When Brutus, the Roman general, conquered Patara in 42 BC, he ordered the Patarenses on pain of death to bring him all their gold and silver, and promised rewards to such as should discover any hidden treasures.
A slave belonging to a rich citizen informed against his master, and discovered to a centurion* the place where he had buried his wealth. The citizen was brought, together with the informer, before Brutus. The mother of the accused followed them, declaring, with tears in her eyes, that she had hidden the treasure without her son's knowledge. The slave maintained that his master, and not the mother, had transgressed the edict. After hearing both parties patiently, Brutus commended the tenderness of the mother, restored the whole sum to the son, and ordered the slave to be crucified.
公元前四十二年，羅馬將領布魯特斯征服帕搭拉，下令當地人獻出所有金銀，否則處死，並宣布，揭露埋藏的財富，將獲獎賞。
一個奴隸檢舉他富有的主人，並向一個百夫長*指出主人埋金之地。他和主人給帶到布魯特斯麾下，而那主人的母親則跟在他們後面，雙目含淚，自稱是埋金者，又說兒子並不知情。那奴隸則力言違反法令的是主人，而不是主人之母。布魯特斯細聽雙方陳詞之後，稱許那母親的慈愛，把金銀全部還給那兒子，而下令把那奴隸釘到十字架上。
*百夫長是古羅馬軍中百人隊（century）隊長。