There were two twin brothers of the municipality of Aletrinum, by name Caius and
 Lucius Fabricius, men very like one another in
 appearance and disposition, but very unlike the rest of their fellow-citizens; among whom what
 uniform respectability of character, and what consistent and moderate habits of life prevail,
 there is not one of you, I imagine, who is ignorant. Oppianicus was always exceedingly intimate
 with these Fabricii. You are all pretty well aware what great power in causing friendship a
 similarity of pursuits and disposition has. As these two men lived in such a way as to think no
 gain discreditable; as every sort of fraud, and treachery, and cheating of young men was
 practiced by them; as they were notorious for every sort of vice and dishonesty, Oppianicus, as
 I have said, had cultivated their intimacy for many years. 
 And accordingly he now resolved to prepare destruction for Habitus by the agency of Caius
 Fabricius, for Lucius had died. Habitus was at that time in delicate health; and he was
 employing a physician of no great reputation, but a man of tried skill and honesty, by name
 Cleophantus, whose slave, Diogenes, Fabricius began to tamper with, and to induce by promises
 and bribes to give poison to Habitus. The slave, being a cunning fellow, but, as the affair
 proved, a virtuous and upright man, did not refuse to listen to Fabricius' discourse; he
 reported the matter to his master, and Cleophantus had a conference with Habitus. Habitus
 immediately communicated the business to Marcus Bebrius, a senator, his most intimate friend;
 and I imagine you all recollect what a loyal, and prudent, and worthy man he was. His advice was
 that Habitus should buy Diogenes of Cleophantus, in order that the matter might be more easily
 proved by his information, or else be discovered to be false. Not to make a long story of it,
 Diogenes is bought in a few days, (when many virtuous men had secretly been made aware of it,)
 the poison, and the money sealed up, which was given for that purpose, is seized in the hands of
 Scamander, a freedman of the Fabricii. O ye immortal gods!
 will any one, when he has heard all these facts, say that Oppianicus was falsely convicted?
 
 Who was ever more audacious? who was ever more guilty? who was ever brought before a court
 more manifestly detected in his guilt? What genius, what eloquence could there be, what plea in
 defence could possibly be devised, which could stand against this single accusation? And at the
 same time, who is there that can doubt that, in such a case as this so clearly detected and
 proved, Cluentius was forced either to die himself, or to undertake the prosecution? I think, O judges, that it is proved plainly enough, that Oppianicus was prosecuted on such
 accusations that it was absolutely impossible for him to be honestly acquitted. Now I will show
 you that he was brought before the courts as a criminal, in such a way that he came before them
 already condemned, as there had been more than one or even two previous investigations of his
 case. For Cluentius, O judges, in the first instance, accused that man in whose hands he had
 seized the poison. That was Scamander, the freedman of the Fabricii. The Bench was honest. There was no suspicion of the judges having
 been bribed. A plain case, a well-proved fact, an undeniable charge was brought before the
 court. So then this Fabricius, the man whom I have mentioned already seeing that, if his
 freedman were condemned, he himself would be in danger, because he knew that I lived in the
 neighbourhood of Aletrinum, and was very intimate with many of the citizens of that place,
 brought a number of them to me: who, although they had that opinion of the man which they could
 not help having, still, because he was of the same municipality as themselves, thought it
 concerned their dignity to defend him by what means they could; and they begged of me that I
 would do so, and that I would undertake the cause of Scamander; and on his cause all the safety
 of his master depended. I, as I was unable to refuse anything
 to men who were so respectable, and so much attached to me, —and as I was not aware that the
 accusation was one involving crimes of such enormity and so undeniably proved—as indeed they
 too, who were then recommending the cause to me, were not aware either,—promised to do all that
 they asked of me. 
 The cause began to be pleaded; Scamander the defendant was cited before the court. Publius
 Canutius was the counsel for the prosecution, a man of the greatest ability, and a very
 accomplished speaker; and he accused Scamander in plain words, saying “that the poison had been
 discovered on him.” All the force of his accusation was directed against Oppianicus. The cause
 of his designs against Cluentius was revealed; his intimacy with the Fabricii was mentioned; the
 way of life and audacity of the man was revealed; in short, the whole accusation was stated with
 great firmness and with varied eloquence, and at last was summed up by the proved discovery of
 the poison. Then I rose to reply,