years. Hence, Phil. v. 3. * Tribuni judicial office, by the existing laws ?

plebis tulerunt de provinciis, contra I acknowledge they had ; but it was

acta Caesaris j ille biennii, iste sexe- accompanied with a slight limitation

nii-' Hence he uses ' qua sublata,' about property, which I am for re-

not adding by whom. moving. But surely, Antony, the

2. Etiam optima] Etiam, perhaps, centurions were not the only persons

implies that Caesar had destroyed the so restricted ; you know the knights,



PHILIPPICA PRIMA, Cap. 8.



337



Pompeia, Aurelia 6 non patebat? Census praefiniebatur, in-
quit. Non centurioni quidem solum, sed equiti etiam Ro-
mano. Itaque viri fortissimi atque honestissimi, qui ordines
duxerunt, res et judicant et judicaverunt. Non qusero, in-
quit, istos. Quicunque ordinem duxit, judicet. At si fer-
retis, quicunque equo meruisset, quod est lautius, 7 nemini
probaretis ; in judice enim spectari et fortuna debet et dig-
nitas. Non quaero, inquit, ista : addo etiam judices mani-
pulares 8 ex legione Alaudarum. 9 Aliter enim nostri negant
posse se salvos esse. O contumeliosum honorem iis, quos
ad judicandum nee opinantes vocatis ! hie enim est legis in-



also, must have a certain property.
And the good effects of this arrange-
ment, in reference to the former, are
obvious, a most respectable list of
centurions, being duly qualified as
knights, have been and are judges.
This does not suit my purpose, replies
Antony. I want every centurion,
whether qualified or not, to sit on the
bench. But let me tell you, that if
you were to propose the admission of
every knight which order is more re-
spectable than that of centurion it
would meet the approbation of none.
For property and rank are the only
tests of respectability in judges.
Away with these, says Antony. I
am determined to make the meanest
soldiers, of the meanest legion, judg-
es, as nothing else will secure the
safety of my party. What an insult
to this, their decury ! It is as much
as to say : ' I want judges who dare
not be impartial, and I know where
to find them.' But Antony will be
disappointed. These insulted men
will assert their honour ; and, by the
uprightness of their decisions, will res-
cue their characters from this foul
calumny, and shew themselves wor-
thy of the highest, not the meanest,
order of judges.'

6. Aurelia] The judges, from the
earliest times, were chosen from the
senators. By the Sempronian law of
C. Gracchus, the judicial office was
transferred to the knights, but was



afterwards, by the Servilian law,
opened to both orders, and having
undergone several changes, was at
last, by Sylla, confirmed to the sena-
tors. But this not giving satisfaction,
Cotta threw it open to all the orders
of the state, by admitting on the
bench, senators, knights, and ' tri-
buni aerarii.' By the Pompeian law,
however, which the Julian law con-
firmed, a certain census was required
in the judges.

7. Quod est lautius] By this it
would seen), that a private horseman
in the Roman service, who indeed
might originally have found and kept
his horse, was in superior esteem to
an officer of infantry, performing the
duties which correspond to those of a
captain in ours. Al. laudatius.
V. E.

8. Manipulates] * Bank and file.'
They were called ' manipulares,' in
contra-distinction to the velites,' or
light troops, and the name taken, it is
well known, ' ex manipulo vel fas-
ciculo fceni perticae longae alligato,
quem pro signo primum gerebat.' In
a complete legion there were 6,000
men ; in a cohort, 600 ; in a mani-
ple, 200.

9. Ex legione Alaudarum] Caesar
enrolled a legion of Gauls at his pri-
vate expense, and called them Alau-
dec : it would appear, from a crest
which they wore, resembling that of
a lark, ' alauda,' in the Celtic Ian-

G G



338



M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO



dex, 10 ut ii res in tertia decuria judicent, qui libere judicare
nonaudeant. In quo quantus error est, diiimmortales! eorum,
qui istam legem excogitaverunt ! Ut enim quisque sordi-
dissimus videbitur, ita libentissime severitate judieandi sor-
des suas eluet, laborabitque, ut honestis deeuriis potius dig-
nus videatur, quam in turpem jure conjectus.

