SILIUS.
Cæsar, I crave to have my cause deferr’d,
Till this man’s consulship be out.
TIBERIUS.
We cannot,
Nor may we grant it.
SILIUS.
Why? shall he design
My day of trial? Is he my accuser,
And must he be my judge?
TIBERIUS.
It hath been usual,
And is a right that custom hath allow’d
The magistrate, to call forth private men;
And to appoint their day: which privilege
We may not in the consul see infringed,
By whose deep watches, and industrious care
It is so labour’d, as the common-wealth
Receive no loss, by any oblique course.
SILIUS.
Cæsar, thy fraud is worse than violence.
TIBERIUS.
Silius, mistake us not, we dare not use
The credit of the consul to thy wrong;
But only to preserve his place and power,
So far as it concerns the dignity
And honour of the state.
ARRUNTIUS.
Believe him, Silius.
COTTA.
Why, so he may, Arruntius.
ARRUNTIUS.
I say so.
And he may choose too.
TIBERIUS.
By the Capitol,
And all our gods, but that the dear republic,
Our sacred laws, and just authority
Are interess’d therein, I should be silent.