12.3. Occasion for dissension was sought in vain by Poetelius, who though he had got himself elected plebeian tribune for the second time, by proclaiming that he would carry through these very measures, was unsuccessful in forcing the consuls to lay before the senate a proposal for assigning land to the plebs; and when, after a hard struggle, he obtained a vote of the senate to determine whether consuls or tribunes should be elected, the decision was for consuls.
12.3. seditionum nequiquam a Poetelio quaesita, qui tribunus plebis iterum ea ipsa denuntiando factus neque ut de agris dividendis plebi referrent consules ad senatum pervincere potuit, et cum magno certamine obtinuisset ut consulerentur patres, consulum an tribunorum placeret comitia haberi, consules creari iussi sunt;
12.5. Men only laughed when the tribune threatened to hold up the levy, for the neighbouring peoples were quiet, and war and warlike preparations were alike uncalled for.
12.5. ludibrioque erant minae tribuni denuntiantis se dilectum impediturum, cum quietis finitimis neque bello neque belli apparatu opus esset.
12.6. To this tranquil period succeeded the consulship of Proculus Geganius Macerinus and Lucius Menenius Lanatus, a year conspicuous for numerous deaths and dangers, for seditions, famine, and for the yoke of sovereignty, to which, won over by largesses, men almost bowed their necks.
12.6. hanc tranquillitatem rerum annus Proculo Geganio Macerino L. Menenio Lanato consulibus multiplici clade ac periculo insignis, seditionibus, fame, regno prope per largitionis dulcedinem in cervices accepto;
12.7. The one thing lacking was foreign war, and if that had been added to their burden they could hardly have held out, though all the gods had aided them. The troubles began with a dreadful famine, whether because the season was unfavourable for crops, or that the attraction of assemblies and city-life had left the fields uncultivated; for both explanations have been given. The patricians accused the plebeians of idleness, and the tribunes of the plebs accused the consuls now of dishonesty, now of carelessness.
12.7. unum afuit bellum externum; quo si adgravatae res essent, vix ope deorum omnium resisti potuisset. a fame mala, seu adversus annus frugibus fuit, seu dulcedine contionum et urbis deserto agrorum cultu; nam utrumque traditur. patres plebem desidem et tribuni plebis nunc fraudem nunc neglegentiam consulum accusabant.
12.8. In the end they brought the plebs, with no opposition on the senate's part, to elect Lucius Minucius prefect of the corn-supply. He was destined, while filling this magistracy, to be more successful in safe-guarding liberty than in discharging the duties of his office, although in the end he also earned and received both gratitude and glory for relieving the scarcity.
12.8. perpulere plebem haud adversante senatu ut L. Minucius praefectus annonae crearetur, felicior in eo magistratu ad custodiam libertatis futurus quam ad curationem ministerii sui, quamquam postremo annonae quoque levatae haud immeritam iinmeritam et gratiam et gloriam tulit.
12.9. For although he had dispatched to neighbouring peoples many embassies by land and sea without result —save that a little corn was brought in from Etruria —he found that he had not materially improved the supply. He then fell back upon the plan of distributing the shortage. He forced men to declare their stocks of corn and to sell the surplus above the requirements of a month; he deprived the slaves of a portion of their daily ration; he brought charges against the dealers and exposed them to the anger of the people;
12.9. cum multis circa finitimos populos legationibus terra marique nequiquam missis, nisi quod ex Etruria haud baud ita multum frumenti advectum est, nullum momentum annonae fecisset, et revolutus ad dispensationem inopiae, profiteri cogendo frumentum et vendere quod usui menstruo superesset, fraudandoque parte diurni cibi servitia, criminando inde et obiciendo irae populi frumentarios, acerba inquisitione aperiret magis quam levaret inopiam,
12.11. and by this bitter inquisition rather revealed than alleviated the scarcity, so that many of the plebeians lost hope, and sooner than suffer torment by prolonging their existence, covered up their heads and threw themselves into the Tiber.
12.11. multi ex plebe, spe amissa, potius quam ut cruciarentur trahendo animam, capitibus obvolutis se in Tiberim praecipitaverunt.
13.1. Then Spurius Maelius, of the equestrian order, a man for those times very rich, undertook to do a useful thing in a way that set a very bad example and had a motive still worse.
13.1. Sp. Maelius ex equestri ordine, ut illis temporibus praedives, rem utilem pessimo exemplo peiore consilio est adgressus.
13.2. For having bought up corn in Etruria with his own money, through the agency of friends and clients there — which very circumstance had hindered, I can well believe, the public efforts to bring down prices —he set about distributing it gratis.
13.2. namque ex Etruria privata pecunia per hospitum clientiumque ministeria coempto, quae, credo, ipsa res ad levandam publica cura annonam impedimento fuerat, largitiones frumenti facere instituit;
13.3. The plebeians were captivated by this munificence; wherever he went, conspicuous and important beyond the measure of a private citizen, they followed in his train; and the devotion and hope he inspired in them gave him no uncertain assurance of the consulship.
13.3. plebemque hoc munere delenitam, quacumque incederet, conspectus elatusque supra modum hominis privati, secum trahere, haud dubium consulatum favore ac spe despondentem.
13.4. He himself, so insatiable of fortune's promises is the heart of man, began to cherish a loftier and less allowable ambition; and since even the consulship would have to be wrested from unwilling nobles, considered how he might be king: nothing else, he felt, would adequately reward him for his elaborate schemes and the toil and moil of the great struggle he must make.
13.4. , ut est humanus animus insatiabilis eo quod fortuna spondet, ad altiora et non concessa tendere, et quoniam consulatus quoque eripiendus invitis patribus esset, de regno agitare: id unum dignum tanto apparatu consiliorum et certamine, quod ingens exsudandum esset, praemium fore.
13.5. The consular election was now at hand, and found him with his plans not yet fully ripened.
13.5. comitia consularia instabant; quae res eum necdum compositis maturisve satis consiliis oppressit.
13.6. For the sixth time Titus Quinctius Capitolinus was chosen consul, a most unsuitable man for the purposes of a would-be revolutionary.
13.6. sextum creatus T. Quinctius Capitolinus, minime opportunus vir novanti res; collega additur ei Agrippa Menenius, cui Lanato erat cognomen;
13.7. For colleague he was given Agrippa Menenius, surnamed Lanatus; and Lucius Minucius either was reappointed prefect of the corn-supply or had been named for an indefinite period, so long as the situation should require; for authorities do not agree, but the name of the prefect is entered in the Linen Rolls among the magistrates for both years.
13.7. et L. Minucius praefectus annonae seu refectus seu, quoad res posceret, in incertum creatus; nihil enim constat, nisi in libros linteos utroque anno relatum inter magistratus praefecti nomen.
13.8. This Minucius was discharging the same function in his public capacity which Maelius had undertaken to perform as a private citizen, and the same sort of men were coming and going in both their houses.
13.8. Minucius eandem publice curationem agens quam Maelius privatim agendam susceperat, cum in utraque domo genus idem hominum versaretur, rem compertam ad senatum defert:
13.9. Thus Minucius discovered the affair and reported to the senate that weapons were being collected at the house of Maelius, that he was haranguing people there, and that they were certainly contriving a kingdom; the time for executing the plot was not yet fixed; all else had been agreed upon: the tribunes had been bribed to betray liberty, and the leaders of the mob had been assigned their parts. He said that he had withheld his report of these things almost longer than was safe, that he might not become voucher for anything of an uncertain or trivial nature.
13.9. tela in domum Maeli conferri, eumque contiones domi dorni habere, ac non dubia regni consilia esse. agendae rei nondum stare: cetera iam convenisse: et tribunos mercede emptos ad prodendam libertatem et partita ducibus multitudinis ministeria esse. se paene quam tutum fuerit, ne cuius incerti vanique auctor esset, ea deferre.
13.10. On hearing this the leaders of the senate loudly blamed the consuls of the year before because they had suffered these donations and plebeian gatherings to take place in a private house, and the new consuls because they had waited till information of so grave a crime was laid before the senate by the prefect of the corn-supply, though it wanted a consul not only to report it but to punish it;
13.10. postquam sunt audita, cum undique primores patrum et prioris anni consules increparent quod eas largitiones coetusque plebis in privata domo passi essent fieri, et novos consules quod exspectassent donec done a praefecto annonae tanta res ad senatum deferretur, quae consulem non auctorem solum desideraret sed etiam vindicem;
13.11. but Quinctius said that the consuls were blamed unjustly, for, constrained by the laws of appeal, which had been enacted in order to break down their authority, they had by no means so much power in their office as they had will to punish so heinous an offence in the way it deserved. There was need, he continued, of a man, and one who was not only brave, but free and unfettered by the laws.
13.11. tum Quinctius consules immerito increpari ait, qui constricti legibus de provocatione ad dissolvendum imperium latis, nequaquam tantum virium in magistratu ad eam rem pro atrocitate vindicandam quantum animi haberent. esse non forti solum viro, sed etiam libero exsolutoque legum vinclis.
13.12. He would therefore name Lucius Quinctius dictator; there was a spirit whose stature was equal to that great power. Despite the universal approval of this step, Quinctius at first refused, and asked what they meant by exposing him at the end of his life to so fierce a struggle.
13.12. se dictatorem L. Quinctium dicturum; ibi animum parem tantae potestati esse. cunctis primo Quinctius abnuere et quid sibi vellent rogitare, qui se aetate exacta tantae dimicationi obicerent.
13.13. Then, when men called out on every side that there was not only more wisdom but more courage in that old man's heart than in all the rest and loaded him with not unmerited compliments, and when the consul would not recede from his purpose, at length Cincinnatus uttered a prayer to the immortal gods that they would not suffer his old age to bring harm or shame to the republic in so perilous a case, and was pronounced dictator by the consul.
13.13. cum undique plus in illo senili animo non consilii modo, sed etiam virtutis esse quam in omnibus aliis dicerent laudibusque haud immeritis onerarent, et consul nihil remitteret, precatus tandem deos immortales Cincinnatus ne senectus sua in tam trepidis rebus damno dedecorive rei publicae esset, dictator a consule dicitur.
13.14. He then himself named Gaius Servilius Ahala his master of the horse.
13.14. deinde C. Servilium Ahalam magistrum equitum dicit.
14.1. The next day, after disposing guards at several points he went down into the Forum, where the novel and surprising sight drew upon him the attention of the plebs. The followers of Maelius and their leader himself perceived that it was against them that the force of that high authority was aimed; while those who knew nothing of the plans for setting up a king asked what outbreak or what sudden war had called for the majesty of a dictator or for Quinctius (now past his eightieth year) to direct the state.
14.1. die dispositis praesidiis cum in forum descendisset conversaque in eum plebs novitate rei ac miraculo esset, et Maeliani atque ipse dux eorum in se intentam vim tanti imperii cernerent, expertes consiliorum regni qui tumultus, quod bellum repens aut dictatoriam maiestatem aut Quinctium post octogesimum annum rectorem rei publicae quaesisset rogitarent,
14.3. Then Servilius, the master of the horse, being sent by the dictator to Maelius, said: “The dictator summons you.” When Maelius, trembling, asked what he wanted, Servilius replied that he must stand his trial and clear himself of a charge which Minucius had lodged against him with the senate. Then Maelius drew back into the crowd of his retainers, and at first, glancing this way and that, attempted to avoid the issue; but finally, when the attendant, being so commanded by the master of the horse, would have led him away, he was torn from his grasp by the bystanders and fled, calling on the Roman plebs to protect him, declaring that he was overthrown by a plot of the patricians because he had acted kindly by the commons, and begging them to help him in his extremity and not permit him to be murdered before their eyes.
14.3. missus ab dictatore Servilius magister equitum ad Maelium te inquit, dictator. pavidus ille quid vellet quaereret Serviliusque causam dicendam esse proponeret crimenque a Minucio delatum ad senatum diluendum, tunc tune Maelius recipere se in catervam suorum, et primum circumspectans tergiversari, postremo cum apparitor iussu magistri equitum duceret, ereptus a circumstantibus fugiensque fidem plebis Romanae implorare, et opprimi se consensu patrum dicere, quod plebi benigne fecisset; orare ut opem sibi ultimo in discrimine ferrent neve ante oculos suos trucidari sinerent.
14.6. While he was screaming out these appeals, Servilius Ahala overtook and slew him; then, bespattered with his blood and guarded by a company of young nobles, he returned to the dictator and reported that Maelius, having been summoned to appear before him, had repulsed the attendant and was rousing up the populace when he received the punishment he had deserved.
14.6. eum vociferantem adsecutus Ahala Servilius obtruncat, respersusque cruore, stipatus caterva patriciorum iuvenum, dictatori renuntiat vocatum ad eum Maelium repulso apparitore concitantem multitudinem poenam meritam habere.
14.7. Whereat the dictator exclaimed, “Well done, Gaius Servilius; you have delivered the commonwealth!”
14.7. dictator virtute inquit, C. Servili, esto liberata re publica.
15.1. Then, as the crowd was in a turmoil, not knowing what to think of the deed, he bade convoke them to an assembly. There he asserted that Maelius had been justly slain, even though he had been innocent of plotting to make himself king, since he had been cited before the dictator by the master of the horse and had not obeyed.
