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4.
[8]
And the things which I have said about Caesar and about his army, are, indeed,
already well known to you. For by the admirable valor of Caesar, and by the
firmness of the veteran soldiers, and by the admirable discernment of those
legions which have followed our authority, and the liberty of the Roman people,
and the valor of Caesar, Antonius has been repelled from his attempts upon our
lives. But these things, as I have said, happened before; but this recent edict
of Decimus Brutus, which has just been issued, can certainly not be passed over
in silence. For he promises to preserve the province of Gaul in obedience to the senate and people of
Rome. O citizen, born for the
republic; mindful of the name he bears; imitator of his ancestors! Nor, indeed,
was the acquisition of liberty so much an object of desire to our ancestors when
Tarquinius was expelled, as, now that Antonius is driven away, the preservation
of it is to us.
[9]
Those men had learned to obey
kings ever since the foundation of the city, but we from the time when the kings
were driven out have forgotten how to be slaves. And that Tarquinius, whom our
ancestors expelled, was not either considered or called cruel or impious, but
only The Proud. That vice which we have often borne in private individuals, our
ancestors could not endure even in a king.
Lucius Brutus could not endure a proud king. Shall Decimus Brutus submit to the
kingly power of a man who is wicked and impious? What atrocity did Tarquinius
ever commit equal to the innumerable acts of the sort which Antonius has done
and is still doing? Again, the kings were used to consult the senate; nor, as is
the ease when Antonius holds a senate, were armed barbarians ever introduced
into the council of the king. The kings paid due regard to the auspices, which
this man, though consul and augur, has neglected, not only by passing laws in
opposition to the auspices but also by making his colleague (whom he himself had
appointed irregularly, and had falsified the auspices in order to do so) join in
passing them.
[10]
Again, what king was ever so
preposterously impudent as to have all the profits and kindnesses, and
privileges of his kingdom on sale? But what immunity is there, what rights of
citizenship, what rewards that this man has not sold to individuals and to
cities and to entire provinces.? We have never heard of anything base or sordid
being imputed to Tarquinius. But at the house of this man gold was constantly
being weighed out in the spinning room, and money was being paid, and in one
single house every soul who had any interest in the business was selling the
whole empire of the Roman people. We have never heard of any executions of Roman
citizens by the orders of Tarquinius; but this man both at Suessa murdered the
man whom he had thrown into prison, and at Brundusium massacred about three hundred most gallant men and
most virtuous citizens.
[11]
Lastly, Tarquinius
was conducting a war in defense of the Roman people at the very time when he was
expelled. Antonius was leading an army against the Roman people at the time
when, being abandoned by the legions, he cowered at the name of Caesar and at
his army, and neglecting the regular sacrifices, he offered up before daylight
vows which he could never mean to perform; and at this very moment he is
endeavoring to invade a province of the Roman people. The Roman people,
therefore, has already received and is still looking for greater services at the
hand of Decimus Brutus than our ancestors received from Lucius Brutus, the
founder of this race and name which we ought to be so anxious to preserve.
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