1. When, O judges, I saw that on account of the eminent and singular good faith of Cnaeus Plancius, shown in taking care of my safety, so many excellent men were favourers of his cause, I felt no ordinary pleasure, because I saw that the recollection of what happened at the time of my necessities was pleading for him whose kindness had been my preservation. But when I heard that men, some of whom were my enemies, and some of whom were envious of me, favoured this accusation and that the very same thing was now adverse to the interests of Cnaeus Plancius in this trial which had been advantageous to him in his canvass, I was grieved, O judges, and was very indignant at the idea of his safety being endangered for the sole reason that he, by his benevolence, and energy, and vigilance had protected my safety and my life.
1. propter egregiam et singularem Cn. Planci, iudices, in mea salute custodienda fidem tam multos et bonos viros eius honori viderem esse fautores, capiebam animo non mediocrem voluptatem quod, cuius officium mihi saluti fuisset, ei meorum temporum memoriam suffragari videbam. autem audirem meos partim inimicos, partim invidos huic accusationi esse fautores, eandemque rem adversariam esse in iudicio Cn. Plancio quae in petitione fuisset adiutrix, dolebam, iudices, et acerbe ferebam, si huius salus ob eam ipsam causam esset infestior quod is meam salutem atque vitam sua benivolentia praesidio custodiaque texisset.
2. But now, O judges, the sight of you, and the fact of such men as you being the judges, strengthens and refreshes my mind, when I look upon and behold each individual of you; for in all this number I see no one to whom my safety has not been dear, no one who has not acted with the greatest kindness towards me, no one to whom I am not under eternal obligations from the recollection of their services. Therefore I do not fear that the care shown by Cnaeus Plancius for my safety will be any injury to him with those men who themselves have wished above all things to see me in safety; and, O judges, it has more frequently come into my mind that it is a strange thing that Marcus Laterensis, a man who has shown the greatest regard for my dignity and safety, should have picked out this man of all the world to institute a prosecution against, than that I have any ground to fear lest he should appear to you to have had good reason for doing so.
2. autem vester, iudices, conspectus et consessus iste reficit et recreat mentem meam, cum intueor et contemplor unum quemque vestrum. enim hoc in numero neminem cui mea salus non cara fuerit, cuius non exstet in me summum meritum, cui non sim obstrictus memoria benefici sempiterna. non extimesco ne Cn. Plancio custodia meae salutis apud eos obsit qui me ipsi maxime salvum videre voluerunt, saepiusque, iudices, mihi venit in mentem admirandum esse M. Laterensem, hominem studiosissimum et dignitatis et salutis meae, reum sibi hunc potissimum delegisse quam metuendum ne vobis id ille magna ratione fecisse videatur.
3. Although I do not assume so much, or claim so much importance for myself, O judges, as to think that Cnaeus Plancius is entitled to impunity on account of his kindness towards me. If I do not display to you that his life is most upright, his habits most virtuous, his good faith unimpeachable,—if I do not prove him to be a man of perfect temperance, piety, and innocence, I will not object to your punishing him; but if I establish that he has every quality which may be expected in the character of a virtuous man, then I will beg of you, O judges, to grant, at my entreaty, your pity to that man, through whose pity it is that I myself have been preserved in safety. In truth, in addition to the labour which I am devoting to this cause, in a greater degree than I think necessary in other trials. I have this anxiety also, that I have not only to speak on behalf of Cnaeus Plancius, whose safety I am bound to defend equally with my own, but on behalf of myself also, since the prosecutors have said almost more about me than they have about the merits of the case, and about the real defendant.
3. mihi non sumo tantum neque adrogo, iudices, ut Cn. Plancium suis erga me meritis impunitatem consecutum putem. Nisi eius integerrimam vitam, modestissimos mores, summam fidem, continentiam, pietatem, innocentiam ostendero, nihil de poena recusabo; sin omnia praestitero quae sunt a bonis viris exspectanda, petam, iudices, a vobis ut, cuius misericordia salus mea custodita sit, ei vos vestram misericordiam me deprecante tribuatis. ad reliquos labores, quos in hac causa maiores suscipio quam in ceteris, etiam hanc molestiam adsumo, quod mihi non solum pro Cn. Plancio dicendum est, cuius ego salutem non secus ac meam tueri debeo, sed etiam pro me ipso, de quo accusatores plura paene quam de re reoque dixerunt.
4. Although, O judges, if they have found any fault in me which is not connected with the case of my present client, I am not much disturbed about that; for I am not afraid that, because it is a very rare thing to meet with grateful men, on that account it can really be considered as a charge against me when those men say that I am too grateful. But as for the points that have been urged by them, when they have said either that the services done me by Cnaeus Plancius were of less importance than I make them out to be; or that if they were ever so great, still they ought not to have that weight with you which I considered them entitled to; these points, O judges, must be touched on by me with moderation, indeed, lest I should give any offence myself; and not until I have fully replied to the accusations brought against him, lest my client should seem to have been defended not so much by his own innocence, as by the recollection of his conduct at the time of my necessity.
4. , iudices, si quid est in me ipso ita reprehensum ut id ab hoc seiunctum sit, non me id magno opere conturbat; non enim timeo ne, quia perraro grati homines reperiantur, idcirco, cum me nimium gratum illi esse dicant, id mihi criminosum esse possit. vero ita sunt agitata ab illis ut aut merita Cn. Planci erga me minora esse dicerent quam a me ipso praedicarentur, aut, si essent summa, negarent ea tamen ita magni ut ego putarem ponderis apud vos esse debere, haec mihi sunt tractanda, iudices, et modice, ne quid ipse offendam, et tum denique cum respondero criminibus, ne non tam innocentia reus sua quam recordatione meorum temporum defensus esse videatur.
