[26.1] The generals, professing that they were glad to accept his advice, said: “Why, then, do you not take charge yourself of the army’s removal, after first looking out a suitable position for it? You are sufficiently acquainted with the region because of the many campaigns you have made, and we will give you a company of picked youths fitted out with light equipment; for yourself there shall be a horse, on account of your age, and armour suitable for such an expedition.” [2] Siccius having accepted the commission and asked for a hundred picked light-armed men, they sent him without delay while it was still light; and with him they sent the hundred men, whom they had picked out as the most daring of their own faction, with orders to kill the man, promising them great rewards for the murder. When they had advanced a long distance from the camp and had come to a hilly region where the road was narrow and difficult for a horse to traverse at any other pace than a walk as it climbed, by reason of the ruggedness of the hills, they gave the signal to one another and formed in a compact mass, with the intention of falling upon him all together in a body. [3] But a servant of Siccius, who was his shield-bearer and a brave warrior, guessed their intention and informed his master of it. Siccius, seeing himself confined in a difficult position where it was not possible to drive his horse at full speed, leaped down, and taking his stand upon the hill in order to avoid being surrounded by his assailants, with only his shield-bearer to aid him, awaited their attack. When they fell upon him all at once, many in number, he killed some fifteen of them and wounded twice as many; and it seemed as if he might have slain all the others in combat if they had come to close quarters with him. [4] But they, concluding that he was an invincible prodigy and that they could never vanquish him by engaging hand to hand, gave over that way of fighting, and withdrawing to a greater distance, hurled javelins, stones and sticks at him; and some of them, approaching the hill from the flanks and getting above him, rolled down huge stones upon him till they overwhelmed him with the multitude of the missiles that were hurled at him from in front and the weight of the stones that crashed down upon him from above. Such was the fate of Siccius.
[27.1] Those who had accomplished his murder returned to the camp bringing their wounded with them, and spread a report that a body of the enemy, having suddenly come upon them, had killed Siccius and the other men whom they first encountered and that they themselves after receiving many wounds had escaped with great difficulty. And their report seemed credible to everyone. However, their crime did not remain concealed, but though the murder was committed in a solitude where there was no possible informant, by the agency of fate itself and that justice which oversees all human actions they were convicted on the strength of incontrovertible evidence. [2] For the soldiers in the camp, feeling that the man deserved both a public funeral and distinctive honour above other men, not only for many other reasons, but particularly because, though he was an old man and exempted by his age from contests of war, he had voluntarily exposed himself to danger for the public good, voted to join together from the three legions and go out to recover his body, in order that it might be brought to the camp in complete security and honour. And the generals consenting to this, for fear that by opposing a worthy and becoming action they might create some suspicion of a plot in regard to the incident, they took their arms and went out of the camp. [3] When they came to the spot and saw neither woods nor ravines nor any other place of the sort customary for the setting of ambuscades, but a bare hill exposed on all sides and reached by a narrow pass, they at once began to suspect what had happened. Then, approaching the dead bodies and seeing Siccius himself and all the rest cast aside but not despoiled, they marvelled that the enemy, after overcoming their foes, had stripped off neither their arms nor their clothes. [4] And when they examined the whole region round about and found neither tracks of horses nor footsteps of men besides those in the road, they thought it impossible that enemies till then invisible could have suddenly burst into view of their comrades, as if they had been creatures with wings or had fallen from heaven. But, over and above all these and the other signs, what seemed to them the strongest proof that the man had been slain, not by enemies, but by friends, was that the body of no foeman was found. [5] For they could not conceive that Siccius, a man irresistible by reason of both of his strength and of his valour, or his shield-bearer either, or the others who had fallen with him would have perished without offering a stout resistance, particularly since the contest had been waged hand to hand. This they conjectured from their wounds; for both Siccius himself and his shield-bearer having had many wounds, some from stones, others from javelins, and still others from swords, whereas those who had been slain by them all had wounds from swords, but none from a missile weapon. [6] Thereupon they all gave way to resentment and cried out, making great lamentation. After bewailing the calamity, they took up the body, and carrying it to the camp, indulged in loud outcries against the generals, and they demanded, preferably, that the murderers be put to death in accordance with military law, or else that a civil court be assigned to them immediately; and many were those who were ready to be their accusers. [7] When the generals paid no heed to them, but concealed the men and put off the trials, telling them they would give an accounting in Rome to any who wished to accuse them, the soldiers, convinced that the generals had been the authors of the plot, proceeded to bury Siccius, after arranging a most magnificent funeral procession and erecting an immense pyre, where every man according to his ability presented the first-offerings of everything that is usually employed in rendering the last honours to brave men; but they were all becoming alienated from the decemvirs and had the intention of revolting. Thus the army that lay encamped at Crustumerium and Fidenae, because of the death of Siccius the legate, was hostile to the men who stood at the head of the government.
