[41]
Caius Quinctius owed you money; you never asked for it: he
died; his property came to his heir; though you saw him every day, you did not ask for
it for two years; will any one doubt which is the more probable, that Sextus Naevius
would instantly have asked for what was owed to him, or that be would not have asked for
two years? Had he no opportunity of asking? Why, he lived with you more than a year:
could no measures be taken in Gaul? But there
was law administered in the province, and trials were taking place at Rome. The only alternative remaining is, either extreme
carelessness prevented you, or extraordinary liberality. If you call it carelessness, we
shall wonder; if you call it kindness, we shall laugh; and what else you can call it I
know not; it is proof enough that nothing was owing to Naevius, that for such a length
of time he asked for nothing.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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