Pro S. Roscio Amerino

122 CICEEO : PEO EOSCIO. [CH. XLVI.
apodosis of si velim, which would require the present subjunctive.
A general truth is thus indieated instead of a particular occui-rence.
So also below : possum . . . si . . . placeat.
31. meo iure : " with full right."
32. in hac parte : i.e. to which I myself belong. Cicero means
that when with proper reason he finds fault with the nobility, he
cannot be suspected of making an attack upon it, since he himself is
on the side of that party. Cicero was himself an eques.
33. alienum : with a causa, " estranged from the cause."
XLVIL, §§ 136-138. Argument.—/ did all I coidd to ensure the
victory of the nobility, and I rejoice that it has triumphed. I approve
of hestowing rewards where they are due ; but I say that the Roman
pjeople was crushed, not restored, by the loar, if they waged it only for
the purpose of alluring low-boni freedmen to enrich themselves with the
property of others.
Ch. XLVIL— 1. pro mea . . . parte " : to the best of my
ability."
3. ut componeretur : noun clause, in apposition to id, subjeet of
fieri non potuit. componeretur : impersonal use of the passive,
tliough compono is a transitive verb, '
' that an agreement should be
come to." ut ii vincerent : noun clause, in apposition to id, object
of defendisse.
4. humilitatem . . . dignitate : abstract for concrete ; "men of
mean birth and disposition . . . men of ranli and moral worth."
5. de amplitudine : i.e. for the possession of the highest ofEces
in the state.
6. perditi civis : predicative genitive. erat : " would have
been," cf. 19, 5.
7. quibus incolumibus : ablative absolute, here equivalent to a
conditional clause, qui si incolumes essent (protasis of retineretur).
11. felicitate L. SuUae : with reference to his title of Felix. See
note on 1, 20.
12. animadversum est : the Italian communities, especially those
in Samnium, who had fought so stubbornly against Sulla, and had
even aimed at the destruetion of Rome, were punished by having
their fortifications demolished, their liberties cancelled, and their
lands confiscated as ager publicus. contra : adverbial with pugnarunt.
13. viris fortibus : the SuIIan veterans. SuUa distributed the
confiscated lands of the Italians among his veterans, whom he
settled upon tlie country, " like colonists in a conquered
province."
16. me in eo studio partium fuisse : literally " that I belonged to
the party in that zeal," i.e. " that it was for that object that I
beloiiged to the party." partium : predicative genitive.
17. id . . . id circo : explained by ut . . . facerent.
18. homines postremi : " the dregs of humanity."