LIVY: "AB URBE CONDITA (THE HISTORY OF ROME)": BOOK II: THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC.
Introduction:
Readers are advised by Sabidius to look at the introduction to his translation of Book I of Livy's History of Rome for information about Livy and the quality of his writing. While Book I features the origins of the City of Rome and the exploits of Romulus and the six kings who followed him down to the denouement of the rape of Lucretia, by Sextus, son of King Tarquin the Proud, subsequently made famous by William Shakespeare's poem, "The Rape of Lucrece", Book II highlights a number of significant events in relation to the first few decades of the Roman republic, i.e. the years 509 - 468 B.C. These include the following: the death in battle of the first consul Lucius Junius Brutus, after he had executed his two sons for treason; the attempts of Tarquin the Proud to regain his throne with the assistance of King Lars Porsena of Clusium; the heroic conduct of Horatius Cocles in blocking his way; the courageous behaviour of Mucius Scaevola and then of the maiden Cloelia in defending the interests of Rome; the Battle of Lake Regillus in 496 B.C, when Rome established its ascendance over the Latins; the first Secession of the Plebs in 494-493 B.C.; the curious career of Marcius Coriolanus; the heroic sacrifice of the Fabii, and the decimation of the army inflicted by the younger Appius Claudius in 471 B.C. Some of these events were made famous by Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay, in his "Lays of Ancient Rome", originally published in 1842, and enjoyed by many, including schoolchildren of course, ever since. Particularly celebrated are his lays about how Horatius Cocles held the bridge in 508 B.C. and how the Twin Gods, Castor and Pollux, helped the Romans to win the Battle of Lake Regillus. (See Appendix I for some extracts from Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome".) Furthermore of course, this period was highlighted by Shakespeare in his tragic play, "Coriolanus". Appendix II provides a list of the consuls for the period covered by Livy's Book II.
Chapter 1. Brutus increases the numbers in the senate.
(1) The affairs of the Roman people, henceforth free, conducted in peace and in war, their annual magistrates, and the authority of the laws, more powerful than (that) of men, I shall now describe. (2) This liberty had been made to be all the more welcome by the arrogance of the last king (i.e. Tarquin the Proud). For the former (kings) reigned in such a manner that they all successively might be reckoned (as) founders, at least, of the parts of the city which they themselves added (as) new residences for the population augmented by them. (3) Nor is it in doubt that the same Brutus (i.e. Lucius Junius Brutus, cos. 509 B.C.), who earned so much glory for the expulsion of that haughty king, would have done this to the detriment of the public, if, through a desire for an untimely liberty, he should have wrenched the kingdom away from any one one of the former kings. (4) For what would have happened, if that rabble of shepherds and vagrants, having deserted their own peoples, had found liberty, or, at least, impunity, under the protection of an inviolable sanctuary, (and,) unfettered by the dread of kings, had begun to be agitated by tribunician storms and to foment disputes with patricians in a alien city, (5) before the ties of wives and children, and a love of that very soil, to which it takes some time to become accustomed, had united their aspirations? (6) Their affairs, which the tranquil moderation of the government fostered, having not yet matured, would have been shattered by discord, but, by its nourishment, it brought about (such a situation) that, with their strength having now come to maturity, they were able to produce the wholesome fruits of liberty. (7) But you may date the origin of liberty from this time more because consular authority was made annual than because there was any reduction in kingly power. The first consuls kept all their rights and all their insignia; (8) only this (one thing) was guarded against, lest, if both should have the rods (i.e. the 'fasces'), fear would seem to be duplicated. With the consent of his colleague (i.e. Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus), Brutus had the rods first; he had not been a keener champion of liberty than he was its guardian afterwards. (9) First of all, he compelled the people, eager (as they were) for their new liberty, to swear an oath that they would allow no one to be king in Rome. 10) Next, so that a throng of numbers in that order might also create more strength in the senate, he filled up the number of senators, which had been diminished by the murders of the king, to a total of three hundred, having chosen the foremost (men) of equestrian rank; 11) and it is said that from that time (i.e. A.U.C. 245 or 509 B.C.) it was handed down that (those) who (were) fathers and those who were conscripted should be summoned into the senate; indeed, they called (those who had been) elected into the new senate 'conscripts'. It (is) wonderful how much that contributed to the concord of the state, and to the minds of the people being associated with the senators.
Chapter 2. Collatinus resigns the consulship.
(1) Then attention (was) paid to matters of religion, and because certain public sacrifices had been regularly performed by the kings themselves, they elect a 'King Sacrificer', lest there should be any lack of kings. (2) This priesthood was made subject to the the high priest, lest the office, in conjunction with its title, might somehow be an obstacle to liberty, which was at that time their principal concern. And I know not whether by safeguarding the (situation) too much on all sides, even in the most trivial of matters, they may have exceeded their bounds. (3) For, although nothing else was offensive, the name of one of the consuls was hateful to the community: the Tarquins, (they thought,) had been too much accustomed to kingship; a start (had been) made by Priscus; Servius Tullius had reigned next; though an interval had occurred, and, although (it was in the hands) of another, Tarquinius Superbus did not lose sight of the throne, and, by crime and violence, he reclaimed (it) as the hereditary property of his family; Superbus (had been) expelled, (but) power was in the hands of Collatinus; (and) the Tarquinii did not know how to live as private (citizens). His name was not pleasing, (and) was a danger to liberty. (4) This discourse of those first trying to influence minds was gradually circulated through the whole community, and, with the people aroused by suspicion, Brutus calls (them) to a meeting. (5) There, first of all, he recites the oath of the people, that they would allow no one to be king, nor that there would be (anything) in Rome, from which there might be a danger to liberty. That it ought to be guarded with the greatest effort, and that nothing which related to it should be despised. He said it with some reluctance, for the sake of the man (concerned), nor would he have said it, if his affection for the state had not predominated: (6) the people of Rome, (he said), do not believe that complete liberty has been recovered; that the family of the kings and the name of the kings was not only in the community, but was even in the government; that interfered with, that was an obstacle to, liberty. (7) "Do you, Lucius Tarquinius," says he, "remove this anxiety of your own accord. We remember, we acknowledge, that you expelled the kings; complete your good work, take the royal name away from here. Your (fellow-)citizens will not only restore your property on my authority, but, if anything is lacking, they will augment (it) generously. Go, my friend; relieve the community from (what is) perhaps a groundless fear; (for) so are men's minds persuaded that kingship will depart from here with the Tarquinian family."
(8) Amazement at such a novel and sudden request had impeded the consul's voice; then, as he began to speak, the chief men of the state stand around (him), (and) with many entreaties they beg the same (things). (9) And others, indeed, had less influence (on him): when Spurius Lucretius (Tricipitinus) (i.e. cos. suff. 509 B.C.), his senior in age and rank, (and) his father-in-law besides, began to urge, by various means, by entreating and advising (him) alternately, that he would allow himself to be prevailed upon by the commonly-held view of the community, the consul, fearing that these same (things) might shortly befall him as a private (citizen), together with the loss of his property and other additional kinds of disgrace on top, resigned from the consulship, and, removing all his possessions, he withdrew from the state. (11) Brutus, in accordance with a decree of the senate, proposed to the people that all of the Tarquinian family should be exiles. In a centuriate assembly he elected Publius Valerius (i.e. cos. suff. 509 B.C.), with whose assistance he had expelled the kings, as his colleague.
Chapter 3. The Tarquins canvass the feelings of the discontented young noblemen.
Though no one was in doubt that war with the Tarquins was imminent, yet it happened later than everyone's expectation; but liberty was nearly lost through treason and betrayal, something of which they were not afraid. (2) Among the Roman youth, there were a number of young men, nor did they spring from an insignificant (social) position, whose wilfulness had been more unfettered under the monarchy, and, (as they were) contemporaries and companions of the young Tarquins, (they had been) accustomed to live in the style of royalty. (3) Longing for that licence, now that the rights of all had been made equal, they complained bitterly among themselves that the liberty of others had resulted in their own servitude: a king (they said) was a man from whom you could obtain (something, for which) there was a need, whether just or unjust; there was room for favour and kindness, and he could be angry and he (could) forgive, (and) he knew the difference between a friend and an enemy; (4) the law was something deaf and inexorable, more salutary and more helpful to a poor (man) than to a powerful (one); it knew no respite, no indulgence, if you have exceeded the bounds; (and,) amid so much human error, it was dangerous to live by integrity alone. (5) When their minds were already thus suffering of their own accord, envoys arrived from the royal family, only seeking their property, without mentioning their return. After their application had been heard in the senate, the deliberation lasted for several days, (as they were afraid) that not returning (their property) might be the reason for a war, (but) its return might be the means of a war being funded. (6) Meanwhile, the envoys were exerting themselves to a different (purpose), (and, while) they were ostensibly reclaiming the property, they were secretly hatching plans for recovering the throne, and, as though canvassing (them) for the object which appeared to be under discussion, they sound out the feelings of the young noblemen. (7) To those, by whom their words were favourably received, they deliver a letter from the Tarquins, and confer (with them) about admitting the royal family secretly into the city at night.
Chapter 4. The conspiracy to restore Tarquin.
(1) The project was entrusted in the first place to the Vitellii and Aquilii brothers. A sister of the Vitellii was married to the consul Brutus, and the children of that marriage, Titus and Tiberius, were now young men; and their uncles also take them into the fellowship of the plot. (2) Besides, several other young nobles were taken into the conspiracy, the memory of whom is lost in antiquity. (3) In the meantime, when the view that the property should be returned prevailed in the senate, the envoys made use of this very (thing as) a reason for lingering in the city, because they had obtained from the consuls time to arrange vehicles by which they might transport the royal family's belongings; all this time they spend in consultation with the conspirators, and, by their insistence, they succeed (in arranging) for letters to be given to them for the Tarquins: 4) for otherwise how were they to believe that (statements) brought to (them) by the envoys (were) not worthless? The letters given to be a pledge of good faith made clear the conspiracy. (5) For, on the day before the envoys were returning to the Tarquins, when they happened to be dining in the house of the Vitellii, and the conspirators had there discussed, in the absence of witnesses, many (things) between themselves about their new designs, as is natural, one of the slaves, who had already perceived beforehand what (was going on), overheard their conversation, (6) but he was awaiting the opportunity, when the letters should be given to the envoys, to be able, through their interception, to conclusively prove the accusation. When he saw that (they had been) given, he reported the matter to the consuls. (7) The consuls left their homes in order to arrest the envoys and the conspirators, and crushed the whole plot without any disturbance; they took care especially not to lose the letters. The traitors were thrown together into prison at once, there was a little doubt concerning the envoys, and, although they seemed to have acted as though they were in the position of enemies, yet the law of nations prevailed (i.e. the ambassadors of a foreign power were not subject to a country's laws.)
Chapter 5. Brutus orders the execution of his sons.
(1) The matter of the king's belongings, which they had previously voted should be returned, was referred to the senate afresh. Then, overcome with rage, they forbade that they should be returned, and they forbade that they should be brought into the treasury: (2) they were given to the people to plunder, so that, once they had got hold of the royal family's spoils, they might permanently relinquish any hope of (making) peace with them. A field belonging to the Tarquins, which lay between the city and the Tiber, (was) consecrated to Mars (i.e. the God of War), (and) was henceforth (known as) the Campus Martius (i.e. the Field of Mars). (3) It is said that there happened at that time to have been a crop of corn there, which (was) ripe to be harvested. Since it was (considered to be) sacrilegious to consume the produce of this field, a large force of men (was sent) to cut the corn (and), at the same time, put (it) in baskets, together with its straw, (and) throw (it) into the Tiber, which was then flowing with a feeble current, as is usual in the heat of mid(-summer). So, heaps of corn, as they were stuck in the shallow waters, became settled when covered with mud; (4) and, when other (things), which the river happened to carry, came together in the same place, an island was gradually formed. Afterwards, I believe, embankments (were) added, and work was done by hand, so that the surface (became) high enough and strong (enough) to be able to sustain even temples and porticoes. (5) When the chattels of the royal family (had been) pillaged, the traitors (were) condemned and punishment handed out, (and this was) all the more conspicuous because the office of consul imposed upon a father the duty of a penalty being exacted from his sons, and (he) who should have been spared from having to witness (it), fortune gave that very man the task of inflicting the punishment. (6) Young men of the noblest rank stood tied to a stake; but the consul's sons drew the eyes of everyone away from the rest, as if from persons unknown, on to themselves, and men pitied (them) no more for their punishment than for the crime, by which they had earned their punishment: (7) that they, in that year especially, should have determined to betray their country, (just) freed, their father, its liberator, the consulate, (which had) arisen from the house of the Junii, the senate, the people, and whatever belonged to the gods and the citizens of Rome, (into the hands of a man who was) once a haughty tyrant and (was) now a hostile exile. (8) The consuls proceeded to their tribunal, and lictors (were) sent to implement the punishment. They scourge their bared (backs) with rods, and strike off (their heads) with an axe, while all this time their father, and his looks and countenance, present a touching spectacle of the feelings of a father during the delivery of a public punishment. (9) Following the punishment of the guilty (ones), so that there might be a striking example of the deterrence of crime in both directions (i.e. both punishing the guilty and rewarding helpful witnesses), money from the treasury, liberty, and citizenship (were) granted to the informer (as) a reward. He, it is said, (was) the first to be freed by the 'vindicta' (i.e. the rod used in the manumission of a slave). (10) Some even think that the name of the 'vindicta' was derived from him: (and) that his name was Vindicius (n.b. both 'vindicta' and Vindicius are actually derived from 'vindex', champion or liberator). After him (it was) observed that (those) who were freed in this way were thought to have been received into citizenship.
Chapter 6. Tarquin prepares for war; the death of Brutus.
(1) These (things) having been reported (to him) as they had occurred, Tarquin, inflamed with grief that so great a hope had come to nothing, but also with hatred and anger, when the way to trickery (had been) blocked, realised that it was necessary to plan for open warfare (and) to go around the cities of Etruria (as) a suppliant; (2) he implored the people of Veii and Tarquinii in particular not to allow (one who was) born of the same blood as them, (now) an exile and in want, (having) just (come) from so great a throne, to perish before their eyes, with the young men, his sons. That others from abroad (had been) invited to the throne in Rome; that he as king, having extended the power of Rome by war, (had been) driven (out) by kinsmen in a wicked conspiracy. (3) Because no one (man) was thought sufficiently worthy of the throne, they had seized the functions of the royal power, (and divided them) among themselves; they had given up his belongings to be pillaged by the people. He wished to regain his country and his kingdom, and to take action against his ungrateful citizens. Let them bring succour and help (him); let them also take revenge for their old injuries, their legions so often slaughtered, their land taken from (them).
(4) These last (arguments) prevailed on the men of Veii, and they demand, each one of them, in a menacing manner that under a Roman general, at least, these disgraces should be wiped out, and that (what had been) lost in war should be recovered. His name and blood-relationship (with them) influence the people of Tarquinii: it seemed a fine (thing) that one of their own should rule in Rome. (5) So, the two armies of these two states followed Tarquin in order to recover his kingdom and to take revenge on the Romans in war. When they came on to Roman territory, the consuls went to meet the enemy. (6) Valerius leads the infantry in a square foundation (i.e. formed in a phalanx); Brutus went ahead with the cavalry to reconnoitre. In the same way, the enemy's cavalry was at the head of their column; the king's son, Arruns Tarquinius, was in command (of them); the king, himself, followed with the legions. (7) Arruns, (when he knew) at a distance that it was the consul, and then, (as he drew) nearer, he also recognised Brutus by his countenance, (was) inflamed with rage, (and) cried out, "That is the man, who has driven us from our country into exile. See (how) he himself proudly advances, adorned with our own emblems. (8) Gods, avengers of kings, be with us!" He urged on his horse by his spurs, and charged furiously at the consul himself. Brutus perceived that he was coming against him. In those days, it was (considered) honourable for generals to take part in the fighting themselves; and so he eagerly offered himself in combat, (9?) and they charged at each other with such furious animosity, neither thinking of protecting his own body, so long as he could wound his enemy, that both, transfixed through the shield by a blow from the opposite direction, fell dying from their horses, impaled by the two spears. (10) At the same time, the rest of the cavalry began to fight, and not long afterwards the infantry also came on the scene. There they fought, with victory (occurring) on both sides, as if the (fortunes of) war (were) equal; the right wing on both sides was victorious, (and) the left (wing) overcome. (11) The Veientes, accustomed to being defeated by Roman soldiers, (were) routed and put to flight; the men of Tarquinii, a fresh enemy, not only stood (their ground), but also drove the Roman (army) from their own part (of the field).
Chapter 7. Valerius proves his good faith as a republican.
(1) Although this was the result of the battle, so great a panic came upon Tarquin and the Etruscans that both armies, the Veientian and the Tarquinian, giving the situation up as hopeless, each went back to their homes during the night. They add strange (things) to (the story of) this battle: (2) in the silence of the following night a loud voice came forth from the Arsian wood; the voice (was) believed (to be) that of Silvanus (i.e. the Roman god of the woods and uncultivated land); these were the words spoken: that more of the Etruscans by one had fallen in the battle; (and so) the Roman (army) was victorious in the war. (3) So, the Romans certainly left there as the victors, (and) the Etruscans as the vanquished. For, when it grew light, and not a single one of the enemy was in sight, the consul, Publius Valerius, gathered up the spoils and returned from there to Rome in triumph. (4) He celebrated his colleague's funeral with with as much pomp as was then possible; but much greater honour was (done) to the dead by the public mourning, which was all the more conspicuous because the matrons mourned him for a year as a parent, because he had been so determined an avenger of violated chastity (i.e. the rape of Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius).
(5) Then, as the feelings of the mob are changeable, the consul, who had survived, (fell) out of favour, not only on account of envy, but also since a cruel charge (had been) brought (against him). (6) There was talk that he was aspiring to the kingship, because he had not proposed a colleague as a successor in place of Brutus and he was building (a house) on the top of the Velia (i.e. a Roman hill): that there on a high and well-fortified position an impregnable stronghold was being constructed. (7) These remarks, widely believed (as they were), filled the mind of the consul with indignation, and, having called the people to an assembly, he mounts the rostrum, after having lowered the 'fasces'. It was a welcome sight to the multitude that the emblems of authority had been lowered before them, and that an acknowledgment (had thus been) made that the majesty and the power of the people were greater than (those) of the consul. (8) There, having ordered (them) to listen, the consul extolled the good fortune of his colleague, in that he had met his death, (while held) in the highest honour for having liberated his country and (while) fighting for the republic, with his glory still in an early stage and not yet converted into jealousy. He, (himself,) had outlived his own glory, and had survived to (face) accusations and envy, and from (being) a liberator of his country he had sunk to (the level of) the Aquilii and the Vitelii. (9) "So," says he, "will no merit ever be beheld by you that it cannot be tainted by suspicion? Could I have feared that I, the bitterest enemy of kings, should suffer the charge of desiring the throne itself? (10) (Even) if I were to dwell in the very citadel, and on the Capitol, could I believe that I could be feared by my fellow-citizens? Does my reputation among you hang by so slender a thread? Is your confidence (in me) founded on so slight (a basis) that where I am matters more than who I am? (11) (O) citizens, the house of Publius Valerius will not stand in the way of your liberty; to you the Velia will be safe. I shall not only bring down my house on to the plain, but I shall also locate (it) below the hill, so that you may dwell above me, a suspect citizen; let those build on the Velian (mount), to whom liberty is believed to be more (important) than (it is) to Publius Valerius."
(12) All the building materials were immediately brought down beneath the Velia, and the house (was) built at the bottom of the hill (at the place) where (the temple of) Vica Pota (i.e. the Victorious and Potent One, another name for the Goddess of Victory) now stands.
Chapter 8. Valerius regains his popularity; a temple to Jupiter is dedicated on the Capitoline Hill.
(1) Laws (were) then passed, which not only absolved the consul from any suspicion that (he was seeking) to be king, but so turned matters in the contrary (direction) that they even made (him) popular. At that time, the surname 'Publicola' was created (for him). (2) Above all, laws about appealing to the people against the magistrates, and dedicating to the gods the life and property of a man who had made plans to occupy the throne, were pleasing to the people. (3) When he alone had had these laws passed, in order that there might be gratitude for them to him alone, only then did he hold elections for the replacement of his colleague. (4) The consul elected, Spurius Lucretius (Tricipitinus) (i.e. cos. suff. 509 B.C. and the father of the Lucretia, whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius had precipitated the revolution), who, due to his great age, did not now have enough strength to perform the duties of the consulship, dies within a few days. Marcus Horatius Pulvillus (i.e. cos. suff. 509 B.C.) (was) elected as a substitute in place of Lucretius. (5) In some ancient authors I do not find Lucretius (named as) consul; they put (the name of) Horatius immediately after Brutus; I believe that, because no achievements made his consulship conspicuous, his memory has been forgotten.
(6) The temple of Jupiter on the Capitol had not yet been dedicated. The consuls, Valerius and Horatius, drew lots as to which one (of them) should dedicate (it). It fell by lot to Horatius: Publicola set out for the Veientine war. (7) The relatives of Valerius were more annoyed than was fitting that the dedication of so glorious a temple should be granted to Horatius (vid. the Horatii were one of the 'minores gentes' admitted to the senate by King Tarquinius Priscus). Having tried in all (sorts of) ways to hinder it, when everything else had been tried in vain, when the consul was already holding the door-post during the offering of a prayer to the god (vid. by laying his hands on the door-post the supreme magistrate symbolically handed over the building to the god), they inflict upon (him) the shocking message that his son had died, and that he could not dedicate the temple, when his family had been defiled by death. (8) (Whether) he did not believe the news, or he possessed very great strength of mind, we are not told for certain, nor is a decision (on the matter) easy (to make); and he did nor allow this news to divert him from his purpose, in any way other than to order that the body be buried, and, holding the door-post, he completes the prayer and dedicates the temple.
(9) Such (were) the achievements, at home and abroad, in the first year after the kings (had been) expelled (i.e. A.U.C. 245 or 509 B.C.). After this, Publius Valerius (Publicola), for a second time, and Titus Lucretius (Tripticinus) (were) elected consuls (i.e. for the year 508 B.C.).
Chapter 9. Lars Porsena of Clusium's attempt to restore the Tarquins.
(1) By now, the Tarquins had taken refuge with Lars (i.e. Lord) Porsena, king of Clusium. There, by mixing advice with entreaties, they now begged (him) not to allow them, who were descended from the Etruscans, and of the same blood and name (as them), to live in exile and want, (2) (and) they now also warned (him) not to let the growing practice of expelling kings to go unpunished. (For) liberty has enough charm in itself. (3) Unless kings were to defend their thrones with as much vigour as the communities were to to pursue such (liberty), the highest would be reduced to the level of the lowest; there will be nothing exalted, nothing that stands out above everything else in the community; and an end will come to kingship, (which is) the most beautiful institution among gods and men. (4) Porsena, thinking that (it was) not only a safe (thing) that there should be a king in Rome, but that (it was) also a splendid (thing) for the Etrurians that the king (should be) of Etruscan heritage, came to Rome with a hostile army. (5) Never before, on any earlier occasion, had such great alarm so engulfed the senate; so powerful at that time was the state of Clusium, and (so) great (was) the name of Porsena. Not only did they fear the enemy, but also their own (fellow-)citizens, less the Roman populace, overcome with fear, should accept that the royal family should be received into the city, or that peace (should come) with servitude. (6) So, at this time, many concessions were granted by the senate to the populace. Its attention, in the first place, was directed to the supply of corn, and some were sent to the Volsci, and others to Cumae, to purchase corn. Also, the right of selling salt, because it came at so high a price, (was) taken out of private (hands) and was all put into public (ownership); and the populace (were) freed from customs duties and tax, so that they were bestowed on the rich, who were able to bear the burden; the poor paid taxes enough if they brought up children. (7) And so, this generosity on the part of the senate kept the community in such (a state of) concord during the subsequent difficulties of the siege and famine that the highest abhorred the name of king no more than the lowest, (8) nor, in after years, was any one (man) so popular through demagogic practices than was the whole senate at that time due to its good government.
Chapter 10. The story of Horatius Cocles.
(1) When the enemy appeared, each man of his own accord moved into the city from the fields, and they protected the city itself with a garrison. Some (parts) seemed secured by the walls, others by the barrier of the Tiber; (2) the Sublician bridge (i.e. the bridge of piles) would have given the enemy a way (into the city), had it not been for one man, Horatius Cocles; on that day the good fortune of the city of Rome provided him (as) its defensive bulwark. (3) He happened (to be) stationed on guard at the bridge, when he saw that the Janiculum (i.e. a hill of Rome on the far side of the river) (had been) taken by a sudden assault and that the enemy were pouring quickly down from there, (and that there was) alarm and disorder among his own colleagues, as they abandoned their arms and their ranks, (and) reproaching each one of them, (4) he stopped (them), and, appealing to the conscience of gods and men, he testified that by deserting the garrison they would flee in vain; (he said that,) if they crossed the bridge and left it behind (them), there would soon be more of the enemy on the Palatine and the Capitol than on the Janiculum. So he urged and commanded (them) to break up the bridge by sword, by fire, or by whatever means they could; (he said) that he would check the advance of the enemy, as far as it could be resisted by any one man.
(5) Then, he advanced to the front of the entrance to the bridge, and, strikingly conspicuous among those withdrawing from the fight with their backs turned towards (the foe), and preparing to go into hand-to-hand battle with his weapons, he astounded the enemy by the miraculous (nature) of his bravery. (6) But a (sense of) shame kept two (men) with him, Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius (Aquilinus), both (of them) renowned for their birth and their deeds (n.b. both of them were to be consuls in 506 B.C.). (7) With them he withstood for a time the first onrush of danger and what was the stormiest (time) of the battle; then, when (only) a small part of the bridge remained, (and when those) who were cutting (it) down were calling (them) back, he forced them to withdraw to (a place of) safety. (8) Then, casting his stern eyes around in a menacing manner at the chiefs of the Etruscans, he challenged (them), sometimes on an individual basis, and sometimes he reproached (them) all: they had come, (said he,) as the tools of haughty tyrants, unmindful of their own freedom, to attack (the freedom) of others. (9) They hesitated for some time to begin the battle, while they looked around at one another; then shame set the battle-line in motion, and, having raised a shout, they hurled their javelins from all sides at their solitary foe. (10) When they all stuck in the shield in front of (him), and he with no less determination took possession of the bridge with a mighty step, they then tried to dislodge the man by a charge, when both the crash of the broken bridge, and the cheering which arose from the Romans at the joy of completing their task, stemmed their advance with a sudden panic. (11) Then Cocles said: "Father Tiber, I pray that you in your holiness will receive these arms and this soldier in your gracious stream." So, armed as he was, he leapt into the Tiber, and, amid a shower of missiles falling from above, he swam across safely to his (friends), having dared (to do) something which would bring (him) more fame than credibility with posterity. (12) The state was grateful for such great valour: his statue was erected in the place of assembly; (and) as much land (was) granted (to him) as he could plough around in a single day. (13) Among these public honours, the feelings of individual (citizens) were conspicuous; for, amid the great scarcity, each one contributed something to him with regard to his domestic supplies, (by) whittling down their own stores.
Chapter 11. Lars Porsena organises a blockade of Rome.
(1) Porsena, having been repulsed in his first attempt, changed his plans from an assault on the city to a blockade, and, after placing a garrison on the Janiculum, he pitched his camp on the plain and on the banks of the Tiber, (2) and he summoned boats from all directions, both to guard (the river), in order not to allow any corn to be conveyed to Rome, and to transport soldiers across the river to plunder at one place or another in accordance with their opportunities; (3) and, in a short time, he made the whole Roman countryside so unsafe that not only everything from the fields, but even all the cattle, were driven into the city, and no one ventured to take (them) outside the gates. (4) This great (degree of) licence (was) permitted to the Etruscans not so much from fear as from strategy. For the consul Valerius, intent on the opportunity of falling unexpectedly upon a number of men who were pouring forth at the same time, failed to avenge trifling matters, and reserved the weight of his vengeance for more important (circumstances). (5) And so, in order to elicit predators, on the next day he ordered his (men) to gather in large numbers at the Esquiline gate, which was the furthest (one) from the enemy, to drive out the cattle, thinking that the enemy would hear of this, because some treacherous slaves would go over (to them) due to the scarcity caused by the blockade. (6) And, in fact, they did hear of it from the report of a deserter, and many more (of them than usual) crossed the river in the hope of (seizing them) all as booty. (7) Then, Publius Valerius directed Titus Herminius with a small force to take up a secret (position) at the second milestone on the Gabinian way, (and) Spurius Lartius with some light-armed soldiers to position himself at the Colline gate, until the enemy had passed by, and then to block their (path), so that they could not return to the river. (8) The other of the consuls, Titus Lucretius, with some maniples of soldiers went out by the Naevian gate, (while) Valerius himself led some picked cohorts from the Caelian hill, and they (were) the first to appear to the enemy. (9) When he perceived that the skirmish (had begun), Herminius rushed out from his (position of) ambush and fell upon the rear of the Etruscans (who had) turned to face Lucretius; on the right (side) and on the left, from the Colline gate on the one hand, (and) from the Naevian (gate) on the other, the clamour (of battle) went up: (10) so, the predators were put to the sword in their midst, not being equal to our men in fighting, and all the ways being blocked to (prevent) escape. And this was the end of the Etruscans wandering about in such a disorderly manner.
Chapter 12. The story of Mucius Scaevola.
(1) There was a blockade nevertheless (n.b. this was during the year A.U.C. 246 or 508 B.C.), and with such high prices (there was) a shortage of corn, and Porsena had the hope that he would take the city by sitting (around it), (2) when Gaius Mucius, a young nobleman, to whom it seemed a shame that the Roman people, when they had been in servitude under the kings, had never been besieged in any war by any enemy, should be besieged when they were a free people by those very Etruscans, whose armies they had so often routed, thinking that such an indignity should be avenged by some great and daring deed, at first decided to make his way to the enemy's camp; (4) then, fearing that if he should go without an order of the consuls and with everyone unaware (of it), he might perhaps be arrested by Roman sentries and brought back as a deserter, he went to the senate. (5) "I wish, fathers," said he, "to cross the Tiber and enter the enemy's camp, if I can, not as a robber or as an avenger in return for their plunderings: there is, if the gods should help, a greater deed in my mind." The senate gave their approval. With a sword hidden within his clothing, he set out. (6) When he came to it, he took his stand in the thickest (part of) the crowd near the king's tribunal. (7) There, when it happened that their pay was being given out to the soldiers, and the scribe (who was) sitting with the king, (wearing) almost the same costume was busily engaged, and the soldiers were regularly going to him, fearing to ask which of them was Porsena, lest his ignorance of the king should disclose who he was himself, he performed the deed as fortune rashly (directed), and slew the scribe instead of the king. (8) Proceeding from there, he made a way for himself through the fearful crowd with his blood-stained dagger, when a tumult arose at the noise, (and) the royal guardsmen seized (him) and dragged (him) back friendless before the king's tribunal; even then, amid such great threats of fortune he was more feared than afraid. "I am a Roman citizen," he said; (9) "(Men) call (me) Gaius Mucius. (As) an enemy, I wished to slay an enemy, nor do I have less courage to (face) death than I had to (inflict) death: both to act and to endure with fortitude is the Roman (way). (10) Nor am I the only (one) bearing such feelings towards you; behind me there is a long line of (people) seeking the same distinction. Therefore, prepare for this struggle, if it pleases (you), to fight for your life very hour, (and) to have a enemy's sword in your entrance hall. (11) This (is) the war (that) we the Roman youth declare on you. You need fear no battle, no war. The matter will be (settled) between you and each one (of us) individually."
(12) When the king, both seething with anger and terrified by his danger, ordered in a threatening manner that fires should be kindled around (him) unless he immediately disclosed the threats of the plots which had been laid against him in a roundabout manner, (13) he said: "Look (at me) now, so that you may see how cheap the body is to those who are looking for great glory," and he thrust his right-hand into the fire (that had been) lit for sacrifice. When he continued to roast it, as if his mind were devoid of (all) sensation, the king, quite astonished at this amazing sight, when he had leapt from his seat and had commanded that the young man be removed from the altar, (14) said, "May you, indeed, be gone, you (who have) dared (to perform) more hostile acts against yourself than against me. I would invoke blessings on your courage, if that courage were on the side of my country; now I dismiss you from here, free from the rights of war, untouched and unharmed." (15) Then, Mucius, as if repaying his generosity, said, "Seeing that honour is (shown) by you to courage, (know) that you have obtained from me by kindness what you could not (have gained) by threats: three hundred (of us), the foremost among the Roman youth, have sworn to proceed against you in this way. (16) The first lot was mine; the rest, as it shall fall first to each one, will be there, each in his own time, until fortune shall render you exposed."
Chapter 13. Mucius is rewarded; the story of Cloelia.
(1) Ambassadors from Porsena to Rome followed the release of Mucius, to whom the surname Scaevola (i.e. 'left-handed') (was) afterwards given from the loss of his right-hand; (2) the outcome of the first attempt, from which nothing had saved him except the error of the ambusher, and (the fact) that such a struggle might be experienced as often as (there were) conspirators (who) remained, had so unnerved him that, of his own accord, he made proposals of peace to the Romans. (3) In the proposals mention was made, to no avail, of the throne being restored to the Tarquins, more because he had not felt able to refuse this to the Tarquins than because he was unaware that it would be refused to him by the Romans. (4) With regard to the return of their land to the Veientes, (this was) secured, and the need for hostages to be given (was) extorted from the Romans, if they wished the garrison on the Janiculum to be withdrawn. Peace having been arranged on these terms, Porsena led his army down from the Janiculum and evacuated Roman territory. (5) On account of his courage, the senate bestowed on Gaius Mucius as a gift some land across the Tiber, which was afterwards called the Mucian Meadows.
(6) Now, when courage had been so honoured, even women (were) encouraged to (seek) public glory, and, since the camp of the Etruscans happened to be located not far from the banks of the Tiber, the maiden Cloelia, one of the hostages, eluded the guards and swam across the Tiber at the head of a troop of virgins in the midst of the darts of the enemy and restored (them) all to their relatives. (7) When this was reported to the king, at first he was inflamed with rage and sent spokesmen to Rome to demand the (return of) Cloelia (as) a hostage: (He was) not much concerned about the others; (8) then, turning to admiration, he said that this exploit (of hers) was a greater (one) than those of Cocles and Mucius, and that just as he would regard the treaty as broken if the hostage were not given up and brought before him, so, if she were surrendered, he would send (her) back intact and inviolate to her (family). Their word was kept on both sides: (9) so the Romans returned (her) in accordance with the treaty (as) a token of peace, and (she was) not only safe in the presence of the Etruscan king, but her courage was even honoured, and, after praising the maiden, he said that he would award her a share of the hostages; and she, herself, could choose the ones she wanted. (10) When (they had) all (been) brought out, it is said that she selected the young boys, both because (it was considered) decorous for a maiden, and (because), with the agreement of the hostages themselves, it was (thought) desirable that the age (group) most exposed to injury from the enemy should be especially freed. (11) When peace had been restored, the Romans rewarded this unprecedented courage in a woman by a new kind of honour, an equestrian statue: (the statue of) a maiden sitting on a horse was placed at the top of the Sacred Way.
Chapter 14. A final attempt to restore the Tarquins.
(1) Inconsistent with such a peaceful departure of the Etruscan king from the city (is) the custom, handed down by the ancients, (and which) continues among other formalities right down to our own times, of selling the goods of king Porsena. (2) The origin of this custom must either have been born during the war and not given up in peacetime, or (it must) have arisen from a milder source than the inscription of selling an enemy's goods would suggest. (3) Of the (accounts) which have been handed down, it is most likely that Porsena, on departing from the Janiculum, gave to the Romans as a gift his well-stocked camp with its provisions brought in from the neighbouring fertile fields of Etruria, as the city was in need (of food) due to the lengthy siege; (4) then, these (goods) were sold, lest they should be plundered in a hostile manner by the people who had been let in, and (they were) called the goods of Porsena, with the title signifying gratitude for the gift rather than an auction of the king's property, which was not even at the disposal of the Roman people.
(5) Porsena, after ending the war with Rome, lest his army should seem to have been led into such places to no avail, sent his son Arruns with a section of his forces to attack Aricia. At first, this unexpected event had unnerved the Aricians; but afterwards the auxiliaries (who had been) summoned from the people of Latium and of Cumae brought (them) so much hope that they ventured to fight it out on the battle-field. At the beginning of the battle, the Etruscans attacked with such a vigorous charge that the y routed the Aricians at the very (first) onset; (7) the Cumaean levies, employing strategy to meet force, turned aside a little, and, when the enemy had gone well past, they wheeled around and attacked (them) from behind. So, the Etruscans, now almost victorious, (were) trapped and cut to pieces. (8) Having lost their leader (i.e. Arruns had been killed in battle), a very small number (of them), because they was no nearer (place of) refuge for them, came to Rome without their arms and in the condition of, and with the appearance of, suppliants. There they were kindly received and kept in hospitality. (9) When their wounds had healed, some went home, telling of the kind hospitality (they had received); affection for their hosts and for the city kept many (of them) in Rome. A district (was) assigned to them to inhabit, which was subsequently called the Tuscan quarter.
Chapter 15. The peace with Porsena is maintained.
(1) Then Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius (i.e. for the year 506 B.C.), and then Publius Lucretius and Publius (n.b. it should read Titus) Valerius Publicola (n.b. there seems to be some confusion here, as according to the records they were consuls together in the years 508 and 504), were elected consuls. In this year (i.e. 506), ambassadors came from Porsena concerning the Tarquins being restored to the throne. When the reply was given to them that the senate would be sending deputies to the king, all the most honourable of the senators were sent immediately: (2) as it would not have been impossible, (they said,) for the short reply to be given that kings would not be received, so it was not for that reason that select (members) of the senate (had been) sent to him rather than an answer being given to his envoys at Rome, but (it was done) so that (all) mention of this matter should be brought to an end once and for all, and so that their minds should not in turn be disturbed amid so many acts of mutual kindness, since he was asking for (something) which was contrary to the liberty of the Roman people, (and) the Romans, unless they wished to submit readily to their own ruin, would deny (this even to a man) to whom they did not wish to deny anything. (3) The Roman people were not (living) in a kingdom but in freedom. So they resolved to open their gates to enemies rather than to kings; this was the prayer of (them) all, that (the day) which saw the end of liberty in their city, should also see (the end) of the city. (4) They therefore begged that, if he wished Rome to be in good shape, he should allow (it) to be free. (5) The king, overcome by modesty, said: "Since it is your firm and fixed (resolve), I will neither harass you by putting forward these fruitless (proposals) more often, nor will I deceive the Tarquins by (holding out) the hope of assistance which it is not in my (power to give). Whether they have need of war or peace, let them henceforth seek another place for their exile, lest anything should disturb my peace with you." (6) To these words he added more friendly deeds: he returned the hostages that were left, (and) he restored the Veientine territory (that had been) taken away (from them) by the treaty struck on the Janiculum. (7) Tarquin, all hope of return having been cut away, went into exile with his son-in-law, Mamilius Octavius at Tusculum. (So,) the peace between the Romans and Porsena was kept.
Chapter 16. War with the Sabines, and the immigration of the Claudii; war with the Auruncans.
(1) Marcus Valerius (Volusus) and Publius Postumius (Tubertus) (were elected) consuls (i.e. for 505 B.C.). In this year a successful war was fought against the Sabines; the consuls were awarded a triumph. (2) Then, the Sabines began to prepare for war on a larger scale. To confront them, and lest any sudden danger should arise at the same time from Tusculum, with whom (an outbreak of) war was nevertheless suspected, although it had not been declared, Publius Valerius (Publicola) was elected consul (i.e. for the year 504 B.C.) for the fourth time and Titus Lucretius (Tricipitinus) for the second time. (3) Civil discord between the advocates of war and peace arose among the Sabines, and this led to a considerable amount of strength being transferred therefrom to Rome. (4) For since, as an advocate of peace, Attius Clausus, whose name in Rome was afterwards Appius Claudius, had himself been hard-pressed by the abettors of war, and (his) was no match for that faction, he fled from Regillus to Rome, accompanied by a great band of his clients. (5) To these (people) citizenship and land across the Anio (were) given; (they were) called the old Claudian tribe, when some fresh tribesmen who came from this territory (were) afterwards added (to their number). Having been elected into the senate, Appius attained not so long afterwards the dignity of a prominent (member of that order). (6) Having advanced into the territory of the Sabines with a hostile army, the consuls had so impaired the strength of the enemy, by laying waste (their fields) and in battle, that no revolt could be feared for a long time after that. (7) Publius Valerius, (considered) by universal consent (to be) the foremost (citizen) in the arts of war and peace, died in the following year, (when) Agrippa Menenius (Lanatus) and Publius Postumius (Tubertus) (were) consuls (i.e. 503 B.C.), in the height of his glory, but with a private fortune so depleted that the cost of his funeral was wanting, and it was met by the public treasury. The matrons mourned (him) as (they had mourned) Brutus. (8) In the same year, two Latin colonies, Pometia and Cora, went over to the Aurunci. War (was) begun with the Aurunci, and, (when) the large army, which had boldly encountered the consuls entering their frontiers, (was) defeated, the whole Auruncan war was concentrated on Pometia. (9) Nor, after the battle (was over), did they (i.e. the Romans) refrain from slaughter more than during (the heat of) the battle; and considerably more (of them) were slain than were taken prisoner, and they butchered the captives indiscriminately; not even the hostages, whom they had received up to the number of three hundred, did the rage of war spare. And in this year there was a triumph in Rome.
Chapter 17. After a serious setback, the war with the Aurunci is brought to a successful conclusion.
