§8.8.1etsi de re p. quae tibi scribam habeo, tamen nihil quod magis gavisurum te putem habeo quam hoc: scito C. Sempronium Rufum, mel ac delicias tuas, calumniam maximo plausu tulisse.
Although I have things to write to you about the state, yet I have nothing which I think you will rejoice at more than this: know that Gaius Sempronius Rufus, your darling and delight, has received a verdict of calumny amid the greatest applause.
qua quaeris in causa.
You ask, in what case?
M. Tuccium, accusatorem silum, post ludos Romanos reum lege Plotia de vi fecit hoc consilio, quod videbat, si extraordinarius reus nemo accessisset, sibi hoc anno causam esse dicendam.
After the Roman Games, he prosecuted Marcus Tuccius, his accuser, under the Plotian law on violence with this intention, because he saw that if no extraordinary defendant came forward, he himself would have to plead his cause this year.
Dubium porro illi non erat quid futurum esset.
Furthermore, he had no doubt about what would happen.
nemini hoc deferre munusculum maluit quam suo accusatori; itaque sine ullo subscriptore descendit et Tuccium reum fecit.
He preferred to offer this little gift to no one other than his own accuser; and so he went down to the Forum without any co-signatory and prosecuted Tuccius.
at ego, simul atque audivi, invocatus ad subsellia rei occurro; surgo neque verbum de re facio; totum Sempronium usque eo perago ut Vestorium quoque interponam et illam fabulam narrem, quem ad modum tibi pro beneficio dederit, †si quod iniuriis suis esset, ut Vestorius teneret.
But I, as soon as I heard of it, rushed to the benches of the defendant uninvited; I stood up and did not say a word about the case; I prosecuted Sempronius so thoroughly to the end that I even introduced Vestorius and told that story of how he gave to you as a favor, †even if it was by his own wrongdoings, that Vestorius should hold it.
§8.8.2haec quoque magna nunc contentio forum tenet: M. Servilius postquam, ut coeperat, omnibus in rebus turbarat nec quod non venderet quicquam reliquerat maximaeque nobis traditus erat invidiae, neque Laterensis praetor postulante Pausania nobis patronis QVO EA PECVNIA PERVENISSET recipere voluit, Q. Pilius, necessarius Attici nostri, de repetundis eum postulavit.
This other great conflict also now occupies the Forum: Marcus Servilius, after he had, as he had begun, caused confusion in all matters, and had left nothing unsold, and had brought the greatest unpopularity upon us, and because the praetor Laterensis, despite the demand of Pausanias and with us as advocates, refused to admit the inquiry 'whither that money had gone,' Quintus Pilius, a relative of our Atticus, prosecuted him for extortion.
Magna ilico fama surrexit et de damnatione ferventer loqui est coeptum.
Immediately a great rumor arose, and his condemnation began to be discussed with excitement.
quo vento proicitur Appius minor, ut †inpicet depecuniam ex bonis patris pervenisse ad Servilium praevaricationisque causa diceret depositum HS LXXXI. admiraris amentiam immo, si actionem stultissimasque de se, nefarias de patre confessiones audisses.
Carried by this wind, the younger Appius threw himself forward to †point out that money from his father's estate had come to Servilius, and to declare that eighty-one hundred thousand sesterces had been deposited for the sake of collusion. You wonder at his madness; or rather, you would have wondered if you had heard his pleading and his most foolish confessions regarding himself, and his nefarious ones regarding his father.
§8.8.3mittit in consilium eosdem illos qui litis aestimarant iudices.
He sent to the vote the very same jurymen who had assessed the damages.
Cum aequo numero sententiae fuissent, Laterensis leges ignorans pronuntiavit quid singuli ordines iudicassent, et ad extremum, ut solent, 'NON REDIGAM. Postquam discessit et pro absoluto Servilius haberi coeptus legisque unum et centesimum caput legit, in quo ita erat: QVOD EORVM IVDICVM MAIOR PARS IVDICARIT, ID IVS RATVMQVE ESTO, in tabulas absolutum non rettulit, ordinum iudicia perscripsit;
When the votes were equal, Laterensis, ignorant of the laws, declared what each of the orders had decided, and at the end, as they are accustomed to do, pronounced: 'I shall not recover.' After he had left and Servilius began to be regarded as acquitted, he read the hundred and first chapter of the law, in which it was written: 'What the majority of those jurymen shall have decided, let that be law and ratified'; he did not enter him in the records as acquitted, but wrote down the decisions of the orders.
postulante rusus Appio cum L. Lollio transegit et se relaturum dixit.
