Cicero's Public Life and Contemporary Politics.
Cicero's Early Life and the Cursus Honorum.
（Aet. 1-44. B.C. 106-63. Epist. I.-II.)
1. M. Tullius Cicero was born at Arpinum, Jan. 3, 106 B.C. 1 His father's family removed to Rome while Cicero was still a boy, 2 and here, like other boys of the period, Cicero pursued the study of Greek and Latin literature, rhetoric, and, somewhat later, philosophy and jurisprudence. His studies were interrupted in 89 B.C. by a year's service in the Social War, 3 but at its close they were taken up again with his old vigor. His chosen profession was that of the law, and in 81 B.C. he made his first appearance at the bar in defending P. Quinctius. A far more important event was his defense of Sex. Roscius of Ameria in the following year. Some political significance attaches to the trial, as Cicero's real antagonist, Chrysogonus, 4 was a favorite of the dictator Sulla.
2. Possibly to escape the consequent displeasure of Sulla, but more probably for the sake of his health, Cicero left Rome and spent nearly two years at Athens, Rhodes, and in Asia Minor, 5 being mainly engaged in the study of philosophy and oratory. Cicero's study of philosophy during this period determined his subsequent philosophical attitude, while his work under Molon of Rhodes enabled him to Cultivate a less florid style of oratory than that which characterized his earlier orations. At Athens he also made the acquaintance of T. Pomponius Atticus.6
3. Cicero's marriage to Terentia, a woman of some property and of good family, must have taken place soon after his return to Rome, or just before his departure from the city.7 Two years after his return, in 76 B.C., he was quaestor, and had charge of Western Sicily, with Lilybaeum as his headquarters. His achievements in Sicily made little impression at Rome,8 but the intimate acquaintance which he gained with the island and its people served him in good stead when he made his first real appearance in politics six years later as the prosecutor of Verres. Verres, who had been governor of Sicily from 73 to 71 B.C., was charged by the Sicilians with extortion and cruelty. Cicero, who conducted the prosecution, presented the facts in such a masterly way that Hortensius, the advocate of Verres, withdrew from the case, and Verres himself went into exile.9
4. His prosecution of Verres as well as his defense of Roscius Amerinus (80 B.C.) and of Cornelius Sulla (in 62 B.C.) have caused much discussion of Cicero's political tendencies during this early period. All three of these cases had a pronounced political character, and in all three Cicero was the advocate of democratic interests. He defended Roscius against the attacks of Sulla's favorite, during the lifetime of that champion of the aristocratic cause. He prosecuted Verres without mercy, although Verres was backed by the entire senatorial party, which felt that its prestige and its privileges were at stake in the trial. He defended Cornelius Sulla against the charge of having taken part in the Catilinarian conspiracy, although it is probable that Sulla at least sympathized with the purposes of the democratic leader.10 It may be said, and perhaps with truth, that in all three cases Cicero appeared as a lawyer and not in any sense as a politician. We cannot help feeling, however, that in Cicero's day, as would be the case in our own time, in a legal contest involving political interests, the advocates on either side of the question must have belonged in most instances to the political party whose interests would be promoted by the success of that side. What could be more natural than that Cicero, belonging to the equestrian class, whose rights and privileges had been so seriously curtailed in the aristocratic reaction of Sulla, should oppose the aristocracy at some points? The aid which his action gave to the democratic cause does not, however, stamp him as a democrat.
5. As a candidate for the aedileship for 69 B.C., and for the praetorship for 66 B.C., Cicero led all of his rivals at the polls.11 Both offices he filled with distinction, and although as praetor he showed, as in earlier years, slight democratic tendencies, 12his personal integrity and his intimate knowledge of the law made his administration of the office wise and honorable. Throughout this period, even during his incumbency of the two offices just mentioned, Cicero followed unremittingly his profession of the law, appearing in defense, among others, of Fonteius, Caecina, and Cluentius.
6. The personal admiration which Cicero felt for Pompey, his political sympathy with that leader, and perhaps his desire to link his own fortunes with those of Pompey, led Cicero to approve of the Gabinian law, 13 and to lend his active support to the Manilian law in 66 B.C. In supporting the latter measure Cicero delivered his first political speech, and notwithstanding the united opposition of the Optimates, who appreciated the danger which threatened the oligarchical principles and policy from placing such autocratic power in the hands of a single man, the bill became a law.
