---
title: "Philippics · Philippicae"
author: "Cicero"
translator: "Charles Duke Yonge"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 1 of 21
url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-philippics/1/
cite: "Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, Philippics · Philippicae, section 1. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-philippics/1/"
---

# Philippics · Philippicae

*Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge*

Fourteen speeches against Mark Antony, which cost Cicero his life.

> Latin: ed. Albert Curtis Clark, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0474.phi035, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Charles Duke Yonge, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0474.phi035.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

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

## 1. Speech 1

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

[¶0] When Julius, or, as he is usually called by Cicero, Caius Caesar was slain on the 15th of March, A.U.C. 710, B.C. 44, Marcus Antonius was his colleague in the consulship; and he, being afraid that the conspirators might murder him too, (and it is said that they had debated among themselves whether they would or no,) concealed himself on that day, and fortified his house; till, perceiving that nothing was intended against him, he ventured to appear in public the day following. Lepidus was in the suburbs of Rome with a regular army, ready to depart for the government of Spain, which had been assigned to him with a part of Gaul. In the night, after Caesar's death, he occupied the forum with his troops, and thought of making himself master of the city, but Antonius dissuaded him from that idea, and won him over to his views by giving his daughter in marriage to Lepidus's son, and by assisting him to seize on the office of Pontifex Maximus, which was vacant by Caesar's death. To the conspirators he professed friendship, sent his son among them as a hostage of his sincerity, and so deluded them, that Brutus supped with Lepidus, and Cassius with Antonius. By these means he got them to consent to his passing a decree for the confirmation of all Caesar's acts, without describing or naming them more precisely. At last, on the occasion of Caesar's public funeral, he contrived so to inflame the populace against the conspirators, that Brutus and Cassius had some difficulty in defending their houses and their lives; and he gradually alarmed them so much, and worked so cunningly on their fears, that they all quitted Rome. Cicero also left Rome, disapproving greatly of the vacillation and want of purpose in the conspirator. On the first of June, Antonius assembled the senate to deliberate on the affairs of the republic, and in the interval visited all parts of Italy. In the meantime young Octavius appeared on the stage; he has been left by Caesar, who was his uncle, the heir to his name and estate. He returned from Apollonia, in Macedonia, to Italy as soon as he heard of his uncle's death, and arrived at Naples on the eighteenth of April, where he was introduced by Hirtius and Pansa to Cicero, whom he promised to be guided in all respects by his directions. He was now between eighteen and nineteen years of age. He began by the representation of public spectacles and games in honour of Caesar's victories. In the meantime Antonius, in his progress through, Italy, was making great use of the decree confirming all Caesar's acts, which he interpolated and forged in the most shameless manner. Among other things he restored Deiotarus to all his dominions, having been bribed to do so by a hundred millions of sesterces by the king's agents; but Deiotarus himself, as soon as he heard of Caesar's death, seized all his dominions by force. He also seized the public treasure which Caesar had deposited in the temple of Ops, amounting to above four millions and a half of our money, and with this he won over Dolabella, who had seized the consulship on the death of Caesar, and the greater part of the army. At the end of May Cicero began to return towards Rome, in order to arrive there in time for the meeting of the senate on the first of June; but many of his friends dissuaded him from entering the city, and at last he determined not to appear in the senate on that day, but to make a tour in Greece; to assist him in which, Dolabella named him one of his lieutenants. Antonius also gave Brutus and Cassius commissions to buy corn in Asia and Sicily for the use of the republic, in order to keep them out of the city. Meantime Sextus Pompeius, who was at the head of a considerable army in Spain, addressed letters to the consuls proposing terms of accommodation, which after some debate, and some important modifications, were agreed to, and he quitted Spain, and came as far as Marseilles on his road towards Rome. Cicero having started for Greece was forced to put back by contrary winds, and returned to Velia on the seventeenth of August, where he had a long conference with Brutus, who soon after left Italy for his province of Macedonia, which Caesar had assigned him before his death, though Antonius now wished to compel him to exchange it for Crete. After this conference Cicero returned to Rome, where he was received with unexampled joy, immense multitudes thronging out to meet him, and to escort him into the city. He arrived in Rome on the last day of August. The next day the senate met, to which he was particularly summoned by Antonius, but he excused himself as not having recovered from the fatigue of his journey. Antonius was greatly offended, and in his speech in the senate threatened openly to order his house to be pulled down; the real reason of Cicero's absenting himself from the senate being, that the business of the day was to decree some new and extraordinary honours to Caesar, and to order supplications to him as a divinity, which Cicero was determined not to concur in, though he knew it would he useless to oppose them. The next day also the senate met, and Antonius absented himself; but Cicero came down and delivered the following speech, which is the first of that celebrated series of fourteen speeches made in opposition to Antonius and his measures, and called Philippics from the orations of Demosthenes against Philip, to which the Romans were in the habit of comparing them. Before, O conscript fathers, I say those things concerning the republic which I think myself bound to say at the present time, I will explain to you briefly the cause of my departure from, and of my return to the city. When I hoped that the republic was at last recalled to a proper respect for your wisdom and for your authority, I thought that it became me to remain in a sort of sentinelship, which was imposed upon me by my position as a senator and a man of consular rank. Nor did I depart anywhere, nor did I ever take my eyes off from the republic, from the day on which we were summoned to meet in the temple of Tellus; in which temple, I, as far as was in my power, laid the foundations of peace, and renewed the ancient precedent set by the Athenians; I even used the Greek word, which that city employed in those times in allaying discords, and gave my vote that all recollection of the existing dissensions ought to be effaced by everlasting oblivion. The oration then made by Marcus Antonius was an admirable one; his disposition, too, appeared excellent; and lastly, by his means and by his sons', peace was ratified with the most illustrious of the citizens; and everything else was consistent with this beginning. He invited the chief men of the state to those deliberations which he held at his own house concerning the state of the republic; he referred all the most important matters to this order. Nothing was at that time found among the papers of Caius Caesar except what was already well known to everybody; and he gave answers to every question that was asked of him with the greatest consistency. Were any exiles restored? He said that one was, and only one. Were any immunities granted? He answered, None. He wished us even to adopt the proposition of Servius Sulpicius, that most illustrious man, that no tablet purporting to contain any decree or grant of Caesar's should be published after the Ides of March were expired. I pass over many other things, all excellent—for I am hastening to come to a very extraordinary act of virtue of Marcus Antonius. He utterly abolished from the constitution of the republic the Dictatorship, which had by this time attained to the authority of regal power. And that measure was not even offered to us for discussion. He brought with him a decree of the senate, ready drawn up, ordering what he chose to have done: and when it had been read, we all submitted to his authority in the matter with the greatest eagerness; and, by another resolution of the senate, we returned him thanks in the most honourable and complimentary language. A new light, as it were, seemed to be brought over us, now that not only the kingly power which we had endured, but all fear of such power for the future, was taken away from us; and a great pledge appeared to have been given by him to the republic that he did wish the city to be free, when he utterly abolished out of the republic the name of dictator, which had often been a legitimate title, on account of our late recollection of a perpetual dictatorship. A few days afterwards the senate was delivered from the danger of bloodshed, and a hook was fixed into that runaway slave who had usurped the name of Caius Marius. And all these things he did in concert with his colleague. Some other things that were done were the acts of Dolabella alone; but if his colleague had not been absent, would, I believe, have been done by both of them in concert. For when enormous evil was insinuating itself into the republic, and was gaining more strength day by day; and when the same men were erecting a tomb in the forum, who had performed that irregular funeral; and when abandoned men, with slaves like themselves, were every day threatening with more and more vehemence all the houses and temples of the city; so severe was the rigour of Dolabella, not only towards the audacious and wicked slaves, but also towards the profligate and unprincipled freemen, and so prompt was his overthrow of that accursed pillar; that it seems marvellous to me that the subsequent time has been so different from that one day. For behold, on the first of June, on which day they had given notice that we were all to attend the senate, everything was changed. Nothing was done by the senate, but many and important measures were transacted by the agency of the people, though that people was both absent and disapproving. The consuls elect said, that they did not dare to come into the senate. The liberators of their country were absent from that city from the neck of which they had removed the yoke of slavery; though the very consuls themselves professed to praise them in their public harangues and in all their conversation. Those who were called Veterans, men of whose safety this order had been most particularly careful, were instigated not to the preservation of those things which they had, but to cherish hopes of new booty. And as I preferred hearing of those things to seeing them, and as I had an honorary commission as lieutenant, I went away, intending to be present on the first of January, which appeared likely to be the first day of assembling the senate.

