No matter: the Princeps stood pre-eminent, in virtue of prestige and authority tremendous and not to be defined. […] Hortensius, related by marriage. 2 The virtue and integrity of Catulus, rare in that age, earned general recognition: brilliance and vigour were lacking. […] The word means courage, the ultimate virtue of a free man. […] Cicero was lavish with appeals to the sentiments and loyalty of Italy tota Italia; he was profuse in praise of the virtue and vigour of the novus homo. […] A blameless life is not the whole of virtue, and inflexible rectitude may prove a menace to the Commonwealth. 1 Though the private conduct of a statesman cannot entirely be divorced from his public policy and performance, Roman aristocratic standards, old and new, with their insistence upon civic virtue or personal liberty, accorded a wide indulgence.