[6]
For Laterensis asks, and presses this point above
all others, in what virtue, in what sort of renown or worth Plancius is
superior to himself. And so, if I admit his high
qualifications,—and he has plenty of them, and important ones
too—I must not only run the risk of Plancius losing this dignity
which he has obtained, but he must submit also to the suspicion of bribery.
If I speak of my client as superior to him, then my speech will be
considered insulting, and I shall be supposed to say, (as he puts the
question himself,) that Laterensis was surpassed by Plancius in real worth.
And so I must either hurt the feelings of a man who is a great friend of
mine, if I follow the line taken by the prosecutor, or else I must abandon
the safety of one who has behaved to me with the greatest kindness.
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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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