The Good Book (110 page)

16. And he, still doubting what to do, let Dolabella go without him,

17. Promising Hirtius that he would spend his summer at Athens, and return when the new consular terms began.

18. So Cicero set out on his journey; but on the way news came from Rome that Antony had made an astonishing change, and was managing public affairs at the will of the senate,

19. And that there was nothing lacking but Cicero's presence to bring things to a happy settlement.

20. And therefore, chastising himself for his cowardice, Cicero returned to Rome, and at first all seemed promising.

21. For such multitudes flocked out to meet him that the compliments and civilities which were paid him at the gates, and at his entrance into the city, took up almost a whole day.

 

Chapter 85

  1. The next day Antony convened the senate, and summoned Cicero thither.

  2. Cicero did not attend, pretending to be ill with his journey;

  3. But the true reason was suspicion of some design by Antony against him.  

  4. Antony was greatly offended, and sent soldiers, commanding them to bring Cicero or burn his house;

  5. But because many interceded on Cicero's behalf, he was content to accept their assurances.

  6. Ever after, when the two men met, they passed one another with silence, and continued on their guard,

  7. Till Octavius Caesar, afterwards Augustus, coming from Apollonia, entered on the first Caesar's inheritance as his adopted son,

  8. And was engaged in a dispute with Antony about two thousand five hundred myriads of money, which Antony detained from Caesar's estate.

  9. Upon this, Philippus, who had married the mother, and Marcellus, who had married the sister of Octavius Caesar,

10. Came with the young man to Cicero, to ask for the aid of Cicero's eloquence and political influence with the senate and people; and Cicero agreed.

11. He did so partly from his opposition to Antony, but more because he saw that he could influence public policy through the young Octavius Caesar, who went so far as to call him Father.

12. Though Brutus greatly disliked this courtship of Cicero by Octavian, he gave Cicero's son, then studying philosophy at Athens, a command in his army, and employed him in various ways, with a good result.

13. Cicero's own power at this time was at the greatest height in the city, and he did whatever he pleased;

14. He drove out Antony, and sent the two consuls, Hirtius and Pansa, with an army to reduce him;

15. And, on the other hand, he persuaded the senate to give Octavius Caesar the lictors and ensigns of a praetor, as though he were his country's defender.

16. After Antony was defeated in battle, and the consuls slain, the armies united, and ranged themselves with Octavius Caesar.

17. And the senate, in awe of the young man, tried by honours to reduce the army's loyalty to him, and to lessen his power;

18. Professing there was no further need of arms now Antony was put to flight.

19. This gave Octavius Caesar such concern that he privately sent friends to persuade Cicero to procure the consular dignity for them both together;

20. Saying Cicero should manage affairs as he pleased with full power, for the young Octavius was only desirous of the name and glory of consul.

21. Moreover Octavius Caesar himself confessed that, fearing ruin and in danger of being deserted, he had made use of Cicero's ambition.

22. And now, more than at any other time, Cicero let himself be deceived, though an old man, by the persuasion of a boy.

23. He joined Octavius Caesar in soliciting votes, and procured the goodwill of the senate,

24. Not without blame at the time on the part of his friends, who guessed what was coming;

25. And he, too, soon enough, saw that he had ruined himself, and betrayed the liberty of his country.

26. For Octavius Caesar, once established as consul, bade Cicero farewell;

27. And reconciling himself to Antony and Lepidus, joined his power with theirs, and divided the government, like a piece of property, with them.

28. Thus united, they made a list of more than two hundred people who were to be put to death.

29. But the greatest contention in their debates was centred upon Cicero.

30. Antony would accept no conditions, unless Cicero was the first to be killed.

31. Lepidus agreed with Antony, and Octavius Caesar opposed them both.

32. They met secretly for three days near the town of Bononia. The place was not far from the army camp, with a river surrounding it.

33. Octavius Caesar, it is said, earnestly defended Cicero for two days; but on the third day gave him up.

34. The terms of their mutual concessions were these: that Caesar should desert Cicero; Lepidus, his brother Paulus; and Antony, Lucius Caesar, his uncle by his mother's side.

35. Thus they let their anger take away their sense of humanity, and demonstrated that no beast is more savage than man when possessed with power equal to his rage.

36. While these things were happening, Cicero was with his brother at his house near Tusculum.

37. Hearing of the proscriptions, they decided to go to Astura, a villa of Cicero's near the sea, and to take ship from there to Macedonia, where Brutus had his strength.

38. They travelled together in separate litters, overwhelmed with sorrow;

39. And often stopping on the way till their litters came together, condoled with one another.

40. But Quintus was the more disheartened because he had no money for the journey, having brought nothing with him from home, and Cicero himself had only a slender provision.

41. They therefore decided that Cicero should continue to escape, while Quintus returned home to provide necessaries;

42. So they mutually embraced, and parted with many tears.

43. Quintus, a few days after, was betrayed by his servants, and was slain, together with his young son.

 

Chapter 86

  1. Cicero reached Astura, where he found a vessel and sailed as far as Circaeum with a prosperous wind;

  2. But when the pilots resolved to sail on immediately, Cicero went ashore, either fearing the sea, or hoping that Octavius Caesar might still save him;

  3. And travelled a hundred furlongs by land, as if going back to Rome.

  4. But again changing his mind, he returned to the sea, and there spent the night in fearful and perplexed thoughts.

  5. At last he decided to go by sea to Capitie, where he had a house, an agreeable place to retire to in the heat of summer, when the Etesian winds are so pleasant.

