---
title: "For Caelius · Pro M. Caelio"
author: "Cicero"
translator: "Charles Duke Yonge"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 1 of 3
url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-pro-caelio/1/
cite: "Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, For Caelius · Pro M. Caelio, section 1. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-pro-caelio/1/"
---

# For Caelius · Pro M. Caelio

*Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge*

A young man accused of poisoning, and Cicero’s merciless portrait of Clodia.

> Latin: ed. Albert Curtis Clark, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0474.phi024, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Charles Duke Yonge, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0474.phi024.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

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

## 1. Sections 1–29

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-pro-caelio/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-pro-caelio/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. If any one, O judges, were now present by any chance, ignorant of our laws, and of our judicial proceedings, and of our customs, he would in truth wonder what great atrocity there is in this particular cause of so serious a nature, as to cause this trial alone to be proceeded with during these days of festival and public games, when all other forensic business is interrupted; and he would not doubt that a criminal was being prosecuted for a crime of such enormity, that, if it were neglected, though but for a moment, the state could no longer stand upright. If the same man were to hear that there is a law which orders daily investigations to take place about seditious and wicked citizens, who may have taken arms and besieged the senate or offered violence to the magistrates, or attacked the constitution, he would find no fault with the law, but he would inquire what is the crime which is now before the court; and when he heard that there was no crime at all, no audacity, no deed of violence which was the subject of this present action, but that a young man of eminent abilities, and industry, and popularity is impeached by the son of that man whom he himself prosecutes and has prosecuted and that he is attacked owing to the influence of a prostitute, he would not find fault with the filial affection of Atratinus, but he would think it right to curb the lust of the woman, and he would think you the judges a really laborious race, when you are not allowed to be at rest at a time of universal rest to every one else.

> Latin: 1. quis, iudices, forte nunc adsit ignarus legum iudiciorum consuetudinisque nostrae, miretur profecto quae sit tanta atrocitas huiusce causae, quod diebus festis ludisque publicis, omnibus forensibus negotiis intermissis, unum hoc iudicium exerceatur, nec dubitet quin tanti facinoris reus arguatur ut eo neglecto civitas stare non possit. cum audiat esse legem quae de seditiosis consceleratisque civibus qui armati senatum obsederint, magistratibus vim attulerint, rem publicam oppugnarint cotidie quaeri iubeat: legem non improbet, crimen quod versetur in iudicio requirat; cum audiat nullum facinus, nullam audaciam, nullam vim in iudicium vocari, sed adulescentem inlustri ingenio, industria, gratia accusari ab eius filio quem ipse in iudicium et vocet et vocarit, oppugnari autem opibus meretriciis: Atratini ipsius pietatem non reprehendat, libidinem muliebrem comprimendam putet, vos laboriosos existimet quibus otiosis ne in communi quidem otio liceat esse.

[¶1] 2. In truth, if you are willing to attend diligently, and to form a correct opinion of the whole of this cause, O judges, you will make up your minds that no one would ever have come down to the court, to prefer this accusation who had the power of doing so or not, just as he pleased; and that, when he had come down, he would not have had the slightest hope of succeeding if he had not relied on the intolerable licentiousness and exaggerated hatred of some one else. But, for my part, I can make allowance for Atratinus, a most humane and virtuous young man, and a great friend of my own; who has the excuse of filial affection, and necessity, and of youth. If he wished to accuse my client I attribute it to his filial affection; if he was ordered to do so, I lay the blame on the necessity; if he had any hope of succeeding, I impute that to the inexperience of his boyhood. But as for the other partners in this impeachment, those I have not only no allowance to make for, but I must resist them most vigorously.

> Latin: 2. si attendere diligenter atque existimare vere de omni hac causa volueritis, sic constituetis, iudices, nec descensurum quemquam ad hanc accusationem fuisse cui utrum vellet liceret nec, cum descendisset, quicquam habiturum spei fuisse, nisi alicuius intolerabili libidine et nimis acerbo odio niteretur. ego Atratino, humanissimo atque optimo adulescenti, meo necessario, ignosco, qui habet excusationem vel pietatis vel necessitatis vel aetatis. voluit accusare, pietati tribuo, si iussus est, necessitati, si speravit aliquid, pueritiae. non modo nihil ignoscendum sed etiam acriter est resistendum.

[¶2] 3. And, O judges, this beginning of my defence appears to me to suit most especially with the youth of Marcus Caelius so that I should reply first to those things which the accusers have advanced with the general view of disparaging him and for the sake of detracting from his honour and despoiling him of his dignity. His father was cast in his teeth on various accounts,—at one time as having been a man of no great respectability himself; at another, he was said to have been treated with but little respect by his son. On the score of dignity, Marcus Caelius, to those who know him and to the older men among us, is of himself, without speaking, himself able easily to make a very sufficient reply, and without my having any occasion to make any statement for him; but as for those to whom he is not equally well known, on account of his great age, which has now for some time hindered his mixing much with us in the forum, let them think this: that whatever dignity can exist in a Roman knight,—and certainly the very greatest may be found in that body,—has always been considered, and is to this day considered, to shine out in great lustre in the case of Marcus Caelius; and moreover it is so considered, not only by his own relations and friends, but by every one to whom he can possibly be known on any account whatever.

> Latin: 3. mihi quidem videtur, iudices, hic introitus defensionis adulescentiae M.Marci Caeli maxime convenire, ut ad ea quae accusatores deformandi huius causa et detrahendae spoliandaeque dignitatis gratia dixerunt primum respondeam. est pater varie, quod aut parum splendidus ipse aut parum pie tractatus a filio diceretur. dignitate M.Marcus Caelius notis ac maioribus natu etiam sine mea oratione tacitus facile ipse respondet; quibus autem propter senectutem, quod iam diu minus in foro nobiscumque versatur, non aeque est cognitus, hi sic habeant, quaecumque in equite Romano dignitas esse possit, quae certe potest esse maxima, eam semper in M.Marco Caelio habitam esse summam hodieque haberi non solum a suis sed etiam ab omnibus quibus potuerit aliqua de causa esse notus.