(1) The consuls of the following year (i.e. 502 B.C.), Opiter Verginius (Tricostus) and Spurius Cassius (Vecellinus), attacked Pometia, in the first place by a direct assault, and then, by (the use of) penthouses (i.e. movable shelters, open at both ends, pushed along on wheels, under the protection of which battering rams could be applied and mines dug). (2) The Aurunci, now (motivated) more by implacable hatred towards them than by any hope or chance of success, made a sortie, armed more with blazing firebrands than with swords, and filled all (places) with fire and slaughter. (3) The penthouses (were) burned, many of their enemies (were) wounded or slain, and they also nearly killed one of the consuls - but the official historians do not record which one (it was) - (when he he was) thrown from his horse with a serious wound. (4) The campaign having gone very badly, they returned to Rome. Among the many wounded (men) was brought the consul with his hope of life uncertain. Then, after no great period (of time) had elapsed, but that which was sufficient for wounds to be healed and for the army to be made up to its full complement, war (was) made on Pometia with greater anger and also with an increase in strength. (5) And, when their penthouses and other (items of) war equipment (had been) repaired, (and) the soldiers were already on the point of scaling the walls, a surrender occurred. (6) However, the Aurunci were treated no less dreadfully because they had surrendered their city than if it had been taken (by storm): their chief (men) were struck with an axe, (and) the other colonists were sold into slavery; their town (was) demolished, (and) its land was sold. (7) The consuls were awarded a triumph, more on account of (the causes for) the anger which they had (so) heavily avenged than because of the greatness of the war which they brought to a conclusion.
Chapter 18. The appointment of a Dictator.
(1) The following year (i.e. 501 B.C.) had Postumus Cominius (Auruncus) and Titus Larcius (as) its consuls. (2) In this year, when during games at Rome some courtesans were being abducted by youths of Sabine (nationality) for reasons of playfulness, a scuffle (broke out) amidst a gathering of men, and there was almost a battle, and from this trifling affair, it seemed that things were leading to a revolt. (3) Besides the fear of a Sabine war, this (anxiety) had also been added, because it was fairly well-known that thirty states had entered into a conspiracy against (them) at the instigation of Octavius Mamilius (i.e. the son-in-law of Tarquin the Proud). (4) When the community had become disturbed in the expectation of such very serious events, the suggestion of appointing a dictator arose for the first time. But it was not well enough agreed in which year (it happened), nor who (were) the consuls, (in whom) there was too little trust because they belonged to the Tarquinian faction, nor who was the first to be appointed dictator. (5) Among the oldest official historians, however, I find (it said) that Titus Larcius (Flavus) (i.e. cos. 501 B.C.) (was) the first to be appointed dictator, and that Spurius Cassius (Vecellinus) (i.e. cos. 502 B.C.)(was) the first to be appointed master of the horse (i.e. the dictator's deputy). They chose consuls; for so the law required relating to the appointment of a dictator. (6) I am all the more inclined to believe that Larcius, who was of consular (rank, was) appointed (to be) the controller and master of consuls, rather than Manius Valerius, son of Marcus and grandson of Volesus, (a man) who had not yet been consul; (7) indeed, if (men) should have especially wished that the dictator should be chosen from that family, they would much rather have selected his father, Marcus Valerius, a man of proven virtue and an ex-consul (i.e. he had been consul in 505 B.C.).
(8) A dictator having been appointed in Rome for the first time, when (men) saw the axes being borne before (him), a great fear came over the common people, so that they were more intent on obeying orders. For there was no other (means of) assistance, as (there was) in the case of the consuls, who were equal in power, nor (was there) any help anywhere other than in a concern for obedience. (9) The dictator appointed in Rome also struck fear into the Sabines, all the more (so) because they believed that (the post) had been created because of them. (10) And so they sent envoys to (discuss) peace. When they besought the dictator and the senate to give a pardon to the young men for their error, the reply (was) that it was possible to pardon young men, (but) this was not possible in the case of old men, who sowed the seeds of war after war. (11) Nevertheless, negotiations for peace were begun, and it would have been obtained, if the Sabines could have been prepared to make good the expenses which had been incurred on the war - for this was demanded. War (was) declared; (but) a tacit agreement kept the year peaceful.
Chapter 19. The Battle at Lake Regillus.
(1) (In the next year) (i.e. in 501 B.C.) Servius Sulpicius (Camerinus Cornutus) (and) Manius Tullius (Longus) (were) consuls; nothing worthy of memory happened. Then, (in the following year (i.e. in 500 B.C.) the consuls were) Titus Aebutius (Helva) and Gaius Vetusius (Geminus Cicurinus). (2) With them as consuls, Fidenae (was) besieged, Crustumeria (was) taken, (and) Praeneste deserted from the Latins to the Romans. Nor (was) the Latin war, (which had) now (been) fomenting for several years, deferred any longer. (3) The dictator Aulus Postumius (Albus Regillensis) (n.b. Livy implies 499 B.C. as the date of this action, but this seems unlikely as the dictator Postumius had not yet been consul; a more likely year is 496 B.C., when Postumius was also consul) (and) Titus Aebutius (i.e. the consul of 501 B.C.), his master of the horse, set out with large forces of infantry and cavalry to Lake Regillus in the territory of Tusculum, and came upon the enemy's army, (4) and, because they heard that there were Tarquins in the army of the Latins, they could not, in their rage, be restrained from instantly attacking. (5) And so the battle was (fought) with a good deal more severity and bitterness than the others (had been). For their leaders were not only present to direct the engagement by their strategy, but they themselves joined battle with their own bodies, and almost none of the noblemen on one side of the battle-field or the other came away without a wound except the Roman dictator. (6) While Postumius was encouraging and drawing up his (men) in the front of the battle-line, Tarquin the Proud, although now enfeebled in age and strength, galloped on his horse against (him) in a hostile manner, but, struck in the side, he was taken back to (a place of) safety by a body of his own men. (7) And, on the other wing, Aebutius, the master of the horse, had made a charge against Octavius Mamilius, but he did not deceive the Tusculan leader as he came, and the latter spurred his horse against him. (8) And so great was the force in their hostile spears as they met, that Aebutius' arm was pierced (and) Mamilius' breast (was) struck. (9) Now the Latins received him into their second line: Aebutius, since he could not hold a weapon with his injured arm, retired from the battle. (10) The Latin leader (i.e. Mamilius), in no way discouraged by his wound, urged (men) into battle, and, because he saw his own (men) retreating, he summoned a cohort of Roman exiles, of whom Lucius, the son of Tarquin, was in command. This (body) fought with a fury all the greater, because their property (had been) plundered and their native-land (had been) taken from (them), (and) for a while they restored the battle.
Chapter 20. Victory at Lake Regillus.
(1) Now, when the Romans were beginning to give ground in that part (of the field), Marcus Valerius, the brother of Publicola, caught sight of the young Tarquin (i.e. Lucius) boldly exhibiting himself in the front line of the exiles, and, being (so) inflamed by the glory of his house that (3) (he felt that) the slaying of the royal princes should belong to the same family whose glory their expulsion had been, he dug his spurs into his horse and made for Tarquin with levelled lance. (3) Tarquin drew back from his hostile enemy into the ranks of his men. As Valerius was riding madly into the battle-line of the exiles, one of them attacked (him) from the side and ran (him) through, but, as his horse was in no way retarded by its rider's wound, the dying Roman fell to the ground, with his weapons falling on top of his body. (4) When the dictator Postumius noticed that such a brave man had fallen, that the exiles were boldly attacking at the double, (5) (and) that his (men had been) checked and were giving way, he gave the signal to his own cohort, a select body (of men), which he kept around him as a bodyguard, that they should treat (anyone) of their (men) whom they saw fleeing as (though he were) an enemy. So, (caught) by this double anxiety, the Romans turned from their flight towards the enemy, and the battle-line (was) restored. (6) The dictator's cohort then entered the battle for the first time; fresh in mind and body, they attacked the weary exiles and cut (them) to pieces. (7) Then began another combat between leaders. When the Latin general saw the cohort of exiles almost surrounded by the Roman dictator, he hurried to the front of the line, (taking) with him some companies of reserves. (8) The lieutenant Titus Herminius caught sight of them as they came marching up, and recognising among them Mamilius, conspicuous by his dress and armaments, he entered battle with the enemy's commander with so much more force than the master of the horse (had done) a little before, (9) that he slew Mamilius, having pierced him in the side with a single thrust, but he himself having been struck by a javelin while in the act of stripping his enemy's body, when he had been carried back to the camp victorious, expired during the first dressing (of his wound). (10) Then, the dictator dashed up to the knights, beseeching (them), since the infantry (were) now exhausted, to get down from their horses and take part in the battle. They obeyed his order: they leapt down from their horses and rushed into the front (of the line), and put up their shields in defence of the standards. (11) The ranks of footmen at once recovered their courage, when they saw those noble young men sustaining a share of the danger with them in an equal mode of fighting. Then, at last, the Latins (were) checked, and their battle-line (was) beaten back and turned in retreat. The horses were (then) brought up to the cavalry, so they could pursue the enemy; (12) and the ranks of the infantry followed. Then, the dictator, neglecting no help, divine or human, is said to have vowed a temple to Castor, and to have promised rewards to those soldiers, who should be the first or the second to enter the enemy's camp; (13) and so great was their ardour that the Romans took the camp in the same charge by which they had routed the enemy. The battle at Lake Regillus was fought in this manner. The dictator and the master of the horse returned to the city in triumph.
Chapter 21.The death of Tarquin the Proud.
(1) For the next three years (i.e. 498-496 B.C.) there was neither a stable peace nor (open) warfare. The consuls (were) Quintus Cloelius (Siculus) and Titus Larcius (II) (i.e. in 498 B.C.), (and) then Aulus Sempronius (Atratinus) and Marcus Minucius (Augurinus) (i.e. in 497 B.C.). (2) With them as consuls, a temple (was) dedicated to Saturn and the Saturnalia was established (as) a feast day (i.e. a public holiday, and it occurred each year on 17th December). Then, Aulus Postumius (Albus Regillensis) and Titus Verginius (Tricostus Caeliomontanus) (were) appointed consuls (i.e. for 496 B.C.). (3) According to some (authorities) I find that the battle at Lake Regillus was not fought until this year; (they say that) Aulus Postumius, because his colleague was of doubtful loyalty, abdicated from the consulship; (and that) then he was made dictator. (4) So many errors occur with regard to the dates when magistrates were appointed, because of differences between the various (authorities), that you cannot determine which consuls followed which, or what was done in each (particular) year, since not only the events, but also the authorities (themselves are shrouded) in such great antiquity.
(5) Then, Appius Claudius (Sabinus Inregillensis) and Publius Servilius (Priscus Structus) (were) chosen consuls (i.e. for 495 B.C.). This year was marked by the announcement of Tarquin's death. He died at Cumae, whither he had gone to (the court of) the tyrant Aristodemus after the power of the Latins (had been) shattered. The Fathers had been greatly relieved by the news, and the common people (too were) cheered. But the elation of the Fathers was too extravagant; injustices began to be practised by their chief men on the people, to whom, up to that day, they had been devoted to the utmost of their power. (7) In the same year, the colony of Signia, which King Tarquin had founded, was set up again with a number of colonists supplied. In Rome, twenty-one tribes (were) formed. A temple was dedicated to Mercury on the fifteenth of May.
Chapter 22. War with the Volscians; a treaty made with the Latins.
(1) With the nation of the Volscians, during the war with the Latins there had been neither peace nor war; for the Volscians had raised auxiliary troops, which they would have sent to the Latins, if there had not been such rapid action by the Roman dictator, and the Roman (leader) did move quickly in order that he might not have to contend with the Latin and the Volscian (armies) in one battle. In their anger (at this plan of theirs), the consuls led their legions into the territory of the Volscians. (2) This unexpected action overwhelmed the Volscians, who had not been fearing punishment for their plan; without thinking of fighting, they gave (as) hostages three hundred children of the leading men from Cora and Pometia. So, the legions (were) then withdrawn without conflict. (3) Yet not long afterwards (i.e. in 495 B.C.), the Volscians, having been relieved of their anxiety, resumed their natural inclination; again, they prepared secretly for war and entered into a military alliance with the Hernici. (4) They also sent out envoys in all directions to induce Latium (to join them); but the recent disaster they (had) experienced at Lake Regillus (filled) the Latins with such anger and resentment at anyone who advocated (a resumption of) hostilities, that they did not even refrain from violating the envoys; they seized the Volscians and conducted (them) to Rome. There, they handed (them) over to the consuls, and evidence was produced that the Volscians and the Hernici were preparing for war with the Romans. (5) When this information (was) reported to the senate, the Fathers were so grateful that they sent back six thousand prisoners (i.e. probably those captured at the battle of Lake Regillus) to the Latins, and referred the question of a treaty, which had almost been refused in perpetuity, to the new magistrates. (6) Then, indeed, the Latins rejoiced at their action; the advocates of peace (were) held in great renown. They sent a golden crown to the Capitol (as) a gift to Jupiter. With the envoys and their gift came those captives who had (just) been restored to their (families), an overwhelmingly large crowd. (7) They proceeded to the homes of those at which each (of them) had served; they gave thanks for the kind way in which they been treated and cherished in their adversity; then they formed (ties of) hospitality (with them). Never at any former time had the Latin name been more (closely) united, both in public and in private, to the Roman state.
Chapter 23. The debtors' plight.
(1) But a war with the Volscians was imminent, and the community (was) at variance with itself internally, and was inflamed with resentment between the Fathers and the plebs, chiefly on account of (those who had been) bound (in service) due to debt. (2) (These men) loudly complained that, while they were fighting abroad for liberty and dominion, they had been captured and oppressed by their fellow-citizens, and that the freedom of the people was more secure in war than in peace, and among their enemies rather than their fellow-citizens; and the conspicuous calamity of one (man) fanned into a blaze this (feeling of) ill-will that had been swelling of its own accord. (3) Of great age (and) with all the marks of his misfortunes, this man rushed out into the Forum. His clothing was covered with filth, (and) the state of his body (was even) more revolting, overcome, (as it was,) with pallor and emaciation; (4) (added) to this, his unkempt beard and hair had given his face a savage look. Nevertheless, he was recognised (even) in such great deformity, and (men) affirmed that he had led companies, and, amid a general state of lamentation, they mentioned his other military distinctions; he himself displayed the scars in several places on the front of his chest, as evidence of his honourable (service) in battle. (5) When (men) inquired as to the cause of his condition and his terrible appearance, while a crowd had gathered around (him) almost in the manner of a public assembly, he said he had served in the Sabine war, (and) that, on account of the depredations (of the enemy), he had been deprived not only of the fruit of the field (i.e. his crops), but his house had been burnt down, all his (possessions) plundered, (and) his cattle driven off, and that taxes (had then been) levied at an unfavourable moment for him, and he had got into debt. (6) When this (had been) swelled by usury, they first stripped him of the farm (that had been) his father's and his grandfather's, then of his other possessions, and finally they came to his body, like a pestilence; he had been hauled off by his creditor, not into slavery, but into prison and the torture-chamber. (7) Then, he showed (them) his back, disfigured by the recent marks of the lash.
When these (things) had been seen and heard, a tremendous uproar arose. The disturbance no longer confined itself to the Forum, but spread through the entire city in all directions. (8) (Those who had been) bound in debt, (whether) in chains or released, rushed out into the street from all directions, and begged for the support of their fellow-citizens. In no place was there any lack of a voluntary associate for this sedition; they ran in great crowds in all directions through every street to the Forum with loud shouts. (9) Those senators, who happened to be in the Forum, fell in with the crowd with great peril to themselves; nor would they have refrained from violence, if the consuls. Publius Servilius and Appius Claudius, had not intervened to suppress the riot. But the mob turned on them and displayed their chains and their other hideous tokens. (11) These, they said reproachfully, (were the things) they (had) earned by their military service, one in one place (and one) in another; they demanded, in a most menacing manner, rather than as suppliants, that they should call (a meeting of) the senate; and they stood around the senate-house, (determined) to be the arbiters and directors of public policy.
(12) A very small number of the senators, whom chance had put in their way, (were) assembled by the consuls: fear prevented the rest not only (from going) to the senate-house, but even to the Forum, nor could anything be done, due to the small number in the senate. (13) Then, indeed, did the people think they were being cheated and put off, and that (those) of the Fathers who were absent were absent not by chance or through fear, but for the sake of obstructing business, and that the consuls themselves were trifling with (them), and that their miseries were undoubtedly a (matter of) mockery. (14) Now things were almost at the point where not even the majesty of the consuls could have held the people's fury in check, when, uncertain (whether) they were incurring greater danger by staying (at home) or by going out, they finally came to the senate; but, (though) the senate-house was at last full, insufficient agreement was reached, not only among the senators, but even between the consuls themselves. (15) Appius, a man of headstrong temperament, thought that the matter should be settled by (the exercise of) consular authority: when one or two (men) had been arrested, the others would calm down, (he said); Servilius, more inclined to gentle remedies, thought it was both safer and easier to assuage their agitated feelings than to quell (them).
Chapter 24. The revolt of the debtors.
(1) In the midst of these (disturbances), another greater terror (arose): some Latin horsemen galloped up with the alarming news that the Volscians were coming with a hostile army to attack the city. These reports affected the Fathers and the plebs very differently - so had discord created two states out of one. (2) The common people exulted with joy, (and) said that the gods were coming to avenge the arrogance of the senators; they encouraged one another not to give their names (to be enrolled): (for) it would (be better for them) all to perish together, rather than (to perish) one by one; let the Fathers serve as soldiers, let the Fathers take up arms, so that those, to whom the spoils of war are allotted, should also share its perils. (3) But, on the other hand, the senate (was) sorrowful and anxious in their two-fold fear, (caused) both by their fellow-citizens and by the enemy, and they begged the consul Servilius, whose character was the more popular, to extricate the state from the very great terrors that beset (it). (4) Then, the consul adjourned the senate and went before a public assembly. There he declared that it was the concern of the senate to have regard for the plebs; but their deliberations concerning that most important part of the community - but still only a part of it - had got in the way of their anxiety for the nation as a whole. (5) Nor was it possible, when the enemy was almost at the gates, that they should put anything before the war, nor, (even) if there was some respite, was it honourable for the plebs to refuse to take up arms on behalf of their country, unless they should first receive a reward, nor was it at all fitting for the Fathers to be driven by fear to have looked after the interests of their fellow-citizens, rather than (to have done so) afterwards on a voluntary basis. (6) Then he brought added confidence to the assembly by an edict, in which he decreed that no one should hold a Roman citizen in chains or in prison, in order that there should be less opportunity for his name to be given to the consuls (i.e. to be enrolled for military service), and that no one should take possession of a soldier's property, so long as he was in camp, or detain his children or grandchildren. (7) Once this edict had been published, the debtors who were present at once gave their names (for enrolment) and rushed on all sides from their houses from every (quarter of) the city, since their creditor did not have the right to retain (them), and they came into the Forum together to take the military oath. (8) A great band it was, nor was the courage and value of anyone else in the Volscian war more conspicuous. The consul led his forces against the enemy; (and) he pitched his camp a short distance apart (from theirs).
Chapter 25. The defeat of the Volscians.
(1) The next night after that, the Volscians, relying on discord among the Romans, attacked their camp, (to see) if any desertion or treachery might occur during the night. The sentries perceived (them), the army was aroused, and, at a given signal, they rushed to arms; (2) so. the undertaking of the Volscians came to nothing; the remainder of the night (was) devoted to sleep on both sides. At dawn on the following day, the Volscians filled in the ditches and attacked the rampart. (3) And now the fortifications were being demolished on every side, when the consul (i.e. Servilius), although all (the men) on all sides, and the debtors above all, were crying out that he should give the signal, delayed for a time, in order to test the soldiers' morale, (but,) when their great ardour became sufficiently clear, he finally gave the signal to advance, and sent forth the soldiers, eager (as they were) for the fray. (4) At the first onset the enemy (were) routed at once; the rear of those fleeing (was) cut down, as long as the infantry were able to pursue (them); (then) the cavalry drove (them) quaking right up to their camp. Their camp (was) soon surrounded by the legions, (and,) since their panic had even driven the Volscians from there, (it was) taken and plundered. (5) The next day, the legions were led to Suessa Pometia, where the enemy had taken refuge, (and) within a few days the town was captured, (and,) when taken, (it was) given over to plunder. Then were the needy soldiers somewhat relieved. (6) The consul led his victorious army back to Rome, with the greatest glory (going) to himself. As he was departing for Rome, envoys from the Volscians of Ecetra, alarmed at their own prospects since Pometia (had been) captured, approached (him). Peace (was) given to them by a decree of the senate, (but) their land (was) taken (from them).
Chapter 26. Further difficulties with the Sabines and the Auruncians.
(1) Now immediately (after that) the Sabines caused the Romans some alarm; for it was more truly a disturbance than a war. One night it was reported in the city that a Sabine army had arrived at the river Anio intent on plundering; there farmhouses (were being) ravaged and set alight indiscriminately. (2) Aulus Postumius, who had been dictator in the Latin war, (was) sent there at once with all the cavalry forces; the consul Servilius followed with a chosen band of foot-soldiers. (3) The cavalry surrounded several stragglers, nor, when the column of foot-soldiers drew near, did the Sabine soldiers show any (sign of) resistance; exhausted both by their march and by their nocturnal depredations, a great number (of them were so) filled with food and wine in the cottages that they had scarcely enough energy to flee.
