§1.16.5multo haec inquam nostra res maior. itaque iudicum vocibus, cum ego sic ab iis ut salus patriae defenderer, fractus reus et una patroni omnes conciderunt; ad me autem eadem frequentia postridie convenit quacum abiens consulatu sum domum reductus.
"This affair of ours," I say, "is much greater." Therefore, by the shouting of the judges, since I was defended by them as if I were the very safety of the fatherland, the defendant was crushed and all his advocates collapsed together; to me, however, on the following day, the same crowd gathered as that with which I was escorted home when leaving my consulship.
clamare praeclari Ariopagitae se non esse venturos nisi praesidio constituto.
Our noble "Areopagites" began to cry out that they would not come unless a guard was appointed.
refertur ad consilium. una sola sententia praesidium non desideravit.
The matter was referred to the council; only one single vote did not demand a guard.
defertur res ad senatum. gravissime ornatissimeque decernitur; laudantur iudices; datur negotium magistratibus.
The matter was brought before the senate; it was decreed in a most solemn and honorable manner; the judges were praised, and the task was given to the magistrates.
responsurum hominem nemo arbitrabatur.
No one thought that the fellow would answer.
"
ἔσπετε νῦν μοι, Μοῦσαι
ὅππωσ δὴ πρῶτον πῦρ ἔμπεσε.
"Tell me now, Muse, how first the fire fell.
"
nosti Calvum ex Nanneianis illum, illum laudatorem meum, de cuius oratione erga me honorifica ad te scripseram.
"You know that Calvus from the Nanneian auction, that well-known admirer of mine, concerning whose honorable speech towards me I had written to you.
biduo per unum servum et eum ex ludo gladiatorio confecit totum negotium; arcessivit ad se, promisit, intercessit, dedit.
Within two days, through a single slave and him from a gladiatorial school, he completed the whole business; he summoned them to himself, promised, stood security, and gave.
iam vero (o di boni, rem perditam!) etiam noctes certarum mulierum atque adulescentulorum nobilium introductiones non nullis iudicibus pro mercedis cumulo fuerunt.
Nay, indeed (good gods, what a ruined state of affairs!), even nights with certain women and introductions of noble youths served as an addition to the bribe for some judges.
ita summo discessu bonorum, pleno foro servorum xxv iudices ita fortes tamen fuerunt ut summo proposito periculo vel perire maluerint quam perdere omnia.
Thus, with the total departure of the good and the forum full of slaves, twenty-five judges were yet so brave that, though the greatest danger was set before them, they preferred to perish rather than ruin everything.
XXXI fuerunt quos fames magis quam fama commoverit.
There were thirty-one whom hunger moved more than reputation.
quorum Catulus cum vidisset quendam,
"quid vos"
inquit
"praesidium a nobis postulabatis? an ne nummi vobis eriperentur timebatis?"
When Catulus had seen one of them, he said: "Why did you ask for a guard from us?
§1.16.6habes, ut brevissime potui, genus iudici et causam absolutionis.
Were you afraid lest your money should be snatched from you?" You have, as briefly as I could, the kind of trial and the cause of the acquittal.
quaeris deinceps qui nunc sit status rerum et qui meus.
You ask next what is now the state of affairs and what is mine.
rei publicae statum illum, quem tu meo consilio, ego divino confirmatum putabam, qui bonorum omnium coniunctione et auctoritate consulatus mei fixus et fundatus videbatur, nisi quis nos deus respexerit, elapsum scito esse de manibus uno hoc iudicio, si iudicium est triginta homines populi Romani levissimos ac nequissimos nummulis acceptis ius ac fas omne delere et, quod omnes non modo homines verum etiam pecudes factum esse sciant, id Thalnam et Plautum et Spongiam et ceteras huius modi quisquilias statuere numquam esse factum.
Know that the state of the republic, which you thought was established by my counsel and I by divine aid, and which seemed fixed and founded by the union of all good men and the authority of my consulship, has slipped from our hands by this single trial, unless some god looks upon us—if indeed it is a trial when thirty of the most worthless and volatile men of the Roman people, having accepted petty coins, destroy all law and justice, and decide that Thalna, Plautus, Spongia, and other sweepings of this kind, never did what all men, nay, even beasts, know to have been done.
