---
title: "History of Rome, Books I–X · Ab urbe condita I–X"
author: "Livy"
translator: "Benjamin Oliver Foster"
title_ru: "История Рима от основания города, книги I–X"
author_ru: "Тит Ливий"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 13 of 50
url: https://scriptura.si/works/livy-history-of-rome-1/13/
cite: "Livy, tr. Benjamin Oliver Foster, History of Rome, Books I–X · Ab urbe condita I–X, section 13. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/livy-history-of-rome-1/13/"
---

# History of Rome, Books I–X · Ab urbe condita I–X

*Livy, tr. Benjamin Oliver Foster*

Russian: История Рима от основания города, книги I–X, Тит Ливий

From Aeneas and Romulus to the kings, the founding of the Republic, Lucretia, Horatius at the bridge, Coriolanus, the Gauls in Rome and the Samnite wars.

> Latin: Livy, Ab urbe condita I–X, ed. Robert Seymour Conway and Charles Flamstead Walters (Oxford Classical Texts), from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0914.phi001.perseus-lat3, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Benjamin Oliver Foster, Livy (Loeb Classical Library), from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0914.phi001.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 13. Book III · chapters 1–12

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/livy-history-of-rome-1/13/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/livy-history-of-rome-1/13/#p-N

[¶0] 1.1. AFTER the capture of Antium, Titus Aemilius and Quintus Fabius were elected consuls. This was that 467 Fabius who had been the sole survivor of his family destroyed at the Cremera.

> Latin: 1.1. ANTIO capto T. Aemilius et Q. Fabius consules fiunt. erat Fabius qui unus exstinctae ad Cremeram genti superfuerat. priore consulatu Aemilius dandi agri plebi fuerat auctor;

[¶1] 1.2. In his former consulship Aemilius had already supported the assignment of land to the plebs. Consequently, when he entered a second time upon the office, not only had the agrarians begun to have hopes of a law, but the tribunes, who had often tried to carry the measure against the opposition of the consuls, now took it up in the belief that with the co-operation of a consul it could certainly be made good; and the consul continued of the same mind.

> Latin: 1.2. itaque secundo quoque consulatu eius et agrarii se in spem legis erexerant, et tribuni, rem contra consules saepe temptatam adiutore utique consule obtineri posse rati, suscipiunt; et consul manebat in sententia sua.

[¶2] 1.3. The possessors of the land, comprising a large proportion of the patricians, complained that the head of the state was openly supporting tribunician policies and making himself popular by a generosity exhibited at other men's expense; they thus diverted the resentment awakened by the whole affair from the tribunes to the consul.

> Latin: 1.3. et magna pars patrum, tribuniciis se iactare actionibus principem civitatis et largiendo de alieno popularem fieri querentes, totius invidiam rei a tribunis in consulem averterant.

[¶3] 1.4. A bitter struggle was impending, when Fabius, by a proposal which neither side found injurious, set the matter right.

> Latin: 1.4. certamen aderat, ni Fabius consilio neutri parti acerbo rem expedisset: T. Quincti ductu et auspicio agri captum priore anno aliquantum a Volscis esse;

[¶4] 1.5. Under the leadership and auspices of Titus Quinctius, as he pointed out, a considerable territory had been conquered the year before from the Volsci; Antium, a well-situated maritime city, could be made the seat of a colony; in this way the plebs would obtain farms without causing the landholders to complain, and the state would be at harmony.

> Latin: 1.5. Antium, opportunam et maritimam urbem, coloniam deduci posse; ita sine querellis possessorum plebem in agros ituram, civitatem in concordia fore. sententia accepta est.

[¶5] 1.6. This suggestion was adopted. As commissioners for distributing the land Fabius appointed Titus Quinctius, Aulus Verginius, and Publius Furius, and it was ordered that those who wished to receive grants should give in their names. There at once appeared the fastidiousness which usually attends abundance, and so few persons enrolled that Volscian colonists were added to fill out the number; the rest of the populace preferred demanding land at Rome to receiving it elsewhere.

> Latin: 1.6. agro dando creat T. Quinctium A. Verginium P. Furium. nomina dare qui agrum accipere vellent. statim, ut fit, fastidium copia, adeoque pauci nomina dedere ut ad explendum numerum coloni Volsci adderentur; cetera multitudo multitude poscere Romae agrum malle quam alibi accipere.

[¶6] 1.8. The Aequi begged Quintus Fabius, who had invaded their country, to grant them peace; and broke it themselves by a sudden raid on Latin territory.

> Latin: 1.8. Aequi a Q. Fabio—is eo cum exercitu venerat—pacem petiere, inritamque eam earn ipsi subita incursione in agrum Latinum fecere.

[¶7] 2.1. Quintus Servilius, being sent against the Aequi in the following year —when he and Spurius Postumius were consuls —made a permanent camp in the Latin country, where the army was attacked by a pestilence which deprived it of the power to act.

> Latin: 2.1. Q. Servilius insequenti anno—is enim cum Sp. Postumio consul fuit—in Aequos missus in Latino agro stativa habuit. Quies necessaria morbo implicitum exercitum tenuit.

[¶8] 2.2. The war dragged on into its third year, the consulship of Quintus Fabius and Titus Quinctius. To Fabius was given the command against the Aequi, without the customary drawing of lots, since he had been victorious over them and had granted them peace.

> Latin: 2.2. in tertium annum bellum est Q. Fabio et T. Quinctio consulibus. Fabio extra ordinem, quia is victor pacem Aequis dederat, ea provincia data.

[¶9] 2.3. Setting out in the full expectation that the glory of his name would bring the enemy to terms, he sent envoys to their national council and bade them announce that Quintus Fabius the consul said that he had brought peace from the Aequi to Rome, and was then bringing war from Rome to the Aequi in the same right hand, now armed, which he had formerly given them in friendship.

> Latin: 2.3. haud dubia spe profectus famam nominis sui pacaturam Aequos, legatos in concilium gentis missos nuntiare iussit Q. Fabium consulem dicere se ex Aequis pacem Romam tulisse, ab Roma Aequis bellum adferre eadem dextera armata quam pacatam illis antea dederat.

[¶10] 2.4. Whose faithlessness and perjury were responsible for this, the gods were even then witnesses, and would presently punish the offenders. Yet however that might be, he would himself prefer that the Aequi should even now freely repent, instead of suffering the penalties of war.

> Latin: 2.4. id perfidia et periurio fiat deos nunc testes esse, mox fore ultores. tamen, utcumque sit, etiam nunc paenitere sua sponte Aequos quam pati hostilia malle.

[¶11] 2.5. If they did so, they could count on a safe refuge in the clemency they had already proved; but if they rejoiced in perjury, it was rather with the angry gods than with their enemies that they would be at war.

> Latin: 2.5. paeniteat, tutum receptum ad expertam clementiam fore: sin periurio gaudeant, dis magis iratis quam hostibus gesturos bellum.

[¶12] 2.6. So far were these words from having the slightest effect on anyone, that the envoys narrowly escaped violation, and an army was dispatched to Algidus against the Romans.

> Latin: 2.6. dicta adeo nihil moverunt quemquam ut legati prope violati sint exercitusque in Algidum adversus Romanos missus.

