Cicero: ORATORIA

[1] Si quis, iudices, forte nunc adsit ignarus legum, iudiciorum, consuetudinis nostrae, miretur profecto, quae sit tanta atrocitas huiusce causae, quod diebus festis ludisque publicis, omnibus forensibus negotiis intermissis unum hoc iudicium exerceatur, nec dubitet, quin tanti facinoris reus arguatur, ut eo neglecto civitas stare non possit; idem cum audiat esse legem, quae de seditiosis consceleratisque civibus, qui armati senatum obsederint, magistratibus vim attulerint, rem publicam oppugnarint, cotidie quaeri iubeat: legem non improbet, crimen quod versetur in iudicio, requirat; cum audiat nullum facinus, nullam audaciam, nullam vim in iudicium vocari, sed adulescentem illustri ingenio, industria, gratia accusari ab eius filio, quem ipse in iudicium et vocet et vocarit, oppugnari autem opibus meretriciis: [Atratini] illius pietatem non reprehendat, muliebrem libidinem comprimendam putet, vos laboriosos existimet, quibus otiosis ne in communi quidem otio liceat esse.

[1] If anyone, judges, should perchance now be present ignorant of our laws, our courts, our custom, he would surely marvel what so great an atrocity there is in this case, since on feast days and public games, with all forensic business interrupted, this one trial is being conducted, and he would not doubt that a defendant is being charged with so great a crime that, if it were neglected, the state could not stand; the same man, when he hears that there is a statute which bids daily inquiry concerning seditious and thoroughly-criminal citizens who, armed, have besieged the senate, have brought violence upon magistrates, have attacked the commonwealth, would not disapprove the law, but would seek what charge is being handled in the trial; when he hears that no crime, no audacity, no violence is being called into court, but that a young man of illustrious talent, industry, and favor is being accused by the son of the very man whom he himself both summons and has summoned into court, and is being assailed by a courtesan’s resources: the pietas of that [Atratinus] he would not censure, he would think womanly libido ought to be restrained, he would consider you laborious, to whom, though at leisure, it is not permitted to be at leisure even in the common leisure.

[2] Etenim si attendere diligenter, existimare vere de omni hac causa volueritis, sic constituetis, iudices, nec descensurum quemquam ad hanc accusationem fuisse, cui, utrum vellet, liceret, nec, cum descendisset, quicquam habiturum spei fuisse, nisi alicuius intolerabili libidine et nimis acerbo odio niteretur. Sed ego Atratino, humanissimo atque optimo adulescenti meo necessario, ignosco, qui habet excusationem vel pietatis vel necessitatis vel aetatis. Si voluit accusare, pietati tribuo, si iussus est, necessitati, si speravit aliquid, pueritiae.

[2] For indeed, if you are willing to attend diligently and to estimate truly about this whole cause, you will thus determine, judges: that neither would anyone have descended to this accusation, for whom it was permitted to choose whichever he wished, nor, when he had descended, would he have had any hope of anything, unless he were relying on someone’s intolerable libido and all-too bitter hatred. But I pardon Atratinus, a most humane and excellent young man, my close associate, who has an excuse either of piety or of necessity or of age. If he wished to accuse, I attribute it to piety; if he was ordered, to necessity; if he hoped for something, to boyhood.

Ceteris non modo nihil ignoscendum, sed etiam acriter est resistendum.

For the others, not only is nothing to be forgiven, but there must also be vigorous resistance.

[3] Ac mihi quidem videtur, iudices, hic introitus defensionis adulescentiae M. Caeli maxime convenire, ut ad ea, quae accusatores deformandi huius causa, detrahendae spoliandaeque dignitatis gratia dixerunt, primum respondeam. Obiectus est pater varie, quod aut parum splendidus ipse aut parum pie tractatus a filio diceretur. De dignitate M. Caelius notis ac maioribus natu et sine mea oratione et tacitus facile ipse respondet; quibus autem propter senectutem, quod iam diu minus in foro nobiscumque versatur, non aeque est cognitus, ii sic habeant, quaecumque in equite Romano dignitas esse possit, quae certe potest esse maxima, eam semper in M. Caelio habitam esse summam hodieque haberi non solum a suis, sed etiam ab omnibus, quibus potuerit aliqua de causa esse notus.

[3] And indeed it seems to me, judges, that this opening of the defense of M. Caelius’s adolescence is most fitting, that I should first respond to those things which the accusers, for the sake of disfiguring this man and of detracting from and despoiling his dignity, have said. The father has been objected in various ways, on the ground that either he himself was insufficiently splendid, or that he was said to have been treated with insufficient pietas by his son. As to the dignity of M. Caelius, to those acquainted with him and to his elders he himself, even without my speech and in silence, easily makes answer; but let those to whom, by reason of old age—since for a long time they have been less engaged in the forum and among us—he is not equally well known, hold this: whatever dignity can exist in a Roman equestrian, which surely can be the greatest, that has always been held to be supreme in M. Caelius and is held today, not only by his own, but also by all to whom he could, for any reason, be known.

[4] Equitis Romani autem esse filium criminis loco poni ab accusatoribus neque his iudicantibus oportuit neque defendentibus nobis. Nam quod de pietate dixistis, est quidem ista nostra existimatio, sed iudicium certe parentis; quid nos opinemur, audietis ex iuratis; quid parentes sentiant, lacrimae matris incredibilisque maeror, squalor patris et haec praesens maestitia, quam cernitis, luctusque declarat.

[4] But that his being the son of a Roman knight is put forward by the accusers as a charge ought neither to be accepted by those judging nor by us defending. For as to what you have said about piety, that indeed is our estimation, but assuredly the judgment is the parent’s; what we think, you will hear from the sworn jurors; what the parents feel, the mother’s tears and incredible grief, the father’s squalor and this present sadness, which you behold, and mourning, declare.

[5] Nam quod est obiectum municipibus esse adulescentem non probatum suis. nemini umquam praesenti +praetoriani+ maiores honores habuerunt quam absenti M. Caelio; quem et absentem in amplissimum ordinem cooptarunt et ea non petenti detulerunt, quae multis petentibus denegarunt; idemque nunc lectissimos viros et nostri ordinis et equites Romanos cum legatione ad hoc iudicium et cum gravissima atque ornatissima laudatione miserunt. Videor mihi iecisse fundamenta defensionis meae, quae firmissima sunt, si nituntur iudicio suorum.

[5] As for what has been objected by the townsmen, that the adolescent was not approved by his own. nemini umquam praesenti +praetoriani+ showed greater honors than to M. Caelius when absent; him, even absent, they co-opted into the most ample order and conferred, though he did not seek them, those distinctions which they denied to many who did seek; and these same men now have sent most select men, both of our order and Roman equites, with a legation to this trial and with a most weighty and most ornate laudation. I seem to myself to have cast the foundations of my defense, which are most firm if they rest upon the judgment of his own people.

Neque enim vobis satis commendata huius aetas esse posset, si non modo parenti tali viro, verum etiam municipio tam illustri ac tam gravi displiceret.

For his youth would not be sufficiently commended to you, if he were displeasing not only to a parent, a man of such a kind, but even to a municipality so illustrious and so grave.

[6] Equidem, ut ad me revertar, ab his fontibus profluxi ad hominum famam, et meus hic forensis labor vitaeque ratio dimanavit ad existimationem hominum paulo latius commendatione ae iudicio meorum. Nam quod obiectum est de pudicitia, quodque omnium accusatorum non criminibus, sed vocibus male dictisque celebratum est, id numquam tam acerbe feret M. Caelius, ut eum paeniteat non deformem esse natum. Sunt enim ista maledicta pervulgata in omnes, quorum in adulescentia forma et species fuit liberalis.

[6] Indeed, to return to myself, from these founts I have flowed forth into the fame of men, and this my forensic labor and plan of life has streamed down to the estimation of men somewhat more broadly by the commendation and judgment of my own. For as to what has been objected about chastity, and what has been bandied about by all the accusers not with charges but with shouts and ill-sayings, M. Caelius will never take it so bitterly as to regret that he was not born deformed. For those slanders are widely spread against all whose form and aspect in youth were liberal.

Sed aliud est male dicere, aliud accusare. Accusatio crimen desiderat, rem ut definiat, hominem ut notet, argumento probet, teste confirmet; maledictio autem nihil habet propositi praeter contumeliam quae si petulantius iactatur, convicium, si facetius urbanitas nominatur.

But to speak ill is one thing, to accuse is another. An accusation requires a crime, to define the matter, to mark the man, to prove by argument, to confirm by a witness; but malediction has nothing of purpose except contumely, which, if it is hurled more petulantly, is called reviling, if more wittily, it is called urbanity.

[7] Quam quidem partem accusationis admiratus sum et moleste tuli potissimum esse Atratino datam. Neque enim decebat neque aetas illa postulabat neque, id quod animadvertere poteratis, pudor patiebatur optimi adulescentis in tali illum oratione versari. Vellem aliquis ex vobis robustioribus hunc male dicendi locum suscepisset; aliquanto liberius et fortius et magis more nostro refutaremus istam male dicendi licentiam.

[7] This part of the accusation I was astonished at and took ill, that it had been given chiefly to Atratinus. For neither was it becoming, nor did that age demand it, nor, as you could observe, did the modesty of a most excellent adolescent allow him to be engaged in such an oration. I would that someone of you more robust had undertaken this place of malediction; we would refute that license of malediction somewhat more freely and more bravely, and more after our fashion.

Tecum, Atratine, agam lenius, quod et pudor tuus moderatur orationi meae et meum erga te parentemque tuum beneficium tueri debeo.

With you, Atratine, I will proceed more gently, because both your modesty moderates my oration, and I ought to safeguard my benefaction toward you and your father.

[8] Illud tamen te esse admonitum volo, primum ut qualis es talem te esse omnes existiment ut, quantum a rerum turpitudine abes, tantum te a verborum libertate seiungas; deinde ut ea in alterum ne dicas, quae cum tibi falso responsa sint, erubescas. Quis est enim, cui via ista non pateat, qui isti aetati atque etiam isti dignitati non possit quam velit petulanter, etiamsi sine ulla suspicione, at non sine argumento male dicere? Sed istarum partium culpa est eorum, qui te agere voluerunt; laus pudoris tui, quod ea te invitum dicere videbamus, ingenii, quod ornate politeque dixisti.

[8] Nevertheless I want you to be admonished of this: first, that such as you are, all may think you to be such; that, in proportion as you are distant from the turpitude of deeds, so far you detach yourself from the liberty of words; next, that you do not say against another those things which, when they are falsely thrown back at you, you would blush at. For who is there to whom that road is not open, who cannot, against that age and even that dignity, speak ill as petulantly as he wishes, even if without any suspicion, yet not without an argument? But the blame for those parts lies with those who wished you to perform; the praise is of your modesty, because we saw you say those things unwilling, and of your talent, because you spoke ornately and with polish.

[9] Verum ad istam omnem orationem brevis est defensio. Nam quoad aetas M. Caeli dare potuit isti suspicioni locum, fuit primum ipsius pudore, deinde etiam patris diligentia disciplinaque munita. Qui ut huic virilem togam dedit nihil dicam hoc loco de me; tantum sit, quantum vos existimatis; hoc dicam, hunc a patre continuo ad me esse deductum; nemo hunc M. Caelium in illo aetatis flore vidit nisi aut cum patre aut mecum aut in M. Crassi castissima domo, cum artibus honestissimis erudiretur.

[9] But to that whole oration the defense is brief. For so long as the age of M. Caelius could give place to that suspicion, he was fortified first by his own modesty, then also by his father’s diligence and discipline. When he gave him the manly toga—I will say nothing in this place about myself; let it be only as much as you esteem—this I will say: that from his father he was immediately conducted to me; no one saw this M. Caelius in that flower of age except either with his father or with me or in the most chaste house of M. Crassus, when he was being instructed in the most honorable arts.

[10] Nam quod Catilinae familiaritas obiecta Caelio est, longe ab ista suspicione abhorrere debet. Hoc enim adulescente scitis consulatum mecum petisse Catilinam. Ad quem si accessit aut si a me discessit umquam (quamquam multi boni adulescentes illi homini nequam atque improbo studuerunt), tum existimetur Caelius Catilinae nimium familiaris fuisse.

[10] Now, as for the familiarity with Catiline that is objected to Caelius, it ought to be far removed from that suspicion. For you know that Catiline sought the consulship with me when this adolescent was of that age. If he ever approached that man, or ever departed from me (although many good adolescents showed zeal for that worthless and wicked man), then let it be judged that Caelius was overly familiar with Catiline.

At enim postea scimus et vidimus esse hunc in illius amicis. Quis negat? Sed ego illud tempus aetatis, quod ipsum sua sponte infirmum aliorum libidine infestum est, id hoc loco defendo.

But indeed afterward we know and we have seen that this man was among that man’s friends. Who denies it? But I defend in this place that time of life, which of itself, of its own accord, is infirm and infested by the libido of others.

Fuit adsiduus mecum praetore me; non noverat Catilinam; Africam tum praetor ille obtinebat. Secutus est tum annus, causam de pecuniis repetundis Catilina dixit. Mecum erat hic; illi ne advocatus quidem venit umquam.

He was assiduous with me during my praetorship; he had not known Catiline; at that time that praetor was holding Africa. Then the year followed, and Catiline pleaded his cause on a charge of extortion. This man was with me; to that man not even an advocate ever came.

Deinceps fuit annus, quo ego consulatum petivi; petebat Catilina mecum. Numquam ad illum accessit, a me numquam recessit.

Next there was the year in which I sought the consulship; Catiline was seeking it along with me. He never approached him; from me he never departed.

[11] Tot igitur annos versatus in foro sine suspicione, sine infamia studuit Catilinae iterum petenti. Quem ergo ad finem putas custodiendam illam aetatem fuisse? Nobis quidem olim annus erat unus ad cohibendum brachium toga constitutus, et ut exercitatione ludoque campestri tunicati uteremur, eademque erat, si statim mereri stipendia coeperamus, castrensis ratio ac militaris.

[11] Thus for so many years engaged in the forum without suspicion, without infamy, he was devoted to Catiline as he was petitioning again. To what limit, then, do you think that age ought to have been kept under guard? For us indeed in former times there was one year constituted for restraining the arm by the toga, and that, tunic-clad, we should make use of exercise and the field-game; and the same camp-regimen and military discipline obtained, if we at once began to earn our stipends.

Qua in aetate nisi qui se ipse sua gravitate et castimonia et cum disciplina domestica, tum etiam naturali quodam bono defenderet, quoquo modo a suis custoditus esset, tamen infamiam veram effugere non poterat. Sed qui prima illa initia aetatis integra atque inviolata praestitisset, de eius fama ac pudicitia, cum is iam se corroboravisset ac vir inter viros esset, nemo loquebatur.

