--- title: "For Publius Sulla · Pro P. Sulla" author: "Cicero" translator: "Charles Duke Yonge" languages: [la, en] shelf: "Classical Latin" section: 1 of 3 url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-pro-sulla/1/ cite: "Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, For Publius Sulla · Pro P. Sulla, section 1. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-pro-sulla/1/" --- # For Publius Sulla · Pro P. Sulla *Cicero, tr. Charles Duke Yonge* A nephew of the dictator accused of joining Catiline. > Latin: ed. Albert Curtis Clark, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0474.phi015, CC BY-SA 4.0). > English: Charles Duke Yonge, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0474.phi015.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included. > Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence. ## 1. Sections 2–32 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-pro-sulla/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-pro-sulla/1/#p-N [¶0] Publius Sulla, having been elected consul with Publius Autronius four years before, had been impeached for bribery, convicted, and deprived of his consulship. He had then been prosecuted by Torquatus. He was now impeached by the younger Torquatus, the son of his former prosecutor, as having been implicated in both of Catiline's conspiracies. (Autronius was accused also, and he also applied to Cicero to defend him, but Cicero, being convinced that he was guilty, not only refused to defend him, but appeared as a witness against him.) Torquatus's real motive appears to have been jealousy of the fame which Cicero had obtained in his consulship; and, in his speech for the prosecution, when he found that Cicero had undertaken Sulla's cause, he had attacked Cicero himself and tried to bring him into unpopularity, calling him a king who assumed a power to save or to destroy just as he thought fit; and saying that he was the third foreign king that had reigned in Rome; Numa and Tarquin being the two former. Sulla was acquitted. I should have been very glad, O judges, if Publius Sulla had been able formerly to retain the honour of the dignity to which he was appointed, and had been allowed, after the misfortune which befell him, to derive some reward from his moderation in adversity. But since his unfriendly fortune has brought it about that he has been damaged, even at a time of his greatest honour, by the unpopularity ensuing not only from the common envy which pursues ambitious men, but also by the singular hatred in which Autronius is held, and that even in this sad and deplorable wreck of his former fortunes, he has still some enemies whose hostility he is unable to appease by the punishment which has fallen upon him; although I am very greatly concerned at his distresses, yet in his other misfortunes I can easily endure that an opportunity should be offered to me of causing virtuous men to recognise my lenity and merciful disposition, which was formerly known to every one, but which has of late been interrupted as it were; and of forcing wicked and profligate citizens, being again defeated and vanquished, to confess that, when the republic was in danger, I was energetic and fearless; now that it is said, I am lenient and merciful. > Latin: vellem, iudices, ut P. Sulla et antea dignitatis suae splendorem obtinere et post calamitatem acceptam modestiae fructum aliquem percipere potuisset. quoniam ita tulit casus infestus ut in amplissimo honore cum communi ambitionis invidia tum singulari Autroni odio everteretur, et in his pristinae fortunae reliquiis miseris et adflictis tamen haberet quosdam quorum animos ne supplicio quidem suo satiare posset, quamquam ex huius incommodis magnam animo molestiam capio, tamen in ceteris malis facile patior oblatum mihi tempus esse in quo boni viri lenitatem meam misericordiamque, notam quondam omnibus, nunc quasi intermissam agnoscerent, improbi ac perditi cives domiti atque victi praecipitante re publica vehementem me fuisse atque fortem, conservata mitem ac misericordem faterentur. [¶1] 2. And since Lucius Torquatus, O judges, my own most intimate friend, O judges, has thought that if he violated our friendship and intimacy somewhat in his speech for the prosecution, he could by that means detract a little from the authority of my defence, I will unite with my endeavours to ward off danger from my client a defence of my own conduct in the discharge of my duty. Not that I would employ that sort of speech at present, O judges, if my own interest alone were concerned, for on many occasions and in many places I have had, and I often shall have, opportunities of speaking of my own credit. But as he, O judges, has thought that the more he could take away from my authority, the more also he would be diminishing my client's means of protection; I also think, that if I can induce you to approve of the principles of my conduct and my wisdom in this discharge of my duty and in undertaking this defence, I shall also induce you to look favourably on the cause of Publius Sulla. > Latin: 2. quoniam L. Torquatus, meus familiaris ac necessarius, iudices, existimavit, si nostram in accusatione sua necessitudinem familiaritatemque violasset, aliquid se de auctoritate meae defensionis posse detrahere, cum huius periculi propulsatione coniungam defensionem offici mei. quidem genere non uterer orationis, iudices, hoc tempore, si mea solum interesset; multis enim locis mihi et data facultas est et saepe dabitur de mea laude dicendi; sed, ut ille vidit, quantum de mea auctoritate deripuisset, tantum se de huius praesidiis deminuturum, sic hoc ego sentio, si mei facti rationem vobis constantiamque huius offici ac defensionis probaro, causam quoque me P. Sullae probaturum. [¶2] 3. And in the first place, O Torquatus, I ask you this why you should separate me from the other illustrious and chief men of this city, in regard to this duty, and to the right of defending clients? For what is the reason why the act of Quintus Hortensius a most illustrious man and a most accomplished citizen, is not blamed by you, and mine is blamed? For if a design of firing the city, and of extinguishing this empire, and of destroying this city, was entertained by Publius Sulla ought not such projects to raise greater indignation and greater hatred against their authors in me than in Quintus Hortensius? Ought not my opinion to be more severe in such a matter, as to whom I should think fit to assist in these causes, whom to oppose, whom to defend, and whom to abandon? No doubt, says he, for it was you who