OCR GCSE Latin Literature (Prose) - Cicero, The Corruption of Verres (& Cleomenes)

Cleomenes went out of the port in a Centuripan quadrireme; there followed a ship of Segesta, of Tyndaris, of Herbita, of Heraclia, of Apollonia, of Haluntium

egreditur in Centuripina quadriremi Cleomenes e portu; sequitur Segestana navis, Tynaritana, Herbitensis, Heracliensis, Apolloniensis, Haluntina

A fine fleet in appearance, but a poor and weak due to the dismissal of the fighting men and the rowers

praeclara classis in speciem, sed inops et infirma propter dimissionem propugnatorum atque remigium

That diligent praetor of yours saw the fleet under his command for as long as it sailed past his most disgraceful banquet

tam diu in imperio suo classem iste praetor diligens vidit quam diu convivium eius flagitiosissimum praetervecta est

he himself however, who had not been seen on many a day, then showed himself to the sailors just for a little while

ipse autem, qui visus multis diebus non esset, tum se tamen in conspectum nautis paulisper dedit

There stood in slippers the praetor of the Roman people with his purple cloak (and) a tunic reaching down to his ankles leaning on a prostitute on the shore.

stetit soleatus praetor populi Romani cum pallio purpureo tunica talari muliercula nixus in litore

By now the Sicilians and many and many Roman citizens had often seen the defendant in this garb .

iam hoc istum vestitu Siculi civesque Romani permulti saepe viderant

After the fleet was carried forward a little and on the fifth day was finally driven to Pachynus, the sailors compelled by hunger began to collect the roots of the wild palms

posteaquam paulum provecta classis est et Pachynum quinto die denique adpulsa, nautae coacti fame radices palmarum agrestium

Of which there was a great number in those places, as in a great part of Sicily, and the wretched and desperate men were nourished by them.

quarum erat in illis locis, sicuti in magna parte Siciliae, multitudo, colligebant et iis miseri perditique alebantur

Whereas Cleomenes, who thought himself another Verres not only in excess and vice but also in authority, in similar fashion for all those days in a tent pitched on the shore was drinking heavily.

Cleomenes autem, qui alterum se Verrem cum luxurie ac nequitia tum etiam imperio putaret, similiter totos dies in litore tabernaculo posito perpotabat

But then - my goodness! - all of a sudden, while Cleomenes was drunk and the rest were hungry, it was announced that a shipful of pirates was in the harbour at Odyssea.

ecce autem repente ebrio Cleomene esurentibus ceteris nuntiatur piratarum esse navis in portu Odysseae

For that is how the place is named; but our fleet was in the harbour of Pachynus. But Cleomenes, because there was a land-based garrison not in reality but in name only, hoped that with those soldiers whom he led down from that place he could make up the numbers of the sailors and rowers.

nam ita is locus nominatur; nostra autem classis erat in portu Pachyni. Cleomenes autem, quod erat terrestre praesidium non re sed nomine, speravit iis militibus quos ex eo loco deduxisset explere se numerum nautarum et remigium posse

The same reasoning of that most stingy man, the accused, was found with the land-based garrison troops as in the fleets; for there were very few men left, and the remainder has been sent away.

reperta est eadem istius hominis avarissimi ratio in praesidiis quae in classibus; nam erant perpauci reliqui, ceteri dimissi

Cleomenes flees as the pirates attack. One captain is killed, and another later has to be ransomed, while the rest beach their ships following Cleomenes' example. The Roman fleet is then burnt by the pirates, who continue on to Syracuse, the main town in Sicily, and even enter the harbour. Verres tries to pin the blame on the captains of the Roman fleet, but when that fails, he decides they must be put to death in order to prevent them telling the truth about the dreadful state of the fleet. At the same time, he decides to spare his henchman Cleomenes.

The accused went out straight away from the praetor's headquarters inflamed with wickedness, madness and cruelty; he came into the forum, and ordered the ships' captains to be called; since they feared nothing and suspected nothing, they ran up at once.

procedit iste repente e praetorio inflammatus scelere furore crudelitate; in forum venit, nauarchos vocari iubet. qui nihil metuerent, nihil suspicarentur, statim accurrunt

The accused ordered wretched, innocent men to be thrown in chains. Those men implored the good faith of the praetor, and asked why he was doing this.

iste hominibus miseris innocentibus inici catenas imperat. implorare illi fidem praetoris, et quare id faceret rogare

Then the accused said this was the reason, that they had handed over the fleet to pirates.

tum iste hoc causae dicit, quod classem praedonibus prodidissent

The people shouted in amazement that there should be such great shamelessness and boldness in the man that he should either attribute to others the cause of the calamity which had happened entirely on account of his own greed, or, since he himself was thought to be an ally of the robbers, should bring an accusation of treason against; and then again, the accusation originated on the fifteenth day after the fleet was lost.

fit clamor et admiratio populi tantam esse in homine impudentiam atque audaciam ut aut aliis causam calamitatis attribueret quae omnis propter avaritiam ipsius accidisset, aut, cum ipse praedonum socius arbitraretur, aliis proditionis crimen inferret; deinde hoc quinto decimo die crimen esse natum postquam classis est amissa.

