idem multis desertoribus manus excidit, aliis crura incidit ac poplites, dicens maius exemplum esse viventis miserabiliter criminosi quam occisi.
Translation :
Besides this, he cut off the hands of many deserters, and broke the legs and hips of others, saying that a criminal alive and wretched was a more terrible example than one who had been put to death.
Edition :
Historia Augusta, Volume I: Hadrian. Aelius. Antoninus Pius. Marcus Aurelius. L. Verus. Avidius Cassius. Commodus. Pertinax. Didius Julianus. Septimius Severus. Pescennius Niger. Clodius Albinus. Translated by David Magie. Loeb Classical Library 139. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921.
