MARCUS CLAUDIUS MARCELLUS (consul, B.C. 51) had been an honest but active and bitter partisan of the Senate in the struggle which finally broke out in civil war. It was he who introduced the several decrees which set a limit to Cæsar's power and put him in the attitude of a public enemy. Even after the defeat at Pharsalia, and the death of Pompey, he refused to make terms with the victor, and remained in voluntary exile at Mitylene. When, contrary to the general fear, no massacre or proscription followed Cæsar's victory, the friends of Marcellus were encouraged to hope for a full pardon; and, in the summer of B.C. 46, at a meeting of the Senate, Cæsar was openly entreated in his behalf. In reply, the dictator reminded the senators of the intense and persistent hostility of Marcellus; but added that he would not stand in the way if the Senate desired his restoration. The senators were accordingly called on for the expression of their wishes; and, when it came to Cicero's turn, he expressed the formal thanks of the body in the following speech. The oration is remarkable—especially in contrast to the language which Cicero used two years later - for

its tone of eulogy in regard to Cæsar, and for the hope it expresses of an era of good feeling and a restored republic.

Marcellus set out for Rome, but never arrived. He was assassinated at the Piræus, and buried in the Academy near Athens.

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Cicero's Long Silence Broken

IUTURNI silenti, patres conscripti, quo eram his temporibus usus non timore aliquo, sed partim dolore, partim verecundia - finem hodiernus dies attulit, idemque initium quae vellem quaeque sentirem meo pristino more 5 dicendi. Tantam enim mansuetudinem, tam inusitatam inauditamque clementiam, tantum in summa potestate rerum omnium modum, tam denique incredibilem sapientiam ac paene divinam, tacitus praeterire nullo modo possum. 2. M. enim Marcello vobis, patres conscripti, reique publiIo cae reddito, non illius solum, sed etiam meam vocem et auctoritatem et vobis et rei publicae conservatam ac restitutam puto. Dolebam enim, patres conscripti, et vehementer angebar, virum talem, cum in eadem causa in qua ego fuisset, non in eadem esse fortuna; nec mihi persuadere 15 poteram, nec fas esse ducebam, versari me in nostro vetere curriculo, illo aemulo atque imitatore studiorum ac laborum meorum, quasi quodam socio a me et comite, distracto.

Cæsar's Pardon of Marcellus an Earnest of a Restored Republic

Ergo et mihi meae pristinae vitae consuetudinem, C. Caesar, interclusam aperuisti, et his omnibus ad bene de 20 [omni] re publica sperandum quasi signum aliquod sustulisti. 3. Intellectum est enim mihi quidem in multis, et maxime in me ipso, sed paulo ante [in] omnibus, cum M. Marcellum senatui reique publicae concessisti, commemoratis praesertim offensionibus, te auctoritatem hujus 25 ordinis dignitatemque rei publicae tuis vel doloribus vel suspicionibus anteferre. Ille quidem fructum omnis ante

actae vitae hodierno die maximum cepit, cum summo consensu senatus, tum judicio tuo gravissimo et maximo. Ex quo profecto intellegis quanta in dato beneficio sit laus, cum in accepto sit tanta gloria. Est vero fortunatus ille, cujus ex salute non minor paene ad omnis quam ad ipsum 5 ventura sit laetitia pervenerit. 4. Quod quidem ei merito atque optimo jure contigit. Quis enim est illo aut nobilitate aut probitate aut optimarum artium studio aut innocentia aut ullo laudis genere praestantior?

This is the Greatest of Cæsar's Deeds

II. Nullius tantum flumen est ingeni, nullius dicendi aut 10 scribendi tanta vis, tanta copia, quae non dicam exornare, sed enarrare, C. Caesar, res tuas gestas possit. Tamen adfirmo, et hoc pace dicam tua, nullam in his esse laudem ampliorem quam eam quam hodierno die consecutus es. 5. Soleo saepe ante oculos ponere, idque libenter crebris 15 usurpare sermonibus, omnis nostrorum imperatorum, omnis exterarum gentium potentissimorumque populorum, omnis clarissimorum regum res gestas, cum tuis nec contentionum magnitudine nec numero proeliorum nec varietate regionum nec celeritate conficiendi nec dissimilitudine bellorum posse 20 conferri; nec vero disjunctissimas terras citius passibus cujusquam potuisse peragrari, quam tuis non dicam cursibus, sed victoriis lustratae sunt. 6. Quae quidem ego nisi ita magna esse fatear, ut ea vix cujusquam mens aut cogitatio capere possit, amens sim: sed tamen sunt alia majora. 25 Nam bellicas laudes solent quidam extenuare verbis, easque detrahere ducibus, communicare cum multis, ne propriae sint imperatorum. Et certe in armis militum virtus, locorum opportunitas, auxilia sociorum, classes, commeatus multum juvant: maximam vero partem quasi suo jure Fortuna 30 sibi vindicat, et quicquid prospere gestum est, id paene omne ducit suum. 7. At vero hujus gloriae, C. Caesar,