[IDEM libro nono de officio proconsulis. ] §48.19.6.prSi quis forte, ne supplicio adficiatur, dicat se habere quod principi referat salutis ipsius causa, an remittendum sit ad eum, uidendum est.
[THE SAME, from the ninth book on the Office of Proconsul] If someone should happen to say, lest he be subjected to punishment, that he has something to report to the emperor for the sake of his safety, it must be considered whether he should be sent to him.
et sunt plerique praesidum tam timidi, ut etiam post sententiam de eo dictam poenam sustineant nec quicquam audiant: alii omnino non patiuntur quicquam tale allegantes: nonnulli neque semper neque numquam remittunt, sed inquirunt, quid sit, quod allegare principi uelint quidque quod pro salute ipsius habeant dicere, post quae aut sustinent poenam aut non sustinent.
And most governors are so timid that even after sentence has been pronounced upon him they stay the punishment and do not hear anything further; others do not tolerate those who make such allegations at all; some neither always nor never send them, but inquire what it is that they wish to allege to the emperor and what they claim to have to say for his safety, after which they either stay the punishment or do not.
quod uidetur habere mediam rationem.
This seems to have a middle course.
ceterum, ut mea fert opinio, prorsus eos non debuisse, posteaquam semel damnati sunt, audiri, quidquid allegent.
However, in my opinion, they absolutely ought not to have been heard, whatever they might allege, once they have been condemned.
quis enim dubitat eludendae poenae causa ad haec eos decurrere magisque esse puniendos, qui tamdiu conticuerunt, quod pro salute principis habere se dicere iactant? nec enim debebant tam magnam rem tam diu reticere.
For who doubts that they resort to these measures for the sake of evading punishment, and that those who have remained silent for so long about what they boast of having to say for the emperor's safety ought to be punished more severely? Indeed, they ought not to have kept so great a matter secret for so long.
§48.19.6.1Si quos comitum uel legati sui reos proconsul inuenerit, utrum punire eos debeat an successori seruare, quaeri potest.
If a proconsul finds any of his companions or his legate guilty, it can be asked whether he ought to punish them himself or preserve them for his successor.
sed multa exstant exempla, quae non tantum officialium suorum nec sub se agentium, uerum suos quoque seruos poena adfecerunt: quod quidem faciendum est, ut exemplo deterriti minus delinquant.
But many examples exist of those who have inflicted punishment not only on their own officials and those acting under them, but also on their own slaves; which indeed ought to be done, so that, deterred by the example, they may commit fewer offenses.
§48.19.6.2Nunc genera poenarum nobis enumeranda sunt, quibus praesides adficere quemque possint.
Now we must enumerate the kinds of punishments with which governors can affect anyone.
et sunt poenae, quae aut uitam adimant aut seruitutem iniungant aut ciuitatem auferant aut exilium aut coercitionem corporis contineant:
And there are punishments which either take away life, or impose servitude, or deprive of citizenship, or contain exile, or bodily coercion: