No one may rely on the honesty of his life as a guarantee that he will be able to live securely. Isocrates. Antidosis. Speech 15. Section 24.
Note: Most of us are familiar with the legend about Cincinnatus and his virtuous nature. However, he was a target of political exploitation early in his life because of the political activities of his son, Caeso.
According to Livy, “Caeso was a member of the Quinctian house, and his noble descent and great bodily strength and stature made him a daring and intrepid young man. To these gifts of the gods he added brilliant military qualities and eloquence as a public speaker, so that no one in the State was held to surpass him either in speech or action. When he took his stand in the middle of a group of patricians, conspicuous amongst them all, carrying as it were in his voice and personal strength all dictatorships and consulships combined, he was the one to withstand the attacks of the tribunes and the storms of popular indignation.”
But, he was also arrogant.
“Under his leadership the tribunes were often driven from the Forum, the plebeians routed and chased away, anybody who stood in his way went off stripped and beaten" - Livy
Caeso was finally impeached on a capital charge by Aulus Verginius.
“Among those who spoke for him was his father, L. Quinctius Cincinnatus. He did not go over all his merits again, for fear of aggravating the feeling against him, but he pleaded for indulgence to the errors of youth; he himself had never injured any one either by word or deed, and for his own sake he implored them to pardon his son.” - Livy
Caeso was released on bail and fled to the Tuscans. The trial continued, however, and Cincinnatus was forced to pay for his son's absence.
“The money was unmercifully extorted from the father, who had to sell all his property and live for some time like a banished man in an out-of-the-way hut on the other side of the Tiber.” - Livy
Image: Statue of Cincinnatus at Cincinnati, Ohio courtesy of Rick Dikeman, 2004 (CC BY 2.0)
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