[18]
Not
a word about poison. But in the first place, that might have been
administered much more a in a potion or in food; in the second place, a
crime is committed in that way with greater impunity, because when it has
been done, it can be denied. If he had assassinated you openly, he would
have brought upon himself not only the hatred of all nations, but their arms
also. If he had slain you by poison, to be sure he never would have been
able to conceal the action from the divine wrath of the Jupiter who presides
over hospitality, but he might perhaps have concealed it from men. Are we,
then, to suppose that that which he might have attempted in secret and have
executed with great caution, he never entrusted to you who were a skillful
physician, and, as he believed, a faithful servant and yet that he could
conceal nothing from you with respect to arms and blood, and ambuscade? And
how cleverly is the whole nation worked up!
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