---
title: "Against Caecilius · Divinatio in Q. Caecilium"
author: "Cicero"
translator: "Charles Duke Yonge"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 2 of 2
url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-divinatio-in-caecilium/2/
cite: "Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, Against Caecilius · Divinatio in Q. Caecilium, section 2. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-divinatio-in-caecilium/2/"
---

# Against Caecilius · Divinatio in Q. Caecilium

*Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge*

Who should prosecute Verres? Cicero argues that the Sicilians chose him.

> Latin: ed. William Peterson, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0474.phi004, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Charles Duke Yonge, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0474.phi004.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

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

## 2. Sections 39–73

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-divinatio-in-caecilium/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-divinatio-in-caecilium/2/#p-N

[¶0] 39. Those things which I am speaking of are very important, believe me. Do not you despise this either; everything must be related, and demonstrated, and explained; the cause must be not merely stated, but it must also be gravely and copiously dilated on. You must cause, if you wish really to do and to effect anything, men not only to hear you, but also to hear you willingly and eagerly. And if nature kind been bountiful to you in such qualities, and if from your childhood you had studied the best arts and systems, and worked hard at them;—if you had learnt Greek literature at Athens, not at Lilybaeum, and Latin literature at Rome, and not in Sicily; still it would be a great undertaking to approach so important a cause, and one about which there is such great expectation, and having approached it, to follow it up with the requisite diligence; to have all the particulars always fresh in your memory; to discuss it properly in your speech, and to support it adequately with your voice and your faculties.

> Latin: 39. Magna sunt ea quae dico, mihi crede; noli haec contemnere., demonstranda, explicanda sunt omnia, causa non solum exponenda, sed etiam graviter copioseque agenda est; perficiendum est, si quid agere aut proficere vis, ut homines te non solum audiant, verum etiam libenter studioseque audiant. quo si te multum natura adiuvaret, si optimis a pueritia disciplinis atque artibus studuisses et in his elaborasses, si litteras Graecas Athenis non Lilybaei, Latinas Romae non in Sicilia didicisses, tamen esset magnum tantam causam, tam exspectatam, et diligentia consequi et memoria complecti et oratione expromere et voce ac viribus sustinere.

[¶1] 40. Perhaps you may say, What then? Are you then endowed with all these qualifications?—I wish indeed that I were; but at all events I have laboured with great industry from my very childhood to attain them. And if I, on account of the importance and difficulty of such a study have not been able to attain them, who have done nothing else all my life, how far do you think that you must be distant from these qualities, which you have not only never thought of before, but which even now, when you are entering on a stage that requires them all, you can form no proper idea of, either as for their nature or as to their importance?

> Latin: 40. dices: “ergo? haec in te sunt omnia?” Vtinam quidem essent! verum tamen ut esse possent magno studio mihi a pueritia est elaboratum. ego haec propter magnitudinem rerum ac difficultatem adsequi non potui, qui in omni vita nihil aliud egi, quam longe tu te ab his rebus abesse arbitrare, quas non modo antea numquam cogitasti, sed ne nunc quidem, cum in eas ingrederis, quae et quantae sint suspicari potes?

[¶2] 41. I, who as all men know, am so much concerned in the forum and the courts of justice, that there is no one of the same age, or very few, who have defended more causes, and who spend all my time which can be spared from the business of my friends in these studies and labours, in order that I may be more prepared for forensic practice and more ready at it, yet, (may the gods be favourable to me as I am saying what is true!) whenever the thought occurs to me of the day when the defendant having been summoned, I have to speak, I am not only agitated in my mind, but a shudder runs over my whole body.

> Latin: 41. qui, sicut omnes sciunt, in foro iudiciisque ita verser ut eiusdem aetatis aut nemo aut pauci pluris causas defenderint, et qui omne tempus quod mihi ab amicorum negotiis datur in his studiis laboribusque consumam, quo paratior ad usum forensem promptiorque esse possim, tamen ita mihi deos velim propitios ut, cum illius mihi temporis venit in mentem quo die citato reo mihi dicendum sit, non solum commoveor animo, sed etiam toto corpore perhorresco.

[¶3] 42. Even now I am surveying in my mind and thoughts what party spirit will be shown by men; what throngs of men will meet; how great an expectation the importance of the trial will excite; how greet a multitude of hearers the infamy of Caius Verres will collect; how great an audience for my speech his wickedness will draw together And when I think of these things, even now I am afraid as to what I shall be able to say suitable to the hatred men bear him who are inimical and hostile to him, and worthy of the expectation which all men will form, and of the importance of the case.

> Latin: 42. nunc mente et cogitatione prospicio quae tum studia hominum, qui concursus futuri sint, quantam exspectationem magnitudo iudici sit adlatura, quantam auditorum multitudinem infamia C. Verris concitatura, quantam denique audientiam orationi meae improbitas illius factura sit. cum cogito, iam nunc timeo quidnam pro offensione hominum, qui illi inimici infensique sunt, et exspectatione omnium et magnitudine rerum dignum eloqui possim.

[¶4] 43. Do you fear nothing, do you think of nothing are you anxious about nothing of all this? Or if from some old speech you have been able to learn, “I entreat the mighty and beneficent Jupiter,” or, “I wish it were possible, O judges,” or something of the sort, do you think that you shall come before the court in an admirable state of preparation?

