[9]
And as I did not only suspect these things, but clearly saw them, (for indeed there was no
secret made of what was being done,) I said in the senate that I would in this magistracy
prove a consul devoted to the interests of the people. For what is there so advantageous to
the people as peace? in which not only the animals to whom nature has given sense, but even
the houses and fields appear to me to rejoice. What is so advantageous to the people as
liberty? which is sought out and preferred to everything, not only by men, but even by the
beasts. What is so advantageous to the people as tranquillity? which is so delightful a
thing, that both you and your ancestors, and every brave man, thinks it worth his while to
encounter the greatest labours, in order at length to enjoy tranquillity, particularly if he
be a man in command, or a man of high rank. And we, therefore, are bound to give great praise
and to show great gratitude to our ancestors, because it is owing to their labours that we
are able to enjoy tranquillity without risk. How then can I avoid being devoted to the
interests of the people, O Romans, when I see all these things,—our peace abroad,
and the liberty which belongs to the Roman race and Roman name, and our domestic
tranquillity, and everything, in short, which is considered by you as valuable or honourable,
entrusted to the good faith, and, as it were, to the protection of my consulship?
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.