[2]
On which account I must the sooner come to the cause of
Sicily omitting all mention of his other
thefts and iniquities, in order that I may be able to handle it while my strength is
yet unimpaired, and that I may have time enough to dilate fully on the business. And
before I begin to speak of the distresses of Sicily, it seems to me that I ought to say a little of the dignity
and antiquity of that province, and of the advantage which it is to us. For as you
ought to have a careful regard for all the allies and provinces, so especially ought
you to have a regard for Sicily, O judges,
for many, and those the greatest, reasons:—First, because of all foreign
nations Sicily was the first who joined
herself to the friendship and alliance of the Roman people. She was the first to be
called a province; and the provinces are a great ornament to the empire. She was the
first who taught our ancestors how glorious a thing it was to rule over foreign
nations. She alone has displayed such good faith and such good will towards the
Roman people, that the states of that island which have once come into our alliance
have never revolted afterwards, but many of them, and those the most illustrious of
them, have remained firm to our friendship for ever.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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