The position was not wholly pleasant to Cicero. "Self-respect in speech,
liberty in choosing the course which we will pursue, is all gone," he
wrote to Lentulus Spinther--"gone not more from me than from us all. We
must assent, as a matter of course, to what a few men say, or we must
differ from them to no purpose.--The relations of the Senate, of the
courts of justice, nay, of the whole Commonwealth are changed.--The
consular dignity of a firm and courageous statesman can no longer be
thought of. It has been lost by the folly of those who estranged from the
Senate the compact order of the equites and a very distinguished man
[Caesar]." [5] And again: "We must go with the times. Those who have
played a great part in public life have never been able to adhere to the
same views on all occasions. The art of navigation lies in trimming to the
storm. When you can reach your harbor by altering your course, it is a
folly to persevere in struggling against the wind. Were I entirely free I
should still act as I am doing; and when I am invited to my present
attitude by the kindness of one set of men, and am driven to it by the
injurious conduct of the other, I am content to do what I conceive will
conduce at once to my own advantage and the welfare of the State.--
Caesar's influence is enormous. His wealth is vast.
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