How can you, a man of consular rank, and the avenger of such atrocious crimes (though, while they are checked, I still fear that our ruin has only been postponed by you for a short time), how can you, I say, contemplate what you yourself have done, and at the same time approve those other things, or at least bear them with so lowly and acquiescent a spirit aa to wear the appearance of one who does approve of them) What private ill-feeling had you towards Antony? None, for any other reason but that he assumed such authority, requiring that men's safety should be begged of him; that we, from whom he himself had received liberty, should enjoy only a precarious safety; and that his will as to the commonwealth should bo absolute. You then thought it time to seek for arms, by which he might be prevented from lording it over us: but was it your object that, while be was prevented from BO doing, we might address our prayers to some one else, who would permit himself to lie put in his stead; or that the repnbhc might have its full rights and be mistress of itself J unless, indeed, our objection was not to slavery BlfUTDS TO CICBBO.
BlfUTDS TO CICBBO.
itself, iiut to Bome partioular kind of skvery. But w not only have endured our fortune, with Antony for an e master, but with advantages also and honours, as Bharers ia ' them with him, to whatever estent we pleased; for what would he have denied to those whose patience he found to be the main support of his authority! Bnt none of these considerations were of such importance that we should sell our good &ith and liberty for it. What would not this very boy, whom the nune of Gcesar appears to excite against the destroyers of Ctesor, what would not ho think it worth, (if there were an opportnnity for such a bargain,) to have, with our support, as much power aa he certainly is litoly to have, since we are su eager to hve, and to retain our fortunes, and to be called men of consular rank? But then that other CEesar will have been slain to no purpose; and why did ws rejoice at hie death, i^ after it, we were to be slaves no less than before?
Let no anxiety be felt, then, by othera. But, as for me, may all the gods and goddesses deprive me of everything, sooner than of the determination not to allow to the heir of' the man whom I have slain what I did not allow to the man himself, and what I would not allow even to my owu fether, if he were to come to life again; namely, that he should have more power than the laws and the senate with my permission. Can you possibly believe that the rest of the citizens will be fi^e under him, without whose permission there is no room for us in the city J How, moreover, ia it possible for you to obtain what you ask! for you aak him to permit uh to be safe. Do we appear to you, then, certain of receiving safety from him when we have received life? And how can we receive it, if we first throw away our dignity and our freedom! Do you think that to live at Eome is to be safe I It ia cir^ cumstances, and not place, which must procure me safety. I was not safe while CEesar was alive, unless indeed it was after I had resolved upon that deed. Nor can I bo an eaila anywhere as long as I hate to be it slave, and to endure in-' suits worse than all other evils. Is not this to fall back into the same ilarkneas, when we request of him who has taken to himself the name of a tyrant, (while in Grecian states even the children of tyrants, after the parents are put down, ara subjected to the same tiite,) that the mortal enemies e J BETJTOB TO CICEEO. 131 Buppresaore of absolute power may be allowed to live in safety! Can I wish to eee this state in bbcIi a condition, oe even think it a state at all, if it is not able to receive freedom ■when put into its hands, and even forced upon it; and when, it is more afraid of the name of the king who has been removed, in the person of a boy, than confident in itself, even after it has seen that very man who had the greateit power of all cut off by the public spirit of a few individuals 1 Hereafter, do not recommend me to your Caesar; no, nor even yourself, if you will listen to me. Ton value the mmiber of years, which your time of life renders it probable that you may enjoy, at a very high rate, if, for the sake of them, you will supplicate that boy.
In the next place, with regard to the admirable hne of conduct which you have adopted, and still pursue, towards Antony, take care lest, instead of being praised as the part of great magnanimity, it should be imputed to fear. For if you Eke Octaviua, aa one from whom we must beg our safety, you will appear not to have objected to a master, but only to have been desirous of a more friendly one. That you praise him for what he has hitherto done, 1 commend you; for his conduct deserves to be praised; provided only that he undertook that course of action in opposition to the power of another, and not for the sake of establishing his own. But when jon judge that it is not only lawful for him to have such power, hut also that it should be given him by you, so that he must be entreated not to prohibit us from living in safety, you then grant too high a reward to his merits; for you are bestowing on him that very thing which the republic appeared to possess in consequence of his conduct.
