---
title: "On the Consular Provinces · De provinciis consularibus"
author: "Cicero"
translator: "Charles Duke Yonge"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-provinciis-consularibus/
cite: "Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, On the Consular Provinces · De provinciis consularibus. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-provinciis-consularibus/"
---

# On the Consular Provinces · De provinciis consularibus

*Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge*

Caesar should keep Gaul until his work there is done.

> Latin: ed. William Peterson, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0474.phi025, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Charles Duke Yonge, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0474.phi025.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Sections 1–25](https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-provinciis-consularibus/1.md)
2. [Sections 26–46](https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-provinciis-consularibus/2.md)

## 1. Sections 1–25

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-provinciis-consularibus/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-provinciis-consularibus/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. If any one of you, O conscript fathers, is waiting to see what provinces I shall propose to decree to the consuls, let him consider in his own mind what men I must think it most desirable to recall from the provinces; and then he will not have any doubt what ought to be my sentiments, when he has once seriously thought what it is absolutely inevitable that they should be. And if I were the first to deliver the opinion which I am about to state, you would in truth praise it; if I were to stand alone in it, at all events you would pardon me. Even if my opinion were to appear to you on the whole somewhat ineligible, still you would make some allowance for my just indignation. But, as the case stands at present, O conscript fathers, I feel no ordinary delight because it is so entirely for the advantage of the republic that Syria and Macedonia should be the provinces decreed to the consuls, that my own private feelings are in no respect at variance with the general good; and because also I can cite the authority of Publius Servilius, who has delivered his opinion before me, a most illustrious man, and of singular good faith and attachment both to the republic in general, and to my safety in particular.

> Latin: 1. quis vestrum, patres conscripti, exspectat quas sim provincias decreturus, consideret ipse secum qui mihi homines ex provinciis potissimum detrahendi sint: non dubitabit quid sentire me conveniat, cum quid mihi sentire necesse sit cogitarit. si princeps eam sententiam dicerem, laudaretis profecto; si solus, certe ignosceretis; etiam si paulo minus utilis vobis sententia videretur, veniam tamen aliquam dolori meo tribueretis. vero, patres conscripti, non parva adficior voluptate, vel quod hoc maxime rei publicae conducit, Syriam Macedoniamque decerni, ut dolor meus nihil a communi utilitate dissentiat, vel quod habeo auctorem P. Servilium, qui ante me sententiam dixit, virum clarissimum et cum in universam rem publicam tum etiam erga meam salutem fide ac benivolentia singulari.

[¶1] 2. And if he, both just now, and whenever he has had any opportunity or possibility of speaking on the subject, has thought it his duty to brand not only with his adverse opinion but with the greatest severity of language, Gabinius and Piso, as the two monsters who have been almost the destruction of the republic, both on other accounts, and also most especially because of their extraordinary wickedness and unseemly inhumanity towards me, with what feelings ought I myself to be actuated towards those men,—I whose safety they devoted and ruined for the gratification of their own evil passions? But in declaring my sentiments at this time, I will not be guided by my indignation, nor will I make my speech subservient to my enmity. The same feelings which every individual among you ought to entertain towards those men, shall influence me also. My own predominant and peculiar feeling of private indignation, which, however, you have always considered as belonging to yourselves in common with me, I will put aside while delivering my opinion, and reserve for a more fitting opportunity of revenge.

> Latin: 2. si ille, et paulo ante et quotienscumque ei locus dicendi ac potestas fuit, Gabinium et Pisonem, duo rei publicae portenta ac paene funera, cum propter alias causas tum maxime propter illud insigne scelus eorum et importunam in me crudelitatem, non solum sententia sua sed etiam verborum gravitate esse notandos putavit, quonam me animo in eos esse oportet, cuius illi salutem pro pignore tradiderunt ad explendas suas cupiditates? ego in hac sententia dicenda non parebo dolori meo, non iracundiae serviam. animo unus quisque vestrum debet esse in illos, hoc ero: praecipuum illum et proprium sensum doloris mei, quem tamen vos communem semper vobis mecum esse duxistis, a sententia dicenda amovebo, ad ulciscendi tempora reservabo.

[¶2] 3. There are four provinces, O conscript fathers, concerning which I understand that opinions have as yet been delivered: the two Gauls, which at present we see united under one command; and Syria; and Macedonia; which, against your will, and when you were suffering under oppression and constraint, those pernicious consuls seized on as their reward for having overturned the republic. According to the provisions of the Sempronian law, we have now to decree two to the consuls. How is it possible for us to doubt about Syria and Macedonia being these two? I say nothing of the fact that those men are holding them at present who procured them in such a way that they did not get them till they condemned this order of ours till they had destroyed your authority and put an end to it in the state till they had destroyed all public credit and good faith endangered the lasting safety of the Roman people, and harassed me and my friends and relations in the most shameful and barbarous manner.

> Latin: 3. sunt provinciae, patres conscripti, de quibus adhuc intellego sententias esse dictas, Galliae duae, quas hoc tempore uno imperio videmus esse coniunctas, et Syria et Macedonia, quas vobis invitis et oppressis pestiferi illi consules pro perversae rei publicae praemiis occupaverunt. nobis sunt lege Sempronia duae. est quod possimus de Syria Macedoniaque dubitare? Mitto quod eas ita partas habent ii qui nunc obtinent ut non ante attigerint quam hunc ordinem condemnarint, quam auctoritatem vestram e civitate exterminarint, quam fidem publicam, quam perpetuam populi Romani salutem, quam me ac meos omnis foedissime crudelissimeque vexarint.

[¶3] 4. All these private matters, all these transactions which took place in the city, I say nothing about; though they are of such a nature that Hannibal himself never wished so much evil to this city, as those men have done. I come to the case of the provinces themselves, of which Macedonia, which was formerly fortified not by the towers built, but by the trophies erected by numbers of our generals, which had long ago been reduced to a state of tranquillity by many victories and triumphs, is now so harassed by the barbarians who are not allowed to rest in peace in consequence of the avarice of the late consul, that the people of Thessalonica, placed in the lap as it were of our empire are compelled to abandon their town and to fortify their citadel, that that military road of ours which reaches all through Macedonia as far as the Hellespont is not only infested by the incursions of the barbarians but is even studded with and divided among Thracian encampments. And so those nations which had given large sums of money to our illustrious commanders to purchase the blessings of peace, in order to be able to replenish their houses which had been thus drained, instead of the peace which they had purchased, have waged against us what is little short of a regular war. And now that very army of ours, collected by a most splendid enlistment, and by a very rigid levy, has almost entirely perished. I say this with the most real grief.

> Latin: 4. domestica atque urbana mitto, quae tanta sunt ut numquam Hannibal huic urbi tantum mali optarit quantum illi effecerint. ipsas venio provincias; quarum Macedonia, quae erat antea munita plurimorum imperatorum non turribus sed tropaeis, quae multis victoriis erat iam diu triumphisque pacata, sic a barbaris, quibus est propter avaritiam pax erepta, vexatur ut Thessalonicenses positi in gremio imperi nostri relinquere oppidum et arcem munire cogantur, ut via illa nostra quae per Macedoniam est usque ad Hellespontum militaris non solum excursionibus barbarorum sit infesta, sed etiam castris Thraeciis distincta ac notata. gentes eae quae, ut pace uterentur, vim argenti dederant praeclaro nostro imperatori, ut exhaustas domos replere possent, pro empta pace bellum nobis prope iustum intulerunt.

[¶4] 5. The soldiers of the Roman people have been taken prisoners, put to death, abandoned, and dispersed in a most miserable manner. They have been wasted away by neglect, by famine, by disease, by every sort of disaster; so that (and it is a most scandalous thing) the wickedness of the general appears … to have been chastised by the punishment of the fatherland and the army. And this Macedonia, as all the neighbouring nations had been subdued, and all the barbarians checked, we used to be able to preserve by its own resources, in a peaceable state, and in perfect tranquillity, with a very slight garrison, and a small army, even without a commander-in-chief, by means of lieutenants, and by the bare name of the Roman people. And yet now, when there is a man there with consular command and a consular army, it is so harassed that it is scarcely able to recruit its strength by a peace of any duration. And in the meantime who is there of you who has not heard and who does not know that the Achaeans are every year paying a vast sum to Lucius Piso? that all the revenues and harbour duties of the Dyrrachians have been converted to a source of profit for this one man? that the city of the Byzantines, a city most loyal to you and to this empire, is harassed as if it belonged to an enemy? to which city he, after he could no longer squeeze anything out of them, because of the poverty to which he had reduced them, and could not by any acts of violence extort anything more from them, miserable as they were, sent his cohorts into winter quarters, and gave them commanders whom he thought likely to be his most complying and diligent agents in wickedness, and ministers to his desires.

> Latin: 5. vero exercitus noster ille superbissimo dilectu et durissima conquisitione conlectus omnis interiit. Magno hoc dico cum dolore: miserandum in modum milites populi Romani capti necati deserti dissipati sunt, incuria fame morbo vastitate consumpti, ut, quod est indignissimum, scelus imperatoris in p⟨atri⟩am exercitum⟨que⟩ exp⟨ia⟩tum esse videatur. hanc Macedoniam, domitis iam gentibus finitimis barbariaque compressa, pacatam ipsam per se et quietam, tenui praesidio atque exigua manu etiam sine imperio per legatos nomine ipso populi Romani tuebamur; quae nunc consulari imperio atque exercitu ita vexata est vix ut se possit diuturna pace recreare; cum interea quis vestrum hoc non audivit, quis ignorat, Achaeos ingentem pecuniam pendere L. Pisoni quotannis, vectigal ac portorium Dyrrachinorum totum in huius unius quaestum esse conversum, urbem Byzantiorum vobis atque huic imperio fidelissimam hostilem in modum esse vexatam? quo ille, postea quam nihil exprimere ab egentibus, nihil ulla vi a miseris extorquere potuit, cohortis in hiberna misit; iis praeposuit quos putavit fore diligentissimos satellites scelerum, ministros cupiditatum suarum.

