No More Learning

[It was usual for a consul to address the people from the rostra on laying down his office. But on Cicero's proposing to do so, one of the new tribunes, Quintus Metellus Nepos, the agent of Pompeius, interposed his veto on the ground that he "had put Roman citizens to death without trial. " Cicero retorted with an oration entitled " Metellina. " This produced the following letter from the brother of Nepos, acting proconsul in Cisalpine Gaul. ]
I trust this will find you in health.
I had certainly supposed that mutual regard, as well as our reconciliation, would have secured me from being attacked and ridiculed in my absence, and my brother Metellus from being persecuted by you in respect of his rights and property, for a mere word. Even if he found but little protection in the respect due to him, yet surely the exalted rank of our family, or my own services to your order and to the state, might have proved an adequate defence. I see now that he has been en trapped, and I have been neglected by the very men in whom such conduct was least becoming. The result is that I, the governor of a province, the general of an army, nay, actually engaged in the conduct of a war, am wearing the garb of sorrow. But since you have thus deliberately acted in defiance alike of all reason and of the courtesy of former times, you must not be surprised if you have cause to rue it. I used to hope that you were not so lightly attached to me and mine ; still, for my part, neither the slight to our family nor the injuries any one may inflict upon me shall ever alienate me from the patriotic cause.
Cicero's Reply to the Preceding.
Allow me to express my good wishes for the prosperity of yourself and your army.
Your letter to me says you had supposed that mutual regard and our reconciliation would have secured you from attack and ridicule on my part. Now what may be the meaning of this, I
fail to see quite clearly. I suspect, however, that some one may vOl. v. — 13
194 CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO.
have informed you how I, when insisting in the Senate that a considerable party still felt some bitterness at my having been the instrument of saving the country, stated that you had con sented, at the request of some relations whom you could not well refuse, to suppress the encomiums you had intended to honor me with in the Senate. In saying this, however, I added that you and I had shared the duty of saving the consti tution ; for while my part was to defend the capital from intrigues at home and intestine treason, yours was to guard Italy from open attack and secret conspiracy; but that this alliance of ours for so great and glorious a work had been strained by your relations, who, though I had been the means of procuring you a most important and distinguished charge, were afraid of allowing you to pay me any portion of regard in return. As these words of mine showed how much I had looked forward to what you would say, and how entirely I was disappointed, my argument seemed to excite a little amusement, and was followed by a certain amount of laughter, not at you, but rather at my own disappointment, and because I was acknowledging so naively and openly that I had eagerly looked forward to being eulogized by you. And surely what I said cannot but be considered complimentary to you if even in the fullest splendor of my renown and achievements I still longed to have some confirmation of this from your own lips.
And as to your reference to our "mutual regard," I know not what you consider reciprocity in friendship. To me it seems to mean that friendly feeling is as freely rendered as it is expected. In my own case, if I affirm that for your sake I have allowed my claim to your province to be passed over, I shall perhaps seem to you to be trifling with words ; for self- interest really brought about this resolution, and every day I reap therefrom additional fruit and satisfaction. What I do affirm is this — that from the moment I had declined the province in public, I began to cast about how I could best throw it into your hands. As to the balloting between you
I merely wish to
and the others I say nothing :
mise that nothing whatever which my colleague did therein was without my full cognizance. Look at what followed ; at the promptness with which I convoked the Senate that very day when the balloting was over, and the ample terms I must have used in your favor when you yourself told me that my speech not only paid a high compliment to you, but was very
suggest
a sur
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disparaging to your colleagues. Nay, the very decree of the Senate passed that day is couched in such terms that as long as it remains extant my services to you cannot possibly be ignored. Then, again, I must beg you to recollect how after your depar ture I spoke about you in the Senate, how I addressed public meetings and how I corresponded with you ; and when you have taken all these things into account, then I must ask you to judge for yourself whether you can fairly say that your late demonstration of coming to Rome was meeting me in a " mutual " spirit. " "
With reference to what you say about a reconciliation between us, I do not understand why you should speak of reconciliation where there has never been an interruption of friendship. As to your brother Metellus not deserving, as you say, to be exposed to attacks from me and all for a single word, I must ask you first of all to believe that I strongly sympathize with your motives in this, and the kindly feeling shown in your brotherly affection, but then to pardon me if for my country's good I have ever opposed your brother; for in patriotism I yield not even to the most ardent of mankind. Nay more, if it prove that I have but been defending my own position against a cruelly unjust attack he himself made upon me, you may well be satisfied that I do not make a personal complaint to you of your brother's injustice to me. For when I had ascertained that he was deliberately aiming a blow delivered with the whole weight of his position as tribune in order to crush me, I applied to your wife Claudia [sister of the notorious Clodius] and your sister Mucia, whose liking for me, owing to my intimacy with Pompeius, I had often tested, to deter him
I know you must have heard, on the last day of the year he put upon me — the consul who had saved the Republic — an insult
from the wrong he proposed doing me. In spite of this, as
which the vilest citizen in the most beggarly office was never yet exposed to ; actually debarring me when laying down my
office from the privilege of a farewell address. Yet this insult of his resulted in a signal honor to myself; for as he would make no concession except that I might take the oath, I pro nounced aloud the truest and noblest of oaths, and as loudly the people in answer solemnly attested that I had sworn this truly.
