Pro S. Roscio Amerino
Pro S. Roscio Amerino
Pro S. Roscio Amerino
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CH. V.] N0TE8. 75<br />
under the Comelian law. There had been no regular trials for<br />
miirder during the Civil War and the Sullan proscriptions. It is<br />
doubtful whether any permanent quaesiio inter sicurios was established<br />
until 81 b.c. (ep. 4, 19, n.). Before this date, special com-<br />
. missions were appointed by the people to try cases of murder.<br />
longo intervallo : ablative of attendant circumstances ; lit. "the<br />
interval being long," "after a long interval." inter sicarios: the<br />
]<br />
crime of parricidium was embodied in the Lex Cornelia de sicariis<br />
et veneficis, which established a qnaedio for cases of assassination,<br />
poisoning, and arson. The functions of the court were divided<br />
between the praetor to whom the particular court had been assigned<br />
by lot and iudices quaestionis, who were, in the case of the murder<br />
court, probably appointed by the people. There was in Latin no<br />
single word for the crime of "murder" or " assassination." Since<br />
the expressions sicae deferre and de sica deferre were not practicable,<br />
the phrase for a charge of assassination was ita deferre ut nomen<br />
alicui^is inter sicarios referatur, which was abbreviated into inter<br />
sicarios deferre ; hence the qvaestio concerned was known as quaestio<br />
inter sicarios as well as quaestio de sicariis. committitur " : is being<br />
held."<br />
6. factae sint : most editions have the indicative (the regular<br />
mood after cum interea), but the subjunctive is preferable here,<br />
since interea does not refer to the time of committitur but to longo<br />
intervallo ; cum = "although," "andyet," not "at the time when."<br />
7. tvindicationem sui: this is a recent emendation for the<br />
meaningless demissuis or dimissui of the MSS. Other emendations<br />
are dignissimam (Madvig), sanguini remedium esse (Landgraf). Vin-<br />
dicationem sui here means " their defence " or "their deliverance."<br />
8. vociferatione :<br />
'<br />
' loud appeal.<br />
10. causam dicimus: "make our defence"; causam dicere is<br />
applicable both to the advocate and the defendant. Cicero here<br />
makes his clienfs case his own by using an expression common to<br />
both.<br />
13. sit : subjunctive in indirect question depending on ostendetis.<br />
14. ostendetis : vividly used for ostendatis, the regular subjunctive<br />
in indirect speech depending on cogitetis. eo : the correlative is ut<br />
(line 15), "to this extent, that." prorumpere : "seeks to burst its<br />
bounds" ; the future might have been expeeted.<br />
16. in foro, ante tribunal . . . inter pedes vestros . . . interipsa<br />
Eubsellia : criminal trials took place in tlie Forum, under the open<br />
sky. Here on a raised platform (triimnal) was the chair of office<br />
(sella curulis) of the praetor or the iudex quaestionis, and around it<br />
. ; the benches {subsellia) of the iudices and clerks of the court (scrUiae) ;<br />
'\ lower down (ante pedes vestros), on the ground in f ront of the tribunal,<br />
i were the benehes for the two parties to the suit, their advocates,<br />
* and their witnesses. There was also an outer ring (corona) of<br />
listeners interested in the case.<br />
20. causam dicit : see note on line 10 above. Cicero here again<br />
makes his clienfs case his own.<br />
"