§11numquam de P. Popilio L. Opimius, fortissimus consul, numquam de Q. Metello non modo C. Marius, qui erat inimicus, sed ne is quidem qui secutus est, M. Antonius, homo eloquentissimus, cum A. Albino conlega senatum aut populum est cohortatus;
Never did L. Opimius, a most brave consul, speak in the senate or to the people on behalf of P. Popilius; never did C. Marius, who was an enemy, nor even he who followed, M. Antonius, a most eloquent man, along with his colleague A. Albinus, exhort the senate or the people on behalf of Q. Metellus.
at pro me superiores consules semper ut referrent flagitati sunt; sed veriti sunt ne gratiae causa facere viderentur, quod alter mihi adfinis erat, alterius causam capitis receperam;
But on my behalf, the preceding consuls were always demanded to make a proposal; yet they feared lest they should seem to act for the sake of personal favor, because one was my relative by marriage, and I had undertaken the capital case of the other.
qui provinciarum foedere infrenati totum illum annum querelas senatus, luctum bonorum, Italiae gemitum pertulerunt.
These men, restrained by the pact of the provinces, endured through that whole year the complaints of the senate, the grief of the good citizens, and the groans of Italy.
Kalendis vero Ianuariis postea quam orba res publica consulis fidem tamquam legitimi tutoris imploravit, P. Lentulus consul, parens, deus, salus nostrae vitae, fortunae, memoriae, nominis, simul ac de sollemni deorum religione rettulit, nihil humanarum rerum sibi prius quam de me agendum iudicavit.
But indeed, on the Kalends of January, after the orphaned republic implored the protection of the consul as if of a lawful guardian, P. Lentulus the consul—the parent, the god, the savior of our life, fortune, memory, and name—as soon as he made a proposal concerning the solemn religion of the gods, judged that no human business ought to be transacted by him prior to the matter concerning me.
§12atque eo die confecta res esset, nisi is tribunus plebis quem ego maximis beneficiis quaestorem consul ornaram, cum et cunctus ordo et multi eum summi viri orarent, et Cn. Oppius socer, optimus vir, ad pedes flens iaceret, noctem sibi ad deliberandum postulasset; quae deliberatio non in reddenda, quem ad modum non nulli arbitrabantur, sed, ut patefactum est, in augenda mercede consumpta est.
And on that day the matter would have been finished, if that tribune of the plebs—whom I, as consul, had honored with the office of quaestor through the greatest benefits—while both the entire order and many of the highest men were entreating him, and his father-in-law Cn. Oppius, a most excellent man, lay weeping at his feet, had not demanded a night for himself to deliberate; which deliberation was consumed not in returning the favor, as some supposed, but, as was made manifest, in increasing his bribe.
postea res acta est in senatu alia nulla: cum variis rationibus impediretur, voluntate tamen perspecta senatus, causa ad vos mense Ianuario deferebatur.
Afterward, no other business was transacted in the senate; although it was hindered by various schemes, yet, the goodwill of the senate having been perceived, the case was referred to you in the month of January.
hic tantum interfuit inter me et inimicos meos.
In this lay so great a difference between me and my enemies.
§13ego, cum homines in tribunali Aurelio palam conscribi centuriarique vidissem, cum intellegerem veteres ad spem caedis Catilinae copias esse revocatas, cum viderem ex ea parte homines, cuius partis nos vel principes numerabamur, partim quod mihi inviderent, partim quod sibi timerent, aut proditores esse aut desertores salutis meae, cum duo consules empti pactione provinciarum auctores se inimicis rei publicae tradidissent, cum egestatem avaritiam libidines suas viderent expleri non posse nisi me constrictum domesticis hostibus dedidissent, cum senatus equitesque Romani flere pro me ac mutata veste vobis supplicare edictis atque imperiis vetarentur, cum omnium provinciarum pactiones, cum omnia cum omnibus foedera reconciliationesque gratiarum sanguine meo sancirentur, cum omnes boni non recusarent quin vel pro me vel mecum perirent, armis decertare pro mea salute nolui, quod et vincere et vinci luctuosum rei publicae fore putavi.
When I had seen men openly enrolled and organized into centuries at the Aurelian tribunal, when I understood that the old forces of Catiline had been recalled to the hope of slaughter, when I saw that the men of that party, of which party we were counted even among the leaders, were, partly because they envied me, partly because they feared for themselves, either betrayers or deserters of my safety, when two consuls, bought by the pact of the provinces, had delivered themselves as leaders to the enemies of the republic, when they saw that their own poverty, avarice, and lusts could not be satisfied unless they delivered me bound to the domestic enemies, when the senate and the Roman knights were forbidden by edicts and commands to weep for me and to supplicate you in changed raiment, when the pacts of all provinces, when all treaties and reconciliations of favors with all men were being sanctioned with my blood, when all good citizens did not refuse to perish either for me or with me, I did not wish to fight with arms for my safety, because I thought that both conquering and being conquered would be mournful for the republic.
§14at inimici mei, mense Ianuario cum de me ageretur, corporibus civium trucidatis flumine sanguinis meum reditum intercludendum putaverunt.
But my enemies, in the month of January when my case was being discussed, thought that my return ought to be blocked by a river of blood after the bodies of citizens had been slaughtered.
itaque, dum ego absum, eam rem publicam habuistis ut aeque me atque illam restituendam putaretis.
And so, while I was absent, you maintained such a republic that you thought it ought to be restored equally with myself.
ego autem in qua civitate nihil valeret senatus, omnis esset impunitas, nulla iudicia, vis et ferrum in foro versaretur, cum privati parietum se praesidio non legum tuerentur, tribuni plebis vobis inspectantibus vulnerarentur, ad magistratuum domos cum ferro et facibus iretur, consulis fasces frangerentur, deorum immortalium templa incenderentur, rem publicam esse nullam putavi.
I, however, in a state where the senate had no power, where there was total impunity, no courts, and violence and iron prevailed in the forum, where private citizens protected themselves by the defense of walls and not of laws, where tribunes of the plebs were wounded before your eyes, where people went to the houses of magistrates with iron and torches, where the fasces of the consul were broken, and the temples of the immortal gods were set on fire—I thought that there was no republic.
itaque neque re publica exterminata mihi locum in hac urbe esse duxi, nec, si illa restitueretur, dubitavi quin me secum ipsa reduceret.
Therefore, I neither thought that there was a place for me in this city while the republic was banished, nor, if it were restored, did I doubt that it would bring me back along with itself.
§15an ego, cum mihi esset exploratissimum P. Lentulum proximo anno consulem futurum, qui illis ipsis rei publicae periculosissimis temporibus aedilis curulis me consule omnium meorum consiliorum particeps periculorumque socius fuisset, dubitarem quin is me confectum consularibus vulneribus consulari medicina ad salutem reduceret? hoc duce, conlega autem eius, clementissimo atque optimo viro, primo non adversante, post etiam adiuvante, reliqui magistratus paene omnes fuerunt defensores salutis meae;
Could I indeed, when it was most certain to me that P. Lentulus would be consul the next year—who in those very dangerous times of the republic, as curule aedile during my consulship, had been a sharer of all my plans and a companion in my dangers—doubt that he would restore me, worn out by consular wounds, to safety by a consular remedy? With him as leader, and his colleague, a most gentle and excellent man, at first not opposing and afterward even assisting, almost all the other magistrates were defenders of my safety; among whom, with excellent mind, virtue, authority, protection, and forces, T.
ex quibus excellenti animo virtute auctoritate praesidio copiis T. Annius et P. Sestius praestanti in me benivolentia et divino studio exstiterunt;
Annius and P. Sestius stood out with prominent goodwill and divine zeal toward me.
eodemque P. Lentulo auctore et pariter referente conlega frequentissimus senatus, uno dissentiente, nullo intercedente, dignitatem meam quibus potuit verbis amplissimis ornavit, salutem vobis municipiis coloniis omnibus commendavit.
And on the motion of the same P. Lentulus and with his colleague likewise referring, a most crowded senate, with one dissenting and none interposing a veto, adorned my dignity with the most ample words possible, and commended my safety to you and to all the municipia and colonies.