[229] Liberty of speaking--_Potestatem_. "Potestatem loquendi."
_Cyprianus Popma_. As it did not appear that he spoke the truth, the
pledge which the senate had given him, _on condition that he spoke the
truth_, went for nothing; he was not allowed to continue his evidence,
and was sent to prison.

[230] As was his custom--_More suo_. Plutarch, in his Life of Crassus,
relates that frequently when Pompey, Caesar, and Cicero, had refused
to undertake the defense of certain persons, as being unworthy of
their support, Crassus would plead in their behalf; and that he thus
gained great popularity among the common people.

[231] XLIX. Piso, as having been attacked by him, when he was on,
etc.--_Piso oppugnatus in judicio repetundarum propter cujusdam
Transpadani supplicium injustum_. Such is the reading and punctuation
of Cortius. Some editions insert _pecuniarum_ before _repetundarum_,
and some a comma after it. I have interpreted the passage in
conformity with the explanation of Kritzius, which seems to me the
most judicious that has been offered. _Oppugnatus_, says he, is
equivalent to _gravitur vexatus_, or violently assailed; and Piso was
thus assailed by Caesar on account of his unjust execution of the
Gaul; the words _in judicio repetundarum_ merely mark the time when
Caesar's attack was made. While he was on his trial for one thing, he
was attacked by Caesar for another. Gerlach, observing that the words
_in judicio_ are wanting in one MS., would emit them, and make
_oppugnatus_ govern _pecuniarum repetundarum_, as if it were
_accusatus_; a change which would certainly not improve the passage.
The Galli Transpadani seem to have been much attached to Caesar; see
Cic. Ep. ad Att., v. 2; ad Fam. xvi. 12.