1. In all causes of more than ordinary importance, O Caius Caesar, I am accustomed, at the beginning of my speech, to be more vehemently affected than either common custom or my own age appears to require. And in this particular cause I am agitated by so many considerations, that in proportion as my fidelity to my friend inspires me with zeal to defend the safety of king Deiotarus, in the same proportion do my fears take away from my ability to do so. In the first place, I am speaking in defence of the life and fortunes of a king; and although there is no particular injustice in such a fact, especially when it is oneself who is in danger yet it is so unusual for a king to be tried for his life, that up to this time no such thing has ever been heard of.
1. in omnibus causis gravioribus, C. Caesar, initio dicendi commoveri soleam vehementius quam videtur vel usus vel aetas mea postulare, tum in hac causa ita multa me perturbant ut, quantum mea fides studi mihi adferat ad salutem regis Deiotari defendendam, tantum facultatis timor detrahat. dico pro capite fortunisque regis, quod ipsum, etsi non iniquum est in tuo dumtaxat periculo, tamen est ita inusitatum, regem reum capitis esse, ut ante hoc tempus non sit auditum.
2. In the second place, I am compelled now to defend against a most atrocious accusation that very king whom I, in common with all the senate, used formerly to extol on account of his uninterrupted services towards our republic. There is this further consideration, that I am disturbed by the cruelty of one of the prosecutors, and by the unworthy conduct of the other. O cruel, not to say wicked and impious, Castor! a grandson, who has brought his grandfather into danger of his life, and has caused that man to dread his youth, whose old age he was bound to defend and protect; who has sought to recommend his entrance into life to our favour by impiety and wickedness; who has instigated his grandfather's slave, whom he corrupted by bribes, to accuse his master, and has carried him away from the feet of the king's ambassadors.
2. eum regem quem ornare antea cuncto cum senatu solebam pro perpetuis eius in nostram rem publicam meritis, nunc contra atrocissimum crimen cogor defendere. ut accusatorum alterius crudelitate, alterius indignitate conturber. Castor, ne dicam sceleratum et impium, qui nepos avum in capitis discrimen adduxerit adulescentiaeque suae terrorem intulerit ei cuius senectutem tueri et tegere debebat, commendationemque ineuntis aetatis ab impietate et ab scelere duxerit; avi servum corruptum praemiis ad accusandum dominum impulerit, a legatorum pedibus abduxerit.
3. But when I saw the countenance and heard the words of this runaway slave, accusing his master,—his absent master,—his master, who was a most devoted friend to our republic,—I did not feel so much grief at the depressed condition of the monarch himself, as fear for the general fortunes of every one. For though, according to the usage of our ancestors, it is not lawful to examine a slave as a witness against his master, not even by torture,—in which mode of examination pain might, perhaps, elicit the truth from a man even against his will,—a slave has arisen, who, without any compulsion, accuses him against whom he might not legally say a word even on the rack.
3. autem dominum accusantis et dominum absentem et dominum amicissimum nostrae rei publicae cum os videbam, cum verba audiebam, non tam adflictam regiam condicionem dolebam quam de fortunis communibus extimescebam. cum more maiorum de servo in dominum ne tormentis quidem quaeri liceat, in qua quaestione dolor elicere veram vocem possit etiam ab invito, exortus est servus qui, quem in eculeo appellare non posset, eum accuset solutus.
4. This thing also, O Caius Caesar, at times disturbs me; which, however, I cease to fear when I come to a complete recollection of your disposition. For in principle it is an unjust thing, but by your wisdom it becomes a most just one. For it is a serious business (if you consider the matter by itself) to speak concerning a crime before that man against whose life you are accused of having meditated that crime; for there is hardly anybody who, when he is a judge in any matter in which his own safety is at stake, does not act with more partiality towards himself than towards the accused person; but, O Caius Caesar, your admirable and extraordinary natural virtue to a great extent releases me from this fear. For I am not so much afraid what you may wish to decide with respect to king Deiotarus, as I am sure what you wish to decide in all other cases.