7. At the conclusion of his praetorship Cicero declined a province, 14 and devoted all his energy to his candidacy for the consulship. Cicero's political attitude underwent a slight change in the two or three years preceding his consulship. He had never been an out and out democrat, but had opposed the abuses of the aristocratic system rather than that system in its entirety. The subsidence of that spirit of opposition which often characterizes youth, his political ambitions, and the growth of a radical faction in the democratic party with anarchical tendencies, all conspired to draw him nearer to the Optimates. Both Marcus and his brother Quintus felt that the support of the senatorial party was essential, and that all suspicion of a democratic leaning on the part of Marcus must be removed, as is indicated by a significant passage in a political pamphlet which Quintus addressed to his brother at this time: Hi rogandi omnes sunt diligenter et ad eos adlegandum est persuadendumque iis nos semper cum optimatibus de re publica sensisse, minime popularis fuisse; si quid locuti populariter videamur, id nos eo consilio fecisse, ut nobis Cn. Pompeium adiungeremus, 15 etc. The Optimates at first saw in Cicero only the novus homo, the prosecutor of Verres, and the advocate of the Manilian law 16; but the revolutionary purposes of Catiline and his party drove the aristocracy to the support of Cicero, and he was elected by a good majority with C. Antonius as his colleague.
8. Throughout his consulship Cicero's policy was that of a moderate member of the senatorial party. He opposed the proposition made by the tribune, Rullus, to divide the ager publicus in Campania; he opposed a measure to relieve the children of those proscribed by Sulla; he defended the law of Otho which reserved certain seats in the theatre to the knights; he defended C. Rabirius on the charge of murder brought against him by the democrats, 17 and he suppressed the Catilinarian conspiracy; but it was significant of the future that, when Cicero retired at the end of this year of office, the tribune Q. Metellus Nepos forbade him to make a parting speech 18 on the ground that in punishing the Catilinarian conspirators he had put Roman citizens to death without a trial.
Cicero, Clodius, and the Triumvirs.
（Aet. 45-48. B.C. 62-59. Epist. III.-IX.)
9. The year 62 B.C. opened with a series of bitter attacks upon the senate by Pompey's tool, the tribune Metellus Nepos, supported by the praetor C. Julius Caesar. Against Cicero, his consulship, and the execution of the conspirators, Metellus made his fiercest onslaughts, 19 but the Optimates were too strong for their opponents. Metellus fled to Pompey 20 for protection and Caesar was forbidden for a time to administer the duties of his office. 21 It was during this period of political uproar that Cicero delivered one of the most charming of his orations, in defending the claim to citizenship of his old friend and teacher, Archias.
10. In December of this year, while Caesar was absent in Spain, a festival was held at his house in honor of the goddess Bona Dea, which it was unlawful for men to attend . but during the meeting, P. Clodius, a patrician, was found to be present in disguise (Cf. Epist V.). A judicial investigation of the matter was made, but Clodius secured an acquittal through the kind offices of Crassus, who bribed a majority of the jurors. Cicero does not seem to have taken an active part in the discussion of the Clodian matter in the senate,22 but when, in the trial, Clodius attempted to establish an alibi by offering evidence to prove that he was at Interamna, ninety miles from Rome, at the time of the sacrilege, Cicero went on the witness stand and testified that he had seen Clodius in Rome within three hours of the time he claimed to have been at Interamna. 23 The anger of Clodius was aroused still more by the humiliation which he suffered in debate at Cicero's hands, 24 so that henceforth he thought of little else than avenging himself upon Cicero. The clash between Clodius and the senate, and the desire which Clodius felt to injure Cicero, threw Clodius into the arms of the democratic party, so that the affair, which at the outset was a purely personal one, developed into a political antagonism. 25
11. In Jan., 61 B.C., before the trial of Clodius took place, Pompey returned from the East. Both the senatorial party and the democratic party were anxious to secure his support; but, with that fatuity which characterized his conduct so often, he satisfied neither faction. The senate, however, found an opportunity to punish him for his coldness toward them by declining either to ratify his arrangements in the East or to give the accustomed gratuities to his veterans; but his hopes for the next year were raised by the election of his adherent, L. Afranius, to the consulship for 60 B.C.. Clodius had been absent for a year as quaestor in Sicily, and Cicero, although not foreseeing definitely the danger which threatened him, looked forward with some anxiety to the return of Clodius.
