Pompey would have made a personal quarrel of it with me. He would have
come into the city.[9]--He would have taken up with Clodius again. I
know that I was wise, and I hope that you agree with me. I owe Pompey
nothing, and he owes much to me; but in public matters (not to put it more
strongly) he has not allowed me to oppose him; and when I was flourishing
and he was less powerful than he is now, he let me see what he could do.
Now when I am not even ambitious of power, and the constitution is broken
down, and Pompey is omnipotent, why should I contend with him? Then, says
Sallust, I ought to have pleased Pompey by defending Gabinius, as he was
anxious that I should. A nice friend Sallust, who would have me push
myself into dangerous quarrels, or cover myself with eternal infamy!" [10]
Unhappy Cicero, wishing to act honorably, but without manliness to face
the consequences! He knew that it would be infamous for him to defend
Gabinius, yet at the second trial Cicero, who had led the attack on him in
the Senate, and had heaped invectives on him, the most bitter which he
ever uttered against man, nevertheless actually did defend Gabinius.
Perhaps he consoled himself with the certainty that his eloquence would be
in vain, and that his extraordinary client this time could not escape
conviction. Any way, he appeared at the bar as Gabinius's counsel.
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