[¶3] 4. And to be the son of a Roman knight ought neither to be attributed to any one as a crime, either by the present prosecutor, or before those men who are the judges, or while I am the counsel for the defence. For as to what you have said about his filial affection, or the want of it, that can only be a vague opinion of ours, but the decision as to the truth of it must certainly rest with his parent. What our opinion is, you shall hear from witnesses on their oath: what his parents feel to be the truth, the tears of his mother and her incredible sorrow, the mourning appearance of his father and his distress which you now behold, and his agony, sufficiently declare.

> Latin: 4. autem Romani esse filium criminis loco poni ab accusatoribus neque his iudicantibus oportuit neque defendentibus nobis. quod de pietate dixistis, est ista quidem nostra existimatio sed iudicium certe parentis. nos opinemur audietis ex iuratis; quid parentes sentiant lacrimae matris incredibilisque maeror, squalor patris et haec praesens maestitia quam cernitis luctusque declarat.

[¶4] 5. For as to the attack made upon him, that as a young man he was not well thought of by his fellow-citizens of the same municipal town, I say that the people of Puteoli never paid greater honours to any one when he was among them than they did to Marcus Caelius while he was absent; for though he was absent they elected him a member of their most honourable body; and they conferred those distinctions on him without his asking for them, which they have refused to numbers when they solicited them; and they have, moreover, now sent their most chosen men, and men of our order, and Roman knights, with a deputation to attend this trial, and to bear most honourable and authoritative testimony in his favour. I seem to myself now to have laid the foundations of my defence; and they are the firmest possible, if they rest on the judgment of his own relations and fellow-citizens. For his life could not be sufficiently recommended to you to meet with your approbation, if it displeased not only his parent, who is so excellent a man, but also so illustrious and dignified a municipality.

> Latin: 5. quod est obiectum municipibus esse adulescentem non probatum suis, nemini umquam praesenti †Praestutiani† maiores honores habuerunt, iudices, quam absenti M.Marco Caelio; quem et absentem in amplissimum ordinem cooptarunt et ea non petenti detulerunt quae multis petentibus denegarunt. nunc lectissimos viros et nostri ordinis et equites Romanos cum legatione ad hoc iudicium et cum gravissima atque ornatissima laudatione miserunt. mihi iecisse fundamenta defensionis meae, quae firmissima sunt si nituntur iudicio suorum. enim vobis satis commendata huius aetas esse posset, si non modo parenti, tali viro, verum etiam municipio tam inlustri ac tam gravi displiceret., ut ad me revertar, ab his fontibus profluxi ad hominum famam, et meus hic forensis labor vitaeque ratio demanavit ad existimationem hominum paulo latius commendatione ac iudicio meorum.

[¶5] 6. In truth, to return to myself, it is from such beginnings as his that I myself have risen to credit among men; and this forensic labour of mine, and the system of conduct which I have adopted, has made its way to the favourable opinion of men, by means of the extended commendation and favourable opinion of my own relations and friends. For as to the attacks which have been made on him on the score of chastity, which has been harped upon by all the accusers, not by regular charges, but by outcry and abuse; Marcus Caelius will never be indignant at that, so far as to repent of not being ugly. For those sort of reproaches are habitually heaped upon every one, whose person and appearance in youth is at all gentlemanly. But to vituperate is one thing, and to accuse is another. An accusation requires a crime in order to define the matter, to bind the man, to prove its charges by argument, and to confirm them by witnesses. But vituperation has no settled object except insult and if any one is attacked in that way with ill-temper it is called abuse; but if it is done with some sort of wit and mirth, it is then styled bantering.

> Latin: 6. quod obiectum est de pudicitia quodque omnium accusatorum non criminibus sed vocibus maledictisque celebratum est, id numquam tam acerbe feret M.Marcus Caelius ut eum paeniteat non deformem esse natum. enim ista maledicta pervolgata in omnis quorum in adulescentia forma et species fuit liberalis. aliud est male dicere, aliud accusare. crimen desiderat, rem ut definiat, hominem notet, argumento probet, teste confirmet; maledictio autem nihil habet propositi praeter contumeliam; quae si petulantius iactatur, convicium, si facetius, urbanitas nominatur.

[¶6] 7. And I wondered and was indignant at that department of the accusation being given to Atratinus above all men; for it did not become him, nor did his age justify it, nor (as indeed you might have observed yourself) did the modesty of that excellent young man allow him to show to advantage in a speech on that subject. I should have preferred having one of you who are older and more robust, to undertake this part of vituperation; and we should then have been able with more freedom of speech and more vigour, and in a manner more in accordance with our usual habits, to refute the licentiousness of that vituperation. With you, O Atratinus, I will deal more gently, both because your own modesty is a check on my language, and because I am bound to have a regard to the good-will which I entertain towards you and your parent.