15.1. deinde multitudinem incerta existimatione facti ad contionem vocari iussit et Maelium iure caesum pronuntiavit etiam si regni crimine insons fuerit, qui vocatus a magistro equitum ad dictatorem non venisset.
15.2. He himself, he said, had sat to hear the cause, and if the hearing had been concluded Maelius would have prospered as his cause deserved; but, planning violence to avoid undergoing trial, he had been repressed by violence.
15.2. ad causam cognoscendam consedisse, qua cognita habiturum habitururn fuisse Maelium similem causae fortunam; vim parantem ne iudicio se committeret, vi coercitum esse.
15.3. Neither would it have been right to deal with Maelius as with a citizen. The man had been born amongst a free people enjoying rights and laws, in a City from which he knew that the kings had been banished, and how in that very year the king's nephews, sons of the consul who had freed his country, had, on the exposure of a compact they had made to bring the princes back to Rome, been beheaded by their father's orders.
15.3. cum eo tamquam cum cive agendum fuisse, qui natus in libero populo inter iura legesque, ex qua urbe reges exactos sciret eodemque anno sororis filios regis et liberos consulis, liberatoris patriae, propter pactionem indicatam recipiendorum in urbem regum a patre securi esse percussos, ex qua Collatinum Tarquinium consulem nominis odio abdicare se magistratu atque exsulare iussum, in qua de Sp.
15.4. He knew that in this City the consul Tarquinius Collatinus had been commanded, out of hatred for the name he bore, to lay down his office and go into exile; that here, some years after, Spurius Cassius had been punished for aiming at royalty; that here, but lately, the decemvirs had been visited with confiscation, banishment, and death, because of kingly arrogance.
15.4. Cassio post aliquot annos propter consilia inita de regno supplicium sumptum, in qua nuper decemviros bonis, exsilio, capite multatos ob superbiam regiam, in ea Sp. Maelius spem regni conceperit.
15.5. Yet in this same City a Spurius Maelius had conceived the hope of reigning. And who was this fellow? To be sure, no nobility, no honours, no merits, opened wide the road to tyranny for any man; nevertheless the Claudii and Cassii had been encouraged by consulships and decemvirates, by their own honours and those of their forefathers, and by the splendour of their families, to aim at forbidden heights;
15.5. quis homo? nullam nobilitatem, nullos honores, nulla merita cuiquam ad dominationem pandere viam; sed tamen Claudios, Cassios consulatibus, decemviratibus, suis maiorumque honoribus, splendore familiarum sustulisse animos quo nefas fuerit:
15.6. Spurius Maelius, a rich corn-dealer, a man who might have desired but ought scarcely to have hoped to become a plebeian tribune, had flattered himself that for a couple of pounds of spelt he had purchased the liberty of his fellow citizens; he had imagined that by flinging food to them he could entice into slavery a people who had conquered all their neighbours, so that a state which could scarce have stomached him as a senator would endure him for its king, having the insignia and authority of Romulus its founder, who was descended from the gods and had returned to them.
15.6. Sp. Maelium, cui tribunatus plebis magis optandus quam sperandus fuerit, frumentarium divitem, bilibris farris sperasse libertatem se civium suorum emisse, ciboque obiciendo ratum victorem finitimorum omnium populum in servitutem perlici posse, ut quem quern senatorem concoquere civitas vix posset regem ferret, Romuli conditoris, ab dis orti, recepti ad deos, insignia atque imperium habentem. pro scelere id magis quam pro monstro habendum, nec satis esse sanguine eius expiatum, nisi tecta parietesque intra quae tantum amentiae conceptum esset dissiparentur bonaque contacta pretiis regni mercandi publicarentur.
15.8. This ought to be regarded as a thing no less monstrous than wicked; nor was his blood sufficient expiation, unless the roof and walls within which such madness had been conceived should be demolished, and the goods which had been tainted with the offer of them as the price to buy a tyranny be confiscated; he therefore bade the quaestors sell those goods and place the proceeds in the public treasury. Quinctius then commanded the man's house to be pulled down, that the bare site might commemorate the frustration of his wicked purpose. The place was named Aequimaelium. Lucius Minucius was presented with an ox and a gilded statue outside the Porta Trigemina, without opposition even on the part of the plebs, since Minucius divided the corn of Maelius among them at the price of one as the peck.
15.8. itaque quaestores vendere ea bona atque in publicum redigere. deinde, ut monumento area esset oppressae nefariae spei, dirui extemplo iussit. Aequimaelium appellatum est. L. Minucius bove et statua aurata extra portam Trigeminam est donatus ne plebe quidem invita quia frumentum Maelianum assibus in modios aestimatum plebi divisit.
16.3. I find it stated by some historians that this Minucius went over from the patricians to the plebeians, and being co-opted an eleventh tribune of the plebs, allayed the rebellious feeling which arose from the killing of Maelius;
16.3. Minucium apud quosdam auctores transisse a patribus ad plebem undecimumque tribunum plebis cooptatum seditionem motam ex Maeliana caede sedasse invenio;
16.4. but it is hardly credible that the patricians should have permitted the number of tribunes to be increased, and that this precedent, of all others, should have been introduced by a patrician; or that the plebs, having once obtained this concession, should not have held fast to it, or at least have tried to do so. But what proves more conclusively than anything the falsity of the inscription on his portrait is this, that it was enacted by law a few years before that the tribunes might not co-opt a colleague.
16.4. ceterum vix credibile est numerum tribunorum patres augeri passos, idque potissimum exemplum a patricio homine introductum, nec deinde id plebem concessum eoncessum semel obtinuisse aut certe temptasse. ante omnia refellit falsum imaginis titulum paucis ante annis lege cautum ne tribunis collegam cooptare liceret.
16.5. Quintus Caecilius, Quintus Junius, and Sextus Titinius were the only members of the college of tribunes who had not supported the law conferring honours on Minucius, and had never ceased to accuse now Minucius, now Servilius, before the plebs, and to complain of the unmerited death of Maelius.
16.5. Q. Caecilius, Q. Iunius, Sex. Titinius soli ex collegio tribunorum neque tulerant de honoribus Minuci legem et criminari nunc Minucium nunc Servilium apud plebem querique indignam necem Maeli non destiterant.
16.6. So they forced through a measure providing that military tribunes should be elected instead of consuls, not doubting that for some of the six places —for this was now the number that might be filled —plebeians would be chosen, if they would promise to avenge the death of Maelius.
16.6. igitur ut tribunorum militum potius quam consulum comitia haberentur, haud dubii quin sex locis—tot enim iam creari licebat—et plebeii aliqui profitendo se ultores fore Maelianae caedis, crearentur.