5. But, considering how plain and simple my case is, O judges, the line to be taken by me in defending it is exceedingly difficult and slippery. For if it were merely necessary for me to argue against Laterensis, yet even this would be a very vexatious thing, considering our great friendship and intimacy; for it is an old principle of genuine and real friendship, such as subsists between him and me, that friends should always have the same wishes; nor is there any surer bond of friendship than an agreement in and community of designs and wishes. But the most annoying circumstance to me in the case is, not that I have merely to argue against him, but much more, that I have to argue against him in a cause in which it seems impossible to avoid drawing some comparison between the parties themselves.
5. mihi in causa facili atque explicata perdifficilis, iudices, et lubrica defensionis ratio proponitur., si tantum modo mihi necesse esset contra Laterensem dicere, tamen id ipsum esset in tanto usu nostro tantaque amicitia molestum. est enim lex illa iustae veraeque amicitiae quae mihi cum illo iam diu est, ut idem amici semper velint, neque est ullum amicitiae certius vinculum quam consensus et societas consiliorum et voluntatum. autem non id est in hac re molestissimum, contra illum dicere, sed multo illud magis quod in ea causa contra dicendum est in qua quaedam hominum ipsorum videtur facienda esse contentio.
6. For Laterensis asks, and presses this point above all others, in what virtue, in what sort of renown or worth Plancius is superior to himself. And so, if I admit his high qualifications,—and he has plenty of them, and important ones too—I must not only run the risk of Plancius losing this dignity which he has obtained, but he must submit also to the suspicion of bribery. If I speak of my client as superior to him, then my speech will be considered insulting, and I shall be supposed to say, (as he puts the question himself,) that Laterensis was surpassed by Plancius in real worth. And so I must either hurt the feelings of a man who is a great friend of mine, if I follow the line taken by the prosecutor, or else I must abandon the safety of one who has behaved to me with the greatest kindness. But I, O Laterensis, will confess that I should be conducting this cause in the most blind and headlong manner, if I were to say that you could be surpassed in worth by either Plancius, or any one else. Therefore I will discard that comparison to which you invite me and will proceed to those arguments to which the cause itself naturally conducts me.
6. enim Laterensis atque hoc uno maxime urget qua se virtute, qua laude Plancius, qua dignitate superarit., si cedo illius ornamentis, quae multa et magna sunt, non solum huius dignitatis iactura facienda est sed etiam largitionis recipienda suspicio est; sin hunc illi antepono, contumeliosa habenda est oratio, et dicendum est id quod ille me flagitat, Laterensem a Plancio dignitate esse superatum. aut amicissimi hominis existimatio offendenda est, si illam accusationis condicionem sequar, aut optime de me meriti salus deserenda. ego, Laterensis, caecum me et praecipitem ferri confitear in causa, si te aut a Plancio aut ab ullo dignitate potuisse superari dixero. discedam ab ea contentione ad quam tu me vocas et veniam ad illam ad quam me causa ipsa deducit.
7. What? Do you think that the people is judge of a man's worth? Perhaps it is sometimes. I wish indeed it were so always. But it is very seldom the case, and if it ever is, it is so when the question is concerning the election of those magistrates to whom it considers that its own safety is entrusted. At the less important comitia, honours are gained by the diligence and influence of the candidates, and not by those high qualities which we see exist in you. For, as to what concerns the people, that man must always be an incompetent judge of worth who either envies any one or favours any one, although you cannot, O Laterensis, point to any good quality in yourself, as peculiarly entitled to praise, which Plancius has not in common with you.
7. ? tu in magistratibus dignitatis iudicem putas esse populum? non numquam est; utinam vero semper esset! est perraro et, si quando est, in eis magistratibus est mandandis quibus salutem suam committi putat; his levioribus comitiis diligentia et gratia petitorum honos paritur, non eis ornamentis quae esse in te videmus. quod ad populum pertinet, semper dignitatis iniquus iudex est qui aut invidet aut favet. nihil potes in te, Laterensis, constituere quod sit proprium laudis tuae quin id tibi sit commune cum Plancio.
8. But all this shall be discussed presently. At present I am only arguing about the right of the people, which both can and sometimes does pass over worthy men; and it does not follow because a man has been passed over by the people who ought not to have been, that he who has not been passed over is to be condemned by the judges. For if that were the case, the judges would have that power which the senate itself could not maintain in the times of our ancestors,—namely, that of being correctors of the comitia: or a power which is even more intolerable than that; for at that time a man who had been elected did not enter upon the duties of his office if the senators had not approved of his election; but now it is required of you to correct the judgment of the Roman people by the banishment of the man who has been elected by them. Therefore, although I have entered upon the cause by a door which I did not wish to open, still I seem to hope, O Laterensis, that my speech will be so far removed from all suspicion of being intended to give you offence, that I may rather reprove you for bringing your own dignity into an unreasonable contest, than attempt myself to disparage it by any injurious expressions on my part.