[¶13] 2.7. On the arrival of this news at Rome, the insult, rather than the danger, brought the other consul out from the City. And so two consular armies approached the enemy, drawn up in line of battle, that they might instantly engage them.

> Latin: 2.7. ubi Romam sunt nuntiata, indignitas rei magis quam periculum consulem alterum ab urbe excivit. duo consulares exercitus ad hostem accessere acie instructa ut confestim dimicarent.

[¶14] 2.8. But since it happened to be near the end of the day, a man called out to them from an outpost of the enemy, “This, Romans, is making a parade of war, not waging it.”

> Latin: 2.8. cum forte haud baud multum diei superesset, unus ab statione hostium exclamat: hoc est, Romani, non gerere bellum.

[¶15] 2.9. “When night is about to fall, you draw up your battle-line; we need more hours of daylight for the struggle which is close at hand. To-morrow at sunrise form your battle-line again; there will be opportunity for fighting, never fear!”

> Latin: 2.9. noctem imminentem aciem instruitis; longiore luce ad id certamen quod instat nobis opus est. die oriente sole redite in aciem; erit copia pugnandi; ne timete.

[¶16] 2.10. Galled by these words the troops were led back to their camp to await the morrow; the night would be a long one, they felt, that must intervene before the combat. Meanwhile they refreshed themselves with food and sleep. When it grew light next morning, the Roman army took the field, some time before the enemy. At last the Aequi too came out.

> Latin: 2.10. vocibus inritatus miles in diem posterum in castra reducitur, longam venire noctem ratus quae moram certamini faceret. quidem corpora cibo somnoque curant; ubi inluxit postero die, prior aliquanto constitit Romana acies; tandem et Aequi processere.

[¶17] 2.11. The battle raged fiercely on both sides, for the Romans fought with exasperation and hatred, while the Aequi were conscious that the danger in which they were involved was due to their own fault, and this, with their despair of ever being trusted again, incited them to the last degree of daring and exertion.

> Latin: 2.11. fit utrimque vehemens, quod et Romanus ira odioque pugnabat et Aequos conscientia contracti culpa periculi et desperatio futurae sibi postea fidei ultima audere et experiri cogebat.

[¶18] 2.12. Nevertheless they were unable to withstand the attack of the Romans. And yet, when they had been defeated and had fallen back to their own territory, the warlike soldiers, their spirit as little inclined to peace as ever, complained against their generals for having staked the cause on a pitched battle, a species of fighting in which the Romans excelled;

> Latin: 2.12. tamen sustinuere aciem Romanam Aequi; pulsique cum in fines suos se recepissent, nihilo inclinatioribus ad pacem animis ferox multitudo multitude increpare duces, quod in aciem, qua pugnandi arte Romanus excellat, commissa res sit;

[¶19] 2.13. the Aequi, they said, were better at pillaging and raiding, and a number of scattered bands could make war more effectively than the great mass of a single army.

> Latin: 2.13. Aequos populationibus incursionibusque meliores esse, et multas passim manus quam magnam molem unius exercitus rectius bella gerere.

[¶20] 3.1. Leaving a garrison, therefore, in their camp, they crossed the Roman border in so headlong an incursion as to carry terror even to the City.

> Latin: 3.1. itaque castris praesidio egressi tanto cum tumultu invasere fines Romanos ut ad urbem quoque terrorem pertulerint.

[¶21] 3.2. Moreover, the unexpectedness of the inroad added to the alarm, for nothing could have been apprehended less than that an enemy who was defeated and almost shut up in his camp should be thinking of a raid; and the country people who in their fright came tumbling in through the gates told not of pillaging nor of small bands of raiders, but, exaggerating everything in their senseless fear, cried out that whole armies of the enemy were close at hand and rushing on the City in a serried column.

> Latin: 3.2. etiam res plus trepidationis fecit, quod nihil minus quam ne victus ac prope in castris obsessus hostis memor populationis esset timeri poterat, agrestesque pavidi incidentes portis non populationem nec praedonum parvas manus, sed omnia vano augentes timore exercitus et legiones adesse hostium et infesto agmine ruere ad urbem clamabant.

[¶22] 3.4. The very vagueness of these rumours led to further exaggeration as the bystanders passed them on to others. The running and shouting of men as they called “To arms!” was almost like the panic in a captured city. It chanced that the consul Quinctius had returned from Algidus to Rome.

> Latin: 3.4. Ab his proximi audita incerta eoque vaniora ferre ad alios. clamorque vocantium ad arma haud multum a pavore captae urbis abesse.

[¶23] 3.5. This circumstance allayed men's fears, and when the confusion had been stilled, he indignantly reminded them that the enemy they dreaded had been conquered, and posted watches at the gates.

> Latin: 3.5. ab Algido Quinctius consul redierat Romam. remedium timori fuit; tumultuque sedato victos timeri increpans hostes praesidia portis imposuit.

[¶24] 3.6. He then convened the senate, and in accordance with a resolution which the Fathers passed, proclaimed a suspension of the courts.

> Latin: 3.6. dein senatu cum ex auctoritate patrum iustitio indicto profectus ad tutandos fines esset Q. Servilio praefecto urbis relicto, hostem in agris non invenit.

[¶25] 3.7. After that he set out to defend the frontier, leaving Quintus Servilius as prefect of the City, but did not meet with the enemy in the field. The other consul campaigned with great success.

> Latin: 3.7. Ab altero consule res gesta egregie est; qui, qua venturum hostem sciebat, gravem praeda eoque impeditiore agmine incedentem adgressus funestam populationem fecit.

[¶26] 3.8. Knowing where the enemy would come, he fell upon them when they were weighed down with the booty which incumbered their advancing column, and caused them bitterly to rue their pillaging. But few of them escaped the ambush, and the spoils were all recovered.

> Latin: 3.8. hostium hostiumn evasere ex insidiis; praeda omnis recepta est. finem iustitio, quod quadriduum fuit, reditus Quincti consulis in urbem fecit.

[¶27] 3.9. So the suspension of the courts, which had lasted four days, was lifted on the return of the consul Quinctius to the City. The census was then taken and Quinctius solemnized the concluding purification.

> Latin: 3.9. deinde actus et conditum ab Quinctio lustrum. civium capita centum quattuor milia septingenta quattuordecim dicuntur praeter orbos orbasque.

[¶28] 3.10. There are said to have been registered 104,714 citizens, besides orphans and widows. In the Aequian country there was no memorable action after that; the people retired to their towns, and permitted their farms to be burnt and ravaged. The consul made a number of forays with his army throughout the enemy's territory, and returned to Rome with great renown and huge spoils.

> Latin: 3.10. Aequis nihil deinde memorabile actum. oppida sua se recepere, uri sua popularique passi., cum aliquotiens per omnem hostium agrum infesto agmine populabundus isset, cum ingenti laude praedaque Romam rediit.

[¶29] 4.1. The next consuls were Aulus Postumius Albus and Spurius Furius Fusus. (Some writers spell the name Fusius instead of Furius, which I note lest anybody should regard as a substitution of one man for another what is really only a matter of names.)

> Latin: 4.1. inde A. Postumius Albus Sp. Furius Fusus. Fusios scripsere quidam; id admoneo, ne quis immutationem virorum ipsorum esse quae nominum est putet.

