[72]
21. Now, since we have finished the discussion1
of that kind of helpful services which concern individuals, we must next take up those which touch the
whole body politic and the state. Of these public
services, some are of such a nature that they concern
the whole body of citizens; others, that they affect
individuals only. And these latter are the more productive of gratitude. If possible, we should by all
means attend to both kinds of service; but we must
take care in protecting the interests of individuals
that what we do for them shall be beneficial, or at
least not prejudicial, to the state. Gaius Gracchus
inaugurated largesses of grain on an extensive scale;
this had a tendency to exhaust the exchequer.
Marcus Octavius inaugurated a moderate dole; this
was both practicable for the state and necessary for
[p. 249]
the commons; it was, therefore, a blessing both to
the citizens and to the state.
1 Service to the state through personal service to individuals.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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