[8]
Forsooth, my nature, I
suppose, is a harsh one, I am difficult of access, my countenance is
forbidding, my answers to men are arrogant, my way of life insolent. No one
ever sought the aid of my humanity,—no one was ever anxious for my
intimacy, for my advice, or my aid; for mine, out of regret for whom (to say
the least of it) the forum was sad, the senate-house silent, and all studies
of virtuous and liberal sciences voiceless and lifeless.
However, I will allow that nothing was done for my sake. Let us admit that
all those resolutions of the senate and commands of the people, and decrees
of all Italy, and of all companies, and of all colleges and guilds
concerning me were passed for the sake of the republic. What then, O man
most ignorant of the character of solid glory and real dignity, could
possibly happen better for me? What could be more desirable as regards the
immortality of my glory and the everlasting recollection of my name, than
for all my fellow citizens to be of this opinion,—that the safety
of the state was indissolubly bound up with my individual safety?
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1891.
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