Kitap 11
1.24
One could only wish that he had shown greater restraint in his poems, which those who love him not are never weary of criticising. I refer to passages such as: From the poem on his consulship. Let arms before the peaceful toga yield, Laurels to eloquence resign the field, or O happy Rome, born in my consulship! together with that Jupiter, by whom he is summoned to the assembly of the gods, and the Minerva that taught him her accomplishments ; extravagances which he permitted himself in imitation of certain precedents in Greek literature.
1.25
But while it is unseemly to make a boast of one's eloquence, it is, however, at times permissible to express confidence in it. Who, for instance, can blame the following? Phil. i. 2. What, then, am I to think? That I am held in contempt? I see nothing either in my past life, or my position, or such poor talents as I may possess, that Antony can afford to despise. And a little later he speaks yet more openly:
1.26
Or did he wish to challenge me to a contest of eloquence? I could wish for nothing better. For what ampler or richer theme could I hope to find than to speak at once for myself and against Antony?
