THE LATIN ORATORS
THEIR STYLE AND MEANS
The Latin temperament being practical, whereas the Grecian was highly
imaginative, it was a long time before Roman oratory escaped from the
hardness of competition and delivery that pervaded it for many
centuries, and it was not until the conquest of Greece that the
classic style of oratory made its deep impress upon the work of the
Roman orators.
The elder Cato was austere in matter and manner, and the younger
Cato, dying 103 years after the death of his great-grandfather,
inherited many of his characteristics, and although his oratory
displayed candor, truth, and courage, it lacked the finish,
smoothness, and grace of the Grecian school, which qualities were, to
a great extent, possessed by Cicero, Caesar, Crassus, and Marc
Antony. Caius Gracchus and his brother Tiberius had a marked
influence upon the Roman style of oratory by softening and smoothing
it, but this influence was not strongly felt until the coming of
Cicero, and that marvellous group of statesmen, politicians, and
orators which embraced Pompey, Crassus, Caesar, Cato, Antonius (Marc
Antony), and Hortensius. The Latin oratory had been candid but hard,
and lacked all the grace that made the Grecian oratory so bewitching;
but Cicero, by combining the candor of the Roman style with the
beauty of the Grecian, produced a form of oratory that has not been
surpassed by any other orator.
Crassus was undoubtedly an orator of the first rank. Plutarch said of
him: "As for learning, he chiefly cared for rhetoric, and what would
be serviceable with large numbers; he became one of the best speakers
at Rome, and by his pains and industry outdid the best natural
orators." Little of his matter has come down to us.
Julius Caesar, among his other powers, possessed that of oratory, and
were it not for his transcendent abilities as a solider, which
overshadowed his other talents, his oratorical ability would have
insured him a place in history.
Marc Antony was another great orator of the Ciceronian period, but
nothing very authentic of his has come down to us. Shakespeare was
indebted to Plutarch for his idea of the oration over the body of
Caesar, and this matchless oration no doubt gives us a just
conception of Antony's style. History tells us that Antony possessed
almost unnatural influence over his soldiers through his eloquence,
and that when they were discouraged over long marches, hardships, and
privations, he would go the rounds of his encampment, addressing his
troops; that he would so enthuse them that they would forget their
fears and miseries, and rush with him to victory. The speech
delivered over the body of Caesar by Marc Antony is reported by Dion
Cassius in his _History of Rome,_ but how much of it was spoken by
Antony is problematical.
The selections here given will convey a clear and comprehensive idea
of the scope and style of Roman oratory in its palmiest days.
CATO THE CENSOR
Marcus Porcius Cato, surnamed Censorius, or Major, Roman statesman,
general, and orator, bas born at Tusculum, 234 B.C., and died in 149
B.C. He was scrupulously honest himself, and demanded honesty in all
who would serve the state. He opposed the influence of Greek
civilization over the Romans, and conceived it to be his duty to
prevent new ideas being taught to the younger men of his generation.
He was a maintainer of primitive discipline, and it was for this
reason he gained the title of the Censor. The speech here given
displays his character and style to perfection. It was delivered in
the Roman Forum in 215 B.C.
_Speech in Support of the Oppian Law._ If, Romans, every
individual among us had made it a rule to maintain the
prerogative and authority of a hundred with respect to his
own wife, we should have less trouble with the whole sex.
But now our privileges, overpowered at home by female
contumacy, are, even here in the Forum, spurned and trodden
under foot; and because we are unable to withstand each
separately, we now dread their collective body. I was
accustomed to think it a fabulous and fictitious tale that
in a certain island the whole race of males was utterly
extirpated by a conspiracy of the women.
But the utmost danger may be apprehended equally from
either sex if you suffer cabals and secret consultations to
be held: scarcely indeed can I determine, in my own mind,
whether the act itself, or the precedent that it affords,
is of more pernicious tendency. The latter of these more
particularly concerns us consuls and the other magistrates;
the former, you, my fellow-citizens: for, whether the
measure proposed to your consideration be profitable to the
state or not, is to be determined by you, who are to vote
on the occasion.
As to the outrageous behavior of these women, whether it be
merely an act of their own, or owing to your instigations,
Marcus Fundanius and Lucius Valerius, it unquestionably
implies culpable conduct in magistrates. I know not whether
it reflects greater disgrace on you, tribunes, or on the
consul: on you certainly, if you have brought these women
hither for the purpose of raising tribunician seditions; on
us, if we suffer laws to be imposed on us by a secession of
women, as was done formerly by that of the common people.
It was not without painful emotions of shame that I, just
now, made my way into the Forum through the midst of a band
of women.
Had I not been restrained by respect for the modesty and
dignity of some individuals among them, rather than of the
whole number, and been unwilling that they should be seen
rebuked by a consul, I should not have refrained from
saying to them, "What sort of practice is this, of running
out into the public, besetting the streets, and addressing
other women's husbands? Could not each have made the same
request to her husband at home? Are your blandishments more
seducing in public than in private, and with other women's
husbands than with your own? Although if females would let
their modesty confine them within the limits of their own
right, it did not become you, even at home, to concern
yourselves about any laws that might be passed or repealed
here." Our ancestors thought it not proper that women
should perform any, even private, business, without a
director, but that they should be ever under the control of
parents, brothers, or husbands. We, it seems, suffer them,
now, to interfere in the management of state affairs, and
to thrust themselves into the Forum, into general
assemblies, and into assemblies of election: for what are
they doing at this moment in your streets and lanes? What,
but arguing, some in support of the motion of tribunes;
others contending for the repeal of the law?
Will you give the reins to their intractable nature, and
then expect that themselves should set bounds to their
licentiousness, and without your interference? This is the
smallest of the injunctions laid on them by usage or the
laws, all of which women bear with impatience: they long
for entire liberty; nay, to speak the truth, not for
liberty, but for unbounded freedom in every particular: for
what will they not attempt if they now come off victorious?
Recollect all the institutions respecting the sex, by which
our forefathers restrained their profligacy and subjected
them to their husbands; and yet, even with the help of all
these restrictions, they can scarcely be kept within
bounds. If, then, you suffer them to throw these off one by
one, to tear them all asunder, and, at last, to be set on
an equal footing with yourselves, can you imagine that they
will be any longer tolerable? Suffer them once to arrive at
an equality with you, and they will from that moment become
your superiors.
But, indeed, they only object to any new law being made
against them; they mean to deprecate, not justice, but
severity. Nay, their wish is that a law which you have
admitted, established by your suffrages, and found in the
practice and experience of so many years to be beneficial,
should now be repealed; and that by abolishing one law you
should weaken all the rest. No law perfectly suits the
convenience of every member of the community; the only
consideration is, whether, on the whole, it is profitable
to the greater part. If, because a law proves obnoxious to
a private individual, it must therefore be cancelled and
annulled, to what purpose is it for the community to enact
laws, which those, whom they were particularly intended to
comprehend, could presently repeal? Let us, however,
inquire what this important affair is which has induced the
matrons thus to run out into public in this indecorous
manner, scarcely restraining from pushing into the Forum
and the assembly of the people.
Is it to solicit that their parents, their husbands,
children, and brothers may be ransomed from captivity under
Hannibal?
By no means: and far be ever from the commonwealth so
unfortunate a situation. Yet, when such was the case, you
refused this to the prayers which, on that occasion, their
duty dictated. But it is not duty, nor solicitude for their
friends; it is religion that has collected them together.
