Mur. 2.1Et prīmum Catōnī vītam ad certam ratiōnis normam dērigentī et dīligentissimē perpendentī mōmenta officiōrum omnium dē officiō meō respondēbō.And first I shall reply about my duty to Cato, who directs his life by a fixed rule of reason and weighs most carefully the balance of every duty. Mur. 2.1Negat fuisse rēctum Catō mē et cōnsulem et lēgis ambitūs lātōrem et tam sevērē gestō cōnsulātū causam Mūrēnae attingere.Cato says that it was not right for me, being consul and the author of the law on electoral bribery, and having conducted my consulship so strictly, to touch the case of Murena. Mur. 2.1Cuius reprehēnsiō mē vehementer movet, nōn sōlum ut vōbīs, iūdicēs, quibus maximē dēbeō, vērum etiam ut ipsī Catōnī, gravissimō atque integerrimō virō, ratiōnem factī meī probem.His criticism moves me deeply, so that I wish to justify my action not only to you, judges, to whom I owe most, but also to Cato himself, a man of the greatest gravity and integrity. Mur. 2.1Ā quō tandem, Catō, est aequius cōnsulem dēfendī quam ā cōnsule?By whom, pray, Cato, is it fairer that a consul be defended than by a consul?
Mur. 2.1Quis mihi in rē pūblicā potest aut dēbet esse coniūnctior quam is cui rēs pūblica ā mē iam trāditur sustinenda magnīs meīs labōribus et perīculīs sustentāta?Who in public life can or ought to be more closely bound to me than the man to whom the state, upheld by my great labours and dangers, is now being handed over by me to sustain? Mur. 2.1Quod sī in eīs rēbus repetendīs quae mancipī sunt is perīculum iūdicī praestāre dēbet quī sē nexū obligāvit, profectō etiam rēctius in iūdiciō cōnsulis dēsignātī is potissimum cōnsul quī cōnsulem dēclārāvit auctor beneficī populī Rōmānī dēfēnsorque perīculī esse dēbēbit.But if, in suits for the recovery of things transferable by formal sale, the man who bound himself by the contract ought to bear the risk of the trial, then surely it is even more right that in the trial of a consul-elect the consul who declared him consul should above all be the guarantor of the Roman people's gift and the defender against his danger. Mur. 2.4Ac sī, ut nōn nūllīs in cīvitātibus fierī solet, patrōnus huic causae pūblicē cōnstituerētur, is potissimum summō honōre adfectō dēfēnsor darētur quī eōdem honōre praeditus nōn minus adferret ad dīcendum auctōritātis quam facultātis.And if, as is customary in some states, an advocate were appointed for this case at public expense, the man who would above all be given as defender to one endowed with the highest office would be one who, holding the same office, would bring to the speaking no less authority than ability.
Mur. 2.4Quod sī ē portū solventibus eī quī iam in portum ex altō invehuntur praecipere summō studiō solent et tempestātum ratiōnem et praedōnum et locōrum, quod nātūra adfert ut eīs faveāmus quī eadem perīcula quibus nōs perfūnctī sumus ingrediantur, quō tandem mē esse animō oportet prope iam ex magnā iactātiōne terram videntem in hunc cui videō maximās reī pūblicae tempestātēs esse subeundās?But if those who are already sailing into harbour from the open sea are accustomed to instruct those putting out from harbour with the greatest zeal about the nature of storms, pirates and places, since nature brings it about that we favour those who are entering on the same dangers we have passed through, in what frame of mind, pray, ought I to be, now almost in sight of land after a great tossing, towards this man who, I see, must face the greatest storms of the state? Mur. 2.4Quā rē sī est bonī cōnsulis nōn sōlum vidēre quid agātur vērum etiam prōvidēre quid futūrum sit, ostendam aliō locō quantum salūtis commūnis intersit duōs cōnsulēs in rē pūblicā Kalendīs Iānuāriīs esse.Therefore, if it is the mark of a good consul not only to see what is being done but also to foresee what is going to be, I shall show in another place how much it matters to the common safety that there be two consuls in the state on the first of January.
Mur. 2.5Quod sī ita est, nōn tam mē officium dēbuit ad hominis amīcī fortūnās quam rēs pūblica cōnsulem ad commūnem salūtem dēfendendam vocāre.If this is so, it was not so much duty that ought to have called me to defend the fortunes of a friend as the state that ought to have called a consul to defend the common safety.