Nor does it occur to you, that if Octavius deserves any honours for waging war against Antony, the Eoman people could then never bestow on those who eradicated that evil, and of whom these are the relies, anything with which their merit could he compensated, even if it were to heap upon them all honours and rewards at once. But see how much more lively men's fears are than their recollections, because Antony is alive and in arms; but with respect to Csasar, all that was possible, or ought to have been done, has been done j nor can it now be recalled and undone. But is Octavius a peiBon of such importance, that the Eomon people ought to I I I I BRUTUS TO CICERa wait to eeB what decision he will form respecting uaT And are we of BO little consequence, that it seems proper to entreat a eiagle individual for our Bafetyi I, however, (to return to that point,) am of such a disposition, that I not only would not address supplications to any one, but would repress those who require supplications to be made to them; or else I will withdraw from those who are slaves, and ianoy that Home is in any place wherever I am permitted to be free. And I will pity yon, in whom neither age, nor honours, nor the example of other men's virtue, can diminish the fond desire of life. For my part, I shall seem to myself to be happy, if I can but perpetually and constantly cherish the persuasion that duo gratitude has been shown for my affection for my country. For what is more desirable than for a man, enjoying the recollection of glorious actions and the possession of liberty, to look down upon human a&iral At all events, I will not yield to those who yield; nor will I be conquered by those who wish themselves to be conquered; and I will make every possible effort and endeavour, and never cease to attempt to free our city from slavery. If that fortune which ought to follow my endeavours shall attend them, we shaU all rejoice; if not, at least I myself 1 shall rejoice. For in what acte or meditations can my life be I better spent, than in such as have for their object the deliver-' sues of my fellow-oitizens? Yon, my dear Cicero, I b^ and exhort not to be weary, nor to distrust the event. Ever, in averting present evils, attend also to those which may come hereaEler, lest they should make a way for themselves, unless you check them in time. Consider that the bold and free spirit, such as that with which yon saved the state when consul, and uphold it now when yon ore of consular rank, is valueless without oonsistenoj and steadiness, I admit, indeed, that the condition of tried, is harder than that of untried virtue; for we espect services from it as debts; and if anything turns out unfortunately, we then reproach the possessors of it in a hostile spirit, as though we had been deceived by them. Although, therefore, it is conduct worthy of great praise for Cicero to resist Antony, yet, because his character as consul^ seemed necessarily to promise that he would be of similar character as a consular,^ no man wonders at it. But ' la sappresfling the conspiiacy of Cntilitie. ' In rssisting Antonf.' ' if the same Cicero should waver in that judgment with regard to others, which he hue ueed with such firmness and magnaiiimit<^ in repelling Antony, he will not only deprive himself of all hope (jf future glory, hut will cause even the renown of hia past achievements to he forgotten.
For nothiag is great in itself, except that in which a principle of sound judgment is visible. And as it becomes no one more than yourself, to be attached to the repubho, and to be the defender of its liberties, both from your talents and your actions, and in accordance with the wishes and demands of all men, Octavius must, consequently, not be solicited to allow us to live in safety. Rouse yourself rather, that you may feel convinced that that city, in which you have performed the greatest deeds, will ever be free and honourable, provided that the people have proper leaders to resist the counsels of the unprincipled.
I ^ LETTER XXIV. Cicero to Brutus, greeti I had repeatedly exhorted yon by letter to c< soon as possible to the succour of the republic, and to bring your army into Italy, and did not suppose that your own firiends had any scruples about the propriety of the measure, 1 was requested by that moat prudent and anxious lady, your mother,' whose every care ia bent upon you and devoted to you, to pay her a visit on the twenty-fifth of July, which I, as I was bound to do, did without hesitation. When I arrived, Casca and Labeo and Scaptiua were with her, Bus &be immediately mentioned the business on which she sent for me, and asked me what my opinion was: whether we ought to send for you, and consider such a step to be for your advantage, or whether it would be better for you to delay &nd remain where you were. I gave such an answer as I • Sarvilia, the motber of BnituB, who ia rEfarrad to in thia Utter, had intrigued witli Cteaai; so that Bcaniial had even called Bnitua Orautr'B son. Brutus apiieara to ha^o lad a great opinion of her abilitieii, and to have been greatly gnided bj her in the trimuictioaB whioli followed u^ioa Coiaar's deaUi.
