1.2. The Romans enlarged the number of their military tribunes with consular authority, and elected eight, a greater number than ever before, to wit, Manius Aemilius Mamercus (for the second time), Lucius Valerius Potitus (for the third), Appius Claudius Crassus, Marcus Quinctilius Varus, Lucius Julius Iulus, Marcus Postumius, Marcus Furius Camillus, Marcus Postumius Albinus.
1.2. alibi parta Romani Veiique in armis erant tanta ira odioque, ut victis finem adesse appareret. utriusque populi longe diversa ratione facta sunt. Romani auxere tribunorum tribunoruin militum consulari potestate numerum; octo, quot nunquam antea, creati, M.' Aemilius Mamercus iterum L. Valerius Potitus tertium Ap. Claudius Crassus M. Quinctilius Varus L. Iulius Iulus M. Postumius M. Furius Camillus M.
1.3. But the Veientes, weary of annual canvassing, which was sometimes the cause of brawls, chose a king. This gave offence to the feelings of the Etruscan peoples, who loathed not more the institution of kings than the King himself.
1.3. Postumius Albinus. Veientes contra taedio annuae ambitionis, quae interdum discordiarum causa erat, regem creavere. ea res populorum Etruriae animos, non maiore odio regni quam ipsius regis.
1.4. He had for some time been hateful to the nation by reason of his wealth and arrogance, since he had violently broken up a solemn festival, which it is impious to interrupt, in his resentment of a political rebuff; and because the suffrages of the Twelve Peoples had returned another man as priest in preference to him, he had suddenly carried off the actors, most of whom were his own slaves, in the middle of the games.
1.4. iam is antea genti fuerat opibus superbiaque, quia sollemnia ludorum, quos intermitti nefas est, violenter diremisset, cum ob iram repulsae, quod suffragio duodecim populorum alius sacerdos ei praelatus esset, artifices, quorum magna pars ipsius servi erant, ex medio ludicro repente abduxit.
1.6. And so the nation which was devoted beyond all others to religious rites (and all the more because it excelled in the art of observing them) voted to refuse its help to the men of Veil, so long as they should obey a king.
1.6. itaque ante omnes alias eo magis dedita religionibus, quod excelleret arte colendi eas, auxilium Veientibus negandum donec done sub rege essent decrevit;
1.7. This vote the Veientes would not suffer to be mentioned, in their fear of the King, who had a way of treating the man by whom any such saying was reported as a leader in sedition, not as the bearer of an idle tale.
1.7. cuius decreti suppressa fama est Veiis propter metum regis, qui a quo tale quid dictum referretur, pro seditionis eum principe, non vani sermonis auctore habebat.
1.8. Although the Romans got word that things were quiet in Etruria, still, because they heard that this question came up at all their meetings, they so constructed their works as to have a double fortification, one facing Veii, to oppose the sallies of the townsfolk, the other confronting Etruria, to shut off any assistance that might come from thence. As the Roman generals hoped more from a siege than from an assault, they even began the erection of winter quarters —a new thing to the Roman soldier —and planned to carry the campaign on, straight through the winter.
1.8. Romanis etsi quietae res ex Etruria nuntiabantur, tamen quia omnibus conciliis eam rem agitari adferebatur, ita muniebant ut ancipitia munimenta essent: alia in urbem et contra oppidanorum eruptiones versa, aliis frons in Etruriam spectans, auxiliis si qua forte inde venirent obstruebatur.
2.2. When news of this came to Rome, to the plebeian tribunes, who had now for a long time been unable to hit upon any pretext for agitation, they hurried before the assembly and set to work upon the passions of the commons: So this was the reason that the soldiers had been granted pay! They had not been mistaken in thinking that this gift of their opponents would be smeared with poison. The liberty of the commons had been sold; the young men, having been permanently removed and banished from the City and from the state, were no longer free, even in winter and the stormy season, to see to their homes and their affairs.
2.2. spes maior imperatoribus Romanis in obsidione quam in oppugnatione esset, hibernacula etiam, res nova militi Romano, aedificari coepta, consiliumque erat hiemando continuare bellum. postquam tribunis plebis, iam diu nullam novandi res causam invenientibus, Romam est allatum, in contionem prosiliunt, sollicitant plebis animos, hoc illud esse dictitantes quod aera militibus sint constituta; nec se fefellisse id donum inimicorum veneno inlitum fore. libertatem plebis; remotam in perpetuum et ablegatam ab urbe et ab re publica iuventutem iam ne hiemi quidem aut tempori anni cedere ac domos ac res invisere suas.
2.5. What, they asked, did their hearers suppose to be the reason for making the service continuous? They would assuredly find no other motive than this:
2.5. putarent continuatae militiae causam esse? profecto aliam inventuros quam ne quid per frequentiam iuvenum eorum in quibus vires omnes plebis essent agi de commodis eorum posset.
2.6. lest, through the presence in large numbers of the young men in whom lay all the vigour of the commons, something might be accomplished for the people's good. Moreover, they were far more ruthlessly abused and trodden down than were the Veientes, who, for their part, spent the winter in their houses, safeguarding their city by means of strong walls and natural defences, whilst the Roman soldiers were enduring toil and danger, overwhelmed with snows and frosts, in tents, not even laying aside their weapons in the winter time, a season of respite from all wars both by land and by sea.
2.6. praeterea et subigi multo acrius quam Veientes; quippe illos hiemem sub tectis suis agere, egregiis muris situque naturali urbem tutantes, militem Romanum in opere ac labore nivibus pruinisque obrutum sub pellibus durare ne hiemis quidem spatio, quae omnium bellorum terra marique sit quies, arma deponentem.
