Quotes from Cicero's in Pisonem

Cicero takes on Julius Caesar's father-in-law.

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. TVLLI CICERONIS IN L. CALPVRNIVM PISONEM ORATIO, https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/piso.shtml
 * M. Tullius Cicero, Against Piso. Albert Clark, Ed., http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0013:text=Pis.

1.2 int
''Nemo queritur Syrum nescio quem de grege noviciorum factum esse consulem. Non enim nos color iste servilis, non pilosae genae, non dentes putridi deceperunt; oculi, supercilia, frons, voltus denique totus, qui sermo quidam tacitus mentis est, hic in fraudem homines impulit, hic eos quibus erat ignotus decepit, fefellit, induxit.''

Nobody complains some Syran from a flock of newbies was made consul. For it is not your slavish color, your hairy cheeks, your rotten teeth that deceived us; it was your eyes, your eyebrows, your forehead, your entire face, a silent betrayer of your mind, that impelled men into fraud; it was these which deceived, defrauded, and dissuaded those who were unprepared for you.

2.9 bea
Noti erant illi mortui, te vivum nondum noverat quisquam.

Though they were well-known, even in death, still nobody knew you, even in life.

10.5 bea
An potest ulla esse excusatio non dicam male sentienti, sed sedenti, cunctanti, dormienti in maximo rei publicae motu consuli?

Or is there any excuse for a consul not just thinking of mischief but sitting, delaying, sleeping through the greatest uprising of the state?

10.7 lan
''Centum prope annos legem Aeliam et Fufiam tenueramus, quadringentos iudicium notionemque censoriam, quas leges ausus est non nemo improbus, potuit quidem nemo convellere; quam potestatem minuere, quo minus de moribus nostris quinto quoque anno iudicaretur, nemo tam effuse petulans conatus est. Haec sunt, o carnifex! in prooemio sepulta consulatus tui.''

For 100 years we preserved the law of Aelius and Fufius, for 400 the censor's right to criticize and censure. Some bold characters tried to oppose these laws, but nobody could ever overturn them. None had shown such gawking impudence as, by diminishing them, to avoid being judged every five years according to our traditions; that is, until your nascent consulship ended these institutions for good.

12.6 lan
nihil esse quod praesidium consulum implorarem; sibi quemque consulere oportere.

The consular protection I sought was nothing; each should be his own.

13.1 int
Meministine, caenum, cum ad te quinta fere hora cum C. Pisone venissem, nescio quo e gurgustio te prodire involuto capite soleatum, et, cum isto ore foetido taeterrimam nobis popinam inhalasses, excusatione te uti valetudinis, quod diceres vinulentis te quibusdam medicaminibus solere curari?

Do you, made of mud, remember, when around the fifth hour I had come to you with Gaius Piso, and you had emerged from some mean dwelling with your head covered and wearing sandals, and from your stinking mouth you had emitted the hovel's offensive odor, you apologized to us for your ill-health, which you were accustomed to cure using certain medicinal wines?

25.12 lan
''Me inaurata statua donarant, me patronum unum asciverant, a me se habere vitam, fortunas, liberos arbitrabantur, me et praesentem contra latrocinium tuum suis decretis legatisque defenderant et absentem principe Cn. Pompeio referente et de corpore rei publicae tuorum scelerum tela revellente revocarant.''

They had rewarded me with a gilded statue and recognized me as sole patron, thinking that because of me they had retained their lives, their fortunes, and their children; they had defended me against your brigandage in my presence by decrees and delegations and in my absence by the singular Gnaeus Pompeius, who brought the motion to recall me, thus removing from the commonwealth the missiles of your misdeeds.

26.5 int/bea
At tu illo ipso tempore apud socrum tuam prope a meis aedibus, cuius domum ad meam domum exhauriendam patefeceras, sedebas non exstinctor sed auctor incendi et ardentis faces furiis Clodianis paene ipse consul ministrabas.

At that very time you with your mother were sitting near my home, and you had thrown open her home for mine to be emptied; you, consul, not extinguishing but stoking the fire, were all but handing flaming torches to the Clodian gang.