> Latin: 7. quidem partem accusationis admiratus sum et moleste tuli potissimum esse Atratino datam. enim decebat neque aetas illa postulabat neque, id quod animum advertere poteratis, pudor patiebatur optimi adulescentis in tali illum oratione versari. aliquis ex vobis robustioribus hunc male dicendi locum suscepisset; aliquanto liberius et fortius et magis more nostro refutaremus istam male dicendi licentiam., Atratine, agam lenius, quod et pudor tuus moderatur orationi meae et meum erga te parentemque tuum beneficium tueri debeo. tamen te esse admonitum volo, primum ut qualis es talem te omnes esse existiment, ut quantum a rerum turpitudine abes tantum te a verborum libertate seiungas;

[¶7] 8. I wish, however, that you would keep one thing in mind; first of all, to form a correct estimate of yourself, and to learn to think yourself such a man as in truth you are; in order to keep yourself as clear of licentiousness of language as you are free from all impropriety of conduct; and secondly, to avoid alleging those things against another, which would make you blush if in reply they were falsely imputed to you. For who is there to whom such a path as that is not open? who is there who is not able to attack a man of Caelius's age and of Caelius's rank as petulantly as he pleases on that subject, even if without any real grounds for suspicion, at all events not without some apparent argument? But the people who are to blame for your undertaking that part, are they who compelled you to make these allegations. This praise belongs to your own modesty, of being, as we saw that you were, unwilling to make them; and to your genius, of making them in a courteous and polite manner.

> Latin: 8. deinde ut ea in alterum ne dicas quae, cum tibi falso responsa sint, erubescas. est enim cui via ista non pateat, quis est qui huic aetati atque isti dignitati non possit quam velit petulanter, etiam si sine ulla suspicione, at non sine argumento male dicere? istarum partium culpa est eorum qui te agere voluerunt; laus pudoris tui, quod ea te invitum dicere videbamus, ingeni, quod ornate politeque dixisti.

[¶8] 9. But however, with respect to all that part of your speech, my reply in defence may be very brief. For, as far as the age of Marcus Caelius might give room for any such suspicion, in the first place it was fortified against it by his own modesty, and in the second place by his father's attentive care of him and rigid discipline; for, as soon as he had given him the robe of a man,—(I will say nothing here of myself; you yourselves are competent judges of what credit is due to me,—I only say that he was immediately brought by his father to me as a pupil,)—after that time no one ever saw Marcus Caelius in that the flower of his age, that he was not either with his father, or with me, or else in that most virtuous house of Marcus Crassus, and being instructed in the most honourable branches of learning.

> Latin: 9. ad istam omnem orationem brevis est defensio. quoad aetas M.Marci Caeli dare potuit isti suspicioni locum, fuit primum ipsius pudore, deinde etiam patris diligentia disciplinaque munita. ut huic togam virilem dedit — nihil dicam hoc loco de me; tantum sit quantum vos existimatis; hoc dicam, hunc a patre continuo ad me esse deductum — nemo hunc M.Marcum Caelium in illo aetatis flore vidit nisi aut cum patre aut mecum aut in M.Marci Crassi castissima domo cum artibus honestissimis erudiretur.

[¶9] 10. For as for the imputation which has been levelled against Caelius, of having been intimate with Catiline, he ought to be wholly exempt from any such suspicion. For you all know that he was a very young man when Catiline stood for the consulship the same year that I did; and if he ever joined his party, or ever departed from mine, (though many virtuous young men did espouse the cause of that worthless and abandoned man,) then, indeed, I will allow it to be thought that Caelius was too intimate with Catiline. But we know, and we ourselves saw after that, that he was one of his friends. Well, who denies it? But I am at this moment engaged in defending his conduct at that period of life, which is of itself unsteady and very liable to be at the mercy of the passions of others. He was continually with me while I was praetor; he knew nothing of Catiline. After that Catiline being praetor had Africa for his province. Another year ensued in which Catiline was prosecuted for extortions and peculation. Caelius was still with me and never went to him not even as an advocate of his cause. The next year was the one in which I was a candidate for the consulship; Catiline was also a candidate. He never went over to him; he never departed from me.

> Latin: 10. quod Catilinae familiaritas obiecta Caelio est, longe ab ista suspicione abhorrere debet. enim adulescente scitis consulatum mecum petisse Catilinam. quem si accessit aut si a me discessit umquam — quamquam multi boni adulescentes illi homini nequam atque improbo studuerunt — tum existimetur Caelius Catilinae nimium familiaris fuisse. enim postea scimus et vidimus esse hunc in illius etiam amicis. negat? ego illud tempus aetatis quod ipsum sua sponte infirmum, aliorum autem libidine infestum est, id hoc loco defendo. adsiduus mecum praetore me; non noverat Catilinam; Africam tum praetor ille obtinebat. est tum annus, causam de pecuniis repetundis Catilina dixit. erat hic; illi ne advocatus quidem venit umquam. fuit annus quo ego consulatum petivi; petebat Catilina mecum. ad illum accessit, a me numquam recessit.

[¶10] 11. Having then been so many years about the forum without any suspicion, and without any slur on his character, he espoused the cause of Catiline when he offered himself for the consulship a second time. How long then do you think that men of his age are to be kept in a state of pupilage? Formerly, we had one year established by custom during which the arm was restrained by our robe and during which we practised our exercises and sports in the Campus Martius in our tunics. And the very same practice prevailed in the camps and in the army, if we began to serve in campaigns at once. And at that age, unless a man protected himself by great gravity and chastity on his own part and not only by rigid domestic discipline, but by an extraordinary degree of natural virtue, however he was looked after by his relations, he still could not escape some slur on his character. But any one who passed that beginning of his life in perfect purity, and free from all stain, never was liable to have any one speak against his fair fame and his chastity when his principles had gained strength, and when he was a man and among men.

