his army; but he promised to return to ua immediately,, acceptiug an appointment as lieiiteuant, unless the consuls should proceed to hold eomitia"fcr the eleetion of prtetorB. For I earnestly recommended. l«mj as he was so well affected to the commonwealth, not to pos^one offering himself as a ' candidate. His conduct ought io-he acceptahle to all, at least such as look npon this as thgmrmy of the republic; and so much the more pleoeing to you, aiyou defend our liberty with greater courage and glory, and a? foa will gain a greater accession of dignity, if that result for:^ch we hope shall attend our counsels.
Moreover, mj dear Cicero, I beg of you^ most particularly, and as a friend may, to look favourably <in Tetus, and to eiert yourself to add to his honours; since," afthough nothing can turn him aside from the po-th which lie hjta chosen, yet he may be excited by your praises and kindnes^.to adhere more vigorously and tenaciously to his reaolutiop-j and this ^^jnlLTrery much oblige me. • ".', ^^^ LETTER VIII.
' Cicero to Brutus, greeting. -..
1 HAVE recommended many persona to yon, and I must continue to recommend; for every Tirtuoua man and good fdtizen is guided chiefly by your judgment, and all men of courage are eager to exert their efforts and spirit in your service; nor is there any one who does not think that my interest and influence have great weight with yoiL But I recommend to you Caius Na^nnius, a native of the municipal town of Suessa, in such a way that I cannot recommend any one with more sincerity. For in the Cretan war, he comnaanded the eighth century of the Priiicipes nnder Metellus, and, since that time, be has been occupied in his own family affeira. At present, being influenced both by the state rf the republic and by your pre-eminent dignity, he would be glad to obtain some post by your means.
I recommend to you, my dear Bmtua, a brave man, a prudent man, and, if that be anything to the purpose, a wealthy man. It will give me great pleasure if you treat him in such a manner that he may thank me for your favour to hini.
CIOEHO 'TO I LEITER IS.
letter, matters va»^ Cicero t^.ShUus, greeting.
At the time that I vaa writing this letter, lOBed to have bewj Veduoed to the last extremity; finr jnelanchoiy lottere ft&d^ws arrived about our friend Bmtua. They did not indeed tery macb disturb mo, for I could by no means distrust tbe.armies and generals whom we have; yet I did not a%Tts_ -with the majority, for I had not a bad opinion of the fidehty of the consuls, which was strongly Bospected. l-Soaifed in some particulars more prudence and promptness; &nd if they had exerted those qualities, we should haVo already reestabliishcd the republic For yo.u a^ not ignorant how great is the importanoo of Beaai>U|it^ene3s in public afliiirB, and what a difiereoce it make?; Whether the same thing bo determined, undertaken^ or doner, It littlo sooner or a little later. If everything that waff. voted with reaolution in this tumult, had either b done isn the day on whioh I dehvered ray opinion, acd postponed from day to day, or i^ fi-om the time when things wtre engaged to be done, they had not been atill delayed and procrastinated, we should now have no war at alL 1, my dear Brutua, hpve done everything for the republic that a man is bound to do, who has beeu placed io the rank in which I have been, by the deliberate judgment of the senate and people; not merely those thiuga, ivhich indeed are all that are to be required of a man, good faith, vigilance, and attachment to my country; for those are duties whidi every man ought to practiao; but, by him who delivetB his opinion on a&irs of a state among the chief men of it, I think that prudence ought also to be eshihitedj nor, when I have taken so much upon myaelf as to assume the helm of the state, do I think myself leas liable to reproof if I have given any unprofitable advice to the senate, than I should be if I bad given any that is treacherous.
I am aware that a carefiil account ia sent to you of what has been done, and what is going forward. But there is also something on my part of which I wish you to be informed, — (liamely, that my mind is fixed on (he war, and that I atteod.
ai 1 aiieoa « ITDS. 103 to no other object, imleaa perchance the adTfentage of the republic calls me to Bomething else; and the chief part of my thoughts are directed towards Cftssius and yourself. Prepare yoToraelf, therefore, my dear Brutus, to understand, that if af&iis turn out well at this crisis, it is by you that the republic must be improved; or, if any miacarriHge takes place, it is by you that the republic must be restored.
