[6]
Caius Claudius, whose aedileship we know to have
been a most splendid affair, used this statue of Cupid, as long as he kept the forum
decorated in honour of the immortal gods and the Roman people. And as he was
connected by ties of hospitality with the Heii, and was the patron of the Mamertine
people,—as he availed himself of their kindness to lend him this, so he
was careful to restore it There have lately been noble men of the same kind, O
judges;—why do I say lately, Yes, we have seen some very lately, a very
little while ago indeed, who have adorned the forum and the public buildings, not
with the spoils of the provinces, but with ornaments belonging to their
friends,—with splendid things lent by their own connections, not with the
produce of the thefts of guilty men,—and who afterwards have restored the
statues and decorations, each to its proper owner; men who have not taken things
away out of the cities of our allies for the sake of a four-day festival, under
presence of the shows to be exhibited in their aedileship, and after that carried
them off to their own homes, and their own villas.
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