been sent ahead and united, there was fear that when they heard of
Caesar's assassination they might revolt, put some inferior man at their
head, and begin to wage war again: so it seemed good to you, taking a
proper and excellent course, to place in command of them Antony the
consul, who was charged with the promotion of harmony, who had rejected
the dictatorship entirely from the system of government. And that is the
reason that you gave him Gaul in place of Macedonia, that he should stay
here in Italy, committing no harm, and do at once whatever errand was
assigned him by you.

[-25-] "This I have said to you that you may know that you decided
rightly. For Cicero that other point of mine was sufficient,--namely,
that he was present during all these proceedings and helped us to pass
the measures, though Antony had not a soldier at the time and could not
have brought to bear on us pressure in the shape of any terror that would
have made us neglect a single point of our interest. But even if you were
then silent, tell us now at least: what ought we to have done under the
circumstances? Leave the legions leaderless? Would they have failed
to fill both Macedonia and Italy with countless evils? Commit them to
another? And whom could we have found more closely related and suited
to the business than Antony, the consul, the director of all the city's
affairs, the one who had taken such good care of harmony among us, the
one who had given countless examples of his affection for the State? Some
one of the assassins, perhaps? Why, it wasn't even safe for them to live
in the city. Some one of the party opposed to them? Everybody suspected
those people. What other man was there surpassing him in esteem,
excelling him in experience? Or are you vexed that we did not choose you?
What kind of administration would you have given? What would you not have
done when you got arms and soldiers, considering that you occasioned so
many and so great instances of turmoil in your consulship as a result of