> Latin: quam de re publica, patres conscripti, dicam ea quae dicenda hoc tempore arbitror, exponam vobis breviter consilium et profectionis et reversionis meae. cum sperarem aliquando ad vestrum consilium auctoritatemque rem publicam esse revocatam, manendum mihi statuebam quasi in vigilia quadam consulari ac senatoria. vero usquam discedebam nec a re publica deiciebam oculos ex eo die quo in aedem convocati sumus. quo templo, quantum in me fuit, ieci fundamenta pacis Atheniensiumque renovavi vetus exemplum; Graecum etiam verbum usurpavi quo tum in sedandis discordiis usa erat civitas illa, atque omnem memoriam discordiarum oblivione sempiterna delendam censui. tum oratio M. Antoni, egregia etiam voluntas; pax denique per eum et per liberos eius cum praestantissimis civibus confirmata est. his principiis reliqua consentiebant. deliberationes eas quas habebat domi de re publica principes civitatis adhibebat; ad hunc ordinem res optimas deferebat; nihil tum nisi quod erat notum omnibus in C. Caesaris commentariis reperiebatur; summa constantia ad ea quae quaesita erant respondebat. qui exsules restituti? Vnum aiebat, praeterea neminem. immunitates datae? “” respondebat. etiam nos Ser. Sulpicio, clarissimo viro, voluit, ne qua tabula post Idus Martias ullius decreti Caesaris aut benefici figeretur. praetereo eaque praeclara; ad singulare enim M. Antoni factum festinat oratio., quae iam vim regiae potestatis obsederat, funditus ex re publica sustulit; de qua ne sententias quidem diximus. senatus consultum quod fieri vellet attulit, quo recitato auctoritatem eius summo studio secuti sumus eique amplissimis verbis per senatus consultum gratias egimus. quaedam videbatur oblata non modo regno, quod pertuleramus, sed etiam regni timore sublato, magnumque pignus ab eo rei publicae datum, se liberam civitatem esse velle, cum dictatoris nomen, quod saepe iustum fuisset, propter perpetuae dictaturae recentem memoriam funditus ex re publica sustulisset. periculo caedis paucis post diebus senatus; uncus impactus est fugitivo illi qui in Mari nomen invaserat. haec omnia communiter cum conlega; alia porro propria Dolabellae quae, nisi conlega afuisset, credo eis futura fuisse communia. cum serperet in urbe infinitum malum idque manaret in dies latius, idemque bustum in foro facerent qui illam insepultam sepulturam effecerant, et cotidie magis magisque perditi homines cum sui similibus servis tectis ac templis urbis minarentur, talis animadversio fuit Dolabellae cum in audacis sceleratosque servos, tum in impuros et nefarios liberos, talisque eversio illius exsecratae columnae ut mihi mirum videatur tam valde reliquum tempus ab illo uno die dissensisse. enim Kalendis Iuniis, quibus ut adessemus edixerant, mutata omnia: nihil per senatum, multa et magna per populum et absente populo et invito. designati negabant se audere in senatum venire; patriae liberatores urbe carebant ea cuius a cervicibus iugum servile deiecerant, quos tamen ipsi consules in contionibus et in omni sermone laudabant. qui appellabantur, quibus hic ordo diligentissime caverat, non ad conservationem earum rerum quas habebant, sed ad spem novarum praedarum incitabantur. cum audire mallem quam videre haberemque ius legationis liberum, ea mente discessi ut adessem Kalendis Ianuariis, quod initium senatus cogendi fore videbatur.

[¶1] 7. I have now explained to you, O conscript fathers, my design in leaving the city. Now I will briefly set before you; also, my intention in returning, which may perhaps appear more unaccountable. As I had avoided Brundusium, and the ordinary route into Greece, not without good reason, on the first of August I arrived at Syracuse, because the passage from that city into Greece was said to be a good one. And that city, with which I had so intimate a connection, could not, though it was very eager to do so, detain me more than one night. I was afraid that my sudden arrival among my friends might cause some suspicion if I remained there at all. But after the winds had driven me, on my departure from Sicily, to Leucopetra, which is a promontory of the Rhegian district, I went up the gulf from that point, with the view of crossing over. And I had not advanced far before I was driven back by a foul wind to the very place which I had just quitted.

> Latin: 7. , patres conscripti, profectionis consilium: nunc reversionis, quae plus admirationis habet, breviter exponam. Brundisium iterque illud quod tritum in Graeciam est non sine causa vitavissem, Kalendis Sextilibus veni Syracusas, quod ab ea urbe transmissio in Graeciam laudabatur: quae tamen urbs mihi coniunctissima plus una me nocte cupiens retinere non potuit. sum ne meus repentinus ad meos necessarios adventus suspicionis aliquid adferret, si essem commoratus. autem me ex Sicilia ad Leucopetram, quod est promunturium agri Regini, venti detulissent, ab eo loco conscendi ut transmitterem; nec ita multum provectus reiectus sum in eum ipsum locum unde conscenderam.

[¶2] 8. And as the night was stormy, and as I had lodged that night in the villa of Publius Valerius, my companion and intimate friend, and as I remained all the next day at his house waiting for a fair wind, many of the citizens of the municipality of Rhegium came to me. And of them there were some who had lately arrived from Rome; from them I first heard of the harangue of Marcus Antonius, with which I was so much pleased that, after I had read it, I began for the first time to think of returning. And not long afterwards the edict of Brutus and Cassius is brought to me; which (perhaps because I love those men, even more for the sake of the republic than of my own friendship for them) appeared to me, indeed, to be full of equity. They added besides, (for it is a very common thing for those who are desirous of bringing good news to invent something to make the news which they bring seem more joyful,) that parties were coming to an agreement; that the senate was to meet on the first of August; that Antonius having discarded all evil counselors, and having given up the provinces of Gaul, was about to return to submission to the authority of the senate.

> Latin: 8. Cumque intempesta nox esset mansissemque in villa P. Valeri, comitis et familiaris mei, postridieque apud eundem ventum exspectans manerem, municipes Regini complures ad me venerunt, ex eis quidam Roma recentes: a quibus primum accipio M. Antoni contionem, quae mihi ita placuit ut ea lecta de reversione primum coeperim cogitare. ita multo post edictum Bruti adfertur et Cassi, quod quidem mihi, fortasse quod eos plus etiam rei publicae quam familiaritatis gratia diligo, plenum aequitatis videbatur. praeterea—fit enim plerumque ut ei qui boni quid volunt adferre adfingant aliquid quo faciant id quod nuntiant laetius—rem conventuram: Kalendis senatum frequentem fore; Antonium, repudiatis malis suasoribus, remissis provinciis Galliis, ad auctoritatem senatus esse rediturum.

