By piety—how many noble men
Did he destroy, in lusty youth, in age,
At home, abroad, when, spurred by mortal fear,
They fled their household gods and that fell sword
Of the Triumvirate, consigned to death
Upon those mindful tablets' fatal lists.
The grieving parents saw their severed heads510
Upon the rostra set, but dared not weep
Their hapless sons; the forum reeked with blood,
And gore down all those rotting faces dripped.