[¶30] 4.2. There was no doubt but that one consul would make war on the Aequi, and these accordingly appealed to the Ecetranian Volsci for help. It was eagerly granted them —such was the rivalry between these nations in inveterate hatred of Rome —and the most vigorous preparations were made for war.

> Latin: 4.2. dubium erat quin cum Aequis alter consulum bellum gereret. Aequi ab Ecetranis Volscis praesidium petiere; quo cupide oblato—adeo civitates hae perpetuo in Romanos odio certavere—bellum summa vi parabatur.

[¶31] 4.3. The Hernici perceived, and warned the Romans, that Ecetra had gone over to the Aequi. Suspicion already rested on the colony of Antium, on the ground that a large body of men, escaping from the place at the time of its capture, had taken refuge with the Aequi;

> Latin: 4.3. Hernici et praedicunt Romanis Ecetranum ad Aequos descisse. et colonia Antium fuit, quod magna vis hominum inde, cum oppidum captum esset, confugisset ad Aequos; isque miles per bellum Aequicum vel acerrimus fuit.

[¶32] 4.4. and in fact they fought with the greatest spirit all through the Aequian war; afterwards, when the Aequi had been shut up in their towns, this company dispersed, returned to Antium, and won over the colonists, who were even then at heart disloyal to the Romans.

> Latin: 4.4. deinde in oppida Aequis ea multitudo dilapsa cum Antium redisset, sua sponte iam infidos colonos Romanis abalienavit.

[¶33] 4.5. The plot was not yet ripe when their proposed defection was reported to the senate, and the consuls were instructed to summon the leaders of the colony to Rome and inquire what was going on.

> Latin: 4.5. matura re cum defectionem parari delatum ad senatum esset, datum negotium est consulibus ut principibus coloniae Romam excitis quaererent quid rei esset.

[¶34] 4.6. These men made no objection to coming, but on being introduced into the senate by the consuls returned such answers to the questions they were asked that they were under a stronger suspicion when dismissed than they had been on their arrival.

> Latin: 4.6. cum haud gravate venissent, introducti a consulibus ad senatum ita responderunt ad interrogata, ut magis suspecti quam venerant dimitterentur.

[¶35] 4.7. War was from that moment regarded as certain. Spurius Furius, one of the consuls, having received that command, set out against the Aequi. In the country of the Hernici he found the enemy engaged in marauding, and being ignorant of their strength, because they had never all been seen together, rashly offered battle with an army which was no match for theirs in numbers.

> Latin: 4.7. inde haud dubium haberi. Sp. Furius, consulum alter, cui ea provincia evenerat, profectus in Aequos Hernicorum in agro populabundum hostem invenit ignarusque multitudinis, quia nusquam nusquarr universa conspecta fuerat, imparem copiis exercitum temere pugnae commisit.

[¶36] 4.8. At the first attack he was repulsed and withdrew into his camp. Nor did this end his danger, for both that night and the following day his camp was so vigorously hemmed in and assaulted that not even a messenger could be got off to Rome.

> Latin: 4.8. concursu pulsus se intra castra recepit. is finis periculi fuit; namque et proxima nocte et postero die tanta vi castra sunt circumsessa atque oppugnata ut ne nuntius quidem inde mitti Romam posset.

[¶37] 4.9. The Hernici reported the defeat and blockade of the consul and his army, striking such terror into the hearts of the senators that they passed a decree which has always been held to signify the direst necessity: that Postumius, the other consul, should be commissioned to see to it that the republic took no hurt.

> Latin: 4.9. Hernici et male pugnatum et consulem exercitumque obsideri nuntiaverunt tantumque terrorem incussere patribus ut, quae forma senatus consulti ultimae semper necessitatis habita est, Postumio, alteri consulum, negotium daretur videret ne quid res publica detrimenti caperet.

[¶38] 4.10. It was deemed wisest that the consul himself should remain in Rome, to enroll all who were capable of bearing arms; and that a proconsul, Titus Quinctius, should be sent, with an army of the allies, to relieve the camp.

> Latin: 4.10. consulem Romae manere ad conscribendos omnes qui arma ferre possent optimum visum est: pro consule T. Quinctium subsidio castris cum sociali exercitu mitti;

[¶39] 4.11. In order to fill out this army the Latins and the Hernici and the colony of Antium were commanded to furnish Quinctius with “emergency-men,” as they used then to term hastily-levied auxiliaries.

> Latin: 4.11. ad eum explendum Latini Hernicique et colonia Antium dare Quinctio subitarios milites—ita tum repentina auxilia appellabant—iussi.

[¶40] 5.1. There was much manœuvring during the days that followed, and many attacks were delivered in one place or another, for the enemy, having a preponderance of numbers, set about harassing the Roman forces in many places, with the expectation that they would prove unequal to all the demands that were made upon them;

> Latin: 5.1. per eos dies motus multique impetus hinc atque illinc facti, quia superante multitudine hostes carpere multifariam vires Romanas, ut non suffecturas ad omnia, adgressi sunt;

[¶41] 5.2. at the same time that they were besieging the camp, a part of their army was sent to devastate the Roman fields and to attack the City itself, should an opportunity offer.

> Latin: 5.2. simul castra oppugnabantur, simul pars exercitus ad populandum agrum Romanum missa urbemque ipsam, si qua fortuna daret, temptandam. L. Valerius ad praesidium urbis relictus, consul Postumius ad arcendas populationes finium missus.

[¶42] 5.4. Lucius Valerius was left to defend the City, while the consul Postumius was sent out to protect the frontier from pillage. There was no relaxation anywhere of vigilance or effort; watches were set in the City, outposts were established before the gates, and troops were posted on the walls; and, as was necessary in the midst of such confusion, the courts were suspended for several days.

> Latin: 5.4. remissum ab ulla parte curae aut laboris; vigiliae in urbe, stationes ante portas, praesidiaque in muris disposita, et quod necesse erat in tanto tumultu, iustitium per aliquot dies servatum.

[¶43] 5.5. In camp meanwhile the consul Furius, having begun by submitting tamely to the blockade, caught the Aequi off their guard, and made a sortie by the decuman gate. He might have pursued the enemy, but stopped for fear the camp might be assailed from the opposite quarter.

> Latin: 5.5. in castris Furius consul cum primo quietus obsidionem passus esset, in incautum hostem decumana porta erupit, et cum persequi posset, metu substitit, ne qua ex parte altera in castra vis fieret.

[¶44] 5.6. The lieutenant Furius, a brother of the consul, was carried a good way off by his charge, nor did he observe, in the ardour of pursuit, either that his friends were retiring or that the enemy were moving up to attack him in the rear. His retreat was thus cut off, and after repeated but unsuccessful attempts to force his way back to the camp, he perished, fighting bravely. The consul too, upon learning that his brother was surrounded, set his face towards the battle and plunged into the midst of the mellay, with more rashness than prudence; for he received a wound, and was barely rescued by the men about him.

