24. Salassus escaped, and, not knowing what to do with himself, came back to the city by night, thinking that the danger had mostly passed away. His house had been sold. The janitor, who had been sold with the house, was the only one who recognized him, and he received him in his room, promising to conceal him and feed him as well as he could. Salassus told the janitor to call his wife from her own house. She pretended to be very desirous to come, but to be fearful of the night and distrustful of her servants, and said that she would come at daybreak. When daylight came she went for the murderers. The janitor, because she was delaying, ran to her house to hasten her coming. When the janitor went out Salassus feared that he had gone to lay a plot against him, and went up to the roof to watch what would happen. Seeing that it was not the janitor but his wife who was bringing the murderers, he precipitated himself from the roof. Fulvius fled to the house of a female servant, who had been his mistress, and to whom he had given freedom and a dowry on her marriage. Although she had been so well treated by him she betrayed him on account of jealousy of the woman whom Fulvius had married after his relations with her. Let these serve as examples of depraved women.
24. Σάλασσος δὲ ἐκφυγών τε καὶ ἀπορούμενος ἧκε μὲν ἐς πόλιν νυκτός, ὅτε μάλιστα ἔδοξεν ἀμβλύνεσθαι τὸ δεινόν, πεπραμένης δὲ τῆς οἰκίας μόνος αὐτὸν ὁ θυρωρὸς τῇ οἰκίᾳ συμπεπραμένος ἐπέγνω καὶ ἐς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ οἴκημα ὑπεδέχετο καὶ κρύψειν ἐπηγγέλλετο καὶ θρέψειν, ἐξ ὧν ἐδύνατο. ὁ δὲ τὴν γυναῖκά οἱ καλέσαι προσέταξεν ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνης οἰκίας. ἡ δʼ ὑποκριναμένη μὲν ἐλθεῖν ἐπείγεσθαι, δεδιέναι δʼ ὡς ἐν νυκτὶ καὶ θεραπαίναις τὸ ὕποπτον, μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἥξειν ἔφη. καὶ γενομένης ἡμέρας ἡ μὲν τοὺς σφαγέας μετῄει, καὶ ὁ θυρωρὸς αὐτὴν ὡς βραδύνουσαν ἐς τὴν οἰκίαν ἀπέτρεχεν ἐπείξων· ὁ δὲ Σάλασσος, οἰχομένου τοῦ θυρωροῦ δείσας ὡς ἐς ἐνέδραν ἀπιόντος, ἐς τὸ τέγος ἀναδραμὼν ἐκαραδόκει τὸ γιγνόμενον, ἰδὼν δὲ οὐ τὸν θυρωρόν, ἀλλὰ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῖς σφαγεῦσιν ἡγουμένην ἔρριψεν ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ τέγους. Φούλβιον δὲ ἐς θεραπαίνης φυγόντα παλλακευθείσης τε αὐτῷ καὶ ἀπηλευθερωμένης καὶ προῖκα ἐς γάμον ἐπιλαβούσης, ἡ τοσάδε εὖ παθοῦσα προύδωκε ζηλοτυπίᾳ τῆς μεθʼ ἑαυτὴν τῷ Φουλβίῳ γεγαμημένης.
25. Statius, the Samnite, who had had great influence with the Samnites during the social war and who had been raised to the rank of a Roman senator for his noble deeds, his wealth, and his lineage, and who was now eighty years of age, was proscribed on account of his riches. He threw open his house to the people and to his own slaves to carry away whatever they pleased. He also scattered his property around with his own hand. When at last the house was empty he closed the doors, set fire to it, and perished, and the fire spread to many other parts of the city. Capito, through his half-opened door, for a long time resisted those who had been sent against him, killing them one by one. Finally, he was overpowered by numbers and slain after killing single-handed many of his assailants. Vetulinus assembled around Rhegium a large force of the proscribed and those who had fled with them, and others from the eighteen cities which had been promised as rewards of victory to the soldiers and who were indignant at such treatment. With these men Vetulinus slew the centurions who were scouting thereabouts, until a larger force was sent against him, and even then he did not desist, but passed over to Sicily and joined Sextus Pompeius, who had mastered that island and who received the fugitives. There he fought bravely until he was defeated in several engagements. Then he sent his son and the remainder of the proscribed who were with him to Messana, and when he saw that their boat was passing the straits he dashed upon the enemy and was cut in pieces.
25. τοσάδε μὲν δὴ καὶ γυναικῶν πονηρῶν ὑποδείγματα γεγράφθω· Στάτιος δὲ ὁ Σαυνίτης, πολλὰ Σαυνίταις ἐν τῷ συμμαχικῷ πολέμῳ κατειργασμένος, διὰ δὲ περιφάνειαν ἔργων καὶ διὰ πλοῦτον καὶ γένος ἐς τὸ Ῥωμαίων βουλευτήριον ἀνακεκλημένος, ὀγδοηκοντούτης ὢν ἤδη καὶ διὰ πλοῦτον προγεγραμμένος, ἀνεπέτασε τὴν οἰκίαν τῷ τε δήμῳ καὶ τοῖς θεράπουσιν ἐκφορεῖν, ὅσα θέλοιεν, τὰ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς διερρίπτει, μέχρι κεκενωμένης ἐπικλείσας ἐνέπρησε καὶ ἀπώλετο, καὶ τὸ πῦρ πολλὰ τῆς πόλεως ἄλλα ἐπενείματο. Καπίτων δὲ ἐς πολὺ τὰς θύρας ὑπανοίγων τοὺς ἐσβιαζομένους καθʼ ἕνα ἀνῄρει, ὑπὸ δὲ πολλῶν ἐπιβρισάντων εἷς ἀπέθανε πολλοὺς ἀποκτείνας. Οὐετουλῖνος δὲ χεῖρα ἤθροισε πολλὴν ἀμφὶ τὸ Ῥήγιον αὐτῶν τε τῶν προγεγραμμένων ἀνδρῶν καὶ ὅσοι συνέφευγον αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀκτωκαίδεκα πόλεων, αἳ τοῖς στρατοῖς ἐπινίκια ἐπηγγελμέναι πάνυ ἐδυσχέραινον. τούσδε οὖν ἔχων ὁ Οὐετουλῖνος ἀνῄρει τῶν λοχαγῶν τοὺς διαθέοντας, μέχρι πεμφθέντος ἐπʼ αὐτὸν στρατοῦ πλέονος οὐδʼ ὣς ἔληξεν, ἀλλʼ ἐς Σικελίαν πρὸς Πομπήιον, κρατοῦντά τε αὐτῆς καὶ τοὺς φεύγοντας ὑποδεχόμενον, ἐπέρασεν. εἶτα ἐπολέμει καρτερῶς, μέχρι πολλαῖς μάχαις ἡσσώμενος τὸν μὲν υἱὸν καὶ ὅσοι τῶν προγεγραμμένων ἄλλοι συνῆσαν, ἐπὶ Μεσσήνης ἔπεμψεν, αὐτὸς δέ, ὡς εἶδε πορθμευόμενον ἤδη τὸ σκάφος, ἐμπεσὼν τοῖς πολεμίοις κατεκόπη.
26. Naso, having been betrayed by a freedman who had been his favorite, snatched a sword from one of the soldiers, and, having killed his betrayer with it, surrendered himself to the murderers. A slave who was devoted to his master left the latter on a hill while he went to the sea-shore to hire a boat. On his return he found that his master had been killed, and while he was breathing his last the slave called out to him, “Wait a moment, my master.” whereupon he fell suddenly upon the centurion and slew him. Then he killed himself, saying to his master, “Now you have consolation.” Lucius placed his gold in the hands of his two most faithful freedmen and started for the seashore. They ran away with it, and he turned around, despairing of his life, and gave himself up to the murderers. Labienus, who had captured and killed many persons in the time of the proscription of Sulla, thought that he would be disgraced if he did not bear himself bravely under similar circumstances. So he.went to his front door, seated himself in a chair, and waited for the murderers. Cestius concealed himself in the fields among faithful slaves. When he saw centurions running hither and thither with weapons and the heads of the proscribed he could not endure the prolonged fear. He persuaded the slaves to light a funeral pyre, so that they might say that they were paying the last rites to the dead Cestius. They were deceived by him and lighted the pyre accordingly, whereupon he leaped into it. Aponius concealed himself securely, but, as he could not endure the meanness of his diet, he came forth and delivered himself to slaughter. Another proscript voluntarily seated himself in full view, and, as the murderers delayed their coming, he strangled himself in public.
