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  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO FOR HIS HOUSE. ADDRESSED TO THE PRIESTS
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO RESPECTING THE ANSWERS OF THE SOOTHSAYERS. ADDRESSED TO THE SENATE.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN DEFENCE OF CNAEUS PLANCIUS.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN DEFENCE OF PUBLIUS SESTIUS.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO AGAINST PUBLIUS VATINIUS; CALLED ALSO, THE EXAMINATION OF PUBLIUS VATINIUS.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN DEFENCE OF MARCUS CAELIUS.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO ON THE SUBJECT OF THE CONSULAR PROVINCES.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN DEFENCE OF LUCIUS CORNELIUS BALBUS.
  • THE ORATION OF M. T. CICERO AGAINST LUCIUS CALPURNIUS PISO.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN DEFENCE OF TITUS ANNIUS MILO.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN DEFENCE OF CAIUS RABIRIUS POSTUMUS.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN BEHALF OF MARCUS CLAUDIUS MARCELLUS.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN DEFENCE OF QUINTUS LIGARIUS.
  • THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN BEHALF OF KING DEIOTARUS. ADDRESSED TO CAIUS CAESAR.
    		•

    M. Tullius Cicero, Orations: for his house, Plancius, Sextius, Coelius, Milo, Ligarius, etc. (ed. C. D. Yonge)

    Editions and translations: Latin (ed. Albert Clark) | English (ed. C. D. Yonge)
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    [p. 457]

    THE SPEECH OF M. T. CICERO IN BEHALF OF MARCUS CLAUDIUS MARCELLUS.

    THE ARGUMENT.

    Marcus Claudius Marcellus was descended from the most illustrious families at Rome, and had been consul with Servius Sulpicius Rufus; in which office he had given great offence to Caesar by making a motion in the senate to deprive him of his command; and in the civil war he espoused the side of Pompeius, and had been present at the battle of Pharsalia, after which be retired to Lesbos. But after some time the whole senate interceded with Caesar to pardon him, and to allow him to return to his country. And when he yielded to their entreaties, Cicero made the following speech, thanking Caesar for his magnanimity; though he had, as he says himself, (Ep. Fam. 4.4,) determined to say nothing; but he was afraid that if he continued silent Caesar would interpret it as a proof that he despaired of the republic. Caesar, though he saw the senate unanimous in their petition for Marcellus, yet had the motion for his pardon put to the vote, and called for the opinion of every individual senator on it. Cicero appears at this time to have believed that Caesar intended to restore the republic, as he mentions in his letters, (Ep. Fam. 13.68.)

    I. This day, O conscript fathers, has brought with it an end to the long silence in which I have of late indulged; not out of any fear, but partly from sorrow, partly from modesty; and at the same time it has revived in me my ancient habit of saying what my wishes and opinions are. For I cannot by any means pass over in silence such great humanity, such unprecedented and unheard-of clemency, such moderation in the exercise of supreme and universal power, such incredible and almost godlike wisdom. [2]  For now that Marcus Marcellus, O conscript fathers, has been restored to you and the republic, I think that not only his voice and authority are preserved and restored to you and to the republic, but my own also.

    For I was concerned, O conscript fathers, and most exceedingly grieved, when I saw such a man as he is, who had espoused the same cause which I myself had, not enjoying the same good fortune as myself; nor was I able to persuade myself [p. 458] self to think it right or fair that I should be going on in my usual routine, while that rival and imitator of my zeal and labours, who had been a companion and comrade of mine throughout, was separated from me. Therefore, you, O Caius Caesar, have reopened to me my former habits of life, which were closed up, and you have raised, as it were, a standard to all these men, as a sort of token to lead them to entertain hopes of the general welfare of the republic. [3]  For it was seen by me before in many instances, and especially in my own, and now it is clearly understood by everybody, since you have granted Marcus Marcellus to the senate and people of Rome, in spite of your recollection of all the injuries you have received at his hands, that you prefer the authority of this order and the dignity of the republic to the indulgence of your own resentment or your own suspicions.

    He, indeed, has this day reaped the greatest possible reward for the virtuous tenor of his previous life; in the great unanimity of the senate in his favour, and also in your own most dignified and important opinion of him. And from this you, in truth, must perceive what great credit there is in conferring a kindness, when there is such glory to be got even by receiving one. [4]  And he too, is fortunate whose safety is now the cause of scarcely less joy to all other men than it will be to himself when he is informed of it. And this honour has deservedly and most rightfully fallen to his lot. For who is superior to him either in nobleness of birth, or in honesty, or in zeal for virtuous studies, or in purity of life, or in any description whatever of excellence.


    There are a total of 16 comments on and cross references to this page.

    Further comments from J. B. Greenough, G. L. Kittredge, Select Orations of Cicero, Allen and Greenough's Edition.:
    section 1 (general note)
    section 1: diuturni silenti
    section 1: eram . . . usus
    section 1: verecundia
    section 1: vellem
    section 1: tantam mansuetudinem
    section 1: rerum omnium
    section 2 (general note)
    section 2: in eadem causa
    section 2: versari me
    section 3 (general note)
    section 3: in multis . . . in me ipso
    section 3: paulo ante
    section 3: omnibus
    section 3: suspicionibus
    section 3: ille

    Cross references from Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges (eds. J. B. Greenough, G. L. Kittredge, A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge):
    2, 473 [TENSES OF THE INDICATIVE]: diuturni silenti finem hodiernus dies attulit

    Cross references from J. B. Greenough, G. L. Kittredge, Select Orations of Cicero, Allen and Greenough's Edition.:
    Marc. [Argument]

    Preferred URL for linking to this page: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Marc.+1

    The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

    This text is based on the following book(s):
    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.
    OCLC: 4709897


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