[58]
I come now to Marcus Cato, who is the mainstay and prop of the whole prosecution; who is,
however, so zealous and vehement a prosecutor, that I am much more afraid of the weight of his
name, than of his accusation. And with respect to this accuser, O judges, first of all I will
entreat you not to let Cato's dignity, nor your expectation of his tribuneship, nor the high
reputation and virtue of his whole life, be any injury to Lucius Murena. Let not all the
honours of Marcus Cato, which he has acquired in order to be able to assist many men, be an
injury to my client alone. Publius Africanus had been twice consul, and had destroyed those
two terrors of this empire, Carthage and Numantia, when he prosecuted Lucius Cotta. He was a
man of the most splendid eloquence, of the greatest good faith, of the purest integrity; his
authority was as great almost as that of the Roman people itself, in that empire which had
been mainly saved by his means. I have often heard old men say that this very extraordinarily
high character of the accuser was of the greatest service to Lucius Cotta. Those wise men who
then were the judges in that cause, did not like any one to be defeated in a trial, if he was
to appear overwhelmed only by the excessive influence of his adversary.
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