[16,4] Ὅτι, φησὶ Διονύσιος, μιᾶς ἔτι μνησθήσομαι πράξεως πολιτικῆς ἀξίας ὑπὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐπαινεῖσθαι, ἐξ ἧς καταφανὲς ἔσται τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ὅσον ἦν τὸ μισοπόνηρον ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ τότε καὶ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς παραβαίνοντας τὰ κοινὰ νόμιμα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἀμείλικτον. Γάιος Λαιτώριος Μέργος ἐπίκλησιν ἐπιφανὴς κατὰ γένος καὶ κατὰ τὰς πολεμικὰς πράξεις οὐκ ἀγεννής, ἑνὸς τῶν ταγμάτων χιλίαρχος ἀποδειχθεὶς ἐν τῷ Σαυνιτικῷ πολέμῳ, νεανίαν τινὰ τῶν ὁμοσκήνων διαφέροντα τὴν ὄψιν ἑτέρων μέχρι μέν τινος ἔπειθεν ἑαυτῷ χαρίσασθαι τὴν τοῦ σώματος ὥραν ἑκόντα. ὡς δ´ οὔτε δωρεαῖς οὔτ´ ἄλλῃ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τὸ μειράκιον ἡλίσκετο, κατέχειν τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἀδύνατος ὢν βίαν προσφέρειν ἐπεβάλετο. περιβοήτου δὲ τῆς ἀκοσμίας τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἅπασι τοῖς ἐπὶ τοῦ στρατοπέδου γενομένης κοινὸν ἀδίκημα τῆς πόλεως εἶναι νομίσαντες οἱ δήμαρχοι γραφὴν ἀποφέρουσι κατ´ αὐτοῦ δημοσίᾳ, καὶ ὁ δῆμος ἁπάσαις ταῖς ψήφοις τοῦ ἀνδρὸς κατέγνω τίμημα δίκης ὁρίσας θάνατον, οὐκ ἀξιῶν εἰς ἐλεύθερα σώματα καὶ προπολεμοῦντα τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ἐλευθερίας τοὺς ἐν ταῖς τιμαῖς ὄντας καὶ ἀρχαῖς ὑβρίζειν τὰς ἀνηκέστους καὶ παρὰ φύσιν τοῖς ἄρρεσιν ὕβρεις.

[16,4] (8) One more political incident I shall relate, says Dionysius, deserving of praise on the part of all men, from which it will be clear to the Greeks how great was the hatred of wrongdoing felt in Rome at that time and how implacable the anger against those who transgressed the universal laws of human nature. 2 Gaius Laetorius, with the cognomen Mergus, a man of distinguished birth and not without bravery in warlike deeds, who had been appointed tribune of one of the legions in the Samnite war, (p323) attempted for a time to persuade a youth of exceptional beauty among his tentmates to put the charms of his body at his disposal voluntarily; then, when the boy was not to be lured either by gifts or by any other friendly gesture, Laetorius, unable to restrain his passion, attempted to use effort. 3 When the man's disgraceful conduct had become noised throughout the entire camp, the tribunes of the people, holding that it was a crime against the whole state, brought an indictment against him publicly, and the people unanimously condemned him, after fixing death as the penalty; for they were unwilling that persons who were of free condition and were fighting on behalf of the freedom of their fellow citizens should be subjected by those in positions of command to abuses that are irreparable and do violence to the male's natural instincts.