[5,29] Καὶ ὁ Μούκιος οὔτε μεταβολῇ χρώματος οὔτε συννοίᾳ προσώπου τὸν ὀρρωδοῦντα διασημήνας οὔτ´ ἄλλο παθὼν οὐδέν, ὧν φιλοῦσι πάσχειν οἱ μέλλοντες ἀποθνήσκειν, λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἐγὼ Ῥωμαῖος μέν εἰμι, καὶ οὐ τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων ἕνεκα γένους, ἐλευθερῶσαι δὲ τὴν πατρίδα τοῦ πολέμου βουληθεὶς ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον ὑμῶν ὡς τῶν αὐτομόλων τις, ἀποκτεῖναί σε βουλόμενος· οὐκ ἀγνοῶν μέν, ὅτι καὶ κατορθώσαντι καὶ διαμαρτόντι τῆς ἐλπίδος ἀποθανεῖν ὑπάρχει μοι, χαρίσασθαι δὲ τῇ γειναμένῃ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ψυχὴν προαιρούμενος καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ θνητοῦ σώματος ἀθάνατον δόξαν καταλιπεῖν· ψευσθεὶς δὲ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἀντὶ σοῦ τὸν γραμματέα, ὃν οὐθὲν ἐδεόμην, ἀνῄρηκα τῇ τε πορφύρᾳ καὶ τῷ δίφρῳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τῆς ἐξουσίας συμβόλοις πλανηθείς. τὸν μὲν οὖν θάνατον, ὃν αὐτὸς ἐμαυτοῦ κατεψηφισάμην, ὅτ´ ἐπὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν ἔμελλον ὁρμᾶν, οὐ παραιτοῦμαι· βασάνους δὲ καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ὕβρεις εἴ μοι παρείης, πίστεις δοὺς ἐπὶ θεῶν ὑπισχνοῦμαί σοι μέγα πρᾶγμα δηλώσειν καὶ πρὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν ἀνῆκόν σοι. Ὁ μὲν δὴ ταῦτ´ ἔλεγε καταστρατηγῆσαι τὸν ἄνδρα διανοούμενος· ὁ δ´ ἔξω τοῦ φρονεῖν γεγονὼς καὶ ἅμα κινδύνους ἐκ πολλῶν μαντευόμενος ἀνθρώπων οὐκ ἀληθεῖς δίδωσιν αὐτῷ δι´ ὅρκων τὸ πιστόν. μετὰ δὲ τοῦθ´ ὁ Μούκιος καινότατον ἐνθυμηθεὶς ἀπάτης τρόπον, ὃς ἐν ἀφανεῖ τὸν ἔλεγχον εἶχε, λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Ὦ βασιλεῦ, Ῥωμαίων ἄνδρες τριακόσιοι τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχοντες ἡλικίαν ἐκ τοῦ γένους τοῦ τῶν πατρικίων ἅπαντες ἐβουλευσάμεθα συνελθόντες ἀποκτεῖναί σε καὶ τὸ πιστὸν ὅρκοις παρ´ ἀλλήλων ἐλάβομεν. ἔδοξε δ´ ἡμῖν βουλευομένοις ὅστις ὁ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ἦν τρόπος, μήθ´ ἅπαντας ἅμα χωρεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ ἔργον, ἀλλὰ καθ´ ἕνα, μήτε φράζειν ἕτερον ἑτέρῳ πότε καὶ πῶς καὶ ποῦ καὶ τίσιν ἀφορμαῖς χρησάμενος ἐπιθήσεταί σοι, ἵνα ῥᾷον ἡμῖν ὑπάρχῃ τὸ λαθεῖν. ταῦτα διανοηθέντες ἐκληρωσάμεθα, καὶ πρῶτος ἄρξαι τῆς πείρας ἔλαχον ἐγώ. προειδὼς οὖν, ὅτι πολλοὶ καὶ ἀγαθοὶ τὴν αὐτήν μοι διάνοιαν ἕξουσιν ἐπιθυμίᾳ δόξης, ὧν ὡς εἰκάσαι τις ἀμείνονι τύχῃ χρήσεται τῆς ἐμῆς, σκόπει, τίς ἔσται σοι πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀρκοῦσα φυλακή.

[5,29] Mucius, without showing any sign of fear, either by a change of colour or by an anxious countenance, (p85) or experiencing any other weakness common to men who are about to die, said to him: "I am a Roman, and no ordinary man as regards birth; and having conceived a desire to free my country from the war, I came into your camp as a deserter with the purpose of killing you. I knew well that, whether I succeeded or failed in the attempt, death would be my portion; yet I resolved to give my life to my country from which I received it and in place of my mortal body to leave behind me immortal glory. But being cheated of my hope, I slew, instead of you, your clerk, whom I had no cause to slay, misled by the purple, the chair of state, and the other insignia of power. As for death, therefore, to which I condemned myself when I was planning to set out on this undertaking, I do not ask to escape that; but if you would remit for me the tortures and the other indignities and give me assurances of this by the gods, I promise to reveal to you a matter of great moment which concerns your own safety." This he said with the purpose of tricking the other; and the king, being out of his wits and at the same time conjuring up imaginary perils as threatening him from many people, gave him upon oath the pledge he desired. Thereupon Mucius, having thought of a most novel kind of deceit that could not be put to an open test, said to him: "O king, three hundred of us Romans, all of the same age and all of patrician birth, met together and formed a plot to kill you; and we took pledges from one another under oath. And when we were considering what form our plot should (p87) take, we resolved not to set about the business all together, but one at a time, nor yet to communicate to one another when, how, where, or by what expedients each of us was to attack you, to the end that it might be easier for us to escape discovery. After we had settled these matters, we drew lots and it fell to my lot to make the first attempt. Since, therefore, you know in advance that many brave men will have the same purpose as I, induced by a thirst for glory, and that some one of them presumably will meet with better fortune than I, consider how you may sufficiently guard yourself against them all."