Cicero: ORATORIA

[1] Si, patres conscripti, pro vestris immortalibus in me fratremque meum liberosque nostros meritis parum vobis cumulate gratias egero, quaeso obtestorque, ne meae naturae potius quam magnitudini vestrorum beneficiorum id tribuendum putetis. quae tanta enim potest exsistere ubertas ingenii, quae tanta dicendi copia, quod tam divinum atque incredibile genus orationis, quo quisquam possit vestra in nos universa promerita non dicam complecti orando, sed percensere numerando? qui mihi fratrem optatissimum, me fratri amantissimo, liberis nostris parentes, nobis liberos, qui dignitatem, qui ordinem, qui fortunas, qui amplissimam rem publicam, qui patriam, qua nihil potest esse iucundius, qui denique nosmet ipsos nobis reddidistis.

[1] If, Conscript Fathers, for your immortal merits toward me and my brother and our children I render thanks to you less than in a heaped-up measure, I beg and adjure that you think this must be attributed rather to my nature than to the magnitude of your benefactions. For what so great fertility of genius can exist, what such copiousness of speaking, what so divine and incredible kind of oration, by which anyone could— I do not say embrace by pleading, but reckon by numbering—your entire deserts toward us? You who have restored to me my most-longed-for brother, and me to my most-loving brother; to our children their parents, to us our children; you who have restored dignity, who our order, who our fortunes, who the most ample Republic, who our fatherland, than which nothing can be more delightful; who, finally, have restored our very selves to ourselves.

[2] Quod si parentes carissimos habere debemus, quod ab iis nobis vita, patrimonium, libertas, civitas tradita est, si deos immortalis, quorum beneficio et haec tenuimus et ceteris rebus aucti sumus, si populum Romanum, cuius honoribus in amplissimo consilio et in altissimo gradu dignitatis atque in hac omnium terrarum arce collocati sumus, si hunc ipsum ordinem, a quo saepe magnificentissimis decretis sumus honestati, immensum quiddam et infinitum est, quod vobis debeamus, qui vestro singulari studio atque consensu parentum beneficia, deorum immortalium munera, populi Romani honores, vestra de me multa iudicia nobis uno tempore omnia reddidistis, ut, cum multa vobis, magna populo Romano, innumerabilia parentibus, omnia dis immortalibus debeamus, haec antea singula per illos habuerimus, nunc universa per vos reciperarimus.

[2] If we ought to hold our parents most dear, because from them life, patrimony, liberty, citizenship have been handed down to us; if the immortal gods, by whose beneficence we have both held these things and have been augmented in other matters; if the Roman People, by whose honors we have been placed in the most ample council and in the highest grade of dignity and in this citadel of all lands; if this very order, by whose most magnificent decrees we have often been honored—then something immense and infinite is that which we owe to you, you who, by your singular zeal and unanimity, have at one time restored to us all the benefits of parents, the gifts of the immortal gods, the honors of the Roman People, your many judgments concerning me; so that, since we owe much to you, great things to the Roman People, innumerable things to our parents, all things to the immortal gods, whereas before we had these items singly through those parties, now we have recovered them all together through you.

[3] Itaque, patres conscripti, quod ne optandum quidem est homini, immortalitatem quandam per vos esse adepti videmur. quod enim tempus erit umquam, cum vestrorum in nos beneficiorum memoria ac fama moriatur? qui illo ipso tempore, cum vi, ferro, metu, minis obsessi teneremini, non multo post discessum meum me universi revocavistis referente L. Ninnio, fortissimo atque optimo viro, quem habuit ille pestifer annus et maxime fidelem et minime timidum, si dimicare placuisset, defensorem salutis meae.

[3] And so, Conscript Fathers, what is not even to be wished for by a man, we seem through you to have attained a kind of immortality. For what time will there ever be when the memory and the fame of your benefactions toward us shall die? You—at that very time when you were held besieged by force, by steel, by fear, by menaces—not long after my departure, all together recalled me, on the motion of Lucius Ninnius, a most brave and best man, whom that pestiferous year had as at once most faithful and least timid—had it pleased to fight—the defender of my safety.

postea quam vobis decernendi potestas facta non est per eum tribunum plebis, qui, cum per se rem publicam lacerare non posset, sub alieno scelere delituit, numquam de me siluistis, numquam meam salutem non ab iis consulibus, qui vendiderant, flagitavistis.

after the time when the power of decreeing was not granted to you, through that tribune of the plebs who, since he could not lacerate the commonwealth by himself, skulked beneath another’s crime, you never fell silent concerning me; you never failed to demand my safety from those consuls who had sold it.

[4] Itaque vestro studio atque auctoritate perfectum est, ut ipse ille annus, quem ego mihi quam patriae malueram esse fatalem, octo tribunos haberet, qui et promulgarent de salute mea et ad vos saepe numero referrent. nam consules modesti legumque metuentes impediebantur lege, non ea, quae de me, sed ea, quae de ipsis lata erat, cum meus inimicus promulgavit, ut, si revixissent ii, qui haec paene delerunt, tum ego redirem; quo facto utrumque confessus est, et se illorum vitam desiderare et magno in periculo rem publicam futuram, si, cum hostes atque interfectores rei publicae revixissent, ego non revertissem. itaque illo ipso tamen anno, cum ego cessissem, princeps autem civitatis non legum praesidio, sed parietum vitam suam tueretur, res publica sine consulibus esset neque solum parentibus perpetuis, verum etiam tutoribus annuis esset orbata, sententias dicere prohiberemini, caput meae proscriptionis recitaretur, numquam dubitastis meam salutem cum communi salute coniungere.

[4] And so by your zeal and authority it was perfected that that very year, which I had preferred to be fatal to me rather than to the fatherland, had eight tribunes who both would promulgate measures about my safety and would very often refer the matter to you. For the consuls, decorous and fearing the laws, were hindered by a law—not the one about me, but the one that had been passed about themselves—when my enemy promulgated that, if those who had nearly obliterated these things had come back to life, then I should return; by which deed he confessed both: that he longed for the life of those men, and that the commonwealth would be in great danger if, when the enemies and slayers of the state had revived, I had not come back. And so in that very year, though I had withdrawn, while the chief of the state was guarding his life not by the protection of the laws but by walls, the republic was without consuls and was bereft not only of its perpetual parents but also of its annual guardians, you were being forbidden to pronounce opinions, the heading of my proscription was being read aloud, you never doubted to conjoin my safety with the common safety.

[5] Postea vero quam singulari et praestantissima virtute P. Lentuli consulis ex superioris anni caligine et tenebris lucem in re publica Kalendis Ianuariis dispicere coepistis, cum Q. Metelli, nobilissimi hominis atque optimi viri, summa dignitas, cum praetorum, tribunorum plebis paene omnium virtus et fides rei publicae subvenisset, cum virtute, gloria, rebus gestis Cn. Pompeius omnium gentium, omnium saeculorum, omnis memoriae facile princeps tuto se venire in senatum arbitraretur, tantus vester consensus de salute mea fuit, ut corpus abesset meum, dignitas iam in patriam revertisset.

[5] Afterwards, indeed, when by the singular and most preeminent virtue of P. Lentulus, consul, you began on the Kalends of January to descry light in the republic out of the fog and darkness of the previous year, when the highest dignity of Q. Metellus, a most noble man and an excellent man, and when the virtue and faith of almost all the praetors and tribunes of the plebs had come to the aid of the republic, when by his virtue, glory, and achievements Cn. Pompeius—easily the first of all nations, of all ages, of all memory—judged it safe to come into the senate, so great was your unanimity concerning my safety that, though my body was absent, my dignity had already returned into the fatherland.

