---
title: "On the Agrarian Law · De lege agraria"
author: "Cicero"
translator: "Charles Duke Yonge"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/
cite: "Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, On the Agrarian Law · De lege agraria. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/"
---

# On the Agrarian Law · De lege agraria

*Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge*

As consul Cicero attacks a bill to buy land for the poor, in three speeches to the senate and the people.

> Latin: ed. Albert Curtis Clark, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0474.phi011, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Charles Duke Yonge, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0474.phi011.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Speech 1](https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/1.md)
2. [Speech 2 · sections 1–34](https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/2.md)
3. [Speech 2 · sections 35–71](https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/3.md)
4. [Speech 2 · sections 72–103](https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/4.md)
5. [Speech 3](https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/5.md)

## 1. Speech 1

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/1/#p-N

[¶0] A short time before Cicero's inauguration as consul, which took place on the first of January, Publius Servilius Rullus, one of the new tribunes, (who entered on their office on the tenth of December,) had been alarming the senate with the proposal of a new agrarian law, the purport of which was to appoint ten commissioners, (decemviri) with absolute power for five years over all the revenues of the republic; to distribute them at pleasure to the citizens; to sell and buy what lands they thought fit; to determine the rights of the present possessors; to require an account from all the generals abroad, except, Pompey, of the spoils taken in their wars; to settle colonies wherever they judged it proper, and especially at Capua; and, in short, the entire command of the money and forces of the empire. (Middleton, ch. iii.) This oration (of which some of the beginning is lost), was addressed to the senate on the first of January, to relieve them of their apprehensions respecting this law, by assuring them that he would oppose the law and all its promoters to the uttermost of his power; and that he would not suffer the state to be injured or its liberties to be impaired, while the administration remained in his hands. … The decemviri will sell the booty, the spoils, the division of the plunder, the very camp of Cnaeus Pompeius, while the general is forced to sit still. In beardless youth … … [The whole of the Propontis and of the Hellespont will therefore come under the power of the praetor; the whole coast of the Lycians and Cilicians will be advertised for sale; Mysia and Phrygia will be subjected to the same conditions ] .... That which was then openly sought, is now endeavoured to be effected secretly by mines. For the decemvirs will say, what indeed is said by many, and has often been said,—that after the consulship of those men, all that kingdom became the property of the Roman people, by the bequest of the king Alexander. Will you then give Alexandria to those men when they ask for it in an underhand way, whom you resisted when they openly fought against you? Which, in the name of the immortal gods, do these things seem to you,—the designs of sober men, or the dreams of drunken ones? the serious thoughts of wise men, or the frantic wishes of madmen?

> Latin: imberba iuventute Capuam colonis deductis occupabunt, Atellam praesidio communient, Nuceriam, Cumas multitudine suorum obtinebunt, cetera oppida praesidiis devincient. Venibit igitur sub praecone tota Propontis atque Hellespontus, addicetur omnis ora Lyciorum atque Cilicum, Mysia et Phrygia eidem condicioni legique parebunt., manubias, sectionem, castra denique Cn. Pompei sedente imperatore xviri vendent. … quae res aperte petebatur, ea nunc occulte cuniculis oppugnatur. enim xviri, id quod et dicitur a multis et saepe dictum est, post eosdem consules regis Alexandri testamento regnum illud populi Romani esse factum. igitur Alexandream clam petentibus eis quibus apertissime pugnantibus restitistis?, per deos immortalis! utrum esse vobis consilia siccorum an vinolentorum somnia, et utrum cogitata sapientium an optata furiosorum videntur?

[¶1] 2. See, now, in the second chapter of this law, how that profligate debauchee is disturbing the republic,—how he is ruining and dissipating the possessions left us by our ancestors; so as to be not less a spendthrift in the patrimony of the Roman people than in his own. He is advertising for sale by his law all the revenues, for the decemvirs to sell them; that is to say, he is advertising an auction of the property of the state. He wants lands to be bought, in order to be distributed; he is seeking money. No doubt he will devise something, and bring it forward; for in the preceding chapters the dignity of the Roman people was attacked; the name of our dominion was held up as an object of common hatred to all the nations of the earth; cities which were at peace with us, lands belonging to the allies, the ranks of kings in alliance with us, were all made a present of to the decemvirs; and now they want actual ready money paid down to them.

> Latin: 2. nunc proximo capite ut impurus helluo turbet rem publicam, ut a maioribus nostris possessiones relictas disperdat ac dissipet, ut sit non minus in populi Romani patrimonio nepos quam in suo. in sua lege vectigalia quae xviri vendant, hoc est, proscribit auctionem publicorum bonorum. emi volt qui dividantur; quaerit pecuniam. excogitabit aliquid atque adferet. superioribus capitibus dignitas populi Romani violabatur, nomen imperi in commune odium orbis terrae vocabatur, urbes pacatae, agri sociorum, regum status xviris donabantur; nunc praesens pecunia, certa, numerata quaeritur.

[¶2] 3. I am waiting to see what this vigilant and clever tribune is contriving. Let the Scantian wood, says he, be sold. Did you then find this wood mentioned among the possessions that were left, or in the pasture lands of the lessors? If there is anything which you have hunted out, and discovered, brought to light out of darkness, although it is not just, still use that, since it is convenient, and since you yourself were the person to bring it forward. But shall you sell the Scantian wood while we are consuls, and while this senate is in existence? Shall you touch any of the revenues? Shall you take away from the Roman people that which is their strength in time of war, their ornament in time of peace? But then indeed, I shall think myself a lazier consul than those fearless men who filled this office in the times of our ancestors; because the revenues which were acquired by the Roman people when they were consuls, will be considered not able to be preserved when I am consul.

> Latin: 3. quid tribunus plebis vigilans et acutus excogitet. “Veneat,” inquit, “silva Scantia.” Vtrum tandem hanc silvam in relictis possessionibus, an in censorum pascuis invenisti? quid est quod indagaris, inveneris, ex tenebris erueris, quamquam iniquum est, tamen consume sane, quod commodum est, quoniam quidem tu attulisti; silvam vero tu Scantiam vendas nobis consulibus atque hoc senatu? tu ullum vectigal attingas, tu populo Romano subsidia belli, tu ornamenta pacis eripias? vero hoc me inertiorem consulem iudicabo quam illos fortissimos viros qui apud maiores nostros fuerunt, quod, quae vectigalia illis consulibus populo Romano parta sunt, ea me consule ne retineri quidem potuisse iudicabuntur.

[¶3] 4. He is selling all the possessions in Italy, in regular order. Forsooth, he is very busy in that occupation. For does not omit one. He goes through the whole of Sicily in the account-books of the censors. He does not omit one single house, or one single field. You have heard an auction of the property of the Roman people given notice of by tribune of the people, and fixed for the month of January and I suppose you do not doubt, that they who procured these things by their arms and their valour, did not sell the for the sake of the treasury, on purpose that we might have something to sell for the sake of bribery.

> Latin: 4. Italiae possessiones ex ordine omnis. est in eo diligens; nullam enim praetermittit. in tabulis censoriis totam Siciliam; nullum aedificium, nullos agros relinquit. Audistis auctionem populi Romani proscriptam a tribuno plebis, constitutam in mensem Ianuarium, et, credo, non dubitatis quin idcirco haec aerari causa non vendiderint ei qui armis et virtute pepererunt, ut esset quod nos largitionis causa venderemus.

[¶4] 5. See, now, how much more undisguisedly than before he proceeds on his course. For it has been already shown by how they attacked Pompeius in the earlier part of the law; and now they shall show it also themselves. He orders the lands belonging to the men of Attalia and Olympus to be sold. These lands the victory of Publius Servilius, that most gallant general, had made the property of the Roman people. After that, the royal domains in Macedonia, which were acquired partly by the valour of Titus Flamininus, and part by that of Lucius Paullus, who conquered Perses. After that, that most excellent and productive land which belongs Corinth, which was added to the revenues of the Roman people by the campaigns and successes of Lucius Mummius. After that, they sell the lands in Spain near Carthagena, acquired by the distinguished valour of the two Scipios. Then Carthagena itself, which Publius Scipio, having stripped it of all its fortifications, consecrated to the eternal recollection of men, whether his purpose was to keep up the memory of the disaster of the Carthaginians, or to bear witness to our victory, or to fulfill some religious obligation.

> Latin: 5. nunc quo adfectent iter apertius quam antea. superiore parte legis quem ad modum Pompeium oppugnarent, a me indicati sunt; nunc iam se ipsi indicabunt. venire agros Attalensium atque Olympenorum quos populo Romano ⟨P.⟩ Servili, fortissimi viri, victoria adiunxit, deinde agros in Macedonia regios qui partim T. Flaminini, partim L. Pauli qui Persen vicit virtute parti sunt, deinde agrum optimum et fructuosissimum Corinthium qui L. Mummi imperio ac felicitate ad vectigalia populi Romani adiunctus est, post autem agros in Hispania apud Carthaginem novam duorum Scipionum eximia virtute possessos; tum vero ipsam veterem Carthaginem vendunt quam P. Africanus nudatam tectis ac moenibus sive ad notandam Carthaginiensium calamitatem, sive ad testificandam nostram victoriam, sive oblata aliqua religione ad aeternam hominum memoriam consecravit.

[¶5] 6. Having sold all these ensigns and crowns, as it were, of the empire, with which the republic was adorned, and handed down to you by your ancestors, they then order the lands to be sold which the king Mithridates possessed in Paphlagonia, and Pontus, and Cappadocia. Do they not seem to be pursuing without much disguise, and almost with the crier's spear, the army of Cnaeus Pompeius, when they order those lands to be sold in which he is now engaged and carrying on war?

> Latin: 6. insignibus atque infulis imperi venditis quibus ornatam nobis maiores nostri rem publicam tradiderunt, iubent eos agros venire quos rex Mithridates in Paphlagonia, Ponto Cappadociaque possederit. obscure videntur prope hasta praeconis insectari Cn. Pompei exercitum qui venire iubeant eos ipsos agros in quibus ille etiam nunc bellum gerat atque versetur?

[¶6] 7. But what is the meaning of this, that they fix no place for this auction which they are establishing? For power is given to the decemvirs by this law, of holding their sales in any places which seem convenient to them. The censors are not allowed to let the contracts for farming the revenues, except in the sight of the Roman people. Shall these men be allowed to sell them in the most distant countries? But even the most profligate men, when they have squandered their patrimony, prefer selling their property in the auctioneer's rooms, rather than in the roads, or in the streets. This man, by his law, gives leave to the decemvirs to sell the property of the Roman people in whatever darkness and whatever solitude they find it convenient.

> Latin: 7. vero cuius modi est, quod eius auctionis quam constituunt locum sibi nullum definiunt? xviris quibus in locis ipsis videatur vendendi potestas lege permittitur. vectigalia locare nisi in conspectu populi Romani non licet; his vendere vel in ultimis terris licebit? hoc etiam nequissimi homines consumptis patrimoniis faciunt ut in atriis auctionariis potius quam in triviis aut in compitis auctionentur; hic permittit sua lege xviris ut in quibus commodum sit tenebris, ut in qua velint solitudine, bona populi Romani possint divendere.

[¶7] 8. Do you not, moreover, see how grievous, how formidable, and how pregnant with extortion that invasion of the decemvirs and of the multitude that will follow in their train will be to all the provinces, and kingdoms, and free nations? In the case of those men on whom you have conferred lieutenancies for the sake of entering on inheritances, though they went as private men, on private business, invested with no excessive power and no supreme authority, you have still heard how burdensome their arrival has proved to your allies.

> Latin: 8. illa omnibus in provinciis, regnis, liberis populis quam acerba, quam formidolosa, quam quaestuosa concursatio xviralis futura sit, non videtis? obeundarum causa quibus vos legationes dedistis, qui et privati et privatum ad negotium exierunt non maximis opibus neque summa auctoritate praediti, tamen auditis profecto quam graves eorum adventus sociis nostris esse soleant.

[¶8] 9. What alarm and what misfortune, then must you think all nations are threatened with by this law, when decemvirs are sent all over the world with supreme power,—men of the greatest avarice, and with an insatiable desire for every sort of property? whose arrival will be grievous, whose forces will be formidable, whose judicial and arbitrary power will be absolutely intolerable. For they will have the power of deciding whatever they please to be public property, and of selling whatever they decide to be such. Even that very thing which conscientious men will not do, namely, taking money to abstain from selling, is to be made lawful for them to do by the express provisions of the law. From this provision what plunderings, what bargainings, what a regular auction of all law and of every one's fortunes must inevitably arise!

> Latin: 9. ob rem quid putatis impendere hac lege omnibus gentibus terroris et mali, cum immittantur in orbem terrarum xviri summo cum imperio, summa cum avaritia infinitaque omnium rerum cupiditate? quorum cum adventus graves, cum fasces formidolosi, tum vero iudicium ac potestas erit non ferenda; licebit enim quod videbitur publicum iudicare, quod iudicarint vendere. illud quod homines sancti non facient, ut pecuniam accipiant ne vendant, tamen id eis ipsum per legem licebit. vos quas spoliationes, quas pactiones, quam denique in omnibus locis nundinationem iuris ac fortunarum fore putatis?

[¶9] 10. Even that which in the former pert of the law made in the consulship of Sulla and Pompeius was strictly defined, that they have now left at the discretion of these men, without any restriction or limitation. He orders these same decemvirs to impose an exceedingly heavy tax on all the public domains, in order that they might be able both to release what lands they choose and to confiscate what they choose. And in this proceeding it is hard to see whether their severity will be more cruel or their kindness more gainful. However, there are in the whole law two exceptions, not so much unjust as suspicious. In imposing the tax it makes an exception with respect to the Recentoric district in Sicily; and in selling the land, he excepts those with respect to which there was an express provision in the treaty. These lands are in Africa, in the occupation of Hiempsal.

> Latin: 10. , quod superiore parte legis praefinitum fuit, Svlla et Pompeio consvlibvs, id rursus liberum infinitumque fecerunt. enim eosdem xviros omnibus agris publicis pergrande vectigal imponere, ut idem possint et liberare agros quos commodum sit et quos ipsis libeat publicare. in iudicio perspici non potest utrum severitas acerbior an benignitas quaestuosior sit futura. tamen in tota lege exceptiones duae non tam iniquae quam suspiciosae. enim in vectigali imponendo agrum Recentoricum Siciliensem, in vendendis agris eos agros de quibus cautum sit foedere. sunt in Africa, qui ab Hiempsale possidentur.

[¶10] 11. Here I ask, if sufficient protection is afforded to Hiempsal by the treaty and if the Recentoric district is private property, what was use of excepting these lands by name in the law? If that treaty itself has some obscurity in it, and if the Recentoric is sometimes said to be public property, who do you suppose will believe that there have been two interests found in the world, and only two, which he spared for nothing? Does there appear to have been any coin in the world so carefully hidden that the architects of this law have failed to scent it out? They are draining the provinces, the free cities, our allies, our friends, and even the kings who are confederate with us. They are laying bands on the revenue of the Roman people.

> Latin: 11. quaero, si Hiempsali satis est cautum foedere et Recentoricus ager privatus est, quid attinuerit excipi; sin et foedus illud habet aliquam dubitationem et ager Recentoricus dicitur non numquam esse publicus, quem putet existimaturum duas causas in orbe terrarum repertas quibus gratis parceret. quisnam tam abstrusus usquam nummus videtur quem non architecti huiusce legis olfecerint?, civitates liberas, socios, amicos, reges denique exhauriunt, admovent manus vectigalibus populi Romani.

[¶11] 12. That is not enough. Listen—listen, you who, by the most honourable vote of the people and senate, have commanded armies and carried on wars:—“Whatever has come or shall come to anyone, of booty, of spoils, of money given for gold crowns, which has neither been spent on a monument, nor paid into the treasury, is all to be paid over to the decemvirs.” From this chapter they expect a great deal. The propose by their resolution an investigation into the affairs of all our generals and all their heirs. But they expect to go the greatest quantity of money from Faustus. That cause which the judges upon their oath would not undertake, these decemvirs have undertaken. They think, perhaps, that it was declined by the judges, on purpose to be reserved to them.

> Latin: 12. est satis., audite vos qui amplissimo populi senatusque iudicio exercitus habuistis et bella gessistis: quod ad quemque pervenerit ex praeda, ex manubiis, ex auro coronario, quod neque consumptum in monumento neque in aerarium relatum sit, id ad xviros referri iubet! capite multa sperant; in omnis imperatores heredesque eorum quaestionem suo iudicio comparant, sed maximam pecuniam se a Fausto ablaturos arbitrantur. causam suscipere iurati iudices noluerunt, hanc isti xviri susceperunt: idcirco a iudicibus fortasse praetermissam esse arbitrantur quod sit ipsis reservata.

[¶12] 13. After that, the law most carefully provides for the future, that, whatever money any general receives, he is at once to pay over to the decemvirs. But here he excepts Pompeius, very much as, as it seems to me, in that law by which aliens are sent away from Rome an exception is made in favour of Glaucippus. For the effect of this exception is not to confer a kindness on one man, but merely to save one man from injustice. But the man whose spoils the law thus spares, has his revenues invaded by the same law. For it orders all the money which is received after our consulship from the new revenues, to be placed to the use of the decemvirs. As if we did not see that they were thinking of selling the revenues which Cnaeus Pompeius has added to the wealth of the Roman people.

> Latin: 13. etiam in reliquum tempus diligentissime sancit ut, quod quisque imperator habeat pecuniae, protinus ad xviros deferat. tamen excipit Pompeium simillime, ut mihi videtur, atque ut illa lege qua peregrini Roma eiciuntur Glaucippus excipitur. enim hac exceptione unus adficitur beneficio, sed unus privatur iniuria. cui manubias remittit, in huius vectigalia invadit. enim pecunia, si qua post nos consules ex novis vectigalibus recipiatur, hac uti xviros. vero non intellegamus haec eos vectigalia quae Cn. Pompeius adiunxerit vendere cogitare.

[¶13] 14. You see now, O conscript fathers, that the money which is to belong to the decemvirs is collected and heaped together from every possible source, and by every imaginable expedient. The unpopularity arising from their possession of this large sum is to be diminished, for it shall be spent in the purchase of lands. Exceedingly well. Who then is to buy those lands? These same decemvirs. You, O Rullus— for I say nothing of the rest of them,—are to buy whatever you like; to sell whatever you like, to buy or sell at whatever price you please. For that admirable man takes care not to buy of any one against his will. As if we did not understand that to buy of a man against his will is an injurious thing to do; but to buy of one who has no objection, is profitable. How much land (to say nothing of other people) will your father-in-law sell you? and, if I have formed a proper estimate of the fairness of his disposition, will have no objection to sell you? The rest will do the same willingly; they will be glad to exchange the unpopularity attaching to the possession of land for money; to receive whatever they demand, and to part with what they can scarcely retain.

> Latin: 14. iam, patres conscripti, omnibus rebus et modis constructam et coacervatam pecuniam xviralem. huius pecuniae invidia; consumetur enim in agrorum emptionibus.. ergo emet agros istos? xviri; tu, Rulle,—missos enim facio ceteros—emes quod voles, vendes quod voles; utrumque horum facies quanti voles. enim vir optimus ne emat ab invito. vero non intellegamus ab invito emere iniuriosum esse, ab non invito quaestuosum. tibi agri vendet, ut alios omittam, socer tuus, et, si ego eius aequitatem animi probe novi, vendet non invitus? idem ceteri libenter, ut possessionis invidiam pecunia commutent, accipiant quod cupiunt, dent quod retinere vix possunt.

[¶14] 15. Now just see the boundless and intolerable licentiousness of all these measures. Money has been collected for the purchase of lands. More-over, the lands are not to be bought of people against their will. Suppose all the owners agree not to sell, what is to happen then? Is the money to be refunded? That cannot be. Is it to be collected? The law forbids that. However, let that pass. There is nothing which cannot be bought, if you will only give as much as the seller asks. Let us plunder the whole world, let us sell our revenues, let us exhaust the treasury, in order that, whether men be owners of wealth, or of odium, or even of a pestilence, still their lands may be bought.

> Latin: 15. perspicite omnium rerum infinitam atque intolerandam licentiam. coacta est ad agros emendos; ei porro ab invitis non ementur. consenserint possessores non vendere, quid futurum est? pecunia? licet.?. esto; nihil est quod non emi possit, si tantum des quantum velit venditor. orbem terrarum, vendamus vectigalia, effundamus aerarium, ut locupletatis aut invidiae aut pestilentiae possessoribus agri tamen emantur.

[¶15] 16. What is to happen then? what sort of men are to be established as settlers in those lands? what is to be the system and plan adopted in the whole business? Colonies, say the law, shall be led thither, and settled there. How many? Of what class of men? Where are they to be established? For who is there who does not see that all these things have got to be considered when we are talking of colonies? Did you think, O Rullus, that we would give up the whole of Italy to you and to those contrivers of everything whom you have set up, in an unarmed and defenceless state, for you to strengthen it with garrisons afterwards? for you to occupy it with colonies? to hold it bound and fettered by every sort of chain? For where is there any clause to prevent your establishing a colony on the Janiculan Hill? or from oppressing and overwhelming this city with some other city? We will not do so, says he. In the first place, I don't know that; in the next place, I am afraid of you; lastly, I will never permit our safety to depend on your kindness rather than on our own prudence.

> Latin: 16. tum? quae erit in istos agros deductio, quae totius rei ratio atque descriptio? “,” inquit, “coloniae.”? quorum hominum? in quae loca? enim non videt in coloniis esse haec omnia consideranda? nos, Rulle, et istis tuis harum omnium rerum machinatoribus totam Italiam inermem tradituros existimasti, quam praesidiis confirmaretis, coloniis occuparetis, omnibus vinclis devinctam et constrictam teneretis? Vbi enim cavetur ne in Ianiculo coloniam constituatis, ne urbem hanc urbe alia premere atque urgere possitis? “faciemus,” inquit. nescio, deinde timeo, postremo non committam ut vestro beneficio potius quam nostro consilio salvi esse possimus.

[¶16] 17. But as you wanted to fill all Italy with your colonies, did you think that not one of us would understand what sort of a measure that was? For it is written, “The decemvirs may lead whatever settlers they choose into whatever municipalities and colonies they like; and they may assign them lands in whatever places they please;” so that, when they have occupied all Italy with their soldiers, you may have no hope left you, I will not say of retaining your dignity, but none even of recovering your liberty. And these things, indeed, I object to on suspicion and from conjecture.

> Latin: 17. vero totam Italiam vestris coloniis complere voluistis, id cuius modi esset neminemne nostrum intellecturum existimavistis? est enim: qvae in mvnicipia qvasqve in colonias xviri velint, dedvcant colonos qvos velint et eis agros adsignent qvibvs in locis velint, ut, cum totam Italiam militibus suis occuparint, nobis non modo dignitatis retinendae, verum ne libertatis quidem recuperandae spes relinquatur. haec a me suspicionibus et coniectura coarguuntur.

[¶17] 18. But now all mistake on any side shall be removed; now they shall show openly that the very name of this republic, and the situation of this city and empire, that even this very temple of the good and great Jupiter, and this citadel of all nations, is odious to them. They wish settlers to be conducted to Capua. They wish again to oppose that city to this city. They think of removing all their riches thither of transferring thither the name of the empire. That place which, because of the fertility of its lands and its abundance of every sort of production, is said to be the parent of pride and cruelty—in that our colonists, men selected as fit for every imaginable purpose, will be settled by the decemvirs. No doubt, in that city, in which men, though born to the enjoyment of ancient dignities and hereditary fortunes, were still unable to bear with moderation the luxuriance of their fortunes, your satellites will be able to restrain their insolence and to behave with modesty.

> Latin: 18. omnis omnium tolletur error, iam aperte ostendent sibi nomen huius rei publicae, sedem urbis atque imperi, denique hoc templum Iovis atque hanc arcem omnium gentium displicere. Capuam deduci colonos volunt, illam urbem huic urbi rursus opponere, illuc opes suas deferre et imperi nomen transferre cogitant. locus propter ubertatem agrorum abundantiamque rerum omnium superbiam et crudelitatem genuisse dicitur, ibi nostri coloni delecti ad omne facinus a xviris conlocabuntur, et, credo, qua in urbe homines in vetere dignitate fortunaque nati copiam rerum moderate ferre non potuerunt, in ea isti vestri satellites modeste insolentiam suam continebunt.

[¶18] 19. Our ancestors removed from Capua the magistrates, the senate, the general council, and all the ensigns of the republic, and left nothing there except the bare name of Capua; not out of cruelty, (for what was ever more merciful than they were? for they often restored their property even to foreign enemies when they had been subdued;) but out of wisdom; because they saw that if any trace of the republic remained within those walls, the city itself might be able to afford a home to supreme power. And would not you too see how mischievous these things were, if you were not desirous of overturning the republic, and of procuring a new sort of power for your own selves?

> Latin: 19. nostri Capua magistratus, senatum, consilium commune, omnia denique insignia rei publicae sustulerunt, neque aliud quicquam in urbe nisi inane nomen Capuae reliquerunt, non crudelitate—quid enim illis fuit clementius qui etiam externis hostibus victis sua saepissime reddiderunt?—sed consilio, quod videbant, si quod rei publicae vestigium illis moenibus contineretur, urbem ipsam imperio domicilium praebere posse; vos haec, nisi evertere rem publicam cuperetis ac vobis novam dominationem comparare, credo, quam perniciosa essent non videretis.

[¶19] 20. For what is there that is especially to be guarded against in the establishment of colonies? If it be luxury—Capua corrupted Hannibal himself. If it be pride—that appears from the general arrogance of the Campanians to be innate there. If we want a bulwark for the state—then I say, that Capua is not placed in front of this city as an outwork, but is opposed to it as an enemy. But how is it armed? O ye immortal gods! For in the Punic war all the power that Capua had, it had from its unassisted resources; but now, all the cities which are around Capua will be occupied by colonists, by the order of these same decemvirs. For, for this reason, the law itself allows, “that the decemvirs may lead whoever they please as settlers to every town which they choose.” And it orders the Campanian district, and that of Stella, to be divided among these colonists.

> Latin: 20. enim cavendum est in coloniis deducendis? luxuries, Hannibalem ipsum Capua corrupit, si superbia, nata inibi esse haec ex Campanorum fastidio videtur, si praesidium, non praeponitur huic urbi ista colonia, sed opponitur. quem ad modum armatur, di immortales! bello Punico quicquid potuit Capua, potuit ipsa per sese; nunc omnes urbes quae circum Capuam sunt a colonis per eosdem xviros occupabuntur; hanc enim ob causam permittit ipsa lex, in omnia quae velint oppida colonos ut xviri deducant quos velint. his colonis agrum Campanum et Stellatem campum dividi iubet.

[¶20] 21. I do not complain of the diminution of the revenues; nor of the wickedness of this loss and injury. I pass over those things which there is no one who cannot complain of with the greatest weight and the greatest truth; that we have not been able to preserve the most important part of the public patrimony of the state, that which has been to us the source of our supply of corn, our granary in time of war, our revenue placed under custody of the seals and bolts of the republic; that we, in short, have abandoned that district to Publius Rullus, which itself by its own resources had resisted both the absolute power of Sulla, and the corrupting liberality of the Gracchi. I do not say that, now that so much has been lost, this is the only revenue which remains in the republic; the only one which, while other sources of income are interrupted, does not fail us; the only one which is splendid in peace, is; not worn out in war; which supports our soldiery, and is not afraid of our enemies. I pass over all this which I might say; I reserve that for the assembly of the people. I am speaking now of the danger to our safety and to our liberty.

> Latin: 21. queror deminutionem vectigalium, non flagitium huius iacturae atque damni, praetermitto illa quae nemo est quin gravissime et verissime conqueri possit, nos caput patrimoni publici, pulcherrimam populi Romani possessionem, subsidium annonae, horreum belli, sub signo claustrisque rei publicae positum vectigal servare non potuisse, eum denique nos agrum P. Rullo concessisse, qui ager ipse per sese et Sullanae dominationi et Gracchorum largitioni restitisset; non dico solum hoc in re publica vectigal esse quod amissis aliis remaneat, intermissis non conquiescat, in pace niteat, in bello non obsolescat, militem sustentet, hostem non pertimescat; praetermitto omnem hanc orationem et contioni reservo; de periculo salutis ac libertatis loquor.

[¶21] 22. For what do you think will remain to you unimpaired in the whole republic, or in your liberty, or in your dignity, when Rullus, and those whom you are much more afraid of than you are of Rullus, with his whole band of needy and unprincipled men, with all his forces, with all his silver and gold, shall have occupied Capua and the cities around Capua? These things, O conscript fathers, I will resist eagerly and vigorously; and I will not permit men, while I am consul, to bring forth those plans against the republic which they have long been meditating.

> Latin: 22. enim existimatis integrum vobis in re publica fore aut in vestra libertate ac dignitate retinenda, cum Rullus atque ei quos multo magis quam Rullum timetis cum omni egentium atque improborum manu, cum omnibus copiis, cum omni argento et auro Capuam et urbis circa Capuam occuparint? ego rebus, patres conscripti, resistam vehementer atque acriter neque patiar homines ea me consule expromere quae contra rem publicam iam diu cogitarunt.

[¶22] 23. You made a great mistake, O Rullus, you and some of your colleagues, when you hoped that, in being in opposition to a consul who studied the interests of the people in reality, not by making a vain parade of so doing, you would be able to gain popularity while overturning the republic. I challenge you; I invite you to the assembly; I will accept the Roman people as an umpire between us In fact, if we look round to survey everything which is; pleasant and acceptable to the people, we shall find that nothing is so popular as peace, and concord, and ease. You have given up to me a city made anxious with suspicion, in suspense from fear, harassed to death by your proposed laws, and assemblies, and seditions. You have inflamed the hopes of the wicked; you have filled the virtuous with alarms; you have banished good faith from the forum, and dignity from the republic.

> Latin: 23. Errastis, Rulle, vehementer et tu et non nulli conlegae tui qui sperastis vos contra consulem veritate, non ostentatione popularem posse in evertenda re publica populares existimari. vos, in contionem voco, populo Romano disceptatore uti volo., ut circumspiciamus omnia quae populo grata atque iucunda sunt, nihil tam populare quam pacem, quam concordiam, quam otium reperiemus. mihi civitatem suspicione, suspensam metu, perturbatam vestris legibus et contionibus et deductionibus tradidistis; spem improbis ostendistis, timorem bonis iniecistis, fidem de foro, dignitatem de re publica sustulistis.

[¶23] 24. Amid all this commotion and agitation of minds and circumstances, when the voice and authority of the consul has suddenly, from amid such great darkness, dawned on the Roman people; when it has shown that nothing need be feared; that no regular army, no band of extempore ruffians, no colony, no sale of the revenues, no new of command, no reign of decemvirs, no new Rome or opposition seat of empire, will be allowed to exist while we are consuls; that the greatest tranquillity of peace and ease will be secured; then, no doubt, we shall have much reason to ear that this beautiful agrarian law of yours will appear popular.

> Latin: 24. motu atque hac perturbatione animorum atque rerum cum populo Romano vox et auctoritas consulis repente in tantis tenebris inluxerit, cum ostenderit nihil esse metuendum, nullum exercitum, nullam manum, nullas colonias, nullam venditionem vectigalium, nullum imperium novum, nullum regnum xvirale, nullam alteram Romam neque aliam sedem imperi nobis consulibus futuram summamque tranquillitatem pacis atque oti, verendum, credo, nobis erit ne vestra ista praeclara lex agraria magis popularis esse videatur.

[¶24] 25. But when I have displayed the wickedness of your counsels, the dishonesty of your law, and the treachery which is planned by those popular tribunes of the people against the Roman people; then, I suppose, I shall have reason to fear that I shall not be allowed to appear in the assembly, for the purpose of opposing you; especially when I have determined and resolved so to conduct myself in my consulship, (and the duties of the consulship cannot be discharged with dignity and freedom, in any other manner,) as neither to desire any province, nor honour, nor dignity nor advantage nor anything whatever which can have any hindrance thrown in its way by any tribune of the people.

> Latin: 25. Cum vero scelera consiliorum vestrorum fraudemque legis et insidias quae ipsi populo Romano a popularibus tribunis plebis fiant ostendero, pertimescam, credo, ne mihi non liceat contra vos in contione consistere, praesertim cum mihi deliberatum et constitutum sit ita gerere consulatum quo uno modo geri graviter et libere potest, ut neque provinciam neque honorem neque ornamentum aliquod aut commodum neque rem ullam quae a tribuno plebis impediri possit appetiturus sim.

[¶25] 26. The consul states, in full senate, on the calends of January, that if the present condition of the republic continues, and if no new event arises, on account of which he cannot with honour avoid it, he will not go to any province. By that means I shall be able, O conscript fathers, so to behave myself in this magistracy, as to be able to restrain any tribune of the people who is hostile to the republic,—to despise any one who is hostile to myself. Wherefore, in the name of the immortal gods! I entreat you, recollect yourselves, O tribunes of the people; desert those men by whom, in a short time, unless you take great care, you will yourselves be deserted. Conspire with us; agree with all virtuous men defend our common republic with one common zeal and affection. There are many secret wounds sustained by the republic. There are many mischievous counsels of abandoned citizens designed against her. There is no external danger. There is no king no nation, no people in the world whom we need fear. The evil is confined within our own walls internal and domestic very one of us to the best of his power ought to resist and to remedy this.

> Latin: 26. frequentissimo senatu consul Kalendis Ianuariis sese, si status hic rei publicae maneat neque aliquod negotium exstiterit quod honeste subterfugere non possit, in provinciam non iturum. me in hoc magistratu geram, patres conscripti, ut possim tribunum plebis rei publicae iratum coercere, mihi iratum contemnere. ob rem, per deos immortalis! conligite vos, tribuni plebis, deserite eos a quibus, nisi prospicitis, brevi tempore deseremini, conspirate nobiscum, consentite cum bonis, communem rem publicam communi studio atque amore defendite. sunt occulta rei publicae volnera, multa nefariorum civium perniciosa consilia; nullum externum periculum est, non rex, non gens ulla, non natio pertimescenda est; inclusum malum, intestinum ac domesticum est. pro se quisque nostrum mederi atque hoc omnes sanare velle debemus.

[¶26] 27. You mistake if you think that the senate approves of what is said by me, but that the inclinations of the people are different. All men, who wish to be safe themselves, will follow the authority of the consul, a man uninfluenced by evil passion; free from all suspicion of guilt; cautious in danger; not fearful in contest. But if any one of you cherishes a hope that he may be able in a turbulent state of affairs to promote his own interests, first of all, let him give up hoping any such thing as long as I am consul. In the next place, let him take me myself as a proof—(me whom he sees now consul, though born only in the equestrian rank)—of what course of life most easily conducts virtuous men to honour and dignity. But if you, O conscript father, assist me with your zeal and energy in defending our common dignity, then, in truth, I shall accomplish that of which our republic is at present in the greatest possible need. I shall make the authority of this order, which existed so long among our ancestors, appear after a long interval to be again restored to the republic. A few days after the preceding speech in the senate, Cicero came into the assembly of the people, and made the following speech to them; dilating on the different particulars of the proposed law, and on its evils, at much greater length than he had done when he addressed the senate. And he succeeded so much, that, as he says himself, no one had ever had more success in arguing in favour of an agrarian law, (which was always likely to be a popular proposal,) than he had in haranguing the people against this one.

> Latin: 27. , si senatum probare ea quae dicuntur a me putatis, populum autem esse in alia voluntate. qui se incolumis volent sequentur auctoritatem consulis soluti a cupiditatibus, liberi a delictis, cauti in periculis, non timidi in contentionibus. si qui vestrum spe ducitur se posse turbulenta ratione honori velificari suo, primum me consule id sperare desistat, deinde habeat me ipsum sibi documento, quem equestri ortum loco consulem videt, quae vitae via facillime viros bonos ad honorem dignitatemque perducat. si vos vestrum mihi studium, patres conscripti, ad communem dignitatem defendendam profitemini, perficiam profecto, id quod maxime res publica desiderat, ut huius ordinis auctoritas, quae apud maiores nostros fuit, eadem nunc longo intervallo rei publicae restituta esse videatur.

## 2. Speech 2 · sections 1–34

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/2/#p-N

[¶0] 1. It is in accordance with the customs and established usages of our ancestors, O Romans, that those who, by your kindness, have overtaken the images of their family, should, the first time that they hold an assembly of the people, take an opportunity of uniting thanks to you for your kindness with a panegyric on their ancestors, and in the speech then made, some men are, on some occasions, found worthy of the rank of their ancestors. But most men only accomplish this,—namely, to make it seem that so vast a debt is due to their ancestors, that there is something still left to be paid to their posterity. I, indeed, have no opportunity of speaking before you of my ancestors, not because they were not such men as you see me also to be, who am born of their blood, and educated in their principles, but because they had never any share of popular praise, or of the light of honours conferred by you.

> Latin: 1. hoc in more positum, Quirites, institutoque maiorum, ut ei qui beneficio vestro imagines familiae suae consecuti sunt eam primam habeant contionem, qua gratiam benefici vestri cum suorum laude coniungant. in oratione non nulli aliquando digni maiorum loco reperiuntur, plerique autem hoc perficiunt ut tantum maioribus eorum debitum esse videatur, unde etiam quod posteris solveretur redundaret., Quirites, apud vos de meis maioribus dicendi facultas non datur, non quo non tales fuerint qualis nos illorum sanguine creatos disciplinisque institutos videtis, sed quod laude populari atque honoris vestri luce caruerunt.

[¶1] 2. And of myself I fear lest it may look like arrogance to speak, and yet like ingratitude to be silent. For it is a very troublesome thing for me myself to enumerate to you the pursuits by which I have earned this dignity; and, on the other hand, I cannot possibly be silent about your great kindnesses to me. Wherefore I will employ a reasonable moderation in speaking, so as to mention the kindness which I have received from you. I will speak slightly of the reasons why I am thought to have deserved the greatest honour you can confer, and your singularly favourable judgment of me. … After a very long interval, almost beyond the memory of our times, you have for the first time made me, a new man, consul; and you have opened that rank which the nobles have held strengthened by guards, and fenced round in every possible manner, in my instance first, and have resolved that it should in future be open to virtue.

> Latin: 2. me autem ipso vereor ne adrogantis sit apud vos dicere, ingrati tacere. et quibus studiis hanc dignitatem consecutus sim memet ipsum commemorare perquam grave est, et silere de tantis vestris beneficiis nullo modo possum. re adhibebitur a me certa ratio moderatioque dicendi, ut quid a vobis acceperim commemorem, qua re dignus vestro summo honore singularique iudicio sim, ipse modice dicam, si necesse erit, vos eosdem existimaturos putem qui iudicavistis.

[¶2] 3. Nor have you only made me consul, though that is of itself a most honourable thing, but you have made me so in such a way as very few nobles in this city have ever been made consuls before in, and no new man whatever before me. For, in truth, if you please to recollect, you will find that those new men who have at any time been made consuls without a repulse, have been elected after long toil, and on some critical emergency, having stood for it many years after they had been praetors, and a good deal later than they might have done according to the laws regulating the age of candidates for the office; but that those who stood for it in their regular year were not elected without a repulse; that I am the only one of all the new men whom we can remember who have stood for the consulship the first moment that by law I could,—who have been elected consul the first time that I have stood; so that this honour which you have conferred on me, having been sought by me at the proper time, appears not to have been filched by me on the occasion of some unpopular candidate offering himself,—not to have been gained by long perseverance in asking for it, but to have been fairly earned by my worth and dignity.

> Latin: 3. perlongo intervallo prope memoriae temporumque nostrorum primum hominem novum consulem fecistis et eum locum quem nobilitas praesidiis firmatum atque omni ratione obvallatum tenebat me duce rescidistis virtutique in posterum patere voluistis. me tantum modo consulem, quod est ipsum per sese amplissimum, sed ita fecistis quo modo pauci nobiles in hac civitate consules facti sunt, novus ante me nemo. profecto, si recordari volueritis de novis hominibus, reperietis eos qui sine repulsa consules facti sunt diuturno labore atque aliqua occasione esse factos, cum multis annis post petissent quam praetores fuissent, aliquanto serius quam per aetatem ac per leges liceret; qui autem anno suo petierint, sine repulsa non esse factos; me esse unum ex omnibus novis hominibus de quibus meminisse possimus, qui consulatum petierim cum primum licitum sit, consul factus sim cum primum petierim, ut vester honos ad mei temporis diem petitus, non ad alienae petitionis occasionem interceptus, nec diuturnis precibus efflagitatus, sed dignitate impetratus esse videatur.

[¶3] 4. This, also, is a most honorable thing for me, O Romans, which I mentioned a few minutes ago,—that I am the first new man for many years on whom you have conferred this honour,—that you have conferred it on my first application, in my proper year. But yet nothing can be more splendid or more honourable for me than this circumstance,—that at the comitia at which I was elected you delivered not your ballot, the vindication of your silent liberty, but your eager voices as the witnesses of your good-will towards, and zeal for me. And so it was not the last tribe of the votes, but the very first moment of your meeting,—it was not the single voices of the criers, but the whole Roman people with one voice that declared me consul.

> Latin: 4. illud amplissimum quod paulo ante commemoravi, Quirites, quod hoc honore ex novis hominibus primum me multis post annis adfecistis, quod prima petitione, quod anno meo, sed tamen magnificentius atque ornatius esse illo nihil potest, quod meis comitiis non tabellam vindicem tacitae libertatis, sed vocem vivam prae vobis indicem vestrarum erga me voluntatum ac studiorum tulistis. me non extrema diribitio suffragiorum, sed primi illi vestri concursus, neque singulae voces praeconum, sed una vox universi populi Romani consulem declaravit.

[¶4] 5. I think this eminent and unprecedented kindness of yours, O Romans, of great weight as a reward for my courage, and as a source of joy to me, but still more calculated to impress me with care and anxiety. For, O Romans, many and grave thoughts occupy my mind, which allow me but little rest day or night. First, there is anxiety about discharging the duties of the consulship which is a difficult and important business to all men, and especially to me above all other men; for if I err, I shall obtain no pardon—if I do well, I shall get but little praise, and that, too, extorted from unwilling people—if I am in doubt, I have no faithful counselors to whom I can apply—if I am in difficulty, I have no sure assistance from the nobles on which I can depend.

> Latin: 5. ego tam insigne, tam singulare vestrum beneficium,Quirites, cum ad animi mei fructum atque laetitiam duco esse permagnum, tum ad curam sollicitudinemque multo magis. enim, Quirites, in animo meo multae et graves cogitationes quae mihi nullam partem neque diurnae neque nocturnae quietis impertiunt, primum tuendi consulatus, quae cum omnibus est difficilis et magna ratio, tum vero mihi praeter ceteros cuius errato nulla venia, recte facto exigua laus et ab invitis expressa proponitur; non dubitanti fidele consilium, non laboranti certum subsidium nobilitatis ostenditur.

[¶5] 6. But, if I alone were in danger, I would bear it, O Romans, with more equanimity; but there appears to me to be some men determined, if they think that I have done anything wrongly not only intentionally, but even by chance, to blame all of you for having preferred me to the nobles. But I think, O Romans that I ought to endure everything rather than not discharge the duties of my consulship in such a manner, as by all my actions and counsels to compel men to praise your action and counsel with respect to me. There is also this added to the great labour and difficulty which I see before me in discharging the duties of my office, that I have made up my mind that I ought not to adopt the same rule and principle of conduct which former consuls have; some of whom have carefully avoided all approach to this place, and the sight of you, and others have at all events not been very fond of it. But I not only declare in this place where it is exceedingly easy to do it, but I said in my very first speech on the first of January, in the senate itself, which did not seem likely to be so favourable a place for the expression, that I would be a consul in the interests of the people.

> Latin: 6. si solus in discrimen aliquod adducerer, ferrem, Quirites, animo aequiore; sed mihi videntur certi homines, si qua in re me non modo consilio verum etiam casu lapsum esse arbitrabuntur, vos universos qui me antetuleritis nobilitati vituperaturi. autem, Quirites, omnia potius perpetienda esse duco quam non ita gerendum consulatum ut in omnibus meis factis atque consiliis vestrum de me factum consiliumque laudetur. etiam ille mihi summus labor ac difficillima ratio consulatus gerendi, quod non eadem mihi qua superioribus consulibus lege et condicione utendum esse decrevi, qui aditum huius loci conspectumque vestrum partim magno opere fugerunt, partim non vehementer secuti sunt. autem non solum hoc in loco dicam ubi est id dictu facillimum, sed in ipso senatu in quo esse locus huic voci non videbatur popularem me futurum esse consulem prima illa mea oratione Kalendis Ianuariis dixi.

[¶6] 7. Nor is it possible for me, knowing, as I do, that I have been made consul, not by the zeal of the powerful citizens, nor by the preponderating influence of a few men, but by the deliberate judgment of the Roman people, and that, too, in such a way as to be preferred to men of the very highest rank, to avoid, both in this magistracy and throughout my whole life, devoting myself to the interests of the people. When, however, I speak of the interests of the people, I have great need of your wisdom in giving the proper meaning and interpretation to this expression. For there is a great error abroad, by reason of the treacherous pretences made by some people, who, though they oppose and hinder not only the advantage but even the safety of the people, still endeavour by their speeches to make men believe them zealous for the interests of the people.

> Latin: 7. enim ullo modo facere possum ut, cum me intellegam non hominum potentium studio, non excellentibus gratiis paucorum, sed universi populi Romani iudicio consulem ita factum ut nobilissimis hominibus longe praeponerer, non et in hoc magistratu et in omni vita ⟨videar⟩ esse popularis. mihi ad huius ⟨verbi⟩ vim et interpretationem vehementer opus est vestra sapientia. enim magnus error propter insidiosas non nullorum simulationes qui, cum populi non solum commoda verum etiam salutem oppugnant et impediunt, oratione adsequi volunt ut populares esse videantur.

[¶7] 8. I, O Romans, know in what condition I received the republic on the first of January: full of anxiety, full of fear. There was no evil, no misfortune which the good were not dreading and the bad looking out for. Every sort of seditious design against the existing constitution of the republic, and against your tranquillity, was said to be in contemplation,—some such to have been actually set on foot the moment we were elected consuls. All confidence was banished from the forum, not by the stroke of any new calamity, but by the general suspicion entertained of the courts of justice, and by the disorder into which they had fallen, and by the constant reversal of previous decisions. New authority, extraordinary powers, suited not to commanders, but to kings, were supposed to be aimed at.

> Latin: 8. qualem Kalendis Ianuariis acceperim rem publicam, Quirites, intellego, plenam sollicitudinis, plenam timoris; in qua nihil erat mali, nihil adversi quod non boni metuerent, improbi exspectarent; omnia turbulenta consilia contra hunc rei publicae statum et contra vestrum otium partim iniri, partim nobis consulibus designatis inita esse dicebantur; sublata erat de foro fides non ictu aliquo novae calamitatis, sed suspicione ac perturbatione iudiciorum, infirmatione rerum iudicatarum; novae dominationes, extraordinaria non imperia, sed regna quaeri putabantur.

[¶8] 9. And as I did not only suspect these things, but clearly saw them, (for indeed there was no secret made of what was being done,) I said in the senate that I would in this magistracy prove a consul devoted to the interests of the people. For what is there so advantageous to the people as peace? in which not only the animals to whom nature has given sense, but even the houses and fields appear to me to rejoice. What is so advantageous to the people as liberty? which is sought out and preferred to everything, not only by men, but even by the beasts. What is so advantageous to the people as tranquillity? which is so delightful a thing, that both you and your ancestors, and every brave man, thinks it worth his while to encounter the greatest labours, in order at length to enjoy tranquillity, particularly if he be a man in command, or a man of high rank. And we, therefore, are bound to give great praise and to show great gratitude to our ancestors, because it is owing to their labours that we are able to enjoy tranquillity without risk. How then can I avoid being devoted to the interests of the people, O Romans, when I see all these things,—our peace abroad, and the liberty which belongs to the Roman race and Roman name, and our domestic tranquillity, and everything, in short, which is considered by you as valuable or honourable, entrusted to the good faith, and, as it were, to the protection of my consulship?

> Latin: 9. cum ego non solum suspicarer, sed plane cernerem—neque enim obscure gerebantur—dixi in senatu in hoc magistratu me popularem consulem futurum. enim est tam populare quam pax? qua non modo ei quibus natura sensum dedit sed etiam tecta atque agri mihi laetari videntur. tam populare quam libertas? quam non solum ab hominibus verum etiam a bestiis expeti atque omnibus rebus anteponi videtis. tam populare quam otium? quod ita iucundum est ut et vos et maiores vestri et fortissimus quisque vir maximos labores suscipiendos putet, ut aliquando in otio possit esse, praesertim in imperio ac dignitate. idcirco etiam maioribus nostris praecipuam laudem gratiamque debemus, quod eorum labore est factum uti impune in otio esse possemus. re qui possum non esse popularis, cum videam haec omnia, Quirites, pacem externam, libertatem propriam generis ac nominis vestri, otium domesticum, denique omnia quae vobis cara atque ampla sunt in fidem et quodam modo in patrocinium mei consulatus esse conlata?

[¶9] 10. And, O Romans, a promised liberality which, however you may be encouraged by words to expect it, cannot be performed by any possible means without exhausting the treasury, ought not to appear to you an agreeable measure, or one calculated to promote your real interests. Nor are the disturbances of the courts of justice, and the reversals of judicial decisions, and the restoration of convicted persons to be considered as measures advantageous to the people; for they are rather the preludes to the total ruin of cities whose affairs are already in a falling and almost desperate state. Nor, if any men promise lands to the Roman people, or if they hold out to you, under false pretences, hopes of such things, while in secret they are keeping entirely different objects in view, are they to be thought devoted to the true interests of the people. For I will speak the truth, O Romans; I cannot find fault with the general principle of an agrarian law, for it occurs to my mind that two most illustrious men, two most able men, two men most thoroughly attached to the Roman people, Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, established the people on public domains which had previously been occupied by private individuals. Nor am I a consul of such opinions as to think it wrong, as most men do, to praise the Gracchi; by whose counsels, and wisdom, and laws, I see that many parts of the republic have been greatly strengthened.

> Latin: 10. enim, Quirites, illud vobis iucundum aut populare debet videri, largitio aliqua promulgata, quae verbis ostentari potest, re vera fieri nisi exhausto aerario nullo pacto potest; neque vero illa popularia sunt existimanda, iudiciorum perturbationes, rerum iudicatarum infirmationes, restitutio damnatorum, qui civitatum adflictarum perditis iam rebus extremi exitiorum solent esse exitus; nec, si qui agros populo Romano pollicentur, si aliud quiddam obscure moliuntur, aliud spe ac specie simulationis ostentant, populares existimandi sunt. vere dicam, Quirites, genus ipsum legis agrariae vituperare non possum. enim mihi in mentem duos clarissimos, ingeniosissimos, amantissimos plebei Romanae viros,. et C. Gracchos, plebem in agris publicis constituisse, qui agri a privatis antea possidebantur. sum autem ego is consul qui, ut plerique, nefas esse arbitrer Gracchos laudare, quorum consiliis, sapientia, legibus multas esse video rei publicae partis constitutas.

[¶10] 11. Therefore, when at the very beginning, I, being the consul elect, was informed that the tribunes elect of the people were drawing up an agrarian law, I wished to ascertain what their plans were. In truth, I thought that, since we were both to act as magistrates in the same year, it was right that there should be some union between us, for the purpose of governing the republic wisely and successfully.

> Latin: 11. , ut initio mihi designato consuli nuntiabatur legem agrariam tribunos plebis designatos conscribere, cupiebam quid cogitarent cognoscere; etenim arbitrabar, quoniam eodem anno gerendi nobis essent magistratus, esse aliquam oportere inter nos rei publicae bene administrandae societatem.

