people at a meeting, urging them to be present in large numbers on the following day, and not suffer Milo to get off, but make their own verdict on the case and their sympathy for Clodius apparent to the judges when proceeding to the vote. Next day, which was the eleventh of April [? the eighth; §§ 1, 98], the shops were closed throughout the city; Pompeius stationed guards in the Forum and its approaches, and took his seat himself, as he had done the day before, in front of the Treasury, with a body-guard of picked men. The choice of the judges by lot then took place very early in the day, after which as great a stillness prevailed throughout the Forum as was possible in any Forum under such circumstances. Before eight o'clock in the morning, the elder Appius, Marcus Antonius and P. Valerius Nepos, commenced speaking for the prosecution, and consumed the two hours allowed them by the law. The reply on the part of the defendant was made by Cicero alone. Some persons were of opinion that the line of defence proper to be taken in the present instance was, that in killing Clodius Milo had proved himself a benefactor to the commonwealth; and this was the line actually adopted by M. Brutus in a defence of Milo which he wrote and published, as though it had been really delivered. Cicero, however, did not take this view, because though it might be for the public interest that a man should be condemned to death, it did not follow that for the same reason he might be killed uncondemned. As therefore the accusers had proceeded on the ground that Clodius was waylaid by Milo, (which was false, the quarrel having accidentally arisen,) Cicero, taking advantage of their untenable position, undertook to prove that Milo, on the contrary, had been waylaid by Clodius; and this is the gist of his whole speech. That point, however, being as incapable of proof as the other, it then became evident, as I have said, that neither party had any intention of fighting on that day, but that the encounter was a casual one, the squabble between the slaves having led eventually to the bloodshed which ensued. It was, nevertheless, quite notorious that each of them had frequently threatened the life of the other; and while the largeness of his retinue was a suspicious circumstance in Milo's case, the followers of Clodius, on the other hand, were in better trim for fighting. As Cicero was beginning to speak, he was received with loud shouts from the Clodian party, who could not be restrained even by fear of the surrounding troops. The consequence was that he did not speak with his accustomed composure. The speech as it was taken down still remains; the present one having been written afterwards, and finished with such care, that it may claim to be regarded as the first 2. 60 Comp. Dion Cass. XL. 54: 8 ῥήτωρ τόν τε Πομπήϊον καὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ παρὰ τὸ καθεστηκὸς ἰδὼν ἐξεπλάγη καὶ κατέδεισεν, ὥστε τῶν μὲν παρεσκευασμένων μηδὲν εἰπεῖν, βραχὺ δέ τι καὶ τεθνηκὸς χαλεπῶς φθεγξάμενον ἀγαπητῶς μεταστῆναι. The original speech is now no longer extant, with the exception, perhaps, of a sentence or two cited by Quintilian. The author of the Scholia Bobiensia says that it was extant in his time: Existit alius praeterea liber actorum pro Milone, in quo omnia interrupta et impolita et rudia, plena denique maximi terroris agnoscas. 6 62 Comp. Dion Cass. XL. 54: ToÛτον γὰρ τὸν νῦν φερόμενον ὡς καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ̔Μίλωνος τότε λεχθέντα χρόνῳ ποθ ̓ ὕστερον καὶ κατὰ σχολὴν ἀναθαρσήσας ἔγραψε. He then relates the story that when Cicero sent the improved edition of his speech to Milo in exile, the latter in reply remarked how fortunate it was that such a speech had never actually been delivered, since, in that case, he should not have been enjoying such delicious mullets at Massilia (Marseilles). Dion adds, that the jest was not so much intended to express his contentment with his present lot, as to convey a sharp rebuke to Cicero for his ill-timed display of oratorical abilities, when Milo could no longer profit by them. Milo was condemned, the votes of the judges being divided as follows: -for his condemnation, 12 Senators, 13 Equites, and 13 Tribuni Aerarii; for his acquittal, 6 Senators, 4 Equites, and 3 Tribuni Aerarii. (Asconius, notes on chap. 35 of the speech.) Asconius adds that the judges appear to have been aware that Clodius was wounded in the first instance without the knowledge of Milo, but were of opinion that he was killed by Milo's order afterwards. In consequence of this decision, Milo went into exile at Massilia, and his houses both in Rome and in the country were sold by auction, together with his bands of gladiators. In B.C. 49 he was disappointed in his hopes of being allowed by Caesar to return with other exiles to Rome; and his former ally, Caelius, having been ejected in the following year from his prætorship by the Senate for proposing some revolutionary measures, invited him to Italy for the purpose of joining in an insurrection against Caesar. Here Milo took the lead of some surviving remnants of his former gladiators, and a motley crew of shepherds, convicts, and deserters, with whom he entered Campania in the character of a legate of Cnaeus Pompeius. Finding no encouragement there, and being defeated before Capua, he retreated to Lucania, and attacked a place named Cosa (or Compsa), in the district of Thurii, a stone from the walls of which put an end to his career in B.C. 48. See Caesar, de Bello Civ. III. c. 21, 22; Dion Cass. XLII. 23— 25. Velleius Paterculus (11. 