before the entry of the
Triumvirs into the city. They marched into Rome at the head of their
legions, and filled all the public places with their soldiery. No
attempt at resistance was made. A law was proposed and carried
conferring upon the Triumvirs the title and powers they had assumed. The
work of butchery then commenced. Lists after lists of the Proscribed
were then published, each more numerous than the former. The soldiers
hunted after the victims, cut off their heads, and brought them to the
authorities to prove their claims to the blood-money. Slaves were
rewarded for betraying their masters, and whoever harbored any of the
Proscribed was punished with death. Terror reigned throughout Italy. No
one knew whose turn would come next.

Cicero was included in the first 17 victims of the Proscription. He was
residing in his Tusculan villa with his brother Quintus, who urged him
to escape to Brutus in Macedonia. They reached Astura, a small island
off Antium, when Quintus ventured to Rome to obtain a supply of money,
of which they were in need. Here he was apprehended, together with his
son, and both were put to death. The orator again embarked, and coasted
along to Formiae, where he landed at his villa, resolving no longer to
fly from his fate. After spending a night in his own house, his
attendants, hearing that the soldiers were close at hand, forced him to
enter a litter, and hurried him through the woods toward the shore,
distant a mile from his house. As they were passing onward they were
overtaken by their pursuers, and were preparing to defend their master
with their lives; but Cicero commanded them to desist, and, stretching
his head out of the litter, called upon his executioners to strike. They
instantly cut off his head and hands, which were carried to Rome.
Fulvia, the widow of Clodius and now the wife of Antony, gloated her
eyes with the sight, and even thrust a hair-pin through his tongue.
Antony ordered the head to be nailed to the Rostra, which had so often
witnessed the triumphs of the orator. Thus died Cicero, in the 64th year
of his age. He had not sufficient firmness of character to cope with the
turbulent times in which his lot was cast, but as a man he deserves our
admiration and love. In the midst of almost universal corruption he
remained uncontaminated. He was an affectionate father, a faithful
friend, and a kind master.

Many of the Proscribed escaped from Italy, and took refuge with Sextu