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[25] What, for instance, shall we think of the elder Dionysius? 1 With what tormenting fears he used to be racked! For through fear of the barber's razor he used to have his hair singed off with a glowing coal. In what state of mind do we fancy Alexander of Pherae lived? We read in history that he dearly loved his wife Thebe; and yet, whenever he went from the banquet-hall to her in her chamber, he used to order a barbarian—one, too, tattooed like a Thracian, as the records state—to go before him with a drawn sword; and he used to send ahead some of his bodyguard to pry into the lady's caskets and to search and see whether some weapon were not concealed in her wardrobe. Unhappy man! To think a barbarian, a branded slave, more faithful than his own wife! Nor was he mistaken. For he was murdered by her own hand, because she suspected him of infidelity.

And indeed no power is strong enough to be lasting, if it labours under the weight of fear.

1 The wretchedness of fear.

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load focus Introduction (Walter Miller, 1913)
load focus Latin (Walter Miller, 1913)
hide References (13 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (6):
  • Cross-references in indexes to this page (7):
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Alexander
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Dionysius
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Fear
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Pherae
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Syracuse
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Thebe
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Thrace
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