4. me, C. Caesar, etiam illud interdum quod tamen, cum te penitus recognovi, timere desino: re enim iniquum est, sed tua sapientia fit aequissimum. dicere apud eum de facinore contra cuius vitam consilium facinoris inisse arguare, cum per se ipsum consideres, grave est; nemo enim fere est qui sui periculi iudex non sibi se aequiorem quam reo praebeat. tua, Caesar, praestans singularisque natura hunc mihi metum minuit. enim tam timeo quid tu de rege Deiotaro, quam intellego quid de te ceteros velis iudicare.
5. I am affected, also, by the unusual circumstance of the trial in this place; because I am pleading so important a cause—one, the fellow of which has never been brought under discussion—within the walls of a private house; I am pleading it out of the hearing of any court or body of auditors, which are a great support and encouragement to an orator. I rest on nothing but your eyes, your person and countenance; I behold you alone; the whole of my speech is necessarily confined to you alone. And if those considerations are very important as regards my hope of establishing the truth, they for all that are impediments of the energy of my mind, and to the proper enthusiasm and ardour of speaking.
5. etiam loci ipsius insolentia, quod tantam causam quanta nulla umquam in disceptatione versata est dico intra domesticos parietes, dico extra conventum et eam frequentiam in qua oratorum studia niti solent: in tuis oculis, in tuo ore voltuque acquiesco, te unum intueor, ad te unum omnis spectat oratio: quae mihi ad spem obtinendae veritatis gravissima sunt, ad motum animi et ad omnem impetum dicendi contentionemque leviora.
6. For if, O Caius Caesar, I were pleading this cause in the forum, still having you for my auditor and my judge, with what great cheerfulness would the concourse of the Roman people inspire me! For what citizen would do otherwise than favour that king, the whole of whose life he would recollect had been spent in the wars of the Roman people? I should be beholding the senate-house, I should be surveying the forum, I should call the heaven above me itself to witness;—and so, while calling to mind the kindnesses of the immortal gods, and of the Roman people, and of the senate to king Deiotarus, it would be impossible for me to be at a loss for topics or armaments for my speech.
6. enim, C. Caesar, causam si in foro dicerem eodem audiente et disceptante te, quantam mihi alacritatem populi Romani concursus adferret! enim civis ei regi non faveret cuius omnem aetatem in populi Romani bellis consumptam esse meminisset? curiam, intuerer forum, caelum denique testarer ipsum., cum et deorum immortalium et populi Romani et senatus beneficia in regem Deiotarum recordarer, nullo modo mihi deesse posset oratio.
7. But since the walls of a house narrow, all these topics, and since the pleading of the cause is greatly crippled by the place, it behoves you, O Caesar, who have yourself often pleaded for many defendants, to consider within yourself what my feelings at present must be; so that your justice, and also your careful attention in listening to me, may the more easily lessen my natural agitation and anxiety. But before I say anything about the accusation itself, I will say a few words about the hopes entertained by the accusers. For though they appear to be possessed of no great skill or experience in affairs, nevertheless they have never, surely, undertaken this cause without some hope or other and some definite design.
7. quoniam angustiora parietes faciunt actioque maximae causae debilitatur loco, tuum est, Caesar, qui pro multis saepe dixisti, quid mihi nunc animi sit ad te ipsum referre, quo facilius cum aequitas tua tum audiendi diligentia minuat hanc perturbationem meam. ante quam de accusatione ipsa dico, de accusatorum spe pauca dicam; qui cum videantur neque ingenio neque usu atque exercitatione rerum valere, tamen ad hanc causam non sine aliqua spe et cogitatione venerunt.
8. They were not ignorant that you were offended with king Deiotarus. They recollected that he had been already exposed to some inconvenience and loss on account of the displeasure with which you regarded him; and while they knew that you were angry with him, they had had proofs also that you were friendly to them. And as they would be speaking before you of a matter involving personal danger to yourself, they reckoned that a fictitious charge would easily lodge in your mind, which was already sore. Wherefore, O Caius Caesar, first of all by your good faith, and wisdom and firmness, and clemency deliver us from this fear, and prevent our suspecting that there is any ill-temper lurking in you. I entreat you by that right hand of yours which you pledged in token of everlasting friendship to king Deiotarus; by that right hand, I say, which is not more trustworthy in wars or in battles than in promises and pledges of good faith. You have chosen to enter his house, you have chosen to renew with him the ancient ties of friendship and hospitality. His household gods have received you under their protection; the altars and hearths of king Deiotarus have beheld you at peace with and friendly towards him.
