pro marcello - content

Question 1

pro marcello 1

Answer 1

explains his return to public life - having left it not from fear but from grief and hopelessness

returned because of the clemency augustus showed to marcellus

Question 2

pro marcello 2

Answer 2

feels that through the return of marcellus he has also been preserved and restored

didn’t think that it was fair that marcellus was cast out and he wasn’t when he was fighting the same cause - couldn’t continue his old path of life if his rival and imitator wasn’t there

Caesar has allowed him back to his life and also given him hope for the future of the state

Question 3

pro marcello 3

Answer 3

augustus restored marcellus despite his personal grievances because he puts the state above his personal problems

in granting this, augustus has brought glory to himself by extension

Question 4

pro marcello 4

Answer 4

happy is the man who brings more joy to others than himself

who can surpass such a man in nobility etc

cannot find the words or genius to describe augustus’ achievements - no prouder glory than this one act

Question 5

pro marcello 5

Answer 5

no king or foreign nation or general can compare in achievements in importance, multitude or diversity or speed

Question 6

pro marcello 6

Answer 6

if he didn’t admit the achievements were beyond thought or imagination - he must have something wrong with him

all planning, skill and bravery is old but ultimately fortune gets all the credit

Question 7

pro marcello 7

Answer 7

nearly every success goes to her (especially on the battlefield) but this glory of restoring marcellus is only Augustus’

does not have to share it with a centurion or prefect or cohort or squadron or even fortune herself

fortune yields to augustus and she admits that it is fully his - no recklessness in his work and no chance in his deliberations

Question 8

pro marcello 8

Answer 8

talks about how augustus has subdued barbarous nations but at the same time the nations were or a nature and circumstance which made them conquerable

but conquering will and anger and to moderate triumph, and not only restore marcellus to his former glory but make him greater - not to be compared with men but is more like a god

Question 9

pro marcello 9

Answer 9

though augustus’ triumphs in war will be written about in many nations, it is drowned out by the shouts of soldiers and blaring trumpets

reading about justice and mercy etc especially performed in a time of anger and triumph - our hearts burn within us - whether fact or fiction, gives us affection for men we haven’t seen

Question 10

pro marcello 10

Answer 10

but they do see and know him and he has the heart to salvage what is left of them after war - what praise can he elicit from them?

even the walls of the senate want to thank him when marcellus returns to them - halls as home to him as his ancestors

seeing marcellus cry - cicero could only think of all the others who i have beared that name - restoring marcellus restores them to dignity too - rescued them from extinction

Question 11

pro marcello 11

Answer 11

other achievements also great - but with great associates, where as in this augustus stands alone as solely responsible

the work of mans hands all is eventually lost to time

Question 12

pro marcello 12

Answer 12

justice and mercy grows greater and greater every day - what age steals from his projects it will add to his glory

vanquished other civil war winners with his compassion. today he vanquished himself

words not matching the thoughts in his mind - augustus has vanquished victory by surrendering to those he has beaten all that victory has gained him

those undone by conquest are preserved by his clemency

Question 13

pro marcello 13

Answer 13

tells senators to look at how far reaching augustus decreed action goes - those impelled to espouse the, though should be allowed for human error 0 but have been acquitted of their crimes

augustus preserved marcellus because of the senators intercession on his behalf - and by extensive brought back cicero and other good men. did not return enemies to the senate house

augustus decided that they entered into war from ignorance rather than self interest

Question 14

pro marcello 14

Answer 14

cicero asserts that throughout the war he wanted to listen to proposals of peace and regrets that those who wanted peace were not listened too

cicero claims he didn’t say anything in either direction during the war - he was not suited to war time

he followed an individual into conflict through no private or public obligation - ran deliberately into a self-chosen doom

Question 15

pro marcello 15

Answer 15

asserts he asked for p[eace before war began and continued to hold dangerous/controversial opinions all throughout

likewise no one could question augustus’ intentions because of how he treated the losers so soon after

if in the midst of triumph a man advocated peace - he must never have wanted to fight in the first place

Question 16

pro marcello 16

Answer 16

says him and marcellus were on the same page in both peace and in war.

even during the war Marcellus was outraged by the extravagant attitudes of some on his own side (unnamed but probably antony)

makes their gratitude to Augustus even deeper

Question 17

pro marcello 17

Answer 17

augustus’ career consummated by successive battles - but the city has been saved from naked blades

lost citizens struck down by mars not by a vindictive victor and augustus would bring them back from the dead if he could - given his treatment of the surviving losers

this would not have been the case if the other side won

Question 18

pro marcello 18

Answer 18

recalls some from his side uttering threats against civilians - said it wasn’t what a man thought bu there he had been

glad the gods after punishing them with war rewarded them with a clement victor

Question 19

pro marcello 19

Answer 19

rejoice in victory but more so in your inborn goodness - this is where the wise man finds greatest delight

dwell upon your own kindness when you think of us - not just the highest but only blessings in life - everything else is just a loan from fortune

Question 20

pro marcello 20

Answer 20

don’t get tired of preserving patriots - especially those who fell into the other side of the war from a misguided sense of duty and political idealism

augustus actually not to be feared

Question 21

pro marcello 21

Answer 21

moves onto suspicions which cicero believes are groundless but will not belittle them

the precautions that augustus take are no different from what they all take

cicero would rather be timid than short-sighted

asks who the lunatic in augustus’ mind is - since surely those he has saved from punishment are going to be better friends than any

why would anyone value their own life more than the one who saved them?