[6] Quo quidem mense, quid inter me et meos inimicos interesset, existimare potuistis. ego meam salutem deserui, ne propter me civium vulneribus res publica cruentaretur; illi meum reditum non populi Romani suffragiis, sed flumine sanguinis intercludendum putaverunt. itaque postea nihil vos civibus, nihil sociis, nihil regibus respondistis; nihil iudices sententiis, nihil populus suffragiis, nihil hic ordo auctoritate declaravit; mutum forum, elinguem curiam, tacitam et fractam civitatem videbatis.

[6] In that very month you were able to estimate what difference there was between me and my enemies. I abandoned my own safety, lest on my account the Republic be bloodied with the wounds of citizens; they thought my return ought to be cut off not by the suffrages of the Roman people, but by a river of blood. And so thereafter you answered nothing to the citizens, nothing to the allies, nothing to the kings; the judges declared nothing by their sentences, the people nothing by their suffrages, this order nothing by its authority; you saw a mute forum, a tongueless senate-house, a silent and broken state.

[7] Quo quidem tempore, cum is excessisset, qui caedi et flammae vobis auctoribus restiterat, cum ferro et facibus homines tota urbe volitantis, magistratuum tecta impugnata, deorum templa inflammata, summi viri et clarissimi consulis fasces fractos, fortissimi atque optimi tribuni plebis sanctissimum corpus non tactum ac violatum manu, sed vulneratum ferro confectumque vidistis. qua strage non nulli permoti magistratus partim metu mortis, partim desperatione rei publicae paululum a mea causa recesserunt; reliqui fuerunt, quos neque terror nec vis, nec spes nec metus, nec promissa nec minae, nec tela nec faces a vestra auctoritate, a populi Romani dignitate, a mea salute depellerent.

[7] At that very time, when he had departed who had stood against slaughter and flames with you as authors, when men, with iron and torches, were flying about through the whole city, the roofs of magistrates were assailed, the temples of the gods set ablaze, the fasces of a highest man and a most renowned consul broken, the most holy body of the bravest and best tribune of the plebs you saw not touched and violated by hand, but wounded with iron and done to death. By which carnage some magistrates, moved partly by fear of death, partly by desperation of the commonwealth, withdrew a little from my cause; there remained those whom neither terror nor force, neither hope nor fear, neither promises nor threats, neither weapons nor torches would drive away from your authority, from the dignity of the Roman people, from my safety.

[8] Princeps P. Lentulus, parens ac deus nostrae vitae, fortunae, memoriae, nominis, hoc specimen virtutis, hoc indicium animi, hoc lumen consulatus sui fore putavit, si me mihi, si meis, si vobis, si rei publicae reddidisset. qui ut est designatus, numquam dubitavit sententiam de salute mea se et re publica dignam dicere. cum a tribuno plebis vetaretur, cum praeclarum caput recitaretur, ne quis ad vos referret, ne quis decerneret, ne disputaret, ne loqueretur, ne pedibus iret, ne scribendo adesset, totam illam, ut ante dixi, proscriptionem non legem putavit, qua civis optime de re publica meritus nominatim sine iudicio una cum senatu rei publicae esset ereptus.

[8] The chief P. Lentulus, parent and god of our life, fortune, memory, name, thought that this would be the specimen of virtue, this the indication of spirit, this the light of his consulship, if he restored me to myself, to my own, to you, to the commonwealth. And he, as consul-designate, never doubted to utter an opinion about my safety worthy of himself and of the commonwealth. When he was being forbidden by a tribune of the plebs, when that splendid clause was being read out, that no one should bring a matter before you, that no one should decree, that no one should dispute, that no one should speak, that no one should go to the division, that no one should be present by writing, he deemed all that, as I said before, proscription, not law, by which a citizen most excellently deserving of the commonwealth had been, by name, without judgment, together with the senate, torn from the commonwealth.

ut vero iniit magistratum, non dicam: quid egit prius, sed quid omnino egit aliud, nisi ut me conservato vestram in posterum dignitatem auctoritatemque sanciret?

but indeed when he entered upon the magistracy, I will not say: what did he do first, but what did he do at all besides this, except that, with me preserved, he sanctioned your dignity and authority for the future?

[9] Di immortales, quantum mihi beneficium dedisse videmini, quod hoc anno P. Lentulus consul est! quanto maius dedissetis, si superiore anno fuisset! nec enim eguissem medicina consulari, nisi consulari vulnere concidissem.

[9] Immortal gods, how great a beneficence you seem to me to have bestowed, that in this year P. Lentulus is consul! How much greater would you have bestowed, if he had been so in the previous year! For I would not have needed consular medicine, unless I had collapsed from a consular wound.

audieram ex sapientissimo homine atque optimo civi et viro, Q. Catulo, non saepe unum consulem improbum, duo vero numquam post Romam conditam excepto illo Cinnano tempore fuisse. qua re meam causam semper fore firmissimam dicere solebat, dum vel unus in re publica consul esset. quod vere dixerat, si illud de duobus consulibus, quod ante in re publica non fuerat, perenne ac proprium manere potuisset.

I had heard from a most wise man and an excellent citizen and man, Q. Catulus, that not often had there been even one wicked consul, but truly two never since Rome was founded, except in that Cinnan time. For which reason he used to say that my cause would always be most firm, so long as even a single consul existed in the republic. And he had spoken truly—if that situation regarding two consuls, which previously had not been in the republic, could have remained perpetual and proper.

quod si Q. Metellus illo tempore consul fuisset [inimicus], dubitatis, quo animo fuerit in me conservando futurus, cum in restituendo auctorem fuisse adscriptoremque videatis?

But if Q. Metellus had been consul at that time [an enemy], do you doubt what spirit he would have had in preserving me, since in my restoration you see that he was both the author and the subscriber?

[10] Sed fuerunt duo consules, quorum mentes angustae, humiles, pravae, oppletae tenebris ac sordibus nomen ipsum consulatus, splendorem illius honoris, magnitudinem tanti imperii nec intueri nec sustinere nec capere potuerunt, non consules, sed mercatores provinciarum ac venditores vestrae dignitatis. quorum alter me Catilinam, amatorem suum, multis audientibus, alter Cethegum consobrinum reposcebat; qui me duo sceleratissimi post hominum memoriam non consules, sed latrones non modo deseruerunt in causa praesertim publica et consulari, sed prodiderunt, oppugnarunt, omni auxilio non solum suo, sed etiam vestro ceterorumque ordinum spoliatum esse voluerunt.

[10] But there were two consuls, whose minds, narrow, low, perverse, stuffed with darkness and filth, could neither gaze upon, nor sustain, nor grasp the very name of the consulship, the splendor of that honor, the magnitude of so great an imperium—no consuls, but merchants of provinces and venders of your dignity. Of whom the one, with many listening, was demanding me for Catiline, his paramour, the other was demanding Cethegus, his cousin; these two, most criminal within the memory of men, not consuls but brigands, not only abandoned me—especially in a cause public and consular—but betrayed me, assaulted me, and wished me to be stripped of all aid, not only theirs, but even yours and that of the other orders.

[11] Quorum alter tamen neque me neque quemquam fefellit. quis enim ullam ullius boni spem haberet in eo, cuius primum tempus aetatis palam fuisset ad omnium libidines divulgatum, qui ne a sanctissima quidem parte corporis potuisset hominum impuram intemperantiam propulsare? qui, cum suam rem non minus strenue quam postea publicam confecisset, egestatem et luxuriem domestico lenocinio sustentavit, qui, nisi in aram tribunatus confugisset, neque vim praetoris nec multitudinem creditorum nec bonorum proscriptionem effugere potuisset—quo in magistratu nisi rogationem de piratico bello tulisset, profecto egestate et improbitate coactus piraticam ipse fecisset, ac minore quidem cum rei publicae detrimento, quam quo intra moenia nefarius hostis praedoque versatus est -, quo inspectante ac sedente legem tribunus plebis tulit, ne auspiciis obtemperaretur, ne obnuntiare concilio aut comitiis, ne legi intercedere liceret, ut lex Aelia et Fufia ne valeret, quae nostri maiores certissima subsidia rei publicae contra tribunicios furores esse voluerunt.

