Political Speeches (Oxford World's Classics)

by Cicero

  an inquiry: i.e. the trial of Milo, held under the lex Pompeia. Cicero considered the lex Pompeia an unnecessary and vindictive law; he felt that the existing law, the lex Plautia (70 BC?), under which he had successfully defended Publius Sulla (62), Sestius (56), Caelius (56), and others, would have been perfectly adequate.

  the allegation … while the trial was taking place: Cicero may not have been accused of having instigated the murder of Clodius while Milo was actually on trial, but he was in fact accused of it while the lex Pompeia was being proposed: see Mil. 47.

  In the consulship of … Marcus Bibulus: Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus and Caesar were consuls in 59 (Cicero pointedly omits Caesar’s name when designating the year). Bibulus opposed the ‘first triumvirate’ (a private arrangement between Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus), and spent his year of office at his house watching for unfavourable omens, thus technically invalidating Caesar’s entire legislative programme.

  The first was … to stand for office in absence: i.e. (1) in 55, when Pompey and Crassus, as consuls, carried a law to extend Caesar’s command in Gaul until 1 March 50, and (2) in 52, when all ten tribunes carried a law giving Caesar the right to stand for the consulship in absence, thus enabling him to avoid prosecution for the illegalities of his consulship in 59. In reality, it is unlikely that Cicero attempted to dissuade Pompey from either of these courses of action.

  But after Pompeius had handed over … to Caesar: an exaggeration. Pompey had lent Caesar a legion during the winter of 54–53; but he took it back again in 50.

  For who ever heard … that glorious deed?: Cicero was not let into the plot against Caesar: he was thought too old and timorous. His innocence is proved by letters (Fam. 10.28 and 12.4, both of c. 2 February 43) that he later wrote to two of the conspirators, Trebonius and Cassius, in which he said that he wished they had invited him to the feast on the Ides of March, because then there would have been no leftovers (i.e. he would have insisted on Antony’s assassination as well).

  the Bruti … that of Ahala: two of the leading conspirators were called Brutus, Marcus Junius Brutus, a committed republican and ex-Pompeian (and the dedicatee of many of Cicero’s treatises, including the Brutus, 46), and his cousin Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, a disaffected Caesarian. Both claimed descent from Lucius Junius Brutus, who had expelled Tarquinius Superbus and become one of the first two consuls in 509 BC; Marcus was in addition descended through his mother from Gaius Servilius Ahala, who had freed Rome from the threat of tyranny in 439 by killing Spurius Maelius. Wax portrait-masks (imagines) of ancestors who had held curule office were kept in cupboards within the atria of the houses of the leading families; they were a sign of high social status.

  Gaius Cassius: Gaius Cassius Longinus, an ex-Pompeian pardoned by Caesar in 47 and then promoted by him to a praetorship in 44; he and Marcus Brutus (to whose half-sister he was married) were the leaders of the conspiracy. In the next sentence, Cicero probably alludes to Spurius Cassius Vicellinus (consul in 502, 496, and 486), who was said to have executed his son for aspiring, like Spurius Maelius, to tyranny.

  he would have finished the job off in Cilicia: we have no other evidence for this alleged assassination attempt, which would date from 47.

  Gnaeus Domitius: his father was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the former consul of 54 who was killed while trying to escape from Pharsalus, and his uncle was Cato, who committed suicide after Thapsus (see third note on § 12 above). After being pardoned by Caesar in 46, he declined to enter public life; later he became consul in 32. He was the great-grandfather of the emperor Nero.

  Gaius Trebonius: a ‘new man’ who owed his entire career to Caesar and rose to become suffect consul in 45; he was the most senior Caesarian to join the conspiracy. He drew Antony away from Caesar immediately before the assassination took place (cf. note on § 25 above).

  Lucius Tillius Cimber: another friend of Caesar. At the assassination, he approached Caesar on the pretext of petitioning him on behalf of his brother, and thereby allowed him to be surrounded. Afterwards he immediately departed for Bithynia-Pontus, where he had been appointed governor.

  the two Servilii—Cascas … or Ahalas: Publius Servilius Casca Longus struck the first blow, and called out to his brother to help him. Cicero again refers to the tyrannicide Gaius Servilius Ahala (see first note on § 26 above), playing on the fact that the Cascas and Ahala shared the same nomen (clan name).

  what I myself had done: i.e. in suppressing the Catilinarian conspiracy.

  the parent of one’s country: Caesar was given this title in 45 (or perhaps 44).

  Why was Marcus Brutus … for more than ten days?: Brutus was city praetor, and therefore prevented by law from being absent from Rome for more than ten days at a time (he was expected to be available to litigants). He left Rome on c. 12 April, never to return.

  the Apollinarian Games: held on6–13 July at Brutus’ expense, though Brutus himself did not dare attend. A popular demonstration took place in his favour.

