[101]
I am consul; how should I fear an
assembly of the people? How should I be afraid of the tribunes of the people? How should I be
frequently or causelessly agitated? How should I fear lest I may have to dwell in a prison,
if a tribune of the people orders me to be led thither? for I, armed with your arms, adorned
with your most honourable ensigns, and with command and authority conferred by you, have not
been afraid to advance into this place, and, with you for my backers, to resist the
wickedness of man; nor do I fear lest the republic, being fortified with such strong
protection, may be conquered or overwhelmed by those men. If I had been afraid before, still
now, with this assembly, and this people, I should not fear. For who ever had an assembly so
well inclined to hear him while advocating an agrarian law, as I have had while arguing
against one? if, indeed, I can be said to be arguing against one, and not rather upsetting
and destroying one.
M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1856.
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