[¶5] 6. I say nothing of the way in which he exercised his jurisdiction in a free city contrary to the laws and to the resolutions of the senate. I pass over his murders, I omit all mention of his acts of lust; of which there is a most bitter token, for the lasting recollection of his infamy, and almost bringing even our sovereignty into just odium, in the fact that it is notorious that some virgins of the noblest birth threw themselves into wells, and by a voluntary death escaped from otherwise inevitable disgrace. Nor do I omit them now because they are not most enormous atrocities, but because I am speaking without the support of any witnesses. But who is there who is ignorant that the city of the Byzantines was entirely filled and superbly decorated with statues? which the citizens, even when exhausted by the great expenses of important wars, while sustaining the attacks of Mithridates, and the whole force of Pontus, boiling over and pouring itself over all Asia which they repulsed with difficulty at their own great risk,—even then, I say, and afterwards, the Byzantines preserved those statues and all the other ornaments of their city and guarded them most religiously.

> Latin: 6. iuris dictionem in libera civitate contra leges senatusque consulta, caedis relinquo, libidines praetereo, quarum acerbissimum exstat indicium et ad insignem memoriam turpitudinis et paene ad iustum odium imperi nostri, quod constat nobilissimas virgines se in puteos abiecisse et morte voluntaria necessariam turpitudinem depulisse; nec haec idcirco omitto quod non gravissima sint, sed quia nunc sine teste dico. vero urbem Byzantiorum fuisse refertissimam atque ornatissimam signis quis ignorat? quae illi exhausti sumptibus bellisque maximis, cum omnis Mithridaticos impetus totumque Pontum armatum, effervescentem in Asiam atque erumpentem ore, repulsum et cervicibus interclusum suis sustinerent, tum, inquam, Byzantii et postea signa illa et reliqua urbis ornamenta sanctissime custodita tenuerunt:

[¶6] 7. But when you, O most unhappy and most infamous of men, became the commander there, O Caesoninus Calventius then a free city, and one which had been made so by the senate and people of Rome, on account of its recent services, was so plundered and stripped of everything, that, if Caius Virgilius the lieutenant, a very brave and incorruptible man, had not interfered, the Byzantines would not have retained one single statue out of all their great number. What temple in all Achaia? what spot or what grove in the whole of Greece, was there of such sanctity that a single statue or a single ornament has been left in it? You purchased from a most infamous tribune of the people, at the time of that general shipwreck of the city, which you, the very man who were bound to govern it rightly, had been the main agent in overturning; you purchased, I say, at that time, for an immense sum of money, the power of pronouncing judgment on the people of the free cities, with respect to the moneys which had been advanced, contrary to the resolutions of the senate, and the law of your own son-in-law. What you had bought, you sold in such a manner that you either never gave any decision at all, or else you deprived Roman citizens of their property.

> Latin: 7. te imperatore infelicissimo et taeterrimo, Caesonine, civitas libera, et pro eximiis suis beneficiis a senatu et a populo Romano liberata, sic spoliata atque nudata est ut, nisi C. Vergilius legatus, vir fortis et innocens, intervenisset, unum signum Byzantii ex maximo numero nullum haberent. fanum in Achaia, qui locus aut lucus in Graecia tota tam sanctus fuit in quo ullum simulacrum, ullum ornamentum reliquum sit? a foedissimo tribuno plebis tum in illo naufragio huius urbis, quam tu idem qui gubernare debueras everteras, tum, inquam, emisti grandi pecunia ut tibi de pecuniis creditis ius in liberos populos contra senatus consulta et contra legem generi tui dicere liceret: id emptum ita vendidisti ut aut ius non diceres aut bonis civis Romanos everteres.

[¶7] 8. But I am not bringing forward these facts at this moment, O conscript fathers, as charges against this man, I am merely arguing with respect to the province. Therefore I pass over all those things which you have often heard of and which you are well aware of, even when you do not hear of them. I say nothing of his audacious conduct in the city, which he has fixed deep in the recollection of your eyes and minds; I say nothing of his arrogance, of his insolence, of his cruelty. Let those dark acts of lust of his lie hid, acts which he tried to conceal by his stern countenance and supercilious look, not by modesty and temperance. I am arguing about the province, the welfare of which is at stake in this matter. Will you not send a successor to such a man as this? Will you allow him to remain any longer? a man whose fortune, from the very moment that he first reached the province, has so vied with his wickedness, that no one could decide whether he was more undeserving or more unfortunate.

> Latin: 8. ego nihil dico, patres conscripti, nunc in hominem ipsum: de provincia disputo. omnia illa quae et saepe audistis et tenetis animis, etiam si non audiatis, praetermitto. de hac eius urbana, quam ille praesens in mentibus vestris oculisque defixit, audacia loquor; nihil de superbia, nihil de contumacia, nihil de crudelitate disputo; lateant libidines eius illae tenebricosae, quas fronte et supercilio, non pudore et temperantia contegebat: de provincia quod agitur, id disputo. vos non submittetis? hunc diutius manere patiemini? cuius, ut provinciam tetigit, sic fortuna cum improbitate certavit ut nemo posset utrum protervior an infelicior esset iudicare.

[¶8] 9. But as for Syria, is that Semiramis any longer to be retained there? a man whose march into the province bore the appearance of king Ariobarzanes having hired your consul to come and commit murder, as if he were some Thracian. His very first arrival in Syria was signalized by the destruction of the cavalry; after that, all his best cohorts were cut to pieces. Therefore, in Syria, since he has been the commander-in-chief, nothing has been done beyond making money-bargains with tyrants, and selling decisions, and committing robbery and piracy and massacre; while the general of the Roman people, with his army in battle array, stretching forth his right hand, did not exhort his soldiers to the pursuit of glory, but only kept crying out that everything had been bought by him and was to be bought still.

> Latin: 9. vero in Syria diutius est Semiramis illa retinenda? cuius iter in provinciam fuit eius modi ut rex Ariobarzanes consulem vestrum ad caedem faciendam tamquam aliquem Thraecem conduceret; deinde adventus in Syriam primus equitatus habuit interitum, post concisae sunt optimae cohortes. in Syria imperatore illo nihil aliud ⟨umquam⟩ actum est nisi pactiones pecuniarum cum tyrannis, decisiones, direptiones, latrocinia, caedes, cum palam populi Romani imperator, instructo exercitu, dexteram tendens, non ad laudem milites hortaretur, sed omnia sibi et empta et emenda esse clamaret.

[¶9] 10. And as for the miserable farmers of the revenue, (miserable man that I also am, when I see the miseries and sufferings of those men who have deserved so well at my hands,) he handed them over as slaves to the Jews and Syrian nations, themselves born for slavery. He laid down as a rule from the very beginning, and he persevered in it, never to decide an action in favour of a farmer of the revenue; he rescinded covenants that had been made without any injustice, he took away all the garrisons established for their protection; he released many people who were subject to pay tributes and taxes from such payments; whatever town he was living in or whatever town he arrived at, there he forbade any farmer of the revenue or any servant of such farmer to remain. Why need I enlarge on this? He would be considered a cruel man if he had shown such a disposition towards our enemies, as he did show towards Roman citizens, especially towards those of that order which has hitherto always been maintained by its own dignity and by the goodwill of the magistrates.

> Latin: 10. vero publicanos miseros—me etiam miserum illorum ita de me meritorum miseriis ac dolore!—tradidit in servitutem Iudaeis et Syris, nationibus natis servituti. ab initio, et in eo perseveravit, ius publicano non dicere; pactiones sine ulla iniuria factas rescidit; custodias sustulit; vectigalis multos ac stipendiarios liberavit; quo in oppido ipse esset aut quo veniret, ibi publicanum aut publicani servum esse vetuit. multa? crudelis haberetur si in hostis animo fuisset eo quo fuit in civis Romanos, eius ordinis praesertim qui est semper ⟨pro⟩ dignitate sua benignitate magistratuum sustentatus.

[¶10] 11. Therefore, O conscript fathers, you see that the farmers of the revenue were ground down and nearly ruined, not by any rashness with which they had entered into their contracts, nor by any ignorance of the proper methods of transacting business, but by the avarice, the pride, and the cruelty of Gabinius. And to their assistance indeed, in the present difficulties of the treasury, it is actually indispensable that you should come. Although there are many of them whom you cannot now relieve, men who by the means of that enemy of the senate of that most bitter foe of the equestrian order and of all virtuous men, wretched that they are, have lost not only their property but their honourable position; men whom neither parsimony nor temperance nor virtue nor labour nor respectability of character, have been able to protect against the audacity of that glutton and robber.

> Latin: 11. , patres conscripti, videtis non temeritate redemptionis aut negoti gerendi inscitia, sed avaritia, superbia, crudelitate Gabini paene adflictos iam atque eversos publicanos: quibus quidem vos in his angustiis aerari tamen subveniatis necesse est, etsi iam multis non potestis, qui propter illum hostem senatus, inimicissimum ordinis equestris bonorumque omnium, non solum bona sed etiam honestatem miseri deperdiderunt, quos non parsimonia, non continentia, non virtus, non labor, non splendor tueri potuit contra illius helluonis et praedonis audaciam.

[¶11] 12. What are we to do? shall we suffer those men to perish who are even now supporting themselves on the resources of their patrimony or on the liberality of their friends? Or, suppose any man has been prevented by the enemies means from enjoying his public rights is that man protected by the law of the censors? but in the case of a man who is prevented by one who is an enemy, though he may not be actually called one, is that a man whom we ought not to assist? Retain then in the province a little longer that man who makes covenants with the enemy respecting the allies and with the allies respecting the citizens,—who thinks himself a more important man than his colleague on this account that he has deceived you by his morose appearance and by his countenance, while he himself has never once pretended to be less worthless than he really is. But Piso boasts in another sort of fashion that he in a very short time has brought it to pass that Gabinius is not thought the most infamous of all men.