At that age, unless a person defended himself by his own gravity and chastity and, together with domestic discipline, also by a certain natural good, however he might be kept under guard by his own, nevertheless he could not escape true infamy. But he who had kept those first beginnings of youth intact and inviolate—when he had by then braced himself and was a man among men—no one spoke about his repute and modesty.

[12] At studuit Catilinae, cum iam aliquot annos esset in foro, Caelius; et multi hoc idem ex omni ordine atque ex omni aetate fecerunt. Habuit enim ille, sicuti meminisse vos arbitror, permulta maximarum non expressa signa, sed adumbrata [lineamenta] virtutum. Utebatur hominibus improbis multis; et quidem optimis se viris deditum esse simulabat.

[12] But Caelius attached himself to Catiline, when he had already been in the forum for several years; and many from every order and from every age did this same thing. For that man had, as I think you remember, very many, not express signs but adumbrated lineaments, of the greatest virtues. He made use of many depraved men; and indeed he was pretending to be devoted to the best men.

Erant apud illum illecebrae libidinum multae; erant etiam industriae quidam stimuli ac laboris. Flagrabant vitia libidinis apud illum; vigebant etiam studia rei militaris. Neque ego umquam fuisse tale monstrum in terris ullum puto, tam ex contrarus diversisque et inter se pugnantibus naturae studiis cupiditatibusque conflatum.

There were with him many allurements of lusts; there were also certain stimuli of industry and of labor. The vices of libido blazed in him; the studies of military affairs were vigorous as well. Nor do I think there was ever any such monster on earth, so compounded from contrary and diverse and mutually warring pursuits and desires of nature.

[13] Quis clarioribus viris quodam tempore iucundior, quis turpioribus coniunctior? quis civis meliorum partium aliquando, quis taetrior hostis huic civitati? quis in voluptatibus inquinatior, quis in laboribus patientior?

[13] Who at one time was more agreeable to more illustrious men, who more closely conjoined with more base men? who at some time a citizen of the better party, who a more loathsome enemy to this state? who more defiled in pleasures, who more enduring in labors?

quis in rapacitate avarior, quis in largitione effusior? Illa vero, iudices, in illo homine mirabilia fuerunt, comprehendere multos amicitia, tueri obsequio, cum omnibus communicare, quod habebat, servire temporibus suorum omnium pecunia, gratia, labore corporis, scelere etiam, si opus esset, et audacia, versare suam naturam et regere ad tempus atque huc et illuc torquere ac flectere, cum tristibus severe, cum remissis iucunde, cum senibus graviter, cum iuventute comiter, cum facinerosis audaciter, cum libidinosis luxuriose vivere.

who in rapacity was more avaricious, who in largess more effusive? In truth, judges, in that man there were marvels: to take in many by friendship, to protect them by obsequiousness, to share with all that which he had, to serve the exigencies of all his associates with money, favor, bodily labor, even with crime, if there were need, and with audacity; to turn his own nature about and to rule it for the moment, and to twist and bend it hither and thither; to live sternly with the sad, pleasantly with the relaxed, gravely with old men, courteously with youth, boldly with men of deeds of crime, luxuriously with the lustful.

[14] Hac ille tam varia multiplicique natura cum omnes omnibus ex terris homines improbos audacesque collegerat, tum etiam multos fortes viros et bonos specie quadam virtutis assimulatae tenebat. Neque umquam ex illo delendi huius imperii tam consceleratus impetus exstitisset, nisi tot vitiorum tanta immanitas quibusdam facultatis et patientiae radicibus niteretur. Quare ista condicio, iudices, respuatur, nec Catilinae familiaritatis crimen haereat; est enim commune cum multis et cum quibusdam etiam bonis.

[14] With a nature so varied and manifold, when he had collected from every land all the men who were wicked and audacious, he also held fast many brave and good men by a certain appearance of simulated virtue. Nor would there ever have arisen from that man so criminal an onrush for destroying this commonwealth, unless the so great savagery of so many vices rested upon certain roots of capability and endurance. Wherefore let that condition, judges, be spurned, and let not the charge of familiarity with Catiline stick; for it is common with many, and even with some good men.

Me ipsum, me, inquam, quondam paene ille decepit, cum et civis mihi bonus et optimi cuiusque cupidus et firmus amicus ac fidelis videretur; cuius ego facinora oculis prius quam opinione, manibus ante quam suspicione deprehendi. Cuius in magnis catervis amicorum si fuit etiam Caelius, magis est ut ipse moleste ferat errasse se, sicuti non numquam in eodem homine me quoque erroris mei paenitet, quam ut istius amicitiae crimen reformidet.

Me myself, me, I say, once that man almost deceived, since he seemed to me both a good citizen and devoted to every man of the best sort, and a steadfast and faithful friend; whose crimes I apprehended with my eyes before by opinion, with my hands before by suspicion. If Caelius too was in that man’s great cohorts of friends, it is more fitting that he himself should take it hard that he has erred—just as sometimes in that same man I too repent of my own error—than that he should dread the charge of that friendship.

[15] Itaque a maledictis pudicitiaea ad coniurationis invidiam oratio est vestra delapsa. Posuistis enim, atque id tamen titubanter et strictim, coniurationis hunc propter amicitiam Catilinae participem fuisse; in quo non modo crimen non haerebat, sed vix diserti adulescentis cohaerebat oratio. Qui enim tantus furor in Caelio, quod tantum aut in moribus naturaque volnus aut in re atque fortuna?

[15] And so from maledictions against chastity your oration has slipped down to the odium of conjuration. For you posited—though, however, staggering and cursorily—that he was a participant in the conjuration on account of his friendship with Catiline; in which not only did the charge not stick, but scarcely did the oration of an eloquent youth cohere. For what so great fury was there in Caelius, what so great a wound either in his morals and nature, or in his circumstance and fortune?

ubi denique est in ista suspicione Caeli nomen auditum? Nimium multa de re minime dubia loquor; hoc tamen dico: Non modo si socius coniurationis, sed nisi inimicissimus istius sceleris fuisset, numquam coniurationis accusatione adulescentiam suam potissimum commendare voluisset.

where, finally, in that suspicion has Caelius’s name been heard? I speak too much about a matter by no means doubtful; yet this I say: Not only would he never have wished it, had he been an associate of the conspiracy, but he would never have wished, unless he had been the bitterest enemy of that crime, to commend his youth chiefly by an accusation of the conspiracy.

[16] Quod haud scio an de ambitu et de criminibus istis sodalium ac sequestrium, quoniam huc incidi, similiter respondendum putem. Numquam enim tam Caelius amens fuisset, ut, si se isto infinito ambitu commaculasset, ambitus alterum accusaret, neque eius facti in altero suspicionem quaereret, cuius ipse sibi perpetuam licentiam optaret, nec, si sibi semel periculum ambitus subeundum putaret, ipse alterum iterum ambitus crimine arcesseret. Quod quamquam nec sapienter et me invito facit, tamen est eius modi cupiditas, ut magis insectari alterius innocentiam quam de se timide cogitare videatur.

[16] As to ambitus and to those charges of the sodales and the sequestrii, since I have fallen upon this topic, I think I ought to reply in like manner. For Caelius would never have been so mad, that, if he had besmirched himself with that boundless ambitus, he would accuse another of ambitus; nor would he seek in another a suspicion of that deed, of which he himself would wish for himself a perpetual license; nor, if he thought that the danger of ambitus must once be undergone by himself, would he himself arraign another again on a charge of ambitus. Which, although he does neither wisely and with me unwilling, yet the desire is of such a kind that he seems rather to hound the innocence of another than to think timidly about himself.

[17] Nam quod aes alienum obiectum est, sumptus reprehensi, tabulae flagitatae, videte, quam pauca respondeam. Tabulas, qui in patris potestate est, nullas conficit. Versuram numquam omnino fecit ullam.

[17] As to the debt that has been objected, the expenses reprehended, the tablets (account-books) demanded, see how few things I answer. One who is under his father’s power compiles no tablets. He has never at any time made any rolling-over of a loan (versura) whatsoever.

Sumptus unius generis obiectus est, habitationis; triginta milibus dixistis eum habitare. Nunc demum intellego P. Clodi insulam esse venalem, cuius hic in aediculis habitat decem, ut opinor, milibus. Vos autem dum illi placere voltis, ad tempus eius mendacium vestrum accommodavistis.

An expenditure of one kind has been objected—of habitation; you said he lives at 30,000. Now at last I understand that P. Clodius’s tenement is for sale, in whose little rooms he lives at 10, as I suppose, thousand. But you, while you wish to please him, accommodated your lie to his present occasion.

[18] Reprehendistis, a patre quod semigrarit. Quod quidem iam in hac aetate minime reprehendendum est. Qui cum et ex publica causa iam esset mihi quidem molestam, sibi tamen gloriosam victoriam consecutus et per aetatem magistratus petere posset, non modo permittente patre, sed etiam suadente ab eo semigravit et, cum domus patris a foro longe abesset, quo facilius et nostras domus obire et ipse a suis coli posset, conduxit in Palatio non magno domum.

[18] You reproached him, that he had moved out from his father. Which indeed, now at this age, is by no means to be reprehended. He—who, from a public cause, had already obtained a victory, to me indeed troublesome, to himself however glorious, and who by his age could seek magistracies—not only with his father permitting, but even urging, moved out from him; and, since his father’s house was far from the Forum, in order that he might the more easily both visit our houses and himself be courted by his own, he rented on the Palatine a house for no great price.

Quo loco possum dicere id, quod vir clarissimus, M. Crassus, cum de adventu regis Ptolemaei quereretur, paulo ante dixit:

At this point I can say that which the most illustrious man, M. Crassus, when he was complaining about the advent of King Ptolemy, a little before said:

Utinam ne in nemore Pelio—
Ac longius quidem mihi
contexere hoc carmen liceret:
Nam numquam era errans
hanc molestiam nobis exhiberet
Medea animo aegra, amore saevo saucia.

Would that not in the grove on Pelion—
And indeed that it were permitted to me
to weave this song more at length:
For never would the errant mistress
exhibit to us this vexation—
Medea, sick in spirit, wounded by savage love.

Sic enim, iudices, reperietis, quod, cum ad id loci venero, ostendam, hanc Palatinam Medeam migrationemque hanc adulescenti causam sive malorum omnium sive potius sermonum fuisse.

For thus, judges, you will find, as I will show when I come to that point, that this Palatine Medea, and this move, were for the young man the cause either of all his ills or rather of talk.

[19] Quam ob rem illa, quae ex accusatorum oratione praemuniri iam et fingi intellegebam, fretus vestra prudentia, iudices, non pertimesco. Aiebant enim fore testem senatorem, qui se pontificiis comitiis pulsatum a Caelio diceret. A quo quaeram, si prodierit, primum cur statim nihil egerit, deinde, si id queri quam agere maluerit, cur productus a vobis potius quam ipse per se, cur tanto post potius quam continuo queri maluerit.

[19] Wherefore those things which I already understood from the oration of the accusers to be prearranged and feigned, relying on your prudence, judges, I am not alarmed at. For they were saying that there would be a senator as witness, who would say that at the pontifical comitia he had been struck by Caelius. Of whom I will ask, if he comes forward, first, why he did nothing immediately; then, if he preferred to complain rather than to act, why he has been produced by you rather than by himself on his own; why he preferred to complain so much later rather than straightway.

Si mihi ad haec acute arguteque responderit, tum quaeram denique, ex quo iste fonte senator emanet. Nam si ipse orietur et nascetur ex sese, fortasse, ut soleo, commovebor; sin autem est rivolus accersitus et ductus ab ipso capite accusationis vestrae, laetabor, cum tanta gratia tantisque opibus accusatio vestra nitatur, unum senatorem solum esse, qui vobis gratificari vellet, inventum.

If he shall answer these points sharply and shrewdly, then I will ask, finally, from what fount that senator emanates. For if he himself shall arise and be born from himself, perhaps, as I am wont, I shall be moved; but if he is a rivulet accited and conducted from the very head of your accusation, I shall rejoice, since your accusation leans upon such favor and such resources, that only a single senator has been found who would be willing to gratify you.

[20] Nec tamen illud genus alterum nocturnorum testium pertimesco. Est enim dictum ab illis fore, qui dicerent uxores suas a cena redeuntes attrectatas esse a Caelio. Graves erunt homines, qui hoc iurati dicere audebunt, cum sit iis confitendum numquam se ne congressu quidem et constituto coepisse de tantis iniuriis experiri.

[20] Nor yet do I greatly fear that other genus of nocturnal witnesses. For it has been said by them that there will be those who would say that their wives, returning from dinner, were handled by Caelius. Grave will be the men who will dare to say this on oath, since it must be confessed by them that they never—even with an interview arranged and appointed—began to make trial concerning such great injuries.

Sed totum genus oppugnationis huius, iudices, et iam prospicitis animis et, cum inferetur, propulsare debebitis. Non enim ab isdem accusatur M. Caelius, a quibus oppugnatur; palam in eum tela iaciuntur, clam subministrantur.

But this whole kind of assault, judges, you already foresee in your minds, and, when it is brought on, you will have to repel. For M. Caelius is not accused by the same men by whom he is assailed; openly missiles are hurled at him, secretly they are supplied.

[21] Neque id ego dico, ut invidiosum sit in eos, quibus gloriosum etiam hoc esse debet. Funguntur officio, defendunt suos, faciunt, quod viri fortissimi solent; laesi dolent, irati efferuntur, pugnant lacessiti. Sed vestrae sapientiae tamen est, iudices, non, si causa iusta est viris fortibus oppugnandi M. Caelium, ideo vobis quoque vos causam putare esse iustam alieno dolori potius quam vestrae fidei consulendi.

[21] Nor do I say this so that it may be invidious against those for whom this ought even to be glorious. They perform their office, they defend their own, they do what most valiant men are wont; the injured grieve, the enraged are carried away, when provoked they fight. But it belongs to your wisdom, judges, not, if there is a just cause for brave men to be attacking M. Caelius, therefore for you also to think you have a just cause for consulting another’s pain rather than your own good faith.

Nam quae sit multitudo in foro, quae genera, quae studia, quae varietas hominum, videtis. Ex hac copia quam multos esse arbitramini, qui hominibus potentibus, gratiosis, disertis, cum aliquid eos velle arbitrentur, ultro se offerre soleant, operam navare, testimonium polliceri ?

For what a multitude there is in the forum, what kinds, what pursuits, what variety of men, you see. From this abundance, how many do you suppose there are who, for powerful, well-connected, eloquent men, when they think that they want something, are wont to offer themselves unbidden, to render service, to promise testimony ?

