THE
ELEVENTH PHILIPPIC.
THE
ARGUMENT.
As soon as the news of this
event reached Rome
It appears that Cicero failed in his proposition through the influence of
Pansa; but before any orders came from Rome ,
Cassius had defeated Dolabella near Laodicea
[2] Here now you have a pair equal in wickedness;
unprecedented, unheard of, savage, barbarous. Therefore those men whose
vehement mutual hatred and quarrel you recollect a short time ago, have now
been united in singular unanimity and mutual attachment by the singularity of
their wicked natures and most infamous lives. Therefore, that which Dolabella
has now done in a case in which he had the power, Antonius threatens many with.
But the former, as he was a long way from our counsels and armies, and as he
was not yet aware that the senate had united with the Roman people, relying on
the forces of Antonius, has committed those wicked actions which he thought
were already put in practice at Rome
[3] What else then do you think that this man is
contriving or wishing, or what other object do you think he has in the war? All
of us who have either entertained the thoughts of freemen concerning the
republic, or have given utterance to opinions worthy of ourselves, he decides
to be not merely opposed to him, but actual enemies. And he plans inflicting
bitterer punishments on us than on the enemy; he thinks death a punishment
imposed by nature, but torments and tortures the proper inflictions of anger. What
sort of enemy then must we consider that man who, if he be victorious, requires
one to think death a kindness if he spares one the tortures with which it is in
his power to accompany it?
Ch.
Wherefore, O conscript fathers, although you do not
need any one to exhort you (for you yourself have of your own accord warmed up
with the desire of recovering your freedom), still defend, I warn you, your
freedom with so much the more zeal and courage, in proportion as the
punishments of slavery with which you see the conquered are threatened are more
terrible.
[4] Antonius has invaded Gaul; Dolabella, Asia ; each a province with which he had no business
whatever. Brutus has opposed himself to the one, and at the peril of his own
life has checked the onset of that frantic man wishing to harass and plunder
every thing, has prevented his farther progress, and has cut him off from his
return. By allowing himself to be besieged he has hemmed in Antonius on each
side.
The other has forced his way into Asia .
With what object! If it was merely to proceed into Syria
[5] Dolabella followed him, without any one having any
suspicion of war. For how could any one think of such a thing? Very friendly
conferences with Trebonius ensued; embraces, false tokens of the greatest
good-will, were there full of simulated affection; the pledge of the right
hand, which used to be a witness of good faith, was violated by treachery and
wickedness; then came the nocturnal entry into Smyrna, as if into an enemy's
city Smyrna, which is a city of our most faithful and most ancient allies; then
the surprise of Trebonius, who, if he were surprised by one who was an open
enemy, was very careless; if by one who up to that moment maintained the
appearance of a citizen, was miserable. And by his example fortune wished us to
take a lesson of what the conquered party had to fear. He handed over a man of
consular rank, governing the province of Asia with consular authority, to an
exiled armorer;45 he would not slay him the moment that he
had taken him, fearing, I suppose, that his victory might appear too merciful;
but after having attacked that most excellent man with insulting words from his
impious mouth, then he examined him with scourges and tortures. Concerning the
public money, and that for two days together. Afterward he cut off his head,
and ordered it to be fixed on a javelin and carried about; and the rest of his
body, having been dragged through the street and town, he threw into the sea.
[6] We, then, have to war against this enemy by whose
most foul cruelty all the savageness of barbarous nations is surpassed. Why
need I speak of the massacre of Roman citizens! of the plunder of temples? Who
is there who can possibly deplore such circumstances as their atrocity
deserves? And now he is ranging all over Asia ,
he is triumphing about as a king, he thinks that we are occupied in another
quarter by another war, as if it were not one and the same war against this
outrageous pair of impious men.
Ch.
