33. Take notice then, O Torquatus, to what extent I shirk the avowal of the actions of my consulship. I speak, and I always will speak, with my loudest voice, in order that all men may be able to hear me: be present all of you with your minds, ye who are present with your bodies, ye in whose numerous attendance I take great pleasure; give me your attention and all your ears, and listen to me while I speak of what he believes to be unpopular topics. I, as consul, when an army of abandoned citizens, got together by clandestine wickedness, had prepared a most cruel and miserable destruction for my country; when Catiline had been appointed to manage the fall and ruin of the republic in the camp, and when Lentulus was the leader among these very temples and houses around us; I, I say, by my labours, at the risk of my own life, by my prudence, without any tumult, without making any extraordinary levies, without arms, without an army, having arrested and executed five men delivered the city from conflagration, the citizens from massacre Italy from devastation, the republic from destruction. I at the price of the punishment of five frantic and ruined men ransomed the lives of all the citizens, the constitution of the whole world, this city the home of all of us, the citadel of foreign kings and foreign nations the light of all people the abode of empire.
33. attende, Torquate, quam ego defugiam auctoritatem consulatus mei! voce ut omnes exaudire possint dico semperque dicam. omnes animis, Quirites, quorum ego frequentia magno opere laetor; erigite mentis aurisque vestras et me de invidiosis rebus, ut ille putat, dicentem attendite! consul, cum exercitus perditorum civium clandestino scelere conflatus crudelissimum et luctuosissimum exitium patriae comparasset, cum ad occasum interitumque rei publicae Catilina in castris, in his autem templis atque tectis dux Lentulus esset constitutus, meis consiliis, meis laboribus, mei capitis periculis, sine tumultu, sine dilectu, sine armis, sine exercitu, quinque hominibus comprehensis atque confessis incensione urbem, internicione civis, vastitate Italiam, interitu rem publicam liberavi; ego vitam omnium civium, statum orbis terrae, urbem hanc denique, sedem omnium nostrum, arcem regum ac nationum exterarum, lumen gentium, domicilium imperi, quinque hominum amentium ac perditorum poena redemi.
34. Did you think that I would not say this in a court of justice when I was not on my oath, which I had said before now in a most numerous assembly when speaking on oath? And I will say this further, O Torquatus, to prevent any wicked man from conceiving any sudden attachment to, or any sudden hopes of you; and, in order that every one may hear it, I will say it as loudly as I can:—Of all those things which I undertook and did during my consulship in defence of the common safety, that Lucius Torquatus, being my constant comrade in my consulship, and having been so also in my praetorship, was my defender; and assistant, and partner in my actions; being also the chief; and the leader, and the standard-bearer of the Roman youth; and his father, a man most devoted to his country, a man of the greatest courage, of the most consummate political wisdom, and of singular firmness, though he was sick still was constantly present at all my actions he never left my side: he by his zeal and wisdom and authority was of the very greatest assistance to me, overcoming the infirmity of his body by the vigour of his mind.
34. me existimasti haec iniuratum in iudicio non esse dicturum quae iuratus in maxima contione dixissem? etiam illud addam, ne qui forte incipiat improbus subito te amare, Torquate, et aliquid sperare de te, atque ut idem omnes exaudiant clarissima voce dicam. omnium rerum quas ego in consulatu pro salute rei publicae suscepi atque gessi L. ille Torquatus, cum esset meus contubernalis in consulatu atque etiam in praetura fuisset, cum princeps, cum auctor, cum signifer esset iuventutis, actor, adiutor, particeps exstitit; parens eius, homo amantissimus patriae, maximi animi, summi consili, singularis constantiae, cum esset aeger, tamen omnibus rebus illis interfuit, nusquam est a me digressus, studio, consilio, auctoritate unus adiuvit plurimum, cum infirmitatem corporis animi virtute superaret.
35. Do you not see now, how I deliver you from the danger of any sudden popularity among the wicked, and reconcile you to all good men? who love you, and cherish you, and who always will cherish you; nor, if perchance you for a while abandon me, will they on that account allow you to abandon them and the republic and your own dignity. But now I return to the cause; and I call you, O judges, to hear witness to this;—that this necessity of speaking of myself was imposed on me by him. For if Torquatus had been content with accusing Sulla, I too at the present time should have done nothing beyond defending him who had been accused; but when he, in his whole speech, inveighed against me, and when, in the very beginning, as I said, he sought to deprive my defence of all authority, even if my indignation had not compelled me to speak, still the necessity of doing justice to my cause would have demanded this speech from me.
35. ut eripiam te ex improborum subita gratia et reconciliem bonis omnibus? qui te et diligunt et retinent retinebuntque semper nec, si a me forte desciveris, idcirco te a se et a re publica et a tua dignitate deficere patientur. iam redeo ad causam atque hoc vos, iudices, testor: mihi de memet ipso tam multa dicendi necessitas quaedam imposita est ab illo. si Torquatus Sullam solum accusasset, ego quoque hoc tempore nihil aliud agerem nisi eum qui accusatus esset defenderem; sed cum ille tota illa oratione in me esset invectus et cum, ut initio dixi, defensionem meam spoliare auctoritate voluisset, etiam si dolor meus respondere non cogeret, tamen ipsa causa hanc a me orationem flagitavisset.
