For Sextus Roscius of Ameria (M. Tullius Cicero)

[Close]

	For Sextus Roscius of Ameria Author: M. Tullius Cicero	Translator: C. D. Yonge
73	haec magnitudo malefici facit ut , nisi paene manifestum parricidium proferatur , credibile non sit , nisi turpis adulescentia , nisi omnibus flagitiis vita inquinata , nisi sumptus effusi cum probro atque dedecore , nisi prorupta audacia , nisi tanta temeritas ut non procul abhorreat ab insania . accedat huc oportet odium parentis , animadversionis paternae metus , amici improbi , servi conscii , tempus idoneum , locus opportune captus ad eam rem ; paene dicam , respersas manus sanguine paterno iudices videant oportet , si tantum facinus , tam immane , tam acerbum credituri sunt .	This enormity of the crime is the cause why, unless a parricide is proved in a manner almost visible, it is not credible, unless a man's youth has been base, unless his life has been stained with every sort of wickedness, unless his extravagance has been prodigal and accompanied with shame and disgrace, unless his audacity has been violent, unless his rashness has been such as to be not far removed from insanity. There must be, besides a hatred of his father, a fear of his father's reproof—worthless friends, slaves privy to the deed, a convenient opportunity, a place fitly selected for the business. I had almost said the judges must see his hands stained with his father's blood, if they are to believe so monstrous, so barbarous, so terrible a crime.
74	qua re hoc quo minus est credibile , nisi ostenditur , eo magis est , si convincitur , vindicandum .	On which account, the less credible it is unless it be proved, the more terribly is it to be punished if it be proved.
75	itaque cum multis ex rebus intellegi potest maiores nostros non modo armis plus quam ceteras nationes verum etiam consilio sapientiaque potuisse , tum ex hac re vel maxime quod in impios singulare supplicium invenerunt . qua in re quantum prudentia praestiterint eis qui apud ceteros sapientissimi fuisse dicuntur considerate .	Therefore, it may be understood by many circumstances that our ancestors surpassed other nations not only in arms, but also in wisdom and prudence; and also most especially by this, that they devise a singular punishment for the impious. And in this matter consider how far they surpassed in prudence those who are said to have been the wisest of all nations.
76	prudentissima civitas Atheniensium , dum ea rerum potita est , fuisse traditur ; eius porro civitatis sapientissimum Solonem dicunt fuisse , eum qui leges quibus hodie quoque utuntur scripserit . is cum interrogaretur cur nullum supplicium constituisset in eum qui parentem necasset , respondit se id neminem facturum putasse . sapienter fecisse dicitur , cum de eo nihil sanxerit quod antea commissum non erat , ne non tam prohibere quam admonere videretur . quanto nostri maiores sapientius ! qui cum intellegerent nihil esse tam sanctum quod non aliquando violaret audacia , supplicium in parricidas singulare excogitaverunt ut , quos natura ipsa retinere in officio non potuisset , ei magnitudine poenae a maleficio summoverentur . insui voluerunt in culleum vivos atque ita in flumen deici .	The state of the Athenians is said to have been the wisest while it enjoyed the supremacy. Moreover of that state they say that Solon was the wisest man, he who made the laws which they use even to this day. When he was asked why he had appointed no punishment for him who killed his father, he answered that he had not supposed that any one would do so. He is said to have done wisely in establishing nothing about a crime which had up to that time never been committed, lest he should seem not so much to forbid it as to put people in mind of it. How much more wisely did our ancestors act! for as they understood that there was nothing so holy that audacity did not sometimes violate it, they devised a singular punishment for parricides in order that they whom nature herself had not been able to retain in their duty, might be kept from crime by the enormity of the punishment. They ordered them to be sown alive in a sack, and in that condition to be thrown into the river.
