THE HISTORY OF ROME, BY TITUS LIVIUS.

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL, WITH NOTES AND

ILLUSTRATIONS, BY GEORGE BAKER, A. M.

History is Philosophy teaching by examples.

BOLINGBROKE.

FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE LAST LONDON

EDITION. IN SIX VOLUMES.VOL. I.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY PETER A. MESIER, COLLINS & CO. J.
& T. SWORDS, A. T. GOODRICH, HENRY I. MEGARY,
R. & W. A. BARTOW, S. GOULD, W. B. GILLEY, JAMES
EASTBURN, GEORGE LONG, PRIOR & DUNNING,
SAMUEL CAMPBELL & SON, E. BLISS & E. WHITE, A.
DURELL & CO. AND JAMES V. SEAMAN J. Maxwell,
Printer.
1823.
[ii][iii][iv][v]

PREFACE.
TITUS LIVIUS, the illustrious author of the Roman History,
descended from a noble family in Rome, and was born at
Patavium, now called Padua, in Italy, in the 694th year of
Rome, fifty-eight years before the commencement of the
Christian ra.

Like many other literary men, his life was contemplative,

rather than active; very few particulars, therefore,
concerning him, have come down to us. He resided at
Rome for a considerable time, where he was much
noticed, and highly honoured, by Augustus; to whom he
was previously known, it is said, by some writings which
he had dedicated to him. Seneca, however, is silent upon
the subject of this supposed dedication, though he
mentions the work itself, which, he says, consisted of
moral and philosophical dialogues.

He appears to have conceived the project of writing his

history, immediately upon his settling at Rome; or,
perhaps, he came thither for the purpose of collecting the
necessary materials for that great work.

[vi]

Augustus appointed him preceptor to his grandson

Claudius, afterwards emperor. But he seems not much to
have attended to the advantage which might have
resulted from so advantageous a connection, and to have
occupied himself, entirely, in the composition of his
history; parts of which, as they were finished, he read to
Augustus and Macnas.
Distracted with the tumult, and disgusted, it may be, with
the intrigues and cabals of Rome, he sought retirement
and tranquillity in the beautiful country, and delightful
climate, of Naples. Here, enjoying uninterrupted literary
ease and quiet, he continued his labour, and finished his
work, comprising, in an hundred and forty-two books,
the history of Rome, from the foundation of that city to
the death of Drusus, containing a period of seven
hundred and forty-three years, ending nine years before
the birth of our Saviour. Having completed this great
work, he returned to pass the remainder of his days in his
native country, where he died, AD 17, at the age of
seventy-five years.

What family he left behind him, is not known. Quintilian,

however, mentions that he had a son, for whose
instruction he drew up some excellent observations on
rhetoric; and there is also reason to suppose that he had a
daughter, married to Lucius Magius, an orator, who is
advantageously spoken of by Seneca.

How highly his works were esteemed, and himself

personally honoured and respected, may be gathered
from the manner in which he is mentioned by many
ancient authors. Tacitus tells us,* that T. Livius, [vii] that
admirable historian, not more distinguished by his
eloquence than by his fidelity, was so lavish in his praise
of Pompey, that Augustus called him the Pompeian: and
yet his friendship for him was unalterable. The younger
Pliny informs us,* that a certain inhabitant of the city of
Cadiz was so struck with the illustrious character of Livy,
that he travelled to Rome on purpose to see that great
genius; and as soon as he had satisfied his curiosity,
returned home.

Of the hundred and forty-two books, of which the history

of Rome originally consisted, thirty-five only have come
down to us. The contents of the whole, the hundred and
thirty-seventh and eighth excepted, have been preserved;
compiled, as some, without any good reason, have
supposed, by Livy himself; while others, with equal
improbability, have asserted them to be the work of
Lucius Florus, author of a portion of Roman history.
Whoever may have been the compiler, a fact as useless, as
it is now impossible to ascertain, they are highly curious;
and although they contain but a faint outline, yet they
serve to convey some idea of the original, and greatly
excite regret at the loss of so large a portion of this
valuable work.

The parts of this history which we now possess, are, the

first decade: for it appears, from his having prefixed
separate prefatory introductions to each portion, that the
author had divided his work into distinct parts,
consisting each of ten books. The first decade commences
with the foundation of the city of Rome, and rapidly runs
over the affairs of four hundred and sixty [viii] years. The
second decade is lost: it comprised a period of seventy-
five years; the principal occurrence in it was the first
Punic war, in which the Romans, after a long and
arduous struggle, were finally victorious. The third
decade is extant: it contains a particular and well-detailed
account of the second Punic war; the longest, as our
author himself observes, and the most hazardous war, the
Romans had ever been engaged in; in the course of which
they gained so many advantages, and acquired so much
military experience, that no nation was ever able,
afterwards, to withstand them. The fourth decade
contains the Macedonian war against Philip, and the
Asiatic against Antiochus. These are related at
considerable length, insomuch that the ten books
comprise a space of twenty-three years only. Of the fifth
decade, the first five books only remain, and these very
imperfect. They give an account of the war with Perseus
king of Macedonia, who gains several advantages against
the Romans, but is at length subdued, and his kingdom
reduced to the form of a Roman province; of the
corruption of several Roman governors in the
administration of the provinces, and their punishment;
and of the third Punic war, which lasted only five years.

Of the remaining books, it has been already said, that the

contents only have been preserved; and they serve to
show us the greatness of our loss, the greatest literary
loss, perhaps, owing to the ravages of the time. Livy had
employed forty-five books in the history of six centuries;
but so many, so various, and so interesting were the
events, which he had before him for selection, [ix] in the
latter period of the Republic, that it took him above
double that number to relate the occurrences of little
more than an hundred and twenty years. From the
admirable manner in which he has written the former
part of his History, we may judge of what must have been
the merit of this latter part, which fails us, unfortunately,
at a most remarkable period, when rational curiosity is
raised to the highest pitch. Nor can we doubt the
excellence of its execution, when we consider how much
better, and how much more copious his materials must
have been; for, besides what he could draw from his own
personal knowledge, having lived among, and conversed
familiarly with, the most considerable men in the empire,
who were themselves principal actors in the important
transactions which he relates, he had access to the best
possible written materials; to the memoirs of Sylla,
Csar, Labienus, Pollio, Augustus, and many others
which were then extant. What would we not give for the
picture, finished by so able a hand, from the sketches of
such masters? What delight would it not afford us, to see
the whole progress of a government from liberty to
servitude?the whole series of causes and effects,
apparent and real, public and private?those which all
men saw, and all good men opposed and lamented, at the
time; and those which were so disguised to the
prejudices, to the partialities, of a divided people, and
even to the corruption of mankind, that many did not,
and that many could pretend they did not, discern them,
till it was too late to resist them? I own, says a noble
author,* [x] I should be glad to exchange what we have of
this History, for what we have not.

Much as our historian was admired, and highly as he was

respected, yet he was not without his detractors. He was
charged with patavinity in his writings. The first person
who brought this charge against him, seems to have been
Asinius Pollio, a polite and elegant writer, and a
distinguished ornament of the age of Augustus.*

In what this patavinity consisted, no ancient author

having defined it, it is not now easy to say; and,
accordingly, it is a matter which has been much disputed.
Some will have it, that it was a political term, and that it
signified an attachment to the Pompeian party: others
contend that it meant a hatred to the Gauls; that it was
symbolical of some blameable particularity, they know
not what. The more probable opinion, however, seems,
from the term itself, to be, that it signified some
provincial peculiarity of dialect. Ancient Italy, like
modern Italy, had its differences, not of idiom merely,
but of language, in every different province. In
proportion as their language varies, at this day, from the
purity of the Tuscan dialect, they become almost
unintelligible to each other: with difficulty can a Venetian
and a Neapolitan converse together; that is, the people:
for the well-educated in every country learn to speak and
write the dialect of the metropolis; although, if brought
up in their own provinces, however nearly their language
may approach the purity of that of the [xi] capital, yet it
will ever retain some tincture of provinciality.

If this supposition of the meaning of the word patavinity

be right, the fact, upon such authority as that of Pollio,
must be admitted; although in what, precisely, it
consisted, it is not, at present, perhaps, possible to
determine. Much has been written upon the subject,
which in reality seems now to be an idle inquiry; and, as a
dissertation upon this matter could afford neither
instruction nor entertainment to the mere English
reader, for whose use the following translation is
principally intended, we shall dismiss the subject with
observing, that what Quintilian has not told us, no
modern scholar will ever, it is probable, have penetration
enough to discover: and we may be also allowed to
suppose that, whatever these peculiarities may have
been, as that great critic has not thought them worth
pointing out, they cannot have been either very
numerous, or of very material consequence.

Nor will, perhaps, another objection, made by modern

critics, be deemed of much greater weight. They dislike, it
seems, the plan of his History, and they found that
dislike, chiefly on the speeches which he so frequently
introduces, which, they contend, it is not probable could
have been spoken upon the occasions alleged; and
therefore they pronounce them to be violations of truth.
That many of them were not spoken by the persons to
whom they are ascribed, nor upon the occasions alleged,
must be admitted: but they do not, upon that account,
violate the truth of history. Nobody can suppose that our
author ever meant to [xii] impose upon his readers, and to
make them believe that what he has given us, as said by
the different persons whom he introduces, was really said
by them: the supposition is absurd. He could only mean
to vary his style; and to enliven and embellish matter,
which, if continued in the even and unvaried tone of
narration, would be sometimes heavy and tedious;
making these supposed speeches a vehicle for conveying,
and that in a very lively manner, the arguments for and
against a proposed measure; and he thus often brings
into them a relation of facts, chiefly facts of remoter
times, and much more agreeably than he could have
interwoven them into his narrative, which should always
be progressive. Modern historians, it is true, have
rejected this plan: but Livy is not reprehensible, because
his ideas of historic structure were different from theirs.
He chose rather to conform himself to a custom which
prevailed very generally before his time, and which
succeeding writers, of great taste and judgment, have
approved and adopted. The conduct of Livy, in this
respect, if necessary, might be justified by the example of
Herodotus, Xenophon, Polybius, Sallust, Tacitus, and
others, whose histories abound with speeches. These
speeches frequently give a more perfect idea of the
character of the supposed speaker, than could easily have
been done by mere description; and it must be
acknowledged, that the facts which they sometimes
contain, would, if thrown into formal narrative, with
episodes and digressions, lose much of their animation
and force, and consequently much of their grace and
beauty.

[xiii]

When we consider the use of such speeches, we shall not

perhaps feel inclined to give them up, although many are
to be held as mere fictions; contrived, however, with
much ingenuity, and for the laudable purpose of
conveying useful reflections and salutary admonitions.
But though it be admitted, that several of them are
fictitious, yet it may be contended that they are not all so.
Many of those delivered in the senate, in popular
assemblies, in conventions of ambassadors, and other the
like occasions, are most probably genuine; and, if they
are so, they furnish us with very curious specimens of
ancient eloquence. Public speakers among the Romans
were in the habit of publishing their speeches upon
particular occasions; and others, delivered upon
important occurrences, would, doubtless, be noted down,
and circulated, by those who were curious about, and
probably interested in, the subjects of them. We know
that, in our own times, the substance of speeches in the
British parliament, and other assemblies, has often been
accurately collected, and carefully preserved; and we
may, therefore, reasonably suppose that speeches in the
Roman senate, upon matters in which the whole
community were deeply interested, would be heard with
equal attention, and preserved with equal care.

A charge, of a very heavy nature, has been brought

against our author, which, were it well founded, would
utterly disqualify him from writing a credible history. He
is accused of superstitious credulity. That he was of a
serious and religious turn of mind is sufficiently apparent
from many passages in his history, in which [xiv] he
severely reprehends the licentiousness and profligacy of
the times he lived in, and applauds the simplicity of
conduct, and sanctity of manners, of ancient days, when
that disregard of the gods, which prevails in the present
age, had not taken place; nor did every one, by his own
interpretations, accommodate oaths and the laws to his
particular views, but rather adapted his practice to
them.* Again, speaking of Spurius Papirius, he describes
him as a youth, born in an age when that sort of learning
which inculcates contempt of the gods was yet
unknown. Numberless passages, to this effect, might be
cited; suffice it, however, to observe, that, while
reprehending, with strong indignation, the profane, the
impious, and the immoral among his countrymen, he
omits no opportunity of applauding the virtuous and the
good.

But, to be religious is one thing; to be superstitious is

another. He has certainly recorded many and monstrous
prodigies; to enumerate which would be both tedious and
disgusting. As, however, they were not merely the subject
of popular tales and vulgar conversation, but the objects
of particular attention, noticed always by the magistrates,
and even by the senate, whom we frequently find
ordering expiations of them, it was his duty, as an
historian, to relate them, since they thus made a part of
the public transactions of the times. And this he does
with great caution; apparently anxious lest he should be
supposed to believe in such absurdities, and protesting,
as it were, against the imputation [xv] of superstition.
Thus, upon an occasion where he relates extraordinary
prodigies, (more extraordinary, indeed, than in any other
part of his history,) he introduces his account of them by
saying,Numerous prodigies were reported to have
happened this year; and the more they were credited by
simple and superstitious people, the more such stories
multiplied.* He generally prefaces the mention of all
such, with a reserve as to his own belief of them:Many
prodigies were reported. It was believed that crows
had not only torn with their beaks some gold in the
capitol, but had even eaten it. And again; Fires from
heaven, breaking out in various places, had, as was
said, &c. Nor is he at all scrupulous in declaring these
numerous prodigies to derive their origin from
superstitious weakness; thus,So apt is superstitious
weakness to introduce the deities into the most trivial
occurrences The mention of one prodigy was, as usual,
followed by reports of others. From this cause arose
abundance of superstitious notions; and the minds of the
people became disposed both to believe and to propagate
accounts of prodigies, of which a very great number were
reported.** The consuls expiated several prodigies
which had been reported. Several deceptions of the
eyes and ears were credited. One is almost tempted to
think, that those who charge our author with credulity,
had never read him; otherwise, how could they overlook
such passages [xvi] as these, and especially the following,
in which he seems aware that such a charge might be
brought against him, and labours to obviate it?In
proportion as the war was protracted to a greater length,
and successes and disappointments produced various
alterations, not only in the situations, but in the
sentiments of men, superstitious observances, and these
mostly introduced from abroad, gained such ground
among the people in general, that it seemed as if either
mankind, or the deities, had undergone some sudden
change.*

From the passages here adduced, and very many others

to the same purport might be quoted, it may be
confidently pronounced, that our author was not the
dupe of those vulgar rumours, those deceptions of the
eyes and ears, which yet he has thought it his duty to
record. And, in truth, it seems as if the people
themselves, at least the more enlightened of them, were
equally inclined, if established custom would have
allowed, to disregard them: They grew weary, we are
told, not only of the thing itself, but of the religious rites
enjoined in consequence; for neither could the senate be
convened, nor the business of the public be transacted,
the consuls were so constantly employed in sacrifices and
expiations. And accordingly, with a view to diminish the
reports of these miracles, and the troublesome
ceremonies consequent thereupon, the consuls, by
direction of the senate, published an edict, that when on
any day public worship should be ordered, in
consequence of the report of an earthquake, [xvii] no
person should report another earthquake on that
day.* Indeed, how very little faith the senate really had
in omens, prodigies, and auspices, we may learn from a
remarkable order made by them, upon receiving from a
consul the report of unfavourable omens, in no less than
three victims successively sacrificed; they ordered him,
says the Historian, to continue sacrificing the larger
victims, until the omens should prove favourable.

It may be asked,if Livy, the senate, and very many,

perhaps the greater number, of the people, disbelieved
these omens and prodigies, why relate them? He answers
the question himself; I am well aware, he says, that,
through the same disregard to religion, which has led
men into the present prevailing opinion, of the gods
never giving portents of any future events, no prodigies
are now either reported to government, or recorded in
histories. But, for my part, while I am writing the
transactions of ancient times, my sentiments, I know not
how, become antique; and I feel a kind of religious awe,
which compels me to consider that events, which the men
of those times, renowned for wisdom, judged deserving of
the attention of government, and of public expiation,
must certainly be worthy of a place in my History. And,
in truth, it must be allowed, that an account of the
religious ceremonies, and the superstitious observances,
of different nations at different periods, forms not the
least curious chapter in the history of the human mind.

[xviii]
A still heavier charge hath been brought against our
author; indeed, the heaviest that can be alleged against
an historian; namely, the violation of the first great law of
history; which is, not to dare to assert any thing false, and
not to suppress any truth.* He who could not be warped
by views of private interest, has yet been supposed, from
an excess of zeal for the honour and glory of his country,
in some instances to have gone beyond the truth, in
others to have suppressed it.

It has been already mentioned how highly he was

esteemed by Augustus, and that he had even received no
inconsiderable marks of favour from him. Yet he does not
seem to have courted this esteem, or those favours, by
any particular attention on his part; nor to have
endeavoured to repay them, by the only return which
authors can make, the loading their patrons with perhaps
undeserved praises. Although, at the time when he wrote
his History, Augustus was in complete possession of the
Roman empire, yet he names him but three times, and
then but in a slight and cursory manner; not availing
himself of the opportunity to heap adulation upon him,
but simply giving him that praise to which he was
unquestionably entitled. On occasion of shutting the
temple of Janus, he takes the opportunity of mentioning,
that it had been but twice shut since the reign of Numa;
the first time in the consulship of Titus Manlius, on the
termination of the first Punic war, and that the
happiness of seeing it shut again, the gods granted to our
own times, when, after the battle [xix] of Actium, the
emperor, Csar Augustus, established universal peace on
land and sea.* As Augustus was highly vain of this
circumstance, had our authors disposition led him to
flatter this master of the world, it would have afforded
him an excellent opportunity; as would another occasion,
where, speaking of spolia opima, deposited by Cossus in
one of the temples, he appeals to the testimony of
Augustus Csar, whom he styles the founder or restorer
of all our temples. But above all, he might have found a
niche for him, as well as others of his family, when he
mentions the distinguished victory gained by Livius and
Nero over Hasdrubal. He relates the affair itself in very
splendid terms, and bestows the most exalted praises on
the admirable conduct of those victorious generals. He
who was thus rigidly tenacious, when private motives,
friendship, or interest might have swayed him, is,
nevertheless, accused, from national vanity, of having
written with partiality; and of having sometimes
exaggerated, and sometimes concealed, the truth.

It must be acknowledged that, when the grandeur of the

Roman empire presents itself to his mind, he is not
always sufficiently reserved in the terms which he uses.
Thus, speaking of Cincinnatus, so early as the 296th year
of Rome, he calls him the sole hope of the empire of
Rome, at a time when we know that this thus pompously
announced empire extended not more than twenty miles
beyond the city. And again, not [xx] many years after,* he
introduces Canuleius boasting of its eternal duration
and immense magnitude. When we find him applying
such magnificent terms to the Roman state, then in its
infancy, we must suppose him to have forgot the period
of which he was writing, and to have had present to his
mind the splendor and extent to which it had attained at
the time when he himself lived and wrote. He even puts
the same language into the mouths of foreigners, and of
enemies: he makes Hannibal call Rome the capital of the
world, at a time when the Romans had not even the
whole of Italy in subjection, and no possessions whatever
out of Italy, except a part of Sicily and Sardinia. In the
same vainglorious boasting strain he tells us, that the
Romans were never worsted by the enemys cavalry,
never by their infantry, never in open fight, never on
equal ground. He seems here not to have recollected,
what he afterwards acknowledges, that, in the first battle
with Hannibal, it manifestly appeared that the
Carthaginian was superior in cavalry; and, consequently,
that open plains, such as those between the Po and the
Alps, were unfavourable to the Romans. Although he
thus asserts, in unqualified terms, that the Romans were
never worsted in the open field, yet he gives very just and
candid accounts, not only of this battle with Hannibal,
but of another also against the same commander, and of
that of the Allia, against the Gauls, in [xxi] every one of
which the Romans were completely overthrown.

But these, it is probable, should rather be considered as

inadvertencies than falsehoods; and, however inclined we
may be to overlook or excuse them, we shall not, perhaps,
find it so easy to justify some other omissions, or
changes, which he has made in his narrative, respecting
facts which, if fairly and fully related, would do no
honour to his country; or would tend, in some degree, to
tarnish the lustre of those celebrated characters which he
holds up to our admiration.

Polybius is allowed to be an author of consummate

judgment, indefatigable industry, and strict veracity. Livy
himself admits that he is entitled to entire credit. He
takes extraordinary pains to investigate the causes of the
second Punic war, and to determine which of the two
nations had incurred the guilt of breach of treaty. He
discusses the matter at considerable length;* stating
accurately, and carefully examining, the facts and
arguments urged on both sides; and brings the matter to
this issue,that, if the war is to be considered as taking
its rise from the destruction of Saguntum, the
Carthaginians were in the wrong; but by no means so, if
the matter be taken up somewhat higher, and the taking
of Sardinia by the Romans, and the imposing a tribute
upon that island, be included in the account: for that,
then, the Carthaginians did no more than take occasion
to avenge an injury done them.

Now, how stands the account of this affair,

according [xxii] to Livy?* From this disquisition of
Polybius, he carefully selects, and strongly states, every
thing which tends to favour the cause of the Romans; but
passes over in silence every fact, and every argument,
urged by the Greek historian in favour of the
Carthaginians; and thus he makes the worse appear the
better cause.

It has been urged in defence of Livy, that, in his twelfth

book, he gave the account of the affair of Sardinia: and
that, if that book had not been lost, it might from thence
have appeared, that the conduct of the Romans in that
transaction was perfectly justifiable; and that,
consequently, what he has suppressed of Polybiuss
argument, he has omitted, not so much to favour the
cause of his own countrymen, as because he knew the
allegations therein to be false. It must, however, be
observed, that Polybius was neither a Roman nor a
Carthaginian; that he has always been held to be an
historian of the highest credit, and the strictest
impartiality; that he lived nearer the times he writes of
than Livy, and was a most diligent inquirer into the truth
of the facts which he relates in his history; that he was by
no means unfriendly to the Romans, but the contrary,
taking all opportunities to speak of them with the highest
praise.

It is not meant here to detract from the merit of Livy as

an historian, by the mention of such particulars as these.
It may be assumed as a maxim, that no historian of his
own country can be, strictly speaking, impartial: he may
intend to be so; but the mind will [xxiii] be under an
involuntary bias, influenced by some secret inclination, of
which he himself may be unconscious; he may believe
what he asserts, and yet it may not be true.

Another instance of his partiality to his countrymen may

be found in his account of the murder of
Brachyllas,* who, he tells us, was made Botarch, or
chief magistrate of the Botians, for no other reason,
than because he had been commander of the Botians
serving in the army of Philip; passing by Zeuxippus,
Pisistratus, and the others who had promoted the alliance
with Rome. That these men, offended at present, and
alarmed about future consequences, resolved to take off
Brachyllas, and accordingly procured six assassins, who
put him to death. In these, and other circumstances, our
author perfectly agrees with Polybius, whose account of
this whole affair he seems to have almost literally copied;
with the omission, however, out of tenderness for the
character of Quintius, of a very material circumstance;
which is, that the project of murdering Brachyllas was
first opened in a conference between Zeuxis, Pisistratus,
and Quintius, who told them, that he would not himself
do any thing to promote it; but that, if they were disposed
to the execution of such a plan, he would do nothing to
obstruct it: and he adds, that he directed them to confer
upon the matter with Alexamenes, the tolian, who was
the person, he says, that procured the assassins.

Another, and a very remarkable instance of

partiality [xxiv] to the character of his countrymen, we
have in his celebrated account of Scipio Africanus; who
seems, above all others mentioned in his History, to have
engaged his fondest, and, as he himself admits, his partial
attention: for when he first introduces him, he does it in
the most advantageous manner, as a youth who had
scarcely attained to manhood, rescuing his father, who
was wounded in a battle with Hannibal. This, says
he,* is the same youth who is, hereafter, to enjoy the
renown of terminating this war, and to receive the title of
Africanus, on account of his glorious victory over
Hannibal and the Carthaginians. He then, in a manner,
avows his partiality; for he tells us, that Clius attributes
the honour of saving the consul to a slave, by nation a
Ligurian: but I rather wish the account to be true which
gives it to his son; and so the fact is represented by most
authors, and generally believed.

That Scipio was a most accomplished character,

eminently distinguished by his military talents, valour,
coolness, patience under difficulties, and moderation in
victory, of most gentle manners, and a most generous
temper, never has been, nor ever will be denied. But, if
other writers knew the truth, and have spoken it, he was
not that model of absolute perfection which Livy paints
him: and perhaps, had he been the cold and
unimpassioned stoic, which he describes him to have
been, he had deserved less praise than is undoubtedly
due to him, when considered, as other authors represent
him, of a very different temperament.

[xxv]

That he generously restored a beautiful captive to her

parents, and to her intended spouse, Livy and Polybius
are agreed; but they differ somewhat in the account of
that affair. Polybius tells us,* that a party of Roman
youth, having taken captive a damsel of exquisite beauty,
brought her to Scipio, whom they knew to be much
attached to the sex; and he makes Scipio say to them, that
a more acceptable gift could not have been presented to
him, were he in a private station: but that, in his situation
of general, he could by no means accept of it. Livy
suppresses entirely the circumstance of his favourites
amorous disposition: and yet, what he represents him as
saying to Allucius, bears so strong a resemblance to his
answer, recorded by Polybius, though he gives it a
different turn, to accommodate it to his purpose, that we
cannot doubt his having had this passage in his eye: If
my thoughts were not totally employed by the affairs of
the public, and if I were at liberty to indulge in the
pleasurable pursuits adapted to my time of life, &c.

That Scipio, with all his perfections, was not that mirror
of chastity which Livy is desirous of representing him, we
learn, also, from an anecdote related by Valerius
Maximus, who highly praises the amiable temper and
patient forbearance of his wife milia, who, he tells us,
knew of his attachment to a female slave, and yet
concealed the fact, that there might be no stain upon so
illustrious a character.

Such are the principal facts alleged to prove

our [xxvi] historians neglect of veracity in his narration:
rigorous, and, it may be, invidious scrutiny, has noted
some few more; but they are of little importance: and, as
it is not improbable, so it is not unfair to suppose, that
the paucity of cotemporary historians may have induced
those, who were also predisposed, to believe that to be
false, which fuller information might perhaps have
proved to be true. Why may we not believe that he had
better opportunities of knowing the truth than the Greek
historian? He admits Polybius to be an author of credit,
and yet he differs from him without scruple: he cannot,
then, surely, be thought to mean more than that he was a
writer of integrity, who compiled his history with fidelity,
according to the best information he was able to obtain:
that he did not wilfully falsify any fact, rather than that
every fact he relates is strictly and absolutely true. He
acknowledges him for his master, but does not conceive
himself bound to swear to his words.

Besides, it is but doing justice to our author to observe,

that if, in some few, and those not very material
instances, he may have deviated from the truth, if he has
done so, it is never with an ill-design: if he palliates a
fault, or suppresses a fact, it is not so much for the
purpose of lessening the reputation, or tarnishing the
glory of others, whether nations or individuals, as to
aggrandize the character of his own nation. He allows
himself in a practice which some of his countrymen have,
since his time, carried to a much greater, as well as a
more blameable extent, and which has received the name
of pious fraud.

[xxvii]

But, whatever may be the case, whether our author must

lie under the reproach of softening facts in some
instances, or even of suppressing them in others, yet will
his genius and talents, as an historian, ever be respected.
He cannot be denied the merit of having furnished us
with a perfect model of historical composition, in the
purest and most elegant style; more remarkable for
perspicuity of narration, and neatness of expression, than
for depth of reasoning, or pomp of diction. Although he
seldom digresses, and but rarely indulges in moral
observations or philosophical reflections, yet he never
loses sight of what he himself lays down in his preface as
the great object of history: the furnishing clear and
distinct examples of every line of conduct; that we may
select for ourselves, and for the state to which we belong,
such as are worthy of imitation; and carefully noting
such, as, being dishonourable in their principles, are
equally so in their effects, learn to avoid them.

ALL that the present writer feels it necessary to say, upon

delivering to the public a new translation of so esteemed
a work as Livys History, is, that it has been the
employment, and amusement, of many years,a very
laborious, but not unuseful, occupation: and that, if he be
not deceived by self-love, and the partiality of a few
friends, who have taken the trouble of looking into the
work, it will be found not altogether unworthy of public
acceptance.

[xxviii]

The translator had intended a much more copious

commentary, than that which now accompanies this
work; and, in that view, he had prepared several
dissertations upon the manners and customs of the
Romans; their senate; their laws; their religious rites;
their arts of war, navigation, and commerce, &c. But he
acknowledges, with much pleasure, that he has since
found his labour, upon those subjects, rendered
unnecessary by the publication of Dr. Adams Koman
Antiquities: a work so excellent in its kind, that whoever
has the instruction of youth committed to his care, will do
them injustice, if he omits to recommend it to their
perusal. The notes, therefore, which are added, and
which the translator now thinks it his duty to make as
few, and as short as possible, are such only as were
deemed more immediately necessary to render some
passages intelligible to the mere English reader.

It hath been an usual practice, in prefaces to works of this

kind, for the authors of them to load the labours of their
predecessors with abuse: a practice, of which the present
translator acknowledges he neither sees the necessity,
nor the utility. For, should he succeed in disparaging the
works of others in the humble walk of translation; should
he be able to prove them ever so wretchedly executed, it
will by no means follow from thence, that his is better.
That he thinks it so, is clear from his presuming to
publish it. But, as the public has an undoubted right to
judge for itself, and will most assuredly exercise that
right, the success of every work, of whatever kind, must
ultimately depend upon its own merit.

[xxix]

To the public judgment, therefore, he submits his labour;

knowing that every endeavour of his, except that of
rendering it worthy of acceptance, would be useless; and
that, in spite of his utmost exertions, his book will stand
or fall by its own merit or demerit, whichever shall be
found to preponderate. The public candour he has no
reason to doubt; and he awaits its decision with
tranquillity, but not without anxiety.

[xxx][xxxi][xxxii][1]

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK I.
The arrival of neas in Italy, and his achievements there,
the reign of Ascanius in Alba, and of the other Sylvian
kings, his successors. Birth of Romulus and Remus.
Romulus builds Rome; forms the senate: divides the
people into curias. His wars. He offers the spolia
opima to Jupiter Feretrius; is deified. Numa Pompilius
institutes the rights of religious worship; builds a temple
to Janus; rules in peace, and is succeeded by Tullus
Hostilius. His war with the Albans; combat of the Horatii
and Curiatii. The Albans removed to Rome. Tullus killed
by lightning. Ancus Martius conquers the Latines, and
incorporates them with the Romans; enlarges the city,
and the bounds of his dominions. Lucumo arrives at
Rome: assumes the name of Tarquinius; and on the death
of Ancus, gains possession of the throne; defeats the
Latines and Sabines; builds a wall round the city, and
makes the common sewers: is slain by the sons of Ancus,
and is succeeded by Servius Tullius. He institutes the
census; divides the people into classes and centuries:
extenus the pomrium; is murdered by Lucius
Tarquinius, afterwards surnamed Superbus. He seizes
the throne, wages war with the Volscians, and, with their
spoils, builds a temple to Jupiter in the Capitol, in
consequence of his son Sextus having forcibly violated
the chastity of Lucretia, he is dethroned and banished.
Consuls elected.

PREFACE.
WHETHER, in tracing the series of the Roman History,
from the foundation of the city, I shall employ my time to
good purpose, is a question which I cannot positively
determine; nor, were it possible, would I venture to
pronounce such determination: for I am aware that the
matter is of high [2] antiquity, and has been already
treated by many others; the latest writers always
supposing themselves capable, either of throwing some
new light on the subject, or, by the superiority of their
talents for composition, of excelling the more inelegant
writers who preceded them. However that may be, I shall,
at all events, derive no small satisfaction from the
reflection that my best endeavours have been exerted in
transmitting to posterity the achievements of the greatest
people in the world; and if, amidst such a multitude of
writers, my name should not emerge from obscurity, I
shall console myself by attributing it to the eminent merit
of those who stand in my way in the pursuit of fame. It
may be farther observed, that such a subject must require
a work of immense extent, as our researches must be
carried back through a space of more than seven hundred
years; that the state has, from very small beginnings,
gradually increased to such a magnitude, that it is now
distressed by its own bulk; and that there is every reason
to apprehend that the generality of readers will receive
but little pleasure from the accounts of its first origin; or
of the times immediately succeeding, but will be
impatient to arrive at that period, in which the powers of
this overgrown state have been long employed in working
their own destruction. On the other hand, this much will
be derived from my labour, that, so long at least as I shall
have my thoughts totally occupied in investigating the
transactions of such distant ages, without being
embarrassed by any of those unpleasing considerations,
in respect of later days, which, though they might not
have power to warp a writers mind from the truth, would
yet be sufficient to create uneasiness, I shall withdraw
myself from the sight of the many evils to which our eyes
have been so long accustomed. As to the relations which
have been handed down of events prior to the founding of
the city, or to the circumstances that gave occasion to its
being founded, and which bear the semblance rather of
poetic fictions, [3] than of authentic records of history
these, I have no intention either to maintain or refute.
Antiquity is always indulged with the privilege of
rendering the origin of cities more venerable, by
intermixing divine with human agency; and if any nation
may claim the privilege of being allowed to consider its
original as sacred, and to attribute it to the operations of
the Gods, surely the Roman people, who rank so high in
military fame, may well expect, that, while they choose to
represent Mars as their own parent, and that of their
founder, the other nations of the world may acquiesce in
this, with the same deference with which they
acknowledge their sovereignty. But what degree of
attention or credit may be given to these and such-like
matters I shall not consider as very material. To the
following considerations, I wish every one seriously and
earnestly to attend; by what kind of men, and by what
sort of conduct, in peace and war, the empire has been
both acquired and extended: then, as discipline gradually
declined, let him follow in his thoughts the structure of
ancient morals, at first, as it were, leaning aside, then
sinking farther and farther, then beginning to fall
precipitate, until he arrives at the present times, when
our vices have attained to such a height of enormity, that
we can no longer endure either the burden of them, or
the sharpness of the necessary remedies. This is the great
advantage to be derived from the study of history; indeed
the only one which can make it answer any profitable and
salutary purpose: for, being abundantly furnished with
clear and distinct examples of every kind of conduct, we
may select for ourselves, and for the state to which we
belong, such as are worthy of imitation; and, carefully
noting such, as being dishonourable in their principles,
are equally so in their effects, learn to avoid them. Now,
either partiality to the subject of my intended work
misleads me, or there never was any state either greater,
or of purer morals, or richer in good examples, than this
of Rome; nor was there ever any city [4] into which
avarice and luxury made their entrance so late, or where
poverty and frugality were so highly and so long held in
honour; men contracting their desires in proportion to
the narrowness of their circumstances. Of late years,
indeed, opulence has introduced a greediness for gain,
and the boundless variety of dissolute pleasures has
created, in many, a passion for ruining themselves, and
all around them. But let us, in the first stage at least of
this undertaking, avoid gloomy reflections, which, when
perhaps unavoidable, will not, even then, be agreeable. If
it were customary with us, as it is with poets, we would
more willingly begin with good omens, and vows, and
prayers to the gods and goddesses, that they would
propitiously grant success to our endeavours, in the
prosecution of so arduous a task.

BOOK I.
I. It has been handed down to us, as a certain fact, that
the Greeks, when they had taken Troy, treated the
Trojans with the utmost severity; with the exception,
however, of two of them, neas and Antenor, towards
whom they exercised none of the rights of conquest. This
lenity they owed, partly, to an old connection of
hospitality, and partly, to their having been, all along,
inclined to peace, and to the restoration of Helen. These
chiefs experienced afterwards great varieties of fortune.
Antenor, being joined by a multitude of the Henetians,
who had been driven out of Paphlagonia in a civil war,
and having lost their king Pylmenes at Troy, were at a
loss both for a settlement and a leader, came to the
innermost bay of the Adriatic sea, and expelling the
Euganeans, who then inhabited the tract between the
Alps and the sea, settled the Trojans and Henetians in the
possession of the country. The place where they first
landed is called Troy, and from thence the Trojan canton
also has its name; the nation in general were called
Henetians. neas, driven from home by the same
calamity, but conducted [5] by the fates to an
establishment of more importance, came first to
Macedonia; thence, in search of a settlement, he sailed to
Sicily, and from Sicily proceeded with his fleet to the
country of the Laurentians.* Here also, to the spot where
they landed, was given the name of Troy. Here the
Trojans disembarked; and as, after wandering about for a
great length of time, they had nothing left, beside their
ships and arms, they began to make prey of whatever
they found in the country. On this king Latinus, and the
Aborigines, who were then in possession of those lands,
assembled hastily from the city and country, in order to
repel the violence of the strangers. Of what followed,
there are two different accounts. Some writers say, that
Latinus, being overcome in battle, contracted an alliance,
and afterwards an affinity, with neas; others, that when
the armies were drawn up in order of battle, before the
signal was given, Latinus, advancing in the front, invited
the leader of the strangers to a conference; then inquired
who they were, whence they came, what had induced
them to leave their home, and with what design they had
landed on the Laurentian coast; and that, when he was
informed that the leader was neas, the son of Anchises
by Venus, and his followers Trojans; that they had made
their escape from the flames of their native city and of
their houses, and were in search of a settlement, and a
place where they might build a town; being struck with
admiration of that renowned people and their chief, and
of their spirit, prepared alike for war or peace, he gave
him his right hand, and by that pledge assured him of his
future friendship. A league was then struck between the
leaders, and mutual salutations passed between the
armies. Latinus entertained neas in his palace, and
there, in the presence of his household gods, added a
domestic alliance to their public one, giving him his
daughter in marriage. This event [6] fully confirmed the
hopes of the Trojans, that here, at last, they were to find
an end of their wanderings; that here they would enjoy a
fixed and permanent settlement. They built a town,
which neas called Lavinium, from the name of his wife.
In a short time after, his new consort bore him a son, who
was named by his parents Ascanius.

II. The Aborigines, in conjunction with the Trojans, soon

found themselves engaged in a war. Turnus, king of the
Rutulians, to whom Lavinia had been affianced before
the arrival of neas, enraged at seeing a stranger
preferred to him, declared war against both neas and
Latinus. A battle that ensued gave neither army reason to
rejoice. The Rutulians were defeated, and the victorious
Aborigines and Trojans lost their leader Latinus.
Whereupon Turnus and the Rutulians, diffident of their
strength, had recourse to the flourishing state of the
Etrurians, and their king Mezentius, who held his court
at Cre, at that time an opulent city. He had been, from
the beginning, not at all pleased at the foundation of the
new city; and now began to think that the Trojan power
was increasing to a degree inconsistent with the safety of
the neighbouring states; and therefore, without
reluctance, concluded an alliance, and joined his forces
with those of the Rutulians. neas, with the view of
conciliating the affection of the Aborigines, that he might
be the better able to oppose such formidable enemies,
gave to both the nations under his rule the name of
Latines, that all should not only be governed by the same
laws, but have one common name. From thenceforth the
Aborigines yielded not to the Trojans in zeal and fidelity
towards their king neas. This disposition of the two
nations, who coalesced daily with greater cordiality,
inspired him with so much confidence, that,
notwithstanding Etruria was possessed of such great
power, that it had filled with the fame of its prowess not
only the land, but the sea also, through the whole length
of Italy, from the Alps to the Sicilian Streight; and
although [7] he might have remained within his
fortifications, secure from any attack of the enemy, yet he
led out his troops to the field. The battle that followed
was, with respect to the Latines, their second, with
respect to neas, the last of his mortal acts. He, by
whatever appellation the laws of gods and men require
him to be called, is deposited on the bank of the river
Numicus. The people gave him the title of Jupiter
Indiges.*

III. His son Ascanius was as yet too young to assume the
government; nevertheless his title to the sovereignty
remained unimpeached, until he arrived at maturity.
During this interval, and under the regency of Lavinia, a
woman of great capacity, the Latine state, and the united
subjects of the princes father and grandfather, continued
firm in their allegiance. I am not without some doubts
(for who can affirm with certainty in a matter of such
antiquity?) whether this was the same Ascanius
mentioned above, or one older than him, born of Creusa,
wife to neas, before the destruction of Troy, and who
accompanied his father in his flight from thence; whom,
being also called Iulus, the Julian family claim as the
founder of their name. This Ascanius, wheresoever, and
of whatsoever mother born, certainly the son of neas,
finding the number of inhabitants in Lavinium too great,
left that city, then in a flourishing and opulent state,
considering the circumstances of those times, to his
mother, or step-mother, and built a new one on the Alban
mount, which, from its situation being stretched along
the hill, was called Alba Longa. Between the building of
Lavinium, and the transplanting the colony to Alba
Longa, the interval was only about thirty years; yet so
rapidly had this people increased in power, especially
after the defeat of the Etrurians, [8] that, not even on the
death of neas, nor afterwards, during the regency of a
woman, and the first essays of a youthful reign, did either
Mezentius and the Etrurians, or any other of the
bordering nations, dare to attempt hostilities against
them. A peace was agreed upon, in which it was
stipulated that the river Albula, now called the Tiber,
should be the boundary between the Etrurians and
Latines. Ascaniuss son, called Sylvius, from his having by
some accident been born in the woods, succeeded him in
the kingdom. He begat neas Sylvius, who afterwards
begat Latinus Sylvius. This prince planted several
colonies, who have obtained the name of Ancient Latines.
The surname of Sylvius was henceforward given to all
those who reigned at Alba. Of Latinus was born Alba; of
Alba, Atys; of Atys, Capys; of Capys, Capetus; of Capetus,
Tiberinus; who, being drowned in endeavouring to cross
the river Albula, gave to that river the name so celebrated
among his posterity. Agrippa, son of Tiberinus, reigned
next; after Agrippa, Romulus. Sylvius received the
kingdom from his father, and being struck by lightning,
demised it to Aventinus, who, being buried on that hill
which is now a part of the city of Rome, gave it his name.
To him succeeded Procas, who had two sons, Numitor
and Amulius. To Numitor, as being the first-born, he
bequeathed the ancient kingdom of the Sylvian family;
but force prevailed over both the will of their father, and
the respect due to priority of birth. Amulius dethroned
his brother, took possession of the kingdom, and adding
crime to crime, put to death the male offspring of
Numitor, making his daughter Rhea Sylvia a vestal,
under the specious pretence of doing her honour, but, in
fact, to deprive her of all hope of issue, the vestals being
obliged to vow perpetual virginity.*

[9]

IV. But the fates, I suppose, demanded the founding of

this great city, and the first establishment of an empire,
which is now, in power, next to the immortal gods. The
vestal being deflowered by force, brought forth twins, and
declared that the father of her doubtful offspring was
Mars; either because she really thought so, or in hopes of
extenuating the guilt of her transgression by imputing it
to the act of a deity. But neither gods nor men screened
her or her children from the Kings cruelty: the priestess
was loaded with chains, and cast into prison, and the
children were ordered to be thrown into the stream of the
river. It happened providentially that the Tiber,
overflowing its banks, formed itself into stagnant pools in
such a manner, as that the regular channel was every
where inaccessible, and those who carried the infants
supposed that they would be drowned in any water,
however still. Wherefore, as if thereby fulfilling the Kings
order, they exposed the boys in the nearest pool, where
now stands the Ruminal fig-tree, which, it is said, was
formerly called Romular. Those places were at that time
wild deserts. A story prevails that the retiring flood
having left on dry ground the trough, hitherto floating, in
which they had been exposed, a thirsty she-wolf from the
neighbouring mountains, directed her course to the cries
of the children, and, stooping, presented her dugs to the
infants, showing so much gentleness, that the keeper of
the King herds found her licking the boys with her
tongue; and that this shepherd, whose name was
Faustulus, carried them home to his wife Laurentia to be
nursed. Some there are who think that this Laurentia,
from her having been a prostitute, was, by the shepherds,
called Lupa; and to this circumstance they ascribe the
origin of this fabulous tale. Thus born, and thus
educated, as soon as years supplied them with strength,
they led not an inactive life at the stables, or among the
cattle, but traversed the neighbouring forests in hunting.
Hence acquiring vigour, both of body and mind, [10] they
soon began not only to withstand the wild beasts, but to
attack robbers loaded with booty. The spoil thus acquired
they divided with the shepherds; and, in company with
these, the number of their young associates continually
increasing, they carried on both their business, and their
sports.

V. It is said, that even at that early period, the sports of

the Lupercal,* which we still celebrate, were practised on
the Palatine hill, and that this was called Palatium, from
Pallanteum, a city of Arcadia, and afterwards the Palatine
hill; and that Evander, who was of that tribe of Arcadians,
and had been many years before in possession of this part
of the country, had instituted there this solemnity
brought from Arcadia, in which young men were to run
about naked, in sport and wantonness, in honour of
Lycean Pan, whom the Romans afterwards called Inuus.
While they were intent on the performance of these
sports, the time of their celebration being generally
known, the robbers, enraged at the loss of their booty,
attacked them by surprise, having placed themselves in
ambush. Romulus making a vigorous defence, extricated
himself; but they took Remus prisoner, delivered him up
to King Amulius, and had the assurance to accuse them
both of criminal misbehaviour. The principal charge
made against them was, that they had made violent
inroads on the lands of Numitor, and, with a band of
youths which they had collected, plundered the country
in a hostile manner. In consequence of this, Remus was
given up to Numitor to be punished. From the very
beginning, Faustulus had entertained hopes, that the
children whom he educated, would prove to be
descended of the royal blood; for he knew that the infants
of Rhea had been exposed by order of the King, and that
the time when he had taken them up, corresponded
exactly with that event; but he had resolved to avoid any
hasty disclosure, unless some favourable
conjuncture [11] or necessity should require it. The
necessity happened first; wherefore, constrained by his
apprehensions, he imparted the affair to Romulus. It
happened also that Numitor, while he had Remus in his
custody, heard that the brothers were twins; and when he
combined with this circumstance their age, and their turn
of mind, which gave no indication of a servile condition,
he was struck with the idea of their being his
grandchildren; and all his inquiries leading to the same
conclusion, he was upon the point of acknowledging
Remus. In consequence, a plot against the King was
concerted between all the parties. Romulus, not going at
the head of a band of youths, for he was unequal to an
open attempt, but ordering the shepherds to come at a
certain hour, by different roads, to the palace, forced his
way to the King, and was supported by Remus, with
another party, procured from the house of Numitor. Thus
they put the King to death.

VI. In the beginning of the tumult, Numitor, calling out

that the city was assaulted by an enemy, and the palace
attacked, had drawn away the Alban youth to the citadel,
on pretence of securing it by an armed garrison; and, in a
little time seeing the young men, after perpetrating the
murder, coming towards him, with expressions of joy, he
instantly called the people to an assembly, laid before
them the iniquitous behaviour of his brother towards
himself; the birth of his grandchildren, how they were
begotten, how educated, how discovered; then informed
them of the death of the usurper, and that he had himself
encouraged the design. The youths at the same time
advancing with their followers, through the midst of the
assembly, saluted their grandfather as King; on which the
multitude, testifying their assent by universal
acclamations, ratified to him the royal title and authority.
When Numitor was thus reinstated in the sovereignty at
Alba, Romulus and Remus were seized with a desire of
building a city in the place where they had
been [12] exposed and educated. There were great
numbers of Albans and Latines, who could be spared for
the purpose, and these were joined by a multitude of
shepherds; so that, all together, they formed such a
numerous body, as gave grounds to hope that Alba and
Lavinium would be but small, in comparison with the city
which they were about to found. These views were
interrupted by an evil, hereditary in their family,
ambition for rule. Hence arose a shameful contest;
though they had in the beginning rested their dispute on
this amicable footing, that, as they were twins, and
consequently, no title to precedence could be derived
from priority of birth, the gods, who were guardians of
the place, should choose by auguries,* which of the two
should give a name to the new city, and enjoy the
government of it when built. Romulus chose the Palatine,
Remus the Aventine mount, as their consecrated stands
to wait the auguries. We are told that the first omen
appeared to Remus, consisting of six vultures; and, that,
after this had been proclaimed, twice that number
showed themselves to Romulus; on which each was
saluted King by his own followers; the former claiming
the kingdom on the ground of the priority of time; the
latter, on that of the number of the birds. On their
meeting, an altercation ensued, then blows; and their
passions being inflamed by the dispute, the affair
proceeded at last to extremity, and murder was the
consequence. Remus fell by a blow received in the
tumult. There is another account more generally
received, that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped
over the new wall, and that Romulus, enraged thereat,
slew him, uttering at the same time this imprecation, So
perish every one that shall hereafter leap over my
wall. BC 751. By these means Romulus came into the
sole possession of the government, and the city, when
built, was called after the name of its founder. The first
buildings which he raised, were on the Palatine hill,
where he himself [13] had been brought up. To the other
deities he performed worship, according to the mode of
the Albans, but to Hercules, according to that of the
Greeks, as instituted by Evander.

VII. It is recorded that Hercules, after having slain

Geryon, drove away his cattle, which were surprisingly
beautiful; and that, being fatigued with travelling, he lay
down, near the river Tiber, in a grassy place, to which he
had swum over, driving the herd before him, in order to
refresh the cattle with rest and the rich pasture. There,
having indulged himself in meat and wine, he was
overpowered by sleep; whereupon a shepherd, who dwelt
in the neighbourhood, named Cacus, of great strength
and fierceness, being struck with the beauty of the cattle,
wished to make prey of some of them; but considering,
that if he should drive the herd before him into his cave,
their tracks would direct the owners search, he dragged
the cattle backward by the tails into the cave, picking out
those that were the most remarkable for their beauty.
Hercules awaking at the dawn of day, took a view of his
herd, and missing some of the number, went directly to
the next cave, to examine whether the footsteps led
thither; but when he observed that they all pointed
outward, and yet did not direct to any other quarter,
perplexed, and not knowing how to act, he began to drive
forward his herd from that unlucky place. Some of the
cows, as they were driven off, missing those that were left
behind, began, as was natural, to low after them, and the
sound being returned from the cave, by those that were
shut up in it, brought Hercules back. Cacus,
endeavouring by force to prevent his approach to the
cave, and invoking in vain the assistance of the
shepherds, received a blow of his club, which put an end
to his life. At that time, Evander, a native of
Peloponnesus, who had removed hither, governed that
part of the country, rather through an influence acquired
by his [14] merit, than any power of sovereignty vested in
him. He was highly revered on account of his having
introduced the wonderful knowledge of letters, a matter
quite new to these men, who were ignorant of all the arts;
and still more so, on account of the supposed divinity of
his mother Carmenta, whose prophetic powers had been
an object of admiration to those nations, before the
arrival of the Sibyl in Italy. Evander then, being alarmed
by the concourse of the shepherds, hastened to the spot,
where they were assembled in a tumultuous manner
about the stranger, whom they accused as undeniably
guilty of murder; and when he was informed of the fact,
and of the cause of it, observing the person and mien of
the hero, filled with more dignity and majesty than
belonged to a human being, he inquired who he was; and
being told his name, that of his father and his country, he
addressed him in these words; Hail, Hercules, son of
Jove! my mother, the infallible interpreter of the gods,
foretold to me that you were destined to increase the
number of the celestials, and that an altar would be
dedicated to you in this place, which a nation, hereafter
the most powerful in the world, should distinguish by the
name of The Greatest,* and would offer thereon sacrifices
to your honour. Hercules, giving his right hand, replied,
that, he embraced the omen, and would fulfil the decree
of the fates, by building and dedicating an altar in the
place. There, then for the first time, was performed a
sacrifice to Hercules, of a chosen heifer taken out of the
herd; and the Potitii and Pinarii, the most distinguished
families in the neighbourhood at the time, were invited to
assist in the ceremonies, and share the entertainment. It
happened that the Potitii attended in time, and the
entrails were served up to them; the Pinarii,
arriving [15] after the entrails were eaten, came in for the
rest of the feast; hence it continued a rule, as long as the
Pinarian family existed, that they should not eat of the
entrails. The Potitii, instructed by Evander, were
directors of that solemnity for many ages, until the
solemn office of the family was delegated to public
servants, on which the whole race of the Potitii became
extinct. These were the only foreign rites that Romulus
then adopted, showing thereby, from the beginning, a
respect for immortality obtained by merit, a dignity to
which his own destiny was conducting him.

VIII. After paying due worship to the gods, he summoned

the multitude to an assembly; and, knowing that they
could never be brought to incorporate as one people, by
any other means, than by having their conduct directed
by certain rules, he gave them a body of laws;* and
judging, that if he added to the dignity of his own
carriage, by assuming the ensigns of sovereignty, it would
help to procure respect to those laws, among a rude
uninformed people, he adopted a more majestic style of
appearance, both with regard to his other appointments,
and particularly in being attended by twelve lictors. Some
think that he was led to fix on this number by that of the
birds in the augury which had portended the kingdom to
him: I am rather inclined to be of their opinion, who
suppose that all the officers attendant on magistrates,
and among the rest, the lictors, as well as the number of
them, were borrowed from their neighbours, the
Etrurians, from whom the curule chair, and the gown
edged with purple, were taken; and that the Etrurians,
used that number, because their King being elected by
the suffrages of twelve states, each state gave him one
lictor. Meanwhile the city increased in buildings,
which [16] were carried on to an extent proportioned
rather to the number of inhabitants they hoped for in
future, than to what they had at the time.* But that its
size might not increase beyond its strength, in order to
augment his numbers, he had recourse to a practice
common among founders of cities, who used to feign that
the multitude of mean and obscure people, thus
collected, had sprang out of the earth. He opened a
sanctuary, in the place where the inclosure now is, on the
road down from the Capitol, called The Pass of the Two
Groves. Hither fled, from the neighbouring states, crowds
of all sorts, without distinction; whether freemen or
slaves, led by a fondness for novelty; and this it was that
gave solidity to the growing greatness of the city. Having
reason now to be pretty well satisfied with his strength,
he next made provision that this strength should be
regulated by wisdom; and for that purpose, he created an
hundred senators, either because that number was
sufficient, or because there were no more than an
hundred citizens who could prove their descent from
respectable families. They were certainly styled Fathers
from their honourable office, and their descendants
Patricians.

IX. The Roman state had now attained such a degree of

power, that it was a match in arms for any of the
neighbouring nations; but, from the small number of its
women, its greatness was not likely to last longer than
one age of man, as they had neither hopes of offspring
among themselves, nor had yet contracted any
intermarriages with their neighbours. Romulus,
therefore, by advice of the senate, sent ambassadors
round to all the adjoining states, soliciting their alliance,
and permission for his new subjects to marry [17] among
them: he intimated to them, that cities, like every thing
else, rise from low beginnings; that, in time those which
are supported by their own merit, and the favour of the
gods, procure to themselves great power, and a great
name: and that he had full assurance both that the gods
favoured the founding of Rome, and that the people
would not be deficient in merit. Wherefore, as men, they
ought to show no reluctance to mix their blood and race
with men. In no one place were his ambassadors
favourably heard; such contempt of them did people
entertain, and, at the same time, such apprehensions of
danger to themselves and their posterity, from so great a
power growing up in the midst of them. By the greater
part, they were dismissed with the question, whether
they had opened an asylum for women also, for that
would be the only way to procure suitable matches for
them? This was highly resented by the Roman youth,
insomuch that the business appeared evidently to point
towards violence. Romulus, in order to afford them a
convenient time and place for a design of that sort,
dissembling his displeasure, prepared, with that intent,
to celebrate solemn games in honour of the equestrian
Neptune,* to which he gave the name of Consualia. He
then ordered the intended celebration to be proclaimed
among the neighbouring nations, while his people
exerted themselves in making the most magnificent
preparations that their knowledge and abilities allowed,
in order to engage attention and raise expectation. Great
numbers of people assembled, induced, in some measure,
by a desire of seeing the new city, especially those whose
countries lay nearest, the Cninensians, Crustuminians,
and Antemnatians, especially the whole multitude
of [18] the Sabines came with their wives and children.
They were hospitably invited to the different houses; and
when they viewed the situation, and the fortifications,
and the city crowded with houses, they were astonished
at the rapid increase of the Roman power. When the
show began, and every persons thoughts and eyes were
attentively engaged on it, then, according to the
preconcerted plan, on a signal being given, the Roman
youth ran different ways to carry off the young
women. Y. R. 4. BC 748. Some they bore away, as they
happened to meet with them, without waiting to make a
choice; but others of extraordinary beauty, being
designed for the principal senators, were conveyed to
their houses by plebeians employed for that purpose. It is
said, that one highly distinguished above the rest for her
beauty, was carried off by the party of one Talassius, and
that in answer to many who eagerly inquired to whom
they were hurrying her, they, every now and then, to
prevent any interruption in their course, cried out, that
they were carrying her to Talassius; this circumstance
gave rise to the use of that word at weddings. The terror
occasioned by this outrage put an end to the sports, and
the parents of the young women retired full of grief,
inveighing against such a violation of the laws of
hospitality, and appealing to the god, to whose solemn
festival and games they had come, relying on the respect
due to religion, and on the faith of nations. Nor did the
women who were seized entertain better hopes with
regard to themselves, or a less degree of indignation:
however Romulus went about in person, and told them,
that this proceeding had been occasioned by the
haughtiness of their parents, who refused to allow their
neighbours to marry among them; that, notwithstanding
this, they should be united to his people in wedlock in the
common enjoyment of all property, and of their common
children; a bond of union than which the human heart
feels none more endearing. He begged of them to soften
their resentment, and to bestow their affections
on [19] those men on whom chance had bestowed their
persons. It often happened, he said, that to harsh
treatment mutual regard had succeeded, and they would
find their husbands behave the better on this very
account; that every one would exert himself, not merely
in performing his duty as a husband, but to make up to
them for the loss of their parents and of their country.
To these persuasions was added, the soothing behaviour
of their husbands themselves, who urged, in extenuation
of the violence they had been tempted to commit, the
excess of passion, and the force of love: arguments, than
which there can be none more powerful to assuage the
irritation of the female mind.

X. The women, who had been forcibly carried off, soon

became reconciled to their situation; but their parents,
still more than at first, endeavoured to rouse their several
states to revenge, employing both complaints and tears,
and wearing the dress of mourners. Nor did they confine
their demands of vengeance within the limits of their own
states, but made joint applications from all quarters to
Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, the embassies being
addressed to him as the person of the highest renown in
all those parts. The people who were the principal
sufferers by the outrage, were the Cninensians, the
Crustuminians, and the Antemnatians. To them, the
proceedings of Tatius and the Sabine nation appeared too
dilatory; wherefore these three states, uniting in a
confederacy, prepared for immediate war. Nor did even
the Crustuminians and Antemnatians exert activity
enough for the impatient rage of the Cninensians. This
state, therefore, alone, made an irruption into the Roman
territories; but while they carried on their ravages in a
disorderly manner, Romulus met them, and, without
much difficulty, taught them that rage without strength
avails but little. He routed and dispersed their army;
pursued it in its flight; slew their king in the battle, and
seized his spoils; after which he made himself master of
their city at the first assault. [20] From thence he led
home his victorious troops; and being not only capable of
performing splendid actions, but also fond of displaying
those actions to advantage, he marched up in procession
to the Capitol, carrying on a frame, properly constructed
for the purpose, the spoils of the enemys general whom
he had slain; and there laying them down under an oak,
which the shepherds accounted sacred, he, at the same
time, while he offered this present, marked out with his
eye the bounds of a temple for Jupiter, to whom he gave a
new name, saying, Jupiter Feretrius,* in
acknowledgment of the victory which I have obtained, I,
Romulus the king, offer to thee these royal arms, and
dedicate a temple to thee on that spot which I have now
measured out in my mind, to be a repository for those
grand spoils, which, after my example, generals in future
times shall offer, on slaying the kings and generals of
their enemies. This was the origin of that temple which
was the first consecrated in Rome. Accordingly, it pleased
the gods so to order, that neither the prediction of the
founder of the temple, intimating that future generals
should carry spoils thither, should prove erroneous, nor
that the honour of making such offerings should be
rendered common, by being imparted to many. In after
times, during so many years, and so many wars, there
have been only two instances of the grand spoils being
obtained; so rare was the attainment of that high honour.

XI. While the Romans were thus employed, the army of

the Antemnatians, taking advantage of the opportunity
which the country being left without troops afforded
them, made an hostile incursion into the Roman
territories; but a Roman [21] legion,* hastily led out,
surprised them, while they straggled through the country.
They were routed therefore at the first onset, and their
town was taken. While Romulus exulted in this second
victory, his consort, Hersilia, teased by the intreaties of
the captured women, earnestly petitioned him that he
would show favour to their parents, and admit them into
the number of his citizens, a measure which could not fail
of forming an union satisfactory to all parties. This
request was easily obtained. He then marched against the
Crustuminians, who were carrying on hostilities: with
these he had still less trouble than with the
Antemnatians, because they had been dispirited by the
defeats of their allies. Colonies were sent to both
countries, but greater numbers were found willing to give
in their names for Crustuminum, on account of the
fertility of the soil. There were frequent migrations also
from those places to Rome, chiefly of the parents and
relations of the ravished women. Y. R. 5. BC 747. The last
war, on this occasion, was begun by the Sabines; and it
was by far the most formidable, for none of their
operations were directed by rage or passion, nor did they
disclose their intentions until they began to act. They
employed stratagem, too, in aid of prudence. The Roman
citadel was commanded by Spurius Tarpeius. His maiden
daughter, who had accidentally gone without the
fortifications to bring water for the sacred rites, was
bribed by Tatius with gold to admit some of his troops
into the citadel. As soon as they gained admittance they
put her to death, by throwing their armour in a heap
upon her, either because they wished that the citadel
should rather appear to have been taken by storm, or for
the sake of establishing a precedent that faith was not to
be [22] kept with a traitor. The story is told in another
manner; that, as the Sabines generally carried on their
left arms bracelets of great weight, and wore rings set
with precious stones, which made a great show, she
bargained for what they wore on their left arms;
accordingly, instead of the presents of gold which she
expected, they threw their shields upon her. Others say,
that, in pursuance of their agreement to deliver up what
was on their left arms, she expressly demanded their
shields; and this seeming to be done with a treacherous
intent, she was put to death by means of the very reward
which she required.

XII. The Sabines however kept possession of the citadel;

but though, on the following day, the Roman army, in
order of battle, filled the whole plain between the
Palatine and Capitoline hills, yet they did not come down
to the level ground; until the Romans, stimulated by rage
and eagerness to recover the citadel, advanced to an
assault. The foremost champions of the two parties, who
led on the troops, were Mettius Curtius on the side of the
Sabines, and Hostus Hostilius on that of the Romans.
The latter, in the front of the army, by his spirit and
intrepidity, enabled the Romans to support the fight, in
spite of the disadvantage of the ground; but, on his
falling, the Roman soldiers quickly gave way, and were
driven back to the old gate of the Palatium. Romulus
himself being forced along by the flying crowd, raised his
hands toward heaven, and said, O Jupiter! by the
direction of thy auspices, I, here on the Palatine hill, laid
the first foundation of my city. The Sabines are already in
possession of our citadel, which they obtained by fraud;
from thence they now make their way hither, in arms,
and have passed the middle of the valley; but do thou, O
father of gods and men! from hence at least repel the
enemy; remove dismay from the minds of the Romans,
and stop their shameful flight. I vow a temple here to
thee, Jupiter Stator,* [23] as a testimony to posterity of
the city being preserved by thy immediate aid. Having
prayed thus, as if he had perceived that his supplications
were heard, he called out, Here Romans, Jupiter,
supremely good and great, orders you to halt, and renew
the fight. The Romans, as if they had heard a voice from
heaven, halted, and Romulus himself flew forward to the
front. On the side of the Sabines, Mettius Curtius had run
down first from the citadel; had driven back the Romans,
in disorder, through the whole space at present occupied
by the Forum, and was now at no great distance from the
gate of the Palatium, crying aloud, We have conquered
these traitors to hospitality, these cowards in war. They
now feel that it is one thing to ravish virgins, and
another, far different, to fight with men. While he was
vaunting in this manner, Romulus attacked him with a
band of the most courageous of the youths. Mettius
happened at that time to fight on horseback, and on that
account was the more easily repulsed: he soon gave way,
and was pursued by the Romans: the rest of the Roman
troops also, animated by the bravery of their king, put the
Sabines to the route. Mettius was plunged into a lake, his
horse taking fright at the noise of the pursuers: and this
circumstance turned the attention of the Sabines to the
danger in which they saw a person of so much
consequence to them. However, his friends beckoning
and calling to him, he acquired fresh courage from the
affection of the multitude, and accomplished his escape.
Both parties now renewed the engagement in the plain
between the two hills, but the advantage was on the side
of the Romans.

XIII. At this crisis the Sabine women, whose sufferings

had given cause to the war, with their hair dishevelled
and garments torn, their natural timidity being overcome
by the sight of such disastrous scenes, had the resolution
to throw [24] themselves in the way of the flying weapons;
and, rushing across between the armies, separated the
incensed combatants, and assuaged their fury;
beseeching, on the one hand their parents, on the other
their husbands, not to pollute themselves with the
impious stain of the blood of father-in-law and son-in-
law, nor brand with the infamy of parricide their
offspring, the children of one, and grandchildren of the
other party. If ye wish, said they, to destroy the affinity
and connection formed between you by our marriage,
turn your rage against us; we are the cause of the war; we
are the cause of wounds and death to our husbands and
fathers. It is better for us to perish, than to live either
widowed by the loss of one party or fatherless by that of
the other. This transaction powerfully affected both the
multitude and the leaders: silence suddenly ensued and a
suspension of the fight. The commanders then came
forward, in order to concert measures for a pacification;
and they not only concluded a peace, but combined the
two nations into one, Y. R. 7. BC 745. associating the two
sovereigns in the government, and establishing the seat
of empire at Rome. By this accession the number of
citzens was doubled; and, as some compliment to the
Sabines, the united people were called Quirites, from the
town of Cures. To perpetuate the remembrance of that
battle, the place where his horse, emerging from the deep
of the lake, first brought Curtius to a shallow, was called
the Curtian lake.* This happy re-establishment of peace,
after a war so distressing, rendered the Sabine women
still dearer both to their husbands and parents, and
above all to Romulus himself, so that, when he divided
the people into thirty Curias, he gave these the names
of [25] the women. But as the number of the women was
undoubtedly greater than that of the Curias, whether
those who were to give their names to them were selected
on account of their age, or their own dignity, or that of
their husbands, or by lot we are not informed. At the
same time also, three centuries of knights were enrolled;
the Ramnenses, so called from Romulus; the Titienses,
from Titus Tatius; and the Luceres, the reason of whose
name and origin is unknown. Thenceforward the two
kings reigned together, not only with equal power but
with concord.
XIV. Several years after, some relations of king Tatius
offered violence to the ambassadors of the Laurentians;
for which violation of the law of nations, the latter
demanded satisfaction: But Tatius paid more regard to
the interest and importunities of his relations, and
thereby drew upon himself the punishment due to them.
For he was slain afterwards at Lavinium, in a tumult
raised on his going thither to an anniversary sacrifice. It
is said, that Romulus showed less resentment of this
proceeding than became him, either because there had
been no sincere cordiality between them, while
associated in the government, or because he thought that
the other deserved the death which he met. He avoided
therefore entering into a war on the occasion; but to
make some atonement for the ill treatment of the
ambassadors, and the murder of the king, the league
between the cities of Rome and Lavinium was renewed.
Thus, beyond their expectations, the Romans enjoyed
peace on that side; but a war broke out from another
quarter, much nearer home, and almost at their gates.
The Fidenatians, looking with jealousy on the great
increase of power in so near a neighbour, determined to
make war on them before they should [26] arrive at that
degree of strength which it was evident they would in
time acquire, and sent a body of young men in arms, who
laid waste the whole country between Fiden and the
city. Then, turning to the left hand, because the Tiber
confined them on the right, and continuing their
depredations, they threw the country people into the
utmost consternation, and the sudden alarm spreading
from the country into the city, made known what had
happened. Romulus instantly led out his forces; for a war
so near home admitted no delay, and pitched his camp at
the distance of a mile from Fiden. Leaving there a small
guard, and marching out with all the rest of his troops, he
ordered a party to lie in ambush, among the bushes that
grew there in abundance; then advancing with the other
more numerous body of infantry, and all the cavalry, by
riding up almost to the gates and offering battle, in an
irregular and insulting manner, he drew the enemy out of
the town, as he wished. The cavalry, acting in this
manner, answered also another purpose, as it afforded a
more specious pretext for the retreat, which he was to
counterfeit; and when the foot too began to retire, while
the horse seemed irresolute, whether to fight or fly, the
enemy rushing suddenly out of the gates in crowds, eager
to pursue and press on the Roman army in its retreat,
were drawn to the place of the ambuscade. The Romans,
now rising suddenly, attacked their line in flank; and the
ensigns of those who had been left to guard the camp,
advancing at the same time, added to their fears.
Dismayed at so many dangers, the Fidenatians fled,
before Romulus and the horseman with him, could well
turn to pursue them. Thus they, who had lately pursued
an enemy, who only pretended to fly, now fled
themselves in earnest, with much greater haste, back to
the city: but they could not get clear of the enemy; the
Romans pressing close on their rear, rushed into the city
along with them, before the gates could be shut.

[27]

XV. The contagion of the Fidenatian war infected the

Veientians. Induced by the relationship subsisting
between them and the Fidenatians, (for they also were
Etrurians,) and urged on beside by their dangerous
vicinity of situation, in case the Roman arms were to be
turned against all their neighbours, made an incursion
into the Roman territories, in the manner of a predatory,
rather than of a regular, war; and thus, without
encamping or waiting the approach of the enemys army,
they returned to Veii, carrying home the plunder
collected in the country. On the other side, the Roman
commander, not finding the enemy in the country, and
being prepared for, and determined on, a decisive action,
crossed over the Tiber. The Veientians, hearing that he
was forming a camp, and that he intended to advance to
their city, marched out to meet him; for they chose rather
to engage in the open field, than to remain shut up, and
fight from the walls and houses. There, unassisted by any
stratagem, the Roman King, through the mere force of his
veteran troops, obtained the victory, and pursued the
routed enemy to their walls. The city was so strong, and
so well secured both by art and by nature, that he did not
choose to attempt it, but led home his troops, and, in his
way, ravaged the enemys country for the sake of revenge
rather than of booty. These devastations having
distressed the Veientians no less than the loss of the
battle, they sent deputies to Rome to sue for peace. A part
of their lands was taken from them, and a truce granted
for an hundred years. These were the principal
transactions in peace and war, during the reign of
Romulus; and none of them was unsuitable to the belief
of his divine origin, or to the rank of a divinity, which
after his death he was supposed to have obtained. This
may be said of the spirit which he showed in recovering
the kingdom for his grandfather, as well as of his wise
conduct in founding the city, and establishing its power,
by the arts both of war and peace; for, by the strength
which it [28] acquired under his management, it became
so respectable, that, during forty years after, it enjoyed
profound peace and security. He stood, however, much
higher in the favour of the people than he did in that of
the senate; and was yet more beloved by his army. He
established a body guard of three hundred men, whom he
called Celeres;* and these he kept constantly about his
person, in time of peace as well as war.

Y. R. 37. BC 715. XVI. Such were his achievements in his

mortal state. One day, while holding an assembly in the
plain, on the borders of the lake of Capra, for the purpose
of reviewing his army, a sudden storm arose,
accompanied with violent thunder and lightning; the king
was enveloped in a thick cloud, which hid him from the
eyes of the assembly, and was never more seen upon
earth. The Roman youth were at length eased of their
apprehensions, by the return of calm and serene weather,
after such a turbulent day; but when they saw the royal
seat empty, though they readily believed the senators,
who had stood nearest to him, that he had been carried
up on high by the storm, yet they were struck with such
dread at being thus left in a manner fatherless, that, for
some time, they remained in mournful silence. At last,
some few setting the example, the whole multitude
saluted Romulus as a deity, the son of a deity, the king
and parent of the city of Rome; and implored his favour,
with prayers, that he would be pleased always
propitiously to watch over the safety of his own
offspring. Some, I believe, even at that time, harboured
silent suspicions that the king had been torn in pieces by
the hands of the senators. Such a report was [29] spread
abroad, but it was little credited, both on account of the
high admiration entertained of the man, and because the
general consternation caused the other account to be
more universally received. It is farther mentioned, that a
contrivance of one particular man procured additional
credit to this representation of the matter: for Proculus
Julius, a person whose testimony, as we are told,
deserved respect in any case, even of the greatest
importance, while the public were full of grief for the
king, and of displeasure against the senators, came out
into an assembly of the people, and said, Romans,
yesterday at the dawn of day, Romulus, the parent of this
our city, descending suddenly from heaven, appeared
before me; and when, seized with horror, I stood in a
worshipping posture, and addressed him with prayers,
that I might be allowed to behold him without being
guilty of impiety, Go, said he, tell the Romans that it is
the will of the gods that my Rome should be the
metropolis of the world. Let them therefore cultivate the
arts of war; and be assured, and hand this assurance
down to posterity, that no human power is able to
withstand the Roman arms. After these words, he went
up, and vanished from my sight. It was wonderful how
readily the story was credited on this mans word; and
how much the grief of the people, and of the army, was
assuaged, by their being satisfied of his immortality.

XVII. Meanwhile the minds of the senators were agitated

by ambition and contention for the vacant throne.
Factions had not yet taken their rise from the interests of
individuals; for, among a new people, no one yet
possessed any eminent superiority over the rest. The
contest lay between the different bodies of which the
state was composed: those of Sabine descent were
anxious that a king should be chosen from among them,
apprehensive lest they might lose their claim by disuse,
there having been no king of their race since the death of
Tatius; although, by the terms of the union, [30] they were
entitled to equal privileges. On the other hand, the
original Romans spurned the thought of a foreigner being
placed on the throne. Notwithstanding this diversity in
their views, yet all concurred in wishing for a king, for
they had not yet tasted the sweets of liberty. The senate
now began to fear, lest as the sentiments of many of the
neighbouring states were very unfriendly towards them,
some foreign power might attack them, while the state
was destitute of a government, and the army destitute of
a commander. Every one therefore was desirous that
there should be some head, but no one party could be
induced to give way to another. In this difficulty, the
senators shared the government among themselves;
forming, out of their number, which consisted of an
hundred, ten decades, with one president in each, who
were to have the direction of public affairs. Each ten
governed jointly; the president alone had the lictors and
other badges of sovereignty. The time of each holding the
government was limited to five days, and the
administration went to them all in rotation. In this
manner a year passed without a king; and that interval,
from this circumstance, Y. R. 38. BC 714. was called an
Interregnum; which term is still applied to similar
interruptions of the regular government. By this time, the
people began to murmur, alleging that slavery was
multiplied on them; that they had an hundred masters
set over them instead of one; and it became evident that
they would no longer be satisfied without a king, nor
without one chosen by themselves. The senators,
perceiving that such schemes were in agitation, judged it
prudent to make a voluntary offer of what they could not
much longer retain. Yet while they gratified the people in
surrendering to them the sovereign power, they took care
not to give up a larger share of privilege than they kept in
their own hands; for they passed a decree, that, when the
people should elect a king, that election should not be
valid, unless the senate approved their choice. And, to
this day, the same [31] right is claimed with respect to the
enacting of laws, and the appointing of magistrates;
though the efficacy of it has been quite taken away: at
present, before the people begin to vote, the senate
previously declare their approbation of the proceedings
of the assembly, and that, even before they are yet
resolved upon. The Interrex, then, having called an
assembly, said, Romans! be the event prosperous,
fortunate, and happy; elect a king: the fathers have
thought proper to decree that it should be so. If ye choose
a person worthy to be esteemed a fit successor to
Romulus, the fathers will join their approbation. This
proceeding was so pleasing to the people, that, lest they
might appear to be outdone in generosity, they voted, and
ordered, nothing more than that the senate should
determine, by their decree, who should be king of Rome.

XVIII. There was at that time a person named Numa

Pompilius,* who was universally celebrated for justice
and piety: he lived at Cures, in the country of the Sabines;
and was as eminently skilled, as any one in that age could
be, in all laws human and divine: he was supposed to
have been instructed by Pythagoras of Samos; for which
supposition there is no other foundation, than its not
being known from what other quarter he derived his
knowledge: certain it is, that more than an hundred years
after this period, in the reign of Servius Tullius,
Pythagoras assembled the youth of the remoter parts of
Italy, about Metapontum, Heracla, and Croton, and had
them instructed under his own direction. From places so
remote, even if he had lived in the time of Numa, how
could such a character of him have reached the Sabines,
as should have inspired them with the desire of receiving
his instructions? In what common language could they
have communicated? or with what safety could a single
man have made his way thither, through so [32] many
nations differing in their language and manners? I
therefore rather believe, that his mind was, by nature,
furnished with virtuous dispositions, and that the
instructions which he received were, not so much in
foreign learning, as in the coarse and severe discipline of
the Sabines, than whom no race of men were less
corrupted by refinements. On hearing the name of Numa
Pompilius, although the Roman fathers saw that the
balance of power would incline to the Sabines, if a king
were chosen from among them, yet, no one presuming to
prefer himself, or any other of his own party, or, in short,
any one of the fathers, or citizens, to him, they all, to a
man, concurred in voting that the kingdom should be
conferred on Numa Pompilius. Y. R. 39. BC 713. When he
arrived, in consequence of their invitation, he ordered,
that, as Romulus, on the founding of the city, had
obtained the sovereign power by an augury, so the gods
should be consulted, in like manner, concerning himself.
Accordingly, being conducted into the citadel by an
augur, to which profession was annexed, for ever after, by
public authority, the honour of performing that solemn
office, he sat down on a stone with his face turned
towards the South: the augur took his seat at his left
hand, with his head covered, holding in his right hand a
crooked wand free from knots, which they
called lituus; then, taking a view towards the city, and the
adjacent country, after offering prayers to the gods, he
marked out the regions of the sky frow East to West; the
parts towards the South, he called the right, those
towards the North, the left; and, in front of him, he set, in
his mind, a boundary at the greatest distance that his eye
could reach. Then, shifting the lituus into his left hand,
and laying his right on Numas head, he prayed in this
manner:Father Jupiter, if it is thy will that this Numa
Pompilius, whose head I hold, should be king of Rome,
display to us, we beseech thee, clear tokens of the same,
within those limits which I have marked out. He then
named the particular auspices, which he [33] wished
should be sent; and, these having appeared, Numa was
declared king, and came down from the consecrated
stand.

XIX. Being thus put in possession of the kingdom, and

considering that the city was but of short standing, and
had been founded by means of violence and arms, he
formed a design of establishing it anew, upon principles
of justice, laws, and morals; and, knowing that the minds
of the people, rendered ferocious by a military life, would
never accommodate themselves to the practice of these,
during the continuance of war, he resolved, by a disuse of
arms, to mollify the fierceness of their temper. With this
view, he built a temple to Janus,* near the foot of the hill
Argiletum, which was to notify a state either of war or of
peace: when open, it denoted that the state was engaged
in war; when shut, that there was peace with all the
surrounding nations. Since the reign of Numa, it has
been shut but twice; once, in the consulate of Titus
Manlius, upon the conclusion of the first Punic war: the
happiness of seeing it once more shut, the gods granted
to our own times, when, after the battle of Actium, the
emperor Csar Augustus established universal peace, on
land and sea. This temple he then shut; and having, by
treaties and alliances, secured the friendship of all his
neighbours, and thereby removed all apprehension of
danger from abroad, he made it his first aim, lest the
dispositions of the people, which had hitherto been
restrained [34] by fear of their enemies, and by military
discipline, should, in time of tranquillity, grow licentious,
to inspire them with fear of the gods; a principle of the
greatest efficacy with the multitude, in that rude and
ignorant age. And as this did not seem likely to make
much impression on their minds, without the aid of some
pretended miracle, he made them believe that he had
nightly meetings with the goddess Egeria, and that, by
her direction, he instituted the sacred rites, most
acceptable to the gods, and appointed proper priests for
each of the deities. His first undertaking was to divide the
year into twelve months, according to the course of the
moon: and because the moon does not make up the
number of thirty days in each month, and consequently
there are some days wanted to fill up the complete year,
formed by the revolution of the sun, he managed in such
a manner, by inserting intercalary months, that every
twenty-fourth year, the space of all the intermediate
years being completed, the days coincided with the same
position of the sun from whence they had set out. He also
appointed days of business, and days of cessation
therefrom, foreseeing how expedient it would be in
future, that there should be times wherein no business
could be brought before the people.

XX. He next turned his thoughts to the appointment of

priests, though he performed in person the greatest part
of the sacred rites, especially those which now belong to
the office of the flamen of Jupiter;* judging, that in such a
warlike state, the greater number of kings would
resemble Romulus, rather than Numa, and would go
abroad themselves to war; therefore, lest the sacred rites,
the performance of which pertained to the office of the
king, should be neglected, [35] he created a flamen of
Jove, who was to attend constantly on the duties of that
priesthood, and decorated him with a splendid dress, and
a royal curule chair. He created likewise two other
flamens; one of Mars, the other of Quirinus. He also
selected virgins for the service of Vesta, an order of
priesthood derived from Alba, and therefore related, in
some sort, to the family of the founder of the city. For
these he fixed a stipend, to be paid out of the public
treasury, that they might, without interruption, attend to
the business of the temple; and by enjoining virginity,
and other religious observances, gave them a sanctity of
character that attracted veneration. He elected also
twelve priests, called salii, for Mars Gradivus; and gave
them, as an ornament of distinction, a flowered tunic,
and, over the tunic, a brazen covering for the breast. He
ordered these to carry the celestial armour, called Ancilia,
and to go in procession through the city, singing hymns,
with leaping and solemn dancing. He then chose, out of
the senators, a pontiff, named Numa Marcius, son of
Marcus, and gave him a written and sealed copy of the
institutions respecting all the sacred rites, together with
directions as to what victims, and on what days, and in
what temples, each should be performed; and out of what
funds the expenses of them should be defrayed. He also
subjected all other religious performances, whether
public or private, to the determination of the pontiff; in
order that there should be an authorized person to whom
the people might, on every occasion, resort for
instruction, lest, through their neglect of the rites of their
own country, or the introduction of foreign ones,
irregularities might take place in the worship of the gods.
The same pontiff was also to determine all matters
relative, not only to the invocation of the celestial gods,
but to funeral solemnities, and the worship of the infernal
deities, and when and how such prodigies as appeared
either by lightning or any other phnomenon, should be
attended to and expiated. For the purpose [36] of
obtaining information of the sentiments of the deities,
respecting these matters, he dedicated an altar, on the
Aventine, to Jupiter Elicius;* and consulted the god, by
auguries, concerning the prodigies that were to be
expiated.

