[69]
The amount of
the gold is known; the gold is in the treasury; no theft is imputed to him; but it is
attempted to render him unpopular. The speaker turns away from the judges, and addresses
himself to the surrounding multitude. Each city, O Laelius, has its own peculiar religion we
have ours. While Jerusalem was flourishing, and while the Jews were in a peaceful state, still
the religious ceremonies and observances of that people were very much at variance with the
splendour of this empire and the dignity of our name and the institutions of our ancestors.
And they are the more odious to us now because that nation has shown by arms what were its
feelings towards our supremacy. How dear it was to the immortal gods is proved by its having
been defeated, by its revenues having been farmed out to our contractors, by its being reduced
to a state of subjection.
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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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