cum quidam milites ancillam hospitis iam diu pravi pudoris adfectassent, idque per quendam frumentarium ille didicisset, adduci eos iussit interrogavitque utrum esset factum. quod cum constitisset, duos boves mirae magnitudinis vivos subito aperiri iussit atque his singulos milites inseri capitibus, ut secum conloqui possent, exsertis; itaque poena hos adfecit, cum ne adulteris quidem talia apud maiores vel sui temporis essent constituta supplicia.
Translation :
There were some soldiers who had had intercourse with their host's maid-servant, who for some time had led a life of ill-repute. Learning of their offence through one of his spies, he commanded them to be brought before him and questioned them as to whether it were really true. When their guilt was proved, he gave orders that two oxen of extraordinary size should be cut open rapidly while still alive, and that the soldiers should be thrust one into each, with their heads protruding so that they could talk to each other. In this way he inflicted punishment on them, though neither our ancestors nor the men of his own time ever ordained any such penalty, even for those guilty of adultery.
Edition :
Historia Augusta, Volume II: Caracalla. Geta. Opellius Macrinus. Diadumenianus. Elagabalus. Severus Alexander. The Two Maximini. The Three Gordians. Maximus and Balbinus. Translated by David Magie. Loeb Classical Library 140. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1924
