3. And I notice, O conscript fathers, that there are some who favor this proposal: whose intention and design is, as they see that that will be a most glorious day for Decimus Brutus on which we return to our usual dress out of joy for his safety, to deprive him of this great reward, so that it may not be handed down to the recollection of posterity that the Roman people had recourse to the garb of war on account of the danger of one single citizen, and then returned to their gowns of pence on account of his safety. Take away this reason, and you will find no other for so absurd a proposal. But do you, O conscript fathers, preserve your authority, adhere to your own opinions, preserve in your recollection what you have often declared, that the whole result of this entire war depends on the life of one most brave and excellent man.
3. animadverto, patres conscripti, quosdam huic favere sententiae quorum ea mens idque consilium est ut, cum videant gloriosissimum illum D. Bruto futurum diem quo die propter eius salutem redierimus, hunc ei fructum eripere cupiant, ne memoriae posteritatique prodatur propter unius civis periculum populum Romanum ad saga isse, propter eiusdem salutem redisse ad togas. hanc: nullam tam pravae sententiae causam reperietis. vero, patres conscripti, conservate auctoritatem vestram, manete in sententia, tenete vestra memoria quod saepe ostendistis, huius totius belli in unius viri fortissimi et maximi vita positum esse discrimen.
4. For the purpose of effecting the liberation of Decimus Brutus, the chief men of the state were sent as ambassadors, to give notice to that enemy and parricidal traitor to retire from Mutina; for the sake of preserving that same Decimus Brutus, Aulus Hirtius, the consul, went by lot to conduct the war; a man the weakness of whose bodily health was made up for by the strength of his courage, and encouraged by the hope of victory; Caesar, too, after he, with an army levied by his own resources and on his own authority, had delivered the republic from the first dangers that assailed it, in order to prevent any subsequent wicked attempts from being originated, departed to assist in the deliverance of the same Brutus, and subdued some family vexation which he may have felt by his attachment to his country.
4. D. Brutum liberandum legati missi principes civitatis qui illi hosti ac parricidae denuntiarent ut a Mutina discederet; eiusdem D. Bruti conservandi gratia consul sortitu ad bellum profectus A. Hirtius, cuius imbecillitatem valetudinis animi virtus et spes victoriae confirmavit; Caesar, cum exercitu per se comparato cum primum his pestibus rem publicam liberasset, ne quid postea sceleris oreretur profectus est ad eundem Brutum liberandum vicitque dolorem aliquem domesticum patriae caritate.
5. What other object had Caius Pansa in holding the levies which he did, and in collecting money, and in carrying the most severe resolutions of the senate against Antonius, and in exhorting us, and in inviting the Roman people to embrace the cause of liberty, except to insure the deliverance of Decimus Brutus? For the Roman people in crowds demanded at his hands the safety of Decimus Brutus with such unanimous outcries, that he was compelled to prefer it not only to any consideration of his own personal advantage, but even to his own necessities. And that end we now, O conscript fathers, are entitled to hope is either at the point of being achieved, or is actually gained; but it is right for the reward of our hopes to be reserved for the issue and event of the business, lest we should appear either to have anticipated the kindness of the gods by our over precipitation, or to have despised the bounty of fortune through our own folly.
5. C. Pansa egit aliud dilectibus habendis, pecuniis comparandis, senatus consultis faciendis gravissimis in Antonium, nobis cohortandis, populo Romano ad causam libertatis vocando, nisi ut D. Brutus liberaretur? A quo populus Romanus frequens ita salutem D. Bruti una voce depoposcit ut eam non solum commodis suis sed etiam necessitati victus anteferret. sperare nos quidem debemus, patres conscripti, aut inibi esse aut iam esse confectum: sed spei fructum rei convenit et evento reservari ne aut deorum immortalium beneficium festinatione praeripuisse aut vim fortunae stultitia contempsisse videamur.
6. But since the manner of your behavior shows plainly enough what you think of this matter, I will come to the letters which have arrived from the consuls and the propraetor, after I have said a few words relating to the letters themselves. The swords, O conscript fathers, of our legions and armies have been stained with, or rather, I should say, dipped deep in blood in two battles which have taken place under the consuls, and a third, which has been fought under the command of Caesar. If it was the blood of enemies, then great is the piety of the soldiers; but it is nefarious wickedness if it was the blood of citizens. How long, then, is that man, who has surpassed all enemies in wickedness, to be spared the name of enemy? unless you wish to see the very swords of our soldiers trembling in their hands while they doubt whether they are piercing a citizen or an enemy.
6. quoniam significatio vestra satis declarat quid hac de re sentiatis, ad litteras veniam quae sunt a consulibus et a pro praetore missae, si pauca ante quae ad ipsas litteras pertineant dixero. gladii sunt, patres conscripti, legionum exercituumque nostrorum vel madefacti potius duobus consulum, tertio Caesaris proelio. hostium fuit ille sanguis, summa militum pietas: nefarium scelus, si civium. usque igitur is qui omnis hostis scelere superavit nomine hostis carebit? nisi mucrones etiam nostrorum militum tremere voltis dubitantis utrum in cive an in hoste figantur. decernitis: hostem non appellatis.
7. You vote a supplication; you do not call Antonius an enemy. Very pleasing indeed to the immortal gods will our thanksgivings be, very pleasing too the victims, after a multitude of our citizens has been slain! “For the victory” says the proposer of the supplication, “over wicked and audacious men.” For that is what this most illustrious man calls them; expressions of blame suited to lawsuits carried on in the city, not denunciations of searing infamy such as deserved by internecine war. I suppose they are forging wills, or trespassing on their neighbors, or cheating some young men; for it is men implicated in these and similar practices that we are in the habit of terming wicked and audacious.
7. vero nostrae dis immortalibus gratulationes erunt, gratae victimae, cum interfecta sit civium multitudo! “improbis” inquit “et audacibus.” sic eos appellat clarissimus vir: quae sunt urbanarum maledicta litium, non inustae belli internecini notae., credo, subiciunt aut eiciunt vicinos aut adulescentulos circumscribunt: his enim vitiis adfectos et talibus malos ⟨aut⟩ audacis appellare consuetudo solet.