They are about to receive the Idaean Mother, coming out of
Phrygia from Pessinus.
What motive, that even common decency will not allow to be
mentioned, is pretended for this female insurrection? Hear
the answer:
That we may shine in gold and purple; that both on festival
and common days, we may ride through the city in our
chariots, triumphing over vanquished and abrogated law,
after having captured and wrested from your suffrages; and
that there may be no bounds to our expenses and our luxury.
Often have you heard me complain of the profuse expenses of
the women--often of these of the man; and that not only of
men in private stations, but of the magistrates; and that
the state was endangered by two opposite vices, luxury and
avarice; these pests which have ever been the ruin of every
great state. These I dread the more, as the circumstances
of the commonwealth grow daily more prosperous and happy;
as the empire increases; as we have passed over into Greece
and Asia, places abounding with every kind of temptation
that can inflame the passions; and as we have begun to
handle even royal treasures; for I greatly fear that these
matters will rather bring us into captivity than we them.
Believe me, those statues from Syracuse made their way into
this city with hostile effect. I already hear too many
commending and admiring the decorations of Athens and
Corinth, and ridiculing the earthen images of our Roman
gods that stand on the fronts of their temples. For my
part, I prefer these gods--propitious as they are, and I
hope will continue, if we allow them to remain in their own
mansions.
In the memory of our fathers, Pyrrhus, by his ambassador
Cineas, made trial of the dispositions, not only of our
men, but of our women also, by offers of presents: at that
time the Oppian law, for restraining female luxury, had not
been made; and yet not one woman accepted a present. What,
think you, was the reason? That for which our ancestors
made no provision by law on this subject: there was no
luxury existing which might be restrained.
As diseases must necessarily be known before their
remedies, so passions come into being before the laws which
prescribe limits to them. What called forth the Licinian
law, restricting estates to five hundred acres, but the
unbounded desire of enlarging estates? What the Cineian
law, concerning gifts and presents, but that the plebeians
had become vassals and tributaries to the senate? It is
not, therefore, in any degree surprising that no want of
the Oppian Law, or of any other, to limit the expenses of
the women, was felt at that time, when they refused to
receive gold and purple that was thrown in their way and
offered to their acceptance. If Cineas were now to go round
the city with his presents, he would find numbers of women
standing in the public streets ready to receive them.
There are some passions the causes or motives of which I
can no way account for. To be debarred of a liberty in
which another is indulged may perhaps naturally excite some
degree of shame or indignation; yet, when the dress of all
is alike, what inferiority in appearance can any one be
ashamed of? Of all kinds of shame, the worst, surely, is
the being ashamed of frugality or of poverty; but the law
relieves you with regard to both; you want only that which
it is unlawful for you to have.
This equalization, says the rich matron, is the very thing
that I cannot endure. Why do I not make a figure,
distinguished with gold and purple? Why is the poverty of
others concealed under this cover of law, so that it should
be thought that, if the law permitted, they would have such
things as they are not now able to procure? Romans, do you
wish to excite among your wives an emulation of this sort,
that the rich should wish to have what no other can have;
and that the poor, lest they should be despised as such,
should extend their expenses beyond their abilities? Be
assured that when a woman once begins to be ashamed of what
she ought not to be ashamed of, she will not be ashamed of
what she ought. She who can, will purchase out of her own
purse; she who cannot, will ask her husband.
Unhappy is the husband, both he who complies with the
request and he who does not; for what he will not give
himself, another will. Now they openly solicit favors from
other women's husbands: and, what is more, solicit a law
and votes. From some they obtain them; although, with
regard to you, your property, or your children, you would
find it hard to obtain anything from them. If the law
ceases to limit the expenses of your wife, you yourself
will never be able to limit them. Do not suppose that the
matter will hereafter be in the same state in which it was
before the law was made on the subject. It is safer that a
wicked man should never be accused than he should be
acquitted; and luxury, if it had never been meddled with,
would be more tolerable than it will be, now, like a wild
beast, irritated by having been chained and then let loose.
My opinion is that the Oppian law ought on no account to be
repealed. Whatever determination you may come to, I pray
all the gods to prosper it.
CATO THE YOUNGER
Marcus Porcius Cato, great-grandson of Cato the Censor, and
distinguished from him by being called Uticensis, from the city of
Utica, where he met his death, was born 95 B.C., and died by his own
hand in 46 B.C. He resembled his great ancestor in the severity of
his opposition to views entertained by others that differed from his
own, yet this was somewhat softened by his Greek training, which
modified greatly the hard and stubborn spirit of the old Latin race.
He was a brave man, a lover of his country, and a great orator.
_On the Punishment of the Catiline Conspirators_ (63 B.C.).
My feelings, Conscript Fathers, are extremely different
when I contemplate our circumstances and dangers, and when
I revolve in my mind the sentiments of some who have spoken
before me. Those speakers, as it seems to me, have
considered only how to punish the traitors who have raised
war against their country, their parents, their altars, and
their homes; but the state of affairs warns us rather to
secure ourselves against them, than to take counsel as to
what sentence we should pass upon them. Other crimes you
may punish after they have been committed; but as to this,
unless you prevent its commission, you will, when it has
once taken effect, in vain appeal to justice. When the city
is taken, no power is left to the vanquished.
But, in the name of the immortal gods, I call upon you who
have always valued your mansions and villas, your statues
and pictures, at a higher price than the welfare of your
country, if you wish to preserve those possessions, of
whatever kind they are, to which you are attached; if you
wish to secure quiet for the enjoyment of your pleasures,
arouse yourselves and act in defense of your country. We
are not now debating on the revenues, or on injuries done
to our allies, but our liberty and our life are at stake.
Often, Conscript Fathers, have I spoken at great length in
this assembly; often have I complained of the luxury and
avarice of our citizens, and, by that very means, have
incurred the displeasure of many. I, who never excused to
myself, or to my own conscience, the commission of any
fault, could not easily pardon the misconduct, or indulge
the licentiousness, of others. But though you little
regarded my remonstrances, yet the republic remained
secure; its own strength was proof against your remissness.
The question, however, at present under discussion, is not
whether we live in a good or bad state of morals; nor how
great, nor how splendid, the empire of the Roman people is;
but whether these things around us, of whatever value they
are, are to continue our own, or to fall, with ourselves,
into the hands of the enemy.
In such a case, does any one talk to me of gentleness and
compassion? For some time past, it is true, we have lost
the real names of things; for to lavish the property of
others is called generosity, and audacity in wickedness is
called heroism, and hence the state is reduced to the brink
of ruin. But let those who thus misname things be liberal,
since such is the practice, out of the property of our
allies; let them be merciful to the robbers of the
treasury; but let them not lavish our blood, and, while
they spare a few criminals, bring destruction on all the
guiltless.
Caius Caesar, a short time ago, spoke in fair and elegant
language, before this assembly, on the subject of life and
death; considering as false, I suppose, what is told of the
dead--that the bad, going a different way from the good,
inhabit places gloomy, desolate, dreary, and full of
horror. He accordingly proposes that the property of the
conspirators should be confiscated, and themselves kept in
custody in the municipal towns; fearing, it seems, that, if
they remained at Rome, they might be rescued either by
their accomplices in the conspiracy, or by a hired mob; as
if, forsooth, the mischievous and profligate were to be
found only in the city, and not through the whole of Italy,
or as if desperate attempts would not be more likely to
succeed where there is less power to resist them. His
proposal, therefore, if he fears any danger from them, is
absurd; but if, amid such universal terror, he alone is
free from alarm, it the more concerns me to fear for you
and myself.[1]
Be assured, then, that when you decide on the fate of
Lentulus and the other prisoners, you at the same time
determine that of the army of Catiline, and of all the
conspirators. The more spirit you display in your decision,
the more will their confidence be diminished; but if they
shall perceive you in the smallest degree irresolute, they
will advance upon you with fury.
