Texte grec :
| [8,80] Ἐπιβαλλομένων δέ τινων καὶ τοὺς παῖδας
ἀποκτεῖναι τοῦ Κασσίου δεινὸν τὸ ἔθος ἔδοξεν εἶναι
τῇ βουλῇ καὶ ἀσύμφορον· καὶ συνελθοῦσα ἐψηφίσατο
ἀφεῖσθαι τὰ μειράκια τῆς τιμωρίας καὶ ἐπὶ πάσῃ ἀδείᾳ
ζῆν, μήτε φυγῇ μήτ´ ἀτιμίᾳ μήτ´ ἄλλῃ συμφορᾷ ζημιωθέντα. καὶ
ἐξ ἐκείνου τὸ ἔθος τοῦτο Ῥωμαίοις
ἐπιχώριον γέγονεν ἕως τῆς καθ´ ἡμᾶς διατηρούμενον
ἡλικίας, ἀφεῖσθαι τιμωρίας ἁπάσης τοὺς παῖδας, ὧν
ἂν οἱ πατέρες ἀδικήσωσιν, ἐάν τε τυράννων ὄντες υἱοὶ
τύχωσιν, ἐάν τε πατροκτόνων, ἐάν τε προδοτῶν, ὃ
μέγιστόν ἐστι παρ´ ἐκείνοις ἀδίκημα. οἵ τε καταλῦσαι
τὸ ἔθος τοῦτ´ ἐπιβαλόμενοι κατὰ τοὺς ἡμετέρους χρόνους μετὰ
τὴν συντέλειαν τοῦ Μαρσικοῦ τε καὶ ἐμφυλίου πολέμου, καὶ τοὺς
παῖδας τῶν ἐπικηρυχθέντων
ἐπὶ Σύλλα πατέρων ἀφελόμενοι τὸ μετιέναι τὰς πατρίους ἀρχὰς
καὶ βουλῆς μετέχειν καθ´ ὃν ἐδυνάστευον
αὐτοὶ χρόνον, ἐπίφθονόν τ´ ἀνθρώποις καὶ νεμεσητὸν
θεοῖς ἔργον ἔδοξαν ἀποδείξασθαι. τοιγάρτοι δίκη μὲν
ἐκείνοις σὺν χρόνῳ τιμωρὸς οὐ μεμπτὴ παρηκολούθησε,
δι´ ἣν ἐκ μεγίστου τέως αὐχήματος εἰς ταπεινότατον
πτῶμα κατήχθησαν, καὶ οὐδὲ γένος τὸ ἐξ αὐτῶν ὅτι
μὴ κατὰ γυναῖκας ἔτι λείπεται. τὸ δ´ ἔθος εἰς τὸν
ἐξ ἀρχῆς κόσμον ὁ τούτους καθελὼν ἀνὴρ ἀποκατέστησε. παρ´
Ἕλλησι δ´ οὐχ οὕτως ἐνίοις ὁ νόμος
ἔχει, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐκ τυράννων γενομένους οἱ μὲν
συναποκτίννυσθαι τοῖς πατράσι δικαιοῦσιν, οἱ δ´ ἀειφυγίᾳ
κολάζουσιν, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἐνδεχομένης τῆς φύσεως
χρηστοὺς παῖδας ἐκ πονηρῶν πατέρων ἢ κακοὺς ἐξ
ἀγαθῶν γενέσθαι. ἀλλ´ ὑπὲρ μὲν τούτων εἴτε ὁ παρ´
Ἕλλησιν ἀμείνων νόμος εἴτε τὸ Ῥωμαίων ἔθος κρεῖττον,
ἀφίημι τῷ βουλομένῳ σκοπεῖν· ἐπάνειμι δ´ ἐπὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.
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Traduction française :
| [8,80] When the attempt was made by some to put to death the sons of Cassius also,
the senators looked upon the custom as cruel and harmful; and having assembled,
they voted that the penalty should be remitted in the case of the boys and that they
should live in complete security, being punished by neither banishment,
disfranchisement, nor any other misfortune. And from that time this custom has
become established among the Romans and is observed down to our day, that the
sons shall be exempt from all punishment for any crimes committed by their fathers,
whether they happen to be the sons of tyrants, of parricides, or of traitors — treason
being among the Romans the greatest crime. And those who attempted to abolish
this custom in our times, after the end of the Marsic and civil wars, (p245) and took
away from the sons of fathers who had been proscribed under Sulla the privilege of
standing for the magistracies held by their fathers and of being members of the
senate as long as their own domination lasted, were regarded as having done a thing
deserving both the indignation of men and the vengeance of the gods. Accordingly, in
the course of time a justifiable retribution dogged their steps as the avenger of their
crimes, by which the perpetrators were reduced from the greatest height of glory they
had once enjoyed to the lowest depths, and not even their posterity, except of the
female line, now survives; but the custom was restored to its original status by the
man who brought about their destruction. Among some of the Greeks, however, this
is not the practice, but certain of them think it proper to put to death the sons of
tyrants together with their fathers; and others punish them with perpetual
banishment, as if Nature would not permit virtuous sons to be the offspring of wicked
fathers or evil sons of good fathers. But concerning these matters, I leave to the
consideration of anyone who is so minded the when whether the practice prevalent
among the Greeks is better or the custom of the Romans (p247) is superior; and I now
return to the events that followed.
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