Cicero: ORATORIA

[1]I. Nouum crimen, C. Caesar, et ante hanc diem non auditum propinquus meus ad te Q. Tubero detulit, Q. Ligarium in Africa fuisse, idque C. Pansa, praestanti uir ingenio, fretus fortasse familiaritate ea quae est ei tecum, ausus est confiteri. Itaque quo me uertam nescio. Paratus enim ueneram, cum tu id neque per te scires neque audire aliunde potuisses, ut ignoratione tua ad hominis miseri salutem abuterer.

[1]1. A new charge, C. Caesar, and one not heard before this day, my kinsman Q. Tubero has brought before you: that Q. Ligarius was in Africa; and this C. Pansa, a man outstanding in talent, relying perhaps on that familiarity which he has with you, dared to confess. And so I do not know where to turn. For I had come prepared, since you neither knew this by yourself nor could have heard it from elsewhere, to abuse your ignorance for the salvation of the wretched man.

Sed quoniam diligentia inimici inuestigatum est quod latebat, confitendum est, opinor, praesertim cum meus necessarius Pansa fecerit ut id integrum iam non esset, omissaque controuersia omnis oratio ad misericordiam tuam conferenda est, qua plurimi sunt conseruati, cum a te non liberationem culpae sed errati ueniam impetrauissent.

But since by the diligence of an enemy that which lay hidden has been tracked out, it must be confessed, I suppose, especially since my close associate Pansa has made it so that the matter is now no longer left intact; and, the controversy laid aside, the whole speech must be directed to your mercy, by which very many have been conserved, since they obtained from you not a liberation from fault but a pardon for error.

[2] Habes igitur, Tubero, quod est accusatori maxime optandum, confitentem reum, sed tamen hoc confitentem se in ea parte fuisse qua te, qua uirum omni laude dignum patrem tuum. Itaque prius de uestro delicto confiteamini necesse est quam Ligari ullam culpam reprehendatis. Q. enim Ligarius, cum esset nulla belli suspicio, legatus in Africam C. Considio profectus est; qua in legatione et ciuibus et sociis ita se probauit ut decedens Considius prouincia satis facere hominibus non posset, si quemquam alium prouinciae praefecisset.

[2] You have then, Tubero, what is most to be desired by an accuser: a defendant confessing—yet confessing this, that he was on that side on which you were, on which was your father, a man worthy of every praise. And so it is necessary that you first confess your own delict before you censure any fault of Ligarius. For Q. Ligarius, when there was no suspicion of war, set out to Africa as legate with C. Considius; and in that legation he so approved himself both to the citizens and to the allies that, upon departing, Considius could not satisfy the people of the province if he had appointed anyone else over the province.

Itaque Ligarius, cum diu recusans nihil profecisset, prouinciam accepit inuitus; cui sic praefuit in pace ut et ciuibus et sociis gratissima esset eius integritas et fides.

Therefore Ligarius, when by long refusing he had accomplished nothing, accepted the province unwillingly; over which he so presided in peace that both to the citizens and to the allies his integrity and fidelity were most pleasing.

[3] Bellum subito exarsit quod qui erant in Africa ante audierunt geri quam parari. Quo audito partim cupiditate inconsiderata, partim caeco quodam timore primo salutis, post etiam studi sui quaerebant aliquem ducem, cum Ligarius domum spectans, ad suos redire cupiens, nullo se implicari negotio passus est. Interim P. Attius Varus, qui praetor Africam obtinuerat, Vticam uenit; ad eum statim concursum est.

[3] The war suddenly flared up, which those who were in Africa heard was being waged before they heard it was being prepared. On hearing this, partly from inconsiderate cupidity, partly from a certain blind fear at first for safety, afterward also from zeal for their own side, they were seeking some leader, while Ligarius, looking homeward, wishing to return to his own people, allowed himself to be entangled in no business. Meanwhile P. Attius Varus, who as praetor had held Africa, came to Utica; to him there was forthwith a rushing together.

Atque ille non mediocri cupiditate adripuit imperium, si illud imperium esse potuit, quod ad priuatum clamore multitudinis imperitae, nullo publico consilio deferebatur. Itaque Ligarius, qui omne tale negotium fugeret, paulum aduentu Vari conquieuit.

And he, with no moderate eagerness, seized the command—if that could be called command which was being conferred upon a private individual by the clamor of an inexperienced multitude, with no public counsel. Therefore Ligarius, who fled every such business, rested a little at the arrival of Varus.

[4]II. Adhuc, C. Caesar, Q. Ligarius omni culpa uacat. Domo est egressus non modo nullum ad bellum, sed ne ad minimam quidem suspicionem belli; legatus in pace profectus in prouincia pacatissima ita se gessit ut ei pacem expediret. Profectio certe animum tuum non debet offendere.

[4]2. Up to this point, C. Caesar, Q. Ligarius is free from all blame. He left home not only for no war, but not even under the least suspicion of war; as a legate, having set out in peace into a most pacified province, he conducted himself in such a way as to expedite peace for it. His departure certainly ought not to offend your mind.

Num igitur remansio? Multo minus. Nam profectio uoluntatem habuit non turpem, remansio necessitatem etiam honestam.

Then the staying behind? Much less. For the departure had a will not shameful, the remaining had a necessity even honorable.

Ergo haec duo tempora carent crimine, unum cum est legatus profectus, alterum cum efflagitatus a prouincia praepositus Africae est.

Therefore these two times are without crime: the one, when as legate he set out; the other, when, demanded by the province, he was appointed over Africa.

[5] Tertium tempus, quod post aduentum Vari in Africa restitit, si est criminosum, necessitatis crimen est, non uoluntatis. An ille si potuisset illinc ullo modo euadere, Vticae quam Romae, cum P. Attio quam cum concordissimis fratribus, cum alienis esse quam cum suis maluisset? Cum ipsa legatio plena desideri ac sollicitudinis fuisset propter incredibilem quendam fratrum amorem, hic aequo animo esse potuit belli discidio distractus a fratribus?

