§14an vero, si actio ista popularis esset et si ullam partem aequitatis haberet aut iuris, C. Gracchus eam reliquisset? scilicet tibi graviorem dolorem patrui tui mors attulit quam C. Graccho fratris, et tibi acerbior eius patrui mors est quem numquam vidisti quam illi eius fratris quicum concordissime vixerat, et simili iure tu ulcisceris patrui mortem atque ille persequeretur fratris, si ista ratione agere voluisset, et par desiderium sui reliquit apud populum Romanum Labienus iste, patruus vester, quisquis fuit, ac Ti.
Or indeed, if that action of yours were popular and if it had any part of equity or justice, would C.
Gracchus reliquerat.
Gracchus have left it behind? To be sure, the death of your uncle brought heavier grief to you than the death of his brother did to C. Gracchus, and the death of that uncle whom you never saw is more bitter to you than the death of that brother with whom he had lived in the greatest harmony was to him, and with a similar right you are avenging the death of your uncle as he would have pursued that of his brother, if he had wished to act in that manner, and that Labienus, your uncle, whoever he was, left behind an equal longing for himself among the Roman people as Ti. Gracchus had left.
an pietas tua maior quam C. Gracchi, an animus, an consilium, an opes, an auctoritas, an eloquentia? quae si in illo minima fuissent, tamen prae tuis facultatibus maxima putarentur.
Or is your piety greater than that of C. Gracchus, or your courage, or your wisdom, or your resources, or your authority, or your eloquence? Even if these had been very small in him, yet they would be thought very great in comparison with your capacities.
§15Cum vero his rebus omnibus C. Gracchus omnis vicerit, quantum intervallum tandem inter te atque illum interiectum putas? sed moreretur prius acerbissima morte miliens C. Gracchus quam in eius contione carnifex consisteret; quem non modo foro sed etiam caelo hoc ac spiritu censoriae leges atque urbis domicilio carere voluerunt.
But since C. Gracchus surpassed everyone in all these respects, how great a distance, I pray, do you think is interposed between you and him? But C. Gracchus would sooner have died a thousand times by the most bitter death than have allowed an executioner to stand in his assembly; whom the censorial laws wished to be excluded not only from the forum but even from this sky, this breath, and the dwelling of the city.
hic se popularem dicere audet, me alienum a commodis vestris, cum iste omnis et suppliciorum et verborum acerbitates non ex memoria vestra ac patrum vestrorum sed ex annalium monumentis atque ex regum commentariis conquisierit, ego omnibus meis opibus, omnibus consiliis, omnibus dictis atque factis repugnarim et restiterim crudelitati? nisi forte hanc condicionem vobis esse voltis quam servi, si libertatis spem propositam non haberent, ferre nullo modo possent.
Does this man dare to call himself a friend of the people, and me hostile to your interests, when he has sought out all the cruelties of punishments and words not from your memory or that of your fathers but from the monuments of the annals and the records of the kings, while I, with all my resources, all my counsels, all my words and deeds, have resisted and opposed this cruelty? Unless perchance you wish to have this condition, which slaves could in no way bear if they did not have the hope of liberty set before them.
§16misera est ignominia iudiciorum publicorum, misera multatio bonorum, miserum exsilium; sed tamen in omni calamitate retinetur aliquod vestigium libertatis.
Wretched is the ignominy of public trials, wretched the confiscation of goods, wretched exile; but yet in every calamity some trace of liberty is retained.
mors denique si proponitur, in libertate moriamur, carnifex vero et obductio capitis et nomen ipsum crucis absit non modo a corpore civium Romanorum sed etiam a cogitatione, oculis, auribus.
Finally, if death is proposed, let us die in liberty; but let the executioner, the veiling of the head, and the very name of the cross be absent not only from the body of Roman citizens but even from their thoughts, eyes, and ears.
harum enim omnium rerum non solum eventus atque perpessio sed etiam condicio, exspectatio, mentio ipsa denique indigna cive Romano atque homine libero est.
For of all these things, not only the occurrence and the endurance but even the condition, the expectation, and the very mention is unworthy of a Roman citizen and a free man.
an vero servos nostros horum suppliciorum omnium metu dominorum benignitas vindicta una liberat; nos a verberibus, ab unco, a crucis denique terrore neque res gestae neque acta aetas neque vestri honores vindicabunt?
Or indeed, does the kindness of masters by a single manumission free our slaves from the fear of all these punishments; while neither our past deeds, nor our advanced age, nor your honors will deliver us from stripes, from the hook, and finally from the terror of the cross?
§17quam ob rem fateor atque etiam, Labiene, profiteor et prae me fero te ex illa crudeli, importuna, non tribunicia actione sed regia, meo consilio, virtute, auctoritate esse depulsum.
Wherefore I confess and indeed, Labienus, I openly declare and profess that you were driven from that cruel, unjust, and not tribunician but kingly action, by my counsel, courage, and authority.
qua tu in actione quamquam omnia exempla maiorum, omnis leges, omnem auctoritatem senatus, omnis religiones atque auspiciorum publica iura neglexisti, tamen a me haec in hoc tam exiguo meo tempore non audies; liberum tempus nobis dabitur ad istam disceptationem.
In which action, although you neglected all the precedents of our ancestors, all the laws, all the authority of the senate, all religious rites and the public rights of auspices, yet you shall not hear these things from me in this so brief time of mine; free time will be given to us for that discussion.
§18nunc de Saturnini crimine ac de clarissimi patrui tui morte dicemus.
Now we shall speak of the charge concerning Saturninus and of the death of your most illustrious uncle.
arguis occisum esse a C. Rabirio L. Saturninum.
You argue that L. Saturninus was killed by C. Rabirius.
at id C. Rabirius multorum testimoniis, Q. Hortensio copiosissime defendente, antea falsum esse docuit; ego autem, si mihi esset integrum, susciperem hoc crimen, agnoscerem, confiterer.
But C. Rabirius, by the testimony of many, with Q. Hortensius defending him most copiously, has already shown that this is false; I, however, if it were open to me, would undertake this charge, acknowledge it, and confess it.
Vtinam hanc mihi facultatem causa concederet ut possem hoc praedicare, C. Rabiri manu L. Saturninum, hostem populi Romani, interfectum!—nihil me clamor iste commovet sed consolatur, cum indicat esse quosdam civis imperitos sed non multos.
Would that the cause granted me this opportunity, so that I could proclaim this, that by the hand of C. Rabirius, L. Saturninus, an enemy of the Roman people, was slain!—That clamor does not disturb me at all but consoles me, since it indicates that there are some ignorant citizens, but not many.
numquam, mihi credite, populus Romanus hic qui silet consulem me fecisset, si vestro clamore perturbatum iri arbitraretur.
Believe me, the Roman people here who are silent would never have made me consul if they thought I would be perturbed by your clamor.
quanto iam levior est acclamatio! quin continetis vocem indicem stultitiae vestrae, testem paucitatis!
How much lighter the shouting has already become! Why do you not restrain your voice, which indicates your folly and witnesses your fewness!