Mil. 2.1Ūnum genus est adversum īnfestumque nōbīs eōrum quōs P. Clōdī furor rapīnīs et incendiīs et omnibus exitiīs pūblicīs pāvit;One class alone is hostile and inimical to us: those whom the madness of Publius Clodius fed on plunder and arson and every kind of public ruin; Mil. 2.1quī hesternā etiam contiōne incitātī sunt ut vōbīs vōce praeīrent quid iūdicārētis.who were stirred up at yesterday's assembly too, to dictate to you aloud what verdict you should give. Mil. 2.1Quōrum clamor sī quī forte fuerit, admonēre vōs dēbēbit ut eum cīvem retineātis quī semper genus illud hominum clamōrēsque maximōs prae vestrā salūte neglēxit.If any shouting of theirs should chance to arise, it ought to warn you to keep that citizen who has always disregarded that class of men and their loudest shouts in comparison with your safety. Mil. 2.4Quam ob rem adeste animīs, iūdicēs, et timōrem, sī quem habētis, dēpōnite.Therefore pay close attention, judges, and lay aside your fear, if you have any. Mil. 2.4Nam sī umquam dē bonīs et fortibus virīs, sī umquam dē bene meritīs cīvibus potestās vōbīs iūdicandī fuit, sī dēnique umquam locus amplissimōrum ōrdinum dēlēctīs virīs datus est ut sua studia ergā fortīs et bonōs cīvīs, quae voltū et verbīs saepe significāssent, rē et sententiīs dēclārārent, hōc profectō tempore eam potestātem omnem vōs habētis ut statuātis utrum nōs quī semper vestrae auctōritātī dēditī fuimus semper miserī lūgeāmus an diū vexātī ā perditissimīs cīvibus aliquandō per vōs ac per vestram fidem, virtūtem sapientiamque recreēmur.For if ever you had the power of judging concerning good and brave men, if ever concerning well-deserving citizens, if, finally, an opportunity was ever given to chosen men of the most distinguished orders to declare by deed and by verdict their devotion to brave and good citizens, which they had often shown by look and word, at this moment surely you hold all that power, to decide whether we who have always been devoted to your authority are to mourn in misery for ever, or, after being long harassed by the most abandoned citizens, are at last to be restored through you and through your good faith, courage and wisdom.
Mil. 2.5Quid enim nōbīs duōbus, iūdicēs, labōriōsius, quid magis sollicitum, magis exercitum dīcī aut fingī potest, quī spē amplissimōrum praemiōrum ad rem pūblicam adductī metū crūdēlissimōrum suppliciōrum carēre nōn possumus?For what can be said or imagined, judges, more full of toil, more anxious, more harried than the two of us, who, drawn into public life by the hope of the most splendid rewards, cannot be free from the fear of the cruellest punishments? Mil. 2.5Equidem cēterās tempestātēs et procellās in illīs dumtaxat flūctibus contiōnum semper putāvī Milōnī esse subeundās, quia semper prō bonīs contrā improbōs sēnserat, in iūdiciō vērō et in eō cōnsiliō in quō ex coniūnctīs ōrdinibus amplissimī virī iūdicārent numquam exīstimāvī spem ūllam esse habitūrōs Milōnis inimīcōs ad eius nōn modo salūtem exstinguendam sed etiam glōriam per tālīs virōs īnfringendam.For my part, I always thought that Milo would have to undergo other storms and tempests, at least amid those waves of the public assemblies, because he had always taken the side of the good against the wicked; but in a court, and in that council in which the most distinguished men of the united orders were to give judgement, I never thought that Milo's enemies would have any hope, through such men, not only of destroying his safety but even of impairing his glory.
Mil. 2.6Quamquam in hāc causā iūdicēs, T. Annī tribūnātū rēbusque omnibus prō salūte reī pūblicae gestīs ad huius crīminis dēfēnsiōnem nōn abūtēmur.And yet in this case, judges, we shall not exploit the tribunate of Titus Annius and all his deeds for the safety of the state in order to defend him against this charge. Mil. 2.6Nisi oculīs vīderitis īnsidiās Milōnī ā Clōdiō esse factās, nec dēprecātūrī sumus ut crīmen hoc nōbīs propter multa praeclāra in rem pūblicam merita condōnētis, nec postulātūrī ut, quia mors P. Clōdī salūs vestra fuerit, idcircō eam virtūtī Milōnis potius quam populī Rōmānī fēlīcitātī adsignētis.Unless you see with your own eyes that an ambush was laid for Milo by Clodius, we shall neither beg you to pardon us this crime on account of our many splendid services to the state, nor demand that, because the death of Publius Clodius was your salvation, you should for that reason ascribe it to Milo's courage rather than to the good fortune of the Roman people. Mil. 2.6Sīn illīus īnsidiae clāriōrēs hāc lūce fuerint, tum dēnique obsecrābō obtestāborque vōs, iūdicēs, sī cētera āmīsimus, hoc nōbīs saltem ut relinquātur, vītam ab inimīcōrum audāciā tēlīsque ut impūne liceat dēfendere.But if his ambush proves clearer than this daylight, then at last I shall beg and implore you, judges, that, if we have lost everything else, this at least may be left to us: that we may defend our life against the audacity and weapons of our enemies without being punished.