[11,33] Ὡς δ´ ἀπῆλθεν ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀδημονῶν καὶ μαινόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους, ἔγνω μηκέτι μεθέσθαι τῆς παρθένου τοῖς συγγενέσιν, ἀλλ´ ὅταν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐγγύην προαχθῇ, μετὰ βίας αὐτὴν ἀπάγειν, ἑαυτῷ τε πλείονα φυλακὴν περιστησάμενος, ὡς μηδὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ὄχλων βιασθείη, καὶ τὰ πέριξ τοῦ βήματος ἑταίρων τε καὶ πελατῶν ὄχλῳ προκαταλαβών. ἵνα δὲ σὺν εὐσχήμονι δίκης τοῦτο πράττῃ προφάσει, μὴ παραγενηθέντος ἐπὶ τὴν ἐγγύην τοῦ πατρός, ἐπιστολὰς δοὺς τοῖς πιστοτάτοις ἱππεῦσιν ἔπεμψεν ἐπὶ τὸν χάρακα {καὶ} πρὸς Ἀντώνιον τὸν ἡγεμόνα τοῦ τάγματος, ὑφ´ οὗ ἦν Οὐεργίνιος, ἀξιῶν αὐτὸν κατέχειν τὸν ἄνδρα ἐν ἐπιμελεῖ φυλακῇ, μὴ λάθῃ πυθόμενος τὰ περὶ τὴν θυγατέρα καὶ διαδρὰς ἐκ τοῦ χάρακος. ἔφθησαν δ´ αὐτὸν οἱ τῇ κόρῃ προσήκοντες, Νομιτωρίου τε υἱὸς καὶ ἀδελφὸς Ἰκιλίου, προαποσταλέντες ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἀρχομένης ἔτι τῆς καταστάσεως, νεανίαι λήματος πλήρεις ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος καὶ μετὰ μάστιγος ἐλαθεῖσι τοῖς ἵπποις πρότερον διανύσαντες τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ τῷ Οὐεργινίῳ τὰ πεπραγμένα διασαφηνίσαντες. ὁ δὲ τὴν μὲν ἀληθῆ πρὸς Ἀντώνιον αἰτίαν ἀποκρυψάμενος, ἀναγκαίου δέ τινος συγγενοῦς σκηψάμενος πεπύσθαι θάνατον, οὗ τὴν ἐκκομιδήν τε καὶ ταφὴν αὐτὸν ἔδει ποιήσασθαι κατὰ τὸν νόμον, ἀφίεται καὶ περὶ λύχνων ἁφὰς ἤλαυνε μετὰ τῶν μειρακίων κατ´ ἄλλας ὁδοὺς διωγμὸν ἔκ τε τοῦ στρατοπέδου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως δεδοικώς· ὅπερ καὶ συνέβη. ὅ τε γὰρ Ἀντώνιος τὰς ἐπιστολὰς δεξάμενος περὶ πρώτην μάλιστα φυλακήν, ἴλην ἀπέστειλεν ἱππέων ἐπ´ αὐτόν, ἔκ τε τῆς πόλεως ἕτεροι πεμφθέντες ἱππεῖς δι´ ὅλης νυκτὸς ἐφρούρουν τὴν ἀπὸ στρατοπέδου φέρουσαν ὁδόν. ὡς δὲ ἀπήγγειλεν Ἀππίῳ τις τὸν Οὐεργίνιον ἐληλυθότα παρὰ τὴν ὑπόληψιν, ἔξω τῶν φρενῶν γενόμενος παρῆν μετὰ πολλοῦ στίφους ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα καὶ προσάγειν ἐκέλευσε τοὺς τῆς κόρης συγγενεῖς. προσελθόντων δ´ αὐτῶν ὁ μὲν Κλαύδιος τοὺς αὐτοὺς πάλιν διεξελθὼν λόγους ἠξίου τὸν Ἄππιον γενέσθαι δικαστὴν τοῦ πράγματος μηδεμίαν ἀναβολὴν ποιησάμενον, τόν τε μηνυτὴν παρεῖναι λέγων καὶ τοὺς μάρτυρας καὶ τὴν θεράπαιναν αὐτὴν παραδούς· ἐφ´ οἷς ἅπασι πολὺς ὁ προσποιητὸς σχετλιασμὸς ἦν, εἰ μὴ τεύξεται τῶν ἴσων τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὡς πρότερον, ὅτι πελάτης ἦν αὐτοῦ· καὶ παράκλησις, {ἵνα} μὴ τοῖς ἐλεεινότερα λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς δικαιότερα ἀξιοῦσι βοηθεῖν.

[11,33] As he left the Forum, sorely troubled and maddened by his passion, he determined not to relinquish the maiden another time to her relations, but when she was produced by her surety, to take her away by force, after first placing a stronger guard about his person, in order to avoid suffering any violence from the crowds, and occupying the neighbourhood of the tribunal ahead of time with a throng of his partisans and clients.That he might do this with a plausible show of justice when the father should fail to appear as her surety, he sent his most trusted horsemen to the camp with letters for Antonius, the commander of the legion in which Verginius served, (p111) asking him to detain the man under strict guard, lest he learn of the situation of his daughter and steal away from the camp unobserved. But he was forestalled by two relations of the girl, namely a son of Numitorius and a brother of Icilius, who had been sent ahead by the rest at the very beginning of the affair. These, being young and full of spirit, drove their horses with loose rein and under the whip, and completing the journey ahead of the men sent by Appius, informed Verginius of what had taken place. He, going to Antonius and concealing the true reason for his request, pretended that he had received word of the death of a certain near relation whose unless and burial he was obliged by law to perform; and being given a furlough, he set out about lamp-lighting time with the youths, taking by-roads for fear of being pursued both from the camp and from the city — the very thing which actually happened.For Antonius, upon receiving the letters about the first watch, sent a troop of horse after him, while other horsemen, sent from the city, patrolled all night long the road that led from the camp to Rome. When Appius was informed by somebody of the unexpected arrival of Verginius, he lost control of himself, and going to the tribunal with a large body of attendants, ordered the relations of the girl to be brought.When they had come, Claudius repeated what he had said before and asked Appius to act as judge in the matter without delay, declaring that both the informant and the witnesses were present and offering the slave woman herself to be examined. On top of all this there was the pretence of great indignation, if he was not to (p113) obtain the same justice as other people, as he had previously, because he was a client of Appius, and also an appeal that Appius should not support those whose complaints were the more pitiful, but rather those whose claims were the more just.