Chapter 12

60Mommsen, vol. iii., p. 385.

61Pro Sexto Roscio, ca. xxi.: "Quod antea causam publicam nullam dixerim." He says also in the Brutus, ca. xc., "Itaque prima causa publica, pro Sex. Roscio dicta." By "publica causa" he means a criminal accusation in distinction from a civil action.

62Pro Publio Quintio, ca. i.: "Quod mihi consuevit in ceteris causis esse adjumento, id quoque in hac causa deficit."

63Pro Publio Quintio, ca. xxi.: "Nolo eam rem commemorando renovare, cujus omnino rei memoriam omnem tolli funditus ac deleri arbitror oportere."

64Pro Roscio, ca. xlix. Cicero says of him that he would be sure to suppose that anything would have been done according to law of which he should be told that it was done by Sulla's order. "Putat homo imperitus morum, agricola et rusticus, ista omnia, quæ vos per Sullam gesta esse dicitis, more, lege, jure gentium facta."

65Pro Sexto Roscio, ca. 1.

66Pro Sexto Roscio, ca. xxix.: "Ejusmodi tempus erat, inquit, ut homines vulgo impune occiderentur."

67Pro T. A. Milone, ca.xxi.: "Cur igitur cos manumisit? Metuebat scilicit ne indicarent; ne dolorem perferre non possent."

68Pro T. A. Milone, ca.xxii.: "Heus tu, Ruscio, verbi gratia, cave sis mentiaris. Clodius insidias fecit Miloni? Fecit. Certa crux. Nullas fecit. Sperata libertas."

69Pro Sexto Roscio, ca. xxviii.

70Ibid.

71Ibid., ca. xxxi.

72Pro Sexto Roscio, ca. xlv.

73Pro Sexto Roscio, ca. xlvi. The whole picture of Chrysogonus, of his house, of his luxuries, and his vanity, is too long for quotation, but is worth referring to by those who wish to see how bold and how brilliant Cicero could be.

74They put in tablets of wax, on which they recorded their judgment by inscribing letter, C, A, or NL—Condemno, Absolvo, or Non liquet—intending to show that the means of coming to a decision did not seem to be sufficient.

75Quintilian tells us, lib. x., ca.vii., that Cicero's speeches as they had come to his day had been abridged—by which he probably means only arranged—by Tiro, his slave and secretary and friend. "Nam Ciceronis ad præsens modo tempus aptatos libertus Tiro contraxit."

76Quintilian, lib. xi., ca.iii.: "Nam et toga, et calecus, et capillus, tam nimia cura, quam negligentia, sunt reprehendenda." * * * "Sinistrum brachium eo usque allevandum est, ut quasi normalem illum angulum faciat." Quint., lib. xii., ca.x., "ne hirta toga sit;" don't let the toga be rumpled; "non serica:" the silk here interdicted was the silk of effeminacy, not that silk of authority of which our barristers are proud. "Ne intonsum caput; non in gradus atque annulos comptum." It would take too much space were I to give here all the lessons taught by this professor of deportment as to the wearing of the toga.

77A doubt has been raised whether he was not married when he went to Greece, as otherwise his daughter would seem to have become a wife earlier than is probable. The date, however, has been generally given as it is stated here.

78Tacitus, Annal., xi., 5, says, "Qua cavetur antiquitus, ne quis, ob causam orandam, pecuniam donumve accipiat."

79De Off., lib. i., ca. xlii.: "Sordidi etiam putandi, qui mercantur a mercatoribus, quod statim vendant. Nihil enim proficiunt, nisi admodum mentiantur."

80De Off., lib. i., ca. xlii.: "Primum improbantur ii quæstus, qui in odia hominum incurrunt: ut portitorum ut fœneratorum." The Portitores were inferior collectors of certain dues, stationed at seaports, who are supposed to have been extremely vexatious in their dealings with the public.

81Philipp., 11-16.

82Let any who doubt this statement refer to the fate of the inhabitants of Alesia and Uxellodunum. Cæsar did not slay or torture for the sake of cruelty, but was never deterred by humanity when expediency seemed to him to require victims. Men and women, old and young, many or few, they were sacrificed without remorse if his purpose required it.

83Pro Pub. Quintio, ca. xxv.

84See Appendix B, Brutus, ca. xcii., xciii.

85Brutus, ca. xciii.: "Animos hominum ad me dicendi novitate converteram."

