[76]
Although all these things appeared such as might be
endured,—although he attacked with equal fury the republic, and
private individuals, and men who were at a distance, and men who were near,
people who had no connection with him, and his own relations; yet somehow or
other the incredible endurance of the state had by long use grown hardened
and callous. But as for the things which were at hand, and were impending
over you, in what manner was it possible for you either to avert them or to
bear them? If he had once obtained real power,—I say nothing of
our allies, of foreign nations, and kings, and tetrarchs; for
you would have prayed that he might turn himself against them rather than
against your possessions, your houses, and your money: money do I say? your
children rather—I solemnly swear he would never have restrained
himself from your children and from your wives. Do you think that these
things are inventions of mine? They are evident; they are notorious to every
one; they are proved. Is it an invention of mine that he was about to enlist
an army of slaves in the city, by whose instrumentality he might take
possession of the whole republic, and of the private fortune of every one?
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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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