23. “Oh, but he sent to Caecilius; I don't know who it was he sent, but he threw those whom he sent or rather ordered to go, into prison, because they would not go.” I do not stop to ask how far it is probable that a king should have had no one to send; or that those whom he ordered to go should not have obeyed him; or how it was that those men who refused obedience in so important an affair, were put in prison, and not executed; but still, when he was sending to Caecilius, was he ignorant that that party had been defeated, or did he think that Caecilius a person of great importance? a man whom he, who was well acquainted with our leading men, would have despised because he knew him, and just as much because he did not know him.
23. misit ad nescio quem Caecilium: sed eos quos misit, quod ire noluerunt, in vincla coniecit. quaero quam veri simile sit aut non habuisse regem quos mitteret aut eos qui missi essent non paruisse, aut, qui dicto audientes in tanta re non fuissent, eos vinctos potius quam necatos. tamen cum ad Caecilium mittebat, utrum causam illam victam esse nesciebat an Caecilium istum magnum hominem putabat? quem profecto is qui optime nostros homines novit vel quia non nosset vel si nosset, contemneret.
24. He added, also, that he did not send his best cavalry;—I dare say, they were old troops, O Caesar: nothing to your cavalry; but still they were the best men he had, his picked men. He says, that one of the body was recognised as being a slave;—I do not believe it; I never heard of it. But still, even if such a thing had happened, I should not conceive that that was any fault of the king's. “He was very ill-disposed towards you.” How so? He hoped, I suppose, that you would find it difficult to get out of Alexandria, on account of the nature of the country and of the river. But, at that very time, he supplied you with money, and with provisions for your army; he cooperated to the utmost of his power with the officer to whom you had given command in Asia; he assisted you when victorious, not only in the way of affording you hospitality, but with you he encountered danger, and stood by your side in the array of battle.
24. etiam illud, equites non optimos misisse., Caesar, nihil ad tuum equitatum, sed misit ex eis quos habuit electos. nescio quem ex eo numero servum iudicatum. arbitror, non audivi: sed in eo, etiam si accidisset, culpam regis nullam fuisse arbitrarer. autem a te animo quo modo?, credo, difficilis tibi Alexandreae fore exitus propter regionum naturam et fluminis. eo tempore ipso pecuniam dedit, exercitum aluit, ei quem Asiae praefeceras nulla in re defuit; tibi victori non solum ad hospitium sed ad periculum etiam atque ad aciem praesto fuit.
25. The African war followed: there were unfavourable reports spread about you, which also roused that frantic Caecilius. What on that occasion was the disposition evinced towards you by the king? He sold property by auction, and preferred stripping himself to not supplying you with money. “But,” says the prosecutor, “at that very time he was sending men to Nicaea, and to Ephesus, to catch every report that came from Africa, and to bring it to him with all speed.” Therefore, when news came that Domitius had perished by shipwreck, and that you were blockaded in some fortress, he quoted a Greek verse with reference to Domitius, having the same meaning as that of our poet:So can we well afford to lose our friends,If our foes perish in the same destruction:an expression which he would never have uttered had he been ever so much an enemy to you. For he himself is a man of a humane disposition; and that verse is a savage one. Besides, how could a man be a friend to Domitius, who was an enemy to you? Moreover, why should he be an enemy to you, by whom he might even have been put to death according to the laws of war, and by whom he recollected that he and his son had been appointed kings?
25. bellum est Africanum. de te rumores, qui etiam furiosum illum Caecilium excitaverunt. tum rex animo, qui auctionatus sit seseque spoliare maluerit quam tibi pecuniam non subministrare. “eo” inquit “tempore ipso Nicaeam Ephesumque mittebat qui rumores Africanos exciperent et celeriter ad se referrent. cum esset ei nuntiatum Domitium naufragio perisse, te in castello circumsederi, de Domitio dixit versum Graecum eadem sententia qua etiam nos habemus Latinum:amici, dum inimici una intercidant.” ille, si tibi esset inimicissimus, numquam tamen dixisset: ipse enim mansuetus, versus immanis. autem Domitio poterat esse amicus, qui tibi esset inimicus? porro inimicus cur esset a quo, cum vel interfici belli lege potuisset, regem et se et filium suum constitutos esse meminisset?
