And, of course, Clodius’ hardly “prosecuted” Cicero; he passed a law of questionable authority decreeing ex post facto punishment for executions without trial. This wasn’t because he was offended by Cicero’s executions without trial; it was because he was offended that Cicero had rather publicly and rather loudly implied via repeated pun that a) Clodius’ sister was “loose” and b) he (Clodius) had been sleeping with her. Maybe “pun” is the wrong word. I’m pretty sure he just says it outright a few times.

Regardless of motivation or whether the decree was unchallengably legal, the important parts are this: Cicero recognized that it had been passed in accordance with custom, and obeyed the order. He went into exile, and while he worked to have the decree revoked through back channels, he didn’t ignore it. If he didn’t expect to be punished, he accepted that he was.