[21]
Wherefore consider over and over again,
O Caius Piso, who is said to have cheated, and who to have been cheated. Roscius is said
to have cheated Fannius? What is that? The honest man is said to have cheated the rogue;
the modest man, the shameless one; the chaste man, the perjurer; the unpractised man,
the cunning one; the liberal man is said to have cheated the covetous one. It is
incredible how, if Fannius were said to have cheated Roscius, each fact would appear
probable from the character of each man; both that Fannius had acted wickedly, and that
Roscius had been cheated by his imprudence. So when Roscius is accused of having cheated
Fannius, both parts of the story are incredible, both that Roscius should have sought
anything covetously, and that Fannius should have lost anything by his good-nature.
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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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