26. What is the next statement? What is the next step taken by this scoundrel? He says that Deiotarus was so elated at this, that he drowned his joy in wine, and danced naked at a banquet. What cross is there that could be a sufficient punishment for this slave? Did any one ever see Deiotarus dancing,—did any one ever see him drunk? All kingly virtues are united in that man, and that I think yourself are well aware of, O Caesar; but most especially is that singular and admirable economy of his conspicuous. Although this is an attribute for which I know that it is not usual to praise kings. To say that a man is economical is not much praise for a king. To be brave, just, severe, dignified, magnanimous, open-handed, beneficent liberal—these are the praises suited to a king. Economy is a virtue for a private individual. Let every one take it as he pleases: but I consider economy—that is to say, moderation and temperance—the very greatest of virtues. And this existed in this man from his earliest youth, and was experienced by, and known to, all Asia, and by all our magistrates and ambassadors, and by all the Roman knights who trafficked in Asia.
26. deinde? furcifer quo progreditur? hac laetitia Deiotarum elatum vino se obruisse in convivioque nudum saltavisse. crux huic fugitivo potest satis supplici adferre? Deiotarum saltantem quisquam aut ebrium vidit umquam? sunt in illo rege virtutes, quod te, Caesar, ignorare non arbitror, sed praecipue singularis et admiranda frugalitas: etsi hoc verbo scio laudari reges non solere. Frugi hominem dici non multum habet laudis in rege: fortem, iustum, severum, gravem, magni animi, largum, beneficum, liberalem: hae sunt regiae laudes, illa privata est. volet quisque, accipiat: ego tamen frugalitatem, id est modestiam et temperantiam, virtutem maximam iudico. in illo est ab ineunte aetate cum a cuncta Asia, cum a magistratibus legatisque nostris, tum ab equitibus Romanis qui in Asia negotiati sunt perspecta et cognita.
27. It was by many successive steps of dutiful service towards our republic that he arrived at this title of king; but still, whatever leisure he had from the wars of the Roman people, he devoted entirely to cultivating friendship and intimacy with our citizens, and to uniting his affairs and interests to theirs. So that he was not only considered a noble tetrarch, but also an excellent father of a family, and a most industrious farmer and grazier. Did he, then, who, while a young man, before he had arrived at his subsequent high rank, never did anything that was inconsistent with the most rigid virtue and the greatest dignity, after he had raised to himself the esteem in which he is now held, and when he had become of so advanced an age, did he dance?
27. ille quidem gradibus officiorum erga rem publicam nostram ad hoc regium nomen ascendit; sed tamen quicquid a bellis populi Romani vacabat, cum hominibus nostris consuetudines, amicitias, res rationesque iungebat, ut non solum tetrarches nobilis sed etiam optimus pater familias et diligentissimus agricola et pecuarius haberetur. igitur adulescens nondum tanta gloria praeditus nihil umquam nisi severissime et gravissime fecerit, is ea existimatione eaque aetate saltavit?
28. You ought, O Castor, rather to imitate the manner and principles of your grandfather, than calumniate a most virtuous and most illustrious man with the language of a runaway slave. Even if you had had a grandfather who was a dancer, and not a man from whom examples of modesty and chastity might be derived, still this reproach is one which is very little suited to your age. Those pursuits to which he had been habituated from his earliest age—not dancing, but such as would train him to wield his arms and manage his horses in the best manner,—those all had now failed him at his advanced time of life; so that we used to wonder, when several men had lifted Deiotarus on his horse, how so old a man as he could contrive to stick on. But this young man, who was a soldier of mine in Cilicia, and a comrade of mine in Greece, how was he used to ride about in that army of ours, with his own picked body of cavalry, whom his father had sent with him to join Pompeius! what gallops he used to take; how he used to display his skill! What a parade he used to make! How did he refuse to yield to any one in his zeal and eagerness for the success of that cause!