26.13 lan
Numerandus est ille annus denique in re publica, cum obmutuisset senatus, iudicia conticuissent, maererent boni, vis latrocini vestri tota urbe volitaret neque civis unus ex civitate sed ipsa civitas tuo et Gabini sceleri furorique cessisset?

Is that year to be counted in history at all, when the senate was dumb, the courts silent, good men mourning, the violence of your piracy flying throughout the city, and not just one citizen, but society itself had yielded under your and Gabinius's raving furor?

27.13 (28.-4) lan
Uter eorum perisset, tamquam lanista in eius modi pari lucrum fieri putabat, immortalem vero quaestum, si uterque cecidisset.

Like a trainer, the people thought that, whichever of men such as these should have died, it would be a happy outcome, and indeed a godsend if both should fall.

28.10 bea
''Itaque in illo tumultu fracti fasces, ictus ipse, cotidie tela, lapides, fugae, deprehensus denique cum ferro ad senatum is quem ad Cn. Pompeium interimendum conlocatum fuisse constabat.''

So in that rioting the fasces were broken, he was himself was wounded, and weapons, stonings, and flights were a daily occurrence; even someone with a weapon was apprehended at the senate, where he had been installed to kill Gnaeus Pompeius.

29.7 int
An tum eratis consules cum, quacumque de re verbum facere coeperatis aut referre ad senatum, cunctus ordo reclamabat ostendebatque nihil esse vos acturos, nisi prius de me rettulissetis?

Were you then consuls when, whatever you had began to address or carry in the senate, the whole order protested and showed that you could do nothing without first taking up my case?

30.1 int/lan
Quae lex privatis hominibus esse lex non videbatur, inusta per servos, incisa per vim, imposita per latrocinium, sublato senatu, pulsis e foro bonis omnibus, capta re publica, contra omnis leges nullo scripta more, hanc qui se metuere dicerent, consules non dicam animi hominum, sed fasti ulli ferre possunt?

That law [of Clodius against Cicero] which seemed not a law to private men, branded through slaves, engraved through violence, imposed by brigandry, with the senate suppressed, all good men repulsed from the forum, and the government overtaken, was written against all laws and without precedent. Could those who said they feared to assail it be consuls, not in the memory of men, but in any record at all?

30.7 int
Nam si illam legem non putabatis, quae erat contra omnis leges indemnati civis atque integri capitis bonorumque tribunicia proscriptio, ac tamen obstricti pactione tenebamini, quis vos non modo consules sed liberos fuisse putet, quorum mens fuerit oppressa praemio, lingua astricta mercede?

For if you did not think it was a real law, which was, in fact, contrary to all lows, a tribunal proscription of a citizen in good standing, of his civil rights, and of his property, but were constricted by your agreement, who would call you consuls, or even free men, with your will suppressed by a fee and your words tied up in a bribe?

31.3 int/lan
Itaque, credo, si minus frequentia sua vestrum egressum ornando atque celebrando, at ominibus saltem bonis ut consules, non tristissimis ut hostes aut proditores prosequebantur.

So if your departure had less of a crowd for cheering and celebrating, at least it was filled with goodwill, as one would expect for consuls, and not with curses, as if you were enemies or traitors.

33.7 bea
Mihi me dius fidius in tanto omnium mortalium odio, iusto praesertim et debito, quaevis fuga quam ulla provincia esset optatior.

God knowns in such universal condemnations, especially just and due, it seems to me that any expulsion at all would be more desirable than a province.

34.1 int
Me Kalendis Ianuariis, qui dies post obitum occasumque nostrum rei publicae primus inluxit, frequentissimus senatus, concursu Italiae, referente clarissimo ac fortissimo viro, P. Lentulo, consentiente atque una voce revocavit;

On the 15th of January, which day after your assembling and demise first shed light on the republic, by an extremely crowded senate, by the gathering of Italy, and by P. Lentulus, a most distinguished and courageous man, bringing the motion, and with every voice in agreement, recalled me.

39.9 lan
Atque haud scio an malim te videri nullo pudore fuisse in litteris mittendis, at amicos tuos plus habuisse et pudoris et consili, quam aut te videri pudentiorem fuisse quam soles, aut tuum factum non esse condemnatum iudicio amicorum.

