Liv. 3.44.1Sequitur aliud in urbe nefās ab libīdine ortum, haud minus foedō ēventū, quam quod per stuprum caedemque Lucrētiae urbe regnōque Tarquiniōs expulerat, ut nōn fīnis sōlum īdem decemvirīs, quī rēgibus, sed causa etiam eadem imperiī āmittendī esset.There follows another atrocity in the city, arising from lust, with an outcome no less foul than that which, through the rape and death of Lucretia, had driven the Tarquins from the city and the throne, so that not only was the end of the decemvirs the same as that of the kings, but the cause of their losing power was the same as well. Liv. 3.44.1Ap. Claudium virginis plēbēiae stuprandae libīdō cēpit.Appius Claudius was seized with lust to violate a plebeian maiden. Liv. 3.44.2Pater virginis, L. Verginius, honestum ōrdinem in Algidō dūcēbat, vir exemplī rēctī domī mīlitiaeque.The maiden's father, Lucius Verginius, held the honourable rank of centurion on Algidus, a man of upright example at home and in the field. Liv. 3.44.2Perinde uxor īnstitūta fuerat līberīque īnstituēbantur.His wife had been brought up in the same way, and his children were being brought up so.
Liv. 3.44.2Dēsponderat fīliam L. Iciliō tribūniciō, virō ācrī et prō causā plēbis expertae virtūtis.He had betrothed his daughter to Lucius Icilius, a former tribune, a spirited man of proven courage in the cause of the plebs. Liv. 3.44.4Hanc virginem adultam, fōrmā excellentem Appius amōre āmēns pretiō ac spē perlicere adortus, postquam omnia pudōre saepta animadvertit, ad crūdēlem superbamque vim animum convertit.This maiden, grown to womanhood and of outstanding beauty, Appius, mad with love, tried to entice with bribes and promises; but when he perceived that everything was fenced about by modesty, he turned his mind to cruel and arrogant violence. Liv. 3.44.5M. Claudiō clientī negōtium dedit, ut virginem in servitūtem adsereret neque cēderet secundum lībertātem postulantibus vindiciās, quod pater puellae abesset, locum iniūriae esse ratus.He gave his client Marcus Claudius the task of claiming the maiden as his slave and of not yielding to those who demanded interim custody in favour of her freedom, thinking that, since the girl's father was away, there was room for the wrong. Liv. 3.44.6Virginī venientī in forum — ibi namque in tabernāculīs litterārum lūdī erant — minister decemvirī libīdinis manum iniēcit servā suā nātam servamque appellāns sequīque sē iubēbat: cūnctantem vī abstractūrum.As the maiden was coming into the forum — for there, in booths, were the schools for letters — the agent of the decemvir's lust laid his hand on her, calling her the daughter of his slave woman and a slave herself, and ordered her to follow him: if she hesitated, he would drag her off by force.
Liv. 3.44.7Pavidā puellā stupente ad clamōrem nūtrīcis fidem Quirītium inplōrantis fit concursus.While the terrified girl stood stunned, a crowd gathers at the cries of her nurse, who was imploring the good faith of the Quirites. Liv. 3.44.7Verginī patris spōnsīque Icilī populāre nōmen celebrātur.The popular names of her father Verginius and her betrothed Icilius are on everyone's lips. Liv. 3.44.7Notōs grātia eōrum, turbam indignitās reī virginī conciliat.Their influence wins those who knew them to the maiden's side, and the outrageousness of the deed wins the crowd. Liv. 3.44.8Iam ā vī tūta erat, cum adsertor nihil opus esse multitūdine concitātā ait;She was already safe from violence when the claimant says that there is no need to rouse a mob; Liv. 3.44.8sē iūre grassārī, nōn vī.he was proceeding by law, not by force. Liv. 3.44.8Vocat puellam in iūs.He summons the girl to court. Liv. 3.44.9Auctōribus quī aderant, ut sequerētur, ad tribūnal Appī perventum est.On the advice of those present that she should follow, they came to Appius' tribunal. Liv. 3.44.9Notam iūdicī fābulam petītor, quippe apud ipsum auctōrem argūmentī, peragit;The claimant plays out a story well known to the judge, since he was before the very author of the plot; Liv. 3.44.9puellam domī suae nātam fūrtōque inde in domum Verginī trānslātam suppositam eī esse;the girl, he said, had been born in his house and had been stolen from there and taken to Verginius' house and passed off as his child; Liv. 3.44.10id sē indiciō conpertum adferre probātūrumque vel ipsō Verginiō iūdice, ad quem maior pars iniūriae eius pertineat;he had learned this on information received and was bringing it forward, and would prove it even with Verginius himself as judge, whom the greater part of the wrong concerned; Liv. 3.44.10interim dominum sequī ancillam aequum esse.meanwhile it was right that the slave girl should follow her master.
Liv. 3.44.11Advocātī puellae, cum Verginium reī pūblicae causā dīxissent abesse, bīduō adfutūrum, sī nūntiātum eī sit, inīquum esse absentem dē līberīs dīmicāre, postulant, ut rem integram in patris adventum differat, lēge ab ipsō lātā vindiciās det secundum lībertātem neu patiātur virginem adultam fāmae prius quam lībertātis perīculum adīre.The girl's advocates, after saying that Verginius was absent on the state's business and would be present within two days if word were sent to him, and that it was unjust for an absent man to be put in jeopardy over his children, demand that Appius postpone the case undecided until the father's arrival, that by the law he himself had carried he grant interim custody in favour of freedom, and that he not allow a grown maiden to risk her reputation before her freedom.