Note 613 — LIFE OF C. CÆSAR. (continued 2)

Cicero was among them. He saw, as he says himself (Ad Attic. xiv. 10), the tyrant fall, and he rejoiced. In his letters he speaks with exultation of the murder, and commends the murderers. But he was not let into the secret. They were afraid to trust him. If he had been in the conspiracy, he says (Philipp. ii. 14) he would have made clean work; he would have assassinated all the enemies of liberty; in other words, all the chief men of Cæsar's party. He had abjectly humbled himself before Cæsar, who treated him with kind respect. Like all genuine cowards he was cruel when he had power.