You see now an image of the cruelty of Marcus Antonius
in Dolabella; this conduct of his is formed on the model of the other. It is by
him that the lessons of wickedness have been taught to Dolabella. Do you think
that Antonius, if he had the power, would be more merciful in
[7]
Place then before your eyes, O conscript fathers, that spectacle, miserable
indeed, and tearful, but still indispensable to rouse your minds properly: the
nocturnal attack upon the most beautiful city in Asia; the irruption of armed
men into Trebonius's house, when that unhappy man saw the swords of the robbers
before he heard what was the matter; the entrance of Dolabella, raging,his
ill-omened voice, and infamous countenance,the chains, the scourges, the rack,
the armorer who was both torturer and executioner; all which they say that the
unhappy Trebonius endured with great fortitude. A great praise, and in my
opinion indeed the greatest of all, for it is the part of a wise man to resolve
beforehand that whatever can happen to a brave man is to be endured with
patience if it should happen. It is indeed a proof of altogether greater wisdom
to act with such foresight as to prevent any such thing from happening; but it
is a token of no less courage to bear it bravely if it should befall one.
[8] And Dolabella was indeed so wholly forgetful of
the claims of humanity (although, indeed, he never had any particular
recollection of it), as to vent his insatiable cruelty, not only on the living
man, but also on the dead carcass, and, as he could not sufficiently glut his
hatred, to feed his eyes also on the lacerations inflicted, and the insults
offered to his corpse.
Ch.
O Dolabella, much more wretched than he whom you
intended to be the most wretched of all men! Trebonius endured great agonies;
many men have endured greater still, from severe disease, whom, however, we are
in the habit of calling not miserable, but afflicted. His sufferings, which
lasted two days, were long; but many men have had sufferings lasting many
years; nor are the tortures inflicted by executioners more terrible than those
caused by disease are sometimes.
[10] And this man, O ye immortal gods, was once my
relation! For his vices were unknown to one who did not inquire into such
things: nor perhaps should I now be alienated from him if he had not been
discovered to be an enemy to you, to the walls of his country, to this city, to
our household gods, to the altars and hearths of all of us,in short, to human
nature and to common humanity. But now, having received this lesson from him,
let us be the more diligent and vigilant in being on our guard against
Antonius.
Ch.
Indeed, Dolabella had not with him any great number of
notorious and conspicuous robbers. But you see there are with Antonius, and in
what numbers. In the first place, there is his brother Lucius what a
fire-brand, O ye immortal gods! what an incarnation of crime and wickedness!
what a gulf, what a whirlpool of a man! What do you think that man incapable of
swallowing up in his mind, or gulping down in his thoughts? Who do you imagine
there is whose blood he is not thirsting for? who on whose possessions and
fortunes he is not fixing his most impudent eyes, his hopes, and his whole
heart? What shall we say of Censorinus? who, as far as words go, said indeed
that he wished to be the city praetor; but who, in fact, was unwilling to be so.
{By leaving the city for the camp of
Antonius.}
[11] What of Bestia, who professes that he is a
candidate for the consulship in the place of Brutus? May Jupiter avert from us
this most detestable omen! But how absurd is it for a man to stand for the
consulship who can not be elected praetor! unless, indeed, he thinks his
conviction may be taken as an equivalent to the praetorship Let this second
Caesar, this great Vopiscus, a man of consummate genius, of the highest
influence, who seeks the consulship immediately after having been aedile, be
excused from obedience to the laws. Although, indeed, the laws do not bind him,
on account, I suppose, of his exceeding dignity. But this man has been
acquitted five times when I have defended him. To win a sixth city victory {Triumph
in Rome
[12] Nor is this the case with respect to this man
alone; there are other men in the same camp honestly condemned and shamefully
restored; what counsel do you imagine can be adopted by those men who are
enemies to all good men, that is not utterly cruel? There is besides a fellow called
Saxa; I don't know who he is; some man whom Caesar imported from the extremity
of Celtiberia and gave us for a tribune of the people. Before that, he was a
measurer of ground for camps; now he hopes to measure out and value the city.
May the evils 5
which this foreigner predicts to us fall on his own head, and may we escape in
safety! With him is the veteran Capho; nor is there any man whom the veteran
troops hate more cordially: to these men, as if in addition to the dowry which
they had received during our civil disasters, Antonius had given the Campanian
district, that they might have it as a sort of nurse {The lands of Campania would compensate for
loss on other estates. (…nurse … = elsewhere translated as: might have foster-mothers
for their other farms)} for their other estates. I only wish they would be
contented with them! We would bear it then, though it would not be what ought
to be borne; but still it would be worth our while to bear any thing, as long
as we could escape this most shameful war.
