Livy: AB VRBE CONDITA LIBRI

[1] Antio capto, T. Aemilius et Q. Fabius consules fiunt. Hic erat Fabius qui unus exstinctae ad Cremeram genti superfuerat. Iam priore consulatu Aemilius dandi agri plebi fuerat auctor; itaque secundo quoque consulatu eius et agrarii se in spem legis erexerant, et tribuni, rem contra consules saepe temptatam adiutore utique consule obtineri posse rati, suscipiunt, et consul manebat in sententia sua.

[1] Antium having been captured, T. Aemilius and Q. Fabius become consuls. This was the Fabius who alone had survived of the clan extinguished at the Cremera. Already in his earlier consulship Aemilius had been a promoter of giving land to the plebs; and so in his second consulship as well both the agrarians had raised themselves into hope of a law, and the tribunes, thinking that the measure, often attempted against the consuls, could be carried with, at any rate, a consul as helper, take it up; and the consul remained in his opinion.

Possessores et magna pars patrum, tribuniciis se iactare actionibus principem civitatis et largiendo de alieno popularem fieri querentes, totius invidiam rei a tribunis in consulem averterant. Atrox certamen aderat, ni Fabius consilio neutri parti acerbo rem expedisset: T. Quincti ductu et auspicio agri captum priore anno aliquantum a Volscis esse; Antium, opportunam et maritimam urbem, coloniam deduci posse; ita sine querellis possessorum plebem in agros ituram, civitatem in concordia fore. Haec sententia accepta est.

The possessors and a great part of the patres, complaining that by tribunician actions he was vaunting himself as the chief of the state and becoming popular by largessing from another’s property, had turned the whole odium of the matter from the tribunes onto the consul. A fierce contest was at hand, if Fabius had not, by a counsel bitter to neither party, resolved the matter: that under the leadership and auspices of T. Quinctius, a considerable amount of land had been captured from the Volsci in the previous year; that Antium, a well-situated and maritime city, could have a colony led out; thus, without the complaints of the possessors, the plebs would go into the fields, and the commonwealth would be in concord. This proposal was accepted.

Triumviros agro dando creat T. Quinctium A. Verginium P. Furium; iussi nomina dare qui agrum accipere vellent. Fecit statim, ut fit, fastidium copia adeoque pauci nomina dedere ut ad explendum numerum coloni Volsci adderentur; cetera multitudo poscere Romae agrum malle quam alibi accipere. Aequi a Q. Fabio—is eo cum exercitu venerat—pacem petiere, inritamque eam ipsi subita incursione in agrum Latinum fecere.

He appoints three men for assigning land, Titus Quinctius, Aulus Verginius, Publius Furius; those who wished to receive land were ordered to give in their names. Straightway, as happens, satiety from abundance arose, and so few gave in their names that Volscian colonists were added to fill up the number; the rest of the multitude preferred to demand land at Rome rather than receive it elsewhere. The Aequi sought peace from Quintus Fabius—he had come there with an army—and they themselves made it void by a sudden incursion into the Latin territory.

[2] Q. Servilius insequenti anno—is enim cum Sp. Postumio consul fuit—in Aequos missus in Latino agro stativa habuit. Quies necessaria morbo implicitum exercitum tenuit. Extractum in tertium annum bellum est Q. Fabio et T. Quinctio consulibus.

[2] Q. Servilius in the following year—for he was consul with Sp. Postumius—having been sent against the Aequi, held standing quarters in the Latin countryside. A necessary repose kept the army, entangled in disease. The war was drawn out into the third year, Q. Fabius and T. Quinctius being consuls.

Fabio extra ordinem, quia is victor pacem Aequis dederat, ea provincia data. Qui haud dubia spe profectus famam nominis sui pacaturam Aequos, legatos in concilium gentis missos nuntiare iussit Q. Fabium consulem dicere se ex Aequis pacem Romam tulisse, ab Roma Aequis bellum adferre eadem dextera armata quam pacatam illis antea dederat. Quorum id perfidia et periurio fiat, deos nunc testes esse, mox fore ultores.

To Fabius, outside the ordinary order—because he as victor had given peace to the Aequi—that province was assigned. He, setting out with no doubtful hope that the fame of his name would pacify the Aequi, ordered the legates, sent into the council of the tribe, to announce that “Quintus Fabius the consul says that he brought from the Aequi peace to Rome; from Rome he brings war to the Aequi with the same right hand, now armed, which had previously given them peace.” That this comes to pass by their perfidy and perjury, the gods are now witnesses, and soon will be avengers.

Se tamen, utcumque sit, etiam nunc paenitere sua sponte Aequos quam pati hostilia malle. Si paeniteat, tutum receptum ad expertam clementiam fore: sin periurio gaudeant, dis magis iratis quam hostibus gesturos bellum. Haec dicta adeo nihil moverunt quemquam ut legati prope violati sint exercitusque in Algidum adversus Romanos missus.

that, however the case may stand, even now it is better that the Aequians, of their own accord, repent rather than prefer to suffer hostile acts. If they should repent, there will be a safe retreat to a proved clemency; but if they exult in perjury, they will wage war with the gods more wrathful than the enemies. These words moved no one at all to such a degree that the envoys were almost outraged, and an army was sent to Algidus against the Romans.

Quae ubi Romam sunt nuntiata, indignitas rei magis quam periculum consulem alterum ab urbe excivit. Ita duo consulares exercitus ad hostem accessere acie instructa ut confestim dimicarent. Sed cum forte haud multum diei superesset, unus ab statione hostium exclamat: 'Ostentare hoc est, Romani, non gerere bellum.

When these things were reported at Rome, the indignity of the affair rather than the danger roused the other consul from the city. Thus two consular armies approached the enemy with the battle line drawn up, so that they might fight forthwith. But since by chance not much of the day was left, one man from the enemy’s outpost shouted: 'This is to make a show, Romans, not to wage war.'

In noctem imminentem aciem instruitis; longiore luce ad id certamen quod instat nobis opus est. Crastino die oriente sole redite in aciem; erit copia pugnandi; ne timete.' His vocibus inritatus miles in diem posterum in castra reducitur, longam venire noctem ratus quae moram certamini faceret. Tum quidem corpora cibo somnoque curant; ubi inluxit postero die, prior aliquanto constitit Romana acies; tandem et Aequi processere.

'You are arraying your battle line into the impending night; we need more daylight for that contest which is at hand for us. On the morrow, with the sun rising, return to the battle line; there will be opportunity for fighting; do not be afraid.' Roused by these words, the soldiery is led back to camp for the next day, thinking that a long night was coming which would make a delay to the contest. Then indeed they attend to their bodies with food and sleep; when it grew light on the following day, the Roman battle line took its position somewhat earlier; at length the Aequi also advanced.

Proelium fuit utrimque vehemens, quod et Romanus ira odioque pugnabat et Aequos conscientia contracti culpa periculi et desperatio futurae sibi postea fidei ultima audere et experiri cogebat. Non tamen sustinuere aciem Romanam Aequi; pulsique cum in fines suos se recepissent, nihilo inclinatioribus ad pacem animis ferox multitudo increpare duces quod in aciem, qua pugnandi arte Romanus excellat, commissa res sit; Aequos populationibus incursionibusque meliores esse et multas passim manus quam magnam molem unius exercitus rectius bella gerere.

The battle was on both sides vehement, because the Roman fought in anger and hatred, and the Aequi the consciousness of danger contracted by their fault and the despair of future trust for themselves thereafter compelled to dare and to try the utmost. Yet the Aequi did not withstand the Roman battle-line; and, driven back, when they had withdrawn into their own borders, with minds no whit more inclined to peace the fierce multitude reproached the leaders because the matter had been committed to a pitched battle, in which the Roman excels in the art of fighting; that the Aequi are better at ravagings and incursions, and that many bands scattered everywhere wage wars more rightly than the great mass of a single army.

[3] Relicto itaque castris praesidio egressi tanto cum tumultu invasere fines Romanos, ut ad urbem quoque terrorem pertulerint. Necopinata etiam res plus trepidationis fecit, quod nihil minus quam ne victus ac prope in castris obsessus hostis memor populationis esset timeri poterat; agrestesque pavidi incidentes portis non populationem nec praedonum parvas manus, sed omnia vano augentes timore exercitus et legiones adesse hostium et infesto agmine ruere ad urbem clamabant. Ab his proximi audita incerta eoque vaniora ferre ad alios.

[3] Therefore, with a garrison left for the camp, they went out and with such tumult invaded Roman territory that they carried terror even to the city. The very unexpectedness of the affair made still more trepidation, because least of all could it be feared that an enemy, defeated and almost besieged in his camp, would be mindful of raiding; and panic-stricken countryfolk, thronging at the gates, cried out—not of a raid nor of small bands of plunderers—but, magnifying everything with empty fear, that armies and legions of the enemy were present and were rushing upon the city in a hostile column. From these men those nearest, having heard things uncertain and therefore the more empty, carried them on to others.

Cursus clamorque vocantium ad arma haud multum a pavore captae urbis abesse. Forte ab Algido Quinctius consul redierat Romam. Id remedium timori fuit; tumultuque sedato victos timeri increpans hostes, praesidia portis imposuit.

The running and the clamor of those calling to arms were not far from the terror of a captured city. By chance Quinctius the consul had returned to Rome from Algidus. That was a remedy for the fear; and, the tumult having been calmed, rebuking them for fearing enemies who had been beaten, he stationed garrisons at the gates.

Vocato dein senatu cum ex auctoritate patrum iustitio indicto profectus ad tutandos fines esset Q. Servilio praefecto urbis relicto, hostem in agris non invenit. Ab altero consule res gesta egregie est; qui, qua venturum hostem sciebat, gravem praeda eoque impeditiore agmine incedentem adgressus, funestam populationem fecit. Pauci hostium evasere ex insidiis, praeda omnis recepta est.

Then, with the senate convoked, after a iustitium had been proclaimed by authority of the Fathers, he set out to protect the frontiers, Q. Servilius being left as prefect of the city; he did not find the enemy in the fields. By the other consul the affair was conducted excellently: he, at the place where he knew the enemy would come, attacking it as it advanced heavy with booty and therefore with a more encumbered column, wrought a fatal devastation. Few of the enemy escaped from the ambush; all the booty was recovered.

Sic finem iustitio, quod quadriduum fuit, reditus Quincti consulis in urbem fecit.

Thus the return of the consul Quinctius into the city brought an end to the justitium, which had lasted four days.

Census deinde actus et conditum ab Quinctio lustrum. Censa civium capita centum quattuor milia septingenta quattuordecim dicuntur praeter orbos orbasque. In Aequis nihil deinde memorabile actum; in oppida sua se recepere, uri sua popularique passi.

The census was then held, and the lustrum was concluded by Quinctius. The heads of citizens are said to have been counted at 104,714, apart from orphans of both sexes. Among the Aequians nothing then memorable was done; they withdrew into their own towns, allowing their own to be burned and laid waste.

Consul cum aliquotiens per omnem hostium agrum infesto agmine populabundus isset, cum ingenti laude praedaque Romam rediit.

The consul, after repeatedly, devastating through the whole of the enemy’s territory in hostile array, returned to Rome with immense acclaim and booty.

[4] Consules inde A. Postumius Albus Sp. Furius Fusus. Furios Fusios scripsere quidam; id admoneo, ne quis immutationem virorum ipsorum esse quae nominum est putet. Haud dubium erat quin cum Aequis alter consulum bellum gereret.

[4] The consuls then were A. Postumius Albus and Sp. Furius Fusus. Some have written “Furios” and “Fusios”; I note this, lest anyone think that the alteration is of the men themselves, which is only of the names. There was no doubt that one of the consuls would wage war with the Aequians.

Itaque Aequi ab Ecetranis Volscis praesidium petiere; quo cupide oblato—adeo civitates hae perpetuo in Romanos odio certavere—bellum summa vi parabatur. Sentiunt Hernici et praedicunt Romanis Ecetranum ad Aequos descisse. Suspecta et colonia Antium fuit, quod magna vis hominum inde, cum oppidum captum esset, confugisset ad Aequos; isque miles per bellum Aequicum vel acerrimus fuit; compulsis deinde in oppida Aequis, ea multitudo dilapsa cum Antium redisset, sua sponte iam infidos colonos Romanis abalienavit.

Therefore the Aequi sought a garrison from the Ecetrian Volsci; when this was eagerly proffered—so far did these states contend in perpetual hatred against the Romans—war was being prepared with the utmost force. The Hernici perceive it and proclaim to the Romans that Ecetra has defected to the Aequi. The colony Antium too was suspect, because a great force of men from there, when the town had been captured, had fled for refuge to the Aequi; and that soldiery throughout the Aequian war was even the very fiercest; then, with the Aequi driven into their towns, that multitude, dispersed, when it had returned to Antium, of its own accord alienated from the Romans the colonists, already unfaithful.

Necdum matura re cum defectionem parari delatum ad senatum esset, datum negotium est consulibus ut principibus coloniae Romam excitis quaererent quid rei esset. Qui cum haud gravate venissent, introducti a consulibus ad senatum ita responderunt ad interrogata ut magis suspecti quam venerant dimitterentur.

And the matter not yet mature, when it had been reported to the senate that a defection was being prepared, the business was given to the consuls to summon the chiefs of the colony to Rome and inquire what the matter was. They, when they had come not at all reluctantly, having been introduced by the consuls to the senate, answered the questions in such a way that they were dismissed more suspect than they had come.

Bellum inde haud dubium haberi. Sp. Furius consulum alter cui ea provincia evenerat profectus in Aequos, Hernicorum in agro populabundum hostem invenit, ignarusque multitudinis, quia nusquam universa conspecta fuerat, imparem copiis exercitum temere pugnae commisit. Primo concursu pulsus se intra castra recepit.

Then the war was regarded as not at all doubtful. Sp. Furius, one of the consuls, to whom that province had fallen, set out against the Aequians; he found the enemy ravaging in the territory of the Hernici, and, unaware of the multitude—because nowhere had the whole body been seen—he rashly committed to battle an army unequal in forces. Driven back at the first encounter, he withdrew within the camp.

Neque is finis periculi fuit; namque et proxima nocte et postero die tanta vi castra sunt circumsessa atque oppugnata ut ne nuntius quidem inde mitti Romam posset. Hernici et male pugnatum et consulem exercitumque obsideri nuntiaverunt, tantumque terrorem incussere patribus ut, quae forma senatus consulti ultimae semper necessitatis habita est, Postumio, alteri consulum, negotium daretur videret ne quid res publica detrimenti caperet. Ipsum consulem Romae manere ad conscribendos omnes qui arma ferre possent optimum visum est: pro consule T. Quinctium subsidio castris cum sociali exercitu mitti; ad eum explendum Latini Hernicique et colonia Antium dare Quinctio subitarios milites—ita tum repentina auxilia appellabant—iussi.

Nor was that the end of the danger; for both on the next night and on the following day the camp was so surrounded and assaulted with such force that not even a messenger could be sent thence to Rome. The Hernici reported both that the fighting had gone badly and that the consul and the army were being besieged, and they struck such terror into the Fathers that the form of a senatorial decree always held for the utmost necessity was adopted: the charge was given to Postumius, the other of the consuls, to see that the commonwealth took no harm. It seemed best that the consul himself remain at Rome to enroll all who could bear arms; that Titus Quinctius be sent as proconsul with the allied army as relief to the camp; to complete his force, the Latins and the Hernici and the colony of Antium were ordered to furnish Quinctius emergency soldiers—thus at that time they called sudden auxiliaries.

[5] Multi per eos dies motus multique impetus hinc atque illinc facti, quia superante multitudine hostes carpere multifariam vires Romanas, ut non suffecturas ad omnia, adgressi sunt; simul castra oppugnabantur, simul pars exercitus ad populandum agrum Romanum missa urbemque ipsam, si qua fortuna daret, temptandam. L. Valerius ad praesidium urbis relictus, consul Postumius ad arcendas populationes finium missus. Nihil remissum ab ulla parte curae aut laboris; vigiliae in urbe, stationes ante portas praesidiaque in muris disposita, et, quod necesse erat in tanto tumultu, iustitium per aliquot dies servatum.

[5] Many movements through those days and many onsets were made on this side and that, because, their multitude prevailing, the enemies set about to pluck apart in many places the Roman forces, on the assumption that they would not suffice for everything; at once the camp was being assaulted, at once part of the army was sent to ravage the Roman countryside and to test the city itself, if any fortune should grant it. L. Valerius was left for the protection of the city, the consul Postumius was sent to ward off the ravagings of the borders. Nothing of care or of labor was relaxed on any side; watches in the city, pickets before the gates, and garrisons on the walls were arranged, and, as was necessary in so great a tumult, a suspension of public business was observed for several days.

Interim in castris Furius consul, cum primo quietus obsidionem passus esset, in incautum hostem decumana porta erupit et, cum persequi posset, metu substitit ne qua ex parte altera in castra vis fieret. Furium legatum—frater idem consulis erat—longius extulit cursus; nec suos ille redeuntes persequendi studio neque hostium ab tergo incursum vidit. Ita exclusus multis saepe frustra conatibus captis ut viam sibi ad castra faceret, acriter dimicans cecidit.

Meanwhile, in the camp, the consul Furius, although at first he had quietly endured the siege, burst out by the decuman gate against the incautious enemy and, although he could have pursued, halted for fear lest from some other quarter violence be brought against the camp. Furius the legate—who was likewise the consul’s brother—carried his course farther; and in his zeal for pursuing he saw neither his own men returning nor the onset of the enemy from the rear. Thus shut out, after many attempts often made in vain to make a way for himself to the camp, fighting fiercely he fell.

Et consul nuntio circumventi fratris conversus ad pugnam, dum se temere magis quam satis caute in mediam dimicationem infert, volnere accepto aegre ab circumstantibus ereptus et suorum animos turbavit et ferociores hostes fecit; qui caede legati et consulis volnere accensi nulla deinde vi sustineri potuere, ut compulsi in castra Romani rursus obsiderentur nec spe nec viribus pares; venissetque in periculum summa rerum, ni T. Quinctius peregrinis copiis, [cum] Latino Hernicoque exercitu, subvenisset. Is intentos in castra Romana Aequos legatique caput ferociter ostentantes ab tergo adortus simul ad signum ab se procul editum ex castris eruptione facta, magnam vim hostium circumvenit. Minor caedis, fuga effusior Aequorum in agro fuit Romano, in quos palatos praedam agentes Postumius aliquot locis, quibus opportuna imposuerat praesidia, impetum dedit.

And the consul, turned toward the fight by the message that his brother was surrounded, while he thrust himself rashly rather than with sufficient caution into the very midst of the conflict, after receiving a wound was with difficulty snatched away by those standing around, and both disturbed the spirits of his own men and made the enemies more ferocious; who, inflamed by the slaughter of the legate and the consul’s wound, thereafter could be held back by no force, so that the Romans, driven into their camp, were again besieged, a match neither in hope nor in strength; and the sum of affairs would have come into peril, had not T. Quinctius brought succor with foreign forces, [with] a Latin and Hernican army. He, attacking from the rear the Aequians intent upon the Roman camp and fiercely displaying the head of the legate, and, at the same time, when a signal had been given by him from afar and a sally had been made from the camp, surrounded a great mass of the enemy. The slaughter was less, but the flight of the Aequians in the Roman countryside was more effuse, against whom, scattered and driving off plunder, Postumius made an attack in several places where he had stationed timely garrisons.

Hi vagi dissipato agmine fugientes in Quinctium victorem cum saucio consule revertentem incidere; tum consularis exercitus egregia pugna consulis volnus, legati et cohortium ultus est caedem. Magnae clades ultro citroque illis diebus et inlatae et acceptae. Difficile ad fidem est in tam antiqua re quot pugnaverint ceciderintve exacto adfirmare numero; audet tamen Antias Valerius concipere summas: Romanos cecidisse in Hernico agro quinque milia octingentos: ex praedatoribus Aequorum qui populabundi in finibus Romanis vagabantur ab A. Postumio consule duo milia et quadringentos caesos: ceteram multitudinem praedam agentem quae inciderit in Quinctium nequaquam pari defunctam esse caede: interfecta inde quattuor milia et, exsequendo subtiliter numerum, ducentos ait et triginta.

These men, straggling, their column scattered, fleeing, ran into Quinctius returning as victor with the wounded consul; then the consular army, by an excellent fight, avenged the consul’s wound and the slaughter of the legate and of the cohorts. Great slaughters on both sides in those days were both inflicted and sustained. It is difficult, in so ancient a matter, to affirm with an exact number how many fought or fell; nevertheless Valerius Antias dares to set down totals: that Romans fell in the Hernican field, 5,800; of the raiders of the Aequi, who, marauding, were wandering in Roman borders, 2,400 were cut down by the consul A. Postumius; the rest of the multitude driving booty, which ran into Quinctius, by no means got off with equal slaughter: there, he says, 4,230 were killed, following out the number minutely.

Ut Romam reditum est et iustitium remissum, caelum visum est ardere plurimo igni, portentaque alia aut obversata oculis aut vanas exterritis ostentavere species. His avertendis terroribus in triduum feriae indictae, per quas omnia delubra pacem deum exposcentium virorum mulierumque turba implebantur. Cohortes inde Latinae Hernicaeque ab senatu gratiis ob impigram militiam actis remissae domos.

When they returned to Rome and the suspension of public business was lifted, the sky seemed to burn with a very great fire, and other portents either presented themselves to the eyes or displayed to the terrified empty appearances. To avert these terrors, holidays were proclaimed for three days, during which all the shrines were filled by a crowd of men and women beseeching the peace of the gods. Then the Latin and Hernican cohorts, thanks having been given by the senate for their unflagging military service, were dismissed to their homes.

Antiates mille milites, quia serum auxilium post proelium venerant, prope cum ignominia dimissi.

The Antiates, a thousand soldiers, because they had come with late aid after the battle, were dismissed almost with ignominy.

[6] Comitia inde habita; creati consules L. Aebutius P. Servilius. Kalendis Sextilibus, ut tunc principium anni agebatur, consulatum ineunt. Grave tempus et forte annus pestilens erat urbi agrisque, nec hominibus magis quam pecori, et auxere vim morbi terrore populationis pecoribus agrestibusque in urbem acceptis.

[6] Then the comitia were held; the consuls were elected, Lucius Aebutius and Publius Servilius. On the Kalends of Sextilis (August), as at that time the beginning of the year was observed, they enter upon the consulship. It was a grievous season and perhaps a pestilential year for the city and the fields, no more for human beings than for cattle; and the force of the disease was increased, through fear of ravaging, by cattle and country folk being admitted into the city.

Ea conluvio mixtorum omnis generis animantium et odore insolito urbanos et agrestem confertum in arta tecta aestu ac vigiliis angebat, ministeriaque in vicem ac contagio ipsa volgabant morbos. Vix instantes sustinentibus clades repente legati Hernici nuntiant in agro suo Aequos Volscosque coniunctis copiis castra posuisse, inde exercitu ingenti fines suos depopulari. Praeterquam quod infrequens senatus indicio erat sociis adflictam civitatem pestilentia esse, maestum etiam responsum tulere, ut per se ipsi Hernici cum Latinis res suas tutarentur; urbem Romanam subita deum ira morbo populari; si qua eius mali quies veniat, ut anno ante, ut semper alias, sociis opem laturos.

That confluence of animals of every kind, and an unaccustomed odor, tormented both the city-dwellers and the packed-in countryfolk, crowded into cramped roofs, with heat and sleeplessness, and the ministrations in turn and contagion itself were spreading the diseases. Hardly were they sustaining the pressing calamities when suddenly envoys of the Hernici announce that in their territory the Aequi and the Volsci, with forces joined, have pitched camp, and from there with a huge army are laying waste their borders. Besides the fact that a thinly attended senate was an indication to the allies that the commonwealth was afflicted with pestilence, they received also a mournful answer: that the Hernici, together with the Latins, should by themselves protect their own interests; that the Roman city was visited by an epidemic through the sudden wrath of the gods; if any respite of that evil should come, then, as in the year before, as at all other times, they would bring aid to their allies.

Discessere socii, pro tristi nuntio tristiorem domum referentes, quippe quibus per se sustinendum bellum erat quod vix Romanis fulti viribus sustinuissent. Non diutius se in Hernico hostis continuit; pergit inde infestus in agros Romanos, etiam sine belli iniuria vastatos. Ubi cum obvius nemo ne inermis quidem fieret, perque omnia non praesidiis modo deserta sed etiam cultu agresti transirent, pervenere ad tertium lapidem Gabina via.

The allies departed, carrying home, in return for a sad message, a sadder one, since they had to sustain by themselves a war which they had scarcely been able to sustain even when propped up by Roman forces. The enemy did not confine himself longer in Hernican territory; from there he proceeds, hostile, into the Roman fields, already laid waste even without the injury of war. When no one came out to meet them there, not even unarmed, and as they passed through everywhere deserted not only of garrisons but even of rustic cultivation, they reached the third milestone on the Gabine road.

Mortuus Aebutius erat Romanus consul; collega eius Servilius exigua in spe trahebat animam; adfecti plerique principum, patrum maior pars, militaris fere aetas omnis, ut non modo ad expeditiones quas in tanto tumultu res poscebat, sed vix ad quietas stationes viribus sufficerent. Munus vigiliarum senatores, qui per aetatem ac valetudinem poterant, per se ipsi obibant; circumitio ac cura aedilium plebi erat; ad eos summa rerum ac maiestas consularis imperii venerat.

Aebutius, the Roman consul, had died; his colleague Servilius was dragging out his life with scant hope; most of the principal men were stricken, the greater part of the Fathers, almost the whole military age, so that they were sufficient in strength not only not for the expeditions which in so great a tumult the situation demanded, but scarcely even for quiet stations. The senators, who by reason of age and health were able, in their own persons discharged the duty of the watches; the aediles’ circuit and care were for the plebs; to them had come the supreme control of affairs and the majesty of consular imperium.

[7] Deserta omnia, sine capite, sine viribus, di praesides ac fortuna urbis tutata est, quae Volscis Aequisque praedonum potius mentem quam hostium dedit. Adeo enim nullam spem non potiundi modo sed ne adeundi quidem Romana moenia animus eorum cepit tectaque procul visa atque imminentes tumuli avertere mentes eorum, ut totis passim castris fremitu orto quid in vasto ac deserto agro inter tabem pecorum hominumque desides sine praeda tempus tererent, cum integra loca, Tusculanum agrum opimum copiis, petere possent, signa repente convellerent transversisque itineribus per Labicanos agros in Tusculanos colles transirent. Eo vis omnis tempestasque belli conversa est.

[7] Though all was deserted, without a head, without forces, the guardian gods and the fortune of the city protected it, which gave to the Volsci and Aequians the mind of plunderers rather than of enemies. For so completely did their spirit conceive no hope, not only of taking but not even of approaching the Roman walls, and the roofs seen from afar and the overhanging hills turned their minds away, that, a murmur having arisen everywhere through the whole camp—why in a vast and deserted countryside, amid the pestilence of cattle and men, they, idle and without booty, were wasting time, when they could seek intact places, the Tusculan land opulent in supplies—they suddenly uprooted their standards and, by cross-ways through the Labican fields, crossed into the Tusculan hills. Thither the whole force and storm of the war was diverted.

Interim Hernici Latinique pudore etiam, non misericordia solum, moti si nec obstitissent communibus hostibus infesto agmine Romanam urbem petentibus nec opem ullam obsessis sociis ferrent, coniuncto exercitu Romam pergunt. Ubi cum hostes non invenissent, secuti famam ac vestigia obvii fiunt descendentibus ab Tusculana in Albanam vallem. Ibi haudquaquam aequo proelio pugnatum est, fidesque sua sociis parum felix in praesentia fuit.

Meanwhile the Hernici and the Latins, moved by shame as well, not by mercy only—lest it be that they neither opposed the common enemies making for the Roman city in a hostile column nor brought any aid to their besieged allies—march to Rome with a combined army. When they did not find the enemies there, following rumor and the tracks they meet them as they were descending from the Tusculan into the Alban valley. There the fight was by no means on equal terms, and their good faith toward their allies proved for the present not very fortunate.

Haud minor Romae fit morbo strages quam quanta ferro sociorum facta erat. Consul qui unus supererat moritur; mortui et alii clari viri, M. Valerius, T. Verginius Rutulus augures, Ser. Sulpicius curio maximus; et per ignota capita late vagata est vis morbi, inopsque senatus auxilii humani ad deos populum ac vota vertit.

No less a slaughter is wrought at Rome by disease than had been made by the iron of the allies. The consul, the one who alone survived, dies; dead too are other distinguished men—Marcus Valerius, Titus Verginius Rutulus, augurs; Servius Sulpicius, Curio Maximus—and the force of the disease ranged widely among unknown heads; and the senate, destitute of human aid, turned the people and their vows to the gods.

Iussi cum coniugibus ac liberis supplicatum ire pacemque exposcere deum, ad id quod sua quemque mala cogebant auctoritate publica evocati omnia delubra implent. Stratae passim matres, crinibus templa verrentes, veniam irarum caelestium finemque pesti exposcunt.

Having been ordered to go to supplicate with their spouses and children and to demand peace of the gods, summoned by public authority to that to which each one’s own misfortunes were compelling him, they fill all the shrines. Mothers lie strewn everywhere, sweeping the temples with their hair, and they urgently ask pardon for the celestial wraths and an end to the pestilence.

[8] Inde paulatim, seu pace deum impetrata seu graviore tempore anni iam circumacto, defuncta morbis corpora salubriora esse incipere, versisque animis iam ad publicam curam, cum aliquot interregna exissent, P. Valerius Publicola tertio die quam interregnum inierat consules creat L. Lucretium Tricipitinum et T. Veturium Geminum, sive ille Vetusius fuit. Ante diem tertium idus Sextiles consulatum ineunt, iam satis valida civitate ut non solum arcere bellum sed ultro etiam inferre posset. Igitur nuntiantibus Hernicis in fines suos transcendisse hostes impigre promissum auxilium.

[8] Thence gradually, whether the peace of the gods had been obtained or the more grievous season of the year had now run its course, bodies, their diseases discharged, began to become healthier; and with minds now turned to public care, after several interregna had elapsed, Publius Valerius Publicola, on the third day after he had entered upon the interregnum, creates as consuls Lucius Lucretius Tricipitinus and Titus Veturius Geminus—or perhaps he was Vetusius. On the third day before the Ides of Sextilis (August 11) they enter upon the consulship, the state now strong enough not only to ward off war but even to bring it on of its own accord. Accordingly, the Hernici announcing that enemies had crossed into their borders, the promised aid is rendered promptly.

Duo consulares exercitus scripti. Veturius missus in Volscos ad bellum ultro inferendum: Tricipitinus populationibus arcendis sociorum agro oppositus non ultra quam in Hernicos procedit. Veturius primo proelio hostes fundit fugatque: Lucretium dum in Hernicis sedet praedonum agmen fefellit supra montes Praenestinos ductum, inde demissum in campos.

Two consular armies were levied. Veturius was sent against the Volsci to carry the war to them; Tricipitinus, posted in the allies’ territory to ward off depredations, did not advance beyond the Hernici. Veturius in the first battle routed and put the enemy to flight; while Lucretius sat among the Hernici, a column of marauders eluded him, led over the Praenestine mountains and then brought down into the plains.

Vastavere agros Praenestinum Gabinumque; ex Gabino in Tusculanos flexere colles. Urbi quoque Romae ingens praebitus terror, magis in re subita quam quod ad arcendam vim parum virium esset. Q. Fabius praeerat urbi; is armata iuventute dispositisque praesidiis tuta omnia ac tranquilla fecit.

They devastated the Praenestine and Gabine fields; from the Gabine territory they bent into the Tusculan hills. To the city of Rome as well an immense terror was occasioned, more because of the suddenness of the affair than because there were too few forces to ward off the violence. Q. Fabius was in command of the city; he, with the youth armed and with garrisons posted, made all things safe and tranquil.

Itaque hostes praeda ex proximis locis rapta adpropinquare urbi non ausi, cum circumacto agmine redirent quanto longius ab urbe hostium abscederent eo solutiore cura, in Lucretium incidunt consulem iam ante exploratis itineribus suis instructum et ad certamen intentum. Igitur praeparatis animis repentino pavore perculsos adorti aliquanto pauciores multitudinem ingentem fundunt fugantque et compulsos in cavas valles, cum exitus haud in facili essent, circumveniunt. Ibi Volscum nomen prope deletum est.

Accordingly, not daring to approach the city with booty snatched from the nearest places, as they were returning with their column wheeled about, the farther they withdrew from the enemy’s city the more relaxed in care they became, they run into Lucretius the consul, who, his routes reconnoitered beforehand, was drawn up and intent for battle. Therefore, with spirits prepared, they assailed men struck by sudden panic, and although somewhat fewer, they rout and put to flight a huge multitude; and, when these were driven into hollow valleys, since the exits were by no means easy, they surrounded them. There the Volscian name was almost obliterated.

Tredecim milia quadringentos septuaginta cecidisse in acie ac fuga, mille septingentos quinquaginta vivos captos, signa viginti septem militaria relata in quibusdam annalibus invenio, ubi etsi adiectum aliquid numero sit, magna certe caedes fuit. Victor consul ingenti praeda potitus eodem in stativa rediit. Tum consules castra coniungunt, et Volsci Aequique adflictas vires suas in unum contulere.

Thirteen thousand four hundred seventy fell on the field and in flight, one thousand seven hundred fifty were taken alive, twenty-seven military standards were brought back, as I find in certain annals; where, even if something has been added to the number, certainly the slaughter was great. The victorious consul, having obtained immense booty, returned to the same fixed encampment. Then the consuls conjoined their camps, and the Volsci and Aequi gathered their shattered forces into one.

Tertia illa pugna eo anno fuit. Eadem fortuna victoriam dedit; fusis hostibus etiam castra capta.

That was the third battle in that year. The same fortune gave victory; with the enemies routed, even the camp was captured.

[9] Sic res Romana in antiquum statum rediit, secundaeque belli res extemplo urbanos motus excitaverunt. C. Terentilius Harsa tribunus plebis eo anno fuit. Is consulibus absentibus ratus locum tribuniciis actionibus datum, per aliquot dies patrum superbiam ad plebem criminatus, maxime in consulare imperium tamquam nimium nec tolerabile liberae civitati invehebatur: nomine enim tantum minus invidiosum, re ipsa prope atrocius quam regium esse; quippe duos pro uno dominos acceptos, immoderata, infinita potestate, qui soluti atque effrenati ipsi omnes metus legum omniaque supplicia verterent in plebem.

[9] Thus the Roman state returned to its former status, and favorable fortunes in war immediately excited urban commotions. Gaius Terentilius Harsa was tribune of the plebs that year. He, with the consuls absent, thinking an opening had been given for tribunician actions, for several days arraigned before the plebs the arrogance of the patricians; especially he was inveighing against the consular imperium as excessive and not tolerable for a free civitas: for in name only it was less odious, in reality it was almost more atrocious than royal power; indeed, two masters had been accepted in place of one, with immoderate, unlimited power, who, themselves unbound and unbridled, turned all fear of the laws and all punishments upon the plebs.

Quae ne aeterna illis licentia sit, legem se promulgaturum ut quinque viri creentur legibus de imperio consulari scribendis; quod populus in se ius dederit, eo consulem usurum, non ipsos libidinem ac licentiam suam pro lege habituros. Qua promulgata lege cum timerent patres ne absentibus consulibus iugum acciperent, senatus a praefecto urbis Q. Fabio vocatur, qui adeo atrociter in rogationem latoremque ipsum est invectus ut nihil, si ambo consules infesti circumstarent tribunum, relictum minarum atque terroris sit: insidiatum eum et tempore capto adortum rem publicam. Si quem similem eius priore anno inter morbum bellumque irati di tribunum dedissent, non potuisse sisti.

That this license might not be eternal to them, he declared that he would promulgate a law that five men be created for writing laws concerning the consular imperium; that the consul should use that right which the people shall have given to him, and that they themselves should not hold their lust and license for law. With this law promulgated, since the patres feared lest, the consuls being absent, they should receive a yoke, the senate was called by the prefect of the city, Quintus Fabius, who so atrociously inveighed against the bill and its proposer that, if both consuls hostile were to hem in the tribune, nothing would be left lacking in threats and terror: that he had lain in wait and, having seized the moment, had attacked the commonwealth. If in the previous year the angry gods had given any tribune like him amid sickness and war, he could not have been made to stand.

Mortuis duobus consulibus, iacente aegra civitate, in conluvione omnium rerum, ad tollendum rei publicae consulare imperium laturum leges fuisse, ducem Volscis Aequisque ad oppugnandam urbem futurum. Quid tandem? Illi non licere, si quid consules superbe in aliquem civium aut crudeliter fecerint, diem dicere, accusare iis ipsis iudicibus quorum in aliquem saevitum sit?

With the two consuls dead, the state lying sick, in a confluence of every disorder, he would have brought in laws to take away the consular imperium of the commonwealth, and would have been a leader for the Volsci and Aequi to assault the city. What then? Is it not permitted to them, if the consuls have done anything arrogantly against any citizen or cruelly, to name a day, to prosecute before those very judges, among whom someone has been savaged?

