[14]
But O conscript fathers, I cannot conceal what I hear; for sayings are bruited about, which
come to my ears, of those men who seem to fear that I may not have force enough to put in
execution the things which you determine on this day. Everything is provided for, and
prepared, and arranged, O conscript fathers, both by my exceeding care and diligence, and
also by the still greater zeal of the Roman people for the retaining of their supreme
dominion, and for the preserving of the fortunes of all. All men of all ranks are present,
and of all ages; the forum is full, the temples around the forum are full, all the approaches
to this place and to this temple are full. For this is the only cause that has ever been
known since the first foundation of the city, in which all men were of one and the same
opinion—except those, who, as they saw they must be ruined, preferred to perish in
company with all the world rather than by themselves.
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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