Rosc. Am. 27.1Estō, causam prōferre nōn potes.Very well, you cannot put forward a motive. Rosc. Am. 27.1Tametsī statim vīcisse dēbeō, tamen dē meō iūre dēcēdam et tibi quod in aliā causā nōn concēderem in hāc concēdam frētus huius innocentiā.Although I ought to have won at once, I shall still give up my right and grant you in this case what I would not grant in another, relying on this man's innocence. Rosc. Am. 27.1Nōn quaerō abs tē quā rē patrem Sex. Roscius occīderit, quaerō quō modō occīderit.I do not ask you why Sextus Roscius killed his father; I ask how he killed him. Rosc. Am. 27.1Ita quaerō abs tē, C. Erucī: quō modō, et Sīc tēcum agam ut meō locō vel respondendī vel interpellandī tibi potestātem faciam vel etiam, Sī quid volēs, interrogandī.So I ask you, Gaius Erucius: how? And I shall deal with you in such a way as to give you, in my own time, the opportunity of answering or interrupting, or even, if you like, of asking questions. Rosc. Am. 27.74Quō modō occīdit?How did he kill him? Rosc. Am. 27.74ipse percussit an aliīs occīdendum dedit?did he strike the blow himself, or give him to others to be killed?
Rosc. Am. 27.74sī ipsum arguis, Rōmae nōn fuit;if you charge that he did it himself, he was not in Rome; Rosc. Am. 27.74sī per aliōs fēcisse dīcis, quaerō quōs?if you say he did it through others, I ask, whom? Rosc. Am. 27.74Servōsne an līberōs?Slaves or free men? Rosc. Am. 27.74sī līberōs, quōs hominēs?if free men, what men? Rosc. Am. 27.74indidemnē Ameriā an hōsce ex urbe Sīcāriōs?from the same place, Ameria, or these assassins from the city? Rosc. Am. 27.74sī Ameriā, quī sunt eī?if from Ameria, who are they? Rosc. Am. 27.74cūr nōn nōminantur?why are they not named? Rosc. Am. 27.74sī Rōmā, unde eōs nōverat Roscius quī Rōmam multīs annīs nōn vēnit neque umquam plūs trīduō fuit?if from Rome, how did Roscius know them, when he had not come to Rome for many years and never stayed more than three days? Rosc. Am. 27.74ubi eōs convēnit?where did he meet them? Rosc. Am. 27.74quī conlocūtus est?how did he talk with them? Rosc. Am. 27.74quō modō persuāsit?how did he persuade them? Rosc. Am. 27.74"Pretium dedit";'He paid them'; Rosc. Am. 27.74cui dedit?to whom did he pay it? Rosc. Am. 27.74per quem dedit?through whom did he pay it?
Rosc. Am. 27.74unde aut quantum dedit?where did he get it, or how much did he pay? Rosc. Am. 27.74Nōnne hīs vestīgiīs ad caput maleficī pervenīrī solet?Is it not by such traces that one usually arrives at the source of a crime? Rosc. Am. 27.74Et simul tibi in mentem veniat facitō quem ad modum vītam huiusce dēpīnxerīs;And at the same time be sure to remember how you painted this man's life; Rosc. Am. 27.74hunc hominem ferum atque agrestem fuisse, numquam cum homine quōquam conlocūtum esse, numquam in oppidō cōnstitisse.that he was a wild and boorish man, never talked with anyone, never stayed in a town. Rosc. Am. 27.75Quā in rē praetereō illud quod mihi maximō argūmentō ad huius innocentiam poterat esse, in rūsticīs mōribus, in vīctū āridō, in hāc horridā incultāque vītā istīus modī maleficia gignī nōn solēre.In this I pass over what could have been very strong evidence for his innocence, that in rustic ways, in plain fare, in this rough, uncultivated life, crimes of that kind are not usually born. Rosc. Am. 27.75Vt nōn omnem frūgem neque arborem in omnī agrō reperīre possīs, sīc nōn omne facinus in omnī vītā nāscitur.Just as you cannot find every crop or tree in every field, so not every crime springs up in every way of life.
Rosc. Am. 27.75In urbe luxuriēs creātur, ex luxuriā exsistat avāritia necesse est, ex avāritiā ērumpat audācia, inde omnia scelera ac maleficia gignuntur;In the city luxury is created; from luxury greed must arise, from greed audacity must break out, and from that all crimes and misdeeds are born; Rosc. Am. 27.75vīta autem haec rūstica quam tū agrestem vocās parsimōniae, dīligentiae, iūstitiae magistra est.but this country life, which you call boorish, is the teacher of thrift, diligence and justice.