The Life of Cicero Volume I Part 14

[46] Quintilian, lib. xii., vi.: "Quum jam clarum meruisset inter patronos, qui tum erant, nomen, in Asiam navigavit, seque et aliis sine dubio eloquentiae ac sapientiae magistris, sed praecipue tamen Apollonio Moloni, quem Romae quoque audierat, Rhodi rursus formandum ac velut recognendum dedit."

[47] Brutus, xci.

[48] The total correspondence contains 817 letters, of which 52 were written to Cicero, 396 were written by Cicero to Atticus, and 369 by Cicero to his friends in general. We have no letters from Atticus to Cicero.

[49] Quintilian, lib. x., ca. 1.

[50] Clemens of Alexandria, in his exhortation to the Gentiles, is very severe upon the iniquities of these rites. "All evil be to him," he says, "who brought them into fas.h.i.+on, whether it was Darda.n.u.s, or Eetion the Thracian, or Midas the Phrygian." The old story which he repeats as to Ceres and Proserpine may have been true, but he was altogether ignorant of the changes which the common-sense of centuries had produced.

[51] De Legibus, lib. ii., c. xiv.

[52] It was then that the foreign empire commenced, in ruling which the simplicity and truth of purpose and patriotism of the Republic were lost.

[53] The reverses of fortune to which Marius was subjected, how he was buried up to his neck in the mud, hiding in the marshes of Minturnae, how he would have been killed by the traitorous magistrates of that city but that he quelled the executioners by the fire of his eyes; how he sat and glowered, a houseless exile, among the ruins of Carthage--all which things happened to him while he was running from the partisans of Sulla--are among the picturesque episodes of history. There is a tragedy called the _Wounds of Civil War_, written by Lodge, who was born some eight years before Shakspeare, in which the story of Marius is told with some exquisite poetry, but also with some ludicrous additions. The Gaul who is hired to kill Marius, but is frightened by his eyes, talks bad French mingled with bad English, and calls on Jesus in his horror!

[54] Brutus, ca. xc.

[55] Florus tells us that there were 2000 Senators and Knights, but that any one was allowed to kill just whom he would. "Quis autem illos potest computare quos in urbe pa.s.sim quisquis voluit occidit" (lib. iii., ca.

21).

[56] About 487 10_s._ In Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities the Attic talent is given as being worth 243 15_s._ Mommsen quotes the price as 12,000 denarii, which would amount to about the same sum.

[57] Suetonius speaks of his death. Florus mentions the proscriptions and abdication. Velleius Paterculus is eloquent in describing the horrors of the ma.s.sacres and confiscation. Dio Ca.s.sius refers again and again to the Sullan cruelty. But none of them give a reason for the abdication of Sulla.

[58] Vol. iii., p. 386. I quote from Mr. d.i.c.kson's translation, as I do not read German.

[59] In defending Roscius Amerinus, while Sulla was still in power, he speaks of the Sullan ma.s.sacres as "pugna Cannensis," a slaughter as foul, as disgraceful, as b.l.o.o.d.y as had been the defeat at Cannae.

[60] Mommsen, vol. iii., p. 385.

[61] Pro s.e.xto Roscio, ca. xxi.: "Quod antea causam publicam nullam dixerim." He says also in the Brutus, ca. xc., "Itaque prima causa publica, pro s.e.x. Roscio dicta." By "publica causa" he means a criminal accusation in distinction from a civil action.

[62] Pro Publio Quintio, ca. i.: "Quod mihi consuevit in ceteris causis esse adjumento, id quoque in hac causa deficit."

[63] Pro Publio Quintio, ca. xxi.: "Nolo eam rem commemorando renovare, cujus omnino rei memoriam omnem tolli funditus ac deleri arbitror oportere."

[64] Pro Roscio, ca. xlix. Cicero says of him that he would be sure to suppose that anything would have been done according to law of which he should be told that it was done by Sulla's order. "Putat h.o.m.o imperitus morum, agricola et rusticus, ista omnia, quae vos per Sullam gesta esse dicitis, more, lege, jure gentium facta."

[65] Pro s.e.xto Roscio, ca. 1.

[66] Pro s.e.xto Roscio, ca. xxix.: "Ejusmodi tempus erat, inquit, ut homines vulgo impune occiderentur."

[67] Pro T. A. Milone, ca. xxi.: "Cur igitur cos manumisit? Metuebat scilicit ne indicarent; ne dolorem perferre non possent."

[68] Pro T. A. Milone, ca. xxii.: "Heus tu, Ruscio, verbi gratia, cave sis mentiaris. Clodius insidias fecit Miloni? Fecit. Certa crux. Nullas fecit. Sperata libertas."

