1. Many things, O priests, have been devised and established with divine wisdom by our ancestors; but no action of theirs was ever more wise than their determination that the same men should superintend both what relates to the religious worship due to the immortal gods, and also what concerns the highest interests of the state, so that they might preserve the republic as the most honourable and eminent of the citizens, by governing it well, and as priests by wisely interpreting the requirements of religion. But if there has ever been a time when an important cause has depended on the decision and power of the priests of the Roman people, this indeed is that cause; being such that the dignity of the whole republic, the safety of all the citizens, their lives, their liberties, their altars, their hearths, their household gods, their properties and condition as citizens, and their homes, all appear to be committed and entrusted to your wisdom integrity, and power.
1. Cum multa divinitus, pontifices, a maioribus nostris inventa atque instituta sunt, tum nihil praeclarius quam quod eosdem et religionibus deorum immortalium et summae rei publicae praeesse voluerunt, ut amplissimi et clarissimi cives rem publicam bene gerendo religiones, religiones sapienter interpretando rem publicam conservarent. si ullo tempore magna causa in sacerdotum populi Romani iudicio ac potestate versata est, haec profecto tanta est ut omnis rei publicae dignitas, omnium civium salus, vita, libertas, arae, foci, di penates, bona, fortunae, domicilia vestrae sapientiae, fidei, potestati commissa creditaque esse videantur.
2. You have got to decide this day whether you prefer for the future to deprive frantic and profligate magistrates of the protection of wicked and unprincipled citizens, or even to arm them with the cloak of religion and of the respect due to the immortal gods. For if that pest and conflagration of the republic succeeds in defending his own mischievous and fatal tribunate by appeals to divine religion, when he cannot maintain it by any considerations of human equity, then we must seek for other ceremonies, for other ministers of the immortal gods, for other interpreters of the requirements of religion. But if those things which were done by the madness of wicked men in the republic at a time when it was oppressed by one party, deserted by another, and betrayed by a third, are annulled by your authority and your wisdom, O priests, then we shall have cause rightly and deservedly to praise the wisdom of our ancestors in selecting the most honourable men of the state for the priesthood.
2. hodierno die constituendum est utrum posthac amentis ac perditos magistratus improborum ac sceleratorum civium praesidio nudare, an etiam deorum immortalium religione armare malitis. si illa labes ac flamma rei publicae suum illum pestiferum et funestum tribunatum, quem aequitate humana tueri non potest, divina religione defenderit, aliae caerimoniae nobis erunt, alii antistites deorum immortalium, alii interpretes religionum requirendi; sin autem vestra auctoritate sapientiaque, pontifices, ea quae furore improborum in re publica ab aliis oppressa, ab aliis deserta, ab aliis prodita gesta sunt rescinduntur, erit causa cur consilium maiorum in amplissimis viris ad sacerdotia deligendis iure ac merito laudare possimus.
3. But since that madman has thought that he should find a ready road to your attention by blaming the sentiments that I in the last few days have expressed in the senate concerning the republic, I will deviate from the natural arrangement of my speech, and I will make a reply to what I will not call the speech of that furious fellow, (for that is more than he is capable of,) but to his abuse, that being an employment which he has fortified himself in the practice of by his own intolerable bad temper, and by the length of time that he has been allowed to indulge it with impunity. And in the first place, I ask you this, O you insane and frantic man, what excessive punishment for your wickednesses and crimes is it that distracts you so as to make you think that these men—men of their high character, who support the dignity of the republic, not only by their wisdom, but also by their dignified appearance—are angry with me, because in delivering my opinion I connected the safety of the citizens with the honour of Cnaeus Pompeius, and that they are likely at this present time to have different feelings with respect to the general interests of religion from those which they entertained when I was absent?
3. quoniam ille demens, si ea quae per hos dies ego in senatu de re publica sensi vituperasset, aliquem se aditum ad auris vestras esse habiturum putavit, omittam ordinem dicendi meum: respondebo hominis furiosi non orationi, qua ille uti non potest, sed convicio, cuius exercitationem cum intolerabili petulantia tum etiam diuturna impunitate munivit. primum illud a te, homine vesano ac furioso, requiro, quae te tanta poena tuorum scelerum flagitiorumque vexet ut hos talis viros,—qui non solum consiliis suis sed etiam specie ipsa dignitatem rei publicae sustinent,—quod ego in sententia dicenda salutem civium cum honore Cn. Pompei coniunxerim mihi esse iratos, et aliud de summa religione hoc tempore sensuros ac me absente senserint arbitrere?
4. “Oh,” says he, “you had the advantage before the priests, but now you must inevitably get worst off since you have had recourse to the people.” Is it so? Will you transfer that which is the greatest defect in the ignorant multitude,—namely, its fickleness and inconstancy, and change of opinion, as frequent as the changes of the weather, to these men, whose gravity protects them from inconsistency, while their fixed and definite principles of religion and the antiquity of precedents, and the authority of written records and monuments, effectually deters them from all capricious change of sentiment? “Are you,” says he, “the man whom the senate was unable to do without? whom the good lamented? whom the republic regretted? by whose restoration we expected that the authority of the senate was restored? and who destroyed that authority the very first thing you did?” I am not at present speaking of my own matters; I will first of all reply to your impudence.
4. “,” inquit, “tum apud pontifices superior, sed iam, quoniam te ad populum contulisti, sis inferior necesse est.” vero? quod in imperita multitudine est vitiosissimum, varietas et inconstantia et crebra tamquam tempestatum sic sententiarum commutatio, hoc tu ad hos transferas, quos ab inconstantia gravitas, a libidinosa sententia certum et definitum ius religionum, vetustas exemplorum, auctoritas litterarum monumentorumque deterret? “es ille,” inquit, “quo senatus carere non potuit, quem boni luxerunt, quem res publica desideravit, quo restituto senatus auctoritatem restitutam putabamus quam primum adveniens prodidisti?” de mea sententia dico: impudentiae primum respondebo tuae.
