>Mr. Binger, how much does your suit cost? Five hundred dollars? A thousand? That's a lot of money for a man making sixty-six thousand a year with a family to provide for. Trust me, I've been there. When I started working in the law courts of Rome, my first toga cost me two hundred sesterces, and I was only making fifty sesterces a week at the time.
>What I'm trying to get at, Mr. Binger, is that I had a colleague at the time, his name was Gaius Fulvius. Like me, he was making fifty sesterces a week, and he wanted more. We all did. One day a case came in. Some kid with a gladius killed someone trying to attack him in a used chariot sales lot during a riot after the vigiles beat someone to death. Problem is, the guy he killed was a Judean, and the emperor really wanted a conviction.
>Well, Mr. Binger, my friend Gaius Fulvius took the case. He wanted more than fifty sesterces a week, he wanted to win the next election and become an aedile, and then maybe a praetor, and after that, who knows? The case was bad, but boy did he want a toga with proper Tyrian purple, not the fake stuff, and the Greek slaves to pour his wine.
>What do you think happened next? Of course, he botched the case. It was impossible for him to win, and it got so bad that the magistrate shouted at him in court several times, just like I did today, when he tried all kings of tricks to get around the Roman constitution. When he lost and the kid with the gladius got off Caledonian-free, the emperor was not happy. I won't go into the details, but let's just say that the lions at the coliseum ate well that night.
>And that brings me back to you, Mr. Binger. Don't go down this road like my friend Gaius Fulvius did. Nothing good comes from it. Earn your fifty sesterces a week like an honest man, and in time you'll find all kings of senatorial appointments come your way. Don't sell your soul, just have it held in trust until the second coming, like I did. Now, lets bring the jury back in
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