CHAPTER XIII.
CICERO AND ANTONY.
44-43 B.C.
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ITH the assassination of Cæsar on the Ides of March in the year 44 B.C. begins the last act in the drama of Cicero's life. One year and three quarters still remained to him before he too met his death, and these months, though full of cruel anxieties, and bitter disappointments, are the most glorious in his whole career. For the first time since the coalition of Cæsar and Pompey, seventeen years before, he sees the path of duty clear, he feels the 44 B.C. power to act and to speak freely in the cause of the commonwealth, and for the sake of that cause he is willing cheerfully to lay down his life. This consciousness puts every thought of self aside and gives rigour and dignity to all his words and actions.
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