5. Did you then, O you deadly pest of the republic, by means of the sword and arms, by the terror of an armed force, by the wickedness of the consuls, and the threats of most audacious men,—by enlisting slaves, by besieging the temples, by occupying the forum, by oppressing the senate, contrive to compel the departure of that citizen from his home and from his country, in order to prevent actual battles between the virtuous and wicked citizens,—though you now confess that he was regretted and sent for back and recalled by the senate, by all good men, and by the whole of Italy, as the only means of preserving the republic? “But on that day of disturbance you ought not,” says he, “to have come into the senate, you ought not to have entered the Capitol.”
5. igitur, funesta rei publicae pestis, hunc tu civem ferro et armis et exercitus terrore et consulum scelere et audacissimorum hominum minis, servorum dilectu, obsessione templorum, occupatione fori, oppressione curiae domo et patria, ne cum improbis boni ferro dimicarent, cedere coegisti, quem a senatu, quem a bonis omnibus, quem a cuncta Italia desideratum, arcessitum, revocatum conservandae rei publicae causa confiteris? “enim in senatum venire in Capitolium turbulento illo die non debuisti.”
6. But I did not come, and I kept in my own house as long as that disturbance lasted; while it was notorious that your slaves had come with you armed into the Capitol, ready for plunder and for the massacre of all good men, with all that band of wicked and profligate partisans of yours. And when this was reported to me, I know that I remained at home, and would not give you and your gladiators power of renewing the massacre. After news was brought to me that the Roman people had assembled at the Capitol, because of their fear for, and difficulty of procuring corn, and that the ministers of your crimes had been frightened and had fled, some having dropped their swords, and some having had them taken from them, I came forward not only without any armed band, but with only a very few friends.
6. vero neque veni et domo me tenui quam diu turbulentum tempus fuit, cum servos tuos, a te iam pridem ad bonorum caedem paratos, cum illa tua consceleratorum ac perditorum manu armatos in Capitolium tecum venisse constabat; quod cum mihi nuntiaretur, scito me domi mansisse et tibi et gladiatoribus tuis instaurandae caedis potestatem non fecisse. quam mihi nuntiatum est populum Romanum in Capitolium propter metum atque inopiam rei frumentariae convenisse, ministros autem scelerum tuorum perterritos partim amissis gladiis, partim ereptis diffugisse, veni non solum sine ullis copiis ac manu, verum etiam cum paucis amicis.
7. Should I, when Publius Lentulus the consul, who had conferred the greatest benefits on me and on the republic,—when Quintus Metellus, your brother, O Metellus, who, though he had been my enemy, had still preferred my safety and dignity to any desire to keep alive our quarrel, and to your entreaties that he would do so, sent for me to the senate,—when that great multitude of citizens, who had lately shown such zeal in my behalf, entreated me by name to show my gratitude to them,—should I, I say, have declined to come forward, especially when it was notorious that you with your band of runaway slaves had already left the place? Have you dared to call me—me, the guardian and defender of the Capitol and of every temple—the enemy of the Capitol, because, when the two consuls were holding the senate in the Capitol, I came thither? Is there any time at which it can be discreditable to have attended the senate? or was that business which was then being transacted of such a nature that I was bound to repudiate the affair itself, and to condemn those who were promoting it?
7. ego, cum P. Lentulus consul optime de me ac de re publica meritus, cum Q. Metellus, qui cum meus inimicus esset, frater tuus, et dissensioni nostrae et precibus tuis salutem ac dignitatem meam praetulisset, me arcesserent in senatum, cum tanta multitudo civium tam recenti officio suo me ad referendam gratiam nominatim vocaret, non venirem, cum praesertim te iam illinc cum tua fugitivorum manu discessisse constaret? tu me etiam, custodem defensoremque Capitoli templorumque omnium, “hostem Capitolinum” appellare ausus es, quod, cum in Capitolio senatum duo consules haberent, eo venerim? Vtrum est tempus aliquod quo in senatum venisse turpe sit, an ea res erat illa de qua agebatur ut rem ipsam repudiare et eos qui agebant condemnare deberem?
8. First, I say that it is the duty of a virtuous senator at all times to attend the senate; and I do not agree with those who determine that they themselves will not come to the senate at unfavourable seasons, and who do not understand that this excessive obstinacy of theirs is exceedingly pleasant and acceptable to those men whose wishes they intend to counteract. “But some departed out of fear, because they thought that they could not remain with safety in the senate.” I do not name them, nor do I ask whether they had any real reason for fearing anything. I imagine that every one had a right to form his own opinion as to what grounds he had for fear. Do you ask why I was not afraid? Why, because it was known that you had gone away. Do you ask why, when some good men thought that they could not remain with safety in the senate, I did not think so too? or why, when I thought that it was impossible for me to remain in the city at all with safety, they did not think so too? Are then others to be allowed, and rightly enough, to have no fear for themselves at a time when I am in danger; and yet am I bound to be afraid not only when I am myself in peril, but when others are also?
8. dico senatoris esse boni semper in senatum venire, nec cum his sentio qui statuunt minus bonis temporibus in senatum ipsum non venire, non intellegentes hanc suam nimiam perseverantiam vehementer iis quorum animum offendere voluerint et gratam et iucundam fuisse. enim non nulli propter timorem, quod se in senatu tuto non esse arbitrabantur, discesserunt. reprehendo, nec quaero fueritne aliquid pertimescendum: puto suo quemque arbitratu timere oportere. ego non timuerim quaeris? quia te illinc abisse constabat., cum viri boni non nulli putarint tuto se in senatu esse non posse, ego non idem senserim?, cum ego me existimassem tuto omnino in civitate esse non posse, illi remanserunt? aliis licet, et recte licet, in meo metu sibi nihil timere: mihi uni necesse erit et meam et aliorum vicem pertimescere?