> Latin: 11. igitur annos versatus in foro sine suspicione, sine infamia, studuit Catilinae iterum petenti. ergo ad finem putas custodiendam illam aetatem fuisse? quidem olim annus erat unus ad cohibendum bracchium toga constitutus, et ut exercitatione ludoque campestri tunicati uteremur, eademque erat, si statim merere stipendia coeperamus, castrensis ratio ac militaris. in aetate nisi qui se ipse sua gravitate et castimonia et cum disciplina domestica tum etiam naturali quodam bono defenderet, quoquo modo a suis custoditus esset, tamen infamiam veram effugere non poterat. qui prima illa initia aetatis integra atque inviolata praestitisset, de eius fama ac pudicitia, cum iam sese conroboravisset ac vir inter viros esset, nemo loquebatur.

[¶11] 12. Caelius espoused the cause of Catiline, when he had been for several years mixing in the forum; and many of every rank and of every age did the very same thing. For that man, as I should think many of you must remember, had very many marks—not indeed fully brought out, but only in outline as it were of the most eminent virtues. He was intimate with many thoroughly wicked men; but he pretended to be entirely devoted to the most virtuous of the citizens. He had many things about him which served to allure men to the gratification of their passions; he had also many things which acted as incentives to industry and toil. The vices of lust raged in him; but at the same time he was conspicuous for great energy and military skill. Nor do I believe that there ever existed so strange a prodigy upon the earth, made up in such a manner of the most various, and different and inconsistent studies and desires.

> Latin: 12. studuit Catilinae, cum iam aliquot annos esset in foro, Caelius. multi hoc idem ex omni ordine atque ex omni aetate fecerunt. enim ille, sicuti meminisse vos arbitror, permulta maximarum non expressa signa sed adumbrata virtutum. Vtebatur hominibus improbis multis; et quidem optimis se viris deditum esse simulabat. apud illum inlecebrae libidinum multae; erant etiam industriae quidam stimuli ac laboris. vitia libidinis apud illum; vigebant etiam studia rei militaris. ego umquam fuisse tale monstrum in terris ullum puto, tam ex contrariis diversisque ⟨atque⟩ inter se pugnantibus naturae studiis cupiditatibusque conflatum.

[¶12] 13. Who was ever more acceptable at one time to most illustrious men? who was more intimate with the very basest? What citizen was there at times who took a better part than he did? who was there at other times a fouler enemy to this state? Who was more debased in his pleasures? who was more patient in undergoing labours? who was more covetous as regards his rapacity? who more prodigal in squandering? And besides all this, there were, O judges, these marvellous qualities in that man, that he was able to embrace many men in his friendship, to preserve their regard by attention, to share with every one what he had, to assist all his friends in their necessities with money, with influence, with his personal toil, even with his own crimes and audacity, if need were; to keep his nature under restraint and to guide it according to the requirements of the time, and to turn and twist it hither and thither; to live strictly when in company with the morose, merrily with the cheerful, seriously with the old, courteously with the young, audaciously with the criminal, and luxuriously with the profligate.

> Latin: 13. clarioribus viris quodam tempore iucundior, quis turpioribus coniunctior? quis civis meliorum partium aliquando, quis taetrior hostis huic civitati? quis in voluptatibus inquinatior, quis in laboribus patientior? quis in rapacitate avarior, quis in largitione effusior? vero, iudices, in illo homine admirabilia fuerunt, comprehendere multos amicitia, tueri obsequio, cum omnibus communicare quod habebat, servire temporibus suorum omnium pecunia, gratia, labore corporis, scelere etiam, si opus esset, et audacia, versare suam naturam et regere ad tempus atque huc et illuc torquere ac flectere, cum tristibus severe, cum remissis iucunde, cum senibus graviter, cum iuventute comiter, cum facinerosis audaciter, cum libidinosis luxuriose vivere.

[¶13] 14. When—by giving full swing to this various and multiform natural disposition of his—he had collected together every wicked and audacious man from every country, so also he retained the friendship of many gallant and virtuous men, by a certain appearance of pretended virtue. Nor would that infamous attempt to destroy this empire have ever proceeded from him, if the ferocity of so many vices had not been based on the deep-rooted foundations of affability and patience. Let that allegation then, O judges, be disregarded by you, and let not the charge of intimacy with Catiline make any impression upon you. For it is one which only applies to him in common with many other men, and even with some very good men. Even me myself—yes, even me, I say—he once almost deceived, as he seemed to me a virtuous citizen, and desirous of the regard of every good man, and a firm and trustworthy friend; so that in truth, I detected his wickedness with my eyes, before I did so by my opinion; I was aroused to the necessity of acting against him by force, before my suspicions were awakened. So that if Caelius also was one of the great number of friends whom he had to boast of, there is more reason for his being vexed at having fallen into such a mistake, just as sometimes I myself repent also of having been deceived by the same person, than for his having any reason to fear the accusation of having been a friend of his.

> Latin: 14. ille tam varia multiplicique natura cum omnis omnibus ex terris homines improbos audacisque conlegerat, tum etiam multos fortis viros et bonos specie quadam virtutis adsimulatae tenebat. umquam ex illo delendi huius imperi tam consceleratus impetus exstitisset, nisi tot vitiorum tanta immanitas quibusdam facilitatis et patientiae radicibus niteretur. re ista condicio, iudices, respuatur, nec Catilinae familiaritatis crimen haereat. enim commune cum multis et cum quibusdam bonis. ipsum, me, inquam, quondam paene ille decepit, cum et civis mihi bonus et optimi cuiusque cupidus et firmus amicus ac fidelis videretur; cuius ego facinora oculis prius quam opinione, manibus ante quam suspicione deprendi. in magnis catervis amicorum si fuit etiam Caelius, magis est ut ipse moleste ferat errasse se, sicuti non numquam in eodem homine me quoque erroris mei paenitet, quam ut istius amicitiae crimen reformidet.