8. hoc totum agetur alio loco; nunc tantum disputo de iure populi, qui et potest et solet non numquam dignos praeterire; nec, si a populo praeteritus est quem non oportuit, a iudicibus condemnandus est qui praeteritus non est., si ita esset, quod patres apud maiores nostros tenere non potuerunt, ut reprehensores essent comitiorum, id haberent iudices, quod multo etiam minus esset ferendum. enim magistratum non gerebat is qui ceperat, si patres auctores non erant facti; nunc postulatur a vobis ut eius exitio qui creatus sit iudicium populi Romani reprendatis. iam quoniam qua nolui ianua sum ingressus in causam, sperare videor tantum afuturam esse orationem meam a minima suspicione offensionis tuae, te ut potius obiurgem, quod iniquum in discrimen adducas dignitatem tuam, quam ut eam ego ulla contumelia coner attingere.
9. Do you think your temperance, your industry, your attachment to the republic, your virtue, your innocence, your integrity, and your exertions disregarded and despised and trampled on, just because you have not been made aedile? See, O Laterensis, how greatly I differ from you in opinion. If, I declare to God, there were only ten virtuous, and wise, and just, and worthy men in this state who had pronounced you unworthy of the aedileship, I should think that decision a much more unfavourable one to you than this has been, on account of which you fear that this may seem to be the opinion of the people. For in the comitia the people does not invariably act in obedience to its judgment; but it is usually influenced by interest, or it yields to entreaties and it elects those by whom it has been canvassed with the greatest assiduity. And lastly if it does proceed according to its judgment, still it is not led to form that judgment by any careful selection, or by wisdom, but more frequently by impulse and what I may even call a sort of precipitation. For there is no wisdom in the common people, no method, no discrimination, no diligence, and wise men have at all times considered the things which the people may have done necessary to be endured, but not at all invariably necessary to be praised. So that when you say that you ought to have been elected aedile, it is the people you are finding fault with, and not your competitor.
9. continentiam, tu industriam, tu animum in rem publicam, tu virtutem, tu innocentiam, tu fidem, tu labores tuos, quod aedilis non sis factus, fractos esse et abiectos et repudiatos putas? tandem, Laterensis, quantum ego a te dissentiam. me dius fidius decem soli essent in civitate viri boni, sapientes, iusti, graves, qui te indignum aedilitate iudicavissent, gravius de te iudicatum putarem quam est hoc quod tu metuis ne a populo iudicatum esse videatur. enim comitiis iudicat semper populus, sed movetur plerumque gratia, cedit precibus, facit eos a quibus est maxime ambitus, denique, etiam si iudicat, non dilectu aliquo aut sapientia ducitur ad iudicandum, sed impetu non numquam et quadam etiam temeritate. est enim consilium in volgo, non ratio, non discrimen, non diligentia, semperque sapientes ea quae populus fecisset ferenda, non semper laudanda dixerunt. re, cum te aedilem fieri oportuisse dicis, populi culpam, non competitoris accusas.
10. Allow that you were more worthy than Plancius (though that point I will contest with you presently, though without at all disparaging your pretensions or character,) still allow that you were more worthy, yet it is not your competitor by whom you have been defeated, but the people by whom you have been passed over, that is in fault. And in this affair you ought to recollect that at all comitia, and especially at those held for the election of aediles, it is the party spirit of the people, and not their deliberate judgment which bears sway, that their votes are coaxed out of them not extorted by merit, that the voters are more apt to consider what obligations they themselves are under to each individual, than what benefits the republic has received at his hands. But if you insist on it that it is their deliberate judgment, then you must not annul it but bear it.
10. fueris dignior quam Plancius—de quo ipso tecum ita contendam paulo post ut conservem dignitatem tuam—sed ut fueris dignior, non competitor a quo es victus, sed populus a quo es praeteritus, in culpa est. quo illud primum debes putare, comitiis, praesertim aediliciis, studium esse populi, non iudicium; eblandita illa, non enucleata esse suffragia; eos qui suffragium ferant, quid cuique ipsi debeant considerare saepius quam quid cuique a re publica debeatur. autem mavis esse iudicium, non tibi id rescindendum est sed ferendum.
11. The people has decided wrongly. Still it has decided. It ought not to have decided so. Still it had the power. I will not bear it. But many most illustrious and wise citizens have borne it. For this is the inalienable privilege of a free people, and especially of this the chief people of the world, the lord and conqueror of all nations, to be able by their votes to give or to take away what they please to or from any one. And it is our duty,—ours, I say, who are driven about by the winds and waves of this people, to hear the whims of the people with moderation, to strive to win over their affections when alienated from us, to retain them when we have won them, to tranquilize them when in a state of agitation. If we do not think honours of any great consequence, we are not bound to be subservient to the people; if we do strive for them, then we must be unwearied in soliciting them.
11. “iudicavit populus.” iudicavit. “debuit.” potuit. “fero.” multi clarissimi et sapientissimi cives tulerunt. enim haec condicio liberorum populorum praecipueque huius principis populi et omnium gentium domini atque victoris, posse suffragiis vel dare vel detrahere quod velit cuique; nostrum est autem, nostrum qui in hac tempestate populi iactemur et fluctibus ferre modice populi voluntates, adlicere alienas, retinere partas, placare turbatas; honores si magni non putemus, non servire populo; sin eos expetamus, non defetigari supplicando.
