[62] 'Not more by law than by nature;' that is, 'by nature as well as by law.' [63] _In suppliciis_, 'in the worship of the gods;' for as it was customary, in worshipping, to fall down, the word _supplicium_ has this religious meaning, which also appears in _supplicatio_. The other and more common meaning of 'execution,' 'capital punishment,' or 'severe chastisement,' likewise originates in the prostration of the person so punished. [64] _Seque remque_ is an unusual expression for _et se et rem_. [65] _Quam_; before this word we must supply _magis_, 'they carried on the government more with acts of kindness than with fear.' This ellipsis before _quam_ is not uncommon. [66] When they had suffered a wrong, they would rather pardon it than take revenge.' To _persequi_ we must supply _eam_ from the preceding ablative. 10. Sed ubi labore atque justitia res publica crevit, reges magni bello domiti, nationes ferae et populi ingentes vi subacti, Carthago, aemula imperii Romani, ab stirpe interiit, cuncta maria terraeque patebant, saevire fortuna ac miscere omnia coepit. Qui labores, pericula, dubias atque asperas res facile toleraverant, his otium, divitiae optandae aliis oneri miseriaeque fuere. Igitur primo pecuniae, deinde imperii cupido crevit; ea quasi materies omnium malorum fuere. Namque avaritia fidem, probitatem ceterasque artes bonas subvertit; pro his superbiam, crudelitatem, deos negligere, omnia venalia habere edocuit. Ambitio multos mortales falsos fieri subegit, aliud clausum in pectore, aliud in lingua promptum habere, amicitias inimicitiasque non ex re, sed ex commodo aestimare, magisque vultum quam ingenium bonum habere. Haec primo paulatim crescere, interdum vindicari; post, ubi contagio quasi pestilentia invasit, civitas immutata, imperium ex justissimo atque optimo crudele intolerandumque factum.