ruit, mei fratris incendit; qui in palatio atque in urbis oculis servitia ad cædem et inflammandam urbem incitavit: in eâ civitate ne patia-85 mini illum absolutum muliebri gratiâ, M. Cœlium libidini muliebri condonatum: ne eadem mulier cum suo conjuge et fratre, turpissimum latronem eripuisse, et honestissimum adolescentem oppressisse videatur. Quod cum hujus vobis adolescentiam proposueritis, constituitote vobis ante oculos hujus etiam miseri senectutem, qui hoc uni-90 co filio nititur, in hujus spe requiescit, hujus unius casum pertimescit: quem vos supplicem vestræ misericordiæ, servum potestatis, abjectum non tàm ad pedes, quàm ad mores sensusque vestros, vel recordatione parentum vestrorum, vel liberorum jucunditate sustentate: ut in alterius dolore, vel pietati, vel indulgentiæ vestræ serviatis, no-95 lite: Judices, aut hunc jam naturâ ipsâ a occidentem velle maturiùs extingui vulnere vestro, quàm suo fato: aut hunc nunc primum florescentem firmatâ jam stirpe virtutis, tanquam turbine aliquo aut su-' bitâ tempestate pervertere. Conservate parenti filium, parentem filio, ne aut senectutem jam prope desperatam contempsisse, aut adole-100 scentiam plenam spei maximæ non modò non aluisse vos, sed etiam perculisse atque afflixisse videamini. Quem si vobis, si suis, si reipublicæ conservatis, addictum, deditum, obstrictum vobis ac liberis vestris habebitis: omniumque hujus nervorum ac laborum vos potissimum, Judices, fructus uberes diuturnosque capietis.

a morientem.

b

b mortuam.

the Palatine mount was the monument of Catulus.

Ib. Meam domum diruit.] While Cicero was in exile, Clodius consecrated his house to liberty.

86. Muliebri gratiâ.] If Sextus Clodius was acquitted on account of Clodia, Cœlius should not be delivered to condemnation and punishment on her account.

87. Mulier cum suo conjuge.] He puns Clodius, who was infamous for his incest with his sister Clodia.

Ib. Turpissimum latronem.] He calls Sextus Clodius a robber; who, by the kindness

а

105

89. Constituitote vobis ante oculos hujus etiam miseri senectutem.] Scarce any thing can be of greater efficacy to melt the mind into tenderness and compassion than the sight of old age, overwhelmed with sorrow and affliction. This circumstance, therefore, wrought up with so much beauty, by one who was master of all the powers of eloquence, and knew well all the avenues of the human heart, could not fail of im-. pressing the judges with favourable dispositions to Cœlius, who accordingly was ac quitted.

IN

L. CALPURNIUM PISONEM.

ARGUMENTUM.-Cùm Piso, ex sententiâ Ciceronis, revocatus esset à provinciâ Macedoniâ, quam Proconsul, administrabat, graviter in Ciceronem invectus est. Hac oratione Pisoni Cicero respondet, quam in Senatu habuit loco sententiæ, ut testatur Quintilianus, lib. 3. cap. 9.

TEMPUS.-Paucis antè diebus habita hæc oratio, quàm Pompeius ludos faceret, anno urbis conditæ 698. ipso Cn. Pompeio et M. Licinio Crasso secundùm Consulibus, et Ciceronis 52.

GENUS CAUSE.-Demonstrativum est: exagitat enim totâ hac oratione Pisonem. PARTES, Tres sunt; Exordium, Insectatio, Peroratio.

1.

EXORDIUM.

quem,

AMNE vides, bellua, Jamne sentis, quæ sit hominum querela no frontis tuæ? nemo queritur Syrum, nescio quem, de grege novitiorum factum esse consulem; non enim nos color iste servilis, non pilosæ genæ, non dentes putridi deceperunt; oculi, supercilia, frons, 5 vultus denique totus, qui sermo quidam tacitus mentis est, hic in errorem homines impulit: hîc eos, quibus eras ignotus, decepit, fefellit, in fraudem induxit. Pauci ista tua lutulenta vitia noveramus; pauei tarditatem ingenii, stuporem debilitatemque linguæ; nunquam erat audita vox in foro; nunquam periculum factum consilii; nullum non 10modò illustre, sed ne notum quidem factum, aut militiæ, aut domi:

INTERPRETATIO.

a quantum homines querantur de fronte tuâ.

