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Their colleagues changed their domicile by going into exile; their property also was confiscated. M. Claudius, who had been the claimant of Verginia, was tried and condemned; Verginius himself, however, refused to press for the extreme penalty, so he was allowed to go into exile to Tibur.
The supporters of Verginia, after they had urged that Verginius was absent on business of the state, that he would be present in two days if word were sent to him, and that it was unfair that in his absence he should run any risk regarding his children, demanded that Appius should adjourn the whole matter till the arrival of the father; that he should allow the claim for her liberty pending judgment according to the law passed by himself, and not allow a maiden of ripe age to encounter the risk of her reputation before that of her liberty.
And he, with his eyes full of tears, said: "This is a great favour; to-morrow I will avail myself of your assistance: at present I have sufficient sureties." Thus Verginia was bailed on the security of her relations.
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 it.
That Verginia was the only person whose chastity had been in danger in time of peace; that Appius had been the only citizen of dangerous lust.
Verginia was more fortunate after her death than in her lifetime; her shade, after wandering through so many houses in quest of expiatory penalties, at length found rest, not one guilty person being now left. Great alarm seized the patricians; the looks of the tribunes were now as menacing as those of the decemvirs had been.
Of the deterioration in taste coincident with this period, I lately came across this little bit of evidence, curious and conclusive: In 1558 a number of the country-folk were captured in one of the usual Corsair raids; they were afterwards ransomed, and among the Christian names of the women I note: Livia, Fiula, Cassandra, Aurelia, Lucrezia, Verginia, Medea, Violanta, Galizia, Vittoria, Diamanta, etc.
The multitude was now roused, and a contest seemed threatening. The lictors had taken their stand around Icilius; they did not, however, proceed beyond threats, while Appius said that it was not Verginia who was being defended by Icilius, but that, being a restless man, and even now breathing the spirit of the tribuneship, he was seeking an opportunity for creating a disturbance.
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