[¶11] 12. When I wished to join them familiarly in conversation, I was shut out; their projects were concealed from me: and when I assured them that, if the law appeared to me to be advantageous to the Roman people, I would assist them in it and promote it, still they rejected this liberality of mine with scorn, and said that I could not possibly be induced to approve of any liberal measures. I ceased to offer myself to them, lest perchance my importunity should seem to them treacherous or impudent. In the meantime they did not cease to have secret meetings among themselves, to invite some private individuals to them, and to choose night and darkness for their clandestine deliberations. And what great alarm this conduct of theirs caused us, you may easily divine by your own conjectures founded on the anxiety which you yourselves experienced at that time.

> Latin: 12. Cum familiariter me in eorum sermonem insinuarem ac darem, celabar, excludebar, et, cum ostenderem, si lex utilis plebi Romanae mihi videretur, auctorem me atque adiutorem futurum, tamen aspernabantur hanc liberalitatem meam; negabant me adduci posse ut ullam largitionem probarem. feci offerendi mei ne forte mea sedulitas aut insidiosa aut impudens videretur. non desistebant clam inter se convenire, privatos quosdam adhibere, ad suos coetus occultos noctem adiungere et solitudinem. rebus quanto in metu fuerimus, ex vestra sollicitudine in qua illis temporibus fuistis facile adsequi coniectura poteritis.

[¶12] 13. At last the tribunes of the people enter on their office. The assembly to be convened by Publius Rullus was anxiously looked for, both because he was the chief mover of the agrarian law, and because he behaved with more violence than his colleagues. From the moment that he was elected tribune, he put on another expression of countenance, another tone of voice, a different gait; he went about in an old-fashioned dress, without any regard to neatness in his person, with longer hair and a more abundant beard than before; so that he seemed by his eyes and by his whole aspect to be threatening every one with the power of the tribunes, and to be meditating evil to the republic. I was waiting in expectation of his law and of the assembly. At first no law at all is proposed. He orders an assembly to be summoned as his first measure. Men flock to it with the most eager expectation. He makes a long enough speech, expressed in very good language. There was one thing which seemed to me bad, and that was, that out of all the crowd there present, not one man could be found who was able to understand what he meant. Whether he did this with any insidious design, or whether that is the sort of eloquence in which he takes pleasure, I do not know. Still, if there was any one in the assembly cleverer than another, he suspected that he was intending to say something or other about an agrarian law. At last, after I had been elected consul, the law is proposed publicly. By my order several clerks meet at one time, and bring me an accurate copy of the law.

> Latin: 13. tandem magistratus tribuni plebis; contio exspectatur P. Rulli, quod et princeps erat agrariae legis et truculentius se gerebat quam ceteri. designatus alio voltu, alio vocis sono, alio incessu esse meditabatur, vestitu obsoletiore, corpore inculto et horrido, capillatior quam ante barbaque maiore, ut oculis et aspectu denuntiare omnibus vim tribuniciam et minitari rei publicae videretur. hominis contionemque exspectabam; lex initio nulla proponitur, contionem in pridie Idus advocari iubet. cum exspectatione concurritur. orationem sane longam et verbis valde bonis. Vnum erat quod mihi vitiosum videbatur, quod tanta ex frequentia inveniri nemo potuit qui intellegere posset quid diceret. ille utrum insidiarum causa fecerit, an hoc genere eloquentiae delectetur nescio., qui acutiores in contione steterant, de lege agraria nescio quid voluisse eum dicere suspicabantur. tandem me designato lex in publicum proponitur. iussu meo plures uno tempore librarii, descriptam legem ad me adferunt.

[¶13] 14. I assure you with the most real sincerity, O Romans, that I applied myself to the reading and understanding of this law with these feelings, that if I had thought it well adapted to your interests, and advantageous to them, I would have been a chief mover in and promoter of it. For the consulship has not, either by nature, or by any inherent difference of object, or by any instinctive hatred, any enmity against the tribuneship, though good and fearless consuls have often opposed seditious and worthless tribunes of the people, and though the power of the tribunes has sometimes opposed the capricious licentiousness of the consuls. It is not the dissimilarity of their powers, but the disunion of their minds, that creates dissension between them.

> Latin: 14. hoc ratione vobis confirmare possum, Quirites, hoc animo me ad legendam legem cognoscendamque venisse ut, si eam vobis accommodatam atque utilem esse intellegerem, auctor eius atque adiutor essem. enim natura neque discidio neque odio penitus insito bellum nescio quod habet susceptum consulatus cum tribunatu, quia persaepe seditiosis atque improbis tribunis plebis boni et fortes consules obstiterunt, et quia vis tribunicia non numquam libidini restitit consulari. potestatum dissimilitudo, sed animorum disiunctio dissensionem facit.

[¶14] 15. Therefore, I applied myself to the consideration of the law with these feelings, that I wished to find it calculated to promote your interests, and such an one as a consul who was really, not in word only, devoted to the people; might honestly and cheerfully advocate. And from the first clause of the proposed law to the last, O Romans, I find nothing else thought of, nothing else intended, nothing else aimed at, but to appoint ten kings of the treasury, of the revenues, of all the provinces, of the whole of the republic, of the kingdoms allied with us, of the free nations confederate with us—ten lords of the whole world, under the pretence and name of an agrarian law.

> Latin: 15. hoc animo legem sumpsi in manus ut eam cuperem esse aptam vestris commodis et eius modi quam consul re, non oratione popularis et honeste et libenter posset defendere. ego a primo capite legis usque ad extremum reperio, Quirites, nihil aliud cogitatum, nihil aliud susceptum, nihil aliud actum nisi uti x reges aerari, vectigalium, provinciarum omnium, totius rei publicae, regnorum, liberorum populorum, orbis denique terrarum domini constituerentur legis agrariae simulatione atque nomine. confirmo, Quirites, hac lege agraria pulchra atque populari dari vobis nihil, condonari certis hominibus omnia, ostentari populo Romano agros, eripi etiam libertatem, privatorum pecunias augeri, publicas exhauriri, denique, quod est indignissimum, per tribunum plebis, quem maiores praesidem libertatis custodemque esse voluerunt, reges in civitate constitui.

[¶15] 16. I do assert to you, O Romans, that by this beautiful agrarian law, by this law calculated solely for the good of the people, nothing whatever is given to you, everything is sacrificed to a few particular men; that lands are displayed before the eyes of the Roman people, liberty is taken away from them; that the fortunes of some private individuals are increased, the public wealth is exhausted; and lastly, which is the most scandalous thing of all, that by means of a tribune of the people, whom our ancestors designed to be the protector and guardian of liberty, kings are being established in the city. And when I have shown to you all the grounds for this statement, if they appear to you to be erroneous, I will yield to your authority, I will abandon my own opinion, but if you become aware that plots are laid against your liberty, under a pretence of liberality, then do not hesitate, now that you have a consul to assist you, to defend that liberty which was earned by the sweat and blood of your ancestors, and handed down to you, without any trouble on your part. The first clause in this agrarian law is one by which, as they think, you are a little proved, to see with what feelings you can bear a diminution of your liberty. For it orders “the tribune of the people who has passed this law to create ten decemvirs by the votes of seventeen tribes, so that whomsoever a majority consisting of nine tribes elects, shall be a decemvir.”

> Latin: 16. cum, Quirites, exposuero, si falsa vobis videbuntur esse, sequar auctoritatem vestram, mutabo meam sententiam; sin insidias fieri libertati vestrae simulatione largitionis intellegetis, nolitote dubitare plurimo sudore et sanguine maiorum vestrorum partam vobisque traditam libertatem nullo vestro labore consule adiutore defendere. caput est legis agrariae quo, ut illi putant, temptamini leviter quo animo libertatis vestrae deminutionem ferre possitis. enim tribunum plebis qui eam legem tulerit creare xviros per tribus xvii, ut, quem viiii tribus fecerint, is xvir sit.

[¶16] 17. On this I ask, on what account the framer of this law has commenced his law and his measures in such a manner, as to deprive the Roman people of its right of voting? As often as agrarian laws have been passed, commissioners, and triumvirs, and quinquevirs, and decemvirs have been appointed. I ask this tribune of the people, who is so attached to the people, whether they were ever created except by the whole thirty-five tribes? In truth, as it is proper for every power, and every command, and every charge which is committed to any one, to proceed from the entire Roman people, so especially ought those to do so, which are established for any use and advantage of the Roman people; as that is a case in which they all together choose the man who they think will most study the advantage of the Roman people, and in which also each individual among them by his own zeal and his own vote assists to make a road by which he may obtain some individual benefit for himself. This is the tribune to whom it has occurred above all others to deprive the Roman people of their suffrages, and to invite a few tribes not by any fixed condition of law, but by the kindness of lots drawn, and by chance, to usurp the liberties belonging to all.

> Latin: 17. quaero quam ob causam initium rerum ac legum suarum hinc duxerit ut populus Romanus suffragio privaretur. legibus agrariis curatores constituti sunt iiiviri, vviri, xviri; quaero a populari tribuno plebis ecquando nisi per xxxv tribus creati sint. cum omnis potestates, imperia, curationes ab universo populo Romano proficisci convenit, tum eas profecto maxime quae constituuntur ad populi fructum aliquem et commodum, in quo et universi deligant quem populo Romano maxime consulturum putent, et unus quisque studio et suffragio suo viam sibi ad beneficium impetrandum munire possit. tribuno plebis potissimum venit in mentem, populum Romanum universum privare suffragiis, paucas tribus non certa condicione iuris, sed sortis beneficio fortuito ad usurpandam libertatem vocare.

[¶17] 18. “Also in the same manner,” it says in the second clause, “as in the comitia for the election of a Pontifex Maximus.” He did not perceive even this, that our ancestors did really study the good of the people so much, that, though it was not lawful for that office to be conferred by the people, on account of the religious ceremonies then used, still, they chose, in order to do additional honour to the priesthood, that the sanction of the people should be asked for it. And Cnaeus Domitius, a tribune of the people, and a most eminent man, passed the same law with respect to the other priesthoods; enacting, because the people, on account of the requirements of religion, could not confer the priesthoods, that a small half of the people should be invited; and that whoever was selected by that half should be chosen into their body by the sacred college.

> Latin: 18. , inquit, eodemqve modo, capite altero, vt comitiis pontificis maximi. hoc quidem vidit, maiores nostros tam fuisse popularis ut, quem per populum creari fas non erat propter religionem sacrorum, in eo tamen propter amplitudinem sacerdoti voluerint populo supplicari. hoc idem de ceteris sacerdotiis Cn. Domitius, tribunus plebis, vir clarissimus, tulit, quod populus per religionem sacerdotia mandare non poterat, ut minor pars populi vocaretur; ab ea parte qui esset factus, is a conlegio cooptaretur.

[¶18] 19. See now how great a difference there is between Cnaeus Domitius, a tribune of the people, a man of the highest rank, and Publius Rullus, who tried your patience, as I imagine, when he said that he was a noble. Domitius contrived a way by which, as far as he was able, as far as was consistent with the laws of men and of gods, he might confer on a portion of the people what could not be done by any regular proceeding on the part of the entire people. But this man, when there was a thing which had always belonged to the people, which no one had ever impaired, and which no one had ever altered,—the principle, namely, that those who were to assign lands to the people, should receive a kindness from the Roman people before they conferred one on it; that this man has endeavoured entirely to take away from you, and to wrest out of your hands. The one contrived somehow or other to give that which could not really be given formally to the people; the other endeavours somehow or other to take away from them by manoeuvre, what could not possibly be taken from them by direct power.

> Latin: 19. quid intersit inter Cn. Domitium, tribunum plebis, hominem nobilissimum, et P. Rullum qui temptavit, ut opinor, patientiam vestram, cum se nobilem esse diceret. Domitius, quod per caerimonias populi fieri non poterat, ratione adsecutus est, ut id, quoad posset, quoad fas esset, quoad liceret, populi ad partis daret; hic, quod populi semper proprium fuit, quod nemo imminuit, nemo mutavit quin ei qui populo agros essent adsignaturi ante acciperent a populo beneficium quam darent, id totum eripere vobis atque e manibus extorquere conatus est., quod dari populo nullo modo poterat, tamen quodam modo dedit; hic, quod adimi nullo pacto potest, tamen quadam ratione eripere conatur.

[¶19] 20. Some one will ask what was his purpose in such injustice and such impudence. He was not without an object. But good faith towards the Roman people, just feelings towards you and your liberty, he was utterly without. For he orders the man who has passed the law to hold the comitia for the creation of the decemvirs. I will state the case more plainly. Rullus, as a man far from being covetous or ambitious, orders Rullus to hold the comitia. I do not find fault yet. I see that others have done the same thing. Now see what is the object of this, which no one else ever did, with respect to the smaller half of the people. He will hold the comitia; he wishes to have the appointment of those officers for whom kingly power is sought to be procured by this law. He himself will not entrust it to the entire people, nor do those who were the original instigators of these designs think it ought to be entrusted to them.

> Latin: 20. quispiam in tanta iniuria tantaque impudentia quid spectarit. defuit consilium; fides erga plebem Romanam, Quirites, aequitas in vos libertatemque vestram vehementer defuit. enim comitia xviris habere creandis eum qui legem tulerit. dicam planius: Rullus, homo non cupidus neque appetens, habere comitia Rullum. reprehendo; video fecisse alios; illud quod nemo fecit, de minore parte populi, quo pertineat videte. comitia, volet eos renuntiare quibus regia potestas hac lege quaeritur; universo populo neque ipse committit neque illi horum consiliorum auctores committi recte putant posse.

[¶20] 21. The same Rullus will cast lots between the tribes. He, happy man, will pick out the tribes which he prefers. Those decemvirs whom the nine tribes selected by this same Rullus may choose to appoint, we shall have, as I shall presently show, for our absolute masters in everything. And they, that they may appear to be grateful men, and to be mindful of kindness, will confess that they are indebted to the leading men of these nine tribes. But as for the other six-and-twenty tribes, there will be nothing which they will not think that they have a right to refuse them. Who are they, then, whom he means to have elected tribunes? In the first place, himself. How can that be lawful? For there are old laws, and those too not laws made by consuls, if you think that that makes any difference, but made by tribunes, very pleasing and agreeable to you and to your ancestors. There is the Licinian law, and the second Aebutian law; which excepts not only the man who has caused a law to be passed concerning any commission or power, but also all his colleagues and all his connections, and incapacitates them from being appointed to any power or commission so established.

> Latin: 21. tribus idem Rullus. felix educet quas volet tribus. viiii tribus xviros fecerint ab eodem Rullo eductae, hos omnium rerum, ut iam ostendam, dominos habebimus. hi, ut grati ac memores benefici esse videantur, aliquid se viiii tribuum notis hominibus debere confitebuntur, reliquis vero vi et xx tribubus nihil erit quod non putent posse suo iure se denegare. tandem igitur xviros fieri volt? primum. licet? leges enim sunt veteres neque eae consulares, si quid interesse hoc arbitramini, sed tribuniciae vobis maioribusque vestris vehementer gratae atque iucundae; Licinia est lex et altera Aebutia, quae non modo eum qui tulerit de aliqua curatione ac potestate sed etiam conlegas eius, cognatos, adfinis excipit, ne eis ea potestas curatiove mandetur.

[¶21] 22. In truth, if you consult the interests of the people, remove yourself from all suspicion of any advantage to yourself; allow the power to accrue to others, gratitude for the good you have done must be enough for yourself. For such conduct as this is scarcely becoming in a free people, it is scarcely consistent with your spirit and dignity. Who passed the law? Rullus. Who prevented the greater portion of the people from having a vote? Rullus. Who presided over the comitia? Who summoned to the election whatever tribes he pleased, having drawn the lots for them without any witness being present to see fair play? Who appointed whatever decemvirs he chose? This same Rullus. Whom did he appoint chief of the decemvirs? Rullus. I hardly believe that he could induce his own slaves to approve of this; much less you, who are the masters of all nations. Therefore, the most excellent laws will be repealed by this law without the least suspicion of the fact. He will seek for a commission for himself by virtue of his own law; he will hold comitia, though the greater portion of the people is stripped of their votes; he will appoint whomsoever he pleases, and himself among them; and forsooth he will not reject his own colleagues, the backers of this agrarian law by whom the first place in the unpopularity which may possibly arise from drawing the law, and from having his name at the head of it, has indeed been conceded to him, but the profit from the whole business, they, who in the hope of it are placed in this position, reserve to themselves in equal shares with him.

> Latin: 22. si populo consulis, remove te a suspicione alicuius tui commodi, fac fidem te nihil nisi populi utilitatem et fructum quaerere, sine ad alios potestatem, ad te gratiam benefici tui pervenire. hoc quidem vix est liberi populi, vix vestrorum animorum ac magnificentiae. legem tulit? Rullus. maiorem partem populi suffragiis prohibuit? Rullus. comitiis praefuit, quis tribus quas voluit vocavit nullo custode sortitus, quis xviros quos voluit creavit? Rullus. principem renuntiavit? Rullum. me hercule servis hoc eum suis, non ⟨modo⟩ vobis omnium gentium dominis probaturum arbitror. leges igitur hac lege sine ulla exceptione tollentur; idem lege sibi sua curationem petet, idem maiore parte populi suffragiis spoliata comitia habebit, quos volet atque in eis se ipsum renuntiabit, et videlicet conlegas suos ascriptores legis agrariae non repudiabit, a quibus ei locus primus in indice et in praescriptione legis concessus est; ceteri fructus omnium rerum qui in spe legis huius positi sunt communi cautione atque aequa ex parte retinentur.

[¶22] 23. But now take notice of the diligence of the man, if indeed you think that Rullus contrived this, or that it is a thing which could possibly have occurred to Rullus. Those men who first projected these measures saw, that, if you had the power of making your selection out of the whole people, whatever the matter might be in which good faith, integrity, virtue, and authority were required, you would beyond all question entrust it to Cnaeus Pompeius as the chief manager. In truth, after you had chosen one man out of all the citizens, and appointed him to conduct all your wars against all nations by land and sea, they saw plainly that it was most natural that, when you were appointing decemvirs, whether it was to be looked on as committing a trust to, or conferring an honour on a man, you would commit the business to him, and most reasonable that he should have this compliment paid him.

> Latin: 23. videte hominis diligentiam, si aut Rullum ⟨illud⟩ cogitasse aut si Rullo potuisse in mentem venire arbitramini. ei qui haec machinabantur, si vobis ex omni populo deligendi potestas esset data, quaecumque res esset in qua fides, integritas, virtus, auctoritas quaereretur, vos eam sine dubitatione ad Cn. Pompeium principem delaturos. quem unum ex cunctis delegissetis ut eum omnibus omnium gentium bellis terra et mari praeponeretis, certe in xviris faciendis sive fides haberetur sive honos, et committi huic optime et ornari hunc iustissime posse intellegebant.

[¶23] 24. Therefore, an exception is made by this law, mentioning not youth, nor any legal impediment, nor any command or magistracy, which might be encumbered with obstacles arising either from the business with which it was already loaded, or from the laws. There is not even an exception made in the case of any convicted person, to prevent his being made a decemvir. Cnaeus Pompeius is excepted and disabled from being elected a colleague of Publius Rullus (for I say nothing of the rest). For he has worded the law so that only those who are present can stand for the office; a clause which was never yet found in any other law, not even in the laws concerning those magistrates who are periodically elected. But this clause was inserted, in order that if the law passed you might not be able to give him a colleague who would be a guardian over him, and a check upon his covetousness. Here, since I see that you are moved by the dignity of the man, and by the insult put upon him by this law, I will return to the assertion that I made at the beginning, that a kingly power is being erected, and your liberties entirely taken away by this law.

> Latin: 24. excipitur hac lege non adulescentia, non legitimum aliquod impedimentum, non potestas, non magistratus ullus aliis negotiis ac legibus impeditus, reus denique quo minus xvir fieri possit, non excipitur; Cn. Pompeius excipitur, ne cum P. Rullo—taceo de ceteris —xvir fieri possit. enim profiteri iubet, quod nulla alia in lege umquam fuit ne in eis quidem magistratibus quorum certus ordo est, ne, si accepta lex esset, illum sibi conlegam ascriberetis custodem ac vindicem cupiditatum., quoniam video vos hominis dignitate et contumelia legis esse commotos, renovabo illud quod initio dixi, regnum comparari, libertatem vestram hac lege funditus tolli.

[¶24] 25. Did you think, otherwise, that when a few men had cast the eyes of covetousness on all your possessions, they would not in the very first place take care that Cnaeus Pompeius should be removed from all power of protecting your liberty, from all power to promote, from all commission to watch over, and from all means of protecting your interests? They saw, and they see still, that if, through your own imprudence and my negligence, you adopt this law, without understanding its effect, you would afterwards, when you were creating decemvirs, think it expedient to oppose Cnaeus Pompeius as your defence against all defects and wickednesses in the law. And is this a slight argument to you, that these are men by whom dominion and power over everything is sought, when you see that he, whom they see will surely be the protector of your liberty, is the only one to whom that dignity is denied?

> Latin: 25. vos aliter existimabatis? cum ad omnia vestra pauci homines cupiditatis oculos adiecissent, non eos in primis id acturos ut ex omni custodia vestrae libertatis, ex omni potestate, curatione, patrocinio vestrorum commodorum Cn. Pompeius depelleretur? et vident, si per imprudentiam vestram, neglegentiam meam legem incognitam acceperitis, fore uti postea cognitis insidiis, cum xviros creetis, tum vitiis omnibus et sceleribus legis Cn. Pompei praesidium opponendum putetis. hoc parvum argumentum vobis erit, a certis hominibus dominationem potestatemque omnium rerum quaeri, cum videatis eum quem custodem vestrae libertatis fore videant expertem fieri dignitatis?

[¶25] 26. Now consider what a power is given to the decemvirs, and how great is its extent. In the first place be gives the decemvirs the honour of a lex curiata. But this is unheard-of and absolutely without precedent, that a magistracy should be conferred by a lex curiata on a man who has not previously received it in some comitia. He orders the law to be brought in by that praetor who is appointed first praetor. But how? In order that these men may receive the decemvirate whom the people has elected. He has forgotten that none have been elected by the common people. Here is a pretty fellow to bind the whole world with laws, who does not recollect in the third clause what is set down in the second! This, too, is quite plain; both what privileges you have received from your ancestors, and what is left to you by this tribune of the people. Our ancestors chose that you should give your votes twice about every magistrate. For as a centuriata lex was passed for the censors, and a curiata lex for the other patrician magistrates, by this means a decision was come to a second time about the same men, in order that the people might have an opportunity of correcting what they had done, if they repented of the honour they had conferred on any one.

> Latin: 26. nunc quae potestas xviris et quanta detur. lege curiata xviros ornat. hoc inauditum et plane novum, uti curiata lege magistratus detur qui nullis comitiis ante sit datus. legem ab eo praetore populi Romani qui sit primus factus ferri iubet. quo modo? Vt ei xviratum habeant quos plebs designaverit. est nullos a plebe designari. is orbem terrarum constringit novis legibus qui, quod in secundo capite scriptum est, non meminit in tertio? hic perspicuum est quid iuris a maioribus acceperitis, quid ab hoc tribuno plebis vobis relinquatur. de singulis magistratibus bis vos sententiam ferre voluerunt. cum centuriata lex censoribus ferebatur, cum curiata ceteris patriciis magistratibus, tum iterum de eisdem iudicabatur, ut esset reprehendendi potestas, si populum benefici sui paeniteret.

[¶26] 27. Now, because you have preserved the comitia centuriata and tributa, the curiata have remained only for the sake of the auspices. But this tribune of the people, because he saw that no man could possibly have any authority conferred on him without the authority of the burghers or of the commonalty, confirmed that authority which he proposed to give by the curiata comitia, with which you have nothing to do, and took away the comitia tributa which belonged to you. So, though your ancestors intended you to decide at two comitia about each magistrate, this man, so attached to the interests of the people, did not leave the people the power of even one comitia.

> Latin: 27. , Quirites, prima illa comitia tenetis, centuriata et tributa, curiata tantum auspiciorum causa remanserunt. autem tribunus plebis quia videbat potestatem neminem iniussu populi aut plebis posse habere, curiatis eam comitiis quae vos non initis confirmavit, tributa quae vestra erant sustulit. cum maiores binis comitiis voluerint vos de singulis magistratibus iudicare, hic homo popularis ne unam quidem populo comitiorum potestatem reliquit.

[¶27] 28. But just note the scrupulousness and the diligence of the man. He saw, and was thoroughly aware, that without a lex curiata the decemvirs could not have authority, since they were elected by only nine tribes. So he directs that there should be a lex curiata passed about them, and orders the praetor to propose it. How ridiculous such a contrivance was, it is no business of mine to say. For he orders that “he who has been elected first praetor, shall propose a lex curiata; but if he be able to propose it, then the last praetor shall do it.” So that he seems either to have been playing the fool in this business, or else to have been aiming at something I know not what. But, however, let us pass over this, which is either so perverse, or so ridiculous, or so malicious and cunning, as to be unintelligible, and return to the scrupulousness of the man. He sees that nothing can be done by the decemvirs except by a lex curiata.

> Latin: 28. videte hominis religionem et diligentiam. et perspexit sine curiata lege xviros potestatem habere non posse, quoniam per viiii tribus essent constituti; iubet ferre de his legem curiatam; praetori imperat. id ipsum absurde, nihil ad me attinet. enim, qui primus sit praetor factus, eum legem curiatam ferre; sin is ferre non possit, qui postremus sit, ut aut lusisse in tantis rebus aut profecto nescio quid spectasse videatur. hoc quod est aut ita perversum ut ridiculum, aut ita malitiosum ut obscurum sit, relinquamus; ad religionem hominis revertamur. sine lege curiata nihil agi per xviros posse.

