[30]
And I wish also to know this from you, with
what design or with what intention you attended at the banquet given by
Quintus Arrius, an intimate friend of mine, in a black robe? who you ever
saw do such a thing before? who you ever heard of having done such a thing?
What precedent had you for such conduct, or what custom can you plead for
it? You will say that you did not approve of those supplications. Very well.
Suppose that those supplications were inexcusable. Do you not see that I am
not questioning you at all with respect to the occurrence of that year, nor
of those circumstances in which you may appear to be concerned
in common with any eminent men; but only about your own peculiar acts of
wickedness? Grant that the supplication was informal. Still, tell me, who
ever went to a banquet in a mourning garment? For by such conduct the
banquet itself is turned into a funeral feast; though the proper intention
of a banquet is to be a scene of enjoyment and compliment.
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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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