> Latin: 43. horum nihil metuis, nihil cogitas, nihil laboras: si quid ex vetere aliqua oratione, “Iovem ego,” aut “, si fieri potuisset, iudices,” aut aliquid eius modi ediscere potueris, praeclare te paratum in iudicium venturum arbitraris.

[¶5] 44. And, even if no one were to answer you, yet you would not, as I think, be able to state and prove even the cause itself. Do you now never give it a thought, that you will have a contest with a most eloquent man, and one in a perfect state of preparation for speaking, with whom you will at one time have to argue, and at another time to strive and contend against him with all your might? Whose abilities indeed I praise greatly, but not so as to be afraid of them, and think highly of, thinking however at the same time that I am more easily to be pleased by them than cajoled by them. He will never put me down by his acuteness; he will never put me out of countenance by any artifice; he will never attempt to upset and dispirit me by displays of his genius. I know all the modes of attack and every system of speaking the man has. We have often been employed on the same, often on opposite sides. Ingenious as he is, he will plead against me as if he were aware that his own ability is to same extent put on its trial.

> Latin: 44. si tibi nemo responsurus esset, tamen ipsam causam, ut ego arbitror, demonstrare non posses: nunc ne illud quidem cogitas, tibi cum homine disertissimo et ad dicendum paratissimo futurum esse certamen, quicum modo disserendum, modo omni ratione pugnandum certandumque sit. ego ingenium ita laudo ut non pertimescam, ita probo ut me ab eo delectari facilius quam decipi putem posse. ille me opprimet consilio, numquam ullo artificio pervertet, numquam ingenio me suo labefactare atque infirmare conabitur; novi omnis hominis petitiones rationesque dicendi; saepe in isdem, saepe in contrariis causis versati sumus; ita contra me ille dicet, quamvis sit ingeniosus, ut non nullum etiam de suo ingenio iudicium fieri arbitretur.

[¶6] 45. But as for you, O Caecilius, I think that I see already how he will play with you, how he will bandy you about; how often he will give you power and option of choosing which alternative you please,—whether a thing were done or not, whether a thing be true or false; and whichever side you take will be contrary to your interest. What a heat you will be in, what bewilderment! what darkness, O ye immortal gods! will overwhelm the man, free from malice as he is. What will you do when he begins to divide the different counts of your accusation, and to arrange on his fingers each separate division of the cause? What will you do when he begins to deal with each argument, to disentangle it, to get rid of it? You yourself in truth will begin to be afraid lest you have brought an innocent man into danger.

> Latin: 45. vero, Caecili, quem ad modum sit elusurus, quam omni ratione iactaturus, videre iam videor; quotiens ille tibi potestatem optionemque facturus sit ut eligas utrum velis—factum esse necne, verum esse an falsum—utrum dixeris, id contra te futurum. tibi aestus, qui error, quae tenebrae, di immortales, erunt, homini minime malo!? cum accusationis tuae membra dividere coeperit et in digitis suis singulas partis causae constituere? quid? cum unum quidque transigere, expedire, absolvere? profecto metuere incipies ne innocenti periculum facessieris.

[¶7] 46. What will you do when he begins to pity his client, to complain, and to take off some of his unpopularity from him and transfer it to you? to speak of the close connection necessarily subsisting between the quaestor and the praetor? of the custom of the ancients? of the holy nature of the connection between those to whom the same province was by lot appointed? Will you be able to encounter the odium such a speech will excite against you? Think a moment; consider again and again. For there seems to me to be danger of his overwhelming you not with words only, but of his blunting the edge of your genius by the mere gestures and motions of his body, and so distracting you and leading you away from every previous thought and purpose.

> Latin: 46. ? cum commiserari, conqueri, et ex illius invidia deonerare aliquid et in te traicere coeperit, commemorare quaestoris cum praetore necessitudinem constitutam, morem maiorum, sortis religionem, poterisne eius orationis subire invidiam? modo, etiam atque etiam considera. enim videtur periculum fore ne ille non modo verbis te obruat, sed gestu ipso ac motu corporis praestringat aciem ingeni tui, teque ab institutis tuis cogitationibusque abducat.

[¶8] 47. And I see that the trial of this will be immediate; for if you are able today to answer me and these things which I am saying; if you even depart one word from that book which some elocution-master or other has given you, made up of other men's speeches; I shall think that you are able to speak, and that you are not unequal to that trial also, and that you will be able to do justice to the cause and to the duty you undertake. But if in this preliminary skirmish with me you turn out nothing, what can we suppose you will be in the contest itself against a most active adversary? Be it so; he is nothing himself, he has no ability; but he comes prepared with well-trained and eloquent supporters. And this too is something, though it is not enough; for in all things he who is the chief person to act, ought to be the most accomplished and the best prepared. But I see that Lucius Appuleius is the next counsel on the list, a mere beginner, not as to his age indeed, but as to his practice and training in forensic contests.

> Latin: 47. huiusce rei iudicium iam continuo video futurum. enim mihi hodie respondere ad haec quae dico potueris, si ab isto libro, quem tibi magister ludi nescio qui ex alienis orationibus compositum dedit, verbo uno discesseris, posse te et illi quoque iudicio non deesse et causae atque officio tuo satis facere arbitrabor; sin mecum in hac prolusione nihil fueris, quem te in ipsa pugna cum acerrimo adversario fore putemus?, ipse nihil est, nihil potest; at venit paratus cum subscriptoribus exercitatis et disertis. tamen hoc aliquid, tametsi non est satis; omnibus enim rebus is qui princeps in agendo est ornatissimus et paratissimus esse debet. tamen L. Appuleium esse video proximum subscriptorem, hominem non aetate sed usu forensi atque exercitatione tironem.

[¶9] 48. Next to him he has, as I think, Allienus; he indeed does belong to the bar, but however, I never took any particular notice of what he could do in speaking; in raising an outcry, indeed, I see that he is very vigorous and practiced. In this man all your hopes are placed; he, if you are appointed prosecutor, will sustain the whole trial. But even he will not put forth his whole strength in speaking, but will consult your credit and reputation; and will abstain from putting forth the whole power of eloquence which he himself possesses, in order that you may still appear of some importance As we see is done by the Greek pleaders; that he to whom the second or third part belongs, though he may be able to speak somewhat better than his leader, often restrains himself a good deal, in order that the chief may appear to the greatest possible advantage, so will Allienus act; he will be subservient to you, he will pander to your interest, he will put forth somewhat less strength than he might.

> Latin: 48. , ut opinor, habet, hunc tamen a subselliis; qui quid in dicendo posset numquam satis attendi, in clamando quidem video eum esse bene robustum atque exercitatum. hoc spes tuae sunt omnes; hic, si tu eris actor constitutus, totum iudicium sustinebit. ne is quidem tantum contendet in dicendo quantum potest, sed consulet laudi et existimationi tuae, et ex eo quod ipse potest in dicendo aliquantum remittet, ut tu tamen aliquid esse videare. Vt in actoribus Graecis fieri videmus, saepe illum qui est secundarum aut tertiarum partium, cum possit aliquanto clarius dicere quam ipse primarum, multum submittere, ut ille princeps quam maxime excellat, sic faciet; tibi serviet, tibi lenocinabitur, minus aliquanto contendet quam potest.

[¶10] 49. Now consider this, O judges, what sort of accusers we shall have in this most important trial; when Allienus himself will somewhat abstain from displaying all his abilities, if he has any, and Caecilius will only be able to think himself of any use, because Allienus is not so vigorous as he might be, and voluntarily allows him the chief share in the display. What fourth counsel he is to have with him I do not know, unless it be one of that crowd of losers of time who have entreated to be allowed an inferior part in this prosecution, whoever he might be to whom you gave the lead.

> Latin: 49. hoc considerate, cuius modi accusatores in tanto iudicio simus habituri, cum et ipse ex ea facultate, si quam habet, aliquantum detracturus sit, et Caecilius tum denique se aliquid futurum putet, si minus vehemens fuerit et sibi primas in dicendo partis concesserit. quem sit habiturus non video, nisi quem forte ex illo grege moratorum, qui subscriptionem sibi postularunt cuicumque vos delationem dedissetis:

[¶11] 50. And you are to appear in just this state of preparation, that you have to make friends of those men who are utter strangers to you, for the purpose of obtaining their assistance. But I will not do these men so much honour as to answer what they have said in any regular order, or to give a separate answer to each; but since I have come to mention them not intentionally, but by chance, I will briefly, as I pass, satisfy them all in a few words. Do I seem to you to be in such exceeding want of friends that I must have an assistant given me, chosen not out of the men whom I have brought down to court with me, but out of the people at large? And are you suffering under such a dearth of defendants, that you endeavour to filch this cause from me rather than look for some defendants of your own class at the pillar of Maenius?

> Latin: 50. ex quibus alienissimis hominibus ita paratus venis ut tibi hospes aliquis sit recipiendus. ego non sum tantum honorem habiturus ut ad ea quae dixerint certo loco aut singillatim uni cuique respondeam: sic breviter, quoniam non consulto sed casu in eorum mentionem incidi, quasi praeteriens satis faciam universis. vobis inopia videor esse amicorum ut mihi non ex his quos mecum adduxerim, sed de populo subscriptor addatur? vobis autem tanta inopia reorum est ut mihi causam praeripere conemini potius quam aliquos ad columnam Maeniam vestri ordinis reos reperiatis? “”, inquit, “Tullio me adponite”.

[¶12] 51. Appoint me, says he, to watch Tullius. What? How many watchers shall I have need of, if I once allow you to meddle with my bag? as you will have to be watched not only to prevent your betraying anything, but to prevent your removing anything. But for the whole matter of that watchman I will answer you thus in the briefest manner possible; that these honest judges will never permit any assistant to force himself against my consent into so important a cause, when it has been undertaken by me, and is entrusted to me.

> Latin: 51. ? mihi quam multis custodibus opus erit, si te semel ad meas capsas admisero? qui non solum ne quid enunties, sed etiam ne quid auferas custodiendus sis. de isto custode toto sic vobis brevissime respondebo, non esse hos talis viros commissuros ut ad causam tantam a me susceptam, mihi creditam, quisquam subscriptor me invito adspirare possit; etenim fides mea custodem repudiat, diligentia speculatorem reformidat. ut ad te, Caecili, redeam, quam multa te deficiant vides: quam multa sint in te quae reus nocens in accusatore suo cupiat esse, profecto iam intellegis.

[¶13] 52. In truth, my integrity rejects an overlooker; my diligence is afraid of a spy. But to return to you, O Caecilius, you see how many qualities are wanting to you; how many belong to you which a guilty defendant would wish to belong to his prosecutor, you are well aware. What can be said to this? For I do not ask what you will say yourself, I see that it is not you who will answer me, but this book which your prompter has in his hand; who, if he be inclined to prompt you rightly, will advise you to depart from this place and not to answer me one word. For what can you say? That which you are constantly repeating, that Verres has done you an injury? I have no doubt he has, for it would not be probable, when he was doing injuries to all the Sicilians, that you alone should be so important in his eyes that he should take care of your interests.

> Latin: 52. ad haec dici potest? non enim quaero quid tu dicturus sis; video mihi non te, sed hunc librum esse responsurum, quem monitor tuus hic tenet; qui si te recte monere volet, suadebit tibi ut hinc discedas neque mihi verbum ullum respondeas. enim dices? an id quod dictitas, iniuriam tibi fecisse Verrem?; neque enim esset veri simile, cum omnibus Siculis faceret iniurias, te illi unum eximium cui consuleret fuisse.

[¶14] 53. But the rest of the Sicilians have found an avenger of their injuries; you, while you are endeavouring to exact vengeance for your injuries by your own means, (which you will not be able to effect,) are acting in a way to leave the injuries of all the rest unpunished and unavenged. And you do not see that it ought not alone to be considered who is a proper person to exact vengeance, but also who is a person capable of doing so,—that if there be a man in whom both these qualifications exist, he is the best man.

> Latin: 53. ceteri Siculi ultorem suarum iniuriarum invenerunt; tu dum tuas iniurias per te, id quod non potes, persequi conaris, id agis ut ceterorum quoque iniuriae sint impunitae atque inultae; et hoc te praeterit, non id solum spectari solere, qui debeat, sed etiam illud, qui possit ulcisci; in quo utrumque sit, eum superiorem esse, in quo alterutrum, in eo non quid is velit, sed quid facere possit, quaeri solere.

[¶15] 54. But if a man has only one of them, then the question usually asked is, not what he is inclined to do, but what he is able to do. And if you think that the office of prosecutor ought to be entrusted to him above all other men, to whom Caius Verres has done the greatest injury, which do you think the judges ought to be most indignant at,—at your having been injured by him, or at the whole province of Sicily having been harassed and ruined by him? I think you must grant that this both is the worst thing of the two, and that it ought to be considered the worst by every one. A flow, therefore, that the province ought to be preferred to you as the prosecutor. For the province is prosecuting when he is pleading the cause whom the province has adopted as the defender of her rights, the avenger of her injuries, and the pleader of the whole cause.

> Latin: 54. ei potissimum censes permitti oportere accusandi potestatem cui maximam C. Verres iniuriam fecerit, utrum tandem censes hos iudices gravius ferre oportere, te ab illo esse laesum, an provinciam Siciliam esse vexatam ac perditam?, concedes multo hoc et esse gravius et ab omnibus ferri gravius oportere. igitur ut tibi anteponatur in accusando provincia; nam provincia accusat cum is agit causam quem sibi illa defensorem sui iuris, ultorem iniuriarum, actorem causae totius adoptavit.

[¶16] 55. Oh, but Caius Verres has done you such an injury as might afflict the minds of all the rest of the Sicilians also, though the grievance was felt only by another. Nothing of the sort. For I think it is material also to this argument to consider what sort of injury is alleged and brought forward as the cause of your enmity. Allow me to relate it. For he indeed, unless he is wholly destitute of sense, will never say what it is. There is a woman of the name of Agonis, a Lilybaean, a freedwoman of Venus Erycina; a woman who before this man was quaestor was notoriously well off and rich. From her some prefect of Antonius's carried off some musical slaves whom he said he wished to use in his fleet. Then she, as is the custom in Sicily for all the slaves of Venus, and all those who have procured their emancipation from her, in order to hinder the designs of the prefect, by the scruples which the name of Venus would raise, said that she and all her property belonged to Venus.

> Latin: 55. eam tibi C. Verres fecit iniuriam quae ceterorum quoque animos possit alieno incommodo commovere.; nam id quoque ad rem pertinere arbitror, qualis iniuria dicatur quae causa inimicitiarum proferatur. ex me; nam iste eam profecto, nisi plane nihil sapit, numquam proferet. Agonis quaedam est Lilybitana, liberta Veneris Erycinae, quae mulier ante hunc quaestorem copiosa plane et locuples fuit. hac praefectus Antoni quidam symphoniacos servos abducebat per iniuriam, quibus se in classe uti velle dicebat. illa, ut mos in Sicilia est omnium Veneriorum et eorum qui a Venere se liberaverunt, ut praefecto illi religionem Veneris nomine obiceret, dixit et se et sua Veneris esse.

[¶17] 56. When this was reported to Caecilius, that most excellent and upright man, he ordered Agonis to be summoned before him; he immediately orders a trial to ascertain “if it appeared that she had said that she and all her property belonged to Venus.” The recuperators decide all that was necessary, and indeed there was no doubt at all that she had said so. He sends men to take possession of the woman's property. He adjudges her herself to be again a slave of Venus; then he sells her property and confiscates the money. So while Agonis wishes to keep a few slaves under the name and religious protection of Venus, she loses all her fortunes and her own liberty by the wrong doing of that man. After that, Verres comes to Lilybaeum; he takes cognisance of the affair; he disapproves of the act; he compels his quaestor to pay back and restore to its owner all the money which he had confiscated, having been received for the property of Agonis.