(4) As war with the Sabines had been reported and ended in a single night, on the next day, when high hope of peace everywhere had come about, Auruncian envoys came to the senate declaring war unless they withdrew from the territory of the Volscians. (5) The army of the Auruncians had set out from home together with the envoys; the report of it being seen not far from Aricia (i.e. a neighbouring Latin town) threw the Romans into such a state of tumult that the senate could not be consulted in the normal way, nor, while they themselves were taking up arms, (could) they give a peaceful response to those bearing arms against (them). (6) They marched to Aricia in fighting order, joined battle with the Auruncians not far from there, and brought the war to an end in one battle.
Chapter 27. The arrogance of Appius.
(1) Having routed the Auruncians, (and having been) victorious in so many wars within a few days, the Roman (people) were expecting the promises made by the consul on the authority of the senate (to be fulfilled), when Appius, both through the arrogance implanted in his nature and in order to invalidate the belief in his colleague, began to deliver justice (in cases) concerning the borrowing of money as harshly as he could. As a result, both (those) who had been bound over for debt beforehand were delivered up to their creditors, and others were bound over (too). (2) When this (judgment) had befallen one of the soldiers he appealed to his colleague. A crowd gathered around Servilius; they reminded (him) of his promises; they reproached (him with reference to) their services in war and the wounds which each one (of them had) received. They demanded that he should either refer (the matter) to the senate, or that he should be of assistance to his citizens (as) consul, (and) to his soldiers (as) their commander. (3) These (pleas) moved the consul, but the situation compelled (him) to temporise; (for) so vehemently were not only his colleague but the entire party of the nobility inclined to the other (side of) the argument. So he steered a middle (course), and neither avoided the people's hatred nor won the favour of the Fathers. (4) The Fathers thought him soft (as) a consul and scheming, the people (thought him) dishonest, and it soon became apparent that the hatred (shown towards) him matched (that) of Appius.
(5) A dispute befell the consuls as to which one (of them) should dedicate the temple of Mercury. The senate referred the decision from themselves to the people: (and) it ordered that to whichever one of them the dedication should be assigned by order of the people, he should preside over the corn-market (n.b. Mercury was the patron god of trade and commerce), establish a guild of merchants, and undertake his functions on behalf of the chief priest. (6) The people gave the dedication of the temple to Marcus Laetorius, a chief centurion, that it might be readily apparent that (it had been) done, not so much so as to honour a man, on whom an office had been conferred (that was) far above his station in life, but rather as an affront to the consuls. (7) Then, one of the consuls and the senate were certainly very angry; but the plebs had grown in courage and they went about their business in a very different way than (how) they had operated at first. (8) For, despairing of help from the consuls and the senate, when they caught sight of a debtor being dragged off to court, they rushed together from all sides. The consul's decree could not be heard above the noise and the clamour, nor, when he had pronounced (it), did anyone obey. (9) (Everything) was driven by violence, and all fear and danger had turned from the debtors on to the creditors, since they were being maltreated by large numbers (of people) in (full) sight of each consul.
(10) On top of these (things), fear of a Sabine war came upon (them); a levy (was) decreed, but no one gave his name (i.e. enrolled); Appius was enraged and inveighed against the chicanery of his colleague for betraying the state by his popularity-seeking inactivity; and, on top of the (fact) that he had not pronounced justice in cases of those who been lent money, he had determined not to hold a levy, even after a decree of the senate (had been issued): (11) Yet, (he asserted, the welfare of) the state had not been entirely deserted, nor had he abandoned the authority of the consulate; he, alone would be the champion of his own and the senate's majesty. (12) When the daily multitude, inflamed by lawlessness, stood around (him), he ordered one (who was) a conspicuous leader of the insurrections to be arrested. When he was already being hauled away by the lictors, he appealed; and the consul (i.e. Appius) would not have allowed the appeal, because the people's judgment was not in doubt, had his obstinacy not been overcome with great difficulty, due more to the advice and authority of leading men, rather than to the clamour of the people; so strong were his feelings to withstand his unpopularity. (13) From that moment, trouble grew on a daily basis, not only through open disturbances, but, what was much more dangerous, by secession and secret meetings. At last, the consuls, hateful to the people, left office, Servilius pleasing to neither of (the parties), Appius wonderfully (so) to the Fathers.
Chapter 28. Whispering campaigns.
(1) Aulus Verginius (Tricostus Caeliomontanus) and Titus Verturius (Gemimus Cicurinus) then entered into the consulship (i.e. in 494 B.C.). But, then, the people, uncertain as to what kind of consuls they would prove to be, held nocturnal assemblies, some on the Esquiline, others on the Aventine, lest they (i.e. the people) should be alarmed by hasty proposals in the Forum and decide everything on an ill-considered and fortuitous basis. (2) Thinking the situation dangerous, as (indeed) it was, the consuls referred (it) to the senate, but it was not possible to discuss (what had been) reported in an orderly manner; so tumultuously was it received, with shouts from all sides, and with the indignation of the Fathers that the consuls should have referred to the senators (something) which ought to have dealt with by consular authority, as this would lead to resentment of them. (3) If there really were magistrates in the republic, there would have been no council in the republic but the public (one); now the republic had been broken up and scattered abroad into a thousand senate-houses and places of assembly. (4) One single man, by God! - for that (word) was (worth) more than consul - (one,) such as Appius Claudius was, would have broken up these gatherings in a moment of time. (5) When the consuls, (thus) rebuked, asked what, in that case, did they want them to do, for they (they said) they would do nothing in a slower or more gentle manner than was pleasing to the senate, they resolved that they should hold as strict a levy as possible: (for) the people were running wild in their idleness. (6) Having adjourned the senate, the consuls mounted the tribunal; they cited the young men by name. When no one answered to his name, the crowd poured around (them) in the manner of an assembly, and said that the people could not be ensnared any more; (7) they would never have a single soldier, unless a public guarantee were given: liberty must be restored to every (man) before arms were given, so that he might fight for his country and his fellow-citizens, not for his masters. (8) The consuls were aware of what they had been told to do by the senate, but none of those who spoke (so) bravely within the walls of the senate was present to share the odium with them; and a desperate struggle with the people loomed large. (9) Accordingly, they thought it best to consult the senate a second time before they proceeded to extremities. But then, the youngest senators all rushed in haste to the seats of the consuls, telling (them) to abdicate from the consulship and to lay down the authority which they lacked the courage to maintain.
Chapter 29. Appius urges the appointment of a dictator.
(1) Having sufficiently weighed up both courses (open to them), the the consuls finally said: "Lest you should say that you haven't been warned, Conscript Fathers, a great mutiny is in the offing. We demand that those who criticised (us) most vehemently for cowardice, should be there with us when we are holding the levy. (Then,) since that is what you want, we shall conduct the business in accordance with the thinking of the most ruthless among you." (2) They went back to the tribunal; they deliberately commanded that one of those who were in their sight should be cited by name. When he stood in silence, and a knot of men had gathered around him in a cluster, lest there should happen to be violence, the consuls sent a lictor to him. (3) When he was driven back, then the senators who were there with the consuls exclaimed that it was indeed a shameful action, and jumped down from the tribunal to be of assistance to the lictor. (4) But when the violence was turned away from the lictor, (to whom) nothing (had happened) other than his being prevented from seizing (the man), on to the Fathers, the brawl was quelled by the intervention of the consuls, but in it there were no stones (and) no weapons, and there was more (evidence) of shouting and expressions of rage than of injury. (5) The senate (was) convened in disorder, and it deliberated in even greater disorder, with those who had been roughly handled demanding an inquiry, and with the most violent declaring their opinion not so much by their votes as by their shouting and uproar. (6) At last, when their fury had subsided, and the consuls had reproached (them) because there was no more sanity in the senate-house than in the Forum, they began to deliberate in an orderly manner. (7) There were three opinions. Publius Verginius (n.b. the praenomen is almost certainly erroneous; this Verginius is likely to be either Aulus, the consul of that year, i.e. 494 B.C., or Titus, the consul of 496 B.C., who was probably his elder brother) was not in favour of extending the relief to everyone; he believed it should be awarded only in relation to those who, following the promise of the consul Servilius (i.e. cos. 495 B.C.), had served in the Volscian, Auruncian and Sabine war. (8) Titus Larcius (i.e. the consul and dictator in 501 B.C. and consul again in 498 B.C.) (thought) it was not the time that service should be the only cause of relief; the whole of the common people was submerged in debt, nor could (the situation) be fixed, unless there was regard for everyone; indeed, if there was a different arrangement (for some) than for others, the discord would be inflamed rather than allayed. (9) Appius Claudius (i.e. consul in 495 B.C.), harsh by nature and rendered savage by the hatred of the plebs on the one hand and and the praises of the Fathers on the other, said that so great a disturbance (had been) provoked not by miseries but by licence, and that the common people were impudent rather than full of rage. (10) So this (was) the evil (which had) arisen from the appeal; since the consuls could issue threats, but (had) no authority, when (people) were permitted to appeal to those who shared their crime. (11) "Come on," said he, "let us appoint a dictator, from whom there is no appeal; this frenzy, through which all (things) are now ablaze, will then subside. (12) Then, (let) me (see anyone) strike a lictor, when he shall know that the right to (scourge) his back and (to take) his life shall belong to that one (man), whose majesty he has violated."
Chapter 30. Valerius is appointed dictator; the invading Aequians and the Volscians are defeated.
(1) To many, the opinion of Appius seemed terrible and cruel, as (indeed) it was; on the contrary, (those) of Verginius and Larcius (were) unsound as a precedent, especially (that) of Larcius, as it would destroy all credit. The advice given by Verginius was regarded as the most moderate and in between the other two; (2) but, through (the spirit of) faction and a regard for private interests, which always have obstructed, and (always) will obstruct, public deliberations, Appius prevailed, and he was also near to being appointed dictator (himself); (3) that event would have especially alienated the common people at a most dangerous moment, since the Volscians, the Aequi and the Sabines all happened to be in arms together. (4) But it was of concern to the consuls and the older senators, that an office (so) powerful in its authority should be entrusted to a (man of) mild disposition. (5) They appointed Manius Valerius, son of Volusus, (as) dictator (i.e. in 494 B.C.). The plebs, although they realised that the appointment of a dictator was aimed at them, yet, since they possessed the right of appeal through a law (proposed) by his brother (i.e. Publius Valerius Publicola in 509 B.C.), had no fear of anything harsh and tyrannical from (a member of) that family. (6) Then, an edict put forward by the dictator, confirmed their feelings, as it almost coincided with the edict of the consul Servilius; but, thinking (it) better to have confidence in the man and his authority, they gave their names (i.e. they enrolled) with any struggle overlooked. (7) Ten legions (were) enrolled - never before (had there been) so large an army; then, three (legions were) given to (each of) the consuls, (and) the dictator (had) command of four.
(8) Nor could war be deferred any longer. The Aequi had invaded Latin territory. Envoys from the Latins begged the senate either to send (them) help or to allow them to take up arms themselves for the sake of defending their borders. (9) It seemed safer that the Latins should be defended without arming (them) than they should be allowed to resume their weapons. The consul Veturius was sent (to them); this brought the pillaging to an end. The Aequi left the plains, and, relying more on their position than their arms, they entrusted themselves to the summits of the mountain ridges. (10) The other consul (i.e. Verginius) proceeded against the Volscians, and lest he himself should waste his time, he provoked the enemy, chiefly by ravaging their lands, to bring their camp nearer and to engage in battle. (11) In the middle of the plain between their camps, they took up their positions with hostile standards (i.e. in battle order), each in front of its own stockade. (12) In size of numbers, the Volscians had somewhat the upper hand; accordingly, they rushed to enter the fight in a contemptuous manner. The Roman consul did not advance his battle-line, (but) ordered his (men) to stand with their spears fixed (in the ground); when the enemy had come to hand, then they were to arise with all their might and settle the matter with their swords. (13) The Volscains, wearied by running and shouting, hurled themselves upon the Romans, who seemed (to be) numb with fear, (but,) when they felt the resistance (that was) made against them and (saw) the swords flash before their eyes, just as if they had fallen into an ambush, the turned to flight in a state of disorder; and nor did (those) who entered into battle at the double even have enough energy to flee. (14) The Romans, on the other hand, because they had stood at ease at the beginning of the battle, (were) physically fresh, (and) readily overtook the exhausted (men) and too their camp in a rush, and pursuing the enemy (who had been) plucked out of their camp to Velitrae, the victors together with the vanquished burst into the city in a single body; (15) more blood (was shed) there in the promiscuous slaughter of all kinds (of people) than (had) occurred in the battle itself. Quarter (was) granted in a small (number of cases to those) without arms who came to surrender.
Chapter 31. The triumph of Valerius, who then resigns the dictatorship because he disapproves of the treatment of the plebs with regard to debt repayment.
(1) While these events were taking place among the Volscians, the dictator (i.e. Valerius) routed the Sabines and stripped their camp, (at the place) where by far the most important part of the war lay. (2) By letting his cavalry loose (on them), he had thrown into confusion the centre of the enemy's battle-line, which, when they extended their wings too widely, they had not strengthened by a sufficient depth of files; (while they were) in a state of disorder, the infantry charged (them). By the same charge their camp (was) captured and the war was brought to an end. (3) Since the battle at Lake Regillus, no other battle in those years was more distinguished (than this one). The dictator rode into the city in triumph. In addition to the usual honours, a place in the Circus (was) assigned to him and his descendants (from which) to watch (the games), (and) a curule chair (i.e. an official seat) was placed on that spot. (4) The Volscians having been conquered, the territory of Velitrae (was) taken from (them); colonists (were) sent from the City to Velitrae, and a colony (was) settled (there). Quite soon after (this), a battle was fought with the Aequi, though the consul (i.e. Veturius) (had been) reluctant (to fight one), since it was necessary to approach the enemy from unfavourable ground; (5) but the soldiers, accusing (him) of prolonging the campaign, so that the dictator might lay down his office before they returned to the City, and his promises might fall to the ground without effect, as those of the consul (i.e. Publius Servilius Publicola) (had) previously (done), forced (him) to march his army up the mountain slopes, perhaps rashly. (6) The cowardice of the enemy turned this unwise venture into a success, (as) they, before they had come within range of a spear, (were so) astounded at the audacity of the Romans that they abandoned the camp which they had maintained in a highly defensible position and dashed down into the valleys on the opposite side. There ample booty and a bloodless victory were (gained).
(7) So, while war had been successfully waged in three places, anxiety about the outcome of domestic affairs had not left the Fathers or the plebs; (for) with such great influence and artifice had the money-lenders made their arrangements to baffle not only the plebs but even the dictator himself. (8) For Valerius, after the return of the consul Veturius, brought to the senate (as) the first of all matters of business (one) on behalf of the victorious people, and he made a proposal as to what should be done with regard to (those) bound in debt. (9) When this proposal was rejected, he said, "I do not please (you as) an advocate of harmony; by heaven, you will very soon wish that the Roman plebs had spokesmen like me. As the (situation) relates to me, I will not disappoint my citizens any further, nor will I, myself, be a dictator to no purpose. (10) Internal strife (and) foreign war ensured that the state had need of this office: peace has been procured abroad, (but) at home it is being thwarted; at the mutiny I will be there (as) a private (citizen) rather than (as) dictator." So, he left the senate-house and abdicated from his dictatorship. (11) To the common people, the case seemed clear that he had left office in indignation at their circumstances. And so, as if his pledge (had been) fully discharged, since it had not been his fault that it had not been carried out, they escorted (him,) as he departed to his house, with applause and praises.
Chapter 32. The Belly and the Limbs.
(1) Fear then seized hold of the senators, lest, if the army should be disbanded, secret meetings and conspiracies would happen all over again. And so, although the levy had been held by the dictator, yet, because they had sworn obedience to the consuls, they (i.e. the senators) considered the troops were bound by their oath, and, under the pretext of warfare having been renewed by the Aequi, they ordered the legions to be led out of the City. This having been done, the mutiny was brought to a head. Now, at first, it is said there was talk of killing the consuls, in order that they might be released from their oath; then, having learned that no religious obligation should be absolved by a crime, on the advice of a certain Sicinius, (and) without orders from the consuls, they (i.e. the soldiers) withdrew to the Sacred Mount - this is across the River Anio, three miles from the City; (3) - this is a more generally accepted (version of) the story than (the one) of which Piso (i.e. the historian Lucius Calpurnius Piso, cos. 133 B.C.) is the author, (namely) that the secession occurred on the Aventine; - (4) there, without any leader, they quietly fortified their camp with stockade and trench, and by taking nothing (with them) but (what was) necessary for their sustenance, they maintained themselves for several days, neither receiving nor giving any provocation. (5) (There was) great panic in the City, and all (activities) were suspended through mutual distrust. The plebeians (who were) left by their (comrades) dreaded the violence of the senators; the senators dreaded the plebeians remaining in the City, uncertain (whether) they would rather they remained or went away. (6) Besides, how long would the multitude that had seceded remain tranquil? What then would happen if some foreign war should break out in the meantime? (7) They reckoned, for sure, that no hope (was) left save in the concord of the citizens; this should be restored to the state by fair (means) or foul. (8) They therefore decided that Menenius Agrippa (i.e. Agrippa Menenius Lanatus, cos. 503 B.C.) should be sent as a spokesman to the plebs, (as he was) an eloquent man (and) dear to the plebs because he had been raised among them. On being admitted to the camp, he is reputed to have told (them) in the primitive and uncouth manner of speech of those days nothing other than the following: (9) in the days when a man's limbs did not all agree among themselves, as (they do) now, but each one had a mind of its own and its own voice, the other parts (of the body) were displeased that everything was procured for the belly by their care and their labour and service, (while) the belly, (lying) in their midst, (did) nothing other than enjoy the pleasured bestowed (upon it); (10) they therefore conspired that no hands should carry food to the mouth, and that the mouth should not accept (anything) given (it), and that the teeth should not chew what they had received. While they sought, in their anger, to subdue the belly by starvation, the limbs themselves, together with the whole of the body, were reduced to (a state of) extreme weakness. (11) Then, it became clear that even the belly performed no idle service, and was no more nourished than it nourished the blood, (which) henceforth restored to all parts of the body (that substance) by which we live and flourish (and) at the same time (was) distributed into our veins, after being hastened by the digestion of food.
Chapter 33. Tribunes of the Plebs are first appointed; the fall of Corioli and the emergence of Marcius Coriolanus.
(1) Then, a beginning was made to (the achievement of) harmony, and agreement (was reached) on these terms, that the plebs should have their own inviolable magistrates, who should have the right to bring help against the consuls, nor should any senator be permitted to take up this office. (2) And so, two tribunes of the plebs (were) chosen, Gaius Licinius and Lucius Albinus. They (then) appointed three (others to be) their colleagues. Among these was Sicinius, the promoter of the sedition: with regard to the (other) two, who they were is not agreed. (3) There are (some) who say that only two tribunes were elected on the Sacred Mount and that the sacred law (i.e. under the 'lex sacrata' offenders, together with their wives and children, were 'devoted' ['sacer'] to the infernal deities; this awful curse secured the inviolability of the tribunes of the plebs) was passed there.
During the secession of the plebs, Spurius Cassius (Vecellinus) (i.e. cos. I in 502 B.C.) and Postumus Cominius (Auruncus) (i.e. cos. I. in 501 B.C.) entered into the consulship (i.e. in 493 B.C.). (4) When they (were) consuls, a treaty was made with the Latin peoples. In order to conclude this (treaty), one consul (i.e. Spurius Cassius) remained in Rome: the other (one) (i.e. Postumus Cominius), having been dispatched to the Volscian war, routed and put to flight the Volscians of Antium, and, having forced (them) into the town of Longula, he pursued (them) and took possession of its walls. (5) From there he immediately took Polusca, also belonging to the Volscians; then, he attacked Corioli with great force. Among the foremost of the young soldiers in the camp was Gnaeus Marcius, a young man resolute both in mind and body, to whom the surname Coriolanus was afterwards (given). (6) When Volscian troops coming from Antium suddenly attacked the Roman army (which was) besieging Corioli, and (which was) directing its attention to the townspeople, whom it knew to be shut up within (the walls), without any apprehension of an imminent assault from outside, and the enemy sallied forth from the town at the same time, Marcius happened to be on guard. (7) With a selected band of soldiers, he not only repelled the attack of those who had broken out, but he boldly rushed in through the open gate, and, after causing a slaughter in the nearest part of the city, he took up a fire-brand on the spur of the moment and hurled (it) at the buildings overhanging the wall. (8) At this, the shouts of the townspeople mingled with the wailing of the women and children, as is usual when terror is first raised, both increased the courage of the Romans and distressed the Volscians, seeing that the city, to which they had come to bring relief, (had been) captured. (9) Thus, the Volscians of Antium were routed and the town of Corioli (was) captured; and so completely did Marcius overshadow the reputation of the consul with his own glory, that were it not for the record, engraved upon a bronze column, of the treaty with the Latins, (which was) struck by Spurius Cassius alone, since his colleague was absent, the memory that Postumus Cominius had waged war with the Volscians would have been forgotten.