26. Νάσων δὲ ὑπὸ ἐξελευθέρου, παιδικῶν οἱ γενομένου, προδοθεὶς ἥρπασε παρά του τῶν στρατιωτῶν ξίφος καὶ τὸν προδότην μόνον ἀποκτείνας ἑαυτὸν τοῖς σφαγεῦσιν ὑπέσχε. φιλοδέσποτος δὲ οἰκέτης τὸν κεκτημένον ἐπὶ λόφου ἐκάθισε καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ θάλασσαν ᾔει μισθωσόμενος αὐτῷ σκάφος. ἐπανιὼν δὲ κτεινόμενόν τε εἶδε τὸν δεσπότην καὶ ἀποψύχοντος ἤδη μέγα βοῶν ἐπίμεινον ἐς βραχύ, ὦ δέσποτα, εἶπε καὶ κτείνει τὸν λοχαγὸν ἐμπεσὼν ἄφνω. μετὰ δὲ ἐκεῖνον ἑαυτὸν ἐπαναιρῶν εἶπε τῷ δεσπότῃ· παραμύθιον ἔχεις. Λεύκιος δὲ δύο πιστοτάτοις ἀπελευθέροις χρυσίον δοὺς ἐπὶ θάλασσαν ᾔει, διαδράντων δὲ ἐκείνων ὑπέστρεψε καταγινώσκων τοῦ βίου καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐμήνυσε τοῖς σφαγεῦσι. Λαβιηνὸς δὲ ἐν ταῖς Σύλλα προγραφαῖς πολλοὺς τῶν τότε συλλαβών τε καὶ κτείνας ἠδόξησεν ἄρα, εἰ μὴ τὰ ὅμοια γενναίως ἐνέγκοι, καὶ προελθὼν τῆς οἰκίας ἐκαθέζετο ἐπὶ θρόνου τοὺς σφαγέας περιμένων. Κέστιος δὲ ἐν χωρίοις παρὰ εὐνόοις θεράπουσιν ἐκρύπτετο, λοχαγῶν δʼ αἰεὶ σὺν ὅπλοις ἢ κεφαλαῖς διαθεόντων οὐκ ἔφερε τὸ μῆκος τοῦ φόβου, ἀλλʼ ἔπεισε τοὺς θεράποντας ἅψαι πυράν, ἵνα ἔχοιεν λέγειν, ὅτι Κέστιον ἀποθανόντα θάπτοιεν. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐνεδρευθέντες ἧψαν, ὁ δὲ ἐσήλατο ἐς αὐτήν. Ἀπώνιος δὲ ἀσφαλῶς ἑαυτὸν ἐπικρύψας οὐκ ἤνεγκε τὴν πονηρίαν τῆς διαίτης, ἀλλὰ προήγαγεν ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν σφαγήν. ἄλλος ἐν φανερῷ καθῆστο ἑκὼν καὶ βραδυνόντων τῶν σφαγέων ἀπήγξατο ἐν μέσῳ.
27. Lucius, the father-in-law of Asinius, who was then consul, fled by sea, but, as he could not endure the anguish of the tempest, he leaped overboard. Sisinius fled from his pursuers, exclaiming that he was not proscribed, but that they had conspired against him on account of his money. They brought him to the proscription list and told him to read his name on it, and while he was reading killed him. Aemilius, not knowing that he was proscribed and seeing another man pursued, asked the pursuing centurion who the proscribed man was. The centurion, recognizing Aemilius, replied, “You and he,” and killed them both. Cilo and Decius were going out of the senate-house when they learned that their names were on the list of the proscribed, but no one had yet gone in pursuit of them. They fled incontinently through the city gates, and their running betrayed them to the centurions whom they met on the road. Icilius, who was one of the judges in the trial of Brutus and Cassius when Octavius presided over the tribunal with his army, and who, when all the other judges deposited secret ballots of condemnation, alone publicly deposited one of acquittal, now unmindful of his former magnanimity and independence put his shoulder under a dead body that was being conveyed to burial, and took a place among the carriers of the bier. The guards at the city gates noticed that the number of corpse-bearers was greater by one man than usual, but they did not suspect the bearers. They only searched the bier to make sure that it was not somebody counterfeiting a corpse, but, as the bearers fell into a dispute with Icilius as not being a member of their trade, he was recognized by the murderers and killed.
27. Λεύκιος δὲ ὁ Ἀσινίου τοῦ ὑπατεύοντος τότε πενθερός, φεύγων διὰ θαλάσσης, οὐ φέρων τοῦ χειμῶνος τὴν ἀηδίαν ἔρριψεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸ πέλαγος. Καισέννιον δὲ οἱ διώκοντες, ὑποφεύγοντά τε καὶ βοῶντα οὐ προγεγράφθαι, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰ χρήματα ἐπιβουλεύεσθαι πρὸς αὐτῶν, ἐπὶ τὸν πίνακα ἀγαγόντες ἀναγινώσκειν ἑαυτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα ἐκέλευον καὶ ἀναγινώσκοντα ἔκτειναν. Αἰμίλιος δὲ ἀγνοῶν, ὅτι προγέγραπται, διωκόμενον ἄλλον ἰδὼν ἤρετο τὸν λοχαγὸν τὸν διώκοντα, τίς ὁ προγεγραμμένος εἴη· καὶ ὁ λοχαγὸς τὸν Αἰμίλιον γνωρίσας σὺ κἀκεῖνοσ εἶπε καὶ τοὺς δύο ἀπέκτεινε. Κίλλων δὲ ἐκ τοῦ βουλευτηρίου προϊὼν καὶ Δέκιος, ἐπεὶ τοῖς πίναξιν ἐπύθοντο σφῶν τὰ ὀνόματα προσγεγράφθαι, οὔπω τινὸς ἐπιόντος αὐτοῖς, ἔφευγον ἀκόσμως διὰ πυλῶν, καὶ αὐτοὺς τοῖς ἀπαντῶσι τῶν λοχαγῶν αὐτὸς ὁ δρόμος ἐμήνυσεν. Ἰκέλιος δέ, ὃς ἐπὶ Βρούτῳ τε καὶ Κασσίῳ δικάζων, Καίσαρος τοῖς δικαστηρίοις μετὰ στρατιᾶς ἐφεστῶτος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δικαστῶν κρύφα τὴν καταδικάζουσαν φερόντων, μόνος τὴν ἀπολύουσαν ἤνεγκε φανερῶς, ἐκλαθόμενος τῆς μεγαλόφρονος ἐλευθεριότητος, νεκρὸν σῶμα ἐκκομιζόμενον ὑποστὰς τοῖς φέρουσι συνεβάσταζε τὸ λέχος. ἰδόντων δὲ τῶν φρουρούντων τὰς πύλας, ὅτι πλεονάζουσιν οἱ νεκροφόροι παρὰ τὸ σύνηθες ἑνὶ ἀνδρί, καὶ τοὺς μὲν φέροντας οὐχ ὑπονοούντων, τὸ δὲ λέχος ἐρευνωμένων, μὴ νεκρόν τις ὑποκρίνοιτο, οἱ νεκροφόροι τὸν Ἰκέλιον ἤλεγχον οὐχ ὁμότεχνον σφίσιν ὄντα, ἐπιγνωσθέντα τε οἱ σφαγεῖς ἀπέκτειναν.
28. Varus, who was betrayed by a freedman, ran away, and after wandering from mountain to mountain came to a marsh at Minturnae, where he stopped to take rest. The inhabitants of Minturnae were mounting guard over this marsh in search of robbers, and the agitation of the reeds revealed the hiding-place of Varus. He was captured and said that he was a robber. He was condemned to death and resigned himself to his fate, but as they were preparing to subject him to torture to compel him to reveal his accomplices, he could not bear such an indignity. “I forbid you, citizens of Minturnae,” he said, “either to torture or to kill one who has been a consul and — what is more important in the eyes of our present rulers — also proscribed! If it is not permitted me to escape, I prefer to suffer at the hands of my equals.” The Minturnians did not believe him. They discredited his story until a centurion, who was scouting in that neighborhood, recognized him, and cut off his head, leaving the remainder of his body to the Minturnians. Largus was captured in the fields by soldiers who were pursuing another man. They took pity on him because he had been captured when they were not seeking him, and allowed him to escape in the forest. Being pursued by others, he ran back to his first captors, saying, “I would rather that you, who had compassion on me, should kill me, so that you may have the reward instead of those men.” Thus he recompensed them with his death for their kindness to him.
