But when, by perseverance and integrity, the republic had
increased its power; when mighty princes had been vanquished in war;
when barbarous tribes and populous states had been reduced to
subjection; when Carthage, the rival of Rome’s dominion, had been
utterly destroyed, and sea and land lay everywhere open to her sway,
Fortune then began to exercise her tyranny, and to introduce universal
innovation. To those who had easily endured toils, dangers, and doubtful
and difficult circumstances, ease and wealth, the objects of desire to
others, became a burden and a trouble. At first the love of money, and
then that of power, began to prevail, and these became, as it were, the
sources of every evil. For avarice subverted honesty, integrity, and
other honorable principles, and, in their stead, inculcated pride,
inhumanity, contempt of religion, and general venality. Ambition
prompted many to become deceitful; to keep one thing concealed in the
breast, and another ready on the tongue; to estimate friendships and
enmities, not by their worth, but according to interest; and to carry
rather a specious countenance than an honest heart. These vices at first
advanced but slowly, and were sometimes restrained by correction; but
afterwards, when their infection had spread like a pestilence, the state
was entirely changed, and the government, from being the most equitable
and praiseworthy, became rapacious and insupportable.
Chapter 10, Conspiracy of Catiline,
literally translated by the Rev. John Selby Watson.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 329 & 331 Pearl Street (1867).
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