Do not suppose that our ancestors, from so small a
commencement, raised the republic to greatness merely by
force of arms. If such had been the case, we should enjoy
it in a most excellent condition; for of allies and
citizens, as well as arms and horses, we have a much
greater abundance than they had. But there were other
things which made them great, but which among us have no
existence--such as industry at home, equitable government
abroad, and minds impartial in council, uninfluenced by any
immoral or improper feeling. Instead of such virtues, we
have luxury and avarice, public distress and private
superfluity; we extol wealth, and yield to indolence; no
distinction is made between good men and bad; and ambition
usurps the honors due to virtue. Nor is this wonderful;
since you study each his individual interest, and since at
home you are slaves to pleasure, and here to money or
favor; and hence it happens that an attack is made on the
defenseless state.
But on these subjects I shall say no more. Certain citizens
of the highest rank, have conspired to ruin their country;
they are engaging the Gauls, the bitterest foes of the
Roman name, to join in a war against us; the leader of the
enemy is ready to make a descent upon us; and do you
hesitate, even in such circumstances, how to treat armed
incendiaries arrested within your walls? I advise you to
have mercy upon them; they are young men who have been led
astray by ambition; send them away, even with arms in their
hands. But such mercy, and such clemency, if they turn
those arms against you, will end in misery to yourselves.
The case is, assuredly, dangerous, but you do not fear it;
yes, you fear it greatly, but you hesitate now to act,
through weakness and want of spirit, waiting one for
another, and trusting to the immortal gods, who have so
often preserved your country in the greatest dangers. But
the protection of the gods is not obtained by vows and
effeminate supplications; it is by vigilance, activity, and
prudent measures, that general welfare is secured. When you
are once resigned to sloth and indolence, it is in vain
that you implore the gods; for they are then indignant and
threaten vengeance.
In the days of our forefathers, Titus Manlius Torquatus,
during a war with the Gauls, ordered his own son to be put
to death because he had fought with an enemy contrary to
orders. That noble youth suffered for excess of bravery;
and do you hesitate what sentence to pass on the most
inhuman of traitors? Perhaps their former life is at
variance with their present crime. Spare, then, the dignity
of Lentulus, if he has ever spared his own honor or
character, or had any regard for the gods or for men.
Pardon the youth of Cethegus, unless this be the second
time that he has made war upon his country. As to Gabinius,
Statilius, Coeparius, why should I make any remark upon
them? Had they ever possessed the smallest share of
discretion they would never have engaged in such a plot
against their country.
In conclusion, Conscript Fathers, if there were time to
amend an error, I might easily suffer you, since you
disregard words, to be corrected by experience of
consequences. But we are beset by dangers on all sides;
Catiline, with his army, is ready to devour us; while there
are other enemies within the walls, and in the heart of the
city; nor can any measures be taken, or any plans arranged,
without their knowledge. The more necessary is it,
therefore, to act with promptitude. What I advise, then, is
this: That, since the state, by a treasonable combination
of abandoned citizens, has been brought into the greatest
peril; and since the conspirators have been convicted on
the evidence of Titus Volturcius, and the deputies of the
Allobroges, and on their own confession, of having
concerted massacres, conflagrations, and other horrible and
cruel outrages, against their fellow citizen and their
country, punishment be inflicted, according to the usage of
our ancestors, on the prisoners who have confessed their
guilt, as on the men convicted of capital crimes.[2]
JULIUS CAESAR
Caius Julius Caesar was born about 100 B.C., and died at the hands of
Brutus, Cassius, and their fellow-conspirators in 44 B.C. He was a
marvellous man in every respect, achieving almost equal eminence as a
solider, a statesman, a man of letters and an orator. He advised
against putting to death those who were engaged with Catiline in his
conspiracy, and had Cicero listened to his advice, and refrained from
executing Lentulus, Cethegus, Statilius, Gabinius, and others, he
would have escaped the humiliation of banishment on the charge of
unlawfully putting to death a Roman citizen.
_Speech Delivered in the Roman Senate on the Treatment of
the Catiline Conspirators._ It becomes all men, Conscript
Fathers, who deliberate on dubious matters, to be
influenced neither by hatred, affection, anger, nor pity.
The mind, when such feelings obstruct its view, cannot
easily see what is right; nor has any human being
consulted, at the same moment, his passions and his
interest. When the mind is freely exerted, its reasoning is
sound; but passion, if it gain possession of it, becomes
its tyrant, and reason is powerless.
I could easily mention, Conscript Fathers, numerous
examples of kings and nations, who, swayed by resentment or
compassion, have adopted injudicious courses of conduct;
but I had rather speak of those instances in which our
ancestors, in opposition to the impulse of passion, acted
with wisdom and sound policy.
In the Macedonian war, which we carried on against King
Perses, the great and powerful state of Rhodes, which had
risen by the aid of the Roman people, was faithless and
hostile to us; yet, when the war was ended, and the conduct
of the Rhodians was taken into consideration, our
forefathers left them unmolested, lest any should say that
war was made upon them for the sake of seizing their
wealth, rather than of punishing their faithlessness.
Throughout the Punic wars, too, through the Carthaginians,
both during peace and in suspension of arms, were guilty of
many acts of injustice, yet our ancestors never took
occasion to retaliate, but considered rather what was
worthy of themselves than what might justly be inflicted on
their enemies.
Similar caution, Conscript Fathers, is to be observed by
yourselves, that the guilt of Lentulus, and the other
conspirators, may not have greater weight with you than
your own dignity, and that you may not regard your
indignation more than your character. If indeed, a
punishment adequate to their crimes be discovered, I
consent to extraordinary measures; but if the enormity of
their crime exceeds whatever can be devised, I think that
we should inflict only such penalties as the laws have
provided.
Most of those who have given their opinions before me have
deplored, in studied and impressive language, the sad fate
that threatens the republic; they have recounted the
barbarities of war, and the afflictions that would fall on
the vanquished; they have told us that maidens would be
dishonored, and youths abused; that children would be torn
from the embraces of their parents; that matrons would be
subjected to the pleasure of the conquerors; that temples
and dwelling-houses would be plundered; that massacres and
fires would follow; and that every place would be filled
with arms, corpses, blood, and lamentations. But to what
end, in the name of the eternal gods! was such eloquence
directed? Was it intended to render you indignant at the
conspiracy? A speech, no doubt, will inflame him whom so
frightful and monstrous a reality has not provoked! Far
from it: for to no man does evil, directly against himself,
appear a light matter; many, on the contrary, have felt it
more seriously than was right.
But to different persons, Conscript Fathers, different
degrees of license are allowed. If those who pass a life
sunk in obscurity commit any error, through excessive
anger, few become aware of it, for their fame is as limited
as their fortune; but of those who live invested with
extensive power, and in an exalted station, the whole world
knows the proceedings. Thus in the highest position there
is the least liberty of action; and it becomes us to
indulge neither partiality nor aversion, but least of all
animosity; for what in others is called resentment is in
the powerful termed violence and cruelty.