2.8. Such slavery as this neither kings, nor the proud consuls who came before the establishment of the tribunician power, nor the stern authority of a dictator, nor harsh decemvirs, had laid upon them, — that they should wage perennial war. Pray what would those men do if they should become consuls or dictators, who had made the semblance of consular authority so savage and truculent? But the commons were only getting their deserts. There had been no room even amongst eight military tribunes for a single plebeian. Heretofore the patricians had been wont with the utmost exertion to fill three places in a year: now they were advancing eight abreast to make good their authority, and there was never a commoner hanging on to the crowd, were it only to remind his colleagues that their soldiers were not slaves but freemen and fellow citizens;
2.8. neque reges neque ante tribuniciam potestatem creatam superbos illos consules neque triste dictatoris imperium neque inportunos importunes decemviros iniunxisse servitutis, ut perennem militiam facerent. illi consules dictatoresve facturi essent, qui consularem imaginem tam saevam ac trucem fecerint? id accidere haud immerito. fuisse ne in octo quidem tribunis militum locum ulli plebeio. trina loca cum contentione summa patricios explere solitos: nunc iam octoiuges ad imperia obtinenda ire, et ne in turba quidem haerere plebeium quemquam qui, si nihil aliud, admoneat collegas liberos et cives eorum, non servos, militare, quos hieme saltem in domos ac tecta
2.11. whom, at least in winter, they were bound to bring back to the shelter of their houses, and to leave them some portion of the year to look after their parents, their children, and their wives, and to use their liberty and elect magistrates. As they shouted forth these and suchlike arguments, they found an opponent not unequal to them in Appius Claudius, whom his colleagues had left behind to repress sedition on the part of the tribunes. He was a man experienced from his youth up in contentions with the plebs, and I have related how, some years before, he had advised that the intervention of their colleagues be used to break the power of the tribunes. The man not only had a nimble wit but was already a practised orator, and he delivered on this occasion a speech to the following effect:
2.11. reduci oporteat et aliquo tempore anni parentes liberosque ac coniuges invisere et usurpare libertatem et creare magistratus. taliaque vociferantes adversarium haud imparem nacti sunt Ap. Claudium, relictum a collegis ad tribunicias seditiones comprimendas, virum inbutum irmbutum iam ab iuventa certaminibus plebeiis, quem auctorem aliquot annis ante fuisse memoratum est per collegarum intercessionem tribuniciae potestatis dissolvendae.
3.2. "If it has ever been a question, Quirites, whether it was for your sake or their own that the tribunes of the commons have always encouraged sedition, I am certain that the doubt has this year been resolved;
3.2. tum tur iam non promptus ingenio tantum sed usu etiam exercitatus, talem orationem habuit: " unquam dubitatum est, Quirites, utrum tribuni plebis vestra an sua causa seditionum semper auctores fuerint, id ego hoc anno desisse dubitari certum habeo;
3.3. and not only do I rejoice that you have at length cleared up a long misunderstanding, but I congratulate both you, - and on your account the state as well, that it has: happened at a time, of all others, when your affairs are prospering.
3.3. et cum laetor tandem longi erroris vobis finem factum esse, tum tur, quod secundis potissimum vestris rebus hic error est sublatus, et vobis et propter vos rei publicae gratulor.
3.4. Or is there anyone who doubts that no wrongs which you have suffered, if haply such there have sometimes been, have ever so offended and stirred up the plebeian tribunes as has the boon which the Fathers bestowed upon the commons, when they granted pay for military service?
3.4. An est quisquam qui dubitet nullis iniuriis vestris, si quae forte aliquando fuerunt, unquam aeque quam munere patrum in plebem, cum aera militantibus constituta sunt, tribunos plebis offensos ac concitatos esse?
3.5. What else do you believe they were afraid of then, or are seeking now to shatter, but the harmony of the orders, which they regard as very apt to overthrow the tribunician authority?
3.5. illos aliud aut tum timuisse creditis aut hodie turbare velle nisi concordiam ordinum, quam dissolvendae maxime tribuniciae potestatis rentur esse?
3.6. Indeed they are like quack-salvers seeking employment, since they desire that there should always be some disease in the body politic, that there may be something which you may call them in to cure.
3.6. hercule tamquam artifices improbi opus quaerunt; quippe semper aegri aliquid esse in re publica volunt, ut sit ad cuius curationem a vobis adhibeantur.
3.7. Pray, are you tribunes defending the commons, or attacking them? Are you adversaries of the soldiers, or their advocates? Or perhaps this is your plea: 'Whatever the Fathers do displeases us, be it in behalf of the commons or against them'; and just as masters forbid outsiders to have aught to do with their slaves, and think it right that they should abstain alike from benefiting and from harming them, so you deny the Fathers intercourse with the commons, lest we by our friendliness and liberality encourage them, or they become dutiful and obedient to us.
3.7. enim defenditis an impugnatis plebem? militantium adversarii estis an causam agitis? forte hoc dicitis: Quidquid patres faciunt displicet, sive illud pro plebe sive contra plebem est,' et quemadmodum servis suis vetant domini quicquam rei cum alienis hominibus esse pariterque in iis beneficio ac maleficio abstineri aequum censent, sic vos interdicitis patribus commercio plebis, ne nos comitate ac munificentia nostra provocemus plebem nec plebs nobis dicto audiens atque oboediens sit.
3.9. How much more, if you had in you the slightest —I say not patriotism, but —humanity, ought you rather to have favoured, and, so far as in you lay, to have encouraged the kindly spirit of the Fathers and the complaisance of the plebs?
3.9. tandem, si quicquam in vobis, non dico civilis, sed humani esset, favere vos magis et quantum in vobis esset indulgere potius comitati patrum atque obsequio plebis oportuit?
3.10. And if this harmony should last, who would not make bold to warrant that our empire would soon be the greatest among the neighbouring peoples? "I shall presently explain, in regard to this plan of my colleagues, who have not been willing to withdraw the army from Veii with its task unaccomplished, —how not merely profitable but even necessary it was. But first I wish to speak about the actual condition of the soldiers; and I think that if I should express my meaning not in your presence only but also in the camp, the army itself would judge it reasonable. Indeed, though I were unable to think of anything to urge myself, I could be quite content with the speeches of my opponents.