[22] Hoc ex genere si qui se in hoc iudicium forte proiecerint, excluditote eorum cupiditatem, iudices, sapientia vestra, ut eodem tempore et huius saluti et religioni vestrae et contra periculosas hominum potentias condicioni omnium civium providisse videamini. Equidem vos abducam a testibus neque huius iudicii veritatem, quae mutari nullo modo potest, in voluntate testium collocari sinam, quae facillime fingi, nullo negotio flecti ac detorqueri potest. Argumentis agemus, signis luce omni clarioribus crimina refellemus; res cum re, causa cum causa, ratio cum ratione pugnabit.

[22] If any from this class have by chance thrust themselves into this judgment, shut out their cupidity, judges, by your wisdom, so that at the same time you may seem to have provided both for this man’s safety and for your own religion, and for the condition of all citizens against the dangerous powers of potent men. For my part, I will draw you away from the witnesses, nor will I allow the truth of this trial, which can in no way be altered, to be placed in the will of the witnesses, which can most easily be feigned, and with no trouble bent and twisted. We shall proceed by arguments; by signs clearer than any light we shall refute the charges; fact with fact, case with case, reason with reason will do battle.

[23] Itaque illam partem causae facile patior graviter et ornate a M. Crasso peroratam de seditionibus Nea politanis, de Alexandrinorum pulsatione Puteolana, de bonis Pallae. Vellem dictum esset ab eodem etiam de Dione. De quo ipso tamen quid est quod exspectetis?

[23] Therefore I readily allow that part of the case, weightily and ornately perorated by M. Crassus, about the Neapolitan seditions, about the beating of the Alexandrians at Puteoli, about the goods of Pallas. I would that it had been said by that same man also about Dio. But concerning him himself, what is it that you expect?

quod is, qui fecit, aut non timet aut etiam fatetur; est enim rex; qui autem dictus est adiutor fuisse et conscius, P. Asicius, iudicio est liberatus. Quod igitur est eius modi crimen, ut, qui commisit, non neget, qui negavit, absolutus sit, id hic pertimescat, qui non modo a facti, verum etiam a conscientiae suspicione afuit ? Et, si Asicio causa plus profuit quam nocuit invidia, huic oberit tuum maledictum, qui istius facti non modo suspicione, sed ne infamia quidem est aspersus ?

for the one who did it either does not fear or even confesses—for he is a king; but the one who was said to have been a helper and privy, P. Asicius, has been freed by a judgment. What sort of charge, then, is this, such that he who committed it does not deny it, he who denied it has been absolved, yet this man should be terrified by it—he who was far not only from suspicion of the deed but even from suspicion of complicity? And if in Asicius’s case the cause profited more than ill will harmed, will your malediction injure this man, who has been aspersed not only not with suspicion of that deed, but not even with infamy?

[24] At praevaricatione est Asicius liberatus. Perfacile est isti loco respondere, mihi praesertim, a quo illa causa defensa est. Sed Caelius optimam causam Asici esse arbitratur; cuicuimodi autem sit, a sua putat eius esse seiunctam.

[24] But Asicius was acquitted by prevarication. It is very easy to respond to that point—especially for me, by whom that case was defended. But Caelius judges Asicius’s case to be the best; of whatever sort it may be, however, he thinks it is disjoined from his own.

Neque solum Caelius, sed etiam adulescentes humanissimi et doctissimi, rectissimis studiis atque optimis artibus praediti, Titus Gaiusque Coponii, qui ex omnibus maxime Dionis mortem doluerunt, qui cum doctrinae studio atque humanitatis tum etiam hospitio Dionis tenebantur. Habitabat apud Titum, ut audistis, Dio, erat ei cognitus Alexandriae. Quid aut hic aut summo splendore praeditus frater eius de M. Caelio existimet ex ipsis, si producti erunt, audietis.

Not only Caelius, but even the most humane and most learned young men, endowed with the most upright studies and the best arts, Titus and Gaius Coponius—who, of all, grieved most at the death of Dio, being bound to Dio not only by zeal for learning and for humanity but also by hospitality. Dio was living at Titus’s house, as you have heard; he had become known to him at Alexandria. What either this man, or his brother endowed with the highest splendor, thinks of M. Caelius you will hear from themselves, if they are produced.

[25] Ergo haec removeantur, ut aliquando, in quibus causa nititur, ad ea veniamus. Animadverti enim, iudices, audiri a vobis meum familiarem, L. Herennium, perattente. In quo etsi magna ex parte ingenio eius et dicendi genere quodam tenebamini, tamen non numquam verebar, ne illa subtiliter ad criminandum inducta oratio ad animos vestros sensim ac leniter accederet.

[25] Therefore let these things be set aside, so that at last we may come to those matters on which the case rests. For I have observed, judges, that my friend, L. Herennius, is listened to by you very attentively. In this, although you were held in great part by his ingenuity and by a certain genre of speaking, nevertheless I sometimes feared lest that speech, subtly introduced for crimination, might approach your minds gradually and gently.

Dixit enim multa de luxurie, multa de libidine, multa de vitiis iuventutis, multa de moribus et, qui in reliqua vita mitis esset et in hac suavitate humanitatis, qua prope iam delectantur omnes, versari periucunde soleret, fuit in hac causa pertristis quidam patruus, censor, magister; obiurgavit M. Caelium, sicut neminem umquam parens; multa de incontinentia intemperantiaque disseruit. Quid quaeritis, iudices? ignoscebam vobis attente audientibus, propterea quod egomet tam triste illud et tam asperum genus orationis horrebam.

For he said many things about luxury, many about libido, many about the vices of youth, many about morals; and he who in the rest of life was mild, and in this suavity of humanity, with which almost all by now are delighted, was accustomed to conduct himself very pleasantly—he was in this case a very grim sort of uncle, a censor, a schoolmaster; he scolded M. Caelius as a parent never scolded anyone; he discoursed at length about incontinence and intemperance. What are you looking for, judges? I was inclined to pardon you as you listened attentively, for I myself shuddered at that style of speech, so sad and so harsh.

[26] Ac prima pars fuit illa, quae me minus movebat, fuisse meo necessario Bestiae Caelium familiarem, cenasse apud eum, ventitasse domum, studuisse praeturae. Non me haec movent; quae perspicue falsa sunt; etenim eos una cenasse dixit, qui aut absunt, aut quibus necesse est idem dicere. Neque vero illud me commovet, quod sibi in Lupercis sodalem esse Caelium dixit.

[26] And that first part was this, which moved me less: that Caelius had been a familiar to my close associate Bestia, had dined at his house, had frequented his home, had supported the praetorship. These things do not move me; they are manifestly false; for he said that those had dined together who either are absent, or for whom it is necessary to say the same thing. Nor indeed does this move me, that he said Caelius was his sodalis among the Luperci.

Fera quaedam sodalitas et plane pastoricia atque agrestis germanorum Lupercorum, quorum coitio illa silvestris ante est instituta quam humanitas atque leges, siquidem non modo nomina deferunt inter se sodales, sed etiam commemorant sodalitatem in accusando, ut, ne quis id forte nesciat, timere videantur!

A certain savage sodality, and plainly pastoral and agrestic, of the “germane” Luperci, whose sylvan coition was instituted before humanity and the laws, since not only do the sodales prefer charges by name against one another, but they even make mention of their sodality in accusing, so that, lest anyone perchance not know it, they seem to be afraid!

[27] Sed haec omittam; ad illa, quae me magis moverunt, respondebo. Deliciarum obiurgatio fuit longa, etiam lenior, plusque disputationis habuit quam atrocitatis, quo etiam audita est attentius. Nam P. Clodius, amicus meus, cum se gravissime vehementissimeque iactaret et omnia inflammatus ageret tristissimis verbis, voce maxima, tametsi probabam eius eloquentiam, tamen non pertimescebam; aliquot enim in causis eum videram frustra litigantem.

[27] But I will omit these things; I will respond to those which moved me more. The objurgation of delights was long, indeed rather milder, and it had more of disputation than of atrocity, and for that very reason it was listened to more attentively. For P. Clodius, my friend, when he was parading himself most gravely and most vehemently, and, inflamed, was driving everything on with most gloomy words, with the greatest voice, although I approved his eloquence, nevertheless I was not thoroughly afraid; for I had seen him in several cases litigating in vain.

Tibi autem, Balbe, respondeo primum precario, si licet, si fas est defendi a me eum, qui nullum convivium renuerit, qui in hortis fuerit, qui unguenta sumpserit, qui Baias viderit.

But to you, Balbus, I reply first by your leave, if it is permitted, if it is according to divine law, that I defend one who has refused no banquet, who has been in gardens, who has taken unguents, who has seen Baiae.

[28] Equidem multos et vidi in hac civitate et audivi, non modo qui primoribus labris gustassent genus hoc vitae et extremis, ut dicitur, digitis attigissent, sed qui totam adulescentiam voluptatibus dedissent, emersisse aliquando et se ad frugem bonam, ut dicitur, recepisse gravesque homines atque illustres fuisse. Datur enim concessu omnium huic aliqui ludus aetati, et ipsa natura profundit adulescentiae cupiditates. Quae si ita erumpunt, ut nullius vitam labefactent, nullius domum evertant, faciles et tolerabiles haberi solent.

[28] Indeed I have both seen in this city and heard of many, not only those who had tasted this kind of life with the foremost lips and, as it is said, touched it with the extreme fingertips, but those who had given their whole adolescence to pleasures, to have at some time emerged and, as it is said, recovered themselves to good fruit, and to have been grave and illustrious men. For by the concession of all, some play is given to this age, and nature itself pours forth the cupidities of adolescence. Which, if they erupt in such a way as to undermine no one’s life and overturn no one’s household, are wont to be held easy and tolerable.

[29] Sed tu mihi videbare ex communi infamia iuventutis aliquam invidiam Caelio velle conflare; itaque omne illud silentium, quod est orationi tributum tuae, fuit ob eam causam, quod uno reo proposito de multorum vitiis cogitabamus. Facile est accusare luxuriem. Dies iam me deficiat, si, quae dici in eam sententiam possunt, coner expromere; de corruptelis, de adulteriis, de protervitate, de sumptibus immensa oratio est.

[29] But you seemed to me to wish to kindle against Caelius some envy from the common infamy of youth; and so all that silence, which has been attributed to your oration, was for this reason, that, with one defendant set forth, we were thinking about the vices of many. It is easy to accuse luxury. The day would now fail me, if I should try to bring out what can be said in that line; about corruptions, about adulteries, about protervity, about expenditures, the discourse is immense.

Ut tibi reum neminem, sed vitia ista proponas, res tamen ipsa et copiose et graviter accusari potest. Sed vestrae sapientiae, iudices, est non abduci ab reo nec, quos aculeos habeat severitas gravitasque vestra, cum eos accusator erexerit in rem, in vitia, in mores, in tempora, emittere in hominem et in reum, cum is non suo crimine, sed multorum vitio sit in quoddam odium iniustum vocatus.

Granted that you set before yourself no defendant but those vices, nevertheless the matter itself can be accused both copiously and gravely. But it belongs to your wisdom, judges, not to be led away from the defendant, nor to let loose upon the man and the defendant those stings which your severity and gravity possess, when the accuser has bristled them against the case, against vices, against morals, against the times, when he has been called into a certain unjust odium not by his own crime, but by the fault of many.

[30] Itaque severitati tuae, ut oportet, ita respondere non audeo; erat enim meum deprecari vacationem adulescentiae veniamque petere; non, inquam, audeo; perfugiis non utor aetatis, concessa omnibus iura dimitto; tantum peto, ut, si qua est invidia communis hoc tempore aeris alieni, petulantiae, libidinum iuventutis, quam video esse magnam, ne huic aliena peccata, ne aetatis ac temporum vitia noceant. Atque ego idem, qui haec postulo, quin criminibus, quae in hunc proprie conferuntur, diligentissime respondeam, non recuso. Sunt autem duo crimina, auri et veneni; in quibus una atque eadem persona versatur.

[30] Therefore to your severity, as is proper, I do not dare to respond in that manner; for it was my part to deprecate an exemption for youth and to seek pardon; I do not, I say, dare; I do not use the refuges of age, I relinquish the rights granted to all; I only ask that, if there is any common ill-will at this time against indebtedness, petulance, the libidinousness of youth—which I see to be great—let not another’s sins, let not the vices of age and of the times, harm this man. And I, the same who ask these things, do not refuse to answer most diligently to the crimes which are laid specifically against this man. Now there are two charges, of gold and of poison; in both of which one and the same person is engaged.

Aurum sumptum a Clodia, venenum quaesitum, quod Clodiae daretur, ut dicitur. Omnia sunt alia non crimina, sed maledicta, iurgi petulantis magis quam publicae quaestionis. "Adulter, impudicus, sequester" convicium est, non accusatio; nullum est enim fundamentum horum criminum, nulla sedes; voces sunt contumeliosae temere ab irato accusatore nullo auctore emissae.

Gold taken from Clodia, poison sought, which was to be given to Clodia, as it is said. All the other things are not crimes but maledictions, more the petulance of a quarrel than a public inquest. "Adulterer, impudent fellow, sequester" is reviling, not an accusation; for there is no foundation of these charges, no basis; they are contumelious utterances, rashly sent forth by an angry accuser, put out with no authority.

[31] Horum duorum criminum video auctorem, video fontem, video certum nomen et caput. Auro opus fuit; sumpsit a Clodia, sumpsit sine teste, habuit, quamdiu voluit. Maximum video signum cuiusdam egregiae familiaritatis.

[31] Of these two charges I see the author, I see the fount, I see a definite name and head. There was need of gold; he took it from Clodia, he took it without a witness, he had it as long as he wished. I see the greatest sign of a certain remarkable familiarity.

Necare eandem voluit; quaesivit venenum, sollicitavit quos potuit, paravit, locum constituit, attulit. Magnum rursus odium video cum crudelissimo discidio exstitisse. Res est omnis in hac causa nobis, iudices, cum Clodia, muliere non solum nobili, sed etiam nota; de qua ego nihil dicam nisi depellendi criminis causa.

He wished to kill that same woman; he sought poison, he solicited whom he could, he prepared it, he fixed the place, he brought it. I see that great hatred again has arisen together with a most cruel dissension. The whole matter in this case for us, judges, is with Clodia, a woman not only noble but also well-known; about whom I will say nothing except for the sake of driving off the charge.

[32] Sed intellegis pro tua praestanti prudentia, Cn. Domiti, cum hac sola rem esse nobis. Quae si se aurum Caelio commodasse non dicit, si venenum ab hoc sibi paratum esse non arguit, petulanter facimus, si matrem familias secus, quam matronarum sanctitas postulat, nominamus. Sin ista muliere remota nec crimen ullum nec opes ad oppugnandum Caelium illis relinquuntur, quid est aliud quod nos patroni facere debeamus, nisi ut eos, qui insectantur, repellamus?