12. I proceed now to take on myself the part of the people, so as to argue with you in their language rather than in my own. If the people then could meet you, and speak with one voice, it would say this-—“I, O Laterensis, have not preferred Plancius to you; but, as you were both equally virtuous men, I have conferred my favours on him who entreated me for them, rather than on him who had not solicited me with any great humility.” You will reply, I suppose, that you relied on your high character, and the antiquity of your family, and did not think it necessary to canvass very laboriously. But the people will remind you of its own established principles, and of the precedents of its ancestors. It will say that it has always chosen to be asked for these honours, and to be solicited eagerly. It will tell you that it preferred Marcus Seius, a man who was unable to keep even his dignity as a knight undamaged by an adverse decision in a court of justice, to a man of the highest rank, most unimpeachable, and most eloquent Marcus Piso. It will tell you that it preferred to Quintus Catulus, a man of the most illustrious family, a most wise and admirable man, I will not say Caius Seranus a most foolish man, for nevertheless he was a noble; nor Caius Fimbria, a new man, for he was a magnanimous man and a wise counselor; but Cnaeus Mallius, a man not only of no rank or family at all, but utterly destitute of virtue and ability, and of contemptible and sordid habits of life. — “My eyes,” says the people, “looked in vain for you when you were at Cyrene; for I should have preferred reaping the benefit of your virtue myself to letting your companions have it all to themselves; and the more it was an object to me to do so, the more did you keep aloof from me.
12. iam ad ipsius populi partis ut illius contra te oratione potius quam mea disputem. si tecum congrediatur et si una loqui voce possit, haec dicat: “ego tibi, Laterensis, Plancium non anteposui sed, cum essetis aeque boni viri, meum beneficium ad eum potius detuli qui a me contenderat quam ad eum qui mihi non nimis submisse supplicarat.”, credo, te splendore et vetustate familiae fretum non valde ambiendum putasse. vero te ille ad sua instituta suorumque maiorum exempla revocabit; semper se dicet rogari voluisse, semper sibi supplicari; se M. Seium, qui ne equestrem quidem splendorem incolumem a calamitate iudici retinere potuisset, homini nobilissimo, innocentissimo, eloquentissimo, M. Pisoni, praetulisse; praeposuisse se Q. Catulo, summa in familia nato, sapientissimo et sanctissimo viro, non dico C. Serranum, stultissimum hominem—fuit enim tamen nobilis—non C. Fimbriam, novum hominem—fuit enim et animi satis magni et consili—sed Cn. Mallium, non solum ignobilem verum sine virtute, sine ingenio, vita etiam contempta ac sordida.
13. At all events, I did not see you. Then you deserted and abandoned me, though thirsting for your virtue; for you had begun to offer yourself as a candidate for the tribuneship of the people at a time which was especially in need of your eloquence and virtue; and when you abandoned your canvass for that office, if you intimated by so doing that in such a stormy time you could not take the helm, I had reason to doubt your courage; but if you did so because you did not then choose to assume so much responsibility, then I had grounds for questioning your attachment to me. But if the truth was, as I rather believe, that you reserved yourself for other times, I too,” the Roman people will say, “have now recalled you to the time for which you had of your own accord reserved yourself. Offer yourself, then, now for that magistracy in which you can be of great use to me. Whoever the aediles are, I shall have the same games prepared for me; but it is of the greatest consequence who are the tribunes of the people. Either, then, give me those exertions of yours which you encouraged me to hope for, or, if your heart is most set on what is of the least consequence to me, how can you expect that I will give you the aedileship, especially when you ask for it with such indifference? But if you wish to gain the most distinguished honours, as most suited to your worth, then learn, I pray you, to solicit them of me with a little more earnestness.”
13. “te,” inquit, “oculi mei, cum tu esses Cyrenis; me enim quam socios tua frui virtute malebam, et quo plus intererat, eo plus aberat a me, cum te non videbam. sitientem me virtutis tuae deseruisti ac reliquisti. enim petere tribunatum pl. temporibus eis quae istam eloquentiam et virtutem requirebant; quam petitionem cum reliquisses, si hoc indicasti, tanta in tempestate te gubernare non posse, de virtute tua dubitavi, si nolle, de voluntate; sin, quod magis intellego, temporibus te aliis reservasti, ego quoque,” inquiet populus Romanus, “ad ea te tempora revocavi ad quae tu te ipse servaras. igitur eum magistratum in quo mihi magnae utilitati esse possis; aediles quicumque erunt, idem mihi sunt ludi parati; tribuni pl. permagni interest qui sint. re aut redde mihi quod ostenderas, aut si, quod mea minus interest, id te magis forte delectat, reddam tibi istam aedilitatem etiam neglegenter petenti, sed amplissimos honores ut pro dignitate tua consequare, condiscas censeo mihi paulo diligentius supplicare.”
14. This is what the people says to you. But what I say to you, O Laterensis, is this: that the judge has nothing to do with inquiring why you were defeated, as long as you were not defeated through bribery. For it as often as any man is passed over who ought not to have been passed over, the man who has been elected is to be condemned, there will no longer be any reason for canvassing the people at all. There will be no reason in waiting for the polling or for addressing entreaties to the magistrates or for the final declaration of the state of the poll; the moment that I see who are standing I shall say—“This man is of a consular family that man is of a praetorian one;
14. populi oratio est, mea vero, Laterensis, haec: qua re victus sis non debere iudicem quaerere, modo ne largitione sis victus. si, quotienscumque praeteritus erit is qui non debuerit praeteriri, totiens oportebit eum qui factus erit condemnari, nihil iam est quod populo supplicetur, nihil quod diribitio, nihil quod renuntiatio suffragiorum exspectetur. ut qui sint professi videro, dicam:
15. I see that all the rest are of equestrian rank; they are all without stain all equally virtuous and upright men but it is necessary that the distinctions of rank should be observed that the praetorian family should yield to the consular, and that the equestrian body should not contend with a praetorian house.” There is an end to all eagerness for any candidate, an end to all voting; there are no longer any contests; the people has no longer any liberty of choice in electing magistrates; there is no anxiety to see how the votes will be given; nothing will ever happen, (as is so often the case,) contrary to the general expectation; there will be for the future no variety in the comitia. But if it is constantly happening that we marvel why some men have been elected, and why some men have not; if the Campus Martius and those waves of the comitia, like a deep and wide sea, swell in such a manner, as if through some tide or other, that they approach one party and recede from another; why, when the impulse of party spirit is so great and when so much is done with precipitation, are we to seek for any rational explanation, any deliberate intention or any system in such a case?