> Latin: 5.6. Furium legatum—frater idem consulis erat—longius extulit cursus; nec suos ille redeuntes persequendi studio neque hostium ab tergo incursum vidit. exclusus multis saepe frustra conatibus captis ut viam viarm sibi ad castra faceret, acriter dimicans cecidit, et consul nuntio circumventi fratris conversus ad pugnam, dum se temere magis quam satis caute in mediam dimicationem infert, volnere accepto aegre ab circumstantibus ereptus et suorum animos turbavit et ferociores hostes fecit;

[¶45] 5.8. This misfortune dismayed his own troops and quickened the courage of the enemy, who were so inspirited by the death of the lieutenant and the wounding of the consul that from that moment no force could withstand them, and the Romans were driven into their camp and again besieged, being no match for their opponents either in confidence or strength. The very existence of the army would have been imperilled, had not Titus Quinctius come up with the foreign troops, the Latins and Hernici.

> Latin: 5.8. qui caede legati et consulis volnere accensi nulla deinde vi sustineri potuere, ut compulsi in castra Romani rursus obsiderentur nec spe nec viribus pares; venissetque in periculum summa rerum, ni T. Quinctius peregrinis copiis, Latino Hernicoque exercitu, subvenisset.

[¶46] 5.9. He found the Aequi intent on the Roman camp, and truculently displaying the head of the lieutenant. Attacking them in the rear, while the besieged, in answer to a signal he had given them from afar, were making a sally from the camp, he intercepted a large body of them.

> Latin: 5.9. intentos in castra Romana Aequos legatique caput ferociter ostentantes ab tergo adortus simul ad signum a se procul editum ex castris eruptione facta agnam vim hostium circumvenit.

[¶47] 5.10. There was less carnage but a more headlong rout in the case of the Aequi who were in Roman territory. These men were dispersed and collecting booty when they were attacked by Postumius at several points where he had opportunely stationed troops.

> Latin: 5.10. caedis, fuga effusior Aequorum in agro fuit Romano, in quos palatos praedam agentes ragentes Postumius aliquot locis, quibus opportuna imposuerat praesidia, impetum dedit. vagi dissipate agmine fugientes in Quinctium victorem cum saucio consule revertentem incidere.

[¶48] 5.11. The pillagers, fleeing in a disordered crowd, fell in with Quinctius, who was returning from his victory with the wounded consul; whereupon the consular army splendidly avenged the consul's wound and the slaughter of the lieutenant and his cohorts. Heavy losses were inflicted and sustained on both sides at that time.

> Latin: 5.11. consularis exercitus egregie consulis volnus, legati et cohortium ultus est caedem. clades ultro citroque illis diebus et inlatae et acceptae.

[¶49] 5.12. It is hard to make a trustworthy statement, in a matter of such antiquity, as to just how many fought and how many fell;

> Latin: 5.12. ad fidem est in tam tarn antiqua re quot pugnaverint ceciderintve exacto adfirmare numero; audet tamen Antias Valerius concipere summas:

[¶50] 5.13. yet Valerius Antias ventures to specify the totals, saying that the Romans lost five thousand eight hundred in the country of the Hernici; that of the Aequian marauders who were roaming about and pillaging within the Roman borders two thousand four hundred were slain by Aulus Postumius, the consul; and that the rest of the expedition, which stumbled upon Quinctius as they were driving off their booty, got off by no means so lightly, for their killed amounted, so he says, with minute particularity, to four thousand two hundred and thirty.

> Latin: 5.13. Romanos cecidisse in Hernico agro quinque milia octingentos: ex praedatoribus Aequorum qui populabundi in finibus Romanis vagabantur ab A. Postumio consule duo milia et quadringentos caesos: ceteram multitudinem praedam agentem, quae inciderit in Quinctium, nequaquam pari defunctam esse caede: interfecta inde quattuor milia et, exsequendo subtiliter numerum, ducentos ait et triginta.

[¶51] 5.14. When the army had returned to Rome, and the suspension of the courts was ended, the heavens were seen to blaze with numerous fires, and other portents either were actually seen or were due to the illusions of the terror-stricken observers. To avert these alarms a three days' season of prayer was ordered, and during this period all the shrines were crowded with a throng of men and women beseeching the pardon of the gods.

> Latin: 5.14. Romam reditum est, iustitium remissum. visum est ardere plurimo igni, portentaque alia aut obversata oculis aut vanas exterritis ostentavere species. avertendis terroribus in triduum feriae indictae, per quas omnia delubra pacem deum exposcentium virorum mulierumque turba implebantur.

[¶52] 5.15. After that the cohorts of the Latins and the Hernici were thanked by the senate for their energetic service and sent home. A thousand men from Antium who had come too late to help, when the battle was over, were dismissed, almost in disgrace.

> Latin: 5.15. inde Latinae Hernicaeque ab senatu gratiis ob impigram militiam actis remissae domos. Antiates mille milites, quia serum auxilium post proelium venerant, prope cum ignominia dimissi.

[¶53] 6.1. The elections were then held, and Lucius Aebutius and Publius Servilius were chosen consuls. On the first of August, then the beginning of the year, they entered office.

> Latin: 6.1. inde habita; creati consules L. Aebutius P. Servilius.. Sextilibus, ut tunc tune principium anni agebatur, consulatum ineunt.

[¶54] 6.2. It was the sickly season, and chanced to be a year of pestilence both in the City and in the country, for beasts as well as men; and the people increased the virulence of the disease, in their dread of pillage, by receiving flocks and country-folk into the City.

> Latin: 6.2. tempus et forte annus pestilens erat urbi agrisque nec nee hominibus magis quam pecori; et auxere vim morbi terrore populationis pecoribus agrestibusque in urbem acceptis.

[¶55] 6.3. This conflux of all kinds of living things distressed the citizens with its strange smells, while the country-people, being packed into narrow quarters, suffered greatly from the heat and want of sleep; and the exchange of ministrations and mere contact spread the infection.

> Latin: 6.3. conluvio mixtorum omnis generis animantium et odore insolito urbanos et agrestem confertum in arta tecta aestu ac vigiliis angebat, ministeriaque in vicem ac contagio ipsa volgabant morbos.

[¶56] 6.4. The Romans could scarce endure the calamities which pressed hard upon them, when suddenly envoys from the Hernici appeared, announcing that the Aequi and the Volsci had joined forces and established a camp in their territory, from which base they were devastating their land with an enormous army.

> Latin: 6.4. instantes sustinentibus clades repente legati Hernici nuntiant in agro suo Aequos Volscosque coniunctis copiis castra posuisse, inde exercitu ingenti fines suos depopulari.

[¶57] 6.5. Not only did the reduced numbers of the senate show their allies that the nation was prostrated by the pestilence, but they also returned a melancholy answer to their suit, that the Hernici, namely, with the help of the Latins, must defend their own possessions; for the City of Rome, in a sudden visitation of divine displeasure, was being ravaged by disease; if there should come any respite from their suffering, they would help their friends, as they had done the year before and on every other occasion.

> Latin: 6.5. quod infrequens senatus indicio erat sociis adflictam civitatem pestilentia esse, maestum etiam responsum tulere, ut per se ipsi Hernici cum Latinis res suas tutarentur: urbem Romanam subita deum ira morbo populari; si qua eius mali quies veniat, ut anno ante, ut semper alias, sociis opem laturos.

[¶58] 6.6. The allies departed, bearing home, in return for their sad tidings, a reply that was even sadder, since it meant that their people must sustain by themselves a war which they could hardly have sustained with the powerful assistance of the Romans.

