Cicero on oratory and orators

Preface

A Translation of the Dialogues Be Oratore was published m 1762, bj George Barnes, a Barrister of the Inner Temple. Mr. Barnes's version was made with great care, and, though less known than Guthrie's, was far superior to it. If he occasionally mistook the sense of his author, he seems to have been always diligent in seeking for it. He added some notes, of which those deemed worth preserving are distingaished by the letter B.

Barnes's translation is the groundwork of the present;

■ but every page of it has been carefully corrected, 9,nd many pagT^ re-written. The text to which it is made conformable is thait of Orellius, which differs but little from EUendt's, the morel recent editor and illustrator of the work, from whom some uotes have been borrowed.

No \labour has been spared to produce a faithful and readable translation of a treatise which must always be interestjing to the orator and the student.

! The ) translation of Cicero's '^'Brutus; or, Remarks on EmineLv' Orators," is by E. Jones, (first published in 1776,) which r:as long had the well-deserved reputation of com-

I bining fidelity with elegance. It is therefore reprinted with

j but little variation.

I J. S. W.

I b

Contents

Cicero's Lettees to his Brother Quintus . 1

Cicero's Letters to Brutus . 90'

DE OIIATOEE-; or, on the Character of an Orator . . 142

Letter I

This Letter was written in the year 694 a.u.c, in tlie consulship of Afranius and Metellus, by Cicero to his brother Quintus, who was commanding in Asia, to inform him that his period of command was extended for a third year ; a year fraught with such important events to the republic, that we learn from Horace that PoUio began his history of the civil wars from this date.^ The consuls themselves were men of no very great importance; they were both creatures of Pompey, who had assisted them to obtain the office by the most open corruption : but he was mistaken in reckoning on the adherence of Metellus, whom he had offended by divorcing his sister Mucia ; while Afranius was a man of no character, and of very moderate abilities ; so weak, according to Cicero, as to be ignorant of the value of the consulship which he had bought. ^ With such men for its rulers, the city speedily became a scene of universal dissension. Pompey, who had just celebrated his triumph over Mithridates with unprecedented magnificence, was instigating Flavius, one of the tribunes, to bring forward an agrarian law similar to that of E-uUus, for a division of lands in Italy, — partly consisting of some of the public domains, and partly of estates to be bought

B

"witli the spoils of the war in which he had been so victorious, — among the veterans of his army, and the poorer classes in Italy. The senate opposed this measure violently, but Cicero, though he had resisted the former proposition, was now inclined to support this, — taking care, indeed, to preserve the vested interests of the possessors; and thinking that when this was provided for, the bill would supply a means for relieving the city of some of its most dangerous inhabitants, and at the same time peopling parts of Italy which were hitherto little better than a desert/^ No doubt he was partly influenced by his desire to obtain the protection of Pompey in the struggle which he foresaw for himself with Clodius, who was now seeking to be adopted into a plebeian family, in order to be elected a tribune of the people, so as to attack Cicero with greater power of injuring him — for the great Catulus died at this time, and Cicero complains to Atticus, that his death had left him without an ally in the dangers which threatened him, and without a companion in his course of defending and upholding the interests of the nobles.^

About the beginning of this year also, news arrived from Gaul of commotions in that province, which was always in great danger from the frequent inroads of the Helvetii, from whom an invasion on a larger scale was now apprehended. The senate decreed that the consuls should undertake the defence of the Cisalpine and Transalpine provinces, and sent men of consular rank to different districts to levy armies ; but Pompey and Cicero remained at Rome, being, as he tells Atticus, retained by the express command of the senate, as pledges of the safety of the republic.^

In the meantime Caesar, who had been serving in Spain as propraetor, wrote letters to the senate to demand a triumph ; but wishing also to obtain the consulship for the succeeding year, he relinquished the idea of the triumph, (which would have prevented him from entering the city till after its celebration,) in order to canvass the citizens for the more substantial honour. Perceiving, on his arrival in Rome, the true posture of affairs, — the power which Crassus possessed, derived from his character and riches ; the authority with which his military renown, and his position as the acknowledged leader of the aristocratic party, invested Pompey; and his own need of such coadjutors for the project, which he had already begun to coirceive, of finally making himself master of the republic, — he reconciled Pompey and Crassus, who had previously been on no very friendly terms ; and then formed that intimate connexion with them both, which is known in history as the first triumvirate ; the three chiefs coming to an agreement to prevent measures of any kind being adopted in the republic without the united consent of them all. Csesar obtained the consulship, but the senate gave him Bibulus for his colleague, and made a further attempt to prevent any great increase to his power or popularity, by assigning to the new consul?