[¶3] 9. But on this I was inflamed with such eagerness to return, that no oars or winds could be fast enough for me; not that I thought that I should not arrive in time, but lest I should be later than I wished in congratulating the republic; and I quickly arrived at Velia, where I saw Brutus; how grieved I was, I cannot express. For it seemed to be a discreditable thing for me myself, that I should venture to return into that city from which Brutus was departing, and that I should be willing to live safely in a place where he could not. But he himself was not agitated in the same manner that I was; for, being elevated with the consciousness of his great and glorious exploit, he had no complaints to make of what had befallen him, though he lamented your fate exceedingly.

> Latin: 9. vero tanta sum cupiditate incensus ad reditum ut mihi nulli neque remi neque venti satis facerent, non quo me ad tempus occursurum non putarem, sed ne tardius quam cuperem rei publicae gratularer. ego celeriter Veliam devectus Brutum vidi: quanto meo dolore non dico. mihi ipsi videbatur in eam urbem me audere reverti ex qua Brutus cederet, et ibi velle tuto esse ubi ille non posset. vero illum similiter atque ipse eram commotum esse vidi. enim maximi ac pulcherrimi facti sui conscientia nihil de suo casu, multa de vestro querebatur.

[¶4] 10. And it was from him that I first heard what had been the language of Lucius Piso, in the senate of August; who, although he was but little assisted (for that I heard from Brutus himself) by those who ought to have seconded him, still according to the testimony of Brutus, (and what evidence can be more trustworthy?) and to the avowal of every one whom I saw afterwards, appeared to me to have gained great credit. I hastened hither, therefore, in order that as those who were present had not seconded him, I might do so; not with the hope of doing any good, for I neither hoped for that, nor did I well see how it was possible; but in order that if anything happened to me, (and many things appeared to be threatening me out of the regular course of nature, and even of destiny,) I might still leave my speech on this day as a witness to the republic of my everlasting attachment to its interests.

> Latin: 10. eo primum cognovi quae Kalendis Sextilibus in senatu fuisset L. Pisonis oratio: qui quamquam parum erat—id enim ipsum a Bruto audieram—a quibus debuerat adiutus, tamen et Bruti testimonio—quo quid potest esse gravius?—et omnium praedicatione quos postea vidi magnam mihi videbatur gloriam consecutus. igitur ut sequerer properavi quem praesentes non sunt secuti, non ut proficerem aliquid—nec enim sperabam id nec praestare poteram—sed ut, si quid mihi humanitus accidisset—multa autem impendere videntur praeter naturam etiam praeterque fatum—huius tamen diei vocem testem rei publicae relinquerem meae perpetuae erga se voluntatis.

[¶5] 11. Since, then, O conscript fathers, I trust that the reason of my adopting each determination appears praiseworthy to you, before I begin to speak of the republic, I will make a brief complaint of the injury which Marcus Antonius did me yesterday; to whom I am friendly, and I have at all times admitted having received some services from him which make it my duty to be so. What reason had he then for endeavouring, with such bitter hostility, to force me into the senate yesterday? Was I the only person who was absent? Have you not repeatedly had thinner houses than yesterday? Or was a matter of such importance under discussion, that it was desirable for even sick men to be brought down? Hannibal, I suppose, was at the gates, or there was to be a debate about peace with Pyrrhus, on which occasion it is related that even the great Appius, old and blind as he was, was brought down to the senate-house.

> Latin: 11. utriusque consili causam, patres conscripti, probatam vobis esse confido, prius quam de re publica dicere incipio, pauca querar de hesterna M. Antoni iniuria: cui sum amicus, idque me non nullo eius officio debere esse prae me semper tuli. tandem erat causae cur die hesterno in senatum tam acerbe cogerer? aberam, an non saepe minus frequentes fuistis, an ea res agebatur ut etiam aegrotos deferri oporteret? Hannibal, credo, erat ad portas aut de Pyrrhi pace agebatur, ad quam causam etiam Appium illum et caecum et senem delatum esse memoriae proditum est.

[¶6] 12. There was a motion being made about some supplications; a kind of measure when senators are not usually wanting; for they are under the compulsion, not of pledges, but of the influence of those men whose honour is being complimented; and the case is the same when the motion has reference to a triumph. The consuls are so free from anxiety at these times, that it is almost entirely free for a senator to absent himself if he pleases. And as the general custom of our body was well known to me, and as I was hardly recovered from the fatigue of my journey, and was vexed with myself, I sent a man to him, out of regard for my friendship to him, to tell him that I should not be there. But he, in the hearing of you all, declared that he would come with masons to my house; this was said with too much passion and very intemperately. For, for what crime is there such a heavy punishment appointed as that, that any one should venture to say in this assembly that he, with the assistance of a lot of common operatives, would pull down a house which had been built at the public expense in accordance with a vote of the senate. And who ever employed such compulsion as the threat of such an injury as that to a senator? or what severer punishment has ever been imposed for absence than the forfeiture of a pledge, or a fine? But if he had known what opinion I should have delivered on the subject, he would have remitted somewhat of the rigour of his compulsion.

> Latin: 12. supplicationibus referebatur, quo in genere senatores deesse non solent. enim non pignoribus, sed eorum de quorum honore agitur gratia; quod idem fit, cum de triumpho refertur. sine cura consules sunt ut paene liberum sit senatori non adesse. cum mihi mos notus esset cumque e via languerem et mihimet displicerem, misi pro amicitia qui hoc ei diceret. ille vobis audientibus cum fabris se domum meam venturum esse dixit. iracunde hoc quidem et valde intemperanter. enim malefici tanta ista poena est ut dicere in hoc ordine auderet se publicis operis disturbaturum publice ex senatus sententia aedificatam domum? autem umquam tanto damno senatorem coegit? aut quid est ultra pignus aut multam? si scisset quam sententiam dicturus essem, remisisset aliquid profecto de severitate cogendi.

[¶7] 13. Do you think, O conscript fathers, that I would have voted for the resolution which you adopted against your own wills, of mingling funeral obsequies with supplications? of introducing inexplicable impiety into the republic? of decreeing supplications in honour of a dead man? I say nothing about who the man was. Even had he been that great Lucius Brutus who himself also delivered the republic from kingly power, and who has produced posterity nearly five hundred years after himself of similar virtue, and equal to similar achievements—even then I could not have been induced to join any dead man in a religious observance paid to the immortal gods; so that a supplication should be addressed by public authority to a man who has nowhere a sepulcher at which funeral obsequies may be celebrated. I, O conscript fathers, should have delivered my opinion, which I could easily have defended against the Roman people, if any heavy misfortune had happened to the republic, such as war, or pestilence, or famine; some of which, indeed, do exist already, and I have my fears lest others are impending. But I pray that the immortal gods may pardon this act, both to the Roman people, which does not approve of it, and to this order, which voted it with great unwillingness.