28. , Castor, potius avi mores disciplinamque debebas quam optimo et clarissimo viro fugitivi ore male dicere. si saltatorem avum habuisses neque eum virum unde pudoris pudicitiaeque exempla peterentur, tamen hoc maledictum minime in illam aetatem conveniret. ille studiis ab ineunte aetate se imbuerat, non saltandi, sed bene ut armis, optime ut equis uteretur, ea tamen illum cuncta iam aetate defecerant. Deiotarum cum plures in equum sustulissent, quod haerere in eo senex posset, admirari solebamus: hic vero adulescens qui meus in Cilicia miles, in Graecia commilito fuit, cum in illo nostro exercitu equitaret cum suis delectis equitibus quos una cum eo ad Pompeium pater miserat, quos concursus facere solebat, quam se iactare, quam ostentare, quam nemini in illa causa studio et cupiditate concedere!
29. But even after the army was lost, I, who had at all times been an adviser of peace, but who, after the battle of Pharsalia, urged every one not to lay aside, but to throw away their arms, could never bring this young man to adopt my advice, both because of his own eagerness for that war, and because he thought himself bound to satisfy the expectations of his father. Happy is that house which has obtained, not only impunity, but licence to accuse others! Unfortunate Deiotarus, who is not only accused by one who was in the same camp with him, before you, but who is impeached even by his own relations. Cannot you, O Castor, be content with your own good fortune without bringing misery on your relations?
29. vero exercitu amisso ego, qui pacis semper auctor, post Pharsalicum autem proelium suasor fuissem armorum non ponendorum, sed abiciendorum, hunc ad meam auctoritatem non potui adducere, quod et ipse ardebat studio illius belli et patri satis faciendum arbitrabatur. ista domus quae non impunitatem solum adepta sit sed etiam accusandi licentiam: calamitosus Deiotarus qui et ab eo qui in isdem castris fuerit, et non modo apud te sed etiam a suis accusetur! vestra secunda fortuna, Castor, non potestis sine propinquorum calamitate esse contenti?
30. Grant that there may be enmity between you; which, however, there ought not to be; for it was king Deiotarus who raised your family, when abject and obscure, from darkness into light. Who ever heard of your father, or who he was, before they heard whose son-in-law he was? But even supposing you repudiated the name of the connection with ever so much ingratitude and impiety, still you might have conducted your quarrel like a man, and not pursue him with a false accusation, not seek his life, not prosecute him on a capital charge. Be it so:—let even this excess of bitterness and hatred be permitted. Was it to go to such an extent that all the laws of ordinary life and of common safety, and even of humanity, are to be violated? to tamper with slaves by words, to corrupt them by hopes and promises; to lead them away to your own house, to arm them against their master, to wage an impious war not against one relation, but against every family in the world? For that corruption of slaves, if it be not only unpunished, but even approved by such a great authority as that of this tribunal, no walls, no laws, no rights will be sufficient for the protection of our safety. For when that which is in our houses and is our own can sally out with impunity and fight against us, slavery then gets the mastery, and the master's position is slavery.
30. sane inimicitiae, quae esse non debebant—rex enim Deiotarus vestram familiam abiectam et obscuram e tenebris in lucem evocavit: quis tuum patrem ante quis esset quam cuius gener esset audivit?—sed quamvis ingrate et impie necessitudinis nomen repudiaretis, tamen inimicitias hominum more gerere poteratis, non ficto crimine insectari, non expetere vitam, non capitis arcessere.: concedatur haec quoque acerbitatis et odi magnitudo: adeone ut omnia vitae salutisque communis atque etiam humanitatis iura violentur? sollicitare verbis, spe promissisque corrumpere, abducere domum, contra dominum armare, hoc est non uni propinquo, sed omnibus familiis nefarium bellum indicere. ista corruptela servi si non modo impunita fuerit sed etiam a tanta auctoritate approbata, nulli parietes nostram salutem, nullae leges, nulla iura custodient. Vbi enim id quod intus est atque nostrum impune evolare potest contraque nos pugnare, fit in dominatu servitus, in servitute dominatus.
