But when the courts were finally revived in the year 80, Cicero soon appeared in the defense of Roscius, whom no speaker of distinction had dared defend because a creature of Sulla had suborned the attack upon him. We may freely admit that Cicero did not take this case in order to reveal the venality of Sulla’s régime. He would have betrayed his client if he had used this opportunity to attack Sulla, for he spoke before a jury of senators. It is of course quite apparent that if up to this time Cicero had been an outspoken opponent of the aristocracy, the friends of Roscius would not have risked employing him in the presence of that jury. But it is equally certain that Cicero would not have taken a case that was sure to lead to the exposure of Sulla’s favorite, Chrysogonus, if he had been a confirmed follower of Sulla. In the speech he made one definite statement of his political sympathies: “Those who know me, know ... that, after the peaceful settlement, which I especially desired, could not be consummated, I favored the victory of the side that has conquered.” This admission, that Sulla was not his first choice, made before a jury of senators at a time when few men dared speak against Sulla, can hardly be used to prove Cicero a supporter of Sulla. It is in fact clear evidence that his disapproval of Sulla’s use of military force was so well known that it had to be admitted in court and, for the sake of his client, excused so far as possible by an emphasis upon a later course of acquiescence. The peroration of the speech, a very courageous exposure of the brutalities of the Sullan régime, which gives evidence of a keen insight into social psychology, proves that Cicero fully understood the evils of the dictatorship. There is not one among you who does not comprehend that the Roman people, formerly humane even in the treatment of enemies, is now suffering from a wave of cruelty here at home.... This not only has resulted in the utterly brutal murder of many citizens, but has destroyed in our people, once so compassionate, the capacity to feel any pity.[3] When we consider these two passages in connection with the fact that Cicero—without pay of course—took a case which none of the distinguished men of his day dared touch, we can only reach the conclusion that Cicero’s aversion to Sulla and his crew was at this time the dominant influence in his life. This does not indeed prove Cicero a democrat, but it does go far to explain why Cicero did not for the next sixteen years reveal any sympathy for the senatorial cause, and why during that period he frequently criticizes Sulla and his policies,[4] while mentioning the Gracchi in terms of high praise.[5] Cicero was still a moderate liberal.