OIOBEO TO BHUTUB.
thought moat auited to your dignity and reputati that you should, at the earUeat poKsible moment, bring your aid to the tottering and aknoat falling republic. For what miafortuue, do you tJiink, is not to be expected in a war in ■which the victorious armies declined to pursue a fleeing enemy;'- in which a general, in the enjoyment of complete Bafety, of the most ample honours and the most abundant fort;une, blessed with a wife and children, near relations of your own,' declares war against the republic? and during which, (need I addl) amid the great unanimity of senate and people, there is still such, a vast amount of evil remaining withia the walls? But, at the time that I was writing this, I was afflicted with the utmost grief, because, when the repuhlio had accepted me as a surety,' as it were, for this young man, this almost boy, I scarcely thought that I sboold be able to perform what I had undertaken. And an engagement for another person's principles and sentiments, especially in affairs of preeminent importance, is a graver obligation, and one more difficult to endure, than an engagement for money.
For money can be paid, and the loss of property may be borne; but bow are you to discharge that for which you Lave engaged to the state, nnlasa he on whose behalf you made the engagement is willing to allow it to be discharged? Yet I shall be able, as I hope, to hold this youth to his eogagemeuts, ia spite of many that offer resistance to me. For there seems to be in him a good natural disposition; but ' ' age ia ductile, and many are ready to lead him astray, by holding out to him the spletidour of &,]se honour, that the perspicacity of his judgment may be dazzled.
To my other troubles, therefore, is added the labour also of using every contrivance to keep the young man to his duty, that I may not incur the imputation of rashness. And yet what rashness ia it? For I have bound him for whom I have become surety, rather than myself. Nor ia it possible that the republic should repent that I have become surety for him, since in hia conduct he has grown more 1 This alludoB, observes Middleton, to Octavios, who, with Deoimua BrutuB, forbore to pursue Aotooy after tbe battle at Mutina.
' This referB to Lepidua. whona wife waa the Bieter of Bmtus.
* When Cicero speaks of being aurety for Octaviim, he refers to the mth Philippio, 0. 6. Octarins wsb at this time only twenty you* «f age.
thi^^l CIOEBO TO BRUTDB. ISt!
steady, not only from his natural disposition, but in consequence also of my promise.
However, if I am not mistalen, the greatest difficulty ia tte republic ia the want of pecuniary resources; for the reepectable dassea stop tbeir ears more and more daily Hgalset the call for tribute;^ because that which was collected by the tas of one per ceot.,^ where the rich were iniquitoualy rated, haa all been spent in rewards to the legions.
Boundless espenses also threaten us, both for those armieB with which we are now defended, and alai for yonra; as to Gassius, he seema likely to come sufficiently provided. But I wish to discuss these and maay other matters in convetHation with you; and I trust to do so very soon.
With respect to your sister's eons, my dear Brutus, I did not wait for you to write to me. Doubtless the times them-Belvea (for this war is sure to bo protracted) reserve the whole affair for jrou.^ But, from the very first, when I could form uo conjecture with respect to the duration of the war, I pleaded the cause of the boys in the senate with such eamestnes as I suppose you have already understood from their toother's letters. Nor shall there ever be any matter in which, even at the peril of my life, I will not both do and say what 1 think that you wish, and what I conceive to be for your advantage. Farewell. The 27th of July.
' This tribute Beems to hxte been a flort of onpitation tai, proportioned to each mui'a substance, and had been wholly diaused in Roma ever BJnce the conquest of Macedonia by Panllua ^.mil;...wliich prodnoed a revenue aufBtiant to eaae the republic ever after from that burden^ until ih« preaent neceaaity obliged them to renew it. V\m. E. N. ixiiii. 3, MiddlOoH.
' CioeiTo, perceiving Brutua'a great tendemeaa far Uia aiater'a ohi]-dren, puts Tiini here again in mind that tiefars the receipt even of hia lettOTS, he had been tiaiDg hia authority with the eeuatc to make that matter eas; to them; but that, without any eodeavoura nf hia, the times themeelvas would throw the affair into hia hnniis whenever ha should come into Italy, siui^e the war, b; the trcacherj of Lepidua, waa aow likely to be carried into length. Stiddlelon.