> Latin: 12. ? qui se etiam nunc subsidiis patrimoni aut amicorum liberalitate sustentant, hos perire patiemur? si qui frui publico non potuit per hostem, hic tegitur ipsa lege censoria: quem is frui non sinit qui est, etiam si non appellatur, hostis, huic ferri auxilium non oportet? igitur in provincia diutius eum qui de sociis cum hostibus, de civibus cum sociis faciat pactiones, qui hoc etiam se pluris esse quam conlegam putet, quod ille vos tristitia vultuque deceperit, ipse numquam se minus quam erat nequam esse simularit. Piso autem alio quodam modo gloriatur se brevi tempore perfecisse ne C. Gabinius unus omnium nequissimus existimaretur.

[¶12] 13. Do not you think that you ought to recall these men from their provinces even if you had no one to send thither in their places? Would you, could you retain there these two pests of the allies, these men who are the destruction of the soldiers, the ruin of the farmers of the revenue, the desolators of the provinces, the disgracers of the empire? But you, yourselves, in the preceding year did recall these very men when they had only just arrived in the provinces. And if at that time your judgment had been unfettered and if the matter had not been so frequently adjourned and at the last taken wholly out of your hands you would have restored your authority, as you were most anxious to do recalling those men by whom it had been lost and compelling them to render up the rewards which they had received and whom had been conferred on them in return for their wickedness and for the overthrow of their country. And if they at that time escaped from that punishment, through no merit of their own, but through the influence of others, greatly against your consent, still they have undergone a much greater and severer punishment.

> Latin: 13. vos de provinciis, si non aliquando deducendi essent, deripiendos non putaretis? et has duplicis pestis sociorum, militum cladis, publicanorum ruinas, provinciarum vastitates, imperi maculas teneretis? idem vos anno superiore hos eosdem revocabatis, cum in provincias pervenissent: quo tempore si liberum vestrum iudicium fuisset nec totiens dilata res nec ad extremum e manibus erepta, restituissetis, id quod cupiebatis, vestram auctoritatem, iis per quos erat amissa revocatis, et iis ipsis praemiis extortis quae erant pro scelere atque eversione patriae consecuti.

[¶13] 14. For what severer punishment could befall any one, in whom there exists, if not any respect for his reputation, at all events some fear of punishment, than to have those letters of theirs utterly disbelieved which announced that the republic had been very successful in war? The senate decided this, when in a very full house it refused Gabinius a supplication; they decided, in the first place, that no belief at all could be given to a man polluted with every sort of guilt and wickedness; and, secondly, that the affairs of the republic could not possibly be managed successfully by a traitor, especially by that man who was known to be at the time an enemy of the republic; and, lastly, that even the immortal gods themselves did not choose their temples to be thrown open, and supplications to be addressed to them in the name of a most profligate and wicked man. Therefore, that other man is either himself a learned man, and one well instructed by his Greek slaves, with whom he now sups behind the scenes, as he used to do before the curtain, or else he has wiser friends than Gabinius, from whom no letters are produced.

> Latin: 14. e poena si tum aliorum opibus, non suis, invitissimis vobis evolarunt, at aliam multo maiorem gravioremque subierunt. enim homini in quo aliqui, si non famae pudor, at supplici timor est gravior poena accidere potuit quam non credi litteris iis quae rem publicam bene gestam in bello nuntiarent? statuit senatus, cum frequens supplicationem Gabinio denegavit: primum homini sceleribus flagitiis contaminatissimo nihil esse credendum, deinde a proditore, atque eo quem praesentem hostem rei publicae cognosset, bene rem publicam geri non potuisse, postremo ne deos quidem immortalis velle aperiri sua templa et sibi supplicari hominis impurissimi et sceleratissimi nomine. ille alter aut ipse est homo doctus et a suis Graecis subtilius eruditus, quibuscum iam in exostra helluatur, antea post siparium solebat, aut amicos habet prudentiores quam Gabinius, cuius nullae litterae proferuntur.

[¶14] 15. Shall we then have these men for our generals? the one of whom does not venture to inform us whether … he is styled Imperator; and the other must in a few days repent of having ventured to mention such a thing to us, if his clerks do not tire of writing. And if that man has any friends, or indeed, if it be possible that any one should be a friend to so savage and foul a brute, they comfort themselves with this consolation, that this senatorial order once refused an application to Titus Albucius. But first of all, the cases are very unlike. The proprietor had had a battle with one auxiliary cohort against a lot of banditti clad in sheepskins in Sardinia. And a war against the mightiest nations and tyrants of Syria was brought to a termination by means of a consular army, and a magistrate invested with the supreme military command. In the next place, Albucius had had already decreed to himself in Syria the same thing which he was soliciting from the senate. For it was notorious that he like a Greek, and like a light-headed inconsiderate man as he was had celebrated something like a triumph in the province itself. And therefore the senate marked their displeasure at this precipitate conduct of his by the refusing of a supplication.

> Latin: 15. igitur imperatores habebimus? quorum alter non audet nos certiores facere ⟨qua re⟩ imperator appelletur, alterum, si tabellarii non cessarint, necesse est paucis diebus paeniteat audere: cuius amici si qui sunt, aut si beluae tam immani tamque taetrae possunt ulli esse amici, hac consolatione utuntur, etiam T. Albucio supplicationem hunc ordinem denegasse. est primum dissimile, res in Sardinia cum mastrucatis latrunculis a propraetore una cohorte auxiliaria gesta, et bellum cum maximis Syriae gentibus ⟨et⟩ tyrannis consulari exercitu imperioque confectum. Albucius, quod a senatu petebat, ipse sibi in Sardinia ante decreverat; constabat enim Graecum hominem ac levem in ipsa provincia quasi triumphasse, itaque hanc eius temeritatem senatus supplicatione denegata notavit.

[¶15] 16. But let him in truth enjoy this as some comfort, and let him think this very eminent mark of disgrace all the less considerable because it has been inflicted on himself alone, provided only that he is content to expect the same end as that man by whose precedent he consoles himself. Especially as Albucius was not liable to the reproach of either Piso's lust or Gabinius's audacity and yet fell by this one blow, the infamy with which he was branded by the senate.

> Latin: 16. fruatur sane hoc solacio atque hanc insignem ignominiam (quoniam uni praeter se inusta est ), putet esse leviorem, dum modo, cuius exemplo se consolatur, eius exitum exspectet, praesertim cum in Albucio nec Pisonis libidines nec audacia Gabini fuerit ac tamen hac una plaga conciderit, ignominia senatus.

[¶16] 17. But the man who proposes to decree the two Gauls to the two consuls would return both these men in their provinces. But he who proposes to decree them one of the Gauls and either Syria or Macedonia still would retain one of these men; and while they are both equal in wickedness, he proposes to make their future condition unequal. No, I will make them, says he, praetorian provinces in order that Piso and Gabinius may have successors appointed immediately. Yes; if you are allowed to do so. For then the tribune will be able to intercede with his veto; but at present he cannot do so. Therefore I myself who now propose to decree to the consuls who are to be elected Syria and Macedonia, am prepared also to make them praetorian provinces, in order that the praetors may have their provinces for a year, and that we may see those men among us as soon as possible whom we cannot see at all with any equanimity. But believe me, those men will never have successors appointed to them, except when a motion shall be made in accordance with the provisions of that law by which it is unlawful for any one to interpose his veto while the debate is pending about the provinces; therefore, as this opportunity is lost, you must now wait an entire year; during which interval the calamities of the citizens, the miseries of the allies, and the impunity of the most wicked men may be extended.

> Latin: 17. duas Gallias qui decernit consulibus duobus, hos retinet ambo; qui autem alteram Galliam et aut Syriam aut Macedoniam, tamen alterum retinet ⟨et⟩ in utriusque pari scelere disparem condicionem facit. “,” inquit, “illas praetorias, ut Pisoni et Gabinio succedatur statim.” hic sinat! tum enim tribunus intercedere poterit, nunc non potest. ego idem, qui nunc consulibus iis qui designati erunt Syriam Macedoniamque decerno, decernam easdem praetorias, ut et praetores annuas provincias habeant et eos quam primum videamus quos animo aequo videre non possumus., mihi credite, numquam succedetur illis, nisi cum ea lege referetur qua intercedi de provinciis non licebit. hoc tempore amisso annus est integer vobis exspectandus; quo interiecto civium calamitas, sociorum aerumna, sceleratissimorum hominum impunitas propagatur.

[¶17] 18. But even if they were the most excellent of men, still, in my opinion, it could never be advisable to appoint a successor to Caius Caesar. Now, concerning this matter, O conscript fathers. I shall declare my real sentiments, and I shall not be disconcerted by that interruption of my most intimate friend, who did a little while ago interrupt my speech, as you heard. That excellent man says that I ought not to be more hostile to Gabinius than to Caesar; for that all that storm, to which I yielded, was raised by the instigation and assistance of Caesar. And if I were in the first instance to reply that I was having regard to the common advantage, and not to my own private sufferings, could I not establish that, when I say that I am doing what I well may do according to the example of other most valiant and most illustrious citizens? Did Tiberius Gracchus (I am speaking of the father, and would that his son had never degenerated from that father's virtue!) gain such great glory because he, while tribune of the people, was the only one of the whole college who was any assistance to Lucius Scipio, though he was the bitterest possible enemy, both to him and to his brother Africanus; and did he not swear in the public assembly that he had by no means become reconciled to him, but that it seemed to him quite inconsistent with the dignity of the empire that, after the generals of the enemy had been led to prison while Scipio was celebrating his triumph, the very man also who had triumphed should be led to the same place?

