Curiosity and even prudence might have tempted him to look into it. His
only wish was that the past should be forgotten: he burnt the whole mass
of papers unread.
Would the war now end? That was the question. Caesar thought that it would
not end as long as Pompey was at large. The feelings of others may be
gathered out of abridgments from Cicero's letters:
_Cicero to Plancius_.[7]
"Victory on one side meant massacre, on the other slavery. It consoles me
to remember that I foresaw these things, and as much feared the success of
our cause as the defeat of it. I attached myself to Pompey's party more in
hope of peace than from desire of war; but I saw, if we had the better,
how cruel would be the triumph of an exasperated, avaricious, and insolent
set of men; if we were defeated, how many of our wealthiest and noblest
citizens must fall. Yet when I argued thus and offered my advice I was
taunted for being a coward."
_Cicero to Caius Cassius_.[8]
"We were both opposed to a continuance of the war [after Pharsalia]. I,
perhaps, more than you; but we agreed that one battle should be accepted
as decisive, if not of the whole cause, yet of our own judgment upon it.
Nor were there any who differed from us save those who thought it better
that the Constitution should be destroyed altogether than be preserved
with diminished prerogatives.
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