Yet though I had received this signal affront, on that very day I sent an amicable message to Metellus by our common
196 CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO.
friends to entreat him to reconsider his attitude toward me. His answer to them was that this was no longer open to him, for that not long before he had publicly expressed his opinion that a man who had punished others unheard ought himself to be debarred the privilege of being heard in his turn. How dignified I how patriotic! A punishment inflicted by the Senate, with the approval of every respectable citizen, on those who would have burned Rome, murdered her magistrates and Senate, and fanned the flames of a widespreading war, he would now inflict on one to whom it was granted to deliver the Senate from murder, the capital from fire, and Italy from civil war.
And so I withstood your brother to his face, for having to answer him in the Senate on the 1st of January about the political situation, I took care to let him know that he would find in me a most resolute and determined opponent. Upon the 3d of January, when he opened the debate upon his pro posal, about one word out of three in his speech was aimed at me or contained a threat against me. Nothing could possibly be more deliberate than his attempt to effect my ruin by any means whatever, and that not by legal trial or argument, but by a violent and bullying attack. Had I not brought spirit and determination to meet his reckless onslaught, who could fail to believe that the resolution displayed in my consulship was due not to deliberation but to chance ?
If you have not hitherto been aware that such was Metellus's attitude toward me, you have a right to think that your brother has suppressed some of the most material circumstances from you ; while, if he has taken you into his counsels at all, I have a right to be credited with having shown great modera tion of temper for not remonstrating with you about this very incident. And if you see now that I was driven into resent ment, not by a word from Metellus, as you represent it, but by his deliberate and bitter animosity against myself, let me point out to you my forbearance, if indifference and laxity about resenting so malicious an attack deserves the name of forbearance. Never once did I speak for any motion attacking your brother in the Senate at all : whenever attention was called to his conduct I supported without rising those who seemed most moderate in their proposals. I will add this too, that though after what had passed I had no reason to take any trouble about the matter, I regarded without disfavor, and indeed supported to the best of my humble ability, the proposal
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for granting a bill of indemnity to my assailant, on the ground that he was your brother. "
Thus you see that what I have done was not to " attack your brother, but to repel your brother's attacks. Nor has my attachment to yourself been light as you say ; on the contrary, it has been so strong that my friendship for you remains as ever, though I have had to submit to the loss of your attentions. Even at this very moment, all that I have to say in answer to your (I might almost call it) threatening
I for my own part not only make allowance for
letter is this :
your indignation, but applaud it highly, for my own feelings teach me to remember how strong is the influence of brotherly ties. From you I claim a similar candor in judging of my sense of wrong. If I have been bitterly, cruelly, and un reasonably attacked by one who is dear to you, I claim the admission not only that I was in the right to maintain my position, but that I might have called on you — yes, and your army too — to have aided me in so doing. I have ever been
I have now striven hard to convince you that I have been a true friend to you. To those sentiments I still adhere, and so long as you permit me will continue to retain them. I would far rather forget my resentment against your brother from love for you, than permit that resentment in the smallest degree to impair our
desirous of calling you my friend ;
good will to each other.
From Cicero at Dyrrachtum (or Thessalonica) to his Wife Terentia at Rome, Nov. 25, b. c. 58.
I send this with love, my dearest Terentia, hoping that you, and my little Tullia, and my Marcus, are all well.
From the letters of several people and the talk of everybody I hear that your courage and endurance are simply wonderful, and that no troubles of body or mind can exhaust your energy. How unhappy I am to think that with all your courage and devotion, your virtues and gentleness, you should have fallen into such misfortunes for me ! And my sweet Tullia too, — that she who was once so proud of her father should have to undergo such troubles owing to him ! And what shall I say about my boy Marcus, who ever since his faculties of percep tion awoke has felt the sharpest pangs of sorrow and misery ? Now could I but think, as you tell me, that all this comes in
198 CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO.
the natural course of things, I could bear it a little easier. But it has been brought about entirely by my own fault, for think ing myself loved by those who were jealous of me, and turning from those who wanted to win me. Yet had I but used my own judgment, and not let the advice of friends who were either weak or perfidious weigh so much with me, we might now be living in perfect happiness.
As it is, since my friends encourage me to hope, I will take care not to let my health be a bad ally to your exertions. I quite understand what a task it is, and how much easier it was to stop at home than to get back there again ; still if we are sure of all the tribunes, and of Lentulus (supposing him to be as zealous as he seems), certainly if we are sure of Pompeius as well, and Caesar too, the case cannot be desperate. About our slaves, we will let it be as you tell me your friends have advised. As to this place, it is true that the epidemic has only just passed off, but I escaped infection while it lasted. Plan- cius, who has been exceedingly kind, presses me to stay with him, and will not part with me yet. My own wish was to be in some more out-of-the-way place in Epirus, where Hispo and his soldiers would not be likely to come, but Plancius will not yet hear of my going ; he hopes he may yet manage to return to Italy himself when I do. If I should ever see that day, and once more return to your arms, and feel that I was restored to you and to myself, I should admit that both your loyalty and mine had been abundantly repaid. Piso's kindness, constancy, and affection are beyond all description. May he reap satis faction from it — reputation I feel certain he will.
As to Quintus, I make no complaint of you, but you are the very two people I should most wish to see living in harmony, especially since there are none too many of you left to me. I have thanked the people you wanted me to, and mentioned that my information came from you. As to the block of houses which you tell me you mean to sell — why, good heavens ! my dear Terentia, what is to be done ! Oh, what troubles I have to bear ! And if misfortune continues to persecute us, what will become of our poor boy ? I cannot continue to write — my tears are too much for me ; nor would I wish to betray you into the same emotion. All I can say is, that if our friends act up to their bounden duty we shall not want for money ; if they do not, you will not be able to succeed only with your own. Let our unhappy fortunes, I entreat you, be a warning
The Dying Gladiator
From the Original Statue in the Museo N. izionale
CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO. 199
to us not to ruin our boy, who is ruined enough already. If he only has something to save him from absolute want, a fair share of talent and a fair share of luck will be all that is neces sary to win anything else. Do not neglect your health, and send me messengers with letters to let me know what goes on, and how you yourselves are faring. My suspense in any case cannot now be long. Give my love to my little Tullia and my Marcus.
Dyrrachium, Nov. 26. P. S. — I have moved to Dyrrachium because it is not only a free city, but very much in my interest, and quite near to Italy; but if the bustle of the place proves an annoyance I
shall betake myself elsewhere and give you notice.
From Cesar at Brundisium to Cicero at Formls! , early in March, b. c. 49.
I had barely seen our friend Furnius, and was not able to talk to him or hear his news without inconvenience to myself, being, as I am, in a great hurry, indeed actually on the march, and with my troops already gone on in advance, but I could not let the opportunity pass of writing you a letter and getting him to convey it, and with my thanks ; though I have done this already many times, and it seems to me I shall have to do so many times more, so well do you deserve this from me. I must particularly request that, since I trust shortly to come to the neighborhood of Rome, I may see you there to avail myself of your judgment, your influence, your position, and your assistance in all that concerns me. To return to the point : excuse this hurry and the shortness of my letter ; any thing further you will be able to hear from Furnius.
Cicero's Reply to the Preceding, March 18 (? ).
Upon reading your letter — which I received through our friend Furnius — requesting me to stay somewhere within reach of town, I was not so much surprised at your expressing a wish to avail yourself of my " judgment " and my " position," as doubtful of the meaning you intended to convey by my "influence and assistance. " Hope, however, led me to the interpretation of concluding that — as might be expected from one of your admirable, indeed preeminent wisdom — you were anxious that negotiations should be opened on behalf of the
200 CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO.
tranquillity, peace, and union of our countrymen ; for which purpose I could not but reflect that both by my nature and the part I have played I was well enough suited.
If this be really the case, and if you feel any desire at all to show due consideration for my friend Pompeius, and bring him into harmony once more both with yourself and with the Republic, you will assuredly find no one better fitted for that task than I am ; who have ever given pacific counsels to him, and to the Senate so soon as I found an opportunity. Since the appeal to arms not only have I not taken the smallest part in this war, but have come to the conclusion that by the war a griovous wrong is done to yourself, against whose rightful privileges, granted by special favor of the Roman people, the attacks of the spiteful and jealous were being directed. But just as at that time I not only personally supported your right ful position, but counseled everybody else to lend you their assistance, so now it is the rights of Pompeius for which I am deeply concerned ; because it is now several years since I first selected you men as the objects of my most loyal devotion, with whom I would choose to be united, as I now am, in ties of the closest friendship. Consequently I have this request to make — say rather I implore and beseech you with every plea that I can use — even among your weighty anxieties to allot some time to this consideration also, how I may be allowed by your kind indulgence to show myself a man of honor ; one, in short, who is grateful and affectionate from the recollection of the very great kindness he once received. Even if this con cerned me alone, I should still flatter myself that to me you would grant it; but in my opinion it equally concerns both your own honor and the public welfare, that I, who am one of a very small number, should still be retained in the best possi ble position for promoting the harmony of you two and of our fellow-countrymen.
Though I have already thanked you in the matter of Lentu- lus for being the preserver of a man who had once been mine, yet, for my part, on reading the letter which he has sent me, written in a spirit of the warmest gratitude for your liberality and kindness, I even pictured myself as owing to you the safety which you have granted to him ; and if this shows you that I am of a grateful nature in his case, secure me, I entreat you, some opportunity of showing myself no less so in the case of Pompeius.
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From Cicero at Formic to Atticus at Rome, March 26, b. c. 49.
[Pompeius haying finally escaped from Brundisium, Caesar was now return ing to Rome by way of Capua and Sinuessa. From the former place he sent the letter here enclosed to Atticus, in answer to one from Cicero expressing admiration of his clemency at Corfinium. ]
Though I have nothing to write to you about, I send this letter that I may leave no day without one. It is reported that Caesar will stop on the 27th at Sinuessa. I now — the 26th — have received a letter from him, wherein this time he " hopes to avail himself of my means of assistance," not merely my " assistance," as in the previous one. In answer to a letter to express my admiration of the generosity he showed at Cor finium, he replied as follows :
Copy of Caesar1 % Letter.
You know me too well not to keep up your character as an augur by divining that nothing is more entirely alien from my
I will add that while my decision is in itself a great source of pleasure to me, to find my conduct approved by you is a triumph of gratification. Nor does the fact at all disturb me that those people whom I have set at liberty are reported to have gone their ways only to renew the attack upon me; because there is nothing I wish more than that I may ever be as true to my own character as they to
nature than cruelty :
theirs.
May I hope that you will be near town when I am there,
so that I may as usual avail myself in everything of your advice and means of assistance ? Let me assure you that I am charmed beyond everything with your relation Dolabella, to whom I shall acknowledge myself indeed indebted for this obligation; for his kindliness is so great, and his feeling and affection for me are such, that he cannot possibly do otherwise.
From Marcus Antonius to Cicero, May 1 (? ), b. c. 49.
But that I have a strong affection for you — much greater indeed than you suppose — I should not have been greatly alarmed at the rumor which has been published about you,
particularly as
Itook it to be a false one : but my liking for
202 CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO.
you is far too great to allow me to pretend that even the report, however false, is not to me a matter of great concern. That you will really go across seas I cannot believe when I think of the deep regard you entertain for Dolabella and his admira ble wife, your daughter Tullia, and of the equal regard in which you yourself are held by us all, to whom, upon my word and honor, your name and position are perhaps dearer than they are to yourself. Nevertheless I did not think myself at liberty as a friend to be indifferent to the remarks even of unscrupulous people; and I have been the more eager to act because I hold that the part I have to play has been made more difficult by the coolness between us, which originated more in jealousy on my part than in any injury on yours. For I beg you will thoroughly assure yourself of this, that there is no one for whom my affection is greater than for yourself, with the exception of my dear friend Caesar; and that among Caesar's most honored friends a place is reserved for Marcus Cicero.
Therefore, my dear Cicero, I entreat you to keep your future action entirely open : reject the spurious honor of a man who did you a great wrong that he might afterward lay you under an obligation: do not, on the other hand, fly from one who, even if he shall lose his love for you — and that can never be the case — will none the less make it his study that you should be secure and rich in honors. I have been careful to send Calpurnius, who is my most intimate friend, to you, to let you know that your life and high position are to me a matter of deep concern.
[On the same day Philotimus brought a letter from Caesar, of which this is a copy. ]
From Cssar to Cicero, April 16, b. c. 49.
Though I had fully made up my mind that you would do nothing rashly, nothing imprudently, still I was so far im pressed by the rumors in some quarters as to think it my duty to write to you, and ask it as a favor due to our mutual regard that you will not take any step, now that the scale is so decisively turned, which you would not have thought it neces sary to take even though the balance still stood firm. For it will really be both a heavier blow to our friendship, and a step
CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO. 203
on your part still less judicious for yourself, if you are to be thought not even to have bowed the knee to success — for things seem to have fallen out as entirely favorably for us as disastrously for them, — nor yet to have been drawn by attach ment to a particular cause — for that has undergone no change since you decided to remain aloof from their counsels, — but to have passed a stern judgment on some act of mine, than which, from you, no more painful thing could befall me ; and I claim the right of our friendship to entreat that you will not take this course.
Finally, what more suitable part is there for a good, peace- loving man, and good citizen, than to keep aloof from civil dis sensions ? There were not a few who admired this course, but could not adopt it by reason of its danger : you, after having duly weighed both the conclusions of friendship and the unmis takable evidence of my whole life, will find that there is no safer nor more honorable course than to keep entirely aloof from the struggle.
From Servtus SuLPicrtrs Rufus at Athens to Cicero at Rome April (? ), b. c. 45.
On the Death of His Daughter.
For some time after I had received the information of the death of your daughter Tullia you may be sure that I bore it sadly and heavily, as much indeed as was right for me. I felt that I shared that terrible loss with you ; and that had I but been where you are, you on your part would not have found me neglectful, and I on mine should not have failed to come to you and tell you myself how deeply grieved I am. And though it is true that consolations of this nature are painful and distressing, because those [dear friends and relations] upon whom the task naturally devolves are themselves afflicted with a similar burden, and incapable even of attempting it without many tears, so that one would rather suppose them in need of the consolations of others for themselves than capable of doing this kind office to others, yet nevertheless I have decided to write to you briefly such reflections as have occurred to me on the present occasion ; not that I imagine them to be ignored
I am writing this while on the march, April 16.
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by you, but because it is possible that you may be hindered by your sorrow from seeing them as clearly as usual.
What reason is there why you should allow the pri vate grief which has befallen you to distress you so terribly? Recollect how fortune has hitherto dealt with us : how we have been bereft of all that ought to be no less dear to men than their own children — of country, position, rank, and every honorable office. If one more burden has now been laid upon you, could any addition be made to your pain? Or is there any heart that having been trained in the school of such events ought not now to be steeled by use against emotion, and think everything after them to be comparatively light?
Or it is for her sake, I suppose, that you are grieving? How many times must you have arrived at the same conclu sion as that into which I too have frequently fallen, that in these days theirs is not the hardest lot who are permitted pain lessly to exchange their life for the grave ! Now what was there at the present time that could attach her very strongly to life? what hope? what fruition? what consolation for the soul? The prospect of a wedded life with a husband chosen from our young men of rank? Truly, one would think it was always in your power to choose a son-in-law of a position suit able to your rank out of our young men, one to whose keeping you would feel you could safely entrust the happiness of a child ! Or that of being a joyful mother of children, who would be happy in seeing them succeeding in life ; able by their own exertions to maintain in its integrity all that was bequeathed them by their father ; intending gradually to rise to all the highest offices of the state ; and to use that liberty to which they were born for the good of their country and the service of their friends ? Is there any one of these things that has not been taken away before it was given? But surely it is hard to give up one's children ? It is hard ; but this is harder still — that they should bear and suffer what we are doing.
A circumstance which was such as to afford me no light consolation I cannot but mention to you, in the hope that it may be allowed to contribute equally toward mitigating your grief. As I was returning from Asia, when sailing from -ZEgina in the direction of Megara, I began to look around me at the various places by which I was surrounded. Behind me was iEgina, in front Megara ; on the right, the Piraeus, on the left,
CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO. 205
Corinth; all of them towns, that in former days were most magnificent, but are now lying prostrate and in ruins before one's eyes. " Ah me," I began to reflect to myself, " we poor feeble mortals, who can claim but a short life in comparison, complain as though a wrong was done us if one of our number dies in the course of nature, or has met his death by violence ; and here in one spot are lying stretched out before me the corpses of so many cities ! Servius, be master of yourself, and remember that it is the lot of man to which you have been born. " Believe me, I found myself in no small degree strength ened by these reflections. * Let me advise you too, if you think good, to keep this reflection before your eyes. How lately at one and the same time have many of our most illustrious men fallen ! how grave an encroachment has been made on the rights of the sovereign people of Rome ! every province in the world has been convulsed with the shock : if the frail life of a tender woman has gone too, who being born to the common lot of man must needs have died in a few short years, even if the time had not come for her now, are you thus utterly stricken down?
Do you then also recall your feelings and your thoughts from dwelling on this subject, and, as beseems your character, bethink yourself rather of this : that she has lived as long as life was of value to her ; that she has passed away only together with her country's freedom ; that she lived to see her father elected praetor, consul, augur; that she had been the wife of young men of the first rank ; that after enjoying well-
• Byron has alluded to this celebrated description in a passage (" Childe Harold," iv. 44) which will be well worth comparing here in extenso : —
" Wandering in youth I traced the path of him,
The Roman friend of Rome's least mortal mind,
The friend of Tully: as my bark did skim The bright blue waters with a fanning wind Came Megara before me, and behind
JCgina lay, Pirteus on the right,
And Corinth on the left : I lay reclined
Along the prow, and saw all these unite
In ruin, even as he had seen the desolate sight.
" For time hath not rebuilt them, but upreared Barbaric dwellings on their shattered site,
Which only make more mourned and more endeared The few last rays of their far-scattered light,
And the crushed relics of their vanished might. The Roman saw these tombs in his own age,
These sepulchres of cities which excite Sad wonder, and his yet surviving page
The moral lesson bears drawn from such pilgrimage. "
206 CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO.
nigh every blessing that life can offer, she left it only when the Republic itself was falling. The account is closed, and what have you, what has she, to charge of injustice against Fate?
In a word, forget not that you are Cicero — that you are he who was always wont to guide others and give them good ad vice ; and be not like those quack physicians who when others are sick boast that they hold the key of the knowledge of medi cine, to heal themselves are never able ; but rather minister to yourself with your own hand the remedies which you are in the habit of prescribing for others, and put them plainly before your own soul. There is no pain so great but the lapse of time will lessen and assuage it : it is not like yourself to wait till this time comes instead of stepping forward by your phi losophy to anticipate that result. And if even those who are low in the grave have any consciousness at all, such was her love for you and her tenderness for all around her, that surely she does not wish to see this in you.
Make this a tribute then to her who is dead ; to all your friends and relations who are mourning in your grief ; and make it to your country also, that if in anything the need should arise she may be able to trust to your energy and guidance. Finally, since such is the condi tion we have come to that even this consideration must per force be obeyed, do not let your conduct induce any one to believe that it is not so much your daughter as the circum stances of the Republic and the victory of others which you are deploring.
I shrink from writing to you of greater length upon this subject, lest I should seem to be doubtful of your own good sense ; allow me therefore to put before you one more consid eration, and then I will bring my letter to a close. We have seen you not once but many times bearing prosperity most gracefully, and gaining yourself great reputation thereby : let us see at last that you are capable also of bearing adversity equally well, and that it is not in your eyes a heavier burden than it ought to seem ; lest we should think that of all the virtues this is the only one in which you are wanting.
