Rosc. Am. 43.1Veniō nunc ad illud nōmen aureum Chrȳsogonī sub quō nōmine tōta societās latuit;I come now to that golden name of Chrysogonus, under which name the whole partnership has hidden; Rosc. Am. 43.1dē quō, iūdicēs, neque quō modō dīcam neque quō modō taceam reperīre possum.about which, gentlemen, I can find neither how to speak nor how to keep silent. Rosc. Am. 43.1Sī enim taceō, vel maximam partem relinquō;For if I keep silent, I leave out perhaps the greatest part; Rosc. Am. 43.1sīn autem dīcō, vereor nē nōn ille sōlus, id quod ad mē nihil attinet, sed aliī quoque plūrēs laesōs sē putent.but if I speak, I fear that not he alone — which does not concern me at all — but many others too may think themselves injured. Rosc. Am. 43.1Tametsī ita sē rēs habet ut mihi in commūnem causam sectōrum dīcendum nihil magnō opere videātur;And yet the matter stands so that I do not think I need say anything much about the common cause of the buyers of confiscated property; Rosc. Am. 43.1haec enim causa nova profectō et singulāris est.for this case is surely new and unique. Rosc. Am. 43.1Bonōrum Sex. Roscī ēmptor est Chrȳsogonus.The buyer of Sextus Roscius' property is Chrysogonus.
Rosc. Am. 43.125Prīmum hoc videāmus: eius hominis bona quā ratiōne vēniērunt aut quō modō vēnīre potuērunt?Let us look at this first: on what grounds was this man's property sold, or how could it be sold? Rosc. Am. 43.125Atque hoc nōn ita quaeram, iūdicēs, ut id dīcam esse indignum, hominis innocentis bona vēnīsse — Sī enim haec audientur ac līberē dīcentur, nōn fuit tantus homō Sex. Roscius in cīvitāte ut dē eō potissimum conquerāmur — vērum ego hoc quaerō: Quī potuērunt istā ipsā lēge quae dē prōscrīptiōne est, sīve Valeria est sīve Cornēlia — nōn enim nōvī nec sciō — vērum istā ipsā lēge bona Sex. Roscī vēnīre quī potuērunt?And I shall not ask this, gentlemen, so as to say that it is a scandal that an innocent man's property has been sold — for if such things are to be heard and spoken freely, Sextus Roscius was not so great a man in the state that we should complain about him above all — but this is what I ask: how could, under that very law which concerns the proscription, whether it is the Valerian or the Cornelian — for I neither know nor am aware — under that very law, I say, how could the property of Sextus Roscius be sold?
Rosc. Am. 43.126Scrīptum enim ita dīcunt esse: VT AVT EŌRVM BONA VĒNEANT QVĪ PRŌSCRĪPTĪ SVNT;For they say it is written thus: THAT THE PROPERTY BE SOLD EITHER OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN PROSCRIBED; Rosc. Am. 43.126quō in numerō Sex. Roscius nōn est: AVT EŌRVM QVĪ IN ADVERSĀRIŌRVM PRAESIDIĪS OCCĪSĪ SVNT.in which number Sextus Roscius is not: OR OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN KILLED WITHIN THE LINES OF THE OPPOSING SIDE. Rosc. Am. 43.126Dum praesidia ūlla fuērunt, in Sullae praesidiīs fuit;While there were any lines, he was within Sulla's lines; Rosc. Am. 43.126posteā quam ab armīs omnēs recessērunt, in summō ōtiō rediēns ā cēnā Rōmae occīsus est.after all had withdrawn from arms, in the midst of complete peace, he was killed at Rome while returning from dinner. Rosc. Am. 43.126sī lēge, bona quoque lēge vēnīsse fateor.if he was killed lawfully, I admit that the property too was sold lawfully. Rosc. Am. 43.126Sīn autem cōnstat contrā omnīs nōn modo veterēs lēgēs vērum etiam novās occīsum esse, bona quō iūre aut quō modō aut quā lēge vēnierint quaerō.But if it is agreed that he was killed contrary to all laws, not only the old but even the new, I ask by what right, in what manner, or under what law the property was sold.