36. You say that Sulla was named by the Allobroges.—Who denies it? but read the information, and see how he was named. They said that Lucius Cassius had said that, among other men, Autronius was favourable to their designs. I ask, did Cassius say that Sulla was? Never. They say that they themselves inquired of Cassius what Sulla's opinions were. Observe the diligence of the Gauls. They, knowing nothing of the life or character of the man, but only having heard that he and Autronius had met with one common disaster, asked whether his inclinations were the same? what then? Even if Cassius had made answer that Sulla was of the same opinion, and was favourable to their views, still it would not seem to me that that reply ought to be made matter of accusation against him. How so? Because, as it was his object to instigate the barbarians to war, it was no business of his to weaken their expectations, or to acquit those men of whom they did entertain some suspicions.
36. Allobrogibus nominatum Sullam esse dicis. negat? lege indicium et vide quem ad modum nominatus sit. L. Cassium dixerunt commemorasse cum ceteris Autronium secum facere. num Sullam dixerit Cassius.. aiunt quaesisse de Cassio quid Sulla sentiret. diligentiam Gallorum; qui vitam hominum naturamque non nossent ac tantum audissent eos pari calamitate esse, quaesiverunt essentne eadem voluntate. tum Cassius? respondisset idem sentire et secum facere Sullam, tamen mihi non videretur in hunc id criminosum esse debere. ita?, qui barbaros homines ad bellum impelleret, non debebat minuere illorum suspicionem et purgare eos de quibus illi aliquid suspicari viderentur.
37. But yet he did not reply, that Sulla was favourable to their designs. And, in truth, it would have been an absurdity, after he had named every one else of his own accord, to make no mention of Sulla till he was reminded of him and asked about him. Unless you think this probable, that Lucius Cassius had quite forgotten the name of Publius Sulla. Even if the high rank of the man, and his unfortunate condition, and the relics of his ancient dignity had not made him notorious, still the mention of Autronius must have recalled Sulla to his recollection. In truth, it is my opinion that when Cassius was enumerating the authority of the chief men of the conspiracy for the purpose of exciting the minds of the Allobroges as he knew that the foreign nations are especially moved by an illustrious name he could not have named Autronius before Sulla, if he had been able to name Sulla at all.
37. respondit tamen una facere Sullam. esset absurdum, cum ceteros sua sponte nominasset, mentionem facere Sullae nullam nisi admonitum et interrogatum; nisi forte veri simile est P. Sullae nomen in memoria Cassio non fuisse. nobilitas hominis, si adflicta fortuna, si reliquiae pristinae dignitatis non tam inlustres fuissent, tamen Autroni commemoratio memoriam Sullae rettulisset; etiam, ut arbitror, cum auctoritates principum coniurationis ad incitandos animos Allobrogum conligeret Cassius, et cum sciret exteras nationes maxime nobilitate moveri, non prius Autronium quam Sullam nominavisset.
38. But no one can be induced to believe this,—that the Gauls, the moment that Autronius was named, should have thought, on account of the similarity of their misfortunes, that it was worth their while to make inquiries about Sulla, but that Cassius, if he really was implicated in this wickedness, should never have once recollected Sulla, even after he had named Autronius. However, what was the reply which Cassius made about Sulla? He said that he was not sure. “He does not acquit him,” says Torquatus. I have said before, that, even if he had accused him, when he was interrogated in this manner, his reply ought not to have been made matter of accusation against Sulla.
38. vero illud minime probari potest, Gallos Autronio nominato putasse propter calamitatis similitudinem sibi aliquid de Sulla esse quaerendum, Cassio, si hic esset in eodem scelere, ne cum appellasset quidem Autronium, huius in mentem venire potuisse. tamen quid respondit de Sulla Cassius? nescire certum. “purgat,” inquit. antea: ne si argueret quidem tum denique, cum esset interrogatus, id mihi criminosum videretur.
39. But I think that, in judicial proceedings and examinations, the thing to be inquired is, not whether any one is exculpated, but whether any one is inculpated. And in truth, when Cassius says that he does not know, is he seeking to exculpate Sulla, or proving clearly enough that he really does not know? He is unwilling to compromise him with the Gauls. Why so? That they may not mention him in their information? what? If he had supposed that there was any danger of their ever giving any information at all, would he have made that confession respecting himself? He did not know it. I suppose, O judges, Sulla was the only person about whom Cassius was kept in the dark. For he certainly was well informed about every one else; and it was thoroughly proved that a great deal of the conspiracy was hatched at his house. As he did not like to deny that Sulla made one of the conspirators, his object being to give the Gauls as much hope as possible, and as he did not venture to assert what was absolutely false, he said that he did not know. But this is quite evident, that as he, who knew the truth about every one, said that he did not know about Sulla, the same weight is due to this denial of his as if he had said that be did know that he had nothing to do with the conspiracy. For when it is perfectly certain that a man is acquainted with all the conspirators, his ignorance of any one ought to be considered an acquittal of him. But I am not asking now whether Cassius acquits Sulla; this is quite sufficient for me, that there is not one word to implicate Sulla in the whole information of the Allobroges.
39. ego in iudiciis et in quaestionibus non hoc quaerendum arbitror, num purgetur aliquis, sed num arguatur. cum se negat scire Cassius, utrum sublevat Sullam an satis probat se nescire? “apud Gallos.” ita? “indicent.”? si periculum esse putasset ne illi umquam indicarent, de se ipse confessus esset? “videlicet.” celatum esse Cassium de Sulla uno; nam de ceteris certe sciebat; etenim domi eius pleraque conflata esse constabat. negare noluit esse in eo numero Sullam quo plus spei Gallis daret, dicere autem falsum non ausus est, se nescire dixit. hoc perspicuum est, cum is qui de omnibus scierit de Sulla se scire negarit, eandem vim esse negationis huius quam si extra coniurationem hunc esse se scire dixisset. cuius scientiam de omnibus constat fuisse, eius ignoratio de aliquo purgatio debet videri. iam non quaero purgetne Cassius Sullam; illud mihi tantum satis est contra Sullam nihil esse in indicio.