9. Or am I to be blamed because I did not express an opinion condemnatory of both the consuls? Ought I then to condemn those men, of all men in the world, by whose law it was brought about that I, who had never been condemned and who had deserved well of the republic, should be saved from enduring the punishment of condemned criminals? Was I, of all men in the world, I who had been restored to my former dignity by their means, to denounce by my expressed opinion the admirable sentiments of those men, who, even if they had been in error, ought to have been borne with by me and by all good men, on account of their exceeding good-will displayed in ensuring my preservation? And what were the opinions which I delivered? In the first place, that one which the common conversation of the people had already previously fixed in our minds; in the second place, that one which had been discussed in the senate on the preceding days; and thirdly, that which the senate in a very full house adopted, expressing its agreement with me; so that so sudden or novel proposition was brought forward by me, and moreover, if there be any fault in the opinion, it is sot more the fault of the individual who advanced it than of all those men who approved of it.
9. quia non condemnavi sententia mea duo consules, sum reprehendendus? Eos igitur ego potissimum damnare debui quorum lege perfectum est ne ego, indemnatus atque optime de re publica meritus, damnatorum poenam sustinerem? etiam delicta propter eorum egregiam in me conservando voluntatem non modo me sed omnis bonos ferre oporteret, eorum optimum consilium ego potissimum per eos in meam pristinam dignitatem restitutus meo consilio repudiarem? quam sententiam dixi? eam quam populi sermo in animis nostris iam ante defixerat, deinde eam quae erat superioribus diebus agitata in senatu, denique eam quam senatus frequens tum cum mihi est adsensus secutus est: ut neque adlata sit a me res inopinata ac recens, nec, si quod in sententia vitium est, maius sit eius qui dixerit quam omnium qui probarint.
10. “But the decision of the senate was not free, because of the fear in which they were.” If you make out that they who left it were in fear, at least grant that they who remained were not alarmed. But if no free decision could be come to without the presence of those men who were absent at that time, I say that the motion about framing a resolution of the senate began to be made when every one was present; it was carried by acclamation by the entire senate. But I ask, since I am the prime mover in and the chief cause of this vote, what fault is found with the vote itself? Was there not good reason for adopting an unprecedented plan? Was not I as much concerned as any one in that matter? or, had we any other resource? What circumstances, what reasons could there be of greater consequence than famine? than sedition? than the designs of you and your partisans? who thought that, if an opportunity was given them of inflaming the minds of the ignorant, you, under the pretence afforded by the scarcity of provisions, would be able to renew your wicked and fatal practices.
10. enim liberum senatus iudicium propter metum non fuit. timuisse eos facis qui discesserunt, concede non timuisse eos qui remanserunt; sin autem sine iis qui tum afuerunt nihil decerni libere potuit, cum omnes adessent, coeptum est referri de inducendo senatus consulto; ab universo senatu reclamatum est. quaero in ipsa sententia, quoniam princeps ego sum eius atque auctor, quid reprendatur. Vtrum causa novi consili capiendi non fuit, an meae partes in ea causa non praecipuae fuerunt, an alio potius confugiendum fuit nobis? causa maior quam fames esse potuit, quam seditio, quam consilia tua tuorumque, qui facultate oblata ad imperitorum animos incitandos renovaturum te tua illis funesta latrocinia ob annonae causam putasti?
11. As for corn, some of the countries which usually supply it had not got it; some had sent it into other countries, I imagine because of the great variety of sellers; and some were keeping it back, shut up in their stores, in order suddenly to send it, so that the supply might be more acceptable if they seemed to come to our aid when we were in a state of actual famine. The matter was not one of uncertain opinions, it was a case of actually existing danger, present to our eyes; it was not one which we were looking forward to in conjecture, but one which we were actually beholding by present experience. For when the scarcity was getting more severe, so that it was actually want and famine that was dreaded, and not mere dearness of price, there was a rush towards the Temple of Concord, when the consul Metellus summoned the senate to meet in that place. And if that was the genuine effect of the grief of men suffering under famine, certainly the consuls had good reason to undertake the affair, certainly the senate had good reason to adopt some determination or other. But if the scarcity was the pretext, and if you in reality were the exciter and kindler of sedition, ought we not all to have striven to take away all shadow of pretext for your madness?
11. provinciae frumentariae partim non habebant, partim in alias terras, credo, propter avaritiam venditorum miserant, partim, quo gratius esset tum cum in ipsa fame subvenissent, custodiis suis clausum continebant, ut subito novum mitterent. erat non in opinione dubia, sed in praesenti atque ante oculos proposito periculo, neque id coniectura prospiciebamus, sed iam experti videbamus. cum ingravesceret annona, ut iam plane inopia ac fames non caritas timeretur, concursus est ad templum Concordiae factus, senatum illuc vocante Metello consule. si verus fuit ex dolore hominum et fame, certe consules causam suscipere, certe senatus aliquid consili capere potuit; sin causa fuit annona, seditionis quidem instimulator et concitator tu fuisti, nonne id agendum nobis omnibus fuit ut materiem subtraheremus furori tuo?
12. What, if both these causes existed,—if there was both famine to excite men, and you too like a nail working into this ulcer? was there not all the more need to apply some remedy, which might put an end to both the evil caused by nature, and to the other mischief imported into the case? There was then both present dearness and impending famine; that is not enough; men were attacked with stones. If that arose from the indignation of the common people, without any one having stirred them up, it is a great misfortune; but if, it was caused by the instigation of Publius Clodius, it is only the habitual wickedness of a wicked man: if both these causes existed,—if there was both a fact sufficient of itself to excite the feelings of the multitude, and if there were leaders of sedition ready and forearmed; then, does it not seem natural for the republic to have had recourse to the protection of the consul and the loyalty of the senate? But it is quite plain that one of these causes did exist; that there was a difficulty of obtaining provisions, and an extreme scarcity of corn, so that men were afraid not only of a continuance of high prices, but of actual famine. No one denies it. But I do not wish you, O priests, to suspect that that enemy of all tranquillity and peace was likely to seize on this as a pretext for conflagration, and massacre, and rapine, unless you see it proved.
12. ? si utrumque fuit, ut et fames stimularet homines et tu in hoc ulcere tamquam inguen exsisteres, nonne fuit eo maior adhibenda medicina quae et illud nativum et hoc inlatum malum sanare posset? igitur et praesens caritas et futura fames; non est satis; facta lapidatio est. ex dolore plebei nullo incitante, magnum malum; si P. Clodi impulsu, usitatum hominis facinerosi scelus; si utrumque, ut et res esset ea quae sua sponte multitudinis animos incitaret, et parati atque armati seditionis duces, videturne ipsa res publica et consulis auxilium implorasse et senatus fidem? atquin utrumque fuisse perspicuum est; difficultatem annonae summamque inopiam rei frumentariae, ut homines non iam diuturnam caritatem, sed ut famem plane timerent, nemo negat: hanc istum oti et pacis hostem causam arrepturum fuisse ad incendia caedis rapinas nolo, pontifices, suspicemini, nisi videritis.
13. Who are the men who were openly named in the senate by Quintus Metellus,—your brother, O Metellus,—the consul, by whom he said that he had been attacked with stones and actually hit? He named Lucius Sergius and Marcus Lollius. Who is that Lollius? A man who is not even at this moment by your side without his sword; who, while you were tribune of the people, demanded (I will say nothing of his designs against myself) to have the murder of Cnaeus Pompeius entrusted to him. Who is Sergius? The armour-bearer of Catiline, your own body-guard, the standard-bearer of sedition, the exciter of the shopkeepers, a man who has been convicted of assault, an assassin, a stoner of men, a man who has depopulated the forum, and blockaded the senate-house. With these leaders and others like them, when you, at the time when provisions were dear, under pretence of espousing the cause of the poor and ignorant, were preparing for sudden attacks on the consuls, on the senate, on the property and fortunes of the, rich; when it was impossible for you to find safety if affairs remained in a tranquil state; when, the leaders being all desperate men, you had your bands of profligates regularly enrolled and distributed into decuries,—did it not behoove the senate to take good care that that fatal firebrand did not fall upon these vast materials for sedition?
13. sunt homines a Q. Metello, fratre tuo, consule in senatu palam nominati, a quibus ille se lapidibus adpetitum, etiam percussum esse dixit? L. Sergium et M. Lollium nominavit. est iste Lollius? qui sine ferro ne nunc quidem tecum est, qui te tribuno plebis, nihil de me dicam, sed qui Cn. Pompeium interficiendum depoposcit. est Sergius? armiger Catilinae, stipator tui corporis, signifer seditionis, concitator tabernariorum, damnatus iniuriarum, percussor, lapidator, fori depopulator, obsessor curiae. atque eius modi ducibus cum tu in annonae caritate in consules, in senatum, in bona fortunasque locupletium per causam inopum atque imperitorum repentinos impetus comparares, cum tibi salus esse in otio nulla posset, cum desperatis ducibus decuriatos ac descriptos haberes exercitus perditorum, nonne providendum senatui fuit ne in hanc tantam materiem seditionis ista funesta fax adhaeresceret?
14. There was, therefore, good cause for adopting an unusual determination. See now whether or not I was the person who had the principal share in it. Who was it whom that friend of yours, Sergius, whom Lollius, whom the other rascals named when they were throwing the stones? who was it that they said ought to provide them with corn? was it not I? What was it that that nocturnal mob of boys which had been trained by you kept demanding? They were demanding corn of me; as if I superintended the corn-market; or as if I were keeping back any corn in store; or as if, in fact, I had any management of, or influence whatever in, any affairs of that class at all. But the fellow who was thirsting for slaughter had published my name to the artisans, and to the ignorant mob. When the senate, in a very full house assembled in the temple of the all-good and all-powerful Jupiter, had passed a decree touching my dignity with only one dissenting voice, on a sudden, on that very day, a most unexpected cheapness followed a time when corn had been excessively dear.
14. igitur causa capiendi novi consili: videte nunc fuerintne partes meae paene praecipuae. tum Sergius ille tuus, quem Lollius, quem ceterae pestes in lapidatione illa nominabant? quem annonam praestare oportere dicebant? nonne me?? operarum illa concursatio nocturna non a te ipso instituta me frumentum flagitabat? quasi vero ego aut rei frumentariae praefuissem, aut compressum aliquod frumentum tenerem, aut in isto genere omnino quicquam aut curatione aut potestate valuissem. homo ad caedem imminens meum nomen operis ediderat, imperitis iniecerat. Cum de mea dignitate in templo Iovis senatus frequentissimus uno isto dissentiente decrevisset, subito illo ipso die carissimam annonam necopinata vilitas consecuta est.
