Last Oration Against Marcus Antonius E-book

                                      44 BC
                    THE LAST ORATION AGAINST MARCUS ANTONIUS
                      Called also the Fourteenth Philippic

                            by Marcus Tullius Cicero

                     translated by Charles Duke Yonge, A.B.






Electronically Enhanced Text (c) Copyright 1996, World Library(R)



                             THE ARGUMENT
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  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 him 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 anything 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 new 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
sagurn, 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.


               THE LAST ORATION AGAINST MARCUS ANTONIUS
                 Called also the Fourteenth Philippic
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  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 to-day, and that to-morrow 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 peace 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.
  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.
                         
  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 to 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.
Whatever disgrace the Antonii voluntarily underwent that they strove
to lay upon others against their will. 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.
  Is there then anyone 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, mayhap, 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 skilful 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 anyone 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.
  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-
ay, 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? someone 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, * 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 anyone 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?
                        
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  * There were two wine feasts, Vinalia, at Rome: the vinalia
urbana, celebrated on the twenty-third of April; and the vinalia
rustica, on the nineteenth of October. This was the urbana vinalia; on
which occasion the wine-casks which had been filled in the autumn were
tasted for the first time.
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  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 pretence 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 tribute 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 defence), as with the view of warning some men of
too grovelling 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.
  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 everything, 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
anyone 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 worse 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 pretence 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.
  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 cannot 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. Sylla 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. Sylla 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
anyone 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.
                        
  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 fulfilment of the other half!
  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 everywhere, beheld
Antonius flying with a few followers, before he reached his place of
concealment.
  But will anyone hesitate to call Caesar imperator? Most certainly
his age will not deter anyone 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 thankworthy, 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 letters, 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.
  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.
  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. O 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 Italians 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.
  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's country, is not accounted miserable; nor burned
with equable obsequies in scattered graves, but entombed in
honorable sepulchres, 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 defence of their country, I think those same rewards should be
given to their parents or children, or wives or brothers.
  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 defence 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 a
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 honors be bestowed on them which should
have been bestowed on the soldiers themselves, if those men had
lived who gained the victory by their death."
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         THE END OF THE LAST ORATION AGAINST MARCUS ANTONIUS