owards me in the present contest! In two respects my
adversary plainly has the advantage of me. First, we have not the same
interests at stake; it is by no means the same thing for me to forfeit
your esteem, and for AEschines, an unprovoked volunteer, to fail in his
impeachment. My other disadvantage is, the natural proneness of men to
lend a pleased attention to invective and accusation, but to give
little heed to him whose theme is his own vindication. To my
adversary, therefore, falls the part which ministers to your
gratification, while to me there is only left that which, I may almost
say, is distasteful to all. And yet, if I do not speak of myself and
my own conduct, I shall appear defenseless against his charges, and
without proof that my honors were well earned. This, therefore, I must
do; but it shall be with moderation. And bear in mind that the blame
of my dwelling on personal topics must justly rest upon him who has
instituted this personal impeachment.

At least, my judges, you will admit that this question concerns me as
much as Ctesiphon, and justifies on my part an equal anxiety. To be
stripped of any possession, and more especially by an enemy, is
grievous to bear, but to be robbed of your confidence and esteem--of
all possessions the most precious--is indeed intolerable. Such, then,
being my stake in this cause, I conjure you all to give ear to my
defense against these charges, with that impartiality which the laws
enjoin--those laws first given by Solon, and which he fixed, not only
by engraving them on brazen tables, but by the sanction of the oaths
you take when sitting in judgment; because he perceived that, the
accuser being armed with the advantage of speaking first, the accused
can have no chance of resisting his charges, unless you, his judges,
keeping the oath sworn before Heaven, shall receive with favor the
defense which comes last, and, lending an equal ear to both parties,
shall thus make up your minds upon the whole of the case.

CICERO.

Cicero, taken all in all, for his eloquence, for his learning, for his
true patriotism, for the profound and ennobling views he has left us
in his critical, oratorical and philosophical writings, as well as for
his purity in all the domestic relations of life, in the midst of
almost universal profligacy, stands forth upon the page of history as
one of the very brightest names the ancients have left us. He was
probably distinguished most as an orator