15. Some said, (and I myself am of that opinion,) that the immortal gods had shown their approbation of my return by this exercise of their power. But some traced that fact back, connecting it with this argument and opinion,—that, as all hopes of tranquillity and concord appeared to depend on my return, and as there was an incessant dread of sedition connected with my absence, so now that all fear of contest was almost at an end, they thought that the state of the corn-market was altered; and, because it again had become more unmanageable after my return, then corn was demanded of me, on whose arrival virtuous men were in the habit of saying that there would be cheapness. Lastly, my name was pronounced not only by your band of partisans at your instigation, but even after your forces had been routed and scattered, I was summoned by name to the senate by the whole Roman people, who at that time were assembled around the Capitol, though on that day I was far from well.
15. qui deos immortalis—id quod ego sentio—numine suo reditum meum dicerent comprobasse; non nulli autem illam rem ad illam rationem coniecturamque revocabant, qui, quod in meo reditu spes oti et concordiae sita videbatur, in discessu autem cotidianus seditionis timor, iam paene belli depulso metu commutatam annonam esse dicebant; quae quia rursus in meo reditu facta erat durior, a me, cuius adventu fore vilitatem boni viri dictitabant, annona flagitabatur. denique non solum ab operis tuis impulsu tuo nominabar, sed etiam, depulsis ac dissipatis tuis copiis, a populo Romano universo, qui tum in Capitolium convenerat, cum illo die minus valerem, in senatum nominatim vocabar.
16. Being expected, I came. After many opinions had been already pronounced, I was asked mine. I delivered one very advantageous to the republic, and at the same time necessary for my own interests. Abundance of corn and cheapness of price was demanded of me; as if I had any influence in producing such a state of things as that. Things were in a very different condition. I was pressed by eager expostulation from many good men. I was unable to support the abuse of the wicked. I proposed to entrust the business to an influential friend, not in order to impose a burden on one to whom I was under such heavy obligations, (for I would rather have sunk under it myself, than done that,) but because I saw, what every one else saw, that, whatever we promised in behalf of Cnaeus Pompeius, he would most easily accomplish by his integrity, wisdom, virtue, and authority, and by his invariable good-fortune.
16. exspectatus; multis iam sententiis dictis rogatus sum sententiam; dixi rei publicae saluberrimam, mihi necessariam. a me frumenti copia, annonae vilitas: possem aliquid in ea re necne ratio non habebatur. bonorum expostulatione: improborum convicia sustinere non poteram. amico locupletiori, non quo illi ita de me merito onus illud imponerem—succubuissem enim potius ipse—sed quia videbam id quod omnes, quod nos de Cn. Pompeio polliceremur, id illum fide consilio virtute auctoritate felicitate denique sua facillime perfecturum.
17. Therefore, whether the immortal gods give this to the Roman people as the fruit of my return, that, as on my departure there ensued a want of corn, and famine, and devastation, and bloodshed, and conflagration, and pillage, and impunity for all crimes, and flight, and terror, and discord, so my return is followed by fertility of the lands, by abundant harvests, by hopes of tranquillity, by peaceful dispositions on the part of the citizens, by a restoration of the courts of justice and of the laws, while unanimity on the part of the people and the authority of the senate seem to have been brought back in my company; or, if the fact is that I, on my arrival, was bound, in return for such kindness, to do something for the Roman people by my prudence, authority and diligence; then I do promise, and undertake, and pledge myself to do it. I say no more. This, I say, which is sufficient for the present occasion, that the republic shall not, on any pretence connected with the price of corn, fall into that danger into which some people endeavoured to bring it.
17. sive hunc di immortales fructum mei reditus populo Romano tribuunt, ut, quem ad modum discessu meo frugum inopia, fames, vastitas, caedes, incendia, rapinae, scelerum impunitas, fuga, formido, discordia fuisset, sic reditu ubertas agrorum, frugum copia, spes oti, tranquillitas animorum, iudicia, leges, concordia populi, senatus auctoritas mecum simul reducta videantur, sive egomet aliquid adventu meo, consilio, auctoritate, diligentia pro tanto beneficio populi Romani praestare debui: praesto, promitto, spondeo,—nihil dico amplius, hoc quod satis est huic tempori dico,—rem publicam annonae nomine in id discrimen quo vocabatur non esse venturam.
18. Are then my sentiments found fault with in this business which fell especially to my share? I rescued affairs of the greatest consequence from the mischief of the most imminent danger; and I saved not only it, but you also, from massacre, and conflagration, and devastation. No one denies this; as to the pretext of dearness there was added that spy of the general misery, who always lit the firebrand of his guilt in the misfortunes of the republic. He says that nothing ought to have been decreed irregularly to any one. I do not at present make the same reply to you that I make to the rest,—That many wars, and these wars of the greatest danger and of the greatest importance, both by land and sea, have been entrusted to Cnaeus Pompeius out of the regular order. And if any one repents of those measures, he must also repent of the victory of the Roman people.
18. igitur in hoc officio, quod fuit praecipue meum, sententia mea reprehenditur? maximam fuisse summi ⟨que⟩ periculi, non solum a fame, sed etiam a caede incendiis vastitate, nemo negat, cum ad causam caritatis accederet iste speculator communium miseriarum, qui semper ex rei publicae malis sceleris sui faces inflammaret. oportuisse quicquam uni extra ordinem decerni. iam tibi sic respondebo ut ceteris, Cn. Pompeio plurima, periculosissima, maxima mari terraque bella extra ordinem esse commissa: quarum rerum si quem paeniteat, eum victoriae populi Romani paenitere.
