[159]
Therefore, when the
Rhodians, almost single-handed, carried on the first war against Mithridates, and
withstood all his power and his most vigorous attacks on their walls, and shores,
and fleets,—when they, beyond all other nations, were enemies to the king;
still, even then, at the time of imminent danger to their city, they did not touch
his statue which was among them in the most frequented place in their city. Perhaps
there might seem some inconsistency in preserving the effigy and image of the man,
when they were striving to overthrow the man himself: but still I saw, when I was
among them, that they had a religious feeling in those matters handed down to them
from their ancestors, and that they argued in this way;—that as to the
statue, they regarded the period when it had been erected; but as to the man, they
regarded the fact of his waging war against them, and being an enemy.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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