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 CICERO 575 very severe against the profession of law, to which Rufus belonged ; his remarks must be received with considerable allowance, as it was the custom then, as now, for an orator to at- tempt to prejudice an audience against his op- ponent by digressions upon such topics as his profession, and by allusions to various matters foreign to the case in hand ; by substituting a vacillating jury for a fickle populace, this case might very well have been argued before a su- preme court of the 19th century. The 13th, Pro C. Cornelia Sulla, who had been accused of taking a part in Catiline's conspiracy. The 14th, Pro L. Valeria Flacco, in 59; he had just returned from Asia, which he had gov- erned as propraetor ; he was defended with the greater readiness, as Flaccus was praetor when Cicero was consul in 63. The 15th, Pro Aulo Licinio Archia, the teacher of Cicero ; his title to the rights of citizenship had been called in question, and Cicero maintains it with consum- mate skill, fine language, and excellent method ; although the genuineness of this oration has been doubted by some, who find in it marks of carelessness and levity. The 16th consists of four orations, Ad Quirites, In Senatu, Pro J)omo sua ad Pontifices, De Haruspicum Re- sponsis, in 57 ; these relate to his domestic af- fairs ; their authenticity was called in question by Markland, an English scholar, in 1745, who styles them mere rhetorical exercises; this opinion has been opposed with great eagerness by Ross, Gesner, and Wolf. The 17th, Pro Cneio Plancio, in 55 ; he had been accused of using improper means to obtain the praetor- ship, and was defended by Cicero, whom he had hospitably received when in exile; this oration was much altered after its delivery. The 18th, Pro Publio Sextio, in 56; he had also treated Cicero kindly when in exile, and was a bitter enemy of Clodius. The 19th, In Vatinium ; this is connected with the last, and is an examination of Vatinius, a witness against Sextius. The 20th, Pro M. Ccelio Rufo, in 56; he was accused of murder. The 21st, De Provinciis Comularibus, in 56. The 22d, Pro L. Cornelio Balbo, in 56 ; his title to the rights of citizenship, presented to him by Pom- pey, was called in question. The 23d, In L. Calpurnium Pisonem, in 55, delivered before the senate ; this is a reply to Piso, who, when governor of Macedonia, had been recalled through the influence of Cicero ; it is the most severe and bitter of all his orations, displaying the whole political career and secret actions of Piso ; the beginning is lost. The 24th, Pro Tito Annio Milone, who was accused of the murder of Clodius, delivered in 52, but written down much later ; though unsuccessful, this is considered by many one of his best speeches ; Cicero, moreover, took a personal interest in the case for political reasons ; there is a part of a commentary upon it by Asconius. The 25th, Pro C. Rabirio Posthumo, in 54; he was accused of being connected with Gabinius in the mismanagement in Syria; Cicero has been much 191 VOL. iv. 37 blamed for pleading this case. The 26th, Pro M. Marcello, in 47, before the senate ; this was to obtain the recall of Marcellus from exile, and was the first delivered after Caesar became the head of the state; it was written down long after it was delivered, yet it is one of his best for its style, language, and method; it had always passed for one of Cicero's best orations until the time of Wolf, who denied that he wrote it at all, and published a pamphlet to prove that it is only a rhetorical performance at the schools ; this pamphlet is perhaps one of the best specimens of modern Latin extant; the statement met with many opponents, especially Jacob, who would not give up the opinion of centuries so easily. The 27th, Pro Q. Ligario, in 46 ; he was a partisan of Pompey, and was suc- cessfully defended by Cicero against Tubero. The 28th, Pro Deiotaro, the tetrarch of Galatia, and the friend of Pompey, who was accused of conspiring to murder Caesar, in 45 ; he was defended with success. The 29th, Orationea quatuordecim in M. Antonium, sometimes call- ed the " Philippics," in imitation of those of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon ; writ- ten between September, 44, and May, 43, and designed to defeat the ambitious schemes of Antony; the second, which is the best, was not delivered; it is a reply to an attack by Antony in the senate. These orations may be considered as the cause of Cicero's murder, as they kindled a flame of vengeance in the breast of Antony which nothing but his blood could extinguish ; the language is forcible, pure, and elegant ; besides exposing the public and private life of Antony, they afford important materials for the history of that troubled peri- od. These are all the orations of Cicero which we have nearly or quite complete ; there are some imperfect ones, of which may be men- tioned the Commentarii, said to be in 13 books ; they were probably notes, which he used when he afterward wrote out his speeches ; the loss of these is much to be regretted ; Pro C. Cor- nelio ; Pro Toga Candida adversus Competi- tores ; Pro M. jEmilio Scauro; De L. Othone, to allay the tumult which had arisen on ac- count of the division of the seats at the thea- tre. In connection with the orations of Cicero, should be mentioned those by whom new frag- ments have been discovered ; the most cele- brated is Angelo Mai, for many years the libra- rian of the Vatican; others are Peyron and Niebuhr. As an orator, Cicero is without doubt the greatest his country ever produced ; even in his own time he was placed by the side of Demosthenes. He exhibits the happy medium between the dryness *f Demosthenes and the exuberance of the Asiatic school ; no ancient orator could so easily and naturally turn the feelings of an audience in any desired direction. With Cicero Roman eloquence attained its highest excellence, and after him rapidly de- clined ; the condition of the state did not permit its exercise for any but political pur- poses ; it fell into the hands of rhetoricians,