8. One man, the foulest of all banditti, is waging an irreconcilable war against four consuls. He is at the same time carrying on war against the senate and people of Rome. He is (although he is himself hastening to destruction; through the disasters which he has met with) threatening all of us with destruction, and devastation, and torments, and tortures. He declares that that inhuman and savage act of Dolabella's, which no nation of barbarians would have owned, was done by his advice; and what he himself would do in this city, if this very Jupiter, who now looks down upon us assembled in his temple, had not repelled him from this temple and from these walls, he showed, in the miseries of those inhabitants of Parma, whom, virtuous and honorable men as they were, and most intimately connected with the authority of this order, and with the dignity of the Roman people, that villain and monster, Lucius Antonius, that object of the extraordinary detestation of all men, and (if the gods hate those whom they ought) of all the gods also, murdered with every circumstance of cruelty.
8. inexpiabile infert quattuor consulibus unus omnium latronum taeterrimus; gerit idem bellum cum senatu populoque Romano; omnibus—quamquam ruit ipse suis cladibus—pestem, vastitatem, cruciatum, tormenta denuntiat: Dolabellae ferum et immane facinus quod nulla barbaria posset agnoscere, id suo consilio factum esse testatur; quaeque esset facturus in hac urbe, nisi eum hic ipse Iuppiter ab hoc templo atque moenibus reppulisset, declaravit in Parmensium calamitate, quos optimos viros honestissimosque homines, maxime cum auctoritate huius ordinis populique Romani dignitate coniunctos, crudelissimis exemplis interemit propudium illud et portentum, L. Antonius, insigne odium omnium hominum vel, si etiam di oderunt quos oportet, deorum.
9. My mind shudders at the recollection, O conscript fathers, and shrinks from relating the cruelties which Lucius Antonius perpetrated on the children and wives of the citizens of Parma. For whatever infamy the Antonii have willingly undergone in their own persons to their own infamy, they triumph in the fact of having inflicted on others by violence. But it is a miserable violence which they offered to them; most unholy lust, such as the whole life of the Antonii is polluted with. Is there then any one who is afraid to call those men enemies, whose wickedness he admits to have surpassed even the inhumanity of the Carthaginians? For in what city, when taken by storm, did Hannibal even behave with such ferocity as Antonius did in Parma, which he filched by surprise? Unless, perhaps, Antonius is not to be considered the enemy of this colony, and of the others toward which he is animated with the same feelings.
9. animus, patres conscripti, eaque dicere reformidat quae L. Antonius in Parmensium liberis et coniugibus effecerit. enim turpitudines Antonii libenter cum dedecore subierunt, easdem per vim laetantur aliis se intulisse. vis calamitosa est quam illis obtulerunt: libido flagitiosa qua Antoniorum oblita est vita. igitur quisquam qui hostis appellare non audeat quorum scelere crudelitatem Carthaginiensium victam esse fateatur? enim in urbe tam immanis Hannibal capta quam in Parma surrepta Antonius? nisi forte huius coloniae et ceterarum in quas eodem est animo non est hostis putandus.
10. But if he is beyond all question the enemy of the colonies and municipal towns, then what do you consider him with respect to this city which he is so eager for to satiate the indigence of his band of robbers? which that skillful and experienced surveyor of his, Saxa, has already marked out with his rule. Recollect, I entreat you, in the name of the immortal gods, O conscript fathers, what we have been fearing for the last two days, in consequence of infamous rumors carefully disseminated by enemies within the walls. Who has been able to look upon his children or upon his wife without weeping? who has been able to bear the sight of his home, of his house, and his household gods? Already all of us were expecting a most ignominious death, or meditating a miserable flight. And shall we hesitate to call the men at whose hands we feared all these things enemies? If any one should propose a more severe designation I will willingly agree to it; I am hardly content with this ordinary one, and will certainly not employ a more moderate one.
10. vero coloniarum et municipiorum sine ulla dubitatione hostis est, quid tandem huius censetis urbis quam ille ad explendas egestates latrocini sui concupivit, quam iam peritus metator et callidus decempeda sua Saxa diviserat?, per deos immortalis! patres conscripti, quid hoc biduo timuerimus a domesticis hostibus rumoribus improbissimis dissipatis. liberos, quis coniugem aspicere poterat sine fletu? quis domum, quis tecta, quis larem familiarem? foedissimam mortem omnes aut miserabilem fugam cogitabant. a quibus timebantur, eos hostis appellare dubitamus? si quis attulerit nomen, libenter adsentiar: hoc volgari contentus vix sum, leviore non utar.
11. Therefore, as we are bound to vote, and as Servilius has already proposed a most just supplication for those letters which have been read to you; I will propose altogether to increase the number of the days which it is to last, especially as it is to be decreed in honor of three generals conjointly. But first of all I will insist on styling those men imperator by whose valor, and wisdom, and good fortune we have been released from the most imminent danger of slavery and death. Indeed, who is there within the last twenty years who has had a supplication decreed to him without being himself styled imperator, though he may have performed the most insignificant exploits, or even almost none at all. Wherefore, the senator who spoke before me ought either not to have moved for a supplication at all, or he ought to have paid the usual and established compliment to those men to whom even new and extraordinary honors are justly due.
11. cum supplicationes iustissimas ex eis litteris quae recitatae sunt decernere debeamus, Serviliusque decreverit, augebo omnino numerum dierum, praesertim cum non uni, sed tribus ducibus sint decernendae. hoc primum faciam ut imperatores appellem eos quorum virtute, consilio, felicitate maximis periculis servitutis atque interitus liberati sumus. cui viginti his annis supplicatio decreta est ut non imperator appellaretur aut minimis rebus gestis aut plerumque nullis? ob rem aut supplicatio ab eo qui ante dixit decernenda non fuit aut usitatus honos pervolgatusque tribuendus eis quibus etiam novi singularesque debentur.
12. Shall the senate, according to this custom which has now obtained, style a man imperator if he has slain a thousand or two of Spaniards, or Gauls, or Thracians; and now that so many legions have been routed, now that such a multitude of enemies has been slain,—yes, enemies, I say, although our enemies within the city do not fancy this expression,—shall we pay to our most illustrious generals the honor of a supplication, and refuse them the name of imperator? For with what great honor, and joy, and exultation ought the deliverers of this city themselves to enter into this temple, when yesterday, on account of the exploits which they have performed, the Roman people carried me in an ovation, almost in a triumph from my house to the Capitol, and back again from the Capitol to my own house?