3.10. si perpetua concordia sit, quis non spondere ausit maximum hoc imperium inter finitimos brevi futurum esse? " ego, quam hoc consilium collegarum meorum, quo abducere infecta re a Veiis exercitum noluerunt, non utile solum sed etiam necessarium fuerit, postea disseram: nunc de ipsa condicione dicere militantium libet; quam orationem non apud vos solum sed etiam in castris si habeatur, ipso exercitu disceptante aequam arbitror videri posse. qua si mihi ipsi nihil quod dicerem in mentem venire posset, adversariorum certe orationibus contentus essem.
4.3. They were lately insisting that pay ought not to be given to the men, because it never had been given. How then can they object, if to those who have gained some new advantage be allotted new labour also, in proportion.
4.3. nuper danda esse aera militibus, quia nunquam data essent. modo igitur nunc indignari possunt, quibus aliquid novi adiectum commodi sit, eis laborem etiam novum pro portione iniungi?
4.4. Nowhere, as a rule, is service given without recompense, nor recompense except for service; toil and pleasure, most unlike in nature, have been linked together in a sort of natural bond.
4.4. nec nee opera sine: emolumento nec nee emolumentum ferme sine impensa opera est. voluptasque, dissimillima natura, societate quadam inter se naturali sunt iuncta.
4.5. Formerly the soldier was vexed that he must serve the state at his own cost; yet he was happy to be able, for a half of the year, to till his own field and gain the means of keeping himself and his family, whether he were at home or with the army.
4.5. antea ferebat miles se suo sumptu operam rei publicae praebere; gaudebat idem partem anni se agrum suum colere, quaerere unde domi militiaeque se ac suos tueri posset:
4.6. Now he is happy that the state affords him gain, and is glad to receive his pay. Let him therefore be resigned to remaining away a little longer from his home and his property, which is now under no heavy charges.
4.6. gaudet nunc fructui sibi rem publicam esse et laetus stipendium accipit; aequo igitur animo patiatur se ab domo ac re familiari, cui gravis impensa non est, paulo diutius abesse.
4.7. Why, if the commonwealth should call him to a reckoning, would it not justly say, 'You have a year's stipend, render a year's service; do you think it right that for a campaign of six months you should receive the pay of twelve?'
4.7. An si ad calculos eum res publica vocet, non merito dicat: 'annua aera habes, annuam operam ede; an tu aequum censes militia semestri solidum te stipendium accipere?'
4.8. I dislike to dwell upon this point, Quirites; for it is thus that men who employ mercenaries ought to argue; we would deal as though with fellow citizens, and we think it only right that you deal with us as with your native country.
4.8. in hac parte orationis, Quirites, moror; sic sie enim agere debent qui mercennario milite mnilite utuntur; nos tamquam cum civibus agere volumus agique tamquam cum patria nobiscum aequum censemus.
4.9. Either we ought not to have undertaken the war, or we ought to conduct it as befits the Roman People, and end it as quickly as possible.
4.9. non suscipi bellum oportuit aut geri pro dignitate populi Romani et perfici quam primum oportet.
4.10. And we shall end it, if we press our beleaguered foes, and quit them not till we have fulfilled our hopes and captured Veii. Truly, if there were no other reason, the very indignity of the thing should compel us to persist!
4.10. autem si urgemus obsessos, si non ante abscedimus abseedimus quam spei nostrae finem captis Veiis imposuerimus. hercules nulla alia causa, ipsa indignitas perseverantiam imponere debuit.
4.11. Did all Greece once, for one woman's sake, war ten years against a city so far from home, with all those lands and seas between?
4.11. quondam annos urbs oppugnata est ob unam mulierem ab universa Graecia, quam procul ab domo?
4.12. And does it irk us, being less than twenty miles away and almost within sight of Rome, to maintain a siege for a single year? Doubtless our reason for fighting is a trivial one, and we have no proper and sufficient grievance to incite us to persevere!
4.12. quot terras, quot maria distans? intra vicesimum lapidem in conspectu prope urbis nostrae annuam oppugnationem perferre piget? quia levis causa belli est nec satis quicquam iusti doloris est quod nos ad perseverandum stimulet. rebellarunt;
4.13. Seven times have they renewed the war; never have they kept faith in peace; our fields they have pillaged a thousand times; they forced the Fidenates to forsake us; our settlers there they put to death;
4.13. in pace nunquam fida fuerunt; agros nostros miliens depopulati sunt; Fidenates deficere a nobis coegerunt; colonos nostros ibi interfecerunt;
4.14. it was they who instigated, in violation of the law of nations, the impious murder of our envoys; they sought to raise up all Etruria against us, and they are striving to this end to-day; when our ambassadors sought redress they well-nigh did them bodily injury. "With such enemies ought we to wage a fainthearted and dilatory war? If so just grounds of resentment have no power to move us, pray have the following considerations none?
4.14. auctores fuere contra ius caedis impiae legatorum nostrorum; Etruriam omnem adversus nos concitare voluerunt voluerunlt hodieque id moliuntur; res repetentes legatos nostros haud procul afuit quin violarent.
5.2. The city is hemmed in with vast siege-works, which confine the enemy within his walls; he has not cultivated his land, and what was cultivated has been laid waste in the war;
5.2. " his molliter et per dilationes bellum geri oportet? nos tam iustum odium nihil movet, ne illa quidem, oro vos, movent? ingentibus saepta urbs est, quibus intra muros coercetur hostis; agrum non coluit, et culta evastata sunt bello;
5.3. if we bring our army back, who can doubt that not only a desire for revenge, but also necessity, constraining them to plunder others since they have lost their own possessions, will cause them to invade our territory? So we are not postponing the war, if we act on your advice, but are receiving it within our own borders.
5.3. si reducimus exercitum, quis est qui dubitet illos non a cupiditate solum ulciscendi, sed etiam necessitate imposita ex alieno praedandi, cum sua amiserint, agrum nostrum invasuros? differimus igitur bellum isto consilio, sed intra fines nostros accipimus.?
