[17]
The affair was going on admirably; lists of your names and of the
whole tribunal were in every one's hands. It did not seem possible to mark the votes
1 of these men with any distinguishing mark or colour or spot of
dirt; and that fellow, from having been brisk and in high spirits, became on a
sudden so downcast and humbled, that he seemed to be condemned not only by the Roman
people but even by himself. But lo! all of a sudden, within these few days, since
the consular comitia 2 have taken place, he has gone back to his
original plan with more money, and the same plots are now laid against your
reputation and against the fortunes of every one, by the instrumentality of the same
people; which fact at first, O judges, was pointed out to me by a very slight hint
and indication; but afterwards, when my suspicions were once aroused, I arrived at
the knowledge of all the most secret counsels of that party without any mistake.
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1 This refers to the way in which Hortensius had once marked the judges whom he had bribed, as is mentioned in the speech against Caecilius.
2 The comitia centuriata for the election of consuls for the succeeding year were held on the 26th of July.
M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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