Cicero on the right time to die

“The case of our friend Pompey was something better: once, when he had been very ill at Naples, the Neapolitans, on his recovery, put crowns on their heads, as did those of Puteoli; the people flocked from the country to congratulate him—it is a Grecian custom, and a foolish one; still, it is a sign of good fortune.

But the question is, had he died, would he have been taken from good, or from evil?

Certainly from evil. He would not have been engaged in a war with his father-in-law; he would not ha...