[32] But you understand, by your preeminent prudence, Cn. Domiti, that the matter for us lies with this woman alone. If she does not say that she lent gold to Caelius, if she does not charge that poison was prepared by this man for herself, we act petulantly if we name a materfamilias otherwise than the sanctity of matrons demands. But if, that woman being removed, neither any charge nor the means for assaulting Caelius are left to them, what else is there that we, as advocates, ought to do, except to repel those who assail?

Quod quidem facerem vehementius, nisi intercederent mihi inimicitiae cum istius mulieris viro—fratre volui dicere; semper hic erro. Nunc agam modice nec longius progrediar quam me mea fides et causa ipsa coget. Neque enim muliebres umquam inimicitias mihi gerendas putavi, praesertim cum ea quam omnes semper amicam omnium potius quam cuiusquam inimicam putaverunt.

Which indeed I would do more vehemently, were it not that hostilities intervene for me with that woman’s husband—I meant to say brother; here I am always in error. Now I shall act moderately and will not proceed farther than my good faith and the case itself compel me. For I have never thought that womanly enmities were to be waged by me, especially with her whom all have always considered the friend of everyone rather than the enemy of anyone.

[33] Sed tamen ex ipsa quaeram prius utrum me secum severe et graviter et prisce agere malit an remisse et leniter et urbane. Si illo austero more ac modo, aliquis mihi ab inferis excitandus est ex barbatis illis non hac barbula, qua ista delectatur, sed illa horrida, quam in statuis antiquis atque imaginibus videmus, qui obiurget mulierem et pro me loquatur, ne mihi ista forte suscenseat. Exsistat igitur ex hac ipsa familia aliquis ac potissimum Caecus ille; minimum enim dolorem capiet, qui istam non videbit.

[33] But yet I will first ask her herself whether she prefers me to deal with her severely and gravely and in the old-fashioned way, or mildly and gently and urbanely. If in that austere manner and mode, someone must be summoned by me from the lower regions, from those bearded men—not with this little beard, with which that woman takes delight, but with that shaggy one which we see in ancient statues and images—who may objurgate the woman and speak in my place, lest perhaps she be angry with me. Let someone, then, arise from this very family, and most of all that Blind One; for he will incur the least pain, who will not see that woman.

[34] Qui profecto, si exstiterit, sic aget ac sic loquetur: "Mulier, quid tibi cum Caelio, quid cum homine adulescentulo, quid cum alieno? Cur aut tam familiaris huic fuisti, ut aurum commodares, aut tam inimica, ut venenum timeres? Non patrem tuum videras, non patruum, non avum, non proavum, non abavum, non atavum audieras consules fuisse; non denique modo te Q. Metelli matrimonium tenuisse sciebas, clarissimi ac fortissimi viri patriaeque amantissimi, qui simul ac pedem limine extulerat, omnes prope cives virtute, gloria, dignitate superabat?

[34] Who assuredly, if he were to appear, would act thus and speak thus: "Woman, what have you to do with Caelius, what with an adolescent man, what with one not your own? Why were you either so familiar with this man as to lend gold, or so inimical as to fear poison? Had you not seen your father, not your paternal uncle, not your grandfather, not your great‑grandfather, not your great‑great‑grandfather; had you not heard that your atavus had been consuls? Did you not, finally, know that you had recently held the matrimony of Q. Metellus, a most illustrious and most brave man and most loving of his country, who, as soon as he had lifted his foot from the threshold, surpassed almost all citizens in virtue, glory, and dignity?"

Cum ex amplissimo genere in familiam clarissimam nupsisses, cur tibi Caelius tam coniunctus fuit? cognatus, adfinis, viri tui familiaris? Nihil eorum.

Since, being from a most ample lineage, you had married into a most illustrious family, why was Caelius so conjoined to you? a cognate, an affinal kinsman, your husband’s familiar? None of those.

Quid igitur fuit nisi quaedam temeritas ac libido? Nonne te, si nostrae imagines viriles non commovebant, ne progenies quidem mea, Q. illa Claudia, aemulam domesticae laudis in gloria muliebri esse admonebat, non virgo illa Vestalis Claudia, quae patrem complexa triumphantem ab inimico tribuno plebei de curru detrahi passa non est? Cur te fraterna vitia potius quam bona paterna et avita et usque a nobis cum in viris tum etiam in feminis repetita moverunt?

What, then, was it except a certain temerity and libido? Did not, if our virile images did not move you, at least my progeny, that Claudia Quinta, admonish you to be a rival of domestic praise in womanly glory—did not that Vestal Virgin Claudia, who, having embraced her triumphing father, did not allow him to be dragged from the chariot by a hostile tribune of the plebs? Why did your brotherly vices move you rather than the paternal and avital goods, and those traced down from us both among men and even among women?

Ideone ego pacem Pyrrhi diremi, ut tu amorum turpissimorum cotidie foedera ferires, ideo aquam adduxi, ut ea tu inceste uterere, ideo viam munivi, ut eam tu alienis viris comitata celebrares?"

Was it for this that I broke off the peace with Pyrrhus, that you might strike treaties of the most shameful loves every day, for this that I brought in water, that you might use it unchastely, for this that I paved the road, that you might, accompanied by other men, frequent it?"

[35] Sed quid ego, iudices, ita gravem personam induxi, ut verear, ne se idem Appius repente convertat et Caelium incipiat accusare illa sua gravitate censoria? Sed videro hoc posterius, atque ita, iudices, ut vel severissimis disceptatoribus M. Caeli vitam me probaturum esse confidam. Tu vero, mulier, (iam enim ipse tecum nulla persona introducta loquor) si ea, quae facis, quae dicis, quae insimulas, quae moliris, quae arguis, probare cogitas, rationem tantae familiaritatis, tantae consuetudinis, tantae coniunctionis reddas atque exponas necesse est.

[35] But why have I, judges, introduced so grave a persona that I even fear lest the same Appius suddenly turn himself about and begin to accuse Caelius with that censorial gravity of his? But I will look to this later; and so, judges, that I am confident I shall be able to make good M. Caelius’s life even to the most severe disceptators. But you, woman—(for now I myself speak with you, no persona introduced)—if you are thinking to prove the things that you do, that you say, that you impute, that you contrive, that you allege, it is necessary that you render and set forth an account of so great familiarity, so great consuetude, so great conjunction.

Accusatores quidem libidines, amores, adulteria, Baias, actas, convivia, comissationes, cantus, symphonias, navigia iactant, idemque significant nihil se te invita dicere. Quae tu quoniam mente nescio qua effrenata atque praecipiti in forum deferri iudiciumque voluisti, aut diluas oportet ac falsa esse doceas aut nihil neque crimini tuo neque testimonio credendum esse fateare.

Indeed the accusers vaunt lusts, loves, adulteries, Baiae, sea-shores, convivial banquets, comissations, songs, symphonies, boats; and they likewise signify that they say nothing contrary to your wishes. Since you, with I-know-not-what unbridled and headlong mind, have wished these matters to be carried into the forum and into a judgment, either you must wash them away and show they are false, or admit that nothing is to be believed either in your charge or in your testimony.

[36] Sin autem urbanius me agere mavis, sic agam tecum; removebo illum senem durum ac paene agrestem; ex his igitur tuis sumam aliquem ac potissimum minimum fratrem, qui est in isto genere urbanissimus; qui te amat plurimum, qui propter nescio quam, credo, timiditatem et nocturnos quosdam inanes metus tecum semper pusio cum maiore sorore cubitavit. Eum putato tecum loqui: "Quid tumultuaris, soror? quid insanis?

[36] But if you prefer that I proceed more urbanely, I will deal thus with you: I will remove that hard and almost rustic old man; from among these, therefore, of yours I will take someone—and preferably the youngest brother, who is in that sort most urbane; he who loves you very much, who, on account of I know not what, I believe, timidity and certain empty nocturnal fears, as a little boy always slept with his elder sister. Suppose him speaking with you: "Why are you making a commotion, sister? Why are you raving?"

Quid clamorem exorsa verbis parvam rem magnam facis?

Why, having begun a clamor with words, do you make a small matter a great one?

Vicinum adulescentulum aspexisti; candor huius te et proceritas, vultus oculique pepulerunt; saepius videre voluisti; fuisti non numquam in isdem hortis; vis nobilis mulier illum filium familias patre parco ac tenaci habere tuis copiis devinctum; non potes; calcitrat, respuit, non putat tua dona esse tanti; confer te alio. Habes hortos ad Tiberim ac diligenter eo loco paratos, quo omnis iuventus natandi causa venit; hinc licet condiciones cotidie legas; cur huic, qui te spernit, molesta es?"

You caught sight of a neighboring adolescent; his fairness and tallness, his face and eyes struck you; you wished to see him more often; you were sometimes in the same gardens; you, a noble woman, wish to have that son of a household, with a sparing and tight-fisted father, bound by your resources; you cannot; he kicks, he spits out, he does not think your gifts to be worth so much; betake yourself elsewhere. You have gardens by the Tiber and carefully prepared in that place where all the youth come for the sake of swimming; from here you may choose matches every day; why are you troublesome to this one who scorns you?"

[37] Redeo nunc ad te, Caeli, vicissim ac mihi auctoritatem patriam severitatemque suscipio. Sed dubito, quem patrem potissimum sumam, Caecilianumne aliquem vehementem atque durum:

[37] I now return to you, Caelius, in turn, and I take upon myself a paternal authority and severity. But I am in doubt which father I should most of all assume—some Caecilian one, vehement and dour:

Nunc enim demum mi animus ardet, nunc meum cor
cumulatur ira

Now indeed at last my spirit burns, now my heart
is accumulated with ire

aut illum:

or that one:

O infelix, o sceleste

O ill-fated one, O wicked one

Ferrei sunt isti patres:

Those fathers are iron:

Egon quid dicam, quid velim? quae tu omnia
Tuis foedis factis facis ut nequiquam velim,
vix ferendi. Diceret talis pater: "Cur te in istam vicinitatem meretriciam contulisti?

I—what am I to say, what am I to wish?
you, by all your foul deeds, make it that I wish in vain, things scarcely endurable,
such a father would say: "Why have you carried yourself into that meretricious neighborhood?

cur illecebris cognitis non refugisti?
Cur alienam ullam mulierem nosti? Dide ac disice;
Per me tibi licet.

Why, once the allurements were known, did you not take flight?
Why did you know any other man’s woman? Scatter and toss away;
as far as I am concerned, you may.

Si egebis, tibi dolebit, non mihi.
Mihi sat est qui aetatis quod relicuom est oblectem meae."

If you fall into want, it will pain you, not me.
For me, it is enough to amuse myself with what remains of my life."

[38] Huic tristi ac derecto seni responderet Caelius se nulla cupiditate inductum de via decessisse. Quid signi? Nulli sumptus, nulla iactura, nulla versura.

[38] To this grim and straight‑laced old man Caelius would reply that he had not turned aside from the way, induced by any cupidity. What sign of it? No expenditures, no loss, no refinancing of debt.

At fuit fama. Quotus quisque istam effugere potest in tam maledica civitate? Vicinum eius mulieris miraris male audisse, cuius frater germanus sermones iniquorum effugere non potuit?

But there was a rumor. How few, pray, can escape that in so slanderous a city? Do you marvel that the neighbor of that woman has been ill-spoken of, whose own full brother could not escape the talk of the iniquitous?

Leni vero et clementi patre, cuius modi ille est:

But indeed with a lenient and clement father, of what sort is he:

Fores ecfregit, restituentur; discidit
Vestem, resarcietur,

He broke open the doors; they will be restored;
He tore the Garment, it will be resewn,

Caeli causa est expeditissima. Quid enim esset, in quo se non facile defenderet? Nihil iam in istam mulierem dico; sed, si esset aliqua dissimilis istius, quae se omnibus pervolgaret, quae haberet palam decretum semper aliquem, cuius in hortos, domum, Baias iure suo libidines omnium commearent, quae etiam aleret adulescentes et parsimoniam patrum suis sumptibus sustentaret; si vidua libere, proterva petulanter, dives effuse, libidinosa meretricio more viveret, adulterum ego putarem, si quis hanc paulo liberius salutasset?

The cause of Caelius is most expeditious. For what would there be in which he could not easily defend himself? I now say nothing against that woman; but if there were some woman unlike that one, who made herself common to all, who had openly as a decree always to have someone, into whose gardens, house, and to Baiae the lusts of all might come and go by her own right, who even would nourish adolescents and sustain the parsimony of their fathers at her own expenses; if, as a widow, she lived freely, as a brazen woman petulantly, as a rich woman effusively, as a libidinous woman in meretricious fashion, would I think a man an adulterer, if anyone had greeted this woman a little more freely?

[39] Dicet aliquis: "Haec est igitur tua disciplina? sic tu instituis adulescentes? ob hanc causam tibi hunc puerum parens commendavit et tradidit, ut in amore atque in voluptatibus adulescentiam suam collocaret, et ut hanc tu vitam atque haec studia defenderes?" Ego, si quis, iudices, hoc robore animi atque hac indole virtutis atque continentiae fuit, ut respueret omnes voluptates omnemque vitae suae cursum in labore corporis atque in animi contentione conficeret, quem non quies, non remissio, non aequalium studia, non ludi, non convivia delectarent, nihil in vita expetendum putaret, nisi quod esset cum laude et cum dignitate coniunctum, hunc mea sententia divinis quibusdam bonis instructum atque ornatum puto.

[39] Someone will say: "Is this, then, your discipline? thus do you institute adolescents? for this cause did a parent commend and entrust this boy to you, that he should locate his youth in love and in pleasures, and that you should defend this life and these pursuits?" I, if there is anyone, judges, who was of such strength of mind and such an innate disposition of virtue and continence as to spit out all pleasures and to complete the whole course of his life in labor of the body and in contention of the mind, whom neither rest, nor remission, nor the pursuits of his equals, nor games, nor banquets delighted, who thought nothing in life to be sought except what was conjoined with praise and with dignity, such a man, in my judgment, I consider furnished and adorned with certain divine goods.

Ex hoc genere illos fuisse arbitror Camillos, Fabricios, Curios omnesque eos, qui haec ex minimis tanta fecerunt.

I reckon that those men were of this genus—the Camilli, the Fabricii, the Curii, and all who made these things so great from the smallest beginnings.

[40] Verum haec genera virtutum non solum in moribus nostris, sed vix iam in libris reperiuntur. Chartae quoque, quae illam pristinam severitatem continebant, obsoleverunt; neque solum apud nos, qui hanc sectam rationemque vitae re magis quam verbis secuti sumus, sed etiam apud Graecos, doctissimos homines, quibus, cum facere non possent, loqui tamen et scribere honeste et magnifice licebat, alia quaedam mutatis Graeciae temporibus praecepta exstiterunt.

[40] But these kinds of virtues are found not in our mores, and scarcely now even in books. The pages too, which contained that pristine severity, have become obsolete; and not only among us, who have followed this sect and plan of life in deed rather than in words, but even among the Greeks, most learned men—who, when they could not act, were nevertheless allowed to speak and to write honorably and magnificently—certain other precepts have arisen as the times of Greece have changed.

