The multitude prefer those who cheat them with beaming smiles and brotherly love to those who serve them with dignity and reserve

The multitude prefer those who cheat them with beaming smiles and brotherly love to those who serve them with dignity and reserve. Isocrates. Antidosis. Speech 15. Section 133.

Note: This quote reminded me of the rather lop-sided Second Triumvirate. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus served Rome since he was a child when he joined the College of Pontiffs and became a staunch supporter of Caesar. He served with distinction in Hispania Citerior, quelling a rebellion and defeating the Mauretanian king Bogud and was even awarded a triumph. Caesar even named him "Master of the Horse" in place of Antony after Antony's actions led to disturbances in 47 BCE.

As soon as Lepidus learned of Caesar's murder, he acted decisively to maintain order by moving troops to the Campus Martius. He proposed using his army to punish Caesar's killers, but was dissuaded by Antony and Aulus Hirtius. Lepidus and Antony both spoke in the Senate the following day, accepting an amnesty for the assassins in return for preservation of their offices and Caesar's reforms.

When Pompey's surviving son Sextus Pompey tried to take advantage of the turmoil to threaten Spain, the senate sent Lepidus to negotiate an agreement to maintain the peace and even voted him a public thanksgiving festival. But when Lepidus was pressured to become part of the Second Triumvirate then coerced by Octavian and Antony to yield seven legions under his control to them to defeat Caesar's assassins which Lepidus maintained order in Rome, he consigned himself to little more than a footnote in history. He was eventually stripped of his provinces and his power by Octavian. Ancient sources report Octavian constantly belittled him by always asking for his Senate vote last.

Image: Male portrait from the period of the Second Triumvirate at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome, Italy courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen.