Section 11
Original Latin
census nostros requiris. scilicet; est enim obscurum proximis censoribus hunc cum clarissimo imperatore L. Lucullo apud exercitum fuisse, superioribus cum eodem quaestore fuisse in Asia, primis Iulio et Crasso nullam populi partem esse censam. sed, quoniam census non ius civitatis confirmat ac tantum modo indicat eum qui sit census ita se iam tum gessisse, pro cive, eis temporibus [is] quem tu criminaris ne ipsius quidem iudicio in civium Romanorum iure esse versatum et testamentum saepe fecit nostris legibus, et adiit hereditates civium Romanorum, et in beneficiis ad aerarium delatus est a L. Lucullo pro consule.
Chapter 6
quaere argumenta, si quae potes; numquam enim hic neque suo neque amicorum iudicio revincetur.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation made directly from the Latin in Clark’s 1911 edition; source-language model review recorded. Perseus transcription: CC BY-SA 4.0, credited to the Perseus Project, Tufts University.
You ask for our census records. Of course! For apparently no one knows that at the most recent census he was with the army under that distinguished commander Lucius Lucullus; at the preceding census he was in Asia with the same man, then quaestor; and at the first, under Julius and Crassus, no part of the people was registered at all. But a census does not establish the right of citizenship: it merely indicates that the person registered was already acting as a citizen at that time. And during the very period when, as you allege, he did not regard himself as enjoying the rights of a Roman citizen, he repeatedly made wills under our laws, entered into inheritances from Roman citizens, and was reported to the treasury by the proconsul Lucius Lucullus among those awarded benefits.
Chapter 6
Look for evidence, if you can find any; for neither his own judgment nor that of his friends will ever furnish proof against him.
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation made independently and directly from the Latin, not from the Musean edition; source-language model review recorded. Perseus transcription: CC BY-SA 4.0, credited to the Perseus Project, Tufts University.
You ask for our census records. Of course! Apparently it is not well known that, the latest census found him serving with the army of that distinguished commander, Lucius Lucullus. At the previous census, he was in Asia with the same man, who was then quaestor. At the first census, under Julius and Crassus, no part of the population was registered.
But a census does not establish a right to citizenship. It tells us only that the person on the list was behaving as a citizen then. You accuse this man of not having considered himself entitled to the rights of a Roman citizen even in his own judgment. Yet during those years he repeatedly made a will under our laws. He accepted inheritances from Roman citizens. And Lucius Lucullus, as proconsul, registered him at the treasury for a reward.
Chapter 6
Look for evidence, if you can find any. You will never prove your case against him from either his own judgment or his friends’ judgment of his status.
About this section
Section 11 is part of For Archias the Poet by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is part 11 of 32 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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