[41]
Now they
begin to believe that there really were formerly Romans of the same moderation; which hitherto
has seemed to foreign nations a thing incredible, a false and ridiculous tradition. Now the
splendour of your dominion is really brilliant in the eyes of those nations. Now they
understand that it was not without reason that, when we had magistrates of the same
moderation, their ancestors preferred being subject to the Roman people to being themselves
lords of other nations. But now the access of all private individuals to him is so easy, their
complaints of the injuries received from others are so little checked, that he who in dignity
is superior to the noblest men, in affability seems to be on a par with the meanest.
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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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