Letter 5: Cicero writes to Quintus in Sardinia from Rome in 10 December 57 BC.

Written at Rome in the month of December, in the 697th year from the founding of the city [57 BC]. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greetings. 1. The letter you have read I had dispatched in the morning; but Licinius did the courteous thing in coming to me in the evening, after the senate had been dismissed, so that, if anything had been transacted, I might write you a full account of it, if I saw fit. The senate was more crowded than we had thought possible in the month of December, just before the festival days. Of the consulars there were ourselves and the two consuls-designate, Publius Servilius, Marcus Lucullus, Lepidus, Volcatius, Glabrio, and the praetors. We were a truly full house: about two hundred in all. Lupus had aroused expectation: he pleaded the case of the Campanian land [public land in Campania that Caesar's agrarian law had distributed] with real thoroughness; he was heard in deep silence. You are not unaware of the substance of the matter: he passed over none of our own pleadings. There were a number of barbs aimed at Caesar, insults against Gellius, and reproaches addressed to the absent Pompey. Having concluded his case at a late hour, he declared that he would not call for our votes, so as not to impose upon us the burden of a personal feud: from the abuse of earlier times and from the present silence he said he understood what the senate felt. Milo spoke. He [Lupus] began to dismiss the house. Then Marcellinus said, "Do not judge, Lupus, from our silence what at this moment we approve or disapprove: as far as I am concerned, and likewise, I think, the rest, I am silent for this reason, that I do not consider it fitting, while Pompey is absent, that the case of the Campanian land should be brought forward." Then Lupus said he would not detain the senate. 2. Racilius rose and began to bring forward the matter of the prosecutions; he called first, indeed, upon Marcellinus: he, after complaining gravely of the Clodian arson, massacres, and stonings, delivered his opinion that the praetor urbanus should himself allot the jurors, and that, once the allotment of jurors had been carried out, the elections should be held; and that whoever obstructed the trials would be acting against the commonwealth. When this opinion had been strongly approved, Gaius Cato spoke against it, and Gaius Cassius did too, amid the loudest outcry of the senate, since they were giving the elections precedence over the trials. 3. Philippus concurred with Lentulus. Afterward Racilius called upon me first among the private senators for my opinion: I spoke at length about the whole frenzy and brigandage of Publius Clodius; I accused him as though he were a defendant, amid many favorable murmurs from the entire senate. Antistius Vetus praised my speech in a fair number of words, and, by Hercules, not without eloquence, and he took up the cause of the trials, declaring that he would hold it of the very first importance. The house was moving toward that opinion: then Clodius, being called upon, began to use up the day by speaking; he was in a fury at having been harried by Racilius defiantly and wittily. Then his hirelings suddenly raised a fairly loud shout from the Graecostasis [a platform near the senate house where foreign envoys stood] and the steps, incited, I suppose, against Quintus Sextilius and the friends of Milo: that alarm having been struck into us, we suddenly broke up amid loud complaints from all. You have the doings of a single day: the rest, as I think, will be put off to the month of January. Of the tribunes of the plebs we have by far the best in Racilius; Antistius too seems likely to be a friend to us; for Plancius is entirely ours. See to it, if you love me, that you sail with consideration and care concerning the month of December.