CIOEBO TO LETTER XXV. Cicero to Octavtus, greeiinff.'
Had permisaioa been allowed me by jour legions, whicli ore most hostile to my name and to the Bomau people, to como into the senate and discuss the afbirs of the republic before thiit assembly, I should have done so; and that not BO much from incUnatioa as from necessity; for no remedies vhich are applied to wounds cause stioh eevere pain as those which tend to effect a complete cure. But since the senate is surrounded with armed men, it cannot honestly come to any decision but that it ia afraid: (there nre the standards of armies in the capitol; soldiers are strolling about the city;^ a camp is pitched in the Campus Martiua; and a!l Italy its occupied in every quarter by legioos raised to protect oii| liberties, but brought hither to enslave us, and by the ' ' of foreign nations:) I will for tiie present yield to you tl forum, and the senate-house, and the most sacred temples a the immortal gods, in which (liberty, that revived for a tim being now again put down) the senate is consulted aboiq nothing, fears much, and agrees to everything.
In a short time, if the times should require such a step, I will also depart from the city, which, having been saved by me, iu order that it might be free, I shall not endure to see in slavery. I shall be witling even to depart from life, which, although it is full of ansiety, yet, as long aa it is likely to be of service to the state, consoles mo with favourable hopes of a fair reputation with posterity; but should those hopes bo taken away, I shall die without hesitation, and I shall depart in such a manner, that good fortune shall appear to have been wanting to my judgment, rather than courage to Kiyself.
But this DUO- thing, which is at once an indication of my present distress, an evidence of the past injustice with which ' Middleton himself gives up this letter aa spurious, cliiofly becanao ho fiinoiea that the style is inferior to others of Cieero'fl letters. " In short, it ia no epiatle, but the declanjatioo of Bomo boy venting hia indignation, aud trying^ uoder the person of Cicero, how irell he could ^ harangue on the pei^dj and ingratitude of OctaTiua." — Middletiilf^ Frefact 111 the Epiitles to QvSntua and Bratvt.
' It was eontnry to the Bomau coustitution and laws to mtrodoe ''' s lemons into the city.
CICEEO TO OCTAVIUS. 137 1 have been treated, and a proof of my feeling for those from vhom I am separated, I will not omit to mention, in order that since I am forbidden to do so while present, I may be of eervice in my absence: if indeed my personal safety is either useful to the commonwealth, or at the least connected with the public safety. For, by the faith of the immortal gods, (unless haply I appeal to those in 'vaiu whose ears and minds are alienated from us,) and by tho fortune of the Boman people, (which although it is now unfaYourable to u^ was at one tirse, and, as I trust, will again be propitious,) who is there bo devoid of humanity, who so bitterly hostile to the name of this city, and to the homes of the citizens, as to be able either to conceal his grief, or to feel none, at such events as these? Or who, if ho cannot by any means remedy the public miseries, would not withdraw from his own share in the danger by death!
For, that I may begin at the b^inning, and proceed to the end, and compare the last events with the first, what day, as it has arrived, has not been more miserable than the preceding one? And what successive hour has not been more full of calamities to the Roman people than that which was before it) Mark Antony, a man of the greatest courage, (would that he had also been a man of wise counsels!) at^er Caius Cffieat had been removed (bravely, indeed, but far from fortunately) from the dominion which he was exercising over the republic, had become eager to obtain a more king-like authority than a free city could possibly endure. He squandered the pubhc money; he drained the treasury; ho diminished the revenues; he lavished the freedom of the city in every direction, in professed compliance with Cresar's will; he exercised a dictatorship; he imposed laws; he prevented a dictator from being appointed bylaw; he himself in tho senate opposed tho decrees of the senate; he desired to engross all tho provinces to himself. From a. man, indeed, by whom Macedonia was despised as a province, though CEesar, when victorious, had taken it for himself, what could we hope or expect?
