Mil. 14.1Reliquum est ut iam illum nātūra ipsīus cōnsuētūdōque dēfendat, hunc autem haec eadem coarguant.It remains now that his own nature and habits should defend Clodius, while these same things convict Milo. Mil. 14.1"Nihil per vim umquam Clōdius, omnia per vim Milō."'Clodius never did anything by violence, Milo did everything by violence.' Mil. 14.1Quid?What? Mil. 14.1ego, iūdicēs, cum maerentibus vōbīs urbe cessī, iūdiciumne timuī, nōn servōs, nōn arma, nōn vim?when I left the city, judges, amid your mourning, was it a trial I feared, and not slaves, not arms, not violence? Mil. 14.1Quae fuisset igitur iūsta causa restituendī meī, nisi fuisset iniūsta ēiciendī?What just cause, then, would there have been for restoring me, if there had not been an unjust one for driving me out? Mil. 14.1Diem mihi, crēdō, dīxerat, multam inrogārat, āctiōnem perduelliōnis intenderat, et mihi vidēlicet in causā aut malā aut meā, nōn et praeclārissimā et vestrā, iūdicium timendum fuit.He had, I suppose, served a summons on me, proposed a fine, brought a charge of treason against me, and I, no doubt, in a case that was either bad or merely my own, and not both most glorious and yours as well, had reason to fear a trial.
Mil. 14.1Servōrum et egentium cīvium et facinorōsōrum armīs meōs cīvīs, meīs cōnsiliīs perīculīsque servātōs, prō mē obicī nōluī.I was unwilling that my fellow citizens, saved by my counsels and my dangers, should be exposed for my sake to the weapons of slaves and of needy and criminal citizens. Mil. 14.37Vīdī enim, vīdī hunc ipsum Q. Hortēnsium, lūmen et ōrnāmentum reī pūblicae, paene interficī servōrum manū, cum mihi adesset;For I saw, I saw this very Quintus Hortensius here, the light and ornament of the state, almost killed at the hands of slaves when he was standing by me; Mil. 14.37quā in turbā C. Vibiēnus senātor, vir optimus, cum hōc cum esset ūnā, ita est mulcātus ut vītam āmīserit.and in that riot Gaius Vibienus, a senator and an excellent man, who was with Hortensius, was so beaten that he lost his life. Mil. 14.37Itaque quandō illīus posteā sīca illa quam ā Catilīnā accēperat conquiēvit?And so, when afterwards did that dagger of his, which he had received from Catiline, ever rest? Mil. 14.37Haec intenta nōbīs est, huic ego vōs obicī prō mē nōn sum passus, haec īnsidiāta Pompeiō est, haec viam Appiam, monumentum suī nōminis, nece Papīrī cruentāvit, haec eadem longō intervallō conversa rūrsus est in mē;It was aimed at me; to it I did not allow you to be exposed for my sake; it lay in wait for Pompey; it stained the Appian Way, the monument of his family's name, with the murder of Papirius; this same dagger, after a long interval, was turned once more against me; Mil. 14.37nūper quidem, ut scītis, mē ad rēgiam paene cōnfēcit.recently indeed, as you know, it almost finished me off near the Regia.
Mil. 14.38Quid simile Milōnis?What is there like this in Milo? Mil. 14.38cuius vīs omnis haec semper fuit, nē P. Clōdius, cum in iūdicium dētrahī nōn posset, vī oppressam cīvitātem tenēret.all of whose violence has always had this aim, that Publius Clodius, since he could not be dragged into court, should not hold the state oppressed by violence. Mil. 14.38Quem sī interficere voluisset, quantae quotiēns occāsiōnēs, quam praeclārae fuērunt!If he had wished to kill him, how great, how frequent, how splendid were the opportunities! Mil. 14.38Potuitne, cum domum ac deōs penātīs suōs illō oppugnante dēfenderet, iūre sē ulcīscī, Potuitne cīvī ēgregiō et virō fortissimō, P. Sēstiō, conlēgā suō, volnerātō, Potuitne Q. Fabriciō, virō optimō, cum dē reditū meō lēgem ferret, pulsō, crūdēlissimā in forō caede factā, Potuitne L. Caecilī, iūstissimī fortissimīque praetōris, oppugnātā domō, Potuitne illō diē quō est lāta lēx dē mē, cum tōtīus Ītaliae concursus, quem mea salūs concitārat, factī illīus glōriam libēns agnōvisset, ut, etiam sī id Milō fēcisset, cūncta cīvitās eam laudem prō suā vindicāret?Could he not lawfully have avenged himself when he was defending his house and his household gods against Clodius's assault, could he not when that outstanding citizen and very brave man Publius Sestius, his colleague, was wounded, could he not when that excellent man Quintus Fabricius was driven off while proposing a law for my return, and a most cruel massacre was carried out in the forum, could he not when the house of Lucius Caecilius, a most just and brave praetor, was besieged, could he not on the day the law concerning me was passed, when the gathering of all Italy, which my restoration had roused, would gladly have acknowledged the glory of that deed, so that, even if Milo had done it, the whole state would claim that credit as its own?