8. te regi Deiotaro fuisse non erant nescii; adfectum illum quibusdam incommodis et detrimentis propter offensionem animi tui meminerant, teque cum huic iratum, tum sibi amicum esse cognoverant, quodque apud ipsum te de tuo periculo dicerent, fore putabant ut in exulcerato animo facile fictum crimen insideret. ob rem hoc nos primum metu, Caesar, per fidem et constantiam et clementiam tuam libera, ne residere in te ullam partem iracundiae suspicemur. dexteram istam te oro quam regi Deiotaro hospes hospiti porrexisti, istam, inquam, dexteram non tam in bellis neque in proeliis quam in promissis et fide firmiorem. illius domum inire, tu vetus hospitium renovare voluisti; te eius di penates acceperunt, te amicum et placatum Deiotari regis arae focique viderunt.
9. You are accustomed, O Caius Caesar, not only to he prevailed upon by entreaties easily, but to he prevailed on once for all. No enemy has ever been reconciled to you who has found any remnant of hostility remaining in your breast afterwards. Although, who is there who has not heard of your complaints against king Deiotarus? You have never accused him as being an enemy to you, but as being a friend very slack in his duty, because his inclination led him more to friendships with Cnaeus Pompeius than with you. And yet that very fact you said that you would have pardoned, if when he sent reinforcements and even his son to Pompeius, he had himself availed himself of the excuse furnished him by his age.
9. facile orari, Caesar, tum semel exorari soles. umquam te placavit inimicus qui ullas resedisse in te simultatis reliquias senserit. cui sunt inauditae cum Deiotaro querelae tuae? tu illum accusavisti ut hostem, sed ut amicum officio parum functum, quod propensior in Cn. Pompei amicitiam fuisset quam in tuam: cui tamen ipsi rei veniam te daturum fuisse dicebas, si tum auxilia Pompeio vel si etiam filium misisset, ipse aetatis excusatione usus esset.
10. And in this way, which you were acquitting him of the most important charges, you left behind only the little blame of his friendship for another. Therefore, you not only abstained from punishing him, but you released him from all apprehension; you acknowledged him as your friend, you left him king. And, indeed, his proceedings were not dictated by any hatred of you; he fell by the general error of us all. That king, whom the senate had repeatedly addressed by this name, using it in decrees most complimentary to him, and who from his youth up had always considered that order most important and most sacred, being a man living at a great distance, and a foreigner by birth, was perplexed by the same affairs which embarrassed us who were born and who at all times had lived in the middle of the republic.
10. cum maximis eum rebus liberares, perparvam culpam relinquebas. non solum in eum non animadvertisti sed omni metu liberavisti, hospitem agnovisti, regem reliquisti. enim ille odio tui progressus, sed errore communi lapsus est. rex quem senatus hoc nomine saepe honorificentissimis decretis appellavisset, quique illum ordinem ab adulescentia gravissimum sanctissimumque duxisset, isdem rebus est perturbatus homo longinquus et alienigena quibus nos in media re publica nati semperque versati.
11. When he heard that men had taken arms by the authority of the senate, acting with great unanimity; that the defence of the republic had been entrusted to the consuls, the praetors, the tribunes of the people, and to all of us who had received the title of Imperator, he was agitated in his mind, and being a man most deeply attached to this empire, he became alarmed for the safety of the Roman people, in which also he considered that his own was bound up. And being in a state of the greatest alarm, he thought it best to remain quiet himself. But he was beyond measure agitated when he heard that the consuls had fled from Italy, and all the men of consular rank (for so it was reported) with them, and all the senate, and that the whole of Italy was emptied. For the road was wide open for all such messengers and reports to travel to the East, and no true accounts followed. He never heard a word of the conditions which you offered, nor of your eagerness for concord and peace, nor of the way in which certain men conspired against your dignity. And though this was the state of things, still he continued quiet until ambassadors and letters came to him from Cnaeus Pompeius.
