8.
Cicero's defence divides into three parts.
1
In the first
(§§
37-42) he examines the accusation, and shows its entire
groundlessness and the want of any corroborative evidence. An English counsel
for the defence who had done this, would have done all that was necessary.
2
But Cicero goes further: in the second part of the speech (§§
83-123) he
turns from defence to attack, and shows, from the life and character of Magnus,
and the incidents preceding the murder, how clearly facts pointed to Magnus and
Capito themselves as the authors of the crime. In the third part
(§§
124-150) he even attacks Chrysogonus directly, and
depicts with deep indignation the flagrant misuse which he had made of his
power, both on other occasions and especially in the purchase of the property
and in his heartless behaviour towards the accused.
Cicero's boldness and courage were rewarded by the acquittal
3 of his client;
a result which we may conjecture that Sulla himself saw without displeasure,
4
since if such horrors had been palliated, the stability of his own institutions
might have been threatened.
5 We do not know whether a
restitutio
bonorum ensued, nor whether after the acquittal of Sextus an accusation was
brought against Magnus and Capito. But neither is probable. With the fear of
the dictator's wrath before him, Cicero must have been well contented to have
effected his client's acquittal on a dangerous charge, without wishing to
attempt more.
9.
Though the speech is one of Cicero's youthful performances it has been
justly held in the highest estimation both among the ancients and in later
times, and has won the young orator well-earned fame
6 for the courage and tact
with which he conducted a just cause under the greatest difficulties. It is
true that in several places the style is youthfully overladen and strained :
7
the periods are not so rounded and full, nor the transitions so natural and
unaffected, as in his later works; there are many peculiarities in the diction
which are not to be found in the later speeches, though some of them are
certainly due to incorrect transmission. But these individual defects are amply
compensated for by the good impression which the speech makes as a whole. The
deep conviction of the justice of his cause animates and exalts the young
orator. None of his statements represent him as serving the interests of one
party, or merely playing the advocate. He faces his abandoned opponents with
manly boldness; and though he has indeed the prudence to avoid
anything that might offend the all-powerful dictator, his consciousness of
right makes him utterly regardless of the power of the faction to which his
opponents belong, and contemptuous of their scoffs and threats. The moral
indignation which speaks from every line of the speech must have made all the
deeper impression on his hearers in the forum because of the length of time
during which the voice of justice and truth had been silenced under the
pressure of brute force.
