Mil. 3.1Sed ante quam ad eam ōrātiōnem veniō quae est propria vestrae quaestiōnis videntur ea mihi esse refūtanda quae et in senātū ab inimīcīs saepe iactāta sunt et in contiōne ab improbīs et paulō ante ab accūsātōribus, ut omnī errōre sublātō rem plānē quae veniat in iūdicium vidēre possītis.But before I come to that part of my speech which properly belongs to your inquiry, I think I must refute the charges which have often been bandied about in the senate by our enemies, and in the assembly by the wicked, and a little while ago by the prosecutors, so that, with every misconception removed, you may clearly see the matter which is coming to judgement. Mil. 3.1Negant intuērī lūcem esse fās eī quī ā sē hominem occīsum esse fateātur.They say that it is not right for one who admits that a man has been killed by him to look upon the light. Mil. 3.1In quā tandem urbe hoc hominēs stultissimī disputant?In what city, pray, do these most foolish men argue this? Mil. 3.1Nempe in eā quae prīmum iūdicium dē capite vīdit M. Horātī, fortissimī virī, quī nōndum līberā cīvitāte tamen populī Rōmānī comitiīs līberātus est, cum suā manū sorōrem esse interfectam fatērētur.In that city, of course, which saw as its first capital trial that of Marcus Horatius, a very brave man, who, though the state was not yet free, was nevertheless acquitted by the assembly of the Roman people, although he admitted that his sister had been killed by his own hand.
Mil. 3.8An est quisquam quī hoc ignōret, cum dē homine occīsō quaerātur, aut negārī solēre omnīnō esse factum aut rēctē et iūre factum esse dēfendī?Or is there anyone who does not know that, when there is an inquiry into the killing of a man, it is usual either to deny outright that it was done or to maintain that it was done rightly and lawfully? Mil. 3.8Nisi vērō exīstimātis dēmentem P. Āfricānum fuisse quī, cum ā C. Carbōne tribūnō plēbis sēditiōsē in contiōne interrogārētur quid dē Ti. Gracchī morte sentīret, responderit iūre caesum vidērī.Unless indeed you think that Publius Africanus was mad, who, when he was asked seditiously in an assembly by Gaius Carbo, tribune of the plebs, what he thought about the death of Tiberius Gracchus, replied that he seemed to have been justly slain. Mil. 3.8Neque enim posset aut Ahāla ille Servīlius aut P. Nāsīca aut L. Opīmius aut C. Marius aut mē cōnsule senātus nōn nefārius habērī, sī scelerātōs cīvīs interficī nefās esset.For neither the famous Servilius Ahala, nor Publius Nasica, nor Lucius Opimius, nor Gaius Marius, nor the senate in my consulship could escape being held wicked, if it were a sin for criminal citizens to be put to death.
Mil. 3.8Itaque hoc, iūdicēs, nōn sine causā etiam fictīs fābulīs doctissimī hominēs memoriae prōdidērunt, eum quī patris ulcīscendī causā mātrem necāvisset variātīs hominum sententiīs nōn sōlum dīvīnā sed etiam sapientissimae deae sententiā līberātum.And so, judges, it is not without reason that most learned men have handed down to memory, even in fictitious tales, that the man who had killed his mother to avenge his father was acquitted, when men's votes were divided, by the verdict not only of a god but also of the wisest goddess. Mil. 3.9Quod sī xii tabulae nocturnum fūrem quōquō modō, diurnum autem, sī sē tēlō dēfenderet, interficī impūne voluērunt, quis est quī, quōquō modō quis interfectus sit, pūniendum putet, cum videat aliquandō gladium nōbīs ad hominem occīdendum ab ipsīs porrigī lēgibus?But if the Twelve Tables willed that a thief by night might be killed with impunity in any circumstances, and a thief by day if he defended himself with a weapon, who is there who thinks that, in whatever way a man has been killed, the killer must be punished, when he sees that a sword for killing a man is sometimes held out to us by the laws themselves?