> Latin: 13. me censetis, patres conscripti, quod vos inviti secuti estis, decreturum fuisse, ut parentalia cum supplicationibus miscerentur, ut inexpiabiles religiones in rem publicam inducerentur, ut decernerentur supplicationes mortuo? dico cui. ille L. Brutus qui et ipse dominatu regio rem publicam liberavit et ad similem virtutem et simile factum stirpem iam prope in quingentesimum annum propagavit: adduci tamen non possem ut quemquam mortuum coniungerem cum deorum immortalium religione; ut, cuius sepulcrum usquam exstet ubi parentetur, ei publice supplicetur. vero eam sententiam dixissem ut me adversus populum Romanum, si qui accidisset gravior rei publicae casus, si bellum, si morbus, si fames, facile possem defendere; quae partim iam sunt, partim timeo ne impendeant. hoc ignoscant di immortales velim et populo Romano qui id non probat, et huic ordini qui decrevit invitus.

[¶8] 14. What? may I not speak of the other misfortunes of the republic?—At all events it is in my power, and it always will be in my power, to uphold my own dignity and to despise death. Let me have only the power to come into this house, and I will never shrink from the danger or declaring my opinion! And, O conscript fathers, would that I had been able to be present on the first of August; not that I should have been able to do any good, but to prevent any one saying that not no senator of consular rank (as was the case then) was found worthy of that honour and worthy of the republic. And this circumstance indeed gives me great pain, that men who have enjoyed the most honourable distinctions which the Roman people can confer; did not second Lucius Piso, the proposer of an excellent opinion. Is it for this that the Roman people made us consuls, that, being placed on the loftiest and most honourable step of dignity, we should consider the republic of no importance? Not only did no single man of consular dignity indicate his agreement with Lucius Piso by his voice, but they did not venture even to look as if they agreed with him.

> Latin: 14. ? de reliquis rei publicae malis licetne dicere? vero licet et semper licebit dignitatem tueri, mortem contemnere. modo veniendi in hunc locum sit: dicendi periculum non recuso. utinam, patres conscripti, Kalendis Sextilibus adesse potuissem! non quo profici potuerit aliquid, sed ne unus modo consularis, quod tum accidit, dignus illo honore, dignus re publica inveniretur. quidem ex re magnum accipio dolorem, homines amplissimis populi Romani beneficiis usos L. Pisonem ducem optimae sententiae non secutos. nos populus Romanus consules fecit ut in altissimo gradu dignitatis locati rem publicam pro nihilo haberemus? modo voce nemo L. Pisoni consulari sed ne voltu quidem adsensus est.

[¶9] 15. What, in the name of all that is horrible, is the meaning of this voluntary slavery?—Some submission may have been unavoidable: nor do I require this from every one of the men who deliver their opinions from the consular bench; the case of those men whose silence I pardon is different from that of those whose expression of their sentiments I require; and I do grieve that those men have fallen under the suspicion of the Roman people, not only as being afraid,—which of itself would be shameful enough,—but as having different private causes for being wanting to their proper dignity. Wherefore, in the first place, I both feel and acknowledge great obligations to Lucius Piso, who considered not what he was able to effect in the republic, but what it was his own duty to do; and, in the next place, I entreat of you, O conscript fathers, even if you have not quite the courage to agree with my speech and to adopt my advice, at all events to listen to me with kindness as you have always hitherto done.

> Latin: 15. , malum, est ista voluntaria servitus? quaedam necessaria; neque ego hoc ab omnibus eis desidero qui sententiam consulari loco dicunt. Alia causa est eorum quorum silentio ignosco; alia eorum, quorum vocem requiro. quidem doleo in suspicionem populo Romano venire non metu, quod ipsum esset turpe, sed alium alia de causa deesse dignitati suae. re primum maximas gratias et ago et habeo Pisoni, qui non quid efficere posset in re publica cogitavit, sed quid facere ipse deberet. a vobis, patres conscripti, peto ut, etiam si sequi minus audebitis orationem atque auctoritatem meam, benigne me tamen, ut fecistis adhuc, audiatis.

[¶10] 16. In the first place, then, I declare my opinion that the acts of Caesar ought to be maintained: not that I approve of them; (for who indeed can do that?) but because I think that we ought above all things to have regard to peace and tranquillity. I wish that Antonius himself were present, provided he had no advocates with him. But I suppose he may be allowed to feel unwell, a privilege which he refused to allow me yesterday. He would then explain to me, or rather to you, O conscript fathers, to what extent he himself defended the acts of Caesar. Are all the acts of Caesar which may exist in the bits of note-books, and memoranda, and loose papers, produced on his single authority, and indeed not even produced, but only recited, to be ratified? And shall the acts which he caused to be engraved on brass, in which he declared that the edicts and laws passed by the people were valid for ever, be considered as of no power?

> Latin: 16. igitur acta Caesaris servanda censeo, non quo probem—quis enim id quidem potest?—sed quia rationem habendam maxime arbitror pacis atque oti. adesset M. Antonius, modo sine advocatis—sed, ut opinor, licet ei minus valere, quod mihi heri per illum non licuit —doceret me vel potius vos, patres conscripti, quem ad modum ipse Caesaris acta defenderet. in commentariolis et chirographis et libellis se uno auctore prolatis, ne prolatis quidem sed tantum modo dictis, acta Caesaris firma erunt: quae ille in aes incidit, in quo populi iussa perpetuasque leges esse voluit, pro nihilo habebuntur?

[¶11] 17. I think, indeed, that there is nothing so well entitled to be called the acts of Caesar as Caesar's laws. Suppose he gave any one a promise, is that to be ratified, even if it were a promise that he himself was unable to perform? As, in fact, he has failed to perform many promises made to many people. And a great many more of those promises have been found since his death, than the number of all the services which he conferred on and did to people during all the years that he was alive would amount to. But all those things I do not change, I do not meddle with. Nay, I defend all his good acts with the greatest earnestness. Would that the money remained in the temple of Ops! Bloodstained, indeed, it may be, but still needful at these times, since it is not restored to those to whom it really belongs. Let that, however, be squandered too, if it is so written in his acts.

> Latin: 17. existimo nihil tam esse in actis Caesaris quam leges Caesaris., si cui quid ille promisit, id erit fixum quod idem facere non potuit? ut multis multa promissa non fecit: quae tamen multo plura illo mortuo reperta sunt quam a vivo beneficia per omnis annos tributa et data. ea non muto, non moveo: summo studio illius praeclara acta defendo. utinam ad Opis maneret! cruenta illa quidem, sed his temporibus, quoniam eis quorum est non redditur, necessaria. ea quoque sit effusa, si ita in actis fuit.

[¶12] 18. Is there anything whatever that can be called so peculiarly the act of that man who; while clad in the robe of peace, was yet invested with both civil and military command in the republic, as a law of his? Ask for the acts of Gracchus, the Sempronian laws will be brought forward; ask for those of Sulla, you will have the Cornelian laws. What more? In what acts did the third consulship of Cnaeus Pompeius consist? Why, in his laws. And if you could ask Caesar himself what he had done in the city and in the garb of peace, he would reply that he had passed many excellent laws; but his memoranda he would either alter or not produce at all; or, if he did produce them, he would not class them among his acts. But, however, I allow even these things to pass for acts; at some things I am content to wink; but I think it intolerable that the acts of Caesar in the most important instances, that is to say, in his laws, are to he annulled for their sake.

> Latin: 18. est quod tam proprie dici possit actum eius qui togatus in re publica cum potestate imperioque versatus sit quam lex? acta Gracchi: leges Semproniae proferentur; quaere Sullae: Corneliae.? Pompei tertius consulatus in quibus actis constitit? in legibus. Caesare ipso si quaereres quidnam egisset in urbe et in toga, leges multas responderet se et praeclaras tulisse, chirographa vero aut mutaret aut non daret aut, si dedisset, non istas res in actis suis duceret. haec ipsa concedo; quibusdam etiam in rebus coniveo; in maximis vero rebus, id est in legibus, acta Caesaris dissolvi ferendum non puto.

