Pro Roscio 4

Cicero asks for a fair hearing

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Rosc. Am. 4.1Hīs dē rēbus tantīs tamque atrōcibus neque satis mē commodē dīcere neque satis graviter conquerī neque satis līberē vōciferārī posse intellegō.On matters so great and so terrible I realise that I can neither speak with enough skill, nor complain with enough weight, nor cry out with enough freedom. Rosc. Am. 4.1Nam commoditātī ingenium, gravitātī aetās, lībertātī tempora sunt impedīmentō.For my talent stands in the way of skill, my age of weight, the times of freedom. Rosc. Am. 4.1Hūc accēdit summus timor quem mihi nātūra pudorque meus attribuit et vestra dignitās et vīs adversāriōrum et Sex. Roscī perīcula.Added to this is the extreme fear which my nature and modesty bestow on me, and your dignity, and the violence of our opponents, and the dangers of Sextus Roscius. Rosc. Am. 4.1Quāpropter vōs ōrō atque obsecrō, iūdicēs, ut attentē bonāque cum veniā verba mea audiātis.Therefore I beg and beseech you, judges, to listen to my words attentively and with kind indulgence. Rosc. Am. 4.10Fidē sapientiāque vestrā frētus plūs oneris sustulī quam ferre mē posse intellegō.Relying on your good faith and wisdom, I have taken up more of a burden than I realise I can carry.

Rosc. Am. 4.10Hoc onus sī vōs aliquā ex parte adlevābitis, feram ut poterō studiō et industriā, iūdicēs;If you lighten this burden in some part, I shall carry it as best I can with zeal and diligence, judges; Rosc. Am. 4.10sīn ā vōbīs, id quod nōn spērō, dēserar, tamen animō nōn dēficiam et id quod suscēpī quoad poterō perferam.but if I am deserted by you, which I do not expect, I shall still not lose heart, and I shall carry through what I have undertaken as far as I can. Rosc. Am. 4.10Quod sī perferre nōn poterō, opprimī mē onere officī mālō quam id quod mihi cum fidē semel impositum est aut propter perfidiam abicere aut propter īnfirmitātem animī dēpōnere.But if I cannot carry it through, I would rather be crushed by the burden of duty than either throw away through treachery or lay down through weakness of spirit what has once been laid on me in trust. Rosc. Am. 4.11Tē quoque magnō opere, M. Fannī, quaesō ut, quālem tē iam anteā populō Rōmānō praebuistī, cum huic eīdem quaestiōnī iūdex praeessēs, tālem tē et nōbīs et reī pūblicae hōc tempore impertiās.You too, Marcus Fannius, I earnestly beg to show yourself at this time to us and to the state just such as you showed yourself before to the Roman people when you presided as judge over this same court.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×2

Latin vocabulary for this passage (113 words)

hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
dē, prep, with abl.	down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of
rēs, reī, f.	thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
tantus, -a, -um	so great or much
tam, adv.	so
que, enclitic conj.	and
atrōx, -ōcis	savage, cruel, dreadful
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
satis, adv.	enough, sufficiently
ego, meī, pers. pron.	I
commodē (adv.)	conveniently, easily, well
dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus	say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day
graviter, adv.	severely, seriously
conqueror, -querī, -questus sum	complain bitterly of, lament
līberē (adv.; comp. līberius)	freely, frankly
vōciferor, -ārī, -ātus sum	shout, cry out loudly
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
intellegō, -legere, -lēxī, -lēctus	perceive, understand
nam, conj.	for
commoditās, -ātis f.	convenience, advantage
ingenium, -ī n.	natural ability, talent, cleverness; character
gravitās, -ātis f.	weight, heaviness; dignity, seriousness
aetās, -tātis, f.	age
lībertās, -tātis, f.	freedom, liberty
tempus, temporis, n.	time, season
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
impedīmentum, -ī n.	hindrance; (pl.) baggage
hūc, adv.	to this place, hither
accēdō, -ere, accessī, accessum	come near, approach; be added
summus, -a, -um	uppermost, highest, greatest
timor, -ōris, m.	fear
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
nātūra, -ae, f.	nature, character
pudor, -ōris m.	shame, sense of honour
meus, -a, -um	my, mine
attribuō, -ere, -tribuī, -tribūtum	assign, allot
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
vester, -tra, -trum	your
dignitās, -ātis f.	rank, standing, prestige
vīs, vīs, f.	violence, force; virtue, potency, efficacy; plur. vīrēs, -ium, strength; omnibus vīribus, with all one's strength, with might and main
adversārius, -ī m.	opponent, enemy
perīculum, -ī, n.	danger, peril, risk
quāpropter (adv.)	for which reason, wherefore
vōs	plur. of tū
ōrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	speak; beg, pray
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
obsecrō, -secrāre, -secrāvī, -secrātus	beseech, entreat
iūdex, iūdicis, m.	judge
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
attentē (adv.; comp. attentius)	attentively, carefully
bonus, -a, -um	good
cum, prep, with abl.	with
venia, -ae f.	pardon, forgiveness
verbum, -ī, n.	word
audiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	hear; listen or attend to
fidēs, -eī f.	faith, trust; pledge
sapientia, -ae f.	wisdom, good sense
frētus, -a, -um (+ abl.)	relying on
plūs (adv.)	more
onus, oneris n.	load, weight
tollō, tollere, sustulī, sublātus	lift, raise; take away, remove; ancorās tollere, to weigh anchor
quam, adv.	how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
ferō, ferre, tulī, lātus	bear, bring
sī, conj.	if
aliquī, -qua, -quod, indef. pron. adj.	some, any
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
pars, partis, f.	part, side, direction
adlevō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	lift up, raise
studium, -ī, n.	eagerness, zeal; study, pursuit
industria, -ae f.	diligence, hard work
sīn (conj.)	but if
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
nōn, adv.	not
spērō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	hope
dēserō, -serere, -seruī, -sertus	desert
tamen, adv.	however, yet, nevertheless
animus, -ī, m.	mind; heart; spirit, courage
dēficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectus	fail
suscipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	undertake
quoad (conj.)	as long as; until
perferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātus	bear through, bear, endure; weather
quod, conj.	that, in that, because
opprimō, -primere, -pressī, -pressus	press against, overpower, crush
officium, -ī, n.	service; duty
mālō, mālle, māluī	wish rather, prefer
semel (adv.)	once (semel atque iterum: again and again)
impōnō, -pōnere, -posuī, -positus	place or lay upon, impose; embark
aut, conj.	or; aut ... aut, either ... or
propter, prep. with acc.	on account of, because of
perfidia, -ae f.	treachery, bad faith
abiciō, -icere, -iēcī, -iectus	throw away
īnfirmitās, -ātis f.	weakness; fickleness
dēpōnō, -pōnere, -posuī, -positus	put down, deposit; lay aside, give up; ē memoriā dēpōnere, to forget
tū, tuī, pers. pron.	thou, you
quoque, adv.	also
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
opus, operis, n.	work, task
quaesō (defective)	I beg, please
quālis, -e	of what sort? what kind of?
iam, adv.	now, already
anteā, adv.	before
populus, -ī m.	people, nation
Rōmānus, -a, -um	Roman
praebeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus	hold forth, supply, furnish, give; show, present, exhibit
cum, conj.	when, while, after; since; although
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.	the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
quaestiō, -ōnis f.	inquiry, examination
praesum, -esse, -fuī	be before, preside over, have charge of, command
tālis, -e	such
nōs	plur. of ego
pūblicus, -a, -um	public, of the state (rēs pūblica: the state)
impertiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	give a share of, bestow

Cicero, Pro Roscio Amerino. Latin text: A. C. Clark, M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes I (Oxford, 1908), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.