Ch.
What more? Have you not before your eyes those
ornaments of the camp of Marcus. Antonius?
[13] In the first place, these two colleagues {As
septemvirs on the commission to divide lands (Phil.VI.5)} of the Antonii and
Dolabella, Nucula and Lento, the dividers of all Italy according to that law
which the senate pronounced to have been carried by violence; one of whom has been
a writer of farces, and the other an actor of tragedies. Why should I speak of
Domitius the Apulian? whose property we have lately seen advertised, so great
is the carelessness of his agents. But this man lately was not content with
giving poison to his sister's son, he actually drenched him with it. But it is
impossible for these men to live in any other than a prodigal manner, who hope
for our property while they are squandering their own {i.e.they are unsparing
even of their poison}. I have seen also an auction of the property of Publius
Decius {P.Decius Mus, the consul, in the Latin War of 340 BC., being warned by
a dream, devoted himself with the enemy’s army to destruction, and so secured a
Roman victory.}, an illustrious man; who, following the example of his
ancestors, devoted himself for the debts of another. But at that auction no one
was found to be a purchaser. Ridiculous man to think it possible to escape from
debt by selling other people's property! For why should I speak of Trebellius?
on whom the furies of debts seem to have wreaked their vengeance; for we have
seen one table avenging another.
{A play on the meaning of tabula; Tabulae novae (new
accounts books) = a cancellation of debts; Tabula = an auction catalogue.
Trebellius had offended debtors by opposing a remission of debts (Phil.VI.4).
[14] Why should I speak of Plancus? whom that most
illustrious citizen Aquila has driven from
Pollentia,and that too with a broken leg; and I wish he had met with that
accident earlier, so as not to be liable to return hither. {i.e. “would he had
been crucified before he returned from exile.”}
I had almost passed over the light and glory of that
army, Caius Annius Cimber, the son of Lysidicus, a Lysidicus himself in the
Greek meaning of the word, since he has broken all laws {Lysidicus = “dissolver of laws.”}, unless perhaps it is natural
for a Cimbrian to slay a German.{Cimber killed his brother (cf.Phil.XIII.12) where Cicero Cicero
[15] Wherefore, as I have often at other times
differed against my will from Quintus Fufius, so on this occasion I gladly
agree with his proposition. And from this you may see that my difference is not
with the man, but with the cause which he sometimes advocates.
Therefore, at present I not only agree with Quintus
Fufius, but I even return thanks to him; for he has given utterance to opinions
which are upright, and dignified, and worthy of the republic. He has pronounced
Dolabella a public enemy; he has declared his opinion that his property ought
to be confiscated by public authority. And though nothing could be added to
this (for, indeed, what could he propose more severe or more pitiless?),
nevertheless, he said that if any of those men who were asked their opinion
after him proposed any more severe sentence, he would vote for it. Who can
avoid praising such severity as this?
Ch.
[16] Now, since Dolabella has been pronounced a public
enemy, he must be pursued by war. For he himself will not remain quiet. He has
a legion with him; he has troops of runaway slaves, he has a wicked band of
impious men; he himself is confident, intemperate, and bent on falling by the
death of a gladiator. Wherefore since as. Dolabella was voted an enemy by the
decree which was passed yesterday, war must be waged, we must necessarily
appoint a general.
Two opinions have been advanced; neither of which do I
approve {One that an extraordinary command should be given; the other that the
consuls of the year should conduct the war.}. The one, because I always think
it dangerous unless it be absolutely necessary; the other, because I think it
wholly unsuited to the emergency.
[17] For an extraordinary commission is a measure
suited rather to the fickle character of the mob; one which does not at all
become our dignity or this assembly. In the war against Antiochus {Antiochus
the Great, king of Syria, defeated in 190 BC by Scipio at Magnesia, and
deprived of his conquests in Asia Minor.}, a great and important war, when Asia
had fallen by lot to Lucius Scipio as his province, and when he was thought to
have hardly spirit and hardly vigor enough for it; and when the senate was
inclined to entrust the business to his colleague Caius Laelius, the father of
this Laelius, who was surnamed the Wise; Publius Africanus, the elder brother
of Lucius Scipio, rose up, and entreated them not to cast such a slur on his
family, and said that in his brother there was united the greatest possible
valor, with the most consummate prudence; and that he too, notwithstanding his
age, and all the exploits which he had performed, would attend his brother as
his lieutenant. And after he had said this, nothing was changed in respect to
Scipio's province; nor was any extraordinary command sought for any more in
that war than in those two terrible Punic wars {The 1st Punic War from 263-241
BC.; the 2nd from 218-201 BC.; the 3rd was from 150-146 BC.} which had preceded
it, which were carried on and conducted to their termination either by the
consuls or by dictators; or than in the war with Pyrrhus
{Pyrrhus, king of [18] War was to be waged against Aristonicus {Aristonicus claimed in 131 BC the
{”pro consulibus, non pro consule”, “ for the consuls, not as proconsul”.}
[19] What then is the object of these comitia? or what
is the meaning of this canvassing which that most wise and dignified citizen {P.Servilius, who subdued in 76 BC
the Isaurian pirates.}, Lucius Caesar, has introduced into the senate? He has
proposed to vote a military command to one who is certainly a most illustrious
and unimpeachable man, but still only a private individual. And by doing so he
has imposed a heavy burden upon us. Suppose I agree; shall I by so doing
countenance the introduction of the practice of canvassing into the
senate-house? Suppose I vote against it; shall I appear as if I were in the comitia
to have refused an honor to a man who is one of my greatest friends? But if we
are to have the comitia in the senate, let us ask for votes, let us canvass;
let a voting-tablet be given us, just as one is given to the people. Why do
you, O Caesar, allow it to be so managed that either a most illustrious man, if
your proposition be not agreed to, shall appear to have received a repulse, or
else that one of us shall appear to have been passed over, if, while we were
men of equal dignity, we are not considered worthy of equal honor?
[20] But (for this is what I hear is said), I myself
gave by my own vote an extraordinary commission to Caius Caesar. Yes, indeed,
for he had given me extraordinary protection; when I say me, I mean he had
given it to the senate and to the Roman people. Was I to refuse giving an
extraordinary military command to that man from whom the republic had received
protection which had never even been thought of, but that still was of so much
consequence that without it she could not have been safe? There were only the
alternatives of taking his army from him, or giving him such a command. For on
what principle or by what means can an army be retained by a man who has not
been invested with any military command? We must not, therefore, think that a
thing has been given to a man which has, in fact, not been taken away from him.
You would, O conscript fathers have taken a command away from Caius Caesar, if
you had not given him one. The veteran soldiers, who, following his authority
and command and name, had taken up arms in the cause of the republic, desired
to be commanded by him. The Martial legion and the fourth legion had submitted
to the authority of the senate, and had devoted themselves to uphold the dignity
of the republic, in such a way as to feel that they had a right to demand Caius
Caesar for their commander. It was the necessity of the war that invested Caius
Caesar with military command; the senate only gave him the ensigns of it. But I
beg you to tell me, O Lucius. Caesar,I am aware that I am arguing with a man of
the greatest experience,when did the senate ever confer a military command on a
private individual who was in a state of inactivity, and doing nothing?
Ch.
However, I have been speaking hitherto to avoid the
appearance of gratuitously opposing a man who is a great friend of mine, and
who has showed me great kindness. Although, can one deny a thing to a person
who not only does not ask for it, but who even refuses it?
[21] But, O conscript fathers, that proposition is
unsuited to the dignity of the consuls, unsuited to the critical character of
the times; namely, the proposition that the consuls, for the sake of pursuing
Dolabella, shall have the provinces of Asia and Syria
[22] They do indeed propose it, “after having
liberated Brutus” {This was, on the motion of Calenus, carried. The only
alternative, says Cicero
But I say that any mention whatever of any provinces
has been made at a most unseasonable time. For although your mind, O Caius
Pansa, be ever so intent, as indeed it is, on effecting the liberation of the
most brave and illustrious of all men, still the nature of things would compel
you inevitably sometimes to turn your thoughts to the idea of pursuing
Antonius, and to divert some portion of your care and attention to Asia and
Syria But if it were possible I could wish you to have more minds than one and
yet to direct them all upon Mutina. But since that is impossible, I do wish
you, with that most virtuous and all accomplished mind which you have got, to
think of nothing but Brutus.