Non illum consulare imperium sed tribuniciam potestatem invisam intolerandamque facere; quam placatam reconciliatamque patribus de integro in antiqua redigi mala. Neque illum se deprecari quo minus pergat ut coeperit. 'Vos' inquit Fabius, 'ceteri tribuni, oramus, ut primum omnium cogitetis potestatem istam ad singulorum auxilium, non ad perniciem universorum comparatam esse; tribunos plebis vos creatos, non hostes patribus.

It is not the consular imperium that he is making hateful and intolerable, but the tribunician power; and what has been appeased and reconciled with the fathers is to be brought back afresh into the ancient evils. Nor does he beg him to refrain from proceeding as he has begun. 'You,' says Fabius, 'the rest of the tribunes, we beg, that first of all you consider that that power was provided for the aid of individuals, not for the destruction of all; that you were created tribunes of the plebs, not enemies to the fathers.'

Nobis miserum, invidiosum vobis est, desertam rem publicam invadi. Non ius vestrum, sed invidiam minueritis. Agite cum collega ut rem integram in adventum consulum differat.

It is wretched for us, odious for you, that the deserted republic be invaded. You will diminish not your right, but odium. Act with your colleague, that he defer the matter intact until the advent of the consuls.

Ne Aequi quidem ac Volsci, morbo absumptis priore anno consulibus, crudeli superboque nobis bello institere.' Agunt cum Terentilio tribuni, dilataque in speciem actione, re ipsa sublata, consules extemplo arcessiti.

'Not even the Aequi and the Volsci, with the consuls of the previous year consumed by disease, set upon us with a cruel and overbearing war.' The tribunes negotiate with Terentilius, and, the action being deferred for appearance but in reality removed, the consuls were summoned forthwith.

[10] Lucretius cum ingenti praeda, maiore multo gloria rediit. Et auget gloriam adveniens exposita omni in campo Martio praeda, ut suum quisque per triduum cognitum abduceret. Reliqua vendita, quibus domini non exstitere.

[10] Lucretius returned with enormous booty, with much greater glory. And on arriving he augments his glory by having all the booty displayed in the Campus Martius, so that each might lead away his own recognized property for three days. The remainder was sold, for which owners did not appear.

Debebatur omnium consensu consuli triumphus; sed dilata res est, tribuno de lege agente; id antiquius consuli fuit. Iactata per aliquot dies cum in senatu res tum apud populum est; cessit ad ultimum maiestati consulis tribunus et destitit. Tum imperatori exercituique honos suus redditus.

A triumph was owed to the consul by the consensus of all; but the matter was deferred, the tribune pressing his law; that was of higher priority to the consul. The affair was agitated for several days both in the senate and among the people; at last the tribune yielded to the majesty of the consul and desisted. Then the proper honor was restored to the commander and to the army.

Triumphavit de Volscis Aequisque; triumphantem secutae suae legiones. Alteri consuli datum ut ovans sine militibus urbem iniret

He triumphed over the Volsci and the Aequi; his own legions followed him as he was triumphing. To the other consul it was granted to enter the city in an ovation without soldiers.

Anno deinde insequenti lex Terentilia ab toto relata collegio novos adgressa consules est; erant consules P. Volumnius Ser. Sulpicius. Eo anno caelum ardere visum, terra ingenti concussa motu est.

Then in the ensuing year the Terentilian law, brought forward by the whole college, made an attack upon the new consuls; the consuls were P. Volumnius and Ser. Sulpicius. In that year the sky was seen to burn, and the earth was shaken by an immense tremor.

Bovem locutam, cui rei priore anno fides non fuerat, creditum. Inter alia prodigia et carne pluit, quem imbrem ingens numerus avium intervolitando rapuisse fertur; quod intercidit, sparsum ita iacuisse per aliquot dies ut nihil odor mutaret. Libri per duumviros sacrorum aditi; pericula a conventu alienigenarum praedicta, ne qui in loca summa urbis impetus caedesque inde fierent; inter cetera monitum ut seditionibus abstineretur.

It was believed that an ox had spoken, a matter to which in the prior year there had not been credence. Among other prodigies, it even rained flesh, which shower a great number of birds is said to have snatched by flitting through; what fell to the ground lay scattered for several days in such a way that the odor did not change at all. The books were consulted by the duumviri of the sacred rites; dangers were foretold from a gathering of foreigners, lest assaults upon the highest places of the city and slaughters be made from that quarter; among the rest it was admonished that seditions should be abstained from.

Id factum ad impediendam legem tribuni criminabantur, ingensque aderat certamen. Ecce, ut idem in singulos annos orbis volveretur, Hernici nuntiant Volscos et Aequos, etsi abscisae res sint, reficere exercitus; Antii summam rei positam; Ecetrae Antiates colonos palam concilia facere; id caput, eas vires belli esse. Ut haec dicta in senatu sunt, dilectus edicitur; consules belli administrationem inter se dispertiri iussi, alteri ut Volsci, alteri ut Aequi provincia esset.

The tribunes were accusing that that had been done to impede the law, and a vast contest was at hand. Behold, as though the same cycle were being turned in each single year, the Hernici announce that the Volsci and the Aequi, although their affairs have been cut down, are refitting their armies; that at Antium the decisive point of the matter is placed; that at Ecetra the Antiates colonists are openly holding councils; that that is the head, those are the forces of the war. When these things were said in the senate, a levy is proclaimed; the consuls were ordered to divide the administration of the war between themselves, that to the one the Volsci, to the other the Aequi should be the province.

Tribuni coram in foro personare, fabulam compositam Volsci belli, Hernicos ad partes paratos. Iam ne virtute quidem premi libertatem populi Romani sed arte eludi. Quia occidione prope occisos Volscos et Aequos movere sua sponte arma posse iam fides abierit, novos hostes quaeri; coloniam fidam propinquam infamem fieri.

The tribunes, in person in the forum, were making it resound that a tale had been concocted of a Volscian war, the Hernici ready to play their part. Now the liberty of the Roman people is pressed not by valor but is being eluded by art. Because, since belief has now departed that the Volsci and the Aequi, almost cut to pieces by slaughter, could of their own accord move to arms, new enemies are being sought; a faithful neighboring colony is being made infamous.

Bellum innoxiis Antiatibus indici, geri cum plebe Romana, quam oneratam armis ex urbe praecipiti agmine acturi essent, exsilio et relegatione civium ulciscentes tribunos. Sic, ne quid aliud actum putent, victam legem esse, nisi dum in integro res sit, dum domi, dum togati sint, caveant ne possessione urbis pellantur, ne iugum accipiant. Si animus sit, non defore auxilium; consentire omnes tribunos.

That war is being declared upon the guiltless Antiates, and is being waged with the Roman plebs, whom, laden with arms, they are going to drive out of the city in a headlong column, avenging themselves upon the tribunes by the exile and relegation of citizens. Thus, let them not think that anything else has been transacted than that the law has been defeated, unless—while the matter is still intact, while they are at home, while they are in the toga—they beware lest they be expelled from possession of the city, lest they accept a yoke. If there be spirit, help will not be lacking; all the tribunes are in agreement.

Nullum terrorem externum, nullum periculum esse; cavisse deos priore anno ut tuto libertas defendi posset. Haec tribuni.

No external terror, no danger; the gods saw to it in the previous year that liberty might be defended safely. These were the tribunes' words.

[11] At ex parte altera consules in conspectu eorum positis sellis dilectum habebant. Eo decurrunt tribuni contionemque secum trahunt. Citati pauci velut rei experiundae causa, et statim vis coorta.

[11] But on the other side, the consuls, with seats set in their sight, were holding a levy. Thither the tribunes run down and drag the assembly along with them. A few were summoned, as if for the purpose of trying the matter, and straightway violence broke out.

Quemcumque lictor iussu consulis prendisset, tribunus mitti iubebat; neque suum cuique ius modum faciebat sed virium spes, et manu obtinendum erat quod intenderes.

Whomever the lictor, by the order of the consul, had seized, the tribune ordered to be released; nor did each man’s right set the limit, but the hope of strength, and what you intended had to be obtained by hand.

Quemadmodum se tribuni gessissent in prohibendo dilectu, sic patres se in lege, quae per omnes comitiales dies ferebatur, impedienda gerebant. Initium erat rixae, cum discedere populum iussissent tribuni, quod patres se submoveri haud sinebant. Nec fere seniores rei intererant, quippe quae non consilio regenda sed permissa temeritati audaciaeque esset.

Just as the tribunes had conducted themselves in prohibiting the levy, so the patres conducted themselves in obstructing the bill which was being brought forward on all the comitial days. The beginning of a brawl arose when the tribunes had ordered the people to disperse, because the patres did not allow themselves to be removed. And for the most part the elders did not take part in the affair, inasmuch as it was not to be governed by counsel but abandoned to temerity and audacity.

Multum et consules se abstinebant, ne cui in conluvione rerum maiestatem suam contumeliae offerrent.

The consuls too held themselves much back, lest, in the muddle of affairs, they expose their majesty to anyone’s contumely.

Caeso erat Quinctius, ferox iuvenis qua nobilitate gentis, qua corporis magnitudine et viribus. Ad ea munera data a dis et ipse addiderat multa belli decora facundiamque in foro, ut nemo, non lingua, non manu promptior in civitate haberetur. Hic cum in medio patrum agmine constitisset, eminens inter alios, velut omnes dictaturas consulatusque gerens in voce ac viribus suis, unus impetus tribunicios popularesque procellas sustinebat.

There was Caeso Quinctius, a fierce young man both in the nobility of his gens and in the magnitude and strength of his body. To those endowments given by the gods he himself had added many war-decorations and eloquence in the forum, so that no one in the state was held more ready—neither in tongue nor in hand. When he took his stand in the midst of the phalanx of the patres, towering above the others, as though he were bearing all dictatorships and consulships in his own voice and strength, he alone withstood the tribunitian onrushes and the popular tempests.

Hoc duce saepe pulsi foro tribuni, fusa ac fugata plebes est; qui obvius fuerat, mulcatus nudatusque abibat, ut satis appareret, si sic agi liceret, victam legem esse. Tum prope iam perculsis aliis tribunis A. Verginius, ex collegio unus, Caesoni capitis diem dicit. Atrox ingenium accenderat eo facto magis quam conterruerat; eo acrius obstare legi, agitare plebem, tribunos velut iusto persequi bello.

With this man as leader, the tribunes were often driven from the forum, and the plebs was routed and put to flight; whoever had met him went away thrashed and stripped, so that it was quite apparent that, if it were permitted to proceed thus, the law was conquered. Then, when the other tribunes were now almost crushed, A. Verginius, one from the collegium, names a day for a capital charge against Caeso. His savage temperament had been inflamed by that deed rather than terrified; all the more keenly he stood in the way of the law, agitated the plebs, and pursued the tribunes as if in a just war.

Accusator pati reum ruere invidiaeque flammam ac materiam criminibus suis suggerere; legem interim non tam ad spem perferendi quam ad lacessendam Caesonis temeritatem ferre. Ibi multa saepe ab iuventute inconsulte dicta factaque in unius Caesonis suspectum incidunt ingenium. Tamen legi resistebat.

The accuser allows the defendant to rush headlong and to supply the flame of ill-will (envy) and the material for his own charges; meanwhile he brings forward the law not so much with the hope of carrying it as to provoke Caeso’s temerity. There many things often said and done without counsel by the youth fall upon the suspected disposition of Caeso alone. Nevertheless he resisted the law.

Et A. Verginius identidem plebi: 'Ecquid sentitis iam, vos, Quirites, Caesonem simul civem et legem quam cupitis habere non posse? Quamquam quid ego legem loquor? Libertati obstat; omnes Tarquinios superbia exsuperat.

And A. Verginius repeatedly to the plebs: 'Do you realize now, you, Quirites, that you cannot at the same time have Caeso as a citizen and the law which you desire? Although why am I talking of the law? He stands in the way of liberty; in arrogance he surpasses all the Tarquins.'

Exspectate dum consul aut dictator fiat, quem privatum viribus et audacia regnantem videtis.' Adsentiebantur multi pulsatos se querentes, et tribunum ad rem peragendam ultro incitabant.

‘Wait until he becomes consul or dictator, the man whom you see, though a private citizen, reigning by strength and audacity.’ Many assented, complaining that they had been beaten, and of their own accord they urged on the tribune to carry the matter through.

[12] Iam aderat iudicio dies apparebatque volgo homines in damnatione Caesonis libertatem agi credere. Tum demum coactus cum multa indignitate prensabat singulos. Sequebantur necessarii, principes civitatis.

[12] Now the day for the trial was at hand, and it appeared that the populace commonly believed that in the condemnation of Caeso liberty was at stake. Then at last, forced and with much indignity, he was grasping individuals one by one. His intimates followed, the principal men of the state.

T. Quinctius Capitolinus, qui ter consul fuerat, cum multa referret sua familiaeque decora, adfirmabat neque in Quinctia gente neque in civitate Romana tantam indolem tam maturae virtutis unquam exstitisse; suum primum militem fuisse, se saepe vidente pugnasse in hostem. Sp. Furius, missum ab Quinctio Capitolino sibi eum in dubiis suis rebus venisse subsidio; neminem unum esse cuius magis opera putet rem restitutam. L. Lucretius, consul anni prioris, recenti gloria nitens, suas laudes participare cum Caesone, memorare pugnas, referre egregia facinora nunc in expeditionibus, nunc in acie; suadere et monere iuvenem egregium, instructum naturae fortunaeque omnibus bonis, maximum momentum rerum eius civitatis in quamcumque venisset, suum quam alienum mallent civem esse.

T. Quinctius Capitolinus, who had been consul three times, while recounting many honors of his own and of his family, affirmed that neither in the Quinctian clan nor in the Roman civitas had there ever existed so great a natural endowment of so early-matured virtue; that he had been his first soldier, that he had fought against the enemy under his own eyes. Sp. Furius said that, sent by Quinctius Capitolinus, he had come to him as a support in his doubtful circumstances; that there was no single man by whose effort he thought the situation had been more restored. L. Lucretius, consul of the previous year, relying on his recent glory, shared his praises with Caeso, recalled battles, recounted outstanding deeds now on expeditions, now in the battle line; he urged and advised that an excellent young man, furnished with all the goods of nature and fortune—one who would be of very great momentum in the affairs of whatever commonwealth he entered—should be preferred as their own citizen rather than another’s.

Quod offendat in eo, fervorem et audaciam, aetatem cottidie auferre: quod desideretur, consilium, id in dies crescere. Senescentibus vitiis, maturescente virtute, sinerent tantum virum senem in civitate fieri. Pater inter hos L. Quinctius, cui Cincinnato cognomen erat, non iterando laudes, ne cumularet invidiam, sed veniam errori atque adulescentiae petendo, sibi qui non dicto, non facto quemquam offendisset, ut condonarent filium orabat.

As for what offends in him—fervor and audacity—age is taking it away day by day; as for what is desired—counsel—that is increasing with each day. With the vices growing old and the virtue maturing, let them allow so great a man to become an old man in the commonwealth. Among these spoke the father, L. Quinctius, whose cognomen was Cincinnatus: not by reiterating praises, lest he pile up envy, but by asking pardon for error and for adolescence, he—who had offended no one by word or by deed on his own account—was begging that they would condone the son.

Sed alii aversabantur preces aut verecundia aut metu, alii se suosque mulcatos querentes atroci responso iudicium suum praeferebant.

But some were turning away the entreaties either from modesty or from fear, while others, complaining that they and theirs had been mulcted, were putting forward their own judgment with a harsh reply.

[13] Premebat reum praeter volgatam invidiam crimen unum, quod M. Volscius Fictor, qui ante aliquot annos tribunus plebis fuerat, testis exstiterat se, haud multo post quam pestilentia in urbe fuerat, in iuventutem grassantem in Subura incidisse. Ibi rixam natam esse fratremque suum maiorem natu, necdum ex morbo satis validum, pugno ictum ab Caesone cecidisse; semianimem inter manus domum ablatum, mortuumque inde arbitrari, nec sibi rem exsequi tam atrocem per consules superiorum annorum licuisse. Haec Volscio clamitante adeo concitati homines sunt ut haud multum afuerit quin impetu populi Caeso interiret.

[13] The defendant was pressed, besides the widespread ill-will, by one charge: that M. Volscius Fictor, who some years before had been tribune of the plebs, had appeared as a witness that, not long after a pestilence had been in the city, he had fallen in with youth marauding in the Subura. There a brawl arose, and that his elder brother, not yet sufficiently strong from illness, having been struck with a fist by Caeso, fell; half-alive he was carried home in their hands, and he judged that from that he died; and that it had not been permitted him to pursue a matter so atrocious through the consuls of previous years. With Volscius shouting these things, the people were so inflamed that it lacked not much but that Caeso would have perished by the onrush of the crowd.

Verginius arripi iubet hominem et in vincula duci. Patricii vi contra vim resistunt. T. Quinctius clamitat, cui rei capitalis dies dicta sit et de quo futurum propediem iudicium, eum indemnatum indicta causa non debere violari.

Verginius orders the man to be seized and led in chains. The patricians resist force with force. T. Quinctius keeps shouting that one for whom a day has been appointed for a capital charge, and about whom judgment will soon be held, ought not to be violated, being uncondemned and with no case stated.

Tribunus supplicium negat sumpturum se de indemnato; servaturum tamen in vinculis esse ad iudicii diem ut, qui hominem necaverit, de eo supplicii sumendi copia populo Romano fiat. Appellati tribuni medio decreto ius auxilii sui expediunt: in vincla conici vetant; sisti reum pecuniamque ni sistatur populo promitti placere pronuntiant. Summam pecuniae quantam aequum esset promitti, veniebat in dubium; id ad senatum reicitur: reus, dum consulerentur patres, retentus in publico est.

The tribune says he will not exact punishment from an uncondemned man; nevertheless he will keep him in chains until the day of judgment, so that, for him who has slain a man, the opportunity of taking punishment may be given to the Roman people. The tribunes, having been appealed to, by an intermediate decree set forth the right of their aid: they forbid that he be cast into chains; they pronounce it pleasing that the defendant be made to appear, and that money, unless he be produced, be promised to the people. As to what sum of money it would be equitable to have promised, this came into doubt; it is referred to the senate: the defendant, while the senators were being consulted, was detained in public custody.

Vades dari placuit; unum vadem tribus milibus aeris obligarunt; quot darentur permissum tribunis est. Decem finierunt; tot vadibus accusator vadatus est reum. Hic primus vades publico dedit.

It was resolved that sureties be given; they bound one surety for three thousand asses (of bronze); how many should be given was left to the tribunes. They fixed ten; with that number of sureties the accuser bound the defendant. This man was the first to give sureties to the public.

Dimissus e foro nocte proxima in Tuscos in exsilium abiit. Iudicii die cum excusaretur solum vertisse exsilii causa, nihilo minus Verginio comitia habente, collegae appellati dimisere concilium. Pecunia a patre exacta crudeliter, ut divenditis omnibus bonis aliquamdiu trans Tiberim veluti relegatus devio quodam tugurio viveret.

Released from the forum, on the next night he went into exile among the Tuscans. On the day of the trial, although it was pled in excuse that he had gone into exile, nonetheless, with Verginius holding the comitia, the colleagues, being appealed to, dismissed the council. Money was exacted from the father cruelly, so that, all his goods having been sold off, for some time he lived across the Tiber, as though relegated, in a certain remote hovel.

[14] Hoc iudicium et promulgata lex exercuit civitatem: ab externis armis otium fuit. Cum velut victores tribuni perculsis patribus Caesonis exsilio prope perlatam esse crederent legem, et quod ad seniores patrum pertineret cessissent possessione rei publicae, iuniores, id maxime quod Caesonis sodalium fuit, auxere iras in plebem, non minuerunt animos; sed ibi plurimum profectum est quod modo quodam temperavere impetus suos. Cum primo post Caesonis exsilium lex coepta ferri est, instructi paratique cum ingenti clientium exercitu sic tribunos, ubi primum submoventes praebuere causam, adorti sunt ut nemo unus inde praecipuum quicquam gloriae domum invidiaeve ferret, mille pro uno Caesones exstitisse plebes quereretur.

[14] This trial and the promulgated law kept the commonwealth busy; there was respite from external arms. When the tribunes, as if victors, with the senators cowed, believed that by Caeso’s exile the law had been all but carried, and that, so far as concerned the elder men of the patricians, they had yielded possession of the state, the younger men—especially those who were comrades of Caeso—augmented their wrath against the plebs and did not diminish their spirit; but the greatest advance made there was that they in some measure tempered their assaults. When first after Caeso’s exile the law began to be brought forward, drawn up and ready with a vast army of clients they thus attacked the tribunes, as soon as, by pushing them back, they offered a pretext, so that no single man might carry home from there a special share of glory or of ill will, and the plebs might complain that, instead of one, a thousand Caesos had arisen.

Mediis diebus quibus tribuni de lege non agerent, nihil eisdem illis placidius aut quietius erat. Benigne salutare, adloqui plebis homines, domum invitare, adesse in foro, tribunos ipsos cetera pati sine interpellatione concilia habere, nunquam ulli neque publice neque privatim truces esse, nisi cum de lege agi coeptum esset; alibi popularis iuventus erat. Ne voce quidem incommoda, nedum ut ulla vis fieret, paulatim permulcendo tractandoque mansuefecerant plebem.

On the intervening days on which the tribunes were not proceeding about the law, nothing was more placid or quieter than those same men. They would greet kindly, address men of the plebs, invite them home, be present in the forum, allow the tribunes themselves in other matters to hold councils without interpellation, never be grim to anyone, neither publicly nor privately, unless when it had begun to be acted concerning the law; in everything else they were a people-pleasing youth. Not even a single inopportune word—much less that any force be used—by gradually soothing and handling they had tamed the plebs.

His per totum annum artibus lex elusa est. Nec cetera modo tribuni tranquillo peregere, sed refecti quoque in insequentem annum.

By these arts the law was eluded through the whole year. Nor did the tribunes only carry through the rest tranquilly, but they were also refected (re-elected) for the ensuing year.

[15] Accipiunt civitatem placidiorem consules C. Claudius Appi filius et P. Valerius Publicola. Nihil novi novus annus attulerat; legis ferendae aut accipiendae cura civitatem tenebat. Quantum iuniores patrum plebi se magis insinuabant, eo acrius contra tribuni tendebant ut plebi suspectos eos criminando facerent: coniurationem factam; Caesonem Romae esse; interficiendorum tribunorum, trucidandae plebis consilia inita; id negotii datum ab senioribus patrum ut iuventus tribuniciam potestatem e re publica tolleret formaque eadem civitatis esset quae ante Sacrum montem occupatum fuerat.

[15] The consuls Gaius Claudius, son of Appius, and Publius Valerius Publicola took over a calmer commonwealth. The new year had brought nothing new; the concern of proposing or accepting the law held the state. The more the younger men of the patricians insinuated themselves with the plebs, by so much the more keenly the tribunes strove in counter-move to make them suspect to the plebs by criminating them: that a conspiracy had been made; that Caeso was in Rome; that plans had been undertaken for killing the tribunes and slaughtering the plebs; that this task had been assigned by the elders of the patricians, namely, that the youth should remove the tribunician power from the republic, and that the constitution of the commonwealth should be the same as it had been before the Sacred Mount was occupied.

Et ab Volscis et Aequis statum iam ac prope sollemne in singulos annos bellum timebatur, propiusque aliud novum malum necopinato exortum. Exsules servique, ad duo milia hominum et quingenti, duce Appio Herdonio Sabino nocte Capitolium atque arcem occupavere. Confestim in arce facta caedes eorum qui coniurare et simul capere arma noluerant: alii inter tumultum praecipites pavore in forum devolant: alternae voces 'ad arma' et 'hostes in urbe sunt' audiebantur.

Both from the Volsci and the Aequi a now-established and almost customary war in each single year was feared, and nearer at hand another new evil sprang up unexpectedly. Exiles and slaves, to about two thousand five hundred men, under the leadership of Appius Herdonius the Sabine, seized the Capitol and the citadel by night. Forthwith on the citadel there was a slaughter of those who refused to conspire and at the same time to take up arms: others, headlong amid the tumult in terror, roll down into the forum: alternating cries of ‘to arms’ and ‘the enemy are in the city’ were heard.

Consules et armare plebem et inermem pati timebant, incerti quod malum repentinum, externum an intestinum, ab odio plebis an ab servili fraude, urbem invasisset; sedabant tumultus, sedando interdum movebant; nec enim poterat pavida et consternata multitudo regi imperio. Dant tamen arma, non volgo, tantum ut incerto hoste praesidium satis fidum ad omnia esset. Solliciti reliquum noctis incertique qui homines, quantus numerus hostium esset, in stationibus disponendis ad opportuna omnis urbis loca egere.

The consuls were afraid both to arm the plebs and to allow them unarmed, uncertain what sudden evil, external or internal, whether from the hatred of the plebs or from servile treachery, had invaded the city; they were quelling the tumults, and by quelling were at times stirring them; for the panic-stricken and consternated multitude could not be ruled by command. They nevertheless give out arms, not to the populace at large, only so that, with the enemy uncertain, there might be a guard sufficiently trustworthy for all things. Anxious through the remainder of the night and uncertain who the men were, how great the number of enemies was, they busied themselves in posting stations at all the advantageous places of the city.

Lux deinde aperuit bellum ducemque belli. Servos ad libertatem Appius Herdonius ex Capitolio vocabat: se miserrimi cuiusque suscepisse causam, ut exsules iniuria pulsos in patriam reduceret et servitiis grave iugum demeret; id malle populo Romano auctore fieri: si ibi spes non sit, se Volscos et Aequos et omnia extrema temptaturum et concitaturum.

Then daylight laid open the war and the leader of the war. From the Capitol Appius Herdonius was calling the slaves to liberty: that he had undertaken the cause of every most wretched person, to lead back into the fatherland the exiles driven out by injustice and to remove from servitudes the heavy yoke; that he preferred this to be done with the Roman People as author: if there were no hope there, he would try and stir up the Volsci and the Aequi and all extreme measures.

[16] Dilucere res magis patribus atque consulibus. Praeter ea tamen quae denuntiabantur, ne Veientium neu Sabinorum id consilium esset timere et, cum tantum in urbe hostium esset, mox Sabinae Etruscaeque legiones ex composito adessent, tum aeterni hostes, Volsci et Aequi, non ad populandos, ut ante, fines sed ad urbem ut ex parte captam venirent. Multi et varii timores; inter ceteros eminebat terror servilis ne suus cuique domi hostis esset, cui nec credere nec non credendo, ne infestior fieret, fidem abrogare satis erat tutum; vixque concordia sisti videbatur posse.

[16] The situation grew clearer to the senators and the consuls. Yet, besides those things that were being reported, they feared lest that design be of the Veientes and the Sabines, and that, since there were so many enemies in the city, soon Sabine and Etruscan legions, by prearrangement, would be at hand; then the eternal enemies, the Volsci and the Aequi, would come not to devastate, as before, the borders, but to the city, as if already in part captured. Many and manifold fears; among the rest there stood out a servile terror, lest each man should have his own enemy at home—one whom it was safe neither to trust, nor, by not trusting and thus abrogating confidence, lest he become more hostile. And it seemed scarcely possible that concord could be established.

Tantum superantibus aliis ac mergentibus malis nemo tribunos aut plebem timebat; mansuetum id malum et per aliorum quietem malorum semper exoriens tum quiesse peregrino terrore sopitum videbatur. Ad id prope unum maxime inclinatis rebus incubuit. Tantus enim tribunos furor tenuit ut non bellum, sed vanam imaginem belli ad avertendos ab legis cura plebis animos Capitolium insedisse contenderent; patriciorum hospites clientesque si perlata lege frustra tumultuatos esse se sentiant, maiore quam venerint silentio abituros.

With other evils so overtopping and others engulfing, no one was fearing the tribunes or the plebs; that malady was tame and, always arising during the quiet of other troubles, then seemed to have gone quiet, lulled to sleep by a foreign terror. Upon this one point, with affairs inclined almost solely to it, they pressed. For so great a furor held the tribunes that they maintained that not a war, but a vain image of war had occupied the Capitol, to divert the minds of the plebs from concern for the law; that the guests and clients of the patricians, if, the law having been carried, they should perceive that they had made a tumult in vain, would depart with greater silence than that with which they had come.

Concilium inde legis perferendae habere, avocato populo ab armis. Senatum interim consules habent, alio se maiore ab tribunis metu ostendente quam quem nocturnus hostis intulerat.

Thereupon they convene a council for carrying through the law, the people being called away from arms. Meanwhile the consuls hold the senate, matters showing themselves to be under another, greater fear from the tribunes than that which the nocturnal enemy had brought.

[17] Postquam arma poni et discedere homines ab stationibus nuntiatum est, P. Valerius, collega senatum retinente, se ex curia proripit, inde in templum ad tribunos venit. 'Quid hoc rei est' inquit, 'tribuni? Appi Herdoni ductu et auspicio rem publicam eversuri estis?

[17] After it was announced that arms were being laid down and men were withdrawing from their stations, Publius Valerius, while his colleague was holding back the senate, rushes out from the Curia; then he comes into the temple to the tribunes. 'What is this business,' he said, 'tribunes? Under the leadership and auspices of Appius Herdonius are you going to overthrow the Republic?'

Tam felix vobis corrumpendis fuit qui servitia non commovit auctor? Cum hostes supra caput sint, discedi ab armis legesque ferri placet?' Inde ad multitudinem oratione versa: 'Si vos urbis, Quirites, si vestri nulla cura tangit, at vos veremini deos vestros ab hostibus captos. Iuppiter optimus maximus, Iuno regina et Minerva, alii di deaeque obsidentur; castra servorum publicos vestros penates tenent; haec vobis forma sanae civitatis videtur?

'Was the author who did not rouse the slaves so fortunate in corrupting you? When enemies are over your head, is it pleasing to withdraw from arms and for laws to be carried?' Then, with his speech turned to the multitude: 'If no care for the city, Quirites, if no care for yourselves touches you, at least fear your gods captured by enemies. Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno the Queen and Minerva, other gods and goddesses are besieged; the camp of the slaves holds your public Penates; does this seem to you the form of a sane commonwealth?'

Tantum hostium non solum intra muros est sed in arce supra forum curiamque; comitia interim in foro sunt, senatus in curia est; velut cum otium superat, senator sententiam dicit, alii Quirites suffragium ineunt. Non quidquid patrum plebisque est, consules, tribunos, deos hominesque omnes armatos opem ferre, in Capitolium currere, liberare ac pacare augustissimam illam domum Iovis optimi maximi decuit? Romule pater, tu mentem tuam, qua quondam arcem ab his iisdem Sabinis auro captam recepisti, da stirpi tuae; iube hanc ingredi viam, quam tu dux, quam tuus ingressus exercitus est.

So great a number of enemies is not only within the walls but on the citadel above the Forum and the Curia; meanwhile the comitia are in the Forum, the senate is in the Curia; as when leisure prevails, a senator delivers his sententia, other Quirites enter upon the suffrage. Was it not fitting that whatever there is of the patricians and plebs, consuls, tribunes, gods and men all armed, should bring aid, run to the Capitol, free and pacify that most august house of Jupiter Best and Greatest? Father Romulus, grant to your stock that mind with which once you recovered the citadel, captured by these same Sabines by gold; command it to enter upon that way, of which you were the leader, which your army entered.

Primus en ego consul, quantum mortalis deum possum, te ac tua vestigia sequar.' Ultimum orationis fuit, se arma capere, vocare omnes Quirites ad arma; si qui impediat, iam se consularis imperii, iam tribuniciae potestatis sacratarumque legum oblitum, quisquis ille sit, ubicumque sit, in Capitolio, in foro, pro hoste habiturum. Iuberent tribuni, quoniam in Appium Herdonium vetarent, in P. Valerium consulem sumi arma; ausurum se in tribunis, quod princeps familiae suae ausus in regibus esset. Vim ultimam apparebat futuram spectaculoque seditionem Romanam hostibus fore.

“Lo, I, the consul, first, so far as a mortal can follow a god, will follow you and your footsteps.” The end of his speech was this: that he was taking up arms, and calling all the Quirites to arms; if anyone should impede, he would now—forgetful of consular imperium, of tribunician power, and of the sacred laws—whoever he be, wherever he be, on the Capitol or in the forum, hold him as an enemy. Let the tribunes give an order that, since they forbid arms to be taken up against Appius Herdonius, arms be taken up against Publius Valerius the consul; he would dare against the tribunes what the foremost of his house had dared against kings. The last extremity of force was seen to be imminent, and the Roman sedition would be a spectacle for the enemies.

Nec lex tamen ferri nec ire in Capitolium consul potuit; nox certamina coepta oppressit; tribuni cessere nocti, timentes consulum arma. Amotis inde seditionis auctoribus patres circumire plebem inserentesque se in circulos sermones tempori aptos serere; admonere ut viderent in quod discrimen rem publicam adducerent. Non inter patres ac plebem certamen esse, sed simul patres plebemque, arcem urbis, templa deorum, penates publicos privatosque hostibus dedi.

Nor yet could the bill be carried, nor could the consul go up to the Capitol; night suppressed the contests once begun; the tribunes yielded to the night, fearing the consuls’ arms. With the authors of the sedition removed from there, the senators went about among the plebs and, inserting themselves into the circles, began to sow speeches suited to the moment; they admonished them to see into what crisis they were bringing the republic. That the struggle was not between senators and plebs, but that both senators and plebs together, the citadel of the city, the temples of the gods, and the public and private Penates, were being handed over to the enemy.

Dum haec in foro sedandae discordiae causa aguntur, consules interim, ne Sabini neve Veiens hostis moveretur, circa portas murosque discesserant.

While these things were being transacted in the forum for the purpose of settling discord, the consuls meanwhile, lest the Sabines or the Veientine enemy be stirred, had dispersed around the gates and the walls.

[18] Eadem nocte et Tusculum de arce capta Capitolioque occupato et alio turbatae urbis statu nuntii veniunt. L. Mamilius Tusculi tum dictator erat. Is confestim convocato senatu atque introductis nuntiis magnopere censet, ne exspectent dum ab Roma legati auxilium petentes veniant; periculum ipsum discrimenque ac sociales deos fidemque foederum id poscere; demerendi beneficio tam potentem, tam propinquam civitatem nunquam parem occasionem daturos deos.

[18] That same night messengers also arrive from Tusculum reporting that the citadel had been seized, the Capitol occupied, and other disturbances in the condition of the city. At Tusculum Lucius Mamilius was then dictator. He, having the senate convened forthwith and the messengers introduced, strongly advises not to wait until legates come from Rome asking for aid; the danger itself and the crisis, and the allied gods and the faith of the treaties, demand this; for winning over by a benefaction so powerful and so near a city the gods would never give an equal occasion.

Placet ferri auxilium; iuventus conscribitur, arma dantur. Romam prima luce venientes procul speciem hostium praebuere; Aequi aut Volsci venire visi sunt; deinde ubi vanus terror abiit, accepti in urbem agmine in forum descendunt. Ibi iam P. Valerius relicto ad portarum praesidia collega instruebat aciem.

It is resolved to bring aid; the youth is enrolled, arms are given. Coming to Rome at first light, they from afar presented the appearance of enemies; they seemed to be Aequians or Volscians; then, when the groundless terror passed, admitted into the city, in a column they descend into the Forum. There already P. Valerius, his colleague left for the guard-posts of the gates, was drawing up the battle-line.

Auctoritas viri moverat, adfirmantis Capitolio reciperato et urbe pacata si edoceri se sissent quae fraus ab tribunis occulta in lege ferretur, memorem se maiorum suorum, memorem cognominis quo populi colendi velut hereditaria cura sibi a maioribus tradita esset, concilium plebis non impediturum. Hunc ducem secuti nequiquam reclamantibus tribunis in clivum Capitolinum erigunt aciem. Adiungitur et Tusculana legio.

The authority of the man had moved them, as he affirmed that, with the Capitol retaken and the city pacified, if they allowed themselves to be instructed as to what fraud, concealed by the tribunes, was being carried in the bill, he—mindful of his ancestors, mindful of the cognomen by which the care of cherishing the people, as if hereditary, had been handed down to him by his elders—would not obstruct the council of the plebs. Following this leader, with the tribunes protesting in vain, they raise their battle line up the Capitoline slope. The Tusculan legion is added as well.

Certare socii civesque utri reciperatae arcis suum decus facerent; dux uterque suos adhortatur. Trepidare tum hostes nec ulli satis rei praeterquam loco fidere; trepidantibus inferrunt signa Romani sociique. Iam in vestibulum perruperant templi cum P. Valerius inter primores pugnam ciens interficitur.

The allies and the citizens contended as to which of the two should make the recovered citadel’s glory their own; each leader exhorted his men. Then the enemies were in a flutter, and trusted sufficiently in nothing except the position; upon the panic-stricken the Romans and their allies bore in their standards. They had already broken through into the vestibule of the temple, when P. Valerius, among the foremost, urging on the fight, is slain.

