Mil. 28.1Quamquam haec quidem iam tolerābilia vidēbantur, etsī aequābiliter in rem pūblicam, in prīvātōs, in longinquōs, in propinquōs, in aliēnōs, in suōs inruēbat, sed nesciō quō modō ūsū iam obdūruerat et percalluerat cīvitātis incrēdibilis patientia: quae vērō aderant iam et impendēbant, quōnam modō ea aut dēpellere potuissētis aut ferre?And yet these things seemed tolerable by now, although he attacked alike the state, private persons, those far off and those near, strangers and his own family; but somehow the incredible patience of the community had by now grown hard and calloused through habit: but the things that were already at hand and impending, how could you have either warded them off or borne them? Mil. 28.1Imperium ille sī nactus esset, omittō sociōs, exterās nātiōnēs, rēgēs, tetrarchās;If he had gained power — I pass over our allies, foreign nations, kings, tetrarchs; Mil. 28.1vōta enim facerētis ut in eōs sē potius immitteret quam in vestrās possessiōnēs, vestra tēcta, vestrās pecūniās: pecūniās dīcō?for you would be praying that he would hurl himself against them rather than against your properties, your homes, your money: money, do I say? Mil. 28.1ā līberīs, mē dius fidius, et ā coniugibus vestrīs numquam ille effrēnātās suās libīdinēs cohibuisset.from your children, so help me, and from your wives he would never have restrained his unbridled lusts.
Mil. 28.1Fingī haec putātis quae patent, quae nota sunt omnibus, quae tenentur, servōrum exercitūs illum in urbe cōnscrīptūrum fuisse, per quōs tōtam rem pūblicam rēsque prīvātās omnium possidēret?Do you think these things invented which are plain, which are known to all, which are established — that he would have enrolled armies of slaves in the city, through whom he would take possession of the whole state and of everyone's private property? Mil. 28.77Quam ob rem sī cruentum gladium tenēns clāmāret T. Annius: "Adeste, quaesō, atque audīte, cīvēs!So if Titus Annius, holding a bloody sword, were to cry out: 'Come here, I beg you, and listen, citizens! Mil. 28.77P. Clōdium interfēcī, eius furōrēs, quōs nūllīs iam lēgibus, nūllīs iūdiciīs frēnāre poterāmus, hōc ferrō et hāc dexterā ā cervīcibus vestrīs reppulī, per mē ut ūnum iūs aequitās, lēgēs lībertās, pudor pudīcitia manēret in cīvitāte," esset vērō timendum quōnam modō id ferret cīvitās!I have killed Publius Clodius; his frenzies, which we could no longer curb by any laws or any courts, I have driven off from your necks with this sword and this right hand, so that through me alone justice and fairness, laws and liberty, modesty and chastity might remain in the community,' there would indeed be cause to fear how the community would take it!
Mil. 28.77Nunc enim quis est quī nōn probet, quī nōn laudet, quī nōn ūnum post hominum memoriam T. Annium plūrimum reī pūblicae prōfuisse, maximā laetitiā populum Rōmānum, cūnctam Ītaliam, nātiōnēs omnīs adfēcisse et dīcat et sentiat?For now who is there who does not approve, who does not praise, who does not both say and feel that Titus Annius alone, within the memory of man, has done the state the greatest service, and has filled the Roman people, all Italy and all nations with the greatest joy? Mil. 28.77Nōn queō vetera illa populī Rōmānī gaudia quanta fuerint iūdicāre: multās tamen iam summōrum imperātōrum clārissimās victōriās aetās nostra vīdit, quārum nūlla neque tam diūturnam laetitiam attulit nec tantam.I cannot judge how great those ancient rejoicings of the Roman people were: yet our own age has already seen many most glorious victories of the greatest generals, none of which brought joy either so lasting or so great. Mil. 28.78Mandāte hoc memoriae, iūdicēs.Commit this to memory, judges. Mil. 28.78Spērō multa vōs līberōsque vestrōs in rē pūblicā bona esse vīsūrōs: in eīs singulīs ita semper exīstimābitis, vīvō P. Clōdiō nihil eōrum vōs vīsūrōs fuisse.I hope that you and your children will see many good things in the state: in each of them you will always reflect that, had Publius Clodius lived, you would have seen none of them.
Mil. 28.78In spem maximam et, quem ad modum cōnfīdō, vērissimam sumus adductī, hunc ipsum annum, hōc summō virō cōnsule, compressā hominum licentiā, cupiditātibus cōnfrāctīs, lēgibus et iūdiciīs cōnstitūtīs, salūtārem cīvitātī fore.We have been led to the greatest hope, and, as I trust, the truest, that this very year, with this most eminent man as consul, with men's licence checked, their desires broken, laws and courts established, will bring salvation to the community. Mil. 28.78Num quis igitur est tam dēmēns quī hoc P. Clōdiō vīvō contingere potuisse arbitrētur?Is anyone, then, so mad as to think that this could have happened while Publius Clodius was alive? Mil. 28.78Quid?What then? Mil. 28.78ea quae tenētis prīvāta atque vestra dominante homine furiōsō quod iūs perpetuae possessiōnis habēre potuissent?the things you hold as private and your own — what right of lasting possession could they have had with a madman as master?