28. Οὐᾶρος δʼ ἀπελευθέρου προδιδόντος αὐτὸν ἀπέδρα, καὶ ὄρος ἐξ ὄρους ἀμείβων ἐς τὸ Μιντουρναίων ἕλος ἐνέπεσεν, ἔνθα ἑαυτὸν διαναπαύων ἡσύχαζε. τῶν δὲ Μιντουρναίων ἐπὶ ζητήσει λῃστηρίου τὸ ἕλος περιθεόντων, ἥ τε κόμη τοῦ δόνακος σαλευθεῖσα ἐνέφηνε τὸν Οὐᾶρον, καὶ ληφθεὶς ἔλεγεν εἶναι λῃστὴς καὶ ἐπὶ τῷδε θανάτῳ καταδικαζόμενος ἠνείχετο. ὡς δὲ αὐτὸν ἔμελλον καὶ βασανιεῖν ἐς τοὺς συνεγνωκότας, οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν ἤδη τοῦτο ὡς ἀπρεπέστερον, ἀπαγορεύω, φησίν, ὑμῖν, ὦ Μιντουρναῖοι, ὕπατόν με γεγενημένον, καί, ὃ τοῖς νῦν ἄρχουσι τιμιώτερόν ἐστι, προγεγραμμένον μήτε βασανίζειν μήτε ἀναιρεῖν ἔτι· εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ἔνι μοι διαφυγεῖν, ἄμεινον ὑπὸ τῶν ὁμοτίμων παθεῖν. ἀπιστούντων δὲ τῶν Μιντουρναίων καὶ τὸν λόγον ὑπονοούντων λοχαγὸς ἐπέγνω διαθέων καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀπέτεμε, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν σῶμα τοῖς Μιντουρναίοις κατέλιπε. Λάργον ἕτεροι συνελάμβανον ἐν χωρίοις, οὐ Λάργον, ἀλλʼ ἕτερον διώκοντες· οἰκτείραντες δʼ, ὅτι μὴ ζητούμενος ἁλοίη, φεύγειν μεθῆκαν ἀνὰ τὴν ὕλην. ὁ δὲ ὑφʼ ἑτέρων διωκόμενος δρόμῳ τοὺς προτέρους κατέλαβε καί ὑμεῖς, ἔφη, με κτείνατε μᾶλλον, οἱ ἐλεήσαντες, ἵνα τὸν μισθὸν ἀντὶ τούτων ὑμεῖς φέρησθε.
29. Rufus possessed a handsome house near that of Fulvia, the wife of Antony, which she had wanted to buy, but he would not sell it, and although he now offered it to her as a free gift, he was proscribed. His head was brought to Antony, who said it did not concern him and sent it to his wife. She ordered that it be fastened to the front of his own house instead of the rostra. Another man had a very handsome and well-shaded country-place in which was a beautiful and deep grotto, on account of which probably he was proscribed. He was taking the air in this grotto when the murderers were observed by a slave, as they were coming toward him, but still some distance off. The slave conveyed him to the innermost recess of the grotto, dressed himself in his master’s short tunic, pretended that he was the man and simulated alarm, and would have been killed on the spot had not one of his fellow-slaves exposed the trick. In this way the master was killed, but the people were so indignant that they gave the triumvirs no rest until they had obtained from them the crucifixion of the slave who had betrayed his master, and the freedom of the one who had tried to save him. A slave revealed the hiding-place of Aterius and obtained his freedom in consequence. He had the impudence to bid against the sons at the sale of the dead man’s property, and insulted them grossly. They followed him everywhere with silent tears till the people became exasperated, and the triumvirs made him again the slave of the sons of the proscript, for doing more than was needful. Such were the evils that befell the men.
29. ὁ μὲν δὴ ταύτην ἔδωκεν ἀμοιβὴν ἀποθνῄσκων φιλανθρωπίας, Ῥοῦφος δὲ ἔχων συνοικίαν περικαλλῆ, γείτονα Φουλβίας τῆς γυναικὸς Ἀντωνίου, πάλαι μὲν ἀξιούσῃ τῇ Φουλβίᾳ πρίασθαι τὴν οἰκίαν οὐ συνεχώρει, τότε δὲ καὶ δωρούμενος προεγράφη. καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ὁ μὲν Ἀντώνιός οἱ προσφερομένην οὐχ ἑαυτῷ προσήκειν εἰπὼν ἔπεμψεν ἐς τὴν γυναῖκα, ἡ δὲ ἀντὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἐκέλευσεν ἐπὶ τῆς συνοικίας προτεθῆναι. ἔπαυλιν ἕτερος εἶχε περικαλλῆ καὶ σύσκιον, ἄντρον τε καλὸν ἦν ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ βαθύ, καὶ τάχα διὰ ταῦτα καὶ προυγράφη. ἔτυχε δὲ ἀναψύχων κατὰ τὸ ἄντρον, καὶ αὐτῷ τῶν σφαγέων ἔτι μακρόθεν ἐπιθεόντων θεράπων αὐτὸν ἐς τὸν μυχὸν τοῦ ἄντρου προπέμψας ἐνέδυ τὸν τοῦ δεσπότου χιτωνίσκον καὶ ὑπεκρίνετο ἐκεῖνος εἶναι καὶ δεδιέναι· καὶ τάχα ἂν ἐπέτυχεν ἀναιρεθείς, εἰ μὴ τῶν ὁμοδούλων τις ἐνέφηνε τὴν ἐνέδραν. ἀναιρεθέντος δὲ ὧδε τοῦ δεσπότου, ὁ δῆμος ἀγανακτῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν οὐκ ἐπαύετο, μέχρι τὸν μὲν ἐνδείξαντα κρεμασθῆναι, τὸν δὲ περισώσαντα ἐλευθερῶσαι ἐποίησεν. Ἁτέριον δὲ κρυπτόμενον θεράπων ἐμήνυσέ τε καὶ ἐλεύθερος αὐτίκα γενόμενος ἀντωνεῖτο τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ τὴν οὐσίαν καὶ ἐνύβριζεν ἐπαχθῶς. οἱ δὲ αὐτῷ πανταχῇ μετὰ σιγῆς εἵποντο κλαίοντες, ἕως ὁ δῆμος ἠγανάκτησε, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς αὐτόν, ὡς πλεονάσαντα τῆς χρείας, ἀνεδούλωσαν τοῖς παισὶ τοῦ προγεγραμμένου.
30. The calamity extended to orphan children on account of their wealth. One of these, who was going to school, was killed, together with the attendant, who threw his arms around the boy and would not give him up. Atilius, who was just assuming the virile toga, went, as was customary, with a procession of friends to sacrifice in the temples. His name being put on the proscription list unexpectedly, his friends and servants ran away. Left alone, and bereft of his brilliant escort, he went to his mother. She was afraid to receive him. As he did not consider it safe to ask help from anybody else after his mother had failed him, he fled to a mountain. Hunger drove him down to the plain, where he was captured by a robber and committed to a workhouse. The delicate boy, unable to endure the toil, escaped to the high road with his fetters, revealed himself to some passing centurions, and was killed.
30. περὶ μὲν δὴ τοὺς ἄνδρας τοιάδε ἐγίγνετο, ἥψατο δὲ καὶ ὀρφανῶν διὰ πλοῦτον ἡ τότε τύχη. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐς διδασκάλου φοιτῶν αὐτῷ παιδαγωγῷ συνανῃρέθη, τὸν παῖδα περισχομένῳ τε καὶ οὐ μεθιέντι· Ἀτίλιος δὲ ἄρτι τὴν τῶν τελείων περιθέμενος στολὴν ᾔει μέν, ὡς ἔθος ἐστί, σὺν πομπῇ φίλων ἐπὶ θυσίας ἐς τὰ ἱερά, ἄφνω δὲ ἐγγραφέντος αὐτοῦ τοῖς πίναξιν οἱ φίλοι καὶ οἱ θεράποντες διεδίδρασκον. ὁ δὲ μόνος καὶ ἔρημος ἐκ δαψιλοῦς παραπομπῆς ἐς τὴν μητέρα ἐχώρει· οὐ δεξαμένης δὲ αὐτὸν οὐδὲ ἐκείνης ὑπὸ δέους, οὐκ ἀξιώσας ἔτι ἐς πεῖραν ἐλθεῖν ἑτέρου μετὰ μητέρα, ἐς ὄρος ἔφυγεν· ὅθεν ὑπὸ λιμοῦ ἐς τὰ πεδινὰ κατελθὼν ἐλήφθη πρὸς ἀνδρὸς λῃστεύειν τοὺς παροδεύοντας καὶ ἐπὶ ἔργῳ καταδεῖν εἰθισμένου. οἷα δὲ παῖς ἐκ τρυφῆς τὸν πόνον οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν ἐς τὴν ἁμαξιτὸν αὐταῖς χοινικίσι διέδρα καὶ παροδεύουσι λοχαγοῖς ἑαυτὸν ἐμήνυσέ τε καὶ ἀνῃρέθη.
