Philippica
X
THE ARGUMENT.
Soon after the delivery of the last speech, dispatches were received
from Brutus by the consuls, giving an account of his success against
Caius Antonius in Macedonia; stating that he had secured Macedonia,
Illyricum, and Greece, with the armies in those countries; that Caius
Antonius had retired to Apollonia with seven cohorts; that a legion
under Lucius Piso had surrendered to young Cicero, who was commanding
his cavalry; that Dolabella's cavalry had deserted to him; and that
Vatinius had surrendered Dyrrachium and its garrison to him: He likewise
praised Quintus Hortensius, the proconsul of Macedonia, as having assisted
him in gaining over the Grecian provinces and the armies in those districts.
As soon
as Pansa received the dispatches, he summoned the senate to have them
read; and in a set speech greatly extolled Brutus, and moved a vote
of thanks to him; but Calenus, who followed him, declared his opinion
that as Brutus had acted without any public commission or authority,
he should be required to give up his army to the proper governors of
the provinces, or to whoever the senate should appoint to receive it.
After he had sat down, Cicero rose, and delivered the following speech.
I. We all,
O Pansa, ought both to feel and to show the greatest gratitude to you,
who,--though we did not expect that you would hold any senate today,--the
moment that you received the letters of Marcus Brutus, that most excellent
citizen, did not interpose even the slightest delay to our enjoying
the most excessive delight and mutual congratulation at the earliest
opportunity. And not only ought this action of yours to be grateful
to us all, but also the speech which you addressed to us after the letters
had been read. For you showed plainly, that that was true which I have
always felt to be so, that no one envied the virtue of another who was
confident of his own. Therefore I, who have been connected with Brutus
by many mutual good offices and by the greatest intimacy, need not say
so much concerning him; for the part that I had marked out for myself
your speech has anticipated me in. But, O conscript fathers, the opinion
delivered by the man who was asked for his vote before me, has imposed
upon me the necessity of saying rather more than I otherwise should
have said; and I differ from him so repeatedly at present, that I am
afraid (what certainly ought not to be the case) that our continual
disagreement may appear to diminish our friendship.
What can
be the meaning of this argument of yours, O Calenus? what can be your
intention? How is it that you have never once since the first of January
been of the same opinion with him who asks you your opinion first? How
is it that the senate has never yet been so full as to enable you to
find one single person to agree with your sentiments? Why are you always
defending men who in no point resemble you? why, when both your life
and your fortune invite you to tranquillity and dignity, do you approve
of those measures, and defend those measures, and declare those sentiments,
which are adverse both to the general tranquillity and to your own individual
dignity?
II. For
to say nothing of former speeches of yours, at all events. I can not
pass over in silence this which excites my most especial wonder. What
war is there between you and the Bruti? Why do you alone attack those
men whom we are all bound almost to worship? Why are you not indignant
at one of them being besieged, and why do you--as far as your vote goes--strip
the other of those troops which by his own exertions and by his own
danger he has got together by himself, without any one to assist him,
for the protection of the republic, not for himself? What is your meaning
in this? What are your intentions? Is it possible that you should not
approve of the Bruti, and should approve of Antonius? that you should
hate those men whom every one else considers most dear? and that you
should love with the greatest constancy those whom every one else hates
most bitterly? You have a most ample fortune; you are in the highest
rank of honor; your son, as I both hear and hope, is born to glory,--a
youth whom I favor not only for the sake of the republic, but for your
sake also. I ask, therefore, would you rather have him like Brutus or
like Antonius? and I will let you choose whichever of the three Antonii
you please. God forbid! you will say. Why, then, do you not favor those
men and praise those men whom you wish your own son to resemble? For
by so doing you will be both consulting the interests of the republic,
and proposing him an example for his imitation.
But in
this instance, I hope, O Quintus Fufius, to be allowed to expostulate
with you, as a senator who greatly differs from you, without any prejudice
to our friendship. For you spoke in this matter, and that too from a
written paper; for I should think you had made a slip from want of some
appropriate expression, if I were not acquainted with your ability in
speaking. You said “that the letters of Brutus appeared properly
and regularly expressed.” What else is this than praising Brutus's
secretary, not Brutus? You both ought to have great experience in the
affairs of the republic, and you have. When did you ever see a decree
framed in this manner? or in what resolution of the senate passed on
such occasions. (and they are innumerable), did you ever hear of its
being decreed that the letters had been well drawn up? And that expression
did not--as is often the case with other men--fall from you by chance,
but you brought it with you written down, deliberated on, and carefully
meditated on.
III. If
any one could take from you this habit of disparaging good men on almost
every occasion, then what qualities would not be left to you which every
one would desire for himself? Do, then, recollect yourself; do at last
soften and quiet that disposition of yours; do take the advice of good
men, with many of whom you are intimate; do converse with that wisest
of men, your own son-in-law, oftener than with yourself; and then you
will obtain the name of a man of the very highest character. Do you
think it a matter of no consequence (it is a matter in which I, out
of the friendship which I feel for you, constantly grieve in your stead),
that this should be commonly said out of doors, and should be a common
topic of conversation among the Roman people, that the man who delivered
his opinion first did not find a single person to agree with him? And
that I think will be the case today.
You propose
to take the legions away from Brutus:--which legions? Why, those which
he has gained over from the wickedness of Caius Antonius, and has by
his own authority gained over to the republic. Do you wish then that
he should again appear to be the only person stripped of his authority,
and as it were banished by the senate? And you, O conscript fathers,
if you abandon and betray Marcus Brutus, what citizen in the world will
you ever distinguish? Whom will you ever favor? Unless, indeed, you
think that those men who put a diadem on a man's head deserve to be
preserved, and those who have abolished the very name of kingly power
deserve to be abandoned. And of this divine and immortal glory of Marcus
Brutus I will say no more; it is already embalmed in the grateful recollection
of all the citizens, but it has not yet been sanctioned by any formal
act of public authority. Such patience! O ye good gods! such moderation!
such tranquillity and submission under injury! A man who, while he was
praetor of the city, was driven from the city, was prevented from sitting
as judge in legal proceedings, when it was he who had restored all law
to the republic; and, though he might have been hedged round by the
daily concourse of all virtuous men, who were constantly flocking round
him in marvelous numbers, he preferred to be defended in his absence
by the judgment of the good, to being present and protected by their
force;--who was not even present to celebrate the games to Apollo, which
had been prepared in a manner suitable to his own dignity and to that
of the Roman people, lest he should open any road to the audacity of
most wicked men.
