[32]
But you are aware, O Cnaeus Domitius, as a man of your eminent wisdom
must be, that we have in this matter to deal with no one but her; for if she
does not say that she lent the money to Caelius, if she does not accuse him
and say that poison was prepared by him for her, then we are
acting wantonly and groundlessly, in mentioning the name of a mother of a
family in a way so different from what is due to a Roman matron. But if, if
you only take away that woman, there is no longer any charge against
Caelius, nor have the accusers any longer any resources by which to attack
him, then what is our duty as the advocates of his cause, except to repel
those who pursue him? And, indeed, I would do so still more vigorously, if I
had not a quarrel with that woman's husband—brother, I meant to
say; I am always making this mistake. At present I will proceed with
moderation, and go no further than my own duty to my client and the nature
of the cause which I am pleading compels me. For I have never thought it my
duty to engage in quarrels with any woman, especially with one whom all men
have always considered everybody's friend rather than any one's enemy.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1891.
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