1Therefore, to return to what I began with, take away from the case the name of Cato, remove its force, disregard the authority which in trials ought either to count for nothing or to count for the defendant's safety, and engage with me on the charges themselves. 1What is your charge, Cato, what do you bring before the court, what do you allege? 1You charge bribery; 1I do not defend it. 1You reproach me for defending the very thing that I punished by law. 1I punished bribery, not innocence; 1bribery itself I will even prosecute together with you, if you wish. 1You have said that a decree of the senate was passed on my motion that, if men had gone out to meet candidates for pay, if hired men followed them about, if places at gladiatorial shows had been given out generally by tribes, and likewise if lunches had been given generally, it was deemed to have been done contrary to the Calpurnian law.
1So the senate judges that these things, if they were done, appear to have been done contrary to the law; 1it decrees what is quite unnecessary, while it humours the candidates. 1For whether it was done or not is keenly in question; 1but if it was done, no one can doubt that it is contrary to the law. 68It is therefore ridiculous to leave uncertain what is doubtful, and to decide what can be doubtful to no one. 68And this is decreed at the request of all the candidates, so that from the decree of the senate it cannot be understood whose interest it serves or against whom it is aimed.
68Therefore prove that those things were committed by Murena; 68then I myself will grant you that they were committed contrary to the law.