[¶13] 19. What law was ever better, more advantageous, more frequently demanded in the best ages of the republic, than the one which forbade the praetorian provinces to be retained more than a year, and the consular provinces more than two? If this law be abrogated, do you think that the acts of Caesar are maintained? What? are not all the laws of Caesar respecting judicial proceedings abrogated by the law which had been proposed concerning the third decury? And are you the defenders of the acts of Caesar who overturn his laws? Unless, indeed, anything which, for the purpose of recollecting it, he entered in a notebook, is to be counted among his acts, and defended, however unjust or useless it may he; and that which he proposed to the people in the comitia centuriata and carried, is not to be accounted one of the acts of Caesar.

> Latin: 19. lex melior, utilior, optima etiam re publica saepius flagitata quam ne praetoriae provinciae plus quam annum neve plus quam biennium consulares obtinerentur? lege sublata videnturne vobis posse Caesaris acta servari?? lege quae promulgata est de tertia decuria nonne omnes iudiciariae leges Caesaris dissolvuntur? vos acta Caesaris defenditis qui leges eius evertitis? Nisi forte, si quid memoriae causa rettulit in libellum, id numerabitur in actis et, quamvis iniquum et inutile sit, defendetur: quod ad populum centuriatis comitiis tulit, id in actis Caesaris non habebitur.

[¶14] 20. But what is that third decury? The decury of centurions, says he. What? was not the judicature open to that order by the Julian law, and even before that by the Pompeius and Aurelian laws? The income of the men, says he, was exactly defined. Certainly, not only in the case of a centurion, but in the case, too, of a Roman knight. Therefore, men of the highest honour and of the greatest bravery, who have acted as centurions, are and have been judges. I am not asking about those men, says he. Whoever has acted as centurion, let him be a judge. But if you were to propose a law, that whoever had served in the cavalry, which is a higher post, should be a judge, you would not be able to induce any one to approve of that; for a man's fortune and worth ought to be regarded in a judge. I am not asking about those points, says he; I am going to add as judges, common soldiers of the legion of Alaudae; for our friends say that that is the only measure by which they can be saved. Oh what an insulting compliment it is to those men whom you summon to act as judges though they never expected it! For the effect of the law is, to make those men judges in the third decury who do not dare to judge with freedom. And in that how great, O ye immortal gods! is the error of those men who have desired that law. For the meaner the condition of each judge is, the greater will be the severity of judgment with which he will seek to efface the idea of his meanness; and he will strive rather to appear worthy of being classed in the honourable decuries, than to have deservedly ranked in a disreputable one.

> Latin: 20. quae est ista tertia decuria? “” inquit.? isti ordini iudicatus lege Iulia, etiam ante Pompeia, Aurelia non patebat? “praefiniebatur,” inquit. centurioni quidem solum sed equiti etiam Romano; itaque viri fortissimi atque honestissimi qui ordines duxerunt res et iudicant et iudicaverunt. “quaero” inquit “istos: quicumque ordinem duxit, iudicet.” si ferretis quicumque equo meruisset, quod est lautius, nemini probaretis; in iudice enim spectari et fortuna debet et dignitas. “quaero” inquit “ista: addo etiam iudices manipularis ex legione. enim nostri negant posse se salvos esse.” O contumeliosum honorem eis quos ad iudicandum nec opinantis vocatis! enim est legis index ut ei res in tertia decuria iudicent qui libere iudicare non audeant. quo quantus error est, di immortales! eorum qui istam legem excogitaverunt! Vt enim quisque sordidissimus videbitur, ita libentissime severitate iudicandi sordis suas eluet laborabitque ut honestis decuriis potius dignus videatur quam in turpem iure coniectus.

[¶15] 21. Another law was proposed, that men who had been condemned of violence and treason may appeal to the public if they please. Is this now a law, or rather an abrogation of all laws? For who is there at this day to whom it is an object that that law should stand? No one is accused under those laws; there is no one whom we think likely to be so accused. For measures which have been carried by force of arms will certainly never be impeached in a court of justice. But the measure is a popular one. I wish, indeed, that you were willing to promote any popular measure; for, at present, all the citizens agree with one mind and one voice in their view of its bearing on the safety of the republic. What is the meaning, then, of the eagerness to pass the law which brings with it the greatest possible infamy, and no popularity at all? For what can be more discreditable than for a man who has committed treason against the Roman people by acts of violence, after he has been condemned by a legal decision, to be able to return to that very course of violence, on account of which he has been condemned?

> Latin: 21. promulgata lex est ut et de vi et maiestatis damnati ad populum provocent, si velint. utrum tandem lex est an legum omnium dissolutio? est enim hodie cuius intersit istam legem manere? reus est legibus illis, nemo quem futurum putemus. enim gesta numquam profecto in iudicium vocabuntur. “res popularis.” Vtinam quidem aliquid velletis esse populare! enim iam cives de rei publicae salute una et mente et voce consentiunt. est igitur ista cupiditas legis eius ferendae quae turpitudinem summam habeat, gratiam nullam? enim turpius quam qui maiestatem populi Romani minuerit per vim, eum damnatum iudicio ad eam ipsam vim reverti propter quam sit iure damnatus?

[¶16] 22. But why do I argue any more about this law? as if the object aimed at were to enable any one to appeal? The object is, the inevitable consequence must be, that no one can ever be prosecuted under those laws. For what prosecutor will be found insane enough to be willing, after the defendant has been condemned, to expose himself to the fury of a hired mob? or what judge will be bold enough to venture to condemn a criminal, knowing that he will immediately be dragged before a gang of hireling operatives? It is not, therefore, a right of appeal that is given by that law, but two most salutary laws and modes of judicial investigation that are abolished. And what is this but exhorting young men to be turbulent, seditious, mischievous citizens? To what extent of mischief will it not be possible to instigate the frenzy of the tribunes now that these two rights of impeachment for violence and for treason are annulled?

> Latin: 22. quid plura de lege disputo? vero id agatur ut quisquam provocet: id agitur, id fertur ne quis omnino umquam istis legibus reus fiat. enim aut accusator tam amens reperietur qui reo condemnato obici se multitudini conductae velit, aut iudex qui reum damnare audeat, ut ipse ad operas mercennarias statim protrahatur? igitur provocatio ista lege datur, sed duae maxime salutares leges quaestionesque tolluntur. est aliud hortari adulescentis ut turbulenti, ut seditiosi, ut perniciosi cives velint esse? autem ad pestem furor tribunicius impelli non poterit his duabus quaestionibus de vi et maiestate sublatis?

[¶17] 23. What more? Is not this a substitution of a new law for the laws of Caesar, which enact that every man who has been convicted of violence, and also every man who has been convicted of treason, shall be interdicted from fire and water? And, when those men have a right of appeal given them, are not the acts of Caesar rescinded? And those acts, O conscript fathers, I, who never approved of them, have still thought it advisable to maintain for the sake of concord; so that I not only did not think that the laws which Caesar had passed ill his lifetime ought to be repealed, but I did not approve of meddling with those even which since the death of Caesar you have seen produced and published.

> Latin: 23. , quod obrogatur legibus Caesaris, quae iubent ei qui de vi itemque ei qui maiestatis damnatus sit aqua et igni interdici? quibus cum provocatio datur, nonne acta Caesaris rescinduntur? quidem ego, patres conscripti, qui illa numquam probavi, tamen ita conservanda concordiae causa arbitratus sum ut non modo, quas vivus leges Caesar tulisset, infirmandas hoc tempore non putarem, sed ne illas quidem quas post mortem Caesaris prolatas esse et fixas videtis.