[11] Of whom one, however, deceived neither me nor anyone. For who would have any hope of any good in him, whose very first season of life had been openly hawked about for everyone’s lusts, who had not been able to ward off men’s unclean intemperance even from the most sacred part of the body? who, having dispatched his own resources no less briskly than afterwards the public’s, sustained his indigence and luxury by a domestic pimping; who, unless he had fled to the altar of the tribunate, could have escaped neither the force of the praetor nor the multitude of creditors nor the proscription of his goods—who, in that magistracy, unless he had carried a rogation concerning the piratic war, would surely, compelled by want and wickedness, have practiced piracy himself, and indeed with a lesser detriment to the republic than that with which, within the walls, as a nefarious enemy and robber, he conducted himself—, in whose sight and presence a tribune of the plebs carried a law that the auspices should not be obeyed, that there should be no announcing of unfavorable omens to the council or the comitia, that it should not be permitted to intercede against a law, so that the Aelian and Fufian law should not be in force—laws which our ancestors wished to be the most certain supports of the republic against tribunician frenzies.

[12] idemque postea, cum innumerabilis multitudo bonorum de Capitolio supplex ad eum sordidata venisset, cumque adulescentes nobilissimi cunctique equites Romani se ad lenonis impudicissimi pedes abiecissent, quo vultu cincinnatus ganeo non solum civium lacrimas, verum etiam patriae preces repudiavit! neque eo contentus fuit, sed etiam in contionem escendit eaque dixit, quae, si eius vir Catilina revixisset, dicere non esset ausus, se Nonarum Decembrium, quae me consule fuissent, clivique Capitolini poenas ab equitibus Romanis esse repetiturum. neque solum id dixit, sed quos ei commodum fuit, compellavit, Lucium vero Lamiam, equitem Romanum, praestanti dignitate hominem et saluti meae pro familiaritate, rei publicae pro fortunis suis amicissimum, consul imperiosus exire ex urbe iussit.

[12] And the same man afterwards, when an innumerable multitude of the good, sordidly clad, had come down from the Capitol to him as suppliants, and when the most noble youths and all the Roman knights had cast themselves at the feet of the most impudent pimp, with what countenance did the curly-locked glutton repudiate not only the tears of citizens but even the prayers of the fatherland! Nor was he content with that, but he even mounted the assembly and said things which, if his man Catiline had come back to life, he would not have dared to say: that he would exact from the Roman knights the penalties of the Nones of December, which had been during my consulship, and of the Capitoline slope. And not only did he say that, but he accosted whom it suited him; in fact Lucius Lamia, a Roman knight—a man of outstanding dignity and most friendly to my safety by reason of intimacy, and to the commonwealth by reason of his fortunes—the imperious consul ordered to depart from the city.

et cum vos vestem mutandam censuissetis cunctique mutassetis atque idem omnes boni iam ante fecissent, ille unguentis oblitus cum toga praetexta, quam omnes praetores aedilesque tum abiecerant, inrisit squalorem vestrum et luctum gratissimae civitatis fecitque, quod nemo umquam tyrannus, ut, quo minus occulte vestrum malum gemeretis, nihil diceret, ne aperte incommoda patriae lugeretis, ediceret.

and when you had resolved that dress should be changed and you all had changed it, and likewise all good men had already done so before, he, smeared with unguents, with the toga praetexta, which all the praetors and aediles had at that time cast aside, mocked your squalor and brought mourning upon a most beloved city, and he did what no tyrant ever did: namely, that, in order that you might groan over your misfortune less secretly, he would interdict nothing, and he would by edict declare that you were not to mourn openly the disadvantages of the fatherland.

[13] Cum vero in circo Flaminio non a tribuno plebis consul in contionem, sed a latrone archipirata productus esset, primum processit qua auctoritate vir! vini, somni, stupri plenus, madenti coma, composito capillo, gravibus oculis, fluentibus buccis, pressa voce et temulenta, quod in civis indemnatos esset animadversum, id sibi dixit gravis auctor vehementissime displicere. ubi nobis haec auctoritas tam diu tanta latuit?

[13] But when indeed in the Flaminian Circus the consul had been brought into an assembly not by a tribune of the plebs, but by a robber, an arch‑pirate, first he came forth—of what authority the man!—full of wine, of sleep, of debauchery, with dripping hair, coiffed locks, heavy eyes, sagging cheeks, with a compressed and temulent voice, said that the fact that punishment had been inflicted upon citizens uncondemned most vehemently displeased him, he, as a weighty authority. Where has this authority, so great, lain hidden from us for so long?

cur in lustris et helluationibus huius calamistrati tam eximia virtus tam diu cessavit?

why, in the brothels and guzzlings of this curl-ironed dandy, did such exceptional virtue stand idle for so long?

Nam ille alter, Caesoninus Calventius, ab adulescentia versatus est in foro, cum eum praeter simulatam versutamque tristitiam nulla res commendaret, non iuris <notitia>, non dicendi vi<sS, non scien>tia rei militaris, non cognoscendorum hominum studium, non liberalitas; quem praeteriens cum incultum, horridum maestumque vidisses, etiam si agrestem et inhumanum existimares, tamen libidinosum et perditum non putares.

For that other one, Caesoninus Calventius, from adolescence was engaged in the forum, since nothing commended him apart from a simulated and crafty sadness: not of law, not the vitia of military affairs, not any zeal for getting to know men, not liberality; whom, as you passed by, when you had seen him unkempt, rough, and gloomy, even if you would esteem him rustic and inhuman, nevertheless you would not think him lustful and profligate.

[14] Cum hoc homine an cum stipite in foro constitisses, nihil crederes interesse; sine sensu, sine sapore, elinguem, tardum, inhumanum negotium, Cappadocem modo abreptum de grege venalium diceres. idem domi quam libidinosus, quam impurus, quam intemperans, non ianua receptis, sed pseudothyro intromissis voluptatibus! cum vero litteras studere incipit et beluus immanis cum Graeculis philosophari, tum est Epicureus, non penitus illi disciplinae, quaecumque est, deditus, sed captus uno verbo voluptatis.

[14] If you had stood in the forum with this man or with a log, you would think there was no difference; without sense, without savor, tongueless, sluggish, an inhuman affair—you would say a Cappadocian just snatched from a herd of those for sale. Yet the same man at home—how lustful, how impure, how intemperate—his pleasures admitted not by the door, but introduced through a pseudo-door! But when he begins to study letters and that monstrous beast starts to philosophize with the Greeklings, then he is an Epicurean, not thoroughly devoted to that discipline, whatever it is, but captured by the single word “pleasure.”

habet autem magistros non ex istis ineptis, qui dies totos de officio ac de virtute disserunt, qui ad laborem, ad industriam, ad pericula pro patria subeunda adhortantur, sed eos, qui disputent horam nullam vacuam voluptate esse debere, in omni parte corporis semper oportere aliquod gaudium delectationemque versari.

he has, moreover, teachers not from those inept ones who spend whole days discoursing about duty and virtue, who exhort to labor, to industry, to perils to be undergone for the fatherland, but those who argue that no hour ought to be vacant of pleasure, that in every part of the body there should always be some joy and delectation in circulation.

