§13ad eum igitur rex Deiotarus venit hoc misero fatalique bello quem antea iustis hostilibusque bellis adiuverat, quocum erat non hospitio solum verum etiam familiaritate coniunctus, et venit vel rogatus ut amicus, vel arcessitus ut socius, vel evocatus ut is qui senatui parere didicisset: postremo venit ut ad fugientem, non ut ad insequentem, id est ad periculi, non ad victoriae societatem.
Therefore, in this wretched and fatal war, King Deiotarus came to that man whom he had previously aided in lawful and foreign wars, with whom he was bound not only by guest-friendship but also by close intimacy; and he came either because he was requested as a friend, or summoned as an ally, or called out as one who had learned to obey the senate; finally, he came as to one fleeing, not as to one pursuing—that is, to a partnership in danger, not in victory.
itaque Pharsalico proelio facto a Pompeio discessit; spem infinitam persequi noluit; vel officio si quid debuerat, vel errori si quid nescierat, satis factum esse duxit; domum se contulit, teque Alexandrinum bellum gerente utilitatibus tuis paruit.
And so, after the battle of Pharsalus was fought, he departed from Pompey; he did not wish to pursue an infinite hope; he considered that enough had been done, whether for duty, if he had owed anything, or for error, if there was anything he had not known; he betook himself home, and while you were conducting the Alexandrian war, he complied with your interests.
§14ille exercitum Cn. Domiti, amplissimi viri, suis tectis et copiis sustentavit; ille Ephesum ad eum quem tu ex tuis fidelissimum et probatissimum omnibus delegisti pecuniam misit; ille iterum, ille tertio auctionibus factis pecuniam dedit qua ad bellum uterere; ille corpus suum periculo obiecit, tecumque in acie contra Pharnacem fuit tuumque hostem esse duxit suum.
He sustained the army of Gnaeus Domitius, a most distinguished man, with his own roofs and supplies; he sent money to Ephesus to that man whom you chose from among yours as the most faithful and most approved of all; he, a second and a third time, having held auctions, gave money for you to use in the war; he exposed his own body to danger, was with you in the battle line against Pharnaces, and regarded your enemy as his own.
quae quidem a te in eam partem accepta sunt, Caesar, ut eum amplissimo regis honore et nomine adfeceris.
These actions were indeed accepted by you in such a spirit, Caesar, that you bestowed upon him the most ample honor and title of king.
§15is igitur non modo a te periculo liberatus sed etiam honore amplissimo ornatus, arguitur domi te suae interficere voluisse: quod tu, nisi eum furiosissimum iudicas, suspicari profecto non potes.
He, therefore, not only freed from danger by you but also decorated with the most ample honor, is accused of having wished to kill you in his own house—a thing which you certainly cannot suspect unless you judge him to be utterly mad.
ut enim omittam cuius tanti sceleris fuerit in conspectu deorum penatium necare hospitem, cuius tantae importunitatis omnium gentium atque omnis memoriae clarissimum lumen exstinguere, cuius ferocitatis victorem orbis terrae non extimescere, cuius tam inhumani et ingrati animi, a quo rex appellatus esset, in eo tyrannum inveniri—ut haec omittam, cuius tanti furoris fuit omnis reges, quorum multi erant finitimi, omnis liberos populos, omnis socios, omnis provincias, omnia denique omnium arma contra se unum excitare? quonam ille modo cum regno, cum domo, cum coniuge, cum carissimo filio distractus esset, tanto scelere non modo perfecto sed etiam cogitato?
For to pass over how great a crime it would have been to kill a guest-friend in the sight of the household gods, how great an insolence to extinguish the most brilliant light of all nations and of all memory, how great a fierceness not to fear the conqueror of the world, how humane and ungrateful a mind to find a tyrant in him by whom he had been called king—to pass over these things, how great a madness was it to arouse all kings, of whom many were neighbors, all free peoples, all allies, all provinces, and finally all the arms of all men against himself alone? In what way could he have been torn away from his kingdom, his house, his wife, and his dearest son, by so great a crime, not only if it had been accomplished, but even if it had been merely thought of?
§16at, credo, haec homo inconsultus et temerarius non videbat.
But, I suppose, this thoughtless and rash man did not see these things.
quis consideratior illo, quis tectior, quis prudentior? quamquam hoc loco Deiotarum non tam ingenio et prudentia quam fide et religione vitae defendendum puto.
Who was more cautious than he, who more secure, who more prudent? Although at this point I think Deiotarus should be defended not so much by his talent and prudence as by the good faith and religious scrupulousness of his life.
nota tibi est hominis probitas, C. Caesar, noti mores, nota constantia.
Well known to you is the honesty of the man, Gaius Caesar, well known his character, well known his consistency.
cui porro qui modo populi Romani nomen audivit, Deiotari integritas, gravitas, virtus, fides non audita est? quod igitur facinus nec in hominem imprudentem caderet propter metum praesentis exiti, nec in facinerosum, nisi esset idem amentissimus, id vos et a viro optimo et ab homine minime stulto cogitatum esse confingitis?
Who, indeed, that has only heard the name of the Roman people, has not heard of Deiotarus's integrity, gravity, virtue, and good faith? Do you then pretend that a crime which would not occur even to an imprudent man because of the fear of immediate destruction, nor to a wicked one unless he were also utterly insane, was planned both by a most excellent man and by a person who is least of all a fool?
§17at quam non modo non credibiliter, sed ne suspiciose quidem!
cum
inquit
Blucium venisses et domum regis hospitis tui devertisses, locus erat quidam in quo erant ea composita quibus te rex munerari constituerat.
But how not only incredible, but not even suspicious! "When," he says, "you had come to Blucium and had turned aside into the house of the king, your host, there was a certain place in which those things had been arranged with which the king had resolved to present you.
huc te e balneo, prius quam accumberes, ducere volebat.
Hither he wished to lead you from the bath, before you lay down to dine.
erant enim armati ut te interficerent in eo ipso loco conlocati. en crimen, en causa, cur regem fugitivus, dominum servus accuset.
For there were armed men stationed in that very place to kill you." Behold the charge, behold the cause, why a fugitive accuses a king, a slave his master.
ego mehercules, Caesar, initio, cum est ad me ita causa delata, Phidippum medicum, servum regium, qui cum legatis missus esset, ab isto adulescente esse corruptum, hac sum suspicione percussus:
medicum indicem subornavit; finget videlicet aliquod crimen veneni. etsi a veritate longe, tamen a consuetudine criminandi non multum res abhorrebat.
By Hercules, Caesar, in the beginning, when the case was thus brought to me—that Phidippus the physician, a royal slave, who had been sent with the envoys, had been corrupted by that young man—I was struck by this suspicion: "He has suborned a physician as an informer; he will, of course, fabricate some charge of poison." Although far from the truth, yet the matter did not shrink much from the custom of making accusations.