IV.Although,
what games or what days were ever more joyful than those on which at
every verse that the actor uttered, the Roman people did honor to the
memory of Brutus, with loud shouts of applause? The person of their
liberator was absent, the recollection of their liberty was present,
in which the appearance of Brutus himself seemed to be visible. But
the man himself I beheld on those very days of the games, in the country-house
of a most illustrious young man, Lucullus, his relation, thinking of
nothing but the peace and concord of the citizens. I saw him again afterward
at Velia, departing from Italy, in order that there might be no pretext
for civil war on his account. Oh what a sight was that! grievous, not
only to men but to the very waves and shores. That its savior should
be departing from his country; that its destroyers should be remaining
in their country! The fleet of Cassius followed a few days afterward;
so that I was ashamed, O conscript fathers, to return into the city
from which those men were departing. But the design with which I returned
you heard at the beginning, and since that you have known by experience.
Brutus, therefore, bided his time. For, as long as he saw you endure
every thing, he himself behaved with incredible patience; after that
he saw you roused to a desire of liberty, he prepared the means to protect
you in your liberty.
But what
a pest, and how great a pest was it which he resisted? For if Caius
Antonius had been able to accomplish what he intended in his mind (and
he would have been able to do so if the virtue of Marcus Brutus had
not opposed his wickedness), we should have lost Macedonia, Illyricum,
and Greece. Greece would have been a refuge for Antonius if defeated,
or a support to him in attacking Italy; which at present, being not
only arrayed in arms, but embellished by the military command and authority
and troops of Marcus Brutus, stretches out her right hand to Italy,
and promises it her protection. And the man who proposes to deprive
him of his army, is taking away a most illustrious honor, and a most
trustworthy guard from the republic. I wish, indeed, that Antonius may
hear this news as speedily as possible, so that he may understand that
it is not Decimus Brutus whom he is surrounding with his ramparts, but
he himself who is really hemmed in.
V. He possesses
three towns only on the whole face of the earth. He has Gaul most bitterly
hostile to him; he has even those men the people beyond the Po, in whom
he placed the greatest reliance, entirely alienated from him; all Italy
is his enemy. Foreign nations, from the nearest coast of Greece to Egypt,
are occupied by the military command and armies of most virtuous and
intrepid citizens. His only hope was in Caius Antonius; who being in
age the middle one between his two brothers, rivaled both of them in
vices. He hastened away as if he were being driven away by the senate
into Macedonia, not as if he were prohibited from proceeding thither.
What a storm, O ye immortal gods! what a conflagration! what a devastation!
what a pestilence to Greece would that man have been, if incredible
and godlike virtue had not checked the enterprise and audacity of that
frantic man. What promptness was there in Brutus's conduct! what prudence!
what valor! Although the rapidity of the movement of Caius Antonius
also is not despicable; for if some vacant inheritances had not delayed
him on his march, you might have said that he had flown rather than
traveled. When we desire other men to go forth to undertake any public
business, we are scarcely able to get them out of the city; but we have
driven this man out by the mere fact of our desiring to retain him.
But what business had he with Apollonia? what business had he with Dyrrachium?
or with Illyricum? What had he to do with the army of Publius Vatinius,
our general? He, as he said himself, was the successor of Hortensius.
The boundaries of Macedonia are well defined; the condition of the proconsul
is well known; the amount of his army, if he has any at all, is fixed.
But what had Antonius to do at all with Illyricum and with the legions
of Vatinius?
But Brutus
had nothing to do with them either. For that, perhaps, is what some
worthless man may say. All the legions, all the forces which exist any
where, belong to the Roman people. Nor shall those legions which have
quitted Marcus Antonius be called the legions of Antonius rather than
of the republic; for he loses all power over his army, and all the privileges
of military command, who uses that military command and that army to
attack the republic.
VI. But
if the republic itself could give a decision, or if all rights were
established by its decrees, would it adjudge the legions of the Roman
people to Antonius or to Brutus? The one had flown with precipitation
to the plunder and destruction of the allies, in order, wherever he
went, to lay waste, and pillage, and plunder everything, and to employ
the army of the Roman people against the Roman people itself. The other
had laid down this law for himself, that wherever he came he should
appear to come as a sort of light and hope of safety. Lastly, the one
was seeking aids to overturn the republic; the other to preserve it.
Nor, indeed, did we see this more clearly than the soldiers themselves;
from whom so much discernment in judging was not to have been expected.
He writes,
that Antonius is at Apollonia with seven cohorts, and he is either by
this time taken prisoner (may the gods grant it!) or, at all events,
like a modest man, he does not come near Macedonia, lest he should seem
to act in opposition to the resolution of the senate. A levy of troops
has been held in Macedonia, by the great zeal and diligence of Quintus
Hortensius; whose admirable courage, worthy both of himself and of his
ancestors, you may clearly perceive from the letters of Brutus. The
legion which Lucius Piso, the lieutenant of Antonius, commanded, has
surrendered itself to Cicero, my own son. Of the cavalry, which was
being led into Syria in two divisions, one division has left the quaestor
who was commanding it, in Thessaly, and has joined Brutus; and Cnaeus
Domitius, a young man of the greatest virtue and wisdom and firmness,
has carried off the other from the Syrian lieutenant in Macedonia. But
Publius Vatinius, who has before this been deservedly praised by us,
and who is justly entitled to farther praise at the present time, has
opened the gates of Dyrrachium to Brutus, and has given him up his army.
The Roman
people then is now in possession of Macedonia, and Illyricum, and Greece.
The legions there are all devoted to us, the light-armed troops are
ours, the cavalry is ours, and, above all, Brutus is ours, and always
will be ours--a man born for the republic, both by his own most excellent
virtues, and also by some especial destiny of name and family, both
on his father's and on his mother's side.
VII. Does
any one then fear war from this man, who, until we commenced the war,
being compelled to do so, preferred lying unknown in peace to flourishing
in war? Although he, in truth, never did lie unknown, nor can this expression
possibly be applied to such great eminence in virtue. For he was the
object of regret to the state; he was in every one's mouth, the subject
of every one's conversation. But he was so far removed from an inclination
to war, that, though he was burning with a desire to see Italy free,
he preferred being wanting to the zeal of the citizens, to leading them
to put every thing to the issue of war. Therefore, those very men, if
there be any such, who find fault with the slowness of Brutus's movements,
nevertheless at the same time admire his moderation and his patience.
But I see
now what it is they mean: nor, in truth, do they use much disguise.