77	O singularem sapientiam , iudices ! nonne videntur hunc hominem ex rerum natura sustulisse et eripuisse cui repente caelum , solem , aquam terramque ademerint ut , qui eum necasset unde ipse natus esset , careret eis rebus omnibus ex quibus omnia nata esse dicuntur ? noluerunt feris corpus obicere ne bestiis quoque quae tantum scelus attigissent immanioribus uteremur ; non sic nudos in flumen deicere ne , cum delati essent in mare , ipsum polluerent quo cetera quae violata sunt expiari putantur ; denique nihil tam vile neque tam volgare est cuius partem ullam reliquerint .	O singular wisdom, O judges! Do they not seem to have cut this man off and separated him from nature; from whom they took away at once the heaven, the sun, water and earth, so that he who had slain him, from whom he himself was horn, might be deprived of all those things from which everything is said to derive its birth. They would not throw his body to wild beasts, lest we should find the very beasts who had touched such wickedness, more savage; they would not throw them naked into the river, lest when they were carried down into the sea, they should pollute that also, by which all other things which have been polluted are believed to be purified. There is nothing in short so vile or so common that they left them any share in it.
78	etenim quid tam est commune quam spiritus vivis , terra mortuis , mare fluctuantibus , litus eiectis ? ita vivunt , dum possunt , ut ducere animam de caelo non queant , ita moriuntur ut eorum ossa terra non tangat , ita iactantur fluctibus ut numquam adluantur , ita postremo eiciuntur ut ne ad saxa quidem mortui conquiescant . tanti malefici crimen , cui maleficio tam insigne supplicium est constitutum , probare te , Eruci , censes posse talibus viris , si ne causam quidem malefici protuleris ? si hunc apud bonorum emptores ipsos accusares eique iudicio Chrysogonus praeesset , tamen diligentius paratiusque venisses .	Indeed what is so common as breath to the living, earth to the dead, the sea to those who float, the shore to those who are cast up by the sea? These men so live, while they are able to live at all, that they are unable to draw breath from heaven; they so die that earth does not touch their bones; they are tossed about by the waves so that they are never washed; lastly, they are cast up by the sea so, that when dead they do not even rest on the rocks. Do you think, O Erucius, that you can prove to such men as these your charge of so enormous a crime, a crime to which so remarkable a punishment is affixed, if you do not allege any motive for the crime? If you were accusing him before the very purchasers of his property, and if Chrysogonus were presiding at that trial, still you would have come more carefully and with more preparation.
79	Vtrum quid agatur non vides , an apud quos agatur ? agitur de parricidio quod sine multis causis suscipi non potest ; apud homines autem prudentissimos agitur qui intellegunt neminem ne minimum quidem maleficium sine causa admittere .	Is it that you do not see what the cause really is, or before whom it is being pleaded? The cause in question is parricide; which cannot be undertaken without many motives; and it is being tried before very wise men, who are aware that no one commits the very slightest crime without any motive whatever.
80	esto , causam proferre non potes . tametsi statim vicisse debeo , tamen de meo iure decedam et tibi quod in alia causa non concederem in hac concedam fretus huius innocentia . non quaero abs te qua re patrem Sex . Roscius occiderit , quaero quo modo occiderit . ita quaero abs te , Gai Eruci : quo modo , et sic tecum agam ut meo loco vel respondendi vel interpellandi tibi potestatem faciam vel etiam , si quid voles , interrogandi .	Be it so; you are unable to allege any motive. Although I ought at once to gain my cause, yet I will not insist on this, and I will concede to you in this cause what I would not concede in another, relying on this man's innocence. I do not ask you why Sextus Roscius killed his father; I ask you how he killed him? So I ask of you, O Caius Erucius, how, and I will so deal with you, that I will on this topic give you leave to answer me or to interrupt me, or even, if you wish to at all, to ask me questions.