5.4. And what of that matter which specially concerns the soldiers, whom the worthy plebeian tribunes formerly wished to rob of their pay, but are now desirous of protecting? How does it stand with them?
5.4. quod proprie ad milites pertinet, quibus boni tribuni plebis tum stipendium extorquere voluerunt, nunc consultum repente volunt, quale est? fossamque, ingentis utrumque operis, per tantum spatii duxerunt: castella primo pauca, postea amp exercitu aucto creberrima fecerunt;
5.5. The rampart and the trench, each involving prodigious toil, they have carried all that distance; forts they erected only a few at first, but since then, with the growth of the army, they have built very many; they have thrown up earthworks, not only against the city, but also facing Etruria, if any aid should come from that side; what need to speak of towers, mantlets, penthouses, and the rest of the equipment for storming towns? When they have expended all this labour, and the end of their task is at last in sight, do you: vote for abandoning these things, that when summer comes they may sweat and toil again to produce them afresh?
5.5. munitiones non in urbem modo sed in Etruriam etiam spectantes, si qua inde auxilia veniant, opposuere; quid turres, quid vineas testudinesque et alium oppugnandarum urbium apparatum loquar? tantum laboris exhaustum sit et ad finem iam operis tandem perventum, relinquendane haec censetis, ut ad aestatem rursus novus de integro his instituendis exsudetur labor?
5.7. How much less effort it requires to guard what is already made, and to press on and persevere and put an end to our anxiety! For surely it is- a thing soon done, if we carry it through without stopping, and do not ourselves drag out our hopes with these interruptions and delays.
5.7. est minus operae tueri facta et instare ac perseverare defungique cura? enim. profecto res est, si uno tenore peragitur nec ipsi per intermissiones has intervallaque lentiorem spem nostram facimus.
5.8. I talk of the loss of time and labour; what of the danger that we run by putting off the war? Do -the frequent debates in Etruria about the dispatch of succours to Veii allow us to forget it?
5.8. de operae et de temporis iactura.? Periculi, quod differendo bello adimus, num oblivisci nos haec tam crebra Etruriae concilia de mittendis Veios auxiliis patiuntur?
5.9. Just now they are angry and resentful, and declare that they will send none; for all they care, we may capture Veii. But who is to guarantee that if we postpone the campaign they will hereafter feel the same: since if you slacken, a greater and more numerous embassy will set out, and since what now offends the Etruscans —the setting up of a king at Veii —may be altered with the lapse of time or by agreement of the citizens, to the end that thereby they may regain the goodwill of Etruria; or with the consent of the King himself, who would not wish his sovereignty to hurt the safety of his people?
5.9. nunc res se habet, irati sunt, oderunt, negant missuros; quantum in illis est, capere Veios licet. est qui spondeat eundem, si differtur bellum, animum postea fore, cum si laxamentum dederis, maior frequentiorque legatio itura sit, cum id quod nunc offendit Etruscos, rex creatus Veiis, mutari spatio interposito possit vel consensu civitatis, ut eo reconcilient Etruriae animos, vel ipsius voluntate regis, qui obstare regnum suum saluti civium nolit?
5.11. See how many undesirable consequences attend that line of policy: the loss of works constructed with such effort; the imminent devastation of our fields; the Etruscans, instead of the Veientes only, aroused to war with us.
5.11. quot res quam inutiles sequantur illam viam consilii, iactura operum tanto labore factorum, vastatio imminens finium nostrorum, Etruscum bellum pro Veiente concitatum.
5.12. It is thus, tribunes, that you would manage matters, much as though in dealing with a sick man, who if he would undergo a strict regimen might begin at once to recover, you should protract his illness and perhaps render it incurable, by.indulging his immediate desire for meat and drink. "If it were of no moment to this war, it was yet, I assure you, of the utmost importance for military discipline that our soldiers become accustomed not only to pluck a victory within their grasp, but if a campaign should be even more protracted, to put up with the tedium and await the outcome of their hopes, however long-deferred; and if a war be not finished in a summer, to stay for winter, nor, like birds of passage, cast about at once, on the approach of autumn, for shelter and covert.
5.12. sunt, tribuni, consilia vestra, non hercule dissimilia ac si quis aegro qui curari se fortiter passus extemplo convalescere possit, cibi gratia praesentis aut potionis longinquum et forsitan insanabilem morbum efficiat. " mediusfidius, ad hoc bellum nihil pertineret, ad disciplinam certe militiae plurimum intererat insuescere militem nostrum non solum parata victoria frui, sed, si etiam res lentior sit, pati taedium et quamvis serae spei exitum exspectare et si non sit aestate perfectum bellum, hiemem opperiri nec, sicut aestivas aves, statim autumno tecta ac recessus circumspicere.
6.3. Do the eagerness, pray, and delight that men have in hunting carry them through snow and frost into the mountains and the forests; and shall not we use in the stress of war the same resolution which even sport and pleasure are wont to call out?
6.3. vos, venandi studium ac voluptas homines per nives ac pruinas in montes silvasque rapit: belli necessitatibus eam patientiam non adhibebimus quam vel lusus ac voluptas elicere solet?
6.4. Do we think the bodies of our soldiers so effeminate, their hearts so faint, that they cannot endure to be one winter in camp, away from home; that like sailors they must wage war with an eye on the weather, observing the seasons, incapable of withstanding heat or cold?
6.4. effeminata corpora militum nostrorum esse putamus, adeo molles animos, ut hiemem unam durare in castris, abesse ab domo non possint? tamquam navale bellum tempestatibus captandis et observando tempore anni gerant, non aestus, non frigora pati possint?
6.5. They would certainly blush if anyone should charge them with this, and would maintain that manly endurance was in their souls and bodies, and that they could campaign as well in winter as in summer; that they had given the tribunes no commission to protect softness and idleness; and that they were mindful that their grandsires had not founded the tribunician power in the shade or under roofs.
