[52]
But, whatever excuse I tried to
put forth, the prosecutor immediately wrested out of my hands. If I asked what enmity there
was between Scamander and Habitus, he admitted that there was none. But he said that
Oppianicus, whose agent he had been, had always been and still was most hostile to Habitus. If
again I urged that no advantage would accrue to Scamander by the death of Habitus; he admitted
that, but he said that all the property of Habitus would come to the wife of Oppianicus, a man
who had had plenty of practice in killing his wives. When I employed this argument in the
defence, which has always been considered a most honourable one to use in the causes of
freedmen, that Scamander was highly esteemed by his patron; he admitted that, but asked, Who
had any opinion of that patron himself?
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1856.
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