Quotes from Cicero's Pro Ligario

Delivered before Caesar, 46 B.C. Ligarius would later join Caesar's assassins.

The Latin quotes are selected for interest (int), language (lan), and beauty (bea), and are translated into English. The line numbers are from the Loeb edition, and start counting from line 1 of the section. All translations are by Gus Wiseman (Nafindix), with the exception of any contributions from other users. The public domain sources of the Latin quotes are:


 * Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, vol. XIV, 1931; Latin text with facing English translation by N. H. Watts.
 * M. Tullius Cicero, For Ligarius (1918). Albert Clark, Albert Curtis Clark, Ed. http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi033.perseus-lat1

1.1 int
Novum crimen, C. Caesar, et ante hunc diem non auditum propinquus meus ad te Q. Tubero detulit, Q. Ligarium in Africa fuisse, idque C. Pansa, praestanti vir ingenio, fretus fortasse familiaritate ea, quae est ei tecum, ausus est confiteri: itaque quo me vertam nescio.

A new charge, Gaius Caesar, unheard of until today, my kinsman Quintus Tubero has brought to you, namely that Quintus Ligarius has been in Africa, a charge which Gaius Pansa, a man of singular talent, relying perhaps on that familiarity you have with him, has ventured to admit. Therefore, I know not which way to turn.

1.6 lan/bea
Paratus enim veneram, cum tu id neque per te scires neque audire aliunde potuisses, ut ignoratione tua ad hominis miseri salutem abuterer; sed quoniam diligentia inimici investigatum est quod latebat, confitendum est, opinor, praesertim cum meus necessarius Pansa fecerit, ut id integrum iam non esset, omissaque controversia omnis oratio ad misericordiam tuam conferenda est, qua plurimi sunt conservati, cum a te non liberationem culpae, sed errati veniam impetravissent.

For I had come ready, since you, Caesar, would not know of this yourself and could not have been told of it, to abuse your ignorance and save a beguiled man; but now that by inimical inquiry his plot has been uncovered, all that remains is to confess, especially as my friend Pansa has ensured that the matter cannot be addressed anew; so I have decided that, instead of any argument, my speech should entirely address your mercy, by which many have been tolerated (if not exactly absolved).

2.5 bea
Itaque prius de vestro delicto confiteamini necesse est, quam Ligarii ullam culpam reprehendatis.

Your confession to your own crime must come before you assail Ligarius with his.

2.8 lan
Q. enim Ligarius, cum esset nulla belli suspitio, legatus in Africam cum C. Considio profectus est, qua in legatione et civibus et sociis ita se probavit ut decedens Considius provincia satis facere hominibus non posset, si quemquam alium provinciae praefecisset.

Quintus Ligarius, though there was not yet any suspicion of war, departed among Gaius Considius's legation to Africa, where he so proved himself to the citizens and allies that the people were not satisfied until the departing Considius had appointed him to govern the province.

5.4 bea
An ille, si potuisset ullo modo evadere, Uticae quam Romae, cum P. Attio quam cum concordissimis fratribus, cum alienis esse quam cum suis maluisset?

But if he had any way to avoid it, would he really have preferred to be at Utica rather than at Rome, with Publius Attius instead of his most loving brothers, and with foreigners instead of his own people?

5.7 lan/bea
Cum ipsa legatio plena desiderii ac sollicitudinis fuisset propter incredibilem quendam fratrum amorem, hic aequo animo esse potuit belli discidio distractus a fratribus?

Since that very legation had been been full of mourning and anxiety on account of a certain amazing fraternal love, would he have been able to calmly endure being extracted from his brothers by war?

6.6 int/lan
Cum M. Cicero apud te defendit alium in ea voluntate non fuisse, in qua se ipsum confitetur fuisse, nec tuas tacitas cogitationes extimescit nec quid tibi de alio audienti de se occurrat reformidat.

When Marcus Cicero defends another's intentions before you, yet admits that the same intentions were once his own, he fears not your secret judgments, nor does he hesitate to disclose information about another that may entail something about himself.