LETTER X. Cicei-o to Briitm Om affairs seemed to be iu a better position; for I know fbr a certaiuty that au account has been sent to you of what has taken place. The consuls have proved to be just such men as I often described them to you; but the natural inclination of young Crasar for virtue'ia marvellous, I trust that wheu he is in the fuU possession of honours and influence, we may be able to guide and restrain him with as much case Bfi we have controlled him hitherto. No doubt that will bo a more difficult task, but still wo do not deapnir, for the young man feels altogether persuaded, chiefly by me, that it is through iua means that we have been saved; and, doubtleas, if he had not kept Antony away from the city, all would haTe been lost.
Sut three or four days before this most fortunate event, the whole city, uoder the influence of some alarm, were running off with tbcir wives and children to you; but having by the 20th of April recovered their spirita, they were desiroua rather that you should come hither, than that they should go to you. On that day, indeed, I reaped the greatest reward of aU my great labours and long ausiety, if indeed t^ere is any rewud iu solid and true glory; for a coucouise of as numerous a multitude as our cilj can contain flocked to my house; by whom I was conducted aa far as the Capitol, and then, with the utmost acclamations- and applause, placed in tlie rostrum. There is no vanity in me, nor ought there to be any; but yet the unanimity, the avowed gratitude, and the Dongratulationa of all ranks of men excite me, because it is glorious for mo to be popular from having secured the irel£ire of the people. But I would rather that you should I OICEKO TO BBDTUS.
hear of these tbings from others; and I would wish yc to keep me informed, with the utmost care, of all your afiain* and plans, and to bewai-e lest your eosinefis of dealing with people may Eeem to resemble indifference. The senate feels, aod the Roman people feel, that no enemies were ever more worthy of the last extremity of punishment, than thosa citizens who in this war have taken up arms against their country; on whom I cry for vengeauoe, and whom I attack, with every vote that I give, while all honest men approve f£, my conduct.
How you ought to judge of this matter, is a question for your own prudence. My opinion is, that the cause of the thi'ee hrothers is one and the same. We have lost two conenls, honest men, indeed, Ijut honest men merely. Hirtiu^ it is true, died in the hour o( victory, after he had defeated the enemy, a few days before, in a great battle; for Pansa had retired from the field, after receiving some wounds imder which he could not support himself. Brutus ' is pursuing the remains of the enemy, and so is Csasar. All those who have adhered to the party of Mark Antony have been declared public enemies; and accordingly most men interpret that decree of the senate as affecting those whom you have in your hands, whether captured, or having surrendered. I myself iodeed, advanced nothing more severe when I waa giving judgment on Cains Antonius by name, ns I had settled ^^^ jny opinion, that the senate ought to learn his case from yon, ^^L, 22d of April LETTER SI. Cicero to Brviui, greeting. Os the 22d of April, when opinions were given in th( senate about the propriety of pursuing with war those who had been declared euemiea, Servllius included Ventidiua in the number, and added, that Cassius ought to pursue Dola^ heUa, Hariug espressed my agreement with him, I proposed further, that you also, if you thought it desirable, and for tl advantage of the state, should pursue Dolabella with yoi 1 Docimns Bratua.
a \ ciOBHO TO BRtrrna.
y; but that, if you oould not do so with any benefit to the state, or if you did nut conceive that it would be fair the public advantage, you should keep your army where it ia. The senate aoxid do nothing more honourable, thau to leave it wholly to you to decide upon what appeared to you most beneficial for the commonwealth.
My own opinion, indeed, is, that if Dolabella has any force, if he has a camp, or any ground on which to make a stand, it will be becoming your character and your dignity to pur-Gue him.
Of the farces of our friend Casaius we knew nothing, for no letters have come &om him, nor was any news brought upon which we could rdy as certain. But of how much importance it is that Dolabella should be crushed, you are cerKunly aware, not only that he may receive the punishment due to his atrocities, but that there may be ao place to which the leaders of tlie rebels may betake themselves iu their flight from Mutioo. And that this was my opinico. even before, you may call to mind from my former letters; although at that time tbero was a haven of refuge in your camp, and a resource for safety in your army; for which reason, now that we are delivered from oiu" dangers, as I trust that we are, we ought the more to devote ourselves to the destruction of Dolabella.^ However, you will give a still more diligent considerutiou to these matters, and come to a wise determination respecting them. You will give us information, if you please, how you decide, and what you are doing.