31. While these events were taking place Lepidus enjoyed a triumph for his exploits in Spain, and an edict was displayed in the following terms: “In God’s name, let it be proclaimed to all men and women that they celebrate this day with sacrifices and feasting. Whoever shall fail to do so shall be put on the list of the proscribed.” Lepidus led the triumphal procession to the Capitol, accompanied by all the citizens, who showed the external appearance of joy, but were sad at heart. The houses of the proscribed were gutted, but there were not many buyers of their lands. Some were ashamed to add to the burdens of the unfortunate. Others thought that such property would bring them bad luck, or that it would not be quite safe for them to be seen with gold and silver in their possession, or that, as they were not free from danger with their present holdings, it would be extra-hazardous to increase them. Only the boldest spirits came forward and purchased at the lowest prices, because they were the only buyers. Thus it came to pass that the triumvirs, who had hoped to realize a sufficient sum for their preparations, were short 20,000,000 of drachmas.
31. γιγνομένων δὲ τούτων Λέπιδος ἐπὶ Ἴβηρσιν ἐθριάμβευε, καὶ προυτέθη διάγραμμα οὕτως ἔχον· ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ προειρήσθω πᾶσι καὶ πάσαις θύειν καὶ εὐωχεῖσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν παροῦσαν· ὃς δʼ ἂν μὴ φαίνηται ταῦτα ποιῶν, ἐν τοῖς προγεγραμμένοις ἔσται. ὁ μὲν δὴ τὸν θρίαμβον ἐς τὰ ἱερὰ ἀνῆγε, παραπεμπόντων αὐτὸν ἁπάντων μετὰ σχήματος ἱλαροῦ καὶ γνώμης δυσμενοῦς· τῶν δὲ προγεγραμμένων τὰ μὲν ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις διεφορεῖτο, καὶ οὐ πολὺς ἦν ὁ τὰ χωρία ὠνούμενος, οἱ μὲν ἐπιβαρεῖν τοῖς ἠτυχηκόσιν αἰδούμενοι καὶ οὐκ ἐν αἰσίῳ σφίσι τὰ ἐκείνων ἔσεσθαι νομίζοντες οὐδὲ ἀσφαλὲς ὅλως χρυσίον ἢ ἀργύριον ἔχοντας ὁρᾶσθαι οὐδὲ τὰς ἐπικτήσεις νῦν ἀκινδύνους, πολὺ δὲ μᾶλλον τὰ ὄντα ἐπικίνδυνα. μόνοι δὲ οἱ διὰ θρασύτητα προσιόντες, ἅτε μόνοι, βραχυτάτου πάμπαν ὠνοῦντο. ὅθεν τοῖς ἄρχουσιν, ἐλπίσασιν ἐς τὰς τοῦ πολέμου παρασκευὰς τάδε ἀρκέσειν, ἐνέδει μυριάδων ἔτι δισμυρίων.
32. The triumvirs addressed the people on this subject and published an edict requiring 1400 of the richest women to make a valuation of their property, and to furnish for the service of the war such portion as the triumvirs should require from each. It was provided further that if any should conceal their property or make a false valuation they should be fined, and that rewards should be given to informers, whether free persons or slaves. The women resolved to beseech the female relatives of the triumvirs. With the sister of Octavius and the mother of Antony they did not fail, but they were repulsed from the doors of Fulvia, the wife of Antony, whose rudeness they could scarce endure. They then forced their way to the tribunal of the triumvirs in the forum, the people and the guards dividing to let them pass. There, through the mouth of Hortensia, they spoke as follows, according to previous arrangement: “As is befitting women of our rank addressing a petition to you, we had recourse to your female relatives. Having suffered unseemly treatment on the part of Fulvia, we have been compelled by her to visit the forum. You have deprived us of our fathers, our sons, our husbands, and our brothers, whom you accused of having wronged you. If you take away our property also, you reduce us to a condition unbecoming our birth, our manners, our sex. If we have done you wrong, as you say our husbands have, proscribe us as you do them. If we women have not voted you public enemies, have not torn down your houses, destroyed your army, or led another one against you; if we have not hindered you in obtaining offices and honors, — why do you visit upon us the same punishment as upon the guilty, whose offences we have not shared?”
32. καὶ τοῦτο ἐς τὸν δῆμον εἰπόντες προύγραφον χιλίας καὶ τετρακοσίας γυναῖκας, αἳ μάλιστα πλούτῳ διέφερον· καὶ αὐτὰς ἔδει, τὰ ὄντα τιμωμένας, ἐσφέρειν ἐς τὰς τοῦ πολέμου χρείας, ὅσον ἑκάστην οἱ τρεῖς δοκιμάσειαν. ἐπέκειτό τε ταῖς ἀποκρυψαμέναις τι τῶν ὄντων, ἢ τιμησαμέναις κακῶς ἐπιτίμια καὶ τοῖς ταῦτα μηνύουσιν ἐλευθέροις τε καὶ δούλοις μήνυτρα. αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες ἔκριναν τῶν προσηκουσῶν τοῖς ἄρχουσι γυναικῶν δεηθῆναι. τῆς μὲν δὴ Καίσαρος ἀδελφῆς οὐκ ἀπετύγχανον, οὐδὲ τῆς μητρὸς Ἀντωνίου· Φουλβίας δέ, τῆς γυναικὸς Ἀντωνίου, τῶν θυρῶν ἀπωθούμεναι χαλεπῶς τὴν ὕβριν ἤνεγκαν, καὶ ἐς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα τῶν ἀρχόντων ὠσάμεναι, διισταμένων τοῦ τε δήμου καὶ τῶν δορυφόρων, ἔλεγον, Ὁρτησίας ἐς τοῦτο προκεχειρισμένης· ὃ μὲν ἥρμοζε δεομέναις ὑμῶν γυναιξὶ τοιαῖσδε, ἐπὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν κατεφύγομεν· ὃ δὲ οὐχ ἥρμοζεν, ὑπὸ Φουλβίας παθοῦσαι, ἐς τὴν ἀγορὰν συνεώσμεθα ὑπʼ αὐτῆς. ὑμεῖς δʼ ἡμᾶς ἀφείλεσθε μὲν ἤδη γονέας τε καὶ παῖδας καὶ ἄνδρας καὶ ἀδελφοὺς ἐπικαλοῦντες, ὅτι πρὸς αὐτῶν ἠδίκησθε· εἰ δὲ καὶ τὰ χρήματα προσαφέλοισθε, περιστήσετε ἐς ἀπρέπειαν ἀναξίαν γένους καὶ τρόπων καὶ φύσεως γυναικείας. εἰ μὲν δή τι καὶ πρὸς ἡμῶν, οἷον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἠδικῆσθαί φατε, προγράψατε καὶ ἡμᾶς ὡς ἐκείνους. εἰ δὲ οὐδένα ὑμῶν αἱ γυναῖκες οὔτε πολέμιον ἐψηφισάμεθα οὔτε καθείλομεν οἰκίαν ἢ στρατὸν διεφθείραμεν ἢ ἐπηγάγομεν ἕτερον ἢ ἀρχῆς ἢ τιμῆς τυχεῖν ἐκωλύσαμεν, τί κοινωνοῦμεν τῶν κολάσεων αἱ τῶν ἀδικημάτων οὐ μετασχοῦσαι;
33. “Why should we pay taxes when we have no part in the honors, the commands, the state-craft, for which you contend against each other with such harmful results? ‘Because this is a time of war,’ do you say? When have there not been wars, and when have taxes ever been imposed on women, who are exempted by their sex among all mankind? Our mothers once for all rose superior to their sex and made contributions when you were in danger of losing the whole empire and the city itself through the conflict with the Carthaginians. But then they contributed voluntarily, not from their landed property, their fields, their dowries, or their houses, without which life is not possible to free women, but only from their own jewellery, and not according to fixed valuation, not under fear of informers or accusers, not by force and violence, but what they themselves were willing to give. Who now causes you alarm for the empire or the country? Let war with the Gauls or the Parthians come, and we shall not be inferior to our mothers in zeal for the common safety; but for civil wars may we never contribute, nor ever assist you against each other. We did not contribute to Caesar or to Pompey. Neither Marius nor Cinna imposed taxes upon us. Nor did Sulla, who held despotic power in the state, do so, whereas you say that you are reëstablishing the commonwealth.”
