[81]
Up to this time there has
been one man only since the first foundation of Rome, (and may the immortal gods grant that there may never be
another,) to whom the republic wholly committed herself, being compelled by the
necessities of the times and domestic misfortunes. He had such power, that without
his consent no one could preserve either his property, or his liberty, or his life.
He had such courage in his audacity, that he was not afraid to say in the public
assembly, when he was selling the property of Roman citizens, that he was selling
his own booty. All his actions we not only still maintain, but out of fear of
greater inconveniences and calamities, we defend them by the public authority. One
decree alone of his has been remodeled by a resolution of the senate, and a decree
has been passed, that these men, from the sum total of whose debts he had made a
deduction, should pay the money into the treasury. The senate laid down this
principle,—that even he to whom they had entrusted everything had not
power to diminish the total amount of revenue acquired and procured by the valour of
the Roman people.
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