> Latin: 56. Vbi hoc quaestori Caecilio, viro optimo et homini aequissimo, nuntiatum est, vocari ad se Agonidem iubet; iudicium dat statim, SI PARET EAM SE ET SVA VENERIS ESSE DIXISSE. recuperatores id quod necesse erat; neque enim erat cuiquam dubium quin illa dixisset. in possessionem bonorum mulieris intrat, ipsam Veneri in servitutem adiudicat; deinde bona vendit, pecuniam redigit. dum pauca mancipia Veneris nomine Agonis ac religione retinere vult, fortunas omnis libertatemque suam istius iniuria perdidit. Lilybaeum Verres venit postea; rem cognoscit, factum improbat, cogit quaestorem suum pecuniam, quam ex Agonidis bonis redegisset, eam mulieri omnem adnumerare et reddere.

[¶18] 57. He is here, and you may well admire it, no longer Verres, but Quintus Mucius. For what could he do more delicate to obtain a high character among men? what more just to relieve the distress of the women? what more severe to repress the licentiousness of his quaestor? All this appears to me most exceedingly praiseworthy. But at the very next step, in a moment, as if he had drank of some Circaean cup, having been a man, he becomes Verres again; he returns to himself and to his old habits. For of that money he appropriated a great share to himself, and restored to the woman only as much as he chose.

> Latin: 57. adhuc, id quod vos omnis admirari video, non Verres, sed Q. Mucius. enim facere potuit elegantius ad hominum existimationem, aequius ad levandam mulieris calamitatem, vehementius ad quaestoris libidinem coercendam? haec omnia mihi videntur esse laudanda. repente e vestigio ex homine tamquam aliquo Circaeo poculo factus est Verres; rediit ad se atque ad mores suos; nam ex illa pecunia magnam partem ad se vertit, mulieri reddidit quantulum visum est.

[¶19] 58. Here now if you say that you were offended with Verres, I will grant you that and allow it; if you complain that he did you any injury, I will defend him and deny it. Secondly, I say that of the injury which was done to you no one of us ought to be a more severe avenger than you yourself, to whom it is said to have been done. If you afterwards became reconciled to him, if you were often at his house, if he after that supped with you, do you prefer to be considered as acting with treachery or by collusion with him? I see that one of these alternatives is inevitable, but in this matter I will have no contention with you to prevent your adopting which you please.

> Latin: 58. tu si laesum te a Verre esse dicis, patiar et concedam; si iniuriam tibi factam quereris, defendam et negabo; denique de iniuria quae tibi facta sit neminem nostrum graviorem iudicem esse oportet quam te ipsum, cui facta dicitur. tu cum illo postea in gratiam redisti, si domi illius aliquotiens fuisti, si ille apud te postea cenavit, utrum te perfidiosum an prevaricatorem existimari mavis? esse necesse alterutrum, sed ego tecum in eo non pugnabo quo minus utrum velis eligas.

[¶20] 59. What shall I say if even the pretext of that injury which was done to you by him no longer remains? What have you then to say why you should be preferred, I will not say to me, but to any one? except that which I hear you intend to say, that you were his quaestor: which indeed would be an important allegation if you were contending with me as to which of us ought to be the most friendly to him; but in a contention as to which is to take up a quarrel against him, it is ridiculous to suppose that an intimate connection with him can be a just reason for bringing him into danger.

> Latin: 59. ne iniuriae quidem, quae tibi ab illo facta sit, causa remanet, quid habes quod possis dicere quam ob rem non modo mihi, sed cuiquam anteponare? nisi forte illud, quod dicturum te esse audio, quaestorem illius fuisse. causa gravis esset, si certares mecum uter nostrum illi amicior esse deberet: in contentione suscipiendarum inimicitiarum ridiculum est putare causam necessitudinis ad inferendum periculum iustam videri oportere.

[¶21] 60. In truth, if you had received ever so many injuries from your praetor, still you would deserve greater credit by bearing them than by revenging them; but when nothing in his life was ever done more rightly than that which you call an injury, shall these judges determine that this cause, which they would not even tolerate in any one else, shall appear in your case to be a reasonable one to justify the violation of your ancient connection? When even if you had received the greatest injury from him, still, since you have been his quaestor, you cannot accuse him and remain blameless yourself. But if no injury has been done you at all, you cannot accuse him without wickedness; and as it is very uncertain whether any injury has been done you, do you think that there is any one of these men who would not prefer that you should depart without incurring blame rather than after having committed wickedness?

> Latin: 60. si plurimas a tuo praetore iniurias accepisses, tamen eas ferendo maiorem laudem quam ulciscendo mererere; cum vero nullum illius in vita rectius factum sit quam id quod tu iniuriam appellas, hi statuent hanc causam, quam ne in alio quidem probarent, in te iustam ad necessitudinem violandam videri? si summam iniuriam ab illo accepisti, tamen, quoniam quaestor eius fuisti, non potes eum sine ulla vituperatione accusare; si vero non ulla tibi facta est iniuria, sine scelere eum accusare non potes. cum incertum sit de iniuria, quemquam horum esse putas qui non malit te sine vituperatione quam cum scelere discedere?

