[49]
Oh how unequal is thy fortune, O Marcus Fonteius! If you could have chosen, how much would you
have preferred perishing by the weapons of the Gauls rather than by their perjuries! For then
virtue would have been the companion of your life, glory your comrade in death; but now, what
agony is it for you to endure the sufferings caused by their power and victory over you, at
their pleasure, who have before now been either conquered by your arms, or forced to submit
against their will to your authority. From this danger, O judges, defend a brave and innocent
citizen: take care to be seen to place more confidence in our own witnesses than in
foreigners; to have more regard for the: safety of our citizens than for the pleasure of our
enemies; to think the entreaties of her who presides over your sacrifices of more importance
than the audacity of those men who have waged war against the sacrifices and temples of all
nations. Lastly, take care, O judges, (the dignity of the Roman people is especially concerned
in this,) to show that the prayers of a vestal virgin have more influence over you than the
threats of Gaul.
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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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