probari, etc.: the evidence on this point would, of course, be purely circumstantial and inferential, and to Cicero's wonderful skill in dealing with such evidence is due much of the interest of what follows. in illa, in the case of the, etc. fllud Cassianum, that noted saying of Cassius. L. Cassius Longinus Ravilla (cos. B.C. 127) was one of the most upright men of his time, distinguished as a quaesitor (presiding officer) of special trials. cui bono, for whose advantage: § 382, I and N.1 (233, a); B. 191, 2; G. 356, R.1; H. 433 (390, i); H.-B. 360 and b; not "for what advantage," as it is often wrongly given in English. The question of "motive" in cases of murder was as much insisted on in ancient trials as it is today (cf. Rosc. Am., note at. 23, p. 10, 1. 16). personis, parties: the persona is properly the mask, which indicates by its features the "character" in a play. atqui, etc., now, by the killing of Milo, etc. adsequebatur, was going to gain: § 471, c (277,c); B. 260,3; G. 233; H. 534, 2 (469, I); cf. H-B. 484. non eo consule, without having one as consul. quibus . . . coniventibus: these competitors of Milo were P. Plautius Hypsaeus and Q. Metellus Scipio, — the latter an adopted son of Metellus Pius. He took a leading part on Pompey's side in the Civil War, and was defeated by Caesar at Thapsus, B.C. 46. speraret: integral part of the purpose clause ut . . . esset: so also cuperent, vellent, possent, below. cogitatis: artfully suggesting that the mad conduct of Clodius was not mere hot-headedness but was deliberately planned to further his ambitious designs. illi, i.e. the consuls. tantum beneficium: they would owe their election to him.
This text is part of:
Select Orations of. Cicero. Allen and Greenough's Edition. Revised by J. B. Greenough and G. L. Kittredge, with a special vocabulary by J. B. Greenough.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.