M. Tullius Cicero, Philippicae, ed. Albert Curtis Clark, 30

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[30] atque utinam, patres conscripti, civibus¹ omnibus solvere nobis praemia liceret! quamquam nos ea quae promisimus studiose cumulata² reddemus. sed id quidem restat, ut spero, victoribus, quibus senatus fides praestabitur: quam quoniam³ difficillimo rei publicae tempore secuti sunt, eos numquam oportebit consili sui paenitere. sed facile est bene agere cum eis a quibus etiam tacentibus flagitari videmur: illud admirabilius et maius maximeque proprium senatus sapientis est, grata eorum⁴ virtutem memoria prosequi qui pro patria vitam profuderunt.

Philippicae. M. Tullius Cicero. ed. Albert Curtis Clark. Oxford. 1918.

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

Current edition Perseus

Philippicae (Latin) (Cicero. M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes, Vol. 6. Clark, Albert Curtis, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1918.)

Translations (1)

Philippics Perseus (Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Vol. 4. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Bell, 1856.) — 30 focus

After some time he at last went into Spain ; but, as he says, he could not arrive there in safety. How then did Dolabella manage to arrive there? Either, O Antonius, that cause ought never to have been undertaken, or when you had undertaken it, it should have been maintained to the end. Thrice did Caesar fight against his fellow-citizens; in Thessaly , in Africa , and in Spain . Dolabella was present at all these battles. In the battle in Spain he even received a wound. If you ask my opinion, I wish he had not been there. But still, if his design at first was blamable, his consistency and firmness were praiseworthy. But what shall we say of you? In the first place, the children of Cnaeus Pompeius sought to be restored to their country. Well, this concerned the common interests of the whole party. Besides that, they sought to recover their household gods, the gods of their country, their altars, their hearths, the tutelar gods of their family; all of which you had seized upon. And when they sought to recover those things by force of arms which belonged to them by the laws, who was it most natural—(although in unjust and unnatural proceedings what can there be that is natural?)—still, who was it most natural to expect would fight against the children of Cnaeus Pompeius? Who? Why, you who had bought their property. 76 Were you at Narbo to be sick over the tables of your entertainers while Dolabella was fighting your battles in Spain ?

And what return was that of yours from Narbo ? He even asked why I had returned so suddenly from my expedition. I have just briefly explained to you, O conscript fathers, the reason of my return. I was desirous, if I could, to be of service to the republic even before the first of January. For, as to your question, how I had returned in the first place, I returned by daylight, not in the dark, in the second place, I returned in shoes, and in my Roman gown, not in any Gallic slippers, or barbarian mantle. And even now you keep looking at me; and, as it seems, with great anger. Surely you would be reconciled to me if you knew how ashamed I am of your worthlessness, which you yourself are not ashamed of. Of all the profligate conduct of all the world, I never saw, I never heard of any more shameful than yours. You, who fancied yourself a master of the horse, when you were standing for, or I should rather say begging for, the consulship for the ensuing year, ran in Gallic slippers and a barbarian mantle about the municipal towns and colonies of Gaul , from which we used to demand the consulship when the consulship was stood for and not begged for.

Notes on the current edition

Philippicae

1. civibus del. Pluygers

2. cumulata P. Laetus: quam multa b. quamquam multa hv

3. quam quoniam Orelli: quamquam b1: quamquam id (idem v) cett.: quam cum Ernesti

4. grata eorum Naugerius (1): grẽ horum b: gratiarum cett.

Commentary

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

omnibus , i.e. to all, both living and dead. To the living the full reward is due only on the completion of the war; to the dead, however, it can be paid at once by being given to their heirs (see the end of the decree, sect. 36 ). 252.24

victoribus , i.e. at the end of the campaign. 252.25

quam . . . secuti sunt , i.e. relying on which (the pledge of the Senate), they followed the cause. 252.26

consili sui , their course (i.e. their espousal of the cause of good order). 252.27

quibus , i.e. the living, whose silent presence is a reminder. 252.29

senatus sapientis : the Senate, as composed of the wisest citizens, would best appreciate the importance of encouraging patriotism.

M. Tullius Cicero Philippicae 30

ed. Albert Curtis Clark

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