11. audiret senatus consentientis auctoritate arma sumpta, consulibus, praetoribus, tribunis plebis, nobis imperatoribus rem publicam defendendam datam, movebatur animo et vir huic imperio amicissimus de salute populi Romani extimescebat, in qua etiam suam esse inclusam videbat. summo tamen timore quiescendum esse arbitrabatur. vero perturbatus est, ut audivit consules ex Italia profugisse, omnis consularis—sic enim ei nuntiabatur —cunctum senatum, totam Italiam effusam. enim nuntiis et rumoribus patebat ad orientem via nec ulli veri subsequebantur. ille de condicionibus tuis, nihil de studio concordiae et pacis, nihil de conspiratione audiebat certorum hominum contra dignitatem tuam. cum ita essent, tamen usque eo se tenuit quoad a Cn. Pompeio legati ad eum litteraeque venerunt.
12. Pardon Deiotarus, pardon him, I entreat you, O Caesar, if he, though a king, yielded to the authority of that man whom we all followed, and on whom both gods and men had heaped every sort of distinction, and on whom you yourself had conferred the most numerous and most important honours of all. Nor indeed, does it follow that, because your exploits have thrown a cloud over the praises of others, we have, therefore, entirely lost all recollection of Cnaeus Pompeius. Who is there who is ignorant how great the name of that man was, how great his influence, how great his renown in every description of war, how great were the honours paid him by the Roman people, and by the senate, and by you yourself? He had surpassed all his predecessors in glory as much as you have surpassed all the world. Therefore, we used to count up with admiration the wars, and the victories, and the triumphs, and the consulship; of Cnaeus Pompeius. But yours we are wholly unable to reckon.
12. , ignosce, Caesar, si eius viri auctoritati rex Deiotarus cessit quem nos omnes secuti sumus; ad quem cum di atque homines omnia ornamenta congessissent, tum tu ipse plurima et maxima. enim, si tuae res gestae ceterorum laudibus obscuritatem attulerunt, idcirco Cn. Pompei memoriam amisimus. nomen illius fuerit, quantae opes, quanta in omni genere bellorum gloria, quanti honores populi Romani, quanti senatus, quanti tui, quis ignorat? ille superiores vicerat gloria quanto tu omnibus praestitisti. Cn. Pompei bella, victorias, triumphos, consulatus admirantes numerabamus: tuos enumerare non possumus.
13. To him then came king Deiotarus in this miserable and fatal war, to him whom he had previously assisted in his regular wars against the enemies of Rome, and with whom he was bound, not only by ties of hospitality, but also by personal intimacy. And he came, either because he had been asked, as a friend; or because he had been sent for as an ally; or because he had been summoned, like one who had learnt to obey the senate; and last of all, he came as to a man flying, not to one pursuing others—that is to say, as a sharer of danger, not a partner in victory. Therefore, after the result of the battle of Pharsalia, he departed from Pompeius; he did not choose to persist in hopes of which he saw no end. He thought he had done quite enough to satisfy the claims of duty, if indeed he was under any such obligations, and that he had made quite mistake enough if he had ignorantly erred. He returned home; and all the time that you were engaged in the Alexandrian war, he consulted your interests.
13. eum igitur rex Deiotarus venit hoc misero fatalique bello quem antea iustis hostilibusque bellis adiuverat, quocum erat non hospitio solum verum etiam familiaritate coniunctus, et venit vel rogatus ut amicus, vel arcessitus ut socius, vel evocatus ut is qui senatui parere didicisset: postremo venit ut ad fugientem, non ut ad insequentem, id est ad periculi, non ad victoriae societatem. Pharsalico proelio facto a Pompeio discessit; spem infinitam persequi noluit; vel officio si quid debuerat, vel errori si quid nescierat, satis factum esse duxit; domum se contulit, teque Alexandrinum bellum gerente utilitatibus tuis paruit.
14. He supported in his palaces and from his own resources the army of Cnaeus Domitius, that most distinguished man. He sent money to Ephesus to him whom you selected as the most faithful and most highly esteemed of all your friends. He gave him money a second time; he gave him money a third time for you to employ in the war, though be was forced to sell property by auction in order to raise it. He exposed his own person to danger and he was with you, serving in your army against Pharnaces, and he considered him as his own enemy because he was yours. And all those actions of his were accepted by you, O Caius Caesar, in such a spirit that you paid him the highest possible honours, and confirmed hint in the dignity and title of king.