[41] Itaque alii voluptatis causa omnia sapientes facere dixerunt, neque ab hac orationis turpitudine eruditi homines refugerunt: alii cum voluptate dignitatem coniungendam putaverunt. ut res maxime inter se repugnantes dicendi facultate coniungerent; illud unum derectum iter ad laudem cum labore qui probaverunt, prope soli iam in scholis sunt relicti. Multa enim nobis blandimenta natura ipsa genuit, quibus sopita virtus coniveret interdum; multas vias adulescentiae lubricas ostendit, quibus illa insistere aut ingredi sine casu aliquo aut prolapsione vix posset; multarum rerum iucundissimarum varietatem dedit, qua non modo haec aetas, sed etiam iam corroborata caperetur.

[41] And so some have said that the wise do everything for the sake of pleasure, nor have erudite men shrunk from this turpitude of discourse; others have thought that dignity must be conjoined with pleasure, so that by a faculty of speaking they might yoke together things most mutually repugnant; those who approved that one straight path to praise along with toil have been left almost alone now in the schools. For nature herself has begotten many blandishments for us, by which virtue, lulled, would sometimes shut its eyes; she has shown many slippery paths of youth, on which it could scarcely set foot or enter without some mishap or slip; she has given a variety of very most pleasant things, by which not only this age, but even one already strengthened, might be captured.

[42] Quam ob rem si quem forte inveneritis, qui aspernetur oculis pulchritudinem rerum, non odore ullo, non tactu, non sapore capiatur, excludat auribus omnem suavitatem, huic homini ego fortasse et pauci deos propitios, plerique autem iratos putabunt. Ergo haec deserta via et inculta atque interclusa iam frondibus et virgultis relinquatur; detur aliquid aetati; sit adulescentia liberior; non omnia voluptatibus denegentur; non semper superet vera illa et derecta ratio; vincat aliquando cupiditas voluptasque rationem, dum modo illa in hoc genere praescriptio moderatioque teneatur: parcat iuventus pudicitiae suae, ne spoliet alienam, ne effundat patrimonium, ne faenore trucidetur, ne incurrat in alterius domum atque famam, ne probrum castis, labem integris, infamiam bonis inferat, ne quem vi terreat, ne intersit insidiis, scelere careat; postremo, cum paruerit voluptatibus, dederit aliquid temporis ad ludum aetatis atque ad inanes hasce adulescentiae cupiditates, revocet se aliquando ad curam rei domesticae, rei forensis reique publicae, ut ea, quae ratione antea non perspexerat, satietate abiecisse, experiendo contempsisse videatur.

[42] For which reason, if by chance you should find someone who with his eyes spurns the beauty of things, is captivated by no odor, no touch, no taste, shuts out of his ears every sweetness, for this man I perhaps, and a few, will think the gods propitious, but most will think them angry. Therefore let this deserted road, uncultivated and now blocked by leaves and brushwood, be left; let something be granted to age; let youth be more free; let not everything be denied to pleasures; let that true and straight reason not always prevail; let desire and pleasure sometime conquer reason, provided only that in this kind prescription and moderation be maintained: let youth spare its own modesty, not despoil another’s, not pour out its patrimony, not be butchered by usury, not run into another’s house and reputation, not bring disgrace upon the chaste, a stain upon the upright, infamy upon the good, not terrify anyone by force, not be involved in plots, let it be free from crime; finally, when it has obeyed pleasures, has given some time to the play of its age and to these empty desires of youth, let it recall itself at some point to the care of domestic affairs, of the forum, and of the commonwealth, so that it may seem to have cast away, through satiety, those things which it had not previously seen by reason, and to have despised them by experiencing.

[43] Ac multi et nostra et patrum maiorumque memoria, iudices, summi homines et clarissimi cives fuerunt, quorum cum adulescentiae cupiditates defervissent, eximiae virtutes firmata iam aetate exstiterunt. Ex quibus neminem mihi libet nominare; vosmet vobiscum recordamini. Nolo enim cuiusquam fortis atque illustris viri ne minimum quidem erratum cum maxima laude coniungere.

[43] And many, both in our memory and in that of our fathers and forefathers, judges, have been highest men and most illustrious citizens, whose desires of youth, when they had cooled down, displayed exceptional virtues with their age now made firm. Of these I care to name no one; recall them yourselves with yourselves. For I do not wish to conjoin even the very least error of any brave and illustrious man with the greatest praise.

Quod si facere vellem, multi a me summi atque ornatissimi viri praedicarentur, quorum partim nimia libertas in adulescentia, partim profusa luxuries, magnitudo aeris alieni, sumptus, libidines nominarentur, quae multis postea virtutibus obtecta adulescentiae, qui vellet, excusatione defenderet.

But if I were willing to do this, many men most eminent and most distinguished would be proclaimed by me, of whom there would be named in part an excessive liberty in adolescence, in part a profuse luxury, the magnitude of debt, expenses, lusts—things which, later covered by many virtues, whoever wished would defend with the excuse of youth.

[44] At vero in M. Caelio (dicam enim iam confidentius de studiis eius honestis, quoniam audeo quaedam fretus vestra sapientia libere confiteri) nulla luxuries reperietur, nulli sumptus, nullum aes alienum, nulla conviviorum ac lustrorum libido: quod quidem vitium ventris et gurgitis non modo non minuit aetas hominibus, sed etiam auget. Amores autem et hae deliciae, quae vocantur, quae firmiore animo praeditis diutius molestae non solent esse (mature enim et celeriter deflorescunt), numquam hunc occupatum impeditumque tenuerunt.

[44] But indeed in M. Caelius (for I will now speak more confidently about his honest pursuits, since I dare, relying on your wisdom, to confess certain things freely) no luxury will be found, no expenditures, no debt, no lust for banquets and debaucheries: a vice of the belly and the gullet which age not only does not diminish in men, but even increases. Loves, moreover, and those so‑called delights, which are not wont to be troublesome for long to those endowed with a firmer spirit (for they wither in due season and quickly), have never held this man occupied and hampered.

[45] Audistis, cum pro se diceret, audistis antea, cum accusaret (defendendi haec causa, non gloriandi eloquor); genus orationis, facultatem, copiam sententiarum atque verborum, quae vestra prudentia est, perspexistis; atque in eo non solum ingenium elucere eius videbatis, quod saepe, etiamsi industria non alitur, valet tamen ipsum suis viribus, sed inerat, nisi me propter benevolentiam forte fallebat, ratio et bonis artibus instituta et cura et vigiliis elaborata. Atqui scitote, iudices, eas cupiditates, quae obiciuntur Caelio, atque haec studia, de quibus disputo, non facile in eodem homine esse posse. Fieri enim non potest, ut animus libidini deditus, amore, desiderio, cupiditate, saepe nimia copia, inopia etiam non numquam impeditus hoc, quicquid est, quod nos facimus in dicendo, quoquomodo facimus non modo agendo, verum etiam cogitando possit sustinere.

[45] You heard him when he spoke for himself; you heard before, when he prosecuted (I say this for the sake of defending, not of vaunting); the genus of oration, the faculty, the copiousness of sentiments and of words—you have discerned, as is your prudence; and in him you saw not only his genius shine forth, which often, even if it is not nourished by industry, yet avails by its own forces, but there was present—unless perchance my benevolence was deceiving me—method, trained by good arts, and care elaborated by vigils. And be assured, judges, that those cupidities which are thrown at Caelius and these studies about which I am discoursing cannot easily exist in the same man. For it cannot be, that a mind devoted to libido, hampered by love, desire, cupidity, often by excessive abundance, at times even by inopia, can sustain this, whatever it is, which we do in speaking, in whatever way we do it, not only in acting, but even in thinking.

[46] An vos aliam causam esse ullam putatis, cur in tantis praemiis eloquentiae, tanta voluptate dicendi, tanta laude, tanta gratia, tanto honore tam sint pauci semperque fuerint, qui in hoc labore versentur? Obterendae sunt omnes voluptates, relinquenda studia delectationis, ludus, iocus, convivium, sermo paene est familiarum deserendus. Quare in hoc genere labor offendit homines a studioque deterret, non quo aut ingenia deficiant aut doctrina puerilis.

[46] Do you think there is any other cause why, with such great prizes of eloquence, such great pleasure in speaking, such great praise, such great favor, such great honor, there are so few—and always have been—who engage in this toil? All pleasures must be trampled down, the pursuits of delectation must be relinquished; play, jest, banquet; the conversation of one’s familiars is almost to be deserted. Therefore in this kind the labor offends men and deters them from zeal, not because either natural talents fail or elementary instruction.

[47] An hic, si sese isti vitae dedidisset, consularem hominem admodum adulescens in iudicium vocavisset? hic, si laborem fugeret, si obstrictus voluptatibus teneretur, in hac acie cotidie versaretur, appeteret inimicitias, in iudicium vocaret, subiret periculum capitis, ipse inspectante populo Romano tot iam menses aut de salute aut de gloria dimicaret? Nihilne igitur illa vicinitas redolet, nihihne hominum fama, nihil Baiae denique ipsae loquuntur ? Illae vero non loquuntur solum,verum etiam personant, huc unius mulieris libidinem esse prolapsam, ut ea non modo solitudinem ac tenebras atque haec flagitiorum integumenta non quaerat, sed in turpissimis rebus frequentissima celebritate et clarissima luce laetetur.

[47] Or would this man, if he had surrendered himself to that sort of life, as a very young man have summoned a consular man into judgment? Would he, if he fled toil, if he were held bound by pleasures, be engaged every day on this battlefield, court enmities, call men into court, undergo danger of life, himself, with the Roman People looking on, for so many months now fight either for safety or for glory? Does that neighborhood, then, give off no odor, does the talk of men give off nothing, do Baiae itself, finally, say nothing ? They not only speak, indeed, but even resound, that the lust of one woman has collapsed to this point, that she not only does not seek solitude and darkness and these coverings of shameful acts, but in the most disgraceful matters rejoices in the most crowded concourse and the brightest light.

[48] Verum si quis est, qui etiam meretriciis amoribus interdictum iuventuti putet, est ille quidem valde severus (negare non possum), sed abhorret non modo ab huius saeculi licentia, verum etiam a maiorum consuetudine atque concessis. Quando enim hoc non factitatum est, quando reprehensum, quando non permissum, quando denique fuit, ut, quod licet, non liceret? Hic ego iam rem definiam, mulierem nullam nominabo; tantum in medio relinquam.

[48] But if there is anyone who thinks that even courtesan loves are interdicted to youth, he is indeed very severe (I cannot deny it), but he is at variance not only with the license of this age, but also with ancestral custom and concessions. For when has this not been practiced, when censured, when not permitted—when, finally, has it been that what is licit was not licit? Here I will now settle the matter: I will name no woman; I will only leave it in the open.

[49] Si quae non nupta mulier domum suam patefecerit omnium cupiditati palamque sese in meretricia vita collocarit, virorum alienissimorum conviviis uti instituerit, si hoc in urbe, si in hortis, si in Baiarum illa celebritate faciat, si denique ita sese gerat non incessu solum, sed ornatu atque comitatu, non flagrantia oculorum, non libertate sermonum, sed etiam complexu, osculatione, actis, navigatione, conviviis, ut non solum meretrix, sed etiam proterva meretrix procaxque videatur: cum hac si qui adulescens forte fuerit, utrum hic tibi, L. Herenni, adulter an amator, expugnare pudicitiam an explere libidinem voluisse videatur?

[49] If some not-married woman has opened her house to everyone’s desire and has openly placed herself in a meretricious life, has made it her practice to use the banquets of men most alien to her, whether she does this in the city, or in the gardens, or in that celebrated concourse of Baiae, if finally she so conducts herself not only in her gait but in her adornment and retinue, not by the flagrancy of her eyes, not by the liberty of her speeches, but even by embracing, kissing, her acts, navigation, banquets, so that she seems not only a prostitute, but even an insolent and procacious prostitute: if some young man has happened to be with this woman, does he, to you, L. Herennius, seem an adulterer or a lover, to have wished to storm pudicity or to satisfy libido?

[50] Obliviscor iam iniurias tuas, Clodia, depono memoriam doloris mei; quae abs te crudeliter in meos me absente facta sunt, neglego; ne sint haec in te dicta, quae dixi. Sed ex te ipsa requiro, quoniam et crimen accusatores abs te et testem eius criminis te ipsam dicunt se habere. Si quae mulier sit eius modi, qualem ego paulo ante descripsi, tui dissimilis, vita institutoque meretricio, cum hac aliquid adulescentem hominem habuisse rationis num tibi perturpe aut perflagitiosum esse videatur?

[50] I now forget your injuries, Clodia, I lay down the memory of my pain; the things which by you were cruelly done against my people while I was absent, I disregard; let what I have said not stand as said against you. But from you yourself I inquire, since the accusers say that both the charge they have from you, and as witness of that charge they have you yourself. If there be some woman of that sort, such as I described a little before, unlike you, with a meretricious life and practice, does it seem to you very disgraceful or most scandalous that a young man should have had some dealings with such a woman?

Ea si tu non es, sicut ego malo, quid est, quod obiciant Caelio? Sin eam te volunt esse, quid est, cur nos crimen hoc, si tu contemnis, pertimescamus? Quare nobis da viam rationemque defensionis.

If you are not that sort, as I prefer, what is there that they can allege against Caelius? But if they wish you to be that, what is there—why should we dread this crimen, if you hold it in contempt? Therefore grant to us the way and the rationale of a defense.

Aut enim pudor tuus defendet nihil a M. Caelio petulantius esse factum, aut impudentia et huic et ceteris magnam ad se defendendum facultatem dabit.

For either your modesty will maintain that nothing more petulant has been done by M. Caelius, or your impudence will give both to this man and to the others a great faculty for defending themselves.

[51] Sed quoniam emersisse iam e vadis et scopulos praetervecta videtur oratio mea, perfacilis mihi reliquus cursus ostenditur. Duo sunt enim crimina una in muliere summorum facinorum, auri, quod sumptum a Clodia dicitur, et veneni, quod eiusdem Clodiae necandae causa parasse Caelium criminantur. Aurum sumpsit, ut dicitis, quod L. Luccei servis daret, per quos Alexandrinus Dio, qui tum apud Lucceium habitabat, necaretur.

[51] But since my oration now seems to have emerged from the shallows and to have been borne past the rocks, a very easy remaining course is displayed to me. For there are two charges—of the gravest misdeeds—both arising from a single woman: of gold, which is said to have been taken from Clodia, and of poison, which they charge Caelius to have prepared for the purpose of killing that same Clodia. He took the gold, as you say, in order to give it to the slaves of L. Lucceius, by whom Dio the Alexandrian, who was then living with Lucceius, might be killed.

