§30at ex hoc ipso crimen exoritur.
But from this very point the charge arises.
ait enim, Gabinio pecuniam Postumus cum cogeret, decumas imperatarum pecuniarum sibi coegisse.
For he says that when Postumus was collecting the money for Gabinius, he collected for himself a tenth part of the demanded money.
non intellego hoc quale sit, utrum accessionem decumae, ut nostri facere coactores solent in centesima, an decessionem de summa fecerit.
I do not understand what kind of thing this is, whether he made an addition of a tenth, as our collectors are accustomed to do in the case of the one-percent tax, or a deduction from the sum.
si accessionem, undecim milia talentum ad Gabinium pervenerunt.
If an addition, eleven thousand talents reached Gabinius.
at non modo abs te decem milia obiecta sunt sed etiam ab his aestimata.
But not only were ten thousand charged by you, but they were also estimated by these judges.
§31addo illud etiam: qui tandem convenit aut tam gravi onere tributorum ad tantam pecuniam cogendam mille talentum accessionem esse factam aut in tanta mercede hominis, ut vis, avarissimi mille talentum decessionem esse concessam? neque enim fuit Gabini remittere tantum de suo nec regis imponere tantum pati suis.
I add this also: how indeed is it consistent either that, under so heavy a burden of taxes, an addition of a thousand talents was made to collect so great a sum of money, or that, in so great a reward of a man who was, as you wish, most avaricious, a deduction of a thousand talents was granted? For it was not characteristic of Gabinius to remit so much of his own, nor of the king to allow so much to be imposed on his subjects.
at erunt testes legati Alexandrini. ei nihil in Gabinium dixerunt; immo ei Gabinium laudaverunt.
"But," you say, "the Alexandrian envoys will be witnesses." They said nothing against Gabinius; on the contrary, they praised Gabinius.
Vbi ergo ille mos, ubi consuetudo iudiciorum, ubi exempla? solet is dicere in eum qui pecuniam redegit qui in illum cuius nomine ea pecunia redigeretur non dixerit?
Where then is that custom, where is the practice of trials, where are the precedents? Is it customary for him to speak against the one who collected the money, who did not speak against the one in whose name that money was collected?
§32age, si is qui non dixit solet, etiamne is solet qui laudavit? isdem testibus, et quidem non productis, sed dictis testium recitatis, quasi praeiudicata res ad has causas deferri solet.
Come, if he who did not speak is accustomed to do so, is even he who praised accustomed to do so? By the very same witnesses, and indeed not produced in person, but with the testimonies of the witnesses read aloud, it is customary for a matter to be brought to these trials as if it were already prejudged.
et ait etiam meus familiaris et necessarius eandem causam Alexandrinis fuisse cur laudarent Gabinium quae mihi fuerit cur eundem defenderem.
And even my friend and close acquaintance says that the Alexandrians had the same reason for praising Gabinius as I had for defending him.
mihi, C. Memmi, causa defendendi Gabini fuit reconciliatio gratiae.
For me, Gaius Memmius, the reason for defending Gabinius was the reconciliation of goodwill.
neque me vero paenitet mortalis inimicitias, sempiternas amicitias habere.
And indeed I do not regret having mortal enmities but everlasting friendships.
§33nam si me invitum putas, ne Cn. Pompei animum offenderem, defendisse causam, et illum et me vehementer ignoras.
For if you think that I defended this cause against my will, so that I might not offend the mind of Gnaeus Pompeius, you are vehemently ignorant of both him and me.
neque enim Pompeius me sua causa quicquam facere voluisset invitum, neque ego cui omnium civium libertas carissima fuisset meam proiecissem.
For Pompeius would not have wished me to do anything for his sake against my will, nor would I, to whom the liberty of all citizens had been most dear, have cast away my own.
nec, quam diu inimicissimus Gabinio fui, non amicissimus mihi Cn. Pompeius fuit, nec, postea quam illius auctoritate eam dedi veniam quam debui, quicquam simulate feci, ne cum mea perfidia illi etiam ipsi facerem cui beneficium dedissem iniuriam.
Nor, as long as I was a most bitter enemy to Gabinius, was Gnaeus Pompeius not a most dear friend to me; nor, after I granted by his authority that pardon which I ought to have, did I do anything hypocritically, lest by my treachery I should do an injury even to him whom I had benefited.
nam non redeundo in gratiam cum inimico non violabam Pompeium; si per eum reductus insidiose redissem, me scilicet maxime, sed proxime illum quoque fefellissem.
For by not reconciling with my enemy I was not violating Pompeius; but if, restored through him, I had reconciled insidiously, I would of course have deceived myself most of all, but next to myself him also.
§34ac de me omittamus; ad Alexandrinos istos revertamur.
But let us pass over myself; let us return to those Alexandrians of yours.
quod habent os, quam audaciam! modo vobis inspectantibus in iudicio Gabini tertio quoque verbo excitabantur; negabant pecuniam Gabinio datam.
What face they have, what audacity! Just now, with you looking on in the trial of Gabinius, they were excited at every third word; they denied that money had been given to Gabinius.
recitabatur identidem Pompei testimonium regem ad se scripsisse nullam pecuniam Gabinio nisi in rem militarem datam.
The testimony of Pompeius was read out repeatedly, that the king had written to him that no money had been given to Gabinius except for military purposes.
non est,
inquit,
tum Alexandrinis testibus creditum.
"At that time," says the prosecutor, "the Alexandrian witnesses were not believed." What of it?
quid postea?
creditur nunc.
They are believed now.
quam ob rem?
quia nunc aiunt quod tum negabant.
"Why?" "Because now they say what they then denied." What then?
§35quid ergo? ista condicio est testium ut, quibus creditum non sit negantibus, isdem credatur dicentibus? at, si verum tum severissima fronte dixerunt, nunc mentiuntur; si tum mentiti sunt, doceant nos verum quo voltu soleant dicere.
Is that the condition of witnesses, that the very same who were not believed when they denied, should be believed when they affirm? But, if they spoke the truth then with a most severe countenance, they are lying now; if they lied then, let them teach us with what face they are accustomed to speak the truth.
audiebamus Alexandream, nunc cognoscimus.
We used to hear about Alexandria, now we know it.
illinc omnes praestigiae, illinc, inquam, omnes fallaciae, omnia denique ab eis mimorum argumenta nata sunt.
From there all trickeries, from there, I say, all fallacies, in short all the plots of mimes have sprung.
nec mihi longius quicquam est, iudices, quam videre hominum voltus.
And nothing is more urgent to me, judges, than to see the faces of these men.
§36dixerunt hic modo nobiscum ad haec subsellia, quibus superciliis renuentes huic decem milium crimini! iam nostis insulsitatem Graecorum;
They spoke just now here with us at these benches, with what raised eyebrows they rejected this charge of ten thousand talents!
umeris gestum agebant tum temporis, credo, causa; nunc scilicet tempus nullum est.
You already know the foolishness of the Greeks; they were gesturing with their shoulders at that time, because of some interest, I suppose; now of course there is no interest.
Vbi semel quis peieraverit, ei credi postea, etiam si per pluris deos iuret, non oportet, praesertim, iudices, cum in his iudiciis ne locus quidem novo testi soleat esse ob eamque causam idem iudices retineantur qui fuerint de reo, ut eis nota sint omnia neve quid fingi novi possit.
Once anyone has perjured himself, he ought not to be believed afterwards, even if he swears by many more gods, especially, judges, since in these trials there is usually not even room for a new witness, and for that reason the same judges are retained who were present for the defendant, so that all things may be known to them and no new falsehood can be fabricated.