There was a rumor that Cicero had been elected--or
is said to have been such a rumor. Our authority for it comes from that
correspondence with Marcus Brutus on the authenticity of which we do not
trust, and the date of which we do not know.[229] "When I had already
written my letter, I heard that you had been made Consul. When that is
done I shall believe that we shall have a true Republic, and one
supported by its own strength." But probably neither was the rumor true,
nor the fact that there was such a rumor. It was not thus that Octavian
meant to play his part. He had been passed over by Cicero when a General
against Antony was needed. Decimus had been used, and Hirtius and Pansa
had been employed as though they had been themselves strong as were the
Consuls of old. So they were to Cicero--in whose ears the very name of
Consul had in it a resonance of the magnificence of Rome. Octavian
thought that Pansa and Hirtius were but Caesar's creatures, who at
Caesar's death had turned against him. But even they had been preferred
to him. In those days he was very quick to learn. He had been with the
army, and with Caesar's soldiers, and was soon instructed in the steps
which it was wise that he should take. He put aside, as with a sweep of
his hand, all the legal impediments to his holding the Consulship. Talk
to him of age! He had already heard that word "boy" too often. He would
show them what a boy would do. He would let them understand that there
need be no necessity for him to canvass, to sue for the Consulship cap
in hand, to have morning levees and to know men's names--as had been
done by Cicero. His uncle had not gone through those forms when he had
wanted the Consulship. Octavian sent a military order by a band of
officers, who, marching into the Senate, demanded the office. When the
old men hesitated, one Cornelius, a centurion, showed them his sword,
and declared that by means of that should his General be elected Consul.
The Greek biographers and historians, Plutarch, Dio, and Appian, say
that he was minded to make Cicero his fellow-Consul, promising to be
guided by him in everything; but it could hardly have been so, with the
feelings which were then hot against Cicero in Octavian's bosom. Dio
Cassius is worthy of little credit as to this period, and Appian less
so, unless when supported by Latin authority. And we find that Plutarch
inserts stories with that freedom which writers use who do not suppose
that others