LIVY: "AB URBE CONDITA (THE HISTORY OF ROME)": BOOK V: THE CAPTURE OF ROME.
Introduction:
Sabidius has previously offered his readers translations of Book I and Book II of Livy's 'History of Rome' on 5th December 2022 and 18th August 2023 respectively. A full account of Livy's magnificent qualities as a historical author is provided in the introduction to Book I. Book V, which is translated below, is indeed another 'magnum opus' and gave Romans of his own day, i.e. in the latter part of the First Century B.C., a thorough account of the terrible events of 390 B.C. when, after their victory at the Battle of the Allia, the Gauls captured most of the City of Rome. The Book ends with an account of Camillus' magnificent speech, in which he persuades his countrymen not to abandon their ruined city. This book of Livy, fifty-two chapters in length, is a true 'magnum opus', and has proved to be a true test of Sabidius' stamina and fortitude in Latin translation.
Chapter 1. The hostility between Rome and Veii.
(1) With peace having been established elsewhere, the Romans and the Veientines were in arms with such great anger and hatred that it was evident that ruin would come upon the ones who were defeated. Elections among both peoples were conducted in a very different manner. (2) The Romans increased the number of military tribunes (i.e. for the year 403 B.C.); eight (were) appointed, never (were) there so many before: Manius Aemilius Mamercus for the second time, Lucius Valerius Potitus for the third time, Appius Claudius Crassus, Marcus Quinctilius Varus, Lucius Julius Julus, Marcus Postumius, Marcus Furius Camillus (and) Marcus Postumius Albinus. (3) The Veientines, on the other hand, through weariness of the annual scramble for office, which was very often the cause of quarrels, appointed a king. This step offended the feelings of the peoples of Etruria, not so much due to their hatred of kingship, as (due to their hatred) of the king himself. (4) Now. he had previously become disliked by the nation due to his wealth and his arrogance, because he had violently broken off some annual games, which it was (considered) an impiety to have neglected, (5) since, on account of his anger at a rebuff, because another (man) had been preferred to him (as) a priest by the suffrage of the twelve peoples, he had suddenly abducted from the middle of the show the performers, a great part of whom were his own slaves. (6) So, the nation (i.e. Rome) (which was) devoted beyond all others to religious rites, and all the more so because they excelled in the art of conducting them, passed a decree that aid to the Veientines should be refused, so long as they were subject to a king; (7) the news of this decree was suppressed in Veii through fear of the king, who would have considered the (person), by whom any such statement might be mentioned, as the leader of sedition, not as the author of an idle rumour. (8) Although things in Etruria were reported (as) quiet to the Romans, yet, because the news was brought to (them) that this matter was being brought up at all their meetings, (9) they so managed their fortifications that there should be defence-works facing in both directions: some (were) turned towards the city (i.e. Veii) and against the sallies of the townsmen, (and) in other (cases) the front (was) facing towards Etruria, so that any assistance might be opposed, in case it might perhaps come from there.
Chapter 2. The tribunes protest at the continuous military service now being required of the Roman soldiers.
(1) When the Roman generals had greater hope in (mounting) a siege than in (conducting) an assault, winter tents, a new thing to the Roman soldier, also began to be constructed, and the plan was to continue the war by wintering (there). (2) After (the news of) this had been brought to the tribunes of the people in Rome, who for a long time now had found no pretext for effecting a revolution, they spring forward into the assembly, and stir up the minds of the common people, (3) saying that this was the (reason) that pay had been established for the soldiers; nor had it escaped their notice that this gift of their enemies would be tainted with poison. (4) The liberty of the people had been sold; the young men, having been permanently removed and banished from the City, and from the state did not now even yield to the winter or the season of the year and look after their homes and their own affairs. (5) What did they think was the reason for this continuous military service? They should undoubtedly find no other (motive) than (the fear) that something could be done in furtherance of their interests by the full attendance of those youths, in whom the entire strength of the common people lay. (6) Besides, they were far more violently abused and trodden upon than (were) the Veientines; (7) for in fact, they spent the winter under their own roofs, safeguarding their city by means of its strong walls and its natural situation, (while) the Roman soldier, in the midst of toil and hardship, (and) overwhelmed by snow and frost, continued working beneath (the covering of) skins, not setting aside his arms, even during the period of winter, which should be a (time of) respite from all wars on land and sea. (8) Neither the kings, nor those proud consuls (that were in place) before the tribunician power (was) created, nor the stern power of a dictator, nor the overbearing decemvirs had imposed such servitude as this, that they should undertake perpetual military service. For what would these (men) have done (as) consuls or dictators, who had made the proconsular image so cruel and grim? (9) But this happened not unjustly. Amongst eight military tribunes, there was not even a place for a single plebeian. (10) Previously, the patricians had usually filled three places with the greatest effort: but now eight of them together proceeded to win power, and not even in such a crowd was there room for a single plebeian, who, (11) even if he (did) nothing else, might remind his colleagues that (it was) freemen and their fellow-citizens, not slaves, (who) served as soldiers, and that they ought to be brought back, during winter at least, to their homes and roofs, (12) and at some of the year, to go and see their parents, and children, and wives, and exercise their (rights of) freedom and elect magistrates.
(13) While they were crying out in such (terms as) these, they found (in) Appius Claudius an opponent (who was) not unequal (to them); (he it was who had been) left behind by his colleagues to check the seditious actions of the tribunes, (and he was) a man accustomed from his youth to contests with the plebeians, (14) and he (had) advised some years before, as has been mentioned, that the tribunician power should be dissolved by means of the intervention of his colleagues.
Chapter 3. Appius Claudius begins his address.
(1) This (man), not only endowed with natural ability, but also (well) trained by experience, then delivered the following address: "If ever there has been any doubt, citizens, whether the tribunes of the people have always been the promoters of sedition for your sake or their own, I know for certain that during this year that doubt must have ceased (to exist); (3) and I am both delighted that an end has at last come, in your case, to such a lengthy mistake, and I congratulate both you, and, on your account, the republic, that this error has been removed, while your own affairs (are) especially prospering. (4) Is there anyone who can doubt that the tribunes of the people were never (so) offended and provoked by any of the injuries you may have suffered, if these (things) by chance ever happened, as (they were) by the favourable gift of the senate to the people, when pay was established for those on military service? (5) What else do you think they then either dreaded or now wish to disturb, but the concord of the orders, which they reckon is most (likely to lead) to the dissolution of tribunician authority? (6) So, by Hercules, like the unruly workers (that they are) they are looking for work; of course, they are always wanting there to be some disease in the republic, so that there may be (something) for them to be employed by you to cure. (7) For are you (tribunes) either defending the common people, or are you attacking (them)? Unless perhaps you are saying this: 'Whatever the Fathers do is displeasing (to you), whether it is (done) on behalf of the commons or against the commons,' (8) and just as masters forbid their slaves to have any dealings with outsiders and think (it) right that they abstain from benefiting and harming them alike, so you deny the Fathers any contact with the commons, lest by our friendliness and generosity we may encourage the commons and the commons may listen to our words and be obedient (to them). (9) If there were anything in you, not I say of fellow-citizens but of human-beings, how much more then ought you rather to have favoured, and, as far as in you lay, to have encouraged the kindness of the Fathers and the tractability of the common people? (10) (And) if such concord should be permanent, who would not venture to give an assurance that this empire (of ours) would shortly become the greatest among our neighbouring (peoples)?
Chapter 4. Appius justifies the requirement laid on Roman soldiers to serve for longer periods of time.
(1) And yet, I shall subsequently explain how this plan of my colleagues, by which they would not withdraw the army from Veii while the task was unaccomplished, has been not only expedient, but also essential: (but) now I wish to say something about the actual condition of the soldiers; (2) I think these observations would appear reasonable, not only in your case, but also if they were delivered in the camp, with the army itself discussing (them). On which (subject), if nothing that I myself might say could come into my mind, I should certainly be satisfied with the arguments of my adversaries. (3) They (i.e. the tribunes) were saying recently that pay should not be given to the soldiers, because it had never been given (to them before). On what basis, then, can they now object, (in the case of those) to whom some new advantage has been given, (if) some new task is imposed on them in proportion? (4) Nowhere (is there) work without payment, nor usually is there payment without work being undertaken. Toil and pleasure, unlike by nature, are linked to one another by a sort of natural partnership. (5) Formerly, a soldier thought (it) irksome that he gave his labour to the state at his own expense; at the same time, he was glad for a part of the year to till his own ground, and to acquire (the means) by which he might support himself and his (family) at home and on military service: (6) now he is pleased that the republic is a (source of) income to him, and he happily receives his pay; so let him accept with a patient mind that he is absent for a little longer from his home and his family property, to which there is (now) no heavy outlay (required). (7) If the state were to call him to a settlement of accounts, would it not justly say: "You have a year's pay, (so) do a year's work; do you think (it) just that you should receive a whole (year's) pay for six months' service?" (8) Citizens, I dwell with reluctance on this part of my speech; for so ought they to argue who employ mercenary soldiers; but we want to deal (with you) just like fellow-citizens, and we think (it) just that you should deal with us as if it were with your native-land.
(9) Either the war ought not to have been undertaken, or it ought to be waged in accordance with the dignity of the Roman people and brought to an end as soon as possible. (10) Yet it will be brought to a conclusion if we press hard upon the besieged, (and) if we have put in place the limit of our hopes by the capture of Veii. If, in truth, (there were) no other reason, the very indignity (of the situation) should impose perseverance (upon us). (11) Was a city (i.e. Troy) once besieged for ten years on account of a single woman (i.e. Helen) by the whole of Greece, and how far from their home (it was)? (12) How many lands, how many seas lay between (them)? Do we complain at having to endure the siege of a year's duration within the twentieth milestone and almost within sight of our own city? Because no doubt the cause of the war is trivial, nor is there anything like enough of a just grievance that it encourages us to persevere (n.b. this remark is made in irony). Seven times have they restarted hostilities; (13) in peace they have never been faithful; they have laid waste our lands a thousand times; they have compelled the people of Fidenae to break away from us; there they have put to death our colonists; (14) Contrary to law, they have been the instigators of the impious murder of our ambassadors; they wished to incite the whole of Etruria against us, and to this very day they are striving (to do) this; when our ambassadors demanded satisfaction, they were not far from laying violent hands (upon them).
Chapter 5. Appius argues strongly that the Romans should continue to fight with the Veientines.
(1) "With such enemies as these, ought war to be waged (so) gently and in such a dilatory manner? If such just resentment does not influence us at all, will not even the following (considerations) have any weight? (2) Their city is enclosed with vast siege-works, by which the enemy is confined within his walls; they have not tilled their land, and (what has been) cultivated has been laid waste by war; (3) if we withdraw our army, who is there who can doubt that they will invade our territory, not only from a desire for revenge, but also by the necessity imposed (on them) of plundering (the property) of others, since they have lost their own? What (of them)? (4) What (is it) that properly concerns our soldiers, whose (interests) these worthy tribunes of the people now suddenly wish to provide for, when they had wished to strip them of their pay, what sort of thing is it? (5) They have formed a rampart and a trench, both (works) of great labour through so great (an extent) of space; they have erected forts, a few at first, and afterwards very many when the army was increased (in number); these fortifications were put down, not only facing towards the city, but also towards Etruria, in case any assistance might come from that direction; (6) what towers need I mention, what penthouses, and shelters, and any other equipment for storming cities? When so much labour has been exhausted, and they have now come at last to the end of the work, do you think that these (things) should be abandoned, so that again next summer a fresh (source of) labour should be expended on these (things) being formed anew? (7) How much less of an effort (is it) to support (what has already been) done, and to press on and persevere and to discharge our functions? For the matter is certainly of short (duration) if it is performed with one course (of exertion). nor do we ourselves make our hopes more lasting by these interruptions and pauses. (8) I spoke of the loss of time and of labour. What? Do the very frequent debates in Etruria about sending help to Veii allow us to forget the danger, which we incur by putting off the war? (9) As the matter now stands, they are angry, they are resentful, (and) that say they will not send any help; for as far as they are concerned, we may capture Veii. (But) who is there who can guarantee that, if the war is suspended, they will afterwards be of the same mind, (10) for, if you gave (them) a respite, a greater and more numerous delegation would go forth, since the thing which now offends the Etruscans, (that is) a king being appointed at Veii, could be altered with the passing of time or with the consent of the citizens, so that they may thereby reconcile the minds of Etruria, or at the will of the king himself who may not wish his kingship to obstruct the safety of his citizens? (11) See how many circumstances, (and) how detrimental (they are), follow that policy route: the loss of works carried out with such great labour, the imminent devastation of our borders, (and) a war incited by the Etruscans instead of one with Veii. (12) These, tribunes, are your policies, and, in truth, (they are) no different from those in which someone should make out that a disease (is) long-lasting and perhaps incurable for the sake of immediate food or drink in a sick (person), who, (by) resolutely allowing himself to be treated, could soon recover his health.
Chapter 6. Appius argues that the conduct of the tribunes of the people leads to anarchy.
(1) "If, by heaven, it was of no significance to this war, it was certainly of the utmost importance to military discipline that our soldiers should become accustomed not only to relishing a victory (they had) won, but, even if the campaign should (proceed) more slowly (than anticipated), that they should endure the tedium and await the outcome of their hopes, however tardy, and, if the war should not be completed in the summer, to wait for winter (to come), and not like summer birds at the very beginning of the autumn, to look out for roofs and shelters. (3) (Look,) I beseech you at the zeal and pleasure in hunting (that) carries men through snow and frost to the hills and forests: shall we not bring to the exigencies of war that (power of) endurance which both sport and pleasure are accustomed to elicit? (4) Are we to suppose that the bodies of our soldiers are so effeminate, (and) their minds so feeble that they cannot endure one winter in the camp, and be away from home? (And) that like (those who) wage a naval war with an eye on the weather and respecting the time of year, they cannot endure the heat and the cold? (5) They would certainly blush, should anyone accuse them of this, and they would maintain that manly endurance was in their minds and bodies, and that they were able to wage war just as well in winter as in summer, and that they had not entrusted to the tribunes the advocacy of weakness and indolence, and they recalled that their ancestors had instituted this very power neither in the shade nor under roofs.
(6) "Such (sentiments as these) are worthy of the valour of your soldiers, and of the Roman name, considering not only Veii, nor this war that is impending, but also to seek a reputation in respect of other wars and in respect of other nations. (7) Do you consider the difference of opinion likely to result from this matter (as) trivial, whether our neighbours should conclude the Roman people to be of such a kind, that, if any city were to withstand their first assault for a very short time, then it would have nothing to fear, (8) or should the terror of our name be such that neither the weariness of a protracted siege, nor the force of winter can remove a Roman army from a city once (it is) invested, and it knows no other ending to a war than victory, and it conducts its wars no more by dash than by perseverance? (9) This is no doubt necessary in every kind of military action, but especially in relation to besieging cities, most of which, impregnable by their fortifications and by their natural situation, time itself overcomes and conquers through hunger and thirst, (10) - as it will overcome Veii, unless the tribunes of the people can be of help to the enemy, and the Veientines can find in Rome the support which they seek in vain in Etruria.
(11) Is there anything which can happen as much in accordance with the wishes of the Veientines, as that firstly the City of Rome, and then the camp, as if by contagion, should be filled with sedition? (12) But, by heaven, among our enemies discipline is so great that no weariness of the siege, nor yet any (dislike) of kingly rule has been effected among them, nor has the refusal of help from the Etruscans provoked their spirits; (13) for whoever will promote sedition will be instantly put to death, nor will anyone be permitted to say those (things) which among you are said with impunity. (14) The bastinade (i.e. being cudgelled to death) will be earned (by the man) who forsakes the standards or quits his post: those who prompt not one or two soldiers, but whole armies, to relinquish their standards and abandon their camps, are openly heard at a public meeting; (15) so you are accustomed to hear with favour whatever a tribune of the people says, even if it involves the betrayal of the fatherland and the dissolution of the commonwealth, and, captivated (as you are) by the charms of that office, you allow all kinds of crimes to lie concealed beneath it. (16) It remains (for them) to bring the same (views) into the camp and before the soldiers, and seduce the army and not allow (it) to obey its generals, (17) since this only is liberty in Rome, to show no respect for the senate, or the magistrates, or the laws, or the customs of their ancestors, or the institutions of their fathers, or military discipline."
Chapter 7. Popular enthusiasm for military service.