[¶28] 29. What was to happen afterwards, if a lex curiata were not passed? Remark the ingenuity of the man. “Then,” says he, “the decemvirs shall be in the same condition as those who are appointed in the strictest accordance with the law.” If this can be brought about, that, in this city which is far superior to all other states in its rights of liberty, any one may be able to obtain either military command or civil authority without the sanction of any comitia, then what is the necessity for ordering in the third chapter that some one shall propose a lex curiata, when in the fourth chapter you permit men to have the same rights without a lex curiata, which they would have if they were elected by the burghers according to the strictest form of law? Kings are being appointed, O Romans, not decemvirs; and they are starting with such beginnings and on such foundations, that the whole of your rights, and powers, and liberties are destroyed not only from the moment that they begin to act, but from the moment that they are appointed.

> Latin: 29. postea, si ea lata non erit? ingenium. tvm ei xviri, inquit, eodem ivre sint qvo qvi optima lege. hoc fieri potest ut in hac civitate quae longe iure libertatis ceteris civitatibus antecellit quisquam nullis comitiis imperium aut potestatem adsequi possit, quid attinet tertio capite legem curiatam ferre iubere, cum quarto permittas ut sine lege curiata idem iuris habeant quod haberent, si optima lege a populo essent creati? constituuntur, non xviri, Quirites, itaque ab his initiis fundamentisque nascuntur, ut non modo cum ⟨magistratum⟩ gerere coeperint, sed etiam cum constituentur, omne vestrum ius, potestas libertasque tollatur.

[¶29] 30. But remark how carefully he preserves the rights of the tribunitian power. The consuls are often interrupted in proposing a lex curiata, by the intercession of the tribunes of the people. Not that we complain that the tribunes should have this power; only, if any one uses it in a random and inconsiderate manner, we form our own opinion. But this tribune of the people, by his lex curiata, which the praetor is to bring forward, takes away the power of intercession. And while he is made to be blamed for causing the tribunitian power to be diminished by his instrumentality, he is also to be laughed at, because a consul, if he be not invested with the authority by a lex curiata, has no power to interfere in military affairs; and yet he gives this man whom he prohibits from interceding, the very same power, even if the veto be interposed, as if a lex curiata had been passed. So that I am at a loss to understand either why he prohibits the intercession, or why he thinks that any one will intercede; as the intercession will only prove the folly of the intercessor, and will not hinder the business.

> Latin: 30. videte quam diligenter retineat ius tribuniciae potestatis. legem curiatam ferentibus a tribunis plebis saepe est intercessum—neque tamen nos id querimur, esse hanc tribunorum plebis potestatem; tantum modo, si quis ea potestate temere est usus, ⟨furiosum⟩ existimamus—; hic tribunus plebis legi curiatae quam praetor ferat adimit intercedendi potestatem. hoc cum in eo reprehendendum est quod per tribunum plebis tribunicia potestas minuitur, tum in eo deridendum quod consuli, si legem curiatam non habet, attingere rem militarem non licet, hic, cui vetat intercedi, ei potestatem, etiam si intercessum sit, tamen eandem constituit quam si lata esset lex, ut non intellegam qua re aut hic vetet intercedere aut quemquam intercessurum putet, cum intercessio stultitiam intercessoris significatura sit, non rem impeditura.

[¶30] 31. Let there then be decemvirs, appointed neither by the genuine comitia,—that is to say, by the votes of the people,—nor by that comitia convened in appearance, to keep up an ancient custom, by the thirty lictors for the sake of the auspices. See now, also, how much greater honours he confers on these men who have received no authority from you, than we have received, to whom you have given the most ample authority, He orders the decemvirs, who have the care of the auspices, to take auspices for the sake of conducting the colonies. “According,” says he, “to the same right which the triumvirs had by the Sempronian law.” Do you venture, O Rullus, even to make mention of the Sempronian law? and does not that law itself remind you that these triumvirs have been created by the suffrages of the tribes? And while you are very far removed from the justice and modesty of Tiberius Gracchus, do you think that a law made on so different a principle ought to have the same authority?

> Latin: 31. igitur xviri neque veris comitiis, hoc est, populi suffragiis, neque illis ad speciem atque ad usurpationem vetustatis per xxx lictores auspiciorum causa adumbratis constituti. nunc eos qui a vobis nihil potestatis acceperint quanto maioribus ornamentis adficiat quam omnes nos adfecti sumus quibus vos amplissimas potestates dedistis. auspicia coloniarum deducendarum causa xviros habere pullarios⟨que⟩, eodem ivre, inquit, qvo habvervnt iiiviri lege Sempronia. etiam, Rulle, mentionem facere legis Semproniae, nec te ea lex ipsa commonet iiiviros illos xxxv tribuum suffragio creatos esse? cum tu a Ti. Gracchi aequitate ac pudore longissime remotus sis, id quod dissimillima ratione factum sit eodem iure putas esse oportere?

[¶31] 32. Besides all this, he gives them authority praetorian in name, but kingly in reality. He describes their power, as a power for five years; but he makes it perpetual. For he strengthens it with such bulwarks and defences that it will be quite impossible to deprive them of it against their own consent. Then he adorns them with apparitors, and secretaries, and clerks, and criers, and architects; besides that, with mules, and tents, and centuries, and all sorts of furniture; he draws money for their expenses from the treasury; he supplies them with more money from the allies; he appoints them two hundred surveyors from the equestrian body every year as their personal attendants, and also as ministers and satellites of their power. You have now, O Romans, the form and very appearance of tyrants; you see all the ensigns of power, but not yet the power itself. For, perhaps, some one may say, “Well, what harm do all those men, secretary, lictor, crier, and chicken-feeder do me?” I will tell you. These things are of such a nature that the man who has them without their being conferred by your vote, must seem either a monarch with intolerable power, or if he assumes them as a private individual, a madman.

> Latin: 32. praeterea potestatem verbo praetoriam, re vera regiam; definit in quinquennium, facit sempiternam; tantis enim confirmat opibus et copiis ut invitis eripi nullo modo possit. ornat apparitoribus, scribis, librariis, praeconibus, architectis, praeterea mulis, tabernaculis, centunculis, supellectili; sumptum haurit ex aerario, suppeditat a sociis; finitores ex equestri loco ducentos, vicenos singulorum stipatores corporis constituit, eosdem ministros et satellites potestatis. adhuc habetis, Quirites, et speciem ipsam tyrannorum; insignia videtis potestatis, nondum ipsam potestatem. enim fortasse quispiam: “quid me ista laedunt, scriba, lictor, praeco, pullarius?” sunt haec huius modi, Quirites, ut, ea qui habeat sine vestris suffragiis, aut rex non ferendus aut privatus furiosus esse videatur.

[¶32] 33. Just see what great authority they are invested with, and you will say that it is not the insanity of private individuals, but the immoderate arrogance of kings. First of all, they are entrusted with boundless power of acquiring enormous sums of money out of your revenues, not by farming them but by alienating them. In the next place, they are allowed to pursue an inquiry into the conduct of every country and of every nation, without any bench of judges; to punish without any right of appeal being allowed; and to condemn without there being any means of procuring a reversal of their sentence.

> Latin: 33. quanta potestas permittatur; non privatorum insaniam, sed intolerantiam regum esse dicetis. permittitur infinita potestas innumerabilis pecuniae conficiendae vestris vectigalibus non fruendis, sed alienandis; deinde orbis terrarum gentiumque omnium datur cognitio sine consilio, poena sine provocatione, animadversio sine auxilio.

[¶33] 34. They will be able for five years to sit in judgment on the consuls, or even on the tribunes of the people themselves; but all that time no one will be able to sit in judgment on them. They will be allowed to fill magisterial offices; but they will not be allowed to be prosecuted. They will have power to purchase lands, from whomsoever they choose, whatever they choose, and at whatever price they choose. They are allowed to establish new colonies, to recruit old ones, to fill all Italy with their colonists; they have absolute authority for visiting every province, for depriving free people of their lands, for giving or taking away kingdoms, whenever they please. They may be at Rome when it is convenient to them; but they have a right also to wander about wherever they like with supreme command, and with a power of sitting in judgment on everything. They are allowed to put an end to all criminal trials; to remove from the tribunals whoever they think fit; to decide by themselves on the most important matters; to delegate their power to a quaestor; to send about surveyors; and to ratify whatever the surveyor has reported to that single decemvir by whom he has been sent.

> Latin: 34. per quinquennium vel de consulibus vel de ipsis tribunis plebis poterunt; de illis interea nemo iudicabit; magistratus eis petere licebit, causam dicere non licebit; emere agros a quibus volent et quos volent quam volent magno poterunt; colonias deducere novas, renovare veteres, totam Italiam suis coloniis ut complere liceat permittitur; omnis provincias obeundi, liberos populos agris multandi, regnorum vendendorum summa potestas datur; cum velint, Romae esse, cum commodum sit, quacumque velint summo cum imperio iudicioque rerum omnium vagari ut liceat conceditur; interea dissolvant iudicia publica, e consiliis abducant quos velint, singuli de maximis rebus iudicent, quaestori permittant, finitorem mittant, ratum sit quod finitor uni illi a quo missus erit renuntiaverit.

## 3. Speech 2 · sections 35–71

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/3/#p-N

[¶0] 35. It is a defect in my language, O Romans, when I call this power a kingly power. For in truth, it is something much more considerable; for there never was any kingly power that, if it was not defined by some express law, was not at least understood to be subject to certain limitations. But this power is absolutely unbounded; it is one within which all kingly powers, and your own imperial authority, which is of such wide extent, and all other powers, whether freely exercised by your permission, or existing only by your tacit countenance, are, by express permission of the law, comprehended. The first thing which is given to them is, a liberty of selling everything concerning the sale of which resolutions of the senate were passed in the consulship of Marcus Tullius and Cnaeus Cornelius or afterwards.

> Latin: 35. mihi deest, Quirites, cum ego hanc potestatem regiam appello, sed profecto maior est quaedam. enim regnum fuit umquam quod non se, ⟨si⟩ minus iure aliquo, at regionibus tamen certis contineret. vero infinitum est, quo et regna omnia et vestrum imperium, quod latissime patet, et ea quae partim libera a vobis, partim etiam ignorata vobis sunt, permissu legis continentur. igitur eis primum ut liceat ea vendere omnia de quibus vendendis senatus consulta facta sunt M. Tullio Cn. Cornelio consulibus post⟨ve⟩ ea.

[¶1] 36. Why is this so obscure and so concealed? What is the meaning of it? Could not those matters concerning which the senate passed resolutions, be mentioned in the law by name? There are two reasons for this obscurity, O Romans; one, a reason of modesty, if there can be any modesty in such inordinate impudence; the other, a reason of wickedness. For it does not dare to name those things which the senate resolved were to he sold, mentioning them by name; for they are public places in the city, they are shrines, which since the restoration of the tribunitian power no one has touched, and which our ancestors partly intended to be refuges in times of danger in the heart of the city. But all these things the decemvirs will sell by this law of this tribune of the people. Besides them, there will be Mount Gaurus; besides that, there will be the osier-beds at Minturnae; besides them, that very salable road to Herculaneum, a road of many delights and of considerable value; and many other things which the senate considered it advisable to sell on account of the straits to which the treasury was reduced, but which the consuls did not sell on account of the unpopularity which would have attended such a measure.

> Latin: 36. hoc tam est obscurum atque caecum?? ista omnia de quibus senatus censuit nominatim in lege perscribi nonne potuerunt? sunt huius obscuritatis causae, Quirites, una pudoris, si quis pudor esse potest in tam insigni impudentia, altera sceleris. neque ea quae senatus vendenda censuit nominatim audet appellare; sunt enim loca publica urbis, sunt sacella quae post restitutam tribuniciam potestatem nemo attigit, quae maiores in urbe ⟨partim ornamenta urbis,⟩ partim periculi perfugia esse voluerunt. lege tribunicia xviri vendent. eo mons Gaurus, accedent salicta ad Minturnas, adiungetur etiam illa via vendibilis Herculanea multarum deliciarum et magnae pecuniae, permulta alia quae senatus propter angustias aerari vendenda censuit, consules propter invidiam non vendiderunt.

[¶2] 37. However, perhaps it is owing to shame that there is no mention of all these things in the law. What is much more to be guarded against, what is a much more real object of fear, is, that great power is permitted to the boldness of these decemvirs of tampering with the public documents, and forging decrees of the Senate, which have never been made; as a great many of those men who have been consuls of late years are dead. Unless, perhaps, I may be told, that it is not reasonable for you to entertain any suspicions of their audacity, for whose cupidity the whole world appears too narrow.

> Latin: 37. haec fortasse propter pudorem in lege reticentur. illud magis est credendum et pertimescendum quod audaciae xvirali corrumpendarum tabularum publicarum fingendorumque senatus consultorum, quae facta numquam sint, cum ex eo numero qui per eos annos consules fuerunt multi mortui sint, magna potestas permittitur. Nisi forte nihil est aequum nos de eorum audacia suspicari quorum cupiditati nimium angustus orbis terrarum esse videatur.

[¶3] 38. You see now one kind of sale, which I am aware appears very important to you; but pray give your attention to what follows, and you will see that this is only a kind of step and road to other measures. “Whatever lands, whatever places, whatever buildings.” What is there besides? There is much property in slaves, in cattle, in bullion, in money, in ivory, in robes, in furniture, in all sorts of other things. What shall that say? Did he think it would cause unpopularity to name all these things? He was not afraid of unpopularity. What then was his motive? He thought the catalogue a long one, and he was afraid of passing over anything; so he wrote in addition, “or anything else;” by which brief formula you see that nothing can be omitted. Whatever, therefore, there is out of Italy, that has been made the property of the Roman people by Lucius Sulla and Quintus Pompeius in their consulships, or afterwards, that he orders the decemvirs to sell.

> Latin: 38. unum venditionis genus quod magnum videri vobis intellego; sed attendite animos ad ea quae consequuntur; hunc quasi gradum quendam atque aditum ad cetera factum intellegetis. qvi agri, qvae loca, aedificia. est praeterea? in mancipiis, in pecore, auro, argento, ebore, veste, supellectili, ceteris rebus. dicam? invidiosum putasse hoc fore, si omnia nominasset? metuit invidiam. ergo? putavit et timuit ne quid praeteriret; ascripsit alivdve qvid, qua brevitate rem nullam esse exceptam videtis. igitur sit extra Italiam quod publicum populi Romani factum sit L. Sulla Q. Pompeio consulibus aut postea, id xviros iubet vendere.

[¶4] 39. By this clause, I say, O Romans, that all nations, and people, and provinces, and kingdoms, are given up and handed over to the dominion, and judgment, and power of the decemvirs. This is the first thing; for I ask what place there is anywhere in the world which the decemvirs may not be able to say has been made the property of the Roman people? For, when the same person who has made the assertion is also to judge of the truth of it, what is there which he may not say, when he is also the person to decide in the question? It will be very convenient to say, that Pergamus, and Smyrna, and Tralles, and Ephesus, and Miletus, and Cyzicus, and, in short, all Asia, which has been recovered since the consulship of Lucius Sulla and Quintus Pompeius, has become the property of the Roman people.

> Latin: 39. capite, Quirites, omnis gentis, nationes, provincias, regna xvirum dicioni, iudicio potestatique permissa et condonata esse dico. hoc quaero, ecqui tandem locus usquam sit quem non possint xviri dicere publicum populi Romani esse factum. cum idem possit iudicare qui dixerit, quid est quod non liceat ei dicere cui liceat eidem iudicare? Commodum erit Pergamum, Smyrnam, Trallis, Ephesum, Miletum, Cyzicum, totam denique Asiam quae post L. Sullam Q. Pompeium consules recuperata sit populi Romani factam esse dicere;

[¶5] 40. Will language fail him in which to assert such a doctrine? or, when the same person makes the statement and judges of the truth of it, will it be impossible to induce him to give a false decision? or, if he is unwilling to pass sentence on Asia, will he not estimate at his own price its release from the dread of condemnation? What will he say—(and it is quite impossible for any one to argue against this, since it has been already settled and decided by you, and since we have already voted it to be our inheritance,)—what will he say to the kingdom of Bithynia? which has undoubtedly become the public property of the Roman people. Is there any reason why the decemvirs should not sell all the lands, and cities, and military stations and harbours, and in short all Bithynia? What will they do at Mitylene? which has undoubtedly become yours, O Romans, by the laws of war and by the rights of victory; a city both by nature and situation, and by the description of its houses, and by its general beauty, most eminently remarkable; and its lands are pleasant and productive. That city, forsooth, comes under the same head.

> Latin: 40. utrum oratio ad eius rei disputationem deerit, an, cum idem et disseret et iudicabit, impelli non poterit ut falsum iudicet? an, si condemnare Asiam nolet, terrorem damnationis et minas non quanti volet aestimabit?? quod disputari contra nullo pacto potest, quod iam statutum a nobis est et iudicatum, quoniam hereditatem iam crevimus, regnum Bithyniae, quod certe publicum est populi Romani factum, num quid causae est quin omnis agros, urbis, stagna, portus, totam denique Bithyniam xviri vendituri sint?? Mytilenae, quae certe vestrae, Quirites, belli lege ac victoriae iure factae sunt, urbs et natura ac situ et descriptione aedificiorum et pulchritudine in primis nobilis, agri iucundi et fertiles, nempe eodem capite inclusi continentur.

[¶6] 41. What will become of Alexandria, and of all Egypt? How much it is out of sight! how completely is it hidden! how stealthily is it abandoned entirely to the decemvirs! For who is there among you who is ignorant that that kingdom has become the property of the Roman people by the will of king Alexander? Here now I, the consul of the Roman people, not only give no decision, but I do not even express my opinion. For it appears to me a most important matter not merely to decide oil, but even to speak of. I see a man who assures me that the will was certainly made; I know that there is a resolution of the senate extant to the effect that it accepted the inheritance; which was passed when, after the death of Alexander, we sent ambassadors to Tyre, to recover for the people money which had been deposited there by him.

> Latin: 41. ? Alexandrea cunctaque Aegyptus ut occulte latet, ut recondita est, ut furtim tota xviris traditur! enim vestrum hoc ignorat, dici illud regnum testamento regis Alexae populi Romani esse factum? ego consul populi Romani non modo nihil iudico sed ne quid sentiam quidem profero. Magna enim mihi res non modo ad statuendum sed etiam ad dicendum videtur esse. qui testamentum factum esse confirmet; auctoritatem senatus exstare hereditatis aditae sentio tum cum Alexa mortuo nos tris legatos Tyrum misimus, qui ab illo pecuniam depositam recuperarent.

[¶7] 42. I recollect that Lucius Philippus has often stated these things positively in the senate. I see that is agreed upon by all men, that he, who is at this present moment in possession of the kingdom, is neither of the royal family nor of any royal disposition. It is said, on the other hand, that there is no will; that the Roman people ought not to seem to covet every kingdom under the sun; that our citizens will emigrate to those regions, on account of the fertility of the soil and the abundance of everything which exists there.

> Latin: 42. L. Philippum saepe in senatu confirmasse memoria teneo; eum qui regnum illud teneat hoc tempore neque genere neque animo regio esse inter omnis fere video convenire. contra nullum esse testamentum, non oportere populum Romanum omnium regnorum appententem videri, demigraturos in illa loca nostros homines propter agrorum bonitatem et omnium rerum copiam.

[¶8] 43. Will Publius Rullus, with the rest of the decemvirs, his colleagues, decide upon so important an affair as this? And which way will he decide? For each alternative is so important that it is quite impossible for you to entrust the decision to him, or to put up with his sentence. Will he desire to be popular? He will adjudge the kingdom to the Roman people. In consequence, he will also, in accordance with his own law, sell Alexandria, and sell Egypt. He will be found to be the judge, the arbiter, the master, of a most wealthy city, and of a most beautiful country; yes, he will be found to be the king of a most opulent kingdom. Will he abstain from taking all this? from desiring all this? He will decide that Alexandria belongs to the king; he will by his sentence deprive the Roman people of it.

> Latin: 43. tanta de re P. Rullus cum ceteris xviris conlegis suis iudicabit, et utrum iudicabit? utrumque ita magnum est ut nullo modo neque concedendum neque ferendum sit. esse popularis; populo Romano adiudicabit. idem ex sua lege vendet Alexandream, vendet Aegyptum, urbis copiosissimae pulcherrimorumque agrorum iudex, arbiter, dominus, rex denique opulentissimi regni reperietur. sumet sibi tantum, non appetet; iudicabit Alexandream regis esse, a populo Romano abiudicabit.

[¶9] 44. Now, in the first place, shall decemvirs give a decision about the inheritance of the Roman people, when you require centumvirs to judge in the case of private inheritances? In the next place, who is to plead the cause of the Roman people? Where is the cause to be tried? Who are those decemvirs whom we think likely to adjudge the kingdom of Alexandria to Ptolemy for nothing? But, if Alexandria was the object, why did not they at this time proceed by the same course which they adopted in the consulship of Lucius Cotta and Lucius Torquatus? Why did they not proceed openly, as they did before? Why did they not act as they did when they before sought that country, in a straightforward and open manner? Did they, who, when they had a fair wind, could not hold their course straight on to the kingdom they coveted, think that they could reach Alexandria amid foul mists and darkness?

> Latin: 44. cur ⟨de⟩ populi Romani hereditate xviri iudicent, cum vos volueritis de privatis hereditatibus cviros iudicare? quis aget causam populi Romani? ubi res ista agetur? qui sunt isti xviri, quos prospiciamus regnum Alexandreae Ptolomaeo gratis adiudicaturos? si Alexandrea petebatur, cur non eosdem cursus hoc tempore quos L. Cotta L. Torquato consulibus cucurrerunt? cur non aperte ut antea, cur non item ut tum, derecto et palam regionem illam petiverunt? an qui etesiis, qui per cursum rectum regnum tenere non potuerunt, nunc caecis tenebris et caligine se Alexandream perventuros arbitrati sunt?

[¶10] 45. Just revolve these things in your minds..... Foreign nations can scarcely endure our lieutenants, though they are men of but slight authority, when they go on free lieutenancies, on account of some private business. For the name of power is a hard one to bear, and is dreaded even in ever so inconsiderable a person; because, when they have once left Rome they conduct their proceedings not in their own name, but in yours. What do you suppose will happen, when those decemvirs wander all over the world with their supreme power, and their faces, and their chosen band of surveyors? What do you suppose will be the feelings, what the alarm, what the actual danger of those unhappy nations?

> Latin: 45. illud circumspicite vestris mentibus una, Quirites. nostros, homines auctoritate tenui, qui rerum privatarum causa legationes liberas obeunt, tamen exterae nationes ferre vix possunt. est enim nomen imperi atque id etiam in levi persona pertimescitur, propterea quod vestro, non suo nomine, cum hinc egressi sunt, abutuntur. censetis, cum isti xviri cum imperio, cum fascibus, cum illa delecta finitorum iuventute per totum orbem terrarum vagabuntur, quo tandem animo, quo metu, quo periculo miseras nationes futuras?

[¶11] 46. Is there any terror in absolute power? they will endure it;—is there any expense entailed by the arrival of such men? they will bear it;—are any presents exacted from them? they will not refuse them. But what a business is that, O Romans, when a decemvir, who either has come to some city after being expected, as a guest, or unexpectedly, as a master, pronounces that very place to which he has come, that identical hospitable house in which he is received, to be the public property of the Roman people? How great will be the misery of the people if he says that it is so! How great will be his own private gain, if he says that it is not! And the same men who desire all this, are accustomed sometimes to complain that every land and every sea has been put under the power of Cnaeus Pompeius. But are these two cases, the one, of many things being entrusted to a man, the other, of everything being sacrificed to him, at all similar? Is there any resemblance between a man's being appointed as chief manager of a business requiring toil and labour, and a man's having the chief share in booty and gain allotted to him? in a man's being sent to deliver allies, and a man's being sent to oppress them? Lastly, if there be airy extraordinary honour in question, does it make no difference whether the Roman people confers that honour on any one it chooses, or whether he impudently filches it from the Roman people by an underhand trick of law?

> Latin: 46. in imperio terror; patientur. in adventu sumptus; ferent. aliquid muneris; non recusabunt. vero quantum est, Quirites, cum is xvir qui aliquam in urbem aut exspectatus ut hospes aut repente ut dominus venerit illum ipsum locum quo venerit, illam ipsam sedem hospitalem in quam erit deductus publicam populi Romani esse dicet! quanta calamitas populi, si dixerit, quantus ipsi quaestus, si negarit! idem qui haec appetunt queri non numquam solent omnis terras Cn. Pompeio atque omnia maria esse permissa. vero est multa committi et condonari omnia, labori et negotio praeponi an praedae et quaestui, mitti ad socios liberandos an ad opprimendos!, si qui est honos singularis, nihilne interest, utrum populus Romanus eum cui velit deferat, an is impudenter populo Romano per legis fraudem surripiatur?

[¶12] 47. You have now seen how many things and what valuable things the decemvirs are likely to sell with the sanction of the law. That is not enough. When they have sated themselves with the blood of the allies, and of foreign nations, and of kings, they will then cut the sinews of the Roman people; they will lay hands on your revenues; they will break into your treasury. For a clause follows, in which he is not content with permitting, if by chance any money should be wanting, (which, however, can be amassed in such quantities from the effect of the previous clauses, that it ought not to be wanting,) but which actually (as if that was likely to be the salvation of you all) orders and compels the decemvirs to sell all your revenues, naming each item separately.

> Latin: 47. quot res et quantas xviri legis permissu vendituri sint. est satis. Cum se sociorum, cum exterarum nationum, cum regum sanguine implerint, incidant nervos populi Romani, adhibeant manus vectigalibus vestris, inrumpant in aerarium. enim caput, quo capite ne permittit quidem, si forte desit pecunia, quae tanta ex superioribus recipi potest ut deesse non debeat, sed plane, quasi ea res vobis saluti futura sit, ita cogit atque imperat ut xviri vestra vectigalia vendant nominatim, Quirites.

