Of all the lost writings,
however, the most to be regretted is the "Anti-Cato." After Cato's death
Cicero published a panegyric upon him. To praise Cato was to condemn
Caesar; and Caesar replied with a sketch of the Martyr of Utica as he had
himself known him. The pamphlet, had it survived, would have shown how far
Caesar was able to extend the forbearance so conspicuous in his other
writings to the most respectable and the most inveterate of his enemies.
The verdict of fact and the verdict of literature on the great controversy
between them have been summed up in the memorable line of Lucan--
Victrix causa Deis placuit, sed victa Catoni.
Was Cato right, or were the gods right? Perhaps both. There is a legend
that at the death of Charles V. the accusing angel appeared in heaven with
a catalogue of deeds which no advocate could palliate--countries laid
desolate, cities sacked and burnt, lists of hundreds of thousands of
widows and children brought to misery by the political ambition of a
single man. The evil spirit demanded the offender's soul, and it seemed as
if mercy itself could not refuse him the award. But at the last moment the
Supreme Judge interfered. The Emperor, He said, had been sent into the
world at a peculiar time, for a peculiar purpose, and was not to be tried
by the ordinary rules.
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