(1) Appius was even now a match for the tribunes of the people in the public assemblies, when suddenly a disaster suffered at Veii both (gave) Appius an advantage in the dispute and created a greater harmony between the orders and a more determined ardour for Veii to be besieged. (2) When a rampart (had been) carried up to the city, and penthouses had now been all but attached to the walls, while their works are undertaken more vigorously during the day than they are guarded at night, suddenly the gates (were) thrown open, and a huge mob, especially armed with torches, flung flames, (3) and in the space of an hour the conflagration destroyed both the rampart and the penthouses, the work of so long a time; and many men, bringing help there in vain, were killed by sword and fire. (4) When the news of this came to Rome, it brought sadness to everyone, (and) concern and anxiety to the senate, lest sedition could no longer be withstood either in the City or in the camp, and the tribunes of the people could taunt the commonwealth as if it had been overcome by them, (5) when, all of a sudden, (those) who had equestrian wealth (i.e. they were registered as knights), but to whom horses had not been assigned at the public expense, having previously held a meeting among themselves, go to the senate, and, having obtained the right to speak, they promise that they will perform military service on their own horses. (6) When thanks were voted to them by the senate in the most complimentary terms, and a report of this spread across the forum and the City, a concourse of commoners to the senate-house suddenly ensues; (7) they affirmed they were now of the order of foot-soldiers and promised an extraordinary service to the commonwealth, whether they wished to lead (them) to Veii or to some other (place); if they were led to Veii, they said they would not return from there, until the enemy's city (had been) taken. (8) Then, indeed, they could scarcely control the joy now flowing over them; for there was no order, as in the case of the horsemen (for them) to be (publicly) praised, that matter being assigned to the magistrates, (9) neither (were they) summoned to the senate-house, so that an answer could be given to them, nor was the senate confined within the threshold of the senate-house, but everyone of them from their higher ground (i.e. the steps leading down from the senate-house to the Comitium) indicated with voice and hands their public joy to the multitude standing in the place of assembly; (10) they declared that through that harmony the City of Rome (would be) blest, and invincible and eternal, they praised the knights, they praised the commons, they extolled the day itself, (and) acknowledged that the courtesy and kindness of the senate had been surpassed.
(11) Tears were shed through the joy of the Fathers and of the plebs alike, until the Fathers were recalled to the senate-house and a decree of the senate was passed (requiring) that the military tribunes should call an assembly, and give thanks to the infantry and the cavalry, and (12) should state that the senate would be mindful of their loyalty towards their country, and it was resolved that money would be forthcoming for all those undertaking irregular military service on a voluntary basis; a fixed sum of money was also assigned to the knights. (13) Then, for the first time, cavalrymen began to serve on (their own) horses. The voluntary army (which was) led to Veii not only restored the works (that had been) lost, but they also established new (ones). Supplies were conveyed from the City with more attentive care than before, lest anything should be wanting to the use of an army that deserved so well.
Chapter 8. Setback at Veii: the feud between Verginius and Sergius.
(1) The following year (i.e. 402 B.C. or A.U.C. 352) had military tribunes with consular authority: Gaius Servilius Ahala for a third time, Quintus Servilius (Fidenas), Lucius Verginius (Tricostus Esquilinus), Quintus Sulpicius (Camerinus Cornutus), Aulus Manlius (Vulso Capitolinus) for a second time, (and) Manius Sergius (Fidenas) for a second time. (2) With them as tribunes, while everyone's attention was focussed on the Veientine war, the garrison at Anxur (was) neglected, due to soldiers (being absent) on leave, and was overpowered through the indiscriminate admission of Volscian traders, with the guards at the gates being suddenly betrayed. (3) Less of the soldiers perished, because, with the exception of the sick, they were all trafficking through the fields and neighbouring towns in the manner of camp-followers. (4) Nor were matters conducted any better at Veii, which was the chief concern of all the people; for the Roman commanders had more quarrels between themselves than passion against the enemy, and (the scope of) the war was enlarged by the sudden arrival of the Capenates and the Faliscans. (5) These two Etrurian peoples, because they were nearest in situation, believing that, if Veii were conquered, they would also be next in the war with the Romans, (6) the Faliscans also being hostile for a reason of their own, because they had already previously been involved in the war with Fidenae, and, having been bound together by oath through envoys sent to and fro, came unexpectedly to Veii with their armies. (7) It so happened that they attacked the camp in that area where the military tribune Manius Sergius was in command, and it caused great alarm because the Romans thought that all Etruria had been aroused from their seats and was present in great force. The same belief bestirred the Veientes in the city (to action). (8) So the Roman camp was attacked in a two-fold battle; and, rushing about, while they transferred their standards here and there, they could neither confine the Veientes sufficiently within their fortifications, nor repel the assault on their own defence-works, and defend themselves from the enemy on the outside. (9) Their one hope was if help could be brought from the greater camp, that the different legions should fight, some against the Capenates and the Faliscans, and others against the sally of the townsmen; but Verginius was in command of that camp, (and) on personal grounds (was) hateful and hostile to Sergius. (10) He, when the news was brought (to him) that most of the forts (were) being attacked, and their fortifications being surmounted, (and) that the enemy were attacking from both sides, held back his men in arms, repeatedly declaring that, if there was any need for help, his colleague would send (a message) to him. (11) His arrogance was matched by the obstinacy of the other (man), who, lest he appeared to have sought help from a personal foe, preferred to be defeated by the enemy than to conquer by means of a fellow-citizen. (12) For a long time his men (were) cut down in between (the two armies); at last, a few of them, abandoning the fortifications, (made their way) to the greater camp, (but) the largest part and Sergius himself made their way to Rome. Where, when he threw all the blame on his colleague, it was resolved that Verginius should be summoned from the camp, (and) that legates should be in command in the meantime. (13) The matter was then discussed in the senate, and was fought out between colleagues with abusive (words). Few supported (the interests of) the state, most of them one or the other, as private regard or favour took hold of each of them.
Chapter 9. The military tribunes are removed from office prematurely.
(1) The principal senators were of the opinion that, whether such an ignominious disaster had been suffered through the fault or the misfortune of the commanders, the normal time for elections should not be awaited, but that new military tribunes should be appointed immediately, to begin their office on the kalends (i.e. the first) of October (i.e. in the year 402 B.C. or A.U.C. 352). (2) While they were voting on this proposal, the other military tribunes raised no objections; (3) but Sergius and Verginius, the very men on whose account it was apparent that the senate were dissatisfied with the magistrates of that year, at first deprecated the ignominy, (and) then vetoed the decree of the senate, (and) said that they would not leave office before the ides (i.e. the thirteenth) of December, the usual day for entering upon magisterial duties. (4) Meanwhile, the tribunes of the plebs, while they had reluctantly kept their silence amid the harmony of the people and the prosperous state of public affairs, suddenly threatened the military tribunes in a vigorous manner that, unless they were (to submit) to the authority of the senate, they would order them to be led into prison. (5) Then, the military tribune Gaius Servilius Ahala (declared): "As far as it concerns you, and your threats, (you) tribunes of the plebs, I should indeed gladly put it to the test - that there is no more legality in them than there is courage in yourselves; (6) but it is a crime to go against the authority of the senate. Therefore, do you cease to seek an opportunity to do mischief amid our disputes, and my colleagues will either do what the senate decides, or, if they persist in their stubbornness, I shall at once name a dictator to compel them to depart from office." (7) When this speech was approved with the consent of everyone, the Fathers rejoiced that without the terrors of the tribunician authority another greater force had been found to coerce the magistrates, (who), overcome (as they were) by the universal consensus, held the elections for military tribunes, who were to commence their office on the kalends of October, and before that day they resigned their office.
Chapter 10. The need to levy troops.
(1) During the consular authority (i.e. in the year 401 B.C. or A.U.C. 353) of Lucius Valerius Potitus for the fourth time, Marcus Furius Camillus for the second time (n.b. this is an error; it was the first time in his case), Manius Aemilius Mamercus for the third time, Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus for the second time, Kaeso Fabius Ambustus, (and) Lucius Julius Iulus, much (business) was carried out at home and abroad. (2) For many wars were (going on) at the same time, at Veii, and at Capena, and at Falerii, and against the Volscians, (3) in order to recover Anxur from the enemy, and in Rome both the levy and the collection of taxes caused distress, and there was contention about the co-option of of tribunes of the plebs, and the trial of those two (men) who had held consular power a short time before (i.e. Sergius and Verginius) aroused no little emotion. (4) First of all, the military tribunes held a levy, and not only were juniors conscripted, but seniors also were compelled to give their names to serve (as) guardians of the city. (5) But the more the number of soldiers increased, so much more was the need for money with regard to pay, and this was procured by a tax, (with those) who remained at home unwillingly collecting (it), because in defence of the city they also had to undertake the work of soldiers and serve the commonwealth. (6) By their seditious speeches, the tribunes of the plebs made these (requirements), heavy in themselves (as they were), to seem more exasperating by asserting that pay for the soldiers had been established for this reason, that they might wear out (one) section of the people by military service, and the (other) section by taxation. (7) That a single war was now being drawn into a third year, and was being badly managed on purpose, so that they might wage (it) for longer. Then (again), that armies (had been) enrolled by one levy, and that even boys and old men had been dragged (from their homes). (8) That there was now no difference between summer and winter, nor was there ever any rest for the wretched people, (upon) whom even now a tax was finally being imposed, (9) so that, when they brought back their bodies, wasted by toil, wounds, and, eventually, by old age, and found that everything at home (had been) neglected through the long absence of their owners, they had to pay a tax out of their diminished property, and to refund to the state their military pay many times as if it had been received at interest.
(10) Between the levy and the tax, and their minds being occupied by their concern for more important things, the number of tribunes of the plebs could not be filled at the elections. (11) Then (there was) a struggle that patricians should be co-opted into the vacant places. When that could not be passed, for the sake of weakening the Trebonian law (i.e. a law passed in 448 B.C. that forbade co-option to the office of tribune of the plebs), it was arranged that Gaius Lacerius and Marcus Acutius (i.e. plebeians) should be co-opted as tribunes of the plebs, no doubt through the influence of the patricians.
Chapter 11. Gnaeus Trebonius laments the fact that the other tribunes of the plebs have accepted the co-options arranged by the patricians, and to take the heat off themselves some of the tribunes of the plebs put Sergius and Verginius on trial before the people.
(1) By chance it so happened that in that year Gnaeus Trebonius was a tribune of the plebs, and he thought that he should provide a defence of the Trebonian law (a) a debt to his name and family. (2) He said that what the Fathers had formerly sought (and they had been foiled at their first attempt), the military tribunes had finally extorted, exclaiming that the Trebonian law (had been) abolished and that tribunes of the plebs had been appointed not by the votes of the people but on the authority of the patricians; things had come to such (a pass) that either patricians of the followers of patricians should be regarded (as) tribunes of the plebs; that their sacred law had been taken from (them), (3) (and) that the tribunician power was being wrested away from (them); this (was being) done, he declared, through the deceit of the patricians, and the wickedness and treachery of his colleagues.
4) When not only the Fathers but also the tribunes of the plebs, (both those who had been) co-opted and those who had co-opted (them) alike, were feeling the heat of resentment, then three (members) of the college, Publius Curatius, Marcus Metilius, (and) Marcus Minucius, alarmed for their own circumstances, made an attack on Sergius and Verginius, military tribunes of the previous year; they turn away the anger and resentment of the common people from themselves on to them by appointing a day (of trial). (5) (Those) to whom the levy, to whom the tax, (and) to whom their long military service and the long duration of the war were a (source of) grievance, (those) who were lamenting the disaster (that had been) received at Veii, (and) who had their homes in mourning through the loss of children, brothers and relatives by marriage, them he reminded that it was thanks to themselves that (they now had) the right and power of avenging the public and private sorrow on the two guilty persons. (6) For the causes of all their sufferings were (put) upon Sergius and Verginius; nor did the prosecutors advance that (charge) more (readily) than the accused confessed (it). and they, both guilty (as they were), assigned the reason (for it) from one to the other, Verginius blaming Sergius' flight, (and) Sergius Verginius' treachery. (7) That their folly was so incredible that it is much more likely that it was rather similar to a compact and (had been) contrived by the common artifice of the patricians. (8) That by them an opportunity (had) previously (been) given to the Veientines to set fire to their works for the sake of the war being prolonged, and they have now betrayed the army (and) handed over the Roman camp to the Faliscans. (9) That everything was done, so that the young men should grow old at Veii, and so that the tribunes should not be able to consult the people concerning the lands or the other interests of the commons, and to advertise their actions at crowded (meetings) in the city, and to resist the conspiracy of the patricians. (10) That a previous judgment had already been given with regard to the accused, both by the senate, and by the people of Rome and by their own colleagues; (11) for they had been removed from the government by a decree of the senate, and, when they refused to give up their office, they were forced (to do so) by their colleagues through fear of a dictator, and the Roman people had elected tribunes to take up office not on the ides (i.e. the thirteenth) of December, the usual date, but at once on the kalends (i.e. the first) of October, because the republic could no longer survive if these (persons) were to remain in office. (12) And yet these (men), damaged and previously condemned by so many judgments, came before the people for trial, and thought that they were done with the matter and had suffered sufficient punishment, because they had been made private (citizens) two months sooner than (normal), (13) nor did they realise that, (while) the power of doing harm any longer had then been taken from them, no punishment had been imposed; in fact, the power (had) also (been) taken from their colleagues, and they had certainly done nothing wrong. (14) That the Roman citizens should resume those sentiments which they had when the recent disaster (had been) sustained, when they saw the army fearful in flight, pouring through the gates full of wounds and anxiety, not accusing fortune or any of the gods, but these their commanders. (15) They knew for certain that there was no one present in the assembly who did not on that day execrate and detest the person, house and fortunes of Lucius Verginius and Manius Sergius. (16) It would not be proper in any way not to make use of their power, when it is lawful and their duty, against those upon whom each one of them has entreated the wrath of the gods. That the gods themselves never laid hands on the guilty; it was enough if they armed the injured with the opportunity of taking revenge.
Chapter 12. A plebeian senator is elected military tribune with consular powers.
(1) Aroused by these speeches, the people condemned the accused to (a fine of) ten thousand bronze asses in weight, with Sergius vainly putting the blame on the common god of war and fortune, (and) Verginius entreating that he might not be more unfortunate at home than in the field. (2) The people's anger (was) turned against them and put into the shade the memory of the co-option of tribunes and the damage that had been committed against the Trebonian law.
(3) In order that the people might have an immediate reward for its judgment, the victorious tribunes published an agrarian law and prohibited the gathering of taxation, (4) although there was a need for pay for so many armies, and their military operations were conducted with great success, although in no war did they reach the summit of their hopes. For at Veii the camp which had been lost (was) recovered and strengthened with fortresses and garrisons; the military tribunes Manius Aemilius and Kaeso Fabius were in command. (5) None of the enemy (were) found outside their walls by Marcus Furius in Faliscan (territory) (and) by Gnaeus Cornelius in the land of the Capenates; booty (was) driven off, and the land (was) devastated by the burning of farm-houses and crops; (but) the towns were neither attacked nor besieged. But in (the land of) the Volscians, their territory having been depopulated, Anxur, situated on high ground, (was) attacked in vain, and, when force proved futile, they began to besiege it by stockade and trench, (while) the province of the Volscians had fallen to (the lot of) Valerius Potitus.
(7) While military affairs (were) in this state, an internal insurrection was conducted with more energy than the wars, and, when the tax could not be collected on account of the tribunes and no money was sent to the generals, and the soldiers were clamouring for their military pay, the camp was also not far from being disrupted by the contagion of the urban mutiny. (8) Amid this resentment of the common people against the Fathers, although the tribunes of the plebs said that now was the time for liberty to be established, yet they did not proceed any further by way of asserting their right than one of the plebs being appointed military tribune with consular powers (i.e. for the year 400 B.C. or A.U.C. 354), (namely) Publius Licinius Calvus (Esquilinus); (10) the others appointed (were) patricians, (namely) Publius Manlius (Vulso), Lucius Titinius (Pansa Saccus), Publius Maelius (Capitolinus), Lucius (or Spurius) Furius Medullinus, (and) Lucius Publilius Volscus. (11) The plebeians themselves were amazed that they had gained something of such importance, not merely he who had been elected, who had previously held no honours, (being) so old a senator and now weighed down in years; (12) nor is it sufficiently agreed why he was selected first and foremost to taste the new honour. Some think that (he was) appointed to so great an office (i.e. for the year 400 B.C. or A.U.C. 354) through the favour of his cousin (or perhaps his step-brother) Gnaeus Cornelius (Cossus), who had been military tribune in the previous year (i.e. 401 B.C. or A.U.C. 353) and had granted triple pay to the cavalrymen, and he himself had delivered a timely speech concerning the harmony of the orders, acceptable to the Fathers and the plebeians. (13) Exulting in this victory in the elections, the tribunes of the plebs gave up their opposition to the tax, which had so greatly impeded the affairs of state. It was duly collected and sent to the army.
Chapter 13. Recovery of Anxur; pestilence in Rome; battle before Veii.
(1) In (the land of) the Volscians, Anxur was shortly retaken, the guarding of the city having been neglected during a festival day. This year was remarkable for a cold and snowy winter, such that the roads were blocked and the Tiber was unnavigable. The price of corn was not changed at all, due to the previous accumulation of supplies. (2) And, because Publius Licinius had gained his office without any rioting, more to the joy of the plebs than to the annoyance of the Fathers, he also discharged (his duties) in such a way (that) the desire of appointing plebeians (as) military tribunes at the next election (i.e. for the year 399 B.C. or A.U.C. 355) took possession (of them). (3) Of the patrician candidates, Marcus Veturius (Crassus Cicurinus) alone obtained a place: almost all the centuries appointed plebeians (as) the other military tribunes with consular power, (namely) Marcus Pomponius (Rufus), Gnaeus Duillius (Longus), Volero Publilius (Philo), Gnaeus Genucius (Augurinus), (and) Lucius Atilius (Priscus).
