§35nunc vero cum laedat nemo bonus, laudent omnes vestri cives atque socii, oppugnent idem qui saepissime hanc urbem et hoc imperium oppugnarunt, cumque inimici M. Fontei vobis ac populo Romano minentur, amici ac propinqui supplicent vobis, dubitabitis non modo vestris civibus, qui maxime gloria ac laude ducuntur, verum etiam exteris nationibus et gentibus ostendere vos in sententiis ferendis civi parcere quam hosti cedere maluisse?
But now indeed, since no good man harms him, and all your citizens and allies praise him, while those same men attack him who have very often attacked this city and this empire, and since the enemies of Marcus Fonteius threaten you and the Roman people, while his friends and relatives supplicate you, will you hesitate to show, not only to your citizens, who are chiefly led by glory and praise, but also to foreign nations and peoples, that in delivering your verdicts you preferred to spare a citizen rather than yield to an enemy?
§36Magna me hercules causa, iudices, absolutionis cum ceteris causis haec est, ne quae insignis huic imperio macula atque ignominia suscipiatur, si hoc ita perlatum erit in Galliam, senatores equitesque populi Romani non testimoniis Gallorum, sed minis commotos rem ad illorum libidinem iudicasse.
By Hercules, judges, this is a great reason for acquittal along with the other reasons, lest any notable stain and disgrace should be incurred by this empire, if this news is carried to Gaul in such a way that the senators and knights of the Roman people, moved not by the testimonies of the Gauls but by their threats, judged the matter according to their caprice.
ita vero, si illi bellum facere conabuntur, excitandus nobis erit ab inferis C. Marius qui Indutiomaro isti minaci atque adroganti par in bello gerendo esse possit, excitandus Cn. Domitius et Q. Maximus qui nationem Allobrogum et belli reliquias suis iterum armis conficiat atque opprimat, aut, quoniam id quidem non potest, orandus erit nobis amicus meus, M. Plaetorius, ut suos novos clientis a bello faciendo deterreat, ut eorum iratos animos atque horribilis impetus deprecetur, aut, si non poterit, M. Fabium, subscriptorem eius, rogabimus ut Allobrogum animos mitiget, quoniam apud illos Fabiorum nomen amplissimum est.
Indeed, if they attempt to make war, we shall have to summon Gaius Marius from the shades below, who may be a match for that threatening and arrogant Indutiomarus in waging war; we shall have to summon Gnaeus Domitius and Quintus Maximus, to defeat and crush the nation of the Allobroges and the remnants of the war once more with their arms; or, since that indeed is impossible, we shall have to entreat my friend, Marcus Plaetorius, to deter his new clients from making war, to deprecate their angry minds and dreadful assaults; or, if he cannot, we shall ask Marcus Fabius, his sub-prosecutor, to pacify the minds of the Allobroges, since among them the name of the Fabii is most influential.
volunt isti aut quiescere, id quod victi ac subacti solent, aut, cum minantur, intellegere se populo Romano non metum belli sed spem triumphi ostendere?
Do they wish either to remain quiet, as those who are conquered and subdued are accustomed to do, or, when they threaten, do they understand that they are showing to the Roman people not the fear of war but the hope of a triumph?
§37quod si in turpi reo patiendum non esset ut quicquam isti se minis profecisse arbitrarentur, quid faciendum vobis in M. Fonteio arbitramini? de quo homine, iudices—iam enim mihi videor hoc prope causa duabus actionibus perorata debere dicere—de quo vos homine ne ab inimicis quidem ullum fictum probrorum non modo crimen sed ne maledictum quidem audistis.
But if in the case of a base defendant it ought not to be tolerated that those men should think they had gained anything by their threats, what do you think ought to be done by you in the case of Marcus Fonteius? Concerning which man, judges—for now, the case having been pleaded in two actions, I feel that I ought to say this—concerning which man you have not heard even from his enemies any fabricated charge of disgraceful conduct, much less any slander.
ecquis umquam reus, praesertim in hac vitae ratione versatus, in honoribus petendis, in potestatibus, in imperiis gerendis, sic accusatus est ut nullum probrum, nullum facinus, nulla turpitudo quae a libidine aut a petulantia aut ab audacia nata esset, ab accusatore obiceretur, si non vera, at ficta cum aliqua ratione ac suspicione?
Has any defendant ever, especially one engaged in this way of life, in seeking offices, in holding authorities, in conducting military commands, been so accused that no disgraceful act, no crime, no baseness arising from caprice or petulance or audacity was cast against him by the accuser, if not true, at least fabricated with some plausibility and suspicion?
§38M. Aemilium Scaurum, summum nostrae civitatis virum, scimus accusatum a M. Bruto.
We know that Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, a foremost man of our state, was accused by Marcus Brutus.
exstant orationes, ex quibus intellegi potest multa in illum ipsum Scaurum esse dicta, falso;
Speeches are extant from which it can be understood that many things were said against that very Scaurus—falsely, who denies it?
quis negat? verum tamen ab inimico dicta et obiecta.
But nevertheless said and cast against him by an enemy.
quam multa M'. Aquilius audivit in suo iudicio, quam multa L. Cotta, denique P. Rutilius! qui, etsi damnatus est, mihi videtur tamen inter viros optimos atque innocentissimos esse numerandus.
How many things did Manius Aquilius hear in his trial, how many did Lucius Cotta, and finally Publius Rutilius! Who, although he was condemned, seems to me nevertheless to be numbered among the best and most innocent of men.
ille igitur ipse homo sanctissimus ac temperantissimus multa audivit in sua causa quae ad suspicionem stuprorum ac libidinum pertinerent.
That very man, therefore, most holy and temperate though he was, heard many things in his case which pertained to the suspicion of debaucheries and lusts.
§39exstat oratio hominis, ut opinio mea fert, nostrorum hominum longe ingeniosissimi atque eloquentissimi, C. Gracchi; qua in oratione permulta in L. Pisonem turpia ac flagitiosa dicuntur.
There is extant a speech of Gaius Gracchus, a man, in my opinion, by far the most talented and eloquent of our countrymen; in which speech very many base and shameful things are said against Lucius Piso.
at in quem virum! qui tanta virtute atque integritate fuit ut etiam illis optimis temporibus, cum hominem invenire nequam neminem posses, solus tamen Frugi nominaretur.
But against what a man! Who was of such virtue and integrity that even in those best of times, when you could find no worthless man, he alone was named Frugi.
quem cum in contionem Gracchus vocari iuberet et viator quaereret, quem Pisonem, quod erant plures: 'cogis me,' inquit, 'dicere inimicum meum Frugi. ' is igitur vir quem ne inimicus quidem satis in appellando significare poterat, nisi ante laudasset, qui uno cognomine declarabatur non modo quis esset sed etiam qualis esset, tamen in falsam atque iniquam probrorum insimulationem vocabatur; M.
When Gracchus ordered him to be summoned to a public assembly, and the officer asked which Piso, because there were several, he said: "You force me to call my enemy Frugi." That man, therefore, whom not even his enemy could sufficiently designate in naming him without having first praised him, who by a single surname was declared not only who he was but also what sort of man he was, was nevertheless summoned to a false and unjust imputation of disgraceful conduct; Marcus...