[28.1] The other army, which lay at Algidum in the territory of the Aequians, as well as the whole body of the people at Rome became hostile to them for the following reasons. One of the plebeians, whose name was Lucius Verginius, a man inferior to none in war, had the command of a century in one of the five legions which had taken the field against the Aequians. [2] He had a daughter, called Verginia after her father, who far surpassed all the Roman maidens in beauty and was betrothed to Lucius, a former tribune and son of the Icilius who first instituted and first received the tribunician power. [3] Appius Claudius, the chief of the decemvirs, having seen this girl, who was now marriageable, as she was reading at the schoolmaster’s (the schools for the children stood at that time near the Forum), was immediately captivated by her beauty and became still more frenzied because, already mastered by passion, he could not help passing by the school frequently. [4] But, as he could not marry her, both because he saw that she was betrothed to another and because he himself had a lawfully-wedded wife, and furthermore because he would not deign to take a wife from a plebeian family through scorn of that station and as being contrary to the law which he himself had inscribed in the Twelve Tables, he first endeavoured to bribe the girl with money, and for that purpose was continually sending women to her governesses (for she had lost her mother), giving them many presents and promising them still more than was actually given. Those who were tempting the governesses had been instructed not to tell them the name of the man who was in love with the girl, but only that he was one of those who had it in his power to benefit or harm whom he wished. [5] When they could not persuade the governesses and he saw that the girl was thought to require an even stronger guard than before, inflamed by his passion, he resolved to take the more audacious course. He accordingly sent for Marcus Claudius, one of his clients, a daring man and ready for any service, and acquainted him with his passion; then, having instructed him in what he wished him to do and say, he sent him away accompanied by a band of the most shameless men. [6] And Claudius, going to the school, seized the maiden and attempted to lead her away openly through the forum; but when an outcry was raised and a great crowd gathered, he was prevented from taking her whither h
e intended, and so betook himself to the magistracy. Seated at the time on the tribunal was Appius alone, hearing causes and administering justice to those who applied for it. When Claudius wished to speak, there was an outcry and expressions of indignation on the part of the crowd standing about the tribunal, all demanding that he wait till the relations of the girl should be present; and Appius ordered it should be so. [7] After a short interval Publius Numitorius, the maiden’s maternal uncle, a man of distinction among the plebeians, appeared with many of his friends and relations; and not long afterwards came Lucius, to whom she had been betrothed by her father, accompanied by a strong body of young plebeians. As he came up to the tribunal still panting and out of breath, he demanded to know who it was that had dared to lay hands upon a girl who was a Roman citizen and what his purpose was.
[29.1] When silence had been obtained, Marcus Claudius, who had seized the girl, spoke to this effect: “I have done nothing either rash or violent in regard to the girl, Appius Claudius; but, as I am her master, I am taking her according to the laws. Hear now by what means she is mine. [2] I have a female slave who belonged to my father and has served a great many years. This slave, being with child, was persuaded by the wife of Verginius, whom she was acquainted with and used to visit, to give her the child when she should bear it. And she, keeping her promise, when this daughter was born, pretended to us that she had given birth to a dead child, but she gave the babe to Numitoria; and the latter, taking the child, palmed it off as her own and reared it, although she was the mother of no children either male or female. [3] Hitherto I was ignorant of all this; but now, having learned of it through information given me and having many credible witnesses and having also examined the slave, I have recourse to the law, common to all mankind, which declares it right that the offspring belong, not to those who palm off others’ children as their own, but to their mothers, the children of freeborn mothers being free, and those of slave mothers slaves, having the same masters as their mothers. [4] In virtue of this law I claim the right to take the daughter of my slave woman, consenting to submit to a trial and, if anyone puts in a counter claim, offering sufficient securities that I will produce her at the trial. But if anyone wishes to have the decision rendered speedily, I am ready to plead my cause before you at once, instead of offering pledges for her person and interposing delays to the action. Let these claimants choose whichever of these alternatives they wish.”
