To their full measure I will satisfy.

MANLIUS. And I who fought so bravely for the glory
And might which now the vaunting tyrants boast!
I shall--! If but the brave old band were here,
My comrades of the battlefield! But no;
The greater part of them, alas, is dead;
The rest live scattering in many lands.--

MANLIUS. Oh, what are you, the younger blood, to them?
You bend and cringe before authority;
You dare not break the chains that bind you fast;
You suffer patiently this life of bondage!

LENTULUS. By all the Gods,--although indeed he taunts us,
Yet, Romans, is there truth in what he says.

CETHEGUS. Oh, well,--what of it? He is right, we grant,
But where shall we begin? Ay, there's the rub.

LENTULUS. Yes, it is true. Too long have we endured
This great oppression. Now--now is the time
To break the bonds asunder that injustice
And vain ambition have about us forged.

STATILIUS. Ah, Lentulus, I understand. Yet hold;
For such a thing we need a mighty leader,--
With pluck and vision. Where can he be found?

LENTULUS. I know a man who has the power to lead us.