NOTES.

3. Color iste servilis.] The Syrians were mostly black.

4. Oculi.] The eyes are the indices of the mind, for anger, joy, &c. are manifested in them.

Ib. Supercilia.] By the brows he intends haughtiness and pride.

7. Lutulenta vitia.] He here charges Piso with the basest vices in which he delighted to wallow as a sow in the mire.

9. Audita vox in foro.] He says that such was the stupidity of the man, that he had never been heard in the forum, either de. fending or accusing any one.

Ib. Periculum factum consilii.] Piso had not only never been heard in the forum, but not even in the senate, when it delibe. rated on the affairs of the republic; for by these two things persons recommended themselves at Rome.

10. Aut militiæ.] The Romans acquired glory, and a name either by their eloquence at home, or by the illustrious things which they did in war.

a obrepsisti ad honores errore hominum, commendatione fumosarum imaginum: quarum simile habes nihil præter colorem. Is mihi etiam gloriabitur, se omnes magistratus sine repulsâ assecutum? mihi ista licet de me verâ cum gloriâ prædicare; omnes enim honores populus Romanus mihi ipsi, homini novo, detulit. Nam tu cùm15 quæstor es factus, etiain qui te nunquam viderant, tamen illum honorem nomini mandabant tuo. Edilis es factus: Piso est à populo Romano factus, non iste Piso. Prætura item majoribus delata est tuis; noti erant illi mortui: te vivum nondum noverat quisquam. Me cùm quæstorem in primis, ædilem priorem, prætorem primum cunc-20 tis suffragiis populus Romanus faciebat, homini ille honorem, non generi; moribus, non majoribus meis; virtuti perspectæ, non auditæ nobilitati, deferebat.

INSECTATIO PISONIS.

Illa Pisonis insectatio duas partes complectitur; in primâ agit de publicis Pisonis flagitiis, secundâ de privatis.

PRIMA PARS.

Hæc prima pars tres alias continet. In primâ agit de Consulatu Pisonis, quem impiè ille gessit. In secunda, de provinciá, quam nefariè administravit. In tertiâ, de ejus reditu.

II. Nam quid ego de consulatu loquar? parto vis, anne gesto? Miserum me! cum hâc me nunc peste, atque labe confero? sed ni

a pervenisti clam. b magistratus. c concedebant. d quomodo pepererim, aut gesserim.

11. Commendatione fumosarum imaginum.] The right of using pictures or statues at Rome, was only allowed to such whose ancestors or themselves had borne some curule office, that is, had been curule ædile, censor, prætor, or consul. He that had the pictures or statues of his ancestors was called nobilis, he that had only his own, novus, he that had neither, ignobilis. It was usual with the Romans, as Cicero informs us in his book of Offices, to burn frankincense and wax lights before them upon the dies festi, whence probably they are here called fumosæ.

1

12. Is mihi etiam gloriabitur.] Piso when speaking against Cicero, said that he had obtained all the magistracies, but Cicero attributes this glory not to Piso himself, but to his ancestors, at the same time he says they were given to me on account of myself.

16. Questor.] Varro says the quæstors were so called from quærendo, because they collected the public moneys. They were first instituted by the kings of Rome, and were afterwards elected by the votes of the people, like the other magistrates.

17. Nomini.] Cicero reproaches Piso with being indebted for his advancement, not to personal merit, but to his name. He was descended indeed from one of the

most illustrious families in Rome, that of Piso Frugi, who had done many and distinguished services to the Roman state.

Ib. Edilis es factus: Piso.] Some of the Ediles were Plebians, others were curules. The administration of the curules was three fold, first, they were to attend to the games; second, defend the sacred and public houses, and the public ways; and third, they were to see that there was no fraud committed in selling slaves, and the measures. But that of the Plebians was four fold, according to Dionys. Hal. first, to as sist the tribunes; second to attend to the Plebian games; third, to preserve the common sewers; fourth, to inspect the provisions. All these were elected by the people, and entered upon their magistracy in the kalends of January.

