For P. Sulla |
Translator: C. D. Yonge
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37 |
Non respondit tamen una facere Sullam . Etenim esset absurdum , cum ceteros sua sponte nominasset , mentionem facere Sullae nullam nisi admonitum et interrogatum ; nisi forte veri simile est P . Sullae nomen in memoria Cassio non fuisse . Si nobilitas hominis , si adflicta fortuna , si reliquiae pristinae dignitatis non tam inlustres fuissent , tamen Autroni commemoratio memoriam Sullae rettulisset ; etiam , ut arbitror , cum auctoritates principum coniurationis ad incitandos animos Allobrogum conligeret Cassius , et cum sciret exteras nationes maxime nobilitate moveri , non prius Autronium quam Sullam nominavisset .
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But yet he did not reply, that Sulla was favourable to their designs. And, in truth, it would have been an absurdity, after he had named every one else of his own accord, to make no mention of Sulla till he was reminded of him and asked about him. Unless you think this probable, that Lucius Cassius had quite forgotten the name of Publius Sulla. Even if the high rank of the man, and his unfortunate condition, and the relics of his ancient dignity had not made him notorious, still the mention of Autronius must have recalled Sulla to his recollection. In truth, it is my opinion that when Cassius was enumerating the authority of the chief men of the conspiracy for the purpose of exciting the minds of the Allobroges as he knew that the foreign nations are especially moved by an illustrious name he could not have named Autronius before Sulla, if he had been able to name Sulla at all. |
38 |
Iam vero illud minime probari potest , Gallos Autronio nominato putasse propter calamitatis similitudinem sibi aliquid de Sulla esse quaerendum , Cassio , si hic esset in eodem scelere , ne cum appellasset quidem Autronium , huius in mentem venire potuisse . Sed tamen quid respondit de Sulla Cassius ? Se nescire certum . ' Non purgat , ' inquit . Dixi antea : ne si argueret quidem tum denique , cum esset interrogatus , id mihi criminosum videretur .
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But no one can be induced to believe this,—that the Gauls, the moment that Autronius was named, should have thought, on account of the similarity of their misfortunes, that it was worth their while to make inquiries about Sulla, but that Cassius, if he really was implicated in this wickedness, should never have once recollected Sulla, even after he had named Autronius. However, what was the reply which Cassius made about Sulla? He said that he was not sure. “He does not acquit him,” says Torquatus. I have said before, that, even if he had accused him, when he was interrogated in this manner, his reply ought not to have been made matter of accusation against Sulla. |
39 |
Sed ego in iudiciis et in quaestionibus non hoc quaerendum arbitror , num purgetur aliquis , sed num arguatur . Etenim cum se negat scire Cassius , utrum sublevat Sullam an satis probat se nescire ? ' Sublevat apud Gallos . ' Quid ita ? ' Ne indicent . ' Quid ? si periculum esse putasset ne illi umquam indicarent , de se ipse confessus esset ? ' Nesciit videlicet . ' Credo celatum esse Cassium de Sulla uno ; nam de ceteris certe sciebat ; etenim domi eius pleraque conflata esse constabat . Qui negare noluit esse in eo numero Sullam quo plus spei Gallis daret , dicere autem falsum non ausus est , se nescire dixit . Atque hoc perspicuum est , cum is qui de omnibus scierit de Sulla se scire negarit , eandem vim esse negationis huius quam si extra coniurationem hunc esse se scire dixisset . Nam cuius scientiam de omnibus constat fuisse , eius ignoratio de aliquo purgatio debet videri . Sed iam non quaero purgetne Cassius Sullam ; illud mihi tantum satis est contra Sullam nihil esse in indicio .
