Marcus Tullius Cicero

“ As for the objections you have raised concerning my client's morals, as for all the fuss made by his accusers, not through criminal charges but through backbiting and slander, Marcus Caelius will never feel so bitterly about that as to regret that he was born not ugly.
Those slanders are spread around against all who as young men have been marked by an attractive figure and distinguished appearance. But it is one thing to abuse, another to bring an accusation. Accusation needs a criminal charge, so as to define a situation, mark a man, prove by argument and confirm with testimony. ”

“ Give youth some leeway then; allow our young men to stray a little; do not rein in every pleasure; let the ideal and forthright life suffer an occasional check; let reason give way now and then to appetite and desire. Provided that in all this some bounds are not overstepped. Let youth retain some measure of innocence; let it not corrupt another man's wife, throw away its patrimony, or overwhelm itself in debt; let it spare the homes and families of others, nor ruin the chaste nor wreck the righteous nor shame the good; let it abstain from violence, dangerous intrigue, and crime. ”

“ But nevertheless it belongs to your wisdom, judges, if the cause is just to oppose Marcus Caelius, not on that account to think that you also have a reasonable ground for consulting the indignation of others rather than your own good faith. Now you see what a multitude is in the forum, what diverse classes, what wide ranging pursuits, what variety of men. From this abundance, how many do you think are who are accustomed to offering themselves freely to powerful, popular, and eloquent men; who are accustomed to offering assistance and promising testimony when they think they want anything. ”

“ What thing would this intelligent man think must be concealed in the snares of a learned man?
55 But why should I hold you, judges and jury, any longer? Examine carefully the sworn affidavit of this man (Lucceius) and think about every word of his testimony carefully:
Let the deposition of Lucius Lucceius be read. [Deposition is read by clerk.] What more would you have? Are you waiting for Truth herself to stand up and tell you the facts? This is the defense that innocence offers; these are the facts themselves speaking; this is the very voice of Truth. ”

“ Woman, what have you to do with Caelius? What have you to do with a very young man? What have you to do with one who does not belong to you? Why have you been so intimate with him as to lend him gold, or so much an enemy of his as to fear his poison? ”

“ Were they afraid that so many men would not be able to get the better of one, that strong men would not be able to beat a weak man, or active men to surprise one in such a fright?
No corroborative proof is to be found in the circumstances; no ground for suspicion in any part of the case, no object for or result of the crime, can be imagined. Therefore, this cause, instead of being supported by arguments, by conjecture, and by those tokens by which the truth generally has a light thrown upon it rests wholly on the witnesses. ”

“ For who is there, O judges, who does not see, who is there who does not know, that in such a house as that in which the mistress of the house lives after the fashion of a prostitute,--in which nothing is done which is fit to be mentioned out of doors,--in which debauchery, and lust, and luxury and, in short all sorts of unheard of vices and wickednesses are carried on, the slaves are not slaves at all? men to whom everything is confided by, whose agency everything is done; who are occupied in the same pleasures as their mistress ”

“ Gentlemen of the jury, I - if there were someone of such might of mind and innate virtuous, restrained character that they would reject pleasure and direct their entire life in a labor of the body and struggle of the mind; one whom no rest, no relaxation, no desire of peers, no games, and no feasts please; one who thinks nothing is to be sought in life except what is laudable and dignified - in my opinion, I think this man is instructed and celebrated in certain divinely good things. ”

“ And I promise not only because I rely on the intimacy that subsists between him and me, but also because he has taken upon himself already the obligation of the most stringent engagements.
78 For a man who has ventured on such a step as that of prosecuting a man of consular rank because he says that the republic has been injured by his violence, cannot possibly behave as a turbulent citizen in the republic himself: a man who will not allow another to be at peace, even after he his been acquitted of bribery and corruption, can never himself become a briber of others with impunity. ”

“ And, in truth, they will never be able to get out of their perplexity, if they ever do go into that witness-box; not though they may be ever so witty and talkative at banquets, and sometimes, over their wine, even eloquent. For the forum is one thing, and the banqueting couch another. The benches of counselors are very different from the sofas of revelers. A tribunal of judges is not particularly like a row of hard-drinkers. In short, the radiance of the sun is a very different thing from the light of lamps. ”

“ Because there are two charges pertaining to a single woman of the highest villainy: the gold which was said to have been loaned by Clodia, and the poison, which they accuse Caelius of having prepared for the sake of killing her. He borrowed the money, as you all claim, which he was to give to Lucceius’ slaves, who were to kill Dio from Alexandria, who was then living with Lucceius. This is a hefty charge: either lying in wait for ambassadors or buying off slaves to kill the master’s guest, a plan full of audacity, full of wickedness! ”

“ In fact, they don't only speak, they shout out that the libido of one singular woman has collapsed such that it not only strives for isolation and shadows and these concealments of her disgraceful acts, but also in shameful matters it rejoices in the most crowded throng and in the clearest light.
48 In truth, if there is someone who thinks that youth is still prohibited from the love of a harlot, it is indeed someone quite strict (I cannot deny) , but he is averse not only to the license of youth but also to the custom and concessions of the ancestors. ”

“ If I am to proceed in the old-fashioned way and manner of pleading, then I must summon up from the shades below one of those bearded old men,—not men with those little bits of imperials which she takes such a fancy to, but a man with that long shaggy beard which we see on the ancient statues and images,—to reproach the woman, and to speak in my stead, lest she by any chance should get angry with me. ”