[5] The third period, which remained in Africa after the arrival of Varus, if it is culpable, is a crime of necessity, not of will. Or, if he could have escaped from there in any way, would he have preferred to be in Utica rather than at Rome, with Publius Attius rather than with his most harmonious brothers, to be with strangers rather than with his own? Since the very legation was full of longing and solicitude on account of a certain incredible love of his brothers, could he here have been of equanimity, torn from his brothers by the sundering of war?

[6] Nullum igitur habes, Caesar, adhuc in Q. Ligario signum alienae a te uoluntatis; cuius ego causam animaduerte, quaeso, qua fide defendam; prodo meam. O clementiam admirabilem atque omnium laude, praedicatione, litteris monumentisque decorandam! M. Cicero apud te defendit alium in ea uoluntate non fuisse in qua se ipsum confitetur fuisse, nec tuas tacitas cogitationes extimescit, nec quid tibi de alio audienti de se occurrat, reformidat.

[6] Therefore you have, Caesar, as yet no sign in Q. Ligarius of a will alienated from you; observe, I beg, with what good faith I defend his cause; I betray my own. O clemency admirable and to be adorned by the praise, proclamation, letters, and monuments of all! M. Cicero before you defends that another was not in that disposition in which he confesses himself to have been, nor does he dread your silent thoughts, nor does he shrink from what may occur to you about him while you are hearing about another.

III. Vide quam non reformidem, quanta lux liberalitatis et sapientiae tuae mihi apud te dicenti oboriatur. Quantum potero, uoce contendam, ut hoc populus Romanus exaudiat.

3. See how I do not shrink back, what a light of your liberality and sapience arises for me as I speak in your presence. As far as I can, I will strive with my voice, that the Roman People may hear this.

[7] Suspecto bello, Caesar, gesto etiam ex parte magna, nulla ui coactus, iudicio ac uoluntate ad ea arma profectus sum quae erant sumpta contra te. Apud quem igitur hoc dico? Nempe apud eum qui, cum hoc sciret, tamen me ante quam uidit rei publicae reddidit, qui ad me ex Aegypto litteras misit ut essem idem qui fuissem, qui me, cum ipse imperator in toto imperio populi Romani unus esset, esse alterum passus est, a quo hoc ipso C. Pansa mihi hunc nuntium perferente concessos fascis laureatos tenui, quoad tenendos putaui, qui mihi tum denique salutem se putauit dare, si eam nullis spoliatam ornamentis dedisset.

[7] With the war suspected, Caesar, and even already waged in large part, compelled by no force, by judgment and will I set out to those arms which had been taken up against you. In whose presence, then, do I say this? Surely in the presence of him who, although he knew this, nevertheless restored me to the republic before he saw me; who sent letters to me from Egypt that I should be the same as I had been; who, though he himself was the sole imperator in the whole imperium of the Roman people, allowed me to be a second; by whom—this very C. Pansa carrying this message to me—I held the granted laurelled fasces as long as I thought they ought to be held; who thought that he was then at last giving me safety, provided that he gave it not stripped of any ornaments.

[8] Vide, quaeso, Tubero, ut, qui de meo facto non dubitem, de Ligari audeam dicere. Atque haec propterea de me dixi, ut mihi Tubero, cum de se eadem dicerem, ignosceret; cuius ego industriae gloriaeque faueo, uel propter propinquam cognationem, uel quod eius ingenio studiisque delector, uel quod laudem adulescentis propinqui existimo etiam ad me aliquem fructum redundare.

[8] See, I pray, Tubero, how, since I do not hesitate about my own deed, I dare to speak about Ligarius. And I have said these things about myself for this reason, that Tubero might pardon me when I should say the same things about himself; whose industry and glory I favor, either on account of our near cognation, or because I am delighted by his genius and studies, or because I think that the praise of a young kinsman even redounds with some fruit to me.

[9] Sed hoc quaero: quis putat esse crimen fuisse in Africa? Nempe is qui et ipse in eadem prouincia esse uoluit et prohibitum se a Ligario queritur, et certe contra ipsum Caesarem est congressus armatus. Quid enim tuus ille, Tubero, destrictus in acie Pharsalica gladius agebat?

[9] But this I ask: who thinks it a crime to have been in Africa? Surely the very man who himself wished to be in the same province and complains that he was prohibited by Ligarius, and who certainly engaged armed against Caesar himself. For what, pray, was that sword of yours, Tubero, drawn on the Pharsalic battle-line, doing?

Cuius latus ille mucro petebat? Qui sensus erat armorum tuorum? Quae tua mens, oculi, manus, ardor animi?

Whose flank was that point seeking? What was the sense of your arms? What were your mind, your eyes, your hands, the ardor of your spirit?

Quid cupiebas, quid optabas? Nimis urgeo; commoueri uidetur adulescens. Ad me reuertar; isdem in armis fui.

What were you desiring, what were you opting for? I press too hard; the adolescent seems to be moved. I shall return to myself; I was in the same arms.

[10]IV. Quid autem aliud egimus, Tubero, nisi ut quod hic potest non possemus? Quorum igitur impunitas, Caesar, tuae clementiae laus est, eorum ipsorum ad crudelitatem te acuet oratio? Atque in hac causa non nihil equidem, Tubero, etiam tuam sed multo magis patris tui prudentiam desidero, quod homo cum ingenio tum etiam doctrina excellens genus hoc causae quod esset non uiderit; nam si uidisset, quouis profecto quam isto modo a te agi maluisset.