12. A variety of causes conspired in 60 B.C. to weaken the conservative party. The knights, who farmed the provincial revenues, in a large degree, finding that they had made their bids too high, wished to cancel their contracts. 26 The senate would not give its consent. It also passed a measure to investigate the bribery of the jury in the Clodian trial, and as many of the suspected jurors were equites, that class regarded the measure as a political attack upon themselves. The senatorial party was also weakened by the death of one of its most judicious leaders, Q. Catulus, in the spring of 60 B.C., 27 by the indifference of others, like Lucullus, and by the ascendency of extremists like Cato and Favonius. 28
13. It was under these circumstances that Caesar returned, fresh from his victories in Spain, to sue for the consulship. Pompey had won from the senate nothing but a triumph, and willingly made common cause with Caesar. The coalition was strengthened by the addition of Crassus, and thus, in the summer of 60 B.C. , the so-called First Triumvirate was secretly formed. 29 The triumvirs carried out the first item in their programme by the election of Caesar to the consulship for 59 B.C., but with Bibulus, 30 an extreme aristocrat, as his colleague; and notwithstanding the violent opposition of Bibulus and the Optimates, Caesar secured the passage of an agrarian law 31 and bills ratifying Pompey's arrangements in the East, 32 while the people, under the leadership of the tribune P. Vatinius, approved a bill assigning to Caesar, from Mar. 1, 59 B.C., the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, with an army of three legions for five years, to which the senate, apparently of its own motion, added Transalpine Gaul and a fourth legion. 33
14. After the return of Caesar, Cicero took little part in politics. He did not sympathize with the uncompromising attitude of the senate, he was hurt by the coldness of Pompey towards himself, and disappointed by that leader's selfish aims. While appreciating the irresistible power of the Triumvirate, he saw a ray of hope in the apparent unpopularity of the triumvirs, 34 whose rule, he believed, could not last long. Clodius continued straight on toward his cherished purpose of avenging himself upon Cicero. With that end in view he caused himself to be adopted by a plebeian, Fonteius, and secured an election as tribune for the year 58. Cicero would seem to have been blind to his own danger. He knew of the enmity of Clodius, but did not fear him, so that he made no opposition to his adoption or his election, and as late as Nov., 59 B.C., writes in a confident way of the future. 35 The conduct of Caesar, who appreciated Cicero's danger, was most generous. He offered Cicero the position of legatus in Gaul. 36 This offer, however, Cicero declined, as well as that of a legatio libera, and a position on the commission to divide the public land in Campania. 37
Cicero's Banishment and Recall.
（Aet. 49-50. B.C. 58-57. Epist. X.-XIV.)
15. Clodius skilfully prepared the way for an attack upon Cicero by securing the passage of certain popular measures, and, having gained the support of the consuls A. Gabinius and L. Piso, between Mar. 20 and 25, 58 B.C., 38 he secured the adoption of a bill enacting: qui civem Romanum indemnatum interemisset, ei aqua et igni interdiceretur. 39 The principle of this bill was not new, and no one was mentioned in it by name, but Cicero knew that it was directed against himself. There can be little doubt that, in view of the Porcian and Sempronian laws, the execution of Lentulus and his fellow-conspirators, who were not allowed to make an appeal to the people, was unconstitutional. Cicero's plea, that the passage of the senatus consuttum ultimum suspended this privilege, and that Lentulus and the others, by conspiring with the Allobroges, had lost their right as citizens, is not a sufficient answer. At all events, Cicero's cause was a hopeless one. The senators and knights were powerless, the consuls would give no help, and the triumvirs were not loath to have Cicero and Cato, who was at this time sent to Cyprus on a difficult mission, removed from the city before Caesar's departure.
16. This state of things had induced Cicero to withdraw from the city before the law of Clodius was passed, and soon after his departure the latter promulgated another proposition in the following form : velitis jubeatis ut M. Tullio aqua et igni interdictum sit.40 This bill, with the subsequent modification that the interdiction should hold good within a limit of 400 miles,41 was adopted about Apr. 20.42 Cicero's house upon the Palatine was torn down, and a portion of the site was consecrated to Liberty. His property elsewhere was despoiled, and Terentia was forced to seek protection with her half-sister Fabia.
17. After lingering for a time in Italy, Cicero went to Thessalonica, where he remained for several months as the guest of his friend, the quaestor Cn. Plancius. He was in a very despondent condition,43 as all the efforts which his friends made to secure his recall were thwarted by Clodius. The year 57 B.C. opened under better auspices. The consuls P. Lentulus Spinther and Metellus Nepos were friendly, and the tribunes were in the main Cicero's supporters; but all this might have accomplished little, had it not been for the fact that Pompey, who had taken offense at Clodius, actively supported the cause of Cicero. At last, Aug. 4, a law was passed in the comitia centuriata authorizing Cicero's return.44 Cicero had already come to Dyrrachium in Nov., 58 B.C., in order that he might receive news more quickly, and Aug. 4, 57 B.C., he sailed for Brundisium. He was received most enthusiastically in the towns through which he passed on his way to Rome, and in Rome itself, which he reached Sept. 4,45 after an absence of a year and a half.
Under the Triumvirate.
（Aet. 51-55. B.C. 56-52. Epist. XV.-Epist. XXVIII.）
18. Circumstances at this time conspired to raise the political hopes of Cicero and the Optimates. The people in Rome and throughout Italy had shown great delight on the occasion of Cicero's return. His recall was not only a personal victory for him, but also a political victory for the Optimates. Through the favorable action of the pontifices, Cicero had recovered his building site on the Palatine and damages for the loss of his house and villas. The unanimous acquittal, in Mar., 56 B.C., of P. Sestius, Cicero's foremost champion in 57 B.C., who was prosecuted on a charge de ambitu et de vi, was a decided triumph for Cicero and the Boni. 46 Furthermore, there was a lack of harmony in the party of the triumvirs. Emboldened by this state of things, the senate, on Apr. 5, 56 B.C., adopted Cicero's motion ut de agro Campano . . . Idibus Maiis referretur. 47 The law at which this motion to reconsider was directed was Caesar's agrarian law of 59 B.C., assigning lands in Campania to Pompey's veterans. Success in repealing this law would also undoubtedly lead to an attack upon all the legislation of the year 59 B.C.