6.5. profecto si quis eis haec obiciat, contendantque, et animis et corporibus suis virilem patientiam inesse, et se iuxta hieme atque aestate bella gerere posse nec se patrocinium mollitiae inertiaeque mandasse tribunis, et meminisse hanc ipsam potestatem non in umbra nec in tectis maiores suos creasse.
6.6. "It is due to the valour of your soldiers, it is due to the Roman name, that you should look not merely to Veii and this present war that is upon us, but should seek for the years to come a reputation that will serve you in other wars and amongst all other nations.
6.6. " virtute militum vestrorum, haec Romano nomine sunt digna, non Veios tantum nec hoc bellum intueri quod instat, sed famam et ad alia bella et ad ceteros populos in posterum quaerere.
6.7. Do you suppose there will be no great difference in men's opinion of us, whether our neighbours conclude the Roman People to be such, that if a city withstand the brunt of their first assault for a very brief time, it need thenceforward have no fears; or whether our name inspire such dread, that men believe that once a Roman army has sat down before a town, it will never budge, either from the weariness of a protracted siege or from the rigours of winter, that it knows no other end of war but victory, and relies in its campaigns not more on swiftness than on perseverance?
6.7. An mediocre discrimen opinionis secuturum ex hac re putatis, utrum tandem finitimi populum Romanum eum esse putent cuius si qua urbs primum illum brevissimi temporis sustinuerit impetum, nihil deinde timeat, an hic sit terror nominis nostri ut exercitum Romanum non taedium longinquae oppugnationis, non vis hiemis ab urbe circumsessa semel amovere possit, nec finem ullum alium belli quam victoriam noverit nec impetu potius bella quam perseverantia gerat?
6.9. For perseverance, needful in every kind of warfare, is especially so in besieging cities, since fortifications and natural advantages make most of them impregnable, and time itself subdues them, with hunger and thirst, and captures them, as it shall capture Veii, unless the plebeian tribunes help our enemies, and the Veientes find in Rome those succours which they are seeking to no purpose in Etruria.
6.9. in omni quidem genere militiae, maxime tamen in obsidendis urbibus necessaria est, quarum plerasque munitionibus ac naturali situ inexpugnabiles fame sitique tempus ipsum vincit atque expugnat, —sicut Veios expugnabit, nisi auxilio hostibus tribuni plebis fuerint, et Romae invenerint praesidia Veientes quae nequiquam in Etruria quaerunt.
6.11. “Could anything happen which would so please the Veientes as that factions should spring up, first in the City of Rome, and then, as though by contagion, in the camp?”
6.11. An est quicquam quicquain quod Veientibus optatum aeque contingere possit quam ut seditionibus primum urbs Romana, deinde velut ex contagione castra impleantur?
6.12. “But our enemies, by Heaven, are so well disciplined that no weariness of the blockade nor even of kingly rule has occasioned the smallest revolt among them; neither has the Etruscans' denial of help provoked their spirit; for whosoever prompts sedition shall forthwith die the death;”
6.12. hercule apud hostes tanta modestia est ut non obsidionis taedio, non denique regni quicquam apud eos novatum sit, non negata auxilia ab Etruscis inritaverint animos;
6.13. “nor shall any man there have licence to say what is said with impunity to you.”
6.13. morietur enim extemplo quicumque erit seditionis auctor, nec cuiquam dicere ea licebit, quae apud vos impune dicuntur.
6.14. “Death by cudgelling is the wage of him who forsakes the standards or quits his post; but those who advise the men to abandon their standards and desert the camp gain a hearing, not with one or two soldiers, but with whole armies, openly, in public meetings;”
6.14. meretur qui signa relinquit aut praesidio decedit: auctores signa relinquendi et deserendi castra non uni aut alteri militi, sed universis exercitibus palam in contione audiuntur;
6.15. “so accustomed are you to hear with complacency whatever a tribune says, even if it tends to betray the City and to undo the state; and captivated by the charm of that authority, you suffer any wickedness whatsoever to lurk beneath it.”
6.15. adeo quidquid tribunus plebi loquitur, etsi prodendae patriae dissolvendaeque rei publicae est, adsuestis aequi audire et dulcedine potestatis eius capti quaelibet sub ea scelera latere sinitis.
6.16. “It only remains for them to utter in camp and in the presence of the soldiers the view which they noisily publish here, and to corrupt the armies and not to suffer them to obey their leaders.” “For in the upshot liberty has come to mean at Rome, that a man respect neither senate nor magistrates, nor laws, nor ancestral customs, nor institutions of the fathers, nor military discipline.” Appius was already holding his own with the tribunes of the plebs, even in public meetings, when a sudden disaster, from a source which could least have been anticipated, befell the army before Veii, giving Appius the advantage in the argument, while it increased the mutual good-will of the orders and their ardour for a more vigorous prosecution of the siege.
6.16. est ut quae hic vociferantur, eadem in castris et apud milites agant et exercitus corrumpant ducibusque parere non patiantur, quoniam ea demum Romae libertas est, non senatum, non magistratus, non leges, non mores maiorum, non instituta patrum, non disciplinam vereri militiae.
7.2. For when they had pushed forward the terrace towards the town, and had all but brought the mantlets into contact with the walls, —more intent upon erecting their works by day than on guarding them by night, —the gate was suddenly flung open, and a vast horde, most of them armed with torches, hurled fire on the works, and in an hour's time terrace and mantlets, that had taken so long to make, were consumed in the flames; and many men perished by the sword or the fire, in vain efforts to save them.
7.2. iam etiam tiam in contionibus erat Appius tribunis plebis, cum subito, unde minime quis crederet, accepta calamitas apud Veios et superiorem Appium in causa et concordiam ordinum maiorem ardoremque ad obsidendos pertinacius Veios fecit. cum agger promotus ad urbem vineaeque tantum non iam iniunctae moenibus essent, dum opera interdiu fiunt intentius quam nocte custodiuntur, patefacta repente porta ingens multitudo multitude facibus maxime armata ignes coniecit, horaeque momento simul aggerem ac vineas, tam longi temporis opus, incendium hausit; multique ibi mortales nequiquam opem ferentes ferro ignique absumpti sunt.