(4) A summer (that was) baleful and pestilential to all living creatures followed the severe winter, whether caused by the sudden change from unhealthy weather to the opposite extreme, or from some other cause. (5) When neither the cause nor the (means of) termination of this incurable pestilence could be discovered, the Sibylline books were consulted in accordance with a decree of the senate. (6) With a lectisternium (i.e. a feast of then gods) then being introduced into the city of Rome for the first time, the duumviri in charge of the sacred rites propitiated Apollo and Latona, and Diana, (and) Hercules, Mercury and Neptune for eight days, three couches being laid out with as much magnificence as could then be provided. (7) With doors lying open throughout the city, and all (sorts) of things being placed for common use in the open courts, they say that foreigners, known or unknown, were taken from all directions, into lodgings, and that (men) even exchanged kind and courteous words with their personal enemies and refrained from disputes and quarrels: (8) during those days the chains were also removed from those in confinement; afterwards there were religious scruples about imprisoning (those) to whom the gods had brought such aid.
(9) Meanwhile, there was increased alarm at Veii, with three wars being concentrated into one (place). For, when the Capenates and the Faliscans had suddenly come with succour (to the Veientines), they fought in the same way as before around their entrenchments in a dangerous battle against three armies. (10) The recollection of the condemnation of Sergius and Verginius helped (them) above everything (else). Accordingly, their forces being led around in a short space (of time) from the principal camp, when there had previously been some delay, they attack the Capenates in the rear, when they were facing the Roman rampart; beginning there, the battle brought terror to the Faliscans, (11) and, as they were wavering, a sally made from the camp at an opportune (moment) put (them) to flight. Having pursued them in their retreat, the victors caused great slaughter (among them). (12) So not long afterwards, (those who were) devastating the territory of the Capenates, having met them as it were by chance, cut off the survivors of the battle. (13) And many of the Veientines, as they were retreating to their city, (were) slaughtered before the gates, while, through fear lest the Romans should burst in together (with them), they excluded the hindmost of their (men) by closing the gates.
Chapter 14. The electorate reverts to appointing patricians only.
(1) These were the transactions of that year. And now the election for military tribunes (i.e. for the year 398 B.C. or A.U.C. 356) was approaching, and about these there was almost a greater concern among the Fathers than about the war, inasmuch as they perceived that the supreme authority (had) not only been shared with the plebs, but (was) almost lost (to them). (2) They, therefore, came to an agreement for their most distinguished men to stand (for office), (those) whom they thought (the electors) would be ashamed to reject, not least themselves, just as if they were all candidates, (and), trying every expedient, they summoned to their aid not only men but gods as well, raising religious scruples about the elections held in the (previous) two years: (3) in the former year, an intolerably (severe) winter had set in like a divine warning, (and) in the next (year there were) no warnings but actual occurrences: (4) a pestilence (was) inflicted on (both) the countryside and the city through the undoubted anger of the gods, whom it was discovered in the books of the fates it was necessary to appease for the sake of warding off that plague; to the gods it seemed an affront that, in an election that was held under their auspices, honours should be prostituted, and the distinctions of birth confounded. (5) Besides, the people, overawed by the dignity of the candidates, as well as by religious scruples, elected all the military tribunes with consular power (from) the patricians, the great part of them (being) men of the highest distinction: (6) Lucius Valerius Potitus for the fifth time, Marcus Valerius (Lactucinus) Maximus, Marcus Furius Camillus for the second time, Lucius Furius Medullinus for the third time, Quintus Servilius Fidenas for the second time, (and) Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus (Cornutus) for the second time. (7) Nothing very memorable was performed at Veii by these tribunes; their whole force was (deployed) in ravaging (the countryside). Two of the highest commanders carried off great (amounts of) booty, Potitus from Falerii, (and) Camillus from Capena, (and) nothing (was) left untouched which could be destroyed by sword or fire.
Chapter 15. An elderly Veientine soothsayer prophesies that, if the Romans should drain the overflowing waters of Lake Alba, they should be given victory over Veii.
(1) In the meantime, many prodigies were reported, of which the greater part (were) little credited and scorned, because their originators were individuals, and because, as the Etruscans had become their enemies, they had no soothsayers, through whom they might expiate them: (2) everyone's attention was turned to one (thing), in that the lake in the Alban wood rose to an unusual height, without any rain water, or any other cause, which could prevent this phenomenon (appearing) as a miracle. (3) Envoys (were) sent to the Delphic oracle to ascertain what the gods portended by this prodigy. (4) But an interpreter of the fates (was) presented (to them) nearer (home) in the form of a certain elderly Veientine, who, amid the Roman and Etruscan soldiers scoffing at each other in their (respective) outposts and guard-houses, announced in the manner of a prophecy that, until the water could be drawn from the Alban lake, the Romans would never get possession of Veii. (5) At first this was disregarded, as though it had been thrown out at random, but afterwards it began to be discussed in conversations, until one (man) from a Roman outpost inquired of the townsman who was nearest to him - now the interchange of such conversations (had) occurred due to the length of the war - who he was who was throwing out such enigmatic remarks about the Alban lake; when he heard that he was a soothsayer, (6) that man, not untouched by religious sentiment, pretending that he wished to consult him on the expiation of a private portent, if he could be of help, enticed the prophet to a (private) conference. (7) And, when they had walked a little way apart from both of their friends, unarmed and without any apprehension (as they were), the strong young Roman seized hold of the feeble old man in the sight of all, and, despite the hubbub (that came) from the Etruscans, he carried (him) off to his own (side). (8) When he was led before the general, from there he was sent to the senate in Rome, and, when they questioned him as to what it was that he had meant about the Alban lake, (9) he replied that the gods had surely been angered by the people of Veii on that day when they had put it into his mind to reveal the destruction that was fated (to befall) his native city. (10) So, what he had then uttered at the instigation of divine inspiration, these things he could not (now) recall, so that they could be unsaid, and, perhaps, by keeping silent (about those things) which the gods wished to be made public, no less guilt was incurred than by uttering what should be concealed. (11) So then (it was) written) in the books of the fates, and it was handed down in the lore of the Etruscans, that, when the water of the Alba should overflow, if then the Romans should duly draw it off, victory over the Veientines should be given (to them); until that should happen, the gods would not abandon the walls of Veii. (12) He then went on to explain what was the established (method of) draining (it). But the senators, thinking his authority slight, and not sufficiently trustworthy in so great a matter, resolved to await their deputies and the responses of the Pythian oracle.
Chapter 16. The response of the Delphic oracle corresponds with the prophecy of the soothsayer.
(1) Before these envoys could return from Delphi, or a (means of) expiation could be found for the Alban prodigy, new military tribunes with consular authority came into office (i.e. for the year 397 B.C. or A.U.C. 357), (namely) Lucius Julius Iulus, Lucius Furius Medullinus for the fourth time, Lucius Sergius Fidenas, Aulus Postumius (Albinus) Regillensis, Publius Cornelius Maluginensis, (and) Aulus Manlius (Vulso Capitolinus). (2) In that year, a new enemy arose with regard to the Tarquinienses, who, because they saw that the Romans were occupied with many wars at the same time, against the Volscians, when they were besieging the garrison at Anxur, against the Aequi at Labici, who were attacking the Roman colony there, and, in addition to this, the war with the Veientines and with (the men of) Falerii and of Capena, and that within their walls their affairs were no less troubled, due to the disputes between the Fathers and the plebs, (3) believed that in these (circumstances there was) an opportunity to do damage, (and) sent some light-armed cohorts into Roman territory to plunder: for they thought that the Romans would either suffer this wrong unavenged, less they brought a new war on themselves, or they would come after (them) with a small and thus an inadequate army. (4) The Romans felt greater indignation than concern at the depredations of the Tarquinienses; for this reason, the matter was neither taken up with any great effort, nor (was it) deferred for any length of time. (5) Aulus Postumius and Lucius Julius, having raised a body of men not by a regular levy - for they were hindered by the tribunes of the plebs - but (with a body consisting) mostly of volunteers, whom they had aroused by exhortation, having proceeded by cross marches through the territory of Caere, fell upon the Tarquinienses as they were returning from their depredations, weighed down with booty. (6) They slew many men, stripped (them) all of their baggage, and, having recovered the spoils of their own fields, they returned to Rome. (7) Two (days were) given to the owners to recognise their property; on the third (day) what had not been recognised - chiefly those things belonging to the enemy themselves - was sold under the spear (i.e. by public auction) - , and what (was) produced from that was distributed among the soldiers.
(8) The other wars, and especially the Veientine, were of uncertain outcome. And now the Romans, despairing of human help, began to look to the fates and the gods, when their envoys came from Delphi, bringing he answer of the oracle. corresponding to the response of the captive seer: (9) "Roman, beware lest you allow the Alban water to be confined in the lake, and beware (lest you allow it) to flow into the sea by its own stream; you should let it out and conduct it through the fields, and by dispersing it in channels you shall consume it; (10) then do you press boldly against the walls of the enemy, mindful that victory has been granted to you by those fates which are now revealed over that city, which you have besieged for so many years. (11) When you have ended the war (as) victor, bring ample gifts to my temples, and renew and perform, as is customary, those religious rites of your country, the care of which has been neglected."
Chapter 17. The nations of Etruria do not feel, able to come to the aid of Veii.
(1) From that moment the captive soothsayer began to be held in the highest esteem, and the military tribunes Cornelius and Postumius began to make use of him with regard to the expiation of the Alban prodigy and the due appeasement of the gods; (2) at length, it was found that the gods were blaming (them), when religious ceremonies (were) neglected and festivals (were) missed: it was undoubtedly (due to) nothing else (other) than that the magistrates, having been elected under some flaw, had improperly directed the Latin (festival) and the sacrifice on the Alban mount; (3) there was (only) one (means of) atonement for these (errors), that the military tribunes should step down from office, that the auspices should be taken afresh, and that an interregnum should be entered into. (4) So, these things were done by a decree of the senate. There were three successive interreges, Lucius Valerius (Potitus), Quintus Servilius Fidenas, (and) Marcus Furius Camillus. (5) In the meantime, disturbances never ceased, with the tribunes of the plebs hindering the elections, until it had first been agreed that the greater part of the military tribunes should be appointed from the plebs.
(6) While these (things) were happening, the assemblies of Etruria (were) held in the temple of Voltumna, and, when the Capenates and the Falerii proposed that all the nations of Etruria by a common resolve and plan should rescue Veii from its siege, (7) the answer was they had previously refused this to the Veientines, because they ought not to seek help, when they had not sought advice on so important a matter; (8) now, however, their own plight with regard to themselves, denied such (possibilities). There was now in the greatest part of Etruria a strange race, new settlers, with whom there was neither a sufficiently secure peace nor for certain a war. (9) However, out of regard for the blood, the name and the present perils of their kinsmen, it was granted that, if any of their young men were to go to that war of their own will, they would not prevent (them). (10) There was a report at Rome that a great number of young men had arrived there; and so internal differences began to subside, as (often) happens in the face of a common anxiety.
Chapter 18. Publius Licinius manages to get his son to replace him as a military tribune.
(1) (It was) not displeasing to the Fathers that the prerogative (tribes) (i.e. the knights) elected Publius Licinius Calvus (as) military tribune without his seeking (it, for he was) of proven moderation in his previous term of office (i.e. in 400 B.C. or A.U.C. 354), but now much advanced in years; and it became clear that all of his colleagues in that same year were to be re-elected one after another (i.e. for the year 396 B.C. or A.U.C. 358), (4) (namely) Lucius Titinius (Pansa Saccus), Quintus (or Publius) Manlius (Vulso Capitolinus), Publius Maenius (Capitolinus), Gnaeus Genucius (Augurinus), (and) Lucius Atilius (Priscus). (But before) their (names) were announced to the duly assembled tribes, Publius Licinius Calvus spooke the following words with the permission of the interrex: (3) "I see (it as) an omen of harmony, fellow-citizens, a thing most needed at this time, that you are seeking in these elections to remember our former tenure in office; (4) but, (whereas in my) colleagues you are re-electing the same (men), who have been made even better through experience, in me you no longer see the same man, but only the shadow and the name of Publius Licinius (are) left. My bodily strength (is) weakened, my senses of sight and of hearing (are) dulled, my memory is lapsed, (and) my strength of mind (is) blunted. (5) "Behold this young man," he said, taking hold of his son, "the effigy and image of that (man) whom you formerly chose (as) the first military tribune from the plebs. I give and dedicate him, brought up in my discipline (as he is), to the commonwealth (as) a substitute for myself, and I beseech you, fellow-citizens, that the honour which you have conferred on me of your own accord, you entrust to him who seeks (it) and to my prayers which are offered on his behalf." (6) This (request was) granted to the father seeking (it), and his son Publius Licinius (was) declared military tribune with consular authority together with those whom I have named above. (7) The military tribunes Titinius and Genucius, having set out against the Falerii and the Capenates, while they waged war with more spirit than tactical ability, rushed headlong into an ambush. (8) Genucius, atoning for his rashness with an honourable death, fell before the standards among the foremost; Titinius, having gathered his men from their great confusion on to a high hill, restored their battle-line, but would not commit them to engage the enemy on level ground. More disgrace than disaster was incurred, (but) it almost turned into a great disaster; so great was the alarm at that time not only in Rome, where an exaggerated account (of it) had arrived, but also in the camp at Veii. (10) There, the soldiers were scarcely restrained from flight, since a rumour had spread through the camp that the victorious Capenates and Falerii and all the manhood of Etruria, having slaughtered the commanders and their army, were not far away from there. (11) At Rome they believed even more alarming (accounts) than these, that the camp at Veii was being attacked, (and) that part of the enemy was marching to the City in a hostile column; and there was also a rush to the walls by women, whom the public anxiety had roused from their homes, supplications being offered in the temples, and (it was sought) from the gods in prayers (12) to ward off destruction from the houses and shrines of the City and the walls of Rome, and to turn that panic against Veii, if the sacred rites (had been) duly renewed, (and) if the prodigies had been expiated.
Chapter 19. Furius Camillus begins his attack on Veii.
(1) Now the games and the Latin (Festival) had been performed once more, (and) the water had now been drained from the Alban lake into the fields, and doom was coming to Veii. (2) Accordingly, Marcus Furius Camillus, the general destined to destroy that city and to preserve his native country, having been appointed dictator, named Publius Cornelius Scipio as his master of the horse. (3) The change of general at once changed everything; men's hopes seemed different, their attitude (seemed) different, and the fortunes of the city (seemed) different too. (4) First of all, he punished, in accordance with military custom, those who had fled from Veii during that (time of) panic, and he acted so that the enemy should not be the soldiers' greatest (source of) anxiety. Then, a levy having been proclaimed on a certain day, he himself made a visit to Veii in the meantime to strengthen the spirits of his men; (5) thence he returned to Rome to enroll his new army, with no one refusing military service. Foreign young men, Latins and Hernicians, came also, promising their help for this war; (6) when the dictator had given his thanks to them in the senate, with all things having now been adequately prepared for this campaign, he vowed, through a decree of the senate, that, once Veii had been taken, he would organise great games, and that he would repair and rededicate the temple of Mater Matuta (i.e. an indigenous Roman goddess equated with the dawn goddess Aurora; her temple was situated on the north side of the Forum Boarium), which had already been previously dedicated by King Servius Tullius (i.e. he ruled 578-534 B.C. or A.U.C. 176-220). (7) Having marched out of the City with his army, with men's hopes greater than their confidence, he came into close quarters with the Falerii and the Capenates in the territory of Nepete. (8) There, all his (measures) having been conducted with great skill and wisdom, were also followed, as usually happens, by good fortune. Not only did he rout the enemy in battle, but he divested (them) of their camp, and took possession of a huge (amount of) booty; the greatest part of this was handed over to the quaestor, (and) so not much (of it was) given to the soldiers. (9) He then led his army to Veii, and closer redoubts (were) constructed, and, with regard to their work, the soldiers were removed from those skirmishes, many of which took pace at random between the wall and the rampart, by an edict that no one was to fight without orders. (10) Of all their works, by far the greatest and the most laborious was a mine (which they had) begun to drive into the enemy's citadel. (11) But, so that the work should not be interrupted, and so that the continuous underground labour should not exhaust the same (men), he divided the sappers into six groups; six hours were allotted for work in rotation; night and day (did they work) without any intermission, until they made their way into the citadel.
Chapter 20. There is a long discussion about what should happen to the spoil from Veii.
(1) When the dictator (i.e. Camillus) saw that victory was in his grasp, (and) that the very rich city was (on the verge of) being taken, and that there would not be as much booty as (this) if all the previous wars had been joined into one, (2) in order that he might not then incur either the resentment of the soldiers at the niggardliness of the booty being distributed, or the envy of the Fathers at the lavish grant, he sent a letter to the senate, (saying) that through the kindness of the immortal gods, his own measures, (and) the endurance of his men, Veii would soon be in the power of the Roman people; (4) what did they think should be done with regard to the spoil? Two opinions divided the senate: the aged Publius Licinius, whom they say (had been) asked by his son to be the first to speak, proposed that it should be openly proclaimed to the people that (he,) who wanted to be a participant in the spoil, should go to the camp at Veii; (5) the other (view was that) of Appius Claudius, who made it clear that such a grant (was) a novel (one), wasteful, unfair and inconsiderate, and that if they should once consider (it) a crime that money captured from the enemy should lie in the treasury, (which had been) exhausted by the wars, he was of the opinion that the pay should be calculated for soldiers from that money, so that the plebs should have to contribute so much the less tax; (6) for the homes of everyone would feel equally their share of this gift, nor would the hands of idle townsfolk, greedy for plunder, seize first the rewards of valiant fighting men, since it generally happens that, just as a man is accustomed to seek his share of toil and danger, he is less active (as) a plunderer. (7) Licinius argued, on the other hand, that the money would always be (the cause of) suspicion and hatred, and would furnish grounds for accusations to the people, and then civil discord and new laws; (8) (it was) better, therefore, to win over the feelings of the plebs by this gift, and (for them) to be succoured, exhausted and plundered by taxation for so many years (as they had been), and to experience the fruit of the plunder from that war in which they had almost grown old. It would be more satisfying and pleasurable that a man should take home (something which he had) taken from the enemy with his own hands than if he should receive (something of) much greater value at the discretion of another. The dictator himself (would wish) to avoid the enmity and accusations (arising) from this (business); (9) for this (reason) he had delegated (it) to the senate; the senate should also avoid the matter (which had been) referred to them and pass (it) on to the people, and allow (a man) to keep what the fortunes of war might give him. (10) This opinion, which would make the senate popular, seemed safer. So it was now proclaimed that (those,) to whom it seemed right to (share in) the spoils of Veii, should go to the dictator in his camp.
Chapter 21. The Romans capture Veii, but Camillus is hampered by an ill-omen.
(1) A vast throng went forth and filled the camp. Then, when he had taken the auspices, the dictator came out, and, when he had ordered his men to take up their arms, (2) he said, "Under your leadership, Pythian Apollo, and inspired by your divine nature, I am proceeding to destroy the city of Veii, and thence I promise you a tenth part of the spoil. (3) At the same time, I beseech you, Queen Juno, who now dwells in Veii, to follow us, the victors, to our own city - and it will soon be yours (as well) - where a temple worthy of your greatness may receive (you)." (4) Having uttered these (prayers), he attacked the city from all sides with overwhelming numbers, so that they might be less aware of the impending danger from the mine. (5) The Veientes, unaware that they had now been abandoned by their own soothsayers, and by foreign oracles, and that the gods had already been invited to a share of their plunder, while others, having been summoned from their city, were looking towards the temples and the fresh habitations of the enemy, and that they were spending the last day (of their lives) without fearing in any way that their walls were being undermined by the mine, and that their citadel was now full of the enemy, ran to the walls, each man in arms of his own, (7) wondering how it was that, when for so many days not a single Roman had stirred from his post, they should be rushing heedlessly to the walls, as if they had suddenly been struck with madness.
(8) At this point a story is inserted: as the king of the Veientines was sacrificing, the Roman soldiers in the mine, having overheard the voice of the soothsayer declaring that to him who should cut up the entrails of that victim would be given the victory, were moved to open up the mine and seize the entrails and take (them) to the dictator. (9) But in matters of such great antiquity, I should deem (it) sufficient if (things) which are probably true are accepted as true: such (things as this are) more suited to showing on the stage, delighting (as it does) in miracles, than to be believed, nor is it worth while either to affirm or to refute (it).
(10) The mine, which was full at that time with picked troops, suddenly discharged its armed (men) into the temple of Juno, which was on the Veientine citadel, and some of them attacked the rear of the enemy on the walls, others tore the bars off the gates, and others again, when stones and tiles were thrown down by women and slaves, set (things) on fire. (11) A clamour filled all (places) with the differing voices of the frighteners and the frightened, blended with the wailing of women and children. (12) In a moment of time armed (men) were everywhere hurled from the walls, and, the gates were thrown open, (and), when some poured in in a body, and others scaled the deserted walls, the city was filled with enemies; battle raged in every quarter. (13) Then, when great slaughter (had) already occurred, the fighting flagged, and the dictator ordered the heralds to proclaim that the unarmed were to be spared. (14) This was the end of the bloodshed. Then the unarmed began to surrender, and the soldiers wandered around in search of booty with the dictator's permission. When this was brought before his eyes, (and he saw that it was) much larger and (comprised) things of greater value than he had hoped or thought (likely), it is said that he raised his hands to the heavens (15) and prayed that if any god or man considered his good fortune and (that) of the Roman people (to be) excessive, he might be permitted to mitigate that resentment with the least harm to his own private (interests) and to the public welfare of the Roman people. (16) Tradition records that, when he turned around during the prayer, he slipped and fell; and, (to those) judging this matter by subsequent events, this omen seemed to relate to the condemnation of Camillus himself, and, secondly, to the capture of the city of Rome, a disaster which occurred a few years afterwards. (17) And so that day was spent in the slaughter of enemies and the sack of a most opulent city.
Chapter 22. The temple of Juno is moved from Veii to the Aventine.
(1) On the following day, the dictator sold the freeborn inhabitants into slavery. This money alone was brought into the treasury, not without the resentment of the common people; and, as for the booty which they brought back with them, they gave the credit for its receipt neither to their commander, who in searching for supporters of his parsimony (had referred) to the senate a matter (which) had lain within his own jurisdiction, nor to the senate, but to the Licinian family, whose son had brought to the senate that very popular measure, (of which) his father had been the promoter. (3) Now, when the human wealth had been carried away from Veii, they then began to remove the offerings to the gods and the gods themselves. but more in the manner of worshippers than of plunderers. (4) For youths, selected from the whole of the army, to whom, after their bodies (had been) washed clean (and they had been arrayed) in white clothing, Queen Juno was assigned to be transported to Rome, reverently entered her temple, applying their hands at first with religious zeal, (5) because in accordance with Etruscan custom no one had been accustomed to touch that statue but the priest of a certain family, Then, when someone, either moved by divine inspiration or in youthful jocularity, had said, "Juno, are you willing to come to Rome?" the rest (of them) exclaimed that the goddess her nodded her assent. (6) Then, an addition was added to this story that her voice (was) also heard declaring that she was willing; certain (it is) that she was moved from her seat by machines of little power, (and) we learned that she proved light and easy to carry, as if she was following of her own accord, (and) that (she was) safely conveyed to the Aventine, (7) her eternal seat, to which the prayers of the Roman dictator invited (her), where the same Camillus, who had vowed (it), afterwards dedicated a temple to her.
(8) Such was the fall of Veii, the wealthiest city of the Etruscan title, showing her greatness even in her final overthrow, since, after having been besieged continuously for ten summers and winters, when she had inflicted considerably greater losses than she had sustained, with fate at last urging (her destruction), she was taken by siege-works however, not by force.
Chapter 23. Citizens are required to set aside a tenth part of the spoil for religious purposes.
(1) When the news was brought to Rome that Veii (had been) taken, although both the prodigies had been expiated and the answers of the soothsayers and the Pythian responses were well-known, and, as they had selected (as) their commander Marcus Furius, the greatest of all generals, (they had done) whatever human wisdom could (do) to help, yet, (2) because they had warred there for so many years with varying fortune and many disasters had been sustained, their joy was immense, as though it were unexpected, (3) and, before the senate could pass a decree, all the temples were full of Roman matrons, giving thanks to the gods. The senate decreed thanksgivings for a period of four days, a number of days (that had) not (been prescribed) for any other previous war. (4) The arrival of the dictator, too, with all classes pouring out to meet (him), was more celebrated than any other (had) ever (been) before, and his triumph far exceeded the measure of honour (that was) usual on such a day. (5) He, himself, was the most conspicuous, as he rode into the City in a chariot drawn by white horses; and that appeared unbecoming not only with regard to a citizen but also to a human being. (6) It also seemed an affront to religion that the dictator should seek through his steeds to emulate Jupiter and the Sun-God, and for this one reason his triumph was more brilliant than popular. (7) He then let the contract for the temple of Queen Juno on the Aventine, and dedicated (one) to Matuta Mater (i.e. in the Forum Boarium); and, having discharged these duties to gods and men, he resigned his dictatorship.
(8) They then began to consider the offering to Apollo. When Camillus stated that he had vowed a tenth part of the spoils to him, and the pontiffs decided that the people must fulfil their religious obligations, (9) a method of ordering the people to return (part of) the booty, so that a due proportion of it might be set aside for sacred (purposes), was not easily devised. (10) They finally had recourse to what seemed the easiest (course), (namely) that whoever wished to discharge the religious obligations for himself and his household should appraise his own (share of) the spoil, and pay into the public treasury a tenth part of its value, (11) so that from it there might be made a golden offering befitting the grandeur of the temple, and the power of the god, suitable to the dignity of the Roman people. This contribution also alienated the affections of the plebs away from Camillus. (12) In the midst of these (affairs), envoys came from the Volscians and the Aequi seeking peace, and peace (was) obtained, more so that the state, wearied by such a long war, might find repose, rather than because (those that) sought it were deserving (of it).
Chapter 24. The desire of migrating to Veii grows among the people of Rome.
(1) The year following the capture of Veii (i.e. 395 B.C. or A.U.C. 359) had six military tribunes with consular power, (namely) the two Publii Cornelii, Cossus and Scipio, Marcus Valerius (Lactucinus) Maximus for the second time, Kaeso Fabius Ambustus for the third time, Lucius Furius Medullinus for the fifth time, (and) Quintus Servilius (Fidenas) for the third time. (2) To the Cornelii the Faliscan war, (and) to Valerius and Servilius the Capenatian (war), fell by lot. By them no cities (were) assailed by force or by siege-works, but the countryside was laid waste and the plunder of rural properties (was) put in place; no productive tree, no fruit-bearing (one was) left on the land. (3) These losses subdued the people of Capena; peace (was) granted (to them) when they asked (for it); in (the country of) the Faliscans the war went on.
(4) At Rome, meanwhile, there were numerous disturbances, and for the sake of quietening these, they had voted to found a colony among the Volscians, for which three thousand Roman citizens were enrolled, and a board of three, appointed for the (purpose), had distributed three iugera (viz. a iugerum consisted of 28,800 square feet, i.e. about two-thirds of an acre) and seven twelfths (of one) to each (man) separately. (5) This donation began to be spurned, because they regarded (it as) a solace intended to avert their hopes for better (things); for why should the plebs be banished to (the country of) the Volscians, when the most beautiful city of Veii and its countryside, more fertile and more extensive than the territory of Rome, were in sight? (6) The city, too, they preferred to the City of Rome, whether due to its situation or for the splendour of its public and private buildings and its open spaces. (7) Indeed, that plan was also mooted, which certainly gathered more support after Rome (had been) captured by the Gauls, of migrating to Veii. (8) For the rest, they intended that half of the plebs and half of the senate could reside in Veii, and that the two cities could be inhabited by the people of Rome with a common polity.
(9) Since the nobles were so vigorously opposed to these (proposals), they declared that they would rather die in the sight of the Roman people than that anything of such a kind should be put to the vote; for now there was so much dissension in one city: (10) what would there be in two? (Was it possible) that anyone should prefer a vanquished to a victorious city, and allow Veii to be more prosperous (after it had been) captured than when it was unharmed? Lastly, it was possible that they could be left behind by their fellow-citizens: (11) but no violence could ever force (them) to forsake their native-land and their fellow-citizens, and follow Titus Sicinius - for of the tribunes of the plebs he was the proposer of this bill - to Veii (as) its founder, abandoning the divine Romulus, the son of a god, (and) the parent and founder of the City of Rome.
Chapter 25. The city of Veii and its territory are included in the estimate as to what is due to Apollo.
(1) When these (differences) were giving rise to disgraceful disputes - for the Fathers had attracted some of the tribunes of the plebs to their opinion - (2) nothing else compelled the plebs to stay their hands but this, that, whenever a clamour had been raised for the sake of causing a riot, the leaders of the senate were the first to present themselves, (and) they ordered that they should be attacked and struck and put to death. (3) While they shrank from violating their age, and dignity and honourable status, shame checked their rage, even with regard to similar attempts on others.
(4) Camillus spoke in public constantly in all places: that it was not all surprising, (he said), that the state had gone mad, and that, although it was bound by a vow, it felt a greater concern for all other matters than acquitting itself of its religious obligations. (5) He said nothing about the (penny) contribution, a truer name (for it) than tithe, since each man had bound himself as an individual in this respect, and the public was freed. (6) However, his conscience would not permit that he should keep quiet about the fact that only out of that spoil which consisted of movable effects was a tenth set apart: no mention was made of the city and its captured territory, which were also included in that vow.
(7) When (the outcome of) this debate seemed uncertain to the senate, it was referred to the pontiffs, and, after consulting with Camillus, it seemed to the college that, of the things which belonged to the Veientines before the vow had been expressed, and had come into the power of the Roman people after the vow (had been made), a tenth part of it was sacred to Apollo. Thus, the city and its territory came into the estimate. (8) Money (was) drawn from the treasury, and the military tribunes were given the task of purchasing gold with it. When there was not enough of it, the matrons, having held meetings to consult on the matter, promised by a common resolution (to supply) the military tribunes with gold, and brought all their ornaments to the treasury. (9) This action was especially welcome to the senate; and they say that on account of this generosity the honour (was) conferred on the matrons that they might use a ladies' carriage (when going) to public worship and the games, and two-wheeled chariots on holidays and ordinary working (days). (10) When the gold received from each one had been weighed and valued, in order that the monies might be repaid, it was decided that a golden bowl should be made, which would be carried to Delphi (as) a gift to Apollo.
(11) As soon as they had freed their minds from (the question) of religion, the tribunes of the plebs renewed their agitation; the mob are incited against all the nobles, (and) against Camillus before the others; (12) that he, by confiscating and consecrating the Veientine plunder, had reduced (it) to nothing. They fiercely denounced (any of the nobles who were) absent; of those who were present, when they had voluntarily presented themselves to the angry (citizens), they cause shame. (13) As soon as they realised that the matter would be protracted beyond that year, they re-elect the same law-makers (as) tribunes of the plebs; and the Fathers exerted themselves in the same way with regard to the opponents of the law. Thus, the same (people were), to a great extent, re-elected (as) tribunes of the plebs.
Chapter 26. Camillus goes to war against the Faliscans. (1) At the elections for military tribunes (i.e. for the year 394 B.C. or A.U.C. 360), the senators prevailed through their great exertion, so that Marcus Furius Camillus was appointed. On account of the wars, they pretended that a general was required; but an opponent to the tribunicians' largess was being sought. (2) Elected with Camillus as military tribunes with consular authority (were) Lucius Furius Medullinus for the sixth time, Gaius Aemilius (Mamercinus), Lucius Valerius Publicola, Spurius Postumius (Albinus Regillensis), (and) Publius Cornelius (i.e. either Scipio or Cossus, or possibly Maluginensis) for the second time. (3) At the beginning of the year (i.e. 394 B.C. or A.U.C. 360), the tribunes of the plebs made no move, until Marcus Furius Camillus, to whom this war had been entrusted, set out against the Faliscans. (As the news of it) spread abroad, the matter then languished, and, in the case of Camillus, the adversary whom they especially feared, his glory grew among the Faliscans. (4) For, though at first the enemy kept themselves within their walls, thinking this the safest (course), he compelled them, by ravaging their fields and burning down their farm-houses, to come out of their city. (5) But fear prevented (them) from going very far; about a mile from the city, they pitched their camp, trusting that it was sufficiently safe for no other reason than the difficulty of access, for the roads around (it were) rough and uneven, and in some parts narrow, and in other parts steep. (6) But he took a prisoner from that very region as his guide, and, striking camp at the dead of night, he showed himself at first light (to be) in a considerably superior position. (7) The Romans worked in three shifts, while one division stood by intent on battle. There, as the enemy tried to hinder their work, he defeated (them) and put (them) to flight; and so great was the panic that then came over the Faliscans that in their flight they went past their camp, which was nearer, and sought the city in preference. (8) Many (were) slain or wounded, before, in their terror, they could find their way through the gates. Their camp (was) taken; (and) the booty (was) paid over to the quaestors with the great resentment of the soldiers; but (they were) overcome by the strictness of discipline, and they both detested and admired its virtue at the same time. (9) Then (there was) a blockade of the city and siege-works, and sometimes at a favourable moment (there were) attacks by the townspeople on the Roman outposts, and some slight skirmishes took place, and time wore on without hope being directed to either side, since corn and other supplies had previously been laid up by the besieged in greater quantities than were available to the besiegers. (10) And it began to seem that the struggle would be just as long as it had been at Veii, if fortune had not given the Roman general (the opportunity) to acquire the proof of his virtue from his exploits in war, and an early victory at the same time.