[¶13] 48. And do you now read to me in regular order, the catalogue of the property of the Roman people which is for sale according to the written provisions of this law. A catalogue which I think, in truth, will be miserable and grievous to the very crier himself. He is as prodigal a spendthrift with regard to the property of the republic, as a private individual is with regard to his own estate, who sells his woods, before he sells his vineyards. You hare gone all through Italy, now go on into Sicily. There is nothing in that province which your ancestors have left to you as your own property, either in the towns, or in the fields, which he does not order to be sold.

> Latin: 48. tu mihi ex ordine recita de legis scripto populi Romani auctionem; quam me hercule ego praeconi huic ipsi luctuosam et acerbam praedicationem futuram puto.— avctio —Vt in suis rebus, ita in re publica luxuriosus ⟨est⟩ nepos, qui prius silvas vendat quam vineas! Italiam percensuisti; perge in Siciliam.— est in hac provincia quod aut in oppidis aut in agris maiores nostri proprium nobis reliquerint quin id venire iubeat.

[¶14] 49. All that property, which, having been gained by their recent victory, your ancestors left to you in the cities and territories of the allies, as both a bond of peace and a monument of war, will you now, though you received it from them, sell it at this man's instigation? Here for a moment I seem, O Romans, to move your feelings, while I make plain to you the plots when they think have escaped every one's notice, as having been laid by them against the dignity of Cnaeus Pompeius. And, I beseech you, pardon me if I am forced to make frequent mention of that man's name. You, O Romans, imposed this character on me, two years ago, in this very same place, and bound me to share with you in the protection of his dignity during his absence, in whatever manner I could. I have hitherto done all that I could, not because I was persuaded to it by my intimacy with him, nor from any hope of honour; or of any most honourable dignity; which I have gained by your means, in his absence, though no doubt with his perfect goodwill.

> Latin: 49. partum recenti victoria maiores vobis in sociorum urbibus ac finibus et vinculum pacis et monumentum belli reliquerunt, id vos ab illis acceptum hoc auctore vendetis? mihi parumper mentis vestras, Quirites, commovere videor, dum patefacio vobis quas isti penitus abstrusas insidias se posuisse arbitrantur contra Cn. Pompei dignitatem. mihi, quaeso, ignoscite, si appello talem virum saepius. mihi praetori biennio ante, Quirites, hoc eodem in loco personam hanc imposuistis ut, quibuscumque rebus possem, illius absentis dignitatem vobiscum una tuerer. adhuc quae potui, neque familiaritate illius adductus nec spe honoris atque amplissimae dignitatis, quam ego, etsi libente illo, tamen absente illo per vos consecutus sum.

[¶15] 50. Wherefore, when I perceive that nearly the whole of this law is made ready, as if it were an engine, for the object of overthrowing his power, I will both resist the designs of the men who have contrived it, and I will enable you not only to perceive, but to be entire masters of the whole plot which I now see in preparation. He orders everything to be sold which belonged to the people of Attalia, and of Phaselus, and of Olympus, and the land of Agera, of Orindia, and of Gedusa. All this became your property owing to the campaigns and victory of that most illustrious man, Publius Servilius. He adds the royal domain of Bithynia, which is at present farmed by the public contractors; after that, he adds the lands belonging to Attalus in the Chersonesus; and those in Macedonia, which belonged to king Philip or king Perses; which also were let out to contractors by the censors, and which are a most certain revenue.

> Latin: 50. ob rem, cum intellegam totam hanc fere legem ad illius opes evertendas tamquam machinam comparari, et resistam consiliis hominum et perficiam profecto, quod ego video, ut id vos universi non solum videre verum etiam tenere possitis. venire quae Attalensium, quae Phaselitum, quae Olympenorum fuerint, agrumque Aperensem et Oroandicum et Gedusanum. P. Servili imperio et victoria, clarissimi viri, vestra facta sunt. agros Bithyniae regios quibus nunc publicani fruuntur; deinde Attalicos agros in Cherroneso, in Macedonia qui regis Philippi sive Persae fuerunt, qui item a censoribus locati sunt et certissimum vectigal ⟨adferunt⟩.

[¶16] 51. He also puts up to auction the lands of the Corinthians, rich and fertile lands; and those of the Cyrenaeans, which did belong to Apion; and the lands in Spain near Carthagena; and those in Africa near the old Carthage itself—a place which Publius Africanus consecrated, not on account of any religious feeling for the place itself and for its antiquity, but in accordance with the advice of his counselors, in order that the place itself might bear record of the disasters of that people which had contended with us for the empire of the world. But Scipio was not as diligent as Rullus is; or else, perhaps, he could not find a purchaser for that place. However, among these royal districts, taken in our ancient wars by the consummate valour of our generals, he adds the royal lands of Mithridates, which were in Paphlagonia, and in Pontus, and in Cappadocia, and orders the decemvirs to sell them.

> Latin: 51. eidem auctioni Corinthios agros opimos et fertilis, et Cyrenensis qui Apionis fuerunt, et agros in Hispania propter Carthaginem novam et in Africa ipsam veterem Carthaginem vendit, quam videlicet P. Africanus non propter religionem sedum illarum ac vetustatis de consili sententia consecravit, nec ut ipse locus eorum qui cum hac urbe de imperio decertarunt vestigia calamitatis ostenderet, sed non fuit tam diligens quam est Rullus, aut fortasse emptorem ei loco reperire non potuit. inter hos agros captos veteribus bellis virtute summorum imperatorum adiungit regios agros Mithridatis, qui in Paphlagonia, qui in Ponto, qui in Cappadocia fuerunt, ut eos xviri vendant. vero?

[¶17] 52. Is it so indeed? when no law has been passed to that effect, when the words of our commander-in-chief have not yet been heard, when the war is not yet over, when king Mithridates, having lost his army, having been driven from his kingdom, is even now planning something against us in the most distant corners of the earth, and while he is still defended by the Maeotis, and by those marshes, and by the narrow defiles through which the only passes lie in those countries, and by the height of the mountains, from the invincible band of Cnaeus Pompeius; when our general is actually engaged in the war against him; and while the name of war still lingers in those districts; shall the decemvirs sell those lands over which the military command and civil authority of Cnaeus Pompeius still extends and ought to extend, according to the principles and usages of our ancestors?

> Latin: 52. non legibus datis, non auditis verbis imperatoris, nondum denique bello confecto, cum rex Mithridates amisso exercitu regno expulsus tamen in ultimis terris aliquid etiam nunc moliatur atque ab invicta Cn. Pompei manu Maeote et illis paludibus et itinerum angustiis atque altitudine montium defendatur, cum imperator in bello versetur, in locis autem illis etiam nunc belli nomen reliquum sit, eos agros quorum adhuc penes Cn. Pompeium omne iudicium et potestas more maiorum debet esse xviri vendent?

[¶18] 53. And, I make no doubt, Publius Rullus (for he now conducts himself in such a manner as shows that he already fancies himself a decemvir elect) will hasten to attend that auction in preference to every other. He, forsooth, before he arrives in Pontus, will send letters to Cnaeus Pompeius, of which I suppose a copy has already been composed in these terms:—“Publius Servilius Rullus, tribune of the people, decemvir, to Cnaeus Pompeius, the son of Cnaeus, greeting.” I do not suppose that he will add “Magnus;” for it is not likely that he will grant him by a word that dignity which he is endeavouring to diminish. “I wish you to take care to meet me at Sinope, and to bring me assistance, while I am selling, in accordance with the provisions of my law, those lands which you acquired by your labour.” Or will he not invite Pompeius? Will he sell the spoils of the general in his own province? Just place before your eyes Rullus, in Pontus, holding his auction between your camp and that of the enemy, and knocking down lands surrounded by his beautiful band of surveyors.

> Latin: 53. , credo, P. Rullus—is enim sic se gerit ut sibi iam xvir designatus esse videatur—ad eam auctionem potissimum proficiscetur! videlicet, ante quam veniat in Pontum, litteras ad Cn. Pompeium mittet, quarum ego iam exemplum ab istis compositum esse arbitror: P. Servilivs Rvllvs tribvnvs plebis xvir s. d. ⟨Cn.⟩ Pompeio Cn. f. credo ascripturum esse magno, non enim videtur id quod imminuere lege conatur concessurus verbo. volo cvrare vt mihi Sinopae praesto sis avxilivmqve addvcas, dvm eos agros qvos ⟨tv⟩ tvo labore cepisti ego mea lege vendam. Pompeium non adhibebit? in eius provincia vendet manubias imperatoris? ante oculos vobis Rullum in Ponto inter nostra atque hostium castra hasta posita cum suis formosis finitoribus auctionantem.

[¶19] 54. Nor does the insult consist solely in this, though this is very preposterous, and very unprecedented, that anything which has been acquired in war, while the general is still carrying on the war, should be sold, or even let. But these men have something more in view than mere insult. They hope, if it is allowed to the enemies of Cnaeus Pompeius, not only to stroll about other countries, but even to come to his very army with absolute authority, with a power of sitting as judges in every case, with boundless power, and with countless sums of money, that some plot may be laid against him himself; and that something may be taken from his army, or power, or renown. They think that, if the army reposes any hope in Cnaeus Pompeius with respect to either lands, or any other advantages, it will do so no longer when it sees that the supreme power in all those matters is transferred to the decemvirs.

> Latin: 54. in hoc solum inest contumelia, quae vehementer et insignis est et nova, ut ulla res parta bello nondum legibus datis etiam tum imperatore bellum administrante non modo venierit verum locata sit. spectant homines certe quam contumeliam; sperant, si concessum sit inimicis Cn. Pompei cum imperio, cum iudicio omnium rerum, cum infinita potestate, cum innumerabili pecunia non solum illis in locis vagari verum etiam ad ipsius exercitum pervenire, aliquid illi insidiarum fieri, aliquid de eius exercitu, copiis, gloria detrahi posse., si quam spem in Cn. Pompeio exercitus habeat aut agrorum aut aliorum commodorum, hanc non habiturum, cum viderit earum rerum omnium potestatem ad xviros esse translatam.

[¶20] 55. I am not concerned at those men being so foolish, as to hope for these things; and so impudent, as to attempt to cause them. What I do complain of is, that I am so much despised by them, that they should select the period of my consulship, of all times in the world, for seeking to bring about such prodigious absurdities. And in the sale of all these lands and houses leave is given to the decemvirs “to hold their sales in whatever places they think fit.” Oh their perverted senses! Oh their licentiousness, so necessary to be checked! Oh their profligate and wicked intentions! It is not lawful to let the revenues anywhere except in this city, in this very spot, in the presence of this assembly here present. Shall it be lawful for your own property to be sold and alienated from you for ever in the darkness or Paphlagonia, or in the deserts of Cappadocia?

> Latin: 55. non moleste tam stultos esse qui haec sperent, tam impudentis qui conentur; illud queror, tam me ab eis esse contemptum ut haec portenta me consule potissimum cogitarent. in omnibus his agris aedificiisque vendendis permittitur xviris ut vendant qvibvscvmqve in locis. O perturbatam rationem, o libidinem effrenatam, o consilia dissoluta atque perdita! locare nusquam licet nisi in hac urbe, hoc ex loco, hac vestrum frequentia. nostras res proprias et in perpetuum a nobis abalienari in Paphlagoniae tenebris atque in Cappadociae solitudine licebit?

[¶21] 56. When Lucius Sulla was selling at that fatal auction of his the property of citizens who had not been condemned, and when he said that he was selling his plunder, still he sold it on this spot where I am standing now; nor did he venture to avoid the sight of those men to whose eyes he was so hateful. Shall the decemvirs sell your revenues, not only where you yourselves are not witnesses of the sale, but where there is not even a public crier present as a spectator? Then follows—“All the lands out of Italy,” without any limit as to time, not (as was enacted before) those acquired by Sulla and Pompeius when they were consuls. There is an inquiry to be made by the decemvirs, whether the land be private or public property; and by this means a heavy tax is laid on the laud.

> Latin: 56. L. Sulla cum bona indemnatorum civium funesta illa auctione sua venderet et se praedam suam diceret vendere, tamen ex hoc loco vendidit nec, quorum oculos offendebat, eorum ipsorum conspectum fugere ausus est; xviri vestra vectigalia non modo non vobis, Quirites, arbitris sed ne praecone quidem publico teste vendent? omnis agros extra Italiam infinito ex tempore, non, ut antea, ab Sulla et Pompeio consulibus. xvirum, privatus sit an publicus; eique agro pergrande vectigal imponitur.

[¶22] 57. Who is there who does not see how great a judicial power this is, how intolerable, how tyrannical? for them to be able, in whatever places they please, without any discussion or formal decision, without any assessors, to confiscate private property, and to release public property? In this clause the Recentoric district in Sicily is excepted; which I am exceedingly delighted is excepted, O Romans, both on account of my connection with the people of that district, and because of the justice of the exception. But what impudence it is! Those who are the occupiers of the Recentoric district, defend themselves on the ground of length of occupation, not of right; they rely on the pity of the senate, not on the conditions on which they hold their lands. For they confess that it is part of the public domain; but still they say that they ought not to be removed from their possessions, and their much-loved homes, and their household gods. But if the Recentoric district be private property, why do you except it? But if it be public, where then is the justice of allowing other lands, even if they are private lands, to be adjudged to be public, and to except this district by name which confesses that it is public property? Therefore the land of those men is excepted who have had any means of influencing Rullus; all otter lands, wherever they are—without any selection being made, without any examination being instituted by the people, without any decision being come to by the senate, are to be sold by the decemvirs.

> Latin: 57. quantum iudicium, quam intolerandum, quam regium sit, quem praeterit, posse quibuscumque locis velint nulla disceptatione, nullo consilio privata publicare, publica liberare? hoc capite ager ⟨in⟩ Sicilia Recentoricus; quem ego excipi et propter hominum necessitudinem et propter ⟨rei⟩ aequitatem, Quirites, ipse vehementer gaudeo. quae ⟨est⟩ haec impudentia! agrum Recentoricum possident, vetustate possessionis se, non iure, misericordia senatus, non agri condicione defendunt. illum agrum publicum esse fatentur; se moveri possessionibus, antiquissimis sedibus, ac dis penatibus negant oportere., si est privatus ager Recentoricus, quid eum excipis? sin autem publicus, quae est ista aequitas ceteros, etiam si privati sint, permittere ut publici iudicentur, hunc excipere nominatim qui publicum se esse fateatur? eorum ager excipitur qui apud Rullum aliqua ratione valuerunt, ceteri agri omnes qui ubique sunt sine ullo dilectu, sine populi Romani notione, sine iudicio senatus xviris addicentur?

[¶23] 58. There is also another profitable exception made in the former chapter according to which everything is to be sold. An exception which comprehends those lands which are protected by treaty. He heard that this matter was often agitated in the senate, not by me, but by others, and sometimes also in this place; that king Hiempsal was in possession of lands on the sea coast, which Publius Africanus adjudged to the Roman people; and yet afterwards express provision was made respecting them in a treaty, by Caius Cotta, when consul. But, because you did not order this treaty to be made, Hiempsal is in fear lest it may not be considered firm and properly ratified. What? What sort of proceeding is this? Your decision is not waited for; the whole treaty is excepted. It is approved by Rullus. As it limits the power of sale to be given to the decemvirs, I am glad of it; as it protects the interests of a king who is our friend, I find no fault with it; but my opinion is that the exception was not made for nothing;

> Latin: 58. etiam est alia superiore capite quo omnia veneunt quaestuosa exceptio, quae teget eos agros de quibus foedere cautum est. hanc rem non a me, sed ab aliis agitari saepe in senatu, non numquam ex hoc loco, possidere agros in ora maritima regem Hiempsalem quos P. Africanus populo Romano adiudicarit; ei tamen postea per C. Cottam consulem cautum esse foedere. quia vos foedus non iusseritis, veretur Hiempsal ut satis firmum sit et ratum. est illud, tollitur vestrum iudicium, foedus totum accipitur, comprobatur. minuit auctionem xviralem laudo, quod regi amico cavet non reprehendo, quod non gratis fit indico.

[¶24] 59. for there is constantly fluttering before those men's eyes Juba, the king's son, whose purse is every bit as long as his hair. Even now there scarcely appears to be any place capable of containing such vast heaps of money. He increases the sums, he adds to them, he keeps on accumulating. “To whomsoever gold or silver comes, from spoils, from money given for crowns, if it has neither been paid into the public treasury, nor spent in any monument.” Of that treasure he orders a return to be made to the decemvirs, and the treasure is to be paid over to them. By this case you see that an investigation even into the conduct of the most illustrious men, who have carried on the wars of the Roman people, and that judicial examinations into charges of peculation or extortion, are transferred to the decemvirs. They will have a power of deciding what is the value of the spoils which have been gained by each individual, what return he has made, and what he has left. But this law is laid down for all your generals for the future, that, whoever leaves his province, must make a return to these same decemvirs, of how much booty, and spoils, and gold given for the purpose of crowns he has.

> Latin: 59. enim ante oculos istorum Iuba, regis filius, adulescens non minus bene nummatus quam bene capillatus. iam videtur locus esse qui tantos acervos pecuniae capiat; auget, addit, accumulat. Avrvm, argentvm ex praeda, ex manvbiis, ex coronario ad qvoscvmqve pervenit neqve relatvm est in pvblicvm neqve in monvmento consvmptvm, id profiteri apud xviros et ad eos referri iubet. capite etiam quaestionem de clarissimis viris qui populi Romani bella gesserunt, iudiciumque de pecuniis residuis ad xviros translatum videtis. Horum erit nullum iudicium quantae cuiusque manubiae fuerint, quid relatum, quid residuum sit; in posterum vero lex haec imperatoribus vestris constituitur; ut, quicumque de provincia decesserit, apud eosdem xviros quantum habeat praedae, manubiarum, auri coronarii, profiteatur.

[¶25] 60. But here this admirable man excepts Cnaeus Pompeius, whom he is so fond of. Whence does this affection so sudden and previously unknown originate? for he is excluded from the honour of the decemvirate almost by name; his power of deciding judicially, of giving laws, or of making any formal inquiry respecting the lands which have been taken by his your, is taken from him; decemvirs are sent not only into his province but into his very camp, with military authority, with immense sums of money, with unlimited power, and with a right of deciding on everything. His rights as a general, which have hitherto always been most jealously preserved to every general are for the first time taken from him. But he is excepted as the only one who is not bound to make a return of his booty. Does it seem that the real object of this clause is to do honour to the man, or to excite a feeling of unpopularity against him?

> Latin: 60. tamen vir optimus eum quem amat excipit, Cn. Pompeium. Vnde iste amor tam improvisus ac tam repentinus? honore xviratus excluditur prope nominatim, cuius iudicium legumque datio, captorum agrorum ipsius virtute cognitio tollitur, cuius non in provinciam, sed in ipsa castra xviri cum imperio, infinita pecunia, maxima potestate et iudicio rerum omnium mittuntur, cui ius imperatorium, quod semper omnibus imperatoribus est conservatum, soli eripitur, is excipitur unus ne manubias referre iubeatur? Vtrum tandem hoc capite honos haberi homini, an invidia quaeri videtur?

[¶26] 61. Cnaeus Pompeius will make a present of this to Rullus. He has no desire to avail himself of that kindness of the law, and of the good-nature of the decemvirs. For if it be just for generals not to devote their spoils and booty either to monuments of the immortal gods, or to the decorations of the city,—but if they are to carry it all to the decemvirs as their masters,—then Pompeius wishes for nothing particular for himself; nothing. He wishes to live under the common law, under the same law as the rest. If it be unjust, O Romans—if it be shameful, if it be intolerable for these decemvirs to be appointed as comptrollers of all the money collected by every body, and as plunderers not only of foreign kings and citizens of foreign nations, but of even our own generals, then they do not seem to me to have excepted Pompeius for the sake of doing him honour, but to be afraid that he may not be able to put up with the same insult as the rest.

> Latin: 61. hoc Rullo Cn. Pompeius; beneficio isto legis, benignitate xvirali nihil utitur. si est aequum praedam ac manubias suas imperatores non in monumenta deorum immortalium neque in urbis ornamenta conferre, sed ad xviros tamquam ad dominos reportare, nihil sibi appetit praecipui Pompeius, nihil; volt se in communi atque in eodem quo ceteri iure versari. est iniquum, Quirites, si turpe, si intolerandum hos xviros portitores omnibus omnium pecuniis constitui, qui non modo reges atque exterarum nationum homines sed etiam imperatores vestros excutiant, non mihi videntur honoris causa excipere Pompeium, sed metuere ne ille eandem contumeliam quam ceteri ferre non possit.

[¶27] 62. But as Pompeius's feelings will be these, that he will think it becomes him to bear whatever seems fitting to you; on the other hand, if there be anything which you cannot bear, he will take care that you are not long compelled to bear it against your will. But the law makes a provision that, “if any money is received from any new source of revenue after our consulship, the decemvirs are to be allowed to use it.” Moreover, he sees that the new sources of revenue will be those which Pompeius has added to the republic. And so, he lets off his spoils, but thinks that it is right for him to reap the benefit of all the revenues acquired by his valour. Let then, O Romans, all the money which there is in the world conic into the hands of the dictators; let nothing be omitted; let every city, every district, every kingdom, and lastly even your own revenues be sold by them; let the spoils won by your generals be added to the heap. You see now what enormous, what incredible riches are sought to be acquired by your decemvirs by such extensive sales, by so many decisions which they have the power to make, and by such unlimited authority over everything.

> Latin: 62. Pompeius autem ⟨cum⟩ hoc animo sit ut, quicquid vobis placeat, sibi ferendum putet, quod vos ferre non poteritis, id profecto perficiet ne diutius inviti ferre cogamini. tamen cavet ut, si qua pecunia post nos consules ex novis vectigalibus recipiatur, ea xviri utantur. porro vectigalia videt ea fore quae Pompeius adiunxerit. remissis manubiis vectigalibus eius virtute partis se frui putat oportere. sit pecunia, Quirites, xviris tanta quanta sit in terris, nihil praetermissum sit, omnes urbes, agri, regna denique, postremo etiam vectigalia vestra venierint, accesserint in cumulum manubiae vestrorum imperatorum; quantae et quam immanes divitiae xviris in tantis auctionibus, tot iudiciis, tam infinita potestate rerum omnium quaerantur videtis.

[¶28] 63. Now remark their other immense and intolerable gains, in order to understand that this popular name of an agrarian law has only been hunted out as a means of gratifying the unreasonable avarice of particular men. He orders lands to be bought with this money, to which you are to be conducted as colonists. I am not accustomed, O Romans, to speak or men with unnecessary harshness unless I am provoked. I wish it were possible for those men to be named by me without speaking ill of them, who hope to be themselves appointed decemvirs; and you should quickly see what sort of men they are to whom you have committed the power of selling and buying everything.

> Latin: 63. nunc alios immensos atque intolerabilis quaestus, ut intellegatis ad certorum hominum importunam avaritiam hoc populare legis agrariae nomen esse quaesitum. pecunia iubet agros emi quo deducamini. consuevi homines appellare asperius, Quirites, nisi lacessitus. fieri posset ut a me sine contumelia nominarentur ei qui se xviros sperant futuros; iam videretis quibus hominibus omnium rerum et vendendarum et emendarum potestatem permitteretis.

[¶29] 64. But, that which I have made up my mind that I ought not to say, yet you can still form an idea of in your minds. This one thing at all events I appear to myself to be able to say with the greatest truth,—that in former times when this republic had the Luscini, the Calatini, the Acidini, men adorned not only with the honours conferred on them by the people, and by their own great exploits, but also by the patience with which they endured poverty; and then also when the Catos, and the Phili, and Laelii lived, men whose wisdom and moderation you had obtained a thorough knowledge of in public, and private, and forensic, and domestic affairs; still such a charge as this was entrusted to no one, so as to allow the same man to be both judge and seller, and to be so for five years over the whole world, and also to have power to alienate the lands of the Roman people from which their revenues are derived; and when by these means he had amassed a vast sum of money according to his own pleasure, without any witness, then he was to buy whatever he pleased from any one he pleased.

> Latin: 64. quod ego nondum statuo mihi esse dicendum, vos tamen id potestis cum animis vestris cogitare; unum hoc certe videor mihi verissime posse dicere: tum cum haberet haec res publica Luscinos, Calatinos, Acidinos, homines non solum honoribus populi rebusque gestis verum etiam patientia paupertatis ornatos, et tum cum erant Catones, Phili, Laelii, quorum sapientiam temperantiamque in publicis privatisque, forensibus domesticisque rebus perspexeratis, tamen huiusce modi res commissa nemini est ut idem iudicaret et venderet et hoc faceret per quinquennium toto in orbe terrarum idemque agros vectigalis populi Romani abalienaret et, cum summam tantae pecuniae nullo teste sibi ipse ex sua voluntate fecisset, tum denique emeret a quibus vellet quod videretur.

[¶30] 65. Now then do you, O Romans, commit all these things to these men whom you suspect of aiming at this decemvirate; you will find some of them to whom nothing appears sufficient to possess, some to whom nothing seems sufficient to squander. Here I will not discuss what is sufficiently notorious, O Romans, or argue that it is not a custom handed down to you from your ancestors, that lands may be bought from private individuals for the purpose of settling portions of the common people in them by the public authority; or that there are not many laws by which private individuals have been established in the public domains. I will admit that I expected something of this sort from this illiterate and ill-mannered tribune of the people; but this most profitable and at the same time most discreditable traffic in buying and selling, I have always thought wholly inconsistent with the duty of a tribune, wholly inconsistent with the dignity of the Roman people.

> Latin: 65. vos nunc, Quirites, his hominibus haec omnia quos odorari hunc xviratum suspicamini; reperietis partem esse eorum quibus ad habendum, partem quibus ad consumendum nihil satis esse videatur. ego iam illud quod expeditissimum est ne disputo quidem, Quirites, non esse hanc nobis a maioribus relictam consuetudinem ut emantur agri a privatis quo plebes publice deducatur; omnibus legibus agris publicis privatos esse deductos. modi me aliquid ab hoc horrido ac truce tribuno plebis exspectasse ⟨confiteor⟩; hanc vero emendi et vendendi quaestuosissimam ac turpissimam mercaturam alienam actione tribunicia, alienam dignitate populi Romani semper putavi.