7.4. When the news of this came to Rome, it filled the City with sadness, the senate with anxiety and apprehension, lest they might now indeed be unable to check the disaffection, either in the City or the camp, and the tribunes might crow over the commonwealth as though they had overthrown it; when lo! those who were of equestrian rating, but had not received horses from the state, having first taken counsel together, came to the senate, and being granted a hearing, volunteered to serve on their own horses.
7.4. ubi Romam est nuntiatum, maestitiam omnibus, senatui curam metumque iniecit, ne tum vero sustineri nec in urbe seditio nec in castris posset et tribuni plebis velut ab se victae rei publicae insultarent, cum repente quibus census equester erat, equi publici non erant adsignati, concilio prius prit:s inter sese habito senatum adeunt factaque dicendi potestate equis se suis stipendia facturos promittunt.
7.6. These men had no sooner received a vote of thanks from the senate, in the most honourable terms, and the report of it had spread to the Forum and the City, than the plebeians suddenly ran together to the Curia, and:
7.6. cum amplissimis verbis gratiae ab senatu actae essent famaque ea forum atque urbem pervasisset, subito ad curiam concursus fit plebis;
7.7. declared that it was now the turn of the foot-soldiers to proffer extraordinary service to the state, whether it would have them march to Veii, or anywhere else;
7.7. pedestris ordinis aiunt nunc esse operam rei publicae extra ordinem polliceri, seu Veios seu quo alio ducere velint; si Veios ducti sint, negant se inde prius quam capta urbe hostium redituros esse.
7.8. if they should be led to Veii, they promised that they would not quit their ground until they had taken the enemy's city. Then indeed the senate could scarce control its already overflowing joy; for they did not, as with the knights, issue an order to the magistrates to thank them, nor did they call them into the Curia to receive an answer, neither did the senate keep within the House; but each for himself cried out from above, to the multitude standing in the Comitium, and by speech and gesture signified the general joy. Rome was blest, they said, and invincible and eternal, by reason of this noble harmony; they praised the knights, they praised the plebeians, they extolled the very day itself, and confessed that the courtesy and good-will of the senate had been surpassed.
7.8. vero iam superfundenti se laetitiae vix temperatum est; non enim, sicut equites, dato magistratibus negotio laudari iussi, neque aut in curiam vocati quibus responsum daretur, aut limine curiae continebatur senatus; sed pro se quisque ex superiore loco ad multitudinem in comitio stantem voce manibusque significare publicam laetitiam, beatam urbem Romanam et invictam et aeternam illa concordia dicere, laudare equites, laudare plebem, diem ipsum laudibus ferre, victam esse fateri comitatem benignitatemque senatus.
7.11. Fathers and commoners mingled their tears of joy, till the Fathers were recalled into the senate-house, and decreed that the military tribunes should hold an assembly and thank the infantry and the knights, and say to them that the senate would remember their loyalty to their country, and that it was voted that all who had volunteered to serve out of their due order should receive pay.
7.11. patribus plebique manare gaudio lacrimae, donec revocatis in curiam patribus senatus consultum factum est ut tribuni militares contione advocata peditibus equitibusque gratias agerent, memorem pietatis eorum erga patriam dicerent senatum fore; placere autem auter omnibus his voluntariam extra ordinem professis militiam aera procedere; et equiti certus numerus numerous aeris est adsignatus.
7.13. The knights, too, were granted a definite money allowance. Then for the first time cavalry-men began to serve on their own horses. The volunteer army, having marched to Veii, not only replaced the works that had been lost, but added new ones. The city dispatched provisions with more than its former zeal, that nothing might be lacking to an army that had deserved so well. The ensuing year had for consular tribunes Gaius Servilius Ahala (for the third time), Quintus Servilius, Lucius Verginius, Quintus Sulpicius, Aulus Manlius (for the second time), and Manius Sergius (for the second time). In their term of office, while everyone was intent on the war with Veii, the garrison at Anxur was neglected;
7.13. primum equis suis merere equites coeperunt. ductus exercitus Veios non amissa modo restituit opera, sed nova etiam instituit. urbe commeatus intentiore quam antea subvehi cura, ne quid tam bene merito exercitui ad usum deesset.
8.2. soldiers were given furlough, Volscian traders were admitted without discrimination, and, the sentinels at the gates being suddenly overpowered, the town was taken. Not many soldiers perished, because they were all, except the sick, occupied, like sutlers, with trafficking in the country-side and the towns near by.
8.2. annus tribunos militum consulari potestate habuit C. Servilium Ahalam tertium Q. Servilium L. Verginium Q. Sulpicium A. Manlium iterum M. Sergium iterum. tribunis, dum cura omnium in Veiens bellum intenta est, neglectum Anxuri praesidium vacationibus militum et Volscos mercatores volgo receptando proditis repente portarum custodibus oppressum est. militum periit, quia praeter aegros lixarum in modum omnes per agros vicinasque urbes negotiabantur.
8.4. Nor were things any better at Veii, which was at that time the nation's chief concern; for the Roman commanders showed more jealousy of one another than spirit in dealing with the enemy, whose forces moreover were enlarged by the unexpected accession of the Capenates and the Faliscans.
8.4. Veiis melius gesta res, quod tum caput omnium curarum publicarum erat; nam et duces Romani plus inter se irarum quam adversus hostes animi habuerunt, et auctum est bellum adventu repentino Capenatium atque Faliscorum.
8.5. These two Etruscan peoples, being nearest in situation, believed that if the Veientes were conquered it would be their turn next to face a Roman invasion. The Faliscans, besides, had incurred hostility on their own account, because they had been mixed up before in the war with Fidenae. So they exchanged embassies, bound themselves by an oath, and their armies suddenly appeared before Veii. It happened that they attacked the camp at that point where the tribune Manius Sergius was in command, and great was the terror they inspired, since the Romans thought that all Etruria had risen and was come with a mighty array against them.
