Philippiques Passage 42

venio ad C. Caesarem, patres conscripti, qui nisi fuisset, quis nostrum esse potuisset? advolabat ad urbem a Brundisio homo impotentissimus, ardens odio, animo hostili in omnis bonos cum exercitu Antonius . quid huius audaciae et sceleri poterat opponi? nondum ullos duces habebamus, non copias; nullum erat consilium publicum, nulla libertas; dandae cervices erant crudelitati nefariae; fugam quaerebamus omnes, quae ipsa exitum non habebat.

I come to Gaius Caesar, senators. Had he not existed, which of us could still exist? Antonius, a wholly unrestrained man blazing with hatred and hostile in spirit toward every good citizen, was flying toward the city from Brundisium with an army. What could be set against his audacity and crime? We did not yet have any commanders or forces. There was no public council and no liberty. Our necks had to be offered to his accursed cruelty. We all sought flight, though flight itself offered no escape.

J’en viens à C. César, pères conscrits. S’il n’avait pas existé, lequel d’entre nous aurait pu subsister? Antoine, homme sans aucune maîtrise, brûlant de haine, animé de sentiments hostiles contre tous les gens de bien, volait de Brindes vers Rome avec une armée. Que pouvait-on opposer à son audace et à son crime? Nous n’avions encore aucun chef ni aucune troupe; il n’existait aucune délibération publique, aucune liberté; il fallait tendre la gorge à une cruauté criminelle. Nous cherchions tous à fuir, mais la fuite elle-même n’avait aucune issue.