XXI. The attention of the whole community being

diverted from violence and arms, to the considering and
adjusting of these matters, necessarily prevented
idleness; whilst reverence towards the gods, with the
thought of the deity of heaven interfering in the concerns
of mankind, filled their breasts with such a degree of
piety, that good faith, and regard to the obligation of
oaths, operated as powerfully on their minds, as the
dread of the laws and of punishment. And while the
people formed their manners after the example of the
king, as the most perfect model, the neighbouring
powers, who had formerly looked upon Rome, not as a
city, but as a camp pitched in the midst of them, for the
purpose of disturbing the general peace, were brought to
entertain such respect for it, as to deem any one guilty of
impiety, who should give trouble to a state entirely
occupied in the worship of the gods. There was a grove, in
the centre of which, from out of a dark cave, flowed a
rivulet, fed by a perpetual spring; thither it was Numas
custom frequently to repair unattended, to meet, as he
pretended, the goddess Egeria. He therefore dedicated it
to the Muses, they having been, he alleged, of her
councils, whom he called his spouse. To Faith, under the
designation of Single Faith, he instituted an anniversary
festival; in the celebration of which, he ordered the
flamens to be carried in a covered chariot, drawn by two
horses; and, while employed in the worship of her, to
have their hands covered, close down to the fingers, to
signify that Faith was to be carefully preserved, and that
even its seat, in the right hand, was sacred. He appointed
many other sacrifices, and consecrated the [37] places
where they were to be performed, which the priests call
Argenses. But the greatest of all his works was the
establishment of a permanent peace, which he
maintained through the whole course of his reign, with
no less care than he employed in securing his own
authority. Thus two kings in succession, by different
methods, one by warlike, the other by peaceful
institutions, contributed to the aggrandizement of the
state. Romulus reigned thirty-seven years, Numa forty-
three. The nation, by this time, became possessed not
only of great strength, but had also attained to a
competent knowledge of the arts both of war and peace.
 Y. R. 82. BC 660. XXII. On the death of Numa, an
interregnum again took place. After some time, the
people elected to the throne Tullus Hostilius, grandson to
that Hostilius who distinguished himself in the battle
with the Sabines, at the foot of the citadel; and the senate
gave their approbation. He was not only of a temper very
different from that of the late king, but more warlike in
his disposition than even Romulus himself. His youth
and vigour, and at the same time, the renown of his
grandfather, stimulated his native courage. Thinking,
therefore, that the strength of the state was growing
languid, through inactivity, he sought on all sides for an
opportunity of stirring up a war. It happened that some
Roman and Alban peasants committed mutual
depredations on each others lands: at this time, C.
Cluilius held the government of Alba. Ambassadors were
sent from both sides, at nearly the same time, to demand
restitution. Tullus gave orders to his, that they should
attend to nothing else, until they executed their
commission: he well knew that the Alban would give a
refusal, and then war might be proclaimed, without
incurring the charge of impiety. The Albans proceeded
with less despatch; being courteously and liberally
entertained by Tullus in his palace, they cheerfully
enjoyed the pleasures of the kings table. Meanwhile, the
Romans had made the first demand of restitution, and,
on [38] the Albans refusal, had declared war to
commence on the thirtieth day after, and returned to
Tullus with an account of their proceedings. He then gave
the ambassadors an opportunity of proposing the
business of their embassy; they, entirely ignorant of what
had passed, spent some time, at first, in making
apologies; that it was very disagreeable to them to say
any thing that would not be pleasing to Tullus, but that
they were compelled by their instructions: they came to
demand restitution, and if that were not granted, had
orders to declare war. To this Tullus answered: Tell
your king, that the king of Rome appeals to the gods, to
judge which of the two states first dismissed, with a
refusal, the ambassadors of the other demanding
restitution; that, upon that state, they may inflict all the
calamities of this war.

Y. R. 85. BC 667. XXIII. This answer the Albans carried

home, and both parties made the most vigorous
preparations for a war, which might almost be called a
civil war, as it was to be waged, in some manner, between
parents and their children, both parties deriving their
descent from Troy: for Lavinium owed its origin to Troy,
from Lavinium sprung Alba, and, from the race of the
Alban kings, the Romans were descended. The issue of
the war, however, was such as rendered the dispute less
grievous than might have been apprehended; for, without
a general engagement, and without any farther damage
than the demolition of the houses of one of the cities, the
two states were incorporated into one. The Albans first,
with very numerous forces, made an irruption into the
Roman territories; and, at the distance of no more than
five miles from the city, fortified their camp with a
trench, which, from the name of their leader, was
afterwards called the Cluilian Trench, and retained the
name for several ages, until the occasion being in time
forgotten, the name too fell into disuse. In this camp,
Cluilius the Alban king died, on which the Albans created
Mettius Fuffetius [39] their dictator. Tullus, now,
impatient for action, especially after the death of the
king, assured his men that the supreme power of the
gods, which had already begun with the head, would
inflict, upon the whole body of the Albans, the penalty
incurred by their having occasioned this impious war;
and, marching past the enemys camp in the night, he
advanced with his army ready for action, into the Alban
territories. This procedure drew out Mettius from the
camp where he lay; he led his troops, by the shorest road,
towards the enemy, sending forward an ambassador to
tell Tullus, that it was highly expedient that they should
confer together, before they came to an engagement; that,
if he would give him a meeting, he was confident that
what he had to propose to his consideration would
appear to concern the interest of Rome, no less than that
of Alba. Tullus, not thinking it proper to decline the
proposal, though he saw no probability of any good
consequence arising from it, led out his troops into the
field; the Albans likewise marched out to meet him.
When both parties were drawn up in order of battle, the
leaders, attended by a few of the principal officers,
advanced into the middle space, where the Alban began
thus:I understood, from our king Cluilius, that, on our
part, injuries sustained, and a refusal of satisfaction,
when demanded, were the causes of the present war; and
I doubt not that you, Tullus, allege, on your part, the
same grounds of quarrel: but if, instead of plausible
professions, I may be allowed to declare the truth, it is a
thirst for dominion that stimulates two nations,
connected by their situation, and by consanguinity, to
take up arms against each other. Nor do I examine
whether the measures pursued are justifiable or not; the
determination of that point was the business of him who
commenced the war; for my part, it was for the purpose
of carrying it on, that the Albans constituted me their
leader. Of this, however, Tullus, I wish to warn you: what
a formidable power the Etrurians possess, both
in [40] our neighbourhood and more especially in yours,
you, as being nearer to them, know better than we. On
land, they are very powerful; on the sea, exceedingly so.
Now consider, that, when you shall give the signal for
battle, they will enjoy the sight of these two armies
engaged as they would a show, and will not fail to attack
both the victor and the vanquished together, when they
see them fatigued, and their strength exhausted.
Wherefore, since we are not content with the certain
enjoyment of liberty, but are going to hazard an uncertain
cast for dominion or slavery, let us, in the name of the
gods, pursue some method, whereby, without great loss,
without much blood of either nation, it may be decided
which shall have dominion over the other. This proposal
was not unpleasing to Tullus, though, from his natural
disposition, as well as from confidence of success, he was
rather inclined to violent measures. Both of them then
turning their thoughts to devise some plan, they adopted
one, for which accident had already laid the foundation.

XXIV. It happened, that in each of the armies, there were

three twin brothers, between whom there was no
disparity, in point of age, or of strength. That their names
were Horatius and Curiatius, we have sufficient certainty,
for no occurrence of antiquity has ever been more
universally noticed; yet, notwithstanding that the fact is
so well ascertained, there still remains a doubt respecting
the names, to which nation the Horatii belonged, and to
which the Curiatii: authors are divided on the point;
finding, however, that the greater number concur, in
calling the Horatii, Romans, I am inclined to follow them.
To these three brothers, on each side, the Kings
proposed, that they should support by their arms the
honour of their respective countries; informing them,
that the sovereignty was to be enjoyed by that nation,
whose champions should prove victorious in the combat.
No reluctance was shown on their parts, and time and
place were appointed. Previous to the [41] fight, a league
was made between, the Romans and Albans, on these
conditions; that, whichever of the two nations should, by
its champions, obtain victory in the combat, that nation
should, without further dispute, possess sovereign
dominion over the other. Treaties are variously formed,
but the mode of ratification is the same in all. The
following is the manner in which, as we are told, they
proceeded on that occasion; and we have no record of any
more ancient treaty. The herald addressed the king in
these words: Dost thou, O king, order me to strike a
league with the Pater Patratus* of the Alban nation?
Having received the kings order, he said, O king, I
demand vervain from thee: the king answered, Take it
pure. The herald brought clean stalks of that herb from
the citadel. He afterwards asked the king in these words;
Dost thou, O king, constitute me the royal delegate of
the Roman people, the Quirites; including, in my
privileges, my attendants and implements. The king
replied, Be it without detriment to me, and to the
Roman people, the Quirites, I do constitute thee. The
herald was Marcus Valerius, and he made Spurius Fusius
Pater Patratus, by touching his head and hair with the
vervain. The Pater Patratus is appointed ad jusjurandum
patrandum, that is, to ratify the league; and this he does
in a great many words, which being expressed in a long
set form, I may be excused from repeating. Then, after
reciting the conditions, he said, Hear thou, O Jupiter!
hear thou, Pater Patratus of the Alban nation: hear, ye
people of Alba: as those conditions, from first to last,
have been recited openly from those tablets, or that wax,
without fraud or deceit, in such sense as they are most
clearly understood here this day, from those conditions
the Roman people will not first depart: if they shall, at
any time, first depart from them, under [42] authority of
the state, through any fraud or deceit, do thou, O Jupiter,
on that day, strike the Roman people, in like manner as I
shall here, this day, strike this swine; and strike them,
thou, with greater severity, in proportion as thy power
and ability are greater. So saying, he struck down the
swine with a flint stone. The Albans likewise, by their
dictator and their priests, repeated their form of
ratification and their oath.

XXV. The league being concluded, the three brothers, on

each side, pursuant to the agreement, took arms; the
friends of each putting them in mind that the gods of
their country, their country itself, the whole of their
countrymen, whether at home or in the army, rested on
their prowess the decision of their fate. Naturally bold
and courageous, and highly animated besides by such
exhortations, they advanced into the midst between the
two armies. The two armies sat down before their
respective camps, free from all apprehensions of
immediate danger to themselves, but not from deep
anxiety; no less than sovereign power being at stake, and
depending on the bravery and success of so small a
number. With all the eagerness therefore of anxious
suspense, they fixed their attention on an exhibition,
which was far indeed from being a matter of mere
amusement. The signal being given, the three youths,
who had been drawn up on each side, as in battle array,
their breasts animated with the magnanimous spirits of
whole armies, rushed forward to the fight, intent on
mutual slaughter, utterly thoughtless of their own
personal peril, and reflecting, that, on the issue of the
contest, depended the future fate and fortune of their
respective countries. On the first onset, as soon as the
clash of their arms, and the glittering of their swords,
were perceived, the spectators shuddered with excess of
horror; and their hopes being, as yet, equally balanced,
their voice was suppressed, and even their breath was
suspended. Afterwards, in the progress of the
combat, [43] during which, not only the activity of the
young mens limbs, and the rapid motions of their arms,
offensive and defensive, were exhibited to view, the three
Albans were wounded, and two of the Romans fell lifeless
to the ground. On their fall, the Alban army set up a
shout of joy; while the Roman legions were almost
reduced to a state of despair, by the situation of their
champion, who was now surrounded by the three
Curiatii. It happened that he was unhurt; so that, though
singly, he was by no means a match for them collectively,
yet was he confident of success, against each taken singly.
In order therefore to avoid their joint attack, he betook
himself to flight, judging from their wounds that they
would pursue him with different degrees of speed. He
had now fled some way from the place where they had
fought, when, looking back, he perceived that there were
large intervals between the pursuers, and that one was at
no great distance from him: he therefore turned about,
with great fury, and while the Alban army called out to
the Curiatii to succour their brother, Horatius, having in
the mean time slain his antagonist, proceeded victorious
to attack the second. The Romans then cheered their
champion with shouts of applause, such as naturally
burst forth on occasions of unexpected success: on his
part, he delayed not to put an end to the combat; for,
before the third could come up to the relief of his brother,
he had despatched him. And now, they were brought to
an equality, in point of number, only one on each side
surviving, but were far from an equality either in hopes or
in strength; the one, unhurt, and flushed with two
victories, advanced with confidence to the third contest;
the other, enfeebled by a wound, fatigued with running,
and dispirited, besides, by the fate of his brethren,
already slain, met the victorious enemy. What followed,
could not be called a fight; the Roman, exulting, cried
out, Two of you have I offered to the shades of my
brothers, the third I will offer to the cause in which we
are [44] engaged, that the Roman may rule over the
Alban; and, whilst the other could scarcely support the
weight of his armour, he plunged his sword downward
into his throat; then, as he lay prostrate, he despoiled
him of his arms. The Romans received Horatius with
triumphant congratulations, and a degree of joy
proportioned to the greatness of the danger that had
threatened their cause. Both parties then applied
themselves to the burying of their dead, with very
different dispositions of mind; the one being elated with
the acquisition of empire, the other depressed under a
foreign jurisdiction. The sepulchres still remain, in the
several spots where the combatants fell; those of the two
Romans in one place nearer to Alba, those of the three
Albans, on the side next to Rome, but, in different places,
as they fought.

XXVI. Before the armies separated, Mettius, in

conformity to the terms of the treaty, desired to know
from Tullus what commands he would give, and was
ordered to keep the young men in readiness, under arms,
as he intended to employ them in case of a war breaking
out with the Veientians. The two parties then retired to
their respective homes. Horatius advanced at the head of
the Romans, bearing in triumph the spoils of the three
brothers: near the gate Capena he was met by his sister, a
maiden who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii:
observing on her brothers shoulder, the military robe of
her lover, made by her own hands, she tore her hair, and
with loud and mournful outcries, called on the name of
her deceased spouse. His sisters lamentations, in the
midst of his own triumph, and of so great public joy,
irritated the fierce youth to such a degree, that drawing
his sword, he plunged it into her breast, at the same time
upbraiding her, in these words, Begone to thy spouse,
with thy unseasonable love, since thou couldst forget
what is due to the memory of thy deceased brothers, to
him who still survives, and to thy native country: so
perish every daughter of Rome that shall mourn for its
enemy. Both [45] the senate and people were shocked at
the horrid deed; but still, in their opinion, his recent
merit outweighed its guilt: he was, however, instantly
carried before the king for judgment. The king, unwilling
to take on himself a decision of such a melancholy nature,
and evidently disagreeable to the multitude, or to inflict
the consequent punishment, summoned an assembly of
the people, and then said I appoint two commissioners
to pass judgment on Horatius for murder, according to
the law. The law was of dreadful import: Let two
commissioners pass judgment for murder; if the accused
appeal from the commissioners, let the appeal be tried; if
their sentence be confirmed, cover his head, hang him by
a rope on the gallows, let him be scourged either within
the Pomrium or without the Pomrium. The two
commissioners appointed were of opinion, that according
to that law, they were not authorised to acquit him:
however small his offence might be; and, after they had
found him guilty, one of them pronounced judgment in
these words, Publius Horatius, I sentence thee to
punishment as a murderer; go, lictor, bind his hands.
The lictor had come up to him, and was fixing the cord,
when Horatius by the advice of Tullus, who wished to
give the mildest interpretation to the law, said, I
appeal; so the trial on the appeal, came before the
commons. During this trial, the people were very deeply
affected, especially by the behaviour of Publius Horatius
the father, who declared that, in his judgment, his
daughter was deservedly put to death; had it not been so,
he would, by his own authority as a father, have inflicted
punishment on his son. He then besought them that
they would not leave him childless, whom they had
beheld, but a few hours ago surrounded by a progeny of
uncommon merit. Uttering these words, the old man
embraced the youth, and pointing to the spoils of the
Curatii, which were hung up in the place where now
stands the Horatian column; O my fellow citizens, he
exclaimed, can you bear to behold him laden [46] with
chains, and condemned to ignominy, stripes, and torture,
whom, but just now, you saw covered with the ornaments
of victory, marching in triumph! a sight so horrid, that
scarcely could the eyes of the Albans themselves endure
it. Go, lictor, bind the arms, which but now wielded those
weapons which acquired dominion to the Roman people:
cover the head of that man to whom your city owes its
liberty: hang him upon the gallows: scourge him within
the Pomrium; but do it between those pillars, to which
are suspended the trophies of his victory: scourge him,
without the Pomrium, but do it between the tombs of
the Curiatii. For to what place can ye lead this youth,
where the monuments of his glory would not redeem him
from the ignominy of such a punishment? The people
could not withstand either the tears of the father, or the
intrepid spirit of the youth himself, which no kind of
danger could appal, and rather out of admiration of his
bravery, than regard to the justice of his cause, they
passed a sentence of acquittal. Wherefore, that some
expiation might be made for the act of manifest murder,
the father was ordered to make atonement for his son at
the public expense. After performing expiatory sacrifices,
which continued afterwards to be celebrated by the
Horatian family, he laid a beam across the street, and,
covering the young mans head, made him pass as it
were, under the yoke. The beam remains to this day,
being constantly kept in repair at the expense of the
public, and is called the Sisters beam. A tomb of squared
stone was raised for Horatia, on the spot where she fell.

XXVII. The peace with Alba was not of long continuance.

The dissatisfaction of the multitude, on account of the
power and fortune of the state having been hazarded on
three champions, perverted the unsteady mind of the
dictator; and as his designs, though honourable, had not
been crowned with success, he endeavoured, by others of
a different kind, to recover the esteem of his countrymen.
With [47] this view, therefore, as formerly, in time of war,
he had sought peace, so now, when peace was
established, he as ardently wished for war: but,
perceiving that his own state possessed more courage
than strength, he persuaded other nations to make war,
openly, by order of their governments, reserving to his
own people the part of effecting their purposes, by
treachery, under the mask of allies. The Fidenatians, a
Roman colony, being assured of the concurrence of the
Veientians, and receiving from the Albans a positive
engagement to desert to their side, were prevailed on to
take arms and declare war. Fiden having thus openly
revolted, Tullus, after summoning Mettius and his army
from Alba, marched against the enemy, and passing the
Anio, pitched his camp at the conflux of the rivers.
Between that place, and Fiden, the Veientians had
crossed the Tiber, and, in the line of battle, they
composed the right wing near the river, the Fidenatians
being posted on the left towards the mountains. Tullus
drew up his own men facing the Veientians, and posted
the Albans opposite to the troops of the Fidenatians. The
Alban had not more resolution than fidelity, so that, not
daring either to keep his ground, or openly to desert, he
filed off slowly towards the mountains. When he thought
he had proceeded to a sufficient distance, he ordered the
whole line to halt, and being still irresolute, in order to
waste time, he employed himself in forming the ranks:
his scheme was to join his forces to whichever of the
parties fortune should favour with victory. At first, the
Romans who stood nearest were astonished at finding
their flank left uncovered, by the departure of their allies,
and in a short time a horseman at full speed brought an
account to the king that the Albans were retreating.
Tullus, in this perilous juncture vowed to institute twelve
new Salian priests, and also to build temples to Paleness
and Terror; then, rebuking the horseman with a loud
voice, that the enemy might hear, he ordered him to
return to the fight, telling him, that [48] there was no
occasion for any uneasiness; that it was by his order the
Alban army was wheeling round, in order to fall upon the
unprotected rear of the Fidenatians. He commanded
him, also, to order the cavalry to raise their spears aloft;
and, this being performed, intercepted, from a great part
of the infantry, the view of the Alban army retreating;
while those who did see them, believing what the king
had said, fought with the greater spirit. The fright was
now transferred to the enemy, for they had heard what
the king had spoken aloud, and many of the Fidenatians
understood the Latine tongue, as having been intermixed
with Romans in the colony. Wherefore, dreading lest the
Albans might run down suddenly from the hills, and cut
off their retreat to the town, they betook themselves to
flight. Tullus pressed them close, and after routing this
wing composed of the Fidenatians, turned back with
double fury against the Veientians, now disheartened by
the dismay of the other wing. Neither could they
withstand his attack, and the river intercepting them
behind, prevented a precipitate flight. As soon as they
reached this, in their retreat, some, shamefully throwing
away their arms, plunged desperately into the water, and
the rest, hesitating on the bank, irresolute whether to
fight or fly, were overpowered and cut off. Never before
had the Romans been engaged in so desperate an action.
XXVIII. When all was over, the Alban troops, who had
been spectators of the engagement, marched down into
the plain, and Mettius congratulated Tullus on his victory
over the enemy. Tullus answered him, without showing
any sign of displeasure, and gave orders that the Albans
should, with the favour of fortune, join their camp with
that of the Romans, and appointed a sacrifice of
purification to be performed next day. As soon as it was
light, all things being prepared in the usual manner, he
commanded both armies to be summoned to an
assembly. The heralds, beginning at the outside,
summoned the Albans first; and they, struck with [49] the
novelty of the affair, and wishing to hear the Roman king
delivering a speech, took their places nearest to him: the
Roman troops, under arms, pursuant to directions
previously given, formed a circle round them, and a
charge was given to the centurions to execute without
delay such orders as they should receive. Then Tullus
began in this manner; If ever, Romans, there has
hitherto occurred, at any time, or in any war, an occasion
that called on you to return thanks, first, to the immortal
gods, and, next, to your own valour, it was the battle of
yesterday: for ye had to struggle not only with your
enemies, but, what is a more difficult and dangerous
struggle, with the treachery and perfidy of your allies: for
I will now undeceive you; it was not by my order that the
Albans withdrew to the mountains, nor was what ye
heard me say, the issuing of orders, but a stratagem, and
a pretext of having given orders, to the end that while ye
were kept in ignorance of your being deserted, your
attention might not be drawn away from the fight; and
that, at the same time, the enemy, believing themselves to
be surrounded on the rear, might be struck with terror
and dismay: but the guilt which I am exposing to you,
extends not to all the Albans: they followed their leader,
as ye would have done, had I chosen that the army should
make any movement from the ground which it occupied.
Mettius there was the leader of that march, the same
Mettius was the schemer of this war. Mettius it was who
broke the league between the Romans and Albans. May
others dare to commit like crimes, if I do not now make
him a conspicuous example to all mankind. On this the
centurions in arms gathered round Mettius, and the king
proceeded in his discourse: Albans, be the measure
prosperous, fortunate, and happy to the Roman people,
to me, and to you; it is my intention to remove the entire
people of Alba to Rome, to give to the commons the
privileges of citizens, and to enrol the principal
inhabitants among the fathers, to form of the whole one
city, one [50] republic. As the state of Alba, from being
one people, was heretofore divided into two, so let these
be now re-united. On hearing this, the Alban youth who
were unarmed, and surrounded by armed troops,
however different their sentiments were, yet, being all
restrained by the same apprehensions, kept a profound
silence. Tullus then said, Mettius Fuffetius, if you were
capable of learning to preserve faith, and a regard to
treaties, I should suffer you to live, and supply you with
instructions; but your disposition is incurable: let your
punishment, then, teach mankind to consider those
things as sacred, which you have dared to violate. As,
therefore, you lately kept your mind divided between the
interest of the Fidenatians and of the Romans, so shall
you now have your body divided and torn in pieces.
Then two chariots being brought, each drawn by four
horses, he tied Mettius, extended at full length, to the
carriages of them, and the horses being driven violently
in different directions, bore away on each carriage part of
his mangled body, with the limbs which were fastened by
the cords. The eyes of all were turned with horror from
this shocking spectacle. This was the first, and the last,
instance among the Romans, of any punishment inflicted
without regard to the laws of humanity. In every other
case, we may justly boast, that no nation in the world has
shown greater mildness.

Y. R. 87. BC 665. XXIX. During these proceedings, the

cavalry had been sent forward to Alba, to remove the
multitude to Rome. The legions were now led thither, to
demolish the city. As soon as they entered the gates, there
ensued not a tumult, or panic, as is usual in cities taken
by storm, where the gates being burst open, or the walls
levelled by the ram, or the citadel being taken by force,
the shouts of the enemy, and the troops running furiously
through the city, throw all into confusion with fire and
sword; but gloomy silence, and dumb sorrow, so stupified
the inhabitants, that, not knowing in their distraction
what to leave [51] behind or what to carry with them, and
incapable of forming any plan, they stood at their doors,
making inquiries of each other, or wandered through
their own houses, which they were now to see for the last
time. But now, when the horsemen, with shouts, urged
them to depart, and the crash of the houses, which the
troops were demolishing in the outer parts of the city,
assailed their ears, and the dust, raised in distant places,
had filled all parts, enveloping them as with a cloud; each
of them hastily snatching up whatever he could, and
leaving behind his guardian deity, his household gods,
and the house wherein he had been born and educated,
they began their departure, and soon filled the roads with
one continued troop of emigrants. The sight of each other
continually renewed their tears, through the mutual
commiseration which it excited in every breast. Their
ears were assailed with bitter lamentations, especially
from the women, as they passed the temples which they
had been used to revere, now filled with armed soldiers,
and reflected that they were leaving their gods, as it were,
in captivity. When the Albans had evacuated the city, the
Romans levelled to the ground all the buildings in every
part of it, both public and private, and in one hour ruined
and destroyed the work of four hundred years, during
which Alba had stood. The temples of the gods, however,
they left untouched, for so the king had commanded.

XXX. Meanwhile from this destruction of Alba, Rome

received a considerable augmentation. The number of
citizens was doubled. The Clian mount was added to the
city; and, in order to induce others to fix their habitations
there, Tullus chose that situation for his palace, where,
from thenceforth, he resided. The persons of chief note
among the Albans, the Tulii, Servilii, Quintii, Geganii,
Curiatii, Cllii, he enrolled among the senators, that this
part of the state also might receive an addition: and, as a
consecrated place of meeting for this body, thus
augmented, he built a [52] senate-house which retained
the name of Hostilia, even within the memory of our
fathers. And, that every order in the state might receive
an accession of strength from this new people, he chose
from among the Albans ten troops of horsemen. From
among them also he drew recruits, with which he both
filled up the old, and formed some new, legions.
Encouraged by this formidable state of his forces, he
declared war against the Sabines, a nation the most
powerful of that age, Y. R. 100. BC 652. next to the
Etrurians, both in point of numbers, and of skill in arms.
Injuries had been offered on both sides, and satisfaction
demanded in vain. Tullus complained that some Roman
traders had been seized in an open fair at the temple of
Feronia. The Sabines, that prior to this, some of their
people had fled into the asylum, and were detained at
Rome. These were the reasons assigned for the war. The
Sabines, reflecting that a great part of their original
strength had been fixed at Rome by Tatius, and that the
Roman power had been also lately increased, by the
accession of the people of Alba, took care, on their part,
to look round for foreign aid. Etruria lay in their
neighbourhood, and the state of the Etrurians nearest to
them was that of the Veientians. From among these they
procured a number of volunteers, who were induced to
take part against the Romans, principally by the
resentment which they still retained on account of their
former quarrels. Several also of the populace, who were
indigent and unprovided of a settlement, were allured by
pay. From the government they received no assistance,
and the Veientians, for it was less surprising in others,
adhered to the terms of the truce stipulated with
Romulus. Vigorous preparations being made on both
sides, and it being evident, that, whichever party should
first commence hostilities, would have considerably the
advantage, Tullus seized the opportunity of making an
incursion into the lands of the Sabines. A furious battle
ensued at the wood called Malitiosa, in which the
Romans obtained the victory. For [53] this, they were
indebted not only to the firm strength of their infantry,
but chiefly to the cavalry, which had been lately
augmented: since, by a sudden charge of this body, the
ranks of the Sabines were thrown into such disorder, that
they were neither able to continue the fight, nor to make
good their retreat, without great slaughter.

XXXI. After the defeat of the Sabines, the government of

Tullus, and the Roman state in general, possessed a large
degree of power and of fame. At this time an account was
brought to the king and the senate that a shower of
stones had fallen on the Alban mount. This appearing
scarcely credible, and some persons being sent to
examine into the prodigy, there fell from the air in their
sight, a vast quantity of stones, like a storm of hail. They
imagined also that they heard a loud voice from the grove
on the summit of the hill, ordering, that the Albans
should perform religious rites according to the practice of
their native country. These the Albans had entirely
neglected, as if, with their country they had also
abandoned its deities, and had adopted the Roman
practice, or perhaps, incensed against fortune, had
renounced the worship of the gods. On account of the
same prodigy the Romans also instituted for themselves,
by order of government, a festival of nine days; either in
obedience to a voice from heaven, uttered on the Alban
mount, for that likewise is mentioned, or by direction of
the aruspices. Be this as it may, it is certain, that,
whenever an account was received of a similar
phenomenon, a festival for nine days was celebrated. In a
short time after, the country was afflicted with a
pestilence; and though this necessarily rendered men
averse to military service, yet the king, in himself fond of
war, and persuaded that young men enjoyed better health
while employed abroad, than when loitering at home,
gave them no rest from arms, until he was seized by a
tedious disorder. Then, together with the strength of his
body, the fierceness of his spirit was reduced to such a
degree, [54] that he, who, lately, thought nothing less
becoming a king, than to busy his thoughts in matters of
religion, became, at once, a slave to every kind of
superstition, in cases either of great or of trifling import,
and even filled the minds of the people also with
superstitious notions. The generality, comparing the
present state of their affaris with that which they had
enjoyed under Numa, became possessed of an opinion,
that the only prospect left them, of being relieved from
the sickness, was, in obtaining pardon and favour from
the gods. It is said, that the king himself, turning over the
commentaries of Numa, and discovering therein that
certain sacrifices, of a secret and solemn nature, had been
performed to Jupiter Elicius, shut himself up, and set
about the performance of this solemnity; but, not having
undertaken, or conducted, the rites in due form, he not
only failed of obtaining any notification from the gods,
but, through the resentment of Jupiter, for being
addressed in an improper manner, was struck with
lightning, and reduced to ashes, together with his house.
Tullus reigned thirty-two years, highly renowned for his
military achievements.

Y. R. 114. BC 638. XXXII. On the death of Tullus, the

direction of affairs according to the mode adopted from
the beginning, fell into the hands of the senate; they
nominated an interrex, who presided at the election,
when the people created Ancus Marcius king, and the
senate approved of their choice. Ancus Marcius was the
grandson of Numa Pompilius, by his daughter. As soon as
he was in possession of the throne, reflecting on the glory
which his grandfather had acquired, and considering that
the late reign, though highly honourable in other
respects, yet, in one particular, had been very deficient,
the affairs of religion having been either quite neglected,
or improperly managed, he judged it to be a matter of the
utmost consequence, to provide that the public worship,
should be performed in the manner instituted by Numa,
and ordered the pontiff to make a transcript of every
particular [55] rite, from the commentaries of that king,
on white tables, and to expose it to the view of the people.
From these proceedings, not only his subjects, whose
wishes tended to peace, but the neighbouring states also,
conceived hopes that the king would conform himself to
the manners and institutions of his grandfather. In
consequence of which, the Latines, with whom a treaty
had been concluded in the reign of Tullus, assumed new
courage, and made an incursion into the Roman
territories; and, when the Romans demanded
satisfaction, returned a haughty answer, imagining the
Roman king so averse to action, that he would spend his
reign among the chapels and altars. The genius of Ancus
was of a middle kind, partaking both of that of Numa and
of Romulus. He was sensible, not only that peace had
been more necessary in the reign of his grandfather, to a
people who were but lately incorporated and still
uncivilized, but also, that the tranquillity, which had
obtained at that time, could not now be preserved,
without a tame submission to injuries; that they were
making trial of his patience, and would soon come to
despise it; in short, that the times required a king like.
Tullus, rather than one like Numa. However, being
desirous, that, as Numa had instituted the religious rites
to be observed in time of peace, so the ceremonies, to be
observed in war, should have himself for their founder,
and that wars should not only be waged, but be
proclaimed likewise, according to a certain established
mode, he borrowed from the ancient race of the
quicol, that form of demanding satisfaction which is
still used by the heralds. The ambassador, when he comes
to the frontiers of the state, from whom satisfaction is
demanded, having his head covered with a fillet of wool,
says, O Jupiter, hear me! hear, ye frontiers, (naming
the state to which they belong) let justice hear; I am a
public messenger of the Roman people. I come, an
ambassador duly authorised, according to the forms of
justice and religion; let my words therefore meet with
credit. He then makes [56] his demands, and afterwards
appeals to Jupiter: If I demand that those persons, and
those effects, should be given up to me, the messenger of
the Roman people, contrary to justice and the law of
nations, then suffer me not to enjoy my native country.
These words he repeats when he passes over the
boundaries; the same, to the first person that he meets,
again, when he enters the gate; and lastly, when he enters
the Forum, only making the necessary change of a few
words, in the form of the declaration and of the oath. If
the persons whom he demands are not given up, then, on
on the expiration of thirty three days, that being the
number enjoined by the rule, he declares war in this
manner: O Jupiter, hear me! and thou, Juno, Quirinus,
and all ye gods of heaven, and ye of the earth, and ye of
the infernal regions, hear, I call you to witness, that that
people, naming them, whoever they are, are unjust, and
do not perform what equity requires. But concerning
those affairs we will consult the elders in our own
country, by what means we may obtain our right. After
this, the messenger returned to Rome, in order that the
opinion of the government might be taken. The king
immediately consulted the senate, nearly in these words:
Concerning those matters, controversies, and arguments
which were agitated between the Pater Patratus of the
Roman people, the Quirites, and the Pater Patratus of the
ancient Latines, and the ancient Latine people, which
matters ought to have been granted, performed, and
discharged; but which they have neither granted,
performed, nor discharged, declare, said he, to the
person whose vote he first asked, what is your opinion.
The other then said, I am of opinion, that the
performance of them ought to be exacted in just and
regular war, wherefore I consent to and vote for it. The
rest were then asked in order, and the majority of those
present being of the same opinion, a vote passed for war.
It was a customary practice for the herald to carry a spear
pointed with steel, or burnt at the point and dipped in
blood, [57] to the frontiers, and there, in the presence of
at least three grown-up persons, to say, Forasmuch as
the states of the ancient Latines, and the ancient Latine
people, have acted against and behaved unjustly towards
the Roman people the Quirites, forasmuch as the Roman
people the Quirites have ordered that there should be war
with the ancient Latines, and the senate of the Roman
people the Quirites have given their opinion, consented,
and voted that war should be made with the ancient
Latines; therefore I, and the Roman people, do declare
and make war against the states of the ancient Latines,
and the ancient Latine people; and saying this, he threw
the spear within their boundaries. In this manner was
satisfaction demanded from the Latines, at that time, and
war declared; succeeding generations adopted the same
method.

XXXIII. Ancus, having committed the care of religious

affairs to the flamens and other priests, assembled a new
army, set out to the war, and took Politorium, a city of the
Latines, by storm. Then, pursuing the practice of former
kings, who had augmented the power of the Roman state,
by receiving enemies into the number of their citizens, he
removed the whole multitude to Rome; and, as the
original Romans entirely occupied the ground round the
Palatium, the Sabines the Capitol with the citadel, and
the Albans the Clian Mount, the Aventine was assigned
to this body of new citizens; and in a little time after, on
the reduction of Tellen and Ficana, an additional
number of inhabitants were settled in the same place.
Politorium was soon after attacked, a second time, by the
Roman forces, the ancient Latines having taken
possession of it, when left without inhabitants; and this
induced the Romans to demolish that city, that it might
not again serve as a receptacle for the enemy. At length,
the whole force of the Latine war was collected aboat
Medullia, and the contest was carried on there with
various success: for the city was not only
well [58] defended by works, and secured by a strong
garrison, but the army of the Latines, having pitched
their camp in the open country, fought the Romans
several times in close engagement. At last, Ancus, making
a vigorous effort with all his force, first defeated them in
the field, and then made himself master of the city, from
whence he returned, with immense booty, to Rome. On
this occasion too, many thousands of the Latines, being
admitted into the number of citizens, had ground allotted
to them near the temple of Murcia, in order to unite the
Aventine to the Palatine hill. The Janiculum also was
taken in, not for want of room, but to prevent its serving,
at any time, as a place of strength to an enemy; and it was
determined that this should be joined to the city, not only
by a wall, but likewise, for the convenience of passage, by
a wooden bridge, which was then first built over the
Tiber. The Quiritian trench also, no inconsiderable
defence to those parts, which, from their low situation,
are of easy access, is a work of king Ancus. In
consequence of these vast accessions to the state, and the
numbers of people becoming so very large, many,
disregarding the distinctions between right and wrong,
committed various crimes, and escaped discovery. In
order to suppress by terror the boldness which the
vicious assumed from hence, and which gained ground
continually, a prison was built in the middle of the city,
adjoining the Forum: and not only the city, but the
territory also and boundaries of the state, were extended
by this king. The Msian forset was taken away from the
Veientians, the Roman dominion extended as far as the
sea, and the city of Ostia built at the mouth of the Tiber,
near which, salt-pits were formed; and in consequence of
the glorious success obtained in war, the temple of
Jupiter Feretrius was enlarged.

Y. R. 121. BC 631. XXXIV. During the reign of Ancus, a

person named Lucumo, of an enterprising spirit, and
possessed of great wealth, came and settled at Rome, led
principally [59] by ambition, and hopes of attaining
higher honours than he could expect at Tarquinii, where
also he was considered as an alien. He was the son of
Demaratus a Corinthian, who, having left his native
country, in consequence of some intestine commotions,
happened to fix his residence at Tarquinii, and marrying
there, had two sons. Their names were Lucumo and
Aruns. Lucumo survived his father, and inherited all his
property. Aruns died before the father, leaving a wife
pregnant. The father did not long survive his son, and not
knowing that his daughter-in-law was with child, he died,
without taking any notice of a grandson in his will, so
that the boy, who was born after his grandfathers
decease, not being entitled to any share of his property,
was called, from the poverty of his situation, Egerius.
Lucumo, on the other hand, becoming sole heir, was, by
his riches, inspired with elevated notions; and these were
much increased by his marriage with Tanaquil, a woman
of the highest distinction, who could not endure, with
patience, that the rank of the man whom she had
married, should remain inferior to that of the family
which gave her birth. As the Etrurians looked with
contempt on Lucumo, the descendant of a foreign exile,
she could not support the indignity, but, disregarding her
natural attachment to her country, in comparison with
the pleasure of seeing her husband raised to an
honourable rank, formed the design of removing from
Tarquinii. Rome appeared best suited to her purpose. In
a new state, where all nobility was of late date, and
acquired by merit, she thought there would be room for a
man of spirit and industry. She considered that Tatius, a
Sabine, had enjoyed the throne; that Numa had been
called to the crown from Cures; and that Ancus was of a
Sabine family by his father, and could show only the
single image of Numa to entitle him to nobility. It was not
difficult to persuade her husband, who was ambitious of
honours, and had no natural attachment to Tarquinii,
except through his mother, to enter into her
designs. [60] Wherefore, carrying their effects along with
them, they set out together for Rome. They happened to
come through the Janiculum; there, as he sat in the
chariot with his wife, an eagle, suspending herself on her
wings, stooped gently, and took off his cap, and, after
hovering for some time over the chariot, with loud
screams, replaced it in its proper position on his head, as
if she had been sent by some deity to perform that office;
and then, flying up into the air, disappeared. It is said,
that this augury was received with great joy by Tanaquil,
who was well skilled in celestial prodigies, as the
Etrurians generally are. Embracing her husband, she
desired him to cherish hopes of high and magnificent
fortune, for that such a bird, from such a quarter of the
heaven, the messenger of such a deity, portended no less;
that it had exhibited the omen on the most elevated part
of the human body, and had lifted up the ornament,
placed on the head of man, in order to replace it on the
same part, by direction of the gods. Full of these thoughts
and expectations, they advanced into the city, and having
purchased a house there, they gave out his name as
Lucius Tarquinius. The circumstance of his being a
stranger, and his wealth, soon attracted the general
notice of the Romans; nor was he wanting, on his part, in
aiding the efforts of fortune in his favour; he conciliated
the friendship of all, to the utmost of his power, by his
courteous address, hospitable entertainments, and
generous acts; at last his character reached even the
palace. Having thus procured an introduction there, he
soon improved it to such a degree, by his politeness and
dexterity in paying his court, that he was admitted to the
privileges of familiar friendship, and was consulted in all
affairs both public and private, foreign and domestic, and
having acquitted himself to satisfaction in all, was at
length, by the kings will, appointed guardian to his
children. Ancus reigned twenty-four years, equal in
renown, and in the arts both of peace and war, to any of
the former kings.

[61]

XXXV. The sons of Ancus had now nearly reached the age
of manhood; for which reason Tarquinius the more
earnestly pressed, that an assembly might be convened as
speedily as possible for the election of a king. The
proclamation for this purpose being issued, when the
time approached, he sent the youths to a distance, on a
hunting party. He is said to have afforded the first
instance of making way to the crown, by paying court to
the people, and to have made a speech, composed for the
purpose of gaining the affections of the populace; telling
them, that It was no new favour which he solicited; if
that were the case, people might indeed be displeased
and surprized; that he was not the first foreigner, but the
third, who aimed at the government of Rome:that
Tatius, from being not only a foreigner, but even an
enemy, was made king, and Numa, entirely unacquainted
with the city, and not proposing himself as a candidate,
had been, from their own choice, invited to accept the
crown:that he, as soon as he became his own master,
had removed to Rome, with his wife and all his
substance:that he had spent the most active part of his
life at Rome:that both in civil and military
employments he had learned the Roman laws and Roman
customs, under such a master as ought to be wished for,
king Ancus himself:that in duty and obedience to the
king, he had vied with all men; in kindness towards
others, with the king himself. As these assertions were
no more than the truth, the people unanimously
consented that he should be elected king. Y. R.
138. BC 614. And this was the reason that this man, of
extraordinary merit in other respects, retained, through
the whole course of his reign, the same affectation of
popularity which he had used in suing for the crown. For
the purpose of strengthening his own authority, as well as
of increasing the power of the commonwealth, he added
an hundred to the number of the senate, who afterwards
were entitled, minorum gentium, i. e. of the younger
families, and necessarily constituted [62] a party in favour
of the king, by whose kindness they had been brought
into the senate. His first war was with the Latines, from
whom he took the city Appiol by storm; and having
brought from thence a greater quantity of booty than had
been expected, from a war of so little consequence, he
exhibited games in a more expensive and splendid
manner than any of the former kings. On that occasion,
the ground was first marked out for the circus, which is
now called maximus (the principal), in which certain
divisions were set apart for the senators and knights,
where each were to build seats for themselves, which
were called Fori (benches.) They remained, during the
exhibition, on these seats, supported by pieces of timber,
twelve feet high from the ground: the games consisted of
horse-races, and the performances of wrestlers, collected
mostly from Etruria; and from that time continued to be
celebrated annually, being termed the Roman, and,
sometimes, the great games. By the same king, lots for
building were assigned to private persons, round the
Forum, where porticoes and shops were erected.

XXXVI. He intended also to have surrounded the city

with a stone wall; but a war with the Sabines interrupted
his designs. And so suddenly did this break out, that the
enemy passed the Anio, before the Roman troops could
march out to meet them, and stop their progress. This
produced a great alarm at Rome, and, in the first
engagement, the victory remained undecided, after great
slaughter on both sides. The enemy afterwards having
retired to their camp, and allowed the Romans time to
prepare for the war anew, Tarquinius, observing that the
principal defect of his army was the want of cavalry,
resolved to add other centuries to the Ramnenses,
Titienses, and Luceres, instituted by Romulus, and to
have them distinguished by his own name. As Romulus,
when he first formed this institution, had made use of
augury, Accius Nvius, a celebrated augur at
that [63] time, insisted that no alteration or addition
could be made to it, without the sanction of the birds. The
king was highly displeased at this, and, in ridicule of the
art said, as we are told, Come, you diviner, discover, by
your augury, whether what I am now thinking of can be
accomplished. The other having tried the matter
according to the rules of augury, and declared that it
could be accomplished, Well, said he, what I was
thinking of was, whether you could cut a whetstone in
two with a razor. Take these, then, and perform what
your birds portend to be practicable. On which, as the
story goes, he, without any difficulty, cut the whetstone.
There was a statue of Accius, with a fillet on his head, in
the place where the transaction happened, in the
Comitium* or place of assembly, just on the steps, at the
left hand side of the senate-house. It is also said, that the
whetstone was fixed in the same place, there to remain,
as a monument of this miracle, to posterity. This is
certain, that the respect paid to auguries, and the office of
augurs, rose so high, that, from that time forth, no
business either of war or peace was undertaken without
consulting the birds: meetings of the people, embodying
of armies, the most important concerns of the state, were
postponed when the birds did not allow them. Nor did
Tarquinius then make any change in the number of the
centuries of the knights but doubled the number in each,
so that there were one thousand eight hundred men in
the three centuries. The additional men were only
distinguished by the appellation of the younger, prefixed
to the original names of their centuries; and these at
present, for they have been since doubled, are called the
Six Centuries.

XXXVII. Having augmented this part of his army, he

came to a second engagement with the Sabines. And
here, [64] besides that the Roman army had an addition
of strength, a stratagem also was made use of, which the
enemy, with all their vigilance, could not elude. A number
of men were sent to throw a great quantity of timber,
which lay on the bank of the Anio, into the river, after
setting it on fire; and the wind being favourable, the
blazing timber, most of which was placed on rafts, being
driven against the piers, where it stuck fast, burned down
the bridge. This event not only struck terror into the
Sabines during the fight, but prevented their retreating
when they betook themselves to flight, so that great
numbers who had escaped the enemy, perished in the
river: and their arms being known at the city, as they
floated in the Tiber, gave certain assurance of the victory,
sooner almost than any, messenger could arrive. In that
battle the cavalry gained extraordinary honour. We are
told, that being posted on both wings, when the line of
their infantry which formed the centre was obliged to
give ground, they made so furious a charge on the flanks
of the enemy, that they not only checked the Sabine
legions, who were vigorously pressing the troops which
gave way, but quickly put them to the rout. The Sabines
fled precipitately toward the mountains, which but few of
them reached. The greatest part, as has been mentioned,
were driven by the cavalry into the river. Tarquinius,
judging it proper to pursue the enemy closely, before they
should recover from their dismay, as soon as he had sent
off the booty and prisoners to Rome, and burned the
spoils, collected together in a great heap, according to a
vow which he had made to Vulcan, proceeded to lead his
army forward into the Sabine territories. On the other
hand, the Sabines, though they had met with a defeat,
and had no reason to hope that they should be able to
retrieve it, yet, their circumstances not allowing time for
deliberation, advanced to meet him, with such troops as
they had hastily levied; and being routed a second time,
and reduced almost to ruin, they sued for peace.

[65]

XXXVIII. Collatia, and all the land around that city, was
taken from the Sabines, and Egerius, son to the kings
brother, was left there with a garrison. This was the
manner, as I understand, in which the people of Collatia
came under the dominion of the Romans, and this was
the form of the surrender. The king asked, Are ye
ambassadors and deputies on behalf of the people of
Collatia, to surrender yourselves, and the people of
Collatia? We are.Are the people of Collatia in their
own disposal? They are.Do ye surrender yourselves
and the people of Collatia, together with your city, lands,
waters, boundaries, temples, utensils, all property both
sacred and common, under my dominion, and that of the
Roman people? We do surrender them.Well, I
receive them. The Sabine war being thus concluded,
Tarquinius returned in triumph to Rome.* Soon after
this, he made war on the ancient Latines, during which
there happened no general engagement. By leading about
his army to the several towns, he reduced the whole
Latine race to subjection. Corniculum, old Ficulnea,
Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola, Medullia,
Nomentum, all these, which either belonged to the
ancient Latines, or had revolted to them, were taken, and
soon after peace was re-established. He then applied
himself to works of peace, with a degree of spirit, which
even exceeded the efforts that he had made in war: so
that the people enjoyed little more rest at home than they
had during the campaigns: for he set about surrounding
with a wall of stone, those parts of the city which he had
not already fortified; which work had been interrupted, at
the beginning, by the war of the Sabines. The lower parts
of the city about the Forum, and the other hollows that
lay between the hills, from whence it was difficult to
discharge the water, by reason [66] of their situation, he
drained, by means of sewers drawn on a slope down to
the Tiber. He also marked out, and laid the foundations
for inclosing, a court round the temple of Jupiter, in the
Capitol, which he had vowed during the Sabine war, his
mind already presaging the future magnificence of the
place.

XXXIX. About that time a prodigy was seen in the palace,

wonderful, both in the appearance and in the event. They
relate that, whilst a boy, whose name was Servius Tullius,
lay asleep, his head blazed with fire, in the sight of many
people; that, by the loud cries of astonishment,
occasioned by such a miraculous appearance, the king
and queen were alarmed; and that when some of the
servants brought water to extinguish it, the queen
prevented them; and, having quieted the uproar, forbad
the boy to be disturbed until he awake of his own accord.
In a short time on his awaking the flame disappeared.
Then Tanaquil, calling her husband aside, to a private
place, said to him, Do you see this boy, whom we
educate in such an humble style? Be assured that he will
hereafter prove a light to dispel a gloom which will lie
heavy on our affairs, and will be the support of our palace
in distress. Let us therefore, with every degree of
attention that we can bestow, nourish this plant, which is,
hereafter, to become the greatest ornament to our family,
and our state. From that time they treated the boy as if
he were their own child, and had him instructed in all
those liberal arts, by which the mind is qualified to
support high rank with dignity. That is easily brought to
pass which is pleasing to the gods. The youth proved to
be of a disposition truly royal, so that when Tarquinius
came to look for a son-in-law, there was not one among
the Roman youth who could be set in competition with
him, in any kind of merit; and to him Tarquinius
betrothed his daughter. This extraordinary honour
conferred on him, whatever might be the reason for it,
will not let us believe that he was born [67] of a slave, and
had himself been a slave in his childhood. I am rather
inclined to be of their opinion, who say, that, when
Corniculum was taken, the wife of Servius Tullius, the
principal man in that city, being pregnant when her
husband was slain, and being known among the rest of
the prisoners, and, on account of her high rank,
exempted from servitude by the Roman queen, was
delivered of a son at Rome, in the house of Tarquinius
Priscus; that, in consequence of such kind treatment, an
intimacy grew between the ladies, and that the boy also
being brought up in the house, from his infancy, was
highly beloved and respected; and that the circumstance
of his mother having fallen into the enemys hands, on
the taking of her native city, gave rise to the opinion of
his being born of a slave.

XL. About the thirty-eighth year of the reign of

Tarquinius, Servius Tullius stood in the highest degree of
estimation, not only with the king, but with the senate
and the commons. At this time, the two sons of Ancus,
although they had before this always considered it as the
highest indignity, that they should be expelled from the
throne of their father, by the perfidy of their guardian,
and that the sovereignty of Rome should be enjoyed by a
stranger, whose family, so far from being natives of the
city, were not even natives of Italy, yet now felt their
indignation rise to a higher pitch of violence, at the
probability that the crown was not to revert to them even
after Tarquinius, but was to continue to sink one step
after another, until it fell on the head of a slave: so that,
within the space of a little more than an hundred years
from the time when Romulus, descended from a deity,
and himself a deity, had, during his abode on earth, held
the government, a slave, the son of a slave, should now
get possession of it. They looked on it as a disgrace to the
Roman name in general, and particularly to their own
house, if, while there was male issue of king Ancus
surviving, the government of Rome should be
prostituted [68] not only to strangers, but to slaves. They
determined, therefore, to prevent this dishonour by the
sword. But resentment for the injury which they had
suffered stimulated them strongly to attack Tarquinius
himself, rather than Servius, and also the consideration
that the king, if he survived, would be able to take severer
vengeance for any murder committed than a private
person could; and that, besides, were Servius put to
death, it was to be expected that whatever other son-in-
law he might choose, would be made heir of the kingdom.
For these reasons, they formed a plot against the king
himself; for the execution of which, two of the most
undaunted of the shepherds were chosen, who, armed
with the iron tools of husbandmen, which they were used
to carry, pretended a quarrel in the porch of the palace,
and attracted, by their outrageous behaviour, the
attention of all the kings attendants: then both appealing
to the king, and their clamour having reached the palace,
they were called in and brought before him. At first they
both bawled aloud, and each furiously abused the other,
until, being rebuked by a lictor, and ordered to speak in
their turns, they desisted from railing. Then, as they had
concerted, one began to explain the affair; and while the
king, attentive to him, was turned quite to that side, the
other, raising up his axe, struck it into his head, and
leaving the weapon in the wound they both rushed out of
the house.
XLI. Whilst the persons present raised up Tarquinius
who scarcely retained any signs of life, the lictors seized
the assassins, who were endeavouring to escape. An
uproar immediately ensued, and the people ran together
in crowds, surprised, and eager to be informed of what
had happened. Tanaquil, during this tumult, turned out
every person from the palace, and ordered the doors to be
shut, and at the same time appeared to be very busy in
procuring such things as were necessary for the dressing
of the wound, as if there were reason to hope; nor did she
neglect to provide other means of [69] safety, in case her
hopes should fail. Sending instantly for Servius, and
showing him her husband just expiring, she laid hold of
his righthand, besought him that he would not suffer the
death of his father-in-law to pass unrevenged, nor his
mother-in-law to be exposed to the insults of their
enemies. Servius, said she, if you act as a man, the
kingdom is yours and not theirs, who, by the hands of
others, have perpetrated the basest of crimes. Call forth
your best exertions, and follow the guidance of the gods,
who formerly, by the divine fire which they spread
around your head, gave an evident indication that it
would afterwards be crowned with glory. Now let that
heavenly flame rouse you. Now awake to real glory. We,
though foreigners, have reigned before you. Consider
your present situation, not of what family you are sprung.
If the suddenness of this event deprives you of the power
of forming plans of your own, then follow mine. When
the clamour and violence of the populace could hardly be
withstood, Tanaquil addressed them from the upper part
of the palace, through the windows facing the new street;
for the king resided near the temple of Jupiter Stator. She
desired them not to be disheartened: told them, that
the king had been stunned by a sudden blow; that the
weapon had not sunk deep into his body; that he had
come to himself again; that when the blood was wiped
off, the wound had been examined, and all appearances
were favourable; that she hoped he might be able to show
himself to them again in a few days; and that, in the
mean time, he commanded the people to obey the orders
of Servius Tullius; that he would administer justice, and
supply the kings place in other departments. Servius
came forth in the robe of state, attended by the lictors,
and seating himself on the kings throne, adjudged some
causes, and, concerning others, pretended that he would
consult the king. Thus, though Tarquinius had already
expired, his death was concealed for several days; while
Servius, under the appearance of supplying [70] the place
of another, strengthened his own interest. Then, at
length, the truth being made public, and loud
lamentations raised in the palace, Servius, supported by a
strong guard, with the approbation of the senate, took
possession of the kingdom, being the first who attained
the sovereignty without the orders of the people. The
sons of Ancus, as soon as they found that the instruments
of their villainy were seized; Y. R. 176. BC 576. and
understood that the king was alive, and, that the interest
of Servius was so strong, had gone into exile to Suessa
Pometia.

XLII. And now Servius laboured to confirm his authority,

not only by schemes of a public, but by others of a private
nature. And lest the sons of Tarquinius should entertain
the same sentiments of resentment against him, which
had animated the sons of Ancus against Tarquinius, he
joined his two daughters in marriage to the young
princes, the Tarquinii, Lucius and Aruns. But by no
human devices could he break through the unalterable
decrees of fate, or prevent envy of the sovereign power
from raising discord and animosity, even among those of
his own family. Very seasonably for preserving stability to
the present establishment, war was undertaken against
the Veientians, the truce with them having expired, and
against the other Etrurians. In that war, both the valour
and the good fortune of Tullius were very conspicuous:
and, after vanquishing a powerful army of the enemy, he
returned to Rome, no longer considering his authority as
precarious, whether it were to depend on the disposition
of the patricians towards himself, or on that of the
commons. He then entered on an improvement in civil
polity of the utmost importance, intending, that, as Numa
had been the founder of such institutions as related to the
worship of the gods, so posterity should celebrate
Servius, as the author of every distinction between the
members of the state; and of that subordination of ranks,
by means of which, the limits between the several degrees
of dignity and [71] fortune are exactly ascertained. For he
instituted the Census, an ordinance of the most salutary
consequence, in an empire that was to rise to such a pitch
of greatness; Y. R. 197. BC 555. according to which the
several services requisite in war and peace were to be
discharged, not by every person indiscriminately, as
formerly, but according to the proportion of their several
properties. He then, according to the Census, formed the
plan of the Classes and Centuries, and the arrangement
which subsists at present, calculated to preserve
regularity and propriety in all transactions either of peace
or war.
XLIII. Of those who possessed a hundred
thousand asses,* or more, he formed eighty Centuries,
forty elder, and the same number of younger. The
collective body of these was denominated the first class.
The business of the elder was to guard the city; that of the
younger, to carry on war abroad. The arms which they
were ordered to provide, were a helmet, shield, greaves,
coat of mail, all of brassthese for the defence of the
body: their weapons of offence were a spear and a sword.
To this class were added two Centuries of artificers, who
were to serve without arms; the service allotted to them
was to attend the machines in war. The fortune fixed for
the second class, was from a hundred down to seventy-
five thousand asses: of these, elder and younger, were
formed twenty centuries: the arms for these were, a
buckler, instead of a shield, and all the rest, except the
coat of mail, the same with the former. The fortune of the
third class he fixed at fifty thousand asses: the number
of Centuries was the same, and these regulated by the
same distinctions of age; nor was any difference made in
their arms, only the greaves were taken from them. In the
fourth [72] class the fortune was twenty-five
thousand asses:* the same number of Centuries were
formed: their arms were different; they were allowed
none but a spear and a buckler. The fifth class was larger;
it contained thirty Centuries: these carried slings and
stones, which they were to throw. Among these, the
extraordinaries, trumpeters, and fifers, were distributed
into three Centuries. This class was rated at eleven
thousand asses. The rest of the populace were
comprehended under an estimate lower than this, and of
them was formed one Century, exempted from military
service. The foot forces being thus distinguished and
armed, he enrolled twelve Centuries of horsemen from
among the principal persons of the state. He formed
likewise six other Centuries, out of the three instituted by
Romulus, preserving still the original names under which
they had been incorporated. Ten thousand asses were
given these out of the public funds, to purchase horses;
and certain widows were appointed, who were to pay
them annually two thousand asses each, towards the
maintenance of their horses. In all these instances, the
burthen was taken off from the poor, and laid on the rich.
To make the latter some amends, additional honours
were conferred on them. For henceforth suffrages were
given, not according to the mode established by Romulus,
and retained by the other kings, man by man
promiscuously, with equal weight, and equal privileges;
but degrees of precedency were established in such a
manner, that while no one appeared to be excluded from
giving his suffrage, still the whole power was lodged in
the chiefs of the state: the knights being first called, then
the eighty Centuries of the higher class. If there was a
difference of opinion among these, which seldom
happened, then the Centuries of the second class were to
be called; and scarcely ever did an instance occur of their
descending [73] beyond this, so as to come to the lowest
classes. Nor ought it to be wondered at, that the
arrangement, which subsists at present, after the tribes
had been increased to thirty-five, and the number of
them almost doubled, does not agree in the number of
Centuries younger and elder, with the amount of those
instituted by Servius Tullius: for the city being laid out
into four divisions, according to the several quarters and
hills (the parts that were inhabited,) these were what he
called Tribes, I suppose from the tribute; for the mode of
the peoples paying their shares of this, in an equal
proportion to their rated property, took its rise also from
him: nor had these tribes any relation to the number and
distribution of the Centuries.

XLIV. When the Census was completed, which he had

expedited by the terrors of a law passed concerning such
as should neglect to attend it, with denunciations of
confinement and death, he issued a proclamation, that all
citizens of Rome, horse and foot, should assemble in the
Campus Martius at the dawn of day, each in his
respective Century; and having there drawn up the whole
army in order, he performed the lustration or purification
of it, by the ceremonies and sacrifices called
Suovetaurilia.* This was called the closing of the lustrum,
because it was the conclusion of the Census. In that
survey eighty thousand citizens are said to have been
rated. Fabius Pictor, the most ancient of our writers,
adds, that this was the number of those who were able to
bear arms. To accommodate so great a multitude, it was
found necessary to enlarge the city in proportion: he
added to it, therefore, two hills, the Quirinal and Viminal,
and immediately adjoining the latter extended the limits
of the Esquili, and there fixed his own residence, in
order to bring the place into repute. He surrounded the
city with a rampart, [74] trenches, and a wall, and thus
extended the Pomrium. Those who consider merely the
etymology of the word, explain Pomrium, as denoting a
space on the outside of the wall, Postmrium: but it is
rather a space on each side of the wall, which the
Etrurians, formerly, on the founding of cities,
consecrated with the ceremonies used by augurs, in the
direction wherein they intended the wall should run, of a
certain breadth on both sides of it; with the intention
that, on the inside, no buildings should be erected close
to the walls, though now they are, in many places, joined
to them; and also that, on the outside, a certain space of
ground should lie open and unoccupied. This space,
which it was unlawful either to inhabit or to till, the
Romans called Pomrium, not because it was on the
outside of the wall, any more than because the wall was
on the outside of it: and always, on occasion of an
addition being made to the city, as far as they intended
that the walls should advance outward, so far these
sacred limits were extended.

XLV. Having increased the power of the state by this

enlargement of the city, and made every internal
regulation that appeared best adapted to the exigences
both of war and peace, the king, who wished that the
acquisition of power should not always depend on the
mere force of arms, laid a scheme for extending his
dominion, by the wisdom of his counsels, and raising, at
the same time, a conspicuous ornament to the city. The
temple of Diana at Ephesus was at that time universally
celebrated, and it was commonly believed, that it had
been built by a general contribution from the several
states of Asia: Servius, in conversation with the chief men
of the Latines, with whom he had taken pains to form
connections of hospitality and friendship, both in his
public and private capacity, used frequently in the
strongest terms, to recommend concord and a social
union between their several gods; and by often repeating
the same sentiments, prevailed so far at last, that the
Latine states agreed [75] to build, in conjunction with the
Roman people, a temple to Diana at Rome. This was an
acknowledgment that Rome was the sovereign head of
both nations, a point which had been so often disputed in
arms. But though the Latines, finding all their efforts in
war ineffectual, seemed now to have thrown aside all
concern with regard to that matter, yet among the
Sabines one particular person did not neglect an
opportunity, which seemed to be thrown in his way by
fortune, of recovering independence, by the execution of
a scheme which he planned himself. It is related, that this
person, the head of a family, had a heifer calf of
extraordinary size and beauty produced by one of his
cows: her horns, which remained for many ages fixed in
the porch of the temple of Diana, were a monument of
this wonder. The matter was considered in the light of a
prodigy, as it deserved, and the soothsayers declared,
that sovereignty would reside in that state whose subject
should sacrifice this heifer to Diana; and this prediction
had reached the ears of the priest who had the charge of
Dianas temple. The Sabine, as soon as he had fixed on a
proper day for the sacrifice, drove the heifer to Rome,
brought her to the temple of Diana, and placed her before
the altar; the priest, suspecting the truth, from the size of
the victim, of which he had heard so much, and
remembering the prediction, addresses the Sabine thus:
Stranger, what are you preparing to do? To perform
sacrifice to Diana without the necessary purification?
Why do you not first dip yourself in a running stream?
The Tiber flows along in the bottom of that vale. The
stranger, struck with the scruple, and anxious to have
every thing performed in due order, that the event might
answer to the prodigy, went down from the temple to the
Tiber. In the mean time the Roman sacrificed the heifer
to Diana, a circumstance which gave great pleasure to the
king, and to the whole state.

XLVI. Servius, though long possession had now rendered

his title to the crown indisputable, yet having heard
that [76] young Tarquinius sometimes threw out
insinuations, that he held the government without the
order of the people, first ingratiated himself with the
commons, by making a general distribution among them
of the lands taken from the enemy; and then ventured to
propose the question to he people, whether they chose
and ordered that he should be king? Whereupon he was
declared king, with greater unanimity than had ever
before appeared on any similar occasion. But the event
did not lessen the hopes, which Tarquinius had
conceived, of being able to seat himself on the throne: on
the contrary, having observed that the proceedings,
relative to the lands for the commons, were highly
disagreeable to the patricians, he embraced, the more
eagerly, the opportunity which this afforded him, of
arraigning the conduct of Servius before them, and of
increasing his own influence in the senate. This young
man was naturally of a fiery temper, and his restless
spirit was continually stimulated at home by his wife
Tullia: and the palace at Rome was destined to exhibit a
scene of tragical villainy; so that, disgusted at kings, the
people might become more ripe for the asserting of their
liberty, and that a reign, founded in wickedness, should
prove the last. Whether this Lucius Tarquinius was the
son or grandson of Tarquinius Priscus, is not clear;
following, however, the authority of the greater number, I
have chosen to call him his son. He had a brother Aruns
Tarquinius, a youth of a mild disposition: to these two, as
has already been mentioned, were married the two
Tullias, the kings daughters, who were also of widely
different tempers. It happened, luckily, that the two
violent dispositions were not united in wedlock, owing, I
presume, to the good fortune of the Roman people, that
the reign of Servius being lengthened, the manners of the
people might be fully formed. The haughty Tullia was
highly chagrined, at finding in her husband no principle
either of ambition or enterprise; she turned, therefore,
her whole regard towards the other Tarquinius; [77] him
she admired, him she called a man, and a true
descendant of the royal blood; her sister she despised,
who, having got a man for her husband, showed nothing
of that spirit of enterprise which became
a woman. Similarity of disposition quickly produced an
intimacy between them, as is generally the case; evil is
fittest to consort with its like. But it was the woman who
set on foot the scene of universal confusion which
followed. In the many private conversations which she
used to hold with her sisters husband, she refrained not
from throwing out the most violent reproaches against
her own, to his brother, and against her sister, to that
sisters husband; affirming, that it were better that both
he and she were unmarried, than to be so unsuitably
matched; that, through the stupidity of others, they were
condemned to a life of inactivity. If the gods had granted
her such a husband, as she deserved, quickly would be
seen in her own house, that crown which was now upon
her fathers head. She soon inspired the young man with
notions as desperate as her own. Aruns Tarquinius, and
the younger Tullia, dying almost immediately after, and
thus leaving room in their families for new nuptials, they
were joined in matrimony, Servius rather not
obstructing, than approving of, the match.

XLVII. From that time forward, Tullius, now in an

advanced age, found himself daily exposed to new
disquietudes, and his authority to new dangers; for Tullia
now prepared to proceed from one wickedness to
another, and never ceased, either night or day, teasing
her husband not to let the parricides which they had
committed, pass without effect. She wanted not, she
said, a person, who should give her the name of a wife,
or with whom she might, in silence, submit to bondage;
what she desired was, one who would consider himself as
worthy of the throne; who would remember that he was
the son of Tarquinius Priscus; who would prefer the
present possession, to distant hopes, of a [78] kingdom. If
you be such a man as I took you for, when I married you,
I address you by the titles of my husband, and my king: if
not, my condition is now changed so far for the worse,
that in you, together with poverty of spirit, I find villainy
united. Why not proceed in the business? You are not
obliged to set out from Corinth or Tarquinii, as your
father was, to struggle for foreign kingdoms. The gods of
your family, and those of your native country, and your
fathers image, and the royal palace in which you reside,
and the royal throne in that palace, and the name of
Tarquinius, these constitute you, and call you king. Or, if
you have not a spirit daring enough for such an
enterprise, why deceive the nation? Why assume the
figure of a youth of royal blood? Get you hence to
Tarquinii, or to Corinth. Sink back again into the original
obscurity of your race; fitter to be compared with your
brother, than with your father. With these, and other
such reproaches and incentives, she spurred on the young
man; nor could she herself, with any degree of patience,
endure the reflection, that Tanaquil, a foreign woman,
had by her spirited exertions acquired such consequence,
as to be able to dispose of the kingdom twice
successively; first, to her husband, and next, to her son-
in-law; while she, sprung from royal blood, was to have
no influence in bestowing it, or taking it away.
Tarquinius, hurried on by the phrenzy infused into him
by this woman, went round among the patricians,
particularly those of the younger families, and solicited
their interest; put them in mind of his fathers kindness
to them, and demanded a requital of it; enticed the young
men by presents; and endeavoured to increase his
consequence on every occasion, both by magnificent
promises on his part, and by heavy charges of misconduct
against the king. At length, judging the season ripe for
the accomplishment of his purpose, he rushed suddenly
into the Forum, attended by a band of armed men, and,
while all were struck motionless with terror, proceeded
through it, [79] and then seating himself on the kings
throne in the senate-house, ordered the senators to be
summoned by a herald, to attend their king Tarquinius.
They assembled instantly, some having been prepared
before for the occasion, others dreading ill consequences
to themselves in case they did not attend; for they were
filled with amazement at the novelty and strangeness of
the proceeding, and thought the case of Servius utterly
desperate. Then Tarquinius, beginning his invectives
with reflections on the kings immediate ancestors,
represented him as a slave, the son of a slave, who, after
the untimely death of his parent, without an interregnum
being appointed as usual, without an election being held,
had taken possession of the throne, not in consequence of
a vote of the people, or of the approbation of the senate,
but as the gift of a woman. Being thus descended, and
thus created king, ever favouring the lowest class of
people, to which he himself belonged, he had, through an
antipathy to the honourable descent of others, taken
away the lands from the chief men in the state, and
distributed them among the very meanest. All the
burthens which heretofore had been borne in common,
he had thrown on those of highest rank. He had
instituted the Census, in order that the fortunes of the
more wealthy might be more conspicuously exposed to
envy, and become a ready fund, out of which he could,
when he chose, give bribes to the most needy.

XLVIII. In the midst of this harangue, Servius, having

been alarmed by an account of the disturbance, entered,
and immediately, from the porch of the senate-house,
called out with a loud voice, What is the matter here,
Tarquinius? How dare you presume, while I am alive, to
convene the senate, or to sit on my throne? To this the
other, in a determined tone, replied, That the seat which
he occupied was the seat of his own father: that, as the
kings son, he was much better entitled to inherit the
throne than a slave; and that he (Servius) had been
suffered long enough to insult [80] his masters with
arbitrary insolence. A clamorous dispute immediately
began between the partizans of each; the people ran
together in crowds into the senate-house, and it became
evident, that the possession of the throne depended on
the issue of this contest. On this, Tarquinius, compelled
now, by necessity, to proceed to the last extremity, having
greatly the advantage in point of age and strength, caught
Servius by the middle, and carrying him out of the
senate-house, threw him from the top to the bottom of
the stairs, and then returned to keep the senators
together. The kings officers and attendants fled
immediately. He himself, being desperately hurt,
attempted, with the royal retinue, who were terrified
almost to death, to retire to his house, and had arrived at
the head of the Cyprian street, when he was slain by
some, who had been sent thither for that purpose by
Tarquinius, and had overtaken him in his flight. It is
believed, other instances of her wickedness rendering it
credible, that this was done by the advice of Tullia. It is
certain, for there is sufficient proof of the fact, that she
drove into the Forum in her chariot; and without being
abashed at such a multitude of men, called out her
husband from the senate-house, and was the first who
saluted him king. She was then ordered by him, to
withdraw from such a tumult; and when, in her return
home, she arrived at the head of the Cyprian street,
where the enclosure of Diana lately stood, as the chariot
turned to the right towards the Virbian hill, in order to
drive up to the Esquilian mount, the person who drove
the horses, struck with horror, stopped and drew in the
reins and showed his mistress the murdered Servius lying
on the ground. Her behaviour on this occasion is
represented as inhuman and shocking; and the place
bears testimony to it, being thence called the Wicked
street, where Tullia, devested of all feeling, agitated by
the furies, the avengers of her sister and husband, is said
to have driven her chariot over her fathers corpse, and to
have carried on her bloody vehicle, [81] part of the body
and the blood of that parent, with which she herself was
also sprinkled and stained, to the household gods of her
and her husbands family, through whose resentment
followed, shortly after, a train of events suited to the
iniquitous commencement of this reign. Servius Tullius
reigned forty-four years, during which his conduct was
such, that even a good and moderate successor would
have found it difficult to support a competition with him.
This circumstance also still farther enhanced his fame,
that, together with him perished all regular and legal
government. Mild and moderate as his administration
was, yet, because the government was lodged in the
hands of a single person, some authors tell us, he
intended to have resigned it, had not the wickedness of
his family broken off the designs which he meditated, for
establishing the liberty of his country.

Y. R. 220. BC 532. XLIX. Thus began the reign of Lucius

Tarquinius, who, from his subsequent behaviour,
acquired the surname of the Proud; for this unworthy
son-in-law prohibited the burial of the king, alleging that
Romulus likewise had remained unburied. The principal
senators, whom he suspected of favouring the interest of
Servius, he put to death; and soon becoming
apprehensive, that the precedent of acquiring the crown
by wicked means, might be adopted, from his own
practice, against himself, he kept an armed band about
him, for the security of his person; for he had no kind of
title to the crown, but that of force, holding it neither by
the order of the people, nor with the approbation of the
senate. And besides this, as he could place no reliance on
the affection of his subjects, he was obliged to raise, in
their fears, a fence to his authority. In order to diffuse
these the more extensively, he took entirely into his own
hands, the cognizance of capital offences, which he
determined without consulting with any person
whatever; so that he could put to death, banish, or
impose fines, not only on those whom he suspected or
disliked, but on persons, with respect [82] to whom, he
could have no other view, than that of plunder. Having,
by these means, diminished the number of the senate,
against whom his proceedings were chiefly levelled, he
determined not to fill up the vacancies; hoping that the
smallness of their number would expose that body to the
greater contempt: and that they would show the less
resentment, at their not being consulted on any business:
for he was the first of the kings who discontinued the
practice of his predecessors, of consulting the senate
upon every occasion. In the administration of public
affairs, he advised with none but his own private family.
War, peace, treaties, alliances, he of himself, with such
advisers as he chose, declared, contracted, and dissolved,
without any order, either of the people, or of the senate.
He took particular pains to attach the nation of the
Latines to his interest, availing himself of foreign aid, the
more effectually to ensure his safety at home: and he
formed with their chiefs, not only connections of
hospitality, but affinities: to Octavius Mamilius of
Tusculum he gave his daughter in marriage. Mamilius
was of the most illustrious family, by far, of any among
the Latines, being descended, if we may give credit to
fame, from Ulysses and the goddess Circe. By this match
he engaged the support of his numerous friends and
relations.

L. Tarquinius now possessed great influence among the

Latine chiefs, when he issued orders, that they should
assemble on a certain day, at the grove of Ferentina,
saying, that he wished to confer with them on some
matters of common concern. They accordingly met in
great numbers, at the dawn of day: Tarquinius himself
observed indeed the day, but did not come until a little
before sun-set. Meanwhile, many topics were discussed,
and various opinions uttered in the assembly. Turnus
Herdonius, of Aricia, inveighed violently against
Tarquinius, for not attending. It was no wonder, he
said, that the surname of proud had been bestowed on
him at Rome; for, at this time, they generally [83] gave
him that appellation, though only in private discourse.
Could any instance be given of greater pride, than his
trifling thus with the whole nation of the Latines? After
their chiefs had been brought together by his summons,
at so great a distance from home, the very person who
called the meeting did not attend. He was certainly
making trial of their patience, intending, if they
submitted to the yoke, to crush them, when they could
not resist. For who did not see plainly, that he was aiming
at sovereignty over the Latines? and if his own
countrymen had reason to be pleased at having entrusted
him with that power; or if, in reality, it had been
entrusted to him, and not forcibly seized on through
parricide, then the Latines ought also to entrust him with
it. But no: not even in that case, because he was a
foreigner. Yet, if the Romans repined at his government,
exposed as they were to murders, banishment, and
confiscations without end, what better prospect could the
Latines entertain? If they listened to him, they would
depart each to his own home, and would pay no more
regard to the day of assembly, than was shown by the
person who appointed it. Whilst this man, who was
naturally seditious and turbulent, and who had by these
means acquired some degree of power at home, was thus
haranguing the people, Tarquinius came into the
assembly. This put an end to his discourse. Every one
turned away from him to salute Tarquinius, who, being
advised by his friends to make an apology for having
come at that time of the day, when silence was made, told
them, that he had been chosen arbiter between a father
and son, and had been detained by the pains which he
was obliged to take to bring about a reconciliation; and
that, as that business had consumed the day, he would,
on the morrow, lay before them what he had to propose.
Even this, we are told, was not suffered by Turnus to pass
without notice; for he observed, that there could be no
controversy shorter than one between a father [84] and
son, which might be despatched in a few words; if the son
did not submit to his father, he should take the ill
consequences.

LI. Uttering these reflections against the Roman king, the

Arician withdrew from the assembly; and Tarquinius,
who was more incensed at his behaviour than he
appeared to be, began immediately to contrive schemes
for the destruction of Turnus, in order to strike the same
terror into the Latines, by which he had depressed the
spirits of his subjects at home. And as he could not, of his
own mere authority, openly put him to death, he effected,
by a false accusation, the ruin of an innocent man. By
means of some Aricians, of the opposite faction, he
bribed a servant of Turnus to suffer a large quantity of
swords to be privately conveyed into his lodging: this part
of his scheme being completed, during the course of that
same night, Tarquinius, a little before day, called together
about him the chiefs of the Latines, as if he had been
alarmed by some extraordinary occurrence, and told
them, that his delay yesterday, as if it were the effect of
the particular care of the gods, had been the means of
preserving him and them from destruction:that he had
received information, that a plan had been laid by Turnus
to murder him and the Latine chiefs, in order that he
might enjoy alone the government of the Latines:that
he intended to have fallen upon them yesterday, in the
assembly, but the business was deferred, because the
person who called the meeting, and who was his principal
object, was not there; this was the reason of all that abuse
thrown on him for being absent; because, by that
absence, he had frustrated his design:that he had no
doubt, but, if the intelligence was true, he would, early
next morning, when the assembly met, come thither in
arms, and attended by an armed force. He was told, that
a vast number of swords had been carried to his house;
whether that were false or not, might be instantly known,
and he requested that they [85] would go with him
directly to Turnus. They saw some grounds of suspicion
in the violent temper of Turnus; his discourse the day
before, and the delay of Tarquinius; and it seemed not
impossible that the massacre might have been deferred
on that account. They went, therefore, with minds
inclined to believe the report, but at the same time
determined, unless the swords were discovered, to
consider all the rest as groundless. When they came to
the spot, guards were placed round Turnus, who was
roused from sleep; and the servants, who, out of affection
to their master, prepared to use force, being secured, the
swords, which had been concealed, were drawn out from
every part of the lodging, and then the affair appeared
manifest. Turnus was loaded with chains, and a great
tumult ensuing, an assembly of the Latines was
immediately summoned. There, on the swords being
placed in the midst of them, to such a pitch of fury were
they raised, that, not allowing him to make a defence, and
using an extraordinary method of execution, they threw
him into the reservoir of the water of Ferentina, where a
hurdle being placed over him, and a heap of stones cast
on that, he was drowned.

LII. Tarquinius, having then re-assembled the Latines,

and highly commended them, for having inflicted on
Turnus, as one convicted of parricide, the punishment
which he had merited by his attempt to overturn the
government, spoke to this purpose: That he might,
without doubt, take upon himself to act, in virtue of a
right long since established, because all the Latines,
deriving their origin from Alba, were comprehended in
that treaty, by which, under Tullus, the whole Alban
nation, together with their colonies, were subjected to the
dominion of the Romans. However, for the sake of the
general advantage of all parties, he rather wished, that
that treaty should be renewed, and that the Latines
should, as partners, enjoy the good fortune of the Roman
people, than live always under the apprehension
or [86] endurance of the demolition of their cities, and the
devastation of their lands, to which they had, during the
reign of Ancus, first, and afterwards, in that of his father,
been continually exposed. He found no difficulty in
persuading the Latines, though in that treaty the
advantage lay on the side of the Romans: they saw, too,
that the chiefs of the Latine nation, in their behaviour
and sentiments, concurred with the king; and Turnus was
a recent instance of the danger to be apprehended by any
one who should attempt opposition. The treaty was
therefore renewed, and orders were given to the young
men of the Latines, that they should on a certain day,
according to the treaty, attend in a body under arms, at
the grove of Ferentina. And when, in obedience to the
edict of the Roman king, they had assembled there, from
all the several states, in order that they should not have a
general of their own, nor a separate command, or their
own colours, he mixed the Romans and Latines together
in companies, by dividing every company into two parts,
and then, forming two of these divisions, one of each
nation, into one company, and having by this means
doubled the number of the companies, he appointed
centurions to command them.

LIII. Iniquitous as he was, in his conduct as king, his

behaviour, at the head of an army, was not equally
reprehensible: in that capacity, indeed, he would have
equalled his predecessors, had not his degeneracy, in
other particulars, detracted from the merit which, in that
line, he possessed. He began the war against the
Volscians, which lasted for more than two hundred years
after his death, and took Suessa Pometia from them by
storm; from the sale of the plunder of which place, having
amassed silver and gold to the value of forty talents,* he
conceived a design of erecing a temple to Jupiter, of such
grandeur as should be worthy of the king of gods and
men, worthy of the Roman empire, [87] and of the dignity
of the place itself; for the building of this temple, he set
apart the money which arose from the spoils. He was
soon after engaged in a war, which gave him employment
longer than he expected, during which, having in vain
attempted, by storm, to make himself master of Gabii, a
town in his neighbourhood, and seeing no reason to hope
for success from a blockade, after he had been repulsed
from the walls, he at length resolved to pursue the attack,
not in a method becoming a Roman, but by fraud and
stratagem. Accordingly, whilst he pretended to have laid
aside all thoughts of proceeding in the war, and to have
his attention entirely engaged in laying the foundation of
the temple, and the construction of other works in the
city, his son Sextus, the youngest of three, pursuant to a
plan concerted, fled as a deserter to Gabii, making
grievous complaints of his fathers intolerable severity
towards him, saying, that, he now made his own family
feel the effects of his pride, which hitherto had fallen only
on strangers, and was uneasy at seeing a number even of
his own children about him, so that he intended to cause
the same desolation in his own house, which he had
already caused in the senate house, and not to suffer any
of his offspring, or any heir of the kingdom, to remain:
that he himself had, with difficulty, made his escape from
the sword of his father, and could in no place consider
himself safe, except among the foes of Lucius Tarquinius.
That the war against them, which was pretended to be
laid aside, was not at an end; but, on the first
opportunity, when he found them off their guard, he
would certainly attack them. For his part, if, among them,
suppliants could find no refuge, he would traverse every
part of Latium, and if rejected there, would apply to the
Volscians, the quans, and the Hernicians, nor rest,
until he found some who were disposed to afford
protection to children, from the cruel and unnatural
severity of fathers. Perhaps, too, he should meet with
those who might be inspired with [88] ardour to take
arms, and wage war, against the proudest of kings, and
the most overbearing of nations. The Gabians,
supposing that, if they did not show some regard to him,
he would go from them, full of resentment, to some other
place, received him with every mark of kindness; told
him, he ought not to be surprised, that his fathers
behaviour towards his children now, was no better than
what he had formerly shown towards his subjects and
allies; that if other objects could not be found, he would
at last vent his rage on himself: assured him, that his
coming was very acceptable to them, and that they
expected, in a short time, to see the seat of war
transferred, with his assistance, from the gates of Gabii,
to the walls of Rome.