8.5. duo Etruriae populi, quia proximi regione erant, devictis Veiis bello quoque Romano se proximos fore credentes, Falisci propria etiam causa infesti, quod Fidenati bello se iam antea immiscuerant, per legatos ultro citroque missos iure iurando inter se obligati, cum exercitibus necopinato ad Veios accessere.
8.7. The same belief roused up the Veientes in the town. Thus a two-fold attack was directed against the camp. The soldiers rallied into groups, facing now this way and now that, yet were unable either quite to confine the Veientes within the siege-lines, or to ward off the attack upon their own defences and protect themselves from the enemy outside. Their only hope was if help should come from the larger camp, so that the legions might face different ways, some of them confronting the Capenates and Faliscans, and others the sortie of the townsfolk.
8.7. ea regione qua M.' Sergius tribunus militum praeerat castra adorti sunt ingentemque terrorem intulere, quia Etruriam Etruriamn omnem excitam sedibus magna mole adesse Romani Rotnani crediderant. opinio Veientes in urbe concitavit. ancipiti proelio castra Romana oppugnabantur; concursantesque cum huc hue atque illuc signa transferrent, nec Veientem satis cohibere intra munitiones nec suis munimentis arcere vim ac tueri se ab exteriore poterant hoste.
8.9. But that camp was under the command of Verginius, who was privately hated by Sergius and returned his enmity. This man, though word was brought that many bastions had been stormed and the ramparts scaled, and that the enemy were attacking on both sides, held his troops under arms, saying that if his colleague needed help he would let him know.
8.9. spes erat si ex maioribus castris subveniretur, ut diversae legiones aliae adversus Capenatem ac Faliscum, aliae contra eruptionem oppidanorum pugnarent; sed castris praeerat Verginius, privatim Sergio invisus infestusque. , cum pleraque castella oppugnata, superatas munitiones, utrimque invehi hostem nuntiaretur, in armis milites tenuit, si opus foret auxilio collegam dictitans ad se missurum.
8.11. His pride found a match in the other's obstinacy, and Sergius, lest he should seem to have required any aid of his rival, preferred defeat at the hands of the enemy to victory gained through a fellow citizen.
8.11. adrogantiam pertinacia alterius aequabat, qui, ne quam opem ab inimico videretur petisse, vinci ab hoste quam vincere per civem maluit.
8.12. For a long time the Romans were slaughtered between the two attacking armies; finally they abandoned their works, and a very few escaped into the larger camp, while Sergius himself, with the chief part of his men, kept on to Rome. It was there decided, on his throwing all the blame upon his colleague, to summon Verginius from camp, and in the meanwhile put lieutenants in command of it.
8.12. in medio caesi milites; postremo desertis munitionibus perpauci in maiora castra, pars maxima atque ipse Sergius Romam pertenderunt. cum omnem culpam in collegam inclinaret, acciri Verginium ex castris, interea praeesse legatos placuit.
8.13. The affair was then debated in the senate and the colleagues heaped abuse on one another. There were but few who spoke for the commonwealth: most of them argued for one or the other disputant, according as each was swayed by private interest or favour. The leading senators held, that whether the: fault or the misfortune of the commanders were the cause of this shameful disaster, they ought not to await the regular time for elections, but proceed at once to choose new military tribunes, to begin their magistracy on the first of October. While the members were voting for this proposal, the other military tribunes raised no objection;
8.13. deinde in senatu res est certatumque inter collegas maledictis. rei publicae, plerique huic atque illi, ut quosque studium privatim aut gratia occupaverat, adsunt. patrum, sive culpa sive infelicitate imperatorum tam ignominiosa clades accepta esset, censuere non exspectandum iustum tempus comitiorum, sed extemplo novos tribunos militum creandos esse, qui kalendis Octobribus magistratum occiperent. quam sententiam cum pedibus iretur, ceteri tribuni militum nihil contradicere;
9.3. but of all people Sergius and Verginius, the very men on account of whom it was evident that the senate was disgusted with the magistrates of that year, first begged to be spared the humiliation, then vetoed the senate's decree, declaring that they would not resign their authority before the thirteenth of December, the accustomed day for entering upon office.
9.3. at enimvero Sergius Verginiusque, propter quos paenitere magistratuum eius anni senatum apparebat, primo deprecari ignominiam, deinde intercedere senatus consulto, negare se ante idus Decembres, sollemnem ineundis magistratibus diem, honore abituros esse.
9.4. Whereupon the tribunes of the plebs, who so long as harmony prevailed and the affairs of the City prospered, had reluctantly held their tongues, suddenly broke out and threatened the tribunes of the soldiers, that unless they submitted to the senate they would send them to prison.
9.4. haec tribuni plebis, cum in concordia hominum secundisque rebus civitatis inviti silentium tenuissent, feroces repente minari tribunis militum, nisi in auctoritate senatus essent, se in vincla eos duci iussuros esse. C. Servilius Ahala tribunus militum:
9.5. Then Gaius Servilius Ahala, a military tribune, said: “So far as concerns you, tribunes of the commons, and your menaces, I should indeed willingly put it to the proof how you have in your threats as little legality as courage; but it is impious to oppose the authority of the senate.”
9.5. ad vos attinet, tribuni plebis, minasque vestras, ne ego libenter experirer quam—non plus in iis iuris quam in vobis animi esset;
9.6. “Accordingly do you give over seeking in our quarrels occasion for working mischief, and my colleagues shall either do as the senate decrees, or if they persist in stubborn opposition, I will forthwith name a dictator, to compel them to lay down their authority.”
9.6. sed nefas est tendere adversus auctoritatem senatus. et vos desinite inter nostra certamina locum iniuriae quaerere, et collegae aut facient quod censet senatus, aut, si pertinacius tendent, dictatorem extemplo dicam qui eos abire magistratu cogat.