IX. Altera promulgata lex est, ut et de vi l et de majes-
tate damnati ad populum provocent, si velint. Haec utruni
tandem lex est, an legum omnium dissolution Quis est
enim hodie, 3 cujus intersit istam legem manere? Nemo
reus est legibus illis : nemo, quem futurum putemus. Arm is
enim gesta, nunquam profecto in judicium vocabuntur.
At res popularis. Utinam quidem aliquid velletis esse po-
pulare ! Omnes enim jam cives de reipublicae salute una et
mente et voce consentiunt. Qua? est igitur ista cupiditas le-
gis ejus ferendae, quae turpitudinem summam habeat, grati-
am nullam?* Quid enim turpius, quam qui majestatem



guage, signifying that bird. [Hence
alouette.] Heberden, the translator
of Cicero's letters, compares with it,
the well-known derivation of Planta-
genet.

10. Hie est legis index] i. e.
' Hoc indicat lex.' We cannot sup-
pose that the title or rubric of the law
ran so, but that such was its general
drift.

Si-ct. IX. 1. Altera lex devi]
The criminal had always been grant-
ed the liberty of appeal to the people,
as appears from the instance of the
Horatii and others in Livy, at least
till the time of Sylla ; and long after
him, we find C. Rabirius appealing
from the Duumvirs to the people. So
Suet. (Jul. 12,) ' ut ad populum pro-
vocanti nil ajque, ac judicis acerbitas
profuerit.' Caesar's law, therefore,
must have taken away this appeal,
which it was the object of Antony to
restore.

2. Legum omnium dissolution Be-
cause, by holding out the hopes of im-
punity, it offered unbounded license
to the turbulent.

3. Quis est enim hodie] Enim must



be referred to an omitted proposition.
There is Antony's law of appeal ;
what is it but the abolition of all legal
institutions 1 And it is quite a gra-
tuitous act; for who is now concerned
in its enactments, who was at this
day aggrieved by Caesar's laws r He
pretends, forsooth, that it was neces-
sary thus to protect those citizens who
had been forward actors in the civil
wars. But it is well known, that
there neither was, nor is likely to be,
any prosecutions for acts done in the
heat of civil arms. Why then not
have permitted Caesar's laws to re-
main, which were doing no harm at
present, and would do good hereafter.
Antony replies, ' res est popularis.'
I did it to please the people. Cicero
rejoins, that he is mistaken in this, as
the people all wish for the safety of
their country. He then shews that
the real drift of Antony's law was
not to extend the liberty of the peo-
ple but, to screen his flagitious fol-
loweis by making it useless to bring
them to trial, at all.

4. Gratiam nullam] For it will
oblige none. ' Nemo est, &c.'



PHILIPPICA PRIMA, Cap. 10. 339

populi Romani minuerit per vim, eum, damnatum judicio,
ad earn ipsam vim 5 reverti, propter quam sit jure damnatus?
Sed quid plura de lege disputo ? quasi vero id agatur, ut
quisquam provocet. Id agitur, id fertur, ne quis omnino
unquam istis legibus reus fiat. Quis enim aut accusator tarn
amens reperietur, qui, reo condemnato, objici se multitudini
conductae velit ? aut judex, qui reum damnare audeat, ut ip-
se ad operas mercenarias statim protrahatur ? Non igitur
provocatio ista lege datur : sed duae maxime salutares leges
quaestionesque tolluntur. Quid est aliud 6 adhortari adole-
scentes, ut turbulenti, ut seditiosi, ut perniciosi cives velint
esse ? Quam autem ad pestem furor tribunicius impelli non
]X)terit, his duabus quaestionibus de vi et de majestate subla-
tis? Quid? quod obrogatur 7 legibus Caesaris, quae jubent,
ei, qui de vi, itemque ei, qui majestatis damnatus sit, aqua et
igni interdici ? quibus quum provocatio datur, nonne acta
Caesaris rescinduntur ? Quae quidem ego, Patres conscripti,
qui ilia nunquam 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 vi-
detis.

X. De exsilio reducti a mortuo ; civitas data non solum
singulis, sed nationibus 1 et provinciis universis a mortuo ; im-
munitatibus infinitis 2 sublata vectigalia a mortuo. Ergo
haec, uno, verum Optimo, auctore 3 domo prolata, defend i-
mus : eas leges, quas ipse, vobis inspectantibus, recitavit,
pronuntiavit, tulit, quibus latis gloriabatur, eisque legibus



">. Ipsam vim] To harass the re- iii. 23.) we find ' Quod per legem

public with a new sedition, arising Clodiam promulgare, abrogare, dero-

out of his appeal to the mob, from his gare, obrogare sine fraude sua non

sentence for the old. For a person liceat.'

appealing to the people, i. e. to an Sect. X. 1. Civitas nationi-

armed mob, may well be said ' ad bits] To the Sicilians, for instance,

vim reverti.' Att. xiv. 12.