LIV. He was immediately admitted to a share in their

public councils; and on these occasions, while he
declared, that in other affairs, he would be guided by the
opinion of the Gabian elders, who had better knowledge
of those matters than he could have, he took every
opportunity of recommending war, in respect of which he
assumed to himself a superior degree of judgment,
because he was well acquainted with the resources of
both nations, and knew how utterly detestable to his
subjects the kings pride had become, which even his own
children could not endure. Whilst he thus, by degrees,
worked up the minds of the Gabian chiefs to a renewal of
the war, he used to go out himself, with the boldest of the
youth, on expeditions and plundering parties; and, as all
his words and actions were framed to the purpose of
carrying on the deceit, their ill-grounded confidence in
him increased to such a degree, that at length he was
chosen commander-in-chief of the army. In this capacity,
he fought several slight engagements with the Romans, in
which he generally got the advantage: so that the
Gabians, from the highest to the lowest, began to
consider Sextus Tarquinius as a leader sent to them by
the favour of the gods. Among the soldiers particularly,
from his readiness to expose himself [89] to danger and
fatigue, and likewise from the liberal distribution of the
spoil, he was so highly beloved, that Tarquinius was not
more absolute at Rome, than Sextus was at Gabii.
Finding himself, therefore, secure of a support sufficient
to carry him through any enterprise, he sent one of his
attendants to his father at Rome, to inquire in what
manner he would choose that he should proceed, since
the gods had granted to him the entire disposal of every
thing at Gabii: to this messenger, no answer was given in
words, I suppose because he did not seem fit to be
trusted. The king, seemingly employed in deep
deliberation, walked out into a garden adjoining the
palace, followed by the messenger, and walking there in
silence, as we are told, struck off with his cane the heads
of the tallest poppies. The messenger, weary of repeating
the question and waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii
without having accomplished his business, as he thought;
told what he himself had said, and what he had seen; that
the king, either through anger or dislike, or the pride
natural to his disposition, had not uttered a word. Sextus,
readily comprehending his fathers meaning, and what
conduct he recommended by those silent intimations, cut
off all the principal men of the state; some by
prosecutions before the people; others, who, being
generally odious, could be attacked with greater safety, he
put to death of his own authority; many were executed
openly; several, against whom accusations would appear
less plausible, were privately murdered; some who chose
to fly were not prevented, others were forced into
banishment; and the effects of the absentees, as well as of
those who had suffered death, were distributed in
largesses among the people: by these means, all sense of
the public calamity was so entirely drowned in the sweets
of bribery, plunder, and private profit, that, at length, the
Gabian state, stripped of its counsellors and supporters,
was delivered over, without a struggle, into the hands of
the Roman king.

[90]

LV. Tarquinius, having thus acquired possession of Gabii,

concluded a peace with the nation of the quans,
renewed the treaty with the Etrurians, and then turned
his thoughts to the internal business of the city: among
which, the object of his principal concern was to leave the
temple of Jupiter on the Tarpeian mount a monument of
his reign and of his name, to testify, that of two Tarquinii
both of whom reigned, the father had vowed, and the son
completed it. And in order that the ground might be clear
from the interference of any of the other gods, and the
temple to be erected thereon, be appropriated wholly to
Jupiter, he determined to cancel the inauguration of the
temples and chapels, several of which had been vowed,
first by Tatius during the very heat of the battle against
Romulus, and afterwards consecrated there. It is related,
that, during the preparations for founding this structure,
the gods exerted their divine power, to exhibit indications
of the stability of this great empire; for, whilst the birds
admitted the cancelling the inaugurations of all the other
chapels, they did not give the signs of approbation, in the
case of the temple of Terminus; and that omen, and that
augury, were deemed to import that the residence of
Terminus must not be changed; and his being the only
one of the gods who would not submit to be called forth
from the boundaries consecrated to him, denoted that all
things there were to stand firm and immoveable. After
they had received this presage of its perpetual duration,
there followed another prodigy, portending the greatness
of the empire: a human head, with the face entire, is said
to have appeared to those who were opening the
foundation of the temple; which appearance denoted,
without the help of any far-fetched allusion, that this
would be the metropolis of the empire, and the head of
the world. Such was the interpretation given of it by the
soothsayers, both those who were in the city, and others
whom they sent for from Etruria, to hold a consultation
on the subject. This encouraged [91] the king to enlarge
the expense, so that the spoils of Pometia, which,
according to his first design, were to have completed the
edifice, were scarcely sufficient for the foundations. For
this reason, besides his being the more ancient writer, I
should rather believe Fabius, that these amounted to no
more than forty talents,* than Piso, who writes, that forty
thousand pounds weight of silver were set apart for that
purpose; a sum of money, that could not be expected out
of the spoil of any one city in that age, and which must
have been more than sufficient for laying the foundations
even of the most magnificent of our modern structures.
Intent on finishing the temple, he sent for workmen from
all parts of Etruria, and converted to that use, not only
the public money, but the public labour; and although
this, which was in itself no small hardship, was added to
the toils of military service, yet the people murmured the
less, when they considered that they were employing
their hands in erecting temples to the gods. They were
afterwards obliged to toil at other works, which, though
they made less show, were attended with greater
difficulty; the erecting seats in the Circus, and conducting
under ground the principal sewer, the receptacle of all the
filth of the city; two works, to which the magnificence of
modern times can scarcely produce any thing equal. After
the people had been fatigued by these labours, the king,
considering so great a multitude as a burthen to the city,
where there was not employment for them, and wishing
at the same time to extend the frontiers of his dominions,
by means of colonies, sent a number of colonists to Signia
and Circeii, to serve as barriers to the city, against an
enemy, both by land and sea.

LVI. While he was thus employed, a dreadful prodigy

appeared to him; a snake, sliding out of a wooden pillar,
terrified the beholders, and made them fly into the
palace. [92] This not only struck the king himself with
sudden terror, but filled his breast with anxious
apprehensions: so that, whereas in the case of public
prodigies, the Etrurian soothsayers only were applied to,
being thoroughly frightened at this domestic apparition,
as it were, he resolved to send to Delphi, the most
celebrated oracle in the world; and judging it unsafe to
entrust the answers which should be given to indifferent
persons, he sent his two sons into Greece, through lands
little known at that time, and seas still more so. Titus and
Aruns set out, and, as a companion, was sent with them,
Lucius Junius Brutus, son to Tarquinia, the kings sister,
a young man of a capacity widely different from the
appearance which he had put on. Having heard that the
principal men in the state, and among the rest, his
brother, had been put to death by his uncle, he resolved
that the king should find nothing to dread, either from
his manners or his means, and to seek security in
contempt. He took care, therefore, to fashion his
behaviour to the semblance of foolishness, submitting
himself and his fortune to the pleasure and rapacity of
the king. Nor did he show any dislike to the surname of
Brutus, content that, under the cover of that appellation,
the genius which was to be the deliverer of the Roman
people, should lie concealed, and wait the proper season
for exertion. He was, at this time, carried to Delphi by the
Tarquinii, rather as a subject of sport than as a
companion; and is said to have brought as an offering to
Apollo, a golden wand, inclosed in a staff of cornel-wood,
hollowed for that purpose, an emblem figurative of the
state of his own capacity. When they arrived there, and
executed their fathers commission, the young men felt a
wish to inquire to which of them the kingdom of Rome
was to belong; and we are told that these words were
uttered from the bottom of the cave. Young men, which
ever of you shall first kiss your mother, he shall possess
the sovereign power at Rome. The Tarquinii ordered
that this matter should be kept secret [93] with the utmost
care; that Sextus, who had been left behind at Rome,
might remain ignorant of the answer, so as to have no
chance for the kingdom. They themselves had recourse to
lots to determine which of them should first kiss their
mother on their return to Rome: Brutus judged that the
expression of Apollo had another meaning, and as if he
had accidentally stumbled and fallen, he touched the
earth with his lips, considering that she was the common
mother of all mankind. On their return from thence to
Rome, they found vigorous preparations going on for a
war against the Rutulians.

LVII. Ardea was a city belonging to the Rutulians, a

nation, considering the part of the world and the age,
remarkably opulent; and this very circumstance gave
occasion to the war; for the Roman king was earnestly
desirous, both of procuring money for himself, his
treasury being exhausted by the magnificence of his
public works, and also of reconciling, by means of the
spoils, the minds of his subjects, who were highly
dissatisfied with his government: for, besides other
instances of his pride, they thought themselves ill-treated
by being engaged, for such a length of time, in the
employments of handicrafts, and in labour fit for slaves.
An attempt was made to take Ardea by storm, and that
not succeeding, he adopted the plan of distressing the
enemy by a blockade, and works erected round them. In
this fixed post, as is generally the case when the
operations of war are rather tedious than vigorous, leave
of absence was readily granted, and to the principal
officers, more readily than to the soldiers; the young men
of the royal family in particular, frequently passed their
leisure time in feasting and entertainments. It happened
that while these were drinking together, at the quarters of
Sextus Tarquinius, where Collatinus Tarquinius, the son
of Egerius, also supped, mention was made of their
wives; each extolled his own to the skies: on this a
dispute arising, Collatinus told them, that there [94] was
no need of words; it could easily be known, in a few
hours, how much his Lucretia excelled the rest: we are
young and strong; let us mount our horses, and inspect in
person the behaviour of our wives: that must be the most
unexceptionable proof which meets our eyes, on the
unexpected arrival of the husband. They were heated
with wine: Agreed, was the word; at full speed they fly
to Rome. Having arrived there at the first dusk of the
evening, they proceeded thence to Collatia, where they
found Lucretia, not like the kings daughters-in-law,
whom they had seen spending their time in luxurious
entertainments among those of their own rank, but busily
employed with her wool, though at that late hour, and
sitting in the middle of the house, with her maids at work
around her: the honour of superiority among the ladies
mentioned in the dispute, was of course acknowledged to
belong to Lucretia. Her husband, on his arrival, and the
Tarquinii, were kindly received; and the husband,
exulting in his victory, gave the royal youths a friendly
invitation. There, Sextus Tarquinius, instigated by brutal
lust, formed a design of violating Lucretias chastity by
force, both her beauty and her approved modesty serving
as incentives: after this youthful frolic of the night, they
returned to the camp.

LVIII. A few days after, Sextus Tarquinius, without the

knowledge of Collatinus, went to Collatia, with only a
single attendant: he was kindly received by the family,
who suspected not his design, and, after supper,
conducted to the chamber where guests were lodged.
Then, burning with desire, as soon as he thought that
every thing was safe, and the family all at rest, he came
with his sword drawn to Lucretia, where she lay asleep,
and, holding her down, with his left hand pressed on her
breast, said, Lucretia be silent: I am Sextus Tarquinius;
my sword is in my hand, if you utter a word, you die.
Terrified at being thus disturbed from sleep, she saw no
assistance near, and immediate death [95] threatening
her. Tarquinius then acknowledged his passion,
intreated, mixed threats with intreaties, and used every
argument likely to have effect on a womans mind; but
finding her inflexible, and not to be moved, even by the
fear of death, he added to that fear, the dread of
dishonour, telling her that, after killing her, he would
murder a slave, and lay him naked by her side, that she
might be said to have been slain in base adultery. The
shocking apprehensions, conveyed by this menace,
overpowering her resolution in defending her chastity,
his lust became victorious; and Tarquinius departed,
applauding himself for this triumph over a ladys honour.
But Lucretia, plunged by such a disaster into the deepest
distress, despatched a messenger to Rome to her father,
with orders to proceed to Ardea to her husband, and to
desire them to come to her, each with one faithful friend;
to tell them, that there was a necessity for their doing so,
and speedily; for that a dreadful affair had happened.
Spurius Lucretius came with Publius Valerius, the son of
Volesus; Collatinus with Lucius Junius Brutus, in
company with whom he chanced to be returning to
Rome, when he was met by his wifes messenger. They
found Lucretia sitting in her chamber, melancholy and
dejected: on the arrival of her friends, she burst into
tears, and on her husbands asking, Is all well? Far
from it, said she, for how can it be well with a woman
who has lost her chastity? Collatinus, the impression of
another man is in your bed; yet my person only has been
violated, my mind is guiltless, as my death will testify.
But give me your right hands and pledge your honour,
that the adulterer shall not escape unpunished. He is
Sextus Tarquinius, who, under the appearance of a guest,
disguising an enemy, obtained here, last night, by armed
violence, a triumph deadly to me, and to himself also, if
ye be men. They all pledged their honour, one after
another, and endeavoured to comfort her distracted
mind, acquitting her of blame, as under the compulsion
of force, [96] and charging it on the violent perpetrator of
the crime, told her, that the mind alone was capable of
sinning, not the body, and that where there was no such
intention, there could be no guilt. It is your concern,
said she, to consider what is due to him; as to me,
though I acquit myself of the guilt, I cannot dispense with
the penalty, nor shall any woman ever plead the example
of Lucretia, for surviving her chastity. Thus saying, she
plunged into her heart a knife, which she had concealed
under her garment, and falling forward on the wound,
dropped lifeless. The husband and father shrieked aloud.

LIX. But Brutus, while they were overpowered by grief,

drawing the knife from the wound of Lucretia, and
holding it out reeking with blood, before him, said, By
this blood, most chaste until injured by royal insolence, I
swear, and call you, O ye gods, to witness, that I will
prosecute to destruction, by sword, fire, and every
forcible means in my power, both Lucius Tarquinius the
Proud, and his impious wife, together with their entire
race, and never will suffer one of them, nor any other
person whatsoever, to be king in Rome. He then
delivered the knife to Collatinus, afterwards to Lucretius,
and Valerius, who were filled with amazement, as at a
prodigy, and at a loss to account for this unusual
elevation of sentiment in the mind of Brutus. However
they took the oath as directed, and converting their grief
into rage, followed Brutus, who put himself at their head,
and called on them to proceed, instantly to abolish kingly
power. They brought out the body of Lucretia from the
house, conveyed it to the Forum, and assembled the
people, who came together quickly, in astonishment, as
may be supposed, at a deed so atrocious and unheard of.
Every one exclaimed with vehemence against the villainy
and violence of the prince: they were deeply affected by
the grief of her father, and also by the discourse of
Brutus, who rebuked their tears and ineffectual
complaints, and advised them, [97] as became men, as
became Romans, to take up arms against those who had
dared to treat them as enemies. The most spirited among
the youth offered themselves with their arms, and the
rest followed their example. On which, leaving half their
number at the gates to defend Collatia, and fixing guards
to prevent any intelligence of the commotion being
carried to the princes, the rest, with Brutus at their head,
marched to Rome. When they arrived there, the sight of
such an armed multitude spread terror and confusion
wherever they came: but, in a little time, when people
observed the principal men of the state marching at their
head, they concluded, that whatever the matter was,
there must be good reason for it. Nor did the heinousness
of the affair raise less violent emotions in the minds of
the people at Rome, than it had at Collatia: so that, from
all parts of the city, they hurried into the Forum; where,
as soon as the party arrived, a crier summoned the people
to attend the tribune of the Celeres, which office
happened at that time to be held by Brutus. He there
made a speech, no way consonant to that low degree of
sensibility and capacity, which, until that day, he had
counterfeited; recounting the violence and lust of Sextus
Tarquinius, the shocking violation of Lucretias chastity,
and her lamentable death; the misfortune of Tricipitinus,
in being left childless, who must feel the cause of his
daughters death as a greater injury and cruelty, than her
death itself: to these representations he added the pride
of the king himself, the miseries and toils of the
commons, buried under ground to cleanse sinks and
sewers, saying, that the citizens of Rome, the conquerors
of all the neighbouring nations, were, from warriors,
reduced to labourers and stone-cutters; mentioned the
barbarous murder of king Servius Tullius, his abominable
daughter driving in her carriage over the body of her
father, and invoked the gods to avenge the cause of
parents. By descanting on these and other, I suppose,
more forcible topics, which the heinousness of present
injuries suggests at [98] the time, but which it is difficult
for writers to repeat, he inflamed the rage of the
multitude to such a degree, that they were easily
persuaded to deprive the king of his government and to
pass an order for the banishment of Lucius Tarquinius,
his wife, and children: Brutus himself, having collected
and armed such of the young men as voluntarily gave in
their names, set out for the camp at Ardea, in order to
excite the troops there to take part against the king. The
command in the city he left to Lucretius, who had some
time before been appointed by the king to the office of
prfect of the city.* During this tumult Tullia fled from
her house; both men and women, wherever she passed,
imprecating curses on her head, and invoking the furies,
the avengers of parents.

LX. News of these proceedings having reached the camp,

and the king, alarmed at such extraordinary events,
having begun his march towards Rome, to suppress the
commotions, Brutus, informed of his approach, turned
into another road, in order to avoid a meeting, and very
nearly at the same time, by different roads, Brutus
arrived at Ardea, and Tarquinius at Rome. Tarquinius
found the gates shut against him, and an order of
banishment pronounced. The deliverer of the city was
received in the camp with joy, and the kings sons were
driven thence with disgrace. Two of these followed their
father, and went into exile at Cre, among the Etrurians.
Sextus Tarquinius having retired to Gabii, as if to his own
dominions, was slain by some persons, who were glad of
an opportunity of gratifying old animosities, which he
had excited there by his rapine and murders. Lucius
Tarquinius Superbus reigned twenty-five years. The
government of kings continued, from the building of
the [99] city to the establishment of its liberty, two
hundred and forty-four years. After that, in an assembly
of the Centuries, held by the prfect of the city, were
elected, conformably to a plan found in the commentaries
of Servius Tullius, two magistrates, called Consuls. These
were, Lucius Junius Brutus, and Lucius Tarquinius
Collatinus. Y. R. 245. BC 507.

[100]

BOOK II.
Brutus binds the people, by an oath, never to restore the
kingly government; obliges Tarquinius Collatinus, on
account of his relationship to the Tarquinii, to resign the
consulship, and retire from the city, puts to death his own
sons, together with some other young men of rank, for a
conspiracy in favour of the Tarquinii; falls in battle
against the Veientians and Tarquinians, together with his
antagonist Aruns, son of Superbus. War with Porsena.
Exploits of Horatius Cocles, Mutius Scvola, and Cllia.
The Claudian tribe formed, and the number of the tribes
increased to twenty-one. The Latines, attempting to
restore Tarquinius, are defeated by Aulus Postumius,
dictator. The commons, on account of the great numbers
confined for debt, secede to the sacred mount; are
appeased, and brought back, by the prudence of
Menenius Agrippa. Five tribunes of the commons
created. Banishment and subsequent conduct of Caius
Marcius Coriolanus. First proposal of an Agrarian law.
Spurius Cassius, aspiring to regal power, put to death.
Oppia, a vestal virgin, convicted of incest, buried alive.
The Fabian family undertake the Veientian war, and are
all cut off, except one boy. Wars with the Volscians,
quans, and Veientians. Dissensions between the
Patricians and Plebeians.

Y. R. 245. BC 507. I. HENCEFORWARD I am to treat of the

affairs, civil and military, of a free people, for such the
Romans were now become; of annual magistrates and the
authority of the laws exalted above that of men. What
greatly enhanced the public joy on having attained to this
state of freedom, was, the haughty insolence of the late
king: for [101] the former kings governed in such a
manner, that all of them, in succession, might deservedly
be reckoned as founders of the several parts at least, of
the city, which they added to it, to accommodate the great
numbers of inhabitants, whom they themselves
introduced. Nor can it be doubted, that the same Brutus,
who justly merited so great glory, for having expelled that
haughty king, would have hurt the public interest most
materially, had he, through an over hasty zeal for liberty,
wrested the government from any one of the former
princes. For what must have been the consequence, if
that rabble of shepherds and vagabonds, fugitives from
their own countries, having, under the sanction of an
inviolable asylum, obtained liberty, or at least impunity;
and uncontrolled by dread of kingly power, had once
been set in commotion by tribunitian storms, and had, in
a city, where they were strangers, engaged in contests
with the Patricians, before the pledges of wives and
children, and an affection for the soil itself, which in
length of time is acquired from habit, had united their
minds in social concord? The state, as yet but a tender
shoot, had, in that case, been torn to pieces by discord;
whereas the tranquil moderation of the then government
cherished it, and, by due nourishment, brought it forward
to such a condition, that its powers being ripened, it was
capable of producing the glorious fruit of liberty. The
origin of liberty is to be dated from that period, rather on
account of the consular government being limited to one
year, than of any diminution made of the power which
had been possessed by the kings. The first consuls
enjoyed all their privileges, and all their ensigns of
authority; in this respect, only, care was taken, not to
double the objects of terror by giving the fasces to both
the consuls. Brutus, with the consent of his colleague,
was first honoured with the fasces, and the zeal which he
had shown as the champion of liberty in rescuing it from
oppression, was not greater than that which he
afterwards displayed in the character of its [102] guardian.
First of all, while the people were in raptures at their new
acquisition of freedom, lest they might afterwards be
perverted by the importunities or presents of the princes,
he bound them by an oath, that they would never suffer
any man to assume the authority of king at Rome. Next,
in order that the fullness of their body might give the
greater weight to the senate, he filled up the number of
the senators, which had been diminished by the kings
murders, to the amount of three hundred, electing into
that body the principal men of equestrian rank; and
hence the practice is said to have taken its rise of
summoning to the senate those who are fathers, and
those who are conscripti; for they called those who were
elected into this new senate conscripti. This had a
wonderful effect towards producing concord in the state,
and in attaching the affection of the commons to the
patricians.

II. People then turned their attention to matters of

religion; and because some public religious rites had been
usually performed by the kings in person, in order that
there should be no want of one on any occasion, they
appointed a king of the sacrifices. This office they made
subject to the jurisdiction of the pontiff, fearing lest
honour, being joined to the title, might in some shape be
injurious to liberty, which was then the first object of
their concern: I know not whether they did not carry to
excess their great anxiety to raise bulwarks to it, on all
sides, even in points of the most trivial consequence; for
the name of one of the consuls, though there was no
other cause of dislike, became a subject of jealousy to the
people. It was alleged, that the Tarquinii had been too
long accustomed to the possession of sovereign power:
Priscus first began; next indeed reigned Servius Tullius,
yet though that interruption occurred, Tarquinius
Superbus never lost sight of the crown, so as to consider
it the right of another; but, by violent and flagitious
means, reclaimed it, as the inheritance of his family.
Now, that Superbus had been expelled, the government
was in the [103] hands of Collatinus; the Tarquinii knew
not how to live in a private station; the very name itself
was displeasing, and dangerous to liberty. These
discourses were at first, gradually circulated through
every part of the city, for the purpose of trying the
disposition of the people. After the suspicions of the
commons had, by these suggestions, been sufficiently
excited, Brutus called them together: when they were
assembled, after first reciting the oath which the people
had taken, that they would never suffer a king at Rome,
or any thing else that might be dangerous to liberty; he
told them, that they must support this resolution with
their utmost power; and that no circumstance, of any
tendency that way, ought to be overlooked: that from his
regard to the person alluded to, he mentioned the matter
unwillingly; nor would he have mentioned it at all, did
not his affection for the commonwealth outweigh all
other considerations. The Roman people did not think
that they had recovered entire freedom: the regal family,
the regal name remained, not only in the city, but in the
government: this was a circumstance, not merely
unpropitious, but dangerous to liberty. Do you, Lucius
Tarquinius, of your own accord, remove from us this
apprehension: we remember, we acknowledge that you
expelled the princes: complete your kindness: carry
hence their name. Your countrymen, on my
recommendation, will not only give you up your property,
but if you have occasion for more, will make liberal
additions to it. Depart in friendship. Deliver the state
from this, it may be groundless, apprehension; but the
opinion is deeply rooted in their minds, that, only with
the race of the Tarquinii, will kingly power depart hence.
Astonishment at this extraordinary and unexpected affair
at first deprived the consul of all power of utterance; and
when he afterwards began to speak, the principal men of
the state gathered round him, and with earnest
importunity urged the same request. Others affected him
less; but when Spurius Lucretius, his [104] superior in
age, and dignity of character, and his father-in-law
besides, began to try every method of persuasion, using
by turns, arguments and entreaties, that he would suffer
himself to be overcome by the general sense of his
countrymen, the consul, fearing lest hereafter, when he
should have returned to a private station, the same
measures might be used against him, with the addition
perhaps of confiscation of his property, and other marks
of ignominy, resigned the office of consul, and removing
all his effects to Lavinium, withdrew from the territories
of the state. Brutus in pursuance of a decree of the senate,
proposed to the people, that all who were of the
Tarquinian family should be banished; and in an
assembly of the Centuries, he elected for his colleague,
Publius Valerius, who had been his assistant in expelling
the royal family.

III. No person now doubted but war would be

immediately commenced by the Tarquinii: that event,
however, did not take place so soon as was expected. But,
what they entertained no apprehension of, liberty was
very near being lost, by secret machinations and
treachery. There were, among the Romans, several young
men of no inconsiderable families, who, during the reign
of the king, had indulged their pleasures too freely; and
being of the same age, and constant companions of the
younger Tarquinii, had been accustomed to live in a
princely style: the privileges of all ranks being now
reduced to one level, these grew uneasy at the restraint
hereby laid on their irregularities, and complained
heavily among themselves, that the liberty of others had
imposed slavery on them. A king was a human being;
from him might a request be obtained, whether right or
wrong; with him there was room for favour, and for acts
of kindness; he could be angry, and he could forgive; he
knew a distinction between a friend and an enemy. But
the law was a deaf inexorable being, calculated rather for
the safety and advantage of the poor, than of the rich;
and admitted of [105] no relaxation or indulgence, if its
bounds were transgressed. Men being liable to so many
mistakes, to have no other security but innocence is a
hazardous situation. While their minds were in this
discontented state, ambassadors arrived from the
Tarquinii, who, without any mention of their restoration,
demanded only their effects: the senate, having granted
them an audience, continued their deliberations on the
subject for several days, being apprehensive that a refusal
to give them up, would afford a plausible reason for a
war, and the giving them up, a fund in aid of it.
Meanwhile the ambassadors were busily employed in
schemes of another nature: whilst they openly demanded
the effects, they were secretly forming a plan for
recovering the throne, and addressing themselves to the
young nobles, seemingly on the business which they were
supposed to have in charge, they made trial of their
dispositions. To those who lent an ear to their
suggestions, they delivered letters from the Tarquinii,
and concerted measures with them for receiving those
princes privately into the city by night.

IV. The business was first intrusted to the brothers of the

name of Vitellii, and those of the name of Aquillii; a sister
of the Vitellii had been married to the consul Brutus, and
there were two sons born of that marriage, now grown
up, Titus and Tiberius: these were led in, by their uncles,
to take part in the design; and several others of the young
nobility were drawn into the conspiracy, whose names, at
this distance of time, are unknown. In the meanwhile, the
opinion of those, who advised the giving up of the
property, having prevailed in the senate, this afforded the
ambassadors a pretext for remaining in the city, because
they had been allowed time by the consuls to procure
carriages for the conveyance of the effects of the princes;
all which time they spent in consultations with the
conspirators, and had, by pressing instances, prevailed
upon them to send letters for the Tarquinii; for without
these, how could they be so [106] fully assured, as an
affair of that high importance required, that the report of
the ambassadors was not groundless? These letters,
given as a pledge of their sincerity, proved the means of
detecting the plot: for the day before that on which they
were to return to the Tarquinii, the ambassadors
happening to sup with the Vitellii, and the conspirators
having here in private had much conversation, as was
natural, on the subject of their new enterprise, their
discourse was overheard by one of the slaves who had,
before this, discovered that such a design was in
agitation, but waited for this opportunity, until the letters
should be given to the ambassadors; because these, being
seized, would furnish full proof of the transaction. As
soon as he found that they were delivered, he made a
discovery of the affair to the consuls. The consuls, setting
out from home directly, and apprehending the
ambassadors and conspirators in the fact, effectually
crushed the affair without any tumult; taking particular
care, with regard to the letters, that they should not
escape them. They instantly threw the traitors into
chains, but hesitated for some time with regard to
proceeding against the ambassadors; and though, by
their behaviour, they had deserved to be treated as
enemies, yet regard to the law of nations prevailed.

V. With respect to the effects of the princes, which they

had before ordered to be restored, the business was now
laid before the senate for re-consideration; and they,
actuated entirely by resentment, decreed, that they
should not be restored, but converted to the use of the
state. They were, therefore, given up to the commons as
plunder, with the intent, that these, after such an act of
violence against the princes, as the seizing of their effects,
might for ever lose all hope of reconciliation with them.
The land of the Tarquinii, which lay between the city and
the Tiber, being consecrated to the god of war, has, from
that time, been called the Field of Mars. It happened, that
there was then on that ground [107] a crop of corn, ripe
for the sickle, and because it would be an impiety to make
use of this produce of the field, a great number of men
were sent in at once, who, having cut it down, carried it in
baskets, and threw it, grain and straw together, into the
Tiber, whose waters were low at that time, as is generally
the case in the middle of summer. The heaps of corn then
being frequently stopped for a while in the shallows, and
having contracted a covering of mud, sunk, and,
remained fixed, and by these means, with the afflux of
other materials which the stream is apt to carry down, an
island* was gradually formed. I suppose that mounds
were afterwards added, and assistance given by art, to
raise the surface to its present height, and give it
sufficient firmness to support temples and porticoes.
After the people had made plunder of the effects of the
princes, the traitors were condemned and executed. And
the execution was the more remarkable on this account,
that his office of consul imposed on a father the severe
duty of inflicting punishment on his own sons; and that
he, who ought not to have been present as a spectator,
was yet the very person whom fortune pitched on to exact
the penalty of their offence. The youths, all of the first
distinction, stood tied to stakes, but the sons of the
consul entirely engaged the eyes of the spectators, as if
the others were persons unknown; and people felt
compassion, not only for their punishment, but even for
the crime by which they had brought it on themselves: to
think that they could, during that year particularly, have
been induced to entertain a design of betraying their
country, just delivered from tyranny, their father its
deliverer, the consulship, which had commenced in the
Junian family, the patricians, commons, in a word,
whatever Rome held in highest veneration, into the
hands of one who was formerly a tyrannical king, now an
enraged exile. The consuls mounted their [108] throne,
and the lictors were sent to inflict the punishment: after
stripping the criminals naked, they beat them with rods,
and beheaded them; whilst, through the whole process of
the affair, the looks and countenance of Brutus afforded
an extraordinary spectacle, the feelings of the father often
struggling with the character of the magistrate enforcing
the execution of the laws. Justice done to the offenders,
in order to exhibit a striking example for the prevention
of crimes, in their treatment of the several parties, they
gave, as a reward to the discoverer of the treason, a sum
of money out of the treasury, his freedom, and the rights
of a citizen. This man is said to be the first who was made
free by the Vindicta.* Some think that the term Vindicta
was taken from him, his name having been Vindicius:
after him, it obtained, as a rule, that whoever was made
free in that manner, should be considered and admitted a
citizen.

VI. Tarquinius, on being informed of these transactions,

became inflamed, not only with grief for the
disappointment of such promising hopes, but with hatred
and resentment; and finding every pass shut against
secret plots, determined to have recourse to open war;
and to that end, he went round to all the cities of Etruria,
in the character of a suppliant, addressing himself
particularly to the people of Veii and Tarquinii, intreating
them, not to suffer him, who was sprung from
themselves, and of the same blood; who was lately
possessed of so great a kingdom, now exiled and in want,
to perish before their eyes, together with the young men
his sons. Others had been invited from foreign
countries [109] to Rome, to fill the throne; but he, when in
possession of the government, and while he was
employing his arms in extending the limits of the Roman
empire, was expelled by a villainous conspiracy of men
who were most closely connected with him; who, because
no one of their number was qualified to hold the reins of
government, had forcibly shared the several parts of it
among them, and had given up his property to be
plundered by the populace, to the intent that all might be
equally guilty. He only wished to be restored to his own
country and crown, and to be avenged on his ungrateful
subjects. He besought them to support and assist him,
and at the same time, to take revenge for the injuries
which they themselves had sustained of old, for their
legions so often slaughtered, and their lands taken from
them. These arguments had the desired effect on the
Veientians, every one of whom earnestly, and with
menaces, declared that they ought now at least, with a
Roman at their head, to efface the memory of their
disgraces, and recover, by arms, what they had lost. The
people of Tarquinii were moved by his name, and his
relation to themselves: they thought it redounded to their
honour, that their countrymen should reign at Rome.
Thus two armies of two states followed Tarquinius to
demand his restoration, and prosecute war against the
Romans. When they advanced into the Roman territories,
the consuls marched out to meet the enemy. Valerius led
the infantry, in order of battle; Brutus, with the cavalry,
marched at some distance before them, in order to
procure intelligence. In like manner, the vanguard of the
enemy was composed of cavalry, under the command of
Aruns Tarquinius, the kings son; the king himself
followed with the legions. Aruns, perceiving at a distance,
by the lictors, that a consul was there, and afterwards, on
a nearer approach, plainly distinguishing Brutus by his
face, became inflamed with rage, and cried out, That is
the man who has driven us as exiles from our country;
see how he marches [110] in state, decorated with our
ensigns: ye gods, avengers of kings, assist me! He then
spurred on his horse, and drove furiously against the
consul. Brutus perceived that the attack was meant for
him; and as it was at that time reckoned not improper for
generals themselves to engage in fight, he eagerly offered
himself to the combat; and they advanced against each
other with such furious animosity, neither thinking of
guarding his own person, but solely intent on wounding
his enemy, that, in the violence of the conflict, each of
them received his antagonists spear in his body, through
his buckler, and being entangled together by the two
spears, they both fell lifeless from their horses. At the
same time, the rest of the cavalry began to engage, and
were shortly after joined by the infantry: a battle then
ensued, in which victory seemed alternately to incline to
either party, the advantages being nearly equal: for the
right wings of both armies got the better, and the left
were worsted. At length the Veientians, accustomed to be
vanquished by the Roman troops, were routed and
dispersed: the Tarquinians, a new enemy, not only kept
their ground, but even, on their side, made the Romans
give way.

VII. Though such was the issue of the battle, yet so great
terror took possession of Tarquinius and the Etrurians,
that, giving up the enterprise as impracticable, both
armies, the Veientian and the Tarquinian, retired by
night to their respective countries. To the accounts of this
battle, writers have added miracles; that, during the
silence of the following night, a loud voice was uttered
from the Arsian wood, which was believed to be the voice
of Sylvanus, in these words: The number of the
Etrurians who fell in the engagement was the greater by
one. The Romans have the victory. The Romans
certainly departed from the field as conquerors, the
Etrurians as vanquished: for when day appeared, and not
one of the enemy was to be seen, the consul, Publius
Valerius, collected the spoils, and returned in
triumph [111] to Rome. He celebrated the funeral of his
colleague with the utmost degree of magnificence which
those times could afford; but a much higher mark of
honour to the deceased, was the grief expressed by the
public, singularly remarkable in this particular, that the
matrons mourned for him as for a parent, during a whole
year, in gratitude for his vigorous exertions in avenging
the cause of violated chastity. In a little time, the consul
who survived, so changeable are the minds of the
populace, from having enjoyed a high degree of
popularity, became an object not only of jealousy, but of
suspicion, attended with a charge of an atrocious nature:
it was given out that he aspired at the sovereignty,
because he had not substituted a colleague in the room of
Brutus; and besides, was building a house on the summit
of Mount Velia, which, in such a lofty and strong
situation, would be an impregnable fortress. The consuls
mind was deeply affected with concern and indignation,
at finding that such reports were circulated and believed;
he therefore summoned the people to an assembly, and,
ordering the fasces to be lowered,* mounted the rostrum.
It was a sight highly pleasing to the multitude, to find the
ensigns of sovereignty lowered to them, and an
acknowledgment thus openly given, that the majesty and
power of the people were superior to those of the consul.
Attention being ordered, the consul extolled the good
fortune of his colleague, who, after having accomplished
the deliverance of his country, and being raised to the
highest post of honour, met with death while fighting in
defence of the republic, when his glory had arrived at full
maturity, without having excited jealousy: whereas he
himself, surviving his glory, was become an object of
calumny; and from the character of deliverer of his
country, had sunk to a level with the Aquillii [112] and
Vitellii. Will no degree of merit then, said he, ever gain
your confidence, so far as to be secure from the attacks of
suspicion? Could I have the least apprehension that I, the
bitterest enemy to kings, should undergo the charge of
aiming at kingly power? Supposing that I dwelt in the
very citadel, and in the Capitol, could I believe that I was
an object of terror to my countrymen? Does my
reputation among you depend on so mere a trifle? Is my
title to your confidence so slightly founded, that it is more
to be considered where I am, than what I am? Citizens,
the house of Publius Valerius shall be no obstruction to
your freedom; the Velian mount shall be secure to you: I
will not only bring down my house to the plain, but will
fix it under the hill, that your dwellings may overlook that
of your suspected countryman. Let those build on the
Velian mount to whom ye can better intrust your liberty
than to Publius Valerius. Immediately all the materials
were brought down from the Velian mount, and the
house was built at the foot of the hill, where the temple of
victory now stands.

VIII. Some laws were then proposed by the consul, which

not only cleared him from all suspicion of a design to
possess himself of regal power, but whose tendency was
so contrary thereto, that they even rendered him popular,
and from thence he acquired the surname of Publicola.
Such particularly, was that concerning an appeal to the
people against the decrees of the magistrates, and that
which devoted both the person and goods of any who
should form a design of assuming regal power. These
laws were highly acceptable to the populace, and having
effected the ratification of them, while alone in office, in
order that the credit of them might be entirely his own,
he then held an assembly for the election of a new
colleague. The consul elected was Spurius Lucretius, who,
being far advanced in years, and too feeble to support the
duties of his office, died in a few days after. Marcus
Horatius Pulvillus was substituted in [113] the room of
Lucretius. In some old writers I find no mention of
Lucretius as consul; they place Horatius as immediate
successor to Brutus: I suppose he was not taken notice of,
because his consulate was not signalized by any
important transaction. The temple of Jupiter in the
Capitol had not yet been dedicated; the consuls Valerius
and Horatius cast lots which should perform the
dedication, and it fell to Horatius. Publicola set out to
conduct the war against the Veientians. The friends of
Valerius showed more displeasure, than the occasion
merited, at the dedication of a temple so celebrated being
given to Horatius. Having endeavoured, by every means,
to prevent its taking place, and all their attempts having
failed of success, when the consul had already laid his
hand on the door-post, and was employed in offering
prayers to the gods, they hastily addressed him with the
shocking intelligence, that his son was dead, and insisted
that his family being thus defiled, he could not dedicate
the temple. Whether he doubted the truth of the
intelligence, or whether it was owing to great firmness of
mind, we are not informed with certainty, nor is it easy to
conjecture; but he was no farther diverted from the
business he was engaged in, by that information, than
just to give orders that the body should be buried; and,
still holding the post, he finished his prayer, and
dedicated the temple. Such were the transactions at home
and abroad, which occurred during the first year after the
expulsion of the royal family. The next consuls appointed
were, Publius Valerius, a second time, and Titus
Lucretius. Y. R. 246. BC 506.

IX. Meanwhile, the Tarquinii had carried their

complaints to Lars Porsena, king of Clusium; and there,
mixing admonitions with intreaties, they at one time
besought him that he would not suffer those, who derived
their origin from Etruria, and were of the same blood and
name, to spend their lives in poverty and exile; then
warned him not to [114] let this new practice of
dethroning kings proceed without chastisement; adding,
that liberty had in itself sufficient sweets to allure others
to follow the example, unless kings would show the same
degree of vigour, in support of kingly power, which the
people exerted to wrest it from them: the highest ranks
would be reduced to a level with the lowest: there would
be no dignity, no pre-eminence among the several
members of society: there would soon be an end of regal
authority, which among gods and men had heretofore
been held in the highest degree of estimation. Porsena,
considering it as highly conducive to the honour of
Etruria, that there should be a king at Rome, and also
that that king should be of Etrurian race, led an army to
Rome, determined to support his pretensions by force of
arms. Never on any former occasion were the senate
struck with such terror, so powerful was the state of
Clusium at that time, and so great the name of Porsena:
nor were they in dread of their enemies only, but also of
their own countrymen; lest the Roman populace,
overcome by their fears, might admit the kings into the
city, and for the sake of peace, submit to slavery. The
senate, therefore, at this season practised many
conciliatory measures toward the commons: their first
care was applied to the markets, and people were sent,
some to the Volscians, others to Cum, to purchase corn;
the privilege also of selling salt, because the price had
been raised to an extravagant height, was taken out of the
hands of private persons, and placed entirely under the
management of government; the commons were also
exempted from port duties and taxes, that the public
expenses might fall upon the rich, who were equal to the
burthen, the poor paying tax sufficient if they educated
their children. This indulgent care preserved such
harmony in the state, even during the peoples severe
sufferings afterwards, from siege and famine, that the
name of king was abhorred by all; nor did any single
person, in after [115] times, ever acquire such a high
degree of popularity by artful intrigues, as the whole
senate then obtained by their wise administration.

X. As the enemy drew nigh, every one removed hastily

from the country into the city, on every side of which
strong guards were posted. Some parts seemed well
secured by the walls, others by the Tiber running close to
them. The Sublician bridge was very near affording the
enemy an entrance, had it not been for one man,
Horatius Cocles: no other bulwark had the fortune of
Rome on that day. He happened to be posted on guard at
the bridge, and when he saw the Janiculum taken by a
sudden assault, and the enemy pouring down from
thence in full speed, his countrymen in disorder and
confusion no longer attempting opposition, but quitting
their ranks, he caught hold of every one that he could,
and, appealing to gods and men, assured them that it
was in vain that they fled, after deserting the post which
could protect them; that if they passed the bridge, and
left it behind them, they would soon see greater numbers
of the enemy in the Palatium and the Capitol than in the
Janiculum; wherefore he advised and warned them to
break down the bridge, by their swords, fire, or any other
effectual means, while he should sustain the attack of the
enemy, as long as it was possible for one person to
withstand them. He then advanced to the first entrance
of the bridge, and being easily distinguished from those
who showed their backs in retreating from the fight, by
his facing to the front, with his arms prepared for action,
he astonished the enemy by such wonderful intrepidity.
Shame however prevailed on two to remain with him,
Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius, both of them men
of distinguished families and characters: with their
assistance he, for a time, supported the first storm, and
the most furious part of the fight. Even these he sent
back, when the bridge was nearly destroyed, and those
who were employed in breaking it down called upon
them to retire; [116] then darting fierce menacing looks at
each of the leaders of the Etrurians, he sometimes
challenged them singly, sometimes upbraided them
altogether, as slaves of haughty kings, who, incapable of
relishing liberty themselves, had come to wrest it from
others. For a considerable time they hesitated, looking
about for some other to begin the combat: shame at
length put their troops in motion, and, setting up a shout,
they poured their javelins from all sides against their
single opponent: all which, having stuck in the shield
with which he guarded himself, and he still persisting
with the same undaunted resolution, and with haughty
strides, to keep possession of his post, they had now
resolved, by making a violent push, to force him from it,
when the crash of the falling bridge, and at the same time
a shout raised by the Romans, for joy at having
completed their purpose, filled them with sudden dismay,
and stopped them from proceeding in the attempt. Then
Cocles said, Holy father, Tiberinus, I beseech thee to
receive these arms, and this thy soldier, into thy
propitious stream. With these words, armed as he was,
he leaped down into the Tiber, and through showers of
darts which fell around him, swam safe across to his
friends, having exhibited a degree of intrepidity which, in
after times, was more generally celebrated than believed.
The state showed a grateful sense of such high desert; a
statue was erected to him in the Comitium, with a grant
of land as large as he could plough completely in one day.
The zeal of private persons too was conspicuous, amidst
the honours conferred on him by the public; for, great as
the scarcity then was, every one contributed something to
him, in proportion to the stock of their family, abridging
themselves of their own proper support.

XI. Porsena, disappointed of success in this first effort,

changed his plan from an assault to a blockade; and,
leaving a force sufficient to secure the Janiculum,
encamped his main body in the plain along the bank of
the Tiber, at the same [117] time collecting ships from all
quarters, at once to guard the passage, that no corn
should be conveyed to Rome, and to enable his troops to
cross over the river in different places, as occasion
offered, to lay waste the country. In a short time he
extended his depredations so successfully, through every
part of the Roman territories, that people were obliged to
convey their effects into the city, as also their cattle,
which no one would venture to drive without the gates.
The Etrurians were permitted to act in this uncontrolled
manner, not so much through fear, as design; for Valerius
the consul, intent on gaining an opportunity of making an
unexpected attack on a large number of them, at a time
when they were unprepared, overlooked trifling
advantages, reserving his force for a severe revenge on a
more important occasion. With this view, in order to
allure the plunderers, he gave orders to his men to drive
out some cattle through the Esquiline gate, which was at
the opposite side from the enemy; judging that these
would soon get information of it, because, during the
blockade and the scarcity of provisions, many of the
slaves turned traitors and deserted. Accordingly they
were informed of it by a deserter, and passed over the
river in much greater numbers than usual, in hopes of
getting possession of the entire booty. Publius Valerius
then ordered Titus Herminius, with a small body of men,
to lie concealed near the two-mile stone on the Gabian
road; Spurius Lartius, with a body of light armed troops,
to stand at the Colline gate until the enemy should pass
by, and then to take post in their rear, so as to cut off
their retreat to the river: the other consul, Titus
Lucretius, with some companies of foot, marched out of
the Nvian gate; Valerius himself led down his chosen
cohorts from the Clian mount, and these were the first
who were observed by the enemy. Herminius, as as soon
as he found that the alarm was taken, rushed out from his
ambush, to take his share in the fray, and while the
Etrurians were busied in forming an opposition to
Valerius, [118] fell upon their rear; the shout was
returned, both from the right and from the left; from the
Colline gate on one hand, and the Nvian on the other.
The plunderers being thus surrounded, destitute of
strength to make head against their adversaries, and shut
out from all possibility of a retreat, were cut to pieces.
After this the Etrurians confined their ravages to
narrower limits.

XII. The siege continued notwithstanding, and provisions

becoming exceedingly scarce and dear, Porsena
entertained hopes, that, by remaining quiet in his present
position, he should become master of the city; when
Caius Mucius, a noble youth, filled with indignation on
reflecting that the Roman people, while they were in
bondage under their kings, were never in any war
besieged by any enemy, and that the same people, now in
a state of freedom, were held besieged by those very
Etrurians whose armies they had often routed, resolved,
therefore, by some great and daring effort, to remove
such reproach. At first he designed to make his way into
the enemys camp, without communicating his intention;
but afterwards, dreading lest, if he should go without the
order of the consuls, and the knowledge of any, he might
be apprehended by the Roman guards, and brought back
as a deserter, an imputation for which the present
circumstances of the city would afford plausible grounds,
he applied to the senate, and told them, Fathers, I intend
to cross the Tiber, and to enter, if I can, the enemys
camp, not to seek for plunder, or to revenge their
depredations in kind; the blow which I meditate, with the
aid of the gods, is of more importance. The senate gave
their approbation, and he set out with a sword concealed
under his garment. When he came into the camp, he took
his place close to the kings tribunal, where a very great
crowd was assembled. It happened that, at this time, the
soldiers were receiving their pay, and a secretary, sitting
beside the king, and dressed nearly in the same manner,
acted a principal part in the business, [119] and to him the
soldiers generally addressed themselves. Mucius, not
daring to inquire which was Porsena, lest his not knowing
the king should discover what he was, fortune blindly
directing the stroke where it was not intended, slew the
secretary instead of the king. Then endeavouring to make
his escape through a passage, which with his bloody
weapon he cleared for himself among the dismayed
crowd, a concourse of the soldiers being attracted by the
noise, he was seized by the kings life-guards, and
dragged back. Standing there single, among a crowd of
enemies, before the kings tribunal, even in this situation,
in the midst of fortunes severest threats, showing himself
more capable of inspiring terror than of feeling it, he
spoke to this effect: I am a Roman citizen; my name is
Caius Mucius. As an enemy, I intended to have slain an
enemy, nor is my resolution less firmly prepared to suffer
death than to inflict it. It is the part of a Roman both to
act and to suffer with fortitude: nor am I the only one
who has harboured such designs against you. There is a
long list, after me, of candidates for the same glorious
distinction. Prepare, therefore, if you choose, for a
contest of this sort, wherein you must every hour engage
at the hazard of your life, and have the enemy and the
sword continually in the porch of your pavilion; this is
the kind of war in which we, Roman youths, engage
against you; fear not an army in the field, nor in battle;
the affair will rest between your single person, and each
of us, separately. The king, inflamed with rage, and, at
the same time, terrified at the danger, ordered fires to be
kindled round him, threatening him with severe
punishment unless he instantly explained what those
plots were, with which he threatened him in those
ambiguous expressions: Behold, said Mucius, and
perceive what little account is made of the body, by those
who have in view the attainment of great glory; and
thrusting his right hand into a chafing-dish of coals
which had been kindled for the purpose of a sacrifice,
held it there to burn, [120] as if he were void of all sense of
feeling: on which the king, thunderstruck in a manner by
such astonishing behaviour, leaped from his seat, ordered
the youth to be removed from the altars, and said to him,
Retire in safety, for the treatment which you intended
for me, was mild in comparison of that which you have
practised on yourself. I should wish increase and success
to your bravery, if that bravery were exerted on the side
of my own country. However, I dismiss you untouched
and unhurt; and discharge you from the penalties, which,
by the laws of war, I might inflict. Mucius then, as if to
make a return for this act of favour, told him, Since I
find you disposed to honour bravery, that you may obtain
from me by kindness what you could not by threats, know
that three hundred of us, the principal youths in Rome,
have bound ourselves to each other by an oath, to attack
you in this manner; my lot happened to be first; the
others will be with you, each in his turn, according as the
lot shall set him foremost, until fortune shall afford an
opportunity of succeeding against you.

XIII. Mucius, who afterwards got the surname of

Scvola, or the left handed, from the loss of his right
hand, being thus dismissed, was followed to Rome by
ambassadors from Porsena. The king had been so deeply
affected by the danger to which he had been exposed, in
the first attempt, from which nothing had protected him
but the mistake of the assailant; and by the consideration
that he was to undergo the same hazard, as many times
as the number of the other conspirators amounted to,
that he thought proper, of his own accord, to offer terms
of accommodation to the Romans. During the
negotiation, mention was made, to no purpose, of the
restoration of the Tarquinian family to the throne; and
this proposal he made, rather because he had not been
able to refuse it to the Tarquinii, than from entertaining
the slightest expectation of its being accepted by the
Romans. He carried the point, respecting the giving up of
the [121] lands taken from the Veientians, and compelled
the Romans to submit to give hostages, if they wished to
see his forces withdrawn from the Janiculum. Peace
being concluded on these terms, Porsena withdrew his
troops from the Janiculum, and retired out of the Roman
territories. To Caius Mucius, as a reward of his valour,
the senate gave a tract of ground on the other side of the
Tiber, which was afterwards called the Mucian meadows;
and, such honour being paid to courage, excited even the
other sex to merit public distinctions. A young lady called
Cllia, one of the hostages, (the camp of the Etrurians
happening to be pitched at a small distance from the
banks of the Tiber,) evaded the vigilance of the guards,
and, at the head of a band of her companions, swam
across the Tiber, through a shower of darts discharged at
them by the enemy, and restored them all, in safety, to
their freinds at Rome. When the king was informed of
this, being at first highly incensed, he sent envoys to
Rome, to insist on the restoration of the hostage Cllia;
as to the rest, he showed little concern. But his anger, in a
little time, being converted into admiration, he spoke of
her exploit as superior to those of Cocles and Mucius; and
declared that as, in case the hostage should not be given
up, he would consider the treaty as broken off; so, if she
should be surrendered, he would send her back to her
friends in safety. Both parties behaved with honour; the
Romans, on their side, returned the pledge of peace,
agreeably to the treaty, and with the Etrurian king merit
found, not security only, but honours. After bestowing
high compliments on the lady, he told her that he made
her a present of half of the hostages, with full liberty to
choose such as she liked. When they were all drawn out
before her, she is said to have chosen the very young
boys, which was not only consonant to maiden delicacy,
but, in the universal opinion of the hostages themselves,
highly reasonable, that those who were of such an age as
was most liable to injury, should in preference,
be [122] delivered out of the hands of enemies. Peace
being thus re-established, the Romans rewarded this
instance of intrepidity, so uncommon in the female sex,
with a mark of honour as uncommon, an equestrian
statue. This was erected at the head of the sacred street.

XIV. Very inconsistent with this peaceful manner, in

which the Etrurian king retired from the city, is the
practice handed down from early times, and continued,
among other customary usages, even in our own days, of
proclaiming at public sales, that they are selling the
goods of king Porsena: which custom must necessarily
either have taken its rise originally, during the war, or it
must be derived from a milder source than seems to
belong to the expression, which intimates that the goods
for sale were taken from an enemy. Of the several
accounts which have been given, this seems to be the
nearest to truth: that Porsena, on retiring from the
Janiculum, made a present to the Romans of his camp,
which was plentifully stored with provisions collected
from the neighbouring fertile lands of Etruria, the city at
that time labouring under a scarcity, in consequence of
the long siege; and lest the populace, if permitted, might
seize on them, as the spoil of an enemy, they were set up
to sale, and called the goods of Porsena; the appellation
denoting rather gratitude for the gift, than an auction of
the kings property, which, besides, never came into the
power of the Romans. After he had put an end to the war
with Rome, Porsena, that he might not appear to have led
his troops into those countries to no purpose, sent his son
Aruns, with half of his forces, to lay siege to Aricia: the
unexpectedness of the attack struck the Aricians at first
with dismay; but afterwards having collected aid, both
from the Latine states and from Cum, they assumed
such confidence, as to venture an engagement in the
field. At the beginning of the battle, the Etrurians rushed
on so furiously, that at the very first onset they put the
Aricians to the rout: the cohorts from [123] Cum,
opposing art to force, moved a little to one side; and
when the enemy, in the impetuosity of their career, had
passed them, faced about, and attacked their rear. By
these means the Etrurians, after having almost gained the
victory, were surrounded and cut to pieces: a very small
part of them, their general being lost, and no place of
safety nearer, made the best of their way to Rome,
without arms, and in their circumstances and appearance
merely like suppliants; there they were kindly received,
and provided with lodgings: when their wounds were
cured, some of them returned home, and gave an account
of the hospitality and kindness which they had
experienced. A great number remained at Rome, induced
by the regard which they had contracted for their hosts
and for the city: they had ground allotted to them for
building houses, which was afterwards called the Tuscan
street.

Y. R. 247. BC 505. XV. The next elected consuls were

Publius Lucretius, and Publius Valerius Publicola a third
time. During this year, ambassadors came from Porsena,
for the last time, about restoring Tarquinius to the
throne. The answer given to them was, that the senate
would send ambassadors to the king; and accordingly,
without delay, a deputation, consisting of the persons of
the highest dignity among the senators, was sent with
orders to acquaint him, that it was not because their
answer might not have been given in these few words,
that the kings would not be admitted, that they had
chosen to send a select number of their body to him,
rather than to give the answer to his ambassadors at
Rome, but in order that an end might be put for ever to
all mention of that business; and that the intercourse of
mutual kindness, at present subsisting between them,
might not be disturbed by the uneasiness which must
arise to both parties, if he were to request what would be
destructive of the liberty of the Roman people; and the
Romans, unless they chose to comply at the expense of
their own ruin, [124] must give a refusal to a person, to
whom they would wish to refuse nothing: that the Roman
people were not under regal government, but in a state of
freedom, and were fully determined to open their gates to
declared enemies, rather than to kings: that this was the
fixed resolution of every one of them; that the liberty of
the city, and the city itself, should have the same period
of existence; and, therefore, to intreat him that, if he
wished the safety of Rome, he would allow it to continue
in its present state. The king, convinced of the
impropriety of interfering any farther, replied, Since this
is your fixed and unalterable resolution, I will neither
teaze you by a repetition of fruitless applications on the
same subject, nor will I disappoint the Tarquinii, by
giving hopes of assistance, which they must not expect
from me. Let them, whether they look for war or for
quiet, seek some other residence in their exile, that there
may subsist no cause of jealousy, to disturb,
henceforward, the good understanding, which I wish to
maintain between you and me. To these expressions he
added acts still more friendly; the hostages, which
remained in his possession, he restored, and gave back
the Veientian land, of which the Romans had been
deprived by the treaty at the Janiculum. Tarquinius,
finding all hopes of his restoration cut off, retired for
refuge to Tusculum, to his father-in-law, Mamilius
Octavius. Thus peace and confidence were firmly
established between the Romans and Porsena.

Y. R. 249. BC 503. XVI. The next consuls were Marcus

Valerius and Publius Postumius. During this year, war
was carried on, with success, against the Sabines, and the
consuls had the honour of a triumph. The Sabines,
afterwards, preparing for a renewal of hostilities in a
more formidable manner; to oppose them, and, at the
same time, to guard against any sudden danger which
might arise from the side of Tusculum, where, though
war was not openly declared, there was reason to
apprehend that it was intended, Publius Valerius, a
fourth time, [125] and Titus Lucretius, a second time, were
chosen consuls. Y. R. 250. BC 502. A tumult which arose
among the Sabines, between the advocates for peace and
those for war, was the means of transferring a
considerable part of their strength to the side of the
Romans. For Atta Clausus, called afterwards at Rome
Appius Claudius, being zealous in favour of peaceful
measures, but overpowered by the turbulent promoters
of war, and unable to make head against their faction,
withdrew from Regillum to Rome, accompanied by a
numerous body of adherents.* These were admitted to
the rights of citizens, and had land assigned them beyond
the Anio. They have been called the old Claudian tribe, to
distinguish them from the new members, who, coming
from the same part of the country, were afterwards added
to that tribe. Appius was elected into the senate, and soon
acquired a reputation among the most eminent. The
consuls, in prosecution of the war, marched their army
into the Sabine territories, and, after reducing the power
of the enemy, by wasting their lands, and afterwards in
battle, to such a degree, that there was no room to
apprehend a renewal of hostilities in that quarter for a
long time to come, returned in triumph to Rome. In the
ensuing year, Y. R. 251. BC 501. when Agrippa Menenius
and Publius Postumius were consuls, died Publius
Valerius, a man universally allowed to have excelled all
others, in superior talents both for war and peace, full of
glory, but in such slender circumstances, that he left not
sufficient to defray the charges of his funeral. He was
buried at the expense of the public, and the matrons went
into mourning for him, as they had done for Brutus.
During the same year, two of the Latine colonies, Pometia
and Cora revolted to the Auruncians, and war was
undertaken against that people; a very numerous army,
with which they boldly attempted to oppose the consuls,
who were entering their [126] borders, was entirely
routed, and the Auruncians compelled to make their last
stand at Pometia: nor was the carnage less after the battle
was over, than during its continuance; there were greater
numbers slain than taken, and those who were made
prisoners, were in general put to death; nay, in the
violence of their rage, which ought to be confined to foes
in arms, the enemy spared not even the hostages, three
hundred of whom had been formerly put into their
hands. During this year also there was a triumph at
Rome.

Y. R. 252. BC 500. XVII. The succeeding consuls, Opiter

Virginius and Spurius Cassius, attacked Pometia, at first
by storm, afterwards by regular approaches.* The
Auruncians, actuated rather by implacable hatred, than
by any hope of success, and without waiting for a
favourable opportunity, resolved to assail them; and,
sallying out, armed [127] with fire and sword, they filled
every place with slaughter and conflagration; and,
besides burning the machines, and killing and wounding
great numbers of their enemies, were very near killing
one of the consuls, (which of them, writers do not inform
us,) who was grievously wounded, and thrown from his
horse. The troops, thus foiled in their enterprize,
returned to Rome, leaving the consul, whose recovery
was doubtful, together with a great number of wounded.
After a short interval, just sufficient for the curing of their
wounds, and recruiting the army; the Romans renewed
their operations against Pometia, with redoubled fury
and augmented strength; and when they had a-new
completed their military works, the soldiers being just on
the point of scaling the walls, the garrison capitulated.
However, although the city had surrendered, the chiefs of
the Auruncians were from all parts dragged to execution,
with the same degree of cruelty, as if it had been taken by
assault: the other members of the colony were sold by
auction: the town was demolished, and the land set up to
sale. The consuls obtained a triumph, rather in
consideration of their having gratified the peoples
resentment by severe revenge, than of the magnitude of
the war which they had brought to a conclusion.

Y. R. 253. BC 499. XVIII. The following year the consuls

were Postumus Cominius and Titus Lartius; when some
Sabine youths having, through wantonness, used violence
to certain courtezans at Rome, during the celebration of
the public games, and a mob assembling, a scuffle
ensued, which might almost be called a battle; and, from
this trifling cause, matters seemed to have taken a
tendency towards a renewal of hostilities. Besides the
apprehension of a war with the Sabines, there was
another affair which created much uneasiness:
undoubted intelligence was received, that thirty states
had already formed a conspiracy, at the instigation of
Octavius Mamilius. While Rome remained in this
perplexity, looking forward with anxious apprehension
to [128] the issue of such a perilous conjuncture, mention
was made, for the first time, of creating a dictator.* But in
what year, or who the consuls were, who could not be
confided in, because they were of the Tarquinian faction,
for that also is related, or who was the first person
created dictator, we have no certain information. In the
most ancient writers, however, I find it asserted, that the
first dictator was Titus Lartius, and that Spurius Cassius
was appointed master of the horse. They chose men of
consular dignity, as ordered by the law enacted
concerning the creating of a dictator. For this reason, I
am the more induced to believe, that Lartius, who was of
consular dignity, and not Manius Valerius, son of
Marcus, and grandson of Volesus, who had not yet been
consul, was placed over the consuls, as their director and
master, as, even if it had been thought proper, that the
dictator should be chosen out of that family, they would
the rather have elected the father, Marcus Valerius, a
man of approved merit, and of consular dignity. On this
first establishment of a dictator at Rome, the populace,
seeing the axes carried before him, were struck with such
terror, as made them more submissive to rule; for they
could not now, as under consuls who were equal in
authority hope for protection, from one of them, against
the other; but prompt obedience was required of them,
and in no case was there any appeal. Even the Sabines
were alarmed at the appointment of a dictator by the
Romans, the more so, because they supposed that he had
been named to act against them; [129] they therefore sent
ambassadors to treat of an accommodation; who,
requesting of the dictator and senate, that they would
pardon the misconduct of thoughtless young men, were
answered, that pardon might be granted to young men,
but not to the old, who made it their constant practice to
kindle one war after another. However, a negociation was
entered into for an adjustment of affairs, and it would
have been concluded, if the Sabines had been willing to
reimburse the costs expended on the war, for that was the
condition required. War was proclaimed, but still a
suspension of hostilities continued during the remainder
of the year.

Y. R. 254. BC 498. XIX. The consuls of the next year were

Servius Sulpicius, and Manius Tullius. Nothing worth
mention occurred. Then succeeded Titus butius and
Caius Vetusius. In their consulate, Fiden was besieged,
Crustumeria-taken, Prneste revolted from the Latines
to the Romans, and a Latine war, the seeds of which had,
for several years past, been growing to maturity, could
not now be choaked. Aulus Postumius dictator, and Titus
butius master of the horse, Y. R. 255. BC 497. marching
out a numerous army of cavalry and infantry, met the
forces of the enemy at the lake Regillus, in the territory of
Tusculum; and, as it was known that the Tarquinii were
in the army of the Latines, the rage of the Romans could
not be restrained, but they insisted on engaging instantly;
for this reason, too, the battle was unusually obstinate
and bloody; for the generals not only performed the duty
of directing every thing, but, exposing their own persons,
mixed with the combatants, and shared the fight; and
scarcely one of the principal officers of either army left
the field without being wounded, except the Roman
dictator. As Postumius was encouraging and marshalling
his men in the first line, Tarquinius Superbus, though
now enfeebled by age, spurred on his horse furiously
against him; but receiving a blow, was quickly
surrounded by his own men, and carried [130] off to a
place of safety. On the other wing, butius, the master of
the horse, made an attack on Octavius Mamilius; nor was
his approach unobserved by the Tusculan general, who
advanced in full career to meet him, and each aiming his
spear at his antagonist, they encountered with such
violence, that the arm of butius was pierced through,
and Mamilius received a wound in his breast; the latter
was received by the Latines in their second line; while
butius, disabled by the wound in his arm from wielding
a weapon, retired from the fight. The Latine general, not
in the least dispirited by his wound, continued his
vigorous exertions; and perceiving his men begin to give
ground, sent for a cohort of Roman exiles, commanded
by Lucius the son of Tarquinius; these, fighting under the
impulse of keen resentment, on account of their having
been deprived of their property, and of their country,
kept the battle for some time in suspense.

XX. The Romans were now on one side giving way, when
Marcus Valerius, brother of Publicola, observing young
Tarquinius, with ostentatious fierceness, exhibiting his
prowess in the front of the exiles, and inflamed with a
desire of supporting the glory of his house, and that those
who enjoyed the honour of having expelled the royal
family, might also be signalized by their destruction, set
spurs to his horse, and, with his javelin presented, made
towards Tarquinius; Tarquinius avoided this violent
adversary, by retiring into the body of his men, and
Valerius rashly pushing forward into the line of the exiles,
was attacked, and run through, by some person on one
side of him, and as the horses speed was in no degree
checked by the wound of the rider, the expiring Roman
sunk to the earth, his arms falling over his body.
Postumius the dictator, seeing a man of such rank slain,
the exiles advancing to the charge with fierce
impetuosity, his own men disheartened and giving way,
issued orders to his cohort, a chosen band which he kept
about his [131] person as a guard, that they should treat as
an enemy, every man of their own army whom they
should see retreating. Meeting danger thus on both sides,
the Romans, who were flying, faced about against the
enemy, and renewed the fight; the dictators cohort then,
for the first time, engaged in battle; and, with fresh
strength and spirits, falling on the exiles who were
exhausted with fatigue, made great slaughter of them. On
this occasion another combat between two general
officers took place; the Latine general, on seeing the
cohort of exiles almost surrounded by the Roman
dictator, ordered several companies from the reserve to
follow him instantly to the front; Titus Herminius, a
lieutenant-general, observing these as they marched up,
and, among them, knowing Mamilius, who was
distinguished by his dress and arms, encountered him
with a strength so much superior to what had been
shown a little before, by the master of the horse, that with
one blow he slew Mamilius, driving the spear through his
side. Thus was he victorious; but having received a
wound from a javelin, while he was stripping the armour
from his adversarys body, he was carried off to the camp,
and expired during the first dressing of it. The dictator
then flew to the cavalry, entreating them, as the infantry
were now fatigued, to dismount and support the
engagement: they obeyed his orders, leaped from their
horses, flew forward to the van, and covering themselves
with their targets, took post as the front line: this
instantly revived the courage of the infantry, who saw the
young men of the first distinction foregoing every
advantage in their manner of fighting, and taking an
equal share of the danger. By these means, the Latines
were at length overpowered, their troops were beaten
from their ground, and began to retreat: the horses were
then brought up to the cavalry, in order that they might
pursue the enemy, and the line of infantry followed. At
this juncture, the dictator, omitting no means of engaging
the aid both of gods and men, is said to have
vowed [132] a temple to Castor; and to have proclaimed
rewards to the first, and to the second of the soldiers who
should enter the enemys camp; and so great was the
ardour of the Romans, that they never remitted the
impetuosity of the charge, by which they had broken the
enemys line, until they made themselves masters of the
camp. Such was the engagement at the lake Regillus. The
dictator and master of the horse, on their return to the
city, were honoured with a triumph.

Y. R. 256. BC 496. XXI. During the three ensuing years,

there was neither war, nor yet a security of lasting peace.
The consuls were, Quintus Cllius and Titus Lartius:
then Aulus Sempronius and Marcus Minutius, Y. R.
257. BC 495. in whose consulate the temple of Saturn was
dedicated, and the festival called Saturnalia instituted.
After them, Aulus Postumius and Titus Virginius were
made consuls. Y. R. 258. BC 494. I find it asserted by some
writers, that the battle at the lake Regillus was not fought
until this year, and that Aulus Postumius, because the
fidelity of his colleague was doubtful, abdicated the
consulship, and was then made dictator. Such perplexing
mistakes, with regard to dates, occur from the
magistrates being ranged in different order, by different
writers, that it is impossible, at this distance of time,
when not only the facts, but the authors who relate them,
are involved in the obscurity of antiquity, to trace out a
regular series of the consuls as they succeeded each
other, or of the transactions as they occurred in each
particular year. Y. R. 259. BC 493. Appius Claudius and
Publius Servilius were next appointed to the consulship.
This year was rendered remarkable by the news of
Tarquiniuss death; he died at Cum, whither, on the
reduction of the power of the Latines, he had retired for
refuge, to the tyrant Aristodemus. By this news, both the
patricians and the commons were highly elated; but the
former suffered their exultation on the occasion to carry
them to unwarrantable lengths; and the latter, who, until
that time, had been treated [133] with the utmost
deference, began to feel themselves exposed to insults
from the nobility. During the same year, the colony of
Signia, which Tarquinius had founded in his reign, was
re-established, by filling up its number of colonists. The
tribes of Rome were increased to the number of twenty-
one. The temple of Mercury was dedicated on the ides of
May.

XXII. During these proceedings against the Latines, it

could hardly be said that there was either war or peace
with the nation of the Volscians: for, on the one hand,
these had got troops in readiness, which they would have
sent to the assistance of the Latines, if the Roman
dictator had not been so quick in his measures; and, on
the other, the Roman had used this expedition, in order
that he might not be obliged to contend against the
united forces of the Latines and Volscians. In resentment
of this behaviour, the consuls led the legions into the
Volscian territory: the Volscians, who had no
apprehensions of punishment, for a design which had not
been put in execution, were confounded at this
unexpected proceeding, insomuch that, laying aside all
thoughts of opposition, they gave three hundred
hostages, the children of the principal persons at Cora
and Pometia; in consequence whereof, the legions were
withdrawn from thence, without having come to an
engagement. However, in a short time after, the
Volscians being delivered from their fears, resumed their
former disposition, renewed secretly their preparations
for war, and prevailed on the Hernicians to join them;
they also sent ambassadors through every part of Latium,
to stir up that people to arms. But the Latines were so
deeply affected by their recent disaster, at the lake
Regillus, and so highly incensed at any persons
attempting to persuade them to engage in a war, that they
even offered violence to the ambassadors: seizing the
Volscians, they conducted them to Rome, and there
delivered them to the consuls, with information, that the
Volscians and Hernicians were preparing to make war on
the Romans. The affair being laid before [134] the senate,
the conduct of the Latines was so acceptable to the
senators, that they restored to them six thousand of the
prisoners, and made an order, besides, that the new
magistrates should proceed in the business relative to an
alliance, a point which had been almost absolutely
refused them. The Latines then highly applauded
themselves for the part which they had acted, and the
friends of peaceful measures were held in high
estimation: they sent to the capitol a golden crown, as a
present to Jupiter, and, together with the ambassadors,
and the present, came a great multitude of attendants,
consisting of the prisoners who had been sent back to
their friends. These proceeded to the several houses of
the persons, with whom each of them had been in
servitude, returned thanks for their generous behaviour
and treatment of them, during the time of their calamity,
and formed mutual connexions of hospitality. Never, at
any former time, was the Latine nation more closely
united to the Roman government; by ties both of a public
and private nature.

XXIII. But, besides being immediately threatened with a

Volscian war, the state itself was torn in pieces by
intestine animosities, between the particians and
commons, on account principally of persons confined for
debt:* these complained loudly, that after fighting abroad
for freedom and empire, they were made prisoners and
oppressed by their countrymen at home, and that the
liberty of the commons was more secure in war than in
peace, amongst their foes than amongst their own
countrymen. This spirit of [135] discontent, of itself
increasing daily, was kindled into a flame, by the
extraordinary sufferings of one man. A person far
advanced in years, whose appearance denoted severe
distress, threw himself into the Forum; his garb was
squalid, and the figure of his person still more shocking,
pale and emaciated to the last degree; besides, a long
beard and hair had given his countenance a savage
appearance: wretched as was the plight in which he
appeared, he was known notwithstanding; several
declared, that he had been centurion in the army, and,
filled with compassion for him, mentioned publicly many
other distinctions, which he had obtained in the service;
he himself exhibited scars on his breast, as testimonies of
his honourable behaviour in several actions. To those
who inquired the cause of that wretched condition, both
of his person and apparel, (a crowd meantime having
assembled round him, which resembled, in some degree,
an assembly of the people,) he answered, that while he
served in the army during the Sabine war, having not
only lost the produce of his farm by the depredations of
the enemy, but his house being burnt, all his goods
plundered, his cattle driven off, and a tax being imposed
at a time so distressing to him, he was obliged to run in
debt; that this debt, aggravated by usury, had consumed,
first, his farm, which he had inherited from his father and
frandfather; then, the remainder of his substance; and
lastly, like a pestilence, had reached his person: that he
had been dragged by a creditor not into servitude, but
into a house of correction, or rather a place of execution.
He then showed his back disfigured with the marks of
fresh stripes: on this sight, after such a relation, a great
uproar arose; and the tumult was no longer confined to
the Forum, but spread through every part of the city:
those who were then in confinement, and those who had
been released from it, forced their way into the public
street; and implored the protection of their fellow-
citizens: there was no spot which did not afford a
voluntary associate to [136] add to the insurrection; from
all quarters they ran in bodies, through every street, with
great clamour, into the Forum. The situation of the
senators who happened to be there at that time, and who
fell in the way of this mob, became highly perilous, for
they would certainly have proceeded to violence, had not
the consuls, Publius Servilius and Appius Claudius,
hastily interposed their authority. To them the multitude
turned their applications; showed their chains, and other
marks of wretchedness; said, this was what they had
deserved; and reminding them of their former services in
war, and in various engagements, insisted, with menaces
rather than supplications, that they should assemble the
senate; they then placed themselves round the senate-
house, that they might act as witnesses, and directors of
the councils of government. A very small number of the
senators, whom chance threw in the way, and these
against their will, attended the consuls: fear kept the rest
at a distance; so that nothing could be done by reason of
the thinness of the meeting. The populace then conceived
an opinion, that there was a design to elude their
demands by delay; that the absence of certain of the
senators was occasioned, not by chance, nor by fear, but
by their wishes to obstruct the business; that the consuls
themselves showed a backwardness, and that their
miseries were manifestly made a matter of mockery. The
affair had now nearly arrived at such a state, that even
the majesty of the consuls, it was feared, might be
insufficient to restrain the rage of the people. At length
the senators, beginning to doubt, whether they should
incur the greater danger, by absenting themselves, or by
attending, came to the senate; and when, after all this
delay, a proper number had assembled, not only the
senators, but even the consuls themselves, differed
widely in opinion. Appius, a man of a violent temper,
thought that the riot ought to be quelled by the weight of
the consular authority, and that when one or two were
taken into custody, the rest would be [137] quiet:
Servilius, more inclined to gentle remedies, maintained
that, as the peoples spirits were already wound up to
such a pitch of ill-humour, it would be both the safer and
the easier method, to bend, than to break them. To add to
these perplexities, they were threatened with still greater
peril from another quarter.
XXIV. Some Latine horsemen arrived, in the utmost
haste, with the alarming intelligence, that the Volscians,
in hostile array, were coming to attack the city; which
news, so entirely opposite were the views of the parties
into which the state was split, affected the patricians and
the commons in a very different manner. The commons
exulted with joy; said the gods were coming to take
vengeance for the tyranny of the patricians, and
encouraged each other in the resolution not to enrol
themselves; saying, it was better that all should perish
together, than that they should be the only victims; let
the patricians serve as soldiers; let the patricians take
arms, that those who reap the advantages of war, may
also undergo its severities and hazards. On the other
hand, the senate, dejected and confounded on finding
themselves thus encompassed by dangers, from their
countrymen on one side, and from the enemy on the
other, besought the consul Servilius, whose temper was
adapted to conciliate the regard of the people, that he
would find means to extricate the commonwealth from
the dreadful apprehensions with which it was beset.
Whereupon the consul, dismissing the senate, went forth
to the assembly of the people; there he assured them, that
the senators were solicitous that care should be taken of
the interest of the commons; but that their fears for the
safety of the commonwealth, in general, had interrupted
their deliberations, concerning that part of the state,
which, though it must be allowed to be the largest, was
still but a part; nor could they, while the enemy was just
at the gates, allow any business to take place of the
necessary provisions for the war, nor, even it [138] they
were allowed a little respite, would it be either for the
honour of the commons, to have refused to take arms in
defence of their country, unless on condition of first
receiving hire for it; nor could it fail of injuring the
reputation of the senators themselves, if they should
appear to have now applied their attention to the good of
their countrymen, through fear, rather than afterwards
through inclination. He gave proof of his sincerity in this
discourse, by an edict, whereby he ordained, that no
person should hold any Roman citizen in bonds or
confinement, so as to prevent his giving in his name to
the consuls; that no person should take possession, or
make sale, of the goods of a soldier, while upon service;
nor detain in custody either his children or
grandchildren. On the publication of this edict, such
debtors under arrest, as were present, instantly gave in
their names, and crowds of others, in every part of the
city, rushing out of their confinement, when the creditors
had no longer a right to detain them, ran together to the
Forum, to take the military oath: these composed a large
body of troops, and none, during the Volscian war,
displayed a greater share of bravery and activity. The
consul led out his army against the enemy, and pitched
his camp at a small distance from theirs.

XXV. The following night, the Volscians, expecting great

advantages from the dissensions of the Romans,
approached their camp, in hopes that, in the surrounding
darkness, some might desert or betray their posts. They
were, however, perceived by the sentinels; the troops
were called up, and, the signal being given, they ran to
arms; and by these means frustrated the attempt of the
Volscians: the remainder of the night was dedicated to
repose by both parties. Next day, at the first dawn, the
Volscians, having filled up the trenches, assaulted the
rampart, and were proceeding to demolish the
fortifications on every side, when the consul, having
delayed for some time in order to try the [139] temper of
his men, though called on from all sides, and particularly
by the debters, to give the signal, at length, on finding
their ardour so great, issued the order for sally-ing, and
sent forth his troops, eager for the fight. At the first onset,
the enemy were immediately routed, and their rear
harassed in their retreat, as far as the infantry were able
to pursue, while the cavalry, not suffering them to
recover from their consternation, drove them to their
camp. In a little time, the camp itself was surrounded by
the legions, and the Volscians not having courage enough
left to make a stand there, it was taken, and plundered.
Next day, the legions were led in Suessa Pometia, whither
the enemy had retreated, and shortly after the town was
taken, and given up to the troops to be plundered by
these means, the needy soldiers were in some measure
relieved. The counsul, having acquired great glory, led
back his victorious army to Rome. As he was preparing
for his departure, ambassadors came to him from the
Volscians of Ecetrea, who, after the taking of Pometia,
felt apprehensions for their own safety: these had peace
granted them by decree of the senate, but were deprived
of their lands.

XXVI. Immediately after, the Sabines also caused an

alarm at Rome, but it was, in fact, a tumult rather than a
war. An account was brought by night, to the city, there a
Sabine army were plundering the country, and had
advanced so far as the river Anio, and that they were
ravaging and burning all the farms in that
neighbourhood. Aulus Postumius, who had been dicator
in the Latine war, was instantly despatched thither with
all the cavalry, and the consul Servilius followed, with a
chosen body of foot. The greater part of the stragglers
were cut off by the cavalry; nor was the man body of the
Sabines capable of resisting the infantry on their
approach, fatigued both by their march and by collecting
booty, a great number of them in the
country [140] houses, overcharged with meat and wine,
had scarcely strength sufficient to enable them to fly.
Thus was this Sabine war finished within the same night
in which the first account of it had been received. The
next day while sanguine hopes were entertained that
peace with all their neighbours was now securely
established, ambassadors cam to the senate from the
Auruncians, denouncing war, unless the troops were
withdrawn from the territories of the Volscians: the army
of the Auruncians had set out from home, at the same
time with the ambassadors: and intelligence arriving,
that it had been seen not far from Aricia, it excited such
an alarm among the Romans, that neither could the
senate be consulted in a regular manner, no could they,
while busy themselves in taking up arms, give a peaceable
answer to those who were advancing against them. The
troops marched to Aricia, and not far from thence
meeting with the enemy, came to a general engagement,
which, without further contest, put an end to the war.

