The man who has done all these things is now brought before a court of law.
 You who were not present at the transactions are, with the Roman people, taking cognisance of
 the cause; those men are our adversaries who were compelled to leave their lands by the command
 of Cnaeus Pompeius; those men are our adversaries who having escaped from the war, and the
 slaughter which was made of them, for the first time dare to stand against Marcus Fonteius, now
 that he is unarmed. What of the colonists of Narbo ?
 what do they wish? what do they think? They wish this man's safety to be ensured by you, they
 think that theirs has been ensured by him. What of the state of the Massilians? They
 distinguished him while he was among them by the greatest honours which they had to bestow; and
 now, though absent from this place, they pray and entreat you that their blameless character,
 their panegyric, and their authority may appear to have some weight with you in forming your
 opinions. What more shall I say? What is the inclination of
 the Roman citizens? There is no one of that immense body who does not consider this man to have
 deserved well of the province, of the empire, of our allies, and of the citizens. 
 Since, therefore, you now know who wish Marcus Fonteius to be attacked, and who wish him to be
 defended, decide now what your own regard for equity, and what the dignity of the Roman people
 requires; whether you prefer trusting your colonists, your traders, your most friendly and
 ancient allies, and consulting their interests, or the interests of those men, whom, on account
 of their passionate disposition, you ought not to trust; on account of their disloyalty you
 ought not to honour. What, if I produce also a still greater
 number of most honourable men to bear testimony to this man's virtue and innocence? Will the
 unanimity of the Gauls still be of more weight than that of men of such great authority? When
 Fonteius was governor of Gaul , you know, O judges, that
 there were very large armies of the Roman people in the two Spains, and very illustrious
 generals. How many Roman knights were there, how many military tribunes, how many ambassadors
 came to them! what eminent men they were, and how frequently did they come! Besides that, a very
 large and admirably appointed army of Cnaeus Pompeius wintered in Gaul while Marcus Fonteius was governor. Does not Fortune herself appear to have
 intended that they should be a sufficient number of sufficiently competent witnesses of those
 things which were done in Gaul while Marcus Fonteius
 was praetor? Out of all that number of men what witness can you produce in this cause? Who is
 there of all that body of men whose authority you are willing to cite? We will use that very man
 as our panegyrist and our witness. Will you doubt any longer,
 O judges, that that which I stated to you at the beginning is most true, that there is another
 object in this prosecution, beyond causing others, after Marcus Fonteius has been overwhelmed by
 the testimonies of these men, from whom many contributions have been exacted, greatly against
 their will, for the sake of the republic, to be for the future more lax in governing, when they
 see these men attacked, who are such men that, if they are crushed, the empire of the Roman
 people cannot be maintained in safety 
 A charge has also been advanced that Marcus Fonteius has made a profit from the making of
 roads; taking money either for not compelling people to make roads, or for not disapproving of
 roads which had been made. If all the cities have been compelled to make roads, and if the works
 of many of them have not been passed, then certainly both charges are false,—the charge that
 money has been given for exemption, when no one was exempted; and for approval, when many were
 disapproved of.