6. Quid est aliud] Cic. either 2. Immunit. infiniU] By countless
omits or inserts nisi after this form, immunities.

Phil. v. 2. 3. Uno verum optimo, auctore]

7. Obrogatur] ' Abrogare,' to ' Antony.' This passage seems to
annul a law ; derogare,' to annul confirm the first sense given to this
it in part; 'subrogare,' to add a part word, supr. 7. n. 8, else the words
to a law ; obrogare, to weaken it by a uno Optimo lose the irony. Domo'
counter-law. In one sentence, (Att. should mean Czesar's house.



340



M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO



rempublicam contineri* putabat, de provinciis, de judi-
ciis, 5 eas, inquam, Caesaris leges, nos, qui defendimus acta
Caesaris, evertendas putamus? Ac de iis taraen legibus,
qua? promulgata? sunt, saltern queri possumus : de iis, qua?
jam lata? dicuntur, ne illud quidem licuit. Ilia? enim sine
ulla promulgatione lata? sunt ante quam scripta?. 6 Quaerunt,
quid sit, cur aut ego, aut quisquam vestrum, Patres con-
scripti, bonis tribunis 7 plebis, leges malas metuat. Paratos
habemus, qui intercedant; paratos, 8 qui rempublicam reli-
gione 9 defendant; vacui metu esse debemus. Quas tu mihi,
inquit, intercessiones, quas religiones ? Eas scilicet, quibus
reipublica? salus continetur. 10 Negligimus ista, et nimis an-
tiqua et stulta ducimus. Forum saepietur ; omnes clauden-
tur aditus; armati in pra?sidiis multis locis collocabuntur.
Quid turn ? Quod ita erit gestum, id lex erit ; et in a?s in-
cidi jubebitis, 11 credo, ilia legitima : ' Consules populum 12
jure rogaverunt/ (hoccine a majoribus accepimus jus rogan-



4. Contineri] This word often
means, in Cic., ' to establish' or
'strengthen;' as Off. ii. 24, 'nulla
res vehementius rempublicam continet
quam fides,' and might be so trans-
lated here. However the ordinary
meaning seems better to express the
vanity of Caesar about his darling
laws.

5. De provinciis, de judiciis] The
laws for abridging and ascertaining
the time during which the provinces
were assigned to magistrates ceasing
their functions, and for regulating
the classes from which the * judices'
were drawn. V. E.

6. Antequam scripts] Not ' drawn
up,' absolutely, but before they were
drawn up for public inspection.

7. Bonis tribunis] ' Bonis' has
been supposed, like * optimo,' above,
to contain an ironical allusion to An-
tony's brother, who was a tribune.
But the drift of the passage does not
require it. Cic. says, ' no matter
how good the tribunes, Antony dis-
regards them and their vetos.'

8. Paratos] Paratos' should refer



to tribunis plebis, preceding. But
some considering ' religio,' i. e.
'auspicia,' as the proper business of
the augurs, referred it to ' augures'
understood ; of whom they observed,
Antony was one. But tribunes, or
indeed, any of the higher magistrates,
could observe the heavens. Phil. ii.
38. ' Cur autem ea comitia non
habuisti? An quia tribunus plebis
sinistrum fulmen nunciabat 1 Cum
tua quid interest, nulla auspicia, sunt,
&c. &c.'

9. Religione] De coelo servando,
obnuntiando, &c. Ern.

10. Salus continetur] By preventing
the passing of bad laws.

11. Jubebitis] Al. videbitis. But
the former contains a sarcasm on the
consuls. For credo al. cedo. But
Cic. says, ironically, " You will, 1
suppose, engrave on brass the laws
so passed, not omitting the legal for-
mula, ' Consules rogaverunt, &c.' "
But permit me to ask ' qui populus 1
isne, &c.'

12. Consules populum, fyc] There
is extant the heading of a law in



PHILIPPICA PRIMA, Cap. 11. 341

di ?) ' populusque jure scivit.' Qui populus ? isne, qui exclu-
sus est ? Quo jure ? an eo, quid vi et armis orane sublatum
est ? Atque ego haec dico de futuris; 1J quod est amicorum
ante dicere ea, quae vitari possint : quo? si facta non erunt,
refelletur oratio mea. Loquor de legibus promulgatis : de
quibus est integrum vobis. Demonstro vitia : tollite ! De-
nuntio vim, arma : 14 removete !

