Rosc. Am. 23.1Nōn ita multīs ante annīs aiunt T. Caelium quendam Terracīnēnsem, hominem nōn obscūrum, cum cēnātus cubitum in idem conclāve cum duōbus adulēscentibus fīliīs īsset, inventum esse māne iugulātum.Not so very many years ago, they say, a certain Titus Caelius of Tarracina, a man of some note, after he had dined and gone to bed in the same room as his two young sons, was found in the morning with his throat cut. Rosc. Am. 23.1Cum neque servus quisquam reperīrētur neque līber ad quem ea suspīciō pertinēret, id aetātis autem duo fīliī propter cubantēs nē sēnsisse quidem sē dīcerent, nōmina fīliōrum dē parricīdiō dēlāta sunt.Since no one could be found, either slave or free, to whom suspicion could attach, while the two sons, at that age and sleeping close by, said they had not even noticed anything, the sons were indicted for parricide. Rosc. Am. 23.1Quid poterat tam esse suspīciōsum?What could be so suspicious? Rosc. Am. 23.1neutrumne sēnsisse?that neither of them had noticed? Rosc. Am. 23.1ausum autem esse quemquam sē in id conclāve committere eō potissimum tempore cum ibīdem essent duo adulēscentēs fīliī quī et sentīre et dēfendere facile possent?and that anyone had dared to venture into that room at precisely the time when the two young sons were there, who could easily both notice and defend him?
Rosc. Am. 23.1Erat porrō nēmō in quem ea suspīciō convenīret.Moreover there was no one on whom that suspicion could fall. Rosc. Am. 23.65Tamen, cum plānum iūdicibus esset factum apertō ōstiō dormientīs eōs repertōs esse, iūdiciō absolūtī adulēscentēs et suspīciōne omnī līberātī sunt.Yet, when it had been made plain to the judges that they had been found asleep with the door open, the young men were acquitted at the trial and freed from all suspicion. Rosc. Am. 23.65Nēmō enim putābat quemquam esse quī, cum omnia dīvīna atque hūmāna iūra scelere nefāriō polluisset, somnum statim capere potuisset, proptereā quod quī tantum facinus commīsērunt nōn modo sine cūrā quiēscere sed nē spīrāre quidem sine metū possunt.For no one thought there could be anyone who, after polluting all divine and human laws by an unholy crime, could at once fall asleep, because those who have committed so great a deed not only cannot rest without anxiety but cannot even breathe without fear.