[74]
How did he kill him? Did he strike him himself, or
did he commit him to others to be murdered? If you say he did it himself, he was not at
Rome; if you say he did it by the
instrumentality of others, I ask you were they slaves or free men? who were they? Did
they come from the same place, from Ameria,
or were they assassins of this city? If they came from Ameria, who are they, why are
they not named? If they are of Rome, how did
Roscius make acquaintance with them? who for many years had not come to Rome, and who never was there more than three days.
Where did he meet them? with whom did he speak? how did he persuade them? Did he give
them a bribe? to whom did he give it? by whose agency did he give it? whence did he get
it, and how much did he giver? Are not these the steps by which one generally arrives at
the main fact of guilt? And let it occur to you at the same time how you have painted
this man's life; that you have described him as an unpolished and country-mannered man;
that he never held conversation with any one, that he had never dwelt in the city.
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