106-43 BC *executed by 2nd Triumvirate (specifically Mark Antony)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)
M. TVLLI CICERONIS PRO SEX. ROSCIO AMERINO ORATIO
[1] Credo ego vos, iudices, mirari, quid sit, quod, cum tot summi oratores hominesque nobilissimi sedeant, ego potissimum surrexerim, is, qui neque aetate neque ingenio neque auctoritate sim cum his, qui sedeant, comparandus.
1 [Hail jurors, I believe that you all will ask yourselves why, when so many of the very best speaks and noblest men you can find are present seated hear, it is I in particular who have risen to speak: I, being a man who is no one comparable alongside these men who sit here in respect to age, talent, or authority.]
Omnes hi, quos videtis adesse in hac causa, iniuriam novo scelere conflatam putant oportere defendi, defendere ipsi propter iniquitatem temporum non audent.
2 [All of these men, whom you see present at this trial, think that mistreated that has been compouned by another wicked deed ought to warded off: yet they do not dare to ward them off themselves, thanks to the general unfairness of our generation.]
Ita fit, ut adsint propterea, quod officium sequuntur, taceant autem idcirco, quia periculum vitant.
3 [So let it happen that, but they will fulfill their civic duty should they be present afterward, but still, they hold their tongue now in order to avoid risk to themselves.]
Quid ergo? Audacissimus ego ex omnibus? Minime.
4 [But why? Is because I am the boldest man you can find among all these? Certainly not.]
An tanto officiosior quam ceteri?
5 [Or perhaps I am so much more dutiful than the rest?]
An tanto officiosior quam ceteri?
[Or is there a so more dutiful man than the others?]
Ne istius quidem laudis ita sum cupidus, ut aliis eam praereptam velim.
[So, really, I'm not that desirous of that kind of praise that would make me want to deny it from others.]
Quae me igitur res praeter ceteros impulit, ut causam Sex. Rosci reciperem?
[Therefore, so what is the matter that pushes me out in front of the rest and made me accept Sextus Roscius' case?]
Quia, si qui istorum dixisset,
[Since, if anyone of these men had spoken,]
quos videtis adesse,
[that is, the men who see present now]
in quibus summa auctoritas est atque amplitudo,
[in whose present exists the greatest authority and magnitude of power possible]
si verbum de re publica fecisset,
[if he had said a single word about our commonwealth]
id, quod in hac causa fieri necesse est,
[this thing, which need come into existence in this lawsuit]
multo plura dixisse, quam dixisset, putaretur.
[is very much thought to have been declared, than he had declared himself.]
[3] Ego autem si omnia, quae dicenda sunt, libere dixero,
[Nevertheless, if I , for my part, will freely have said all the things that need be said]
nequaquam tamen similiter oratio mea exire atque in volgus emanare poterit.
[in any event, will my speech have been capable to no avail to leave out in similar fashion and spread out to the public]
Deinde quod ceterorum neque dictum obscurum potest esse
[And next, whatever of the other fellows cannot be an obscure statement]
propter nobilitatem et amplitudinem
[on account of its noble nature and grandeur]
neque temere dicto concedi propter aetatem et prudentiam.
[nor did I brashly yield to the statement, on account of my mature age and prudence.]
Quia, si qui istorum dixisset,
[Since, if he, out of men like these, had spoken,]
quos videtis adesse,
[that is, the ones you see present as of now,]
in quibus summa auctoritas est atque amplitudo,
[among whom belongs the highest authority and social status,]
si verbum de re publica fecisset,
[if he had uttered a sound concerning our commonwealth,]
id, quod in hac causa fieri necesse est, multo plura dixisse, quam dixisset, putaretur.
[he should be thought, by far, to have spoken much more than he had actually said, and this must necessarily to happen in this case.]
[3] Ego autem si omnia, quae dicenda sunt, libere dixero,
[But still, in my opinion, if I should freely say all the things that must be said,]
nequaquam tamen similiter oratio mea exire atque in volgus emanare poterit.
[nevertheless, and to no avail, my speech shall've exited my mouth in the same fashion, and be published out to the public.]
Deinde quod ceterorum neque dictum obscurum potest esse propter nobilitatem et amplitudinem
[And then neither can the speech of these others be made unclear by their nobility, and their loftiness,]
neque temere dicto concedi propter aetatem et prudentiam.
[and I did not rashly concede to speak, on account of maturity and good judgment.]
