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44 B.C.]

19th of December, and at this meeting Cicero laid before the House a statement of the policy which he was prepared to recommend. He protested that there had been already too much delay, and urged the Senate to pledge itself as soon as possible to a decisive line of conduct. His speech ended with a motion, expressing full approval of the action of Decimus Brutus, of Octavian, and of the soldiers who had supported them, and a resolution to this effect was passed by the House.

Following out this policy to its logical conclusion, Cicero on the 1st of January proposed that Octavian should be invested with the "imperium" of a pro-prætor, necessary to legalise the command he had assumed over his troops. On this occasion he solemnly assured the Senate that the young Cæsar had sacrificed all his private resentments to the good of the commonwealth, and that his loyalty and good faith might be implicitly trusted. "I venture to pledge my word for him to you and to the Roman People. Judge if I have good cause, when I dare to do this without fear lest you should think me rash in hazarding an assertion on a matter of such moment. I promise, I undertake, I go surety, Senators, that Caius Cæsar will always be such a citizen as he shows himself today, that is to say such a one as we should most earnestly desire and hope." This pledge remained unredeemed, but Cicero sealed his words with his