Chapter 27. Camillus' honest conduct encourages the Faliscans to seek peace. (1) It was the custom among the Faliscans to employ the same (person) as tutor and attendant of their children, and at the same time a number of boys were committed to the care of one (man), (a practice) which also continues to this day in Greece. (A man) who seemed to excel in knowledge used to instruct the children of their chief (men), as if it were almost (natural). (2) Since during the (time of) peace he had arranged to lead the boys out in front of the city for the sake of games and taking exercise, this custom was in no way interrupted during the time of war, but he drew them away from the gate for various games and stories, (and,) advancing further than usual when the opportunity offered, he led them between the enemy's outposts and thence to the Roman camp (and) to Camillus in his tent. (3) There he added a villainous speech to his villainous deed, (when he said) that he had delivered the Faliscans into the hands of the Romans, when he had handed over those children whose parents were there at the head of affairs. (5) When Camillus heard this, he said, "Neither our people nor their commander, (to whom) you yourself have come, (you) scoundrel, with your villainous gift, (are) at all like you. (6) Between us and the Faliscans there is no fellowship that is based on a man's covenant: (but) between us both there is, and (always) will be, (that) which nature has implanted. There are laws of war, just as (there are laws) of peace, and we have learned to wage them justly no less than bravely. (7) We do not take up arms against those of tender age, who are spared even when cities are captured, but against (those who) themselves (are) armed, who attacked the Roman camp at Veii without injury or provocation from us. (8) Those (people) you have conquered, in as far as lies in you, by a fresh (kind of) crime: I shall conquer (them), just as (I conquered) Veii, in the Roman way, by courage, toil, and (force of) arms." (9) He then had the (man) stripped naked, with his hands tied behind his back, (and) handed (him) over to the boys to be taken back to Falerii, and he gave them rods, with which they scourged the traitor as they drove (him) back to the city. (10) To (behold) this spectacle, a gathering of the people at first occurred, then the senate was summoned by the magistrates to discuss this strange affair, and so great a change of feeling took place that, in the presence of those who, maddened by hatred and resentment, had until recently almost preferred the fate of the Veientines rather than the peace of the Capenates, the entire state demanded peace. (11) The good faith of the Romans and the justice of their commander were honoured in the market-place and in the senate-house; and, with the consent of everyone, envoys set out to Camillus in his camp, and, from there, with Camillus' permission, to the senate in Rome, in order to surrender Falerii. (12) Having been introduced to the senate, they are said to have spoken as follows: "Conscript Fathers, victory has been won by you and your commander, and we surrender ourselves to you, believing that nothing can be more glorious for a conqueror than that we, having been conquered, (shall live) better under your rule than under our own laws. (13) In the outcome of this war, two salutary examples have been exhibited to the human race: you have preferred honesty in war rather than an immediate victory; we, challenged by your good faith, have voluntarily granted (you) victory. (14) We are under your sway: send (men) to receive our arms, and hostages, and our city with its open gates. (15) You will not regret our fidelity, nor we your rule." Money (was) requisitioned from the Faliscans as payment for the soldiers for that year (i.e. 394 B.C. or A.U.C. 360), in order that the people could be spared from tax. Peace having been granted, the army (was) led back to Rome.
Chapter 28. An treaty is made with Liparae, and the Aequi are totally defeated.
(1) When Camillus had returned to the city, distinguished by a much better (kind of) glory than when white horses had conveyed him through the City in triumph, for he had conquered his enemies by justice and fair-dealing, the senate could not bear the shame of his silence, but freed him from his vow without delay; (2) Lucius Valerius, Lucius Sergius, (and) Aulus Manlius (were) sent in a single warship (as) ambassadors to carry the golden bowl (as) a gift to Apollo at Delphi, (but were) captured by Liparensian pirates not far from the Sicilian Straits and conveyed to Liparae. (3) It was the custom of that city to divide up the booty (that it had) obtained by a kind of public piracy. (But) in that year it so happened that a certain Timasitheus was in (the position of) chief magistrate, a man more like the Romans than his own (countrymen); (4) himself revering the name of the envoys, and their offering and the god, to whom it was being sent, and the reason for the offering, he also imbued the multitude, who almost always resemble their leader, with (a sense of) religious rights, and, after entertaining the ambassadors in their public guest-house, he escorted (them) to Delphi, (and) thence he brought (them) back in safety to Rome. (5) By a decree of the senate, a (treaty of) hospitality was made with him, and public gifts (were) granted (to him).
In the same year a war was fought with the Aequi with varying fortunes, so that it was not clear, both among themselves and in Rome, (whether) the troops had been victorious or whether they had been defeated. (6) The Roman commanders were Gaius Aemilius and Spurius Postumius, from (the ranks of) the military tribunes. At first, they waged war jointly; then, when the enemy had been routed in battle, they decided that Aemilius should hold Verrugo with a garrison, (and) that Postumius would lay the borderlands waste. (7) There, as he was proceeding rather negligently with a disordered column on account of his successful action, the Aequi fell upon (them), threw (them) into confusion, and drove (them) to the nearest hills; and from there the panic also spread to the other detachment at Verrugo. (8) When Postumius, having brought his (men) to a (place of) safety, called (them) to a meeting, and reproached (them) for their alarm and flight, and (told them) that they had been discomfited by the most cowardly and the most timid of foes, the whole army cried out that they deserved to hear these (things) and confessed their shameful failing, but (they promised) that these (matters) would be corrected and that the enemy's joy would not be long-lasting. (9) Demanding that he should immediately lead them from there to the enemy camp - and it had been placed on the plain in full sight - they did not reject any punishment if they had not stormed it before nightfall. (10) Having praised (them), he orders (them) to take refreshment and to be ready at the fourth watch. The enemy too, so that they might cut off any retreat at night along that road that led to Verrugo from the hill that was held by the Romans, went there and met (them), and the battle commenced before daylight - but there was a moon all night. (11) But the clamour was extended to Verrugo, when they believed that the Roman camp was being attacked, and so great an anxiety took hold of (them) that, despite the appeals of Aemilius, and his attempts to retain (them), they fled in disorder to Tusculum. (12) From there a report was conveyed to Rome that Postumius and his army had been destroyed.
When first light had removed the fear of ambushes by (men) extensively following (them), (and) he had ridden through the ranks, demanding (that they should live up to) their promises, he injected such ardour into (them) that the Aequi could no longer withstand their attack. (13) Then, the slaughter of fleeing (men) caused the total destruction of the enemy, such (as happens) when a matter is conducted by rage rather than courage; and a laurel-wreathed letter from Postumius succeeded the gloomy news from Tusculum, which had thrown the City into a needless fright, (and it announced) that there had been a victory of the Roman people, and that the army of the Aequi had been destroyed.
Chapter 29. The excesses of the popular party.
(1) Because the measures (introduced) by the tribunes of the plebs had not yet found their ending, both the commons exerted themselves to continue (in office) the supporters of the bill (i.e.(ie, providing for the distr, and the Fathers (strove) to re-elect the opponents of the law; but the commons were more successful in their own elections. (2) The Fathers avenged this disappointment by passing a resolution in the senate, that consuls, an office odious to the plebs, should be appointed (i.e. for the year 393 B.C. or A.U.C. 361). After fifteen years (i.e. the last time consuls had been elected was in respect of 409 B.C.), Lucius Lucretius (Tricipitinus) Flavus and Servius Sulpicius Camerinus (were) elected consuls (viz. some records show that they were suffect consuls, having been appointed as replacements for Lucius Valerius Potitus and Servius Cornelius Cossus Maluginensis, who had abdicated). (3) At the beginning of this year, because no one in their college opposed (it), the tribunes of the plebs came forth in a vigorous attempt to pass this law, and, for this very (reason), the consuls, were not more tardy in resisting (it), and, while the whole city (had been) directed towards this one concern, the Aequi storm the Roman colony of Vitellia, (which is) in their territory. (4) The greatest part of the colonists (were) unharmed, because, the town, having been taken by treachery at night, had offered (them) an unimpeded (mode of) escape through the back of the city, (and) they fled to Rome as a refuge. (5) This province fell to the consul Lucius Lucretius. Having set out with his army, he defeated the enemy in a battle, and returned victorious to Rome to a considerably greater contest. (6) A day (of trial) had been appointed for the plebeian tribunes of two years previously, Aulus Verginius and Quintus Pomponius, to defend whom it was, with the agreement of the Fathers, the duty of the senate in good faith (to provide). For no one made any other accusation against them, either with regard to their (way of) life or to their conduct in office, save that in order to gratify the Fathers they had vetoed the proposed law of the tribunes. (7) However, the resentment of the commons prevailed over the influence of the senate, and, by a most pernicious precedent, the innocent (men) were condemned (to pay a fine) of ten thousand asses in weight. (8) The senate bore this with difficulty. Camillus openly charged the commons with depravity, as, having turned against their own (representatives), they failed to understand that they, by their wicked judgment of the tribunes, had done away with the veto, and that, by doing away with the veto, they had overthrown the authority of the tribunes; (9) for, if they supposed that the Fathers would accept the unbridled licence of that office, they were mistaken. If the violence of the tribunes could not be repelled with the help of tribunes, the senate must find some other weapon. (10) And he rebuked the consuls, because they had silently allowed those tribunes who had followed the direction of the senate to be deceived by (their reliance on) public protection. By openly proclaiming these (views), he increased still further the anger of the people on a daily basis.
Chapter 30. The proposed law is rejected by a narrow margin. (1) However, he (i.e. Camillus) did not cease from urging the senate to oppose the law (i.e. the proposal to make Veii a second Rome): when the day should come for voting on the law, they should go down into the forum in no other spirit than that (of men) who were aware that they had to fight for their altars and hearths, and for the temples of their gods, and for the ground on which they had been born. (2) For, in so far as it concerned him privately, if during his country's struggle it would be a sin for him to be mindful of his own glory, it would even be an honour for him that a city captured by him should be densely inhabited, and that he should derive joy on a daily basis from the memorial of his own glory, and have before his eyes (the model of) a city borne in his triumph, and that everyone would tread in the footsteps of his renown. (3) But he deemed (it) a sin that a city forsaken and abandoned by the immortal gods should be inhabited, and that the Roman people should dwell on captive soil, and that a conquered country should be exchanged for a victorious (one).
The senators were so aroused by these exhortations of their leading member that, when the law was about to be proposed, they formed a body and came into the forum, and (were) dispersed, each one among his own tribe, (5) and, as they canvassed their fellow-tribesmen, they began, with tears (in their eyes), to beseech (them) not to forsake that native-land, for which they themselves, and their fathers, had fought with such great courage and good fortune, pointing to the Capitol, the temple of Vesta, and the other temples of the gods around (them); (6) and (they begged them) not to drive the Roman people into exile and banishment from its native soil and its household gods to the city of their enemies, and to bring matters to such a state that it would have been better if Veii had not been captured, lest Rome should be deserted. (7) Since they used no force but entreaties, and among their entreaties there was many a reference to the gods, the majority of them felt the prick of conscience, and one more tribe voted against the law than supported it (i.e. as there were twenty-one tribes at that time, eleven tribes must have voted against it, and ten in its favour). (8) And this victory was so pleasing to the Fathers, that on the next day, when the consuls referred (it to them), the senate passed a decree that seven iugera of Veientine land should be distributed to (each) plebeian (man), and not only to the heads of families, but that an account should be taken of all the freeborn men in (each) household, and, with that prospect (before them), they might be willing to raise children.
Chapter 31. The appointment of 'interreges'.
(1) Appeased by this largess, the commons offered no opposition to consular elections being held (i.e. for the year 392 B.C. or A.U.C. 362). (2) The consuls elected (were) Lucius Valerius Potitus (and) Marcus Manlius, to whom the surname Capitolinus was afterwards (given). These consuls celebrated the great games, which the dictator Marcus Furius had vowed during the Veientine war. (3) In the same year a temple to Queen Juno, vowed by the same dictator during the same war, is dedicated, and they say that the dedication (was) celebrated with the enormous zeal of the women.
(4) An unmemorable war was waged with the Aequi on (Mount) Algidus, with the enemy taking to flight, almost before they engaged in battle. A triumph was awarded to Valerius, because he was more persistent in slaughtering them in their flight, and an ovation (was granted) to Manlius, as he entered the City. (5) In the same year a fresh war broke out with the Volsinians; an army could not be led there, on account of the famine and pestilence in Roman territory, which had arisen from drought and excessive heat. Because of this, the Volsinians, having joined up with the Sappinates, (were) puffed up with pride, and spontaneously attacked Roman territories; (6) war was then declared against the two peoples.
The censor Gaius Julius died; in his place Marcus Cornelius (was) substituted, an action which was afterwards (considered) a religious liability, because Rome was captured during that 'lustrum' (i.e. the five-year period in which a censor held office); nor since that time has a censor ever been substituted in the place of a dead man. (7) Now the consuls were entangled in sickness, and it was decided that the auspices should be renewed by means of an interregnum. (8) And so, when the consuls had abdicated from office in accordance with a resolution of the senate, Marcus Furius Camillus is appointed interrex, and he chose Publius Cornelius Scipio (as) interrex, and then he (chose) Lucius Valerius Potitus . (9) Six military tribunes with consular authority (were) appointed by him, so that, even if ill-heath should incapacitate any of them, the state might (still) have a sufficient number of magistrates. Chapter 32. After some minor campaigns, Camillus is banished. (1) They began their office on the Kalends of Quinctilis (i.e. the 1st of July), (namely) Lucius Lucretius, Servius Sulpicius, Marcus Aemilius, Lucius Furius Medullinus for the seventh time, Agrippa Furius, (and) Gaius Aemilius for the second time. (2) Of these, the province of the Volsinians fell to the lot of Lucius Lucretius and Gaius Aemilius, and (that of) the Sappinates to Agrippa Furius and Servius Sulpicius. (3) In that war, the number of the enemy's (troops was) large, but the contest was not at all severe. Their battle-line broke at the first encounter; eight thousand soldiers having been intercepted by the cavalry, they turned to flight, and, having laid down their arms, they came to surrender. (4) The account of that war had the effect that the Sappinates would not commit themselves to battle; their troops secured themselves within their walls. The Romans plundered spoil in all directions, both from the territory of the Sappinates and from (that) of the Volsinians, without anyone repelling their aggression, (5) until the Volsinians grew weary of war, (and), on the condition that they restored the goods of the Roman people and furnished pay for that year to the army, (they were) granted a truce for twenty years.
(6) In the same year, Marcus Caedicius from the commons reported to the tribunes that in New Street, where there is a now a chapel above the temple of Vesta, he had heard in the silence of the night a voice louder than (that) of a human being, which bade it be told to the magistrates that the Gauls were approaching. (7) This (portent), as often happens, (was) disregarded on account of its author's humble background, and because this tribe was a remote (one). Not only (were) the warnings of the gods that fate was impending ignored, but they even removed Marcus Furius from the City, the one (source of) human assistance that they had. (8) He was indicted by Lucius Apuleius, tribune of the plebs, on account of the spoils of Veii, having also been deprived of his youthful son at the same time, and, when he had invited to his house those tribesmen and clients who formed a large part of the plebs, and had strictly questioned their feelings, and received the response that, while they would come up with whatever amount he was sentenced (to pay), they could not acquit him, (9) he went into exile, beseeching the immortal gods that, if this injury had been done to him (as) an innocent (man), they would also make his ungrateful country wish (him to return) at the earliest opportunity. In his absence, he was fined fifteen thousand asses in weight.
Chapter 33. The migrations of the Gauls into Italy.
(1) That citizen, having been expelled, in whose presence, if anything in human (life) is certain, Rome could not have been captured, (and) with disaster approaching the ill-fated city, envoys arrive from Clusium, seeking help against the Gauls. (2) The story goes that this race, captivated by the sweetness of the fruits, and, especially, of the wine, then a novel luxury, had crossed the Alps and taken hold of lands previously cultivated by the Etruscans; (3) and that Arruns had imported wine into Gaul in order to entice its people, in his anger at the seduction of his wife by Lucomo, whose guardian he had been, a very powerful young man (he was) and penalties could not be applied by him, unless an external force had been procured; (4) that he had been their guide, when crossing the Alps, and the originator of besieging Clusium. I would not deny that the Gauls were brought to Clusium by Arruns or by some other (native) of Clusium; (5) but it is well enough agreed that those who laid siege to Clusium were not the ones who crossed the Alps first. For two hundred years before they laid siege to Clusium and captured the City of Rome, the Gauls had passed over into Italy; nor (were they) (i.e. the people of Clusium) the first of the Etruscans (to fight) with them, but long before (that) Gallic armies had often fought with those who dwelt between the Apennines and the Alps.
(7) Before the dominance of Rome, the sway of the Tuscans extended widely over land and sea. How great was their power on the upper and lower seas, by which Italy is encircled like an island, their names are proof, because one (of them) is called the Tuscan, the common appellation of the people, (8) (and) the other (one) the Italian races have called the Hadriatic, from Hatria, a colony of the Etruscans; the Greeks call the same (seas) the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic. (9) They inhabited the lands which slope towards both of these seas in twice twelve cities, firstly those on this side of the Apennines towards the lower sea, (and) afterwards the same number across the Apennines, (10) (and,) sending out as many colonies as there were cities originally, they take possession of all the places beyond the Po right up to the Alps, with the exception of the little nook of the Venetians, who inhabit the bay of the sea. (11) Without doubt, the Alpine tribes have the same origin, especially the Raetians, whom the same places have made so barbarous that they retained nothing from former times except the sound of their language, nor was that uncorrupted.