^ Qu4 constitute diligenter et sentinam nobis exhaurior; et Italia solitudinem frequentari posse arbitrabar. — Ep. ad Att. i. 19- =» Ep. ad Att. i. 20. s i^q^^^ i 19, only the supervision of the roads and forests : a charge, as Suetonius calls it, of the slightest possible importance. This was the posture of affairs at Eome, afc, and soon after, the time when Cicero addressed this first letter to his brother.

Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting.

I. 1. Although I had no doubt that iijany messengers, and common report too, with its invariable rapidity, would outstrip this letter; and that, before its arrival, you would hear from others that a third year has been added to the period during which I have to regret your absence, and you are to continue your labours; still I thought that direct information of this trouble ought to be conveyed to you from me also. For in my former letters, — and that not once only, but repeatedly, even after the matter was despaired of by others, — I still gave you hope of an early removal; not merely that I might gratify you as long as possible with the pleasing expectation, but also because such great exertions were made both by the praetors and by myself, that I would not give up all hope that the matter might be managed.

2. But now, since it has so turned out, that the praetors have not been able to do any good by their influence, nor I by my own zeal, it is extremely difficult to avoid feeling great vexation ; but still it is not fit that our spirits, w^hich have been tried in managing and supporting matters of the greatest moment, should be crushed and rendered powerless by a petty annoyance. And since men are naturally most concerned at misfortunes which have been incurred by their own fault, there is something in this business that must be borne with more vexation by me than by you. For it happened through my fault, and through acting in opposition to what you had represented to me, both when setting out and afterwards by letter, that a successor was not appointed the year before. In that matter, while I was consulting the safety of the allies, while I was resisting the impudence of some commercial people, and while I was desirous that my reputation should be advanced by your merit, I acted unwisely ; especially as I have given occasion that that second year of your command may draw on a third after it.

3. Since, then, I confess that the fault is mine, it will be the task of your wisdom and kindness to take care and manage that this matter, too incautiously considered by me, may be

b2 corrected by your own diligence. And if you arouse yourself with fresh energy to cultivate a good reputation in every respect, so as to rival, not others, but yourself ; if you direct all the faculties of your mind, all your care and thoughts, to the pre-eminent object of obtaining praise in all things, — take, my word for it lliat one year added to your Labour will bring happiness for many years to us, and glory to our posterity.

4. I therefore entreat you above all things not to diminish or lower your spirit, nor to allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the affair, as by a wave of the sea ; but, on the other hand, to bear yourself erect to resist, and even of your own accord to meet difficulties. For you do not manage a department of the public of such a nature that fortune has the rule in it, but one in which method and diligence have the greatest influence. If indeed I saw that your period of command was prolonged while you were engaged in any great and perilous war, I should feel misgivings in my mind, because I should know at the same time that the power of fortune over us was also prolonged.

5. But at present, that part of the commonwealth is committed to you, in which fortune has no share, or only an exceedingly insignificant one, and which appears to me to depend wholly on your own virtue and moderation of disposition. We apprehend, I think, no insidious attacks of enemies, no struggle in the field, no revolt of our allies, no want of pay or provisions, no mutiny in the army ; accidents which have very often happened to men of the greatest prudence: so that, as the most skilful pilots cannot overcome the violence of a storm, they in like manner have been unable to subdue the violent hostility of fortune. To your lot has fallen the most complete peace, the most entire tranquillity, though in such a way that it may even ^ overwhelm a sleeping pilot, or even delight a wakeful one.

6. For that province of yours consists in the first place of that class of allies which is the most civilized of all the human race ; and secondly, of that class of citizens who either, because they are farmers of the revenue,^ are bound to us by

^ Vel, Ernesti condemns this word, and I^Iatthise has ejected it.

^ The farmers of the public revenue were generally of the equestrian order, to which Cicero himself belonged ; and in his public character and speeches he had always taken care to maintain the connexion, by Beizing every opportunity of extolling and defending them.

TO HIS BROTHER QUI^'TUS. 5

ties of the closest connexion, or who, because they manage their deaUngs so as to become wealthy, think that they possess their fortunes in safety through the beneficial effects ol my consulship.