9.7. This speech was universally approved, and the Fathers rejoiced that they needed not the trumpery threats of the tribunician power, but had found another and a greater force to coerce the magistrates; and the latter, overborne by the unanimity of feeling, held an election of military tribunes, to begin service on October the first, and before that date resigned their office. The consular tribuneship of Lucius Valerius Potitus (for the fourth term), Marcus Furius Camillus (for the second ), Manius Aemilius Mamercus (for the third), Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus (for the second), Caeso Fabius Ambustus, and Lucius Julius Iulus, was a time of great activity both at home and in the field.
9.7. omnium adsensu comprobata oratio esset gauderentque patres sine tribuniciae potestatis terriculis inventam esse aliam vim maiorem ad coercendos magistratus, victi consensu omnium comitia tribunorum militum habuere qui kalendis Octobribus magistratum occiperent, seque ante eam earn diem magistratu abdicavere.
10.2. For they made war at many points simultaneously, before Veii, at Capena, at Falerii, and in the Volscian country —to recover Anxur from the enemy; —and in Rome both the levy and the payment of the war-tax occasioned difficulties, a quarrel sprang up over the co-optation of plebeian tribunes, and the trials: of the two who had lately exercised consular powers aroused no small commotion.
10.2. L. Valerio Potito quartum M. Furio Camillo iterum M.' Aemilio Aemillo Mamerco tertium Cn. Cornelio Cosso iterum K. Fabio Ambusto L. Iulio Iulo tribunis militum consulari potestate multa domi militiaeque gesta. et bellum multiplex fuit eodem tempore, ad Veios et ad Capenam et ad Falerios et in Volscis, ut Anxur ab hostibus reciperaretur, et. Romae simul dilectu simul tributo conferendo laboratum est, et de tribunis plebi cooptandis contentio fuit, et haud parvum motum duo iudicia eorum qui- paulo ante consulari potestate fuerant excivere.
10.4. The first concern of the military tribunes was to levy troops, and they not only enrolled the younger men, but also compelled the seniors to enlist for service in guarding the City. But the more they increased the number of the soldiers, the more money they required for pay.
10.4. primum tribunis militum fuit dilectum habere, nec iuniores modo conscripti sed seniores etiam coacti nomina dare ut urbis custodiam agerent.
10.5. This they tried to collect by taxation; but those who remained at home contributed with reluctance, because they had also in defence of the City to perform the labour of soldiers and serve the commonwealth.
10.5. autem augebatur militum numerus tanto maiore pecunia in stipendium opus erat, eaque tributo conficiebatur invitis conferentibus qui domi remanebant, quia tuentibus urbem opera quoque militari laborandum serviendumque rei publicae erat.
10.6. To make this obligation, heavy in itself, seem yet more grievous, the tribunes of the plebs delivered seditious speeches, in which they alleged that the senators had established pay for the troops for this reason, that they might ruin one half of the plebs with fighting and the other half with taxation.
10.6. , per se gravia, indigniora ut viderentur tribuni plebis seditiosis contionibus faciebant, ideo aera militibus constituta esse arguendo, ut plebis partem militia, partem tributo conficerent.
10.7. They were now drawing out a single war into its third year, and were purposely misconducting it, that they might conduct it the longer. Again, with one levy they had enrolled armies for four wars, and had haled away even boys and old men.
10.7. bellum annum iam tertium trahi et consulto male geri ut diutius gerant. quattuor deinde bella uno dilectu exercitus scriptos et pueros quoque ac senes extractos.
10.8. Now they were confounding winter with summer, to allow no rest ever to the unhappy commons, on whom finally they had even imposed a tax; that when they should drag home their bodies spent with toil, with wounds, and at last with old age, and should then find all things gone to waste in the long absence of the owners, they might pay tribute out of their diminished property, and return to the state many times, as it were with usury, the wages they had received as soldiers.
10.8. iam lam non aestatis nec hiemis discrimen esse, ne ulla quies unquam miserae plebi sit, quae nunc etiam vectigalis ad ultimum facta sit, ut cum confecta labore volneribus postremo aetate corpora rettulerint incultaque omnia diutino dominorum desiderio domi invenerint, tributum ex adfecta re familiari pendant aeraque militaria, velut fenore accepta, multiplicia rei publicae reddant.
10.10. What with the levy and the tax and the weightier cares that preoccupied men's minds, they were unable on the day of election to return the full number of plebeian tribunes.
10.10. dilectum tributumque et occupatos animos maiorum rerum curis comitiis tribunorum plebis numerus expleri nequiit.
10.11. An effort was then made to obtain the co-optation of patricians for the vacant places. When this failed, nevertheless, in order to invalidate the law, it was brought about that Gaius Lacerius and Marcus Acutius should be chosen tribunes, without doubt through patrician influence. It so happened that in that year one of the tribunes was Gnaeus Trebonius, whose name and family seemed to make it his duty to defend the Trebonian law.
10.11. inde in loca vacua ut patricii cooptarentur. obtineri non poterat, tamen labefactandae legis causa effectum est ut cooptarentur tribuni plebis C. Lacerius et M. Acutius, haud dubie patriciorum opibus.
11.2. This man said that what the Fathers had formerly aimed at (and had been foiled on their first attempting), the tribunes of the soldiers had finally extorted; he asseverated that the Trebonian law had been done away with, and that the tribunes of the plebs had been appointed not by the votes of the people but at the dictation of the nobles;
11.2. ita tulit ut eo anno tribunus plebis Cn. Trebonius esset, qui nomini ac familiae debitum praestare videretur Treboniae legis patrocinium. quod petissent patres quondam primo incepto repulsi, tandem tribunos militum expugnasse ait vociferans legem Treboniam sublatam et cooptatos tribunos plebis non suffragiis populi sed imperio patriciorum; eo revolvi rem ut aut patricii aut patriciorum adseculae habendi tribuni plebis sint; eripi sacratas leges, extorqueri tribuniciam potestatem;