The corruption and cruelty of Verres and Cleomenes Flashcards
(18 cards)
egreditur in Centuripina quadriremi Cleomenes e portu; sequitur
Segestana navis, Tyndaritana, Herbitensis, Heracliensis,
Apolloniensis, Haluntina, praeclara classis in speciem, sed inops et
infirma propter dimissionem propugnatorum atque remigum.
Cleomenes left in a Centuripan quadrireme from the port. A Segestan ship, and a
Tyndarian one, and a Herbitan one, and a Heraclian one, and an Apollonian one, and a Haluntine one followed - a noble fleet in appearance,
but poor and weak because of the dismissal of its defenders and rowers.
Tam diu in imperio suo classem iste praetor diligens vidit quam
diu convivium eius flagitiosissimum praetervecta est; ipse autem,
qui visus multis diebus non esset, tum se tamen in conspectum
nautis paulisper dedit.
That hard-working governor [=Verres] saw the fleet in his command for as long as it
sailed by his most disgraceful banquet. He himself, however, who had not been seen for many days, nevertheless
then offered himself to the sight of his sailors for a short time.
stetit soleatus praetor populi Romani cum
pallio purpureo tunicaque talari muliercula nixus in litore. iam hoc
istum vestitu Siculi civesque Romani permulti saepe viderant.
.He stood wearing sandals, the governor of the Roman people,
with a purple cloak and a tunic reaching down to his ankles leaning on a prostitute on the shore.
Already the Sicilians and very many Roman citizens had often seen that man in this clothing.
posteaquam paulum provecta classis est et Pachynum quinto die denique adpulsa,
nautae coacti fame radices palmarum agrestium, quarum erat in illis locis, sicuti in
magna parte Siciliae, multitudo, colligebant et iis miseri perditique alebantur;
Cleomenes autem, qui alterum se Verrem cum luxurie ac nequitia tum etiam imperio
putaret, similiter totos dies in litore tabernaculo posito perpotabat.
After the fleet had progressed a little and had finally sailed towards Pachynus on the fifth day, the
sailors, compelled by hunger, were collecting roots of wild palms (of which there was a large number
in those parts,
just as in a large part of Sicily), and the poor and desperate men were nourished by them.
But Cleomenes, who thought himself a second Verres not only in extravagance and vice but also in power,
was in similar fashion drinking heavily all through the days on the shore after setting up a tent.
ecce autem
repente ebrio Cleomene esurientibus ceteris nuntiatur piratarum esse navis in portu
Odysseae; nam ita is locus nominatur; nostra autem classis erat in portu Pachyni.
But look!
- suddenly, with Cleomenes drunk and the rest of them starving, a pirate ship was announced to be in the port
of Odyssea (for this place is named in this way ) but our fleet was in the port of Pachynus.
Cleomenes autem, quod erat terrestre praesidium non re sed nomine, speravit iis
militibus quos ex eo loco deduxisset explere se numerum nautarum et remigum posse.
repeCleomenes autem, quod erat terrestre praesidium non re sed nomine, speravit iis
militibus quos ex eo loco deduxisset explere se numerum nautarum et remigum posse.
reperta est eadem istius hominis avarissimi ratio in praesidiis quae in classibus; nam
erant perpauci reliqui, ceteri dimissi.
But, because there was a land-based garrison, (not in reality but in name), Cleomenes hoped
that he could make up the number of sailors and rowers with those soldiers, whom he had led out of that place.
The same reasoning of that most greedy man was discovered in land-based troops as in the fleets;
for there were very few left, and the rest had been dismissed.
procedit iste repente e praetorio inflammatus scelere furore crudelitate; in forum
venit, nauarchos vocari iubet. qui nihil metuerent, nihil suspicarentur, statim
accurrunt. iste hominibus miseris innocentibus inici catenas imperat.
He [=Verres] proceeded suddenly from the praetor’s headquarters, inflamed with wickedness, madness and cruelty. He went into the forum
and ordered the ship’s captains to be summoned. Men who feared nothing and suspected nothing immediately
ran forwards. He [=Verres] ordered chains to be thrown onto wretched, innocent men.
implorare illi
fidem praetoris, et quare id faceret rogare. tum iste hoc causae dicit, quod classem
praedonibus prodidissent. fit clamor et admiratio populi tantam esse in homine
impudentiam atque audaciam ut aut aliis causam calamitatis attribueret quae omnis
propter avaritiam ipsius accidisset,
They [=the captains] called upon the good faith of the praetor, and asked why he was doing this. Then he [=Verres] said this was the reason,
because they had betrayed the fleet to the pirates. There was a shout and wonder of the people that there should be
such great shamelessness and audacity that he could either attribute the cause of the disaster to others,
all of which had happened because of his own greed,
aut, cum ipse praedonum socius arbitraretur, aliis
proditionis crimen inferret; deinde hoc quinto decimo die crimen esse natum
postquam classis esset amissa.