> Latin: 6.6. socii pro tristi nuntio tristiorem domum reportantes, quippe quibus per se sustinendum bellum erat, quod vix Romanis fulti viribus sustinuissent.

[¶59] 6.7. No longer did the enemy confine themselves to the country of the Hernici; they proceeded thence to invade the Roman fields, which had been made desolate even without the violence of war. Encountering no one there, not even an unarmed man, and passing through a country wholly destitute not only of defenders but also of cultivation, they came to the third milestone on the Gabinian Way.

> Latin: 6.7. diutius se in Hernico hostis continuit; pergit inde infestus in agros Romanos etiam sine belli iniuria vastatos. cum obvius nemo ne inermis quidem fieret perque omnia non praesidiis modo deserta sed etiam cultu agresti transirent, pervenere ad tertium lapidem Gabina via.

[¶60] 6.8. Death had taken Aebutius, the Roman consul; for his colleague Servilius there was little hope, though he still breathed; the disease had attacked most of the leading men, the greater part of the senators, and almost all of military age, so that their numbers were not only insufficient for the expeditions which so alarming a situation called for, but were almost too small for mounting guard.

> Latin: 6.8. Aebutius erat Romanus consul; collega eius Servilius exigua in spe trahebat animam; adfecti plerique principum, patrum maior pars, militaris fere aetas omnis, ut non modo ad expeditiones, quas in tanto tumultu res poscebat, sed vix ad quietas stationes viribus sufficerent.

[¶61] 6.9. The watchmen's duty was performed by those of the senators themselves whose years and strength admitted of it; the rounds were made and the watches supervised by the plebeian aediles; into their hands had passed the supreme control, and the majesty of consular authority.

> Latin: 6.9. vigiliarum senatores, qui per aetatem ac valetudinem poterant, per se ipsi obibant; circumitio ac cura aedilium plebi erat; ad eos summa rerum ac maiestas consularis imperii venerat.

[¶62] 7.1. In this helpless plight, without a leader and without strength, the commonwealth was saved by its tutelary gods and the good fortune of the City, which inspired the Volsci and Aequi with the spirit of plunderers rather than of soldiers.

> Latin: 7.1. omnia, sine capite, sine viribus, di praesides ac fortuna urbis tutata est, quae Volscis Aequisque praedonum potius mentem quam hostium dedit;

[¶63] 7.2. For they were so far from entertaining any hope of approaching, not to speak of capturing, the walls of Rome, and the distant sight of her roofs and beetling hills so damped their ardour, that the entire army began to murmur, and to ask why they should waste their time in desolate and abandoned fields, where bodies of beasts and men lay rotting and there was no booty, when they might be invading an unspoiled country, the land of Tusculum, abounding in wealth; so they suddenly pulled up their standards, and passed by cross-roads through the Labican fields to the hills of Tusculum, and on that point all the impetus and fury of the war converged.

> Latin: 7.2. adeo enim nullam spem non potiundi modo, sed ne adeundi quidem Romana moenia animus eorum cepit tectaque procul visa atque imminentes tumuli avertere mentes eorum, ut totis passim castris fremitu orto, quid in vasto ac deserto agro inter tabem pecorum hominumque desides sine praeda tempus tererent, cum integra loca, Tusculanum agrum opimum copiis, petere possent, signa repente convellerent transversisque itineribus per Labicanos agros in Tusculanos colles transirent. vis omnis tempestasque belli conversa est.

[¶64] 7.4. Meanwhile the Hernici and Latins, moved not by pity alone but by shame, if they should fail to oppose the common enemy, advancing in force against the City of Rome, and should bring no assistance to their besieged allies, united their armies and proceeded to the City.

> Latin: 7.4. Hernici Latinique, pudore etiam, non misericordia solum moti, si nec obstitissent communibus hostibus infesto agmine Romanam Roranam urbem petentibus nec opem ullam obsessis sociis ferrent, coniuncto exercitu Romam pergunt.

[¶65] 7.5. Failing to find the enemy there, but following the report and traces of his march, they met him as he was coming down from the Tusculan valley into that of Alba. There they engaged the invaders on far from equal terms, and their loyalty to their friends was for the moment not attended with success.

> Latin: 7.5. cum hostes non invenissent, secuti famam ac vestigia obvii fiunt descendentibus ab Tusculana in Albanam vallem. haudquaquam aequo proelio pugnatum est, fidesque sua sociis parum felix in praesentia fuit.

[¶66] 7.6. In Rome the ravages of the disease were no less fatal than those of the sword had been amongst her allies. The surviving consul died; and death took other famous men, the augurs Marcus Valerius and Titus Verginius Rutulus, and the head curio, Servius B.C. 463 Sulpicius;

> Latin: 7.6. minor Romae fit morbo strages quam quanta ferro sociorum facta erat. qui unus supererat moritur; mortui et alii clari viri, M. Valerius, T. Verginius Rutulus augures, Ser. Sulpicius curio maximus;

[¶67] 7.7. as for the base rabble, the violence of the plague stalked at large amongst them; until the senate, finding no help in man, sent the people to the gods in prayer, commanding them to take their wives and children and supplicate Heaven for forgiveness.

> Latin: 7.7. et per ignota capita late vagata est vis morbi. senatus auxilii humani ad deos populum ac vota vertit. cum coniugibus ac liberis supplicatum ire pacemque paceinque exposcere deum, ad id quod sua quemque mala cogebant auctoritate publica evocati omnia delubra implent.

[¶68] 7.8. Thus summoned by the state's authority to do what each was impelled to by his own distress, they crowded all the shrines. Everywhere were prostrate matrons, sweeping the floors of the temples with their hair, while they besought the angry gods to grant them pardon and end the pestilence. After that, little by little, whether it was that the gods had been persuaded to forgive or that the sickly season was now past, those whose disease had run its course began to regain their health; and men's thoughts now turned to the commonwealth.

> Latin: 7.8. passim matres crinibus templa verrentes veniam irarum caelestium finemque pesti exposcunt. paulatim seu pace deum impetrata seu graviore tempore anni iam circumacto defuncta morbis corpora salubriora esse incipere;

[¶69] 8.2. Several interregna had expired, when Publius Valerius Publicola, three days after being made interrex, declared the election to the consulship of Lucius Lucretius Tricipitinus and Titus Veturius Geminus —or Vetusius, if that was his name.

> Latin: 8.2. versisque animis iam ad publicam curam, cum aliquot interregna exissent, P. Valerius Publicola tertio die quam interregnum inierat consules creat L. Lucretium Tricipitinum et T. Veturium Geminum, sive ille Vetusius fuit.

[¶70] 8.3. On the 11th of August they took office, the nation being by that time so strong that it was able not only to defend itself, but even to assume the offensive.

> Latin: 8.3. diem tertium idus Sextiles consulatum ineunt iam satis valida civitate ut non solum arcere bellum sed ultro etiam inferre posset.

[¶71] 8.4. Accordingly, when the Hernici reported that the enemy had crossed their borders, they were promptly offered assistance. Two consular armies were enlisted; Veturius was sent to carry the war into the country of the Volsci;

> Latin: 8.4. nuntiantibus Hernicis in fines suos transcendisse hostes impigre promissum auxilium. consulares exercitus scripti. Veturius missus in Volscos ad bellum ultro inferendum;

[¶72] 8.5. while Tricipitinus, having been appointed to secure the territory of the allies from inroads, proceeded no further than the land of the Hernici.