[10]4. What, moreover, have we done, Tubero, except that we should not be able to do what this man can do? Therefore, shall the impunity of those whose impunity, Caesar, is a praise of your clemency, shall the oration of those very men spur you to cruelty? And in this case I indeed miss not a little, Tubero, your prudence too, but much more your father’s prudence, because a man outstanding both in ingenium and also in doctrine did not see what this genus of case was; for if he had seen it, he would assuredly have preferred that it be handled in any way rather than in that manner by you.

Arguis fatentem. Non est satis; accusas eum qui causam habet aut, ut ego dico, meliorem quam tu, aut, ut tu uis, parem.

You arraign one confessing. It is not enough; you accuse him who has a cause either, as I say, better than yours, or, as you wish, equal.

[11] Haec admirabilia, sed prodigi simile est quod dicam. Non habet eam uim ista accusatio ut Q. Ligarius condemnetur, sed ut necetur. Hoc egit ciuis Romanus ante te nemo; externi sunt isti mores, aut leuium Graecorum, aut immanium barbarorum qui usque ad sanguinem incitari solent odio.

[11] These things are admirable, but what I shall say is like a prodigy. That accusation does not have such force that Q. Ligarius be condemned, but that he be killed. No Roman citizen before you has done this; those are foreign mores, either of the frivolous Greeks, or of monstrous barbarians, who are accustomed to be incited by hatred even to bloodshed.

Nam quid agis aliud? Vt Romae ne sit, ut domo careat? Ne cum optimis fratribus, ne cum hoc T. Broccho auunculo, ne cum eius filio consobrino suo, ne nobiscum uiuat, ne sit in patria?

For what else are you doing? That he not be at Rome, that he be without his home? That he not be with his best brothers, not with this uncle T. Brocchus, not with that man’s son, his cousin, not live with us, not be in his fatherland?

Num est, num potest magis carere his omnibus quam caret? Italia prohibetur, exsulat. Non tu hunc ergo patria priuare, qua caret, sed uita uis.

Is there, can there be, any way for him to lack all these things more than he does lack them? He is barred from Italy, he is in exile. You, therefore, do not wish to deprive this man of his fatherland, which he already lacks, but of life.

[12] At istud ne apud eum quidem dictatorem qui omnis quos oderat morte multabat, quisquam egit isto modo. Ipse iubebat occidi; nullo postulante, praemiis inuitabat; quae tamen crudelitas ab hoc eodem aliquot annis post, quem tu nunc crudelem esse uis, uindicata est. V. "Ego uero istud non postulo" inquies.

[12] But that thing, not even under that dictator who punished with death all whom he hated, did anyone do in that way. He himself ordered men to be killed; with no one petitioning, he invited by rewards; which cruelty, however, was avenged by this same man several years later—whom you now wish to be cruel. V. "For my part I do not demand that," you will say.

Ita mehercule existimo, Tubero. Noui enim te, noui patrem, noui domum nomenque uestrum; studia generis ac familiae uestrae uirtutis, humanitatis, doctrinae, plurimarum artium atque optimarum nota mihi sunt.

So, by Hercules, I so reckon, Tubero. For I know you, I know your father, I know your house and your name; the pursuits of your stock and family—of virtue, humanity, doctrine, of very many and the best arts—are known to me.

[13] Itaque certo scio uos non petere sanguinem. Sed parum adtenditis. Res enim eo spectat ut ea poena in qua adhuc Q. Ligarius sit non uideamini esse contenti.

[13] And so I know for certain that you are not seeking blood. But you attend too little. For the matter looks toward this: that you do not seem to be content with that penalty in which Quintus Ligarius has thus far been.

Quae est igitur alia praeter mortem? Si enim est in exsilio, sicuti est, quid amplius postulatis? An ne ignoscatur?

What, then, is there other than death? For if he is in exile, as he is, what more do you demand? Or that he not be pardoned?

Hoc uero multo acerbius multoque durius. Quodne nos [domi] petimus precibus ac lacrimis, strati ad pedes, non tam nostrae causae fidentes quam huius humanitati, id ne impetremus pugnabis et in nostrum fletum irrumpes et nos iacentis ad pedes supplicum uoce prohibebis?

But this indeed is much more bitter and much harsher. What then? That which we [at home] ask with prayers and tears, prostrate at the feet, trusting not so much in our own cause as in this man’s humanity—will you fight to prevent us from obtaining it, and burst in upon our weeping, and forbid us—lying at his feet—with the voice of a suppliant?

[14] Si, cum hoc domi faceremus, quod et fecimus et, ut spero, non frustra fecimus, tu repente irruisses, et clamare coepisses: "C. Caesar, caue ignoscas, caue te fratrum pro fratris salute obsecrantium misereat!" nonne omnem humanitatem exuisses? Quanto hoc durius, quod non domi petimus id a te in foro oppugnari et in tali miseria multorum perfugium misericordiae tollere!

[14] If, when we were doing this at home—which both we did and, as I hope, did not do in vain—you had suddenly rushed in and begun to shout: “C. Caesar, beware of forgiving; beware lest you take pity on the brothers beseeching for their brother’s safety!” would you not have stripped off all humanity? How much harsher is this: that—not at home, but in the forum—you impugn what we are petitioning for, and, amid such misery of many, take away the refuge of mercy!

[15] Dicam plane, Caesar, quod sentio. Si in tanta tua fortuna lenitas tanta non esset, quam tu per te, per te, inquam, obtines—intellego quid loquar—, acerbissimo luctu redundaret ista uictoria. Quam multi enim essent de uictoribus qui te crudelem esse uellent, cum etiam de uictis reperiantur!

[15] I will say plainly, Caesar, what I feel. If, amid so great a fortune of yours, so great lenity were not present—which you, by yourself, by yourself, I say, maintain—I know what I am saying—that victory would overflow with the most bitter mourning. For how many, indeed, would there be among the victors who would want you to be cruel, since even among the vanquished such are found!

