Pro S. Roscio Amerino

30
CICERO
there is anytliing lie is keepiug back till tlie wituesses are
examined he will find me tliere, as in my pleadiug, better
prepared than he thought.
83. I uow conie to a point to which I have uot been led
bj my owu wish but by my seuse of duty, for if I wished to
accuse, I should be more ready to accuse others at whose
expense I could advance my position :
and that I am re-
solved not to do wliile I have the optiou of either course
for I think he is the niost houourable man who rises by his
owu ability to a higher place, uot he who rises by his
ueighbour's loss and ruiu. Let us cease awile examining
baseless charges. Let us seek a crime iu the place where
it is and can be fouud. You will thus at once understaud,
Erucius, how mauy grounds for suspicion are required to
establish a genuine charge, though I will not mention all
of them but I will touch upon each one lightly. For I
would not do this were it not necessary, aud there will be
this much proof that I am acting unwillingly, namely, that
I will not follow him up further than my clieufs safety
and my own loyalty require.
84. Tou could discover no motive in Sextus Eoscius
but I do find a motive in Titus Eoscius. I must settle
matters with you, Titus Eoscius, since you are sittiug there
and openly professiug yourself to be my opponent. We
will see about Capito afterwards if he comes forward as a
witness, as I hear he is prepared to do. Then he shall hear
of other victories of his, of which he does not suspect that I
have even heard. The well-known Lucius Cassius, whom
the Eoman people regard as a judge of faultless conscientiousness
and wisdom, was in the habit of constantly
asking in trials, in whose interest it had been. Such is
human life, that no one attempts to compass a guilty deed
without hope of advantage.
85. When this man was president and when he sat as
jiu-yman, he was avoided and greatly feared by those
involving whom a trial was being got up, for the reason
that, although he was a lover of truth, yet he seemed by
nature not so much inclined to pity as unrelenting to a
degree amounting to harshness. Now although the president
of this court is a man who in meeting reckless daring