in which he exposes the
faithless character of the Sardinians, and thus shakes the credibility of
the witnesses for the prosecution is artfully managed. The other fragments
discovered in the Ambrosian library consist merely of detached sentences,
of which it is almost impossible to make a connected meaning. Of this
description is the oration _In P. Clodium_; yet still, by the aid of the
Commentary found along with it, we are enabled to form some notion of the
tenor of the speech. The well-known story of Clodius finding access to the
house of Cæsar, in female disguise, during the celebration of the
mysteries of Bona Dea, gave occasion to this invective. A sort of
altercation had one day passed in the Senate between Cicero and Clodius,
soon after the acquittal of the latter for this offence, which probably
suggested to Cicero the notion of writing a connected oration, inveighing
against the vices and crimes of Clodius, particularly his profanation of
the secret rites of the goddess, and the corrupt means by which he had
obtained his acquittal. In one of his epistles to Atticus, Cicero gives a
detailed account of this altercation, which certainly does not afford us a
very dignified notion of senatorial gravity and decorum.
Of those orations of Cicero which have entirely perished, the greatest
loss has been sustained by the disappearance of the defence of Cornelius,
who was accused of practices against the state during his tribuneship.
This speech, which was divided into two great parts, was continued for
four successive days, in presence of an immense concourse of people, who
testified their admiration of its bright eloquence by repeated
applause(332). The orator himself frequently refers to it as among the
most finished of his compositions(333); and the old critics cite it as an
example of genuine eloquence. “Not merely,” says Quintilian, “with strong,
but with shining armour did Cicero contend in the cause of Cornelius.” We
have also to lament the loss of the oration for C. Piso, accused of
oppression in his government—of the farewell discourse delivered to the
Sicilians, (_Quum Quæstor Lilybæo discederet_,) in which he gave them an
account of his administration, and promised them his protection at Rome—of
the invective pronounced in the Senate against Metellus, in answer to a
harangue which that Tribune had delivered to the people concerning
Cicero’s conduct, in putting the confederates of Catiline to death without
trial; and, finally, of the celebrated speech _De Proscriptorum Liberis_,
in which, on political grounds, he opposed, while admitting their justice,
the claims of the children of those whom Sylla had proscribed and
disqualified from holding any honours in the state, and who now applied to
be relieved from their disabilities. The success which he obtained in
resisting this demand, is described in strong terms by Pliny: “Te orante,
proscriptorum liberos honores petere puduit(334).” A speech which is now
lost, and which, though afterwards reduced to writing, must have been
delivered extempore, afforded another strong example of the persuasiveness
of his eloquence. The appearance of the Tribune, Roscius Otho, who had set
apart seats for the knights at the public spectacles, having one day
occasioned a disturbance at the theatre, Cicero, on being informed of the
tumult, hastened to the spot, and, calling out the people to the Temple of
Bellona, he so calmed them by the magic of his eloquence, that, returning
immediately to the theatre, they clapped their hands in honour of Otho,
and vied with the knights in giving him demonstrations of respect(335).
One topic which he touched on in this oration, and the only one of which
we have any hint from antiquity, was the rioters’ want of taste, in
creating a tumult, while Roscius was performing on the stage(336). This
speech, the orations against the Agrarian law, and that _De Proscriptorum
Liberis_, have long been cited as the strongest examples of the power of
eloquence over the passions of mankind: And it is difficult to say,
whether the highest praise be due to the orator, who could persuade, or to
the people, who could be thus induced to relinquish the most tempting
expectations of property and honours, and the full enjoyment of their
favourite amusements.
In the age of that declamation which prevailed at Rome from the time of
Tiberius to the fall of the empire, it was the practice of rhetoricians to
declaim on similar topics with those on which Cicero had delivered, or was
supposed to have delivered, harangues. It appears from Aulus Gellius(337),
that in the age of Marcus Aurelius doubts were entertained with regard to
the authenticity of certain orations circulated as productions of Cicero.
He was known to have delivered four speeches almost immediately after his
recall from banishment, on subjects closely connected with his exile. The
first was addressed to the Senate(338), and the second to the people, a
few days subsequently to his return(339); the third to the college of
Pontiffs, in order to obtain restitution of a piece of ground on the
Palatine hill, on which his house had formerly stood, but had been
demolished, and a temple erected on the spot, with a view, as he feared,
to alienate it irretrievably from the proprietor, by thus consecrating it
to religious purposes(340). The fourth was pronounced in consequence of
Clodius declaring that certain menacing prodigies, which had lately
appeared, were indubitably occasioned by the desecration of this ground,
which the Pontiffs had now discharged from religious uses. Four orations,
supposed to have been delivered on those occasions, and entitled, _Post
Reditum in Senatu_, _Ad Quirites post Reditum_, _Pro domo sua ad
Pontifices_, _De Haruspicum Responsis_, were published in all the early
editions of Cicero, without any doubts of their authenticity being hinted
by the commentators, and were also referred to as genuine authorities by
Middleton in his Life of Cicero. At length, about the middle of last
century, the well-known dispute having arisen between Middleton and
Tunstall, concerning the letters to Brutus, Markland engaged in the
controversy; and his remarks on the correspondence of Cicero and Brutus
were accompanied with a “Dissertation on the Four Orations ascribed to M.
T. Cicero,” published in 1745, which threw great doubts on their
authenticity. Middleton made no formal reply to this part of Markland’s
observations; but he neither retracted his opinion nor changed a word in
his subsequent edition of the Life of Cicero.
Soon afterwards, Ross, the editor of Cicero’s _Epistolæ Familiares_, and
subsequently Bishop of Exeter, ironically showed, in his “Dissertation, in
which the defence of P. Sulla, ascribed to Cicero, is clearly proved to be
spurious, after the manner of Mr Markland,” that, on the principles and
line of argument adopted by his opponent, the authenticity of any one of
the orations might be contested. This _jeu d’esprit_ of Bishop Ross was
seriously confuted in a “Dissertation, in which the Objections of a late
Pamphlet to the Writings of the Ancients, after the manner of Mr Markland,
are clearly Answered; and those Passages in Tully corrected, on which some
of the Objections are founded.—1746.” This dissertation was printed by
Bowyer, and he is generally believed to have been the author of it(341).
In Germany, J. M. Gesner, with all the weight attached to his opinion, and
_Thesaurus_, strenuously defended these orations in two prelections, held
in 1753 and 1754, and inserted in the 3d volume of the new series of the
Transactions of the Royal Academy at Gottingen, under the title _Cicero
Restitutus_, in which he refuted, one by one, all the objections of
Markland.