Chapter 34. Early examples of Gauls crossing the Alps.
(1) Concerning the migration of the Gauls into Italy, we have received these (details): when Tarquinius Priscus was ruling in Rome (i.e. 616-578 B.C.), the supreme government of the Celts, of whose lands a third part of Gaul is (made up), was in the hands of the Bituriges; they gave a king to the Celtic (nation). (2) He was Ambigatus; due to his valour and good fortune, he was pre-eminent in his own affairs and those of the people, because under his rule Gaul was so fertile with crops and men that it scarcely seemed possible for such an abundant multitude to be governed. (3) He himself was now of a great age, and, wishing to relieve his kingdom of such an overwhelming throng, he declared that he would be sending his sister's sons, Bellovesus and Segovesus, (both) enterprising young men, to whatever settlements the gods should grant them by auguries: they themselves could take with them as great a number of men as they wished, (4) so that no tribe could prevent their arrival. Then, the Hercynian highlands (i.e. now the upland districts of South Germany, including Bohemia and the Black Forest) (were assigned to Segovesus by lot; to Bellovesus the gods assigned a much more pleasant route into Italy. (5) With regard to the Bituriges, the Arverni, the Senones, the Haedui, the Ambarri, the Carnutes, (and) the Aulerci, he summoned (that part) of the population that was in excess. Setting out with a vast abundance of infantry and cavalry, he came into (the lands) of the Tricastini (i.e. now Provence).
(6) There the Alps were standing opposite (them); I for one do not wonder that they seemed insuperable, because they had not yet been climbed by any path (which) is maintained in the memory, unless one chooses to believe the stories about Hercules. (7) While the height of the mountains kept the Gauls penned in there, as it were, and they were looking around (to see) by what means they might cross the peaks by (which) the sky (was) joined into another world, religious scruples held them back, because the news was brought (to them) that strangers in search of lands were being attacked by the tribe of the Salui. (8) These were the Massilienses, who had come in ships from Phocaea. Regarding this (as) an omen of their success, the Gauls offered their assistance, so that they fortified the spot which they had first occupied when they came into land, while having to put up with the Salui. They themselves crossed the Alps by means of the Taurine passes and the pass of the Duria; (9) after the the Etruscans had been routed in battle not far from the river Ticinus, when they learned that they had settled in what was called the land of the Insubres, a surname of the Insubrians (borne) by a canton of the Haedui, and following the omen there they founded a city; and they called (it) Mediolanium (i.e. now called Milan).
Chapter 35. The city of Clusium seeks the help of the Romans against the Gauls.
(1) Another (band, consisting) of the Cenomani, under the leadership of Etitovius, followed the tracks of the earlier (ones) (i.e. the Massilienses), when they crossed the Alps by the same pass with the help of Bellovesus, and occupied the places where the cities of Brixia and Verona now are. (2) After them, the Libui and the Salluvii (came and) settled near the ancient tribe of the Laevi Ligures, (who were) living around the river Ticinus. Then, the Boii and the Lingones crossed by the Poenine (pass, and,) when (they found that) everything between the Po and the Alps was now occupied, they crossed the Po on rafts, and drove not only the Etruscans but the Umbrians also, from the country; however, they themselves remained within the Apennines. (3) Then, the Senones, the most recent of the newcomers, had borders (stretching) from the river Utens right up to the Aesis. I understand that this tribe came from there to Clusium and Rome: it is not at all certain whether (they came) alone, or assisted by all the peoples of Cisalpine Gaul.(4) When the men of Clusium, alarmed by the strange war, perceived the large number and the unknown shapes of the men and their stock of weapons, and heard that the troops of the Etruscans had often been defeated by them on this side and on the other side of the Po, although they had no right to an alliance or friendship with regard to the Romans, except that they had failed to defend their Veientine blood-relatives against the Roman people, the three sons of Marcus Fabius Ambustus (were) sent (as) ambassadors in the name of the senate and people of Rome to treat with the Gauls - that they should not attack the allies and friends of the Roman people, from whom they had received no wrong. (6) That they would even be defended by the Romans in war, if the situation required (it); but it seemed better that war itself should be avoided, if possible, and that the Gauls, a fresh race, should come to their acquaintance in peace rather than in arms.
Chapter 36. The Gauls demand land from Clusium as the price of peace.
(1) The embassy would have been a peaceful (one), if it had not contained envoys of a very fierce nature, and more like Gauls than Romans. After they had set out their instructions in the assembly of the Gauls, this answer was given to them: that, although they heard the name of the Romans as a fresh (one), yet they believed (them) to be brave men, whose help was being sought by the Clusini in these anxious circumstances; (3) and, seeing that they had chosen to defend their allies against them by negotiation rather than by (force of) arms, they themselves would not reject the peace (terms) which they were proposing, if the men of Clusium, who possessed more land than they could till, would concede a part of their territory to the Gauls, who were in need of land; otherwise peace could not be obtained. (4) And (they said) that they wished to receive a response in the presence of the Romans, and that, if the land were refused (them), they would fight in the presence of these same Romans, so that they could report at home how much the Gauls surpassed (all) other mortals in courage. (5) With the Romans asking (them) what right they had to demand land from its possessors, or to threaten (them) with war, and what business did the Gauls have in Etruria, when they fiercely declared that they carried that right in their weapons, and that all (things) were (the property) of brave men, with minds inflamed on both sides, they ran to arms and battle was joined. (6) The envoys took up arms, contrary to the law of nations, for the fates were already urging on the City of Rome (to its doom). Nor could this be done in secret, since three of the noblest and bravest of the Roman youth fought beside the banner of the Etruscans; so conspicuous (was) the strangers' bravery. (7) Indeed, Quintus Fabius even rode outside the line on his horse, as the leader of the Gauls was boldly charging at the very standards of the Etruscans, and he ran (him) through the side with his spear and killed (him); now, the Gauls recognised him as he was gathering his spoils, and the signal was given throughout the whole battle-line that he was a Roman envoy. (8) Then, giving up their anger against the Clusini, they sounded the retreat, while threatening the Romans. There were (some) who thought that they should march on Rome at once, but the older men prevailed (when they said) that envoys should first be sent to complain about their wrongs and to demand that the Fabii should be surrendered for violating the law of nations. (9) When the envoys of the Gauls had explained these (matters), as they had been instructed, the actions of the Fabii did not seem good to the senate, and the barbarians appeared to be demanding what was right; but, in the case of men of such great nobility, their renown prevented it from decreeing what they thought to be right. (10) And so that the blame should not rest with them if disaster happened to occur in a war with the Gauls, they referred consideration of the Gauls' demands to the people; since influence and wealth carried much more weight (with them), the result was that (those) whose punishment was under discussion (i.e. Quintus Fabius Ambustus, Kaeso Fabius Ambustus, and Numerius Fabius Ambustus) were elected military tribunes with consular power for the following year (i.e. 390 B.C. or A.U.C. 364). (11) When this happened, the Gauls (were) enraged, just as was natural, and they returned to their (people) openly threatening war. The military tribunes elected with the three Fabii (were) Quintus Servilius Longus, Quintus Servilius (Fidenas) for the fourth time, (and) Publius Cornelius Maluginensis.
Chapter 37. The Gauls meet the Roman army at the River Allia eleven miles from Rome.
(1) Although so great an amount of evil was impending - so does fortune blind (men's) minds, when she does not wish her attacking strength to be broken - , that state which against her Fidenatian and Veientine enemies and other neighbouring peoples had had recourse to the ultimate (source of) assistance, and had, on many occasions, appointed a dictator, (2) that state, (I say,) having then been stirred into war by an unseen and unheard of enemy from the Ocean and the remotest extremity of the world, had sought no unusual (means of) authority or assistance. (3) Those tribunes, by whose rashness war had been brought on, were in charge of the highest affairs, and they held a levy with no more care than was usually held for ordinary wars, and they even made light of the report of war. (4) Meanwhile, the Gauls, when they learned that honours had actually been conferred on (those who had) violated human law, and that their embassy was ridiculed, (being) inflamed with a resentment which their nation was unable (to control), immediately decamped and entered on their march with an army at full speed. (5) As they marched rapidly and noisily onwards, when the terrified cities rushed to arms and a flight of countrymen took place, they made it known with a loud shout wherever they went that they were going to Rome, and their column stretched far and wide with horsemen and foot-soldiers, and occupied a vast (amount of) ground. (6) But, although rumour and the reports of the Clusini preceded (them), then successively (those of) other peoples, the speed of the enemy brought the greatest anxiety to Rome, (7) and indeed their army levied. as it were, in haste, and led out rapidly (viz. the Roman army may have consisted of 40,000 men, including four legions as well as auxiliaries and allies), barely reached the eleventh (mile-)stone, (before) it confronted (him at the point) where the river Allia, flowing down from the Crustuminian mountains in a very deep channel, mingles with the river Tiber not far below the road (i.e. from Rome to Crustumerium). (8) All (places) in front of and around (them) were full of the enemy, and a nation born in groundless confusion had, by their wild singing and discordant clamour, filled everywhere with a hideous sound.
Chapter 38. The Gauls defeat the Romans in the battle of the Allia.
(1) There, the military tribunes, without having previously selected a place for a camp, and, without having fortified a position to which they might retreat, forgetful of their duty even to the gods, to say nothing of men, drew up their battle-line without taking auspices or obtaining favourable omens, and extended it to the wings, so that they could not be outflanked by the large numbers of the enemy; (2) yet they could not extend their front as widely as his, although, by extending (it), the centre of the line became weak and scarcely held together. There was a little eminence on the right, which they decided to fill with reserves; and this measure, although (it was) the beginning of their panic and flight, so it was the only (source of) safety (for them) in their flight. (3) For Brennus, the chieftain of the Gauls, being very greatly apprehensive of some design with regard to the small number of the enemy, and, thinking that the higher ground (had been) seized for this (purpose), and that, when the Gauls had made a frontal attack on the battle-line of the legions, the reserves might attack (them) on the flanks and in the rear, (4) he directed his attack at the reserves, not doubting that, if he could dislodge them from that place, victory on the plain would be easy (for the side that was) so greatly superior in numbers; so not only fortune, but also reasoning, stood on the side of the barbarians. (5) In the other army there was nothing resembling Romans, either among their leaders, or among the private soldiers. Panic and flight had occupied their minds, and there was so great a forgetfulness of everything that a much greater number (of them) fled to the hostile city of Veii, although the Tiber stood in their way, than by the straight road to their wives and children in Rome. (6) For a short time, their position protected the reserves; in the rest of the line, as soon as the noise was heard by (those) nearest to the flanks, and by those at some distance from their rear, almost before they could look at their unknown enemy, without even attempting a struggle, but not even returning the battle-cry, they turned to flight, fresh and unhurt; (7) nor was there any slaughter of (men) fighting; (they were) cut down from behind by their own struggles, as they blocked their escape in the tumult. (8) Around the bank of the Tiber, to which the whole left wing had fled, after they had thrown away their arms, great slaughter took place, and many who were unable to swim or lacked the strength (to do so), weighed down by their breastplates and by other pieces of defensive armour, sank beneath the flood; (9) but the greatest part (of them) fled safely for refuge to Veii, from where not only no reinforcement, but not even a message of their defeat, was sent to Rome. (10) From the right wing, which stood some distance from the river rather beneath the (foot of) the mountain, they all made for Rome, and, without even shutting the gates of the City, they fled into the citadel.
Chapter 39. The men of military age and the able-bodied members of the senate prepare to withdraw to the Capitol.
(1) The miracle of such a sudden victory held even the Gauls in a state of amazement, and they stood rooted (to the spot) with anxiety, as if they did not know what had happened; then, they feared an ambush; at last they gathered up the spoils of the slain, and heaped up piles of arms, as is their custom; (2) then, at last, when nothing hostile was discovered, they proceeded on their journey and they reached the City of Rome not long before sunset. Then, when the cavalry that had gone on before reported that the gates (were) not closed, that no guard was stationed in front of the gates, and that no armed (men) were on the walls, another state of amazement similar to the previous (one) took hold of them; (3) and, fearful of the night and the site of the unknown city, they settled down between Rome and the Anio, with scouts having been sent around the walls and the other gates, (in order to ascertain) what plans the enemy had in their desperate plight. (4) (As for) the Romans, since the greater part (of them) had fled from the battle-field to Veii rather then to Rome, they supposed that no one was (left) alive, except those who had fled to Rome for refuge, (and) they mourned all alike, (both) the living and the dead, and they filled almost the whole of the City with their lamentations. (5) Then, a general panic stifled their private sorrows, after it was announced that the enemy were at hand; as the enemy were wandering around the walls in troops, they soon heard howls and discordant songs. (6) Then, the whole situation kept their minds in such a state of suspense right up to the next day that an assault on the City now seemed continually likely to happen: (it was expected) on their first approach, since they had come near to the City - for, if this were not their intention, they would have remained at the Allia - ; (7) then, towards sunset, because not much of the day was left, they thought they would attack before nightfall; then their plan was deferred until night, so that they might cause more panic. (8) At last, the approach of dawn struck their minds with dismay, and the calamity itself was followed by perpetual dread, when the hostile standards were brought in through the gates. However, during the night and the following day, the state was by no means similar to that which had fled so fearfully to the Allia. (9) For, since there was no hope that the City could be defended, when so small a number of troops had been left behind, it was decided that the men of military age with their wives and children, and the able-bodied (men) of the senate, should withdraw to the citadel and to the Capitol, (10) and that, having laid up arms and provisions there, they should defend from that fortified spot the gods, and the men, and the name of Rome; (11) that the Flamen (Quirinalis) and the Vestal priestesses should remove the sacred objects belonging to the state far from slaughter and conflagration, nor should their cult be abandoned until there was no one left to cultivate (it). (12) If the citadel and the Capitol, the abode of the gods, if the senate, the source of public counsel, and, if the men of military age, should survive the imminent ruin of the City, (the loss) of the crowd of old men in the city could easily be borne, and, in any case, they were bound to perish. (13) And, in order that the multitude of commoners might endure it with an even-tempered mind, the old men, who had triumphed and who had served as consuls, openly declared that they would die together with them, and that they would not burden the scarcity of armaments with the bodies of those who could not bear arms, nor defend their native-land.
Chapter 40. Women and children leave the City.
(1) Such (were) the consolations which the old men destined to die shared among (themselves). Their exhortations then turned to the band of young men, whom they were accompanying to the Capitol and to the citadel, entrusting to their valour and youth whatever good fortune might be left to a city which had been victorious in all its wars for three hundred and sixty years. (2) (With those) who carried with them all hope and resources separating from those who had resolved not to survive the destruction of their captured city, while the situation itself and its appearance were a wretched thing to see, (3) and the tears and the uncertain throng of the women following now these, now those, and asking their husbands and their children to what they were being awarded by fate, they gave up nothing which was left of human misery. (4) Yet, a great part of them followed their (friends) into the citadel, neither forbidding nor encouraging it, since what would have been helpful to the besieged to lessen the number of non-combatants would have been inhuman. (5) Another host, (consisting) mainly of plebeians, whom so small a hill could not contain or nourish amid so great a shortage of corn, streamed out of the City as if in a single line and made for the Janiculum. (6) From there some scattered through the countryside, others made for the neighbouring towns, without any leader or plan, each one following his own hopes and counsels, in despair of the commonwealth.
(7) Meanwhile, the Flamen Quirinalis and the Vestal virgins, abandoning the care of their own belongings, (were) considering which of the sacred (objects) should be taken with them, (and) which should be left behind, because they lacked the strength to carry (them) all, and what would be the safest place for their secure custody, (8) and they thought (it) best to hide them in jars and to bury them in the shrine nearest to the house of the Flamen Quirinalis, where it is now an offence to spit; the rest (of the things) they carried, sharing the burden between them, along the road which leads by the Sublician Bridge to the Janiculum. (9) (They were) on that hill, when Albinius, a man of the commons, perceived (them) conveying his wife and children in a wagon among another throng of those who were unfit for war, (10) and they were leaving the City, preserving even then the distinction between things divine and human, and, believing it a sacrilege that the priestesses of his country and the sacred (vessels) of the Roman people should go on foot and be carried, while his (family) should be seen in a vehicle, he ordered his wife and children to get down, (and) he placed the virgins and their sacred (relics) in the wagon, and took them to Caere (i.e. an ancient Etruscan town), which was the priests' destination.
Chapter 41. The senators' self-sacrifice.
(1) Meanwhile, at Rome, with all the arrangements for defending the citadel having now been satisfactorily made, as far as was possible in such circumstances, the crowd of old people, having returned to their homes, were awaiting their enemies' arrival with their minds firmly prepared for death. (2) (Those) who had held curule magistracies (i.e. dictators, masters of the horse, consuls and censors), in order that they might die in the trappings of their former rank, honours and merit, having arrayed themselves in those most sacred garments which are (worn by those) drawing images of the gods or celebrating triumphs, they sat in the ivory chairs in the middle of their halls. (3) There are (those) who say, that, with Marcus Folius, the chief pontiff, uttering the words, they devoted themselves to their country and to the Roman Quirites (i.e. the citizens of Rome).
