[175]
the collectors of the tenths, that is to say, the chiefs, and, as
it were, the senators of the farmers, voted that these letters should be removed out
of sight. I have men, who were present, whom I can produce, to whom I will entrust
this proof, most honourable and wealthy men, the very chief of the equestrian order,
on whose high credit the very speech and cause of the man who has proposed this law
mainly relies. They shall come before you; they shall say what they deter mined.
Indeed, if I know the men properly, they will not speak falsely For they were able,
indeed, to put letters to their community out of sight; they have not been able to
put out of sight their own good faith and conscientiousness. Therefore the Roman
knights, who condemned you by their judgment, have not been willing to be condemned
in the judgment of those judges. Do you now consider whether you prefer to follow
their decision or their inclination.
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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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