investigated, you who laid open the whole conspiracy. > Latin: 3. primum abs te illud, L. Torquate, quaero, cur me a ceteris clarissimis viris ac principibus civitatis in hoc officio atque in defensionis iure secernas. enim est quam ob rem abs te Q. Hortensi factum, clarissimi viri atque ornatissimi, non reprehendatur, reprehendatur meum?, si est initum a P. Sulla consilium inflammandae huius urbis, exstinguendi imperi, delendae civitatis, mihi maiorem hae res dolorem quam Q. Hortensio, mihi maius odium adferre debent, meum denique gravius esse iudicium, qui adiuvandus in his causis, qui oppugnandus, qui defendendus, qui deserendus esse videatur? “,” inquit; “tu enim investigasti, tu patefecisti coniurationem.” [¶3] 4. And when he says this, he does not perceive that the man who laid it open took care that all men should see that which had previously been hidden. Wherefore that conspiracy, if it was laid open by me, is now as evident in all its particulars to Hortensius as it is to me. And when you see that he, a man of such rank, and authority, and virtue, and wisdom, has not hesitated to defend this innocent Publius Sulla, I ask why the access to the cause which was open to Hortensius, ought to be closed against me? I ask this also,—if you think that I, who defend him, am to he blamed, what do you think of those excellent men and most illustrious citizens, by whose zeal and dignified presence you perceive that this trial is attended, by whom the cause of my client is honoured, by whom his innocence is upheld? For that is not the only method of defending a man's cause which consists in speaking for him. All who countenance him with their presence, who show anxiety in his behalf, who desire his safety, all, as far as their opportunities allow or their authority extends, are defending him. > Latin: 4. cum dicit,non attendit eum qui patefecerit hoc curasse, ut id omnes viderent quod antea fuisset occultum. re ista coniuratio, si patefacta per me est, tam patet Hortensio quam mihi. cum videas hoc honore, auctoritate, virtute, consilio praeditum non dubitasse quin innocentiam P. Sullae defenderet, quaero cur qui aditus ad causam Hortensio patuerit mihi interclusus esse debuerit; quaero illud etiam, si me, qui defendo, reprehendendum putas esse, quid tandem de his existimes summis viris et clarissimis civibus, quorum studio et dignitate celebrari hoc iudicium, ornari causam, defendi huius innocentiam vides. enim una ratio est defensionis ea quae posita est in oratione; omnes qui adsunt, qui laborant, qui salvum volunt, pro sua parte atque auctoritate defendunt. [¶4] 5. Ought I to be unwilling to appear on these benches on which I see these lights and ornaments of the republic, when it is only by my own numerous and great labours and dangers that I have mounted into their rank, and into this lofty position and dignity which I now enjoy? And that you may understand, O Torquatus, whom you are accusing, if you are offended that I, who have defended no one on inquiries of this sort do not abandon Publius Sulla, remember also the other men, whom you see countenancing this man by their presence. You will see that their opinion and mine has been one and the same about this man's case, and about that of the others. Who of us stood by Varguntius? No one. Not even this Quintus Hortensius, the very man who had formerly been his only defender when prosecuted for corruption. For he did not think himself connected by any bond of duty with that man, when he, by the commission of such enormous wickedness, had broken asunder the ties of all duties whatever. Who of us countenanced Servius Sulla? who …? who of us thought Marcus Laeca or Caius Cornelius fit to be defended? who of all the men whom you see here gave the countenance of his presence to any one of those criminals? > Latin: 5. vero, in quibus subselliis haec ornamenta ac lumina rei publicae viderem, in his me apparere nollem, cum ego illum in locum atque in hanc excelsissimam sedem dignitatis atque honoris multis meis ac magnis laboribus et periculis ascendissem? ut intellegas, Torquate, quem accuses, si te forte id offendit quod ego, qui in hoc genere quaestionis defenderim neminem, non desim P. Sullae, recordare de ceteris quos adesse huic vides; intelleges et de hoc et de aliis iudicium meum et horum par atque unum fuisse. [¶5] 6. No one. Why was that? Because in other causes good men think that they ought not to refuse to defend even guilty men, if they are their own intimate personal friends; but in this prosecution, there would not only be the fault of acting lightly, but there would be even some infection of wickedness which would taint one who defended that man whom he suspected of being involved in the guilt of planning the parricide of his country. > Latin: 6. nostrum adfuit Vargunteio?, ne hic quidem Q. Hortensius, praesertim qui illum solus antea de ambitu defendisset. enim iam se ullo officio cum illo coniunctum arbitrabatur, cum ille tanto scelere commisso omnium officiorum societatem diremisset. nostrum Serv. Sullam, quis Publium, quis M. Laecam, quis ⟨C.⟩ Cornelium defendendum putavit, quis eis horum adfuit?. ita? ceteris in causis etiam nocentis viri boni, si necessarii sunt, deserendos esse non putant; in hoc crimine non solum levitatis est culpa verum etiam quaedam contagio sceleris, si defendas eum quem obstrictum esse patriae parricidio suspicere. [¶6] 7. What was the case of Autronius? did not his companions, did not his own colleagues, did not his former friends, of whom he had at one time an ample number, did not all these men, who are the chief men in the republic, abandon him? Yes, and many of them even damaged him with their evidence. They made up their minds that it was an offence of such enormity, that they not only were bound to abstain from doing anything to conceal it, but that it was their duty to reveal it, and throw all the light that they were able upon it. What reason is there then for your wondering, if you see me countenancing this cause in company with those men, whom you know that I also joined in discountenancing the other causes by absenting myself from them. Unless you wish me to be considered a man of eminent ferocity before all other men, a man savage, inhuman, and endowed with an extraordinary cruelty and barbarity of disposition. > Latin: 7. ? Autronio nonne sodales, non conlegae sui, non veteres amici, quorum ille copia quondam abundarat, non hi omnes qui sunt in re publica principes defuerunt? etiam testimonio plerique laeserunt. tantum illud esse maleficium quod non modo non occultari per se sed etiam aperiri