§11.30.1τοιαῦτʼ εἰπόντος Κλαυδίου καὶ πολλὴν προσθέντος δέησιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδὲν ἐλαττωθῆναι τῶν ἀντιδίκων, ὅτι πελάτης ἦν καὶ ταπεινός, παραλαβὼν τὸν λόγον ὁ τῆς κόρης θεῖος ὀλίγα καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα εἰρῆσθαι προσήκοντα εἶπε· πατέρα μὲν οὖν εἶναι τῆς κόρης λέγων Οὐεργίνιον ἐκ τῶν δημοτικῶν, ὃν ἀποδημεῖν στρατευόμενον ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως· μητέρα δὲ γενέσθαι Νομιτωρίαν τὴν ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, σώφρονα καὶ ἀγαθὴν γυναῖκα, ἣν οὐ πολλοῖς πρότερον ἐνιαυτοῖς ἀποθανεῖν· τραφεῖσαν δὲ τὴν παρθένον, ὡς ἐλευθέρᾳ καὶ ἀστῇ προσῆκεν, ἁρμοσθῆναι κατὰ νόμον Ἰκιλίῳ, καὶ τέλος ἂν ἐσχηκέναι τὸν γάμον,
When Claudius had spoken thus and had added a great entreaty that his adversaries should not be at any disadvantage because he was a client and humble, the uncle of the girl, taking up the speech, said a few things, and those appropriate to be spoken to the magistrate: namely, saying that the father of the girl was Verginius, of the plebeians, who was away on military service for the city; and that the mother was Numitoria, his own sister, a virtuous and good woman, who had died not many years before; and that the maiden, having been brought up as became a freeborn citizen, had been betrothed according to the law to Icilius, and that the marriage would have been consummated, if the war against the Aequi had not arisen more quickly.
§11.30.2εἰ μὴ θᾶττον ὁ πρὸς Αἰκανοὺς ἀνέστη πόλεμος. ἐν δὲ τοῖς μεταξὺ χρόνοις οὐκ ἐλαττόνων ἢ πεντεκαίδεκα διεληλυθότων ἐτῶν οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐπιχειρήσαντα πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἰπεῖν Κλαύδιον, ἐπειδὴ γάμων ἡ παῖς ἔσχεν ὥραν καὶ διαφέρειν δοκεῖ τὴν ὄψιν, ἐρῶντα ἥκειν ἀναίσχυντον συκοφάντημα πλάσαντα, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ γνώμης, ἀλλὰ κατεσκευασμένον ὑπʼ ἀνδρὸς ἁπάσαις οἰομένου δεῖν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου χαρίζεσθαι.
But in the intervening time, when no less than fifteen years had passed, Claudius, without having attempted to say any such thing to them, since the girl had reached the marriageable age and appeared to be of outstanding beauty, had come in love, having fabricated a shameless slander, not of his own mind, but set up by a man who thought he must gratify all his desires in every possible way.
§11.30.3τὴν μὲν οὖν δίκην αὐτὸν ἔφη τὸν πατέρα περὶ τῆς θυγατρὸς ἀπολογήσεσθαι παραγενόμενον ἀπὸ τῆς στρατιᾶς· τὴν δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἀντιποίησιν, ἣν ἔδει γενέσθαι κατὰ τοὺς νόμους, αὐτὸς ποιεῖσθαι θεῖος ὢν τῆς κόρης καὶ τὰ δίκαια ὑπέχειν, οὐδὲν ἀξιῶν οὔτε ξένον οὔτε ὃ μὴ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀποδίδοται Ῥωμαίοις δίκαιον, εἰ καὶ μὴ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, σώματος εἰς δουλείαν ἐξ ἐλευθερίας ἀγομένου μὴ τὸν ἀφαιρούμενον τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἀλλὰ τὸν φυλάττοντα κύριον εἶναι μέχρι δίκης.
Therefore, he said that the father himself, when he arrived from the army, would plead the cause concerning his daughter; but that he himself, being the uncle of the girl, made the claim for her person, which ought to be made according to the laws, and would undergo trial, demanding nothing strange nor any justice that is not also granted to other Romans—if indeed not to all men—namely, that when a person is being dragged from freedom into slavery, not the one who takes away freedom, but the one who defends it should be the guardian until the trial.
