Political Speeches (Oxford World's Classics) Read Online Free

(he was of patrician birth), thus enabling him to stand for election to the tribunate of the plebs, the office traditionally sought by popular politicians who wished to propose radical legislation or, in conservative eyes, to stir up trouble. Clodius was duly elected and, as tribune in 58, he proposed a bill outlawing anyone who had put a Roman citizen to death without trial. The senate put on mourning for Cicero and the towns of Italy passed resolutions in his favour. But Clodius, who had earlier carried a law to provide the people with free grain for the first time, had the support of the urban plebs. More importantly, he also had the tacit support of the triumvirs, who were angered at Cicero’s rejection of their advances and worried that he might lead the conservatives inthe senate in an attack on their position. The consuls Piso and Gabinius did as the triumvirs wanted, and instructed the senate to resume normal dress. Cicero’s support melted away, and he himself left for exile in Macedonia on the day that Clodius’ law was passed. His house in Rome was plundered and burned, and Clodius consecrated the site as a shrine to Libertas (‘Liberty’), in order to portray Cicero as a tyrant and to prevent rebuilding.
    Cicero’s exile, which lasted almost eighteen months, was the biggest disaster of his life. He had saved Rome, and had been exiled for his pains. The charge was executing citizens without trial; yet he had been denied a trial himself. In his despair he thought of suicide. Publicly he represented his departure as a deliberate act of self-sacrifice, intended to save Rome from the likelihood of civil war—the second time he had saved the city. But privately he felt he should have stood his ground. He was recalled to Rome the following year, when the triumvirs concluded that Clodius had become an obstacle to their plans. His actual return was glorious and gratifying. On Pompey’s motion the senate passed a decree, unanimous with the single exception of Clodius, describing Cicero as the saviour of his country; and the people passed a bill authorizing his recall. His journey through Italy resembled a triumphal procession: towns passed resolutions honouring him, and he was escorted by cheering crowds. But he never recovered from the blow to his pride; and, as the price of his recall, he had had to assure the triumvirs that in future he would serve their interests.
    The speeches he gave in 57 and 56 are known as the
Post reditum
(‘After his return’) speeches.
Post reditum in senatu
(‘in the senate’, 57) and
Post reditum ad quirites
(‘to the citizens’, 57) offered thanks for his restoration.
De domo sua
(‘On his house’, 57) and
De haruspicum responsis
(‘On the answers of the omen-interpreters’, 56) dealt with the religious aspects of his feud with Clodius; he successfully persuaded the pontiffs that Clodius’ consecration of the site of his house in Rome had been invalid, and he secured compensation to enable him to rebuild. Other speeches of this period included defences of people who had campaigned for his recall and opposed Clodius. Publius Sestius and Titus Annius Milo were tribunes in 57 who had used violence against Clodius and worked tirelessly for Cicero’s recall. Sestius was prosecuted in 56 by dependants of Clodius, was defended by Hortensius, Crassus, and Cicero (the sameteam that had defended Murena in 63), and was unanimously acquitted. Cicero’s
Pro Sestio
(‘For Sestius’) contains a full exposition of the orator’s own political standpoint: the state can be divided into patriots and traitors, with Sestius and Milo and the majority of Roman citizens of all classes belonging to the former category, and Clodius, Piso, and Gabinius to the latter.
    A month later Cicero was to revenge himself on Clodius in a more personal way. A former friend of Clodius’, Marcus Caelius Rufus, was prosecuted on an array of charges: violence, murder, and the attempted poisoning of Clodius’