7.5 int
Nempe apud eum qui, cum hoc sciret, tamen me, ante quam vidit, rei publicae reddidit; qui ad me ex Aegypto litteras misit, ut essem idem qui fuissem; qui, cum ipse imperator in toto imperio populi Romani unus esset, esse me alterum passus est; a quo hoc ipso C. Pansa mihi hunc nuntium perferente concessos fascis laureatos tenui, quoad tenendos putavi; qui mihi tum denique salutem se putavit reddere, si eam nullis spoliatam ornamentis dedisset.

He is the one who, though he knew these things, and even though we had never met, yet gave me back to the republic— who sent me a letter from Egypt encouraging me to be just as I had always been— who, though himself our one and only true leader, suffered me to be another— whose gift of laurelled fasces, couriered by this same Gaius Pansa, I retained as long as I saw fit— and who insisted that I was adequately restored only when I had retained possession of all my distinctions.

8.1 int/lan
Vide, quaeso, Tubero, ut, qui de meo facto non dubitem, de Ligarii non audeam confiteri.

Please take note, Tubero, that even though I don't hold back about my own behavior, I would not dare admit to the "crime" of Ligarius!

10.1 int
Quid autem aliud egimus, Tubero, nisi ut quod hic potest nos possemus?

What else did we pursue, Tubero, if not to have the same power as he?

10.3 lan
Quorum igitur impunitas, Caesar, tuae clementiae laus est, eorum ipsorum ad crudelitatem te acuit oratio?

Whose impunity proves your clemency— their speech provokes you to cruelty?

11.13 bea
Non tu ergo eum patria privare, qua caret, sed vita vis.

You want to deprive him, not of his fatherland, which he has already lost, but of his life.

12.1 int
At istud ne apud eum quidem dictatorem, qui omnis quos oderat morte multabat, quisquam egit isto modo: ipse iubebat occidi nullo postulante, praemiis etiam invitabat; quae tamen crudelitas ab hoc eodem aliquot annis post, quem tu nunc crudelem esse vis, vindicata est.

Not even under the dictator Sulla, who visited all he hated with death, has anyone done things in such a way; he was ordering people killed without any right, even offering rewards, yet this behavior was vindicated some years later by Caesar, who now you wish to be cruel.

13.6 bea
Hoc vero multo acerbius multoque est durius: quod nos domi petimus precibus, lacrimis, strati ad pedes, non tam nostrae causae fidentes quam huius humanitati, id ne impetremus pugnabis, et in nostrum fletum inrumpes, et nos iacentis ad pedes supplicum voce prohibebis?

Yet this is much sharper and harder: when we appeal for pardon privately by prayers and tears, trusting not so much our own case as Caesar's humanity, would you fight against us, and burst in on our weeping to shut our mouths pleading for mercy?

14.1 lan
Si, cum hoc domi faceremus, quod et fecimus et, ut spero, non frustra fecimus, tu repente inruisses et clamare coepisses "C. Caesar, [cave credas], cave ignoscas, cave te fratrum pro fratris salute obsecrantium misereat," nonne omnem humanitatem exuisses?

But if, when we were doing this in private, as we did, and, I hope, not in vain, you suddenly burst in and cried, "Gaius Caesar, take care to be intolerant, and do not show compassion for a brother pleading for his brother's safety," surely you would be casting off all humanity?

15.1 int
Dicam plane, Caesar, quod sentio: si in hac tanta tua fortuna lenitas tanta non esset, quam tu per te, per te, inquam, obtines—intellego quid loquar—, acerbissimo luctu redundaret ista victoria.

To be honest, Caesar, if in your great fortunes your deliberate tolerance were not equally great, then your victory would have been repaid by the deepest shame.

15.5 lan
Quam multi enim essent de victoribus qui te crudelem esse vellent, cum etiam de victis reperiantur!

Think how many on your side could be found who want you to be cruel, when such people can be found even among your former enemies!

