He had probably learned to appreciate the rage, the madness, the impotence of Catiline at their proper worth.

He too, I think, must have looked upon Cicero as a meddling, over-virtuous busybody; as did even Pompey when he returned from the East.

What practical use could there be in such a man at such a time--in one who really believed in honesty, who thought of liberty and the Republic, and imagined that he could set the world right by talking?
Such must have been the feeling of Caesar, who had both experience and foresight to tell him that Rome wanted and must have a master.

He probably had patriotism enough to feel that he, if he could acquire the mastership, would do something beyond robbery--would not satisfy himself with cutting the throats of all his enemies, and feeding his supporters with the property of his opponents.

But Cicero was impracticable--unless, indeed, he could be so flattered as to be made useful.