Pro S. Roscio Amerino
Pro S. Roscio Amerino
Pro S. Roscio Amerino
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12 INTRODUCTION.<br />
In the first place, Cicero bad the Metelli at his baclc,<br />
and in Sulla's better moments the influence of his dead<br />
wife's relatives would surely prove more poAverful thau<br />
that of the pampered freedman. In the second place, it<br />
may well be that Sulla himself would not be very sorry if<br />
the power of his favourite, which had grown to such excessive<br />
proportions, should meet with a check, especially as the<br />
coudoning of such an outrage as that to which Chiysogonus<br />
had been a party would tend to shake the position of the<br />
nobility, and imperil the stability of his new constitution.<br />
§ 5. Analysis and Result of the Speech. After an<br />
exordium (Ch. I.-V.) Cicero narrates the circumstances of<br />
the case (Ch. VI. -XII.), showing that in the events which<br />
preceded and foUowed the mui-der there was much that<br />
told in favour of the accused and against the accusers.<br />
He then begins his argumentatio, or " adducing of proofs,"<br />
with which the remainder of the speech, with the exception<br />
of a brief appeal to th« jury (Ch. LIII.), is taken up.<br />
The argumentatio falls into three main divisions. In the<br />
first part (Ch. XIII.-XXIX.) the orator convincingly<br />
refutes the feeble arguments by which Erucius had<br />
endeavoured to establish the charge of parricide. In the<br />
second part (Ch. XXX.-XLII.) Cicero passes from defence<br />
to attack and seeks to bring the crime home to the<br />
Eoscii themselves, supporting his view by arguments<br />
drawn partly fi-om the life and character of the two<br />
associates, partly from the proceedings which followed the<br />
murder. In the third part (Ch. XLIII.-LII.) he makes<br />
a direct attack upon Chiysogonus, and shows how<br />
criminally he had abused his position by his purchase of<br />
Roscius' estate, and by his heartless behaviour towards the<br />
accused. We learn from Plutarch that Koscius was<br />
acquitted. With this result the friends of the persecuted<br />
man were well content, and it is not probable that the<br />
verdict was followed by restitution of the property, or by<br />
any further charge against the two Roscii.<br />
§ 6. Style and Character of the Speech. Cicero's<br />
successful defence of Eoscius won for him, as he himself