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[77]
Cherea consented to this delay; and when the shows were exhibited,
it was resolved to do the work the first day. But fortune, which allowed
a further delay to his slaughter, was too hard for their foregoing resolution;
and as three days of the regular times for these shows were now over, they
had much ado to get the business done on the last day. Then Cherea called
the conspirators together, and spake thus to them: "So much time passed
away without effort is a reproach to us, as delaying to go through such
a virtuous design as we are engaged in; but more fatal will this delay
prove if we be discovered, and the design be frustrated; for Caius will
then become more cruel in his unjust proceedings. Do we not see how long
we deprive all our friends of their liberty, and give Caius leave still
to tyrannize over them? while we ought to have procured them security for
the future, and, by laying a foundation for the happiness of others, gain
to ourselves great admiration and honor for all time to come." Now
while the conspirators had nothing tolerable to say by way of contradiction,
and yet did not quite relish what they were doing, but stood silent and
astonished, he said further, "O my brave comrades! why do we make
such delays? Do not you see that this is the last day of these shows, and
that Caius is about to go to sea? for he is preparing to sail to Alexandria,
in order to see Egypt. Is it therefore for your honor to let a man go out
of your hands who is a reproach to mankind, and to permit him to go, after
a pompous manner, triumphing both at land and sea? Shall not we be justly
ashamed of ourselves, if we give leave to some Egyptian or other, who shall
think his injuries insufferable to free-men, to kill him? As for myself,
I will no longer bear your stow proceedings, but will expose myself to
the dangers of the enterprise this very day, and bear cheerfully whatsoever
shall be the consequence of the attempt; nor, let them be ever so great,
will I put them off any longer: for, to a wise and courageous man, what
can be more miserable than that, while I am alive, any one else should
kill Caius, and deprive me of the honor of so virtuous an action?"
Flavius Josephus. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by. William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley. 1895.
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