[15] His utitur quasi praefectis libidinum suarum, hi voluptates omnes vestigant atque odorantur, hi sunt conditores instructoresque convivii, idem expendunt atque aestimant voluptates sententiamque dicunt et iudicant, quantum cuique libidini tribuendum esse videatur. horum ille artibus eruditus ita contempsit hanc prudentissimam civitatem, ut omnis suas libidines, omnia flagitia latere posse arbitraretur, si modo vultum importunum in forum detulisset.

[15] He uses these men as, so to speak, prefects of his lusts; they track and scent out all pleasures; they are the founders and arrangers of the banquet; likewise they weigh and estimate the pleasures, and they deliver an opinion and pass judgment how much, to each libido, should, as it seems, be allotted. Taught by the arts of these men, he so despised this most prudent commonwealth that he supposed all his lusts, all his flagitious deeds, could lie hidden, if only he had borne an impudent visage into the forum.

Is nequaquam me quidem [non]—cognoram enim propter Pisonum adfinitatem, quam longe hunc ab hoc genere cognatio materna Transalpini sanguinis abstulisset -, sed vos populumque Romanum non consilio neque eloquentia, quod in multis saepe accidit, sed rugis supercilioque decepit.

He by no means deceived me indeed [not]—for I had known, on account of the affinity of the Pisos, how far the maternal kinship of Transalpine blood had removed him from this sort -, but you and the Roman people he deceived not by counsel nor by eloquence, which has often happened in many, but by wrinkles and by a supercilious brow.

[16] Luci Piso, tune ausus es isto oculo, non dicam isto animo, ista fronte, non vita, tanto supercilio, non enim possum dicere tantis rebus gestis, cum A. Gabinio consociare consilia pestis meae? non te illius unguentorum odor, non vini anhelitus, non frons calamistri notata vestigiis in eam cogitationem adducebat, ut, cum illius re similis fuisses, frontis tibi integimento ad occultanda tanta flagitia diutius uti non liceret? cum hoc coire ausus es, ut consularem dignitatem, ut rei publicae statum, ut senatus auctoritatem, ut civis optime meriti fortunas provinciarum foedere addiceres?

[16] Lucius Piso, did you then dare with that eye—I will not say with that spirit—with that brow, not to say with that life—with so much supercilium (eyebrow-arching)—for I cannot say with so many deeds accomplished—to associate with A. Gabinius the counsels of my ruin? Did neither the odor of his unguents, nor the breath of wine, nor the brow marked with the traces of the curling‑iron lead you into this thought, that, since you were like him in reality, it would no longer be permitted you to use the covering of your brow to occult such great flagitious acts? Did you dare to unite with this man, so as to surrender by a provincial foedus the consular dignity, the condition of the republic, the authority of the senate, the fortunes of a most well‑deserving citizen?

te consule tuis edictis et imperiis senatui populi Romani non est licitum non modo sententiis atque auctoritate sua, sed ne luctu quidem ac vestitu rei publicae subvenire?

with you as consul, by your edicts and commands, was it not permitted to the senate of the Roman people to come to the aid of the republic, not only by its votes and its authority, but not even by mourning and attire?

[17] Capuaene te putabas, in qua urbe domicilium quondam superbiae fuit, consulem esse, sicut eras eo tempore, an Romae, in qua civitate omnes ante vos consules senatui paruerunt? tu es ausus in circo Flaminio productus cum tuo illo pari dicere te semper misericordem fuisse? quo verbo senatum atque omnis bonos tum, cum a patria pestem depulissem, crudelis demonstrabas fuisse.

[17] Did you think yourself to be consul at Capua, in which city a domicile of superbia once was—just as you were at that time—or at Rome, in which civitas all the consuls before you obeyed the Senate? Were you so bold, when brought forward in the Circus Flaminius with that peer of yours, to say that you had always been merciful? By which word you were showing that the Senate and all good men, at that time when I had driven the pest from the fatherland, had been cruel.

tu misericors me, adfinem tuum, quem comitiis tuis praerogativae primum custodem praefeceras, quem Kalendis Ianuariis tertio loco sententiam rogaras, constrictum inimicis rei publicae tradidisti, tu meum generum, propinquum tuum, tu adfinem tuam, filiam meam, superbissimis et crudelissimis verbis a genibus tuis reppulisti; idemque tu clementia ac misericordia singulari, cum ego una cum re publica non tribunicio, sed consulari ictu concidissem, tanto scelere tantaque intemperantia fuisti, ut ne unam quidem horam interesse paterere inter meam pestem et tuam praedam, saltem dum conticisceret illa lamentatio et gemitus urbis!

you, the merciful, me, your affine, whom at your comitia you had appointed the first custodian of the prerogative tribe, whom on the Kalends of January you had asked for an opinion in the third place, you handed over, bound, to the enemies of the commonwealth; you drove from your knees my son-in-law, your kinsman, and your affine, my daughter, with the most superbie and most cruel words; and you, with singular clemency and mercy, when I had fallen together with the republic not by a tribunician but by a consular stroke, were of such wickedness and such intemperance that you did not allow even a single hour to intervene between my ruin and your booty, at least until that lamentation and the groaning of the city fell silent!

[18] Nondum palam factum erat occidisse rem publicam, cum tibi arbitria funeris solvebantur; uno eodemque tempore domus mea diripiebatur, ardebat, bona ad vicinum consulem de Palatio, de Tusculano ad item vicinum alterum consulem deferebantur, cum isdem operis suffragium ferentibus eodem gladiatore latore, vacuo non modo a bonis, sed etiam a liberis atque inani foro, ignaro populo Romano, quid ageretur, senatu vero oppresso et adflicto, duobus impiis nefariisque consulibus aerarium, provinciae, legiones, imperia donabantur.

[18] It had not yet been made public that the republic had been slain, when to you the prerogatives of the funeral were being handed over; at one and the same time my house was being plundered, it was burning, my goods were being carried to the neighboring consul from the Palatine, and from my Tusculan estate to likewise a neighboring other consul, while the same hired gangs were casting the suffrage, with the same gladiator as proposer, the forum empty not only of the good men but even of the freeborn and void, the Roman people unaware of what was being done, and the senate indeed oppressed and afflicted, the treasury, the provinces, the legions, the commands were being bestowed upon two impious and nefarious consuls.

Horum consulum ruinas vos consules vestra virtute fulsistis, summa tribunorum plebis praetorumque fide et diligentia sublevati.

You consuls have shored up the ruins of these consuls by your own virtue, having been sustained by the highest fidelity and diligence of the tribunes of the plebs and of the praetors.

[19] Quid ego de praestantissimo viro, T. Annio, dicam, aut quis de tali cive satis digne umquam loquetur? qui cumvideret sceleratum civem aut domesticum potius hostem, si legibus uti liceret, iudicio esse frangendum, sin ipsa iudicia vis impediret ac tolleret, audaciam virtute, furorem fortitudine, temeritatem consilio, manum copiis, vim vi esse superandam, primo de vi postulavit; postea quam ab eodem iudicia sublata esse vidit, ne ille omnia vi posset efficere, curavit; qui docuit neque tecta neque templa neque forum nec curiam sine summa virtute ac maximis opibus et copiis ab intestino latrocinio posse defendi; qui primus post meum discessum metum bonis, spem audacibus, timorem huic ordini, servitutem depulit civitati.

[19] What shall I say about the most preeminent man, T. Annius, or who will ever speak worthily enough about such a citizen? who, when he saw that a criminal citizen, or rather a domestic enemy, if it were permitted to use the laws, ought to be broken by judgment; but if force itself hindered and removed the courts, that audacity must be overcome by virtue, fury by fortitude, temerity by counsel, the hand by forces, violence by violence must be overcome, at first initiated an action under the statute on violence; afterwards, when he saw that the courts had been taken away by that same man, he took care that that man should not be able to accomplish everything by force; he taught that neither houses nor temples nor the forum nor the curia can be defended from internal brigandage without the highest virtue and the greatest resources and forces; he, the first after my departure, drove away fear from the good, hope from the audacious, fear from this order, slavery from the state.