14. exercitum Cn. Domiti, amplissimi viri, suis tectis et copiis sustentavit; ille Ephesum ad eum quem tu ex tuis fidelissimum et probatissimum omnibus delegisti pecuniam misit; ille iterum, ille tertio auctionibus factis pecuniam dedit qua ad bellum uterere; ille corpus suum periculo obiecit, tecumque in acie contra Pharnacem fuit tuumque hostem esse duxit suum. quidem a te in eam partem accepta sunt, Caesar, ut eum amplissimo regis honore et nomine adfeceris.
15. He, therefore, having been not only released from danger by you, but having been also distinguished by you with the highest honours, is now accused of having intended to assassinate you in his own house—a thing which you cannot in truth possibly suspect, unless you consider him to have been utterly mad. For, to say nothing of what a deed of enormous wickedness it would have been to assassinate his guest in the sight of his own household gods; what a deed of enormous unreasonableness it would have been to have extinguished the brightest light of all nations, and of all human recollection; what a deed of enormous ferocity it would have been to have had no dread of the conqueror of the whole earth; what a sign of an inhuman and ungrateful disposition it would have been to be found to behave like a despot to the very man by whom be had been addressed as a king;—to say nothing of all this, what a deed of utter frenzy would it have been to rouse all kings, of whom there were numbers on the borders of his own kingdom, all free nations, all the allies, all the provinces, all the arms, in short, of every people on earth against himself alone! To what misery would he not have exposed his kingdom, his house, his wife, and his beloved son, not merely by the accomplishment of such a crime, but even by the bare idea of it!
15. igitur non modo a te periculo liberatus sed etiam honore amplissimo ornatus, arguitur domi te suae interficere voluisse: quod tu, nisi eum furiosissimum iudicas, suspicari profecto non potes. enim omittam cuius tanti sceleris fuerit in conspectu deorum penatium necare hospitem, cuius tantae importunitatis omnium gentium atque omnis memoriae clarissimum lumen exstinguere, cuius ferocitatis victorem orbis terrae non extimescere, cuius tam inhumani et ingrati animi, a quo rex appellatus esset, in eo tyrannum inveniri—ut haec omittam, cuius tanti furoris fuit omnis reges, quorum multi erant finitimi, omnis liberos populos, omnis socios, omnis provincias, omnia denique omnium arma contra se unum excitare? ille modo cum regno, cum domo, cum coniuge, cum carissimo filio distractus esset, tanto scelere non modo perfecto sed etiam cogitato?
16. But I suppose that improvident and rash man did not see all this! On the contrary, who is a more considerate than he? Who is more secret in his plans? Who is more prudent? Although in this place it is not so much on the ground of cleverness and prudence that it seems to me that I should defend Deiotarus, as on that of good faith and religious feeling and conduct. You are well acquainted, O Caius Caesar, with the honesty of the man, with his virtuous habits, with his wisdom and firmness. Indeed, who is there who has ever heard of the name of the Roman people, who has not heard also of the integrity, and wisdom, and virtue, and good faith of Deiotarus? A crime, then, that cannot be imputed to an imprudent man, on account of his fear of instant destruction, nor to an unscrupulous man, unless he be at the same time utterly insane; will you pretend that such a crime was thought of by a most virtuous man, and one too who was never accounted a fool?
16. , credo, haec homo inconsultus et temerarius non videbat. consideratior illo, quis tectior, quis prudentior? quamquam hoc loco Deiotarum non tam ingenio et prudentia quam fide et religione vitae defendendum puto. tibi est hominis probitas, C. Caesar, noti mores, nota constantia. porro qui modo populi Romani nomen audivit, Deiotari integritas, gravitas, virtus, fides non audita est? igitur facinus nec in hominem imprudentem caderet propter metum praesentis exiti, nec in facinerosum, nisi esset idem amentissimus, id vos et a viro optimo et ab homine minime stulto cogitatum esse confingitis?
