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THE SIXTH ORATION OF M. T. CICERO AGAINST MARCUS ANTONIUS. CALLED ALSO THE SIXTH PHILIPPIC. ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE.
[16]
Harsh language! This is much more harsh, “Let the
worthless, and wicked, and impious be saved; let the innocent, the honorable,
the virtuous, the whole republic be destroyed.” In the case of one
individual, O Quintus Fufius, I confess that you saw more than I did. I thought
Publius Clodius a mischievous, wicked, lustful, impious, audacious, criminal
citizen. You, on the other hand, called him religious, temperate, innocent,
modest; a citizen to be preserved and desired. In this one particular I admit
that you had great discernment, and that I made a great mistake. For as for your
saying that I am in the habit of arguing against you with ill temper, that is
not the case. I confess that I argue with vehemence, but not with ill temper. I
am not in the habit of getting angry with my friends every now and then, not
even if they deserve it.
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