Page:Cicero And The Fall Of The Roman Republic.djvu/227

61 B.C.] , Cicero professes to beg humbly for his encomiums, and pretends to hope that he will owe something to the favour of the writer beyond the simple requirements of historical truth; but this is merely an affected modesty, suitable to this studied and elaborate letter, a which he intended to serve as the model of the proper way of making such an application. In his heart of hearts Cicero believed that neither Lucceius nor any one else could praise his consulship above its deserts. This comes out clearly enough when he is writing to Atticus, with whom he has no disguise. After recounting the various records, in Greek and Latin, in verse and prose, which he has composed on his conflict with Catiline, he adds: "Now pray don't object that I am blowing my own trumpet; for if there be any human action more glorious than mine, I am content that it should receive the need of praise, and that I should incur blame for not having chosen the theme of my panegyric better—though in truth what I have written is not panegyric but sober history." And a little later, when Pompey has soiled his good name by his support of Cæsar's illegalities, though Cicero grieves over the defection of his old leader, he consoles himself with the consideration that the great rival of his own fame has thus effaced himself.