XI. Irasci quidem vos mihi, Dolabella, pro republica
dicenti, non oportebat. Quamquam te quidem id factum in
non arbitror. Novi facilitatem tuam. Colleiiam tuum 1 aiunt
in hac sua fortuna, quae bona ipsi videtur, mibi, ne gravius
quidpiam dicam, avorum et avunculi 2 sui consulatum si imi-
taretur, fortunatior videretur : sed eum iracundum audio esse
factum. Video autem, quam sit odiosum liabere iratum
eundem, et armatum, quum tanta praesertim gladiorum sit
impunitas. Sed proponam jus, ut opinor, a?(jiium, quod M.
Antonium non arbitror repudiaturum. Ego, si quid in vi-
tam ejus, aut in mores cum contumelia 3 dixero, quo minus
mihi inimicissimus sit, non recusabo. Sin consuetudineni
meam, quam in republica semper habui, tenuero, id est, si
libere, quae sentiam, de republica dixero: primum deprecor,
ne irascatur ; deinde, si hoc non impetro, peto, ut sic irasca-
tur, ut civi. Armis utatur, si ita necesse est, ut dicit, sui de-
fendendi causa :* iis, qui pro republica, quae ipsis visa erunt,



these very words, 'Tit. Quintius ko\ov9ov.

Oisp : Coss : populum jure rog;ivit ; 2. Avorum avuuculi] Antony's

populusque jure scivit.' paternal grandfather was M. Antony,

13. Hac dico de futuris] Cicero the orator, consul, a. u. 654; his
was, as yet, keeping on terms with maternal grandfather, L. Caesar, con-
Antony; and therefore, to soften the sui a.u. 662. His maternal uncle
asperity of his remarks, he adds, that wasL. Caesar, consul a. u. 689. His
they have wholly a future application, paternal uncle, C. Antonius, is, for
The laws are only promulged not obvious reasons, omitted here,
enacted ; the neglect of the auspices 3. Si quid cum contumelia'] Can
can be corrected, and the armed troops Cicero be said to abide by that test ?
removed. Thus may my speech be V. E.

best refuted, and my fears proved 4. Sui defend i causa] Antony had

groundless. obtained a guard from the senate on

14. Denuntio vim, armu'] I pre- this pretext. Phil. v. 6. * Ilia non

diet that violence will be employed, gravissimis ignominiis sunt no-

V. E. tanda, quod unus M. Antonius in

Sect. XI. 1. Collegam tuam] hac urbe post conditam urbem palam

These words being subject to no in- secum habuerit armatos?' Phil. ii.

finitive, make the construction ava- 44.

G G 2



342



M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO



dixerint, ista arraa ne noceant. Quid hac postulatione 5 dici
potest aequius? Quod si, ut mihi a quibusdam ejus fami-
liaribus dictum est, omnis eum, quae habetur contra volunta-
tem ejus, oratio graviter oflfendit, etiam si nulla inest contu-
melia: feremus amici naturam. Sed iidem illi ita me-
cum : 6 " Non iidem tibi, adversario Caesaris, 7 licebit, quod
Pisoni socero :" et simul admonent quiddam, quod cavebi-
mus ; nee erit justior, Patres conscripti, in senatum non
veniendi morbi causa, quam mortis. 8

XII. Sed per deos immortales ! te enim intuens, Dola-
bella, qui es mihi carissimus, non possum de utriusque ves-
trum errore reticere. Credo enim vos, nobiles 1 homines,
magna quaedam spectantes, non pecuniam, ut quidam nimis
creduli suspicantur, quae semper ab amplissimo quoque cla-
rissimoque contempta est, non opes violentas 2 et populo
Romano minime ferendam potentiam, sed caritatem civium
et gloriam concupisse. Ea est autem gloria, laus recte fac-
torum magnorumque in rempublicam fama meritorum, quae
(mum optimi cujusque, turn etiam multitudinis testimonio
comprobatur. Dicerem, Dolabella, qui recte factorum fruc-
tus esset, nisi te praeter ceteros paullisper esse expertum vide-
rem. Quem potes recordari in vita illuxisse tibi diem lae-



