“Ah, what a miserable sight was that auction.
Some tapestries of Pompeius, just a few and stained at that; a few silver vessels, also his, all battered; some squalid slaves. So that we grieved that there was any thing remaining to be seen of these miserable relics. However, the heirs of Lucius Rubrius halted the auction by means of a decree issued by Caesar. The spendthrift was stuck; he had nowhere to turn.”
(Marcus Tullius Cicero, Second Philippic, VIII Kal. Nov. Anno 710 ab urbe condita (24 October 44 BC), sections 73-74).
A public speech delivered 2,058 years ago on the public auction of Pompey’s patrimony held at the Forum, symbol of the victory of Caesar in the Civil War).
