[5,8] Τὰ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἔργα θατέρου τῶν ὑπάτων Βρούτου μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ λέγειν ἔχων, ἐφ´ οἷς μέγιστα φρονοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι, δέδοικα μὴ σκληρὰ καὶ ἄπιστα τοῖς Ἕλλησι δόξω λέγειν, ἐπειδὴ πεφύκασιν ἅπαντες ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων παθῶν τὰ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων λεγόμενα κρίνειν καὶ τὸ πιστὸν ἄπιστον ἐφ´ ἑαυτοὺς ποιεῖν· ἐρῶ δ´ οὖν ὅμως. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡμέρα τάχιστα ἐγένετο, καθίσας ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα καὶ τὰς ἐπιστολὰς τῶν ἐν τῇ συνωμοσίᾳ διασκεπτόμενος, ὡς εὗρε τὰς ὑπὸ τῶν υἱῶν γραφείσας ταῖς σφραγῖσιν ἑκατέραν γνωρίσας καὶ μετὰ τὸ λῦσαι τὰ σημεῖα τοῖς χειρογράφοις, ἀναγνωσθῆναι πρῶτον ἐκέλευσεν ἀμφοτέρας ὑπὸ τοῦ γραμματέως εἰς τὴν ἁπάντων τῶν παρόντων ἀκοήν· ἔπειτα λέγειν ἐκέλευσε τοῖς παισίν, εἴ τι βούλονται. ὡς δ´ οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν αὐτῶν οὐδέτερος πρὸς ἄρνησιν ἀναιδῆ τραπέσθαι, ἀλλὰ κατεψηφικότες ἑαυτῶν ἔκλαιον ἀμφότεροι, ὀλίγον δ´ ἐπισχὼν χρόνον ἀνίσταται καὶ σιωπὴν προκηρύξας ἐκδεχομένων ἁπάντων, τί τέλος ἐξοίσει, θάνατον ἔφη καταδικάζειν τῶν τέκνων· ἐφ´ ᾧ πάντες ἀνέκραγον οὐκ ἀξιοῦντες τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα ζημιωθῆναι τέκνων θανάτῳ καὶ χαρίζεσθαι τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν μειρακίων ἐβούλοντο τῷ πατρί. ὁ δ´ οὔτε τὰς φωνὰς αὐτῶν οὔτε τὰς οἰμωγὰς ἀνασχόμενος ἐκέλευσε τοῖς ὑπηρέταις ἀπάγειν τοὺς νεανίσκους ὀλοφυρομένους καὶ ἀντιβολοῦντας καὶ ταῖς φιλτάταις αὐτὸν ἀνακαλουμένους προσηγορίαις. θαυμαστὸν μὲν καὶ τοῦτο πᾶσιν ἐφάνη τὸ μηδὲν ἐνδοῦναι τὸν ἄνδρα μήτε πρὸς τὰς δεήσεις τῶν πολιτῶν μήτε πρὸς τοὺς οἴκτους τῶν τέκτων, πολλῷ δ´ ἔτι τούτου θαυμασιώτερον τὸ περὶ τὰς τιμωρίας αὐτῶν ἀμείλικτον. οὔτε γὰρ ἄλλοθί που συνεχώρησεν ἀπαχθέντας τοὺς υἱοὺς ἔξω τῆς ἁπάντων ὄψεως ἀποθανεῖν, οὔτ´ αὐτὸς ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ὑπανεχώρησεν, ἕως ἐκεῖνοι κολασθῶσι, τὴν δεινὴν θέαν ἐκτρεπόμενος, οὔτ´ ἄνευ προπηλακισμοῦ ἀφῆκεν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐψηφισμένην ἐκπληρῶσαι μοῖραν· ἀλλὰ πάντα τὰ περὶ τὰς τιμωρίας ἔθη καὶ νόμιμα φυλάττων, ὅσα τοῖς κακούργοις ἀπόκειται παθεῖν, ἐν ἀγορᾷ πάντων ὁρώντων αἰκισθέντας τὰ σώματα πληγαῖς, αὐτὸς ἅπασι τοῖς γιγνομένοις παρών, τότε συνεχώρησε τοὺς αὐχένας τοῖς πελέκεσιν ἀποκοπῆναι. ὑπὲρ ἅπαντα δὲ τὰ παράδοξα καὶ θαυμαστὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὸ ἀτενὲς τῆς ὄψεως καὶ ἄτεγκτον ἦν· ὅς γε τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ὅσοι τῷ πάθει παρεγένοντο κλαιόντων μόνος οὔτ´ ἀνακλαυσάμενος ὤφθη τὸν μόρον τῶν τέκνων οὔτ´ ἀποιμώξας ἑαυτὸν τῆς καθεξούσης τὸν οἶκον ἐρημίας οὔτ´ ἄλλο μαλακὸν οὐθὲν ἐνδούς, ἀλλ´ ἄδακρύς τε καὶ ἀστένακτος καὶ ἀτενὴς διαμένων εὐκαρδίως ἤνεγκε τὴν συμφοράν. οὕτως ἰσχυρὸς ἦν τὴν γνώμην καὶ βέβαιος τὰ κριθέντα διατηρεῖν καὶ τῶν ἐπιταραττόντων τοὺς λογισμοὺς παθῶν καρτερός.

[5,8] I am afraid that the subsequent noble and astonishing behaviour of Brutus, one of the consuls, which I am now to relate and in which the Romans take the greatest pride, may appear cruel and incredible to the Greeks, since it is natural for all men to judge by their own experience whatever is said of others, and to determine what is credible and incredible with reference to themselves. Nevertheless, I shall relate it. As soon, then, as it was day, Brutus seated himself upon the tribunal and examined the letters of the conspirators; and when he found those written by his sons, each of which he recognized by the seals, and, after he had broken the seals, by the handwriting, (p25) he first ordered both letters to be read by the secretary in the hearing of all who were present, and then commanded his sons to speak if they had anything to say. But when neither of them dared resort to shameless denial, but both wept, having long since convicted themselves, Brutus, after a short pause, rose up and commanding silence, while everyone was waiting to learn what sentence he would pronounce, said he condemned his sons to death. Whereupon they all cried out, indignant that such a man should be punished by the death of his sons, and they wished to spare the lives of the youths as a favour to their father. But he, paying no heed to either their cries or their lamentations, ordered the lictors to lead the youths away, though they wept and begged and called upon him in the most tender terms. Even this seemed astonishing to everybody, that he did not yield at all to either the entreaties of the citizens or the laments of his sons; but much more astonishing still was his relentlessness with regard to their punishment. For he neither permitted his sons to be led away to any other place and put to death out of sight of the public, nor did he himself, in order to avoid the dreadful spectacle, withdraw from the Forum till after they had been punished; nor did he allow them to undergo the doom pronounced against them without ignominy, but he caused every detail of the punishment established by the laws and customs against malefactors to be observed, and only after they had been (p27) scourged in the Forum in the sight of all the citizens, he himself being present when all this was done, did he then allow their heads to be cut off with the axes. But the most extraordinary and the most astonishing part of his behaviour was that he did not once avert his gaze nor shed a tear, and while all the rest who were present at this sad spectacle wept, he was the only person who was observed not to lament the fate of his sons, nor to pity himself for the desolation that was coming upon his house, nor to betray any other signs of weakness, but without a tear, without a groan, without once shifting his gaze, he bore his calamity with a stout heart. So strong of will was he, so steadfast in carrying out the sentence, and so completely the master of all the passions that disturb the reason.