Rosc. Am. 49.1Idcircōnē exspectāta nōbilitās armīs atque ferrō rem pūblicam reciperāvit ut ad libīdinem suam lībertī servolīque nōbilium bona fortūnās ārāsque nostrās vexāre possent?Was it for this, then, that the long-awaited nobility recovered the commonwealth by arms and the sword, so that freedmen and paltry slaves of the nobles might harass our goods, our fortunes and our altars at their own whim? Rosc. Am. 49.142Sī id āctum est, fateor mē errāsse quī hoc māluerim, fateor īnsānīsse quī cum illīs sēnserim;If that was what was intended, I confess that I was wrong to prefer this side, I confess that I was mad to share their views; Rosc. Am. 49.142tametsī inermis, iūdicēs, sēnsī.although I shared them unarmed, judges. Rosc. Am. 49.142Sīn autem victōria nōbilium ōrnāmentō atque ēmolumentō reī pūblicae populōque Rōmānō dēbet esse, tum vērō optimō et nōbilissimō cuique meam ōrātiōnem grātissimam esse oportet.But if the victory of the nobles ought to be an ornament and an advantage to the commonwealth and the Roman people, then indeed my speech ought to be most welcome to all the best and noblest men. Rosc. Am. 49.142Quod sī quis est quī et sē et causam laedī putet, cum Chrȳsogonus vituperētur, is causam ignōrat, sē ipsum probē nōvit;But if there is anyone who thinks that both he himself and the cause are injured when Chrysogonus is censured, he does not understand the cause, though he knows himself well enough; Rosc. Am. 49.142causa enim splendidior fīet, sī nēquissimō cuique resistētur, ille improbissimus Chrȳsogonī fautor quī sibi cum illō ratiōnem commūnicātam putat laeditur, cum ab hōc splendōre causae sēparātur.for the cause will become more splendid if every utter scoundrel is resisted, and that most shameless backer of Chrysogonus, who thinks his interests are shared with him, is injured when he is cut off from this splendour of the cause.
Rosc. Am. 49.143Vērum haec omnis ōrātiō, ut iam ante dīxī, mea est, quā mē ūtī rēs pūblica et dolor meus et istōrum iniūria coēgit.But all this speech, as I said before, is my own, which the commonwealth, my own indignation and the wrongdoing of these men have forced me to use. Rosc. Am. 49.143Sex. Roscius hōrum nihil indignum putat, nēminem accūsat, nihil dē suō patrimōniō queritur.Sextus Roscius thinks none of this an outrage, accuses no one, makes no complaint about his inheritance. Rosc. Am. 49.143Putat homō imperītus mōrum, agricola et rūsticus, ista omnia quae vōs per Sullam gesta esse dīcitis mōre, lēge, iūre gentium facta;A man unacquainted with the ways of the world, a farmer and a countryman, he thinks that all those things which you say were done through Sulla were done according to custom, law and the law of nations; Rosc. Am. 49.143culpā līberātus et crīmine nefāriō solūtus cupit ā vōbīs discēdere;freed from blame and released from an abominable charge, he desires to leave your presence; Rosc. Am. 49.144sī hāc indignā suspīciōne careat, animō aequō sē carēre suīs omnibus commodīs dīcit.if he may be free of this unworthy suspicion, he says that he goes without all his possessions with an untroubled mind.
Rosc. Am. 49.144Rogat ōratque tē, Chrȳsogone, sī nihil dē patris fortūnīs amplissimīs in suam rem convertit, sī nūllā in rē tē fraudāvit, sī tibi optimā fidē sua omnia concessit, adnumerāvit, appendit, sī vestītum quō ipse tēctus erat ānulumque dē digitō suum tibi trādidit, sī ex omnibus rēbus sē ipsum nūdum neque praetereā quicquam excēpit, ut sibi per tē liceat innocentī amīcōrum opibus vītam in egestāte dēgere.He asks and begs you, Chrysogonus, if he has turned nothing of his father's very ample fortune to his own use, if he has cheated you in nothing, if he has handed over everything of his to you in perfect good faith, counted it out and weighed it out, if he has given you the clothing he himself was dressed in and the ring from his finger, if out of everything he has kept back nothing but himself, stripped bare, that through you he may be allowed, an innocent man, to pass his life in poverty on the resources of his friends.