Rosc. Am. 51.1An, quod dīligenter dēfenditur, id tibi indignum facinus vidētur?Or does it seem a shameful crime to you that he is diligently defended? Rosc. Am. 51.1Mihi crēde, sī prō patris huius hospitiīs et grātiā vellent omnēs huic hospitēs adesse et audērent līberē dēfendere, satis cōpiōsē dēfenderētur;Believe me, if, in keeping with the ties of hospitality and the influence of this man's father, all his guest-friends were willing to stand by him and dared to defend him freely, he would be defended abundantly enough; Rosc. Am. 51.1sīn autem prō magnitūdine iniūriae prōque eō quod summa rēs pūblica in huius perīculō temptātur haec omnēs vindicārent, cōnsistere mē herculē vōbīs istō in locō nōn licēret.but if all of them were avenging these wrongs in proportion to the size of the injury and to the fact that the highest interests of the commonwealth are being assailed in this man's danger, then, by Hercules, you would not be allowed to stand in that place. Rosc. Am. 51.1Nunc ita dēfenditur, nōn sānē ut molestē ferre adversāriī dēbeant neque ut sē potentiā superārī putent.As it is, he is defended in such a way that his opponents certainly ought not to be aggrieved, nor think that they are being overcome by power.
Rosc. Am. 51.149Quae domī gerenda sunt, ea per Caeciliam trānsiguntur, forī iūdicīque ratiōnem M. Messāla, ut vidētis, iūdicēs, suscēpit;What must be managed at home is handled through Caecilia; the conduct of the case in the forum and in court, as you see, judges, Marcus Messala has undertaken; Rosc. Am. 51.149quī, sī iam satis aetātis ac rōboris habēret, ipse prō Sex. Rosciō dīceret.who, if he now had enough years and strength, would himself be speaking for Sextus Roscius. Rosc. Am. 51.149Quoniam ad dīcendum impedīmentō est aetās et pudor quī ōrnat aetātem causam mihi trādidit quem suā causā cupere ac dēbēre intellegēbat, ipse adsiduitāte, cōnsiliō, auctōritāte, dīligentiā perfēcit ut Sex. Roscī vīta ērepta dē manibus sectōrum sententiīs iūdicum permitterētur.Since his age and the modesty which graces his age are a hindrance to his speaking, he has handed the case to me, whom he knew to be eager and bound to take it for his sake, and he himself, by his constant attendance, counsel, influence and diligence, has brought it about that the life of Sextus Roscius, snatched from the hands of the buyers of confiscated goods, has been entrusted to the votes of the judges.
Rosc. Am. 51.149Nīmīrum, iūdicēs, prō hāc nōbilitāte pars maxima cīvitātis in armīs fuit;Of course, judges, it was for this nobility that the greatest part of the citizen body was in arms; Rosc. Am. 51.149haec ācta rēs est ut eī nōbilēs restituerentur in cīvitātem quī hoc facerent quod facere Messālam vidētis, quī caput innocentis dēfenderent, quī iniūriae resisterent, quī quantum possent in salūte alterīus quam in exitiō māllent ostendere;the aim of that struggle was that those nobles should be restored to the state who would do what you see Messala doing, who would defend the life of an innocent man, who would resist injustice, who would rather show how much power they had in another's safety than in his ruin; Rosc. Am. 51.149quod sī omnēs quī eōdem locō nātī sunt facerent, et rēs pūblica ex illīs et ipsī ex invidiā minus labōrārent.and if all who were born in the same rank did this, both the commonwealth would suffer less from them and they themselves less from ill will.