P. Volumnius consularis vidit cadentem. Is dato negotio suis ut corpus obtegerent, ipse in locum vicemque consulis provolat. Prae ardore impetuque tantae rei sensus non pervenit ad militem; prius vicit quam se pugnare sine duce sentiret.

P. Volumnius, a consular, saw him falling. Assigning to his men the task to cover the body, he himself flies forward into the place and role of the consul. Because of the ardor and impetus of so great a matter, perception did not reach the soldier; they conquered before they felt that they were fighting without a leader.

Multi exsulum caede sua foedavere templum, multi vivi capti, Herdonius interfectus. Ita Capitolium reciperatum. De captivis, ut quisque liber aut servus esset, suae fortunae a quoque sumptum supplicium est.

Many of the exiles defiled the temple with their own slaughter; many were taken alive; Herdonius was killed. Thus the Capitol was recovered. As for the captives, as each was free or slave, a punishment befitting his own fortune was exacted from each.

Tusculanis gratiae actae, Capitolium purgatum atque lustratum. In consulis domum plebes quadrantes ut funere ampliore efferretur iactasse fertur.

Thanks were given to the Tusculans, the Capitol was purged and lustrated. The plebs are said to have thrown quadrantes (quarter-coins) into the consul’s house, so that he might be carried out with a more ample funeral.

[19] Pace parta, instare tum tribuni patribus, ut P. Valeri fidem exsolverent, instare C. Claudio, ut collegae deos manes fraude liberaret, agi de lege sineret. Consul antequam collegam sibi subrogasset negare passurum agi de lege. Hae tenuere contentiones usque ad comitia consulis subrogandi.

[19] Peace having been procured, then the tribunes pressed the senators, that they discharge the pledge of P. Valerius; they pressed C. Claudius, that he free his colleague’s divine shades from the imputation of fraud, and allow the law to be proceeded with. The consul declared that, before he had subrogated a colleague to himself, he would not permit action to be taken on the law. These contentions held until the comitia for subrogating a consul.

Decembri mense summo patrum studio L. Quinctius Cincinnatus, pater Caesonis, consul creatur qui magistratum statim occiperet. Perculsa erat plebes consulem habitura iratum, potentem favore patrum, virtute sua, tribus liberis, quorum nemo Caesoni cedebat magnitudine animi, consilium et modum adhibendo ubi res posceret priores erant. Is ut magistratum iniit, adsiduis contionibus pro tribunali non in plebe coercenda quam senatu castigando vehementior fuit, cuius ordinis languore perpetui iam tribuni plebis, non ut in re publica populi Romani sed ut in perdita domo lingua criminibusque regnarent: cum Caesone filio suo virtutem, constantiam, omnia iuventutis belli domique decora pulsa ex urbe Romana et fugata esse; loquaces, seditiosos, semina discordiarum, iterum ac tertium tribunos, pessimis artibus, regia licentia vivere.

In the month of December, with the utmost zeal of the Fathers, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, the father of Caeso, is created consul, to enter upon the magistracy at once. The plebs was stricken, about to have a consul irate, powerful by the favor of the Fathers, by his own virtue, by his three sons, of whom none yielded to Caeso in greatness of spirit, but in applying counsel and measure where the matter demanded they were superior. He, as soon as he entered upon the magistracy, in continual assemblies from the tribunal was more vehement in castigating the Senate than in coercing the plebs, since by the perpetual languor of that order the tribunes of the plebs now ruled, not as in the commonwealth of the Roman People but as in a ruined household, by tongue and accusations: that along with his son Caeso, valor, constancy, all the ornaments of youth in war and at home had been expelled from and put to flight out of the city of Rome; while chatterers, seditious men, seeds of discords, the tribunes again and again, lived by the worst arts, with regal license.

'Aulus' inquit, 'ille Verginius, quia in Capitolio non fuit, minus supplicii quam Appius Herdonius meruit? Plus hercule aliquanto, qui vere rem aestimare velit. Herdonius, si nihil aliud, hostem se fatendo prope denuntiavit ut arma caperetis; hic negando bellum esse arma vobis ademit nudosque servis vestris et exsulibus obiecit.

‘Aulus,’ he says, ‘did that Verginius, because he was not on the Capitol, deserve less punishment than Appius Herdonius? By Hercules, considerably more, for whoever wishes truly to estimate the matter. Herdonius, if nothing else, by admitting himself an enemy almost gave notice that you should take up arms; this man, by denying that there was a war, took away your arms and exposed you, naked, to your own slaves and to the exiles.

Et vos—C. Claudi pace et P. Valeri mortui loquar—prius in clivum Capitolinum signa intulistis quam hos hostes de foro tolleretis? Pudet deorum hominumque. Cum hostes in arce, in Capitolio essent, exsulum et servorum dux profanatis omnibus in cella Iovis optimi maximi habitaret, Tusculi ante quam Romae sumpta sunt arma.

And you—by the leave of C. Claudius and of P. Valerius, now dead, I will speak—did you carry the standards up the Capitoline slope sooner than you removed these enemies from the Forum? It is a shame before gods and men. While enemies were in the citadel, on the Capitol, while the leader of exiles and slaves, with all things profaned, was dwelling in the shrine of Jupiter Best and Greatest, arms were taken up at Tusculum before they were taken up at Rome.

In dubio fuit utrum L. Mamilius, Tusculanus dux, an P. Valerius et C. Claudius consules Romanam arcem liberarent; et qui ante Latinos ne pro se quidem ipsis, cum in finibus hostem haberent, attingere arma passi sumus, nunc, nisi Latini sua sponte arma sumpsissent, capti et deleti eramus. Hoc est, tribuni, auxilium plebi ferre, inermem eam hosti trucidandam obicere? Scilicet si quis vobis humillimus homo de vestra plebe, quam partem velut abruptam a cetero populo vestram patriam peculiaremque rem publicam fecistis, si quis ex his domum suam obsessam a familia armata nuntiaret, ferendum auxilium putaretis: Iuppiter optimus maximus exsulum atque servorum saeptus armis nulla humana ope dignus erat?

It was in doubt whether L. Mamilius, the Tusculan leader, or P. Valerius and C. Claudius, the consuls, would free the Roman citadel; and we, who before did not allow the Latins to touch arms even on their own behalf, when they had the enemy within their borders, now—unless the Latins had of their own accord taken up arms—we would have been captured and annihilated. Is this, tribunes, to bring aid to the plebs, to expose it unarmed to the enemy to be butchered? Of course, if some most lowly man to you from your plebs—which part, as if torn off from the rest of the people, you have made your own fatherland and a peculiar commonwealth—if any of these were to announce that his house was besieged by an armed household, you would think aid ought to be brought: was Jupiter Best and Greatest, hedged about by the arms of exiles and slaves, worthy of no human help?

Et hi postulant, ut sacrosancti habeantur, quibus ipsi di neque sacri neque sancti sunt? At enim, divinis humanisque obruti sceleribus, legem vos hoc anno perlaturos dictitatis. Tum hercule illo die quo ego consul sum creatus, male gesta res publica est, peius multo quam cum P. Valerius consul periit,—si tuleritis.

And these men demand to be held sacrosanct, for whom the gods themselves are neither sacred nor holy? But indeed, overwhelmed with crimes both divine and human, you keep saying that you will carry a law this year. Then, by Hercules, on that day on which I was created consul, the commonwealth has been badly conducted, far worse than when P. Valerius, consul, perished—if you pass it.

Iam primum omnium' inquit, 'Quirites, in Volscos et Aequos mihi atque collegae legiones ducere in animo est. Nescio quo fato magis bellantes quam pacati propitios habemus deos. Quantum periculum ab illis populis fuerit si Capitolium ab exsulibus obsessum scissent, suspicari de praeterito quam re ipsa experiri est melius.'

"Now, first of all," he says, "Quirites, it is my intention, for myself and my colleague, to lead the legions against the Volsci and the Aequi. By some fate—I know not what—we have the gods more propitious when warring than when pacified. As to how great a peril there would have been from those peoples, if they had known the Capitol to be besieged by exiles, it is better to suspect it about the past than to experience it in the thing itself."

[20] Moverat plebem oratio consulis; erecti patres restitutam credebant rem publicam. Consul alter, comes animosior quam auctor, suscepisse collegam priorem actiones tam graves facile passus, in peragendis consularis officii partem ad se vindicabat. Tum tribuni, eludentes velut vana dicta, persequi quaerendo quonam modo exercitum educturi consules essent quos dilectum habere nemo passurus sit.

[20] The consul’s speech had moved the plebs; the Fathers, uplifted, believed the Republic restored. The other consul, more spirited as a companion than as an originator, having readily allowed that his colleague had undertaken such weighty measures before him, was claiming for himself a share in the execution of the consular duty. Then the tribunes, deriding the words as if empty, pressed the matter by asking in what way the consuls were going to lead out an army, when no one would allow them to hold a levy.

'Nobis vero' inquit Quinctius, nihil dilectu opus est, cum, quo tempore P. Valerius ad recipiundum Capitolium arma plebi dedit, omnes in verba iuraverint conventuros se iussu consulis nec iniussu abituros. Edicimus itaque, omnes qui in verba iurastis crastina die armati ad lacum Regillum adsitis.' Cavillari tum tribuni et populum exsolvere religione velle: privatum eo tempore Quinctium fuisse cum sacramento adacti sint. Sed nondum haec quae nunc tenet saeculum neglegentia deum venerat, nec interpretando sibi quisque ius iurandum et leges aptas faciebat, sed suos potius mores ad ea accommodabat.

'For our part,' says Quinctius, 'there is no need of a levy, since, at the time when P. Valerius gave arms to the plebs for retaking the Capitol, all swore to the words that they would assemble at the order of the consul and would not depart without his order. We therefore edict thus: all you who swore to the words, be present armed tomorrow at Lake Regillus.' Then the tribunes began to cavil and wished to release the people from the religio: that Quinctius was a private man at the time when they were bound by the sacrament. But as yet the neglect of the gods which now holds this age had not come, nor did each man by interpreting make the oath and the laws fitted to himself, but rather he accommodated his own customs to them.

Igitur tribuni, ut impediendae rei nulla spes erat, de proferendo exitu agere, eo magis quod et augures iussos adesse ad Regillum lacum fama exierat, locumque inaugurari ubi auspicato cum populo agi posset, ut quidquid Romae vi tribunicia rogatum esset id comitiis ibi abrogaretur: omnes id iussuros quod consules velint; neque enim provocationem esse longius ab urbe mille passuum, et tribunos, si eo veniant, in alia turba Quiritium subiectos fore consulari imperio. Terrebant haec; sed ille maximus terror animos agitabat, quod saepius Quinctius dictitabat se consulum comitia non habiturum; non ita civitatem aegram esse ut consuetis remediis sisti possit; dictatore opus esse rei publicae, ut, qui se moverit ad sollicitandum statum civitatis, sentiat sine provocatione dictaturam esse.

Accordingly the tribunes, since there was no hope of impeding the matter, began to deal about postponing the outcome, all the more because a report had gone out that the augurs had been ordered to be present at Lake Regillus, and that a place was being inaugurated where it might be possible to transact with the people under auspices, so that whatever had been proposed at Rome by tribunician force would there be abrogated by the comitia: that all would order what the consuls should wish; for neither was there appeal farther than a thousand paces from the city, and that the tribunes, if they should come thither, would, amid a different crowd of Quirites, be subjected to consular imperium. These things were terrifying; but that greatest terror was agitating their minds, because Quinctius kept repeatedly saying that he would not hold the comitia for consuls; that the commonwealth was not so sick as to be capable of being steadied by the customary remedies; that there was need of a dictator for the republic, in order that whoever should set himself to unsettling the condition of the state might feel that the dictatorship would be without appeal.

[21] Senatus in Capitolio erat; eo tribuni cum perturbata plebe veniunt. Multitudo clamore ingenti nunc consulum, nunc patrum fidem implorant; nec ante moverunt de sententia consulem quam tribuni se in auctoritate patrum futuros esse polliciti sunt. Tunc referente consule de tribunorum et plebis postulatis senatus consulta fiunt ut neque tribuni legem eo anno ferrent neque consules ab urbe exercitum educerent; in reliquum magistratus continuari et eosdem tribunos refici iudicare senatum contra rem publicam esse.

[21] The Senate was on the Capitoline; to that place the tribunes come with the perturbed plebs. The multitude, with a huge clamor, now implored the good faith of the consuls, now of the patres (senators); nor did they move the consul from his opinion until the tribunes promised that they would be under the authority of the patres. Then, when the consul referred the matter concerning the demands of the tribunes and the plebs, senatorial decrees were made: that neither the tribunes should carry a law in that year nor the consuls lead the army out from the city; as to the future, the Senate judges it to be against the commonwealth that magistracies be continued and the same tribunes be reappointed.

Consules fuere in patrum potestate: tribuni reclamantibus consulibus refecti. Patres quoque, ne quid cederent plebi, et ipsi L. Quinctium consulem reficiebant. Nulla toto anno vehementior actio consulis fuit.

The consuls were in the Fathers’ power; the tribunes were reinstated with the consuls protesting. The Fathers also, that they might yield nothing to the plebs, themselves reappointed L. Quinctius as consul. No action of the consul in the whole year was more vehement.

'Mirer' inquit, 'si vana vestra, patres conscripti, auctoritas ad plebem est? Vos elevatis eam quippe qui, quia plebs senatus consultum continuandis magistratibus solvit, ipsi quoque solutum voltis, ne temeritati multitudinis cedatis, tamquam id sit plus posse in civitate, plus levitatis ac licentiae habere. Levius enim vaniusque profecto est sua decreta et consulta tollere quam aliorum.

'Should I marvel,' he says, 'if your authority, Conscript Fathers, is vain with the plebs? You yourselves make it light, indeed you who—because the plebs has dissolved the senatorial decree for continuing the magistracies—wish it dissolved on your own part as well, so as not to yield to the rashness of the multitude, as though to be more powerful in the commonwealth were to have more levity and license. For it is assuredly lighter and vainer to rescind your own decrees and resolutions than those of others.'

Imitamini, patres conscripti, turbam inconsultam, et qui exemplo aliis esse debetis, aliorum exemplo peccate potius quam alii vestro recte faciant, dum ego ne imiter tribunos nec me contra senatus consultum consulem renuntiari patiar. Te vero, C. Claudi, adhortor ut et ipse populum Romanum hac licentia arceas, et de me hoc tibi persuadeas me ita accepturum ut non honorem meum a te impeditum, sed gloriam spreti honoris auctam, invidiam quae ex continuato eo impenderet levatam putem.' Communiter inde edicunt ne quis L. Quinctium consulem faceret; si quis fecisset, se id suffragium non observaturos.

Imitate, Conscript Fathers, the unadvised crowd, and you who ought to be an example to others, sin by the example of others rather than let others do rightly by yours, while I, for my part, will not imitate the tribunes nor allow myself to be proclaimed consul contrary to the senate’s decree. But you, Gaius Claudius, I exhort that you too hold back the Roman people from this license, and persuade yourself of this about me: that I will take it thus—that I do not think my honor has been impeded by you, but that the glory of a scorned honor has been increased, and the ill will which would threaten from its being continued has been lightened.' Thereupon, in common, they issue an edict that no one should elect Lucius Quinctius consul; if anyone did, they would not recognize that vote.

[22] Consules creati Q. Fabius Vibulanus tertium et L. Cornelius Maluginensis. Census actus eo anno: lustrum propter Capitolium captum, consulem occisum condi religiosum fuit. Q. Fabio L. Cornelio consulibus principio anni statim res turbulentae.

[22] The consuls elected were Q. Fabius Vibulanus, for the third time, and L. Cornelius Maluginensis. The census was held that year: the lustrum, on account of the Capitol having been captured and a consul slain, was religiously forbidden to be closed. Under Q. Fabius and L. Cornelius as consuls, at the very beginning of the year affairs were straightway turbulent.

Instigabant plebem tribuni: bellum ingens a Volscis et Aequis Latini atque Hernici nuntiabant: iam Antii Volscorum legiones esse. Et ipsam coloniam ingens metus erat defecturam; aegreque impetratum a tribunis ut bellum praeverti sinerent. Consules inde partiti provincias: Fabio ut legiones Antium duceret datum, Cornelius ut Romae praesidio esset, ne qua pars hostium, qui Aequis mos erat, ad populandum veniret.

The tribunes were instigating the plebs: they were announcing that the Latins and Hernici reported an enormous war from the Volsci and the Aequi; already at Antium there were legions of the Volsci. And there was great fear that the colony itself would defect; and with difficulty was it obtained from the tribunes that they allow the war to be given precedence. The consuls then divided the provinces: to Fabius it was given to lead the legions to Antium, to Cornelius to be a guard at Rome, lest any part of the enemy, as was the custom with the Aequi, should come to ravage.

Hernici et Latini iussi milites dare ex foedere, duaeque partes sociorum in exercitu, tertia civium fuit. Postquam ad diem praestitutum venerunt socii, consul extra portam Capenam castra locat. Inde lustrato exercitu Antium profectus haud procul oppido stativisque hostium consedit.

The Hernici and the Latins were ordered to furnish soldiers by the treaty, and two parts of the army were allies, the third citizens. After the allies came on the appointed day, the consul pitches camp outside the Capena Gate. Thence, the army having been lustrated, he set out for Antium and took his seat not far from the town and the enemy’s standing camp.

Ubi cum Volsci, quia nondum ab Aequis venisset exercitus, dimicare non ausi, quemadmodum quieti vallo se tutarentur, pararent, postero die Fabius non permixtam unam sociorum civiumque sed trium populorum tres separatim acies circa vallum hostium instruxit; ipse erat medius cum legionibus Romanis. Inde signum observari iussit, ut pariter et socii rem inciperent referrentque pedem, si receptui cecinisset. Equites item suae cuique parti post principia conlocat.

When the Volsci, because the army had not yet come from the Aequi, did not dare to engage and were preparing how, remaining quiet, they might protect themselves by the rampart, on the next day Fabius drew up not one intermixed battle-line of allies and citizens, but three battle-lines of three peoples separately around the enemy’s rampart; he himself was in the middle with the Roman legions. Then he ordered the signal to be observed, so that the allies too at the same time should begin the action and should carry back the foot, if he should sound for the recall. Likewise he stations the cavalry, for each part respectively, behind the front ranks.

Ita trifariam adortus castra circumvenit et cum undique instaret non sustinentes impetum Volscos vallo deturbat. Transgressus inde munitiones pavidam turbam inclinatamque in partem unam castris expellit. Inde effuse fugientes eques, cui superare vallum haud facile fuerat, cum ad id spectator pugnae adstitisset, libero campo adeptus parte victoriae fruitur territos caedendo.

Thus, having attacked threefold, he encircled the camp, and as he pressed on from every side, he drives the Volsci, unable to withstand the impetus, down from the rampart. Having then crossed the fortifications, he expels from the camp the pavid throng, inclined into one direction. Then the horseman, as they fled in a flood—since to surmount the rampart had not been easy for him, inasmuch as for that he had stood by as a spectator of the battle—having gained the open field, enjoys a share of the victory by cutting down the terrified.

Magna et in castris et extra munimenta caedes fugientium fuit sed praeda maior, quia vix arma secum efferre hostis potuit; deletusque exercitus foret ni fugientes silvae texissent.

Great was the slaughter of the fugitives both in the camp and outside the fortifications, but the booty was greater, because the enemy could scarcely carry their arms out with them; and the army would have been annihilated, had not the woods covered the fleeing.

[23] Dum ad Antium haec geruntur, interim Aequi robore iuventutis praemisso arcem Tusculanam improviso nocte capiunt, reliquo exercitu haud procul moenibus Tusculi considunt ut distenderent hostium copias. Haec celeriter Romam, ab Roma in castra Antium perlata movent Romanos haud secus quam si Capitolium captum nuntiaretur; adeo et recens erat Tusculanorum meritum et similitudo ipsa periculi reposcere datum auxilium videbatur. Fabius omissis omnibus praedam ex castris raptim Antium convehit; ibi modico praesidio relicto, citatum agmen Tusculum rapit.

[23] While these things are being transacted at Antium, meanwhile the Aequi, the strength of their youth sent ahead, seize the Tusculan citadel by an unforeseen attack at night; with the rest of the army they take up position not far from the walls of Tusculum, so as to stretch the forces of the enemy. These events, carried quickly to Rome, and from Rome into the camp at Antium, move the Romans no less than if it were announced that the Capitol had been captured; so both recent was the merit of the Tusculans, and the very similitude of the peril seemed to reclaim the aid that had been given. Fabius, all else set aside, hastily conveys the booty from the camp to Antium; there, a modest garrison left behind, he sweeps a swift column to Tusculum.

Nihil praeter arma et quod cocti ad manum fuit cibi ferre militi licuit; commeatum ab Roma consul Cornelius subvehit. Aliquot menses Tusculi bellatum. Parte exercitus consul castra Aequorum oppugnabat; partem Tusculanis dederat ad arcem reciperandam.

Nothing except arms and whatever cooked food was at hand was permitted the soldier to carry; the consul Cornelius brought up provisions from Rome. For several months it was warred at Tusculum. With part of the army the consul was assaulting the camp of the Aequi; part he had given to the Tusculans for the recapture of the citadel.

Vi nunquam eo subiri potuit: fames postremo inde detraxit hostem. Qua postquam ventum ad extremum est, inermes nudique omnes sub iugum ab Tusculanis missi. Hos ignominiosa fuga domum se recipientes Romanus consul in Algido consecutus ad unum omnes occidit.

By force it could never be approached there: famine at last drew the enemy down from that place. When matters had come to the utmost extremity, all, unarmed and naked, were sent under the yoke by the Tusculans. These men, taking themselves home in ignominious flight, the Roman consul, having overtaken on Algidus, slew every one of them to a man.

Victor ad Columen—id loco nomen est—exercitu reducto castra locat. Et alter consul, postquam moenibus iam Romanis pulso hoste periculum esse desierat, et ipse ab Roma profectus. Ita bifariam consules ingressi hostium fines ingenti certamine hinc Volscos, hinc Aequos populantur.

Victorious, at Columen—that is the place’s name—he establishes camp, the army having been led back. And the other consul, after the danger to the Roman walls had now ceased with the enemy driven off, set out from Rome as well. Thus, in two parts, the consuls, having entered the enemies’ borders, with a huge contention, ravage—on this side the Volsci, on that the Aequi.

Eodem anno descisse Antiates apud plerosque auctores invenio; L. Cornelium consulem id bellum gessisse oppidumque cepisse. Certum adfirmare, quia nulla apud vetustiores scriptores eius rei mentio est, non ausim.

In the same year I find among most authors that the Antiates defected; that Lucius Cornelius the consul waged that war and took the town. To affirm it as certain, since there is no mention of that matter among the more ancient writers, I would not dare.

[24] Hoc bello perfecto tribunicium domi bellum patres territat. Clamant fraude fieri quod foris teneatur exercitus; frustrationem eam legis tollendae esse; se nihilo minus rem susceptam peracturos. Obtinuit tamen L. Lucretius praefectus urbis ut actiones tribuniciae in adventum consulum differrentur.

[24] With this war finished, a tribunician war at home terrifies the Fathers. They shout that it is by fraud that the army is kept abroad; that this is a frustration of the repeal of the law; that they will nonetheless carry the undertaking through. Yet L. Lucretius, prefect of the city, prevailed that the tribunician actions be deferred until the arrival of the consuls.

Erat et nova exorta causa motus. A. Cornelius et Q. Servilius quaestores M. Volscio, quod falsus haud dubie testis in Caesonem exstitisset, diem dixerant. Multis enim emanabat indiciis neque fratrem Volsci ex quo semel fuerit aeger unquam non modo visum in publico, sed ne adsurrexisse quidem ex morbo, multorumque tabe mensum mortuum; nec iis temporibus in quae testis crimen coniecisset Caesonem Romae visum, adfirmantibus qui una meruerant secum eum tum frequentemque ad signa sine ullo commeatu fuisse.

There had also arisen a new cause of commotion. A. Cornelius and Q. Servilius, the quaestors, had set a court day for M. Volscius, because he had undoubtedly stood forth as a false witness against Caeso. For by many indications it was spreading abroad that Volscius’s brother, from the time he once fell ill, had never— not only had he not been seen in public, but he had not even risen from his sickness— and that he died, wasted over many months; nor, in the period to which the witness had shifted the charge, had Caeso been seen at Rome, those who had served with him affirming that at that time he had been constantly at the standards without any leave.

Nisi ita esset multi privatim ferebant Volscio iudicem. Cum ad iudicium ire non auderet, omnes eae res in unum congruentes haud magis dubiam damnationem Volsci quam Caesonis Volscio teste fuerat faciebant. In mora tribuni erant, qui comitia quaestores habere de reo, nisi prius habita de lege essent, passuros negabant.

Unless it were so, many were privately bringing Volscius to trial. When he did not dare to go to the iudicium, all these matters, converging into one, made the condemnation of Volscius no more doubtful than that of Caeso had been with Volscius as witness. The tribunes were the delay, who said they would not allow the quaestors to hold the comitia concerning the defendant, unless proceedings about the law were first held.

Ita extracta utraque res in consulum adventum est. Qui ubi triumphantes victore cum exercitu urbem inierunt, quia silentium de lege erat, perculsos magna pars credebant tribunos; at illi—etenim extremum anni iam erat,—quartum adfectantes tribunatum, in comitiorum disceptationem ab lege certamen averterant. Et cum consules nihilo minus adversus continuationem tribunatus quam si lex minuendae suae maiestatis causa promulgata ferretur tetendissent victoria certaminis penes tribunos fuit

Thus both matters, having been dragged out, came to the consuls’ arrival. When they, entering the city in triumph with the victorious army, because there was silence about the law, a great part believed the tribunes to be cowed; but they—for indeed it was now the end of the year,—angling for a fourth tribunate, had diverted the contest from the law into the dispute of the elections. And although the consuls had striven no less against the continuation of the tribunate than if a law for the diminishing of their own majesty were being promulgated, the victory of the struggle was with the tribunes.

Eodem anno Aequis pax est petentibus data. Census, res priore anno incohata, perficitur, idque lustrum ab origine urbis decimum conditum ferunt. Censa civium capita centum septendecim milia trecenta undeviginti.

In the same year, peace was granted to the Aequi as they sought it. The census, a matter begun in the previous year, is completed, and they report that the tenth lustrum from the origin of the city was established. The heads of citizens registered were 117,319.

Consulum magna domi bellique eo anno gloria fuit, quod et foris pacem peperere, et domi, etsi non concors, minus tamen quam alias infesta civitas fuit.

The consuls had great glory at home and in war that year, because abroad they secured peace, and at home, although not in concord, the state was nevertheless less hostile than at other times.

[25] L. Minucius inde et C. Nautius consules facti duas residuas anni prioris causas exceperunt. Eodem modo consules legem, tribuni iudicium de Volscio impediebant; sed in quaestoribus novis maior vis, maior auctoritas erat. Cum M. Valerio Mani filio Volesi nepote quaestor erat T. Quinctius Capitolinus qui ter consul fuerat.

[25] Then L. Minucius and C. Nautius, made consuls, took up two remaining cases of the previous year. In the same way the consuls were impeding the law, the tribunes the judgment concerning Volscius; but in the new quaestors there was greater force, greater authority. Alongside M. Valerius, son of Manius, grandson of Volesus, the quaestor was T. Quinctius Capitolinus, who had been consul three times.

Is, quoniam neque Quinctiae familiae Caeso neque rei publicae maximus iuvenum restitui posset, falsum testem qui dicendae causae innoxio potestatem ademisset, iusto ac pio bello persequebatur. Cum Verginius maxime ex tribunis de lege ageret, duum mensum spatium consulibus datum est ad inspiciendam legem ut cum edocuissent populum quid fraudis occultae ferretur, sinerent deinde suffragium inire. Hoc intervalli datum res tranquillas in urbe fecit.

He, since neither could Caeso of the Quinctian house be restored to the Quinctian family nor the greatest of the young men to the commonwealth, pursued with a just and pious war the false witness who had deprived the innocent man of the power of pleading his case. While Verginius, chief among the tribunes, was proceeding about the law, a span of two months was granted to the consuls for inspecting the law, so that, when they had educated the people on what hidden fraud was being proposed, they might then allow the suffrage to be entered. This granting of an interval made affairs tranquil in the city.

Nec diuturnam quietem Aequi dederunt, qui rupto foedere quod ictum erat priore anno cum Romanis, imperium ad Gracchum Cloelium deferunt; is tum longe princeps in Aequis erat. Graccho duce in Labicanum agrum, inde in Tusculanum hostili populatione veniunt, plenique praedae in Algido castra locant. In ea castra Q. Fabius, P. Volumnius, A. Postumius legati ab Roma venerunt questum iniurias et ex eo foedere res repetitum.

Nor did the Aequi grant long-lasting quiet, who, the treaty broken which had been struck the previous year with the Romans, transferred imperium to Gracchus Cloelius; he at that time was by far the princeps among the Aequi. With Gracchus as dux they come into the Labican territory, thence into the Tusculan with hostile depredation, and, full of booty, they pitch camp on Algidus. To that camp Q. Fabius, P. Volumnius, A. Postumius, legates from Rome, came to complain of the injuries and, under that treaty, to demand restitution.

Eos Aequorum imperator, quae mandata habeant ab senatu Romano, ad quercum iubet dicere; se alia interim acturum. Quercus ingens arbor praetorio imminebat, cuius umbra opaca sedes erat. Tum ex legatis unus abiens 'et haec' inquit, 'sacrata quercus et quidquid deorum est audiant foedus a vobis ruptum, nostrisque et nunc querellis adsint et mox armis, cum deorum hominumque simul violata iura exsequemur.' Romam ut rediere legati, senatus iussit alterum consulem contra Gracchum in Algidum exercitum ducere, alteri populationem finium Aequorum provinciam dedit.

The commander of the Aequians orders them to state at the oak what mandates they have from the Roman senate; he, meanwhile, would attend to other matters. A huge oak tree overhung the praetorium, whose dark shade was the seat. Then one of the envoys, departing, said: “Let this sacred oak too, and whatever of the gods there is, hear the treaty broken by you, and be present to our complaints now and soon to our arms, when we shall enforce the rights of gods and men violated together.” When the envoys returned to Rome, the senate ordered one consul to lead an army against Gracchus onto the Algidus, and to the other assigned, as his province, the ravaging of the borders of the Aequians.

Tribuni suo more impedire dilectum, et forsitan ad ultimum impedissent; sed novus subito additus terror est.

The tribunes, in their usual manner, were impeding the levy, and perhaps they would have impeded it to the last; but a new terror was suddenly added.

[26] Vis Sabinorum ingens prope ad moenia urbis infesta populatione venit; foedati agri, terror iniectus urbi est. Tum plebs benigne arma cepit; reclamantibus frustra tribunis magni duo exercitus scripti. Alterum Nautius contra Sabinos duxit, castrisque ad Eretum positis, per expeditiones parvas, plerumque nocturnis incursionibus, tantam vastitatem in Sabino agro reddidit ut comparati ad eam prope intacti bello fines Romani viderentur.

[26] A mighty force of the Sabines came near to the walls of the city with a hostile ravaging; the fields were defiled, a terror was cast into the city. Then the plebs willingly took up arms; the tribunes protesting in vain, two great armies were levied. Nautius led one against the Sabines, and, his camp pitched at Eretum, by small expeditions, for the most part by nocturnal incursions, he wrought such devastation in the Sabine land that, compared to it, the Roman frontiers seemed almost untouched by war.

Minucio neque fortuna nec vis animi eadem in gerendo negotio fuit; nam cum haud procul ab hoste castra posuisset, nulla magnopere clade accepta castris se pavidus tenebat. Quod ubi senserant hostes, crevit ex metu alieno, ut fit, audacia, et nocte adorti castra postquam parum vis aperta profecerat, munitiones postero die circumdant. Quae priusquam undique vallo obiectae clauderent exitus quinque equites inter stationes hostium emissi Romam pertulere consulem exercitumque obsideri.

For Minucius neither fortune nor strength of spirit was the same in carrying on the business; for when he had pitched camp not far from the enemy, with no great disaster received, he kept himself, fearful, within the camp. When the enemies perceived this, their audacity grew, as happens, from another’s fear; and having assailed the camp by night, after open force had profited little, they surround the fortifications the next day. Before these siege-works, with a rampart thrown up on all sides, could close the exits, five horsemen, sent out between the enemy stations, brought to Rome the report that the consul and the army were being besieged.

Nihil tam inopinatum nec tam insperatum accidere potuit. Itaque tantus pavor, tanta trepidatio fuit quanta si urbem, non castra hostes obsiderent. Nautium consulem arcessunt.

Nothing so unexpected nor so unhoped-for could have occurred. Therefore there was such great panic, such great trepidation as if the enemies were besieging the city, not the camp. They summon the consul Nautius.

In quo cum parum praesidii videretur dictatoremque dici placeret qui rem perculsam restitueret, L. Quinctius Cincinnatus consensu omnium dicitur.

In this situation, since too little aid seemed available and it pleased that a dictator be named to restore the stricken affair, L. Quinctius Cincinnatus is named by the consent of all.

Operae pretium est audire qui omnia prae divitiis humana spernunt neque honori magno locum neque virtuti putant esse, nisi ubi effuse afluant opes. Spes unica imperii populi Romani, L. Quinctius trans Tiberim, contra eum ipsum locum ubi nunc navalia sunt, quattuor iugerum colebat agrum, quae prata Quinctia vocantur. Ibi ab legatis—seu fossam fodiens palae innixus, seu cum araret, operi certe, id quod constat, agresti intentus—salute data in vicem redditaque rogatus ut, quod bene verteret ipsi reique publicae, togatus mandata senatus audiret, admiratus rogitansque 'satin salve?' togam propere e tugurio proferre uxorem Raciliam iubet.

It is worth the effort to hear those who, in comparison with riches, spurn all human things, and think there is room neither for great honor nor for virtue, unless wealth flows in lavish abundance. The sole hope of the empire of the Roman people, L. Quinctius, across the Tiber, opposite that very place where now the shipyards are, was cultivating a field of four iugera, which are called the Quinctian meadows. There, by the envoys—whether digging a ditch, leaning on his spade, or when he was plowing; certainly intent on rustic work, which is agreed—after the greeting was given and in turn returned, he was asked that, for what might turn out well for himself and for the commonwealth, he, in a toga, would hear the senate’s mandates; marveling and asking, ‘Are you quite well?’ he bids his wife, Racilia, quickly to bring out the toga from the hut.

Qua simul absterso pulvere ac sudore velatus processit, dictatorem eum legati gratulantes consalutant, in urbem vocant; qui terror sit in exercitu exponunt. Navis Quinctio publice parata fuit, transvectumque tres obviam egressi filii excipiunt, inde alii propinqui atque amici, tum patrum maior pars. Ea frequentia stipatus antecedentibus lictoribus deductus est domum.

As soon as, the dust and sweat wiped off, and cloaked in the toga, he came forth, the envoys, offering congratulations, hailed him as dictator and summoned him to the city; they set forth what terror there was in the army. A ship for Quinctius was prepared at public expense, and, when he had been ferried across, his three sons, who had gone out to meet him, received him, then other relatives and friends, and then the greater part of the senators. Hemmed in by that crowd, with the lictors going before, he was escorted home.

Et plebis concursus ingens fuit; sed ea nequaquam tam laeta Quinctium vidit, et imperium nimium et virum ipso imperio vehementiorem rata. Et illa quidem nocte nihil praeterquam vigilatum est in urbe.

And there was a huge concourse of the plebs; but they by no means saw Quinctius with such joy, reckoning both the imperium excessive and the man more vehement than the imperium itself. And indeed on that night nothing was done except that a watch was kept in the city.

[27] Postero die dictator cum ante lucem in forum venisset, magistrum equitum dicit L. Tarquitium, patriciae gentis, sed qui, cum stipendia pedibus propter paupertatem fecisset, bello tamen primus longe Romanae iuventutis habitus esset. Cum magistro equitum in contionem venit, iustitium edicit, claudi tabernas tota urbe iubet, vetat quemquam privatae quicquam rei agere; tum quicumque aetate militari essent armati cum cibariis in dies quinque coctis vallisque duodenis ante solis occasum Martio in campo adessent; quibus aetas ad militandum gravior esset, vicino militi, dum is arma pararet vallumque peteret, cibaria coquere iussit. Sic iuventus discurrit ad vallum petendum.

[27] On the next day, when the dictator had come into the forum before light, he names as Master of the Horse L. Tarquitius, of a patrician clan, but who, although he had done his terms of service on foot because of poverty, yet in war had been held far the foremost of the Roman youth. With the Master of the Horse he comes into the assembly, proclaims a iustitium, orders the shops to be closed throughout the whole city, forbids anyone to transact any private business; then he bids that all who were of military age, armed, with rations cooked for five days and with twelve stakes, be present before sunset in the Field of Mars; those whose age was too heavy for soldiering he ordered to cook rations for their soldier-neighbor, while he prepared his arms and went to procure the stake. Thus the youth runs about to seek the stake.