(10) The same year (i.e. 493 B.C.) saw the death of Agrippa Menenius, a man, (who) throughout his whole life (had been) equally dear to senators and the plebs, and who after the secession became (even) dearer to the plebs. (11) This mediator and arbitrator of civic harmony, this envoy of the senators to the plebs, this restorer of the Roman people to the City, lacked the expenses for a funeral; the plebs buried him, a 'sextans' (i.e. the sixth of an 'as') being contributed per head.
Chapter 34. The famine and its consequences.
(1) Then Titus Geganius (Macerinus) (and) Publius Minucius (Augurinus) (were) appointed consuls. In this year (i.e. 492 B.C.), when everything abroad was undisturbed by war and discord at home (had been) healed, (2) another much more serious evil fell upon the community, in the first place a scarcity of corn, (arising) from the fields being uncultivated during the secession of the plebs, then a famine such as is common to (those who are) besieged. (3) And it would have meant death to the people and to the slaves, at any rate, if the consuls had not made arrangements to send out (men) in all directions to buy up grain, not only into Etruria along the coast to the right of Ostia, and along the sea to its left through Volscian (territory) as far as Cumae, but (it was) even sought in Sicily; so had the dislike of their neighbours compelled (them) to seek distant help. (4) When grain had been purchased at Cumae, the ships were detained by the tyrant Aristodemus in return for the property of the Tarquinii, whose heir he was; the corn-merchants were even in danger of being attacked themselves by the local population; (5) from the Etruscans corn came by way of the Tiber; by this (means) the plebs were kept alive. Amid so great a scarcity of provisions, they would have been harassed by a disastrous war, if a mighty pestilence had not befallen the Volscians just as (they were) taking up arms. (6) The minds of the enemy (were so) alarmed by this disaster, that they were seized by some terror even when the (plague) had abated, and the Romans increased the number of colonists at Velitrae, and sent a new colony into the mountains at Norba, to serve as a stronghold in the Pomptine (district).
(7) Then, when Marcus Minucius (Augurinus) and Aulus Sempronius (Atratinus) were consuls (i.e. in 491 B.C.; in both cases this was for the second time, as they had previously been consuls together in 497 B.C.), a large amount of grain (was) brought from Sicily, and there was a discussion in the senate as to the price at which it should be given to the plebs. (8) Many thought the time had come for repressing the plebs and for recovering the rights which had been extorted from the senate by the secession and by violence. (9) Foremost among (these was) Marcius Coriolanus, an enemy of tribunician power: "If they want corn at the old (price)," he said, " let them restore to the senate its former authority. Why do I, having been sent under the yoke, and having been redeemed, as it were, from brigands, see plebeian magistrates, (why do I see) Sicinius in power? (10) Shall I endure these humiliations any longer than is necessary? Should I who could not endure Tarquin (as) king, endure Sicinius? Let him now secede and call out the plebs; the way to the Sacred Mount and the other hills lies open. Let them seize the corn from our fields in the way that they seized (it) two years ago; let them have joy of the corn-price, which they have brought about by their madness. (11) I venture to say that they will be (so) tamed by this (situation) that they would rather be cultivators of the fields themselves than prevent (them) being cultivated by means of a secession under arms." (12) It is not so easy to say whether this should have been done than that it was possible, I think, for the Fathers to have made such conditions for reducing the price of corn so as to have removed the authority of the tribunes and all the terms (that had been) imposed upon them against their will.
Chapter 35. Condemnation of Coriolanus and its consequences.
(1) The proposal seemed too harsh even to the senate, and anger nearly drove the people to take up arms: (they said) that they were now being assailed with hunger as though (they were) enemies, and that they were being cheated of food and sustenance; the foreign corn, which fortune had unexpectedly given (them) as their sole (means of) nourishment, was being snatched from their mouths, unless the tribunes should be given up in chains to Gnaeus Marcius, (and) unless he should receive satisfaction on the back of the Roman plebs. In him a new executioner (had) risen up against them, who bade them die or become slaves. (2) An attack would have been made upon (him) when he came out of the senate-house, if the tribunes had not, in the nick of time, appointed a day (to try him). At this, their anger was suppressed; each man considered that he had become a judge and the master of life and death over his foe. (3) At first, Marcius heard the tribunes' threats with contempt: the right to help, not to punish, had been granted to that office, and they were tribunes of the plebs, not of the Fathers. But the plebs had risen up in such a hostile manner that the punishment of one (man) had to be accepted by the Fathers. (4) Yet, they resisted the resentment of their adversaries and each one made use of their own powers and those of the entire order. At first, a trial was made (to see) if they could upset the affair by posting their clients (as pickets) to deter individuals from (attending) secret meetings and assemblies. (5) Then, they all came out as one body - you would have said that everyone of the Fathers was on trial - imploring the plebs by entreaties to release to them one citizen, one senator; if they were unwilling to acquit (him) as innocent, let them give him up as guilty. (6) When he himself was not present on the day appointed, anger against (him) persisted. Condemned in his absence, he went into exile among the Volscians, issuing threats against his country, and even then entertaining hostile feelings (towards it).
The Volscians received (him) (i.e. Marcius Coriolanus) in a kindly manner, when he came (among them), and they cared for (him) the more kindly on a daily basis the greater his anger towards his own (people) stood out, and now complaints, (and) now threats, were frequently heard. He enjoyed the hospitality of Attius Tullius. (7) He was by far the chief (man) of the Volscian name, and ever hostile to the Romans. So, when inveterate hatred spurred on one (of them), and recent fury (spurred on) the other, they formed joint plans for a war with Rome. (8) They believed their people could not be easily impelled into taking up arms (which they had) so often unluckily essayed: their spirits, (it was felt,) had been broken by the loss of their young men in many frequent wars, and finally by the pestilence; in (a case where) animosity had now been weakened by a long period of time, it was necessary to adopt some artifice so that their minds might be exacerbated by some fresh (cause of) irritation,
Chapter 36. Difficulties in holding the 'Great Games'.
91) It so happened that preparations were being made at Rome for a repetition of the 'Great Games' (i.e. also known as the 'Circenses'). The cause of (them) being repeated was this. On the morning of the games, when the show had not yet taken place, a certain master of a household had driven a slave of his through the middle of the circus, flogging (him) with a pitch-fork (as they went); the games (had) then begun, as though this event had not affected their sanctity. (2) Not long afterwards, however, Titus Latinius, a plebeian man, had a dream; Jupiter appeared to say that the games' public dancer (i.e. the beaten slave) had displeased him; that, unless these games were repeated with due magnificence, the City would be in peril; (and) that he was to go and report this to the consuls. (3) Although his mind was not quite free of superstition, dread of the majesty of the magistrates and fear overcame (him), lest he should appear as a laughing-stock in the mouths of men. (4) The hesitation cost him dear; for within a few days he lost a son. Lest he should be in doubt as to the cause of this sudden calamity, that same figure seemed to show itself to his distressed mind in his sleep, and to ask (whether) he had had a great enough payment for rejecting (the will of) the divinity; (yet) a greater (recompense) was in store, unless he should go at once and inform the consuls. (5) The matter was now more pressing. As he still delayed and procrastinated, a severe stroke of illness attacked (him) with a sudden paralysis. (6) Then, indeed, the anger of the gods came as a warning (to him). So, worn out by his sufferings, past and present, he called a meeting of his kinsfolk, (and,) when he had explained (to them what he had) seen and heard, and (how) Jupiter had so often appeared (to him) in his sleep, (and how) the threats and anger of heaven (had been) realised in his own misfortunes, with the undoubted consent of all (those) who were present, he is conveyed in a litter to the consuls in the Forum. (7) Conveyed from there to the senate-house by order of the consuls, he told the same (story) to the Fathers, to the great amazement of (them) all. (8) It is committed to the record that he who was carried into the senate-house afflicted in all his limbs, having performed his duty, returned home on his own feet.
Chapter 37. The Volscians are expelled from the City.
(1) The senate decreed that the games should be celebrated on as grand a scale as possible. A great host of Volscians came to the games at the suggestion of Attius Tullius. (2) Before the games had started, Tullius went to the consuls, as he had arranged (to do) when at home with Marcius: he said there was a matter of public interest which he wished to discuss (with them) in private. (3) When the bystanders had been removed, he said, "I say with reluctance (something) about my fellow-citizens which is rather disparaging. I do not, however, come with the accusation that any (offence) has been committed by them, but to put you on your guard lest they do commit (one). (4) The dispositions of our (people) are much more fickle than I could wish. (5) We have learned this from many disasters, since we are secure not through our own merit but through your patience. A great multitude of Volscians is now here; the games are going on; the community will be intent on the show. (6) I remember what was done on a similar occasion in this city by the young men of the Sabines; my mind shudders lest anything ill-advised and thoughtless should happen. I have thought, both for our own sake and for yours, that these (things) should be said to you, consuls, beforehand. (7) As the situation affects me, it is henceforth my intention to go back home at once, lest, (by) being on the spot, I may be implicated by my involvement with some act or statement." Having said these (words), he departed. (8) When the consuls laid before the senate this vague warning (coming) from so reliable a source, (it was) the source, as (often) happens, rather than the story (that) induced (them) to take precautions, even though (they might prove) unnecessary; and a decree of the senate was passed that the Volscians should leave the city, and heralds were sent out to command that all of them were to set out before nightfall. A great panic struck them at first as they rushed to their lodgings to pick up their (belongings); but then, when setting out, indignation arose that they were being driven away, like depraved and contaminated (persons) from the games on festival days, which were in a certain way a meeting between men and gods.
Chapter 38. Tullius' speech persuades the Volscians to take up arms against Rome.
(1) As they were going along in an almost unbroken line, Tullius, who had gone on ahead (of them) to the source of the Ferentina, met their chiefs, as each one arrived, with complaints and (words of) indignation, and he conducted these (men) themselves and, with their help, the rest of the throng, to a field lying below the road. (2) There he launched into a speech: "Even though," he said, "you should forget everything else, the former injuries caused by the Roman people, and the disasters of the nation of the Volscians, how on earth can you bear this insult of today, in which they commenced their games by treating us with ignominy? (3) Or did you not feel that they were triumphing over you today? (And) that, you, when you were departing, had become a spectacle to all (people, whether) citizens, foreigners, and so many neighbouring peoples, (and) that your wives (and) your children were being made an exhibition of in the eyes of all (men)? (4) What do you think were the thoughts of those who heard the voice of the herald, and who saw us go away, and of those who met this ignominious procession, but that there must have been some sin, through which, if we were present at the spectacle, we should pollute the games and earn atonement, and, for this reason, we were being expelled from the seat of the righteous, and from their place of meeting and council? (5) Now what? Does it not occur to you that that we are alive (only) because we hastened to depart? If this is (indeed) a departure and not a flight. And do you not regard this (as) a city of our enemies, when, if we had delayed for a single day, we should all have had to die? War has been declared upon you, to the great misfortune of those who have declared (it), if you are men." (6) And so, full of their spontaneous anger and inflamed (by this speech), they then departed to their homes, and, with each man instigating his own people, they brought it about that the entire Volscian name should revolt.
Chapter 39. Coriolanus rejects the Roman envoys.
(1) The generals for this war chosen by the opinion of all their peoples (were) Attius Tullius and the Roman exile, Gnaeus Marcius, in whom rather more hope was placed. (2) This hope he by no means disappointed, so that it was clearly apparent that the Roman state was stronger in its leaders than in its armies. Having first marched to Circeii, he expelled the Roman colonists from there, and handed over that city in a state of freedom to the Volscians; (3) he deprived the Romans of Satricum, Longula, Polusca, (and) Corioli, (all) these towns (which had) recently (been acquired); (4) then, he recovered Lavinium; after that, he crossed into the Latin Way, by crosswise footpaths, (and) then he took in succession Corbio, Vetellia, Trebium, Labici (and) Pedum. (5) Finally, he led (his army) from Pedum to the City, and, pitching his camp at the Cluilian Trenches five miles from the City, from there he laid waste Roman territory, guards having been sent out among the plunderers, (6) in order to preserve intact the lands of the patricians, whether because he was more antagonistic towards the plebs, or so that discord might arise between the senators and the plebs. (7) Undoubtedly it would have arisen - so greatly were the tribunes inciting the plebs, already headstrong in themselves, against their nation's leaders - , but fear of the outsider, the greatest bond of harmony, joined their minds together, however mistrustful and hostile (they were). (8) This (was) the only (matter) they did not agree on, that the senate and consuls put their hope nowhere else other than in arms, (whereas) the common people preferred everything other than war.
(9) Spurius Nautius (Rutilus) and Sextus Furius were now consuls (i.e. in 488 B.C.; Livy has omitted the consuls for 490 and 489 B.C.). While they were reviewing their legions and distributing guards along the walls and at other places, where they had decided that there should be sentries and watchmen, a huge crowd demanding peace terrified (them) in the first place by their mutinous clamour, and then compelled (them) to call the senate to propose that envoys should be sent to Gnaeus Marcius. (10) The Fathers accepted the proposal, when it appeared that their courage was giving way, and spokesmen (were) sent to Marcius (to talk) of peace. (11) They brought back a harsh response: that, if their land was restored to the Volscians, (the question) of peace could (then) be considered: that, if they wished to enjoy the plunder of war at their ease, he, mindful of the wrong (inflicted on him) by his fellow-countrymen and the kindness of his hosts, would do his best to make it appear that his spirits had been aroused, not broken, by his exile. (12) Then, the same (envoys were) sent a second time, (but) they were not taken into the camp. Even priests, enveloped in their insignia, were said to have gone to the enemy's camp (as) suppliants; (but they were) no more (able) than the envoys to turn his mind around.
Chapter 40. At the entreaties of his family and the women of Rome, Coriolanus withdraws his army.
(1) Then, women gathered together in large numbers at (the house of) Veturia, the mother of Coriolanus, and Volumnia, his wife. (Whether) this was public policy or a woman's fear I cannot find out; (2) at all events, they successfully arranged that both Veturia, a woman of great age, and Volumnia should take the two small sons of Marcius with them to the enemy camp, and that, since the men could not defend (it) with their arms, the women should defend (it) with their prayers and their tears. (3) When they reached the camp, and the word came to Coriolanus that a great column of women was at hand, (he) who had been moved neither by the majesty of the state in (the persons of) its ambassadors, nor by the sanctity of religion so strikingly offered to his eyes and mind in (the persons of) its priests, was much more resolute against the tears of the women. (4) Then, one of his friends, who had recognised Veturia (as) conspicuous in her sadness among the other (women), standing between her daughter-in-law and her grandsons, said, "Unless my eyes are deceiving me, your mother, your wife, and your children are approaching." (5) When Coriolanus, almost like (a man) demented (springing) in consternation from his seat, offered to embrace his mother as she met (him), the lady, turning from prayers to anger, said, "Before I receive your embrace, let me know (whether) I have come to an enemy or to a son, (and whether) I am (here) in your camp as your prisoner or as your mother. (6) (Is it) to this (that) my long life and unhappy old age have brought me, that I should behold you (as) an exile, (and) then (as) an enemy? (7) Could you ravage this land, which gave you birth and nourished (you)? Though you had come with a hostile and vengeful mindset, did not your anger subside when you entered its borders? Did it not occur (to you), when Rome came in sight, "that within these walls are my home and my household gods, my mother, my wife and my children"? (8) So, if I had not given birth, Rome would not have been besieged; if I had not had a son, I should have died a free (woman) in a free country. But I can suffer nothing now that will not be more disgraceful to you than distressing to me, nor, however very wretched I may be, shall I be (so) for long; (9) think of those, whom, if you persist, either an untimely death or a long (period of) servitude awaits." Then, his wife and children flung their arms around (him), and the tears that arose from the entire company of women and their lamentation for themselves and for their native-land broke the man. (10) So then, he embraced (the members) of his (family), and sent (them) back: he himself moved his camp away from the City. Then, when he had withdrawn his troops from Roman territory, they say that he lost his life by one kind of death or another, overwhelmed by resentment in the circumstances. I find in Fabius, (viz. the historian Quintus Fabius Pictor lived 270-200 B.C.), by far the most ancient writer, that he lived right up to old age; (11) he states, at least, that in advanced old age he often used to employ the saying that exile is much more wretched for an old man. The men of Rome did not begrudge their praise to the women - so did they live without detracting from the glory of others - (12) and that it should serve as a monument, a temple to the Fortune of Women was built and consecrated.
The Volscians later returned to Roman territory in conjunction with the Aequi, but the Aequi no longer accepted Attius Tullius (as) their leader. (13) Hence, from the dispute as to whether the Volscians or the Aequi should furnish the commander to the allied army, an insurrection and then a fierce battle arose. As a result, the (good) fortune of the Roman people brought about the destruction of the two armies of their enemies in a conflict no less ruinous than (it was) stubborn.
(14) Titus Sicinius (Sabinus) and Gaius Aquilius (Tuscus) (became) consuls (i.e. in 487 B.C.). The Volscians came to Sicinius (as) a province, the Hernici - for they too were in arms - to Aquilius. In this year the Hernici (were) conquered: with the Volscians, they came away from battle on level (terms).
Chapter 41. Land grants proposed; the treason of Spurius Cassius.
(1) Next year (i.e. in 486 B.C.), Spurius Cassius (Vecellinus) and Proculus Verginius (Tricostus Rutilus) became consuls. A treaty (was) struck with the Hernici; two-thirds of their land (was) taken from (them). Then, the consul Cassius was wishing to apportion half (of this) to the Latins and half to the plebs. (2) To this gift he also wished to add some of the land, which, (though) public, he alleged had been occupied by private (citizens). Now this (proposal) alarmed several of the senators, (who were) themselves possessors (of this land), as a danger to their own interests; but among the senators there was also public anxiety that the consul, by this largess, was causing a very dangerous threat to liberty. (3) Then, for the first time, an agrarian law was promulgated, (and) from that day right up to our own remembrance (such a law has) never been put forward without (occasioning) very great disturbances to the state. (4) The other consul resisted the largess, with the senators supporting (him), nor were all the plebs opposing (him), and from the first they had begun to despise a gift which had been extended from citizens to allies; (5) then again, the consul Verginius was often heard in their assemblies prophesying, as it were, that the gift of his colleague was pestilential, and that those lands would bring slavery to all those who received (them), (and) that the way was being prepared for a throne. (6) So, for what (reason) had the allies and the Latin name been included? For what (reason) had it happened that a third part of the land (that had been) taken from the Hernici, our enemies shortly beforehand, had been given back (to them), unless (it was) that these nations might have Cassius as a leader instead of Coriolanus? (7) The dissuader and the opposer of the agrarian law now began to be popular. And now each consul, as if vying with each other, began to indulge the plebs. Verginius said that he would allow the lands to be assigned, so long as they were not assigned to anyone other than a Roman citizen; (8) Cassius, since in his agrarian donation he was seeking popularity among the allies, and, for that (reason), he was held in less regard among his citizens, in order that he might reconcile the minds of the citizens to himself by another gift, ordered that the money received in return for the Sicilian corn should be repaid to the people. (9) But the people rejected this as nothing other than a blatant attempt to purchase regal power; so strongly were his gifts spurned, as if all (things) were in abundance, on account of their innate suspicion that he was seeking the throne. (10) It is agreed that, as soon as he had laid down his office, he (was) condemned and put to death. There are (those) who say that his father was the agent of his punishment: that, having heard the case at home, he scourged (him) and executed (him) and consecrated his son's property to Ceres; that from this a statue was made and inscribed, "a gift from the Cassian family." (11) I find in certain (authors), and this is a more reliable account, that the day (of his trial) for high treason was assigned by the quaestors Kaeso Fabius (Vibulanus) and Lucius Valerius (Potitus), and that he was condemned by the judgment of the people, and that his house (was) demolished by the state. Its site is in front of the temple of Tellus. (12) But, whether it was a domestic or public trial, he was convicted when Servius Cornelius (Maluginensis) (and) Quintus Fabius (Vibulanus) (were) consuls (i.e. in 485 B.C.).
Chapter 42. War with the Volscians and Aequi; agrarian unrest.
(1) The people's anger towards Cassius was not longlasting. The attractiveness of the agrarian legislation appealed to their minds on its own account, once its author had been removed, and their desire for it was enhanced by the meanness of the Fathers, who, in the year when the Volscians and the Aequi were defeated (i.e. 485 B.C.), cheated the soldiers of their booty. (2) Whatever was taken from the enemy the consul Fabius sold and placed (the proceeds) into the treasury. The name of Fabius was hateful to the plebs on account of the latest consul (i.e. Quintus); the Fathers, however, arranged that Caeso Fabius (Vibulanus) should be appointed consul, together with Lucius Aemilius (Mamercus) (i.e. for the year 484 B.C.). (3) The common people, further incensed by this, produced an external war by creating a domestic disturbance. At that time, civil dissensions were interrupted by civil war. With a single purpose, the senators and the plebs conquered the rebellious Volscians and Aequi in a successful battle, with Aemilius as their leader. (4) Yet, their flight killed more of the enemy than the battle (did), so tenaciously did the cavalry pursue (them) as they fled. (5) The temple of Castor was dedicated in the same year (i.e. 484 B.C.) on the Ides of Quintilis (i.e. 15th July). It had been vowed during the Latin war by the dictator Postumius (i.e. in 496 B.C.): his son, appointed duumvir (i.e. member of a board of two) for this very (purpose), dedicated (it).