Magnum crimen vel in legatis insidiandis vel in servis ad hospitem domini necandum sollicitandis, plenum sceleris consilium, plenum audaciae!

A great crime, either in laying ambushes against legates or in tampering with slaves to have the master’s guest murdered—a plan full of wickedness, full of audacity!

[52] Quo quidem in crimine primum illud requiro, dixeritne Clodiae, quam ad rem aurum sumeret, an non dixerit. Si non dixit, cur dedit? Si dixit, eodem se conscientiae scelere devinxit.

[52] In this very charge I first inquire this: whether he told Clodia for what purpose he was taking the gold, or did not tell. If he did not tell, why did she give it? If he did tell, she bound herself with the same crime of conscience.

Tune aurum ex armario tuo promere ausa es, tune Venerem illam tuam spoliare ornamentis, spoliatricem ceterorum, cum scires, quantum ad facinus aurum hoc quaereretur, ad necem legati, ad L. Luccei, sanctissimi hominis atque integerrimi, labem sceleris sempiternam? Huic facinori tanto tua mens liberalis conscia, tua domus popularis ministra, tua denique hospitalis illa Venus adiutrix esse non debuit.

Did you then dare to draw forth gold from your cabinet, did you then strip that Venus of yours of her ornaments—herself a despoiler of others—when you knew for what crime this gold was being sought: for the murder of a legate, to fasten upon L. Lucceius, a most holy man and of the utmost integrity, an everlasting stain of crime? For so great a deed of wickedness your generous mind ought not to have been privy, your house—so popular—its handmaid, and, finally, that hospitable Venus of yours its helper.

[53] Vidit hoc Balbus; celatam esse Clodiam dixit, atque ita Caelium ad illam attulisse, se ad ornatum ludorum aurum quaerere. Si tam familiaris erat Clodiae, quam tu esse vis, cum de libidine eius tam multa dicis, dixit profecto, quo vellet aurum; si tam familiaris non erat, non dedit. Ita, si verum tibi Caelius dixit, o immoderata mulier, sciens tu aurum ad facinus dedisti; si non est ausus dicere, non dedisti.

[53] Balbus saw this; he said that Clodia had been kept in the dark, and that thus Caelius had approached her, saying that he was seeking gold for the ornament of the games. If he was so familiar with Clodia as you wish him to be, since you say so many things about her libido, he surely told for what he wanted the gold; if he was not so familiar, she did not give it. Thus, if Caelius told you the truth, O immoderate woman, you knowingly gave the gold for a crime; if he did not dare to say, you did not give it.

Quid ego nunc argumentis huic crimini, quae sunt innumerabilia, resistam? Possum dicere mores Caeli longissime a tanti sceleris atrocitate esse disiunctos; minime esse credendum homini tam ingenioso tamque prudenti non venisse in mentem rem tanti sceleris ignotis alienisque servis non esse credendam. Possum etiam illa et ceterorum patronorum et mea consuetudine ab accusatore perquirere, ubi sit congressus cum servis Luccei Caelius, qui ei fuerit aditus; si per se, qua temeritate; si per alium, per quem?

With what arguments, which are innumerable, shall I now resist this charge? I can say that the character of Caelius is by a very great distance disjoined from the atrocity of so great a crime; that it is not at all to be believed that it did not come into the mind of a man so ingenious and so prudent that a matter of such a crime ought not to be entrusted to slaves unknown and belonging to another. I can also, according to the custom both of other patrons and my own, inquire from the accuser where Caelius held a congress with the slaves of Lucceius, what access he had; if by himself, with what temerity; if through another, through whom?

Possum omnes latebras suspicionum peragrare dicendo; non causa, non locus, non facultas, non conscius, non perficiendi, non occultandi maleficii spes, non ratio ulla, non vestigium maximi facinoris reperietur.

I can, by speaking, traverse all the hiding-places of suspicions; no cause, no place, no faculty (opportunity), no accomplice, no hope of accomplishing, no hope of concealing the wrongdoing, no rationale at all, no vestige of a very great crime will be found.

[54] Sed haec, quae sunt oratoris propria, quae mihi non propter ingenium meum, sed propter hanc exercitationem usumque dicendi fructum aliquem ferre potuissent, cum a me ipso elaborata proferri viderentur, brevitatis causa relinquo omnia. Habeo enim, iudices, quem vos socium vestrae religionis iurisque iurandi facile esse patiamini, L. Lucceium, sanctissimum hominem et gravissimum testem, qui tantum facinus in famam atque fortunas suas neque non audisset illatum a Caelio neque neglexisset neque tulisset. An ille vir illa humanitate praeditus, illis studiis, illis artibus atque doctrina illius ipsius periculum, quem propter haec ipsa studia diligebat, neglegere potuisset et, quod facinus in alienum hominem intentum severe acciperet, id omisisset curare in hospitem?

[54] But these things, which are proper to an orator—things which could have brought me some fruit not because of my genius, but because of this exercise and use of speaking—since they might seem to be produced, elaborated by myself, I leave all for the sake of brevity. For I have, judges, a man whom you may easily allow to be an associate of your religion and of your oath, L. Lucceius, a most scrupulous man and a most weighty witness, who would certainly have heard of so great a crime brought by Caelius upon his reputation and fortunes, and would neither have neglected it nor borne it. Could that man, endowed with that humanity, with those pursuits, those arts and that learning, have been able to neglect the peril of that very person whom he loved on account of these very studies, and omit to care, in the case of a guest, about a crime which he would take severely when aimed at a man unconnected to him?

quod per ignotos actum cum comperisset, doleret, id a suis servis temptatum esse neglegeret? quod in agris locisve publicis factum reprehenderet, id in urbe ac suae domi coeptum esse leniter ferret? quod in alicuius agrestis periculo non praetermitteret, id homo eruditus in insidiis doctissimi hominis dissimulandum putaret?

would he, when he had found out that something had been done by unknowns, grieve, but neglect that it had been attempted by his own slaves? what he would reprehend as having been done in the fields or in public places, would he bear leniently that it had been begun in the city and at his own house? what he would not pass over in the peril of some countryman, would the learned man think ought to be dissimulated in ambushes against a most learned man?

[55] Sed cur diutius vos, iudices, teneo? Ipsius iurati religionem auctoritatemque percipite atque omnia diligenter testimonii verba cognoscite. Recita.

[55] But why do I hold you longer, judges? Take in the religion and authority of the sworn man himself, and carefully learn all the words of the testimony. Read it.

L. LVCCEI TESTIMONIVM. Quid exspectatis amplius? an aliquam vocem putatis ipsam pro se causam et veritatem posse mittere?

THE TESTIMONY OF L. LUCCIUS. What more are you waiting for? or do you think that the case itself and truth can send some voice on their own behalf?

Haec est innocentiae defensio, haec ipsius causae oratio, haec una vox veritatis. In crimine ipso nulla suspicio est, in re nihil est argumenti, in negotio, quod actum esse dicitur, nullum vestigium sermonis, loci, temporis; nemo testis, nemo conscius nominatur, totum crimen profertur ex inimica, ex infami, ex crudeli, ex facinerosa, ex libidinosa domo; domus autem illa, quae temptata esse scelere isto nefario dicitur, plena est integritatis, dignitatis, officii religionis; ex qua domo recitatur vobis iure iurando devincta auctoritas, ut res minime dubitanda in contentione ponatur, utrum temeraria, procax, irata mulier finxisse crimen, an gravis sapiens moderatusque vir religiose testimonium dixisse videatur.

This is the defense of innocence, this the oration of the case itself, this the one voice of truth. In the charge itself there is no suspicion; in the matter there is no argument; in the business which is said to have been transacted, no trace of discourse, place, or time: no witness, no accomplice is named; the whole accusation is produced from a hostile, infamous, cruel, criminal, libidinous house; but that house which is said to have been assailed by that nefarious crime is full of integrity, dignity, and the religious scruple of duty; from which house there is recited to you an authority bound by oath, so that a matter least to be doubted is set in contention—whether a rash, impudent, irate woman fabricated the charge, or a grave, wise, and moderate man appears to have given testimony religiously.

[56] Reliquum est igitur crimen de veneno; cuius ego nec principium invenire neque evolvere exitum possum. Quae fuit enim causa, quam ob rem isti mulieri venenum dare vellet Caelius? Ne aurum redderet?

[56] Therefore the remaining charge is about poison; of which I can discover neither the beginning nor unravel the outcome. For what was the cause, on account of which Caelius would wish to give poison to that woman? So that she would not give back the gold?

Num petivit? Ne crimen haereret? Numquis obiecit?

Did he demand it? So that the crime would not stick? Did anyone object?

num quis denique fecisset mentionem, si hic nullius nomen detulisset? Quin etiam L. Herennium dicere audistis verbo se molestum non futurum fuisse Caelio, nisi iterum eadem de re suo familiari absoluto nomen hic detulisset. Credibile est igitur tantum facinus ob nullam causam esse commissum?

Would anyone, finally, have made any mention, if this man had denounced no one by name? Nay rather, you even heard L. Herennius say that he would not have been troublesome to Caelius even in a word, unless this man had again, on the same matter, after his own intimate had been acquitted, preferred a charge by name. Is it credible, therefore, that so great a crime was committed for no cause?

et vos non videtis fingi sceleris maximi crimen, ut alterius causa sceleris suscipiendi fuisse videatur?

And do you not see a charge of the greatest crime being fabricated, so that he may seem to have been for the sake of undertaking another’s crime?

[57] Cui denique commisit, quo adiutore usus est, quo socio, quo conscio, cui tantum facinus, cui se, cui salutem suam credidit? Servisne mulieris? Sic enim obiectum est.

[57] To whom, finally, did he entrust it; what helper did he employ; what associate, what accomplice; to whom such a crime, to whom himself, to whom did he commit his own safety? To the woman’s slaves? For thus it has been alleged.

Et erat tam demens hic, cui vos ingenium certe tribuitis, etiamsi cetera inimica oratione detrahitis, ut omnes suas fortunas alienis servis committeret? At quibus servis? Refert enim magnopere id ipsum.

And was this man so demented, to whom you certainly attribute ingenuity, even if you detract the rest by inimical oration, that he would commit all his fortunes to others’ slaves? But to which slaves? For that very point is of great importance.

Iisne, quos intellegebat non communi condicione servitutis uti, sed licentius, liberius, familiarius cum domina vivere? Quis enim hoc non videt, iudices, aut quis ignorat, in eius modi domo, in qua mater familias meretricio more vivat, in qua nihil geratur, quod foras proferendum sit, in qua inusitatae, libidines, luxuries, omnia denique inaudita vitia ac flagitia versentur, hic servos non esse servos, quibus omnia committantur, per quos gerantur, qui versentur isdem in voluptatibus, quibus occulta credantur, ad quos aliquantum etiam ex cotidianis sumptibus ac luxurie redundet? Id igitur Caelius non videbat?

Was it to those whom he understood not to be under the common condition of servitude, but to live more licentiously, more freely, more familiarly with their mistress? For who does not see this, judges, or who is ignorant, that in a house of such a kind, in which the materfamilias lives in the manner of a meretrix (prostitute), in which nothing is done that ought to be carried forth outside, in which unusual lusts, luxuries, in fine all unheard-of vices and flagitious crimes are in play, there the slaves are not slaves—those to whom everything is entrusted, through whom things are managed, who are engaged in the same pleasures, to whom secrets are committed, upon whom there even overflows some share from the daily expenses and luxury? Did Caelius not see that?

[58] Si enim tam familiaris erat mulieris, quam vos vultis, istos quoque servos familiares esse dominae sciebat. Sin ei tanta consuetudo, quanta a vobis inducitur, non erat, quae cum servis potuit familiaritas esse tanta? Ipsius autem veneni quae ratio fingitur?

[58] If indeed he was so familiar with the woman as you wish, he knew that those slaves too were familiar with their mistress. But if there was not for him so great a consuetude as is introduced by you, what familiarity with the slaves could have been so great? But what rationale of the poison itself is being feigned?

ubi quaesitum est, quem ad modum paratum, quo pacto, cui, quo in loco traditum? Habuisse aiunt domi vimque eius esse expertum in servo quodam ad eam rem ipsam parato; cuius perceleri interitu esse ab hoc comprobatum venenum.

where inquiry was made: in what manner it was prepared, by what method, for whom, in what place it was handed over? They say he had it at home and had tested its force on a certain slave prepared for that very purpose; and that by that one’s very swift demise the venom was corroborated by this man.

[59] Pro di immortales! cur interdum in hominum sceleribus maximis aut conivetis aut praesentis fraudis poenas in diem reservatis? Vidi enim, vidi et illum hausi dolorem vel acerbissimum in vita, cum Q. Metellus abstraheretur e sinu gremioque patriae, cumque ille vir, qui se natum huic imperio putavit, tertio die post quam in curia, quam in rostris, quam in re publica floruisset, integerrima aetate, optimo habitu, maximis viribus eriperetur indignissime bonis omnibus atque universae civitati.

[59] O immortal gods! why do you sometimes, in the greatest crimes of men, either connive or reserve the penalties of present fraud for a later day? For I saw—yes, I saw—and I drank in that grief, even the most bitter in life, when Q. Metellus was dragged away from the bosom and lap of the fatherland; and when that man, who thought himself born for this empire, on the third day after he had flourished in the curia, on the rostra, in the Republic, in the most unimpaired age, in the best condition, with the greatest vigor, was most outrageously snatched away from all good men and from the whole commonwealth.

Quo quidem tempore ille moriens, cum iam ceteris ex partibus oppressa mens esset, extremum sensum ad memoriam rei publicae reservabat, cum me intuens flentem significabat interruptis ac morientibus vocibus, quanta impenderet procella mihi, quanta tempestas civitati, et cum parietem saepe feriens eum, qui cum Q. Catulo fuerat ei communis, crebro Catulum, saepe me, saepissime rem publicam nominabat, ut non tam se emori quam spoliari suo praesidio cum patriam, tum etiam me doleret.

At that very time, as he was dying, when now his mind had been oppressed from the other parts, he reserved his last sense for the memory of the republic; and, looking upon me as I wept, he signified, with broken and dying voices, how great a squall was impending over me, how great a tempest over the state; and as he often struck the wall—that partition which he had in common with Q. Catulus—he frequently named Catulus, often me, most often the republic, so that he grieved not so much that he himself was dying as that both his fatherland and I as well were being despoiled of his protection.

[60] Quem quidem virum si nulla vis repentini sceleris sustulisset, quonam modo ille furenti fratri suo consularis restitisset, qui consul incipientem furere atque tonantem sua se manu interfecturum audiente senatu dixerit? Ex hac igitur domo progressa ista mulier de veneni celeritate dicere audebit? Nonne ipsam domum metuet, ne quam vocem eiciat, non parietes conscios, non noctem illam funestam ac luctuosam perhorrescet?

