Antiochus, Demetrius Syrus, Molo, Menippus, and the others did not give him their services for nothing.

These were gentlemen of whom we know that they were anxious to carry their wares to the best market.

And then he seems to have been welcomed wherever he went, as though travelling in some sort "en prince." No doubt he had brought with him the best introductions which Rome could afford; but even with them a generous allowance must have been necessary, and this must have come from his father's pocket.
As we go on, a question will arise as to Cicero's income and the sources whence it came.

He asserts of himself that he was never paid for his services at the bar.

To receive such payment was illegal, but was usual.
He claims to have kept himself exempt from whatever meanness there may have been in so receiving such fees--exempt, at any rate, from the fault of having broken the law.