I am, indeed, of opinion, Conscript Fathers, that the
utmost degree of torture is inadequate to punish their
crime; but the generality of mankind dwell on that which
happens last, and, in the case of malefactors, forget their
guilt, and talk of their punishment, should that punishment
have been inordinately severe. I feel assured, too, that
Decimus Silanus, a man of spirit and resolution, made the
suggestions which he offered, from zeal for the state, and
that he had no view, in so important a matter, to favor or
to enmity; such I know to be his character, and such his
discretion. Yet his proposal appears to me, I will not say
cruel (for what can be cruel that is directed against such
characters?), but foreign to our policy. For, assuredly,
Silanus, either your fears, or their treason, must have
induced you, a consul-elect, to propose this new kind of
punishment. Of fear it is unnecessary to speak, when, by
the prompt activity of that distinguished man our consul,
such numerous forces are under arms; and as to the
punishment, we may say, what is, indeed, the truth, that in
trouble and distress death is a relief from suffering, and
not a torment; that it puts an end to all human woes; and
that, beyond it, there is no place either for sorrow or joy.
But why, in the name of the immortal gods, did you not add
to your proposal, Silanus, that, before they were put to
death they should be punished with the scourge? Was it
because the Porcian law forbids it? But other laws forbid
condemned citizens to be deprived of life, and allow them
to go into exile. Or was it because scourging is a severer
penalty than death? Yet what can be too severe, or too
harsh, toward men convicted of such an offence? But if
scourging be a milder punishment than death, how is it
consistent to observe the law as to the smaller point, when
you disregard it as to the greater?
But who, it may be asked, will blame any severity that
shall be decreed against these parricides of their country?
I answer that time, the course of events, and fortune,
whose caprice governs nations, may blame it. Whatever shall
fall on the traitors, will fall on them justly; but it is
for you, Conscript Fathers, to consider well what you
resolve to inflict on others. All precedents productive of
evil effects had their origin from what was good; but when
a government passes into the hands of the ignorant and
unprincipled, any new example of severity, inflicted on
deserving and suitable objects, is extended to those that
are improper and undeserving of it. The Lacedaemonians,
when they had conquered the Athenians, appointed thirty men
to govern their state. These thirty began their
administration by putting to death, even without a trial,
all who were notoriously wicked, or publicly detestable;
acts at which the people rejoiced, and extolled their
justice. But afterward, when their lawless power gradually
increased, they proceeded, at their pleasure, to kill the
good and bad indiscriminately, and to strike terror into
all; and thus the state, overpowered and enslaved, paid a
heavy penalty for its imprudent exultation.
Within our own memory, too, when the victorious Sylla
ordered Damasippus, and others of similar character, who
had risen by distressing their country, to be put to death,
who did not commend the proceeding? All exclaimed that
wicked and factious men, who had troubled the state with
their seditious practices, had justly forfeited their
lives. Yet this proceeding was the commencement of great
bloodshed. For whenever any one coveted the mansion or
villa, or even the plate or apparel of another, he exerted
his influence to have him numbered among the proscribed.
Thus they, to whom the death of Damasippus had been a
subject of joy, were soon after dragged to death
themselves; nor was there any cessation of slaughter, until
Sylla had glutted all his partisans with riches.
Such excesses, indeed, I do not fear from Marcus Tullius,
or in these times. But in a large state there arise many
men of various dispositions. At some other period, and
under another consul, who, like the present, may have an
army at his command, some false accusation may be credited
as true; and when, with our example for a precedent, the
consul shall have drawn the sword on the authority of the
senate, who shall stay its progress, or moderate its fury?
Our ancestors, Conscript Fathers, were never deficient in
conduct or courage; nor did pride prevent them from
imitating the customs of other nations, if they appeared
deserving of regard. Their armor, and weapons of war, they
borrowed from the Samnites; their ensigns of authority, for
the most part, from the Etrurians; and, in short, whatever
appeared eligible to them, whether among allies or among
enemies, they adopted at home with the greatest readiness,
being more inclined to emulate merit than to be jealous of
it. But at the same time, adopting a practice from Greece,
they punished their citizens with the scourge, and
inflicted capital punishment on such as were condemned.
When the republic, however, became powerful, and faction
grew strong from the vast number of citizens, men began to
involve the innocent in condemnation, and other like abuses
were practiced; and it was then that the Porcian and other
laws were provided, by which condemned citizens were
allowed to go into exile. This lenity of our ancestors,
Conscript Fathers, I regard as a very strong reason why we
should not adopt any new measures of severity. For
assuredly there was greater merit and wisdom in those, who
raised so mighty an empire from humble means than in us,
who can scarcely preserve what they so honorably acquired.
Am I of opinion, then, you will ask, that the conspirators
should be set free, and that the army of Catiline should
thus be increased? Far from it; my recommendation is, that
their property be confiscated, and that they themselves be
kept in custody in such of the municipal towns as are best
able to bear the expense; that no one hereafter bring their
case before the senate, or speak on it to the people; and
that the senate now give their opinion that he who shall
act contrary to this, will act against the republic and
general safety.
CATILINE
Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline), who is best known for his
conspiracy against the government of Rome, was born about the year
108 B.C., and was killed in the battle of Faesulae, Italy, in 62 B.C.
He was a man of dissolute habits, devoid of any moral sense, a
murderer, and a traitor, yet he was a brave soldier and an able
orator. In Catiline's time the lower classes were in a wretched state
of poverty and had strong reasons for discontent with the government.
This fact Catiline seized upon with masterly effect, for through it a
free pardon and large rewards were offered to all who would desert
his cause and testify regarding the conspiracy, not one of Catiline's
followers betrayed him. Catiline failed, not through the weakness of
his cause, nor for his lack of ability, but because of the utter
worthlessness of his character.
_Speech to the Conspirators._ If your courage and fidelity
has not been sufficiently proved by me, this favorable
opportunity would have occurred to no purpose; mighty
hopes, absolute power, would in vain be within our grasp;
nor should I, depending on irresolution or
fickle-mindedness, pursue contingencies instead of
certainties. But as I have, on so many remarkable
occasions, experienced your bravery and attachment to me, I
have ventured to engage in a most important and glorious
enterprise. I am aware, too, that whatever advantages or
evils affect you, the same affect me; and to have the same
desires and the same aversions is assuredly a firm bond of
friendship.
What I have been meditating you have already heard
separately. But my ardor for action is daily more and more
excited when I consider what our future condition of life
must be unless we ourselves assert our claims to liberty.
For, since the government has fallen under the power and
jurisdiction of a few, kings and princes have constantly
been their tributaries; nations and states have paid them
taxes; but all the rest of us, however brave and worthy,
whether noble or plebeian, have been regarded as a mere
mob, without interest or authority, and subject to those to
whom, if the state were in a sound condition, we should be
a terror. Hence all influence, power, honor, and wealth,
are in their hands, or where they dispose of them; to us,
they have left only insults, dangers, persecutions, and
poverty. To such indignities, O bravest of men, how long
will you submit? Is it not better to die in a glorious
attempt, than, after having been the derision of other
men's insolence, to resign a wretched and degraded
existence with ignominy?
But success (I call gods and men to witness) is in our own
hands. Our years are fresh, our spirit is unbroken; among
our oppressors, on the contrary, through age and wealth a
general debility has been produced. We have, therefore,
only to make a beginning; the course of events will
accomplish the rest.