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But I think that, in judicial proceedings and examinations, the thing to be inquired is, not whether any one is exculpated, but whether any one is inculpated. And in truth, when Cassius says that he does not know, is he seeking to exculpate Sulla, or proving clearly enough that he really does not know? He is unwilling to compromise him with the Gauls. Why so? That they may not mention him in their information? what? If he had supposed that there was any danger of their ever giving any information at all, would he have made that confession respecting himself? He did not know it. I suppose, O judges, Sulla was the only person about whom Cassius was kept in the dark. For he certainly was well informed about every one else; and it was thoroughly proved that a great deal of the conspiracy was hatched at his house. As he did not like to deny that Sulla made one of the conspirators, his object being to give the Gauls as much hope as possible, and as he did not venture to assert what was absolutely false, he said that he did not know. But this is quite evident, that as he, who knew the truth about every one, said that he did not know about Sulla, the same weight is due to this denial of his as if he had said that be did know that he had nothing to do with the conspiracy. For when it is perfectly certain that a man is acquainted with all the conspirators, his ignorance of any one ought to be considered an acquittal of him. But I am not asking now whether Cassius acquits Sulla; this is quite sufficient for me, that there is not one word to implicate Sulla in the whole information of the Allobroges. |
40 |
Exclusus hac criminatione Torquatus rursus in me inruit , me accusat ; ait me aliter ac dictum sit in tabulas publicas rettulisse . O di immortales !—vobis enim tribuo quae vestra sunt , nec vero possum meo tantum ingenio dare ut tot res tantas , tam varias , tam repentinas in illa turbulentissima tempestate rei publicae mea sponte dispexerim —vos profecto animum meum tum conservandae patriae cupiditate incendistis , vos me ab omnibus ceteris cogitationibus ad unam salutem rei publicae convertistis , vos denique in tantis tenebris erroris et inscientiae clarissimum lumen menti meae praetulistis .
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Torquatus being cut off from this article of his accusation, again turns against me, and accuses me. He says that I have made an entry in the public registers of a different statement from that which was really made. O ye immortal gods! (for I will give you what belongs to you; nor can I attribute so much to my own ability, as to think that I was able, in that most turbulent tempest which was afflicting the republic, to manage, of my own power, so many and such important affairs,—affairs arising so unexpectedly, and of such various characters,) it was you, in truth, who then inflamed my mind with the desire of saving my country; it was you who turned me from all other thoughts to the one idea of preserving the republic; it was you who, amid all that darkness of error and ignorance, held a bright light before my mind! |
41 |
Vidi ego hoc , iudices , nisi recenti memoria senatus auctoritatem huius indici monumentis publicis testatus essem , fore ut aliquando non Torquatus neque Torquati quispiam similis —nam id me multum fefellit —sed ut aliquis patrimoni naufragus , inimicus oti , bonorum hostis , aliter indicata haec esse diceret , quo facilius vento aliquo in optimum quemque excitato posset in malis rei publicae portum aliquem suorum malorum invenire . Itaque introductis in senatum indicibus constitui senatores qui omnia indicum dicta , interrogata , responsa perscriberent .
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I saw this, O judges, that unless, while the recollection of the senate on the subject was still fresh, I bore evidence to the authority and to the particulars of this information by public records, hereafter some one, not Torquatus, nor any one like Torquatus, (for in that indeed I have been much deceived,) but some one who had lost his patrimony, some enemy of tranquillity, some foe to all good men, would say that the information given had been different; in order the more easily, when some gale of odium had been stirred up against all virtuous men, to be able, amid the misfortunes of the republic, to discover some harbour for his own broken vessel. Therefore, having introduced the informers into the Senate, I appointed senators to take down every statement made by the informers, every question that was asked, and every answer that was given. |
42 |
At quos viros ! non solum summa virtute et fide , cuius generis erat in senatu facultas maxima , sed etiam quos sciebam memoria , scientia , celeritate scribendi facillime quae dicerentur persequi posse , C . Cosconium , qui tum erat praetor , M . Messalam , qui tum praeturam petebat , P . Nigidium , App . Claudium . Credo esse neminem qui his hominibus ad vere referendum aut fidem putet aut ingenium defuisse .
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And what men they were! Not only men of the greatest virtue and good faith, of which sort of men there are plenty in the senate, but men, also, who I knew from their memory, from their knowledge, from their habit and rapidity of writing, could most easily follow everything that was said. I selected Caius Cosconius, who was praetor at the time; Marcus Messala, who was at the time standing for the praetorship; Publius Nigidius, and Appius Claudius. I believe that there is no one who thinks that these men were deficient either in the good faith or in the ability requisite to enable them to give an accurate report. |
43 |
Quid deinde ? quid feci ? Cum scirem ita esse indicium relatum in tabulas publicas ut illae tabulae privata tamen custodia more maiorum continerentur , non occultavi , non continui domi , sed statim describi ab omnibus librariis , dividi passim et pervolgari atque edi populo Romano imperavi . Divisi tota Italia , emisi in omnis provincias ; eius indici ex quo oblata salus esset omnibus expertem esse neminem volui . Itaque dico locum in orbe terrarum esse nullum , quo in loco populi Romani nomen sit , quin eodem perscriptum hoc indicium pervenerit . In quo ego tam subito et exiguo et turbido tempore multa divinitus , ita ut dixi , non mea sponte providi , primum ne quis posset tantum aut de rei publicae aut de alicuius periculo meminisse quantum vellet ; deinde ne cui liceret umquam reprehendere illud indicium aut temere creditum criminari ; postremo ne quid iam a me , ne quid ex meis commentariis quaereretur , ne aut oblivio mea aut memoria nimia videretur , ne denique aut neglegentia turpis aut diligentia crudelis putaretur .
