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36“Do not, then, wait until you have suffered some such treatment and then rue it, but be on your guard before you suffer; for it is rash to allow dangers to come upon you and then to repent of it, when you might have anticipated them. And do not choose to neglect the present opportunity and then ask again for another Cassius or other Brutuses; for it is ridiculous, when we have the power of aiding ourselves in time, to seek men later on to set us free. 2Perhaps we shall not find them, either, especially if we handle the present situation in such a manner. For who would choose to encounter danger personally for the republic, when he sees that we are publicly resigned to slavery? And yet it is evident to everybody that Antony will not stop short with what he is now doing, but that even in remote and smaller matters he is strengthening himself against us. 3Surely he is warring against Decimus and besieging Mutina for no other purpose than that he may, after conquering them, take them and employ them against us. For he has not been wronged by them, that he can appear to be defending himself; nor, again, will he, while desiring the goods that they possess and with this in view enduring toils and dangers, be willing to refrain from the possessions belonging to us, who own their property and much besides. 4Shall we, then, wait for him to secure this prize and still others, and thus become a dangerous foe? Shall we trust his deception when he says that he is not warring against the city?
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