16.1 lan/bea
Quod si probare Caesari possemus in Africa Ligarium omnino non fuisse, si honesto et misericordi mendacio saluti civi calamitoso esse vellemus, tamen hominis non esset in tanto discrimine et periculo civis refellere et redarguere nostrum mendacium, et, si esset alicuius, eius certe non esset, qui in eadem causa et fortuna fuisset.

If we could prove to Caesar that Ligarius had never even been to Africa— if we told an honest and merciful lie to rescue a troubled citizen— then it would still be inappropriate, in such great crisis and risk to a citizen, to refute and disprove the lie, and, even if it were appropriate, the agent should not come from the same position.

16.11 bea
Haec nec hominis nec ad hominem vox est: qua qui apud te, C. Caesar, utitur, suam citius abiciet humanitatem quam extorquebit tuam.

This is not the voice of any true man— one who speaks thus among you, Gaius Caesar, sooner throws out his own humanity than extorts yours.

17.6 bea
Isto enim nomine illa adhuc causa caruit: alii errorem appellant, alii timorem; qui durius, spem, cupiditatem, odium, pertinaciam; qui gravissime, temeritatem: scelus praeter te adhuc nemo.

Such a situation has never been described using that word; some call it an error, others an act of fear; a less friendly critic speaks of hope, ambition, hatred, stubbornness; the harshest critic calls us a fool; you are the first to call it a crime.

18.4 bea
''Fuerint cupidi, fuerint irati, fuerint pertinaces: sceleris vero crimine, furoris, parricidii liceat Cn. Pompeio mortuo, liceat multis aliis carere.''

Let them be greedy, angry, obstinate; but as for the accusation of malice, of frenzy, of parricide, let the dead Gnaeus Pompeius and many others be absolved.

19.1 int/bea
Mihi vero, Caesar, tua in me maxima merita tanta certe non viderentur, si me ut sceleratum a te conservatum putarem.

It seems to me, Caesar, that your great generosity toward me would not seem so great, if I thought that in me you had preserved a criminal.

19.13 int/lan
Cognita vero clementia tua quis non eam victoriam probet, in qua occiderit nemo nisi armatus?

In light of your clemency, who would not approve that victory, in which not a single non-combatant died?

20.8 int
Vos tum paruistis, cum paruit nemo, qui noluit.

At a time when no one obeyed who did not want to, you obeyed.

22.4 lan
Hinc in Ligarium crimen oritur vel ira potius: nam si crimen est illum voluisse, non minus magnum est vos Africam, arcem omnium provinciarum, natam ad bellum contra hanc urbem gerendum, obtinere voluisse quam aliquem se maluisse.

Hence the accusation (or anger) against Ligarius arose. But if it is a crime merely to have wanted Africa, citadel of all the provinces, born for waging war against this city, then it was no less a crime when you wanted the same.

23.3 int/bea
Caesarine eam tradituri fuistis an contra Caesarem retenturi?

Were you going to hand it [Africa] over to Caesar? Or were you going to use it against him?

24.1 int
Sed iam hoc totum omitto, non tam ne offendam tuas patientissimas auris, quam ne Tubero quod numquam cogitavit facturus fuisse videatur.

But now I pass over all this, not to avoid offending your patient ears, but lest Tubero seem to have been going to do things that never even crossed his mind.

24.9 bea
Quamquam quid facturi fueritis dubitem, cum videam quid feceritis?

Should I doubt what you were going to do, when I can see what you did?

25.6 int
Quae est ergo apud Caesarem querella, cum eum accusetis, a quo queramini prohibitos esse vos contra Caesarem gerere bellum?

What is this complaint you have brought before Caesar, in which you impugn the very man who prevented you from waging war against him?

25.9 lan/bea
Atque in hoc quidem vel cum mendacio, si voltis, gloriemini per me licet, vos provinciam fuisse Caesari tradituros.

Even with lies, if you wish, you have my permission to boast that you would have handed the province over to Caesar.

26.1 int/bea
''Sed vide, quaeso, Caesar, constantiam ornatissimi viri [L. Tuberonis], quam ego, quamvis ipse probarem, ut probo, tamen non commemorarem, nisi a te cognovissem in primis eam virtutem solere laudari.''