31. Shame on the times, and on our present habits! That Cnaeus Domitius, whom we as boys saw consul, and censor and chief pontiff, when, as tribune of the people, he had impeached Marcus Scaurus, the chief man of the state, before the people, and when a slave of Scaurus had come secretly to him at his own house, and had offered to give information with respect to charges which might he brought against his master ordered the slave to be apprehended, and taken to Scaurus. See what a difference there is now,—although it is a shame of me to compare Castor to Domitius; still, he sent his slave back to his enemy, you have seduced one from your grandfather; he refused to listen to one though he had not been bribed, you have bribed one; he rejected a slave as his assistant against his master, you have employed one even as an accuser. But was it only once that that fellow was corrupted by you?
31. O tempora, o mores! Cn. Domitius ille quem nos pueri consulem, censorem, pontificem maximum vidimus, cum tribunus plebis M. Scaurum principem civitatis in iudicium populi vocavisset Scaurique servus ad eum clam domum venisset et crimina in dominum delaturum se esse dixisset, prendi hominem iussit ad Scaurumque deduci. quid intersit, etsi inique Castorem cum Domitio comparo: sed tamen ille inimico servum remisit, tu ab avo abduxisti; ille incorruptum audire noluit, tu corrupisti; ille adiutorem servum contra dominum repudiavit, tu etiam accusatorem adhibuisti. semel iste est corruptus a vobis.
32. Did he not escape back again to the ambassadors after he had been brought forward by you, and after he had been with you? Did he not even come to Caius Cnaeus Domitius? Did not he, in the hearing of this Servius Sulpicius that most illustrious man, who is present here, and of this Titus Torquatus, a most virtuous young man, who is also present, confess that he had been bribed by you, and that it was by your promises that he had been instigated to this dishonesty? What then is the object of this shameless, and barbarous, and unrestrained inhumanity? Was it for this that you came into this city, that you might corrupt the principles predominant in, and the examples furnished by this city, and that you might pollute the humanity of our state by your own private ferocity?
32. , cum esset perductus et cum tecum fuisset, refugit ad legatos? nonne ad hunc Cn. Domitium venit? nonne audiente hoc Ser. Sulpicio, clarissimo viro, qui tum casu apud Domitium cenabat, et hoc T. Torquato, optimo adulescente, se a te corruptum, tuis promissis in fraudem impulsum esse confessus est? est ista tam impotens, tam crudelis, tam immoderata inhumanitas? in hanc urbem venisti ut huius urbis iura et exempla corrumperes domesticaque immanitate nostrae civitatis humanitatem inquinares?
33. And how ingeniously have all your charges been collected! Blesamius, says he, (for it was in his name, a very excellent man, and one who was a stranger to you, that he was calumniating you, O Deiotarus,) used to write to the king, that you, O Caesar, were very unpopular; that you were considered a tyrant; that men were exceedingly offended at your statue having been placed among those of the kings; that you were never well received on your appearance in public. Do not you perceive, O Caesar, that these statements were collected by these fellows, from the city conversation of spiteful men? Could Blesamius have written to say that Caesar was a tyrant? Yes, for he had seen the heads of many citizens exposed; he had seen many men by the orders of Caesar ill-treated, scourged and executed; he had seen many houses pillaged and destroyed; he had seen the forum filled with armed troops!—No; those things which previously we always have felt after victories in civil war, we have not seen now, when you have been our conqueror.
33. quam acute conlecta crimina! “Blesamius” inquit,—eius enim nomine, optimi viri nec tibi ignoti, male dicebat tibi—“ad regem” inquit “scribere solebat te in invidia esse, tyrannum existimari, statua inter reges posita animos hominum vehementer offensos, plaudi tibi non solere.” intellegis, Caesar, ex urbanis malevolorum sermunculis haec ab istis esse conlecta? Blesamius tyrannum Caesarem scriberet? enim capita civium viderat, multos iussu Caesaris vexatos, verberatos, necatos, multas adflictas et eversas domos, armatis militibus refertum forum! semper in civili victoria sensimus, ea te victore non vidimus.
