Texte grec :
| [10,8] Ταῦτ´ εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ κραυγή τε ἐκ τῶν
παρόντων ἐγένετο καὶ ὁρμὴ πολλῶν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκ χειρὸς
δίκην. ἀλλ´ οἵ τε ὕπατοι ἐμποδὼν ἐγένοντο καὶ τῶν
δημάρχων οἱ πλείους πονηρὸν ἔθος οὐκ ἀξιοῦντες εἰς
τὴν πόλιν εἰσάγειν. ἦν δὲ καὶ τοῦ δήμου τὸ καθαρώτατον
οὐ βουλόμενον ἀποστερεῖν λόγου τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν
μεγίστων ἀγωνιζομένους. τότε μὲν οὖν ἐπέσχε τὴν
τῶν θρασυτέρων ὁρμὴν ἡ τοῦ δικαίου πρόνοια, καὶ
ἀναβολὴν ἔλαβεν ἡ δίκη, οὐ μικρᾶς ἐμπεσούσης φιλοτιμίας
καὶ ζητήσεως ὑπὲρ τοῦ σώματος, εἴτ´ ἐν δεσμοῖς
αὐτὸ δεῖ φυλάττεσθαι τέως, εἴτ´ ἐγγυητὰς δοῦναι τῆς
ἀφίξεως, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἠξίου· καὶ ἡ βουλὴ συνελθοῦσα
ἐψηφίσατο χρήμασι διεγγυηθὲν ἐλεύθερον
εἶναι τὸ σῶμα μέχρι δίκης. τῇ δ´ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ συναγαγόντες
οἱ δήμαρχοι τὸ πλῆθος, ἐκλιπόντος τοῦ
μειρακίου τὴν δίκην, ἐκύρωσαν τὴν κατ´ αὐτοῦ ψῆφον
καὶ τοὺς ἐγγυητὰς δέκα ὄντας ἐπράξαντο τὰ περὶ τοῦ
σώματος τῆς ἀποκαταστάσεως ὁμολογηθέντα χρήματα.
Καίσων μὲν οὖν τοιαύτῃ περιπεσὼν ἐπιβουλῇ, κατασκευασαμένων
ἅπαντα τῶν δημάρχων καὶ Οὐολουσκίου
ψευδῆ μαρτυρήσαντος, ὡς ἐγένετο φανερὸν σὺν χρόνῳ,
φεύγων εἰς Τυρρηνίαν ᾤχετο· ὁ δὲ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ τὰ
πλεῖστα τῆς οὐσίας ἀπεμπολήσας καὶ τὰ ὁμολογηθέντα
ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγγυητῶν χρήματα ἀποδοὺς ἑαυτῷ χωρίον ἓν
μικρὸν ὑπολειπόμενος πέραν τοῦ Τεβέριος ποταμοῦ,
ἐν ᾧ ταπεινή τις ἦν καλύβη, γεωργῶν αὐτόθι μετὰ
δούλων ὀλίγων ἐπίπονον καὶ ταλαίπωρον ἔζη βίον
ὑπὸ λύπης τε καὶ πενίας, οὔτε πόλιν ὁρῶν οὔτε φίλους
ἀσπαζόμενος οὔθ´ ἑορτάζων οὔτ´ ἄλλης εὐφροσύνης
οὐδεμιᾶς ἑαυτῷ μεταδιδούς. τοῖς μέντοι δημάρχοις
πολὺ τὸ παράλογον ἐγένετο τῆς ἐλπίδος. οὐ γὰρ ὅπως
ἐπαύσατο ἡ τῶν νέων φιλοτιμία σωφρονισθεῖσα τῇ
Καίσωνος συμφορᾷ, πολὺ δὲ χαλεπωτέρα καὶ πλείων
ἐγένετο ἔργοις τε καὶ λόγοις καταγωνιζομένη τὸν νόμον·
ὥστ´ οὐθὲν ἔτι αὐτοῖς ἐξεγένετο διαπράξασθαι δαπανηθέντος
εἰς ταῦτα τοῦ χρόνου τῆς ἀρχῆς. ὁ μέντοι
δῆμος εἰς τὸν ἐπιόντα πάλιν ἐνιαυτὸν ἄρχοντας ἀπέδειξεν αὐτούς.
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Traduction française :
| [10,8] After he had finished speaking, an outcry arose from those who were present and
many rushed to take vengeance out of hand; but they were prevented both by the
consuls and also by the majority of the tribunes, who were unwilling to introduce a
pernicious custom into the commonwealth. Indeed, the most honourable element
among the plebeians too was unwilling to deprive of a defence those who were in
jeopardy of their lives. Upon this occasion, therefore, a regard for justice restrained
the impulse of the bolder spirits, and the trial was put off; though no small contest
and questioning arose concerning the defendant's person, whether he should be kept
in (p187) chains in the meantime or should give sureties for his appearance, as his father
required. The senate, assembling, ordered that if bail were offered his person should
be free till the trial. The next day the tribunes assembled the populace and, the
youth not appearing for trial, they caused a vote to be passed for his condemnation
and compelled his sureties, ten in number, to pay over the sums agreed upon in case
of their failure to produce his person. Caeso, accordingly, having fallen a victim to a
plot of this sort — for the tribunes had contrived the whole business and Volscius had
borne false witness, as became clear later — went into exile in Tyrrhenia. His father
sold the greater part of his estate and repaid the sureties the sums agreed upon,
leaving nothing for himself but one small farm lying on the other side of the river
Tiber, on which there was an humble cottage; and there, cultivating the farm with the
help of a few slaves, he led a laborious and miserable life because of his grief and
poverty, neither visiting the city nor greeting his friends nor taking part in the
festivals nor allowing himself any other pleasure. The tribunes,10 however, were
greatly disappointed in their expectations; for the contentiousness of the young men,
far from being chastened by the unhappy fate of Caeso, grew much more vexatious
and excessive as they fought the law with both actions and words. The result was that
the tribunes were unable to accomplish anything more, the whole time of their
magistracy being taken up with these contests. The populace, however, chose them
again as their magistrates for the following year.
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