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What followed? What did I do next? As I knew that the information was by these means entered among the public documents, but yet that those records would be kept in the custody of private individuals, according to the customs of our ancestors, I did not conceal it; I did not keep it at my own house; but I caused it at once to be copied out by several clerks, and to be distributed everywhere, and published and made known to the Roman people. I distributed it all over Italy, I sent copies of it into every province; I wish no one to be ignorant of that information, by means of which safety was procured for all. And I took this precaution, though at so disturbed a time, and when all opportunities of acting were so sudden and so brief at the suggestion of some divine providence, as I said before, and not of my own accord, or of my own wisdom; taking care, in the first instance, that no one should be able to recollect of the danger to the republic, or to any individual, only as much as he pleased; and in the second place, that no one should be able at any time to find fault with that information, or to accuse us of having given credit to it rashly; and lastly, that no one should ever put any questions to me, or seek to learn anything from my private journals, lest I might be accused of either forgetting or remembering too much, and lest any negligence of mine should be thought discreditable, or lest any eagerness on my part might seem cruel. |
44 |
Sed tamen abs te , Torquate , quaero : cum indicatus tuus esset inimicus et esset eius rei frequens senatus et recens memoria testis , et tibi , meo familiari et contubernali , prius etiam edituri indicium fuerint scribae mei , si voluisses , quam in codicem rettulissent , cur cum videres aliter fieri , tacuisti , passus es , non mecum aut ut cum familiarissimo questus es aut , quoniam tam facile inveheris in amicos , iracundius et vehementius expostulasti ? Tu , cum tua vox numquam sit audita , cum indicio lecto , descripto , divolgato quieveris , tacueris , repente tantam rem ementiare et in eum locum te deducas ut , ante quam me commutati indici coargueris , te summae neglegentiae tuo iudicio convictum esse fateare ?
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But still, O Torquatus, I ask you, as your enemy was mentioned in the information, and as a full senate and the memory of all men as to so recent an affair was a witness of that fact; as my clerks would have communicated the information to you, my intimate friend and companion, if you had wished for it, even before they had taken a copy of it; when you saw that there were any incorrectnesses in it, why were you silent, why did you permit them? Why did you not make a complaint to me or to some friend of mine? or why did you not at least, since you are so well inclined to inveigh against your friends, expostulate passionately and earnestly with me? Do you, when your voice was never once heard at the time, when, though the information was read, and copied out, and published, you kept silence then,—do you, I say, now on a sudden dare to bring forward a statement of such importance? and to place yourself in such a position that before you can convict me of having tampered with the information, you must confess that you are convicted yourself of the grossest negligence, on your own information bid against yourself? |
45 |
Mihi cuiusquam salus tanti fuisset ut meam neglegerem ? per me ego veritatem patefactam contaminarem aliquo mendacio ? quemquam denique ego iuvarem , a quo et tam crudelis insidias rei publicae factas et me potissimum consule constitutas putarem ? Quod si iam essem oblitus severitatis et constantiae meae , tamne amens eram ut , cum litterae posteritatis causa repertae sint , quae subsidio oblivioni esse possent , ego recentem putarem memoriam cuncti senatus commentario meo posse superari ?
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Was the safety of any one of such consequence to me as to induce me to forget my own? or to make me contaminate the truth, which I had laid open, by any lie? Or do you suppose that I would assist any one by whom I thought that a cruel plot had been laid against the republic, and most especially against me the consul? But if I had been forgetful of my own severity and of my own virtue, was I so mad, as, when letters are things which have been devised for the sake of posterity, in order to be a protection against forgetfulness, to think that the fresh recollection of the whole senate could be beaten down by my journal? |
46 |
Fero ego te , Torquate , iam dudum fero , et non numquam animum incitatum ad ulciscendam orationem tuam revoco ipse et reflecto , permitto aliquid iracundiae tuae , do adulescentiae , cedo amicitiae , tribuo parenti . Sed nisi tibi aliquem modum tute constitueris , coges oblitum me nostrae amicitiae habere rationem meae dignitatis . Nemo umquam me tenuissima suspicione perstrinxit quem non perverterim ac perfregerim . Sed mihi hoc credas velim : non eis libentissime soleo respondere quos mihi videor facillime posse superare .