inlustrarique deberet. ob rem quid est quod mirere, si cum isdem me in hac causa vides adesse cum quibus in ceteris intellegis afuisse? Nisi vero me unum vis ferum praeter ceteros, me asperum, me inhumanum existimari, me singulari immanitate et crudelitate praeditum. [¶7] 8. If this be the character which, on account of all my exploits, you wish now to fix upon my whole life, O Torquatus, you are greatly mistaken. Nature made me merciful, my country made me severe; but neither my country nor nature has ever required me to be cruel. Lastly, that same vehement and fierce character which at that time the occasion and the republic imposed upon me, my own inclination and nature itself has now relieved me of; for my country required severity for a short time, my nature requires clemency and lenity during my whole life. > Latin: 8. mihi tu si propter meas res gestas imponis in omni vita mea, Torquate, personam, vehementer erras. natura misericordem, patria severum, crudelem nec patria nec natura esse voluit; denique istam ipsam personam vehementem et acrem quam mihi tum tempus et res publica imposuit iam voluntas et natura ipsa detraxit. enim ad breve tempus severitatem postulavit, haec in omni vita misericordiam lenitatemque desiderat. [¶8] 9. There is, therefore, no pretence for your separating me from so numerous a company of most honourable men. Duty is a plain thing, and the cause of all men is one and the same. You will have no reason to marvel hereafter, whenever you see me on the same side as you observe these men. For there is no side in the republic in which I have a peculiar and exclusive property. The time for acting did belong more peculiarly to me than to the others but the cause of indignation, and fear, and danger was common to us all. Nor, indeed, could I have been at that time as I was the chief man in providing for the safety of the state if others had been unwilling to be my companions. Wherefore it is inevitable that that which, when I was consul, belonged to me especially above all other men, should, now that I am a private individual, belong to me in common with the rest. Nor do I say this for the sake of sharing my unpopularity with others, but rather with the object of allowing them to partake of my praises. I will give a share of my burden to no one; but a share of my glory to all good men. > Latin: 9. re nihil est quod ex tanto comitatu virorum amplissimorum me unum abstrahas; simplex officium atque una bonorum est omnium causa. erit quod admirere posthac, si in ea parte in qua hos animum adverteris me videbis. est enim in re publica mea causa propria; tempus agendi fuit mihi magis proprium quam ceteris, doloris vero et timoris et periculi fuit illa causa communis; neque enim ego tunc princeps ad salutem esse potuissem, si esse alii comites noluissent. re necesse est, quod mihi consuli praecipuum fuit praeter alios, id iam privato cum ceteris esse commune. ego hoc partiendae invidiae, sed communicandae laudis causa loquor; oneris mei partem nemini impertio, gloriae bonis omnibus. [¶9] 10. “You gave evidence against Autronius,” says he, “and you are defending Sulla.” All this, O judges, has this object to prove that if I am an inconstant and fickle-minded man, my evidence ought not to be credited, and my defence ought not to carry any authority with it. But if there is found in me a proper consideration for the republic, a scrupulous regard to my duty, and a constant desire to retain the good-will of virtuous men, then there is nothing which an accuser ought less to say than that Sulla is defended by me, but that Autronius was injured by my evidence against him. For I think that I not only carry with me zeal in defending causes, but also that my deliberate opinion has some weight; which, however, I will use with moderation, O judges, and I would not have used it at all if he had not compelled me. > Latin: 10. “Autronium testimonium dixisti,” inquit; “Sullam defendis.” totum eius modi est, iudices, ut, si ego sum inconstans ac levis, nec testimonio fidem tribui convenerit nec defensioni auctoritatem; sin est in me ratio rei publicae, religio privati offici, studium retinendae voluntatis bonorum, nihil minus accusator debet dicere quam a me defendi Sullam, testimonio laesum esse Autronium. enim iam non solum studium ad defendendas causas verum etiam opinionis aliquid et auctoritatis adferre; qua ego et moderate utar, iudices, et omnino non uterer, si ille me non coegisset. [¶10] 11. Two conspiracies are spoken of by you, O Torquatus; one, which is said to have been formed in the consulship of Lepidus and Volcatius, when your own father was consul elect; the other, that which broke out in my consulship. In each of these you say that Sulla was implicated. You know that I was not acquainted with the counsels of your father, a most brave man, and a most excellent consul. You know, as there was the greatest intimacy between you and me, that I knew nothing of what happened, or of what was said in those times; I imagine, because I had not yet become a thoroughly public character, because I had not yet arrived at the goal of honour which I proposed to myself; and because my ambition and my forensic labours separated me from all political deliberations. > Latin: 11. coniurationes abs te, Torquate, constituuntur, una quae Lepido et Volcatio consulibus patre tuo consule designato facta esse dicitur, altera quae me consule; harum in utraque Sullam dicis fuisse. Patris tui, fortissimi viri atque optimi consulis, scis me consiliis non interfuisse; scis me, cum mihi summus tecum usus esset, tamen illorum expertem temporum et sermonum fuisse, credo quod nondum penitus in re publica versabar, quod nondum ad propositum mihi finem honoris perveneram, quod me ambitio et forensis labor ab omni illa cogitatione abstrahebat. [¶11] 12. Who, then, was present at your counsels? All these men whom you see here, giving Sulla the countenance of their presence; and among the first was Quintus Hortensius—who, by reason of his honour and worth, and his admirable disposition towards the republic, and because of his exceeding intimacy with and excessive attachment to your father, was greatly moved by the thoughts of the common danger, and most especially by the personal peril of your father. Therefore, he was defended from the charge of being implicated in that conspiracy by that man who was present at and acquainted with all your deliberations, who was a partner in all your thoughts and in all your fears; and, elegant and argumentative as his speech in repelling this accusation was, it carried with it as much