16.7. The plebeians, though they had been aroused that year by many different commotions, elected no more than three tribunes with consular powers, and among these Lucius Quinctius, son of Cincinnatus, from whose dictatorship men were trying to derive the odium for inspiring a mutiny.
16.7. Plebs, quamquam agitata multis eo anno et variis motibus erat, nec pluris quam tres tribunos consulari potestate creavit et in his L. Quinctium, Cincinnati filium, ex cuius dictaturae invidia tumultus quaerebatur.
16.8. Aemilius Mamercus, a man of the highest standing, was ahead of Quinctius in the voting; Lucius Julius was elected third.
16.8. suffragiis Quinctio Mamercus Aemilius, vir summae dignitatis; L. Iulium tertium creant.
17.1. During the term of these magistrates, Fidenae, a Roman colony, revolted to Lars Tolumnius and the Veientes.
17.1. horum magistratu Fidenae, colonia Romana, ad Lartem Tolumnium ac Veientes defecere.
17.2. To their defection they added a worse crime, for when Gaius Fulcinius, Cloelius Tullus, Spurius Antius, and Lucius Roscius, Roman envoys, came to inquire the reason of this new policy, at the command of Tolumnius they put them to death.
17.2. additum defectioni scelus: C. Fulcinium Cloelium Tullum Sp. Antium L. Roscium, legatos Romanos, causam novi consilii quaerentes, iussu Tolumni interfecerunt.
17.3. Some persons seek to palliate the king's act, saying that an ambiguous expression of his upon a lucky throw of dice, which made him seem to order them to kill the envoys, was heard by the Fidenates and was responsible for the men's death. But it is quite incredible that the king on being interrupted by the Fidenates, his new allies, come to consult him about a murder that would violate the law of nations, should not have withdrawn his attention from the game, and that the attribution of the crime to a mistake did not come later.
17.3. quidam regis facinus: in tesserarum prospero iactu vocem eius ambiguam, ut occidi iussisse videretur, a Fidenatibus exceptam causam mortis legatis fuisse,—rem incredibilem, interventu Fidenatium, novorum sociorum, consulentium consulentiurn de caede ruptura ius gentium, non aversum ab intentione lusus animum nec deinde in errorem versum facinus.
17.5. It is easier to believe that he wished the people of Fidenae to be involved by the consciousness of so heinous a deed, that it might be impossible for them to hope for any reconciliation with the Romans.
17.5. est fidem obstringi Fidenatium populum ne respicere spem ullam ab Romanis posset conscientia tanti sceleris voluisse.
17.6. The envoys who had been slain at Fidenae were honoured, at the public cost, with statues on the Rostra. With the Veientes and Fidenates, not only because they were neighbouring peoples, but also in consequence of the nefarious act with which they had begun the war, a bitter struggle now impended. Accordingly, out of regard for the general welfare, the plebeians and their tribunes kept quiet, and raised no opposition to the election as consuls of Marcus Geganius Macerinus (for the third time) and Lucius Sergius Fidenas.
17.6. qui Fidenis caesi erant statuae publice in Rostris positae sunt. Veientibus Fidenatibusque, praeterquam finitimis populis, ab causa etiam tam nefanda bellum exorsis atrox dimicatio instabat. ad curam summae rerum quieta plebe tribunisque eius nihil controversiae fuit quin consules crearentur M. Geganius Macerinus tertium et L. Sergius Fidenas.
17.8. I suppose that the name was given him from the war which he then waged; for he was the first who fought a successful battle on this side the Anio with the king of the Veientes; but he gained no bloodless victory, and so there was more grief for the citizens who were lost than rejoicing over the defeat of the enemy; and the senate, as is usual in an alarming situation, commanded the appointment of a dictator, Mamercus Aemilius.
17.8. bello credo quod deinde gessit appellatum; hic enim primus cis Anienem cum rege Veientium secundo proelio conflixit, nec nee incruentam victoriam rettulit. itaque ex civibus amissis dolor quam laetitia fusis hostibus fuit, et senatus ut in trepidis rebus dictatorem dici Mamercum Aemilium iussit.
17.9. He named as his master of the horse a man who had been his colleague the year before, when they had both been military tribunes with consular authority, namely Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, a young man worthy of his father.
17.9. magistrum equitum ex collegio prioris anni, quo simul tribuni militum consulari potestate fuerant, L. Quinctium Cincinnatum, dignum parente iuvenem, dixit.
17.10. To the troops which the consuls levied were added veteran centurions experienced in war, and the losses of the last battle were made good. The dictator bade Titus Quinctius Capitolinus and Marcus Fabius Vibulanus follow him as his lieutenants.
17.10. dilectum dilectur a consulibus habitum centuriones veteres belli periti adiecti et numerus amissorum proxima pugna expletus. T. Quinctium Capitolinum et M. Fabium Vibulanum sequi se dictator iussit.
17.11. The high authority of the dictatorship, in the hands of one who was equal to it, drove the enemy out of Roman territory and across the Anio. They withdrew their camp and pitched upon the hills between Fidenae and the Anio; nor did they descend into the plains until the forces of the Faliscans had come to their support.
17.11. potestas maior tum vir quoque potestati par hostes ex agro Romano trans Anienem submovere; collesque inter Fidenas atque Anienem ceperunt referentes castra, nec ante in campos degressi sunt quam legiones Faliscorum auxilio venerunt.
17.12. Then, and not till then, did the Etruscans encamp before the walls of Fidenae. The Roman dictator likewise went into camp not far off, on the banks of both rivers, at their confluence, and threw up a rampart between his army and the enemy, where he was able to span the interval with intrenchments. Next day he formed up in line of battle.
17.12. demum castra Etruscorum pro moenibus Fidenarum posita. dictator Romanus haud procul inde ad confluentes consedit in utriusque ripis amnis, qua sequi munimento poterat vallo interposito. die in aciem eduxit.
18.1. The enemy were of several minds. The Faliscans, chafing under service performed away from home and fairly self-confident, demanded battle: the Veientes and Fidenates anticipated greater success from a prolongation of the war.
18.1. hostes variae fuere sententiae., procul ab domo militiam aegre patiens satisque fidens sibi, poscere pugnam: Veienti Fidenatique plus spei in trahendo bello esse.
18.2. Tolumnius, though the views of his own followers were more agreeable to him, announced that he would fight on the following day, lest the Faliscans might not tolerate a protracted campaign.
18.2. Tolumnius, quamquam suorum magis placebant consilia, ne longinquam militiam non paterentur Falisci, postero die se pugnaturum edicit.
18.3. The dictator and the Romans were encouraged at the enemy's reluctance; and the next day, on the soldiers threatening that they would at once attack the camp and the city, unless the enemy came to an engagement, both armies marched out in line of battle into the plain between the two camps.