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I have been bearing with you, O Torquatus, for a long time. I have been bearing with you; and sometimes I, of my own accord, call back and check my inclination, when it has been provoked to chastise your speech. I make some allowance for your violent temper; I have some indulgence for your youth, I yield somewhat to our own friendship, I have some regard to your father. But unless you put some restraint upon yourself you will compel me to forget our friendship, in order to pay due regard to my own dignity. No one ever attempted to attach the slightest suspicion to me, that I did not defeat him; but I wish you to believe me in this;—those whom I think that I can defeat most easily, are not those whom I take the greatest pleasure in answering. |
47 |
Tu quoniam minime ignoras consuetudinem dicendi meam , noli hac nova lenitate abuti mea , noli aculeos orationis meae , qui reconditi sunt , excussos arbitrari , noli id omnino a me putare esse amissum si quid est tibi remissum atque concessum . Cum illae valent apud me excusationes iniuriae tuae , iratus animus tuus , aetas , amicitia nostra , tum nondum statuo te virium satis habere ut ego tecum luctari et congredi debeam . Quod si esses usu atque aetate robustior , essem idem qui soleo cum sum lacessitus ; nunc tecum sic agam tulisse ut potius iniuriam quam rettulisse gratiam videar .
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Do you, since you are not at all ignorant of my ordinary way of speaking, forbear to abuse my lenity. Do not think that the stings of my eloquence are taken away, because they are sheathed. Do not think that that power has been entirely lost, because I show some consideration for; and indulgence towards you. In the first place, the excuses which I make to myself for your injurious conduct, your violent temper; your age, and our friendship, have much weight with me; and, in the next place, I do not yet consider you a person of sufficient power to make it worth my while to contend and argue with you. But if you were more capable through age and experience, I should pursue the conduct which is habitual to me when I have been provoked; at present I will deal with you in such away that I shall seem to have received an injury rather than to have requited one. |
48 |
Neque vero quid mihi irascare intellegere possum . Si , quod eum defendo quem tu accusas , cur tibi ego non suscenseo , quod accusas eum quem ego defendo ? ' Inimicum ego , ' inquis , ' accuso meum . ' Et amicum ego defendo meum . ' Non debes tu quemquam in coniurationis quaestione defendere . ' Immo nemo magis eum de quo nihil umquam est suspicatus quam is qui de aliis multa cognovit . ' Cur dixisti testimonium in alios ? ' Quia coactus sum . ' Cur damnati sunt ? ' Quia creditum est . ' Regnum est dicere in quem velis et defendere quem velis . ' Immo servitus est non dicere in quem velis et non defendere quem velis . Ac si considerare coeperis utrum magis mihi hoc necesse fuerit facere an istud tibi , intelleges honestius te inimicitiarum modum statuere potuisse quam me humanitatis .
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Nor, indeed, can I make out why you are angry with me. If it is because I am defending a man whom you accusing, why should not I also be angry with you, who are accusing a man whom I am defending? “I,” say you, “am accusing my enemy.” And I am defending my friend. “But you ought not to defend any one who is being tried for conspiracy.” On the contrary, no one ought to be more prompt to defend a man of whom he has never suspected any ill, than he who has had many reasons for forming opinions about other men. “Why did you give evidence against others?” Because I was compelled. “Why were they convicted?” Because my evidence was believed. “It is behaving like a king to speak against whomsoever you please and to defend whomsoever you please.” Say, rather, that it is slavery not to be able to speak against any one you choose and to defend any one you choose. And if you begin to consider whether it was more necessary for me to do this or for you to do that, you will perceive that you could with more credit fix a limit to your enmities than I could to my humanity. |
49 |
At vero , cum honos agebatur familiae vestrae amplissimus , hoc est consulatus parentis tui , sapientissimus vir familiarissimis suis non suscensuit , pater tuus , cum Sullam et defenderent et laudarent ? intellegebat hanc nobis a maioribus esse traditam disciplinam ut nullius amicitia ad pericula propulsanda impediremur . At erat huic iudicio longe dissimilis illa contentio . Tum adflicto P . Sulla consulatus vobis pariebatur , sicuti partus est ; honoris erat certamen ; ereptum repetere vos clamitabatis , ut victi in campo in foro vinceretis ; tum qui contra vos pro huius salute pugnabant , amicissimi vestri , quibus non irascebamini , consulatum vobis eripiebant , honori vestro repugnabant , et tamen id inviolata vestra amicitia , integro officio , vetere exemplo atque instituto optimi cuiusque faciebant .
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But when the greatest honours of your family were at stake, that is to say, the consulship of your father that wise man your father was not angry with his most intimate friends for defending and praising Sulla. He was aware that this was a principle handed down to us from our ancestors that we were not to be hindered by our friendship for any one from warding off dangers from others. And yet that contest was far from resembling this trial. Then, if Publius Sulla could he put down, the consulship would be procured for your father as it was procured, it was a contest of honour you were crying out, that you were seeking to recover what had been taken from you, in order that, having been defeated in the Campus Martius, you might succeed in the forum. Then those who were contending against you for Sulla's safety your greatest friends, with whom you were not angry. On, that account, deprived you of the consulship, resisted your acquisition of honour; and yet they did so without any rupture of your mutual friendship, without violating any duty according to ancient precedent and the established principles of every good man. |
50 |
Ego vero quibus ornamentis adversor tuis aut cui dignitati vestrae repugno ? Quid est quod iam ab hoc expetas ? Honos ad patrem , insignia honoris ad te delata sunt . Tu ornatus exuviis huius venis ad eum lacerandum quem interemisti , ego iacentem et spoliatum defendo et protego . Atque hic tu et reprehendis me quia defendam et irasceris ; ego autem non modo tibi non irascor sed ne reprehendo quidem factum tuum . Te enim existimo tibi statuisse quid faciendum putares et satis idoneum offici tui iudicem esse potuisse .
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But now what promotion of yours am I opposing? or what dignity of yours am I throwing obstacles in the way of? what is there which you can at present seek from this proceeding? Honour has been conferred on your father; the insignia of honour have descended to you. You, adorned with his spoils, come to tear the body of him whom you have slain; I am defending and protecting him who is lying prostrate and stripped of his arms. And on this you find fault with me, and are angry because I defend him. But I not only am not angry with you, but I do not even find fault with your proceeding. For I imagine that you have laid down a rule for yourself as to what you thought that you ought to do, and that you have appointed a very capable judge of your duty. |
51 |
At accusat C . Corneli filius et id aeque valere debet ac si pater indicaret . O patrem Cornelium sapientem qui , quod praemi solet esse in indicio , reliquerit , quod turpitudinis in confessione , id per accusationem fili susceperit ! Sed quid est tandem quod indicat per istum puerum Cornelius ? Si vetera , mihi ignota , cum Hortensio communicata , respondit Hortensius ; sin , ut ais , illum conatum Autroni et Catilinae , cum in campo consularibus comitiis , quae a me habita sunt , caedem facere voluerunt , Autronium tum in campo vidimus —sed quid dixi vidisse nos ? ego vidi ; vos enim tum , iudices , nihil laborabatis neque suspicabamini , ego tectus praesidio firmo amicorum Catilinae tum et Autroni copias et conatum repressi .
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“Oh, but the son of Caius Cornelius accuses him, and that ought to have the same weight as if his father had given information against him.” O wise Cornelius,—the father; I mean—who left all the reward which is usually given for information, but has got all the discredit which a confession can involve, through the accusation brought by his son! However; what is it that Cornelius gives information of by the mouth of that boy? If it is a part of the business which is unknown to me, but which has been communicated to Hortensius, let Hortensius reply. If as you say, his statement concerns that crew of Autronius and Catiline, when they intended to commit a massacre in the Campus Martius, at the consular comitia, which were held by me; we saw Autronius that day in the Campus. And why do I say we saw? I myself saw him (for you at that time, O judges, had no anxiety, no suspicions; I, protected by a firm guard of friends at that time, checked the forces and the endeavours of Catiline and Autronius). |
52 |
Num quis est igitur qui tum dicat in campum aspirasse Sullam ? Atqui , si tum se cum Catilina societate sceleris coniunxerat , cur ab eo discedebat , cur cum Autronio non erat , cur in pari causa non paria signa criminis reperiuntur ? Sed quoniam Cornelius ipse etiam nunc de indicando dubitat , et , ut dicitis , informat ad hoc adumbratum indicium filium , quid tandem de illa nocte dicit , cum inter falcarios ad M . Laecam nocte ea quae consecuta est posterum diem Nonarum Novembrium me consule Catilinae denuntiatione convenit ? quae nox omnium temporum coniurationis acerrima fuit atque acerbissima . Tum Catilinae dies exeundi , tum ceteris manendi condicio , tum discriptio totam per urbem caedis atque incendiorum constituta est ; tum tuus pater , Corneli , id quod tandem aliquando confitetur , illam sibi officiosam provinciam depoposcit ut , cum prima luce consulem salutatum veniret , intromissus et meo more et iure amicitiae me in meo lectulo trucidaret .
