[19]
I do not deal with you in this manner. I can address
this argument to those men, who state that if any matter must be entrusted
to one individual, then they would rather entrust it to Cnaeus Pompeius than
to any one, but that they make a rule of never entrusting anything to any
one in an irregular manner; still, after it has been entrusted to Pompeius,
that they then vindicate and uphold the measure, as is due to the dignity of
the man. From praising the statements of these men I am hindered by the
triumphs of Cnaeus Pompeius, by which he (though it was quite out of the
regular order of things that he was summoned to defend his country)
increased the reputation of the Roman people, and crowned their empire with
honour. At the same time I praise their firmness, which is a virtue which I
have need to avail myself of, since it was on my proposition that he was
appointed, quite out of the regular routine, to conduct the war against
Mithridates and Tigranes.
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