"May I be privileged to build the foundations of the state safe and sound, and lay the groundwork for the future as I wish, and so gain the reward of my endeavor: to be called the author of the best po…"

"Having achieved all I desired, I was now free to be a private citizen."

"It will be enough if I can make people say after I'm dead that I played my part well."

"I have always been a man of integrity, and have conducted myself with honesty and fairness."

"I presented myself for the consulship in my twenty-eighth year."