Reposting an anecdote I shared a few months ago that people seemed to like:
Toward the end of 63 BC, Rome was caught up in a crisis known as the Catilinarian Conspiracy. It's a very complex period that's difficult to adequately summarize, but basically, there was a populist leader named Catiline who attempted to become consul. However, he was opposed by Cicero and the conservative faction of the Senate, and so he supposedly took up arms against Rome and conspired to march on the city, murder the Senate, and overthrow the Republic.
Obviously, this was a major deal, especially since the Senate had implicated a number of prominent members of the Roman aristocracy in the conspiracy. Cicero and his compatriots favored executing these conspirators without trial, but Caesar opposed the measure because of the laws it broke and the precedent it would set, and recommended they be exiled or imprisoned for life instead. Caesar's argument seemed like it was going to carry the day, but Cato the Younger stood up and accused Caesar of being in cahoots with the conspirators, and they engaged in a really heated, protracted debate.
During the debate, a messenger came in and handed Caesar a letter, which he read silently. Cato was convinced that it was a letter from the conspirators, which would implicate Caesar, so he demanded that Caesar read the letter aloud. Caesar demurred, but Cato insisted, so Caesar handed him the letter and told him that he could read it aloud if he wished.
Turns out it was a lascivious love letter from Caesar's lover, Servilia Caepionis (who, in case you didn't know, was Cato's half-sister). Cato, ever the stiff moralist, started sputtering, threw the letter back at Caesar, and shouted, "Take it, you drunkard!"
The Romans were a fun bunch.
Plutarch, The Life of Cato the Younger 24.1-2
EDIT: OP, you should really read up on the Catilinarian Conspiracy. It featured a number of very intense Senate debates, and two of Cicero's four famous Catilinarian Orations were delivered to the Senate during this time. It's really a fascinating time in Roman history.