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11.
Who then is that man? Either Marcus Brutus, or Caius Cassius, or both of them. I
would vote in plain words, as there are many precedents for, one consul or both,
if we had not already hampered Brutus sufficiently in Greece, and if we had not preferred having his
reinforcement approach nearer to Italy
rather than move farther off toward Asia; not so much in order to receive succor ourselves from
that army, as to enable that army to receive aid across the water. Besides, O
conscript fathers, even now Caius. Antonius is detaining Marcus Brutus, for he
occupies Apollonia, a large and
important city; he occupies, as I believe, Byllis; he occupies Amantia; he is threatening Epirus; he is pressing on Illyricum; he has with him several cohorts,
and he has cavalry. If Brutus be transferred from this district to any other
war, we shall at all events lose Greece. We must also provide for the safety of Brundusium and all that coast of
Italy. Although I marvel that
Antonius delays so long; for he is accustomed usually to put on his marching
dress, and not to endure the fear of a siege for any length of time. But if
Brutus has finished that business, and perceives that he can better serve the
republic by pursuing Dolabella than by remaining in Greece, he will act of his own head, as he has hitherto done;
nor amid such a general conflagration will he wait for the orders of the senate
when instant help is required.
[27]
For both
Brutus and Cassius have in many instances been a senate to themselves. For it is
quite inevitable that in such a confusion and disturbance of all things men
should be guided by the present emergency rather than by precedent. Nor will
this be the first time that either Brutus or Cassius has considered the safety
and deliverance of his country his most holy law and his most excellent
precedent. Therefore, if there were no motion submitted to us about the pursuit
of Dolabella, still I should consider it equivalent to a decree, when there were
men of such a character for virtue, authority, and the greatest nobleness,
possessing armies, one of which is already known to us, and the other has been
abundantly heard of.
M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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