§11.30.4ἔφη τε διὰ πολλὰς αἰτίας προσήκειν τῷ Ἀππίῳ φυλάττειν τοῦτο τὸ δίκαιον· πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι τὸν νόμον τοῦτον ἅμα τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐν ταῖς δώδεκα δέλτοις ἀνέγραψεν· ἔπειθʼ ὅτι τῆς δεκαδαρχίας ἡγεμών· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὅτι μετὰ τῆς ὑπατικῆς ἐξουσίας καὶ τὴν δημαρχίαν προσειλήφει, ἧς εἶναι κράτιστον ἔργον τοῖς ἀσθενέσι καὶ ἐρήμοις τῶν πολιτῶν βοηθεῖν.
And he said that for many reasons it was fitting for Appius to preserve this right: first, because he had written this law along with the others in the Twelve Tables; second, because he was the leader of the decemvirate; and in addition to these, because along with the consular power he had also assumed the tribunician power, whose greatest work is to assist the weak and helpless of the citizens.
§11.30.5ἠξίου τε τὴν καταπεφευγυῖαν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐλεῆσαι παρθένον, μητρὸς μὲν ὀρφανὴν οὖσαν ἔτι πάλαι, πατρὸς δʼ ἔρημον ἐν τῷ τότε χρόνῳ, κινδυνεύουσαν οὐ χρημάτων ἀποστερηθῆναι προγονικῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνδρὸς καὶ πατρίδος καὶ ὃ πάντων μέγιστον εἶναι δοκεῖ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀγαθῶν, τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἐλευθερίας.
And he demanded that he pity the maiden who had fled to him for protection, who had been motherless for a long time and was then destitute of a father, and was in danger of being deprived not of ancestral property, but of both husband and country, and what seems to be the greatest of all human goods, the freedom of her person.
ἀνακλαυσάμενος δὲ τὴν ὕβριν, εἰς ἣν ἔμελλεν ἡ παῖς παραδοθήσεσθαι, καὶ πολὺν ἐκ τῶν παρόντων κινήσας ἔλεον περὶ τοῦ χρόνου τῆς δίκης ἔφη τελευτῶν· §11.30.6ἐπειδὴ ταχεῖαν αὐτῆς βούλεται γενέσθαι τὴν κρίσιν Κλαύδιος, ὁ μηδὲν ἠδικῆσθαι φάμενος ἐν τοῖς πεντεκαίδεκα ἔτεσιν, ἕτερος μὲν ἄν τις ὑπὲρ τηλικούτων ἀγωνιζόμενος δεινὰ πάσχειν ἔλεξε καὶ ἠγανάκτει κατὰ τὸ εἰκός, ὅταν εἰρήνη γένηται καὶ πάντες ἔλθωσιν οἱ νῦν ὄντες ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου, τότε τὴν δίκην ἀξιῶν ἀπολογεῖσθαι, ὅτε καὶ μαρτύρων εὐπορία καὶ φίλων καὶ δικαστῶν ἀμφοτέροις ἔσται τοῖς δικαζομένοις, πολιτικὰ καὶ μέτρια πράγματα προφέρων καὶ τῇ Ῥωμαίων συνήθη πολιτείᾳ·
And having lamented the outrage to which the girl was about to be delivered, and having moved much pity from those present, he said at last concerning the time of the trial: "Since Claudius, who says he has suffered no wrong in these fifteen years, wishes the judgment of it to be swift, any other man contending for such great matters would have said that he was suffering terrible things and would have been indignant, as is natural, demanding to plead the cause when peace comes and all those now in the camp return, at which time there will be an abundance of witnesses, friends, and judges for both litigants, putting forward civil and moderate proposals, and those customary to the Roman state.
§11.30.7ἡμεῖς δʼ, ἔφη, λόγων οὐδὲν δεόμεθα οὔτʼ εἰρήνης οὔτʼ ὄχλου φίλων καὶ δικαστῶν οὔτʼ εἰς τοὺς δικασίμους χρόνους τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀναβαλλόμεθα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν πολέμῳ καὶ ἐν σπάνει φίλων καὶ οὐκ ἐν ἴσοις δικασταῖς καὶ παραχρῆμα ὑπομένομεν ἀπολογεῖσθαι, τοσοῦτον αἰτησάμενοι παρὰ σοῦ χρόνον, Ἄππιε, ὅσος ἱκανὸς ἔσται τῷ πατρὶ τῆς κόρης ἀπὸ στρατοπέδου παραγενηθέντι τὰς ἰδίας ἀποδύρασθαι τύχας, καὶ διʼ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν δίκην ἀπολογήσασθαι.
But we," he said, "need no words, nor peace, nor a crowd of friends and judges, nor do we delay the matter until the judicial sessions, but even in war, in scarcity of friends, and before unequal judges, we immediately submit to plead the cause, asking only so much time from you, Appius, as will be sufficient for the father of the girl, when he has arrived from the camp, to lament his own fortunes and to plead the cause himself."