> Latin: 18. si essent illi optimi viri, tamen ego mea sententia C. Caesari succedendum nondum putarem. de re dicam, patres conscripti, quae sentio, atque illam interpellationem mei familiarissimi, qua paulo ante interrupta est oratio mea, non pertimescam. me vir optimus inimiciorem Gabinio debere esse quam Caesari: omnem illam tempestatem cui cesserim Caesare impulsore atque adiutore esse excitatam. si primum sic respondeam, me communis utilitatis habere rationem, non doloris mei, possimne probare, cum id me facere dicam quod exemplo fortissimorum et clarissimorum civium facere possim?. Gracchus—patrem dico, cuius utinam filii ne degenerassent a gravitate patria!—tantam laudem est adeptus, quos tribunus plebis solus ex toto illo conlegio L. Scipioni auxilio fuit, inimicissimus et ipsius et fratris eius Africani, iuravitque in contione se in gratiam non redisse, sed alienum sibi videri dignitate imperi quo duces essent hostium Scipione triumphante ducti, eodem ipsum duci qui triumphasset?

[¶18] 19. Who had a greater number of enemies than Caius Marius? There were Lucius Crassus, Marcus Scaurus, (were there no more?) and all the Metelli. But those men not only forbore to recall that enemy of theirs from Gaul by their votes, but also, out of consideration for the Gallic war, they even voted him the province out of the regular order. A most important war has been waged in Gaul; very mighty nations have been subdued by Caesar; but they are not yet established with laws, or with any fixed system of rights, or by a peace which can be very thoroughly depended on. We see that the war has been carried on, and, to say the truth, nearly brought to a conclusion; but we shall only see it all actually terminated in a successful manner, if the man who commenced it remains to follow it up to the last. If a successor is appointed to him, there is great danger that we may hear that the embers of this momentous war are again fanned into a flame and rekindled. Therefore I, a senator, an enemy, if you please, of the man himself, feel it my duty to be, as I always have been, a friend to the republic.

> Latin: 19. plenior inimicorum fuit C. Mario? L. Crassus, M. Scaurus alieni, inimici omnes Metelli: at ii non modo illum inimicum ex Gallia sententiis suis non detrahebant, sed ei propter rationem Gallici belli provinciam extra ordinem decernebant. in Gallia maximum gestum est; domitae sunt a Caesare maximae nationes, sed nondum legibus, nondum iure certo, nondum satis firma pace devinctae. adfectum videmus et, vere ut dicam, paene confectum, sed ita ut, si idem extrema persequitur qui inchoavit, iam omnia perfecta videamus, si succeditur, periculum sit ne instauratas maximi belli reliquias ac renovatas audiamus. ego senator—inimicus, si ita vultis, homini—amicus esse, sicut semper fui, rei publicae debeo.

[¶19] 20. What if I lay aside my enmity itself for the sake of the republic, who, I should like to know, would have a right to blame me? especially as I have at all times thought that I ought to seek for the models for all my intentions and for all my actions in the conduct of the most illustrious men. Was not, I should like to know, was not that great man Marcus Lepidus, who was twice consul, and also Pontifex Maximus, praised not only by the evidence of men's recollection, but also in the records of our annals, and by the voice of an immortal poet, because on the day that he was made censor, he immediately in the Campus Martius reconciled himself to Marcus Fulvius his colleague a man who was his bitterest enemy in order that they might perform their common duty devolving on them in the censorship with one common feeling and union of good will?

> Latin: 20. ? si ipsas inimicitias depono rei publicae causa, quis me tandem iure reprehendet? praesertim cum ego omnium meorum consiliorum atque factorum exempla semper ex summorum hominum factis mihi censuerim petenda. vero M. ille Lepidus, qui bis consul et pontifex maximus fuit, non solum memoriae testimonio, sed etiam annalium litteris et summi poetae voce laudatus est quod cum M. Fulvio conlega, quo die censor est factus, homine inimicissimo, in campo statim rediit in gratiam, ut commune officium censurae communi animo ac voluntate defenderent?

[¶20] 21. And to pass over ancient instances, of which there is no end, did not your own father, O Philippus, did not he become reconciled at one and the same time with all his greatest enemies? to all of whom the same attachment to the republic now reconciled him which had previously separated him from them.

> Latin: 21. ut vetera, quae sunt innumerabilia, mittam, tuus pater, Philippe, nonne uno tempore cum suis inimicissimis in gratiam rediit? quibus eum omnibus eadem res publica reconciliavit quae alienarat.

[¶21] 22. I pass over many instances because I see before me these lights and ornaments of the republic Publius Servilius and Marcus Lucullus; would that that great man, Lucius Lucullus, were still alive! What enmities were ever more bitter in this city that those which subsisted between the Luculli and the Servilii? But in those most gallant men the welfare of the republic, and their own dignity, not only put an end to that ill-feeling, but even changed it into friendship and intimacy. What? did not Quintus Metellus Nepos while consul in the temple of the all good and all powerful Jupiter, influenced by your authority and also by the incredible dignity of eloquence of that same Publius Servilius, become reconciled to me though I was far away, and do me the greatest possible service? Is it possible for me to be an enemy to this man, by whose letters, by whose glory, and by whose messengers my ears are every day saluted with previously unknown names of tribes, and nations, and places?

> Latin: 22. praetereo, quod intueor coram haec lumina atque ornamenta rei publicae, P. Servilium et M. Lucullum. Vtinam etiam L. Lucullus illic adsideret! fuerunt inimicitiae in civitate graviores quam Lucullorum atque Servili? quas in viris fortissimis non solum exstinxit rei publicae ⟨utilitas⟩ dignitasque ipsorum, sed etiam ad amicitiam consuetudinemque traduxit.? Q. Metellus Nepos nonne consul in templo Iovis, permotus cum auctoritate vestra tum illius P. Servili incredibili gravitate dicendi, absens mecum summo suo beneficio rediit in gratiam? ego possum huic esse inimicus cuius litteris fama nuntiis celebrantur aures cotidie meae novis nominibus gentium nationum locorum?

[¶22] 23. I burn, believe me, O conscript fathers, (as indeed you do believe of me, and as you feel yourselves,) with an incredible love for my country; which love compelled me formerly to encounter most terrible dangers which were hanging over it, at the risk of my own life; and again, when I saw every sort of weapon aimed from all quarters against my country, drove me to put myself in their way, and to expose myself singly to their blows on behalf of the whole body of citizens. And this, my ancient and perpetual disposition towards the republic, now reunites and reconciles me to and unites me in friendship with Caius Caesar. In short, let men think what they please; it is impossible for me to be other than a friend to one who deserves; well of his country.

> Latin: 23. , mihi credite, patres conscripti,—id quod vosmet de me existimatis et facitis ipsi,—incredibili quodam amore patriae, qui me amor et subvenire olim impendentibus periculis maximis cum dimicatione capitis et rursum, cum omnia tela undique esse intenta in patriam viderem, subire coegit atque excipere unum pro universis. me meus in rem publicam animus pristinus ac perennis cum C. Caesare reducit, reconciliat, restituit in gratiam.

[¶23] 24. In truth, if I have not only taken on myself the enmity of, but have declared and waged open war against those men who wished to destroy all these things with fire and sword; though some of them were my own personal acquaintances, and some had been saved on capital trials through my defence of them; why should not the same republic which was able to make me hostile to my friends, be able also to reconcile me to my enemies? What reason had I for hating Publius Clodius, except that I thought him likely to prove a mischievous citizen to my country, inasmuch as, inflamed by the most infamous lust, he trampled under foot by one crime two most holy considerations, religion and chastity? Is it, therefore, doubtful from these actions, which he has done and which he is doing every day, that I in opposing him was consulting the interests of the republic more than my own tranquillity; but that some others, who defended him, thought more of their own ease than they did of the peace of the community?

> Latin: 24. volent denique homines existiment: nemini ego possum esse bene merenti de re publica non amicus. si iis qui haec omnia flamma ac ferro delere voluerunt non inimicitias solum sed etiam bellum indixi atque intuli, cum partim mihi illorum familiares, partim etiam me defendente capitis iudiciis essent liberati, cur eadem res publica quae me in amicos inflammare potuit inimicis placare non possit? mihi odium cum P. Clodio fuit, nisi quod perniciosum patriae civem fore putabam qui turpissima libidine incensus duas res sanctissimas, religionem et pudicitiam, uno scelere violasset? est igitur dubium ex iis rebus quas is egit agitque cotidie quin ego in illo oppugnando rei publicae plus quam otio meo, non nulli in eodem defendendo suo plus otio quam communi prospexerint?

[¶24] 25. I admit that I was of a different opinion to Caesar with respect to the affairs of the republic, and that I agreed with all of you: but now I am agreeing also with you with whom I felt in common before. For you,—to whom Lucius Piso does not venture to send letters respecting his exploits,—you who have condemned the letters of Gabinius with a most remarkable stigma, and an unprecedented mark of disgrace have decreed supplications to Caius Caesar in such number, as were never decreed before to any one in one war, and with such attending circumstances of honour as were never voted to any one at all. Why, then, need I wait for any man to act as a mediator between us, in order to reconcile me to him? This most honourable order has mediated between us; that order which is the instigator and the leader both of the public counsels and of all my own designs. I am following you, O conscript fathers, I am obeying you, I am adopting your opinions;—yours, I say, who, as long as you had no very favourable opinion of the designs of Caius Caesar with respect to the republic saw that I too was very little connected with him; since you changed your opinions and inclinations on account of his great achievements you have seen me also not only the sharer of your sentiments but also the panegyrist and advocate of them.

