Wherefore, if any one summons
 me, I come. I not only do not object to the Roman people as arbitrators in my cause, but I even
 demand them. Let there be no violence; let weapons and stones be kept at a distance let the
 artisans depart; let the slaves be silent. No one who hears me will be so unjust, if he be only
 a free man and a citizen, as not to think that he ought rather to think of rewards for me than
 of punishment. 
 O ye immortal got! what can be more miserable than this? We who wrested fire and sword out of
 the hands of Publius Lentulus, are trusting now to the judgment of an ignorant multitude, and
 are in dread of the sentence of chosen men and most honourable citizens. Our fathers by their decision delivered Marcus Aquillius, who had been
 convicted of many charges of avarice, proved by abundant evidence, because he had behaved
 gallantly in the Servile war. I, when consul, lately defended Cnaeus Piso; who, because he had
 been a gallant and fearless consul, was preserved to the republic uninjured. I, when consul,
 defended also Lucius Murena, the consul elect. Not one of the judges in that case—though they
 were most eminent men who were the prosecutors—thought that they ought to entertain for one
 moment the accusation of bribery, because, while Catiline was still waging war against the
 republic, they agreed with me that it was necessary for them to have two consuls on the first of
 January. Aulus Thermius, an innocent and virtuous man, and one adorned with every sort of
 distinction, has been twice acquitted this year, when I have defended him. How great was the
 joy, how great were the congratulations of the Roman people at that event, for the sake of the
 republic! Wise and grave judges have always, when deciding in criminal trials, considered what
 the interests of the state, and the general safety, and the present necessities of the republic
 required.