[¶22] 61. And just think how great is the difference between my opinion and yours. You, though you are in every respect inferior to me, still think that you ought to be preferred to me for this one reason, because you were his quaestor. I think, that if you were my superior in every other qualification, still that for this one cause alone you ought to be rejected as the prosecutor. For this is the principle which has been handed down to us from our ancestors, that a praetor ought to be in the place of a parent to his quaestor; that no more reasonable nor more important cause of intimate friendship can be imagined than a connection arising from drawing the same lot, having the same province, and being associated in the discharge of the same public duty and office.

> Latin: 61. vide quid differat inter meam opinionem ac tuam. cum omnibus rebus inferior sis, hac una in re te mihi anteferri putas oportere, quod quaestor illius fueris: ego, si superior omnibus rebus esses, hanc unam ob causam te accusatorem repudiari putarem oportere. enim a maioribus nostris accepimus, praetorem quaestori suo parentis loco esse oportere; nullam neque iustiorem neque graviorem causam necessitudinis posse reperiri quam coniunctionem sortis, quam provinciae, quam offici, quam publici muneris societatem.

[¶23] 62. Wherefore, even if you could accuse him without violating strict right, still, as he had been in the place of a parent to you, you could not do so without violating every principle of piety. But as you have not received any injury, and would yet be creating danger for your praetor, you must admit that you are endeavouring to wage an unjust and impious war against him. In truth, your quaestorship is an argument of so strong a nature, that you would have to take a great deal of pains to find an excuse for accusing him to whom you had acted as quaestor, and can never be a reason why you should claim on that account to have the office of prosecuting him entrusted to you above all men. Nor indeed, did any one who had acted as quaestor to another, ever contest the point of being allowed to accuse him without being rejected.

> Latin: 62. ob rem si iure posses eum accusare, tamen, cum is tibi parentis numero fuisset, id pie facere non posses; cum vero neque iniuriam acceperis et praetori tuo periculum crees, fatearis necesse est te illi iniustum impiumque bellum inferre conari. ista quaestura ad eam rem valet, ut elaborandum tibi in ratione reddenda sit quam ob rem qui quaestor eius fueris accuses, non ut ob eam ipsam causam postulandum sit ut tibi potissimum accusatio detur. fere umquam venit in contentionem de accusando qui quaestor fuisset, quin repudiaretur.

[¶24] 63. And therefore, neither was permission given to Lucius Philo to bring forward an accusation against Caius Servilius, nor to Marcus Aurelius Scaurus to prosecute Lucius Flaccus, nor to Cnaeus Pompeius to accuse Titus Albucius; not one of whom was refused this, permission because of any personal unworthiness, but in order that the desire to violate such an intimate connection might not be sanctioned by the authority of the judges. And that great man Cnaeus Pompeius contended about that matter with Caius Julius, just as you are contending with me. For he had been the quaestor of Albucius, just as you were of Verres: Julius had on his side this reason for conducting the prosecution, that, just as we have now been entreated by the Sicilians, so he had then been entreated by the Sardinians, to espouse their cause. And this argument has always had the greatest influence; this has always been the most honourable cause for acting as accuser, that by so doing one is bringing enmity on oneself in behalf of allies, for the sake of the safety of a province, for the advantage of foreign nations—that one is for their sakes incurring danger, and spending much care and anxiety and labour.

> Latin: 63. neque L. Philoni in C. Servilium nominis deferendi potestas est data, neque M. Aurelio Scauro in L. Flaccum, neque Cn. Pompeio in T. Albucium; quorum nemo propter indignitatem repudiatus est, sed ne libido violandae necessitudinis auctoritate iudicum comprobaretur. ille Cn. Pompeius ita cum C. Iulio contendit, ut tu mecum; quaestor enim Albuci fuerat, ut tu Verris; Iulius hoc secum auctoritatis ad accusandum adferebat quod, ut hoc tempore nos ab Siculis, sic tum ille ab Sardis rogatus ad causam accesserat. haec causa plurimum valuit, semper haec ratio accusandi fuit honestissima, pro sociis, pro salute provinciae, pro exterarum nationum commodis inimicitias suscipere, ad periculum accedere, operam, studium, laborem interponere.

[¶25] 64. Even if the cause of those men who wish to revenge their own injuries be ever so strong, in which matter they are only obeying their own feelings of indignation, not consulting the advantage of the republic: how much more honourable is that cause, which is not only reasonable, but which ought to be acceptable to all,—that a man, without having received any private injury to himself, should be influenced by the sufferings and injuries of the allies and friends of the Roman people! When lately that most brave and upright man Lucius Piso demanded to be allowed to prefer an accusation against Publius Gabinius, and when Quintus Caecilius claimed the same permission in opposition to Piso, and said that in so doing he was following up an old quarrel which he had long had with Gabinius; it was not only the authority and dignity of Piso which had great weight, but also the superior justice of his cause, because the Achaeans had adopted him as their patron.

