The most remarkable¹ instance, I think, of vigor² of mind in any man ever born, was that of C?sar, the Dictator. I am not at present alluding³ to his valor⁴ and courage, nor yet his 52 exalted⁵ genius, which was capable of embracing everything under the face of heaven, but I am speaking of that innate⁶ vigor of mind, which was so peculiar⁷ to him, and that promptness which seemed to act like a flash of lightning. We find it stated that he was able to write or read, and, at the same time, to dictate⁸ and listen. He could dictate to his secretaries four letters at once, and those on the most important business; and, indeed, if he was busy about nothing else, as many as seven. He fought as many as fifty pitched battles, being the only commander who exceeded M. Marcellus in this respect, he having fought only thirty-nine. In addition, too, to the victories gained by him in the civil wars, one million one hundred and ninety-two thousand men were slain⁹ by him in his battles. For my own part, however, I am not going to set down as a subject for high renown¹⁰ what was really an outrage¹¹ committed upon mankind, even though he may have been acting¹² under the strong influence of necessity; and, indeed, he himself confesses as much, in his

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