[¶31] 66. He orders that lands be sold. First of all I ask, What lands? in what situations? I do not wish the Roman people to be kept in suspense and uncertainty with obscure hopes and ignorant expectation. There is the Alban, and the Setino, and the Privernate, and the Fundan, and the Vescine, and the Falernian district; there is the district of Linternum, and Cuma, and Casinum. I hear. Going out at the other gate there is the Capenate, and Faliscan, and Sabine territory; there are the lands of Reati, and Venafrum, and Allifae, and Trebula. You have money enough to be able not only to buy all these lands and others like them, but even to surround them with a ring fence.

> Latin: 66. agros emi. quaero quos agros et quibus in locis? suspensam et incertam plebem Romanam obscura spe et caeca exspectatione pendere. Albanus ager est, Setinus, Privernas, Fundanus, Vescinus, Falernus, Literninus, Cumanus, Nucerinus.. alia porta Capenas, Faliscus, Sabinus ager, Reatinus; ⟨ab alia⟩ Venafranus, Allifanus, Trebulanus. tantam pecuniam qua hosce omnis agros et ceteros horum similis non modo emere verum etiam coacervare possis; cur eos non definis neque nominas, ut saltem deliberare plebes Romana possit quid intersit sua, quid expediat, quantum tibi in emendis et in vendendis rebus committendum putet? “,” inquit, “Italiam.” certa regio. quantulum interest utrum in Massici radices, an in Silam silvam deducamini?

[¶32] 67. Why do you not define them, nor name them, so that at least the Roman people may be able to consider what its own interests are-what is desirable for it—how much trust it thinks it desirable to repose in you in the matter of buying and selling things? I do define Italy, says he. It is a district sufficiently marked out. Indeed, how little difference does it make whether you are led down to the roots of the Massic Hill, or into some other part of Italy, or somewhere else! Come, you do not define the exact spot. What do you mean? Do you mean the nature of the land? But, says he, the law does say, “which can be ploughed or cultivated.” Which can be ploughed or cultivated, he says; not, which has been ploughed or cultivated. Is this now a law, or is it an advertisement of some sale of Neratius; in whose descriptions people used to find such sentences as these:—“Two hundred acres in which an olive garden may be made. Three hundred acres where vines can be planted.” Is this what you are going to buy with all your countless sums of money,—something which can be ploughed up or cultivated? Why, what soil is there so thin and miserable that it cannot be broken up by a plough? or what is there which is such a complete bed of stones that the skill of an agriculturist cannot get something out of it? Oh but, says he, I cannot name any lands positively, because I touch none against the will of the owner. This also is much more profitable than if one took land from a man against his will. For a calculation of gain will be entered into with reference to your money, and then only will land be sold when the sale is advantageous to both buyer and seller.

> Latin: 67. , non definis locum; quid? naturam agri? “,” inquit, qvi arari avt coli possit. “possit arari,” inquit, “aut coli,” non qui aratus aut cultus sit. Vtrum haec lex est, an tabula Veratianae auctionis? in qua scriptum fuisse aiunt: Ivgera cc in qvibvs olivetvm fieri potest, ivgera ccc vbi institvi vineae possvnt. tu emes ista innumerabili pecunia quod arari aut coli possit? solum tam exile et macrum est quod aratro perstringi non possit, aut quod est tam asperum saxetum in quo agricolarum cultus non elaboret? “,” inquit, “agros nominare non possum quia tangam nullum ab invito.”, Quirites, multo est quaestuosius quam si ab invito sumeret; inibitur enim ratio quaestus de vestra pecunia, et tum denique ager emetur cum idem expediet emptori et venditori.

[¶33] 68. But now see the force of this agrarian law. Even those men who are in occupation of the public domains will not quit possession, unless they are tempted by favourable conditions and by a large sum of money. Matters are changed. Formerly when mention of an agrarian law was made by a tribune of the people, immediately every one who was in occupation of any public lands, or who had any possessions the tenure of which was in the least unpopular, began to be alarmed. But this law enriches those men with fortunes, and relieves them from unpopularity. For how many men, O Romans, do you suppose there are, who are unable to stand under the extent of their possessions, who are unable to bear the unpopularity incurred by the ownership of lands granted by Sulla? who wish to sell them, but cannot find a purchaser? who, in fact, would be glad to get rid of those lands by any means whatever? They who, a little while ago, were in constant dread, day and night, of the name of a tribune; who feared your power, dreaded every mention of an agrarian law; they now will be begged and entreated to he so good as to give up to the decemvirs those lands which are partly public property, the possession of which is full of unpopularity and danger, at their own price. And this song this tribune of the people is singing now, not to yell, but in his own heart to himself.

> Latin: 68. videte vim legis agrariae. ei quidem qui agros publicos possident decedent de possessione, nisi erunt deducti optima condicione et pecunia maxima. ratio. cum erat a tribuno plebis mentio legis agrariae facta, continuo qui agros publicos aut qui possessiones invidiosas tenebant extimescebant; haec lex eos homines fortunis locupletat, invidia liberat. multos enim, Quirites, existimatis esse qui latitudinem possessionum tueri, qui invidiam Sullanorum agrorum ferre non possint, qui vendere cupiant, emptorem non reperiant, perdere iam denique illos agros ratione aliqua velint? paulo ante diem noctemque tribunicium nomen horrebant, vestram vim metuebant, mentionem legis agrariae pertimescebant, ei nunc etiam ultro rogabuntur atque orabuntur ut agros partim publicos, partim plenos invidiae, plenos periculi quanti ipsi velint xviris tradant. hoc carmen hic tribunus plebis non vobis, sed sibi intus canit.

[¶34] 69. He has a father-in-law, a most excellent man, who in those dark times of the republic got as much land as he wanted. He now seeing him yielding, oppressed weighed down with the burdens which Sulla put upon him, wishes to come to his assistance with this law of his, so as to enable him to get rid of the odium attached to him, and to get a sum of money too. And will not you hesitate to sell your revenues, acquired by the profuse expenditure of labour and blood on the part of your ancestors, for the purpose of heaping more riches on the landowners who have become so through Sulla, and of releasing them from danger?

> Latin: 69. socerum, virum optimum, qui tantum agri in illis rei publicae tenebris occupavit quantum concupivit. subvenire volt succumbenti iam et oppresso, Sullanis oneribus gravi, sua lege, ut liceat illi invidiam deponere, pecuniam condere. vos non dubitatis quin vectigalia vestra vendatis plurimo maiorum vestrorum sanguine et sudore quaesita, ut Sullanos possessores divitiis augeatis, periculo liberetis?

[¶35] 70. For there are two kinds of lands concerned, O Romans, in this purchase of the decemvirs. One of them the owners avoid on account of its unpopularity; the other on account of its miserable condition. The land seized and distributed by Sulla, and extended as far as possible by particular individuals, has so much unpopularity attached to it, that it cannot bear the rustle of a genuine fearless tribune of the people. All this land, at whatever price it is purchased, will be returned to you at a great price. There is another sort of lands—uncultivated on account of their barrenness, desolate and deserted on account of the unhealthiness of the situation—which will be bought of those men, who see that they must abandon them if they do not sell them. And in truth, that is what was said by this tribune of the people in the senate,—that the common people of the city had too much influence in the republic; that it must be drained off. For this is the expression which he used; as if he were speaking of some sewer, and not of a class of excellent citizens.

> Latin: 70. ad hanc emptionem xviralem duo genera agrorum spectant, Quirites. Eorum unum propter invidiam domini fugiunt, alterum propter vastitatem. Sullanus ager a certis hominibus latissime continuatus tantam habet invidiam ut veri ac fortis tribuni plebis stridorem unum perferre non possit. ager omnis, quoquo pretio coemptus erit, tamen ingenti pecunia nobis inducetur. genus agrorum propter sterilitatem incultum, propter pestilentiam vastum atque desertum emetur ab eis qui eos vident sibi esse, si non vendiderint, relinquendos. nimirum id est quod ab hoc tribuno plebis dictum est in senatu, urbanam plebem nimium in re publica posse; exhauriendam esse; hoc enim ⟨verbo⟩ est usus, quasi de aliqua sentina ac non de optimorum civium genere loqueretur.

[¶36] 71. But do you, O Romans, if you will be guided by me, preserve your present possession of popularity, of liberty, of your votes, of your dignity, of the city, of the forum, of the games, of the days of festivals, and of all your other enjoyments. Unless, by chance, you prefer leaving all these things and this light of the republic, to be settled in the midst of the droughts of Sipontum, or in the pestilential districts of Salapia, under the leadership of Rullus. But let him tell us what lands he is going to buy; let him show what he is going to give, and to whom he is going to give it. But can you possibly, tell me, allow him the power of selling any imaginable city, or land, or revenue, or kingdom that he likes, and then buying some tract of sand or some swamp? Although this is a very remarkable point, that according to this law everything is to be sold, all the money is to be collected and amassed together, before one perch of ground is bought. Then the law orders him to proceed to buy; but forbids any purchases to be made against the inclination or the owner.

> Latin: 71. vero, Quirites, si me audire voltis, retinete istam possessionem gratiae, libertatis, suffragiorum, dignitatis, urbis, fori, ludorum, festorum dierum, ceterorum omnium commodorum, nisi forte mavoltis relictis his rebus atque hac luce rei publicae in Sipontina siccitate aut in Salpinorum ⟨plenis⟩ pestilentiae finibus Rullo duce conlocari. dicat quos agros empturus sit; ostendat et quid et quibus daturus sit. Vt vero, cum omnis urbis, agros, vectigalia, regna vendiderit, tum harenam aliquam aut paludes emat, id vos potestis, quaeso, concedere? illud est egregium quod hac lege ante omnia veneunt, ante pecuniae coguntur et coacervantur quam gleba una ematur. emi iubet, ab invito vetat.

## 4. Speech 2 · sections 72–103

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/4/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/4/#p-N

[¶0] 72. I ask now, suppose there is no one who is willing to sell, what is to become of the money? The law says it is not to be brought into the treasury. It forbids its being refunded. The decemvirs, then, will keep all that money. Land will not be bought for you. After having alienated your revenues, harassed your allies, drained the confederate kings and all nations of their whole property, they will have the money, and you will not have the lands. Oh, says he, they will easily be induced by the magnitude of the sums offered to sell the lands. Then the effect of the law is to be thus: that we are to sell our property at whatever price we can get for it; and that we are to buy other men's property at whatever price they choose to put upon it.

> Latin: 72. , si qui velint vendere non fuerint, quid pecuniae fiet? in aerarium lex vetat, exigi prohibet. pecuniam omnem xviri tenebunt, vobis ager non emetur; vectigalibus abalienatis, sociis vexatis, regibus atque omnibus gentibus exinanitis illi pecunias habebunt, vos agros non habebitis. “,” inquit, “adducentur pecuniae magnitudine ut velint vendere.” ea lex est qua nostra vendamus quanti possimus, aliena emamus quanti possessores velint.

[¶1] 73. And does the law order men to be conducted as settlers by those decemvirs, into those lands which have been bought in accordance with the provisions of this law? What? Is not the whole plan of such a nature that it does not make any difference to the republic whether a colony is led into that place or not? Is it a place which requires a colony? [a place which refuses one?] … And in this class of places, as in the other parts of the republic, it is worthwhile to recollect the diligence exhibited by our ancestors; who established colonies in such suitable places to guard against all suspicion of danger, that they appeared to be not so much towns of Italy as bulwarks of the empire. These men are going to lead colonies into those lands which they have bought. Will they do so, even if it be not for the interests of the republic to do so?

> Latin: 73. in hos agros qui hac lege empti sint colonias ab his xviris deduci iubet.? omnisne locus eius modi est ut nihil intersit rei publicae, colonia deducatur in eum locum necne, an est locus qui coloniam postulet, est ⟨qui⟩ plane recuset? in genere sicut in ceteris rei publicae partibus est operae pretium diligentiam maiorum recordari, qui colonias sic idoneis in locis contra suspicionem periculi conlocarunt ut esse non oppida Italiae, sed propugnacula imperi viderentur. deducent colonias in eos agros quos emerint; etiamne si rei publicae non expediat?

[¶2] 74. “And into whatever places besides they shall think fit.” What is the reason, therefore, that they may not be able to settle a colony on the Janiculan Hill; and to place a garrison of their own for their own protection on your heads and necks? Will you not define how many colonies you choose to have led forth, into what districts they are to be led, and of what number of colonists they are to consist? Will you occupy a place which you consider suitable for the violence which perhaps you are meditating? Will you complete the number of the colony, and will you strengthen it by whatever garrison you may think advisable? Will you employ the revenues and all the resources of the Roman people to coerce and oppress the Roman people itself, and to bring it under the dominion and power of those intolerable decemvirs?

> Latin: 74. in qvae loca praeterea videbitvr. igitur est causae quin coloniam in Ianiculum possint deducere et suum praesidium in capite atque cervicibus nostris conlocare? non definias quot colonias, in quae loca, quo numero colonorum deduci velis, tu occupes locum quem idoneum ad vim tuam iudicaris, compleas numero, confirmes praesidio quo velis, populi Romani vectigalibus atque omnibus copiis ipsum populum Romanum coerceas, opprimas, redigas in istam xviralem dicionem ac potestatem?

[¶3] 75. But I beg you now, O Romans, to take notice how he is planning to besiege and occupy all Italy with his garrison. He permits the decemvirs to lead colonists, whomsoever he may choose to select, into every municipality and into every colony in all Italy; and he orders lands to be assigned to those colonists. Is there any obscurity here in the way in which greater powers and greater defences than your liberty can tolerate are sought after? Is there any obscurity here in the manner in which kingly power is established? Is there any disguise about your liberty being wholly destroyed? For when it is one and the same body of men who with their resources lay siege, as it were, to all the riches and all the population,—that is to say, to all Italy,—and who propose to hold all your liberties in blockade by their garrisons and colonies,—what hope, yes, what possibility even is left to you of ever recovering your liberty?

> Latin: 75. Vt vero totam Italiam suis praesidiis obsidere atque occupare cogitet, quaeso, Quirites, cognoscite. xviris ut in omnia municipia, in omnis colonias totius Italiae colonos deducant quos velint, eisque colonis agros dari iubet. obscure maiores opes quam libertas vestra pati potest, et maiora praesidia quaeruntur, num obscure regnum constituitur, num obscure libertas vestra tollitur? cum idem omnem pecuniam, maximam multitudinem ⟨obtinebunt⟩, idem totam Italiam suis opibus obsidebunt, idem vestram libertatem suis praesidiis et coloniis interclusam tenebunt, quae spes tandem, quae facultas recuperandae vestrae libertatis relinquetur?

[¶4] 76. But the Campanian district, the most fertile section of the whole world, is to be divided in accordance with the provisions of this law; and a colony is to be led to Capua, a most honourable and beautiful city. But what can we say to this? I will speak first of your advantage, O Romans. Then I will recur to the question of honour and dignity; so that, if any one takes particular pleasure in the excellence of any town or any district, he may not expect anything; and if any one is influenced by the idea of the dignity of the business, he may resist this fictitious liberality. And first of all I will speak of the town, in case there is any one whose fancy is more taken with Capua than with Rome. He orders five thousand colonists to be enrolled for the purpose of being settled at Capua; and to make up this number, each of the decemvirs is to choose five hundred men.

> Latin: 76. enim ager Campanus hac lege dividetur orbi terrae pulcherrimus et Capuam colonia deducetur, urbem amplissimam atque ornatissimam. ad haec possumus dicere? commodo prius vestro dicam, Quirites; deinde ad amplitudinem et dignitatem revertar, ut, si quis agri aut oppidi bonitate delectatur, ne quid exspectet, si quem rei indignitas commovet, ut huic simulatae largitioni resistat. primum de oppido dicam, si quis est forte quem Capua magis quam Roma delectet. V milia colonorum Capuam scribi iubet; ad hunc numerum quingenos sibi singuli sumunt.

[¶5] 77. I entreat you, do not deceive yourselves about this matter. Consider it in its true light, and with due care. Do you think that in this number there will be room for you yourselves, or for any men like you—quiet, easy men? If there be room for all of you, or even for the greater part of you—although my regard for your honour compels me to keep awake day and night, and to watch with eager eyes every part of the republic—still I will close my eyes for a time, if your advantage will be at all promoted by my doing so. But, if a place and a city is being looked out for five thousand men, picked out as fit instruments for violence, and atrocity, and slaughter, from which they may be able to make war, and which may be able to equip them properly for war,—will you still suffer a power to be raised and garrisons to be armed in your own name against yourselves? Will you allow cities and lands and forces to be arrayed against your interest?

> Latin: 77. , nolite vosmet ipsos consolari; vere et diligenter considerate. vobis aut vestri similibus integris, quietis, otiosis hominibus in hoc numero locum fore putatis? est omnibus vobis maiori⟨ve⟩ vestrum parti, quamquam me vester honos vigilare dies atque noctes et intentis oculis omnis rei publicae partis intueri iubet, tamen paulisper, si ita commodum vestrum fert, conivebo. si v hominum milibus ad vim, facinus caedemque delectis locus atque urbs quae bellum facere atque instruere possit quaeritur, tamenne patiemini vestro nomine contra vos firmari opes, armari praesidia, urbis, agros, copias comparari?

[¶6] 78. For they themselves have desired the Campanian district which they hold out a hope of to you. They will lead thither their own friends, in whose name they themselves may occupy it and enjoy it. Besides all this, they will make purchases; they will add the other ten acres to their present estate. For if they say that that is not lawful by the law; by the Cornelian law it certainly is not. But we see (to say nothing about lands at a distance) that the district of Praeneste is occupied by a few people. And I do not see that anything is wanting to their fortunes, except farms of such a description that they may be able by the supplies which they derive from them to support their very large households, and the expense of their farms near Cumae and Puteoli. But if he be thinking of what is for your advantage, then let him come, and let him discuss with me, face to face, the decision of the Campanian district.

> Latin: 78. agrum quidem Campanum quem vobis ostentant ipsi concupiverunt; deducent suos, quorum nomine ipsi teneant et fruantur; coement praeterea; ista dena iugera continuabunt. si dicent per legem id non licere, ne per Corneliam quidem licet; at videmus, ut longinqua mittamus, agrum Praenestinum a paucis possideri. istorum pecuniis quicquam aliud deesse video nisi eius modi fundos quorum subsidio familiarum magnitudines et Cumanorum ac Puteolanorum praediorum sumptus sustentare possint. si vestrum commodum spectat, veniat et coram mecum de agri Campani divisione disputet.

[¶7] 79. I asked him on the first of January, to what men he was going to distribute that land, and on what principles. He answered that he should begin with the Romilian tribe. In the first place now, what is the object of such pride and arrogance as to cut off one portion of the people, and to neglect the order of the tribes? to contrive to give land to the country people who have it already, before any is given to the city people, to whom the hope of land and the pleasure they are to derive from it is held out as an inducement? Or if he says that this is not what he said, and if he has some plan in his head to satisfy all of you, let him produce it; let him allot it in divisions of ten acres; let him put forth your names in a regular arrangement from the district of the Subura to that of the Arnus. If you perceive not only that ten acres are not given to you, but that it is actually impossible for such a body of men to be collected together in the district of Campania, will you nevertheless allow the republic to be harassed, the majesty of the Roman people to be despised, and you yourselves to be deluded any longer by the tribune of the people?

> Latin: 79. ex eo Kalendis Ianuariis quibus hominibus et quem ad modum illum agrum esset distributurus. a Romilia tribu se initium esse facturum. quae est ista superbia et contumelia ut populi pars amputetur, ordo tribuum neglegatur, ante rusticis detur ager, qui habent, quam urbanis, quibus ista agri spes et iucunditas ostenditur?, si hoc ab se dictum negat et satis facere omnibus vobis cogitat, proferat; in iugera dena discribat, a Suburana usque ad Arniensem nomina vestra proponat. non modo dena iugera dari vobis sed ne constipari quidem tantum numerum hominum posse in agrum Campanum intellegetis, tamenne vexari rem publicam, contemni maiestatem populi Romani, deludi vosmet ipsos diutius a tribuno plebis patiemini?

[¶8] 80. But if that land could possibly come to you, would you not rather that it remained as part of your patrimony? Will you allow the most beautiful estate belonging to the Roman people—the main source of your riches, your chief ornament in time of peace, your chief source of supply in time of war, the foundation of your revenues, the granary from which your legions are fed, your consolation in time of scarcity—to be ruined? Have you forgotten what great armies you supported by means of the produce of Campania, in the Italian war, when you had lost all your ordinary sources of revenue? Are you ignorant that all those magnificent revenues of the Roman people are often dependent on a very slight impulse of fortune-on a critical moment? What will all the harbours of Asia, what will the plains of Syria, what will all our transmarine revenues avail us, if the very slightest alarm of pirates or enemies be once given?

> Latin: 80. si posset ager iste ad vos pervenire, nonne eum tamen in patrimonio vestro remanere malletis? Vnumne fundum pulcherrimum populi Romani, caput vestrae pecuniae, pacis ornamentum, subsidium belli, fundamentum vectigalium, horreum legionum, solacium annonae disperire patiemini? obliti estis Italico bello amissis ceteris vectigalibus quantos agri Campani fructibus exercitus alueritis? an ignoratis cetera illa magnifica populi Romani vectigalia perlevi saepe momento fortunae inclinatione temporis pendere? nos Asiae portus, quid Syriae ora, quid omnia transmarina vectigalia iuvabunt tenuissima suspicione praedonum aut hostium iniecta?

[¶9] 81. But as our revenues derived from the territory of Campania are of such a nature that they are always at home, and that they are protected by the bulwark of all our Italian towns, so they are neither hostile to us in time of war, nor variable in their productiveness, nor unfortunate from any accidents of climate or soil. Our ancestors were so far from diminishing what they had taken from the Campanians, that they even bought additional lands to be added to it, from those from whom they could not reasonably take it without purchase. For which reason, neither the two Gracchi, who thought a great deal of what was advantageous for the Roman people, nor Lucius Sulla, who gave away everything without the slightest scruple to any one he pleased, ever ventured to touch the Campanian territory. Rullus was the first man to venture to remove the republic from that property, of which neither the liberality of the Gracchi nor the uncontrolled power of Sulla had deprived it. That land which now, as you pass by it, you say is yours, and which foreigners whose road lies through it hear is yours, when it is divided will neither be nor be said to be yours.

> Latin: 81. vero hoc agri Campani vectigal, Quirites, eius modi est ut cum domi sit et omnibus praesidiis oppidorum tegatur, tum neque bellis infestum nec fructibus varium nec caelo ac loco calamitosum esse soleat. nostri non solum id quod ⟨de⟩ Campanis ceperant non imminuerunt verum etiam quod ei tenebant quibus adimi iure non poterat coemerunt. de causa nec duo Gracchi qui de plebis Romanae commodis plurimum cogitaverunt, nec L. Sulla qui omnia sine ulla religione quibus voluit est dilargitus, agrum Campanum attingere ausus est; Rullus exstitit qui ex ea possessione rem publicam demoveret ex qua nec Gracchorum benignitas eam nec Sullae dominatio deiecisset. agrum nunc praetereuntes vestrum esse dicitis et quem per iter qui faciunt, externi homines, vestrum esse audiunt, is, cum erit divisus, ⟨neque erit vester⟩ neque vester esse dicetur. qui homines possidebunt?

[¶10] 82. And who are the men who will possess it? In the first place they are active men, prepared for deeds of violence, willing for sedition, who, the very moment the decemvirs clap their hands, may be armed against the citizens and ready for slaughter. In the next place, you will see the whole district of Campania distributed among a few men already rich in wealth and power. Meanwhile you, who have received from your ancestors those most beautiful homes, if I may so say, of your revenues, which they won by their arms, will not have left to you one single clod of earth of all your paternal hereditary possessions. And there will be this difference between your diligence and that or private individuals, that when Publius Lentulus, while he was chief of the senate, had been sent into those parts by our ancestors, in order to purchase at the public expense those lands, being private property, which projected into the public domain in Campania, he is said to have reported that he had not been able to purchase a certain man's estate for money; and that he who had refused to sell it, had given this reason why he could not possibly be induced to sell it, that, though he had many farms, this was the only farm from which he never had had any bad news.

> Latin: 82. quidem acres, ad vim prompti, ad seditionem parati qui, simul ac xviri concrepuerint, armati in civis et expediti ad caedem esse possint; deinde ad paucos opibus et copiis adfluentis totum agrum Campanum perferri videbitis. interea, qui illas a maioribus pulcherrimas vectigalium sedis armis captas accepistis, gleba nulla de paternis atque avitis possessionibus relinquetur. quantum intererit inter vestram et privatorum diligentiam!? Cum a maioribus nostris P. Lentulus, qui princeps senatus ⟨fuit⟩, in ea loca missus esset ut privatos agros qui in publicum Campanum incurrebant pecunia publica coemeret, dicitur renuntiasse nulla se pecunia fundum cuiusdam emere potuisse, eumque qui nollet vendere ideo negasse se adduci posse uti venderet quod, cum pluris fundos haberet, ex illo solo fundo numquam malum nuntium audisset.

[¶11] 83. Is it so? Did this reason weigh with a private individual and shall it not weigh with the Roman people to prevent their giving up the district of Campania to private individuals for nothing, at the request of Rullus? And the Roman people may say the very same thing about this revenue, that he is said to have said about his farm. Asia for many years during the Mithridatic war produced you no revenue. There was no revenue from the Spains in the time of Sertorius. Manius Aquilius even lent corn to the Sicilian cities at the time of the Servile war. But from this tributary land no bad news was ever heard. Other of our revenues are at times weighed down by the distresses of war; but the sinews of war are even supplied to us by this tributary land.

> Latin: 83. vero? privatum haec causa commovit; populum Romanum ne agrum Campanum privatis gratis Rullo rogante tradat non commovebit? idem populus Romanus de hoc vectigali potest dicere quod ille de suo fundo dixisse dicitur. Asia multos annos vobis fructum Mithridatico bello non tulit, Hispaniarum vectigal temporibus Sertorianis nullum fuit, Siciliae civitatibus bello fugitivorum M’. Aquilius etiam mutuum frumentum dedit; at ex hoc vectigali numquam malus nuntius auditus est. vectigalia belli difficultatibus adfliguntur; hoc vectigali etiam belli difficultates sustentantur.

