fuissent. Dolebam, dolebam, P. C. rempublicam vestris quondam meisque consiliis conservatam, brevi tempore esse perituram. Neque verò eram tam indoctus ignarusque rerum, ut frangerer animo propter vitae cupiditatem, quae me manens conficeret angoribus, dimissa molestiis omnibus liberaret; illos ego praestantissimos viros, lumina reipublicae, vivere volebam, tot consulares, tot praetorios, tot honestissimos senatores, omnem praeterea florem nobilitatis ac juventutis, tum optimorum civium exercitus: qui si viverent, quamvis iniquâ conditione pacis, (mihi enim pax omnis cum civibus bello civili utilior videbatur) rempublicam hodie teneremus. Quae sententia si valuisset, ac non ii maximè mihi, quorum ego vitae consulebam, spe victoriae elati obstitissent; ut alia omittam, tu certè nunquam in hoc ordine, vel potiùs nunquam in hâc urbe mansisses. At verò Cn. Pompeii voluntatem a me abalienabat oratio mea: an ille quemquam plùs dilexit? cum ullo aut sermones aut consilia contulit saepiùs? quod quidem erat magnum, de summâ rep. dissentientes, in eâdem consuetudine amicitiae permanere: sed et ego, quid ille, et contrà ille, quid ego et sentirem et spectarem, videbat: ego incolumitati civium primùm, et postea 9. At vero, etc. When Cicero joined Pompey, he was greatly dissatisfied with many things in regard to his management of the war, and the conduct of the chiefs of his party, who, trusting to the superiour fame and authority of their leader, and dazzled with the splendour of the troops, which the princes of the east had sent to their assistance, assured themselves of victory, and, without reflecting on the different characters of the two armies, would hear of nothing but fighting. Cicero endeavoured to discourage this wild spirit; but, finding that his remonstrances were slighted, he resumed his usual way of raillery, and, what he could not frustrate by his authority, endeavoured to make ridiculous by his jests. dignitati; ille praesenti dignitati potiùs consulebat : quòd autem habebat uterque quod sequeretur, ideirco tolerabilior erat nostra dissensio. Quid verò ille singularis vir ac penè divinus de me senserit, sciunt qui eum de Pharsalicâ fugâ 1Paphum persecuti sunt ; nunquam ab eo mentio de me, nisi honorifica, nisi plena amicissimi desiderii, cum me vidisse plus fateretur, se speravisse meliora: et ejus viri nomine me insectari audes, cujus me amicum, te sectorem esse fateare? XVI. Sed omittatur bellum illud, in quo tu nimiùm felix fuisti. Ne jocis quidem respondebo, quibus me in castris usum esse dixisti : erant illa quidem castra plena curae; verùm tamen homines, quamvis in turbidis rebus sint, tamen, si modo homines sunt, interdum animis relaxantur. Quòd autem idem moestitiam meam reprehendit, idem jocum; magno argumento est, me in utroque fuisse modera"Haereditates mihi negâsti venire. Utinam hoc tuum verum crimen esset! plures amici meiet necessarii viverent: sed quî istuc tibi venit in mentem? Ego enim ampliùs H. S. ducenties acceptum haereditatibus retuli. Quanquam in hoc genere tum. 1. Paphum-After the defeat at Pharsalia, Pompey fled to Paphos, a city of Cyprus. 2. Haereditates mihi negâsti venire-It was common among the Romans to bequeath legacies to distinguished men, and it was a reproach to a man of talents to have no legacy bequeathed him. In reply to this sarcasm of Antony, Cicero said, he wished that what Antony said was true, as in that case many of his friends, who were dead, would be living; and then he asserts, that he had received by legacies 156,0007. 3. Crimen reproach-H. S.-these two letters are written corruptly for L. L. S-Sestertius, equal in value to two pounds of brass and a half; the two pounds being marked by L. L. Libra, Libra, and the half S. Semis 4fateor feliciorem esse te : me nemo, nisi` amicus, fecit haeredem, ut cum illo commodo, si quod erat animi quidam dolor jungeretur; te is, quem tu vidisti nunquam, L. Rubrius Cassinas: fecit haeredem : et quidem vide, quàm te amârit is, qui, albus aterve fueris ignorans, fratris filium praeterîit: Q. Furii, honestissimi equitis Romani, suique amicissimi, quem palàm haeredem semper factitârat, ne nomen quidem perscripsit; te, quem nunquam viderat, aut certè nunquam salutaverat, fecit haeredem. Velim mihi dicas, nisi molestum est, L. Turselius quâ facie fuerit, quâ staturâ, quo municipio, quâ tribu: nihil scio, inquies, nisi quae praedia habuerit: igitur fratrem exhaeredens te faciebat haeredem. In multas praeterea pecunias alienissimorum hominum, ejectis veris haeredibus, tanquam haeres esset, invasit. Quanquam hoc maximè admiratus sum, mentionem te haereditatum ausum esse facere, cum ipse haereditatem patris non adisses. -XVII. Haec ut colligeres, homo amentissime, tot dies in aliena villâ declamâsti? quanquam tu 8 4. Fateor feliciorem esse te-Cicero insinuates, that he succeeded to legacies only by the wills of his friends; that Antony succeeded to legacies not by the wills of his friends, but by forging wills of both friends and enemies and defrauding their heirs. 