34. You are the only man—you I say, O Caius Caesar, are the only man, by whose victory no one has perished except with arms in his hand. And can the man whom we, free men, born in the enjoyment of the perfect liberty of the Roman people, consider not only no tyrant but as even the most merciful man possible in the use of victory, can he appear a tyrant to Blesamius, who is living under a king? For who complains about a statue, especially about one single statue, when he sees such a number? Great reason have we, indeed, to envy a man his statues, when we do not grudge him trophies; for if it be the place which provokes envy, surely there is no place more open and fit for a statue than the rostra. And as to the way in which he is received in public, why need I make any reply at all? for public applause has never been desired by you, and sometimes, owing to the amazement with which men have viewed your achievements, it has even been stifled by the excess of their admiration; and perhaps, too, it has been omitted because nothing vulgar could possibly appear worthy of you.
34. , inquam, es, C. Caesar, cuius in victoria ceciderit nemo nisi armatus. quem nos liberi in summa populi Romani libertate nati non modo non tyrannum sed etiam clementissimum in victoria ducimus, is Blesamio qui vivit in regno tyrannus videri potest? de statua quis queritur, una praesertim, cum tam multas videat? enim invidendum est eius statuis cuius tropaeis non invidemus. si locus adfert invidiam, nullus est ad statuam quidem rostris clarior. plausu autem quid respondeam? qui nec desideratus umquam in te est et non numquam obstupefactis hominibus ipsa admiratione compressus est et fortasse eo praetermissus quia nihil volgare te dignum videri potest.
35. I do not think that anything has been omitted by me; but some topics have been reserved for the end of my speech, and they are of such a nature that they ought to reconcile you cordially to Deiotarus—for I am not now afraid of your being angry with him; I am apprehensive rather of your suspecting that he harbours some resentment against you. And that suspicion, believe me, O Caesar, is as remote as possible from the truth. For he recollects only what he still has left owing to you, and not what he has lost by your means; nor does he consider that he has been deprived of anything by you, but being aware that it was necessary for you to give many rewards to many people, he did not think it hard that you should take something from him who had been on the other side.
35. a me arbitror praeteritum, sed aliquid ad extremam partem causae reservatum. autem aliquid ⟨quid⟩ est? te ut plane Deiotaro reconciliet oratio mea. enim iam metuo ne illi tu suscenseas; illud vereor ne tibi illum suscensere aliquid suspicere: quod abest longissime, mihi crede, Caesar. enim retineat per te meminit, non quid amiserit; neque se a te multatum arbitratur, sed, cum existimares multis tibi multa esse tribuenda, quo minus a se qui in altera parte fuisset ea sumeres non recusavit.
36. In truth, if that great prince, Antiochus the Great the king of Asia, who, after he had been conquered by Scipio, was ordered to consider Mount Taurus as the boundary of his dominions, and was deprived of all this Asia which is now a province of our own,—if he was accustomed to say that he had been kindly treated by the Roman people, because be had been released by them from the care of an overgrown empire, and was now at liberty to enjoy a kingdom of moderate extent, Deiotarus can comfort himself much more easily. For Antiochus had suffered a chastisement for his insanity, my client only for an error. You, O Caesar, gave everything to Deiotarus when you gave him and his son the title of King; and as long as he is allowed to retain and preserve this title, he does not think that the kindness of the Roman people is at all diminished, or that the senate has come to any unfavourable decision respecting him. He preserves a great and lofty spirit, and will never succumb to his enemies, nor even to fortune.
36. si Antiochus Magnus ille, rex Asiae, cum, postea quam a L. Scipione devictus Tauro tenus regnare iussus est, omnem hanc Asiam quae est nunc nostra provincia amisisset, dicere est solitus benigne sibi a populo Romano esse factum, quod nimis magna procuratione liberatus modicis regni terminis uteretur, potest multo facilius hoc se Deiotarus consolari. enim furoris multam sustulerat, hic erroris. tu Deiotaro, Caesar, tribuisti, cum et ipsi et filio nomen regium concessisti. nomine retento atque servato nullum beneficium populi Romani, nullum iudicium de se senatus imminutum putat. Magno animo et erecto est, nec umquam succumbet inimicis, ne fortunae quidem.