[30.1] After Claudius had spoken thus and had added an urgent plea that he might be at no disadvantage as compared with his adversaries because he was a client and of humble birth, the uncle of the girl answered in few words and those such as were proper to be addressed to a magistrate. He said that the father of the girl was Verginius, a plebeian, who was then abroad in the service of his country; that her mother was Numitoria, his own sister, a virtuous and good woman, who had died not many years before; that the maiden herself, after being brought up in such a manner as became a person of free condition and a citizen, had been legally betrothed to Icilius, and that the marriage would have taken place if the war with the Aequians had not intervened. [2] In the meantime, he said, no less than fifteen years having elapsed, Claudius had never attempted to allege anything of this sort to the girl’s relations, but now that she was of marriageable age and had a reputation for exceptional beauty, he had come forward with his allegation after inventing a shameless calumny, not indeed on his own initiative, but coached by a man who thought he must by any and every means gratify his desires. [3] As for the trial, he said the father himself would defend the cause of his daughter when he returned from the campaign; but as for the claiming of her person, which was required according to the laws, he himself, as the girl’s uncle, was attending to that and was submitting to trial, in doing which he was demanding nothing either unprecedented or not granted as a right to all other Roman citizens, if indeed not to all men, namely, that when a person is being haled from a condition of freedom into slavery, it is not the man who is trying to deprive him of his liberty, but the man who maintains it, that has the custody of him until the trial. [4] And he said that it behooved Appius to maintain that principle for many reasons: first, because he had inscribed this law among the others in the Twelve Tables, and, in the next place, because he was chief of the decemvirate; and furthermore, because he had assumed not only the consular but also the tribunician power, the principal function of which was to relieve such of the citizens as were weak and destitute of help. [5] He then asked him to show compassion for a maiden who had turned to him for refuge, having long since lost her mother and being at the moment deprived of her father and in danger of losing not only her ancestral fortune but also her husband, her country, and, what is regarded as the greatest of all human blessings, her personal liberty. And having lamented the insolence to which the girl would be delivered up and thus roused great compassion in all present, he at last spoke about the time to be appointed for the trial, saying: [6] “Since Claudius, who during those fifteen years never complained of any injury, now wishes to have the decision in this cause rendered speedily, anyone else who was contending for a matter of so great importance as I am would say that he was grievously treated and would naturally feel indignant, demanding to offer his defence only after peace is made and all who are now in camp have returned, at a time when both parties to the suit will have an abundance of witnesses, friends and judges — a proposal which would be democratic, moderate and agreeable to the Roman constitution. [7] But as for us,” he said, “we have no need of speeches nor of peace nor of a throng of friends and judges, nor are we trying to put the matter off to the times appropriate for such decisions; but even in war, and when friends are lacking and judges are not impartial, and at once, we are ready to make our defence, asking of you only so much time, Appius, as will suffice for the father of the girl to come from camp, lament his misfortunes, and plead his cause in person.”
[31.1] Numitorius having spoken to this effect and the people who stood round the tribunal having signified by a great shout that his demand was just, Appius after a short pause said: “I am not ignorant of the law concerning the bailing of those who are claimed as slaves, which does not permit their persons to be in the power of the claimants till the hearing of the case, nor would I willingly break a law which I myself draughted. This, however, I consider to be just, that, as there are two claimants, the master and the father, if they were both present, the father should have the custody of her person till the hearing; [2] but since he is absent, the master should take her away, giving sufficient sureties that he will produce her before the magistrate when her father returns. I shall take great care, Numitorius, concerning the sureties and the amount of their bond and also that you defendants shall be at no disadvantage in respect of the trial. For the present, deliver up the girl.”
