Rosc. Am. 29.1Nunc, Erucī, ad tē veniō.Now, Erucius, I come to you. Rosc. Am. 29.1Conveniat mihi tēcum necesse est, sī ad hunc maleficium istud pertinet, aut ipsum suā manū fēcisse, id quod negās, aut per aliquōs līberōs aut servōs.You must agree with me, if this crime concerns my client, that either he did it with his own hand, which you deny, or through some free men or slaves. Rosc. Am. 29.1Līberōsne?Free men? Rosc. Am. 29.1quōs neque ut convenīre potuerit neque quā ratiōne indūcere neque ubi neque per quōs neque quā spē aut quō pretiō potes ostendere.you cannot show how he could meet them, or by what means he induced them, or where, or through whom, or with what hope or at what price. Rosc. Am. 29.1Ego contrā ostendō nōn modo nihil eōrum fēcisse Sex. Roscium sed nē potuisse quidem facere, quod neque Rōmae multīs annīs fuerit neque dē praediīs umquam temerē discesserit.I on the other hand show not only that Sextus Roscius did none of these things but that he could not even have done them, because he had not been in Rome for many years and never left his farms without good reason. Rosc. Am. 29.1Restāre tibi vidēbātur servōrum nōmen, quō quasi in portum rēiectus ā cēterīs suspīciōnibus cōnfugere possēs;There seemed to remain for you the heading of slaves, where you could take refuge as if in a harbour, driven back from your other suspicions; Rosc. Am. 29.1ubi scopulum offendis Eius modī ut nōn modo ab hōc crīmen resilīre videās vērum omnem suspīciōnem in vōsmet ipsōs recidere intellegās.there you strike a rock of such a kind that you see not only that the charge rebounds from my client but realise that all suspicion falls back on yourselves.
Rosc. Am. 29.80Quid ergō est quō tamen accūsātor inopiā argūmentōrum cōnfūgerit?What, then, is it that the accuser has nevertheless fled to, for lack of arguments? Rosc. Am. 29.80"Eius modī tempus erat" inquit "ut hominēs volgō impūne occīderentur;'The times were such,' he says, 'that men were killed everywhere with impunity; Rosc. Am. 29.80quā rē hoc tū propter multitūdinem sīcāriōrum nūllō negōtiō facere potuistī."so you were able to do this with no trouble because of the great number of assassins.' Rosc. Am. 29.80Interdum mihi vidēris, Erucī, ūnā mercēde duās rēs adsequī velle, nōs iūdiciō perfundere, accūsāre autem eōs ipsōs ā quibus mercēdem accēpistī.Sometimes, Erucius, you seem to me to want to gain two things for one fee: to give us a dousing with a prosecution, and to accuse the very men from whom you took your fee. Rosc. Am. 29.80Quid ais?What do you say? Rosc. Am. 29.80volgō occīdēbantur?men were killed everywhere? Rosc. Am. 29.80Per quōs et ā quibus?Through whose agency, and by whom? Rosc. Am. 29.80Nōnne cōgitās tē ā sectōribus hūc adductum esse?Do you not reflect that you were brought here by the buyers at the auctions? Rosc. Am. 29.80Quid posteā?What then?
Rosc. Am. 29.80Nescīmus per ista tempora eōsdem ferē sectōrēs fuisse collōrum et bonōrum?Do we not know that in those times the same men, for the most part, were cutters-up of both necks and estates? Rosc. Am. 29.81Eī dēnique quī tum armātī diēs noctēsque concursābant, quī Rōmae erant adsiduī, quī omnī tempore in praedā et in sanguine versābantur, Sex. Rosciō temporis illīus acerbitātem inīquitātemque obicient et illam sīcāriōrum multitūdinem in quā ipsī ducēs ac prīncipēs erant huic crīminī putābunt fore?In short, will those who then ran about armed day and night, who were constantly in Rome, who at all times were busy with plunder and bloodshed, throw up against Sextus Roscius the cruelty and injustice of that time, and imagine that the host of assassins, of whom they themselves were the leaders and chiefs, will be a charge against him? Rosc. Am. 29.81quī nōn modo Rōmae nōn fuit sed omnīnō quid Rōmae agerētur nescīvit, proptereā quod rūrī adsiduus, quem ad modum tūte cōnfitēris, fuit.he who not only was not in Rome but knew nothing at all of what was being done in Rome, because, as you yourself admit, he stayed constantly in the country.
Rosc. Am. 29.82Vereor nē aut molestus sim vōbīs, iūdicēs, aut nē ingeniīs vestrīs videar diffīdere, sī dē tam perspicuīs rēbus diūtius disseram.I fear, judges, that I may either weary you or seem to distrust your intelligence if I discuss such obvious matters at greater length. Rosc. Am. 29.82Erucī crīminātiō tōta, ut arbitror, dissolūta est;Erucius' whole accusation, I think, has been demolished; Rosc. Am. 29.82nisi forte exspectātis ut illa dīluam quae dē pecūlātū ac dē eius modī rēbus commentīciīs inaudīta nōbīs ante hoc tempus ac nova obiēcit;unless perhaps you are waiting for me to refute what he alleged about embezzlement and fictitious matters of that kind, things unheard of by us before this time, and new; Rosc. Am. 29.82quae mihi iste vīsus est ex aliā ōrātiōne dēclāmāre quam in alium reum commentārētur;which he seemed to me to be declaiming from another speech that he was preparing against another defendant; Rosc. Am. 29.82ita neque ad crīmen parricīdī neque ad eum quī causam dīcit pertinēbant;so they had nothing to do either with the charge of parricide or with the man who is on trial; Rosc. Am. 29.82dē quibus quoniam verbō arguit, verbō satis est negāre.and since he made those charges in a word, a word is enough to deny them.
Rosc. Am. 29.82Sī quid est quod ad testīs reservet, ibi quoque nōs, ut in ipsā causā, parātiōrēs reperiet quam putābat.If there is anything he is keeping back for the witnesses, there too, as in the case itself, he will find us better prepared than he thought.