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38“So much, then, for his family. That he also received a nurture and a training corresponding to the dignity of his noble birth how could one better realize than by the cogent proof his deeds afford? 2For is it not inevitable that a man who possessed to a conspicuous degree a body that was altogether adequate and a spirit that was more than adequate for all contingencies alike of peace and of war, must have been reared in the best possible way? 3And yet it is difficult for any man of surpassing beauty to show the greatest endurance, and difficult for one who is powerful in body to attain to the greatest wisdom, but it is particularly difficult for one and the same man to shine both in words and in deeds. Yet this man—I speak among those who know the facts, so that I shall not falsify in the least degree, since I should be caught in the very act, nor heap up exaggerated praises, since then I should accomplish the opposite of what I wish. 4For if I do anything of that sort, I shall be suspected with full justice of boasting, and it will be thought that I am making his virtue appear less than the belief in it which is already in your own minds. In fact, every utterance delivered under such conditions, in case it contains even the smallest amount of falsehood, not only bestows no praise upon its subject but actually involves censure of him; 5for the knowledge of the hearers, not agreeing with the fictitious report, takes refuge in the truth, where it quickly finds satisfaction, and not only learns what kind of man he ought to have been, but also, by comparing the two, detects what he lacked. Stating only the truth, therefore, I affirm that this Caesar was at the same time most capable in body and most versatile in spirit. 6For he enjoyed a wonderful natural force and had been carefully trained by the most liberal education, which always enabled him, not unnaturally, to comprehend everything that was needful with the greatest keenness, to interpret the need most convincingly, and then to arrange and handle the matter most prudently. No critical turn in a situation came upon him so suddenly as to catch him off his guard, nor did a secret menace, no matter how long the postponement, escape his notice. 7For he decided always with regard to every crisis before it was at hand, and was prepared beforehand for every contingency that could happen to one. He understood well how to discern shrewdly what was concealed, to dissimulate plausibly what was evident, to pretend to know what was hidden, to conceal what he knew, 8to adapt occasions to one another and to draw the proper inferences from them, and furthermore to accomplish and carry out in detail every enterprise.
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