5. Cassinas-Cassinum was a town of Campania, near which the via Appia and via Latina meet. 6. Patris-He had dissipated his estate. 7. Haec ut colligeres, etc.—After Cicero delivered his first Philipick, Antony determined to answer him in person in the Senate, and for this purpose is said to have employed himself seventeen days in preparing the materials of a speech, and declaiming against Cicero in Scipio's villa near the Tiber. 8. Aliená villa—These are words of reproach, which imply, that notwithstanding the rapacity and frauds of Antony, he was so prod. igal, that he had not a villa of his own, in which he could uninter ruptedly persevere in his study, or indulge in recreation. quidem (ut tui familiarissimi dictitant) vini exhalandi, non ingenii acuendi causâ declamitas. Et verò adhibes joci causâ magistrum, suffragio tuo et compotorum tuorum rhetorem; cui concessisti ut in te, quae vellet, diceret salsum omninò hominem, sed materia facilis in te et in tuos dicta dicere. Vide autem, quid intersit inter te et avum tuum: ille sensim dicebat, quod causae prodesset; tu cursìm dicis aliena. At quanta merces rhetori data est? Audite, audite, P. C. et cognoscite reipublicae vulnera: duo millia jugerum campi Leontini Sex. Clodio rhetori assignâsti, et quidem immunia, ut pro tantâ mercede nihil sapere disceres num etiam hoc, homo audacissime ex Caesaris commentariis? Sed dicam alio loco et de Leontino agro et de Campano: quos iste agros ereptos reipublicae turpissimis possessoribus inquinavit. Jam enim quoniam criminibus ejus satìs respondi, de ipso emendatore et correctore nostro quaedam dicenda sunt; nec enim omnia effundam, ut, si saepiùs decer tandum sit, ut erit, semper novus veniam ; quam facultatem mihi multitudo istius vitiorum peccatorumque largitur. XVIII. Vis-ne igitur te inspiciamus a puero? sic opinor a principio ordiamur. Tenes-ne memoriâ : 9. Rhetorem-A rhetorician was less honourable than an orator, because the former taught the rules of rhetorick in private, which the latter practised in publick. 1. Avum tuum-M. Antonius, grandfather of Antony, was a celebrated orator, 2. Campi Leontini Sex. Clodio-This Sextus Clodius, the rhetorical master of Antony, was a Sicilian by birth, and received from Antony two thousand acres of Leontine land, esteemed the most fertile in Sicily, as a reward for his instructions. 3. Ex Caesaris commentariis-Cicero reproachfully asks, whether Caesar's posthumous decrees, which Antony altered and interpolated as he pleased, bestowed these lands upon Sex. Clodius. praetextatum te decoxisse? patris, inquies, ista culpa est: concedo: at enim est pietatis plena defensio. Illud tamen audaciae tuae, quòd sedisti in quatuordecim ordinibus, cum esset 'lege Rosciâ decoctoribus certus locus constitutus, quamvis quis fortunae vitio, non suo decoxisset. Sumpsisti virilem, quam statìm 7muliebrem togam reddidisti: primò vulgare scortum certa flagitii merces, nec ea parva: sed citò Curio intervenit, qui te a meretricio quaestu abduxit; et, tanquam stolam dedisset, in matrimonio stabili et certo locavit. Nemo unquam puer emptus libidinis causâ tam fuit in domini potestate, quàm tu in Curionis quoties te pater ejus domo suâ ejecit? quoties. custodes posuit, ne limen intrares? cum tamen tu, nocte sociâ, hortante libidine, cogente mercede, per tegulas demitterere: quae flagitia domus illa diutiùs ferre non potuit. Scis-ne me de rebus mihi notissimis dicere? recordare tempus illud, cum pater Curio moerens jacebat in lecto; filius, se ad pedes meos prosternens, lacrymans, te mihi commendabat; orabat, 4. Decoxisse-became bankrupt.-Patris-It has already been observed that Antony's father had dissipated his estate. 5. Pietatis—The original signification of this word, and the sense in which it is here used, is filial duty. 6. Lege Rosciá―The Roscian law decreed, that those Knights, whose estates were correspondent to their dignity, should have benches provided for them in the theatre, from which all Knights should be excluded, who either by their own fault, or the fault of fortune had lost their property. 7. Muliebrem togam-Alluding to the libidinous pleasures of Antony. At first among the Romans the gown was worn by both men and women. Afterwards the modest women were distinguished by the palla and the stola; the former was their ordinary vest, worn within doors, coming down to their ancles; the latter they put on when they went abroad, and covered with it the stola and their whole body. The common courtesans were not allowed to wear the stola, but were obliged to appear in a gown, as a mark of infamy, on account of its resemblance to the habit of the opposite sex. B B |