86It must be remembered that this advice was actually given when Cicero subsequently became a candidate for the Consulship, but it is mentioned here as showing the manner in which were sought the great offices of State.

87Cicero speaks of Sicily as divided into two provinces, "Quæstores utriusque provinciæ." There was, however, but one Prætor or Proconsul. But the island had been taken by the Romans at two different times. Lilybæum and the west was obtained from the Carthaginians at the end of the first Punic war, whereas, Syracuse was conquered by Marcellus and occupied during the second Punic war.

88Tacitus, Ann., lib.xi., ca.xxii.: "Post, lege Sullæ, viginti creati supplendo senatui, cui judicia tradiderat."

89De Legibus, iii., xii.

90Pro P. Sexto, lxv.

91Pro Cluentio, lvi.

92Contra Verrem, Act.iv., ca. xi.: "Ecquæ civitas est, non modo in provinciis nostris, verum etiam in ultimis nationibus, aut tam potens, aut tam libera, aut etiam am immanis ac barbara; rex denique ecquis est, qui senatorem populi Romani tecto ac domo non invitet?"

93Contra Verrem, Act. i., ca. xiii.: "Omnia non modo commemorabuntur, sed etiam, expositis certis rebus, agentur, quæ inter decem annos, posteaquam judicia ad senatum translata sunt, in rebus judicandis nefarie flagitioseque facta sunt."Pro Cluentio, lvi.: "Locus, auctoritas, domi splendor, apud exteras nationes nomen et gratia, toga prætexta, sella curulis, insignia, fasces, exercitus, imperia, provincia."

Pro Cluentio, lvi.: "Locus, auctoritas, domi splendor, apud exteras nationes nomen et gratia, toga prætexta, sella curulis, insignia, fasces, exercitus, imperia, provincia."

94Contra Verrem, Act.i., ca. xviii.: "Quadringenties sestertium ex Sicilia contra leges abstulisse." In Smith's Dictionary of Grecian and Roman Antiquities we are told that a thousand sesterces is equal in our money to £8 17s.1d.Of the estimated amount of this plunder we shall have to speak again.

95Pro Plancio, xxvi.

96Pro Plancio, xxvi.

97M. du Rozoir was a French critic, and was joined with M. Guéroult and M. de Guerle in translating and annotating the Orations of Cicero for M. Panckoucke's edition of the Latin classics.

98In Verrem Actio Secunda, lib. i., vii.

99Plutarch says that Cæcilius was an emancipated slave, and a Jew, which could not have been true, as he was a Roman Senator.

100De Oratore, lib. ii., c. xlix. The feeling is beautifully expressed in the words put into the mouth of Antony in the discussion on the charms and attributes of eloquence: "Qui mihi in liberum loco more majorum esse deberet."

101In Q. Cæc. Divinatio, ca. ii.

102Divinatio, ca. iii.

103Ibid., ca. vi.

104Ibid., ca. viii.

105Divinatio, ca. ix.

106Ibid., ca. xi.

107Ibid.

108Ibid., ca. xii.

109Actio Secunda, lib. ii., xl. He is speaking of Sthenius, and the illegality of certain proceedings on the part of Verres against him. "If an accused man could be condemned in the absence of the accuser, do you think that I would have gone in a little boat from Vibo to Velia, among all the dangers prepared for me by your fugitive slaves and pirates, when I had to hurry at the peril of my life, knowing that you would escape if I were not present to the day?"

110Actio Secunda, l. xxi.

111In Verrem, Actio Prima, xvi.

112In Verrem, Actio Prima, xvi.

113We are to understand that the purchaser at the auction having named the sum for which he would do the work, the estate of the minor, who was responsible for the condition of the temple, was saddled with that amount.

114In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. ii., vii.

115Ibid., ix.

116Ibid., lib. ii., xiv.

117See Appendix C.

118In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. ii., ca. xxxvi.

119Ibid. "Una nox intercesserat, quam iste Dorotheum sic diligebat, ut diceres, omnia inter eos esse communia."—wife and all. "Iste" always means Verres in these narratives.

120These were burning political questions of the moment. It was as though an advocate of our days should desire some disgraced member of Parliament to go down to the House and assist the Government in protecting Turkey in Asia and invading Zululand.

121"Sit in ejus exercitu signifer." The "ejus" was Hortensius, the coming Consul, too whom Cicero intended to be considered as pointing. For the passage, see In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. ii., xxxi.

122In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. iii., 11.

