1So the man whom he would not kill with everyone's approval, him he chose to kill amid the complaints of some? The man he did not dare to kill lawfully, in a good place, at a good time, with impunity, him he did not hesitate to kill unlawfully, in a bad place, at an unfavourable time, at the risk of his life? 42especially, judges, when the contest for the highest office and the day of the elections were close at hand — a time at which (for I know how timid ambition is, and how great and how anxious the desire for the consulship) we fear everything, not only what can be openly criticised but even what can be secretly thought, we shudder at a rumour, a story false, invented and idle, we watch the faces and eyes of everyone.
42For nothing is so soft, so tender, so fragile or so pliable as the goodwill and feeling of citizens towards us; they are not only angry at the dishonesty of candidates but are often fastidious even about their right actions. 43Was Milo, then, setting before himself this day of the Campus, so hoped for and longed for, coming to those august auspices of the centuries with bloody hands, flaunting and confessing his crime and misdeed? 43How incredible this is in his case, and how beyond doubt in the case of Clodius, who thought that once Milo was killed he himself would reign! 43What then? 43Who does not know, judges — and this is the root of audacity — that the greatest enticement to wrongdoing is the hope of impunity?
43In which of the two, then, was this hope? 43In Milo, who even now is on trial for a deed either glorious or at any rate necessary, or in Clodius, who had so despised courts and punishment that nothing pleased him that was either right by nature or permitted by law? 44But why do I argue, why do I debate further? 44I appeal to you, Quintus Petilius, an excellent and most courageous citizen; 44I call you to witness, Marcus Cato, you whom some divine chance has given me as judges. 44You heard from Marcus Favonius that Clodius told him — and you heard it while Clodius was alive — that Milo would perish within three days.
44On the third day after he had said it, the deed was done. 44When he did not hesitate to reveal what he was planning, can you hesitate about what he did?