19. I do not deal with you in this manner. I can address this argument to those men, who state that if any matter must be entrusted to one individual, then they would rather entrust it to Cnaeus Pompeius than to any one, but that they make a rule of never entrusting anything to any one in an irregular manner; still, after it has been entrusted to Pompeius, that they then vindicate and uphold the measure, as is due to the dignity of the man. From praising the statements of these men I am hindered by the triumphs of Cnaeus Pompeius, by which he (though it was quite out of the regular order of things that he was summoned to defend his country) increased the reputation of the Roman people, and crowned their empire with honour. At the same time I praise their firmness, which is a virtue which I have need to avail myself of, since it was on my proposition that he was appointed, quite out of the regular routine, to conduct the war against Mithridates and Tigranes.
19. ita tecum ago; cum his haec a me haberi oratio potest qui ita disputant, se, si qua res ad unum deferenda sit, ad Cn. Pompeium delaturos potissimum; sed se extra ordinem nihil cuiquam dare; cum Pompeio datum sit, id se pro dignitate hominis ornare et tueri solere. Horum ego sententiam ne laudem impedior Cn. Pompei triumphis, quibus ille, cum esset extra ordinem ad patriam defendendam vocatus, auxit nomen populi Romani imperiumque honestavit: constantiam probo, qua mihi quoque utendum fuit, quo ille auctore extra ordinem bellum cum Mithridate Tigraneque gessit.
20. But still there are some points which I can argue with them; but still, how great is your impudence, when you dare to say that nothing ought to be given to any one out of the regular routine! You who, when, by an iniquitous law, for some unknown cause you had confiscated the property of Ptolemy, King of Cyprus, the brother of the King of Alexandria, who was reigning by the same right as he was, and had involved the Roman people in the crime,—when you had sent a band of robbers from this empire to ravage his kingdom, and goods, and property, though there had been a long alliance and friendship between us and his father, and grandfather, and still more remote ancestors,—appointed Marcus Cato to superintend the carrying away of his money, and the managing the war if any individual was found hardy enough to defend his own property.
20. cum illis possum tamen aliquid disputare: tua vero quae tanta impudentia est ut audeas dicere extra ordinem dari nihil cuiquam oportere? qui cum lege nefaria Ptolomaeum, regem Cypri, fratrem regis Alexandrini, eodem iure regnantem causa incognita publicasses, populumque Romanum scelere obligasses, cum in eius regnum bona fortunas patrocinium huius imperi inmisisses, cuius cum patre avo maioribus societas nobis et amicitia fuisset, huius pecuniae deportandae et, si ius suum defenderet, bello gerendo M. Catonem praefecisti.
21. Will you say, “Yes, but what a man Cato was! A most religious, most prudent, most gallant man; the firmest friend to the republic, a citizen of a most marvellous and almost unique virtue, and wisdom, and purity of life.” Very fine, but what is all that to you, when you say that it is untrue that any one ought to be appointed to any public duty out of the regular course? And in this matter I am only convicting you of inconsistency; who in the case of this very Cato, whom you did not so much promote out of regard for his dignity, as get out of the way lest he might hinder your wickedness,—whom you had exposed to your Sergii, and Lollii, and Titii, and your other leaders in massacre and conflagration, whom you yourself had called the executioner of the citizens, the chief murderer of men who had never been condemned, the very fountain of cruelty,—you still by your motion conferred this honour and command on him out of the regular course, and behaved with such violence, that you were wholly unable to disguise your object and, the system of wickedness which you had laid down for yourself.
21. : virum! sanctissimum, prudentissimum, fortissimum, amicissimum rei publicae, virtute, consilio, ratione vitae mirabili ad laudem et prope singulari! quid ad te, qui negas esse verum quemquam ulli rei publicae extra ordinem praefici? in hoc solum inconstantiam redarguo tuam: quem tu in ea re non pro illius dignitate produceres, sed pro tuo scelere subduceres, quem tuis Sergiis, Lolliis, Titiis ceterisque caedis et incendiorum ducibus obieceras, quem carnificem civium, quem indemnatorum necis principem, quem crudelitatis auctorem fuisse dixeras, ad hunc honorem et imperium extra ordinem nominatim rogatione tua detulisti. tanta fuisti intemperantia ut illius tui sceleris rationem occultare non posses:
22. You read letters in the assembly which you said had been sent to you by Caius Caesar. “Caesar to Pulcher.” And when you proceeded to argue that this was a proof of intimacy, because he only used the names of himself and you, and did not add “proconsul,” or “tribune of the people,” and then began to congratulate you that you had got Marcus Cato out of the way of your tribuneship for the remainder of the time, and that you had also taken away for the future the power of giving extraordinary commissions;—letters which he never sent to you at all, or which, if he did send them, he certainly never meant to be read in the public assembly;—at all events, whether he sent them or whether you forged them, your intention with respect to the honours conferred upon Cato was revealed by the reading of those letters.
22. litteras in contione recitasti quas tibi a C. Caesare missas diceres Caesar Pvlchro, cum etiam es argumentatus amoris esse hoc signum, ⟨quod⟩ cognominibus tantum uteretur neque adscriberet pro consvle aut tribvno plebi; dein gratulari tibi quod M. Catonem ⟨a⟩ tribunatu tuo removisses, et quod ei dicendi in posterum de extraordinariis potestatibus libertatem ademisses. aut numquam tibi ille litteras misit, aut, si misit, in contione recitari noluit., sive ille misit sive tu finxisti, certe consilium tuum de Catonis honore illarum litterarum recitatione patefactum est.
