11.
[26]
And for these exploits, important as they are, O Romans,
I ask from you no reward of virtue, no badge of honour, no monument of my glory, beyond the
everlasting recollection of this day. In your minds I wish all my triumphs, all my
decorations of honour; the monuments of my glory, the badges of my renown, to be stored and
laid up. Nothing voiceless can delight me, nothing silent,—nothing, in short, such
as even those who are less worthy can obtain. In your memory, O Romans, my name shall be
cherished, in your discourses it shall grow, in the monuments of your letters it shall grow
old and strengthen; and I feel assured that the same day which I hope will be
for everlasting; will be remembered for ever, so as to tend both to the safety of the city
and the recollection of my consulship; and that it will be remembered that there existed in
this city at the same time two citizens, one of whom limited the boundaries of your empire
only by the regions of heaven, not by those of the earth, while the other preserved the abode
and home of that same empire.
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