I am very anxious to have my Cicero elected into your college,' and I certainly think that, in the comitia for the election of priests, a re^rd for the wishes of the absent membera may be had; for such a thing has been done before; ainoe Caius Marius, when he was iu Cappadocia, was made angur by the Domition law*, nor has any law prohibited suoh a thing fi™m being done in future.
Moreover, in the Julian law, which is the most recent law on the subject of appointments to the priesthood, there is a clause in these words, " Who is present as a candidate, or to whom regard shall be had," which clearly shows that regard , or minor priaiita, in which thore were —See Letter SIV. Middlclan.
k may be had to a person, even though ho is not present. On this subject I have written to him to follow your advice, as in everything else. You must also determine what is to be done with respect to Domitius aud to our friend Cato. But, though it may be lawful for regard to be had to a. person in his ahaence, yet everytbing ia easier to those who are ou the spot. If you decide, however, that you must go into Asia, there will he no possibility of bringing our fi'ienda hither for the comitia.
"We certainly expected that if Paaaa had been alive, everything would have been sooner settled; for he would at once ha,ve chosen himself a colleague, [in the room of Hirtius,] and then the Qoniitia for the elaotioQ of priesta would have taken place before those for the election of praatora; but now I foresee a great deal of delay by means of the auspices; for, while there shall be one patrician magistrate, the auspices cannot lapse into the hands of the senatora. Certainly affiurs are in a state of great confusion. I should wish you to put me ia possesmon of your sentiments on the whole ma,tter. — The Sth oj,, May. FarewelL It it rfor LETTER XIL Brulw to Cic^o, greeting.
you to imagine, than for ma to eipresa, how much delight I felt on learning the exploits of our Brutua and the consuls. I am pleased with other things, and am glad that they happened; but I am especially delighted that the sally made by Brutus was not only advantageous to him-BcU; but of the greatest service to the attainment of the victory. As to what you say, in your letter, that the cause of the three Antonics is one and the same, aud that it is for me to determino what opinions I should entertain, I have no opinion but this, that the right of decision concerning tliose cntiBeoB who were not killed in the battle against us, belongs to the senate or people of Rome.
But, you will reply, you are wrong in this, that you call men of a hostile disposition to the republic, citizens. Nay, I am strictly right; for what the senate baa not yet decreed, ©r the Roman people ordered, I do not arrogantly pi»- ■ BITOTUS TO CICEKO.
judge, or tring under my own decision. Nor do I change my feelings with regard to this piuticular in my conduct, that from him whom ciroumstaoces did not compel me to put to death.i I neither took anything away with cruelty, lior did I treat him with at all too much indulgence, but kept him in my power as long as the war lasted. I look upon it B« by ^Lf more honourable, ejad what the republic may better allow, to abstain from pereecuting the miserable in their mirfortunes, rather than to heap boundless powers on those already powerful, which may but excite their cupidity and arrc^ance.
In this respect, ray dear Cicero, best aud bravest of men, deserredly moat dear to me for my own sake, and for that of the repubhc, you seem to trust too much to your hopes, and to be too willing, as soon as any one has done auyl^iing properly, to give and entrust everythmg to him, as if it were not easy ftir a mind corrupted by bribery to be led away to evil counsels. Such is your good temper, that you will bear an admoaitjon ynA equanimity, especially in regard to the safety of the commonwealth. Still, you will do what you yourself think befit, and I will do the same when you have given me your opinion.
At present, my dear Cicero, we must take care not to exult idly at the overthrow of Antony, and not to allow our method of eradicating the first evil to cause the production of a seecmd and worse calamity; for no misfortune can now beM us, either through inadvertence, or passive permission, in vbioh there would not be something to blame in all, and especially in you, whose authority the senate and people of Home not only allow, but desire to be, as great as that of one man can possibly be in a free state; — authority which you are bound to uphold by cherisbing sentiments, not only of honour, but of prudence. Nor is any exercise of prudence, of which you have abundance, necessary to be demanded from you, except moderation in dispensing honours. All other eminent qualities arc found in you in such a degree that they may be compared to those of any of the ancients j hut this one propensity of yours, proceeding, as it does, from grateful and liberal feelings, requires to be checked by a more I BUUTUS TO OICERO.
