If it did not take us too far from our chosen subject, it would be interesting to stop and consider at length what effect Cicero’s intimate relations with these young men had upon his character, his political views, his personal fortunes, and the course of politics.  That they kept him young in his interests and sympathies, that they kept his mind alert and receptive, comes out clearly in his letters to them, which are full of jest and raillery and enthusiasm.  That he never developed into a Tory, as Catulus did, or became indifferent to political conditions, as Lucullus did, may have been due in part to his intimate association with this group of enthusiastic young politicians.  So far as his personal fortunes were concerned, when the struggle between Caesar and Pompey came, these former pupils of Cicero had an opportunity to show their attachment and their gratitude to him. They were followers of Caesar, and he cast in his lot with Pompey.  But this made no difference in their relations.  To the contrary, they gave him advice and help; in their most hurried journeys they found time to visit him, and they interceded with Caesar in his behalf.  To determine whether he influenced the fortunes of the state through the effect which his teachings had upon these young men would require a paper by itself.  Perhaps no man has ever had a better opportunity than Cicero had in their cases to leave a lasting impression on the political leaders of the coming generation.  Curio, Caelius, Trebatius, Dolabella, Hirtius, and Pansa, who were Caesar’s lieutenants, in the years when their characters were forming and their political tendencies were being determined, were moulded by Cicero.  They were warmly attached to him as their guide, philosopher, and friend, and they admired him as a writer, an orator, and an accomplished man of the world.  Later they attached themselves to Caesar, and while they were still under his spell, Cicero’s influence over their political course does not seem to count for so much, but after Caesar’s death, the latent effect of Cicero’s friendship and teaching makes itself clearly felt in the heroic service which such men as Hirtius and Pansa rendered to the cause of the dying Republic.  Possibly even Curio, had he been living, might have been found, after the Ides of March, fighting by the side of Cicero.

Perhaps there is no better way of bringing out the intimate relations which Curio and the other young men of this group bore to the orator than by translating one of Cicero’s early letters to him.  It was written in 53 B.C., when the young man was in Asia, just beginning his political career as quaestor, or treasurer, on the staff of the governor of that province, and reads:[119]