Who in the world, indeed, that has the feelings of a man,
can endure that they should have a superfluity of riches,
to squander in building over seas and levelling mountains,
and that means should be wanting to us even for the
necessaries of life; that they should join together two
houses or more, and that we should not have a hearth to
call our own? They, though they purchase pictures, statues,
and embossed plate; though they pull down new buildings and
erect others, and lavish and abuse their wealth in every
possible method, yet cannot, with the utmost efforts of
caprice, exhaust it. But for us there is poverty at home,
debts abroad; our present circumstances are bad, our
prospects much worse; and what, in a word, have we left,
but a miserable existence?
Will you not, then, awake to action? Behold that liberty,
that liberty for which you have so often wished, with
wealth, honor, and glory, are set before your eyes. All
these prizes fortune offers to the victorious. Let the
enterprise itself, then, let the opportunity, let your
property, your dangers, and the glorious spoils of war,
animate you far more than my words. Use me either as your
leader or your fellow solider; neither my heart nor my hand
shall be wanting to you. These objects I hope to effect, in
concert with you, in the character of consul; unless,
indeed, my expectation deceives me, and you prefer to be
slaves rather than masters.
_Speech to His Troops._ I am well aware, soldiers, that
words cannot inspire courage, and that a spiritless army
cannot be rendered active, or a timid army valiant, by the
speech of its commander. Whatever courage is in the heart
of a man, whether from nature or from habit, so much will
be shown by him in the field; and on him whom neither glory
nor danger can move, exhortation is bestowed in vain; for
the terror in his breast stops his ears.
I have called you together, however, to give you a few
instructions, and to explain to you, at the same time, my
reasons for the course which I have adopted. You all know,
soldiers, how severe a penalty the inactivity and cowardice
of Lentulus has brought upon himself and us; and how, while
awaiting reinforcements from the city, I was unable to
march into Gaul. In what situation our affairs now are, you
will understand as well as myself. Two armies of the enemy,
one on the side of Rome and the other on that of Gaul,
oppose our progress; while the want of corn and of other
necessaries prevents us from remaining, however strongly we
may desire to remain, in our present position.
Whithersoever we would go, we must open a passage with our
swords. I conjure you, therefore, to maintain a brave and
resolute spirit; and to remember, when you advance to
battle, that on your own right hands depend riches, honor,
and glory, with the enjoyment of your liberty and of your
country. If we conquer, all will be safe, we shall have
possessions in abundance; and the colonies and corporate
towns will open their gates to us. But if we lose the
victory through want of courage, those same places will
turn against us, for neither place nor friend will protect
him whom his arms have not protected. Besides, soldiers,
the same exigency does not press upon our adversaries as
presses upon us; we fight for our country, for our liberty,
for our life; they contend for what but little concerns
them, the power of a small party. Attack them, therefore,
with so much the greater confidence, and call to mind your
achievements of old.
We might, with the utmost ignominy, have passed the rest of
our days in exile. Some of you, after losing your property,
might have waited at Rome for assistance from others. But
because such a life, to men of spirit, was disgusting and
unendurable, you resolved upon your present course. If you
wish to quit it, you must exert all your resolution, for
none but conquerors have exchanged war for peace. To hope
for safety in flight when you have turned away from the
enemy the arms by which the body is defended is indeed
madness. In battle those who are most afraid are always in
most danger; but courage is equivalent to a rampart.
When I contemplate you, soldiers, and when I consider your
past exploits, a strong hope of victory animates me. Your
spirit, your age, your valor, give me confidence; to say
nothing of necessity, which makes even cowards brave. To
prevent the numbers of the enemy from surrounding us, our
confined situation is sufficient. But should Fortune be
unjust to your valor, take care not to lose your lives
unavenged; take care not to be taken and butchered like
cattle, rather than, fighting like men, to leave to your
enemies a bloody and mournful victory.
CICERO
Marcus Tullius Cicero, the greatest of the Roman orators, and one of
the foremost orators of all times, was born at Arpinum, on the
northern border of the Volscian territory, 106 B.C., and was killed
by order of Marc Antony at the close of the year 43 B.C. Thus passed
away, at the age of sixty-three, one of the most illustrious
statesmen and the most eloquent orator that the vast empire of Rome
produced.
Cicero lived in a venal age, yet he escaped contamination. He was a
politician, yet he rarely stooped to the trickery of the ancient
politicians. Only in two instances did he fall below the high
standard of manliness up to which all must measure who would be
esteemed patriots: once, when he combined with Catiline, a
notoriously corrupt and ruined character, for the consulship; and
again, in turning from Pompey and crooking "the pregnant hinges of
the knee" to Caesar when that warrior's star commenced to climb
toward the zenith of his fame. A weak trait in Cicero's character was
shown in his behavior during banishment. Instead of bearing up
bravely against the injustice of his enemies, strong in the
consciousness of his own rectitude, he cringingly besought clemency
and begged to be permitted to return to Rome, thus tacitly admitting
that there had been just grounds for his banishment. Despite these
failings, he was a truly great man who did much for his country and
the world. Much of his spoken and written matter has come down to us
and authentic information concerning his education, his style of
oratory, the manner of his life, and his views of men and questions
are to be had at first hand. He is not shrouded in mystery, as are
many great men of a much nearer period, but he can be as clearly
perceived by the student of today as he was by his contemporaries--in
fact, clearer, because the picture is not now, as it was then,
blurred by the excessive praise of friends nor the calumnies of
enemies.
All through his life Cicero worked to fit himself for adequately
filling such positions of honor and renown as he sought, and he
finally became the most perfect specimen of the Roman of the
governing class. As a youth he was under the instruction of the
famous orator Crassus, and he read the poets and orators of Greece
under the guidance of the Greek poet Archias, then a teacher at Rome,
during the early period of his schooling. He studied the Roman
national law and ritual under the two Scaevolas, as he desired a
thorough knowledge of these things in order that he might become a
successful advocate. He also studied under Philo, the chief of the
Academics, Diodotus the Stoic, and Milo the philosopher. He commenced
his career as an advocate when twenty-six years of age by a civil
cause in the speech _Pro Quinctio,_ and in the following year he
undertook a criminal cause in the action brought against Roscius
Amerinus. Soon after this he went to Athens and diligently studied
the art of declamation under the best masters. Some claim that Cicero
was not original in his matter nor his manner; that he spent too much
time studying the works and methods of others; but be this as it may,
he certainly became wonderfully proficient in gathering the matter
and presenting it in a manner that was marvelously impressive and
successful. He was undoubtedly the best prepared orator that the
world has ever known; and as a speaker he was always master of
himself, his subject, and his audience.
_The First Oration Against Verres_ (70 B.C.). That which
was above all things to be desired, O judges, and which
above all things was calculated to have the greatest
influence toward allaying the unpopularity of your order,
and putting an end to the discredit into which your
judicial decisions have fallen, appears to have been thrown
in your way, and given to you not by any human contrivance,
but almost by the interposition of the gods, at a most
important crisis of the republic. For an opinion has now
become established, pernicious to us and pernicious to the
public, which has been the common talk of every one, not
only at Rome, but among foreign nations also--that in the
courts of law as they exist at present, no wealthy man,
however guilty he may be, can possibly be convicted.
