at of raising levies, the duties of which were
not officially repugnant to his triumph.

His doings during the whole of this time were but little to his credit;
but who is there whose doings were to his credit at that period? The
effect had been to take all power out of his hand. Caesar had given him
up. Pompey could not do so, but we can imagine how willing Pompey would
have been that he should have remained in Cilicia. He had been sent
there, out of the way, but had hurried home again. If he would only have
remained and plundered! If he would only have remained there and have
been honest--so that he would be out of the way! But here he was--back
in Italy, an honest, upright man! No one so utterly unlike the usual
Roman, so lost amid the self-seekers of Rome, so unnecessarily
clean-handed, could be found! Cato was honest, foolishly honest for his
time; but with Cato it was not so difficult to deal as with Cicero. We
can imagine Cato wrapping himself up in his robe and being savagely
unreasonable. Cicero was all alive to what was going on in the world,
but still was honest! In the mean time he remained in the neighborhood
of Naples, writing to his wife and daughter, writing to Tiro, writing to
Atticus, and telling us all those details which we now seem to know so
well--because he has told us. In one of his letters to Atticus at this
time he is sadly in earnest. He will die with Pompey in Italy, but what
can he do by leaving it? He has his "lictors" with him still. Oh, those
dreadful lictors! His friendship for Cnaeus! His fear of having to join
himself with the coming tyrant! "Oh that you would assist me with your
counsel!"[123] He writes again, and describes the condition of
Pompey--of Pompey who had been Magnus. "See how prostrate he is. He has
neither courage, counsel, men, nor industry! Put aside those things;
look at his flight from the city, his cowardly harangues in the towns,
his ignorance of his own strength and that of his enemy! * * * Caesar in
pursuit of Pompey! Oh, sad! * * * Will he kill him?" he exclaims. Then,
still to Atticus, he defends himself. He will die for Pompey, but he
does not believe that he can do any good either to Pompey or to the
Republic by a base flight. Then there is another cause for staying in
Italy as to which he cannot write. This was Terentia's conduct. At the
end of one of his letters he tells Atticus that with the same lamp by
which he had written would he burn that which Atticus