81	quo modo occidit ? ipse percussit an aliis occidendum dedit ? si ipsum arguis , Romae non fuit ; si per alios fecisse dicis , quaero quos ? servosne an liberos ? si liberos , quos homines ? indidemne Ameria an hosce ex urbe sicarios ? si Ameria , qui sunt ei ? cur non nominantur ? si Roma , unde eos noverat Roscius qui Romam multis annis non venit neque umquam plus triduo fuit ? ubi eos convenit ? qui conlocutus est ? quo modo persuasit ? ' pretium dedit '; cui dedit ? per quem dedit ? unde aut quantum dedit ? nonne his vestigiis ad caput malefici perveniri solet ? et simul tibi in mentem veniat facito quem ad modum vitam huiusce depinxeris ; hunc hominem ferum atque agrestem fuisse , numquam cum homine quoquam conlocutum esse , numquam in oppido constitisse .	How did he kill him? Did he strike him himself, or did he commit him to others to be murdered? If you say he did it himself, he was not at Rome; if you say he did it by the instrumentality of others, I ask you were they slaves or free men? who were they? Did they come from the same place, from Ameria, or were they assassins of this city? If they came from Ameria, who are they, why are they not named? If they are of Rome, how did Roscius make acquaintance with them? who for many years had not come to Rome, and who never was there more than three days. Where did he meet them? with whom did he speak? how did he persuade them? Did he give them a bribe? to whom did he give it? by whose agency did he give it? whence did he get it, and how much did he giver? Are not these the steps by which one generally arrives at the main fact of guilt? And let it occur to you at the same time how you have painted this man's life; that you have described him as an unpolished and country-mannered man; that he never held conversation with any one, that he had never dwelt in the city.
82	qua in re praetereo illud quod mihi maximo argumento ad huius innocentiam poterat esse , in rusticis moribus , in victu arido , in hac horrida incultaque vita istius modi maleficia gigni non solere . Vt non omnem frugem neque arborem in omni agro reperire possis , sic non omne facinus in omni vita nascitur . in urbe luxuries creatur , ex luxuria exsistat avaritia necesse est , ex avaritia erumpat audacia , inde omnia scelera ac maleficia gignuntur ; vita autem haec rustica quam tu agrestem vocas parsimoniae , diligentiae , iustitiae magistra est .	And in this I pass over that thing which might be a strong argument for me to prove his innocence, that atrocities of this sort are not usually produced among country manners, in a sober course of life, in an unpolished and rough sort of existence. As you cannot find every sort of crop, nor every tree, in every field, so every sort of crime is not engendered in every sort of life. In a city, luxury is engendered; avarice is inevitably produced by luxury; audacity must spring from avarice, and out of audacity arises every wickedness and every crime. But a country life, which you call a clownish one, is the teacher of economy, of industry, and of justice.
83	verum haec missa facio ; illud quaero , is homo qui ut tute dicis , numquam inter homines fuerit , per quos homines hoc tantum facinus , tam occultum , absens praesertim , conficere potuerit . multa sunt falsa , iudices , quae tamen argui suspiciose possunt ; in his rebus si suspicio reperta erit , culpam inesse concedam . Romae Sex . Roscius occiditur , cum in agro Amerino esset filius . Litteras , credo , misit alicui sicario qui Romae noverat neminem . arcessivit aliquem . quem aut quando ? nuntium misit . quem aut ad quem ? pretio , gratia , spe , promissis induxit aliquem . nihil horum ne confingi quidem potest ; et tamen causa de parricidio dicitur .	But I will say no more of this. I ask then by whose instrumentality did this man, who, as you yourself say, never mixed with men, contrive to accomplish this terrible crime with such secrecy, especially while absent? There are many things, O judges, which are false, and which can still be argued so as to cause suspicion. But in this matter, if any grounds for suspicion can be discovered, I will admit that there is guilt. Sextus Roscius is murdered at Rome, while his son is at his farm at Ameria. He sent letters, I suppose, to some assassin, he who knew no one at Rome. He sent for some one—but when? He sent a messenger—whom? or to whom? Did he persuade any one by bribes, by influence, by hope, by promises? None of these things can even be invented against him, and yet a trial for parricide is going on.