XXVII. When the Auruncians were defeated, the

Romans, having vanquished so many different powers,
within the space of a few days, expected the fulfillment of
the promises made them by the consuls, and
strengthened by the engagements of the senate. But
Appius, instigated both by his own natural haughtiness,
and a desire to undermine the credit of his colleague,
issued his decrees on suits between debtor and creditor,
with all possible severity; in consequence of which, both
those who had formerly been in confinement, were
delivered up to their creditors, and others also were taken
into custody. When this happened to be the cast of nay of
the auditors; he appealed to the other consul; a crowd
gathered about Servillus, reminded him of his promises,
upbraided him with their services in war, and the scars
which they had received; insisted that he should lay the
affair before the senate; and that, as consul, he
should [141] support his countrymen, and as general, his
soldiers. The consul was affected by these remonstrances,
but circumstances obliged him to decline interfering; not
only his colleague, but the whole faction of the nobles,
having gone so violently into opposite measures. By thus
acting a middle part, he neither avoided the hatred of the
commons, no procured the esteem of the patricians; the
latter, considering him as destitute of the firmness
becoming his office, and as too fond of popular applause,
while the former looked upon him as a deceiver; and it
shortly appeared that he was become no less odious than
Appius. A contest happened between the consuls, as to
which of them should dedicate the temple of Mercury.
The senate refused to decide the matter, and referred it to
the people, passing a vote that to whichever of them the
dedication should be granted, the same should preside
over the markets, should institute a college of merchants,
and join the pontiff in the performance of the ceremonies
usual on such occasions. The people gave the honour of
the dedication to Marcus Detorius, a centurion of the first
rank, showing plainly, that they acted thus, not merely
out of respect to the person on whom they conferred an
office of higher dignity than became his station, but with
design to affront the consuls. This threw the patricians,
and one of the consuls, particularly, into a rage but the
commons had now assumed a greater degree of courage,
and began to prosecute then measures in a very different
method from that in which they had set out. Having given
up all hope of protection from the consuls and the senate,
whenever they saw a debtor led to the court, they flew
together from all quarters so that neither could the
sentence of the consul be heard amidst their noise and
clamours, nor when it was pronounced did any one obey
it. All was managed by force; and the whole dread and
danger, with respect to their freedom, was transferred
from the debtors to the creditors, who, standing single,
were abused by the multitude, under the [142] very eye of
the consul. To add to the perplexity of the senate the
alarm was spread of an attack being intended by the
Sabines and orders being issued for levying troops, not a
man gave in his name. Meanwhile Appius in a rage
inveighed bitterly against the criminal lenity of his
colleague, saying that by his popular silence, he was
betraying the commonwealth, and that besides refusing
to enforce the laws with respect to creditors, he neglected
also to execute the decree of the senate, for levying
troops. He declared that the interest of the state was not
yet entirely deserted, nor the consular office yet stripped
of its authority; that he himself would stand forth singly,
and vindicate his own dignity, and that of the senate.
Though surrounded by the multitude which assembled
daily, and were of a temper too violent to be controlled ,
he ordered one of the principal ringleaders of the mob to
be apprehended, When the lictors laid hold of him he
appealed, but the consul would not at first allow the
appeal, there being no doubt what the sentence of the
people would be. His obstinacy, however, was at length
overcome, more by the advice and influence of the
nobility than by the clamours of the people; so firmly did
he withstand the indignation of the multitude. From this
time, the evil daily gained ground, showing itself not only
in open expressions of discontent, but, what was much
more pernicious, in secret meetings and private cabals.
At length these consuls, so odious to the people, went out
of office, Appius in high favour with the patricians.
Servilius with neither party.

XXVIII. Next entered on the consulship, Aulus Virginius

and Titus Vetusius. The people now, not being able to
judge what sort of consuls they were to have, took care to
form nightly meetings, some on the Esquiline, others on
the Aventine mount, in order that their proceedings
might not be confused by their being obliged to adopt
measures hastily in the Forum, and to act, on
every [143] occasion, at random, and without a plan. The
consuls, considering this as a very dangerous proceeding,
which it really was, proposed it to the consideration of
the senate, but were not allowed, after proposing it, to
take the votes regularly, a great tumult arising on the
mention of it among the senators, who exclaimed, and
expressed the highest indignation at the consuls
attempting to throw on that body the odium of an affair
which ought to have been quelled by the consular
authority. They told them, that if there really had been
magistrates in the commonwealth, there would have been
no council at Rome, but the public one. At present the
government was divided and dispersed into a thousand
senate houses, and assemblies, some meetings being held
on the Esquiline mount, others on the Aventine. That
they had no doubt, but one man, such as Appius
Claudius, would have dispersed those meetings in a
moments time. The consuls, on receiving this rebuke,
asked the senate, what then they would have them do?
for they were resolved, they said, to act with all the
activity and vigour which the senate might recommend. A
decree then passed, that they should enforce the levies
with the utmost strictness; for that the commons were
grown insolent through want of employment. Dismissing
the senate the consuls mounted the tribunal, and cited
the younger citizens by their name. No answer being
made, the multitude which stood round, like a general
assembly, declared, that the commons could be no
longer deceived; and that not a single soldier should be
raised, until the public engagements were fulfilled. That
every man must have his liberty restored, before arms
were put into his hands, that the people might be
convinced they were to fight for their country and fellow-
citizens, not for their masters. The consuls saw clearly
enough what the senate expected from them; but of those
who spoke with the greatest vehemence within the walls
of the senate-house, not one was present to stand the
brunt of the contests, and every thing [144] threatened a
desperate one with the commons. It was resolved,
therefore, before they should proceed to extremities, to
consult the senate again; the consequence of which was,
that all the younger senators rushed up hastily to the
seats of the consuls, desiring them to abdicate the
consulship, and lay down a command which they wanted
spirit to support.
XXIX. Having made sufficient trial of the dispositions of
both sides, the consuls at length spoke out: Conscript
fathers, lest ye should hereafter say that ye were not
forewarned, know that a dangerous sedition is ready to
break out. We demand that those who are the most
forward to censure us for inactivity, may assist us by their
presence, while we hold the levy. We will proceed in the
business in such a manner as shall be approved by the
most strenuous advocates for vigorous measures, since
such is your pleasure. They then went back to the
tribunal, and ordered, purposely, one of those, who were
within view, to be cited: finding that he stood mute, and
that a number of people had formed in a circle round
him, to prevent any force being used, the consuls sent a
lictor to him, who being driven back, those of the
senators who attended the consuls, exclaiming against
the insolence of such behaviour, flew down from the
tribunal to assist the lictor. The populace then, quitting
the lictor, to whom they had offered no other opposition
than that of hindering him from making the seizure,
directed their force against the senators; but the consuls
interposing quickly, put an end to the scuffle, in which as
neither stones nor weapons had been used, there was
more clamour and rage than mischief. The senate called
tumultuously together, proceeded in a manner still more
tumultuous; those who had been beaten, demanding an
inquiry into the affair; and the most violent of them
endeavouring to carry their point by clamour and noise,
rather than by vote. At length, when their rage had
somewhat subsided, the consuls, reproaching them with
being equally disorderly in the senate-house as in the
Forum, [145] began to collect the votes. There were three
different opinions; Publius Virginius thought that the
case did not extend to the whole body of the commons,
and that those only were to be considered, who, relying
on the promises of the consul Publius Servilius, had
served in the Volscian, Auruncian, and Sabine wars:
Titus Largius was of opinion, that the present juncture
required something more than the making a return for
services performed; that the whole body of the commons
were overwhelmed with debt, nor could the progress of
the evil be stopped, unless the advantages of the whole
were attended to. On the contrary, if distinctions were
made, this would add fuel to the dissensions, instead of
extinguishing them. Appius Claudius, whose temper
naturally harsh, was roused to a degree of ferocity by his
hatred to the commons on the one hand, and the
applause of the patricians on the other, affirmed that all
these dirturbances were excited, not by the peoples
sufferings, but their licentiousness; and that the
commons were actuated by a spirit of wantonness, rather
than by resentment of injuries: this was the consequence
of giving them a right to appeal; for all that a consul could
do, was to threaten, he could not command, when people
are allowed to appeal to those who have been accomplices
in their transgressions. Come, said he, let us create a
dictator, from whom there is no appeal: this madness,
which has set the whole state in a flame, will quickly sink
into silence. Let me then see, who will strike a lictor,
when he knows that the very person whose dignity he
insults, has the sole and entire disposal of his person and
of his life.

XXX. To many, the expedient recommended by Appius

appeared too rough and violent, and justly so; on the
other hand, the propositions of Virginius and Largius
were considered as tending to establish a bad precedent;
particularly that of Largius, which was utterly subversive
of all credit. The advice of Virginius was deemed to be the
farthest from [146] excess on either side, and a just
medium between the other two. But, through the spirit of
faction, and mens regard to their private interests,
(things which ever did and ever will impede the public
councils,) Appius prevailed, and was himself very near
being created dictator; which proceeding, beyond any
other, would have highly disgusted the commons, at a
very critical juncture, when the Volscians, the quans,
and the Sabines, happened to be all in arms at the same
time. But the consuls and the elder part of the senate took
care that a command, in itself uncontrolable, should be
intrusted to a person of a mild disposition; and
accordingly they chose for dictator Manius Valerius, son
of Volesus. Although the commons saw that the dictator
was created in opposition to them, yet, as by his brothers
law, they enjoyed the privilege of appeal, they dreaded
nothing harsh or overbearing from that family. Their
hopes were farther encouraged by an edict which the
dictator published, of the same tenor in general with the
edict of the consul Servilius; but as they thought that they
had now securer grounds of confidence, both in the man
himself, and in the power with which he was invested,
they desisted from the contest, and gave in their names.
Ten legions were completed, a force greater than had ever
been raised before; of these, three were assigned to each
of the consuls, the other four were commanded by the
dictator. War could now be no longer deferred: the
quans had invaded the territories of the Latines; and
these by their ambassadors petitioned the senate, that
they would either send troops to protect them, or permit
them to take arms themselves, to defend their frontiers.
It was judged the safer method to defend the Latines
without their own assistance, than to allow them to
handle arms again: the consul Vetusius was therefore
sent thither, who put an end to the depredations. The
quans retired from the plains, and provided for their
safety on the tops of the mountains, relying more on the
situation than on their arms. [147] The other consul who
marched against the Volscians, not choosing that his time
should be wasted in like manner, used every means,
particularly by ravaging the country, in order to provoke
the enemy to approach nearer, and to hazard an
engagement. They were drawn up in order of battle in a
plain between the two camps, each party before their own
rampart. The Volscians had considerably the advantage
in point of numbers; they therefore advanced to the fight,
in a careless manner, as if despising the enemy. The
Roman consul did not suffer his troops to move, nor to
return the shout, but ordered them to stand with their
javelins fixed in the ground, and as soon as the enemy
should come within reach, then to exert at once their
utmost efforts, and decide the affair with their swords.
The Volscians, fatigued with running and shouting,
rushed upon the Romans, whom they believed to be
benumbed with fear; but when they found a vigorous
resistance, and the swords glittering before their eyes,
struck with consternation, just as if they had fallen into
an ambuscade, they turned their backs: nor had they
strength left to enable them to make their escape, having
exhausted it by advancing to the battle in full speed. The
Romans, on the other hand, having stood quiet during
the first part of the engagement, had their vigour fresh,
and easily overtaking the wearied fugitives, took their
camp by assault, and pursuing them, as they fled from
thence to Velitr, the victors and the vanquished
composing, as it were, but one body, rushed into the city
together. People of every kind were put to the sword,
without distinction, and there was more blood spilt than
even in the fight: a small number only, who threw down
their arms, obtained quarter.

XXXI. While these things passed in the country of the

Volscians, the Sabines, who were by far the most
formidable enemy, were routed, put to flight, and beaten
out of their camp by the dictator. He had at first, by a
charge of his cavalry, thrown the centre of the enemys
line into disorder; [148] which, while they extended their
wings too far, had not been sufficiently strengthened by a
proper depth of files. Before they could recover from this
confusion, the infantry fell upon them, and continued
their attack, without intermission, until they made
themselves masters of their camp, and put a conclusion
to the war. Since the battle at the lake Regillus, there had
not been obtained in those times, a more glorious victory
than this: the dictator entered the city in triumph, and
besides the accustomed honours, there was a place in the
circus assigned to him and his posterity, for a seat, and a
curule chair fixed in it. From the vanquished Volscians
the lands of the district of Velitr were taken, for which
inhabitants were sent from the city, and a colony
established there. Soon after this, a battle was fought
with the quans, against the inclination indeed of the
consul, who considered the disadvantage of the ground
which the troops had to traverse; but the soldiers,
accusing him of protracting the business, in order that
the dictator might go out of office before they should
return to the city, and so his promises fall to the ground
without effect, as had those of the former consul, they at
length prevailed on him to march up his army, at all
hazards, against the steep of the mountain. Rash as this
undertaking was, yet, through the cowardice of the
enemy, it was crowned with success; for, before a weapon
could be thrown, struck with amazement at the boldness
of the Romans, they abandoned their camp, which they
had fixed in a very strong position, and ran down
precipitately into the vallies, on the opposite side: there
the Romans gained a bloodless victory, and abundance of
booty. Though their arms were thus attended with
success, in three different quarters, neither patricians nor
commons were free from anxiety respecting the issue of
their domestic affairs. With such powerful influence, and
with such art also, had the lenders of money concerted
their measures, that they were able to disappoint not only
the commons, but even the [149] dictator himself: for
Valerius, on the return of the consul Vetusius, took care
that the first business which came before the senate
should be that of the people, who had returned home
victorious; and proposed the question, what did they
think proper to be done with respect to the persons
confined for debt? and when they refused to take the
matter into consideration, he said, My endeavours to
restore concord are, I see, displeasing to you: believe me
when I solemnly declare, that the time will shortly come
when you will wish, that the commons of Rome had just
such patrons as I am: as to myself, I will neither be the
means of farther disappointments to the hopes of my
countrymen, nor will I hold the office of dictator without
effect. Intestine discord and foreign wars made it
necessary for the commonwealth to have such a
magistrate: peace has been procured abroad, at home it is
not suffered to take place: it is my determination then, in
time of sedition, to appear in the character of a private
citizen, rather than that of dictator. Then withdrawing
from the senate-house, he abdicted the dictatorship. The
case appeared to the commons, as if he had resigned his
office out of resentment of the treatment shown to them,
and therefore, as if he had fulfilled his engagements, it
not having been his fault that they were not fulfilled, they
attended him, as he retired to his house, with
approbation and applause.

XXXII. The senate were then seized with apprehensions,

that if the citizens should be discharged from the army,
their secret cabals and conspiracies would be renewed;
wherefore, supposing that, though the levy was made by
the dictator, yet as the soldiers had sworn obedience to
the consuls, they were still bound by that oath, they
ordered the legions, under the pretext of hostilities being
renewed by the quans, to be led out of the city: which
step served only to hasten the breaking out of the
sedition. It is said that the plebeians, at first, entertained
thoughts of putting the consuls to death, [150] in order
that they might be thereby discharged from the oath; but
being afterwards informed that no religious obligation
could be dissolved by an act of wickedness, they, by the
advice of a person called Sicinus, retired without waiting
for orders from the consuls, to the sacred mount, beyond
the river Anio, about three miles from the city. This
account is more generally credited than that given by
Piso, who says, the secession was made to the Aventine.
In this place, without any commander, having fortified
their camp with a rampart and trench, they remained
quiet for several days, taking nothing from any one but
necessary subsistence, neither receiving nor giving
offence. Great was the consternation in the city; all was
fearful suspense and mutual apprehension: the plebeians,
who were left behind by their brethren, dreaded the
violence of the patricians; the patricians dreaded the
plebeians who remained in the city, not knowing whether
they ought to wish for their stay, or for their departure:
but how long could it be supposed that the multitude
which had seceded would remain inactive? And what
would be the consequence, if, in the mean time, a foreign
war should break out? No glimpse of hope could they see
left, except in concord between the citizens, which must
be re-established in the state on any terms, whether fair
or unfair. They determined, therefore, to send as
ambassador to the plebeians, Menenius Agrippa, a man
of eloquence, and acceptable to the commons, because he
had been originally one of their body. He, being admitted
into the camp, is said to have related to them the
following fable, delivered in antiquated language, and an
uncouth style:At a time when the members of the
human body did not, as at present, all unite in one plan,
but each member had its own scheme, and its own
language; the other parts were provoked at seeing that
the fruits of all their care, of all their toil and service,
were applied to the use of the belly; and that the belly
meanwhile remained at its ease, and did nothing but
enjoy the pleasure [151] provided for it: on this they
conspired together, that the hand should not bring food
to the mouth, nor the mouth receive it if offered, nor the
teeth chew it. While they wished, by these angry
measures, to subdue the belly through hunger, the
members themselves, and the whole body, were, together
with it, reduced to the last stage of decay: from thence it
appeared that the office of the belly itself was not
confined to a slothful indolence; that it not only received
nourishment, but supplied it to the others, conveying to
every part of the body, that blood, on which depend our
life and vigour, by distributing it equally through the
veins, after having brought it to perfection by digestion of
the food. Applying this to the present case, and showing
what similitude there was between the dissension of the
members, and the resentment of the commons against
the patricians, he made a considerable impression on the
peoples minds.

XXXIII. A negociation was then opened for a

reconciliation; and an accommodation was effected, on
the terms, that the plebeians should have magistrates of
their own, invested with inviolable privileges, who might
have power to afford them protection against the consuls;
and that it should not be lawful for any of the patricians
to hold that office. Accordingly, there were two tribunes
of the commons created, Caius Licinius and Lucius
Albinius; and these created three colleagues to
themselves, among whom was Sicinius, the adviser of the
secession: but who the other two were, is not agreed:
some say that there were only two tribunes created on the
sacred mount, and that the devoting law* was
passed [152] there. Y. R. 261. BC 491. During the secession
of the commons, Spurius Cassius and Postumus
Cominius entered on the consulship. In their consulate
the treaty with the Latines was concluded; for the
purpose of ratifying this, one of the consuls remained at
Rome, and the other, being sent with an army against the
Volscians, defeated and put to flight those of Antium; and
having driven them into the town of Longula, pursued
the blow, and made himself master of the town. He
afterwards took Polusca, another town belonging to the
same people; then with all his force attacked Corioli.
There was then in the camp, among others of the young
nobility, Caius Marcius, a youth of quick judgment and
lively courage, who was afterwards surnamed Coriolanus.
The Roman army, while engaged in the siege of Corioli,
applying their whole attention to the garrison, which they
kept shut up in the town, without any fear of an attack
from without, were assaulted on a sudden by the Volscian
legions, who had marched thither from Antium, and at
the same time the enemy sallied out from the town:
Marcius happened to be then on guard, and being
supported by a chosen body of men, [153] he not only
repelled the attack of the sallying party, but rushed
furiously in at the open gate; and putting all to the sword
in that part of the city, laid hold of the first fire which he
found, and threw it on the houses adjoining the wall; on
which the shouts of the townsmen mingling with the cries
of the women and children, occasioned by the first fright,
served both to add courage to the Romans, and to dispirit
the Volscians, as they perceived that the town was taken
which they had come to relieve. By this means the
Volscians of Antium were defeated, and the town of
Corioli taken; and so entirely did the glory of Marcius
eclipse the fame of the consul, that, were it not that the
treaty with the Latines, being engraved on a brazen pillar,
remained to testify that it was ratified by Spurius Cassius
alone, the other consul being absent, it would not have
been remembered that Postumus Cominius was
appointed to conduct the war. This year died Menenius
Agrippa, through the whole course of his life equally
beloved by the patricians and the plebeians; and after the
secession, still more endeared to the latter. This man,
who, in the character of mediator and umpire, had re-
established concord among his countrymen, the
ambassador of the senate to the plebeians, the person
who brought back the Roman commons to the city, was
not possessed of property sufficient for the expense of a
funeral. He was buried at the charge of the commons, by
a contribution of a sextans* from each person.

Y. R. 262. BC 490. XXXIV. The consuls who succeeded,

were Titus Greganius and Publius Minucius. During this
year, when the state was undisturbed by foreign wars,
and the dissentions at home had been healed, a more
grievous calamity of another nature fell upon it: at first a
scarcity of provisions, occasioned by the lands lying
untilled during the secession of the commons; and
afterwards, a famine, not less severe [154] than what is felt
in a besieged city. This without doubt would have
increased to such a degree that the slaves, and also many
of the commons, must have perished, had not the consuls
taken measures to remedy it, by sending to all quarters to
buy up corn; not only into Etruria on the coast to the
right of Ostia, and by permission of the Volscians, along
the coast on the left as far as Cum, but even to Sicily; for
the hatred entertained against them by their neighbours
compelled them thus to look for aid to distant countries.
After a quantity of corn had been purchased at Cum, the
ships were detained by the tyrant Aristodemus, as the
property of the Tarquinii, whose heir he was. Among the
Volscians, and in the Pomptine district, it could not even
be purchased, the persons employed in that business
being in danger of their lives from the violence of the
inhabitants. From Etruria, some corn was conveyed by
the Tiber, by which the people were supported. At this
unseasonable time, while thus distressed by the scarcity,
they were in danger of being farther harassed by war, had
not a most destructive pestilence attacked the Volscians,
when they were just ready to commence hostilities. By
this dreadful calamity the enemy were so dispirited, that,
even after it had abated, they could not entirely rid their
minds of the terror which it had occasioned. Besides, the
Romans not only augmented the numbers in their
settlement at Velitr, but sent a new colony into the
mountains of Norba, to serve as a barrier in the Pomptine
territory. Y. R. 263. BC 489. In the succeeding consulate of
Marcus Minucius and Aulus Sempronius, a great quantity
of corn was brought from Sicily, and it was debated in the
senate, at what price it should be given to the commons.
Many were of opinion, that now was the time to humble
the commons, and to recover those rights which, by the
secession and violence had been extorted from the
patricians; Marcius Coriolanus particularly, an avowed
enemy of the power of the tribunes, said, If they wish to
have provisions [155] at the usual price, let them restore to
the patricians their former rights: why am I obliged, after
being sent under the yoke, after being ransomed, as it
were, from robbers, to behold plebeian magistrates, to
behold Sicinius invested with power and authority? Shall
I submit to such indignities longer than necessity
compels me? Shall I, who could not endure Tarquinius on
the throne, endure Sicinius? Let him now secede, let him
call away the commons: the road is open to the sacred
mount, and to other hills: let them carry off the corn from
our lands, as they did two years ago: let them make the
best of the present state of the market, which they have
occasioned by their own madness. I affirm with
confidence, that when they are brought to reason by their
present sufferings, they will themselves become tillers of
the lands, rather than take arms and secede, to prevent
their being tilled. Whether such a measure were
expedient, is not now easy to say; but, in my opinion, it
was very practicable for the patricians, by insisting on
terms for lowering the price of provisions, to have freed
themselves from the tribunitian power, and every other
restraint imposed on them against their will.

XXXV. The method proposed appeared to the senate to

be too harsh, and incensed the commons to such a
degree, that they were very near having recourse to arms.
They complained, that, as if they were enemies, attempts
were made to destroy them by famine: that they were
defrauded of food and sustenance; that the foreign corn,
the only support which, unexpectedly, fortune had given
them, was to be snatched out of their mouths, unless the
tribunes were surrendered up in bonds to Caius Marcius;
unless he were gratified by the personal sufferings of the
Roman commons: a new kind of executioner had come
forward, who gave them no alternative but death or
slavery. They would have proceeded to violence against
him as he came out of the senate-house, had not the
tribunes very opportunely summoned him [156] to a trial.
This suppressed their rage, when every one saw himself a
judge, and empowered to decide on the life and death of
his foe. At first, Marcius heard the threats of the tribunes
with scorn: The authority given to their office, he said,
extended only to the affording protection, not to the
inflicting of punishment. That they were tribunes of the
commons, not of the patricians. But the whole body of
the commons had taken up the cause with such
implacable animosity, that the patricians were under the
necessity of devoting one victim to punishment for the
general safety. They struggled however, notwithstanding
the weight of the public hatred which they had to contend
with, and not only each particular member, but the whole
collective body exerted their utmost efforts; and first they
tried, whether, by posting their clients in divers places
convenient for the purpose, they could not deter the
several plebeians from attending the meetings and
cabals, and thereby put a stop to farther proceedings.
Afterwards, they all came forth in a body, addressing the
commons with intreaties and supplications; one would
have thought that every patrician was going to stand his
trial. They besought them, if they did not think proper to
acquit Marcius as innocent, yet considering him as guilty,
to grant as a favour, on their request, the pardon of one
citizen, one senator. However, as he himself did not
appear on the day appointed, they persisted in their
resentment. He was condemned in his absence, and went
into exile to the Volscians, uttering menaces against his
country, and breathing already the resentment of an
enemy. The Volscians received him kindly, and daily
increased their attention and respect, in proportion as
they had opportunities of observing the violence of his
anger towards his countrymen, against whom he would
often utter complaints, and even threats. He lodged in the
house of Attius Tullus, who was then the man of by far
greatest consequence among the Volscians, and an
inveterate enemy to the Romans: so that the one, being
stimulated [157] by an old animosity, the other, by fresh
resentment, they began to concert schemes for bringing
about a war with Rome. They judged, however, that it
would be a difficult matter to prevail on their people to
take arms, which they had so often tried without success;
that by the many wars which they had sustained at
different times, and lately by the loss of their young men
in the pestilence, their spirits were broken; and that it
was necessary to make use of art, in order that their
hatred, which had now lost its keenness through length of
time, might be thereby whetted anew.

XXXVI. It happened that preparations were then making

at Rome for a repetition of the great games. The reason of
repeating them was this: on the morning of the day when
the games were to have been celebrated, before the shows
began, a master of a family, after lashing his slave loaded
with a neck-yoke, had driven him across the middle of the
circus; the games were afterwards exhibited, as if this
affair had no relation to religion. Some short time after,
Titus Atinius, a plebeian, had a dream; he imagined
Jupiter to have said to him, that the dancer, who
performed previously to the games, had been displeasing
to him, and unless those games were repeated, and that
in a magnificent manner, the city would be in danger;
and ordered him to go and tell this to the consuls.
Although the mans mind was under the influence of a
considerable degree of superstition, yet the awe which he
felt at the high dignity of the magistrates, and his own
apprehensions lest he should be treated by them, and the
public, as an object of ridicule, overcame his religious
fears: this delay cost him dear; for within a few days he
lost his son; and, lest the cause of that sudden disaster
should be doubtful, while he was overwhelmed with grief,
the same phantom appeared to him in his sleep, and
seemed to ask him, whether he had gotten a sufficient
reward for his contempt of the deity? telling him that a
still greater awaited him, unless he went immediately and
delivered [158] the message to the consuls. This made a
deeper impression on his mind, and yet he hesitated and
delayed, until at length he was attacked by a grievous
disorder, a stroke of the palsy. He then submitted to the
admonitions of the divine displeasure: and, wearied out
by his past sufferings, and the apprehension of others
which threatened him, he called a council of his intimate
friends; and, after acquainting them with the several
things which he had seen and heard, and with Jupiters
having appeared to him so often in his sleep, and likewise
the anger and threats of the deity, so speedily fulfilled in
the calamities which had befallen him, he was, in
pursuance of the clear and unanimous opinion of all
present, carried in a litter into the Forum, to the consuls:
from thence he was conveyed, by their order, into the
senate-house; where, when he had related the same
accounts, to the utter astonishment of all, behold another
miracle; it is recorded that he, who had been carried
thither incapable of using any of his limbs, had no sooner
discharged his duty, than he was able to walk home
without assistance.

XXXVII. The senate decreed that the games should be

exhibited in the most splendid manner. To these games,
in consequence of a plan laid by Attius Tullus, a vast
number of the Volscians repaired. Before the
commencement of the exhibition, Tullus, according to a
scheme concerted at home with Marcius, came to the
consuls, told them that he wished to confer with them, in
private, on some matters which concerned the
commonwealth, and every other person having retired,
he addressed them thus: It is painful to me in the
extreme, to say any thing of my countrymen that is not to
their honour: I do not come, however, to charge them
with having committed any wrong act, but to guard
against such being committed. That the dispositions of
our people are fickle, to a degree infinitely beyond what
might be wished, numerous disasters have given sensible
proofs; for, to your forbearance it is owing, and not to our
own deserts, [159] that we have not been utterly
destroyed. There are great numbers of the Volscians now
in Rome; there are games to be celebrated, the public will
be intent on the exhibition, I well remember the outrage
which was committed in this city, by the Sabine youths,
on a similar occasion. I shudder with apprehension, lest
some inconsiderate and rash deed may ensue; thus much
I thought it my duty, both for our own sake, and for
yours, to mention beforehand to you, who are consuls;
for my own part, I intend instantly to return home, lest, if
I should be present, my character might be stained with
the imputation of some improper word or action. After
this discourse he departed. The consuls proposed the
matter to the consideration of the senate; a matter,
indeed, unsupported by proof, but yet coming from a
person whose authority was of great weight. The
authority then, rather than any reason appearing in the
case, as it often happens, determined them to use
precautions, even though they might be unnecessary; and
a decree being passed, that the Volscians should retire
from the city, criers were despatched to every quarter, to
order them all to remove before night. At first, they were
struck with great terror, as they ran up and down to their
lodgings, to take away their effects: indignation
afterwards filled their minds, when they were beginning
their journey; they considered themselves stigmatized as
persons infamous and polluted; driven away from the
converse of men and gods; from public games, on the day
of a festival.

XXXVIII. As they formed in their journey almost one

continued train, Tullus, who had proceeded to the
fountain of Ferintina, accosted the chief persons among
them as each arrived; and, by asking questions, and
expressing indignation, while they greedily listened to
expressions which favoured their resentment, led them
on, and by their means, the rest of the multitude, to a
plain that lay near the road, and there began to harangue
them, as if at a general assembly: [160] Although, said
he, ye should forget all the injurious treatment which ye
formerly received from the Roman people, the calamities
of the Volscian race, and every other matter of the kind,
with what degree of patience do ye bear this insult
thrown on you, when they commenced their games by
exhibiting us to public ignominy? Did ye not perceive,
that they performed a triumph over you this day? That, as
ye were retiring, ye served as a spectacle to all their
citizens, to foreigners, to so many of the neighbouring
nations? That your wives and your children were led
captives before the eyes of the public? What do ye
suppose were the sentiments of those who heard the
words of the crier, of those who beheld you departing, or
of those who met this disgraceful cavalcade? What else
but that we must be some polluted wretches, whose
presence at the shows would contaminate the games, and
render an expiation necessary; and that therefore we
were driven away from the mansions of a people of such
purity of character, from their meeting and converse?
And besides, does it not strike you, that we should not
now be alive, if we had not hastened our departure? if
indeed it ought to be called a departure, and not a flight.
And do ye not consider as enemies the inhabitants of that
city, wherein, had ye delayed for one day, ye must, every
one of you, have perished? It was a declaration of war
against you; for which, those who made it will suffer
severely, if ye have the spirit of men. Their anger, which
was hot before, was by this discourse, kindled to a flame,
in which temper they separated to their several homes;
and each taking pains to rouse those of his own state to
vengeance, they soon effected a general revolt of the
whole Volscian nation.

XXXIX. The commanders appointed for this war, by the

unanimous choice of all the states, were Attius Tullus and
Caius Marcius the Roman exile; on the latter of whom
they reposed by far the greater part of their hopes; nor
did he [161] disappoint their expectations, but gave a
convincing proof that the commonwealth was more
indebted for power to its generals, than to its troops.
Marching to Circeii, he first expelled the Roman
colonists, and delivered the city, after restoring it to
freedom, into the hands of the Volscians: turning thence
across the country towards the Latine road, he deprived
the Romans of their late acquisitions, Satricum Longula,
Polusca, and Corioli. He then retook Lavinium, and
afterwards made a conquest of Corbio, Vitellia, Trebia,
Lavici, and Pedum, one after another. From Pedum,
lastly he led his forces towards Rome, and pitching his
camp at the Cluilian trenches, five miles from the city,
sent parties to ravage the lands; at the same time
appointing persons among the plunderers to take care
that the possessions of the patricians should be left
unmolested; either because his anger was levelled
principally against the plebeians, or with the design of
causing thereby a greater dissension between these
different orders; and this would, no doubt, have been the
consequence, so powerfully did the tribunes, by their
invectives against the patricians, excite the resentment of
the commons, which was sufficiently too violent before,
but that, however full their minds were of mutual distrust
and rancour, their dread of a foreign enemy, the
strongest tie of concord, obliged them to unite: in one
point only did they disagree; the senate and consuls
placing their hopes entirely in arms, the commons
preferring all other measures to war. By this time Spurius
Nautius and Sextus Furius were consuls. Y. R.
266. BC 486. While they were employed in reviewing the
legions, and posting troops on the walls, and in other
places, where it was thought proper to fix guards and
watches, a vast multitude of people assembling, and
insisting on peace, terrified them, at first, by their
seditious clamours, and, at length, compelled them to
assemble the senate, and there propose the sending of
ambassadors to Caius Marcius. The senate, finding that
they could not depend on the support of [162] the
commons, took the matter into consideration, and sent
deputies to Marcius to treat of an accommodation: to
these he replied in harsh terms, that if the lands were
restored to the Volscians, a treaty might then be opened
for an accommodation; but if they were resolved to enjoy,
at their ease, what they had plundered from their
neighbours in war, he would not forget either the
injustice of his countrymen, or the kindness of his hosts,
but would take such steps as should show the world, that
his courage was irritated by exile, not depressed. The
same persons being sent a second time, were refused
admittance into the camp. It is related, that the priests,
afterwards, in their sacred vestments, went as suppliants
to the camp of the enemy, but had no more influence on
him than the ambassadors.

XL. The matrons then assembled in a body about Veturia,

the mother of Coriolanus, and Volumnia his wife;
whether this was a scheme of government, or the result of
the womens own fears, I cannot discover. It is certain
that they carried their point, and that Veturia, who was
far advanced in years, and Volumnia, leading two little
sons whom she had by Marcius, went to the camp of the
enemy; so that women, by tears and prayers, preserved
the city which the men were not able to preserve by arms.
When they arrived at the camp, and Coriolanus was
informed that a great procession of women was
approaching, he, who had not been moved, either by the
majesty of the state, represented in its ambassadors, or
by the awful address made by the ministers of religion
both to his sight and his understanding, at first resolved
to show himself still more inflexible against female tears:
but soon after, one of his acquaintance knowing Veturia,
who was distinguished above the rest by an extraordinary
degree of sadness; as she stood between her daughter-in-
law and grand-children, said to him, unless my eyes
deceive me, your mother with your wife and children are
coming. Coriolanus, in a transport of amazement, and
almost distracted, [163] sprang from his seat to embrace
his mother as she advanced, who, instead of intreaties,
addressed him with angry reproofs: Let me know, said
she, before I receive your embrace, whether I am come
to an enemy or to a son; whether I am in your camp a
prisoner, or a mother. Was it for this, that age has been
lengthened out, that I might behold you an exile, and
afterwards an enemy; could you lay waste this land,
which gave you birth and education; whatever degree of
anger, whatever thirst of vengeance, might have occupied
your mind on your march, did you not, on entering its
borders, feel your passion subside? When you came
within sight of Rome, did it not recur to you,Within
those walls are my house and guardian gods, my mother,
my wife, my children? Had I never been a mother, then
Rome would not have been now besieged: had I not a
son, I might have died free, and left my country free; but,
for my part, there is no suffering to which I can be
exposed, that will not reflect more dishonour on you,
than misery on me; and be my lot as wretched as it may, I
am not to endure it long; let these claim your regard,
who, if you persist, can have no other prospect, but either
untimely death or lasting slavery. His wife and children
then embraced him; and the whole crowd of women,
uttering bitter lamentations, and deploring their own and
their countrys fate, at length got the better of his
obstinacy: so that, after embracing and dismissing his
family, he removed his camp to a greater distance from
the city. In a short time he drew off the troops entirely
from the Roman territories, which is said to have
incensed the Volscians so highly against him, that he
perished under the effects of their resentment; by what
kind of death writers do not agree. In the account given
by Fabius, the most ancient writer by far, I find that he
lived even to old age; he mentions positively, that, when
Marcius became far advanced in years, he used
frequently to utter this remark, that the evils of exile
bore much the heavier on [164] the aged. The men of
Rome were not sparing in bestowing on the women the
honours which they had earned; so distant were the
manners of that age from the practice of detracting from
the merits of others: they even erected and dedicated a
temple to Female Fortune, as a lasting monument of their
meritorious conduct. The Volscians afterwards, in
conjunction with the quans, made another inroad into
the Roman territories; but the quans soon became
dissatisfied at being commanded by Attius Tullus; and in
consequence of the dispute, whether the Volscians or the
quans should give a general to the combined army, a
separation ensued, and soon after a furious battle. There
the good fortune of the Roman people wasted the two
armies of its enemies, in a contest no less bloody than
obstinate. The consuls of the next year were Titus
Sicinius and Caius Aquillius. Y. R. 267. BC 483. The
Volsoians were allotted, as a province, to Sicinius; the
Hernicians, for they also were in arms, to Aquillius. The
Hernicians were subdued in that year. The operations
against the Volscians ended without any advantage being
gained on either side.

Y. R. 268. BC 484. XLI. The next consuls elected were

Spurius Cassius and Proculus Virginius. A league was
made with the Hernicians. Two-thirds of their lands were
taken from them, one half of which the consul Cassius
intended to distribute among the Latines, the other half
among the commons. To this donation he proposed to
add a considerable tract of land, which belonged, he said,
to the public, though possessed by private persons. Many
of the patricians, who were themselves in possession of
this land, were hereby alarmed for their property, and
besides, that body in general was seized with anxiety for
the safety of the people; observing that the consul, by
these donatives, was forming an influence at once
dangerous to liberty and to right. This was the first
proposal of the agrarian law, which, from that time to the
present age, has never been [165] agitated without the
most violent commotions in the state. The other consul
opposed the donations; and in this, he was supported by
the patricians; nor did all the commons oppose him: at
first, they began to despise a gift, which was not confined
to themselves, but extended to the allies, in common with
the citizens: then they were accustomed to hear the
consul Virginius in the assemblies frequently, as it were
prophesying, that the donatives of his colleagues were
full of infectious poison; that those lands would bring
slavery on such as should receive them; that he was
paving the way to arbitrary power; for why should the
allies and the Latine nation be thus included? What was
the intent of restoring a third part of the lands, taken in
war, to the Hernicians, who so lately were enemies, only
that these nations might set Cassius at their head as a
leader, instead of Coriolanus. Whoever argued and
protested against the agrarian law, as thus proposed, was
sure of popularity: and, from that time, both the consuls
vied with each other in humouring the commons.
Virginius declared, that he would allow the lands to be
assigned, provided they were not made over to any other
than citizens of Rome. Cassius, finding that, by his
pursuit of popularity among the allies, which he had
betrayed in the proposed distribution of the lands, he had
lowered himself in the estimation of his countrymen,
and, hoping to recover their esteem by another donative,
proposed an order that the money received for the
Sicilian corn should be refunded to the people. But this
the commons rejected with as much disdain, as if he were
avowedly bartering for arbitrary power: so strongly were
they influenced by their inveterate suspicions of his
ambition, that they spurned at all his presents, as if they
were in a state of affluence; and no sooner did he go out
of office, than he was condemned and executed, as we are
informed by undoubted authority. Some say that it was
his father who inflicted this punishment on him; that
having, at home, held an inquiry [166] into his conduct, he
scourged him, and put him to death, and consecrated the
allowance settled on his son,* to Ceres; that out of this a
statue was erected, with this inscription, Given from the
Cassian family. I find in some writers, and it is the more
credible account, that he was prosecuted for treason by
the qustors Cso Fabius and Lucius Valerius; that he
was found guilty on a trial before the people, and his
house razed by a public decree: it stood on the spot which
is now the area before the temple of Tellus. However,
whether the trial was private or public, he was
condemned in the consulate of Servius Cornelius and
Quintus Fabius. Y. R. 269. BC 483.

XLII. The anger which the people had conceived against

Cassius, was not of long continuance. The alluring
prospects, held out by the agrarian law, were sufficient, of
themselves, now the proposer of it was removed out of
the way, to make a lively impression on their minds; and
their eagerness, in pursuit of them, was inflamed, by an
act of unreasonable parsimony in the patricians, who,
when the Volscians and quans were vanquished in that
year, deprived the troops of the booty: the whole of what
was taken from the enemy, the consul Fabius sold, and
lodged the produce of it in the treasury. The name of
Fabius was odious to the commons, on account of this
conduct; yet the patricians had influence enough to
procure the election of Cso Fabius to the consulship,
with Lucius milius. Y. R. 270. BC 482. This farther
exasperated the people, who, by raising a sedition at
home, encouraged foreign enemies to attack them: but
war, put a stop to intestine dissensions. The patricians
and plebeians united, and under the conduct of milius,
with little [167] loss to themselves, overthrew in battle the
Volscians and quans, who had revived hostilities. On
this occasion the enemy lost greater numbers during
their retreat, than in the battle; for, after they were
broken, they were pursued by the cavalry to a vast
distance. In the same year, on the ides of July, the temple
of Castor was dedicated: it had been vowed, during the
Latine war, by Postumius the dictator, and his son, being
appointed duumvir for the purpose, performed the
dedication. This year also the people were tempted to
new exertions, by the charms of the agrarian law. The
tribunes wished to enhance the importance of their office,
by promoting that popular decree. The patricians,
convinced that the multitude were, of themselves, too
much inclined to desperate measures, looked with horror
on such largesses, as incitements to acts of temerity; and
they found in the consuls, leaders as active as they could
wish, in opposing those proceedings. Their party
consequently prevailed; and that, not only for the
present, but they were unable to appoint as consuls for
the approaching year Marcus Fabius, brother to Cso,
and Lucius Verus, Y. R. 271. BC 481. who was still more
odious to the plebeians, on account of his having been the
prosecutor of Spurius Cassius. In that consulship, there
was another contest with the tribunes; the law in
question was considered as a vain project, and the
proposers of it disregarded as claiming merit from
holding out to the peoples view, advantages which were
not attainable. The name of Fabius was now held in the
highest estimation after three successive consulates, all of
which had been uniformly distinguished by opposition to
the tribunitian power; and, for that reason, this dignity
was continued in the same family, for a considerable
time, from a general persuasion that it could not be
placed in better hands. Soon after this, war was
undertaken against the Veientians. The Volscians also
renewed hostilities. For security against
foreign [168] enemies, the strength of the Romans was
more than sufficient; but they perverted it to a bad
purpose, namely, to the support of quarrels among
themselves. To add to the general disquiet, several
prodigies appeared; the sky, almost daily, exhibiting
threatening portents, both in the city and in the country.
The soothsayers, employed as well by the state, as by
private persons, after consulting both entrails, and birds,
declared that no other cause of the displeasure of the
deity existed, than that the worship of the gods was not
duly performed. All their apprehensions however ended
in this; Oppia, a vestal, was convicted of a breach of
chastity, and suffered punishment.

Y. R. 272. BC 480. XLIII. Quintus Fabius, a second time,

and Caius Julius, then succeeded to the consulship.
During this year, the domestic dissensions abated not of
their acrimony, and the war abroad wore a more
dangerous aspect. The quans took up arms. The
Veientians even carried their depredations into the
territories of the Romans. And as these wars appeared
every day more alarming, Cso Fabius and Spurius
Furius were made consuls. Y. R. 273. BC 479. The quans
laid siege to Ortona, a Latine city. The Veientians, now
satiated with booty, threatened to besiege Rome itself:
yet all these dangers which surrounded them, instead of
restraining the ill-humour of the commons, only served
to augment it. They resumed the practice of refusing to
enlist as soldiers, not indeed of their own accord, but by
the advice of Spurius Licinius, a plebeian tribune, who,
thinking that this was the time to force the Agrarian law
on the patricians, when it would be impossible for them
to make opposition, had undertaken to obstruct the
preparations for war. However, all the odium excited by
this exertion of the tribunitian power rested solely on the
author; nor did the consuls unite their efforts against him
with more eager zeal, than did his own colleagues, by
whose assistance the levy was completed. Armies were
raised for the two wars at [169] the same time; the
command of one was given to Fabius, to be led against
the quans; of the other to Furius, against the
Veientians. In the expedition against the latter, nothing
memorable was performed. Fabius met with a great deal
more trouble from his countrymen, than from the enemy:
that single man, by his conduct, as consul, supported the
commonwealth, which the troops, out of aversion to him
as far as lay in their power, treacherously betrayed to
ruin: for, after numberless other instances of military
skill, which he had displayed, both in his preparatory
measures, and in his operations in the field, and when he
had made such a disposition of his forces, that, by a
charge of his cavalry alone, he put the enemy to rout, the
infantry refused to pursue their broken troops; nor could
any motive, not to mention the exhortations of the
general, whom they hated, nor even the immediate
consequence of infamy to themselves, and disgrace to the
public, nor the danger to which they would be exposed,
should the enemy resume their courage, prevail on them
to quicken their pace, or even to stand in order of battle,
so as to resist an attack. Without orders, they faced
about; and, with countenances as dejected as though they
had been vanquished, retired to their camp, execrating, at
one time, the general, at another, the exertions of the
cavalry. The consul, however, sought not any remedy
against so pestilent an example, showing by one instance
among many, that men of the most transcendant abilities
are more apt to be deficient in regard to the discipline of
their own troops, than in conquering an enemy. Fabius
returned to Rome, having reaped little fresh glory from
the war, but having irritated and exasperated, to a high
degree, the hatred of the soldiers against him. The
patricians, notwithstanding, had influence enough to
continue the consulship in the Fabian family: they elected
Marcus Fabius to that office, and Cneius Manlius was
appointed his colleague. Y. R. 274. BC 478.

XLIV. This year also produced a tribune hardy

enough [170] to make another attempt at carrying the
agrarian law. This was Titus Pontificius, who pursued the
same method, as if it had succeeded, with Spurius
Licinius, and for some time obstructed the levy: the
patricians being hereby again perplexed, Appius Claudius
asserted, that the plan adopted last year had effectually
subdued the tribunitian power, for the present, by the
very act, and, to all future times, by the example, which it
had established; since it was discovered, how that power
might be deprived of efficacy, through the very means
supplied by its own strength; for there would, at all times,
be one among them, desirous of procuring to himself a
superiority over his colleague, and, at the same time, the
favour of the better part of the community, by promoting
the good of the public. They would even find more than
one tribune, if more were necessary, ready to support the
consuls, though one would be sufficient against all the
rest: only let the consuls, and principal senators, exert
themselves, to secure in the interest of the
commonwealth and of the senate, if not all the tribunes,
yet as many at least as they could. Convinced of the
propriety of Appiuss advice, the patricians in general
addressed the tribunes with civility and kindness; and
those of consular dignity employed whatever personal
influence they had over each of them; and thus, partly by
conciliating their regard, and partly by the weight of their
influence, they prevailed on them to let their powers be
directed to the advantage of the state: while the consuls,
being supported by four tribunes, against one opposer of
the public interest, completed the levy. They then
marched their army against the Veientians, to whom
auxiliaries had flocked from all parts of Etruria, induced
to take arms, not so much from affection to the
Veientians, as in the hope that the Roman state might be
brought to ruin by intestine discord. Accordingly, in the
assemblies of each of the states of Etruria, the leading
men argued warmly, that the power of the Romans
would be [171] everlasting, unless civil dissension armed
them with rage against each other. This was the only
infection, the only poison that operated, so as to set limits
to the duration of great empires. This evil, whose
progress had been long retarded, partly by the wise
management of the patricians, and partly by the patient
conduct of the commons, had now proceeded to
extremity: out of the one, were formed two distinct states,
each of which had its own magistrates, and its own laws.
At first, though they used to give a loose to their
rancorous animosities, when troops were to be levied, yet
these very men, as long as war continued, paid obedience
to their officers; and while military discipline remained in
force, whatever might be the state of affairs in the city,
ruin might be deferred. But now, the Roman soldier
carried with him to the field, the custom of refusing
submission to superiors: during the last war, in the very
heat of battle, the troops conspired to make a voluntary
surrender of victory to the vanquished quans; deserted
their standards, forsook their general, and, in despite of
orders, retreated to their camp. Without doubt, if proper
exertions were made, Rome might be subdued by means
of its own forces: nothing more was necessary, than to
make a declaration, and a show of war. The fates and the
gods would of themselves accomplish the rest. Such
prospects as these had allured the Etrurians to arm,
notwithstanding the little success they had experienced
in their wars.

XLV. The Roman consuls had no other dread than of the

power, and the arms, of their countrymen. When they
reflected on the very dangerous tendency of their
misbehaviour in the last war, they were deterred from
bringing themselves into a situation where they would
have two armies to fear at the same time: to avoid
therefore being exposed to this double danger, they kept
the troops confined within the camp, in hopes that delay,
and time itself might perhaps soften their resentment,
and bring them back to a [172] right way of thinking. This
encouraged their enemies the Veientians and Etrurians,
to act with greater precipitation: at first, they
endeavoured to provoke the foe to fight, by riding up to
the camp, and offering challenges; and, at length, finding
that this had no effect, by reviling both the consuls and
the army; telling them, that the pretence of dissensions
among themselves, was an artifice contrived to cover
their cowardice; that the consuls were more diffident of
the courage of their troops than of their disposition to
obey orders: that was a strange kind of sedition, which
showed itself in silence, and inaction, among men who
had arms in their hands: throwing out, besides, many
reproaches, some true, and some false, on their upstart
origin. Such invectives, though uttered with great
vociferation, close to the very rampart and the gates, gave
the consuls no manner of uneasiness: but the minds of
the uninformed multitude were strongly agitated, at one
time by indignation, at another by shame, which diverted
them from reflecting on domestic quarrels: they could
not bear the thoughts of suffering the enemy to insult
them unrevenged, neither could they wish success either
to the consuls, or the patricians. Thus there was a
struggle in their breasts, between their animosity against
foreigners, and that which inflamed them against their
countrymen: the former at length prevailed, in
consequence of the haughty and insolent scoffs of the
enemy: they assembled in crowds at the
Prtorium,* demanding the fight, and requiring the
signal to be given. The consuls held a consultation
together, as if deliberating on the demand, and conferred
for a considerable time: they wished to fight; but it was
necessary to restrain and conceal that wish, in order, by
opposition and delay, to add to the alacrity which had
now sprung up in the minds of the troops: they returned
for answer, that the measure was premature: it [173] was
not yet a proper time for meeting the enemy. That they
must keep within the camp. They then issued orders,
that all should refrain from fighting; declaring, that if
any should engage without orders, they would be
punished. After the troops were thus dismissed, their
ardour for battle increased, in proportion to the aversion,
which they supposed, in the consuls: besides, the enemy
approached with much greater boldness, as soon as it
became known that it was determined not to come to an
engagement. They thought they might continue their
insults with perfect safety; that the soldiers would not be
intrusted with arms, that the business would end in a
desperate mutiny; and that the final period of the Roman
empire was arrived. Buoyed up with these hopes, their
parties pressed forward to the very gates, heaped
reproaches on the troops, and hardly refrained from
assaulting the camp. But now, the Romans could no
longer endure such insults; from every quarter of the
camp, they ran hastily to the consuls, and did not, as
before, propose their demand regularly, through the
principal centurions, but joined in one general clamour.
The affair was now ripe; yet still the consuls showed a
backwardness: but at length beginning, from the
increasing uproar, to dread a mutiny, Fabius, with the
consent of his colleague, having caused silence by sound
of trumpet, said, Cneius Manlius, that those men are
able to conquer, I know; but they themselves have given
me reason to doubt, whether it is their wish: for which
reason I am determined not to give the signal, unless they
swear that they will return from the battle with victory.
Soldiers have once deceived a Roman consul in the field,
but they will never deceive the gods. There was a
centurion, called Marcus Flavoleius, who was among the
foremost in demanding battle; he cried out, Marcus
Fabius, I will return victorious from the field; and, at the
same time, imprecated on himself the anger of Father
Jupiter, of Mars Gradivus, and the other gods, if he did
not perform his [174] promise: after him the whole army
severally took the same oath. As soon as they had sworn,
the signal was given; instantly they marched out to battle,
full of rage and of confidence. They bade the Etrurians
now throw out their reproaches, now let the enemy, who
was so bold in words, come in the way of their arms.
There was not a man, on that day, either plebeian or
patrician, who did not display an uncommon degree of
valour: the Fabian name, and Fabian race, shone forth
with peculiar lustre: they were determined to recover, in
that battle, the affection of the commons, which, during
the many quarrels of the parties at home, had been
withdrawn from them. The line was formed, nor did their
Veientian enemy or the Etrurian legions decline the
combat.

XLVI. These expected, and indeed firmly believed, that

the Romans would show no more willingness to fight
with them, than they had with the quans: nay,
considering the high ferment of their passions, and that,
in the present case, the issue of a battle was the more
uncertain, they did not despair of obtaining some
important advantage. In this they were entirely
disappointed, for in no former war did the Romans enter
the field, inflamed with keener animosity; so highly were
they exasperated by the taunts of the enemy on one side,
and the delay of the consuls on the other. The Etrurians
had scarcely time to form their ranks, before they found
themselves engaged in close fight, hand to hand with
swords, the most desperate method of deciding a battle,
the javelins having in the first hurry been thrown at
random, rather than aimed at the enemy. Among the
foremost, the Fabian family particularly attracted the
notice of their countrymen, and encouraged them by
their example: as one of these, Quintus Fabius, who had
been consul two years before, advanced before the rest
against a thick body of the Veientians, a Tuscan, who
assumed resolution from a confidence in his strength and
skill in arms, came up to him unobserved, while [175] he
was busily engaged with a number of foes, and thrust him
through the breast with his sword; on the weapons being
drawn out of the wound, Fabius fell to the ground. Both
armies felt the fall of this one man, and the Romans were
in consequence of it beginning to give ground, when
Marcus Fabius the consul leaped over the body where it
lay, and opposing his buckler to the enemy, called out,
Soldiers, is this what ye bound yourselves to perform?
Was it that ye would return to the camp in flight? Are ye
so much more afraid of the most dastardly enemy, than
of Jupiter and Mars, by whom ye swore? But for my part,
though bound by no oath, I will either return victorious,
or die here, fighting beside thee, Quintus Fabius. On
this, Cso Fabius, consul of the former year, said,
Brother, do you expect by words to prevail on them to
fight? The gods by whom they have sworn will prevail on
them. Let us, as becomes our noble birth, as is worthy of
the Fabian name, animate the men by deeds of valour,
rather than by exhortations. The two Fabii then rushed
forward to the front with their presented spears, and
drew the whole line along with them.

XLVII. By these means, the battle was renewed on that

side; nor, in the other wing, was Cneius Manlius, the
consul, less strenuous in his efforts against the enemy.
Here, too, a like course of events took place: for as the
soldiers followed Quintus Fabius with alacrity, so did
they here follow the consul Manlius, while he pressed,
and almost routed the enemy: and when he was
compelled by a severe wound to retire from the field,
supposing him slain, they began to shrink. They would
indeed have given way entirely, had not the other consul,
riding up to the place at full speed with some troops of
horse, revived their drooping courage; calling out, that
his colleague was alive, and that he was come to their
support, having defeated the enemy in the other wing:
Manlius also showed himself, in order to encourage them
to return to the fight. The sight of the two consuls
rekindled the [176] courage of the soldiers, and by this
time, too, the enemys line was considerably weakened;
for, confiding in the superiority of their numbers, they
had drawn off a part, and sent them to attack the camp:
these met but little resistance in the assault, but wasted
time afterwards, being more intent on plunder than on
fighting. The Roman Triarii,* however, who had not been
able to prevent their breaking in at first, and who had
despatched to the consuls an account of their situation,
returned in a compact body to the Prtorium, and
without waiting for aid, of themselves renewed the
combat. At the same time, the consul Manlius having
rode back to the camp, posted troops at all the gates, and
blocked up every passage by which the enemy could
retreat. The desperate situation in which the Etrurians
then saw themselves, inspired them not only with
boldness, but with fury; so that, after they had made
several fruitless efforts, attempting every place where
they saw any prospect of gaining a passage, one band of
their young men made an attack on Manlius himself,
whom they distinguished by his armour. His attendants
covered him from the first discharge of their weapons;
but could not long withstand their force: the consul,
receiving a mortal wound, fell, and his defenders were
entirely dispersed. This added new confidence to the
Etrurians, and so dispirited the Romans, that they fled in
dismay, through all parts of the camp; and would
probably have been utterly ruined, had not the
lieutenant-generals, hastily removing the consuls body,
opened a passage for the enemy by one of the gates.
Through this they rushed out; and, as they were
retreating in the utmost disorder, fell in with Fabius, who
was flushed with success. In this second encounter many
were cut off, and the rest fled different ways. The victory
was complete, but the joy, which it occasioned, was
greatly damped by the death of two such illustrious
persons as Fabius [177] and Manlius: for which reason the
consul, when the senate were proceeding to vote him a
triumph, told them, that if the army could triumph
without their general, he would readily consent to it, on
account of their extraordinary good behaviour in that
war: but as to himself, while his own family was
overwhelmed with grief, for the death of his brother
Quintus Fabius, and the commonwealth bewailed the loss
of a parent, as it were, in that of one of its consuls, he
would not accept of the laurel, blasted both by public and
private mourning. A triumph refused on such grounds,
redounded more to his honour, than if he had actually
enjoyed it: so true it is, that fame prudently declined,
often breaks forth with increased lustre. He then
celebrated the two funerals of his colleague and his
brother, one after the other, and took upon himself the
office of pronouncing the panegyric of both; in which he
attributed to them the merit of his own performances, in
such a manner, as showed him to be entitled to the
greatest share of any. Not losing sight of the design which
he had conceived at the beginning of his consulate, of
recovering the affection of the commons, he distributed
the wounded soldiers among the patricians, to be taken
care of, until they were cured. The greater number were
given to the Fabii, and by no others were they treated
with more attention. Henceforward the Fabii grew high
in the favour of the people, and that without any practices
prejudicial to the state.

Y. R. 275. BC 477. XLVIII. With the same view, Cso

Fabius, whose election to the consulship, with Titus
Virginius, was owing as much to the support of the
commons, as to that of the patricians, would enter on no
business, either of wars or levies, or any other matter,
until the hopes of concord, which had already made some
progress, should be ripened into a perfect union between
the plebeians and patricians. In the beginning of the year
therefore he proposed, that before any tribune should
stand forth to press the [178] agrarian law, the senate
should seize the opportunity, and take to themselves the
merit of conferring that favour: that they should
distribute among the commons, in as equal proportion as
possible, the lands taken from their enemies: for it was
but just that they should be enjoyed by those whose blood
and labour acquired them. The senate rejected the
proposal with disdain; some of them even complained,
that the talents of Cso, formerly so brilliant, were,
through a surfeit of glory, become heavy and languid. No
disputes ensued between the factions in the city. The
Latines were harassed by incursions of the quans;
Cso being sent thither, with an army, retaliated on the
quans, by ravaging their territories. They retired into
the towns, and kept themselves within the walls;
consequently, there was no battle of any importance. But,
from the arms of the Veientians, a severer blow was
received, through the rashness of the other consul: and
the army would have been utterly destroyed, had not
Cso Fabius arrived seasonably to its support. From that
time there was properly neither peace nor war with the
Veientians, whose proceedings were more like those of a
banditti, than of regular troops. On the approach of the
Roman legions, they retreated into the town, and when
they understood that those were withdrawn, they made
incursions into the country; shifting alternately from war
to quiet, and from quiet to war. For this reason, nothing
could be brought to a conclusion. There was also
apprehension of other wars, two of which were just ready
to break out, that is, with the quans and Volscians, who
only remained inactive, until the smart of their late
disaster should wear off. And besides, it was evident that
the Sabines, ever hostile, and all Etruria, would soon be
in motion. But the Veientians kept the Romans in
continual uneasiness, rather indeed by frequent insults,
than by any enterprise which threatened danger, yet this
was such a business as would neither allow them to
neglect it at any time, nor to turn their attention to other
matters. While affairs were in this state, the
Fabian [179] family addressed the senate; the consul, in
the name of the whole, speaking in this manner:
Conscript fathers, ye know that the Veientian war
requires rather an established, than a strong force, on the
frontiers: let your care be directed to other wars: commit
to the Fabii that against the Veientians. We pledge
ourselves, that the majesty of the Roman name shall be
safe on that side: that war, as the particular province of
our family, we propose to wage at our own private
expense. The state shall not be troubled either for men or
money to support it. The warmest thanks were given to
them, and the consul coming out of the senate, returned
to his house, accompanied by the Fabii in a body, who
had stood in the porch of the senate house, waiting the
senates determination. They received orders to attend
next day in arms, at the consuls gate, and then retired to
their respective homes.

XLIX. The report of this conduct spread immediately

over the whole city, and all extolled the Fabii with the
most exalted encomiums; that a single family had
undertaken to sustain the burthen of the state; that the
Veientian war was become a private concern, a private
quarrel. If there were two other families of equal strength
in the city, one of them might claim the Volscians for
their share, the other the quans; thus all the
neighbouring states might be subdued, and the majority
of Roman people, in the mean time, enjoy perfect
tranquillity. Next day the Fabii took arms, and
assembled in the place appointed. The consul, coming
forth in his military robe,* saw his whole family in the
court-yard, drawn up in order of march, and being
received into the centre, commanded them to set
forward. Never did an army, either smaller in number, or
more highly distinguished [180] in fame, and the general
admiration of all men, march through the city. Three
hundred and six soldiers, all of them patricians, not one
of whom would be judged unfit for supreme command by
the senate at any time whatever, proceeded on their way,
threatening destruction to the state of the Veientians, by
the prowess of one family. A crowd attended them,
composed, partly, of their own connections, relations,
and particular acquaintances, who held no moderation
either in their hopes or anxieties; and partly, of such as
were attracted by zeal for the public interest, all
enraptured with esteem and admiration. They bade the
heroes to proceed; to proceed with happy fortune, and to
obtain success proportioned to the merit of their
undertaking: desiring them to expect afterwards,
consulships, triumphs, every reward, every honour,
which was in the power of the public to bestow. As they
passed by the Capitol, the citadel, and other sacred
places, whatever deities occurred to the peoples sight or
thoughts, to them they offered up their prayers, that they
would crown that band with success and prosperity, and
soon restore them in safety to their country and their
parents. But their prayers were made in vain. Passing
through the right hand postern of the Carmental gate,
they arrived at the river Cremera, which they judged to be
a proper situation for securing a post by fortifications.
Lucius milius and Caius Servilius were soon after
elected consuls. Y. R. 276. BC 476. As long as the
operations of the war were confined to predatory
expeditions, the Fabii were not only sufficiently able to
defend their post, but by their excursions, along the
common boundaries, they both effectually secured their
own frontiers, and spread terror and devastation in those
of the enemy, through the whole tract, as far as the
Etrurian territories join the Roman. Their mutual
depredations were soon after discontinued, though but
for a short time, for the Veientians having collected a
reinforcement from Etruria, laid siege to the post at the
Cremera; and the Roman legions [181] led thither by the
consul Lucius milius, fought a close engagement with
the Etrurians in the field, in which, however, the
Veientians had scarcely time to form their troops; for in
the midst of the hurry, while they were taking their posts
under their several banners, and placing bodies of
reserve, a brigade of Roman cavalry charged them
suddenly on the flank, in such manner as to put it out of
their power either to make a regular onset, or even to
stand their ground. Being thus compelled to retreat to the
Red Rocks, where they had their camp, they humbly sued
for peace: yet after it had been granted, they renounced
it, before the Roman guard was withdrawn from the
Cremera; such was their natural inconstancy, and such
their bad faith.

L. The contest, then, again lay between the Fabii and the
Veientian state, unsupported by any additional forces on
either side. There passed between them not only
incursions into each others territories, and sudden
attacks on the parties employed in those incursions, but
several pitched battles in the open field; in which a single
family of the Roman people often obtained victory over a
state, at that time the most powerful in Etruria. This, at
first, stung the Veientians with grief and indignation;
afterwards they formed a design, suggested by the
present circumstances, of ensnaring their enemy, elated
with success; and they even observed, with pleasure, the
confidence of the Fabii daily increasing, from a series of
successful attempts. In pursuance of this design, cattle
were frequently driven in the way of the plundering
parties, as if they had come there by chance; the fields
were deserted, by the flight of the peasants, and the
bodies of troops, sent to repel the invaders, retreated
with pretended, oftener than real, fear. The Fabii had
now contracted such a contempt of the enemy, that they
thought their own arms invincible, and not to be
withstood in any place or on any occasion. This
presumption carried them so far, that on seeing, from
Cremera, some cattle at a distancea long tract [182] of
country lying between, in which, however, but few of the
enemys troops appeared,they ran down to seize them,
and pressed forward with such careless haste, as to pass
by the Veientians, who lay in ambush on each side of the
very road through which they marched. They then
dispersed themselves on all sides to collect the cattle,
which ran up and down, as was natural on being
frightened; when, suddenly, the soldiers rose from their
concealments, and appeared not only in front, but on
every side of them. The shout first struck them with
terror, and in a little time, they were assailed by weapons
on all sides. As the Etrurians closed in upon them, they
were obliged, hemmed in as they were, by one continued
line of troops, to contract the circle which they had
formed, into a narrower compass; which circumstance
showed plainly, both the smallness of their number, and
the great superiority of the Etrurians, whose ranks were
multiplied as the space grew narrower. They then
changed their method of fighting, and instead of making
head on all sides, bent their whole force towards one
point; where, forming in the shape of a wedge, and
exerting every effort of their bodies and arms, they at
length forced a passage. Their course led to a hill of
moderate acclivity; there, first, they halted; and then the
advantage of the ground affording them a little time to
breathe, and to recover from the consternation into
which they had been thrown, they afterwards even
repulsed an attack of the enemy; and this little band
would probably, with the aid of the ground, have come off
victorious, had not a body of Veientians sent round the
ridge of the hill, made their way to the summit: by which
means the enemy became again superior; the Fabii were
all cut off to a man, and their fort taken. It is agreed on all
hands, that the three hundred and six perished; and that
only one single person, then quite a youth, was left, as a
stock for the propagation of the Fabian race; and who
was, afterwards, on many emergences, both in peace and
war, to prove the firmest support of the state.

[183]

Y. R. 277. BC 475. LI. At the time when this disaster

happened, Caius Horatius and Titus Menenius were in
the consulship. Menenius was immediately sent against
the Etrurians, elated with their victory. He also was
worsted in battle, and the enemy took possession of the
Janiculum; nor would the city, which, besides the war,
was distressed also by scarcity, have escaped a siege, the
Etrurians having passed the Tiber, had not the consul
Horatius been recalled from the country of the Volscians.
So near, indeed, did the enemy approach to the walls,
that the first engagement was at the temple of Hope, in
which little was gained on either side; and the second at
the Coline gate, in which the Romans obtained some
small advantage; and this, though far from decisive, yet
by restoring to the soldiers their former courage,
qualified them the better to contend with the enemy in
future. Aulus Virginius and Spurius Servilius were next
elected consuls. After the loss sustained in the last battle,
the Veientians avoided coming again to an
engagement. Y. R. 278. BC 474. They employed themselves
in committing depredations, by sending out parties from
the Janiculum, which served them as a fortress; and
these parties scoured every part of the Roman territories,
so that neither the cattle nor the husbandmen, could any
where remain in safety. At last they were entrapped by
the same stratagem by which they had circumvented the
Fabii: pursuing some cattle, which had been purposely
thrown in their way as a temptation, they fell into an
ambuscade. In proportion as their numbers were greater,
so was the slaughter. The violent rage which this
overthrow excited, gave cause to one of greater
magnitude: for, having crossed the Tiber by night, they
made an assault on the camp of the consul Servilius; and
being repulsed with great loss, with difficulty effected a
retreat to the Janiculum. The consul immediately passed
the Tiber, and fortified a camp at the foot of the
Janiculum. Next day, as soon as light appeared, partly led
by the confidence inspired by his [184] success in the fight
of the day before, but chiefly because the scarcity of corn
made it expedient to adopt even dangerous measures,
provided they were expeditious, he rashly marched up his
troops against the steep of the Janiculum, to the camp of
the enemy: there he met with a repulse, more shameful
than that which he had given them the preceding day;
and both he and his army owed their preservation from
destruction to the timely intervention of his colleague.
The Etrurians, now inclosed between the two armies, to
one or other of which their rear was by turns exposed,
were entirely cut off. Thus, through a fortunate act of
temerity, the Veientians were effectually overpowered,
and the war brought to a conclusion.

LII. Together with peace, plenty returned to the city, corn

being brought from Campania; and every one, as soon as
he was freed from the dread of impending famine,
producing the stores which he had concealed. In this
state of abundance and ease, the people began again to
grow licentious, and not finding abroad any cause of
complaint, sought for it, as usual, at home. By infusing
into their minds the usual poison, the agrarian law, the
tribunes threw the people into a ferment, at the same
time rousing their resentment against the patricians, who
opposed it; and, not only against that body in general, but
against particular members of it. Quintus Considius and
Titus Genucius, the present proposers of the agrarian
law, lodged an accusation against Titus Menenius: the
charge brought against him was, the loss of the fort of
Cremera, when he, the consul, was encamped in a fixed
post at no great distance. Him they crushed, although the
patricians struggled in his cause with no less zeal than
they had shown for Coriolanus, and though his father
Agrippas title to the favour of the public was not yet
forgotten. The tribunes, however, went no farther than to
impose a fine, though they had carried on the prosecution
as for a capital offence. On his being found guilty, they
fixed the mulct at two thousand [185] asses.* This proved
fatal to him; for we are told that he could not bear the
ignominy and anguish of mind which it occasioned, and
that this threw him into a disorder which put an end to
his life. Another was soon after brought to trial, Spurius
Servilius, against whom, as soon as he went out of the
consulship, Y. R. 279. BC 473. in the beginning of the year
in which Caius Nautius and Publius Valerius were
consuls, a prosecution was commenced by two tribunes,
Lucius Cdicius and Titus Statius. He did not, like
Menenius, meet the attacks of these tribunes with
supplications from himself and the patricians, but with
the utmost confidence, inspired by innocence, and by the
justice of his claim to the favour of the public. He was
charged with misconduct in the battle with the Etrurians
at the Janiculum; but being a man of an intrepid spirit, as
he had done formerly in the case of public peril, so now in
one that threatened himself, he dispelled the danger by
facing it with boldness. In a speech full of undaunted
fortitude, he retorted on both tribunes and commons,
and upbraided them with the condemnation and death of
Titus Menenius, the son of that man, to whose good
offices the people stood indebted for the restoration of
their privileges, for those very laws and magistrates,
which enabled them now to let loose their passions in this
unreasonable manner. His colleague Virginius too, being
produced as a witness, greatly assisted his cause, by
attributing to him a share of his own merit; but what did
him the most essential service was, the sentence passed
on Menenius; so great a change had taken place in the
minds of the people.
LIII. No sooner had these domestic disputes subsided,
than a new war broke out with the Veientians, with whom
the Sabines had united their forces. After auxiliaries had
been brought from the Latines and Hernicians, the
consul Valerius, being sent with an army to Veii, instantly
attacked [186] the Sabine camp, which they had pitched
under the walls of their allies. This occasioned such
consternation among the Sabines, that while they ran
different ways in small parties, to repel the enemys
assault, the gate, first attacked, was taken; and
afterwards, within the rampart, there was rather a
carnage than a battle. From the tents the alarm spread
into the city, and the Veientians ran to arms in as great a
panic as if Veii itself were taken: some went to support
the Sabines, others fell upon the Romans, whose whole
force and attention were employed on the camp. For a
little time the latter were put to a stand and disordered;
but soon forming two fronts, they faced the enemy on
both sides; and, at the same time, the cavalry being
ordered by the consul to charge, routed and dispersed the
Etrurians. Thus were overcome in the same hour, two
armies of the two greatest and most powerful of the
neighbouring states. During these transactions at Veii,
the Volscians and quans had encamped in the Latine
territories, and laid waste the country. The Latines,
however, being joined by the Hernicians, without the aid
either of Roman general or troops, beat them out of their
camp, and there, besides recovering their own effects, got
possession of immense booty. The consul Caius Nautius
was, however, sent against the Volscians from Rome,
where, I suppose, it was considered as improper, that the
allies should get a custom of carrying on wars, with their
own forces and under their own direction, without a
Roman general and troops. Every kind of severity and
indignity was practised against the Volscians, yet they
could not be brought to an engagement in the field.

Y. R. 280. BC 472. LIV. The next consuls were Lucius

Furius and Aulus Manlius. The Veientians fell to the lot
of Manlius as his province; but the war with that people
did not continue. At their request a truce for forty years
was granted them, and they were obliged to furnish corn,
and to pay the soldiers. No sooner was peace restored
abroad, than [187] discord began at home. The commons
were set in a flame at the instigation of the tribunes, on
their constant subject, the agrarian law, which the
consuls, not deterred by the condemnation of Menenius,
or the danger incurred by Servilius, opposed with all their
might. On this account, as soon as they went out of office,
Titus Genucius, the tribune, laid hold of them. They were
succeeded in the consulship by Lucius milius and
Opiter Virginius. Y. R. 281. BC 471. In some annals, instead
of Virginius, I find Vopiscus Julius set down for consul.
During this year, whoever were the consuls, Furius and
Manlius being summoned to a trial before the people,
went about in the garb of suppliants, addressing not only
the commons, but the younger patricians. The latter they
advised and cautioned to keep at a distance from public
employments, and the administration of affairs, and to
look on the consular fasces, the prtexta, and curule
chair, as nothing better than the decorations of a funeral,
for those splendid badges, like the fillets of victims, were
placed on men who were doomed to death. But, if there
were such charms in the consulship, let them, once for
all, be convinced, that the office was crushed, and held in
captivity by the tribunitian power; that a consul must act
in every thing according to command, and, like a bailiff,
be obedient even to the tribunes nod. If he should exert
himself, if he should show any respect to the patricians, if
he should suppose that there was any powerful part in
the state but the commons alone, let him place before his
eyes the banishment of Caius Marcius, with the penalty
and death of Menenius. By such discourses the
patricians were fired with indignation, and from that
time they no longer held their consultations publicly, but
in private, and suffered but now to be privy to them: and
here, however they might differ in other points, in this
they were unanimous, that the accused should be rescued
from danger by any means possible, whether right or
wrong; and the most violent method proposed, [188] was
the most acceptable. Nor were they at a loss for an actor
to perpetrate any, the most atrocious deed: on the day of
trial, therefore, the people, standing in the Forum, in
eager expectation of the tribunes appearing, first began
to wonder that he did not come down; then beginning
from his delay, to suspect something amiss, they
supposed that he had been terrified from attending by the
nobles, while some complained that the cause of the
public was deserted and betrayed by him. At length, an
account was brought of the tribunes being found dead in
his house. As soon as this report had spread through the
assembly, every one separated different ways, just as an
army disperses on the fall of its leader. The tribunes,
particularly, were seized with the greatest terror, warned
by the death of their colleague, how very little security the
devoting laws afforded them. The patricians, on the other
side, exulted with too little moderation: and so far were
they from feeling any compunction at the deed, that even
those who were clear of the crime, wished to be
considered as the perpetrators of it; and they declared
openly, that the tribunitian power must be subdued by
severity.

LV. Soon after this victory had been obtained, by means

which furnished a precedent of the worst tendency, a
proclamation was issued for a levy of soldiers: and the
tribunes being awed into submission, the consuls
accomplished the business without any interruption. The
commons, on this, were highly enraged, more on account
of the acquiescence of the tribunes, than of the execution
of the orders of the consuls; they declared that there was
an end of their liberty; that they were reduced again to
their old condition, for the tribunitian power had expired
with, and was buried in the grave of Genucius. Other
means must be devised and practised, to put a stop to the
tyranny of the patricians. There remained now only one
method to be pursued; which was, that the commons,
since they were destitute of every other protection,
should undertake their own defence. The [189] retinue of
the consuls consisted of twenty-four lictors, and even
these were plebeians; no force could be more
contemptible, or less capable of resistance, if people had
but the spirit to despise them; but every one magnified
those matters, and made them objects of terror to
himself. While they thus spurred on each other with
such discourses as these, it happened that a lictor was
sent by the consul to a plebeian of the name of Volero
Publilius, who had insisted, that, having been a
centurion, he could not be compelled to enlist as a
common soldier. Volero appealed to the tribunes; but
none of them supporting him, the consuls ordered the
man to be stripped, and the rods to be got ready: I
appeal to the people, said Volero; the tribunes choose
rather that a Roman citizen should be beaten with rods
before their eyes, than that themselves should be
murdered in their beds by your faction. The more
vehemently he exclaimed, the more violently did the
lictor proceed in tearing off his clothes, and stripping
him. Then Volero, who was a man of great bodily
strength, and aided also by those who took part with him,
drove away the lictor, and retired into the thickest part of
the crowd, where he heard the loudest expressions of
indignation at the treatment which he received; at the
same time crying aloud, I appeal, and implore the
protection of the commons. Support me, citizens; support
me, fellow-soldiers. You have nothing to expect from the
tribunes, who themselves stand in need of your support.
The people, inflamed with passion, prepared themselves
as for a battle: and there was every appearance of the
contest proceeding to such extremity, as that no regard
whatever would be paid either to public or private rights.
The consuls, having undertaken to face this violent
storm, quickly experienced that dignity, unsupported by
strength, is not exempt from danger. Their lictors were
abused, the fasces broken, and themselves forced to take
refuge in the senate-house, uncertain how far Volero
would push his victory. In [190] some time after, the
tumult subsiding, they assembled the senators, and
complained to them of the ill-treatment which they had
suffered, of the violence of the commons, and the
audacious behaviour of Volero. Though many harsh
methods of proceeding were proposed, the opinion of the
elder members prevailed; who recommended to the
senate, not to let their conduct be as strongly marked by
passionate resentment, as that of the commons was by
inconsiderate violence.

LVI. The commons, interesting themselves warmly in

favour of Volero, Y. R. 282. BC 470. chose him at the next
election tribune for the year: the consuls being Lucius
Pinarius and Publius Furius. And now, contrary to the
expectation of all men, who supposed that he would give
a loose to the reins of the tribunitian power, in harassing
the consuls of the preceding year; postponing his own
resentment, and affecting only the public interest,
without uttering even a word to offend the consuls, he
proposed a law that plebeian magistrates should be
elected in assemblies where the votes were given by
tribes. This, though covered under an appearance which,
at first view, showed not any evil tendency, was
considered as a matter of no trivial consequence; as it
would entirely deprive the patricians of the power of
electing such tribunes as they liked, by means of the votes
of their dependents. To prevent this proposition, which
was highly pleasing to the commons, from passing into a
law, the patricians strained every nerve; and though
neither the influence of the consuls nor that of
themselves could prevail on any one of the college of
tribunes to protest against it, that being the only power
that could effectually stifle it; yet, as it was in itself an
affair of great weight, and required long and laborious
exertions, the obstacles thrown in its way were sufficient
to delay it until the following year. The commons re-
elected Volero to the tribuneship; and the patricians,
judging that this business would not end without [191] the
severest struggle, procured the consulship for Appius
Claudius, Y. R. 283. BC 469. son of Appius, who both
hated, and was hated by the commons, in consequence of
the contentions between them and his father. Titus
Quintius was given him for colleague. The law was the
first matter agitated in the beginning of the year; and
though Volero was the author of it, yet Ltorius his
colleague, from having more recently joined in the
business, became in consequence the more eager for its
adoption: his renown in war inspired him with
confidence, for there was no one of that age possessed of
more personal prowess. Volero contented himself with
arguing in favour of the law, and avoided all abuse
against the consuls; but Ltorious began with severe
invectives against Appius and his family, charging them
with having always shown a disposition in the highest
degree overbearing and cruel: asserting that the
patricians had elected him not for a consul, but an
executioner, to torment and torture the plebeians. Being
however a rough soldier, unskilled in the art of speaking,
he was at a loss for expressions suited to the boldness of
his thoughts; and finding himself unable to proceed in his
discourse, he said, Citizens, since I cannot speak with
the same readiness with which I can perform what I have
spoken, I request your attendance tomorrow. Either I will
lose my life, here in your presence, or I will carry the
law. Next day the tribunes took possession of the
temple; and the consuls and nobles placed themselves
among the crowd, in order to oppose the law. Ltorius
ordered all persons to retire, except those who were to
vote; but the younger nobility kept their seats, and paid
no regard to the officer; on which Ltorius ordered some
of them to be taken into custody. The consul Appius
insisted, that a tribune had no power over any but the
plebeians; for he was not a magistrate of the people at
large, but of the commons; that even he himself could
not, conformably to ancient usage, of his own authority,
compel [192] people to withdraw, the words in use
being, If ye think proper, Romans, retire. It was easy for
him to disconcert Ltorius in arguing, even thus
contemptuously, about his authority; the tribune
therefore, inflamed with anger, sent one of his officers to
the consul, while the consul sent a lictor to the tribune,
calling out that he was but a private person without
command and without magistracy; nor would the tribune
have escaped ill-treatment, had not the whole assembly
joined, with great warmth, in taking his part against the
consul; and at the same time, the alarm having spread
among the populace, brought a great concourse from all
parts of the city to the Forum. Appius, notwithstanding,
inflexibly withstood the violence of the storm; and the
dispute must have terminated in blood, had not Quintius
the other consul, giving it in charge to the consulars to
take away his colleague from the Forum by force, if they
could not do it otherwise, now soothing the enraged
plebeians with intreaties, then begging the tribunes to
dismiss the assembly, so as to give time for their anger
to cool, telling them, that delay would not diminish
aught of their power, but would afford them the
advantage of uniting prudence with that power; that the
patricians would still be under the direction of the
people, and the consul under that of the patricians.

LVII. With great difficulty the commons were pacified by

Quintius; and with much greater, was the other consul
quieted by the patricians; and the assembly of the people
being at length dismissed, the consuls convened the
senate. There, fear and anger prevailing by turns,
produced for some time a variety of opinions; but having
gained time for reflection, in proportion as passion gave
place to reason, they became more and more averse from
inflammatory measures; in so much, that they returned
thanks to Quintius, for having by his exertions put a stop
to the quarrel. Appius they requested to be satisfied with
such a degree of deference [193] to the consular authority,
as was compatible with concord between the several parts
of the state; for, whilst the tribune and consuls violently
drew all power, each to their own side, there was none
left in the other members of the community. The object
of the dispute was not the safety of the commonwealth,
but who should have the disposal of it, mangled and torn
as it was. On the other hand, Appius appealed to gods
and men that the state was betrayed and deserted
through cowardice; that the consul was not wanting in
support of the senate, but the senate in support of the
consul; and that they were submitting to more grievous
laws than those which were imposed at the sacred
mount. Yielding, however, to the unanimous judgment
of the senate, he desisted, and the law was carried
through without farther opposition.