authority as it displayed of ability. Of that conspiracy, therefore, which is said to have been formed against you, to have been reported to you, and to have been revealed by you, I was unable to say anything as a witness. For I not only found out nothing, but scarcely did any report or suspicion of that matter reach my ears. > Latin: 12. ergo intererat vestris consiliis? hi quos vides huic adesse et in primis Q. Hortensius; qui cum propter honorem ac dignitatem atque animum eximium in rem publicam, tum propter summam familiaritatem summumque amorem in patrem tuum cum communibus tum praecipuis patris tui periculis commovebatur. istius coniurationis crimen defensum ab eo est qui interfuit, qui cognovit, qui particeps et consili vestri fuit et timoris; cuius in hoc crimine propulsando cum esset copiosissima atque ornatissima oratio, tamen non minus inerat auctoritatis in ea quam facultatis. igitur coniurationis quae facta contra vos, delata ad vos, a vobis prolata esse dicitur, ego testis esse non potui; non modo animo nihil comperi, sed vix ad auris meas istius suspicionis fama pervenit. [¶12] 13. They who were your counselors, who became acquainted with these things in your company,—they who were supposed to be themselves menaced with that danger, who gave no countenance to Autronius, who gave most important evidence against him,—are now defending Publius Sulla, are countenancing him by their presence here; now that he is in danger they declare that they were not deterred by the accusation of conspiracy from countenancing the others, but by the guilt of the men. But for the time of my consulship, and with respect to the charge of the greatest conspiracy, Sulla shall be defended by me. And this partition of the cause between Hortensius and me has not been made by chance, or at random, O judges, but as we saw that we were employed as defenders of a man against those accusations in which we might have been witnesses, each of us thought that it would be best for him to undertake that part of the case, concerning which he himself had been able to acquire some knowledge, and to form some opinions with certainty. > Latin: 13. vobis in consilio fuerunt, qui vobiscum illa cognorunt, quibus ipsis periculum tum conflari putabatur, qui Autronio non adfuerunt, qui in illum testimonia gravia dixerunt, hunc defendunt, huic adsunt, in huius periculo declarant se non crimine coniurationis, ne adessent ceteris, sed hominum maleficio deterritos esse. consulatus autem tempus et crimen maximae coniurationis a me defendetur. haec inter nos partitio defensionis non est fortuito, iudices, nec temere facta; sed cum videremus eorum criminum nos patronos adhiberi quorum testes esse possemus, uterque nostrum id sibi suscipiendum putavit de quo aliquid scire ipse atque existimare potuisset. [¶13] 14. And since you have listened attentively to Hortensius, while speaking on the charge respecting the former conspiracy, now, I beg you, listen to this first statement of mine respecting the conspiracy which was formed in my consulship. When I was consul I heard many reports, I made many inquiries, I learnt a great many circumstances concerning the extreme peril of the republic. No messenger, no information, no letters, no suspicion ever reached me at any time in the least affecting Sulla. Perhaps this assertion ought to have great weight when coming from a man who as consul had investigated the plots laid against the republic with prudence, had revealed them with sincerity had chastised them with magnanimity and who says that he himself never heard a word against Publius Sulla and never entertained a suspicion of him. But I do not as yet employ this assertion for the purpose of defending him I rather use it with a view to clear myself in order that Torquatus may cease to wonder that I, who would not appear by the side of Autronius, am now defending Sulla. > Latin: 14. quoniam de criminibus superioris coniurationis Hortensium diligenter audistis, de hac coniuratione quae me consule facta est hoc primum attendite., cum essem consul, de summis rei publicae periculis audivi, multa quaesivi, multa cognovi; nullus umquam de Sulla nuntius ad me, nullum indicium, nullae litterae pervenerunt, nulla suspicio. haec vox fortasse valere deberet eius hominis qui consul insidias rei publicae consilio investigasset, veritate aperuisset, magnitudine animi vindicasset, cum is se nihil audisse de P. Sulla, nihil suspicatum esse diceret. ego nondum utor hac voce ad hunc defendendum; ad purgandum me potius utar, ut mirari Torquatus desinat me qui Autronio non adfuerim Sullam defendere. [¶14] 15. For what was the cause of Autronius? and what is the cause of Sulla? The former tried to disturb and get rid of a prosecution for bribery by raising in the first instance a sedition among gladiators and runaway slaves, and after that as we all saw, by stoning people, and collecting a violent mob. Sulla, if his own modesty and worth could not avail him, sought no other assistance. The former, when he had been convicted, behaved in such a manner, not only in his secret designs and conversation, but in every look and in his whole countenance, as to appear an enemy to the most honourable orders in the state, hostile to every virtuous man, and a foe to his country. The latter considered himself so bowed down, so broken down by that misfortune, that he thought that none of his former dignity was left to him, except what he could retain by his present moderation. > Latin: 15. enim Autroni fuit causa, quae Sullae est? ambitus iudicium tollere ac disturbare primum conflato voluit gladiatorum ac fugitivorum tumultu, deinde, id quod vidimus omnes, lapidatione atque concursu; Sulla, si sibi suus pudor ac dignitas non prodesset, nullum auxilium requisivit. damnatus ita se gerebat non solum consiliis et sermonibus verum etiam aspectu atque voltu ut inimicus esse amplissimis ordinibus, infestus bonis omnibus, hostis patriae videretur; hic se ita fractum illa calamitate atque adflictum putavit ut nihil sibi ex pristina dignitate superesse arbitraretur, nisi quod modestia retinuisset. [¶15] 16. And in this conspiracy, what union was ever so close as that between Autronius and Catiline, between Autronius and Lentulus? What combination was there ever between any men for the most virtuous purposes, so intimate as his connection with them for deeds of wickedness, lust and audacity?—what crime is there which Lentulus did not plot with Autronius?