84	reliquum est ut per servos id admiserit . O , di immortales , rem miseram et calamitosam ! quid ? in tali crimine quod innocenti saluti solet esse ut servos in quaestionem polliceatur , id Sex . Roscio facere non licet ? vos qui hunc accusatis omnis eius servos habetis ; unus puer victus cotidiani administer ex tanta familia Sex . Roscio relictus non est . te nunc appello , Publi Scipio , te , Marce Metelle ; vobis advocatis , vobis agentibus aliquotiens duos servos paternos in quaestionem ab adversariis Sex . Roscius postulavit ; meministisne Titum Roscium recusare ? quid ? ei servi ubi sunt ? Chrysogonum , iudices , sectantur ; apud eum sunt in honore et in pretio . etiam nunc ut ex eis quaeratur ego postulo , hic orat atque obsecrat .	The only remaining alternative is that he managed it by means of slaves. Oh ye immortal gods, how miserable and disastrous is our lot. That which under such an accusation is usually a protection to the innocent, to offer his slaves to the question, that it is not allowed to Sextus Roscius to do. You, who accuse him, have all his slaves. There is not one boy to bring him his daily food left to Sextus Roscius out of so large a household. I appeal to you now, Publius Scipio, to you Metellus, while you were acting as his advocates, while you were pleading his cause, did not Sextus Roscius often demand of his adversaries that two of his father's slaves should be put to the question? Do you remember that you, O Titus Roscius, refused it? What? Where are those slaves? They are waiting on Chrysogonus, O judges; they are honoured and valued by him. Even now I demand that they be put to the question; he begs and entreats it.
85	quid facitis ? cur recusatis ? dubitate etiam nunc , iudices , si potestis , a quo sit Sex . Roscius occisus , ab eone qui propter illius mortem in egestate et in insidiis versatur , cui ne quaerendi quidem de morte patris potestas permittitur , an ab eis qui quaestionem fugitant , bona possident , in caede atque ex caede vivunt . omnia , iudices , in hac causa sunt misera atque indigna ; tamen hoc nihil neque acerbius neque iniquius proferri potest : mortis paternae de servis paternis quaestionem habere filio non licet ! ne tam diu quidem dominus erit in suos dum ex eis de patris morte quaeratur ? veniam , neque ita multo postea , ad hunc locum ; nam hoc totum ad Roscios pertinet , de quorum audacia tum me dicturum pollicitus sum , cum Eruci crimina diluissem .	What are you doing? Why do you refuse? Doubt now, O judges, if you can, by whom Sextus Roscius was murdered; whether by him, who, on account of his death, is exposed to poverty and treachery, who has not even opportunity allowed him of making inquiry into his father's death; or by those who shun investigation, who are in possession of his property, who live amid murder, and by murder. Everything in this cause, O judges, is lamentable and scandalous; but there is nothing which can be mentioned more bitter or more iniquitous than this. The son is not allowed to put his father's slaves to the question concerning his father's death. He is not to be master of his own slaves so long as to put them to the question concerning his father's death. I will come again, and that speedily, to this topic. For all this relates to the Roscii; and I have promised that I will speak of their audacity when I have effaced the accusations of Erucius.
86	nunc , Eruci , ad te venio . conveniat mihi tecum necesse est , si ad hunc maleficium istud pertinet , aut ipsum sua manu fecisse , id quod negas , aut per aliquos liberos aut servos . liberosne ? quos neque ut convenire potuerit neque qua ratione inducere neque ubi neque per quos neque qua spe aut quo pretio potes ostendere . ego contra ostendo non modo nihil eorum fecisse Sex . Roscium sed ne potuisse quidem facere , quod neque Romae multis annis fuerit neque de praediis umquam temere discesserit . restare tibi videbatur servorum nomen , quo quasi in portum reiectus a ceteris suspicionibus confugere posses ; ubi scopulum offendis ' eius modi ut non modo ab hoc crimen resilire videas verum omnem suspicionem in vosmet ipsos recidere intellegas .	Now, Erucius, I come to you. You must inevitably agree with me, if he is really implicated in this crime, that he either committed it with his own hand, which you deny, or by means of some other men, either freemen or slaves. Were they freemen? You can neither show that he had any opportunity of meeting them, nor by what means he could persuade them, nor where he saw them, nor by what agency he trafficked with them, nor by what hope, or what bribe he persuaded them. I show, on the other hand, not only that Sextus Roscius did nothing of all this, but that he was not even able to do anything, because he had neither been at Rome for many years, nor did he ever leave his farm without some object. The name of slaves appeared to remain to you, to which, when driven from your other suspicions, you might fly as to a harbour, when you strike upon such a rock that you not only see the accusation rebound back from it, but perceive that every suspicion falls upon you yourselves.