They say that they are afraid how the veterans may endure the idea of
Brutus having an army. As if there were any difference between the troops
of Aulus Hirtius, of Caius Pansa, of Decimus Brutus, of Caius Caesar,
and this army of Marcus Brutus. For if these four armies which I have
mentioned are praised because they have taken up arms for the sake of
the liberty of the Roman people, what reason is there why this army
of Marcus Brutus should not be classed under the same head? Oh, but
the very name of Marcus Brutus is unpopular among the veterans.--More
than that of Decimus Brutus?--I think not; for although the action is
common to both the Bruti, and although their share in the glory is equal,
still those men who were indignant at that deed were more angry with
Decimus Brutus, because they said, that it was more improper for it
to be executed by him. What now are all those armies laboring at, except
to effect the release of Decimus Brutus from a siege? And who are the
commanders of those armies? Those men, I suppose, who wish the acts
of Caius Caesar to be overturned, and the cause of the veterans to be
betrayed.
VIII. If
Caesar himself were alive, could he, do you imagine, defend his own
acts more vigorously than that most gallant man Hirtius defends them?
or, is it possible that any one should be found more friendly to the
cause than his son? But the one of these, though not long recovered
from a year long attack of a most severe disease, has applied all the
energy and influence which he had to defending the liberty of those
men by whose prayers he considered that he himself had been recalled
from death; the other, stronger in the strength of his virtue than in
that of his age, has set out with those very veterans to deliver Decimus
Brutus. Therefore, those men who are both the most certain and at the
same time the most energetic defenders of the acts of Caesar, are waging
war for the safety of Decimus Brutus; and they are followed by the veterans.
For they see that they must fight to the uttermost for the freedom of
the Roman people, not for their own advantages. What reason, then, is
there why the army of Marcus Brutus should be an object of suspicion
to those men who with the whole of their energies desire the preservation
of Decimus Brutus?
But, moreover,
if there were any thing which were to be feared from Marcus Brutus,
would not Pansa perceive it? Or if he did perceive it, would not he,
too, be anxious about it? Who is either more acute in his conjectures
of the future, or more diligent in warding off danger? But you have
already seen his zeal for, and inclination toward Marcus Brutus. He
has already told us in his speech what we ought to decree, and how we
ought to feel with respect to Marcus Brutus. And he was so far from
thinking the army of Marcus Brutus dangerous to the republic, that he
considered it the most important and the most trusty bulwark of the
republic. Either, then, Pansa does not perceive this (no doubt he is
a man of dull intellect), or he disregards it. For he is clearly not
anxious that the acts which Caesar executed should be ratified,--he,
who in compliance with our recommendation is going to bring forward
a bill at the comitia centuriata for sanctioning and confirming them.
IX. Let
those, then, who have no fear, cease to pretend to be alarmed, and to
be exercising their foresight in the cause of the republic. And let
those who really are afraid of every thing, cease to be too fearful,
lest the pretense of the one party and the inactivity of the other be
injurious to us. What, in the name of mischief! is the object of always
opposing the name of the veterans to every good cause? For even if I
were attached to their virtue, as indeed I am, still, if they were arrogant
I should not be able to tolerate their airs. While we are endeavoring
to break the bonds of slavery, shall any one hinder us by saying that
the veterans do not approve of it? For they are not, I suppose, beyond
all counting who are ready to take up arms in defense of the common
freedom! There is no man, except the veteran soldiers, who is stimulated
by the indignation of a freeman to repel slavery! Can the republic then
stand, relying wholly on veterans, without a great reinforcement of
the youth of the state? Whom, indeed, you ought to be attached to, if
they be assistants to you in the assertion of your freedom, but whom
you ought not to follow if they be the advisers of slavery.
Lastly
(let me at last say one true word, one word worthy of myself!)--if the
inclinations of this order are governed by the nod of the veterans,
and if all our words and actions are to be referred to their will, death
is what we should wish for, which has always, in the minds of Roman
citizens, been preferable to slavery. All slavery is miserable; but
some may have been unavoidable. Do you think, then, that there is never
to be a beginning of our endeavors to recover our freedom? Or, when
we would not bear that fortune which was unavoidable, and which seemed
almost as if appointed by destiny, shall we tolerate the voluntary bondage!
All Italy is burning with a desire for freedom. The city can not endure
slavery any longer We have given this warlike attire and these arms
to the Roman people much later than they have been demanded of us by
them.
X. We have,
indeed, undertaken our present course of action with a great and almost
certain hope of liberty. But even if I allow that the events of war
are uncertain, and that the chances of Mars are common to both sides,
still it is worth while to fight for freedom at the peril of one's life.
For life does not consist wholly in breathing; there is literally no
life at all for one who is a slave. All nations can endure slavery.
Our state can not. Nor is there any other reason for this, except that
those nations shrink from toil and pain, and are willing to endure any
thing so long as they may be free from those evils; but we have been
trained and bred up by our forefathers in such a manner, as to measure
all our designs and all our actions by the standard of dignity and virtue.
The recovery of freedom is so splendid a thing that we must not shun
even death when seeking to recover it. But if immortality were to be
the result of our avoidance of present danger, still slavery would appear
still more worthy of being avoided, in proportion as it is of longer
duration. But as all sorts of death surround us on all sides night and
day, it does not become a man, and least of all a Roman, to hesitate
to give up to his country that breath which he owes to nature.
Men flock
together from all quarters to extinguish a general conflagration. The
veterans were the first to follow the authority of Caesar and to repel
the attempts of Antonius; afterward the Martial legion checked his frenzy;
the fourth legion crushed it. Being thus condemned by his own legions,
he burst into Gaul which he knew to be adverse and hostile to him both
in word and deed. The armies of Aulus Hirtius and Caius Caesar pursued
him, and afterward the levies of Pansa roused the city and all Italy.
He is the one enemy of all men. Although he has with him Lucius his
brother, a citizen very much beloved by the Roman people, the regret
for whose absence the city is unable to endure any longer! What can
be more foul than that beast? what more savage? who appears born for
the express purpose of preventing Marcus Antonius from being the basest
of all mortals. They have with them Trebellius, who, now that all debts
are canceled, is become reconciled to them; and Titus Plancus, and other
like them; who are striving with all their hearts, and whose sole object
is to appear to have been restored against the will of the republic.
Saxa and Capho, themselves rustic and clownish men, men who never have
seen and who never wish to see this republic firmly established, are
tampering with the ignorant classes; men who are not upholding the acts
of Caesar but those of Antonius; who are led away by the unlimited occupation
of the Campanian district; and who I marvel are not somewhat ashamed
when they see that they have actors and actresses for their neighbors.
XI. Why
then should we be displeased that the army of Marcus Brutus is thrown
into the scale to assist us in overwhelming these pests of the commonwealth?
It is the army, I suppose, of an intemperate and turbulent man. I am
more afraid of his being too patient; although in all the counsels and
actions of that man there never has been any thing either too much or
too little. The whole inclinations of Marcus Brutus, O conscript fathers,
the whole of his thoughts, the whole of his ideas, are directed toward
the authority of the senate and the freedom of the Roman people. These
are the objects which he proposes to himself; these are what he desires
to uphold. He has tried what he could do by patience; as he did nothing,
he has thought it necessary to encounter force by force. And, O conscript
fathers, you ought at this time to grant him the same honors which on
the nineteenth of December you conferred by my advice on Decimus Brutus
and Caius Caesar, whose designs and conduct in regard to the republic,
while they also were but private individuals, was approved of and praised
by your authority. And you ought to do the same now with respect to
Marcus Brutus, by whom an unhoped for and sudden reinforcement of legions
and cavalry, and numerous and trusty bands of allies, have been provided
for the republic.
Quintus
Hortensius also ought to have a share of your praise, who, being governor
of Macedonia, joined Brutus as a most faithful and untiring assistant
in collecting that army. For I think that a separate motion ought to
be made respecting Marcus Appuleius, to whom Brutus bears witness in
his letters that he has been a prime assistant to him in his endeavors
to get together and equip his army. And since this is the case,
“As
Caius Pansa the consul has addressed to us a speech concerning the letters
which have been received from Quintus Caepio Brutus, proconsul, and
have been read in this assembly, I give my vote in this matter thus:
“Since,
by the exertions and wisdom and industry and valor of Quintus Caepio
Brutus, proconsul, at a most critical period of the republic, the province
of Macedonia, and Illyricum, and all Greece, and the legions and armies
and cavalry, have been preserved in obedience to the consuls and senate
and people of Rome; Quintus Caepio Brutus, proconsul, has acted well,
and in a manner advantageous to the republic, and suitable to his own
dignity and to that of his ancestors, and to the principles according
to which alone the affairs of the republic can be properly managed;
and that conduct is and will be grateful to the senate and people of
Rome.
“And
moreover, as Quintus Caepio Brutus, proconsul, is occupying and defending
and protecting the province of Macedonia, and Illyricum, and all Greece,
and is preserving them in safety; and as he is in command of an army
which he himself has levied and collected, he is at liberty if he has
need of any, to exact money for the use of the military service, which
belongs to the public, and can lawfully be exacted, and to use it, and
to borrow money for the exigencies of the war from whomsoever he thinks
fit, and to exact corn, and to endeavor to approach Italy as near as
he can with his forces. And as it has been understood from the letters
of Quintus Caepio Brutus, proconsul, that the republic has been greatly
benefited by the energy and valor of Quintus Hortensius, proconsul,
and that all his counsels have been in harmony with those of Quintus
Caepio Brutus, proconsul, and that that harmony has been of the greatest
service to the republic; Quintus Hortensius has acted well and becomingly,
and in a manner advantageous to the republic. And the senate decrees
that Quintus Hortensius, proconsul, shall occupy the province of Macedonia
with his quaestors, or proquaestors and lieutenants, until he shall
have a successor regularly appointed by a resolution of the senate.”
Philippica
XIV
THE ARGUMENT
After
the last speech was delivered, Brutus gained great advantages in Macedonia
over Caius Antonius, and took him prisoner. He treated him with great
lenity, so much so as to displease Cicero, who remonstrated with him
strongly on his design of setting him at liberty. He was also under
some apprehension as to the steadiness of Plancus's loyalty to the senate;
but on his writing to that body to assure them of his obedience, Cicero
procured a vote of some extraordinary honors to him,
Cassius
also about the same time was very successful in Syria, of which he wrote
Cicero a full account. Meantime reports were being spread in the city
by the partisans of Antonius, of his success before Mutina; and even
of his having gained over the consuls. Cicero too was personally much
annoyed at a report which they spread of his having formed the design
of making himself master of the city and assuming the title of Dictator,
but when Apuleius, one of his friends and a tribune of the people, proceeded
to make a speech to the people in Cicero's justification, the people
all cried out that he had never done any thing which was not for the
advantage of the republic. About the same time news arrived of a victory
gained over Antonius at Mutina.
Pansa was
now on the point of joining Hirtius with four pew legions and Antonius
endeavored to surprise him on the road before he could effect that junction.
A severe battle ensued, in which Hirtius came to Pansa's aid, and Antonius
was defeated with great loss. On the receipt of the news, the populace
assembled about Cicero's house, and carried him in triumph to the Capitol.
The next day Marcus Cornutus, the praetor, summoned the senate to deliberate
on the letters received from the consuls and Octavius, giving an account
of the victory. Servilius declared his opinion that the citizens should
relinquish the sagum, or robe of war; and that a supplication should
be decreed in honor of the consuls and Octavius. Cicero rose next and
delivered the following speech, objecting to the relinquishment of the
robe of war, and blaming Servilius for not calling Antonius an enemy.
The measures
which he himself proposed were carried.
I. If,
O conscript fathers, while I learned from the letters which have been
read that the army of our most wicked enemies had been defeated and
routed, I had also learned what we all wish for above all things, and
which we do suppose has resulted from that victory which has been achieved,--namely,
that Decimus Brutus had already quitted Mutina,--then I should without
any hesitation give my vote for our returning to our usual dress out
of joy at the safety of that citizen on account of whose danger it was
that we adopted the robe of war, But before any news of that event which
the city looks for with the greatest eagerness arrives, we have sufficient
reason indeed for joy at this most important and most illustrious battle;
but reserve, I beg you, your return to your usual dress for the time
of complete victory. But the completion of this war is the safety of
Decimus Brutus.
But what
is the meaning of this proposal that our dress shall be changed just
for today, and that tomorrow we should again come forth in the garb
of war? Rather when we have once turned to that dress which we wish
and desire to assume, let us strive to retain it forever; for this is
not only discreditable, but it is displeasing also to the immortal gods,
to leave their altars, which we have approached in the attire of peace,
for the purpose of assuming the garb of war. And I notice, O conscript
fathers, that there are some who favor this proposal: whose intention
and design is, as they see that that will be a most glorious day for
Decimus Brutus on which we return to our usual dress out of joy for
his safety, to deprive him of this great reward, so that it may not
be handed down to the recollection of posterity that the Roman people
had recourse to the garb of war on account of the danger of one single
citizen, and then returned to their gowns of pence on account of his
safety. Take away this reason, and you will find no other for so absurd
a proposal. But do you, O conscript fathers, preserve your authority,
adhere to your own opinions, preserve in your recollection what you
have often declared, that the whole result of this entire war depends
on the life of one most brave and excellent man.
II. For
the purpose of effecting the liberation of Decimus Brutus, the chief
men of the state were sent as ambassadors, to give notice to that enemy
and parricidal traitor to retire from Mutina; for the sake of preserving
that same Decimus Brutus, Aulus Hirtius, the consul, went by lot to
conduct the war; a man the weakness of whose bodily health was made
up for by the strength of his courage, and encouraged by the hope of
victory; Caesar, too, after he, with an army levied by his own resources
and on his own authority, had delivered the republic from the first
dangers that assailed it, in order to prevent any subsequent wicked
attempts from being originated, departed to assist in the deliverance
of the same Brutus, and subdued some family vexation which he may have
felt by his attachment to his country. What other object had Caius Pansa
in holding the levies which he did, and in collecting money, and in
carrying the most severe resolutions of the senate against Antonius,
and in exhorting us, and in inviting the Roman people to embrace the
cause of liberty, except to insure the deliverance of Decimus Brutus?
For the Roman people in crowds demanded at his hands the safety of Decimus
Brutus with such unanimous outcries, that he was compelled to prefer
it not only to any consideration of his own personal advantage, but
even to his own necessities. And that end we now, O conscript fathers,
are entitled to hope is either at the point of being achieved, or is
actually gained; but it is right for the reward of our hopes to be reserved
for the issue and event of the business, lest we should appear either
to have anticipated the kindness of the gods by our over precipitation,
or to have despised the bounty of fortune through our own folly.
But since
the manner of your behavior shows plainly enough what you think of this
matter, I will come to the letters which have arrived from the consuls
and the propraetor, after I have said a few words relating to the letters
themselves.
III. The
swords, O conscript fathers, of our legions and armies have been stained
with, or rather, I should say, dipped deep in blood in two battles which
have taken place under the consuls, and a third, which has been fought
under the command of Caesar. If it was the blood of enemies, then great
is the piety of the soldiers; but it is nefarious wickedness if it was
the blood of citizens. How long, then, is that man, who has surpassed
all enemies in wickedness, to be spared the name of enemy? unless you
wish to see the very swords of our soldiers trembling in their hands
while they doubt whether they are piercing a citizen or an enemy. You
vote a supplication; you do not call Antonius an enemy. Very pleasing
indeed to the immortal gods will our thanksgivings be, very pleasing
too the victims, after a multitude of our citizens has been slain! “For
the victory” says the proposer of the supplication, “over
wicked and audacious men.” For that is what this most illustrious
man calls them; expressions of blame suited to lawsuits carried on in
the city, not denunciations of searing infamy such as deserved by internecine
war. I suppose they are forging wills, or trespassing on their neighbors,
or cheating some young men; for it is men implicated in these and similar
practices that we are in the habit of terming wicked and audacious.
One man, the foulest of all banditti, is waging an irreconcilable war
against four consuls. He is at the same time carrying on war against
the senate and people of Rome. He is (although he is himself hastening
to destruction; through the disasters which he has met with) threatening
all of us with destruction, and devastation, and torments, and tortures.
He declares that that inhuman and savage act of Dolabella's, which no
nation of barbarians would have owned, was done by his advice; and what
he himself would do in this city, if this very Jupiter, who now looks
down upon us assembled in his temple, had not repelled him from this
temple and from these walls, he showed, in the miseries of those inhabitants
of Parma, whom, virtuous and honorable men as they were, and most intimately
connected with the authority of this order, and with the dignity of
the Roman people, that villain and monster, Lucius Antonius, that object
of the extraordinary detestation of all men, and (if the gods hate those
whom they ought) of all the gods also, murdered with every circumstance
of cruelty. My mind shudders at the recollection, O conscript fathers,
and shrinks from relating the cruelties which Lucius Antonius perpetrated
on the children and wives of the citizens of Parma. For whatever infamy
the Antonii have willingly undergone in their own persons to their own
infamy, they triumph in the fact of having inflicted on others by violence.
But it is a miserable violence which they offered to them; most unholy
lust, such as the whole life of the Antonii is polluted with.
IV. Is
there then any one who is afraid to call those men enemies, whose wickedness
he admits to have surpassed even the inhumanity of the Carthaginians?
For in what city, when taken by storm, did Hannibal even behave with
such ferocity as Antonius did in Parma, which he filched by surprise?
Unless, perhaps, Antonius is not to be considered the enemy of this
colony, and of the others toward which he is animated with the same
feelings. But if he is beyond all question the enemy of the colonies
and municipal towns, then what do you consider him with respect to this
city which he is so eager for to satiate the indigence of his band of
robbers? which that skillful and experienced surveyor of his, Saxa,
has already marked out with his rule. Recollect, I entreat you, in the
name of the immortal gods, O conscript fathers, what we have been fearing
for the last two days, in consequence of infamous rumors carefully disseminated
by enemies within the walls. Who has been able to look upon his children
or upon his wife without weeping? who has been able to bear the sight
of his home, of his house, and his household gods? Already all of us
were expecting a most ignominious death, or meditating a miserable flight.
And shall we hesitate to call the men at whose hands we feared all these
things enemies? If any one should propose a more severe designation
I will willingly agree to it; I am hardly content with this ordinary
one, and will certainly not employ a more moderate one.
Therefore,
as we are bound to vote, and as Servilius has already proposed a most
just supplication for those letters which have been read to you; I will
propose altogether to increase the number of the days which it is to
last, especially as it is to be decreed in honor of three generals conjointly.
But first of all I will insist on styling those men imperator by whose
valor, and wisdom, and good fortune we have been released from the most
imminent danger of slavery and death. Indeed, who is there within the
last twenty years who has had a supplication decreed to him without
being himself styled imperator, though he may have performed the most
insignificant exploits, or even almost none at all. Wherefore, the senator
who spoke before me ought either not to have moved for a supplication
at all, or he ought to have paid the usual and established compliment
to those men to whom even new and extraordinary honors are justly due.
