Arria part 2 Flashcards
Scribonianus arma in Illyrico contra Claudium moverat; fuerat Paetus in partibus, et occiso Scriboniano Romam trahebatur.
Scribonianus had taken up arms against Claudius in Illyricum;Paetus had been involved in the conspiracy, and after Scribonianus was killed he was being dragged to Rome.
erat ascensurus navem; Arria milites orabat ut simul imponeretur.
He was about to board the ship; Arria was begging the soldiers that she might be put on board at the same time.
‘nonne’ inquit ‘dabitis consulari viro servos aliquos, quorum e manu cibum capiat, a quibusvestiatur, a quibus calcietur? omnia haec ego sola praestabo.’
She said, “Surely you will give some slaves to a man of consular rank, from whose hand he might take food, by whom he might be dressed, by whom he might have his shoes put on? All these things I alone will take care
of.”
non impetravit: conduxit piscatoriam naviculam, ingentemque navem minima secuta est.
She did not get permission: she hired a small fishing boat,and her tiny boat followed the great ship.
deinde apud Claudium uxori Scriboniani, cum illa profiteretur indicium, ‘egone’ inquit ‘te audiam, cuius in gremio Scribonianus occisus est, et vivis?
Then in the presence of Claudius she said to the wife of Scribonianus, when she was volunteering evidence, “Should I listen to you, in whose lap Scribonianus died, and you are alive?”
ex quo manifestum est ei consilium pulcherrimae mortis non subitum fuisse.
From which it is clear that her plan for a most glorious death had not been impulsive.
quin etiam, cum Thrasea gener eius deprecaretur ne mori pergeret, interque alia dixisset: ‘vis ergo filiam tuam, si mihi pereundum fuerit, mori mecum?’, respondit: ‘si tam diu tantaque concordia vixerit tecum quam ego cum Paeto, volo.’
Indeed, when her son-in-law Thrasea was begging her not to carry out her resolve to die, and among other things he had said: “Do you wish therefore your daughter, if I had to die, to die with me?”, she replied: “If she had lived so long and with such harmony with you as I have with Paetus, I wish it.”
auxerat hoc responso curam suorum; diligentius custodiebatur; hoc sensit et ‘nihil agitis’ inquit; ‘potestis enim efficere ut male moriar, ut non moriar non potestis.’
With this response she had increased the concern of her household; she was being watched over more carefully; she realised this and said: “You are
accomplishing nothing for you can see to it that I die painfully, but you cannot see to it that I do not die.”
dum haec dicit, exsiluit e sede adversoque muro caput ingenti impetu impegit et decidit.
While she was saying this, she leapt out of her chair and dashed her head against the wall opposite with great force and collapsed.
focilata ‘dixeram’ inquit ‘vobis me inventuram esse quamlibet duram ad mortem viam, si vos facilem negavissetis.’ vale.
Having been resuscitated she said: “I had said to you that I would find a way to death however hard, if you had denied me the easy way.” Farewell.
