§11non igitur reus ex ea causa quae iudicata est redundat Postumus, sed est adreptus unus eques Romanus de pecuniis repetundis reus.
Therefore, Postumus does not overflow as a defendant from that case which has been decided, but a single Roman knight has been dragged in as a defendant for extortion.
quibus tabulis? quae in iudicio Gabiniano recitatae non sunt.
By what ledgers? Those which were not read out in the trial of Gabinius.
quo teste? A quo tum appellatus nusquam est.
By what witness? One by whom he was nowhere named at that time.
qua aestimatione litium? in qua Postumi mentio facta nulla est.
By what assessment of damages? One in which no mention of Postumus was made.
qua lege? qua non tenetur.
By what law? One by which he is not bound.
hic iam, iudices, vestri consili res est, vestrae sapientiae; quid deceat vos, non quantum liceat vobis, spectare debetis.
Here now, judges, is a matter for your deliberation, for your wisdom; you ought to look to what becomes you, not how much is permitted to you.
si enim quid liceat quaeritis, potestis tollere e civitate quem voltis; tabella est quae dat potestatem; occultat eadem libidinem, cuius conscientiam nihil est quod quisquam timeat, si non pertimescat suam.
For if you ask what is permitted, you can remove from the state whomever you wish; it is the voting tablet that gives the power; that same tablet conceals one's desire, of which awareness there is no reason for anyone to fear, if he does not greatly fear his own.
§12ubi est igitur sapientia iudicis? in hoc, ut non solum quid possit, sed etiam quid debeat, ponderet nec quantum sibi permissum meminerit solum, sed etiam quatenus commissum sit.
Where then is the wisdom of a judge? In this: that he weighs not only what he can do, but also what he ought to do, and remembers not only how much has been permitted to him, but also how far it has been entrusted to him.
datur tibi tabella iudici.
A voting tablet is given to you as a judge.
qua lege? Iulia de pecuniis repetundis.
Under what law? The Julian law on extortion.
quo de reo? de equite Romano.
Concerning what defendant? A Roman knight.
at iste ordo lege ea non tenetur.
But that order is not bound by that law.
illo,
inquit,
capite: quo ea pecunia pervenerit. nihil audisti in Postumum, cum in Gabinium iudex esses, nihil Gabinio damnato, cum in eum litis aestimares.
"Under that chapter," he says, "whither that money has come." You heard nothing against Postumus when you were a judge against Gabinius, nothing after Gabinius was condemned, when you assessed the damages against him.
at nunc audio. reus igitur Postumus est ea lege qua non modo ipse sed totus etiam ordo solutus ac liber est.
"But now I hear it." Therefore, Postumus is a defendant under a law from which not only he himself but also his entire order is released and free.
§13hic ego nunc non vos prius implorabo, equites Romani, quorum ius iudicio temptatur, quam vos, senatores, quorum agitur fides in hunc ordinem; quae quidem cum saepe ante, tum in hac ipsa causa nuper est cognita.
Here now, I shall not implore you, Roman knights, whose right is tested by this trial, before I implore you, senators, whose good faith toward this order is at stake; which faith indeed has been recognized not only often before, but also recently in this very cause.
nam cum optimo et praestantissimo consule, Cn. Pompeio, de hac ipsa quaestione referente existerent non nullae, sed perpaucae tamen acerbae sententiae, quae quidem censerent ut tribuni, ut praefecti, ut scribae, ut comites omnes magistratuum lege hac tenerentur, vos, vos inquam, ipsi et senatus frequens restitit, et, quamquam tum propter multorum delicta etiam ad innocentium periculum tempus illud exarserat, tamen, cum odium nostri restingueretis, huic ordini ignem novum subici non sivistis.
For when the excellent and most distinguished consul Gnaeus Pompeius made a motion concerning this very inquiry, and there arose some, though very few, harsh opinions which indeed proposed that tribunes, prefects, scribes, and all retinues of magistrates should be bound by this law, you, you yourselves, I say, and a crowded senate resisted; and, although that time had flared up because of the transgressions of many, even to the danger of the innocent, nevertheless, while you extinguished the hatred against us, you did not allow a new fire to be placed under this order.
§14hoc animo igitur senatus.
Such then was the mind of the senate.
quid? vos, equites Romani, quid tandem estis acturi? Glaucia solebat, homo impurus, sed tamen acutus, populum monere ut, cum lex aliqua recitaretur, primum versum attenderet.
What? You, Roman knights, what, pray, are you going to do? Glaucia, a base but nevertheless sharp man, used to warn the people that, when any law was read out, they should attend to the first verse.
si esset
"Dictator, consul, praetor, magister equitum,"
ne laboraret; sciret nihil ad se pertinere;
If it were "Dictator, consul, praetor, master of the horse," they should not worry; they should know that nothing of it pertained to them.
sin esset
"Quicumqve post hanc legem,"
videret ne qua nova quaestione adligaretur.
But if it were "Whoever after this law," they should see to it that they were not bound by some new inquiry.
§15nunc vos, equites Romani, videte.
Now, Roman knights, look.
scitis me ortum e vobis omnia semper sensisse pro vobis.
You know that I, having sprung from you, have always felt all things in your favor.
nihil horum sine magna cura et summa caritate vestri ordinis loquor.
I speak none of these things without great care and the highest affection for your order.
Alius alios homines et ordines, ego vos semper complexus sum.
Another may embrace other men and orders, but I have always embraced you.
moneo et praedico, integra re causaque denuntio, omnis homines deosque testor: dum potestis, dum licet, providete ne duriorem vobis condicionem statuatis ordinique vestro quam ferre possitis.
I warn and predict, I declare while the matter and the cause are still untouched, I call all men and gods to witness: while you can, while it is permitted, see to it that you do not establish a harder condition for yourselves and your order than you can bear.
serpet hoc malum, mihi credite, longius quam putatis.
This evil will creep, believe me, further than you think.
§16potentissimo et nobilissimo tribuno pl. , M. Druso, novam in equestrem ordinem quaestionem ferenti:
"Si qvis ob rem ivdicandam pecvniam cepisset"
aperte equites Romani restiterunt.
When Marcus Drusus, a most powerful and noble tribune of the plebs, proposed a new inquiry against the equestrian order, "If anyone had received money for judging a matter," the Roman knights openly resisted.
quid? hoc licere volebant? minime;
What? Did they wish this to be permitted?
neque solum hoc genus pecuniae capiendae turpe sed etiam nefarium esse arbitrabantur.
By no means; they thought that not only was this kind of receiving money shameful, but even impious.
ac tamen ita disputabant, eos teneri legibus eis oportere qui suo iudicio essent illam condicionem vitae secuti.
And yet they argued in this way, that those men ought to be bound by those laws who had by their own judgment followed that condition of life.
delectat amplissimus civitatis gradus, sella curulis, fasces, imperia, provinciae, sacerdotia, triumphi, denique imago ipsa ad posteritatis memoriam prodita;
The most ample rank of the state delights, the curule chair, the fasces, the military commands, the provinces, the priesthoods, the triumphs, and finally the very image handed down to the memory of posterity.