Now at this time of peril to your order and to your
tribunal, when men are ready to attempt by harangues, and
by the proposal of new laws, to increase the existing
unpopularity of the senate, Caius Verres is brought to
trial as a criminal--a man condemned in the opinion of
every one by his life and actions, but acquitted by the
enormousness of his wealth according to his own hope and
boast. I, O judges, have undertaken this cause as
prosecutor with the greatest good wishes and expectation on
the part of the Roman people, not in order to increase the
unpopularity of the senate, but to relieve it from the
discredit which I share with it. For I have brought before
you a man, by acting justly in whose case you have an
opportunity of retrieving the lost credit of your judicial
proceedings, of regaining your credit with the Roman
people, and of giving satisfaction to foreign nations; a
man, the embezzler of public funds, the petty tyrant of
Asia and Pamphylia, the robber who deprived the city of its
rights, the disgrace and ruin of the province of Sicily.
And if you come to a decision about this man with severity
and a due regard to your oaths, that authority which ought
to remain in you will cling to you still; but if that man's
vast riches shall break down the sanctity and honesty of
the courts of justice, at least I shall achieve this, that
it shall be plain that it was rather honest judgment that
was wanting to the republic, than a criminal to the judges
or an accuser to the criminal.
I, indeed, that I may confess to you the truth about
myself, O judges, though many snares were laid for me by
Caius Verres, both by land and sea, which I partly avoided
by my own vigilance, and partly warded off by the zeal and
kindness of my friends, yet I never seemed to be incurring
so much danger, and I never was in such a state of great
apprehension as I am now in this very court of law. Nor
does the expectation which people have formed of my conduct
of this prosecution, nor this concourse of so vast a
magnitude as is here assembled, influence me (though indeed
I am greatly agitated by these circumstances) so much as
his nefarious plots which he is endeavoring to lay at one
and the same time against me, against you, against Marcus
Glabrio, the praetor, and against the allies, against
foreign nations, against the senate, and even against the
very name of senator; whose favorite saying it is that they
have got to fear who have stolen only as much as is enough
for themselves, but that he has stolen so much that it may
easily be plenty for many; that nothing is so holy that it
can not be corrupted, or so strongly fortified that it can
not be stormed by money. But if he were as secret in acting
as he is audacious in attempting; perhaps in some
particular he might some time or other have escaped our
notice.
But it happens very fortunately that to his incredible
audacity there is joined a most unexampled folly. For as he
was unconcealed in committing his robberies of money, so in
his hope of corrupting the judges he has made his
intentions and endeavors visible to every one. He says that
only once in his life has he felt fear at the time when he
was first impeached as a criminal by me; because he was
only lately arrived from his province, and was branded with
unpopularity and infamy, not modern but ancient and of long
standing; and, besides that, the time was unlucky, being
very ill suited for corrupting the judges. Therefore, when
I had demanded a very short time to prosecute my inquiries
in Sicily, he found a man to ask for two days less to make
investigations in Achaia; not with any real intention of
doing the same with his diligence and industry, that I have
accomplished by my labor, and daily and nightly
investigations. For the Achaean inquisitor never even
arrived at Brundusium. I in fifty days so traveled over the
whole of Sicily that I examined into the records and
injuries of all the tribes and of all private individuals,
so that it was easily visible to every one that he had been
seeking out a man not really for the purpose of bringing
the defendant whom he accused to trial, but merely to
occupy the time which ought to belong to me.
Now that most audacious and most senseless man thinks this.
He is aware that I am come into court so thoroughly
prepared and armed that I shall fix all his thefts and
crimes not only in your ears, but in the very eyes of all
men. He sees that many senators are witnesses of his
audacity; he sees that many Roman knights are so, too, and
many citizens, and many of the allies besides to whom he
has done unmistakable injuries. He sees also that very
numerous and very important deputations have come here at
the same time from friendly cities, armed with the public
authority and evidence collected by their states.
In truth, what genius is there so powerful, what faculty of
speaking, what eloquence so mighty, as to be in any
particular able to defend the life of that man convicted as
it is of so many vices and crimes, and long since condemned
by the inclinations and private sentiments of every one.
And, to say nothing of the stains and disgraces of his
youth, what other remarkable event is there in his
questorship, that first step to honor, except that Cnaeus
Carbo was robbed by his questor of the public money? that
the consul was plundered and betrayed? his army deserted?
his province abandoned? the holy nature and obligations
imposed on him by lot violated? whose lieutenancy was the
ruin of all Asia and Pamphylia, in which provinces he
plundered many houses, very many cities, all the shrines
and temples; when he renewed and repeated against Cnaeus
Dolabella his ancient wicked tricks when he had been
questor, and did not only in his danger desert, but even
attack and betray the man to whom he had been lieutenant,
and proquaestor, and whom he had brought into odium by his
crimes; whose city praetorship was the destruction of the
sacred temples and the public works, and, as to his legal
decisions, was the adjudging and awarding of property
contrary to all established rules and precedents. But now
he has established great and numerous monuments and proofs
of all his vices in the province of Sicily, which he for
three years so harassed and ruined that it can by no
possibility be restored to its former condition, and
appears scarcely able to be at all recovered after a long
series of years, and a long succession of virtuous
praetors. While this man was praetor the Sicilians enjoyed
neither their own laws nor the decrees of our senate, nor
the common rights of every nation. Every one in Sicily has
only so much left as either escaped the notice or was
disregarded by the satiety of that most avaricious and
licentious man.
No legal decision for three years was given on any other
ground but his will; no property was so secure to any man,
even if it had descended to him from his father and
grandfather, but he was deprived of it at his command;
enormous sums of money were exacted from the property of
the cultivators of the soil by a new and nefarious system.
The most faithful of the allies were classed in the number
of enemies. Roman citizens were tortured and put to death
like slaves; the greatest criminals were acquitted in the
courts of justice through bribery; the most upright and
honorable men, being prosecuted while absent, were
condemned and banished without being heard in their own
defense; the most fortified harbors, the greatest and
strongest cities, were laid open to pirates and robbers;
the sailors and soldiers of the Sicilians, our own allies
and friends, died of hunger; the best built fleets on the
most important stations were lost and destroyed, to the
great disgrace of the Roman people. This same man while
praetor plundered and stripped those most ancient
monuments, some erected by wealthy monarchs and intended by
them as ornaments for their cities; some, too, the work of
our own generals, which they either gave or restored as
conquerors to the different states in Sicily. And he did
this not only in the case of public statues and ornaments,
but he also plundered all the temples consecrated in the
deepest religious feelings of the people. He did not leave,
in short, one god to the Sicilians which appeared to him to
be made in a tolerable workmanlike manner, and with any of
the skill of the ancients.
I am prevented by actual shame from speaking of his
nefarious licentiousness as shown in rapes and other such
enormities; and I am unwilling also to increase the
distress of those men who have been unable to preserve
their children and their wives unpolluted by his wanton
lust. But, you will say, these things were done by him in
such a manner as not to be notorious to all men. I think
there is no man who has heard his name who cannot also
relate wicked actions of his; so that I ought rather to be
afraid of being thought to omit many of his crimes, than to
invent any charges against him. And, indeed, I do not think
that this multitude which has collected to listen to me
wishes so much to learn of me what the facts of the case
are, as to go over it with me, refreshing its recollection
of what it knows already.
And as this is the case, that senseless and profligate man
attempts to combat me in another manner. He does not seek
to oppose the eloquence of any one else to me; he does not
rely on the popularity, or influence, or authority, of any
one. He pretends that he trusts to those things; but I see
what he is really aiming at (and indeed he is not acting
with any concealment). He sets before me empty titles of
nobility--that is to say, the names of arrogant men, who do
not hinder me so much by being noble, as assist me by being
notorious; he pretends to rely on their protection, when he
has in reality been contriving something else this long
time. What hope he now has, and what he is endeavoring to
do, I will now briefly explain to you, O judges.
But first of all, remark, I beg you, how the matter has
been arranged by him from the beginning. When he first
returned from the province he endeavored to get rid of his
prosecution by corrupting the judges at a great expense;
and this object he continued to keep in view till the
conclusion of the appointment of the judges. After the
judges were appointed, because in drawing lots for them the
fortune of the Roman people had defeated his hopes, and in
the rejecting some my diligence had defeated his impudence,
the whole attempt at bribery was abandoned. The affair was
now going on admirably; lists of your names and of the
whole tribunal were in every one's hands. It did not seem
possible to mark the votes of these men with any
distinguishing mark or color or spot of dirt; and that
fellow, from having been brisk and in high spirits, became
on a sudden so downcast and humbled that he seemed to be
condemned not only by the Roman people but even by himself.
But lo! all of a sudden, within these few days, since the
consular comitia have taken place, he has gone back to his
original plan with more money, and the same plots are now
laid against your reputation and against the fortunes of
every one, by the instrumentality of the same people; which
fact at first, O judges, was pointed out by me by a very
slight hint and indication; but afterward, when my
suspicions were once aroused, I arrived at the knowledge of
all the most secret counsels of that party without any
mistake.
For as Hortensius, the consul-elect, was being attended
home again from the Campus by a great concourse and
multitude of people, Caius Curio fell in with that
multitude by chance--a man whom I wish to name by way of
honor rather than disparagement. I will tell you what if he
had been unwilling to have it mentioned, he would not have
spoken of in so large an assembly so openly and
undisguisedly; which, however, shall be mentioned by me
deliberately and cautiously, that it may be seen that I pay
due regard to our friendship and to his dignity. He sees
Verres in the crowd by the arch of Fabius,[3] he speaks to
the man, and with a loud voice congratulates him on his
victory. He does not say a word to Hortensius himself, who
had been made consul, or to his friends and relations who
were present attending on him; but he stops to speak to
this man, embraces him, and bids him cast off all anxiety.
"I give you notice," said he, "that you have been acquitted
by this day's comitia." And as many most honorable men
heard this, it is immediately reported to me the first
thing. To some it appeared scandalous, to others, again,
ridiculous--ridiculous to those who thought that this case
depended on the credibility of the witnesses, on the
importance of the charges, and on the power of the judges,
and not on the consular comitia; scandalous to those who
looked deeper, and who thought and this congratulation had
reference to the corruption of the judges.
In truth, they argued in this manner--the most honorable
men spoke to one another and to me in this manner--that
there were now manifestly and undeniably no courts of
justice at all. The very criminal who the day before
thought that he was already condemned, is acquitted, now
that his defender has been made consul. What are we to
think then? Will it avail nothing at all Sicily, all the
Sicilians, that all the merchants who have business in that
country, that if the consul-elect wills it otherwise. What!
will not the judges be influenced by the accusation, by the
evidence, by the universal opinion of the Roman people? No.
Everything will be governed by the power and authority of
one man.
In the meantime my comitia began to be held; of which that
fellow thought himself the master, as he had been of all
the other comitia this year. He began to run about, that
influential man, with his son, a youth of engaging and
popular manners, among the tribes. The son began to address
and to call on all the friends of his father--that is to
say, all his agents--for bribery; and when this was noticed
and perceived, the Roman people took care with the most
earnest good will that I should not be deprived of my honor
through the money of that man, whose riches had not been
able to make me violate my good faith. After that I was
released from the great anxiety about my canvass, I began,
with a mind much more unoccupied and much more at ease, to
think of nothing and to do nothing except what related to
this trial. I find, O judges, these plans formed and begun
to be put in execution by them to protract the matter,
whatever steps it might be necessary to take in order to do
so, so that the cause might be pleaded before Marcus
Metellus as praetor. That by doing so they would have these
advantages: firstly, that Marcus Metellus was most friendly
to them; secondly, that not only would Hortensius be
consul, but Quintus Metellus also; and listen while I show
you how a great a friend he is to them. For he gave him a
token of his good will of such a sort that he seemed to be
giving it as a return for the suffrages of the tribes which
he had secured to him. Did you think that I would say
nothing of such serious matters as these? and that, at a
crisis of such danger to the republic and my own character,
I would consult anything rather than my duty and my
dignity? The other consul-elect sent for the Sicilians;
some came, because Lucius Metellus was praetor in Sicily.
To them he speaks in this manner: that he is the consul;
that one of his brothers has Sicily for a province; that
the other is to be judge in all prosecutions for extortion;
and that care had been taken in many ways that there should
be no possibility of Verres being injured.
I ask you, Metellus, what is corrupting the course of
justice, if this is not--to seek to frighten witnesses, and
especially Sicilians, timid and oppressed men, not only by
your own private influence, but by their fear of the
consul, and by the power of two praetors? What could you do
for an innocent man or for a relation, when for the sake of
a most guilty one, entirely unconnected with you, you
depart from your duty and your dignity, and allow what he
is constantly saying to appear true to any one who is not
acquainted with you? For they said that Verres said that
you had not been made consul by destiny, as the rest of
your family had been, but by his assistance. Two consuls,
therefore, and the judge are to be such because of his
will. We shall not only, says he, avoid having a man too
scrupulous in investigating, too subservient to the opinion
of the people, Marcus Glabrio, but we shall have this
advantage also: Marcus Caesonius is the judge, the
colleague of your accuser, a man of tried and proved
experience in the decision of actions. It will never do for
us to have such a man as that on the bench, which we are
endeavoring to corrupt by some means or other; for before,
when he was one of the judges on the tribunal of which
Junius was president, he was not only very indignant at the
shameful transaction, but he even betrayed and denounced it.
But as for what I had begun to say--namely, that the
contest is between you and me, this is it--I, when I had
undertaken this cause at the request of the Sicilians, and
had thought it a very honorable and glorious thing for me
that they were willing to make experiment of my integrity
and diligence, who already knew by experience my innocence
and temperance: then, when I had undertaken this business,
I proposed to myself some greater action also by which the
Roman people should be able to see my good will toward the
republic. For that seemed to me to be by no means worthy of
my industry and efforts, for that man to be brought to
trial by me who had already condemned by the judgment of
all men, unless that intolerable influence of yours, and
that grasping nature which you have displayed for some
years in many trials, were interposed also in the case of
that desperate man. But now, since all this dominion and
sovereignty of yours over the courts of justice delights
you so much, and since there are some men who are neither
ashamed of their licentiousness and their infamy, nor weary
of it, and who, as if on purpose, seem to wish to encounter
hatred and unpopularity from the Roman people, I profess
that I have undertaken this, a great burden perhaps, and
one dangerous to myself, but still worthy of my applying
myself to it with all the vigor of my age, and all
diligence.