Quam multi qui cum a te ignosci nemini uellent, impedirent clementiam tuam, cum hi quibus ipsis ignouisti, nolint te esse in alios misericordem!

How many there are who, while wishing that no one be pardoned by you, would impede your clemency, when those very men whom you yourself have pardoned do not wish you to be merciful toward others!

[16] Quod si probare Caesari possemus in Africa Ligarium omnino non fuisse, si honesto et misericordi mendacio saluti ciui calamitoso esse uellemus, tamen hominis non esset in tanto discrimine et periculo ciuis refellere et coarguere nostrum mendacium; et si esset alicuius, eius certe non esset qui in eadem causa et fortuna fuisset. Sed tamen aliud est errare Caesarem nolle, aliud est nolle misereri. Tum diceres: "Caesar, caue credas; fuit in Africa, tulit arma contra te!". Nunc quid dicis?

[16] But even if we could make it acceptable to Caesar that Ligarius had not been in Africa at all—if we were willing, by an honorable and merciful mendacity, to be a salvation to a disaster‑stricken citizen—nevertheless it would not be the part of a human being, in so great a crisis and peril of a citizen, to refute and convict our lie; and if it were the part of someone, certainly it would not be the part of one who had been in the same cause and fortune. But yet, it is one thing to be unwilling that Caesar err, another to be unwilling that he show mercy. Then you would say: "Caesar, beware of believing; he was in Africa, he bore arms against you!". Now what do you say?

"Caue ignoscas!" Haec nec hominis nec ad hominem uox est; qua qui apud te, C. Caesar, utetur, suam citius abiciet humanitatem quam extorquebit tuam.

"Beware of pardoning!" This is neither a voice of a human being nor to a human being; and whoever uses this before you, C. Caesar, will sooner cast aside his own humanity than he will extort yours.

[17]VI. Ac primus aditus et postulatio Tuberonis haec, ut opinor, fuit, uelle se de Q. Ligario scelere dicere. Non dubito quin admiratus sis, uel quod nullo de alio [quisquam], uel quod is qui in eadem causa fuisset, uel quidnam noui sceleris adferret. Scelus tu illud uocas, Tubero?

[17]6. And the first approach and postulation of Tubero was this, as I suppose: that he wished to speak about the crime of Q. Ligarius. I do not doubt that you were amazed, either because no one about anyone else [ever did so], or because it was he who had been in the same cause, or what sort of new crime he would bring. Do you call that a crime, Tubero?

Cur? Isto enim nomine illa adhuc causa caruit. Alii errorem appellant, alii timorem; qui durius, spem, cupiditatem, odium, pertinaciam; qui grauissime, temeritatem; scelus praeter te adhuc nemo.

Why? For that case has thus far lacked that name. Some call it error, others fear; those who speak more harshly, hope, cupidity, odium, pertinacity; those who speak most gravely, temerity; as a crime, up to now, no one except you.

Ac mihi quidem, si proprium et uerum nomen nostri mali quaeritur, fatalis quaedam calamitas incidisse uidetur et improuidas hominum mentis occupauisse, ut nemo mirari debeat humana consilia diuina necessitate esse superata.

And for my part, if the proper and true name of our ill is sought, it seems that a certain fatal calamity has befallen and has occupied the improvident minds of men, so that no one ought to marvel that human counsels have been overcome by divine necessity.

[18] Liceat esse miseros—quamquam hoc uictore esse non possumus; sed non loquor de nobis, de illis loquor qui occiderunt—fuerint cupidi, fuerint irati, fuerint pertinaces; sceleris uero crimine, furoris, parricidi liceat Cn. Pompeio mortuo, liceat multis aliis carere. Quando hoc ex te quisquam, Caesar, audiuit, aut tua quid aliud arma uoluerunt nisi a te contumeliam propulsare? Quid egit tuus inuictus exercitus, nisi uti suum ius tueretur et dignitatem tuam?

[18] Let it be permitted to be wretched—although with you the victor we cannot be so; but I do not speak about us, I speak about those who have fallen—let them have been covetous, let them have been irate, let them have been pertinacious; but of the charge of crime, of furor, of parricide, let Gnaeus Pompeius, now dead, be allowed to be free, let many others as well. When did anyone ever hear this from you, Caesar, or what did your arms wish other than to repulse contumely from you? What did your invincible army do, except to guard its own right and your dignity?

Quid? Tu cum pacem esse cupiebas, idne agebas ut tibi cum sceleratis, an ut cum bonis ciuibus conueniret?

What? When you were desiring there to be peace, was it this you were aiming at—that it should come to terms for you with criminals, or with good citizens?

[19] Mihi uero, Caesar, tua in me maxima merita tanta certe non uiderentur, si me ut sceleratum a te conseruatum putarem. Quo modo autem tu de re publica bene meritus esses, cum tot sceleratos incolumi dignitate esse uoluisses? Secessionem tu illam existimauisti, Caesar, initio, non bellum, nec hostile odium sed ciuile discidium, utrisque cupientibus rem publicam saluam, sed partim consiliis partim studiis a communi utilitate aberrantibus.

[19] To me indeed, Caesar, your greatest merits toward me would certainly not seem so great, if I supposed that I had been preserved by you as a criminal. And how, moreover, would you have well deserved of the republic, when you wished so many criminals to have their dignity unimpaired? You judged that movement at the beginning, Caesar, to be a secession, not a war, not hostile hatred but a civil sundering, with both sides desiring the republic safe, but partly in counsels, partly in zeal, deviating from the common utility.

Principium dignitas erat paene par, non par fortasse eorum qui sequebantur; causa tum dubia, quod erat aliquid in utraque parte quod probari posset; nunc melior ea iudicanda est quam etiam di adiuuerunt. Cognita uero clementia tua quis non eam uictoriam probet in qua occiderit nemo nisi armatus?