[¶12] 84. Besides, in this allotment of lands which is to take place, even that, which is said in other cases, cannot be said here, namely, that lands ought not to be left deserted by the people, and without the cultivation of free men. For this is what I say,—if the Campanian land be divided, the common people is driven out of and banished from the lands, not settled and established in them. For the whole of the Campanian district is cultivated and occupied by the common people, and by a most virtuous and moderate common people. And that race of men of most virtuous habits, that race of excellent farmers and excellent soldiers, is wholly driven out by this tribune who is so devoted to the people. And these miserable men, born and brought up on those lands, practised in tilling the ground, will have no place to which, when so suddenly driven out, they can betake themselves. The entire possession of the Campanian district will be given over to these robust, vigorous, and audacious satellites of the decemvirs. And, as you now say of your ancestors, “Our ancestors left us these lands,” so your posterity will say of you, “Our ancestors received these lands from their ancestors, but lost them.”

> Latin: 84. in hac adsignatione agrorum ne illud quidem dici potest quod in ceteris, agros desertos a plebe atque a cultura hominum liberorum esse non oportere. enim dico, si Campanus ager dividatur, exturbari et expelli plebem ex agris, non constitui et conlocari. enim ager Campanus colitur et possidetur a plebe, et a plebe optima et modestissima; quod genus hominum optime moratum, optimorum et aratorum et militum, ab hoc plebicola tribuno plebis funditus eicitur. illi miseri nati in illis agris et educati, glebis subigendis exercitati, quo se subito conferant non habebunt; his robustis et valentibus et audacibus xvirum satellitibus agri Campani possessio tota tradetur, et, ut vos nunc de vestris maioribus praedicatis: “hunc agrum nobis maiores nostri reliquerunt,” sic vestri posteri de vobis praedicabunt: “hunc agrum patres nostri acceptum a patribus suis perdiderunt.”

[¶13] 85. I think, indeed, that if the Campus Martius were to be divided, and if every one of you had two feet of standing ground allotted to him in it, still you would prefer to enjoy the whole of it together, than for each individual to have a small portion for his own private property. Wherefore, even if some portion of these lands were to come to every individual among you.—which is now indeed held out to you as a lure, but is in reality destined for others,—still they would be a more honourable possession to you when possessed by the whole body, than if distributed in bits to each citizen. But now when you are not to have any share in them, but when they are being prepared for others and taken from you, will you not most vigorously resist this law as you would an armed enemy, fighting in defence of your lands. He adds the Stellate plain to the Campanian district, and in the two together he allots twelve acres to each settler. As if the difference was slight between the Stellate and Campanian districts!

> Latin: 85. existimo: si iam campus Martius dividatur et uni cuique vestrum ubi consistat bini pedes adsignentur, tamen promiscue toto quam proprie parva frui parte malitis. re etiam si ad vos esset singulos aliquid ex hoc agro perventurum qui vobis ostenditur, aliis comparatur, tamen honestius eum vos universi quam singuli possideretis. vero cum ad vos nihil pertineat, sed paretur aliis, eripiatur vobis, nonne acerrime, tamquam armato hosti, sic huic legi pro vestris agris resistetis? Stellatem campum agro Campano et in eo duodena discribit in singulos homines iugera. vero paulum differat ager Campanus a;

[¶14] 86. And now a multitude is sought out, by which those towns are to be peopled. For I have said before that leave is given by the law for them to occupy with their settlers whatever municipalities and whatever old colonies they choose. They will fill the municipality of Cales; they will overwhelm Teanum; they will extend a chain of garrisons through Atella, and Cumae, and Naples, and Pompeii, and Nuceria; and the whole of Puteoli, which is at present a free city, in the full enjoyment of its ancient rights and liberties, they will occupy with a new people, and with a foreign body of men. Then that standard of a Campanian colony, greatly to be dreaded by this empire, will be erected at Capua by the decemvirs. Then that other Rome, which has been heard of before, will be sought in opposition to this Rome, the common country of all of us.

> Latin: 86. sed multitudo, Quirites, quaeritur qua illa omnia oppida compleantur. dixi antea lege permitti ut quae velint municipia, quas velint veteres colonias colonis suis occupent. Calenum municipium complebunt, Teanum oppriment, Atellam, Cumas, Neapolim, Pompeios, Nuceriam suis praesidiis devincient, Puteolos vero qui nunc in sua potestate sunt, suo iure libertateque utuntur, totos novo populo atque adventiciis copiis occupabunt. illud vexillum Campanae coloniae vehementer huic imperio timendum Capuam a xviris inferetur, tunc contra hanc Romam, communem patriam omnium nostrum, illa altera Roma quaeretur.

[¶15] 87. Impious men are endeavouring to transfer our republic to that town in which our ancestors decided that there should be no republic at all, when they resolved that there were but three cities in the whole earth, Carthage, Corinth, and Capua, which could aspire to the power and name of the imperial city. Carthage has been destroyed, because, both from its vast population, and from the natural advantages of its situation, being surrounded with harbours, and fortified with walls, it appeared to project out of Africa, and to threaten the most productive islands of the Roman people. Of Corinth there is scarcely a vestige left. For it was situated on the straits and in the very jaws of Greece, in such a way that by land it held the keys of many countries, and that it almost connected two seas, equally desirable for purposes of navigation, which were separated by the smallest possible distance. These towns, though they were out of the sight of the empire, our ancestors not only crushed, but, as I have said before, utterly destroyed, that they might never be able to recover and rise again and flourish.

> Latin: 87. id oppidum homines nefarie rem publicam vestram transferre conantur, quo in oppido maiores nostri nullam omnino rem publicam esse voluerunt, qui tris solum urbis in terris omnibus, Carthaginem, Corinthum, Capuam, statuerunt posse imperi gravitatem ac nomen sustinere. Carthago est, quod cum hominum copiis, tum ipsa natura ac loco, succincta portibus, armata muris, excurrere ex Africa, imminere duabus fructuosissimis insulis populi Romani videbatur. Corinthi vestigium vix relictum est. enim posita in angustiis atque in faucibus Graeciae sic ut terra claustra locorum teneret et duo maria maxime navigationi diversa paene coniungeret, cum pertenui discrimine separentur. quae procul erant a conspectu imperi non solum adflixerunt sed etiam, ne quando recreata exsurgere atque erigere se possent, funditus, ut dixi, sustulerunt.

[¶16] 88. Concerning Capua they deliberated much and long. Public documents are extant, O Romans; many resolutions of the senate are extant. Those wise men decided that, if they took away from the Campanians their lands, their magistrates, their senate, and the public council of that city, they would leave no image whatever of the republic; there would be no reason whatever for their fearing Capua. Therefore you will find this written in ancient records, that there should be a city which might be able to supply the means for the cultivation of the Campanian district, that there should be a place for collecting the crops in, and storing them, in order that the farmers, when wearied with the cultivation of the lands, might avail themselves of the homes afforded them by the city; and that on that account the buildings of the city were not destroyed.

> Latin: 88. Capua multum est et diu consultatum; exstant litterae, Quirites, publicae, sunt senatus consulta complura. homines sapientes, si agrum Campanis ademissent, magistratus, senatum, publicum ex illa urbe consilium sustulissent, imaginem rei publicae nullam reliquissent, nihil fore quod Capuam timeremus. hoc perscriptum in monumentis veteribus reperietis, ut esset urbs quae res eas quibus ager Campanus coleretur suppeditare posset, ut esset locus comportandis condendisque fructibus, ut aratores cultu agrorum defessi urbis domiciliis uterentur, idcirco illa aedificia non esse deleta.

[¶17] 89. See, now, how wide is the distance between the counsels of our ancestors and the insane projects of these men. They chose Capua to be a refuge for our farmers,—a market for the country people,—a barn and granary for the Campanian district. These men, having expelled the farmers, have wasted and squandered your revenues, are raising this same Capua into the seat of a new republic, are preparing a vast mass to be an enemy to the old republic. But if our ancestors had thought that any one in such an illustrious empire, in such an admirable constitution as that of the Roman people, would have been like Marcus Brutus or Publius Rullus, (for these are the only two men whom we have hitherto seen, who have wished to transfer all this republic to Capua,) they would not, in truth, have left even the name of that city in existence.

> Latin: 89. quantum intervallum sit interiectum inter maiorum nostrorum consilia et inter istorum hominum dementiam. Capuam receptaculum aratorum, nundinas rusticorum, cellam atque horreum Campani agri esse voluerunt, hi expulsis aratoribus, effusis ac dissipatis fructibus vestris eandem Capuam sedem novae rei publicae constituunt, molem contra veterem rem publicam comparant. si maiores nostri existimassent quemquam in tam inlustri imperio et tam praeclara populi Romani disciplina ⟨M.⟩ Bruti aut P. Rulli similem futurum —hos enim nos duos adhuc vidimus qui hanc rem publicam Capuam totam transferre vellent—profecto nomen illius urbis non reliquissent.

[¶18] 90. But they thought, that in the case of Corinth and Carthage, even if they had taken away their senates and their magistrates, and deprived the citizens of the lands, still men would not be wanting who would restore those cities, and change the existing state of things in them before we could hear of it. But here, under the very eyes of the senate and Roman people, they thought that nothing could take place which might not be put down and extinguished before it had got to any head, or had assumed any definite shape. Nor did that matter deceive those men, endued as they were with divine wisdom and prudence. For after the consulship of Quintus Fulvius and Quintus Fabius, by whom, when they were consuls, Capua was defeated and taken, I will not say there has been nothing done, but nothing has been even imagined in that city against this republic. Many wars have been waged since that time with kings,—with Philip, and Antiochus, and Perses, and Pseudophilippus, and Aristonicus, and Mithridates, and others. Many terrible wars have existed beside-—the Carthaginian, the Corinthian, and the Numantian wars. There have been also many domestic seditions, which I pass over. There have been wars with our allies,—the Fregellan war, the Marsic war; in all which domestic and foreign wars Capua has not only not been any hindrance to us, but has afforded us most seasonable assistance, in providing the means of war, in equipping our armies, and receiving them in their houses and homes.

> Latin: 90. arbitrabantur Corinthi et Carthagini, etiam si senatum et magistratus sustulissent agrumque civibus ademissent, tamen non defore qui illa restituerent atque qui ante omnia commutarent quam nos audire possemus; hic vero in oculis senatus populique Romani nihil posse exsistere quod non ante exstingui atque opprimi posset quam plane exortum ⟨esset⟩ ac natum. vero ea res fefellit homines divina mente et consilio praeditos. post Q. Fulvium Q. Fabium consules, quibus consulibus Capua devicta atque capta est, nihil est in illa urbe contra hanc rem publicam non dico factum, sed nihil omnino est cogitatum. postea bella gesta cum regibus, Philippo, Antiocho, Persa, Pseudophilippo, Aristonico, Mithridate et ceteris; multa praeterea bella gravia, Carthaginiense iii, Corinthium, Numantinum; multae in hac re publica seditiones domesticae quas praetermitto; bella cum sociis, Fregellanum, Marsicum; quibus omnibus domesticis externisque bellis Capua non modo non obfuit sed opportunissimam se nobis praebuit et ad bellum instruendum et ad exercitus ornandos et tectis ac sedibus suis recipiendos.

[¶19] 91. There were no men in the city, who, by evil-disposed assemblies, by turbulent resolutions of the senate, or by unjust exertions of authority, threw the republic into confusion, and sought pretexts for revolution. For no one had any power of summoning an assembly, or of convening any public council. Men were not carried away by any desire for renown, because where there are no honours publicly conferred, there there can be no covetous desire of reputation. They were not quarreling with one another out of rivalry or out of ambition; for they had nothing left to quarrel about,—they had nothing which they could seek for in opposition to one another,—they had no room for dissensions. Therefore, it was in accordance with a deliberate system, and with real wisdom, that our ancestors changed the natural arrogance and intolerable ferocity of the Campanians into a thoroughly inactive and lazy tranquillity. And by this means they avoided the reproach of cruelty, because they did not destroy from off the face of Italy a most beautiful city; and they provided well for the future, in that, having cut out all the sinews of the city, they left the city itself enfeebled and disabled.

> Latin: 91. non inerant in urbe qui malis contionibus,turbulentis senatus consultis, iniquis imperiis rem publicam miscerent et rerum novarum causam aliquam quaererent. enim contionandi potestas erat cuiquam nec consili capiendi publici; non gloriae cupiditate efferebantur, propterea quod, ubi honos publice non est, ibi gloriae cupiditas esse non potest; non contentione, non ambitione discordes. enim supererat de quo certarent, nihil quod contra peterent, nihil ubi dissiderent. illam Campanam adrogantiam atque intolerandam ferociam ratione et consilio maiores nostri ad inertissimum ac desidiosissimum otium perduxerunt. et crudelitatis infamiam effugerunt quod urbem ex Italia pulcherrimam non sustulerunt, et multum in posterum providerunt quod nervis urbis omnibus exsectis urbem ipsam solutam ac debilitatam reliquerunt.

[¶20] 92. These designs of our ancestors seemed, as I have said before, blamable in the eyes of Marcus Brutus and Publius Rullus. Nor, O Publius Rullus, do those omens and auspices encountered by Marcus Brutus deter you from similar madness. For both he who led a colony to Capua … and they who took upon themselves the magistracy there, and who had any share in the conducting a colony to that spot, and in the honours to be had there, or in the offices to be enjoyed there, have all suffered the most terrible punishments allotted to the wicked. And since I have made mention of Brutus and that time, I will also relate what I saw myself when I had arrived at Capua,—when the colony had been just established there by Lucius Considius and Sextus Saltius the praetors, (as they called themselves,) that you may understand how much pride the situation itself inspires its inhabitants with; so great that it was very intelligible and visible when the colony had only been settled there a few days.

> Latin: 92. consilia maiorum M. Bruto, ut antea dixi, reprehendenda et P. Rullo visa sunt; neque te, P. Rulle, omina illa M. Bruti atque auspicia a simili furore deterrent. et ipse qui deduxit, et qui magistratum Capuae illo creante ceperunt, et qui aliquam partem illius deductionis, honoris, muneris attigerunt, omnis acerbissimas impiorum poenas pertulerunt. quoniam ⟨M.⟩ Bruti atque illius temporis feci mentionem, commemorabo id quod egomet vidi, cum venissem Capuam colonia iam deducta L. Considio et Sex. Saltio, quem ad modum ipsi loquebantur, “praetoribus,” ut intellegatis quantam locus ipse adferat superbiam, quae paucis diebus quibus illo colonia deducta est perspici atque intellegi potuit.

[¶21] 93. For in the first place, as I said, though similar officers in the other colonies are called duumvirs, these men chose to call themselves praetors. But if their first year of office inspired them with such desires as that, do not you suppose that in a few years they would be likely to take a fancy to the name of consuls? In the next place, they were preceded by lictors, not with staves, but with two faces, just as lictors go before the praetors here. The greater victims were placed in the forum, which, after they had been approved by the college of priests, were sacrificed at the voice of the crier, and the music of a flute-player, by the praetors from their tribunal, as they are at Rome by us who are consuls. After that, the conscript fathers were summoned. But after this, it was almost more than one could endure, to see the countenance of Considius. The man whom we had seen at Rome shriveled and wasted away, in a contemptible and abject condition, when we saw him at Capua with Campanian haughtiness and royal pride, we seemed to be looking at the Magii, and Blossii and Jubelii.

> Latin: 93. primum, id quod dixi, cum ceteris in coloniis iiviri appellentur, hi se praetores appellari volebant. primus annus hanc cupiditatem attulisset, nonne arbitramini paucis annis fuisse consulum nomen appetituros? anteibant lictores non cum bacillis, sed, ut hic praetoribus urbanis anteeunt, cum fascibus bini. hostiae maiores in foro constitutae, quae ab his praetoribus de tribunali, sicut a nobis consulibus, de consili sententia probatae ad praeconem et ad tibicinem immolabantur. patres conscripti vocabantur. vero voltum Considi videre ferendum vix erat. hominem “vegrandi macie torridum” Romae contemptum, abiectum videbamus, hunc Capuae Campano fastidio ac regio spiritu cum videremus, Blossios mihi videbar illos videre ac Vibellios.

[¶22] 94. And now, in what alarm all the common people were! In the Alban and Seplasian road, what crowds assembled, of men inquiring what edict the praetor had issued? where he was supping? what he had said? And we who had come to Capua from Rome, were not called guests, but foreigners and strangers.

> Latin: 94. vero qui metus erat tunicatorum illorum! et in Albana et Seplasia quae concursatio percontantium quid praetor edixisset, ubi cenaret, quo denuntiasset! autem, hinc Roma qui veneramus, iam non hospites, sed peregrini atque advenae nominabamur.

[¶23] 95. Ought we not to think that those men who foresaw all these things, O Romans, ought to be venerated and worshipped by us, and classed almost in the number of the immortal gods? For what was it which they saw? They saw this, which I entreat you now to remark and take notice of. Manners are not implanted in men so much by the blood and family, as by those things which are supplied by the nature of the plan towards forming habits of life, by which we are nourished, and by which we live. The Carthaginians, a fraudulent and lying nation, were tempted to a fondness for deceiving by a desire of gain, not by their blood, but by the character of their situation because, owing to the number of their harbours, they had frequent intercourse with merchants and foreigners. The Ligurians, being mountaineers, are a hardy and rustic tribe. The land itself taught them to be so by producing nothing which was not extracted from it by skillful cultivation, and by great labour. The Campanians were always proud from the excellence of their soil, and the magnitude of their crops, and the healthiness, and position, and beauty of their city. From that abundance, and from this affluence in all things, in the first place, originated those qualities; arrogance, which demanded of our ancestors that one of the consuls should be chosen from Capua: and in the second place, that luxury which conquered Hannibal himself by pleasure, who up to that time had proved invincible in arms.

> Latin: 95. qui prospexerint, maiores nostros dico, Quirites, non eos in deorum immortalium numero venerandos a nobis et colendos putatis? enim viderunt? quod nunc vos, quaeso, perspicite atque cognoscite. ingenerantur hominibus mores tam a stirpe generis ac seminis quam ex eis rebus quae ab ipsa natura nobis ad vitae consuetudinem suppeditantur, quibus alimur et vivimus. Carthaginienses fraudulenti et mendaces non genere, sed natura loci, quod propter portus suos multis et variis mercatorum et advenarum sermonibus ad studium fallendi studio quaestus vocabantur. Ligures duri atque agrestes; docuit ager ipse nihil ferendo nisi multa cultura et magno labore quaesitum. Campani semper superbi bonitate agrorum et fructuum magnitudine, urbis salubritate, descriptione, pulchritudine. hac copia atque omnium rerum adfluentia primum illa nata est adrogantia qua a maioribus nostris alterum Capua consulem postularunt, deinde ea luxuries quae ipsum Hannibalem armis etiam tum invictum voluptate vicit.

[¶24] 96. When those decemvirs shall, in accordance with the law of Rullus, have led six hundred colonists to that place; when they shall have established there a hundred decurions, ten augurs, and six priests, what do you suppose their courage, and violence, and ferocity will be then? They will laugh at and despise Rome, situated among mountains and valleys, stuck up, as it were, and raised aloft, amid garrets, with not very good roads, and with very narrow streets, in comparison with their own Capua, stretched out along a most open plain, and in comparison of their own beautiful thoroughfares. And as for the lands, they will not think the Vatican or Pupinian district fit to be compared at all to their fertile and luxuriant plains. And all the abundance of neigbouring towns which surround us they will compare in laughter and scorn with their neighbours. They will compare Labici, Fidenae, Collatia,—even Lanuvium itself, and Aricia, and Tusculum, with Cales, and Teanum, and Naples, and Puteoli, and Cumae, and Pompeii, and Nuceria.

> Latin: 96. isti xviri cum iↄↄ colonorum ex lege Rulli deduxerint, c decuriones, x augures, vi pontifices constituerint, quos illorum animos, quos impetus, quam ferociam fore putatis? Romam in montibus positam et convallibus, cenaculis sublatam atque suspensam, non optimis viis, angustissimis semitis, prae sua Capua planissimo in loco explicata ac praeclarissime sita inridebunt atque contemnent; agros vero Vaticanum et Pupiniam cum suis opimis atque uberibus campis conferendos scilicet non putabunt. autem finitimorum illam copiam cum hac per risum ac iocum contendent; Veios, Fidenas, Collatiam, ipsum hercle Lanuvium, Ariciam, Tusculum cum Calibus, Teano, Neapoli, Puteolis, Cumis, Pompeiis, Nuceria comparabunt.

[¶25] 97. By all these things they will be elated and puffed up, perhaps not at once, but certainly when they have got a little more age and vigour they will not be able to restrain themselves; they will go on further and further. A single individual, unless he be a man of great wisdom, can scarcely, when placed in situations of great wealth or power, contain himself within the limits of propriety; much less will those colonists, sought out and selected by Rullus, and others like Rullus, when established at Capua, in that abode of pride, and in the very home of luxury, refrain from immediately contracting some wickedness and iniquity. Yes, and it will be much more the case with them, than with the old genuine Campanians, because they were born and trained up in a fortune which was theirs of old, but were depraved by a too great abundance of everything; but these men, being transferred from the most extreme indigence to a corresponding affluence, will be affected, not only by the extent of their riches, but also by the strangeness of them.

> Latin: 97. illi rebus elati et inflati fortasse non continuo, sed certe, si paulum adsumpserint vetustatis ac roboris, non continebuntur; progredientur, cuncta secum ferent. homo privatus, nisi magna sapientia praeditus, vix cancellis et regionibus offici magnis in fortunis et copiis continetur, nedum isti ab Rullo et Rulli similibus conquisiti atque electi coloni Capuae in domicilio superbiae atque in sedibus luxuriosis conlocati non statim conquisituri sint aliquid sceleris et flagiti, immo vero etiam hoc magis quam illi veteres germanique Campani, quod in vetere fortuna illos natos et educatos nimiae tamen rerum omnium copiae depravabant, hi ex summa egestate in eandem rerum abundantiam traducti non solum copia verum etiam insolentia commovebuntur.

[¶26] 98. You, O Publius Rullus, have chosen to follow in the footsteps of Marcus Brutus's wickedness, rather than to be guided by the monuments of the wisdom of our ancestors. You have flavoured all this with these advices of yours—to sell the old revenues, and to waste the new ones,—to oppose Capua to this city in a rivalry of dignity—to subject all cities, nations and provinces, all free peoples, and kings, and the whole world in short, to your laws, and jurisdiction, and power, in order that, when you have drained all the money out of the treasury, and exacted all that may be due from the taxes, and extorted all that you can from kings, and nations, and even from our own generals, all men may still be forced to pay money to you at your nod; that you, also, or your friends, may buy up from those who have become possessed of them, as members of Sulla's party, their lands—some of which produce too much unpopularity to their owners to be worth keeping; some of which are unhealthy, and deserted on that account and charge them to the Roman people at whatever price you please; that you may occupy all the municipalities and colonies of Italy with new settlers; that you may establish colonies in whatever places you think fit, and in as many places as seems desirable to you,

> Latin: 98. tu, P. Rulle, M. Bruti sceleris vestigia quam monumenta maiorum sapientiae sequi maluisti, haec tu cum istis tuis auctoribus excogitasti, ut vetera vectigalia nostra ⟨expilaretis,⟩ exploraretis nova, ⟨urbem novam huic⟩ urbi ad certamen dignitatis opponeretis; ut sub vestrum ius, iuris dictionem, potestatem urbis, nationes, provincias, liberos populos, reges, terrarum denique orbem subiungeretis; ut, cum omnem pecuniam ex aerario exhausissetis, ex vectigalibus redegissetis, ab omnibus regibus, gentibus, ab imperatoribus nostris coegissetis, tamen omnes vobis pecunias ad nutum vestrum penderent; ut idem partim invidiosos agros a Sullanis possessoribus, partim desertos ac pestilentis a vestris necessariis et a vobismet ipsis emptos quanti velletis populo Romano induceretis; ut omnia municipia coloniasque Italiae novis colonis occuparetis; ut quibuscumque in locis vobis videretur ac quam multis videretur colonias conlocaretis;

[¶27] 99. that you may surround, and hold in subjection, the whole republic with your soldiers, and your cities and your garrisons, that you may be able to proscribe and to deprive of the sight of these men Cnaeus Pompeius himself by whose protection and assistance the Roman people has repeatedly been triumphant over its most active enemies and its most worthless citizens that there may be nothing, which is either capable of being tampered with by means of gold and silver, or carried by numbers and votes, or accomplished by force and violence, which you do not hold in your own power, and under your dominion; that meanwhile you may go at full speed through every nation and every kingdom with the most absolute power,—with unrestricted authority as judges, and with immense sums of money; that you may come into the camp of Cnaeus Pompeius, and sell his very camp itself, if it be desirable for you to do so; that in the meantime, you, being freed from every restraint of law, and from all fear of the courts of justice, and from all danger, may be able to stand for all the other magistracies; so that no one may be able to bring you before the Roman people, or summon you before any court,—so that the senate may not be able to compel you, nor the consul to restrain you, nor the tribune of the people to offer any impediment to you.

> Latin: 99. ut omnem rem publicam vestris militibus, vestris urbibus, vestris praesidiis cingeretis atque oppressam teneretis; ut ipsum Cn. Pompeium, cuius praesidio saepissime res publica contra acerrimos hostis et contra improbissimos civis ⟨munita est, exercitu⟩ victore atque horum conspectu privare possetis; ut nihil auro et argento violari, nihil numero et servitiis declarari, nihil vi et manu perfringi posset quod non vos oppressum atque ereptum teneretis; ut volitaretis interea per gentis, per regna omnia cum imperio summo, cum iudicio infinito, cum omni pecunia; ut veniretis in castra Cn. Pompei atque ipsa castra, si commodum vobis esset, venderetis; ut interea magistratus reliquos legibus omnibus soluti sine metu iudiciorum, sine periculo petere possetis; ut nemo ad populum Romanum vos adducere, nemo producere, nemo in senatum cogere, non consul coercere, non tribunus plebis retinere posset.