or, since he himself was thought of as an ally of the pirates,
bring the charge of treason on others; then [there was the fact that] that this charge arose on the fifteenth day
after the fleet had been lost.
includuntur in carcerem condemnati; supplicium constituitur in illos, sumitur de miseris parentibus nauarchorum; prohibentur adire ad filios, prohibentur liberis suis cibum vestitumque ferre. patres hi quos videtis iacebant in limine, matresque miserae pernoctabant ad ostium carceris ab extremo conspectu liberum exclusae;
The condemned men were shut up in the prison; the sentence was decided for them,
and it was exacted [taken] from the wretched parents of the ship captains; they were forbidden from
approaching their sons, they were forbidden from bringing food and clothing to their children.
These fathers whom you see were lying in the doorway, and the wretched mothers were spending the
whole night at the mouth of the prison, excluded from their last sight of their children
quae nihil aliud orabant nisi ut filiorum suorum postremum spiritum ore excipere liceret. aderat ianitor carceris, carnifex praetoris, mors terrorque sociorum et civium Romanorum, lictor Sextius, cui ex omni gemitu doloreque certa merces comparabatur.
- women who were begging nothing other than that they should be allowed to receive their sons’ last breath
with their mouth. The doorkeeper of the prison was there, the praetor’s
executioner, the death and terror of Roman allies and citizens, the lictor Sextius,
for whom from every groan and grief a guaranteed price was obtained.
‘ut adeas, tantum dabis, ut cibum tibi intro ferre liceat, tantum.’ nemo recusabat. ‘quid? ut uno ictu securis adferam mortem filio tuo, quid dabis? ne diu crucietur, ne saepius feriatur, ne cum sensu doloris aliquo spiritus auferatur?’ etiam ob hanc causam pecunia lictori dabatur.
‘You will give this much, so that you can approach; so that you are allowed to bring food inside, this much.’
No-one was refusing.
‘What? So that I will bring death to your son with one blow of the axe, what will you give?
So that he will not be tortured for a long time, so that he will not be beaten too often, so that his spirit
will not be taken away with some sensation of grief?’ Even for this reason money was given to the lictor.
o magnum atque intolerandum dolorem! o gravem acerbamque fortunam!
non vitam liberum, sed mortis celeritatem pretio redimere cogebantur
parentes. atque ipsi etiam adulescentes cum Sextio suo de plaga et de uno
illo ictu loquebantur, idque postremum parentes suos liberi orabant,
Oh great and intolerable suffering! Oh heavy
and bitter fortune! The parents were being forced to buy at a price, not the life of their children,
but the speed of their death. And even the young men themselves
were speaking with Sextius about their execution and about that one blow; and finally
the children were begging their parents for this,
ut
levandi cruciatus sui causa lictori pecunia daretur. multi et graves dolores
inventi parentibus et propinquis, multi; verum tamen mors sit extremum.
non erit.
that for the sake of their torture being lightened
money was given to the lictor. Many serious sufferings were invented
for the parents and relatives, many; but in truth death should be the last.
It will not be
estne aliquid ultra quo crudelitas progredi possit? reperietur; nam
illorum, cum erunt securi percussi ac necati, corpora feris obicientur. hoc si
luctuosum est parentibus, redimant pretio sepeliendi potestatem
Is there anything further by which cruelty is able to advance?
It will be discovered! For their bodies, when they will be struck and killed by the axe,
will be thrown to wild beasts. If this is a cause of grief to the parents, they may buy back at a price
the ability to bury them.
quis tam fuit illo tempore ferreus, quis tam inhumanus praeter unum te, qui
non illorum aetate nobilitate miseria commoveretur? ecquis fuit quin
lacrimaret
Who was so iron-hearted at that time, who so inhumane, besides
you alone, who would not be moved by their age, nobility and wretchedness?
Or who was there who would not weep,
quin ita calamitatem illam putaret illorum ut fortunam tamen
non alienam, periculum autem commune arbitraretur? feriuntur securi.
laetaris tu in omnium gemitu et triumphas;
who would not think in such a way
of that misfortune of those men,
that he thought it not in fact someone else’s fortune,
but a danger shared by all? They were struck by the axe. You were delighted and triumphed
at everyone’s grief;
testes avaritiae tuae gaudes
esse sublatos. errabas, Verres, et vehementer errabas, cum te maculas
furtorum et flagitiorum tuorum sociorum innocentium sanguine eluere arbitrabare.
you rejoiced that witnesses of your greed were removed. You were wrong,
Verres, and you were violently wrong, when you thought that you washed
out the stains of the thefts and crimes of you and your allies
with the blood of innocent men
