ever consul or imperator, but only gymnasiarch. He has himself of his own free will chosen the latter title instead of the former, and casting away all the august terms of his own land has become one of the cymbal players from Canopus.[65] Again, let no one fear that he can give any unfavorable turn to the war. Even previously he was of no ability, as you know clearly who conquered him near Mutina. And even if once he did attain to some capacity through campaigning with us, be well assured that he has now ruined all of it by his changed manner of life. It is impossible for one who leads an existence of royal luxury and coddles himself like a woman to think any valorous thoughts or do valorous deeds, because it is quite inevitable that a person takes the impress of the practices with which he comes in contact. A proof of this is that in the one war which he has waged in all this long time and the one campaign that he has made he lost great numbers of citizens in the battles, returned in thorough disgrace from Praaspa, and parted with very many additional men in the flight. If any one of us were obliged to perform a set dance or cordax[66] in an amusing way, such a person would surely yield the honors to him; he has practiced this: but since it is a case of arms and battle, what is there about him that any one should dread? His physical condition? He has passed his prime and become effeminate. His strength of mind? He plays the woman and has surrendered himself to unnatural lust. His piety toward our gods? He is at war both with them and his country. His faithfulness to his allies? But is any one unaware how he deceived and imprisoned the Armenian? His liberal treatment of his friends? But who has not seen the men who have miserably perished at his hands? His reputation with the soldiers? But who even of them has not condemned him? Evidence of their feeling is found in the fact that numbers daily come over to our side. For my part I think that all our citizens will do this, as on a former occasion when he was going from Brundusium into Gaul. So long as they expected to get rich without danger, some were very glad to cleave to him. But they will not care to fight against us, their own countrymen, in behalf of what does not belong to them at all, especially when they are given the opportunity to win without hazard both preservation and prosperity by joining us.