V. Shall
the senate, according to this custom which has now obtained, style a
man imperator if he has slain a thousand or two of Spaniards, or Gauls,
or Thracians; and now that so many legions have been routed, now that
such a multitude of enemies has been slain,--yes, enemies, I say, although
our enemies within the city do not fancy this expression,--shall we
pay to our most illustrious generals the honor of a supplication, and
refuse them the name of imperator? For with what great honor, and joy,
and exultation ought the deliverers of this city themselves to enter
into this temple, when yesterday, on account of the exploits which they
have performed, the Roman people carried me in an ovation, almost in
a triumph from my house to the Capitol, and back again from the Capitol
to my own house? That is indeed in my opinion a just and genuine triumph,
when men who have deserved well of the republic receive public testimony
to their merits from the unanimous consent of the senate. For if, at
a time of general rejoicing on the part of the Roman people, they addressed
their congratulations to one individual, that is a great proof of their
opinion of him; if they gave him thanks, that is a greater still; if
they did both, then nothing more honorable to him can be possibly imagined.
Are you
saying all this of yourself? some one will ask. It is indeed against
my will that I do so; but my indignation at injustice makes me boastful,
contrary to my usual habit. Is it not sufficient that thanks should
not be given to men who have well earned them, by men who are ignorant
of the very nature of virtue? And shall accusations and odium be attempted
to be excited against those men who devote all their thoughts to insuring
the safety of the republic? For you well know that there has been a
common report for the last few days, that the day before the wine feast,1
that is to say, on this very day, I was intending to come forth with
the fasces as dictator. One would think that this story was invented
against some gladiator, or robber, or Catiline, and not against a man
who had prevented any such step from ever being taken in the republic.
Was I, who defeated and overthrew and crushed Catiline, when he was
attempting such wickedness, a likely man myself all on a sudden to turn
out Catiline? Under what auspices could I, an augur, take those fasces?
How long should I have been likely to keep them? to whom was I to deliver
them as my successor? The idea of any one having been so wicked as to
invent such a tale! or so mad as to believe it! In what could such a
suspicion, or rather such gossip, have originated?
VI. When,
as you know, during the last three or four days a report of bad news
from Mutina has been creeping abroad, the disloyal part of the citizens,
inflated with exultation and insolence, began to collect in one place,
at that senate-house which has been more fatal to their party than to
the republic. There, while they were forming a plan to massacre us,
and were distributing the different duties among one another, and settling
who was to seize on the Capitol, who on the rostra, who on the gates
of the city, they thought that all the citizens would flock to me. And
in order to bring me into unpopularity, and even into danger of my life,
they spread abroad this report about the fasces. They themselves had
some idea of bringing the fasces to my house; and then, on pretense
of that having been done by my wish, they had prepared a band of hired
ruffians to make an attack on me as on a tyrant, and a massacre of all
of you was intended to follow. The fact is already notorious, O conscript
fathers, but the origin of all this wickedness will be revealed in its
fitting time.
Therefore
Publius Apuleius, a tribune of the people, who ever since my consulship
has been the witness and partaker of, and my assistant in all my designs
and all my dangers, could not endure the grief of witnessing my indignation.
He convened a numerous assembly, as the whole Roman people were animated
with one feeling on the subject. And when in the harangue which he then
made, he, as was natural from our great intimacy and friendship, was
going to exculpate me from all suspicion in the matter of the fasces,
the whole assembly cried out with one voice, that I had never had any
intentions with regard to the republic which were not excellent. After
this assembly was over, within two or three hours, these most welcome
messengers and letters arrived, so that the same day not only delivered
me from a most unjust odium, but increased my credit by that most extraordinary
act with which the Roman people distinguished me
I have
made this digression, O conscript fathers, not so much for the sake
of speaking of myself (for I should be in a sorry plight if I were not
sufficiently acquitted in your eyes without the necessity of making
a formal defense), as with the view of warning some men of too groveling
and narrow minds, to adopt the line of conduct which I myself have always
pursued, and to think the virtue of excellent citizens worthy of imitation,
not of envy. There is a great field in the republic, as Crassus used
very wisely to say; the road to glory is open to many.
VII. Would
that those great men were still alive, who, after my consulship, when
I myself was willing to yield to them, were themselves desirous to see
me in the post of leader. But at the present moment, when there is such
a dearth of wise and fearless men of consular rank, how great do you
not suppose must be my grief and indignation, when I see some men absolutely
disaffected to the republic, others wholly indifferent to every thing,
others incapable of persevering with any firmness in the cause which
they have espoused; and regulating their opinions not always by the
advantage of the republic, but sometimes by hope, and sometimes by fear.
But if any one is anxious and inclined to struggle for the leadership--though
struggle there ought to be none--he acts very foolishly, if he proposes
to combat virtue with vices. For as speed is only outstripped by speed,
so among brave men virtue is only surpassed by virtue. Will you, if
I am full of excellent sentiments with respect to the republic, adopt
the worst possible sentiments yourself for the purpose of excelling
me? Or if you see a race taking place for the acquisition of honors,
will you summon all the wicked men you can find to your banner? I should
be sorry for you to do so; first of all, for the sake of the republic,
and secondly, for that of your own dignity. But if the leadership of
the state were at stake, which I have never coveted, what could be more
desirable for me than such conduct on your part? For it is impossible
that I should be defeated by wicked sentiments and measures,--by good
ones perhaps I might be, and I willingly would be.
Some people
are vexed that the Roman people should see, and take notice of, and
form their opinion on these matters. Was it possible for men not to
form their opinion of each individual as he deserved? For as the Roman
people form a most correct judgment of the entire senate, thinking that
at no period in the history of the republic was this order ever more
firm or more courageous; so also they all inquire diligently concerning
every individual among us; and especially in the case of those among
us who deliver our sentiments at length in this place, they are anxious
to know what those sentiments are; and in that way they judge of each
one of us, as they think that he deserves. They recollect that on the
nineteenth of December I was the main cause of recovering our freedom;
that from the first of January to this hour I have never ceased watching
over the republic; that day and night my house and my ears have been
open to the instruction and admonition of everyone; that it has been
by my letters, and my messengers, and my exhortations, that all men
in every part of the empire have been roused to the protection of our
country; that it is owing to the open declaration of my opinion ever
since the first of January, that no ambassadors have been ever sent
to Antonius; that I have always called him a public enemy, and this
a war; so that I, who on every occasion have been the adviser of genuine
peace, have been a determined enemy to this pretense of fatal peace.
Have not
I also at all times pronounced Ventidius an enemy, when others wished
to call him a tribune of the people? If the consuls had chosen to divide
the senate on my opinion, their arms would long since have been wrested
from the hands of all those robbers by the positive authority of the
senate.
