I want to put down this letter written by Cicero to one of his friends. Cicero worked hard to be an upright man in a difficult time, namely the time when Rome was failing. His insight into the failures of Rome are valuable to us now, because the U.S. faces similar trials. There are lots of great letters, but this is one that I think encourages us to stick by our moral standards, no matter what. I'm transcribing this from a library book, Penguin Classics: Cicero - Selected Works.

------------

To Atticus,
On his way to Epirus.

     I have received several letters from you, and they gave me an idea of the anxious suspense with which you are waiting for news. Every single outlet is blocked to us. And yet far from refusing to be slaves we fear death or exile as greater evils than slavery, when they are really much smaller ones. That is how things are; everyone groans about the situation, and not a voice is raised to suggest remedies for it.
      What those in charge have in mind, I suspect, is to make sure that there is nothing left whcih anyone else besides themselves might be able to offer as a bribe! Only one man opens his mouth and speaks against them publicly and that is young Curio. Rightminded people give him tremendous applause and a highly respectful reception in the Forum as well as a great many other signs of goodwill. Fufius on the other hand, they pursue with shouts of insults and hisses. But this inspires distress rather than confidence, when you see that the people are free enough in their feelings, while their capacity for courageous action, on the other hand, is muzzled. Do not ask me to go into details, but in general things have come to this: there can be no hope of either private individuals or even state officials being free for much longer.
     Yet amid all this oppression there is more free speech than ever, at any rate at social gatherings and parties. Indeed, the people's indignation is beginning to outweigh their fright; though on all sides there is nothing but utter despair. The Campanian Law ordains that candidates for official posts put themselves under a curse if their election speeches make any mention of land being occupied on different terms from those laid down by Caesar's legislation. Everyone else took this oath without hesitation, but Juvenitus Laterensis abandoned his candidature for the tribuneship rather than swear it -- and he is regarded as having done a very fine thing.
     I cannot bear to write any more about politics. I am disgusted with myself and find writing about it extremely painful. Considering how crushed everyone is, I manage to carry on without actual humiliation, yet without the courage I should have hoped for from myself in the light of my past achievements. Caesar very generously proposes that I should join his staff. He also offers to send me on a mission at state expense, nominally to fulfill a vow. But the decent instincts of sweet Clodius hardly suggest that this would be secure, and it would mean that I was away from Rome when my brother comes back. The other job, on Caesar's staff, is safe, and would not prevent me from being here whenever I want to - I am keeping the offer on reserve, but do not think I shall use it. I do not know what to do. I hate the idea of running away. I long to fight and have a lot of enthusiastic supporters. But I make no promises, and please say nothing about it.
     I am distressed about the freeing of Statius and a number of other things, but I have become thoroughly thick-skinned by now.  I wish you were here -- I long for you to be. Then I should not feel so short of advice or consolation. Hold yourself ready to fly to me if I call for you.
(Att. II, 18)

Rome, June or July 59B.C.

------------

Soon after this, political gangsters effectively made it impossible for Cicero to continue living in Greece. Cicero fled, and his relationship with his wife soon diminished, as she wished him to be more sympathetic to Caesar. While he was gone, his land was seized, his house was raided and destroyed, and he ended up divorcing his wife and never remarrying. Nonetheless, he continued writing influential letters, and his philosophizing soon became what is now a potentially invaluable resource for American Citizens who wish to understand why America is failing, what America's future looks like at present course, and what power is held by individuals to recover it.

I want to encourage my few (if any at all) readers to study the collapse of Rome and consider how immorality and corruption played a crucial role in it's demise, and pick up Cicero and read what he had to say about it.

"A stone is only a stone as long as it is left unturned."