18.3. ac Romanis, quod detractasset pugnam hostis, animi accessere; posteroque die iam militibus castra urbemque se oppugnaturos frementibus ni copia pugnae fiat, utrimque acies inter bina castra in medium campi procedunt.
18.4. The Veientes, having men to spare, dispatched a party round the mountains to assail the camp of the Romans during the engagement. The army of the three nations was so drawn up that the Veientes held the right wing, the Faliscans the left, and the Fidenates formed the centre.
18.4. Veiens multitudine abundans, qui inter dimicationem castra Romana adgrederentur post montes circummisit. populorum exercitus ita stetit instructus ut dextrum cornu Veientes, sinistrum Falisci tenerent, medii Fidenates essent.
18.5. The dictator advanced on the right, against the Faliscans, and Quinctius Capitolinus on the left, to meet the Veientes; while the master of the horse, with the cavalry, led the attack on the centre.
18.5. Dictator dextro cornu adversus Faliscos, sinistro contra Veientem Capitolinus Quinctius intulit signa; ante mediam aciem cum equitatu magister equitum processit.
18.6. For a brief moment all was hushed and still; since the Etruscans were resolved not to begin fighting unless they were forced, and the dictator kept looking back to the Citadel of Rome, that the augurs might thence make him a signal, as they had arranged to do, the moment the omens were propitious.
18.6. silentium et quies fuit nec Etruscis, nisi cogerentur, pugnam inituris et dictatore arcem Romanam respectante, ut ex ea ab auguribus, simul aves rite admisissent, ex composito tolleretur signum.
18.7. As soon as he descried the signal, he first sent his cavalry against the enemy, cheering as they charged; and the infantry followed with a furious attack.
18.7. simul conspexit, primos equites clamore sublato in hostem emisit; secuta peditum acies ingenti vi conflixit.
18.8. At no point could the Etruscan legions withstand the onset of the Romans; their horse made the chief resistance, and of all their horse by far the bravest was the king himself, who rode against the Romans, as they scattered in every direction for the pursuit, and prolonged the struggle.
18.8. parte legiones Etruscae sustinuere impetum Romanorum; eques maxime resistebat; equitumque longe fortissimus ipse rex ab omni parte effuse sequentibus obequitans Romanis trahebat certamen.
19.1. There was at that time among the cavalrymen a tribune of the soldiers named Aulus Cornelius Cossus, a man of strikingly handsome person and no less distinguished for courage and strength. Proud of his name, which was very famous when it came to him, he left to his descendants one still greater and more glorious.
19.1. tum inter equites tribunus militum A. Cornelius Cossus, eximia pulchritudine corporis, animo ac viribus par memorque generis, quod amplissimum acceptum maius auctiusque reliquit posteris.
19.2. This man, seeing how Tolumnius, wherever he charged, brought confusion to the Roman squadrons, and recognizing him, conspicuous in his royal dress, as he galloped swiftly up and down the line, exclaimed, “Is this the breaker of human leagues, the violater of the law of nations?”
19.2. cum ad impetum Tolumni, quacumque se intendisset, trepidantes Romanas videret turmas, insignemque eum regio habitu volitantem tota acie cognosset, est inquit, ruptor foederis humani violatorque gentium iuris?
19.3. “I will speedily offer him up as a sacrificial victim, if only it is the will of Heaven that there should be aught sacred on this earth, to the manes of the envoys!”
19.3. ego hanc mactatam victimam, si modo sancti quicquam in terris esse di volunt, legatorum manibus dabo.
19.4. Clapping spurs to his charger and levelling his spear, he made for his one enemy. Having struck and unhorsed his man, he himself leaped quickly to the ground by the help of his lance, and as the king struggled to his feet flung him back with the boss of his shield, and plunging the spear again and again into his body, pinned him to earth.
19.4. subditis infesta cuspide in unum fertur hostem; quem cum ictum equo deiecisset, confestim et ipse hasta innixus se in pedes excepit.
19.5. Then stripping the spoils from the corpse and cutting off the head, he bore it victoriously on the point of his spear and drove the enemy before him, panic-stricken at the sight of their slain king. Thus even the cavalry was routed, which alone had made the issue of the contest doubtful.
19.5. ibi regem umbone resupinat repetitumque saepius cuspide ad terram adfixit. exsangui detracta spolia caputque abscisum victor spiculo gerens terrore caesi regis hostes fundit. equitum quoque fusa acies, quae una fecerat anceps certamen.
19.6. The dictator pressed on after the flying legions, and pursuing them to their camp cut them to pieces. Large numbers of the Fidenates escaped, thanks to their knowledge of the ground, into the mountains. Cossus crossed the Tiber with his cavalry, and from the fields of the Veientes brought a vast quantity of booty back to town.
19.6. Dictator legionibus fugatis instat et ad castra compulsos caedit. Fidenatium plurimi locorum notitia effugere in montes. Cossus Tiberim cum equitatu transvectus ex agro Veientano ingentem detulit praedam ad urbem.
19.7. During the battle there was also fighting at the Roman camp with a part of the forces of Tolumnius which he had dispatched against it, as has been said before.
19.7. proelium et ad castra Romana pugnatum est adversus partem copiarum ab Tolumnio, ut ante dictum est, ad castra missam.
19.8. Fabius Vibulanus first manned the rampart with a cordon of defenders; and then, when the attention of the enemy was fixed on the wall, sallied out of the Porta Principalis, on the right, with his reserves, and fell suddenly upon them. In consequence of the panic thus occasioned, though the slaughter was less, because fewer were engaged, yet the rout was quite as complete as in the battle-line.
19.8. Fabius Vibulanus corona primum vallum defendit; intentos deinde hostes in vallum, egressus dextra principali cum triariis, repente invadit. pavore iniecto caedes minor, quia pauciores erant, fuga non minus trepida quam in acie fuit.
20.1. Having been everywhere victorious, the dictator, as decreed by the senate and ratified by the people, returned to the City in triumphal procession.
20.1. locis re bene gesta dictator senatus consulto iussuque populi triumphans in urbem rediit.
20.2. By far the greatest spectacle in the triumph was Cossus, bearing the spoils of honour of the slain king, while the soldiers sang rude verses about him, comparing him to Romulus.
20.2. maximum triumphi spectaculum fuit Cossus spolia opima regis interfecti gerens. eum milites carmina incondita aequantes eum Romulo canere.
20.3. The spoils he fastened up as an offering, with solemn dedication, in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, near the spoils of Romulus, which had been the first to be called opima, and were at that time the only ones. Cossus had drawn the gaze of the citizens away from the car of the dictator upon himself, and the honours of that crowded festival were virtually his alone.