> Latin: 8.5. Tricipitinus populationibus arcendis sociorum agro oppositus non ultra quam in Hernicos procedit. Veturius primo proelio hostes fundit fugatque:

[¶73] 8.6. Veturius in his first battle defeated and routed his opponents; Lucretius, while encamped among the Hernici, was eluded by a company of raiders, who marched over the mountains of Praeneste and thence down into the campagna; there they laid waste the Praenestine and Gabinian fields; and from the latter district turned towards the hills about Tusculum.

> Latin: 8.6. Lucretium, dum in Hernicis sedet, praedonum agmen fefellit supra montes Praenestinos ductum, inde demissum in campos. agros Praenestinum Gabinumque; ex Gabino in Tusculanos flexere colles;

[¶74] 8.7. The City of Rome itself received a great fright, more on account of the surprise than from any lack of resources for defence. Quintus Fabius was in charge of the City. Arming the young men and disposing his defences, he made everything secure and tranquil.

> Latin: 8.7. urbi quoque Romae ingens praebitus terror, magis in re subita quam quod ad arcendam vim parum virium esset. Q. Fabius praeerat urbi. armata iuventute dispositisque praesidiis tuta omnia ac tranquilla fecit.

[¶75] 8.8. And so the enemy, having laid hold of the plunder in their immediate neighbourhood, did not venture to approach Rome, but making a detour, set out towards home. The farther they got from the hostile City the less was their anxiety, till they came unexpectedly upon Lucretius the consul, who having already marked their line of march, had drawn up his troops and was eager to fight.

> Latin: 8.8. hostes praeda ex proximis locis rapta adpropinquare urbi non ausi, cum circumacto agmine redirent quanto longius ab urbe hostium abscederent eo solutiore cura, in Lucretium incidunt consulem, iam ante exploratis itineribus suis instructum et ad certamen intentum.

[¶76] 8.9. The spirits of the Romans were therefore prepared for their task, while the enemy were stricken with a sudden panic on being attacked, though by somewhat inferior numbers. The Romans completely routed the great multitude, and driving them into deep valleys, from which escape was difficult, surrounded them.

> Latin: 8.9. praeparatis animis repentino pavore perculsos adorti aliquanto pauciores multitudinem ingentem fundunt fugantque et compulsos in cavas valles, cum exitus haud in facili essent, circumveniunt.

[¶77] 8.10. There the Volscian name was almost blotted out. Thirteen thousand four hundred and seventy fell in the battle and the flight, seventeen hundred and fifty were taken alive, and twenty-seven military standards were brought in, as I find recorded in certain annals; and though there may be some exaggeration of the numbers, it was beyond question a great slaughter.

> Latin: 8.10. Volscum nomen prope deletum est. milia quadringentos septuaginta cecidisse in acie ac fuga, mille septingentos quinquaginta vivos captos, signa viginti septem militaria relata in quibusdam annalibus invenio; ubi etsi adiectum aliquid numero sit, magna certe caedes fuit.

[¶78] 8.11. The victorious consul, in possession of enormous spoils, returned to the permanent camp he had occupied before. Then the consuls encamped together, and the Volsci and Aequi united their shattered forces. The ensuing battle was the third of that year. Fortune bestowed the victory where she had done before; the enemy were routed, and even lost their camp.

> Latin: 8.11. consul ingenti praeda potitus eodem in stativa rediit. consules castra coniungunt, et Volsci Aequique adflictas adfiictas vires suas in unum contulere. illa pugna eo anno fuit. fortuna victoriam dedit; fusis hostibus etiam castra capta.

[¶79] 9.1. Rome was thus restored to her former condition, and the success of the campaign at once occasioned disturbances in the City.

> Latin: 9.1. res Romana in antiquum statum rediit, secundaeque belli res extemplo urbanos motus excitaverunt.

[¶80] 9.2. Gaius Terentilius Harsa was tribune of the plebs that year. Thinking that the absence of the consuls afforded the tribunes an opportunity for action, he employed some days in complaining to the people of the pride of the patricians, and inveighed especially against the authority of the consuls, as a thing excessive and intolerable in a free state.

> Latin: 9.2. C. Terentilius Harsa tribunus plebis eo anno fuit. consulibus absentibus ratus locum tribuniciis actionibus datum, per aliquot dies patrum superbiam ad plebem criminatus, maxime in consulare imperium tamquam nimium nec tolerabile liberae civitati invehebatur.

[¶81] 9.3. For it was only in name, he said, that it was less hateful than that of a king; in reality it was almost crueler, since in place of one master they had now got two, who possessed an unregulated and unlimited power, and while free themselves and without restraint, brought to bear all the terrors of the law and all its punishments upon the plebs.

> Latin: 9.3. enim tantum minus invidiosum, re ipsa prope atrocius quam regium esse; quippe duos pro uno dominos acceptos, immoderata, infinita potestate, qui soluti atque effrenati ipsi omnis metus legum omniaque supplicia verterent in plebem.

[¶82] 9.5. That they might not for ever have this licence, he was about to propose a law providing for the appointment of five men to write out the statutes pertaining to the consular power; such authority over them as the people had granted the consuls they should enjoy, but they should not make a law of their own whims and caprices.

> Latin: 9.5. ne aeterna illis licentia sit, legem se promulgaturum ut quinque viri creentur legibus de imperio consulari scribendis; quod populus in se ius dederit, eo consulem usurum; non ipsos libidinem ac licentiam suam pro lege habituros.

[¶83] 9.6. When this measure had been promulgated, the Fathers were alarmed lest they might be humbled, in the absence of the consuls; the prefect of the City, Quintus Fabius, convened the senate, and attacked the measure and its author himself with such bitterness that if both the consuls had been present to outface the tribune there was nothing they could have added to his threats and denunciations.

> Latin: 9.6. promulgata lege cum timerent patres ne absentibus consulibus iugum acciperent, senatus a praefecto urbis Q. Fabio vocatur, qui adeo atrociter in rogationem latoremque ipsum est invectus ut nihil, si ambo consules infesti circumstarent tribunum, relictum minarum atque terroris terrorism sit:

[¶84] 9.7. Terentilius, he said, had laid an ambush and watching his opportunity had attacked the state. If the angry gods had given them a tribune like him the year before, when they were suffering from war and disease, it would have been impossible to save the situation. Finding both consuls dead, the citizens plague-stricken, and confusion everywhere, he would have proposed a law to do away with consular government, and would have led the Volsci and the Aequi to besiege the City. Pray what did he desire?

> Latin: 9.7. insidiatum eum et tempore capto adortum rem publicam. quem similem eius priore anno inter morbum bellumque irati di tribunum dedissent, non potuisse sisti. duobus consulibus, iacente aegra civitate, in conluvione omnium rerum, ad tollendum rei publicae consulare imperium laturum leges fuisse, ducem Volscis Aequisque ad oppugnandam urbem futurum.

[¶85] 9.9. Was he not at liberty, if the consuls had committed any act of pride or cruelty against a citizen, to call them into court and accuse them where the judges would be the very men against one of whom the injury had been done?

