§11haec admirabilia, sed prodigi simile est quod dicam.
These things are remarkable, but what I am about to say is like a portent.
non habet eam vim ista accusatio ut Q. Ligarius condemnetur, sed ut necetur.
That accusation of yours does not have such force that Quintus Ligarius should be condemned, but that he should be put to death.
hoc egit civis Romanus ante te nemo: externi sunt isti mores aut levium Graecorum aut immanium barbarorum.
No Roman citizen before you has ever done this: those manners are foreign, belonging either to the light-headed Greeks or to cruel barbarians.
nam quid agis aliud? ut Romae ne sit, ut domo careat, ne cum optimis fratribus, ne cum hoc T. Broccho avunculo, ne cum eius filio consobrino suo, ne nobiscum vivat, ne sit in patria? num est, num potest magis carere his omnibus quam caret? Italia prohibetur, exsulat.
For what else are you striving for? That he should not be at Rome, that he should be deprived of his home, that he should not live with his excellent brothers, nor with this Titus Brocchus, his uncle, nor with his son, his cousin, nor with us, that he should not be in his native land? Is he, or can he be, more deprived of all these things than he already is? He is forbidden from Italy; he is in exile.
non tu hunc ergo patria privare, qua caret, sed vita vis.
Therefore, you do not wish to deprive this man of his native land, which he already lacks, but of his life.
§12at istud ne apud eum quidem dictatorem qui omnis quos oderat morte multabat quisquam egit isto modo.
But not even under that dictator who punished with death everyone he hated did anyone act in that manner.
ipse iubebat occidi nullo postulante, praemiis invitabat; quae tamen crudelitas ab hoc eodem aliquot annis post quem tu nunc crudelem esse vis vindicata est.
He himself ordered men to be killed without anyone asking, and invited them with rewards; which cruelty, however, was avenged a few years later by this very man whom you now wish to be cruel.
ego vero istud non postulo
inquies.
"But I indeed do not demand that," you will say.
ita me hercule existimo, Tubero.
By Hercules, I think so, Tubero.
Novi enim te, novi patrem, novi domum nomenque vestrum; studia generis ac familiae vestrae virtutis, humanitatis, doctrinae, plurimarum artium atque optimarum nota mihi sunt.
For I know you, I know your father, I know your house and your name; the zeal of your lineage and family for virtue, humanity, learning, and many and most excellent arts are well known to me.
§13itaque certo scio vos non petere sanguinem, sed parum attenditis.
Therefore, I know for certain that you do not seek blood, but you pay too little attention.
res enim eo spectat ut ea poena in qua adhuc Q. Ligarius sit non videamini esse contenti.
For the matter tends to this, that you do not seem to be content with that punishment in which Quintus Ligarius already is.
quae est igitur alia praeter mortem? si enim est in exsilio, sicuti est, quid amplius postulatis? an, ne ignoscatur? hoc vero multo acerbius multoque durius.
What other punishment is there, then, except death? For if he is in exile, as indeed he is, what more do you demand? Or is it that he should not be pardoned? This indeed is much more bitter and much harsher.
quodne nos petimus precibus ac lacrimis, strati ad pedes, non tam nostrae causae fidentes quam huius humanitati, id ne impetremus pugnabis, et in nostrum fletum inrumpes, et nos iacentis ad pedes supplicum voce prohibebis?
That which we seek with prayers and tears, prostrate at his feet, trusting not so much in our cause as in his humanity—will you fight so that we may not obtain it, and will you break in upon our weeping, and will you prevent us with your voice as we lie at his feet as suppliants?
§14si, cum hoc domi faceremus, quod et fecimus et, ut spero, non frustra fecimus, tu repente inruisses et clamare coepisses
C. Caesar, cave credas, cave ignoscas, cave te fratrum pro fratris salute obsecrantium misereat,
nonne omnem humanitatem exuisses? quanto hoc durius, quod nos domi petimus, id a te in foro oppugnari et in tali miseria multorum perfugium misericordiae tolli? dicam plane, Caesar, quod sentio.
If, while we were doing this at home—which we both did and, as I hope, did not do in vain—you had suddenly rushed in and begun to cry out: "Gaius Caesar, beware of believing, beware of pardoning, beware of pitying the brothers entreating you for their brother's safety," would you not have divested yourself of all humanity? How much harsher is this, that what we seek at home is opposed by you in the forum, and that in such misery the refuge of mercy for many is taken away? I will speak plainly, Caesar, what I feel.
§15si in tanta tua fortuna lenitas tanta non esset, quam tu per te, per te, inquam, obtines—intellego quid loquar—, acerbissimo luctu redundaret ista victoria.
If in your great fortune there were not such great leniency, which you possess of yourself—of yourself, I say (I understand what I am saying)—that victory of yours would overflow with the bitterest grief.
quam multi enim essent de victoribus qui te crudelem esse vellent, cum etiam de victis reperiantur! quam multi qui cum a te ignosci nemini vellent, impedirent clementiam tuam, cum hi quibus ipsis ignovisti nolint te esse in alios misericordem!
For how many of the victors would there be who would wish you to be cruel, since some are found even among the vanquished! How many who, wishing that no one should be pardoned by you, would hinder your clemency, since these very men whom you yourself have pardoned do not wish you to be merciful to others!
§16quod si probare Caesari possemus in Africa Ligarium omnino non fuisse, si honesto et misericordi mendacio saluti civi calamitoso esse vellemus, tamen hominis non esset in tanto discrimine et periculo civis refellere et coarguere nostrum mendacium, et, si esset alicuius, eius certe non esset qui in eadem causa et fortuna fuisset.
But if we could prove to Caesar that Ligarius had not been in Africa at all, if we wished to be of service to the safety of a ruined citizen by an honorable and merciful lie, still it would not be the part of a human being, in such crisis and danger of a citizen, to refute and expose our lie; and, if it were the part of anyone, it certainly would not be his who had been in the same cause and fortune.
sed tamen aliud est errare Caesarem nolle, aliud est nolle misereri.
But yet, it is one thing to be unwilling that Caesar should err, another to be unwilling that he should show mercy.
tum diceres:
Caesar, cave credas: fuit in Africa, tulit arma contra te. nunc quid dicis?
cave ignoscas.
Then you would say: "Caesar, beware of believing: he was in Africa, he bore arms against you." Now what do you say?
haec nec hominis nec ad hominem vox est.
"Beware of pardoning." This is a voice neither of a human being nor addressed to a human being.
qua qui apud te, C. Caesar, utetur, suam citius abiciet humanitatem quam extorquebit tuam.
He who uses it before you, Gaius Caesar, will sooner throw away his own humanity than wrest away yours.