—what atrocity did Catiline ever commit without his assistance? while, in the meantime, Sulla not only abstained from seeking the concealment of night and solitude in their company, but he had never the very slightest intercourse with them, either in conversation or in casual meetings. > Latin: 16. vero in coniuratione quid tam coniunctum quam ille cum Catilina, cum Lentulo? quae tanta societas ullis inter se rerum optimarum quanta ei cum illis sceleris, libidinis, audaciae? quod flagitium Lentulus non cum Autronio concepit? quod sine eodem illo Catilina facinus admisit? cum interim Sulla cum isdem illis non modo noctem solitudinemque non quaereret sed ne mediocri quidem sermone et congressu coniungeretur. [¶16] 17. The Allobroges, those who gave us the truest information on the most important matters, accused Autronius, and so did the letters of many men, and many private witnesses. All that time no one ever accused Sulla; no one ever mentioned his name. Lastly, after Catiline had been driven out or allowed to depart out of the city, Autronius sent him arms, trumpets, bugles, scythes, standards, legions. He who was left in the city, but expected out of it though checked by the punishment of Lentulus, gave way at times to feelings of fear, but never to any right feelings or good sense. Sulla, on the other hand, was so quiet, that all that time he was at Naples, where it is not supposed that there were any men who were implicated in or suspected of this crime; and the place itself is one not so well calculated to excite the feelings of men in distress, as to console them. > Latin: 17. Allobroges, maximarum rerum verissimi indices, illum multorum litterae ac nuntii coarguerunt; Sullam interea nemo insimulavit, nemo nominavit. eiecto sive emisso iam ex urbe Catilina ille arma misit, cornua, tubas, fascis, signa, legiones, ille relictus intus, exspectatus foris, Lentuli poena compressus convertit se aliquando ad timorem, numquam ad sanitatem; hic contra ita quievit ut eo tempore omni Neapoli fuerit, ubi neque homines fuisse putantur huius adfines suspicionis et locus est ipse non tam ad inflammandos calamitosorum animos quam ad consolandos accommodatus. hanc igitur tantam dissimilitudinem hominum atque causarum dissimilem me in utroque praebui. [¶17] 18. On account, therefore, of this great dissimilarity between the men and the cases, I also behaved in a different manner to them both. For Autronius came to me, and he was constantly coming to me, with many tears, as a suppliant, to beg me to defend him, and he used to remind me that he had been my school-fellow in my childhood, my friend in my youth, and my colleague in the quaestorship. He used to enumerate many services which I had done him, and some also which he had done me. By all which circumstances, O judges, I was so much swayed and influenced, that I banished from my recollection all the plots which he had laid against me myself; that I forgot that Caius Cornelius had been lately sent by him for the purpose of killing me in my own house, in the sight of my wife and children. And if he had formed these designs against me alone, such is my softness and lenity of disposition, that I should never have been able to resist his tears and entreaties; > Latin: 18. enim ad me et saepe veniebat Autronius multis cum lacrimis supplex ut se defenderem, et se meum condiscipulum in pueritia, familiarem in adulescentia, conlegam in quaestura commemorabat fuisse; multa mea in se, non nulla etiam sua in me proferebat officia. ego rebus, iudices, ita flectebar animo atque frangebar ut iam ex memoria quas mihi ipsi fecerat insidias deponerem, ut iam immissum esse ab eo C. Cornelium qui me in meis sedibus, in conspectu uxoris ac liberorum meorum trucidaret obliviscerer. si de uno me cogitasset, qua mollitia sum animi ac lenitate, numquam me hercule illius lacrimis ac precibus restitissem; sed cum mihi patriae, cum vestrorum periculorum, cum huius urbis, cum illorum delubrorum atque templorum, cum puerorum infantium, cum matronarum ac virginum veniebat in mentem, et cum illae infestae ac funestae faces universumque totius urbis incendium, cum tela, cum caedes, cum civium cruor, cum cinis patriae versari ante oculos atque animum memoria refricare coeperat, tum denique ei resistebam, neque solum illi hosti ac parricidae sed his etiam propinquis illius, Marcellis, patri et filio, quorum alter apud me parentis gravitatem, alter fili suavitatem obtinebat; [¶18] 19. but when the thoughts of my country, of your dangers, of this city, of all those shrines and temples which we see around us, of the infant children, and matrons, and virgins of the city occurred to me, and when those hostile and fatal torches destined for the entire conflagration of the whole city, when the arms which had been collected, when the slaughter and blood of the citizens, when the ashes of my country began to present themselves to my eyes, and to excite my feelings by the recollection, then I resisted him, then I resisted not only that enemy of his country, that parricide himself, but I withstood also his relations the Marcelli, father and son, one of whom was regarded by me with the respect due to a parent, and the other with the affection which one feels towards a son. And I thought that I could not, without being guilty of the very greatest wickedness, defend in their companion the same crimes which I had chastised in the case of others, when I knew him to be guilty. And, on the same principle, I could not endure to see Publius Sulla coming to me as a suppliant, or these same Marcelli in tears at his danger nor could I resist the entreaties of Marcus Messala, whom you see in court, a most intimate friend of my own. For neither was his cause disagreeable to my natural disposition nor had the man or the facts anything in them at variance with my feelings of clemency his name had never been mentioned, there was no trace whatever of him in the conspiracy; no information had touched him, no suspicion had been breathed of him. I undertook his cause, O Torquatus; I undertook it, and I did so willingly, in order that, while good men had always, as I hope, thought me virtuous and firm, not even bad men might he able to call me cruel. > Latin: 19. neque me arbitrabar sine summo scelere posse, quod maleficium in aliis vindicassem, idem in illorum socio, cum scirem, defendere. idem ego neque P. Sullam supplicem ferre, neque eosdem Marcellos pro huius periculis lacrimantis aspicere, neque huius M. Messalae, hominis necessarii, preces sustinere potui; neque enim est causa adversata naturae, nec homo nec res misericordiae meae repugnavit. nomen, nusquam vestigium fuerat, nullum crimen, nullum indicium, nulla suspicio. causam, Torquate, suscepi, et