for him those words had not been spoken in that form
in the court; for he would not be eating such fine mullets in Massilia
(where he was passing his exile), if any such defence had been made.
This he wrote, not because he was pleased with his circumstances,--he
made many ventures to secure his return,--but as a joke on Cicero,
because after saying nothing important at the time of the defence he
later both practiced and sent to him these fruitless words, as if they
could now be of any service to him.

[-55-] In this way Milo was convicted; and so were Rufus and Plancus, as
soon as they had finished their term of office, together with numerous
others on account of the burning of the senate-house. Plancus was not
even benefited by Pompey, who was so earnest in his behalf that he sent
to the court a volume containing both a eulogy of the prisoner and a
supplication for him. Marcus Cato, who was eligible to sit as a juryman,
said he would not allow the eulogizer to destroy his own laws. But he
got no opportunity to cast his vote; for Plancus rejected him, feeling
sure that he would give his voice for condemnation: (by the laws of
Pompey each of the parties to a suit was allowed to set aside five out
of the number that were to judge him;) the other jurors, however, voted
against him, especially as it did not seem right to them after they had
condemned Rufus to acquit Plancus, who was on trial on the same charge.
And when they saw Pompey cooeperating with him, they showed the more zeal
against him, for fear they might be thought to be absolute slaves of his
rather than jurymen. It should be said that on this occasion, too,
Cicero accused Plancus no better than he had defended Milo: for the
appearance of the courtroom was the same, and Pompey in each case was
planning and acting against him,--a circumstance that naturally led to a
second collision between them.

[-56-] After attending to these matters Pompey revived the law about
elections (which had fallen somewhat into disuse) commanding those who
seek an office to present themselves without fail before the assembly,
so that no one who is absent may be chosen. He also confirmed the
ordinance, passed a short time previously, that those who had held
office in the city should not be allotted to foreign governorships
before five years had passed. He was not ashamed at this time to record
such measures, although a little later he himself took Spain for five
years more and grante