[20] Quam rationem pari virtute, animo, fide P. Sestius secutus pro mea salute, pro vestra auctoritate, pro statu civitatis nullas sibi inimicitias, nullam vim, nullos impetus, nullum vitae discrimen vitandum umquam putavit; qui causam senatus exagitatam contionibus improborum sic sua diligentia multitudini commendavit, ut nihil tam populare quam vestrum nomen, nihil tam omnibus carum aliquando quam vestra auctoritas videretur; qui me cum omnibus rebus, quibus tribunus plebis potuit, defendit, tum reliquis officiis, iuxta ac si meus frater esset, sustentavit; cuius ego clientibus, libertis, familia, copiis, litteris ita sum sustentatus; ut meae calamitatis non adiutor solum, verum etiam socius videretur.

[20] Which course, with equal virtue, courage, and faith, P. Sestius following, for my safety, for your authority, for the condition of the state, thought that no enmities, no force, no assaults, no peril of life were ever to be avoided for himself; who so commended the cause of the senate, harried by the assemblies of the wicked, to the multitude by his own diligence, that nothing seemed so popular as your name, nothing at any time so dear to all as your authority; who defended me with all the means with which a tribune of the plebs could, and then with the remaining services sustained me, just as if he were my brother; by whose clients, freedmen, household, resources, and letters I was so supported, that he seemed not only a helper of my misfortune, but even its partner.

[21] Iam ceterorum officia studia vidistis, quam cupidus mei C. Cestilius, quam studiosus vestri, quam non varius fuerit in causa.

[21] Already you have seen the services and zeal of the others—how eager on my behalf Gaius Cestilius has been, how devoted to you, how unwavering he has been in the cause.

Quid M. Cispius? cui ego ipsi, parenti fratrique eius sentio quantum debeam ; qui, cum a me voluntas eorum in privato iudicio esset offensa, publici mei beneficii memoria privatam offensionem oblitteraverunt.

What of M. Cispius? to whom I myself, to his father and to his brother, I perceive how much I owe ; who, when their goodwill had been offended by me in a private judgment, by the memory of my public benefaction obliterated the private offense.

Iam T. Fadius, qui mihi quaestor fuit, M. Curtius, cuius ego patri quaestor fui, studio, amore, animo huic necessitudini non defuetunt.

Now too T. Fadius, who was quaestor to me, and M. Curtius, whose father I myself was quaestor to, have not been lacking in zeal, love, and spirit for this necessitude.

Multa de me C. Messius et amicitiae et rei publicae causa dixit, legem separatim initio de salute mea promulgavit.

C. Messius said many things about me both for the sake of friendship and of the Republic, and he promulgated a law separately at the outset concerning my safety.

[22] Q. Fabricius si, quae de me agere conatus est, ea contra vim et ferrum perficere potuisset, mense Ianuario nostrum statum reciperassemus; quem ad salutem meam voluntas impulit, vis retardavit, auctoritas vestra revocavit.

[22] Q. Fabricius—if he had been able to carry through, against force and steel, the things which he attempted to do on my behalf—we would have recovered our status in the month of January; him his will impelled toward my safety, force retarded, your authority recalled.

Iam vero praetores quo animo in me fuerint, vos existimare potuistis, cum L Caecilius privatim me suis omnibus copiis studuerit sustentare, publice promulgarit de mea salute cum collegis paene omnibus, direptoribus autem bonorum meorum in ius adeundi potestatem non fecerit. M. autem Calidius statim designatus sententia sua, quam esset cara sibi mea salus, declaravit.

Now indeed, what spirit the praetors have had toward me you have been able to judge, since L. Caecilius privately strove to sustain me with all his resources, and publicly promulgated a bill concerning my safety with almost all his colleagues, and did not grant to the depredators of my goods the power of going into court. But M. Calidius, immediately upon being designated, by his vote declared how dear to him my safety was.

[23] Omnia officia C. Septimi, Q. Valeri, P. Crassi, Sex. Quinctili, C. Cornuti summa et in me et in rem publicam constiterunt.

[23] All the good offices of C. Septimius, Q. Valerius, P. Crassus, Sex. Quinctilius, and C. Cornutus have been of the highest, both toward me and toward the commonwealth.

Quae cum libenter commemoro, tum non invitus non nullorum in me nefarie commissa praetereo. non est mei temporis iniurias meminisse, quas ego, etiam si ulcisci possem, tamen oblivisci mallem. alio transferenda mea tota vita est, ut bene de me meritis referam gratiam, amicitias igni perspectas tuear, cum apertis hostibus bellum geram, timidis amicis ignoscam, proditores vindicem, dolorem profectionis meae reditus dignitate consoler.

While I gladly commemorate these things, at the same time I not unwillingly pass over the nefarious deeds of some committed against me. It is not for my time to remember injuries, which I, even if I could avenge, would yet prefer to forget. My whole life is to be transferred elsewhere, so that I may render gratitude to those who have deserved well of me, may guard friendships tested by fire, may wage war with open enemies, may pardon timid friends, may vindicate against traitors, and may console the pain of my departure by the dignity of my return.

[24] quod si mihi nullum aliud esset officium in omni vita reliquum, nisi ut erga duces ipsos et principes atque auctores salutis meae satis gratus iudicarer, tamen exiguum reliquae vitae tempus non modo ad referendam, verum etiam ad commemorandam gratiam mihi relictum putarem.

[24] but if no other duty were left to me in my whole life, except that I be judged sufficiently grateful toward the leaders themselves and the princes and authors of my safety, nevertheless I would consider the meager time of my remaining life to have been left to me not only for rendering, but even for commemorating gratitude.

Quando enim ego huic homini ac liberis eius, quando omnes mei gratiam referent? quae memoria, quae vis ingenii, quae magnitudo observantiae tot tantisque beneficiis respondere poterit? qui mihi primus adflicto et iacenti consularem fidem dextramque porrexit, qui me a morte ad vitam, a desperatione ad spem, ab exitio ad salutem vocavit, qui tanto amore in me, studio in rem publicam fuit, ut excogitaret, quem ad modum calamitatem meam non modo levaret, sed etiam honestaret.

When, indeed, shall I repay gratitude to this man and his children, when shall all my people repay it? What memory, what force of ingenium, what magnitude of observance will be able to answer to so many and so great benefactions? He who first, to me afflicted and prostrate, extended consular faith and his right hand; who called me from death to life, from desperation to hope, from destruction to salvation; who had such love toward me, such zeal for the Republic, that he devised how he might not only lighten my calamity, but even ennoble it.

quid enim magnificentius, quid praeclarius mihi accidere potuit, quam quod illo referente vos decrevistis, ut cuncti ex omni Italia, qui rem publicam salvam vellent, ad me unum hominem fractum et prope dissipatum restituendum et defendendum venirent, ut, qua voce ter omnino post Romam conditam consul usus esset pro universa re publica apud eos solum, qui eius vocem exaudire possent, eadem voce senatus omnis ex omnibus agris atque oppidis civis totamque Italiam ad unius salutem defendendam excitaret?

for what more magnificent, what more illustrious could have happened to me than that, upon his report, you decreed that all from all Italy who wished the commonwealth safe should come to me alone, a man broken and almost dissipated, to be restored and defended; that, with the same voice which the consul had used in all three times since Rome was founded on behalf of the entire commonwealth, among those only who could hear his voice, with that same voice the whole senate should rouse from all the fields and towns the citizens and all Italy to defend the safety of one man?