feci libenter ut me, quem boni constantem, ut spero, semper existimassent, eundem ne improbi quidem crudelem dicerent. [¶19] 21. This Torquatus then, O judges, says that he cannot endure my kingly power. What is the meaning of my kingly power, O Torquatus? I suppose you mean the power I exerted in my consulship; in which I did not command at all, but on the contrary, I obeyed the conscript fathers, and all good men. In my discharge of that office, O judges, kingly power was not established by me, but put down. Will you say that then, when I had such absolute power and authority over all the military and civil affairs of the state, I was not a king, but that now, when I am only a private individual, I have the power of a king? Under what title? “Why, because,” says he, “those against whom you gave evidence were convicted, and the man whom you defend hopes that he shall be acquitted.” Here I make you this reply, as to what concerns my evidence: that if I gave false evidence, you also gave evidence against the same man; if my testimony was true, then I say, that persuading the judges to believe a true statement, which one has made on oath, is a very different thing from being a king. And of the hopes of my client, I only say, that Publius Sulla does not expect from me any exertion of my influence or interest, or, in short, anything except to defend him with good faith. > Latin: 21. ait se ille, iudices, regnum meum ferre non posse. tandem, Torquate, regnum?, credo, mei; in quo ego imperavi nihil et contra patribus conscriptis et bonis omnibus parui; quo in magistratu non institutum est videlicet a me regnum, sed repressum. tum in tanto imperio, tanta potestate non dicis me fuisse regem, nunc privatum regnare dicis? quo tandem nomine? “, in quos testimonia dixisti,” inquit, “damnati sunt; quem defendis, sperat se absolutum iri.” tibi ego de testimoniis meis hoc respondeo, si falsum dixerim, te in eosdem dixisse; sin verum, non esse hoc regnare, cum verum iuratus dicas, probare. huius spe tantum dico, nullas a me opes P. Sullam, nullam potentiam, nihil denique praeter fidem defensionis exspectare. [¶20] 22. “But unless you,” says he, “had undertaken his cause, he would never have resisted me, but would have fled without saying a word in his defence.” Even if I were to grant to you that Quintus Hortensius, being a man of such wisdom as he is, and that all these men of high character, rely not on their own judgment but on mine; if I were to grant to you, what no one can believe, that these men would not have countenanced Publius Sulla if I had not done so too; still, which is the king, he whom men, though perfectly innocent, cannot resist, or he who does not abandon men in misfortune? But here too, though you had not the least occasion for it, you took a fancy to be witty, when you called me Tarquin, and Numa, and the third foreign king of Rome. I won't say any more about the word king; but I should like to know why you called me a foreigner. For, if I am such, then it is not so marvellous that I should be a king,—because, as you say yourself, foreigners have before now been kings at Rome,—as that a foreigner should be a consul at Rome. “This is what I mean,” says he, “that you come from a municipal town.” > Latin: 22. “Nisi tu,” inquit, “causam recepisses, numquam mihi restitisset, sed indicta causa profugisset.” iam hoc tibi concedam, Q. Hortensium, tanta gravitate hominem, si hos talis viros non suo stare iudicio, sed meo; si hoc tibi dem quod credi non potest, nisi ego huic adessem, hos adfuturos non fuisse, uter tandem rex est, isne cui innocentes homines non resistunt, an is qui calamitosos non deserit? hic etiam, id quod tibi necesse minime fuit, facetus esse voluisti, cum Tarquinium et Numam et me tertium peregrinum regem esse dixisti. Mitto iam de rege quaerere; illud quaero peregrinum cur me esse dixeris. si ita sum, non tam est admirandum regem esse me, quoniam, ut tu ais, duo iam peregrini reges Romae fuerunt, quam consulem Romae fuisse peregrinum. “dico,” inquit, “te esse ex municipio.” [¶21] 23. I confess that I do, and I add, that I come from that municipal town from which salvation to this city and empire has more than once proceeded. But I should like exceedingly to know from you, how it is that those men who come from the municipal towns appear to you to be foreigners. For no one ever made that objection to that great man, Marcus Cato the elder, though he had many enemies, or to Titus Coruncanius, or to Marcus Curius, or even to that great hero of our own times, Caius Marius, through many men envied him. In truth, I am exceedingly delighted that I am a man of such a character that, when you were anxious to find fault with me, you could still find nothing to reproach me with which did not apply also to the greater part of the citizens. But still, on account of your great friendship and intimacy, I think it well to remind you of this more than once—all men cannot be patricians. If you would know the truth, they do not all even wish to be so; nor do those of your own age think that you ought on that account to have precedence over them. > Latin: 23. et addo etiam:ex eo municipio unde iterum iam salus huic urbi imperioque missa est. scire ex te pervelim quam ob rem qui ex municipiis veniant peregrini tibi esse videantur. istuc M. illi Catoni seni, cum plurimos haberet inimicos, nemo Ti. Coruncanio, nemo M’. Curio, nemo huic ipsi nostro C. Mario, cum ei multi inviderent, obiecit umquam. vehementer laetor eum esse me in quem tu, cum cuperes, nullam contumeliam iacere potueris quae non ad maximam partem civium conveniret. tamen te a me pro magnis causis nostrae necessitudinis monendum esse etiam atque etiam puto. possunt omnes esse patricii; si verum quaeris, ne curant quidem; nec se aequales tui propter istam causam abs te anteiri putant. [¶22] 24. And if we seem to you to be foreigners, we whose name and honours have now become familiar topics of conversation and panegyric throughout the city and among all men, how greatly must those competitors of yours seem to be foreigners, who now, having been picked out of all Italy, are contending with you for honour and for every dignity! And yet take care that you do not call one of these a foreigner, lest you should be overwhelmed by the votes of the foreigners. For if they once bring their activity and perseverance into action, believe me they will shake those arrogant expressions out of you, and they will frequently wake you from sleep, and will not endure to be surpassed by you in honours, unless they are also excelled by you in virtue. > Latin: 