Rosc. Am. 1.1Crēdō ego vōs, iūdicēs, mīrārī quid sit quod, cum tot summī ōrātōrēs hominēsque nōbilissimī sedeant, ego potissimum surrēxerim, is quī neque aetāte neque ingeniō neque auctōritāte sim cum hīs quī sedeant comparandus.I believe, judges, that you are wondering why it is that, when so many of the greatest orators and men of the noblest birth are sitting here, I above all have risen, I who am not to be compared with those who are sitting either in age or in talent or in authority. Rosc. Am. 1.1Omnēs hī quōs vidētis adesse in hāc causā iniūriam novō scelere cōnflātam putant oportēre dēfendī, dēfendere ipsī propter inīquitātem temporum nōn audent.All these men whom you see supporting this case think that a wrong contrived by an unheard-of crime ought to be resisted, but they do not dare to resist it themselves because of the unfairness of the times. Rosc. Am. 1.1Ita fit ut adsint proptereā quod officium sequuntur, taceant autem idcircō quia perīculum vītant.So it comes about that they are present because they follow their duty, but are silent because they avoid danger.
Rosc. Am. 1.2Quid ergō?What, then? Rosc. Am. 1.2audācissimus ego ex omnibus?am I the boldest of them all? Rosc. Am. 1.2Minimē.By no means. Rosc. Am. 1.2An tantō officiōsior quam cēterī?Or so much more dutiful than the rest? Rosc. Am. 1.2Nē istīus quidem laudis ita sum cupidus ut aliīs eam praereptam velim.Not even for that praise am I so greedy that I would wish it snatched away from others. Rosc. Am. 1.2Quae mē igitur rēs praeter cēterōs impulit ut causam Sex. Roscī reciperem?What reason, then, has driven me beyond the rest to take on the case of Sextus Roscius? Rosc. Am. 1.2Quia, sī quī istōrum dīxisset quōs vidētis adesse, in quibus summa auctōritās est atque amplitūdō, sī verbum dē rē pūblicā fēcisset, id quod in hāc causā fierī necesse est, multō plūra dīxisse quam dīxisset putārētur.Because, if any of those men whom you see present, in whom there is the highest authority and standing, had spoken, if he had said a word about public affairs, as must happen in this case, he would be thought to have said much more than he had said. Rosc. Am. 1.3Ego autem sī omnia quae dīcenda sunt līberē dīxerō, nēquāquam tamen similiter ōrātiō mea exīre atque in volgus ēmānāre poterit.But if I say freely everything that has to be said, my speech will by no means be able to get out in the same way and spread among the people.
Rosc. Am. 1.3Deinde quod cēterōrum neque dictum obscūrum potest esse propter nōbilitātem et amplitūdinem neque temerē dictō concēdī propter aetātem et prūdentiam.Next, because nothing the others say can be obscure, because of their rank and standing, nor can any allowance be made for rash speech, because of their age and wisdom. Rosc. Am. 1.3Ego sī quid līberius dīxerō, vel occultum esse proptereā quod nōndum ad rem pūblicam accessī, vel ignōscī adulēscentiae meae poterit;If I say anything too freely, it will be able either to pass unnoticed, because I have not yet entered public life, or to be pardoned for my youth; Rosc. Am. 1.3tametsī nōn modo ignōscendī ratiō vērum etiam cognōscendī cōnsuētūdō iam dē cīvitāte sublāta est.although not only the principle of pardoning but even the custom of judicial inquiry has by now been removed from the state. Rosc. Am. 1.4Accēdit illa quoque causa quod ā cēterīs forsitan ita petītum sit ut dīcerent, ut utrumvīs salvō officiō sē facere posse arbitrārentur;There is this further reason too, that the others were perhaps asked to speak, but asked in such a way that they thought they could do either without failing in their duty; Rosc. Am. 1.4ā mē autem eī contendērunt quī apud mē et amīcitiā et beneficiīs et dignitāte plūrimum possunt, quōrum ego nec benevolentiam ergā mē ignōrāre nec auctōritātem aspernārī nec voluntātem neglegere dēbēbam.but those men pressed me hard who have the greatest claim on me through friendship, kindnesses and rank, whose goodwill towards me I ought not to ignore, nor their authority to despise, nor their wishes to neglect.