[163]
You have said, “that there is a man
named Ennius, whose property Habitus is in possession of.” This Ennius is a needy
man, a bumper-up of false accusations, a hired tool of Oppianicus; who for many years remained
quiet; then at last he accused a slave of Habitus of theft; lately, he began to claim things
from Habitus himself. By that private proceeding, he will not (believe me), though we may
perhaps be his advocates, escape calumny. And also, as it is reported to us, you suborn an
entertainer of many guests, a certain Aulus Binnius, an innkeeper on the Latin road, to say
that violence was offered to him in his own tavern by Aulus Cluentius and his slaves. But
about that man I have no need at present to say anything. If he invited them, as is commonly
the case, we will treat the man so as to make him sorry for having gone out of his way.