I suppose I should prefer you to seem shameless in not sending letters, and your friends to have had more shame and advisement, than for you to seem more ashamed than is your custom, or for your conduct not to be condemned in the judgment of your friends.

43.10 bea
Supplicium autem est poena peccati.

Meanwhile punishment pays the debt of sin.

45.8 int/bea
His ego rebus pascor, his delector, his perfruor, quod de vobis hic ordo opinatur non secus ac de acerrimis hostibus, quod vos equites Romani, quod ceteri ordines, quod cuncta civitas odit, quod nemo bonus, nemo denique civis est, qui modo se civem esse meminerit, qui vos non oculis fugiat, auribus respuat, animo aspernetur, recordatione denique ipsa consulatus vestri perhorrescat.

This I indulge, this I love, this I enjoy: (1) our order thinks about you not differently from a bitterest enemy, (2) the Roman knights, other orders, and indeed the entire society detests you, (3) no good man and citizen, who only remembers he is a citizen, is not haunted by the very recollection of your consulship, avoids your eyes, covers his ears, and scorns you in his heart.

52.1 bea
Unus ille dies mihi quidem immortalitatis instar fuit quo in patriam redii, cum senatum egressum vidi populumque Romanum universum, cum mihi ipsa Roma prope convolsa sedibus suis ad complectendum conservatorem suum progredi visa est; quae me ita accepit ut non modo omnium generum, aetatum, ordinum omnes viri ac mulieres omnis fortunae ac loci, sed etiam moenia ipsa viderentur et tecta urbis ac templa laetari; me consequentibus diebus in ea ipsa domo qua tu me expuleras, quam expilaras, quam incenderas, pontifices, consules, patres conscripti conlocaverunt mihique, quod ante me nemini, pecunia publica aedificandam domum censuerunt.

That one day indeed was to me the image of immortality, when I returned to my country, and saw gathered outside the city the senate and the entire Roman people, when for me Rome herself was nearly uprooted and seemed to go forth to embrace her conservator; which thus received me as to cause to rejoice not only men and women of all classes, races, ages, ranks, and places, but nearly the very walls and houses and temples of the city; in following days, in the very home from which you had expelled me, which you had pillaged and burned, pontifices, consuls, conscript fathers placed me and decreed my home to be erected with public money, which before me had been given to none.

54.1 lan
Mecum enim L. Flaccus, vir tua legatione indignissimus atque eis consiliis quibus mecum in consulatu meo coniunctus fuit ad conservandam rem publicam dignior, mecum fuit tum cum te quidam non longe a porta cum lictoribus errantem visum esse narraret; scio item virum fortem in primis, belli ac rei militaris peritum, familiarem meum, Q. Marcium, quorum tu legatorum opera in proelio imperator appellatus eras cum longe afuisses, adventu isto tuo domi fuisse otiosum.

For Lucius Flaccus, a man of whom your legation was unworthy, and who was worthier of the measures taken for the preservation of the constitution which allied us in my consulship, was with me when a certain person said you were seen loitering not far from the gate with your lictors; I also know that a man braver than all, skilled in war and military affairs, my friend, Quintus Marcius, on account of whose work with Flaccus in battle you, though far away, were called Imperator, was at leisure at home when you arrived.

56.-2 bea
Tu inventus es qui consulari imperio praeditus ex Macedonia non triumphares.

You were found to be the only one given consular command who did not receive a triumph coming out of Macedonia.

56.3 int
Cum exstinguebas senatum, vendebas auctoritatem huius ordinis, addicebas tribuno pl. consulatum tuum, rem publicam evertebas, prodebas caput et salutem meam una mercede provinciae, si triumphum non cupiebas, cuius tandem te rei cupiditate arsisse defendes?

When you were stifling the senate, selling the authority of this order, assigning your consulship to a tribune of the people, undermining the constitution, giving up my rights and safety for the price of a province, if you did not yearn for a triumph, how do you explain such burning desire?

