The ignominy of a public trial is a miserable thing,—the deprivation of
 a man's property by way of penalty is a miserable thing,—exile is a miserable thing; but still,
 in all these disasters some trace of liberty remains to one. Even if death be threatened, we may
 die free men; but the executioner, and the veiling of the head, and the mere name of the gibbet,
 should be far removed, not only from the persons of Roman citizens—from their thoughts, and
 eyes, and ears. For not only the actual fact and endurance of all these things, but the bare
 possibility of being exposed to them,—the expectation, the mere mention of them even,—is
 unworthy of a Roman citizen and of a free man. Does not the kindness of their masters at one
 touch deliver our slaves from the fear of all these punishments; and shall neither our exploits,
 nor the purity of our past life, nor the honours which you have conferred on us, save us from
 the scourge, from the hangman's hook, and even from the dread of the gibbet? Wherefore I confess, and even, O Titus Labienus, I avow and openly allege that
 you have been driven from that cruel, unreasonable, (I will not say tribunitian, but) tyrannical
 persecution, by my counsel, by my virtue, and by my influence. And although in that prosecution
 you neglected all the precedents of our ancestors, all the laws, all the authority of the
 senate, all religious feeling, and even the public observance due to the auspices, still you
 shall hear nothing of all this from me, now that I have so little time to speak in. We shall
 have abundant opportunity hereafter for a discussion on those points. At present we will speak of the accusation touching the death of Saturninus, and of the death
 of your most illustrious uncle. You say in impeachment of my client, that Lucius Saturninus was
 slain by Caius Rabirius. And Rabirius has already proved that to be false by the evidence of
 many men, when Quintus Hortensius defended him at great length. But I, if I had to begin the
 defence anew, would brave this charge, would acknowledge its truth, would avow it. I only wish
 that the state of my client's cause would give me the opportunity of making this statement, that
 Lucius Saturninus, the enemy of the Roman people, was slain by the hand of Caius Rabirius. That
 outcry has no effect on me, but it rather consoles me, as it shows that there are some citizens
 ignorant of the facts of the case, but not many. Never, believe me, never would the Roman people
 which is silent around me, have made me consul if it had supposed that I was going to be
 disturbed by your clamour. How much less is your noise now! Repress your murmurs, the evidence
 of your folly, and the proof of the scantiness of your numbers. I would, I say, willingly confess, if I could with truth, or even if the cause were not
 already discussed, that Lucius Saturninus was shun by the band of Caius Rabirius; and I should
 think it a most glorious deed. But since I cannot do that, I will confess this, which will have
 less weight with regard to our credit, but not less with regard to the accusation—I confess that
 Caius Rabirius took up arms for the purpose of slaying Saturninus. What is the matter, Labienus?
 What more weighty confession do you expect from me; or what greater charge did you expect me to
 furnish against him? Unless you think that there is any difference between him who slew the man,
 and him who was in arms for the purpose of slaying him. If it was wrong for Saturninus to be
 slain, then arms cannot have been taken up against Saturninus without guilt;—if you admit that
 arms were lawfully taken up,—then you must inevitably confess that he was rightly slain.