123"Exegi monumentum ære perennius," said Horace, gloriously. "Sum pius Æneas" is Virgil's expression, put into the mouth of his hero. "Ipse Menaleas," said Virgil himself. Homer and Sophocles introduce their heroes with self-sounded trumpetings:Εἴμ' Οδυσσεὺς Δαερτιάδης ὅς πασι δόλοισιἈνθρώποισι μέλω, και μὲυ κλέος οὐρανὸn ικει.Odyssey,book ix., 19 and 20.Ὁ πᾶσι κλεινος Οἰδίπους καλούμενος.Œdipus Tyrannus, 8.

Εἴμ' Οδυσσεὺς Δαερτιάδης ὅς πασι δόλοισιἈνθρώποισι μέλω, και μὲυ κλέος οὐρανὸn ικει.Odyssey,book ix., 19 and 20.Ὁ πᾶσι κλεινος Οἰδίπους καλούμενος.Œdipus Tyrannus, 8.

124Pro Plancio, xxvi.: "Frumenti in summa caritate maximum numerum miseram; negotiatoribus comis, mercatoribus justus, municipibus liberalis, sociis abstinens, omnibus eram visus in omni officio diligentissimus."

125In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. iii., ix.: "Is erit Apronius ille; qui, ut ipse non solum vita, sed etiam corpore atque ore significat, immensa aliqua vorago est ac gurges vitiorum turpitudinumque omnium. Hunc in omnibus stupris, hunc in fanorum expilationibus, hunc in impuris conviviis principem adhibebat; tantamque habebat morum similitudo conjunctionem atque concordiam, ut Apronius, qui aliis inhumanus ac barbarus, isti uni commodus ac disertus videretur; ut quem omnes odissent neque videre vellent sine eo iste esse non posset; ut quum alii ne conviviis quidem iisdem quibus Apronius, hic iisdem etiam poculis uteretur, postremo, ut, odor Apronii teterrimus oris et corporis, quem, ut aiunt, ne bestiæ quidem ferre possent, uni isti suavis et jucundus videretur. Ille erat in tribunali proximus; in cubiculo socius; in convivio dominus, ac tum maxime, quum, accubante prætextato prætoris filio, in convivio saltare nudus cœperat."

126A great deal is said of theCybeain this and the last speech. The money expended on it was passed through the accounts as though the ship had been built for the defence of the island from pirates, but it was intended solely for the depository of the governor's plunder.

127In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. iv., vii.

128In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. iv., lvii.

129In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib.v., lxvi.: "Facinus est vinciri civem Romanum; scelus verberari; prope parricidium necari; quid dicam in crucem tollere!"

130In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. v., lxv.

131In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. v., xx.: "Onere suo plane captam atque depressam."

132In Verrem, Actio Secunda, lib. v., xxvi.

133Ibid., xxviii.

134Pro Fonteio, xiii.

135De Oratore, lib.ii., lix.: "Perspicitis, hoc genus quam sit facetum, quam elegans, quam oratorium, sive habeas vere, quod narrare possis, quod tamen, est mendaciunculis aspergendum, sive fingas." Either invent a story, or if you have an old one, add on something so as to make it really funny. Is there a parson, a bishop, an archbishop, who, if he have any sense of humor about him, does not do the same?

136Cicero, Pro Cluentio, l., explains very clearly his own idea as to his own speeches as an advocate, and may be accepted, perhaps, as explaining the ideas of barristers of to-day. "He errs," he says, "who thinks that he gets my own opinions in speeches made in law courts; such speeches are what the special cases require, and are not to be taken as coming from the advocate as his own."

137When the question is discussed, we are forced rather to wonder how many of the great historical doings of the time are not mentioned, or are mentioned very slightly, in Cicero's letters. Of Pompey's treatment of the pirates, and of his battling in the East, little or nothing is said, nothing of Cæsar's doings in Spain. Mention is made of Cæsar's great operations in Gaul only in reference to the lieutenancy of Cicero's brother Quintus, and to the employment of his young friend Trebatius. Nothing is said of the manner of Cæsar's coming into Rome after passing the Rubicon; nothing of the manner of fighting at Dyrrachium and Pharsalia; very little of the death of Pompey; nothing of Cæsar's delay in Egypt. The letters deal with Cicero's personal doings and thoughts, and with the politics of Rome as a city. The passage to which allusion is made occurs in the life of Atticus, ca. xvi: "Quæ qui legat non multum desideret historiam contextam illorum temporum."

