Contra M. Antonius ille disertus'non enim respuendo sed amplectendo causae dictionem quam innocens esset testatus est', quaestor proficiscens in Asiam, Brundisium iam pervenerat; ubi litteris certior incesti se postulatum apud L. Cassium praetorem, cuius tribunal propter nimiam severitatem scopulus reorum dicebatur, cum id vitare beneficio legis Memmiae liceret, quae eorum qui rei publicae causa abessent recipi nomina vetabat, in urbem tamen recurrit.
Contrariwise the eloquent M. Antonius, for he attested his innocence not by indignantly refusing to plead his case but by welcoming the opportunity. On his way out to Asia as Quaestor he had already got to Brundisium when he was informed by letter that he had been accused of impurity before Praetor L. Cassius, whose tribunal was called reef of defendants because of his excessive severity. Although he could have avoided the case by benefit of the Memmian law under which persons absent on public business could not be prosecuted, he nevertheless hastened back to Rome.
final_alignments\Valerius_Memorable_Book3.json