Question 22

pro marcello 22

Answer 22

human mind is dark so we should encourage augustus’ worst suspicions so he is more cautious

anyone who doesnt think his well being is tied up in augustus (as well as the states) is an idiot

cicero worries about the frailty and vulnerability of himself and thus of augustus since he is also human - mourns that while the commonwealth exist eternally it must be tied up in the life of a single mortal

Question 23

pro marcello 24

Answer 23

necessary evil of an awful war that the state would lose many of its best men who lent her pride and made her stable

augustus is the only one who can treat the wounds of war which would never have been permissible in peace

Question 24

pro marcello 25

Answer 24

quoting augustus: ‘i have lived long enough for either nature of glory’

cicero asks him to not make light of death like a philosopher - would put them all in peril if he insists on being so sage

augustus says that he has lived long enough for himself too often but he does not live just for himself - the welfare of the community is at stake

still far away from consummating his greatest labour

will he measure his like now by the tranquility of his own mind rather than by the welfare of the state?

Question 25

pro marcello 26

Answer 25

in voice of augustus: shall i leave behind achievements that is too small? responds: it old be enough for any other man but augustus is not any other man as long as there aught to be greater - his achievements will remain to small if subduing his enemies is all augustus is destined to do - make sure it gets him glory not admiration for he did a great service

Question 26

pro marcello 27

Answer 26

this chapter and act still awaits augustus - implores augustus to summon all of his strength/power to make the constitution firm so he might enjoy the fruits of his own labour most of all only once he has given the state what he owes to her - will they give him over to nature and say he has lived long enough ponders the finality of the word ‘long’ that when the end comes all previous pleasures are gone and there are none after it. his spirit is not content to be confined to morality better suited to immortality

Question 27

pro marcello 28

Answer 27

augustus life should not just be feathered to his body and breath - his true life will energise in the memory of all ages because rome will endure eternally future generations will of course be in awe of his military triumph

Question 28

pro marcello 29

Answer 28

but if the city is never made peaceful by his measures, his name will roam the world forever with no resting place future generations will arise sharp division again - and soem will glorify him but others will find him lacking, if he does not bring real peace his achievements in war will become the establishing pattern of behaviour look also to the verdict of future generations as well as his own - it may be less prejudiced than that of his own time because they wont have the pre-established animosity

Question 29

pro marcello 30

Answer 29

even if that verdict, some idiots think, wont effect him at all - it matters that it does - it should the aims of their countrymen are very diverse - difference of policy and ideas but also different arms and camps. more complicated because two amazing generals stood on opposing sides, many were confused of the best course of action no one knew what was lawful

Question 30

pro marcello 31

Answer 30

the conqueror let his hatred be softened by kindness - not one to hold a grudge even against those who deserved exile and death some laid down their arms but others had to have them taken from them - such a person does not know gratitude or justice and his soul remains armed even when war is over (should be punished?) even the men who bled out for thei mistake cause are better than such a man what some call obstinacy, others see as a strength of purpose

Question 31

pro marcello 33

Answer 31

now - all dissension shattered by arms and stopped by the fairness of the victor - all should be united in shared goal, not even out of wisdom but just functioning judgement they are all only safe if augustus is safe he speaks for all the senators urging augustus to look after his own life and welfare and they will all be his body guards against the evil he imagines in the shadows - throw their own bodies before him

Question 32

pro marcello 33

Answer 32

circling back to how the speech began - with deep gratitude and a feeling of unity (hearts beating as one) because of what augustus has done he speaks for all those who don’t also stand up and speak their gratitude - marcellus deliverance is the deliverance of the whole community

Question 33

pro marcello 34

Answer 33

reaffirms how dear marcellus is to him and how close a friend he is to- barely is marcellus’ own brother closer to marcellus while his release was an open question he was anxious etc and now he is liberated from those confines even augustus’ kindness and deference to cicero himself has been outdone by his pardoning of marcellus

Question 34

pro marcello 23

Answer 34

adding evil and conspiracy to the chance and instability of bodily health - what god could assist the state? it is augustus’ job alone to bring back to life all that is broken (the inevitable outcome of waging war) law must be restored, sin must be checked, growth of the population fostered, all that has disintegrated should bear woven back together