Cicero’s Acceptance of Slavery: Ep. ad Brutum 1.17.4

“We fear too much death, exile, and poverty. These (and it is no wonder) appear to Cicero to be the worst of evils, and as long as he has those from whom he can get what he wants and by whom he can be puffed up and praised, he will not fly from slavery, provided that it has a sheen of honor on it…”

nimium timemus mortem et exsilium et paupertatem. haec nimirum videntur Ciceroni ultima esse in malis et, dum habeat a quibus impetret quae velit et a quibus colatur ac laudetur, servitutem, honorificam modo, non aspernatur.

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