Pro S. Roscio Amerino
Pro S. Roscio Amerino
Pro S. Roscio Amerino
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PKO SEX. <strong>Roscio</strong>, §§ 121—126. 45<br />
of my opponents than my case required and sheer necessitj<br />
compelled me to say. It is true that many allegations can<br />
be made against them, and eacli one of these can be explained<br />
by many arguments ; but I cannot do at length or<br />
witb accuracy of detail wbat I do against my will and of<br />
sheer necessity ; wliat it was absolutely impossible to pass<br />
over, I have touched upon lightly, gentlemen ; the inferences<br />
that are grounded in mere suspicions which I should<br />
have to discuss at greater length, if once I begin, these I<br />
leave to your ingenious surmises.<br />
124. I now come to that golden name, Chrysogonus,<br />
imder which the whole confederacy hides itself : and I<br />
cannot discover, gentlemen, how I am to speak about it or<br />
how I am to hold my tongue. For if I hold my tongue,<br />
I omit perhaps the chief part of my defence; but if I<br />
speak I am afraid that not only he (and for that I<br />
do not care at all), but a good<br />
may think themselves injured.<br />
number of others also<br />
And yet my case is<br />
such that it does not seem necessary to make a special<br />
attack on the purchasers as a body; for this cause<br />
is distiuctly novel and unique : (125) the buyer of Sextus<br />
Roscius' property is Chrysogonus. First let us look<br />
at this point: on what principle was Sextus Eoscius'<br />
property sold, or in what way could it be put up for sale ?<br />
And I do not put this question, gentlemen, in order to go<br />
on and say it is a shameful thing that an innocent man's<br />
property should be put up for sale ; for if the time comes<br />
when these complaints will be listened to and freely discussed,<br />
Sextus Eoscius was not so important a man in the<br />
state that we should complain about him more than<br />
others. But this is the question I put : how<br />
could they by<br />
that very law of theirs about proscription, whether it is<br />
the Valerian or the Cornelian, I am not acquainted with<br />
them and I do not know,—by that very law, I repeat, how<br />
could Sextus Eoscius' property be put up for sale ?<br />
126. They say that the terms are as follows :— " That<br />
the goods of those who have been proscribed be sold "<br />
but Sextus Eoscius does not fall under this category " : or<br />
of those who have been killed while within the enemy's<br />
lines : " while there were any lines, he was within the lines
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