19. The sequel of his motion in the senate is best told by Cicero himself (Fam. 1.9.9): “Quem (i.e. Quintum) cum in Sardinia Pompeius, paucis post diebus quam Luca (the place of conference with Caesar) discesserat, convenisset, 'te,' inquit, 'ipsum cupio; nihil opportunius potuit accidere: nisi cum Marco fratre diligenter egeris, dependendum tibi est, quod mihi pro illo spopondisti.' Quid multa? questus est graviter; sua merita commemoravit; quid egisset saepissime de actis Caesaris cum ipso meo fratre quidque sibi is de me recepisset, in memoriam redegit seque, quae de mea salute egisset, voluntate Caesaris egisse ipsum meum fratrem testatus est: cuius causam dignitatemque mihi ut commendaret, rogavit, ut eam ne oppugnarem, si nollem aut non possem tueri.” This important passage furnishes the explanation of that remarkable change which Cicero's political attitude underwent in 56 B.C. Quintus had promised Pompey that his brother, if recalled, would not oppose the triumvirs. As a man of honor, Marcus could not but recognize the binding force of this promise made in his behalf — made, though it was, in a moment of weakness and despair. To this consideration must also be added Cicero's positive gratitude for Pompey's services in securing his recall, and his recognition of the power of the triumvirs to punish him severely if he persisted in his independent course. Cicero withdrew his motion, 48 and, for the next five years, gave up all opposition to the plans of the triumvirs. Other circumstances conspired to make this the only feasible course for Cicero to pursue. The policy of the Optimates was hopelessly selfish and headstrong, while they themselves showed that petty jealousy of Cicero which had characterized their conduct on many previous occasions 49; and finally, when Quintus Cicero took service with Caesar in 54 B.C., 50 political opposition to Caesar might have proved the ruin of Quintus. These circumstances may justify Cicero's failure to oppose the triumvirs, but they cannot fully excuse the subservient attitude which he assumed toward them from the summer of 56 to the close of 52 B.C., notably, in defending Vatinius at Caesar's request 51 and Gabinius at Pompey's, 52 in 54 B.C., and in heaping praises upon Caesar in his oration de Prov. Cons., in 56 B.C. Cicero's own statement in Fam. 1.9, of his attitude during this period should be read in this connection.
20. The compact between Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus was renewed at Luca in Apr., 56 B.C., 53 and, in accordance with its terms, Pompey and Crassus were elected to the consulship for the following year, and, during their term of office, secured the passage of laws assigning Spain to Pompey54 and Syria to Crassus55 for five years, and prolonging Caesar's proconsulship for the same period. Cicero took little part in politics during the years 55 and 54 B.C., and his letters exhibit his discouragement in regard to them.56 They indicate, however, the growth of a cordial feeling between him and Caesar.57 Much of Cicero's attention was given to literature. To this period belong the De Oratore, the De Re Publica,58 and several speeches; among them, one in defense of Cn. Plancius, who received Cicero so generously at Thessalonica during the latter's exile.
21. The violence and disorder, with their accompaniment of bribery and political intrigue,59 which had prevailed almost uninterruptedly from midsummer of the year 54 B.C., reached its climax in Jan., 52 B.C., in a riotous contest between the followers of Clodius and Milo, which resulted in the death of the former,60 and, as a last resort, Pompey was elected sole consul on the 24th of the intercalary month of this year.61 This sudden elevation to extraordinary power completed the separation of Pompey from Caesar. Several circumstances which occurred during the previous two years had paved the way for this result. First of all the death of Julia, Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife, in 54 B.C.,62 and the subsequent refusal of Pompey to enter into another family alliance with Caesar, severed a link which had bound the two men together; but a still more important factor was the defeat and death of Crassus in the East in 53 B.C.63 The indefinite continuance of a triumvirate was possible, but the existence of a duumvirate was impossible, and the time seemed to Pompey ripe for strengthening himself and humbling his rival. He was practically dictator in Rome, and still retained his governorship of Spain, while his rival, Caesar, was far away in Gaul, engaged with Vercingetorix, his bravest and ablest enemy, in a life and death struggle,64 which might end with him as the Parthian campaign had ended with Crassus. After assuming office Pompey secured the passage of laws imposing heavier penalties for bribery and violence,65 prolonging his proconsulship of Spain for five years,66 and a law de jure magistratuum,67 providing that candidates for office must appear in person a certain number of days before the election, and that those who had held office in Rome must wait five years before assuming the government of a province. Caesar was, however, exempted from the operation of the first clause of this law by a special measure,68 and also by a provision unconstitutionally appended to the law itself as an afterthought by Pompey.69 The second provision in the law was, however, intended to bring Caesar low. Even if he should succeed in securing an election to the consulship, it would be easy, after his term of office had expired, to prosecute him and to convict him of using violence in his candidacy for the consulship in 60 B.C., under the new law de vi, which was retroactive.
