1This man, judges, was indeed in Asia, and to that bravest of men, his father, he was a great help in dangers, a comfort in toils, a source of congratulation in victory. 1And if Asia carries a certain suspicion of luxury, what deserves praise is not never to have seen Asia, but to have lived temperately in Asia. 1Therefore what ought to have been thrown at Murena was not the name of Asia, from which praise was established for his family, renown for his line, and honour and glory for his name, but some outrage and disgrace either committed in Asia or brought back from Asia. 1To have served in that war, which was then not only the greatest but the only one the Roman people was waging, was a mark of courage; to have served most willingly under his father as commander was a mark of filial devotion; that the end of his service was his father's victory and triumph was a mark of good fortune.
1There is, then, no room in these matters for abuse, because praise has taken possession of everything. 13Cato calls Murena a dancer. 13This reproach, if it is made truly, is that of a vigorous accuser; if falsely, that of a slanderous railer. 13Therefore, since you have such authority, you ought not, Cato, to snatch up abuse from the street corner or from some brawl of buffoons, nor rashly call a consul of the Roman people a dancer, but to consider what other vices must necessarily belong to the man to whom that charge can truly be made. 13For hardly anyone dances when sober, unless perhaps he is mad, either alone or at a moderate and respectable dinner.
13Dancing is the last companion of an early-starting banquet, a pleasant setting and many delights. 13Do you seize on this, which must be the last of all the vices, and leave aside those without which this vice cannot exist at all? 13No shameful banquet is shown, no love affair, no revelling, no lust, no extravagance; and when those things which bear the name of pleasure, vicious though they are, are not found, do you think that in a man in whom you cannot find luxury itself, you will find the shadow of luxury? 14Nothing, then, can be said against Murena's life, nothing, I say, at all, judges. 14So am I defending the consul-elect that no fraud, no greed, no treachery, no cruelty, no insolent word in his life is brought forward.
14Very well; 14the foundations of the defence have been laid. 14For not yet with my own praises, which I shall use later, but almost by the admission of his enemies, I am defending a good and upright man. 14With this established, my approach is easier to the comparison of standing, which was the second part of the accusation.