37. He thinks that by his previous conduct he has given birth to much, and that by his own courage and virtue he still has much which he cannot possibly he deprived of. For what fortune, or what accident, or what injury can happen to Deiotarus of such severity as to efface the decrees of all our generals respecting him? For he has been complimented and distinguished ever since he was of an age to serve in their camps, by all those men who have had the conduct of our wars in Asia, and in Cappadocia, and in Pontus, and in Cilicia, and in Syria. And what length of time will ever efface, what forgetfulness will ever obliterate those numerous and honourable resolutions of the senate respecting him, which have been recorded in the public writings and memorials of the Roman people? Why need I speak of his valour? why of his greatness of mind? of his wisdom? of his firmness and consistency? qualities which not only have all wise and learned men pronounced to be the greatest blessings, but which some have even considered the only real ones, and have said that virtue wanted nothing more than these for the purpose of living not only well, but even happily.
37. se arbitratur et peperisse ante factis et habere in animo atque virtute, quae nullo modo possit amittere. enim fortuna aut quis casus aut quae tanta possit iniuria omnium imperatorum de Deiotaro decreta delere? omnibus est enim is ornatus qui, postea quam in castris esse potuit per aetatem, in Asia, Cappadocia, Ponto, Cilicia, Syria bella gesserunt: senatus vero iudicia de illo tam multa tamque honorifica, quae publicis populi Romani litteris monumentisque consignata sunt, quae umquam vetustas obruet aut quae tanta delebit oblivio? de virtute eius dicam, de magnitudine animi, gravitate, constantia? quae omnes docti atque sapientes summa, quidam etiam bona sola esse dixerunt, eisque non modo ad bene sed etiam ad beate vivendum contentam esse virtutem.
38. He, considering these things, and reflecting on them day and night, is so far from feeling resentment against you, (for he would not only be ungrateful, but even mad to do so,) that he attributes the whole of the tranquillity and quiet of his old age which he enjoys to your clemency. And as these were his sentiments previously, I do not doubt also that after the receipt of your letters, of which I have read a copy, which you gave to this Blesamius at Tarraco for Deiotarus, his spirit became loftier still, and that he ceased to feel any anxiety whatever. For in them you bid him entertain good hopes, and to be of good courage—expressions which I know you are not in the habit of using without a meaning: for I recollect that you wrote to me in almost the same language, and that when you bade me entertain good hopes of the future you were not deceiving me.
38. ille reputans et dies noctesque cogitans non modo tibi non suscenset—esset enim non solum ingratus sed etiam amens—, verum omnem tranquillitatem et quietem senectutis refert acceptam clementiae tuae. quidem animo cum antea fuit, tum non dubito quin tuis litteris, quarum exemplum legi, quas ad eum Tarracone huic Blesamio dedisti, se magis etiam erexerit ab omnique sollicitudine abstraxerit. enim eum bene sperare et bono esse animo, quod scio te non frustra scribere solere. enim isdem fere verbis ad me te scribere meque tuis litteris bene sperare non frustra esse iussum.
39. I am anxious, indeed, in this cause of King Deiotarus, with whom the affairs of this republic have united me in friendship, while our mutual regard for one another has connected us by ties of hospitality, with whom long acquaintance has engendered intimacy, and his great services to me and to my army have wrought in me the greatest affection for him. But while I am anxious about him, I am anxious also about many most distinguished men, who have been pardoned by you, and who ought to be able to consider their pardon, whenever pronounced, as binding for ever; and who ought not to feel that a doubt is thrown on the permanency of your kindness to them, nor to have a perpetual anxiety implanted in their minds; nor, in short, ought it to be allowed to happen that any one of those men should begin again to feel apprehension, who has once been released by you from fear.
39. equidem regis Deiotari causa quocum mihi amicitiam res publica conciliavit, hospitium voluntas utriusque coniunxit, familiaritatem consuetudo attulit, summam vero necessitudinem magna eius officia in me et in exercitum meum effecerunt: sed cum de illo laboro, tum de multis amplissimis viris quibus semel ignotum a te esse oportet, nec tuum beneficium in dubium vocari, nec haerere in animis hominum sollicitudinem sempiternam, nec accidere ut quisquam te timere incipiat eorum qui sint semel a te liberati timore.