87	quid ergo est quo tamen accusator inopia argumentorum confugerit ? eius modi tempus erat ' inquit ' ut homines volgo impune occiderentur ; qua re hoc tu propter multitudinem sicariorum nullo negotio facere potuisti .' interdum mihi videris , Eruci , una mercede duas res adsequi velle , nos iudicio perfundere , accusare autem eos ipsos a quibus mercedem accepisti . quid ais ? volgo occidebantur ? per quos et a quibus ? nonne cogitas te a sectoribus huc adductum esse ? quid postea ? nescimus per ista tempora eosdem fere sectores fuisse collorum et bonorum ?	What is it, then? Whither has the accuser betaken himself in his dearth of arguments? The time, says he, was such that men were constantly being killed with impunity; so that you, from the great number of assassins, could effect this without any trouble. Meantime you seem to me, O Erucius, to be wishing to obtain two articles for one payment; to blacken our characters in this trial, and to accuse those very men from whom you have received payment. What do you say? Men were constantly being killed? By whose agency? and by whom? Do you not perceive that you have been brought here by brokers? What next? Are we ignorant that in these times the same men were brokers of men's lives as well as of their possessions?
88	ei denique qui tum armati dies noctesque concursabant , qui Romae erant adsidui , qui omni tempore in praeda et in sanguine versabantur , sex . Roscio temporis illius acerbitatem iniquitatemque obicient et illam sicariorum multitudinem in qua ipsi duces ac principes erant huic crimini putabunt fore ? qui non modo Romae non fuit sed omnino quid Romae ageretur nescivit , propterea quod ruri adsiduus , quem ad modum tute confiteris , fuit .	Shall those men then, who at that time used to run about armed night and day, who spent all their time in rapine and murder, object to Sextus Roscius the bitterness and iniquity of that time? and will they think that troops of assassins, among whom they themselves were leaders and chiefs, can be made a ground of accusation against him? who not only was not at Rome, but who was utterly ignorant of everything that was being done at Rome, because he was continually in the country, as you yourself admit.
89	vereor ne aut molestus sim vobis , iudices , aut ne ingeniis vestris videar diffidere , si de tam perspicuis rebus diutius disseram . Eruci criminatio tota , ut arbitror , dissoluta est ; nisi forte exspectatis ut illa diluam quae de peculatu ac de eius modi rebus commenticiis inaudita nobis ante hoc tempus ac nova obiecit ; quae mihi iste visus est ex alia oratione declamare quam in alium reum commentaretur ; ita neque ad crimen parricidi neque ad eum qui causam dicit pertinebant ; de quibus quoniam verbo arguit , verbo satis est negare . si quid est quod ad testis reservet , ibi quoque nos , ut in ipsa causa , paratiores reperiet quam putabat .	I fear that I may be wearisome to you, O judges, or that I may seem to distrust your capacity, if I dwell longer on matters which are so evident. The whole accusation of Erucius, as I think, is at an end; unless perhaps you expect me to refute the charges which he has brought against us of peculation and of other imaginary crimes of that sort; charges unheard of by us before this time, and quite novel; which he appeared to me to be spouting out of some other speech which he was composing against some other criminal; so wholly were they unconnected with either the crime of parricide, or the man who is now on his trial. But as he accuses us of these things with his bare word, it is sufficient to deny them with our bare word. If there is any point which he is keeping back to prove by witnesses, there also, as in this cause, he shall find us more ready than he expected.