12. si quis Hispanorum aut Gallorum aut Threcum mille aut duo milia occidisset, illum hac consuetudine quae increbruit imperatorem appellaret senatus: tot legionibus caesis, tanta multitudine hostium interfecta—ita, inquam, hostium, quamvis hoc isti hostes domestici nolint—clarissimis ducibus supplicationum honorem tribuemus, imperatorium nomen adimemus? enim honore, laetitia, gratulatione in hoc templum ingredi debent illi ipsi huius urbis liberatores, cum hesterno die propter eorum res gestas me ovantem et prope triumphantem populus Romanus in Capitolium domo tulerit, domum inde reduxerit?
13. That is indeed in my opinion a just and genuine triumph, when men who have deserved well of the republic receive public testimony to their merits from the unanimous consent of the senate. For if, at a time of general rejoicing on the part of the Roman people, they addressed their congratulations to one individual, that is a great proof of their opinion of him; if they gave him thanks, that is a greater still; if they did both, then nothing more honorable to him can be possibly imagined. Are you saying all this of yourself? some one will ask. It is indeed against my will that I do so; but my indignation at injustice makes me boastful, contrary to my usual habit. Is it not sufficient that thanks should not be given to men who have well earned them, by men who are ignorant of the very nature of virtue? And shall accusations and odium be attempted to be excited against those men who devote all their thoughts to insuring the safety of the republic?
13. enim demum est mea quidem sententia iustus triumphus ac verus, cum bene de re publica meritis testimonium a consensu civitatis datur. sive in communi gaudio populi Romani uni gratulabantur, magnum iudicium, sive uni gratias agebant, eo maius, sive utrumque, nihil magnificentius cogitari potest. igitur ipse de te? dixerit quispiam. invitus, sed iniuriae dolor facit me praeter consuetudinem gloriosum. satis est ab hominibus virtutis ignaris gratiam bene merentibus non referri? etiam in eos qui omnis suas curas in rei publicae salute defigunt, crimen ⟨et⟩ invidia quaeretur?
14. For you well know that there has been a common report for the last few days, that the day before the wine feast, that is to say, on this very day, I was intending to come forth with the fasces as dictator. One would think that this story was invented against some gladiator, or robber, or Catiline, and not against a man who had prevented any such step from ever being taken in the republic. Was I, who defeated and overthrew and crushed Catiline, when he was attempting such wickedness, a likely man myself all on a sudden to turn out Catiline? Under what auspices could I, an augur, take those fasces? How long should I have been likely to keep them? to whom was I to deliver them as my successor? The idea of any one having been so wicked as to invent such a tale! or so mad as to believe it! In what could such a suspicion, or rather such gossip, have originated?
14. enim per hos dies creberrimum fuisse sermonem, me, qui dies hodie est, cum fascibus descensurum. aliquem credo hoc gladiatorem aut latronem aut Catilinam esse conlatum, non in eum qui ne quid tale in re publica fieri posset effecerit. vero ego qui Catilinam haec molientem sustulerim, everterim, adflixerim, ipse exstiterim repente Catilina? auspiciis istos fascis augur acciperem, quatenus haberem, cui traderem? fuisse tam sceleratum qui hoc fingeret, tam furiosum qui crederet? Vnde igitur ista suspicio vel potius unde iste sermo.
15. When, as you know, during the last three or four days a report of bad news from Mutina has been creeping abroad, the disloyal part of the citizens, inflated with exultation and insolence, began to collect in one place, at that senate-house which has been more fatal to their party than to the republic. There, while they were forming a plan to massacre us, and were distributing the different duties among one another, and settling who was to seize on the Capitol, who on the rostra, who on the gates of the city, they thought that all the citizens would flock to me. And in order to bring me into unpopularity, and even into danger of my life, they spread abroad this report about the fasces. They themselves had some idea of bringing the fasces to my house; and then, on pretense of that having been done by my wish, they had prepared a band of hired ruffians to make an attack on me as on a tyrant, and a massacre of all of you was intended to follow. The fact is already notorious, O conscript fathers, but the origin of all this wickedness will be revealed in its fitting time.
15. , ut scitis, hoc triduo vel quadriduo tristis a Mutina fama manaret, inflati laetitia atque insolentia impii cives unum se in locum, ad illam curiam furiis potius suis quam rei publicae infelicem congregabant. cum consilia inirent de caede nostra partirenturque inter se qui Capitolium, qui rostra, qui urbis portas occuparent, ad me concursum futurum civitatis putabant. ut cum invidia mea fieret et cum vitae etiam periculo, famam istam fascium dissipaverunt; fascis ipsi ad me delaturi fuerunt. cum esset quasi mea voluntate factum, tum in me impetus conductorum hominum quasi in tyrannum parabatur; ex quo caedes esset vestrum omnium consecuta. res patefecit, patres conscripti, sed suo tempore totius huius sceleris fons aperietur.
16. Therefore Publius Apuleius, a tribune of the people, who ever since my consulship has been the witness and partaker of, and my assistant in all my designs and all my dangers, could not endure the grief of witnessing my indignation. He convened a numerous assembly, as the whole Roman people were animated with one feeling on the subject. And when in the harangue which he then made, he, as was natural from our great intimacy and friendship, was going to exculpate me from all suspicion in the matter of the fasces, the whole assembly cried out with one voice, that I had never had any intentions with regard to the republic which were not excellent. After this assembly was over, within two or three hours, these most welcome messengers and letters arrived, so that the same day not only delivered me from a most unjust odium, but increased my credit by that most extraordinary act with which the Roman people distinguished me I have made this digression, O conscript fathers, not so much for the sake of speaking of myself (for I should be in a sorry plight if I were not sufficiently acquitted in your eyes without the necessity of making a formal defense), as with the view of warning some men of too groveling and narrow minds, to adopt the line of conduct which I myself have always pursued, and to think the virtue of excellent citizens worthy of imitation, not of envy.
