*35
istnr'
4 lie'
SECT. IV.
ClCERO being now reduced to the condi- a. Urb. 691.tion of a private Senator, was to take his place Cic. 4?.on that venerable bench of Confulars , who were Coff-juftly reckoned the firft Citizens of the Republic, S
They delivered their opinions the firft always in ^ liciniusthe Senate; and commonly determined the opi- Murena.nions of the reft: for as they had paffed throughall the public offices, and been converfant in everybranch of the adminiftration, fo their experiencegave them great authority in all debates ; andhaving little or nothing farther to exped for them-felves, they were efteemed not only the moft know-ing, but, generally fpeaking, the moft difinter-efted of all the other Senators, and to have noother view in their deliberation , but the peace andprofperity of the Republic.
This was a ftation exadly fuited to Cicero’stemper and wiffies; he defired no foreign govern-ments, or command of armies; his province wasthe Senate and the Forum; to guard as it werethe vitals of the empire, and to dired all it’s coun-fels to their proper end, the general good; and inthis advanced poft of a Confular Senator, as in awatch-tower of the State, to obferve each threat-ening cloud and rifing ftorm, and give the alarmto his fellow-citizens from what quarter it wascoming, and by \yhat means it’s effeds might be