You stood forward as the aesertor of our freedom, a most excellent assertor according to your conduct at that time; (would that neither our own opinion, nor your assurances of d-&itb, had deceived ua!) and collecting all the veterans ClOERO TO OCTAVina.
into one body, iind drawing off two of the legiona, from menacing the ruin flf their country, to contribute to its safety, you suddenly, by your own power, raised up tie republic when in great distreas and almost OTortbrown. What at that time did not the senate bestow upon you before yon. solicited it, more abundantly than you even desired, and with more frequency than you had ventured to hopel It gave you the forces, in order that it might have a defender armed with authority, not that it might arm au adversary vith military power against itsel£ It eave you the title of Imperator, after the army of the enemy' had been routed, aaaigning you honour, and not intending that that army, fleeing and routed, sbould confer aucb a titie on you by its utter defeat. It voted yon a statue in the forum, a plaoo in the Benate, the higbest honours ia the state, before you arrived at the legal age for them. If there ia anything else which con be bestowed on you, let it add that; but what is there beyond this that you cau wish to receive 1 If, however, everything has been bestowed on you without any regard to your age, or to precedent, or even to the feet that you are a mortal man, why do you so cruelly, if ungrateful, BO wickedly, if foi^etful of the benefits heaped upon you, thus seek to cripple the power of the senate! WhiUier have we sent you) from whom are you retumingi whom is it that wo have armed you! Against whom i; that you are thinking of waging war) From whom are you leading away your army] Against whom are you marshalling your troops! Why is any enemy leftl Why is a oitiaen regarded as an enemy! Why, in the middle of your march, is your camp moved further from that of the enemy, and, ■ nearer to tbo city).1 Alas me! never really wise, though at one time vaialjM thought to be that which I -was not, how greatly, 0 Bomaa^ people, baa your opinion of me deceived you! A!aa for my unfortunate and rash old age! Alaa for my grey hairs, dishonoured at the end of a life deprived of judgment! It was I that incited the conscript fathers to the ruin of their country; it was I that deceived the republic. It was I my-, eelf that persuaded the senate to lay violent hands on ita owife | ' TiiB army of Antony, defeated at the battle of Muti icEBo TO ocTAviua. 139 eiiatence, when I called you a Juuonian' youth, and the goldeu oflfipring of your mother. But the f.itea of joiur native land pointed you out as its future Paris, one mho should lay waste the city with omflagration, Italy with warj one who should pitch his camp iu the temples of the immortal gods, and hold tbe senate ia his camp.
Alas! for the miserable change in the afikirs of the commonwealth, BO rapid aud suddeu, so different from all former circumatanoes! What writer will ever exist of such genius, as to be able so to give au account of these events that they ahalt appeal- to be facts aud not fictions! What reader wiU ever eiist of so credulous a disposition, as not to think those things akin to febk which will then be banded down in our records with the greatest truth! For reflect that Antony was pronounced a public enemy; that the consul elect, the TSry father of the republic, was besieged by him; that yon. went forth to deliver the consul and to crush the enemy; that the enemy was routed by you, aud the consul delivered from.
his state of siege; then, that a short time afi»3rwards that very enemy who had been routed was sent for by you, and united as a coheir with you to seize the goods of the Roman people, as if the republic had been dead; that the consul ele^ was again blockaded in a place where he defended him-Belf, not with walls, but with rivers and mountains: — Who will attempt to relate such events as these! Who will dare to believe them! It may indeed be permitted to a man to have erred once with impunity; end a frank confession may be an excuse for an offender; for I will speak the truth; I would rathei", 0 Antony, that we had not driven you away when you were our master, than that we should receive this youth in that character! Not that any slavery ia desirable, hut because the fortune of the slave is more or less dishonourable according to the dignity of his master; and of two evils, while we have to avoid the greater, we must choose the less.
Antony, however, condescended to ohtaiu by entreaty the things which he wiehed to appropriate; you, Octavius, oitort them by force. He applied for a province legitimately, as k ] I I ould theH CICERO TO OCTAVIUS.
consul; you coveted one, though invested with no o£Ece. He erected tribunnlB, and passed laws, to ensure the safety of the wicked; you do eo to procure the destruction of the moat virtuous. He protected the capital from bloodshed and from conflagration at the hands of slaves; you wish to destroy everything, and bury it under blood and flame. If he acted as a king, ivho assigned provinces to Cassius and the Bmti, and those other protectors of our name, wlmt will he do who aeeks to rob them of life! If he who drove them out of the city was a tyrant, what shall we call him who does not leave them even a place to live in eiile?