LVIII. Then, for the first time, were the tribunes elected
in an assembly of the people, voting by tribes. Piso relates
also, that there were three added to their number, having
before been but two. He even names the tribunes, Caius
Sicinius, Lucius Numitorius, Marcus Duilius, Spurius
Icilius, Lucius Mecilius. During the dissensions at Rome,
war commenced with the quans and Volscians, who
had committed depredations on the Roman lands, with
design that if the commons should again think proper to
secede they might find a refuge with them. When the
differences in the city were afterwards composed, they
removed their camp to a greater distance: Appius
Claudius was sent against the Volscians, the quans fell
to Quintius as his province. The same severity, which
Appius had shown at home, he practised at the head of
the army abroad, and even with less reserve, as he was
out of the reach of any control from the tribunes. He
detested the commons to a degree of rancour, even
beyond what he inherited from his father; and considered
himself as vanquished by them; for that when he had
been set up as the only person, who, in the character of
consul, [194] was qualified to oppose the tribunitian
power, that law had been carried which the former
consuls had been able to prevent, though they made not
such strenuous exertions as himself against it, nor did the
patricians expect so much from them. His anger and
indignation hereby excited, he sought to wreak on the
army every kind of rigour which the command had put in
his power: but no degree of violence was able to subdue
the temper of the troops, such an unconquerable spirit of
opposition had they imbibed. In every part of their
business they showed indolence and carelessness,
negligence and stubbornness; neither shame nor fear had
any effect on them. If he wished that the army should
proceed with more expedition, they marched the slower;
if he came to encourage them to hasten their work, every
one relaxed the diligence which he had used before; when
he was present, they cast down their eyes; as he passed
by, they muttered curses against him; so that while he
seemed invulnerable to popular dislike, his mind was
occasionally affected with disagreeable emotions. After
trying every kind of harsh treatment without effect, he
renounced all intercourse with the soldiers, declaring
that the army was corrupted by the centurions, whom, in
a gibing manner, he sometimes called plebeian tribunes,
and Voleroes.

LIX. Not one of these circumstances was unknown to the

Volscians, who, for that reason, pressed forward their
operations the more vigorously, in hopes that the Roman
army would be animated with the same spirit of
opposition against Appius, which they had formerly
displayed against Fabius, when consul; and in fact, in
Appiuss case, it showed itself with a much greater degree
of inveteracy than in that of Fabius; for they were not
only unwilling to conquer, like Fabiuss troops, but even
chose to be conquered. When led out to the field, they
fled shamefully to their camp, nor made a halt, until they
saw the Volscians advancing to the rampart, and
committing great slaughter on the rear of the [195] army.
The necessity of repelling the victorious enemy from the
rampart, then prevailed on them to fight, which,
however, they did in such a manner, as made it evident,
that they acted only because Roman soldiers would not
suffer their camp to be taken: in other respects, they
rejoiced at their own losses and disgrace. All this had so
little effect towards softening the stubborn fierceness of
Appius, that he resolved to exhibit farther examples of
severity; but when he had summoned an assembly for the
purpose, the lieutenant-generals and tribunes gathered
hastily about him, and cautioned him not to hazard a
trial of the extent of an authority whose whole efficacy
depended on the will of those who were to obey it:
informed him, that the soldiers in general declared that
they would not attend the assembly; and that in every
quarter, they were heard loudly demanding that the camp
should be removed out of the Volscian territories. They
reminded him that the conquering army had approached
almost to the gates and to the rampart, and that if he
persisted, there was not only reason to apprehend, but
every certain indication of a most grievous calamity
ensuing. At length yielding to persuasion, as nothing but
a delay of punishment could be the consequence, he
prorogued the assembly; gave orders that the troops
should be in readiness to march next day; and, at the first
dawn, gave, by sound of trumpet, the signal for setting
out. When the army had scarcely got clear of the camp,
and while they were just forming in order of march, the
Volscians, as if they had been summoned by the same
signal, made an attack on their rear; and, the alarm
spreading from thence to the van, caused such
consternation, as threw both the battalions and ranks
into confusion, so that neither could orders be heard, nor
a line formed. No one now thought of any thing but flight,
and with such precipitation did they make their way
through the ranks, that the enemy ceased to pursue
sooner than the Romans to fly. In vain did the consul
follow his men, calling [196] on them to halt. But when he
had at length collected them together, he encamped in a
peaceful part of the country; and there, having
summoned an assembly, after uttering severe and just
reproaches against the army as betrayers of military
discipline, and deserters from their posts, asking each
where were their standards? where were their arms? he
beat with rods, and beheaded, the soldiers who had
thrown away their swords, the standard-bearers who had
lost their ensigns, and also such of the centurions, and of
the privates as had quitted their ranks. Of the rest of the
multitude every tenth man was drawn by lot and
punished.

LX. In a very different manner were matters conducted in

the country of the quans. There seemed a mutual
contest carried on between the consul and his troops,
who should exceed the other in civility and good offices.
Quintius was naturally of a milder disposition, and
besides, the ill consequences attending the harshness of
his colleague made him feel the greater satisfaction in
indulging his own temper. The quans, not daring to
meet, in the field, a general and army so cordially united,
suffered them to carry their depredations through every
part of the country; and in no former war was a greater
abundance of booty brought off from thence, all which
was distributed among the soldiers. Their behaviour was
also rewarded with praises, in which the minds of
soldiers find as much delight as in gain. The troops
returned home in better temper towards their general,
and, on the generals account, towards the patricians
also; declaring, that the senate had given to them a
parent, to the other army a master. This year, during
which they experienced a variety of fortune in their
military operations, and furious dissensions both at home
and abroad, was particularly distinguished by the
assemblies of the people voting by tribes; a matter which
derived its seeming importance rather from the honour
of the victory obtained by one party over the other, than
from any real advantage accruing from it. For
the [197] share of power, which was either gained by the
commons, or taken from the patricians, was trifling, in
proportion to the great degree of dignity of which the
assemblies themselves were deprived by the exclusion of
the patricians.

Y. R. 284. BC 468. LXI. The following year, the consulate of

Lucius Valerius and Tiberius milius was disturbed by
more violent commotions, both in consequence of the
struggles between the different orders of the state
concerning the agrarian law, and also of the trial of
Appius Claudius; who, having taken a most active part, in
opposition to the law, and supported the cause of those
who were in possession of the public lands, as if he were a
third consul, and thought it his duty, had a criminal
prosecution instituted against him by Marcus Duilius and
Caius Sicinius. Never hitherto had a person, so odious to
the commons, been brought to trial before the people,
overwhelmed as he was with their hatred, on his fathers
account, besides the load which his own conduct had
drawn on him; and hardly ever did the patricians exert
such strenuous efforts in favour of any other, seeing this
champion of the senate, the assertor of its dignity, their
bulwark against all the outrageous attempts both of
tribunes and commons, exposed to the rage of the
populace, only for having in the contest exceeded, in
some degree, as they conceived, the bounds of
moderation. Appius Claudius himself was the only one
among the patricians, who looked with scorn on the
tribunes and commons, even affecting a disregard as to
his own trial. Neither the threats of the commons, nor the
intreaties of the senate, could ever prevail on him either
to change its garb,* or use a suppliant address, or even to
soften and relax, in any degree, the usual harshness of his
language, when he was to plead his cause before the
people. He still preserved the same expression of
countenance, the same stubborn fierceness in his looks,
and the [198] same vehemence in his discourse; so that a
great many of the commons felt to less dread of Appius,
while he stood a culprit at their bar, than they had done
when he was consul. He pleaded in his defence, and that
with all the haughtiness which he could have shown, had
he been the accuser, just as he used to behave on every
other occasion; and, by his intrepidity, so astonished the
tribunes and commons, that, of their own choice, they
adjourned the trial to another day, and afterwards
suffered the business to cool. The day of adjournment
was not very distant, yet, before it arrived, he was seized
with a disorder and died. The tribunes endeavoured to
prevent his being honoured with a funeral panegyric, but
the commons would not allow that the last day of so great
a man should be defrauded of the usual glories. They
listened to the encomiums pronounced on him after his
death with as favourable an attention as they had shown
to the charges brought against him when alive, and, in
vast numbers, attended his funeral.

LXII. During this year, the consul Valerius marched with

an army against the quans; and, finding it
impracticable to entice them to an engagement, made an
assault on their camp. A violent storm of thunder and
hail obliged him to desist, and peoples surprise was
increased, when, as soon as the signal for retreat had
been given, the weather became perfectly calm and clear;
so that they were deterred by a religious scruple from
again attacking a camp which had been defended by an
evident interposition of some divinity, and vented all
their rage in devastations on the enemys lauds. The other
consul milius conducted the war in the country of the
Sabines, and there also, the enemy keeping within their
walls, the lands were laid waste; at length, by the
burning, not only of the country-houses, but of the
villages, which in that populous country were very
numerous, the Sabines were provoked to give battle to
the troops employed in the depredations; and, being
obliged to retreat [199] without having gained any
advantage, removed their camp, next day, to a place of
greater safety. This appeared to the consul a sufficient
reason to consider the enemy as vanquished, and to cease
any farther operations; he accordingly withdrew his men,
without having made any progress in the war.

Y. R. 235. BC 467. LXIII. While these wars still raged

abroad, and party divisions at home, Titus Numicius
Priscus and Aulus Virginius were elected consuls. There
was reason to believe that the commons would not
endure any farther delay with respect to the agrarian law,
and every degree of violence was ready to be committed,
when it was discovered, by the smoke from the burning of
the country-houses, and by the inhabitants flying to the
city, that the Volscians were at hand; this incident
repressed the sedition, when just ripe, and on the point of
breaking forth. The consuls were instantly ordered by the
senate to lead out the youth from the city against the
enemy; and this made the rest of the commons less
turbulent. On the other side, the assailants, without
performing any thing farther than alarming the Romans
by the destruction of some few buildings, retired with
great precipitation. Numicius marched to Antium against
the Volscians; Virginius against the quans. Here, the
army falling into an ambuscade, and being in the utmost
danger of a total overthrow, was rescued by the bravery
of the soldiers from the imminent peril to which the
carelessness of the consul had exposed them. The
operations against the Volscians were better conducted;
in the first engagement, the enemy were routed, and
compelled to fly into Antium, which, considering those
times, was a city of great strength; the consul therefore
not choosing to venture to attack it, took from the
Antians another town called Ceno, which was not near so
strong. Whilst the quans and Volscians gave
employment to the Roman armies, the Sabines carried
depredation to the very gates of the city; however,
they [200] themselves, in a few days after, suffered, from
the two Roman armies, greater losses than any which
they had occasioned; both the consuls, provoked at their
proceedings, having marched into their territories.

LXIV. Towards the close of the year, there was some

interval of peace, but disturbed, as was always the case,
by struggles between the patricians and plebeians. The
latter were so incensed, that they refused to attend the
assembly held for the election of consuls, so that by the
votes of the patricians and their dependants, Titus
Quintius and Quintus Servilius were appointed to the
consulship. These experienced a year similar to the
preceding; the beginning of it filled with civil broils, Y.
R. 286. BC 466. which were afterwards repressed by the
breaking out of foreign wars. The Sabines, marching
across the plains of Crustuminum with great rapidity,
carried fire and sword through all the country on the
banks of the Anio; and though, when they had advanced
almost to the Colline gate, and the walls of the city, they
met with a repulse, yet they carried off a vast booty both
of men and cattle. The consul Servilius marched in
pursuit, with design to bring them to an engagement: but,
not being able to overtake their main body in the
champaign country, he spread devastation to such an
extent, as to leave nothing unmolested, and returned with
a quantity of spoil, exceeding, by many degrees, what the
enemy had carried off. In the campaign against the
Volscians also, the arms of the state were remarkably
successful, through the conduct both of the general and
of the soldiers: first, they fought a pitched battle, on equal
ground, with great loss of blood on both sides. The
Romans, however, whose small number made them feel
the loss more sensibly, would have quitted the field, had
not the consul, by a happy feint, re-animated the troops,
calling out, that the enemy were flying on the other wing:
they then returned to the charge, and the opinion that
victory was on their side, was the means of their
obtaining it in reality. But Titus fearing lest, if he pressed
the fugitives too [201] far, he might have the battle to fight
over again, gave the signal for retreat. After this, an
interval of some few days passed, during which both
parties reposed, as if they had tacitly agreed to a
suspension of arms; and, in the mean time, vast
multitudes from every state of the Volscians and quans
flocked to their camp, not doubting but that the Romans,
when informed of their numbers, would make their
retreat by night. About the third watch, therefore, they
came to attack the camp. Quintius, after appeasing the
tumult which the sudden alarm had excited, and ordering
the soldiers to stay quiet in their tents, led out a cohort of
Hernicians to form an advanced guard, mounted the
trumpeters, with others of their band, on horses, and
ordered them to sound their instruments before the
rampart, so as to keep the enemy in suspense until day-
light. During the remainder of the night, every thing was
quiet in the camp, so that the Romans were not even
prevented from sleeping. The Volscians, on the other
hand, expecting every instant an attack, were kept in a
state of earnest attention by the appearance of the armed
infantry, whom they believed to be Romans, and whom
they also conceived to be more numerous than they really
were, from the bustle and neighing of the horses, and
which, being under the management of riders with whom
they were acquainted, and having their ears continually
teazed with the sound of the instruments, made in their
trampling a considerable noise.

LXV. When day appeared, the Romans, marching into

the field in full vigour, after being thoroughly refreshed
with sleep, at the first onset overpowered the Volscians,
fatigued with standing and want of rest. However, the
enemy might be said to retire, rather than to be routed;
for some hills, which lay behind them, afforded a safe
retreat to all the troops that were stationed to the rear of
the first line, whose ranks were still unbroken. On
coming to this place, where the height of the ground was
against him, the consul ordered [202] his men to halt: but
it was with great difficulty that they could be restrained;
they called out, and insisted on being allowed to pursue
the advantage which they had gained: while the
horsemen, collected round the general, were still more
ungovernable, loudly declaring that they would advance
before the front line. While Titus hesitated, between the
confidence which he knew he might place in the valour of
his men, and the difficulty of the ground, all cried out,
with one voice, that they would proceed; and they
instantly put their words in execution; sticking their
spears in the ground, that they might be lighter to climb
the steeps, they ran forward in full speed. The Volscians
having at the first onset discharged their missive
weapons, began to pour down on them, as they
approached. The incessant blows from the stones of the
higher ground, and which lay among their feet, so galled
and disordered the Romans, that their left wing was by
this means almost overborne; when the consul, just as
they were beginning to give way, reproaching them with
their rashness, and at the same time with want of spirit,
made their fears give place to shame. At first, they stood
their ground with determined firmness; then, as they
recovered strength to renew the attack, in spite of the
disadvantage of situation, they ventured to advance, and
raising the shout anew, moved forward in a body.
Rushing on again in full career, they forced their way,
and when they had reached almost to the summit of the
hill, the enemy turned their backs, and the pursuers and
pursued, exerting their utmost speed, both rushed into
the camp together, almost in one body. In this
consternation of the Volscians, their camp was taken.
Such of them as could make their escape, took the road to
Antium; thither also the Roman army marched; and,
after a siege of a few days, the town surrendered, not
because the force of the besiegers was stronger now than
in the former attack, but because the spirits of the
besieged were broken by the late unsuccessful battle, and
the loss of their camp.

[203]

BOOK III.
Dissensions about the agrarian laws. The Capitol seized
by exiles and slaves. Quintius Cincinnatus called from the
cultivation of his farm, to conduct a war against the
quans; vanquishes them and makes them pass under
the yoke. The number of the tribunes of the people
augmented to ten. Ten magistrates, called decemvirs,
invested with the authority of the consuls, and of all other
magistrates, are appointed for the purpose of digesting
and publishing a body of laws. These having promulgated
a code of laws, contained in ten tables, obtain a
continuation of their authority for another year, during
which, they add two more to the former ten tables. They
refuse to resign their office and retain it a third year. At
first they act equitably and justly; afterwards, arbitrarily
and tyrannically. At length the commons, provoked by a
base attempt of one of them, Appius Claudius, to violate
the chastity of a daughter of Virginius, seize upon the
Aventine mount, and compel them to resign. Appius and
Oppius, two of the most obnoxious, are thrown into
prison, where they put an end to their own lives; the rest
are banished. War with the Sabines, Volscians, and
quans. Unjust determination of the Roman people,
who, being chosen arbitrators in an affair between the
people of Ardea and Aricia, concerning some disputed
lands, adjudge them to themselves.

Y. R. 287. BC 465. I. Soon after the taking of Antium, Titus

milius and Quintus Fabius were elected consuls. This
Quintus was the single one of the Fabii who remained
alive when the family were cut off at the Cremera.
milius had before, in his former consulate,
recommended the distribution of lands among the
commons: now, therefore, on his being [204] a second
time invested with that office, those, who expected the
lands, conceived sanguine hopes of the law being passed.
The tribunes, supposing that an affair for which such
struggles had often been made, in opposition to both the
consuls, might probably be accomplished now, when one
of those magistrates was an advocate for it, set the
business on foot; and the consul continued in the same
sentiments. The possessors of the lands, and most of the
patricians, complaining loudly that a person at the head
of the state aimed to distinguish himself by intrigues
more becoming a tribune courting popularity, by making
donations out of other peoples property, removed the
odium of the whole transaction from the tribunes to the
consul. A desperate contest would have ensued, had not
Fabius struck out an expedient to prevent it, by a plan
disagreeable to neither party; which was, that, as a
considerable tract of land had been taken from the
Volscians in the preceding year, under the conduct and
auspices of Titus Quintius, a colony should be led off to
Antium, a town at no great distance, convenient in every
respect, and a sea-port; by these means, the commons
might come in for lands, without any complaints from the
present possessors at home, and harmony might be
preserved in the state. This proposition was approved of,
and he had commissioners, called triumvirs, appointed to
distribute the same; these were Titus Quintius, A.
Virginius, and Publius Furius; and such as chose to
accept of those lands, were ordered to give in their
names. The gratification of their wishes, as is generally
the case, instantly begat disgust; and so few subscribed to
the proposal, that, to fill up the colony, they were obliged
to take in a number of the Volscians. The rest of the
populace chose rather to prosecute claims of land at
Rome, than to receive immediate possession of it
elsewhere. The quans sued to Quintus Fabius for peace,
for he had gone against them with an army; yet they
themselves [205] broke it, by a sudden incursion into the
Latine territories.

Y. R. 288. BC 464. II. In the year following, Quintus

Servilius, who was consul with Spurius Postumius, being
sent against the quans, fixed his camp in the Latine
territory, a post which he intended to retain. Here the
troops were compelled, by sickness, to remain inactive
within their lines; by which means the war was
protracted to the third year, in which Quintus Fabius and
Titus Quintius were consuls. Y. R. 289. BC 463. As Fabius,
in consequence of his former successes there, had
granted peace to the quans, that province was now
particularly assigned to him. He set out with confident
expectations, that the splendor of his name would be
sufficient to induce the quans to put an end to
hostilities, and sent ambassadors to the general meeting
of that nation, with orders to tell them, that Quintus
Fabius, consul, gave them notice, that, as he had brought
peace to Rome from the quans, so now he brought war
to the quans from Rome; having armed for war the
same hand which he had formerly given to them as a
pledge of peace. Which of the parties had, by perjury and
perfidy, given occasion to this rupture, was known to the
gods, who would soon prove avengers of the crime: yet,
notwithstanding this, he was still more desirous that the
quans should, of their own accord, repent of their
misconduct, than suffer the evils of war. If they repented,
they should find safety in that clemency which they had
already experienced: if they chose to persist in a conduct
which involved them in the guilt of perjury, they must
expect, in the progress of the war, to find the resentment
of the gods even greater than that of their enemies. So
far were these declarations from producing the desired
effect on them, that the ambassadors narrowly escaped
ill-treatment, and an army was sent to Algidum against
the Romans. When the news of these transactions was
brought to Rome, the indignity of the affair, rather
than [206] the danger, called out the other consul from
the city, and the two consular armies advanced to the
enemy in order of battle, prepared for an immediate
engagement. But this happening rather late in the day, a
person called out from one of the enemys posts,
Romans, this is making an ostentatious parade, not
waging war: ye draw up your forces for battle, when night
is at hand. We require a greater length of day-light to
decide the contest which is to come on: return into the
field to-morrow at sun-rise; ye shall have an opportunity
of fighting, doubt it not. The soldiers were led back into
camp until the next day, highly irritated by those
expressions, and thinking the approaching night would
appear too long, which was to occasion a delay to the
combat: the intervening hours, however, they employed
in refreshing themselves with food and sleep. Next
morning, as soon as it was light, the Roman army were
the first, by a considerable time, to take their post in the
field. At length, the quans also came forward. The
battle was fought with great fury on both sides, for the
Romans were stimulated both by anger and hatred, while
the quans, conscious that the dangers to which they
were exposed were the consequence of their own crimes,
and despairing of ever being treated with confidence in
future, felt a necessity of making the most desperate
exertions. However, they were not able to withstand the
Roman troops. They were driven from the field, and
retreated to their own territories; where the outrageous
multitude, not at all the more disposed to peace from
their failure, censured their leaders for having hazarded
success in a pitched battle; a manner of fighting in which
the Romans possessed superior skill. The quans, they
said, were better fitted for predatory expeditions; and
there was greater reason to hope for success, from a
number of detached parties acting separately, than from
one army of unwieldy bulk.

III. Leaving therefore a guard in the camp, they

marched [207] out, and fell upon the Roman frontiers
with such fury, as to carry terror even to the city. Such an
event caused the greater uneasiness, because it was
entirely unexpected; for nothing could be less
apprehended, than that a vanquished enemy, almost
besieged in their camp, should entertain a thought of
committing depredations. The country people, in a panic,
pouring into the gates, and, in the excess of their fright,
exaggerating every thing, cried out, that they were not
small ravaging parties, nor employed in plundering; but
that the legions, and the entire army of the enemy, were
approaching, marching rapidly towards the city, and
prepared for an assault. The first who heard these
rumours, spread them about among others,
unauthenticated as they were, and therefore the more
liable to exaggeration; which caused such a hurry and
confused clamour, every one calling to arms, as, in some
measure, resembled the consternation of a city taken by
storm. Luckily Quintius the consul had returned from
Algidum; this proved a remedy for their fears; he calmed
the tumult, upbraiding them with being afraid of a
vanquished people, and posted guards at the gates. He
then convened the senate, and having, by their directions,
issued a proclamation for a cessation of all civil
business,* marched out to protect the frontiers, leaving
Quintus Servilius to command in the city; but he found
no enemy in the country. The other consul encountered
the quans with extraordinary success; for he attacked
them on the road while heavily laden with booty, which
so embarrassed their motions, as to render them unfit for
action, and took severe revenge for the devastations
which they had committed. He succeeded so effectually,
that few made their escape, and the whole of the booty
was recovered. On this the consul Quintius returned to
the city, and took off the prohibition of business, when
it [208] had continued four days. The general survey was
then held, and the lustrum was closed by Quintius;* the
number of citizens rated in the survey, being one
hundred and twenty-four thousand two hundred and
fourteen, besides the orphans of both sexes. Nothing
memorable passed afterwards in the country of the
quans: they took shelter in their towns, abandoning
their surrounding possessions to fire and devastation.
The consul, after having repeatedly carried hostilities and
depredations through every part of the enemys country,
returned to Rome with great glory, and abundance of
spoil.

Y. R. 290. BC 462. IV. The next consuls were Aulus

Postumius Albus and Spurius Furius Fusus. The Furii,
some writers have called Fusii: this I mention, lest any
should think there was a difference in the persons, when
it is only in the name. There was no doubt entertained,
but that one of the consuls would march an army against
the quans; these, therefore, requested assistance from
the Volscians of Ecetra, who gladly complied with the
request; and so inveterate was the hatred which those
states bore towards the Romans, that they eagerly vied
with each other, in making the most vigorous
preparations for war. This coming to the knowledge of
the Hernicians, they gave notice to the Romans, that the
people of Ecetra had revolted to the quans. The colony
of Antium was also suspected, because on that town
being taken, a great multitude had fled thence for refuge
to the quans; and while the war with that
people [209] lasted, these proved the most valiant soldiers
in their army. Afterwards, when the quans were driven
into their towns, this rabble withdrawing privately, and
returning to Antium, seduced the colonists there, from
their allegiance to the Romans, which, even before that
time, was not much to be relied on. Before the business
was yet ripe, on the first information being laid before the
senate of their intention to revolt, directions were given
to the consuls to send for the heads of the colony, and
inquire into the truth of the matter. These having readily
attended, and being introduced to the senate by the
consuls, answered the questions put to them in such a
manner, that the suspicions against them were stronger
when they were dismissed, than before they came. War
was then considered as inevitable. Spurius Furius, to
whose lot that province had fallen, marching against the
quans, found the enemy in the country of the
Hernicians, employed in collecting plunder; and, being
ignorant of their numbers, because they had never been
seen all together, he rashly hazarded an engagement,
though his army was very unequal to the forces of the
enemy. At the first onset, he was driven from his ground,
and obliged to retreat to his tents; nor did the misfortune
end there: in the course of the next night, and the
following day, his camp was surrounded on all sides, and
attacked so vigorously, that there was no possibility even
of sending a messenger from thence to Rome. The
Hernicians brought an account both of the defeat, and of
the consul and the army being besieged, which struck the
senate with such dismay, that by a decree, in that form
which has been always deemed to be appropriated to
cases of extreme exigency, the other consul Postumius
was charged to take care, that the commonwealth should
receive no detriment. It was judged most expedient, that
the consul himself should remain at Rome, in order to
enlist all who were able to bear arms; and that Titus
Quintius should be sent as proconsul to the relief of the
camp, with [210] an army composed of the allies; to
complete the number of which, the Latines, Hernicians,
and the colony at Antium, were ordered to supply
Quintius with subitary soldiers; this was the appellation
then given to auxiliaries called out on a sudden
emergency.

V. For some time there was a great variety of movements,

and many attempts made, both on one side and on the
other; for the enemy, relying on their superiority in
number, endeavoured to weaken the force of the
Romans, by obliging them to divide it into many parts, in
hopes that it would prove insufficient to withstand them
on every different quarter. At the same time that the siege
of the camp was carried on, a part of their forces was sent
to ravage the lands of the Romans, and to attempt even
Rome itself, if a favourable occasion should offer. Lucius
Valerius was left to guard the city, and the consul
Postumius was sent to protect the frontiers from the
enemys incursions. No degree of vigilance and activity
was left unemployed in any particular: watches were
stationed in the town, out-posts before the gates, and
guards along the walls; and, as was necessary in a time of
such general confusion, a cessation of civil business was
observed for several days. Meanwhile at the camp, the
consul Furius, after having endured the siege for some
time, without making any effort, burst forth, from the
Decuman gate,* on the enemy, when they least expected
him; and though he might have pursued their flying
troops with advantage, yet, fearing lest an attack might be
made on the camp from the opposite side, he halted.
Another Furius, who was a lieutenant-general, and
brother to the consul, hastily pushed forward too far; and
so eagerly intent was he on the pursuit, that he neither
perceived his own party retreating, nor the enemy
intercepting him behind: being thus shut out from
assistance, and having often in vain essayed,
by [211] every kind of effort, to open himself a passage, he
fell, fighting with great bravery. The consul on the other
hand, hearing that his brother was surrounded, turned
back on the enemy, and while, forgetting all caution, he
rushed too precipitately into the thick of the fight, he
received a wound, and was, not without difficulty, carried
off by his attendants. This both damped the courage of
his own men, and rendered the enemy more daring; and
so highly were the latter elated by the death of the
lieutenant-general, and the consuls being wounded, that
no force could afterwards withstand them, so as to
prevent their driving the Romans back to their camp, and
compelling them to submit again to a siege, with both
strength and hopes considerably diminished; they were
even in danger of utter destruction, had not Titus
Quintius, with the troops supplied by the Latines and
Hernicians, come to their relief. He attacked the quans
on their rear, whilst their attention was employed on the
Roman camp, and as they were insultingly exhibiting to
view the head of the lieutenant-general; and a sally being
made from the camp at the same time, on a signal given
by him at some distance, a great number of the enemy
were surrounded and cut off. Of the quans who were
employed in the Roman territories, the number slain was
less, but their defeat and dispersion was more complete.
Being divided into separate parties, and busied in
collecting plunder, they were attacked by Postumius in
several places, where he had posted troops in convenient
situations; when, not knowing what course to take, and
pursuing their flight in great disorder, they fell in with
Quintius, who, after his victory, was returning home with
the wounded consul. Then did the consular army,
exerting themselves with extraordinary alacrity, take full
vengeance for the consuls wound, and for the loss of the
lieutenant-general and the cohorts. Many heavy losses
were sustained on both sides in the course of that
campaign: but it is difficult, at this distance of time, to
assign, with any degree of [212] certainty, the precise
number of those who were engaged, and of those who
fell. Yet Valerius Antias undertakes to estimate them,
affirming that, of the Romans, there fell in the country of
the Hernicians five thousand three hundred; that, of the
plundering parties of the quans, who spread
themselves over the Roman territories, two thousand
four hundred were slain by the consul Aulus Postumius;
that the other body of them, who, while they were
carrying off the spoil, fell in with Quintius, escaped not
without a much greater loss, there being slain of these,
four thousand (and pretending exactness, he adds) two
hundred and thirty. After this, the troops returned to
Rome, and the order for cessation of civil business was
discharged. The sky appeared as on fire in many places,
and other portents either occurred to peoples sight, or
were formed by terror in their imaginations. To avert the
evils which these foreboded, a proclamation was issued
for a solemn festival, to be observed for three days,
during which all the temples were filled with crowds,
both of men and women, supplicating the favour of the
gods. The cohorts of the Latines and Hernicians were
then dismissed by the senate to their respective homes,
with thanks for their spirited behaviour. During the
campaign, a thousand men, who came from Antium after
the battle, but too late to be of any service, were sent off
in a manner little less than ignominious.

Y. R. 291. BC 461. VI. The elections were then held, and

Lucius butius and Publius Servilius being chosen
consuls, entered on their office, on the calends of August,
which was at that time considered as the beginning of the
year with respect to them. This was a season of great
distress; for, during this year, a pestilential disorder
spread itself, not only through the city, but over the
country, affecting both men and cattle with equal
malignity; the violence of the disorder was increased by
admitting into the city the cattle, and also the inhabitants
of the country, who fled thither for shelter from
the [213] enemys ravages. Such a collection of animals of
every kind nearly suffocated the citizens by the
intolerable stench; while the country people, crowded
together in narrow apartments, suffered no less from the
heat, the want of rest, and their attendance on each
other; besides which, mere contact served to propagate
the infection. While they could scarcely support the
weight of the calamities under which they laboured
ambassadors from the Hernicians suddenly arrived with
intelligence, that the quans and Volscians in
conjunction had encamped in their territory, and from
thence were ravaging the country with very numerous
forces. Besides the proof, which the thinness of the senate
afforded to the observation of the allies, of the low state
to which the commonwealth was reduced by the
pestilence, the answer which they received, demonstrated
a great dejection of spirits: that the Hernicians
themselves, with the assistance of the Latines, must
provide for their own safety. That the city of Rome,
through the sudden anger of the gods, was depopulated
by sickness. If they (the Romans) should find any respite
from that calamity, they would, as they had done the year
before, and on all occasions, give assistance to their
allies. Thus the ambassadors departed, carrying home
the most sorrowful intelligence; as they now found
themselves obliged, with their own single strength, to
support a war, to which they had hardly been equal, even
when assisted by the power of Rome. The enemy
remained not long in the country of the Hernicians, but
proceeded thence, with hostile intentions, into the
Roman territory; which, without the injuries of war, was
now become a desert. Without meeting there one human
being even unarmed, and finding every place through
which they passed destitute, not only of troops, but of the
culture of the husbandman, they yet came as far as the
third stone on the Gabian road. By this time butius the
Roman consul was dead, and his colleague Servilius so ill,
that there was very little hope of his recovery; most of the
leading men [214] were siezed by the distemper, as were
the greater part of the patricians, and almost every one of
military age, so that they wanted strength, not only to
form the expeditions which were requisite in a
conjuncture so alarming, but even to mount the guards,
where no exertion was necessary. The duty of the watches
was performed by such of the senators in person, as by
their age and strength were qualified for it: the care of
posting and visiting these, was intrusted to the plebeian
diles; on them devolved the whole administration of
affairs, and the dignity of the consular authority.

VII. The commonwealth in this forlorn state, without a

head, without strength, was saved from destruction by its
guardian deities, who inspired the Volscians and quans
with the spirit of banditti, rather than of warriors; for so
far were they from conceiving any hope, either of
mastering, or even of approaching the walls of Rome, and
such an effect had the distant view of the houses and
adjacent hills, to divert their thoughts from the attempt,
that murmurs spread through all the camp, each asking
the other, why they should throw away their time without
employment, and without booty, in a waste and desert
country, among the putrid carcases of men and cattle;
when they might repair to places that had felt no distress;
to the territory of Tusculum, where every kind of
opulence abounded? and accordingly, they hastily put
themselves in motion, and, crossing the country, passed
on through the territory of Lavici, to the Tusculan hills;
and to that quarter was the whole storm and violence of
the war directed. Meanwhile, the Hernicians and Latines,
prompted not only by compassion, but also by the shame
which they must incur, if they neither gave opposition to
the common enemy, marching to attack the city of Rome,
nor even when their allies were besieged, afforded them
any assistance, united their forces, and proceeded to
Rome. Not finding the enemy there, and pursuing their
tracks by such intelligence as they could procure, they
met them coming [215] down from the heights of
Tusculum to the Alban vale. There an engagement
ensued, in which they were by no means a match for the
combined forces, and the fidelity of the allies proved, for
the present unfortunate to them. The mortality
occasioned by the distemper at Rome was not less than
what the sword caused among the allies. The consul
Servilius, with many other illustrious persons, died:
namely, Marcus Valerius and Titus Virginius Rutilus,
augurs; Servius Sulpicius, principal curio; while, among
persons of inferior note the virulence of the disorder
spread its ravages on every side. The senate, unable to
discover a prospect of relief in any human means,
directed the people to have recourse to vows and to the
deities: they were ordered to go, with their wives and
children, to offer supplications and implore the favour of
the gods; and all being thus called out by public
authority, to perform what each man was strongly urged
to by his own private calamities, they quickly filled the
places of worship. In every temple, the prostrate
matrons, sweeping the ground with their hair, implored a
remission of the displeasure of heaven, and deliverance
from the pestilence.
VIII. From that time, whether it was owing to the gods
having become propitious, or to the more unhealthy
season of the year being now past, the people began to
find their health gradually restored. And now their
attention being turned to public business, several
interregna having expired, Publius Valerius Publicola, on
the third day after he had entered on the office of
interrex, Y. R. 292. BC 460. caused Lucius Lucretius
Tricipitinus and Titus Veturius, or Vetusius, Geminus to
be elected consuls. These assumed their office on the
third of the ides of August, at which time the state had
recovered its strength so far as to be able not only to repel
an attack but to act offensively on occasion. Wherefore,
on the Hernicians sending information, that the enemy
had made an irruption into their frontiers, they cheerfully
promised to assist them. Two consular armies were
raised. Veturius was [216] sent to carry on an offensive
war against the Volscians. Tricipitinus being appointed to
protect the territories of the allies from all incursions,
proceeded no farther than the country of the Hernicians.
Veturius, in the first engagement, routed and dispersed
his enemy. While Lucretius lay encamped among the
Hernicians, a party of plunderers, unobserved by him,
marched over the Prnestine mountains, and from
thence descended into the plains. These laid waste all the
country about Prneste and Gabii, and from the latter
turned their course towards the high grounds of
Tusculum. Even Rome was very much alarmed, more so
by the unexpectedness of the affair, than that they
wanted strength to defend themselves. Quintus Fabius
had the command in the city. He armed the young men,
posted guards, and soon put every thing into a state of
safety and tranquillity. The enemy therefore not daring to
approach the walls, but hastily carrying off whatever they
could find in the adjacent places, set out on their return,
making a long circuit and while their caution relaxed, in
proportion as they removed to a greater distance, they
fell in with the consul Lucretius, who, having procured
intelligence of all their motions, lay with his troops drawn
up and impatient for the combat. These the consul, with
premeditated resolution, attacked, who, terrified and
thrown into disorder by this sudden appearance of
danger, and though considerably greater in number, were
easily routed and put to flight. He then drove them into
deep vallies, from which being surrounded by his troops,
it was difficult to escape. On this occasion the Volscian
race was nearly extinguished. I find in some histories,
that there fell in the field and the pursuit, thirteen
thousand four hundred and seventy; that one thousand
two hundred and fifty were made prisoners; and that
twenty-seven military standards were taken. However,
though, in those accounts, the numbers may be
somewhat exaggerated, the slaughter certainly was very
great. The victorious consul, [217] possessed of an
immense booty, returned to his former post. The consuls
then made a junction of their forces. The Volscians and
quans also united their shattered troops. On which
ensued the third battle in the course of that campaign.
The same good fortune attended the Romans, the enemy
being routed with the loss of his camp.

IX. Thus did the course of affairs at Rome return into its
former channel, and successes abroad immediately
excited commotions at home. Caius Terentillus Arsa was
tribune of the people that year. He, taking advantage of
the absence of the consuls, as an opportunity favourable
to tribunitian intrigues, entertained the commons for
several days with railings against the arrogance of the
patricians; but levelled his invectives chiefly against the
consular government, as possessing an exorbitant degree
of power, and intolerable in a free state: in name, he
said, it was less odious than regal government; while, in
fact, it was rather more oppressive: as, instead of one
tyrant, two had been set over them, invested with
immoderate and unlimited rule; who, while they
themselves were privileged and uncontrolled, directed
every terror of the laws, and every kind of severity against
the commons. Now, in order to prevent their continuing
for ever to possess this arbitrary influence, he would
propose, that five commissioners be appointed to
compose a set of laws for the regulation of the consular
government. Whatever share of authority the people
should think proper to intrust in the hands of the consuls,
such they should enjoy; but they should not hold their
own will and absolute determinations, as law. When this
decree was published, the patricians were filled with
dread, lest, in the absence of the consuls, the yoke might
be imposed on them: the senate was called together by
the prfect of the city, Quintus Fabius, who inveighed
against the proposition, and the author of it, with such
vehemence, as to omit no kind of threats, or means of
intimidation, which could have been [218] applied, had
both the consuls, provoked to the highest, stood beside
the tribune. He urged, that this man had lain in ambush,
and watching his opportunity, had made an assault on
the commonwealth. If the gods, in their anger, had sent a
tribune like him, during the last year, while sickness and
war raged together, his designs could not have been
prevented. When both the consuls were dead, and the
enfeebled state lay overwhelmed in universal anarchy
and confusion, he would probably have introduced laws
for abolishing the consular government, and would have
become a leader to the Volscians and quans in an
attack upon the city. And, after all, where was the
occasion for such a law? If a consul, in his behaviour
towards the citizens, proved himself arbitrary or cruel,
was it not in the tribunes power to bring him to a trial?
to prosecute him, where his judges would be those very
persons, against one of whom the injury was committed?
His manner of acting tended to render, not the consular
government, but the office of tribune, odious and
intolerable, because, from being in a state of peace and
amity with the patricians, he was forcing it back into the
old evil practices. But it was not intended to beseech him
to desist from proceeding as he had begun. Of you, the
other tribunes, said Fabius; we request, that ye will,
first of all, consider, that your office was instituted for the
protection of individuals, and not for the destruction of
any part of the community; that ye were created tribunes
of the commons, not foes of the patricians. It reflects as
much dishonour on you, as it does concern on us, that the
commonwealth should be invaded in the absence of its
chief magistrates. Take measures with your colleague,
that he may adjourn this business until the arrival of the
consuls, ye will not hereby lessen your rights, but ye will
lessen the odium which such proceedings must excite.
Even the quans and Volscians, when the consuls were
carried off last year by the sickness, refrained from
adding to our [219] afflictions by a cruel and implacable
prosecution of war. The tribunes accordingly made
application to Terentillus, and the business being
suspended, in appearance, but, in reality, suppressed, the
consuls were immediately called home.

X. Lucretius returned with a very great quantity of spoil,

and much greater glory. He added to the glory which he
had acquired, by exposing, on his arrival, all the spoil in
the field of Mars, in order that every one should have an
opportunity, during three days, to recognize and carry
home his share of the same. The remainder, not having
claimants, was sold. All men agreed in opinion, that a
triumph was due to the consul; but the consideration of
that matter was postponed, because the tribune had
renewed his attempts to carry his law; and this was
deemed by the consul an affair of more importance. The
business was canvassed during several days, both in the
senate, and the assembly of the people: at length, the
tribune yielded to the weight of the consuls authority,
and desisted. Then was paid to the consul and his army,
the honour which they so justly merited. He triumphed
over the Volscians and quans, his own legions
attending him in the procession. To the other consul, was
granted the honour of entering the city in
ovation,* unattended by the troops. In the following year,
the law of Terentillus, supported by the concurrence of all
the tribunes, again assailed the consuls. Y. R.
293. BC 459. These were Publius Volumnius and Servius
Sulpicius. In this year the sky appeared on fire, and a
violent earthquake happened; it was also now believed
that an ox spoke, an incident to which in the last yeat
credit had been refused. Among other prodigies, a shower
of flesh fell, which, as was reported, was [220] in a great
measure intercepted in its fall by a vast number of birds
flying about the place, and what escaped them, lay
scattered on the ground for several days, without any
degree of putrefaction, or being even changed in smell.
The books* were consulted by the duumviri presiding
over sacred rites, and it was predicted that dangers
impended from a concourse of foreigners, that an attack
was to be made on the higher parts of the city, and lives
lost in consequence; among other things, warning was
given, that all seditious practices should be avoided. This
the tribunes cried out against, as a forgery, contrived for
the purpose of hindering the passing of their law; and
matters were tending to a desperate contest; when, lo!
that things might revolve in the same circle every year,
the Hernicians brought an account, that the Volscians
and quans, notwithstanding their late defeat, were
recruiting their armies; that their chief dependence was
upon Antium; that the people of that colony held
meetings openly at Ecetra; that they were the first movers
of the war, and composed the greatest part of the forces.
As soon as this intelligence was communicated to the
senate, an order was passed for levying troops, and the
consuls were directed to take the management of the war
between them, [221] so that one should have the Volscians
as his province, the other the quans. The tribunes
exclaimed loudly to their faces in the Forum that this
Volscian war was but a concerted farce; that the
Hernicians had been instructed how to act their part in it;
that now the Roman people were not deprived of liberty
by manly efforts, but cheated out of it by cunning. That
because it was incredible, that the Volscians and quans,
who were almost exterminated, could of themselves
commence hostilities, new enemies had been sought for,
and slanders thrown on a loyal colony closely connected
with Rome; that the war was proclaimed, indeed, against
the unoffending people of Antium, but waged against the
commons of Rome, whom they intended to lead out of
the city with precipitate haste, loaded with arms, thus
wreaking their vengeance on the tribunes by the
expulsion and banishment of the citizens. That by these
means, and let not people think there was any other
design, all efforts in favour of the law would be effectually
overpowered, if they did not, before matters proceeded
farther, while they were yet at home, and retained the
garb of citizens, adopt such measures as would prevent
their being driven out of possession of the city, and
obliged to submit to the yoke. If they had spirit, they
should not want support; the tribunes were all
unanimous in their favour; there was no danger, no
reason of apprehension from abroad. The gods had taken
care the year before, that they might now stand up with
safety in defence of their liberty. Such was the language
of the tribunes.

XI. But, on the other side, the consuls, fixing their chairs
within view of them, began to proceed in the levy; thither
the tribunes hastened, and drew the assembly with them.
A few were cited by way of experiment, and immediately
outrages commenced. Whenever a lictor, by the consuls
command, laid hold of any person, a tribune ordered him
to be set at liberty. Nor did either party confine
themselves within [222] the limits of that authority, to
which their office entitled them; every measure taken was
to be supported by force. The same line of conduct, which
the tribunes had observed in obstructing the levy, was
followed by the consuls in their opposition to the law,
which was brought forward on every day whereon an
assembly could be held. The riot was continued by the
patricians refusing to withdraw, after the tribunes had
ordered the people to proceed to the place of voting. The
elder citizens hardly ever attended the meetings on this
affair, by reason that they were not regulated by
prudence, but abandoned to the direction of rashness and
violence; and the consuls generally kept out of the way,
lest, in such general confusion, they should expose their
dignity to insult. There was a young man, called Cso
Quintius, full of presumption, on account both of the
nobility of his descent, and his personal size and
strength; to these qualifications bestowed by the gods, he
added many warlike accomplishments, and had evinced a
considerable degree of eloquence in the Forum,
insomuch that no person in the state was deemed to
possess greater abilities, either for acting or speaking.
This man having placed himself in the midst of the body
of the patricians, conspicuous in stature above the rest,
and as if he carried in his eloquence and bodily strength,
every power of the consulship or dictatorship, withstood
by his single efforts the attacks of the tribunes, and the
whole popular storm. In consequence of his exertions,
the tribunes were often driven out of the Forum, and the
commons routed and dispersed. Such of them as came in
his way, he caused to be stripped, and otherwise severely
handled; so that every one saw, that if he were allowed to
proceed in this manner, it would be impossible to carry
the law. At this juncture, when the tribunes were almost
reduced to despair, Aulus Virginius, one of their body,
instituted a criminal prosecution on a capital charge
against Cso. But by this proceeding he rather irritated
than repressed his [223] impetuous temper: he thence
became the more vehement in his opposition to the law,
persecuted the commons, and harassed the tribunes, in a
manner, with open hostilities. The prosecutor suffered
the accused to run headlong to ruin, and to draw down on
himself such a degree of public displeasure, as would
serve to inflame mens minds on the charges which he
had brought against him, and in the meantime frequently
introduced the law, not so much in hope of carrying it
through, as with design to provoke the rashness of Cso.
Many inconsiderate expressions and actions, which often
passed on these occasions among the young men, were
all, through the general prejudice against him, imputed to
Csos violent temper. The law, however, was still
opposed, and Aulus Virginius frequently observed to the
people, Do ye not perceive, Romans, that it is impossible
for you to have, at the same time, Cso among the
number of your citizens, and this law which ye wish for?
Though why do I speak of this law? Your liberty is
endangered by him; he surpasses, in tyrannical pride, all
the Tarquinii together: wait until he is made consul or
dictator, whom ye now behold in a private station,
exerting all the prerogatives of royalty. He was
supported in these invectives by great numbers, who
complained of being personally abused by Cso, and
importuned the tribune to go through with the
prosecution.

XII. The day of trial now approached, and it was manifest

that the people in general had conceived an opinion, that
the existence of their liberty depended upon the
condemnation of Cso. Then at length he was compelled,
though not without indignation, to solicit the favour of
each: he was followed by his relations, who were the
principal persons in the state. Titus Quintius Capitolinus,
who had been thrice consul, after recounting many
honourable achievements of his own, and of his family,
affirmed, that there never had appeared, either in the
Quintian family, or in the Roman state, any person
possessed of such a capacity, and who exhibited [224] so
early, such displays of valour. That he served his first
campaign under himself, and had often in his sight
fought with the enemy. Spurius Furius declared that he
had, by order of Quintius Capitolinus, come to his relief,
when in a dangerous situation; and that there was no one
person to whom he thought the public so much indebted
for the restoration of their affairs. Lucius Lucretius,
consul the preceding year, in the full splendour of fresh
glory, atributed to Cso a share of his own merits;
enumerated the battles he had been engaged in; related
extraordinary instances of his good behaviour, both on
expeditions and in the field; advised and warned them,
rather to preserve among themselves, than to drive into
a foreign country, a youth of such extraordinary merit,
endowed with every accomplishment which nature and
fortune could bestow, and who would prove a vast
accession to the interest of any state, of which he should
become a member. That the only parts in his character
which could give offence, heat and vehemence,
diminished daily, as he advanced in age; while the only
requisite wanting, namely, prudence, was continually
gathering strength: that as his faults were on the decline,
and his virtues advancing to maturity, they should allow
a man of such rare talents to become an old member of
their community. Along with these, his father, Lucius
Quintius, surnamed Cincinnatus, not dwelling on his
praises, for fear of heightening the public displeasure, but
intreating their forgiveness for his mistakes and his
youth, besought them to pardon the son for the sake of
him who, neither in word or deed had ever given offence
to any. But some, either through respect or fear, avoided
listening to his intreaties; while others, complaining of
the ill treatment which they and their friends had
received, showed beforehand, by their harsh answers,
what their sentence would be.

XIII. Besides the notorious instances of the ill conduct of

the accused, there was one charge which bore heavily
on [225] him: Marcus Volscius Fictor, who some years
before had been tribune of the people, stood forth and
testified, that a short time after the pestilence in the city,
he met with a number of young men rioting in the
Suburra;* that a scuffle ensued, and that his brother, who
was advanced in years, and not thoroughly recovered
from the disorder, received from Cso a blow of his fist,
which felled him to the ground; that he was carried home
from thence, and that he believed this blow was the cause
of his death; but that he was prevented from prosecuting
him for such an atrocious act, by the consuls of the
preceding years. The loud asseverations of Volscius on
the matter so enraged the people, that they could hardly
be restrained from falling on Cso, and putting him to
death. Virginius ordered him to be seized and carried to
prison: the patricians opposed force to force. Titus
Quintius exclaimed, that a person formally accused of a
capital crime, whose trial was shortly to come on, ought
not, before trial, and without sentence passed, to suffer
violence. The tribune declared, that he had no intention
of inflicting pains before condemnation, but that he
would keep him in custody until the day of trial, that the
Roman people might have it in their power to punish the
man who had been guilty of murder. The other tribunes
being appealed to, resolved on a middle course, and
thereby avoided every impeachment of their right to give
protection: they forbade his being put in confinement,
and declared it as their determination, that Cso should
give bail for his appearance, and that a sum of money
should be secured to the people, in case of his failing so to
do. The sum in which it was reasonable that the sureties
should be bound, came then to be discussed; it was
refered to the senate; and until they should come to a
resolution, the accused was detained in the public
assembly. It was determined that he should find sureties,
and that each [226] surety should be bound to the amount
of three thousand asses:* the number of sureties to be
furnished was left to the decision of the tribunes; they
fixed it at ten, and on that number being bound, the
prosecutor consented that the offender should be
admitted to bail. He was the first who gave bail, in this
manner, where the penalty was to be applied to the use of
the public. Being dismissed from the Forum, he went the
night following into exile among the Etrurians. On the
day appointed for his trial it was pleaded in his favour,
that he had gone into exile; nevertheless, Virginius
presiding in the assembly, his colleagues, on being
appealed to, dismissed the meeting, and the forfeited
money was exacted from his father with such severity,
that all his property being sold, he lived for a long time in
an obscure cottage beyond the Tiber, as if banished from
his country. This trial, and the proceedings about the law,
gave full employment to the state. There was no
disturbance from foreign enemies.
XIV. The tribunes, flushed with this success, imagined,
from the dismay into which the patricians had been
thrown by the exile of Cso, that the passing of the law
was almost certain. But though the elder patricians had
in fact relinquished the administration of affairs, the
younger part of them, especially those who were Csos
friends, instead of suffering their spirits to droop,
assumed a higher degree of vehemence in their rage
against the commons. Yet in one particular they
improved their plan exceedingly, which was by
moderation. The first time, indeed, after Csos
banishment, when the law in all their proceedings
became the question, having prepared themselves for the
occasion, and formed in a body with a great band of their
dependents, they, as soon as the tribunes afforded a
pretext by ordering them to retire, attacked the people
furiously, and all exerted [227] themselves with activity so
equal, that no one carried home a greater share than
another, either of honour or of ill-will; while the
commons complained, that a thousand Csos had started
up in the room of one. During the intermediate days,
however, in which the tribunes brought forward no
proceedings respecting the law, nothing could be more
mild and peaceable than these same persons; they
saluted the plebeians kindly; entered into conversation
with them; invited them to their houses; took care of
their affairs in the Forum, and allowed even the tribunes
themselves to hold meetings for any other purposes
without interruption. In a word, they showed no kind of
incivility to any, either in public or private, except when
the business of the law began to be agitated. On other
occasions, as I have said, the behaviour of the young
patricians was popular, and the tribunes not only
executed the rest of their business without disturbance,
but were even re-elected for the following year without
one offensive expression, much less any violence being
used. By thus soothing and managing the commons, they
rendered them, by degrees, more tractable, and by these
methods the passing of the law was evaded during that
whole year.

Y. R. 294. BC 458. XV. The succeeding consuls, Caius

Cladius, son of Appius, and Publius Valerius found, on
entering on the office, the commonwealth in a state of
perfect tranquillity. The new year had brought no change
in affairs. The thoughts of every member of the state were
occupied, either in wishes for the passing of the law, or in
apprehensions of being obliged to submit to it. The more
the younger patricians endeavoured to insinuate
themselves into the favour of the commons, the more
earnestly did the tribunes strive to counteract them;
exciting suspicions to their prejudice in the minds of the
populace; and asserting, that there was a conspiracy
formed. They maintained likewise, that Cso was at
Rome; that plans had been concerted for putting the
tribunes to death, and massacring the
commons: [228] that the elder patricians had engaged the
younger to abolish the office of tribune, and to reduce the
state to the same form which had subsisted before the
secession to the sacred mount. While fears were
entertained of an attack from the Volscians and quans,
which had now become a stated matter, and occurred
regularly almost every year, a new danger made its
appearance nearer home. A number of exiles and slaves,
amounting to four thousand five hundred, under the
command of Appius Herdonius a Sabine, seized on the
Capitol and citadel by night, and put to death all those in
the latter, who refused to join the conspiracy, and take
arms along with them. Some, during this tumult, ran
down to the Forum with all the precipitance which their
fright inspired, and the cries of, to arms, and the
enemy are in the city, resounded alternately. The
consuls were afraid either to arm the commons, or let
them remain without arms, not knowing what this peril
was, which had so suddenly assailed the city; whether it
was occasioned by foreign or domestic forces; whether by
the disaffection of the commons, or the treachery of the
slaves. They exerted themselves to quiet the tumults; but,
not unfrequently, these very endeavours served but to
exasperate them the more: for it was impossible, in such
a state of terror and consternation, to make the populace
obey command. They gave them arms notwithstanding,
but not to all without distinction, only to such as they
could safely rely on in all emergences, not yet knowing
with what enemy they had to contend. The rest of the
night was passed in posting guards in proper places all
over the city, the magistrates still remaining in anxious
suspense, and unable to find out who the enemy were, or
what their number. Daylight then arriving, made a
discovery of the insurgents, and of their leader: Appius
Herdonius from the Capitol invited the slaves to liberty,
telling them that he had undertaken the cause of all the
unfortunate, with intent of restoring to their country
those who had [229] been unjustly driven into
banishment, and of delivering those who groaned under
the grievous yoke of slavery. He rather wished that this
might be accomplished by the voluntary act of the Roman
people: but if it was not to be so effected, he would rouse
the Volscians and quans in the cause, and would
persevere in the attempt to the utmost extremity.

XVI. The affair appeared now to the consuls and senate

in a less formidable light, yet they still dreaded lest,
besides the purposes which were declared, that this
might be a scheme of the Veientians or the Sabines; and
that the disaffected might, in consequence of a concerted
plan, be supported presently by the Sabine and Etrurian
legions; and that their everlasting enemies, the Volscians
and quans, might come, not, as formerly, to ravage the
country, but to seize on the city, which their favourers
already possessed in part. Many and various were their
fears, the principal of which was their dread of the slaves,
lest every one should find in his own house an enemy,
whom it was neither safe to trust, nor, by apparent
distrust, to provoke to infidelity and hate. So critical,
indeed, was their situation, that, had perfect harmony
subsisted in the state, they could scarcely hope to be
extricated from it. But amidst the crowd of dangers which
started up on every side, no one had any apprehensions
from the turbulence of the tribunes or the commons: that
was deemed an evil of a milder nature; and which, as it
always began to operate in times undisturbed by foreign
affairs, they supposed would now be at rest. Yet this
alone proved the heaviest aggravation of their distress;
for such madness possessed the tribunes, that they
insisted that they were not enemies, but people under the
appearance of enemies, who had seized on the capitol, for
the purpose of diverting the attention of the commons
from the business of the law; and that these guests and
dependants of the patricians, if the law were once passed,
and it were perceived that the tumults, [230] which they
raised, had not answered their purpose, would depart in
greater silence than they came. They then called away the
people from their arms, and held an assembly for passing
the law. In the mean time, the consuls convened the
senate, more terrified by the danger apprehended from
the tribunes, than from the exiles and slaves.

XVII. On hearing that the people were laying down their

arms, and quitting their posts, Publius Valerius, leaving
his colleague to preside in the senate, rushed forth from
the senate-house, and came to the assembly of the
tribunes, whom he thus accosted: What mean ye,
tribunes, by these proceedings? Do ye intend, under the
command and auspices of Appius Herdonius, to overturn
the commonwealth? Has he been successful in corrupting
you, though he had not authority sufficient to influence
the slaves? Do ye think this a proper time, when the foe is
within our walls, for arms to be laid aside, and laws to be
proposed? Then directing his discourse to the populace,
If, Romans, ye are unconcerned for the city and for
yourselves, yet pay respect to the gods of your country,
now taken captive. Jupiter supremely good and great,
Juno queen of heaven, Minerva, with the other gods and
goddesses, are held in confinement: a band of slaves
occupies the residence of the tutelar deities of the state.
Do ye think this method of acting consistent with sound
policy? These slaves have a powerful force, not only
within the walls, but in the citadel, looking down on the
Forum and the senate-house; meanwhile, in the Forum,
are assemblies of the people; in the senate-house, the
senate sitting; just as in time of perfect tranquillity the
senator gives his opinion, the other Romans their votes.
Ought not every man, as well of the patricians as
commoners, the consul, tribunes, citizens, all in short, to
have snatched up arms in such a cause, to have run to the
capitol, to have restored to liberty and peace that most
august residence of the supremely good and great
Jupiter? O father Romulus, grant to thine [231] offspring
that spirit, by which thou formerly recoveredst the citadel
from these same Sabines, when they had got possession
of it by means of gold. Direct them to pursue the same
path, in which thou ledst the way, and which thine army
followed. Lo, I as consul will be the first to follow thee
and thy footsteps, as far as a mortal can follow a divinity.
The conclusion of his speech was, that he now took up
arms, and summoned every citizen of Rome to arms. If
any one should attempt to prevent the execution of this
order, he would never, he said, regard the extent of the
consular authority, nor of the tribunitian power, nor the
devoting laws; but, be he who he might, or where he
might, whether in the capitol, or in the Forum, he would
treat him as an enemy. Let the tribunes, then, give orders
for arming against Publius Valerius the consul, since they
had forbidden it against Appius Herdonius, and he would
not hesitate to use those tribunes, in the same manner
which the founder of his family had the spirit to show
towards kings. On this declaration, every one expected
the utmost degree of violence, and that the enemy would
be gratified with the sight of a civil war among the
Romans. Yet neither could the law be carried, nor the
consul march to the capitol; night coming on, put a stop
to the contests; and the tribunes dreading the armed
attendants of the consuls, retired. And as soon as the
fomenters of sedition had withdrawn, the patricians went
about among the commons, and introducing themselves
into their circles of conversation, threw out discourses
adapted to the juncture, advising them to consider well
into what hazards they were bringing the
commonwealth; telling them, that the contest was not
between the patricians and plebeians, but whether the
patricians and plebeians together the fortress of the city,
the temples of the gods, and the guardian deities of the
state, and of private families, should all be given up into
the hands of the enemy. While these measures were
employed in the Forum [232] to appease the dissensions,
the consuls had gone to visit the gates and walls, lest the
Sabines or Veientians might make any hostile attempt.

XVIII. The same night, messengers arrived at Tusculum,

with accounts of the citadel being taken, the capitol
seized, and of the other disturbances which had taken
place in the city. Lucius Mamilius was at that time
dictator at Tusculum. He instantly assembled the senate,
and introducing the messengers, warmly recommended,
that they should not wait until ambassadors might arrive
from Rome to request assistance, but instantly send it;
the danger and distress of their allies, with the gods, who
witnessed their alliance, and the faith of treaties,
demanded it. That the deities would never afford them
again perhaps so good an opportunity of engaging the
gratitude of so powerful a state, and so near a
neighbour. It was immediately resolved, that assistance
should be sent; and the youth were enrolled and armed.
Coming to Rome at day-break, they were at a distance
taken for enemies; it was imagined that they were the
quans or the Volscians; but this groundless alarm being
removed, they were received into the city, and marched
down in a body to the Forum, where Publius Valerius,
having left his colleague to secure the gates, was
employed at the time in drawing up the people in order of
battle. They had been prevailed on to arm by the
confidence placed in his promises, when he assured
them, that, as soon as the capitol should be recovered,
and peace restored in the city, if they would suffer
themselves to be convinced of the dangerous designs that
lurked under the law proposed by the tribunes, he would
give no obstruction to the assembly of the people,
mindful of his ancestors, mindful of his surname, by
which, attention to promote the interest of the
community was handed down to him, as an inheritance
from his ancestors. Led by him, then, and
notwithstanding that the tribunes cried out loudly against
it, they directed their [233] march up the steep of the
capitol. They were joined by the troops of Tusculum; and
citizens and allies vied with each other for the glory of
recovering the citadel; each leader encouraging his own
men. The besieged, on this, were greatly terrified, having
no reliance on any thing but the strength of the place;
and while they were thus disconcerted, the Romans and
allies pushed forward to the assault. They had already
broken into the porch of the temple, when Publius
Valerius, leading on the attack, was slain at the head of
his men. Publius Volumnius, formerly consul, saw him
fall, and charging those about him to cover the body,
rushed forward to take the place and the office of the
consul. The ardour and eagerness of the soldiers were
such, as hindered their perceiving so great a loss, and
they gained the victory, before they knew that they were
fighting without their leader. Many of the exiles defiled
the temple with their blood; many were taken alive;
Herdonius was slain. Thus was the capitol recovered.
Punishments were inflicted on the prisoners, suitable to
their several conditions either of freemen or slaves.
Thanks were given to the Tusculans. The capitol was
cleansed and purified. It is said, that the plobeians threw
into the consuls house a quadrans each, that his funeral
might be solemnized with the greater splendour.

XIX. Peace being re-established, the tribunes earnestly

pressed the senate to fulfil the promise of Publius
Valerius, and pressed Claudius to acquit the shade of his
colleague of breach of faith, and suffer the business of the
law to proceed. The consul declared, that he would not
listen to the matter, until he should have a colleague
appointed in the room of the deceased. The disputes on
this subject lasted until the assembly was held for
substituting a consul. In the month of December, in
consequence of very zealous efforts of the patricians,
Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, father of Cso, was elected
consul, to enter on his office without delay.
The [234] commons were quite dismayed, on finding, that
they were to have for consul a person highly incensed
against them, and whose power was strengthened by the
support of the patricians, by his own merit, and by three
sons, no one of whom was inferior to Cso in greatness
of spirit, while they excelled him in prudence and
moderation on proper occasions. When he came into
office, in the frequent harangues which he made from the
tribunal, he showed not more vehemence in his censures
of the commons, than in his reproofs to the senate,
through the indolence of which body, he said, the
tribunes, now become perpetual, by means of their
harangues and prosecutions, exercised sovereign
authority, as if they were not in a republic of Roman
citizens, but in an ill regulated family. That, together with
his son Cso, fortitude, constancy, and every
qualification that gives ornament to youth, either in war
or peace, had been driven out and banished from the city
of Rome; while talkative, seditious men, sowers of
dissension, twice and even thrice re-elected tribunes,
spent their lives in the most pernicious practices, and in
the exercise of regal tyranny. Did Aulus Virginius, said
he, because he was not in the Capitol, deserve less severe
punishment than Appius Herdonius would have merited?
More, undoubtedly, if we judge fairly of the matter.
Herdonius, though nothing else could be said in his
favour, by announcing himself an enemy gave out public
orders in such a manner, that ye necessarily would take
arms. The other, denying that there were enemies to be
opposed, took the arms out of your hands, and exposed
you defenceless to your slaves and exiles. And did ye,
notwithstanding, (I wish to speak without offence to
Caius Claudius, or in detriment to the memory of Publius
Valeririus) lead your troops to an attack on the Capitoline
hill, before ye had expelled these enemies from the
Forum? It is scandalous in the sight of gods and men,
that when a host of rebels was in the citadel, in the
Capitol, and when a leader [235] of exiles and slaves,
profaning every thing sacred, took up his habitation in
the shrine of Jupiter supremely good and great, it is
disgraceful, I say, that arms were taken up at Tusculum
sooner than at Rome. It actually appeared doubtful,
whether Lucius Mamilius, a Tusculan general, or Publius
Valerius and Caius Claudius, consuls, should have the
honour of recovering the Roman citadel. Thus we who,
heretofore, would not suffer the Latines to take up arms,
not even in their own defence, and when they had the
enemy within their territories, should have been taken
and destroyed, had not these very Latines afforded us
assistance of their own accord. Is this, tribunes, your duty
towards the commons, to unarm and expose them to
slaughter? Surely, if any, even the lowest person among
these commons of yours, whom from being a part ye have
broken off, as it were, from the body of the people, and
made a republic peculiar to yourselves; if any one of these
should inform you that his house was surrounded by an
armed band of slaves, surely ye would think that he ought
to go to his assistance. And was the supremely good and
great Jupiter, when hemmed round by the arms of exiles
and slaves, unworthy of any human aid? Yet these men
expect to be held sacred and inviolable, who esteem not
the gods themselves as either sacred or inviolable. But it
seems, contaminated as ye are with the guilt of your
offences against gods and men, ye give out that ye will
carry through your law before the end of this year. It
would then, indeed, be an unfortunate day to the state,
on which I was created consul, much more so, than that
on which the consul Valerius perished, if ye should carry
it. Now, first of all, Romans, my colleague and I intend to
march the legions against the Volscians and quans. I
know not by what fatality we find the gods more
propitious, while we are employed in war than during
peace. How great the danger from those nations would
have been if they had known that the Capitol was in the
possession of exiles, [236] it is better that we should
conjecture from the past than feel from experience.

XX. The consuls discourse had a considerable effect on

the commons: and the patricians recovering their spirits,
looked on the commonwealth as restored to its proper
state. The other consul, showing more eagerness in
promoting than in forming a design, readily allowed his
colleague to take the lead in the preparatory proceedings
on so weighty an affair; but in the execution of the plan,
claimed to himself a share of the consular duties. The
tribunes mocking these declarations, proceeded to ask,
by what means the consuls would be enabled to lead out
an army, when no one would suffer them to make a levy?
To this Quintius replied, We have no occasion for a levy,
because when Publius Valerius gave arms to the
commons, for the recovery of the Capitol, they all took an
oath to him, that they would assemble on an order from
the consul, and would not depart without his permission.
We therefore publish our orders, that every one of you
who have taken the oath, attend tomorrow, under arms,
at the lake Regillus. The tribunes then began to cavil,
and alleged, that the people were absolved of that
obligation, because Quintius was in a private station, at
the time when the oath was taken. But that disregard of
the gods, which prevails in the present age, had not then
taken place; nor did every one, by his own
interpretations, accommodate oaths and the laws to his
particular views, but rather adapted his practice to them.
The tribunes, therefore, finding no hope of succeeding in
their opposition on that ground, endeavoured to delay
the marching of the troops; and in this they were the
more earnest, because a report had spread, that orders
had been given for the augurs also to attend at the lake
Regillus, and that a place should be consecrated by them,
in order that the people might transact business with the
benefit of auspices, so that any measures enacted at
Rome through means of the [237] violence of the tribunes,
might be repealed in an assembly held there. It was
urged, however, that any one would vote there, just as the
consuls chose; for at any greater distance from the city
than that of a mile, there was no appeal: and even should
the tribunes come thither, they would, among the crowd
of other citizens, be subject to the consular authority.
This alarmed them. But what excited their strongest
apprehensions was, that Quintius used frequently to say,
that he would not hold an election of consuls: that the
distemper of the state was not such as could be stopped
by the usual remedies: that the commonwealth stood in
need of a dictator, in order that any person who should
stir one step towards raising disturbances, might feel,
that the power of that magistrate was above an appeal.

XXI. The senate was sitting in the Capitol; thither came

the tribunes, attended by the commons, who were full of
perplexity and fear: the populace, with loud clamours,
implored the protection, at one time, of the consuls, at
another of the senate; yet they could not prevail on the
consul to recede from his resolution, until the tribunes
promised that they would be directed by the senate. The
consul then laid before the senate the demand of the
tribunes and commons, and it was decreed, that the
tribunes should not introduce the law during that year;
and that, on the other hand, the consuls should not lead
out the troops from the city. For the time to come, it was
the judgment of the senate, that re-electing the same
magistrates, and re-appointing the same tribunes, was
injurious to the interest of the commonwealth. The
consuls conformed to the decisions of the senate; but the
tribunes, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the
consuls, were re-appointed. The senate likewise, not to
yield to the commons in any particular, on their side
wished to re-elect Lucius Quintius consul. On no occasion
during the whole year, did the consul exert himself with
more warmth. Can I wonder, said he, conscript
fathers, if [238] your authority is lightly regarded among
the commons? ye yourselves deprive it of its weight. For
instance, because the commons have broken through a
decree of the senate with respect to the re-election of
their magistrates, ye wish to break through it also, lest ye
should fall short of the populace in rashness; as if
superiority of power in the state consisted in superior
degrees of inconstancy and irregularity; for it is,
certainly, an instance of greater inconstancy and
irregularity, for us to counteract our own decrees and
resolutions, than those of others. Go on, conscript
fathers, to imitate the inconsiderate multitude; and ye,
who ought to show an example to the rest, rather follow
the steps of others in a wrong course, than guide them
into the right one. But let me not imitate the tribunes, nor
suffer myself to be declared consul in contradiction to the
decree of the senate. And you, Caius Claudius, I exhort,
that you, on your part, restrain the Roman people from
this licentiousness; and be persuaded, that, on my part, I
shall regard your conduct therein in such a light, that I
shall not consider you as obstructing my attainment of
honour, but as augmenting the glory of my refusal, and
protecting me against the ignominy which I should incur
by being re-elected. They then issued their joint orders,
that no person should vote for Lucius Quintius being
consul; and that, if any one did, they would not allow
such vote.

Y. R. 295. BC 457. XXII. The consuls elected were Quintus

Fabius Vibulanus, a third time, and Lucius Cornelius
Maluginensis. The general survey was performed that
year. The lustrum could not be closed, consistently with
the rules of religion, on account of the Capitol having
been taken and the consul slain. In the beginning of the
year, in which Quintus Fabius and Lucius Cornelius were
consuls, various disturbances arose. The tribunes excited
commotions among the commons. The Latines and
Hernicians gave information of a formidable war being
commenced against them by the Volscians and quans;
that the legions of the Volscians were at Antium; and that
there were strong apprehensions [239] of that colony itself
revolting. With difficulty the tribunes were prevailed on
to allow the business of the war to be first attended to.
The consuls then divided the provinces between them:
Fabius was appointed to march the legions to Antium,
Cornelius to remain at Rome, for the protection of the
city, in case any party of the enemy, as was the practice of
the quans, should come to make depredations. The
Hernicians and Latines were ordered to supply a number
of men in conformity to the treaties; and of the army, two
parts were composed of the allies, the third consisted of
natives. The allies arriving on the day appointed, the
consul encamped outside the Capuan gate; and, after
purifying the army, marched from thence to Antium, and
sat down at a small distance from the city, and the post
occupied by the enemy; where the Volscians, not daring
to risk an engagement, because the troops from the
quans had not yet arrived, endeavoured to screen
themselves within their trenches. Fabius, next day,
forming his troops, not in one body, composed of his
countrymen and the allies intermixed, but in three
separate bodies, consisting of the three several nations,
surrounded the rampart of the enemy. Placing himself in
the centre with the Roman legions, he commanded all to
look for the signals from thence, in order that the allies
and his own forces might begin the action at the same
time, and also retire together, if he should sound a
retreat: in the rear of each division, he also placed their
own cavalry. Having thus surrounded the camp, he
assaulted it in three different places, and pressing them
vigorously on every side, beat down the Volscians from
the rampart, who were unable to withstand his force:
then advancing within the fortifications, he drove them
before him in confusion and dismay towards one side,
and at length compelled them to abandon their works.
After which, the cavalry, who could not easily have
passed over the rampart, and had hitherto stood as
spectators of the fight, coming up with them, as they fled
in disorder in the open [240] plain, and making great
havoc of their affrighted troops, enjoyed a share in the
honour of the victory. The number of slain, both within
the camp, and on the outside of the fortifications, was
great, but the spoil was much greater; for the enemy were
scarcely able to carry off their arms, and their army
would have been entirely destroyed, had not the woods
covered them in their flight.

XXIII. During these transactions at Antium, the quans,

sending forward the main strength of their youth,
surprized the citadel of Tusculum by night; and, with the
rest of their army, sat down, at a little distance from the
walls of that town, for the purpose of dividing the force of
their enemies. Intelligence of this being carried to Rome,
and from Rome to the camp at Antium, the Romans were
not less deeply affected, than if they had been told that
the Capitol was taken. Their obligations to the Tusculans
were recent, and the similarity of the danger seemed to
demand a requital, in kind, of the aid which they had
received. Fabius, therefore, neglecting every other
business, having hastily conveyed the spoils from the
camp to Antium, and left a small garrison there, hastened
to Tusculum by forced marches. The soldiers were
allowed to carry nothing but their arms, and what food
they had ready dressed; the consul Cornelius sent
supplies of provision from Rome. The troops found
employment at Tusculum for several months. With one
half of the army, the consul besieged the camp of the
quans; the other he gave to the Tusculans to effect the
recovery of the citadel; but they never could have made
their way into it by force. Famine, however, compelled
the enemy to give it up: and when they were reduced to
that extremity, the Tusculans sent them all away
unarmed and naked under the yoke. But as they were
attempting their ignominious flight, the Roman consul
overtook them at Algidum, and put every man to the
sword. After this success, he led back his army to a place
called Columen, where he pitched his camp. The other
consul also, the city being no [241] longer in danger, after
the defeat of the quans, marched out from Rome. Thus
the two consuls entering the enemys territories on
different sides, vied eagerly with each other in making
depredations, the one on the Volscians, the other on the
quans. I find, in many writers, that the people of
Antium revolted this year, that Lucius Cornelius, consul,
conducted the war against them, and took their city. I
cannot venture to affirm this as certain, because in the
earlier writers there is no mention of such a transaction.

XXIV. No sooner was this war brought to a conclusion,

than a tribunitian commotion at home alarmed the
senate. The tribunes exclaimed, that the detaining of the
troops abroad was a mere artifice, calculated to frustrate
their endeavours respecting the law. But that they were
determined, nevertheless, to go through with the
business which they had undertaken. However, Publius
Lucretius, prfect of the city, so managed matters, that
the proceedings of the tribunes were postponed until the
arrival of the consuls. There arose also a new cause of
disturbance: Aulus Cornelius and Quintus Servilius,
qustors, commenced a prosecution against Marcus
Volscius for having manifestly given false evidence
against Cso: a discovery having been made, supported
by many proofs, that the brother of Volscius, from the
time when he was first taken ill, had not only never
appeared in public, but that he never rose from his sick
bed, where he died of a disorder, which lasted many
months; and also that, at the time when the witness had
charged the fact to have been committed, Cso had not
been seen at Rome. Those who had served in the army
with him also affirmed that he, at that time, regularly
attended in his post along with them, without having
once obtained leave of absence. Many in private stations
challenged Volscius, in their own names, to abide the
decision of the judge,* content to submit to
the [242] penalty, if they should fail in proof. As he did not
dare to stand the trial, all these circumstances concurring
together, no more doubt was entertained of the
condemnation of Volscius, than there had been of Csos,
after Volscius had given his testimony. The business,
however, was put a stop to by the tribunes, who declared,
that they would not suffer the qustors to hold an
assembly on the business of the prosecution, until one
was first held on that of the law; and thus both affairs
were deferred till the arrival of the consuls. When these
entered the city in triumph, with their victorious army,
silence being observed with respect to the law, people
from thence imagined that the tribunes were struck with
fear. But they, directing their views to the tribuneship for
the fourth time, it being now the latter end of the year,
had changed the direction of their efforts, from the
promoting of the law, to canvassing for the election; and
although the consuls struggled against the continuing of
that office in the same hands with no less earnestness
than if the act had been proposed for the purpose of
lessening their own dignity, the tribunes got the better in
the contest. The same year, peace was, on petition,
granted to the quans; and a [243] survey which had
been begun in the former one, was now finished, the
lustrum being closed, which was the tenth from the
founding of the city. The number of citizens rated, was
one hundred and thirty-two thousand four hundred and
nine. The consuls acquired great glory this year, as well in
the conduct of the war, as in the establishing of peace
while at home: though the state enjoyed not perfect
concord, yet the dissensions were less violent than at
other times.

Y. R. 296. BC 456. XXV. Lucius Minucius and Caius

Nautius, who were next elected consuls, found on their
hands the two causes in dispute, which lay over from the
last year. The consuls obstructed the passing of the law,
and the tribunes the trial of Volscius, with equal degrees
of activity. But the new qustors were possessed of
greater power and influence. Together with Marcus
Valerius, son of Manius Valerius, grandson of Volesus,
Titus Quintius Capitolinus, who had been thrice consul,
was qustor. Although Cso could not be thereby
restored to the Quintian family, and, in him, one of the
most valuable of the young Romans, to the state, yet with
a rigour dictated by justice and duty, he prosecuted the
false witness, by whose means an innocent person had
been deprived of the liberty of making his defence. The
tribunes, and particularly Virginius, endeavouring to
procure the passing of their law, the consuls were allowed
the space of two months to examine it, on condition that
when they should have informed the people of the
dangerous designs which were concealed under the
propositions which it contained, they would then allow
them to give their votes on it. This respite of proceedings
being acceded to, rendered matters quiet in the city. But
the quans did not allow them long to enjoy rest; for,
violating the league which had been made the preceding
year with the Romans, they conferred the chief command
on Gracchus Cllius, a man at that time of by far the
greatest consequence among them; and, headed by him,
carried hostile depredations into the [244] district of
Lavici; from thence into that of Tusculum; and then,
loaded with booty, pitched their camp at Algidum. To
that camp came Quintus Fabius, Publius Volumnius, and
Aulus Postumius, ambassadors from Rome, to complain
of injuries, and demand redress, in conformity to the
treaty. The general of the quans bade them deliver to
that oak whatever message they had from the Roman
senate, while he should attend to other business: a very
large oak tree hung over the prtorium, and under its
shade afforded a pleasant seat: to this, one of the
ambassadors, as he was going away, replied, Let that
consecrated oak, and all the deities, bear witness, that the
treaty has been broken by you, and so favour both our
complaints at present, and our arms hereafter, as that we
avenge the violated rights of gods and men. On the
return of the ambassadors to Rome, the senate ordered
one of the consuls to lead an army to Algidum against
Gracchus; and gave to the other, as his province, the
ravaging the territories of the quans. The tribunes,
according to their usual custom, obstructed the levy, and
might, perhaps, have effectually prevented it, but that a
new and sudden alarm excited stronger apprehensions of
danger.

XXVI. A very large body of Sabines, spreading

devastations around, advanced almost to the walls of
Rome. The fields were deserted, and the city struck with
terror. The commons then cheerfully took arms, while the
tribunes in vain attempted to dissuade them from it. Two
large armies were raised. Nautius led one against the
Sabines, and, pitching his camp at Eretum, by detaching
small parties, especially on incursions by night, he caused
such desolation in the country of the Sabines, that,
compared to it, the injuries sustained in the Roman
territories seemed trifling. Minucius neither met the
same success, nor showed the same ability in the conduct
of his business: for, having encamped at a little distance,
without experiencing any considerable loss, he kept his
men confined within the trenches. When the
enemy [245] perceived this, they assumed new boldness
from the others fears, and made an assault on the camp
by night; but finding that they were not likely to succeed
by open force, they began, next day, to inclose it by lines
of circumvallation. Before this work could be completed,
and the passes thereby entirely shut up, five horsemen
were despatched, who, making their way between the
enemys posts, brought intelligence to Rome, that the
consul and his army were besieged. Nothing could have
happened so unexpected, or so contrary to peoples
hopes; and the fright and consternation, in consequence
of it, were not less than if the city were surrounded and
threatened, instead of the camp. They sent for the consul
Nautius, yet not supposing him capable of affording them
sufficient protection, resolved that a dictator should be
chosen to extricate them from this distress, and Lucius
Quintius Cincinnatus was accordingly appointed with
unanimous approbation. Here, they may receive
instruction, who despise every quality which man can
boast, in comparison with riches; and who think, that
those who possess them can alone have merit, and to
such alone honours and distinctions belong. Lucius
Quintius, the now sole hope of the people, and of the
empire of Rome, cultivated a farm of four acres on the
other side of the Tiber, at this time called the Quintian
meadows, opposite to the very spot where the dock-yard
stands. There he was found by the deputies, either
leaning on a stake, in a ditch which he was making, or
ploughing; in some work of husbandry he was certainly
employed. After mutual salutations, and wishes on the
part of the commissioners, that it might be happy both
to him and the commonwealth, he was requested to put
on his gown, and hear a message from the senate.
Surprised, and asking if all was well? he bade his wife
Racilia bring out his gown quickly from the cottage.
When he had put it on, after wiping the sweat and dust
from his brow, he came forward, when the deputies
congratulated him, and saluted him
dictator; [246] requested his presence in the city, and
informed him of the alarming situation of the army. A
vessel had been prepared for Quintius by order of
government, and on his landing on the other side, he was
received by his three sons, who came out to meet him;
then by his other relations and friends, and afterwards by
the greater part of the patricians. Surrounded by this
numerous attendance, and the lictors marching before
him, he was conducted to his residence. The plebeians
likewise ran together from all quarters; but they were far
from beholding Quintius with equal pleasure, for they
thought the powers annexed to his office too unlimited,
and the man still more arbitrary. During that night, no
farther steps were taken than to post watches in the city.