57.1 lan
Quod si te senatus populusque Romanus aut non appetentem aut etiam recusantem bellum suscipere, exercitum ducere coegisset, tamen erat angusti animi atque demissi iusti triumphi honorem dignitatemque contemnere; nam ut levitatis est inanem aucupari rumorem et omnis umbras etiam falsae gloriae consectari, sic est animi lucem splendoremque fugientis iustam gloriam, qui est fructus verae virtutis honestissimus, repudiare;

But if the senate and Roman people compelled you to undertake war, though you may have been not seeking it or even avoiding it, it was of narrow and low contemplation to decry the honor and dignity of a just triumph; for, as it is of levity to hunt after vulgar rumor and chase after all the shadows of false glory, it is the mark of a soul fleeing from light and splendor to repudiate true glory, which is the most honest fruit of true virtue.

57.9 lan
cum vero non modo non postulante atque cogente sed invito atque oppresso senatu, non modo nullo populi Romani studio sed nullo ferente suffragium libero, provincia tibi ista manupretium fuerit eversae per te et perditae civitatis, cumque omnium tuorum scelerum haec pactio exstiterit ut, si tu totam rem publicam nefariis latronibus tradidisses, Macedonia tibi ob eam rem quibus tu velles finibus traderetur: cum exhauriebas aerarium, cum orbabas Italiam iuventute, cum mare vastissimum hieme transibas, si triumphum contemnebas, quae te, praedo amentissime, nisi praedae ac rapinarum cupiditas tam caeca rapiebat?

But with the senate not only not demanding and compelling, but unwilling and oppressed, not only with no intention of the Roman people, but with no free man's vote at all, your price to overturn the state by your own means and those of a wasted state was that (and this holds for all your misdeeds), should you have handed over the entire government to evil workers, Macedonia would be handed over to you along whatever boundaries you wish: so while you were exhausting the treasury, corrupting Italy's youth, crossing the most vast sea in winter, if you despised a triumph, what blind infatuation except for booty and pillage possessed you?

58.1 lan/bea
''Non est integrum Cn. Pompeio consilio iam uti tuo; erravit enim; non gustarat istam tuam philosophiam; ter iam homo stultus triumphavit.''

I suppose not for the first time Pompeius has used your council; for he has erred in not consuming that philosophy of yours [sarcasm]; thrice already the fool has triumphed.

59.1 int
Sed quoniam praeterita mutare non possumus, quid cessat hic homullus, ex argilla et luto fictus Epicurus, dare haec praeclara praecepta sapientiae clarissimo et summo imperatori genero suo?

But now that we cannot change the past, why does this little man hesitate, Epicurean of mud and clay, to give these great precepts of wisdom to the most distinguished and highest general of all, his own son-in-law [Caesar]?

59.4 int
Fertur ille vir, mihi crede, gloria; flagrat, ardet cupiditate iusti et magni triumphi; non didicit eadem ista quae tu.

That man, trust me, is carried by glory; he burns, is ignited by lust of a great and due triumph, unlike yourself.

63.9 bea
Iam vides, quoniam quidem ita egomet fui inimicus, ut me tecum compararem, et digressum meum et absentiam et reditum ita longe tuo praestitisse, ut mihi illa omnia immortalem gloriam dederint, tibi sempiternam turpitudinem inflixerint.

Now you see, considering I am my own enemy by comparing myself to you, that my departure, my absence, and my return were so far above yours that they brought me immortal glory, while yours wrought eternal disgrace.

64.6 lan
Age, senatus odit te, quod eum tu facere iure concedis, adflictorem ac perditorem non modo dignitatis et auctoritatis sed omnino ordinis ac nominis sui;

See how the senate abhors you, which you admit is deserved, assailer and annihilator not only of its honor and authority, but of its very existence and name.

68.2 lan
Non me hercules contumeliae causa describam quemquam, praesertim ingeniosum hominem atque eruditum, cui generi esse ego iratus, ne si cupiam quidem, possum.

To be sure, I do not talk about anyone in order to insult him, especially a clever and educated man, with which kind I could not be angry even if I wished.

68.14 int/bea
Audistis profecto dici philosophos Epicureos omnis res quae sint homini expetendae voluptate metiri.

No doubt you have heard it said that Epicurean philosophers measure all things which men pursue by their capacity to please.

70.4 int
Est autem hic de quo loquor non philosophia solum sed etiam ceteris studiis quae fere Epicureos neglegere dicunt perpolitus; poema porro facit ita festivum, ita concinnum, ita elegans, ut nihil fieri possit argutius.

The one I am talking about, not only polished by philosophy, but also by other studies the Epicureans are said to neglect, wrote such a clever, such a fine, such an elegant poem, that nothing could be more expressive.

70.11 bea
Devenit autem seu potius incidit in istum eodem deceptus supercilio Graecus atque advena quo tot sapientes et tanta civitas.

The Greek stranger came upon him, or rather fell in with him, swayed by the same brow as so many wise men and so great a state.

74.6 int/lan
Nam, cum tu timidus ac tremens tuis ipse furacissimis manibus detractam e cruentis fascibus lauream ad portam Esquilinam abiecisti, iudicasti non modo amplissimae sed etiam minimae laudi lauream concessisse.

When you fearfully with your own trembling thievish hands tore the bays from your bloody fasces and threw them away at the Esquiline Gate, you demonstrated the laurel had yielded not only to the greatest but even to the meanest reputation.

75.9 bea
in hominis caput ille tam crudelis propter versum fuisset?

Would he really have been so cruel against the rights of a man because of a line of poetry?

76.10 int/lan/bea
vestrae cupiditates provinciarum effecerunt ut ego excluderer omnesque qui me, qui illius gloriam, qui rem publicam salvam esse cupiebant, sermone atque aditu prohiberentur;

Your desire for provinces brought about my exclusion, while all who supported myself, his glory, and the constitution were held back from discussion or engagement with Pompeius.

75.16 (76.-3) bea
Quorum quidem—quis enim non intellegit quos dicas?—quamquam non est causa una omnium, tamen est omnium mihi probata.

The cases of whom (for who does not know to whom you refer?), though not all the same, do all meet my approval.

78.10 (79.-2) bea
Hic tu hostis ac proditor aliis me inimiciorem quam tibi debere esse dicis?

Dare you, a public enemy and traitor, say I ought to be a greater enemy to others than to you?

81.1 bea
''Deinde hoc ita fit ut viri fortes, etiam si ferro inter se comminus decertarint, tamen illud contentionis odium simul cum ipsa pugna armisque deponant. Neque me ille odisse potuit umquam, ne tum quidem cum dissidebamus. Habet hoc virtus, quam tu ne de facie quidem nosti, ut viros fortis species eius et pulchritudo etiam in hoste posita delectet.''

So it happens that brave men, even after physical combat, yet put aside that odium of contention along with the very battle and weapons. In particular, Caesar was never able to hate me, even when we disagreed. Virtue, to which you are utterly blind, is such an aspect that brave men adore her splendor and beauty even in an enemy.

81.9 int/lan
Equidem dicam ex animo, patres conscripti, quod sentio, et quod vobis audientibus saepe iam dixi: si mihi numquam amicus C. Caesar fuisset, si semper iratus, si semper aspernaretur amicitiam meam seque mihi implacabilem inexpiabilemque praeberet, tamen ei, cum tantas res gessisset gereretque cotidie, non amicus esse non possem; cuius ego imperium, non Alpium vallum contra ascensum transgressionemque Gallorum, non Rheni fossam gurgitibus illis redundantem Germanorum immanissimis gentibus obicio et oppono; perfecit ille ut, si montes resedissent, amnes exaruissent, non naturae praesidio sed victoria sua rebusque gestis Italiam munitam haberemus.

Indeed I shall say sincerely what I think, Conscript Fathers, which in your hearing I have often said already. If Gaius Caesar had never been my friend, if always he was angry, if always he rejected my friendship, if he had shown himself implacable and inexorable, still to him, when he had waged such great wars and was waging them every day, I could not fail to be a friend; by whose command it is not entrenchment of the Alps against ascent and transgression of the Gauls, nor flooding of the Rhine redounding in a foaming torrent, that I check and oppose the barbarous tribes of Germany. Indeed, if the mountains were flattened and the rivers dried up, still Italy should have a garrison, not of nature, but of his victories and exploits.

82.22 (83.-3) bea
qui te ita gesseris ut timeres ne indignus beneficio videreris, nisi eius a quo missus eras simillimus exstitisses.

