TRANSLATION OF SECTION 5
As for your objection that the young man was disapproved of by his fellow townsmen, the Praetuttians never paid higher honours to anyone while he was with them than to Marcus Caelius while he was not: even while he was absent, they enlisted him in the most distinguished body in the town. Without his asking they conferred on him honours which they refused to many who did so ask. In the same way they have now sent eminent fellow-senators of mine and Roman knights to attend this trial and speak his praises in the weightiest and most eloquent terms.
I believe I have laid the foundations of my defence. If it rests on the judgment of his peers, it is rock solid. If this young man were displeasing not only to such a one as his father but also to a community so outstanding and important, you would consider him of insufficient merit.