"  I  am  not  inclined  to  bewail  life,  which  many  men  and
scholars  too  have  done,  nor  do  I  regret  having  lived,  since
I  have  lived  in  such  a  way  as  to  believe  I  have  not  been
born  in  vain,  and  from  life  I  depart  as  from  an  abode  where  I
have  been  merely  a  guest,  not  as  from  a  home ;  for  nature
has  given  us  merely  an  inn  for  tarrying  awhile,  not  for
making  our  domicile  therein"  (84).
Not  far  from  Antium  is  Astura  by  the  Sea.  Thence  in
December,  43,  the  orator  sailed  for  the  South,  fleeing  from
Antony.  But  he  landed  at  Circeii  and  thence  passed  to
his  villa  near  Caieta,  his  Formianum.  There  he  spent  the
last  night  of  his  life.  In  the  morning  they  carried  him  in
a  litter  towards  the  sea.  A  Greek  freedman  of  brother
Quintus,  they  say,  betrayed  his  course  to  the  murderers,  who
craved  the  gold  of  Antony.  When  Cicero  heard  the


374  TESTIMONIUM  ANIALE

hurrying  footsteps  of  the  pursuing  Herennius,  Cicero  bade
his  slaves  set  down  the  litter.  He  himself,  as  was  his
wont  in  reflection,  propping  his  chin  with  his  left  hand,
firmly  fixing  his  glance  on  his  murderers,  awaited  the  fatal
stroke,  his  tousled  gray  locks  unkempt,  his  countenance
furrowed  and  shrivelled  from  these  ultimate  cares.