16. P. Apuleius, tribunus plebis, meorum omnium consiliorum periculorumque iam inde a consulatu meo testis, conscius, adiutor, dolorem ferre non potuit doloris mei: contionem habuit maximam populo Romano unum atque idem sentiente. qua contione cum me pro summa nostra coniunctione et familiaritate liberare suspicione fascium vellet, una voce cuncta contio declaravit nihil esse a me umquam de re publica nisi optime cogitatum. hanc habitam contionem duabus tribusve horis optatissimi nuntii et litterae venerunt: ut idem dies non modo iniquissima me invidia liberarit sed etiam celeberrima populi Romani gratulatione auxerit.
17. There is a great field in the republic, as Crassus used very wisely to say; the road to glory is open to many. Would that those great men were still alive, who, after my consulship, when I myself was willing to yield to them, were themselves desirous to see me in the post of leader. But at the present moment, when there is such a dearth of wise and fearless men of consular rank, how great do you not suppose must be my grief and indignation, when I see some men absolutely disaffected to the republic, others wholly indifferent to every thing, others incapable of persevering with any firmness in the cause which they have espoused; and regulating their opinions not always by the advantage of the republic, but sometimes by hope, and sometimes by fear.
17. interposui, patres conscripti, non tam ut pro me dixerim —male enim mecum ageretur, si parum vobis essem sine defensione purgatus—quam ut quosdam nimis ieiuno animo et angusto monerem, id quod semper ipse fecissem, uti excellentium civium virtutem imitatione dignam, non invidia putarent. Magnus est in re publica campus, ut sapienter dicere M. Crassus solebat, multis apertus cursus ad laudem. Vtinam quidem illi principes viverent qui me post meum consulatum, cum eis ipse cederem, principem non inviti videbant! vero tempore in tanta inopia constantium et fortium consularium quo me dolore adfici creditis, cum alios male sentire, alios nihil omnino curare videam, alios parum constanter in suscepta causa permanere sententiamque suam non semper utilitate rei publicae, sed tum spe tum timore moderari?
18. But if any one is anxious and inclined to struggle for the leadership—though struggle there ought to be none—he acts very foolishly, if he proposes to combat virtue with vices. For as speed is only outstripped by speed, so among brave men virtue is only surpassed by virtue. Will you, if I am full of excellent sentiments with respect to the republic, adopt the worst possible sentiments yourself for the purpose of excelling me? Or if you see a race taking place for the acquisition of honors, will you summon all the wicked men you can find to your banner? I should be sorry for you to do so; first of all, for the sake of the republic, and secondly, for that of your own dignity. But if the leadership of the state were at stake, which I have never coveted, what could be more desirable for me than such conduct on your part?
18. si quis de contentione principatus laborat, quae nulla esse debet, stultissime facit, si vitiis cum virtute contendit; ut enim cursu cursus, sic in viris fortibus virtus virtute superatur., si ego de re publica optime sentiam, ut me vincas, ipse pessime senties? aut, si ad me bonorum concursum fieri videbis, ad te improbos invitabis?, primum rei publicae causa, deinde etiam dignitatis tuae. si principatus ageretur, quem numquam expetivi, quid tandem mihi esset optatius? enim malis sententiis vinci non possum, bonis forsitan possim et libenter.
19. For it is impossible that I should be defeated by wicked sentiments and measures,—by good ones perhaps I might be, and I willingly would be. Some people are vexed that the Roman people should see, and take notice of, and form their opinion on these matters. Was it possible for men not to form their opinion of each individual as he deserved? For as the Roman people form a most correct judgment of the entire senate, thinking that at no period in the history of the republic was this order ever more firm or more courageous; so also they all inquire diligently concerning every individual among us; and especially in the case of those among us who deliver our sentiments at length in this place, they are anxious to know what those sentiments are; and in that way they judge of each one of us, as they think that he deserves.
19. populum Romanum videre, animadvertere, iudicare quidam moleste ferunt. fieri ut non proinde homines ⟨de⟩ quoque ut quisque mereretur iudicarent? Vt enim de universo senatu populus Romanus verissime iudicat nullis rei publicae temporibus hunc ordinem firmiorem aut fortiorem fuisse, sic de uno quoque nostrum et maxime qui hoc loco sententias dicimus sciscitantur omnes, avent audire quid quisque senserit: ita de quoque ut quemque meritum arbitrantur existimant.
20. They recollect that on the nineteenth of December I was the main cause of recovering our freedom; that from the first of January to this hour I have never ceased watching over the republic; that day and night my house and my ears have been open to the instruction and admonition of everyone; that it has been by my letters, and my messengers, and my exhortations, that all men in every part of the empire have been roused to the protection of our country; that it is owing to the open declaration of my opinion ever since the first of January, that no ambassadors have been ever sent to Antonius; that I have always called him a public enemy, and this a war; so that I, who on every occasion have been the adviser of genuine peace, have been a determined enemy to this pretense of fatal peace.
20. tenent me ante diem xiii. Kalendas Ianuarias principem revocandae libertatis fuisse; me ex Kalendis Ianuariis ad hanc horam invigilasse rei publicae; meam domum measque auris dies noctesque omnium praeceptis monitisque patuisse; meis litteris, meis nuntiis, meis cohortationibus omnis qui ubique essent ad patriae praesidium excitatos; meis sententiis a Kalendis Ianuariis numquam legatos ad Antonium; semper illum hostem, semper hoc bellum, ut ego qui omni tempore verae pacis auctor fuissem huic essem nomini pestiferae pacis inimicus;
21. Have not I also at all times pronounced Ventidius an enemy, when others wished to call him a tribune of the people? If the consuls had chosen to divide the senate on my opinion, their arms would long since have been wrested from the hands of all those robbers by the positive authority of the senate. But what could not be done then, O conscript fathers, at present not only can be, but even must be done. I mean, those men who are in reality enemies must be branded in plain language, must be declared enemies by our formal resolution.
21. idem P. Ventidium, cum alii praetorem, ego semper hostem. in sententias meas si consules discessionem facere voluissent, omnibus istis latronibus auctoritate ipsa senatus iam pridem de manibus arma cecidissent. quod tum non licuit, patres conscripti, id hoc tempore non solum licet verum etiam necesse est, eos qui re sunt hostes verbis notari, sententiis nostris hostis iudicari.
