[75]
I wish that I had leisure enough to read the decree of the Smyrnaeans, which they made
respecting the dead Castricius. In the first place, that he was to be brought into the city,
which is an honour not granted to others; in the next place, that young men should bear his
coffin; and lastly, that a golden crown should be put upon the dead body. These honours were
not paid to that most illustrious man, Publius Scipio, when he had died at Pergamus. But what
language, O ye immortal gods, do they use concerning him, calling him “the glory of
his country, the ornament of the Roman people, the flower of the youth.” Wherefore,
O Decianus, if you are desirous of glory, I advise you to seek other distinctions. The men of
Pergamus laughed at you.
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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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