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egreditur in Centuripina quadriremi Cleomenes e portu;
Cleomenes goes out of the harbour in a Centuripan quadrireme;
egreditur, sequitur (goes out, follow) - present tense, vivid present
iste praetor diligens (that hardworking governor) - sarcastic
flagitiosissimum (most disgraceful) - superlative to emphasis disgust towards the banquet and behaviour of Verres
multis diebus, paulisper (many days, for a short time) - scathing, emphasising his incompetence
sequitur Segestana navis, Tyndaritana, Herbitensis, Heracliensis, Apolloniensis, Haluntina, praeclara classis in speciem, sed inops et infirma propter dimissionem propugnatorum atque remigum.
ships from Segesta, Tyndaris, Herbita, Heraclia, Apollinia, Haluntina follow: a fleet noble in appearance but needy and weak because of the dismissal (firing) of the fighting men and rowers.
egreditur, sequitur (goes out, follow) - present tense, vivid present
Segestana […], Haluntina (it’s just all the places) - asyndetic list, dramatises the contrast and number
praeclara (noble) - sarcastic, at the start for emphasis
inops et infirma (needy and week) - repeated ‘in’ draws attention to what they are lacking
tam diu in imperio suo classem iste praetor diligens vidit quam diu convivium eius flagitiosissimum praetervecta est;
That hardworking governor saw the fleet under his command for as long as it sailed past his most disgraceful banquet;
ipse autem, qui visus multis diebus non esset, tum se tamen in conspectum nautis paulisper dedit.
he himself, however, who had not been seen in many days, then showed himself to the sailors for a short time.
stetit soleatus praetor populi Romani cum pallio purpureo tunica talari muliercula nixus in litore.
The governor of the Roman people stood wearing slippers with a purple cloak and an ankle length tunic, leaning on a prostitute on the short.
iam hoc istum vestitu Siculi civesque Romani permulti saepe viderant.
Already the Sicilian citizens and very many Romans had often seen this man in this clothing.
posteaquam paulum provecta classis est et Pachynum quinto die denique adpulsa, nautae coacti fame radices palmarum agrestium
After the fleet was carried forwards a little and on the fifth day finally driven to Pachynus, the sailors - compelled by hunger, started collecting the roots of wild palms
quarum erat in illis locis, sicuti in magna parte Sicilae multitudo, colligebant et iis miseri perditique alebantur;
of which there was a large number in those places, just as in the main part of Sicily - and the wretched and desperate men were being nourished on those;
Cleomenes autem, qui alterum se Verrem cum luxurie ac nequita tum etiuam imperio putaret, similiter totos dies in litore tabernaculo posito perpotabat.
but Cleomenes, who thought that he was another Verres not only in excess and vice but also in power, in the same way was drinking heavily all day everyday in a tent pitched on the beach
ecce autem repente ebrio Cleomene esurentibus ceteris nuntiatur piratarum esse navis in portu Odysseae;
But look! Suddenly, whilst Cleomenes was drunk and everyone else was hungry, it was announced that a ship of pirates was in the harbour of Odyssea
nam ita is locus nominatur; nostra autem classis erat in portu Pachyni.
for this is what that place is called; but our fleet was in the harbour of Pachynus
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.
But Cleomenes, because there was a land garrison (not in reality but in name only) hoped that he could make up the number of sailors and rowers from these soldiers whom he’d brought down from that place.
reperta est eadem istius hominis avarissimi ratio in praesidiis quae in classibus; nam erat perpauci reliqui, ceteri dimissi.
That very greedy man used/applied the same logic for the garrisons as he’d used for the fleets: for there were very few left, the rest [had been] dismissed.
procedit iste repente e praetorio inflammatus scelere furore crudelitate;
That man suddenly proceeded from the headquarters, inflamed by wickedness, madness and cruelty;
in forum venit, nauarchos vocari iubet.
He came into the forum, ordered the ships’ captains to be summoned.
qui nihil meuerent, nihil suspicarentur, statim accurrunt.
They feared nothing, suspected nothing; at once they ran along.
iste hominibus miseris innocentibus inici catenas imperat.
That man ordered chains to be thrown on the wretched innocent men.
implorare illi fidem praetoris, et quare id faceret rogare.
Those men called upon the faith/loyalty of the governor, and they asked why he was doing this.
tum iste hoc causae dicit, quod classem praedonibus prodidissent.