(6) In that year also (i.e. 484 B.C.) the minds of the common people were thrilled by the charm of the agrarian law. The tribunes of the plebs sought to advertise democratic power by (promoting) the people's law. The senators, believing that there was enough, and more than enough, gratuitous frenzy in the multitude (as it was), shuddered at the largesses and the inducements to reckless behaviour. (7) The senators found the consuls (to be) the keenest leaders in offering resistance. So, that part of the commonwealth prevailed, and not with regard to the present only, but for the coming year (i.e. 483 B.C.) also they brought in (as) consuls Caeso's brother, Marcus Fabius (Vibulanus), and one more hateful to the plebs for the prosecution of Spurius Cassius, (namely) Lucius Valerius (Potitus). (8) In that year also there was a contest with the tribunes. The law (was) a vain (one), and the promoters of the law happened to be vain through boasting of a useless gift. From then on the Fabian name (was) held in high (regard) after three successive consulates (i.e. Quintus 485 B.C., Caeso 484 B.C., and Marcus 483 B.C.), all experiencing without a break, as it were, conflicts with the tribunes; and so, honour remained as well placed in that family for sometime. A Veientine war was then begun, and the Volscians waged war again. (9) But their strength (was) almost more than sufficient to (conduct) foreign wars, and they abused it by contending among themselves. (10) Now to the suffering minds of all (of them) were added heavenly prodigies, exhibiting almost daily threats in the City and the countryside; and so, the soothsayers consulted by the state and by private individuals, sometimes by (inspecting) entrails, (and) sometimes by (observing the flight of) birds, declared that (there was) no other cause of the divine anger, but that the religious rites were not being duly attended to. (11) These terrors at last resulted in this, that a Vestal Virgin (named) Oppia (was) condemned for unchastity and given her punishment.
Chapter 43. The Veientine and Aequo-Volscian Wars.
(1) Quintus Fabius (Vibulanus) and Gaius Julius (Iullus) were then made consuls (i.e. for the year 482 B.C.). In this year dissension at home (was) not abated and war abroad was fiercer. Arms (were) taken up by the Aequi: the Veientes also entered the territory of the Romans to ravage (it). While anxiety about these wars was growing, Caeso Fabius (Vibulanus) and Spurius Furius (Fusus) became consuls (i.e. for the year 481 B.C.). The Aequi were attacking Ortona, a Latin city; (2) the Veientes, (who) by now (had had) their fill of rapine, were threatening that they would attack Rome itself. (3) These alarms, although they ought to have restrained (them), increased the animosity of the plebs still further; and the custom of declining military service was returning, not of its own accord on the part of the plebs, but Spurius Licinius, a tribune of the plebs, thinking that the time had come, through extreme necessity, for imposing the agrarian law on the Fathers, had undertaken to obstruct the military preparations. (4) But all the resentment (attaching) to the power of the tribunes was turned against its author, nor did the consuls rise up against him more zealously than his own colleagues (did), and, with their assistance, the consuls hold the levy. (5) An army is enlisted for two wars at the same time: (the one) against the the Aequi (is) to be led by Fabius, (the one) against the Veientines is given to Furius. Against the Veientes nothing worthy of memory (was) accomplished; (6) and indeed (in the campaign) against the Aequi, Fabius had somewhat more trouble with his fellow-citizens than with the enemy. That one man, the consul himself, upheld the (interests of) the republic, which the army, in its hatred of the consul, was seeking to betray, in so far as it lay in them (to do so). (7) For, when the consul, in addition to the very many other skills of a commander which he exhibited in preparing for the war and in conducting (it), had so drawn up the battle-line that he was able to rout the enemy's army by a cavalry charge alone, the infantry refused to pursue (them) when they fled; (8) not even the exhortation of the general they hated, nor even their own infamy, and their public disgrace in the present (circumstances) and their subsequent danger if courage were to return to the enemy, could compel them to quicken their pace, or, if nothing else, to stand in their ranks. (9) Contrary to orders, they retreated and returned to camp in dejection - you would have thought they had been defeated - , cursing now their commander, (and) now the diligent service (performed) by the cavalry. (11) The consul (i.e. Caeso Fabius) returned to Rome, with his glory in war not having been increased as much as the hatred of his soldiers towards him had been aggravated and exacerbated. Yet, the Fathers arranged that the consulship should remain in the Fabian family; they elect Marcus Fabius (Vibulanus) (as) consul (i.e. for the year 480 B.C.), and Gnaeus Manlius (Cincinnatus) is given to Fabius (as) a colleague.
Chapter 44. Appius and the Tribunes.
(1) This year also had a tribune (as) the promoter of a land law. He was Tiberius Pontificius. He set out on the same path as had been trodden by Spurius Licinius, and for a time he obstructed the levy. (2) When the senators were again thrown into a state of alarm, Appius Claudius (i.e. cos. 495 B.C.) told (them) that the tribunician authority (had been) overcome in the previous year, for the present moment and as a precedent for the future, since a way had been found to make it ineffective by its own strength. (3) For (a tribune) would never be wanting who would be willing both to win a victory for himself over his colleague and the favour of the better party for the good of the state; and that more tribunes would be available to assist the consuls, if there were a need for more (of them), and that even one would be sufficient against all (the rest). (4) Only let the consuls and the leaders of the senate do the business of winning over at least some, if not all, of the tribunes to (the needs of) the state and the senate. (5) Advised by the precepts of Appius, all of the senators began to address the tribunes in a civil and kindly manner, and the men of consular rank, when anyone of them had any private claim against individual (tribunes), arranged, partly by personal influence, and partly by the authority (of their position), that the strength of tribunician power should be of benefit to the state; (6) and with the assistance of four tribunes against one obstructor of the public good, the consuls hold the levy.
(7) They, then, set out to the Veientine war, in which auxiliaries had assembled from all parts of Etruria, not so much through favour being aroused towards the Veientines, as because they had come in the hope that internal dissension might destroy the Roman state. (8) And the leading men in the councils of all the peoples of Etruria were complaining that the power of the Romans would be endless, unless those very (people) should fiercely break into mutinous uprisings between themselves. This (was) the only poison, this (was the only) blemish (that could be) procured for powerful states, so that great empires should prove mortal. (9) This evil, for a long time checked, partly by the policies of the senate, (and) partly by the forbearance of the plebs, had now come to extremities. Two states (had now been) formed out of one, (and) each party had its own magistrates (and) its own laws. (10) (Though) accustomed at first to rage against the levies, yet these same (men) had obeyed their generals in war. Whatever the state of the City (might be), so long as military discipline were maintained, it had been possible to take a stand; (but) now the habit of not obeying their magistrates was even following the Roman soldier to his own camp. (11) In their last war, on the battle-line itself, in the very (heat of) the conflict, with the consent of the army, victory (was) voluntarily handed over to the vanquished Aequi, the standards (were) abandoned, the commander was left in the line of battle, and there was a return to camp without orders. (12) Without doubt, if they were to press on, Rome could be conquered by her own soldiers. There was no need for anything other than war to be declared and (for their weapons) to be displayed; fate and the gods would do the rest of their own accord. These hopes had roused the Etruscans to prepare for war, (people who) in their many vicissitudes had been defeated and victorious in turn.
Chapter 45. Patriotism and Politics.
(1) The Roman consuls dreaded nothing else other than their own forces and their own arms. The recollection of the disastrous precedent (set) in the last war deterred (them) from bringing matters to such a point that they should have reason to fear two battle-fronts at the same time. (2) And so they confined themselves to their camp, so avoiding this double danger: (they hoped) that time and circumstance might perhaps soften their (men's) anger and bring back good sense to their minds. (3) Their Veientine enemy and the Etruscans (were) all the more eager to act; (they sought) to provoke (them) to fight by riding up to their camp and challenging (them), (and) finally, as they had achieved nothing (by doing this), by jeering, both at the consuls themselves, and at the army: (4) (they said) that the pretence of internal dissension (had been) contrived as a remedy for cowardice, and that the consuls distrusted (the courage) more than they questioned (the loyalty) of their men; that silence and inaction among men at arms (were) a novel form of sedition. Besides this, they threw out (comments), partly false (and) partly true, on the upstart nature of their race and origin. (5) When they shouted out these (taunts) beneath the very rampart and the gates, the consuls bore (them) without difficulty; but now indignation, now shame disturbed the breasts of the ignorant multitude and diverted (their attention) from internal troubles; they were unwilling that the enemy (should go) unpunished, (and) they were unwilling that success (should be attributed) to patricians or consuls. (6) At length, (hatred) of foreigners prevailed, so arrogantly and insolently did the enemy make fun of them. They gather together in a crowd at the general's tent; they demand battle, (and) they require that the signal be given. (7) The consuls put their heads together and conversed for a long time. They wanted to fight, but this desire needed to be held back and concealed, in order that by opposition and delay they might increase the passion of the soldiers once (it had been) aroused. (8) The answer is given that the situation was premature, that it was not yet time for battle; they should remain within their camp. Then they gave an order that they must abstain from fighting; if anyone should fight without orders, he would be treated as though he were in the position of an enemy. (9) Having been thus dismissed, their ardour for fighting increases, the less they believe the consuls wish it. Besides, the enemy became much more exasperating, when it was known that the consuls had decided not to fight. (10) Indeed, (they thought) that they could insult (them) with impunity, that arms were not being entrusted to the soldiers, that the matter would finally erupt in a mutiny, and that the end had come for Roman power. Relying on these (convictions), they rush up to the gates and fling abuse, (and) scarcely abstain from attacking the camp. (11) Now indeed, the Roman (army) can no longer endure such insolence; they come running to the the consuls from all sides through the whole of the camp; they no longer make their demands quietly, as before, through the leading centurions, but they all rush forward from all directions with loud shouts. The time was ripe; (12) yet, they temporised. Then, Fabius, his colleague's fear of mutiny now yielding to the growing uproar, when he had created silence with (the blast of) a trumpet, (said): "I know that these (men) can conquer, Gnaeus Manlius; they themselves have caused (me) not to know whether they wish to. (13) I am therefore resolved and determined not to give the signal, unless they swear that they will return from the battle victorious. The soldiers once deceived a Roman consul on the battle-field, (but) the gods they will never deceive." The centurion Marcus Flavoleius was among the foremost demanding battle. (14) "I shall return victorious from the field of battle, Marcus Fabius," said he. If he should fail (to keep his word), he invokes the anger of Father Jupiter, and Mars Gradivus, and the other gods. The whole army swears the same (oath), each man in succession just as he did. After they have sworn, the signal is given; they take up arms; they go into battle, full of rage and hope. (15) Now they tell the Etruscans to cast their taunts, now that each one of them (is) armed, (they tell) the enemy, (so) ready with their lips, to present themselves. (16) On that day, exceptional courage was (shown) by all (of them); the name of the Fabii was especially distinguished. In that battle they are determined to recover the good opinions of the plebs (which had been) alienated in many civil disputes.
Chapter 46. The Gallantry of the Fabii.
(1) The line of battle is formed, and their Veientine foe and the Etruscan legions do not hold back. The almost certain hope was (entertained by them) that they would no more fight with them than they fought with the Aequi; some even more (serious) deed was not to be despaired of, with regard to such exasperated minds and the double opportunity (that now presented itself) (i.e. first to murder the consul and then to go over to the enemy). (2) The business turned out quite differently; for never before in any other war did Roman soldiers enter battle with more determination - so had the enemy exasperated (them) by their taunts on the one hand, and the consuls by the delay on the other. (3) The Etruscans had scarcely time to form their ranks, when, their javelins having been flung at random at the first alarm, rather than having been (carefully) aimed, battle had come now to close quarters, now to the (use of) swords, when fighting is at its fiercest. (4) Among the foremost, the Fabian family was distinguished by the spectacle (it offered) and the example (it gave) to its fellow-citizens. (One) of these, Quintus Fabius - he had been consul two years previously (i.e. in 482 B.C.) - as he was advancing at the head (of his men) against the closely-packed Veientes, regardless of the danger, while engaging with many companies of the enemy, an Etruscan, ferocious in his strength and skill at arms, pierced (him) through the chest with his sword; the weapon having been extracted, Fabius fell forward on to the wound. (5) Both armies felt the fall of this one man, and at this the Roman (one) began to give way, when the consul Marcus Fabius leapt over the body as it lay, and, holding up his buckler, he cried: "Was this what you swore, men, that you would return to the camp as fugitives? (6) So, are you more afraid of your most cowardly enemy than of Jupiter and Mars, by whom you have sworn? But I, (who have) not sworn, will either return victorious, or will fall fighting here beside you, Quintus Fabius." Then, Caeso Fabius, consul in the previous year (i.e. 481 B.C.), (said) to the consul: "(Is it) by these words, brother, (that) you think you will make (them) fight? (7) The gods, by whom they have sworn, will make (them do that); and (as for) us, let us, as befits noblemen, (and) as is worthy of the name of Fabius, incite the courage of our soldiers by fighting rather than by exhortation!" Thus, the two Fabii rush forward to the front with levelled spears, and they carried the whole line with them.
Chapter 47. Despite the deaths of Quintus Fabius and the consul Gnaeus Manlius, a glorious victory over the Etruscans is secured.
(1) After the battle had been resumed on one part (of the field), the consul Gnaeus Manlius encouraged the fight on the other wing, where an almost similar experience occurred. (2) For, as the soldiers actively followed Quintus Fabius on one wing, so (did they follow) the consul Manlius on this (one), as he was driving the enemy, now almost routed, when he (was) struck with a serious wound and withdrew from the battle, and they fell back when they thought (he had been) killed. (3) And they would have yielded their position, if the other consul had not upheld the wavering situation, (by) riding up on a galloping horse to this part (of the field) with some troops of cavalry, and calling out that his colleague was alive and that he had come victorious, having routed (the enemy) on the other wing. (4) Manlius also presents himself in person, so as to restore the battle-line. The well-known faces of the two consuls rekindle the courage of the soldiers. At the same time too, the enemy's battle-line was now weaker, when, relying on their abundant numbers, they had withdrawn their reserves and sent (them) to storm the camp. (5) Having made an attack on it with no great struggle, while they were frittering away their time with their minds on plunder rather than on fighting, the Roman third line troops (i.e. veteran reservists), who had been unable to withstand the first assault, having sent a report to the consuls on what position their affairs were (placed in), return to the commander's tent in a compact body, and they themselves renew the battle of their own accord. (6) The consul Manlius had also ridden back to the camp, and, having stationed troops at all the gates, he had blocked the enemy's passage. Their desperate situation incited madness in the Etruscans rather than bravery. For, while rushing around wherever hope held out any (prospect of) escape, they advanced several times in a fruitless charge, (and) one group of young men made an attack on the consul himself, conspicuous by his arms. The first (discharge of) missiles (was) parried by (the men) standing around (him); (7) but after that their force could not be withstood. The consul fell, struck by a fatal wound, and all (the men) around (him were) scattered in flight. (8) Among the Etruscans daring grows; terror drives the Romans in panic through the whole of the camp, and this would have come to extremities, if the staff officers, having snatched up the consul's body, had not opened up a passage for the enemy at one gate. (9) Through that they burst out, and, departing in a confused column, they fall into (the path of) the other victorious consul. There (they were) again cut to pieces, and scattered in all directions. An outstanding victory (had been) won, yet (it was) saddened by two distinguished funerals.
(10) And so, when the senate voted (him) (i.e. Marcus Fabius) a triumph, he responded that, if the army could triumph without its commander, he would readily go along with (it), on account of their distinguished operations in that war, (but as for) himself, with his family in mourning due to the death of his brother Quintus Fabius, and with the republic partly orphaned by the loss of the other consul (i.e. Manlius), he would not accept a laurel (that was) blighted by public and private grief. (11) This triumph (thus) declined was more famous than any triumph (actually) celebrated; so glory spurned at the time has sometimes returned with (even) greater lustre. He then conducts the two funerals of his colleague and of his brother one after the other, (and) he (acts as) the eulogist in both cases, when, by granting them his own praises, he received the greatest share of them himself. (12) Nor (was he) forgetful of that (policy) which he had adopted at the beginning of his consulate, (namely that) of regaining the affections of the plebs, (and) he distributes the wounded soldiers among the patricians to be looked after. A great number (of them) were given to the Fabii, nor were they treated with greater care anywhere else. From that time the Fabii had already become popular, nor (was) this (achieved) by any methods except (those that were) of benefit to the republic.
Chapter 48. Caeso Fabius works for unity.
(1) Therefore, Caeso Fabius (Vibulanus) having been elected consul, together with Titus Verginius (Tricostus Rutilus) (i.e. for the year 479 B.C.), no more due to the zeal of the senators than to (that of) the plebs, neither wars, nor levies, nor any other prior concern drove (him) on, save that, with the prospect of harmony having already commenced to some extent, the feelings of the plebs might come together with (those) of the senators at the very first opportunity. (2) He therefore proposed at the start of his term that, before anyone of the tribunes should emerge (as) the advocate of an agrarian law, the senators themselves should take the opportunity to make (it) their gift and bestow the captured land on the common people with the utmost impartiality: (for) it was right that they should possess (it) by whose blood and sweat it had been won. (3) The senators rejected (the proposal) scornfully; some even complained that the once brilliant intellect of Caeso had been spoiled and enfeebled by his glory. At that time there were no factions in the city. The Latins were being harassed by the incursions of the Aequi. (4) Having been dispatched there with an army, Caeso crossed into the territory of the Aequi themselves in order to ravage (it). The Aequi withdrew into their towns and kept within their walls. For this (reason) there was no battle worthy of mention.
(5) But a defeat was received at the hands of the Veientine foe through the rashness of the other consul, and it would have been all up with his army, if Caeso Fabius had not come to his assistance in time. From that time (onwards) there was neither peace nor war with the Veientines; their behaviour had come close to (that of) brigands. (6) In the face of the Roman legions they retreated into their city; when they perceived that the legions (had been) withdrawn, they made incursions into the countryside, evading war by peace, (and) peace by war in turn. So, the matter could neither be dropped nor brought to an end. And other wars were impending, either in the present, as in the case of the Aequi and the Volscians, who remained quiet no longer than until the recent suffering caused by their latest defeat should pass away, or until it became apparent that the ever hostile Sabines and the whole of Etruria would soon be in motion. (7) But their Veientine foe, persistent rather than oppressive, disturbed their feelings with insults more often than risk, (something) which could not be neglected at any time or allow their attention to be turned elsewhere. (8) Then, the Fabian clan went to the senate. The consul (i.e. Caeso Fabius) spoke on behalf of his family: "As you know, Conscript Fathers, the Veientine war requires a constant rather than a strong contingent. You take care of the other wars, and assign the Fabii to the Veientines (as) their enemy. We guarantee that the majesty of the Roman name will be safe in their hands. (9) It is our intention to wage this war at our own private expense, as if (it were) a family (feud): the state may dispense with (the provision of) men and money for that purpose." (10) Hearty thanks (were) addressed (to them). Going from the senate-house, the consul returned home with a column of the Fabii, who had stood in the porch of the senate-house, accompanying (him). Having been instructed to meet the next day fully armed at the entrance to the consul's (house), they departed from there to their homes.
Chapter 49. The Fabii at the Cremera.
(1) The news spreads across the whole of the city; (the people) extol the Fabii to the sky with praises: (they say) that one family had taken upon itself the burden of the state, (and) that the Veientine war (had been) turned into a private concern and a private battle. (2) If there were two clans of the same strength in the city, let one of them demand the Volscians (and) the other the Aequi, (so that) all the neighbouring peoples could be subdued, with the Romans enjoying a profound peace. On the next day, the Fabii take up arms; they assemble (at the place) where they have been ordered (to go). (3) The consul (i.e. Caeso Fabius), clad in his military cloak, goes out into the porch and sees the whole of his clan drawn up in column of march; taking his place in the centre, he gives (them) the order to march. Never has an army marched through the city, smaller in number, and more distinguished in reputation and in the admiration of (all) men. (4) Three hundred and six soldiers, all (of them) patricians, all of one clan, none of whom you would have rejected (as) a leader, (and who would have made) an excellent senate at any time, were going out, threatening the people of Veii with ruin. (5) A crowd followed (them), some their own kinsmen and friends, contemplating nothing moderate in their minds, neither hope nor care, but everything on the highest scale, others aroused by concern for the public (welfare) and enraptured by their enthusiasm and admiration. (6) They bid (them) go with their valour, go with their good fortune, and bring back results equal to their beginnings; then they bid (them) expect consulships and triumphs, and every reward and every honour from them. (7) As they go past the Capitol, and the citadel, and the other sacred buildings, they beseech whatever gods (meet) their eyes, (and) whatever (gods) come into their minds to send that band good fortune and success, and shortly to restore (them) to their homeland and their parents. In vain were these prayers dispatched. (8) Setting out by the Unlucky Way (i.e. the name afterwards given to the arch from the result of this expedition), the right-hand arch of the Carmental Gate, they come to the River Cremera. This seemed a suitable place for a fortress to be built.
