at conniventibus certe sperâsset se posse rempublicam eludere in illis suis cogitatis furoribus ; cujus illi conatus, ut ipse ratiocinabatur, nec si possent, reprimere cuperent, cum tantum beneficium ei se debere arbitrarentur: et, si vellent, fortasse vix possent frangere hominis sceleratissimi corroboratam jam vetustate audaciam. An vero, judices, vos soli ignoratis? vos hospites in hac urbe versamini? vestræ peregrinantur aures, neque in hoc pervagato civitatis sermone versantur, quas ille leges (si leges nominandæ sunt, ac non fasces urbis et pestes reipublicæ) fuerit impositurus nobis omnibus, atque inusturus? Exhibe, quæso, Sexte Clodi, exhibe librarium illud legum vestrarum, quod te aiunt eripuisse è domo, et ex mediis armis turbâque nocturnâ, (3×) tanquam Palladium, sustulisse, ut præclarum videlicet munus ac instrumentum tribunatûs ad aliquem, si nactus esses, qui tuo arbitrio tribunatum gereret, deferre posses. Et aspexit me quidem illis oculis, quibus tum solebat, cum omnibus omnia minabatur; (32) movet me quippe lumen curiæ.

XIII. Quid? tu me iratum, Sexte, putas tibi, cujus tu inimicissimum multo crudelius etiam punitus es, quam erat humanitatis meæ postulare? Tu P. Clodii cruentum cadaver ejecisti domo: tu in publicum abjecisti: tu (33) spoliatum imaginibus, exsequiis, pompâ, laudatione, infelicissimis lignis semiustulatum, nocturnis canibus dilaniandum reliquisti ; quam rem etsi necessario fecisti, tamen, quoniam in meo inimico crudelitatem expromsisti tuam, laudare non possum, irasci certe non debeo. P. Clodii præturam non sine maximo rerum novarum metu proponi, et solutam fore videbatis, nisi esset is consul, qui eam auderet possetque constringere. Eum Milonem esse cum sentiret universus populus Romanus, quis dubitaret suffragio suo, se metu, periculo rempublicam liberare? At nunc, P. Clodio remoto, usitatis jam rebus enitendum est Miloni, ut tueatur dignitatem suam ; singularis illa huic uni concessa gloria, quæ quotidie augebatur frangendis furoribus Clodianis, jam morte Clodii cecidit ; vos adepti estis, ne quem civem metueretis: hic

(31) Tanquam Palladium] The Palladium was a wooden image of Pallas. The Trojans fancied that it fell from heaven into an uncovered temple, and were told by the oracle, that Troy could not be taken whilst that image remained there. Which being understood by Diomedes and Ulyfes, they privately ftole into the temple, furprifed and flew the keepers, aud carried the image away it was brought to Rome, by whom is uncertain, placed in the temple of Vefta, and refcued from the flames of that edifice by Metellus the high-priest.

(32) Mout me quippe lumen curia.) Jocus in ambiguo, Says Abramius ; innuit enine curiæ excensium cum Sextum Clodium clariffimum fenatorem vocare videatur.

(33) Spoliatan imaginibus. We are told by Pliny, that the halls of the great men amongst the Romans, were adorned with the images of their deceased friends, dose in wax; and that when any of the family was to be buried, thefe images were to be' carried along with the corpfe.

whose connivances at least, if not assistance, he hoped he should be able to betray the state into the mad schemes he had been forming; persuading himself, that as they thought themselves under so great an obligation to him, they would have no inclination to oppose any of his attempts, even if they should have it in their power; and that if they were inclined to do it, they would perhaps be scarce able to controul the most profligate of all men who had been confirmed and hardened in his audaciousness by a long series of villanies. Are you then, my lords, alone ignorant? are you strangers in this city? Has the report, which so generally obtains in the town, of those laws (if they are to be called laws, and not rather the scourges of the city, and the plagues of the republic) which he intended to have imposed and fixed as a brand of infamy upon us all, never reached your ears? Show us, I beg of you, Sextus Clodius, show us that register of your laws; which, they say, you rescued out of his house, and carried off like another Palladium, in the midst of an armed force, and a midnight mod; that you might have an honourable legacy, and ample instructions for some future tribune, who should hold his office under your direction, if such a tribune you could find. Now he casts a look at me, like that he used to assume when he threatened universal ruin. I am indeed struck with that light of the senate.