90	venio nunc eo quo me non cupiditas ducit sed fides . nam si mihi liberet accusare , accusarem alios potius ex quibus possem crescere ; quod certum est non facere , dum utrumvis licebit . is enim mihi videtur amplissimus qui sua virtute in altiorem locum pervenit , non qui ascendit per alterius incommodum et calamitatem . desinamus aliquando ea scrutari quae sunt inania ; quaeramus ibi maleficium ubi et est et inveniri potest ; iam intelleges , Eruci , certum crimen quam multis suspicionibus coarguatur , tametsi neque omnia dicam et leviter unum quidque tangam . neque enim id facerem , nisi necesse esset , et id erit signi me invitum facere , quod non persequar longius quam salus huius et mea fides postulabit .	I come now to that point to which my desire does not lead me, but good faith towards my client. For if I wished to accuse men, I should accuse those men rather by accusing whom I might become more important, which I have determined not to do, as long as the alternatives of accusing and defending are both open to me. For that man appears to me the most honourable who arrives at a higher rank by his own virtue, not he who rises by the distress and misfortunes of another. Let us cease for awhile to examine into these matters which are unimportant; let us inquire where the guilt is, and where it can be detected. By this time you will understand, O Erucius, by how many suspicious circumstances a real crime must be proved, although I shall not mention every thing, and shall touch on every thing slightly. And I would not do even that if it were not necessary, and it shall be a sign that I am doing it against my will, that I will not pursue the point further than the safety of Roscius and my own good faith requires.
91	causam tu nullam reperiebas in Sex . Roscio ; at ego in T . Roscio reperio . tecum enim mihi res est , Titi Rosci , quoniam istic sedes ac te palam adversarium esse profiteris . de Capitone post viderimus , si , quem ad modum paratum esse audio , testis prodierit ; tum alias quoque suas palmas cognoscet de quibus me ne audisse quidem suspicatur . Lucius Cassius ille quem populus Romanus verissimum et sapientissimum iudicem putabat identidem in causis quaerere solebat ' cui bono ' fuisset . sic vita hominum est ut ad maleficium nemo conetur sine spe atque emolumento accedere .	You found no motive in Sextus Roscius; but I do find one in Titus Roscius For I have to do with you now, O Titus Roscius, since you are sitting there and openly professing yourself an enemy. We shall see about Capito afterwards, if he comes forward as a witness as I hear he is ready to do then he shall hear of other victories of his, which he does not suspect that I ever even heard. That Lucius Cassius, whom the Roman people used to consider a most impartial and able judge, used constantly to ask at trials, “to whom it had been any advantage?” The life of men is so directed that no one attempts to proceed to crime without some hope of advantage.
92	hunc quaesitorem ac iudicem fugiebant atque horrebant ei quibus periculum creabatur ideo quod , tametsi veritatis erat amicus , tamen natura non tam propensus ad misericordiam quam applicatus ad severitatem videbatur . ego , quamquam praeest huic quaestioni vir et contra audaciam fortissimus et ab innocentia clementissimus , tamen facile me paterer vel illo ipso acerrimo iudice quaerente vel apud Cassianos iudices , quorum etiam nunc ei quibus causa dicenda est nomen ipsum reformidant , pro Sex . Roscio dicere .	Those who were about to be tried avoided and dreaded him as an investigator and a judge; because, although he was afraid of truth, he yet seemed not so much inclined by nature to mercy, as drawn by circumstances to severity. I, although a man is presiding at this trial who is both brave against audacity, and very merciful to innocence, would yet willingly suffer myself to speak in behalf of Sextus Roscius either before that very acute judge himself, or before other judges like him, whose very name those who have to stand a trial shudder at even now.
