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[13]
What then, in the name of the immortal gods!
have we which we can grant in the way of concession to this polluted and impious
parricide? Are we to yield up to him the farther Gaul, and an army? This is not making peace, but only deferring
war. Indeed, it is not only prolonging the war, but even conceding the victory.
Is it not a victory for him to enter this city with his troops, on any
conditions whatever? At present we are masters of every thing by our arms; we
are of great influence from the authority of this order; numbers of desperate
citizens are absent, following their infamous leader; and still we can not bear
the countenances or support the language of those men who are left behind in the
city out of their number. What do you think will be the result when such numbers
force their way into the city at one time? when we have laid aside our arms, and
they have not laid aside theirs? Must we not be defeated for everlasting, in
consequence of our own counsels?
M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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