And since the whole order of the senate is weighed down by
the discredit brought on it by the wickedness and audacity
of a few, and is overwhelmed by the infamy of the
tribunals, I profess myself an enemy to this race of men,
an accuser worthy of their hatred, a persevering, a bitter
adversary. I arrogate this to myself, I claim this for
myself, and I will carry out this enmity in my magistracy,
and from that post in which the Roman people have willed
that from the next first of January I shall act in concert
with it in matters concerning the republic, and concerning
wicked men. I promise the Roman people that this shall be
the most honorable and the fairest employment of my
aedileship. I warn, I forewarn, I give notice beforehand
to those men who are wont either to put money down, to
undertake for others, to receive money, or to promise
money, or to act as agents in bribery, or as go-betweens in
corrupting the seat of judgment, and who have promised
their influence or their impudence in aid of such a
business, in this trial to keep their hands and inclination
from this nefarious wickedness.
And what do you suppose will be my thoughts, if I find in
this very trial any violation of the laws committed in any
similar manner? especially when I can prove by many
witnesses that Caius Verres often said in Sicily, in the
hearing of many persons, "that he had a powerful friend, in
confidence with whom he was plundering the province; and
that he had so distributed the three years of his Sicilian
praetorship that should say he did exceedingly well, if he
appropriated the gains of one year to the augmentation of
his own property, those of the second year to his patrons
and defenders, and reserved the whole of the third year,
the most productive and gainful of all, for the judges."
From which it came into my mind to say that which, when I
had said lately before Marcus Glabrio at the time of
striking the list of judges, I perceived the Roman people
greatly moved by: that I thought that foreign nations would
send ambassadors to the Roman people to procure the
abrogation of the law, and of all trials, about extortion;
for if there were no trials, they think that each man would
only plunder them of as much as he would think sufficient
for himself and his children; but now, because there are
trials of that sort, every one carries off as much as it
will take to satisfy himself, his patrons, his advocates,
the praetor, and the judges; and that this is an enormous
sum; that they may be able to satisfy the cupidity of one
most avaricious man, but are quite unable to incur the
expense of his most guilty victory over the laws. O trials
worthy of being recorded! O splendid reputation of our
order! when the allies of the Roman people are unwilling
that trials for extortion should take place, which were
instituted by our ancestors for the sake of all allies.
Would that man ever have had a favorable hope of his own
safety, if he had not conceived in his mind a bad opinion
of you? on which account, he ought, if possible, to be
still more hated by you than he is by the Roman people,
because he considers you like himself in avarice and
wickedness and perjury.
And I beg you, in the name of the immortal gods, O judges,
think of and guard against this; I warn you, I give notice
to you of what I am well assured, that this most seasonable
opportunity has been given to you by the favor of the gods,
for the purpose of delivering your whole order from hatred,
from unpopularity, from infamy, and from disgrace. There is
no severity believed to exist in the tribunals, nor any
scruples with regard to religion; in short, there are not
believed to be any tribunals at all. Therefore we are
despised and scorned by the Roman people; we are branded
with a heavy and now long standing infamy. Nor, in fact, is
there any other reason for which the Roman people has with
so much earnestness sought the restoration of the
tribunician power: but when it was demanding that in words,
it seemed to be asking for that, but in reality it was
asking for tribunals which it could trust.
But now men on the watch-towers; they observe how every one
of you behaves himself in respecting religion and observing
the laws. They see that, ever since the passing of the law
for restoring the power of the tribunes, only one senator,
and he, too, a very insignificant one, has been condemned.
And though they do not blame this, yet they have nothing
which they can very much command. For there is no credit in
being upright in a case where there is no one who is either
able or who endeavors to corrupt one. This is a trial in
which you will be deciding about the defendant, the Roman
people about you; by the example of what happens to this
man it will be determined whether, when senators are the
judges, a very guilty and a very rich man can be condemned.
On which account, in the first place, I beg this of the
immortal gods, which I seem to myself to have hopes of,
too--that in this trial no one may be found to be wicked
except he who has long since been found to be such;
secondly, if there are many wicked men, I promise this to
you, O judges, I promise this to the Roman people, that my
life shall fail rather than my vigor and perseverance in
prosecuting their iniquity. But that iniquity, which if it
should be committed, I promise to prosecute severely, with
however much trouble and danger to myself, and whatever
enmities I may bring on myself by doing so, you, O Marcus
Glabrio, can guard against ever taking place by your
wisdom, and authority, and diligence. Do you undertake the
cause of the tribunals? Do you undertake the cause of
impartiality, of integrity, of good faith and religion? Do
you undertake the cause of the senate, that, being proved
worthy by its conduct in this trial, it may come into favor
and popularity with the Roman people? Think who you are and
in what a situation you are placed; what you ought to give
to the Roman people and what you ought to repay to your
ancestors. Let the recollection of the Acilian Law passed
by your father occur to your mind, owing to which law the
Roman people has had this advantage of most admirable
decisions and very strict judges in cases of extortion.
I am resolved not to permit the praetor or the judges to be
changed in this cause. I will not permit the matter to be
delayed till the lictors of the consuls can go and summon
the Sicilians, whom the servants of the consuls-elect did
not influence before, when by an unprecedented course of
proceeding they sent for them all; I will not permit these
miserable men, formerly the allies and friends of the Roman
people, now their slaves and supplicants, to lose not only
their rights and fortunes by their tyranny, but to be
deprived of even the power of bewailing their condition; I
will not, I say, when the cause has been summed up by me,
permit them after a delay of forty days has intervened,
then at last to reply to me when my accusation has already
fallen into oblivion through lapse of time; I will not
permit the decision to be given when this crowd collected
from all Italy has departed from Rome, which has assembled
from all quarters at the same time on account of the
comitia, of the games, and of the census.
The reward of the credit gained by your decision, or the
danger arising from the unpopularity which will accrue to
you if you decide unjustly, I think ought to belong to you;
the labor and anxiety to me; the knowledge of what is done
and the recollection of what has been said by every one, to
all. I will adopt this course, not an unprecedented one,
but one that has been adopted before, by this who are now
the chief men of our state--the course, I mean, of at once
producing the witnesses.
What you will find novel, O judges, is this, that I will so
marshal my witnesses as to unfold the whole of my
accusation; that when I have established it by examining my
witnesses, by arguments, and by my speech, then I shall
show the agreement of the evidence with my accusation: so
that there shall be no difference between the established
mode of prosecuting, and this new one, except that,
according to the established mode, when everything has been
said which is to be said, then the witnesses are produced;
here they shall be produced as each count is brought
forward, so that the other side shall have the same
opportunity of examining them, of arguing and making
speeches on their evidence. If there be any one who prefers
an uninterrupted speech and the old mode of conducting a
prosecution without any break, he shall have it in some
other trial. But for this time let him understand that what
we do is done by us on compulsion (for we only do it with
the design of opposing the artifice of the opposite party
by our prudence). This will be the first part of the
prosecution. We say that Caius Verres has not only done
many licentious acts, many cruel ones, toward Roman
citizens, and toward some of the allies, many wicked acts
against both gods and man; but especially that he has taken
away four hundred thousand sesterces out of Sicily contrary
to the laws. We will make this so plain to you by
witnesses, by private documents, and by public records,
that you shall decide that, even if we had abundant space
and leisure days for making a long speech without any
inconvenience, still there was no need at all of a long
speech in this matter.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This is the famous passage in which Cato intimated
that Caesar was in some manner allied with the
conspirators.
[2] A decree of the Senate was made in accordance with
this advice.
[3] This arch, as explained in a note to Mr. Yonge's
translation, had been erected to commemorate the
victory obtained by Fabius over the Allobroges;
and it was erected in the Via Sacra, as Cicero
mentions in his speech _Pro Plancio._