[25] quid ego gloriosius meis posteris potui relinquere quam hoc, senatum iudicasse, qui civis me non defendisset, eum rem publicam salvam noluisse? itaque tantum vestra auctoritas, tantum eximia consulis dignitas valuit, ut dedecus et flagitium se committere putaret, si qui non veniret.

[25] What more glorious could I have left to my posterity than this: that the Senate judged that any citizen who had not defended me had not wished the commonwealth to be safe? And so great was your authority, so great the exceptional dignity of the consul, that anyone thought he was committing disgrace and a scandal if he did not come.

Idemque consul, cum illa incredibilis multitudo Romam et paene Italia ipsa venisset, vos frequentissimos in Capitolium convocavit. quo tempore quantam vim naturae bonitas haberet et vera nobilitas, intellegere potuistis. nam Q. Metellus, et inimicus et frater inimici, perspecta vestra voluntate omnia privata odia deposuit; quem P. Servilius, vir cum clarissimus tum vero optimus mihique amicissimus, et auctoritatis et orationis suae divina quadam gravitate ad sui generis communisque sanguinis facta virtutesque revocavit, ut haberet in consilio et fratrem [ab inferis], socium rerum mearum, et omnis Metellos, praestantissimos civis, paene ex Acherunte excitatos, in quibus Numidicum illum Metellum, cuius quondam de patria discessus molestus omnibus, ipsi ne luctuosus quidem visus est.

And the same consul, when that incredible multitude had come to Rome and almost Italy itself, convoked you in the fullest numbers upon the Capitol. At which time you were able to understand how great a force the goodness of nature and true nobility possessed. For Quintus Metellus, both an enemy and the brother of an enemy, once he had perceived your good will, laid aside all private hatreds; whom Publius Servilius, a man both most illustrious and indeed most excellent and a most friendly man to me, by a certain divine gravity of both his authority and his oration, recalled to the deeds and virtues of his lineage and of our common blood, so that he might have in his council both his brother [from the lower world], an associate of my affairs, and all the Metelli, most outstanding citizens, almost summoned up from Acheron, among whom that Metellus Numidicus, whose departure at one time from the fatherland was troublesome to all, did not even seem lamentable to himself.

[26] Itaque exstitit non modo salutis defensor, qui ante hoc summum beneficium fuerat inimicus, verum etiam adscriptor dignitatis meae. quo quidem die, cum vos quadringenti decem septem essetis, magistratus autem omnes adessent, dissensit unus is, qui sua lege coniuratos etiam ab inferis excitandos putarat. atque illo die, cum rem publicam meis consiliis conservatam gravissimis verbis et plurimis iudicassetis, idem consul curavit, ut eadem a principibus civitatis in contione postero die dicerentur, cum quidem ipse egit ornatissime meam causam perfecitque astante atque audiente Italia tota, ut nemo cuiusquam conducti aut perditi vocem acerbam atque inimicam bonis posset audire.

[26] And so there arose not only a defender of safety, who before this highest benefaction had been an enemy, but even an enroller of my dignity. On that very day, when you were four hundred and seventeen, and all the magistrates were present, one dissented—the man who by his own law had supposed that even the sworn were to be summoned up from the lower world. And on that day, when you had adjudged, in most weighty and very many words, that the republic had been conserved by my counsels, the same consul took care that the same things should be said by the principals of the state in a public assembly on the next day, when indeed he himself pleaded my cause most ornately and brought it to completion, with all Italy standing by and listening, so that no one could hear the bitter voice, hostile to the good, of any hired or profligate person.

[27] Ad haec non modo adiumenta salutis, sed etiam ornamenta dignitatis meae reliqua vos idem addidistis: decrevistis, ne quis ulla ratione rem impediret; qui id impedisset, vos graviter molesteque laturos; illum contra rem publicam salutemque bonorum concordiamque civium facturum, et ut ad vos de eo statim referretur; meque, etiam si diutius calumniarentur, redire iussistis. quid? ut agerentur gratiae, qui e municipiis venissent?

[27] To these things you, the same men, added not only aids of safety but also the remaining ornaments of my dignity: you decreed that no one by any means should impede the matter; that, if anyone did impede it, you would bear it grievously and resentfully; that such a man would be acting against the commonwealth, the safety of the good, and the concord of the citizens, and that it should be reported to you about him immediately; and you ordered that I should return, even if they should calumniate for a longer time. What? that thanks should be given to those who had come from the municipia?

quid? ut ad illam diem, res cum redissent, rogarentur, ut pari studio convenirent? quid denique ille dies, quem P. Lentulus mihi fratrique meo liberisque nostris natalem constituit non modo ad nostram, verum etiam ad sempiterni memoriam temporis?

What? that, for that day, when affairs had been restored, they should be asked to convene with equal zeal? What, finally, of that day which P. Lentulus constituted as the natal day for me and my brother and our children, not only for our remembrance, but even for the remembrance of everlasting time?

quo die nos comitiis centuriatis, quae maxime maiores comitia iusta dici haberique voluerunt, arcessivit in patriam, ut eaedem centuriae, quae me consulem fecerant, consulatum meum comprobarent.

on which day he summoned us back into the fatherland at the comitia centuriata, which our ancestors especially wished to be called and considered lawful comitia, in order that the same centuries which had made me consul might ratify my consulship.

[28] Quo die quis civis fuit, qui fas esse putaret, quacumque aut aetate aut valetudine esset, non se de salute mea sententiam ferre? quando tantam frequentiam in campo, tantum splendorem Italiae totius ordinumque omnium, quando illa dignitate rogatores, diribitores custodesque vidistis? itaque P. Lentuli beneficio excellenti atque divino non reducti sumus in patriam sicut non nulli clarissimi cives, sed equis insignibus et curru aurato reportati.

[28] On that day, what citizen was there who would think it right, whatever his age or state of health, not to cast his vote about my safety? When did you ever see such a throng in the Campus, such splendor of all Italy and of all orders, when did you see with that dignity the rogatores, the diribitores, and the custodians? And so, by the outstanding and divine beneficence of P. Lentulus, we were not brought back into the fatherland as some most illustrious citizens have been, but were carried back with adorned horses and a gilded chariot.

[29] Possum ego satis in Cn. Pompeium umquam gratus videri? qui non solum apud vos, qui omnes idem sentiebatis, sed etiam apud universum populum salutem populi Romani et conservatam per me et coniunctam esse cum mea dixerit, qui causam meam prudentibus commendarit, imperitos edocuerit eodemque tempore improbos auctoritate sua compresserit, bonos excitarit, qui populum Romanum pro me tamquam pro fratre aut pro parente non solum hortatus sit, verum etiam obsecrarit, qui, cum ipse propter metum dimicationis et sanguinis domo se teneret, iam a superioribus tribunis petierit, ut de salute mea et promulgarent et referrent, qui in colonia nuper constituta, cum ipse gereret magistratum, in qua nemo erat emptus intercessor, vim et crudelitatem privilegii auctoritate honestissimorum hominum et publicis litteris consignarit princepsque Italiae totius praesidium ad meam salutem implorandum putarit, qui, cum ipse mihi semper amicissimus fuisset, etiam, ut suos necessarios mihi amicos redderet, elaborarit.