15. “hic familia consulari est, ille praetoria; reliquos video esse ex equestri loco; sunt omnes sine macula, sunt omnes aeque boni viri atque integri, sed servari necesse est gradus; cedat consulari generi praetorium, ne contendat cum praetorio nomine equester locus.” sunt studia, exstinctae suffragationes, nullae contentiones, nulla libertas populi in mandandis magistratibus, nulla exspectatio suffragiorum; nihil, ut plerumque evenit, praeter opinionem accidet, nulla erit posthac varietas comitiorum. hoc persaepe accidit ut et factos aliquos et non factos esse miremur, si campus atque illae undae comitiorum, ut mare profundum et immensum, sic effervescunt quodam quasi aestu ut ad alios accedant, ab aliis autem recedant, tamen nos ⟨in⟩ impetu studiorum et motu temeritatis modum aliquem et consilium et rationem requiremus?
16. Do not then, O Laterensis, insist on my drawing any comparison between you. In truth, if the voting tablet is dear to the people, which shows the countenances of men, while it conceals their intentions, and which gives them the liberty of doing whatever they please, while they can promise whatever they are asked, why do you require that to be done in a court of justice which is not done in the Campus Martius?—This man is more worthy than that man. It is a very grave assertion to make. What then is it more reasonable to say? Say this, (and this is the question, this is sufficient for the judge)—This is the man who has been elected. Why should he have been elected rather than I? Either I do not know, or I do not choose to say, or lastly, (which, however, would be a very vexatious thing to me to say, and yet I ought to be able to say with impunity), he ought not to have been. For what would you gain if I were to have recourse to this last defence, that the people had done what it chose, and not what it ought to have done?
16. re noli me ad contentionem vestrum vocare, Laterensis. si populo grata est tabella, quae frontis aperit hominum, mentis tegit datque eam libertatem ut quod velint faciant, promittant autem quod rogentur, cur tu id in iudicio ut fiat exprimis quod non fit in campo? “quam ille dignior” perquam grave est dictu. modo igitur est aequius? credo, quod agitur, quod satis est iudici: “hic factus est.” “iste potius quam ego?” nescio vel non dico vel denique quod mihi gravissimum esset, si dicerem, sed impune tamen deberem dicere: “non recte.” quid adsequerere, si illa extrema defensione uterer, populum quod voluisset fecisse, non quod debuisset?
17. What will you say, if, besides, I defend the act of the people, O Laterensis, and prove that Cnaeus Plancius did not creep by underhand means to that honour, but that he arrived at it by the regular course which has at all times been open to men born in this equestrian rank of ours; can I, by this argument expunge from your speech the comparison between you two, which cannot be handled without an appearance of insult, and can I thus bring you at last to the merits of the case itself and of your accusation? If, because he is the son of a Roman knight he ought to have been inferior to you, all the rest who were candidates at the same time with you were the sons of Roman knights. I say no more: but this I do wonder at, why you should be angry with this man above all the rest who was the furthest removed from you. In truth, if, at any time, as is sometimes the case, I am pushed about in the crowd, I do not find fault with that man who is on the very crown of the Via Sacra, when I am pushed up against the arch of Fabius; but with him who was against me and pushes me. But you are not angry with Quintus Pedius, a very gallant man; nor with Aulus Plotius, whom I see here, a most accomplished citizen, and my own intimate friend; but you think yourself defeated by him who has also defeated them, rather than by those who were nearest yourself in the number of votes, and who therefore pressed more immediately on you.
17. ? si populi quoque factum defendo, Laterensis, et doceo Cn. Plancium non obrepsisse ad honorem, sed eo venisse cursu qui semper patuerit hominibus ortis hoc nostro equestri loco, possumne eripere orationi tuae contentionem vestrum, quae tractari sine contumelia non potest, et te ad causam aliquando crimenque deducere?, quod equitis Romani filius est, inferior esse debuit, omnes tecum equitum Romanorum filii petiverunt. dico amplius; hoc tamen miror cur huic potissimum irascare qui longissime a te afuit., si quando, ut fit, iactor in turba, non illum accuso qui est in summa sacra via, cum ego ad Fabianum fornicem impellor, sed eum qui in me ipsum incurrit atque incidit. neque Q. Pedio, forti viro, suscenses neque huic A. Plotio, ornatissimo homini familiari meo, et ab eo qui hos dimovit potius quam ab eis qui in te ipsum incubuerunt te depulsum putas.
