Chapter 22

53 This body then armed the consuls and the other holders of command and office against you. You would not have escaped those arms had you not fled to Caesar’s. You, you, I say, Marcus Antony, first gave Gaius Caesar, eager to throw everything into confusion, a pretext to wage war on his country. What else did he say? What reason did he offer for his utterly mad plan and deed except that Antony’s veto had been disregarded, his tribunician rights abolished, and Antony himself hemmed in by the senate? I pass over how false and trivial this was, especially since no one can ever have a just cause for taking up arms against his country. But nothing more about Caesar: you, at least, must admit that your person supplied the pretext for that most ruinous war.

54 Wretched man, if you understand it; more wretched if you do not understand that this is being written down, handed on to memory, never to be forgotten even by the posterity of every future age: that the consuls were driven from Italy; with them Gnaeus Pompey, the glory and light of the Roman people’s empire; all the former consuls whose health allowed them to endure that disaster and flight; praetors, former praetors, tribunes of the people, a great part of the senate, the entire rising generation of young men—in a word, the republic itself, driven out and banished from its own home!

55 As seeds are the source of trees and plants, so you were the seed of that most sorrowful war. You grieve that three armies of the Roman people were destroyed: Antony destroyed them. Those illustrious citizens you mourn—Antony robbed you of them as well. The authority of this body lies broken: Antony broke it. In short, if we reckon rightly, everything we have since witnessed—and what evil have we not witnessed?—must be entered to Antony’s account alone. As Helen was to the Trojans, so he was to this republic: the cause of war, the cause of plague and destruction. The remaining acts of his tribunate matched its beginning. He accomplished everything the senate had successfully prevented from happening while the republic stood safe. Yet recognize the crime within his crime.

53 Then this body gave the consuls weapons against you. It gave them to the other military commanders and public officials too. You wouldn’t have escaped those weapons without joining Caesar’s army. You, you, Antony—I mean you—first gave Caesar his excuse to wage war on his country. He wanted to throw everything into chaos. What else did he say? What reason did he give for his utterly insane plan and actions? Only that Antony’s veto had been ignored, his rights as tribune abolished, and the senate had restricted his powers. I’ll leave aside how false and flimsy these claims were. Above all, nobody can ever have a good reason to take up arms against their country. But no more about Caesar. You, at least, must admit this: you yourself supplied the excuse for that devastating war.

54 You’re miserable if you understand all this. You’re more miserable if you don’t. It’s being written down. It’s being passed on to memory. No future generation, in any age, will ever forget it. The consuls were driven out of Italy. Pompey went with them, the glory and shining light of Roman power. Every former consul whose health allowed it joined that disaster and flight. So did praetors, former praetors, and the people’s tribunes. So did a large part of the senate and the whole rising generation of young men. In short, the republic itself was driven out and uprooted from its home!

55 Seeds produce trees and plants. You were the seed that produced this most sorrowful war. You grieve for three Roman armies destroyed. Antony destroyed them. You miss our most distinguished citizens. Antony took them from you too. This body’s authority has been crushed. Antony crushed it. Think it through properly. We’ll charge Antony alone with everything we’ve seen since. And what evil haven’t we seen? Helen caused the Trojans’ war. This man caused our republic’s war, its ruin, its destruction. The rest of his tribunate matched its beginning. The senate had kept those things from happening while the republic was safe. He brought them all about. But look at this further crime within his crimes.