You carried yourself as if afraid to seem unworthy of favor if you did not turn out a perfect counterpart to the one who sent you [Clodius].

86.19 (87.-3) int
Unus tu dominus, unus aestimator, unus venditor tota in provincia per triennium frumenti omnis fuisti.

You alone were owner, appraiser, and vendor of all the province's corn for three years.

90.1 bea
''Mitto aurum coronarium quod te diutissime torsit, cum modo velles, modo nolles. Lex enim generi tui et decerni et te accipere vetabat nisi decreto triumpho. In quo tu acceptam iam et devoratam pecuniam, ut in Achaeorum centum talentis, evomere non poteras, vocabula tantum pecuniarum et genera mutabas.''

I pass over the gold for the crown which tormented you so interminably, whether to accept or refuse. For your own son-in-law's law forbade it to be decreed or accepted in the absence of a triumph. Once you had already accepted and consumed the money, as with the hundred talents of the Achaeans, you could not regurgitate it, so you merely edited the language and kinds of the sums awarded.

90.7 int/lan
Mitto diplomata tota in provincia passim data, mitto numerum navium summamque praedae, mitto rationem exacti imperatique frumenti, mitto ereptam libertatem populis ac singulis qui erant adfecti praemiis nominatim, quorum nihil est quod non sit lege Iulia ne fieri liceat sanctum diligenter.

I pass over the licenses casually given throughout the province; I pass over the number of your ships and the sum of your booty; I pass over your method of exacting and demanding corn; I pass over the liberties stolen from peoples and individuals who nominally received them as rewards. All of these are expressly forbidden by the law of Julius.

91.12 (92.-4) bea
neque ullam poenam, quae tanto facinori deberetur, non maluisti subire quam quemquam numerum tuorum militum reliquiasque recognoscere.

No other punishment for such great crimes did you prefer to avoid more than to review the number of your soldiers and the remnants of your army.

94.8 bea
Ecquid vides, ecquid sentis, lege iudiciaria lata, quos posthac iudices simus habituri?

Do you anticipate, do you perceive, what jurors we are likely to have, now that the judicial law has passed?

95.1 int
Equidem, ut paulo ante dixi, non eadem supplicia esse in hominibus existimo quae fortasse plerique, damnationes, expulsiones, neces; denique nullam mihi poenam videtur habere id quod accidere innocenti, quod forti, quod sapienti, quod bono viro et civi potest.

Indeed, as I said just before, I do not consider the usual penalties of censure, expulsion, or death to be punishments at all; more, I see no punishment in what could happen to the innocent, to the brave, to the wise, or to a good man and citizen.

95.6 lan
Damnatio ista quae in te flagitatur obtigit P. Rutilio, quod specimen habuit haec civitas innocentiae: maior mihi iudicum et rei publicae poena illa visa est quam Rutili.

The punishment demanded from your trial also touched Publius Rutilius, whom the state held up as a paragon of innocence. This seems to me a greater condemnation of his jury and the government than of Rutilius himself.

97.14 (98.-7) lan
Sin autem aliquid speraveras, si cogitaras id quod imperatoris nomen, quod laureati fasces, quod illa tropaea plena dedecoris et risus te commentatum esse declarant, quis te miserior, quis te damnatior, qui neque scribere ad senatum a te bene rem publicam esse gestam neque praesens dicere ausus es?

But if you had hoped for something, if you had aspired for that which the name of Imperator, your laureled fasces, and those trophies full disgrace and mockery prove you dreamed of, then who is more abominable, who more utterly condemned than yourself, who dared not write the senate to say you had managed the republic well, nor to say so in person?

99.10 lan
Qua re si tibi evenerit quod metuis ne accidat, equidem non moleste feram; sin id tardius forte fiet, fruar tamen tua indignitate, nec te minus libenter metuentem videbo ne reus fias quam reum, nec minus laetabor cum te semper sordidum, quam si paulisper sordidatum viderem.

If what you fear actually happens to you, I can live with that; but if by chance justice is delayed, still I should celebrate your indignity; no less happily will I see you in fear of impeachment than if it actually comes to be; no less will I rejoice to see you always pitiful than to see you pretending for a while.