1How the mongrel Persius took revenge on the pus and venom of Rupilius Rex, the outlaw, is known, I think, to every bleary-eyed man and barber. 4This Persius, a rich man, had very large business interests at Clazomenae, and also tiresome lawsuits with Rex; he was a hard man, able to outdo even Rex in hatefulness, bold, puffed up, so bitter of tongue that he would outstrip the Sisennas and the Barruses as if on white horses. 9I return to Rex. 9After no agreement could be reached between the two — for all men are troublesome on the same terms as the brave, when war comes between them: between Hector, son of Priam, and high-spirited Achilles there was an anger so deadly that only death at last could part them, for no other reason than that courage in each was supreme: if discord troubles two cowards, or if war breaks out between ill-matched men, as for Diomedes with Lycian Glaucus, the feebler withdraws, even sending gifts unasked.
18While the praetor Brutus held rich Asia, the pair Rupilius and Persius fight, so evenly that Bacchius was no better matched with Bithus. 20Fiercely they rush into court, each a grand spectacle. 22Persius sets out his case; 22he is laughed at by the whole assembly; 23he praises Brutus and praises his staff; he calls Brutus the sun of Asia, and calls his companions health-giving stars, except Rex; 25he, he says, had come like the Dog, that star hated by farmers: he rushed on like a winter torrent where the axe seldom goes. 28Then the man from Praeneste flings back at this salty, copious flood insults squeezed from the vineyard, a tough and unbeaten vine-dresser, to whom the wayfarer had often had to yield, though calling him 'cuckoo' at the top of his voice.
32But the Greek Persius, after being drenched with Italian vinegar, cries out: 'By the great gods, Brutus, I beg you, since you are used to removing kings, why do you not cut this Rex's throat? 35This, believe me, is one of your tasks.'