Then, fiercely challenging for
himself a share in the glory of tyrannicide, he exclaimed:
* * * * *
"What difference is there between advice beforehand and approbation
afterward? What does it matter whether I wished it to be done, or rejoiced
that it was done? Is there a man, save Antony and those who were glad to
have Caesar reign over us, that did not wish him to be killed, or that
disapproved when he was killed? All were in fault, for all the _Boni_
joined in killing him, so far as lay in them. Some were not consulted,
some wanted courage, some opportunity. All were willing," [16]
Expressions so vehemently opposite compel us to compare them. Was it that
Cicero was so carried away by the stream of his oratory, that he spoke
like an actor, under artificial emotion which the occasion called for? Was
it that he was deliberately trying to persuade Caesar that from the Senate
he had nothing to fear, and so to put him off his guard? If, as he
declared, he himself and the _Boni_, who were listening to him,
desired so unanimously to see Caesar killed, how else can his language be
interpreted? Cicero stands before the tribunal of posterity, to which he
was so fond of appealing. In him, too, while "there is much to admire,"
"something may be found wanting."
Meanwhile the Senate went its way, still inventing fresh titles and
conferring fresh powers.
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