[54]
The city being in this state of confusion, the consuls
did not allow even one night to elapse between my misfortune and their
acquisition of plunder. Instantly, the moment that I was struck down, they
flew to drink my blood, and, while the republic was still breathing, to
carry off and divide my spoils. I say nothing of their mutual
congratulations, of their banquets, of their division of the treasury, of
their liberality, of their hopes, of their promises, of their booty of the
joy of a few amid the universal mourning. My wife was attacked, my children
sought for in order to be murdered, my son-in-law,—yes, my
son-in-law, Piso, was rejected as a suppliant by Piso the consul after he
had thrown himself at his feet; my property was plundered and carried off to
the houses of the consuls; my house was burnt on the Palatine Hill; the consuls passed the time
in revels and joy. But even if they were rejoiced at my distress, they ought
to have been moved at the dangers of the city.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1891.
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