[43]
And if we say that those armies have been
routed by force, which have fled through fear, and often from only some slight suspicion of
danger; and if we have both seen and heard of troops being put to flight, not only by the dash
of shield against shield, nor by bodily conflict, nor by blows interchanged hand to hand, nor
by the showering of missile weapons from a distance, but often by the mere shout of the
soldiers, by their warlike array, and the sight of the hostile standards; shall that, which is
called violence in war, not be called violence in peace? And shall that which is thought
vigorous conduct in military affairs, be considered gentle in transactions of civil law? And
shall that which has its influence on armed battalions, not appear to move a body of men in
the garb of peace? And shall a wound of the body be a greater proof of that violence which we
complain of, than alarm of mind? And shall we inquire strictly what wounds were inflicted,
when it is notorious that people were put to the rout?
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1856.
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