Rosc. Am. 45.1Ego haec ā Chrȳsogonō meā sponte remōtō Sex. Rosciō quaerō, prīmum quā rē cīvis optimī bona vēnierint, deinde quā rē hominis eius quī neque prōscrīptus neque apud adversāriōs occīsus est bona vēnierint, cum in eōs sōlōs lēx scrīpta sit, deinde quā rē aliquantō post eam diem vēnierint quae diēs in lēge praefīnīta est, deinde cūr tantulō vēnierint.These things I ask of Chrysogonus on my own account, leaving Sextus Roscius aside: first, why the property of an excellent citizen was sold; next, why the property of a man was sold who was neither proscribed nor killed among the enemy, when the law was written against those alone; next, why it was sold some time after the date fixed in advance in the law; and next, why it was sold for so little. Rosc. Am. 45.1Quae omnia sī, quem ad modum solent lībertī nēquam et improbī facere, in patrōnum suum voluerit cōnferre, nihil ēgerit;If, as worthless and wicked freedmen are accustomed to do, he chooses to shift all this onto his patron, he will achieve nothing; Rosc. Am. 45.1nēmō est enim quī nesciat propter magnitūdinem rērum multa multōs partim improbante partim imprūdente L. Sullā commīsisse.for there is no one who does not know that, because of the magnitude of affairs, many men committed many acts, partly against the wishes of Lucius Sulla, partly without his knowledge.
Rosc. Am. 45.131Placet igitur in hīs rēbus aliquid imprūdentiā praeterīrī?Is it right, then, that in these matters something should be overlooked through ignorance? Rosc. Am. 45.131Nōn placet, iūdicēs, sed necesse est.It is not right, gentlemen, but it is unavoidable. Rosc. Am. 45.131Etenim sī Iuppiter Optimus Maximus cuius nūtū et arbitriō caelum terra mariaque reguntur saepe ventīs vehementiōribus aut immoderātīs tempestātibus aut nimiō calōre aut intolerābilī frīgore hominibus nocuit, urbīs dēlēvit, frūgēs perdidit, quōrum nihil perniciī causā dīvīnō cōnsiliō sed vī ipsā et magnitūdine rērum factum putāmus, at contrā commoda quibus ūtimur lūcemque quā fruimur spīritumque quem dūcimus ab eō nōbīs darī atque impertīrī vidēmus, quid mīrāmur, iūdicēs, L. Sullam, cum sōlus rem pūblicam regeret orbemque terrārum gubernāret imperīque maiestātem quam armīs recēperat iam lēgibus cōnfirmāret, aliqua animadvertere nōn potuisse?For if Jupiter Best and Greatest, by whose nod and will heaven, earth and seas are ruled, has often harmed men with violent winds or immoderate storms or excessive heat or unbearable cold, has destroyed cities and ruined crops — none of which we think was done by divine design to cause destruction, but by the very force and magnitude of nature — while on the other hand we see that the benefits we enjoy, the light we delight in and the breath we draw are given and imparted to us by him, why are we surprised, gentlemen, that Lucius Sulla, when he alone was ruling the republic and governing the world, and was now strengthening by laws the majesty of the empire which he had recovered by arms, was unable to notice some things?
Rosc. Am. 45.131nisi hoc mīrum est quod vīs dīvīna adsequī nōn possit, sī id mēns hūmāna adepta nōn sit.unless it is surprising that the human mind has not achieved what divine power cannot attain. Rosc. Am. 45.132Vērum ut haec missa faciam quae iam facta sunt, ex eīs quae nunc cum maximē fīunt nōnne quīvīs potest intellegere omnium architectum et māchinātōrem ūnum esse Chrȳsogonum?But to let go these things which are already done, from those which are being done at this very moment can anyone not see that the one architect and contriver of them all is Chrysogonus? Rosc. Am. 45.132quī Sex. Roscī nōmen dēferendum cūrāvit, cuius honōris causā accūsāre Sē dīxit Erucius ...he who saw to it that Sextus Roscius was charged, he as a favour to whom Erucius said that he was prosecuting ... Rosc. Am. 45.132Dēsunt nōn pauca.[A considerable part is missing.]