[60] If no force of sudden crime had taken away that man, in what way would that consular have withstood his frenzied brother, who, as consul, said, with the senate hearing, that he would slay with his own hand the one beginning to rage and to thunder? Out of this house, then, will that woman dare to speak of the celerity of the poison? Will she not fear the house itself, lest she utter any word—will she not shudder at the walls privy to it, will she not shudder at that deadly and mournful night?

Sed revertor ad crimen; etenim haec facta illius clarissimi ac fortissimi viri mentio et vocem meam fletu debilitavit et mentem dolore impedivit.

But I return to the charge; for indeed the mention of these deeds of that most illustrious and most brave man has debilitated my voice with weeping and has impeded my mind with grief.

[61] Sed tamen venenum unde fuerit, quem ad modum paratum sit, non dicitur. Datum esse aiunt huic P. Licinio, pudenti adulescenti et bono, Caeli familiari; constitutum esse cum servis, ut venirent ad balneas Senias; eodem Licinium esse venturum atque iis veneni pyxidem traditurum. Hic primum illud requiro, quid attinuerit ferri in eum locum constitutum, cur illi servi non ad Caelium domum venerint.

[61] But still, whence the poison came, in what manner it was prepared, is not stated. They say it was given to this Publius Licinius, a modest and good young man, an intimate of Caelius; that it was arranged with the slaves that they should come to the Senian baths; that Licinius would come to the same place and would hand over to them a casket of poison. Here first I inquire this: what point there was in arranging for it to be brought to that appointed place, why those slaves did not come to Caelius’s house.

Si manebat tanta illa consuetudo Caeli, tanta familiaritas cum Clodia, quid suspicionis esset, si apud Caelium mulieris servus visus esset? Sin autem iam suberat simultas, exstincta erat consuetudo, discidium exstiterat, "hinc illae lacrimae " nimirum, et haec causa est omnium horum scelerum atque criminum.

If that so great consuetude of Caelius remained, such familiarity with Clodia, what suspicion would there be, if at Caelius’s a slave of the woman had been seen? But if, however, by now a feud was present, the consuetude had been extinguished, a rupture had arisen, "hence those tears " of course, and this is the cause of all these crimes and charges.

[62] "Immo," inquit, "cum servi ad dominam rem totam et maleficium Caeli detulissent, mulier ingeniosa praecepit his ut omnia Caelio pollicerentur; sed ut venenum, cum a Licinio traderetur, manifesto comprehendi posset, constitui locum iussit balneas Senias, ut eo mitteret amicos, qui delitiscerent, deinde repente, cum venisset Licinius venenumque traderet, prosilirent hominemque comprenderent." Quae quidem omnia, iudices, perfacilem rationem habent reprehendendi. Cur enim potissimum balneas publicas constituerat? in quibus non invenio quae latebra togatis hominibus esse posset.

[62] "On the contrary," he says, "when the slaves had reported to the mistress the whole matter and the malefaction of Caelius, the clever woman instructed them to promise everything to Caelius; but so that the poison, when it was being handed over by Licinius, might be caught manifestly, she ordered the place to be appointed—the Sennian baths—so that she might send friends there, who would hide themselves, then suddenly, when Licinius had come and was handing over the poison, they would leap forth and seize the man." All of which, judges, admit of a very easy ground of reprehension. For why, pray, had she chosen the public baths above all? in which I do not find what hiding-place could exist for men in togas.

Nam si essent in vestibulo balnearum, non laterent; sin se in intimum conicere vellent, nec satis commode calceati et vestiti id facere possent et fortasse non reciperentur, nisi forte mulier potens quadrantaria illa permutatione familiaris facta erat balneatori.

For if they were in the vestibule of the baths, they would not lie hidden; but if they wished to plunge into the innermost part, they could not do this conveniently enough while shod and clothed, and perhaps they would not be admitted—unless perhaps the woman, powerful, had by that quadrans-exchange become familiar with the bathkeeper.

[63] Atque equidem vehementer exspectabam, quinam isti viri boni testes huius manifesto deprehensi veneni dicerentur; nulli enim sunt adhuc nominati. Sed non dubito, quin sint pergraves, qui primum sint talis feminae familiares, deinde eam provinciam susceperint, ut in balneas contruderentur, quod illa nisi a viris honestissimis ac plenissimis dignitatis, quam velit sit potens, numquam impetravisset. Sed quid ego de dignitate istorum testium loquor?

[63] And indeed I was vehemently expecting who those good men were who would be said to be witnesses of this poison manifestly apprehended; for none have yet been named. But I do not doubt that they are very weighty men, who first are familiars of such a woman, and then have undertaken that “province,” namely, that they be shoved into the baths—a thing which she, however powerful she may be, would never have obtained except from men most honorable and most full of dignity. But why am I speaking of the dignity of those witnesses?

virtutem eorum diligentiamque cognoscite. "In balneis delituerunt." Testes egregios! "Dein temere prosiluerunt." Homines temperantes!

Recognize their virtue and diligence. "They lay hidden in the baths." Excellent witnesses! "Then they rashly leaped forth." Men of temperance!

Sic enim fingunt, cum Licinius venisset, pyxidem teneret in manu, conaretur tradere, nondum tradidisset, tum repente evolasse istos praeclaros testes sine nomine; Licinium autem, cum iam manum ad tradendam pyxidem porrexisset, retraxisse atque illo repentino hominum impetu se in fugam coniecisse. O magna vis veritatis, quae contra hominum ingenia, calliditatem, sollertiam contraque fictas omnium insidias facile se per se ipsa defendat!

For thus they contrive: when Licinius had come, he was holding a casket in his hand, he was trying to hand it over, he had not yet handed it over, then suddenly those most illustrious witnesses without a name flew out; but Licinius, when he had already stretched out his hand to hand over the casket, drew it back and, at that sudden onrush of men, cast himself into flight. O great force of truth, which, against the ingenuity of men, their craftiness, their skill, and against the feigned ambushes of all, easily defends itself by itself!

[64] Velut haec tota fabella veteris et plurimarum fabularum poetriae quam est sine argumento, quam nullum invenire exitum potest! Quid enim? isti tot viri (nam necesse est fuisse non paucos, ut et comprehendi Licinius facile posset et res multorum oculis esset testatior) cur Licinium de manibus amiserunt?

[64] As though this whole little fable of an old poetess of very many fables—how without an argument it is, how it can find no exit! What then? those so many men (for there must have been not a few, so that Licinius could both be easily apprehended and the matter be more testified to the eyes of many)—why did they lose Licinius out of their hands?

Qui minus enim Licinius comprehendi potuit, cum se retraxit, ne pyxidem traderet, quam si tradidisset? Erant enim illi positi, ut comprehenderent Licinium, ut manifesto Licinius teneretur, aut cum retineret venenum aut cum tradidisset. Hoc fuit totum consilium mulieris, haec istorum provincia, qui rogati sunt; quos quidem tu quam ob rem "temere prosiluisse" dicas atque ante tempus, non reperio.

For how any less could Licinius have been apprehended, when he drew back so as not to hand over the pyxis, than if he had handed it over? For they had been posted to apprehend Licinius, so that Licinius might be held manifest, either when he was retaining the venom or when he had handed it over. This was the whole counsel of the woman, this the province of those who were asked; as to whom, indeed, for what reason you say that they "leaped forth rashly" and before the time, I do not discover.

Fuerant ad hoc rogati, fuerant ad hanc rem collocati, ut venenum, ut insidiae, facinus denique ipsum ut manifesto comprehenderetur.

They had been asked for this; they had been posted for this purpose: that the poison, that the ambush, finally that the crime itself might be apprehended in the act, manifestly.

[65] Potueruntne magis tempore prosilire, quam cum Licinius venisset, cum in manu teneret veneni pyxidem? Quae cum iam erat tradita servis, si evasissent subito ex balneis mulieris amici Liciniumque comprehendissent, imploraret hominum fidem atque a se illam pyxidem traditam pernegaret. Quem quo modo illi reprehenderent?

[65] Could they have sprung forth at a more opportune time than when Licinius had arrived, when he was holding in his hand a box of poison? And when this had already been handed over to the slaves, if they had suddenly rushed out from the baths of the woman's friend and had seized Licinius, he would appeal to the good faith of men and would deny that that box had been handed over by him. How, then, could they apprehend him?

vidisse se dicerent? Primum ad se revocarent maximi facinoris crimen; deinde id se vidisse dicerent, quod, quo loco collocati fuerant, non potuissent videre. Tempore igitur ipso se ostenderunt, cum Licinius venisset, pyxidem expediret, manum porrigeret, venenum traderet.

Would they say that they had seen? First, they would call back upon themselves the charge of the most serious crime; then they would say that they had seen that which, from the place where they had been stationed, they could not have seen. Therefore they showed themselves at the very moment when Licinius came, produced the box, stretched out his hand, and handed over the poison.

Mimi ergo est iam exitus, non fabulae; in quo cum clausula non invenitur, fugit aliquis e manibus, deinde scabilla concrepant, aulaeum tollitur.

Therefore it is now the exit of a mime, not of a play; in which, since a clausula is not found, someone slips out of their hands, then the scabilla rattle, the curtain is lifted.

[66] Quaero enim, cur Licinium titubantem, haesitantem, cedentem, fugere conantem mulieraria manus ista de manibus amiserit, cur non comprenderint, cur non ipsius confessione, multorum oculis, facinoris denique voce tanti sceleris crimen expresserint. An timebant, ne tot unum, valentes imbecillum, alacres perterritum superare non possent? Nullum argumentum in re, nulla suspicio in causa, nullus exitus criminis reperietur.

[66] For I ask, why did that band of women lose Licinius from their hands as he was staggering, hesitating, giving ground, trying to flee; why did they not seize him; why did they not, by his own confession, before the eyes of many, and, finally, by the very voice of the deed, wring forth the charge of so great a crime? Or were they afraid that so many against one, the strong against the weak, the eager against the terrified, might not be able to overcome? No argument in the matter, no suspicion in the cause, no issue of the accusation will be found.

Itaque haec causa ab argumentis, a coniectura, ab iis signis, quibus veritas illustrari solet, ad testes tota traducta est. Quos quidem ego, iudices, testes non modo sine ullo timore, sed etiam cum aliqua spe delectationis exspecto.

Therefore this case has been transferred entirely from arguments, from conjecture, from those signs by which truth is wont to be illuminated, to witnesses. These, indeed, judges, I await as witnesses not only without any fear, but even with some hope of delectation.

[67] Praegestit animus iam videre primum lautos iuvenes mulieris beatae ac nobilis familiares, deinde fortes viros ab imperatrice in insidiis atque in praesidio balnearum collocatos; ex quibus requiram, quem ad modum latuerint aut ubi, alveusne ille an equus Troianus fuerit, qui tot invictos viros muliebre bellum gerentes tulerit ac texerit. Illud vero respondere cogam, cur tot viri ac tales hunc et unum et tam imbecillum, quam videtis, non aut stantem comprenderint aut fugientem consecuti sint; qui se numquam profecto, si in istum locum processerint, explicabunt. Quam volent in conviviis faceti, dicaces, non numquam etiam ad vinum diserti sint, alia fori vis est, alia triclinii, alia subselliorum ratio, alia lectorum; non idem iudicum comissatorumque conspectus; lux denique longe alia est solis, alia lychnorum.

[67] My spirit now is eager to see first the spruce youths, the familiar companions of the wealthy and noble woman, then the brave men stationed by the empress in ambush and as a guard of the baths; from whom I will ask how they lay hidden and where, whether that bath-tub was or the Trojan horse, which bore and covered so many unconquered men waging a womanly war. This indeed I will compel them to answer: why so many men, and such men, did not either seize this one man, so single and so feeble as you see, while standing, or, if fleeing, overtake him; men who, assuredly, if they come forward into this place, will never extricate themselves. However witty they please to be at banquets, sharp-tongued, sometimes even eloquent with wine, the force of the forum is one thing, that of the dining-couch another; the order of the benches is one thing, that of the couches another; the gaze of judges is not the same as that of carousers; finally, the light of the sun is far different from that of lamps.

Quam ob rem excutiemus omnes istorum delicias, omnes ineptias, si prodierint. Sed me audiant, navent aliam operam, aliam ineant gratiam, in aliis se rebus ostentent, vigeant apud istam mulierem venustate, dominentur sumptibus, haereant, iaceant, deserviant; capiti vero innocentis fortunisque parcant.

Wherefore we will shake out all the delicacies of those men, all their ineptitudes, if they should come forth. But let them listen to me: let them ply another operation, seek another grace, display themselves in other matters; let them thrive with that woman by Venus-like charm, dominate the expenditures, cling, lie low, be subservient; but let them spare the head—indeed, the life—of the innocent man and his fortunes.

[68] At sunt servi illi de cognatorum sententia, nobilissimorum et clarissimorum hominum, manu missi. Tandem aliquid invenimus, quod ista mulier de suorum propinquorum fortissimorum virorum sententia atque auctoritate fecisse dicatur. Sed scire cupio, quid habeat argumenti ista manumissio; in qua aut crimen est Caelio quaesitum aut quaestio sublata aut multarum rerum consciis servis cum causa praemium persolutum.

[68] But those slaves were manumitted by the judgment of the kinsmen, men most noble and most illustrious. At last we have found something which that woman is said to have done by the decision and authority of her own relatives, most valiant men. But I wish to know what evidentiary force this manumission has: in it either a charge was sought against Caelius, or an investigation was quashed, or, in connection with the case, a reward was paid to slaves privy to many matters.

"At propinquis" inquit "placuit." Cur non placeret, cum rem tute ad eos non ab aliis tibi adlatam, sed a te ipsa compertam deferre diceres?

“But ‘it pleased the kinsfolk,’” she says. Why should it not have pleased them, since you yourself said you were referring the matter to them, not as brought to you by others, but as ascertained by yourself?

[69] Hic etiam miramur, si illam commenticiam pyxidem obscenissima sit fabula consecuta? Nihil est, quod in eius modi mulierem non cadere videatur. Audita et percelebrata sermonibus res est.

[69] Do we even marvel here, if that fictitious casket has been followed by a most obscene fable? There is nothing that does not seem to befall a woman of that sort. The matter has been heard and is very celebrated in conversations.

Percipitis animis, iudices, iam dudum, quid velim vel potius quid nolim dicere. Quod etiamsi est factum, certe a Caelio non est factum (quid enim attinebat?); est enim ab aliquo adulescente fortasse non tam insulso quam non verecundo. Sin autem est fictum, non illud quidem modestum, sed tamen est non infacetum mendacium; quod profecto numquam hominum sermo atque opinio comprobasset, nisi omnia, quae cum turpitudine aliqua dicerentur, in istam quadrare apte viderentur.