(9) Then, Lucius Aemilius (Mamercus) and Gaius Servilius (Structus Ahala) (are) appointed consuls (i.e. for the year 478 B.C.). And, so long as there was nothing other than the business of plundering (afoot), the Fabii were (strong) enough, not only to protect their fortress, but throughout that region where the Etruscan territory borders the Roman, (by) spreading (their forces) along both frontiers, they made the whole (district) safe for themselves and hostile to the enemy. (10) Then, there was a brief interruption to these depredations, when the Veientines, having summoned an army from Etruria, attacked the fortress at the Cremera, and the Roman legions, led by the consul Lucius Aemilius, fought in battle at close quarters with the Etruscans. And yet, there was scarcely time for the Veientines to draw up their battle-line; (11) so, at the first alarm, while their troops were getting behind their standards and they were posting their reserves, a brigade of Roman cavalry suddenly charged (them) on the flank and deprived (them) not only of commencing the fight, but (even) of standing their ground. (12) And so, they were driven back to the Red Rocks - there they pitched their camp - and, as suppliants, they sued for peace; through the natural inconsistency of their minds, they regretted this being obtained, before the Roman garrison (was) withdrawn from the Cremera.
Chapter 50. The annihilation of the Fabii.
(1) And again (i.e. in 477 B.C.) there was a contest of the Veientine people with the Fabii without any preparations (being made) for a greater war, and there were not only incursions into (each other's) territories or sudden attacks upon those invading, but they fought several times in the open field and in pitched battles, (2) and a single clan of the Roman people often won a victory over that most powerful Etruscan state, as the place (i.e. Veii) then was at that time. (3) At first, this seemed to the Veientines (to be something) bitterly undignified; but then, in the circumstances, a plan (was) adopted of trapping their bold enemy in an ambush; and they were even glad that the audacity of the Fabii was growing due to their frequent success. (4) And so, herds of cattle (were) driven into the path of the plunderers, as if they had come there by accident, and the devastated lands (were) deserted by the flight of the farmers, and the reserves of armed men, (who had been) sent to prevent the plundering, fled in a panic more often pretended than genuine. (5) And now the Fabii had developed such a contempt for the enemy that they believed their arms (were) invincible and could not be withstood at any place or time. This presumption carried (them so far) that, at the sight of some cattle some distance from the Cremera across a great expanse of plain, they ran down (to secure them), although few enemy arms were visible (i.e. and so a ruse should have been suspected). (6) And when, incautious and in a disorderly course, they passed the point of ambush placed on either side of the road, and, wandering about, they were catching the cattle (that had) strayed in all directions, as happens when they are infected with fear, suddenly the enemy arise from their place of ambush and were in front of (them) and on every side. (7) Firstly, the shout (that was) raised around (them) frightened (them), then missiles fell on (them) from every side; as the Etruscans closed around (them), and, hemmed in, (as they) now (were), by a continuous body of armed men, the more the enemy pressed upon (them), (the more) they were forced to compress their own circle within a narrower space, (8) something which revealed the remarkable paucity of their (numbers) and the crowd of the Etruscans (whose) ranks were enlarged in the narrow (space). (9) Then, having given up the fighting, which they had directed equally on all sides, they all incline themselves to one spot. Thither, (by means of nothing) but their bodies and their weapons, their forced their way in a wedge. (10) The way led gently to the top of a hill. There, at first, they took a stand; soon, when their higher position had given (them) a breathing space, and (the opportunity) to recover their spirits from such great anxiety, they repelled (them) even as they were climbing up, and their handful of men would have been victorious with the help of their position, if (a party of) Veientines, sent around the ridge, had not come to the summit of the hill. So, the enemy again gained the higher (position). (11) The Fabii were slain to a man and their fortress (was) stormed. It is generally agreed that three hundred and six (men) perished, that one (who was) almost a boy in age survived (i.e. Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, cos. 467 B.C.) and that the stock of the Fabian clan was destined to be the greatest help at home and in war amid the uncertain affairs of the Roman people.
Chapter 51. The Etruscans threaten Rome.
(1) When this disaster was suffered, Gaius Horatius (Pulvillus) and Titus Menenius (Lanatus) were now consuls (i.e. in the year 477 B.C.). Menenius (was) immediately sent against the Etruscans, elated (as they were) by their victory, and the enemy occupied the Janiculum; and the City would have been besieged with a shortage of corn in addition to the war - for the Etruscans had crossed the Tiber, - if the consul Horatius had not been recalled from (the territory of) the Volscians. And so close did that war come to its very walls that there was fighting firstly at (the Temple) of Hope on level terms, and secondly at the Colline gate. There, although the position of the Romans was advantageous for (only) a short time, yet that engagement made their soldiers better (prepared) for future battles by restoring their former courage
(4) Aulus Verginius (Tricostus Rutilus) and Spurius Servilius (Structus) are made consuls (i.e. for the year 476 B.C.). After the defeat (they had) suffered in the last fight, the Veientines avoided battle; they took to pillaging, and from the Janiculum they made raids on Roman territory in all directions; nowhere were the cattle or farmers safe. Then, they were caught by the same stratagem, by which they had entrapped the Fabii. (5) Having pursued the cattle (that had been) driven here and there with the purpose being given to entice (them), they fell into an ambush. As there were more (of them), (so) the slaughter was greater. (6) Their violent rage (arising) from this defeat was the cause and the beginning of a greater disaster. For, having crossed the Tiber at night, they set about attacking the camp of the consul Servilius. Having been repulsed from there, they retreated with difficulty into the Janiculum. (7) The consul immediately crosses the Tiber also himself, (and) fortifies a camp at the foot of the Janiculum. At daybreak the next day, somewhat emboldened both by the success of the battle on the previous day, but more because the scarcity of corn forced (him) to adopt measures, (which), while they were more expeditious, (were) still inclined to danger, he rashly took the battle to the enemy's camp on the top of the Janiculum, (8) and, having been repulsed from there with more disgrace than (had occurred, when) he had repelled (them) on the previous day, he himself and his army were saved by the intervention of his colleague. (9) When the Etruscans, (caught) between the two battle-lines, showed their backs to the one and to the other in turn, they were cut down in a massacre. So the Veientine war came to a close due to some fortunate rash behaviour.
Chapter 52. Impeachment of former consuls by tribunes of the plebs.
(1) Together with peace, more abundant provisions returned to the City, both because corn was brought from Campania, and (because), as soon as the fear of a future shortage left each one of them, that which had been hidden was brought out. (2) Then, their minds became irresponsible again on account of abundance and idleness, and they began to look for their old troubles at home, when they were not to be found abroad. (3) The tribunes aroused the plebs with their own poison, an agrarian law; (and) they incited (them) against the senators, when they opposed (it), not only against (them as) a body, but (also) against (them as) individuals. Quintus Considius and Titus Genucius, the promotors of the agrarian law assign a day to try (i.e. they impeach) Titus Menenius (i.e. cos. 477 B.C.). (The reason) for his unpopularity was the loss of the fortress at the Cremera (i.e. the prelude to the massacre of the Fabii), since, (as) consul he had occupied a standing camp not far away from there; (4) this oppressed (him), although the senators exerted themselves (on his behalf) no less than (they had done so) on behalf of Coriolanus, and the popularity of his father Agrippa (cos. 503 B.C.) had not yet passed away. (5) With regard to the penalty, the tribunes showed restraint; although they had arraigned (him) on a capital charge, they (only) imposed a penalty of two thousand asses, when he was found guilty. (But) this (still) led to his death. They say that he could not endure the disgrace and the sorrow; (and) that for this reason he was carried off by a fatal disease. (6) Then, another accused (man), Spurius Servilius (i.e. cos. 476 B.C.), impeached by the tribunes Lucius Caedicius and Titus Statius, as he retired from the consulship right at the beginning of the year, (in which) Gaius Nautius (Rutilus) and Publius Valerius (Publicola) (were) consuls (i.e. 475 B.C.), did not meet the tribunes' charges like Menenius, by his own and the senators' entreaties (for mercy), but with great faith in his innocence and popularity. (7) The battle with the Etruscans at the Janiculum was also (the basis) of his charge. But, (being) a man of intrepid spirit, as (he had) previously (demonstrated) in relation to public peril, so now (he did) so in relation to his own, (and) by refuting not only the tribunes but the plebs also in a fiery speech, and, by reproaching (them) for the condemnation and death of Titus Menenius, by the good offices of whose father (i.e. Agrippa) the plebs (had) previously (been) restored to the position in the state, by which they could now savagely attack the magistrates, he dispelled his perilous position by his daring. (8) His colleague, Verginius (i.e. cos. 476 B.C.), coming forward (as) a witness, helped (him) too, by sharing (with him) the praises (he himself had received); but the trial of Menenius benefited (him) more - so much had public opinion changed.
Chapter 53. War with Veii and the Sabines.
(1) Strife at home (was) over: but war broke out with Veii, with which the Sabines had joined arms. The consul Publius Valerius, having been dispatched to Veii with an army, auxiliaries having been summoned from the Latins and the Hernici, at once advanced upon the Sabine camp, which had been established in front of their allies' walls (i.e. at Veii), and this caused such great consternation that, while they sally forth, dispersed in small groups, some in one direction, some in another, to repel the enemy's assault, the gate which he had attacked first was captured. (2) Then, within the stockade a massacre rather than a battle took place. The commotion from the camp spreads into the city as well; the Veientines rush to (gather) arms. Some go to the assistance of the Sabines, others attack the Romans, (who are) wholly preoccupied with the attack on the camp. (3) For a short time, they were disconcerted and thrown into disorder; then, facing in both directions also, they take a stand, and the cavalry, let loose by the consul, rout the Etruscans and drive (them) into flight; and in the same hour two armies and two of the most powerful and the most important of their neighbouring peoples were vanquished.
(4) While these (things) were done at Veii, the Volscians and the Aequi had pitched their camp in the territory of the Latins and had laid waste their borders. These the Latins, joined by the Hernici, drove from their camp without either a general or assistance from Rome; (5) immense booty, in addition to their own property (which had been) recovered, fell into their possession. Nevertheless, the consul Gaius Nautius (was) sent from Rome against the Volscians; the practice of allies waging wars without a Roman general and army was not welcome, I suppose. (6) (There was) no kind of catastrophe and indignity (that) was not visited upon the Volscians, and yet they could not be compelled to fight on the field of battle.
Chapter 54. The assassination of Genucius.
(1) Then, Lucius Furius (Medullinus) and Gaius (?Aulus) Manlius (Vulso) (became) consuls (i.e. for the year 474 B.C.). The Veientines fell to Manlius (as) his province. No war took place however; a truce for forty years (was) granted (to them) at their request, with corn and pay (for the soldiers) being demanded (of them). (2) Discord at home immediately follows peace abroad. The plebs were goaded into madness by the tribunes' stimulus of an agrarian law. The consuls, in no way discouraged by the condemnation of Menenius, nor by the peril of Servilius, resist with their utmost strength. On their retiring from office, the tribune of the plebs, Gnaeus Genucius arrested (them).
(3) Lucius Aemilius (Mamercus) and Opiter Verginius (Tricostus Esquilinus) enter into the consulship (i.e. for the year 473 B.C.); I find Vopiscus Julius (Iullus) (named as) consul in some annals. In this year - whatever consuls it had - Furius and Manlius, summoned for trial before the people (as they had been), go around in mourning clothes among the younger senators as much as the common people. (4) They advise, they warn (them) to abstain from public offices and from the administration of public business; for, in truth, they should regard the consular fasces, the purple-bordered toga and the curule chair as nothing other than the trappings of a funeral; that, when covered with fine insignia, like fillets, they were doomed to death. (5) But if the allure of the consulship were so great, so now they must understand that the consulship was held captive and was being crushed by the power of the tribunes; that everything was being done by the consul at the beck and call of a tribune, as if (he were) the tribune's attendant; if he should bestir himself, (6) if he should have regard for the senators, if he should consider that there was any other (power) in the state than the plebs, let him call to mind the exile of Gnaeus Marcius (i.e. Coriolanus), (and) the conviction of Menenius and his death. (7) Incensed by these speeches, the senators then held meetings, not public (ones), but in private and removed from most (people's) knowledge, where, when this (one point) only was agreed, that the accused must be rescued by just or unjust (means), every most desperate measure was especially approved, nor was a doer lacking for a deed, however daring (it was). (8) So, on the day of the trial, when the plebs were standing in the Forum upright with expectation, there was amazement at first, because the tribune did not come down; then, when his delay now began to look rather suspicious, they thought he had been deterred by the nobles and complained that the public cause (had been) abandoned and betrayed; (9) finally, those who had been hovering around the tribune's vestibule announce that he has been found dead in his house. When this report spread through the whole gathering, just as an army takes to flight at the death of its general, so they dispersed in all directions, some in one way, some in another. A particular panic had taken hold of the tribunes, as they had been warned by the death of their colleague that the sacred laws (i.e. the laws designed to guarantee the sanctity of the tribunes) provided no help (to them). (10) Nor did the senators exhibit their satisfaction with sufficient moderation; and so far was anyone showing no regret at the crime, that even those who were innocent wished to appear to have done (it), and openly asserted that the power of the tribunes must be curbed by evil (means).
Chapter 55. Volero resists the consuls.
(1) Just after the victory of this most ruinous precedent, a levy is proclaimed, and the consuls accomplish the task without any veto by the fearful tribunes. (2) But now the plebs were more angered by the silence of the tribunes than by the power of the consuls, and they said that this was the end of their liberty, that they had returned again to the old (situation), and that tribunician power was dead and buried together with Genucius; that something else must be devised and implemented, by means of which they might resist the senators; (3) but that the only method (for doing so) was this, that the plebs should defend themselves, since they had no other help (but this). That twenty-four lictors waited upon the consuls and these very men (came) from the plebs; nothing (was) more contemptible and more feeble, if there were anyone who would condemn (them); yet each man made them tremendous and awe-inspiring in his own mind. (4) When they had incited one another by these arguments, a lictor was sent by the consuls to (detain) Publilius Volero, a man of the plebs, since he was saying that he ought not to be made a common soldier, because he had commanded men in the ranks (i.e. he had been a centurion). (5) Volero appeals to the tribunes. When no one came to his assistance, the consuls order the man to be stripped and the rods to be let loose. "I appeal to the People," said Volero, "since the tribunes would rather that a Roman citizen should be scourged with rods, than that they themselves should be murdered by you in their beds." The more stridently he shouted, the more roughly did the lictor tear off his clothes and strip (him). (6) Then, Volero, himself a powerful (man), when the lictor had been repelled by those whom he had called to his assistance, betook himself into the thickest (part of) the crowd, where the uproar of those who were angry on his behalf was most virulent, from there crying out: "I appeal to, and implore, the protection of the common people. (7) Help (me), my fellow-citizens, help (me), my fellow-soldiers; (for) there is nothing which you can expect from the tribunes, who themselves have need of your help." (8) In their excitement, men prepare themselves as if for battle; it was apparent that a most critical point had been reached, that no respect would be (shown) by anyone to either public or private rights. (9) When the consuls encountered this most violent storm, they readily knew from experience that majesty without strength is not safe. With the lictors maltreated, (and) their fasces broken, they (i.e. the consuls) are driven out of the Forum into the senate-house, without knowing how far Volero might make use of his victory. (10) Afterwards, with the disturbance subsiding, when they had ordered (the Fathers) to be summoned to (a meeting of) the senate, they complained of the insults they (had suffered), the violence of the plebs, and the audacity of Volero. (11) Though many opinions (were) boldly expressed, (the views of) the older senators prevailed, (those) who did not wish there to be a conflict of the senators' anger against the rashness of the plebs.
Chapter 56. Volero's proposal.
(1) Their favour having been gained (by him), at the next elections the common people appoint Volero tribune of the plebs for the year which had Lucius Pinarius (Mamercinus Rufus) and Publius Furius (Medullinus Fusus) as consuls (i.e. 472 B.C.). (2) And contrary to the expectation of all who believed that he would make use of his tribuneship in order to harass the consuls of the previous year, (by) subordinating his personal resentment to the public interest, and, without even attacking the consuls with a word, he brought a bill to the people (proposing) that plebeian magistrates should be appointed by the tribal assemblies. (3) No small matter (though it was), it was brought forward under a title (which) at first sight (was) by no means alarming, but which deprived the patricians of all power to elect those tribunes they wished through the votes of their clients. (4) Although this measure was welcome to the plebs, the senators opposed (it) with their utmost strength, but not one member of the college (of tribunes) could be induced, by the influence either of the consuls or the leading (members of the senate), to interpose his veto, and yet the matter itself, important as it was in its own right, is drawn out by disputes throughout the year. (5) The plebs re-elect Volero tribune: the senators, thinking that the matter would come to the extremity of a struggle, elect (as) consul (i.e. for the year 471 B.C.) Appius Claudius (Crassus Inregillensis Sabinus), son of Appius, (who) ever since his father's contests (with them) (had been) detested by, and hostile to, the plebs. Titus Quinctius (Capitolinus Barbatus) is assigned to him (as) his colleague.
(6) Right from the start of the year nothing was discussed in precedence to this law. But, just as Volero (was) the author of the law, so his colleague Laetorius was both a more recent and a more enthusiastic advocate of it. (7) His great reputation in war, in that no man of his age was more hardy in fighting, made (him) more daring. When Volero would talk of nothing apart from the law, while refraining from any abuse of the consuls, he, himself, began to accuse Appius and his family of tyranny and cruelty towards the common people of Rome, (8) when he argued that he had been appointed by the senators not (as) a consul, but as an executioner to persecute and torture the plebs, (but) the untrained tongue in the (mouth of) a military man was not equal to expressing his feelings freely. (9) And so, when words began to fail (him), he cried out, "Since I do not speak so easily, Citizens, as I make good what I have said, come here tomorrow. I shall either die here in your sight, or I shall carry through this law." On the following day, the tribunes take possession of the speakers' platform; (10) the consuls and the nobility take their place in the assembly to obstruct (the passing of) the law. Laetorius orders the removal (of everyone) except (those) who are going to vote. (11) The young nobles stood their ground, conceding nothing to the official. Then, Laetorius orders some of them to be seized. The consul Appius denied that the tribune had any jurisdiction over anyone except over a plebeian; for he was not a magistrate of the people (as a whole) but (only) of the plebs; (12) nor, according to the custom of their ancestors, could he himself remove any (person) by virtue of his authority, because it is so stated: "If it seems good to you, depart, Citizens!" He could easily throw Laetorius into a fury by speaking contemptuously of his rights. (13) So, while burning with anger, the tribune sends his official to the consul, the consul (sends) his lictor to the tribune, declaring (him) to be a private (citizen) without authority and without office; (14) and the tribune would have been maltreated, if the whole assembly had not risen up angrily against the consul on behalf of the tribune, and there had (not) been a rush of men to the Forum from all (parts of) the City in an excited throng. Appius, however, withstood so great a storm with obstinacy; (15) and the contest would have ended in a battle not without blood, if the other consul, Quinctius, having given to men of consular rank the task of removing his colleague from the Forum by force, if they could not (do so) otherwise, had not now mollified the enraged plebs with entreaties, and now implored the tribunes to disband the assembly: (16) let them give a breathing space to their anger (he said); time would not rob them of their power, but would add wisdom to their strength, and the senators would be subject to the power of the people, and the consul (would be) subject to (the power) of the senate.
Chapter 57. A victory for the Commons.
(1) While the common people were calmed by Quinctius with some difficulty, the other consul was calmed by the senate with much more difficulty. (2) The people's assembly having at last been adjourned, the consuls hold (a meeting of) the senate. At that meeting, when fear and anger had given rise to various opinions in turn being expressed, the more they were diverted by the lapse of time from confrontation to consultation, the more their minds began to shrink from conflict, so that they gave thanks to Quinctius, because the discord had been reduced by his exertions. (3) Agreement was sought from Appius that he should wish consular sovereignty to be as great as could be achieved within a harmonious commonwealth: that, while tribunes and consuls were each trying to draw all (powers) to themselves, no strength was left in between; that the state was being torn apart and destroyed; that there was more concern about in whose hands it lay than that it should be safe. (4) Appius, on the other hand, called the gods and men to witness that the state was being betrayed and abandoned through fear, that the consul was not failing the senate but the senate the consul; that harder terms were being accepted than had been accepted on the Sacred Mount (i.e. during the 'Secession of the Plebs' in 494-493 B.C.). Overcome, however, by the unanimous feeling of the senate, he kept quiet. The law was passed in silence (i.e. without opposition).
Chapter 58. War with the Volscians and the Aequi.
(1) Then, for the first time, the tribunes were elected in the tribal assembly. According to Piso (i.e. Lucius Calpurnius Piso the historian, who was consul in 133 B.C.), three were also added to their number, whereas previously there had (only) been two. (2) He also names the tribunes: Gnaeus Siccus, Lucius Numitorius, Marcus Duillius, Spurius Icilius (and) Lucius Maecilius.