The Proconsulship.
（Aet. 56-57. B.C. 51-50. Epist. XXIX.-XLI.)
22. The law de jure magistratuum, which made it incumbent upon those who had held office at Rome to wait five years before assuming the government of a province, forced the senate to assign provinces to ex-officials who had not yet held governorships abroad. Cicero was one of the number, and to him the province of Cilicia was assigned in Mar., 51 B.C., much against his will.70 He left Rome in the early part of May,71 and, traveling by the way of Brundisium, Athens, and Ephesus, reached Laodicea, the first city of his province, July 31.72
23. He found affairs in his province, which included Cilicia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, Isauria, Lycaonia, and Cyprus, in a most unpromising condition. From without, a descent of the Parthians was threatened,73 which he must resist with a most inadequate force of only two legions, which were scattered throughout the province and demoralized by mutiny and the inefficiency of their officers.74 The condition of the provincials was still more disheartening. Appius Claudius, Cicero's predecessor, had practically turned over the provinces to Roman publicani and usurers,75 among the latter of whom M. Brutus figured conspicuously. From the outset Cicero set himself to work to remedy this state of things.76 He fixed the normal rate of interest at 12%, although Brutus had required in one instance 48%77; he prevented all extortion, he removed the money lenders' agents from official positions, and administered the law with justice and regularity.
24. In military matters he showed almost as much wisdom and efficiency. The mutinous troops were brought under discipline,78 while the justice of his government enabled him to augment his own troops with those of his allies. With this combined force he took the field in September. The victory which Cassius won over the Parthians near Antioch averted the threatened invasion of Cilicia, and Cicero directed his forces against the independent people near Mt. Amanus, 79 where, after a complete victory, he had the satisfaction of hearing himself saluted 'imperator' by his troops. 80
25. Toward the end of Dec., 51 B.C., Cicero was in Tarsus and sent thence official letters to the consuls asking for a supplicatio, 81 accompanied by a letter of similar purport to Cato, the senatorial leader. 82 The senate voted the supplicatio, 83 and, turning over his province to the quaestor Caelius Caldus, on July 30, Cicero set out on his homeward journey in high hopes of a triumph. There is no more honorable period in Cicero's life than that of his pro-consulship in Cilicia; and with the difficulties which he had to face, and the poor means at his disposal, his success as an administrator was highly creditable. The fact that he did not reorganize his province on a permanent basis, as Caesar reorganized Gaul, is to be attributed to the shortness of his tenure of office and the wretchedness of the aristocratic system of government, and not to Cicero's own inability or unwillingness. Cicero traveled slowly homeward by the way of Rhodes 84 and Athens, accompanied by his brother, his son, his nephew, and his freedman Tiro, who was obliged to remain at Patrae on account of illness. 85 On Nov.24, 50 B.C., he reached Brundisium, where he was met by his wife Terentia. 86 After a delay of several weeks at his villas near Naples, Cicero at last reached Rome, Jan. 4, 49 B.C., 87 after an absence from the city of a year and eight months.
Caesar or Pompey?
（Aet. 58-59. B.C. 49-48. Epist. XLII.-LIII.)
88
26. Cicero, upon his arrival, found political affairs in a turmoil. The lex Vatinia of 59 B.C. (§ 13) had assigned Gallia Cisalpina and Illyricum to Caesar for a period of five years, dating from Mar. 1, 59 B.C. 89 By the lex Pompeia Licinia, passed in 55 B.C. (§ 20), Caesar's term of office was extended for a period of five years, — probably, therefore, to Mar. 1, 49 B.C. 90 Special legislation of the year 52 B.C. had allowed Caesar to sue, in 49 B.C., for the consulship, without personally attending the canvass (§ 2 i). His successor in the provinces would not naturally begin his term of office until Jan. 1, 48 B.C., and in accordance with the regular practice in such cases, Caesar might count upon holding his provinces until that time, when he would pass from the provincial government to the consulship at Rome, and thus avoid the snares which his enemies at Rome would otherwise have set for him. But to frustrate this plan, M. Marcellus, the consul, a bitter opponent of Caesar, attempted on Dec. 10, 50 B.C. to induce the senate to pass the senatus consultum ultimum. Failing in this, he proceeded to Naples, and on his own motion requested Pompey to take charge of the legions near Luceria 91 and defend the state. Pompey accepted the command of the legions.