XXVII. Next day, the dictator coming into the Forum

before it was light, named Lucius Tarquitius master of
the horse; he was of a patrician family, but though, by
reason of the narrowness of his circumstances, he had
served among the foot, yet he was accounted by many
degrees the first in military merit among all the young
men of Rome. Attended, then, by his master of the horse,
Quintius came to the assembly of the people, proclaimed
a cessation of civil business, ordered the shops to be shut
in all parts of the city, and that no one should attend to
any private affairs. He then issued orders that all who
were of the military age should attend, under arms, in the
field of Mars, before sun-set, with victuals for five days,
and twelve palisades each; and that those whose age
rendered them unfit for service, should dress that victuals
for the soldiers who lived near them, while they were
preparing their arms, and procuring the military pales.
Immediately the young men ran different ways to look for
palisades, which every one without molestation took,
wherever he could find them; and they all attended
punctually according to the dictators order. The troops
being then formed in a such a manner as was not only
proper for a march, [247] but for an engagement also, if
occasion should require it, the dictator set out at the head
of the legions, and the master of the horse at the head of
his cavalry. In both bodies such exhortations were used,
as the juncture required; that they should quicken their
pace; that there was a necessity for expedition, in order to
reach the enemy in the night; that the Roman consul and
his army were besieged; that this was the third day of
their being invested; that no one could tell what any one
night or day might produce; that the issue of the greatest
affairs often depended on a moment of time. The men
too, to gratify their leaders, called to each other
standard-bearer, advance quicker; soldiers follow. At
midnight they arrived at Algidum, and when they found
themselves near the enemy, halted.

XXVIII. The dictator then having rode about, and

examined as well as he could in the night, the situation
and form of the enemys camp, commanded the tribunes
of the soldiers to give orders that the baggage should be
thrown together in one place; and then that the soldiers,
with their arms and palisades, should return into the
ranks. These orders were executed; and then with the
same regularity in which they had marched, he drew the
whole army in a long column, and directed that, on a
signal being given, they should all raise a shout, and that
on the shout being raised, every man should throw up a
trench in front of his post, and fix his palisades. As soon
as these orders were communicated, and the signal given,
the soldiers performed what they were commanded: the
shout resounded on every side of the enemy, and
reaching beyond their camp, was heard in that of the
consul, exciting terror in the one, and the greatest joy in
the other. The Romans observing to each other, with
exultation, that this was the shout of their countrymen,
and that assistance was at hand, took courage, and from
their watch-guards and outposts issued threats. The
consul likewise declared, that they ought not to lose
time, for that the [248] shout then heard was a signal, not
only that their friends were arrived, but that they had
entered upon action; and they might take it for granted,
that the camp was attacked on the outside. He therefore
ordered his men to take arms, and follow him; these
falling on the enemy before it was light, gave notice by a
shout to the dictators legions, that on their side also the
action was begun. The quans were now preparing
measures to hinder themselves from being surrounded
with works; when being attacked within, they were
obliged, lest a passage might be forced through the midst
of their camp, to turn their attention from those
employed on the fortifications, to the others who assailed
them on the inside, and thus left the former at leisure,
through the remainder of the night, to finish the works,
and the fight with the consul continued until morn
appeared. At the break of day, they were entirely
encompassed by the dictators works, and while they
were hardly able to support the fight against one army,
their trenches were assaulted by Quintiuss troops, who
instantly, on completing those works, had returned to
their arms. Thus they found themselves obliged to
encounter a new enemy, and the former never slackened
their attack. Being thus closely pressed on every side,
instead of fighting, they had recourse to entreaties,
beseeching the dictator on one side, and the consul on
the other, to be content with the victory without their
entire destruction, and to permit them to retire without
arms. By the consul they were referred to the dictator,
and he, highly incensed against them, added ignominy to
their defeat. He ordered their general, Gracchus Cllius,
and the other leaders, to be brought to him in chains, and
the town of Corbio to be evacuated; then told them, that
he wanted not the blood of the quans; that they were
at liberty to depart; but he would send them under the
yoke, as an acknowledgment, at length extorted, that
their nation was conquered and subdued. The yoke is
formed of three spears, two being fixed [249] upright in
the ground, and the other tied across between the upper
ends of them. Under this yoke the dictator sent the
quans.

XXIX. Having possessed himself of the enemys camp,

which was filled with plenty, for he had sent them away
naked, he distributed the entire booty among his own
troops. Reprimanding the consular army and the consul
himself, he said to them, Soldiers, ye shall share no part
of the spoil of that enemy, to whom ye were near
becoming a prey; and as to you, Lucius Minucius, until
you begin to show a spirit becoming a consul, you shall
command those legions with the rank of lieutenant-
general only. Accordingly Minucius resigned the
consulship, and, in obedience to orders, remained with
the army. But so well were people then disposed to obey,
without repining, the commands of superiors, that this
army, regarding more the benefit which he had
conferred, than the disgrace which he had inflicted on
them, not only voted a golden crown of a pound weight to
the dictator, but at his departure saluted him as their
patron. At Rome, the senate, being convened by Quintus
Fabius, prfect of the city, ordered that Quintius on his
arrival should enter the city in triumph, without changing
his order of march. The generals of the enemy were led
before his chariot, the military ensigns carried before
him, and his army followed, laden with spoil. It is said
that tables were laid out with provisions before every
house, and that the troops, partaking of the
entertainment, singing the triumphal hymn, and
throwing out their customary jests, followed the chariot
like revellers at a feast. The same day, the freedom of the
state was, with universal approbation, conferred on
Lucius Mamilius of Tusculum. The dictator would have
immediately resigned his office, but was induced to hold
it some time longer on account of the assembly for the
trial of Volscius, the false witness. Their dread of the
dictator, prevented the tribunes from obstructing it, and
Volscius being sentenced to exile, [250] departed into
Lanuvium. Quintius, on the sixteenth day resigned the
dictatorship, which he had received for the term of six
months. About the same time, the consul Nautius
engaged the Sabines at Eretum with great success; a
heavy blow to the Sabines after the devastation of their
country: Fabius Quintus was sent to Algidum in the room
of Minucius. Toward the end of the year, the tribunes
began to agitate the affair of the law; but as two armies
were then abroad, the patricians carried the point, that
no business should be proposed to the people. The
commons prevailed so far as to appoint the same tribunes
the fifth time. It was reported that wolves had been seen
in the Capitol, and were driven away by dogs: and, on
account of that prodigy, the Capitol was purified: such
were the transactions of that year.
 Y. R. 297. BC 455. XXX. Quintus Minucius and Caius
Horatius Pulvillus succeeded to the consulship. In the
beginning of this year, while the public were undisturbed
by any foreign enemy, the same tribunes and the same
law occasioned seditions at home; and these would have
proceeded to still greater lengths, so highly were peoples
passions inflamed, but that, as if it had been concerted
for the purpose, news was brought, that by an attack of
the quans, in the night, the garrison at Corbio was cut
off. The consuls called the senate together, by whom they
were ordered to make a hasty levy of troops, and to lead
them to Algidum. The contest about the law was now laid
aside, and a new struggle began about the levy; in which
the consular authority was in danger of being
overpowered by the force of tribunitian privileges, when
their fears were more effectually roused by an account of
the Sabine army having come down into the Roman
territories to plunder, and nearly advanced to the city.
This struck such terror, that the tribunes suffered the
troops to be enlisted, yet not without a stipulation, that
since they had been baffled for five years, and as their
office, as it stood, was but a small protection to the
commons, there should for the future [251] be ten
tribunes of the people appointed. Necessity extorted a
concession from the senate: they only made one
exception; that the people should not, hereafter, re-elect
the same tribunes. An assembly was instantly held for the
election of those officers, lest, if the war was once ended,
they might be disappointed in that, as in other matters.
In the thirty-sixth year from the first creation of the
tribunes of the people, the number ten were elected, two
out of each of the classes; and it was established as a rule,
that they should thenceforth be elected in the same
manner. The levy being then made, Minucius marched
against the Sabines, but did not come up with them.
Horatius, after the quans had put the garrison of
Corbio to the sword, and had also taken Ortona, brought
them to an engagement in the district of Algidum, killed a
great number, and drove them not only out of that
district, but from Corbio and Ortona. Corbio he razed to
the ground, in revenge for the treachery practised there
against the garrison.

Y. R. 298. BC 454. XXXI. Marcus Valeris and Spurius

Virginius were next elected consuls. Quiet prevailed both
at home and abroad. The price of provisions was high, in
consequence of an extraordinary fall of rain. A law passed
for disposing of the Aventine as public property. The
same tribunes of the people were continued in office.
These, during the following year, which had for consuls
Titus Romilius and Caius Veturius, warmly
recommended the law in all their harangues. Y. R.
299. BC 453. They must be ashamed of the useless
addition made to their number, if that affair were to lie,
during the course of their two years, in the same hopeless
state, in which it had lain for the last five. While they
were most earnestly engaged in this pursuit, messengers
arrived, in a fright, from Tusculum, with information that
the quans were in the Tusculan territory. The recent
services of that people made the tribunes ashamed of
throwing any delay in the way of assistance being given
them. Both [252] the consuls were sent with an army, and
found the enemy in their usual post, in the district of
Algidum. There they fought; above seven thousand of the
quans were slain, the rest dispersed, and vast booty
was acquired. This the consuls sold on account of the low
state of the treasury; which proceeding excited a general
dissatisfaction among the soldiery, and also afforded
grounds to the tribunes for bringing an accusation
against the consuls before the commons. Accordingly, Y.
R. 300. BC 452. as soon as they went out of office, Spurius
Tarpeius and Aulus Alterius having succeeded them a
charge was instituted against Romilius by Caius Claudius
Cicero, tribune of the people, and against Veturius, by
Lucius Allienus, plebeian dile. To the great
mortification of the patricians they were both sentenced
to fine, Romilius to pay ten thousand asses,* Veturius
fifteen thousand. The sufferings of these consuls,
however, did not lessen the activity of their successors;
they said, they were able to support a similar sentence,
while both tribunes and commons combined, were
insufficient to carry the point. The tribunes now desisting
from farther prosecution of the law, with regard to which,
in the length of time since its publication, peoples ardour
had cooled, applied to the senate in amicable terms,
requesting that they would at length put an end to all
contentions: and, since it was disagreeable to them, that
laws should be proposed by plebeians, would permit
lawgivers to be chosen in common, out of the plebeians,
and out of the patricians, in order to the framing of such
as would be advantageous to both parties, and tend to
establish liberty on an equal footing. This proposal the
senate did not disapprove of, but declared that no one,
except a patrician, should have the propounding of laws.
As they agreed with regard to the necessary statutes, and
only differed about the persons to propose them,
ambassadors were sent to Athens, namely, Spurius
Postumius Albus, Aulus Manlius, and Servius
Sulpicius [253] Camerinus, who were ordered to procure a
copy of the famous laws of Solon, and to make
themselves acquainted with the institutions, customs,
and laws of the other states of Greece.

Y. R. 301. BC 451. XXXII. This year passed undisturbed by

any foreign wars. The following also, in which Publius
Curiatius and Sextus Quintilius were consuls, was still
more quiet: the tribunes observing uninterrupted silence,
which was owing, at first, to their waiting for the arrival
of the ambassadors who had gone to Athens, for copies of
the laws of that state; and, afterwards, to two heavy
calamities which fell on them at once, famine and
pestilence making dreadful havoc among both men and
cattle. The country was desolated, the city exhausted, by a
continual succession of deaths. Many illustrious houses
were in mourning: Servilius Cornelius, Flamen Quirinalis
died, and Caius Horatius Pulvillus, augur, in whose room
the augurs elected Caius Veturius, with the greater
satisfaction, because he had been condemned by the
commons. The consul Quintilius also died, and four
tribunes of the people. Such a multiplicity of losses made
it a melancholy year, but there was no disturbance from
any enemy. Y. R. 302. BC 450. The next consuls were Caius
Menenius and Publius Sestius Capitolinus. Neither
during this consulate was there any foreign war: at home,
however, some commotions arose. The ambassadors had
now returned with the Athenian laws, and the tribunes
therefore pressed more earnestly, that the buisness of
compiling and settling their own laws might be begun. It
was at last resolved, that ten magistrates, to be called
decemvirs, should be created, from whom no appeal
should lie, and that there should be no other appointed
during that year. It was disputed for some time, whether
plebeians should be admitted among them. At length,
that point was given up to the patricians, provided that
the Icilian law concerning the Aventine, and others,
called the devoting laws, should not be repealed.

[254]

XXXIII. Thus, in the three hundred and first year from

the building of Rome, the form of the government
underwent a second change; the supreme power being
transferred from consuls to decemvirs, as it had formerly
been from kings to consuls. This new form, however, was
not of long duration; for the happy beginnings of that
government terminated in extravagant licentiousness,
which hastened its dissolution; and recourse was had to
the former practice of intrusting the power and consular
title to two persons. The decemvirs created were, Appius
Claudius, Titus Genucius, Publius Sestius, Y. R.
303. BC 449. Lucius Veturius, Caius Julius, Aulus
Manlius, Servius Sulpicius, Publius Curiatius, Titus
Romilius, and Spurius Postumius. Claudius and Genucius
being consuls elect, this honour of being of the
decemvirate was conferred on them as a compensation
for the loss of the other; and on Sestius, one of the
consuls of the former year, because he had proposed this
business to the senate, against the will of his colleague.
Next to these, were considered the three who had gone
ambassadors to Athens, that the honour might serve as a
recompense for such a distant embassy, and, at the same
time, it was supposed, that they, having acquired a
knowledge of the laws of foreign countries, would be
useful in digesting the new proposed regulations. It is
said, that in choosing the remainder, they pitched upon
persons far advanced in years, with intent that there
should be the less warmth in any opposition which might
be made to the opinions of the others. The direction of
the whole business of government, however, was lodged
in the hands of Appius Claudius, through the favour of
the people; for he had assumed a demeanour so entirely
new, that from a harsh and severe prosecutor of the
commons, he became, on a sudden, a zealous promoter of
their interests, and an eager candidate for popular
applause. Each of them administered justice one in day in
ten. On that day, the twelve fasces attended him who
presided in the court of justice; his [255] nine colleagues
being attended each by a beadle; and, while perfect
harmony subsisted among themselves, although such
union between governors is sometimes found prejudicial
to the governed, they observed the strictest equity
towards all. It will be sufficient to produce a single proof
of their moderation and fairness. Though by the terms of
their appointment there could be no appeal from their
decisions; yet upon occasion of a dead body being found
buried in the house of Publius Sestius, a man of patrician
family, and of the decemvirate, (and which dead body
was produced in a public assembly, in a case as clear as it
was atrocious,) Caius Julius, a decemvir, also commenced
a criminal process against Sestius, and appeared before
the people as prosecutor when he might legally have sat
as judge; departing from his own right, that, while he
took away from the power of the magistracy, he might
add, in proportion, to the liberty of the people.

XXXIV. Whilst the highest and the lowest alike

experienced this prompt execution of justice, impartial,
as if dictated by an oracle, the decemvirs at the same time
employed themselves assiduously in framing the laws;
and at length, after peoples expectations had been raised
to the utmost height, they produced for public inspection
ten tables; and then, summoning an assembly of the
people, after praying that it might prove fortunate and
advantageous, and happy to the commonwealth, to
themselves, and to their posterity; ordered them, to go
and read the laws which were exhibited; declared, that
they had placed the rights of all on an equal footing, and
in as precise a manner as could be devised by the abilities
of ten men; but that the understandings and judgments
of a larger number might, perhaps, strike out
improvements: desired them to examine rigorously each
particular in their own minds, canvass it in conversation,
and bring it to public discussion, should any deficiency or
excess appear in any article. They were resolved,
they [256] said, that the Roman people should be bound
only by such laws as the whole community, with general
consent, might appear, not so much to have ratified,
when proposed, as to have proposed from themselves.
When, according to the reports of the people, respecting
each head of the laws, they appeared sufficiently correct,
then, in an assembly voting by centuries, were ratified the
laws of the ten tables, which even at this present time,
after all which have been added, continue to be the
source of all our jurisprudence, respecting either public
or private affairs. It was afterwards said, that there were
two tables wanting, and that by the addition of these, a
body, as it were, of the whole Roman law might be
completed. The expectation of this, when the day of
election of officers approached, raised a wish that
decemvirs should be chosen a second time; and the
commons, besides that they hated the name of consuls, as
much as they did that of kings, felt, at the present, no loss
even of the support of the tribunes, because the
decemvirs in turn allowed an appeal to their colleagues.

XXXV. But when the assembly for electing decemvirs was

proclaimed to be held on the third market-day, the minds
of many were so fired with ambition of obtaining the
office, that even persons of the first dignity in the state,
dreading, I suppose, lest if it should be left unoccupied by
them, an opening might be given for improper persons to
obtrude themselves in a post of such high authority,
solicited votes, humbly suing for a power, the
establishment of which they had with their utmost efforts
before opposed, and from those same plebeians, against
the gratification of whose wishes they had hitherto so
strenuously contended. Persons of advanced age, and
who had passed through dignified stations, thus lowering
their pride to hazard a contest of this sort, made Appius
Claudius redouble his exertions. It were difficult to
determine whether he should be reckoned among the
decemvirs, or among the candidates: he appeared
sometimes more [257] like a person petitioning for, than
one who was invested with, the office: he aspersed the
characters of the candidates of high rank, and extolled
the most insignificant and the lowest. Surrounded by the
Icilii and Duilii, who had been tribunes, he bustled about
the Forum, and through their means recommended
himself to the commons; until even his colleagues, who
till that time had been entirely attached to his interests,
looked on him with amazement, wondering what his
intentions could be. They were convinced, that there was
no sincerity in his professions; that such affability, in one
who had always evinced a haughty mind, could not be
without some interested views; that lowering himself to
the common level in this extraordinary manner, and
mixing on an equal footing with the private citizens, did
not look like haste to quit the office, but rather like
seeking for means to be continued in it. Not daring,
however, openly to oppose his wishes, they endeavoured
to baffle his efforts by a seeming desire to gratify him;
and agreed among themselves to appoint him, as the
youngest of their body, to the office of presiding at the
election. This was an artifice to prevent his returning
himself, which no one had ever done, except in the case
of tribunes of the people; and, even there, it was deemed
a most pernicious precedent. However, he declared, that,
with the favour of fortune, he would preside at the
election; and he laid hold of the intended obstruction to
his design, as the lucky means of effecting its
accomplishment. Having, by means of a coalition which
he formed, foiled he pretensions of the two Quintii,
Capitolinus and Cincinnatus; of his own uncle Caius
Claudius, a most steady supporter of the cause of the
nobility; and of other citizens of the same high rank, he
promoted to the decemvirate persons of very inferior
condition in life. And among the first raised, was himself:
an act highly disapproved of by all men of honourable
minds, and which no one had believed that he would dare
to be guilty of. Together with him were
elected [258] Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis, Marcus
Sergius, Lucius Minucius, Quintus Fabius Vibulanus,
Quintus Ptilius, Titus Antonius Merenda, Cso Duilius,
Spurius Oppius Cornicen, and Manius Rabuleius.

XXXVI. Now the mask, which Appius had assumed, fell

off. He began to live according to his natural disposition;
and to form his new colleagues early to his own plan of
proceeding before they should enter on the
administration of their office. They held daily cabals,
remote from witnesses; wherein, being furnished with
schemes of tyranny, digested among themselves, and
without the knowledge of any, they no longer dissembled
their arrogance; became difficult of access, morose to
such as addressed them, and continued this behaviour
until the ides of May, the then usual time for entering on
office. Y. R. 304. BC 448. At the beginning, then, of their
magistracy, they distinguished the very first day of it by
an exhibition which excited the greatest alarm: for
whereas the former decemvirs had observed a rule, that
only one should have the fasces, and that this emblem of
royalty should pass in rotation with them all, that is, to
each in his turn, but these unexpectedly made their
appearance, attended severally by twelve fasces. One
hundred and twenty lictors filled the Forum, and carried
axes bound up with those ensigns, the decemvirs alleging
that, as, by the terms of their appointment, there lay not
any appeal, there could be no reason why the axe should
be taken away. Thus these ten magistrates appeared as so
many kings, and thus they multiplied terrors, not only
among the lower classes, but among the principal
patricians; every one being persuaded, that they wanted
only a pretext to begin the work of death, so that should
any one, either in the senate, or in a meeting of the
people, utter an expression favourable to liberty, the rods
and axes would instantly be got ready, to strike terror
into the rest. For, besides that there was no hope of
protection from the people, an appeal to them having
been prohibited, [259] they had, by agreement, also
prohibited themselves from interfering with each others
decrees; whereas the former decemvirs had allowed their
decrees to be amended by an appeal to a colleague, and
had referred to the public decision several matters which
might seem to belong to their own jurisdiction. For some
time the danger seemed to threaten equally all ranks of
men, but began, by degrees, to be directed entirely
against the commons. They avoided giving offence to the
patricians, while they treated the lower ranks with
arbitrary cruelty. Interest having usurped in their breasts
the place of justice, they on every occasion regarded the
person, not the cause. Their decisions they adjusted
privately at home, and afterwards pronounced them in
the Forum. If an appeal was made from any one of them
to his colleagues, the treatment he met from those to
whom he appealed was always such as made him repent
of not having abided by the former sentence. An opinion
had also gone abroad, though without known authority,
that they had conspired in this scheme of iniquity, not
merely for the present year, but that a clandestine league
had been struck among them, and ratified by an oath,
that they would not call an assembly for elections, but,
perpetuating the decemvirate, keep a lasting hold of the
power which they had now in their hands.

XXXVII. The plebeians now began to watch the

countenances of the patricians; and though they had been
accustomed to dread being enslaved by them, and,
influenced by that dread, had brought the commonwealth
into its present situation; yet they now anxiously looked
to those patricians for some ray of hope which might
guide them to liberty. The principal of these, while they
hated the decemvirs, bore no less hatred toward the
commons; and, though they did not approve the
proceedings of the former, thought the latter suffered no
more than they had deserved; and had no inclination to
give assistance to men who, through their
intemperate [260] eagerness in pursuit of liberty, had
fallen into slavery. On the contrary, they heaped injuries
on them, in hopes, that, being thoroughly disgusted with
the present state of affairs, they might wish for the
restoration of the former government by consuls. The
greater part of the year was now past; and two tables of
laws had been added to ten of the former year; so that
there was not any circumstance, if these laws were once
ratified in assembly of the centuries, which could make
the now form of government necessary to the
commonwealth. People were in continual expectation of
an assembly being called for the election of consuls, and
the thoughts of the commons were solely employed in
devising a revival of that bulwark of liberty, the
tribunitian office, which had been laid aside so long. In
the meantime, not the least mention was made of an
election, and the decemvirs, who, at first, had exhibited
themselves to the commons, for the purpose of gaining
their favour, surrounded by men who had been tribunes,
now collected about them crowds of young patricians.
These encompassed every tribunal; they seized, and
drove about at will, the commons and their effects; the
most powerful being sure of success, in possessing
himself of any mans property, in which he saw any thing
desirable, while even their persons were not secure from
injury. Some were beaten with rods; others felt the stroke
of the axe; in a word, cruelty and profit went hand in
hand, for a grant of his effects to some of their partizans
ever followed the execution of the owner. The young
nobility, corrupted by such bribes, not only declined
making opposition to the injustice, but openly
demonstrated that they preferred the indulgence of their
own licentiousness to the establishment of the general
liberty.

Y. R. 305. BC 447. XXXVIII. The ides of May came. The

offices of the state not having been filled up by election,
men, invested with no public character, made their
appearance as decemvirs, retaining still the same spirit to
enforce [261] their authority, and the same emblems to
support the splendor of their station. This was held the
height of arbitrary government, and the loss of liberty
was deplored as irrecoverable. No one champion stood
forth in its cause, nor was there a prospect of any such
appearing: so that the people not only sunk into
despondence, but began to be despised by the
neighbouring nations, who thought it would reflect
shame on themselves, if a state which had forfeited its
own liberty, should be allowed to retain its dominion over
others. The Sabines, with a numerous army, made an
irruption into the Roman territories; and, having spread
devastation through a great part of the country, and
collected, without loss, a great booty of men and cattle,
they recalled their forces from the various parts in which
they were dispersed, and pitched their camp at Eretum,
grounding their hopes on the dissensions at Rome, which
they trusted would prevent the raising of troops. Besides
the couriers that arrived, the country people, flying into
the city, caused a general alarm. The decemvirs held a
consultation on the measures necessary to be taken; and,
while they were left destitute of support on every side,
being equally detested by the patricians and the
commons, another circumstance occurred which
aggravated their fears by presenting an additional danger
to their view: the quans on the opposite side had
encamped in the district of Algidum, and ambassadors,
who came from Tusculum to request assistance, brought
accounts, that their lands were ravaged by detachments
from thence. The decemvirs were so thoroughly
frightened, on finding the city surrounded by two
enemies at once, that they determined to have recourse to
the advice of the senate; accordingly they ordered the
senators to be summoned to a meeting, though they well
knew what a storm of public resentment threatened to
break upon themselves; that all men would heap on their
heads, the blame of the devastations of the country, and
of all the dangers by which [262] they were encompassed;
and that, on these grounds, attempts would be made to
deprive them of their office, if they did not firmly unite in
the support of their cause; and, by enforcing their
authority with severity, on a few of the most intractable
tempers, repress the forwardness of others. When the
voice of the crier was heard in the Forum, summoning
the senators to attend the decemvirs in the senate-house,
it excited no less wonder than if it were a matter entirely
new; what could have happened now, the people said,
that those who had, for a long time past, laid aside the
custom of consulting the senate, should now revive it?
But they might, no doubt, thank the war, and their
enemies, for any thing being done that was formerly
usual with them as a free state. They looked about the
Forum for senators, yet could hardly discover one. They
then turned their eyes to the senate-house, remarking the
solitude which appeared round the decemvirs, who, on
their part, attributed the non-attendance of the
summoned to the general detestation of their
government; while the commons found a reason for it, in
the want of authority in private persons to convene them,
observing at the same time, that a head was now formed
for those who wished for the recovery of liberty, if the
people generally would let their endeavours accompany
those of the senate; and if, as the fathers refused to
attend in senate, they should in like manner refuse to
enlist. Such were the general topics of discourse among
the commons; while of the senators, there was scarcely
one in the Forum, and very few in the city. Disgusted with
the times, they had retired to their country-seats; and,
being deprived of their share in the administration of the
public business, attended solely to their private affairs;
thinking, that, by removing to a distance from the
meeting and converse of their tyrannic masters, they
were out of the reach of ill-treatment. Not meeting
according to summons, apparitors were despatched to all
their houses, to levy the penalties, and at [263] the same
time to discover whether their non-attendance was owing
to design; and these brought back an account that the
members of the senate were in the country. This gave less
pain to the decemvirs, than if they had heard that they
were in town, and refused to obey their commands. They
then gave orders, that every one of them should be
summoned, and proclaimed a meeting of the senate on
the day following, when the members assembled in much
greater numbers than the decemvirs themselves had
hoped. This raised a suspicion in the minds of the
commons, that the senators had deserted the cause of
liberty, since they had paid obedience, as to a legal
summons, to the order of men whose office had expired,
and who, except so far as force prevailed, were nothing
more than private citizens.

XXXIX. But, by all accounts, they showed more

obedience in coming to the house, than servility in
delivering their sentiments. It is related, that after Appius
Claudius had proposed the business to be considered,
and before the opinions were demanded in order, Lucius
Valerius Potitus occasioned a great ferment, by insisting
on being allowed to speak on the state of the
commonwealth; and, when the decemvirs endeavoured to
prevent him, by declaring, that he would go out and apply
to the commons. It is likewise said that Marcus Horatius
Barbatus entered the lists with no less boldness, calling
them ten Tarquinii, and putting them in mind, that the
Valerii and Horatii were among the foremost in effecting
the expulsion of the Kings. Nor was it the title merely,
which had then given people so much offence; for it was
one which was properly applied to Jupiter, one which had
been applied to Romulus, the founder of the city, and to
the princes his successors; and which was still retained in
the religious institutions, and even considered as
material to the performance of the sacred rites. It was the
haughtiness, the violence of Tarquin, which then filled
them with abhorrence; and if these were not to be borne,
in [264] a person who was, at the time, a king, and the son
of a king, who would bear them in so many private
citizens? Let them take care, lest, by forbidding men to
speak with freedom in the senate-house, they might
oblige them to utter their sentiments in another place.
Nor did he see how he, in his private capacity, had less
right to call the people to an assembly, than they, to
convene the senate. Let them try, whenever they chose,
how much more forcibly a sense of injuries would operate
in vindication of liberty, than ambition in retaining
usurped authority. They had proposed the Sabine war as
the business to be considered: as if the Roman people
had any more important war on their hands, than against
those, who, having been created for the purpose of
framing laws, had left no law remaining in the state; who
had abolished elections; abolished annual magistrates;
abolished the regular changing of the chief magistrate,
the only means of preserving the balance of liberty; who,
standing in the rank of private citizens, kept possession
of the fasces and of regal sovereignty. After the expulsion
of the kings, there were patrician magistrates; afterwards,
on the secession of the commons, plebeian magistrates
were created. Of which party were the decemvirs? he
asked, Were they of the popular party? In what business
did they ever look for the concurrence of the people?
Were they of that of the nobility? who, during almost a
whole year, never held a meeting of the senate; and, now,
hold it in such a manner, that people are not allowed to
speak of the state of the commonwealth. Let them not
rely too much on the timidity of their fellows; for men
feel more sensibly the weight of present sufferings, than
of such as exist only in apprehension.

XL. While Horatius was exclaiming in this manner, and

the decemvirs knew not how either to gratify their anger,
or to pass over the provocation, nor could judge how the
business would end, Caius Claudius, uncle to Appius,
addressed him in a speech, fraught with intreaties rather
than [265] reproaches; besought him by the shade of his
own brother, the decemvirs father, to pay more regard
to the rights of that civil society in which he was born,
than to a confederacy, formed on the most flagitious
principles. This he requested, more earnestly on Appiuss
account, than even on that of the commonwealth; for the
commonwealth would, doubtless, be abundantly able to
assert its own rights, in spite of any resistance which the
then magistrates could make; but that, as great contests
generally excited great animosities, he could not, without
horror, think of what might be the consequence.
Although the decemvirs had refused liberty to speak on
any subject, but the business which they had proposed,
yet such was their respect for Claudius, that they did not
interrupt him; he proceeded, therefore, in his discourse,
which he concluded, with moving a resolution, that no
decree of the senate should be passed. This was
considered by every one, as importing that, in the
judgment of Claudius, they were but private citizens, and
many of the consulars expressed their approbation.
Another measure was proposed, more harsh in
appearance, but much less efficacious; it was, to order the
patricians to assemble and appoint an interrex: for that
the passing of any resolution would be an
acknowledgment that the persons, who convened the
senate, were invested with some office; whereas the
member, who recommended that no resolution should
pass, meant thereby to declare them private citizens.
When the cause of the decemvirs was thus sinking into
ruin, Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis, brother to Marcus
Cornelius, the decemvir, having been purposely reserved
from among the consulars to close the debate, under the
pretence of anxiety about the war, supported his brother
and his colleagues thus: He wondered, he said, by
what fatality it happened, that those, who had been
themselves candidates for the decemvirate, were the
persons who, either as secondaries or principals, waged
this attack on the decemvirs; and why they should now,
at this [266] particular time, when the enemy were just at
the gates, take such pains to sow dissension among the
citizens; while during so many months, wherein the
attention of the state had been disengaged, no one ever
made it a matter of dispute, whether those, who held the
administration of the government, were legal magistrates
or not; unless it were because they supposed, that, in a
state of confusion, their conduct would not be so easily
seen through. However, it was highly improper in any
one to attempt to prejudice a cause of that magnitude,
while mens minds were occupied by more urgent
concerns. It was his opinion, then, that the plea urged by
Valerius and Horatius, that the office of decemvirs had
expired on the ides of May, should be taken into
consideration, and discussed by the senate, when the
wars with which they were then threatened should be
brought to a conclusion, and tranquillity restored to the
state: that Appius Claudius should consider himself as
having now received sufficient notice, that he must be
ready to give an account of the proceedings of the
assembly in which he, in quality of decemvir, had
presided, and in which the decemvirs were elected,
whether they were appointed for one year, or until the
laws, then wanting, should be ratified. It was also his
opinion, that, for the present, every other business,
except the war, should be laid aside; and that, if they
imagined that the reports concerning it were propagated
without foundation, and that not only the couriers, but
the Tusculan ambassadors, had conveyed false
intelligence, then that scouts should be despatched to
procure more certain information; but that, if they gave
credit to the couriers and the ambassadors in that case,
troops should be levied without delay, and the decemvirs
should lead armies to whatever places each should think
proper. He repeated, that no other business ought to take
place, until this was disposed of.

XLI. This resolution was carried, on a division, by means

of the young patricians. Valerius and Horatius then,
with [267] greater vehemence, renewed their efforts, and
loudly demanded permission to speak more particularly
on the state of the commonwealth, declaring, that if by a
faction they were prevented from delivering their
sentiments in the senate, they would appeal to the
people; for that private men had no right to hinder them
from speaking, either in the senate house, or in a general
assembly, nor would they give way to those mens
imaginary fasces. Appius then, thinking the juncture so
critical, that the authority of the decemvirate must be
overpowered, unless the violence of their opposers were
resisted with an equal degree of boldness, called out, that
whoever uttered a sentence, except on the business
proposed, should have cause to repent; and, on Valerius
insisting that he would not be silenced by a private
citizen, ordered a lictor to advance: Valerius, from the
door of the senate-house, implored the protection of the
citizens; when Lucius Cornelius embracing Appius,
through concern for an effect so different from what he
intended, put a stop to the contest, and procured Valerius
permission to say what he chose. This producing nothing
beyond words in favour of liberty, the decemvirs carried
their point; and even the consulars and elder patricians,
from inveterate hatred to the tribunitian office, which
they supposed the people wished for with much more
eagerness than for the consular government, would have
been rather better pleased that the decemvirs themselves
should, at some future time, voluntarily resign their
office, than that, through means of the indignation of the
public against them, the commons should rise again to
consequence. They hoped, too, that if, by gentle
management, the consular government should be
restored, without the turbulent interposition of the
populace, they might, either by the intervention of wars,
or by the moderation of the consuls in the exercise of
their authority, induce the commons to forget their
tribunes. No objection being made by the patricians, a
levy was proclaimed, and the young [268] men, there
being no appeal from the present government, answered
to their names. When the legions were filled up, the
decemvirs settled among themselves, who should go out
with the troops, and who command the several armies.
The leading men among the decemvirs were Quintus
Fabius and Appius Claudius. It was evident that there
would be a greater war at home than abroad. The
violence of Appius was thought the better calculated for
suppressing commotions in the city, as the disposition of
Fabius had long been considered as rather wanting in
good pursuits, than strenuous in bad; yet this man,
hitherto highly distinguished both in civil and military
conduct, was so entirely changed by his office of decemvir
and the example of his colleagues, that he now chose
rather to be like Appius, than like himself. To him was
given in charge the war against the Sabines; and, along
with him, were sent his colleagues Manius Rabuleius and
Quintus Ptilius. Marcus Cornelius was sent to the
territory of Algidum, with Lucius Minutius; Titus
Antonius, Cso Duilius, and Marcus Sergius, and it was
determined that Spurius Appius should assist Appius
Claudius in the management of affairs in the city, where
they should have full authority, as if all the decemvirs
were present.

XLII. Public affairs were conducted with no better

success in war than at home. In this, the leaders were no
farther to blame, than for having rendered themselves
odious to their countrymen; in other respects, the fault
lay entirely in the soldiery, who, rather than that any
enterprise should succeed under the conduct and
auspices of the decemvirs, suffered themselves to be
overcome, to the disgrace of both. The armies were
routed, both by the Sabines at Eretum, and by the
quans in the country of Algidum. From Eretum the
troops made a retreat in the dead of the night, and
fortified a camp nearer to the city, on a high ground,
between Fiden and Crustumeria, and, being pursued by
the enemy, would not risk a battle on equal ground, but
provided farther [269] safety by the nature of the place
and a rampart, not by valour and arms. In the country of
Algidum greater disgrace and greater loss were sustained:
even the camp was taken; and the soldiers, deprived of all
their utensils, betook themselves to Tusculum,
depending, for the necessaries of life, on the good faith
and compassion of their hosts, who, on this occasion, did
not disappoint their expectations. Such terrifying
accounts were brought to Rome, that the senate,
dropping the prosecution of their hatred to the
decemvirs, passed an order, that watches should be held
in the city; commanded all, who were of an age to bear
arms, to mount guard on the walls, and to form outposts
before the gates; they also decreed a supply of arms to be
carried to Tusculum; that the decemvirs should come
down from the citadel of Tusculum, and keep their troops
encamped; and that the other camp should be removed
from Fiden into the country of the Sabines, to the end
that the enemy, feeling themselves attacked at home,
might be deterred from operations against the city.

XLIII. To the calamities inflicted by the enemy, the

decemvirs added two most flagitious deeds, one at home,
and the other in the army. In the army which acted
against the Sabines, a person, called Lucius Siccius,
taking advantage of the general aversion from the
decemvirs, and having frequently, in private conversation
with the common soldiers, made mention of a secession,
and of electing tribunes, they sent him on a party of
observation, to choose ground for a camp, and gave
instructions to the men whom they sent to attend on the
expedition, that they should fall upon him in some
convenient place, and put him to death. He did not fall
unrevenged; for, though surrounded on all sides, he
stood on his defence; and being possessed of
extraordinary personal strength, and of spirit equal to his
strength, he slew several of the assassins. The rest, on the
return, gave out in the camp, that they had fallen into an
ambush, and that [270] Siccius was lost, after fighting
with great bravery, and some of the soldiers with him. At
first this story was believed: but afterwards, a cohort,
which went, with permission of the decemvirs, to bury
those who had fallen, observing that none of them were
stripped; that Siccius, with his arms, lay in the middle,
with the faces of all the others turned towards him, while
not a trace could be found of the enemy having retreated
from thence; they brought back the body, with an account
that he was evidently slain by his own men. The camp
was now filled with indignation; and it was resolved, that
Siccius should be carried directly to Rome, which would
have been put in execution, had not the decemvirs, as
speedily as possible, buried him with military honours, at
the public expense. His funeral was attended with great
grief of the soldiery, and a general belief of guilt in the
decemvirs.

XLIV. There followed, in the city, another atrocious

proceeding, which took its rise from lust, and was not less
tragical in its consequences than that which, through the
injured chastity and violent death of Lucretia, had
occasioned the expulsion of the Tarquinii from the throne
and the city; so that the government of the decemvirs not
only ended in the same manner as that of the kings, but
was lost through the same cause. Appius Claudius was
inflamed with a criminal passion towards a young woman
of plebeian rank. The father of this young woman, Lucius
Virginius, held an honourable rank among the
centurions, in the camp near Algidum, a man of
exemplary good conduct, both as a soldier and a citizen,
and by the same principles were the behaviour of his
wife, and the education of his family regulated. He had
betrothed his daughter to Lucius Icilius, who had been
tribune, a man of spirit, and of approved zeal in the cause
of the commons. This maiden, in the bloom of youth, and
of extraordinary beauty, Appius, burning with desire, had
attempted to seduce by bribes and promises; [271] but,
finding every avenue to his hopes barred by modesty, he
resolved to have recourse to violence. He gave
instructions to Marcus Claudius, one of his dependents,
that he should claim the young woman as his slave, and
not submit to any demand which should be made, of her
being left at liberty until the decision of the suit, thinking
that the absence of the damsels father afforded the fittest
opportunity for the injury which he meditated. As
Virginia came into the Forum, (for the schools of learning
were held there in sheds,) this minister of the decemvirs
lust laid his hand on her, and affirming that she was a
slave, and born of a woman who was his slave, ordered
her to follow him; threatening, in case of refusal, to drag
her away by force. While the girl stood motionless
through fright and astonishment, a crowd was collected
by the cries of her nurse, who implored the protection of
the citizens. The popular names of her father Virginius,
and her spouse Icilius, were heard on every side. Their
acquaintances were engaged in favour of the maiden, by
their regard for them; and the multitude in general, by
the heinousness of the proceeding. She was now secured
from violence, when the claimant said there was no
occasion for raising a mob, he was proceeding by law, not
by force, and summoned the maiden to a court of justice.
She being advised, by those who appeared in her favour,
to follow him, they arrived at the tribunal of Appius. The
claimant rehearsed the concerted farce before the judge,
alleged that the girl was born in his house, and had been
clandestinely removed from thence to that of Virginius,
her supposed father; that of this he had sufficient
evidence, and would prove it even to the satisfaction of
Virginius himself, the principal sufferer in the case; and it
was reasonable, he added, that in the meantime, the
servant should remain in the custody of her master. The
advocates for Virginia, pleading that Virginius was absent
on business of the state, and would, were notice sent him,
attend in two days time, [272] and that it was
unreasonable that a suit concerning his child should be
carried on in his absence, demanded of Appius to adjourn
all proceedings in the cause, until the fathers arrival;
that, in conformity to the law which he himself had
framed, he should leave her in the meantime in the
enjoyment of her liberty; and not suffer a young woman
of ripe age to encounter the hazard of her reputation,
before the case of her freedom was determined.

XLV. Appius prefaced his decree with observing that the

very law, which Virginiuss friends held out as the
foundation of their demand, was a proof how much he
was inclined to favour liberty: however, that law could
afford no firm security to liberty, if it were not invariable
in the tenor of its operation, without regard either to
causes or persons. In the case of those who, from
servitude, claimed a right to freedom, the privilege
mentioned was allowed, because any citizen can act in
their behalf; but in the case of her, who was in the hands
of her father, there was no other person to whom the
owner should yield the custody of her. It was, therefore,
his determination, that the father should be sent for; that,
in the meantime, the claimant should suffer no loss of his
right, but should take the maiden into his custody, and
give security for her appearance, on the arrival of him
who was alleged to be her father. Whilst all murmured
against the injustice of this decree, though not one had
courage to oppose it, Publius Numitorius, the maidens
uncle, and Icilius, her bethrothed spouse, arrived at the
spot. The crowd having readily made way for them,
because they were of opinion, that if any thing could stop
the proceedings of Appius, it would be the interference of
Icilius, the lictor called out, that sentence was passed;
and, on Icilius making loud remonstrances, ordered him
to retire. Even a cool temper would have been inflamed
by such gross ill treatment; Icilius said, Appius, you
must drive me hence with the sword, before you shall
accomplish, in silence, what you [273] wish to be
concealed. This young woman I intend to wed, and expect
to find in her a lawful and a chaste wife. Call together
then even all the lictors of your colleagues, order the rods
and axes to be got ready: the spouse of Icilius shall not
remain in any other place than her fathers house.
Though you have taken from us the protection of
tribunes, and an appeal to the Roman people, the two
bulwarks which secured our liberty, yet there has been no
grant made, to your lust of absolute dominion over our
wives and daughters. Vent your fury on our persons and
our lives; let chastity, at least, find safety. If any violence
is offered to her, I shall appeal for succour to the citizens
now present, in behalf of my spouse; Virginius will appeal
to the soldiers in behalf of his only daughter; and all of us
to the gods, and to all mankind: nor shall you ever carry
that sentence into effect, while we have life to prevent it. I
charge you, Appius, consider again and again to what
lengths you are proceeding: let Virginius, when he comes,
determine what measures he will pursue in regard to his
daughter; only of this I would have him assured, that if he
submits to this mans claim of obtaining the custody of
her, he must seek another match for his daughter: as for
me, in vindication of the liberty of my spouse, I will
forfeit my life sooner than my honour.
XLVI. The passions of the multitude were now raised,
and there was every sign of a violent contest ensuing. The
lictors had gathered round Icilius, but proceeded,
however, no farther than threats, when Appius said, that
the defence of Virginia was not the motive which actuated
Icilius; but, turbulent by nature, and breathing, at that
instant, the spirit of the tribuneship, he was seeking an
occasion of sedition. He would not however, at that time,
give him matter to work on: but, in order to convince him
at once that this indulgence was granted, not to his
petulance, but to the absent Virginius, to the name of
father, and to liberty, he would not then decide the cause,
nor interpose any decree; [274] he would even request of
Marcus Claudius to depart somewhat from his right, and
suffer the maiden to be bailed until the next day. But if,
on the next day, the father did not attend, he now gave
notice to Icilius, and to persons like Icilius, that, as its
founder, he would not fail to support his own law; nor, as
decemvir, to show a proper degree of resolution: nor
should he call together the lictors of his colleagues, to
check the efforts of the fomenters of sedition, but be
content with his own lictors. The execution of his
iniquitous design being thus deferred, the advocates of
the girl having retired, resolved, first of all, that the
brother of Icilius and the son of Numitorius, active young
men, should set off directly, and with all possible haste
call home Virginius from the camp, acquainting him that
the safety of the maiden depended on his being present
in time next day to protect her from injury. They set out
the instant they received their directions, and, with all the
speed their horses could make, carried the account to her
father. In the meantime, the claimant of the maiden
urged Icilius to profess himself a defendant in the cause,
and to produce sureties. This, however, Icilius delayed, in
order that the messengers despatched to the camp might
gain the longer time for their journey, telling him that he
was preparing to do so. The whole multitude on this held
up their hands, and every one showed himself ready to be
surety to Icilius. To them he replied, tears at the same
time filling his eyes, I am thankful for your goodness; to-
morrow I will claim your assistance; at present, I have
sufficient sureties. Virginia was then admitted to bail on
the security of her relations. Appius, after remaining on
the tribunal for a short time lest he should seem to have
sat merely for the sake of the present business, and
finding that no one applied to him, the general anxiety
about Virginia calling their attention from every other
subject, retired to his house, and wrote to his colleagues
in camp not to allow Virginius to leave it, and even to
keep [275] him in confinement. This wicked scheme, as it
deserved, was too late to succeed; for Virginius, having
already got leave of absence, had set out at the first
watch; so that the letter for detaining him, which was
delivered in the morning, necessarily produced no effect.

XLVII. In the city, a vast multitude of citizens were

assembled in the Forum at day break, full of anxious
expectation. Virginius, clad in mourning, and
accompanied by a great number of advocates, led his
daughter into the Forum, habited in weeds, denoting her
distress, and attended by a number of matrons. There he
began to solicit each mans favour; and not only
requested their aid, as a boon granted to his prayers, but
demanded it as his due, reminding them, that, he stood
daily in the field of battle, in defence of their wives and
children; nor was there any man who had given greater
proof of valour and intrepidity in action than he had
done. Yet what did this avail, if, while the city was secure
from danger, their children were exposed to calamities as
grievous as could be dreaded, if it were taken by an
enemy? With such discourses, uttered in a manner as if
he were addressing a public assembly, he applied to the
people individually. Icilius addressed them with like
arguments; and the female attendants, by their silent
tears, affected them more deeply than any words could
do. Appius, whose mind was hardened against all such
occurrences, violent madness, rather than love, having
perverted his understanding, ascended the tribunal; and
when the claimant had just begun to urge, that, through
partiality, he had refused yesterday to pronounce
judgment in the cause; Appius, without allowing him to
proceed in statinghis claim, or giving Virginius an
opportunity of answering, delivered his sentence. The
discourse with which he introduced his decree some
ancient writers have set down, perhaps with truth; but as
I no where find any one that seems likely to have been
used on occasion of such an iniquitous business, I think it
best to represent the plain fact, of which there is no
doubt: he decreed, [276] that she should be held in
bondage until the final decision. At first, all were struck
motionless with astonishment at such an atrocious
proceeding. Silence then prevailed for some time,
afterwards, when Marcus Claudius went to seize the
maiden, where she stood in the midst of the matrons, and
was opposed by the women with lamentable cries of grief,
Virginius, stretching forth his hands in a menacing
attitude towards Appius, said, Appius, I betrothed my
daughter to Icilius, not to thee; and I have educated her
for a wife, not for a harlot. Do you intend that men shall
indulge their lust promiscuously like cattle and wild
beasts? Whether these present will endure such things I
know not: but those who carry arms, I hope, never will.
The claimant of the maiden being forced back, by the
crowd of women and advocates who stood round her,
silence was commanded by the crier.

XLVIII. The decemvir, whose mind was warped by his

ungovernable lust, said, that the abusive language of
Icilius yesterday, and the violence of Virginius, now the
whole Roman people were witnesses of, but that he had
learned on good authority, that, during the whole night,
cabals had been held for the purpose of stirring up
sedition. Wherefore being aware of the disputes likely to
ensue, he had come down with a band of men in arms,
not with a design of injuring any person who should
demean himself, but of punishing, in a manner suited to
the majesty of government such as should presume to
disturb the tranquillity of the state. It will, therefore (said
he,) be your better way to remain quiet. Go, lictor,
remove the crowd, and make way for the owner to seize
his slave. When, bursting with passion, he had
thundered out these words, the multitude of themselves
voluntarily separated, and the maiden stood forsaken a
prey to injustice. Virginius then seeing no prospect of
assistance from any quarter, said Appius, I entreat you
first, to make allowance for a fathers grief, if I have made
use of too harsh expressions towards you; and next, to
allow [277] me here, in the presence of the maiden, to
inquire of her nurse the truth of this affair; that, if I have
been falsely called her father, I may depart hence with the
more resignation. Permission being granted, he drew the
maiden and her nurse aside, to the sheds near the temple
of Cloacina, now called the new sheds, and there,
snatching a knife from a butcher, plunged it into his
daughters breast, with these words: In this manner, my
child, the only one in my power, do I secure your liberty.
Then looking back on Appius, With this blood, Appius,
said he, I devote thee and thine head to perdition.
Appius alarmed by the cry raised at such a horried deed,
ordered Virginius to be seized. But he, clearing a passage
with the weapon wherever he went, and protected also by
a great number of young men who escorted him, made
his way to the gate. Icilius and Numitorius raised up the
lifeless body, and exposed it to the view of the people,
deploring the villainy of Appius, the fatal beauty of the
maiden, and the necessity which had urged the father to
the act. The matrons who followed joined their
exclamations: were these the consequences of rearing
children? were these the rewards of chastity? with other
mournful reflections, such as are suggested by grief to
women, and which, from the greater sensibility of their
tender minds, are always the most affecting. The
discourse of the men, and particularly of Icilius, turned
entirely on their being deprived of the protection of
tribunes, and consequently of appeals to the people, and
on the indignities thrown upon all.

XLIX. The passions of the multitude were strongly

excited, partly by the villainy of the decemvir, partly by
their hopes that the occasion might be improved to the
recovery of liberty. Appius now ordered Icilius to be
called before him; then, on his refusing to attend, to be
seized: at last, when the beadles were not suffered to
come near him, he himself, with a band of young
patricians, pushing through the crowd, ordered him to be
taken into confinement. By this time, there had collected
round Icilius, not only the multitude, [278] but persons fit
to head that multitude, Lucius Valerius and Marcus
Horatius, who, driving back his lictor, told Appius, that
if he meant to proceed in a legal way, they would be
security for Icilius, against any charge which he, as a
private citizen, should bring. If he should attempt to
make use of force, in that point too they would not be his
inferiors. A furious scuffle ensued. The decemvirs lictor
attacked Valerius and Horatius. The fasces were broken
by the people. Appius then mounted the tribunal, whither
he was followed by Horatius and Valerius; to these the
assembly paid attention, but drowned the decemvirs
voice with noise. Valerius now assumed authority to
order the lictors to depart from one who was but a private
citizen; and then Appius, bereft of courage, and dreading
for his life, covered his head, and, unobserved by his
adversaries, made his escape into a house near the
Forum. Spurius Oppius rushing into the Forum from the
other side, in order to assist his colleague, saw their
authority overpowered by force. After revolving several
expedients, confused by listening to a multitude of
advisers on every side, he at last commanded the senate
to be summoned. This step calmed the minds of the
populace, by giving them hopes, that as the conduct of
the decemvirs seemed displeasing to the greater part of
the patricians, their government would be abolished
through the means of the senate. The senate gave their
opinion, that the commons should not be farther
exasperated; and that, above all things, care should be
taken to hinder disturbances being excited in the camp
on the arrival of Virginius.
L. Accordingly some of the younger patricians were sent
to the camp, which, at that time, was on mount Vecilius,
to caution the decemvirs to use their utmost efforts for
preventing a mutiny among the soldiers. Here, Virginius
caused greater commotions than he had left in the city:
for, besides the notice which he attracted, by coming
attended by a band of near four hundred men; who,
incensed at the scandalous injustice done him, had
accompanied him from the city; the [279] unsheathed
weapon, and himself being besmeared with blood,
engaged the general attention, while gowns* being
observed in many different parts of the camp, made the
number of people from the city appear much larger than
it was. Being asked the reason of all this, grief for a long
time prevented Virginius from uttering a word. At length,
when the crowd grew still, and silence took place, he
related every circumstance in order as it passed. Then
raising his hands towards heaven, besought his fellow-
soldiers not to impute to him the guilt which belonged to
Appius Claudius, nor to abhor him as the murderer of his
child. Declaring, that the life of his daughter was dearer
to him than his own, could she have lived with honour
and liberty. When he saw her dragged as a slave to
violation, he thought it better that his child should be lost
by death than by dishonour. Actuated by compassion, he
had fallen under the appearance of cruelty: nor would he
have survived his daughter, had he not looked to the aid
of his fellow-soldiers, with hopes of revenging her death:
for they also had daughters, sisters, wives; and the lust of
Appius Claudius was not extinguished by the death of
Virginia, but would be encouraged, by impunity, to rage
with less restraint. They had now warning given them, in
the calamity of another, to guard themselves against the
like injury. As to what concerned himself, his wife had
been torn from him by fate; his daughter, because she
could not longer preserve her chastity, had fallen by an
unfortunate but honourable death. There was now in his
house no object for Appiuss lust; and from any other
kind of violence which he could offer he would defend his
own person with the same spirit with which he had
rescued that of Virginia. Let others take care of
themselves and of their children. To these
representations, uttered by Virginius in a loud voice, the
multitude replied, with shouts, that they would not be
backward in vindicating either his wrongs or their own
liberty. At the same time, the gownmen [280] intermixed
with the crowd of soldiers, relating with sorrow the same
circumstances, and observing how much more shocking
they appeared to the sight than hearing, acquainting
them also that the affairs of the decemvirs at Rome were
desperate; while some, who came later, averred that
Appius, having with difficulty escaped with life, was gone
into exile. All this had such an effect on the soldiery, that
they cried out, To arms! snatched up the standards, and
marched towards Rome. The decemvirs, exceedingly
alarmed, as well by the transactions which they saw, as by
those which they heard had passed at Rome, ran to
different parts of the camp, in order to quell the
commotion. While they acted with mildness, they
received no answer. If any of them offered to exert
authority, he was answered, That they were men; and
besides, had arms. The soldiers proceeded in a body to
the city, and posted themselves on the Aventine,
exhorting the commons, whenever they met any of them,
to reassume their liberty, and create plebeian tribunes.
No other violent expression was heard. Spurius Oppius
held the meeting of the senate, when it was resolved, that
no harsh measures should be used, because themselves
had given occasion to the insurrection. Three consulars
were sent as deputies to the mount, Spurius Tarpeius,
Caius Julius, and Servius Sulpicius, to ask, in the name of
the senate, by whose orders they had quitted the camp; or
what was their intention in posting themselves, in arms,
on the Aventine; in changing the direction of their hostile
operations from the enemy, and by seizing a strong post
in their native country. The revolters were at no loss what
to answer; but they were at a loss for a person to give the
answer, having not yet appointed any particular leader,
and individuals not being very forward to take on
themselves the invidious, and perhaps dangerous, office.
The multitude only called out with one voice, that Lucius
Valerius and Marcus Horatius might be sent, and to them
they would give their answer.

[281]

LI. When the deputies were dismissed, Virginius

reminded the soldiers, how much they had been
embarrassed in a case of no extraordinary difficulty, in
consequence of their being a multitude without a head;
and that the answer given, though not inexpedient, was
the result rather of an accidental concurrence, than of a
concerted plan: he recommended to them, therefore, to
elect ten persons, who should preside in the direction of
their affairs, and, in the style of military dignity, be called
tribunes of the soldiers. This honour being offered, in
the first place, to himself, he said, Reserve to a juncture
more happy, both to you and me, such expressions of
your good opinion of me. It is neither possible for me,
while my daughter is unrevenged, to reap satisfaction
from any honour, nor is it expedient for you, in the
present disordered state of the commonwealth, to have
those at your head who are most obnoxious to party
malice. If I can be of any service, my remaining in a
private capacity will in no degree prevent it. They
accordingly elected ten military tribunes. Nor was the
army in the country of the Sabines inactive. There also, at
the instance of Icilius and Numitorius, a secession from
the decemvirs was made; men being no less strongly
agitated by having the murder of Siccius recalled to their
memory, than by the recent account of the barbarous
attempt against the chastity of Virginia. When Icilius
heard that tribunes of the soldiers had been elected on
the Aventine, he feared lest the assembly of election in
the city might follow the lead of the military assembly,
and choose the same persons tribunes of the commons.
Being well versed in popular intrigues, and aiming
himself at that office, he took care that, before they
proceeded to the city, the same number of soldiers, with
equal powers, should be elected by the party then with
him. They entered the city, in military array, through the
Colline gate, and continued their march in a body
through the middle of the city to the Aventine. There, in
conjunction with the other army, they gave directions to
the twenty tribunes of the soldiers to [282] choose two out
of their number, who were to hold the command in chief:
they chose Marcus Oppius and Sextus Manilius. The
senate were alarmed for the general safety, but though
they sat every day, they spent more time in wrangling
than in deliberation: the decemvirs were upbraided with
the murder of Siccius, the lust of Appius, and the
disgraces which they had incurred in war. It was
resolved, at length, that Valerius and Horatius should
proceed to the Aventine: but they refused to go thither,
on any other terms than those of the decemvirs resigning
the badges of office, their title to which had expired a
year before. The decemvirs, remonstrating against the
severity of degrading them to the common level, declared
that they would not resign their authority, until the
purpose of their election should be fulfilled, by the
ratification of the laws.

LII. The commons, on being informed by Marcus Duilius,

who had been plebeian tribune, that the time was passed
by the patricians in continual disputes, and no business
done, removed from the Aventine to the sacred mount:
for Duilius had assured them, that the senate would
never attend seriously to the business, until they saw the
city deserted; that the sacred mount would remind them
of the firmness of the commons, and that they would
then discover, that the reestablishment of concord was
impracticable, without the restoration of the tribunitian
office. Marching along the Nomentan road, then called
the Ficulnean, they encamped on the sacred mount,
imitating the moderation of their fathers, in refraining
from every act of violence. The army was followed by the
commons, not one, whose age would permit him,
refusing to go. Their wives and children attended their
steps, asking, in melancholy accents, to whose care they
were to be left, in such a city, where neither chastity nor
liberty was safe? So general a desertion, beyond what was
ever known, left every part of the city void, not a creature
being even seen in the Forum, except a few very old men,
when the senators were called into their house. [283] Thus
the Forum appearing entirely forsaken, many others,
with Horatius and Valerius, began to exclaim, Conscript
fathers! how long will ye delay? If the decemvirs will not
desist from their obstinacy, will ye suffer every thing to
sink into ruin? And ye, decemvirs, what is this power
which ye so positively refuse to part with? Do ye intend to
administer justice to bare walls and empty houses? Are ye
not ashamed, that the number of your lictors should
exceed that of all the other citizens in the Forum? What
do ye propose to do, should the enemy advance to the
city? What, if the commons, finding that we are not
moved by their secession, should presently come in
arms? Do ye choose that your command should be
terminated by the fall of the city? The case stands thus;
either we must lose the commons, or they must have
their tribunes. We would sooner part with our patrician
magistrates, than they with the plebeian. The office of
tribunes, when it was a thing unknown and untried, they
extorted from our fathers; and it is much more
improbable that, after having tasted the sweets of it, they
will put up with its loss, especially as we do not exercise
authority with such moderation, as to prevent their
standing in need of protection. Assailed by such
arguments from every quarter, and overpowered by the
united opinions of all, the decemvirs declared, that since
it was judged necessary, they would submit to the orders
of the senate. This only they requested, that they would
afford them protection from the rage of the opposite
party: warning them at the same time, not to suffer the
commons, by the spilling of their blood, to come into the
practice of inflicting punishment on patricians.

LIII. Valerius and Horatius were then deputed to invite

the commons to return, on such conditions as they
should judge proper, and to adjust all matters in dispute.
They were ordered also to take measures, for securing the
decemvirs from the rage and violence of the populace. On
their arrival at the camp, they were received with
excessive joy, as having evidently proved themselves the
patrons of liberty, [284] both at the commencement of the
disturbances, and on the determination of the business.
For this, they received thanks on their coming, Icilius
addressing them in the name of the whole; and when they
began to treat about conditions, the same person, on the
deputies inquiring what were the demands of the
commons, proposed, in pursuance of a plan which had
been adjusted before their arrival, such terms as plainly
evinced, that they grounded their expectations on the
equity of their cause, rather than on their strength: for
they only required the restitution of the tribunitian office,
and the privilege of appeal, by which the rights of the
commons had been guarded, before the creation of
decemvirs; and, that no one should suffer for having
instigated the soldiery, or the commons, to procure the
restoration of liberty, by a secession. They were
intemperate only in respect to the punishment of the
decemvirs: for they expected that they should be
delivered into their hands, and they threatened to burn
them alive. In reply, the deputies said, such of your
demands, as have been the result of deliberation, are so
equitable, that they ought to be voluntarily offered to
you: for the object of them is the attainment of a security
for liberty, not for unbounded licence to violate the rights
of others. But the dictates of your resentment, we must
rather pardon than indulge: for, through your detestation
of cruelty, ye are precipitating yourselves into the very
vice which ye abhor; and before ye can well be said to be
free yourselves, ye wish to act the tyrant over your
adversaries. Is our state never to enjoy rest from
punishments, either inflicted by the patricians on the
Roman commons, or by the commons on the patricians?
Ye stand in need of a shield, rather than of a sword. It is
abundantly sufficient to humble a man so far as that he
shall live on an equal footing with the rest of his
countrymen, neither offering nor enduring injury.
Besides, should ye ever choose to render yourselves
objects of terror, when ye shall have recovered your
magistrates, and your laws, and shall have the power, in
your hands, of deciding [285] on our lives and fortunes,
then ye will determine according to the merit of each
case; at present it is sufficient to require the restoration
of liberty.

LIV. Having, with universal consent, received permission

to act as they thought proper, the deputies assured them
that they would speedily bring back a final settlement of
the business; and, returning, reported to the senate the
message from the commons. On which the other
decemvirs, finding that, beyond their hopes, no mention
was made of any punishment being reserved for them,
raised no objection. Appius, stern in his nature, conscious
that he was the object of particular detestation, and
measuring the rancour of others towards him by his own
towards them, said, I am not blind to the fate which
hangs over me. I see that violent proceedings against us
are deferred until our arms are surrendered into the
hands of our adversaries. Blood must be offered to the
rage of the populace. I myself no longer demur to resign
the office of decemvir. A decree of the senate was then
made, that the decemvirs should, without delay, resign
their office. That Quintus Furius, chief pontiff, should
hold an election of plebeian tribunes, and that no one
should suffer, on account of the secession of the soldiers
and commons. As soon as these decrees were finished,
the senate was dismissed, and the decemvirs coming
forth to the comitium, made a resignation of their office,
to the extreme joy of all. News of this was carried to the
commons. Whatever people there were remaining in the
city, escorted the deputies. This was met by another
procession from the camp, exulting with joy; and they
mutually congratulated each other on the re-
establishment of liberty and concord in the state. The
deputies addressed the assembly thus: Be it
advantageous, fortunate, and happy to you, and to the
commonwealth. Return into your native city, to your
household gods, your wives and children: the same
moderation, with which ye have behaved here, where,
notwithstanding the great consumption [286] of
necessaries in so large a multitude, no mans field had
been injured, that moderation carry with you into the
city. Go to the Aventine, whence ye removed. In that
auspicious place, where ye took the first step towards
liberty, ye shall elect tribunes of the commons: the chief
pontiff will attend and preside in the assembly. Great
were the applauses given, and the cheerfullest
approbation was shown of every thing which was done.
They then hastily raised the standards; and, as they
marched towards Rome, vied with such as they met in
expressions of joy. They proceeded under arms, in
silence, through the city to the Aventine. There, the chief
pontiff holding an assembly, they instantly elected
tribunes of the commons; first, Lucius Virginius; then
Lucius Icilius, and Publius Numitorius, uncle of Virginia,
the first advisers of the secession; then Caius Sicinius, a
descendant of that man who is recorded as the first
tribune of the commons, elected on the sacred mount;
with Marcus Duilius, who had distinguished himself by
his conduct in the tribuneship, before the creation of the
decemvirs, and who, during the contest with them, had
not failed to exert himself in the support of the common
cause. At the same time were elected, rather on account
of hopes entertained of their future conduct, than of their
previous deserts, Marcus Titinius, Marcus Pomponius,
Caius Apronius, Publius Villius, and Caius Oppius. Lucius
Icilius, as soon as he entered on the office of tribune,
proposed to the commons, and the commons ordered,
that no person should suffer on account of the secession
from the decemvirs. Immediately after, Duilius carried a
proposition for electing consuls, with privilege of appeal.
All this was transacted in an assembly of the commons in
the Flaminian meadows, now called the Flaminian circus.

Y. R. 306. BC 446. LV. After this, under the direction of an

interrex, consuls were elected. These were Lucius
Valerius and Marcus Horatius, who entered immediately
upon the exercise of their office. Their consulate was
popular. But though [287] unattended by any actual ill
treatment of the patricians, it yet incurred their
displeasure; for they imagined that whatever added to the
liberty of the commons, was necessarily a diminution of
their own power. First of all, as if it were a point in
controversy, whether the patricians were bound by
regulations enacted in an assembly of the commons, a
law was passed in an assembly of the centuries, that
whatever was ordered by the commons collectively,
should bind the whole people. A law which gave the
keenest edge to such propositions as might be introduced
by the tribunes. Another law, introduced by a consul,
concerning the right of appeal, (a singular security to
liberty, and which had been subverted by the power
granted to the decemvirs,) they not only revived, but
guarded for the time to come, by further enacting, That
no magistrate should ever be chosen, from whom there
should not be a right of appeal; and that if any person
should cause the election of such, then it should be lawful
and right to put that person to death, and the killing of
him should not be accounted a capital offence. When
they had provided sufficient barriers for the commons, by
the right of appeal on one side, and the aid of the tribunes
on the other, they renewed to the tribunes themselves the
privilege of being deemed sacred and inviolable, a matter
which now had been almost forgotten, reviving also, for
the purpose, certain ceremonies which had been long
disused; and they not only rendered them inviolable by
this religious institution, but by a law, enacting, that
whoever should offer injury to the tribunes of the
commons, the diles, the judges, his person should be
devoted to Jupiter, and his property confiscated at the
temple of Ceres, Liber, and Libera. Lawyers deny, than
any one is thus rendered sacred and inviolable; but
admit, that the person who does injury to any of the
abovenamed, is deemed to be devoted. Accordingly, an
dile is sometimes seized, and put in confinement by
superior magistrates; which, though it is not a legal
proceeding, as offending [288] against a person exempted
by this law, is yet a sufficient proof that such person is
not deemed sacred and inviolable. It is alleged, however,
by some, that the tribunes became sacred and inviolable,
in consequence of the old oath taken by the commons
when they first created that office; while other expositors
have supposed, that, by this Horatian law, the same
exemptions were extended to the consuls also, the
consuls being termed judges; and to the prtors, as being
elected under the same auspices with the consuls. But
that exposition is refuted by this argument, that in those
times, it was not the custom, as it has been since, to call a
consul, judge, but prtor. These were the laws proposed
by the consuls. A regulation was also made by the same
consuls, that the decrees of the senate should be
deposited with the plebeian diles, in the temple of
Ceres; they had hitherto been frequently suppressed and
altered at the pleasure of the consuls. Marcus Duilius,
plebeian tribune, afterwards proposed to the commons,
and the commons enacted, that whoever should cause
the commons to be left without tribunes, or any
magistrate to be elected from whom there was no appeal,
should be punished with stripes and beheaded. All these
transactions, though highly disagreeable to the
patricians, passed without opposition from them,
because no severity was yet aimed at any particular
person.

LVI. The tribunitian office and the liberty of the

commons being thus fixed on a solid foundation, the
tribunes, judging it now seasonable and safe to attack
individuals, singled out Virginius as the first prosecutor,
and Appius defendant. Virginius, having preferred a
charge against Appius, and the latter coming to the
Forum, attended by a crowd of young patricians, the sight
of him and his attendants instantly recalled to every mind
his shocking abuses of authority. Virginius then said,
Long speeches are only of use in cases of a doubtful
nature. I shall, therefore, neither waste time in
descanting before you on the guilt of this man, [289] from
whose cruelty ye have rescued yourselves by force of
arms; nor will I suffer him to add impudence to his
crimes, in endeavours to exculpate himself. Wherefore,
Appius Claudius, I remit to you all the impious and
flagitious deeds, which, during two years past you have
dared to commit in constant succession. With respect to
one charge, unless you name a judge, and engage to
acquit yourself of having, contrary to the laws, sentenced
a free person to slavery, I order that you be taken into
custody. Neither in the protection of the tribunes, nor in
a sentence of the people, could Appius place any hope:
yet he called on the tribunes for aid, and when that was
disregarded, and he was seized by the bailiff, cried out, I
appeal. This expression, the peculiar safeguard of
liberty, uttered from that mouth which had so lately
threatened the subversion of liberty, caused a general
silence; whilst all with earnestness observed one to
another, that at length it appeared that there were gods,
and that they did not disregard the affairs of mankind.
That the punishments which attended pride and cruelty,
though they might come late, were not light. That he now
pleaded for the right of appeal, who had abolished that
right: he implored the protection of the people, who had
trodden under foot all the peoples rights; and he, who
had so lately doomed a free person to slavery, was
himself refused the privilege of liberty, and dragged to
prison. Amidst these murmurs of the assembly, Appiuss
voice was also heard imploring the protection of the
people. He enumerated the services of his ancestors to
the state, both in peace and war; his own unfortunate zeal
for the interest of the Roman commons, when, for the
sake of obtaining equitable laws, he resigned the
consulship, to the high displeasure of the patricians:
mentioning his own laws; and that while they yet
remained in force, the framer of them was to be dragged
to prison. But the peculiar advantages or disadvantages
attending his case, he would endeavour to set in a proper
light, when he [290] should be allowed to make his
defence. At present, by the common right of every
member of the state, he, a Roman citizen, accused of an
offence, demanded liberty of speaking in his own behalf,
and the benefit of a trial before the Roman people. That
his apprehensions from the popular rage were not so
great as to deprive him of all hope from the equity and
compassion of his countrymen. But if he was led to prison
without being heard, he again called on the tribunes of
the commons, and warned them not to follow the
example of those who were the objects of their hatred.
But should the tribunes acknowledge themselves to have
combined in the same kind of confederacy, for abolishing
the right of calling for their protection, which they
charged the decemvirs with having formed, then he
appealed to the people, and implored the benefit of the
laws concerning appeals, passed that very year at the
instance of the consuls and of the tribunes. For who was
to appeal, if that privilege was refused to a person on
whom no sentence was passed, and who had not been
heard in his defence? What plebeian or person in a low
station could expect to find protection in the laws, if
Appius Claudius found none? His case would afford a
proof, whether, by the new regulations, tyranny or liberty
was established; and whether appeals to the tribunes and
people, against the injustice of magistrates, were
effectually granted, or only held out in show, to amuse
the people with empty words.

LVII. Virginius, on the other hand, affirmed, that Appius

Claudius was the only person who was not entitled to any
of the privileges of the laws, nor of civil nor even of
human society: desired people to look at the tribunal,
that fortress, where every kind of wickedness had been
exercised with impunity, where that perpetual decemvir,
venting his fury on the goods, the persons, and lives of
the citizens, threatening all with his rods and axes,
showing an utter contempt both of gods and men,
encompassed with executioners, not [291] lictors,
changing at length his pursuits from rapines and murders
to the gratifications of lust, had, before the eyes of the
Roman people, torn a free-born maid from the embraces
of her father, as if she had been a captive taken in war,
and given her as a present to one of his clients, the
pander of his secret pleasures; where, by a cruel decree,
and a decision dictated by the blackest villainy, he armed
the hand of a father against his child; where, more
strongly affected by the disappointment of his unruly
passion than by her untimely death, he had ordered the
uncle and spouse of the maid, while employed in raising
her lifeless body, to be dragged to prison. The prison was
built for him as well as for others, though he used to call
it the mansion of the Roman commons. Wherefore,
however frequently he might appeal, he would as
frequently insist on his abiding the decision of a judge, on
the charge of his having sentenced a free person to
slavery. And if he declined appearing before a judge,
would now order him, as convicted, to be carried into
confinement. Accordingly he was thrown into prison, a
step, which, though disapproved by none in point of
justice, yet gave occasion to much serious reflection; the
commons themselves considering their power as carried
rather too far, in the punishment inflicted on a person of
such consequence. The tribune deferred the trial to a
distant day. Meanwhile ambassadors came to Rome from
the Latines and Hernicians, with congratulations on the
re-establishment of concord between the patricians and
commons, and, as an offering on that account to Jupiter,
supremely good and great, carried to the Capitol a golden
crown, of small weight, as riches at that time did not
abound, and the worship of the gods was performed with
greater piety than magnificence. The same persons also
brought information that the quans and Volscians were
preparing for war with the utmost vigour. The consuls
were, therefore, ordered to divide the provinces between
them. The Sabines fell to Horatius, the quans
and [292] Volscians to Valerius: and so highly were they
regarded by the commons, that, on proclaiming a levy of
troops for those wars, not only the younger men, but even
a great number of those who had served out the legal
time, attended, mostly as volunteers, to give in their
names. Thus the strength of the army was increased
beyond what was usual, not only in respect of number,
but also of the kind of soldiers that composed it: a
considerable proportion of them being veterans. Before
they marched out of the city, they engraved on brass, and
fixed up, in public view, the laws of the decemvirs, which
are called the Twelve Tables; some writers, however
say, that this business was performed by the diles, in
pursuance of orders from the tribunes.
LVIII. Caius Claudius, uncle to Appius, detesting the
iniquitous proceedings of the decemvirs, and, above all,
disgusted at the arrogant conduct of his nephew, had
retired to Regillum, the country of his ancestors.
Alarmed, however, at the danger which now threatened
the man whose vices he had fled to avoid the sight of, old
as he was, he returned, in hopes of deprecating the
impending mischief. He appeared in the Forum, clad in a
mourning habit, and surrounded by his relations and
dependants, implored the favour and protection of every
individual citizen he met with, and besought them, not
to throw such a stain upon the Claudian family, as to
show that they thought them deserving of imprisonment
and chains; represented to them, that a person, whose
image would be revered among posterity, as
distinguished by the highest honours, the framer of their
laws, the founder of the Roman jurisprudence, lay in
fetters among common thieves and robbers. He begged
that they would for a while suspend resentment, and
employ their thoughts in candid examination and cool
reflection; and grant to the intercession of such a number
of Claudii, the pardon of one individual, rather than
through hatred towards that one, reject the prayers of a
multitude: declaring, that he himself, in his
present [293] conduct, was actuated merely by a regard to
the race and to the name: for he had not renewed any
friendly intercourse with him for whose wretched
situation he wished to find a remedy: that, by fortitude,
liberty had been recovered; and by clemency, harmony
might be established among the several orders of the
state. He brought several to incline to his side, rather in
consideration of such laudable attachment to his family,
than of the merits of him whose cause he espoused. On
the other hand, Virginius besought them, rather to
bestow their compassion on himself and daughter. He
prayed them not to listen to the supplications of the
Claudian family, but to those of the near relations of
Virginia, the three tribunes; who, having been elected for
the protection of the commons, now, in their own cause,
implored from those commons favour and protection.
The tears of the latter seemed the more entitled to pity.
Wherefore Appius, precluded from all hope, voluntarily
put an end to his life, before the day arrived to which the
trial had been adjourned. Immediately after, Publius
Numitorius arraigned Spurius Oppius, who stood next in
the way of the public indignation, as having been present
in the city when the unjust sentence was pronounced by
his colleague. However, an act of injustice, committed by
himself, drew on Oppius greater weight of resentment
than his conduct in regard to Appius. A soldier stood
forward, who reckoned up twenty-seven campaigns, in
which he had served; during which service, he proved
that he had been eight times particularly distinguished by
honourable rewards. These rewards he produced to the
view of the people; and then, throwing open his garment,
he showed his back mangled with stripes; begging no
other terms of favour, than that unless the accused
(Spurius Oppius) could name any one offence of which he
(the soldier) had ever been guilty, he then should have
liberty, though a private citizen, to repeat the same cruel
treatment towards him. Oppius was thrown into prison,
and before [294] the day of trial put an end to his life. The
tribunes confiscated the property of Appius and Oppius.
Their colleagues went into exile, and their property was
confiscated. Then Marcus Claudius, who laid claim to
Virginia, was brought to trial and condemned; but
Virginius himself agreeing to a mitigation of the
sentence, so far as it affected his life, he was discharged,
and also went into exile to Tibur. And now the shade of
Virginia, whose cause was best supported after her death,
having roamed through so many families in quest of
vengeance, rested in peace, none of the guilty being left
unpunished.

LIX. The patricians were now filled with dreadful

apprehensions,for the tribunes seemed to wear the
same countenance which had formerly marked the
decemvirs,when Marcus Duilius, tribune of the
commons, imposed a salutary restraint on their power,
tending, as it was, to excess, by telling them, We have
proceeded to a sufficient length, both in asserting our
liberty, and in punishing our enemies. Wherefore, during
the remainder of this year, I will not suffer any person
either to be brought to trial, or to be put into
confinement. For I think it highly improper, that old
crimes, now buried in oblivion, should be again dragged
forth to notice, and after recent ones have been expiated
by the punishment of the decemvirs. Add to this, that we
have sufficient security, in the unremitting attention ever
shown by both our consuls to the interests of liberty, that
no instance of misconduct will henceforth occur, which
can require the interposition of the tribunitian power.
This moderation of the tribune first dissipated the fears
of the patricians; and, at the same time, increased their
ill-will towards the consuls; for they had been so entirely
devoted to the interest of the commons, that even a
plebeian magistrate had shown more readiness to consult
the liberty and safety of the patricians, than they who
were themselves of that order. Indeed their enemies were
weary of inflicting punishments on [295] them, before the
consuls showed any intention of opposing the violence of
those measures; and many said, that the senate had
betrayed a want of firmness in giving their approbation to
the laws proposed: in fact, there was not a doubt, but that
in this troubled state of the public affairs, they had
yielded to the times.

LX. After all business in the city was adjusted, and the
rights of the commons firmly established, the consuls
departed to their respective provinces. Valerius prudently
delayed engaging with the armies of the quans and
Volscians, who had by this time formed a junction in the
district of Algidum. Had he attempted to bring the matter
to an immediate decision, such was the state of mind,
both of the Romans and of their enemies, in consequence
of the misfortunes which had attended the auspices of the
decemvirs, that I know not whether the contest could
have been decided without a heavy loss. Pitching his
camp at the distance of a mile from that of the united
army, he kept his men quiet. The enemy filled the middle
space, between the two camps, with their troops, in order
of battle, and gave several challenges to fight, to which no
Roman returned an answer. Fatigued at length with
standing, and waiting in vain for an engagement, the
quans and Volscians, considering this as almost
equivalent to an acknowledgment of the victory in their
favour, detached several parties to make depredations,
some against the Hernicians, others against the Latines;
leaving rather a guard to the camp, than such a force as
could contend with the Romans. As soon as the consul
understood this, he retorted the menaces which they had
before used to him, and drawing up his troops, advanced
to provoke them to battle: and when, in consequence of
so great a part of their force being absent, they declined
to fight, the Romans instantly assumed fresh courage,
and looked upon those troops as already vanquished,
who, through fear, kept within their rampart. After
remaining the [296] whole day in readiness for action,
they retired at the close of it. The Romans, on their part,
full of confidence, employed the night in refreshing
themselves, while the enemy, very differently affected,
despatched messengers in the utmost hurry to every
quarter, to call in the plundering parties. Such as were in
the nearest places returned with speed; those who had
gone to a greater distance could not be found. At the first
dawn, the Romans marched out of their camp, resolved
to assault the enemys rampart, if they should refuse to
fight, and, when a great part of the day had passed, and
no movement was made by the enemy, the consul
ordered the troops to advance. On the army beginning to
march, the quans and Volscians, indignant that
victorious troops were to be defended by a rampart,
rather than by valour and arms, demanded the signal for
battle, in which they were gratified by their leaders. And
now, half of them had got out of the gates, and the rest
followed in regular order, marching down each to his own
post, when the Roman consul, before the enemys line
could be completed, and strengthened with their whole
force, advancing to the engagement, fell on them, and
thus encountering an unsteady multitude, who were
hurrying from one place to another, and throwing their
eyes about on themselves and their friends, he added to
their confusion by a shout, and a violent onset. They at
first gave ground, but afterwards collected their spirits,
their leaders on every side asking them in reproach, if
they intended to yield to vanquished enemies; and the
fight was renewed.

LXI. On the other side, the Roman consul desired his

troops to reflect, that, on that day, for the first time, they
as free men, fought for Rome, as a free city; that they
were to conquer for themselves, and not in order to
become a prize to the decemvirs; that they were not
acting under the orders of Appius, but of their consul
Valerius, descended from the deliverers of the Roman
people, and, himself, one of their deliverers. He bade
them show, that in the former [297] battles the failure of
victory had been owing to the leaders, not to the soldiers.
He told them, it would be scandalous to evince a greater
courage against their countrymen than against their
enemies, and to be more afraid of slavery at home, than
abroad; that Virginia had not, perhaps, been the only
person whose chastity was in danger in time of peace; but
that Appius, their countryman, was the only one from
whose lust danger was to be dreaded; and that, should
the fortune of war turn against them, the children of
every one of them would be in like hazard, from so many
thousands of enemies. That he was unwilling, on account
of the omen, to mention such things, as neither Jupiter,
nor Father Mars, would suffer to happen to a city built
under such auspices. He put them in mind of the
Aventine and sacred mounts, and that they ought to
bring back dominion unimpaired to that spot, where a
few months ago they had obtained liberty; to show that
the Roman soldiers retained the same abilities after the
expulsion of the decemvirs, which they had possessed
before their appointment, and that the valour of the
Roman people was not diminished by the establishment
of laws which equalized their rights. After speaking to
this purpose among the battalions of the infantry, he flew
from thence to the cavalry. Come on young men, said
he, show that ye excel the infantry in valour, as ye excel
them in honour and in rank. The infantry at the first
onset have made the enemy give way; before they recover
the shock, give the reins to your horses, and drive them
out of the field; they will not stand against your charge,
and even now they rather hesitate than resist. They
spurred on their horses, and drove furiously against the
enemy, already disordered by the attack of the foot; and
after they had broken through the ranks, and pushed on
to the rear of their line, a part, wheeling round in the
open space, cut off their retreat to the camp, towards
which the greater number now began to fly on all sides;
and, by riding on before, compelled [298] them, through
fear, to take another course. The line of infantry, with the
consul himself, and the main body of the army, rushed
into the camp, and made themselves masters of it, killing
a vast number, and getting possession of considerable
booty. The news of this victory was carried both to the
city, and to the camp in the country of the Sabines: in the
city it excited only general joy; in the camp it fired the
minds of the soldiers with emulation of the glory their
fellow soldiers had acquired. Horatius had already inured
them to the field by excursions and skirmishes, so that
they began rather to place confidence in themselves, than
to think of the ignominy which had been incurred under
the command of the decemvirs; while these slight
engagements had strengthened their hopes with regard to
a general one. The Sabines, at the same time, who were
rendered presumptuous by their successes in the last
year, ceased not to provoke and urge them to fight;
asking, why they wasted time in excursions and retreats
like marauders; and, instead of making one main effort to
decide a single war, multiply their operations into a
number of insignificant skirmishes. Why not come to a
general engagement in the field, and let fortune
determine the victory at once?