23. But, however, I will say no more about Cato, whose eminent virtue, and dignity, and integrity, and moderation in that business which he executed, appear like a screen to veil the iniquity of your law and of your argument. What more need I say? Who was it who gave to the most infamous man that has ever existed, to the most wicked and polluted of all men, that rich and fertile Syria? Who gave him a war to carry on against nations who were in a state of profound peace? Who gave him the money which was destined for the purchase of lands and which had been taken by violence out of the fruits of the achievements of Caesar? Who gave him an unlimited command? And, indeed, when you had given him Cilicia, you altered the terms of your bargain with him, and you transferred Cilicia to the praetor, again quite out of the regular course. And then, when the bribe had been increased, you gave Syria to Gabinius—expressly naming him. What more? Did you not, naming him expressly, deliver over, bound and fettered, to Lucius Piso, the foulest, the most cruel, the most treacherous of men, the most infamous of all men, as stigmatised for every sort of wickedness and lust, free nations, who had been declared free by numerous resolutions of the senate, and even by a recent law of your own son-in-law? Did not you, after the recompense for your service and the bribe of a province had been paid by him at my expense, still divide the treasury with him?
23. omitto Catonem, cuius eximia virtus, dignitas, et in eo negotio quod gessit fides et continentia tegere videretur improbitatem et legis et actionis tuae: quid? homini post homines natos turpissimo, sceleratissimo, contaminatissimo quis illam opimam fertilemque Syriam, quis bellum ⟨cum⟩ pacatissimis gentibus, quis pecuniam ad emendos agros constitutam, ereptam ex visceribus aerari, quis imperium infinitum dedit? quidem cum Ciliciam dedisses, mutasti pactionem et Ciliciam ad praetorem item extra ordinem transtulisti: Gabinio pretio amplificato Syriam nominatim dedisti.? homini taeterrimo, crudelissimo, fallacissimo, omnium scelerum libidinumque maculis notatissimo, L. Pisoni, nonne nominatim populos liberos, multis senatus consultis, etiam recenti lege generi ipsius liberatos, vinctos et constrictos tradidisti?, cum ab eo merces tui benefici pretiumque provinciae meo sanguine tibi esset persolutum, tamen aerarium cum eo partitus es?
24. Is it so? Did you annul the arrangement of the consular provinces, which Caius Gracchus, than whom there hardly ever lived a man more devoted to the people, not only abstained from taking from the senate, but even passed a solemn law to establish the principle that they were to be settled every year by the senate;—did you, I say, disturb that arrangement, and that too after it had been formally settled according to the Sempronian law? You gave the provinces, in an irregular manner, without casting lots, not to the consuls, but to the pests of the republic, expressly naming them. And shall we be found fault with, because we have appointed a most illustrious man, who has often been selected before on occasions of the greatest danger to the republic, (expressly naming him,) to superintend a matter of the most urgent importance, and which was previously in an almost desperate condition? What more shall I say? If, then, amid the darkness and impenetrable clouds and storms which were then lowering above the republic, when you had driven the senate from the helm and turned the people out of the ship, and while you yourself, like a captain of pirates, were hastening on with all your sails set, with your most infamous band of robbers; if at that time you had been able to carry the resolutions which you proposed, and punished, and brought forward, and sold, what place in the whole world would have been free from the extraordinary magistrates and commanders invested with their power by the great Clodius?
24. vero? tu provincias consularis, quas C. Gracchus, qui unus maxime popularis fuit, non modo non abstulit a senatu, sed etiam ut necesse esset quotannis constitui per senatum lege sanxit, eas lege Sempronia per senatum decretas rescidisti, extra ordinem sine sorte nominatim dedisti non consulibus, sed rei publicae pestibus: nos, quod nominatim rei maximae paene iam desperatae summum virum saepe ad extrema rei publicae discrimina delectum praefecimus, a te reprehendemur? tandem? si quae tum in illis rei publicae tenebris caecisque nubibus et procellis, cum senatum a gubernaculis deiecisses, populum e navi exturbasses, ipse archipirata cum grege praedonum impurissimo plenissimis velis navigares—si quae tum promulgasti constituisti promisisti vendidisti perferre potuisses, ecqui locus orbi terrarum vacuus extraordinariis fascibus atque imperio Clodiano fuisset?
25. But at last the indignation of Cnaeus Pompeius, (I will say, even in his hearing, what I have felt, and still do feel what ever may be the way in which he takes it,)—the indignation I say, of Cnaeus Pompeius, which had been too long concealed and slumbering, being at last aroused, came on a sudden to the aid of the republic, and raised the city crushed with misfortunes, dumb, weakened, and broken spirited through fear to some hope of recovering its liberty and former dignity. And was this man not to be appointed to superintend the providing the city with corn? You, forsooth, by your law abandoned all the corn, whether belonging to private individuals or to the state, all the provinces which supply corn, and all the contractors, and all the keys of the granaries, to that most impure of gluttons, the taster of your lusts, to that most needy and most impious man, Sextus Clodius, the companion of your family, who by his tongue alienated even your sister from you. And it was by this action of yours that dearness was first produced, and afterwards scarcity. Famine, conflagration, bloodshed, and pillage were impending. Your insane frenzy was threatening the fortunes and property of every man.
25. excitatus aliquando Cn. Pompei—dicam ipso audiente quod sensi et sentio, quoquo animo auditurus est— excitatus, inquam, aliquando Cn. Pompei nimium diu reconditus et penitus abstrusus animi dolor subvenit subito rei publicae, civitatemque fractam malis, imminutam ac debilitatam, abiectam metu ad aliquam spem libertatis et pristinae dignitatis erexit. vir extra ordinem rei frumentariae praeficiendus non fuit? tu helluoni spurcatissimo, praegustatori libidinum tuarum, homini egentissimo et facinerosissimo, Sex. Clodio, socio tui sanguinis, qui sua lingua etiam sororem tuam a te abalienavit, omne frumentum privatum et publicum, omnis provincias frumentarias, omnis mancipes, omnis horreorum clavis lege tua tradidisti; qua ex lege primum caritas nata est, deinde inopia. fames, incendia, caedes, direptio: imminebat tuus furor omnium fortunis et bonis.