[¶14] 15. Accordingly, your speech descended from vituperations of him on the score of chastity, to endeavours to excite odium against him on account of that conspiracy. For you laid it down,—though with hesitating steps and without dwelling on it,—that he must have been an accomplice in the conspiracy, on account of his friendship with Catiline; in advancing which charge, not only the accusation itself failed to wound, but the speech of that eloquent young man lost its usual coherency. For how could Caelius have been capable of such frenzy? What enormous depravity was there in his natural disposition, or in his habits, or what deficiency in his fortunes or prospects, to dispose him to such a crime? And lastly, when was the name of Caelius ever heard of in connection with any suspicion of the sort? I am saying too much about a matter about which there is not the least doubt; but I say this,—that if he had not, not merely been guiltless of any participation in the conspiracy, but been a most decided and avowed enemy of that wickedness, he would never have gone so far as to seek for an especial commendation of his youth by a prosecution of men implicated in that conspiracy.

> Latin: 15. a maledictis impudicitiae ad coniurationis invidiam oratio est vestra delapsa. enim, atque id tamen titubanter et strictim, coniurationis hunc propter amicitiam Catilinae participem fuisse; in quo non modo crimen non haerebat sed vix diserti adulescentis cohaerebat oratio. enim tantus furor in Caelio, quod tantum aut in moribus naturaque volnus aut in re atque fortuna? ubi denique est in ista suspicione Caeli nomen auditum? multa de re minime dubia loquor; hoc tamen dico. modo si socius coniurationis, sed nisi inimicissimus istius sceleris fuisset, numquam coniurationis accusatione adulescentiam suam potissimum commendare voluisset.

[¶15] 16. And I know not whether I need think it equally necessary to make a reply to the charges of corruption, and to the accusations about clubs and agents (since I have lighted on these topics). For Caelius would never have been so insane as to accuse another man of bribery, if he had stained himself with that mean practice of corruption, nor would he seek to fix a suspicion of such conduct on another, when he wished to obtain for himself perpetual licence to commit it. Nor if he thought there was a chance of his being put in peril but once on an accusation of corruption would he twice over prosecute another man on the same charge. And although his doing so is not wise, and is against my will, still it is an action of such a sort, that it is plain that a man who conducts himself so, rather thinks it open to him to attack the innocence of another, than that he has any reason to be afraid of anything on his own account.

> Latin: 16. haud scio an de ambitu et de criminibus istis sodalium ac sequestrium, quoniam huc incidi, similiter respondendum putem. enim tam Caelius amens fuisset ut, si sese isto infinito ambitu commaculasset, ambitus alterum accusaret, neque eius facti in altero suspicionem quaereret cuius ipse sibi perpetuam licentiam optaret, nec, si sibi semel periculum ambitus subeundum putaret, ipse alterum iterum ambitus crimine arcesseret. quamquam nec sapienter et me invito facit, tamen est eius modi cupiditas ut magis insectari alterius innocentiam quam de se timide cogitare videatur.

[¶16] 17. For, as respects the charges that have been brought against him of being in debt, as regards the reproaches which have been levelled at him on the score of prodigality, and of the demands that have been made to see his accounts, just see how briefly I will reply to them. In the first place, he, who is still under the power of his father, keeps no accounts. He has never any transactions connected with borrowing or lending. As to his extravagance, there is one particular item of expense objected to him, that for his house. You say that he dwells in a house which he rents for thirty thousand sesterces. Now, I see by this, that Publius Clodius wants to sell his house; for it is his house that Caelius lives in, at a rent, I suppose, of ten thousand sesterces. And you, O prosecutors, out of your anxiety to please him, have permitted yourselves this enormous lie to suit his purposes.

> Latin: 17. quod aes alienum obiectum est, sumptus reprehensi, tabulae flagitatae, videte quam pauca respondeam. qui in patris potestate est nullas conficit. numquam omnino fecit ullam. unius generis obiectus est, habitationis; triginta milibus dixistis habitare. demum intellego P.Publii Clodi insulam esse venalem, cuius hic in aediculis habitat decem, ut opinor, milibus. autem dum illi placere voltis, ad tempus eius mendacium vestrum accommodavistis.

[¶17] 18. You have blamed him for dwelling in a house apart from his father, a thing which is not at all to be blamed in a man of his age. For as, labouring in the cause of the republic, he had achieved a victory which was, indeed, annoying to me, but glorious to himself; and as he was now of sufficiently mature age to stand for a magistracy, not only with the permission, but in consequence of even the advice of his father, he left his house, and as his father's house was a long way from the forum, he hired a house on the Palatine Hill, at no very high rent, in order the more easily to be able to visit us at our houses, and to receive visits from his friends. And while speaking on this topic, I may say what that most illustrious man, Marcus Crassus, said a little time before, when he was making a complaint of the arrival of king Ptolemaeus:—
“I wish that in the Pelian grove.”
… And I might go on much farther in applying this poem,
“For my wandering mistress would never”
… have given us all this trouble.
“Medea, sick at heart, wounded in the fierce love.” For in like manner, O judges, you will find, when I come to discuss this point, that it was this Medea of the Palatine Hill, and this migration, which has been the cause of all his misfortunes to this young man, or rather of all the things that have been said about him.

> Latin: 18. a patre quod semigrarit. quidem in hac aetate minime reprendendum est. cum et ex publica causa iam esset mihi quidem molestam, sibi tamen gloriosam victoriam consecutus et per aetatem magistratus petere posset, non modo permittente patre sed etiam suadente ab eo semigravit et, cum domus patris a foro longe abesset, quo facilius et nostras domus obire et ipse a suis coli posset, conduxit in Palatio non magno domum. loco possum dicere id quod vir clarissimus, M.Marcus Crassus, cum de adventu regis Ptolemaei quereretur, paulo ante dixit: Vtinam ne in nemore Pelio — longius mihi quidem contexere hoc carmen liceret: numquam era errans hanc molestiam nobis exhiberet Medea animo aegro, amore saevo saucia. enim, iudices, reperietis quod, cum ad id loci venero, ostendam, hanc Palatinam Medeam migrationemque hanc adulescenti causam sive malorum omnium sive potius sermonum fuisse.

