in which there was, first
 of all, this absurdity, that when he wished to gain your approval of the inconsiderate things
 which he had said, but did not wish those men, who were standing around the
 tribunal, to hear them, he did not perceive that, while he was speaking so loudly, those men
 whose favour he was seeking to gain could not hear him, without your hearing him too, who did
 not approve of what he was saying; and, in the second place, it is a great defect in an orator
 not to see what each cause requires. For nothing is so inconsistent as for a man who is accusing
 another of conspiracy, to appear to lament the punishment and death of conspirators; which is
 not, indeed, strange to any one, when it is done by that tribune of the people who appears to be
 the only man left to bewail those conspirators; for it is difficult to be silent when you are
 really grieved. But, if you do anything of that sort, I do greatly marvel at you, not only
 because you are such a young man as you are, but because you do it in the very cause in which
 you wish to appear as a punisher of conspiracy. However, what
 I find fault with most of all, is this: that you, with your abilities and your prudence, do not
 maintain the true interest of the republic, but believe, on the contrary, that those actions are
 not approved of by the Roman people, which, when I was consul, were done by all virtuous men,
 for the preservation of the common safety of all. 
 Do you believe that any one of those men who are here present, into whose favour you were
 seeking to insinuate yourself against their will, was either so wicked as to wish all these
 things to be destroyed, or so miserable as to wish to perish himself; and to have nothing which
 he wished to preserve? Is there any one who blames the most illustrious man of your family and
 name, who deprived his own son This refers to the story of Titus Manlius
 Torquatus, who, in the Latin war (A.U.C. 415), put his own son to death for leaving his ranks
 (in forgetfulness of a general order issued by his father the consul) to fight Geminius Metius,
 whom he slew. The story is told by Livy, lib. iii. c. 7. of
 life in order to strengthen his power over the rest of his army; and do you blame the republic,
 for destroying domestic enemies in order to avoid being herself destroyed by them? Take notice then, O Torquatus, to what extent I shirk the avowal of the
 actions of my consulship. I speak, and I always will speak, with my loudest voice, in order that
 all men may be able to hear me: be present all of you with your minds, ye who are present with
 your bodies, ye in whose numerous attendance I take great pleasure; give me your attention and
 all your ears, and listen to me while I speak of what he believes to be unpopular topics. I, as
 consul, when an army of abandoned citizens, got together by clandestine wickedness, had prepared
 a most cruel and miserable destruction for my country; when Catiline had been appointed to
 manage the fall and ruin of the republic in the camp, and when Lentulus was the leader among
 these very temples and houses around us; I, I say, by my labours, at the risk of my own life, by
 my prudence, without any tumult, without making any extraordinary levies, without arms, without
 an army, having arrested and executed five men delivered the city from conflagration, the
 citizens from massacre Italy from devastation, the republic from destruction. I at the price of
 the punishment of five frantic and ruined men ransomed the lives of all the citizens, the
 constitution of the whole world, this city the home of all of us, the citadel of foreign kings
 and foreign nations the light of all people the abode of empire. Did you think that I would not say this in a court of justice when I was not
 on my oath, which I had said before now in a most numerous assembly when speaking This refers to Cicero's conduct when resigning his consulship. Metellus, as has
 been said before, refused to allow him to make a speech to the people, because, as he said, he
 had put Roman citizens to death without a trial; on which Cicero instead of making oath in the
 ordinary formula, that he had discharged his duty with fidelity swore with a loud voice “that
 the republic and the city had been saved by his unassisted labour;” and all the Roman people
 cried out with one voice that that statement was true to its fullest extent. See Cic. in Pis. 3 . on oath? 
 
 And I will say this further, O Torquatus, to prevent any wicked man from conceiving any sudden
 attachment to, or any sudden hopes of you; and, in order that every one may hear it, I will say
 it as loudly as I can:—Of all those things which I undertook and did during my consulship in
 defence of the common safety, that Lucius Torquatus, being my constant comrade in my consulship,
 and having been so also in my praetorship, was my defender; and assistant, and partner in my
 actions; being also the chief; and the leader, and the standard-bearer of the Roman youth; and
 his father, a man most devoted to his country, a man of the greatest courage, of the most
 consummate political wisdom, and of singular firmness, though he was sick still was constantly
 present at all my actions he never left my side: he by his zeal and wisdom and
 authority was of the very greatest assistance to me, overcoming the infirmity of his body by the
 vigour of his mind. Do you not see now, how I deliver you
 from the danger of any sudden popularity among the wicked, and reconcile you to all good men?
 who love you, and cherish you, and who always will cherish you; nor, if perchance you for a
 while abandon me, will they on that account allow you to abandon them and the republic and your
 own dignity. 
 But now I return to the cause; and I call you, O judges, to hear witness to this;—that this
 necessity of speaking of myself was imposed on me by him. For if Torquatus had been content with
 accusing Sulla, I too at the present time should have done nothing beyond defending him who had
 been accused; but when he, in his whole speech, inveighed against me, and when, in the very
 beginning, as I said, he sought to deprive my defence of all authority, even if my indignation
 had not compelled me to speak, still the necessity of doing justice to my cause would have
 demanded this speech from me.