And this is not a case of a probable thing having turned out otherwise in fact: no, they caught the boy and were dragging him by force out of his way, when I met them, and without touching these men I took hold of the boy; whereas they not only dragged him by force, but also beat me. All this has been testified to you by those who were present. So it will be extraordinary if I am held to have premeditated any of those things wherein these men are found to have so monstrously transgressed the laws.

How, pray, should I have been treated, if the case I were the opposite of what has now occurred; if I, with a number of my associates had gone to meet Simon, and fought with him, beaten him, pursued and caught him, and then tried to drag him by force, if, as it is, and when it is he who has done all these things, I have been subjected to proceedings like the present, in which I risk the loss of both my native land and all the property that I possess?

But here is the strongest and most striking proof of all: the man who was wronged and victimized by me—as he says—did not dare for four years to denounce me before you. Everyone else, when in love, and deprived of the object of desire, and battered with blows, immediately in his anger seeks redress; but this man seeks it long afterwards.