As for myself, when I find you are more composed in mind I will send you information about all that is being done in these parts, and the state in which the province finds itself at present. Farewell,
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From Cicero at Astura to Servius Sulpicius Rutus at Athens.
Reply to the Preceding.
Yes, my dear Servius, I could indeed wish you had been with me, as you say, at the time of my terrible trial. How much it was in your power to help me if you had been here by sympathizing with, and, I may almost say, sharing equally in, my grief I readily perceive from the fact that after reading your letter I now feel myself considerably more composed ; for not only was all that you wrote just what is best calculated to sooth affliction, but you yourself in comforting me showed that you too had no little pain at heart. Your son Servius, how ever, has made it clear by every kindly attention which such an occasion would permit of, both how great his respect was for myself, and also how much pleasure his kind feeling for me was likely to give you ; and you may be sure that, while such atten tions from him have often been more pleasant to me, they have never made me more grateful.
It is not, however, only your arguments and your equal share, I may almost call it, in this affliction which comforts me, but also your authority ; because I hold it shame in me not to be bearing my trouble in a way that you, a man endowed with such wisdom, think it ought to be borne. But at times I do feel broken down, and I scarcely make any struggle against my grief, because those consolations fail me which under similar calamities were never wanting to any of those other people whom I put before myself as models for imitation. Both Fabius Maxim us, for example, when he lost a son who had held the consulship, the hero of many a famous exploit ; and Lucius Paulus, from whom two were taken in one week ; and your own kinsman Gallus ; and Marcus Cato, who was deprived of a son of the rarest talents and the rarest virtue, — all these lived in times when their individual affliction was capable of find ing a solace in the distinctions they used to earn from their country.
For me, however, after being stripped of all those distinc tions which you yourself recall to me, and which I had won for myself by unparalleled exertions, only that one solace remained
208 CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO.
which has been torn away. My thoughts were not diverted by work for my friends, or by the administration of affairs of state ;
I could not I felt, as was indeed too true, that I had lost all the harvest of both my industry
there was no pleasure in pleading in the courts ; bear the very sight of the Senate House ;
and my success. But whenever I wanted to recollect that all this was shared with you and other friends I could name, and whenever I was breaking myself in and forcing my spirit to bear these things with patience, I always had a refuge to go to where I might find peace, and in whose words of comfort and sweet society I could rid me of all my pains and griefs. Whereas now under this terrible blow even those old wounds which seemed to have healed up are bleeding afresh ; for it is impossible for me now to find such a refuge from my sorrows at home in the business of the State, as in those days I did in that consolation of home which was always in store whenever I came away sad from thoughts of State, to seek for peace in her happiness.
And so I stay away both from home and from public life ; because home now is no more able to make up for the sorrow I feel when I think of our country than our country is for my sorrow at home. I am therefore looking forward all the more eagerly to your coming, and long to see you as early as that may possibly be ; no greater alleviation can be offered me than a meeting between us for friendly intercourse and conversation. I hope, however, that your return is to take place, as I hear it is, very shortly. As for myself, while there are abundant rea sons for wanting to see you as soon as possible, my principal one is in order that we may discuss together beforehand the best method of conduct for present circumstances, which must entirely be adapted to the wishes of one man only, a man nevertheless who is far-seeing and generous, and, also, as I think I have thoroughly ascertained, to me not at all ill dis posed and to you extremely friendly. But admitting this, it is still a matter for much deliberation what is the line, I do not say of action, but of keeping quiet, that we ought by his good leave and favor to adopt.
Farewell.
CORRESPONDENCE OF CICERO. 209
Fbom Cicero at the House of Matius near Rome, to Atticus at Rome, about April 7, B. C. 44.
On the Murder of Ccesar.
I have come on a visit to the subject of our conversation this morning. Desperation can go no farther. " The entangle ment was hopeless : for if so great a genius could find no"way out of it, who will find it now ? In short all," he said, was lost. " And I am not sure but that he may be right, only he says it with satisfaction, and is positive about a rising in Gaul before three weeks are over. As for himself, "since the Ides of March he had not entered into conversation with any body at all except Lepidus," and the summary was that " it would be impossible for such deeds to get off so lightly. " Oh for your delicacy, Oppius ! He grieves for his friend just as truly, and yet never says a word that could offend any good patriot. But enough of this. Please do not think it a trouble to write me any news there may be — there is much indeed that I am expecting to hear ; — among other things whether it is fully known about Sextus Pompeius, and above all what about our friend Brutus ? As to him indeed, I hear from the friend with whom I am staying that Caesar used to say, " It makes all the difference what our friend sets his heart on, but whatever he does it is with his whole heart ;" and that he had impressed him with this characteristic in his speech for Deio- tarus at Nicaea ; he seemed to be speaking with such extreme vehemence and freedom from restraint. Another fact — for I like jotting anything down just as it occurs to me : — quite recently when I called upon him at the entreaty of Sestius, and was sitting there waiting till I should be summoned, they say he remarked : " Can I have any doubt that I must be intensely
disliked when Marcus Cicero is sitting there, and cannot come in and see me at his own convenience ? Yet if anybody is easy- tempered it is he ; but for all that I have no doubt he hates me bitterly. " This and plenty more of the kind for you. But to my point : will you write anything, whatever it is, not only an important thing, but any little one as well ? I for my part will omit nothing at all.
vol. v. — 14
JULIUS CESAR.
JULIUS CJSSAR.
Bt SHAKESPEARE.
[William Shakespeare was bom 1664, and died 1616. ] Act III. — Scene I. After the Murder.
Brutus — Let no man abide this deed, But we the doers.
Reenter Trebonitts.
Cassius —
Where's Antony ?
Trebonius — Fled to his house amazed : Men, wives, and children stare, cry out, and run, As it were doomsday.
Brutus —
Fates ! we will know your pleasures :
That we shall die, we know ; 'tis but the time, And drawing days out, that men stand upon.
Cassius —
Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life, Cuts off so many years of fearing death.
Brutus —
Grant that, and then is death a benefit :
So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridged
His time of fearing death. — Stoop, Romans, stoop, And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords :
Then walk we forth, even to the market place : And, waving our red weapons o'er our heads,
Let's all cry, Peace ! Freedom ! and Liberty !
Cassius —
Stoop, then, and wash. How many ages hence, Shall this our lofty scene be acted over,
In states unborn, and accents yet unknown !
Brutus —
How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport, That now on Pompey's basis lies along,
No worthier than the dust !
Cassius — So oft as that shall be, So often shall the knot of us be called
The men that gave our country liberty.
JULIUS CESAR.
Decius —
What, shall we forth ?
Cassius — Ay, every man away : Brutus shall lead ; and we will grace his heels With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome.
Servant —
Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel ;
Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down :
And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say,
Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest ;
Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving :
Say, I love Brutus, and I honor him ;
Say, I feared Caesar, honored him, and loved him ; If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony
May safely come to him, and be resolved
How Caesar hath deserved to lie in death,
Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead
So well as Brutus living ; but will follow
The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus
Thorough the hazards of this untrod state,
With all true faith. So says my master Antony.
Brutus —
Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman;
I never thought him worse.
Tell him, so please him come unto this place, He shall be satisfied ; and, by my honor, Depart untouched.
Enter a Servant.
Brutus —
Soft, who comes here ? A friend of Antony's.
Servant — I'll fetch him presently. Brutus —
I know that we shall have him well to friend. Cassius —
Iwish we may ; but yet have I
That fears him much ; and my misgiving still Falls shrewdly to the purpose.
_ — Reenter Antony. Brutus
But here comes Antony. — Welcome, Mark Antony. Antony —
O mighty Caesar ! Dost thou lie so low ?
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this little measure ? — Fare thee well. —
a mind,
JULIUS C-ESAR.
I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
Who else must be let blood, who else is rank :
If I myself, there is no hour so fit
As Caesar's death's hour ; nor no instrument
Of half that worth, as those your swords, made rich With the most noble blood of all this world.
I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard,
Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke, Fulfill your pleasure. Live a thousand years,
I shall not find myself so apt to die ;
No place will please me so, no mean of death,
As here by Caesar, and by you cut off,
The choice and master spirits of this age.
Brutus —
O Antony ! beg not your death of us.
Though now we must appear bloody and cruel,
As, by our hands, and this our present act,
You see we do ; yet see you but our hands,
And this the bleeding business they have done :
Our hearts you see not, they are pitiful ;
And pity to the general wrong of Rome
(As fire drives out fire, so pity, pity)
Hath done this deed on Caesar. For your part,
To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony : Our arms, in strength of malice, and our hearts,
Of brother's temper, do receive you in
With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence.
Cassius —
Your voice shall be as strong as any man's, In the disposing of new dignities.
Brutus —
Only be patient, till we have appeased
The multitude, beside themselves with fear, And then we will deliver you the cause,
Why I, that did love Caesar when I struck him, Have thus proceeded.
Antony — Idoubt not of your wisdom. Let each man render me his bloody hand :
First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you : — Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand;
Now, Decius Brutus, yours; — now yours, Metellus; Yours, Cinna ; — and, my valiant Casca, yours ; — Though last, not least in love, yours, good Trebonius. Gentlemen all, — alas ! what shall I say ?
My credit now stands on such slippery ground,
JULIUS CESAR.
That one of two bad ways you must conceit me, Either a coward, or a flatterer. —
That I did love thee, Caesar, O, 'tis true :
If then thy spirit look upon us now,
Shall it not grieve thee, dearer than thy death, To see thy Antony making his peace,
Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes,
Most noble ! in the presence of thy corse ? Had I
as many eyes as thou hast wounds,
Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood,
It would become me better, than to close
In terms of friendship with thine enemies.
Pardon me, Julius ! — Here wast thou bayed, brave hart Here didst thou fall ; and here thy hunters stand, Signed in thy spoil, and crimsoned in thy lethe.
O world! thou wast the forest to this hart; —
And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee.
How like a deer, stricken by many princes,
Dost thou here lie !
