[34]
I did not choose, after I had as consul maintained the general safety of the state without
having recourse to arms, to take arms as a private individual in my own cause; I preferred
that virtuous men should grieve for my fortune rather than despair of their own; and if I were
slain by myself; that I thought would be a shameful end for me; but if I were slain with many
others, that I thought would be fatal to the republic. If I had supposed that eternal misery
was before me, I would rather have endured death than everlasting agony. But I felt sure that
I should not be absent from this city any longer than the constitution itself was, and, while
that was banished, I thought it no longer desirable for myself that I should remain in it; and
in accordance with my expectation, as soon as ever the constitution was restored, it brought
me back in triumph as its companion. The laws were all banished as well as I, the courts of
justice were banished as well as I; the prerogatives of the magistrates, the authority of the
senate, the liberty of the citizens, even the fruitfulness of the land, all piety and all
religion, whether it was with respect to men or gods, were all banished from the state when I
was banished. And if they had been lost to you for ever, I should mourn over your fortunes
rather than regret the loss of my home amongst you; but if they were ever restored, I was
quite sure that I should be enabled to return with them.
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