ἱστορίαι Historiai
Liv. 38.24 The History of Rome, Livy; served verbatim
War with the Tectosagi.-Now came the campaign against the Tectosagi. and the consul commenced his advance .。_,,U性,,,,,,,。 against themw:in a tnree days-. ,..marcn ne reacnea Ancyra,l a city of importance in that district, and the enemy were only ten miles distant from it. Whilst he was here in camp a remarkable incident occurred in connection with a female prisoner. The wife of a chief named Orgiagon, a woman of exceptional beautv. was with other captives in the custody of a centurion who was notorious even amongst soldiers for his licentiousness and greed. At first he made improper proposals to her, but finding that she treated them with abhorrence, he took advantag e of her servile condition and violated her. Then, to assuage he r anger and shame at the outrage, he held out hopes to her of returning to her friends, but not as a lover would have done, without ransom. He stipulated for a certain weight of gold, and to prevent his men from knowing anything about it, he allowed her to choose one of the prisoners and send a message by him to her friends. A spot by the river was fixed upon where not more than two of her friends were to come with the gold on the following night and receive her. There ha ppened to be amongst the prisoners one of her own slaves, and this man was conducted by the centurion beyond the ramparts as soon.. was dark. The following night two of her friends and the turion with his captive met at the place. Whilst they showing him the gold, which amounted to an Attic talent-the sum agreed upon-the woman speaking in her own language ordered them to draw their swords and cut off the centurion's head while he waS count ing out the gold. Wrapping up the murdered man's head in her robe, she took it to her husband, who had fled home from Olympus. Before embracing him she flung down the head at his feet, and whilst he was wondering whose head it could possibly be. or what such an unwomanly 1砂, act could mean, she told him about the outrage she had endured and the revenge she had taken for her violated chastity. It is recorded that by the purity and strictness of her life she maintained to the very last the honour of a deed so worthy of a matron.

The Greek stands ready in the workroom; the English is served. Both faces will read together.

← Liv. 38.23 contents Liv. 38.25 →

The History of Rome, Livy — translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1912
Apparatus shelf + pinned Wikisource — Livy, The History of Rome (Rev. Canon Roberts translation, Everyman's Library) · Rev. Canon Roberts, Everyman's Library (J. M. Dent & Sons / E. P. Dutton), first issue 1912; six volumes
license: public-domain (the Roberts translation's Everyman first issue is 1912, pre-1930; Wikisource dates the translation 1905 — either way decades inside the US public domain; digital-door text carries no additional rights)