II. causis . . . causae, reasons . . . case. This figure of speech, cum continenter unum verbum non eadem sententia ponitur (Cic. Orat. 135), was named πλοκή or ἀντιμετάθεσις by the rhetoricians. Cf. § 28, ut ad eam rem aliquem accusatorem veterem compararent, qui de ea re posset dicere aliquid, in qua re, etc. ; § 149, causam mihi tradidit, quem sua causa cupere intellegebat ; § 7, peto . . . vitam ne petat. Auct. ad Herenn. IV. 21, "Cur eam rem tam studiose curas, quae multas tibi dabit curas?" "Nam amari iucundum est, si curetur, ne quid insit amari." "Veniam ad vos, si mihi senatus det veniam."
unus, rather than anyone else = unus praeter ceteros.
qui . . . possem, in a generic sense as the one man left, such as could . . . (Sonnenschein, New Grammar 335).
et fortunis : frequently joined with capite, as here ; since capital trials involved, as a rule, partial or entire loss of property. The phrase here seems used only formally, to avoid mentioning the poena cullei (Introd. § 10); and §§ 128, 143, show that Cicero did not mean to enter on a dimicatio de fortunis
causam dicere: said alike of the reus (§§ 13, 56, 82, 85) and of the patronus causae (here and § 12).
eius rei; sc. the fact that they held in their possession the property of the murdered man. On ab accusatoribus, see Introd. note 49.
quae sunt, which are worth. Supply the abl. centenis milibus sestertium.
de viro, as representative of the State. In historical language Cicero would not have said de L. Sulla bona emit; but the words, which he puts with bitter irony into the mouth of Chrysogonus, point to Sulla as the authorizer of the purchase, and to the sale sub hasta, as of State property, Introd. note 23. Cf. Verr. 2.3.81 : Unus adhuc fuit post Romam conditam, cui respublica se totam traderet, L. Sulla Hic tantum potuit, ut nemo illo invito nec bona nec patriam nec vitam retinere posset; tantum animi habuit ad audaciam, ut dicere in contione non dubitaret, bona civium Romanorum cum venderet, se praedam suam vendere. The phrase emere de aliquo is as frequent as ab aliquo.
honoris causa nomino (the opposite to contumeliae causa nominare, Verr. 1.18) was a formula used in mentioning a living person of distinction, indirectly connected with the matter in hand, in order to preclude any idea that the speaker would allow himself to make a derogatory allusion to him. Cf. §§ 15, 27, de Imp. Pomp. 58, and esp. § 47 below, homines notos sumere odiosum est, cum et illud incertum sit, velintne ii sese nominari
nummum, Introd. § 3.
vel, perhaps.
L. Cornelius, Introd. note 13.
pecuniam, the entire property = patrimonium. "Pecuniam dicit universitatem rei familiaris," Schol. Cf. §§ 7, 15, 23, 26, 86, 110, 128.
invaserit, ironically for invasit, implying that Chrysogonus himself gave that reason for the request. Since, as he says, he has seized upon, etc. Cf. quod adeptus est, below, indicative.
obstare atque officere, i.e. bars his way to it, hinders his enjoyment of it. The same words are in §§ 112, 145. Cf., on the other hand, § 6 sub fin., adiutores ad hanc praedam.
damnato et eiecto, condemned, and hence thrust out (of his property). Cf. § 23, eicit domo atque focis, and § 27. Loss of property would be, not the regular penalty of a condemnation for parricide, but a sure consequence of it. Others supply de civitate with eiecto, since Sex. Roscius, if he foresaw his condemnation, could go into exile before sentence was passed.
per scelus, i.e. by having the late owner's name placed on the proscription list : Introd. § 3.
id per luxuriam effundere, sarcastically for id tuto habere.
qui se pungit, instead of the regular forms eum pungit or se pungat. The relative clause qui se . . . pungit seems to form a part of and coalesce with the main sentence, = se pungentem. Examples, which are rare in Cicero, occur chiefly in his later writings : cf. de Inv. 1.55, Epaminondas ei qui sibi ex lege praetor successerat (= successori suo) exercitum non tradidit. Verr. 2. 5, 128, Dexo hic non quae privatim sibi eripuisti . . . flagitat. Hor. Sat. 1.1. 1, Qui fit, Maecenas, ut nemo, quam sibi sortem seu ratio dederit seu fors obiecerit, illa contenti vivat? Madvig, § 490, Obs. 3.
ut evellatis postulat, ut, ut . . . ut are in different senses; asks you to pluck out . . . in order that you may profess yourselves . . .
[ 7] si . . . videtur, ironical: the sense is, 'If you consider that to be a fair and honourable demand, I will in my turn bring a demand before you, and a much fairer one.
nostris. Cicero frequently identifies himself with his clicnt : cf. § 32, patrem meum, etc. ; see note.
petat: see § 5, note; and cf. § 21, impetum facit.
et in causa. Et is very rare with the third member in a series : here the first two, being in antithesis with each other, may be regarded as forming one. Or the third is the resultant of the first two (Richter).
