men. That you were right and were justified in doing all this no one is
unaware. If any slight errors have been committed, at least we cannot
safely make any further changes. Therefore for our own sakes and for that
of the city let us obey Fortune, who gives you the supremacy. Let us be
very thankful to her that she has not simply filled us with civil woes,
but has put the reorganization of the government in your hands. By paying
due reverence to her you may show all mankind that whereas others wrought
disturbance and injury, you are an upright man.

"Do not, I beg you, fear the magnitude of the empire. The greater its
extent, the more are the preservative influences it possesses; also, to
guard anything is a long way easier than to acquire it. Toils and dangers
are needed to win over what belongs to others, but a little prudence
suffices to retain what is already yours. Moreover, do not be afraid
that you will not live quite safely in the midst of it and enjoy all the
blessings extant among men, if you are willing to arrange all the details
as I shall advise you. And do not think that I am making my appeal depart
from the subject in hand, if I shall speak at some length about the
project. I shall not do this merely to hear myself talk, but to the end
that you may be positively assured that it is both possible and easy, for
a man of sense at least, to govern well and without danger.

[-19-] "I maintain, therefore, first of all that you ought to pick out
your friends in the senatorial body and then subject it to a sifting
process, because some who are not fit have become senators on account
of civil disputes: such of them as possess any excellence you ought to
retain, but the rest you should erase from the roll. Do not, however, get
rid of any man of worth, because of poverty, but give him the money that
he needs. In the place of those who have been dropped introduce the
noblest, the best, the richest men obtainable, selecting them not only