33. τί δὲ ἐσφέρωμεν αἱ μήτε ἀρχῆς μήτε τιμῆς μήτε στρατηγίας μήτε τῆς πολιτείας ὅλως, τῆς ὑμῖν ἐς τοσοῦτον ἤδη κακοῦ περιμαχήτου, μετέχουσαι; ὅτι φατὲ πόλεμον εἶναι; καὶ πότε οὐ γεγόνασι πόλεμοι; καὶ πότε γυναῖκες συνεισήνεγκαν; ἃς ἡ μὲν φύσις ἀπολύει παρὰ ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις, αἱ δὲ μητέρες ἡμῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν φύσιν ἐσήνεγκάν ποτε ἅπαξ, ὅτε ἐκινδυνεύετε περὶ τῇ ἀρχῇ πάσῃ καὶ περὶ αὐτῇ τῇ πόλει, Καρχηδονίων ἐνοχλούντων. καὶ τότε δὲ ἐσήνεγκαν ἑκοῦσαι, καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ γῆς ἢ χωρίων ἢ προικὸς ἢ οἰκιῶν, ὧν χωρὶς ἀβίωτόν ἐστιν ἐλευθέραις, ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ μόνων τῶν οἴκοι κόσμων, οὐδὲ τούτων τιμωμένων οὐδὲ ὑπὸ μηνυταῖς ἢ κατηγόροις οὐδὲ πρὸς ἀνάγκην ἢ βίαν, ἀλλʼ ὅσον ἐβούλοντο αὐταί. τίς οὖν καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ὑμῖν περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἢ περὶ τῆς πατρίδος φόβος; ἴτω τοίνυν ἢ Κελτῶν πόλεμος ἢ Παρθυαίων, καὶ οὐ χείρους ἐς σωτηρίαν ἐσόμεθα τῶν μητέρων. ἐς δὲ ἐμφυλίους πολέμους μήτε ἐσενέγκαιμέν ποτε μήτε συμπράξαιμεν ὑμῖν κατʼ ἀλλήλων. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπὶ Καίσαρος ἢ Πομπηίου συνεφέρομεν, οὐδὲ Μάριος ἡμᾶς οὐδὲ Κίννας ἠνάγκασεν οὐδὲ Σύλλας, ὁ τυραννήσας τῆς πατρίδος· ὑμεῖς δέ φατε καὶ καθίστασθαι τὴν πολιτείαν.
34. When Hortensia had thus spoken the triumvirs were angry that women should dare to hold a public meeting when the men were silent; that they should demand from magistrates the reasons for their acts, and not furnish money while the men were serving in the army. They ordered the lictors to drive them away from the tribunal, which they proceeded to do until cries were raised by the multitude outside, when the lictors desisted and the triumvirs said they would postpone till the next day the consideration of the matter. On the following day they reduced the number of women, who were to present a valuation of their property, from 1400 to 400, and decreed that all men who possessed more than 100,000 drachmas, both citizens and strangers, freedmen and priests, and men of all nationalities without a single exception, should (under the same dread of penalty and also of informers) lend them at interest a fiftieth part of their property and contribute one year’s income to the war expenses.
34. τοιαῦτα τῆς Ὁρτησίας λεγούσης, οἱ τρεῖς ἠγανάκτουν, εἰ γυναῖκες ἀνδρῶν ἡσυχαζόντων θρασυνοῦνταί τε καὶ ἐκκλησιάσουσι, καὶ τὰ δρώμενα τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἐξετάσουσι, καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν στρατευομένων αὐταὶ οὐδὲ χρήματα ἐσοίσουσιν· ἐκέλευόν τε τοῖς ὑπηρέταις ἐξωθεῖν αὐτὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος, μέχρι βοῆς ἔξωθεν ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους γενομένης οἵ τε ὑπηρέται τὸ ἔργον ἐπέσχον καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες ἔφασαν ἐς τὴν ὑστεραίαν ἀνατίθεσθαι. τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίᾳ τετρακοσίας μὲν ἀντὶ χιλίων καὶ τετρακοσίων προύγραφον ἀποτιμᾶσθαι τὰ ὄντα, τῶν δὲ ἀνδρῶν πάντα τὸν ἔχοντα πλείους δέκα μυριάδων, ἀστὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ ξένον καὶ ἀπελεύθερον καὶ ἱερέα καὶ πανταεθνῆ, μηδενὸς ἀφιεμένου, καὶ τούσδε μεθʼ ὁμοίου φόβου τῶν ἐπιτιμίων καὶ ὑπὸ μηνύμασιν ὁμοίοις, ἵνα πεντηκοστὴν μὲν τῶν ὄντων αὐτίκα δανείσαιεν αὑτοῖς, ἐνιαυτοῦ δὲ φόρον ἐς τὸν πόλεμον ἐσενέγκαιεν.
35. Such calamities befell the Romans from the orders of the triumvirs. Even worse ones were visited upon them by the soldiers in disregard of orders. Believing that they alone enabled the triumvirs to do what they were doing with impunity, some of them asked for the confiscated houses, or fields, or villas, or entire property of the proscribed. Others demanded that they should be made the adopted sons of rich men. Others, of their own motion, killed men who had not been proscribed, and plundered the houses of those who were not under accusation, so that the triumvirs were obliged to publish an edict that one of the consuls should put a restraint upon those who were exceeding their orders. The consul did not dare to touch the soldiers lest he should excite their rage against himself, but he seized and crucified certain slaves who were masquerading as soldiers and committing outrages in company with them.
35. ἐκ μὲν δὴ τῶν προσταγμάτων τοιαῦτα Ῥωμαίους ἐπεῖχεν, ὁ δὲ στρατὸς σὺν καταφρονήσει χείρονα ἐποίουν. ὡς γὰρ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπὶ τοιοῖσδε ἔργοις ἐν σφίσι μόνον τὸ ἀσφαλὲς ἐχόντων, οἱ μὲν αὐτοὺς ᾐτοῦντο τῶν δεδημευμένων οἰκίαν ἢ ἀγρὸν ἢ ἔπαυλιν ἢ ὅλον κλῆρον, οἱ δʼ αὖ παῖδας ἀνδράσι θετοὺς γενέσθαι· οἱ δὲ ἀφʼ ἑαυτῶν ἕτερα ἔδρων, κτιννύντες τε τοὺς οὐ προγεγραμμένους καὶ οἰκίας οὐδὲν ὑπαιτίων διαφοροῦντες. ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας προγράψαι τῶν ὑπάτων τὸν ἕτερον ἐπιστροφήν τινα ποιήσασθαι τῶν ὑπὲρ τὸ πρόσταγμα γιγνομένων. ὁ δὲ τῶν μὲν ὁπλιτῶν ἔδεισεν ἅψασθαι, μὴ σφᾶς ἐφʼ ἑαυτὸν παροξύνῃ, τῶν δὲ θεραπόντων τινάς, οἳ σχήματι στρατιωτῶν συνεξημάρτανον ἐκείνοις, λαβὼν ἐκρέμασε.
36. Such are examples of the extreme misfortunes that befell the proscribed. Instances where some were unexpectedly saved and at a later period raised to positions of honor are more agreeable to me to relate, and will be more useful to my readers, as showing that hope should not be abandoned in adverse circumstances. Some, who were able to do so, fled to Cassius, or to Brutus, or to Africa, where Cornificius upheld the republican cause. The greater number, however, went to Sicily because of its nearness to Italy, where Sextus Pompeius received them gladly. The latter showed the most admirable zeal in behalf of the unfortunate at this crisis, sending heralds who invited all to come to him, and offered to those who should save the proscribed, both slaves and free persons, double the rewards that had been offered for killing them. His small boats and merchant ships met those who were escaping by sea, and his war-ships sailed along the shore and made signals to those wandering there and saved such as they found. Pompeius himself met the newcomers and provided them at once with clothing and other necessaries. To those who were worthy he assigned commands in his military and naval forces. When, at a later period, he entered into negotiations with the triumvirs, he would not conclude a treaty without embracing in its terms those who had taken refuge with him. In this way he rendered to his unfortunate country the greatest service, from which he gained a high reputation of his own in addition to that which he had inherited from his father, and not less than that. Others escaped by concealing themselves in various ways, some in the fields or in the tombs, others in the city itself, undergoing cruel anxiety until peace was restored. Remarkable examples were shown of the love of wives for their husbands, of sons for their fathers, and of slaves for their masters, quite beyond expectation. Some of the most remarkable of these I shall now relate.
36. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐς τέλος τῶν συμφορῶν τοῖς προγεγραμμένοις ἀπαντῶντα τοιάδε μάλιστα ἦν· ὅσα δὲ ἐκ παραλόγου τισὶν ἐγίγνετο ἔς τε τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτίκα καὶ ἐς ἀξίωσιν ὕστερον, ἐμοί τε ἥδιον εἰπεῖν καὶ τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ὠφελιμώτερον ἐς μηδὲν ἀποκάμνοντας ἐλπίζειν περιέσεσθαι. αἱ μὲν οὖν φυγαὶ τοῖς δυναμένοις ἦσαν ἐς Κάσσιον ἢ Βροῦτον ἢ ἐς Λιβύην ἐπὶ Κορνιφίκιον, καὶ τόνδε τῆς δημοκρατίας μεταποιούμενον· ὁ δὲ πολὺς ἐς Σικελίαν ᾔει, γειτονεύουσαν τῆς Ἰταλίας, καὶ Πομπηίου σφᾶς προθύμως ὑποδεχομένου. λαμπροτάτην γὰρ δὴ σπουδὴν ἐς τοὺς ἀτυχοῦντας ὁ Πομπήιος ἐν καιρῷ τότε ἔδειξε, κήρυκάς τε περιπέμπων, οἳ πάντας ἐς αὐτὸν ἐκάλουν, καὶ τοῖς περισῴζουσιν αὐτοὺς ἐλευθέροις τε καὶ θεράπουσι προλέγων διπλάσια τῶν διδομένων τοῖς αἱροῦσι· λέμβοι τε αὐτοῦ καὶ στρογγύλα ὑπήντα τοῖς πλέουσι, καὶ τριήρεις τους αἰγιαλοὺς ἐπέπλεον, σημεῖά τε ἀνίσχουσαι τοῖς ἀλωμένοις, καὶ τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα περισῳζουσαι. αὐτός τε τοῖς ἀφικνουμένοις ἀπήντα καὶ ἐσθῆτος αὐτίκα καὶ κατασκευῆς ἐμερίζετο· τοῖς δὲ ἀξίοις καὶ ἐς στρατηγίας ἢ ναυαρχίας ἐχρῆτο. σπονδῶν τέ οἱ πρὸς τοὺς τρεῖς γιγνομένων ὕστερον, οὐ συνέθετο, πρὶν καὶ τούσδε τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν διαφυγόντας ἐς ταύτας περιλαβεῖν. ὁ μὲν δὴ χρησιμώτατος οὕτως ἀτυχούσῃ τῇ πατρίδι ἐγίγνετο, καὶ δόξαν ἐκ τοῦδε ἀγαθήν, ἴδιον ἐπὶ τῇ πατρῴᾳ καὶ οὐχ ἥσσονα τήνδε ἐκείνης, προσελάμβανεν· ἕτεροι δὲ ἑτέρως φυγόντες ἢ κρυπτόμενοι μέχρι τῶν σπονδῶν, οἱ μὲν ἐν χωρίοις ἢ τάφοις, οἱ δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ ἄστει, σὺν ἐπινοίαις οἰκτραῖς διεγένοντο. φιλανδρίαι τε παράδοξοι γυναικῶν ὤφθησαν καὶ παίδων ἐς πατέρας εὔνοιαι καὶ θεραπόντων ὑπὲρ φύσιν ἐς δεσπότας. καὶ τῶνδε ὅσα παραδοξότατα, ἀναγράψω.
37. Paulus, the brother of Lepidus, made his escape to Brutus by the connivance of the centurions who respected him as the brother of the triumvir. After the death of Brutus he went to Miletus, which he refused to leave after peace was restored, although he was invited to return. The mother of Antony gave shelter to her brother Lucius, Antony’s uncle, without concealment, and the centurions had respect for her for a long time as the mother of the triumvir. When, later, they attempted to do violence to him, she dashed into the forum where Antony was seated with his colleagues, and exclaimed, “I denounce myself to you, triumvir, for having received Lucius under my roof and for still keeping him, and I shall keep him till you kill us both together, for it is decreed that those who give shelter shall suffer the same punishment.” Antony reproached her for being an unreasonable mother, although a good sister, saying that she ought to have prevented Lucius in the first place from voting her son a public enemy instead of seeking to save him now. Nevertheless, he procured from the consul Plancus a decree restoring Lucius to citizenship.
37. Παῦλος, ὁ ἀδελφὸς Λεπίδου, τῶν λοχαγῶν αὐτὸν ὡς ἀδελφὸν αὐτοκράτορος αἰδουμένων, ἐπὶ ἀδείας ἐξέπλευσεν ἐς Βροῦτον καὶ ἐς Μίλητον μετὰ Βροῦτον· ὅθεν οὐδὲ εἰρήνης ὕστερον γενομένης καλούμενος ἐπανελθεῖν ἠξίωσε. Λεύκιον δέ, τὸν Ἀντωνίου θεῖον, ἡ Ἀντωνίου μήτηρ ἀδελφὸν ὄντα εἶχεν οὐδʼ ἐπικρύπτουσα, αἰδουμένων ἐς πολὺ καὶ τήνδε τῶν λοχαγῶν ὡς μητέρα αὐτοκράτορος. βιαζομένων δʼ ὕστερον ἐξέθορεν ἐς τὴν ἀγορὰν καὶ προκαθημένῳ τῷ Ἀντωνίῳ μετὰ τῶν συνάρχων ἔφη· ἐμαυτήν, ὦ αὐτοκράτορ, μηνύω σοι Λεύκιον ὑποδεδέχθαι τε καὶ ἔχειν ἔτι καὶ ἕξειν, ἕως ἂν ἡμᾶς ὁμοῦ κατακάνῃς· τὰ γὰρ ὅμοια καὶ τοῖς ὑποδεδεγμένοις ἐπικεκήρυκται. ὁ δὲ αὐτὴν ἐπιμεμψάμενος ὡς ἀδελφὴν μὲν ἀγαθήν, μητέρα δὲ οὐκ εὐγνώμονα ʽοὐ γὰρ νῦν χρῆναι περισῴζειν Λεύκιον, ἀλλὰ κωλύειν. ὅτε σου τὸν υἱὸν εἶναι πολέμιον ἐψηφίζετὀ, παρεσκεύασεν ὅμως Πλάγκον ὑπατεύοντα κάθοδον τῷ Λευκίῳ ψηφίσασθαι.
38. Messala, a young man of distinction, fled to Brutus. The triumvirs, fearing his high spirit, published the following edict: “Since the relatives of Messala have made it clear to us that he was not in the city when Gaius Caesar was slain, let his name be removed from the list of the proscribed.” He would not accept pardon, but, after Brutus and Cassius had fallen in Thrace, although there was a considerable army left, as well as ships and money, and although strong hopes of success still existed, Messala would not accept the command when it was offered to him, but persuaded his associates to yield to overpowering fate and join forces with Antony. He became intimate with Antony and adhered to him until the latter became the slave of Cleopatra. Then he heaped reproaches upon him and joined himself to Octavius, who made him consul in place of Antony himself when the latter was deposed and again voted a public enemy. After the battle of Actium, where he held a naval command against Antony, Octavius sent him as a general against the revolted Celts and awarded him a triumph for his victory over them. Bibulus was received into favor at the same time with Messala, and was given a naval command by Antony, and often served as an intermediary in the negotiations between Octavius and Antony. He was appointed governor of Syria by Antony and died while serving in that capacity.
38. Μεσσάλας δὲ ἐπιφανὴς καὶ νέος ἐς Βροῦτον ἔφυγε, καὶ αὐτοῦ δείσαντες οἱ τρεῖς τὸ φρόνημα προύγραψαν οὕτως· ἐπεὶ Μεσσάλαν ἀπέφηναν ἡμῖν οἱ προσήκοντες αὐτῷ μηδὲ ἐπιδημεῖν, ὅτε Γάιος Καῖσαρ ἀνῃρεῖτο, ἐξῃρήσθω τῶν προγραφέντων ὁ Μεσσάλας. ὁ δὲ τὴν μὲν συγγνώμην οὐκ ἐδέξατο, Βρούτου δὲ καὶ Κασσίου περὶ Θρᾴκην πεσόντων καὶ τοῦ στρατοῦ πολλοῦ τε ἔτι ὄντος καὶ ναῦς καὶ χρήματα καὶ ἐλπίδας ἔχοντος οὐκ ἀσθενεῖς, ἄρχειν σφῶν τὸν Μεσσάλαν αἱρουμένων οὐκ ἀνασχόμενος, ἔπεισεν αὐτοὺς ἐνδόντας ἐπιβαρούσῃ τῇ τύχῃ μεταστρατεύσασθαι τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἀντώνιον. οἰκειότερος δὲ ὢν Ἀντωνίῳ συνῆν, μέχρι κρατούσης Ἀντωνίου Κλεοπάτρας ἐπιμεμψάμενος ἐς Καίσαρα μετῆλθεν. ὁ δὲ αὐτὸν ὕπατόν τε ἀπέφηνεν ἀντὶ αὐτοῦ Ἀντωνίου, ἀποχειροτονηθέντος, ὅτε αὖθις ἐψηφίζετο εἶναι πολέμιος, καὶ περὶ Ἄκτιον ναυαρχήσαντα κατὰ τοῦ Ἀντωνίου στρατηγὸν ἔπεμψεν ἐπὶ Κελτοὺς ἀφισταμένους καὶ νικήσαντι ἔδωκε θριαμβεῦσαι. Βύβλος δὲ ἐσπείσατο ἅμα τῷ Μεσσάλᾳ καὶ ἐναυάρχησεν Ἀντωνίῳ διαλλαγάς τε πολλάκις Ἀντωνίῳ καὶ Καίσαρι ἐς ἀλλήλους ἐπόρθμευσε καὶ στρατηγὸς ἀπεδείχθη Συρίας ὑπὸ Ἀντωνίου καὶ στρατηγῶν ἔτι αὐτῆς ἀπέθανεν.
