IX.  He is protecting the interests of his buffoons and gamesters and pimps.  He is protecting Capho’s and Sasu’s interests too, pugnacious and muscular centurions, whom he placed among his troops of male and female buffoons.  Besides all this, he demands “that the decrees of himself and his colleague concerning Caesar’s writings and memoranda are to stand.”  Why is he so anxious that every one should have what he has bought, if he who sold it all has the price which he received for it?  “And that his accounts of the money in the temple of Ops are not to be meddled with.”  That is to say, that those seven hundred millions of sesterces are not to be recovered from him.  “That the septemviri are to be exempt from blame or from prosecution for what they have done.”  It was Nucula, I imagine, who put him in mind of that, he was afraid, perhaps, of losing so many clients.  He also wishes to make stipulations in favour of “those men who are with him who may have done anything against the laws.”  He is here taking care of Mustela and Tiro, he is not anxious about himself.  For what has he done? has he ever touched the public money, or murdered a man, or had armed men about him?  But what reason has he for taking so much trouble about them?  For he demands, “that his own judiciary law be not abrogated.”  And if he obtains that, what is there that he can fear? can he be afraid that any one of his friends may be convicted by Cydas, or Lysiades, or Curius?  However, he does not press us with many more demands.  “I give up,” says he, “Gallia Togata; I demand Gallia Comata"[41]—­he evidently wishes to be quite at his ease—­’with six legions, and those made up to their full complement out of the army of Decimus Brutus,—­not only out of the troops whom he has enlisted himself; “and he is to keep possession of it as long as Marcus Brutus and Carus Cassius, as consuls, or as proconsuls, keep possession of their provinces.”  In the comitia held by him, his brother Carus (for it is his year) has already been repulsed.  “And I myself,” says he, “am to retain possession of my province five years.”  But that is expressly forbidden by the law of Caesar, and you defend the acts of Caesar.

X. Were you, O Lucius Piso, and you, O Lucius Philippus, you chiefs of the city, able, I will not say to endure in your minds but even to listen with your ears to these commands of his?  But, I suspect there was some alarm at work, nor, while in his power, could you feel as ambassadors, or as men of consular rank, nor could you maintain our own dignity, or that of the republic.  And nevertheless, somehow or other, owing to some philosophy, I suppose, you did what I could not have done,—­you returned without any very angry feelings.  Marcus Antonius paid you no respect, though you were most illustrious men, ambassadors of the Roman people.  As for us, what concessions did not we make to Cotyla the ambassador of Marcus Antonius? though it was against the law for even the gates of the city to be opened to him, yet even this temple was opened to him.  He was allowed to enter the senate, here yesterday he was taking down our opinions and every word we said in his note books, and men who had been preferred to the highest honours sold themselves to him in utter disregard of their own dignity.