22. Formerly, when I used the words War or Enemy, men more than once objected to record my proposition among the other propositions. But that can not be done on the present occasion. For in consequence of the letters of Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, the consuls, and of Caius Caesar, propraetor, we have all voted that honors be paid to the immortal gods. The very man who lately proposed and carried a vote for a supplication, without intending it pronounced those men enemies; for a supplication has never been decreed for success in civil war. Decreed, do I say? It has never even been asked for in the letters of the conqueror.
22. cum hostem ac bellum nominassem, semel et saepius sententiam meam de numero sententiarum sustulerunt: quod in hac causa iam fieri non potest. litteris enim C. Pansae A. Hirti consulum, C. Caesaris pro praetore, de honore dis immortalibus habendo sententias dicimus. modo qui decrevit, idem imprudens hostis iudicavit; numquam enim in civili bello supplicatio decreta est. dico?
23. Sulla as consul carried on a civil war; he led his legions into the city and expelled whomsoever he chose; he slew those whom he had in his power: there was no mention made of any supplication. The violent war with Octavius followed. Cinna the conqueror had no supplication voted to him. Sulla as imperator revenged the victory of Cinna, still no supplication was decreed by the senate. I ask you yourself, O Publius Servilius, did your colleague send you any letters concerning that most lamentable battle of Pharsalia? Did he wish you to make any motion about a supplication? Certainly not. But he did afterward when he took Alexandria; when he defeated Pharnaces; but for the battle of Pharsalia he did not even celebrate a triumph. For that battle had destroyed those citizens whose, I will not say lives, but even whose victory might have been quite compatible with the safety and prosperity of the state.
23. ne victoris quidem litteris postulata est. bellum consul Sulla gessit, legionibus in urbem adductis quos voluit expulit, quos potuit occidit: supplicationis mentio nulla. bellum Octavianum insecutum est: supplicatio Cinnae nulla victori. Cinnae victoriam imperator ultus est Sulla: nulla supplicatio decreta a senatu. te ipsum, P. Servili, num misit ullas conlega litteras de illa calamitosissima pugna Pharsalia? num te de supplicatione voluit referre? noluit. misit postea de Alexandrea, de Pharnace: Pharsaliae vero pugnae ne triumphum quidem egit. Eos enim civis pugna illa sustulerat quibus non modo vivis sed etiam victoribus incolumis et florens civitas esse posset.
24. And the same thing had happened in the previous civil wars. For though a supplication was decreed in my honor when I was consul, though no arms had been had recourse to at all, still that was voted by a new and wholly unprecedented kind of decree, not for the slaughter of enemies, but for the preservation of the citizens. Wherefore, a supplication on account of the affairs of the republic having been successfully conducted must, O conscript fathers, be refused by you even though your generals demand it; a stigma which has never been affixed on any one except Gabinius; or else, by the mere fact of decreeing a supplication, it is quite inevitable that you must pronounce those men, for whose defeat you do decree it, enemies of the state. What then Servilius did in effect, I do in express terms, when I style those men imperators. By using this name, I pronounce those who have been already defeated, and those who still remain, enemies in calling their conquerors imperators.
24. idem contigerat superioribus bellis civilibus. mihi consuli supplicatio nullis armis sumptis non ob caedem hostium, sed ob conservationem civium novo et inaudito genere decreta est. ob rem aut supplicatio re publica pulcherrime gesta postulantibus nostris imperatoribus deneganda est, quod praeter A. Gabinium contigit nemini, aut supplicatione decernenda hostis eos de quibus decernitis iudicetis necesse est. ergo ille re, id ego etiam verbo, cum imperatores eos appello: hoc ipso nomine et eos qui iam devicti sunt et eos qui supersunt hostis iudico.
25. For what title can I more suitably bestow on Pansa? Though he has, indeed, the title of the highest honor in the republic. What, too, shall I call Hirtius? He, indeed, is consul; but this latter title is indicative of the kindness of the Roman people; the other of valor and victory. What? Shall I hesitate to call Caesar imperator, a man born for the republic by the express kindness of the gods? He who was the first man who turned aside the savage and disgraceful cruelty of Antonius, not only from our throats but from our limbs and bowels? What numerous and what important virtues, O ye immortal gods, were displayed on that single day.
25. modo enim potius Pansam appellem, etsi habet honoris nomen amplissimi; quo Hirtium? ille quidem consul, sed alterum nomen benefici populi Romani est, alterum virtutis atque victoriae.? Caesarem, deorum beneficio rei publicae procreatum, dubitemne appellare imperatorem? qui primus Antoni immanem et foedam crudelitatem non solum a iugulis nostris sed etiam a membris et visceribus avertit. Vnius autem diei quot et quantae virtutes, di immortales, fuerunt!
26. For Pansa was the leader of all in engaging in battle and in combating with Antonius; O general worthy of the Martial legion, legion worthy of its general! Indeed, if he had been able to restrain its irresistible impetuosity, the whole war would have been terminated by that one battle. But as the legion, eager for liberty, had rushed with too much precipitation against the enemy's line of battle, and as Pansa himself was fighting in the front ranks, he received two dangerous wounds, and was borne out of the battle, to preserve his life for the republic. But I pronounce him not only imperator, but a most illustrious imperator; who, as he had pledged himself to discharge his duty to the republic either by death or by victory, has fulfilled one half of his promise; may the immortal gods prevent the fulfillment of the other half!
26. enim omnium Pansa proeli faciendi et cum Antonio confligendi fuit; dignus imperator legione Martia, digna legio imperatore. si acerrimum impetum cohibere Pansa potuisset, uno proelio confecta res esset. cum libertatis avida legio effrenatius in aciem hostium inrupisset ipseque in primis Pansa pugnaret, duobus periculosis volneribus acceptis sublatus e proelio rei publicae vitam reservavit. vero hunc non solum imperatorem sed etiam clarissimum imperatorem iudico qui, cum aut morte aut victoria se satis facturum rei publicae spopondisset, alterum fecit, alterius di immortales omen avertant.