5. Hac postulatione] Donatus says,
'petimus precario, poscimus impe-
riose, postulamus jure.'

6. Sed iidem illi ita mecum] Sc.
loquuntur.' Thus Virg. JEn. i. 37.
' Haec secum,' sc. locuta est.

7. Adversario Casaris] Cic. had
been a Pompeian.

8. Quod cavebimus quam mortis']
This is usually explained as if he
said, ' The friends of Antony threaten
my life ; now if he thought my excuse
of ill health, a bad one, surely he
cannot object to the force of this
that I am in danger of being assas-
sinated.' But Cicero, after his boast,
c. o, would hardly have recourse to
so dastardly a plea ; besides the
words ' nee erit,' in construction, de-
pend upon ' cavebimus ;' so that the
conjecture of Orel, is worth notice,
that 'moiti' a- d 'mortis' have, by



the ignorance of transcribers, changed
places. Then it will be : ' and warn-
ed by the danger, I shall take care
that you may not, when I am slain,
have it to say, that Cic. has now a
fair excuse for not attending the se-
nate.'

Sect. XII 1. Nobiles] They
were both plebeians, Antony by birth ,
Dolabella by adoption. The ' gens
Antonia' consisted of two branches
a patrician and plebeian. Mark An-
tony, the orator, was the first that in-
troduced the consulship into the ple-
beian branch. That it was plebeian
is past a doubt, as M. Antony was
tribune of the people without adop-
tion.

2. Opes violentas] Alluding, per-
haps, to Caesar's tyranny.

3. Paullisper] This word is omit-
ted in some MSS.



PHILIPPICA PRIMA, Cap. 13. 343

tiorem, quam quum, expiato foro, 4 dissipato concursu impio-
rum/priiicipibus sceleris poena affectis, urbe incendio et caedis
metu liberata, te domum recepisti ? Cujus ordinis, cujus
generis, cujus denique fortunae studia turn laudi et gratu-
lationi tuae se non obtulerunt ? Quin mihi etiam, quo auc-
tore te in iis rebus uti arbitrabantur, et gratias boni viri age-
bant, et tuo nomine gratulabantur. Recordare, quaeso,
Dolabella, consensum ilium theatri, quum omnes earum
rem m obliti, 6 propter quas fuerant tibi offensi, significarunt,
se beneficio novo memoriam veteris doloris abjecisse. Hanc
tu, P. Dolabella, (magno loquor cum dolore,) hanc tu,
inquam, aequo animo potuisti tantam dignitatem deponere V
XIII. Tu autem, M. Antoni, (absentem appello,) unum
ilium diem, 1 quo in aede Telluris senatus fait, non omnibus
iis mensibus, 2 quibus te quidam, multum a me dissentientes,
beatum putant, anteponis ? Quae fuit oratio de concordia !
quanto metu veterani, 3 quanta sollicitudine civitas turn a te
liberata est ! Quum collegam tuum depositis inimicitiis,
oblitus auspicia* a te ipso augure populi Romani nuntiata,
illo primum die collegam tibi esse voluisti, tuus parvulus
filius in Capitolium a te missus pacisobsesfuit: quo senatus
die laetior '( quo populus Romanus ? qui quidem nulla in
concione unquam t'requentior fuit. Turn denique 6 liberati
per viros fbrtissimos videbamur ; quia, ut illi voluerunt, li-
bertatem pax sequebatur. Proximo altero, tertio, 7 denique



4. Expiato foro] Alluding to the received from Caesar's bounty.
demolition of the column. Supr. 2. This word is omitted by Sch. and

5. Impiorum] For bestowing di- Wemsdorf. Ern. would read scna-
vine honours on a dead man. tus. V. E.

6. Earum rerum obliti] Supr. 2. 4. Oblitus anspicia] Al. auspicw-
n. 9. Among them was, his propos- rum, the pretended auspices ridiculed
ing 'novae tabulae,' after the example by Cic. Phil. ii. 33. It did not suit
of Catiline. his purpose to do so here. It appears

7. Tantam dignitatem deponere] that Antony did not give up his op-
Dolabella had, by this time (the 3rd position to Dolabella's appointment,
of September,) given in his adhesion till after Caesar's death, i. e. till it
to Antony. . suited his own purposes.

Sect. XIII. 1. Unum ilium 5. Tuus parvulus Jilius] Supr. 1.

diem] The 17th March, lntrod. 2. n. 13., where ' liberos' is found ; but

2. lis mensibus] Since Caesar's if he uses the word at all, its plural
death. form could not be avoided.

