[21]
I do not complain of the diminution of the revenues; nor
of the wickedness of this loss and injury. I pass over those things which there is no one who
cannot complain of with the greatest weight and the greatest truth; that we have not been
able to preserve the most important part of the public patrimony of the state, that which has
been to us the source of our supply of corn, our granary in time of war, our revenue placed
under custody of the seals and bolts of the republic; that we, in short, have abandoned that
district to Publius Rullus, which itself by its own resources had resisted both the absolute
power of Sulla, and the corrupting liberality of the Gracchi. I do not say that, now that so
much has been lost, this is the only revenue which remains in the republic; the only one
which, while other sources of income are interrupted, does not fail us; the only one which is
splendid in peace, is; not worn out in war; which supports our soldiery, and is not afraid of
our enemies. I pass over all this which I might say; I reserve that for the assembly of the
people. I am speaking now of the danger to our safety and to our liberty.
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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