SECT. XIII. What Sextus, do you imagine I am angry with you, who have treated my greates enemy with more severity than the humanity of my temper could have allowed me to have required? You threw the bloody body of P. Clodius out of his house, you exposed it to public view in the streets, you left it by night a prey to the dogs, half consumed with unhallowed wood, stript of its images, and deprived of the usual encomiums and funeral pomp. This, though it is true you did it out of mere necessity, I cannot commend; yet as my enemy was the object of your cruelty, I ought not certainly to be angry with you. You saw there was the greatest reason to dread a revolution in the state from the prætorship of Clodius, unless the man, who hath both courage and power to controul him, were chosen consul. When all the Roman people were convinced that Milo was the man, what citizen could have hesitated a moment about giving him his vote, when by that vote, he at once relieved his own fears, and delivered the republic from the utmost danger? But now Clodius is taken off, it requires extraordinary efforts in Milo to support his dignity. That singular honour by which he was distinguished, and which daily increased by his representing the outrages of the Clodian faction, vanished with the death of Clodius. You have gained this advantage, that there is now no citizen you have to fear; while Milo has

exercitationem virtutis, suffragationem consulatus, fontem perennem gloriæ suæ perdidit. Itaque Milonis consulatus, qui vivo Clodio labefactari non poterat, murtuo denique tentari cœptus est. Non modo igitur nihil prodest, sed obest etiam P. Clodii mors Miloni. At valuit odium: fecit iratus, fecit inimicus, fecit ultor injuriæ, punitor doloris sui; quid, hæc, non dico majora fuerunt in Clodio quam in Milone, sed in illo maxima, nulla in hoc? quid vultis amplius? quid enim odisset Clodium Milo, segetem ac materiam suæ gloriæ, præter hoc civile odium, quo omnes improbos odimus ille erat ut odisset, primum defensorem salutis meæ; deinde vexatorem furoris, domitorem armorum suorum; postremo etiam accusatorem suum ; reus enim Milonis (34) lege Plotià fuit Clodius, quoad vixit; quo tandem animo hoc tyrannum tulisse creditis? quantum odium illius? et in homine justo, quam etiam justum esse?

XIV. Reliquum est, ut jam illum natura ipsius consuetudoque defendat; hunc autem hæc eadem coarguant; nihil per vim unquam Clodius: omnia per vim Milo. Quid ergo, judices? cum mærentibus vobis urbe cessi, judicium-ne timui? (35) non servos, non arma, non vim? quæ fuisset igitur causa restituendi mei, nisi fuisset injusta ejiciendi ? Diem mihi, credo, dixerat, multam irrogârat, actionem perduellionis intenderat ; et mihi videlicet in causâ aut malà, aut meà, non et præclarissimâ et vestrå, judicium timendum fuit; servorum, et egentium civium et facinorosorum armis meos cives, meis consiliis periculisque servatos, pro me objici nolui. Vidi enim, vidi hunc ipsum, (36) Q. Hortensium,

(34) Lege Plotin.] This law was enacted by P. Plautius, tribune of the people, anno 675, against thofe that attempted any force against the flate or fenate, or used any violence to the magiftrates, or appeared armed in public upon any ill design, or forcibly expelled any perfon from his lawful poffeffion. The punishment affigned to the convicted was aquæ et ignis interdictio.

(35) Non fervos, non arma, non vim.) When Cicero found himself reduced to the condition of a criminal by one of Clodius's laws, he changed his habit upon it, as was ufual in the cafe of a public impeachment, and appeared about the streets in a fordid or mourning gown, to excite the compaffion of his fellow-citizens; whilft Clodius, at the head of his mob, contrived to meet and infult him at every turn, reproaching him for his cowardice and dejection, and throwing dirt and stones at him.

(36) Hortenfium, lumen et ornamentum reipublicæ.] This Hortenfius was a very celebrated orator; he reigned abfolute in the Roman forum, when Cicero firft entered it; and as his fuperior fame was the chief fpur to Cicero's induftry, fo the fhining fpecimen which Cicero foon gave of himself, made Hortenfius likewise the brighter for it, by obliging him to exert all the force of his genius to maintain his ground against his young rival. They paffed a great part of their lives in a kind of equal contest and emulation of each other's merit; but Hortenfius, by the fuperiority of his years, having firft paffed through the usual gradation of public honours, and fatisfied his ambition by obtaining the higheft, began to relax fomewhat of his old contention, and give way to the charms of eafe and luxury, to which his nature ftrongly inclined him, till he was forced at last, by the general voice of the city to yield the post of honour to Cicero. He

has lost a fine field for displaying his valour, the interest that supported his election, and a perpetual source of glory. Accordingly, Milo's election to the consulate, which could never have been hurt while Clodius was living, begins now upon his death to be disputed. Milo, therefore, is so far from receiving any benefit from Clodius's death, that he is really a sufferer by it. But, it may be said that hatred prevailed, that anger and resentment urged him on, that he avenged his own wrongs, and redressed his own grievances. Now if all these particulars may be applied not merely with greater propiety to Clodius than to Milo, but with the utmost propriety to the one, and not the least to the other; what more can you desire? For why should Milo bear any other hatred to Clodius, who furnished him with such a rich harvest of glory, but that which every patriot must bear to all bad men? As to Clodius, he had motives enough for bearing ill-will to Milo: first, as my protector and guardian; then, as the opposer of his mad schemes, and the controuler of his armed force; and lastly, as his accuser. For while he lived, he was liable to be convicted by Milo upon the Plotian law. With what patience, do you imagine, such an imperious spirit could bear this? How high must his resentment have risen, and with what justice too, in so great an enemy to justice?