Despite the fact that they are innocent, and the pleas of the parents, the naval captains are condemned and put in prison. Cleomenes, meanwhile, gets away with it!

The condemned men are locked up in prison; a punishment is settled upon for them, (and) is exacted from the wretched parents of the ships' captains; they are prevented from going to their sons, (and) prevented from taking food and clothing to their children.

includuntur in carcerem condemnati; supplicium constituitur in illos, sumitur de miseris parentibus nauarchorum; prohibentur adire ad filios, prohibentur liberis suis cibum vestitumque ferre

These fathers whom you see were lying on the threshold, and their wretched mothers spent the night at the entrance of the prison, shut out from a final glimpse of their children; and they were asking for nothing more than that they might be allowed to receive the dying breath of their sons with their mouths.

patres hi quos videtis iacebant in limine, matresque miserae pernoctabant ad ostium carceris ab extremo conspectu liberum exclusae; quae nihil aliud orabant nisi ut filiorum suorum postremum spiritum ore excipere liceret

The doorkeeper of the prison was there, the praetor's executioner, the death and terror of allies and citizens of Rome, the lictor Sextius, for whom a definite reward was being gained from al the groaning and pain.

aderat ianitor carceris, carnifex praetoris, mors terrorque sociorum et civium Romanorum, lictor Sextius, cui ex omni gemitu doloreque certa merces comparabatur

"You will give so much to go in (and) so that you are allowed to take food inside, so much." No-one was refusing. "What? So that I bring death with one blow of the axe to your son, what will you give? So that he is not tortured for long, so that he isn't struck more often, so that his spirit is not taken away with some feeling of pain"

'ut adeas, tantum dabis, ut cibum tibi intro ferre liceat, tantum.' nemo recusabat. 'quid? ut uno ictu securis adferam mortem filio tuo, quid dabis? ne diu crucietur, ne saepius feriatur, ne cum sensu doloris aliquot spiritus auferatur?'

Even for this reason money was being given to the lictor.

etiam ob hanc causam pecunia lictori dabatur

Cicero sums up the awful plight of the captains and their relatives in an emotional outburst.

O what great grief, not to be tolerated! O grievious and bitter fortune! Parents were forced to buy at a price not the life of their children, but the speed of their death!

o magnum atque intolerandum dolorem! o gravem acerbamque fortunam! non vitam liberum, sed mortis celeritatem pretio redimere cogebantur parentes

And even the young men themselves were talking with their good pal Sextius about the blow and that single strike, and at last the children asked their own parents for that, so that rewards should be given to the lictor in order to lessen their torture.

atque ipsi etiam adulescentes cum Sextio suo de plaga et de uno illo ictu loquebantur, idque postremum parentes suos liberi orabant, ut levandi cruciatus sui causa lictori praemia daretur

Many grave pains were devised for the parents and relatives, many indeed; but then death should be the final one. It will not be.

multi et graves dolores inventi parentibus et propinquis, multi; verum tamen mors sit extremum. non erit.

Is there anything else y which cruelty can advance? It will be found; for when they have been struck by the axe and killed, their bodies will be thrown to wild beasts.

estne aliquid ultra quo crudelitas progredi possit? reperietur; nam illorum, cum erunt secure percussi ac necati, corpora feris obicientur

If this is grievous to the parents, let them buy the power of burial at a price. Who was so iron-hearted at that time, who so inhuman except you alone, who was not moved by their youth, their nobility, their wretchedness?

hoc si luctuosum est parentibus, redimant pretio sepeliendi potestatem . . . . quis tam fuit illo tempore ferreus, quis tam inhumanus praeter unum te, qui non illorum aetate nobilitate miseria commoveretur?

Was there any man who did not cry, who did not think of that calamity and bad luck of theirs was not actually another man's, but considered it a common danger? They are struck by the axe.

equis fuit quin lacrimaret, quin ita calamitatem illam putaret illorum et fortunam tamen non alienam, periculum autem commune arbitraretur? feriuntur securi

You are happy in the groaning of all, and you are triumphant; you rejoice that the witness of your greed have been taken away.

laetaris tu in omnium gemitu et triumphas; testes avaritiae tuae gaudes esse sublatos

You were wrong, Verres, and you were massively wrong, when you thought that you were washing out the stains of your thefts and crimes with the blood of your innocent allies.

errabas,Verres, et vehementer errabas, cum te maculas furtorum et flagitiorum tuorum sociorum innocentium sanguine eluere arbitrabare