At the beginning the dignity was almost equal—perhaps not equal as regards those who were following; the cause then was dubious, because there was something on each side that could be approved; now that must be judged the better which even the gods have aided. With your clemency known, who does not approve that victory in which no one fell except an armed man?

[20]VII. Sed ut omittam communem causam, ueniamus ad nostram. Vtrum tandem existimas facilius fuisse, Tubero, Ligario ex Africa exire, an uobis in Africam non uenire?

[20]7. But, that I may omit the common cause, let us come to our own. Which, then, do you think to have been easier, Tubero: for Ligarius to go out of Africa, or for you not to come into Africa?

"Poteramusne", inquies, "cum senatus consuisset?" Si me consulis, nullo modo; sed tamen Ligarium senatus idem legauerat. Atque ille eo tempore paruit cum parere senatui necesse erat, uos tum paruistis cum paruit nemo qui noluit. Reprehendo igitur?

"Could we," you will say, "when the senate had decreed?" If you ask me, in no way; but yet the same senate had commissioned Ligarius as a legate. And he at that time obeyed when it was necessary to obey the senate, you then obeyed at a time when no one obeyed who did not want to. Do I therefore censure?

Minime uero; neque enim licuit aliter uestro generi, nomini, familiae, disciplinae. Sed hoc non concedo ut quibus rebus gloriemini in uobis easdem in aliis reprehendatis.

Not at all, indeed; for it was not permitted otherwise to your stock, your name, your family, your discipline. But this I do not concede: that the very things by which you glory in yourselves you reprehend in others.

[21] Tuberonis sors coniecta est ex senatus consulto, cum ipse non adesset, morbo etiam impediretur; statuerat excusari. Haec ego noui propter omnis necessitudines, quae mihi sunt cum L. Tuberone; domi una eruditi, militiae contubernales, post adfines, in omni uita familiares; magnum etiam uinculum quod isdem studiis semper usi sumus. Scio Tuberonem domi manere uoluisse; sed ita quidam agebant, ita rei publicae sanctissimum nomen opponebant ut, etiam si aliter sentiret, uerborum tamen ipsorum pondus sustinere non posset.

[21] Tubero’s lot was cast by a senatorial decree, when he himself was not present, being hindered also by illness; he had resolved to be excused. These things I know because of all the ties I have with L. Tubero: educated together at home, tent-mates in military service, afterwards connections by marriage, in all my life intimates; a great bond, too, that we have always pursued the same studies. I know that Tubero wished to remain at home; but certain men were acting in such a way, and were opposing the most sacrosanct name of the Republic in such a way, that, even if he felt otherwise, he could not bear the weight of the words themselves.

Cessit auctoritati amplissimi uiri uel potius paruit.

He yielded to the authority of a most distinguished man, or rather he obeyed.

[22] Vna est profectus cum iis quorum erat una causa; tardius iter fecit; itaque in Africam uenit iam occupatam. Hinc in Ligarium crimen oritur uel ira potius. Nam si crimen est uoluisse, non minus magnum est uos Africam, arcem omnium prouinciarum, natam ad bellum contra hanc urbem gerendum, obtinere uoluisse quam aliquem se maluisse.

[22] He set out together with those whose cause was one; he made a slower journey; and so he came into Africa already occupied. From this a charge arises against Ligarius—or rather ire. For if it is a crime to have wished, it is no less great that you wished to hold Africa, the citadel of all the provinces, born for waging war against this city, than that someone should have preferred himself.

Atque is tamen aliquis Ligarius non fuit; Varus imperium se habere dicebat; fascis certe habebat.

And yet that someone was not Ligarius; Varus said that he had imperium; he certainly had the fasces.

[23] Sed quoque modo se illud habet, haec querela, Tubero, uestra quid ualet: "Recepti in prouinciam non sumus"? Quid, si essetis? Caesarine eam tradituri fuistis, an contra Caesarem retenturi? VIII.

[23] But however that matter stands, what is the worth of this complaint of yours, Tubero: "We were not received into the province"? What, if you had been? Would you have delivered it to Caesar, or retained it against Caesar? 8.

Vide quid licentiae nobis, Caesar, tua liberalitas det uel potius audaciae. Si responderit Tubero Africam, quo senatus eum sorsque miserat, tibi patrem suum traditurum fuisse, non dubitabo apud ipsum te, cuius id eum facere interfuit, grauissimis uerbis eius consilium reprehendere. Non enim si tibi ea res grata fuisset, esset etiam adprobata.

See what license, Caesar, your liberality gives us, or rather to our audacity. If Tubero should reply that Africa—whither the senate and the lot had sent him—his father would have handed over to you, I shall not hesitate, in your very presence, in whose interest it was that he do this, to reprehend his counsel with the gravest words. For not if that matter had been pleasing to you would it therefore also have been approved.

[24] Sed iam hoc totum omitto, non ultra offendam tuas patientissimas auris quam ne Tubero quod numquam cogitauit facturus fuisse uideatur. Veniebatis igitur in Africam, in prouinciam unam ex omnibus huic uictoriae maxime infensam, in qua rex potentissimus, inimicus huic causae, aliena uoluntas conuentus firmi atque magni. Quaero, quid facturi fuistis?

[24] But now I omit this whole matter; I will not offend your most patient ears any further than to keep Tubero from seeming to have been about to do what he never even thought. You were coming, then, into Africa—into a province, one among all most hostile to this victory—in which there was a most powerful king, an enemy to this cause, and an alien disposition of the conventions, firm and great. I ask: what were you going to do?

Quamquam quid facturi fueritis dubitem, cum uideam quid feceritis? Prohibiti estis in prouincia uestra pedem ponere, et prohibiti summa cum iniuria.