(3) During the disturbance at Rome, war broke out with the Volscians and the Aequi. They had laid waste the fields, so that if any secession of the plebs occurred, they might find a refuge with them; then, when these (differences) had been settled, they moved their camp backwards. (4) Appius Claudius (was) sent against the Volscians; the Aequi fell to Quinctius as his province. Appius showed the same severity in the field, as (he had shown) at home, but he had more freedom because he was free of the fetters of the tribunes. He hated the plebs with more hatred than that of his father: (5) what (was the reason for this)? Was it that he had been beaten by them, after he had been elected as the sole consul to oppose tribunician power, and a law had been passed, which former consuls had managed to obstruct with less effort amid hopes of the senate by no means as great (as in his case)? (6) This wrath and indignation of his fired his fierce mind to harass the army with a savage exercise of authority. Yet he was not able to subdue (them) by any (use of) force, so great (was) the struggle they had conceived in their minds. (7) They did everything slothfully, idly, with neglect and with obstinacy; neither shame nor fear held (them) back; if he wished the column to advance more speedily, they deliberately went more slowly; if he came up to urge (them) on in their work, they all relaxed the diligence which they had exerted of their accord; (8) in his presence they lowered their gaze, (and) they silently cursed (him) as he passed by, so that his courage, unconquerable by the hatred of the plebs, was sometimes shaken. (9) Having vainly tried every kind of harsh measure, he no longer had any contact with the soldiers; he said that the army (had been) corrupted by the centurions, (whom) he sometimes jeeringly called 'tribunes of the plebs' and 'Voleros'.
Chapter 59. Insubordination in the army.
(1) The Volscians were not unaware of any of these (things), and they pressed on all the more, hoping that the Roman army would entertain the same spirited opposition towards Appius as it had shown towards Fabius. (2) But it was much more violent towards Appius than towards Fabius; for it was not only unwilling to conquer, like Fabius' army (had been), but it (actually) wished to be conquered. Brought to the battle-field, it made for the camp in shameful flight, nor did it stand its ground, until it saw the Volscian (army) attacking the fortifications, and the dreadful slaughter of the rear of the column. (3) Then, the energy to fight was wrung from (it), in order that the victorious enemy might now be dislodged from the rampart; yet it was sufficiently clear that the Roman soldiers were only unwilling that their camp should be taken: otherwise they rejoiced in their defeat and disgrace. (4) The bold spirit of Appius was not at all daunted by these (things), (but,) when he wished to exercise severe measures still further, and he summoned a meeting, the legates and tribunes gathered around him, warning that on no account should he put his authority to the test, when its strength all lay in the consent of those who were obedient to (him). (5) (They reported) that the men were publicly saying that they would not go to a meeting, and that on all sides the voices were heard of (those) demanding that the camp be removed from Volscian territory. That the victorious enemy had but a short time before been almost in their gates and on their rampart, and that not only the suspicion but the clear vision of a great disaster was hovering before their eyes. (6) Giving way at last, since (the men) were gaining nothing except a postponement of their punishment, he relinquished the assembly, and, after he had ordered that a march should be proclaimed for the following day, he gave the signal for departure at dawn by (the sound of) a trumpet. (7) Just as the column was deploying from the camp, the Volscians, as if aroused by the same signal, fell upon their rear. From them, the confusion spread to the vanguard, and so disordered were the standards and the ranks with panic that no orders could be heard nor a battle-line drawn up. No one thought of anything but flight. (8) So confused was the column, as they made their way through a heap of bodies and arms that the enemy ceased their pursuit before the Roman (army ceased) fleeing. (9) At last, when the soldiers had been gathered up from their scattered flight, the consul, after he had followed his men in a vain attempt to call (them) back, pitched his camp on friendly soil; and, having called an assembly, he inveighed, not without good reason, against an army (that was) a betrayer of military discipline, (and) a deserter of its standards, asking each one of them in turn where (were) their standards, where were their arms, (and) he scourged with rods and (then) struck with an axe (i.e. beheaded) the soldiers who had dispensed with their arms, the standard-bearers who had lost their standards, (and,) in addition to these the centurions and the men receiving double pay, who had quitted the ranks; with regard to the rest of the multitude, every tenth (man was) chosen by lot for execution (i.e. they were decimated).
Chapter 60. Quinctius' successful campaign against the Aequi.
(1) Contrary to these (things), in (the land of) the Aequi there was a competition between the consul and his soldiers with regard to affability and acts of kindness. For Quinctius was milder by nature, and the unfortunate severity of his colleague caused him to find all the more pleasure in his own disposition. (2) The Aequi did not dare to encounter such outstanding cordiality between the general and his army, and they allowed the enemy to wander through their territory to lay (it) waste; nor in any previous war had plunder been gathered from it more widely. (3) This was all given to the troops. Praises were also added, to which the minds of the soldiers find no less pleasure than in their booty. The army returned more reconciled not only to their leader, but also, for the sake of their leader, to the Fathers too, declaring that a father (had been) given to them by the senate, (but) a tyrant to the other army.
(4) The tribal assembly renders especially memorable the year just passed (i.e. 471 B.C.) with varying fortune in war (and) bitter disharmony at home and in the field, an event more important because a victory had been won in the struggle than because any advantage (had been achieved by it); (5) for by removing patricians from the meeting there was more dignity lost by the assembly itself than there was strength either added to the plebs or taken away from the senate.
Chapter 61. The impeachment, and the funeral, of Appius Claudius.
(1) A more turbulent year then followed (i.e. 470 B.C.), with Lucius Valerius (Potitus) and Titus Aemilius (Mamercus) (as) consuls, both on account of the struggle of the orders concerning the agrarian law, and because of the trial of Appius Claudius, whom, (2) as the bitterest opponent of the law, and since he was upholding the claim of those who possessed public land, as if (he were) a third consul, Marcus Duillius and Gnaeus Siccius impeached. (3) Never before had an accused man, so hateful to the plebs, been brought to trial before the people, sated with resentment on his own account, and on account of his father (i.e. the consul of 495 B.C.). (4) The Fathers also had hardly ever made equal exertions on behalf of anyone: (in their view) the defender of the senate and the champion of its majesty, (who was) opposed to all the disturbances of the tribunes and the plebs is being exposed to the resentment of the common people merely for having gone beyond the limits in the struggle. (5) Alone of the Fathers, Appius Claudius himself regarded the tribunes and the plebs and his own trial as of no account. Neither the threats of the plebs, nor the entreaties of the senate could ever force him not only to change his costume or to clutch at people (as) a suppliant, but even to soften and moderate in any way the sharpness of his language, when he had to make his case to the people. (6) There was the same expression on his face, the same arrogance in his glance, the same fire in his speech, to such an extent that a great part of the plebs feared Appius no less (as) a defendant than they had feared (him as) consul. (7) He pleaded his cause (just) once in the aggressive tone in which he had always been accustomed to adopt on all (occasions); and his firmness so dumbfounded both the tribunes and the plebs that they themselves adjourned the trial of their own accord (and) they allowed the matter to be protracted. (8) The interval of time was not so long, but before the date of the adjourned (trial) came round, he died from an illness. (9) When the tribunes of the plebs tried to stop his eulogy, the plebs were unwilling that the last day of so great a man should be defrauded of the usual honour, and they listened to the panegyric of the dead (man) with ears as attentive as they had heard the indictment of (the man when he was) alive, and they attended his burial in large numbers.
Chapter 62. War with the Aequi and the Sabines.
In the same year (i.e. 470 B.C.), the consul Valerius, having advanced with an army against the Aequi, when he could not entice the enemy to an engagement, set about attacking their camp. A dreadful storm foiled (them), as it descended from the sky with hail and claps of thunder. (2) The signal to withdraw having been given, the return of a tranquil and cloudless (sky) then so increased their astonishment that they had scruples about attacking for a second time a camp (that was) defended, as it were, by a divine power. All the rage of war turned to the devastation of the countryside. The other consul, Aemilius, waged war on the Sabines. (3) There too, because the enemy kept within their walls, the fields were ravaged. (4) Then, having set fire not only to farmhouses but also to villages, which were closely inhabited, the Sabines, having been aroused, met (in battle) with their predators, (but,) after a drawn battle, they separated, and on the following day they moved their camp back to a safer location. (5) This seemed to the consul a sufficient (reason) why he should relinquish an enemy that was as good as conquered, and withdraw from them while the war was (still) fresh.
Chapter 63. Further campaigns against the Volscians and the Sabines.
(1) During these wars, with discord continuing at home, Titus Numicius Priscus and Aulus Verginius (Caeliomontanus) (were) elected consuls (i.e. for the year 469 B.C.). (2) It was clear that the common people would endure no further delay (in the passing of) the agrarian law, and extreme violence was being prepared, when it was perceived from the smoke from burning farmhouses and from the flight of countryfolk that the Volscians were present. This situation suppressed the insurrection (that was) now about to break out. (3) The consuls, having been commanded at once (to do so) by the senate, led the young men out of the city to war, (and this) made the rest of the plebs more tranquil. (4) As for the enemy, having filled the Romans with nothing other than a needless panic, they departed in a speedy column of march: (5) Numicius set out against the Volscians, Verginius against the Aequi. Here a great disaster nearly resulted from an ambush, (but) the courage of the soldiers restored the situation (caused) by the negligence of the consul. (The campaign) against the Volscians was better conducted; (6) routed in the first engagement, the enemy (were) driven in flight to Antium, a most opulent city, as its circumstances then were. The consul did not venture to attack it, but he did capture from the Antiates another town (called) Caeno, (which was) by no means as wealthy. (7) While the Aequi and the Volscians kept the Roman armies (at bay), the Sabines advanced right up to the gates of the City plundering. Then, after a few days, when both consuls invaded their borders in anger, they themselves suffered greater losses than they had inflicted.
Chapter 64. The campaigns continue.
(1) Right at the end of the year there was some peace, but as (had) always (happened) on other (occasions, it was) disturbed by the struggle between the senate and the plebs. The angry plebs refused to take part in the consular elections; (2) Titus Quinctius (Capitolinus Barbatus) (and) Quintus Servilius (Priscus) (were) elected consuls (i.e. for the year 468 B.C.) by the senators and the dependants of the senators. They have a year similar to the previous (one), a seditious beginning, then made tranquil due to external warfare. (3) The Sabines crossed the Crustuminian plains in a rapid march, after they had caused fire and slaughter around the river Anio, (and, although they were then) repulsed near the Colline Gate and the walls, yet they carried off immense spoils of men and cattle. (4) The consul Servilius pursued them with a hostile army, and, although he could not overtake the column itself on level ground, he caused such widespread devastation that he left nothing untouched by the (ravages of) war, and he returned with a great amount of captured plunder. (5) And in the (country of) the Volscians the public cause was conducted with great success by the exertions of both the general and of his troops. In the first place, battle having been joined on level ground, they fought with great slaughter and bloodshed on both sides. (6) As for the Romans, because their small number had made (them) feel their losses more keenly, they would have retreated, if the consul (by) calling out that the enemy on the other wing were in flight, had not roused the army to a fresh effort. A charge was made, (and,) while they thought they were conquering, they did conquer. (7) The consul, fearing that, by pressing (them) too hard, he might renew the conflict, gave the signal to retire. (8) A few days intervened, with a rest being taken on both sides, as if by a secret truce, and during those (days) a huge force of men from all the tribes of the Volscians and the Aequi came to the camp, not doubting that the Romans would depart at night, if they should perceive (them). (9) Accordingly, at about the third watch, they came to attack the camp. (10) Quinctius stilled the tumult, which the sudden alarm had aroused, and, after he had ordered the soldiers to remain quietly in their tents, he led out a cohort of the Hernici to an outpost, and ordered the horn-blowers and trumpeters to mount horses and to sound their instruments in front of the rampart, and (so) keep the enemy in suspense until daybreak. (11) For the rest of the night everything was so quiet in the camp that the Romans even had plenty of sleep. The sight of the armed infantrymen, whom they considered to be both more numerous (than they were) and (to be) Romans, (and) the snorting and neighing of the horses that were enraged at the unaccustomed rider sitting (on their backs) and also by the sound (that was) disturbing their ears, kept the Volscians on the alert for an expected enemy attack.
Chapter 65. The defeat of the Volscians and the capture of Antium.
(1) When it was light, the Roman (army), fresh and invigorated by sleep, were brought into the line of battle, and overpowered the Volscians, weary, (as they were,) from standing and keeping watch; (2) and yet the enemy were in retreat rather than being routed, because there were hills in their rear, to which there was a safe retreat, and their ranks behind the front line (were) unbroken. The consul (i.e. Quinctius) halted the line, when they came to rising ground. The soldiers could hardly be restrained, (and) they shouted out and demanded that they should be permitted to pursue the fleeing (enemy). (3) The cavalry acted (even) more violently; crowding round the general, they cried out that they would go before the standards. While the consul hesitated, confident in the valour of his troops, (but) not trusting in the ground, they exclaimed that they would be going, and action followed their words. Planting their javelins in the ground, so that they might climb up the slopes more easily, they went up at a run. (4) The Volscians, having discharged their missile weapons at the first onset, flung the stones that lay under their feet at (them) as they were climbing upwards, and, having thrown (them) into confusion by the incessant blows, they drove (them) from the higher ground. Thus the left wing of the Romans was nearly overwhelmed, (and so it would have been), if the consul, just as they were retreating, had not cast out their fear by rebuking them in a shameful voice for their rashness and their cowardice. (5) Firstly, they took a stand with resolute minds. Then, after holding their ground and returning blow for blow, they ventured to advance of their own accord, and, by renewing the battle-cry, they set the battle-line in motion; then again, they made a great effort, and, by seizing the initiative, they overcame the unevenness of the ground. (6) Now they were almost at the point of climbing to the top of the ridge of the mountain, when the enemy showed their backs, and the pursued and their pursuers dashed into the camp at great speed and almost in a single column. In the panic, the camp was captured. (Those) of the Volscians who managed to escape made for Antium. (7) The Roman army (was) also led to Antium. Besieged for a few days, it surrenders, not because of any additional force of attackers, but because their spirits had sunk ever since the unsuccessful battle and the loss of their camp.
APPENDIX I: EXTRACTS FROM LORD MACAULAY'S "LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME".
A. FROM "HORATIUS":
Lars Porsena of Clusium / By the Nine Gods he swore / That the great house of Tarquin / Should suffer wrong no more. / By the Nine Gods he swore it, / And named a trysting day, / And bade his messengers ride forth / East and west and south and north / To summon his array.
But the Consul's brow was sad, / And the Consul's speech was low, / And darkly looked he at the wall, / And darkly at the foe. / 'Their van will be upon us / Before the bridge goes down; / And if they once may win the bridge, / What hope to save the town?'
Then out spoke brave Horatius, / The Captain of the gate: / 'To every man upon this earth / Death cometh soon or late: / And how cam man die better / Than facing fearful odds, / For the ashes of his fathers / And the temples of his Gods?
Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul, / With all the speed ye may; / I, with two more to help me, / Will hold the foe in play. / In yon strait path a thousand / May well be stopped by three. / Now who will stand on either hand, / And keep the bridge with me?'
Then out spoke Spurius Lartius, / A Ramnian proud was he: / 'Lo, I will stand at thy right hand, / And keep the bridge with thee.' / And out spoke strong Herminius, / Of Titian blood was he: / 'I will abide on thy left side, / And keep the bridge with thee.'
Alone stood brave Horatius, / But constant still in mind, / Thrice thirty thousand foes before, /And the broad flood behind.
'O Tiber! father Tiber! / To whom the Romans pray, / A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, / Take thou in charge this day!' / So he spake, and speaking sheathed / The good sword by his side, / And with his harness on his back / Plunged headlong in the tide.
No sound of joy or sorrow / Was heard from either bank; / But friends and foes in dumb surprise, / With parted lips and straining eyes, / Stood gazing where he sank; / And when above the surges / They saw his crest appear, / All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, / And even the ranks of Tuscany / could scarce forbear to cheer.
It stands in the Comitium, / Plain for all to see; / Horatius in his harness, / Halting upon one knee: / And underneath is written, / In letters all of gold, / How valiantly he kept the bridge / In the brave days of old.
B. FROM "THE BATTLE OF LAKE REGILLUS."
Ho, trumpets, sound a war-note! / Ho, lictors, clear the way! / The Knights will ride in all their pride, / Along the streets today. / To-day the doors and windows / Are hung with garlands all, / From Castor in the Forum, / To Mars without the wall. / Each Knight is robed in purple, With olive each is crowned; / A gallant war-horse under each / Paws haughtily the ground. / While stands the Sacred Hill, the proud Ides of Quintilis / Shall have such honour still. / Gay are the Martian Kalends: / December's Nones are gay: But the proud Ides, when the squadron rides, / Shall be Rome's whitest day.
Mamilius spied Herminius, ? And dashed across the way. / 'Herminius, I have sought thee ? / Through many a bloody day. / One of us two, Herminius, ? Shall never more go homre ? I will lay on for Tusculum, / And lay thou on for Rome!'
All round them paused the battle, / While met in mortal fray / The Roman and the Tusculan, / The horses black and grey. / Herminius smote Mamilius / Through breast-plate and through breast; / And fast flowed out the purple blood / Over the purple vest. / Mamilius smote Herminius / Through head-piece and through head: / And side by side those chiefs of pride / Together fell down dead.
APPENDIX II. LIST OF ROMAN CONSULS 509 - 468 B.C.
The following names and dates are taken from T.R.S. Broughton's "The Magistrates of the Roman Republic", published in three volumes 1951-1986.
509. L. Junius Brutus; L. Tarquinus Collatinus. (Suffecti: P. Valerius Publicola; Sp. Lucretius Tricipitinus; M. Horatius Pulvillus.)
508. P. Valerius Publicola II; T. Lucretius Tricipitinus.
507. P. Valerius Publicola III; M. Horatius Pulvillus II.
506. Sp. Larcius; T. Herminius Aquilinus.
505. M. Valerius Volusus; P. Postumius Tubertus.
504. P. Valerius Publicola IV; P. Lucretius Tricipitinus II.
503. Agrippa Menenius Lanatus; P. Postumius Tubertus II.
502. Opiter Verginius Tricostus; Sp. Cassius Vecellinus.
501. Post. Cominius Auruncus; T. Larcius.
500. Ser. Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus; M'. Tullius Longus.
499. T. Aebutius Helva; C. Veturius Geminus Cicurinus.
498. Q. Cloelius Siculus; T. Larcius II.
497. A. Sempronius Atratinus; M. Minucius Augurinus.
496. A. Postumius Regillensis; T. VerginiusTricostus Caeliomontanus.
495. Ap. Claudius Sabinus Inregillensis; P. Servilius Priscus Structus.
494. A. VerginiusTricostus Caeliomontanus; T. Veturius Geminus Cicurinus.
493. Post. Cominius Auruncus II; Sp. Cassius Vecellinus II.
492. T. Geganius Macerinus; P. Minucius Augurinus.
491. M. Minucius Augurinus II; A. Sempronius Atratinus II.
490. Q. Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus; Sp. Larcius II.
489. C. Julius Iullus; P. Pinarius Mamercinus Rufus.
488. Sp. Nautius Rutilus; Sex. Furius.
487. T. Sicinius Sabinus; C. Aquillius Tuscus.
486. Sp. Cassius Vecellinus III; Proculus Verginius Tricostus Rutilus.
485. Q. Fabius Vibulanus; Ser. Cornelius Maluginensis.
484. L. Aemilius Mamercus; K. Fabius Vibulanus.
483. M. Fabius Vibulanus; L. Valerius Potitus.
482. C. Julius Iullus; Q. Fabius Vibulanus II.
481. K. Fabius Vibulanus II; Sp. Furius Fusus.
480. M. Fabius Vibulanus II; Cn. Manlius Cincinnatus.
479. K. Fabius Vibulanus III; T. Verginius Tricostus Rutilus.
478. L. Aemilius Mamercus II; C. Servilius Structus Ahala. (Suffectus: Opiter Verginius Tricostus Esquilinus.)
477. C. Horatius Pulvillus; T. Menenius Lanatus.
476. A. Verginius Tricostus Rutilus; Sp. Servilius Structus.
475. P. Valerius Publicola; C. Nautius Rutilus.
474. L. Furius Medullinus; A. Manlius Vulso.
473. L. Aemilius Mamercus III; Vopiscus Julius Iullus.
472. L. Pinarius Mamercinus Rufus; P. Furius Medullinus Fusus.
471. Ap. Claudius Crassus Sabinus Inregillensis; T. Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus.
470. L. Valerius Potitus II; Ti. Aemilius Mamercus.
469. T. Municius Priscus; A. Verginius Caeliomontanus.
468. T. Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus II; Q. Servilius Priscus.
Dictators. The following were appointed as dictators - their 'magistri equitum' are shown in brackets:
501. T. Larcius Flavus (Sp. Cassius Vecellinus).
496. A. Postumius Albus Regillensis (T. Aebutius Helva).
494. M'. Valerius Volusus Maximus (Q. Servilius Priscus Structus).
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