Ab urbe condita

Going down to the Forum in mourning garb, accompanied by the members of his house and by his clients, he appealed to the citizens individually, and implored them not to stain the house of the Claudii with such an indelible disgrace as to deem them worthy of bonds and imprisonment. To think that a man whose image[*](image —Effigies of the distinguished scions of a house, in the form of painted waxen masks, were preserved in the hall, and to each was attached an inscription setting forth the offices, etc., held by the deceased. On the occasion of a funeral these masks were worn by persons who represented the deceased ancestors, and were decorated with all the insignia of the offices they had filled.) would be held in highest honour by posterity, the framer of their laws and the founder of Roman jurisprudence, should be lying manacled amongst nocturnal thieves and

robbers! Let them turn their thoughts for a moment from feelings of exasperation to calm examination and reflection, and forgive one man at the intercession of so many of the Claudii, rather than through their hatred of one man despise the prayers of

many. So far he himself would go for the honour of his family and his name, but he was not reconciled to the man whose distressed condition he was anxious to

relieve. By courage their liberties had been recovered, by clemency the harmony of the orders in the State could be strengthened. Some were moved, but it was more by the affection he showed for his nephew than by any regard for the man for whom he was pleading. But Verginius begged them with tears to keep their compassion for him and his daughter, and not to listen to the prayers of the Claudii, who had assumed sovereign power over the plebs, but to the three tribunes, kinsmen of Verginia, who, after being elected to protect the plebeians, were now seeking their

protection. This appeal was felt to have more justice in