History of Rome

​Gaius Claudius, who, thoroughly detesting the crimes of the decemvirs and hostile above all to the arrogance of his brother’s son, had withdrawn to Regillum, his ancient homeland, returned, though now of great age, to deprecate the perils of him whose vices he had fled; and dressed in mourning, together with his kinsmen and clients, he began to solicit individuals in the forum, and to beg them, ​not to wish to brand the Claudian house with such a lasting stain as to make them appear deserving of prison and chains. He urged that a man who would be an object of the most honorable representation to posterity, the lawgiver and founder of Roman jurisprudence, should not lie bound among night-thieves and robbers.

​Let them turn their minds for a moment from anger to consideration and reflection, and grant one man to the prayers of so many Claudii rather than reject the pleas of many on account of the hatred of one.

​He himself also was doing this for the sake of his family and name, and had not been reconciled with him whose adverse fortune he wished to succor. By virtue liberty had been recovered; by clemency the harmony of the orders could be established.

​There were some who were moved more by his own devotion than by the cause of the man for whom he pleaded; but Verginius begged that they should rather have pity on himself and his daughter, and that they should hear the prayers, not of the Claudian house which had obtained dominion over the plebs, but of the relatives of Verginia, the three tribunes, who, though created for the assistance of the plebs, were themselves imploring the faith and aid of the plebs.

​These tears seemed more just. Therefore, hope being cut off, before the appointed day of trial arrived, Appius took his own life.

​Immediately after, Spurius Oppius, the next object of hatred because he had been in the city when the unjust interim possession was decreed by his colleague, was arrested by Publius Numitorius.

​Yet the injury committed by Oppius himself brought him more hatred than his failure to prevent it. A witness was produced, who, having served twenty-seven campaigns and been decorated eight times out of the ordinary course, and wearing those decorations in the sight of the people, tore open his garment and showed his back lacerated with rods, begging for no exemption indeed, if the defendant could name any fault of his, from having him rage against him again now that he was a private citizen.

​Oppius also was led into chains and ended his life there before the day of trial. The tribunes confiscated the property of Claudius and Oppius. Their colleagues went into exile:

​their property was confiscated. And Marcus Claudius, the claimant of Verginia, was condemned on the day appointed for trial, but, since Verginius himself remitted the extreme penalty, he was dismissed and went into exile to Tibur; and the shade of Verginia, ​more fortunate when dead than when alive, having wandered through so many homes to demand punishment, at length found rest when no guilty person was left.