Sumpsere unde cuique proximum fuit; prohibitus nemo est; impigreque omnes ad edictum dictatoris praesto fuere. Inde composito agmine non itineri magis apti quam proelio si res ita tulisset, legiones ipse dictator, magister equitum suos equites ducit. In utroque agmine quas tempus ipsum poscebat adhortationes erant: adderent gradum; maturato opus esse, ut nocte ad hostem perveniri posset; consulem exercitumque Romanum obsideri, tertium diem iam clausos esse; quid quaeque nox aut dies ferat incertum esse; puncto saepe temporis maximarum rerum momenta verti.

They took from wherever was nearest to each man; no one was forbidden; and energetically all were present in obedience to the dictator’s edict. Then, with the column arranged—no more suited for a march than for battle, if the affair should so require—the dictator himself led the legions, the Master of Horse led his own cavalry. In both columns there were exhortations such as the very time demanded: let them add their pace; there was need of haste, so that the enemy might be reached by night; that the consul and the Roman army were under siege, now shut in for the third day; that what each night or day may bring is uncertain; that in a mere point of time the turning-points of the greatest affairs are often turned.

'Adcelera, signifer,' 'sequere, miles,' inter se quoque, gratificantes ducibus, clamabant. Media nocte in Algidum perveniunt et ut sensere se iam prope hostes esse, signa constituunt.

'Accelerate, standard-bearer,' 'follow, soldier,' they were shouting, also among themselves, gratifying their leaders. At midnight they arrive at Algidus, and as soon as they sensed that they were now near the enemy, they set up the standards.

[28] Ibi dictator quantum nocte prospici poterat equo circumvectus contemplatusque qui tractus castrorum quaeque forma esset, tribunis militum imperavit ut sarcinas in unum conici iubeant, militem cum armis valloque redire in ordines suos. Facta quae imperavit. Tum quo fuerant ordine in via, exercitum omnem longo agmine circumdat hostium castris et ubi signum datum sit clamorem omnes tollere iubet; clamore sublato ante se quemque ducere fossam et iacere vallum.

[28] There the dictator, having ridden around on horseback as far as could be made out by night and having surveyed what the extent of the camp was and what its form, ordered the military tribunes to order that the packs be thrown together into one place, and that the soldier return into his own ranks with arms and palisade-stake. What he ordered was done. Then, in the order in which they had been on the road, he surrounds the enemy’s camp with the whole army in a long column, and he orders that, when the signal is given, all raise a clamor; the clamor having been raised, that each in front of himself dig a ditch and throw up the rampart.

Edito imperio, signum secutum est. Iussa miles exsequitur; clamor hostes circumsonat. Superat inde castra hostium et in castra consulis venit; alibi pavorem, alibi gaudium ingens facit.

With the command issued, the signal followed. The army executes the orders; the clamor resounds around the enemies. Thence it passes beyond the enemy camp and comes into the consul’s camp; in one place it causes panic, in another immense joy.

Romani civilem esse clamorem atque auxilium adesse inter se gratulantes, ultro ex stationibus ac vigiliis territant hostem. Consul differendum negat; illo clamore non adventum modo significari sed rem ab suis coeptam, mirumque esse ni iam exteriore parte castra hostium oppugnentur. Itaque arma suos capere et se subsequi iubet.

The Romans, congratulating among themselves that the clamor was “civil” and that aid was at hand, of their own accord from the stations and watches terrify the enemy. The consul says there must be no delaying; by that shout not only is the arrival signified, but that the action has been begun by his own men, and it would be a wonder if already the enemy’s camp were not being assaulted on the outer side. Therefore he orders his men to take up arms and follow him.

Nocte initum proelium est; legionibus dictatoris clamore significant ab ea quoque parte rem in discrimine esse. Iam se ad prohibenda circumdari opera Aequi parabant cum ab interiore hoste proelio coepto, ne per media sua castra fieret eruptio, a munientibus ad pugnantes introrsum versi vacuam noctem operi dedere, pugnatumque cum consule ad lucem est. Luce prima iam circumvallati ab dictatore erant et vix adversus unum exercitum pugnam sustinebant.

At night the battle was initiated; by a shout they signaled to the dictator’s legions that on that side too the matter was in peril. Already the Aequi were preparing to prevent encircling works from being put around them, when, with the battle having been begun by the enemy on the inside, lest a sortie be made through the very midst of their camp, they turned inward from opposing the fortifiers to opposing the fighters, and gave the night vacant to the work; and it was fought with the consul until light. At first light they were already circumvallated by the dictator, and they could scarcely sustain the fight against one army.

Tum a Quinctiano exercitu, qui confestim a perfecto opere ad arma rediit, invaditur vallum. Hic instabat nova pugna: illa nihil remiserat prior. Tum ancipiti malo urgente, a proelio ad preces versi hinc dictatorem, hinc consulem orare, ne in occidione victoriam ponerent, ut inermes se inde abire sinerent.

Then by the Quinctian army, which immediately returned from the finished work to arms, the rampart is assaulted. Here a new fight pressed on; that earlier one had relaxed nothing. Then, with a double peril urgent, turned from battle to prayers, they beg now the dictator, now the consul, not to set their victory in slaughter, but to allow them, unarmed, to depart from there.

Ab consule ad dictatorem ire iussi; is ignominiam infensus addidit; Gracchum Cloelium ducem principesque alios vinctos ad se adduci iubet, oppido Corbione decedi. Sanguinis se Aequorum non egere; licere abire, sed ut exprimatur tandem confessio subactam domitamque esse gentem, sub iugum abituros. Tribus hastis iugum fit, humi fixis duabus superque eas transversa una deligata.

Having been ordered to go from the consul to the dictator; he, intent on inflicting ignominy, added a condition: he orders that Gracchus Cloelius, the leader, and the other chiefs be brought to him in chains, and that the town of Corbio be vacated. He said he had no need of Aequian blood; they were allowed to depart, but so that a confession might at last be wrung out that the nation had been subdued and tamed, they would pass under the yoke. A yoke is made with three spears, two fixed in the ground and one bound crosswise over them.

Sub hoc iugo dictator Aequos misit.

Under this yoke the dictator sent the Aequi.

[29] Castris hostium receptis plenis omnium rerum—nudos enim emiserat—praedam omnem suo tantum militi dedit; consularem exercitum ipsumque consulem increpans 'carebis' inquit 'praedae parte, miles, ex eo hoste cui prope praedae fuisti. Et tu, L. Minuci, donec consularem animum incipias habere, legatus his legionibus praeeris.' Ita se Minucius abdicat consulatu iussusque ad exercitum manet. Sed adeo tum imperio meliori animus mansuete oboediens erat, ut beneficii magis quam ignominiae hic exercitus memor et coronam auream dictatori, libram pondo, decreverit et proficiscentem eum patronum salutaverit.

[29] With the enemy’s camp recovered, full of all things—for he had sent them out naked—he gave all the booty to his own soldiers only; rebuking the consular army and the consul himself: 'You will lack,' he says, 'a share of the booty, soldier, from that enemy to whom you were nearly booty. And you, L. Minucius, until you begin to have a consular spirit, you shall command these legions as legate.' Thus Minucius resigns the consulship and, being ordered, remains with the army. But at that time the spirit was so gently obedient to better command that this army, mindful more of the benefaction than of the ignominy, decreed to the dictator a golden crown, a pound in weight, and hailed him as patron as he set out.

Romae a Q. Fabio praefecto urbis senatus habitus triumphantem Quinctium quo veniebat agmine urbem ingredi iussit. Ducti ante currum hostium duces; militaria signa praelata; secutus exercitus praeda onustus. Epulae instructae dicuntur fuisse ante omnium domos, epulantesque cum carmine triumphali et sollemnibus iocis comisantium modo currum secuti sunt.

At Rome, when a meeting of the senate had been held by Q. Fabius, the prefect of the city, he ordered Quinctius, triumphing, to enter the city with the marching column in which he was coming. The leaders of the enemy were led before the chariot; the military standards were borne in front; the army followed, laden with booty. Banquets are said to have been set out before everyone’s houses, and, feasting, with the triumphal song and with solemn jests, they followed the chariot in the manner of revellers.

Eo die L. Mamilio Tusculano adprobantibus cunctis civitas data est. Confestim se dictator magistratu abdicasset ni comitia M. Volsci, falsi testis, tenuissent. Ea ne impedirent tribuni dictatoris obstitit metus; Volscius damnatus Lanuvium in exsilium abiit.

On that day, to L. Mamilius of Tusculum, with all approving, citizenship was given. Forthwith the dictator would have abdicated his magistracy, had not the comitia concerning M. Volscius, the false witness, detained him. Lest they impede these proceedings, fear of the dictator restrained the tribunes; Volscius, condemned, went into exile to Lanuvium.

Quinctius sexto decimo die dictatura in sex menses accepta se abdicavit. Per eos dies consul Nautius ad Eretum cum Sabinis egregie pugnat; ad vastatos agros ea quoque clades accessit Sabinis. Minucio Fabius successor in Algidum missus.

Quinctius, on the sixteenth day, abdicated, although the dictatorship had been accepted for six months. During those days the consul Nautius fought excellently with the Sabines at Eretum; for the Sabines, in addition to their ravaged fields, that disaster too was added. Fabius was sent to Algidus as successor to Minucius.

Extremo anno agitatum de lege ab tribunis est; sed quia duo exercitus aberant, ne quid ferretur ad populum patres tenuere; plebes vicit ut quintum eosdem tribunos crearent. Lupos visos in Capitolio ferunt a canibus fugatos; ob id prodigium lustratum Capitolium esse. Haec eo anno gesta.

At the end of the year a law was agitated by the tribunes; but because two armies were absent, the Fathers maintained that nothing be brought before the people; the plebs prevailed that they elect the same tribunes for the fifth time. They report that wolves were seen on the Capitol, driven off by dogs; on account of that prodigy, the Capitol was lustrated. These things were done in that year.

[30] Sequuntur consules Q. Minucius M. Horatius Pulvillus. Cuius initio anni cum foris otium esset, domi seditiones iidem tribuni, eadem lex faciebat; ulteriusque ventum foret —adeo exarserant animis—ni velut dedita opera nocturno impetu Aequorum Corbione amissum praesidium nuntiatum esset. Senatum consules vocant; iubentur subitarium scribere exercitum atque in Algidum ducere.

[30] The consuls following are Q. Minucius and M. Horatius Pulvillus. At the beginning of their year, since there was leisure abroad, at home the same tribunes and the same law were making seditions; and it would have gone further—so inflamed were their spirits—had it not been reported, as if by set design, that by a nocturnal assault of the Aequi the garrison at Corbio had been lost. The consuls summon the senate; they are ordered to enroll a sudden levy and to lead it to Mount Algidus.

Inde posito legis certamine nova de dilectu contentio orta; vincebaturque consulare imperium tribunicio auxilio cum alius additur terror, Sabinum exercitum praedatum descendisse in agros Romanos, inde ad urbem venire. Is metus perculit ut scribi militem tribuni sinerent, non sine pactione tamen ut quoniam ipsi quinquennium elusi essent paruvmque id plebi praesidium foret, decem deinde tribuni plebis crearentur. Expressit hoc necessitas patribus: id modo excepere ne postea eosdem tribunos viderent.

Then, the contest over the law having been set aside, a new contention arose about the levy; and the consular imperium was being overcome by tribunician aid, when another terror is added: that a Sabine army had come down to plunder into the Roman fields, and from there was coming toward the city. That fear struck them so that the tribunes allowed troops to be enrolled, not without a pact, however—namely that, since they themselves had been eluded for five years and that would be a small praesidium for the plebs, thereafter ten tribunes of the plebs should be created. Necessity wrung this from the patricians: they made only this exception, that thereafter they should not see the same tribunes.

Tribunicia comitia, ne id quoque post bellum ut cetera vanum esset, extemplo habita. Tricensimo sexto anno a primis tribuni plebis decem creati sunt, bini ex singulis classibus; itaque cautum est ut postea crearentur. Dilectu deinde habito Minucius contra Sabinos profectus non invenit hostem.

Tribunician elections, lest that too after the war be vain like the rest, were held immediately. In the 36th year from the first, ten tribunes of the plebs were created, two from each class; and thus it was provided that thereafter they should be created in that way. Then, a levy having been held, Minucius set out against the Sabines and did not find the enemy.

Horatius, cum iam Aequi Corbione interfecto praesidio Ortonam etiam cepissent, in Algido pugnat; multos mortales occidit; fugat hostem non ex Algido modo sed a Corbione Ortonaque. Corbionem etiam diruit propter proditum praesidium.

Horatius, when now the Aequi, with the garrison at Corbio slain, had even seized Ortona, fights on the Algidus; he kills many mortals; he puts the enemy to flight not only from Algidus but from Corbio and Ortona. He also razes Corbio on account of the betrayed garrison.

[31] Deinde M. Valerius Sp. Verginius consules facti. Domi forisque otium fuit; annona propter aquarum intemperiem laboratum est. De Aventino publicando lata lex est.

[31] Then Marcus Valerius and Spurius Verginius were made consuls. There was peace at home and abroad; the grain-supply suffered because of the excess of the waters. A law was passed to make the Aventine public property.

Tribuni plebis iidem refecti. Hi sequente anno, T. Romilio C. Veturio consulibus, legem omnibus contionibus suis celebrant: pudere se numeri sui nequiquam aucti, si ea res aeque suo biennio iaceret ac toto superiore lustro iacuisset. Cum maxime haec agerent, trepidi nuntii ab Tusculo veniunt Aequos in agro Tusculano esse.

The same tribunes of the plebs were re-elected. In the following year, with T. Romilius and C. Veturius as consuls, they celebrate the law in all their assemblies: they were ashamed that their number had been increased to no purpose, if that measure were to lie just as neglected during their own two-year term as it had lain throughout the entire preceding five-year period. While they are most actively engaged in these matters, alarmed messengers come from Tusculum: the Aequi are in the Tusculan territory.

Fecit pudorem recens eius populi meritum morandi auxilii. Ambo consules cum exercitu missi hostem in sua sede, in Algido inveniunt. Ibi pugnatum.

The recent merit of that people made it a shame to delay assistance. Both consuls, sent with the army, find the enemy in their own seat, on Algidus. There battle was fought.

Supra septem milia hostium caesa, alii fugati; praeda parta ingens. Eam propter inopiam aerarii consules vendiderunt. Invidiae tamen res ad exercitum fuit, eademque tribunis materiam criminandi ad plebem consules praebuit.

Above seven thousand of the enemy were cut down, others routed; immense booty was acquired. This the consuls sold on account of the poverty of the treasury. Nevertheless, the matter was a cause of ill-will among the army, and the same furnished the tribunes material for accusing the consuls before the plebs.

Itaque ergo, ut magistratu abiere, Sp. Tarpeio A. Aternio consulibus dies dicta est Romilio ab C. Caluio Cicerone tribuno plebis, Veturio ab L. Alieno aedile plebis. Uterque magna patrum indignatione damnatus, Romilius decem milibus aeris, Veturius quindecim. Nec haec priorum calamitas consulum segniores novos fecerat consules.

And so, therefore, when they departed from office, in the consulship of Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aternius, a day was appointed for trial: for Romilius by Gaius Calvius Cicero, tribune of the plebs; for Veturius by Lucius Alienus, aedile of the plebs. Each, amid great indignation of the senators, was condemned—Romilius to ten thousand asses of bronze, Veturius to fifteen. Nor did this calamity of the former consuls make the new consuls more sluggish.

Et se damnari posse aiebant, et plebem et tribunos legem ferre non posse. Tum abiecta lege quae promulgata consenuerat, tribuni lenius agere cum patribus: finem tandem certaminum facerent. Si plebeiae leges displicerent, at illi communiter legum latores et ex plebe et ex patribus, qui utrisque utilia ferrent quaeque aequandae libertatis essent, sinerent creari.

And they said that they themselves could be condemned, and that the plebeians and the tribunes could not bring a law. Then, with the law which had been promulgated and had grown obsolete thrown aside, the tribunes began to deal more mildly with the patricians: let them at last make an end of the contests. If plebeian laws were displeasing, then let them allow that common lawgivers be created, both from the plebs and from the patricians, who would carry measures useful to both and would be for the equalizing of liberty.

Rem non aspernabantur patres; daturum leges neminem nisi ex patribus aiebant. Cum de legibus conveniret, de latore tantum discreparet, missi legati Athenas Sp. Postumius Albus A. Manlius P. Sulpicius Camerinus, iussique inclitas leges Solonis describere et aliarum Graeciae civitatium instituta mores iuraque noscere.

The patres did not spurn the matter; they said that no one would give the laws except from the patres. Since there was agreement about the laws, and they differed only about the proposer, envoys were sent to Athens—Sp. Postumius Albus, A. Manlius, P. Sulpicius Camerinus—and they were ordered to transcribe the renowned laws of Solon and to learn the institutions, mores, and rights of the other cities of Greece.

[32] Ab externis bellis quietus annus fuit, quietior insequens P. Curiatio et Sex. Quinctilio consulibus, perpetuo silentio tribunorum, quod primo legatorum qui Athenas ierant legumque peregrinarum exspectatio praebuit, dein duo simul mala ingentia exorta, fames pestilentiaque, foeda homini, foeda pecori. Vastati agri sunt, urbs adsiduis exhausta funeribus; multae et clarae lugubres domus.

[32] The year was quiet from external wars; the following, under P. Curiatius and Sex. Quinctilius as consuls, quieter still, through the perpetual silence of the tribunes—which at first the expectation of the envoys who had gone to Athens and of foreign laws produced, then two vast evils arising at once, famine and pestilence, foul to man, foul to cattle. The fields were laid waste; the city was drained by continual funerals; many houses, and illustrious ones, were in mourning.

Flamen Quirinalis Ser. Cornelius mortuus, augur C. Horatius Pulvillus, in cuius locum C. Veturium, eo cupidius quia damnatus a plebe erat, augures legere. Mortuus consul Quinctilius, quattuor tribuni plebi.

The Quirinal flamen Ser. Cornelius died, the augur C. Horatius Pulvillus; in whose place the augurs chose C. Veturius, all the more eagerly because he had been condemned by the plebs. The consul Quinctilius died, and four tribunes of the plebs.

Multiplici clade foedatus annus; ab hoste otium fuit.

The year was defiled by manifold calamity; there was respite from the enemy.

Inde consules C. Menenius P. Sestius Capitolinus. Neque eo anno quicquam belli externi fuit: domi motus orti. Iam redierant legati cum Atticis legibus.

Then the consuls were Gaius Menenius and Publius Sestius Capitolinus. Nor in that year was there any foreign war; disturbances arose at home. By now the envoys had returned with the Attic laws.

Eo intentius instabant tribuni ut tandem scribendarum legum initium fieret. Placet creari decemviros sine provocatione, et ne quis eo anno alius magistratus esset. Admiscerenturne plebeii controversia aliquamdiu fuit; postremo concessum patribus, modo ne lex Icilia de Aventino aliaeque sacratae leges abrogarentur.

All the more intently the tribunes pressed that at last a beginning be made of writing the laws. It was decided to create decemvirs without appeal (without the right of provocation), and that in that year there should be no other magistrate. Whether plebeians should be admitted was a matter of controversy for some time; finally it was conceded to the patricians, provided only that the Lex Icilia concerning the Aventine and the other sacrosanct laws were not abrogated.

[33] Anno trecentensimo altero quam condita Roma erat iterum mutatur forma civitatis, ab consulibus ad decemviros, quemadmodum ab regibus ante ad consules venerat, translato imperio. Minus insignis, quia non diuturna, mutatio fuit. Laeta enim principia magistratus eius nimis luxuriavere; eo citius lapsa res est repetitumque duobus uti mandaretur consulum nomen imperiumque.

[33] In the 302nd year after Rome was founded, the form of the commonwealth was again changed, the imperium being transferred from the consuls to the decemvirs, just as earlier it had come from the kings to the consuls. The change was less noteworthy because it was not long-lasting. For the happy beginnings of that magistracy luxuriated too much; therefore the state more quickly slipped, and recourse was had to entrust to two the name and imperium of the consuls.

Decemviri creati Ap. Claudius, T. Genucius, P. Sestius, L. Veturius, C. Iulius, A. Manlius, P. Sulpicius, P. Curiatius, T. Romilius, Sp. Postumius. Claudio et Genucio, quia designati consules in eum annum fuerant, pro honore honos redditus, et Sestio, alteri consulum prioris anni, quod eam rem collega invito ad patres rettulerat. His proximi habiti legati tres qui Athenas ierant, simul ut pro legatione tam longinqua praemio esset honos, simul peritos legum peregrinarum ad condenda nova iura usui fore credebant.

The decemvirs were created: Appius Claudius, Titus Genucius, Publius Sestius, Lucius Veturius, Gaius Julius, Aulus Manlius, Publius Sulpicius, Publius Curiatius, Titus Romilius, Spurius Postumius. To Claudius and Genucius, because they had been designated consuls for that year, honor was repaid for honor; and to Sestius, the other of the consuls of the previous year, because he had brought that matter before the fathers with his colleague unwilling. Ranked next to these were the three legates who had gone to Athens, both so that honor might be a prize for so long a legation, and because they believed that men skilled in foreign laws would be of use for framing new laws.

Supplevere ceteri numerum. Graves quoque aetate electos novissimis suffragiis ferunt, quo minus ferociter aliorum scitis adversarentur. Regimen totius magistratus penes Appium erat favore plebis, adeoque novum sibi ingenium induerat ut plebicola repente omnisque aurae popularis captator evaderet pro truci saevoque insectatore plebis.

The rest made up the number. They say that men weighty with age were also elected by the latest ballots, so that they might oppose the decrees of others less ferociously. The governance of the whole magistracy was in Appius’s hands by the favor of the plebs, and he had put on so new a disposition that he suddenly turned pleb‑friendly, a catcher of every popular breeze, instead of a grim and savage harrier of the plebs.

Decimo die ius populo singuli reddebant. Eo die penes praefectum iuris fasces duodecim erant: collegis novem singuli accensi apparebant. Et in unica concordia inter ipsos, qui consensus privatis interdum inutilis est, summa adversus alios aequitas erat.

On the tenth day they rendered justice to the people, each in turn. On that day the twelve fasces were in the hands of the prefect of justice; the nine colleagues were attended by one accensus apiece. And in their singular concord among themselves—which kind of consensus is sometimes useless for private persons—there was the utmost equity toward others.

Moderationis eorum argumentum exemplo unius rei notasse satis erit. Cum sine provocatione creati essent, defosso cadavere domi apud P. Sestium, patriciae gentis virum, invento prolatoque in contionem, in re iuxta manifesta atque atroci C. Iulius decemvir diem Sestio dixit et accusator ad populum exstitit, cuius rei iudex legitimus erat, decessitque iure suo, ut demptum de vi magistratus populi libertati adiceret.

It will be enough to have noted an argument of their moderation by the example of a single matter. Although they had been created without appeal, when a buried corpse was found in the house of P. Sestius, a man of patrician clan, and was brought forward into the assembly, in a case equally manifest and atrocious, C. Julius, a decemvir, named a day for Sestius and stood forth as accuser before the people—of which matter he was the legitimate judge—and he withdrew from his own right, so as to add back to the liberty of the people what had been taken away by the power of the magistracy.

[34] Cum promptum hoc ius velut ex oraculo incorruptum pariter ab iis summi infimique ferrent, tum legibus condendis opera dabatur; ingentique hominum exspectatione propositis decem tabulis, populum ad contionem advocaverunt et, quod bonum faustum felixque rei publicae ipsis liberisque eorum esset, ire et legere leges propositas iussere: se, quantum decem hominum ingeniis provideri potuerit, omnibus, summis infimisque, iura aequasse: plus pollere multorum ingenia consiliaque. Versarent in animis secum unamquamque rem, agitarent deinde sermonibus, atque in medium quid in quaque re plus minusve esset conferrent. Eas leges habiturum populum Romanum quas consensus omnium non iussisse latas magis quam tulisse videri posset.

[34] While this law, ready at hand and as if incorrupt from an oracle, was being borne alike by them both the highest and the lowest, then effort was given to the framing of laws; and, the ten tables having been posted amid the vast expectation of men, they called the people to an assembly and ordered them, whatever might be good, auspicious, and felicitous for the commonwealth, for themselves and their children, to go and read the proposed laws: that they, so far as could be provided for by the talents of ten men, had equalized rights for all, highest and lowest: that the talents and counsels of many have greater power. Let each matter be turned over with themselves in their minds, then be agitated in conversations, and let them bring into the open what in each matter there was more or less. The Roman people would have those laws which the consensus of all could seem not so much to have ordered to be enacted as to have enacted.

Cum ad rumores hominum de unoquoque legum capite editos satis correctae viderentur, centuriatis comitiis decem tabularum leges perlatae sunt, qui nunc quoque, in hoc immenso aliarum super alias acervatarum legum cumulo, fons omnis publici privatique est iuris. Volgatur deinde rumor duas deesse tabulas quibus adiectis absolvi posse velut corpus omnis Romani iuris. Ea exspectatio, cum dies comitiorum adpropinquaret, desiderium decemviros iterum creandi fecit.

When, as to the reports of men put forth about each head of the laws, they seemed sufficiently corrected, in the Centuriate Comitia the laws of the ten tablets were carried—laws which even now, in this immense cumulus of other laws piled one upon another, are the fount of all public and private ius. Then a rumor was spread abroad that two tablets were lacking, with the addition of which the whole corpus of Roman ius could, as it were, be completed. That expectation, as the day of the comitia was drawing near, produced a desire to create the decemvirs again.

Iam plebs, praeterquam quod consulum nomen haud secus quam regum perosa erat, ne tribunicium quidem auxilium, cedentibus in vicem appellationi decemviris, quaerebat.

Now the plebs, besides that it detested the name of consuls no less than that of kings, was not even seeking tribunitian aid, the decemvirs yielding in turn to appeals.

[35] Postquam vero comitia decemviris creandis in trinum nundinum indicta sunt, tanta exarsit ambitio, ut primores quoque civitatis—metu, credo, ne tanti possessio imperii, vacuo ab se relicto loco, haud satis dignis pateret—prensarent homines, honorem summa ope a se impugnatum ab ea plebe, cum qua contenderant, suppliciter petentes. Demissa iam in discrimen dignitas ea aetate iisque honoribus actis stimulabat Ap. Claudium. Nescires utrum inter decemviros an inter candidatos numerares; propior interdum petendo quam gerendo magistratui erat.

[35] But after the elections for creating the decemvirs were proclaimed with three market-days’ notice, such ambition flared up that even the leading men of the state—out of fear, I believe, lest the possession of so great a power, the place being left vacant by themselves, should lie open to men not quite worthy—went about canvassing people, humbly begging from that plebs with whom they had contended the honor which they had attacked with all their might. His dignity, already brought down into jeopardy at that time and considering the honors he had held, was goading Ap. Claudius. You would not know whether to number him among the decemvirs or among the candidates; at times he was nearer to the magistracy by seeking it than by exercising it.

Criminari optimates, extollere candidatorum levissimum quemque humillimumque, ipse medius inter tribunicios, Duillios Iciliosque, in foro volitare, per illos se plebi venditare, donec collegae quoque, qui unice illi dediti fuerant ad id tempus, coniecere in eum oculos, mirantes quid sibi vellet: apparere nihil sinceri esse; profecto haud gratuitam in tanta superbia comitatem fore; nimium in ordinem se ipsum cogere et volgari cum privatis non tam properantis abire magistratu quam viam ad continuandum magistratum quaerentis esse. Propalam obviam ire cupiditati parum ausi, obsecundando mollire impetum adgrediuntur. Comitiorum illi habendorum, quando minimus natu sit, munus consensu iniungunt.

To criminize the Optimates, to extol each lightest and lowliest of the candidates; he himself, in the midst among the tribunician men, the Duillii and the Icilii, to flit about the forum, to vend himself to the plebs through them—until even his colleagues, who up to that time had been uniquely devoted to him, cast their eyes upon him, wondering what he meant: it appeared there was nothing sincere; assuredly, that in such great superbia his comity would not be gratis; that his overmuch coercing himself into line and making himself common with private citizens was the part, not so much of one hastening to depart from magistracy, as of one seeking a way to continue the magistracy. Not daring openly to go to meet his desire, they set about to soften its onset by complying. By common consent they impose on him the duty of holding the comitia, since he was the youngest in years.

Ars haec erat, ne semet ipse creare posset, quod praeter tribunos plebi—et id ipsum pessimo exemplo—nemo unquam fecisset. Ille enimvero, quod bene vertat, habiturum se comitia professus, impedimentum pro occasione arripuit; deiectisque honore per coitionem duobus Quinctiis, Capitolino et Cincinnato, et patruo suo C. Claudio, constantissimo viro in optimatium causa, et aliis eiusdem fastigii civibus, nequaquam splendore vitae pares decemviros creat, se in primis, quod haud secus factum improbabant boni quam nemo facere ausurum crediderat. Creati cum eo M. Cornelius Maluginensis M. Sergius L. Minucius Q. Fabius Vibulanus Q. Poetelius T. Antonius Merenda K. Duillius Sp. Oppius Cornicen M'. Rabuleius.

This was the device: that he might not be able to create himself, a thing which, apart from the tribunes of the plebs—and that itself a very bad precedent—no one had ever done. He, however, declaring (may it turn out well) that he would hold the elections, seized the impediment as an opportunity; and, the two Quinctii, Capitolinus and Cincinnatus, cast down from honor through a coalition, and his uncle G. Claudius, a most steadfast man in the cause of the optimates, and other citizens of the same rank, he appoints as decemvirs men by no means equal in splendor of life, himself in the first place—a deed which the good disapproved when done no less than they had believed that no one would dare to do it. Created with him were M. Cornelius Maluginensis, M. Sergius, L. Minucius, Q. Fabius Vibulanus, Q. Poetelius, T. Antonius Merenda, K. Duillius, Sp. Oppius Cornicen, M'. Rabuleius.

[36] Ille finis Appio alienae personae ferendae fuit. Suo iam inde vivere ingenio coepit novosque collegas, iam priusquam inirent magistratum, in suos mores formare. Cottidie coibant remotis arbitris; inde impotentibus instructi consiliis, quae secreto ab aliis coquebant, iam haud dissimulando superbiam, rari aditus, conloquentibus difficiles, ad idus Maias rem perduxere.

[36] That was the end for Appius of bearing an alien persona. From then he began to live by his own nature, and to form his new colleagues—even before they entered the magistracy—into his own ways. Daily they met, with arbiters removed; thence, equipped with unbridled counsels, which they were cooking up in secret apart from others, now by no means dissembling their arrogance—access rare, difficult for interlocutors—they brought the matter to the Ides of May.

Idus tum Maiae sollemnes ineundis magistratibus erant. Inito igitur magistratu primum honoris diem denuntiatione ingentis terroris insignem fecere. Nam cum ita priores decemviri servassent ut unus fasces haberet et hoc insigne regium in orbem, suam cuiusque vicem, per omnes iret, subito omnes cum duodenis fascibus prodiere.

The Ides then of May were the solemn day for entering upon magistracies. Therefore, with the magistracy entered, they made the very first day of office remarkable by a proclamation of tremendous terror. For whereas the earlier decemvirs had observed that one alone should have the fasces and that this royal insignia should go around in rotation, each man’s proper turn passing through all, suddenly they all came forth with twelve fasces each.

Centum viginti lictores forum impleverant et cum fascibus secures inligatas praeferebant; nec attinuisse demi securem, cum sine provocatione creati essent, interpretabantur. Decem regum species erat, multiplicatusque terror non infimis solum sed primoribus patrum, ratis caedis causam ac principium quaeri, ut si quis memorem libertatis vocem aut in senatu aut in populo misisset statim virgae securesque etiam ad ceterorum metum expedirentur. Nam praeterquam quod in populo nihil erat praesidii sublata provocatione, intercessionem quoque consensu sustulerant, cum priores decemviri appellatione collegae corrigi reddita ab se iura tulissent et quaedam, quae sui iudicii videri possent, ad populum reiecissent.

One hundred twenty lictors had filled the forum and were carrying before them fasces with axes bound in; and they interpreted that it had not pertained to remove the axe, since they had been created without the right of appeal. There was the appearance of ten kings, and the terror was multiplied not only for the lowest but for the foremost of the patres, reckoning that a cause and beginning of slaughter was being sought, so that, if anyone should have sent forth a voice mindful of liberty either in the senate or among the people, at once rods and axes would be made ready, even for the fear of the rest. For besides the fact that in the people there was no protection with appeal removed, they had also taken away intercession by common consent, whereas the earlier decemvirs had enacted that rights be corrected by an appeal to a colleague—this appeal having been restored by themselves—and had referred to the people certain matters which might seem to be of their own judgment.

Aliquamdiu aequatus inter omnes terror fuit; paulatim totus vertere in plebem coepit; abstinebatur a patribus; in humiliores libidinose crudeliterque consulebatur. Hominum, non causarum toti erant, ut apud quos gratia vim aequi haberet. Iudicia domi conflabant, pronuntiabant in foro.

For some time the terror was equal among all; little by little it began to turn wholly upon the plebeians; there was forbearance toward the patricians; against the humbler men proceedings were taken wantonly and cruelly. They were wholly for persons, not for causes, as among those with whom favor has the force of equity. They forged judgments at home, they pronounced them in the forum.

Si quis collegam appellasset, ab eo ad quem venerat ita discedebat ut paeniteret non prioris decreto stetisse. Opinio etiam sine auctore exierat non in praesentis modo temporis eos iniuriam conspirasse, sed foedus clandestinum inter ipsos iure iurando ictum, ne comitia haberent perpetuoque decemviratu possessum semel obtinerent imperium.

If anyone appealed to a colleague, he departed from the one to whom he had come in such a way that he regretted not having stood by the earlier decree. A report too, without an author, had gone out that they had conspired not only for the injustice of the present time, but that a clandestine pact had been struck among themselves with a sworn oath, that they should not hold elections and that, by a perpetual decemvirate, they might retain the power once seized.

[37] Circumspectare tum patriciorum voltus plebeii et inde libertatis captare auram, unde servitutem timendo in eum statum rem publicam adduxerant. Primores patrum odisse decemviros, odisse plebem; nec probare quae fierent, et credere haud indignis accidere; avide ruendo ad libertatem in servitutem elapsos iuuare nolle; cumulari quoque iniurias, ut taedio praesentium consules duo tandem et status pristinus rerum in desiderium veniant. Iam et processerat pars maior anni et duae tabulae legum ad prioris anni decem tabulas erant adiectae, nec quicquam iam supererat, si eae quoque leges centuriatis comitiis perlatae essent, cur eo magistratu rei publicae opus esset.

[37] Then the plebeians were casting their eyes around at the faces of the patricians and from that quarter were trying to catch a breath of liberty, from whence, by fearing servitude, they had brought the commonwealth into that condition. The leading men of the patricians hated the decemvirs, hated the plebs; they did not approve what was being done, and they believed it to befall men not undeserving. They were unwilling to help those who, by greedily rushing toward liberty, had slipped into servitude; wrongs, too, were being heaped up, so that, out of weariness of present conditions, at length two consuls and the former status of affairs might come into desire. Already the larger part of the year had elapsed, and two tablets of laws had been added to the ten tablets of the previous year, and now nothing remained—if those laws too were carried in the Centuriate Assemblies—why the commonwealth should have need of that magistracy.

Exspectabant quam mox consulibus creandis comitia edicerentur; id modo plebes agitabat quonam modo tribuniciam potestatem, munimentum libertati, rem intermissam, repararent; cum interim mentio comitiorum nulla fieri. Et decemviri, qui primo tribunicios homines, quia id populare habebatur, circum se ostentaverant plebi, patriciis iuvenibus saepserant latera. Eorum catervae tribunalia obsederant; hi ferre agere plebem plebisque res, cum fortuna, qua quidquid cupitum foret, potentioris esset.

They were waiting to see how soon the comitia would be proclaimed for creating consuls; the plebs was concerned only with how they might repair the tribunician power, the bulwark of liberty, a function that had been intermitted; meanwhile no mention at all was made of the comitia. And the decemvirs, who at first had displayed about themselves to the plebs tribunician men, because that was held to be popular, had hedged their sides with patrician youths. Bands of these had beset the tribunals; these men were the ones to bring forward and to carry the plebs and the plebeian interests—since Fortune, on whose side whatever is desired belongs to the stronger party, was theirs.

Et iam ne tergo quidem abstinebatur; virgis caedi, alii securi subici; et, ne gratuita crudelitas esset, bonorum donatio sequi domini supplicium. Hac mercede iuventus nobilis corrupta non modo non ire obviam iniuriae, sed propalam licentiam suam malle quam omnium libertatem.

And now not even the back was spared; men were beaten with rods, others were subjected to the axe; and, lest the cruelty be gratuitous, a donation of the goods followed the master’s punishment. By this wage the noble youth, corrupted, not only did not go to meet the injury, but openly preferred their own license to the liberty of all.

[38] Idus Maiae venere. Nullis subrogatis magistratibus, privati pro decemviris, neque animis ad imperium inhibendum imminutis neque ad speciem honoris insignibus prodeunt. Id vero regnum haud dubie videri.