40. Torquatus being cut off from this article of his accusation, again turns against me, and accuses me. He says that I have made an entry in the public registers of a different statement from that which was really made. O ye immortal gods! (for I will give you what belongs to you; nor can I attribute so much to my own ability, as to think that I was able, in that most turbulent tempest which was afflicting the republic, to manage, of my own power, so many and such important affairs,—affairs arising so unexpectedly, and of such various characters,) it was you, in truth, who then inflamed my mind with the desire of saving my country; it was you who turned me from all other thoughts to the one idea of preserving the republic; it was you who, amid all that darkness of error and ignorance, held a bright light before my mind!
40. hac criminatione Torquatus rursus in me inruit, me accusat; ait me aliter ac dictum sit in tabulas publicas rettulisse. O di immortales!—vobis enim tribuo quae vestra sunt, nec vero possum meo tantum ingenio dare ut tot res tantas, tam varias, tam repentinas in illa turbulentissima tempestate rei publicae mea sponte dispexerim —vos profecto animum meum tum conservandae patriae cupiditate incendistis, vos me ab omnibus ceteris cogitationibus ad unam salutem rei publicae convertistis, vos denique in tantis tenebris erroris et inscientiae clarissimum lumen menti meae praetulistis.
41. I saw this, O judges, that unless, while the recollection of the senate on the subject was still fresh, I bore evidence to the authority and to the particulars of this information by public records, hereafter some one, not Torquatus, nor any one like Torquatus, (for in that indeed I have been much deceived,) but some one who had lost his patrimony, some enemy of tranquillity, some foe to all good men, would say that the information given had been different; in order the more easily, when some gale of odium had been stirred up against all virtuous men, to be able, amid the misfortunes of the republic, to discover some harbour for his own broken vessel. Therefore, having introduced the informers into the Senate, I appointed senators to take down every statement made by the informers, every question that was asked, and every answer that was given.
41. ego hoc, iudices, nisi recenti memoria senatus auctoritatem huius indici monumentis publicis testatus essem, fore ut aliquando non Torquatus neque Torquati quispiam similis—nam id me multum fefellit—sed ut aliquis patrimoni naufragus, inimicus oti, bonorum hostis, aliter indicata haec esse diceret, quo facilius vento aliquo in optimum quemque excitato posset in malis rei publicae portum aliquem suorum malorum invenire. introductis in senatum indicibus constitui senatores qui omnia indicum dicta, interrogata, responsa perscriberent.
42. And what men they were! Not only men of the greatest virtue and good faith, of which sort of men there are plenty in the senate, but men, also, who I knew from their memory, from their knowledge, from their habit and rapidity of writing, could most easily follow everything that was said. I selected Caius Cosconius, who was praetor at the time; Marcus Messala, who was at the time standing for the praetorship; Publius Nigidius, and Appius Claudius. I believe that there is no one who thinks that these men were deficient either in the good faith or in the ability requisite to enable them to give an accurate report. What followed? What did I do next? As I knew that the information was by these means entered among the public documents, but yet that those records would be kept in the custody of private individuals, according to the customs of our ancestors, I did not conceal it; I did not keep it at my own house; but I caused it at once to be copied out by several clerks, and to be distributed everywhere, and published and made known to the Roman people. I distributed it all over Italy, I sent copies of it into every province; I wish no one to be ignorant of that information, by means of which safety was procured for all.
42. quos viros! non solum summa virtute et fide, cuius generis erat in senatu facultas maxima, sed etiam quos sciebam memoria, scientia, celeritate scribendi facillime quae dicerentur persequi posse, C. Cosconium, qui tum erat praetor, M. Messalam, qui tum praeturam petebat, P. Nigidium, App. Claudium. esse neminem qui his hominibus ad vere referendum aut fidem putet aut ingenium defuisse. deinde? quid feci? Cum scirem ita esse indicium relatum in tabulas publicas ut illae tabulae privata tamen custodia more maiorum continerentur, non occultavi, non continui domi, sed statim describi ab omnibus librariis, dividi passim et pervolgari atque edi populo Romano imperavi. tota Italia, emisi in omnis provincias; eius indici ex quo oblata salus esset omnibus expertem esse neminem volui.
43. And I took this precaution, though at so disturbed a time, and when all opportunities of acting were so sudden and so brief at the suggestion of some divine providence, as I said before, and not of my own accord, or of my own wisdom; taking care, in the first instance, that no one should be able to recollect of the danger to the republic, or to any individual, only as much as he pleased; and in the second place, that no one should be able at any time to find fault with that information, or to accuse us of having given credit to it rashly; and lastly, that no one should ever put any questions to me, or seek to learn anything from my private journals, lest I might be accused of either forgetting or remembering too much, and lest any negligence of mine should be thought discreditable, or lest any eagerness on my part might seem cruel.
43. dico locum in orbe terrarum esse nullum, quo in loco populi Romani nomen sit, quin eodem perscriptum hoc indicium pervenerit. quo ego tam subito et exiguo et turbido tempore multa divinitus, ita ut dixi, non mea sponte providi, primum ne quis posset tantum aut de rei publicae aut de alicuius periculo meminisse quantum vellet; deinde ne cui liceret umquam reprehendere illud indicium aut temere creditum criminari; postremo ne quid iam a me, ne quid ex meis commentariis quaereretur, ne aut oblivio mea aut memoria nimia videretur, ne denique aut neglegentia turpis aut diligentia crudelis putaretur.
