M. TULLI CICERONIS

PRO P. SESTIO ORATIO.

I. Si quis antea, iudices, mirabatur, quid esset, quod 1 pro tantis opibus rei publicae tantaque dignitate imperii nequaquam satis multi cives forti et magno animo invenirentur, qui auderent se et salutem suam in discri

TITLE. P. Sestio, no cogno- duction (exordium), statement of men, tribune Dec. 58-Dec. 57, and the case (narratio or propositio), active in forwarding Cicero's re- its division into parts (divisio), the call. Read p. 45, §§ 82, 83; p. 87, proof of the speaker's views (con§ 87, and quote the passages in I. firmatio), the refutation of those 21. 30, and Ep. XIX. 2. 18 in which of his opponents (confutatio or he is mentioned by name. The lex refutatio), and the peroration (conPlautia (or Plotia) de vi of 89 clusio or peroratio). This arrangewas intended to punish the fre- ment was subject to modification. quent breaches of public order Cicero himself in one of his rhewhich the slender police force of torical works (p. 15, §§ 6, 7) makes the city could not prevent, and but four parts, running narratio was aimed especially at the use of and divisio together on the one arms and employment of armed hand, and on the other confirmatio bands. Cases brought under it and confutatio. Besides these,

were tried in one of the quaes- the rhetoricians encouraged the tiones perpetuae (Exc. II. § 1), use of digressions (digressiones), presided over by a iudex questionis and they were freely employed (ib. § 4), whose identity cannot be (Exc. II. § 13). According to fixed in the case of Sestius. Cicero's principles this oration Oratio: Writers on rhetoric may be divided as follows: I. Exin Cicero's time divided forensic ordium, §§ 1, 2; II. Propositio crations into six parts, the intro- and Divisio, §§ 3-5; III. Con

5 men offerre pro statu civitatis et pro communi libertate, is hoc tempore miretur potius, si quem bonum et fortem civem viderit, quam si quem aut timidum aut sibi potius quam rei publicae consulentem. Nam ut omittatis de unius cuiusque casu cogitando recordari, uno 10 aspectu intueri potestis eos, qui cum senatu, cum bonis omnibus rem publicam adflictam excitarint et latrocinio domestico liberarint, maestos, sordidatos, reos de capite, de fama, de civitate, de fortunis, de liberis dimicantis; eos autem, qui omnia divina et humana violarint, vex15 arint, perturbarint, everterint, non solum alacris laetos

...

consu

firmatio and Confutatio, §§ 6-143; | glory. invenirentur, subj. as IV. Conclusio, §§ 144–147. Into giving the thought of quis l. 1. part III. he has introduced sev- auderent, characteristic. statu eral digressions: (1) On the year civitatis: cf. Sull. 63. 14. 58, §§ 15-71, itself interrupted by 7-9. quam si quem: sc. vide(2) an explanation of his motives rit. timidum aut for yielding to his enemies with- lentem: show the chiasmus. out a struggle, §§ 36-52, and (3) a sibi consulentem, 'selfish' for dissertation on the two rival politi- cases with consulere see on IV. cal parties in Rome, §§ 96-132. It 3. 1. ut omittatis . . . recoris possible that these digressions dari,' without calling up in imagiwere expanded to their present length when the speech was revised for publication (p. 16, § 10 ad fin.).

EXORDIUM: §§ 1. 2. The object of every exordium is to awaken the interest and win the sympathy of the jury.

nation,' a restrictive clause = ut non recordemini, for which see on Mur. 5. 1-3, and notice the absence of the usual correlative ita.

11, 12. latrocinio: cf. I. 31. 5. maestos, sordidatos: see Exc. II. § 14. capite, 'civil existence:' see p. 54, § 6; the word is explained by the following ablatives, i.e., capitis deminutio (the penalty of the lex Plautia) involved the loss of reputation, citizenship, property, and control of children (patria potestas).

§ 1. 1-5. Si . . . miretur (l. 6) .. si: for the double protasis cf. Ep. XIV. 4. 38, and notice that miretur is the apodosis of the second protasis si . . . viderit (1.7). opibus, from which meri- 14, 15. divina torious citizens might expect re- rint: the arrangement must be wards. dignitate, from which carefully noticed. The four verbs they might expect honor and go in two pairs: see on I. 32. 25,

everte

que volitare, sed etiam fortissimis atque optimis civibus periculum moliri, de se nihil timere. In quo cum multa 2 sunt indigna, tum nihil minus est ferendum, quam quod iam non per latrones suos, non per homines egestate et scelere perditos, sed per vos nobis, per optimos viros 20 optimis civibus periculum inferre conantur et, quos lapidibus, quos ferro, quos facibus, quos vi, manu, copiis delere non potuerunt, hos vestra auctoritate, vestra religione, vestris sententiis se oppressuros arbitrantur. Ego autem, iudices, quoniam, qua voce mihi in agendis 25 gratiis commemorandoque eorum, qui de me optime meriti sunt, beneficio esse utendum putabam, ea nunc uti cogor in eorum periculis depellendis, iis potissimum vox haec serviat, quorum opera et mihi et vobis et populo Romano restituta est.

30

and cf. II. 1. 5, 6; III. 16. 17;|plural nobis see on Mur. 20. 21. then divina is to be taken closely manu, 'outrage,' a synonym for with the first pair and humana vi with which it is often joined as with the second, giving the inter- here. locked' arrangement for which quote the excellent example in Caes. I. 10. 5.

