Chapter 13

31 Listen a little, then, and for one moment adopt the thoughts of a sober man. I, who admit myself their friend and whom you accuse of being their accomplice, deny that there is any middle ground. I acknowledge that, unless they are liberators of the Roman people and saviors of the republic, they are worse than assassins, worse than murderers, worse even than men who kill their fathers—if indeed killing the father of one’s country is more atrocious than killing one’s own. What do you say, wise and thoughtful man? If they are parricides, why have you always named them with respect, both in this body and before the Roman people? Why, on your motion, was Marcus Brutus exempted from the laws if he should be absent from the city for more than ten days? Why were the Games of Apollo celebrated with extraordinary honor to Marcus Brutus? Why were provinces assigned to Brutus and Cassius, quaestors attached to them, and the number of their lieutenants increased? Yet all this was done through you. They are not murderers, then. It follows that, in your judgment, they are liberators, since no third possibility exists.

32 What is it? Am I confusing you? Perhaps you do not quite understand arguments whose points are set some distance apart. Here, however, is the sum of my conclusion: since you acquitted them of crime, you also judged them worthy of the highest rewards. And so I am now unweaving my own speech. I shall write and tell them that, if anyone happens to ask whether your accusation against me is true, they should deny it to no one. For I fear that their having kept me in the dark would reflect badly on them, while my having refused an invitation would be utterly shameful for me. What deed, holy Jupiter, has ever been done, not merely in this city but in all the world, that was greater, more glorious, more worthy of humanity’s everlasting remembrance? Do you shut me among the leaders of this enterprise as though inside the Trojan horse?

33 I do not object; indeed I thank you, whatever your intention. The deed is so great that the hostility you wish to stir against me cannot weigh beside its glory. Who could be happier than the men you boast of having driven out and banished? What place is so deserted or so uncivilized that, when they approach, it does not seem to speak to them and reach out to welcome them? What people are so rough that, on seeing them, they do not think they have received life’s greatest reward? What forgetful posterity, what ungrateful literature will ever be found that fails to preserve their glory in immortal remembrance? By all means enroll me among such men.

31 Pay attention for a moment. Try thinking like a sober man, just briefly. I admit I’m their friend. You accuse me of being their partner. And I say there’s no middle ground. Unless they freed the Roman people and saved the republic, they’re worse than assassins. They’re worse than murderers, even worse than men who kill their fathers. That’s if killing your country’s father is worse than killing your own. You’re such a wise, thoughtful man. What’s your answer? If you call them father-killers, why have you always spoken of them with honor? You’ve done that here in the Senate and before the Roman people. Why did you propose exempting Marcus Brutus from the laws if he stayed outside Rome for over ten days? Why were the Games of Apollo held with such extraordinary honors for Marcus Brutus? Why did Brutus and Cassius get provinces? Why were they given quaestors? Why were their staffs of deputies increased? You brought all this about. So they’re not murderers. That means you judge them to be liberators. There’s no third choice.

32 What’s wrong? Am I confusing you? Perhaps you don’t quite understand arguments that set out separate alternatives. Still, here’s what my argument comes down to. You cleared them of a crime. You also judged them worthy of the greatest rewards. So now I’ll take back my earlier words. I’ll write to them about your accusation against me. If anyone asks whether it’s true, they shouldn’t deny it. I’m afraid it would reflect badly on them to have kept me in the dark. And I’d be utterly ashamed to have turned down an invitation. Holy Jupiter! What greater deed has ever been done, not just in this city, but anywhere on earth? What deed was more glorious? What deed has a better claim to be remembered forever? Are you putting me inside this plot with its leading men, as though inside the Trojan horse?

33 I don’t object. I even thank you, whatever your purpose is. The deed is so great that the hatred you want to stir up against me counts for nothing beside the praise. Who could be happier than these men? You boast that you drove them out and banished them. But what place is so empty or uncivilized that it wouldn’t seem to greet them and reach out as they approached? What people are so uncultured that seeing them wouldn’t seem life’s greatest reward? What future generations could be so forgetful? What histories could be so ungrateful that they wouldn’t keep their glory alive forever? Go ahead and put me among men like that.