M. Tullius Cicero, Pro S. Roscio Amerino, 90

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

[90]

“Who was not wounded there with Phrygian¹ steel?”

I need not enumerate all,—the Curtii, the Marii, the Mamerci, whom age now exempted from battles; and, lastly, the aged Priam himself, Antistius, ² whom not only his age, but even the laws excused from going to battle. There are now six hundred men, whom nobody even mentions by name because of their meanness, who are accusers of men on charges of murdering and poisoning; all of whom, as far as I am concerned, I hope may find a livelihood. For there is no harm in there being as many dogs as possible, where there are many men to be watched, and many things to be guarded.

Pro S. Roscio Amerino. M. Tullius Cicero. London. 1903.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by National Endowment For The Humanities (NEH).

Current edition Perseus

For Sextus Roscius of Ameria (English) (Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 1. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Bell, 1903.)

Editions (1)

Pro Sex. Roscio Amerino Perseus (Cicero. M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes, Volume 1. Clark, Albert Curtis, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908.) — 90 focus

[90]

quis ibi non est volneratus ferro Phrygio?

non necesse est omnis commemorare Curtios, Marios, denique Memmios¹ quos iam aetas a proeliis avocabat, postremo Priamum ipsum senem², Antistium quem non modo aetas sed etiam leges pugnare prohibebant. iam quos nemo propter ignobilitatem nominat, sescenti sunt qui inter sicarios et de veneficiis accusabant; qui omnes, quod ad me attinet, vellem viverent. nihil enim mali est canes ibi quam plurimos esse ubi permulti observandi multaque servanda sunt.

Notes on the current edition

For Sextus Roscius of Ameria

1. This is a fragment of a play of Ennius; by the words, “Phrygian steel” he points out that these murders were chiefly committed by slaves, great numbers of whom had lately been imported from Phrygia . Facciolati thinks too that allusion is made to the Oriental and luxurious manners of Sulla.

2. In the Brutus Cicero speaks of Antistius as a tolerable speaker; he calls him here Priam, meaning that he acted as a sort of leader and king among the accusers.

M. Tullius Cicero Pro S. Roscio Amerino 90

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers