Caesar's last rites

My fellow Roman senators, today is a grave day indeed. Today Rome has lost not only its leader, but also a citizen who exemplified the nature of the Roman people. Caesar had everything that Rome holds near to its heart. He possessed wisdom, education, and strength not only of the body but of the spirit as well. Today I grieve not only as a friend but also as a Roman senator. While I suffer through a maelstrom of emotions I say this to you: let us put aside our personal feelings toward our late leader and instead focus on actions and thoughts that shall benefit our people and our country in the difficult weeks that are sure to come.
Many have come forward with debates on Caesar’s position and if it was right and good according to the laws of Rome. They say that he should be deemed traitor and cast into the river like so much garbage. I say it should not be so. My personal feelings towards Caesar would command that I stand and say as much however I do not ask this because he was dear to me but rather I ask this because it is the right and just thing to do. Did Caesar not treat all justly and fair? Did he not rule over his people with love? Did he not spend all of his efforts into bettering the country that he loved more then his very existence? I also ask you this, if Caesar were alive today would he not still pardon those who acted against him in deed and thought and treat them with the respect of their positions? Should we do less?
If these words still do not move you then I beg you to think of the message we would be giving the citizens of Rome if we should not give Caesar the burial rites he deserves. If they see the man who once led Rome with power only rivaled by the gods dumped into the water, killed by those closest to him, then how could they not begin to think how easy it is to snuff out a great life and be proclaimed hero for it. It is no wish of mine to fear the very citizens of Rome, to walk down a street in fear that someone will take upon themselves to place steel into my back with surety that Rome will applaud them for it. Let us display that fine Romans shall be treated as such and that the gods will not be alone in administering justice.
How will history look back upon us if we do not give Caesar proper rites? There are those who say by dumping him in the river history will look back on you as tyrant killers and find no fault in your actions. I say that it is not true. If you but give his body the respect that his life accorded him then how can others not applaud your actions? Your goal is already achieved; Caesar is already dead. Shall you take it upon yourselves to then mar his passage to his final resting place with political scramblings? There is nothing but shame in such actions.
I do not stand before you today asking you to take the memory of Caesar and hold it fondly in your mind. I do not ask that you praise his name or command great epics be written in his honor. I stand with those who say Caesar should be given a proper funeral befitting his life and I simply ask that you let a great Roman be given unto the gods with honor.
Gaius Sallustius Crispus