[23] And that indeed, is what you are doing; that is
what you are especially striving at; but still no man can, I will not say do
two things, especially two most important things, at one time, but he can not
even do entire justice to them both in his thoughts. It is our duty rather to
spur on and inflame that excellent eagerness of yours, and not to transfer any
portion of it to another object of care in a different direction.
Ch.
Add to these considerations the way men talk, the way
in which they nourish suspicion, the way in which they take dislikes. Imitate
me whom you have always praised; for I rejected a province {
[24] And you should take the more care of this point,
because your colleague, a most illustrious man, can not fall under the same
suspicion. He knows nothing of all that is going on here; he suspects nothing;
he is conducting the war; he is standing in battle array; he is fighting for
his blood and for his life; he will hear of the province being decreed to him
before he could imagine that there had been time for such a proceeding. I am
afraid that our armies too, which have devoted themselves to the republic, not
from any compulsory levy, but of their own voluntary zeal, will be checked in
their ardor, if they suppose that we are thinking of any thing but instant war.
But if provinces appear to the consuls as things to be
desired, as they often have been desired by many illustrious men; first restore
us Brutus, the light and glory of the state; whom we ought to preserve like
that statue which fell from heaven, and is guarded by the protection of Vesta:
which, as long as it is safe, insures our safety also.{The palladium, or image
of Pallas, which was kept in the citadel of Troy as a safeguard of the city,
and was afterwards in Rome. Paley suggests it was probably a meteoric stone.}
Then we will raise you, if it be possible, even to heaven on our shoulders;
unquestionably we will select for you the most worthy provinces. But at present
let us apply ourselves to the business before us. And the question is, whether
we will live as freemen, or die; for death is certainly to be preferred to
slavery.
[25] What more need I say? Suppose that proposition
causes delay in the pursuit of Dolabella? For when will the consul arrive? Are
we waiting till there is not even a vestige of the towns and cities of Asia left? “But they will send some one of their
officers”.That will certainly be a step that I shall quite approve of; I who
just now objected to giving any extraordinary military command to ever so
illustrious a man if he were only a private individual. “But they will send a
man worthy of such a charge”. Will they send one more worthy than Publius
Servilius? But the city has not such a man. What then he himself thinks ought
to be given to no one, not even by the senate, can I approve of that being
conferred by the decision of one man?
[26] We have need, O conscript fathers, of a man ready
and prepared, and of one who has a military command legally conferred on him;
and of one who, besides this, has authority, and a name, and an army, and a
courage which has been already tried in his exertions for the deliverance of the
republic.
Ch.
Who then is that man? Either Marcus Brutus, or Caius
Cassius, or both of them. I would vote in plain words, as there are many
precedents for, one consul or both, if we had not already hampered Brutus
sufficiently in Greece, and if we had not preferred having his reinforcement
approach nearer to Italy rather than move farther off toward Asia; not so much
in order to receive succor ourselves from that army, as to enable that army {The
army of Hirtius and Pansa.}to receive aid across the water. Besides, O
conscript fathers, even now Caius. Antonius is detaining Marcus Brutus, for he
occupies Apollonia, a large and important city; he occupies, as I believe,
Byllis; he occupies Amantia; he is threatening
[27] For both Brutus and Cassius have in many
instances been a senate to themselves. For it is quite inevitable that in such
a confusion and disturbance of all things men should be guided by the present
emergency rather than by precedent. Nor will this be the first time that either
Brutus or Cassius has considered the safety and deliverance of his country his
most holy law and his most excellent precedent. Therefore, if there were no
motion submitted to us about the pursuit of Dolabella, still I should consider
it equivalent to a decree, when there were men of such a character for virtue,
authority, and the greatest nobleness, possessing armies, one of which is
already known to us, and the other has been abundantly heard of.
Ch.
Brutus then, you may be sure, has not waited for our
decrees, as he was sure of our desires. For he is not gone to his own province
of Crete; he has flown to Macedonia, which belonged to another; he has
accounted every thing his own which you have wished to be yours; he has
enlisted new legions; he has received old ones; he has gained over to his own
standard the cavalry of Dolabella, and, even before that man was polluted with
such enormous parricide, he, of his own head, pronounced him his enemy. For if
he were not one, by what right could he himself have tempted the cavalry to
abandon the consul?