16, 17. volitare, moliri, timere, precisely parallel with the participle dimicantis, 1. 13: for the change of construction see on II. 5. 9, where the force of volitare is also explained. In quo, as in Sull. 93. 16; 31. 19, refers to the thought of 11. 14-18.

reli

23-25. auctoritate gione . . . sententiis, a kind of hendiadys, the moral weight of your oath-bound verdict.' When were the jurors sworn? How did they give their verdict? quoniam: crowded out of place by the stress put upon ego: cf. si I. 17. 13, quid II. 15. 26. agendis gratiis: see on Ep. X. l. 1.

26-29. commemorando beneficio: see on II. 9. 5. qua mihi . . esse utendum: for the impersonal use of the gerundive see A. 294 c; G. 428 Rem. 3; H. 544 note 5; B. 337 7 b. potis

§ 2. 20-22. scelere: see on Sull. 16. 31; cf. IV. 20. 6. vos nobis: notice the juxtaposition of the contrasted words, and how the emphasis is heightened by the anaphora of the next line instead simum, as in Sull 93. 15. serof simple apposition; for the viat: explain the mood.

3 II. Et quamquam a Q. Hortensio, clarissimo viro atque eloquentissimo, causa est P. Sesti perorata nihilque ab eo praetermissum est, quod aut pro re publica conquerendum fuit aut pro reo disputandum, tamen 5 adgrediar ad dicendum, ne mea propugnatio ei potissimum defuisse videatur, per quem est perfectum, ne ceteris civibus deesset. Atque ego sic statuo, iudices, a me in hac causa atque hoc extremo dicendi loco pietatis potius quam defensionis, querellae quam elo10 quentiae, doloris quam ingenii partis esse susceptas. 4 Itaque si aut acrius egero aut liberius, quam qui ante me dixerunt, peto a vobis, ut tantum orationi meae concedatis, quantum et pio dolori et iustae iracundiae concedendum putetis. Nam neque officio coniunctior 15 dolor ullus esse potest quam hic meus susceptus ex hominis de me optime meriti periculo, neque iracundia

II. PROPOSITIO (or NARRATIO) | The other patroni were M. Crasand DIVISIO, §§ 3-5; in § 5 is given sus and L. Licinius Calvus, accordthe DIVISIO proper. to a scholiast. nihilque, rarely found for the regular nec quicquam

§ 3. 1-2. Q. Hortensio : see on Sull. 3. 33; associated with Cicero in what other cases that you know of? Cicero seems to have soon been reconciled with Hortensius: see on Ep. XVI. 7. 99. perorata, 'completely pleaded.' In public

4-10. disputandum, not precisely our 'dispute,' but rather assert,' 'maintain.' ei potissimum, as in § 2. 28: when the object compared is expressed, what trials there was ordinarily but one is used instead of potissimum ? leading counsel assisted by sub- cf. § 1. 8. extremo loco: see scriptores (see Exc. II. § 7) for the p. 16, § 9. pietatis, 'loyalty,' to prosecution; for the defence there a friend, so pio § 4. 13. partis: were several (usually four) counsel for number and meaning see on (patroni), all upon equal footing. Mur. 6. 11. Each speaker gave his attention to § 4. 11-14. acrius, ' with more some one charge; but in the case feeling.' liberius, 'with more of Sestius, Hortensius had dealt freedom of speech.' putetis, with all the legal points, leaving attracted to concedatis. officio Cicero free to work upon the politi- coniunctior, more conformable cal or personal feelings of the jury. to duty;' officio is dative.

magis ulla laudanda est quam mea inflammata eorum scelere, qui cum omnibus meae salutis defensoribus bellum esse sibi gerendum iudicaverunt. Sed quoniam 5 singulis criminibus ceteri responderunt, dicam ego de 20 omni statu P. Sesti, de genere vitae, de natura, de moribus, de incredibili amore in bonos, de studio conservandae salutis communis atque otii contendamque, si modo id consequi potero, ut in hac confusa atque universa defensione nihil a me, quod ad vestram quaestionem, 25 nihil, quod ad reum, nihil, quod ad rem publicam pertineat, praetermissum esse videatur. Et quoniam in gravissimis temporibus civitatis atque in ruinis eversae atque adflictae rei publicae P. Sesti tribunatus est a Fortuna ipsa collocatus, non adgrediar ad illa maxima 30 atque amplissima, priusquam docuero, quibus initiis ac fundamentis haec tantae summis in rebus laudes excitatae sint.

...

§ 5. 20-23. criminibus: see de vi. reum, i.e., his character on Sull. 6. 36. ceteri, distinguish in respect to other matters than from alii: see on Sull. 9. 25. those with which the court was omni statu,' the whole position:' concerned. rem publicam: see the word is explained by the fol- p. 47, § 87 ad fin. These lines lowing ablatives, de genere . (26, 27) give the three chief points de studio; give an illustration of Part III. of the speech: AD from § 1. Notice that these ex- QUAESTIONEM, §§ 75-95. 144-147, planatory words are not connected AD REUM, §§ 6–13. 71, AD REM P., by conjunctions: such an arrange- §§ 15-70. 72–74. 96–143. ment is called asyndeton explica- 27-32. esse videatur: for this tivum. studio . . . otii, a neces- ending of the sentence see sary periphrasis for our con- Sull. 3. 41. ruinis, 'fall,' 'crash,' servatism,' for which there is no not ruins,' which is a post-classiprecise equivalent in Latin. com- cal sense. Fortuna: the ancients munis: position? understood by Fortune an inscruagency, as we do by haec, nom. pl. femi

24-26. confusa atque uni- table divine versa, 'comprehensive and gen- Providence.

6

on

eral:' see on § 3. 2. quaestionem, nine: see A. 101 a; H. 186 I., as concerned only with the ques- footnote 7. laudes, meritorious tion of Sestius' guilt or innocence acts.'