You perceive in your minds, judges, long since, what I wish—or rather what I do not wish—to say. Which, even if it was done, certainly was not done by Caelius (for what was the point?); for it was by some young man, perhaps not so insipid as immodest. But if, however, it is fabricated, that is indeed not modest, yet nevertheless it is a not-unwitty lie; which assuredly the talk and opinion of men would never have approved, unless everything that was said with some disgrace seemed to fit aptly onto that woman.

[70] Dicta est a me causa, iudices, et perorata. Iam intellegitis, quantum iudicium sustineatis, quanta res sit commissa vobis. De vi quaeritis.

[70] The case has been presented by me, judges, and concluded. Now you understand how great a judgment you bear, how great a matter has been entrusted to you. You are conducting an inquiry on the charge of violence.

Quae lex ad imperium, ad maiestatem, ad statum patriae, ad salutem omnium pertinet, quam legem Q. Catulus armata dissensione civium rei publicae paene extremis temporibus tulit, quaeque lex sedata illa flamma consulatus mei fumantes reliquias coniurationis exstinxit, hac nunc lege Caeli adulescentia non ad rei publicae poenas, sed ad mulieris libidines et delicias deposcitur?

Which law pertains to the imperium, to the majesty, to the status of the fatherland, to the safety of all—the law which Quintus Catulus carried amid an armed dissension of citizens at almost the last hour of the republic, and which law, when that blaze was settled during my consulship, extinguished the smoking remnants of the conspiracy—by this law now is Caelius’s youth demanded, not for the republic’s penalties, but for a woman’s libidinous desires and delights?

[71] Atque hoc etiam loco M. Camurti et C. Caeserni damnatio praedicatur. O stultitiam! stultitiamne dicam an impudentiam singularem!

[71] And at this point too the condemnation of M. Camurtius and C. Caesernius is vaunted. O stupidity! Shall I call it stupidity, or singular impudence!

Audetisne, cum ab ea muliere veniatis, facere istorum hominum mentionem? audetis excitare tanti flagitii memoriam non exstinctam illam quidem, sed repressam vetustate? Quo enim illi crimine peccatoque perierunt?

Do you dare, when you come from that woman, to make mention of those men? Do you dare to rouse the memory of so great a flagitious crime, not, to be sure, extinguished, but repressed by age? For by what charge and sin did they perish?

Nempe quod eiusdem mulieris dolorem et iniuriam Vettiano nefario stupro sunt persecuti. Ergo ut audiretur Vetti nomen in causa, ut illa vetus aeraria fabula referretur, idcirco Camurti et Caeserni est causa renovata? qui quamquam lege de vi certe non tenebantur, eo maleficio tamen erant implicati, ut ex nullius legis laqueis eximendi viderentur.

Namely, because they prosecuted the grief and injury of that same woman, occasioned by the nefarious Vettian outrage of defilement. Therefore, so that the name of Vettius might be heard in the case, so that that old aerarium tale might be retold, for that reason was the case of Camurtius and Caesernius renewed? who, although they certainly were not held by the law on violence (lex de vi), were nevertheless so implicated in that malefaction that they seemed unable to be taken out from the snares of any law.

[72] M. vero Caelius cur in hoc iudicium vocatur? cui neque proprium quaestionis crimen obicitur nec vero aliquod eius modi, quod sit a lege seiunctum, cum vestra severitate coniunctum; cuius prima aetas dedita disciplinae fuit iisque artibus, quibus instituimur ad hunc usum forensem, ad capessendam rem publicam, ad honorem, gloriam, dignitatem; iis autem fuit amicitiis maiorum natu, quorum imitari industriam continentiamque maxime vellet, iis aequalium studiis, ut eundem quem optimi ac nobilissimi petere cursum laudis videretur.

[72] But why is M. Caelius called into this trial? against whom neither a charge proper to the court of inquiry is objected, nor indeed any such kind which, being separated from statute, is joined with your severity; whose earliest age was devoted to discipline and to those arts by which we are instituted for this forensic use, for taking up the commonwealth, for honor, glory, dignity; and his were the friendships of elders, whose industry and continence he would most wish to imitate, and the pursuits of his peers, so that he seemed to seek the same course of praise as the best and most noble pursue.

[73] Cum autem paulum iam roboris accessisset aetati, in Africam profectus est Q. Pompeio pro consule contubernalis, castissimo homini atque omnis officii diligentissimo; in qua provincia cum res erant et possessiones paternae, tum etiam usus quidam provincialis non sine causa a maioribus huic aetati tributus. Decessit illinc Pompei iudicio probatissimus, ut ipsius testimonio cognoscetis. Voluit vetere instituto eorum adulescentium exemplo, qui post in civitate summi viri et clarissimi cives exstiterunt, industriam suam a populo Romano ex aliqua illustri accusatione cognosci.

[73] When a little strength had now been added to his age, he set out to Africa as a contubernalis with Q. Pompeius, proconsul, a most chaste man and most diligent in every duty; in which province there were both his father’s affairs and possessions, and also a certain provincial usage not without cause allotted by our ancestors to this age. He departed from there most approved in Pompeius’s judgment, as you will learn from his own testimonial. He wished, by the ancient institution and by the example of those youths who afterward in the state became men of the highest rank and most illustrious citizens, that his industry be known by the Roman people from some illustrious accusation, that is, a prosecution.

[74] Vellem alio potius eum cupiditas gloriae detulisset; sed abiit huius tempus querellae. Accusavit C. Antonium, collegam meum, cui misero praeclari in rem publicam beneficii memoria nihil profuit, nocuit opinio maleficii cogitati. Postea nemini umquam concessit aequalium, plus ut in foro, plus ut in negotiis versaretur causisque amicorum, plus ut valeret inter suos gratia.

[74] I would that desire for glory had rather borne him elsewhere; but the time for this complaint has passed. He prosecuted Gaius Antonius, my colleague, to whom, poor man, the memory of a distinguished benefice for the republic did no good; the suspicion of a contemplated malefaction harmed him. Thereafter he yielded to none of his contemporaries—whether to be more engaged in the forum, more in business and in the causes of friends, or that his influence should prevail more among his own.

Quae nisi vigilantes homines, nisi sobrii, nisi industrii consequi non possunt, omnia labore et diligentia est consecutus.

The things which men cannot attain unless vigilant, unless sober, unless industrious, he has attained all by labor and diligence.

[75] In hoc flexu quasi aetatis (nihil enim occultabo fretus humanitate ac sapientia vestra) fama adulescentis paulum haesit ad metas notitia nova mulieris et infelici vicinitate et insolentia voluptatum, quae cum inclusae diutius et prima aetate compressae et constrictae fuerunt, subito se non numquam profundunt atque eiciunt universae. Qua ex vita vel dicam quo ex sermone (nequaquam enim tantum erat, quantum homines loquebantur)—verum ex eo, quicquid erat, emersit totumque se eiecit atque extulit, tantumque abest ab illius familiaritatis infamia, ut eiusdem nunc ab sese inimicitias odiumque propulset.

[75] At this bend, as it were, of age (for I will conceal nothing, relying on your humanity and wisdom), the reputation of the adolescent stuck a little at the turning-posts by reason of a new acquaintance with a woman, and by the unlucky vicinity and the insolence of pleasures, which, when they have been shut in for a long time and in earliest age compressed and constricted, sometimes suddenly pour themselves forth and cast themselves out all together. From which way of life—or shall I say from what talk (for it was by no means as much as people were saying)—indeed from that, whatever it was, he emerged and wholly cast and lifted himself out; and so far is he from the infamy of that familiarity that he now repels from himself the enmities and hatred of that same woman.

[76] Atque ut iste interpositus sermo deliciarum desidiaeque moreretur (fecit me invito mehercule et multum repugnante, sed tamen fecit), nomen amici mei de ambitu detulit; quem absolutum insequitur, revocat; nemini nostrum obtemperat, est violentior, quam vellem. Sed ego non loquor de sapientia, quae non cadit in hanc aetatem; de impetu animi loquor, de cupiditate vincendi, de ardore mentis ad gloriam; quae studia in his iam aetatibus nostris contractiora esse debent, in adulescentia vero tamquam in herbis significant, quae virtutis maturitas et quantae fruges industriae sint futurae. Etenim semper magno ingenio adulescentes refrenandi potius a gloria quam incitandi fuerunt; amputanda plura sunt illi aetati, siquidem efflorescit ingenii laudibus, quam inserenda.

[76] And so that this interposed talk of delights and idleness might be delayed (he did it with me unwilling, by Hercules, and greatly resisting, yet nevertheless he did it), he laid an information against my friend for ambitus; when he was acquitted, he pursues him, he recalls him; he obeys none of us, he is more violent than I would wish. But I am not speaking of wisdom, which does not befit this age; I speak of the impetus of spirit, of the desire of conquering, of the ardor of mind toward glory; pursuits which in our years now ought to be more confined, but in adolescence, as in tender shoots, signify what maturity of virtue and how great fruits of industry are going to be. For adolescents of great ingenium have always had to be rather reined in from glory than incited; more things must be pruned from that age, since it blossoms with the praises of ingenium, than grafted in.

[77] Quare, si cui nimium effervisse videtur huius vel in suscipiendis vel in gerendis inimicitiis vis, ferocitas, pertinacia, si quem etiam minimorum horum aliquid offendit, si purpurae genus, si amicorum catervae, si splendor, si nitor, iam ista deferverint, iam aetas omnia, iam usus, iam dies mitigarit. Conservate igitur rei publicae, iudices, civem bonarum artium, bonarum partium, bonorum virorum. Promitto hoc vobis et rei publicae spondeo, si modo nos ipsi rei publicae satis fecimus, numquam hunc a nostris rationibus seiunctum fore.

[77] Wherefore, if to anyone this man’s force—whether in taking up or in carrying on enmities—seems to have effervesced too much, his fierceness, his pertinacity; if anyone is offended even by any of these very minor matters, the sort of purple, the cohorts of friends, the splendor, the polish—by now these things will have simmered down; by now age, by now experience, by now time will have mitigated everything. Preserve therefore for the commonwealth, judges, a citizen of good arts, of the good party, of good men. I promise this to you and I pledge it to the commonwealth, provided only that we ourselves have done enough for the commonwealth, that he will never be severed from our counsels.

Quod cum fretus nostra familiaritate promitto, tum quod durissimis se ipse legibus iam obligavit.

This I promise, relying on our familiarity, and also because he has already bound himself under the most rigorous laws.

[78] Non enim potest, qui hominem consularem, cum ab eo rem publicam violatam esse diceret, in iudicium vocarit, ipse esse in re publica civis turbulentus; non potest, qui ambitu ne absolutum quidem patiatur esse absolutum, ipse impune umquam esse largitor. Habet a M. Caelio res publica, iudices, duas accusationes vel obsides periculi vel pignora voluntatis. Quare oro obtestorque vos, iudices, ut, qua in civitate paucis his diebus Sex.

[78] For indeed he cannot be a turbulent citizen in the commonwealth, who has called a consular man into judgment, when he maintained that the republic had been violated by him; he cannot, who does not even suffer a man acquitted on a charge of ambitus to be accounted acquitted, himself ever be a dispenser of largess with impunity. From M. Caelius the commonwealth, judges, has two prosecutions, either hostages of danger or pledges of will. Wherefore I beg and solemnly adjure you, judges, that, in that city in these few days Sex.

Cloelius absolutus sit, quem vos per biennium aut ministrum seditionis aut ducem vidistis, hominem sine re, sine fide, sine spe, sine sede, sine fortunis, ore, lingua, manu, vita omni inquinatum, qui aedes sacras, qui censum populi Romani, qui memoriam publicam suis manibus incendit, qui Catuli monumentum adflixit, meam domum diruit, mei fratris incendit, qui in Palatio atque in urbis oculis servitia ad caedem et inflammandam urbem incitavit: in hac civitate ne patiamini illum absolutum muliebri gratia, Caelium libidini muliebri condonatum, ne eadem mulier cum suo coniuge et fratre et turpissimum latronem eripuisse et honestissimum adulescentem oppressisse videatur.

Cloelius be absolved, whom you for a biennium have seen either a minister of sedition or a leader, a man without means, without good faith, without hope, without a seat, without fortunes, stained in mouth, tongue, hand, and his whole life, who with his own hands burned the sacred shrines, the census of the Roman people, the public record; who defaced Catulus’s monument, tore down my house, set my brother’s on fire; who on the Palatine and before the city’s eyes incited slave-bands to slaughter and to firing the city: in this state do not suffer him to be absolved by womanly favor, nor Caelius to be remitted to womanly lust, lest the same woman, along with her husband and brother, seem both to have snatched away a most disgraceful brigand and to have crushed a most honorable young man.

[79] Quod cum huius vobis adulescentiam proposueritis, constituitote ante oculos etiam huius miseri senectutem, qui hoc unico filio nititur, in huius spe requiescit, huius unius casum pertimescit; quem vos supplicem vestrae misericordiae, servum potestatis, abiectum non tam ad pedes quam ad mores sensusque vestros, vel recordatione parentum vestrorum vel liberorum iucunditate sustentate, ut in alterius dolore vel pietati vel indulgentiae vestrae serviatis. Nolite, iudices, aut hunc iam natura ipsa occidentem velle maturius exstingui vulnere vestro quam suo fato, aut hunc nunc primum florescentem firmata iam stirpe virtutis tamquam turbine aliquo aut subita tempestate pervertere.

[79] Since you have set before yourselves this man’s adolescence, set before your eyes also this wretched man’s old age, who leans upon this only son, takes his rest in this one’s hope, and trembles at the fall of this one alone; do you sustain him—a suppliant of your mercy, a slave to your power, cast down not so much at your feet as before your morals and your feelings—either by a recollection of your own parents or by the delight of your children, so that, in another’s pain, you may do service either to your piety or to your indulgence. Do not, judges, either wish that this man, already being slain by nature itself, be extinguished earlier by your wound than by his own fate, or overthrow this one, now first flowering with the stock of virtue already established, as if by some whirlwind or sudden tempest.

[80] Conservate parenti filium, parentem filio, ne aut senectutem iam prope desperatam contempsisse aut adulescentiam plenam spei maximae non modo non aluisse vos verum etiam perculisse atque adflixisse videamini. Quem si nobis, si suis, si rei publicae conservatis, addictum, deditum, obstrictum vobis ac liberis vestris habebitis omniumque huius nervorum ac laborum vos potissimum, iudices, fructus uberes diuturnosque capietis.

[80] Preserve for the parent the son, for the son the parent, lest you seem either to have scorned an old age now almost despairing, or an adolescence full of the greatest hope not only not to have fostered but even to have struck and afflicted. If you preserve him for us, for his own, for the republic, you will have him bound, devoted, and obligated to you and to your children, and you, judges, will above all reap rich and enduring fruits of all his sinews and labors.