18. But, nevertheless, you compare yourself with Plancius, in the first place as to your race and family, in which he is beaten by you. For why should not I confess what cannot he denied? But he is not more inferior to you in this respect than I was to my competitors, both on other occasions, and when I was a candidate for the consulship. But beware lest these very particulars for which you look down upon him may have told in his favour. For let us make the comparison in this way—You are descended from a consular family on both sides. Have you any doubt then that all those who favour the nobility of birth, who think that the finest of all things, who are influenced by the images and great names of your ancestors, all voted for you as aedile. I myself have not a doubt of it. But if the number of those who are thus devoted to high birth is not very large, is that our fault? In truth, let us go back to the head and origin of each of your families.
18. tamen haec tibi est prima cum Plancio generis vestri familiaeque contentio, qua abs te vincitur; cur enim non confitear quod necesse est? non hic magis quam ego a meis competitoribus et alias et in consulatus petitione vincebar. vide ne haec ipsa quae despicis huic suffragata sint. enim conferamus. tuum nomen utraque familia consulare. dubitas igitur quin omnes qui favent nobilitati, qui id putant esse pulcherrimum, qui imaginibus, qui nominibus vestris ducuntur, te aedilem fecerint? non dubito. si parum multi sunt qui nobilitatem ament, num ista est nostra culpa? ad caput et ad fontem generis utriusque veniamus.
19. You are of that most ancient municipal town of Tusculum, from which many of our consular families are derived, among which is also the Juventian family; there have not so many families of that rank proceeded from all the other municipal towns put together. Plancius comes from the prefecture of Atina; certainly a less ancient and distinguished abode, and not so near to the city. How much difference do you think this ought to make in standing for an office? In the first place, which people do you suppose are most eager to support their own fellow-citizens; the people of Atina, or those of Tusculum? The one, (for this is a matter with which I may easily be well acquainted, on account of my neighbourhood to them,) when they saw the father of this most accomplished and excellent man, Cnaeus Saturninus, elected aedile, and afterwards, when they saw him elected praetor, were delighted in a most extraordinary manner, because he was the first man who had ever brought a curule honour, not only into that family, but even into that prefecture. But I never understood that the others (I suppose because that municipality is crammed full of consuls, for I know to a certainty that they are not an ill-natured people) were particularly delighted at any honour obtained by their fellow-citizens. This is our feeling, and it is the feeling of our municipal towns.
19. es e municipio antiquissimo Tusculano, ex quo sunt plurimae familiae consulares, in quibus est etiam Iuventia —tot ex reliquis municipiis omnibus non sunt—hic est e praefectura Atinati non tam prisca, non tam honorata, non tam suburbana. interesse vis ad rationem petendi? utrum magis favere putas Atinatis an Tusculanos suis? —scire enim hoc propter vicinitatem facile possum—cum huius ornatissimi atque optimi viri, Cn. Saturnini, patrem aedilem, cum praetorem viderunt, quod primus ille non modo in eam familiam sed etiam in praefecturam illam sellam curulem attulisset, mirandum in modum laetati sunt; alteros—credo, quia refertum est municipium consularibus, nam malivolos non esse certo scio—numquam intellexi vehementius suorum honore laetari. hoc nos, habent nostra municipia.
20. Why should I speak of myself; or of my brother? The very fields—I might almost say, the very hills themselves,—supported us in the pursuit of our honours. Do you ever see any man of Tusculum boast of that great man, Marcus Cato, the first man in every sort of virtue, or of Tiberius Coruncanius, though a citizen of their own municipal town, or of all the Fulvii? No one ever mentions them. But if ever you fall in with a citizen of Arpinum, you are forced, whether you will or no, perhaps, to hear something about us, but at all events something about Caius Marius. In the first place, then, Plancius had the ardent zeal of his fellow-citizens in his favour; you had no more than was likely to exist among men who are by this time surfeited with honours.
20. ego de me, de fratre meo loquar? quorum honoribus agri ipsi prope dicam montesque faverunt. quando vides Tusculanum aliquem de M. Catone illo in omni virtute principe, num de Ti. Coruncanio municipe suo, num de tot Fulviis gloriari? nemo facit. in quemcumque Arpinatem incideris, etiam si nolis, erit tamen tibi fortasse etiam de nobis aliquid, sed certe de C. Mario audiendum. igitur hic habuit studia suorum ardentia, tu tanta quanta in hominibus iam saturatis honoribus esse potuerunt.
21. In the next place, your fellow-citizens are indeed most admirable men, but still they are very few in number if they are compared with the people of Atina. The prefecture to which Plancius belongs is so full of the bravest men, that no city in all Italy can be pronounced more populous. And that multitude you now behold, O judges, in mourning attire and in distress addressing its supplications to you. All these Roman knights whom you see here, all these aerarian tribunes, (for we have sent the common people away from this court, though they were all present at the comitia,)—how much strength, how much dignity did they not add to my client's demand of the aedileship? They did not give him only the aid of the Terentian tribe, of which I will speak hereafter, but they added dignity to him, they kept their eyes fixed upon him, they attended him with a solid, and vigorous, and unceasing escort; and even now my own municipal town is greatly interested in his cause, from the sort of connection which the fact of their being neighbours to him engenders.