Please take note, Caesar, of this most distinguished man's constancy, a virtue which, though I approve of it, I would not mention, except that I know how much it is your favorite.

28.7 int/bea
Omnes enim vincendi studio tenebamur.

We were all captivated by dreams of conquest.

28.7 int
Pacis equidem semper auctor fui, sed tum sero; erat enim amentis, cum aciem videres, pacem cogitare.

I had always been a promoter of peace, but too late; for it would have been insane, seeing the line of battle before me, to think of peace then.

29.1 lan
Haec ego non dicerem, Tubero, si aut vos constantiae vestrae aut Caesarem beneficii sui paeniteret.

I would not say this, Tubero, if either you regretted your constancy, or Caesar his generosity.

29.5 int/bea
Si vestras, videte ne erretis, qui Caesarem vestris inimicis iratum fore putetis, cum ignoverit suis.

If [you seek vengeance] for yourself, take care not to make the mistake of thinking that Caesar, who has pardoned his own enemies, will be angry with yours.

31.6 lan
Vidi enim et cognovi quid maxime spectares, cum pro alicuius salute multi laborarent: causas apud te rogantium gratiosiores esse quam voltus, neque te spectare quam tuus esset necessarius is, qui te oraret, sed quam illius, pro quo laboraret.

I have ascertained that, whenever many are appealing to you for someone's safety, causes are more important to you than faces, and how much a petitioner is your friend is less important than how much he is a friend to the one for whom he works.

33.6 int/lan
Te enim dicere audiebamus nos omnis adversarios putare, nisi qui nobiscum essent; te omnis, qui contra te non essent, tuos.

We often heard you say of us that, while we consider all not on our side to be adversaries, you consider all not against you to be allies.

36.1 lan/bea
Hic igitur T. Ligarius, qui tum nihil egit aliud—neque enim haec divinabat—nisi ut tui eum studiosum et bonum virum iudicares, nunc a te supplex fratris salutem petit: quam huius admonitus officio cum utrisque his dederis, tris fratres optimos et integerrimos non solum sibi ipsos neque his tot talibus viris neque nobis necessariis tuis, sed etiam rei publicae condonaveris.

This Titus Ligarius, who wanted nothing then— nor could he have predicted this— except that you consider himself dutiful and good, now, reminded of his duty to you (who spared all of them), begs you to save his brother; this would give these brilliant and vigorous three brothers not only to each other, nor only to us your friends, nor only to countless other good men, but also to the commonwealth.

37.1 bea
Fac igitur, quod de homine nobilissimo et clarissimo fecisti nuper in curia, nunc idem in foro de optimis et huic omni frequentiae probatissimis fratribus.

As to what you did recently toward a most noble and distinguished man in the Senate-house [M. Marcellus], now do the same in the forum for these exceptional bothers, loved by all gathered here.

37.4 int/lan/bea
Ut concessisti illum senatui, sic da hunc populo, cuius voluntatem carissimam semper habuisti, et, si ille dies tibi gloriosissimus, populo Romano gratissimus fuit, noli, obsecro, dubitare, C. Caesar, similem illi gloriae laudem quam saepissime quaerere.

As you granted that man to the Senate, give this man to the people (whose favor you always held most dear), and if his day were most glorious to you and thankful to the Roman people, please do not hesitate, Gaius Caesar, to seek like praise as often as possible.

37.9 int/bea
Nihil est tam populare quam bonitas, nulla de virtutibus tuis plurimis nec admirabilior nec gratior misericordia est.

Nothing is so popular as goodness, and none of your very many virtues is more admirable or favorable than mercy.

38.1 int/lan/bea
Homines enim ad deos nulla re propius accedunt quam salutem hominibus dando; nihil habet nec fortuna tua maius quam ut possis, nec natura melius quam ut velis servare quam plurimos.

Men approach closest to the gods in saving others; fortune has nothing greater than the power, nature nothing better than the will, to preserve as many as possible.

38.4 bea
Longiorem orationem causa forsitan postulet, tua certe natura breviorem.

Perhaps the case calls for more words, but your nature calls for fewer.