> Latin: 25. me a C. Caesare in re publica dissensisse fateor et sensisse vobiscum; sed nunc isdem vobis adsentior cum quibus antea sentiebam. enim, ad quos litteras L. Piso de suis rebus non audet mittere, qui Gabini litteras insigni quadam nota atque ignominia nova condemnastis, C. Caesari supplicationes decrevistis numero ut nemini uno ex bello, honore ut omnino nemini. igitur exspectem hominem aliquem qui me cum illo in gratiam reducat? ordo amplissimus, et ordo is qui est et publici consili et meorum omnium consiliorum auctor et princeps. sequor, patres conscripti, vobis obtempero, vobis adsentior, qui, quam diu C. Caesaris consilia in re publica non maxime diligebatis, me quoque cum illo minus coniunctum videbatis: postea quam rebus gestis mentis vestras voluntatesque mutastis, me non solum comitem esse sententiae vestrae sed etiam laudatorem vidistis.

## 2. Sections 26–46

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-provinciis-consularibus/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-provinciis-consularibus/2/#p-N

[¶0] 26. But what is the reason why in this cause men so exceedingly marvel at and find fault with my opinions when I also before now proposed and voted for many things which concerned that man's dignity more than they did the safety of the republic? I proposed and carried a supplication of fifteen days in Caesar's honour the bill being passed in the terms which I drew up. It would have been sufficient for the good of the republic to have had it last only the same number of days as the supplication in honour of Caius Marius. That could not have been accounted by the immortal gods a scanty thanksgiving which was as great as had heretofore been offered in the most important wars. Therefore that increased number of days was given to the dignity of the men.

> Latin: 26. quid est quod in hac causa maxime homines admirentur et reprehendant meum consilium, cum ego idem antea multa decrerim quae magis ad hominis dignitatem quam ad rei publicae necessitatem pertinerent? quindecim dierum decrevi sententia mea. publicae satis erat tot dierum quot C. Mario; dis immortalibus non erat exigua eadem gratulatio quae ex maximis bellis; ergo ille cumulus dierum hominis est dignitati tributus.

[¶1] 27. And in respect of that, I, who as consul brought forward the motion, first, for decreeing a supplication of ten days to Cnaeus Pompeius after Mithridates had been slain and the Mithridatic war been terminated,—I, in compliance with whose opinion it was that the ordinary number of days that a supplication in honour of a consul lasted was doubled (for you all agreed with me when, having had the letters of that same Pompeius read, and knowing that all wars both by sea and land were happily terminated, you decided a supplication of twelve days)—I, I say, admired the virtue and greatness of mind of Pompeius in that, when he himself had hitherto been preferred to all other men in every sort of honour, he now was giving a more ample honour to another than he himself had received. Therefore, in that supplication which I proposed, the honour was paid to the immortal gods, and to the established usages of our ancestors, and to the welfare of the republic. But the dignity of the language in which the decree was couched, and the honour and the novelty of the attendant circumstances, and the number of the days, was meant as a compliment to the renown and glory of Caesar himself.

> Latin: 27. quo ego, quo consule referente primum decem dierum est supplicatio decreta Cn. Pompeio Mithridate interfecto et confecto Mithridatico bello, et cuius sententia primum duplicata est supplicatio consularis,—mihi enim estis adsensi cum, eiusdem Pompei litteris recitatis, confectis omnibus maritimis terrestribusque bellis, supplicationem dierum decem decrevistis,— sum Cn. Pompei virtutem et animi magnitudinem admiratus, quod, cum ipse ceteris omnibus esset omni honore antelatus, ampliorem honorem alteri tribuebat quam ipse erat consecutus. in illa supplicatione quam ego decrevi, res ipsa tributa est dis immortalibus et maiorum institutis et utilitati rei publicae, sed dignitas verborum, honos et novitas et numerus dierum Caesaris ipsius laudi gloriaeque concessus est.

[¶2] 28. A motion was lately brought forward before our body concerning the pay of the army. I not only voted for it myself, but I laboured earnestly to induce you to vote for it; I replied to many of the arguments of those who objected to it; I supported it also by writing. In that case also, I was rather considering the dignity of the man who commanded the army, than any particular necessity that existed for the measure. For I thought that he, even without this additional supply of money, was able to maintain his army with the booty that he had already acquired, and to terminate the war. But I thought it would be unbecoming to diminish the glory and splendour of that triumph of his by any parsimony on our part. A discussion took place also about the ten lieutenants whom he wished to have appointed; and some voted altogether against giving them, others asked for precedents, others wished to adjourn the consideration of the question, and others declared their opinion in favour of it without any complimentary expressions to Caesar himself. But on that occasion, I spoke in such a manner as to let all men see that, though I thought the measure advantageous to the republic, I was promoting it more cordially out of a desire to pay due honour to the dignity of Caesar.

> Latin: 28. est ad nos nuper de stipendio exercitus: non decrevi solum sed etiam ut vos decerneretis laboravi, multa dissentientibus respondi, scribendo adfui. quoque homini plus tribui quam nescio cui necessitati. enim arbitrabar etiam sine hoc subsidio pecuniae retinere exercitum praeda ante parta et bellum conficere posse; sed decus illud et ornamentum triumphi minuendum nostra parsimonia non putavi. est de decem legatis, quos alii omnino non dabant, alii exempla quaerebant, alii tempus differebant, alii sine ullis verborum ornamentis dabant: in ea quoque re sic sum locutus ut omnes intellegerent me id quod rei publicae causa sentirem facere uberius propter ipsius Caesaris dignitatem.

[¶3] 29. And I who have been received in all those discussions with silent attention now that the question is about the provinces which are to be decreed to the consuls am interrupted; though in all the former transactions it was only a compliment to an individual that I urged, while now I have no motive but the consideration of the war and the general welfare of the republic. For, as for Caesar himself, what reason can there be why he should wish any longer to remain in the province, except for the purpose of not giving over to the republic the measures which have been undertaken by him before they are completely consummated? It is the delightful nature of the country, I suppose, and the splendour of the cities, and the civilized state and accomplished habits of those nations and natives,—it is a desire for victory, it is a wish to extend the boundaries of our empire, that detains him there! What is there anywhere more severe than those countries? what more uncivilized than their towns? what more barbarous than their citizens? Moreover what can be imagined more desirable than the victories which he has already gained or what can be discovered beyond the ocean? Is his return to his country likely to be disagreeable to any one? Can it be so either to the people by whom he was sent on his command, or to the senate from whom he has received so many distinctions? Does time foster his wish to see his country again, or does it rather increase his forgetfulness of it? And do those laurels of his which he has gained amid such dangers, lose their greenness by the time that elapses after their acquisition? If, then, there be any one who is not attached to that man, still such an one has no reason for recalling him from his province. It is only recalling him to glory to triumph, to receive congratulations, to receive the highest honours which the senate can bestow, to receive the thanks of the equestrian order, and to become the object of the devoted affection of the people.

> Latin: 29. ego idem nunc in provinciis decernendis, qui illas omnis res egi silentio, interpellor, cum in superioribus causis hominis ornamenta ⟨adiumento⟩ fuerint, in hac me nihil aliud nisi ratio belli, nisi summa utilitas rei publicae moveat. ipse Caesar quid est cur in provincia commorari velit, nisi ut ea quae per eum adfecta sunt perfecta rei publicae tradat? eum, credo, locorum, urbium pulchritudo, hominum nationumque illarum humanitas et lepos, victoriae cupiditas, finium imperi propagatio retinet. illis terris asperius, quid incultius oppidis, quid nationibus immanius, quid porro tot victoriis praestabilius, quid Oceano longius inveniri potest? reditus in patriam habet aliquam offensionem? utrum apud populum a quo missus, an apud senatum a quo ornatus est? dies auget eius desiderium, an magis oblivionem, ac laurea illa magnis periculis parta amittit longo intervallo viriditatem? re, si qui hominem non diligunt, nihil est quod eum de provincia devocent: ad gloriam devocant, ad triumphum, ad gratulationem, ad summum honorem senatus, equestris ordinis gratiam, populi caritatem.

[¶4] 30. But if he, out of his regard for the interests of the republic, does not hasten to the enjoyment of that extraordinary good fortune which is in store for him, preferring to remain and finish everything; what ought I to do as a senator,—I, who ought to think only of the advantage of the republic, even if his wishes were opposed to it? For I feel, O conscript fathers, that we at this time, while engaged in decreeing provinces to the consuls, ought to have a regard to the preservation of perpetual peace.

> Latin: 30. si ille hac tam eximia fortuna propter utilitatem rei publicae frui non properat, ut omnia illa conficiat, quid ego senator facere debeo, quem, etiam si ille aliud vellet, rei publicae consulere oporteret? vero sic intellego, patres conscripti, nos hoc tempore in provinciis decernendis perpetuae pacis habere oportere rationem. quis hoc non sentit, omnia alia esse nobis vacua ab omni periculo atque etiam suspicione belli?

[¶5] 31. For who is there who is not aware that all our other possessions are safe from all danger, and even from all suspicion of wars? We have for some time seen that immense sea,—by the disturbed condition of which not only our voyages by sea were impeded, but even our cities and our military marches and roads were exposed to annoyance,—now, in consequence of the valour of Cnaeus Pompeius, possessed from the ocean to the very extremity of Pontus, like one vast harbor in a safe and defensible state; and as for those nations, which by their mere numbers and the immensity of their population, were sufficient to overthrow our provinces, we have seen some of them so thinned in numbers, and others so severely checked by that same man, that Asia, which was formerly the limit of our empire, is now itself bounded on the further side by three of our provinces. I might go on speaking of every region and of every race of men. There is no nation which is not either so far destroyed as scarcely to have any existence at all, or so utterly subdued as to be quite tranquil; or else so entirely at peace with us, as to share our exultation at our victories and at the extension of our empire.

> Latin: 31. diu mare videmus illud immensum, cuius fervore non solum maritimi cursus sed urbes etiam et viae militares iam tenebantur, virtute Cn. Pompei sic a populo Romano ab Oceano usque ad ultimum Pontum tamquam unum aliquem portum tutum et clausum teneri; nationes eas, quae numero hominum ac multitudine ipsa poterant in provincias nostras redundare, ita ab eodem esse partim recisas, partim repressas, ut Asia, quae imperium antea nostrum terminabat, nunc tribus novis provinciis ipsa cingatur. de omni regione, de omni genere hostium dicere: nulla gens est quae non aut ita sublata sit ut vix exstet, aut ita domita ut quiescat, aut ita pacata ut victoria nostra imperioque laetetur.