26. That ill-omened pest of the state even complains that the corn should have been taken out of the impure mouth of Sextus Clodius, and that the republic in its extremest peril should have implored the aid of that man by whom it recollected that it had often been preserved, and had its power extended. Clodius thinks that nothing ought to be done out of the regular course. What! what sort of law is it that you say that you passed about me, you parricide, you fratricide, you murderer of your sister; did you not pass that out of the regular course? Was it lawful for you to pass, I will not say a law, but a wicked private bill, concerning the ruin of a citizen, the preserver of the republic, as all gods and men have long since agreed to call him, and, as you yourself confess, when he was not only uncondemned but even unimpeached, amid the mourning of the senate and the lamentation of all good men, rejecting the prayers of all Italy, while the republic lay oppressed and captive at your feet? And was it not lawful for me, when the Roman people implored me, when the senate requested me, when the critical state of the republic demanded it of me, to deliver an opinion concerning the safety of the Roman people?
26. etiam importuna pestis ex ore impurissimo Sex. Clodi rem frumentariam esse ereptam, summisque in periculis eius viri auxilium implorasse rem publicam a quo saepe se et servatam et amplificatam esse meminisset! ordinem ferri nihil placet Clodio.? de me quod tulisse te dicis, patricida, fratricida, sororicida, nonne extra ordinem tulisti? de peste civis, quem ad modum omnes iam di atque homines iudicarunt, conservatoris rei publicae, quem ad modum autem tute ipse confiteris, non modo indemnati sed ne accusati quidem, licuit tibi ferre non legem sed nefarium privilegium, lugente senatu, maerentibus bonis omnibus, totius Italiae precibus repudiatis, oppressa captaque re publica: mihi populo Romano implorante, senatu poscente, temporibus rei publicae flagitantibus, non licuit de salute populi Romani sententiam dicere?
27. And if that opinion the dignity of Cnaeus Pompeius was increased, in connection with the common advantage, certainly I ought to be praised if I seemed to have given my vote for honour of that than who had brought his influence to aid in the ensuring of my safety. Let men cease—cease, I say, from hoping that now that I have been restored, I can be undermined by the same contrivances by which they formerly smote me when I was flourishing. For what pair of men of consular dignity were ever more united in friendship in this state than Cnaeus Pompeius and I? Who has ever spoken more honourably or more repeatedly of his dignity before the Roman people or to the senate than I have? What labour was there so great, or what enmity so formidable, or what contest so arduous, that I was unwilling to encounter it for the sake of his dignity? and what honour that could be paid me by him, what panegyric of my glory, what recompense for my goodwill was ever omitted by him? This union of ours, this unanimity and concert in managing the affairs of the republic successfully, this most delightful agreement in life and all its duties, certain men, by false reports of conversations and false accusations, broke, interrupted; going to him, and warning him to be afraid of me, to guard against me, and at the same time telling me that he was hostile to me above all men: so that I had net sufficient confidence to ask of him what it was desirable for me to ask, nor did he, having been made sore by the jealousies and wickedness of certain individuals, promise me with sufficient freedom what my necessities required.
27. quidem in sententia si Cn. Pompei dignitas aucta est coniuncta cum utilitate communi, certe laudandus essem si eius dignitati suffragatus viderer qui meae saluti opem et auxilium tulisset., desinant homines isdem machinis sperare me restitutum posse labefactari quibus antea stantem perculerunt. enim par amicitiae consularis fuit umquam in hac civitate coniunctius quam fuimus inter nos ego et Cn. Pompeius? quis apud populum Romanum de illius dignitate inlustrius, quis ⟨in⟩ senatu saepius dixit? qui tantus fuit labor, quae simultas, quae contentio, quam ego non pro illius dignitate susceperim? qui ab illo in me honos, quae praedicatio de mea laude, quae remuneratio benivolentiae praetermissa est? nostram coniunctionem, hanc conspirationem in re publica bene gerenda, hanc iucundissimam vitae atque officiorum omnium societatem certi homines fictis sermonibus et falsis criminibus diremerunt, cum idem illum ut me metueret, me caveret, monerent, idem apud me mihi illum uni esse inimicissimum dicerent, ut neque ego ab illo quae mihi petenda essent satis audaciter petere possem, neque ille, tot suspicionibus certorum hominum et scelere exulceratus, quae meum tempus postularet satis prolixe mihi polliceretur.
29. A great price has been paid for my error, O priests, so that I am not only grieved for my folly, but ashamed of it too; since, though it was not some sudden and accidental occasion, but many labors of long standing, encountered and undertaken long before, which had united me with a most gallant and most illustrious man, I still suffered myself to be led away to abandon such a friendship, and did not perceive who they were whom it became me either to oppose as open enemies, or to distrust as treacherous friends. Let them now at length cease to try and excite me with the same language as before: “What is that man about? Does not he know how great his influence is, what great achievements be has performed with what great honour he has been restored? Why does he do honour to the man by whom he was deserted?”
29. merces est erroris mei magna, pontifices, ut me non solum pigeat stultitiae meae sed etiam pudeat, qui, cum me non repentinum aliquod tempus meum, sed veteres multo ante suscepti et provisi labores cum viro fortissimo et clarissimo coniunxissent, sim passus a tali amicitia distrahi ⟨me⟩, neque intellexerim quibus aut ut apertis inimicis obsisterem aut ut insidiosis amicis non crederem. desinant aliquando me isdem inflare verbis: “sibi iste vult? nescit quantum auctoritate valeat, quas res gesserit, qua dignitate sit restitutus? ornat eum a quo desertus est?”