[58]
Was it allowed to Caius Falcidius, to Quintus Metellus, to
Quintus Caelius Laterensis, and to Cnaeus Lentulus, all of whom I name to do them honour, to
be lieutenants the year after they had been tribunes of the people; and shall men be so exact
in the case of Gabinius alone, who, in this war which is carried on under the provisions of
the Gabinian law, and in the case of this commander and this army which he himself appointed
with your assistance, ought to have the first right of any one? And concerning whose
appointment as lieutenant I hope that the consuls will bring forward a motion in the senate;
and if they hesitate, or are unwilling to do so, I undertake to bring it forward myself; nor,
O Romans, shall the hostile edict of any one deter me from relying on you and defending your
privileges and your kindness. Nor will I listen to anything except the interposition of the
tribunes; and as to that, those very men who threaten it, will, I apprehend, consider over and
over again what they have a right to do. In my own opinion, O Romans, Aulus Gabinius alone has
a right to be put by the side of Cnaeus Pompeius as a partner of the glory of his exploits in
the maritime war; because the one, with the assistance of your votes, gave to that man alone
the task of undertaking that war, and the other, when it entrusted to him, undertook it and
terminated it.
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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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