[21]
Nor do I say this with
the object of exciting odium against those men to whom it
ought even to be a subject of boasting. They are discharging their duty,
they are defending their friends, they are doing what the bravest men are
accustomed to do. When injured they feel pain, when angry they are carried
away, when provoked they fight. But nevertheless, it belongs to your wisdom,
O judges, if brave men have a reasonable ground for attacking Marcus
Caelius, not on that account to think that you also have a reasonable ground
for consulting the indignation of others rather than your own good faith.
You see how vast a concourse of men is assembled in the forum, of what
different classes it is composed, what different objects they have in view,
and how great is the difference between them in every respect. Of all this
multitude, how many do you think that there are who are in the habit of
offering their services of their own accord to influential, and popular, and
eloquent men, when they think they are eager about anything; and to use
their exertions and to promise their evidence to oblige them?
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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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