20.3. in aede Iovis Feretri prope Romuli spolia quae, prima opima appellata, sola ea tempestate erant, cum sollemni dedicatione dono fixit; averteratque in se a curru dictatoris civium ora et celebritatis eius diei fructum prope solus tulerat.
20.4. The dictator, at the people's behest, presented to Jupiter on the Capitol a golden chaplet of a pound in weight, from the public treasury.
20.4. Dictator coronam auream, libram pondo; ex publica pecunia populi iussu in Capitolio Iovi donum posuit.
20.5. Following all previous historians, I have stated that Aulus Cornelius Cossus was a military tribune when he brought the second spoils of honour to the temple of Jupiter Feretrius.
20.5. ante me auctores secutus, A. Cornelium Cossum tribunum militum secunda spolia opima Iovis Feretrii templo intulisse exposui;
20.6. But besides that only those are properly held to be “spoils of honour” which one commander has taken from another commander, and that we know no “commander” but him under whose auspices the war is waged, the very words inscribed upon the spoils disprove their account and mine, and show that it was as consul that Cossus captured them.
20.6. ceterum, praeterquam quod ea rite opima spolia habentur quae dux duci detraxit, nec ducem novimus nisi cuius auspicio bellum geritur, titulus ipse spoliis inscriptus illos meque arguit consulem ea Cossum cepisse.
20.7. Having heard from the lips of Augustus Caesar, the founder or renewer of all the temples, that he had entered the shrine of Jupiter Feretrius, which he repaired when it had crumbled with age, and had himself read the inscription on the linen breast-plate, I have thought it would be almost sacrilege to rob Cossus of such a witness to his spoils as Caesar, the restorer of that very temple.
20.7. ego cum Augustum Caesarem, templorum omnium conditorem aut restitutorem, ingressum aedem Feretri Iovis, quam vetustate dilapsam refecit, se ipsum in thorace linteo scriptum legisse audissem, prope sacrilegium ratus sum Cosso spoliorum suorum Caesarem, ipsius templi auctorem, subtrahere testem.
20.8. Where the error in regard to this matter lies, in consequence of which such ancient annals and also the books of the magistrates, written on linen and deposited in the temple of Moneta, which Licinius Macer cites from time to time as his authority, only give Aulus Cornelius Cossus as consul (with Titus Quinctius Poenus) seven years later, is a matter on which everybody is entitled to his opinion.
20.8. ea in re sit error, quod tam veteres annales quodque magistratuum libri, quos linteos in aede repositos Monetae Macer Licinius citat identidem auctores, septimo post demum anno cum T. Quinctio Poeno A. Cornelium Cossum consulem habeant, existimatio communis omnibus est.
20.9. For there is this further reason why so famous a battle could not be transferred to the later year, that the consulship of Cossus fell within a period of about three years when there were no wars, owing to a pestilence and a dearth of crops, so that certain annals, as though death-registers, offer nothing but the names of the consuls.
20.9. etiam illud accedit, ne tam clara pugna in eum annum transferri posset, quod imbelle triennium ferme pestilentia inopiaque frugum circa A. Cornelium consulem fuit, adeo ut quidam annales velut funesti nihil praeter nomina consulum suggerant.
20.10. The third year after Cossus's consulship saw him military tribune with consular powers, and in the same year he was master of the horse, in which office he fought another famous cavalry-engagement.
20.10. ab consulatu Cossi annus tribunum eum militum consulari potestate habet, eodem anno magistrum equitum; quo in imperio alteram insignem edidit pugnam equestrem.
20.11. Here is freedom for conjecture, but in my opinion it is idle; for one may brush aside all theories when the man who fought the battle, after placing the newly-won spoils in their sacred resting-place, testified in the presence of Jupiter himself, to whom he had vowed them, and of Romulus —witnesses not to be held lightly by a forger —that he was Aulus Cornelius Cossus, consul.
20.11. libera coniectura est, sed, ut ego arbitror, vana; aversari enim omnes opiniones licet, cum auctor pugnae recentibus spoliis in sacra sede positis, Iovem prope ipsum, cui vota erant, Romulumque intuens, haud spernendos falsi tituli testes, se A. Cornelium Cossum consulem scripserit.
21.1. When Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis and Lucius Papirius Crassus were consuls, armies invaded the country of the Veientes and the Faliscans and drove off booty consisting of men and flocks;
21.1. M. Cornelio Maluginense L. Papirio Crasso consulibus exercitus in agrum Veientem ac Faliscum ducti, praedae abactae hominum pecorumque;
21.2. they nowhere encountered their enemies in the fields nor met with any opportunity to give them battle; still, they besieged no cities, for a pestilence attacked the people.
21.2. hostis in agris nusquam inventus neque pugnandi copia facta; urbes tamen non oppugnatae, quia pestilentia populum invasit.
21.3. And seditions were attempted at home, but not brought about, by Spurius Maelius, tribune of the plebs, who, imagining that the popularity of his name would enable him to stir up trouble, had appointed a day for the prosecution of Minucius, and had also proposed a law for confiscating the goods of Servilius Ahala, maintaining that Maelius had been circumvented by Minucius with false accusations, and flinging it up to Servilius that he had killed a citizen who had not been condemned.
21.3. seditiones domi quaesitae sunt nec motae tamen ab Sp. Maelio tribuno plebis, qui favore nominis moturum se aliquid ratus et Minucio diem dixerat et rogationem de publicandis bonis Servili Ahalae tulerat, falsis criminibus a Minucio circumventum Maelium arguens, Servilio caedem civis indemnati obiciens. vaniora ad populum ipso auctore fuere.
21.5. These charges were even less regarded by the people than was their author. But the increasing virulence of the disease gave concern, and so did certain alarms and prodigies; in particular that it was frequently announced that farm-buildings had been thrown down by earthquakes. A supplication was therefore offered up by the people under the direction of the duumviri.
21.5. magis vis morbi ingravescens curae erat terroresque ac prodigia, maxime quod crebris motibus terrae ruere in agris nuntiabantur tecta. itaque a populo duumviris praeeuntibus est facta.
21.6. The pestilence was worse next year, when Gaius Julius (for the second time) and Lucius Verginius were the consuls, and caused such fears and ravages in the City and the country that not only did no one go out beyond the Roman marches to pillage, nor either patricians or plebs have any thought of waging war, but the men of Fidenae, who at first had kept to their mountains or their city walls, actually came down into Roman territory, bent on plunder.