cautious and moderate esercise of genei-osity; for tlie aenato ought to give uothing to any one, which may he either a precedent or a protection to disaffected persons. I am very upprehenaivej therefore, about the consulship, lest your frier.d Ctesar should, think that he has already mounted higher through your decrees thaa ho will rise from hia present eminence, if he become consul But if Antony found jq the instruments of regal power left him by another an opportunity of flBsuming regal power himself of what disposition do you think any one likely to be, who by the authority, not of a slain tyrant, but of the senate itself, imagiues that lie has a right to covet all imaginable power 1 I shall then, aooordingly, praise your good fortune and your prudence, when I begin to see clearly that Ctesar will be contented witTi the extraordinary honours which he lias already received. Are you then, you will say, going to make me liable for tlie misconduot of another? For another's misconduct assuredly, if measures might have been taken to prevent its occurrence. I only wish that you could clearly see my fears respecting him.
After I bad wi-itten this letter, I heard that you were made consul. If I really see that come to pass, I shall then indeed begin to imagine to myself a true republic, relying on its own strength. Your son is well, and has beau sent forward into Macedonia with the cavalry.
The 15th of May. From the camp.
BriUui to Cicero, greeting.
No one can know better than yourself, whose exertions and anxieties for the commonwealth have been so great, how dear Lucius Bibulua ought to be to me. And, therefore, either his own virtue, or our friendship, ought sufficiently to recommend him to you; so that I think I need not write at any length to you. For my wiahes ought to have influence with you, provided they are reasonable, or provided they are eipressed in compliance with a neeessary duty. He has resolved ■ to be a candidate for Pansa's placej and we both soUoit BRUTUS TO CIOERO.
a nomination for it from you; for you cannot confer this favour on one more closely connected with yon than I am, or nominate any one more deserving tlian Bibulns.
Why need I say anything about Domitiua and Apuleina, when they ore tboronghly recommended to yon by their own good quiJities! Still yon ought to support Apuleius by yonr influence; but the character of Domitiua will be made apparent from his own letter. Do not exclude Bibulus from your confidence, a man of such merit already, that, believe me, he is likely to becomo one that may deserve the praises of the few resembling yourself.
LETTER XIV. Brutus to Cicero, greeting.
Do not wait for me to offer you any formal expression of thanks; for such formality ought long ago to have been banished from our friendship, wMch has arrived at the utmost decree of aflection.
Tour son is not with me at present; but we are to meet in Macedonia; for he has been ordered to bring the cavalry from Ambracia through Thesaaly, and I have written to him to meet me at Heraclea. When I see him, since you give me leave to do so, we will settle the matter together about hia returning to offer himself a caudidate, or to recommend him-Belf for that honour. I most earnestly recommend to you Glyeon, Pansa's physician, who ia married to the sister of our friend Achilles; for we hear that he has ikUen under snspicion with Torquatus of having been accessory to the death of Pansa, and is kept in prison as a murderer; but nothing is leas worthy of belief; for who has suffered more misfortune by the death of Pansa J Moreover, he is a modest and prudent man; one whom no personal advantage seems likely to have prompted to crime. 1 entreat you, and, indeed, earnestly entreat you, (for our friend, suffers no less anxiety than is natural,) to deliver him from custody and to rave him. I think that this concerns my duty in regard to my private affairs as much as any other thing whatever.
While I was writing this letter to you, a letter was delivereii to me by Satrina, the lieutenant of Caiua Trebonius, from Tullius and Deiotarua, with the nowa that Doiabella had been defeated and put to flight I have sent you a Greek letter from a man named Cjcl reus, which waa written to Satrina.
My friend Flavins has chosen you as arbitrator pute which he haa with the people of Dyrrhachium about estate; and both I and Flaviua, my dear Cicero, entreat you to bring the affair to a aettlemeat. There is no doubt whatever, that the city was indebted to the man who haa made Flavins his heir; nor do the Dyrrhachians themaelvea deny this; but they declare that the debt was remitted by Cteaar. Do not allow an injury to be done by your friends to my I ThelGthof May. The camp in the lower part of Candavia.* LETTER XV.