44. But still, O Torquatus, I ask you, as your enemy was mentioned in the information, and as a full senate and the memory of all men as to so recent an affair was a witness of that fact; as my clerks would have communicated the information to you, my intimate friend and companion, if you had wished for it, even before they had taken a copy of it; when you saw that there were any incorrectnesses in it, why were you silent, why did you permit them? Why did you not make a complaint to me or to some friend of mine? or why did you not at least, since you are so well inclined to inveigh against your friends, expostulate passionately and earnestly with me? Do you, when your voice was never once heard at the time, when, though the information was read, and copied out, and published, you kept silence then,—do you, I say, now on a sudden dare to bring forward a statement of such importance? and to place yourself in such a position that before you can convict me of having tampered with the information, you must confess that you are convicted yourself of the grossest negligence, on your own information bid against yourself?
44. tamen abs te, Torquate, quaero: cum indicatus tuus esset inimicus et esset eius rei frequens senatus et recens memoria testis, ⟨et⟩ tibi, meo familiari et contubernali, prius etiam edituri indicium fuerint scribae mei, si voluisses, quam in codicem rettulissent, ⟨cur⟩ cum videres aliter fieri, tacuisti, passus es, non mecum aut ⟨ut⟩ cum familiarissimo questus es aut, quoniam tam facile inveheris in amicos, iracundius et vehementius expostulasti?, cum tua vox numquam sit audita, cum indicio lecto, descripto, divolgato quieveris, tacueris, repente tantam rem ementiare et in eum locum te deducas ut, ante quam me commutati indici coargueris, te summae neglegentiae tuo iudicio convictum esse fateare?
45. Was the safety of any one of such consequence to me as to induce me to forget my own? or to make me contaminate the truth, which I had laid open, by any lie? Or do you suppose that I would assist any one by whom I thought that a cruel plot had been laid against the republic, and most especially against me the consul? But if I had been forgetful of my own severity and of my own virtue, was I so mad, as, when letters are things which have been devised for the sake of posterity, in order to be a protection against forgetfulness, to think that the fresh recollection of the whole senate could be beaten down by my journal?
45. cuiusquam salus tanti fuisset ut meam neglegerem? per me ego veritatem patefactam contaminarem aliquo mendacio? quemquam denique ego iuvarem, a quo et tam crudelis insidias rei publicae factas et me potissimum consule constitutas putarem? si iam essem oblitus severitatis et constantiae meae, tamne amens eram ut, cum litterae posteritatis causa repertae sint, quae subsidio oblivioni esse possent, ego recentem putarem memoriam cuncti senatus commentario meo posse superari?
46. I have been bearing with you, O Torquatus, for a long time. I have been bearing with you; and sometimes I, of my own accord, call back and check my inclination, when it has been provoked to chastise your speech. I make some allowance for your violent temper; I have some indulgence for your youth, I yield somewhat to our own friendship, I have some regard to your father. But unless you put some restraint upon yourself you will compel me to forget our friendship, in order to pay due regard to my own dignity. No one ever attempted to attach the slightest suspicion to me, that I did not defeat him; but I wish you to believe me in this;—those whom I think that I can defeat most easily, are not those whom I take the greatest pleasure in answering.
46. ego te, Torquate, iam dudum fero, et non numquam animum incitatum ad ulciscendam orationem tuam revoco ipse et reflecto, permitto aliquid iracundiae tuae, do adulescentiae, cedo amicitiae, tribuo parenti. nisi tibi aliquem modum tute constitueris, coges oblitum me nostrae amicitiae habere rationem meae dignitatis. umquam me tenuissima suspicione perstrinxit quem non perverterim ac perfregerim. mihi hoc credas velim: non eis libentissime soleo respondere quos mihi videor facillime posse superare.
47. Do you, since you are not at all ignorant of my ordinary way of speaking, forbear to abuse my lenity. Do not think that the stings of my eloquence are taken away, because they are sheathed. Do not think that that power has been entirely lost, because I show some consideration for; and indulgence towards you. In the first place, the excuses which I make to myself for your injurious conduct, your violent temper; your age, and our friendship, have much weight with me; and, in the next place, I do not yet consider you a person of sufficient power to make it worth my while to contend and argue with you. But if you were more capable through age and experience, I should pursue the conduct which is habitual to me when I have been provoked; at present I will deal with you in such away that I shall seem to have received an injury rather than to have requited one.
47. quoniam minime ignoras consuetudinem dicendi meam, noli hac nova lenitate abuti mea, noli aculeos orationis meae, qui reconditi sunt, excussos arbitrari, noli id omnino a me putare esse amissum si quid est tibi remissum atque concessum. Cum illae valent apud me excusationes iniuriae tuae, iratus animus tuus, aetas, amicitia nostra, tum nondum statuo te virium satis habere ut ego tecum luctari et congredi debeam. si esses usu atque aetate robustior, essem idem qui soleo cum sum lacessitus; nunc tecum sic agam tulisse ut potius iniuriam quam rettulisse gratiam videar.
48. Nor, indeed, can I make out why you are angry with me. If it is because I am defending a man whom you accusing, why should not I also be angry with you, who are accusing a man whom I am defending? “I,” say you, “am accusing my enemy.” And I am defending my friend. “But you ought not to defend any one who is being tried for conspiracy.” On the contrary, no one ought to be more prompt to defend a man of whom he has never suspected any ill, than he who has had many reasons for forming opinions about other men. “Why did you give evidence against others?” Because I was compelled. “Why were they convicted?” Because my evidence was believed. “It is behaving like a king to speak against whomsoever you please and to defend whomsoever you please.” Say, rather, that it is slavery not to be able to speak against any one you choose and to defend any one you choose. And if you begin to consider whether it was more necessary for me to do this or for you to do that, you will perceive that you could with more credit fix a limit to your enmities than I could to my humanity.
48. vero quid mihi irascare intellegere possum., quod eum defendo quem tu accusas, cur tibi ego non suscenseo, quod accusas eum quem ego defendo? “ego,” inquis, “accuso meum.” amicum ego defendo meum. “debes tu quemquam in coniurationis quaestione defendere.” nemo magis eum de quo nihil umquam est suspicatus quam is qui de aliis multa cognovit. “dixisti testimonium in alios?” coactus sum. “damnati sunt?” creditum est. “est dicere in quem velis et defendere quem velis.” servitus est non dicere in quem velis et non defendere quem velis. si considerare coeperis utrum magis mihi hoc necesse fuerit facere an istud tibi, intelleges honestius te inimicitiarum modum statuere potuisse quam me humanitatis.
49. But when the greatest honours of your family were at stake, that is to say, the consulship of your father that wise man your father was not angry with his most intimate friends for defending and praising Sulla. He was aware that this was a principle handed down to us from our ancestors that we were not to be hindered by our friendship for any one from warding off dangers from others. And yet that contest was far from resembling this trial. Then, if Publius Sulla could he put down, the consulship would be procured for your father as it was procured, it was a contest of honour you were crying out, that you were seeking to recover what had been taken from you, in order that, having been defeated in the Campus Martius, you might succeed in the forum. Then those who were contending against you for Sulla's safety your greatest friends, with whom you were not angry. On, that account, deprived you of the consulship, resisted your acquisition of honour; and yet they did so without any rupture of your mutual friendship, without violating any duty according to ancient precedent and the established principles of every good man.
49. vero, cum honos agebatur familiae vestrae amplissimus, hoc est consulatus parentis tui, sapientissimus vir familiarissimis suis non suscensuit, pater tuus, cum Sullam et defenderent et laudarent? intellegebat hanc nobis a maioribus esse traditam disciplinam ut nullius amicitia ad pericula propulsanda impediremur. erat huic iudicio longe dissimilis illa contentio. adflicto P. Sulla consulatus vobis pariebatur, sicuti partus est; honoris erat certamen; ereptum repetere vos clamitabatis, ut victi in campo in foro vinceretis; tum qui contra vos pro huius salute pugnabant, amicissimi vestri, quibus non irascebamini, consulatum vobis eripiebant, honori vestro repugnabant, et tamen id inviolata vestra amicitia, integro officio, vetere exemplo atque instituto optimi cuiusque faciebant.
50. But now what promotion of yours am I opposing? or what dignity of yours am I throwing obstacles in the way of? what is there which you can at present seek from this proceeding? Honour has been conferred on your father; the insignia of honour have descended to you. You, adorned with his spoils, come to tear the body of him whom you have slain; I am defending and protecting him who is lying prostrate and stripped of his arms. And on this you find fault with me, and are angry because I defend him. But I not only am not angry with you, but I do not even find fault with your proceeding. For I imagine that you have laid down a rule for yourself as to what you thought that you ought to do, and that you have appointed a very capable judge of your duty.
50. vero quibus ornamentis adversor tuis aut cui dignitati vestrae repugno? est quod iam ab hoc expetas? ad patrem, insignia honoris ad te delata sunt. ornatus exuviis huius venis ad eum lacerandum quem interemisti, ego iacentem et spoliatum defendo et protego. hic tu et reprehendis me quia defendam et irasceris; ego autem non modo tibi non irascor sed ne reprehendo quidem factum tuum. enim existimo tibi statuisse quid faciendum putares et satis idoneum offici tui iudicem ⟨esse⟩ potuisse.
51. “Oh, but the son of Caius Cornelius accuses him, and that ought to have the same weight as if his father had given information against him.” O wise Cornelius,—the father; I mean—who left all the reward which is usually given for information, but has got all the discredit which a confession can involve, through the accusation brought by his son! However; what is it that Cornelius gives information of by the mouth of that boy? If it is a part of the business which is unknown to me, but which has been communicated to Hortensius, let Hortensius reply. If as you say, his statement concerns that crew of Autronius and Catiline, when they intended to commit a massacre in the Campus Martius, at the consular comitia, which were held by me; we saw Autronius that day in the Campus. And why do I say we saw? I myself saw him (for you at that time, O judges, had no anxiety, no suspicions; I, protected by a firm guard of friends at that time, checked the forces and the endeavours of Catiline and Autronius).
51. accusat ⟨C.⟩ Corneli filius et id aeque valere debet ac si pater indicaret. O patrem Cornelium sapientem qui, quod praemi solet esse in indicio, reliquerit, quod turpitudinis in confessione, id per accusationem fili susceperit! quid est tandem quod indicat per istum puerum Cornelius? vetera, mihi ignota, cum Hortensio communicata, respondit Hortensius; sin, ut ais, illum conatum Autroni et Catilinae, cum in campo consularibus comitiis, quae a me habita sunt, caedem facere voluerunt, Autronium tum in campo vidimus —sed quid dixi vidisse nos? ego vidi; vos enim tum, iudices, nihil laborabatis neque suspicabamini, ego tectus praesidio firmo amicorum Catilinae tum et Autroni copias et conatum repressi.
52. Is there, then, any one who says that Sulla at that time had any idea of coming into the Campus? And yet, if at that time he had united himself with Catiline in that society of wickedness, why did he leave him? why was not he with Autronius? why, when their cases were similar, are not similar proofs of criminality found? But since Cornelius himself even now hesitates about giving information against him, he, as you say, contents himself with filling up the outline of his son's information what then does he say about that night, when, according to the orders of Catiline, he came into the Scythemakers' street, to the house of Marcus Lecca, that night which followed the sixth of November; in my consulship? that night which of all the moments of the conspiracy was the most terrible and the most miserable. Then the day in which Catiline should leave the city, then the terms on which the rest should remain behind, then the arrangement and division of the whole city, with regard to the conflagration and the massacre, was settled. Then your father, O Cornelius, as he afterwards confessed, begged for himself that especial employment of going the first in the morning to salute me as consul, in order that, laving been admitted, according to my usual custom and to the privilege which his friendship with me gave him, he might slay me in my bed.
52. quis est igitur qui tum dicat in campum aspirasse Sullam?, si tum se cum Catilina societate sceleris coniunxerat, cur ab eo discedebat, cur cum Autronio non erat, cur in pari causa non paria signa criminis reperiuntur? quoniam Cornelius ipse etiam nunc de indicando dubitat, ⟨et,⟩ ut dicitis, informat ad hoc adumbratum indicium filium, quid tandem de illa nocte dicit, cum inter falcarios ad M. Laecam nocte ea quae consecuta est posterum diem Nonarum Novembrium me consule Catilinae denuntiatione convenit? quae nox omnium temporum coniurationis acerrima fuit atque acerbissima. Catilinae dies exeundi, tum ceteris manendi condicio, tum discriptio totam per urbem caedis atque incendiorum constituta est; tum tuus pater, Corneli, id quod tandem aliquando confitetur, illam sibi officiosam provinciam depoposcit ut, cum prima luce consulem salutatum veniret, intromissus et meo more et iure amicitiae me in meo lectulo trucidaret.
53. At this time, when the conspiracy was at its height; when Catiline was starting for the army, and Lentulus was being left in the city; when Cassius was being appointed to superintend the burning of the city, and Cethegus the massacre; when Autronius had the part allotted to him of occupying Italy; when, in short, everything was being arranged, and settled, and prepared; where, O Cornelius, was Sulla? Was he at Rome? No, he was very far away. Was he in those districts to which Catiline was betaking himself? He was still further from them. Was he in the Camertine, Picenian, or Gallic district? lands which the disease, as it were, of that frenzy had infected most particularly. Nothing is further from the truth; for he was, as I have said already, at Naples. He was in that part of Italy which above all others was free from all suspicion of being implicated in that business.
53. tempore, cum arderet acerrime coniuratio, cum Catilina egrederetur ad exercitum, Lentulus in urbe relinqueretur, Cassius incendiis, Cethegus caedi praeponeretur, Autronio ut occuparet Etruriam praescriberetur, cum omnia ornarentur, instruerentur, pararentur, ubi fuit Sulla, Corneli? num Romae? longe afuit. in eis regionibus quo se Catilina inferebat? etiam longius. in agro Camerti, Piceno, Gallico, quas in oras maxime quasi morbus quidam illius furoris pervaserat? vero minus. enim, ut iam ante dixi, Neapoli, fuit in ea parte Italiae quae maxime ista suspicione caruit.
54. What then does he state in his information, or what does he allege—I mean Cornelius, or you who bring these messages from him? He says that gladiators were bought, under pretence of some games to be exhibited by Faustus, for the purposes of slaughter and tumult.—Just so;—the gladiators are mentioned whom we know that he was bound to provide according to his father's will. “But he seized on a whole household of gladiators; and if he had left that alone, some other troop might have discharged the duty to which Faustus was bound.” I wish this troop could satisfy not only the envy of parties unfavourable to him, but even the expectations of reasonable men. “He was in a desperate hurry, when the time for the exhibition was still far off.” As if in reality, the time for the exhibition was not drawing very near. This household of slaves was got without Faustus having any idea of such a step; for he neither knew of it nor wished it.
54. ergo indicat aut quid adfert aut ipse Cornelius aut vos qui haec ab illo mandata defertis? emptos esse Fausti simulatione ad caedem ac tumultum? “prorsus; interpositi sunt gladiatores.” testamento patris deberi videmus. “est familia.” si esset praetermissa, posset alia familia Fausti munus praebere. Vtinam quidem haec ipsa non modo iniquorum invidiae sed aequorum exspectationi satis facere posset! “vehementer est, cum longe tempus muneris abesset.” vero tempus dandi muneris non valde appropinquaret. “opinante Fausto, cum is neque sciret neque vellet, familia est comparata.”
55. But there are letters of Faustus's extant, in which he begs and prays Publius Sulla to buy gladiators, and to buy this very troop: and not only were such letters sent to Publius Sulla, but they were sent also to Lucius Caesar, to Quintus Pompeius, and to Gains Memmius, by whose advice the whole business was managed. But Cornelius was appointed to manage the troop. If in the respect of the purchase of this household of gladiators no suspicion attaches to the circumstances, it certainly can make no difference that he was appointed to manage them afterwards. But still, he in reality only discharged the servile duty of providing them with arms; but he never did superintend the men themselves; that duty was always discharged by Balbus, a freedman of Faustus.
55. litterae sunt Fausti,per quas ille precibus a P. Sulla petit ut emat gladiatores et ut hos ipsos emat, neque solum ad Sullam missae sed ad L. Caesarem, Q. Pompeium, C. Memmium, quorum de sententia tota res gesta est. “praefuit familiae Cornelius, ⟨libertus eius⟩.” si in paranda familia nulla suspicio est, quis praefuerit nihil ad rem pertinet; sed tamen munere servili obtulit se ad ferramenta prospicienda, praefuit vero numquam, eaque res omni tempore per, Fausti libertum, administrata est.