§1.16.7sed tamen ut te de re publica consoler, non ita, ut sperarunt mali tanto imposito rei publicae vulnere, alacris exsultat improbitas in victoria.
But yet, to console you concerning the republic, wickedness does not exult so cheerfully in its victory as the bad had hoped, after so great a wound had been inflicted on the republic.
nam plane ita putaverunt, cum religio, cum pudicitia, cum iudiciorum fides, cum senatus auctoritas concidisset, fore ut aperte victrix nequitia ac libido poenas ab optimo quoque peteret sui doloris quem improbissimo cuique inusserat severitas consulatus mei.
For they plainly thought that, when religion, modesty, the credibility of the courts, and the authority of the senate had collapsed, victorious wickedness and lust would openly demand punishment from every best man for the pain which the severity of my consulship had branded upon every most wicked person.
§1.16.8idem ego ille (non enim mihi videor insolenter gloriari cum de me apud te loquor, in ea praesertim epistula quam nolo aliis legi) idem inquam ego recreavi adflictos animos bonorum unum quemque confirmans, excitans;
I, the very same man (for I do not seem to myself to boast insolently when I speak about myself to you, especially in this letter which I do not wish to be read by others), I, I say, have restored the afflicted minds of the good, encouraging and exciting each one; and indeed, by pursuing and harassing the bribed judges, I have snatched all "freedom of speech" (παρρησίαν) from all the zealots and supporters of that victory.
insectandis vero exagitandisque nummariis iudicibus omnem omnibus studiosis ac fautoribus illius victoriae παρρησίαν eripui, Pisonem consulem nulla in re consistere umquam sum passus, desponsam homini iam Syriam ademi, senatum ad pristinam suam severitatem revocavi atque abiectum excitavi, Clodium praesentem fregi in senatu cum oratione perpetua plenissima gravitatis tum altercatione huius modi; ex qua licet pauca degustes; nam cetera non possunt habere eandem neque vim neque venustatem remoto illo studio contentionis quem ἀγῶνα vos appellatis.
I did not allow the consul Piso to stand firm in any matter, I took away Syria, which had already been promised to the fellow, I recalled the senate to its ancient severity and raised it up when it was cast down, and I crushed Clodius to his face in the senate, both with a continuous speech full of weight and with an altercation of this kind; from which you may taste a few things; for the rest cannot have the same force or charm when that zeal of contention, which you call "contest" (ἀγῶνα), is removed.
§1.16.9nam ut Idibus Maiis in senatum convenimus, rogatus ego sententiam multa dixi de summa re publica, atque ille locus inductus a me est divinitus, ne una plaga accepta patres conscripti conciderent, ne deficerent; vulnus esse eius modi quod mihi nec dissimulandum nec pertimescendum videretur, ne aut ignorando stultissimi aut metuendo ignavissimi iudicaremur; bis absolutum esse Lentulum, bis Catilinam, hunc tertium iam esse a iudicibus in rem publicam immissum.
For when we met in the senate on the Ides of May, having been asked my opinion, I said many things about the state of the republic, and that topic was introduced by me divinely, lest the conscript fathers should collapse, having received a single blow, or should falter; I said that the wound was of such a kind that it seemed to me neither to be concealed nor to be feared, lest we should be judged most foolish by ignoring it or most cowardly by fearing it; that Lentulus was twice acquitted, Catiline twice, and that this third man was now let loose upon the republic by the judges.
"erras, Clodi; non te iudices urbi sed carceri reservarunt, neque te retinere in civitate sed exsilio privare voluerunt.
"You err, Clodius; the judges reserved you not for the city but for the prison, and they wished not to retain you in the state but to deprive you of exile.
quam ob rem, patres conscripti, erigite animos, retinete vestram dignitatem.
Therefore, conscript fathers, lift up your hearts, retain your dignity.
manet illa in re publica bonorum consensio; dolor accessit bonis viris, virtus non est imminuta; nihil est damni factum novi sed quod erat inventum est.
That consensus of the good remains in the republic; pain has been added to good men, but virtue has not been diminished; no new damage has been done, but what was there has been uncovered.
in unius hominis perditi iudicio plures similes reperti sunt. "
In the trial of one ruined man, many like him have been found."