(4) The Gauls, both because, with the intervention of night, they had abated their minds from the exertion of battle, and because they had not fought anywhere in a two-headed line of battle, and they were not taking the City by storm or by violence, entered the City the next day by the open Colline gate, and advanced into the forum, casting their eyes around at the temples of the gods and the citadel, (which) alone had the appearance of war. (5) Having left a moderate-sized guard behind them, lest any attack should occur from the citadel or the Capitol upon their scattered (troops), they dispersed in quest of plunder, meeting on streets empty of men, (and) they rushed in a body, some into those houses which were nearest, (while) others sought the most remote (ones), as if they were indeed untouched and stuffed full of spoil. (6) Then again, being scared away by their very solitude, lest some hostile ruse should ensnare (them as they) wandered, they came back in a mass to the forum and the places near to the forum; (7) when they (found) that the houses of the plebeians (had been) fastened up, (but) that the halls of the noblemen (were) lying open, almost more hesitation took hold of them about invading (those that were) open than (the ones which were) closed; (8) so, they felt something just like religious awe, as they looked upon the men sitting in the porches of their palaces, (who) besides their ornaments and apparel (appeared) more august than human, (and) also most similar to the gods in the majesty which their looks and the gravity of their countenance displayed.
(9) While they stood looking at them as if they were statues, one of them, Marcus Papirius, is said to have aroused the anger of a Gaul by striking (him) on the head with his ivory mace, while he was stroking his beard, (which) was worn long, as (it was) by everyone at that time, and the beginning of the slaughter began with him, (and) the rest were butchered in their seats; (10) after the slaughter of the nobles, not one person was then spared, the houses were ransacked, and, (after they had been) emptied, flames were set on (them).
Chapter 42. The Romans in the citadel look down upon the enemy in the City.
(1) But, whether they did not all have the desire to destroy the City, or whether the leaders of the Gauls had resolved that certain fires should be displayed so as to cause alarm and (to see) if the besieged could be driven to surrender through an affection for their homes, not all the houses were burned down, in order that they might hold whatever remained of the City as a pledge to work upon the feelings of their enemies, and the fire spread by no means as widely or as extensively on that first day as is usually the case in a conquered city. (3) As the Romans perceived from their citadel a city full of enemies running through all the streets, while firstly in one quarter and then in another some fresh calamity would be occurring, they were unable not only to keep their heads, but even to be sufficiently sure of their ears and eyes. (4) In whatever direction the shouting of the enemy, the lamentations of the women and children, the crackling of the flames, and the crash of falling houses had turned their attention, (to it) they turned their minds, faces and eyes, trembling at every (sound), as if they had been placed (there) at the sight of their dying country by fortune, nor was anything left of their possessions beyond the protectors of their bodies, (5) and they were so much more to be pitied before any others who had ever been besieged, because they were shut out from their country when they were besieged and beheld their (possessions) in the power of the enemy. (6) Nor was the night which succeeded a day so shockingly spent more tranquil; a restless day then followed the night, nor was there any moment which was free from the sight of some ever fresh calamity. (7) Yet, so oppressed, and indeed overwhelmed (as they were) by their misfortunes, nothing could alter their resolve in any way, though they could see that everything had been levelled (to the dust) in flames and ruins, however much they sought to defend by their courage the hill which they occupied, ill-provided and small (as it was), being left as (the refuge for) liberty; (8) and now, when the same (events) occurred every day, as if accustomed to misfortunes, they withdrew their minds from a view of their own affairs, looking only at their shields and the sword in their right hands as the sole remnants of their hopes.
Chapter 43. After failing to take the citadel, the Gauls move on to attack Ardea, where Camillus is living in exile.
(1) The Gauls likewise, having waged war vainly for some days against the walls of the City only, when they saw that there was nothing left amid the fires and ruins of the captured city but armed enemies, who were not at all alarmed by so many disasters, nor likely to turn their thoughts to surrender unless force should be applied, decide to turn to extremities and make an attack on the citadel. (2) At daybreak, the command (was) given, and the entire host is drawn up in the forum; then, after raising a shout, and, forming a testudo (i.e. a tortoise-shell. a formation, in which soldiers charged, holding their interlocked shields over their heads), they advance. Against them, the Romans (did) nothing rashly or in trepidation; at all approaches the guards (were) strengthened, (and,) where they saw (them) advancing, there they stationed their best men, and allowed the enemy to ascend, thinking that, the more they climbed up the slope, the easier it would be for them to be pushed back downwards. (3) They took their stand at about the middle of the slope, and there they made their attack, which seemed to hurl them against the enemy almost of its own accord, (and) they routed the Gauls with such slaughter and destruction, that never afterwards did either some of them or all of them attempt such a kind of attack. (4) So, relinquishing (all) hope of attacking by force of arms, they prepare for a siege, which up to that time they had not thought about, and they had consumed (all) the corn which had been in the City with their city fires, and all (the corn) from the fields had been carried off to Veii during those last few days. (5) They, therefore, divided their army, and decided that part of it should plunder the neighbouring peoples, and part of it should besiege the citadel, in order that the plunderers of the fields should bestow corn on the besiegers.
(6) When the Gauls had departed from the City, in order to put Roman manhood to the test, fortune herself guided (them) to Ardea, where Camillus was in exile; (7) he was more grieved by the public calamity than his own, and, while he grew old inveighing against gods and men, indignantly wondering where were those men, with whom he had captured Veii and Falerii, and who had waged other wars ever more bravely than successfully, (8) he suddenly hears that the army of the Gauls is approaching, and that the people of Ardea are consulting about it in alarm. Touched by an inspiration no less than divine, when he pushed himself into the midst of their conference, though previously accustomed to avoid such councils,
Chapter 44. Camillus seeks to lead the men of Ardea against the Gallic invaders.
(1) he says, "Men of Ardea, my old friends, and of late my fellow-citizens, since your goodness has so arranged it, and my good fortune has made it necessary, let none of you suppose that I have come here forgetful of my condition; but the present circumstances and the common danger obliges (all of us) to contribute whatever he can in this alarming situation to the general defence. (2) And when shall I repay you for your very great services to me, if I am now remiss? Or when will you have need of me, if it were not in war? By this art, and unconquered in war, I stood (secure) in my native-land, (but) in peace I was driven out by the thankless citizens. (3) But to you, men of Ardea, fortune has given you the opportunity of giving thanks for the very great benefits (conferred upon you) by the Roman people, such as you yourselves are mindful of - nor need I reproach you with (them) for the things which you remember - , and of obtaining great renown in war for this city over the common enemy. (4) Those people who are now approaching in a disorderly column are one to whom nature has given bodies and spirits which are large rather than firm; for this reason they bring more terror than strength to every conflict. (5) Let the disaster of Rome serve as a proof (of this). They captured a city that was lying open (to them). A small band (of men) from the citadel and the Capitol is resisting them; already oppressed by the tedium of the siege, they are departing and are wandering aimlessly through the countryside. (6) They gorge themselves on hastily swallowed food and wine, and, when night comes on, they are scattered in all directions like wild beasts near streams of water, without fortification, without guards or look-out posts, and now more careless than usual on account of the success of their actions. (7) If you have it in your mind to protect your city, and not to allow it all to become Gaul, take up arms in the first watch and follow me repeatedly to a massacre, (and) not to a battle. Unless I hand (them) over (to you), overcome by sleep, to be butchered like cattle, I do not reject the same outcome to my affairs at Ardea, as I had in Rome."
Chapter 45. The Etruscans are punished for taking advantage of the Romans' difficulties to invade their territory.
(1) Friends and foes (alike) were persuaded that there was no such man of war anywhere at that time. The assembly having been dismissed, they took care of their bodies, eagerly awaiting that the signal should soon be given. When it was given in the silence of the early night, they appeared before Camillus at the gates. (2) They had not gone very far from the city, when they came upon the camp of the Gauls, unguarded and neglected on every side, just as he had predicted, and they fell upon (it) with a loud cheer. (3) There was no fighting anywhere, but there was slaughter in all places; naked bodies dissolved in sleep were butchered. But fear roused those furthest away from their beds, not knowing what the attack was or from where (it came), and it carried some of them into flight and into (the midst of) the enemy unawares. A great number (of them were) brought into the territory of Antium, and, when an attack was made on (them) in their wandering by the townsmen, they were surrounded.
(4) A simlar overthrow occurred to the Etruscans in the region of Veii, which city had now been their neighbour for almost four hundred years, but they were so far from showing it pity (when it was) overwhelmed by an unknown and unheard of enemy, that they made incursions into Roman territory at that time, and, full of booty, they even had (it) in mind to attack Veii, the last hope of the Roman name. (5) The Roman soldiers had seen them as they wandered through the fields, and, having formed a column, they drove the booty before them, and perceived their camp pitched not far from Veii. (6) From there at first self-commiseration, then indignation, and, after that, resentment took hold of their minds: could even the Etruscans, from whom they had diverted the Gallic war against themselves, make sport of their calamities? (7) They could scarcely curb their minds from making an instant attack, (but), held back by Quintus Caedicius, the centurion, whom they had appointed to be their commander, they postponed the affair until darkness. (8) The only (thing) wanting was a leader like Camillus; in everything else the same order (was followed), and their good-fortune achieved the same result. But, (led) by captive guides, who had survived the nocturnal massacre, they set out on the following night against another band of Etruscans at the salt-works (i.e. the ones established by King Ancus Martius, who ruled from 640-616 B.C., on the right bank of the Tiber, near to Ostia), and unexpectedly caused (even) greater carnage, and, rejoicing at their double victory, they returned to Veii.
Chapter 46. Camillus is appointed dictator.
(1) Meanwhile, in Rome the siege (had become) for the most part sluggish, and there was quiet on both sides, with the Gauls intent only on this, that no one of the enemy could make an escape between their guard-posts, when suddenly a Roman youth attracted to himself the admiration of the citizens and of the enemy. (2) An (annual) sacrifice was held on the Quirinal hill by the Fabian clan. To perform this, when Gaius Fabius Dorsuo, girded about by the Gabine girdle (i.e. a method of girding up the toga appropriate to religious ceremonies), had descended from the Capitol bearing the sacred (vessels) in his hands, he passed through the midst of the enemy's guard-posts, completely unmoved by the voices or threats of any of them, and came to the Quirinal hill; (3) there performing all the solemn rites, he returned by the same route, with a similarly firm countenance and gait, (and), sufficiently hoping that the gods were propitious, whose service he had not abandoned even when restrained by the fear of death, he returned to his (friends) on the Capitol, with the Gauls either astounded by his marvellous audacity, or even moved by religious awe, to which their tribe is by no means indifferent.
(4) At Veii, meanwhile, not only was their courage growing on a daily basis, but their strength as well. Not only were Romans gathering there from the countryside, (those) who had been wandering around after the unsuccessful battle, or the disaster of the City having been captured, but volunteers also flowed in from Latium, in order that they might have a share of the spoils; (the time) now seemed ripe for their native-city to be recovered and (for it) to be wrested from the hands of the enemy; but their strong body was lacking a head. (6) The place itself reminded (men) of Camillus, and there were a large number of soldiers who had waged war successfully under his leadership and auspices; and Caedicius declared that he would not give any reason why anyone, whether a god or a man, should bring his authority to an end, but, mindful of his rank, he would demand (the appointment of) a general. (7) With the consent of all, it was decided that Camillus should be summoned from Ardea, but (only) after the senate, which was in Rome, (had been) previously consulted; indeed modesty ruled everything, and they preserved the distinction of things (even) in their well-nigh desperate circumstances. (8) It was necessary, at enormous risk, to go through the enemy's guard-posts. For this purpose an active young man, (named) Pontius Cominus, offered his services, (and), lying on a strip of cork, he floated down the Tiber to the City. (9) From the place, where (the distance) from the bank was shortest, he makes his way to the Capitol over a rock (that was) craggy, and, for this reason, (it had been) neglected by the enemy's guards, and, having been conducted to the magistrates, he delivers the army's instructions. (10) Then, having received a decree of the senate that Camillus should be recalled from exile by the curiate assembly, and that he should forthwith be appointed dictator, and that the soldiers should have the general whom they wanted, the messenger departed by the same route and came in haste to Veii; (11) and envoys (were) despatched to Camillus at Ardea in order to bring him to Veii, or - as I rather prefer to believe, he did not depart from Ardea until he learned that the law (had been) passed, since he could not change his (place of) residence without an order of the people, nor hold the auspices in the army unless (he had been) appointed dictator - the curiate law was passed, and (he was) appointed dictator in his absence.
Chapter 47. The unsuccessful attack on the Capitol.
(1) While these (things) were going on at Veii, in the meantime the citadel and the Capitol of Rome were in great danger. (2) For the Gauls, having noted a human footprint (at the place) where the messenger from Veii had arrived, or having observed on their own account on a moonlit night the easy ascent of the cliff, after they had first sent forward an unarmed (man) to try the way, then handing over their weapons, when there was any difficulty, alternately supported and supporting in turn, and pulling one another up, (3) as the ground required, they reached the summit in such great silence that they not only escaped the notice of the sentries, but they did not even awaken the dogs, creatures (easily) troubled by nocturnal noises. (4) But they could not elude the notice of the geese. which, being sacred to Juno, had not however been killed, despite the very great shortage of food. This fact was (the cause of) their salvation; for Marcus Manlius, who had been consul three years previously, (and was) a man distinguished in war, (was) awoken by the clanging and the clattering of their wings, and, taking up his weapons, and at the same time calling the others to arms, he strode forth, and, while these others were bewildered, he dislodged a Gaul, who had already got a foothold on the summit, (by) striking (him) with the boss (of his shield). (5) When the fall of the man who had slipped scattered those nearest (to him), he (i.e. Marcus Manlius) slew the others, who in their alarm had let go of their weapons, and were holding with their hands the rocks to which they were clinging. And by now the others had come together, and were assailing the enemy with javelins and stones as missiles, and their battle-line was cast down headlong and collapsed in total ruin. (6) Then, when the noise had subsided, the rest of the night was given up to sleep, in so far as this was possible with regard to the disturbed (state of) their minds, when even a past peril made (them) anxious. (7) When dawn arose, the soldiers were summoned by a trumpet to the tribunes for a meeting, and, when both good and bad conduct was due a recompense, Manlius was then praised, firstly for his courage, and then received gifts, not only from the military tribunes but also with the agreement of the soldiers; (8) when they all brought half a pound of spelt and a quarter of a pint of wine to his quarters, which were on the citadel - a small matter to speak of, but the scarcity had made it a strong proof of their esteem, when each man, depriving himself of his own food, subtracted (it) from his body and its necessary requirements, and contributed (it) to the honour of one man. Then, the watchmen of that site, where the enemy had ascended without being noticed, (were) summoned; and, when the military tribune Quintus Sulpicius had announced that he was going to punish (them) all in accordance with military custom, (10) (he was) deterred by the cries of the soldiers, who united in throwing the blame upon a single sentinel, and he spared the rest, and the man who was undoubtedly guilty of the crime he threw down from the rock with the approval of all. (11) From that time onwards, the guardsmen on both sides were more alert, among the Goths because it was made known that messengers were passing between Veii and Rome, and among the Romans from their memory of that nocturnal peril.
Chapter 48. The final surrender of the defenders.
(1) But, beyond all the evils of the siege and the war, famine oppressed both armies; (2) pestilence also (afflicted) the Gauls, both having encamped in a spot lying between the hills, and, which had been scorched by the fires and was full of steam, sending up not only dust but ashes, whenever there was any breath of wind. (3) A race accustomed to both damp and cold (was) most intolerant of these (things), when, distressed by heat and suffocation, they were dying from diseases as if (they had been) spread among cattle; now, weary of separate burial, they heaped up piles of men indiscriminately, and burned (them); from this they made the place renowned by the name of the Gallic Pyres (i.e. Busta Gallorum). (4) Then, a truce (was) made with the Romans, and discussions (were) held with the permission of the commanders; in these, when the Gauls repeatedly alluded to the famine, and cited this as the necessity to surrender, for the sake of removing that opinion, bread is said to have been thrown in many places from the Capitol into the outposts of the enemy. (5) But now the famine could neither be dissembled, nor endured any longer. And so, while the dictator is holding a levy by himself in Ardea, he orders the master of the horse, Lucius Valerius, to bring up the army from Veii, (and) he makes preparations and arrangements, by which he may attack the enemy on equal terms; meanwhile, the army on the Capitol (was) worn out by their guard duties and keeping watch, but, having surmounted all human ills, while nature would not allow famine only to be overcome, they looked out from day to day (to see if) any help would come from the dictator; (7) at last, not only food but even hope was now failing (them), and, when they went out on guard-duty, their weak bodies were almost overwhelmed by their armour, and they stated that they must either surrender or ransom themselves on whatever terms they could (get), for the Gauls were plainly hinting that no great price would be required to induce them to abandon the siege. (8) Then the senate met, and the task (was) given to the military tribunes to arrange the terms. Then, at a conference between the military tribune Quintus Sulpicius and Brennus, the chieftain of the Gauls, the affair was settled, and a thousand pounds of gold (was) agreed (as) the price of a people that would soon be ruling the nations. To a transaction most disgraceful in itself, insult was added: (9) unjust weights (were) produced by the Gauls, and, when the tribune objected, a sword (was) added to the weights by the insolent Gaul, and the saying intolerable to Roman (ears was) heard: "Woe to the vanquished (i.e. "Vae victis)!"