27. This overt act hastened the course of events. On Dec. 21 Curio, Caesar's agent, left Rome to go to Caesar, 92 and returned in time to present a formal ultimatum (cf. Epist. XLII., intr.) to the senate Jan. 1, 49 B.C., when the consuls L. Lentulus Crus and C. Claudius Marcellus assumed office. Caesar's proposals were not accepted, and a resolution was passed declaring that he would be acting adversus rem publicam if he did not give up his army by July 1, 49 B.C.93; and on Jan. 7 the senatus consultum ultimum94 was passed, upon which the tribunes Antonius and Cassius,95 as well as Curio and Caelius, set out for Caesar's camp.
28. Cicero's position made him an eminently fit person to effect a compromise.96 He proposed that Pompey should go to Spain, and that Caesar should not be compelled to attend his canvass in person97; but his efforts were fruitless. On Jan. 10 Caesar crossed the Rubicon98 with five cohorts and marched toward Rome, taking Pisaurum, Fanum, and Ancona on his way. On Jan. 14 the senate passed the decretum tumultus,99 but the news of Caesar's rapid advance forced Pompey, the consuls, and senators to leave Rome,100 Jan.17, and hurry southward.
29. Cicero left the city the same day. The senate had assigned the Campanian district to him, but he saw that little could be done,101 because the inhabitants of Campania had many of them received their lands through Caesar's law (§ 13). Furthermore he hoped for peace, and thought that neutrality on his part would best fit him to act as mediator between the opposing forces; and to maintain his neutral position, he gave up his appointment in Campania just before leaving the city, and took charge, in a civil capacity, of the Roman Campagna and the coast of Latium.102 The Pompeians, after planning a rendezvous at Luceria,103 hurried toward Brundisium, whither Pompey peremptorily summoned Cicero.104 Nevertheless he remained in Formiae, hoping still to effect a reconciliation between Caesar and Pompey,105 and, with this hope in mind, he had an interview with Caesar at Formiae,106 Mar. 28. In this interview Caesar requested him to go to Rome and use his best efforts to secure peace, but when Cicero mentioned the terms which he should propose, Caesar refused to accept them.
30. This meeting put an end to his hesitation. He felt sure that all hope of a reconciliation was gone, as neither party would submit terms which the other could accept. Cicero has been often accused of indecision during this period, but unjustly so. In his opinion there was right and wrong with each party, and civil war was an evil to be avoided at all hazards. He used every possible means, therefore, to avert the catastrophe, but without success. Recognizing the inevitable, he cast in his lot with the man to whom he personally owed most; for the choice lay, not between Caesar and the Republic, but between Caesar and Pompey; nec mehercule hoc facio rei publicae causa, quam funditus deletam puto, sed ne quis me putet ingratum in eum qui me levavit iis incommodis (i.e. of exile) quibus idem adfecerat (Att. 9.19.2).
31. On June 7, 49 B.C., Cicero, accompanied by his brother, his son, and his nephew, sailed from Formiae to join Pompey near Dyrrachium,107 which place he reached, after stopping for several months on the estate of Atticus in Epirus, toward the close of the year 49 B.C., some eight or nine months after the arrival of the Pompeian forces.108 In the meantime Caesar, displaying extraordinary energy,109 tact, and consideration,110 had made himself master of Italy, where he found the people kindly disposed toward him, had restored order at Rome, had defeated the Pompeian lieutenants, Afranius, Petreius, and Varro, in Spain; and in Jan., 48 B.C., he crossed the Adriatic and began the offensive operations against Pompey which ended in the victory near Pharsalus, Aug. 9, 48 B.C. Pompey fled, but was murdered about three weeks later, while landing at Pelusium in Egypt.111 Cicero had been coldly received by the Pompeians at Dyrrachium,112 and had little to do with the preparation for the struggle.113 A serious indisposition also kept him at Dyrrachium, so that he was not present at the battle of Pharsalus.114
Under Caesar's Government.
（Aet. 60-62. B.C. 47-45. Epist. LIV.-LXXXIV.)
32. After the battle of Pharsalus Cicero remained for a time at Corcyra115 and Patrae,116 and then decided to return to Italy. He reached Brundisium117 in Oct., 48 B.C., and stayed there until Sept, 47 B.C., passing one of the most miserable years of his life. He was distressed by both political and domestic anxieties. He had returned contrary to the express orders of Caesar, who had forbidden the Pompeians to enter Italy.118 He was therefore a political fugitive in a city filled with hostile soldiers. At the same time Caesar's critical position in Egypt 119 made it quite possible that the Pompeian cause might succeed after all, in which case Cicero's standing would be still more precarious. His family affairs were equally distressing: Tullia, his daughter, was most unhappy with her husband Dolabella; Terentia's management of his property120 during his absence had caused him a deal of vexation; an unfortunate misunderstanding had sprung up with his brother Quintus.121
33. Cicero's anxiety in regard to his own position was somewhat relieved in Sept., 47 B.C., by the arrival of Caesar, who generously gave him permission to remain in Italy.122 He went almost directly to Rome, and his letters in the main, up to the close of 46 B.C., were written either in that city or at his villas at Tusculum and Cumae. The battle of Thapsus was fought Apr. 6, 46 B.C., and by it Caesar's supremacy in Africa was established; but the tidings of this important battle and even of the violent deaths123 of the Pompeian leaders, Scipio, Petreius, Afranius, and Juba,124 do not seem to have stirred Rome so deeply as the news that Cato had taken his own life at Utica,125 feeling that the cause of the Republic was beyond hope. The little memoir which Cicero wrote of his personal and political friend126 called forth opposition pamphlets from the Caesarians, Hirtius127 and Brutus,128 and even Caesar found time on the eve of the battle of Munda to write an 'Anticato.'129
34. Cicero gave much of his time to literature during this period. The Orator was written and the Brutus finished in 46 B.C.130 Although he attended the meetings of the senate, he took little active part in politics, save in working to secure the recall of some Pompeians who were still in exile. At one time Cicero hoped that Caesar would follow a conservative course and would at least restore the senate to its old position and influence, and it was with this hope in his mind that he spoke so warmly of him in his oration pro Marcello; but he soon saw clearly that it was Caesar's purpose to retain the supreme power in his own hands, especially when, at the close of the year 46, Caesar, on departing for Spain, left the city in charge of eight praefecti, who were directly responsible to his personal representatives, Cornelius Balbus and C. Oppius.131
35. Caesar defeated the last of the Pompeians, who had rallied under the leadership of Labienus and the two sons of Pompey, at Munda,132 Mar. 17, 45 B.C., and returned to Rome in September to continue the reforms which he had already begun, and to make preparations for his great campaign against the Parthians in the following year. In the meantime a conspiracy was forming against him, led by a few disappointed office-seekers and fanatics, and fostered by the traditional Roman prejudice against the title of rex and the regal insignia. The indiscreet act of Antony and of some other personal friend (or enemy?), in offering a diadem to Caesar,133 and in crowning his statue with a laurel wreath,134 strengthened the conspiracy, while Caesar's own course in openly assuming supreme power, a course far removed from the more diplomatic policy of his successor Augustus, must have offended the more conservative element. The meeting of the senate on Mar. 15, 44 B.C., furnished a suitable occasion, the presentation of a petition by L. Tillius Cimber a convenient opportunity, and the conspirators accomplished their purpose of assassinating Caesar.135
Cicero and the Liberatores
（Aet. 63-64. B.C. 44-43. Epist. LXXXV.-C.)
36. Soon after the murder of Caesar, the assassins, or the liberatores, as they were termed by Cicero, distrusting the temper of the people, withdrew to the Capitol,136 which was guarded by the gladiators of D. Brutus. Here they were visited in the evening by a number of prominent men, among them being Cicero. He himself had had no part in the formation of the plot which led to Caesar's assassination or in its execution,137 but his satisfaction at the removal of Caesar is plainly shown in a jubilant letter138 written to L. Basilus, one of the conspirators, probably on the day of the assassination.
37. M. Antonius, who was Caesar's colleague in the consulship, gained possession of all his private treasure and political papers,139 but thought it wise to leave the adjustment of affairs to the senate.140 The senate met Mar. 17, and adopted Cicero's proposal to ratify Caesar's acts and to grant amnesty to the conspirators.141 At the same time arrangements were made for the burial of Caesar at the public expense and for the publication of his will. The funeral took place between Mar. 20 and 23,142 and the people, whose sympathy for Caesar was increased on hearing his generous bequests to them, were inflamed to such a degree by the funeral oration of Antony143 that the conspirators were obliged to withdraw from the city.
38. With the help of Caesar's confidential secretary Faberius, Antony proceeded to strengthen himself by altering Caesar's papers and even by forging new documents.144 To all this the senate could offer no resistance, but the further development of Antony's plans was interrupted by the arrival in April of C. Octavius,145 Caesar's adopted son and heir. The position of this young man, as Caesar's adopted son, and his manly spirit won him a hearty welcome from the Gallic veterans, and by his generous and tactful treatment of them he succeeded in drawing large numbers from Antony's support to his own side. At the same time his deference to Cicero,146 and his apparently unselfish desire to serve the state, excited for a time the liveliest hopes in the breasts of the republicans.
39. Cicero took little part in politics for some time after the important meeting of the senate, Mar.17. He feared that by the death of Caesar Rome had merely exchanged one tyrant for another,147 and as early as May he writes prophetically to Atticus, mihi autem non est dubium quin res spectet ad castra.148 His discouragement was almost converted into despair when, on meeting M. Brutus and C. Cassius at Antium, June 8, he found that they were absolutely without purpose or plan. Prorsus dissolutum offendi navigium (i.e. the ship of state) vel potius dissilatum; nihil consilio, nihil ratione, nihil ordine.149 He decided to leave Italy for a time and was actually at Leucopetra on his way to Greece when he heard that a reconciliation between Antony and the liberatores was probable.150 On hearing this news, he returned to Rome to take part in the meeting of the senate which was called for Sept. 1.
