2.
[4]
And, that my oration may take its origin from the same source from which all this cause is
to be maintained; an important war, and one perilous to your revenues and to your allies, is
being waged against you by two most powerful kings, Mithridates and Tigranes. One of these
having been left to himself, and the other having been attacked, thinks that an opportunity
offers itself to him to occupy all Asia. Letters are
brought from Asia every day to Roman knights, most
honourable men, who have great property at stake, which is all employed in the collection of
your revenues; and they, in consequence of the intimate connection which I have with their
order, have come to me and entrusted me with the task of pleading the cause of the republic,
and warding off danger from their private fortunes.
[5]
They say
that many of the villages of Bithynia, which is at
present a province belonging to you, have been burnt; that the kingdom of Ariobarzanes, which
borders on those districts from which you derive a revenue, is wholly in the power of the
enemy; that Lucullus, after having performed great exploits, is departing from that war; that
it is not enough that whoever succeeds him should be prepared for the conduct of so important
a war; that one general is demanded and required by all men, both allies and citizens, for
that war; that he alone is feared by the enemy, and that no one else is.
[6]
You see what the case is; now consider what you ought to do. It seems to me that I ought to
speak in the first place of the sort of war that exists; in the second place, of its
importance; and lastly, of the selection of a general. The kind of war is such as ought above
all others to excite and inflame your minds to a determination to persevere in it. It is a war
in which the glory of the Roman people is at stake; that glory which has been handed down to
you from your ancestors, great indeed in everything, but most especially in military affairs.
The safety of our friends and allies is at stake, in behalf of which your ancestors have waged
many most important wars. The most certain and the largest revenues of the Roman people are at
stake; and if they be lost, you will be at a loss for the luxuries of peace, and the sinews of
war. The property of many citizens is at stake, which you ought greatly to regard, both for
your own sake, and for that of the republic.
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