was killed by Ahala, his master of the horse. There seems to have been
little evidence of his actual guilt.] have aided them in the endeavor to
usurp regal power? We saw, indeed, Tiberius Gracchus, when he was
disturbing the peace of the State, deserted by Quintus Tubero and others
with whom he had been on terms of intimacy. But Caius Blossius, of
Cumae, the guest,[Footnote: _Hospes,_ guest, host, or both.] Scaevola,
of your family, coming to me, when I was in conference with the Consuls
Laenas and Rupilius, to implore pardon, urged the plea that he held
Tiberius Gracchus in so dear esteem that he felt bound to do whatever he
desired. I then asked him, "Even if he had wanted you to set fire to the
Capitol, would you have done it?" He replied, "He never would have made
such a request." "But if he had?" said I. "I would have obeyed him," was
the answer. And, by Hercules, he did as he said, or even more; for he
did not so much yield obedience to the audacious schemes of Tiberius
Gracchus, as he was foremost in them; he was not so much the companion
of his madness, as its leader. Therefore, in consequence of this folly,
alarmed by the appointment of special judges for his trial, he fled to
Asia, entered the service of our enemies, and finally met the heavy and
just punishment for his disloyalty to his country. [Footnote: He took
refuge with Aristonicus, King of Pergamus, then at war with Rome; and
when Aristonicus was conquered, Blossius committed suicide for fear of
being captured by the Roman army.]

It is, then, no excuse for wrong-doing that you do wrong for the sake of
a friend. Indeed, since it may have been a belief in your virtue that
has made one your friend, it is hard for friendship to last if you fall
away from virtue. But if we should determine either to concede to
friends whatever they may ask, or to exact from them whatever we may
desire, we and they must be endowed with perfect wisdom, in order for
our friendship to be blameless. We are speaking, however, of such