Pro Archia 5

Arch. 5.1Nam, cum Appī tabulae neglegentius adservātae dīcerentur, Gabīnī, quam diū incolumis fuit, levitās, post damnātiōnem calamitās omnem tabulārum fidem resignāsset, Metellus, homō sānctissimus modestissimusque omnium, tantā dīligentiā fuit ut ad L. Lentulum praetōrem et ad iūdicēs vēnerit et ūnīus nōminis litūrā sē commōtum esse dīxerit.

For while the records of Appius were said to have been kept rather carelessly, and the recklessness of Gabinius while he was safe, and his downfall after his conviction, had destroyed all trust in the records, Metellus, the most scrupulous and modest of all men, was so careful that he came to the praetor Lucius Lentulus and to the judges and said that he was troubled by the erasure of a single name.

Note. Appius Claudius and A. Gabinius were the other praetors of 89 B.C.; Gabinius was later convicted of extortion, and his records lost all credit. cum … dīcerentur … resignāsset: causal cum-clauses. resignāsset: contracted pluperfect subjunctive, 'had cancelled' (literally 'unsealed'). tantā dīligentiā fuit ut: 'was so careful that' (ablative of description). ūnīus nōminis litūrā: an erasure on a wax tablet was a sign of possible forgery.

Arch. 5.1Hīs igitur in tabulīs nūllam litūram in nōmine A. Licinī vidētis.

In these records, then, you see no erasure in the name of Aulus Licinius.

Arch. 5.10Quae cum ita sint, quid est quod dē eius cīvitāte dubitētis, praesertim cum aliīs quoque in cīvitātibus fuerit ascrīptus?

Since this is so, what reason is there for you to doubt his citizenship, especially since he had been enrolled in other cities as well?

Note. Quae cum ita sint: a favourite Ciceronian link, 'since this is so'. quid est quod: 'what reason is there why'.

Arch. 5.10Etenim cum mediocribus multīs et aut nūllā aut humilī aliquā arte praeditīs grātuītō cīvitātem in Graeciā hominēs impertiēbant, Rēgīnōs crēdō aut Locrēnsīs aut Neāpolītānōs aut Tarentīnōs, quod scaenicīs artificibus largīrī solēbant, id huic summā ingenī praeditō glōriā nōluisse!

For when people in Greece were giving citizenship free of charge to many ordinary men, endowed with no skill at all or some humble one, the people of Regium, I suppose, or of Locri, or of Naples, or of Tarentum, would have refused to this man, endowed with the highest glory of talent, what they used to lavish on actors!

Note. Heavy irony: credō ('I suppose') marks the absurdity. The people of these cities gave citizenship freely to actors (scaenicī artificēs), yet would have refused it to Archias. impertiēbant: imperfect of repeated action. noluisse: infinitive of indignant exclamation, depending on the idea 'is it credible that…'.

Arch. 5.10Quid?

What?

Note. Quid?: 'What?' introduces the next point, as often in Cicero.

Arch. 5.10Cum cēterī nōn modo post cīvitātem datam sed etiam post lēgem Papiam aliquō modō in eōrum mūnicipiōrum tabulās inrēpsērunt, hic quī nē ūtitur quidem illīs in quibus est scrīptus, quod semper sē Hēraclīēnsem esse voluit, rēiciētur?

When others, not only after citizenship was granted but even after the Papian law, crept somehow into the registers of those towns, is this man to be thrown out, who does not even use the registers in which he is enrolled, because he always wished to be a man of Heraclea?

Note. lēgem Papiam: the law of 65 B.C. expelling non-citizens from Rome. inrēpsērunt: 'crept into' the registers fraudulently. hic … rēiciētur: future passive in an indignant question, 'is this man to be rejected?'. nē … quidem: 'not even'.

Arch. 5.11Cēnsūs nostrōs requīris.

You ask for our census lists.

Note. cēnsūs: accusative plural, 'census returns'. The census registered Roman citizens every five years.

Arch. 5.11Scīlicet;

Of course;

Arch. 5.11est enim obscūrum proximīs cēnsōribus hunc cum clārissimō imperātōre L. Lūcullō apud exercitum fuisse, superiōribus cum eōdem quaestōre fuisse in Asiā, prīmīs Iūliō et Crassō nūllam populī partem esse cēnsam.

for it is hidden from no one that at the last census this man was with the army under that famous general Lucius Lucullus, at the one before he was with the same man, then quaestor, in Asia, and at the first, under Julius and Crassus, no part of the people was registered.

Note. Three censuses are named, working backwards: 70 B.C., when Archias was with L. Lucullus' army in the East; 86 B.C., when he was with Lucullus, then quaestor, in Asia; and 89 B.C., under the censors L. Julius Caesar and P. Licinius Crassus, which registered no one. proximīs cēnsōribus: ablative absolute giving the time.

Arch. 5.11Sed, quoniam cēnsus nōn iūs cīvitātis cōnfirmat ac tantum modo indicat eum quī sit cēnsus ita sē iam tum gessisse, prō cīve, eīs temporibus is quem tū crīmināris nē ipsīus quidem iūdiciō in cīvium Rōmānōrum iūre esse versātum et testāmentum saepe fēcit nostrīs lēgibus, et adiit hērēditātēs cīvium Rōmānōrum, et in beneficiīs ad aerārium dēlātus est ā L. Lūcullō prō cōnsule.

But since the census does not confirm the right of citizenship, and only shows that the man registered was already conducting himself as a citizen, then at the very time when, as you charge, not even in his own judgement was he living under the rights of Roman citizens, this man often made a will under our laws, entered on inheritances from Roman citizens, and was reported to the treasury by Lucius Lucullus as proconsul among those deserving reward.

Note. The census only shows that a man behaved as a citizen; Cicero adds three things Archias did that only a citizen could do: make a will, inherit from Roman citizens, and be reported to the treasury for a reward. ne ipsīus quidem iūdiciō: 'not even in his own opinion', i.e. you claim he did not think himself a citizen. prō cōnsule: 'as proconsul'.