11. 7. But, you will urge, between these very men themselves there are grave disputes : many injuries arise, and great contests follow; as if I supposed that you also do not sustain a considerable weight of business. I am aware that your affairs are of very great importance, and require consummate prudence; but remember that I consider this affair depends more upon prudence than upon fortune ; for what difficulty is there in restraining those over whom you have authority, if you also restrain yourself? This may be a great and arduous task for others, as it is indeed most arduous, but it has always been a very easy one for you ; and in truth so it ought to be, since your natural disposition is such that, even without instruction, it would appear that it might have been excellently regulated, and such an education has been bestowed upon it as might exalt even the most vicious natura. While you yourself resist the temptations of money and of pleasure, and of every sort of desire, as you do resist them, there will be, I suppose, danger lest you may not be able to check the worthless trader, or the somewhat too covetous farmer. The Greeks,"- indeed, will look upon you, while you live in such a manner, as some [hero revived] from the old traditions of their annals, or even as some divine being descended from heaven into the province.

8. And I write this now, not that you may act thus, [for that you do,] but that you may rejoice in acting and having acted thus. For it is a glorious thing for you to have lived three ^ years in Asia, invested with the highest military- authority, in such a manner that no statue, no picture, no vase,^

^ Cicero calls them Greeks, because all the coast of Asia Minor was colonized by Greeks, and the language had gradually come to prevail throughout the whole peninsula.

2 The text has triennium ; Ernesti and others would read hiennium, to suit the commencement of the letter ; a change rendered necessary, indeed, by the verb fuisse.

^ How irresistible such temptations were to Roman governors in general, may be seen in Cicero's orations against V erres ; who was probably only pre-eminent among them for rapacity, because the richness of his province gave him pre-eminent opportunities for displaying it.

b CICEriOS LETTERS

no present of robes or slaves, no allurement of personal beanty, no opportunity of extorting money, (of all which forms of corruption that province is most prolific,) has been able to turn you aside from perfect integrity and moderation.

9. And what can be found so admirable, or so thoroughly desirable, as that that virtue, that moderation of mind, that well-regulated abstinence, should not lie hid and be buried in darkness, but should be displayed in the light of Asia, and before the eyes of a most splendid province, and celebrated in the hearing of every nation and people on the earth ? That men should not be alarmed at your progresses, or exhausted by your expenses, or agitated at your arrival among them ; but that, wherever you come, there should be both publicly and privately the greatest possible joy, while every city looks upon itself as entertaining a protector, not a tyrant, and every family feels that it receives a guest, and not a plunderer ?

III. 10. But in all these matters experience itself has already, doubtless, taught you, that it is by no means enough for you to have these virtues yourself, but that you must also take dihgent care, in this guardianship of the province, that you may appear to be answerable, not for yourself only, but for all the officers under your government, to the allies, to your fellow- citizens, and to the commonwealth. Although indeed you have lieutenants of such a character that they will of themselves have regard to their own dignity ; among whom Tubero is the first in honour and dignity and age, — a man who, I imagine, especially as he is a writer of history, can find many in the annals of his own family whom he may be both inclined and able to imitate ; and Alienus is completely one of us, not only in his general disposition and benevolence, but also in his imitation of our habits of life. For why need I speak of Gratidius? a man whom I know for certain to be so anxious about his own character, that out of his brotherly love for us, he is anxious also about ours.

11, You have a quaestor, indeed, not chosen by your own judgment, but the one whom the lot assigned you. It is necessary that he should be moderate in his own inclinations, and obedient to your regulations and precepts. If by chance any one of these men be somewhat sordid, you may bear with him so far as he merely neglects, of himself, those rules by which you yourself are bound j but not so far that he should abuse, for his own private gain^ that power which you conceded to him for the support of his dignity : for I am not indeed of opinion, especially as the habits to which I allude have had such a tendency to excessive lenity and to a courting of popularity, that you should look too closely into every bit of meanness, and get rid of every one guilty of it; but I think that you should trust just so much to each as there is trustworthiness in each. And of these men, those whom the republic itself has assigned to you as supporters and assistants in the discharge of the public business, you will confine to those limits which I have already laid down.