39. Acilius fled from the city secretly. His hiding-place was disclosed by a slave to the soldiers, but he prevailed upon them, by the hope of a larger reward, to send some of their number to his wife with a private token that he gave them. When they came she gave them all of her jewellery, saying that she gave it in return for what they had promised, although she. did not know whether they would keep their agreement. But her fidelity to her husband was not disappointed, for the soldiers hired a ship for Acilius and conducted him to Sicily. The wife of Lentulus asked that she might accompany him in his flight and kept watch upon his movements for that purpose, but he was not willing that she should share his danger, and fled secretly to Sicily. Being appointed praetor there by Pompeius he sent word to her that he was saved and elevated to office. When she learned in what part of the earth her husband was she escaped with two slaves from her mother, who was keeping watch over her. With these she travelled in the guise of a slave, with great hardship and the meanest fare, until she was able to make the passage from Rhegium to Messana about nightfall. She learned without difficulty where the praetor’s tent was, and there she found Lentulus, not in the attitude of a praetor, but on a low pallet with unkempt hair and wretched food, mourning for his wife.
39. Ἀκίλιος δὲ ἔφευγε μὲν τῆς πόλεως λαθών, οἰκέτου δʼ αὐτὸν ἐμφήναντος ὁπλίταις, τοὺς ὁπλίτας ἔπεισεν ἐλπίδι χρημάτων πλεόνων πέμψαι τινὰς ἀπὸ σφῶν πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα μετὰ συμβόλων ὧν αὐτὸς ἐδίδου. ἡ δὲ τοῖς ἐλθοῦσιν τὸν κόσμον αὑτῆς ἅπαντα προθεῖσα ἔφη διδόναι μὲν ὡς ἀντιδώσουσιν, ἃ ὑπέσχοντο, οὐκ εἰδέναι δέ, εἰ ἀντιδώσουσιν. οὐ μὴν ἐψεύσθη τῆς φιλανδρίας· οἱ γὰρ ὁπλῖται καὶ ναῦν ἐμίσθωσαν τῷ Ἀκιλίῳ καὶ προύπεμψαν ἐς Σικελίαν. Λέντλος δέ, ἀξιούσης αὐτῷ συμφεύγειν τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ ἐς τοῦτο αὐτὸν ἐπιτηρούσης, οὐκ ἐθέλων αὐτὴν συγκινδυνεύειν ἑαυτῷ, λαθὼν ἔφυγεν ἐς Σικελίαν, στρατηγὸς δὲ ἀποδειχθεὶς ὑπὸ Πομπηίου ἐσήμηνεν, ὅτι σῴζοιτο καὶ στρατηγοίη. ἡ δʼ, ὅποι γῆς ἐστιν ὁ ἀνήρ, ἐπιγνοῦσα τὴν μητέρα φυλάσσουσαν ἐξέφυγε καὶ ἥδε σὺν θεράπουσι δύο· μεθʼ ὧν ὥδευεν ἐπιμόχθως καὶ εὐτελῶς οἷα θεράπαινα, μέχρι διέπλευσεν ἐς Μεσσήνην ἀπὸ Ῥηγίου περὶ ἑσπέραν. καὶ οὐ δυσχερῶς τὴν στρατηγίδα σκηνὴν μαθοῦσα, εὗρε τὸν Λέντλον οὐχ οἷα στρατηγόν, ἀλλʼ ἐν χαμευνίῳ καὶ κόμῃ καὶ διαίτῃ πονηρᾷ πόθῳ τῆς γυναικός.
40. The wife of Apuleius threatened that, if he should fly without her, she would give information against him. So he took her with him unwillingly, and he succeeded in avoiding suspicion in his flight by travelling with his wife and his male and female slaves in a public manner. The wife of Antius wrapped him up in a clothes-bag and gave the bundle to some porters to carry from the house to the sea-shore, whence he made his escape to Sicily. The wife of Rheginus concealed him in a sewer by night. The soldiers were not willing to follow him there in the daytime, on account of the foul odor. The next night she fixed him up as a charcoal dealer, and furnished him an ass to drive, carrying coals. She led the way at a short distance, borne in a litter. One of the soldiers at the city gates suspected the litter and searched it. Rheginus was alarmed and hastened his steps, and as he passed along admonished the soldier not to give trouble to women. The latter, who took him for a charcoal dealer, answered him angrily, but suddenly recognizing him (for he had served under him in Syria), said, “Go on your way rejoicing, general, for such I ought still to call you.” The wife of Coponius obtained his safety by yielding herself to Antony, although she had previously been chaste, thus curing one evil with another.
40. Ἀπουληίῳ δὲ ἠπείλησεν ἡ γυνὴ καταμηνύσειν αὐτόν, εἰ μόνος φεύγοι· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἄκων αὐτὴν ἐπήγετο, συνήνεγκε δὲ ἐς τὴν φυγὴν αὐτῷ τὸ ἀνύποπτον, ἅμα γυναικὶ καὶ θεράπουσι καὶ θεραπαίναις ὁδεύοντι φανερῶς. Ἄντιον δὲ ἡ γυνὴ στρωματοδέσμῳ κατείλησε καὶ ἐπέθηκε τοῖς μισθοῦ φέρουσι καὶ διήνεγκεν ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκίας ἐπὶ θάλασσαν, ὅθεν ἔφυγεν ἐς Σικελίαν. Ῥηγῖνον δὲ ἡ γυνὴ νυκτὸς ἐς ὑπόνομον λυμάτων καθῆκεν, ἐς ὃν ἡμέρας οὐχ ὑποστάντων ἐμβῆναι τῶν ὁπλιτῶν διὰ δυσοδμίαν, νυκτὸς ἄλλης εἰς ἀνθρακέα ἐσκεύασε καὶ ὄνον ἄνθρακας φέροντα ἐλαύνειν ἔδωκεν· αὐτὴ δὲ ἐκ βραχέος διαστήματος ἡγεῖτο φορείῳ φερομένη. τῶν δὲ ἀμφὶ τὰς πύλας ὁπλιτῶν τινος τὸ φορεῖον ὑπονοήσαντός τε καὶ ἐρευνωμένου, δείσας ὁ Ῥηγῖνος ἐπέδραμε καὶ ὡς ὁδῷ χρώμενος ἠξίου τὸν ὁπλίτην φείδεσθαι γυναικῶν. ὁ δὲ αὐτὸν ὡς ἀνθρακέα μετʼ ὀργῆς ἀμειβόμενος ἐγνώρισεν ʽἐστράτευτο γὰρ ὑπʼ αὐτῷ ποτε ἐν Συρίᾀ καὶ ἄπιθι χαίρων, εἶπεν, αὐτοκράτορ· τοῦτο γάρ μοι προσήκει καὶ νῦν καλεῖν σε. Κοπώνιον δὲ τὸ γύναιον ᾔτησε παρὰ Ἀντωνίου, σώφρων μὲν οὖσα τέως, ἀτυχήματι δὲ τὸ ἀτύχημα ἰωμένη.
41. The son of Geta pretended to burn his father’s remains in the courtyard of his house, making people believe that he had strangled himself. Then he conveyed him secretly to a newly bought field and left him. There the old man changed his appearance by putting a bandage over one of his eyes. After the return of peace he took off the bandage and found that he had lost the sight of that eye by disuse. Oppius, by reason of the infirmities of age, was unwilling to fly, but his son carried him on his shoulder till he had brought him outside the gates. The remainder of the journey as far as Sicily he accomplished partly by leading and partly by carrying him, nobody suspecting the trick and nobody troubling him. In like manner they say that Aeneas was respected even by his enemies when carrying his father. In admiration of his piety the people in later days elected the young man to the aedileship, and since his property had been confiscated and he could not defray the expenses of the office [for public games], the artisans performed the work appertaining thereto without pay, and each of the spectators tossed such money as he could afford to give into the orchestra, so that he became a rich man. By the will of Arrianus the following inscription was engraved on the father’s tomb: “Here lies one who, when proscribed, was concealed by his son, who had not been proscribed, but who fled with him and saved him.”