Cicero to Brvtui, greeting. Aetbh my letter bad been written and sealed up, a let) was brou^t to ma ftam yon full of newa: and, what strangest of all things, saying, that Doiabella had aent five cohorts into the Chersonese. 'Raa he auch an abundance of men with him, that he, who was said to be fleeing from Asia, can attempt to attack Europe) And did he think that he would be able to do anything with five cohorts, when yoa have in that country five legions, an esecUent body of cavalry, and a very numerous force of allies? I hope indeed thai: those cohorts are already yours, since that robber has " da.^ 'J 1 leaid'S I greatly approve of your wiadom, in not having your army iixim Apollonia and Dyrrhacliium until you hearf' of the flight of Antony, the sally of Brutus, and the victory of the Roman people. As to what you write, therefore, that yon have since determined to iKid your army into the Chersonese, and not to permit the empire of Uie Romaa people to be a aport to a most profligate enemy, you act becomes your own dignity, and for the advantage of republic.
' A moimtainoufl dietiict between Macedonia and UlTricum.
aaa_ BRUTUB TO ATTICHB.
With respect to your intelligenoe of the sedition which has taken place in the fourth legion about Caius Antony, (you will take what 1 say in good part,) the severity rf the aoldlera pleases me better than yout own.
I am very glad indeed that yon have esperienoed the goodwili of the army and of the cavalry.
If you iiaye any news about Dolabella, you will send me word of it, as you promise; with respect to whom, I ara TOry mncb pleased that I had provided beforehand that your judgment should he unfettered as to carrying on war against him; it was of very great importance to the republic, as I perceived at the time; and, as I now think, to your own dignity.
As to what yon write, that ■' I have managed so as to be able to pursue the Antonies at perfect leisure," and praise me fiw having done bo, I daro say that such appears to you to bo the casBj but I myself am Cir {rata approving of the diatinotion which you draw; for you write, that " civil wars are to be prevented with more resolntion, than revenge is to be inflicted on the vanquished." On this point, my dear Bnitua, I most completely disagree with you; not that I yield to you in clemency; but a salutary soverity is far superior to an empty show of mercy. If we are determined to be mercifiil, we shall never be without civil wars. However, t.hi>; you must settle. As to myself, I may say what the Father in Plautua's Trinummus says, But for my part, my life ia almost ended; You are the most eonuem'd.
Take ray word for it, my dear Bnitua, yon will be cruahed, if you do not take care: for you will not always have the people in the same dispofiition as at present; nor the senate; nor the leader of the senate. You may receive this as declared to yon by the oracle of the Pythian Apollo; nothing can be more true. 18th of May.
LETTER XVI.
Snittts to Aftwue, greeting.
Tod write me word, that Cicero ia surprised that I never ^ve any opinion of his actions. Since you press the question, ERUTD3 TO ATIICDS.
I will, under compulaion from you, tell you what I think. I know that Cicero has done everything with the hest iatentions: for what is better known to ma than his dispositioa toworda the republic) Yet ho Beema to me, though of all men the most prudent, to have done some things (ivhat shall I sajl) imprudently, or with a Tiew to popularity, since in the cause of the repubhc he has not hesitated to make tho most powerful Antony his enemy. I know not what to say to you, escept this one thing, that the cupidity and boMnesB of the boy Csesar have been rather excited than repressed by Cicero; and that he givea way so much to his inddgenoe for him, na not to restrain himself from attacks upon others, attacks which recoil upon himself with double force; since he himself baa put more persons than oue to death,*^ and siucQ he must confess himself to be aa assassin before he makes the objections to Cofica's^ act which he does make, and, in his conduct to Casca, imitates Bestia.^ Because we are not every moment boasting of the ides of March, as he ia always talking of the nones* of December, will Cicero, for that reason, condemn that most laudable aot on a better pretext than that on which Bestia and Clodiua have been accustomed to inveigh against his cousulahipT Onr good friend Cicero bonats to me, that he has supported the whole war against Antony in the garb of peace. Of what profit ia that to mo, if a succession to the position occupied by Antony ia demanded aa the wages for having put Antony down, and if he, who has repressed that evil, has become the author of another, which will have a more solid foundation, and a deeper root, if we will but allow it t for the line of conduct which he hes taken is that of one who ^^ tora to death. — Mio.
