Pro Milone (For Milo)

On 18 January 52 BC the gang leader Publius Clodius was killed in a brawl with the retinue of his rival Titus Annius Milo near Bovillae on the Appian Way. Clodius' supporters burnt the senate house as his funeral pyre, and Pompey, made sole consul, passed a special law on violence and surrounded the court with soldiers. Cicero, Milo's friend and Clodius' bitter enemy, defended him, but was unnerved and spoke poorly; Milo was convicted and went into exile at Massilia. The speech we have is the version Cicero wrote up afterwards.

Cicero begins by asking the jury not to be frightened by the soldiers and argues that killing can be lawful, by natural law, in self-defence. The real question, he says, is who ambushed whom. He shows that Clodius had reason to want Milo dead and knew his travel plans, that Milo had nothing to gain and had often let chances to kill Clodius pass, and he analyses the time, place and retinues of the encounter. He answers rumours against Milo and Pompey's suspicions, and then goes further: even had Milo killed Clodius deliberately, he would deserve reward for freeing Rome from a tyrant. He lists Clodius' crimes, imagines him brought back to life, sees the gods' hand in his death, and recalls the shameful funeral. The speech ends with Milo's farewell and Cicero's emotional appeal.

Pro Milone was long regarded as Cicero's masterpiece of forensic argument. It is a carefully structured speech, demanding in its detail, and it is best read alongside Asconius' ancient commentary on the case.