| Table of Contents | Words: Alphabetical - Frequency - Inverse - Length - Statistics | Help | IntraText Library |
| Caius Sallustius Crispus Conspiracy of Catiline IntraText CT - Text |
|
|
|
| 3 To act well for
the Commonwealth is noble, and even to speak well for it is not without merits.
Both in peace and in war it is possible to obtain celebrity; many who have
acted, and many who have recorded the actions of others, receive their tribute
of praise. And to me, assuredly, though by no means equal glory attends the
narrator and the performer of illustrious deeds, it yet seems in the highest
degree difficult to write the history of great transactions; first, because
deeds must be adequately represented by words; and next, because most readers
consider that whatever errors you mention with censure, are mentioned through
malevolence and envy; while, when you speak of the great virtue and glory of
eminent men, every one hears with acquiescence only that which he himself
thinks easy to be performed; all beyond his own conception he regards as
fictitious and incredible. I myself, however, when a young man, was at first led by inclination, like most others, to engage in political affairs; but in that pursuit many circumstances were unfavorable to me; for, instead of modesty, temperance, and integrity, there prevailed shamelessness, corruption, and rapacity. And although my mind, inexperienced in dishonest practice, detested these vices, yet, in the midst of so great corruption, my tender age was ensnared and infected by ambition; and though I shrunk from the vicious principles of those around me, yet the same eagerness for honors, the same obloquy and jealousy, which disquieted others, disquieted myself. |
Table of Contents | Words: Alphabetical - Frequency - Inverse - Length - Statistics | Help | IntraText Library |
Best viewed with any browser at 800x600 or 768x1024 on Tablet PC IntraText® (V89) - Some rights reserved by EuloTech SRL - 1996-2007. Content in this page is licensed under a Creative Commons License |