[¶18] 19. Wherefore I, relying on your wisdom, O judges, am not afraid of those assertions which I perceived were some time back being invented, and fortified by the oration of the accusers. For they said that a senator would come forward as a witness, who would say that he had been driven away by the comitia for the election of a pontiff by Caelius. And if he does come forward, I will ask, in the first place, why he did not at once take proceedings against him for such conduct? Secondly, if he preferred complaining of it in this way to bringing an action, why he is brought forward by you instead of coming forward by himself of his own accord? and why he has chosen to complain so long after the time, instead of immediately? If he gives me clear and shrewd answers to these questions, then I shall ask from what source this senator has burst forth? For if he has his origin and first springs, as it were, in himself, probably I shall be moved by him, as I usually am; but if he is only a little gutter drained and drawn off from the fountain head of your accusation, then I shall rejoice that, while your accusation relies on so much interest and such mighty influence, there has still been but one senator who could be found willing to gratify you.

> Latin: 19. ob rem illa quae ex accusatorum oratione praemuniri iam et fingi intellegebam, fretus vestra prudentia, iudices, non pertimesco. enim fore testem senatorem qui se pontificiis comitiis pulsatum a Caelio diceret. A quo quaeram, si prodierit, primum cur statim nihil egerit, deinde, si id queri quam agere maluerit, cur productus a vobis potius quam ipse per se, cur tanto post potius quam continuo queri maluerit. mihi ad haec acute arguteque responderit, tum quaeram denique ex quo iste fonte senator emanet. si ipse orietur et nascetur ex sese, fortasse, ut soleo, commovebor; sin autem est rivolus arcessitus et ductus ab ipso capite accusationis vestrae, laetabor, cum tanta gratia tantisque opibus accusatio vestra nitatur, unum senatorem esse solum qui vobis gratificari vellet inventum. teste Fufio.

[¶19] 20. Nor am I afraid of that other class of night witnesses. For they have asserted that there would be men who would say that their wives, when returning from supper parties have been roughly handled by Caelius. They will be men of importance who will venture to say this on their oaths as they will be forced to confess that they have never commenced taking any steps for redress for such great injuries not even by a friendly arbitration. By this time, O judges, you are able to understand the whole nature of the attack which is made on my client and when it is urged against him it is your duty to repel it. For Marcus Caelius is not accused by the same people as those by whom he is attacked. Weapons are shot at him openly but they are supplied secretly.

> Latin: 20. tamen illud genus alterum nocturnorum testium perhorresco. enim dictum ab illis fore qui dicerent uxores suas a cena redeuntis attrectatas esse a Caelio. erunt homines qui hoc iurati dicere audebunt, cum sit eis confitendum numquam se ne congressu quidem et constituto coepisse de tantis iniuriis experiri. totum genus oppugnationis huius, iudices, et iam prospicitis animis et, cum inferetur, propulsare debebitis. enim ab isdem accusatur M.Marcus Caelius a quibus oppugnatur; palam in eum tela iaciuntur, clam subministrantur.

[¶20] 21. Nor do I say this with the object of exciting odium against those men to whom it ought even to be a subject of boasting. They are discharging their duty, they are defending their friends, they are doing what the bravest men are accustomed to do. When injured they feel pain, when angry they are carried away, when provoked they fight. But nevertheless, it belongs to your wisdom, O judges, if brave men have a reasonable ground for attacking Marcus Caelius, not on that account to think that you also have a reasonable ground for consulting the indignation of others rather than your own good faith. You see how vast a concourse of men is assembled in the forum, of what different classes it is composed, what different objects they have in view, and how great is the difference between them in every respect. Of all this multitude, how many do you think that there are who are in the habit of offering their services of their own accord to influential, and popular, and eloquent men, when they think they are eager about anything; and to use their exertions and to promise their evidence to oblige them?

> Latin: 21. ego id dico ut invidiosum sit in eos quibus gloriosum etiam hoc esse debet. officio, defendunt suos, faciunt quod viri fortissimi solent; laesi dolent, irati efferuntur, pugnant lacessiti. vestrae sapientiae tamen est, iudices, non, si causa iusta est viris fortibus oppugnandi M.Marcum Caelium, ideo vobis quoque causam putare esse iustam alieno dolori potius quam vestrae fidei consulendi. quae sit multitudo in foro, quae genera, quae studia, quae varietas hominum videtis. hac copia quam multos esse arbitramini qui hominibus potentibus, gratiosis, disertis, cum aliquid eos velle arbitrentur, ultro se offerre soleant, operam navare, testimonium polliceri?

[¶21] 22. If any of this class of men have by chance thrust themselves into this trial, shut out, O judges, their covetous zeal from the consideration of your wisdom, so as to appear to provide at the same time for this man's safety and for the religious discharge of your own obligations, and for the general welfare of all the citizens against the perilous influence of unscrupulous men. In truth, I will lead you away from the witnesses. I will not permit the truth of this trial, which cannot by any means be altered, to depend on the inclination of the witnesses, which may so easily be modeled any way, and be bent and twisted in every direction without the slightest trouble. We will conduct our case by arguments. We will refute the charges brought against us by proofs clearer than daylight. Facts shall combat with facts, cause with cause, reason with reason.