[3] When Appius had pronounced this sentence, there was much lamentation and beating of breasts on the part of the maiden and of the women surrounding her, and much clamour and indignation on the part of the crowd which stood about the tribunal. But Icilius, who intending to marry the girl, clasped her to him and said: [4] “Not while I am alive, Appius, shall anyone take this girl away. But if you are resolved to break the laws, to confound our rights, and to take from us our liberty, deny no longer the tyranny you decemvirs are reproached with, but after you have cut off my head lead away not only this maiden whithersoever you choose, but also every other maiden and matron, in order that the Romans may now at last be convinced that they have become slaves instead of free men and may no longer show a spirit above their condition. [5] Why, then, do you delay any longer? Why do you not shed my blood before your tribunal in the sight of all? But know of a certainty that my death will prove the beginning either of great woes to the Romans or of great blessings.”
[32.1] While he wished to go on speaking, the lictors by order of the magistrate kept him and his friends back from the tribunal and commanded them to obey the sentence; and Claudius laid hold on the girl as she clun
g to her uncle and her betrothed, and attempted to lead her away. But the people who stood round the tribunal, upon seeing her piteous grief, all cried out together, and disregarding the authority of the magistrate, crowded upon those who were endeavouring to use force with her, so that Claudius, fearing their violence, let the girl go and fled for refuge to the feet of the general. [2] Appius was at first greatly disturbed as he saw all the people enraged, and for a considerable time was in doubt what he ought to do. Then, after calling Claudius to the tribunal and conversing a little with him, as it seemed, he made a sign for the bystanders to be silent and said: [3] “I am waiving the strict letter of the law, citizens, relative to the bailing of her person, inasmuch as I see you growing exasperated at the sentence I have pronounced; and desiring to gratify you, I have prevailed upon my client to consent that the relations of the maiden shall go bail for her till the arrival of her father. [4] Do you men, therefore, take the girl away, Numitorius, and acknowledge yourselves bound for her appearance to-morrow. For this much time is sufficient for you both to give Verginius notice to-day and to bring him here from the camp in three or four hours to-morrow.” When they asked for more time, he gave no answer but rose up and ordered his seat to be taken away.
[33.1] As he left the Forum, sorely troubled and maddened by his passion, he determined not to relinquish the maiden another time to her relations, but when she was produced by her surety, to take her away by force, after first placing a stronger guard about his person, in order to avoid suffering any violence from the crowds, and occupying the neighbourhood of the tribunal ahead of time with a throng of his partisans and clients. [2] That he might do this with a plausible show of justice when the father should fail to appear as her surety, he sent his most trusted horsemen to the camp with letters for Antonius, the commander of the legion in which Verginius served, asking him to detain the man under strict guard, lest he learn of the situation of his daughter and steal away from the camp unobserved. [3] But he was forestalled by two relations of the girl, namely a son of Numitorius and a brother of Icilius, who had been sent ahead by the rest at the very beginning of the affair. These, being young and full of spirit, drove their horses with loose rein and under the whip, and completing the journey ahead of the men sent by Appius, informed Verginius of what had taken place. [4] He, going to Antonius and concealing the true reason for his request, pretended that he had received word of the death of a certain near relation whose unless and burial he was obliged by law to perform; and being given a furlough, he set out about lamp-lighting time with the youths, taking by-roads for fear of being pursued both from the camp and from the city — the very thing which actually happened. [5] For Antonius, upon receiving the letters about the first watch, sent a troop of horse after him, while other horsemen, sent from the city, patrolled all night long the road that led from the camp to Rome. When Appius was informed by somebody of the unexpected arrival of Verginius, he lost control of himself, and going to the tribunal with a large body of attendants, ordered the relations of the girl to be brought. [6] When they had come, Claudius repeated what he had said before and asked Appius to act as judge in the matter without delay, declaring that both the informant and the witnesses were present and offering the slave woman herself to be examined. On top of all this there was the pretence of great indignation, if he was not to obtain the same justice as other people, as he had previously, because he was a client of Appius, and also an appeal that Appius should not support those whose complaints were the more pitiful, but rather those whose claims were the more just.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 104