[¶18] 24. Men have been recalled from banishment by a dead man; the freedom of the city has been conferred not only on individuals, but on entire nations and provinces by a dead man; our revenues have been diminished by the granting of countless exemptions by a dead man. Therefore, do we defend these measures which have been brought from his house on the authority of a single, but, I admit, a very excellent individual; and as for the laws which he, in your presence, read, and declared, and passed,—in the passing of which he gloried, and on which he believed that the safety of the republic depended, especially those concerning provinces and concerning judicial proceedings,—can we, I say, we who defend the acts of Caesar, think that those laws deserve to be upset?

> Latin: 24. exsilio reducti a mortuo; civitas data non solum singulis sed nationibus et provinciis universis a mortuo; immunitatibus infinitis sublata vectigalia a mortuo. haec uno, verum optimo auctore domo prolata defendimus: eas leges quas ipse nobis inspectantibus recitavit, pronuntiavit, tulit, quibus latis gloriabatur eisque legibus rem publicam contineri putabat, de provinciis, de iudiciis, eas, inquam, Caesaris leges nos qui defendimus acta Caesaris evertendas putamus?

[¶19] 25. And yet concerning those laws which were proposed, we have, at all events, the power of complaining; but concerning those which are actually passed we have not even had that privilege. For they, without any proposal of them to the people, were passed before they were framed. Men ask, what is the reason why I, or why any one of you, O conscript fathers, should be afraid of bad laws while we have virtuous tribunes of the people? We have men ready to interpose their veto; ready to defend the republic with the sanctions of religion. We ought to be strangers to fear. What do you mean by interposing the veto? says he; what are all these sanctions of religion which you are talking about? Those, forsooth, on which the safety of the republic depends. We are neglecting those things, and thinking them too old-fashioned and foolish. The forum will be surrounded, every entrance of it will be blocked up; armed men will be placed in garrison, as it were, at many points.

> Latin: 25. de his tamen legibus quae promulgatae sunt saltem queri possumus: de eis quae iam latae dicuntur ne illud quidem licuit. enim sine ulla promulgatione latae sunt ante quam scriptae. autem quid sit cur aut ego aut quisquam vestrum, patres conscripti, bonis tribunis plebi leges malas metuat. habemus qui intercedant; paratos qui rem publicam religione defendant: vacui metu esse debemus. “tu mihi” inquit “intercessiones, quas religiones?” scilicet quibus rei publicae salus continetur. “ista et nimis antiqua ac stulta ducimus: forum saepietur; omnes claudentur aditus; armati in praesidiis multis locis conlocabuntur.” tum?

[¶20] 26. What then?—whatever is accomplished by those means will be law. And you will order, I suppose, all those regularly passed decrees to be engraved on brazen tablets. “The consuls consulted the people in regular form,” (Is this the way of consulting the people that we have received from our ancestors?) “and the people voted it with due regularity.” What people? that which was excluded from the forum? Under what law did they do so? under that which has been wholly abrogated by violence and arms? But I am saying all this with reference to the future; because it is the part of a friend to point out evils which may be avoided: and if they never ensue, that will be the best refutation of my speech. I am speaking of laws which have been proposed; concerning which you have still full power to decide either way. I am pointing out the defects; away with them I am denouncing violence and arms; away with them too!

> Latin: 26. quod ita erit gestum, id lex erit? et in aes incidi iubebitis, credo, illa legitima: consules populum iure rogaverunt —hocine a maioribus accepimus ius rogandi?— populusque iure scivit. populus? isne qui exclusus est? iure? an eo quod vi et armis omne sublatum est? haec dico de futuris, quod est amicorum ante dicere ea quae vitari possint: quae si facta non erunt, refelletur oratio mea. de legibus promulgatis, de quibus est integrum vobis, demonstro vitia: tollite! denuntio vim: arma removete!

[¶21] 27. You and your colleague, O Dolabella, ought not, indeed, to be angry with me for speaking in defence of the republic. Although I do not think that you yourself will be; I know your willingness to listen to reason. They say that your colleague, in this fortune of his, which he himself thinks so good, but which would seem to me more favourable if (not to use any harsh language) he were to imitate the example set him by the consulship of his grandfathers and of his uncle,—they say that he has been exceedingly offended. And I see what a formidable thing it is to have the same man angry with me and also armed; especially at a time when men can use their swords with such impunity. But I will propose a condition which I myself think reasonable, and which I do not imagine Marcus Antonius will reject. If I have said anything insulting against his way of life or against his morals, I will not object to his being my bitterest enemy. But if I have maintained the same habits that I have already adopted in the republic,—that is, if I have spoken my opinions concerning the affairs of the republic with freedom,—in the first place, I beg that he will not be angry with me for that; but, in the next place, if I cannot obtain my first request, I beg at least that he will show his anger only as he legitimately may show it to a fellow-citizen. Let him employ arms, if it is necessary, as he says it is, for his own defence: only let not those arms injure those men who have declared their honest sentiments in the affairs of the republic. Now, what can be more reasonable than this demand?

> Latin: 27. quidem vos mihi, Dolabella, pro re publica dicenti non oportebit. te quidem id facturum non arbitror—novi facilitatem tuam—conlegam tuum aiunt in hac sua fortuna quae bona ipsi videtur—mihi, ne gravius quippiam dicam, avorum et avunculi sui consulatum si imitaretur, fortunatior videretur—sed eum iracundum audio esse factum. autem quam sit odiosum habere eundem iratum et armatum, cum tanta praesertim gladiorum sit impunitas: sed proponam ius, ut opinor, aequum, quod M. Antonium non arbitror repudiaturum., si quid in vitam eius aut in mores cum contumelia dixero, quo minus mihi inimicissimus sit non recusabo; sin consuetudinem meam quam in re publica semper habui tenuero, id est si libere quae sentiam de re publica dixero, primum deprecor ne irascatur; deinde, si hoc non impetro, peto ut sic irascatur ut civi. utatur, si ita necesse est, ut dicit, sui defendendi causa: eis qui pro re publica quae ipsis visa erunt dixerint ista arma ne noceant. hac postulatione dici potest aequius?

[¶22] 28. But if, as has been said to me by some of his intimate friends, every speech which is at all contrary to his inclination is violently offensive, to him, even if there be no insult in it whatever; then we will bear with the natural disposition of our friend. But those men, at the same time, say to me, “You will not have the same licence granted to you who are the adversary of Caesar as might be claimed by Piso his father-in-law.” And then they warn me of something which I must guard against; and certainly, the excuse which sickness supplies me with, for not coming to the senate, will not be a more valid one than that which is furnished by death.

> Latin: 28. si, ut mihi a quibusdam eius familiaribus dictum est, omnis eum quae habetur contra voluntatem eius oratio graviter offendit, etiam si nulla inest contumelia, feremus amici naturam. idem illi ita mecum loquuntur: “non idem tibi adversario Caesaris licebit quod Pisoni socero,” et simul admonent quiddam quod cavebimus: “nec erit iustior in senatum non veniendi morbi causa quam mortis.”