> Latin: 9.9. tandem? non licere, si quid consules superbe in aliquem civium aut crudeliter fecerint, diem dicere, accusare iis ipsis iudicibus quorum in aliquem saevitum sit?

[¶86] 9.10. It was not the authority of the consul but the power of the tribune that he was making hateful and intolerable; this power had been reconciled and brought into harmony with the senate, but was now being degraded again to its former evil state. Yet he would not supplicate Terentilius to abandon the course on which he had embarked.

> Latin: 9.10. illum consulare imperium, sed tribuniciam potestatem invisam intolerandamque facere; quam placatam reconciliatamque patribus de integro in antiqua redigi mala. illum se deprecari, quo minus pergat ut coeperit;

[¶87] 9.11. “It is you other tribunes,” he cried, “whom we beg to reflect, as a matter of the last importance, that your power was obtained for the purpose of assisting individuals, not for the destruction of us all; that you were elected tribunes of the plebs, not enemies of the senate.”

> Latin: 9.11. inquit Fabius, ceteri tribuni, oramus, ut primum omnium cogitetis potestatem istam ad singulorum auxilium, non ad perniciem universorum comparatam esse; tribunos plebis vos creatos, non hostes patribus.

[¶88] 9.12. “To us it is a source of sorrow, to you of odium, that the state should be attacked in the absence of its defenders. You will be diminishing, not your authority, but your unpopularity, if you plead with your colleague to postpone the question, as it stands, until the arrival of the consuls. Even the Aequi and the Volsci, when disease last year had carried off the consuls, refrained from pressing a cruel and pitiless war against us.”

> Latin: 9.12. miserum, invidiosum vobis est desertam rem publicam invadi. ius vestrum, sed invidiam minueritis. cum collega ut rem integram in adventum consulum differat. Aequi quidem ac Volsci morbo absumptis priore anno consulibus crudeli superboque nobis bello institere.

[¶89] 9.13. The tribunes pleaded with Terentilius, and the measure having been ostensibly postponed, but in reality killed, the consuls were immediately summoned.

> Latin: 9.13. cum Terentilio tribuni, dilataque in speciem actione, re ipsa sublata, consules extemplo arcessiti.

[¶90] 10.1. Lucretius returned with vast spoils and far greater glory; and this he increased, on his arrival, by exposing all the booty in the Campus Martius, where it lay for three days, that every man might identify and carry off what belonged to him.

> Latin: 10.1. Lucretius cum ingenti praeda, maiore multo gloria rediit. auget gloriam adveniens exposita omni in campo Martio praeda, ut suum quisque per triduum cognitum abduceret. vendita, quibus domini non exstitere.

[¶91] 10.2. The other things, for which no owner appeared, were sold. That the consul had earned a triumph all agreed; but the matter was put off, for the tribune was urging his law, and this was a question of more importance in the eyes of Lucretius.

> Latin: 10.2. omnium consensu consuli triumphus, sed dilata res est tribuno de lege agente;

[¶92] 10.3. The measure was debated several days, not only in the senate but before the people. Finally the tribune gave way to the majesty of the consul and desisted. The general and his army then received their meed of honour; Lucretius triumphed over the Volsci and the Aequi, and his own legions followed the triumphal chariot. The other consul was permitted to enter the City in an ovation, without soldiers.

> Latin: 10.3. id antiquius consuli fuit. per aliquot dies cum in senatu res, tum apud populum est. ad ultimum maiestati consulis tribunus et destitit. imperatori exercituique honos suus redditus; triumphavit de Volscis Aequisque, triumphantem secutae suae legiones. consuli datum, ut ovans sine militibus urbem iniret.

[¶93] 10.5. In the following year the Terentilian law was brought up again by the entire college and menaced the new consuls, to wit, Publius Volumnius and Servius Sulpicius.

> Latin: 10.5. deinde insequenti lex Terentilia ab toto relata collegio novos adgressa consules est; erant consules P. Volumnius Ser. Sulpicius.

[¶94] 10.6. This year the heavens were seen to blaze, and the earth was shaken with a prodigious quake. That a cow had spoken —a thing which had found no credence the year before —was now believed. Among other portents there was even a rain of flesh, which is said to have been intercepted by vast numbers of birds flying round in the midst of it; what fell to the ground lay scattered about for several days, but without making any stench.

> Latin: 10.6. anno caelum ardere visum, terra ingenti concussa motu est. locutam, cui rei priore anno fides non fuerat, creditum. alia prodigia et carne pluit, quem imbrem ingens numerus avium intervolitando rapuisse fertur; quod intercidit, sparsum ita iacuisse per aliquot dies, ut nihil odor mutaret.

[¶95] 10.7. The two commissioners for sacred rites consulted the Sibylline Books, where it was predicted that there was danger to come from a concourse of foreigners, lest they attack the highest places of the City, and blood be shed; amongst other things was a warning to avoid factions. The tribunes charged them with trying to hinder their law, and a violent struggle was impending; when lo!

> Latin: 10.7. per duumviros sacrorum aditi; pericula a conventu alienigenarum praedicta, ne qui in loca summa urbis impetus caedesque inde fierent; inter cetera monitum ut seditionibus -seditionibus abstineretur. factum ad impediendam legem tribuni criminabantur, ingensque aderat certamen.

[¶96] 10.8. —that the same cycle of events might recur each year —the Hernici announced that the Volsci and the Aequi, despite the losses they had sustained, were again fitting out their armies; that Antium was the centre of the enterprise; that at Ecetra Antian colonists were holding public meetings; and that the Antiates were the head and sinews of the war.

> Latin: 10.8. , ut idem in singulos annos orbis volveretur, Hernici nuntiant Volscos et Aequos, etsi abscisae res sint, reficere exercitus; Antii summam rei positam, Ecetrae Antiates colonos palam concilia facere; id caput, eas vires belli esse.

[¶97] 10.9. After listening to this report, the senate decreed a levy, and directed the consuls to divide between them the direction of the war, so that one might operate against the Volsci, the other against the Aequi.

> Latin: 10.9. haec dicta in senatu sunt, dilectus edicitur. belli administrationem inter se dispertiri iussi, alteri ut Volsci, alteri ut Aequi provincia esset.

[¶98] 10.10. The tribunes openly and loudly protested in the Forum that the Volscian war was a prearranged farce, and that the nobles had employed the Hernici to act a part in it: they no longer used manhood even, to suppress the liberty of the Roman People, but cajoled and tricked them.

> Latin: 10.10. coram in foro personare fabulam compositam Volsci belli, Hernicos ad partes paratos. iam lam ne virtute quidem premi libertatem libertatern populi Romani, sed arte eludi.

[¶99] 10.11. Inasmuch as the almost total destruction of the Volsci and Aequi made it incredible that they should be going to war on their own initiative, new enemies were trumped up, and a loyal and neighbouring colony was traduced.

> Latin: 10.11. occidione prope occisos Volscos et Aequos movere sua sponte arma posse iam fides abierit, novos hostes quaeri; coloniam fidam, propinquam infamem fieri.

[¶100] 10.12. It was against the innocent Antiates that war was being declared; it was being waged against the Roman plebeians, whom the consuls would load with arms and lead out of the City in hot haste, exiling and banishing citizens to avenge themselves upon the tribunes.