40. I ought not, O Caesar, to endeavour, as is often done by men in such danger as this, to move your pity by my language. There is no need of my doing so. Your feelings are of their own accord accustomed to come to the aid of the suppliant and unfortunate, without being elicited by the eloquence of anybody. Place before your eyes two kings, and contemplate with your mind what you cannot behold with your eyes. You will surely yield to your feelings of compassion what you refused to your resentment. There are many monuments of your clemency, but the chief, sure, are the secure happiness of those men to whom it is you have been the author of safety. And if such an action is glorious in the case of a private individual, much more will it be celebrated when it is a king who is the object of it. The title of King has always been accounted a holy name in this city; but the names of ally and king, when united together, are then the holiest of all titles.
40. debeo, Caesar, quod fieri solet in tantis periculis, temptare ecquonam modo dicendo misericordiam tuam commovere possim. opus est. solet ipsa supplicibus et calamitosis, nullius oratione evocata. tibi duos reges et id animo contemplare quod oculis non potes: dabis profecto id misericordiae quod iracundiae denegasti. sunt monumenta clementiae tuae, sed maxime eorum incolumitates quibus salutem dedisti. si in privatis gloriosa sunt, multo magis commemorabuntur in regibus. regium nomen in hac civitate sanctum fuit, sociorum vero regum et amicorum sanctissimum.
41. And these kings were afraid that if you were victorious they might lose that name. But now that they have been allowed to retain it, and have been confirmed in it by you, I confidently trust that they will even transmit it to their posterity. Moreover, these ambassadors whom you see before you, Hieras, and Blesamius, and Antigonus, men with whom you and all of us have long been acquainted, and also Dorylaus, a man of the same loyalty and virtue as they, who was lately sent as ambassador to you in company with Hieras, devoted friends of the king, and men too who, as I hope, are highly esteemed by you, offer you their persons as hostages and pledges to secure the safety of their prince.
41. nomen hi reges ne amitterent te victore timuerunt, retentum vero et a te confirmatum posteris etiam suis tradituros se esse confidunt. sua pro salute regum suorum hi legati regii tradunt, Hieras et Blesamius et Antigonus, tibi nobisque omnibus iam diu noti, eademque fide et virtute praeditus Dorylaus, qui nuper cum Hiera legatus est ad te missus, cum regum amicissimi, tum tibi etiam, ut spero, probati.
42. Ask Blesamius whether he ever wrote anything to the king to the disparagement of your dignity. Hieras, indeed, undertakes the whole cause of Deiotarus, and offers himself as the defendant against all these charges in behalf of, and instead of, the king. He implores the aid of your recollection in his favour; a quality in which you greatly excel: he declares that all the time that you were in the tetrarchy of Deiotarus he never left your side. He says that he met you on the frontier, and that he attended you to the borders on the opposite side of the country; that when you left the bath he was with you, and when you surveyed all those presents after supper, and when you retired to rest in your bed-chamber. And he says, too, that he attended you in the same unremitting manner all the next day.
42. de Blesamio num quid ad regem contra dignitatem tuam scripserit. Hieras quidem causam omnem suscipit et criminibus illis pro rege se supponit reum. tuam implorat, qua vales plurimum; negat umquam se a te in Deiotari tetrarchia pedem discessisse; in primis finibus tibi praesto se fuisse dicit, usque ad ultimos prosecutum; cum e balneo exisses, tecum se fuisse, cum illa munera inspexisses cenatus, cum in cubiculo recubuisses; eandemque adsiduitatem tibi se praebuisse postridie.
43. Wherefore, if any one of those things which Deiotarus has been accused of, really was thought of, he does not object to your thinking the crime his. I entreat you, O Caius Caesar, to consider that on this day your sentence will bring on those kings either most miserable calamity, accompanied with infinite disgrace, or an unsullied reputation attended with safety; and to desire the one of those results would be an act of cruelty, to secure the other is an action suitable to your clemency.
43. ob rem si quid eorum quae obiecta sunt cogitatum sit, non recusat quin id suum facinus iudices. Quocirca, C. Caesar, velim existimes hodierno die sententiam tuam aut cum summo dedecore miserrimam pestem importaturam esse regibus aut incolumem famam cum salute: quorum alterum optare illorum crudelitatis est, alterum conservare clementiae tuae.