1I come now to Cato, who is the foundation and strength of the whole accusation; 1yet he is so weighty and vigorous an accuser that I fear his authority much more than his charges. 1In the case of this accuser, judges, I shall first beg that neither his standing, nor the expectation of his tribunate, nor the splendour and dignity of his whole life may harm Murena at all; in short, that those good qualities of Cato, which he has acquired so that he may be of service to many, may not damage this man alone. 1Africanus had been consul twice and had destroyed the two terrors of this empire, Carthage and Numantia, when he prosecuted Lucius Cotta.
1There was in him the highest eloquence, the highest honour, the highest integrity, and an authority as great as that of the empire of the Roman people, which was upheld by his efforts. 1I have often heard my elders say that this exceptional power and standing of the accuser helped Cotta greatly. 1The very wise men who were then judging that case did not want anyone to fall in a trial in such a way that he seemed to have been overthrown by the excessive strength of his opponent. 59What of this? 59Servius Galba — for it has been handed down to memory — did not the Roman people snatch him from your great-grandfather Cato, a most brave and eminent man, when he was bent on his ruin?
59Always in this state both the whole people and wise judges, who look far into the future, have resisted the excessive power of accusers. 59I do not want an accuser to bring power into court, nor any superior force, nor outstanding authority, nor excessive influence. 59Let all these things avail for the safety of the innocent, the aid of the powerless, the help of the unfortunate, but in the danger and ruin of citizens let them be rejected. 60For if anyone perhaps says that Cato would not have come down to prosecute unless he had first judged the case, he will establish an unjust law, judges, and a wretched condition for men in peril, if he thinks that the accuser's judgement against the defendant ought to count as a kind of prior verdict.