56. But Sittius was sent by him into further Spain; in order to excite sedition in that province. In the first place, O judges, Sittius departed, in the consulship of Lucius Julius and Caius Figulus, some time before this mad business of Catiline's, and before there was any suspicion of this conspiracy. In the second place, he did not go there for the first time, but he had already been there several years before, for the same purpose that he went now. And he went not only with an object but with a necessary object having some important accounts to settle with the king of Mauritania. But then, after he was gone, as Sulla managed his affairs as his agent he sold many of the most beautiful farms of Publius Sittius, and by this means paid his debts; so that the motive which drove the rest to this wickedness, the desire, namely, of retaining their possessions, did not exist in the case of Sittius, who had diminished his landed property to pay his debts.
56. enim Sittius est ab hoc in ulteriorem Hispaniam missus ut eam provinciam perturbaret. Sittius, iudices, L. Iulio C. Figulo consulibus profectus est aliquanto ante furorem Catilinae et suspicionem huius coniurationis; deinde est profectus non tum primum sed cum in isdem locis aliquanto ante eadem de causa aliquot annos fuisset, ac profectus est non modo ob causam sed etiam ob necessariam causam, magna ratione cum Mauretaniae rege contracta. autem, illo profecto, Sulla procurante eius rem et gerente plurimis et pulcherrimis P. Sitti praediis venditis aes alienum eiusdem dissolutum ⟨est⟩, ut, quae causa ceteros ad facinus impulit, cupiditas retinendae possessionis, ea Sittio non fuerit praediis deminutis.
57. But now, how incredible, how absurd is the idea that a man who wished to make a massacre at Rome, and to burn down this city, should let his most intimate friend depart, should send him away into the most distant countries! Did he so in order the more easily to effect what he was endeavoring to do at Rome, if there were seditions in Spain?—“But these things were done independently, and had no connection with one another.” Is it possible, then, that he should have thought it desirable, when engaged in such important affairs, in such novel and dangerous, and seditious designs, to send away a man thoroughly attached to himself, his most intimate friend, one connected with himself by reciprocal good offices and by constant intercourse? It is not probable that he should send a way, when in difficulty, and in the midst of troubles of his own raising, the man whom he had always kept with him in times of prosperity and tranquillity.
57. vero illud quam incredibile, quam absurdum, qui Romae caedem facere, qui hanc urbem inflammare vellet, eum familiarissimum suum dimittere ab se et amandare in ultimas terras! Vtrum quo facilius Romae ea quae conabatur efficeret, si in Hispania turbatum esset? haec ipsa per se sine ulla coniunctione agebantur. in tantis rebus, tam novis consiliis, tam periculosis, tam turbulentis hominem amantissimum sui, familiarissimum, coniunctissimum officiis, consuetudine, usu dimittendum esse arbitrabatur? simile non est ut, quem in secundis rebus, quem in otio secum semper habuisset, hunc in adversis et in eo tumultu quem ipse comparabat ab se dimitteret.
58. But is Sittius himself (for I must not desert the cause of my old friend and host) a man of such a character, or of such a family and such a school as to allow us to believe that he wished to make war on the republic? Can we believe that he, whose father when all our other neighbours and borderers revolted from us behaved with singular duty and loyalty to our republic, should think it possible himself to undertake a nefarious war against his country? A man whose debts we see were contracted not out of luxury but from a desire to increase his property which led him to involve himself in business and who, though he owed debts at Rome, had very large debts owing to him in the provinces and in the confederate kingdoms and when he was applying for them he would not allow his agents to be put in any difficulty by his absence but preferred having all his property sold and being stripped himself of a most beautiful patrimony, to allowing any delay to take place in satisfying his creditors.
58. autem Sittius—non enim mihi deserenda est causa amici veteris atque hospitis—is homo est aut ea familia ac disciplina ut hoc credi possit, eum bellum populo Romano facere voluisse? ut, cuius pater, cum ceteri deficerent finitimi ac vicini, singulari exstiterit in rem publicam nostram officio et fide, is sibi nefarium bellum contra patriam suscipiendum putaret? cuius aes alienum videmus, iudices, non libidine, sed negoti gerendi studio esse contractum, qui ita Romae debuit ut in provinciis et in regnis ei maximae pecuniae deberentur; quas cum peteret, non commisit ut sui procuratores quicquam oneris absente se sustinerent; venire omnis suas possessiones et patrimonio se ornatissimo spoliari maluit quam ullam moram cuiquam fieri creditorum suorum.
59. And of men of that sort I never, O judges, had any fear when I was in the middle of that tempest which afflicted the republic. The sort of men who were formidable and terrible were those who clung to their property with such affection that you would say it was easier to tear their limbs from them than their lands but Sittius never thought that there was such a relationship between him and his estates, and therefore he cleared himself, not only from all suspicion of such wickedness as theirs, but even from being talked about not by arms, but at the expense of his patrimony.
59. A quo quidem genere, iudices, ego numquam timui, cum in illa rei publicae tempestate versarer. erat hominum genus horribile et pertimescendum qui tanto amore suas possessiones amplexi tenebant ut ab eis membra citius divelli ac distrahi posse diceres. Sittius numquam sibi cognationem cum praediis esse existimavit suis. se non modo ex suspicione tanti sceleris verum etiam ex omni hominum sermone non armis, sed patrimonio suo vindicavit.