The letter which you have already read I had sent off in the morning. But Licinius was polite enough to call on me in the evening after the senate had risen, that, in case of any business having been done there, I might, if I thought good, write an account of it to you. The senate was fuller than I had thought possible in the month of December just before the holidays. Of us consulars there were P. Servilius, M. Lucullus, Lepidus, Volcatius, Glabrio: the two consuls-designate; the praetors. We were a really full house: two hundred in all. Lupus had excited some interest. He raised the question of the Campanian land in considerable detail. He was listened to in profound silence. You are not unaware what material that subject affords. He omitted none of the points which I had made in this business. There were some sharp thrusts at Caesar, some denunciations of Gellius, some appeals to the absent Pompey. After concluding his speech at a late hour, he said that he would not ask for our votes lest he might burden us with a personal controversy; he quite understood the sentiments of the senate from the denunciations of past times and the silence on the present occasion. Milo spoke. Lupus begins the formula of dismissal, when Marcellinus says: "Don't infer from our silence, Lupus, what we approve or disapprove of at this particular time. As far as I am concerned, and I think it is the same with the rest, I am only silent because I do not think it suitable that the case of the Campanian land should be debated in Pompey's absence." Then Lupus said that he would not detain the senate. Racilius rose and began bringing before the house the case of the pro-posed prosecutions. He calls upon Marcellinus, of course, first; who, after complaining in serious tones of the Clodian incendiaries, massacres, and stonings, proposed a resolution that "Clodius himself should, under the superintendence of the praetor urbanus, have his jury allotted to him; that the elections should be held only when the allotment of jurors had been completed; that whoever stopped the trials would be acting against the interests of the state." The proposal having been received with warm approval, Gaius Cato—as did also Cassius—spoke against it, with very emphatic murmurs of disapprobation on the part of the senate, when he proposed to hold the elections before the trials. Philippus supported Lentulus. After that Racilius called on me first of the unofficial senators for my opinion. I made a long speech upon the whole story of P. Clodius's mad proceedings and murderous violence: I impeached him at considerable length, and, by Hercules with no little as though he were on his trial, amidst frequent murmurs of approbation from the whole senate. My speech was praised oratorical skill by Antistius Vetus, who also supported the priority of the legal proceedings, and declared that he should consider it of the first importance. The senators were crossing the floor in support of this view, when Clodius, being called on, began trying to talk out the sitting. He spoke in furious terms of having been attacked by Racilius in an unreasonable and discourteous manner. Then his roughs on the Graecostasis and the steps of the house suddenly raised a pretty loud shout, in wrath, I suppose, against Q. Sextilius and the other friends of Milo. At this sudden alarm we broke up with loud expressions of indignation on all sides. Here are the transactions of one day for you: the rest, I think, will be put off to January. Of all the tribunes I think Racilius is by far the best: Antistius also seems likely to be friendly to me: Plancius, of course, is wholly ours. Pray, if you love me, be careful and cautious about sailing in December.

I. Scr. Romae mense Decembri a.u.c. 697. MARCUS QUINTO FRATRI SALUTEM. 1. Epistulam, quam legisti, mane dederam; sed fecit humaniter Licinius, quod ad me misso senatu vesperi venit, ut, si quid esset actum, ad te, si mihi videretur, perscriberem. Senatus fuit frequentior, quam putaramus esse posse mense Decembri sub dies festos. Consulares nos fuimus et duo consules designati, P. Servilius, M. Lucullus, Lepidus, Volcatius, Glabrio, praetores. Sane frequentes fuimus: omnino ad CC. Commorat exspectationem Lupus: egit causam agri Campani sane accurate; auditus est magno silentio. Materiam rei non ignoras: nihil ex nostris actionibus praetermisit. Fuerunt nonnulli aculei in Caesarem, contumeliae in Gellium, expostulationes cum absente Pompeio. Causa sero perorata sententias se rogaturum negavit, ne quod onus simultatis nobis imponeret: ex superiorem temporum conviciis et ex praesenti silentio, quid senatus sentiret, se intelligere. Dixit Milo. Coepit dimittere. Tum Marcellinus, "noli," inquit, "ex taciturnitate nostra, Lupe, quid aut probemus hoc tempore aut improbemus, iudicare: ego, quod ad me attinet itemque, arbitror, ceteros, idcirco taceo, quod non existimo, cum Pompeius absit, causam agri Campani agi convenire." Tum ille se senatum negavit tenere. 2. Racilius surrexit et de iudiciis referre coepit; Marcellinum quidem primum rogavit: is cum graviter de Clodianis incendiis, trucidationibus, lapidationibus questus esset, sententiam dixit, ut ipse iudices per praetorem urbanum sortiretur, iudicum sortitione facta comitia haberentur; qui iudicia impedisset, eum contra rem publicam esse facturum. Approbata valde sententia C. Cato contra dixit et C. Cassius maxima acclamatione senatus, cum comitia iudiciis anteferrent. 3. Philippus assensit Lentulo. Postea Racilius de privatis me primum sententiam rogavit: multa feci verba de toto furore latrocinioque P. Clodii; tamquam reum accusavi multis et secundis admurmurationibus cuncti senatus. Orationem meam collaudavit satis multis verbis, non mehercule indiserte, Vetus Antistius, isque iudiciorum causam suscepit antiquissimamque se habiturum dixit. Ibatur in eam sententiam: tum Clodius rogatus diem dicendo eximere coepit; furebat a Racilio se contumaciter urbaneque vexatum. Deinde eius operae repente a Graecostasi et gradibus clamorem satis magnum sustulerunt, opinor, in Q. Sextilium et amicos Milonis incitatae: eo metu iniecto repente magna querimonia omnium discessimus. Habes acta unius diei: reliqua, ut arbitror, in mensem Ianuarium reiicientur. De tribunis pl. longe optimum Racilium habemus; videtur etiam Antistius amicus nobis fore; nam Plancius totus noster est. Fac, si me amas, ut considerate diligenterque navies de mense Decembri.