§3.12.1iam aderat iudicio dies apparebatque vulgo homines in damnatione Caesonis libertatem agi credere.
Now the day for the trial was at hand, and it was clear to the common people that they believed their liberty was at stake in the condemnation of Caeso.
tum demum coactus cum multa indignitate prensabat singulos.
Then at last, forced and with great indignity, he began to solicit individuals.
sequebantur necessarii, principes civitatis.
His relatives followed him, the leading men of the state.
T. Quinctius Capitolinus, §3.12.2qui ter consul fuerat, cum multa referret sua familiaeque decora, §3.12.3adfirmabat neque in Quinctia gente neque in civitate Romana tantam indolem tam maturae virtutis umquam extitisse; suum primum militem fuisse, se saepe vidente pugnasse in hostem; §3.12.4Sp. Furius: missum ab Quinctio Capitolino sibi eum in dubiis suis rebus venisse subsidio; neminem unum esse, cuius magis opera putet rem restitutam.
Titus Quinctius Capitolinus, who had been consul three times, while he related many honorable deeds of his own and of his family, affirmed that neither in the Quinctian clan nor in the Roman state had there ever existed such a great talent of such mature virtue; that Caeso had been his foremost soldier, and had fought against the enemy while he himself often looked on; Spurius Furius declared that Caeso, sent to him by Quinctius Capitolinus, had come to his aid in his doubtful fortunes, and that there was no single person by whose help he thought the state had been more restored.
§3.12.5L. Lucretius, consul anni prioris, recenti gloria nitens, suas laudes participare cum Caesone, memorare pugnas, referre egregia facinora nunc in expeditionibus, nunc in acie, suadere et monere, iuvenem egregium, instructum naturae fortunaeque omnibus bonis, §3.12.6maximum momentum rerum eius civitatis, in quamcumque venisset, suum quam alienum mallent civem esse.
Lucius Lucretius, the consul of the previous year, shining with recent glory, shared his own praises with Caeso, recalled his battles, related his extraordinary exploits now in expeditions, now in the battle line, and persuaded and warned them that this excellent youth, endowed with all the gifts of nature and fortune, who would be the greatest weight in the affairs of whatever state he should enter, they should prefer to have as their own citizen rather than as a foreign one.
§3.12.7quod offendat in eo, fervorem et audaciam, aetatem cottidie magis auferre; quod desideretur, consilium, id in dies crescere.
That as for what offended them in him, his fervor and audacity, age was daily taking it away; while what was desired, wisdom, was growing day by day.
senescentibus vitiis, maturescente virtute sinerent tantum virum senem in civitate fieri.
With his vices decaying and his virtue maturing, they should permit such a great man to grow old in the state.
§3.12.8pater inter hos L. Quinctius, cui Cincinnato cognomen erat, non iterando laudes, ne cumularet invidiam, sed veniam errori atque adulescentiae petendo, sibi, qui non dicto, non facto quemquam offendisset, ut condonarent filium orabat.
Among these, his father Lucius Quinctius, who had the surname Cincinnatus, not by repeating his praises, lest he should increase the hatred, but by entreating pardon for his error and youth, begged them that, for the sake of himself, who had offended no one by word or deed, they should pardon his son.
§3.12.9sed alii aversabantur preces aut verecundia aut metu; alii se suosque mulcatos querentes atroci responso iudicium suum praeferebant.
But some rejected his entreaties either from respect or from fear; others, complaining that they and their families had been beaten, declared their judgment with harsh answers.