18. Non iste Piso.] He intends that Piso who was surnamed Frugi, a man of so great virtue and integrity, that in those best of times when no good person could be found, he alone was by his enemies called temperate.

19. Me cùm quæstorem.] Cicero now compares himself with Piso, and lessens his honour, whilst he shows himself to have been superior from the fact that he had obtained magistracies without the assistance of ancestors.

hil comparandi causâ loquar; ac tamen ea quæ sunt longissimè disjuncta comprehendam. Tu consul es renunciatus (nihil dicam gra5 viùs, quàm quod omnes fatentur) impeditis reipublicæ temporibus, dissidentibus Coss. Cæsare et Bibulo, cùm hoc non recusares, quin ii, à quibus dicebare consul, te luce dignum non putarent, nisi nequior, quàm Gabinius, extitisses; me cuncta Italia, me omnes ordines, me universa civitas, non prius tabellâ quàm voce, priorem consulem de10claravit. Sed omitto, ut sit factus uterque nostrûm; sit sanè Sors domina campi; magnificentius est dicere, quemadmodum gesserimus consulatum, quàm quemadmodum ceperimus. Ego Kalendis Januar. Senatum et bonos omnes legis agrariæ maximarumque largitionum metu liberavi. Ego agrum Campanum, si dividi non oportuit, con15servavi; si oportuit, melioribus auctoribus reservavi. Ego in C. Rabirio perduellionis reo, XL. annis ante me consulem, interpositam Senatûs auctoritatem sustinui contra invidiam, atque defendi. Ego adolescentes bonos et fortes, sed usos eâ conditione fortunæ, ut, si essent magistratus adepti, reipub. statum a convulsuri viderentur, meis 20inimicitiis, nullâ Senatûs malâ gratiâ, comitiorum ratione privavi; ego Antonium collegam, cupidum provinciæ, multa in republicâ molientem, patientiâ atque obsequio meo mitigavi. Ego provinciam

a perdituri.

4. Tu Consul renunciatus.] The magistrates were proclaimed either by the common crier, or by the consul himself.

5. Impeditis Reipub. temporibus.] He speaks of the civil dissensions which arose when Bibulus opposed Cæsar, who that he might draw over the minds of the poor to himself, instituted an inquiry about the propriety of leading out colonies, and dividing the lands. Plutar. in Pom.

7. Nequior, quàm Gabinius.] This Gabinius, as Cicero in his oration after his return to the senate says, spent all the early part of his life in debauchery, and supported his poverty and luxury by domestic seductions; and as Plutarch says, he was a flatterer among all the buffoons of Pom

b nullo odio concepto in Senatum.

13. Legis Agraria.] The Agrarian law was first promulgated in the consulship of Cassius and Proculus, and was afterwards tossed about in the great commotions of the state for thirty years, and renewed by Rullus a tribune of the common people, by which he divided the Campanian land among the people, but Cicero annulled this law as soon as he was made consul. See Orat. de lege Agrar.

15. Melioribus auctoribus.] Pompey and Cæsar.

Ib. In Rabirio perduellionis reo.] Rabirius had been with a weapon in the tumult, in which Saturninus, who when a tribune of the people had excited seditions, was slain, and had afterwards carried his head about for a laughing stock. years after Rabirius was accused of murder Thirty six before the people by Labienus a tribune, and defended by Cicero the consul. See

his oration.

18. Adolescentes honos.] Cornelius Sylla by an express law, excluded from the se nate and from all public honours the chil dren of proscribed persons, when notwithstanding this they wished to sue for an office, Cicero spoke an oration against them. See Pliny lib. 7. cap. 30.

21. Cupidum provinciæ.] Macedonia had been allotted to Cicero, and Gaul to Antony. When Antony wished for Macedonia because it was more rich, Cicero exchanged it for Gaul, and thus by an exchange of provinces recalled him to the cause of the republic.