Cassius —
Mark Antony,
Antony — Pardon me, Caius Cassius, The enemies of Caesar shall say this ;
Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty.
Cassius —
1 blame you not for praising Caesar so ;
But what compact mean you to have with us ? Will you be pricked in number of our friends ; Or shall we on, and not depend on you ?
Antony —
Therefore I took your hands ; but was, indeed, Swayed from the point, by looking down on Caesar. Friends am
Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons, Why, and wherein, Caesar was dangerous.
I with you all, and love you all ;
Brutus —
Or else were this a savage spectacle :
Our reasons are so full of good regard, That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar, You should be satisfied.
Antony — That's all I seek : And am moreover suitor, that Imay Produce his body to the market place ;
And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, Speak in the order of his funeral.
214
JULIUS CiESAR.
Brutus —
You shall, Mark Antony.
Cassius — Brutus, a word with you. —
You know not what you do ; Do not consent, That Antony speak in his funeral :
Know you how much the people may be moved By that which he will utter ?
[Aside.
Brutus — By your pardon; I will myself into the pulpit first,
And show the reason of our Caesar's death : What Antony shall speak, I will protest
He speaks by leave and by permission ; And that we are contented, Caesar shall Have all true rites, and lawful ceremonies. It shall advantage more, than do us wrong.
Cassius —
I know not what may fall ;
I like it not.
Brutus —
Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar's body. You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, But speak all good you can devise of Caesar ; And say, you do't by our permission ;
Else shall you not have any hand at all
About his funeral : And you shall speak
In the same pulpit whereto I am going,
After my speech is ended.
Brutus —
Prepare the body then, and follow us.
Antony — Be it so ; I do desire no more.
[Exeunt aM but Antony.
Antony —
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers ! Thou art the ruins of the noblest man,
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood ! Over thy wounds now do I prophesy —
Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips, To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue ; — A curse shall light upon the limbs of men ; Domestic fury, and fierce civil strife,
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy ;
Blood and destruction shall be so in use.
And dreadful objects so familiar,
JULIUS CESAR. 215
That mothers shall but smile, when they behold Their infants quartered with the hands of war; All pity choked with custom of fell deeds :
And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate" by his side, come hot from hell, Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice, Cry, Havoc! and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men groaning for burial.
Scene II. — The Forum.
Brutus and a throng of Citizens. Brutus goes into the Rostrum.
Citizen —
The noble Brutus is ascended : Silence !
Brutus —
Be patient till the last.
Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause; and be silent that ye may hear; believe me for mine honor; and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom ; and awake your senses that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand, why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer, — Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves ; than that Caesar were dead to live all free men ? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him ; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honor him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him : There is tears, for his love ; joy, for his fortune; honor, for his valor; and death, for his am bition. Who is here so base that would be a bondman ? If any, speak ; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I
pause for a reply.
Citizens — None, Brutus, none. [Several speaking at once.
Brutus — Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar, than you should do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol: his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy; nor his offenses enforced, for which he suffered death.
Enter Antony and others, with Cesar's body.
Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony : Who, though he
216 JULIUS CJESAR.
had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth: As which of you shall not? With this I depart : That as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.
Citizens —
Live, Brutus, live ! live !
1 Citizen —
Bring him with triumph home unto his house.
2 Citizen —
Give him a statue with his ancestors.
3 Citizen —
Let him be Caesar.
4 Citizen — Caesar's better parts Shall now be crowned in Brutus.
1 Citizen —
We'll bring him to his house with shouts and clamors.
Peace; silence! Brutus speaks.
[Exit.
4 Citizen —
'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here.
Brutus —
My countrymen,
2 Citizen — 1 Citizen —
Peace, ho ! Brutus —
Good countrymen, let me depart alone,
And, for my sake, stay here with Antony :
Do grace to Caesar's corpse, and grace his speech Tending to Caesar's glories : which Mark Antony, By our permission, is allowed to make.
I do entreat you not a man depart,
Save I alone, till Antony have spoke.
Citizens —
Stay, ho ! and let us hear Mark Antony.
3 Citizen —
Let him go up into the public chair ; We'll hear him : — Noble Antony, go up.
Antony —
For Brutus' sake, I am beholden to you.
4 Citizen —
What does he say of Brutus ?
5 Citizen — He says, for Brutus' sake, He finds himself beholden to us all.
1 Citizen —
This Caesar was a tyrant.
JULIUS CESAR.
5 Citizen — Nay, that's certain : We are blessed that Rome is rid of him.
2 Citizen —
Peace ; let us hear what Antony can say.
Antony —
You gentle Romans,
Citizens — Peace, ho ! let us hear him. Antony —
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears ; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil, that men do, lives after them ;
The good is oft interred with their bones ;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you, Caesar was ambitious ;
If it were so, it was a grievous fault ;
And grievously hath Caesar answered it. Here, under leave of Brutus, and the rest, (Tor Brutus is an honorable man ;
So are they all, all honorable men ;)
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me :
But Brutus says he was ambitious ;
And Brutus is an honorable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill :
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious ?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff :
Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious ;
And Brutus is an honorable man.