favors from his hands, and accept in his stead this man, a self-elected despot, who is far worse than he; this allegation is proved by the fact that Caesar spared many after his victories in war, but this follower of his before attaining any power has slaughtered three hundred soldiers, among them some centurions, guilty of no wrong, at home, in his own quarters, before the face and eyes of his wife, so that she too was defiled with blood.  What do you think that the man who treated them so cruelly, when he owed them care, will refrain from doing to all of you,—­aye, down to the utmost outrage,—­if he shall conquer?  And how can you believe that the man who has lived so licentiously even to the present time will not proceed to all extremes of wantonness, if he shall further secure the authority given by arms?

[-36-] “Do not, then, wait until you have suffered some such treatment and begin to rue it, but guard yourselves before you are molested.  It is out of the question to allow dangers to come upon you and then repent of it, when you might have anticipated them.  And do not choose to neglect the seriousness of the present situation and then ask again for another Cassius or some more Brutuses.  It is ridiculous, when we have the power of aiding ourselves in time, to seek later on men to set us free.  Perhaps we should not even find them, especially if we handle in such a way the present situation.  Who would privately choose to run risks for the democracy, when he sees that we are publicly resigned to slavery?  It must be evident to every man that Antony will not rest contented with what he is now doing, but that in far off and small concerns even he is strengthening himself against us.  He is warring against Decimus and besieging Mutina for no other purpose than to provide himself, by conquering and capturing them, with resources against us.  He has not been wronged by them that he can appear to be defending himself, nor does he merely desire the property that they possess and with this in mind endure toils and dangers, while ready and willing to relinquish that belonging to us, who own their property and much beside.  Shall we wait for him to secure the prize and still more, and so become a dangerous foe?  Shall we trust his deception when he says that he is not warring against the City? [-37-] Who is so silly as to decide whether a man is making war on us or not by his words rather than by his deeds?  I do not say that now for the first time is he unfriendly to us, when he has abandoned the City and made a campaign against allies and is assailing Brutus and besieging the cities; but on the basis of his former evil and licentious behavior, not only after Caesar’s death but even in the latter’s lifetime, I decide that he has shown himself an enemy of our government and liberty and a plotter against them.  Who that loved his country or hated tyranny would have committed a single one of the many and manifold offences laid to this man’s