[38] The Ides of May came. With no magistrates subrogated, private persons came forth in place of the decemvirs, neither with spirits diminished for restraining command nor with insignia for the appearance of honor. That indeed seemed, without doubt, to be kingship.

Deploratur in perpetuum libertas, nec vindex quisquam exsistit aut futurus videtur. Nec ipsi solum desponderant animos, sed contemni coepti erant a finitimis populis, imperiumque ibi esse ubi non esset libertas, indignabantur. Sabini magna manu incursionem in agrum Romanum fecere; lateque populati cum hominum atque pecudum inulti praedas egissent, recepto ad Eretum quod passim vagatum erat agmine castra locant, spem in discordia Romana ponentes: eam impedimentum dilectui fore.

Liberty is lamented in perpetuity, nor does any avenger arise or seem likely to do so. Nor did they themselves alone lose heart, but they had begun to be contemned by the neighboring peoples, and they were indignant that dominion should be there where freedom was not. The Sabines, with a great hand, made an incursion into the Roman territory; and, having ravaged far and wide, when they had driven off unpunished spoils of men and of cattle, having called back to Eretum the column which had roamed everywhere, they pitch camp, placing their hope in Roman discord: that it would be an impediment to the levy.

Non nuntii solum sed per urbem agrestium fuga trepidationem iniecit. Decemviri consultant quid opus facto sit, destituti inter patrum et plebis odia. Addidit terrorem insuper alium fortuna.

Not the messengers alone, but the flight of country people through the city, threw the city into trepidation. The decemvirs deliberate what needs to be done, left deserted amid the hatreds of the patricians and the plebs. Fortune, moreover, added another terror besides.

Aequi alia ex parte castra in Algido locant depopulanturque inde excursionibus Tusculanum agrum; legati ea ab Tusculo, praesidium orantes, nuntiant. Is pavor perculit decemviros ut senatum, simul duobus circumstantibus urbem bellis, consulerent. Citari iubent in curiam patres, haud ignari quanta invidiae immineret tempestas: omnes vastati agri periculorumque imminentium causas in se congesturos; temptationemque eam fore abolendi sibi magistratus, ni consensu resisterent imperioque inhibendo acriter in paucos praeferocis animi conatus aliorum comprimerent.

Aequi on another side pitch camp on the Algidus and from there by excursions lay waste the Tusculan territory; legates from Tusculum, praying for a garrison, report these things. That panic struck the decemvirs, so that, with two wars at once encircling the city, they consulted the senate. They order the Fathers to be summoned into the Curia, not unaware what a tempest of odium was impending: that all men, their fields ravaged and dangers impending, would heap the causes upon themselves; and that this would be an attempt to abolish their magistracy, unless with consensus they should resist, and, by restraining with their imperium sharply against a few men of over-fierce spirit, they should suppress the attempts of the others.

Postquam audita vox in foro est praeconis patres in curiam ad decemviros vocantis, velut nova res, quia intermiserant iam diu morem consulendi senatus, mirabundam plebem convertit quidnam incidisset cur ex tanto intervallo rem desuetam usurparent; hostibus belloque gratiam habendam quod solitum quicquam liberae civitati fieret. Circumspectare omnibus fori partibus senatorem, raroque usquam noscitare; curiam inde ac solitudinem circa decemviros intueri, cum et ipsi suum invisum consensu imperium, et plebs, quia privatis ius non esset vocandi senatum, non convenire patres interpretarentur; iam caput fieri libertatem repetentium, si se plebs comitem senatui det et quemadmodum patres vocati non coeant in senatum, sic plebs abnuat dilectum. Haec fremunt plebes.

After the voice of the herald was heard in the forum calling the senators into the curia to the decemvirs, as a kind of new thing—because they had long since interrupted the custom of consulting the senate—it turned the plebs, marveling, to ask what had fallen out that they should, after so long an interval, usurp a disused practice; that gratitude was to be owed to the enemies and to the war, because in a free commonwealth anything customary was being done. They look around in all parts of the forum for a senator, and can scarcely anywhere recognize one; then they gaze at the curia and the solitude around the decemvirs, since both they interpreted their power, hateful by common consent, and the plebs—because private persons had no right of summoning the senate—interpreted that the senators were not assembling; that now a rallying-point would be made for those reclaiming liberty, if the plebs should give itself as a companion to the senate, and that just as the fathers, though called, do not come together into the senate, so the plebs should refuse the levy. These things the plebs mutters.

Patrum haud fere quisquam in foro, in urbe rari erant. Indignitate rerum cesserant in agros, suarumque rerum erant amissa publica, tantum ab iniuria se abesse rati quantum a coetu congressuque impotentium dominorum se amovissent. Postquam citati non conveniebant, dimissi circa domos apparitores simul ad pignera capienda sciscitandumque num consulto detractarent referunt senatum in agris esse.

Hardly any of the senators were in the forum; in the city they were rare. In indignation at the state of affairs they had withdrawn to their fields, and were about their own concerns, public business having been let go; they reckoned themselves to be as far from injury as they had removed themselves from the concourse and congress of unbridled masters. After the summoned did not assemble, attendants were sent around to their homes, both to take pledges and to inquire whether they were deliberately refusing; they report that the senate is in the countryside.

Laetius id decemviris accidit quam si praesentes detractare imperium referrent. Iubent acciri omnes, senatumque in diem posterum edicunt; qui aliquanto spe ipsorum frequentior convenit. Quo facto proditam a patribus plebs libertatem rata, quod iis qui iam magistratu abissent privatisque si vis abesset, tamquam iure cogentibus, senatus paruisset.

That fell out more joyfully for the decemvirs than if, with the senators present, they had reported a refusal of their imperium. They order all to be summoned, and they proclaim the senate for the following day; which assembled somewhat more numerous than their expectation. When this had been done, the plebs, thinking that liberty had been betrayed by the Fathers, because the senate had obeyed, as though they were compelling by right, those who had already gone out of magistracy and who—apart from force—were private persons.

[39] Sed magis oboedienter ventum in curiam esse quam obnoxie dictas sententias accepimus. L. Valerium Potitum proditum memoriae est post relationem Ap. Claudi, priusquam ordine sententiae rogarentur, postulando ut de re publica liceret dicere, prohibentibus minaciter decemviris proditurum se ad plebem denuntiantem, tumultum excivisse. Nec minus ferociter M. Horatium Barbatum isse in certamen, decem Tarquinios appellantem admonentemque Valeriis et Horatiis ducibus pulsos reges.

[39] But we have learned that the coming into the Curia was more compliant than that the opinions were delivered in a servile fashion. It is handed down to memory that L. Valerius Potitus, after the proposal of Ap. Claudius, before the opinions were asked in order, by demanding that it be permitted to speak concerning the commonwealth, the decemvirs menacingly forbidding, by declaring that he would go forth to the plebs, stirred up a tumult. And no less fiercely did M. Horatius Barbatus enter the contest, calling them ten Tarquins and reminding that under Valerii and Horatii as leaders the kings had been driven out.

Nec nominis homines tum pertaesum esse, quippe quo Iovem appellari fas sit, quo Romulum, conditorem urbis, deincepsque reges, quod sacris etiam ut sollemne retentum sit: superbiam violentiamque tum perosus regis. Quae si in rege tum aut in filio regis ferenda non fuerint, quem eadem laturum in tot privatis? Viderent ne vetando in curia libere homines loqui extra curiam etiam moverent vocem; neque se videre qui sibi minus privato ad contionem populum vocare quam illis senatum cogere liceat.

Nor were men then weary of the name, seeing that by it it is lawful to call Jupiter, by it Romulus, the founder of the city, and thereafter the kings, and that in the sacred rites it too has been retained as a solemn usage: what they then detested was the king’s superbia and violence. If these were not to be borne in a king then, or in a king’s son, who would bear the same in so many private persons? Let them take care that by forbidding men to speak freely in the curia they do not also set a voice in motion outside the curia; nor does he see why it should be less lawful for himself, a private man, to call the people to a contio than for them to convene the senate.

Ubi vellent experirentur quanto fortior dolor libertate sua vindicanda quam cupiditas in iniusta dominatione esset. De bello Sabino eos referre, tamquam maius ullum populo Romano bellum sit quam cum iis qui legum ferendarum causa creati nihil iuris in civitate reliquerint; qui comitia, qui annuos magistratus, qui vicissitudinem imperitandi, quod unum exaequandae sit libertatis, sustulerint; qui privati fasces et regium imperium habeant. Fuisse regibus exactis patricios magistratus; creatos postea post secessionem plebis plebeios; cuius illi partis essent, rogitare.

Let them, whenever they wished, test how much stronger the indignation in vindicating their own liberty is than the desire in unjust domination. That they are reporting about the Sabine war, as though any war were greater for the Roman people than with those who, created for the purpose of passing laws, have left nothing of right in the commonwealth; who have abolished the assemblies, the annual magistracies, the vicissitude of commanding—which alone is for the equalizing of liberty; who, as private men, hold the fasces and a royal imperium. That, with the kings driven out, the magistrates were patrician; afterwards, after the secession of the plebs, plebeian magistrates were created; they kept asking to which order those men belonged.

Populares? Quid enim eos per populum egisse? Optimates?

Populares? What, indeed, have they carried through by the people? Optimates?

Qui anno iam prope senatum non habuerint, tunc ita habeant ut de re publica loqui prohibeant? Ne nimium in metu alieno spei ponerent; graviora quae patiantur videri iam hominibus quam quae metuant.

Those who for almost a year now have not held a senate—then hold it in such a way that they forbid speaking about the republic? Let them not place too much hope in another’s fear; let it seem now to people that the things they suffer are more grievous than the things they fear.

[40] Haec vociferante Horatio cum decemviri nec irae nec ignoscendi modum reperirent nec quo evasura res esset cernerent, C. Claudi, qui patruus Appi decemviri erat, oratio fuit precibus quam iurgio similior, orantis per sui fratris parentisque eius manes ut civilis potius societatis in qua natus esset, quam foederis nefarie icti cum collegis meminisset. Multo id magis se illius causa orare quam rei publicae; quippe rem publicam, si a volentibus nequeat, ab invitis ius expetituram; sed ex magno certamine magnas excitari ferme iras; earum eventum se horrere. Cum aliud praeterquam de quo rettulissent decemviri dicere prohiberent, Claudium interpellandi verecundia fuit.

[40] While Horatius was vociferating these things, and the decemvirs could find neither a measure for anger nor for forgiving, nor discern whither the matter would escape, the speech of Gaius Claudius, who was the paternal uncle of Appius the decemvir, was more similar to entreaties than to a quarrel, as he begged, by the shades of his brother and of that one’s father, that he would remember rather the civil society in which he had been born than the compact nefariously struck with his colleagues. Far more, he said, did he pray this for that man’s sake than for the res publica; for indeed the commonwealth, if it cannot obtain right from the willing, will demand it from the unwilling; but from a great contest great angers are almost always stirred up; he shuddered at their outcome. When the decemvirs forbade saying anything other than that about which they had reported, Claudius had a scruple about interrupting.

Sententiam igitur peregit nullum placere senatus consultum fieri. Omnesque ita accipiebant privatos eos a Claudio iudicatos; multique ex consularibus verbo adsensi sunt. Alia sententia, asperior in speciem, vim minorem aliquanto habuit, quae patricios coire ad prodendum interregem iubebat.

Accordingly he concluded his opinion that no senatus‑consultum should be made. And all took it thus: that they had been adjudged private citizens by Claudius; and many of the men of consular rank assented verbally. Another opinion, harsher in appearance, had somewhat less force, which ordered the patricians to assemble to designate an interrex.

Censendo enim quodcumque, magistratus esse qui senatum haberent iudicabat, quos privatos fecerat auctor nullius senatus consulti faciendi. Ita labente iam causa decemvirorum, L. Cornelius Maluginensis, M. Corneli decemviri frater, cum ex consularibus ad ultimum dicendi locum consulto servatus esset, simulando curam belli fratrem collegasque eius tuebatur, quonam fato incidisset mirari se dictitans ut decemviros, qui decemviratum petissent—aut soli ii aut maxime—oppugnarent; aut quid ita, cum per tot menses vacua civitate nemo iustine magistratus summae rerum praeessent controversiam fecerit, nunc demum cum hostes prope ad portas sint, civiles discordias serant, nisi quod in turbido minus perspicuum fore putent quid agatur. Ceterum—nonne enim maiore cura occupatis animis verum esse praeiudicium rei tantae auferri?—sibi placere de eo quod Valerius Horatiusque ante idus Maias decemviros abisse magistratu insimulent, bellis quae immineant perfectis, re publica in tranquillum redacta, senatu disceptante agi, et iam nunc ita se parare Ap. Claudium ut comitiorum quae decemviris creandis decemvirum ipse habuerit sciat sibi rationem reddendam esse utrum in unum annum creati sint, an donec leges quae deessent perferrentur.

For by taking the vote on anything, he was judging that those who held the senate were magistrates, whereas he had made them private persons, the author that no senatus consultum be made. Thus, as the cause of the decemvirs was now slipping, L. Cornelius Maluginensis, brother of M. Cornelius the decemvir, although from among the consulars he had been deliberately reserved for the last place to speak, by feigning a concern for the war was defending his brother and his colleagues, repeatedly saying he wondered by what fate it had come about that the decemvirs, who had sought the decemvirate—either they alone, or most especially—were being attacked; or why, since through so many months, the city being void, no one had made a controversy as to whether magistrates lawfully presided over the supreme affairs, now at last, when enemies are near the gates, they sow civil discords, except that in troubled waters they think it will be less clear what is being done. Moreover—for ought not, with minds occupied by greater care, the true prejudgment of so great a matter to be taken away?—it pleased him that, as to the point on which Valerius and Horatius allege that the decemvirs had gone out of office before the Ides of May, after the wars which threaten have been completed, the commonwealth brought back into calm, with the senate deliberating, it be handled; and that even now Ap. Claudius so prepare himself that he knows he must render an account about the comitia which for creating decemvirs he himself, a decemvir, had held—whether they were created for one year, or until the laws which were lacking should be carried through.

In praesentia omnia praeter bellum omitti placere; cuius si falso famam volgatam, vanaque non nuntios solum sed Tusculanorum etiam legatos attulisse putent, speculatores mittendos censere qui certius explorata referant: sin fides et nuntiis et legatis habeatur, dilectum primo quoque tempore haberi et decemviros quo cuique eorum videatur exercitus ducere, nec rem aliam praeverti.

At present it is their pleasure that everything be omitted except the war; if they think that a report of it has been falsely circulated, and that not only messengers but even the envoys of the Tusculans have brought vain tales, they judge that scouts must be sent who may bring back findings more surely explored: but if trust is to be had both for the messengers and the envoys, that a levy be held at the earliest possible time, and that the decemvirs lead the armies whither it seems to each of them, and that no other matter take precedence.

[41] In hanc sententiam ut discederetur iuniores patrum evincebant. Ferocioresque iterum coorti Valerius Horatiusque vociferari ut de re publica liceret dicere; dicturos ad populum, si in senatu per factionem non liceat; neque enim sibi privatos aut in curia aut in contione posse obstare, neque se imaginariis fascibus eorum cessuros esse. Tum Appius iam prope esse ratus ut ni violentiae eorum pari resisteretur audacia, victum imperium esset, 'non erit melius' inquit, 'nisi de quo consulimus, vocem misisse,' et ad Valerium, negantem se privato reticere, lictorem accedere iussit.

[41] The younger members of the patres were carrying the point that a division be made to this opinion. And Valerius and Horatius, rising up again more ferociously, shouted that it should be permitted to speak about the res publica; that they would speak to the people, if in the senate, through faction, it were not permitted; for private men could not obstruct them either in the Curia or in the assembly, nor would they yield to their imaginary fasces. Then Appius, thinking it was now near that, unless their violence were resisted with equal audacity, the imperium would be overcome, said, “There will be no better course unless we put to the vote that about which we are consulting,” and ordered the lictor to approach Valerius, who was declaring that he would not be silent at a private man’s bidding.

Iam Quiritium fidem implorante Valerio a curiae limine, L. Cornelius complexus Appium, non cui simulabat consulendo, diremit certamen; factaque per Cornelium Valerio dicendi gratia quae vellet, cum libertas non ultra vocem excessisset, decemviri propositum tenuere. Consulares quoque ac seniores ab residuo tribuniciae potestatis odio, cuius desiderium plebi multo acrius quam consularis imperii rebantur esse, prope malebant postmodo ipsos decemviros voluntate abire magistratu quam invidia eorum exsurgere rursus plebem: si leniter ducta res sine populari strepitu ad consules redisset, aut bellis interpositis aut moderatione consulum in imperiis exercendis posse in oblivionem tribunorum plebem adduci.

Now, with Valerius invoking the protection of the Quirites at the threshold of the curia, Lucius Cornelius, having embraced Appius—the man to whom he was not, as he pretended, giving counsel—broke off the contest; and, leave having been made through Cornelius for Valerius to speak what he wished, since liberty had not gone beyond his voice, the decemvirs held to their plan. The consulars also and the elders, out of the residual hatred of the tribunician power—the desire for which in the plebs they reckoned to be much keener than for consular imperium—almost preferred that hereafter the decemvirs themselves should depart from magistracy of their own will rather than that, through odium of them, the plebs should rise again: if the matter, guided gently, should return to the consuls without popular clamor, they thought that, either with wars interposed or by the moderation of the consuls in exercising their imperia, the plebs could be brought into oblivion of the tribunes.

Silentio patrum edicitur dilectus. Iuniores cum sine provocatione imperium esset ad nomina respondent. Legionibus scriptis, inter se decemviri comparabant quos ire ad bellum, quos praeesse exercitibus opporteret.

By the silence of the senators a levy is proclaimed. The younger men, since the command was without right of appeal, answer to their names. With the legions enrolled, the decemvirs among themselves were determining who should go to the war, who should preside over the armies.

Principes inter decemviros erant Q. Fabius et Ap. Claudius. Bellum domi maius quam foris apparebat. Appi violentiam aptiorem rati ad comprimendos urbanos motus: in Fabio minus in bono constans quam navum in malitia ingenium esse.

Leaders among the decemvirs were Q. Fabius and Ap. Claudius. A war at home appeared greater than abroad. They judged the violence of Appius more apt for compressing the urban movements; in Fabius, that the temperament was less constant in good than active in malice.

Hunc enim virum, egregium olim domi militiaeque, decemviratus collegaeque ita mutaverant ut Appi quam sui similis mallet esse. Huic bellum in Sabinis, M'. Rabuleio et Q. Poetelio additis collegis, mandatum. M. Cornelius in Algidum missus cum L. Minucio et T. Antonio et K. Duillio et M. Sergio.

For this man, once distinguished both at home and in war, the decemvirate and his colleagues had so altered that he preferred to be more like Appius than like himself. To him the war among the Sabines was entrusted, with colleagues M'. Rabuleius and Q. Poetelius added. M. Cornelius was sent to Algidus with L. Minucius and T. Antonius and K. Duillius and M. Sergius.

Sp. Oppium Ap. Claudio adiutorem ad urbem tuendam, aequo omnium decemvirorum imperio, decernunt.

They decree Spurius Oppius as an assistant to Appius Claudius for the safeguarding of the city, with imperium equal to that of all the decemvirs.

[42] Nihilo militiae quam domi melius res publica administrata est. Illa modo in ducibus culpa quod ut odio essent civibus fecerant: alia omnis penes milites noxia erat, qui ne quid ductu atque auspicio decemvirorum prospere usquam gereretur vinci se per suum atque illorum dedecus patiebantur. Fusi et ab Sabinis ad Eretum et in Algido ab Aequis exercitus erant.

[42] The commonwealth was administered no better in military service than at home. The blame in the leaders was only this: that they had made it so that they were hateful to the citizens; all other guilt lay with the soldiers, who, lest anything should anywhere be carried on successfully under the leadership and auspices of the decemvirs, allowed themselves to be defeated, to their own and to those men’s disgrace. The armies had been routed both by the Sabines at Eretum and on Algidus by the Aequi.

Ab Ereto per silentium noctis profugi propius urbem, inter Fidenas Crustumeriamque, loco edito castra communierant; persecutis hostibus nusquam se aequo certamine committentes, natura loci ac vallo, non virtute aut armis tutabantur. Maius flagitium in Algido, maior etiam clades accepta; castra quoque amissa erant, exutusque omnibus utensilibus miles Tusculum se, fide misericordiaque victurus hospitum, quae tamen non fefellerunt, contulerat. Romam tanti erant terrores allati, ut posito iam decemvirali odio patres vigilias in urbe habendas censerent, omnes qui per aetatem arma ferre possent custodire moenia ac pro portis stationes agere iuberent, arma Tusculum ad supplementum decernerent, decemvirosque ab arce Tusculi digressos in castris militem habere, castra alia a Fidenis in Sabinum agrum transferri, belloque ultro inferendo deterreri hostes a consilio urbis oppugnandae.

From Eretum, under cover of the silence of night, the fugitives had fortified a camp nearer the city, between Fidenae and Crustumeria, on an elevated spot; with the enemy in pursuit, never committing themselves anywhere to an equal engagement, they were defending themselves by the nature of the position and by a rampart, not by valor or by arms. A greater disgrace on Algidus, and an even greater disaster was sustained; the camp too had been lost, and the soldier, stripped of all equipment, had betaken himself to Tusculum, meaning to live by the good faith and mercy of his hosts—which, however, did not disappoint—. To Rome such great terrors were brought that, the decemviral hatred now set aside, the senators decreed that watches be maintained in the city, ordered all who by age could bear arms to guard the walls and to mount pickets before the gates, decreed arms to Tusculum for a reinforcement, and that the decemvirs, having departed from the citadel of Tusculum, should keep the soldiery in their camps, that the other camp be transferred from Fidenae into the Sabine country, and that by carrying the war proactively the enemies be deterred from the plan of assaulting the city.

[43] Ad clades ab hostibus acceptas duo nefanda facinora decemviri belli domique adiciunt. L. Siccium in Sabinis, per invidiam decemviralem tribunorum creandorum secessionisque mentiones ad volgus militum sermonibus occultis serentem, prospeculatum ad locum castris capiendum mittunt. Datur negotium militibus quos miserant expeditionis eius comites, ut eum opportuno adorti loco interficerent.

[43] To the defeats received from the enemy the decemvirs add two nefarious crimes, in war and at home. They send Lucius Siccius in the Sabine country—who, through decemviral envy, was sowing among the common soldiery by secret conversations mentions of creating tribunes and of a secession—out to reconnoitre a place to be seized for a camp. The task is given to the soldiers whom they had sent as companions of that expedition, to kill him by attacking him in a suitable place.

Haud inultum interfecere; nam circa repugnantem aliquot insidiatores cecidere, cum ipse se praevalidus, pari viribus animo, circumventus tutaretur. Nuntiant in castra ceteri praecipitatum in insidias esse; Siccium egregie pugnantem militesque quosdam cum eo amissos. Primo fides nuntiantibus fuit; profecta deinde cohors ad sepeliendos qui ceciderant decemvirorum permissu, postquam nullum spoliatum ibi corpus Sicciumque in medio iacentem armatum omnibus in eum versis corporibus videre, hostium neque corpus ullum nec vestigia abeuntium, profecto ab suis interfectum memorantes rettulere corpus.

They did not kill him unavenged; for around him, as he resisted, several ambushers fell, while he himself, very strong, with a spirit equal to his strength, though surrounded, was defending himself. The rest report to the camp that he had been hurled headlong into an ambush; that Siccius had fought excellently, and that some soldiers had been lost with him. At first credence was given to the messengers; then a cohort, having set out to bury those who had fallen with the decemvirs’ permission, after they saw that no body there had been despoiled and that Siccius lay in the middle armed, with all the bodies turned toward him, and that there was neither any body of enemies nor traces of their departing, brought back the body, declaring that he had assuredly been slain by his own.

Invidiaeque plena castra erant, et Romam ferri protinus Siccium placebat, ni decemviri funus militare ei publica impensa facere maturassent. Sepultus ingenti militum maestitia, pessima decemvirorum in volgus fama est.

And the camp was full of resentment, and it pleased them that Siccius be borne straightway to Rome, had not the decemvirs hastened to give him a military funeral at public expense. Buried amid the immense sorrow of the soldiers, the decemvirs incurred the worst repute among the populace.

[44] Sequitur aliud in urbe nefas, ab libidine ortum, haud minus foedo eventu quam quod per stuprum caedemque Lucretiae urbe regnoque Tarquinios expulerat, ut non finis solum idem decemviris qui regibus sed causa etiam eadem imperii amittendi esset. Ap. Claudium virginis plebeiae stuprandae libido cepit. Pater virginis, L. Verginius, honestum ordinem in Algido ducebat, vir exempli recti domi militiaeque.

[44] Another nefarious deed follows in the city, arising from lust, with an outcome no less foul than that which, through the rape and murder of Lucretia, had driven the Tarquins from the city and the kingship, so that not only was the end the same for the decemvirs as for the kings, but even the same cause of losing power. A lust to violate a plebeian maiden seized Appius Claudius. The maiden’s father, Lucius Verginius, was leading an honorable detachment on Algidus, a man of upright example at home and in military service.

Perinde uxor instituta fuerat liberique instituebantur. Desponderat filiam L. Icilio tribunicio, viro acri et pro causa plebis expertae virtutis. Hanc virginem adultam forma excellentem Appius amore amens pretio ac spe perlicere adortus, postquam omnia pudore saepta animadverterat, ad crudelem superbamque vim animum convertit.

Likewise the wife had been educated, and the children were being educated. He had betrothed his daughter to L. Icilius, a tribunitian man, keen and with virtue proven on behalf of the cause of the plebs. This maiden, grown and outstanding in beauty, Appius, mad with love, attempted to entice by bribe and by promise; after he had observed that all things were hedged about by modesty, he turned his mind to cruel and arrogant violence.

M. Claudio clienti negotium dedit, ut virginem in servitutem adsereret neque cederet secundum libertatem postulantibus vindicias, quod pater puellae abesset locum iniuriae esse ratus. Virgini venienti in forum—ibi namque in tabernaculis litterarum ludi erant—minister decemviri libidinis manum iniecit, serva sua natam servamque appellans, sequique se iubebat: cunctantem vi abstracturum. Pavida puella stupente, ad clamorem nutricis fidem Quiritium implorantis fit concursus; Vergini patris sponsique Icili populare nomen celebrabatur.

He gave the business to his client M. Claudius, that he should assert the maiden into servitude and not yield the vindiciae in accordance with liberty to the petitioners, since the girl’s father was absent, thinking there was room for injury. As the maiden was coming into the forum—for there in booths there were schools of letters—the minister of the decemvir’s lust laid hands on her, calling her his own slave and born a slave, and ordered her to follow him; if she delayed, he would drag her off by force. With the fearful girl stupefied, at the cry of the nurse imploring the good faith of the Quirites a crowd ran together; the popular name of her father Verginius and of her betrothed Icilius was being acclaimed.

Notos gratia eorum, turbam indignitas rei virgini conciliat. Iam a vi tuta erat, cum adsertor nihil opus esse multitudine concitata ait; se iure grassari, non vi. Vocat puellam in ius. Auctoribus qui aderant ut sequerentur, ad tribunal Appi perventum est.

Known through their favor, the indignity of the affair conciliates the crowd to the maiden. She was now safe from force, when the adsertor said there was no need of an excited multitude; that he advanced by right, not by force. He summons the girl into court. At the urging of those present to follow, they came to the tribunal of Appius.

Notam iudici fabulam petitor, quippe apud ipsum auctorem argumenti, peragit: puellam domi suae natam furtoque inde in domum Vergini translatam suppositam ei esse; id se indicio compertum adferre probaturumque vel ipso Verginio iudice, ad quem maior pars iniuriae eius pertineat; interim dominum sequi ancillam aequum esse. Advocati puellae, cum Verginium rei publicae causa dixissent abesse, biduo adfuturum si nuntiatum ei sit, iniquum esse absentem de liberis dimicare, postulant ut rem integram in patris adventum differat, lege ab ipso lata vindicias det secundum libertatem, neu patiatur virginem adultam famae prius quam libertatis periculum adire.

Before the judge the petitioner carries through a tale well known—indeed before the very author of the plot: that the girl was born in his house, and by theft from there was transferred into the house of Verginius and foisted upon him; that he brings this as ascertained by evidence and will prove it even with Verginius himself as judge, to whom the greater part of that injury pertains; meanwhile it is equitable that a handmaid follow her master. The girl’s advocates, since they said that Verginius was absent for the sake of the commonwealth and would be present in two days if it be announced to him, demand that it is unjust to contend about children with the father absent, and ask that he defer the matter intact to the father’s arrival, and, by the law enacted by himself, grant a provisional award in favor of freedom, and not allow the maiden of age to incur a danger to her reputation before a danger to her liberty.

[45] Appius decreto praefatur quam libertati faverit eam ipsam legem declarare quam Vergini amici postulationi suae praetendant; ceterum ita in ea firmum libertati fore praesidium, si nec causis nec personis variet. In iis enim qui adserantur in libertatem, quia quivis lege agere possit, id iuris esse: in ea quae in patris manu sit, neminem esse alium cui dominus possessione cedat. Placere itaque patrem arcessiri; interea iuris sui iacturam adsertorem non facere quin ducat puellam sistendamque in adventum eius qui pater dicatur promittat.

[45] Appius, by decree, prefaces that the very law which the friends of Verginius put forward for their postulation declares how much he has favored liberty; but that a bulwark for liberty will thus be firm in it, if it varies neither by causes nor by persons. For in the case of those who are asserted into liberty—since anyone may proceed by the law—this is the right: in the case of her who is in the manus of a father, there is no one else to whom the owner should yield possession. It therefore pleases that the father be summoned; meanwhile, the claimant is not to suffer any loss of his right, but is to lead the girl away and promise that she shall be produced for appearance upon the arrival of the one who is said to be the father.

Adversus iniuriam decreti cum multi magis fremerent quam quisquam unus recusare auderet, P. Numitorius puellae auus et sponsus Icilius interveniunt; dataque inter turbam via, cum multitudo Icili maxime interventu resisti posse Appio crederet, lictor decresse ait vociferantemque Icilium submovet. Placidum quoque ingenium tam atrox iniuria accendisset. 'Ferro hinc tibi submovendus sum, Appi' inquit, 'ut tacitum feras quod celari vis.

Against the injustice of the decree, while many growled rather than any single man dared to refuse, P. Numitorius, the girl’s grandfather, and her betrothed Icilius intervene; and, a way having been given through the crowd, since the multitude believed that by Icilius’s intervention especially resistance could be made to Appius, the lictor cries “Make way!” and drives off the vociferating Icilius. So atrocious an injury would have inflamed even a placid disposition. “By steel must I be driven from here, Appius,” he says, “so that you may bear in silence what you wish to be concealed.”

Virginem ego hanc sum ducturus nuptamque pudicam habiturus. Proinde omnes collegarum quoque lictores convoca; expediri virgas et secures iube; non manebit extra domum patris sponsa Icili. Non si tribunicium auxilium et provocationem plebi Romanae, duas arces libertatis tuendae, ademistis, ideo in liberos quoque nostros coniugesque regnum vestrae libidini datum est.

I am going to lead this maiden home and have her as a chaste bride. Therefore summon all the lictors of your colleagues as well; order the rods and axes to be made ready; the bride of Icilius will not remain outside her father’s house. Not because you have taken away the tribunician aid and the appeal to the Roman plebs—the two citadels for the defense of liberty—has dominion over our children too and our wives been granted to your lust.

Saevite in tergum et in cervices nostras: pudicitia saltem in tuto sit. Huic si vis adferetur, ego praesentium Quiritium pro sponsa, Verginius militum pro unica filia, omnes deorum hominumque implorabimus fidem, neque tu istud unquam decretum sine caede nostra referes. Postulo Appi, etiam atque etiam consideres quo progrediare.

Be savage against our backs and our necks: let pudicity at least be in safety. If force is brought against this girl, I, of the Quirites present, on behalf of my betrothed, and Verginius, of the soldiers, on behalf of his only daughter—we will implore the good faith of all gods and men, nor will you ever carry that decree through without our slaughter. I demand, Appius, that again and again you consider whither you are advancing.

Verginius viderit de filia ubi venerit quid agat; hoc tantum sciat sibi si huius vindiciis cesserit condicionem filiae quaerendam esse. Me vindicantem sponsam in libertatem vita citius deseret quam fides.'

Verginius will see to his daughter, when he comes, what he should do; let him only know this, that for himself, if he yields to the claims of right in this case, the condition of his daughter will have to be sought. As for me, vindicating my betrothed into liberty, life will sooner desert me than faith.'

[46] Concitata multitudo erat certamenque instare videbatur. Lictores Icilium circumsteterant; nec ultra minas tamen processum est, cum Appius non Verginiam defendi ab Icilio, sed inquietum hominem et tribunatum etiam nunc spirantem locum seditionis quaerere diceret. Non praebiturum se illi eo die materiam, sed, ut iam sciret non id petulantiae suae sed Verginio absenti et patrio nomini et libertati datum, ius eo die se non dicturum neque decretum interpositurum: a M. Claudio petiturum ut decederet iure suo vindicarique puellam in posterum diem pateretur; quod nisi pater postero die adfuisset, denuntiare se Icilio similibusque Icili neque legi suae latorem neque decemviro constantiam defore; nec se utique collegarum lictores convocaturum ad coercendos seditionis auctores: contentum se suis lictoribus fore.

[46] The multitude had been stirred up, and a clash seemed to be imminent. The lictors had surrounded Icilius; yet it did not go beyond threats, since Appius said that it was not Verginia who was being defended by Icilius, but that a restless man, still breathing the tribunate, was seeking an occasion for sedition. He would not supply him material for that day, but, so that he might now know that this was granted not to his petulance but to absent Verginius and to the fatherly name and to liberty, he would neither pronounce judgment that day nor interpose a decree: he would request of M. Claudius that he yield his right and allow the girl to be claimed on the following day; but unless the father should be present on the next day, he would give notice to Icilius and to those like Icilius that steadfastness would not be lacking either to the proposer of his law or to the decemvir; nor, assuredly, would he summon the lictors of his colleagues to restrain the authors of sedition: he would be content with his own lictors.

Cum dilatum tempus iniuriae esset secessissentque advocati puellae, placuit omnium primum fratrem Icili filiumque Numitori, impigros iuvenes, pergere inde recta ad portam, et quantum adcelerari posset Verginium acciri e castris; in eo verti puellae salutem, si postero die vindex iniuriae ad tempus praesto esset. Iussi pergunt citatisque equis nuntium ad patrem perferunt. Cum instaret adsertor puellae ut vindicaret sponsoresque daret, atque id ipsum agi diceret Icilius, sedulo tempus terrens dum praeciperent iter nuntii missi in castra, manus tollere undique multitudo et se quisque paratum ad spondendum Icilio ostendere.

When the time for the wrong had been deferred and the girl’s advocates had withdrawn, it was resolved first of all that Icilius’s brother and Numitor’s son, energetic young men, should go straight from there to the gate, and that, with all possible speed, Verginius be summoned from the camp; on that the girl’s safety turned, if on the next day an avenger of the injury should be on hand at the appointed time. Ordered, they set out and, with their horses urged on, carry the message to the father. While the claimant of the girl pressed that he should vindicate and provide sureties, and Icilius said that that very thing was being transacted—purposely playing for time until the messengers sent to the camp might get a start on their journey—the crowd on every side raised their hands and each showed himself ready to stand surety for Icilius.

Atque ille lacrimabundus 'gratum est' inquit; 'crastina die vestra opera utar; sponsorum nunc satis est.' Ita vindicatur Verginia spondentibus propinquis. Appius paulisper moratus ne eius rei causa sedisse videretur, postquam omissis rebus aliis prae cura unius nemo adibat, domum se recepit collegisque in castra scribit, ne Verginio commeatum dent atque etiam in custodia habeant. Improbum consilium serum, ut debuit, fuit et iam commeatu sumpto profectus Verginius prima vigilia erat, cum postero die mane de retinendo eo nequiquam litterae redduntur.

And he, tearful, said, ‘it is welcome; tomorrow I will make use of your help; for the present there are sureties enough.’ Thus Verginia is claimed, her kinsmen standing as sureties. Appius delayed a little so that he might not seem to have sat for the sake of that matter; afterward, since with other business set aside, out of concern for one case no one approached, he retired home and wrote to his colleagues in the camp not to grant leave to Verginius and even to hold him in custody. The wicked counsel was late, as it ought to have been, and Verginius, having already taken furlough and set out, was at the first watch, when on the next day in the morning letters about detaining him are delivered in vain.

[47] At in urbe prima luce cum civitas in foro exspectatione erecta staret, Verginius sordidatus filiam secum obsoleta veste comitantibus aliquot matronis cum ingenti advocatione in forum deducit. Circumire ibi et prensare homines coepit et non orare solum precariam opem, sed pro debita petere: se pro liberis eorum ac coniugibus cottidie in acie stare, nec alium virum esse cuius strenue ac ferociter facta in bello plura memorari possent: quid prodesse si, incolumi urbe, quae capta ultima timeantur liberis suis sint patienda? Haec prope contionabundus circumibat homines.

