w inscribed
again on the tablet and perished, whereas Marcus Valerius Messala,
condemned to death by Antony, not only continued to live in safety but
was later appointed consul in place of Antony himself. Thus many survive
from inextricable difficulties and no fewer are ruined through a spirit
of confidence. Hence a man ought not to be alarmed to the point of
hopelessness by the calamities of the moment, nor to be elated to
heedlessness by temporary exultation, but by placing his hope of the
future half-way between both to make reliable calculations for either
event. [-12-] This is the way it befell at that time: very many of those
not proscribed were involved in the downfall of others on account of
spite or money, and very many whose names were proclaimed not only
survived but returned to their homes again, and some of them even held
offices. They had a refuge, of course, with Brutus and Cassius and
Sextus, and the majority directed their flight toward the last mentioned.
He had been chosen formerly to command the fleet and had held sway for
some time on the sea, so that he had surrounded himself with a force of
his own, though he was afterward deprived of his office by Caesar. He had
occupied Sicily, and then, when the order of proscription was passed
against him, too, a host of assassinations took place, he aided greatly
those who were in like condition. Anchoring near the coast of Italy he
sent word to Rome and to the other cities offering among other things to
those who saved anybody double the reward advertised for murdering the
same and promising to the men themselves a reception and assistance and
money and honors. [-13-] Therefore great numbers came to him. I have
not even now recorded the precise total of those who were proscribed or
slaughtered or who escaped, because many names originally inscribed on
the tablets were erased and many were later inscribed in their place, and
of these not a few were saved while many outside of these succumbed.
It was not even allowed anybody to mourn for the victims, but several
perished from this cause also. And finally, when the calamities broke
through all the pretence they could assume and no one even of the most
stout-hearted could any longer wear an air of indifference to them, but
in all their work and conversation their countenances were overcast and
they were not intending to celebrate the usual festival at the beginning
of the year, they were ordered by a public notice