40. He found matters however in a far less favorable condition than he had hoped to find them, and absented himself from the meeting of the senate, Sept. 1, on the plea of illness. Antony was angry at Cicero's absence and threatened to tear his house down.151 On the following day Cicero appeared in the senate and delivered his first Philippic.152 It was an outspoken criticism of Antony's action, but was free from personality. On Sept.19 Antony made a violent reply to Cicero's criticism.153 The province of Macedonia had at first been assigned to Antony for the year 43,154 but in June, in spite of the opposition of the senate, he secured the passage of a bill in the comitia assigning to him Gallia Cisalpina, with Gallia Transalpina perhaps, in place of Macedonia.155 He doubtless preferred Gallia Cisalpina, as it would enable him to remain nearer Rome and because it was the key to Italy.156 He left the city Nov. 28, hastening toward the north with three legions and his body-guard to dispossess D. Brutus,157 to whom Gallia Cisalpina had fallen under the arrangements of Caesar.
41. At this point Cicero's active participation in the struggle with Antony begins. He saw the weak and the strong points of the senatorial cause. His judgment was unerring and his courage unfaltering. He saw that Octavius must be attached to the senatorial party, and Octavius was invested with the imperium and authorized, in codperation with the consuls of 43 B.C., to conduct the war against Antony.158 He appreciated that at all hazards D. Brutus must make a determined stand in Gallia Cisalpina, and that the governors of the neighboring provinces must be induced to rally to his support. He wrote therefore urgent letters to D. Brutus, to Plancus in northern Gaul, to Lepidus in southern Gaul, and to Poiho in Spain.159 Brutus and Cassius in the East were apprised of the course of events in Italy,160 and the senate was urged to take bold action.
42. His efforts were at the outset crowned with success, for on Dec.20, 44 B.C.,161 the senate repealed the law which assigned Gallia Cisalpina and Transalpina to Antony, lengthened the terms of office of D. Brutus and Plancus, and directed the other provincial governors to remain at their posts until the senate should send out their successors. Octavius and Hirtius, one of the consuls, left Rome in the early part of 43 B.C. to relieve D. Brutus,162 who was besieged by Antony in Mutina, and Pansa, the other consul, followed in March with four more legions of recruits.163 After some preliminary skirmishing in which Antony gained the advantage,164 a decisive battle was fought near Mutina, Apr.21,165 in which his army was completely defeated. But the victory was dearly bought. Hirtius fell upon the field of battle, and Pansa was mortally wounded166 and died two days later. The command of the forces acting against Antony was assigned to D. Brutus. Octavius, who had good reason to feel aggrieved at this slight,167 withdrew from further participation in the struggle, and marched to Rome at the head of eight legions, demanding the consulship. There was no means at hand to withstand him, and Aug.19 he was elected consul, although but nineteen years of age. Meanwhile, in the north, Antony was strengthened by the accession of Lepidus,168 Plancus, and Pollio.169 D. Brutus was deserted by his troops, and while seeking to escape was murdered at Aquileia.170
43. In the East the cause of the liberatores had been more successful. In the early part of 43 B.C. M. Brutus reached the province of Macedonia, which had been assigned to him by Caesar, and was recognized as the legal governor by his predecessor Q. Hortensius.171 Cassius also took possession of his province, Syria. Both of them succeeded in levying large bodies of troops and in defeating C. Antonius,172 the brother of Marcus, and Dolabella,173 who had come out to take possession of Macedonia and Syria respectively, by virtue of measures whose passage Antony had secured. The senatorial party was in the meantime urging Brutus and Cassius to return and protect Italy from the troops of Antony.174 Cicero also wrote to both leaders, asking them to adopt this course,175 but their entreaties were without effect.
44. In Italy matters were rapidly advancing to a crisis. Octavius, soon after his elevation to the consulship, marched northward, met Antony near Bononia in Oct., 43 B.C., and with M. Lepidus formed a compact for the adjustment of affairs in Italy and for the prosecution of the war in the East against the liberatores176; and in November, by a vote of the comitia, Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius were appointed commissioners 'for the reorganization of the state' for a period of five years.177 The first step of the triumvirs was to remove their enemies at Rome, and Cicero's name was included in the list of the proscribed, notwithstanding the protest of Octavius. Cicero at first thought of seeking refuge in the East, and actually set sail from Astura for that purpose, but the unfavorable weather and his own unwillingness to leave his native land held him back, and the emissaries of Antony found him still in his Formian villa when they reached that place, Dec. 7. His faithful slaves attempted to save him even at the last moment by hurrying him on board a ship which lay in the harbor, but he was overtaken by his pursuers, and, forbidding his followers to make resistance, gave himself up to death at the hands of his assassins.178
