Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-03-20
JOYS NOT uNALLoYEp
opulenee and Luxurious Living Of An.
cient Romans Had Drawbacks.

| nv wi poTdtlonS 10 protect or trusts
to promote, lawyers must have done
good business in the days of the Ro-
man Empire and charged big fees,
for the records show that Cicero, a
leading member of the bar, as the
newspapers no doubt mentioned him
in those days. was able to pay $780,
900 for his residence on the Pala-
tine Hill. the West End of Rome.
| alongside of the Palace of the Cae-
sars. Yet he was not happy His
trouble was the same as that of So
| crates, Cicero had wife, only one
to he sure, but that was one too
many-ot the kind. Her name was
Terentia. and she brought him a
| large dowry. but she was n nagger
and kicker, and never gave him mo-
ment's peace. She was naughty. sell
fish. suspicious and jealous. and had
a tongue that quite as fluent and forci-
BILE as his.
| We know a good deal about her
from contemporary records, and the
the enervating magnificence with
which she was surrounded. the ex-
quisitely sculptured marbles. the pur-
pie hangings, the alabaster baths, the
silver plate and the golden ornaments
did not soften her temper particle: !:
and we are told that the great jurst
was often glad to leave his stately
mansion to enjoy a quiet dinner with
a friend. There was no scandal un-
der Cicero's roof, however; Terentia' S
temper was too well known for her to
have lovers. Cicero had at least
that advantage over his friend Julius
Caesar whose wife, Pompeia. be
at his wars and carried on scandal
ously with Publius Clodius. who was
an enemy of Cicero's, by the way.
When he was elected tribune he drove
Cicero from Rome in disgrace. pill
| laged his house upon the Palatine
and obliged Terentia to take refuge
with the vestal virgins, whose super
ior was fortunately her sister The
| following year there was a political
people came into power Clodius was
defeated for consul. Cicero was re-
called to Rome and obtained an in
demnty Of $4,000 to repair the dam
ages done to his residence But Clio
| dus still continued his persecution
of Cicero, and used to hire boys to
follow him in the street. When
Cicero began to repair his house he
drove away the masons and cast
torches into the walls and behaved
himself otherwise in a very disagree
able manner.
Cicero's house was situated at the
| corner of the Palatine. which over
looked the Forum. and in front of it
he built a large vestibule where he
| could meet his clients His garden
was provided with fish ponds and con-
tanned a grove of lotus trees, but as
say, he was not allowed to enjoy it,
Cicero was a typical lawyer. and one
does not have so high an opinion of
him after reading about the way he
shuffed back and forth and tried to
be on sides of political affairs. He
was courted because he was useful
to the political bosses of those days,
Just as Croesus was courted for his
wealth and Pompey for his power.
| But Cicero was great coward and
| finally met the fate that usually
awaits that sort of people.
Catullus. poet, historian. warrior,
who was consul 102 B. c., was the next
neighbor to Cicero and lived in even
greater magnificence. Pliny, the his
| torian, says that his was one of the
most splendid abodes in Rome, and
we are told that it cost $650,O0O
| Catiline. the conspirator, lived on the
other side. and he. too, was rich, pow
erful and made a great display of his
money. He was the chap who or
ganized a conspiracy against Cicero
and was the text of several of the
| orators finest orations. Mark An
| tony lived near by also, but after he
ran away with that Egyptian woman,
| Augustus gave his house to Agrippa
and Caligula pulled it down.
Mark Antony played a rather mean
trick on Augustus. The latter,
nephew, adopted son and heir of Jul
us Caesar, was off on a military
campaign when his uncle was assas-
sinated, and Mark Antony when he
made that famous speech which
Shakespeare reported, pretended to
read from an alleged will in which
the emperor left a nice little present
Of money to every citizen of Rome.
This made him very poular, and of
course everybody was solid for his
nephew Octavius (afterward called
Augustus). but it took nearly all the
s25, 100000 which Julius Caesar left
to go around. There was nothing of
the kind in Caesars will, and whether
Mark Antony got ratified or whether
he did it on purpose to ruin Augustus
has never been settled
| | once knew a man who happened
to go to church one Sunday when the
late Mr.. Kimball was raising a
debt" Kimball was a very magnet
ic man, and could wiring more money
out of a congregation than anybody
who ever went into business. He
was particularly eloquent that day
and the man | refer to became so ex
cited that he jumped up and sub
scribed thousand dollars The