17. And in what a way do you try and support this invention! in a way not only not calculated to win belief, but not even such as to, give rise to the least suspicion. When, says the prosecutor, you had come to the Luceian fort, and had turned aside to the palace of the king your entertainer, there certain place where all those things were arranged which the king had settled to offer you as presents. To this place he intended to conduct you on coming out of the bath, before you lay down; for there were armed men stationed in that very place on purpose to kill you. This is the charge; this is the reason why a runaway should accuse a monarch, a slave accuse his master! I, in truth, O Caius Caesar, at the very beginning, when the cause was originally laid before me, was struck with a suspicion that Philippus, the physician, one of the king's slaves, who had been sent with the ambassadors, had been corrupted by that young man. He has suborned the physician to act as informer, thought I; he will be sure to invent some accusation of poisoning. Although my conjecture was some way from the exact truth, it was not much out as to the general principle of the accusation. What says the physician?
17. quam non modo non credibiliter, sed ne suspiciose quidem! “” inquit “Blucium venisses et domum regis hospitis tui devertisses, locus erat quidam in quo erant ea composita quibus te rex munerari constituerat. te e balneo, prius quam accumberes, ducere volebat. enim armati ut te interficerent in eo ipso loco conlocati.” crimen, en causa, cur regem fugitivus, dominum servus accuset. mehercules, Caesar, initio, cum est ad me ita causa delata, Phidippum medicum, servum regium, qui cum legatis missus esset, ab isto adulescente esse corruptum, hac sum suspicione percussus: “indicem subornavit; finget videlicet aliquod crimen veneni.” a veritate longe, tamen a consuetudine criminandi non multum res abhorrebat.
18. Not a word about poison. But in the first place, that might have been administered much more a in a potion or in food; in the second place, a crime is committed in that way with greater impunity, because when it has been done, it can be denied. If he had assassinated you openly, he would have brought upon himself not only the hatred of all nations, but their arms also. If he had slain you by poison, to be sure he never would have been able to conceal the action from the divine wrath of the Jupiter who presides over hospitality, but he might perhaps have concealed it from men. Are we, then, to suppose that that which he might have attempted in secret and have executed with great caution, he never entrusted to you who were a skillful physician, and, as he believed, a faithful servant and yet that he could conceal nothing from you with respect to arms and blood, and ambuscade? And how cleverly is the whole nation worked up!
18. ait medicus? de veneno. id fieri potuit primum occultius in potione, in cibo; deinde etiam impunius fit quod, cum est factum, negari potest. palam te interemisset, omnium in se gentium non solum odia sed etiam arma convertisset: si veneno, Iovis illius hospitalis numen numquam celare potuisset, homines fortasse celasset. igitur et conari occultius et efficere cautius potuit, id tibi et medico callido et servo, ut putabat, fideli non credidit: de armis, de ferro, de insidiis celare te noluit?
19. It was your own good fortune, says he that fortune which always preserves you, which saved you then. You said that you did not wish at that moment to see the presents. What happened afterwards? Did Deiotarus, after he had failed in accomplishing the business at that time, at once dismiss his army? was there no other place where he could set an ambush? But you said that when you had supped you would come back again the same way; and you did so. Was it a very difficult job to detain the armed men one or two hours in the place where they had been stationed? After you had spent your time at the banquet courteously and merrily, then you went back that way, as you had said; and then and there you found that the behaviour of Deiotarus to you resembled that of king Attalus to Publius Africanus to whom, as we have read, he sent the most magnificent gifts from Asia to Numantia; which Africanus accepted in the sight of all his army. And when Deiotarus, being present with you, had done all this in a kingly spirit and with royal courtesy, you departed to your chamber.
19. quam festive crimen contexitur! “te” inquit “eadem quae saepe fortuna servavit: negavisti tum te inspicere velle.” postea? an Deiotarus, re illo tempore non perfecta, continuo dimisit exercitum? nullus erat alius insidiandi locus? eodem te, cum cenavisses, rediturum dixeras, itaque fecisti. Horam unam aut duas eodem loco armatos, ut conlocati fuerant, retineri magnum fuit? in convivio comiter et iucunde fuisses, tum illuc isti, ut dixeras: quo in loco Deiotarum talem erga te cognovisti qualis rex Attalus in P. Africanum fuit, cui magnificentissima dona, ut scriptum legimus, usque ad Numantiam misit ex Asia, quae Africanus inspectante exercitu accepit. cum praesens Deiotarus regio animo et more fecisset, tu in cubiculum discessisti.
