There is, therefore, no pretence for
your separating me from so numerous a company of most honourable men. Duty is a plain thing, and
the cause of all men is one and the same. You will have no reason to marvel hereafter, whenever
you see me on the same side as you observe these men. For there is no side in the republic in
which I have a peculiar and exclusive property. The time for acting did belong more peculiarly
to me than to the others but the cause of indignation, and fear, and danger was common to us
all. Nor, indeed, could I have been at that time as I was the chief man in providing for the
safety of the state if others had been unwilling to be my companions. Wherefore it is inevitable
that that which, when I was consul, belonged to me especially above all other men, should, now
that I am a private individual, belong to me in common with the rest. Nor do I say this for the
sake of sharing my unpopularity with others, but rather with the object of allowing them to
partake of my praises. I will give a share of my burden to no one;
“You gave evidence against Autronius,” says he, “and you are defending Sulla.” All this, O judges, has this object to prove that if I am an inconstant and fickle-minded man, my evidence ought not to be credited, and my defence ought not to carry any authority with it. But if there is found in me a proper consideration for the republic, a scrupulous regard to my duty, and a constant desire to retain the good-will of virtuous men, then there is nothing which an accuser ought less to say than that Sulla is defended by me, but that Autronius was injured by my evidence against him. For I think that I not only carry with me zeal in defending causes, but also that my deliberate opinion has some weight; which, however, I will use with moderation, O judges, and I would not have used it at all if he had not compelled me.