When Appius demanded it again, he transacted with Lucius Lollius and said he would enter it.
sic nunc neque absolutus neque damnatus Servilius de repetundis saucius Pilio tradetur.
Thus, now Servilius, neither acquitted nor condemned, will be handed over to Pilius damaged on the charge of extortion.
nam de divinatione Appius, cum calumniam iurasset, contendere ausus non est Pilioque cessit et ipse de pecuniis repetundis a Serviliis est postulatus et praeterea de vi reus a quodam suo emissario, S. Tettio, factus.
For as to the preliminary hearing, Appius, although he had sworn that his accusation was not malicious, did not dare to contend and gave way to Pilius, and he himself was prosecuted for extortion by the Servilii, and furthermore was made a defendant on the charge of violence by a certain agent of his own, Sextus Tettius.
recte hoc par habet.
This pair is well matched.
§8.8.4quod ad rem publicam pertinet, omnino multis diebus exspectatione Galliarum actum nihil est; aliquando tamen saepe re dilata et graviter acta et plane perspecta Cn. Pompei voluntate in eam partem ut eum decedere post K. Martias placeret, senatus consultum, quod tibi misi, factum est auctoritatesque perscriptae.
As far as the state is concerned, absolutely nothing has been done for many days because of the expectation from the Gauls; yet at length, after the matter had been often postponed and seriously debated, and the will of Gnaeus Pompeius had been clearly seen to tend in the direction that it should please them for him to depart after the first of March, the decree of the senate, which I sent you, was made, and the resolutions were written down.
§8.8.5"senatus consultum, auctoritates.
"Decree of the senate, resolutions.
Pr. K. Octobris in aede Apollinis scrib.
On the day before the Kalends of October in the Temple of Apollo.
adfuerunt L. Domitius Cn. f. Fab. Ahenobarbus, Q. Caecilius Q. f. Fab. Metellus Pius Scipio, L. Villius L. f. pom. annalis, C. Septimius T. f. qui. , C. Lucilius C. f. Pup. Hirrus, C. Scribonius C. f. Pop. Curio, L. Ateius L. f. an. Capito, M. Eppius M. f. ter.
Present at the writing were Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Gnaeus, of the Fabia tribe; Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio, son of Quintus, of the Fabia tribe; Lucius Villius Annalis, son of Lucius, of the Pomptina tribe; Gaius Septimius, son of Titus, of the Quirina tribe; Gaius Lucilius Hirrus, son of Gaius, of the Pupinia tribe; Gaius Scribonius Curio, son of Gaius, of the Publilia tribe; Lucius Ateius Capito, son of Lucius, of the Aniensis tribe; Marcus Eppius, son of Marcus, of the Teretina tribe.
quod M. Marcellus cos. v. f. de provinciis consularibus, d. e. r. l. c. , uti L. Paulus, C. Marcellus coss. , cum magistratum inissent, ex K. Mart. , quae in suo magistratu futurae essent, de consularibus provinciis ad senatum referrent, neve quid prius ex K. Mart. ad senatum referrent neve quid coniunctim, utique eius rei causa per dies comitialis senatum haberent senatusque cons. facerent et, cum de ea re ad senatum referretur, a consiliis, qui eorum in CCC iudicibus essent, s. f. s. adducere liceret; si quid de ea re ad populum pl. ve lato opus esset, uti Ser. Sulpicius, AL Marcellus coss. , praetores tr. q. pl. , quibus eorum videretur, ad populum pl. ve ferrent; "
Regarding the matter on which Marcus Marcellus the consul made a report concerning the consular provinces, they decided as follows on that matter: that Lucius Paulus and Gaius Marcellus, the consuls, when they had entered upon their office, should refer to the senate concerning the consular provinces from the Kalends of March which should fall during their magistracy; and that they should not refer anything to the senate prior to the Kalends of March, nor anything jointly with other matters; and that they should hold the senate for the sake of that matter even on comitial days, and make a decree of the senate; and when reference was being made to the senate on that matter, it should be lawful to bring from the panels those of them who were among the three hundred jurymen without liability; and if there should be need of any proposal on that matter to the people or the commons, Servius Sulpicius and Marcus Marcellus, the consuls, the praetors, and the tribunes of the commons, whichever of them it should seem good, should bring it before the people or the commons."