[¶23] 29. But, in the name of the immortal gods! for while I look upon you, O Dolabella, who are most dear to me, it is impossible for me to keep silence respecting the error into which you are both falling; for I believe that you, being both, men of high birth, entertaining lofty views, have been eager to acquire, not money, as some too credulous people suspect, a thing which has at all times been scorned by every honourable and illustrious man, nor power procured by violence and authority such as never ought to be endured by the Roman people, but the affection of your fellow-citizens, and glory. But glory is praise for deeds which have been done, and the fame earned by great services to the republic; which is approved of by the testimony borne in its favour, not only by every virtuous man, but also by the multitude.

> Latin: 29. per deos immortalis!—te enim intuens, Dolabella, qui es mihi carissimus, non possum de utriusque vestrum errore reticere. enim vos nobilis homines magna quaedam spectantis non pecuniam, ut quidam nimis creduli suspicantur, quae semper ab amplissimo quoque clarissimoque contempta est, non opes violentas et populo Romano minime ferendam potentiam, sed caritatem civium et gloriam concupivisse. autem gloria laus recte factorum magnorumque in rem publicam fama meritorum, quae cum optimi cuiusque, tum etiam multitudinis testimonio comprobatur.

[¶24] 30. I would tell you, O Dolabella, what the fruit of good actions is, if I did not see that you have already learnt it by experience beyond all other men. What day can you recollect in your whole life, as ever having beamed on you with a more joyful light than the one on which, having purified the forum, having routed the throng of wicked men, having inflicted due punishment on the ringleaders in wickedness, and having delivered the city from conflagration and from fear of massacre, you returned to your house? What order of society, what class of people, what rank, of nobles even was there who did not then show their zeal in praising and congratulating you? Even I, too, because men thought that you had been acting by my advice in those transactions, received the thanks and congratulations of good men in your name. Remember, I pray you, O Dolabella, the unanimity displayed on that day in the theatre, when every one, forgetful of the causes on account of which they had been previously offended with you, showed that in consequence of your recent service they had banished all recollection of their former indignation.

> Latin: 30. , Dolabella, qui recte factorum fructus esset, nisi te praeter ceteros paulisper esse expertum viderem. potes recordari in vita inluxisse tibi diem laetiorem quam cum expiato foro, dissipato concursu impiorum, principibus sceleris poena adfectis, urbe incendio et caedis metu liberata te domum recepisti? ordinis, cuius generis, cuius denique fortunae studia tum laudi et gratulationi tuae se non obtulerunt? mihi etiam, quo auctore te in his rebus uti arbitrabantur, et gratias boni viri agebant et tuo nomine gratulabantur., quaeso, Dolabella, consensum illum theatri, cum omnes earum rerum obliti propter quas fuerant tibi offensi significarent se beneficio novo memoriam veteris doloris abiecisse.

[¶25] 31. Could you, O Dolabella, (it is with great concern that I speak,)—could you, I say, forfeit this dignity with equanimity? And you, O Marcus Antonius, (I address myself to you, though in your absence,) do you not prefer that day on which the senate was assembled in the temple of Tellus, to all those months during which some who differ greatly in opinion from me think that you have been happy? What a noble speech was that of yours about unanimity! From what apprehensions were the veterans, and from what anxiety was the whole state relieved by you on that occasion! when, having laid aside your enmity against him, you on that day first consented that your present colleague should be your colleague, forgetting that the auspices had been announced by yourself as augur of the Roman people; and when your little son was sent by you to the Capitol to be a hostage for peace.

> Latin: 31. tu, P. Dolabella,— magno loquor cum dolore—hanc tu, inquam, potuisti aequo animo tantam dignitatem deponere? autem, M. Antoni, —absentem enim appello—unum illum diem quo in aede senatus fuit non omnibus his mensibus quibus te quidam multum a me dissentientes beatum putant anteponis? fuit oratio de concordia! quanto metu ⟨senatus⟩, quanta sollicitudine civitas tum a te liberata est cum conlegam tuum, depositis inimicitiis, oblitus auspiciorum a te ipso augure populi Romani nuntiatorum, illo primum die conlegam tibi esse voluisti; cum tuus parvus filius in Capitolium a te missus pacis obses fuit!

[¶26] 32. On what day was the senate ever more joyful than on that day? or when was the Roman people more delighted? which had never met in greater numbers in any assembly whatever. Then, at last, we did appear to have been really delivered by brave men, because, as they had willed it to be, peace was following liberty. On the next day, on the day after that, on the third day, and on all the following days, you were on without intermission, giving every day, as it were, some fresh present to the republic; but the greatest of all presents was that, when you abolished the name of the dictatorship. This was in effect branding the name of the dead Caesar with everlasting ignominy, and it was your doing,—yours, I say. For as, on account of the wickedness of one Marcus Manlius, by a resolution of the Manlian family it is unlawful that any patrician should be called Manlius, so you, on account of the hatred excited by one dictator, have utterly abolished the name of dictator.

> Latin: 32. quo senatus die laetior, quo populus Romanus? qui quidem nulla in contione umquam frequentior fuit. denique liberati per viros fortissimos videbamur, quia, ut illi voluerant, libertatem pax consequebatur., altero, tertio, denique reliquis consecutis diebus non intermittebas quasi donum aliquod cotidie adferre rei publicae; maximum autem illud quod dictaturae nomen sustulisti. inusta est a te, a te, inquam, mortuo Caesari nota ad ignominiam sempiternam. Vt enim propter unius M. Manli scelus decreto gentis Manliae neminem patricium Manlium ⟨Marcum⟩ vocari licet, sic tu propter unius dictatoris odium nomen dictatoris funditus sustulisti.

[¶27] 33. When you had done these mighty exploits for the safety of the republic, did you repent of your fortune, or of the dignity and renown and glory which you had acquired? Whence then is this sudden change? I cannot be induced to suspect that you have been caught by the desire of acquiring money; every one may say what he pleases, but we are not bound to believe such a thing; for I never saw anything sordid or anything mean in you. Although a man's intimate friends do sometimes corrupt his natural disposition, still I know your firmness; and I only wish that as you avoid that fault, you had been able also to escape all suspicion of it. What I am more afraid of is lest, being ignorant of the true path to glory, you, should think it glorious for you to have more power by yourself than all the rest of the people put together, and lest you should prefer being feared by your fellow-citizens to being loved by them. And if you do think so, you are ignorant of the road to glory. For a citizen to be dear to his fellow-citizens, to deserve well of the republic, to be praised, to be respected, to be loved, is glorious; but to be feared, and to be an object of hatred, is odious, detestable; and moreover, pregnant with weakness and decay.

> Latin: 33. te, cum haec pro salute rei publicae tanta gessisses, fortunae tuae, num amplitudinis, num claritatis, num gloriae paenitebat? Vnde igitur subito tanta ista mutatio? possum adduci ut suspicer te pecunia captum. quod cuique libet loquatur, credere non est necesse. enim umquam in te sordidum, nihil humile cognovi. solent domestici depravare non numquam; sed novi firmitatem tuam. utinam ut culpam, sic etiam suspicionem vitare potuisses! magis vereor ne ignorans verum iter gloriae gloriosum putes plus te unum posse quam omnis et metui a civibus tuis quam diligi malis. si ita putas, totam ignoras viam gloriae. Carum esse civem, bene de re publica mereri, laudari, coli, diligi gloriosum est; metui vero et in odio esse invidiosum, detestabile, imbecillum, caducum.

[¶28] 34. And we see that, even in the play, the very man who said,
“What care I though all men should hate my name,
So long as fear accompanies their hate?”
found that it was a mischievous principle to act upon. I wish, O Antonius, that you could recollect your grandfather, of whom, however, you have repeatedly heard me speak. Do you think that he would have been willing to deserve even immortality, at the price of being feared in consequence of his licentious use of arms? What he considered life, what he considered prosperity, was the being equal to the rest of the citizens in freedom, and chief of them all in worth. Therefore, to say no more of the prosperity of your grandfather, I should prefer that most bitter day of his death to the domination of Lucius Cinna, by whom he was most barbarously slain.