Although I may doubt what you were going to do, since I see what you have done? You were prohibited to set foot in your own province, and prohibited with the utmost injustice.

[25] Quo modo id tulistis? Acceptae iniuriae querelam ad quem detulistis? Nempe ad eum cuius auctoritatem secuti in societatem belli ueneratis.

[25] How did you bear that? The complaint of the received injury, to whom did you bring it? Surely to him whose authority having followed you had come into the alliance of war.

Quod si Caesaris causa in prouinciam ueniebatis, ad eum profecto exclusi prouincia uenissetis; uenistis ad Pompeium. Quae est ergo apud Caesarem querela, cum eum accusetis a quo queramini prohibitos uos contra Caesarem gerere bellum? Atque in hoc quidem uel com mendacio, si uultis, gloriemini per me licet uos prouinciam fuisse Caesari tradituros.

But if you were coming into the province for Caesar’s cause, you would assuredly, once excluded from the province, have gone to him; you went to Pompey. What complaint, then, have you before Caesar, when you accuse the very one by whom you allege you were prohibited from waging war against Caesar? And in this, indeed—even with a mendacity, if you wish—you may, for my part, glory that you were going to hand over the province to Caesar.

Etiam si a Varo et a quibusdam aliis prohibiti estis, ego tamen confitebor culpam esse Ligari qui uos tantae laudis occacione priuauerit.

Even if you were prevented by Varus and by certain others, I nevertheless will confess that the blame is Ligarius’s, who has deprived you of the occasion of so great praise.

[26]IX. Sed uide, quaeso, Caesar, constantiam ornatissimi uiri, L. Tuberonis, quam ego quamuis ipse probarem ut probo, tamen non commemorarem nisi a te cognouissem in primis eam uirtutem solere laudari. Quae fuit igitur umquam in ullo homine tanta constantia? constantiam dico?

[26]9. But see, I beg, Caesar, the constancy of the most distinguished man, L. Tuberon, which although I myself approved—as I do—yet I would not have mentioned, had I not learned from you that that virtue is especially wont to be praised. What, then, was there ever in any man such great constancy? Constancy, do I say?

nescio an melius patientiam possim dicere. Quotus enim istud quisque fecisset, ut a quibus partibus in dissensione ciuili non esset receptus, essetque etiam cum crudelitate reiectus, ad eas ipsas partis rediret? Magni cuiusdam animi atque eius uiri quem de suscepta causa propositaque sententia nulla contumelia, nulla uis, nullum periculum possit depellere.

I do not know whether I can more aptly call it patience. For how many would have done this: that, by those parties in civil dissension by whom he had not been received, and had even been rejected with cruelty, he would return to those very parties? It is the mark of a certain great spirit, and of that sort of man whom from his undertaken cause and his proposed opinion no contumely, no force, no peril can drive away.

[27] Vt enim cetera paria Tuberoni cum Varo fuissent, honos, nobilitas, splendor, ingenium, quae nequaquam fuerunt, hoc certe praecipuum Tuberonis quod iusto cum imperio ex senatus consulto in prouinciam suam uenerat. Hinc prohibitus non ad Caesarem, ne iratus, non domum, ne iners, non aliquam in regionem, ne condemnare causam illam quam secutus esset uideretur; in Macedoniam ad Cn. Pompei castra uenit, in eam ipsam causam a qua erat reiectus iniuria.

[27] For even if the other things had been equal for Tubero with Varus—honor, nobility, splendor, ingenium—which by no means were, this at any rate was Tubero’s particular advantage: that, with rightful imperium by decree of the senate, he had come into his province. Prevented from this, he went neither to Caesar, lest he seem irate, nor home, lest he seem inert, nor into any region, lest he appear to condemn that cause which he had followed; he came into Macedonia to the camp of Cn. Pompey, into that very cause from which he had been rejected with injustice.

[28] Quid? Cum ista res nihil commouisset eius animum ad quem ueneratis, languidiore, credo, studio in causa fuistis; tantum modo in praesidiis eratis, animi uero a causa abhorrebant; an, ut fit in ciuilibus bellis, nec in uobis magis quam in reliquis? Omnes enim uincendi studio tenebamur.

[28] What? Since that matter had in no way moved the mind of the one to whom you had come, you were, I believe, with more languid zeal in the cause; you were only in the garrisons, but your spirits shrank from the cause; or, as happens in civil wars, was this no more in you than in the rest? For we were all held by a zeal for conquering.

Pacis equidem semper auctor fui, sed tum sero; erat enim amentis, cum aciem uideres, pacem cogitare. Omnes, inquam, uincere uolebamus: tu certe praecipue, qui in eum locum uenisses, ubi tibi esset pereundum nisi uicisses; quamquam, ut nunc se res habet, non dubito quin hanc salutem anteponas illi uictoriae.

I indeed was always an advocate of peace, but then too late; for it was the part of a madman, when you saw the battle-line, to think of peace. All of us, I say, wanted to conquer: you certainly most especially, who had come into that place where you would have to perish unless you had conquered; although, as matters now stand, I do not doubt that you put this safety before that victory.

[29]X. Haec ego non dicerem, Tubero, si aut uos constantiae uestrae aut Caesarem benefici sui paeniteret. Nunc quaero utrum uestras iniurias an rei publicae persequamini? Si rei publicae, quid de uestra in illa causa perseuerantia respondebitis?

[29]10. I would not be saying these things, Tubero, if either you repented of your constancy, or Caesar of his benefaction. Now I ask whether you are pursuing your own injuries or those of the republic? If those of the republic, what will you answer about your perseverance in that cause?