93	in hac enim causa cum viderent illos amplissimam pecuniam possidere , hunc in summa mendicitate esse , illud quidem non quaererent , cui bono fuisset , sed eo perspicuo crimen et suspicionem potius ad praedam adiungerent quam ad egestatem . quid si accedit eodem ut tenuis antea fueris ? quid si ut avarus ? quid si ut audax ? quid si ut illius qui occisus est inimicissimus ? num quaerenda causa quae te ad tantum facinus adduxerit ? quid ergo horum negari potest ? tenuitas hominis eius modi est ut dissimulari non queat atque eo magis eluceat quo magis occultatur .	For when those judges saw in this cause that those men are in possession of abundant wealth, and that he is in the greatest beggary, they would not ask who had got advantage from the deed, but they would connect the manifest crime and suspicion of guilt rather with the plunder than with the poverty. What if this be added to that consideration that you were previously poor? what if it be added that you are avaricious? what if it be added that you are audacious? what if it be added that you were the greatest enemy of the man who has been murdered? need any further motive be sought for, which may have impelled you to such a crime? But which of all these particulars can be denied?
94	avaritiam praefers qui societatem coieris de municipis cognatique fortunis cum alienissimo . quam sis audax , ut alia obliviscar , hinc omnes intellegere potuerunt quod ex tota societate , hoc est ex tot sicariis , solus tu inventus es qui cum accusatoribus sederes atque os tuum non modo ostenderes sed etiam offerres . inimicitias tibi fuisse cum Sex . Roscio et magnas rei familiaris controversias concedas necesse est .	The poverty of the man is such that it cannot be concealed, and it is only the more conspicuous the more it is kept out of sight. Your avarice you make a parade of when you form an alliance with an utter stranger against the fortunes of a fellow-citizen and a relation. How audacious you are (to pass over other points), all men may understand from this, that out of the whole troop, that is to say, out of so many assassins, you alone were found to sit with the accusers, and not only to show them your countenance, but even to volunteer it. You must admit that you had enmity against Sextus Roscius, and great disputes about family affairs.
95	restat , iudices , ut hoc dubitemus , uter potius Sex . Roscium occiderit , is ad quem morte eius divitiae venerint , an is ad quem mendicitas , is qui antea tenuis fuerit , an is qui postea factus sit egentissimus , is qui ardens avaritia feratur infestus in suos , an is qui semper ita vixerit ut quaestum nosset nullum , fructum autem eum solum quem labore peperisset , is qui omnium sectorum audacissimus sit , an is qui propter fori iudiciorumque insolentiam non modo subsellia verum etiam urbem ipsam reformidet , postremo , iudices , id quod ad rem mea sententia maxime pertinet , utrum inimicus potius an filius .	It remains, O judges, that we must now consider which of the two rather killed Sextus Roscius; did he to whom riches accrued by his death, or did he to whom beggary was the result? Did he who, before that, was poor, or he, who after that became most indigent? Did he, who burning with avarice rushes in like an enemy against his own relations, or he who has always lived in such a manner as to have no acquaintance with exorbitant gains, or with any profit beyond that which he procured with toil? Did he who, of all the brokers is the most audacious, or he who, because of the insolence of the forum and of the public courts, dreads not only the bench, but even the city itself? Lastly, O judges, what is most material of all to the argument in my opinion did his enemy do it or his son?
96	haec tu , Eruci , tot et tanta si nanctus esses in reo , quam diu diceres ! quo te modo iactares ! tempus hercule te citius quam oratio deficeret . etenim in singulis rebus eius modi materies est ut dies singulos possis consumere . neque ego non possum ; non enim tantum mihi derogo , tametsi nihil adrogo , ut te copiosius quam me putem posse dicere . verum ego forsitan propter multitudinem patronorum in grege adnumerer , te pugna Cannensis accusatorem sat bonum fecit . multos caesos non ad Trasumennum lacum , sed ad Servilium vidimus .	If you, O Erucius, had so many and such strong arguments against a criminal, how long you would speak; how you would plume yourself,—time indeed would fail you before words did. In truth, on each of these topics the materials are such that you might spend a whole day on each. And I could do the same; for I will not derogate so much from my own claims, though I arrogate nothing, as to believe that you can speak with more fluency than I can. But I, perhaps, owing to the number of advocates, may be classed in the common body; the battle of Cannae has made you a sufficiently respectable accuser. We have seen many men slain, not at Thrasymenus, but at Servilius.