60. But now, as to what he adds, that the inhabitants of Pompeii were excited by Sulla to join that conspiracy and that abominable wickedness, what sort of statement that I am quite unable to understand. Do the people of Pompeii appear to have joined the conspiracy? Who has ever said so? or when was there the slightest suspicion of this fact? “He separated then,” says he, “from the settlers, in order that when he had excited dissensions and divisions within, he might be able to have the town and nation of Pompeii in his power.” In the first place, every circumstance of the dissension between the natives of Pompeii and the settlers was referred to the patrons of the town, being a matter of long standing, and having been going on many years. In the second place, the matter was investigated by the patrons in such a way, that Sulla did not in any particular disagree with the opinions of the others. And lastly, the settlers themselves understand that the natives of Pompeii were not more denuded by Sulla than they themselves were.
60. vero quod obiecit Pompeianos esse a Sulla impulsos ut ad istam coniurationem atque ad hoc nefarium facinus accederent, id cuius modi sit intellegere non possum. tibi Pompeiani coniurasse videntur? hoc dixit umquam, aut quae fuit istius rei vel minima suspicio? “Diiunxit,” inquit, “eos a colonis ut hoc discidio ac dissensione facta oppidum in sua potestate posset per Pompeianos habere.” omnis Pompeianorum colonorumque dissensio delata ad patronos est, cum iam inveterasset ac multos annos esset agitata; deinde ita a patronis res cognita est ut nulla in re a ceterorum sententiis Sulla dissenserit; postremo coloni ipsi sic intellegunt, non Pompeianos a Sulla magis quam sese esse defensos.
61. And this, O judges, you may ascertain from the number of settlers, most honourable men, here present; who are here now, and are anxious and above all things desirous that the man, the patron, the defender, the guardian of that colony, (if they have not been able to see him in the safe enjoyment of every sort of good fortune and every honour,) may at all events, in the present misfortune by which he is attacked, be defended and preserved by your means. The natives of Pompeii are here also with equal eagerness, who are accused as well as he is by the prosecutors; men whose differences with the settlers about walks and about votes have not gone to such lengths as to make them differ also about their common safety.
61. hoc, iudices, ex hac frequentia colonorum, honestissimorum hominum, intellegere potestis, qui adsunt, laborant, hunc patronum, defensorem, custodem illius coloniae si in omni fortuna atque omni honore incolumem habere non potuerunt, in hoc tamen casu in quo adflictus iacet per vos iuvari conservarique cupiunt. pari studio Pompeiani, qui ab istis etiam in crimen vocantur; qui ita de ambulatione ac de suffragiis suis cum colonis dissenserunt ut idem de communi salute sentirent.
62. And even this virtue of Publius Sulla appears to me to be one which ought not to be passed over in silence;—that though that colony was originally settled by him, and though the fortune of the Roman people has separated the interests of the settlers from the fortunes of the native citizens of Pompeii, he is still so popular among, and so much beloved by both parties, that he seems not so much to have dispossessed the one party of their lands as to have settled both of them in that country. “But the gladiators, and all those preparations for violence, were got together because of the motion of Caecilius.” And then he inveighed bitterly against Caecilius, a most virtuous and most accomplished man, of whose virtue and constancy, O judges, I will only say thus much,—that he behaved in such a manner with respect to that motion which he brought forward, not for the purpose of doing away with, but only of relieving his brother's misfortune, that though he wished to consult his brother's welfare, he was unwilling to oppose the interests of the republic; he proposed his law the impulse of brotherly affection, and he abandoned it because he was dissuaded from it by his brother's authority.
62. ne haec quidem P. Sullae mihi videtur silentio praetereunda esse virtus, quod, cum ab hoc illa colonia deducta sit, et cum commoda colonorum a fortunis Pompeianorum rei publicae fortuna diiunxerit, ita carus utrisque est atque iucundus ut non alteros demovisse sed utrosque constituisse videatur. enim et gladiatores et omnis ista vis rogationis Caeciliae causa comparabatur. hoc loco in L. Caecilium, pudentissimum atque ornatissimum virum, vehementer invectus est. ego de virtute et constantia, iudices, tantum dico, talem hunc in ista rogatione quam promulgarat non de tollenda, sed de levanda calamitate fratris sui fuisse ut consulere voluerit fratri, cum re publica pugnare noluerit; promulgarit impulsus amore fraterno, destiterit fratris auctoritate deductus.
63. And Sulla is accused by Lucius Caecilius, in that business in which both of them deserve praise. In the first place Caecilius, for having proposed a law in which he appeared to wish to rescind an unjust decision; and Sulla, who reproved him, and chose to abide by the decision. For the constitution of the republic derives its principal consistency from formal legal decisions. Nor do I think that any one ought to yield so much to his love for his brother as to think only of the welfare of his own relations, and to neglect the common safety of all. He did not touch the decision already given, but he took away the punishment for bribery which had been lately established by recent laws. And, therefore, by this motion he was seeking, not to rescind a decision, but to correct a defect in the law. When a man is complaining of a penalty, it is not the decision with which he is finding fault but the law. For the conviction is the act of judges, and that is let stand; the penalty is the act of the law, and that may be lightened.
63. in ea re per L. Caecilium Sulla accusatur in qua re est uterque laudandus. Caecilius—quid? “id promulgavit in quo res iudicatas videbatur voluisse rescindere, ut restitueretur Sulla.” reprehendis; status enim rei publicae maxime iudicatis rebus continetur; neque ego tantum fraterno amori dandum arbitror ut quisquam, dum saluti suorum consulat, communem relinquat. ⟨⟩ nihil de iudicio ferebat, sed poenam ambitus eam referebat quae fuerat nuper superioribus legibus constituta. hac rogatione non iudicum sententia, sed legis vitium corrigebatur. iudicium reprehendit, cum de poena queritur, sed legem. est enim iudicum, quae manebat, poena legis, quae levabatur.