Mil. 19.1Age, sit ita factum: quae causa fuit cūr Rōmam properāret, cūr in noctem sē coniceret?Come, suppose it happened so: what reason was there for him to hurry to Rome, to throw himself into the night? Mil. 19.1Quid adferēbat festīnātiōnis quod hērēs erat?What urgency did the fact that he was an heir bring? Mil. 19.1Prīmum nihil erat cūr properātō opus esset;First, there was no reason why haste was needed; Mil. 19.1deinde sī quid esset, quid tandem erat quod eā nocte cōnsequī posset, āmitteret autem, sī postrīdiē Rōmam māne vēnisset?next, if there were any, what was there, pray, that he could secure that night but would lose if he arrived at Rome early the next morning? Mil. 19.1Atquī ut illī nocturnus ad urbem adventus vītandus potius quam expetendus fuit, sīc Milōnī, cum īnsidiātor esset, sī illum ad urbem noctū accessūrum sciēbat, subsīdendum atque exspectandum fuit.And just as for him an arrival at the city by night was to be avoided rather than sought, so Milo, if he was the plotter and knew that Clodius would approach the city by night, ought to have lain in wait and waited for him.
Mil. 19.50Noctū occīdisset: īnsidiōsō et plēnō latrōnum in locō occīdisset.He would have killed him by night: he would have killed him in a place full of ambushes and full of brigands. Mil. 19.50Nēmō eī negantī nōn crēdidisset quem esse omnēs salvum etiam cōnfitentem volunt.No one would have refused to believe him if he denied it, when everyone wants him safe even if he confesses. Mil. 19.50Sustinuisset crīmen prīmum ipse ille latrōnum occultātor et receptor locus, tum neque mūta sōlitūdō indicāsset neque caeca nox ostendisset Milōnem;First the place itself, the very hider and harbourer of brigands, would have borne the charge; then neither the silent solitude would have informed against Milo nor the blind night revealed him; Mil. 19.50deinde multī ab illō violātī, spoliātī, bonīs expulsī, multī haec etiam timentēs in suspīciōnem caderent, tōta dēnique rea citārētur Etrūria.next, many who had been injured, plundered and driven from their property by Clodius, and many who even feared these things, would fall under suspicion; in short, all Etruria would be summoned to court. Mil. 19.51Atque illō diē certē Arīciā rediēns dēvertit Clōdius ad sē in Albānum.And on that day Clodius, returning from Aricia, certainly turned aside to his Alban villa.
Mil. 19.51Quod ut scīret Milō illum Arīciae fuisse, suspicārī tamen dēbuit eum, etiam sī Rōmam illō diē revertī vellet, ad vīllam suam quae viam tangeret dēversūrum.Even granting that Milo knew he had been at Aricia, he still ought to have suspected that, even if he wished to return to Rome that day, he would turn aside to his villa, which bordered the road. Mil. 19.51Cūr nec ante occurrit nē ille in vīllā residēret, nec eō in locō subsēdit quō ille noctū ventūrus esset?Why did he neither meet him earlier, so that he should not stay at the villa, nor lie in wait in the place where Clodius was to come by night? Mil. 19.52Videō adhūc cōnstāre, iūdicēs, omnia: Milōnī etiam ūtile fuisse Clōdium vīvere, illī ad ea quae concupierat optātissimum interitum Milōnis;I see that so far, judges, everything is agreed: that it was even to Milo's advantage that Clodius should live, while for Clodius, with a view to what he had set his heart on, Milo's death was most desirable; Mil. 19.52odium fuisse illīus in hunc acerbissimum, nūllum huius in illum;that Clodius' hatred for Milo was most bitter, Milo's for Clodius none; Mil. 19.52cōnsuētūdinem illīus perpetuam in vī īnferendā, huius tantum in repellendā;that Clodius' habit was constant in using violence, Milo's only in repelling it; Mil. 19.52mortem ab illō Milōnī dēnūntiātam et praedicātam palam, nihil umquam audītum ex Milōne;that death had been threatened against Milo by Clodius and openly proclaimed, while nothing was ever heard from Milo; Mil. 19.52profectiōnis huius diem illī notum, reditum illīus huic ignōtum fuisse;that the day of Milo's departure was known to Clodius, while Clodius' return was unknown to Milo; Mil. 19.52huius iter necessārium, illīus etiam potius aliēnum;that Milo's journey was necessary, Clodius' rather even inconvenient; Mil. 19.52hunc prae sē tulisse sē illō diē exitūrum, illum eō diē sē dissimulāsse reditūrum;that Milo had made it plain he would leave that day, while Clodius had concealed that he would return that day; Mil. 19.52hunc nūllīus reī mūtāsse cōnsilium, illum causam mūtandī cōnsilī finxisse;that Milo had changed his plans in nothing, while Clodius had invented a reason for changing his; Mil. 19.52huic, sī īnsidiārētur, noctem prope urbem exspectandam, illī, etiam sī hunc nōn timēret, tamen accessum ad urbem nocturnum fuisse metuendum.that Milo, if he were plotting, would have had to wait for night near the city, while Clodius, even if he did not fear Milo, would still have had to dread an approach to the city by night.