Quae nisi quaesita erunt, nisi vindicatum in noxios, quid erit reliquum, nisi ut illis, qui ea fecere, obedientes vivamus? Nam impune quaelibet facere, id est regem[202] esse. Neque ego vos, Quirites, hortor, ut malitis cives vestros perperam quam recte fecisse, sed ne ignoscendo malis bonos perditum eatis.[203] Ad hoc in re publica multo praestat beneficii quam maleficii immemorem esse;[204] bonus tantummodo segnior fit, ubi neglegas, at malus improbior. Ad hoc si injuriae non sint, haud saepe auxilii egeas.' [181] _Dehortantur a vobis_--that is, _ad causam vestram suscipiendam_, 'many things dissuade me to undertake your cause.' According to the context, the expression might, or rather should be, _multa me dehortantur, ni superaret_; but the present represents the act of _superare_ as an actual fact, and is at the same time more impressive. [182] The number XV., which is found in all good manuscripts, points to the year B. C. 125, in which the aristocracy gained a decisive victory through the praetor L. Opimius, who destroyed the town of Fregellae, and thereby crushed the first attempt of the Italian allies (_socii_) to obtain the Roman franchise. It may be supposed that this attempt of the allies was even then supported by the Roman plebs, as was the case afterwards in the time of Marius. [183] _Ab ignavia_ is to be taken in the sense of 'in consequence of,' or 'on account of your cowardice.' See Zumpt, S 305. [184] 'When your political enemies (in consequence of the crime which they have committed) are deserving of punishment, and in your hands.' [185] _Animus subigit_. 'My feelings compel me to stand out against the faction (of the optimates), in spite of your lukewarmness.' [186] _Ob rem_, 'effectually,' 'with success.' [187] 'They must ruin themselves.' [188] 'I will grant that everything has been done with justice, which cannot be punished without again shedding the blood of citizens;' that is, the cruelties then committed by the optimates in crushing Tib. and G. Gracchus may be considered as legitimate, since the perpetrators cannot be punished without fresh executions. _Ulciscor_, usually a deponent, is here used in a passive sense, just as the participle _ultus_ is sometimes used in the sense of _vindicatus_. For the same reason, the passive form _nequitur_ has been chosen; respecting which, see Zumpt, S 216. [189] _Parum habuere_, 'they considered it too little' (this is the meaning of _parum_): it was not enough for them that they had committed such disgraceful acts. [190] _Incedere per ora hominum_, 'to walk in the eyes' or 'in the sight of men.' [191] 'The cruelties committed against the defenders of the plebs, serve them as a bulwark;' that is, make them only the more audacious. [192] About _quam maxime--tam maxime_, expressing a proportionate increase, see Zumpt, S 725.