That Rome should turn upon him--Rome which he had preserved from the torches of Catiline's conspirators--that he could not bring himself to believe! We must not pass over this long letter to Quintus without observing that through it all the evil condition of the younger brother's mind becomes apparent.

The severity of his administration had given offence.

His punishments had been cruel.

His letters had been rash, and his language violent.

In short, we gather from the brother's testimony that Quintus Cicero was very ill-fitted to be the civil governor of a province.
The only work which we have from Cicero belonging to this year, except his letters, is the speech, or part of the speech, he made for Lucius Valerius Flaccus.