reached our ears. Nor is it probable that a man in addressing his son
as to rules of life would have spoken against a method of gathering
riches which, had he practised it himself, must have been known to his
son. His rules were severe as compared with the habits of the time.
His dear friend Atticus did not so govern his conduct, or Brutus, who,
when he wrote the De Officiis, was only less dear to him than Atticus.
But Cicero himself seems to have done so faithfully. We learn from his
letter that he owned house-property in Rome to a considerable extent,
having probably thus invested his own money or that of his wife. He
inherited also the family house at Arpinum. He makes it a matter for
boasting that he had received in the course of his life by legacies
nearly L200,000 (twenty million sesterces), in itself a source of
great income, and one common with Romans of high position.[81] Of the
extent of his income it is impossible to speak, or even make a guess.
But we do know that he lived always as a rich man--as one who regards
such a condition of life as essentially proper to him; and that though
he was often in debt, as was customary with noble Romans, he could
always write about his debts in a vein of pleasantry, showing that
they were not a heavy burden to him; and we know that he could at all
times command for himself villas, books, statues, ornaments, columns,
galleries, charming shades, and all the delicious appendages of
mingled wealth and intelligence. He was as might be some English
marquis, who, though up to his eyes in mortgages, is quite sure that
he will never want any of the luxuries befitting a marquis. Though we
have no authority to tell us how his condition of life became what it
was, it is necessary that we should understand that condition if we
are to get a clear insight into his life. Of that condition we have
ample evidence. He commenced his career as a youth upon whose behalf
nothing was spared, and when he settled himself in Rome, with the
purport of winning for himself the highest honors of the Republic, he