VIII. But
what could not be done then, O conscript fathers, at present not only
can be, but even must be done. I mean, those men who are in reality
enemies must be branded in plain language, must be declared enemies
by our formal resolution. Formerly, when I used the words War or Enemy,
men more than once objected to record my proposition among the other
propositions. But that can not be done on the present occasion. For
in consequence of the letters of Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, the
consuls, and of Caius Caesar, propraetor, we have all voted that honors
be paid to the immortal gods. The very man who lately proposed and carried
a vote for a supplication, without intending it pronounced those men
enemies; for a supplication has never been decreed for success in civil
war. Decreed, do I say? It has never even been asked for in the letters
of the conqueror. Sulla as consul carried on a civil war; he led his
legions into the city and expelled whomsoever he chose; he slew those
whom he had in his power: there was no mention made of any supplication.
The violent war with Octavius followed. Cinna the conqueror had no supplication
voted to him. Sulla as imperator revenged the victory of Cinna, still
no supplication was decreed by the senate. I ask you yourself, O Publius
Servilius, did your colleague send you any letters concerning that most
lamentable battle of Pharsalia? Did he wish you to make any motion about
a supplication? Certainly not. But he did afterward when he took Alexandria;
when he defeated Pharnaces; but for the battle of Pharsalia he did not
even celebrate a triumph. For that battle had destroyed those citizens
whose, I will not say lives, but even whose victory might have been
quite compatible with the safety and prosperity of the state. And the
same thing had happened in the previous civil wars. For though a supplication
was decreed in my honor when I was consul, though no arms had been had
recourse to at all, still that was voted by a new and wholly unprecedented
kind of decree, not for the slaughter of enemies, but for the preservation
of the citizens. Wherefore, a supplication on account of the affairs
of the republic having been successfully conducted must, O conscript
fathers, be refused by you even though your generals demand it; a stigma
which has never been affixed on any one except Gabinius; or else, by
the mere fact of decreeing a supplication, it is quite inevitable that
you must pronounce those men, for whose defeat you do decree it, enemies
of the state.
IX. What
then Servilius did in effect, I do in express terms, when I style those
men imperators. By using this name, I pronounce those who have been
already defeated, and those who still remain, enemies in calling their
conquerors imperators. For what title can I more suitably bestow on
Pansa? Though he has, indeed, the title of the highest honor in the
republic. What, too, shall I call Hirtius? He, indeed, is consul; but
this latter title is indicative of the kindness of the Roman people;
the other of valor and victory. What? Shall I hesitate to call Caesar
imperator, a man born for the republic by the express kindness of the
gods? He who was the first man who turned aside the savage and disgraceful
cruelty of Antonius, not only from our throats but from our limbs and
bowels? What numerous and what important virtues, O ye immortal gods,
were displayed on that single day. For Pansa was the leader of all in
engaging in battle and in combating with Antonius; O general worthy
of the Martial legion, legion worthy of its general! Indeed, if he had
been able to restrain its irresistible impetuosity, the whole war would
have been terminated by that one battle. But as the legion, eager for
liberty, had rushed with too much precipitation against the enemy's
line of battle, and as Pansa himself was fighting in the front ranks,
he received two dangerous wounds, and was borne out of the battle, to
preserve his life for the republic. But I pronounce him not only imperator,
but a most illustrious imperator; who, as he had pledged himself to
discharge his duty to the republic either by death or by victory, has
fulfilled one half of his promise; may the immortal gods prevent the
fulfillment of the other half!
X. Why
need I speak of Hirtius? who, the moment he heard of what was going
on, with incredible promptness and courage led forth two legions out
of the camp; that noble fourth legion, which, having deserted Antonius,
formerly united itself to the Martial legion; and the seventh, which,
consisting wholly of veterans, gave proof in that battle that the name
of the senate and people of Rome was dear to those soldiers who preserved
the recollection of the kindness of Caesar. With these twenty cohorts,
with no cavalry, while Hirtius himself was bearing the eagle of the
fourth legion,--and we never heard of a more noble office being assumed
by any general,--he fought with the three legions of Antonius and with
his cavalry, and overthrew, and routed, and put to the sword those impious
men who were the real enemies to this temple of the all good and all
powerful Jupiter, and to the rest of the temples of the immortal gods,
and the houses of the city, and the freedom of the Roman people, and
our lives and actual existence; so that that chief and leader of robbers
fled away with a very few followers, concealed by the darkness of night,
and frightened out of all his senses.
Oh what
a most blessed day was that, which, while the carcasses of those parricidal
traitors were strewed about every where, beheld Antonius flying with
a few followers, before he reached his place of concealment.
But will
any one hesitate to call Caesar imperator? Most certainly his age will
not deter any one from agreeing to this proposition, since he has gone
beyond his age in virtue. And to me, indeed, the services of Caius Caesar
have always appeared the more deserving of thanks, in proportion as
they were less to have been expected from a man of his age. For when
we conferred military command on him we were in fact encouraging the
hope with which his name inspired us and now that he has fulfilled those
hopes, he has sanctioned the authority of our decree by his exploits.
This young man of great mind, as Hirtius most truly calls him in his
letter, with a few cohorts defended the camp of many legions and fought
a successful battle And in this manner the republic has on one day been
preserved in many places by the valor and wisdom, and good fortune of
three imperators of the Roman people.
XI.I therefore
propose supplications of fifty days in the joint names of the three.
The reasons I will embrace in the words of the resolution, using the
most honorable language that I can devise.
But it
becomes our good faith and our piety to show plainly to our most gallant
soldiers how mindful of their services and how grateful for them we
are; and accordingly I give my vote that our promises, and those pledges
too which we promised to bestow on the legions when the war was finished,
be repeated in the resolution which we are going to pass this day. For
it is quite fair that the honor of the soldiers, especially of such
soldiers as those, should be united with that of their commanders. And
I wish, O conscript fathers, that it was lawful for us to dispense rewards
to all the citizens, although we will give those which we have promised
with the most careful usury. But that remains, as I well hope, to the
conquerors, to whom the faith of the senate is pledged; and, as they
have adhered to it at a most critical period of the republic, we are
bound to take care that they never have cause to repent of their conduct.
But it is easy for us to deal fairly by those men whose very services,
though mute, appear to demand our liberality. This is a much more praiseworthy
and more important duty, to pay a proper tribute of grateful recollection
to the valor of those men who have shed their blood in the cause of
their country. And I wish more suggestions could occur to me in the
way of doing honor to those men. The two ideas which principally do
occur to me, I will at all events not pass over; the one of which has
reference to the everlasting glory of those bravest of men; the other
may tend to mitigate the sorrow and mourning of their relations.
