1The Roman people thought at the time, Hortensius, that you and the others who were of the same opinion were stating what you felt with good intentions; 1but nevertheless, where the common safety was concerned, the same Roman people preferred to obey its own grief rather than your authority. 1And so one law, one man, one year not only freed you from that misery and disgrace but also brought it about that you seemed at last truly to rule over all peoples and nations by land and sea. 57So it seems to me all the more unworthy that there has been obstruction up to now (shall I say to Gabinius, or to Pompey, or to both, which is truer?) to prevent Gabinius being appointed legate to Pompey, though Pompey asks and demands it.
57Is the man who asks for the legate he wants for so great a war not fit to obtain him, when others have taken out whom they wished as legates to fleece the allies and plunder the provinces, or ought the man himself, by whose law safety and dignity have been established for the Roman people and all nations, to have no share in the command and the army which were established by his counsel and at his risk? 57Could Gaius Falcidius, Metellus, Caelius Latiniensis and Gnaeus Lentulus, all of whom I name with respect, be legates in the year after they had been tribunes of the plebs; 58and are these men so scrupulous in the case of Gabinius alone, who in this war which is being waged under the Gabinian law, and with this commander and army which he himself established through you, ought even to have had a special claim?
58I hope that the consuls will refer the question of his appointment as legate to the senate. 58If they hesitate or make difficulties, I declare that I shall refer it myself; 58and no one's hostility will prevent me, relying on you, from defending your right and your favour, nor shall I heed anything except a veto, about which, I think, those very men who are threatening will consider again and again what is permissible. 58In my opinion, citizens, Gabinius alone is enrolled as Pompey's partner in the war at sea and its achievements, because the one, by your votes, entrusted that war to one man to undertake, and the other, having had it entrusted to him and having undertaken it, brought it to an end.