[29] Can I ever seem sufficiently grateful toward Gnaeus Pompeius? who not only among you, who all were of the same mind, but even before the whole people declared that the safety of the Roman people both had been preserved through me and was conjoined with my own; who commended my cause to the prudent, instructed the unskilled, and at the same time by his authority repressed the wicked, stirred the good; who urged the Roman people for me as for a brother or a parent, and even besought them; who, although he himself kept to his house because of fear of a clash and of bloodshed, had already requested of the earlier tribunes that they both promulgate and bring forward measures concerning my safety; who, in a colony lately established, while he himself was holding magistracy, in which there was no bought vetoing magistrate, recorded the force and cruelty of the special privilege by the authority of most honorable men and by public documents, and, as the foremost man of all Italy, thought that the protection of the whole of Italy should be implored for my safety; who, although he himself had always been most friendly to me, even labored to render his own intimates my friends.

[30] Quibus autem officiis T. Anni beneficia remunerabor? cuius omnis ratio, cogitatio, totus denique tribunatus nihil aliud fuit nisi constans, perpetua, fortis, invicta defensio salutis meae. quid de P. Sestio loquar?

[30] By what services shall I remunerate the benefactions of T. Annius? whose entire rationale, deliberation, and, in fine, his whole tribunate was nothing else except a constant, perpetual, brave, unconquered defense of my safety. what shall I say of P. Sestius?

qui suam erga me benivolentiam et fidem non solum animi dolore, sed etiam corporis vulneribus ostendit.

who showed his benevolence toward me and his faith not only by pain of mind, but also by wounds of the body.

Vobis vero, patres conscripti, singulis et egi et agam gratias; universis egi initio, quantum potui, satis ornate agere nullo modo possum. et quamquam sunt in me praecipua merita multorum, quae sileri nullo modo possunt, tamen huius temporis ac timoris mei non est conari commemorare beneficia in me singulorum; nam difficile est non aliquem, nefas quemquam praeterire. ego vos universos, patres conscripti, deorum numero colere debeo.

To you indeed, Conscript Fathers, I have given and I shall give thanks, to each individually; to all collectively I gave thanks at the beginning, as far as I could; to render them with sufficient ornament I am in no way able. And although there are outstanding merits of many toward me, which can in no way be kept silent, yet it is not for this moment, nor for my fear, to attempt to commemorate the benefactions of individuals toward me; for it is difficult not to pass over someone, and it is an impiety to pass over anyone. I ought to revere you all, Conscript Fathers, in the number of the gods.

sed ut in ipsis dis immortalibus non semper eosdem atque alias alios solemus et venerari et precari, sic in hominibus de me divinitus meritis omnis erit aetas mihi ad eorum erga me merita praedicanda atque recolenda.

but just as, with the immortal gods themselves, we are not always accustomed both to venerate and to beseech the same ones, but at other times others, so, among men who have, by divine prompting, merited in regard to me, every age will be for me for proclaiming and recollecting their merits toward me.

[31] hodierno autem die nominatim a me magistratibus statui gratias esse agendas et de privatis uni, qui pro salute mea municipia coloniasque adisset, populum Romanum supplex obsecrasset, sententiam dixisset eam, quam vos secuti mihi dignitatem meam reddidistis. vos me florentem semper ornastis, laborantem mutatione vestis et prope luctu vestro, quoad licuit, defendistis. nostra memoria senatores ne in suis quidem periculis mutare vestem solebant; in meo periculo senatus veste mutata fuit, quoad licuit per eorum edicta, qui mea pericula non modo suo praesidio, sed etiam vestra deprecatione nudarunt.

[31] But on this very day I have determined that thanks are to be given by me by name to the magistrates, and, as for private persons, to one man, who, for my safety, had gone round the municipal towns and the colonies, had as a suppliant besought the Roman people, had delivered that motion which, you having followed, restored my dignity to me. You adorned me while I was flourishing; when I was in distress, by a change of dress and almost by your mourning, so far as it was allowed, you defended me. Within our memory senators were not accustomed to change dress even in their own dangers; in my danger the senate had its dress changed, so far as it was permitted by the edicts of those who stripped me, in my perils, not only of their safeguard but even of your intercession.

[32] Quibus ego rebus obiectis, cum mihi privato confligendum viderem cum eodem exercitu, quem consul non armis, sed vestra auctoritate superaram, multa mecum ipse reputavi. dixerat in contione consul se clivi Capitolini poenas ab equitibus Romanis repetiturum; nominatim alii compellabantur, alii citabantur, alii relegabantur; aditus templorum erant non solum praesidiis et manu, verum etiam demolitione sublati. alter consul, ut me et rem publicam non modo desereret, sed etiam hostibus rei publicae proderet, pactionibus eos suorum praemiorum obligarat.

[32] With these things objected, when I saw that, as a private citizen, I must contend with that same army which, as consul, I had overcome not by arms but by your authority, I revolved many things with myself. The consul had said in a public assembly that he would exact from the Roman equites the penalties of the Capitoline Slope; by name some were accused, others were cited, others were relegated; the approaches of the temples had been taken away not only by garrisons and force, but even by demolition. The other consul, in order not only to desert me and the Republic, but even to betray us to the enemies of the Republic, had bound them by bargains for his own rewards.

erat alius ad portas cum imperio in multos annos magnoque exercitu, quem ego inimicum mihi fuisse non dico, tacuisse, cum diceretur esse inimicus, scio.

There was another at the gates, with imperium for many years and with a great army, whom I do not say had been an enemy to me; I know that he kept silent, when it was being said that he was an enemy.

[33] Duae partes esse in re publica cum putarentur, altera me deposcere propter inimicitias, altera timide defendere propter suspicionem caedis putabatur. qui autem me deposcere videbantur, in hoc auxerunt dimicationis metum, quod numquam infitiando suspicionem hominum curamque minuerunt. qua re cum viderem senatum ducibus orbatum, me a magistratibus partim oppugnatum, partim proditum, partim derelictum, servos simulatione collegiorum nominatim esse conscriptos, copias omnis Catilinae paene isdem ducibus ad spem caedis et incendiorum esse revocatas, equites Romanos proscriptionis, municipia vastitatis, omnis caedis metu esse permotos, potui, potui, patres conscripti, multis auctoribus fortissimis viris me vi armisque defendere, nec mihi ipsi ille animus idem meus vobis non incognitus defuit.

[33] When two parties were thought to exist in the republic, the one was considered to demand me on account of enmities, the other to defend timidly because of the suspicion of slaughter. But those who seemed to demand me increased in this the fear of a combat, because by never denying they did not lessen the suspicion of men and their concern. Wherefore, since I saw the senate bereft of leaders; myself by the magistrates partly attacked, partly betrayed, partly abandoned; slaves enrolled by name under the pretense of collegia; all Catiline’s forces almost by the same leaders recalled to the hope of slaughter and arsons; the Roman knights stirred by fear of proscription, the municipal towns by fear of devastation, all men moved by fear of slaughter— I could, I could, Conscript Fathers, on the authority of many most valiant men, defend myself by force and arms; nor did that spirit of mine, the same not unknown to you, fail me myself.

sed videbam, si vicissem praesentem adversarium, nimium multos mihi alios esse vincendos; si victus essem, multis bonis et pro me et mecum etiam post me esse pereundum, tribuniciique sanguinis ultores esse praesentis, meae mortis poenas iudicio et posteritati reservari.

but I saw that, if I had conquered the present adversary, far too many others would have to be conquered by me; if I had been conquered, many good men, both on my behalf and with me, and even after me, would have to perish; that avengers of tribunician blood were present; that the penalties for my death were being reserved for judgment and for posterity.

[34] Nolui, cum consul communem salutem sine ferro defendissem, meam privatus armis defendere, bonosque viros lugere malui meas fortunas quam suis desperare. ac si solus essem interfectus, mihi turpe, si cum multis, rei publicae funestum fore videbatur.

