Primus haec tertio consulatu Cn. Pompeius adstrinxit, imposuitque veluti frenos eloquentiae, ita tamen ut omnia in foro, omnia legibus, omnia apud praetores gererentur: apud quos quanto maiora negotia olim exerceri solita sint, quod maius argumentum est quam quod causae centumvirales, quae nunc primum obtinent locum, adeo splendore aliorum iudiciorum obruebantur ut neque Ciceronis neque Caesaris neque Bruti neque Caelii neque Calvi, non denique ullius magni oratoris liber apud centumviros dictus legatur,
It was Gnaeus Pompeius who, in his third consulship, first introduced limitations in regard to these matters. He may be said to have curbed eloquence with bit and bridle, without however cancelling the provision that everything should be done in court, according to law, and before a praetor. The best proof you can have of the greater importance of the cases dealt with by the praetors in former days is the fact that actions before the centumviral court, which are now considered to outrank all others, used to be so much overshadowed by the prestige of other tribunals that there is not a single speech, delivered before that court, that is read today, either by Cicero, or by Caesar, or by Brutus, or by Caelius, or by Calvus, or in fact by any orator of rank.
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