1'I do not know,' he says, 'what the reason for the hatred was; 1but I understand that there was hatred, because formerly, when he had two sons, he wanted the other one, who has died, to be with him at all times, while this one he had banished to his country farms.' 1What befell Erucius in his bad and trifling accusation has happened to me in an excellent case. 1He could not find how to support a fabricated charge, and I cannot discover by what means to weaken and wash away things so trivial. 43What do you say, Erucius? 43had Sextus Roscius handed over so many farms, so fine, so productive, to his son to cultivate and look after by way of banishment and punishment?
43What? 43do not fathers of families who have children, especially men of that class from country towns, think it most desirable for themselves that their sons should devote themselves above all to the family estate and spend most of their effort and zeal on cultivating their farms? 44Or had he sent this man away in such a way that he was kept in the country and merely fed at the farmhouse, so that he lacked every comfort? 44What? 44if it is agreed that this man not only managed the cultivation of the farms but was accustomed to enjoy the income of certain estates while his father was alive, will this life of his in the country still be called banishment and sending away by you?
44You see, Erucius, how far your argument stands from the facts themselves and from the truth. 44What fathers do by custom, you find fault with as though it were new; 44what is done out of goodwill, you charge as done out of hatred; 44what a father granted his son as an honour, you say that he did as a punishment. 45Nor do you fail to understand this, but you are so utterly at a loss for anything to charge that you think you must speak not only against us but also against the nature of things, against the custom of mankind and against the opinions of all.