  Why were provinces given … the number of legates increased?: Brutus was given Crete and Cassius Cyrene, perhaps on c. 1 August. On 5 June they had both been given a grain commission, and so when they were assigned their new provinces (the grain commission also counted as a province) quaestors had to be assigned to them and their legates increased probably from one to three.

  you: i.e. Antony.

  that pen: not a quill for writing on papyrus, but a sharp metal instrument for inscribing letters on wax tablets. Such pens could be used to wound or kill; so Cicero’s metaphor is well chosen. The sentiment expressed here is echoed in the famous letter to Trebonius (see note on § 25 above).

  you and Gaius Trebonius … at Narbo: we have no independent evidence for this plot. If it ever happened, it would date either from the winter of 46–45, when Antony was attempting to reach Caesar in Spain (§§ 75–6), or from the summer of 45, when Antony went to meet him on his return (§ 78). Narbo (Narbonne) was on the southern coast of Gaul, near the Pyrenees.

  Cassius’ famous test, ‘Who stood to gain?’: Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla (the consul of 127 and censor of 125), whose strictness was proverbial, was famous for his use of this question (in Latin, cui bono?). Cicero applies it in his forensic speeches at S. Rosc. 84 and Mil. 32.

  You freed yourself … at the temple of Ops: either Antony stole money from the temple, or else he falsified account books, held at the temple, in which his debts were recorded (cf. § 93a). Ops was a goddess of plenty; her temple was on the Capitol.

  You had a large part … transferred to yours: cf. § 109 ‘The statues and paintings which, together with his gardens, Caesar bequeathed to the Roman people, Antonius had carted off, some to Pompeius’ house outside the city and some to Scipio’s villa.’

  a highly profitable factory … notebooks and memoranda: see second note on § 6 above.

  Pompeius’ camp … and that whole period: i.e. the period between the outbreak of the Civil War and Pompey’s defeat at Pharsalus. In 49, Cicero delayed in Italy until June, when he crossed over to join Pompey at Dyrrachium (in northern Greece, across the Adriatic from Brundisium). But having arrived in Pompey’s camp, he was disgusted by the truculent attitude of the Pompeian leaders, whom he seems to have annoyed with his sarcastic comments and untimely wit. When Pompey moved south to Pharsalus in 48, Cicero stayed at Dyrrachium owing to ill health, and so was not present at the Pompeians’ defeat.

  as I have already said: at § 24.

  once saved by your efforts and mine: on 5 December 63.

  This was indeed ‘great’: probably a pun; Pompey was known as ‘Magnus’ (‘Great’) from 81 BC (cf. Imp. 67).

  Paphos: on the western coast of Cyprus. This was the last place at which Pompey stopped before arriving in Egypt, where he was murdered (48).

  the purchaser of his property: Pompey’s property was confiscated and sold at auction in 47. Antony was the sole bidder (§ 64); after purchasing the property, he broke it up and sold it on to others.
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  Lucius Rubrius of Casinum: otherwise unknown. Casinum (modern Cassino) was in southern Latium, halfway between Rome and Naples.

  his brother Quintus Fufius: otherwise unknown. Because his name was Fufius, not Rubrius, he cannot have been a full brother of Lucius Rubrius, but must have been his half-brother or his cousin (frater, the Latin word for ‘brother’, may also denote a cousin).

  Lucius Turselius: otherwise unknown.

  after you yourself … that of your father: if an estate was encumbered with debts, as Cicero implies Antony’s father’s was, an heir could decline to accept it, though this would bring disgrace on the family. Antony’s father, Marcus Antonius Creticus, had a reputation as a spendthrift; he died in c. 71, when Antony was 11 or 12 years old.

  you spent day after day … to someone else: Antony spent seventeen days preparing his attack on Cicero at his villa at Tibur, formerly the property of Pompey’s father-in-law Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica (who had committed suicide after Thapsus); the speech was then delivered in the senate on 19 September (Phil. 5.19).

  a rhetorician: Sextus Clodius from Sicily, referred to already at § 8. ‘Master’ above means both ‘master of ceremonies’ at Antony’s parties and ‘teacher of rhetoric’, i.e. the coach who helped him prepare his speech against Cicero.

  your grandfather: Marcus Antonius the orator (see second note on Ver. 2.5.3 above).

  two thousand iugera: about 1,250 acres (nearly 2 square miles). (A iugerum was about five-eighths of an acre.) This gift of public land to Sextus Clodius deprived the Roman people of the revenue that would otherwise have been paid from it.

  I shall be talking later: at §§ 101–2.

  Do you remember … you went bankrupt?: see first note on § 42 above.

  the Roscian law: i.e. the lex Roscia theatralis, a law carried in 67 by the tribune Lucius Roscius Otho. It reserved the first fourteen rows in the theatre for the equites (senators sat in the orchestra).

  Then you assumed … a toga of womanhood: Roman boys wore the purplebordered toga of boyhood until their mid-teens, when they formally changed it for the unbordered toga of manhood; but togas were also worn by female prostitutes. Cicero says that no sooner had Antony assumed the toga of manhood than he prostituted himself to other men, taking the dishonourable passive (female) role.

