V. Peroratio
The attack on Chrysogonus is Cicero's: Roscius asks for life alone. Feigned appeal to Chrysogonus to spare his victim. Powerful friends of Roscius. With sect. 47 begins the last formal division of the speech, the peroratio. This consists, as was common with Roman advocates, in an appeal to the sympathy of the court (there is a good example in the Closing portion of Cicero's Defence of Milo).
mea, emphatic. Cicero wishes to avoid prejudice to his client by himself assuming sole responsibility for these words. At the same time this section serves as a skillful means of transition. It is so important for Cicero to show that this Case has no political bearings that he has been forced to abandon the question of the murder for a time, and to discuss the illegal sale of the property. He must now return to the charge against his client, and he does so by remarking that Roscius has no complaint to make of his treatment by Chrysogorius if the latter will only let him off with his life. morum, the ways of men. vos, i.e. Chrysogonus and his abettors in the accusation; vos is expressed, not as being specially emphatic, but from the Latin fondness for contrasting persons with each other. more, in the regular way. jure gentium: the "law common to all nations," as opposed to jus civile, or law of the state ; thus it is used as nearly equivalent to natural right. a vobis, i.e. once clear of guilt, and acquitted of this shocking crime, he will leave you unmolested. rogat: a feigned appeal to his persecutors, intended to move the compassion of the jury for Roscius and their indignation against Chrysogonus. in suam rem: in a former passage (omitted in this edition) allusion is made to a charge that Roscius had fraudulently kept back part of his father's property. concessit, etc., has given up (the immovable property), counted and weighed (the rest). anulum, probably the gold ring indicating his rank as eques. se ipsum, etc., and has reserved nothing else besides his naked self
quod . . . quia: § 540 (321); B. 286, I; G. 540; H. 588, 1(516, i) ; H.-B. 554,555. praeter ceteros, more than anybody else. ne quando: i.e. some time when there comes a political reaction. patria, of their fathers.
facis injuriam, i.e. you do wrong (i.e. to Sulla). majorem spem: in this and the preceding sentence Cicero artfully suggests that Chrysogonus has no confidence that Sulla's constitution will last, and that he therefore wishes to remove a dangerous claimant in case of another political overturn. This insinuation would, of course, tend to prejudice the partisans of Sulla against Chrysogonus. cruenta (pred.): the expression of the thought is made more vivid by the use of words exactly appropriate to the killing of a man and the stripping (detrahere) of his dead body.
rem tuam, your interests. quasi . . . nescias, as if you did not know: § 524(312); B. 307, I and 2 ; G. 602 ; H. 584, 2 (513, ii and N.1) ; H.-B. 504, 3 and a. spectatissima, most estimable; the friends of Roscius are purposely exalted, in order to influence the court. cum, concessive. cum esset, though she was, etc. femina, mulier: observe the distinction between the words, the latter being always used in speaking of the tenderness of the feminine nature. quanto: translate however much (though the Latin is definite) ; the usual correlative is supplied by non minora, fully as great.
Observe the clever transition. Cicero suggests that, since there are no other assignable causes for the implacability of Chrysogonus, perhaps he may be offended by the zeal of the defence. This enables him to pass at once to an emphatic assertion of the influential connections of his client. pro patris, etc., in accordance with his father's friendly relations and personal influence (see above, sect. 1), i.e. by an advocacy proportionate in number and influence to the number and attachment of his father's friends. sin . . . vindicarent, i.e. if all the citizens were disposed to right his wrongs. pro eo, etc., in view of the fact that (i.e. with a due regard to the way in which) the highest interests of the State (summa res publica) are assailed. haec, these outrages. Observe that English often requires descriptive words which the Latin can omit as being implied in the context. consistere, etc., hinting that the accusers would be in danger of violence. nunc, as it is ("as things stand": opposed to the preceding suppositions). sane, I'm sure.
quae domi, i.e. the personal protection of Roscius, supply of money, providing of witnesses, etc. fori . . . rationem, the business of forum and court, i.e. the preliminaries of the trial. ut videtis, i.e. he is here in court. aetas, youth. adsiduitate, constant presence, probably at the preliminary proceedings. sectorum, a pun: the word means both buyers (of confiscated property) and cut-throats. hac nobilitate, i.e. such nobles as he. haec res, the present state of things. ei, such. qui . . . facerent: in this Clause (as often in Latin) purpose and result approach so Close]y as to be indistinguishable. loco, rank in life.
Final appeal to the jurors.
nostra, nobis: identifying himself with his Client. si . . . habet, if he is not content (lit. does not regard [it] as enough). nisi, etc., unless his cruelty is also sated with blood (lit. blood is furnished to his cruelty). hoc tempore, in these times. versata est, has prevailed. versari, live.
ad eamne rem, is it for this that , etc. solent, the emphat. position may be represented by translating, it is the custom, etc. qui excipiatis, to cut off consilium: the jury, or body of judices, was called consilium. By calling it a public council, Cicero enhances its dignity and importance.
an vero, or can it be true that, etc. In this use of an, the first question is omitted, and the second is often a reductio ad absurdum, as here. The full thought is, "Do you not agree with me, or can it really (vero) be?" etc. See § 335, b (211, b) ; B. 162, 4, a; G. 457, I ; H. 380, 3 (353, N.4) ; H.-B. 236. agi, is their object (aliquid agere is to aim at something). ut . . . tollantur, that . . . be got rid of in one way or another. in vestro jurejurando, i.e. in the severity which your oath might seem to bind you to exercise. periculo, the case (often used with reference to defendants). ad quem . . . pertineat, i.e. on whom the suspicion rests. sectorem . . . accusatorem, i.e. T. Roscius Magnus, at once purchaser, enemy, cut-throat, and accuser.
obstare, stands against (cf. sect. 20, above). suscipere noluit: the law by which the proscriptions were instituted was passed by the people directly, without the action of the Senate. more majorum, i.e. that every capital judgment was subject to an appeal to the people in the comitia centuriata. publico consilio, i.e. by their official action. eorum, refers back to eos, l. 18, above. reicitis, etc., pres. for fut.: § 468 (276, c) ; G. 228 ; H. 533, 2 (467,5); H.-B. 571.
quibus: the antecedent is eis (l. 27). quin intellegat: § 559 (319,d); B. 284, 3; G. 556; H. 595 (504, I); H.-B. 521, l. pati nolite, do not suffer: § 450, I (269, a) ; B. 276, c ; G. 271, 2 ; H. 561, I (489, I); H.-B. 501, 3, a, 2. hominibus, etc., has taken from the gentlest of men the sense of mercy, through familiarity with distress (lit. in plur.). For the dative, see § 381 (229); B. 180, 2, d; G. 345 and R.1 ; H. 429 (386); H.-B. 371.
