§4.28.1ἦσαν τῷ Τυλλίῳ δύο θυγατέρες ἐκ γυναικὸς γενόμεναι Ταρκυνίας, ἣν ἐνεγγύησεν αὐτῷ βασιλεὺς Ταρκύνιος.
Tullius had two daughters born of his wife Tarquinia, whom King Tarquinius had betrothed to him.
ταύτας τὰς κόρας ἐπιγάμους γενομένας ἐκδίδοται τοῖς ἀδελφιδοῖς τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῶν, υἱωνοῖς δὲ Ταρκυνίου, τῷ τε πρεσβυτέρῳ τὴν πρεσβυτέραν ἁρμόσας καὶ τῷ νεωτέρῳ τὴν νεωτέραν· οὕτως οἰόμενος αὐτὰς μάλιστα συνοίσεσθαι τοῖς λαβοῦσιν.
These girls, when they reached marriageable age, he gave in marriage to the nephews of their mother, who were the grandsons of Tarquinius, matching the elder sister with the elder brother and the younger sister with the younger brother; for he thought that in this way they would best get along with those who took them.
§4.28.2ἔτυχε δὲ τῶν γαμβρῶν ἑκάτερος ἐναντίᾳ συναφθεὶς τύχῃ κατὰ τὴν οὐχ ὁμοτροπίαν· Λευκίῳ μὲν γὰρ τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ τολμηρῷ καὶ αὐθάδει καὶ τυραννικῷ τὴν φύσιν ὄντι χρηστὴ καὶ σώφρων καὶ φιλοπάτωρ συνῆλθε γυνή, Ἀρροῦντι δὲ τῷ νεωτέρῳ πολὺ τὸ πρᾷον ἔχοντι καὶ εὐλόγιστον ἀνοσία καὶ μισοπάτωρ καὶ πάντολμος ἦν ἡ γαμετή.
But it happened that each of the sons-in-law was joined to an opposite fortune because of their dissimilar character; for with Lucius, the elder, who was bold, headstrong, and tyrannical by nature, there lived a good, modest, and father-loving wife, while with Arruns, the younger, who possessed a highly gentle and reasonable disposition, the wife was impious, father-hating, and all-daring.
§4.28.3συνέβαινε δὴ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἑκατέρῳ φέρεσθαι μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν, μετάγεσθαι δʼ ὑπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐπὶ τἀναντία· ὁ μέν γε πονηρὸς ἐκβαλεῖν τῆς βασιλείας τὸν κηδεστὴν προθυμούμενος καὶ πάντα μηχανώμενος εἰς τοῦτο ὑπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς μετεπείθετο ἀντιβολούσης τε καὶ ὀδυρομένης· ὁ δʼ ἐπιεικὴς οὐδὲν οἰόμενος δεῖν ἐξαμαρτάνειν εἰς τὸν πενθερόν, ἀλλὰ περιμένειν, ἕως ἡ φύσις αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν ἐξαγάγῃ, καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν οὐκ ἐῶν πράττειν τὰ μὴ δίκαια, ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνοσίας γυναικὸς ἐπὶ τἀναντία μετήγετο νουθετούσης τε καὶ λοιδορουμένης καὶ τὴν ἀνανδρίαν κακιζούσης· §4.28.4ὡς δʼ οὐδὲν ἐπέραινον οὔτε αἱ τῆς σώφρονος λιτανεῖαι τὰ κράτιστα τὸν οὐ δίκαιον ἄνδρα πειθούσης, οὔτε αἱ τῆς μιαρᾶς παραινέσεις ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνοσίους πράξεις τὸν οὐ πονηρὸν εἶναι πεφυκότα παρακαλούσης, ἀλλʼ ἑκάτερος ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν ἐφέρετο καὶ λυπηρὰν ἡγεῖτο τὴν μὴ τὰ ὅμοια βουλομένην, τῇ μὲν ὀδύρεσθαί τε καὶ φέρειν τὸν ἑαυτῆς δαίμονα περιῆν· τῇ δὲ παντόλμῳ χαλεπαίνειν καὶ ἀπαλλαγῆναι ζητεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ συνοικοῦντος.
Thus it happened that each of the husbands was inclined to follow his own nature, but was led by his wife in the opposite direction; for the wicked one, though eager to expel his father-in-law from the kingdom and devising every scheme for this purpose, was dissuaded by his wife, who entreated and lamented; while the decent one, thinking that he ought to commit no wrong against his father-in-law, but should wait until nature should remove him from life, and not permitting his brother to do what was unjust, was led in the opposite direction by his impious wife, who admonished and reproached him and reviled his lack of manhood; and when they accomplished nothing, neither the entreaties of the modest wife as she tried to persuade her unjust husband to do what was best, nor the exhortations of the defiled wife as she urged to impious deeds the one who was by nature not wicked, but each of the husbands was carried along toward his own nature and considered troublesome the wife who did not desire the same things, it remained for the one to lament and bear her own fate, but for the all-daring one, to rage and seek to be rid of her partner.
§4.28.5ἔπειτα δʼ ἡ κακὴ τὴν φύσιν ἀπονοηθεῖσα καὶ νομίσασα τοῖς ἑαυτῆς τρόποις ἁρμόττειν μάλιστα τὸν τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἄνδρα μεταπέμπεταί τʼ αὐτὸν ὡς ὑπὲρ ἀναγκαίου πράγματος διαλεξομένη,
Then the one wicked by nature, driven to desperation and thinking that the husband of her sister was best suited to her own character, sent for him as if to converse on an urgent matter,