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Is there, then, any one who says that Sulla at that time had any idea of coming into the Campus? And yet, if at that time he had united himself with Catiline in that society of wickedness, why did he leave him? why was not he with Autronius? why, when their cases were similar, are not similar proofs of criminality found? But since Cornelius himself even now hesitates about giving information against him, he, as you say, contents himself with filling up the outline of his son's information what then does he say about that night, when, according to the orders of Catiline, he came into the Scythemakers' street, to the house of Marcus Lecca, that night which followed the sixth of November; in my consulship? that night which of all the moments of the conspiracy was the most terrible and the most miserable. Then the day in which Catiline should leave the city, then the terms on which the rest should remain behind, then the arrangement and division of the whole city, with regard to the conflagration and the massacre, was settled. Then your father, O Cornelius, as he afterwards confessed, begged for himself that especial employment of going the first in the morning to salute me as consul, in order that, laving been admitted, according to my usual custom and to the privilege which his friendship with me gave him, he might slay me in my bed. |
53 |
Hoc tempore , cum arderet acerrime coniuratio , cum Catilina egrederetur ad exercitum , Lentulus in urbe relinqueretur , Cassius incendiis , Cethegus caedi praeponeretur , Autronio ut occuparet Etruriam praescriberetur , cum omnia ornarentur , instruerentur , pararentur , ubi fuit Sulla , Corneli ? num Romae ? Immo longe afuit . Num in eis regionibus quo se Catilina inferebat ? Multo etiam longius . Num in agro Camerti , Piceno , Gallico , quas in oras maxime quasi morbus quidam illius furoris pervaserat ? Nihil vero minus . Fuit enim , ut iam ante dixi , Neapoli , fuit in ea parte Italiae quae maxime ista suspicione caruit .
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At this time, when the conspiracy was at its height; when Catiline was starting for the army, and Lentulus was being left in the city; when Cassius was being appointed to superintend the burning of the city, and Cethegus the massacre; when Autronius had the part allotted to him of occupying Italy; when, in short, everything was being arranged, and settled, and prepared; where, O Cornelius, was Sulla? Was he at Rome? No, he was very far away. Was he in those districts to which Catiline was betaking himself? He was still further from them. Was he in the Camertine, Picenian, or Gallic district? lands which the disease, as it were, of that frenzy had infected most particularly. Nothing is further from the truth; for he was, as I have said already, at Naples. He was in that part of Italy which above all others was free from all suspicion of being implicated in that business. |
54 |
Quid ergo indicat aut quid adfert aut ipse Cornelius aut vos qui haec ab illo mandata defertis ? Gladiatores emptos esse Fausti simulatione ad caedem ac tumultum ? ' Ita prorsus ; interpositi sunt gladiatores . ' Quos testamento patris deberi videmus . ' Adrepta est familia . ' Quae si esset praetermissa , posset alia familia Fausti munus praebere . Vtinam quidem haec ipsa non modo iniquorum invidiae sed aequorum exspectationi satis facere posset ! ' Properatum vehementer est , cum longe tempus muneris abesset . ' Quasi vero tempus dandi muneris non valde appropinquaret . ' Nec opinante Fausto , cum is neque sciret neque vellet , familia est comparata . '
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What then does he state in his information, or what does he allege—I mean Cornelius, or you who bring these messages from him? He says that gladiators were bought, under pretence of some games to be exhibited by Faustus, for the purposes of slaughter and tumult.—Just so;—the gladiators are mentioned whom we know that he was bound to provide according to his father's will. “But he seized on a whole household of gladiators; and if he had left that alone, some other troop might have discharged the duty to which Faustus was bound.” I wish this troop could satisfy not only the envy of parties unfavourable to him, but even the expectations of reasonable men. “He was in a desperate hurry, when the time for the exhibition was still far off.” As if in reality, the time for the exhibition was not drawing very near. This household of slaves was got without Faustus having any idea of such a step; for he neither knew of it nor wished it. |