> Latin: 22. ex genere si qui se in hoc iudicium forte proiecerint, excluditote eorum cupiditatem, iudices, sapientia vestra, ut eodem tempore et huius saluti et religioni vestrae et contra periculosas hominum potentias condicioni omnium civium providisse videamini. vos abducam a testibus neque huius iudici veritatem quae mutari nullo modo potest in voluntate testium conlocari sinam quae facillime fingi, nullo negotio flecti ac detorqueri potest. agemus, signis luce omni clarioribus crimina refellemus; res cum re, causa cum causa, ratio cum ratione pugnabit.

[¶22] 23. Therefore, I willingly allow that part of the cause to be concluded, summed up, as it has been, with dignity and elegance by Marcus Crassus; the part, I mean, which relates to the seditions at Naples, to the expulsion of the Alexandrians from Puteoli, and to the property of Palla. I wish he had also discussed the transaction respecting Dio. And yet on that subject what is there that you can expect me to say, when the man who committed the murder is not afraid, but even confesses it? For he is a king. But the man who is said to have been the assistant and accomplice in the murder, has been acquitted by a regular trial. What sort of crime, then, is this, that the man who has committed it does not deny it—that he who has denied it has been acquitted, and yet that a man is to be afraid of the accusation who was not only at a distance from the deed, but who has never been suspected of being even privy to it? And if the merits of his case availed Asicius more than the odium engendered by the fact of such a crime injured him, is your abuse to injure this man, who has never once had a suspicion of the crime breathed against him, not even by the vaguest report?

> Latin: 23. illam partem causae facile patior graviter et ornate a M.Marco Crasso peroratam de seditionibus Neapolitanis, de Alexandrinorum pulsatione Puteolana, de bonis. dictum esset ab eodem etiam de Dione. quo ipso tamen quid est quod exspectetis? quod is qui fecit aut non timet aut etiam fatetur; est enim rex; qui autem dictus est adiutor fuisse et conscius, P.Publius Asicius, iudicio est liberatus. igitur est eius modi crimen ut qui commisit non neget, qui negavit absolutus sit, id hic pertimescat qui non modo a facti verum etiam a conscientiae suspicione afuit?, si Asicio causa plus profuit quam nocuit invidia, huic oberit maledictum tuum qui istius facti non modo suspicione sed ne infamia quidem est aspersus?

[¶23] 24. Oh, but Asicius was acquitted by the prevarication of the judges. It is very easy to reply to such an assertion as that especially for me, by whom that action is defended. But Caelius thinks that the cause of Asicius is a just one; at all events, whatever may be its merits, he thinks it is quite unconnected with his own. And not only Caelius but even other most accomplished and learned young men, devoted to the most instructive studies and to the most virtuous pursuits, Titus and Caius Coponius, who grieved above all other men for the death of Dio, being bound to him as they were by a common attachment to the pursuit of learning and science and being also connected with him by ties of hospitality, think so too. He was living in the house of Lucius Lucceius, as you have heard; they had become mutually acquainted at Alexandria. What Caius Coponius, and what his brother, a man of the very highest respectability, think of Marcus Caelius, you shall hear from themselves if they are produced as witnesses.

> Latin: 24. praevaricatione est Asicius liberatus. est isti loco respondere, mihi praesertim a quo illa causa defensa est. Caelius optimam causam Asici esse arbitratur; cuicuimodi autem sit, a sua putat esse seiunctam. solum Caelius sed etiam adulescentes humanissimi et doctissimi, rectissimis studiis atque optimis artibus praediti, Titus Gaiusque Coponii qui ex omnibus maxime Dionis mortem doluerunt, qui cum doctrinae studio atque humanitatis tum etiam hospitio Dionis tenebantur. apud Titum, ut audistis, Dio, erat ei cognitus Alexandriae. aut hic aut summo splendore praeditus frater eius de M.Marco Caelio existimet ex ipsis, si producti erunt, audietis.

[¶24] 25. So let all these topics be put aside, in order that we may at last come to those facts and charges on which the cause really depends. For I noticed, O judges, that my intimate friend, Lucius Herennius, was listened to by you most attentively. And though you were induced to pay him that attention to a great extent by his own ability and by a sort of eloquence which pervaded his oration, still I was sometimes apprehensive lest that speech of his which was contrived with such subtlety for the purpose of giving weight to his accusation should slowly and imperceptibly inflame your minds. For he said a great deal about luxury, a great deal about justice, a great deal about the vices of youth, a great deal about morals. And he, who in every other action of his life had been gentle, and who has accustomed himself to behave at all times with that humane courtesy with which nearly every one is charmed, acted in this cause like a morose uncle, or censor, or lecturer. He reproached Marcus Caelius in such a manner as no man's father ever abused him. He delivered a long harangue about incontinence and intemperance. What are you expecting me to say, O judges, I exercised you for listening to him with attention, because I myself could not avoid shuddering at so morose and savage an oration.

> Latin: 25. haec removeantur, ut aliquando, in quibus causa nititur, ad ea veniamus. enim, iudices, audiri a vobis meum familiarem, L.Lucium Herennium, perattente. quo etsi magna ex parte ingenio eius et dicendi genere quodam tenebamini, tamen non numquam verebar ne illa subtiliter ad criminandum inducta oratio ad animos vestros sensim ac leniter accederet. enim multa de luxurie, multa de libidine, multa de vitiis iuventutis, multa de moribus et, qui in reliqua vita mitis esset et in hac suavitate humanitatis qua prope iam delectantur omnes versari periucunde soleret, fuit in hac causa pertristis quidam patruus, censor, magister; obiurgavit M.Marcum Caelium, sicut neminem umquam parens; multa de incontinentia intemperantiaque disseruit. quaeritis, iudices? ignoscebam vobis attente audientibus, propterea quod egomet tam triste illud, tam asperum genus orationis horrebam.