41. Γέταν δὲ ὁ υἱὸς ἐν εὐρυχώρῳ τῆς οἰκίας ἔδοξε καίειν ὡς ἀπαγξάμενον καὶ λαθὼν ἐν ἀγρῷ νεωνήτῳ κατέλιπεν, ἔνθα ὁ πρεσβύτης μεταμορφῶν ἑαυτὸν ἐπεδήσατο διφθέραν ἐς τὸν ἕτερον ὀφθαλμόν. καὶ τῶν σπονδῶν γενομένων ἔλυσε τὴν διφθέραν, καὶ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀργίας δεδαπάνητο. Ὄππιον δὲ ὁ υἱός, ὑπὸ γήρως ἀσθενεστάτου μένειν ἐθέλοντα, ἔφερεν ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος, ἕως ἐξήγαγέ τε διὰ τῶν πυλῶν καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν μέχρι Σικελίας ἄγων ἢ φέρων ἐκόμισεν, οὐδενὸς ἄρα τὸ σχῆμα ὑπονοήσαντος ἢ ἐνυβρίσαντος, οἷόν που καὶ τὸν Αἰνείαν γράφουσιν αἰδέσιμον τοῖς πολεμίοις γενέσθαι φέροντα τὸν πατέρα. καὶ τὸν νεανίαν ὁ δῆμος ἐπαινῶν ὕστερον ἀπέφηνεν ἀγορανόμον· δεδημευμένης δʼ αὐτῷ τῆς οὐσίας οὐκ ἔχοντι τῆς ἀρχῆς τὸ δαπάνημα οἵ τε χειροτέχναι τὰ ἐς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀμισθὶ συνειργάσαντο, καὶ τῶν θεωμένων ἕκαστος ἐπὶ τὴν ὀρχήστραν ὅσον ἐβούλετο νόμισμα ἐρρίπτει, ἕως τὸν ἄνδρα κατεπλούτισαν. Ἀρριανοῦ δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ στήλῃ κεκόλαπτο ἐκ διαθηκῶν· τὸν ἐνθάδε κείμενον υἱὸς οὐ προγραφεὶς προγραφέντα ἔκρυψέ τε καὶ συνέφυγε καὶ περιέσωσε.
42. There were two men named Metellus, father and son. The father held a command under Antony at the battle of Actium and was taken prisoner, but not recognized. The son fought on the side of Octavius and held a command under him at the same battle. When Octavius looked over the prisoners at Samos the son was sitting with him. The old man was led forward covered with hair, misery, and dirt, and completely metamorphosed by them. When his name was called by the herald in the array of prisoners the son sprang from his seat, and, with difficulty recognizing his father, embraced him with a cry of anguish. Then restraining his lamentation he said to Octavius, “He was your enemy, I was your fellow-soldier. He has earned your punishment, I your reward. I ask you either to spare my father on my account, or to kill me at the same time on his account.” There was much emotion on all sides, and Octavius spared Metellus, although he had been bitterly hostile to himself and had scorned many offers made to him to desert Antony.
42. Μετέλλω δὲ ἤστην υἱός τε καὶ πατήρ· καὶ αὐτοῖν ὁ μὲν πατὴρ στρατηγῶν Ἀντωνίῳ περὶ Ἄκτιον αἰχμάλωτος ἑάλω καὶ ἠγνοεῖτο, ὁ δὲ υἱὸς τῷ Καίσαρι συνεστρατεύετο καὶ ἐστρατηγήκει καὶ ὅδε περὶ τὸ Ἄκτιον. ἐν δὲ Σάμῳ διακρίνοντι τῷ Καίσαρι τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους ὁ μὲν παῖς συνήδρευεν, ὁ δὲ πρεσβύτης ἤγετο κόμης τε ἔμπλεως καὶ δύης καὶ ῥύπου καὶ τῆς ἐκ τῶνδε μεταμορφώσεως. ὡς δὲ ἐν τῇ τάξει τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ὑπὸ τοῦ κήρυκος ἀνεκλήθη, ἀνέθορεν ὁ υἱὸς ἐκ τοῦ συνεδρίου καὶ μόλις ἐπιγνοὺς τὸν πατέρα ἠσπάζετο σὺν οἰμωγῇ· ἐπισχὼν δέ ποτε τοῦ θρήνου πρὸς τὸν Καίσαρα ἔφη· οὗτος μέν σοι πολέμιος γέγονεν, ὦ Καῖσαρ, ἐγὼ δὲ σύμμαχος· καὶ χρὴ τοῦτον μέν σοι δοῦναι δίκην, ἐμὲ δὲ γέρας εὑρέσθαι. αἰτῶ δή σε τὸν πατέρα σῴζειν διʼ ἐμὲ ἢ διʼ ἐκεῖνον ἐμὲ συγκατακανεῖν. οἴκτου δὲ ἐξ ἁπάντων γενομένου μεθῆκε σῴζεσθαι τὸν Μέτελλον ὁ Καῖσαρ, καίτοι πολεμιώτατον αὐτῷ γενόμενον καὶ δωρεῶν πολλῶν, εἰ μεταθοῖτο πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπʼ Ἀντωνίου, πολλάκις ὑπεριδόντα.
43. The slaves of Marcus guarded him with fidelity and success within his own house during the whole period of the proscription until there was nothing more to fear, when Marcus came out of his house as though from exile. Hirtius escaped from the city with his household servants and traversed Italy releasing prisoners, collecting runaways, and ravaging small towns at first and afterward large ones, until he found himself possessed of sufficient force to master Bruttium. When an army was sent against him he crossed the straits with his forces and joined Pompeius. When Restio fled, thinking that he was alone, he was followed secretly by a slave, who had been brought up by himself and had been very well treated by him formerly, but had lately been branded for bad conduct. While Restio was stopping in a marsh the slave came up to him. He was startled at the sight, but the slave said that he did not feel the pain of the brand so much as he remembered the former kindness shown to him. Then he found a resting-place for his master in a cave, and by working procured such sustenance for him as he could. The soldiers in the neighborhood of the cave had their suspicions aroused concerning Restio, and went to it. The slave observed their movements and followed them, and, seeing an old man walking in front of them, he ran up and killed him and cut off his head. The soldiers were astounded. They arrested him for a highwayman, but he said, “I have killed Restio, my master, the man who marked me with these scars.” The soldiers took the head from him for the sake of the reward, and made haste to the city to no purpose. The slave brought his master away and conveyed him by ship to Sicily.
43. Μᾶρκον δὲ οἱ θεράποντες σὺν εὐνοίᾳ καὶ τύχῃ πάντα τὸν τῆς προγραφῆς χρόνον διεφύλαξαν ἔνδον ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας, μέχρι τῆς ἀδείας δοθείσης ὁ Μᾶρκος ἐξῄει τῆς οἰκίας ὡς ἀπὸ φυγῆς. Ἵρτιος δὲ σὺν τοῖς οἰκέταις ἐκφυγὼν τῆς πόλεως διώδευε τὴν Ἰταλίαν, ἐκλύων τε δεσμώτας καὶ συνάγων τοὺς ἀποδιδράσκοντας καὶ πολίχνια δῃῶν, ὀλίγα πρῶτον, εἶτα καὶ μείζω, μέχρι χειρὸς ἱκανῆς ἐκράτησε καὶ τὸ Βρεττίων ἔθνος ἐχειρώσατο καί, στρατοῦ πεμφθέντος ἐπʼ αὐτόν, ἐς Πομπήιον μεθʼ ὅσων εἶχε διέπλευσε. Ῥεστίωνι δὲ οἰομένῳ μόνῳ φεύγειν οἰκέτης εἵπετο λανθάνων, ἀνάθρεπτος μὲν αὐτοῦ Ῥεστίωνος καὶ πολλὰ πρότερον εὖ παθών, διὰ δὲ μοχθηρίαν ὕστερον ἐστιγμένος. ἀναπαυομένῳ δὲ ἐν ἕλει τῷ Ῥεστίωνι ἐπιστὰς ὁ θεράπων ἐξέπληξε μὲν αὐτίκα ὀφθείς, δεδοικότι δὲ ἔφη οὐ τῶν παρόντων στιγμάτων αἰσθάνεσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ μνημονεύειν τῶν πρότερον εὐεργετημάτων. καὶ αὐτὸν εἴς τι σπήλαιον ἀναπαύσας εἰργάζετο καὶ τροφὰς αὐτῷ συνέλεγεν, ὡς ἐδύνατο. ὑπονοίας δέ τινος ἀμφὶ τὸ σπήλαιον τοῖς ἐγγὺς ὁπλίταις περὶ τοῦ Ῥεστίωνος γενομένης καὶ χωρούντων ἐπʼ αὐτόν, ὁ οἰκέτης εἵπετο συνεὶς καί τινα πρεσβύτην προοδεύοντα προδραμὼν ἀπέκτεινε καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀπέτεμεν. ἐκπλαγέντων δὲ τῶν ὁπλιτῶν καὶ ὡς ἀνδροφόνον ὁδοιπόρου περισχόντων, Ῥεστίωνα, ἔφη, ἔκτεινα, τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ δεσπότην, τάδε μοι τὰ στίγματα ἐγχαράξαντα. οἱ μὲν δὴ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτὸν ἀφελόμενοι διὰ τὸ γέρας, ἠπείγοντο μάτην ἐς τὸ ἄστυ, ὁ δὲ τὸν δεσπότην ἀναστήσας διέπλευσεν ἐς Σικελίαν.