Matheson Collection > Pro S. Roscio Amerino

PKO SEX. Roscio, §§ 121—126. 45
of my opponents than my case required and sheer necessitj
compelled me to say. It is true that many allegations can
be made against them, and eacli one of these can be ex-
plained by many arguments ; but I cannot do at length or
witb accuracy of detail wbat I do against my will and of
sheer necessity ; wliat it was absolutely impossible to pass
over, I have touched upon lightly, gentlemen ; the infer-
ences that are grounded in mere suspicions which I should
have to discuss at greater length, if once I begin, these I
leave to your ingenious surmises.
124. I now come to that golden name, Chrysogonus,
imder which the whole confederacy hides itself : and I
cannot discover, gentlemen, how I am to speak about it or
how I am to hold my tongue. For if I hold my tongue,
I omit perhaps the chief part of my defence; but if I
speak I am afraid that not only he (and for that I
do not care at all), but a good number of others also
may think themselves injured. And yet my case is
such that it does not seem necessary to make a special
attack on the purchasers as a body; for this cause
is distiuctly novel and unique : (125) the buyer of Sextus
Roscius' property is Chrysogonus. First let us look
at this point: on what principle was Sextus Eoscius'
property sold, or in what way could it be put up for sale ?
And I do not put this question, gentlemen, in order to go
on and say it is a shameful thing that an innocent man's
property should be put up for sale ; for if the time comes
when these complaints will be listened to and freely dis-
cussed, Sextus Eoscius was not so important a man in the
state that we should complain about him more than
others. But this is the question I put : how could they by
that very law of theirs about proscription, whether it is
the Valerian or the Cornelian, — I am not acquainted with
them and I do not know, — by that very law, I repeat, how
could Sextus Eoscius' property be put up for sale ?
126. They say that the terms are as follows : — " That
the goods of those who have been proscribed be sold " :
but Sextus Eoscius does not fall under this category : " or
of those who have been killed while within the enemy's
lines : " while there were any lines, he was within the lines