21. tui municipes sunt illi quidem splendidissimi homines, sed tamen pauci, si quidem cum Atinatibus conferantur; huius praefectura plena virorum fortissimorum, sic ut nulla tota Italia frequentior dici possit; quam quidem nunc multitudinem videtis, iudices, in squalore et luctu supplicem vobis. tot equites Romani, tot tribuni aerarii —nam plebem a iudicio dimisimus, quae cuncta comitiis adfuit— quid roboris, quid dignitatis huius petitioni attulerunt? ⟨modo⟩ enim tribum Teretinam, de qua dicam alio loco, sed dignitatem, sed oculorum coniectum, sed solidam et robustam et adsiduam frequentiam praebuerunt. municipia coniunctione etiam vicinitatis vehementer moventur.
22. Everything which I am saying about Plancius, I say having experienced the truth of it in my own case. For we of Arpinum are near neighbours of the people of Atina. It is a neighbourhood to be praised, and even to be loved, retaining the old-fashioned habits of kindness for one another: one not tainted with ill-nature, nor accustomed to falsehood, not insincere, nor treacherous, nor learned in the suburban, or shall I say, the city artifices of dissimulation. There was not one citizen of Arpinum who was not anxious for Plancius, not one citizen of Sora, or of Casinum, or of Aquinum. The whole of that most celebrated district, the territory of Venafrum, and Allifae, in short, the whole of that rugged mountainous faithful simple district, a district cherishing its own native citizens, thought that it was honoured itself in his honour, that its own consequence was increased by his dignity. And from those same municipalities Roman knights are now present here, having been sent by the public authority, commissioned to bear evidence in his favour; nor is their anxiety in his behalf now inferior to the zeal which they displayed then. For, in truth, it is a more terrible thing to be stripped of one's goods than not to attain a dignity.
22. quae dico de Plancio dico expertus in nobis; sumus enim finitimi Atinatibus. est vel etiam amanda vicinitas retinens veterem illum offici morem, non infuscata malivolentia, non adsueta mendaciis, non fucosa, non fallax, non erudita artificio simulationis vel suburbano vel etiam urbano. Arpinas non Plancio studuit, nemo Soranus, nemo Casinas, nemo Aquinas. ille celeberrimus Venafranus, Allifanus, tota denique ea nostra ita aspera et montuosa et fidelis et simplex et fautrix suorum regio se huius honore ornari, se augeri dignitate arbitrabatur, isdemque nunc ex municipiis adsunt equites Romani publice cum legatione ⟨et⟩ testimonio, nec minore nunc sunt sollicitudine quam tum erant studio. est gravius spoliari fortunis quam non augeri dignitate.
23. Therefore, although the other qualifications, O Laterensis, those which your ancestors bequeathed to you, were more conspicuous in you than in him; yet, on the other hand, Plancius had an advantage over you not only in the zeal of his municipality, but in that of his whole neighbourhood. Unless, indeed, the neighbourhood of Tusculum to Lavicum, or Gabii, or Bovillae was any use to you; municipal towns in which you can now hardly find a single citizen to bear a part in the Latin holidays. I will add, if you like, that which you consider is even an objection to him, that his father is a farmer of the revenues. And who is there who does not know what a great assistance that body of men is to any one in seeking for any honour? For the flower of the Roman knights, the ornament of the state, the great bulwark of the republic is all comprehended in that body.
23. ut alia in te erant inlustriora, Laterensis, quae tibi maiores tui reliquerant, sic te Plancius hoc non solum municipi verum etiam vicinitatis genere vincebat; nisi forte te Labicana aut Gabina aut Bovillana vicinitas adiuvabat, quibus e municipiis vix iam qui carnem Latinis petant reperiuntur., si vis, id quod tu huic obesse etiam putas, patrem publicanum; qui ordo quanto adiumento sit in honore quis nescit? Flos enim equitum Romanorum, ornamentum civitatis, firmamentum rei publicae publicanorum ordine continetur.
24. Who is there, then, who can deny that that body showed extraordinary zeal in aiding Plancius in his contest for honour? And it was very natural that they should, because his father is a man who has for a long time been the head of the company of farmers; and because he was exceedingly beloved by his fellows of that company; and because he canvassed them with the greatest diligence; and because he was entreating them in favour of his son; and because it was notorious that Plancius himself had both in his quaestorship and tribuneship done many kindnesses to that body; and because in promoting him they thought that they were promoting themselves, and consulting the welfare and dignity of their children. Something, moreover, (I say it timidly, but still I must say it)—something we ourselves contributed to his success; not, indeed, by our riches, not by any invidious exertion of influence, not by any scarcely endurable stretch of power, but by the mention of his kindness to ourselves, by our pity for him, and by our prayers in his behalf. I appealed to the people; I went round the tribes, and besought them; I entreated even those who, of their own accord, offered themselves to me, who volunteered their promises. He prevailed, owing to the motive which I had for soliciting them, not owing to my interest.
24. est igitur qui neget ordinis eius studium fuisse in honore Planci singulare? iniuria, vel quod erat pater is qui est princeps iam diu publicanorum, vel quod is ab sociis unice diligebatur, vel quod diligentissime rogabat, vel quia pro filio supplicabat, vel quod huius ipsius in illum ordinem summa officia quaesturae tribunatusque constabant, vel quod illi in hoc ornando ordinem se ornare et consulere liberis suis arbitrabantur. praeterea—timide dicam, sed tamen dicendum est—non enim opibus, non invidiosa gratia, non potentia vix ferenda, sed commemoratione benefici, sed misericordia, sed precibus aliquid attulimus etiam nos. populum tributim, submisi me et supplicavi; ultro me hercule se mihi etiam offerentis, ultro pollicentis rogavi. causa rogandi, non gratia.
