It punished old Roman, just short of ten stories for listeners (3-1-4-5)
I believe the answer is:
cat-o-nine-tails
'it punished' is the definition.
(historical whip used to administer punishment)
'old roman just short of ten stories for listeners' is the wordplay.
'old roman' becomes 'cato' (Roman politician).
'just short of ten' becomes 'nine'.
'stories' becomes 'tales' ('tale' can be a synonym of 'story').
'for listeners' shows a homophone (sound like) (I've seen 'for Listener' mean this).
'tales' sounds like 'tails'.
'cato'+'nine'+'tails'='CAT-O-NINE-TAILS'
(Other definitions for cat-o-nine-tails that I've seen before include "Naval whip" , "Rope whip once used in flogging" , "Lash" , "Rope whip made of knotted cords" , "Knotted flogging rope" .)