Si uestras, uidete ne erretis qui Caesarem uestris inimicis iratum fore putetis, cum ignouerit suis. Itaque num tibi uideor in causa Ligari esse occupatus, num de eius facto dicere? Quidquid dixi, ad unam summam referri uolo uel humanitatis uel clementiae uel misericordiae tuae

If your own, see that you do not err—you who think that Caesar will be angry with your enemies, when he has forgiven his own. Therefore, do I seem to you to be occupied with the case of Ligarius, to be speaking of his deed? Whatever I have said, I wish to be referred to one single account—of your humanity, or clemency, or mercy.

[30] Causas, Caesar, egi multas, equidem tecum, dum te in foro tenuit ratio honorum tuorum, certe numquam hoc modo: "Ignoscite, iudices, errauit, lapsus est, non putauit, si umquam posthac...". Ad parentem sic agi solet; ad iudices: "Non fecit, non cogitauit; falsi testes, fictum crimen". Dic te, Caesar, de facto Ligari iudicem esse, quibus in praesidiis fuerit quaere; taceo, ne haec quidem colligo quae fortasse ualerent etiam apud iudicem: "Legatus ante bellum profectus, relictus in pace, bello oppressus, in eo ipso non acerbus, totus animo et studio tuus". Ad iudicem sic, sed ego apud parentem loquor: "Erraui, temere feci, paenitet; ad clementiam tuam confugio, delicti ueniam peto, ut ignoscatur oro". Si nemo impetrauit, adroganter; si plurimi, tu idem fer opem qui spem dedisti.

[30] Caesar, I have pleaded many causes, indeed with you, while the reckoning of your honors held you in the forum, certainly never in this manner: "Forgive, judges, he erred, he slipped, he did not think, if ever hereafter...". Thus one is accustomed to deal with a parent; with judges: "He did not do it, he did not intend it; false witnesses, a fictitious charge." Say, Caesar, that you are a judge concerning the deed of Ligarius; ask in what garrisons he was; I am silent, I do not even gather up these points which perhaps would have had weight even before a judge: "A legate who set out before the war, left behind in peace, overtaken by war, in that very situation not harsh, wholly yours in mind and zeal." Thus to a judge; but I speak before a parent: "I have erred, I acted rashly, I repent; I flee for refuge to your clemency, I seek pardon for the offense, I beg that it be forgiven." If no one has obtained it, that is arrogant; if very many have, do you likewise bring help—you who gave the hope.

[31] An sperandi de Ligario causa non erit, cum mihi apud te locus sit etiam pro altero deprecandi? Quamquam nec in hac oratione spes est posita causae nec in eorum studiis qui a te pro Ligario petunt tui necessarii. XI. Vidi enim et cognoui quid maxime spectares cum pro alicuius salute multi laborarent, causas apud te rogantium gratiosiores esse quam uoltus neque te spectare quam tuus esset necessarius is qui te oraret, sed quam illius, pro quo laboraret.

[31] Will there not be a ground for hoping concerning Ligarius, since with you there is room for me even to intercede on behalf of another? Although in this oration the hope is placed neither in the cause nor in the endeavors of those your intimates who ask from you on behalf of Ligarius. 11. For I have seen and come to know what you chiefly regard when many were laboring for someone’s safety: that with you the causes of the petitioners are more in favor than their faces, and that you do not look to how close to you is the one who would beseech you, but to the worth of him for whom he labors.

Itaque tribuis tu quidem tuis ita multa ut mihi beatiores illi uideantur interdum, qui tua liberalitate fruantur, quam tu ipse, qui illis tam multa concedas; sed uideo tamen apud te, ut dixi, causas ualere plus quam preces, ab eisque te moueri maxime quorum iustissimum uideas dolorem in petendo.

And so you indeed grant your own so many things that those who enjoy your liberality sometimes seem to me more blessed than you yourself, who concede so many to them; but I nevertheless see with you, as I said, that causes avail more than prayers, and that you are moved most by those whose grief in petitioning you you perceive to be most just.

[32] In Q. Ligario conseruando multis tu quidem gratum facies necessariis tuis, sed hoc, quaeso, considera, quod soles; possum fortissimos uiros Sabinos tibi probatissimos totumque agrum Sabinum, florem Italiae ac robur rei publicae, proponere,—nosti optime homines—; animaduerte horum omnium maestitiam et dolorem; huius T. Brocchi, de quo non dubito quid existimes, lacrimas squaloremque ipsius et fili uides.

[32] In preserving Q. Ligarius you indeed will do what is welcome to many of your close associates, but this, I beg, consider, as you are wont; I can propose to you the bravest Sabine men, most approved by you, and the whole Sabine countryside, the flower of Italy and the strength of the republic,—you know the men full well—; observe the mourning and grief of all these; you see the tears and the squalor of this T. Brocchus, about whom I do not doubt what you think, of himself and of his son.

[33] Quid de fratribus dicam? Noli, Caesar, putare, de unius capite nos agere; aut tres Ligarii retinendi tibi in ciuitate sunt aut tres ex ciuitate exterminandi. Quoduis exsilium his est optatius quam patria, quam domus, quam di penates uno illo exsulante.

[33] What am I to say about the brothers? Do not, Caesar, think that we are dealing with the fate of one man; either the three Ligarii must be retained by you in the state, or the three must be exiled from the state. Any exile is more choice to them than their fatherland, than their home, than their household gods, while that one is in exile.

Si fraterne, si pie, si cum dolore faciunt, moueant te horum lacrimae, moueat germanitas; ualeat tua uox illa, quae uicit. Te enim dicere audiebamus nos omnis aduersarios putare nisi qui nobiscum essent, te omnis qui contra te non essent tuos. Videsne igitur hunc splendorem omnem, hanc Brocchorum domum, hunc L. Marcium, C. Caesetium, L. Corfidium, hos omnis equites Romanos, qui adsunt ueste mutata, non solum notos tibi, uerum etiam probatos uiros?

