Page:Cicero And The Fall Of The Roman Republic.djvu/211

60 B.C.]

the pattern on that triumphal robe of his. Crassus will not say a word to hazard his popularity: for the rest, you know them; they are so stupid that they think that the State may founder, and yet that their fish-ponds will be safe. The single man who cares for the public good is Cato; and he brings to the work principle and honesty, but, as it seems to me, very little judgment or sense." Next month, Cicero gives to his friend a fuller explanation of the political situation and of his own relations to Pompey. Ever since his consulship he has "never ceased to act in politics with the same great aims, and worthily to maintain the dignity then achieved." But the acquittal of Clodius, the weakness of the equestrian order, and the jealousy of the Nobles—" all made me feel that I must look out or some stronger forces and more trustworthy defences. My first concern was with Pompey. He had held his tongue far too long; but I brought him round to a proper state of mind; so that, speaking in the Senate on several occasions, he ascribed the preservation of the Empire and the peace of the world to my action." Again in May we find : "In your observations on affairs of State you argue like a true friend and a man of sense, and what you say is really not far away from my own sentiments. I quite agree with