' Tbs paBsage eecms to imply that Cioero had reproaohed him killing Cksht, and called him on assssain. — Middictoii.
' L. CalpuiiiiiiB B«Btia woa a tribune of tbe peopio, at tha expiiation of Cicero'a coDBolship; auppoaed to have Iwen dec^lj' engaged in Catilino'a conepirooy; and, when Cioero laid down his office, joined with hU colleague MetelluB in prohibiting Mm from speaking to tbe people; and waa orer after a perpetual enemy and reviler of bis adminiBtnilJoii.— Yid. Salluat, o. 13; Plutar. in Cia.~lHiddUtan.
' It WHS on the nonea of Docembor that Cicero cruahed the con-Biuraej of CatiUoe. The whole tone of this letter proves it to be a Mbrge:y, and a yerj olimiBj one.
IS TO ATTICOa, being the ^H s&aid, not of tyranny itself, but of Antony being But I do not thank the man who, provided that sIoiTe to an aMgry master, does not object to elavery itself; but to whoja even triumphs and rewards are decreed, and who is honoured with every sort of complimentary vote. A man ought to he ashamed to desire that fortune of nhich he has uov taken on him the name 1 Is this the conduct of a man of consular ranki Does this become Cicero 1 Since you would not let me be silent, you will read what must of necessity be impleasant to you. Indeed, I feel myself with how much uneaainesa I write this to you; nor am I ignorant what your sentiments are with regard to the present state of affairs, which, though desperate, you think may still be retrieved. And in trath, my dear Atticus, I do not blame you; for your age, your habits, nnd your family, render you inactive, as, indeed, I have learned from the report of our friend Flavins.
But I return to Cicero. What difference is there between Salvidienns and him? or what more would Salvidienua propose to be voted to Octavius than ho does 1 You will reply, he is still afraid of the remains of civil war. Is there then any one so afraid of a defeated enemy, as not to think that there is also reason to fear the power of one who has a viotoriouB army, and the rashness of a boy 1 Or does he act thus, because he thinks that everj^hing ought to bo surrendered to Octavius, at once and voluntarily, because of his great dignity! 0 the great folly of feai', so to guard against that very object which we fear, that, when we perhaps might have avoided it, we of our own accord invite it and draw it upon ourselves! We are too much afraid of death and exile and poverty: these things appear to Cicoro to be the very estrerae of evils; and as long aa he finds people from whom ha can obtain what he wishes, and by whom he may be honoured and praised, he does not despise slavery, provided it be honourable; if indeed anything can be honourable in the worst and most wretched of all contumely.
Though Octavius, therefore, call Cicero his father; though he refer everything to him, and estol him, and thank him; yet it will be seen at lost that his words are at variance with ' ' i acts: for what can he so inconsistent with every feeling of I BBUTOB TO ATIICU a human being, as to look upon that ma.ii as a parent, who ie not even in the condition of a free man? Yet that escellent man directs bia efforts only to this end, makes this his aim, haatenfi to attain this object, that Octavius may be tivoumble to him. I indeed now think nothing of those accomplishments, with which I know that Cicero is bo completely furnished; for of what profit to Lim are the writingB ■which he has composed in such Tast abundance, in defence of the liberty of our country, oonceming digui^, couooruing death, and exile, and poverty 1 and how much more juatly does PhilippuB ^ appear to understand thinga, who has given lees to a stepBoa than Cicei'o gives to a etrangerl Let him, cease, therefore, inhis boasting, to insult our sorrows; for what advantage ia it to ub that Antony has been defeated, if he is defeated only that what he held may he open to another! Although your letter intimates that things are doubtful.
Let Cicero then live, as he can endure to do so, a suppliant, and submissive to another; if he baa no regard either to hia age, his honoure, or his past acliievementa. Ah for me, there will assuredly bo no condition of slavery so attractive, as that I should be diverted by it from waging war witib the thing itself, that is to say, with kingly authority, with extraordinary commands, with absolute dominion, and with power that seeks to set itself above the laws, even though Antony be a good man, as you describe him, but as 1 never thought bim to be. But our ancestors would havo no master over them, even if he had been their father.
