Marcus Terentius Varro - On What to Do with the Assassins

Senators, it is in the aftermath of one of the strangest wakes of my lifetime that we gather to determine the fate of those who inspired it. Caesar rests, and his followers from all who walk the streets of Rome came to witness, despite the will of the Senate. Now we senators also must wake—both to our moral consciences and to the will of the people, for whom the assailants say they acted.

Caesar, as I have noted, has done much both great and terrible for Rome and for the Senate. I will not speak again of his territorial gains, of his clemency for the exiled, of his constructions within Rome itself. Nor will I remind you of his march against the city, of the white sash and laurel that decorated his monument, of his grasping for a perpetual singular authority. He was a decidedly political figure, and his assailants struck him down for decidedly political reasons. They wished us to return to the age of the Republic, to a period of growth and prosperity that has lasted us more than four hundred years. Perhaps he wished to return Rome to the age of kings, to the age of Tullius and Superbus. I shall not pretend to know the aspirations of the dead, nor shall I pretend to know absolutely the right path for Rome. I have read enough of our literature to know that either such assumption is ill-advised.

I’m old, senators. I may not look it, but I feel it. Very thin—sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. And I do not have the youthful certitude to that I, or others in the Senate, may judge correctly within a single meeting.

Therefore, let the case go to the quaestio de vi, the court of political violence. The decision regarding these assailants, especially considering their number and the complexity of the situation, requires the adequate gathering of information and argumentation that comes with such a case. Republicans, would you doubt the abilities of Cicero or others to argue such a case? And Caesarians, if you cannot find a strong enough scholar and wit on your side, I fail to see why the Roman people should entrust you to lead our fatherland.

Senators, this is a time of great turmoil, but not a time to forget ourselves. We are neither barroom brawlers nor petulant children whining over the loss of some bauble. We are the voice and rule of the people, and we would do well to act with the care, coolness, and rationality that befit a Roman senator. May Jupiter look kindly upon the just.