24. si tibi nos peregrini videmur, quorum iam et nomen et honos inveteravit et urbi huic et hominum famae ac sermonibus, quam tibi illos competitores tuos peregrinos videri necesse erit qui iam ex tota Italia delecti tecum de honore ac de omni dignitate contendent! cave tu quemquam peregrinum appelles, ne peregrinorum suffragiis obruare. si attulerint nervos et industriam, mihi crede, excutient tibi istam verborum iactationem et te ex somno saepe excitabunt nec patientur se abs te, nisi virtute vincentur, honore superari. [¶23] 25. And if, O judges, it is fit for me and you to be considered foreigners by the rest of the patricians, still nothing ought to be said about this blot by Torquatus. For he himself is on his mother's side, a citizen of a municipal town; a man of a most honourable and noble family, but still he comes from Asculum. Either let him, then, show that the Picentians alone are not foreigners, or else let him congratulate himself that I do not put my family before his. So do not for the future call me a foreigner, lest you meet with a sterner refutation; and do not call me a king, lest you be laughed at. Unless, indeed, it appears to be the conduct of a king to live in such a manner as not to be slave not only to any man, but not even to any passion; to despise all capricious desires; to covet neither gold nor silver, nor anything else; to form one's opinions in the senate with freedom; to consider the real interests of the people, rather than their inclinations; to yield to no one, to oppose many men. If you think that this is the conduct of a king, then I confess that I am a king. If my power, if my sway, it lastly, any arrogant or haughty expression of mine moves your indignation, then you should rather allege that, than stoop to raise odium against me by a name, and to employ mere abuse and insult. > Latin: 25. si, iudices, ceteris patriciis me et vos peregrinos videri oporteret, a Torquato tamen hoc vitium sileretur; est enim ipse a materno genere municipalis, honestissimi ac nobilissimi generis, sed tamen Asculani. igitur doceat Picentis solos non esse peregrinos aut gaudeat suo generi me meum non anteponere. re neque tu me peregrinum posthac dixeris, ne gravius refutere, neque regem, ne derideare. Nisi forte regium tibi videtur ita vivere ut non modo homini nemini sed ne cupiditati quidem ulli servias, contemnere omnis libidines, non auri, non argenti, non ceterarum rerum indigere, in senatu sentire libere, populi utilitati magis consulere quam voluntati, nemini cedere, multis obsistere. hoc putas esse regium, regem me esse confiteor; sin te potentia mea, si dominatio, si denique aliquod dictum adrogans aut superbum movet, quin tu id potius profers quam verbi invidiam contumeliamque maledicti? [¶24] 26. If, after having done so many services to the republic, I were to ask for myself no other reward from the senate and people of Rome beyond honourable ease, who is there who would not grant it to me? If I were to ask, that they would keep all honours, and commands, and provinces, and triumphs, and all the other insignia of eminent renown to themselves, and that they would allow me to enjoy the sight of the city which I had saved, and a tranquil and quiet mind?—What, however, if I do not ask this? what, if my former industry, my anxiety, my assistance, my labour, my vigilance is still at the service of my friends, and ready at the call of every one? If my friends never seek in vain for my zeal on their behalf in the forum, nor the republic in the senate house; if neither the holiday earned by my previous achievements, nor the excuse—which my past honours or my present age might supply me with, is employed to save me from trouble; if my good-will—my industry, my house, my attention, and my ears are always open to all men; if I have not even any time left to recollect and think over those things which I have done for the safety of the whole body of citizens; shall this still be called kingly power, when no one can possibly be found who would act as my substitute in it? > Latin: 26. , tantis a me beneficiis in re publica positis, si nullum aliud mihi praemium ab senatu populoque Romano nisi honestum otium postularem, quis non concederet? ⟨⟩ sibi haberent honores, sibi imperia, sibi provincias, sibi triumphos, sibi alia praeclarae laudis insignia; mihi liceret eius urbis quam conservassem conspectu tranquillo animo et quieto frui. si hoc non postulo? si ille labor meus pristinus, si sollicitudo, si officia, si operae, si vigiliae deserviunt amicis, praesto sunt omnibus; si neque amici in foro requirunt studium meum neque res publica in curia; si me non modo non rerum gestarum vacatio sed neque honoris neque aetatis excusatio vindicat a labore; si voluntas mea, si industria, si domus, si animus, si aures patent omnibus; si mihi ne ad ea quidem quae pro salute omnium gessi recordanda et cogitanda quicquam relinquitur temporis: tamen hoc regnum appellabitur, cuius vicarius qui velit esse inveniri nemo potest? [¶25] 27. All suspicion of aiming at kingly power is very far removed from me. If you ask who they are who have endeavoured to assume kingly power in Rome, without unfolding the records of the public annals, you may find them among the images in your own house. I suppose it is my achievements which have unduly elated me, and have inspired me with I know not how much pride. Concerning which deeds of mine, illustrious and immortal as they are, O judges, I can say thus much—that I, who have saved this city, and the lives of all the citizens, from the most extreme dangers, shall have gained quite reward enough, if no danger arises to myself out of the great service which I have done to all men. > Latin: 27. abest a me regni suspicio; si quaeris qui sint Romae regnum occupare conati, ut ne replices annalium memoriam, ex domesticis imaginibus invenies. enim gestae, credo, meae me nimis extulerunt ac mihi nescio quos spiritus attulerunt. de rebus tam claris, tam immortalibus, iudices, hoc possum dicere, me qui ex summis periculis eripuerim urbem hanc et vitam omnium civium satis adeptum fore, si ex hoc tanto in omnis mortalis beneficio nullum in me periculum redundarit. [¶26] 28. In truth, I recollect in what state it is that I have done such great exploits, and in what city I am living. The forum is full of those men whom I, O judges, have taken off from your necks, but have not removed from my own. Unless you think that they were only a few men, who were able to attempt or to hope that they might be able to destroy so vast an empire. I was able to take away their firebrands, to