Mur. 12.1Cum hoc fierī bellissimē posset: "Fundus Sabīnus meus est."Though it could have been done very neatly like this: 'The Sabine farm is mine.' Mur. 12.1"Immō meus," deinde iūdicium, nōluērunt.'No, mine,' and then the trial — they would not have it. Mur. 12.1"fvndvs" inquit "quī est in agrō quī sabīnus vocātur."'The farm,' he says, 'which is in the territory which is called Sabine.' Mur. 12.1Satis verbōse;Verbose enough; Mur. 12.1cēdō quid posteā?tell me, what next? Mur. 12.1"eum ego ex iūre Quirītium meum esse āiō."'That I declare to be mine by the law of the Quirites.' Mur. 12.1Quid tum?What then? Mur. 12.1"inde ibi ego tē ex iūre manum cōnsertum vocō."'From there I summon you thither to join hands in lawful contest.' Mur. 12.1Quid huic tam loquāciter lītigiōsō respondēret ille unde petēbātur nōn habēbat.The man from whom the claim was being made had no idea what to answer this so long-windedly litigious man. Mur. 12.1Trānsit īdem iūris cōnsultus tībīcinis Latīnī modō.The same jurisconsult crosses over, like a Latin piper. Mur. 12.1"vnde tū mē" inquit "ex iūre manum cōnsertum vocāstī, inde ibi ego tē revocō."'Whence you summoned me to join hands in lawful contest,' he says, 'thence I summon you back thither.' Mur. 12.1Praetor intereā nē pulchrum sē ac beātum putāret atque aliquid ipse suā sponte loquerētur, eī quoque carmen compositum est cum cēterīs rēbus absurdum tum vērō in illō: "suīs utrīsque superstitibus praesentibus istam viam dīcō;Meanwhile, so that the praetor should not think himself fine and fortunate and say something on his own initiative, a formula was composed for him too, absurd in other respects, but above all in this: 'The witnesses of both parties being present, I declare that to be the way; Mur. 12.1īte viam."go on your way.' Mur. 12.1Praestō aderat sapiēns ille quī inīre viam docēret.That wise man was on hand to teach them how to go on their way.
Mur. 12.1"Redīte viam."'Return on your way.' Mur. 12.1Eōdem duce redībant.Under the same guide they came back. Mur. 12.1Haec iam tum apud illōs barbātōs rīdicula, crēdō, vidēbantur, hominēs, cum rēctē atque in locō cōnstitissent, iubērī abīre ut, unde abīssent, eōdem statim redīrent.Even then, I imagine, this seemed ridiculous to those bearded men of old: that men, when they had taken their stand properly and in the right place, should be ordered to go away, so that they should return at once to the very place from which they had gone. Mur. 12.1Īsdem ineptiīs fūcāta sunt illa omnia: "quandō tē in iūre cōnspiciō" et haec: "Anne tū dīcās quā ex causā vindicāverīs?"With the same absurdities all those other phrases are coloured: 'Whereas I see you in court', and this: 'Will you state on what ground you have laid claim?' Mur. 12.1Quae dum erant occulta, necessāriō ab eīs quī ea tenēbant petēbantur;While these things were secret, they had of necessity to be sought from those who held them; Mur. 12.1posteā vērō pervolgāta atque in manibus iactāta et excussa, inānissima prūdentiae reperta sunt, fraudis autem et stultitiae plēnissima.but afterwards, once they were made public and tossed about and shaken out in people's hands, they were found utterly empty of wisdom but packed with fraud and folly.
Mur. 12.27Nam, cum permulta praeclārē lēgibus essent cōnstitūta, ea iūre cōnsultōrum ingeniīs plēraque corrupta ac dēprāvāta sunt.For although very many things had been admirably established by the laws, most of them have been corrupted and perverted by the ingenuity of jurisconsults. Mur. 12.27Mulierēs omnīs propter īnfirmitātem cōnsilī maiōrēs in tūtōrum potestāte esse voluērunt;Our ancestors wished all women, because of their weakness of judgement, to be in the power of guardians; Mur. 12.27hī invēnērunt genera tūtōrum quae potestāte mulierum continērentur.these men invented kinds of guardians who would be held in the power of the women. Mur. 12.27Sacra interīre illī nōluērunt;They did not wish family rites to die out; Mur. 12.27hōrum ingeniō senēs ad coēmptiōnēs faciendās interimendōrum sacrōrum causā repertī sunt.by the ingenuity of these men old men were found to make fictitious marriages in order to extinguish the rites. Mur. 12.27In omnī dēnique iūre cīvīlī aequitātem relīquērunt, verba ipsa tenuērunt, ut, quia in alicuius librīs exemplī causā id nōmen invēnerant, putārunt omnīs mulierēs quae coēmptiōnem facerent "Gāiās" vocārī.In short, in the whole of civil law they abandoned equity and clung to the mere words, so that, because they had found that name used as an example in someone's books, they thought that all women who made a fictitious marriage were called 'Gaia'.
Mur. 12.27Iam illud mihi quidem mīrum vidērī solet, tot hominēs, tam ingeniōsōs, post tot annōs etiam nunc statuere nōn potuisse utrum "diem tertium" an "perendinum," "iūdicem" an "arbitrum," "rem" an "lītem" dīcī oportēret.Now it always seems astonishing to me, at least, that so many men, so clever, after so many years still cannot decide whether one ought to say 'the third day' or 'the day after tomorrow', 'judge' or 'arbiter', 'case' or 'suit'.