[56] I fear that someone might consider these examples excessively ancient and by now obsolete; for back then all were uniformly of such a kind that this praise of outstanding excellence and integrity seems to belong not only to the men, but also those times. P. Servilius, a most illustrious man, having performed the greatest deeds, is present to give his verdict on you: he captured Olympus by means of force, troops, good counsel, and personal excellence – an ancient city amplified and adorned with every kind of ornament. I put forward a recent example of a most courageous man: for Servilius, a general of the Roman people, captured Olympus, a hostile town, after you, a legate of the rank of a quaestor in those same regions, saw to it that the pacified townships of allies and friends be plundered and devastated.
