Page:Cicero And The Fall Of The Roman Republic.djvu/457

43 B.C.] , Romans, with such wisdom as I have, and with efforts perhaps beyond such strength a remains to me, I will keep watch and ward for you. And well I may. Is there any citizen, especially a citizen holding the rank to which you have been pleased to call me, who could so forget your favours, be so unmindful of his country, so indifferent to his honour, that his heart should not stir and kindle at the sight of your resolution? I have addressed, when I was your consul, many great assemblages; I have taken part in many such; but never did I behold such a one as yours to-day. You have one thought and one desire, to ward off the attack of Antony from the commonwealth, to quench his fury, to crush his insolence. The same wish is shared by every rank in the State; on this is set the will of the country-towns, of the colonies, of all Italy. And so the Senate, strong in its own spirit, is made the stronger by your support. The time has come, Romans, later, far later than beseemed the honour of the Roman People; but now it is so ripe that the hour brooks no delay. A fatal spell, if I may so speak, lay on us, which we bore as best we could. Now, if we are to bear, it will be because we choose to bear. Nay, but it is not written that the Roman People shall be in slavery, that people whom the will of Heaven has set to rule over all nations. The supreme hour has come; liberty is at stake. You must conquer, Romans, as you surely shall by virtue of this your devotion and your unanimity, or else you must accept the worst, anything rather than be slaves. Other nations may be able to bear the yoke; the