THE DEATH OF VERGINIA
Appius Claudius did not go to the war. He stayed in Rome, and before
long roused the temper of the people beyond control.
Verginius, a brave plebeian soldier, was with the army, and in his
absence he had left his beautiful young daughter Verginia in the care
of her nurse.
One day as the young girl was on her way to school in the Forum, Appius
Claudius saw how beautiful she was, and he determined to take her away
from her father and Icilius, to whom she was betrothed.
But although he did his utmost to persuade the maiden to go home with
him, Verginia refused to leave her father’s house.
Then Appius Claudius grew angry, and vowed to himself that he would
take her away by foul means, since fair ones had failed.
So the tyrant ordered a man, named Marcus Claudius, to declare that
Verginia was not a free Roman maiden, as Verginius had pretended, but
was a slave belonging to himself.
This Marcus did, and then, seeing the girl one day in the Forum, he
tried to lay hold of her. But her nurse cried aloud for help, so that
a crowd quickly gathered, and hearing what had happened, it vowed to
protect Verginia, until her father and her betrothed returned from the
camp.
Then Marcius did as Appius Claudius had secretly bidden him. He said
that he did not wish to harm the maiden, indeed, he was even willing to
take the matter to law.
So, followed by the crowd, he led Verginia before the judge, who was no
other than Appius Claudius.
Here Marcus announced that he could prove to Verginius that the maiden
was not really his child, but belonged to a slave who lived in his
house. Meanwhile he demanded that the maiden should be given into his
charge.
But the crowd did not believe what Marcus said, nor did they care to
let the young girl leave her home in her father’s absence.
‘Send to the camp for Verginius,’ cried the people, heedless of the
angry looks of the judge. ‘Verginia is a free maiden, and shall stay
with her friends until she is proved a slave.’
With an effort, Appius Claudius concealed his real feelings, and,
speaking with the dignity of a judge, he said: ‘The maiden belongs
either to Verginius or to Marcus. As Verginius is absent, Marcus shall
take charge of her until her father returns, when the case shall again
come before me.’
But to such an unfair sentence the people refused to submit. So fierce
was their temper that they would have forced Claudius to leave the city
had he not reluctantly allowed Verginia to stay with her friends until
the following day. If Verginius did not then appear at his tribunal
Marcus should claim the maiden without delay, said Claudius.
Icilius had by this time returned to the city, and he at once sent to
the camp, beseeching Verginius to let nothing keep him from at once
coming to Rome.
But Claudius also sent a messenger to the camp, bidding his officers on
no account to allow Verginius to leave his post.
Fortunately, the messenger sent by Icilius reached the camp first, and
Verginius was already hastening to the city when his officers received
the order sent by Claudius.
The next morning Claudius went to the Forum, sure that before the day
was over he would have secured Verginia.
What was his surprise and anger to see that Verginius, whom he had
believed to be safely detained at camp, was already there by the side
of his daughter, accompanied by many Roman matrons and a crowd of
people.
The judge could hear the voice of Verginius as he drew near. He was
speaking to the people, and Claudius knew too well how easily the
passions of the mob could be roused.
‘It is not only my daughter that is not safe,’ Verginius was saying;
‘who will dare henceforth to leave their children in Rome if I am
robbed of my child?’
As the matrons listened they wept, thinking of the fate that might
overtake their own dear daughters.
Claudius was now much too angry to try to humour the people.
Bidding Verginius be silent, he at once gave his verdict that the
maiden should be given to Marcus, until her father had proved that she
was free-born.
The people stood silent, stunned for the moment by the wickedness of
the judge. But as Marcus drew near to lead Verginia away, her friends
gathered around her, refusing to let the man come near her.
Then, in his rage, Claudius bade his lictors drive the people away, and
they, raising their axes, soon scattered the crowd, for it was unarmed.
Verginius, turning quietly to Claudius, asked that he might at least
speak apart for a moment to his daughter and her nurse. His request was
granted. Then the poor father in his desperate sorrow knew that there
was but one thing to be done. To trust his daughter to these wicked men
was not to be thought of, so, drawing her into his arms, he snatched
a knife from one of the stalls, and whispered in her ear: ‘My child,
there is no other way to free thee.’ Swift and sure, even as he spoke,
he plunged the knife into his daughter’s heart.
Turning to the unjust judge, Verginius cursed him to his face; then
breaking through the crowd, he sped to the city gates, and mounting a
horse, rode in hot haste back to the camp.
Meanwhile, Icilius lifted the dead body of the maiden, and bade the
people see what the tyrant Claudius had done.
In fierce anger, the crowd rushed upon the lictors and a band of armed
patricians and drove them from the Forum. Claudius, covering his face
with his toga, fled, and for the time escaped with his life.
Verginius had no sooner reached the camp than he told his piteous
tale to the army. Willingly the soldiers marched to Rome, led by the
miserable father, and joined by another army, at the head of which was
Icilius.
Together they entered Rome, and the soldiers deposed the decemvirs,
while each army elected ten tribunes. They then marched out of the
city, followed by the people, and encamped, as once before, on the
Sacred Mount, leaving Rome to the patricians.
The Senate saw that it was time to act, for the decemvirs, it was
plain, still hoped to keep the power they had grasped. So it forced
them to resign, and then sent to the Sacred Mount to ask the plebeians
what sentence they wished the tyrants to suffer.
Icilius demanded that the decemvirs should be put to death, the others
were content that they should be banished from Rome. But Appius
Claudius was not banished with the other decemvirs. He was sent to
prison, where some say that he killed himself, but others assert that
his enemies put him to death.
The people were now ready to return to the city, having obtained from
the Senate a promise that they should have their tribunes as of old,
and that the sacred laws should be again established.
In 445 B.C., about four years later, the plebeians succeeded in gaining
new privileges. A law was passed allowing them to marry patricians, and
this greatly pleased the people.
For many years the plebeians had wished to be allowed to stand for
the Consulship. Now it was arranged that, instead of Consuls, from
three to six military tribunes should be appointed, and for this office
plebeians might stand.
Two of the duties however that had belonged to the Consuls were not
given to the military tribunes, but kept for two new officers, called
censors. The censors were to be chosen from among the patricians.