27. Why need I speak of Hirtius? who, the moment he heard of what was going on, with incredible promptness and courage led forth two legions out of the camp; that noble fourth legion, which, having deserted Antonius, formerly united itself to the Martial legion; and the seventh, which, consisting wholly of veterans, gave proof in that battle that the name of the senate and people of Rome was dear to those soldiers who preserved the recollection of the kindness of Caesar. With these twenty cohorts, with no cavalry, while Hirtius himself was bearing the eagle of the fourth legion,—and we never heard of a more noble office being assumed by any general,—he fought with the three legions of Antonius and with his cavalry, and overthrew, and routed, and put to the sword those impious men who were the real enemies to this temple of the all good and all powerful Jupiter, and to the rest of the temples of the immortal gods, and the houses of the city, and the freedom of the Roman people, and our lives and actual existence; so that that chief and leader of robbers fled away with a very few followers, concealed by the darkness of night, and frightened out of all his senses. Oh what a most blessed day was that, which, while the carcasses of those parricidal traitors were strewed about every where, beheld Antonius flying with a few followers, before he reached his place of concealment.
27. dicam de Hirtio? qui re audita e castris duas legiones eduxit incredibili studio atque virtute, quartam illam quae relicto Antonio se olim cum Martia legione coniunxit, et septimam quae constituta ex veteranis docuit hoc proelio militibus eis qui Caesaris beneficia servassent senatus populique Romani carum nomen esse. viginti cohortibus, nullo equitatu, Hirtius ipse aquilam quartae legionis cum inferret, qua nullius pulchriorem speciem imperatoris accepimus, cum tribus Antoni legionibus equitatuque conflixit, hostisque nefarios, huic Iovis ceterisque deorum immortalium templis, urbis tectis, libertati populi Romani, nostrae vitae sanguinique imminentis prostravit, fudit, occidit, ut cum admodum paucis, nocte tectus, metu perterritus, princeps latronum duxque fugerit. O solem ipsum beatissimum qui, ante quam se abderet, stratis cadaveribus parricidarum cum paucis fugientem vidit Antonium!
28. But will any one hesitate to call Caesar imperator? Most certainly his age will not deter any one from agreeing to this proposition, since he has gone beyond his age in virtue. And to me, indeed, the services of Caius Caesar have always appeared the more deserving of thanks, in proportion as they were less to have been expected from a man of his age. For when we conferred military command on him we were in fact encouraging the hope with which his name inspired us and now that he has fulfilled those hopes, he has sanctioned the authority of our decree by his exploits. This young man of great mind, as Hirtius most truly calls him in his letter, with a few cohorts defended the camp of many legions and fought a successful battle And in this manner the republic has on one day been preserved in many places by the valor and wisdom, and good fortune of three imperators of the Roman people.
28. vero quisquam dubitabit appellare Caesarem imperatorem? eius certe ab hac sententia neminem deterrebit, quando quidem virtute superavit aetatem. mihi semper eo maiora beneficia C. Caesaris visa sunt quo minus erant ab aetate illa postulanda: cui cum imperium dabamus, eodem tempore etiam spem eius nominis deferebamus; quod cum est consecutus, auctoritatem decreti nostri rebus gestis suis comprobavit. ergo adulescens maximi animi, ut verissime scribit Hirtius, castra multarum legionum paucis cohortibus tutatus est secundumque proelium fecit. trium imperatorum virtute, consilio, felicitate uno die locis pluribus res publica est conservata.
29. I therefore propose supplications of fifty days in the joint names of the three. The reasons I will embrace in the words of the resolution, using the most honorable language that I can devise. But it becomes our good faith and our piety to show plainly to our most gallant soldiers how mindful of their services and how grateful for them we are; and accordingly I give my vote that our promises, and those pledges too which we promised to bestow on the legions when the war was finished, be repeated in the resolution which we are going to pass this day. For it is quite fair that the honor of the soldiers, especially of such soldiers as those, should be united with that of their commanders.
29. igitur eorum trium nomine quinquaginta dierum supplicationes: causas, ut honorificentissimis verbis consequi potuero, complectar ipsa sententia. autem fidei pietatisque nostrae declarare fortissimis militibus quam memores simus quamque grati. ob rem promissa nostra atque ea quae legionibus bello confecto tributuros nos spopondimus hodierno senatus consulto renovanda censeo; aequum est enim militum, talium praesertim, honorem coniungi.
30. And I wish, O conscript fathers, that it was lawful for us to dispense rewards to all the citizens, although we will give those which we have promised with the most careful usury. But that remains, as I well hope, to the conquerors, to whom the faith of the senate is pledged; and, as they have adhered to it at a most critical period of the republic, we are bound to take care that they never have cause to repent of their conduct. But it is easy for us to deal fairly by those men whose very services, though mute, appear to demand our liberality. This is a much more praiseworthy and more important duty, to pay a proper tribute of grateful recollection to the valor of those men who have shed their blood in the cause of their country.
30. utinam, patres conscripti, civibus omnibus solvere nobis praemia liceret! quamquam nos ea quae promisimus studiose cumulata reddemus. id quidem restat, ut spero, victoribus, quibus senatus fides praestabitur: quam quoniam difficillimo rei publicae tempore secuti sunt, eos numquam oportebit consili sui paenitere. facile est bene agere cum eis a quibus etiam tacentibus flagitari videmur: illud admirabilius et maius maximeque proprium senatus sapientis est, grata eorum virtutem memoria prosequi qui pro patria vitam profuderunt.
31. And I wish more suggestions could occur to me in the way of doing honor to those men. The two ideas which principally do occur to me, I will at all events not pass over; the one of which has reference to the everlasting glory of those bravest of men; the other may tend to mitigate the sorrow and mourning of their relations. I therefore give my vote, O conscript fathers, that the most honorable monument possible be erected to the soldiers of the Martial legion, and to those soldiers also who died fighting by their side. Great and incredible are the services done by this legion to the republic. This was the first legion to tear itself from the piratical band of Antonius; this was the legion which encamped at Alba; this was the legion that went over to Caesar; and it was in imitation of the conduct of this legion that the fourth legion has earned almost equal glory for its virtue. The fourth is victorious without having lost a man; some of the Martial legion fell in the very moment of victory. Oh happy death, which, due to nature, has been paid in the cause of one's country!
