§18quid ait medicus? nihil de veneno.
What does the physician say? Nothing about poison.
at id fieri potuit primum occultius in potione, in cibo; deinde etiam impunius fit quod, cum est factum, negari potest.
Yet that could have been done first more secretly in a drink, in food; next, it is also done with greater impunity because, when it has been done, it can be denied.
si palam te interemisset, omnium in se gentium non solum odia sed etiam arma convertisset: si veneno, Iovis illius hospitalis numen numquam celare potuisset, homines fortasse celasset.
If he had killed you openly, he would have turned against himself not only the hatred but also the arms of all nations; if by poison, although he might perhaps have concealed it from men, he could never have concealed it from the divine power of Jupiter, the protector of guests.
quod igitur et conari occultius et efficere cautius potuit, id tibi et medico callido et servo, ut putabat, fideli non credidit: de armis, de ferro, de insidiis celare te noluit?
Therefore, would he not trust that which he could have both attempted more secretly and executed more cautiously to you—I tell you—and to a clever physician and a slave whom he believed to be faithful? And yet, did he not wish to conceal from you the arms, the sword, and the ambush?
§19at quam festive crimen contexitur!
tua te
inquit
eadem quae saepe fortuna servavit: negavisti tum te inspicere velle.
But how festively the charge is woven together! "Your same fortune," he says, "which has often saved you, saved you then: you said at that time that you did not wish to look at them." What after that?
quid postea? an Deiotarus, re illo tempore non perfecta, continuo dimisit exercitum? nullus erat alius insidiandi locus? at eodem te, cum cenavisses, rediturum dixeras, itaque fecisti.
Did Deiotarus, the business not having been completed at that time, immediately dismiss his army? Was there no other place for an ambush? But you had said that you would return to the same place when you had dined, and so you did.
Horam unam aut duas eodem loco armatos, ut conlocati fuerant, retineri magnum fuit? cum in convivio comiter et iucunde fuisses, tum illuc isti, ut dixeras: quo in loco Deiotarum talem erga te cognovisti qualis rex Attalus in P. Africanum fuit, cui magnificentissima dona, ut scriptum legimus, usque ad Numantiam misit ex Asia, quae Africanus inspectante exercitu accepit.
Was it a great thing for armed men to be kept in the same place for one or two hours, just as they had been stationed? When you had been companionable and cheerful at the banquet, then you went there, as you had said; in which place you found Deiotarus to be such toward you as King Attalus was toward Publius Africanus, to whom, as we read in writing, he sent most magnificent gifts from Asia all the way to Numantia, which Africanus accepted while his army looked on.
quod cum praesens Deiotarus regio animo et more fecisset, tu in cubiculum discessisti.
When the present Deiotarus had done this with a royal mind and custom, you retired to your bedchamber.
§20obsecro, Caesar, repete illius temporis memoriam, pone ante oculos illum diem, voltus hominum te intuentium atque admirantium recordare.
I entreat you, Caesar, recall the memory of that time, place before your eyes that day, remember the faces of the men looking at you and admiring you.
num quae trepidatio, num qui tumultus, num quid nisi modeste, nisi quiete, nisi ex hominis gravissimi et sanctissimi disciplina? quid igitur causae excogitari potest cur te lautum voluerit, cenatum noluerit occidere?
Was there any trepidation, any tumult, anything except what was modest, quiet, and in accordance with the discipline of a most grave and holy man? What reason, therefore, can be devised why he should have wished to kill you when you were washed, but not when you had dined?
§21in posterum
inquit
diem distulit ut, cum in castellum ventum esset, ibi cogitata perficeret. non video causam loci mutandi, sed tamen acta res criminose est.
"He postponed it," he says, "to the following day, so that, when they came to the fortress, he might there accomplish what he had planned." I do not see the reason for changing the place, but yet the matter is presented criminally.
cum
inquit
vomere post cenam te velle dixisses, in balneum te ducere coeperunt: ibi enim erant insidiae.
"When," he says, "you had said after dinner that you wished to vomit, they began to lead you to the bath; for there was the ambush.
at te eadem tua fortuna servavit: in cubiculo malle dixisti.
But your same fortune saved you: you said you preferred to go to the bedchamber." May the gods destroy you, fugitive!
di te perduint, fugitive! ita non modo nihili et improbus, sed fatuus et amens es.
You are thus not only worthless and wicked, but also foolish and mad.
quid? ille signa aenea in balneo posuerat, quae e balneo in cubiculum transire non possent? habes crimina insidiarum: nihil enim dixit amplius.
What? Had he placed bronze statues in the bath, which could not pass from the bath to the bedchamber? You have the charges of the ambush; for he said nothing further.
horum
inquit
eram conscius.
"Of these things," he says, "I was aware." What then?
quid tum? ita ille demens erat ut eum quem conscium tanti sceleris habebat ab se dimitteret, Romam etiam mitteret ubi et inimicissimum sciret esse nepotem suum et C. Caesarem cui fecisset insidias, praesertim cum is unus esset qui posset de absente se indicare?
Was he so insane that he would dismiss from him the man whom he had as an accomplice in so great a crime, and even send him to Rome, where he knew both his own most bitter enemy, his grandson, was, and Gaius Caesar, against whom he had laid the ambush, especially since he was the only one who could inform against him in his absence?
§22et fratres meos,
inquit,
quod erant conscii, in vincla coniecit. cum igitur eos vinciret quos secum habebat, te solutum Romam mittebat qui eadem scires quae illos scire dicis?
reliqua pars accusationis duplex fuit: una regem in speculis semper fuisse, cum a te animo esset alieno, altera exercitum eum contra te magnum comparasse.
"And my brothers," he says, "because they were aware, he threw into chains." When, therefore, he bound those whom he had with him, did he send you free to Rome, who knew the same things that you say they knew? The remaining part of the accusation was twofold: one, that the king was always on the watch, since he was alienated in mind from you; the other, that he had prepared a large army against you.
de exercitu dicam breviter, ut cetera.
Concerning the army I will speak briefly, as about the rest.
numquam eas copias rex Deiotarus habuit quibus inferre bellum populo Romano posset, sed quibus finis suos ab excursionibus et latrociniis tueretur et imperatoribus nostris auxilia mitteret.
King Deiotarus never had those forces with which he could wage war against the Roman people, but only those with which he might protect his borders from incursions and robberies, and send assistance to our commanders.
atque antea quidem maiores copias alere poterat; nunc exiguas vix tueri potest.
And previously indeed he was able to maintain larger forces; now he can scarcely support a tiny number.