§4.82.1αὕτη Σπορίου μέν ἐστι Λουκρητίου θυγάτηρ, ὃν ἀπέδειξε τῆς πόλεως ἔπαρχον ὁ τύραννος ἐξιὼν ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον, Ταρκυνίου δὲ Κολλατίνου γυνὴ τοῦ συγγενοῦς τῶν τυράννων καὶ πολλὰ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν κακοπαθήσαντος.
She is the daughter of Spurius Lucretius, whom the tyrant appointed prefect of the city when he went out to the war, and the wife of Tarquinius Collatinus, who was a relative of the tyrants and had suffered many hardships on their behalf.
αὕτη μέντοι σωφρονεῖν βουλομένη καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν ἑαυτῆς φιλοῦσα, ὥσπερ ἀγαθῇ προσήκει γυναικί, ξενιζομένου παρʼ αὐτῇ Σέξτου διὰ τὴν συγγένειαν τῇ παρελθούσῃ νυκτί, Κολλατίνου δὲ τότʼ ἀποδημοῦντος ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου, τὴν ἀκόλαστον ὕβριν τῆς τυραννίδος οὐκ ἐδυνήθη διαφυγεῖν, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ αἰχμάλωτος ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης κρατηθεῖσα ὑπέμεινεν ὅσα μὴ θέμις ἐλευθέρᾳ γυναικὶ παθεῖν.
However, though she wished to be chaste and loved her own husband, as becomes a good wife, she was unable to escape the licentious outrage of the tyranny when Sextus was being entertained at her house on account of their kinship last night, while Collatinus was then away at the camp; rather, overcome by force like a captive, she endured all that is not lawful for a free woman to suffer.
§4.82.2ἐφʼ οἷς ἀγανακτοῦσα καὶ ἀφόρητον ἡγουμένη τὴν ὕβριν ἐπειδὴ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους συγγενεῖς τὰς κατασχούσας αὐτὴν ἀνάγκας διεξῆλθε πολλὰς ποιησαμένη διήσεις καὶ ἀράς, ἵνα τιμωροὶ τοῖς κακοῖς αὐτῆς γένοιντο καὶ τὸ κεκρυμμένον ὑπὸ τοῖς κόλποις ξίφος σπασαμένη τοῦ πατρὸς ὁρῶντος, ὦ δημόται, διὰ τῶν ἑαυτῆς σπλάγχνων ἔβαψε τὸν σίδηρον.
Resenting these things and holding the outrage unbearable, when she had related to her father and the other kinsmen the violence that had constrained her, after making many entreaties and curses so that they might become avengers of her misfortunes, she drew the sword hidden under her garments and, O citizens, before her father's eyes, stained the steel through her own vitals.
§4.82.3ὦ θαυμαστὴ σὺ καὶ πολλῶν ἐπαίνων ἀξία τῆς εὐγενοῦς προαιρέσεως, οἴχῃ καὶ ἀπόλωλας οὐχ ὑπομείνασα τυραννικὴν ὕβριν, ἁπάσας ὑπεριδοῦσα τὰς ἐν τῷ ζῆν ἡδονάς, ἵνα σοι μηδὲν ἔτι τοιοῦτον συμβῇ παθεῖν.
O admirable woman, worthy of many praises for your noble choice, you have departed and perished, not having endured the tyrannical outrage, having looked down upon all the pleasures of life so that nothing of this sort might ever happen for you to suffer again.
ἔπειτα σὺ μέν, ὦ Λουκρητία, γυναικείας τυχοῦσα φύσεως ἀνδρὸς εὐγενοῦς φρόνημα ἔσχες, ἡμεῖς δʼ ἄνδρες γενόμενοι γυναικῶν χείρους ἀρετῇ γενησόμεθα;
If you, then, Lucretia, though possessing a female nature, had the spirit of a noble man, shall we, having been born men, prove worse than women in virtue?
καὶ σοὶ μέν, ὅτι μίαν ἐτυραννήθης νύκτα τὴν ἀμίαντον ἀφαιρεθεῖσʼ αἰδῶ μετὰ βίας, ἡδίων καὶ μακαριώτερος ἔδοξεν ὁ θάνατος εἶναι τοῦ βίου, ἡμῖν δʼ ἆρʼ οὐ παραστήσεται τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὑπολαβεῖν, ὧν Ταρκύνιος οὐ μίαν ἡμέραν, ἀλλὰ πέμπτον καὶ εἰκοστὸν ἔτος ἤδη τυραννῶν, πάσας ἀφῄρηται τὰς ἐν τῷ ζῆν ἡδονὰς ἐλευθερίαν ἀφελόμενος;
And if to you, because you were subjected to tyranny for one night, having your undefiled honor taken away by force, death seemed to be sweeter and happier than life, shall it not occur to us to conceive this very same thought, we from whom Tarquinius, tyrannizing not for one day but already for twenty-five years, has taken away all the pleasures of life by depriving us of freedom?
§4.82.4οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν, ὦ δημόται, βιωτὸν ἐν τοιούτοις καλινδουμένοις κακοῖς, ἐκείνων τῶν ἀνδρῶν οὖσιν ἀπογόνοις, οἳ τὰ δίκαια τάττειν ἠξίουν τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ πολλοὺς ὑπὲρ ἀρχῆς καὶ δόξης ἤραντο κινδύνους· ἀλλὰ δυεῖν θάτερον ἅπασιν αἱρετέον, ἢ βίον ἐλεύθερον, ἢ θάνατον ἔνδοξον.
It is not possible for us, O citizens, to live wallowing in such evils, we who are descendants of those men who saw fit to dictate justice to others and underwent many dangers for the sake of empire and glory; rather, one of two things must be chosen by all, either a free life or a glorious death.
§4.82.5ἥκει δὲ καιρός, οἷον εὐχόμεθα, μεθεστηκότος μὲν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως Ταρκυνίου, ἡγουμένων δὲ τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως τῶν πατρικίων, οὐδενὸς δʼ ἡμῖν ἐλλείψοντος, ἐὰν ἐκ προθυμίας χωρήσωμεν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα, οὐ σωμάτων, οὐ χρημάτων, οὐχ ὅπλων, οὐ στρατηγῶν, οὐ τῆς ἄλλης τῆς εἰς τὰ πολέμια παρασκευῆς· μεστὴ γὰρ ἁπάντων ἡ πόλις, αἰσχρόν τε Οὐολούσκων καὶ Σαβίνων καὶ μυρίων ἄλλων ἄρχειν ἀξιοῦν, αὐτοὺς δὲ δουλεύοντας ἑτέροις ὑπομένειν, καὶ περὶ μὲν τῆς Ταρκυνίου πλεονεξίας πολλοὺς ἀναιρεῖσθαι πολέμους, περὶ δὲ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἐλευθερίας μηδένα.
And the opportunity has come, such as we pray for, with Tarquinius having departed from the city, and the patricians leading the enterprise, and nothing being about to fail us if we go to the tasks with eagerness—neither bodies, nor money, nor weapons, nor generals, nor the other preparation for war; for the city is full of all things, and it is shameful to see fit to rule over the Volscians and Sabines and countless others, yet to endure being slaves to others ourselves, and to undertake many wars for the sake of Tarquinius' greed, but none for our own freedom.