3. Quanto metu veter.] Their 6. Turn denique] For turn demum.
alarm may have proceeded from the . 7. Prox. altero, <Sfc] Orel, makes
apprehension of losing what they had proximo agree with ' altero ;' ' the



344 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO

reliquis consecutis diebus, non intermittebas quasi donum
aliquod quotidie afFerre reipublicae : maximum autem illud,
quod dictaturae nomen sustulisti. Haec inusta est a te, a te,
inquam, mortuo Csesari nota ad ignominiam sempiternam.
Ut enim propter unius M. Manlii 8 scelus, decreto gentis
Manlia? neminem patricium 9 Marcum Manlium vocari licet :
sic tu, propter unius dictatoris odium, nomen dictatoris fun-
ditus sustulisti. Num te, quum haec pro salute reipublica?
tanta gessisses, fattens tuae, num amplitudinis, num clarita-
tis, num gloria? poenitebat? Unde igitur subito tanta ista
mutatio ? Non possum adduci, ut suspicer, te pecunia cap-
turn: 10 licet, quod cuique libet, loquatur ; credere non est ne-
cesse. Nihil enim unquam in te sordidum, nihil humile
cognovi. Quamquam solent domestici 11 depravare nonnun-
quam: sed novi firmitatem tuam. Atque utinam, ut cul-
pam, sic etiam suspicionem vitare potuisses !

XIV. Illud magis vereor, ne ignorans verum iter gloriae,
gloriosum putes, plus te unum posse, quam omnes, et metui
a civibus tuis, quam diligi malis. Quod si ita putas, totam
ignoras viam gloriae. Carum esse civem, bene de republics
mereri, laudari, coli, diligi, gloriosum est: metui vero, et in
odio esse, invidiosum, detestabile, imbeeillum, caducum.
Quod videmus etiam in fabulis, ipsi illi, 1 qui u Oderint, dum
metuant," dixerit, pernieiosum fuisse. Utinam, Antoni,
avum tuum meminisses ! de quo tamen audisti multa ex me



very next ;' sc. to the seventeenth, first, as being the passion of little

on which the senate met in the tem- minds. And, indeed, considering the

pie of Tellus. ' Tertio' is the nine- lavish disposition of Antony, well he

leenth. Ern., however, reads ' prox- might. Phil. ii. 37.
imo, altero.' 1 1. Domestici] He hints here, per-

8. Af. Maniii] Liv. vi. 20. Af- haps, at Fulvia, who had already
ter the battle of Actium, the family ruined Clodius and Curio. The
of M. Antony was subjected to the translators render it ' dependents.'
same ignominy ; and what is strange, But it is not likely that the word had
at the motion of Cicero's son. Dio then this signification. In the Au-
Cass. 51. gustan history, it signifies, ' the

9. Neminem patricium] For there prince's body-guard.'

were plebeians of the name. Era., Sect. XIV. 1. Ipsi illi] Atjeus,

however, says there were not at that who was expelled from his kingdom,

time, and doubts the word patri- Seneca, in quoting the expression,

cium.' adds, * Sullano saeculo scias scrip-

10. Pecunia captum] It could turn.' Hence it is probable that it
t>nly be accounted for by two passions, was used by Attius, a poet of Sylla's
avarice and ambition. He rejects the age, in his tragedy of Atreus. This



PHILIPPICA PRIMA, Cap. 15. 345

saepissime. Putasne ilium immortalitatem mereri 2 voluisse,
ut propter armorum habendorum 3 licentiam metueretur ?
Ilia erat vita, ilia secunda fortuna, libertate esse parem cete-
ris, principem dignitate. Itaque, ut omittam res avi tui
prosperas, acerbissimum ejus supremum diem malim, quam
L. Cinnae 4 dominatum, a quo ille crudelissime est inter-
fectus.

Sed quid oratione te flectam ? Si enim exitus C. Caesaris
efficere non potest, ut malis cams esse, quam metui, nihil
cujusquam proficiet, nee valebit oratio. Quern qui beatum
fuisse putant, miseri ipsi sunt. Beatus est nemo, qui ea lege
vivit, ut non modo impune, sed etiam cum summa interfec-
toris gloria interfici possit. Quare flecte te, quaeso, et ma-
jores tuos respice, atque ita guberna rempublicam, ut natum
esse te cives tui gaudeant ; sine quo nee beatus, nee clarus
esse quisquam potest.

XV. Et populi quidem Romani judicia multa ambo ha-
betis, quibus vos non satis moveri permoleste fero. Quid
enim gladiatoribus 1 clamores innumerabilium civium ? quid
populi versus ? quid Pompeii statuae 2 plausus infiniti ? quid"
tribunis plebis, qui vobis adversantur ? Parumne haec sig-