“ Is it any wonder that youth falls, when even seasoned climbers have been known to take the plunge?
42 So if someone here and there is found to avert his eyes from the gorgeous surface of things, refuses to fall prey to the lures of scent and touch and taste, deadens his ears to all that sweet siren-song, I and a few others call him a darling of the gods, but most of mankind will say he is a man of singularly morose disposition. ”

“ For Caelius would never be so insane, as to accuse another man of bribery, if he had defiled himself with that endless corruption, nor would he seek suspicion of the same conduct on another, whose perpetual license he could desire for himself, nor would he himself for the second time indict another man on the charge of bribery, if he thought that on one occasion he would be placed in danger of corruption. ”

“ But I have no doubt that they are men of very high authority indeed, as, in the first place, they are the intimate friends of such a woman; and, in the second place, they took upon themselves that share of the business,--that, namely, of being thrust down into the baths; which she, even were she as powerful as she could possibly wish to be, could never have prevailed on any men to do, except such as were most honourable men, and men of the very greatest natural dignity. But why do I speak of the dignity of those witnesses? Learn yourselves how virtuous and how scrupulous they are. ”

“ As for those, however, to whom he is not so well known because, owing to his advanced years, he has for a long time associated with us less, both in the forum and in private, they may be sure of this: whatever prestige can attach to a Roman knight - and that can certainly be very great - it has always been regarded as a strong feature in Marcus Caelius, and it is so regarded today, not only by those close to him but also by all those who for some reason have been able to come to know him. ”

“ Truly I will lead you from these witnesses nor will I allow the truth of this trial, which in no way is able to be changed, to be conveyed in the will of the witnesses which is able to be fabricated, changed, and twisted with trouble at all. We will make our case with arguments, we will refute their charges with proofs clearer than all light; facts will fight with facts, causes with cause, and reason with reason. ”

“ The case of Caelius is quite unburdened. For what is there against which he does not easily defend himself? Now, I say nothing against this woman. But, if there were some woman - unlike this one - who prostitutes herself to every man, who always openly has someone chosen to date, into whose gardens, homes, and beaches of Baiae the libidos of all men visit by her right, a woman who even nourishes the young men and sustains the fathers' cheapness by her financial support. ”

“ Support, I pray you, that old man, now a suppliant for your mercy, the slave of your power, who while he throws himself at your feet, so appeals more strongly still to your virtuous habits, and to your kind and right feelings; support him, I say, moved either by the recollection of your own parents, or by the affection with which you regard your own children, so as, while relieving the misery of another, to yield to your own pious or indulgent dispositions. ”

“ And judges, know that these desires which are tossed about in Caelius's teeth and that these desires which I elaborate on cannot easily be in the same man. For it is not possible that a mind dedicated to lust, love, desire, pleasure, excessive abundance, ever impeded by what is lacking, can sustain this sort of speaking which we do not in only in action but in contemplation. ”

“ The gold was taken from Clodia, poison sought which might be given to Clodia, as it is said. All the other things are not accusations but slanders, more of petulant strife than of a public investigation. [Saying] 'adulterer, immodest one, middle-man-for-briberies' is clamour, not accusation. For there is no foundation of these crimes, no bases; the hostile voices have been uttered recklessly from an angry accuser with no authority. ”

“ If anyone, O judges and jury, should now by chance be present, ignorant of the law, of the courts, of our customs, he would surely be amazed, what is there of such an atrocity in this particular case, that during the holidays and public games, having interrupted all public business, this one trial should be administered, nor would he doubt, that the man accused of such a great crime is being charged, that if it should be ignored the state would not be able to stand still ”

“ They lay in ambush in the baths. Splendid witnesses, indeed! Then they sprung out precipitately. O men entirely devoted to their dignity! For this is the story that they make up: that when Licinius had arrived, and was holding the box of poison in his hand, and was endeavouring to deliver it to them, but had not yet delivered it, then all on a sudden those splendid nameless witnesses sprung out; and that Licinius, when he had already put out his hand to give them over the box of poison, drew it back again, and, alarmed at that an expected onset of men, took to his heels. ”

“ Even if you propose no defendant for yourself but rather those awful vices, the very matter is nevertheless able to be reproached both fully and seriously. But it is of your wisdom, judges, not to be led away from the defendant nor to send forth those thorns against a man, a defendant, even, which your severity and sternness would hold when the accuser has excited them [your severity and sterness] in the affair, in the vices, in the customs, in the times, when he has been brought into a certain unjust hatred, not by his own offense but by the vice of many men. ”

“ The prosecutors, to be sure, are going on about debauchery, love affairs, adulteries, trips to Baiae, beach parties, banquets, drinking bouts, singing, dance bands, pleasure-boats. They also indicate that everything they say has your approval. In some unbridled, reckless frame of mind you wanted these matters aired in the forum and the court. You must therefore either disprove them, show that they're false, or admit that neither your charge nor your testimony can in any way be believed. ”

“ In the same way they have now sent eminent fellow-senators of mine and Roman knights to attend this trial and speak his praises in the weightiest and most eloquent terms.
I believe I have laid the foundations of my defence. If it rests on the judgment of his peers, it is rock solid. If this young man were displeasing not only to such a one as his father but also to a community so outstanding and important, you would consider him of insufficient merit. ”

“ I entreat you never to permit the same woman, in conjunction with a man who is at the same time her brother and her husband, to save a most infamous robber, and to overwhelm a most honourable and virtuous young man. ”