> Latin: 64. si probabilis est eorum causa qui iniurias suas persequi volunt (qua in re dolori suo, non rei publicae commodis serviunt), quanto illa honestior causa est, quae non solum probabilis videri sed etiam grata esse debet, nulla privatim accepta iniuria sociorum atque amicorum populi Romani dolore atque iniuriis commoveri! cum in P. Gabinium vir fortissimus et innocentissimus L. Piso delationem nominis postularet, et contra Q. Caecilius peteret isque se veteres inimicitias iam diu susceptas persequi diceret, cum auctoritas et dignitas Pisonis valebat plurimum, tum illa erat causa iustissima, quod eum sibi Achaei patronum adoptarant.

[¶26] 65. In truth, when the very law itself about extortion is the protectress of the allies and friends of the Roman people, it is an iniquitous thing that he should not, above all others, he thought the fittest advocate of the law and conductor of the trial, whom the allies wish, above all men, to be the pleader of their cause, and the defender of their fortunes. Or ought not that which is the more honourable to mention, to appear also far the most reasonable to approve of? Which then is the more splendid, which is the more honourable allegation—“I have prosecuted this man to whom I had acted as quaestor, with whom the lot cast for the provinces, and the custom of our ancestors, and the judgment of gods and men had connected me,” or, “I have prosecuted this man at the request of the allies and friends of the Roman people, I have been selected by the whole province to defend its rights and fortunes?” Can any one doubt that it is more honourable to act as prosecutor in behalf of those men among whom you have been quaestor, than as prosecutor of him whose quaestor you have been?

> Latin: 65. cum lex ipsa de pecuniis repetundis sociorum atque amicorum populi Romani patrona sit, iniquum est non eum legis iudicique actorem idoneum maxime putari quem actorem causae suae socii defensoremque fortunarum suarum potissimum esse voluerunt. quod ad commemorandum est honestius, id ad probandum non multo videri debet aequius? Vtra igitur est splendidior, utra inlustrior commemoratio, “eum cui quaestor fueram, quicum me sors consuetudoque maiorum, quicum me deorum hominumque iudicium coniunxerat,” an “rogatu sociorum atque amicorum, delectus sum ab universa provincia qui eius iura fortunasque defenderem”? quisquam potest quin honestius sit eorum causa apud quos quaestor fueris, quam eum cuius quaestor fueris accusare?

[¶27] 66. The most illustrious men of our state, in the best of times, used to think this most honourable and glorious for them to ward off injuries from their hereditary friends, and from their clients, and from foreign nations which were either friends or subjects of the Roman people, and to defend their fortunes. We learn from tradition that Marcus Cato, that wise man, that most illustrious and most prudent man, brought upon himself great enmity from many men, on account of the injuries of the Spaniards among whom he had been when consul.

> Latin: 66. viri nostrae civitatis temporibus optimis hoc sibi amplissimum pulcherrimumque ducebant, ab hospitibus clientibusque suis, ab exteris nationibus, quae in amicitiam populi Romani dicionemque essent, iniurias propulsare eorumque fortunas defendere. M. Catonem illum, clarissimum virum et prudentissimum, cum multis gravis inimicitias gessisse accepimus propter Hispanorum, apud quos consul fuerat, iniurias.

[¶28] 67. We know that lately Cnaeus Domitius prosecuted Marcus Silanus on account of the injuries of one man, Egritomarus, his father's friend and comrade. Nor indeed has anything ever had more influence over the minds of guilty men than this principle of our ancestors, now re-adopted and brought back among us after a long interval, namely, that the complaints of the allies should be brought to a man who is not very inactive, and their advocacy undertaken by him who appeared able to defend their fortunes with integrity and diligence.

> Latin: 67. Cn. Domitium scimus M. Silano diem dixisse propter unius hominis Aegritomari, paterni amici atque hospitis, iniurias. enim magis animos hominum nocentium res umquam ulla commovit quam haec maiorum consuetudo longo intervallo repetita ac relata, sociorum querimoniae delatae ad hominem non inertissimum, susceptae ab eo qui videbatur eorum fortunas fide diligentiaque sua posse defendere.

[¶29] 68. Men are afraid of this; they endeavour to prevent this; they are disquieted at such a principle having ever been adopted, and after it has been adopted at its now being resuscitated and brought into play again. They think that, if this custom begins gradually to creep on and advance, the laws will be put in execution, and actions will be conducted by honourable and fearless men, and not by unskillful youths, or informers of this sort.

> Latin: 68. timent homines, hoc laborant, hoc institui atque adeo institutum referri ac renovari moleste ferunt; putant fore ut, si paulatim haec consuetudo serpere ac prodire coeperit, per homines honestissimos virosque fortissimos, non imperitos adulescentulos aut illius modi quadruplatores leges iudiciaque administrentur.

[¶30] 69. Of which custom and principle our fathers and ancestors did not repent when Publius Lentulus, he who was chief of the Senate, prosecuted Marcus Aquillius, having Caius Rutilius Rufus backing the accusation; or when Publius Africanus, a man most eminent for valour, for good fortune, for renown, and for exploits, after he had been twice consul and had been censor brought Lucius Cotta to trial Then the name of the Roman people was rightly held in high honour; rightly was the authority of this empire and the majesty of the state considered illustrious. Nobody marveled in the case of that great man Africanus, as they now pretend to marvel with respect to me, a man endowed with but moderate influence and moderate talents, just because they are annoyed at me;