SECT. XIV. It remains now to consider what arguments their natural temper and behaviour will furnish out in defence of the one, and for the conviction of the other. Clodius never made use of any violence, Milo never carried any point without it. What then, my lords, when I retired from this city, leaving you in tears for my departure, did I fear standing a trial? and not rather the insults of Clodius's slaves, the force of arms, and open violence? What reason could there be for restoring me, if he was not guilty of injustice in banishing me? He had summoned me, I know he had, to appear upon my trial; had set a fine upon me, had brought an action of treason against me, and I had reason to fear the event of a trial, in a cause that was neither glorious for you, nor very honourable for myself. No, my lords, this was not the case; I was unwilling to expose my countrymen, whom I had saved by my counsels, and at the hazard of my life, to the swords of slaves,indigent citizens, and a crew of ruffians. For I saw, yes I myself beheld this very Q. Hortensius, the light and ornament of the repub

published several orations, which were extant long after his death; and it were much 4o be wished that they had remained to this day, to enable us to form a judgment of the different talents of these two greatmen: but they are faidto have owed a great part of their credit to the advantage of his action, which yet was thought to have more of art than was neceffary to an orator, fo that his compofitions were not admired so much by the reader, as they had been by the hearers. He was generally allowed, however,

lumen et ornamentum reipublicæ, pene interfici servorum manu, cum mihi adesset: quâ in turbâ C. Vibienus senator, vir optimus, cum hoc cùm esset unà, ita est mulcatus, ut vitam amiserit. Itaque quando illius postea sica illa, quam â Catilina acceperat, conquievit? hæc intentata nobis est : huic ego vos objici pro me non sum passus : hæc insidiata Pompeio est : hæc istam Appiam viam, monumentum sui nominis, nece Papirii cruentavit : hæc, hæc eadem longo intervallo conversa rursus est in me: (37) nuper quidem, ut scitis, me ad regiam pene confecit. quid simile Milonis? cujus vis omnis hæc semper fuit, ne P. Clodius, cum in judicium detrahi non posset, vi oppressam civitatem teneret; quem si interficere voluisset, quantæ, quoties occasiones, quam præclaræ fuerunt? potuit-ne cum domum ac deos penates suos, illo oppugnante, defenderet, jure se ulcisci ? potuit-ne cive egregio et viro fortissimo P. Sextio, collegâ suo, vulnerato? potuit-ne Q. Fabricio, viro optimo, cum de reditu meo legem ferret, pulso, crudelissimâ in foro cæde factà? potuit-ne L. Cæcilii, justissimi, fortissimique prætoris, oppugnatà domo? potuit-ne illo die, cum est lata lex de me? cum totius Italiæ concursus, quem mea salus concitârat, facti illius gloriam libens agnovisset: ut, etiam si id Milo fecisset, cuncta civitas eam laudem pro suâ vindicaret ?

XV. Atqui erat id temporis clarissimus et fortissimus consul, inimicus Clodio, P. Lentulus, ultor sceleris illius, propugnator senatûs, defensor vestræ voluntatis, patronus illius publici consensus, restitutor salutis meæ: septem prætores, octo tribuni plebis, illius adversarii, defensores mei: Cn. Pompeius auctor et dux mei reditûs, illius hostis: cujus sententiam senatus omnis de salute meâ gravissimam et ornatissimam secutus est: qui populum Romanum cohortatus est: qui, (88) cum de me decretum Capuæ fecisset ipse cunctae Italiæ cupienti et ejus fidem imploranti signum dedit, ut

by the ancients, and by Cicero himself, to have poffeffed every accomplishment which could adorn an orator; elegance of style; rt of compofition; fertility of invention; fweetness of elocution; gracefulness of action. The prodigious strenth of his memory is particularly celebrated; a remarkable inftance of it is recorded by the elder Seneca. He undertook, it feems, as a proof of its force, to attend a whole day, at a public auction, and give an exact account of every thing that was put up to fale, of the price at which it was fold, and of the name of every particular purchafer: and this he accordingly executed, without failing in a fingle article. Notwishstanding the rivalship between our orator and him, there was a mutual friendship between them. This harrony fo unusual with those who contend together for the same prize, was greatly owing to the good offices of Atticus; who feems indeed, upon all occafions, to have employed the remarkable influence he had with all parties, in reconciling differences, and cementing friendships.

(37) Nuper quidem, ut fcitis, me ad regiam pene confecit.] It is not easy to determine on what occafion it was that Clodius made this attack upon Cicero. Afconi us imagines that it was under the confulfhip of Domitius and Meffala, when the parties of Hypfæus and Milo fought in the faired way, and feveral were killed on the fide of Milo.