[¶6] 32. The war with Gaul, O conscript fathers, has been carried on actively since Caius Caesar has been our commander-in-chief; previously, we were content to act on the defensive, and to repel attacks. For our generals at all times thought it better to limit themselves to repulsing those nations, than to provoke their hostility by any attack of our own. Even that great man, Caius Marius, whose godlike and amazing valour came to the assistance of the Roman people in many of its distresses and disasters, was content to check the enormous multitudes of Gauls who were forcing their way into Italy, without endeavouring to penetrate himself into their cities and dwelling-places. And lately, that partner of my labours, and dangers, and counsels, Caius Pomptinus, that most gallant man, crushed in battle a war of the Allobroges which rose up suddenly against us, and which was excited by that impious conspiracy, and defeated those tribes who had provoked us, and then he remained quiet, contented with the victory by which be had delivered the republic from alarm. But I see that the counsels of Caius Caesar are widely different. For he thought it his duty, not only to war against those men whom he saw already in arms against the Roman people, but to reduce the whole of Gaul under our dominion.

> Latin: 32. Gallicum, patres conscripti, C. Caesare imperatore gestum est, antea tantum modo repulsum. illas nationes nostri imperatores refutandas potius bello quam lacessendas putaverunt. ille C. Marius, cuius divina atque eximia virtus magnis populi Romani luctibus funeribusque subvenit, influentis in Italiam Gallorum maximas copias repressit, non ipse ad eorum urbis sedisque penetravit. ille meorum laborum periculorum consiliorum socius, C. Pomptinus, fortissimus vir, ortum repente bellum Allobrogum atque hac scelerata coniuratione excitatum proeliis fregit eosque domuit qui lacessierant, et ea victoria contentus re publica metu liberata quievit. C. Caesaris longe aliam video fuisse rationem; non enim sibi solum cum iis quos iam armatos contra populum Romanum videbat bellandum esse duxit, sed totam Galliam in nostram dicionem esse redigendam.

[¶7] 33. Therefore, he fought with the greatest success against those most valiant and powerful nations the Germans and Helvetians; and the other nations he alarmed and drove back and defeated, and accustomed to yield to the supremacy of the Roman people, so that those districts and those nations which were previously known to us neither by any one's letters, nor by the personal account of any one, nor even by vague report, have now been overrun and thoroughly examined by our own general, by our own army, and by the arms of the Roman people. Hitherto, O conscript fathers, we have only known the road into Gaul. All other parts of it were possessed by nations which were either hostile to this empire, or treacherous, or unknown to us, or, at all events, savage, barbarian, and warlike;—nations which no one ever existed who did not wish to break their power and subdue: nor has any one, from the very first rise of this empire, ever carefully deliberated about our republic, who has not thought Gaul the chief object of apprehension to this empire. But still, on account of the power and vast population of those nations, we never before have had a war with all of them; we have always been content to resist them when attacked. Now, at last, it has been brought about that there should be one and the same boundary to our empire and to those nations.

> Latin: 33. cum acerrimis nationibus et maximis Germanorum et Helvetiorum proeliis felicissime decertavit, ceteras conterruit, compulit, domuit, imperio populi Romani parere adsuefecit, et quas regiones quasque gentis nullae nobis antea litterae, nulla vox, nulla fama notas fecerat, has noster imperator nosterque exercitus et populi Romani arma peragrarunt. tantum Galliae tenebamus antea, patres conscripti; ceterae partes a gentibus aut inimicis huic imperio aut infidis aut incognitis aut certe immanibus et barbaris et bellicosis tenebantur; quas nationes nemo umquam fuit quin frangi domarique cuperet. sapienter de re publica nostra cogitavit, iam inde a principio huius imperi, quin Galliam maxime timendam huic imperio putaret; sed propter vim ac multitudinem gentium illarum numquam est antea cum omnibus dimicatum. semper lacessiti: nunc denique est perfectum ut imperi nostri terrarumque illarum idem esset extremum.

[¶8] 34. Nature had previously protected Italy by the Alps, not without some especial kindness of the gods in providing us with such a bulwark. For if that road had been open to the savage disposition and vast numbers of the Gauls, this city would never have been the home and chosen seat of the empire of the world. Now, indeed, they are at liberty to sink down if they please; for there is nothing beyond those lofty heights as far as the ocean itself, which can be any object of fear to Italy. But still it will be the work of one or two summers finally to bind the whole of Gaul in everlasting chains either by fear, or hope, or punishment or reward, or arms, or laws. And if our affairs there are left in an unfinished state, and while there is still some bitterness of feeling remaining, although the enemy may be pruned back severely for the present, still they will raise their heads again some time or other, and come forth with recruited strength to renew the war.

> Latin: 34. Alpibus Italiam munierat antea natura non sine aliquo divino numine; nam si ille aditus Gallorum immanitati multitudinique patuisset, numquam haec urbs summo imperio domicilium ac sedem praebuisset. iam licet considant! nihil est enim ultra illam altitudinem montium usque ad Oceanum quod sit Italiae pertimescendum. tamen una atque altera aestas vel metu vel spe vel poena vel praemiis vel armis vel legibus potest totam Galliam sempiternis vinculis adstringere: impolitae vero res et acerbae si erunt relictae, quamquam sunt accisae, tamen efferent se aliquando et ad renovandum bellum revirescent.

[¶9] 35. Let, then, Gaul be left in the guardianship of that man to whose valour, and good faith, and good fortune it has already been entrusted. If, in truth, he, having been distinguished by such marked kindness of Fortune, were unwilling to risk the favour of that fickle goddess too often; if he were anxious himself to return to his country, to his household gods, to that dignity which he sees in store for him in this city, to his most charming children, and to his most illustrious son-in-law; if he were impatient to be borne in triumph as a conqueror to the Capitol, crowned with the illustrious laurel of victory; if, in short, he were apprehensive of some disaster, as no event can now add so much glory to him as a mishap might deprive him of—still it would be your duty to insist on all those affairs being brought to a termination by the same man who has begun them so successfully. But when he has not yet satisfied his own desire for glory and for the safety of the republic, and as he prefers coming at a later period to reap the rewards of his toils rather than not discharging to the full the duty which the republic has committed to him; then certainly, we, for our part, ought not to recall a general who is so eager to conduct the affairs of the republic gloriously, nor to throw into confusion and to hinder his plans for the whole Gallic war, which are now almost matured and accomplished.

> Latin: 35. re sit in eius tutela Gallia cuius fidei virtuti felicitati commendata est. si Fortunae muneribus amplissimis ornatus saepius eius deae periculum facere nollet, si in patriam, si ad deos penatis, si ad eam dignitatem quam in civitate sibi propositam videt, si ad iucundissimos liberos, si ad clarissimum generum redire properaret, si in Capitolium invehi victor cum illa insigni laurea gestiret, si denique timeret casum aliquem, qui illi tantum addere iam non potest quantum auferre, nos tamen oporteret ab eodem illa omnia a quo profligata sunt confici velle: cum vero ille suae gloriae iam pridem rei publicae nondum satis fecerit, et malit tamen tardius ad suorum laborum fructus pervenire quam non explere susceptum rei publicae munus, nec imperatorem incensum ad rem publicam bene gerendam revocare nec totam Gallici belli rationem prope iam explicatam perturbare atque impedire debemus.

[¶10] 36. For I cannot at all approve of those opinions which have been expressed by some most illustrious men, one of whom proposes to give the consuls the further Gaul and Syria, and the other inclines to the nearer Gaul. He who proposes the further Gaul, throws all those matters into confusion about which I have just been speaking, and shows at the same time that he is advocating a law which he affirms to be no law at all; and that he is taking away that part of the province to which no interruption can be given, but is not touching that part which has a defender. The effect of his conduct also is not to meddle with that which has been conferred by the people while at the same time he a senator is anxious to take away what has been given by the senate. The other disregards all consideration of the Gallic war; he discharges the duty of a virtuous senator: though he thinks the law invalid, still he observes it; for he fixes beforehand a day for his successor to enter on his office. … But it seems to me that nothing is more inconsistent with the dignity and principles of our ancestors than for the consul, who on the first of January is to have a province, to have it promised to him in this way, and not regularly decreed to him. Suppose he were during the whole of his consulship without a province, though even before he was elected a province was decreed to him, is he to cast lots for a province, or not?

> Latin: 36. illae sententiae virorum clarissimorum minime probandae sunt, quorum alter ulteriorem Galliam decernit cum Syria, alter citeriorem. ulteriorem, omnia illa de quibus disserui paulo ante perturbat; simul ostendit eam se tenere legem quam esse legem neget, et, quae pars provinciae sit cui non possit intercedi, hanc se avellere, quae defensorem habeat, non tangere; simul et illud facit, ut, quod illi a populo datum sit, id non violet, quod senatus dederit, id senator properet auferre. belli Gallici rationem habet, fungitur officio boni senatoris, legem quam non putat, eam quoque servat; praefinit enim successori diem. ⟨⟩ mihi nihil videtur alienius a dignitate disciplinaque maiorum quam ut, qui consul Kalendis Ianuariis habere provinciam debet, is ut eam desponsam non decretam habere videatur.

[¶11] 37. For it is absurd not to draw lots for one,—absurd also not to get that which one has drawn by lot. Is he to march out in the robe of a commander in chief? Whither is he to march? Why, to a place where he may not arrive before a certain fixed day. All January and February he is not to have a province. At last on the first of March up will spring a province for him all on a sudden.