[47] But in the city, at first light, when the citizenry stood in the forum, raised in expectation, Verginius, in mourning garb, leads his daughter with him, in worn dress, with several matrons accompanying, down into the forum with a huge retinue of supporters. There he began to go around and to clasp men’s hands, and not only to beg for aid as a mere favor, but to demand it as due: that he stands every day in the battle-line for their children and their wives, and that there is no other man of whom more deeds done strenuously and ferociously in war could be recounted: what does it profit if, with the city unharmed, their children must endure the very things which, when a city is captured, are feared as the last extremities? Uttering these things, almost as if haranguing an assembly, he went around among the men.

Similia his ab Icilio iactabantur. Comitatus muliebris plus tacito fletu quam ulla vox movebat. Adversus quae omnia obstinato animo Appius—tanta vis amentiae verius quam amoris mentem turbaverat—in tribunal escendit, et ultro querente pauca petitore quod ius sibi pridie per ambitionem dictum non esset, priusquam aut ille postulatum perageret aut Verginio respondendi daretur locus, Appius interfatur.

Things similar to these were being tossed out by Icilius. The female retinue moved men more by silent weeping than by any voice. Against all which, with an obstinate mind, Appius—so great a force of madness, rather than of love, had thrown his mind into turmoil—ascended the tribunal; and while, moreover, the petitioner was complaining in a few words that justice had not been pronounced for him the day before through ambition, before either that man could complete his petition or a place was given to Verginius for replying, Appius breaks in.

Quem decreto sermonem praetenderit, forsan aliquem verum auctores antiqui tradiderint: quia nusquam ullum in tanta foeditate decreti veri similem invenio, id quod constat nudum videtur proponendum, decresse vindicias secundum servitutem. Primo stupor omnes admiratione rei tam atrocis defixit; silentium inde aliquamdiu tenuit. Dein cum M. Claudius, circumstantibus matronis, iret ad prehendendam virginem, lamentabilisque eum mulierum comploratio excepisset, Verginius intentans in Appium manus, 'Icilio' inquit, 'Appi, non tibi filiam despondi et ad nuptias, non ad stuprum educavi.

What wording he put forward for the decree, perhaps the ancient authors have transmitted something true; because nowhere in such foulness of the decree do I find anything like the truth, that which is agreed seems to be set forth nakedly, that he decreed the vindiciae in favor of servitude (slavery). At first stupefaction fixed all in astonishment at so atrocious a matter; then silence held for some time. Then, when M. Claudius, with the matrons standing around, was going to seize the maiden, and a lamentable wailing of the women had met him, Verginius, stretching his hands toward Appius, said, 'To Icilius,' he says, 'Appius, not to you did I betroth my daughter, and I brought her up for nuptials, not for debauchery.

Placet pecudum ferarumque ritu promisce in concubitus ruere? Passurine haec isti sint nescio: non spero esse passuros illos qui arma habent.' Cum repelleretur adsertor virginis a globo mulierum circumstantiumque advocatorum, silentium factum per praeconem.

'Does it please you to rush, after the manner of cattle and wild beasts, promiscuously into sexual intercourse? Whether those men there will endure these things I do not know; I do not expect those who have arms to endure them.' When the assertor of the maiden was being driven back by the throng of women and the advocates standing around, silence was made by the herald.

[48] Decemvir alienatus ad libidinem animo negat ex hesterno tantum convicio Icili violentiaque Vergini, cuius testem populum Romanum habeat, sed certis quoque indiciis compertum se habere nocte tota coetus in urbe factos esse ad movendam seditionem. Itaque se haud inscium eius dimicationis cum armatis descendisse, non ut quemquam quietum violaret, sed ut turbantes civitatis otium pro maiestate imperii coerceret. 'Proinde quiesse erit melius.

[48] The decemvir, with his mind alienated to lust, denies that it is only on account of yesterday’s abuse by Icilius and the violence of Verginius—of which he has the Roman People as witness—but that he also has learned by sure indications that throughout the whole night gatherings were held in the city to stir up sedition. Therefore, he says, that he, not unknowing of that coming clash, has come down with armed men, not to do violence to anyone who is quiet, but to coerce those disturbing the peace of the state for the majesty of the imperium. ‘Accordingly, to keep quiet will be better.’

I,' inquit, 'lictor, submove turbam et da viam domino ad prehendendum mancipium.' Cum haec intonuisset plenus irae, multitudo ipsa se sua sponte dimovit desertaque praeda iniuriae puella stabat. Tum Verginius ubi nihil usquam auxilii vidit, 'quaeso' inquit, 'Appi, primum ignosce patrio dolori, si quo inclementius in te sum invectus; deinde sinas hic coram virgine nutricem percontari quid hoc rei sit, ut si falso pater dictus sum aequiore hinc animo discedam.' Data venia seducit filiam ac nutricem prope Cloacinae ad tabernas, quibus nunc Novis est nomen, atque ibi ab lanio cultro arrepto, 'hoc te uno quo possum' ait, 'modo, filia, in libertatem vindico.' Pectus deinde puellae transfigit, respectansque ad tribunal 'te' inquit, 'Appi, tuumque caput sanguine hoc consecro.' Clamore ad tam atrox facinus orto excitus Appius comprehendi Verginium iubet. Ille ferro quacumque ibat viam facere, donec multitudine etiam prosequentium tuente ad portam perrexit.

'Go,' he says, 'lictor, remove the crowd and make way for the master to apprehend the mancipium.' When he had thundered these things, full of wrath, the multitude of its own accord moved aside, and the girl stood, the prey of injustice, left deserted. Then Verginius, when he saw no help anywhere, says, 'I beg you, Appius, first pardon a father’s grief, if in any way I have inveighed too harshly against you; then allow the nurse here, in the maiden’s presence, to be questioned as to what this matter is, so that, if I have been falsely called father, I may depart hence with a mind more at ease.' Leave being granted, he draws aside his daughter and the nurse near the booths of Cloacina, which now have the name New Shops, and there, having snatched a knife from a butcher, says, 'by this one way, the only one by which I can, my daughter, I vindicate you into liberty.' Then he pierces the girl’s breast, and looking back toward the tribunal says, 'you, Appius, and your head I consecrate with this blood.' Roused by the outcry at so atrocious a deed, Appius orders Verginius to be seized. He with his blade made a way wherever he went, until, with the multitude even by their following protecting him, he made his way to the gate.

Icilius Numitoriusque exsangve corpus sublatum ostentant populo; scelus Appi, puellae infelicem formam, necessitatem patris deplorant. Sequentes clamitant matronae, eamne liberorum procreandorum condicionem, ea pudicitiae praemia esse?— cetera, quae in tali re muliebris dolor, quo est maestior imbecillo animo, eo miserabilia magis querentibus subicit. Virorum et maxime Icili vox tota tribuniciae potestatis ac provocationis ad populum ereptae publicarumque indignationum erat.

Icilius and Numitorius lift up and display to the people the bloodless body; they lament the crime of Appius, the unhappy form of the girl, the necessity laid upon the father. Following along, the matrons keep shouting: is that the condition for procreating children, are those the rewards of chastity?—and the rest, the things which in such a matter womanly grief—inasmuch as it is sadder in a weaker mind—suggests, the more pitiable to those lamenting. The voice of the men, and most of all of Icilius, was wholly of the tribunician power and the appeal to the people that had been snatched away, and of public indignations.

[49] Concitatur multitudo partim atrocitate sceleris, partim spe per occasionem repetendae libertatis. Appius nunc vocari Icilium, nunc retractantem arripi, postremo, cum locus adeundi apparitoribus non daretur, ipse cum agmine patriciorum iuvenum per turbam vadens, in vincula duci iubet. Iam circa Icilium non solum multitudo sed duces quoque multitudinis erant, L. Valerius et M. Horatius, qui repulso lictore, si iure ageret, vindicare se a privato Icilium aiebant; si vim adferre conaretur, ibi quoque haud impares fore.

[49] The multitude is stirred up, partly by the atrocity of the crime, partly by the hope of recovering liberty through the opportunity. Appius now orders Icilius to be summoned, now that the one drawing back be seized; finally, when space for approaching was not granted to the apparitors, he himself, going through the crowd with a column of patrician youths, orders him to be led in bonds. Already around Icilius there were not only the multitude but also the leaders of the multitude, L. Valerius and M. Horatius, who, with the lictor driven back, said that, if he were proceeding according to law, they themselves would vindicate Icilius from a private citizen; if he should attempt to bring force, there too they would be by no means unequal.

Hinc atrox rixa oritur. Valerium Horatiumque lictor decemviri invadit: franguntur a multitudine fasces. In contionem Appius escendit: sequuntur Horatius Valeriusque.

From here a fierce brawl arises. The decemvir’s lictor assaults Valerius and Horatius; the fasces are broken by the multitude. Appius ascends into the assembly; Horatius and Valerius follow.

Eos contio audit: decemviro obstrepitur. Iam pro imperio Valerius discedere a privato lictores iubebat, cum fractis animis Appius, vitae metuens, in domum se propinquam foro insciis adversariis capite obvoluto recipit. Sp. Oppius, ut auxilio collegae esset, in forum ex altera parte inrumpit.

The assembly hears them; the decemvir is shouted down. Now, by virtue of his imperium, Valerius was ordering the lictors to withdraw from a private citizen, when Appius, his spirit broken, fearing for his life, withdrew into a house near the Forum, his adversaries being unaware, with his head veiled. Sp. Oppius, in order to be a help to his colleague, bursts into the forum from the other side.

Videt imperium vi victum. Agitatus deinde consiliis ad quae ex omni parte adsentiendo multis auctoribus trepidaverat, senatum postremo vocari iussit. Ea res, quod magnae parti patrum displicere acta decemvirorum videbantur, spe per senatum finiendae potestatis eius multitudinem sedavit.

He sees his authority conquered by force. Then, agitated by counsels, in regard to which—by assenting on every side, with many authorities urging—he had been alarmed, he at last ordered the senate to be convoked. This measure, because the acts of the decemvirs seemed displeasing to a great part of the senators, calmed the multitude with the hope that his power would be brought to an end through the senate.

Senatus nec plebem inritandam censuit et multo magis providendum ne quid Vergini adventus in exercitu motus faceret.

The Senate judged that the plebs was not to be irritated, and much more that provision should be made lest the arrival of Verginius produce any commotions in the army.

[50] Itaque missi iuniores patrum in castra, quae tum in monte Vecilio erant, nuntiant decemviris ut omni ope ab seditione milites contineant. Ibi Verginius maiorem quam reliquerat in urbe motum excivit. Nam praeterquam quod agmine prope quadringentorum hominum veniens, qui ab urbe indignitate rei accensi comites ei se dederant, conspectus est, strictum etiam telum respersusque ipse cruore tota in se castra convertit.

[50] Accordingly the younger senators were sent to the camp, which then was on Mount Vecilius, and they announce to the decemvirs that they should by every means restrain the soldiers from sedition. There Verginius stirred up a disturbance greater than the one he had left in the city. For, besides that he was seen coming with a column of nearly four hundred men, who, inflamed by the indignity of the affair, had from the city given themselves to him as companions, the drawn weapon as well, and he himself spattered with blood, turned the whole camp toward himself.

Et togae multifariam in castris visae maioris aliquanto quam erat speciem urbanae multitudinis fecerant. Quaerentibus quid rei esset, flens diu vocem non misit; tandem, ut iam ex trepidatione concurrentium turba constitit ac silentium fuit, ordine cuncta, ut gesta erant, exposuit. Supinas deinde tendens manus, commilitones appellans orabat ne quod scelus Ap. Claudi esset sibi attribuerent neu se ut parricidam liberum aversarentur.

And togas, seen in many places in the camp, had produced an appearance of an urban multitude considerably greater than it was. When they kept asking what the matter was, weeping for a long time he did not utter a voice; at length, when now, out of the alarm, the throng of those running together had settled and there was silence, he set forth everything in order, as they had been done. Then, stretching his hands upturned, addressing his fellow soldiers, he begged that they not attribute to him any crime that was Ap. Claudius’s, nor shun him as a parricide of his own child.

Sibi vitam filiae sua cariorem fuisse, si liberae ac pudicae vivere licitum fuisset: cum velut servam ad stuprum rapi videret, morte amitti melius ratum quam contumelia liberos, misericordia se in speciem crudelitatis lapsum; nec superstitem filiae futurum fuisse, nisi spem ulciscendae mortis eius in auxilio commilitonum habuisset. Illis quoque filias sorores coniugesque esse, nec cum filia sua libidinem Ap. Claudi exstinctam esse, sed quo impunitior sit eo effrenatiorem fore. Aliena calamitate documentum datum illis cavendae similis iniuriae.

That the life of his daughter had been dearer to him than his own, if it had been permitted for her to live free and chaste: since, when he saw her being snatched to defilement like a slave, he judged it better that children be lost by death than by outrage; out of pity he had slipped into the semblance of cruelty; nor would he have outlived his daughter, had he not had the hope of avenging her death by the aid of his fellow-soldiers. They too had daughters, sisters, and wives, nor was the lust of Ap. Claudius extinguished with his own daughter, but the more unpunished he is, the more unbridled he will be. By another’s calamity a lesson had been given to them for guarding against a similar injury.

Quod ad se attineat, uxorem sibi fato ereptam, filiam, quia non ultra pudica victura fuerit, miseram sed honestam mortem occubuisse; non esse iam Appi libidini locum in domo sua: ab alia violentia eius eodem se animo suum corpus vindicaturum quo vindicaverit filiae: ceteri sibi ac liberis suis consulerent.

As for what pertained to himself, his wife had been snatched away from him by fate, his daughter—because she would no longer have lived chaste—had met a wretched but honorable death; there was now no place for Appius’s libido in his house: from any other violence of his he would avenge his own person with the same spirit with which he had vindicated his daughter’s; let the rest look to themselves and their children.

Haec Verginio vociferanti succlamabat multitudo nec illius dolori nec suae libertati se defuturos. Et immixti turbae militum togati, eadem illa querendo docendoque quanto visa quam audita indigniora potuerint videri, simul profligatam iam rem nuntiando Romae esse, insecutis qui Appium prope interemptum in exsilium abisse dicerent, perpulerunt ut ad arma conclamaretur vellerentque signa et Romam proficiscerentur. Decemviri simul iis quae videbant iisque quae acta Romae audierant perturbati, alius in aliam partem castrorum ad sedandos motus discurrunt.

To these shouts of Verginius the multitude cried back that they would be wanting neither to his dolor nor to their own liberty. And the toga‑clad, intermingled with the crowd of soldiers, by complaining of those same things and by showing how much more indignant things seen could seem than things heard, while at the same time announcing that at Rome the affair was already overthrown—and with others following who said that Appius, nearly slain, had gone into exile—drove them to raise the cry to arms, to pull up the standards, and to set out for Rome. The decemvirs, perturbed at once by the things they saw and by those they had heard had been done at Rome, ran about—one to one part of the camp, another to another—to settle the commotions.

Et leniter agentibus responsum non redditur: imperium si quis inhiberet, et viros et armatos se esse respondetur. Eunt agmine ad urbem et Aventinum insidunt, ut quisque occurrerat plebem ad repetendam libertatem creandosque tribunos plebis adhortantes. Alia vox nulla violenta audita est.

And no answer is returned to those dealing gently: if anyone tried to inhibit their command, the reply is that they are both men and armed. They go in a column to the city and occupy the Aventine, urging, as whoever met them, the plebs to recover liberty and to elect tribunes of the plebs. No other violent utterance was heard.

Senatum Sp. Oppius habet. Nihil placet aspere agi; quippe ab ipsis datum locum seditioni esse. Mittuntur tres legati consulares, Sp. Tarpeius C. Iulius P. Sulpicius, qui quaererent senatus verbis cuius iussu castra deseruissent aut quid sibi vellent qui armati Aventinum obsedissent belloque averso ab hostibus patriam suam cepissent.

Spurius Oppius convenes the senate. It is resolved that nothing be done harshly; for the occasion for sedition had been given by themselves. Three consular legates are sent, Spurius Tarpeius, Gaius Julius, Publius Sulpicius, to inquire in the words of the senate by whose order they had deserted the camp, or what they intended—who, armed, had occupied the Aventine and, with the war diverted from the enemy, had seized their own fatherland.

Non defuit quod responderetur: deerat qui daret responsum, nullodum certo duce nec satis audentibus singulis invidiae se offerre. Id modo a multitudine conclamatum est ut L. Valerium et M. Horatium ad se mitterent: his se daturos responsum.

There was no lack of what might be answered: there was a lack of someone to give the response, since as yet there was no sure leader and individuals were not sufficiently daring to expose themselves to envy. Only this was shouted out by the multitude, that they should send L. Valerius and M. Horatius to them: to these they would give a response.

[51] Dimissis legatis, admonet milites Verginius in re non maxima paulo ante trepidatum esse, quia sine capite multitudo fuerit, responsumque, quamquam non inutiliter, fortuito tamen magis consensu quam communi consilio esse; placere decem creari qui summae rei praeessent militarique honore tribunos militum appellari. Cum ad eum ipsum primum is honos deferretur, 'melioribus meis vestrisque rebus reservate' inquit, 'ista de me iudicia. Nec mihi filia inulta honorem ullum iucundum esse patitur, nec in perturbata re publica eos utile est praeesse vobis qui proximi invidiae sint.

[51] With the envoys dismissed, Verginius admonishes the soldiers that a little before there had been panic in a matter not very great, because the multitude had been without a head, and that the response, although not unusefully, had nevertheless been given more by fortuitous consensus than by common counsel; it was pleasing that ten be created to be over the supreme command and, with a military honor, be called tribunes of the soldiers. When that honor was first offered to himself, he said, 'reserve those judgments about me for better circumstances of my affairs and yours. Nor does my daughter, unavenged, allow any honor to be pleasant to me, nor, in a disturbed commonwealth, is it useful that those should be set over you who are nearest to envy.

Si quis usus mei est, nihilo minor ex privato capietur.' ita decem numero tribunos militares creant.

'If there is any use of me, it will be no less taken from a private citizen.' thus they create, to the number of ten, military tribunes.

Neque in Sabinis quievit exercitus. Ibi quoque auctore Icilio Numitorioque secessio ab decemviris facta est, non minore motu animorum Sicci caedis memoria renovata quam quem nova fama de virgine adeo foede ad libidinem petita accenderat. Icilius ubi audivit tribunos militum in Aventino creatos, ne comitiorum militarium praerogatiuam urbana comitia iisdem tribunis plebis creandis sequerentur, peritus rerum popularium imminensque ei potestati et ipse, priusquam iretur ad urbem, pari potestate eundem numerum ab suis creandum curat.

Nor did the army come to rest among the Sabines. There too, with Icilius and Numitorius as authors, a secession from the decemvirs was made, with no less agitation of spirits—the memory of Siccius’s slaughter being renewed—than that which the fresh report about the maiden so foully sought for lust had kindled. When Icilius heard that military tribunes had been created on the Aventine, lest the prerogative of the military comitia be followed by the urban comitia in creating those same tribunes of the plebs, skilled in popular affairs and himself pressing toward that power, before there was a march to the city he sees to it that by his own followers the same number be created with equal authority.

Porta Collina urbem intravere sub signis, mediaque urbe agmine in Aventinum pergunt. Ibi coniuncti alteri exercitui viginti tribunis militum negotium dederunt ut ex suo numero duos crearent qui summae rerum praeessent. M. Oppium Sex.

They entered the city by the Colline Gate under the standards, and through the middle of the city in a column they proceed to the Aventine. There, joined with the other army, they gave to the twenty military tribunes the task to create from their own number two who would preside over the summa of affairs. Marcus Oppius, Sext...

Manilium creant.

They elect Manilius.

Patres solliciti de summa rerum cum senatus cottidie esset iurgiis saepius terunt tempus quam consiliis. Sicci caedes decemviris et Appiana libido et dedecora militiae obiciebantur. Placebat Valerium Horatiumque ire in Aventinum.

The Fathers, anxious about the supreme direction of affairs, since the senate was daily more often in quarrels, were wearing away time in wranglings rather than in counsels. The murder of Siccius was being objected to the decemvirs, and the Appian libido and the disgraces of the soldiery were being cast up. It seemed good that Valerius and Horatius go to the Aventine.

Illi negabant se aliter ituros quam si decemviri deponerent insignia magistratus eius quo anno iam ante abissent. Decemviri querentes se in ordinem cogi, non ante quam perlatis legibus quarum causa creati essent deposituros imperium se aiebant.

They denied that they would go otherwise than if the decemvirs laid down the insignia of the magistracy, from which, in that year, they had already previously departed. The decemvirs, complaining that they were being compelled into order, said that they would not lay down their imperium before the laws, on account of which they had been created, were carried through.

[52] Per M. Duillium qui tribunus plebis fuerat certior facta plebs contentionibus adsiduis nihil transigi, in Sacrum montem ex Aventino transit, adfirmante Duillio non prius quam deseri urbem videant curam in animos patrum descensuram; admoniturum Sacrum montem constantiae plebis scituros qua sine restituta potestate redigi in concordiam res nequeant. Via Nomentana, cui tum Ficolensi nomen fuit, profecti castra in monte Sacro locavere, modestiam patrum suorum nihil violando imitati. Secuta exercitum plebs, nullo qui per aetatem ire posset retractante.

[52] The plebs, made more certain through Marcus Duillius, who had been tribune of the plebs, that amid continual contentions nothing was being transacted, passes from the Aventine to the Sacred Mount, Duillius affirming that care would not descend into the minds of the senators before they should see the city deserted; that the Sacred Mount would admonish them of the constancy of the plebs, and that they would learn thereby that, without the restored power, affairs could not be reduced into concord. By the Nomentan Way, which then had the name Ficolensis, they set out and pitched camp on the Sacred Mount, imitating the modesty of their forefathers by violating nothing. The plebs followed the army, with no one who by age was able to go hanging back.

Prosequuntur coniuges liberique, cuinam se relinquerent in ea urbe in qua nec pudicitia nec libertas sancta esset miserabiliter rogitantes.

Their wives and children follow, piteously asking to whom they were leaving themselves in that city where neither chastity nor liberty was sacred.

Cum vasta Romae omnia insueta solitudo fecisset, in foro praeter paucos seniorum nemo esset, vocatis utique in senatum patribus desertum apparuisset forum, plures iam quam Horatius ac Valerius vociferabantur: 'Quid exspectabitis, patres conscripti? Si decemviri finem pertinaciae non faciunt, ruere ac deflagrare omnia passuri estis? Quod autem istud imperium est, decemviri, quod amplexi tenetis?

When a vast, unwonted solitude had made all things at Rome desolate, and in the forum there was no one except a few of the elders, and, the fathers having in any case been called into the senate, the forum had appeared deserted, by now more than Horatius and Valerius were vociferating: 'What will you wait for, Conscript Fathers? If the decemvirs do not put an end to their pertinacity, are you going to allow everything to collapse and be burned down? And what sort of imperial power is that, decemvirs, which, having embraced, you hold?'

Tectis ac parietibus iura dicturi estis? Non pudet lictorum vestrorum maiorem prope numerum in foro conspici quam togatorum aliorum? Quid si hostes ad urbem veniant facturi estis?

Are you going to pronounce laws to roofs and walls? Are you not ashamed that in the forum almost a greater number of your lictors is seen than of other wearers of the toga? What are you going to do if the enemies should come to the city?

Quid si plebs mox, ubi parum secessione moveamur, armata veniat? Occasune urbis voltis finire imperium? Atqui aut plebs non est habenda aut habendi sunt tribuni plebis.

What if the plebs soon—since we are scarcely moved by a secession—should come armed? Do you wish to end your rule with the downfall of the city? And yet either the plebs is not to be reckoned with, or the tribunes of the plebs must be instituted.

Nos citius caruerimus patriciis magistratibus quam illi plebeiis. Novam inexpertamque eam potestatem eripuere patribus nostris, ne nunc dulcedine semel capti ferant desiderium, cum praesertim nec nos temperemus imperiis, quo minus illi auxilii egeant.' Cum haec ex omni parte iactarentur, victi consensu decemviri futuros se, quando ita videatur, in potestate patrum adfirmant. Id modo simul orant ac monent ut ipsis ab invidia caveatur nec suo sanguine ad supplicia patrum plebem adsuefaciant.

“We would sooner be without patrician magistrates than they without plebeian ones. That new and untried power they wrested from our fathers, lest now, once captured by its sweetness, they should feel a longing for it—especially since we do not moderate our imperia so as to spare them the need of assistance.” While these things were being bandied about from every side, overcome by consensus the decemvirs affirm that, since it so seems, they will be in the power of the fathers. This only they at once both beg and warn: that they themselves be guarded against invidia, and that you not, with their own blood, accustom the plebs to the punishments of the fathers.

[53] Tum Valerius Horatiusque missi ad plebem condicionibus quibus videretur revocandam componendasque res, decemviris quoque ab ira et impetu multitudinis praecavere iubentur. Profecti gaudio ingenti plebis in castra accipiuntur, quippe liberatores haud dubie et motus initio et exitu rei. Ob haec iis advenientibus gratiae actae; Icilius pro multitudine verba facit.

[53] Then Valerius and Horatius, having been sent to the plebs to recall them on such conditions as might seem good and to compose affairs, are also ordered to take precautions for the decemvirs against the ire and impetus of the multitude. Having set out, they are received into the camp with the immense joy of the plebs, since they were, without doubt, liberators both at the inception of the movement and at the issue of the affair. On account of this, thanks were given to them upon their arrival; Icilius speaks on behalf of the multitude.

Idem, cum de condicionibus ageretur, quaerentibus legatis quae postulata plebis essent, composito iam ante adventum legatorum consilio ea postulavit ut appareret in aequitate rerum plus quam in armis reponi spei. Potestatem enim tribuniciam provocationemque repetebant, quae ante decemviros creatos auxilia plebis fuerant, et ne cui fraudi esset concisse milites aut plebem ad repetendam per secessionem libertatem. De decemvirorum modo supplicio atrox postulatum fuit; dedi quippe eos aequum censebant vivosque igni concrematuros minabantur.

The same man, when terms were being negotiated, as the envoys inquired what the plebs’ demands were, with a plan arranged already before the advent of the envoys requested such things as would make it appear that more hope was being placed in the equity of affairs than in arms. For they were reclaiming the tribunician power and the right of appeal (provocatio), which before the decemvirs were created had been the aids of the plebs, and that it should be to no one’s prejudice that he had roused the soldiers or the plebs to recover liberty by secession. Only concerning the punishment of the decemvirs was there a savage demand; for they judged it equitable that they be handed over, and they threatened to cremate them alive.

Legati ad ea: 'Quae consilii fuerunt adeo aequa postulastis ut ultro vobis deferenda fuerint; libertati enim ea praesidia petitis, non licentiae ad impugnandos alios. Irae vestrae magis ignoscendum quam indulgendum est, quippe qui crudelitatis odio in crudelitatem ruitis et prius paene quam ipsi liberi sitis dominari iam in adversarios voltis. Nunquamne quiescet civitas nostra a suppliciis aut patrum in plebem Romanam aut plebis in patres?

To this the envoys: 'What has been of policy you have demanded so equitable that it ought unbidden to have been conferred upon you; for you seek protections for liberty, not license for assailing others. Your angers are rather to be pardoned than indulged, seeing that, from hatred of cruelty, you rush into cruelty, and almost before you yourselves are free you already wish to domineer over your adversaries. Will our commonwealth never rest from punishments, either of the fathers against the Roman plebs or of the plebs against the fathers?'

Scuto vobis magis quam gladio opus est. Satis superque humili est, qui iure aequo in civitate vivit, nec inferendo iniuriam nec patiendo. Etiam si quando metuendos vos praebituri estis, cum reciperatis magistratibus legibusque vestris iudicia penes vos erunt de capite nostro fortunisque, tunc ut quaeque causa erit statuetis: nunc libertatem repeti satis est.'

You need a shield rather than a sword. It is enough and more than enough for the humble man who lives in the commonwealth under equal law, neither inflicting injury nor suffering it. Even if at some time you are going to show yourselves formidable, when, with your magistracies and your own laws recovered, the judgments about our life and fortunes will be in your hands, then you will determine as each case shall be: for now, it is enough that liberty be reclaimed.'

[54] Facerent ut vellent permittentibus cunctis, mox redituros se legati rebus perfectis adfirmant. Profecti cum mandata plebis patribus exposuissent, alii decemviri, quando quidem praeter spem ipsorum supplicii sui nulla mentio fieret, haud quicquam abnuere: Appius truci ingenio et invidia praecipua odium in se aliorum suo in eos metiens odio, 'haud ignaro' inquit, 'imminet fortuna. Video donec arma adversariis tradantur diferri adversus nos certamen.

[54] Let them do as they wished, with all permitting, the envoys affirm that they will soon return once the matters have been brought to completion. Having set out, when they had laid before the fathers the mandates of the plebs, the other decemvirs, since indeed beyond their expectation no mention was made of their own punishment, refused nothing; Appius, of grim disposition and with exceptional envy, measuring the hatred of others toward himself by his own hatred toward them, says, 'Not to an unknowing man does fortune impend. I see that the contest against us is being deferred until arms are handed over to our adversaries.'

Dandus invidiae est sanguis. Nihil ne ego quidem moror quo minus decemviratu abeam.' Factum senatus consultum ut decemviri se primo quoque tempore magistratu abdicarent, Q. Furius pontifex maximus tribunos plebis crearet; et ne cui fraudi esset secessio militum plebisque.

Blood must be given to envy. Not even I, for my part, delay at all to depart from the decemvirate.' A senatus consultum was made that the decemvirs should abdicate their magistracy at the earliest possible time, that Quintus Furius, pontifex maximus, should create the tribunes of the plebs; and that the secession of the soldiers and the plebs should be to no one’s detriment.

His senatus consultis perfectis dimisso senatu, decemviri prodeunt in contionem abdicantque se magistratu, ingenti hominum laetitia. Nuntiantur haec plebi. Legatos quidquid in urbe hominum supererat prosequitur.

With these senatorial decrees completed and the senate dismissed, the decemvirs go forth into the assembly and abdicate their magistracy, to the immense joy of men. These things are announced to the plebs. Whatever of men remained in the city escorts the envoys.

Huic multitudini laeta alia turba ex castris occurrit. Congratulantur libertatem concordiamque civitati restitutam. Legati pro contione: 'Quod bonum faustum felixque sit vobis reique publicae, redite in patriam ad penates coniuges liberosque vestros; sed qua hic modestia fuistis, ubi nullius ager in tot rerum usu necessario tantae multitudini est violatus, eam modestiam ferte in urbem.

To this multitude another joyful throng from the camp came to meet them. They congratulate that liberty and concord have been restored to the city. The envoys, before the assembly: 'May this be good, favorable, and fortunate for you and for the Republic; return to the fatherland, to your Penates, your wives and children; but with the same moderation as you have shown here, where, in the necessary use of so many things by so great a multitude, no one’s field has been violated, carry that moderation into the city.'

In Aventinum ite, unde profecti estis; ibi felici loco, ubi prima initia incohastis libertatis vestrae, tribunos plebi creabitis. Praesto erit pontifex maximus qui comitia habeat.' Ingens adsensus alacritasque cuncta adprobantium fuit. Convellunt inde signa profectique Romam certant cum obviis gaudio.

Go to the Aventine, whence you have set out; there, in an auspicious place, where you initiated the first beginnings of your liberty, you will create the tribunes of the plebs. The pontifex maximus will be at hand to hold the comitia.' There was immense assent and alacrity from all approving. Thence they tear up the standards, and, having set out for Rome, they vie with those meeting them in joy.

Armati per urbem silentio in Aventinum perveniunt. Ibi extemplo pontifice maximo comitia habente tribunos plebis creaverunt, omnium primum L. Verginium, inde L. Icilium et P. Numitorium, auunculum Verginiae, auctores secessionis, tum C. Sicinium, progeniem eius quem primum tribunum plebis creatum in Sacro monte proditum memoriae est, et M. Duillium, qui tribunatum insignem ante decemviros creatos gesserat nec in decemviralibus certaminibus plebi defuerat. Spe deinde magis quam meritis electi M. Titinius M. Pomponius C. Apronius P. Villius C. Oppius.

Armed, they pass through the city in silence and arrive at the Aventine. There at once, with the pontifex maximus holding the comitia, they created tribunes of the plebs, first of all L. Verginius; then L. Icilius and P. Numitorius, the uncle of Verginia, the authors of the secession; then C. Sicinius, the progeny of him who is handed down to memory as having been created the first tribune of the plebs on the Sacred Mount; and M. Duillius, who had borne a distinguished tribunate before the decemvirs were created and had not failed the plebs in the decemviral contests. Then, elected more by hope than by merits, were M. Titinius, M. Pomponius, C. Apronius, P. Villius, C. Oppius.

Tribunatu inito L. Icilius extemplo plebem rogavit et plebs scivit ne cui fraudi esset secessio ab decemviris facta. Confestim de consulibus creandis cum provocatione M. Duillius rogationem pertulit. Ea omnia in pratis Flaminiis concilio plebis acta, quem nunc circum Flaminium appellant.

With the tribunate entered upon, L. Icilius at once proposed to the plebs, and the plebs decreed, that the secession made from the decemvirs should be to no one a cause of criminal charge. Immediately M. Duillius carried a bill concerning the creation of consuls with the right of appeal. All these things were transacted in the Flaminian meadows at the council of the plebs, which they now call the Circus Flaminius.

[55] Per interregem deinde consules creati L. Valerius M. Horatius, qui extemplo magistratum occeperunt. Quorum consulatus popularis sine ulla patrum iniuria nec sine offensione fuit; quidquid enim libertati plebis caveretur, id suis decedere opibus credebant. Omnium primum, cum velut in controverso iure esset tenerenturne patres plebi scitis, legem centuriatis comitiis tulere ut quod tributim plebes iussisset populum teneret; qua lege tribuniciis rogationibus telum acerrimum datum est.

[55] Then, through an interrex, consuls were elected, Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius, who immediately took up the magistracy. Their consulship was popular, and although it did no injury to the Fathers, it was not without giving offense; for they believed that whatever was safeguarded for the freedom of the plebs diminished their own power. First of all, since it was, as it were, a matter of disputed law whether the Fathers were held by plebiscites, they carried in the centuriate assemblies a statute that what the plebs should order by tribes would bind the people; by which law a most sharp weapon was given to tribunician bills.

Aliam deinde consularem legem de provocatione, unicum praesidium libertatis, decemvirali potestate eversam, non restituunt modo, sed etiam in posterum muniunt sanciendo novam legem, ne quis ullum magistratum sine provocatione crearet; qui creasset, eum ius fasque esset occidi, neve ea caedes capitalis noxae haberetur. Et cum plebem hinc provocatione, hinc tribunicio auxilio satis firmassent, ipsis quoque tribunis, ut sacrosancti viderentur, cuius rei prope iam memoria aboleverat, relatis quibusdam ex magno intervallo caerimoniis renovarunt, et cum religione inviolatos eos, tum lege etiam fecerunt, sanciendo ut qui tribunis plebis aedilibus iudicibus decemviris nocuisset, eius caput Iovi sacrum esset, familia ad aedem Cereris Liberi Liberaeque venum iret. Hac lege iuris interpretes negant quemquam sacrosanctum esse, sed eum qui eorum cui nocuerit Iovi sacrum sanciri; itaque aedilem prendi ducique a maioribus magistratibus, quod, etsi non iure fiat—noceri enim ei cui hac lege non liceat—tamen argumentum esse non haberi pro sacro sanctoque aedilem; tribunos vetere iure iurando plebis, cum primum eam potestatem creavit, sacrosanctos esse.

Then another consular law concerning provocatio, the sole bulwark of liberty, overturned by the decemviral power, they not only restore, but also fortify for the future by sanctioning a new law: that no one should create any magistracy without appeal; whoever had created it, it should be right and lawful to kill him, and that that killing should not be held a capital guilt. And when they had thus sufficiently strengthened the plebs, on the one hand by provocatio, on the other by tribunician aid, they also renewed for the tribunes themselves, that they might be seen as sacrosanct—a status of which the memory had now almost been abolished—certain ceremonies brought back after a great interval; and they made them inviolable both by religion and also by law, by sanctioning that whoever had done harm to the tribunes of the plebs, to the aediles, to the judges, to the decemvirs, his head should be sacred to Jupiter, and his household should go for sale at the temple of Ceres, Liber, and Libera. By this law, the interpreters of law deny that anyone is sacrosanct, but that he who has harmed any of them is sanctioned as sacred to Jupiter; and so an aedile is arrested and led off by the higher magistrates—which, although it is not done by right (for to harm him is not permitted by this law), nevertheless is an argument that the aedile is not held as sacer and sacrosanct; the tribunes, by the ancient oath of the plebs, when it first created that power, are sacrosanct.

Fuere qui interpretarentur eadem hac Horatia lege consulibus quoque et praetoribus, quia eisdem auspiciis quibus consules crearentur, cautum esse: iudicem enim consulem appellari. Quae refellitur interpretatio, quod iis temporibus nondum consulem iudicem sed praetorem appellari mos fuerit

There were those who interpreted that by this same Horatian law provision had been made also for the consuls and the praetors, because they were created under the same auspices as the consuls: for the consul is called “judge.” This interpretation is refuted, on the ground that in those times it had not yet been the custom for the consul to be called “judge,” but for the praetor to be so called.

