M. Tullius Cicero, De Imperio Cn. Pompei Ad Quirites, ed. Albert Curtis Clark, 46

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[46] 16 age vero illa res quantam declarat eiusdem hominis apud hostis populi Romani auctoritatem, quod ex locis tam longinquis tamque diversis tam brevi tempore omnes huic se uni dediderunt¹! quod a communi² Cretensium legati, cum in eorum insula noster imperator exercitusque esset, ad Cn. Pompeium in ultimas prope terras venerunt³ eique se omnis Cretensium civitates dedere velle dixerunt! quid? idem iste Mithridates nonne ad eundem Cn. Gnaeum Pompeium legatum usque in⁴ Hispaniam misit? eum quem Pompeius legatum semper iudicavit, ei quibus erat molestum⁵ ad eum potissimum esse missum speculatorem quam legatum iudicari⁶ maluerunt. potestis igitur iam constituere, Quirites⁷, hanc auctoritatem multis postea rebus gestis magnisque vestris iudiciis amplificatam quantum apud illos reges, quantum apud exteras nationes valituram esse existimetis.

De Imperio Cn. Pompei Ad Quirites. M. Tullius Cicero. ed. Albert Curtis Clark. Oxford. 1908.

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Funding provided by National Endowment For The Humanities (NEH).

Current edition Perseus

De Imperio Cn. Pompei Ad Quirites (Latin) (Cicero. M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes, Volume 1. Clark, Albert Curtis, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908.)

Translations (1)

In Defense of the Proposed Manilian Law Perseus (Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 2. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Bell, 1856.) — 46 focus

[46]
Come, now; what a great proof does this circumstance afford us of the influence of the same man on the enemies of the Roman people, that all of them, living in countries so far distant from us and from each other, surrendered themselves to him alone in so short a time? that the ambassadors of the Cretans, though there was at the time a general ¹ and an army of ours in their island came almost to the end of the world to Cnaeus Pompeius, and said, all the cities of the Cretans were willing to surrender themselves to him? What did Mithridates himself do? Did he not send an ambassador into Spain to the same Cnaeus Pompeius? a man whom Pompeius has always considered an ambassador, but who that party, to whom it has always been a source of annoyance that he was sent to him particularly, have contended was sent as a spy rather than as an ambassador. You can now, then, O Romans, form an accurate judgment how much weight you must suppose that this authority of his—now, too, that it has been further increased by many subsequent exploits, and by many commendatory resolutions of your own—will have with those kings and among foreign nations.

Notes on the current edition

De Imperio Cn. Pompei Ad Quirites

1. huic uni dederunt H

2. a communi Gulielmius: communi H: om. cett. ( de communi Cretensium cf. Bull. de Corr. Hell. xiii. pp. 58, 59, 74)

3. ultimas terras pervenerunt H

4. in ad Et

5. erat molestum H: semper erat (erat semper E) molestum Et δ: erat permolestum Klots

6. iudicare Manutius

7. Quirites om. H

Commentary

Notes on The Manilian Law (Select Orations of Cicero (Allen and Greenough's Edition). Greenough, James Bradstreet; Kittredge, George Lyman, editors. Boston, London: Ginn & Company, 1897.) focus

exercent , manage, refers to the societates publicanorum, who took contracts for collecting the revenues;

exigunt , collect, refers to the agents and slaves who attended to the details of the collection.

familias : see note on Rosc. Am., p. 15, l. 3 . The Roman slaves were not merely rude Gauls and Thracians, but educated Greeks and Asiatics. The latter served in noble families as secretaries, stewards, and tutors, and would naturally be employed by the great tax-collecting corporations as agents and servants.

saltibus , mountain pastures. Here again three classes of revenue are alluded to: scriptura ( in saltibus ), decumae ( in agris), portoria ( in portubus). Observe the art with which Cicero constantly repeats, in different order and different terms, the same detailed description of the revenues, in order to keep this important point before the minds of his hearers.

custodiis , coast-guards, stationed to prevent smuggling, at the custom-houses and toll-houses.

posse , can: for construction of posse, see § 516 , d, 584, b (307, d); G. 248, R.; H.-B. 472, d; the protasis is nisi . . . conservantis (fut. perf.).

M. Tullius Cicero De Imperio Cn. Pompei Ad Quirites 46

ed. Albert Curtis Clark

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