wrest their torches from their hands, as I did; but their wicked and impious inclinations I could neither cure nor eradicate. Therefore I am not ignorant in what danger I am living among such a multitude of wicked men, since I see that I have undertaken single-handed an eternal war against all wicked men. > Latin: 28. in qua civitate res tantas gesserim memini, in qua urbe verser intellego. forum est eorum hominum quos ego a vestris cervicibus depuli, iudices, a meis non removi. Nisi vero paucos fuisse arbitramini qui conari aut sperare possent se tantum imperium posse delere. Horum ego faces eripere de manibus et gladios extorquere potui, sicuti feci, voluntates vero consceleratas ac nefarias nec sanare potui nec tollere. re non sum nescius quanto periculo vivam in tanta multitudine improborum, cum mihi uni cum omnibus improbis aeternum videam bellum esse susceptum. [¶27] 29. But if perchance, you envy that means of protection which I have, and if it seems to you to be of a kingly sort,—namely, the fact that all good men of all ranks and classes consider their safety as bound up with mine,—comfort yourself with the reflection that the dispositions of all wicked men are especially hostile to and furious against me alone; and they hate me, not only because I repressed their profligate attempts and impious madness, but still more because they think, that, as long as I am alive, they can attempt nothing more of the same sort. > Latin: 29. si illis meis praesidiis forte invides, et si ea tibi regia videntur quod omnes boni omnium generum atque ordinum suam salutem cum mea coniungunt, consolare te quod omnium mentes improborum mihi uni maxime sunt infensae et adversae; qui me non modo idcirco oderunt quod eorum conatus impios et furorem consceleratum repressi, sed eo etiam magis quod nihil iam se simile me vivo conari posse arbitrantur. [¶28] 30. But why do I wonder if any wicked thing is said of me by wicked men, where Lucius Torquatus himself, after having in the first place laid such a foundation of virtue as he did in his youth, after having proposed to himself the hope of the most honourable dignity in the state, and, in the second place, being the son of Lucius Torquatus, a most intrepid consul a most virtuous senator, and at all times a most admirable citizen, is sometimes run away with by impetuosity of language? For when he had spoken in a low voice of the wickedness of Publius Lentulus, and of the audacity of all the conspirators, so that only you, who approve of those things, could hear what he said, he spoke with a loud querulous voice of the execution of Publius Lentulus and of the prison; > Latin: 30. vero quid ego mirer, si quid ab improbis de me improbe dicitur, cum L. Torquatus primum ipse his fundamentis adulescentiae iactis, ea spe proposita amplissimae dignitatis, deinde L. Torquati, fortissimi consulis, constantissimi senatoris, semper optimi civis filius, interdum efferatur immoderatione verborum? cum suppressa voce de scelere P. Lentuli, de audacia coniuratorum omnium dixisset, tantum modo ut vos qui ea probatis exaudire possetis, de supplicio, de carcere magna et queribunda voce dicebat. [¶29] 31. in which there was, first of all, this absurdity, that when he wished to gain your approval of the inconsiderate things which he had said, but did not wish those men, who were standing around the tribunal, to hear them, he did not perceive that, while he was speaking so loudly, those men whose favour he was seeking to gain could not hear him, without your hearing him too, who did not approve of what he was saying; and, in the second place, it is a great defect in an orator not to see what each cause requires. For nothing is so inconsistent as for a man who is accusing another of conspiracy, to appear to lament the punishment and death of conspirators; which is not, indeed, strange to any one, when it is done by that tribune of the people who appears to be the only man left to bewail those conspirators; for it is difficult to be silent when you are really grieved. But, if you do anything of that sort, I do greatly marvel at you, not only because you are such a young man as you are, but because you do it in the very cause in which you wish to appear as a punisher of conspiracy. > Latin: 31. quo primum illud erat absurdum quod, cum ea quae leviter dixerat vobis probare volebat, eos autem qui circum iudicium stabant audire nolebat, non intellegebat ea quae clare diceret ita illos audituros quibus se venditabat ut vos quoque audiretis, qui id non probabatis. alterum iam oratoris ⟨est⟩ vitium non videre quid quaeque causa postulet. est enim tam alienum ab eo qui alterum coniurationis accuset quam videri coniuratorum poenam mortemque lugere. cum is tribunus pl. facit qui unus videtur ex illis ad lugendos coniuratos relictus, nemini mirum est; difficile est enim tacere, cum doleas; te, si quid eius modi facis, non modo talem adulescentem sed in ea causa in qua te vindicem coniurationis velis esse vehementer admiror. [¶30] 32. However, what I find fault with most of all, is this: that you, with your abilities and your prudence, do not maintain the true interest of the republic, but believe, on the contrary, that those actions are not approved of by the Roman people, which, when I was consul, were done by all virtuous men, for the preservation of the common safety of all. Do you believe that any one of those men who are here present, into whose favour you were seeking to insinuate yourself against their will, was either so wicked as to wish all these things to be destroyed, or so miserable as to wish to perish himself; and to have nothing which he wished to preserve? Is there any one who blames the most illustrious man of your family and name, who deprived his own son of life in order to strengthen his power over the rest of his army; and do you blame the republic, for destroying domestic enemies in order to avoid being herself destroyed by them? > Latin: 32. reprehendo tamen illud maxime quod isto ingenio et prudentia praeditus causam rei publicae non tenes, qui arbitrere plebi Romanae res eas non probari quas me consule omnes boni pro communi salute gesserunt. tu horum qui adsunt, quibus te contra ipsorum voluntatem venditabas, aut tam sceleratum statuis fuisse ut haec omnia perire voluerit, aut tam miserum ut et se perire cuperet et nihil haberet quod salvum esse vellet? vero clarissimum virum generis vestri ac nominis nemo reprehendit, qui filium suum vita privavit ut in ceteros firmaret imperium; tu rem publicam reprehendis, quae domesticos hostis, ne ab eis ipsa necaretur, necavit?