[28] What more need I say? Did not Caius Cassius, a
man endowed with equal greatness of mind and with equal wisdom, depart from Italy with the deliberate object of preventing
Dolabella from obtaining possession of Syria
For law is nothing but a correct principle drawn from
the inspiration of the gods, commanding what is honest, and forbidding the
contrary. Cassius, therefore, obeyed this law when he went into Syria
[29] But in order that they may be sanctioned by your
authority also, I now give my vote, that, as Publius Dolabella, and those who
have been the ministers of and accomplices and assistants in his cruel and
infamous crime, have been pronounced enemies of the Roman people by the senate,
[30] and as the senate has voted that Publius
Dolabella shall be pursued with war, in order that he who has violated all laws
of men and gods by a new and unheard of and inexpiable wickedness, and has
committed the most infamous treason against his country, may suffer the
punishment which is his due, and which he has well deserved at the hands of
gods and men; the senate decrees that Caius Cassius, proconsul, shall have the
government of Syria as one appointed to that province with all due form; and
that he shall receive their armies from Quintus Marcius Crispus, proconsul,
from Lucius Statius Marcus, proconsul, from Aulus Allienus, lieutenant, and
that they shall deliver them up to him; and that he, with these troops and with
any more which he may have got from other quarters, shall pursue Dolabella with
war both by sea and land; that, for the sake of carrying on war, he shall have
authority and power to buy ships, and sailors, and money, and whatever else may
be necessary or useful for the carrying on of the war, in whatever places it
seems fitting to him to do so, throughout Syria, Asia, Bithynia, and Pontus;
and that, in whatever province he shall arrive for the purpose of carrying on
that war, in that province as soon as Caius Cassius, proconsul, shall arrive in
it, the power of Caius Cassius, proconsul, shall be superior to that of him who
may be the regular governor of the province at the time.
[31] That king Deiotarus the father, and also king
Deiotarus the son, if they assist Caius Cassius, proconsul, with their armies
and treasures, as they have heretofore often assisted the generals of the Roman
people, will do a thing which will be grateful to the senate and people of
Rome; and that also, if the rest of the kings and tetrarchs and governors in
those districts do the same, the senate and people of Rome will not be
forgetful of their loyalty and kindness; and that Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius
the consuls, one or both of them, as it seems good to them, as soon as they
have reestablished the republic, shall at the earliest opportunity submit a
motion to this order about the consular and praetorian provinces; and that, in
the meantime, the provinces should continue to be governed by those officers by
whom they are governed at present, until a successor be appointed to each by a
resolution of the senate.
Ch.
[32] By this resolution of the senate you will inflame
the existing ardor of Cassius, and you will give him additional arms; for you
can not be ignorant of his disposition, or of the resources which he has at
present. His disposition is such as you see; his resources, which you have
heard stated to you, are those of a gallant and resolute man, who, even while
Trebonius was alive, would not permit the piratical crew of Dolabella to
penetrate into
[33] The army of Deiotarus the king, both father and
son, is very numerous; and equipped in our fashion. Moreover, in the son there
is the greatest hope, the greatest vigor of genius and a good disposition, and
the most eminent valor. Why need I speak of the father? whose good-will toward
the Roman people is coeval with his life; who has not only been the ally of our
commanders in their wars, but has also served himself as the general of his own
troops. What great things have Sulla, and Murena, and Servilius, and Lucullus
said of that man; what complimentary, what honorable and dignified mention have
they often made of him in the senate!
[34] Why should I speak of Cnaeus Pompeius? who considered
Deiotarus the only friend and real well-wisher from his heart, the only really
loyal man to the Roman people in the whole world? We were generals, Marcus
Bibulus and I, in neighboring provinces bordering on his kingdom; and we were
assisted by that same monarch both with cavalry and infantry. Then followed
this most miserable and disastrous civil war {Between Caesar and Pompeius}; in which I need not say
what Deiotarus ought to have done, or what would have been the most proper
course which he could have adopted, especially as victory decided for the party
opposed to the wishes {Deiotarus had supported Pompeius.} of Deiotarus. And if
in that war he committed any error, he did so in common with the senate. If his
judgment was the right one, then even though defeated it does not deserve to be
blamed. To these resources other kings and other levies of troops will be
added.