  Curio: see fourth note on § 3 above.

  his father: Gaius Scribonius Curio, the consul of 76 and censor of 61. See note on Ver. 18 above.

  to pay off his son’s debts: i.e. to pay off Antony’s creditors, after the younger Curio had been foolish enough to stand surety for him.

  such promising … abilities: Curio had a natural gift for oratory (Brut. 279–80).

  you … know more about this than I do: Cicero is alluding to his absences from Rome during the Civil War and in the months prior to the dramatic date of the speech (cf. second note on § 57 below).

  he knows very well what I am talking about: Cicero insinuates that, during Clodius’ tribunate in 58, Antony committed adultery with Clodius’ wife Fulvia (whom he was much later to marry).

  Then he marched o ff … divine prohibition: in 57–54 Antony served as a cavalry commander under the governor of Syria, Aulus Gabinius (the consul of 58, whom Cicero hated for having done nothing to prevent his exile). In 55 Gabinius, assisted by Antony, restored the deposed king of Egypt, Ptolemy XII Auletes, to his throne at Alexandria, in return for a bribe. This was contrary to the senate’s orders, to law (a governor could not leave his province or start a war without permission), and to a Sibylline oracle; Gabinius was therefore prosecuted on his return to Rome and, though acquitted on a charge of treason, was ultimately convicted of extortion. See further note on Imp. 52 above.

  to Furthest Gaul: in 54 Antony joined Caesar in Gaul (Furthest Gaul, the part Caesar was occupied in conquering). He would no doubt have been anxious not to become involved in Gabinius’ trials at Rome.

  In those days … you had none: i.e. before the Civil War, during which many properties were confiscated or seized. Antony’s bankruptcy would appear to have entailed the loss of his family home.

  some sort of Sisapo: a mining area (for cinnabar) in central southern Spain, owned by Roman shareholders. Antony did not own his property at Misenum outright because it was mortgaged to creditors.

  You returned … to stand for the quaestorship: he stood for election in the autumn of 53; was elected in 52; and then immediately returned to Caesar in Gaul, serving his year of office (51) under him. See J. Linderski and A. Kaminska-Linderski, Phoenix, 28 (1974), 213–23.

  your mother: Julia, daughter of Lucius Julius Caesar, the consul of 90, and brother of Lucius Julius Caesar, the consul of 64 (see note on § 14 above).

  It was then … eyes of the Roman people: see § 21 above.

  the wrongs you had done me: i.e. Antony’s support for Clodius in 58, when Cicero was exiled (§ 48).

  all of a sudden … you ran off to Caesar: normally quaestors drew lots for their provinces. What seems to have happened in this case is that Caesar put in a special request for Antony, which was then approved by the senate, but not before Antony had departed. His haste would be explained by the revolt of Vercingetorix: he participated in the siege of Alesia (52).

  you flew … just as your husband had: Antony was elected tribune for 49. As a magistrate in office, he would be immune from prosecution, and therefore safe, for the time being, from his creditors. Cicero says that he intended to behave as Curio had done in his tribunate in 50: Curio had gone over to Caesar in return for a bribe (see fourth note on § 3 above).

  the consulship of Lucius Lentulus and Gaius Marcellus: Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus and Gaius Claudius Marcellus (the brother of the subject of Pro Marcello) were consuls in 49. On 1 January, Curio arrived in Rome with a letter from Caesar in which Caesar offered to give up his army and provinces if Pompey would give up the two Spains and his forces there; if this proposal were not accepted, Caesar would resort to force. The proposal was not put to a vote; instead, Pompey’s father-in-law, Metellus Scipio, proposed that if Caesar did not lay down his arms by a certain date, he should be declared a public enemy. This proposal was carried, but was then vetoed by Antony and his fellow-tribune Quintus Cassius Longinus (who was probably a cousin of Caesar’s assassin). A number of further meetings took place, and on 7 January the senate finally passed the emergency decree (senatus consultum ultimum or ‘SCU’); Antony and Cassius fled to Caesar that night. On 10 or 11 January Caesar then invaded Italy.

  that axe: referring literally to the consul’s fasces, but metaphorically to the SCU.

  the saviour of the state: cf. § 2.

  a single youth: Cicero ignores Cassius.

  that stroke which fell on few before you: yet at § 51 Cicero said, ‘that axe which has come down on many others’.

  from which none had escaped unscathed: yet the SCU had been passed against Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos and Caesar in 62, and both had gone on to become consul within five years.

  three armies of the Roman people were slaughtered: at Pharsalus (48), Thapsus (46), and Munda (45).

  his own uncle: i.e. Gaius Antonius Hybrida, Cicero’s consular colleague whom in 59 he had unsuccessfully defended on a charge, probably extortion, relating to Antonius’ governorship of Macedonia (62–60), and who in 49 was still in exile in Cephallenia (he had, however, been restored by44). The reason Antony did not recall him was not, as Cicero implies, because of a lack of family loyalty, but because his law on the restoration of convicted persons was concerned primarily with those who had been convicted under Pompey’s lex Pompeia de ambitu (Pompeian law concerning electoral malpractice) of 52.