Cael. 24.1Ipsīus autem venēnī quae ratiō fingitur?And as for the poison itself, what account of it is invented? Cael. 24.1ubi quaesītum est, quem ad modum parātum, quō pactō, cui, quō in locō trāditum?where was it sought, how was it prepared, in what way, to whom, in what place was it handed over? Cael. 24.1Habuisse aiunt domī vimque eius esse expertum in servō quōdam ad eam rem ipsam parātō;They say that he had it at home and tested its strength on a certain slave procured for that very purpose; Cael. 24.1cuius percelerī interitū esse ab hōc comprobātum venēnum.and that by his very swift death the poison was proved good by this man. Cael. 24.59Prō dī immortālēs!O immortal gods! Cael. 24.59cūr interdum in hominum sceleribus maximīs aut cōnīvētis aut praesentis fraudis poenās in diem reservātis?why do you sometimes either shut your eyes to the greatest crimes of men or postpone to a future day the punishment of present wickedness? Cael. 24.59Vīdī enim, vīdī et illum hausī dolōrem vel acerbissimum in vītā, cum Q. Metellus abstraherētur ē sinū gremiōque patriae, cumque ille vir quī sē nātum huic imperiō putāvit tertiō diē post quam in cūriā, quam in rōstrīs, quam in rē pūblicā flōruisset, integerrimā aetāte, optimō habitū, maximīs vīribus ēriperētur indignissimē bonīs omnibus atque ūniversae cīvitātī.For I saw, I saw and I drank in that grief, perhaps the bitterest of my life, when Quintus Metellus was torn from the bosom and lap of his country, and when that man, who believed himself born for this empire, two days after he had been flourishing in the senate house, on the rostra, in public life, in the prime of his age, in the best of health, in his fullest strength, was snatched away most undeservedly from all good men and from the whole state.
Cael. 24.59Quō quidem tempore ille moriēns, cum iam cēterīs ex partibus oppressa mēns esset, extrēmum sēnsum ad memoriam reī pūblicae reservābat, cum mē intuēns flentem significābat interruptīs ac morientibus vōcibus quanta inpendēret procella mihi, quanta tempestās cīvitātī et cum parietem saepe feriēns eum quī cum Q. Catulō fuerat eī commūnis crēbrō Catulum, saepe mē, saepissimē rem pūblicam nōminābat, ut nōn tam sē morī quam spoliārī suō praesidiō cum patriam tum etiam mē dolēret.At that time, as he lay dying, when his mind was already overwhelmed in its other parts, he kept his last feeling for the memory of the state, when, looking at me as I wept, he indicated with broken and dying words how great a storm was hanging over me, how great a tempest over the state, and when, striking again and again the wall which he had shared with Quintus Catulus, he called often on Catulus, often on me, most often on the state, so that he grieved not so much that he was dying as that both his country and I were being robbed of his protection. Cael. 24.60Quem quidem virum sī nūlla vīs repentīnī sceleris sustulisset, quōnam modō ille furentī frātrī suō cōnsulāris restitisset quī cōnsul incipientem furere atque tonantem suā sē manū interfectūrum audiente senātū dīxerit?If no violence of sudden crime had removed this man, how would he as a consular have withstood his raving cousin, when as consul he had said in the hearing of the senate that he would kill him with his own hand when he was beginning to rave and thunder?
Cael. 24.60Ex hāc igitur domō prōgressa ista mulier dē venēnī celeritāte dīcere audēbit?Will that woman, then, coming forth from this house, dare to speak of the swiftness of poison? Cael. 24.60Nōnne ipsam domum metuet nē quam vōcem ēiciat, nōn parietēs cōnsciōs, nōn noctem illam fūnestam ac lūctuōsam perhorrēscet?Will she not fear the house itself, lest it utter some voice, will she not shudder at the walls that know her secret, at that deadly and mournful night? Cael. 24.60Sed revertor ad crīmen;But I return to the charge; Cael. 24.60etenim haec facta illīus clārissimī ac fortissimī virī mentiō et vōcem meam flētū dēbilitāvit et mentem dolōre impedīvit.for this mention of that most illustrious and most brave man has both weakened my voice with weeping and clouded my mind with grief.