[34] I did not wish, since as consul I had defended the common safety without steel, to defend my own as a private man by arms, and I preferred that good men should mourn my fortunes rather than despair of their own. And if I alone had been slain, it seemed to me shameful; if together with many, it seemed it would be disastrous to the Republic.

Quod si mihi aeternam esse aerumnam propositam arbitrarer, morte me ipse potius quam sempiterno dolore multassem. sed cum viderem me non diutius quam ipsam rem publicam ex hac urbe afuturum, neque ego illa exterminata mihi remanendum putavi, et illa, simul atque revocata est, me secum pariter reportavit. mecum leges, mecum quaestiones, mecum iura magistratuum, mecum senatus auctoritas, mecum libertas, mecum etiam frugum ubertas, mecum deorum et hominum sanetitates omnes et religiones afuerunt.

But if I had judged that an eternal affliction was set before me, I would have punished myself by death rather than by sempiternal pain. But since I saw that I would be away from this city no longer than the commonwealth itself, neither did I think that, with it banished, I ought to remain; and it, as soon as it was recalled, brought me back together with itself equally. Along with me the laws, along with me the courts of inquiry, along with me the rights of the magistrates, along with me the authority of the senate, along with me liberty, along with me even the abundance of crops, along with me the sanctities of all gods and men and all religions were absent.

quae si semper abessent, magis vestras fortunas lugerem, quam desiderarem meas; sin aliquando revocarentur, intellegebam mihi cum illis una esse redeundum.

which, if they were always absent, I would mourn your fortunes more than I would long for my own; but if at some time they were to be recalled, I understood that I must return together with them.

[35] Cuius mei sensus certissimus testis est hic idem, qui custos capitis fuit, Cn. Plancius, qui omnibus provincialibus ornamentis commodisque depositis totam suam quaesturam in me sustentando et conservando collocavit. qui si mihi quaestor imperatori fuisset, in filii loco fuisset; nunc certe erit in parentis, cum fuerit quaestor non imperii, sed doloris mei.

[35] Of which my sentiment the most certain witness is this same man, who was the guardian of my person, Cn. Plancius, who, with all provincial ornaments and advantages laid aside, devoted his whole quaestorship to sustaining and preserving me. Who, if he had been quaestor to me as an imperator, would have been in the place of a son; now surely he will be in the place of a parent, since he was quaestor not of my imperium, but of my grief.

[36] Quapropter, patres conscripti, quoniam in rem publicam sum pariter cum re publica restitutus, non modo in ea defendenda nihil minuam de libertate mea pristina, sed etiam adaugebo. etenim si eam tum defendebam, cum mihi aliquid illa debebat, quid nunc me facere oportet, cum ego illi plurimum debeo? nam quid est, quod animum meum frangere aut debilitare possit, cuius ipsam calamitatem non modo nullius delicti, sed etiam divinorum in rem publicam beneficiorum testem esse videatis?

[36] Wherefore, conscript fathers, since I have been restored to the republic together with the republic, not only in defending it shall I diminish nothing of my former liberty, but I will even augment it. For indeed, if I was then defending it, when it owed me something, what ought I to do now, when I owe it very much? For what is there that could break or debilitate my spirit, whose very calamity you see to be a witness not only of no delinquency, but even of divine benefactions toward the republic?

nam importata est, quia defenderam civitatem, et mea voluntate suscepta est, ne a me defensa res publica per eundem me extremum in discrimen vocaretur.

for it was brought upon me, because I had defended the state, and it was undertaken by my own will, lest the commonwealth, defended by me, be called by that same me into extreme crisis.

[37] Pro me non, ut pro P. Popilio, nobilissimo homine, adulescentes filii, non propinquorum multitudo populum Romanum est deprecata, non, ut pro Q. Metello, summo et clarissimo viro, spectata iam adulescentia filius, non L. et C. Metelli consulares, non eorum liberi, non Q. Metellus Nepos, qui tum consulatum petebat, non Luculli, Servilii, Scipiones, Metellarum filii flentes ac sordidati populo Romano supplicaverunt, sed unus frater, qui in me pietate filius, consiliis parens, amore, ut erat, frater inventus est, squalore et lacrimis et cotidianis precibus desiderium mei nominis renovari et rerum gestarum memoriam usurpari coegit. qui cum statuisset, nisi me per vos reciperasset, eandem subire fortunam atque idem sibi domicilium et vitae et mortis deposcere, tamen numquam nec magnitudinem negotii nec solitudinem suam nec vim inimicorum ac tela pertimuit.

[37] On my behalf, not, as for P. Popilius, a most noble man, did adolescent sons, nor a multitude of kinsmen, plead with the Roman people; not, as for Q. Metellus, a highest and most illustrious man, did his son, now a tested youth, nor L. and C. Metelli, consulars, nor their children, nor Q. Metellus Nepos, who at that time was seeking the consulship, nor the Luculli, the Servilii, the Scipiones, the sons of the Metelli, weeping and in sordid garb, supplicate the Roman people; but a single brother—who in piety toward me was found a son, in counsels a father, in love, as he was, a brother—by his squalor and tears and daily prayers compelled the yearning for my name to be renewed and the remembrance of my deeds to be asserted. And he, although he had resolved that, unless he recovered me through you, he would undergo the same fortune and demand for himself the same dwelling both of life and of death, nevertheless never feared either the magnitude of the business, or his solitude, or the force of enemies and their missiles.

[38] Alter fuit propugnator mearum fortunarum et defensor adsiduus summa virtute et pietate C. Piso gener, qui minas inimicorum meorum, qui inimicitias adfinis mei, propinqui sui, consulis, qui Pontum et Bithyniam quaestor prae mea salute neglexit.

[38] Another was the champion of my fortunes and an assiduous defender with the highest virtue and piety, C. Piso, my son-in-law, who braved the menaces of my enemies, who endured the enmities of my affine, his own kinsman, the consul, who, as quaestor, neglected Pontus and Bithynia in preference to my safety.

Nihil umquam senatus de P. Popilio decrevit, numquam in hoc ordine de Q. Metello mentio facta est; tribuniciis sunt illi rogationibus interfectis inimicis denique restituti, cum alter eorum senatui paruisset, alter vim caedemque fugisset. nam C. quidem Marius, qui hac hominum memoria tertius ante me consularis tempestate civili expulsus est, non modo a senatu non est restitutus, sed reditu suo senatum cunctum paene delevit. nulla de illis magistratuum consensio, nulla ad rem publicam defendendam populi Romani convocatio, nullus Italiae motus, nulla decreta municipiorum et coloniarum exstiterunt.

The senate never decreed anything about Publius Popilius, never was mention made in this order about Quintus Metellus; they were finally restored by tribunitian bills, with their enemies slain, when one of them had obeyed the senate, the other had fled force and slaughter. For Gaius Marius indeed, who within living memory was the third before me of consular rank to be driven out by a civil tempest, not only was he not restored by the senate, but by his return he almost wiped out the whole senate. There was no consensus of the magistrates about those men, no convocation of the Roman people for defending the commonwealth, no movement of Italy, no decrees of the municipalities and colonies came forth.

[39] Qua re, cum me vestra auctoritas arcessierit, populus Romanus vocarit, res publica implorarit, Italia cuncta paene suis umeris reportarit, non committam, patres conscripti, ut, cum ea mihi sint restituta, quae in potestate mea non fuerunt, ea non habeam, quae ipse praestare possim, praesertim cum illa amissa reciperarim, virtutem et fidem numquam amiserim.

[39] Wherefore, since your authority has summoned me, the Roman People has called me, the Republic has implored me, and Italy has almost borne me back upon its shoulders, I will not allow, Conscript Fathers, that, when those things have been restored to me which were not in my power, I should not have those which I myself can furnish—especially since I have recovered those things that were lost, and have never lost virtue and faith.