[69] Pro s.e.xto Roscio, ca. xxviii.

[70] Ibid.

[71] Ibid., ca. x.x.xi.

[72] Pro s.e.xto Roscio, ca. xlv.

[73] Pro s.e.xto Roscio, ca. xlvi. The whole picture of Chrysogonus, of his house, of his luxuries, and his vanity, is too long for quotation, but is worth referring to by those who wish to see how bold and how brilliant Cicero could be.

[74] They put in tablets of wax, on which they recorded their judgment by inscribing letter, C, A, or NL--Condemno, Absolvo, or Non liquet--intending to show that the means of coming to a decision did not seem to be sufficient.

[75] Quintilian tells us, lib. x., ca. vii., that Cicero's speeches as they had come to his day had been abridged--by which he probably means only arranged--by Tiro, his slave and secretary and friend. "Nam Ciceronis ad praesens modo tempus aptatos libertus Tiro contraxit."

[76] Quintilian, lib. xi., ca. iii.: "Nam et toga, et calecus, et capillus, tam nimia cura, quam negligentia, sunt reprehendenda." * * * "Sinistrum brachium eo usque allevandum est, ut quasi normalem illum angulum faciat."

Quint., lib. xii., ca. x., "ne hirta toga sit;" don't let the toga be rumpled; "non serica:" the silk here interdicted was the silk of effeminacy, not that silk of authority of which our barristers are proud. "Ne intonsum caput; non in gradus atque annulos comptum." It would take too much s.p.a.ce were I to give here all the lessons taught by this professor of deportment as to the wearing of the toga.

[77] A doubt has been raised whether he was not married when he went to Greece, as otherwise his daughter would seem to have become a wife earlier than is probable. The date, however, has been generally given as it is stated here.

[78] Tacitus, Annal., xi., 5, says, "Qua cavetur antiquitus, ne quis, ob causam orandam, pecuniam donumve accipiat."

[79] De Off., lib. i., ca. xlii.: "Sordidi etiam putandi, qui mercantur a mercatoribus, quod statim vendant. Nihil enim proficiunt, nisi admodum mentiantur."

[80] De Off., lib. i., ca. xlii.: "Primum improbantur ii quaestus, qui in odia hominum incurrunt: ut port.i.torum ut f[oe]neratorum." The Port.i.tores were inferior collectors of certain dues, stationed at seaports, who are supposed to have been extremely vexatious in their dealings with the public.

[81] Philipp., 11-16.

[82] Let any who doubt this statement refer to the fate of the inhabitants of Alesia and Uxellodunum. Caesar did not slay or torture for the sake of cruelty, but was never deterred by humanity when expediency seemed to him to require victims. Men and women, old and young, many or few, they were sacrificed without remorse if his purpose required it.

[83] Pro Pub. Quintio, ca. xxv.

[84] See Appendix B, Brutus, ca. xcii., xciii.

[85] Brutus, ca. xciii.: "Animos hominum ad me dicendi novitate converteram."

[86] It must be remembered that this advice was actually given when Cicero subsequently became a candidate for the Consuls.h.i.+p, but it is mentioned here as showing the manner in which were sought the great offices of State.

[87] Cicero speaks of Sicily as divided into two provinces, "Quaestores utriusque provinciae." There was, however, but one Praetor or Proconsul. But the island had been taken by the Romans at two different times.

Lilybaeum and the west was obtained from the Carthaginians at the end of the first Punic war, whereas, Syracuse was conquered by Marcellus and occupied during the second Punic war.

[88] Tacitus, Ann., lib. xi., ca. xxii.: "Post, lege Sullae, viginti creati supplendo senatui, cui judicia tradiderat."

[89] De Legibus, iii., xii.

[90] Pro P. s.e.xto, lxv.

[91] Pro Cluentio, lvi.

[92] Contra Verrem, Act. iv., ca. xi.: "Ecquae civitas est, non modo in provinciis nostris, verum etiam in ultimis nationibus, aut tam potens, aut tam libera, aut etiam am immanis ac barbara; rex denique ecquis est, qui senatorem populi Romani tecto ac domo non invitet?"

[93] Contra Verrem, Act. i., ca. xiii.: "Omnia non modo commemorabuntur, sed etiam, expositis certis rebus, agentur, quae inter decem annos, posteaquam judicia ad senatum translata sunt, in rebus judicandis nefarie flagitioseque facta sunt."

Pro Cluentio, lvi.: "Locus, auctoritas, domi splendor, apud exteras nationes nomen et gratia, toga praetexta, sella curulis, insignia, fasces, exercitus, imperia, provincia."