William Preston Johnston - Cicero lyrics

WHEN martial Rome had stretched her conquering sword Wide o'er the lands, Philosophy held sway Where once ancestral gods had been adored. Then rival sects made battle in word-play; Stoic and Epicurean had his say, And in the clash of tongues each felt a**ured That he alone stood in the light of day. Great Tully looked on, smiling, and endured The babble till his patience was outworn, Then, with full measure of his talents ten And mental sinews trained in every school And learning copious as rich Plenty's horn, He grasped the problem old 'twixt gods and men, To find in nature that one God must rule.