Marcus Lepidus spoke against the sentence as
follows:—"Senators, if we look to the single fact of the infamous
utterance with which Lutorius has polluted his own mind and the ears of the
public, neither dungeon nor halter nor tortures fit for a slave would be
punishment enough for him. But though vice and wicked deeds have no limit,
penalties and correctives are moderated by the clemency of the
CONDEMNATION OF LUTORIUS PRISCUS |
sovereign and by the
precedents of your ancestors and yourselves. Folly differs from wickedness;
evil words from evil deeds, and thus there is room for a sentence by which
this offence may not go unpunished, while we shall have no cause to regret
either leniency or severity. Often have I heard our emperor complain when
any one has anticipated his mercy by a self-inflicted death. Lutorius's life
is still safe; if spared, he will be no danger to the State; if put to
death, he will be no warning to others. His productions are as empty and
ephemeral as they are replete with folly. Nothing serious or alarming is to
be apprehended from the man who is the, betrayer of his own shame and works
on the imaginations not of men but of silly women. However, let him leave
Rome, lose his property, and be outlawed. That is my
proposal, just as though he were convicted under the law of treason."