Hae consulares leges fuere. Institutum etiam ab iisdem consulibus ut senatus consulta in aedem Cereris ad aediles plebis deferrentur, quae antea arbitrio consulum supprimebantur vitiabanturque. M. Duillius deinde tribunus plebis plebem rogavit plebesque scivit qui plebem sine tribunis reliquisset, quique magistratum sine provocatione creasset, tergo ac capite puniretur.

These were the consular laws. It was also instituted by those same consuls that the senatus consulta be brought into the temple of Ceres to the plebeian aediles, which previously used to be suppressed and corrupted at the discretion of the consuls. Then Marcus Duillius, tribune of the plebs, proposed to the plebs, and the plebs enacted, that whoever had left the plebs without their tribunes, and whoever had created a magistracy without appeal, should be punished with back and head (i.e., by scourging and beheading).

Haec omnia ut invitis, ita non adversantibus patriciis transacta, quia nondum in quemquam unum saeviebatur.

All these things were carried through with the patricians unwilling, yet not opposing, because as yet no savagery was being vented against any one individual.

[56] Fundata deinde et potestate tribunicia et plebis libertate, tum tribuni adgredi singulos tutum maturumque iam rati, accusatorem primum Verginium et Appium reum deligunt. Cum diem Appio Verginius dixisset et Appius stipatus patriciis iuvenibus in forum descendisset, redintegrata extemplo est omnibus memoria foedissimae potestatis, cum ipsum satellitesque eius vidissent. Tum Verginius 'oratio' inquit, 'rebus dubiis inventa est; itaque neque ego accusando apud vos eum tempus teram, a cuius crudelitate vosmet ipsi armis vindicastis, nec istum ad cetera scelera impudentiam in defendendo se adicere patiar.

[56] Then, with both the tribunician power and the liberty of the plebs established, the tribunes, thinking it now safe and seasonable to proceed against individuals, chose Verginius first as prosecutor and Appius as defendant. When Verginius had named a day for Appius, and Appius, surrounded by patrician youths, had come down into the forum, at once in all there was renewed the memory of that most foul power, when they saw him and his bodyguards. Then Verginius said, 'oratory was devised for doubtful matters; and so I will not waste time before you in accusing the man from whose cruelty you yourselves vindicated yourselves by arms, nor will I allow that man to add, to his other crimes, the impudence of defending himself.'

Omnium igitur tibi, Appi Claudi, quae impie nefarieque per biennium alia super alia es ausus, gratiam facio. Unius tantum criminis nisi iudicem dices, te ab libertate in servitutem contra leges vindicias non dedisse, in vincla te duci iubebo.' Nec in tribunicio auxilio Appius nec in iudicio populi ullam spem habebat; tamen et tribunos appellavit et, nullo morante arreptus a viatore, 'provoco' inquit. Audita vox una vindex libertatis, ex eo missa ore quo vindiciae nuper ab libertate dictae erant, silentium fecit.

Therefore of all the things, Appius Claudius, which for a two-year period you have dared impiously and nefariously, one on top of another, I grant you pardon. Of a single charge only—unless you will name a judge, that you did not, contrary to the laws, issue a provisional award (vindiciae) taking one from freedom into slavery—I will order you to be led to prison.' Appius had no hope either in tribunician aid or in the judgment of the people; yet he both appealed to the tribunes and, with no one delaying, when seized by a summoner, he said, 'I appeal.' The hearing of that one word, a champion of liberty, sent forth from the very mouth from which vindiciae had but lately been pronounced away from freedom, produced silence.

Et dum pro se quisque deos tandem esse et non neglegere humana fremunt et superbiae crudelitatique etsi seras, non leves tamen venire poenas—provocare qui provocationem sustulisset, et implorare praesidium populi qui omnia iura populi obtrisset, rapique in vincla egentem iure libertatis qui liberum corpus in servitutem addixisset,—ipsius Appi inter contionis murmur fidem populi Romani implorantis vox audiebatur: maiorum merita in rem publicam domi militiaeque commemorabat, suum infelix erga plebem Romanam studium, quo aequandarum legum causa cum maxima offensione patrum consulatu abisset, suas leges, quibus manentibus lator earum in vincla ducatur. Ceterum sua propria bona malaque, cum causae dicendae data facultas sit, tum se experturum; in praesentia se communi iure civitatis civem Romanum die dicta postulare ut dicere liceat, ut iudicium populi Romani experiri. Non ita se invidiam pertimuisse, ut nihil in aequitate et misericordia civium suorum spei habeat.

And while each man for himself was murmuring that the gods at last do exist and do not neglect human affairs, and that for pride and cruelty, though late, yet not light penalties do come—the man to appeal who had abolished the appeal, and to implore the people’s praesidium who had crushed all the rights of the people, and to be snatched and dragged into chains as one needing the right of liberty he who had adjudged a free body into servitude—the very voice of Appius himself, amid the murmur of the assembly as he implored the faith of the Roman people, was heard: he was recalling the merits of his ancestors toward the commonwealth at home and in the field, his own ill-starred zeal toward the Roman plebs, by which, for the sake of equalizing the laws, he had gone out of his consulship with the greatest offense of the patres; his own laws, with the remaining in force of which the proposer of them is being led into chains. Moreover, his own proper good and ill he would then put to the test, when the opportunity of pleading his cause should be granted; for the present, under the common right of citizenship, as a Roman citizen with a day appointed he demands that it be permitted to speak, that he may make trial of the judgment of the Roman people. He had not so dreaded odium, that he should have no hope in the equity and misericordia of his fellow citizens.

Quod si indicta causa in vincla ducatur, iterum se tribunos plebei appellare et monere ne imitentur quos oderint. Quod si tribuni eodem foedere obligatos se fateantur tollendae appellationis in quod conspirasse decemviros criminati sint, at se provocare ad populum, implorare leges de provocatione et consulares et tribunicias, eo ipso anno latas. Quem enim provocaturum, si hoc indemnato indicta causa non liceat?

But if he is led into chains with no case pleaded, he says that he again appeals to the tribunes of the plebs and warns them not to imitate those whom they have hated. But if the tribunes confess that they are bound by the same compact for abolishing the appeal, on which charge they said the decemvirs conspired, then he appeals to the People, he implores the laws on appeal, both consular and tribunician, enacted in that very year. For who will appeal, if this is not permitted to one uncondemned and with no case heard?

Cui plebeio et humili praesidium in legibus fore, si Ap. Claudio non sit? Se documento futurum utrum novis legibus dominatio an libertas firmata sit, et appellatio provocatioque adversus iniuriam magistratuum ostentata tantum inanibus litteris an vere data sit.

For what plebeian and lowly man will there be protection in the laws, if there is none for Appius Claudius? He will be the proof whether by the new laws domination or liberty has been made firm, and whether appellation and provocatio against the injustice of magistrates are displayed only in empty letters or are truly granted.

[57] Contra ea Verginius unum Ap. Claudium et legum expertem et civilis et humani foederis esse aiebat: respicerent tribunal homines, castellum omnium scelerum, ubi decemvir ille perpetuus, bonis, tergo, sanguini civium infestus, virgas securesque omnibus minitans, deorum hominumque contemptor, carnificibus, non lictoribus stipatus, iam ab rapinis et caedibus animo ad libidinem verso virginem ingenuam in oculis populi Romani, velut bello captam, ab complexu patris abreptam ministro cubiculi sui clienti dono dederit; ubi crudeli decreto nefandisque vindiciis dextram patris in filiam armaverit; ubi tollentes corpus semianime virginis sponsum auumque in carcerem duci iusserit, stupro interpellato magis quam caede motus. Et illi carcerem aedificatum esse quod domicilium plebis Romanae vocare sit solitus. Proinde ut ille iterum ac saepius provocet, sic se iterum ac saepius iudicem illi ferre ni vindicias ab libertate in servitutem dederit; si ad iudicem non eat, pro damnato in vincla duci iubere.

[57] In reply to these things Verginius declared that Appius Claudius alone was without law and without the compact both civil and human: let men look at the tribunal, the stronghold of all crimes, where that perpetual decemvir, hostile to the goods, the back, and the blood of citizens, threatening rods and axes to all, a despiser of gods and men, surrounded by executioners, not lictors, his mind now turned from rapines and slaughters to lust, gave a freeborn maiden, in the sight of the Roman people, as though captured in war, snatched from her father’s embrace, as a gift to the client of his own chamber-servant; where by a cruel decree and unspeakable vindiciae he armed the father’s right hand against the daughter; where, as they were lifting the half-alive body of the maiden, he ordered her fiancé and her grandfather to be led to prison, moved more by the interruption of his rape than by the killing. And that for him the prison had been built—the thing he is wont to call the domicile of the Roman plebs. Therefore, as often as that man again and again makes an appeal, so often would he again and again bring a judge for him, unless he has given the vindiciae from liberty into slavery; if he will not go before the judge, to order him, as condemned, to be led in chains.

Ut haud quoquam improbante, sic magno motu animorum, cum tanti viri supplicio suamet plebi iam nimia libertas videretur, in carcerem est coniectus; tribunus ei diem prodixit.

As, with no one disapproving, so with great commotion of minds, since by the punishment of so great a man their own liberty already seemed excessive to the plebs, he was cast into prison; the tribune appointed him a day.

Inter haec ab Latinis et Hernicis legati gratulatum de concordia patrum ac plebis Romam venerunt, donumque ob eam Iovi optumo maximo coronam auream in Capitolium tulere parvi ponderis, prout res haud opulentae erant colebanturque religiones pie magis quam magnifice. Iisdem auctoribus cognitum est Aequos Volscosque summa vi bellum apparare. Itaque partiri provincias consules iussi.

Meanwhile, envoys from the Latins and the Hernici came to Rome to offer congratulations on the concord of the patricians and the plebs, and they brought, as a gift on that account, to Jupiter Best and Greatest a golden crown to the Capitol, of small weight, in keeping with the fact that resources were by no means opulent and the rites were cultivated piously rather than magnificently. By the same informants it was learned that the Aequi and the Volsci were preparing war with the utmost force. Accordingly, the consuls were ordered to partition the provinces.

Horatio Sabini, Valerio Aequi evenere. Cum ad ea bella dilectum edixissent, favore plebis non iuniores modo sed emeritis etiam stipendiis pars magna voluntariorum ad nomina danda praesto fuere, eoque non copia modo sed genere etiam militum, veteranis admixtis, firmior exercitus fuit. Priusquam urbe egrederentur, leges decemvirales, quibus tabulis duodecim est nomen, in aes incisas in publico proposuerunt.

To Horatius the Sabines, to Valerius the Aequians fell. When they had proclaimed a levy for those wars, by the favor of the plebs not only the younger men but a great part of volunteers—even veterans with their campaigns earned—were on hand to give in their names; and thereby, not only in abundance but also in the quality of the soldiers, with veterans admixed, the army was stronger. Before they went forth from the city, they set up in public the decemviral laws—those to which the name is the Twelve Tables—engraved on bronze.

Sunt qui iussu tribunorum aediles functos eo ministerio scribant.

There are those who write that the aediles discharged that ministry by order of the tribunes.

[58] C. Claudius, qui perosus decemvirorum scelera et ante omnes fratris filii superbiae infestus Regillum, antiquam in patriam, se contulerat, is magno iam natu cum ad pericula eius deprecanda redisset cuius vitia fugerat, sordidatus cum gentilibus clientibusque in foro prensabat singulos orabatque ne Claudiae genti eam inustam maculam vellent ut carcere et vinculis viderentur digni. Virum honoratissimae imaginis futurum ad posteros, legum latorem conditoremque Romani iuris, iacere vinctum inter fures nocturnos ac latrones. Averterent ab ira parumper ad cognitionem cogitationemque animos, et potius unum tot Claudiis deprecantibus condonarent quam propter unius odium multorum preces aspernarentur.

[58] C. Claudius, who detesting the crimes of the decemvirs and, above all, hostile to the arrogance of his brother’s son, had betaken himself to Regillum, the ancient fatherland, he, now of great age, when he had returned to deprecate the dangers of him whose vices he had fled, in mourning garb, with kinsmen and clients of the gens, was grasping individuals in the forum and beseeching them not to wish such a branded stain upon the Claudian gens that they should seem worthy of prison and chains. That a man who would be to posterity of a most honored image, a legislator and founder of Roman law, should lie bound among night-thieves and brigands. Let them turn their minds away from anger for a little to cognition and consideration, and rather, with so many Claudii interceding, grant pardon to one, than spurn the prayers of many on account of hatred for one.

Se quoque id generi ac nomini dare nec cum eo in gratiam redisse, cuius adversae fortunae velit succursum. Virtute libertatem reciperatam esse: clementia concordiam ordinum stabiliri posse. Erant quos moveret sua magis pietate quam eius pro quo agebat causa; sed Verginius sui potius ut misererentur orabat filiaeque, nec gentis Claudiae regnum in plebem sortitae sed necessariorum Verginiae trium tribunorum preces audirent, qui ad auxilium plebis creati ipsi plebis fidem atque auxilium implorarent.

He too was giving this to his lineage and name, nor had he returned into favor with him whose adverse fortune he wished to see succored. By virtue liberty had been recovered; by clemency the concord of the orders could be stabilized. There were those whom his own pietas moved more than the cause of him for whom he was pleading; but Verginius begged that they rather have pity on himself and on his daughter, and that they listen not to the kingship over the plebs which the Claudian clan had, as it were, drawn by lot, but to the prayers of Verginia’s close connections, the three tribunes, who, created for the aid of the plebs, were themselves imploring the plebs’ good faith and aid.

Iustiores hae lacrimae videbantur. Itaque spe incisa, priusquam prodicta dies adesset, Appius mortem sibi conscivit.

These tears seemed more just. And so, with hope cut off, before the appointed day had arrived, Appius committed suicide.

Subinde arreptus a P. Numitorio Sp. Oppius, proximus invidiae, quod in urbe fuerat cum iniustae vindiciae a collega dicerentur. Plus tamen facta iniuria Oppio quam non prohibita invidiae fecit. Testis productus, qui septem et viginti enumeratis stipendiis, octiens extra ordinem donatus donaque ea gerens in conspectu populi, scissa veste, tergum laceratum virgis ostendit, nihilum deprecans quin si quam suam noxam reus dicere posset, privatus iterum in se saeviret.

Thereupon Sp. Oppius, next in odium, was seized by P. Numitorius, because he had been in the city when the unjust vindiciae were being pronounced by his colleague. Yet the injury he had himself done did Oppius more damage than the odium from not having prevented it. A witness was produced who, with twenty-seven campaigns enumerated, eight times decorated out of turn, and wearing those gifts in the sight of the people, his garment rent, showed his back lacerated with rods, deprecating nothing except that, if the defendant could allege any fault of his, as a private citizen he might again be savage against him.

Oppius quoque ductus in vincula est, et ante iudicii diem finem ibi vitae fecit. Bona Claudi Oppique tribuni publicavere. Collegae eorum exsilii causa solum verterunt; bona publicata sunt.

Oppius too was led into chains, and before the day of trial he there made an end of his life. The tribunes confiscated the goods of Claudius and Oppius. Their colleagues, on account of exile, changed the soil; their goods were confiscated.

Et M. Claudius, adsertor Verginiae, die dicta damnatus, ipso remittente Verginio ultimam poenam dimissus Tibur exsulatum abiit, manesque Verginiae, mortuae quam vivae felicioris, per tot domos ad petendas poenas vagati, nullo relicto sonte tandem quieverunt.

And M. Claudius, the assertor of Verginia, on the appointed day having been condemned, was dismissed from the ultimate penalty through Verginius himself remitting it, and he went into exile to Tibur; and the shades of Verginia, happier dead than alive, after wandering through so many houses to exact penalties, with no guilty person left, at last grew quiet.

[59] Ingens metus incesserat patres, voltusque iam iidem tribunorum erant qui decemvirorum fuerant, cum M. Duillius tribunus plebis, inhibito salubriter modo nimiae potestati, 'et libertatis' inquit, 'nostrae et poenarum ex inimicis satis est; itaque hoc anno nec diem dici cuiquam nec in vincla duci quemquam sum passurus. Nam neque vetera peccata repeti iam oblitterata placet, cum nova expiata sint decemvirorum suppliciis, et nihil admissum iri quod vim tribuniciam desideret spondet perpetua consulum amborum in libertate vestra tuenda cura.' Ea primum moderatio tribuni metum patribus dempsit, eademque auxit consulum invidiam, quod adeo toti plebis fuissent ut patrum salutis libertatisque prior plebeio magistratui quam patricio cura fuisset, et ante inimicos satietas poenarum suarum cepisset quam obviam ituros licentiae eorum consules appareret. Multique erant qui mollius consultum dicerent, quod legum ab iis latarum patres auctores fuissent; neque erat dubium quin turbato rei publicae statu tempori succubuissent.

[59] A vast fear had come upon the senators, and already the looks of the tribunes were the same as those the decemvirs had borne, when M. Duillius, tribune of the plebs, having salutarily checked the measure of excessive power, said: 'both of our liberty and of punishments upon enemies there is enough; and so this year I will suffer neither for a day to be named against anyone nor for anyone to be led into bonds. For neither is it pleasing that old offenses, now already obliterated, be sought back, since the new have been expiated by the punishments of the decemvirs, and the perpetual care of both consuls in guarding your liberty guarantees that nothing will be committed which would require the tribunician force.' That moderation of the tribune first took away fear from the senators, and the same increased odium against the consuls, because they had been so wholly of the plebs that the care for the safety and liberty of the patres had fallen sooner to a plebeian magistracy than to a patrician, and a satiety of their punishments had seized their enemies before it appeared that the consuls would go to meet their license. And there were many who said it had been handled too mildly, because the patres had been the sponsors of the laws proposed by them; nor was there a doubt that, with the condition of the commonwealth disturbed, they had succumbed to the times.

[60] Consules rebus urbanis compositis fundatoque plebis statu, in provincias diversi abiere. Valerius adversus coniunctos iam in Algido exercitus Aequorum Volscorumque sustinuit consilio bellum; quod si extemplo rem fortunae commisisset, haud scio an, qui tum animi ab decemvirorum infelicibus auspiciis Romanis hostibusque erant, magno detrimento certamen staturum fuerit. Castris mille passuum ab hoste positis copias continebat.

[60] The consuls, with urban affairs set in order and the condition of the plebs established, departed in different directions to their provinces. Valerius, against the armies of the Aequi and Volsci already conjoined on Algidus, sustained the war by counsel; for if he had forthwith committed the matter to fortune, I do not know but that, the temper then being such as it was—under the ill-omened auspices of the decemvirs—for Romans and enemies alike, the engagement would have stood at great detriment. With his camp pitched a thousand paces from the enemy, he kept his forces within the lines.

Hostes medium inter bina castra spatium acie instructa complebant, provocantibusque ad proelium responsum Romanus nemo reddebat. Tandem fatigati stando ac nequiquam exspectando certamen Aequi Volscique, postquam concessum propemodum de victoria credebant, pars in Hernicos, pars in Latinos praedatum abeunt; relinquitur magis castris praesidium quam satis virium ad certamen. Quod ubi consul sensit, reddit inlatum antea terrorem, instructaque acie ultro hostem lacessit.

The enemy filled the space midway between the two camps with a battle-line drawn up, and though they were challenging to battle, no Roman returned an answer. At length, wearied by standing and by waiting in vain for a contest, the Aequi and Volsci, after they believed that victory had been all but conceded, part go off to plunder the Hernicans, part the Latins; more of a garrison is left for the camps than strength enough for a contest. When the consul perceived this, he pays back the terror previously inflicted, and with his line drawn up he of his own accord assails the enemy.

Ubi illi, conscientia quid abesset virium, detractavere pugnam, crevit extemplo Romanis animus, et pro victis habebant paventes intra vallum. Cum per totum diem stetissent intenti ad certamen, nocti cessere. Et Romani quidem pleni spei corpora curabant: haudquaquam pari hostes animo nuntios passim trepidi ad revocandos praedatores dimittunt.

When they, conscious that something of their strength was lacking, shirked the fight, the Romans’ spirit straightway grew, and they held as conquered those quaking within the rampart. When they had stood through the whole day intent upon the contest, they yielded to night. And the Romans indeed, full of hope, cared for their bodies; the enemy, by no means with an equal spirit, panic-stricken, send messengers everywhere to recall the raiders.

Recurritur ex proximis locis: ulteriores non inventi. Ubi inluxit, egreditur castris Romanus, vallum invasurus ni copia pugnae fieret. Et postquam multa iam dies erat neque movebatur quicquam ab hoste, iubet signa inferri consul; motaque acie, indignatio Aequos et Volscos incessit, si victores exercitus vallum potius quam virtus et arma tegerent.

They run back from the nearest places; those farther afield were not found. When it grew light, the Roman goes out from camp, intending to assault the rampart unless a chance for battle were afforded. And after it was now far into the day and nothing was moved by the enemy, the consul orders the standards to be borne forward; and, with the battle-line set in motion, indignation seized the Aequi and Volsci, that, if they were victors, their armies should be sheltered by a rampart rather than by valor and arms.

Igitur et ipsi efflagitatum ab ducibus signum pugnae accepere. Iamque pars egressa portis erat deincepsque alii servabant ordinem, in suum quisque locum descendentes, cum consul Romanus, priusquam totis viribus fulta constaret hostium acies, intulit signa; adortusque nec omnes dum eductos nec, qui erant, satis explicatis ordinibus, prope fluctuantem turbam trepidantium huc atque illuc circumspectantiumque se ac suos, addito turbatis mentibus clamore atque impetu invadit. Rettulere primo pedem hostes; deinde cum animos collegissent et undique duces victisne cessuri essent increparent, restituitur pugna.

Therefore they too received the signal for battle, urged by their leaders. And already a part had gone out through the gates, and in succession others were keeping order, each descending to his own place, when the Roman consul, before the enemy’s battle line, propped by all its strength, could stand firm, advanced the standards; and attacking them, with not all yet led out, nor those who were there with their ranks sufficiently deployed—well-nigh a billowing crowd of the panic-stricken, glancing this way and that and looking to themselves and their own—he assaults with a shout and an onset added to minds already thrown into disorder. At first the enemies gave ground; then, when they had gathered their spirits and on every side the leaders were upbraiding them whether they were going to yield as vanquished, the fight is restored.

[61] Consul ex altera parte Romanos meminisse iubebat illo die primum liberos pro libera urbe Romana pugnare, sibimet ipsis victuros, non ut decemvirorum victores praemium essent. Non Appio duce rem geri, sed consule Valerio, ab liberatoribus populi Romani orto, liberatore ipso. Ostenderent prioribus proeliis per duces non per milites stetisse ne vincerent.

[61] On the other side the consul bade the Romans remember that on that day for the first time, as free men, they were fighting for the free Roman city, that they would be victorious for themselves, not so that, the decemvirs being the victors, they would be the prize. The affair was not being carried on with Appius as leader, but with the consul Valerius, sprung from the liberators of the Roman people, a liberator himself. Let them show that in prior battles it had depended on the commanders, not on the soldiers, that they did not conquer.

Turpe esse contra cives plus animi habuisse quam contra hostes et domi quam foris servitutem magis timuisse. Unam Verginiam fuisse cuius pudicitiae in pace periculum esset, unum Appium civem periculosae libidinis; at si fortuna belli inclinet, omnium liberis ab tot milibus hostium periculum fore; nolle ominari quae nec Iuppiter nec Mars pater passuri sint iis auspiciis conditae urbi accidere. Aventini Sacrique montis admonebat, ut ubi libertas parta esset paucis ante mensibus, eo imperium inlibatum referrent, ostenderentque eandem indolem militibus Romanis post exactos decemviros esse quae ante creatos fuerit, nec aequatis legibus imminutam virtutem populi Romani esse.

That it was shameful to have had more spirit against fellow-citizens than against enemies, and to have feared servitude more at home than abroad. There had been but one Verginia whose chastity in peace was in peril, and but one citizen Appius of dangerous lust; but if the fortune of war should incline, there would be danger to the children of all from so many thousands of enemies; he refused to omen that things should befall a city founded under such auspices which neither Jupiter nor Father Mars would suffer. He reminded them of the Aventine and of the Sacred Mount, that to that place where liberty had been won a few months before they should restore authority inviolate, and should show that the same nature in Roman soldiers after the decemvirs were driven out was that which had been before they were created, and that the virtue of the Roman people had not been diminished by the laws being made equal.

Haec ubi inter signa peditum dicta dedit, avolat deinde ad equites. 'Agite, iuvenes' inquit, 'praestate virtute peditem ut honore atque ordine praestatis. Primo concursu pedes movit hostem; pulsum vos immissis equis exigite e campo.

When he had given these words among the standards of the infantry, then he flies to the cavalry. “On, young men,” he says, “excel the foot by valor as you excel in honor and in rank. At the first clash the foot has set the enemy in motion; do you, with your horses let loose, drive the routed foe from the field.”

Non sustinebunt impetum, et nunc cunctantur magis quam resistunt'. Concitant equos permittuntque in hostem pedestri iam turbatum pugna, et perruptis ordinibus elati ad novissimam aciem, pars libero spatio circumvecti, iam fugam undique capessentes plerosque a castris avertunt praeterequitantesque absterrent. Peditum acies et consul ipse visque omnis belli fertur in castra, captisque cum ingenti caede, maiore praeda potitur.

'They will not withstand the charge, and now they hesitate more than they resist'. They spur on their horses and let them loose against the enemy already thrown into disorder by the infantry battle, and, the ranks broken through, carried on to the very rear line; some, wheeling with free space, now, as they on every side are taking to flight, turn many away from the camp and, riding past, scare them off. The battle-line of the infantry and the consul himself and the whole force of the war is borne into the camp, and, the camp having been captured with huge slaughter, he comes into possession of a greater booty.

Huius pugnae fama perlata non in urbem modo sed in Sabinos ad alterum exercitum, in urbe laetitia modo celebrata est, in castris animos militum ad aemulandum decus accendit. Iam Horatius eos excursionibus [sufficiendo] proeliisque levibus experiundo adsuefecerat sibi potius fidere quam meminisse ignominiae decemvirorum ductu acceptae, parvaque certamina in summam totius profecerant spei. Nec cessabant Sabini, feroces ab re priore anno bene gesta, lacessere atque instare, rogitantes quid latrocinii modo procursantes pauci recurrentesque tererent tempus et in multa proelia parvaque carperent summam unius belli?

The report of this battle, carried not only into the city but also among the Sabines to the other army, in the city was celebrated merely with joy, in the camp inflamed the spirits of the soldiers to emulate the honor. Already Horatius, by excursions and by testing them with light skirmishes, had accustomed them to trust rather in themselves than to remember the ignominy received under the leadership of the decemvirs, and the small engagements had advanced to the sum total of all their hope. Nor did the Sabines cease, made fierce by the affair well managed the year before, to challenge and press, repeatedly asking why, in the manner of brigandage, a few running forward and running back were wasting time, and in many small battles were nibbling at the sum of a single war?

Quin illi congrederentur acie inclinandamque semel fortunae rem darent?

Why did they not engage in line of battle and give the matter to Fortune to incline once for all?

[62] Ad id, quod sua sponte satis collectum animorum erat, indignitate etiam Romani accendebantur: iam alterum exercitum victorem in urbem rediturum; sibi ultro per contumelias hostem insultare; quando autem se, si tum non sint, pares hostibus fore? Ubi haec fremere militem in castris consul sensit, contione advocata, 'quemadmodum' inquit, 'in Algido res gesta sit, arbitror vos, milites, audisse. Qualem liberi populi exercitum decuit esse, talis fuit; consilio collegae, virtute militum victoria parta est.

[62] In addition to the fact that their spirits had of their own accord been sufficiently rallied, the Romans were also inflamed by the indignity: that already the other army would return a victor into the city; that the enemy was, moreover, exulting over them with contumelies; when, pray, would they, if they are not now, be equals to their foes? When the consul sensed the soldiery muttering these things in the camp, an assembly having been called, he said, “In what manner the affair on Algidus was conducted, I suppose you, soldiers, have heard. Such as it became an army of a free people to be, such it was; by the counsel of my colleague, by the virtue of the soldiers, the victory was obtained.”

Quod ad me attinet, id consilii animique habiturus sum, quod vos mihi feceritis. Et trahi bellum salubriter et mature perfici potest. Si trahendum est, ego ut in dies spes virtusque vestra crescat, eadem qua institui disciplina efficiam; si iam satis animi est decernique placet, agite dum, clamorem qualem in acie sublaturi estis, tollite hic indicem voluntatis virtutisque vestrae.' Postquam ingenti alacritate clamor est sublatus, quod bene vertat gesturum se illis morem posteroque die in aciem deducturum adfirmat.

As far as concerns me, I will hold such counsel and spirit as you shall have made for me. Both the war can be drawn out with advantage and it can be brought to completion in due season. If it must be drawn out, I will, that your hope and valor may grow day by day, accomplish it by the same discipline with which I have begun; if now there is spirit enough and it pleases you to have it decided, come then, lift here the shout such as you are going to raise in the battle line, as the index of your will and your virtue.' After a shout was raised with mighty alacrity, he declares that—may it turn out well—he will humor them and on the next day will lead them into line.

Reliquum diei apparandis armis consumptum est.

The remainder of the day was consumed in preparing arms.

Postero die simul instrui Romanam aciem Sabini videre et ipsi, iam pridem avidi certaminis, procedunt. Proelium fuit, quale inter fidentes sibimet ambo exercitus, veteris perpetuaeque alterum gloriae, alterum nuper nova victoria elatum. Consilio etiam Sabini vires adiuvere; nam cum aequassent aciem, duo extra ordinem milia quae in sinistrum cornu Romanorum in ipso certamine impressionem facerent tenuere.

On the next day, as soon as the Sabines saw the Roman battle line being arrayed, they too, long eager for combat, advanced. The battle was such as is between two armies confident in themselves, the one of ancient and perpetual glory, the other lately exalted by a new victory. By counsel the Sabines also aided their strength; for when they had made the line equal, they held two thousand out of order, to make an attack upon the left wing of the Romans in the very heat of the contest.

Quae ubi inlatis ex transverso signis degravabant prope circumventum cornu, equites duarum legionum, sescenti fere, ex equis desiliunt cedentibusque iam suis provolant in primum, simulque et hosti se opponunt et aequato primum periculo, pudore deinde animos peditum accendunt. Verecundiae erat equitem suo alienoque Marte pugnare, peditem ne ad pedes quidem degresso equiti parem esse.

When, as the standards brought in from the flank were weighing down the wing that was nearly surrounded, the cavalry of two legions, about six hundred, leap down from their horses; and with their own men already giving way they dash forward into the front line, and at once both set themselves against the enemy and, first by equalizing the danger, then by shame, they kindle the spirits of the infantry. It was a matter of shame that a horseman should fight with his own and with another’s valor, that the foot-soldier was not even equal to a horseman who had dismounted to the ground.

[63] Vadunt igitur in proelium ab sua parte omissum et locum ex quo cesserant repetunt; momentoque non restituta modo pugna, sed inclinatur etiam Sabinis cornu. Eques inter ordines peditum tectus se ad equos recipit; transvolat inde in partem alteram suis victoriae nuntius; simul et in hostes iam pavidos, quippe fuso suae partis validiore cornu, impetum facit. Non aliorum eo proelio virtus magis enituit.

[63] Therefore they go into the battle left off on their side and regain the position from which they had given way; and in a moment not only is the fight restored, but the wing even inclines on the Sabine side. A cavalryman, sheltered among the ranks of the infantry, withdraws to the horses; from there he flies across to the other side as a messenger of victory to his own men; at the same time he also makes an assault upon the enemy, now panic-stricken, since the stronger wing of their line has been routed. In that battle no one’s valor shone forth more.

Consul providere omnia, laudare fortes, increpare sicubi segnior pugna esset. Castigati fortium statim virorum opera edebant tantumque hos pudor quantum alios laudes excitabant. Redintegrato clamore undique omnes conisi hostem avertunt, nec deinde Romana vis sustineri potuit.

The consul was providing for everything, praising the brave, and rebuking wherever the fight was more sluggish. Those chastised at once were exhibiting the efforts of brave men, and shame was stirring these as much as praises were rousing the others. With the shout renewed, on every side all, straining, turned the enemy away, nor thereafter could the Roman force be withstood.

Sabini fusi passim per agros castra hosti ad praedam relinquunt. Ibi non sociorum sicut in Algido res, sed suas Romanus populationibus agrorum amissas recipit.

The Sabines, routed and scattered everywhere through the fields, abandon their camp to the enemy for plunder. There the Roman recovers, not the property of allies, as on Algidus, but his own goods lost through the devastations of the countryside.

Gemina victoria duobus bifariam proeliis parta, maligne senatus in unum diem supplicationes consulum nomine decrevit. Populus iniussu et altero die frequens iit supplicatum; et haec vaga popularisque supplicatio studiis prope celebratior fuit. Consules ex composito eodem biduo ad urbem accessere senatumque in Martium campum evocavere.

A twin victory having been won in two engagements on a double front, the senate, grudgingly, decreed supplications in the consuls’ name for one day. The people, without any order, and on a second day as well, went in crowds to make supplication; and this wandering and popular supplication was almost more celebrated by their zeal. The consuls, by prearrangement, within that same two-day span approached the city and summoned the senate to the Field of Mars.

Ubi cum de rebus ab se gestis agerent, questi primores patrum senatum inter milites dedita opera terroris causa haberi. Itaque inde consules, ne criminationi locus esset, in prata Flaminia, ubi nunc aedes Apollinis est—iam tum Apollinare appellabant—, avocavere senatum. Ubi cum ingenti consensu patrum negaretur triumphus, L. Icilius tribunus plebis tulit ad populum de triumpho consulum, multis dissuasum prodeuntibus, maxime C. Claudio vociferante de patribus, non de hostibus consules triumphare velle gratiamque pro privato merito in tribunum, non pro virtute honorem peti.

When, as they were dealing with the matters achieved by themselves, the leading men of the fathers complained that the senate was being held among the soldiers on purpose for the sake of terror. Therefore from there the consuls, so that there might be no room for accusation, called the senate away into the Flaminian meadows, where now the temple of Apollo is—already then they were calling it the Apollinare—. There, when a triumph was denied by the great consensus of the fathers, L. Icilius, tribune of the plebs, brought before the people a measure concerning the triumph of the consuls, with many coming forward to dissuade, most of all C. Claudius vociferating that the consuls wished to triumph over the fathers, not over the enemies, and that favor for a private service toward the tribune was being sought, not an honor for virtue.

Nunquam ante de triumpho per populum actum; semper aestimationem arbitriumque eius honoris penes senatum fuisse; ne reges quidem maiestatem summi ordinis imminuisse. Ne ita omnia tribuni potestatis suae implerent, ut nullum publicum consilium sinerent esse. Ita demum liberam civitatem fore, ita aequatas leges, si sua quisque iura ordo, suam maiestatem teneat.

Never before had a triumph been transacted through the people; the estimation and arbitration of that honor had always been in the hands of the senate; not even the kings had diminished the majesty of the highest order. Let it not be that the tribunes so fill all things with their own power that they allow no public council to exist. Only thus will there be a free commonwealth, only thus equalized laws, if each order holds its own rights, its own majesty.

In eandem sententiam multa et a ceteris senioribus patrum cum essent dicta, omnes tribus eam rogationem acceperunt. Tum primum sine auctoritate senatus populi iussu triumphatum est.

As many things to the same effect had been said also by the other senior members of the patres, all the tribes accepted that rogation. Then for the first time, without the authority of the senate, by the order of the people, a triumph was celebrated.

[64] Haec victoria tribunorum plebisque prope in haud salubrem luxuriam vertit, conspiratione inter tribunos facta ut iidem tribuni reficerentur, et, quo sua minus cupiditas emineret, consulibus quoque continuarent magistratum. Consensum patrum causabantur, quo per contumeliam consulum iura plebis labefactata essent. Quid futurum nondum firmatis legibus, si novos tribunos per factionis suae consules adorti essent?

[64] This victory of the tribunes and the plebs almost turned into a hardly wholesome luxury, a conspiracy having been made among the tribunes that the same tribunes be reappointed, and, in order that their own cupidity might be less conspicuous, that they should also continue the magistracy to the consuls. They alleged the consent of the Fathers, by which, through contumely toward the consuls, the rights of the plebs had been undermined. What would have happened, the laws not yet made firm, if they had assailed the new tribunes through consuls of their own faction?

Non enim semper Valerios Horatiosque consules fore, qui libertati plebis suas opes postferrent. Forte quadam utili ad tempus, ut comitiis praeesset potissimum M. Duillio sorte evenit, viro prudenti et ex continuatione magistratus invidiam imminentem cernenti. Qui cum ex veteribus tribunis negaret se ullius rationem habiturum, pugnarentque collegae ut liberas tribus in suffragium mitteret aut concederet sortem comitiorum collegis, habituris e lege potius comitia quam ex voluntate patrum, iniecta contentione Duillius consules ad subsellia accitos cum interrogasset quid de comitiis consularibus in animo haberent, respondissentque se novos consules creaturos, auctores populares sententiae haud popularis nactus in contionem cum iis processit.

