[131]
Wherefore, if by any chance you find one who attempts to defend him from this
accusation in the matter of the fleet, let him defend him thus; let him leave out
those common topics which have nothing to do with the business—that I am
attributing to him blame which belongs to fortune; that I am imputing to him
disaster as a crime; that I am accusing him of the loss of a fleet, when, in the
uncertain risks of war which are common to both sides, many gallant men have often
met with disasters both by land and sea. I am imputing to you nothing in which
fortune was concerned; you have no pretext for bringing up the disasters of others;
you have nothing to do with collecting instances of the misfortunes of many others.
I say the ships were dismantled; I say the rowers and sailors were discharged; I say
the rest had been living on the roots of wild palms; that a Sicilian was appointed
to command a fleet of the Roman people; a Syracusan to command our allies and
friends; I say that, all that time, and for many preceding days, you were spending
your time in drunken revels on the sea-shore with your concubines; and I produce my
informants and witnesses, who prove all these charges.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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