LXII. The Romans, besides that they had now acquired a

high degree of courage, were exasperated at the
dishonour which it would reflect on them, if the other
army were to return victorious to Rome, while they lay
exposed to the abuse and insults of the enemy: and
when, said they, shall we ever be a match for that
enemy, if we are not at present? When the consul
understood that such were the sentiments generally
expressed by the soldiers in the camp, he called them to
an assembly and said, Soldiers, I suppose ye have heard
the issue of the campaign in Algidum; the army have
behaved as became the army of a free people. Through
the judicious conduct of my colleague, and the bravery of
the soldiers, victory has been obtained. For my [299] part,
what plan I am to adopt, or what degree of resolution I
am to maintain, depends upon you. The war may either
be prolonged with advantage, or it may be brought to a
speedy conclusion. If it is to be prolonged, I shall take
care, that, through means of the same discipline with
which I began, your hopes and your valour shall every
day increase. If ye have already sufficient courage, and
wish for a speedy decision, come on, raise here a shout,
such as ye would raise in the field. That will demonstrate
at once your inclinations and your spirit. The shout
being given with uncommon alacrity, he assured them,
that, with the good favour of fortune, he would comply
with their desire, and next morning lead them to the
field. The remainder of that day was spent in putting
their arms in order. On the following, as soon as the
Sabines perceived that the Romans were forming their
line of battle, they also marched out, having for a long
time ardently wished for an opportunity of fighting. The
battle was such as might be expected, between armies
both of whom were assured of their own courage; the one
animated by a long and uninterrupted career of glory, the
other lately elevated by unusual success. The Sabines
added to their strength the advantage of a stratagem; for,
after forming a line equal to that of the enemy, they kept
two thousand men in reserve, who were to make a push
during the heat of the engagement on the left wing of the
Romans. These, by attacking their flank, were likely to
overpower that wing, which was thus, in a manner,
surrounded, when the cavalry of two legions, amounting
to about six hundred, leaped from their horses, and
rushing forward to the front of their party who were
giving way, stopped the progress of the enemy, and at the
same time roused the courage of the infantry, both by
taking an equal share of the danger, and by exciting their
emulation; for they reflected, that it would be shameful
that the horse should incur double danger, by discharging
both [300] their own duty and that of others; and that the
foot should not be equal to the horse, even when they
were dismounted.

LXIII. They pressed forward therefore to the fight, which

on their part had been suspended, and endeavoured to
recover the ground which they had lost. In a moment
they were on an equality, while one wing of the Sabines
was compelled to give way. The horsemen then, covered
between the ranks of the foot, returned to their horses,
and galloped across to the other division; they carried
with them an account of this success; and, at the same
time, made a charge on the enemy, disheartened by the
defeat of their stronger wing. None displayed in that
battle more conspicuous bravery than themselves. The
consuls attention was every where employed. He
commended the active, and reproved the remiss. These
immediately, on being rebuked, exerted themselves with
spirit; shame stimulating them as powerfully, as
commendation had done the others. The shout being
raised anew, and all uniting their efforts, they drove the
enemy from their ground, and then the force of the
Romans could no longer be resisted; the Sabines
abandoned their camp, and were dispersed all over the
country. The Romans here recovered not the property of
their allies, as was the case in Algidum, but their own,
which they had lost in the devastation of the country. For
this victory, obtained in two battles, and in different
places, the senate, so unwilling were they to gratify the
consuls, decreed a supplication, in their name, of one day
only. The people, however, went in great numbers on the
second day also, to offer thanksgivings, and which they
did with rather greater zeal than before. The consuls by
concert came to the city within a day of each other, and
called out the senate to the field of Mars; where, while
they were relating the services which they had performed,
the principal members began to complain, that the senate
was purposely held in the midst of the soldiers, to keep
them in terror. The consuls therefore, to [301] take away
all ground for such a charge, removed the assembly into
the Flaminian meadows, to a place where the temple of
Apollo now stands, called, even at that time, the Circus of
Apollo. Here, a vast majority of the senators concurring
in refusing a triumph to the consul, Lucius Icilius,
tribune of the commons, proposed to the people, that
they should take on them the ordering of it. Many stood
forth to argue against this proceeding; particularly Caius
Claudius exclaimed, that it was over the patrieians, not
over the enemy, that the consuls sought to triumph; and
that more as a return for their private kindness to a
tribune, not as an honour due to valour. That a triumph
was a matter which had never, hitherto, been directed by
the people; but that the judgment on the merit, and the
disposal of it, had always been in the senate. That even
the kings had not in this respect derogated from that
order, the principal one in the state. He charged the
tribunes not to occupy every department so entirely with
their own authority, as to leave no room for the
deliberation of the public; and asserted, that by no other
means could the state be free, or the laws equalized, than
by each class maintaining its own rights, and its own
dignity. Though many arguments were used to the same
purpose by the other and elder senators, yet every one of
the tribes approved of the proposition. This was the first
instance of a triumph celebrated by order of the people,
without the approbation of the senate.

LXIV. This victory of the tribunes and commons was very

near terminating in a wanton irregularity of pernicious
tendency, a conspiracy being formed among the tribunes
to procure the re-election of the same persons to that
office; and, in order that their own ambition might be the
less conspicuous or objectionable, to re-elect also the
same consuls. They alleged, as a pretext, a combination of
the patricians to sap the foundation of the rights of the
commons, by the affronts which they threw upon the
consuls. What would [302] be the consequence, they
said, if, before the laws were firmly established, consuls
should, with the power of their factions, make an attack
on the new tribunes! For they could not always have
Valerii and Horatii for consuls, who would postpone their
own interest, when the liberty of the commons was in
question. By a concurrence of circumstances, fortunate
at this juncture, the charge of presiding at the election fell
to the lot of Marcus Duilius, a man of prudence, and who
clearly perceived what a heavy load of public displeasure
they would probably have to sustain, if they should be
continued in office. He declared, that he would admit no
vote for any of the former tribunes; while his colleagues
strenuously insisted, that he should leave the tribes at
liberty to vote as they thought proper; or else, should give
up his turn of presiding to his colleagues, who would hold
the election, according to the laws, rather than according
to the pleasure of the patricians. Duilius, on finding a
contest thus forced upon him, called the consuls to his
seat, and asked them what was their intention with
respect to the consular election. To which they answered;
that they were resolved to appoint new consuls. Having
thus gained popular supporters of his unpopular
measure, he advanced together with them into the
assembly. The consuls being there brought forward, and
asked, in what manner they would act, should the Roman
people, out of gratitude for having, by their means,
recovered their liberty and for their meritorious and
successful services in war, appoint them a second time to
the consulship, declared the same resolution as before.
On which, Duilius, after many eulogiums paid to them for
persevering in a line of conduct quite different from that
of the decemvirs, proceeded to the election; and when
five tribunes of the commons were elected, the other
candidates not being able to make up the requisite
number of tribes, on account of the eagerness with which
the nine tribunes openly pushed for the office,
he [303] dismissed the assembly, and did not afterwards
call one. He said, that he had fulfilled the law; which,
without any where specifying the number of tribunes,
only enacted, that tribunes should be left; and he recited
the terms of the law, in which it is said, If I propose ten
tribunes of the commons, and if there should at that time
be found a less number than ten tribunes, then the
persons whom these shall assume as colleagues, shall be
legal tribunes of the commons, with the same privileges
as those whom ye on that day made tribunes of the
commons. Duilius, persevering to the last, and declaring
the commonwealth could not have fifteen tribunes, after
baffling the ambition of his colleagues, resigned his
office, with high approbation both from the patricians
and the plebeians.

Y. R. 307. BC 445. LXV. The new tribunes of the commons

showed, in their election of colleagues, an inclination to
gratify the patricians. They chose two, who were
patricians and even consulars, Spurius Tarpeius and
Aulus Aterius. The consuls, then elected, were Largius
Herminius and Titus Virginius Climontanus, men not
warmly attached to either party, patricians or plebeians.
They had a peaceful year both at home and abroad.
Lucius Trebonius, tribune of the commons, a bitter
enemy to the patricians, because; as he said, he had been
imposed on by them, and betrayed in the affair of
choosing colleagues, carried a proposal that whoever took
the votes of the commons on the election of plebeian
tribunes, should continue the proceedings until he should
return ten of that order. The whole time of being in office
was passed in creating uneasiness to the patricians, from
whence the surname of Asper (harsh) was given him. Y.
R. 308. BC 444. Marcus Geganius Macerinus and Caius
Julius, the next consuls chosen, prevented the ill effects
of some combinations, formed by the tribunes against the
young nobles, without taking any violent steps against
those magistrates, and, at the same time
preserving [304] unhurt the dignity of the patricians.
Wishing to give time for the matter to cool, they
restrained the commons from rising in sedition by a
proclamation for a levy of troops, to act against the
quans and Volscians; giving, as a sufficient reason, that
while harmony prevailed in the city, every thing abroad
was also quiet, but whenever civil discord broke out, their
foreign enemies assumed new courage. This care to
preserve peace abroad, proved the cause of domestic
concord. But each of the orders always took an improper
advantage of moderation in the other. As soon as the
commons grew tranquil, the younger patricians began to
insult them. When the tribunes attempted to protect the
weaker party, even at first they were of little use;
afterwards, they themselves incurred ill-treatment,
particularly in the latter months, because the
combinations, then formed among the more powerful,
encouraged them to it, while the vigour of every
magistracy generally relaxes somewhat at that time. And
now the commons began to think that they had nothing
to hope from their tribunes, unless they procured such as
Icilius, for those whom they had for two years past were
but nominal tribunes. On the other side, the elder
patricians, although they were convinced that the
younger part of their body carried their presumption too
far, yet were better pleased, if the bounds of moderation
were to be exceeded, that those of their own order should
possess a redundancy of spirit, than should their
adversaries. So difficult it is to preserve moderation in
the asserting of liberty, while, under the pretence of a
desire to balance rights, each elevates himself in such a
manner, as to depress another; for men are apt, by the
very measures which they adopt to free themselves from
fear, to become the objects of fear to others; and to fasten
upon them the burthen of injustice, which they have
thrown off from their own shoulders: as if there existed in
nature a perpetual necessity, either of doing or of
suffering injury.

[305]

Y. R. 309. BC 443. LXVI. The next consuls elected were

Titus Quintius Capitolinus a fourth time, and Agrippa
Furius, who found, at the commencement of their year,
neither sedition at home, nor war abroad, but reason
sufficient to apprehend both. The citizens could no longer
be kept within bounds, both tribunes and commons being
highly exasperated against the patricians, and every
charge brought against any of the nobility constantly
embroiling the assemblies and creating new contests. As
soon as these were noised abroad, the quans and
Volscians, as if they had waited for this signal,
immediately took up arms; being, at the same time,
persuaded by their leaders, who were eager for plunder,
that the levy which had been proclaimed the last year had
been found impracticable, the commons refusing
obedience; and that, for that reason, no army had been
sent against them; that their military discipline was
subverted by licentiousness, and that Rome was no
longer considered as their common country; that all the
resentment and animosity which they had entertained
against foreigners, was now turned against each other,
and that there was a favourable opportunity of destroying
those wolves, while they were blinded by intestine rage.
Having therefore united their forces, they laid waste the
country of Latium; where, none attempting to obstruct
them, and the promoters of the war highly exulting, they
advanced to the very walls of Rome, carrying on their
ravages opposite to the Esquiline gate, and insulting the
city. From thence, they marched back without
molestation, in regular order, driving the prey before
them to Corbio. Quintius the consul then summoned the
people to an assembly.

LXVII. There, as we are told, he spoke to this purpose:

Although unconscious of any misconduct on my part, yet
it is with the utmost shame, Romans, that I am come
here, to meet you in assembly. That ye should be
witnesses of such an event, that it should be handed
down, on record, to [306] posterity; that, in the fourth
consulate of Titus Quintius, the quans and Volscians,
who, a short time ago, were barely a match for the
Hernicians, should have marched in arms, without
molestation, to the walls of the city of Rome! Could I have
foreseen that this ignominy was reserved for this
particular year, though such is the general state of
manners for a long time past, such the condition of
affairs, that my mind could presage no good, I would yet
have avoided this honourable post, by exile or by death, if
there had been no other way of escaping it. Could Rome
then have been taken in my consulship, if those arms,
that were at our gates, had been in the hands of men of
courage? I had enjoyed enough of honours, more than
enough of life: I ought not to have outlived my third
consulship. But, of whom have those once dastardly
enemies dared to show such contempt; of us consuls? or
of you Romans? If the fault lies in us, we should be
deprived of the command, as unworthy of it, and if that
be not enough, inflict some farther punishment: if in you,
may no divine, or human being chastise your
transgressions, only may ye yourselves gain a proper
sense of them. They have not been actuated to this
conduct, as supposing you void of spirit, nor from
confidence in their own valour. After being so often
routed and put to flight, beaten out of their camps,
stripped of their territories; and sent under the yoke, they
well know both themselves and you. Party dissensions
are the bane of this city; the struggles between the
patricians and the plebeians, while neither we fix due
limits to our authority, nor ye to your liberty; while ye
wish to get rid of patrician, we of plebeian magistrates,
they have assumed unusual courage. In the name of the
gods, what would ye have? Ye wished for tribunes of the
commons; for the sake of concord, we granted them to
you. Ye longed for decemvirs; we allowed them to be
created. Ye grew weary of decemvirs; we compelled them
to resign the office. Your resentment against them
continuing, even after they [307] were devested of their
public character, we suffered men of the most
distinguished families and stations, some to perish, and
others to go into exile. Ye wished again to create tribunes
of the commons; ye created them. Although we saw
manifest injustice to the nobles in electing men of your
order to the consulship; yet have we beheld patrician
magistracy, along with the rest, conceded to the
commons. The tribunes power of protecting the privilege
of appeal to the people; the acts of the commons
rendered binding on the patricians; our own rights
subverted, under the pretext of equalizing the laws; all
this we have endured, and still endure. Where, then, will
be the end of our dissensions? Shall we never be allowed
to have an united city and one common country? We, the
party vanquished, sit down in quiet, with greater
composure, than ye who have gained the victory. Do ye
think it enough, that to us ye are objects of terror? The
Aventine is taken from us; the sacred mount is seized.
But when the Esquiline is almost in the hands of the
enemy, no one appears in its defence. The Volscian foe
scales your rampart, and not a man drives him back.
Against us ye exert your courage, against us ye readily
take arms.

LXVIII. Now then that ye have blockaded the senate-

house, rendered the Forum the seat of hostilities, and
filled the prison with the principal citizens, show an equal
degree of valour, and march out through the Esquiline
gate; or if ye have not courage for that, view from the
walls your lands desolated with fire and sword, your own
property carried off, and the burning houses smoking all
round. But ye will say, it is the public interest that suffers
by these means, by the country being wasted with fire,
the city besieged, and the enemy enjoying the honour of
the war. Be it so; but I will ask in what situation are your
private affairs? Soon will you hear from the country
accounts of your losses: and what means have ye, at
home, of procuring a compensation for them? Will the
tribunes bring back, will they restore what ye have lost?
Words they will load you with, until ye [308] are tired, and
accusations against the principal citizens, and laws upon
laws, and public meetings; but, from these, never did one
of you return home with an increase of substance or
fortune. Let me see any, who ever carried thence aught to
his wife and children, except hatreds, quarrels,
animosities, public and private; from the ill effects of
which, indeed, ye have always been screened, not
however by your own merit and innocence, but by the
protection of others. But I will affirm, that, when ye used
to make your campaigns, under the command of consuls,
not of tribunes, in the camp, not in the Forum; when your
shout used to strike terror into the enemy in the field, not
into the Roman nobles in an assembly; after enriching
yourselves with plunder, taking possession of your
adversaries lands, and acquiring a plentiful stock of
wealth and glory, both to the public and to yourselves;
then, I say, ye returned home in triumph to your families;
now, ye suffer these invaders to depart laden with your
property. Continue immoveably tied to your assemblies,
and live in the Forum; still the necessity of fighting,
which ye so studiously avoid, attends you. Was it too
great a hardship to march out against the quans and
Volscians? The war is at your gates. If not repelled from
thence, it will shortly be within the walls. It will scale the
citadel and the capitol, and will pursue you, even into
your houses. A year ago, the senate ordered a levy to be
made, and an army to be led into Algidum. Yet we sit at
home in listless inactivity, delighted with the present
interval of peace, scolding each other like women, and
never perceiving, that, after that short suspension, wars
double in number must return upon us. I know that I
might find more agreeable topics to dwell upon; but even
though my own disposition did not prompt to it,
necessity compels me to speak what is true, instead of
what is agreeable. I sincerely wish, Romans, to give you
pleasure; but I feel wishes, much more ardent, to
promote your safety, let your sentiments respecting me
afterwards be [309] what they may. It results from the
nature of the human mind, that he who addresses the
public with a view to his own particular benefit, is
studious of rendering himself more generally agreeable
than he who has no other object but the advantage of the
public. But perhaps ye imagine that it is out of regard to
your individual interests, that those public sycophants,
those artful flatterers of the commons, who neither suffer
you to carry arms, nor to live in peace, excite and
stimulate your passions. When they have once raised you
in a ferment, the consequence to them is, either honour
or profit. And because they see that, while concord
prevails between the orders of the state, they are of no
consequence on any side, they wish to be leaders of a bad
cause, rather than of none, of tumults even, and
seditions. Which kind of proceedings, if ye can at length
be prevailed on to renounce; and, if ye are willing, instead
of these new modes of acting, to resume those practised
by your fathers, and formerly by yourselves, I am content
to undergo any punishment, if I do not within a few days
rout and disperse those ravagers of our country, drive
them out of their camp, and transfer from our gates and
walls, to their own cities, the whole terror of the war,
which at present fills you with consternation.
LXIX. Scarcely ever was the speech of a popular tribune
more acceptable to the commons, than was this of a
consul remarkable for strictness. Even the young men
who were accustomed to consider a refusal to enlist, in
such times of danger, as their most effectual weapon
against the patricians, began to turn their thoughts
towards war and arms. At the same time the inhabitants
flying from the country, and several, who had been
robbed there and wounded, relating facts still more
shocking than what appeared to view, filled the entire city
with a desire of vengeance. When the senate assembled,
all men turned their eyes on Quintius, regarding him as
the only champion for the majesty of Rome; and the
principal senators declared, that his [310] discourse had
been worthy of the consular command, worthy of his
former administration in so many consulships, worthy of
his whole life, which had been filled up with honours,
often enjoyed, and oftener merited. That other consuls
either flattered the commons, so far as to betray the
dignity of the senate, or through the harshness of their
measures, in support of the rights of their order,
exasperated the populace by their attempts to reduce
them; but that Titus Quintius, beyond all others, had
delivered sentiments suitable, at once, to the dignity of
the senate, to the harmony which ought to subsist
between the several orders, and to the juncture of the
times: and they entreated him and his colleague, to exert
themselves in behalf of the commonwealth. The tribunes
they intreated to unite cordially with the consuls in
repelling the enemy from their walls, and to bring the
commons to submit, at this perilous juncture, to the
direction of the senate. Their common country, they told
them, at that crisis, when the lands were laid waste, and
the city besieged, called on them as tribunes, and
implored their protection. With universal approbation, a
levy of troops was decreed. The consuls gave public
notice in assembly, that they could not now admit
excuses, but that all the young men must attend next day
at the first light, in the field of Mars: that, when the war
should be brought to a conclusion, they would appoint a
time for considering such matters, and that he whose
excuse was not satisfactory should be treated as a
deserter. All the young men attended accordingly. The
cohorts chose each its own centurions, and two senators
were appointed to command each cohort. We are told,
that all these measures were executed with such
expedition, that the standards brought out from the
treasury on that same day by the qustors, and carried
down to the field of Mars, began to move from thence at
the fourth hour; and that this new-raised army, with a
few cohorts of veterans who followed as volunteers,
halted at the tenth stone. The following [311] morning
brought them within view of the enemy, and they pitched
their camp close to theirs, near Corbio. On the third day
they came to an engagement; the Romans being hurried
on by desire of revenge, and the others by consciousness
of guilt, and despair of pardon, after so many rebellions.

LXX. In the Roman army, although the two consuls were

invested with equal powers, yet they adopted a measure
exceedingly advantageous in all important exigences. The
supreme command was, with the consent of Agrippa,
lodged in the hands of his colleague, who being thus
raised to a superiority, made the politest return for the
others cheerful condescension to act in a subordinate
capacity; making him a sharer in all his counsels and
honours. In the line of battle, Quintius commanded the
right wing, Agrippa the left; the care of the centre they
entrusted to Spurius Postumius Albus, lieutenant-
general; and that of the cavalry to another lieutenant-
general, Servius Sulpicius. The infantry, in the right wing,
fought with extraordinary valour, and met with a stout
resistance from the Volscians. Servius Sulpicius, with the
cavalry, broke the centre of the enemys line, and when
he might have returned to his own station, he thought it
more adviseable to make an attack on the rear of the
enemy, before they could recover from the disorder into
which their ranks had been thrown. By his charge on
their rear, the enemy, being assailed on both sides, must
have been instantly dispersed, had not the cavalry of the
Volscians and quans, throwing themselves in his way,
given him employment for a considerable time, opposing
him with forces the same as his own. On this Sulpicius
told his men, that there was no time to hesitate; and
called out that they were surrounded and cut off from
their friends, if they did not unite their most vigorous
efforts, and rout the enemys cavalry: nor was it enough
to drive them off the ground, without disabling them;
they must kill both horses and riders, lest any should
return and renew the fight. The enemy, he said, [312] were
not able to withstand them, to whom a compact body of
infantry had been obliged to give way. His orders were
obeyed with alacrity. By one charge they routed the whole
body of cavalry, dismounted vast numbers, and killed
with their javelins, both the men and horses. They met no
farther obstruction from the cavalry. And now falling on
the line of infantry, they despatched an account of their
success to the consuls, before whom the enemys line was
beginning to give ground. The news gave fresh spirit to
the Romans, to pursue their advantage; while it dismayed
the quans, who were already wavering. Victory began
to declare against them, first in the centre, where the
charge of the cavalry had disordered their ranks: their left
wing next began to retreat before the consul Quintius: the
greatest struggle was made by their right: there Agrippa,
full of the ardour inspired by youth and vigour, when he
saw every part of the Roman line more successful than
his own, snatched some of the ensigns from the standard-
bearers, and carried them forward himself: some he even
threw into the thick of the enemy; and the dread of the
disgrace to which this might expose them, so animated
the soldiers, that they instantly rushed on. This rendered
the victory equally decisive in every quarter. At this
juncture, a message was brought to him from Quintius,
that he had defeated the enemy, and was ready to attack
their camp; but did not choose to break into it, until he
should understand that the battle was determined on the
left wing also; and desiring that if he had completed the
discomfiture there, he would march up his troops to join
him, that the whole army might take possession of the
prize. Agrippa, now victorious, met his victorious
colleague with mutual congratulations; and, in
conjunction with him, advanced to the enemys camp;
where, meeting very few to oppose them, and these being
instantly routed, they forced their way through the
fortifications without difficulty; and the troops having
here acquired an immense booty, besides
recovering [313] their own effects which had been lost in
the plundering of the country, were then led home. I do
not find, either that the consuls sued for a triumph, or
that it was bestowed on them by the senate: neither is
there any reason assigned why they either did not wish,
or might not hope to obtain that honour. It might
probably be, as far as I can conjecture at this distance of
time, that as this mark of approbation had been refused
by the senate to the consuls Valerius and Horatius, who,
besides having vanquished the Volscians and quans,
had acquired the glory of subduing the Sabines also, the
consuls were ashamed to demand a triumph for services
which amounted only to the half of theirs; lest, even if
they should obtain it, there might be room to imagine
that the compliment was paid to the persons rather than
to their deserts.

LXXI. This honourable victory obtained over their

enemies, the people disgraced at home, by a scandalous
decision of a dispute concerning the boundaries of their
allies. The people of Aricia, and those of Ardea, had often
contended in arms the right of property to a certain
district of land, and, wearied by many losses on both
sides, referred the affair to the arbitration of the Roman
people. Both parties attended to support their claims, and
an assembly was held by the magistrates at their request.
Here the matter was debated with great vehemence; and
after the witnesses had been produced, when the tribes
ought to have been called, and the assembled proceed to
give their suffrages, there arose one Publius Scaptius, a
plebeian, a very old man, who said, Consuls, if I may be
permitted to speak on a matter which concerns the
interest of the commonwealth, I will not suffer the people
to proceed in a mistake, with respect to this affair. The
consuls saying, that he was not worthy of attention, and
should not be heard, he exclaimed, that the cause of the
public was betrayed; and on their ordering him to be
removed, called on the tribunes for protection. The
tribunes, [314] who in almost every case are rather ruled
by, than rule the multitude, to gratify the populace, gave
liberty to Scaptius to say what he pleased. He then began
with informing them, that he was in his eighty-third
year, that he had served as a soldier in the very district in
dispute, and was not young even then, that being his
twentieth campaign, when the operations against Corioli
were carried on. He could, therefore, speak with
knowledge of an affair, which, though after such a length
of time it was generally forgotten, was deeply fixed in his
memory. The lands in dispute, he said, had belonged to
the territory of Corioli, and when Corioli was taken,
became, by the right of war, the property of the Roman
people. He wondered by what precedent the Ardeans and
Aricians could justify their expectations, of
surreptitiously wresting from the Roman state, by
making it an arbiter instead of proprietor, its right to a
tract, to which, while the state of Corioli subsisted, they
had never advanced any kind of claim. For his part, he
had but a short time to live; yet he could not prevail on
himself, old as he was, to decline asserting by his voice,
the only means then in his power, a title to those lands,
which, by his vigorous exertions as a soldier, he had
contributed to acquire: and he warmly recommended it
to the people, not to be led by improper notions of
delicacy, to pass a sentence subversive of their own
rights.

LXXII. The consuls, when they perceived that Scaptius

was heard, not only with silence, but with approbation,
appealed to gods and men against the infamy of the
proceeding; and, sending for the principal senators, went
round with them to the tribes, beseeching them not to be
guilty of a crime of the worst kind, which would afford a
precedent still more pernicious, by converting to their
own use a matter in dispute, whereon they were to decide
as judges. Especially when, as the case stood, although it
were allowable for a judge to show regard to his own
emolument, yet the utmost advantage that could accrue
from the seizure of the lands, [315] would by no means
counterbalance the loss which they must sustain in the
alienation of the affections of the allies, by such an act of
injustice: for the loss of reputation and the esteem of
mankind are of importance beyond what can be
estimated. Must the deputies carry home this account?
Must this be made known to the world? Must the allies,
must the enemy hear this? What grief would it give to the
former, what joy to the latter! Did they imagine, that the
neighbouring states would impute this proceeding to
Scaptius, an old babbler in the assemblies? This indeed
would serve, instead of a statue, to dignify the Scaptian
name; but the Roman people would incur the imputation
of corrupt chicanery and fraudulent usurpation of the
claims of others. For what judge, in a cause between
private persons, ever acted in this manner, adjudging to
himself the property in dispute? Surely, even Scaptius
himself, dead as he was to all sense of shame, would not
act in such a manner. Thus the consuls, thus the
senators exclaimed; but covetousness, and Scaptius, the
instigator of that covetousness, had greater influence.
The tribes being called, gave their judgment; that the
land in question was the property of the Roman people. It
is not denied, that it might with justice have been so
determined, had the matter been tried before other
judges: but, as the affair was circumstanced, the infamy
of the determination was in no degree lessened by the
equity of their title; nor did it appear to the Aricians and
Ardeans themselves in blacker or more hideous colours
than it did to the Roman senate. The remainder of the
year passed without any commotion either at home or
abroad.

[316]

BOOK IV.
A law, permitting the intermarriage of plebeians with
patricians, carried, after a violent struggle and strong
opposition on the part of the patricians. Military
tribunes, with consular power, created. Censors created.
The lands which were taken from the people of Ardea, by
an unjust determination of the Roman people, restored.
Spurius Mlius, aiming at regal power, slain by Caius
Servilius Ahala. Cornelius Cossus, having killed
Tolumnius, king of the Veientians, offers the second
opima spolia. The duration of the censorship limited to a
year and a half. Fiden educed, and a colony settled
there. The colonists murdered by the Fidenatians, who
are reconquered by Mamercus milius, dictator. A
conspiracy of slaves suppressed. Postumius, a military
tribune, slain by the army, exasperated by his cruelties.
Pay first given to the soldiers out of the public treasury.
Military operations against the Volscians, Fidenatians,
and Faliscians.

Y. R. 310. BC 442. I. THE next who succeeded in the

consulship were Marcus Genucius and Caius Curtius,
whose year was disturbed by commotions, both at home
and abroad. For, in the beginning of it, Caius Canuleius, a
tribune of the people, proposed a law, for allowing the
intermarriage of patricians and plebeians, which the
former considered as tending to contaminate their blood,
and to confound all the distinctions and privileges of
noble birth. Some hints, too, suggested by the tribunes,
that liberty ought to be granted of choosing one [317] of
the consuls from among the commons, were afterwards
improved, to such a degree, that the other nine tribunes
proposed a law, that the people should have power of
electing consuls, either from among the commons or the
patricians, as they should think fit. The patricians were of
opinion, that if this took place, the supreme authority
would not only be shared with the very lowest ranks, but
perhaps be entirely removed out of the hands of the
nobility into those of the plebeians. With great joy,
therefore, they received intelligence, that the people of
Ardea, in resentment of the injustice of the sentence
which had deprived them of their land, had revolted; that
the Veientians were laying waste the Roman frontiers,
and that the Volscians and quans expressed great
discontent on account of the fortifying of Verrugo,
preferring even a war, which promised not success, to an
ignominious peace. These tidings being brought, with
exaggerations, the senate, in order to silence the intrigues
of the tribunes during the bustle of so many wars,
ordered a levy to be held, and preparations for hostilities
to be made with the utmost diligence, even with more
despatch, if possible, than had been used in the consulate
of Titus Quintius. On which Caius Canuleius declared
aloud in the senate, that the consuls would in vain think
of diverting the attention of the commons from the new
laws, by holding out objects of terror to their view, and
that, while he was alive, they should never hold a levy,
until the people had first ratified the laws proposed by
him and his colleagues; and then he instantly called an
assembly.

II. Whilst the consuls were employed in rousing the

indignation of the senate against the tribune, the tribune
was as busy in exciting the people against the consuls.
The latter asserted that the outrageous proceedings of
the tribunes could not be any longer endured; that
matters were now come to a crisis, there being more
dangerous hostilities excited at home than abroad; that
for this the commons were [318] not more to be blamed
than the senate, nor the tribunes more than the consuls.
In any state, whatever practices meet with rewards, these
are always pursued to the greatest degree of proficiency,
and these are the incitements which call forth merit, both
in peace and war. Now, at Rome, there was nothing so
highly rewarded as sedition; this was in every instance
attended with honours both to individuals and to
collective bodies. They ought therefore carefully to
consider, in what condition they had received the majesty
of the senate from their fathers, and in what condition
they were likely to hand it down to their children;
whether they could make the same boast which the
commons might, with respect to their privileges, that it
was improved both in degree and in splendor. No end
appeared of these proceedings, nor would, so long as the
fomenters of sedition were rewarded with honours in
proportion to the success of their projects. What were the
new and important schemes which Caius Canuleius had
set on foot? No less than the prostitution of the privileges
of nobility, and the confounding the rights of auspices,
both public and private; that nothing might be left pure
and unpolluted; and that, every distinction being
removed, no person might know what himself was, nor to
what order he belonged. For what other tendency had
such promiscuous intermarriages, than to produce an
irregular intercourse between patricians and plebeians,
not very different from that between brutes? So that, of
their offspring, not one should be able to tell, of what
blood he was, or in what mode he was to worship the
gods, being in himself a heterogeneous composition, half
patrician and half plebeian? And, not content with the
confusion which this would create in every affair, divine
and human, those incendiaries, the tribunes, were now
preparing to invade the consulship itself. At first they had
ventured no farther than to sound peoples sentiments in
conversation, on a plan of one of the consuls being
elected from among the commons; now, [319] they
publicly proposed a law, that the people might appoint
consuls, either from among the patricians, or from
among the plebeians, as they should think fit; and there
could be no doubt that they would appoint from among
the commons the most seditious that could be found. The
Canuleii and Icilii therefore would be consuls. But might
Jupiter supremely good and great forbid, that the
imperial majesty of the sovereign power should sink so
low as that, and for their part, they would rather die a
thousand deaths, than suffer such disgrace to be
incurred. They were confident, that could their ancestors
have foreseen, that, in consequence of unlimited
concessions, the commons, instead of showing a better
temper towards them, would become more intractable,
and, as fast as they obtained their demands, would
advance others more unreasonable and exorbitant, they
would have struggled at first with any difficulties
whatever, rather than have allowed such terms to be
imposed on them. Because a concession was then made
to them with respect to tribunes, it was for the same
reason made a second time. This would be the case for
ever. Tribunes of the commons, and a senate, could not
subsist together, in the same state: either the office of the
former, or the order of the latter, must be abolished, and
it was better late than never, to endeavour to put a stop to
presumption and temerity. Must they with impunity,
after they have, by sowing discord, encouraged the
neighbouring nations to attack us, prevent the state
afterwards from arming and defending itself against the
attack which they have brought on it? and, when they had
done every thing but send an invitation to the enemy,
prevent troops from being enlisted to oppose that enemy?
But Canuleius has had the audacity to declare openly in
the senate, that he would hinder the making of the levy,
unless the senate, acknowledging in a manner his
superiority, allowed his laws to be enacted. What else was
this, than to threaten that he would betray his country:
that he would suffer it to be attacked, [320] and to fall into
the enemys hands? What courage must that declaration
afford, not to the Roman commons, but to the Volscians,
to the quans, and Veientians? Might not these hope,
that, under the guidance of Canuleius, they would be able
to scale the capitol and the citadel; might they not hope
this, if the tribunes, while they stripped the patricians of
their privileges and their dignity, robbed them also of
their courage? The consuls concluded by saying, that
they were ready to act as their leaders, first against the
wicked practices of their countrymen; and afterwards,
against the arms of their enemies.
III. At the very time while such arguments as these were
urged in the senate, Canuleius was employed in
declaiming in favour of his laws, and against the consuls,
in the following manner: Roman citizens! in many
former instances I have seen enough to convince me in
what degree of contempt the patricians hold you, how
unworthy they esteem you to live in the same city, within
the same walls with them. But this is now more clearly
than ever demonstrated by their outrageous opposition to
those propositions of ours. And this, for what? unless for
reminding them thereby that we are members of the
same community with themselves; and that, though we
possess not the same degree of power, we are yet
inhabitants of the same country. By the one, we require
the liberty of intermarrying with them, a liberty usually
granted to people of the neighbouring states, and to
foreigners: for we have admitted even vanquished
enemies to the right of citizenship, which is of more
importance than that of intermarriage. By the other, we
offer no innovation, we only reclaim and enforce an
inherent right; that the Roman people should commit the
high offices of the state to such persons as they think
proper. And what is there in this, that can justify the
patricians in thus disturbing heaven and earth? Their
treatment of me just now, in the senate, very little short
of personal violence? Their open declarations that they
will [321] have recourse to force, and their threatening to
insult an office which has been held sacred and
inviolable? Can the city no longer subsist, if the Roman
people are allowed to give their suffrages with freedom,
and to intrust the consulship to such persons as they may
approve; or must the downfall of the empire ensue, if a
plebeian, how worthy soever of the highest station, is not
precluded from every hope of attaining to it? And does
the question, whether a commoner may be elected
consul, carry the same import, as if a person spoke of a
slave, or the issue of a slave, for the consulship? Do ye not
perceive, do ye not feel, in what a despicable view ye are
considered? Were it in their power, they would hinder
you from sharing even the light of the sun. That ye
breathe, that ye enjoy the faculty of speech, that ye wear
the human shape, are subjects of mortification to them.
But then they tell you, that truly it is contrary to the rules
of religion that a plebeian should be made consul. For
heavens sake though we are not admitted to inspect the
records,* or the annals of the pontiffs, are we ignorant of
the things which even every foreigner knows? That
consuls were substituted in the place of kings; and
consequently have no kind of privilege or dignity which
was not possessed before by kings? Do ye suppose that
we never heard it mentioned, that Numa Pompilius, not
only no patrician, but not even a citizen of Rome, was
invited hither from the country of the Sabines and made
sovereign at Rome, by the order of the people, and with
the approbation of the senate? That Lucius Tarquinius, of
a race which, so far from being Roman, was not even
Italian, the son of Demaratus a Corinthian, having come
hither a stranger from Tarquinii, was raised to the like
high [322] station, though the sons of Ancus were alive?
That after him Servius Tullius, the son of a captive
woman of Corniculum, his father not known and his
mother in servitude, obtained the crown, through his
abilities and merit? Need I speak of Titus Tatius, the
Sabine, whom Romulus himself, the founder of this city,
admitted into partnership in the throne? The
consequence was, that while no objection was made to
any family, in which conspicuous merit appeared, the
Roman empire continually increased. It well becomes you
to show disgust, now, at a plebeian consul; though our
ancestors disdained not to call foreigners to the throne,
nor even after the expulsion of the kings, ever shut the
gates of the city against foreign merit. It is well known,
that we since admitted the Claudian family from among
the Sabines, not only into the number of citizens, but
even into that of the patricians. May a person, then, from
a foreigner, become a patrician, and in consequence,
consul; and shall a citizen of Rome, if he be a commoner,
be cut off from every hope of the consulship? Is it deemed
impossible that a plebeian can be a man of fortitude and
activity, qualified to excel in peace and war, like Numa,
Lucius Tarquinius, and Servius Tullius? Or, should such
appear, shall we still prohibit him from meddling with
the helm of government? In a word shall we choose to
have consuls rather resembling the decemvirs, the most
profligate of mankind, who in their time were all
patricians, than like the best of the kings, who were new
men?*

IV. But it is argued, that since the expulsion of the kings,

there has been no instance of a plebeian consul. What
then? Is no new institution ever to be known? Must every
measure not heretofore practised, (and in a new state
there must be many measures not yet introduced into
practice,) [323] be therefore rejected, even though it
should be evidently advantageous? In the reign of
Romulus, there were neither pontiffs nor augurs; Numa
Pompilius introduced them. There was no such thing in
the state as a general survey, and distribution of the
centuries and classes, until instituted by Servius Tullius.
There was a time when there never had been consuls; on
the expulsion of the kings they were created. Of a dictator
neither the office nor name had existed; in the time of our
fathers it was introduced. There had never been tribunes
of the commons, diles or qustors; and yet it was
resolved that those offices should be created. The office of
decemvirs for compiling laws, we ourselves have, within
the last ten years, both created and abolished. Who is not
convinced that in a city, founded for eternal duration,
and growing up to an immense magnitude, many new
offices both civil and religious, many new rights, both of
families and individuals, must necessarily be instituted.
This very rule, prohibiting the intermarriage of patricians
and plebeians, was it not enacted by the decemvirs within
these few years, with the utmost injustice towards the
plebeians, on a principle highly detrimental to the public?
Can there be any insult greater or more flagrant, than
that one half of the state, as if it were contaminated,
should be held unworthy of intermarrying with the other?
What else is this than, within the same walls, to suffer all
the evils of rustication or of exile? They are anxious to
prevent our being united to them by any affinity or
consanguinity; to prevent our blood from being mingled
with theirs. What! if this would be a stain on that nobility,
which the greater number of you the progeny of Albans
and Sabines, possess not in right of birth or of blood, but
of cooptation into the body of the patrician; having been
elected, either by the kings, or after their expulsion, by
order of the people, could ye not preserve its purity by
regulations among yourselves? By neither taking plebeian
wives nor suffering your daughters and sisters to
marry [324] out of the patrician line? No plebeian will
offer violence to a noble maiden; such outrageous lust is
to be found only among nobles. None of them would
compel any man against his will to enter into a marriage
contract. But it is the prohibition of it by a law, the
intermarriage of patricians and plebeians being
interdicted; this is what the commons must consider as
an insult. Why do ye not procure a law to be passed, that
the rich shall not marry with the poor? A matter which in
all countries has been left to the regulation of peoples
own prudence; that each woman should marry into
whatever family she has been betrothed to; and each man
take a wife from whatever family he had contracted with;
this ye shackle with the restraints of a most tyrannical
law, whereby ye tear asunder the bands of civil society,
and split one state into two. Why do ye not enact, that a
plebeian shall not dwell in the neighbourhood of a
patrician? that he shall not travel on the same road? That
he shall not appear at the same entertainment? That he
shall not stand in the same Forum? For what more
material consequence can in reality ensue, should a
patrician wed a plebeian woman, or a plebeian a patrician
woman? What alteration is thereby made in the rights of
any person? Surely the children follow the condition of
the father. So that neither have we any advantage in view,
from intermarriage with you, except that of being
considered on the footing of human beings and of fellow-
citizens; nor is there any reason for contesting the point,
unless ye feel pleasure in labouring to subject us to scorn
and insult.

V. In fine, let me ask you, whether is the supreme power

vested in the Roman people, or in you? Was the
expulsion of the kings intended to procure absolute
dominion to yourselves, or equal freedom to all? Is it
fitting that the Roman people should have the power of
enacting such laws as they choose? or whenever any
matter of the kind has been proposed to their
consideration, shall ye, by way of punishment, pass a
decree for a levy of troops? And as soon [325] as, in
capacity of tribune, I shall begin to call the tribes to give
their suffrages, will you, in the office of consul, compel
the younger citizens to take the military oath, and lead
them out to camp? Will you menace the commons? Will
you menace their tribune? As if ye had not already
experienced, on two several occasions, how little such
menaces avail against the united sense of the people. I
suppose it was out of regard to our interests, that ye did
not proceed to force; or was the avoiding of extremities
owing to this that the party which possessed the greater
share of strength, possessed also a greater degree of
moderation? Romans, there will now be no occasion for
force. Those men will on every occasion make trial of
your patriot spirit: your strength at home they will never
try. Wherefore, consuls, to those wars, whether real or
fictitious, the commons are ready to attend you, provided
that by restoring the right of intermarriage, ye at length
unite the state into one body; provided they are allowed
to coalesce, to intermix with you by the ties of
relationship; provided the road to honours shall be laid
open to men of industry and abilities; provided, in short,
they are allowed to stand on the footing of partners and
associates in the commonwealth; and, what is the natural
result of equal freedom, be admitted in the rotation of
annual magistracies, to obey and to command in turn. If
any shall obstruct these measures, harangue about wars,
and multiply them by reports, not a man will give in his
name; not a man will take arms; not a man will fight for
haughty masters, by whom he is excluded as an alien,
both from the participation of public honours, and the
private connections of marriage.

VI. The consuls then came into the assembly, and, after a
long series of harangues on the subject, an altercation
arising, and the tribune asking, for what reason was it
improper that a plebeian should be made consul? one of
them answered, though perhaps with truth, yet unluckily,
with regard [326] to the present dispute, Because no
plebeian had the right or power of taking the auspices;
and, for that reason the decemvirs had prohibited
intermarriage, lest, from the uncertainty of mens
descent, the auspices might be vitiated. This, above all,
kindled the indignation of the commons into a flame;
they heard it affirmed that they were not qualified to take
auspices, as if they were objects of the aversion of the
immortal gods. So that the contest grew high, the
commons being headed by a tribune of undaunted
resolution, and themselves vying with him in steadiness,
until the senate were at length overpowered, and gave
their consent to the passing of the law concerning
intermarriage; judging, that the tribunes might most
probably be thereby induced, either to lay aside entirely,
or to defer until the end of the war, the struggle for
plebeian consuls; and that, in the mean time, the
commons, satisfied with having obtained the right in
question, would be ready to enlist. On the other hand, the
high degree of credit which Canuleius had attained by his
victory over the senate, and the favour of the commons,
proved a strong incentive to the other tribunes to exert
their utmost efforts in support of the law, which they had
proposed in regard to the consulship: and whilst the
accounts of the enemys proceedings grew every day more
alarming, they obstructed the enlisting of troops. The
consuls, finding that, by the continual protests of the
tribunes, every proceeding of the senate was rendered
abortive, held consultations at their houses with the
principal patricians. Here they saw their dilemma: they
must be vanquished, either by their enemies, or by their
countrymen. The only consulars who were present at
their deliberations were Valerius and Horatius. Caius
Claudius gave his opinion, that the consuls should
proceed against the tribunes by force of arms. The
Quintii, both Cincinnatus and Capitolinus, declared
themselves averse from the shedding of blood, and of
offering violence to those officers, whom, by the treaty
concluded [327] with the commons, they had
acknowledged as sacred and inviolable. The result of
these consultations was, that they should allow military
tribunes, with consular power, to be elected out of the
patricians and plebeians without distinction; and that,
with respect to the election of consuls, no change should
be made; and with this the tribunes were satisfied, and
the commons also. An assembly was now proclaimed for
the election of three tribunes with consular power; and,
as soon as this proclamation was issued, immediately
every one, who had, either by word or deed, been a
promoter of the sedition, particularly those who had held
the office of tribune, began to solicit votes, and to bustle
through the Forum as candidates; so that the patricians
were deterred, first, in despair of attaining that dignity,
while the minds of the commons were in such a ferment;
and, afterwards, from making their appearance, from the
indignation which they felt at the thoughts of holding the
office in conjunction with such colleagues. At last,
however, overcome by the pressing instances of the
leading patricians, some of them declared themselves
candidates, lest they might seem to have voluntarily
surrendered the administration of public affairs. The
issue of that election afforded a proof, that mens
sentiments during the heat of the contest for liberty and
dignity, are very different from those which they feel after
the contest has been ended, and when the judgment is
unbiassed. For the advocates for the plebeians, satisfied
with the admission of their right to stand candidates,
elected every one of the tribunes from among the
patricians. Never was there found, even in a single
individual, such moderation, disinterestedness, and
elevation of mind, as was displayed on that occasion by
the whole body of the poople.

Y. R. 311. BC 441. VII. In the year three hundred and ten

from the foundation of the city of Rome, for the first
time, military tribunes in the room of consuls entered
into office. These were Aulus Sempronius Atratinus,
Lucius Atilius, [328] and Titus Ccilius; and, during their
continuance in office, concord prevailing at home,
produced likewise peace abroad. There are some writers,
who, without mentioning the proposal of the law
concerning the election of plebeian consuls, affirm, that
on account of a war breaking out with the Veientians, in
addition to those with the quans and Volscians, and the
revolt of the Ardeans, two consuls being unequal to the
task of conducting so many wars at once, three military
tribunes were created, and vested both with the authority
and the badges of consuls. However, the establishment of
this office did not, at that time, remain on a permanent
footing; for in the third month from its commencement
they resigned their dignity, in pursuance of a decree of
the augurs, alleging a defect in the election, Caius
Curtius, who had presided on that occasion, not having
performed the requisite ceremonies in marking out the
ground for his tent. Ambassadors came from Ardea to
Rome, complaining of the injustice done to them, and at
the same time professing an intention of remaining in
amity, and adhering to the treaty, provided that, by the
restoration of their lands, that injustice were redressed.
The senate answered, that they could not rescind the
sentence of the people, were there no other reason than
the preservation of concord between the orders in the
state; but, besides, such a measure was not justified
either by law or precedent. If the Ardeans would be
content to wait until a seasonable conjuncture, and leave
it entirely to the senate to find a remedy for the injury
offered them, they would have reason afterwards to
rejoice for having moderated their resentment, and
should be convinced that the senate had ever been
sincerely disposed to prevent any harm being done to
them; and also that they were not less so to hear that
which they now complained of. On which the
ambassadors declaring, that they would take the sense of
their countrymen anew, before they formed any
resolution, they were dismissed with expressions of
friendship. [329] The commonwealth being now without
any curule magistrate, the patricians assembled and
created an interrex, and the interregnum was prolonged
for a great many days, by a contention whether consuls or
military tribunes should be appointed. The interrex and
the senate warmly promoted the election of consuls; the
plebeian tribunes and the commons, the election of
military tribunes. The patricians at length prevailed, for
the commons, who had no intention of conferring either
the one office or the other on any but patricians, desisted
from their fruitless opposition: and besides, the leaders
of the commons were better pleased with an election
where they were not to appear as candidates, than with
one where they would be passed over as unworthy. The
plebeian tribunes wished also that their declining to press
the dispute to a decision should be considered as a
compliment to the patricians. Titus Quintius Barbatus,
the interrex, elected consuls Lucius Papirius Mugilanus
and Lucius Sempronius Atratinus. In their consulate, the
treaty with the Ardeans was renewed; and this serves as a
record to prove, that they were actually consuls in that
year, though they are not to be found, either in the old
annals, or in the books of the magistrates, by reason, as I
imagine, that in the beginning of the year there were
military tribunes, and therefore though these consuls
were afterwards substituted in their room, yet the names
of the consuls were omitted, as if the others had
continued in office through the whole of the appointed
time. Licinius Macer affirms, that they were found both
in the Ardean treaty, and in the linen books in the temple
of Moneta. Tranquillity prevailed, not only at home but
abroad, notwithstanding so many alarms given by the
neighbouring states.

Y. R. 312. BC 440. VIII. Whether this year had tribunes

only, or consuls substituted in their room, is uncertain,
but the succeeding one undoubtedly had consuls; Marcus
Geganius Macerinus a second time, and Titus Quintius
Capitolinus [330] a fifth time, being invested with that
honour. This same year produced the first institution of
the censorship, an office which sprung from an
inconsiderable origin, but grew up afterwards to such a
height of importance, that it became possessed of the
entire regulation of the morals and discipline of the
Roman people. The senate, the centuries of the knights,
and the distribution of honour and ignominy, were all
under the supreme jurisdiction of these magistrates. The
discrimination of public from private property in lands or
houses, and the entire revenue of the Roman people,
were finally adjusted by their sovereign decision. What
gave rise to the institution was, that as the people had
not, for many years past, undergone a survey, the census
could neither be longer deferred, nor could the consuls
find leisure to perform it, while they were threatened
with war by so many different states. An observation was
made in the senate, that a business, so laborious and ill
suited to the office of consul, would require officers to be
appointed for that particular purpose, to whose
management should be committed the business of the
public secretaries, the superintendance and custody of
the records, and the adjustment of the form of
proceeding in the census. This proposal, though deemed
of little consequence, yet, as it tended to increase the
number of patrician magistrates in the commonwealth,
the senate, on their part, received with great pleasure;
foreseeing also, I suppose, what really happened, that the
influence of those who should be raised to that post,
would derive additional authority and dignity on the
office itself. And, on the other side, the tribunes, looking
on the employment rather as necessary, which was the
case at the time, than as attended with any extraordinary
lustre, did not choose to oppose it, lest they should seem,
through perverseness, to carry on their opposition even
in trifles. The leading men in the state showing a dislike
of the office, the people by their suffrages conferred the
employment of performing the census on
Papirius [331] and Sempronius, the persons whose
consulate is doubted, in order to recompense them, by
that office, for having enjoyed the consulship only for a
part of the usual period. From the business of their office
they were called Censors.

IX. During these transactions at Rome, ambassadors

came from Ardea, imploring, in regard of the alliance
subsisting between them from the earliest times, and of
the treaty lately renewed, relief for their city, now on the
brink of ruin. The peace with Rome, which they had, by
the soundest policy, preserved, they were prevented from
enjoying by intestine war, the cause and origin of which is
said to have arisen from a struggle between factions,
which have proved, and will ever continue to prove, a
more deadly cause of downfall to most states, than either
foreign wars, or famine, or pestilence, or any other of
those evils, which men are apt to consider as the severest
of public calamities, and the effects of the divine
vengeance. Two young men courted a maiden of a
plebeian family, highly distinguished for beauty: one of
them, on a level with the maid, in point of birth, and
favoured by her guardians, who were themselves of the
same rank; the other of noble birth, captivated merely by
her beauty. The pretensions of the latter were supported
by the interest of the nobles, which proved the means of
introducing party disputes into the damsels family; for
the noblemans wishes were seconded by her mother,
who was ambitious of securing the more splendid match
for her daughter, while the guardians, actuated even in a
matter of that sort, by a spirit of party, exerted
themselves in favour of the person of their own order.
Not being able to come to any conclusion on the point in
domestic conferences, they had recourse to a court of
justice, where the magistrates having heard the claims of
the mother and of the guardians, decreed, that she should
marry according to the direction of her parent: but this
was prevented by violence; for the guardians, after
haranguing openly in the Forum, among people of their
own [332] faction, on the iniquity of the decree, collected a
party in arms, and forcibly carried off the maiden from
her mothers house: while the nobles, more highly
incensed against them than ever, united in a body, and in
military array followed their young friend, who was
rendered furious by this outrage. A desperate battle was
fought, in which the commons were worsted; and, being
incapable of imitating, in any particular, those of Rome,
they marched out of the city, seized on a neighbouring
hill, and from thence made excursions with fire and
sword on the lands of the nobles. Even the city itself,
which had hitherto escaped the effects of their dispute,
they prepared to besiege, having, by the hopes of plunder,
allured a great number of the artizans to come out and
join them: nor is there any shocking form or calamity of
war which was not experienced on the occasion, as if the
whole state were infected with the mad rage of two
youths, who sought the accomplishment of that fatal
match through the means of their countrys ruin. Both
parties thinking that they had not enough of hostilities
among themselves, the nobles called upon the Romans to
relieve their city from a siege; while the commons
besought the Volscians to join them in the storming of
Ardea. The Volscians, under the command of Cluilius, an
quan, arrived first at Ardea, and drew a line of
circumvallation round the enemys walls. An account of
this being conveyed to Rome, Marcus Geganius, consul,
instantly set out with an army, chose ground for his
camp, at the distance of three miles from the enemy; and,
as the day was now far spent, ordered his men to refresh
themselves: then, at the fourth watch, he put his troops in
motion. They were soon set to work, and made such
expedition, that at sun-rise the Volscians saw themselves
inclosed by the Romans with stronger works than those
with which they had surrounded the city. The consul had
also, on one side, drawn a line across, to the wall of
Ardea, to open a communication with his friends in the
city.

[333]

X. The general of the Volscians, who had hitherto

maintained his troops, not out of magazines provided for
the purpose, but by corn brought in daily from the
plunder of the country, finding himself cut off at once
from every resource, by being shut up within the enemys
lines, requested a conference with the consul, and told
him, that if the intention of the Romans in coming
thither was to raise the siege, he was willing to withdraw
the troops of the Volscians from the place. To this the
consul answered, that it was the part of the vanquished
to receive terms, not to dictate them; and that the
Volscians should not have the making of their own
conditions for departure, as they had for coming to attack
the allies of the Roman people. He insisted, that they
should deliver up their general into his hands, lay down
their arms, and acknowledging themselves vanquished,
submit to his farther orders; declaring, that if these
terms were not complied with, whether they remained
there, or retired, he would proceed against them as a
determined enemy; and would be better pleased to carry
home a victory, over the Volscians, than an insidious
peace. The Volscians, resolving to make trial of the small
remains of hope, which they could place in their arms, as
they were utterly destitute of every other, came to an
engagement; in which, besides other disadvantages, the
ground rendered it difficult for them to fight, and still
more so to retreat. When, finding themselves repulsed on
all sides, with much slaughter, from fighting they had
recourse to intreaties; and, having delivered up their
general, and surrendered their arms, they were sent
under the yoke, each with a single garment, loaded with
ignominy and sufferings; and, having afterwards halted
near the city of Tusculum, the inhabitants of that city, out
of the inveterate hatred which they bore them, attacked
them unarmed as they were, and executed severe
vengeance on them; leaving scarcely any to carry home
the news of their defeat. The Roman general re-
established tranquillity in the affairs of [334] Ardea, which
had been thrown into great confusion by the sedition,
beheading the principal authors of the disturbances, and
confiscating their effects to the public treasury. These
now considered the injustice of the former sentence
against them, as sufficiently repaired by such an
important act of kindness: the senate, however, were of
opinion that something still remained to be done, to
obliterate, if possible, all remembrance of the Roman
peoples avarice. The consul returned into the city in
triumph, Cluilius the general of the Volscians being led
before his chariot, and the spoils borne before him, of
which he had stripped the enemy when he disarmed, and
sent them under the yoke. The other consul, Quintius,
had the singular felicity of acquiring by his
administration in the civil department, a share of glory
equal to what his colleague had acquired by his military
achievements: for so steadily did he direct his endeavours
for the preservation of internal peace and harmony,
dispensing justice tempered with moderation, equally to
the highest and the lowest, that while the patricians
approved of his strictness in the execution of his office,
the commons were highly satisfied with his lenity. Even
against the schemes of the tribunes, he carried his
measures more by means of the respect universally paid
to him, than by exertions of authority. Five consulships
administered with the same tenor of conduct, and every
part of his life being suited to the consular dignity,
attracted to his person almost a greater degree of
veneration than was paid even to the high office which he
bore. There was, therefore, no mention of military
tribunes in this consulate.

Y. R. 313. BC 439. XI. There were chosen, to succeed them,

Marcus Fabius Vebulanus and Postumius butius
Cornicen. These consuls were emulous of the high
renown, which they observed their predecessors had
attained by their services at home and abroad, that year
having been rendered very remarkable among all the
neighbouring states, both [335] friends and enemies, by
the very zealous support afforded to the Ardeans in their
extreme distress. They exerted themselves then the more
earnestly, with the view of erasing entirely from the
minds of men the infamy of the former sentence of the
people in respect of the appropriation of the lands: and
sought to procure a decree of the senate, that whereas the
Ardeans had by intestine war been reduced to an
inconsiderable number, therefore a colony should be
conducted thither, to serve as a barrier against the
Volscians. These were the expressions made use of in the
tables exhibited to public view, in order to conceal from
the tribunes and commons the design which they had
formed of rescinding the sentence. But they had agreed
among themselves, to enrol for the colony a much greater
number of Rutulians than of Romans; and then, that no
other land should be distributed, but that which had been
fraudulently obtained by the infamous sentence of the
people; and that not a sod of it should be assigned to any
Roman until every one of the Rutulians should have
received his share: by these means the land returned to
the Ardeans. The commissioners appointed to conduct
the colony to Ardea, were Agrippa Menenius, Titus
Cllius Siculus, and Marcus butius Elva; who, in the
execution of their very unpopular employment, having
given offence to the commons, by assigning to the allies
that land which the Roman people had by their sentence
pronounced to be their own; and not being much
favoured even by the principal patricians, because they
had shown no difference to the influence of any of them,
were by the tribunes cited before the people, to answer a
charge of misconduct; but they evaded all vexations
attacks, by enrolling themselves as settlers, and
remaining in that colony, which would ever bear
testimony to their justice and integrity.

Y. R. 314. BC 438. XII. Tranquillity continued at home and

abroad during both this and the following year, in
which [336] Caius Furius Pacilus, and Marcus Papilius
Crassus were consuls. The games vowed by the decemvirs
in pursuance of a decree of the senate, on occasion of the
secession of the commons from the patricians were this
year performed. An occasion of sedition was sought in
vain by Petilius; who, though he was elected tribune of
the commons a second time, merely out of peoples
reliance on the strength of his declaration, which was,
that the consuls should propose to the senate a
distribution of lands to be made to the commons; yet he
was neither able to carry this point, nor when, after a
great struggle, he had prevailed so far as that the senate
should be consulted, whether it was their pleasure that
consuls should be elected, or tribunes, could he prevent
an order for the election of consuls; and the tribune made
himself still more ridiculous by threatening to hinder a
levy of troops, at a time when, all their neighbours
remaining in quiet, there was no occasion either for war
or any preparation for it. Y. R. 315. BC 437. This
tranquillity was succeeded by a busy year, wherein
Proculus Geganius Macerinus and Lucius Menenius
Lanatus were consuls; a year remarkable for a variety of
dangers and disasters; for seditions, for famine, and for
the people having almost bowed their necks to the yoke of
arbitrary government, seduced by allurements of
largesses. One calamity they were exempt from, foreign
war: had this aggravation been added to their condition,
the aid of all the gods could scarcely have preserved
them. Their misfortune began with a famine; whether
owing to the season being unfavourable to the
productions of the earth; or, from more attention being
paid to the pleasures of the city and the assemblies than
to agriculture; for both causes are mentioned. The
patricians laid the blame on the idleness of the commons:
the tribunes sometimes on the evil designs, sometimes on
the negligence of the consuls. At length the plebeians
prevailed, the senate giving no opposition, that Lucius
Minucius should be created [337] president of the market,
who proved, in the course of that employment, more
successful in guarding the public liberty, than in the
immediate business of his own department; although in
the end, he obtained the honour of having relieved the
people in regard to the scarcity, and also their gratitude
for that important service. He first proceeded as follows:
Finding little addition to the markets from several
embassies which he sent, by land and sea, to all the
neighbouring nations, except that some corn was
brought, though in no great quantity, from Etruria, he
had recourse to the expedient of dealing out, in shares,
the scanty stock of provisions, at the same time
compelling all to discover their stores of corn, and to sell
whatever they had beyond a months allowance. He took
from the slaves one half of their daily portion of food;
passed censures on the hoarders of corn, and exposed
them to the rage of the people. So strict a scrutiny,
however, served rather to make known the greatness of
the scarcity, than to remedy it; so that many of the
commoners abandoning themselves to despair, rather
than drag on their lives in torment, covered their heads,
and threw themselves into the Tiber.

XIII. While things were in this situation, Spurius Mlius,

a man of equestrian rank, and possessed of extraordinary
wealth for those times, engaged in a plan, which, though
useful for the present, was pernicious in its tendency; and
was in fact suggested by designs still more pernicious: for
having by means of his connections and dependents
bought in a quantity of corn from Etruria (which very
proceeding, I suppose, obstructed the endeavours of the
magistrates to lower the price of provisions,) he began
the practice of bestowing largesses of corn; and, having
gained the hearts of the commons by this munificence,
became the object of general attention. Assuming thence
a degree of consequence, beyond what belonged to a
private citizen, wherever he went, he drew them after him
in crowds; and [338] they, by the favour which they
expressed towards him, encouraged him to look up to the
consulship with a certain prospect of success. As mens
desires are never satiated, while fortune gives room to
hope for more, he began to aim at higher and less
justifiable objects. And since even the consulship must be
obtained by violent efforts, in opposition to the
inclinations of the patricians, and be, at the same time, a
contest attended with such difficulties as would cost
infinite labour to surmount, he directed his views to regal
power. The election of consuls drew nigh; and the
circumstance of its coming on before his schemes were
sufficiently digested, and ripe for execution, was the
cause of their being entirely disconcerted. To the
consulship was elected, Titus Quintius Cincinnatus a
sixth time, Y. R. 316. BC 436. a man not at all calculated to
encourage the views of one who aimed at innovationts:
his colleague was Agrippa Menenius, surnamed Lanatus.
Minucius, too, was either re-elected president of the
market, or was originally appointed for an unlimited
term, as long as occasion should require; for there is
nothing certain on this head, only that his name, as
president, was entered in the linen books among the
other magistrates for both years. This Minucius
transacting, in a public character, the same kind of
business which Mlius had undertaken in a private
capacity, the houses of both were consequently
frequented by the same sort of people; which
circumstance, having led to a discovery of the designs of
the latter, Minucius laid the information before the
senate: that arms were collected in the dwelling of
Mlius; that he held assemblies in his house; and that
there remained not a doubt of his having formed a design
to possess himself of absolute power: that the time for the
execution of that design was not yet fixed, but every other
particular had been settled: that tribunes had been
corrupted, by bribes, to betray the public liberty; and that
the leaders of the multitude had their several parts
assigned them. That he had deferred laying this matter
before the senate, rather [339] longer than was consistent
with safety, lest he might offer any information which
was ill-grounded or uncertain. On hearing this, the
principal patricians highly blamed the consuls of the
former year, for suffering such largesses, and such
meetings of the commons in a private house; and also,
the new ones for their supineness, while the president of
the market reported to the senate an affair of such
importance, and which it was the duty of a consul both to
discover and to punish. To this Quintius replied, that it
was unfair to blame the consuls, who being tied down by
the laws concerning appeals, enacted for the purpose of
weakening their authority, had not, in their office, the
ability, however much they might have the will, to inflict
condign punishment on such atrocious proceedings: that
the business required not only a man of resolution, but
one who should be free and unshackled by the fetters of
those laws: that therefore he would name Lucius Quintius
dictator: in him would be found a spirit equal to so great
a power. Every one expressed his approbation. Quintius
at first refused the office, and asked them, what they
meant by exposing him in the extremity of age to such a
violent contest. On which they all joined in asserting, that
his aged breast was fraught not only with more wisdom,
but with more fortitude also, than was to be found in all
the rest, loading him with deserved praises, while the
consul persisted in his intention: so that at length
Cincinnatus, after praying to the immortal gods that his
declining years might not, at a juncture so dangerous, be
the cause of detriment or dishonour to the
commonwealth, was appointed dictator by the consul,
and he then named Caius Servilius Ahala his master of
the horse.

XIV. Next day, after fixing proper guards, the dictator

went down to the Forum, the whole attention of the
commons being turned towards him by the surprise and
novelty of the affair; and whilst the partizans of Mlius,
and also himself, perceived that the power of this high
authority was [340] aimed against them; others, who were
ignorant of their designs, were wholly at a loss to discover
what tumult, what sudden war, required either the
majesty of a dictator, or the appointment of Quintius,
after his eightieth year, to the administration of affairs.
The master of the horse, by order of the dictator, then
came to Mlius, and said to him, the dictator calls you.
Struck with apprehension, he asked the reason, and was
informed by Servilius, that he must stand a trial, and
acquit himself of a charge made against him in the senate
by Minucius. Mlius then drew back into the band of his
associates; and, at first, cautiously looking round,
attempted to skulk away; and when, at length, a serjeant,
by order of the master of the horse, laid hold on him, he
was rescued by the by-standers, and betook himself to
flight, imploring the protection of the commons of Rome;
affirming that he was persecuted by a conspiracy of the
patricians, for having acted with kindness toward the
people; and beseeching them to assist him in this
extremity of danger, and not to suffer him to be
murdered before their eyes. Whilst he exclaimed in this
manner, Ahala Servilius overtook and slew him, and
besmeared with the blood which flowed from the
wounds, and surrounded by a band of young patricians,
carried back an account to the dictator, that Mlius, on
being summoned to attend him, had driven back the
serjeant, and endeavoured to excite the multitude to
violence, for which he had received condign punishment.
I applaud, said the dictator, your meritorious conduct;
Caius Servilius, you have preserved the commonwealth.

XV. He then ordered the multitude, who, not knowing

what judgment to form of the deed, were in violent
agitation, to be called to an assembly; there he publicly
declared, that Mlius had been legally put to death,
even supposing him to have been innocent of the crime of
aspiring at regal power, for having refused to attend the
dictator, when summoned by the master of the horse.
That he himself had [341] resolved to examine into the
charge; and that, when the trial should have been
finished, Mlius would have met such treatment as his
cause merited: but when he attempted by force to elude a
legal decision, force was employed to stop his
proceedings. Nor would it have been proper to treat him
as a citizen, for though born in a free state, under the
dominion of the laws divine and human, in a city from
which he knew that kings had been expelled; and that in
the same year the offspring of the kings sister, and the
sons of the consul the deliverer of his country, on
discovery of their engaging in a plot for re-admitting the
kings into the city, where by their father publicly
beheaded; from which, Collatinus Tarquinius, consul,
was ordered, through the general detestation of the
name, after resigning his office, to retire into exile; in
which Spurius Cassius was, several years after, capitally
punished, for having formed a design of assuming the
sovereignty; in which, not long ago, the decemvirs, on
account of their regal tyranny, had been punished with
confiscations, exile, and death; in that very city Spurius
Mlius had conceived hopes of possessing himself of
regal power. And who was this man? Although no
nobility, no honours, no merits, could open to any man
the way to tyranny; yet still the Claudii and Cassii, when
they raised their views to an unlawful height, were elated
by consulships, by decemvirates, by honours conferred
on themselves and their ancestors, and by the splendor of
their families. But Spurius Mlius, to whom a plebeian
tribuneship should have been an object rather of wishes,
than of hope, a wealthy corn-merchant, had conceived
the design of purchasing the liberty of his countrymen,
for a few measures of corn; had supposed, that a people
victorious over all their neighbours, could be inveigled
into slavery by being supplied with a little food. A person,
whose elevation to the rank of senator, the state could
have hardly digested, they were patiently to endure as
king, possessing the ensigns and the [342] authority of
Romulus their founder, who had descended from, and
returned to the gods. This must be deemed not more
criminal than it was monstrous: nor was it sufficiently
expiated by his blood; it was farther necessary that the
roof, the walls, within which such a desperate design had
been conceived, should be levelled to the ground; and
that his effects should be confiscated, being
contaminated by the intention of making them the price
of the peoples liberty; and that therefore he directed the
qustors to sell those effects, and deposit the produce in
the public treasury.

XVI. He then ordered his house to be immediately razed,

and that the vacant space should remain as a monument
of the suppression of that abominable enterprize. This
was called quimlium. Lucius Minucius was honoured
with a present of an ox, with its horns gilded, and a
statue, on the outside of the gate Trigemina; and this with
the approbation of the commons, for he distributed
among them the corn collected by Mlius, at the rate of
an as for each peck. In some authors, I find, that this
Minucius had changed sides from the patricians to the
commons, and that having been chosen by the plebeian
tribunes, as an eleventh member of their body, he quieted
the commotion which arose on the death of Mlius. But
it is hardly credible, that the patricians suffered the
number of tribunes to be augmented, or that the
precedent should have been introduced particularly in
regard of a man of their own order; or that the commons
did not afterwards maintain, or even attempt to
maintain, a privilege once conceded to them. But what
above all evinces the falsehood of that inscription on his
statue, is, that, a few years before this, provision had been
made by a law, that the tribunes should not have power
to assume colleagues in their office. Of the college of
tribunes Quintus Ccilius, Quintus Junius, and Sextus
Titinius had neither been concerned in the law for
conferring honours on Minucius, nor did they cease to
throw out censures in presence of the people, at
one [343] time on Minucius, at another on Servilius; and
to complain of the unmerited death of Mlius. By such
methods they accomplished their purpose so far as to
procure an order, that military tribunes should be elected
instead of consuls; not doubting, but in the filling up of
six places, for so many were then allowed to be elected,
some plebeians, who should profess a resolution to
revenge the death of Mlius, would be appointed among
the rest. The commons, though kept in continual
agitation during that year, from many and various causes,
elected three tribunes only, with consular power, and
even chose among these Lucius Quintius the son of
Cincinnatus, whose conduct in the dictatorship those
men wished to render odious, and thence to gain
occasion of new disturbances. Prior to Quintius,
Mamercus milius was voted in, a man who stood in the
first rank of merit: in the third place, they elected Lucius
Icilius.

Y. R. 317. BC 435. XVII. While these were in office, Fiden,

a Roman colony, revolted to the Veientians, whose king
was Lars Tolumnius. To their revolt a more heinous
crime was added; for, in pursuance of an order from
Tolumnius, they put to death Caius Fulcinius, Cllius
Tullus, Spurius Ancius, and Lucius Roscius, Roman
ambassadors, who came to inquire into the reasons of
this change of conduct. Some palliate the guilt of the
king, alleging, that an ambiguous expression of his, on a
successful throw at dice, being misapprehended by the
Fidenatians, as an order for their execution, occasioned
the death of the ambassadors. But this seems an
incredible tale; for it cannot be supposed that the
thoughts of Tolumnius would be so intently employed
upon his game, that he should be regardless of a
circumstance of so much consequence, as the arrival of
his new allies, the Fidenatians, and who, if this be
admitted, must have come to consult him upon the
perpetration of a murder, which would violate all the laws
of nations; or that, in such an affair, he should feel no
compunction. It is much more probable, that his view
was to [344] involve them in such guilt, as to cut off all
hope of reconciliation with the Romans. Statues of the
ambassadors slain at Fiden were erected near the
rostrum, at the public expense. A desperate struggle was
now to be expected with the Veientians and Fidenatians;
as, besides the circumstance of their situation,
contiguous to the frontiers, they had stained the
commencement of the war with an action so abominable.
The commons, therefore, and their tribunes, seeing the
necessity of attending to the general welfare, and
suffering other matters to pass in quiet, there was no
opposition to the election of consuls, who were Marcus
Geganius Macerinus a third time, and Lucius Sergius
Fidenas, so called, I suppose, from his services in the
succeeding war. Y. R. 318. BC 434. For he was the first who
engaged in battle with the king of the Veientians on this
side of the Anio, in which he had the advantage; but he
gained not an unbloody victory, so that peoples grief for
the loss of their countrymen exceeded their joy for the
defeat of the enemy; and the senate, as in a case
particularly alarming, ordered Mamercus milius to be
named dictator. He chose his master of the horse from
among his colleagues of the former year, in the office of
military tribunes with consular power, Lucius Quintius
Cincinnatus, a young man worthy of the father from
whom he sprung. To the troops levied by the consuls,
were added many veteran centurions, skilled in the
business of war, and the number of men lost in the last
battle was replaced. The dictator ordered Quintius
Capitolinus and Marcus Fabius Vibulanus to attend him
in quality of lieutenant-general. The appointment of a
magistrate with extraordinary power, and the character
of the person appointed being fully suited to those
powers, both together so affected the enemy, that they
withdrew from the Roman territory to the other side of
the Anio: and continuing to retreat, took possession of
the hills between Fiden and the Anio. Nor did they
descend into the plains, until the legions of the Faliscians
came to [345] their aid: then, indeed, the camp of the
Etrurians was pitched under the walls of Fiden. The
Roman dictator took his post at a little distance from
thence, at the conflux and on the banks of the two rivers,
drawing lines across from one to the other, where the
length of ground between them was not greater than he
was able to fortify. On the day following, he led out his
forces, prepared for battle.

XVIII. Among the enemy there were various opinions.

The Faliscians, finding it very distressing to carry on war
at such a distance from home, and being full of
confidence in their own prowess, were urgent for
fighting. The Veintians and Fidenatians foresaw greater
advantages in protracting the war. Tolumnius, although
the advice of his countrymen was more agreeable to his
own sentiments, yet fearing lest the Faliscians should
grow weary of a distant war, gave notice that he would
fight on the following day. This, however, being still
deferred, added to the confidence of the dictator and the
Romans; so that the soldiers, openly threatening that
they would assault the camp and the city, if the enemy
did not come to an engagement, both armies marched
forth into the middle of a plain which lay between the two
camps. The Veientians, being superior in numbers, sent a
party round behind the mountains, who were to attack
the Roman camp during the heat of the battle. The army
of the three states was drawn up in such a manner, that
the Veientians formed the right wing, the Faliscians the
left, and the Fidenatians the centre. The dictator charged
on the right wing against the Faliscians; Quintius
Capitolinus on the left against the Veientians; and the
master of the horse, with the cavalry, advanced in the
centre. For a short time all was silence and quiet; the
Etrurians being resolved not to engage unless they were
compelled, and the dictator keeping his eyes fixed on a
Roman fort in the rear, until a signal which had been
concerted should be raised by the augurs, as soon [346] as
the birds gave a favourable omen: on perceiving which,
he ordered the cavalry first to charge the enemy with a
loud shout: the line of infantry following, began the
conflict with great fury. The Etrurian legions could not in
any quarter withstand the attack of the Romans. The
cavalry made the greatest resistance; but the king
himself, distinguished in valour far beyond even these, by
frequent charges on the Romans, while they were
pursuing in disorder, in all parts of the field, prolonged
the contest.

XIX. There was at that time among the Roman cavalry, a

military tribune called Aulus Cornelius Cossus,
remarkable for the extraordinary beauty of his person, as
well as for his spirit and bodily strength, and for attention
to the honour of his family, which having descended to
him with great degree of lustre, he conveyed to his
posterity with a large increase, and with additional
splendor. Perceiving that wherever Tolumnius directed
his course, the troops of Roman cavalry shrunk from his
charge, and knowing him by his royal apparel, as he flew
through every part of the army, he cried out, Is this he
who breaks the bands of human society, and violates the
law of nations? This victim will I quickly slay, provided it
is the will of the gods that any thing should remain sacred
on earth, and will offer him to the manes of the
ambassadors. With these words, he clapped spurs to his
horse, and with his spear presented, rushed against him.
Having unhorsed him with a stroke, and pressing him
down with his spear, he instantly sprung down on the
ground; where, as the king attempted to rise, he struck
him back with the boss of his shield, and with repeated
thrusts pinned him to the earth. He then stripped off the
spoils from the lifeless body, and having cut off the head,
and carrying it about on the point of his spear as a trophy
of the victory, he put the enemy to rout, through the
dismay which struck them on the death of their king.
Their body of cavalry likewise, which alone had kept the
victory in suspense, [347] was defeated with the rest. The
dictator pursued close on the flying legions, and drove
them to their camp with great slaughter. The greater
number of the Fidentians, through their knowledge of the
country, made their escape into the mountains. Cossus,
having crossed the Tiber with the cavalry, brought to the
city an immense booty, from the lands of the Veientians.
During this battle, there was another fight at the Roman
camp, against the party which Tolumnius, as was
mentioned above, had sent against it: Fabius Vibulanus,
manning the rampart all round, stood at first on the
defensive; then, when the enemy were earnestly engaged
against the rampart, sallying out with the veterans from
the principal gate on the right, he made a sudden attack
on them, which struck such terror, that though the
slaughter was less, they being fewer in number, yet the
rout was not less disorderly than that of their grand
army.

XX. Crowned with success in every quarter, the dictator,

in pursuance of a decree of the senate and an order of the
people, returned into the city in triumph. By far the most
distinguished object in this procession was Cossus,
carrying the spolia opima (grand spoils) of the king
whom he had slain, while the soldiers chanted their
uncouth verses, extolling him as equal to Romulus. With
the usual form of dedication he presented and hung up
the spoils in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, near to those
dedicated by Romulus, and first denominated opima,
which were the only ones then existing. He drew off the
peoples attention from the chariot of the dictator to
himself, and enjoyed almost solely the honour of that
days solemnity. The former, by order of the people,
deposited in the capitol, as an offering to Jupiter, a
golden crown of a pound weight, at the expense of the
public. Following all the Roman authors, I have
represented Aulus Cornelius Cossus, as a military
tribune, when he carried the second spolia opima into the
temple of Jupiter Feretrius: but, besides that those spoils
only are properly deemed [348] opima, which one general
has taken from another, and we know no general but the
person under whose auspices the war is carried on, the
inscription itself written on the spoils proves against both
them and myself, that Cossus was consul when he took
them. Having once heard Augustus Csar the founder or
restorer of all our temples, on entering the temple of
Jupiter Feretrius, which from a ruin he had rebuilt, aver,
that he himself had read the said inscription on the linen
breast-plate, I thought it would be next to sacrilege, to
rob Cossus of such a testimony respecting his spoils, as
that of Csar, to whom the temple itself owed its
renovation. Whether the mistake is chargeable on the
very ancient annals and the books of the magistrates,
written on linen and deposited in the temple of Moneta,
and continually cited as authority by Licinius Macer,
which have Aulus Cornelius Cossus, consul, with Titus
Quintius Penius, in the ninth year after this, every one
may form his own judgment. For, that so celebrated a
battle could not be transferred to that year, there is this
farther proof: that for three years before and after the
consulship of Aulus Cornelius, there was an almost entire
cessation from war on account of a pestilence, and a
scarcity of the fruits of the earth; so that several annals,
as if they had no other transactions but those of
mourning to relate, mention nothing more than the
names of the consuls. Cossus, indeed, is mentioned as
military tribune, with consular power, in the third year
before his consulate; and in the same year as master of
the horse, in which post he fought another remarkable
battle with cavalry. In respect to this there is room for
conjecture: but in my opinion, surmises are not to be
brought in support of any matter whatsoever; when the
person concerned in the fight, on placing the recent
spoils in the sacred repository, and having in a manner
before his eyes Jupiter, to whom they were consecrated,
and Romulus, as witnesses; and, as would be the case in
falsifying the inscription, who were not to be [349] treated
with contempt, entitled himself Aulus Cornelius Cossus,
consul.

Y. R. 319. BC 433. XXI. During the next year, wherein

Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis and Lucius Papirius
Crassus were consuls, armies were led into the territories
of the Veientians and of the Faliscians, and numbers of
men and cattle were carried off as spoil, but the enemy
did not show themselves, nor give any opportunity of
fighting. However, no attempt was made on their towns,
the people at Rome being attacked by a pestilential
disorder. Endeavours were also used at home to excite
disturbances, but without effect, by Spurius Mlius, a
plebeian tribune, who, imagining that, by the popularity
of his name, he should be able to raise some commotion,
had commenced a prosecution against Minucius; and
also proposed a law for confiscating the effects of
Servilius Ahala, alleging that Mlius had been insidiously
crushed under false charges by Minucius; and objecting
to Servilius his having put to death a citizen who was
under no legal sentence. These charges, however, when
canvassed before the people, were found entitled to as
little credit and attention as the promoter of them. But
they found greater cause for anxiety in the increasing
violence of the pestilence, attended with other alarming
occurrences and prodigies; particularly in the accounts
which were received, of many houses in the country being
thrown down by frequent earthquakes. A general
supplication to the gods was therefore performed by the
people, who repeated it in form after the decemvirs.* The
disorder increasing during the following year, Y. R.
320. BC 432. in which Caius Julius a second time, and
Lucius Virginius were consuls, occasioned such dreadful
apprehensions of total desolation, both in the city and the
country, that not [350] only an entire stop was put to
predatory excursions from the Roman territories, but
every thought of offensive operations laid aside both by
patricians and commons. The Fidenatians, who had at
first shut themselves up within their towns or forts, or
among the mountains, now ventured to come down into
the lands of the Romans, and commit depredations. Then
the army of the Veientians being called to their aid, (For
the Faliscians could not be prevailed on, either by the
calamities of the Romans, or the intreaties of their allies,
to renew hostilities,) the two nations crossed the Anio,
and displayed their ensigns at a little distance from the
Colline gate. This occasioned great consternation as well
in the city as in the country. The consul Julius drew up
the troops on the rampart and the walls, whilst Virginius
held a consultation of the senate in the temple of
Quirinus. Here it was resolved to create for dictator
Quintus Servilius, to whom some gave the surname of
Priscus, others that of Structus. Virginius delayed no
longer than till he had conferred with his colleague, and
having obtained his consent, named the dictator that
night. He appointed Postumius butius Elva his master
of the horse.