XII. I
therefore give my vote, O conscript fathers, that the most honorable
monument possible be erected to the soldiers of the Martial legion,
and to those soldiers also who died fighting by their side. Great and
incredible are the services done by this legion to the republic. This
was the first legion to tear itself from the piratical band of Antonius;
this was the legion which encamped at Alba; this was the legion that
went over to Caesar; and it was in imitation of the conduct of this
legion that the fourth legion has earned almost equal glory for its
virtue. The fourth is victorious without having lost a man; some of
the Martial legion fell in the very moment of victory. Oh happy death,
which, due to nature, has been paid in the cause of one's country! But
I consider you men born for your country; you whose very name is derived
from Mars, so that the same god who begot this city for the advantage
of the nations, appears to have begotten you for the advantage of this
city. Death in flight is infamous; in victory glorious. In truth, Mars
himself seems to select all the bravest men from the battle array. Those
impious men whom you slew, shall even in the shades below pay the penalty
of their parricidal treason. But you, who have poured forth your latest
breath in victory, have earned an abode and place among the pious. A
brief life has been allotted to us by nature; but the memory of a well-spent
life is imperishable. And if that memory were no longer than this life,
who would be so senseless as to strive to attain even the highest praise
and glory by the most enormous labors and dangers?
You then
have fared most admirably, being the bravest of soldiers while you lived,
and now the most holy of warriors, because it will be impossible for
your virtue to be buried, either through the forgetfulness of the men
of the present age, or the silence of posterity, since the senate and
Roman people will have raised to you an imperishable monument, I may
almost say with their own hands. Many armies at various times have been
great and illustrious in the Punic, and Gallic, and Italian wars; but
to none of them have honors been paid of the description which are now
conferred on you. And I wish that we could pay you even greater honors,
since we have received from you the greatest possible services. You
it was who turned aside the furious. Antonius from this city; you it
was who repelled him when endeavoring to return. There shall therefore
be a vast monument erected with the most sumptuous work and an inscription
engraved upon it as the everlasting witness of your godlike virtue And
never shall the most grateful language of all who either see or hear
of your monument cease to be heard And in this manner you, in exchange
for your mortal condition of life, have attained immortality.
XIII. But
since, O conscript fathers, the gift of glory is conferred on these
most excellent and gallant citizens by the honor of a monument, let
us comfort their relations, to whom this indeed is the best consolation.
The greatest comfort for their parents is the reflection that they have
produced sons who have been such bulwarks of the republic; for their
children, that they will have such examples of virtue in their family;
for their wives, that the husbands whom they have lost are men whom
it is a credit to praise, and to have a right to mourn for; and for
their brothers, that they may trust that, as they resemble them in their
persons, so they do also in their virtues.
Would that
we were able by the expression of our sentiments and by our votes to
wipe away the tears of all these persons; or that any such oration as
this could be publicly addressed to them, to cause them to lay aside
their grief and mourning, and to rejoice rather, that, while many various
kinds of death impend over men, the most honorable kind of all has fallen
to the lot of their friends; and that they are not unburied, nor deserted;
though even that fate, when incurred for one a country, is not accounted
miserable; nor burned with equable obsequies in scattered graves, but
entombed in honorable sepulchers, and honored with public offerings;
and with a building which will be an altar of their valor to insure
the recollection of eternal ages.
Wherefore
it will be the greatest possible comfort to their relations, that by
the same monument are clearly displayed the valor of their kinsmen,
and also their piety, and the good faith of the senate, and the memory
of this most inhuman war, in which, if the valor of the soldiers had
been less conspicuous, the very name of the Roman people would have
perished by the parricidal treason of Marcus. Antonius. And I think
also, O conscript fathers, that those rewards which we promised to bestow
on the soldiers when we had recovered the republic, we should give with
abundant usury to those who are alive and victorious when the time comes;
and that in the case of the men to whom those rewards were promised,
but who have died in the defense of their country, I think those same
rewards should be given to their parents or children, or wives or brothers.
XIV.But
that I may reduce my sentiments into a formal motion, I give my vote
that, “As Caius Pansa, consul, imperator, set the example of fighting
with the enemy in a battle in which the Martial legion defended the
freedom of the Roman people with admirable and incredible valor, and
the legions of the recruits behaved equally well; and as Caius Pansa,
consul, imperator, while engaged in the middle of the ranks of the enemy
received wounds; and as Aulus Hirtius, consul, imperator, the moment
that he heard of the battle, and knew what was going on, with a most
gallant and loyal soul, led his army out of his camp and attacked Marcus
Antonius and his army, and put his troops to the sword, with so little
injury to his own army that he did not lose one single man; and as Caius
Caesar, propraetor, imperator, with great prudence and energy defended
the camp successfully, and routed and put to the sword the forces of
the enemy which had come near the camp:
“On
these accounts the senate thinks and declares that the Roman people
has been released from the most disgraceful and cruel slavery by the
valor, and military skill, and prudence, and firmness, and perseverance,
and greatness of mind and good fortune of these their generals. And
decrees that, as they have preserved the republic, the city, the temples
of the immortal gods, the property and fortunes and families of all
the citizens, by their own exertions in battle, and at the risk of their
own lives; on account of these virtuous and gallant and successful achievements,
Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, the consuls, imperators, one or both
of them, or, in their absence, Marcus Cornutus, the city praetor, shall
appoint a supplication at all the altars for fifty days.And as the valor
of the legions has shown itself worthy of their most illustrious generals,
the senate will with great eagerness, now that the republic is recovered,
bestow on our legions and armies all the rewards which it formerly promised
them. And as the Martial legion was the first to engage with the enemy,
and fought in such a manner against superior numbers as to slay many
and take some prisoners; and as they shed their blood for their country
without any shrinking; and as the soldiers of the other legions encountered
death with similar valor in defense of the safety and freedom of the
Roman people;--the senate does decree that Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius,
the consuls, imperators, one or both of them if it seems good to them,
shall see to the issuing of a contract for, and to the erecting, the
most honorable possible monument to those men who shed their blood for
the lives and liberties and fortunes of the Roman people, and for the
city and temples of the immortal gods; that for that purpose they shall
order the city quaestors to furnish and pay money, in order that it
may be witness for the everlasting recollection of posterity of the
wickedness of our most cruel enemies, and the godlike valor of our soldiers.
And that the rewards which the senate previously appointed for the soldiers,
be paid to the parents or children or wives or brothers of those men
who in this war have fallen in defence of their country; and that all
honours be bestowed on them which should have been bestowed on the soldiers
themselves if those men had lived who gained the victory then by death.”