[¶28] 100. I do not wonder that you, men of such folly and intemperance as you are, should have desired these things—I do marvel that you should have hoped that you could obtain them while I am consul. For as all consuls ought to exercise the greatest care and diligence in the protection of the republic, so, above all others, ought they to do so who have not been made consuls in their cradles, but in the Campus. No ancestors of mine went bail to the Roman people for me; you gave credit to me; it is from me that you must claim what I am bound to pay; all your demands must be made on me. As, when I stood for the consulship, no authors of my family recommended me to you; so, if. I commit any fault, there are no images of my ancestors which can beg me off from you. Wherefore, if only life be granted me, as far as I can I will defend the state from the wickedness and insidious designs of those men. I promise you this, O Romans, with good faith; you have entrusted the republic to a vigilant man, not to a timid one; to a diligent man, not to an idle one.

> Latin: 100. ego vos concupisse pro vestra stultitia atque intemperantia non miror, sperasse me consule adsequi posse demiror. cum omnium consulum gravis in re ⟨publica⟩ custodienda cura ac diligentia debet esse, tum eorum maxime qui non in cunabulis, sed in campo sunt consules facti. populo Romano pro me maiores mei spoponderunt; mihi creditum est; a me petere quod debeo, me ipsum appellare debetis. ad modum, cum petebam, nulli me vobis auctores generis mei commendarunt, sic, si quid deliquero, nullae sunt imagines quae me a vobis deprecentur. re, modo mihi vita suppetat, quam ego ⟨conabor⟩ ab istorum scelere insidiisque defendere, polliceor hoc vobis, Quirites, bona fide: rem publicam vigilanti homini, non timido, diligenti, ⟨non ignavo,⟩ commisistis.

[¶29] 101. I am consul; how should I fear an assembly of the people? How should I be afraid of the tribunes of the people? How should I be frequently or causelessly agitated? How should I fear lest I may have to dwell in a prison, if a tribune of the people orders me to be led thither? for I, armed with your arms, adorned with your most honourable ensigns, and with command and authority conferred by you, have not been afraid to advance into this place, and, with you for my backers, to resist the wickedness of man; nor do I fear lest the republic, being fortified with such strong protection, may be conquered or overwhelmed by those men. If I had been afraid before, still now, with this assembly, and this people, I should not fear. For who ever had an assembly so well inclined to hear him while advocating an agrarian law, as I have had while arguing against one? if, indeed, I can be said to be arguing against one, and not rather upsetting and destroying one.

> Latin: 101. ⟨sum⟩ is consul qui contionem metuam, qui tribunum plebis perhorrescam, qui saepe et sine causa tumultuer, qui timeam ne mihi in carcere habitandum sit, si tribunus plebis duci iusserit? cum vestris armis armatus ⟨sim⟩, imperio, auctoritate insignibusque amplissimis exornatus, non horreo in hunc locum progredi, possum vobis, Quirites, auctoribus improbitati hominis resistere, nec vereor ne res publica tantis munita praesidiis ab istis vinci aut opprimi possit. antea timuissem, tamen hac contione, hoc populo certe non vererer. enim umquam tam secunda contione legem agrariam suasit quam ego dissuasi? si hoc dissuadere est ac non disturbare atque pervertere.

[¶30] 102. From which, O Romans, it may be easily understood that there is nothing so popular, as that which I, the consul of the people, am this year bringing to you; namely, peace, tranquillity and ease. All the things which when we were elected you were afraid might happen, have been guarded against by my prudence and caution. You not only will enjoy ease,—you who have always wished for it; but I will even make those men quiet, to whom our quiet has been a source of annoyance. In truth, however, power, riches, are accustomed to be acquired by them out of the tumults and dissensions of the citizens. You, whose interest consists in the votes of the people, whose liberty is based on the laws, whose honours depend on the courts of justice and on the equity of the magistrates, and whose enjoyment of your properties depends on peace, ought to preserve tranquillity by every means.

> Latin: 102. quo intellegi, Quirites, potest nihil esse tam populare quam id quod ego vobis in hunc annum consul popularis adfero, pacem, tranquillitatem, otium. nobis designatis timebatis, ea ne accidere possent consilio meo ac ratione provisa sunt. modo vos eritis in otio qui semper esse volueratis, verum etiam istos quibus odio est otium quietissimos atque otiosissimos reddam. illis honores, potestates, divitiae ex tumultu atque ex dissensionibus civium comparari solent; vos, quorum gratia in suffragiis consistit, libertas in legibus, ius in iudiciis et aequitate magistratuum, res familiaris in pace, omni ratione otium retinere debetis.

[¶31] 103. For if those men who, on account of indolence, are living in tranquillity, still take pleasure in their own base indolence; you, if in the calm quiet with which you govern fortune, you think such a condition as you enjoy better, should maintain it diligently; not as one that has been acquired by laziness, but as one that has been earned by virtue. And I, by the unanimity which I have established between myself and my colleague, have provided against those men whom I knew to be hostile to my consulship both in their dispositions and actions. I have provided against everything; and I have sought to recall those men to their loyalty. I have also given notice to the tribunes of the people, to try no disorderly conduct while I am consul. My greatest and firmest support in our common fortunes, O Romans, will be, if you for the future behave, for the sake of it, to the republic in the same manner as you have this day behaved to me in this most numerous assembly, for the sake of your own safety. I promise you most certainly, and pledge myself to manage matters so that they who have envied the honours which I have gained, shall at last confess, that in selecting a consul you all showed the greatest possible foresight. The tribunes had declined debating the subject of the Agrarian law with Cicero before the people, but attacked him with calumnies behind his back; saying that his opposition to the law proceeded from his affection to Sulla's party, and from a desire to secure to the members of it the properties which Sulla had granted to them, and that he was only making this opposition to this law out of a desire to pay court to those whom they called the seven tyrants, the two Luculli, Crassus, Catulus, Hortensius, Metellus, and Philippus, who were known to be the greatest favourers of Sulla's cause, and to have been the chief gainers by it. And as these insinuations were making a great impression on the city, he thought it necessary to make this third speech to defend himself against them. And after this speech the tribunes let the whole matter drop.

> Latin: 103. si ei qui propter desidiam in otio vivunt, tamen in sua turpi inertia capiunt voluptatem ex ipso otio, quam vos fortunati eritis, si ⟨in⟩ hoc statu quem habetis vestra non ignavia quaesitum, sed virtute partum, otium tenueritis, Quirites! ex concordia quam mihi constitui cum conlega, invitissimis eis hominibus qui nos in consulatu inimicos esse et fore aiebant, providi omnibus, prospexi annonae, revocavi fidem, tribunis plebis denuntiavi ⟨ne⟩ quid turbulenti me consule conflarent. et firmissimum est illud communibus fortunis praesidium, Quirites, ut, qualis vos hodierno die maxima contione mihi pro salute vestra praebuistis, talis reliquis temporibus rei publicae praebeatis., recipio, polliceor hoc vobis atque confirmo, me esse perfecturum ut iam tandem illi qui honori inviderunt meo tamen vos universos in consule deligendo plurimum vidisse fateantur.

## 5. Speech 3

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/5/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-lege-agraria/5/#p-N

[¶0] 1. The tribunes of the people, O Romans, would have pursued a more convenient course, if they had said to my face, in my presence, the things which they allege to you concerning me. For then, they would have given you an opportunity for a more just decision in the matter, and they would have followed the usages of their predecessors, and have maintained their own privileges and power. But, since they have shunned any open contest and debate with me at present, now, if they please, let them come forth into the assembly which I have convened, and though they would not come forward willingly when challenged by me, let them at least return to it now that I openly invite them back.

> Latin: 1. Commodius fecissent tribuni plebis, Quirites, si, quae apud vos de me deferunt, ea coram potius me praesente dixissent; nam et aequitatem vestrae disceptationis et consuetudinem superiorum et ius suae potestatis retinuissent. quoniam adhuc praesens certamen contentionemque fugerunt, nunc, si videtur eis, in meam contionem prodeant et, quo provocati a me venire noluerunt, revocati saltem revertantur.

[¶1] 2. I see, O Romans, that some men are making a noise to imply something or other, and that they no longer show me the same countenance in this present assembly which they showed me at the last assembly in which I addressed you. Wherefore, I entreat you, who have believed none of my enemies' stories about me, to retain the same favourable disposition towards me that you always had; but from you, whom I perceive to be a little changed towards me, I beg the loan of your good opinion of me for a short time, on condition of your retaining it forever, if I prove to you what I am going to say, but abandoning it and trampling it under foot in this very place if I fail to establish it.

> Latin: 2. quosdam, Quirites, strepitu significare nescio quid et non eosdem voltus quos proxima mea contione praebuerunt in hanc contionem mihi rettulisse. re a vobis qui nihil de me credidistis ut eam voluntatem quam semper habuistis erga me retineatis peto; a vobis autem quos leviter immutatos esse sentio parvam exigui temporis usuram bonae de me opinionis postulo, ut eam, si quae dixero vobis probabo, perpetuo retineatis; sin aliter, hoc ipso in loco depositam atque abiectam relinquatis.

[¶2] 3. Your minds and ears, O Romans, are blocked up with the assertion that I am opposing the agrarian law and your interest, out of a desire to gratify the seven tyrants, and the other possessors of Sulla's allotments. If there be any men who have believed these things, they must inevitably first have believed this, that by this agrarian law which has been proposed, the lands allotted by Sulla are taken away from their present possessors and divided among you, or else, that the possessions of private individuals are diminished, in order that you may be settled on their lands. If I show you, not only that not an atom of laud of Sulla's allotments is taken from any one, but even that that description of property is ensured to its possessors, and confirmed in a most impudent manner; if I prove, that Rullus, by his law, provides so carefully for the case of those lands which have been allotted by Sulla, that it is perfectly plain that that law was drawn up, not by any protector of your interests, but by the twin law of Valgius; is there then any reason at all, why he should disparage not only my diligence and prudence, but yours also, by the accusations which he has employed against me in my absence?

> Latin: 3. sunt animi auresque vestrae, Quirites, me gratificantem Septimiis, Turraniis ceterisque Sullanarum adsignationum possessoribus agrariae legi et commodis vestris obsistere. si qui crediderunt, illud prius crediderint necesse est, hac lege agraria quae promulgata est adimi Sullanos agros vobisque dividi, aut denique minui privatorum possessiones ut in eas vos deducamini. ostendo non modo non adimi cuiquam glebam de Sullanis agris, sed etiam genus id agrorum certo capite legis impudentissime confirmari atque sanciri, si doceo agris eis qui a Sulla sunt dati sic diligenter Rullum sua lege consulere ut facile appareat eam legem non a vestrorum commodorum patrono, sed a Valgi genero esse conscriptam, num quid est causae, Quirites, quin illa criminatione qua in me absentem usus est non solum meam sed etiam vestram diligentiam prudentiamque despexerit?

[¶3] 4. The fortieth clause of the law is one, O Romans, the mention of which I have hitherto purposely avoided, lest I should seem to be reopening a wound of the republic which was now scarred over, or to be renewing, at a most unseasonable time, some of our old dissensions. And now too I will argue that point, not because I do not think that this present condition of the republic deserving of being most zealously maintained, especially after I have professed myself to be for this year at least the patron of all tranquillity and unanimity in the republic; but in order to teach Rullus for the future to be silent at least in those matters with respect to which he wishes silence to be observed as to himself and his actions.

> Latin: 4. est legis xl de quo ego consulto, Quirites, neque apud vos ante feci mentionem, ne aut refricare obductam iam rei publicae cicatricem viderer aut aliquid alienissimo tempore novae dissensionis commovere, neque vero nunc ideo disputabo quod hunc statum rei publicae non magno opere defendendum putem, praesertim qui oti et concordiae patronum me in hunc annum populo Romano professus sim, sed ut doceam Rullum posthac in eis saltem tacere rebus in quibus de se et de suis factis taceri velit.

[¶4] 5. Of all laws I think that one is the most unjust and the most unlike a law, which Lucius Flaccus, the interrex, passed respecting Sulla—“That everything which he has done should be ratified.” For, as in other states, when tyrants are established, all laws are extinguished and destroyed this man established a tyrant of the republic by law. It is an invidious law, as I said before; but still it has some excuse. For it appears to be a law not urged by the man but by the time. What shall we say if this law is a far more impudent one?

> Latin: 5. legum iniquissimam dissimillimamque legis esse arbitror eam quam L. Flaccus interrex de Sulla tulit, ut omnia quaecumque ille fecisset essent rata. cum ceteris in civitatibus tyrannis institutis leges omnes exstinguantur atque tollantur, hic rei publicae tyrannum lege constituit. invidiosa lex, sicuti dixi, verum tamen habet excusationem; non enim videtur hominis lex esse, sed temporis.

[¶5] 6. For by the Valerian and Cornelian law this power is taken away at the same time that it is given. An impudent courting of the people is joined with a bitter injury done to them. But still a man from whom any property is taken always has some hope arising from those laws; and he, to whom any is given, has some scruples. The provision in Rullus's law is, “Whatever has been done since the consulship of Caius Marius and Cnaeus Papirius.” How carefully does he avoid suspicion, when he names those consuls most especially who were the greatest adversaries of Sulla. For, if he had named Sulla, he thought that that would have been a palpable and also an invidious measure. And yet, which of you did he expect to be so stupid, as not to be able to recollect that immediately after the consulship of those men Sulla became dictator?

> Latin: 6. si est haec multo impudentior? Valeria lege Corneliisque legibus eripitur civi, ⟨civi⟩ datur, coniungitur impudens gratificatio cum acerba iniuria; sed tamen imbibit illis legibus spem non nullam cui ademptum est, aliquem scrupulum cui datum est. Rulli cautio est haec: qvi post C. Marivm Cn. Papirivm consvles. procul a suspicione fugit, quod eos consules qui adversarii Sullae maxime fuerunt potissimum nominavit! enim Sullam dictatorem nominasset, perspicuum fore et invidiosum arbitratus est. quem vestrum tam tardo ingenio fore putavit cui post eos consules Sullam dictatorem fuisse in mentem venire non posset?

[¶6] 7. What then does this Marian tribune of the people say, when he is trying to make us, who are Sulla's friends, unpopular? “Whatever has been given, or assigned, or sold, or granted by public authority, whether lands, or houses, or lakes, or marshes, or sites, or properties,” (he has omitted to mention the sky and sea, but he has omitted nothing else,) “since the consulship of Marius and Carbo.” By whom, O Rullus? Who has allotted anything whatever since the Consulship of Marius and Carbo? Who has given anything, who has granted anything, except Sulla? “Let all those things remain in the same condition.” In what condition? He is undermining something or other. This over active and too energetic tribune of the people is rescinding the acts of Sulla. “As those things which have become private property according to the most regular possible course of law.” Are they then to be held on a surer tenure than a man's paternal and hereditary property?

> Latin: 7. ergo ait Marianus tribunus plebis, qui nos Sullanos in invidiam rapit? qvi post Marivm et Carbonem consvles agri, aedificia, lacvs, stagna, loca, possessiones —caelum et mare praetermisit, cetera complexus est— pvblice data adsignata, vendita, concessa svnt —a quo, Rulle? post Marium et Carbonem consules quis adsignavit, quis dedit, quis concessit praeter Sullam?— ea omnia eo ivre sint —quo iure? labefactat videlicet nescio quid. acer, nimium vehemens tribunus plebis Sullana rescindit— vt qvae optimo ivre privata svnt. meliore quam paterna et avita?

[¶7] 8. Just so. But the Valerian law does not say this; the Cornelian laws do not sanction this; Sulla himself does not demand this. If those lands have any connection with legal right, if they have any resemblance to private property, if they have the least hope of becoming permanent property, then there is not one of those men so impudent as not to think that he is excellently well treated. But you, O Rullus, what is your object? That they may retain what they have got? Who hinders them? That they may retain it as private property? But the law is framed in such a way that the farm of your father-in-law in the Hirpine district, or the whole Hirpine district, for he is in possession of all of it, is held by him on a surer tenure than my paternal hereditary estate at Arpinum. For that is the effect of the provision of your law.

> Latin: 8. . hoc Valeria lex non dicit, Corneliae leges non sanciunt, Sulla ipse non postulat. isti agri partem aliquam iuris, aliquam similitudinem propriae possessionis, aliquam spem diuturnitatis attingunt, nemo est tam impudens istorum quin agi secum praeclare arbitretur. vero, Rulle, quid quaeris? habent ut habeant? vetat? Vt privatum sit? latum est. Vt meliore ⟨iure⟩ tui soceri fundus Hirpinus sit sive ager Hirpinus—totum enim possidet—quam meus paternus avitusque fundus Arpinas?

[¶8] 9. For those farms in truth are held by the best right, which are held on the best conditions. Free tenures are held by a better tenure than servile ones. By this clause all tenures which have hitherto been servile tenures will be so no longer. Enfranchised estates are in a better condition than those which are liable to no obligations; by the same clause all lands subject to the payment of any fine, if only they were assigned by Sulla, are released from such payments. Lands which are exempt from payment are in a better condition than those which pay a fine. I, in my Tusculan villa, must pay a tax for the Crabran water, because I received my estate subject to this liability; but, if I had only had the land given me by Sulla, I should not pay it, according to the law of Rullus.

> Latin: 9. enim caves. enim iure ea sunt profecto praedia quae optima condicione sunt. Libera meliore iure sunt quam serva; capite hoc omnia quae serviebant non servient. meliore in causa sunt quam obligata; eodem capite subsignata omnia, si modo Sullana sunt, liberantur. commodiore condicione sunt quam illa quae pensitant; ego Tusculanis pro aqua Crabra vectigal pendam, quia mancipio fundum accepi; si a Sulla mihi datus esset, Rulli lege non penderem.

[¶9] 10. I see you, O Romans, moved either by the impudence of the law or of the speech, as indeed you must be from the nature of the case; by the impudence of the law, which gives a better title to estates possessed by virtue of Sulla's donation than to hereditary property; by the impudence of the speech which, in such a cause is that, dares to accuse any one, and yet vehemently, too vehemently, to defend the principles of Sulla. But if the law only ratified all the allotments which had been given by Sulla, I should not say a word, provided he would confess himself to be a partisan of Sulla's. But he does not only protect their existing interests, but he even adds to their present possessions some sort of gift. And he, who accuses me, saying that the possessions resting on Sulla's title are defended by me, not only con firms them him sell, but even institutes fresh allotments, and rises up among us a new Sulla.

> Latin: 10. vos, Quirites, sicuti res ipsa cogit, commoveri vel legis vel orationis impudentia, legis quae ius melius Sullanis praediis constituat quam paternis, orationis quae eius modi ⟨in⟩ causa insimulare quemquam audeat rationes Sullae nimium vehementer defendere. si illa solum sanciret quae a Sulla essent data, tacerem, modo ipse se Sullanum esse confiteretur. non modo illis cavet verum etiam aliud quoddam genus donationis inducit; et is qui a me Sullanas possessiones defendi criminatur non eas solum sancit verum ipse novas adsignationes instituit et repentinus Sulla nobis exoritur.

[¶10] 11. For just take notice what great grants of lands this reprover of ours endeavours to make by one single word. “Whatever has been given, or presented, or granted, or sold”—I can bear it; I hear it; what comes next?—“shall be held as absolute property.” has a tribune of the people ventured to propose that whatever any one has become possessed of' since the consulship of Marius and Carbo, he shall hold by the firmest right that any one can hold private property? Suppose he drove out the former proprietors by violence? Suppose he became possessed of it in some underhand manner, or only by some one's permission for a time? By this law then all civil rights, all legitimate titles, all interdicts of the praetors will be put an end to.

> Latin: 11. attendite quantas concessiones agrorum hic noster obiurgator uno verbo facere conetur: qvae data, donata, concessa, vendita., audio. deinde? possessa. tribunus plebis promulgare ausus est ut, quod quisque post Marium et Carbonem consules possideret, id eo iure teneret ⟨quo⟩ quod optimo privatum ⟨est⟩? si vi deiecit, etiamne si clam, si precario venit in possessionem? hac lege ius civile, causae possessionum, praetorum interdicta tollentur.

[¶11] 12. It is no unimportant case, it is no insignificant injury that is concealed under this expression, O Romans. For there were many estates confiscated by the Cornelian law, which were never assigned or sold to any one, but which are occupied in the most impudent manner by a few men, These are the men for whom he provides, these are the men whom he defends, whom he makes private proprietors. These lands, I say, which Sulla gave to no one, Rullus does not choose to assign to you, but to sacrifice to the men who are in occupation of them. I ask the reason why you should allow those lands in Italy, in Sicily, in the two Spains, in Macedonia, and Asia, which your ancestors acquired for you, to be sold, when you see those lands which are your own sacrificed by the same law to their existing occupiers?

> Latin: 12. mediocris res neque parvum sub hoc verbo furtum, Quirites, latet. enim multi agri lege Cornelia publicati nec cuiquam adsignati neque venditi qui a paucis hominibus impudentissime possidentur. cavet, hos defendit, hos privatos facit; hos, inquam, agros quos Sulla nemini dedit Rullus non vobis adsignare volt, sed eis condonare qui possident. quaero cur ea quae maiores vobis in Italia, Sicilia, Africa, duabus Hispaniis, Macedonia, Asia reliquerunt venire patiamini, cum ea quae vestra sunt condonari possessoribus eadem lege videatis.

[¶12] 13. Now you will understand the whole law, and perceive, that it is framed to secure the power of a few individuals, and admirably adapted to the circumstances of Sulla's allotments. For this man's father-in-law is a most excellent man, nor am I saying a word against his character; but I am discussing the impudence of his son-in-law. For he wishes to keep what he has got possession of, and does not conceal that he is one of Sulla's party. He now, by your instrumentality, in order that he may himself have what be has not got wishes to establish those titles which at present are doubtful. And as he is more covetous than Sulla himself, I am accused of defending the actions of Sulla which I am resisting.

> Latin: 13. totam legem intellegetis, cum ad paucorum dominationem scripta sit, tum ad Sullanae adsignationis rationes esse accommodatissimam. socer huius vir multum bonus est; neque ego nunc de illius bonitate, sed de generi impudentia disputo. enim quod habet retinere volt neque se Sullanum esse dissimulat; hic, ut ipse habeat quod non habet, quae dubia sunt per vos sancire volt et, cum plus appetat quam ipse Sulla, quibus rebus resisto, Sullanas res defendere ⟨me⟩ criminatur.

[¶13] 14. My father-in-law, says he, has some hitherto deserted and distant fields. By my law he will be able to sell them at his own price. He holds them at present by an uncertain title; in fact he has no right at all to them: they will be confirmed to him by the best possible title. He has them as public property; I will make them private property. Lastly, he shall possess, without having the slightest anxiety about them for the future, those farms which be has procured (by the proscription of their former owners) to be joined to the admirable and productive estate which be had in the district of Casinum, being contiguous to it before; so as to make all the different farms into one uninterrupted estate as far as the eye can reach; and respecting which at present he is not without apprehension.

> Latin: 14. “agros non nullos,” inquit, “socer meus desertos atque longinquos; vendet eos mea lege quanti volet. incertos ac nullo iure possessos; confirmabuntur optimo iure. publicos; reddam privatos. eos fundos quos in agro Casinati optimos fructuosissimosque continuavit, cum usque eo vicinos proscriberet quoad angulos conformando ex multis praediis unam fundi regionem normamque perfecerit, quos nunc cum aliquo metu tenet, sine ulla cura possidebit.”

[¶14] 15. And since I have shown for what reason and for whose sake be has proposed this, let him show whether I am defending any particular proprietor, while I resist this agrarian law. You are selling the Scantian wood. The Roman people is in possession of it. I am defending the Roman people. You are dividing the district of Campania It is you, O Romans, who are now its proprietors. I will not give it up. In the next place, I see possessions in Italy and in Sicily, and in the other provinces, put up for sale and advertised. The farms are yours, the possessions are yours, O Romans. I will resist and oppose such a measure; and I will not permit the Roman people to be ousted from its possessions by any one, while I am consul. Especially when no advantage is sought for you by the proceeding.

> Latin: 15. quoniam qua de causa et quorum causa ille hoc promulgarit ostendi, doceat ipse nunc ego quem possessorem defendam, cum agrariae legi resisto. Scantiam vendis; populus Romanus possidet; defendo. Campanum agrum dividis; vos estis in possessione; non cedo. Italiae, Siciliae ceterarumque provinciarum possessiones venalis ac proscriptas hac lege video; vestra sunt praedia, vestrae possessiones; resistam atque repugnabo neque patiar a quoquam populum Romanum de suis possessionibus me consule demoveri, praesertim, Quirites, cum vobis nihil quaeratur.

[¶15] 16. For you ought no longer to lie under this mistake. Is any one of you a man inclined to violence, or atrocity, or murder? Not one. And, believe me, it is for such a race of men as that that the district of Campania and that beautiful Capua is reserved. It is against you, against your liberty, against Cnaeus Pompeius that an army is being raised. Capua is being got ready in opposition to this city; bands of audacious men are being equipped against you; ten generals are being appointed to counterbalance Cnaeus Pompeius. Let them meet me face to face, and since they have summoned me to this assembly of yours, at your request let them here argue the case with me.

> Latin: 16. enim vos ⟨in⟩ errore versari diutius non oportet. quis vestrum ad vim, ad facinus, ad caedem accommodatus est?. ei generi hominum, mihi credite, Campanus ager et praeclara illa Capua servatur; exercitus contra vos, contra libertatem vestram, contra Cn. Pompeium constituitur; contra hanc urbem Capua, contra vos manus hominum audacissimorum, contra Cn. Pompeium x duces comparantur. et coram, quoniam me in vestram contionem vobis flagitantibus evocaverunt, disserant.