If they do it fraternally, piously, with grief, let the tears of these men move you; let brotherhood move you. Let that voice of yours—which has won—prevail. For we used to hear you say that we considered everyone adversaries unless they were with us, while you considered all who were not against you to be yours. Do you see then all this splendor, this house of the Brocchi, this L. Marcius, C. Caesetius, L. Corfidius, all these Roman equites, who are present in changed attire, men not only known to you but even approved?

Atque his irascebamur, hos requirebamus, his non nulli etiam minabantur. Conserua igitur tuis suos ut, quem ad modum cetera quae dicta sunt a te, sic hoc uerissimum reperiatur.

And we were angered at these men, we were seeking these men, some were even threatening them. Therefore conserve to yours their own, so that, just as the rest of the things which have been spoken by you, thus this too may be found most true.

[34]XII. Quod si penitus perspicere posses concordiam Ligariorum, omnis fratres tecum iudicares fuisse. An potest quisquam dubitare quin, si Q. Ligarius in Italia esse potuisset, in eadem sententia futurus fuerit in qua fratres fuerunt?

[34]12. But if you were able to perceive thoroughly the concord of the Ligarii, you would judge all the brothers to have been with you. Or can anyone doubt that, if Q. Ligarius had been able to be in Italy, he would have been of the same sentiment in which his brothers were?

Quis est qui horum consensum conspirantem et paene conflatum in hac prope aequalitate fraterna nouerit, qui hoc non sentiat quiduis prius futurum fuisse quam ut hi fratres diuersas sententias fortunasque sequerentur? Voluntate igitur omnes tecum fuerunt, tempestate abreptus est unus, qui si consilio id fecisset, esset eorum similis quos tu tamen saluos esse uoluisti.

Who is there who has known the consensus of these men—conspiring and almost conflated in this near fraternal equality—who does not sense that anything would sooner have come to pass than that these brothers should follow diverse opinions and fortunes? Therefore in will they all were with you; one was swept away by the tempest, who, if he had done this by counsel, would be like those whom you nevertheless wished to be safe.

[35] Sed ierit ad bellum, dissenserit non a te solum, uerum etiam a fratribus; hi te orant tui. Equidem, cum tuis omnibus negotiis interessem, memoria teneo qualis T. Ligarius quaestor urbanus fuerit erga te et dignitatem tuam. Sed parum est me hoc meminisse, spero etiam te, qui obliuisci nihil soles nisi iniurias,—quam hoc est animi, quam etiam ingeni tui!—te aliquid de huius illo quaestorio officio, etiam de aliis quibusdam quaestoribus reminiscentem, recordari.

[35] But grant that he went to war, that he dissented not from you alone but even from his brothers; these, your own, beseech you. Indeed, when I was engaged in all your affairs, I keep in memory what sort of man T. Ligarius, as urban quaestor, was toward you and your dignity. But it is too little that I remember this; I hope that you too, who are wont to forget nothing except injuries,—how great a thing this is of your spirit, and even of your natural talent!—recalling something of that quaestorial office of his, and even of certain other quaestors, do recall it.

[36] Hic igitur T. Ligarius, qui tum nihil egit aliud—neque enim haec diuinabat—nisi ut tui eum studiosum et bonum uirum iudicares, nunc a te supplex fratris salutem petit. Quam huius admonitus officio cum utrisque his dederis, tris fratres optimos et integerrimos non solum sibi ipsos neque his tot, talibus uiris neque nobis necessariis tuis, sed etiam rei publicae condonaueris.

[36] Thus this T. Ligarius, who then did nothing else—for he did not divine these things—except that you might judge him devoted to you and a good man, now as a suppliant asks from you the safety of his brother. Which, reminded by this man’s service, when you shall have granted to both these, you will have pardoned three brothers, most excellent and most upright, not only to themselves nor to these so many and such men nor to us, your intimates, but also to the republic.

[37] Fac igitur quod de homine nobilissimo et clarissimo fecisti nuper in curia, nunc idem in foro de optimis et huic omni frequentiae probatissimis fratribus. Vt concessisti illum senatui, sic da hunc populo, cuius uoluntatem carissimam semper habuisti, et si ille dies tibi gloriosissimus, populo Romano gratissimus fuit, noli obsecro dubitare, C. Caesar, similem illi gloriae laudem quam saepissime quaerere. Nihil est tam populare quam bonitas, nulla de uirtutibus tuis plurimis nec admirabilior nec gratior misericordia est.

[37] Do, therefore, what you did lately in the Curia concerning a most noble and most illustrious man; now the same in the Forum concerning these best brothers, most approved by this whole concourse. As you granted that one to the Senate, so give this one to the People, whose goodwill you have always held most dear; and if that day was most glorious to you and most pleasing to the Roman people, do not, I beseech you, C. Caesar, hesitate to seek praise akin to that glory as often as possible. Nothing is so popular as goodness; of your many virtues none is either more admirable or more welcome than mercy.

[38] Homines enim ad deos nulla re propius accedunt quam salutem hominibus dando. Nihil habet nec fortuna tua maius quam ut possis, nec natura melius quam ut uelis seruare quam plurimos. Longiorem orationem causa forsitan postulet, tua certe natura breuiorem.

[38] For men approach the gods in no way more nearly than by giving safety to men. Your Fortune has nothing greater than that you can, nor your Nature anything better than that you will, preserve as very many as possible. A longer oration perhaps the cause may demand, but your nature surely a shorter one.

Quare cum utilius esse arbitrer te ipsum quam aut me aut quemquam loqui tecum, finem iam faciam; tantum te admonebo, si illi absenti salutem dederis, praesentibus te his daturum.

Wherefore, since I deem it more useful that you yourself, rather than either me or anyone, converse with yourself, I will now make an end; I will only admonish you of this: if you grant safety to that one who is absent, you will be giving it to these who are present.