> Latin: 69. consuetudinis atque instituti patres maioresque nostros non paenitebat tum cum P. Lentulus, is qui princeps senatus fuit, accusabat M’. Aquilium subscriptore C. Rutilio Rufo, aut cum P. Africanus, homo virtute, fortuna, gloria, rebus gestis amplissimus, posteaquam bis consul et censor fuerat, L. Cottam in iudicium vocabat. tum florebat populi Romani nomen, iure auctoritas huius imperi civitatisque maiestas gravis habebatur. mirabatur in Africano illo, quod in me nunc, homine parvis opibus ac facultatibus praedito, simulant sese mirari, cum moleste ferunt:

[¶31] 70. “What can he be meaning? does he want to be considered a prosecutor who hitherto has been accustomed to defend people? and especially now at the age when he is seeking the aedileship?” But I think it becomes not my age only, but even a much greater age, and I think it an action consistent with the highest dignity to accuse the wicked, and to defend the miserable and distressed. And in truth, either this is a remedy for a republic diseased and in an almost desperate condition, and for tribunals corrupted and contaminated by the vices and baseness of a few, for men of the greatest possible honour and uprightness and modesty to undertake to uphold the stability of the laws, and the authority of the courts of justice; or else, if this is of no advantage, no medicine whatever will ever be found for such terrible and numerous evils as these.

> Latin: 70. “sibi iste vult? accusatoremne se existimari, qui antea defendere consuerat, nunc praesertim, ea iam aetate, cum aedilitatem petat?” vero et aetatis non modo meae sed multo etiam superioris, et honoris amplissimi puto esse et accusare improbos et miseros calamitososque defendere. profecto aut hoc remedium est aegrotae ac prope desperatae rei publicae iudiciisque corruptis et contaminatis paucorum vitio ac turpitudine, homines ad legum defensionem iudiciorumque auctoritatem quam honestissimos et integerrimos diligentissimosque accedere; aut, si ne hoc quidem prodesse poterit, profecto nulla umquam medicina his tot incommodis reperietur.

[¶32] 71. There is no greater safety for a republic, than for those who accuse another to be no less alarmed for their own credit, and honour, and reputation, than they who are accused are for their lives and fortunes. And therefore, those men have always conducted prosecutions with the greatest care and with the greatest pains, who have considered that they themselves had their reputations at stake. You, therefore, O judges ought to come to this decision, that Quintus Caecilius of whom no one has ever had any opinion, and from whom even in this very trial nothing could be expected—who takes no trouble either to preserve a reputation previously acquired, or to give grounds for hope of himself in future times—will not be likely to conduct this cause with too much severity, with too much accuracy, or with too much diligence. For he has nothing which he can lose by disappointing public expectation; even if he were to come off ever so shamefully, or ever so infamously, he will lose no credit which he at present enjoys.

> Latin: 71. salus rei publicae maior est quam eos qui alterum accusant non minus de laude, de honore, de fama sua quam illos qui accusantur de capite ac fortunis suis pertimescere. semper ii diligentissime laboriosissimeque accusarunt qui se ipsos in discrimen existimationis venire arbitrati sunt. ob rem hoc statuere, iudices, debetis, Q. Caecilium, de quo nulla umquam opinio fuerit nullaque in hoc ipso iudicio exspectatio futura sit, qui neque ut ante collectam famam conservet neque uti reliqui temporis spem confirmet laborat, non nimis hanc causam severe, non nimis accurate, non nimis diligenter acturum. enim nihil quod in offensione deperdat; ut turpissime flagitiosissimeque discedat, nihil de suis veteribus ornamentis requiret.

[¶33] 72. From us the Roman people has many hostages which we must labour with all our might and by every possible means to preserve uninjured, to defend, to keep in safety, and to redeem; it has honour which we are desirous of; it has hope, which we constantly keep before our eyes; it has reputation, acquired with much sweat and labour day and night; so that if we prove our duty and industry in this cause, we may be able to preserve all those things which I have mentioned safe and unimpaired by the favour of the Roman people; but if we trip and stumble ever so little, we may at one moment lose the whole of those things which have been collected one by one and by slow degrees.

> Latin: 72. A nobis multos obsides habet populus Romanus, quos ut incolumis conservare, tueri, confirmare ac recuperare possimus, omni ratione erit dimicandum. honorem quem petimus, habet spem quam propositam nobis habemus, habet existimationem multo sudore labore vigiliisque collectam, ut, si in hac causa nostrum officium ac diligentiam probaverimus, haec quae dixi retinere per populum Romanum incolumia ac salva possimus; si tantulum offensum titubatumque sit, ut ea quae singillatim ac diu collecta sunt uno tempore universa perdamus.

[¶34] 73. On which account it is your business, O judges, to select him who you think can most easily sustain this great cause and trial with integrity, with diligence, with wisdom, and with authority. If you prefer Quintus Caecilius to me, I shall not think that I am surpassed in dignity; but take you care that the Roman people do not think that a prosecution as honest, as severe, as diligent as this would have been in my hands, was neither pleasing to yourselves nor to your body.

> Latin: 73. , iudices, vestrum est deligere quem existimetis facillime posse magnitudinem causae ac iudici sustinere fide, diligentia, consilio, auctoritate. si mihi Q. Caecilium anteposueritis, ego me dignitate superatum non arbitrabor: populus Romanus ne tam honestam, tam severam diligentemque accusationem neque vobis placuisse neque ordini vestro placere arbitretur, providete.