Pro S. Roscio Amerino

VRO SEx. Roscio, §§ 32—38. 13
committed in tlie case of Scaevola; is the crime more
endurable because it is being committed bj Chrysogonus ?
"WTiy, in the name of Heaven, what need of defence is there
in this case ? What topic needs the ability of an advocate
or wants to any considerable degree the eloquence of an
orator ? Let me set forth the whole case, gentlemen, and
when I have set it out before your eyes let me examine it
carefuUy. In this way you will ascertaia without any
difficulty the point on which the whole case turns, the
topics on which I must speak, and the considerations by
which you ought to be guided.
35. So far as I can see there are three obstacles in
Sextus Eoscius' way to-day :—the charge brought by his
opponents, their reckless daring, and their powerful influence.
Erucius has undertaken to concoct the charge ; the
Eoscii have demanded for themselves the role of reckless
while Chrysogonus, who is the most powerful,
desperadoes ;
brings his powerful iufluence to the contest. I understand
that I must say something on all these points.
36. What then is that something ? I must not speak
in the same manner on all of them ; for the reason that
the first task is a part and parcel of my duty ; but the
remaining two have been imposed upon you by the Roman
people. I must crumple up the charge ; it is your duty to
withstand acts of reckless daring, and to stamp out and
crush at the very first oppoi-tunity the dangerous and
insufferable power of men of this sort.
37. Sextus Eoscius is charged with having murdered his
father. Te deathless gods, a damnable and atrocious
deed ! a deed so foul that all crimes seem to be embraced
by this one sin. For if, according to that striking saying
of philosophers, filial duty is often violated by a look,
what punishment shall be found severe enough for a man
who has brought death upon his father, for whom the laws
of gods and men irresistibly urged him to encounter death
itself , if the occasion should demand it ?
38. In the case of this atrocious, iou\, and unique sin, of
wMch examples are so rare that whenever it has been heard
of it is reckoned as something like a prodigy and portent,
which arguments, I ask, do you, G-aius Erucius, think an