68) thus speaks of his death: 'Compsam in Hirpinis oppugnans ictusque lapide, tum P. Clodio, tum patriae quam armis petebat, poenas dedit, vir inquies et ultra sortem temerarius.' I MARCI TULLII CICERONIS ORATIO Introductory PRO TITO ANNIO MILONE, Ch. 1, 2. ETSI vereor, iudices, ne turpe sit pro fortissimo 1 viro dicere incipientem timere, minimeque deceat, that the troops by quum T. Annius ipse magis de rei publicae salute whom we are sur- quam de sua perturbetur, me ad eius causam pasome alarm, how- rem animi magnitudinem adferre non posse, tamen unsuitable haec novi iudicii nova forma terret oculos, qui, rounded cause me ever such a feeling may seem to the quocumque inciderunt, veterem consuetudinem present occasion. fori et pristinum morem iudiciorum requirunt. Non 21 enim corona consessus vester cinctus est, ut solebat; non usitata frequentia stipati sumus: non illa praesidia quae pro templis omnibus cernitis, etsi contra vim collocata sunt, non adferunt tamen oratori aliquid; ut in foro et in iudicio, quamquam praesidiis salutaribus et necessariis saepti sumus, tamen ne non timere quidem sine aliquo timore possimus. Quae si opposita Miloni Indeed, if I putarem, cederem tempori, iudices, nec inter tanthought they me- tam vim armorum existimarem esse oratori locum. naced the safety of Milo, I should Sed me recreat et reficit Cn. Pompei sapientissimi at once retire: but I am reassured et iustissimi viri consilium, qui profecto nec iustitiae by the presence suae putaret esse, quem reum sententiis iudicum so many citizens tradidisset, eundem telis militum dedere, nec sapi of Pompeius and who have the suc cess of our cause entiae, temeritatem concitatae multitudinis auctoritate publica armare. Quam ob rem illa arma cen- 3 turiones cohortes non periculum nobis sed praesidium denuntiant, at heart. neque solum ut quieto sed etiam ut magno animo simus hor- 2 opposed to us; should only urge but their clamour Clodii furor rapinis et incendiis et omnibus exitiis done his duty to of them. the state in spite quorum clamor si qui forte fuerit, admonere vos I ask you then in which we are tect. public virtue tacks. placed, and to pro- praemiorum ad rem publicam adducti, metu crudefrom base and lissimorum exitiorum carere non possumus. Equiunprincipled at- dem ceteras tempestates et procellas in illis dumtaxat fluctibus contionum semper putavi Miloni esse subeundas, quod semper pro bonis contra improbos senserat; in iudicio vero et in eo consilio in quo ex cunctis ordinibus amplissimi viri iudicarent, numquam existimavi spem ullam esse habituros Milonis inimicos ad eius non salutem modo exstinguendam sed etiam gloriam per tales viros in 3 Not that I in fringendam. Quamquam in hac causa, iudices, 6 tend to rest my T. Annii tribunatu rebusque omnibus pro salute on his past ser- rei publicae gestis ad huius criminis defensionem vices to the state, non abutemur. Nisi oculis videritis insidias Mi but on the clear est proofs of Clo- loni a Clodio factas, nec deprecaturi sumus ut dius' dark designs crimen hoc nobis multa propter praeclara in rem against his life. publicam merita condonetis, nec postulaturi ut, si mors P. Clodii salus vestra fuerit, idcirco eam virtuti Milonis potius quam populi Romani felicitati adsignetis : sed si illius insidiae clariores hac luce fuerint, tum denique obsecrabo obtestaborque vos, iudices, si cetera amisimus, hoc saltem nobis ut relinquatur, ab inimicorum audacia telisque vitam ut impune liceat defendere. Objections answered. Let me however first clear the way by refuting certain objections. + Sed antequam ad eam orationem venio quae est 7 propria vestrae quaestionis, videntur ea esse refutanda quae et in senatu ab inimicis saepe iactata sunt et in contione ab improbis et paulo ante ab accusatoribus, ut omni errore sublato rem plane quae veniat in iudicium videre possitis. Negant intueri lucem esse fas ei qui a se hominem occisum esse fateatur. tandem urbe hoc homines stultissimi dis In who pleads guilty Yet it has al that the defend said that no one putant? nempe in ea quae primum iudicium de tion. this often been allow times. fontext. Context |
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