If I did not love you really as much as Cioero ia peffluaded that he is loved by Octavius, I should not have written this to you. I am sorry that you must be vesed at what I have now written, since you are greatly attached to all your friends, and especially to Cicero; but assure yourself that nothing is abated of my good-will towards him, though much of my favourable opinion of himj for it can never be, but that as anything appears to a man, so he will form hia opinion of it I wish you had sent mo word, what are the conditions offered to my dear Attica;^ I might have been able to tell you aome- ' PhilippuB had muried Atia, the mofierof Octarina; but tha letter is mtBtakea, for Philippua hod gone far bej-ond Cicero in the boQOUiB iriiieii lie wiahed to proonre for O-etaTias.
' Tke dangbter of AtticUB. Paul Mnnutiiu Buppoaea that the aUa-' a uitcDded is to n propoeol of ciEimage.
CrOERO TO BBUTDS. 115 thing of my own tbelin^ on the subject. I do not wonder that the health of my dear Portia ie an object of concern to To conclude, I will cheerfully do what you aak me; for my sisters also make the same request: and I know the man, L and what it is that be wautB, ^^P LIITTBR XTII.
^^^^ Ckero to Bratm, greeting.
T SHOULD perform the same office for you, which you performed for me in my aon-owj' and ehould endeaTour to comfort you by letter, if I did not know that you do aot req^uiro in : your diatress the remedies with which you alleviated my grief; and I wish that you may now cure yourEelf with greater ease than I, on tbat occaaion, cured myself. For it is inoouBistent with the character of so great a man as you are, not to be able t^ do himself wbat ho baa recommended ' to another. As for myself, not only the ai-gumenta which you I had eoUeoted, but your authority, deterred me from indulging in too much sorrow; for, when I appeared to you to hear my diatreaB with less fortitude than became a man, especially one who was in the habit of addressing consolation to others, you reproached me in your letters in harsher language than was your habit. Having, therefore, a high opinion of your wisdom, and being in awe of it, I recollected myself, and attached the more weight to the things which 1 had foimerly learned and read and heard, after your authority was added to them.
And at that time, my dear Brutus, I bad to obey only duty, and my natural disposition; you have to regard, tha people, and the public stage {as we say) on wliich you are; for siuoe the eyes, not only of jour own army, but of all your bllow-citizens, and almost of all nations, are turned upon you, it least of all becomes him by whose means we are rendered bolder, to appear himself weakened in spirit You have indeed met with affliction, (for you have lost that to which there waa nothing simiior on earth,) and you must grieve at > For Mb daugllter Tullls.
I CICERO TO BROTDS.
ID BOverQ a misfortune, lest to want all sense of grief should be found more wretched than to grieve; but as Jt is beneficial to othera to mourn with moderation, it is for you I would Bay more, if even, what 1 have said wm much to say to you.
We are looking for you and yoor army, without whioB (though everything else may Huccced to our wish,) ' scarcely seem likely to ha^e sufficient freedom. Of thfl general aspect of the affiiira of the commonwealth, I ' write more at length; and, perhaps, with more certatntyj in a letter which 1 was thiukiag of entrusting to our friea^ - Yetus.
LETTER XVIir. Ckero to BruUu, greeting.
Although I was just going to give a letter to Mef Corvinus, still I did not Uke my friend Votus to go to yoT without a letter from me. The republic, my dear Brutus, ii^ in a situation of the greatest danger; and though victorious, we are forced to fight again; this has happened through the wickedness and folly of Marcus Lepidus.
I'or the republic, there waa nothing at which I felt greater concern, than that I was unahle to yield to the entreaties of your mother and sister; for 1 thought that I should easily satisfy you, which is on object of tho highest importance with me.
For in no way could the cause of Lepidus he distinguisht from that of Antony; indeed, in everybody's judgment it tbe worse of the two, because after Lepidus hod been c plimeotcd by the senate with tho highest honours, and after be had only a few days before sent an admirable letter to tbe senate, he suddenly not only received the relics of our defeated enemies as his friends, but is even carrying on a most vigorous war against us by land and sea, of which it is uncertain what will be the result. When we are asked, therefore, to show pity to his children, no ai-gument is advanced why the greatest severities are not to be endured by ua, {may oni4^H Fhoi* ^ SBurns to oioero.
Jupiter avert the omen!) if tha fiither of those children should be victoriouH.