31. de honore utinam mihi plura in mentem venirent! certe non praeteribo quae maxime occurrunt: quorum alterum pertinet ad virorum fortissimorum gloriam sempiternam, alterum ad leniendum maerorem et luctum proximorum. igitur mihi, patres conscripti, legionis Martiae militibus et eis qui una pugnantes occiderint monumentum fieri quam amplissimum. Magna atque incredibilia sunt in rem publicam huius merita legionis. se prima latrocinio abrupit Antoni; haec tenuit Albam; haec se ad Caesarem contulit; hanc imitata quarta legio parem virtutis gloriam consecuta est. victrix desiderat neminem: ex Martia non nulli in ipsa victoria conciderunt. O fortunata mors quae naturae debita pro patria est potissimum reddita!
32. But I consider you men born for your country; you whose very name is derived from Mars, so that the same god who begot this city for the advantage of the nations, appears to have begotten you for the advantage of this city. Death in flight is infamous; in victory glorious. In truth, Mars himself seems to select all the bravest men from the battle array. Those impious men whom you slew, shall even in the shades below pay the penalty of their parricidal treason. But you, who have poured forth your latest breath in victory, have earned an abode and place among the pious. A brief life has been allotted to us by nature; but the memory of a well-spent life is imperishable. And if that memory were no longer than this life, who would be so senseless as to strive to attain even the highest praise and glory by the most enormous labors and dangers?
32. vero patriae natos iudico; quorum etiam nomen a Marte est, ut idem deus urbem hanc gentibus, vos huic urbi genuisse videatur. fuga foeda mors est; in victoria gloriosa. Mars ipse ex acie fortissimum quemque pignerari solet. igitur impii quos occidistis etiam ad inferos poenas parricidi luent; vos vero qui extremum spiritum in victoria effudistis piorum estis sedem et locum consecuti. a natura vita nobis data est; at memoria bene redditae vitae sempiterna. si non esset longior quam haec vita, quis esset tam amens qui maximis laboribus et periculis ad summam laudem gloriamque contenderet?
33. You then have fared most admirably, being the bravest of soldiers while you lived, and now the most holy of warriors, because it will be impossible for your virtue to be buried, either through the forgetfulness of the men of the present age, or the silence of posterity, since the senate and Roman people will have raised to you an imperishable monument, I may almost say with their own hands. Many armies at various times have been great and illustrious in the Punic, and Gallic, and Italian wars; but to none of them have honors been paid of the description which are now conferred on you. And I wish that we could pay you even greater honors, since we have received from you the greatest possible services. You it was who turned aside the furious. Antonius from this city; you it was who repelled him when endeavoring to return. There shall therefore be a vast monument erected with the most sumptuous work and an inscription engraved upon it as the everlasting witness of your godlike virtue And never shall the most grateful language of all who either see or hear of your monument cease to be heard And in this manner you, in exchange for your mortal condition of life, have attained immortality.
33. igitur praeclare vobiscum, fortissimi, dum vixistis, nunc vero etiam sanctissimi milites, quod vestra virtus neque oblivione eorum qui nunc sunt nec reticentia posterorum sepulta esse poterit, cum vobis immortale monumentum suis paene manibus senatus populusque Romanus exstruxerit. saepe exercitus Punicis, Gallicis, Italicis bellis clari et magni fuerunt, nec tamen ullis tale genus honoris tributum est. utinam maiora possemus, quando quidem a vobis maxima accepimus! ab urbe furentem Antonium avertistis; vos redire molientem reppulistis. igitur exstructa moles opere magnifico incisaeque litterae, divinae virtutis testes sempiternae, numquamque de vobis eorum qui aut videbunt vestrum monumentum aut audient gratissimus sermo conticescet. pro mortali condicione vitae immortalitatem estis consecuti.
34. But since, O conscript fathers, the gift of glory is conferred on these most excellent and gallant citizens by the honor of a monument, let us comfort their relations, to whom this indeed is the best consolation. The greatest comfort for their parents is the reflection that they have produced sons who have been such bulwarks of the republic; for their children, that they will have such examples of virtue in their family; for their wives, that the husbands whom they have lost are men whom it is a credit to praise, and to have a right to mourn for; and for their brothers, that they may trust that, as they resemble them in their persons, so they do also in their virtues. Would that we were able by the expression of our sentiments and by our votes to wipe away the tears of all these persons; or that any such oration as this could be publicly addressed to them, to cause them to lay aside their grief and mourning, and to rejoice rather, that, while many various kinds of death impend over men, the most honorable kind of all has fallen to the lot of their friends; and that they are not unburied, nor deserted; though even that fate, when incurred for one a country, is not accounted miserable; nor burned with equable obsequies in scattered graves, but entombed in honorable sepulchers, and honored with public offerings; and with a building which will be an altar of their valor to insure the recollection of eternal ages.
34. quoniam, patres conscripti, gloriae munus optimis et fortissimis civibus monumenti honore persolvitur, consolemur eorum proximos, quibus optima est haec quidem consolatio: parentibus quod tanta rei publicae praesidia genuerunt; liberis quod habebunt domestica exempla virtutis; coniugibus quod eis viris carebunt, quos laudare quam lugere praestabit; fratribus quod in se ut corporum, sic virtutis similitudinem esse confident. utinam his omnibus abstergere fletum sententiis nostris consultisque possemus, vel aliqua talis eis adhiberi publice posset oratio qua deponerent maerorem atque luctum gauderentque potius, cum multa et varia impenderent hominibus genera mortis, id genus quod esset pulcherrimum suis obtigisse eosque nec inhumatos esse nec desertos, quod tamen ipsum pro patria non miserandum putatur, nec dispersis bustis humili sepultura crematos, sed contectos publicis operibus atque muneribus eaque exstructione quae sit ad memoriam aeternitatis ara.
35. Wherefore it will be the greatest possible comfort to their relations, that by the same monument are clearly displayed the valor of their kinsmen, and also their piety, and the good faith of the senate, and the memory of this most inhuman war, in which, if the valor of the soldiers had been less conspicuous, the very name of the Roman people would have perished by the parricidal treason of Marcus. Antonius. And I think also, O conscript fathers, that those rewards which we promised to bestow on the soldiers when we had recovered the republic, we should give with abundant usury to those who are alive and victorious when the time comes; and that in the case of the men to whom those rewards were promised, but who have died in the defense of their country, I think those same rewards should be given to their parents or children, or wives or brothers.