> Latin: 10.12. innoxiis Antiatibus indici, geri cum plebe Romana, quam oneratam armis ex urbe praecipiti agmine acturi essent, exsilio et relegatione civium ulciscentes tribunos.

[¶101] 10.13. By these means —and they need not think that anything else had been intended —the law was already defeated, unless, while the situation was still intact, while they were at home, while they still wore the toga, they should guard themselves against expulsion from the City and submitting to the yoke.

> Latin: 10.13. —ne quid aliud actum putent—victam legem legemr esse, nisi, dum in integro res sit, dum domi, dum togati sint, caveant ne possessione urbis pellantur, ne iugum accipiant.

[¶102] 10.14. If they proved courageous, help would not be wanting; the tribunes were all of one mind. There was no fear of foreign foes, no danger; the gods had seen to it the previous year that they might defend their liberties in safety. To this purport the tribunes.

> Latin: 10.14. animus sit, non defore auxilium; consentire omnes tribunos. terrorem externum, nullum periculum esse; cavisse deos priore anno ut tuto libertas defendi posset. tribuni.

[¶103] 11.1. But the consuls, on the other hand, had placed their chairs in full sight of the tribunes, and began to hold the levy. The tribunes hastened to the place, drawing the people after them. A few were cited, as if by way of a test, and immediately a riot began.

> Latin: 11.1. ex parte altera consules in conspectu eorum positis sellis dilectum habebant. decurrunt tribuni contionemque secum trahunt. pauci velut rei experiundae causa, et statim vis coorta.

[¶104] 11.2. As often as a lictor arrested a man on the consul's order, a tribune would command that he be released; in every case it was not a man's right that determined his conduct, but the confidence he had in his strength; and one had to make good by force what one meant to do.

> Latin: 11.2. lictor iussu consulis prendisset, tribunus mitti iubebat; neque suum cuique ius modum faciebat, sed virium spes, et manu obtinendum erat, quod intenderes.

[¶105] 11.3. Precisely as the tribunes had borne themselves in preventing the levy, so did the senators in blocking the law, which was brought forward every day the comitia could be held.

> Latin: 11.3. ad modum se tribuni gessissent in prohibendo dilectu, sic patres se in lege, quae per omnes comitiales dies ferebatur, impedienda gerebant.

[¶106] 11.4. The quarrel broke out when the tribunes had ordered the people to separate, since the patricians would not permit themselves to be removed. And yet the older nobles for the most part took no share in an affair which was not to be guided by wisdom, but had been committed to rashness and impudence.

> Latin: 11.4. erat rixae, cum discedere populum iussissent tribuni, quod patres se submoveri haud sinebant. fere seniores rei intererant, quippe quae non consilio regenda, sed permissa temeritati audaciaeque esset.

[¶107] 11.5. To a considerable extent the consuls too kept aloof, lest they should expose their dignity to some affront in the general confusion.

> Latin: 11.5. et consules se abstinebant, ne cui in conluvione rerum maiestatem suam contumeliae offerrent.

[¶108] 11.6. There was a young man, Caeso Quinctius, emboldened not only by his noble birth but also by his great stature and physical strength; and to these gifts of the gods he had himself added many honours in the field, and also forensic eloquence, so that no citizen was held to be readier, whether with tongue or with hand.

> Latin: 11.6. Caeso erat Quinctius, ferox iuvenis, qua nobilitate gentis qua corporis magnitudine et viribus. ea munera data a dis et ipse addiderat multa belli decora facundiamque in foro, ut nemo, non lingua non manu, promptior in civitate haberetur.

[¶109] 11.7. When this man had taken his place in the midst of the band of senators, towering above his fellows as though wielding all the might of dictators and consuls in his voice and strength of body, he would sustain unaided the attacks of the tribunes and the fury of the rabble.

> Latin: 11.7. cum in medio patrum agmine constitisset eminens inter alios, velut omnes dictaturas consulatusque gerens in voce ac viribus suis, unus impetus tribunicios popularesque procellas sustinebat.

[¶110] 11.8. His leadership often drove the tribunes from the Forum and ignominiously routed the plebeians; the man who crossed his path came off bruised and stripped; so that it was clear that if things were allowed to go on in this way the law was beaten.

> Latin: 11.8. duce saepe pulsi puisi foro tribuni, fusa ac fugata plebes est; qui obvius fuerat, mulcatus nudatusque abibat, ut satis appareret, si sic agi liceret, victam legem esse.

[¶111] 11.9. Finally, when the other tribunes had already been pretty well cowed, one of their college named Aulus Verginius summoned Caeso to stand trial on a capital charge. The man's fierce nature was rather aroused by this than terrified; and he continued all the more bitterly to resist the law, to harry the plebs, and to assail the tribunes as if in actual warfare.

> Latin: 11.9. prope iam perculsis aliis tribunis A. Verginius ex collegio unus Caesoni capitis diem dicit. ingenium accenderat eo facto magis quam conterruerat; eo acrius obstare legi, agitare plebem, tribunos velut iusto persequi bello.

[¶112] 11.10. The accuser permitted the defendant to storm, and to fan the flames of popular resentment, while furnishing fresh materials for the charges which he intended to bring against him; meanwhile he continued to urge the law, not so much from any hope of carrying it as to provoke Caeso to recklessness.

> Latin: 11.10. pati reum ruere invidiaeque flammam ac materiam criminibus suis suggerere; legem interim non tam ad spem perferendi quam ad lacessendam Caesonis temeritatem ferre.

[¶113] 11.11. In these circumstances it was Caeso alone, as being a suspected character, who got all the blame for many a rash word and act which proceeded from the young aristocrats.

> Latin: 11.11. multa saepe ab iuventute inconsulte dicta factaque in unius Caesonis suspectum incidunt ingenium.

[¶114] 11.12. Nevertheless the law continued to meet resistance. And Aulus Verginius kept saying to the plebeians: “I suppose you see now, Quirites, that you cannot at the same time have Caeso for a fellow-citizen and obtain the law you desire?”

> Latin: 11.12. legi resistebatur. A. Verginius identidem plebi: sentitis iam vos, Quirites, Caesonem simul civem et legem quam cupitis habere non posse? quid ego legem loquor?

[¶115] 11.13. “And yet why do I say law It is liberty he is thwarting; in all the Tarquinian house was no such arrogance. Wait till this man becomes consul or dictator, whom you see lording it over us while a private citizen, by virtue of his strength and impudence!” There were many who agreed with him; they complained of the beatings they had received, and freely urged the tribune to see the business through.

> Latin: 11.13. obstat; omnes Tarquinios superbia exsuperat., dum consul aut dictator fiat, quem privatum viribus et audacia regnantem videtis. multi pulsatos se querentes, et tribunum ad rem peragendam ultro incitabant.

[¶116] 12.1. The day of the trial now drew near, and it was clearly the general opinion that liberty depended on Caeso's condemnation. Then at last he was obliged, though greatly disdaining such a course, to sue for the support of individuals.

> Latin: 12.1. aderat iudicio dies apparebatque volgo homines in damnatione Caesonis libertatem agi credere. demum coactus cum multa indignitate prensabat singulos. necessarii, principes plincipes civitatis.