25. Nor, if a most honourable man, to whom there is nothing which may not deservedly be granted at his entreaty, failed, as you say, in obtaining something which he desired, am I arrogant if I say that I did prevail? For, to say nothing of the fact that I was exerting myself in behalf of a man who had great influence himself, that solicitation is always the most agreeable which is the most closely connected with previous obligations and friendship. Nor, indeed, did I ask for him in such a manner as to seem to request it because he was my intimate friend, because he was my neighbour, because I had always been on terms of the greatest intimacy with his father; but I asked as if I were soliciting on behalf of one who was as it were my parent, and the guardian of my safety. It was not my interest but the cause which prompted my requests, which was so influential. No one rejoiced at my restoration, no one grieved at my injury, to whom the pity shown me by this man was not acceptable.
25. si vir amplissimus, cui nihil est quod roganti concedi non iure possit, de aliquo, ut dicis, non impetravit, ego sum adrogans quod me valuisse dico. ut omittam illud quod ego pro eo laborabam qui valebat ipse per sese, rogatio ipsa semper est gratiosissima quae est officio necessitudinis coniuncta maxime. enim ego sic rogabam ut petere viderer, quia familiaris esset meus, quia vicinus, quia huius parente semper plurimum essem usus, sed ut quasi parenti et custodi salutis meae. potentia mea sed causa rogationis fuit gratiosa. mea restitutione laetatus est, nemo iniuria doluit, cui non huius in me misericordia grata fuerit.
26. In truth, if before my return, good men in numbers, of their own accord, offered their services to Cnaeus Plancius when he was a candidate for the tribuneship, do not you suppose that, if my name, while I was absent was a credit to him, my entreaties, when I was present, must have been serviceable to him? Are the colonists of Minturnae held in everlasting honour because they saved Caius Marius from the sword of civil war and from the hands of wicked men, because they received him in their houses, because they enabled him to recruit his strength when exhausted with fighting and with tossing on the waves, because they furnished him with means for his journey, and gave him a vessel and when he was leaving that land which he had saved, followed him with tears and prayers, and every good wish? And do you wonder that his good faith and merciful and courageous disposition was a credit to Cnaeus Plancius, who, whether I was expelled by violence, or yielded from a deliberate plan or conduct, received me, assisted me, protected me, and preserved me for these citizens, and for the senate and people of Rome, that they might be able at a subsequent time to restore me?
26. si ante reditum meum Cn. Plancio se volgo viri boni, cum hic tribunatum peteret, ultro offerebant, cui nomen meum absentis honori fuisset, ei meas praesentis preces non putas profuisse? Minturnenses coloni, quod C. Marium e civili ferro atque ex impiis manibus eripuerunt, quod tecto receperunt, quod fessum inedia fluctibusque recrearunt, quod viaticum congesserunt, quod navigium dederunt, quod eum linquentem terram eam quam servarat votis, ominibus lacrimisque prosecuti sunt, aeterna in laude versantur; Plancio, quod me vel vi pulsum vel ratione cedentem receperit, iuverit, custodierit, his et senatui populoque Romano, ut haberent quem reducerent, conservarit, honori hanc fidem, misericordiam, virtutem fuisse miraris?
27. These circumstances which I have been mentioning might in truth have been sufficient to throw a veil over the vices of Cnaeus Plancius. Do not then wonder that in such a life as I am proceeding to describe, they should have been such numerous and great helps to him in the attainment of honour; for this is he, who, when quite a young man, having gone with Aulus Torquatus into Africa was beloved by that most dignified and holy man, so worthy of every description of praise and honour, to as great a degree as the intimacy engendered by being messmates, and the modesty of a most pure minded youth allowed. And if he were present he would affirm it no less zealously than his cousin who is here present and his father-in-law, Titus Torquatus, his equal in every sort of glory and virtue, who is indeed connected with him in the closest bonds of relationship and connection, but these obligations of affection are so strong that those other reasons for intimacy drawn from relationship appear insignificant. He was in Crete afterwards as the comrade of Saturninus, his relation as a soldier of Quintus Metellus, who is here present, and as he was most highly approved of by them and is so to this day, he has a right to hope that he will be approved of by every one. In that province Caius Sacerdos was the lieutenant,—how virtuous, how consistent a man and Lucius Flaccus,—what a man, what a citizen was he! and they by their zeal in his behalf, and by their evidence, declare what sort of man they think Plancius.
27. me hercule Cn. Planci res eae de quibus dixi tegere potuerunt, ne tu in ea vita de qua iam dicam tot et tanta adiumenta huic honori fuisse mirere. est enim qui adulescentulus cum A. Torquato profectus in Africam sic ab illo gravissimo et sanctissimo atque omni laude et honore dignissimo viro dilectus est ut et contuberni necessitudo et adulescentis modestissimi pudor postulabat, quod, si adesset, non minus ille declararet quam hic illius frater patruelis et socer, T. Torquatus, omni illi et virtute et laude par, qui est quidem cum illo maximis vinclis et propinquitatis et adfinitatis coniunctus, sed ita magnis amoris ut illae necessitudinis causae leves esse videantur. in Creta postea contubernalis Saturnini, propinqui sui, miles huius Q. Metelli; cui cum fuerit probatissimus hodieque sit, omnibus esse se probatum sperare debet. ea provincia legatus fuit C. Sacerdos, qua virtute, qua constantia vir! L. Flaccus, qui homo, qui civis! qualem hunc putent, adsiduitate testimonioque declarant.