> Latin: 34. videmus etiam in fabula illi ipsi qui “, dum metuant” dixerit perniciosum fuisse. Vtinam, M. Antoni, avum tuum meminisses! de quo tamen audisti multa ex me eaque saepissime. Putasne illum immortalitatem mereri voluisse, ut propter armorum habendorum licentiam metueretur? erat vita, illa secunda fortuna, libertate esse parem ceteris, principem dignitate., ut omittam res avi tui prosperas, acerbissimum eius supremum diem malim quam L. Cinnae dominatum, a quo ille crudelissime est interfectus.

[¶29] 35. But why should I seek to make an impression on you by my speech? For, if the end of Caius Caesar cannot influence you to prefer being loved to being feared, no speech of any one will do any good or have any influence with you; and those who think him happy are themselves miserable. No one is happy who lives on such terms that he may be put to death not merely with impunity, but even to the great glory of his slayer. Wherefore, change your mind, I entreat you, and look hack upon your ancestors, and govern the republic in such a way that your fellow-citizens may rejoice that you were born without which no one can be happy nor illustrious.

> Latin: 35. quid oratione te flectam? enim exitus C. Caesaris efficere non potest ut malis carus esse quam metui, nihil cuiusquam proficiet nec valebit oratio. qui beatum fuisse putant, miseri ipsi sunt. est nemo qui ea lege vivit ut non modo impune sed etiam cum summa interfectoris gloria interfici possit. re flecte te, quaeso, et maiores tuos respice atque ita guberna rem publicam ut natum esse te cives tui gaudeant: sine quo nec beatus nec carus nec iucundus quisquam esse omnino potest.

[¶30] 36. And, indeed, you have both of you had many judgments delivered respecting you by the Roman people, by which I am greatly concerned that you are not sufficiently influenced. For what was the meaning of the shouts of the innumerable crowd of citizens collected at the gladiatorial games? or of the verses made by the people? or of the extraordinary applause at the sight of the statue of Pompeius? and at that sight of the two tribunes of the people who are opposed to you? Are these things a feeble indication of the incredible unanimity of the entire Roman people? What more? Did the applause at the games of Apollo, or, I should rather say, testimony and judgment there given by the Roman people, appear to you of small importance? Oh! happy are those men who, though they themselves were unable to be present on account of the violence of arms, still were present in spirit. and had a place in the breasts and hearts of the Roman people. Unless, perhaps, you think that it was Accius who was applauded on that occasion, and who bore off the palm sixty years after his first appearance, and not Brutus, who was absent from the games which he himself was exhibiting, while at that most splendid spectacle the Roman people showed their zeal in his favour though he was absent, and soothed their own regret for their deliverer by uninterrupted applause and clamour.

> Latin: 36. quidem Romani iudicia multa ambo habetis, quibus vos non satis moveri permoleste fero. enim gladiatoribus clamores innumerabilium civium? quid populi versus? quid Pompei statuae plausus infiniti? quid duobus tribunis plebis qui vobis adversantur? parumne haec significant incredibiliter consentientem populi Romani universi voluntatem?? Apollinarium ludorum plausus vel testimonia potius et iudicia populi Romani parum magna vobis videbantur? O beatos illos qui, cum adesse ipsis propter vim armorum non licebat, aderant tamen et in medullis populi Romani ac visceribus haerebant! Nisi forte Accio tum plaudi et sexagesimo post anno palmam dari, non Bruto putabatis, qui ludis suis ita caruit ut in illo apparatissimo spectaculo studium populus Romanus tribueret absenti, desiderium liberatoris sui perpetuo plausu et clamore leniret.

[¶31] 37. I myself, indeed, am a man who have at all times despised that applause which is bestowed by the vulgar crowd, but at the same time, when it is bestowed by those of the highest, and of the middle, and of the lowest rank, and, in short, by all ranks together, and when those men who were previously accustomed to aim at nothing but the favour of the people keep aloof, I then think that, not mere applause, but a deliberate verdict. If this appears to you unimportant, which is in reality most significant, do you also despise the fact of which you have had experience,—namely, that the life of Aulus Hirtius is so dear to the Roman people? For it was sufficient for him to be esteemed by the Roman people as he is; to be popular among his friends, in which respect he surpasses everybody; to be beloved by his own kinsmen, who love him beyond measure; but in whose case before do we ever recollect such anxiety and such fear being manifested? Certainly in no one's.

> Latin: 37. is sum qui istos plausus, cum popularibus civibus tribuerentur, semper contempserim; idemque cum a summis, mediis, infimis, cum denique ab universis hoc idem fit, cumque ei qui ante sequi populi consensum solebant fugiunt, non plausum illum, sed iudicium puto. haec leviora vobis videntur quae sunt gravissima, num etiam hoc contemnitis quod sensistis tam caram populo Romano vitam A. Hirti fuisse? erat enim probatum illum esse populo Romano, ut est; iucundum amicis, in quo vincit omnis; carum suis, quibus est ipse carissimus: tantam tamen sollicitudinem bonorum, tantum timorem omnium in quo meminimus? in nullo.

[¶32] 38. What then, are we to do? In the name of the immortal gods, can you interpret these facts, and see what is their purport? What do you think that those men think of your lives, to whom the lives of those men who they hope will consult the welfare of the republic are so dear? I have reaped, O conscript fathers, the reward of my return, since I have said enough to bear testimony of my consistency whatever event may befall me, and since I have been kindly and attentively listened to by you. And if I have such opportunities frequently without exposing both myself and you to danger, I shall avail myself of them. If not, as far as I can I shall reserve myself not for myself, but rather for the republic. I have lived long enough for the course of human life, or for my own glory. If any additional life is granted to me, it shall be bestowed not so much on myself as on you and on the republic. This second speech was not actually spoken at all. Antonius was greatly enraged at the first speech, and summoned another meeting of the senate for the nineteenth day of the month, giving Cicero especial notice to be present, and he employed the interval in preparing an invective against Cicero, and a reply to the first Philippic. The senate met in the temple of Concord, but Cicero himself was persuaded not to attend by his friends, who were afraid of Antonius proceeding to actual violence against him, (and indeed he brought a strong guard of armed men with him to the senate.) He spoke with the greatest fury against Cicero, charging him with having been the principal author and contriver of Caesar's murder, hoping by this to inflame the soldiers, whom he had posted within hearing of his harangue. Soon after this, Cicero removed to a villa near Naples for greater safety, and here he composed this second Philippic, which he did not publish immediately, but contented himself at first with sending a copy to Brutus and Cassius, who were much pleased with it.

> Latin: 38. igitur? hoc vos, per deos immortalis! quale sit non interpretamini?? eos de vestra vita cogitare non censetis quibus eorum quos sperant rei publicae consulturos vita tam cara sit? fructum, patres conscripti, reversionis meae, quoniam et ea dixi, ut quicumque casus consecutus esset, exstaret constantiae meae testimonium, et sum a vobis benigne ac diligenter auditus. potestas si mihi saepius sine meo vestroque periculo fiet, utar: si minus, quantum potero, non tam mihi me quam rei publicae reservabo. fere satis est quod vixi vel ad aetatem vel ad gloriam: huc si quid accesserit, non tam mihi quam vobis reique publicae accesserit.