21.6. inde annus C. Iulio iterum et L. Verginio consulibus tantum metus et vastitatis in urbe agrisque fecit, ut non modo praedandi causa quisquam ex agro Romano exiret bellive inferendi memoria patribus aut plebi esset, sed ultro Fidenates, qui se primo aut montibus aut muris tenuerant, populabundi descenderent in agrum Romanum.
21.8. Then, when they had called in an army from Veii —for the Faliscans could not be driven into renewing the war either by the calamity of the Romans or the entreaties of their allies, —the two peoples crossed the Anio and set up their standards not far from the Colline Gate.
21.8. Veientium exercitu accito—nam Falisci perpelli ad instaurandum bellum neque clade Romanorum neque sociorum precibus potuere—duo populi transiere Anienem atque haud procul Collina porta signa habuere. itaque non in agris magis quam in urbe est.
21.9. The consternation in the City was therefore no less than in the fields; the consul Julius disposed his troops on the rampart and walls, and Verginius took counsel with the senate in the temple of Quirinus.
21.9. Iulius consul in aggere murisque explicat copias, a Verginio senatus in aede Quirini consulitur.
21.10. It was resolved that Quintus Servilius, whose surname some give as Priscus, others as Structus, should be appointed dictator. Verginius delayed till he could consult his colleague; then, with his consent, he that night named the dictator, who appointed as his master of the horse Postumus Aebutius Helva.
21.10. dici Q. Servilium placet, cui Prisco alii, alii Structo fuisse cognomen tradunt. Verginius dum collegam consuleret moratus, permittente eo nocte dictatorem dixit. sibi magistrum equitum Postumum Aebutium Helvam dicit.
22.1. The dictator commanded everybody to be outside the Colline Gate at break of day. All those who were able to bear arms were at hand. The standards were taken out of the treasury and brought to the dictator.
22.1. Dictator omnes luce prima extra portam Collinam adesse iubet. vires suppetebant ad arma ferenda praesto fuere.
22.2. While this was going on, the enemy withdrew to a more elevated position. Thither the dictator marched under arms, and not far from Nomentum joined battle with the Etruscan forces and put them to rout.
22.2. ex aerario prompta feruntur ad dictatorem. cum agerentur, hostes in loca altiora concessere. dictator agmine infesto subit, nec procul Nomento signis conlatis fudit Etruscas legiones; compulit inde in urbem Fidenas valloque circumdedit;
22.3. From there he drove them into the city of Fidenae, which he surrounded with a rampart; but could not capture it with scaling-ladders, since it was a lofty, well-fortified town, nor accomplish anything by blockade, for they not only had corn enough for their necessities, but in fact were lavishly supplied with it from stores which they had collected in advance.
22.3. sed neque scalis capi poterat urbs alta et munita neque in obsidione vis ulla erat, quia frumentum non necessitati modo satis sed copiae quoque abunde ex ante convecto sufficiebat.
22.4. In despair therefore alike of storming the place and of forcing it to surrender; the dictator, operating in a region which was familiar from its nearness to Rome, began, on the farthest side of the city, which was least guarded because its peculiar character made it the safest of all, to drive a mine into the citadel.
22.4. expugnandi pariter cogendique ad deditionem spe amissa, dictator in locis propter propinquitatem notis ab aversa parte urbis, maxime neglecta quia suapte natura tutissima erat, agere in arcem cuniculum instituit.
22.5. He himself, advancing against the city from widely separated points-with his army in four divisions, that they might relieve one another in the attack —by fighting continuously day and night distracted the enemy's attention from the work, until a tunnel had been dug through the hill and a passage-way constructed up into the citadel; when the Etruscans, intent on groundless alarms and unmindful of their real danger, were apprised by the shouts of the enemy above their heads that their city had been taken.
22.5. diversissimis locis subeundo ad moenia quadrifariam diviso exercitu qui alii aliis succederent ad pugnam, continenti die ac nocte proelio ab sensu operis hostes avertebat, donec perfosso monte erecta in arcem via est, intentisque Etruscis ad vanas a certo periculo minas clamor supra caput hostilis captam captain urbem ostendit.
22.7. In that year Gaius Furius Paculus and Marcus Geganius Macerinus the censors approved a public building erected in the Campus Martius, and the census of the people was taken there for the first time.
22.7. anno C. Furius Paculus et M. Geganius Macerinus censores villam publicam in campo Martio probaverunt, ibique primum census populi est actus.
23.1. That the same consuls were re-elected the following year (Julius for a third and Verginius for a second term) I find stated by Licinius Macer: Valerius Antias and Quintus Tubero give Marcus Manlius and Quintus Sulpicius as the consuls for that year.
23.1. consules insequenti anno refectos, Iulium tertium, Verginium iterum, apud Macrum Licinium invenio:
23.2. For the rest, in spite of the great discrepancy in their statements, both Tubero and Macer cite the authority of the Linen Rolls; neither writer dissembles the fact that the elder historians had recorded that there were military tribunes for that year.
23.2. Valerius Antias atque Q. Tubero M. Manlium et Q. Sulpicium consules in eum annum edunt. in tam discrepanti editione et Tubero et Macer libros linteos auctores profitentur; neuter tribunos militum eo anno fuisse traditum a scriptoribus antiquis dissimulat.
23.3. Licinius sees fit to follow without hesitation the Linen Rolls: Tubero is uncertain where the truth lies. With all the other matters which are shrouded in antiquity this question too may be left undecided.
23.3. libros haud dubie sequi linteos placet: Tubero incertus veri est. inter cetera vetustate cooperta hoc quoque in incerto positum.
23.4. There was great alarm in Etruria in consequence of the capture of Fidenae. Not only were the people of Veii terrified by the fear of a similar disaster, but the Faliscans too remembered that they had commenced the war in alliance with the Fidenates, although they had not supported them in their revolt.
23.4. in Etruria est post Fidenas captas non Veientibus solum exterritis metu similis excidii, sed etiam Faliscis memoria initi primo cum iis belli, quamquam rebellantibus non adfuerant.
23.5. Accordingly when the two states, sending envoys round amongst the twelve cities, had obtained their consent to have a council proclaimed for all Etruria at the shrine of Voltumna, the senate, feeling that they were threatened with a great outbreak in that quarter, ordered that Mamercus Aemilius be again named dictator.
23.5. cum duae civitates legatis circa duodecim populos missis impetrassent ut ad Voltumnae fanum indiceretur omni Etruriae concilium, velut magno inde tumultu imminente senatus Mam. Aemilium dictatorem iterum dici iussit.
23.6. By him Aulus Postumius Tubertus was appointed master of the horse, and preparations for war were set about as much more energetically than on the last occasion, as the danger from all Etruria was greater than it had been from two cities.
23.6. Ab eo A. Postumius Tubertus magister equitum est dictus; bellumque tanto maiore quam proximo conatu apparatum est quanto plus erat ab omni Etruria periculi quam ab duobus populis fuerat.
