1Since this is so, judges, first, for the sake of the state, than which nothing ought to be dearer to anyone, I warn you, by virtue of my vigilance for the state, which is supreme and known to you, I urge you by my consular authority, I implore you by the magnitude of the danger, to look to the tranquillity, the peace, the safety and the lives of yourselves and the rest of the citizens; 1secondly, I likewise, moved by the duty of a defender and a friend, beg and beseech you, judges, not to overwhelm with fresh lamentation the recent rejoicing of a wretched man, worn out both by bodily sickness and by grief of mind — Murena.
1Lately, honoured by the greatest favour of the Roman people, he seemed fortunate, because he was the first to bring the consulship into an old family, the first into a most ancient town; 1now this same man, in mourning and squalor, worn out by sickness, ruined by tears and grief, is your suppliant, judges; he appeals to your good faith, implores your pity, looks to your power and your resources. 87Do not, by the immortal gods! 87judges, through the very thing by which he thought he would be more honoured, strip him also of the honours he had won before and of all his standing and fortune. 87And so Murena begs and beseeches you, judges, that if he has harmed no one unjustly, if he has offended no one's ears or wishes, if he has been, to put it most mildly, hateful to no one either at home or on campaign, there may be with you a place for modesty, a refuge for the humbled, help for a sense of shame.
87The stripping away of a consulship ought to awaken great pity, judges; 87for together with the consulship everything is snatched away at once; 87but in these times the consulship itself can arouse no envy; 87for it is exposed to the meetings of the seditious, to the plots of conspirators, to the weapons of Catiline; in short, it alone is set against every danger and every injury. 88Therefore I do not see, judges, what there is to be envied in this splendid consulship, either for Murena or for any of us; 88but the things that are to be pitied are both before my eyes and there for you to see and perceive.