9-11 Superavit . . . exstincta sunt, i.e. 87-6 B.C. The Reign of Terror. Marius Consul for the 7th time. Cf. Vell. Pat. ii. 22 ‘Nihil illa victoria fuisset crudelius, nisi mox Sullana esset secuta.’
10 lumina civitatis, e.g. the Consuls Cn. Octavius and L. Merula; Q. Catulus, the conqueror (with Marius) in the Cimbric War; the orator M. Antonius; the brothers L. and C. Caesar.
11-13 The victims of the Sullanian proscriptions. Cf. Vell. Pat. ii. 28 ‘Primus ille (Sulla), et utinam ultimus, exemplum proscriptionis invenit.’
Parallel Passages. Horace, Epodes vii. and xvi. 1-14.
The Sullanian Proscriptions. Sulla was not like Marius swayed by feelings of revenge alone. His main object was the public good, which in his conviction was to be realised by a return to the older institutions of the republic. This he believed could be accomplished only by the utter annihilation of his opponents. The Proscriptions were not however intended to be an encouragement to indiscriminate murder, but rather a barrier against the rage of over-zealous partisans.
Tribunate of M. Livius Drusus, 91 B.C.
Deinde interiectis paucis annis tribunatum iniit M. Livius Drusus, vir nobilissimus, eloquentissimus, sanetissimus, meliore in omnia ingenio animoque quam fortuna usus. Qui cum senatui priscum restituere cuperet decus et indicia ab equitibus ad 5 eum transferre ordinem . . . in eis ipsis, quae pro senatu moliebatur, senatum habuit adversarium non intellegentem, si qua de plebis commodis ab eo agerentur, veluti illiciendae multitudinis causa fieri, ut minoribus perceptis maiora permitteret. Denique 10 ea fortuna Drusi fuit, ut malefacta collegarum quamvis optime ab ipso cogitatis senatus probaret magis. . . . Tum conversus Drusi animus, quando bene incepta male cedebant, ad dandam civitatem Italiae: quod cum moliens revertisset e foro, immensa 15 illa et incondita, quae eum semper comitabatur, cinctus multitudine in area domus suae cultello percussus, qui affixus lateri eius relictus est, intra paucas horas decessit. Sed cum ultimum redderet spiritum, intuens circumstantium macrentiumque 20 frequentiam, effudit vocem convenientissimam conscientiae suae: ecquandone, inquit, propinqui amicique, similem mei civem habebit res publica? Hunc finem clarissimus iuvenis vitae habuit.
Velleius Paterculus, ii. 13-14.
3-4 Drusus. ‘Generous and free from all selfishness and meanness, but without political experience, adroitness and knowledge of men, he aspired to a task which surpassed his strength.’—Ihne.