But that Cicero, living and seeing it all as a present spectator, should have hoped better things, should not, I think, cause us to doubt either Cicero's wisdom or his patriotism.

I cannot but think that, had I been a Roman of those days, I should have preferred Cicero, with his memories of the past, to Caesar, with his ambition for the future.
Looking back from our standing-point of to-day, we know how great Rome was--infinitely greater, as far as power is concerned, than anything else which the world has produced.

It came to pass that "Urbis et orbis" was not a false boast.

Gradually growing from the little nest of robbers established on the banks of the Tiber, the people of Rome learned how to spread their arms over all the known world, and to conquer and rule, while they drew to themselves all that the ingenuity and industry of other people had produced.

To do this, there must have been not only courage and persistence, but intelligence, patriotism, and superior excellence in that art of combination of which government consists.