LĪCTOR in castra ad patrem vēnit. Extemplō fīlium āversātus
cōnsul mīlitēs classicō advocat. Quī postquam
frequentēs convēnēre, “Quandōquidem” inquit “tū,
fīlī, contrā imperium cōnsulis pūgnāstī, oportet[4]
[55] dīsciplīnam, quam solvistī, poenā[5] tuā restituās.
Trīste exemplum, sed in[6] posterum salūbre iuventūtī
eris. Ī,[7] līctor, dēligā[8] ad pālum.” Metū omnēs
obstupuēre; sed postquam cervīce caesā fūsus est cruor, in questūs
et lāmenta ērūpēre.[9] Mānliō Rōmam redeuntī seniōrēs tantum
[60] obviam exiērunt: iuventūs et tunc eum et omnī[10] deinde vītā
exsecrāta est.
Operae pretium erit aliud sevēritātis dīsciplīnae Rōmānae
exemplum prōferre, simul ut appāreat quam facile sevēritās in[11]
crūdēlitātem et furōrem abeat. Cn. Pīsō fuit[12] vir ā multīs vitiīs
[65] integer, sed prāvus et cuī[13] placēbat prō cōnstantiā rigor. Is
cum īrātus ad mortem dūcī iussisset mīlitem, quasi[14] interfēcisset
commīlitōnem, cum quō ēgressus erat ē castrīs et sine quō redierat,
rogantī[15] tempus aliquod ad conquīrendum[16] nōn dedit.
Damnātus mīles extrā castrōrum vāllum ductus est et iam cervīcem
[70] porrigēbat, cum subitō appāruit ille commīlitō, quī occīsus[17]
dīcēbātur. Tunc centuriō suppliciō praepositus condere gladium
carnificem iubet. Ambō commīlitōnēs alter alterum complexī
ingentī concursū et māgnō gaudiō exercitūs dēdūcuntur ad Pīsōnem.
Ille cōnscendit tribūnal furēns et utrumque ad mortem
[75] dūcī iubet, adicit et centuriōnem, quī damnātum mīlitem redūxerat,
haec praefātus[1]: “Tē morte plectī iubeō, quia iam damnātus
es; tē, quia causa damnātiōnis commīlitōnī fuistī; tē, quia
iussus occīdere mīlitem imperātōrī[2] nōn pāruistī.”
Cēterum Mānliānae gentis[3] propriam ferē fuisse[4] illam in
[80] fīliōs acerbitātem alius Mānlius, illīus dē quō suprā dīximus
nepōs, ostendit. Cum Macedonum lēgātī Rōmam vēnissent
conquestum[5] dē Sīlānō, Mānliī Torquātī fīliō, quod praetor[6] prōvinciam
expīlāsset,[7] pater, avītae sevēritātis hērēs, petiit ā patribus[8]
cōnscrīptīs nē quid dē eā rē statuerent, antequam ipse īnspexisset
[85] Macedonum et fīliī suī causam. Id ā senātū libenter concessum
est virō summae[9] dīgnitātis, cōnsulārī iūrisque cīvīlis perītissimō.
Itaque, īnstitūtā domī cōgnitiōne causae, sōlus per tōtum bīduum
utramque partem audiēbat ac tertiō diē prōnūntiāvit fīlium suum
vidērī nōn tālem fuisse in prōvinciā, quālēs ēius māiōrēs fuissent,
[90] et in cōnspectum suum deinceps venīre vetuit. Tam trīstī patris
iūdiciō perculsus[10] lūcem[11] ulterius intuērī nōn sustinuit et
proximā[12] nocte vītam suspendiō fīnīvit. Perēgerat[13] Torquātus sevērī
et religiōsī iūdicis partēs,[14] satisfactum erat reī pūblicae, habēbat
ultiōnem Macedonia, at nōndum erat īnflexus patris rigor. Igitur
[95] nē[15] exsequiīs quidem fīliī interfuit, ut patribus mōs erat apud
Rōmānōs, et eō ipsō diē, quō fūnus ēius dūcēbātur, aurēs, ut
solēbat, volentibus cōnsulere sē dē iūre praebuit.
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[30.8] Cf. [p. 3, n. 4].
[30.9] patrī . . . esse: ‘that a day had been set against his father (for trial),’ i.e. ‘that his father had been summoned to appear for trial.’ Among the charges against the elder Manlius was that of cruelty to his son. patrī is a dat. of disadvantage.
[30.10] cēpit . . . laudābile: ‘he formed a plan (which, though it gave token) of a rough and uncouth temper (was) nevertheless commendable by reason of the filial devotion (which it showed).’ For quidem . . . sed, cf. [p. 10, n. 10]. animī is a genitive of quality or description with cōnsilium.
[30.11] ad Pompōnium = ‘to (the house of) Pomponius.’
[30.12] = a temporal clause: ‘when he had been ushered in.’
[30.13] For the mood, cf. [p. 29, n. 16].