Now, even now, the names ring in my brain,
The petty lawsuits which I must adjudge,
The protests from the people, stricken down
Under a shameful load of usury,
Oppressed by every Roman thief that crept
Into some petty office. Gods, those trials!
They made me old before my time. That case
Between Valerius and Volusius!
And Brutus, the immaculate, with his interest
Of forty-eight per cent!