there is a mighty consolation in the consciousness of a great and splendid action."[1] In the darkest moments of Antony's domination Cicero looks forward with calmness to the end of life. Personal fears have no longer any place in his mind. "If I remain in Italy," he writes,[2] "I see that I shall run some risks, but I cannot help thinking that it may lie in my power to do some good for the State." When Atticus suggests that in the end he will have to submit to whichever side may prove the stronger, he sets his friend's counsel quietly aside—"not I indeed; I know a better way than that,"[3]—and again, "Brutus seems to think of retiring into exile. For my part I look to another haven which lies handier to my time of life; all I wish is that I could reach it, leaving Brutus in prosperity and the Republic established."[4] Happily for Cicero he was to have the opportunity of selling his life dearly. He might well say with Macbeth,
"Why should I play the Roman fool
And die on my own sword? while I see foes,
The gashes look better upon them."
In the month of August Cicero was contemplating a visit to his son at Athens. There seemed no place for him in Rome while Antony was consul; and all that he could hope was that a return by the end of
