Matheson Collection > Pro S. Roscio Amerino

CH. V.] N0TE8. 75
under the Comelian law. There had been no regular trials for
miirder during the Civil War and the Sullan proscriptions. It is
doubtful whether any permanent quaesiio inter sicurios was estab-
lished until 81 b.c. (ep. 4, 19, n.). Before this date, special com-
. missions were appointed by the people to try cases of murder.
longo intervallo : ablative of attendant circumstances ; lit. "the
interval being long," "after a long interval." inter sicarios: the
crime of parricidium was embodied in the Lex Cornelia de sicariis
et veneficis, which established a qnaedio for cases of assassination,
poisoning, and arson. The functions of the court were divided
between the praetor to whom the particular court had been assigned
by lot and iudices quaestionis, who were, in the case of the murder
court, probably appointed by the people. There was in Latin no
single word for the crime of "murder" or " assassination." Since
the expressions sicae deferre and de sica deferre were not practicable,
the phrase for a charge of assassination was ita deferre ut nomen
alicui^is inter sicarios referatur, which was abbreviated into inter
sicarios deferre ; hence the qvaestio concerned was known as quaestio
] inter sicarios as well as quaestio de sicariis. committitur : " is being
■ held."
6. factae sint : most editions have the indicative (the regular
mood after cum interea), but the subjunctive is preferable here,
since interea does not refer to the time of committitur but to longo
intervallo ; cum = "although," "andyet," not "at the time when."
7. tvindicationem sui: this is a recent emendation for the
meaningless demissuis or dimissui of the MSS. Other emendations
are dignissimam (Madvig), sanguini remedium esse (Landgraf). Vin-
dicationem sui here means " their defence " or "their deliverance."
8. vociferatione : ' ' loud appeal. "
10. causam dicimus: "make our defence"; causam dicere is
applicable both to the advocate and the defendant. Cicero here
makes his clienfs case his own by using an expression common to
both.
13. sit : subjunctive in indirect question depending on ostendetis.
14. ostendetis : vividly used for ostendatis, the regular subjunctive
in indirect speech depending on cogitetis. eo : the correlative is ut
(line 15), "to this extent, that." prorumpere : "seeks to burst its
bounds" ; the future might have been expeeted.
16. in foro, ante tribunal . . . inter pedes vestros . . . interipsa
Eubsellia : criminal trials took place in tlie Forum, under the open
sky. Here on a raised platform (triimnal) was the chair of office
(sella curulis) of the praetor or the iudex quaestionis, and around it
. ; the benches {subsellia) of the iudices and clerks of the court (scrUiae) ;
'\ lower down (ante pedes vestros), on the ground in f ront of the tribunal,
i were the benehes for the two parties to the suit, their advocates,
* and their witnesses. There was also an outer ring (corona) of
listeners interested in the case.
20. causam dicit : see note on line 10 above. Cicero here again
makes his clienfs case his own.