Chapter 19

47 But let us leave sexual outrages and disgraces. There are things I cannot decently say; you have all the more freedom because you have committed things you could not hear from a modest enemy. Look instead at the rest of his life, which I shall sketch rapidly. My mind hastens to what he did in the civil war, amid the republic’s greatest miseries, and to what he does every day. Though you know these matters far better than I, I ask you to listen closely, as you are doing. In such affairs, not only learning the facts but recalling them ought to stir our spirits. Still, let us pass over the middle of the story, I think, lest we reach the ending too late.

48 The man who recounts his kindnesses to me was Clodius’s intimate during his tribunate, the torch behind all his conflagrations. Even then, in Clodius’s own home, he attempted something: he understands perfectly what I mean. Then came the journey to Alexandria, against the senate’s authority, against the republic and religious prohibitions. But he had Gabinius as his commander, with whom anything at all could be done quite properly. And what return was there from that expedition, or what sort of return? From Egypt he went to farthest Gaul before going home. But what home? Everyone then still possessed his own house, and nowhere was there one of yours. A house, do I say? Where on earth could you set foot on anything of your own, except the single property at Misenum, which you held with partners as though it were the mine at Sisapo?

47 But let’s leave the sex scandals and disgrace behind. Some things I can’t say without losing my decency. That gives you more freedom. You’ve done things a decent enemy couldn’t mention. Now look at the rest of his life. I’ll go through it quickly. I want to reach his actions in the civil war, during the republic’s worst suffering. And I want to reach what he does every day. You know these things far better than I do. Still, please keep listening closely, as you’re doing now. With things like these, knowledge alone should stir us. Remembering them should stir us too. But let’s cut out the middle, I think. Otherwise we’ll reach the end too late.

48 This man keeps mentioning his favors to me. Yet he was Clodius’s closest friend during Clodius’s tribunate. He lit the torch for every fire Clodius started. Even then, he tried something in Clodius’s own house. He knows perfectly well what I mean. Then came his trip to Alexandria. It defied the senate, the republic, and religious rules. But Gabinius was his commander. With him, anything he did would surely be right! And how did he return from there? What route did he take? From Egypt, he reached the farthest part of Gaul before going home. But what home? Everyone still held their own home then. You didn’t have one anywhere. Why say “home”? Where on earth could you set foot on anything you owned? There was just one place at Misenum. You held that with partners, like the mines at Sisapo.