TV. 12. But as to those whom you have selected to have about you as your domestic companions^ or your necessary attendants, and who are generally termed a sort of court of the praetor, not only their actions, but even their whole language, must be answered for by us. But you have such people about you as you can easily love if they act rightly, and with the greatest ease restrain, if they show too little regard for your character ; by whom, when you were inexperienced, your own ingenuous disposition seems likely to have been deceived ; for the more virtuous any one is himself, the more unwillingly does he suspect others of being wicked ; but now this third year of office should display the same integrity as those preceding, with even more caution and diligence.

13. Let your ears be such as are thought to hear openly what they do hear, and not such as those into which anything may be whispered falsely and hypocritically for the sake of gain. Let your signet ring be not like a piece of furniture, but as it were another self; not the agent of another person's will, but the witness of your own. Let your sergeant^ be kept in that station in which our ancestors wished him to be; who bestowed the place not as a lucrative appointment, but as one of labour and duty, and not readily to any but their own freedmen, to whom they gave their orders, indeed, in a manner not very different from that in which they gave them to

^ The Latin is accensus, which was the name of a piiblic officer attending on several of the Eoman magistrates. He anciently preceded the consul who had not the fasces; a custom which, having been long disused, was restored by Caesar the very next year. Varro derives this title from accieo, because they summoned the people to the assemblies.

their slaves. Let your lictor be the officer, not of his own lenity, but of yours; and let your fasces and axes give him greater insignia of dignity than power. Lastly, let it be known to the whole province, that the safety, the families, the fame, and the fortunes of all those over whom you act as governor, are objects of the dearest interest to you. Moreover, let the opinion prevail, that you will be displeased, not only with those who have accepted any bribe, but with those also w^ho have given one, if you discover the fact. Nor indeed will any one offer a bribe, when it is once clearly ascertained, that nothing is ever obtained from you by the influence of those who pretend to have great weight with you.

14. Not, indeed, that this advice of mine to you is meant to have such an effect as to make you too harsh or suspicious towards your officers ; for if there be among them any one who during two years has never fallen under any suspicion of avarice, (as I hear that both Csesius and Chserippus and Labeo have not, and because I know them, I believe it;) there is nothing that I should not think might be most judiciously and properly committed to them, and to whoever else is of the same character; but if there be any one in whom you have detected anything, or in whom you have noticed anything unfavourable, trust him with nothing ; do not put any part of your own character in his power.

/ Y. 15. But in the province itself, if you have met with any one who has entered closely into friendship with you, and who was previously unknown to us, take great care how far you ought to trust such a one ; not but that there may be many honest men among the provincials ; but though we may entertain this hope, it is hazardous to judge that it is so ; for the natural character of each individual is concealed under numerous wrappings of disguise, and shrouded, as it were, under veils ; the forehead, the eyes, the whole countenance are often false, and the language most frequently of all. On which account, how are you to find out, among that class of men, persons who, influenced by desire for money, can yet do without all those things from which we cannot separate ourselves, and who will love you, a foreigner, with all their heart, and not pretend to do so merely for their own advantage ? To me indeed this seems a consideration of great importance, especially if those very same people scarcely ever profess a regard for any private individnal, but do so at all times for every governor ; therefore, if of this class you have by chance met with any one really more attached to yourself than to the opportunity, (for this may have been possible,) gladly count that man in the list of your friends j but if you do not discover such a disposition, there is no sort of men more carefully to be guarded against in respect to intimacy; because they are acquainted with every avenue of corruption, and do everything for the sake of money, and have no notion of regard for the character of a man with whom they are not going to live permanently.

16. And even among the Greeks themselves, intimacies must be formed with strict care, excepting [those with] a very few men, such as may be worthy of ancient Greece ; so deceitful, indeed, are the greater number of them, and fickle, and through long slavery inured to excessive flattery; the whole body of whom I admit ought to be treated with liberality, and all the most deserving of them admitted to hospitality and friendship ; but an excessive intimacy with them is not sufficiently to be trusted, for they do not dare to oppose our inclinations, and are envious, not only of our people, but also of their own countrymen.

VI. 17. If I then desire to be so cautious and diligent in matters of that sort, in which I am afraid lest I may appear even somewhat over-rigid ; of what opinion do you conceive me to be with respect to slaves'? whom indeed we ought to rule strictly everywhere, and most especially in the provinces. With respect to this class of persons, many rules may be given, but this is the shortest of all, and one which may the most easily be kept in memory, that they are to behave themselves in your Asiatic progresses, as they would if you were travelling along the Appian road,^ and that they are not to think that it makes any difference whether they arrive at Tralles or at Formiee. But if among your slaves there should be any one of exemplary fidelity, let him be employed in your domestic and private affairs ; but as to matters which relate to the duties of your command, or to any of the affairs of the

' The Via Appia, or Appian road, was made by Appius Claudiua Caecus as censor, about 442 a.u.c., from Rome to Capua. At a later yeriod it was continued from Capua to Brundusium.

commonwealth, let him have no concern with any of them : for there are many things which may without impropriety be entrusted to faithful slaves, but which, for the sake of avoiding talk and censure, must not be entrusted to them.

