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41 " Cicero had lived through terrible times and his fundamental aim was to make sure that they never returned. He stood for the rule of law and the maintenance of a constitution in which all social groups could play a part, but where the Senate took the lead according to ancestral tradition. "
― Anthony Everitt , Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician
42 " Wine was served during the meal (rich and heavy, it was usually diluted with water), but the real drinking began once the food had been cleared away. This was the commissatio—a ceremonial drinking competition at which goblets had to be drained in a single gulp. Healths were drunk. This was the time for conversation and debate, which might last well into the evening, and was the Roman equivalent to the Greek symposium. "
43 " From his childhood on he had had an obstinate nature and his name became a byword for virtue and truthfulness. “That’s incredible, even if Cato says so,” was a common expression. "
44 " vital political truth: military victory can be secured only by reconciliation with the defeated. Although most empire-builders in the ancient world "
― Anthony Everitt , The Rise of Rome: The Making of the World's Greatest Empire
45 " With the decline of Italian agriculture and the provision of subsidized corn for the urban masses in the capital, Sicily was Rome’s most important provider of cereals and it was essential to ensure stability of its supply and price. The oldest of Rome’s provinces, the island had been won from the Carthaginians in 241 and, as tribute, its communities were required to export gratis 10 percent of their corn harvest to Rome. If more was needed, it could be acquired by compulsory purchase. It was the Quaestors’ job to calculate the price and the quantity of extra corn to be bought. "
46 " For most people bedtime was early, although Cicero admitted to writing speeches or books and reading papers at night (there was a Latin word for it, lucubrare—to work by lamplight). "
47 " For him, bravery was not an assertion of collective defiance and solidarity among colleagues but a solitary, obstinate act of will. "
― Anthony Everitt , Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor
48 " Livy’s worldview was moral and romantic, and most thinking people of his age shared it. In the preface to his magnum opus, he stated that writing history was a way of escaping the troubles of the modern world: “Of late years wealth has made us greedy, and self-indulgence has brought us, through every kind of sensual excess, to be, if I may so put it, in love with death both individual and collective. "
49 " Turn not your country’s hand against your country’s heart! "
50 " dubious means might subvert virtuous ends. "
51 " Personally, I am always very nervous when I begin to speak. Every time I make a speech I feel I am submitting to judgment, not only about my ability but my character and honor. I am afraid of seeing either to promise more than I can perform, which suggests complete irresponsibility, or to perform less than I can, which suggests bad faith and indifference' (Cicero in Everitt, 58). "
― Anthony Everitt
52 " in Roman culture. There was a widespread belief that traditional values were being undermined by foreign immigrants. The decadence that was perceived to permeate the Republic "
53 " Supreme Good and Evil (De finibus), "
54 " The radicals seem not to have had a clear set of proposals and seized opportunities as they came along. "
55 " He told an amusing story against himself about an incident on his journey home, a reminder that his thirst for recognition was redeemed by an endearing sense of the ridiculous. "
56 " Like Caesar, he was loyal but with this difference: he liked to do good by stealth, behind the scenes. "
57 " It was about such people that he complained to Atticus: “I will only say this, and I believe you know I am right: it was not enemies but jealous friends who ruined me. "
58 " In the months that followed he brought a rapid succession of cases to court—as he recalled, “smelling somewhat of midnight oil. "
59 " An incident occurred while Cato was speaking which caused much amusement at his expense. A letter was brought in for Caesar, and Cato immediately accused him of being in touch with the conspirators. He challenged him to read the note out loud. Caesar simply passed it across: it was a love letter from Servilia, Caesar’s mistress at the time and Cato’s half-sister. Cato threw it back angrily with the words: “Take it, you drunken idiot. "
60 " A piece of land not so very large, with a garden, and near the house a spring of ever-flowing water, and up above these a bit of woodland. "