[35] Nor will fleets be wanting to us; so greatly do
the Tyrians esteem Cassius, so mighty is his name in Syria
and Phoenicia
Ch.
The republic, O conscript fathers, has a general ready
against Dolabella, in Caius Cassius, and not ready only, but also skillful and
brave. He performed great exploits before the arrival of Bibulus, a most
illustrious man, when he defeated the most eminent generals of the Parthians
and their innumerable armies, and delivered
[36] I have noticed, O conscript fathers, that some
people have said before now, that even Brutus is too much extolled by me, that
Cassius is too much extolled; and that by this proposition of mine absolute
power and quite a principality is conferred upon Cassius. Whom do I extol?
Those who are themselves the glory of the republic. What? have I not at all
times extolled Decimus Brutus whenever I have delivered my opinion at all? Do you
then find fault with me? or should I rather praise the Antonii, the disgrace
and infamy not only of their own families, but of the Roman name? or should I
speak in favor of Censorinus, an enemy in time of war, an assassin in time of
peace? or should I collect all the other ruined men of that band of robbers?
But I am so far from extolling those enemies of tranquillity, of concord, of
the laws, of the courts of justice, and of liberty, that I cannot avoid hating
them as much as I love the republic.
[37] Beware, says one, how you offend the veterans.
For this is what I am most constantly told. But I certainly ought to protect
the rights of the veterans; of those at least who are well disposed; but surely
I ought not to fear them. And those veterans who have taken up arms in the
cause of the republic, and have followed Caius Caesar, remembering the
kindnesses which they received from his father, and who at this day are
defending the republic to their own great personal danger,those I ought not
only to defend, but to seek to procure additional advantages for them. But
those also who remain quiet, such as the sixth and eighth legion, I consider
worthy of great glory and praise. But as for those companions of Antonius, who
after they have devoured the benefits of Caesar, besiege the consul elect,
threaten this city with fire and sword, and have given themselves up to Saxa
and Capho, men born for crime and plunder, who is there who thinks that those
men ought to be defended? Therefore the veterans are either good men, whom we
ought to load with distinctions; or quiet men, whom we ought to preserve; or
impious ones, against whose frenzy we have declared war and taken up legitimate
arms.
Ch.
[38]
Who then are the veterans whom we are to be fearful of offending? Those who are
desirous to deliver Decimus Brutus from siege? for how can those men, to whom
the safety of Brutus is dear, hate the name of Cassius? Or those men who
abstain from taking arms on either side? I have no fear of any of those men who
delight in tranquillity becoming a mischievous citizen. But as for the third
class, whom I call not veteran soldiers, but infamous enemies, I wish to
inflict on them the most bitter pain. Although, O conscript fathers, how long
are we to deliver our opinions as it may please the veterans? why are we to
yield so much to their haughtiness? why are we to make their arrogance of such
importance as to choose our generals with reference to their pleasure?
[39] But I (for I must speak, O conscript fathers,
what I feel) think that we ought not so much to regard the veterans, as to look
at what the young soldiers, the flower of Italyat what the new legions, most
eager to effect the deliverance of their countryat what all Italy will think of
your wisdom. For there is nothing which flourishes forever. Age succeeds age.
The legions of Caesar have flourished for a long time; but now those who are
flourishing are the legions of Pansa, and the legions of Hirtius, and the
legions of the son of Caesar, and the legions of Plancus. They surpass the
veterans in number; they have the advantage of youth; moreover, they surpass
them also in authority. For they are engaged in waging that war which is
approved of by all nations. Therefore, rewards have been promised to these
latter. To the former they have been already paid;let them enjoy them. But let
these others have those rewards given to them which we have promised them.
[40] For that is what I hope that the immortal gods
will consider just.
And as this is the case, I give my vote for the
proposition which I have made to you, O conscript fathers, being adopted by
you.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten
Opmerking: Alleen leden van deze blog kunnen een reactie posten.