[¶25] 26. And the first allegation was one which affected me least, namely,—that Caius had been intimate with my own intimate friend Bestia; that he had supped with him, had been in the habit of visiting him, had aided him when he was a candidate for the praetorship. These things do not move me at all, for they are notoriously false. In fact he is stating that those men supped together who are either in different places, or … Nor am I moved by that assertion either, that he said that Caelius had been a comrade of his own in the Lupercal games. No doubt, it is a savage and purely pastoral and uncivilized sort of companionship, that of the Lupercal comrades, whose sylvan companies were established before the institution of civilization and of laws. Since these companions not only prosecute one another, but even in the accusation speak of the companionship as a crime, … so that they seem to be afraid, lest any one should be ignorant of it.

> Latin: 26. prima pars fuit illa quae me minus movebat, fuisse meo necessario Bestiae Caelium familiarem, cenasse apud eum, ventitasse domum, studuisse praeturae. me haec movent quae perspicue falsa sunt; etenim eos una cenasse dixit qui aut absunt aut quibus necesse est idem dicere. vero illud me commovet quod sibi in Lupercis sodalem esse Caelium dixit. quaedam sodalitas et plane pastoricia atque agrestis germanorum Lupercorum, quorum coitio illa silvestris ante est instituta quam humanitas atque leges, si quidem non modo nomina deferunt inter se sodales sed etiam commemorant sodalitatem in accusando, ut ne quis id forte nesciat timere videantur!

[¶26] 27. But I will pass over these things, and reply to those which I thought of more consequence. There was a very long reproach addressed to my client on the score of luxury; it was, however, a gentle one, and had more argument than ferocity in it; on which account it was listened to with the more attention. For while Publius Clodius, my friend, was allowing himself to be carried away by the greatest violence and impetuosity, and, being in a great state of excitement, was using the most severe language, and speaking at the top of his voice, though I had a high opinion of his eloquence, still I was not at all alarmed. For I had seen him conducting several trials without success. But I will reply to you first of all, O Balbus, with an entreaty to be allowed, without blame and without a charge of impiety to defend a man who never refuses an invitation to supper, who uses perfumes, and who often goes to Baiae.

> Latin: 27. haec omitto; ad illa quae me magis moverunt respondeo. obiurgatio fuit longa, etiam lenior, plusque disputationis habuit quam atrocitatis, quo etiam audita est attentius. P.Publius Clodius, amicus meus, cum se gravissime vehementissimeque iactaret et omnia inflammatus ageret tristissimis verbis, voce maxima, tametsi probabam eius eloquentiam, tamen non pertimescebam; aliquot enim in causis eum videram frustra litigantem. autem, Balbe, respondeo primum precario, si licet, si fas est defendi a me eum qui nullum convivium renuerit, qui in hortis fuerit, qui unguenta sumpserit, qui Baias viderit.

[¶27] 28. In truth, I have seen and heard of many men in this city, not only men who had just tasted this kind of life with the edge of their lips, and touched it, as people say, with the tips of their fingers, but men who had devoted the whole of their youth to pleasures, who have at last emerged from them, and have be taken themselves to prudent courses, and have become sensible and eminent citizens. For by the common consent of all men, some indulgence is given to this age, and nature itself suggests desires to youth; and if they break out without injuring any one else a life, or overturning any one else's house, they are generally accounted endurable and pardonable.

> Latin: 28. multos et vidi in hac civitate et audivi, non modo qui primoribus labris gustassent genus hoc vitae et extremis, ut dicitur, digitis attigissent sed qui totam adulescentiam voluptatibus dedidissent, emersisse aliquando et se ad frugem bonam, ut dicitur, recepisse gravisque homines atque inlustris fuisse. enim concessu omnium huic aliqui ludus aetati, et ipsa natura profundit adulescentiae cupiditates. si ita erumpunt ut nullius vitam labefactent, nullius domum evertant, faciles et tolerabiles haberi solent.

[¶28] 29. But you seemed to me to wish to bring Caelius into some sort of odium by means of the common irregularities into which youth is apt to fall. And, therefore, all that silence with which your speech was received was produced by the fact that, though we had but one criminal before us, we were thinking of the vices of many. It is an easy matter to declaim against luxury. The day would fail me if I were to attempt to enumerate everything that may be said on that subject. The field of seductions, and adulteries and wantonness, and extravagance is boundless. Even though you do not fix your eyes on any particular criminal, but only on the vices themselves, still they are capable of being made the objects of very eloquent and fluent vituperation. But it becomes your wisdom, O judges, not to be diverted from the case of the man who is on his trial before you; nor to let loose against an individual, and him too on his trial, the stings with which your severity and dignity is armed when the accuser has sought to rouse them against the general fact of luxury, against vices in general and the present state of morals, and the present times while by this means the defendant is not being impeached for any crime of his own, but is having unjust odium excited against him on account of the vices of many others.

> Latin: 29. tu mihi videbare ex communi infamia iuventutis aliquam invidiam Caelio velle conflare. omne illud silentium quod est orationi tributum tuae fuit ob eam causam quod uno reo proposito de multorum vitiis cogitabamus. est accusare luxuriem. iam me deficiat, si quae dici in eam sententiam possunt coner expromere; de corruptelis, de adulteriis, de protervitate, de sumptibus immensa oratio est. Vt tibi reum neminem sed vitia ista proponas, res tamen ipsa et copiose et graviter accusari potest. vestrae sapientiae, iudices, est non abduci ab reo nec, quos aculeos habeat severitas gravitasque vestra, cum eos accusator erexerit in rem, in vitia, in mores, in tempora, emittere in hominem et in reum, cum is non suo crimine sed multorum vitio sit in quoddam odium iniustum vocatus.