35. ob rem maximum quidem solacium ⟨erit⟩ propinquorum eodem monumento declarari et virtutem suorum et populi Romani pietatem et senatus fidem et crudelissimi memoriam belli: in quo nisi tanta militum virtus exstitisset, parricidio M. Antoni nomen populi Romani occidisset. etiam censeo, patres conscripti, quae praemia militibus promisimus nos re publica recuperata tributuros, ea vivis victoribusque cumulate, cum tempus venerit, persolvenda; qui autem ex eis quibus illa promissa sunt pro patria occiderunt, eorum parentibus, liberis, coniugibus, fratribus eadem tribuenda censeo.
36. But that I may reduce my sentiments into a formal motion, I give my vote that, “As Caius Pansa, consul, imperator, set the example of fighting with the enemy in a battle in which the Martial legion defended the freedom of the Roman people with admirable and incredible valor, and the legions of the recruits behaved equally well; and as Caius Pansa, consul, imperator, while engaged in the middle of the ranks of the enemy received wounds; and as Aulus Hirtius, consul, imperator, the moment that he heard of the battle, and knew what was going on, with a most gallant and loyal soul, led his army out of his camp and attacked Marcus Antonius and his army, and put his troops to the sword, with so little injury to his own army that he did not lose one single man;
36. ut aliquando sententiam complectar, ita censeo: cum C. Pansa consul, imperator, initium cum hostibus confligendi fecerit, quo proelio legio Martia admirabili incredibilique virtute libertatem populi Romani defenderit, quod idem legiones tironum fecerint; ipseque C. Pansa consul, imperator, cum inter media hostium tela versaretur, volnera acceperit, cumque A. Hirtius consul, imperator, proelio audito, re cognita, fortissimo praestantissimoque animo exercitum castris eduxerit impetumque in M. Antonium exercitumque hostium fecerit eiusque copias occidione occiderit, suo exercitu ita incolumi ut ne unum quidem militem desiderarit, cumque C.
37. and as Caius Caesar, propraetor, imperator, with great prudence and energy defended the camp successfully, and routed and put to the sword the forces of the enemy which had come near the camp: “On these accounts the senate thinks and declares that the Roman people has been released from the most disgraceful and cruel slavery by the valor, and military skill, and prudence, and firmness, and perseverance, and greatness of mind and good fortune of these their generals. And decrees that, as they have preserved the republic, the city, the temples of the immortal gods, the property and fortunes and families of all the citizens, by their own exertions in battle, and at the risk of their own lives; on account of these virtuous and gallant and successful achievements, Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, the consuls, imperators, one or both of them, or, in their absence, Marcus Cornutus, the city praetor, shall appoint a supplication at all the altars for fifty days.
37. Caesar ⟨pro praetore⟩, imperator, consilio diligentiaque sua castra feliciter defenderit copiasque hostium quae ad castra accesserant profligarit, occiderit: ob eas res senatum existimare et iudicare eorum trium imperatorum virtute, imperio, consilio, gravitate, constantia, magnitudine animi, felicitate populum Romanum foedissima crudelissimaque servitute liberatum, cumque rem publicam, urbem, templa deorum immortalium, bona fortunasque omnium liberosque conservarint dimicatione et periculo vitae suae, uti ob eas res bene, fortiter feliciterque gestas C. Pansa A. Hirtius consules, imperatores, alter ambove, aut si aberunt, M. Cornutus, praetor urbanus, supplicationes per dies quinquaginta ad omnia pulvinaria constituat:
38. And as the valor of the legions has shown itself worthy of their most illustrious generals, the senate will with great eagerness, now that the republic is recovered, bestow on our legions and armies all the rewards which it formerly promised them. And as the Martial legion was the first to engage with the enemy, and fought in such a manner against superior numbers as to slay many and take some prisoners; and as they shed their blood for their country without any shrinking; and as the soldiers of the other legions encountered death with similar valor in defense of the safety and freedom of the Roman people;—the senate does decree that Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, the consuls, imperators, one or both of them if it seems good to them, shall see to the issuing of a contract for, and to the erecting, the most honorable possible monument to those men who shed their blood for the lives and liberties and fortunes of the Roman people, and for the city and temples of the immortal gods; that for that purpose they shall order the city quaestors to furnish and pay money, in order that it may be witness for the everlasting recollection of posterity of the wickedness of our most cruel enemies, and the godlike valor of our soldiers. And that the rewards which the senate previously appointed for the soldiers, be paid to the parents or children or wives or brothers of those men who in this war have fallen in defence of their country; and that all honours be bestowed on them which should have been bestowed on the soldiers themselves if those men had lived who gained the victory then by death.”
38. cumque virtus legionum digna clarissimis imperatoribus exstiterit, senatum, quae sit antea pollicitus legionibus exercitibusque nostris, ea summo studio re publica recuperata persoluturum, cumque legio Martia princeps cum hostibus conflixerit, atque ita cum maiore numero hostium contenderit ⟨ut⟩ plurimos caederent caderent non nulli, cumque sine ulla retractatione pro patria vitam profuderint; cumque simili virtute reliquarum legionum milites pro salute et libertate populi Romani mortem oppetiverint, senatui placere ut C. Pansa A. Hirtius consules, imperatores, alter ambove, si eis videatur, eis qui sanguinem pro vita, libertate, fortunis populi Romani, pro urbe, templis deorum immortalium profudissent monumentum quam amplissimum locandum faciendumque ⟨curent: quaestoresque urbanos⟩ ad eam rem pecuniam dare, attribuere, solvere iubeant, ut testetur ad memoriam posteritatis sempiternam scelus crudelissimorum hostium militumque divinam virtutem, utique, quae praemia senatus militibus ante constituit, ea solvantur eorum qui hoc bello pro patria occiderunt parentibus, liberis, coniugibus, fratribus: eisque tribuantur quae militibus ipsis tribui oporteret, si vivi vicissent qui morte vicerunt.