138Jean George Greefe was a German, who spent his life as a professor at Leyden, and, among other classical labors, arranged and edited the letters of Cicero. He died in 1703.

139It must be explained, however, that continued research and increased knowledge have caused the order of the letters, and the dates assigned to them, to be altered from time to time; and, though much has been done to achieve accuracy, more remains to be done. In my references to the letters I at first gave them, both to the arrangement made by Grævius and to the numbers assigned in the edition I am using; but I have found that the numbers would only mislead, as no numbering has been yet adopted as fixed. Arbitrary and even fantastic as is the arrangement of Grævius, it is better to confine myself to that because it has been acknowledged, and will enable my readers to find the letters if they wish to do so. Should Mr. Tyrrell continue and complete his edition of the correspondence, he will go far to achieve the desired accuracy. A second volume has appeared since this work of mine has been in the press.

140The peculiarities of Cicero's character are nowhere so clearly legible as in his dealings with and words about his daughter. There is an effusion of love, and then of sorrow when she dies, which is un-Roman, almost feminine, but very touching.

141I annex a passage from our well known English translation: "The power of the pirates had its foundation in Cilicia. Their progress was the more dangerous, because at first it had been but little noticed. In the Mithridatic war they assumed new confidence and courage, on account of some services which they had rendered the king. After this, the Romans being engaged in civil war at the very gates of their capital, the sea was left unguarded, and the pirates by degrees attempted higher things—not only attacking ships, but islands and maritime towns. Many persons distinguished for their wealth, birth and capacity embarked with them, and assisted in their depredations, as if their employment had been worthy the ambition of men of honor. They had in various places arsenals, ports, and watch-towers, all strongly fortified. Their fleets were not only extremely well manned, supplied with skilful pilots, and fitted for their business by their lightness and celerity, but there was a parade of vanity about them, more mortifying than their strength, in gilded sterns, purple canopies, and plated oars, as if they took a pride and triumphed in their villany. Music resounded, and drunken revels were exhibited on every coast. Here generals were made prisoners; and there the cities which the pirates had seized upon were paying their ransom, to the great disgrace of the Roman power. The number of their galleys amounted to a thousand, and the cities taken to four hundred." The passage is taken from the life of Pompey.

142Florus, lib. iii., 6: "An felicitatem, quod ne una cuidam navis amissa est; an vero perpetuitatem, quod amplius piratæ non fuerunt."

143Of the singular trust placed in Pompey there are very many proofs in the history of Rome at this period, but none, perhaps, clearer than the exception made in this favor in the wording of laws. In the agrarian law proposed by the Tribune Rullus, and opposed by Cicero when he was Consul, there is a clause commanding all Generals under the Republic to account for the spoils taken by them in war. But there is a special exemption in favor of Pompey. "Pompeius exceptus esto." It is as though no Tribune dared to propose a law affecting Pompey.

144See Appendix D.

145Asconius Pedianus was a grammarian who lived in the reign of Tiberius, and whose commentaries on Cicero's speeches, as far as they go, are very useful in explaining to us the meaning of the orator. We have his notes on these two Cornelian orations and some others, especially on that of Pro Milone. There are also commentaries on some of the Verrine orations—not by Asconius, but from the pen of some writer now called Pseudo-Asconius, having been long supposed to have come from Asconius. They, too, go far to elucidate much which would otherwise be dark to us.

146Quint., lib. viii., 3. The critic is explaining the effect of ornament in oratory—of that beauty of language which with the people has more effect than argument—and he breaks forth himself into perhaps the most eloquent passage in the whole Institute: "Cicero, in pleading for Cornelius, fought with arms which were as splendid as they were strong. It was not simply by putting the facts before the judges, by talking usefully, in good language and clearly, that he succeeded in forcing the Roman people to acknowledge by their voices and by their hands their admiration; it was the grandeur of his words, their magnificence, their beauty, their dignity, which produced that outburst."

147Orator., lxvii. and lxx.

148De Lege Agraria, ii., 2: "Meis comitiis non tabellam, vindicem tacitæ libertatis, sed vocem vivam præ vobis, indicem vestrarum erga me voluntatum ac studiorum tulistis. Itaque me * * * una voce universus populus Romanus consulem declaravit."

149Sall., Conj. Catilinaria, xxi.: "Petere consulatum C. Antonium, quem sibi collegam fore speraret, hominem et familiarem, et omnibus necessitudinibus circumventum." Sallust would no doubt have put anything into Catiline's mouth which would suit his own purpose; but it was necessary for his purpose that he should confine himself to credibilities.

150Cicero himself tells us that many short-hand writers were sent by him—"Plures librarii," as he calls them—to take down the words of the Agrarian law which Rullus proposed. De Lege Agra., ii., 5. Pliny, Quintilian, and Martial speak of these men as Notarii. Martial explains the nature of their business:"Currant verba licet, manus est velocior illis;Nondum lingua suum, dextra peregit opus."—xiv., 208.

"Currant verba licet, manus est velocior illis;Nondum lingua suum, dextra peregit opus."—xiv., 208.

151Ad Att., ii., 1. "Oratiunculas," he calls them. It would seem here that he pretends to have preserved these speeches only at the request of some admiring young friends. Demosthenes, of course, was the "fellow-citizen," so called in badinage, because Atticus, deserting Rome, lived much at Athens.

152This speech, which has been lost, was addressed to the people with the view of reconciling them to a law in accordance with which the Equites were entitled to special seats in the theatre. It was altogether successful.

153This, which is extant, was spoken in defence of an old man who was accused of a political homicide thirty-seven years before—of having killed, that is, Saturninus the Tribune. Cicero was unsuccessful, but Rabirius was saved by the common subterfuge of an interposition of omens. There are some very fine passages in this oration.

154This has been lost. Cicero, though he acknowledged the iniquity of Sulla's proscriptions, showed that their effects could not now be reversed without further revolutions. He gained his point on this occasion.

155This has been lost. Cicero, in accordance with the practice of the time, was entitled to the government of a province when ceasing to be Consul. The rich province of Macedonia fell to him by lot, but he made it over to his colleague Antony, thus purchasing, if not Antony's co-operation, at any rate his quiescence, in regard to Catiline. He also made over the province of Gaul, which then fell to his lot, to Metellus, not wishing to leave the city. All this had to be explained to the people.

156It will be seen that he also defended Rabirius in his consular year, but had thought fit to include that among his consular speeches. Some doubt has been thrown, especially by Mr. Tyrrell, on the genuineness of Cicero's letter giving the list of his "oratiunculas consulares," because the speeches Pro Murena and Pro Pisone are omitted, and as containing some "rather un-Ciceronian expressions." My respect for Mr. Tyrrell's scholarship and judgment is so great that I hardly dare to express an opinion contrary to his; but I should be sorry to exclude a letter so Ciceronian in its feeling. And if we are to have liberty to exclude without evidence, where are we to stop?

157Corn. Nepo., Epaminondas, I.: "We know that with us" (Romans) "music is foreign to the employments of a great man. To dance would amount to a vice. But these things among the Greeks are not only pleasant but praiseworthy."

158Conj. Catilinaria, xxv.

159Horace, Epis. i., xvii.:"Si sciret regibus utiFastidiret olus qui me notat."

159Horace, Epis. i., xvii.:

"Si sciret regibus utiFastidiret olus qui me notat."

160Pro Murena, xxix.

161Pro Murena, x. This Sulpicius was afterward Consul with M. Marcellus, and in the days of the Philippics was sent as one of a deputation to Antony. He died while on the journey. He is said to have been a man of excellent character, and a thorough-going conservative.

162Pro Murena, xi.

163Ibid., xi.

164Ibid., xii.

165Ibid., xiii.

166Ibid., xi.

167Pro Cluentio, 1.

168De Lege Agraria, ii., 5.

169He alludes here to his own colleague Antony, whom through his whole year of office he had to watch lest the second Consul should join the enemies whom he fears—should support Rullus or go over to Catiline. With this view, choosing the lesser of the two evils, he bribes Antony with the government of Macedonia.

170De Lege Agraria, i., 7 and 8.

171The "jus imaginis" belonged to those whose ancestors was counted an Ædile, a Prætor, or a Consul. The descendants of such officers were entitled to have these images, whether in bronze, or marble, or wax, carried at the funerals of their friends.

172Forty years since, Marius who was also "novus homo," and also, singularly enough, from Arpinum, had been made Consul, but not with the glorious circumstances as now detailed by Cicero.

173De Lege Agraria, ii., 1, 2, and 3.

174See Introduction.

175Pliny the elder, Hist. Nat., lib. vii., ca. xxxi.

176The word is "proscripsisti," "you proscribed him." For the proper understanding of this, the bearing of Cicero toward Antony during the whole period of the Philippics must be considered.

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