> Latin: 37. toto in consulatu sine provincia cui fuerit, ante quam designatus est, decreta provincia. an non? et non sortiri absurdum est, et quod sortitus sis non habere. paludatus?? quo pervenire ante certam diem non licebit. Ianuario, Februario provinciam non habebit: Kalendis ei denique Martiis nascetur repente provincia.

[¶12] 38. Nevertheless if these sentiments prevail, Piso will remain in his province. And though these are weighty considerations, still none of them are more serious than this—that it is an insulting thing for a commander in chief to be mulcted as it were by a diminution of his provinces, and we ought to take great care that such a thing should not be allowed to happen, not only not in the case of a most illustrious man, but not even in that of a man of moderate reputation. I am well aware, O conscript fathers, that you have decreed many extraordinary honours to Caius Caesar; honours which are almost unprecedented. In that he has amply merited them, you have been grateful; if I add, too, that he is a man most thoroughly attached to this order of the senate, you have been wise and provident. For this order has never heaped its distinctions and kindness on any one who has subsequently thought any dignity preferable to that which he had obtained by your favour. For it is not possible for any one to be the leading man in this body who has preferred courting the favour of the people. But all men who have done this, have either distrusted themselves on account of their consciousness of their want of worth, or else they have been driven away from a union with this order on account of the disparagement of their merits by the rest, and so they have been almost constrained to throw themselves out of this harbour on those stormy billows. And if, after they have been tossed about on those surges, and have become wearied of their voyage amid the whims of the people, having been successful in the conduct of the affairs of the republic, they show their faces again in the senate-house, and wish to gain the favours of this most honourable order, I say that they are not only not to be repelled, but are to be received with open arms, and courted.

> Latin: 38. tamen his sententiis Piso in provincia permanebit. cum gravia sunt ⟨tum⟩ nihil gravius illo, quod multari imperatorem deminutione provinciae contumeliosum est, neque solum summo in viro sed etiam mediocri in homine ne accidat providendum. vos intellego, patres conscripti, multos decrevisse eximios honores C. Caesari et prope singularis. ⟨⟩ quod ita meritus erat grati, sin etiam ut quam coniunctissimus huic ordini esset, sapientes ac divini fuistis. umquam est hic ordo complexus honoribus et beneficiis suis qui ullam dignitatem praestabiliorem ea quam per vos esset adeptus putarit. umquam hic potuit esse princeps qui maluerit esse popularis. homines aut propter indignitatem suam diffisi ipsi sibi, aut propter reliquorum obtrectationem ab huius ordinis coniunctione depulsi, saepe ex hoc portu se in illos fluctus prope necessario contulerunt; qui si ex illa iactatione cursuque populari bene gesta re publica referunt aspectum in curiam atque huic amplissimae dignitati esse commendati volunt, non modo non repellendi sunt verum etiam expetendi.

[¶13] 39. We are warned by the bravest man and most admirable consul who has ever existed in the memory of man, to take care that the nearer Gaul be not decreed against our will to any one after the election of those consuls who are now about to be elected, and that it be not for the future occupied forever by these men who are the constant attackers of this order, by some turbulent system of currying favour with the mob. And although I am not indifferent to the evil consequences of such a measure, O conscript fathers, especially when warned of them by a consul of the greatest wisdom, and one who is an especial guardian of peace and tranquillity, still I think that there is an evil to be regarded with even more apprehension than that,—the evil, I mean, of diminishing the honours of most illustrious and powerful citizens, and rejecting their zeal for the maintenance of this order. For even supposing that Caius Julius, having been distinguished by all sorts of extraordinary and unprecedented honours by the senate, were compelled to deliver up this province to one whom you would be very unwilling to see there, still I cannot possibly be induced to suspect that be would deprive that body of liberty by which he himself had the greatest glory conferred on him. Lastly, what disposition every one will have I know not; I am aware only of what my own hopes are. I, as a senator, am bound to take care, as far as I can, that no illustrious or powerful man shall appear to have any right to feel offended with this body.

> Latin: 39. a fortissimo viro atque optimo post hominum memoriam consule ut provideamus ne citerior Gallia nobis invitis alicui decernatur post eos consules qui nunc erunt designati, perpetuoque posthac ab iis qui hunc ordinem oppugnent populari ac turbulenta ratione teneatur. ego plagam etsi non contemno, patres conscripti, praesertim monitus a sapientissimo consule et diligentissimo custode pacis atque oti, tamen vehementius arbitror pertimescendum si hominum clarissimorum ac potentissimorum aut honorem minuero aut studium erga hunc ordinem repudiaro. ut C. Iulius omnibus a senatu eximiis aut novis rebus ornatus per manus hanc provinciam tradat ei cui minime vos velitis, per quem ordinem ipse amplissimam sit gloriam consecutus, ei ne libertatem quidem relinquat, adduci ad suspicandum nullo modo possum. quo quisque animo futurus sit, nescio: quid sperem, video. hoc senator debeo, quantum possum, ne quis vir clarus aut potens huic ordini iure irasci posse videatur.

[¶14] 40. These sentiments I should express out of regard to the republic, even were I ever so great an enemy to Caius Caesar. But I do not think it foreign to the present discussion, with the object of being for the future less frequently interrupted by certain persons, or less reproved in the opinion of some who forbear to interrupt me, to explain briefly what is the nature of my relations with Caesar. And in the first place, I pass over that period of familiarity and intimacy which existed between him and me, and my brother and Caius Varro, our cousin, from the time that we were all young men. After that I became deeply engaged in public affairs, my sentiments on matters of state were no different from his, that we were of entirely opposite public parties though without any interruption of our private friendship.

> Latin: 40. haec, si inimicissimus essem C. Caesari, sentirem tamen rei publicae causa. non alienum esse arbitror, quo minus saepe aut interpeller a non nullis aut tacitorum existimatione reprendar, explicare breviter quae mihi sit ratio et causa cum Caesare. primum illud tempus familiaritatis et consuetudinis quae mihi cum illo, quae fratri meo, quae C. Varroni, consobrino nostro, ab omnium nostrum adulescentia fuit, praetermitto. quam sum penitus in rem publicam ingressus, ita dissensi ab illo ut in disiunctione sententiae coniuncti tamen amicitia maneremus.

[¶15] 41. He, as consul, adopted measures in which he wished to have me for a partner; and if I was opposed to the measures themselves, still I could not avoid being pleased at the opinion of me which he displayed by that wish. He entreated me also to accept the office of quinquevir. He wished me to be one of three men of consular rank most closely connected with himself; and he offered me any lieutenancy or embassy I pleased, with as much honour and distinction as was agreeable to me. All which offers I rejected with great firmness in my own sentiments, but not without feeling obliged to him for them. How wisely I acted is not now the question; for many will not approve of my conduct. At all events I acted with consistency and firmness, inasmuch as though by accepting them I might have fortified myself by the most irresistible assistance against all the wickedness of my enemies and should have been able to repel the attacks of popularity hunters by the protection of popular men, I preferred to meet any fortune to encounter any violence and any in jury, rather than differ from the wise and righteous sentiments of the senate, or deviate from the line of conduct which I had marked out for myself. But a man is bound to be grateful, not only if he has received a kindness, but if he has had an opportunity of receiving one. I did not think that all those compliments and distinctions with which he was loading me became me, or were suited to the exploits which I had performed. But I saw that he regarded me with the same friendly disposition with which he looked on that chief of the citizens, his own son-in-law.

> Latin: 41. ille egit eas res quarum me participem esse voluit; quibus ego si minus adsentiebar, tamen illius mihi iudicium gratum esse debebat. ille ut quinqueviratum acciperem rogavit; me in tribus sibi coniunctissimis consularibus esse voluit; mihi legationem quam vellem, quanto cum honore vellem, detulit. ego omnia non ingrato animo, sed obstinatione quadam sententiae repudiavi. sapienter, non disputo; multis enim non probabo; constanter quidem et fortiter certe, qui cum me firmissimis opibus contra scelus inimicorum munire et popularis impetus populari praesidio propulsare possem, quamvis excipere fortunam, subire vim atque iniuriam malui quam aut a vestris sanctissimis mentibus dissidere aut de meo statu declinare. non is solum gratus debet esse qui accepit beneficium, verum etiam is cui potestas accipiendi fuit. illa ornamenta quibus ille me ornabat decere me et convenire iis rebus quas gesseram non putabam; illum quidem amico animo me habere eodem loco quo principem civium, suum generum, sentiebam.

[¶16] 42. He afterwards assisted my great enemy in passing over to the ranks of the plebeians, either because he was angry with me when he saw that I could not be allured, not even by all his kindness, to unite with him, or because he was unable to withstand the entreaties of Clodius. And even that was no injury to me in his opinion; for he afterwards not only advised but actually entreated me to act as his lieutenant. Even that I would not accept; not because I thought it inconsistent with my dignity, but because I had no suspicion that such wicked designs against the republic were entertained by the succeeding consuls as afterwards proved to be. Therefore I have much more reason to fear that I may be blamed for arrogance of conduct with respect to his liberality towards me, than that I should be reproached with the injuries which he has done me in spite of our friendship.

> Latin: 42. ad plebem inimicum meum sive iratus mihi, quod me secum ne in beneficiis quidem videbat posse coniungi, sive exoratus. haec quidem fuit iniuria. postea me ut sibi essem legatus non solum suasit, verum etiam rogavit. id quidem accepi; non quo alienum mea dignitate arbitrarer, sed quod tantum rei publicae sceleris impendere a consulibus proximis non suspicabar. adhuc magis est mihi verendum ne mea superbia in illius liberalitate quam ne illius iniuria in nostra amicitia reprendatur.