Chapter 49. Camillus saves Rome.
(1) But both gods and men prevented the Romans from living in a state of ransom. For, by some chance, before the shameful payment had been settled, and when the gold had not yet been all weighed out due to the dispute, the dictator (i.e. Camillus) intervened and ordered that the gold should be removed and that the Gauls should be despatched from their midst. (2) When they vehemently objected, and they insisted that the compact (be honoured), he denied that the agreement was valid, as it had been made by a magistrate of inferior authority without his agreement after he himself had been appointed dictator, and he warned the Gauls to prepare themselves for battle. (3) He ordered his (men) to throw their packs in a heap, and to make ready their weapons, and to win back their country with steel not gold, having in their sight the shrines of the gods, their wives and children, and the soil of their native-land, disfigured (as it was) by the evils of war, and everything that it was their duty to defend, to recover and to avenge. (4) He then drew up his battle-line, as far as the nature of the ground permitted, on the naturally unequal surface of the half-ruined city, and he provided every advantage in the art of war which could be chosen or prepared for by his (men). (5) The Gauls, alarmed at this new situation, took up arms and charged at the Romans, in anger rather than with judgment. Fortune had now changed; now the aid of the gods and human wisdom were assisting the Roman cause. Therefore, at the first assault, the Gauls were routed with no greater effort than (when) they had been victorious at the Allia. (6) Then, a second more legitimate battle (occurred) at the eighth milestone on the Gabinian Way, whither they had betaken themselves from their flight, (but), through the leadership and auspices of the same Camillus, they were overcome. There the slaughter was universal; their camp was taken, and not even a messenger of the disaster (was) left. (7) Having recovered his native-land from the enemy, he returned to the City in triumph, and, amid the jests of the soldiers, which they threw out in a disorderly fashion, he was hailed by no empty praises (as) Romulus, and Father of the Country, and a second Founder of the City.
(8) His native (city), which he had then saved in war, he undoubtedly saved for a second time in peace, when he prohibited the migration to Veii, although the tribunes (were) pressing the matter more eagerly after the City (had been) burned, and the plebs were more inclined to that measure on their own account; and that was the reason for his not resigning his dictatorship after the triumph, while the senate was beseeching him not to leave the commonwealth in such an uncertain state.
Chapter 50. The purification of the temples in Rome.
(1) First of all, as he was a most diligent observer of religious duties, he dealt with (matters) which pertained to the immortal gods, and he procures a decree of the senate: (2) that all shrines, in so far as the enemy had occupied them, should be restored, their boundaries traced, and expiations made (for them), and that their means of expiation should be sought for in the books (i.e. the Sibylline Books) by the duumvirs; (3) that there should be a league of hospitality at the public expense with the people of Caere, because they had taken care of the sacred (utensils) of the Roman people and their priests, and that, through the kindness of that people, the worship of the immortal gods had not been interrupted; (4) that the Capitoline Games should take place. because Jupiter the Best and Greatest had protected his own abode and the citadel of the Roman people in this alarming situation; and that Marcus Furius the dictator (i.e. Camillus) should establish a college for that purpose from those who should inhabit the Capitol and the citadel. (5) Mention was also made of expiating the nocturnal voice which (had been) heard announcing a calamity before the Gallic war, and (then) disregarded, and (it was) ordered that a temple should be built in New Street to Aius Locutius (i.e. the god of Utterance). (6) The gold , which had been taken away from the Gauls, and (that) which had been carried from the other temples into the shrine of Jupiter during the period of alarm, since the memory was confused as to which (one) it should be taken back to, everything was adjudged to be sacred, and ordered to be placed under the chair of Jupiter. (7) Even before (that), the religious scruples of the state had been apparent in this (matter), when the gold, from which they might make up for the Gauls the amount of ransom agreed upon, was wanting for public use, they had accepted (what was) offered by the matrons, so that they might abstain from (the use of) the sacred gold. Thanks were returned to the matrons, and the honour (was) added that, after their death, there should be a solemn eulogy (for them), as in the case of the men. (8) Those (things) having been enacted which pertained to the gods, and those which could be done through the senate, only then, when the tribunes were inciting the commons by their unceasing harangues to migrate to Veii, a city prepared (for them), did he go up into an assembly attended by the entire senate, and produce these words as follows:
Chapter 51. Camillus begins his speech.
"So disagreeable to me, Quirites (i.e. Citizens), are those disputes with the tribunes of the plebs, that I had no other consolation during my most sad exile, than that, as long as I lived at Ardea, I was far away from those contests, and, for this (reason), I would never have returned, even if you recalled (me) a thousand times by a decree of the senate and by order of the people. (2) Nor is it my wish, but your changed fortune, that has prevailed upon me to return now; indeed, the question asked was whether my country should remain in its seat, not whether I should reside in my country. Even now I would gladly remain quiet and silent, if there were not also this struggle for our native-land; to abandon her, as long as life should last, would be a disgrace to others, but to Camillus it is also a sin. (3) For why have we recovered (it), why have we rescued (it) from the hands of the enemy, (when it was) besieged, if we ourselves desert (it), (when it has been) recovered? And, when the whole city (was) captured by the victorious Gauls, but both the gods and the men of Rome still retained the Capitol and the citadel, shall even the citadel and the Capitol be deserted when the City has been recovered by the victorious Romans, and shall our favourable fortune cause more devastation to this city than our adverse (fortune) caused? (4) Indeed, if no religious (institutions) (were) established together with the City, and handed down from hand to hand, still the divine power has so clearly given its attention at this time to the affairs of Rome, that I should think that all neglect of divine worship (was) removed from (the minds of) men. (5) For consider both the successes and failures of the past (few) years: you will find that all (things) turned out well, when we followed the gods, and badly when we spurned (them). (6) Now, first of all, the Veientine war - with what great labour was it waged for so many years! - did not come to an end, until, by the admonition of the gods, the water was discharged from the Alban lake. (7) And, finally, what was this recent calamity of our city? Did it happen before the voice from heaven announcing the arrival of the Gauls (was) disregarded, before the law of nations (was) violated by our envoys, and before it was let pass by us with the same neglect of the gods, when it should have been punished (by us)? (8) Therefore (were we) conquered, and led captive, and put to ransom, and we suffered such punishments at (the hands) of gods and men, that we were a warning to all the world. (9) Then, our adverse circumstances turned our minds to religion. We fled for refuge to the Capitol and its gods, to the seat of Jupiter the Best (and) Greatest; in the ruin of our fortunes we concealed some sacred (vessels) in the earth, others we carried around to neighbouring cities, and removed from the sight of our enemies; although forsaken by gods and men, yet we did not neglect our worship of the gods. (10) Therefore, they have returned (to us) our native-land and victory, and that ancient renown in war (which we had) lost; and upon our enemies, who, blinded with greed, broke the treaty and good faith in the weighing of the gold, they have brought terror and flight and slaughter.
Chapter 52. Camillus tells the Romans that leaving the City would be an act of impiety.
(1) "When you discern such striking instances of worshipping and neglecting the deity upon the affairs of men, do you perceive, Quirites, what a great act of impiety we are about to perpetrate, scarcely emerging from the wreckage of our former guilt and calamity? (2) We have a city founded under auspices and auguries; (there is) no place in it (that) is not full of religious rites and deities; the days for the annual sacrifices are not more (definitely) fixed than the places in which they are to happen. (3) Do you, Quirites, intend to abandon all these gods, public and private? How did you match your conduct with that of the noble young man Gaius Fabius, which in the recent siege was seen with no less admiration by the enemy than in your own case, when he descended from the citadel amidst the missiles of the Gauls, and offered the annual sacrifice of he Fabian clan on the Quirinal Hill? (4) Would you not allow family rites to be interrupted even in war, and the public rites and the Roman gods to be forsaken even in (times of) peace, and the pontiffs and flamens to be more neglectful of public religious ceremonies than a private (citizen) would be with regard to the religious rites of his clan? (5) Perhaps someone may say that we should either do these (things) at Veii, or then send our priests there to do (them); (but) neither of these (ceremonies) can be done without violating the sacred rites. (6) And, lest I should enumerate all kinds of religious rites and the gods, can the couch be prepared on (the day of) the feast of Jupiter anywhere else than on the Capitol? (7) Why do I speak of Vesta's eternal fires, and of the token which is kept as a safeguard in her temple as a pledge of empire? (And) what of your oval shields, (O) Mars Gradivus, and you, father Quirinus (i.e. the name of Romulus after his apotheosis)? Is it right that all these sacred (things) of equal age to the City should be abandoned in impiety, when some of them are older than the foundation of the City?
(8) "And see what a difference there is between us and our ancestors. They handed down (to us) certain rites to be carried out by us on the Alban Mount and in Lavinium. If these sacred rites were to be scrupulously transferred from the cities of our enemies to ourselves in Rome, could we transfer them from here to Veii, the city of our enemies without impiety? (9) Come now, recollect how often sacred rites are instituted, because some (matter) of ancient ritual has been omitted through carelessness or by accident. But, after the prodigy of the Alban Lake, what thing (was it) that proved to be a remedy for the state, (then) crippled by the war with Veii, but a repetition of the sacred rites and a renewal of the auspices? (10) And furthermore, like those mindful of old religious fervour, we have brought foreign deities to Rome and have established new (ones). Queen Juno (was) recently conveyed from Veii to the Aventine, and how remarkable (was) the extraordinary zeal of the matrons and the throng on the day when her consecration was performed! (11) We have ordered a temple to be built for Aius Locutius on account of the voice from heaven clearly heard in New Street; to our other annual festivals we have added the Capitoline games, and, with the authority of the senate, we have established a new college for this (purpose); (12) what need was there for these things to be undertaken, if we had intended to abandon the City of Rome together with the Gauls, (and), if we remained on the Capitol for so many months of the siege not of our own free will, but constrained by our fear of the enemy? (13) We talk about sacred rites and temples; but what about the priests? Does it not come into your mind what a great sacrilege is being committed? The Vestals, of course, have that one dwelling-place, from which nothing is ever moved, except when the City is captured; it is a sin for the Flamen Dialis to remain outside the City for a single night; you will make these Veientines priests instead of Romans, (14) and should your Vestals forsake you, Vesta, and should the Flamen, by living abroad every single night, draw upon himself and the republic such heavy guilt? (15) What of the other (matters), nearly all of which we transact after taking the auspices within the pomerium, to what oblivion and neglect do we consign them? (16) The 'comitia curiata', which deals with military matters, (and) the 'comitia centuriata', at which you elect consuls and military tribunes, where can these be held with observance of the auspices except where they are usually (held)? (17) Shall we transfer them to Veii? Or shall the people assemble for the sake of the 'comitii' with enormous inconvenience in this city forsaken by gods and men?
Chapter 53. Camillus tells the Romans that to leave the City now would be an admission of defeat.
(1) "But it is obvious, (you will say), that everything is polluted, and cannot be expiated by any propitiatory sacrifices, but the situation itself compels (us) to leave a City devastated by fires and ruined buildings and to move to Veii, (where) everything (is) untouched, and not distress the needy commons by building here. (2) But that this is more of a pretext than a true reason, is, I think, apparent to you, Quirites, even though I should not say anything (about it), for you remember that before the arrival of the Gauls, (when) the buildings, (both) public and private still stood unharmed, that that same issue was put forward (i.e. in 396 B.C.), that we should remove to Veii. (3) And consider, tribunes, how great is the difference between my opinion and yours. You think that, even if it ought not to have been done then, that, at any rate, it ought to be done now: I, on the contrary - and do not be surprised at this, until you shall have heard what is (the state of the case) - even if it had been right to migrate then, when the whole of the City were safe, would not vote for relinquishing these ruins now. (4) Then, of course, our victory would have been a reason for us to migrate to a captured city, (a reason) glorious to ourselves and to our posterity, (but) now such a migration would be wretched and shameful for us, and glorious for the Gauls. (5) For we should be seen not to have left our native-land (as) victors, but to have lost it as (men) vanquished; the flight at Allia, the capture of the City, and the blockade of the Capitol will seem to have imposed the necessity on us of deserting our household gods and of having recourse to exile and flight from that place which we could not defend, and, if the Gauls were able to overthrow Rome, should it be deemed impossible for the Romans to restore (it)? (6) What remains, except that, if they should now come with fresh forces - for it is agreed that their numbers are scarcely credible - and they wish to live in this City captured by them and abandoned by you, would you allow (that)? (7) But what if it were not the Gauls, but your old enemies, the Aequi or the Volsci, were to decide to migrate to Rome, would you be willing for them to be Romans, and yourselves Veientines? And would you not prefer that this should be a wilderness in your possession rather than a city of the enemy? (While) for my part, I cannot see anything that is more impious, (is it) because you are averse to building, that you are prepared to suffer this disgrace? (8) If in the whole of the City no house could be built that is better or bigger than is the famous hut of our founder (i.e. the 'casa Romuli' on the Palatine), would it not be better to live like shepherds and rustics among our sacred (monuments) and household gods than to go into exile as a nation? (9) Our forefathers, strangers and shepherds (that they were), when there was nothing in these places but woods and marshes, built a new city in a very short time; are we, with a Capitol and a citadel unharmed, and the temples of the gods (still) standing, reluctant to build up (what has been) burned? And what we would have done individually, if our private residences had been burned down, shall we as a body refuse to do this, with regard to a public conflagration?
Chapter 54. Camillus emphasises the many good reasons for remaining in Rome.
"But what if, by some evil action or by chance, a fire should arise in Veii, and the flames, spread by the wind, as can happen, should consume a large part of the city, are we then to seek to migrate to Fidenae or Gabii, or any other city? (2) Does our native soil, or this earth, which we call mother, have no hold (on us) at all, but our love of country lies on the surface and in our timbers? And, for my part, - I will confess to you - (3) although it is of less use (to me) to remember your injustice - that, while I was absent, as often as my native-country came into my mind, all those (objects) occurred (to me), the hills, and the fields, and the Tiber, and that region familiar to my eyes, and the sky under which I was born and bred; (I pray that) these (things) may move you now with the love of them to remain in your home rather than afterwards, when you have abandoned it, that they should torment (you) with longing. (4) Not without reason did the gods and men select this place for the founding of a city: these most healthy hills, a suitable river, by which crops can be brought down from inland locations, (and) by which maritime provisions may be obtained, the sea near (enough) for convenience but not exposing us through too much proximity to the perils of foreign fleets, a region in the heart of Italy, a place uniquely intended for the growth of a city. (5) The very magnitude of such a new city is proof (of this). The three hundred and sixty fifth year of the City is in place, Quirites; for you wage wars for so long a time amid so many long-standing nations, since in the meantime I do not mention any single cities, neither the Volsci combined with the Aequi, so many towns of such strength, nor the whole of Etruria, so powerful on land and sea and occupying the whole of Italy between the two seas (i.e. the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic), are a match for you in war. (6) Since this is the case, what reason is there, (O ) wicked (is the thought), for testing these other (things) in trials, since though your valour can pass over to somewhere else, the good fortune of this place can certainly not be transferred, (can it)? (7) Here is the Capitol, where once, (when) a human head (was) discovered, it was said that in this place there should be the head of the world and the chief point of empire; here, when the Capitol was liberated by augural rites, Juventas and Terminus, to the great delight of your forefathers, would not allow themselves to be moved; here (are) the fires of Vesta, here (are) the shields sent down from heaven, here all the gods (are) propitious, if you remain."
Chapter 55. The people begin to rebuild Rome.
(1) Camillus is said to have moved them with other (parts of) his speech, but chiefly those that related to religious matters; but an expression suitably uttered resolved any doubt in the matter, in that, when (a meeting of) the senate was being held in the Curia Hostilia a little afterwards concerning these matters, and some troops returning from guard-duty happened to be passing across the forum on their march, a centurion cried out in the place of assembly: "Standard-bearer, fix your standard; (it is) best that we shall remain here." (2) Having heard this voice, the senate came out from the Curia, and shouted that they accepted the omen, and, gathering around (them), the commons gave their approval. The bill (i.e. the one authorising the migration to Veii) was then rejected, and the City began to be rebuilt in a haphazard manner. (3) Tiles were provided at public expense; and the right was given (to quarry) stone and to hew timber wherever anyone wished to, after the security was given that the buildings would be completed within the year. (4) Hastiness removed any concern to make the streets straight, while, setting aside any distinction between their own and others' (property), they built on any vacant (space). (5) That is the reason that the ancient sewers, conducted at first through public (ground), now usually pass under private houses, and the appearance of the City is more like one occupied (by settlers) rather than (one properly) apportioned.