For there would not always be Valerii and Horatii as consuls, who would subordinate their own resources to the liberty of the plebs. By a certain chance, useful for the moment, it fell by lot that M. Duillius should preside above all over the comitia, a prudent man and one who perceived the envy impending from the continuation of magistracy. When he said that, from the former tribunes, he would have regard for the candidacy of none, and his colleagues strove that he should send the tribes free into the vote or concede the lot of the comitia to his colleagues—who would hold the comitia by law rather than by the will of the senators—with the contention thus introduced Duillius, after calling the consuls to the benches and asking what they had in mind about the consular comitia, and they had replied that they would create new consuls, having obtained the consuls as popular sponsors of an opinion by no means popular, advanced into the assembly with them.

Ubi cum consules producti ad populum interrogatique, si eos populus Romanus, memor libertatis per illos receptae domi, memor militiae rerum gestarum, consules iterum faceret, quidnam facturi essent, nihil sententiae suae mutassent, conlaudatis consulibus quod perseverarent ad ultimum dissimiles decemvirorum esse, comitia habuit; et quinque tribunis plebi creatis cum prae studiis aperte petentium novem tribunorum alii candidati tribus non explerent, concilium dimisit nec deinde comitiorum causa habuit. Satisfactum legi aiebat, quae numero nusquam praefinito tribuni modo ut relinquerentur sanciret et ab iis qui creati essent cooptari collegas iuberet; recitabatque rogationis carmen in quo sic erat: 'Si tribunos plebei decem rogabo, si qui vos minus hodie decem tribunos plebei feceritis, tum ut ii quos hi sibi collegas cooptassint legitimi eadem lege tribuni plebei sint ut illi quos hodie tribunos plebei feceritis.' Duillius cum ad ultimum perseverasset negando quindecim tribunos plebei rem publicam habere posse, victa collegarum cupiditate pariter patribus plebeique acceptus magistratu abiit.

When the consuls were brought forward before the people and asked what they would do, if the Roman people, mindful of the liberty recovered at home through them, mindful of the achievements in warfare, should make them consuls again, and they said they would change nothing of their position, he, after praising the consuls because they persevered to the end in being unlike the decemvirs, held the elections; and when five tribunes of the plebs had been created, since, because of the partisanship for the nine who were openly canvassing, the other candidates did not fill up the tribes, he dismissed the council, and thereafter did not hold it for the sake of elections. He said the law had been satisfied, which, with the number nowhere fixed, only ordained that tribunes should be left in office, and ordered that colleagues be coopted by those who had been elected; and he would recite the formula of the rogation, in which it ran thus: ‘If I shall propose ten tribunes of the plebs, if you shall today have made fewer than ten tribunes of the plebs, then let those whom these shall have coopted to themselves as colleagues be, by the same law, legitimate tribunes of the plebs, just as those whom you shall today have made tribunes of the plebs.’ Duillius, since to the end he had persisted in denying that the commonwealth could have fifteen tribunes of the plebs, with the eagerness of his colleagues overcome, departed from office acceptable alike to the patricians and the plebs.

[65] Novi tribuni plebis in cooptandis collegis patrum voluntatem foverunt; duos etiam patricios consularesque, Sp. Tarpeium et A. Aternium, cooptavere. Consules creati Sp. Herminius T. Verginius Caelimontanus, nihil magnopere ad patrum aut plebis causam inclinati, otium domi ac foris habuere. L. Trebonius tribunus plebis, infestus patribus quod se ab iis in cooptandis tribunis fraude captum proditumque a collegis aiebat, rogationem tulit ut qui plebem Romanam tribunos plebei rogaret, is usque eo rogaret dum decem tribunos plebei faceret; insectandisque patribus, unde Aspero etiam inditum est cognomen, tribunatum gessit.

[65] The new tribunes of the plebs, in co‑opting colleagues, favored the will of the fathers; they even co‑opted two patricians and men of consular rank, Sp. Tarpeius and A. Aternius. The consuls created were Sp. Herminius and T. Verginius Caelimontanus, inclined in no great degree to the cause either of the fathers or of the plebs; they had quiet at home and abroad. L. Trebonius, tribune of the plebs, hostile to the fathers because he said that in the co‑opting of the tribunes he had been caught by their fraud and betrayed by his colleagues, brought a rogation that whoever should ask the Roman plebs for tribunes of the plebs should keep asking until he made ten tribunes of the plebs; and by assailing the fathers—whence even the cognomen “Asper” was bestowed—he conducted his tribunate.

Inde M. Geganius Macerinus et C. Iulius consules facti contentiones tribunorum adversus nobilium iuventutem ortas, sine insectatione potestatis eius conservata maiestate patrum, sedavere; plebem, decreto ad bellum Volscorum et Aequorum dilectu, sustinendo rem ab seditionibus continuere, urbano otio foris quoque omnia tranquilla esse adfirmantes, per discordias civiles externos tollere animos. Cura pacis concordiae quoque intestinae causa fuit. Sed alter semper ordo gravis alterius modestiae erat; quiescenti plebi ab iunioribus patrum iniuriae fieri coeptae.

Then Marcus Geganius Macerinus and Gaius Julius, made consuls, calmed the contentions of the tribunes that had arisen against the noble youth, without assailing that power and with the majesty of the Fathers preserved; by a decree for a levy to the war of the Volsci and Aequi they kept the plebs, by sustaining the commonwealth, from seditions, affirming that with leisure in the city all things abroad too are tranquil, and that through civil discords outsiders lift up their spirits. Care for peace was also a cause of internal concord. But the one order was always burdensome to the modesty of the other; injuries began to be done to the quiet plebs by the younger men of the Fathers.

Ubi tribuni auxilio humilioribus essent, in primis parum proderat; deinde ne ipsi quidem inviolati erant, utique postremis mensibus, cum et per coitiones potentiorum iniuria fieret et vis potestatis omnis aliquanto posteriore anni parte languidior ferme esset. Iamque plebs ita in tribunatu ponere aliquid spei, si similes Icilio tribunos haberet: nomina tantum se biennio habuisse. Seniores contra patrum ut nimis feroces suos credere iuvenes, ita malle, si modus excedendus esset, suis quam adversariis superesse animos.

Where the tribunes were a help to the humbler, in the first place it availed little; then not even they themselves were inviolate, especially in the last months, when both through coalitions of the more powerful injury was done and the entire force of authority was, in the latter part of the year, as a rule somewhat more languid. And now the plebs were thus placing some hope in the tribunate, if it should have tribunes like Icilius: that for a biennium they had had only the names. The elders, on the other hand, of the patres—just as they believed their young men too ferocious—so preferred, if measure had to be exceeded, that courage should be in excess among their own rather than among their adversaries.

Adeo moderatio tuendae libertatis, dum aequari velle simulando ita se quisque extollit ut deprimat alium, in difficili est, cavendoque ne metuant, homines metuendos ultro se efficiunt, et iniuriam ab nobis repulsam, tamquam aut facere aut pati necesse sit, iniungimus aliis.

To such a degree is the moderation of defending liberty in a difficult position: while, by feigning a wish to be equalized, each person so exalts himself as to depress another; and by taking precautions lest they be in fear, men of their own accord make themselves fearsome; and an injury repelled by us—as though it were necessary either to do or to suffer it—we impose upon others.

[66] T. Quinctius Capitolinus quartum et Agrippa Furius consules inde facti nec seditionem domi nec foris bellum acceperunt; sed imminebat utrumque. Iam non ultra discordia civium reprimi poterat, et tribunis et plebe incitata in patres, cum dies alicui nobilium dicta novis semper certaminibus contiones turbaret. Ad quarum primum strepitum, velut signo accepto, arma cepere Aequi ac Volsci, simul quod persuaserant iis duces, cupidi praedarum, biennio ante dilectum indictum haberi non potuisse, abnuente iam plebe imperium: eo adversus se non esse missos exercitus.

[66] Then T. Quinctius Capitolinus, for the fourth time, and Agrippa Furius were made consuls, and they met neither sedition at home nor war abroad; but both were impending. Already the discord of the citizens could no longer be repressed, with both the tribunes and the plebs incited against the patres, as, whenever a day for trial was appointed for some one of the nobles, the assemblies were thrown into turmoil by ever-new contests. At the first noise of these, as if a signal had been received, the Aequians and Volscians took up arms, likewise because their leaders, eager for plunder, had persuaded them that two years before, though a levy had been proclaimed, it could not be held, the plebs now refusing the imperium; for that reason armies had not been sent against them.

Dissolvi licentia militandi morem, nec pro communi iam patria Romam esse. Quicquid irarum simultatiumque cum externis fuerit in ipsos verti. Occaecatos lupos intestina rabie opprimendi occasionem esse.

License has dissolved the custom of soldiering, and Rome is now no longer a common fatherland. Whatever angers and rivalries there have been with outsiders are being turned upon themselves. There is an opportunity to crush wolves blinded by intestine rabies.

Coniunctis exercitibus Latinum primum agrum perpopulati sunt; deinde postquam ibi nemo vindex occurrebat, tum vero exsultantibus belli auctoribus ad moenia ipsa Romae populabundi regione portae Esquilinae accessere, vastationem agrorum per contumeliam urbi ostentantes. Unde postquam inulti, praedam prae se agentes, retro ad Corbionem agmine iere, Quinctius consul ad contionem populum vocavit.

With their forces joined, they first thoroughly ravaged the Latin land; then, after no champion appeared there, indeed with the authors of the war exulting, in a plundering spirit they came up to the very walls of Rome in the region of the Esquiline Gate, displaying the devastation of the fields in contumely to the city. Whence, after they went unpunished, driving the booty before them, they marched back in column to Corbio; Quinctius the consul called the people to an assembly.

[67] Ibi in hanc sententiam locutum accipio: 'Etsi mihi nullius noxae conscius, Quirites, sum, tamen cum pudore summo in contionem in conspectum vestrum processi. Hoc vos scire, hoc posteris memoriae traditum iri Aequos et Volscos, vix Hernicis modo pares, T. Quinctio quartum consule ad moenia urbis Romae impune armatos venisse! Hanc ego ignominiam, quamquam iam diu ita vivitur ut nihil boni divinet animus, si huic potissimum imminere anno scissem, vel exsilio vel morte, si alia fuga honoris non esset, vitassem.

[67] There I understand that he spoke to this effect: “Although I, Quirites, am conscious of no guilt, yet with the utmost shame I have come forward into the assembly, into your sight. Know this, and know that this will be handed down to the memory of posterity: that the Aequi and the Volsci, scarcely now a match for the Hernici, have come armed, with impunity, to the walls of the city of Rome, with T. Quinctius consul for the 4th time! This ignominy—I, although for a long time we have been living so that the mind divines nothing good, if I had known that it was to threaten this year above all, would have avoided either by exile or by death, if there were no other flight from honor.”

Ergo si viri arma illa habuissent quae in portis fuere nostris, capi Roma me consule potuit? Satis honorum, satis superque vitae erat; mori consulem tertium oportuit. Quem tandem ignavissimi hostium contempsere?

Therefore, if men had possessed those arms which were at our gates, could Rome have been captured with me as consul? Enough of honors, enough and more than enough of life there was; a consul for the third time ought to have died. Whom, then, did the most cowardly of enemies contemn?

Nos consules an vos Quirites? Si culpa in nobis est, auferte imperium indignis et, si id parum est, insuper poenas expetite: si in vobis, nemo deorum nec hominum sit, qui vestra puniat peccata, Quirites: vosmet tantum eorum paeniteat. Non illi vestram ignaviam contempsere nec suae virtuti confisi sunt; quippe totiens fusi fugatique, castris exuti, agro multati, sub iugum missi, et se et vos novere: discordia ordinum et venenum urbis huius, patrum ac plebis certamina, dum nec nobis imperii nec vobis libertatis est modus, dum taedet vos patriciorum, nos plebeiorum magistratuum, sustulere illis animos.

We consuls, or you, Quirites? If the fault is in us, take away command from the unworthy, and, if that is too little, moreover exact penalties; if it is in you, let there be no god nor man to punish your sins, Quirites: only you yourselves repent of them. They did not despise your cowardice, nor did they put confidence in their own valor; indeed, so often routed and put to flight, stripped of their camp, mulcted of land, sent under the yoke, they know both themselves and you: the discord of the orders and the poison of this city, the contests of patricians and plebeians—while neither our imperium nor your liberty has any limit, while you are weary of patrician magistrates and we of plebeian magistrates—have lifted their spirits.

Pro deum fidem, quid vobis voltis? Tribunos plebis concupistis; concordiae causa concessimus. Decemviros desiderastis; creari passi sumus.

By the good faith of the gods, what do you want? You coveted tribunes of the plebs; for the sake of concord we conceded. You desired decemvirs; we allowed them to be created.

Decemvirorum vos pertaesum est; coegimus abire magistratu. Manente in eosdem privatos ira vestra, mori atque exulare nobilissimos viros honoratissimosque passi sumus. Tribunos plebis creare iterum voluistis; creastis.

You grew weary of the decemvirs; we compelled them to depart from office. With your anger remaining against those same men as private citizens, we allowed the most noble and most honoratissime men to die and to go into exile. You wished again to create tribunes of the plebs; you created them.

Consules facere vestrarum partium; etsi patribus videbamus iniquos, patricium quoque magistratum plebi donum fieri vidimus. Auxilium tribunicium, provocationem ad populum, scita plebis iniuncta patribus, sub titulo aequandarum legum nostra iura oppressa tulimus et ferimus. Qui finis erit discordiarum?

Consuls to be of your party; although we saw them unjust to the patres, we even saw a patrician magistracy become a gift to the plebs. The tribunician aid, the provocation (appeal) to the people, plebiscites imposed upon the patres—under the title of equalizing the laws, we have borne and we bear our rights oppressed. What end will there be of the discords?

Ecquando unam urbem habere, ecquando communem hanc esse patriam licebit? Victi nos aequiore animo quiescimus quam vos victores. Satisne est nobis vos metuendos esse?

When at last will it be permitted to have one city, when at last that this be a common fatherland? We, the vanquished, rest with more equanimity than you, the victors. Is it enough for us that you are to be feared?

Adversus nos Aventinum capitur, adversus nos Sacer occupatur mons; Esquilias vidimus ab hoste prope captas et scandentem in aggerem Volscum. Hostem nemo submovit: in nos viri, in nos armati estis.

Against us the Aventine is taken, against us the Sacred Mount is occupied; we have seen the Esquiline nearly captured by the enemy and a Volscian climbing onto the rampart. No one has driven off the enemy: against us you are men, against us you are armed.

[68] Agitedum, ubi hic curiam circumsederitis et forum infestum feceritis et carcerem impleveritis principibus, iisdem istis ferocibus animis egredimini extra portam Esquilinam, aut, si ne hoc quidem audetis, ex muris visite agros vestros ferro ignique vastatos, praedam abigi, fumare incensa passim tecta. At enim communis res per haec loco est peiore; ager uritur, urbs obsidetur, belli gloria penes hostes est. Quid tandem?

[68] Come then, when here you have ringed the curia and made the forum hostile and filled the prison with the leading men, with those same ferocious spirits go out beyond the Esquiline Gate; or, if you do not even dare this, from the walls survey your fields laid waste with iron and fire, booty driven off, the roofs set ablaze smoking everywhere. But indeed the commonwealth by these things is in a worse position; the fields are being burned, the city is besieged, the glory of the war is with the enemies. What, then?

Privatae res vestrae quo statu sunt? Iam unicuique ex agris sua damna nuntiabuntur. Quid est tandem domi unde ea expleatis?

What is the state of your private affairs? Soon to each man his own losses from the fields will be announced. What, then, is there at home with which you may make them good?

Tribuni vobis amissa reddent ac restituent? Vocis verborumque quantum voletis ingerent, et criminum in principes et legum aliarum super alias ut contionum; sed ex illis contionibus nunquam vestrum quisquam re, fortuna domum auctior rediit. Ecquis rettulit aliquid ad coniugem ac liberos praeter odia offensiones simultates publicas privatasque, a quibus semper non vestra virtute innocentiaque, sed auxilio alieno tuti sitis?

Will the tribunes return and restore to you what has been lost? They will heap up voice and words as much as you please, and accusations against the leading men, and laws one upon another, as at the assemblies; but from those assemblies never did any one of you return home richer in substance or fortune. Has anyone carried back anything to wife and children except hatreds, offenses, and feuds, public and private, from which you are always kept safe not by your own virtue and innocence, but by alien aid?

At hercules, cum stipendia nobis consulibus, non tribunis ducibus, et in castris, non in foro faciebatis, et in acie vestrum clamorem hostes, non in contione patres Romani horrebant, praeda parta agro ex hoste capto pleni fortunarum gloriaeque simul publicae simul privatae triumphantes domum ad penates redibatis: nunc oneratum vestris fortunis hostem abire sinitis. Haerete adfixi contionibus et in foro vivite: sequitur vos necessitas militandi quam fugitis. Grave erat in Aequos et Volscos proficisci: ante portas est bellum.

But by Hercules, when you did your stipends under us consuls, not with tribunes as leaders, and in the camp, not in the forum, and in the battle line it was the enemy who shuddered at your shout, not in the assembly the Roman Fathers, with booty won and land seized from the enemy you returned home to your Penates, triumphing, full of fortunes and of glory both public and private: now you allow the enemy, laden with your fortunes, to depart. Cling fixed to assemblies and live in the forum: the necessity of soldiering which you flee follows you. It was burdensome to set out against the Aequians and Volscians: war is before the gates.

Si inde non pellitur, iam intra moenia erit et arcem et Capitolium scandet et in domos vestras vos persequetur. Biennio ante senatus dilectum haberi et educi exercitum in Algidum iussit: sedemus desides domi mulierum ritu inter nos altercantes, praesenti pace laeti nec cernentes ex otio illo brevi multiplex bellum rediturum. His ego gratiora dictu alia esse scio; sed me vera pro gratis loqui, etsi meum ingenium non moneret, necessitas cogit.

If he is not driven from there, already he will be within the walls, and he will scale both the Citadel and the Capitol, and he will pursue you into your homes. Two years before the senate ordered that a levy be held and that an army be led out to Algidus; we sit idle at home in the manner of women, quarreling among ourselves, glad of the present peace and not discerning that from that leisure shortly a manifold war will return. I know that there are other things more pleasing to say than these; but necessity compels me to speak truths instead of gratifications, even if my disposition did not admonish me.

Vellem equidem vobis placere, Quirites; sed multo malo vos salvos esse, qualicumque erga me animo futuri estis. Natura hoc ita comparatum est, ut qui apud multitudinem sua causa loquitur gratior eo sit cuius mens nihil praeter publicum commodum videt; nisi forte adsentatores publicos, plebicolas istos, qui vos nec in armis nec in otio esse sinunt, vestra vos causa incitare et stimulare putatis. Concitati aut honori aut quaestui illis estis; et quia in concordia ordinum nullos se usquam esse vident, malae rei se quam nullius, turbarum ac seditionum duces esse volunt.

I for my part would wish to please you, Quirites; but I much prefer that you be safe, whatever mind toward me you are going to have. Nature has so constituted this, that he who speaks among the multitude on his own account is more pleasing than he whose mind sees nothing except the public advantage; unless perhaps you think that public assentators, those plebicolæ, who do not allow you to be either in arms or in leisure, are rousing and goading you for your own sake. When you are agitated you are to them either an honor or a source of gain; and because, in the concord of the orders, they see themselves to be nowhere, they prefer to be leaders of some bad affair rather than of none—leaders of tumults and seditions.

Quarum rerum si vos taedium tandem capere potest et patrum vestroque antiquos mores voltis pro his novis sumere, nulla supplicia recuso, nisi paucis diebus hos populatores agrorum nostrorum fusos fugatosque castris exuero et a portis nostris moenibusque ad illorum urbes hunc belli terrorem quo nunc vos attoniti estis transtulero.'

If at last a tedium of these things can seize you, and you are willing to take up, in place of these new ones, the ancient mores of your fathers and your own, I refuse no punishments, unless within a few days I strip these ravagers of our fields—routed and put to flight—of their camp, and transfer from our gates and walls to their cities this terror of war by which you are now stunned.'

[69] Raro alias tribuni popularis oratio acceptior plebi quam tunc severissimi consulis fuit. Iuventus quoque, quae inter tales metus detractationem militiae telum acerrimum adversus patres habere solita erat, arma et bellum spectabat. Et agrestium fuga spoliatique in agris et volnerati, foediora iis quae subiciebantur oculis nuntiantes, totam urbem ira implevere.

[69] Rarely at any other time was the oration of a popular tribune more acceptable to the plebs than then was that of the most severe consul. The youth also, who amid such fears had been accustomed to have the shirking of military service as the keenest weapon against the Fathers, was eyeing arms and war. And the flight of the rustics and those despoiled in the fields and the wounded, announcing things more foul than what was being set before the eyes, filled the whole city with anger.

In senatum ubi ventum est, ibi vero in Quinctium omnes versi ut unum vindicem maiestatis Romanae intueri, et primores patrum dignam dicere contionem imperio consulari, dignam tot consulatibus ante actis, dignam vita omni, plena honorum saepe gestorum, saepius meritorum. Alios consules aut per proditionem dignitatis patrum plebi adulatos aut acerbe tuendo iura ordinis asperiorem domando multitudinem fecisse: T. Quinctium orationem memorem maiestatis patrum concordiaeque ordinum et temporum in primis habuisse. Orare eum collegamque ut capesserent rem publicam; orare tribunos ut uno animo cum consulibus bellum ab urbe ac moenibus propulsari vellent plebemque oboedientem in re tam trepida patribus praeberent; appellare tribunos communem patriam auxiliumque eorum implorare vastatis agris, urbe prope oppugnata.

When they came into the senate, there indeed all turned toward Quinctius, looking upon him as the sole avenger of Roman majesty, and the foremost of the fathers declared that his harangue was worthy of consular authority, worthy of so many consulships previously discharged, worthy of his whole life, full of honors often borne, more often deserved. Other consuls had either, through betrayal of the dignity of the fathers, fawned upon the plebs, or, by bitterly upholding the rights of the order, made the multitude more embittered by subduing it; T. Quinctius, they said, had delivered a speech mindful of the majesty of the fathers and, above all, of the concord of the orders and of the exigencies of the times. He and his colleague were beseeching that they should take up the commonwealth; beseeching the tribunes that, with one mind together with the consuls, they should be willing to drive the war back from the city and its walls, and in so anxious a matter provide the fathers with an obedient plebs; appealing to the tribunes, imploring their aid for the common fatherland, with the fields laid waste and the city almost under assault.

Consensu omnium dilectus decernitur habeturque. Cum in contione pronuntiassent tempus non esse causas cognoscendi, omnes iuniores postero die prima luce in campo Martio adessent; cognoscendis causis eorum qui nomina non dedissent bello perfecto se daturos tempus; pro desertore futurum, cuius non probassent causam;—omnis iuventus adfuit postero die. Cohortes sibi quaeque centuriones legerunt; bini senatores singulis cohortibus praepositi.

By the consensus of all, a levy is decreed and held. When they had proclaimed in the assembly that it was not the time for hearing causes, that all the younger men should be present on the following day at first light in the Campus Martius; that time for hearing the causes of those who had not given in their names would be granted when the war had been finished; that it would be as for a deserter for anyone whose excuse they had not approved;—all the youth was present on the next day. Each cohort chose its centurions for itself; two senators were set over each cohort.

Haec omnia adeo mature perfecta accepimus ut signa, eo ipso die a quaestoribus ex aerario prompta delataque in campum, quarta diei hora mota ex campo sint, exercitusque novus, paucis cohortibus veterum militum voluntate sequentibus, manserit ad decimum lapidem. Insequens dies hostem in conspectum dedit, castraque ad Corbionem castris sunt coniuncta. Tertio die, cum ira Romanos, illos, cum totiens rebellassent, conscientia culpae ac desperatio inritaret, mora dimicandi nulla est facta.

We learned that all these things were completed so promptly that the standards, on that very day brought forth by the quaestors from the treasury and carried into the field, were moved out from the field at the fourth hour of the day; and the new army, with a few cohorts of veteran soldiers following of their own will, remained at the tenth milestone. The following day brought the enemy into view, and the camps at Corbio were joined. On the third day—since anger was goading the Romans, and for those men, since they had so often rebelled, the conscience of guilt and desperation—no delay was made in fighting.

[70] In exercitu Romano cum duo consules essent potestate pari, quod saluberrimum in administratione magnarum rerum est, summa imperii concedente Agrippa penes collegam erat; et praelatus ille facilitati submittentis se comiter respondebat communicando consilia laudesque et aequando imparem sibi. In acie Quinctius dextrum cornu, Agrippa sinistrum tenuit; Sp. Postumio Albo legato datur media acies tuenda; legatum alterum P. Sulpicium equitibus praeficiunt. Pedites ab dextro cornu egregie pugnavere, haud segniter resistentibus Volscis.

[70] In the Roman army, since there were two consuls with equal power—which is most healthful in the administration of great affairs—the supreme command, Agrippa conceding it, was in the hands of his colleague; and that one preferred answered courteously to the readiness of the one submitting himself, by sharing counsels and praises and by making his unequal equal to himself. In the battle-line Quinctius held the right wing, Agrippa the left; to Sp. Postumius Albus, as legate, the middle line is given to guard; they set the other legate, P. Sulpicius, over the cavalry. The infantry from the right wing fought excellently, the Volsci resisting by no means sluggishly.

P. Sulpicius per mediam hostium aciem cum equitatu perrupit. Unde cum eadem reverti posset ad suos, priusquam hostis turbatos ordines reficeret terga impugnare hostium satius visum est; momentoque temporis in aversam incursando aciem ancipiti terrore dissipasset hostes, ni suo proprio eum proelio equites Volscorum et Aequorum exceptum aliquamdiu tenuissent. Ibi vero Sulpicius negare cunctandi tempus esse, circumventos interclusosque ab suis vociferans, ni equestre proelium conixi omni vi perficerent; nec fugare equitem integrum satis esse: conficerent equos virosque, ne quis reveheretur inde ad proelium aut integraret pugnam; non posse illos resistere sibi, quibus conferta peditum acies cessiset.

P. Sulpicius broke through with the cavalry through the middle of the enemy battle-line. Whence, though he could have returned the same way to his own, before the enemy should restore their disordered ranks it seemed better to assail the enemy’s backs; and in a moment of time, by charging against the back-turned line, he would have scattered the foe with twofold terror, had not the horsemen of the Volsci and the Aequi, intercepting him in a cavalry fight of their own, held him for some time. There indeed Sulpicius shouted that there was no time for delaying, that they were being surrounded and shut off from their own, unless they should, straining with all force, bring the cavalry battle to completion; nor was it enough to rout cavalry still intact: let them finish off the horses and the men, lest anyone ride back thence to the battle or reintegrate the fight; they could not resist them, those to whom the packed infantry line had yielded.

Haud surdis auribus dicta. Impressione una totum equitatum fudere, magnam vim ex equis praecipitavere, ipsos equosque spiculis confodere. Is finis pugnae equestris fuit.

The words were not addressed to deaf ears. With a single charge they routed the entire cavalry, hurled a great force headlong from their horses, and with darts pierced both the men themselves and their horses. This was the end of the cavalry battle.

Tunc adorti peditum aciem, nuntios ad consules rei gestae mittunt, ubi iam inclinabatur hostium acies. Nuntius deinde et vincentibus Romanis animos auxit et referentes gradum perculit Aequos. In media primum acie vinci coepti, qua permissus equitatus turbaverat ordines; sinistrum deinde cornu ab Quinctio consule pelli coeptum; in dextro plurimum laboris fuit.

Then, having assailed the infantry battle-line, they send messengers to the consuls reporting the affair, where already the enemy’s line was inclining. The message then both augmented the spirits of the conquering Romans and smote the Aequians as they were drawing back their step. In the middle of the line they first began to be beaten, where the cavalry, having been let loose, had thrown the ranks into disorder; then the left wing began to be driven by the consul Quinctius; on the right there was the most labor.

Ibi Agrippa, aetate viribusque ferox, cum omni parte pugnae melius rem geri quam apud se videret, arrepta signa ab signiferis ipse inferre, quaedam iacere etiam in confertos hostes coepit; cuius ignominiae metu concitati milites invasere hostem. Ita aequata ex omni parte victoria est. Nuntius tum a Quinctio venit victorem iam se imminere hostium castris; nolle inrumpere antequam sciat debellatum et in sinistro cornu esse: si iam fudisset hostes, conferret ad se signa, ut simul omnis exercitus praeda potiretur.

There Agrippa, fierce in his prime and strength, when he saw that in every part of the battle the affair was being conducted better than with himself, having snatched the standards from the standard-bearers, himself began to bear them forward, and even to hurl some into the massed enemies; stirred by fear of this ignominy, the soldiers assaulted the foe. Thus victory was equalized on every side. Then a messenger came from Quinctius that he, as victor, was now menacing the enemy’s camp; he did not wish to break in before he knew that the war was finished and what the case was on the left wing: if he had now routed the enemies, he should bring the standards over to him, so that the whole army at once might take possession of the booty.

Victor Agrippa cum mutua gratulatione ad victorem collegam castraque hostium venit. Ibi paucis defendentibus momentoque fusis, sine certamine in munitiones inrumpunt, praedaque ingenti compotem exercitum suis etiam rebus reciperatis quae populatione agrorum amissae erant reducunt. Triumphum nec ipsos postulasse nec delatum iis ab senatu accipio, nec traditur causa spreti aut non sperati honoris.

The victorious Agrippa, with mutual congratulations, came to his victorious colleague and to the enemy’s camp. There, with few defending and routed in a moment, they irrupted into the fortifications without a contest, and they lead back the army in possession of enormous booty, their own goods also recovered which had been lost by the devastation of the fields. I receive that neither did they themselves demand a triumph nor was it conferred on them by the Senate, nor is any cause handed down of the honor being spurned or not expected.

Ego quantum in tanto intervallo temporum conicio, cum Valerio atque Horatio consulibus qui praeter Volscos et Aequos Sabini etiam belli perfecti gloriam pepererant negatus ab senatu triumphus esset, verecundiae fuit pro parte dimidia rerum consulibus petere triumphum, ne etiamsi impetrassent magis hominum ratio quam meritorum habita videretur.

I, so far as after so long an interval of time I conjecture, when under the consuls Valerius and Horatius—who, besides over the Volsci and the Aequi, had also upon the Sabines won the glory of a war brought to completion—the triumph had been denied by the senate, it was out of modesty that the consuls sought a triumph for a half share of the achievements, lest, even if they had obtained it, consideration might seem to have been paid more to the persons than to the merits.

[71] Victoriam honestam ex hostibus partam turpe domi de finibus sociorum iudicium populi deformavit. Aricini atque Ardeates de ambiguo agro cum saepe bello certassent, multis in vicem cladibus fessi iudicem populum Romanum cepere. Cum ad causam orandam venissent, concilio populi a magistratibus dato magna contentione actum.

[71] An honorable victory won from enemies was disfigured at home by the shameful judgment of the people concerning the boundaries of the allies. The Aricini and the Ardeates, since they had often contended in war over an ambiguous tract of land, worn out by many defeats in turn, chose the Roman People as judge. When they had come to plead their cause, with an assembly of the people granted by the magistrates, the matter was conducted with great contention.

Iamque editis testibus, cum tribus vocari et populum inire suffragium oporteret, consurgit P. Scaptius de plebe, magno natu, et 'si licet' inquit, 'consules, de re publica dicere, errare ego populum in hac causa non patiar.' Cum ut vanum eum negarent consules audiendum esse vociferantemque prodi publicam causam submoveri iussissent, tribunos appellat. Tribuni, ut fere semper reguntur a multitudine magis quam regunt, dedere cupidae audiendi plebi ut quae vellet Scaptius diceret. Ibi infit annum se tertium et octogensimum agere, et in eo agro de quo agitur militasse, non iuvenem, vicesima iam stipendia merentem, cum ad Coriolos sit bellatum.

And now, with the witnesses produced, when the tribes ought to be called and the people to enter upon the suffrage, P. Scaptius, of the plebs, of great age, rises and says, 'if it is permitted, consuls, to speak on the res publica, I will not suffer the people to go astray in this case.' When the consuls, declaring him a vain fellow, said he was not to be heard and, as he shouted that the public cause was being betrayed, had ordered him to be removed, he appeals to the tribunes. The tribunes, as almost always they are ruled by the multitude more than they rule, yielded to the plebs eager to hear, that Scaptius should say whatever he wished. Thereupon he begins that he is in his eighty-third year, and that in that field about which the suit is, he had done military service—not as a youth, already earning his twentieth campaigns—when war was waged at Corioli.

Eo rem se vetustate oblitteratam, ceterum suae memoriae infixam adferre agrum de quo ambigitur finium Coriolanorum fuisse captisque Coriolis iure belli publicum populi Romani factum. Mirari se quonam ore Ardeates Aricinique, cuius agri ius nunquam usurpaverint incolumi Coriolana re, eum se a populo Romano, quem pro domino iudicem fecerint, intercepturos sperent. Sibi exiguum vitae tempus superesse; non potuisse se tamen inducere in animum quin, quem agrum miles pro parte virili manu cepisset, eum senex quoque voce, qua una posset, vindicaret.

He brings this forward, that the matter, though obliterated by antiquity, is nevertheless fixed in his own memory: that the field about which there is dispute had belonged to the boundaries of the Coriolan territory, and, Corioli having been captured, by the right of war had been made public property of the Roman people. He marvels with what face the Ardeates and the Aricini, who never usurped any right to the field while the Coriolan commonwealth stood intact, now hope to snatch it for themselves from the Roman people, whom they have constituted judge as though owner. For himself a scant span of life remains; yet he could not bring it into his mind not to vindicate, with his voice—the only thing by which he could—that field which, as a soldier, he had taken with his hand for his virile share.

Magnopere se suadere populo ne inutili pudore suam ipse causam damnaret.

He earnestly persuaded the people not, by useless shame, to condemn their own cause themselves.

[72] Consules cum Scaptium non silentio modo, sed cum adsensu etiam audiri animadvertissent, deos hominesque testantes flagitium ingens fieri, patrum primores arcessunt. Cum iis circumire tribus, orare ne pessimum facinus peiore exemplo admitterent iudices in suam rem litem vertendo, cum praesertim etiamsi fas sit curam emolumenti sui iudici esse, nequaquam tantum agro intercipiendo adquiratur, quantum amittatur alienandis iniuria sociorum animis. Nam famae quidem ac fidei damna maiora esse quam quae aestimari possent: hoc legatos referre domum, hoc volgari, hoc socios audire, hoc hostes, quo cum dolore hos, quo cum gaudio illos?

[72] When the consuls had observed that Scaptius was being heard not only in silence but even with assent, they, calling gods and men to witness that an enormous scandal was being perpetrated, summon the leading men of the Senate. With them they go around the tribes, beseeching that the judges not admit the worst crime with a worse precedent by turning the suit to their own advantage—since, especially, even if it be right for a judge to have regard for his own emolument, by intercepting the land by no means would so much be acquired as would be lost by alienating, through injustice, the minds of the allies. For the losses to reputation and to good faith are greater than can be estimated: this the envoys will report home, this will be spread abroad, this the allies will hear, this the enemies— with what grief the former, with what joy the latter?

Scaptione hoc, contionali seni, adsignaturos putarent finitimos populos? Clarum hac fore imagine Scaptium; sed populum Romanum quadruplatoris et interceptoris litis alienae personam laturum. Quem enim hoc privatae rei iudicem fecisse ut sibi controversiosam adiudicaret rem?

Did they think that, on this Scaptius—the assembly-orating old man—the neighboring peoples would make the assignment? Scaptius would be made renowned by this image; but the Roman people would be made to bear the persona of an informer and an interceptor of another’s lawsuit. For who, pray, had made this man judge of a private affair, that he should adjudicate the disputed property to himself?

Scaptium ipsum id quidem, etsi praemortui iam sit pudoris, non facturum.

Scaptius himself, indeed, even if his sense of shame is already long dead, would not do this.

Haec consules, haec patres vociferantur; sed plus cupiditas et auctor cupiditatis Scaptius valet. Vocatae tribus iudicaverunt agrum publicum populi Romani esse. Nec abnuitur ita fuisse, si ad iudices alios itum foret; nunc haud sane quicquam bono causae levatur dedecus iudicii; idque non Aricinis Ardeatibusque quam patribus Romanis foedius atque acerbius visum.

These things the consuls, these things the Fathers vociferate; but cupidity, and the author of the cupidity, Scaptius, prevails more. The tribes, having been called, adjudged the field to be public land of the Roman people. Nor is it denied that it would have been thus, if it had gone before other judges; now, to be sure, the disgrace of the judgment is in no way lightened by the goodness of the cause; and this seemed no more foul and acerb to the Aricini and Ardeates than to the Roman Fathers.

Reliquum anni quietum ab urbanis motibus et ab externis mansit.

The remainder of the year remained quiet from urban disturbances and from external ones.