§9O si et possis in illa sublimi specula constitutus oculos tuos inserere secretis, recludere cubiculorum obductas fores et ad conscientiam luminum penetralia occulta reserare: aspicias ab inpudicis geri quod nec possit aspicere frons pudica, uideas quod crimen sit et uidere, uideas quod uitiorum furore dementes gessisse se negant et gerere festinant.
Oh, if you, placed on that lofty watchtower, could insert your eyes into secret things, open the closed doors of chambers, and unbar the hidden recesses to the consciousness of the eyes! You would behold things being done by the unchaste which a chaste face could not even look upon; you would see what is a crime even to see; you would see what those, mad with the fury of vices, deny themselves to have done, and yet hasten to do.
libidinibus insanis in uiri uiri proruunt.
In insane lusts, men rush upon men.
fiunt quae nec illis possunt placere qui faciunt.
Things are done which cannot please even those who do them.
mentior, nisi alios qui talis est increpat, turpes turpis infamat et euasisse se conscium credit, quasi conscientia satis non sit.
I lie, unless he who is such a one upbraids others, the shameful defames the shameful, and believes himself to have escaped conscious guilt, as if consciousness were not enough.
idem in publico accuaatores, in occulto rei, in semet ipsos censores pariter et nocentes: damnant foris quod intus operantur, admittunt libenter, quod cum admiserint criminantur.
The same men are accusers in public, defendants in secret, and censors as well as culprits against themselves: they condemn abroad what they work within; they commit willingly what they complain of when committed.
audacia prorsus cum uitiis faciens et inpudentia congruens inpudicis.
Indeed, it is an audacity siding with vices, and an impudence agreeing with the unchaste.
nolo mireris quae locuntur huiusmodi: ore illo quidquid iam uoce delinquitur minus est.
I would not have you wonder at what such men speak: with that mouth, whatever is already committed by the voice is of less account.
§10Sed tibi post insidiosas uias, post dispersas orbe toto multiplices pugnas, post spectacula uel cruenta uel turpia, post libidinum probra uel lupanaribus prostituta uel domesticis parietibus obsaepta, quorum quo secretior culpa, maior audacia est, forum fortasse uideatur immune, quod ab iniuriis lacessentibus liberum nullis malorum contactibus polluatur.
But to you, after the treacherous roads, after the manifold battles dispersed in the whole world, after the spectacles either bloody or shameful, after the disgraces of lusts either prostituted in brothels or enclosed within domestic walls (of which the more secret the fault, the greater the audacity), the forum may perhaps seem immune, which, free from harassing injuries, is polluted by no contacts of evils.
illuc aciem tuam flecte: plura illic quae detesteris inuenies, magis oculos tuos inde deuertes.
Turn your gaze thither: you will find more things there to detest, you will turn away your eyes from there the more.
incisae sint licet leges duodecim tabulis et publico aere praefixo iura. proscripta sint: inter leges ipsas delinquitur, inter iura peccatur, innocentia nec illic, ubi defenditur, reseruatur.
Although the laws may be engraved on the twelve tables, and the statutes proscribed on publicly posted bronze, transgressions are committed among the laws themselves, sins are done among the statutes, and innocence is not preserved even there where it is defended.
saeuit inuicem discordantium rabies et inter togas pace rupta forum litibus mugit insanum.
The madness of those disagreeing with one another rages, and, peace being broken among the togas, the forum bellows with insane lawsuits.
hasta illic et gladius et carnifex praesto est, ungula effodiens, eculeus extendens, ignis exurens, ad hominis corpus unum supplicia plura quam membra.
The spear is there, and the sword, and the executioner is at hand, the claw tearing, the rack stretching, the fire burning—for one body of a man, more punishments than limbs.
quis inter haec uero subueniat? patronus? sed praeuaricatur et decipit.
But who among these indeed may help? The patron? But he colludes and deceives.
iudex? sed sententiam uendit.
The judge? But he sells his sentence.
qui sedet crimina uindicaturus admittit, et ut reus innocens pereat, fit nocens iudex.
He who sits to avenge crimes commits them, and so that the innocent defendant may perish, the judge becomes guilty.
flagrant ubique delicta et passim multiformi genere peccandi per improbas mentes nocens uirus operatur.
Crimes burn everywhere, and through wicked minds, in a multiform kind of sinning, the guilty poison operates far and wide.
hic testamentum subicit, ille falsum capitali fraude conscribit: hic arcentur hereditatibus liberi, illic bonis donantur alieni: inimicus insimulat, «alumniator inpugnat, testis infamat.
This one substitutes a will, that one writes a forgery with capital fraud; here children are shut out from inheritances, there strangers are gifted with goods; an enemy falsely accuses, a slanderer attacks, a witness defames.
utrubique grassatur in mendacium criminum prostitutae uocis uenalis audacia, cum interim nocentes nec cum innocentibus pereunt.
On both sides, the venal audacity of a voice prostituted to the lie of crimes rages, while meanwhile the guilty do not even perish with the innocent.
nullus de legibus metus est, de quaesitore, de iudice pauor nullus: quod potest redimi non timetur.
There is no fear of the laws, no dread of the inquisitor, of the judge: what can be redeemed is not feared.
esse iam inter nocentes innoxium crimen est: malos quisquis non imitatur offendit.
To be innocent among the guilty is now a crime; whoever does not imitate the wicked offends them.
consensere iura peccatis et coepit licitum esse quod publicum est.
The laws have consented to sins, and what is public has begun to be lawful.
quis illic rerum pudor, quae esse possit integritas, ubi qui damnent improbos desunt, soli tibi qui damnentur occurrunt?
What shame of things can there be there, what integrity can there be, where those who may condemn the wicked are lacking, and only those who are to be condemned meet you?