  6. He again went ashore, and on entering his house, lay down to rest. His servants, anxious for his safety, and guessing that assassins were in search of him,

  7. Partly by entreaty and partly by force took him up, and carried him in his litter towards the seaside.

  8. But in the meantime, accompanied by a band of soldiers, the assassins were closing in;

  9. They were Herennius, a centurion, and Popillius, a tribune, whom Cicero had formerly defended when prosecuted for the murder of his father.

10. Finding the doors shut, they broke them open. Those within said they did not know where Cicero was,

11. But a youth called Philologus, who had been educated by Cicero in the liberal arts and sciences,

12. And who was an emancipated slave of his brother Quintus, betrayed Cicero,

13. Informing the tribune that the litter was on its way to the sea through the close and shady walks.

14. The tribune, taking a few with him, ran out in pursuit. And Cicero, perceiving Herennius approaching, commanded his servants to set down the litter;

15. And stroking his chin, as he used to do, with his left hand, his person covered with dust, his beard and hair untrimmed,

16. And his face worn with his troubles, he looked steadfastly upon his murderers.

17. Such was the pity of the sight that the greatest part of those that stood by covered their faces while Herennius slew him.

18. And thus he was murdered, stretching forth his neck out of the litter to receive the blow. He was in his sixty-fourth year.

19. Herennius cut off his head, and, by Mark Antony's command, cut off his hands also, by which his Philippics were written;

20. For so Cicero styled those orations he wrote against Antony, and so they are called to this day.

21. When Cicero's head and hands were brought to Rome,

22. Antony was holding an assembly for the choice of public officers;

23. And when he heard it, and saw them, he cried out, ‘Now let there be an end of our proscriptions.'

24. He commanded the head and hands to be fastened up over the rostra, where the orators spoke;

25. A sight which the Roman people shuddered to behold, and they believed they saw there, not the face of Cicero, but the image of Antony's own mind.

26. A long time afterwards Octavius Caesar, visiting one of his daughter's sons, found him with a book of Cicero's in his hand.

27. The boy for fear endeavoured to hide it under his gown; which Octavius Caesar perceiving, he took it from him,

28. And turning over a great part of the book, gave it back, saying, ‘My child, this was a learned man, and a lover of his country.'

29. And immediately after he had vanquished Mark Antony, being then consul, he made Cicero's son his colleague in the office;

30. And under that consulship the senate took down all the statues of Antony, and abolished all the other honours that had been given him,

31. And decreed that none of that family should thereafter bear the name of Marcus;

32. And thus the final acts of the punishment of Antony were carried out by the family of Cicero.

Epistles

Epistle 1

  1. My dear son: you must begin by having a true estimate of our human species,

  2. Before you can begin to formulate how you will advance yourself to being one of the better specimens of it.

  3. That will be the purpose of these letters to you, as you take your journey among people and places,

  4. So that you can combine your experience of them with the experience I offer you.

  5. There are those who exalt the human species to the skies, and represent man as a paragon;

  6. And there are those who insist on the worst of human nature, and can discover nothing except vanity and folly in man, making him no better than other animals.

  7. A delicate sense of morals is apt to give one a disgust of the world, and to make one consider the common course of human affairs with indignation and dislike.

  8. For my part I think that those who view mankind favourably and sympathetically do more to promote virtue than those who have a mean opinion of human nature.

  9. When a man has a high notion of his moral status, he will naturally endeavour to live up to it, and will scorn to do a base or vicious thing, which might sink him below the figure he makes in his own imagination.

10. Accordingly we find that all the best moralists concentrate on the idea that vice is unworthy of us, as well as being odious in itself.

11. In disputes concerning the dignity or meanness of human nature it is right to begin by accepting that there is a natural difference between merit and demerit, virtue and vice, wisdom and folly.

12. Yet it is evident that in assigning approbation or blame, we are commonly more influenced by comparison than by any fixed standard in the nature of things.

13. When we call an animal big or small, we always do so on the basis of comparing that animal and others of the same species;

14. And it is that comparison which regulates our judgement concerning its size.

15. Suppose this dog and that horse are the same size; we will wonder at the dog for being large, the horse for being small.

16. When I hear any dispute I always ask myself whether it is a question of comparison that is at issue;

17. And if it is, whether the disputants compare the same objects together, or talk of things that are widely different.

18. In forming our notions of human nature we are apt to compare men and animals, the only creatures endowed with thought that fall under our senses.

19. Certainly this comparison is favourable to mankind. In man we see a creature whose thoughts are not limited by narrow bounds of place or time;

20. Who carries his inquiries into the most distant regions of this globe, and beyond this globe, to the stars;

21. Who looks backward to consider the history of the human race;

22. Who casts his eye forward to see the influence of his actions on posterity,

23. And the judgement that will be made of his character a hundred or a thousand years hence;