[68]
But who is there who does not
understand that all the diseased and feeble parts of the republic were
entrusted to you, O Pompeius, that you might heal and strengthen them with
your arms? And if an opportunity had been afforded to Milo, he would,
doubtless, have proved to you yourself that no man was ever more dear to
another than you are to him; that he had never shunned any danger which
might be of service in promoting your dignity; that he had often contended
against that most foul pest on behalf of your glory; that his conduct in his
tribuneship has been entirely regulated by your counsels for the protection
of my safety, which was an object very dear to you; that he afterwards had
been defended by you when in danger of his life,1 and
had been assisted by you when he was a candidate for the praetorship; and
that he had always believed that the two firmest friends whom he had were
you and I,—you, as shown by the kindness of your behaviour to him,
and I, secured to him by the services which he himself had done me. And if
he could not convince you of this,—if that suspicion had sunk so
deep in your mind that it could not possibly be eradicated; if in short,
Italy was never to have any rest from those levies, nor the city from arms;
till Milo was ruined,—then no doubt he, without hesitation, would
have departed from his country, a man born to make such
sacrifices and accustomed to make them; but still he would have cited you, O
Magnus, as a witness in his favour, as he now does.
This text is part of:
1 When Clodius was aedile, he instituted a prosecution against Milo for violence. Pompeius, Crassus, and Cicero appeared for him; and though Clodius's mob raised a great uproar, and endeavoured to prevent Pompeius from being heard, he made a long speech, lasting three hours, in his defence. The trial was adjourned from February till May, and does not appear to have ever been brought to a regular termination.
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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