If, therefore, there is any sense at all in those buried remains of our ancestors; if all sense and feeling is not consumed in the same fire with the body; what, if they should ask what the Roman people are now doing, — wliat,'! say, v '" any one of us reply who nest takes his departure to thi eternal mansionsi Or what account will those ancient he of our i-ace, the Africani, the Fabii, the Paulli, and Scipioa, receive of their posterity? What will they few concerning their country, which they themaelves decorated with spoils and triumphs? Will any one venture to tell theni that there is a certain young man, about eighteen yeare old, whose grandfather was a banker, whose father was a mere hock bail, each of them subsisting on precarious sources of livelihood; the one continuing such practices till his old age, BO that he cannot deny it; the other beginning them in his boyhood, BO that it is impossible for him not to confess it: that this youth is plundering and ravaging the republic; a youth to whom no valour, no provinces reduced in war and annexed to the empire, no dignity on the part of his ancestors, had attached the assistance of the powedul, but whose beauty, by infamous practices, had gained him money, and caused, in his person, a respectable name to be polluted with licentiousness; that he had collected the veteran gladiators of Julius, worn out with wounds and age, the needy relics of the school of Cicsar, to take up arms again, surrounded with whom he might throw everything into confusion, sliow pity for no one, and live for himself alone; a youth who obtained^ possesaioa of the republic as if it were a dowry settled oftJ him at his marriage, or bequeathed to him by will) J ~!cii will hear that those citizens are now slave^j CICEKO TO OCTAVIUS. 141 to secure whose dominion over their enemies they devoted themselves to death as the only means of victory. Caius Marins will hear that we are under the orders of a licentious master; he who would not keep even a private soldier of loose character in his army, Brutus will hear that that people, whom he himself in the first instance, and whom his posterity in a subsequent age, emancipated from kingly power, is now surrendered to slavery as the price of shameless debauchery. If this intelligence is conveyed to them by no one else, it shall certainly be soon conveyed to them by me; for if, while alive, I shall be unable to escape those evils, I have determined to flee from them by quitting life at the same time.
CICERO'S DIALOGUES DE ORATOR E; OH" THE CHAPlACTES OP TUE OEATOB.
Thaee I>iaIojtiieB were written, or at least published, by Cicero in tha year b,o, S5, whea he was about fifty-two years old, in tlie Bacoad consulaUp of Pom|)ey and CramuB. He composed them at the laquest of his brother Quintua, in order that he might set forth in batter torm, at a more ftdyaoced period of life, and after bis long MperienEe, those opinions on oratory which ho had eovoewhat haatily and crudely adrauced in hia early years in his hooka on InTentioiL The Dialogues are supposed to have been held G,n. 91, when there ware great contentious at Rome respeoting the proposal of tho tiibiuie Marcua Livius Drusus to allow tbe eeunturs, in common with the equites, to be judges on criminal trials.
The persons present at the dialogue related in the first book are Lacii Licinius Crossus, Marcus Antouius, his fiiend, the two rooi orators of their day; Quiutus Mucins Scffivola, the futher-in-Iaw _ CrassuB, who was celebrated for his knowledge of the civil taw, and &om whom Cicero himself received instmction in hia youth; and two yonng men, Caiua Amelius Cotta, and Fubllua Sulpicius Sufus, yaubhe of much ability and promise, who wore anxious to distingnish them-BcHves In oratory, and for whose instruction the precepts and ohser-TBtiona conveyed in the DicJngiira are supposed to have been delivered. The scene of the conversationa is the Tusculan viUa of Crassus, to -which he had retired from the tumults at Rome, and where ho was. joined by the rest of the party. '--,The objeut of Cicero, in these books, was to set before his reader all that was important in the rhetorical treatises of Aristotle, Isocrote^ and other ancient writers on oratory, divested of technicalities, ami presonfed in a pleasing form.
CrsssuB and Antonius, in the £rat book, discouiae on all the qualifications of, a perfect orator, Craaaus being the exponent of the sentiments of Cicero himself, and maintaining that a complete orator must be acquainted with tha whole circle of art and eoienca. Antoniua expresses bis opinion that far less learning is required in the orator than Crassus sapposes, and that, as uuirersiil knowledge and.fl DE ORATORE.