§2.26.1ἃ μὲν οὖν εἰς γυναῖκας εὖ ἔχοντα ὁ Ῥωμύλος ἐνομοθέτησεν, ἐξ ὧν κοσμιωτέρας περὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας αὐτὰς ἀπειργάσατο, ταῦτʼ ἐστιν, ἃ δʼ εἰς αἰδῶ καὶ δικαιοσύνην παίδων, ἵνα σέβωσι τοὺς πατέρας ἅπαντα πράττοντές τε καὶ λέγοντες ὅσα ἂν ἐκεῖνοι κελεύωσιν, ἔτι τούτων ἦν σεμνότερα καὶ μεγαλοπρεπέστερα καὶ πολλὴν ἔχοντα παρὰ τοὺς ἡμετέρους νόμους διαφοράν.
These, then, are the laws which Romulus established with advantage for women, by which he made them more well-behaved toward their husbands; but those concerning the respect and justice of children, so that they should revere their fathers by doing and saying everything whatsoever they might command, were still more austere than these and more magnificent, having a great difference compared to our laws.
§2.26.2οἱ μὲν γὰρ τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς καταστησάμενοι πολιτείας βραχύν τινα κομιδῇ χρόνον ἔταξαν ἄρχεσθαι τοὺς παῖδας ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων, οἱ μὲν ἕως τρίτον ἐκπληρώσωσιν ἀφʼ ἥβης ἔτος, οἱ δὲ ὅσον ἂν χρόνον ἠίθεοι μένωσιν, οἱ δὲ μέχρι τῆς εἰς τὰ ἀρχεῖα τὰ δημόσια ἐγγραφῆς, ὡς ἐκ τῆς Σόλωνος καὶ Πιττακοῦ καὶ Χαρώνδου νομοθεσίας ἔμαθον, §2.26.3οἷς πολλὴ μαρτυρεῖται σοφία·
For those who established the Greek constitutions ordained that children should be ruled by their fathers for a very short time indeed; some until they completed the third year after puberty, others for as long as they remained unmarried, and others until their registration into the public archives, as I have learned from the legislation of Solon, Pittacus, and Charondas, to whom great wisdom is attributed.
τιμωρίας τε κατὰ τῶν παίδων ἔταξαν, ἐὰν ἀπειθῶσι τοῖς πατράσιν, οὐ βαρείας ἐξελάσαι τῆς οἰκίας ἐπιτρέψαντες αὐτοὺς καὶ χρήματα μὴ καταλιπεῖν, περαιτέρω δὲ οὐδέν.
And they ordained punishments against children, if they should disobey their fathers, which were not severe, permitting them only to expel them from their houses and to leave them no property, but nothing further.
εἰσὶ δʼ οὐχ ἱκαναὶ κατασχεῖν ἄνοιαν νεότητος καὶ αὐθάδειαν τρόπων οὐδʼ εἰς τὸ σῶφρον ἀγαγεῖν τοὺς ἠμεληκότας τῶν καλῶν αἱ μαλακαὶ τιμωρίαι· τοιγάρτοι πολλὰ ἐν Ἕλλησιν ὑπὸ τέκνων εἰς πατέρας ἀσχημονεῖται.
But mild punishments are not sufficient to restrain the folly of youth and the insolence of characters, nor to lead to temperance those who have neglected what is noble; and for this reason, many disgraceful acts are committed by children against their fathers among the Greeks.
§2.26.4ὁ δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων νομοθέτης ἅπασαν ὡς εἰπεῖν ἔδωκεν ἐξουσίαν πατρὶ καθʼ υἱοῦ καὶ παρὰ πάντα τὸν τοῦ βίου χρόνον, ἐάν τε εἴργειν, ἐάν τε μαστιγοῦν, ἐάν τε δέσμιον ἐπὶ τῶν κατʼ ἀγρὸν ἔργων κατέχειν, ἐάν τε ἀποκτιννύναι προαιρῆται, κἂν τὰ πολιτικὰ πράττων ὁ παῖς ἤδη τυγχάνῃ κἂν ἐν ἀρχαῖς ταῖς μεγίσταις ἐξεταζόμενος κἂν διὰ τὴν εἰς τὰ κοινὰ §2.26.5φιλοτιμίαν ἐπαινούμενος.
But the legislator of the Romans gave, so to speak, all authority to a father over his son, and for the whole period of his life, whether he chose to imprison him, or to scourge him, or to keep him bound to labor on the fields, or to put him to death, even if the son happened to be already engaged in public affairs, or was ranked among the greatest magistrates, or was praised for his ambition for the public good.
κατὰ τοῦτόν γέ τοι τὸν νόμον ἄνδρες ἐπιφανεῖς δημηγορίας διεξιόντες ἐπὶ τῶν ἐμβόλων ἐναντίας μὲν τῇ βουλῇ, κεχαρισμένας δὲ τοῖς δημοτικοῖς, καὶ σφόδρα εὐδοκιμοῦντες ἐπὶ ταύταις κατασπασθέντες ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος ἀπήχθησαν ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων, ἣν ἂν ἐκείνοις φανῇ τιμωρίαν ὑφέξοντες· οὓς ἀπαγομένους διὰ τῆς ἀγορᾶς οὐδεὶς τῶν παρόντων ἐξελέσθαι δυνατὸς ἦν οὔτε ὕπατος οὔτε δήμαρχος οὔτε ὁ κολακευόμενος ὑπʼ αὐτῶν καὶ πᾶσαν ἐξουσίαν ἐλάττω τῆς ἰδίας εἶναι νομίζων ὄχλος.
Indeed, according to this law, men of distinction, delivering speeches on the rostra contrary to the senate but pleasing to the plebeians, and being in high repute because of these, were dragged down from the platform and led away by their fathers, in order to undergo whatever punishment should seem fit to them; and when they were led away through the forum, no one of those present was able to rescue them, neither consul, nor tribune, nor the crowd that was flattered by them and believed all other authority to be less than its own.
§2.26.6ἐῶ γὰρ λέγειν ὅσους ἀπέκτειναν οἱ πατέρες ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς ὑπʼ ἀρετῆς καὶ προθυμίας ἕτερόν τι διαπράξασθαι ἔργον γενναῖον προαχθέντας, ὃ μὴ προσέταξαν αὐτοῖς οἱ πατέρες, καθάπερ ἐπὶ Μαλλίου Τορκουάτου καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων παρειλήφαμεν, ὑπὲρ ὧν κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον καιρὸν ἐρῶ.
For I refrain from speaking of how many excellent men the fathers put to death, who by their virtue and zeal had been prompted to perform some other noble deed which their fathers had not commanded them, just as we have received concerning Manlius Torquatus and many others, of whom I shall speak at the proper opportunity.