18. But this letter of mine, I know not how, has run into a process of laying down precepts, though such was not at first my intention. For why should I give precepts to one, whom, particularly in business of this kind, I know to be not at all inferior in prudence to myself, and in practice even superior? But still if my authority were added to enforce the line of conduct which you were already pursuing, I thought that such line of conduct would be more agreeable to you. Let these then be your foundations for dignity of character ; first of all, your own personal integrity and moderation; next, self-respect in all those who are about you; and, also, an extremely cautious and most diligent selection in forming intimacies, both with men of the province, and with Greeks ; and the maintenance of a steady and consistent discipline in yoiir household.

19. As these observances are honourable in our private and daily habits, they must of necessity appear almost divine in so high a command, amid manners so depraved, and in a province which is such a school of corruption. Such a system and such a discipline can maintain that severity in deciding and determining on measures, which you have displayed in things from which, to my great joy, we experience some enmity; unless perchance you fancy that I am moved by the complaints of I know not what fellow called Paconius, a person who is not even a Greek, but rather a Mysian or Phrygian, or by those of Tuscenius, a raving fellow, foul in his language, out of whose most impure jaws you wrested the prey of his most disgraceful covetousness with consummate justice.

YII. 20. These and other regulations, full of strictness, which you have appointed in that province, we could not easily maintain without the most complete integrity. Let there be the most rigorous severity, therefore, in administering the law, provided that it be never varied from favour, but observed with uniformity. But still it is of little benefit that the law be administered with uniformity and care by you yourself, unless the same rule of conduct be also observed by those to whom you entrust any share of the same duty. And to me, indeed, there appears to be no great variety of business in the government of Asia, but it seems to be all supported, for the most part, by the exposition of the law; in which, above all other things, the very system of knowledge for the regulation of a province lies. But consistency must be observed, and a dignified gravity, which can resist, not only all influence, but even suspicion.

21. There is to be added likewise affability in listening to othei-^, gentleness in pronouncing one's decisions, and diligence in satisfying people, and in discussing their claims. It was by such qualifications that Cneius Octavius lately became very popular, as it was under him that the lictor first had nothing to do, the sergeant was reduced to silence, and every one who had a suit before him spoke as often and as long as he pleased. In which particulars he might perchance be looked upon as too remiss, if this very remissness had not been the support of that severity. Sylla's men were compelled to make restitution of the things which they had taken away by violence, a,nd through the influence of fear; and those who in their offices had given unjust decisions, had, when reduced to the rank of private individuals, to bow beneath similar law. This severity of his might appear to have been intolerable, had it not been softened by many seasonings of humanity.

22, But if this kind of lenity is agi'eeable at Rome, where there is such excessive arrogance, such immoderate liberty, such boundless licentiousness among men; and besides such a number of magistrates, so many sources of help, such great power, such absolute authority belonging to the senate ; how attractive surely may the courtesy of a praetor be in Asia, in which such a multitude of citizens, such a number of allies, so many cities, and so many states, look to the nod of one man ; where there is no help, no power of making complaints, no senate, no assembly of the people! It is therefore the part of a very great man, and of one who is both moderate by natural disposition, and who has also been trained by education, and by the study of the most excellent accomplishments, to conduct himself, when invested with so great power, in such a manner that no other authority may be wished for by those over whom he is appointed governor.

VIII. 23. The ^^ Cyrus" of Xenophon is written not iu accordance with the truth of history, -but to exhibit a representation of a just government; in whose character the greatest gravity is united by that philosopher with singular courtesy. These books our own countryman, the illustrious Africanus, was accustomed, not without reason, scarcely ever to lay out of his hand, for in them is omitted no duty belonging to careful and moderate government; and if he, who was never to become a private individual, paid such attention to those precepts, how ought they to be observed by those to whom authority has been given on condition of laying it down again, and given them too by those laws to the observance of which they themselves must again return?