24.1. This affair ended a good deal more quietly than anybody had anticipated.
24.1. res aliquanto exspectatione omnium tranquillior fuit.
24.2. It was reported by merchants that the Veientes had been refused assistance and had been told that having embarked on the war at their own discretion they must prosecute it with their own forces nor seek the alliance of those in their adversity with whom they had not shared the prospect of success. Whereupon the dictator, that his appointment might not have been for nothing, was desirous, being deprived of the means of winning military renown, of accomplishing some peaceful achievement to signalize his dictatorship. He therefore laid his plans to weaken the censorship, either thinking its powers excessive, or troubled less by the greatness of the office than by its long duration.
24.2. cum renuntiatum a mercatoribus esset negata Veientibus auxilia, iussosque suo consilio bellum initum suis viribus exsequi nec adversarum rerum quaerere socios, cum quibus spem integram communicati non sint, tum dictator, ne nequiquam creatus esset, materia quaerendae bello gloriae adempta, in pace aliquid operis edere quod monumentum esset dictaturae cupiens, censuram minuere parat seu nimiam potestatem ratus seu non tam magnitudine honoris quam diuturnitate offensus.
24.4. So, calling an assembly, he said that the immortal gods had undertaken to manage the foreign relations of the state and to make everything safe: he himself would do what needed to be done within the City, and would defend the liberty of the Roman People. Now the greatest safeguard was that great powers should not be long-continued, but that a limit of time should be imposed on them, since no limit of jurisdiction could be. Other magistracies were tenable for one year, the censorship for five.
24.4. itaque advocata rem publicam foris gerendam ait tutaque omnia praestanda deos immortales suscepisse: se, quod intra muros agendum esset, libertati populi Romani consulturum; maximam autem eius custodiam esse si magna imperia diuturna non essent et temporis modus imponeretur quibus iuris imponi non posset;
24.5. It was a serious matter for the same man to have authority over people for so many years, in a great part of their affairs. He announced that he should propose a law that the censorship might not last longer than a year and a half.
24.5. alios magistratus annuos esse, quinquennalem censuram; grave esse iisdem per tot annos magna parte vitae obnoxios vivere; se legem laturum, ne plus quam annua ac semestris censura esset.
24.6. With vast enthusiasm on the part of the people the law was next day enacted, and Mamercus exclaimed, “That you may have positive proof, Quirites, how little I approve prolonged authority, I lay down my dictatorship.”
24.6. ingenti populi legem postero die pertulit et re ipsa inquit sciatis, Quirites, quam mihi diuturna non placeant imperia, dictatura me abdico.
24.7. Thus, having resigned his own magistracy and assigned a limit for the other, he was escorted to his home by the people, with striking manifestations of rejoicing and good-will. The censors, in their indignation that Mamercus had abridged a magistracy of the Roman People, removed him from his tribe, and assessing him at eight times his former tax, disfranchised him. This they say Mamercus bore with great fortitude, having regard rather to the cause of his humiliation than to the humiliation itself. The leading patricians, though they had opposed the curtailment of the jurisdiction of the censorship, were offended by this example of censorial ruthlessness, since each of them perceived that he should be subjected to the censor for a longer period and more frequently than he should hold the censor's office. The people at any rate are said to have been so enraged that no man's influence but that of Mamercus himself could have shielded the censors from their violence.
24.7. suo magistratu, imposito fine alteri, cum gratulatione ac favore ingenti populi domum est reductus. aegre passi Mamercum quod magistratum populi Romani minuisset tribu moverunt octiplicatoque censu aerarium fecerunt. rem ipsum ingenti animo tulisse ferunt causam potius ignominiae intuentem quam ignominiam; primores patrum, quamquam deminutum censurae ius noluissent, exemplo acerbitatis censoriae offensos, quippe cum se quisque diutius ac saepius subiectum censoribus fore cerneret quam censuram gesturum: populi certe tanta indignatio coorta dicitur ut vis a censoribus nullius auctoritate praeterquam ipsius Mamerci deterreri quiverit.
25.1. The tribunes of the plebs by persistent opposition prevented the consular elections from taking place. At last, when matters had been brought almost to an interregnum, they succeeded in their contention that military tribunes with consular powers should be chosen.
25.1. plebi adsiduis contentionibus prohibendo consularia comitia cum res prope ad interregnum perducta esset, evicere tandem ut tribuni militum consulari potestate crearentur.
25.2. Though they hoped their victory would be rewarded by the choice of a plebeian, they were disappointed: all those who were elected were patricians, Marcus Fabius Vibulanus, Marcus Folius, Lucius Sergius Fidenas.
25.2. praemium quod petebatur, ut plebeius crearetur, nullum fuit; omnes patricii creati sunt, M. Fabius Vibulanus M. Folius L. Sergius Fidenas.
25.3. An epidemic that year afforded a respite from other troubles. A temple was vowed to Apollo in behalf of the people's health. The duumviri did many things by direction of the Books for the purpose of appeasing the angry gods and averting the plague from the people.
25.3. eo anno aliarum rerum otium praebuit. Apollini pro valetudine populi vota est. duumviri ex libris placandae deum irae avertendaeque a populo pestis causa fecere;
25.4. Nevertheless the losses were severe, both in the City and the country, and men and cattle were stricken without distinction. They even feared that famine would succeed the epidemic, since the farmers were down with the disease. They therefore sent to Etruria and the Pomptine district, and to Cumae, and finally to Sicily itself, for, corn.
25.4. magna tamen clades in urbe agrisque promiscua hominum pecorumque pernicie accepta. quoque ex pestilentia morbo implicitis cultoribus agrorum timentes in Etruriam Pomptinumque agrum et Cumas, postremo in Siciliam quoque frumenti causa misere. comitiorum nulla mentio habita est;
25.5. Nothing was said about consular elections; military tribunes with consular authority were chosen as follows: Lucius Pinarius Mamercus, Lucius Furius Medullinus, Spurius Postumius Albus —all patricians.
25.5. tribuni militum consulari potestate omnes patricii creati sunt, L. Pinarius Mamercus L. Furius Medullinus Sp. Postumius Albus.
25.6. This year the violence of the disease was mitigated, and there was no risk of a dearth of corn, since precautions had been taken in advance.
25.6. anno vis morbi levata neque a penuria frumenti, quia ante provisum erat, periculum fuit.
25.7. Schemes for instigating war were discussed in the councils of the Volsci and Aequi, and in Etruria at the shrine of Voltumna.
25.7. ad movenda bella in Volscorum Aequorumque conciliis et in Etruria ad fanum Voltumnae agitata.