20. I entreat you, O Caesar, trace back your recollection of that time, bring that day back before your eyes, remember the countenances of the men who were then gazing on you and admiring you; was there any trepidation among them? any disorder? Was anything done except in an orderly and quiet manner,—except as became the establishment of a dignified and honourable man? What reason then can be imagined why he should have intended to murder you after you had bathed, and why he should not have chosen to do so after you had supped?
20. , Caesar, repete illius temporis memoriam, pone ante oculos illum diem, voltus hominum te intuentium atque admirantium recordare. quae trepidatio, num qui tumultus, num quid nisi modeste, nisi quiete, nisi ex hominis gravissimi et sanctissimi disciplina? igitur causae excogitari potest cur te lautum voluerit, cenatum noluerit occidere?
21. “Oh, he put it off,” says the prosecutor, “till the next day, in order that when he arrived at the Luceian fort, he might there put his designs in execution.”I do not understand the effect of his changing the place; but still the whole case was conducted in an incriminatory manner. “When,” says the prosecutor, “you said after supper that you wished to vomit, they began to lead you to the bath-room; for that was the place where the ambuscade was; but still that same fortune of yours saved you; you said that you had rather go to your bedroom.” May the gods forgive you, you run-away slave! Are you so utterly, not only worthless and infamous, but also stupid and senseless? What? were they brazen statues that he had planted in ambush, so that they could not be moved from the bath-room to the bed-chamber? Here you have the whole charge as to the ambuscade: for he said nothing further. “In all this,” says he, “I was his accomplice.” What do you mean? Was he so demented as to allow a man to leave him who was privy to so enormous a wickedness? As even to send him to Rome, where he knew his grandson was, who was most bitterly hostile to him, and where Caius Caesar was, against whom he had laid this plot? especially when he was the only man who could give any information against him in his absence.
21. “posterum” inquit “diem distulit ut, cum in castellum ventum esset, ibi cogitata perficeret.” video causam loci mutandi, sed tamen acta res criminose est. “” inquit “vomere post cenam te velle dixisses, in balneum te ducere coeperunt: ibi enim erant insidiae. te eadem tua fortuna servavit: in cubiculo malle dixisti.” te perduint, fugitive! ita non modo nihili et improbus, sed fatuus et amens es.? ille signa aenea in balneo posuerat, quae e balneo in cubiculum transire non possent? crimina insidiarum: nihil enim dixit amplius. “” inquit “eram conscius.” tum? ita ille demens erat ut eum quem conscium tanti sceleris habebat ab se dimitteret, Romam etiam mitteret ubi et inimicissimum sciret esse nepotem suum et C. Caesarem cui fecisset insidias, praesertim cum is unus esset qui posset de absente se indicare?
22. “My brothers too,” says he, “because they also were privy to it he threw into prison.” When, then, he was putting those men in prison whom he had with him, did he leave you at large and send you to Rome,—you who knew the very same facts which you say that they knew? The remainder of the accusation was of a twofold character; one part of which was, that the king was always in his watch-tower because he was so disaffected to your interests; the other, that he had levied a large army against you. As to the army, I will reply to that charge in a very few words, as I will to the rest of the charges. King Deiotarus never had any forces with which he could have made war upon the Roman people; but only just sufficient to protect his own territories from the incursions of enemies, and to send reinforcements to our generals. And before this time he was able to maintain a larger force than he can now; at present he can with difficulty keep up a very small one.
22. “fratres meos,” inquit, “quod erant conscii, in vincla coniecit.” igitur eos vinciret quos secum habebat, te solutum Romam mittebat qui eadem scires quae illos scire dicis? pars accusationis duplex fuit: una regem in speculis semper fuisse, cum a te animo esset alieno, altera exercitum eum contra te magnum comparasse. exercitu dicam breviter, ut cetera. eas copias rex Deiotarus habuit quibus inferre bellum populo Romano posset, sed quibus finis suos ab excursionibus et latrociniis tueretur et imperatoribus nostris auxilia mitteret. antea quidem maiores copias alere poterat; nunc exiguas vix tueri potest.