[¶17] 43. Turn your eyes to that tempest—to that season of darkness to all good men,—to that sudden and unforeseen danger which overwhelmed all things,—to that cloud which came over the republic—to the ruin and conflagration of the city—to the alarm given to Caesar with respect to all the acts of his consulship,—to the fear of massacre with which all good men were struck,—to the wickedness, and covetousness, and indigence, and audacity of the consuls! If I was not aided by him then, he was under no obligation to aid me; if I was deserted by him, perhaps he was providing for his own safety; if I was even attacked by him, as some men think, or at all events wish me to think, then our friendship was violated, I received an injury, and he has deserved that I should be his enemy. I do not deny it; but still, if he was anxious for my safety when you were all regretting me like the dearest of your sons, and if you all at the same time thought it of great importance to my cause that the inclinations of Caius Caesar should not be averse to my safety; and if I have his son in law as a witness of his good will towards me at that time, who himself stirred up all Italy in the municipal towns and the Roman people in the assembly, and you too who were always most devoted to me, in the Capitol, to take measures for my safety; if in short Cnaeus Pompeius is at the same time a witness to me of the good will which Caesar entertains for me, and a surety to him of my attachment to him; does it not appear to you that I ought rather to recollect the times that are long past and also to remember this time which is nearest to us now, and by means of these memories to eradicate that middle time so full of infamy and misery, if not from the history of events, (which indeed may be impossible,) at all events from my own mind?

> Latin: 43. illa tempestas, caligo bonorum et subita atque improvisa formido, tenebrae rei publicae, ruina atque incendium civitatis, terror iniectus Caesari de eius actis, metus caedis bonis omnibus, consulum scelus, cupiditas, egestas, audacia! non sum adiutus, non debui; si desertus, sibi fortasse providit; si etiam oppugnatus, ut quidam aut putant aut volunt, violata amicitia est, accepi iniuriam, inimicus esse debui, non nego: sed si idem ille tum me salvum esse voluit cum vos me ut carissimum filium desiderabatis, et si vos idem pertinere ad causam illam putabatis voluntatem Caesaris a salute mea non abhorrere, et si illius voluntatis generum eius habeo testem, qui idem Italiam in municipiis, populum Romanum in contione, vos mei semper cupidissimos in Capitolio ad meam salutem incitavit, si denique Cn. Pompeius idem mihi testis de voluntate Caesaris et sponsor est illi de mea, nonne vobis videor et ultimi temporis recordatione et proximi memoria medium illud tristissimum tempus debere, si ex rerum natura non possim evellere, ex animo quidem certe excidere?

[¶18] 44. But I, if I may not (as some people think I ought not) boast that I have sacrificed my own private feelings of indignation and enmity to the republic, which it appears to me to be the duty of a great and wise man to do, will at all events avail myself of this plea,—which is of force not so much to gain praise as to avoid reproach,—namely, that I am a grateful person, and that I am inclined to be moved, not only by such exceeding services as his, but even by a moderate display of good-will towards me. I entreat of some most gallant men, who have done me great service, that, if I have been unwilling that they should be partakers of my labours and distresses, they will also spare me from being the partaker of their enmities; especially as they have granted to me that I have a right to defend those acts of Caesar's which I neither attacked nor defended before.

> Latin: 44. vero, si mihi non licet per aliquos ita gloriari, me dolorem atque inimicitias meas rei publicae concessisse, si hoc magni cuiusdam hominis et persapientis videtur, utar hoc, quod non tam ad laudem adipiscendam quam ad vitandam vituperationem valet, hominem me esse gratum, et non modo tantis beneficiis, sed etiam mediocri hominum benivolentia commoveri. viris fortissimis et de me optime meritis quibusdam peto ut, si ego illos meorum laborum atque incommodorum participes esse nolui, ne illi me suarum inimicitiarum socium velint esse, praesertim cum mihi idem illi concesserint ut etiam acta illa Caesaris, quae neque oppugnavi antea neque defendi, meo iam iure possim defendere.

[¶19] 45. For the most eminent men of the state, by whose counsels I acted when I preserved the republic, and in deference to whose authority I avoided that union with Caesar to which he invited me, deny that the Julian laws, and the others which were passed during his consulship, were legally passed at all. And at the same time they say that the bill for my proscription was passed in a manner contrary to the safety of the republic, but still without any illegal disregard of the auspices. Therefore a man of the highest authority, and of the greatest eloquence, said with great positiveness that that disaster of mine was a funeral of the republic, but a funeral performed with all regular solemnity. To me myself it is altogether excessively complimentary, that my departure should be called the funeral of the republic. His other expressions I do not find any fault with, but I will assume them as a foundation for the sentiments which I feel. For if men have ventured to say that that proposition was carried in a regular manner, for which there was no precedent nor any law authorizing such a bill to be carried, merely because no one had been observing the heavens at the time, had they forgotten that, at the time that the man who carried this bill was made a plebeian by a lex curiata, it was announced that a magistrate was observing the heavens? And if it was absolutely irregular for him to be made a plebeian, how could he be made a tribune of the people? And if his tribuneship be declared valid, there is then no one of Caesar's acts which can possibly be invalid; and so, will not, not merely his tribuneship, but also other matters the most mischievous imaginable, appear to have been passed with proper regularity, if it be decided that the religious respect due to the auspices was preserved?

> Latin: 45. summi civitatis viri, quorum ego consilio rem publicam conservavi, et quorum auctoritate illam coniunctionem Caesaris defugi, Iulias leges et ceteras illo consule rogatas iure latas negant: idem illam proscriptionem capitis mei contra salutem rei publicae, sed salvis auspiciis rogatam esse dicebant. vir summa auctoritate, summa eloquentia, dixit graviter casum illum meum funus esse rei publicae, sed funus iustum et indictum. ipsi omnino perhonorificum ⟨est⟩ discessum meum funus dici rei publicae: reliqua non reprendo, sed mihi ad id quod sentio adsumo. si illud iure rogatum dicere ausi sunt quod nullo exemplo fieri potuit, nulla lege licuit, quia nemo de caelo servarat, oblitine erant tum cum ille qui id egerat plebeius est lege curiata factus dici de caelo esse servatum? si plebeius omnino esse non potuit, qui tribunus plebis potuit esse? et cuius tribunatus si ratus est, nihil est quod inritum ex actis Caesaris possit esse, eius non solum tribunatus ⟨ratus⟩ sed etiam perniciosissimae res, auspiciorum religione conservata, iure latae videbuntur?

[¶20] 46. Wherefore you must decide either that the Aelian law still exists, that the Fufian law has not been abrogated, and that it is not lawful for a law to be passed on every one of the dies fasti; that, when a law is being passed, there is no objection to observations of the heavens being taken, or to such an announcement being made by the magistrates, or to any one interposing his veto; that the decisions and animadversions of the censors, and that most strict inspection of morals, has not been abolished in the city by nefarious laws; that if a patrician has been tribune of the people, he has been so in violation of the most sacred laws,—if a plebeian, in disregard of the auspices: or else men must grant to me that it is not necessary for me in the case of good measures to be bound by those rules which they themselves do not adhere to in shameful ones; especially as it has been a proposal made by them to Caius Caesar several times, that he should carry the same measures in some other manner, (in some manner, that is, which the auspices required and which the law sanctioned;) and when, in the case of Clodius, the history of the auspices is just the same, and all the laws of the state have been overturned and destroyed. This is the last thing which I have to say. If I had any enmity against Caius Caesar, still at this time I ought to consult the interests of the republic, and to reserve my hostility for another time. I might even, following the precedent of most eminent men, lay aside my enmity altogether for the sake of the republic; but as I have never entertained any enmity to him, and as the idea of having been injured by him has been extinguished by services which he has done me, I, by my opinion, O conscript fathers, if the dignity of Caius Caesar is at stake, shall vote for the man;—if any honour to be paid to him is under discussion, I shall consult the unanimous feeling of the senate if the authority of your decrees is the main point to be regarded, I shall uphold the consistency of our order by voting distinctions to this same commander-in-chief;—if the everlasting consideration of the Gallic war is to be taken into the account, I shall consult the interests of the republic if I may have respect to my own private duty I shall show that I am not ungrateful. And I wish, O conscript fathers, to induce you all to approve of my sentiments; but I shall not be greatly concerned if I fail to induce those men to approve of them who shielded my enemy in spite of your authority; or those who found fault with my reconciliation with their enemy, while they themselves do not hesitate to be reconciled both to my enemy and to their own.

> Latin: 46. re aut vobis statuendum est legem Aeliam manere, legem Fufiam non esse abrogatam, non omnibus fastis legem ferri licere; cum lex feratur, de caelo servari, obnuntiari, intercedi licere; censorium iudicium ac notionem et illud morum severissimum magisterium non esse nefariis legibus de civitate sublatum; si patricius tribunus plebis fuerit, contra leges sacratas, si plebeius, contra auspicia fuisse; aut mihi concedant homines oportet in rebus bonis non exquirere ea iura quae ipsi in perditis non exquirant, praesertim cum ab illis aliquotiens condicio C. Caesari lata sit ut easdem res alio modo ferret, qua condicione auspicia requirebant, leges comprobabant, in Clodio auspiciorum ratio sit eadem, leges omnes sint eversae ac perditae civitatis. illud est., si essent [inimicitiae ] mihi cum C. Caesare, tamen hoc tempore rei publicae consulere, inimicitias in aliud tempus reservare deberem; possem etiam summorum virorum exemplo inimicitias rei publicae causa deponere. cum inimicitiae fuerint numquam, opinio iniuriae beneficio sit exstincta, sententia mea, patres conscripti, si dignitas agitur Caesaris, homini tribuam; si honos quidam, senatus concordiae consulam; si auctoritas decretorum vestrorum, constantiam ordinis in eodem ornando imperatore servabo; si perpetua ratio Gallici belli, rei publicae providebo; si aliquod meum privatum officium, me non ingratum esse praestabo. hoc velim probare omnibus, patres conscripti; sed levissime feram si forte aut iis minus probaro qui meum inimicum repugnante vestra auctoritate texerunt, aut iis, si qui meum cum inimico suo reditum in gratiam vituperabunt, cum ipsi et cum meo et cum suo inimico in gratiam non dubitarint redire.