That man gave this as the reason: that they had betrayed/handed over the fleet to the pirates.
fit clamor et admiratio populi tantam esse in homine impudentiam atque adaciam ut aut aliis causam calamitatis attribueret quae omnis propter avaritiam ipsius accidisset,
The people shouted in shock/amazement that there was so much shamelessness and audacity in the man that he should attribute the cause of the disaster to others, which had entirely happened on account of his greed,
aut, cum ipse praedonum socius arbitraretur, aliis prodtionis crimen inferret; deinde hoc quinto decimo die crimen esse natum postquam classis est amissa.
or - since he was thought to be in league with the pirates himself, that he should bring the charge of treason upon others. Moreover, [they said that] this charge had originated on the fifteenth day after the fleet was lost.
includuntur in carcarem condemnati; supplicium constituuntur in illos, sumitur de miseris parentibus nauarchorum;
The condemned men were shut up in prison, punishments were decided against them; these were extracted from the wretched parents of this ships’ captains.
prohibentur adire ad filios, prohibentur liberis suis cibum vestitumque ferre.
They were prohibited from going to their sons; they were prohibited from bringing food and clothes to their children.
patres hi quod videtis iacebant in limine, matresque miserae pernoctabant ad ostium carceris ab extremo conspectu liberum exclusae;
These fathers whom you see were lying on the threshold, and the miserable mothers were spending the night at the entrance to the prison, excluded from a final glimpse of their children.
quae nihil aliud orabant nisi ut filiorum suorum postremum spiritum ore excipere liceret.
These women were begging for nothing more than to be allowed to receive their sons’ dying breaths with their mouth.
aderat ianitor carceris, carnifex praetoris, mors terrorque sociorum et civium Romanorum,
The doorkeeper of the prison was present, the praetor’s executioner, the death and terror of the allies and Roman citizens,
lictor Sextius, cui ex omni gemitu dolorque certa merces comparabatur.
the lictor Sextius, who was earning a fixed reward from all the groaning and grief.
‘ut adeas, tantum dabis, ut cibum tibi intro ferre liceat, tantum.’
‘You will give so much to go in; for you to be allowed to bring food inside, so much’
nemo recusabat. ‘quid? ut uno ictu securis adferam mortem filio tuo, quid dabis? ne diu crucientur, ne saepius feriatur, ne cum sensu doloris aliquot spiritus auferatur?’
No one was refusing. ‘What? So that I bring death to your son with (just) one blow of the axe, what will you give? So that he won’t be tortured for a long time, so that he won’t be struck more often, so that his spirit won’t be stolen away with some feeling of pain?’
etiam ob hanc causam pecunia lictori dabatur.
Even for this reason money was being given to the lictor.
o magnum atque intolerandum dolorem! o gravem acerbamque fortunam!
O great and intolerable grief! O grave and bitter fortune!
non vitam liberum, sed mortis celeritatem pretio reimere cogebantur parentes.
The parents were being forced to buy at/for a price not the life of their children but the swiftness of their death.
atque ipse 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.
And even the young men themselves were speaking with their [good pal] Sextius about the blow and about that one swing (of the axe), and the children were begging their parents for this one last thing: that a reward should be given to the lictor for the sake of relieving their torture.
multi et graves dolores inventi parentibus et propinquis, multi;
Many and grave griefs/sufferings were found for their parents and relatives, many!
verum tamen mors sit extremum. non erit. estne aliquid ultra quo crudelitas progredi possit?
But in truth death should be the final thing. It won’t be. Is there anything worse to which cruelty can advance?
reperietur; nam illorum, cum erunt secure percussi ac necati, corpora feris obicientur.
It will be reached. For the bodies of these men, when they have been struck and killed by the axe, will be thrown to wild beasts.
hoc si luctuosum est parentibus, redimant pretio sepeliendi potestatem…
If this is grievous to the parents, they may buy at a price the power of burial.
…quis tam fuit illo tempore ferreus, quis tam inhumanus praeter unum te, qui non illorum aetate nobilitate miseria commoveretur?
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?
equis fuit quin lacrimaret, quin ita calamitatem illam putaret illorum et fortunam tamen non alienam, periculum autem commune arbitraretur?
Was there any man who did not weep, any man who did not think that that calamity and bad luck of theirs was not actually another man’s, but considered it a shared danger.
feriuntur securi. laetaris tu in omnium gemitu et triumphas;
They are struck with the axe. You are happy amidst the misery of everyone and you are triumphant;
testes avaritiae tuae gaudes esse sublatos.
you rejoice that the witnesses of your greed have been disposed of.
errabas, Verres, et vehementer errabas, cum te maculas furtuorum et flagitiorum tuorum sociorum innocentium sanguine eluere arbitrabare.
You were wrong, Verres, and you were very wrong, when you were thinking that you were washing out the stains of your thefts and crimes with the blood of your innocent allies.