Galliam Senatûs auctoritate, exercitu et pecuniâ instructam et ornatam, quam cum Antonio communicavi, quòd ita existimabam tempora reipubl. ferre, in concione deposui, reclamante populo Romano.25 Ego L. Catilinam, cædem Senatûs, interitum urbis, non obscurè, sed palàm molientem, egredi ex urbe jussi: ut, à quo legibus non pote-' ramus, moenibus tuti esse possemus. Ego tela extremo mense consulatûs mei intenta jugulis civitatis de conjuratorum nefariis manibus extorsi. Ego faces jam accensas ad hujus urbis incendium compre-30 hendi, protuli, extinxi. Me Q. Catulus princeps hujus ordinis, et auctor publici consilii, frequentissimo Senatu, parentem patriæ nominavit. Mihi hic vir clarissimus, qui propter te sedet, L. Gellius, his audientibus, civicam coronam deberi à repub. dixit. Mihi togato Senatus, non, ut multis, benè gestæ, sed ut nemini, conservatæ rei-35 publicæ, singulari genere supplicationis, deorum immortalium templa patefecit. Ego cùm in concione, abiens magistratu, dicere à tribuno-plebis prohiberer, quæ constitueram; cùmque is mihi tantummodò ut jurarem, permitteret; sine ullâ dubitatione juravi, rempubl. atque hanc urbem meâ unius operâ esse salvam. Mihi populus Ro-40 manus universus, illâ in concione, non unius diei gratulationem, sed æternitatem immortalitatemque donavit, cùm meum jusjurandum tale atque tantum, jurafus ipse, unâ voce et consensu approbavit. Quo quidem tempore is meus domum fuit è foro reditus, ut nemo, nisi qui

23. Senalûs auctoritate.] The senate decreed the provinces, and it was unlawful for any one to resign them without the same authority.

27. Jussi.] He ordered Cataline to go out, not by his own consular authority, but by the authority of a decree of the senate. 28. Ego tela.] Cataline had commanded C. Cornelius and M. Cethegus to kill Cicero. But Fulvia went to Cicero in the night, and disclosed their plots; and told him that they were to kill him under the pretence of a salutation and duty.

30. Faces jam accensas.] He says that he had by Flaccus, the prætor, taken the letters of the conspirators on the Milvian bridge, and had read them publicly to the senate, by which all the designs of the conspirators were detected.

31. Q. Catulus.] L. Catulus had great influence in the senate. He called Cicero the father of his country, which appellation had been decreed to no one before. Plut. in vitâ Cic.

34. Civicam coronam.] According to Gellius, lib. 5. cap. 6. that was called a civic crown which was presented by one citizen to another, by whom his life had been preserved in battle, as a testimony of the preservation of life and safety. It was made of the oak leaf, as the acorn was the most ancient kind of food used.

35. Non, ut multis, benè gestæ, &c.] Cicero here boasts, that an honour had been decreed to him which had been granted to no one else. For commonly thanksgivings were decreed to those who had managed

affairs well in war; but they were given to him because he had preserved the republic without the sword," and without an army, from the conspiracy of Cataline.

37. Ego cùm in concione, abiens magistratu, dicere a tribuno-plebis prohiberer, quæ constitueram.] It was usual to resign the consulship in an assembly of the people, and to take an oath of having discharged it with fidelity. This was generally accompanied with a speech from the expiring consul, and after such a year and from such a speaker, the city was in no small expectation of what Cicero would say to them; but Metellus, one of the new tribunes, who generally opened their magistracy with some remarkable act, as a specimen of the measures they intended to pursue, disappointed both the orator and the audience; for when Cicero had mounted the rostra, and was ready to perform this last act of his office, he would not suffer him to speak, or do any thing more than barely to take the oath, declaring that he who had put citizens to death unheard, ought not to be permitted to speak for himself."

43. Juratus ipse.] When the oath of Cicero was heard, in which he swore that he had preserved the laws and the republic; the people in their turn swore that it was so, that the republic had been preserved by him.

44. E foro reditus.] The people as a mark of respect often lead the chief men and those who had deserved well of the republic to, and accompanied them on their return from the forum or the senate