XXII. The dictator issued an order that all should appear

at the first light, outside the Colline gate; and that the
ensigns from the treasury should be brought to him.
Every one, whose strength enabled him to carry arms,
attended accordingly. In the mean-time, the enemy
withdrew to the higher grounds: thither the dictator
followed, and coming to a general engagement near
Nomentum, defeated the Etrurian legions, drove them
from thence into the city of Fiden, and inclosed them
with lines of circumvallation. But neither could the city
be taken by storm, by reason of its high situation and the
strength of its works, nor could a blockade turn to any
effect, because they had such abundant stores of corn laid
up in their magazines, as to be more than sufficient for
necessary consumption. The dictator,
therefore, [351] having no hopes, either of taking the place
by assault, or of reducing it to a surrender, being
thoroughly acquainted with the same, resolved to carry a
mine into the citadel, on the opposite side of the city;
which, being the best secured by its natural strength, was
the least attended to. He carried on his approaches to the
walls, in the parts most distant from this; and, having
formed his troops into four divisions, who were to relieve
each other successively in the action, by continuing the
fight night and day, without intermission, he so engaged
the attention of the enemy, that they never perceived the
work which was carrying on until, a way being dug from
the camp through the mountain, a passage was opened
up into the citadel, and the Etrurians, whose thoughts
were diverted from their real danger by false alarms,
discovered, from the shouts of the enemy over their
heads, that their city was taken. In this year the censors,
Caius Furius Pacilus and Marcus Geganius Macerinus,
pronounced that the undertakers had fulfilled their
contract for finishing the courthouse* in the field of Mars,
and the survey of the people was performed there for the
first time.
 Y. R. 321. BC 431. XXIII. I find, in Licinius Macer, the same
consuls re-elected for the following year: yet Valerius
Quintius and Quintus Tubero mention Marcus Manlius
and Quintus Sulpicius as consuls. In support of
representations so widely different, both Tubero and
Macer cite the linen books as their authority: but neither
of them deny the record of ancient writers, who maintain
that there were military tribunes in that year. Lucinius is
of opinion, that the linen books ought to be implicitly
followed. Tubero cannot determine positively on either
side. But this is a point which, among others, involved in
obscurity by length of time, must be left unsettled. The
capture of Fiden spread great [352] alarm in Etruria; for
not the Veientians only were terrified with apprehensions
of similar ruin, but the Faliscians also, conscious of
having commenced the war in conjunction with them,
although they had not joined them in the renewing of
hostilities. Those two nations therefore, having sent
ambassadors to all the twelve states, and procured an
order for a general meeting at the temple of Voltumna,
the senate, apprehensive of a powerful attack from that
quarter, ordered Mamercus milius to be a second time
appointed dictator. He named Aulus Postumius Tubertus
master of the horse, making more powerful preparations
for this campaign than for the last, in proportion as the
danger was greater from the whole body of Etruria, than
it had been from two of its states.

XXIV. That business ended more quietly than could have

been expected. For accounts were received from some
itinerant traders, that the Veientians had met with a
refusal of aid, and had been desired to prosecute with
their own strength, a war in which they had engaged on
their own separate views, and not endeavour to bring
others to partake in their distresses, to whom they had
imparted no share of their prospects, when they were
favourable. The dictator, thus robbed of the harvest of
glory which he expected to have reaped from military
affairs, in order that his appointment might not be
altogether without effect, conceived a desire of
performing some exploit in the civil line of business, and
which should remain as a monument of his dictatorship.
He undertook therefore to limit the censorship; either
judging its powers excessive, or disapproving of their
duration more than of their extent. In pursuance of this
design, having summoned an assembly of the people, he
told them, that, with regard to foreign affairs, and the
establishing of security on every side, the immortal gods
had taken the administration on themselves. That as to
what was fitting to be done within the walls he would
zealously maintain the [353] liberty of the Roman people:
now there was no method of guarding it so effectual, as
the taking care that offices of great power should not be
of long continuance; and that those, whose jurisdiction
could not be limited, should be limited in point of
duration:that while other magistracies were annual, the
censorship was of five years continuance; and it was
grievous to people to have the greater part of their actions
subjected to the control of the same persons for such a
number of years: he would therefore propose a law, that
the censorship should not last longer than a year and a
half. Next day, the law was passed, and with the
universal approbation of the people. He then said, To
convince you by my conduct, Romans, how much I
disapprove of long continuance in office, I here resign the
dictatorship. Having thus put an end to one office, and
limits to another, he was, upon his resignation, escorted
by the people to his house with the warmest expressions
of gratitude and affection. The censors, highly offended at
his having imposed a restriction on a public office of the
Roman state, degraded Mamercus into a lower
tribe,* and, increasing his taxes eight-fold, disfranchised
him. We are told, that he bore [354] this treatment with
great magnanimity, regarding the cause of the disgrace
rather than the disgrace itself: and that the principal
patricians, though they had been averse from a
diminution of the privileges of the censorship, were,
nevertheless, highly displeased at this instance of harsh
severity in the censors; every one perceiving, that he
must be oftener and for a longer time subject to others in
the office of censor, than he could hold the office himself.
The peoples indignation certainly rose to such a height,
that no other influence than that of Mamercus himself
could have deterred them from offering violence to the
censors.

Y. R. 322. BC 430. XXV. The plebeian tribunes, by

constantly haranguing the people against the election of
consuls, prevailed at last, after bringing the affair almost
to an interregnum, that military tribunes, with consular
power, should be elected. In the prize of victory which
they aimed at, the procuring a plebeian to be elected, they
were entirely disappointed. The persons chosen were all
patricians, Marcus Fabius Vibulanus, Marcus Foslius,
and Lucius Sergius Fidenas. During that year, the
pestilence kept other matters quiet. For the restoration of
health to the people, a temple was vowed to Apollo, and
the decemvirs, by direction of the books, performed
many rites for the purpose of appeasing the wrath of the
gods, and averting the pestilence. The mortality,
notwithstanding, was great among men and cattle, both
in the city and the country. Dreading a famine, in
consequence of the death of the husbandmen, they sent
for corn to Etruria, and the Pomptine district, to Cum,
and at last to Sicily also. No mention was made of
electing consuls. Y. R. 323. BC 429. Military tribunes with
consular power were appointed, all patricians, Lucius
Pinarius Mamercinus, Lucius Furius Medullinus, and
Spurius Postumius Albus. In this year, the violence of the
disorder abated, [355] nor were there any apprehensions
of a scarcity of corn, care having been taken to provide
against it. Schemes for exciting wars were agitated in the
meetings of the quans and Volscians, and in Etruria at
the temple of Voltumna. Here the business was
adjourned for a year, and a decree passed, forbidding any
assembly to be held before that time, while the nation of
the Veientians in vain complained, that the same
misfortunes hung over Veii, which had destroyed Fiden.
Meanwhile at Rome the leaders of the commons, who
had for a long time in vain pursued the hopes of attaining
higher dignity during this interval of tranquillity abroad,
called the people together in the houses of the tribunes,
and there concerted their plans in secret. They
complained that they were treated with such contempt
by the commons, that, notwithstanding military tribunes
with consular power had been elected for so many years,
no plebeian had ever yet been allowed to attain that
honour. Their ancestors, they said, had shown great
foresight in providing that the plebeian magistracies
should not lie open to any patrician, otherwise they
would have had patrician tribunes of the commons; so
despicable are we even in the eyes of our own party, and
not less contemned by the commons than by the
patricians themselves. Others took off the blame from
the commons, and threw it on the patricians: It was
through their arts and intrigues, they said, that the
access to honours was barred against the plebeians. If the
commons were allowed time to breathe from their
intreaties mixed with menaces, they would come to an
election with a due regard to the interest of their own
party, and as they had already secured protection to
themselves, would assume also the administration of the
government. It was resolved, that, for the purpose of
abolishing the practice of those intrigues, the tribunes
should propose a law, that no person should be allowed,
on applying for an office, to add any white to
his [356] garment.* This may appear at present a trivial
matter, scarcely fit to be seriously mentioned, yet it then
kindled a very hot contention between the patricians and
plebeians. The tribunes, however, got the better, and
carried the law; and as it was evident that the commons,
in their present state of ill-humour, would give their
support to persons of their own party, in order to put this
out of their power, a decree of the senate was passed, that
the election should be held for consuls.

Y. R. 324. BC 428. XXVI. The reason assigned was,

intelligence received from the Latines and Hernicians of
the quans and Volscians having suddenly commenced
hostilities. Titus Quintius Cincinnatus, who had also the
surname of Pennus, son of Lucius, and Caius Julius
Mento, were made consuls. Nor were they kept in
suspense with respect to the danger apprehended from
their enemies. The quans and Volscians having held a
levy of troops under their devoting law, which is their
most powerful instrument for forcing men into the
service, marched a numerous company from each nation
to Algidum, where they met, and formed separate camps;
the generals taking extraordinary pains, beyond what had
ever been practised before, in fortifying their posts, and
exercising their men; which rendered the accounts
brought to Rome still more alarming. The senate resolved
that a dictator should be appointed, because, though
these were nations often vanquished, yet, in the present
revival of hostilities, they had used more vigorous efforts
than before; and no small number of the Roman youth
had been cut off by the sickness. Above all, they were
alarmed by the perverseness of the consuls, the
disagreement between [357] themselves, and the
opposition which they gave each other in every measure.
Some writers say, that these consuls were defeated in a
battle at Algidum, and that this was the reason for
appointing a dictator. Thus much is certain, that though
they differed in every thing else, they perfectly agreed in
the one point, that of opposing the will of the senate, and
refusing to name a dictator, until Quintus Servilius
Priscus, a man who had passed through the highest
dignities with singular honour, finding the intelligence
which arrived grow more and more alarming, and that
the consuls would not be directed by the senate,
expressed himself thus: Tribunes of the commons,
matters having come to extremity, the senate appeals to
you, that, in the present state of public affairs, ye may, by
the authority vested in you, oblige the consuls to name a
dictator. This application seemed to the tribunes to
afford them a good opportunity of extending their power;
wherefore, after retiring together, they declared, by the
authority of their body, that it was their determination
that the consuls should follow the directions of the
senate, and that if they persisted in their opposition to
the sentiments of that most illustrious body, they would
order them to be carried to prison. The consuls were
better pleased to be overcome by the tribunes than by the
senate, at the same time remonstrating, that the
prerogatives of the chief magistracy were betrayed by the
senators, and the consulship subjugated to the
tribunitian power. If the consuls were liable to be over-
ruled by a tribune, by virtue of his office, in any
particular, they were liable also to be sent to prison. And
what greater hardship could any private person
apprehend? It fell by lot, for even on that point the
colleagues could not agree, to Titus Quintius to name the
dictator, and he made choice of Aulus Postumius
Tubertus, his own father-in-law, a man of remarkable
strictness in command. Lucius Julius was by him
nominated master of the horse. At the same time, a
proclamation was issued [358] for a vacation from civil
business, and that nothing should be attended to, in any
part of the city, but preparations for hostilities. The
examination of the cases of those who claimed immunity
from service, was to be made at the conclusion of the war,
which induced even those whose claims were doubtful, to
give in their names. The Hernicians and Latines also
were ordered to send a supply of forces, and they both
exerted themselves with zeal, in obedience to the
dictators will.

XXVII. All these measures were executed with the utmost

despatch, the consul Caius Julius being left to guard the
city, while Lucius Julius, master of the horse, was to
answer the exigences of the camp; and that there should
be no delay with respect to any thing which might there
be wanted, the dictator, repeating the form after the chief
pontiff Aulus Cornelius, vowed to celebrate the great
games on the occasion of this sudden war. Then, dividing
his troops with the consul Quintius, he began his march
from the city, and quickly came up with the enemy.
Having observed that these had formed two camps at a
little distance from each other, they in like manner
encamped separately at about a mile from them, the
dictator towards Tusculum, and the consul towards
Lanuvium. Thus there were four armies, and so many
fortified posts, having between them a plain of sufficient
extent not only for the skirmishes of small parties, but
even for drawing up the armies, on both sides, in battle
array. From the time when the camps were pitched in the
neighbourhood of each other, there was continual
skirmishing, the dictator readily allowing his men to
compare strength, and from the success of these combats
he gradually formed a confident expectation of future
victory in a regular fight. The enemy, therefore, finding
no hopes left of succeeding in a general engagement,
made an attack by night on the camp of the consul, on the
issue of which the final decision of the dispute would
probably depend. Their shout, which they set [359] up on
a sudden, roused from sleep, not only the consuls watch
guards, and afterwards all his troops, but the dictator
also. The conjuncture requiring instant exertion, the
consul showed no deficiency either of spirit or of
judgment. One part of the troops reinforced the guards at
the gates, while another manned the rampart around. In
the other camp where the dictator commanded, as there
was less tumult, so it was easier to perceive what was
necessary to be done. Despatching, then, a reinforcement
to the consuls camp, under the command of Spurius
Postumius Albus, lieutenant-general, he himself, with a
body of forces, making a small circuit, proceeded to a
place quite retired from the hurry of action, whence he
proposed to make an unexpected attack on the enemys
rear. To Quintus Sulpicius, lieutenant-general, he gave
the charge of the camp; to Marcus Fabius, lieutenant-
general, he assigned the cavalry, with orders that those
troops, which it would be hardly possible to manage in
the confusion of a conflict by night, should not stir until
day-light. Every measure, which any other general,
however skilful and active, could at such a juncture order
and execute, he ordered and executed with perfect
regularity. But it was a singular instance of judgment and
intrepidity, and entitled to more than ordinary praise,
that, not content with defensive plans, he despatched
Marcus Geganius, with some chosen cohorts, to attack
that camp of the enemy, from which, according to the
intelligence of his scouts, they had marched out the
greater number of troops. Falling upon men whose whole
attention was engrossed by the danger of their friends,
while they were free from any apprehension for
themselves, and had neglected posting watches or
advanced guards, he made himself master of the camp,
sooner almost than they knew that it was attacked. A
signal being then given by smoke, as had been concerted,
the dictator perceiving it, cried out, that the enemys
camp was taken, and ordered the news to be conveyed to
all the troops.

[360]
XXVIII. By this time day appeared, and every thing lay
open to view. Fabius had already charged with the
cavalry, and the consul had sallied from the camp on the
enemy, who were now much disconcerted, when the
dictator on another side, having attacked their reserve
and second line, threw his victorious troops, both horse
and foot, in the way of all their efforts, as they turned
themselves about to the dissonant shouts, and the
various sudden assaults. Being thus hemmed in on every
side, they would, to a man, have undergone the
punishment due to their infraction of the peace, had not
Vectius Messius, a Volscian, a man more renowned for
his deeds than his descent, upbraiding his men as they
were forming themselves into a circle, called out with a
loud voice, Do ye intend to offer yourselves to the
weapons of the enemy here, where ye can neither make
defence nor obtain revenge? To what purpose, then, have
ye arms in your hands? Or why did ye undertake an
offensive war, ever turbulent in peace and dastardly in
arms? What hopes do ye propose in standing here? Do ye
expect that some god will protect and carry you from
hence? With the sword the way must be opened. Come
on, ye who wish to see your houses and your parents,
your wives and children, follow wherever ye see me lead
the way. There is neither wall nor rampart, nothing to
obstruct you, but men in arms, with which ye are as well
furnished as they. Equal in bravery, ye are superior to
them in point of necessity, the ultimate and most forcible
of weapons. No sooner had he uttered these words, than
he put them in execution, and the rest raising the shout
anew, and following him, made a violent push on that
part where Postumius Albus had drawn up his forces in
their way, and made the conqueror give ground, until the
dictator came up, just as his men were on the point of
retreating. Thus the whole weight of the battle was
turned to that quarter. Messius alone supported the
fortune of the enemy, while many wounds were received,
and great slaughter was [361] made on both sides. By this
time the Roman generals themselves were not unhurt in
the fight: one of them, Postumius, retired from the field,
having his skull fractured by the stroke of a stone; but
neither could the dictator be prevailed on, by a wound in
his shoulder, nor Fabius, by having his thigh almost
pinned to his horse, nor the consul by his arm being cut
off, to withdraw from this perilous conflict.

XXIX. Messius, at the head of a band of the bravest

youths, charged the enemy with such impetuosity, that he
forced his way through heaps of slaughtered foes to the
camp of the Volscians, which was still in their possession,
and the whole body of the army followed the same route.
The consul, pursuing their disordered troops to the very
rampart, assaulted the camp itself, and the dictator
brought up his forces with the same purpose on the other
side. There was no less bravery shown on both sides in
this assault than had been seen in the battle. We are told
that the consul even threw a standard within the rampart,
to make the soldiers push on with more briskness, and
that the first impression was made in recovering it. The
dictator, having levelled the rampart, had now carried the
fight within the works, on which the enemy every where
began to throw down their arms and surrender; and on
giving up themselves and their camp, they were all,
except the members of their senate, exposed to sale. Part
of the spoil was restored to the Latines and Hernicians,
who claimed it as their property; the rest the dictator sold
by auction; and having left the consul to command in the
camp, after making his entry into the city in triumph, he
resigned the dictatorship. Some historians have thrown a
gloom on the memory of this glorious dictatorship; they
relate that Aulus Postumius beheaded his son, after a
successful exploit, because he had left his post, without
orders, tempted by a favourable opportunity of fighting to
advantage. While we feel a reluctance against giving
credit [362] to this story, we are also at liberty to reject it,
there being a variety of opinions on the subject: and there
is this argument against it, that such orders, by those who
believe in the circumstance, have been denominated
Manlian, not Postumian; while the person who first set
an example of such severity would surely have acquired
the disgraceful title of cruel. Besides, the surname of
Imperiosus has been imposed on Manlius, and
Postumius has not been marked by any hateful
appellation. The consul Caius Julius, in the absence of his
colleague, without casting lots for the employment,
dedicated the temple of Apollo; at which Quintius being
offended on his return to the city, after disbanding the
army, made a complaint to the senate, but without any
effect. To the great events of this year was added a
circumstance, which, at that time, did not appear to have
any relation to the interests of Rome. The Carthaginians,
who were to become such formidable enemies, then for
the first time, on occasion of some intestine broils among
the Sicilians, transported troops into Sicily, in aid of one
of the parties.

Y. R. 325. BC 427. XXX. In the city, endeavours were used

by the tribunes of the commons to procure an election of
military tribunes with consular power, but they were not
able to effect it. Lucius Papirius Crassus and Lucius
Julius were made consuls. Ambassadors from the
quans having requested of the senate that a treaty of
peace might be concluded, it was required of them, that
instead of a treaty they should make a surrender of
themselves. In the end they obtained a truce of eight
years. The affairs of the Volscians, besides the loss
sustained at Algidum, were involved in seditions, arising
from an obstinate contention between the advocates for
peace and those for war. The Romans enjoyed tranquillity
on all sides. The consuls having obtained information
from one of the tribunes, who betrayed the secret, that
those officers intended to promote a law concerning
the [363] commutation of fines,* which would be highly
acceptable to the people, they themselves took the lead in
proposing it. Y. R. 326. BC 426. The next consuls were
Lucius Sergius Fidenas, a second time, and Hostus
Lucretius Tricipitinus, in whose consulate nothing worth
mention occurred. They were succeeded by Aulus
Cornelius Cossus and Titus Quintius Pennus, a second
time. Y. R. 327. BC 425. The Veientians made inroads on
the Roman territories, and a report prevailing, that some
of the youth of Fiden were concerned in those
depredations, the cognizance of that matter was
committed to Lucius Sergius, Quintius Servilius, and
Mamercus milius. Some of them, who could not give
satisfactory reasons for their being absent from Fiden at
the time, were sent into banishment to Ostia. A number
of new settlers were added to the colony, to whom were
assigned the lands of those who had fallen in war. There
was very great distress that year, occasioned by drought;
for, besides a want of rain, the earth, destitute of its
natural moisture, scarcely enabled the rivers to continue
their course; in some places, the want of water was such,
that the cattle died of thirst, in heaps, about the springs
and rivulets, which had ceased to flow: in others, they
were cut off by the mange, and their disorders began to
spread by infection to the human species. At first they fell
heavy on the husbandmen and slaves; soon after the city
was filled with them: and not only mens bodies were
afflicted by the contagion, but superstitions of various
kinds, and mostly of foreign growth, took possession also
of their minds; while those who converted this weakness
to their own emolument, introduced into peoples
families, through their pretences to the art of divination,
new modes of worship, until at length the principal
men [364] of the state were touched with shame for the
dishonour brought on the public, seeing in every street
and chapel extraneous and unaccustomed ceremonies of
expiation practised, for obtaining the favour of the gods.
A charge was then given to the diles, to see that no
other deities should be worshipped than those
acknowledged by the Romans; nor they, in any other
modes than those established by the custom of the
country. Y. R. 328. BC 424. The prosecution of their
resentment against the Veientians was deferred to the
ensuing year, wherein Caius Servilius Ahala and Lucius
Papirius Mugillanus were consuls: even then, an
immediate declaration of war and the march of the army
were prevented by superstition. It was deemed necessary
that heralds should first be sent to demand restitution.
There had been open war, and battles fought, with the
Veientians, not long before, at Nomentum and Fiden,
since which, not a peace but a truce, had been concluded,
the term of which had not yet expired, yet they had
renewed hostilities. Nevertheless, the heralds were sent,
and when, after taking the customary oath, they
demanded satisfaction, no attention was paid to them.
Then arose a dispute whether the war should be declared,
by order of the people, or whether a decree of the senate
were sufficient. The tribunes, by threatening openly that
they would hinder any levy of soldiers, carried the point
that the consuls should take the sense of the people
concerning it. All the centuries voted for it. In another
particular too, the commons showed a superiority, for
they carried the point that consuls should not be elected
for the next year.

Y. R. 329. BC 423. XXXI. Four military tribunes, with

consular power, were elected, Titus Quintius Pennus
from the consulship, Caius Furius, Marcus Postumius,
and Aulus Cornelius Cossus. Of these, Cossus held the
command in the city. The other three, after enlisting
forces, marched to Veii, and there exhibited an instance
of the pernicious effects on military operations resulting
from a divided command: for while each maintained an
opinion different from [365] the rest, and endeavoured to
enforce his own plans, they gave an opportunity to the
enemy to take them at advantage. Accordingly, the
Veientians, seizing a critical moment, made an attack on
their troops, who knew not how to act, one of their
generals ordering the signal for retreat to be given,
another the charge to be sounded. They were thrown into
confusion consequently, and turned their backs, but
found safety in their camp, which was nigh at hand: their
disgrace therefore was greater than their loss. The
citizens, unaccustomed to defeats, were seized with
dismal apprehensions, execrated the tribunes, and called
aloud for a dictator; in him alone, they said, the state
could place any hopes. Here again a religious scruple
interfered, lest there should be an impropriety in a
dictator being nominated by any other than a consul: but
the augurs being consulted, removed that doubt. Aulus
Cornelius nominated Mamercus milius dictator, and
was himself nominated by him master of the horse, so
little was the effect of the disgrace inflicted by the
censors: for when the state once came to stand in need of
a person of real merit, it would not be prevented from
seeking a supreme director of its affairs in a house
undeservedly censured. The Veientians, puffed up by
their success, sent ambassadors to all the states of
Etruria, boasting, that they had in one battle defeated
three Roman generals; and though they could not thereby
prevail on the general confederacy to embark publicly in
their cause, yet they procured from all parts a number of
volunteers allured by the hopes of plunder. The
Fidenatians were the only state which resolved to renew
hostilities; and, as if there were some kind of impiety in
commencing war, otherwise than with some atrocious
deed, staining their arms now with the blood of the new
colonists, as they had formerly done with that of the
ambassadors, they joined themselves to the Veientians.
The leaders of the two nations then consulted together,
whether they should choose Veii or Fiden, for the seat
of the war: Fiden appeared the more [366] convenient.
The Veientians, therefore, crossing the Tiber, removed it
thither. At Rome the alarm was excessive: the troops
were recalled from Veii, very much dispirited by their
defeat, and encamped before the Colline gate: others
were armed and posted on the walls. Business was
stopped in the courts of justice, the shops were shut up,
and every thing bore the appearance of a camp rather
than of a city.

XXXII. The dictator then, sending criers through the

streets called the alarmed people to an assembly, and
rebuked them sharply for suffering their courage to
depend so entirely on every trifling incident in the course
of fortune, as that on meeting with an inconsiderable
loss, and that not owing to the bravery of the enemy, or to
want of courage in the Roman army, but to a
disagreement between their commanders, they should be
seized with dread of their enemies of Veii, whom they had
six times vanquished, and of Fiden, a town as often
taken as attacked. He reminded them, that both the
Romans and their enemies were the same that they had
been for so many centuries past, their courage the same;
their strength of body the same; and the same the arms
which they wore. That he himself, Mamercus milius,
was also the same dictator who formerly at Fiden
routed the armies of the Veientians and Fidenatians,
when they had the additional support of the Faliscians;
and his master of the horse was the same Aulus
Cornelius, who in a former war, when he ranked as
military tribune, slew Lars Tolumnius, the king of these
Veientians, in the sight of both armies, and carried his
spolia opima to the temple of Jupiter Feretrius. He
exhorted them therefore to take arms, reflecting that on
their side were triumphs, on their side spoils, on their
side victory; on the side of the enemy, the guilt of
violating the laws of nations by the murder of
ambassadors, the massacre of the Fidenatian colonists in
time of peace, the infraction of truces, and a seventh
unsuccessful revolt: assuring them, he was
fully [367] confident, that when they should have once
encamped within reach of the foe, the joy of those
enemies, so deeply plunged in guilt, for the late disgrace
of the Roman army, would soon be at an end; and also
that a demonstration would be given to the Roman
people, how much better these persons merited of the
commonwealth, who nominated him dictator a third
time, than those, who, out of malice, on account of his
having snatched arbitrary power out of the hands of the
censors, threw a blot on his second successful
dictatorship. Having offered up vows to the gods, he
soon began his march, and pitched his camp fifteen
hundred paces on this side of Fiden, having his right
covered by mountains, and his left by the river Tiber. He
ordered Titus Quintius Pennus, lieutenant-general, to
take possession of the hills, and to post himself privately
on whatever eminence stood in the enemys rear. Next
day, when the Etrurians had marched out to the field, full
of confidence in consequence of their success on the
former day, though more indebted for it to accident than
to their prowess in fight, the dictator, after waiting a
short time, until he received information from his scouts
that Quintius had reached an eminence which stood near
the citadel of Fiden, put his troops in motion, and led
on his line of infantry in order of battle in their quickest
pace against the enemy. The master of the horse he
commanded not to enter on action without orders, telling
him that he would give a signal when there should be
occasion for the aid of the cavalry, and desiring him then
to show by his behaviour, that he still bore in mind his
fight with their king, the magnificent offering which he
had made, and the respect which he owed to Romulus
and Jupiter Feretrius. The legions began the conflict with
impetuosity. The Romans, inflamed with keen animosity,
gratified their rancour both with deeds and words,
upbraiding the Fidenatians with impiety, the Veientians
as robbers, calling them truce-breakers, polluted with the
horrid murder of ambassadors, [368] stained with the
blood of their own brethren of the colony, perfidious
allies, and dastardly foes.

XXXIII. Their very first onset had made an impression

on the enemy, when, on a sudden, the gates of Fiden
flying open, a strange kind of army sallied forth,
unknown and unheard-of before. An immense multitude,
armed with burning fire-brands, as if hurried on by
frantic rage, rushed on against the Romans. This very
extraordinary mode of fighting filled the assailants for
some time with terror; on which the dictator, who was
actively employed in animating the fight, having called up
the master of the horse with the cavalry, and also
Quintius from the mountains, hastened himself to the left
wing, which being in horror from the conflagration, as it
might more properly be called than a battle, had retired
from the flames, and with a loud voice called out, Will ye
suffer yourselves to be driven from your ground, and
retreat from an unarmed enemy, vanquished with smoke,
like a swarm of bees? Will ye not extinguish those fires
with the sword? Or will ye not each in his post, if we must
fight with fire, and not with arms, seize on those brands,
and throw them back on the foe? Advance; recollect the
honour of the Roman name, your own bravery, and that
of your fathers: turn this conflagration on the city of your
enemy, and with its own flames demolish Fiden, which
ye could never reclaim by your kindness. This is what the
blood of your ambassadors and colonists, and the
desolation of your frontiers, ought to suggest. At the
command of the dictator, the whole line advanced; the
firebrands which had been thrown, were caught up;
others were wrested away by force, and thus the troops
on both sides were armed alike. The master of the horse
too, on his part, introduced among the cavalry a new
mode of fighting: he ordered his men to take off the
bridles from their horses, while he himself clapping spurs
to his own, sprung forward, and was carried headlong by
the unbridled animal into the midst of the flames. [369] In
like manner, the other horses, being spurred on and freed
from all restraint, carried their riders with full speed
against the enemy. The clouds of dust intermixed with
the smoke, excluded the light from both men and horses;
so that the latter were consequently not affrighted as the
former had been. The cavalry, therefore, wherever they
penetrated, bore down every thing with irresistible force.
A shout was now heard from a new quarter, which having
surprised and attracted the attention of both armies, the
dictator called out aloud, that his lieutenant-general
Quintius and his party had attacked the enemys rear,
and then, raising the shout anew, advanced against them
with redoubled vigour. The Etrurians, surrounded and
attacked both in front and rear, and closely pressed by
two armies in two different battles, had no room for
retreat, either to the camp, or to the mountains. The way
was blocked up by the new enemy, and the horses, freed
from the bridles, having spread themselves with their
riders over every different part, the greatest number of
the Veientians fled precipitately to the Tiber. The
surviving Fidenatians made towards the city of Fiden.
The former, flying in consternation, fell into the midst of
their foes and met destruction. Many were cut to pieces
on the banks of the river, some were forced into the water
and swallowed in the eddies; even such as were expert at
swimming, were weighed down by fatigue, by their
wounds, and the fright: so that, out of a great number,
few reached the opposite bank. The other body
proceeded, through their camp, to the city, whither the
Romans briskly pursued them, particularly Quintius, and
those who had descended with him from the mountains,
these being the freshest for action, as having come up
towards the end of the engagement.

XXXIV. These entering the gate together with the enemy

made their way to the top of the walls, and from thence
gave a signal to their friends of the town being taken. The
dictator, who had by this time taken possession of the
deserted [370] camp, encouraging his men, who were
eager to disperse themselves in search of plunder, and
with hopes of finding the greater booty in the city, led
them on to the gate; and, being admitted within the walls,
proceeded to the citadel, whither he saw the crowds of
fugitives hurrying. Nor was less slaughter made here than
in the field; until, throwing down their arms, and begging
only their lives, the enemy surrendered to the dictator:
both the city and camp were given up to be plundered.
Next day the dictator assigned by lot one captive to each
horseman and centurion, and two to such as had
distinguished themselves by extraordinary behaviour,
and sold the rest by auction: then he led back to Rome his
victorious army, enriched with abundance of spoil, and
ordering the master of the horse to resign his office he
immediately gave up his own, on the sixteenth day of his
holding it; leaving the government in a state of
tranquillity, which he had received in a state of war and
of danger. Some annals have reported, that there was also
a naval engagement with the Veientians, at Fiden, a fact
equally impracticable and incredible; the river, even at
present, being not broad enough for the purpose, and at
that time, as we learn from old writers, considerably
narrower. This we can no otherwise account for, than by
supposing that they magnified the importance of a scuffle
which took place, perhaps, between a few ships, in
disputing the passage of the river, and thereon grounded
those empty pretensions to a naval victory.

Y. R. 330. BC 422. XXXV. The ensuing year had military

tribunes, with consular power, Aulus Sempronius
Atratinus, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, Lucius Furius
Medullinus, and Lucius Horatius Barbatus. A truce, for
twenty years, was granted to the Veientians; and one for
three years to the quans, although these had petitioned
for a longer term. At home, there were no disturbances.
The year following, though not distinguished by either
troubles abroad or at [371] home, was rendered
remarkable by the celebration of the games, which had
been vowed on occasion of the war, through the splendid
manner in which they were exhibited by the military
tribunes, and also through the extraordinary concourse of
the neighbouring people. Y. R. 331. BC 421. The tribunes,
with consular power, were Appius Claudius Crassus,
Spurius Nautius Rutilus, Lucius Sergius Fidenas, and
Sextus Julius Iulus. The shows, to which the several
people had come with the concurrent approbation of
their states, were rendered more agreeable by the
courtesy of their hosts. After the conclusion of the games,
the tribunes of the commons began their seditious
harangues, upbraiding the multitude, that they were so
benumbed with awe of those very persons who were the
objects of their hatred, as to sit down listless in a state of
endless slavery; they not only wanted spirit to aspire to
the recovery of their hopes of sharing in the consulship;
but even, in the election of military tribunes, which lay
open to both patricians and plebeians, they showed no
regard to themselves or their party. They ought therefore
to cease wondering, that no one busied himself in the
service of the commons: labour and danger would always
be extended on objects from whence honour and
emolument might be looked for; and there was nothing
which men would not undertake, if, for great attempts,
great rewards were proposed. But surely it could neither
be required nor expected, that any tribune should rush
blindfold into disputes, the danger of which was great,
the profit nothing: in consequence of which, he knew,
with certainty, that the patricians, against whom his
efforts were directed would persecute him with
inexpiable rancour; and the commons, on whose side he
contended, would never think themselves the more
obliged to him. By great honours, the minds of men were
elevated to greatness; no plebeian would think meanly of
himself, when he ceased to be contemned by others. The
experiment ought at length to be made, whether there
were [372] any plebeian capable of sustaining a high
dignity, or whether it were next to a miracle and a
prodigy, that there should exist a man of that extraction
endowed with fortitude and industry. By the most
vigorous exertions, and after a violent struggle, the point
had been gained, that military tribunes with consular
power might be chosen from among the commons. Men
of approved merit, both in the civil and military line, had
stood candidates. During the first years they were hooted
at, rejected and ridiculed by the patricians: of late they
had desisted from exposing themselves to insult. For his
part he could see no reason why the law itself could not
be repealed, which granted permission for that which was
never to happen: for they would have less cause to blush
at the injustice of the law, than at their being passed by
on account of their own want of merit.

XXXVI. Discourses of this sort being listened to with

approbation, induced several to offer themselves as
candidates for the military tribuneship, each professing
intentions of introducing when in office some measure or
regulation, advantageous to the commons. Hopes were
held forth of a distribution of the public lands, of colonies
to be settled, and of money to be raised, for paying the
troops, by a tax imposed on the proprietors of estates.
The military tribunes soon after laid hold of an
opportunity, when most people had retired from the city,
having previously given private notice to the senators to
attend on a certain day, to procure a decree of the senate,
in the absence of the plebeian tribunes,that whereas it
was reported, that the Volscians had marched from home
with intent to plunder the country of the Hernicians, the
military tribunes should therefore proceed to the spot
and inspect into the matter, and that an assembly should
be held for the election of consuls. At their departure,
they left Appius Claudius, son of the decemvir, prfect of
the city, a young man of activity; and who had, even from
his cradle, imbibed a hatred towards the
commons [373] and their tribunes. The plebeian tribunes
had no room for contention, either with those who had
procured the decree of the senate during their absence;
nor with Appius, as the business was already concluded.

Y. R. 332. BC 420. XXXVII. The consuls elected were Caius

Sempronius Atratinus, and Quintus Fabius Vibulanus. An
event which is related to have happened in this year,
though in a foreign country, deserves to be recorded.
Vulturnum, a city of the Etrurians, now Capua, was
seized by the Samnites, and called Capua, from Capys
their leader, or, which is more probable, from its
champaign grounds. The manner in which they made
themselves masters of it was this: they were some time
before, when the Etrurians had been greatly harassed in
war, admitted to a share of this city and its lands; these
new settlers, afterwards taking the opportunity of a
festival, attacked and massacred in the night the first
inhabitants, heavy with sleep and food. After this
transaction, the consuls, whom we have mentioned,
entered on office on the ides of December: by this time,
not only those employed in inquiries had reported that
the Volscians were ready to commence hostilities; but
also ambassadors from the Latines and Hernicians had
brought information, that never at any former time had
the Volscians exerted more diligence and care either in
the choice of commanders, or the enlisting of troops: that
it was a common expression among them, that they must
either lay aside for ever all thoughts of war and arms, and
submit to the yoke, or they must prove themselves not
inferior to their competitors for empire, either in
courage, perseverance, or military discipline. The
intelligence was not without foundation: yet the senate
were not affected by it, as might have been expected; and
Caius Sempronius, to whom the command fell by lot,
acted with carelessness and negligence, in every
particular, relying on fortune, as if it were incapable of
change, because he before had headed a victorious
soldiery [374] against those who had been before
overcome; so that there was more of the Roman
discipline in the Volscian army than in his own. Success,
therefore, as on many other occasions, attended merit.
The engagement was entered on by Sempronius, without
either prudence or caution, without strengthening the
line by a reserve, and without posting the cavalry in a
proper situation. The shout gave a presage at the very
beginning to which side the victory would incline. That
raised by the Volscians was loud and full; whilst the shout
of the Romans, dissonant, unequal, lifeless, and often
begun anew, betrayed, by its unsteadiness, the fears
which possessed them. This made the enemy charge with
the greater boldness; they pushed with their shields, and
brandished their swords: on the other side, the helmets
were seen to droop as the wearers looked round for
safety, disconcerted and disordered on every side. The
ensigns sometimes kept their ground, deserted by those
who ought to support them; at other times they retreated
between their respective companies. As yet there was no
absolute flight, nor was the victory complete. The
Romans covered themselves rather than fought; the
Volscians advanced, and pushed fiercely against the line,
but still were seen greater numbers of the former falling
than running away.

XXXVIII. The Romans now began to give way in every

quarter, while the consul Sempronius in vain reproached
them, and exhorted them to stand; neither his authority,
nor his dignity, had any effect; and they would shortly
have turned their backs to the enemy, had not Sextus
Tempanius, a commander of a body of horse, with great
presence of mind, brought them support, and when their
situation was almost desperate. He called aloud, that the
horsemen who wished the safety of the commonwealth,
should leap from their horses, and, his order being
obeyed by every troop, as if it had been delivered by the
consul, he said, unless this cohort, by the power of its
arms, can stop the progress of [375] the enemy, there is an
end of the empire. Follow my spear, as your standard:
show, both to Romans and Volscians, that as no horse are
equal to you when mounted, so no foot are equal to you
when ye dismount. This exhortation being received with
a shout of applause, he advanced, holding his spear aloft:
wherever they directed their march, they forced their way
in spite of opposition; and, advancing their targets,
pushed on to the place where they saw the distress of
their friends the greatest. The fight was restored in every
part as far as their onset reached; and there was no
doubt, that if it had been possible for so small a number
to have managed the whole business of the field, the
enemy would have turned their backs.

XXXIX. Finding that nothing could withstand them, the

Volscian commander gave directions, that an opening
should be made for these targeteers, until the violence of
their charge should carry them so far, that they might be
shut out from their friends: which being executed, the
horsemen on their part were intercepted, in such a
manner, that it was impossible for them to force a
passage back; the enemy having collected their thickest
numbers in the place through which they had made their
way. The consul and Roman legions, not seeing, any
where, that body which just before had afforded
protection to the whole army, lest so many men, of such
consummate valour, should be surrounded and
overpowered by the enemy, resolved at all hazards to
push forward. The Volscians forming two fronts,
withstood, on one side, the consul; and the legions, on
the other, pressed on Tempanius and the horsemen, who,
after many fruitless attempts to break through to their
friends, took possession of an eminence, and there
forming a circle defended themselves, not without taking
vengeance on the assailants. Nor was the fight ended
when night came on. The consul kept the enemy
employed, never relaxing his efforts as long as any light
remained. The darkness at length separated
them, [376] leaving the victory undecided: and such a
panic seized both camps, from the uncertainty in which
they were with respect to the issue, that both armies, as if
they had been vanquished, retreated into the nearest
mountains, leaving behind their wounded, and a great
part of their baggage. The eminence however was kept
besieged until after midnight; when intelligence being
brought to the besiegers that their camp was deserted,
they, supposing that their friends had been defeated, fled
also, each wherever his fears transported him.
Tempanius apprehending an ambush, kept his men quiet
until day-light; and then going out himself with a small
party, to make observations, and discovering on inquiry
from the wounded men of the enemy, that the camp of
the Volscians was abandoned, he called down his men
from the eminence with great joy, and made his way into
the Roman camp. Here finding every place waste and
deserted, and in the same disgraceful state in which he
had seen the post of the enemy, before the discovery of
their mistake should bring back the Volscians, he took
with him as many of the wounded as he could; and not
knowing what route the consul had taken, proceeded by
the shortest roads to the city.

XL. News had already arrived there of the loss of the

battle, and of the camp being abandoned: and great
lamentations had been made; for the horsemen above all,
the public grief being not inferior to that of their private
connections. The consul Fabius, the city being alarmed
for its own safety, had troops posted before the gates,
when the horsemen being seen at a distance, occasioned
at first some degree of fright, while it was not known who
they were: but this being presently discovered, peoples
fears were converted into such transports of joy, that
every part of the city was filled with shouting; each one
congratulating the other on the return of the horsemen,
safe and victorious. Then were seen pouring out in
crowds into the streets from the houses, which a
little [377] before had been filled with lamentation and
mourning, for friends supposed lost, their mothers and
wives; each rushing wildly to her own, and scarcely
retaining, in the extravagance of their rejoicings, the
powers either of mind or body. The tribunes of the
commons, who had commenced a prosecution against
Marcus Postumius and Titus Quintius, for having
occasioned the loss of the battle at Veii, thought that the
recent displeasure of the people towards the consul
Sempronius, afforded a fit opportunity for reviving the
anger of the public against them. Having, therefore,
convened the people, they exclaimed loudly, that the
commonwealth had been betrayed by its commanders at
Veii; and afterwards, in consequence of their escaping
with impunity, the army was also betrayed by the consul
in the country of the Volscians, the cavalry, men of
distinguished bravery, given up to slaughter, and the
camp shamefully deserted. Then Caius Junius, one of the
tribunes, ordered Tempanius the horseman to be called;
and in their presence addressed him thus: Sextus
Tempanius, I demand of you, whether it is your opinion
that the consul Caius Sempronius either engaged the
enemy at a proper season, or strengthened his line with a
reserve, or discharged any duty of a good consul: and
whether you yourself, when the Roman legions were
defeated, did not, of your own judgment, dismount the
cavalry and restore the fight? Did he afterwards, when
you and the horsemen were shut out from our army,
either come himself to your relief or send you assistance?
Then again, on the day following, did you find support
any where? Did you and your cohort, by your own
bravery, make your way into the camp? Did ye in the
camp find any consul or any army? Or, did ye find the
camp forsaken, and the wounded soldiers left behind?
These things, it becomes your bravery and honour, which
have proved in this war the security of the
commonwealth, to declare this day. In fine, where is
Caius Sempronius? where are our legions? Have you been
deserted, or have you deserted [378] the consul and the
army? In short, have we been defeated, or have we gained
the victory?

XLI. In answer to these interrogatories, Tempanius is

said to have spoken, not with studied eloquence, but with
the manly firmness of a soldier, neither vainly displaying
his own merit, nor showing pleasure at the censure
thrown on others: As to the degree of military skill
possessed by Caius Sempronius the general, it was not his
duty, as a soldier, to judge; that was the business of the
Roman people, when, at the election, they chose him
consul. He desired, therefore, that they would not require
from him a detail of the designs and duties becoming the
office of a general, or of a consul; matters which, even
from persons of the most exalted capacity and genius,
required much consideration: but what he saw, that he
could relate. He had seen, before his communication with
the army was cut off, the consul fighting in the front of
the line, encouraging the men, and actively employed
between the Roman ensigns and the weapons of the
enemy. He was afterwards carried out of sight of his
countrymen: however, from the noise and shouting, he
perceived that the battle was prolonged until night; nor
did he believe, that it was in their power, on account of
the great numbers of the enemy, to force their way to the
eminence where he had taken post. Where the army was,
he knew not. He supposed that as he, in a dangerous
crisis, had taken advantage of the ground to secure
himself and his men, in like manner the consul,
consulting the safety of his army, had chosen a stronger
situation for his camp. Nor did he believe, that the affairs
of the Volscians were in a better posture than those of the
Roman people: for fortune and the night had caused
abundance of mistakes, both on one side and the other.
He then begged that they would not detain him, as he was
much distressed with fatigue and wounds; and he was
dismissed with the highest expressions of applause, no
less for his modesty than his bravery. Meanwhile
the [379] consul had come as far as the Temple of Rest, on
the road leading to Lavici; whither wagons and other
carriages were sent from the city, and which took up the
men who were spent with the fatigue of the action, and
the march by night. The consul soon after entered the
city, and was not more anxiously desirous to clear himself
from blame, than he was to bestow on Tempanius the
praise which he deserved. While the minds of the citizens
were full of grief for the ill success of their affairs, and of
resentment against their commanders, the first object
thrown in the way of their ill humour was Marcus
Postumius, formerly military tribune, with consular
power, at Veii, who was brought to trial, and condemned
in a fine of ten thousand asses in weight, of brass.* Titus
Quintius endeavoured to transfer all the blame of that
event from himself on his colleague, who was already
condemned; and as he had conducted business with
success, both in the country of the Volscians when consul,
under the auspices of the dictator Postumius Tubertus,
and also at Fiden, when lieutenant-general to another
dictator, Mamercus milius, all the tribes acquitted him.
It is said that his cause was much indebted to the high
veneration in which his father Cincinnatus was held; and
likewise to Quintius Capitolinus, who being now
extremely old, begged with humble supplications that
they would not suffer him who had so short a time to live,
to carry any dismal tidings to Cincinnatus.

Y. R. 333. BC 419. XLII. The commons created Sextus

Tempanius, Aulus Sellius, Lucius Antistius, and Sextus
Pompilius, in their absence, plebeian tribunes; these
being the persons whom, by the advice of Tempanius, the
horsemen had appointed to command them as
centurions. The senate finding that through the general
aversion from Sempronius, the name of consul was
become displeasing, ordered military [380] tribunes with
consular power to be chosen. Accordingly there were
elected Lucius Manlius Capitolinus, Quintus Antonius
Merenda, and Lucius Papirius Mugillanus. No sooner had
the year begun, than Lucius Hortensius, a plebeian
tribune, commenced a prosecution* against Caius
Sempronius, consul of the preceding year. His four
colleagues, in the presence of the Roman people,
besought him not to involve in vexation an unoffending
general, in whose case fortune alone could be blamed:
Hortensius took offence at this, thinking it meant a trial
of his perseverance; and that the accused depended not
on the intreaties of the tribunes, which were thrown out
only for the sake of appearance, but on their protection.
Turning first therefore to him, he asked, [381] Where
were the haughty airs of the patrician? Where was the
spirit upheld in confidence by conscious innocence, that a
man of consular dignity took shelter under the shade of
tribunes? Then to his colleagues; As to you, what is
your intention in case I persist in the prosecution? Do ye
mean to rob the people of their jurisdiction, and to
overturn the power of the tribunes? To this they replied;
that with respect both to Sempronius, and to all others,
the Roman people possessed supreme authority; that it
was neither in their power nor in their wishes to obstruct
the exercise of it, but if their prayers in behalf of their
general, who was to them a parent, should have no effect,
they were determined to change their apparel along with
him. Hortensius then declared, the commons of Rome
shall not see their tribunes in the garb of culprits: I have
nothing farther to say to Sempronius, since, by his
conduct in command, he has rendered himself so dear to
his soldiers. Nor was the dutiful attachment of the four
tribunes more pleasing to the patricians and to the
commons, than was the temper of Hortensius, complying
so readily with intreaties founded on justice. Fortune no
longer indulged the quans, who had embraced the
doubtful success of the Volscians as their own.

Y. R. 334. BC 418. XLIII. In the year following, which had

for consuls Numerius Fabius Vibulanus and Titus
Quintius Capitolinus, son of Capitolinus, nothing
memorable was performed under the conduct of Fabius,
to whom the province of encountering the enemy fell by
lot. The quans, on merely showing their spiritless
army, were driven off the field in a shameful flight,
without affording the consul much honour, for which
reason he was refused a triumph; however, as he had
effaced the ignominy of the misfortune under
Sempronius, he was permitted to enter the city in
ovation. As the war was brought to a conclusion with less
difficulty than had been apprehended, so the city, from a
state of tranquillity, was unexpectedly involved in a scene
of turbulent dissensions [382] between the patricians and
plebeians. This was the effect of a plan for doubling the
number of qustors: for the consuls having proposed,
that, in addition to the two city-qustors, two others
should always attend the consuls, to discharge the
business relative to the army, and the measure having
been warmly approved by the patricians, the tribunes
contended, in opposition to the consuls, that half the
number of qustors should be taken from among the
commons, for hitherto patricians only had been elected:
against which scheme both consuls and patricians
struggled at first with their utmost power. They
afterwards offered a concession, that according to the
practice in the election of tribunes with consular power,
the people should have equal freedom of suffrage with
respect to qustors; yet finding that this had no effect,
they, entirely laid aside the design of augmenting the
number. No sooner, however, was it dropped by them,
than it was taken up by the tribunes, while several other
seditious schemes were continually started, and among
the rest, one for an agrarian law. The senate was
desirous, on account of these commotions, that consuls
should be elected rather than tribunes, but no decree
could be passed, by reason of the protests of the tribunes,
so that the government, from being consular, became a
kind of interregnum: nor was even that accomplished
without a violent struggle, the tribunes obstructing the
meeting of the patricians. The greater part of the ensuing
year was wasted in contentions between the new
tribunes, and the several interreges, the tribunes
sometimes hindering the patricians from assembling to
declare an interrex; at others, protesting against the
interreges passing a decree for the election of consuls; at
last, Lucius Papirius Mugillanus, being declared interrex,
severely reproved both the senate and the plebeian
tribunes, affirming, that, the commonwealth, being
forsaken by men, and preserved by the care and
providence of the gods, subsisted merely by means of the
Veientian truce, and the dilatoriness of the
quans: [383] from which quarter, should an alarm of
danger be heard, did they think it right, that the nation,
destitute of a patrician magistrate, should be exposed to a
surprise? That it neither should have an army, nor a
general to enlist one? Did they think an intestine war the
proper means to repel a foreign one? Should both take
place at the same time, the power of the gods would
scarcely be able to preserve the Roman state from ruin. It
were much fitter that both parties should remit
somewhat of their strict rights; and, by a mutual
compromise of their pretensions, unite the whole in
concord, the senate permitting military tribunes to be
appointed instead of consuls, and the tribunes of the
commons ceasing to protest against the four qustors
being chosen out of the patricians and plebeians,
indiscriminately, by the free suffrages of the people.

Y. R. 335. BC 417. XLIV. The election of tribunes was first

held, and there were chosen tribunes, with consular
power, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus a third time, Lucius
Furius Medullinus a second time, Marcus Manlius and
Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, all patricians. The last-
named tribune presided at the election of qustors, when
there appeared among several other plebeian candidates,
a son of Antistius, a plebeian tribune, and a brother of
Sextus Pompilius, of the same order: but neither their
power nor interest were able to prevent the people from
choosing rather to raise those to the rank of nobility,
whose fathers and grandfathers they had seen in the
consulship. This enraged all the tribunes to madness,
especially Pompilius and Antistius, who were incensed at
the disappointment of their relations. What could be the
meaning of this, they said, that neither their services,
nor the injurious behaviour of the patricians, nor even
the pleasure of exercising a newly acquired right, though
a power was now granted which had hitherto been
refused, had been sufficient to procure, for any plebeian
whatever, the office of military tribune, or even that of
qustor? The prayers of a father [384] in behalf of his son,
those of one brother in behalf of another, those of
persons invested with the tribuneship of the commons,
that sacred and inviolable power created for the
protection of liberty, had all proved ineffectual. There
must certainly have been some fraudulent practices in
the case, and Aulus Sempronius must have used more
artifice in the election than was consistent with honour;
in fine, they complained loudly, that their relations had
been disappointed of the office by his unfair conduct. But
as no serious attack could be made on him, because he
was secured, both by innocence, and by the office which
he held at the time, they turned their resentment against
Caius Sempronius, uncle to Atratinus; and, aided by
Canuleius, one of their colleagues, entered a prosecution
against him on account of the disgrace sustained in the
Volscian war. By the same tribunes mention was
frequently introduced, in the senate, of the distribution of
lands, which scheme Caius Sempronius had always most
vigorously opposed; for they foresaw, as it fell out, that,
on the one hand, should he forsake that cause, he would
be less warmly defended by the patricians; and, on the
other if he should persevere, at the time when his trial
was approaching, he would give offence to the commons.
He chose to face the torrent of popular displeasure, and
rather to injure his own cause, than to be wanting to that
of the public; and therefore, standing firm in the same
opinion, he declared, that no such largess should be
made, which would only tend to aggrandize the three
tribunes; affirming, that the object of their pursuits was
not to procure lands for the commons, but ill-will against
him. That, for his own part, he would undergo the storm
with determined resolution; and, with regard to the
senate, it was their duty, not to set so high a value on
him, or on any other citizen, as through tenderness to an
individual, to give room for an injury to the public.
When the day of trial arrived, he pleaded his own cause
with the same degree of intrepidity; and,
notwithstanding [385] the patricians used every expedient
to soften the commons, he was condemned in a fine of
fifteen thousand asses.* The same year Postumia, a vestal
virgin, was charged with breach of chastity. She was free
from the guilt, but took too little pains to avoid the
imputation of it, which was grounded merely on
suspicion, caused by her too great gayety of dress, and
from her manners being less reserved than became her
state. The trial having been adjourned to a farther
hearing, and she being afterwards acquitted, the chief
pontiff, by direction of the college, ordered her to refrain
from indiscreet mirth; and, in her dress, to attend more
to the sanctity of her character, than to the fashion. In
this year Cum, a city then possessed by Greeks, was
taken by the Campanians.

Y. R. 336. BC 416. XLV. The ensuing year had for military

tribunes with consular power, Agrippa Menenius
Lanatus, Publius Lucretius Tricipitinus, Spurius Nautius,
and Caius Servilius; a year which, by good fortune, was
rendered remarkable, rather by great dangers, than by
losses. The slaves formed a conspiracy to set fire to the
city in different quarters; and, while the people should be
every where intent on saving the houses, to take arms,
and seize on the citadel and the capitol. Jupiter frustrated
their horrid designs, and the offenders, being seized upon
the information of two of their number, were punished.
The informers were rewarded with their freedom, and ten
thousand asses in weight of brass, paid out of the
treasury, a sum which, at that time, was reckoned wealth.
Soon after, intelligence was received at Rome, from good
authority, that the quans were preparing to renew
hostilities, and that this old enemy was joined in the
design by a new one, the Lavicanians. Fighting with the
quans was now become to the state almost an
anniversary custom. To Lavici ambassadors were sent,
who having [386] returned with an evasive answer, from
which it was evident that, though immediate war was not
intended, yet peace would not be of long continuance,
orders were given to the Tusculans to watch attentively,
lest any new commotion should arise at Lavici. The
military tribunes, with consular power, of the next year,
Lucius Sergius Fidenas, Marcus Papirius Mugillanus, Y.
R. 337. BC 415. Caius Servilius son of Priscus, who, in his
dictatorship, had taken Fiden, were, soon after the
commencement of their office, attended by an embassy
from Tusculum, the purport of which was, that the
Lavicanians had taken arms, and after having, in
conjunction with the quans, ravaged that territory, had
pitched their camp at Algidum. War was then proclaimed
against the Lavicanians. The senate having decreed that
two of the tribunes should go out to command the army,
and that the other should manage affairs at Rome, there
sprung up on a sudden a warm dispute among the
tribunes, each representing himself as the fittest person
to command in the war, and scorning the business of the
city as disagreeable and inglorious. The senate, beholding
with surprise this indecent contention between the
colleagues, Quintus Servilius said, Since ye pay no
deference either to this august body, or to the
commonwealth, parental authority shall put an end to
your unseemly altercation. My son, without putting it to
the lots, shall hold the command in the city. I hope that
those, who are so ambitious of being employed in the
war, may act with greater prudence and manliness in
their conduct of it, than they show in their present
competition.

XLVI. It was resolved, that the levy should not be made

out of the whole body of the people indiscriminately: ten
tribes were drawn by lot, and out of these the tribunes
enlisted the younger men, and led them to the field. The
contentions which began in the city, were, through the
same eager ambition for command, raised to a much
greater height in the camp. On no one point did their
sentiments agree; [387] each contended strenuously for
his own opinion; endeavoured to have his own plans and
his own commands only put in execution; showed a
contempt of the other; and met with the like contempt in
return: until at length, on the remonstrances of the
lieutenant-generals, they came to a compromise, which
was to enjoy the supreme command alternately, each for
a day. When these proceedings were reported at Rome,
Quintus Servilius, whose wisdom was matured by age
and experience, is said to have prayed to the immortal
gods, that the discord of the tribunes might not prove as
he feared it might, more detrimental to the
commonwealth than it had done at Veii; and to have
urged his son earnestly to enlist soldiers and prepare
arms, as if he foresaw with certainty some impending
misfortune. Nor was he a false prophet: for under the
conduct of Lucius Sergius, whose day of command it was,
the troops were suddenly attacked by the quans, in
disadvantageous ground, adjoining the enemys camp;
into which they had been decoyed by vain hopes of
mastering it; the enemy counterfeiting fear, and having
retreated to their rampart. They were driven in great
disorder down a declivity in the rear, and while they
tumbled one on another rather than fled, vast numbers
were overpowered and slain. With difficulty they
defended the camp for that day; and on the following, the
enemy having invested it on several sides, they
abandoned it in shameful flight through the opposite
gate. The generals, lieutenant-generals, and such part of
the body of the army as followed the colours, took the
rout to Tusculum: the rest dispersing up and down, made
their way to Rome by many different roads, bringing
exaggerated accounts of the disaster which had
happened. This unfortunate affair caused the less
consternation, because it was not unexpected, and
because there was a reinforcement of troops already
prepared by the military tribune, to which, in this
disorder of their affairs, they could look for security. By
his orders also, after the confusion [388] in the city had
been quieted by means of the inferior magistrates, scouts
were instantly despatched for intelligence, who brought
accounts that the generals and the army were at
Tusculum, and that the enemy had not removed their
camp. But what chiefly contributed to raise peoples
spirits was, that in pursuance of a decree of the senate,
Quintus Servilius Priscus was created dictator, a man
whose extensive judgment in public affairs the state had
experienced, as well on many former occasions as in the
issue of that campaign; he alone having, before the
misfortune happened, expressed apprehensions of
danger from the disputes of the tribunes. He appointed
for his master of the horse the tribune by whom he had
been nominated dictator, his own son, according to some
accounts; but other writers mention Servilius Ahala as
master of the horse that year. Then, putting himself at the
head of the new raised troops, and sending orders to
those at Tusculum to join him, he marched against the
enemy, and chose ground for his camp within two miles
of theirs.

XLVII. The negligence and the vanity inspired by success,

which were formerly manifested in the Roman
commanders, were now transferred to the quans. In
the first engagement, the dictator having thrown the
enemys van into disorder by a charge of the cavalry,
immediately directed the infantry to advance with speed,
and slew one of his own standard-bearers who did not
readily obey the order. Such ardour was in consequence
displayed by the troops that the quans could not
support the shock of their onset. Vanquished in the field,
they fled precipitately to their camp, the taking of which
cost even less time and trouble than the battle had done.
After the camp had been taken and plundered, the
dictator giving up the spoil to the soldiers, the horsemen,
who had pursued the enemy in their flight, returned with
intelligence, that after their defeat all the Lavicanians,
and a great part of the quans, had retreated to Lavici;
on [389] which the army was next day conducted thither,
and the town, being invested on every side, was taken by
storm. The dictator having led back his victorious army to
Rome, resigned his office, on the eighth day after his
appointment; and the senate, seizing the opportunity
before the tribunes of the commons should raise
seditions about the agrarian laws, voted, in full assembly,
that a colony should be conducted to Lavici, at the same
time introducing a proposal for a distribution of its lands.
One thousand five hundred colonists, sent from the city,
received each two acres. Y. R. 338. BC 414. During two
years after the taking of Lavici, in the first of which
Agrippa Menenius Lanatus, Lucius Servilius Structus,
Publius Lucretius Tricipitinus, all these a second time,
and Spurius Rutilus Crassus were military tribunes with
consular power; and in the following, Aulus Sempronius
Atratinus a third time, Y. R. 339. BC 413. and Marcus
Papirius Mugillanus and Spurius Nautius Rutilus both a
second time. There was tranquillity with respect to affairs
abroad, but at home dissensions occasioned by agrarian
laws.

XLVIII. The incendiaries of the populace were the Spurii,

tribunes of the commons, Mcilius a fourth time, and
Mtilius a third, both elected in their absence. A very
violent contest between the patricians and plebeians was
now expected on the subject of the agrarian laws; for
these tribunes had publicly proposed, that the lands,
taken from their enemies, should be distributed in such a
manner, that every man might have a share. Had this
proposal passed into a law, the property of a great part of
the nobles would have been confiscated; for scarcely was
there any of the public territory, not even the ground on
which the city itself was built, but what had been
acquired by arms; all of which consequently must have
been comprehended in it; nor could the military tribunes,
either in the senate, or in the private meetings of the
nobles, devise, in this exigency, any promising [390] plan
of conduct: when Appius Claudius, grandson of him who
had been decemvir for compiling the laws, being the
youngest senator in the assembly, is said to have told
them, that he had brought from home, for their use an
old scheme, which had been first devised by his family:
that his great grandfather Appius Claudius had shown
the patricians one method of baffling the power of the
tribunes, by the protests of their colleagues:that new
men were easily drawn off from their designs by the
influence of people of consequence, if they were
addressed in language suited to the times rather than to
the dignity of the speakers. Their sentiments were ever
directed by their circumstances. When they should see
that their colleagues who first set the business on foot
had got the start; and monopolized the whole credit of it
with the commons, so that there was no room left for
them to come in for any share, they would, without
reluctance, lean for support to the cause of the senate, by
means of which they might conciliate the favour, not only
of the principal patricians, but of the whole body. Every
one expressing approbation, and particularly Quintus
Servilius Priscus, highly commending the youth for not
having degenerated from the Claudian race, a general
charge was given, that they should gain over as many of
the college of tribunes as possible, to enter protests. On
the breaking up of the senate, the principal patricians
made their applications to the tribunes, and by
persuasions, admonitions, and assurances that it would
be acknowledged as a favour by each of them in
particular, and also by the whole senate, they prevailed
on six to promise their protests. Accordingly, on the day
following, when the senate was consulted, as had been
preconcerted, concerning the sedition which Mcilius
and Mtilius were exciting, by the proposal of a largess of
most pernicious tendency, the speeches of the principal
patricians ran all in the same strain, each declaring that,
for his part, he could neither devise any satisfactory
mode of proceeding, [391] nor could he see a remedy any
where, unless it were found in the protection of the
tribunes. To that office the commonwealth, embarrassed
with difficulties, in like manner as a private person in
distress, had now recourse for aid: and that it would be
highly honourable to themselves, and to their office, if
they showed that the tribuneship possessed not greater
power to harass the senate, and excite discord between
the orders in the state, than to favour ill-designing
colleagues. The voices of the whole senate were then
heard together, appeals to the tribunes, coming from
every corner of the house; and, in some time, silence
being obtained, those who had been prepared through
the influence of the principal nobility gave notice, that
the proposal of a law, published by their colleagues,
which, in the judgment of the senate, tended to the
dissolution of the commonwealth, they would oppose
with their protests. The thanks of the senate were given
to the protestors: but the authors of the proposal, having
called an assembly of the people, abused their colleagues
as traitors to the interests of the commons, and slaves to
the consulars: but, after uttering other bitter invectives
against them, dropped the prosecution of their scheme.

Y. R. 340. BC 412. XLIX. The two perpetual enemies of the

Romans would have given them employment during the
following year, in which Publius Cornelius Cossus, Caius
Valerius Potitus, Quintus Quintius Cincinnatus, and
Numerius Fabius Vibulanus were military tribunes with
consular power, had not the religious scruples of their
leaders deferred the military operations of the
Veientians, in consequence of their lands having suffered
severely, principally in the destruction of their country-
seats, by an inundation of the Tiber. At the same time,
the quans, by the loss which they had sustained three
years before, were deterred from affording aid to the
Volani, one of their kindred states. These had made
inroads on the contiguous district of Lavici,
and [392] committed hostilities on the new colony: in
which unjust proceeding they had hoped to have been
supported by the concurrence of all the quans; but,
being forsaken by their confederates, they, without
performing any action worth mentioning, were stripped,
in one slight battle and a siege, both of their lands and
their city. An attempt made by Lucius Sextius, plebeian
tribune, to procure a law that a colony should be sent to
Vol, in like manner as to Lavici, was crushed by the
protests of his colleagues; who declared openly that they
would not suffer any order of the commons to be passed,
unless it were approved by the senate. Y. R.
341. BC 411. Next year the quans, having recovered
Vol, and sent a colony thither, strengthened the town
with additional fortifications, the military tribunes with
consular power, at Rome, being Cneius Cornelius Cossus,
Lucius Valerius Potitus, Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, a
second time, and Marcus Postumius Regillensis. The
conduct of the war with the quans was intrusted to the
last mentioned, a man of a depraved mind; which,
however, did not appear so much in his management of
the campaign, as in his behaviour on gaining success.
Having, with great activity, levied an army and marched
to Vol, after breaking the spirits of the quans in slight
engagements, he at length forced his way into the place;
where he began a contention with his countrymen,
instead of the quans. For having proclaimed, during
the assault, that the plunder should be given to the
soldiers, he broke his word on getting possession of the
town. This, I am inclined to believe, was the cause of the
displeasure of the army; rather than from finding less
booty than the tribune had represented, and which they
could not well expect in a new colony, and a town which
had been sacked a short time before. Their anger was
farther inflamed on his return to the city, (whither he had
been summoned by his colleagues, on account of
seditions raised by the plebeian tribunes,) from an
expression which he was heard to utter in an assembly
of [393] the people, and which showed great weakness, or
rather a degree of insanity. On Sextius, the plebeian
tribune, preposing an agrarian law, and at the same time
declaring that he would also propose the sending of a
colony to Vol, because those men deserved to enjoy the
city and lands of Vol, who had gained possession of
them by their arms, he exclaimed, Wo to my soldiers, if
they are not quiet. Which words gave not greater offence
to the assembly, than they did soon after to the
patricians, when they heard them; and the plebeian
tribune, a keen man, and not destitute of eloquence,
having found among his adversaries this haughty temper
and ungoverned tongue, which he could easily provoke to
such expressions as would excite indignation, not only
against himself, but against the whole body and their
cause, took occasion to draw Postumius more frequently
into disputes than any other of the military tribunes. But
now, on such a barbarous and inhuman expression, he
remarked, Do ye hear him, citizens! denouncing wo to
soldiers as he would to slaves? and yet this brute will be
judged by you more deserving of his high office than
those who send you into colonies, and enrich you with
lands and cities; who provide a settlement for your old
age; and who fight, to the last, in defence of your
interests. Begin then to learn why so few undertake your
cause. What would they have to expect at your hands?
posts of honour? These ye choose to confer on your
adversaries, rather than on the champions of the Roman
people. Ye murmured just now on hearing that mans
words. What does that avail? If ye had an opportunity,
this moment, of giving your votes, ye would no doubt
prefer him who denounces wo to you, before those who
wish to procure establishments for you, of lands,
habitations, and property.

L. The words of Postumius being conveyed to the

soldiers, excited in the camp a much higher degree of
indignation. Should a fraudulent embezzler of the
spoils, they [394] said, denounce also wo to the
soldiers? A general and open avowal of their resentment
ensuing, the qustor, Publius Sextius, supposing that the
mutiny might be quashed, by the same violence which
had given rise to it, sent a lictor to one of the most
clamorous of the soldiers, on which a tumult and scuffle
arose, in which he received a blow of a stone, which
obliged him to withdraw from the crowd; the person who
had wounded him adding, with a sneer, that the qustor
had got what the general had threatened to the soldiers.
Postumius being sent for, on account of this disturbance,
exasperated still farther the general ill humour, by the
severity of his inquiries and cruelty of his punishments.
At last, a crowd being drawn together, by the cries of
some whom he had ordered to be put to death under a
hurdle, he gave a loose to his rage, running down from
the tribunal, like a madman, against those who
interrupted the execution. There the indignation of the
multitude, increased by the lictors clearing the way on all
sides, and by the conduct of the centurions, burst out
with such fury, that the tribune was overwhelmed with
stones by his own troops. When this deed of such a
heinous nature was reported at Rome, and the military
tribunes endeavoured to procure a decree of the senate,
for an inquiry into the death of their colleague, the
plebeian tribunes interposed their protest. But this
dispute was a branch of a contest of another kind; for the
patricians had been seized with apprehensions that the
commons, actuated by resentment and dread of the
inquiries, would elect military tribunes out of their own
body; therefore, they laboured with all their might for an
election of consuls. The plebeian tribunes, not suffering
the decree of the senate to pass, and also protesting
against the election of consuls, the affair was brought to
an interregnum. The patricians then obtained the victory.

Y. R. 342. BC 410. LI. Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, interrex,

presiding in the assembly, Marcus Cornelius Cossus
and [395] Lucius Furius Medullinus were chosen consuls.
In the beginning of their year of office, the senate passed
a decree, that the tribunes should, without delay, propose
to the commons an inquiry into the murder of Postumius,
and that the commons should appoint whomsoever they
should think proper to conduct the inquiry. The
employment was, by a vote of the commons, which was
approved by the people at large, committed to the
consuls; who, notwithstanding they proceeded in the
business with the utmost moderation and lenity, passing
sentence of punishment only on a few, who, as there is
good reason to believe, put an end to their own lives; yet
could he not prevent the commons from conceiving the
highest displeasure, and from observing that any
constitutions, enacted for their advantage, lay long
dormant and unexecuted; whereas a law passed, in the
mean time, consigning their persons and lives to
forfeiture, was instantly enforced, and that with such full
effect. This would have been a most seasonable time,
after the punishment of the mutiny, to have soothed their
minds with such a healing measure as the distribution of
the territory of Vol; as it would have diminished their
eagerness in the pursuit of an agrarian law, which tended
to expel the patricians from the public lands, the
possession of which they had unjustly acquired. But as
matters were managed, the ill treatment shown them, in
this very instance, was an additional source of vexation,
as the nobility not only persisted with obstinacy to retain
possession of those public lands, but even refused to
distribute to the commons such as had been lately taken
from the enemy, which otherwise would, like the rest, in
a short time become the prey of a few. This year the
legions were led out by the consul Furius against the
Volscians, who were ravaging the country of the
Hernicians; but not finding the enemy there, they
proceeded to and took Ferentinum, whither a great
multitude had retreated. The quantity of the spoil was
less than they had expected, because the
Volscians, [396] seeing small hopes of holding out, had
carried off their effects by night, and abandoned the
town; which, being left almost without an inhabitant, fell
next day into the hands of the Romans. The lands were
given to the Hernicians.
 Y. R. 343. BC 409. LII. That year, through the moderation
of the tribunes, passed in domestic quiet; but the
succeeding one, wherein Quintus Fabius Ambustus and
Caius Furius Pacilus were consuls, was ushered in with
the turbulent operations of Lucius Icilius, a plebeian
tribune. Whilst, in the very beginning of the year, he was
employed in exciting sedition by the publication of
agrarian laws, as if that were a task incumbent on his
name and family, a pestilence broke out, more alarming,
however, than deadly, which diverted mens thoughts
from the Forum, and political disputes, to their own
houses, and the care of their personal safety. It is believed
that the disorder was less fatal in its effects, than the
sedition would have proved, the state being delivered
from it, with the loss of very few lives; though the
sickness had been exceedingly general. Y. R.
344. BC 408. This year of pestilence was succeeded by one
of scarcity, owing to the neglect of agriculture, usual in
such cases. Marcus Papirius Atratinus and Caius
Nauticus Rutilus were consuls. Famine would now have
produced more dismal effects than the pest, had not a
supply been procured to the market by despatching
envoys round all the nations bordering on the Tuscan
sea, and on the Tiber, to purchase corn. The Samnites,
who were then in possession of Capua and Cum, in a
haughty manner prohibited them from trading there:
they met, however, with a different reception from the
tyrants of Sicily, who kindly afforded every assistance.
The largest supplies were brought down by the Tiber,
through the very active zeal of the Etrurians. In
consequence of the sickness, the consuls were at a loss for
men to transact the business of the nation, so that not
finding more than one senator for each embassy, they
were obliged to join [397] to it two knights. Except from
the sickness and the scarcity, there happened nothing
during those two years, either at home or abroad, to give
them any trouble. But no sooner did those causes of
uneasiness disappear than all the evils which had
hitherto so frequently distressed the state, started up
together, intestine discord and foreign wars.

Y. R. 345. BC 407. LIII. In the succeeding consulate of

Mamercus milius and Caius Valerius Potitus, the
quans made preparations for war; and the Volscians,
though they took not arms by public authority, supplied
them with volunteers who served for pay. On the report
of hostilities having been committed by them, for they
had now marched out into the territories of the Latines
and Hernicians, Valerius the consul began to enlist
troops, whilst Marcus Mnius, a plebeian tribune, who
was pushing forward an agrarian law, obstructed the
levies; and as the people were secure of the support of the
tribune, no one, who did not choose it, took the military
oath,when on a sudden, news arrived that the citadel of
Carventa had been seized by the enemy. The disgrace
incurred by this event, while it served the senate as a
ground of severe reproaches against Mnius, afforded at
the same time to the other tribunes, who had been
already preengaged to protest against the agrarian law, a
more justifiable pretext for acting in opposition to their
colleague. Wherefore, after the business had been
protracted to a great length, by wrangling disputes, the
consuls appealing to gods and men, maintained that
whatever losses or disgrace had already been, or was
likely to be suffered from the enemy, the blame of all was
to be imputed to Mnius, who hindered the levies;
Mnius, on the other hand, exclaiming, that if the unjust
occupiers would resign the possession of the public lands,
he would give no delay to the levies. On this, the nine
tribunes interposed, by a decree, and put an end to the
contest, proclaiming as the determination of their
college, that they would, for the purpose of enforcing the
levy, in opposition [398] to the protest of their colleague,
support Caius Valerius in inflicting fines and other
penalties, on such as should refuse to enlist. Armed with
this decree, the consul ordered a few, who appealed to the
tribune, to be taken into custody; at which, the rest, being
terrified, took the military oath. The troops were led to
the citadel of Carventa, and though mutual dislike
prevailed between them and the consul, yet, as soon as
they arrived at the spot, they retook the citadel with great
spirit, driving out the troops which defended it. Numbers
having carelessly straggled from the garrison, in search of
plunder, had left the place so exposed as to be attacked
with success. The booty was there considerable; because
the whole of what they collected, in their continual
depredations, had been stored up in the citadel, as a place
of safety. This the consul ordered the qustors to sell by
auction, and to carry the produce into the treasury,
declaring that when the soldiers should appear not to
have a desire to decline the service, they should then
share in the spoil. This so much increased the anger of
the people and soldiers against the consul, that when, in
pursuance of a decree of the senate, he entered the city in
ovation, in the couplets of rude verses, thrown out with
military license, and in which he was reflected on with
severity, the name of Mnius was extolled with praises,
and on every mention of the tribune, the attachment of
the surrounding populace, manifested itself in
expressions of approbation and applause, which vied
with the commendations of the soldiers. This
circumstance, in regard to the tribune, more than the
wanton raillery of the soldiers against the consul, and
which was in some measure customary, gave great
uneasiness to the senate; so that, not doubting but
Mnius would be honoured with a place among the
military tribunes, if he were to be a candidate, they put it
out of his reach by appointing an election of consuls.

[399]

Y. R. 346. BC 406. LIV. The consuls elected were Cneius

Cornelius Cossus and Lucius Furius Medullinus a second
time. The commons were never more highly displeased
than now, at not being allowed to elect tribunes. At the
nomination of qustors, they discovered this displeasure,
and at the same time took their revenge by raising, for
the first time, plebeians to their place: of the four
appointed, Cso Fabius Ambustus was the only
patrician; the three plebeians, Quintus Silius, Publius
lius, and Publius Pupius being preferred before young
men of the most illustrious families. That the people
exerted this freedom, in giving their suffrages, was owing,
I find, to the Icilii, out of which family, the most hostile of
any to the patricians, three were chosen tribunes for that
year; who, after flattering the multitude with the prospect
of various and great designs to be achieved, and thereby
exciting their most ardent expectations, affirmed that
they would not stir a step, unless the nation would, at
least in the election of qustors, the only one which the
senate had left open to both patricians and plebeians,
show a proper degree of spirit for the accomplishment of
what they had long wished for, and what the laws had put
in their power. The commons, therefore, considered this
as an important victory, and estimated the qustorship
in its present state, not according to the intrinsic value of
the office itself, but as it appeared to lay open to new men
an access to the consulship and the honours of a triumph.
On the other hand, the patricians expressed great
indignation at the prospect of the posts of honour not
only being shared with others, but perhaps lost to
themselves, affirming, that if things were to remain in
that state, it would be folly to educate children, who,
being excluded from the station of their ancestors, and
seeing such in possession of their rightful honours, would
be left without command or power in the character of
Salii or Flamens, with no other employment than that of
offering sacrifices for the people. The minds of both
parties became [400] highly irritated, while the commons
assumed new courage, in having acquired three leaders of
the popular cause, of most distinguished reputation. The
senate, seeing that every election wherein the commons
had liberty of choosing out of both parties, would prove
in the issue like that of the qustors, were earnest for the
naming of consuls, which was not yet laid open to them.
On the other hand, the Icilii insisted that military
tribunes should be elected, and some posts of dignity be
at length imparted to the commons.

LV. The consuls had no business on their hands, by an

opposition to which they could extort a compliance with
their wishes: when at a moment surprizingly seasonable
for their purpose, news was brought that the Volscians
and quans had marched beyond their own frontiers, to
ravage the lands of the Latines and Hernicians. But when
the consuls began to levy troops, the tribunes exerted
themselves strenuously to hinder it; affirming that this
was an advantageous opportunity, presented by fortune
to them and to the commons. There were three of them
all men of the most active talents, and considerable
families among the plebeians. Two of these chose each a
consul, whose motions he was to watch with unremitting
assiduity, the third had the charge assigned him, of
sometimes restraining, sometimes spiriting up the
commons by his harangues. Thus the consuls could not
accomplish the levy, nor the tribunes the election which
they had planned. After some time expresses arrived that
the quans had attacked the citadel of Carventa, while
the soldiers of the garrison were straggling abroad in
search of plunder, and had put to death the few who were
left to guard it; that several were slain as they were
hastily returning to the citadel, with others who were
dispersed through the country. This incident, while it
prejudiced the state, added force to the project of the
tribunes. For, though assailed by every argument to
induce them to desist, at least in the present situation of
affairs, from obstructing the business of [401] the war,
they would not give way either to the storm which
threatened the public, or to the torrent of displeasure to
which themselves were exposed; and, at length, carried
their point, that the senate should pass a decree for the
election of military tribunes. This, however, was
accompanied with an express stipulation, that no person
should be admitted as a candidate who was in that year a
plebeian tribune; and that no plebeian tribune should be
rechosen for the year following: the senate in this,
pointing undoubtedly at the Icilii, whom they suspected
of aiming at the consular tribuneship. After this, the levy
and other preparations for war, went forward, with the
general concurrence of all ranks. The diversity of the
accounts given by writers renders it uncertain, whether
the two consuls marched to the citadel of Carventa, or
whether one remained at home to hold the elections, but
those facts in which they do not disagree, we may receive
as certain; that, after having carried on the attack for a
long time, without effect, the army retired from that
citadel; that, by the same army, Verrugo, in the country
of the Volscians, was retaken, great devastation made,
and immense booty captured, in the territories both of
the quans and Volscians.

Y. R. 347. BC 405. LVI. At Rome, as the commons gained

the victory, so far as to procure the kind of election which
they preferred, so in the issue of it, the patricians were
victorious: for, contrary to the expectation of all, three
patricians were chosen military tribunes with consular
power; Caius Julius Iulus, Publius Cornelius Cossus, and
Caius Servilius Ahala. It is said that an artifice was
practised by the patricians on the occasion, and the Icilii
charged them with it at the time; that by intermixing a
number of unworthy candidates, with the deserving, they
turned away the peoples thoughts from the plebeian
candidates. The disgust was excited by the remarkable
meanness of some of the number. Information was now
received that the Volscians and [402] quans, actuated
by hopes, from having been able to keep possession of the
citadel of Carventa, or by anger, for the loss of the
garrison of Verrugo, had in conjunction commenced
hostilities with the utmost force which they could muster,
and that the Antians were the chief promoters of this
measure; for that their ambassadors had gone about
among both those states, upbraiding their spiritless
conduct, saying that they had the year before lain hid
behind walls, and suffered the Romans to carry their
depredations through every part of the country, and the
garrison of Verrugo to be overpowered. That now, armed
troops, as well as colonies, were sent into their territories;
and that the Romans not only kept possession of their
property, and distributed it among themselves, but even
made presents of a part of it to the Hernicians of
Terentinum, a district of which they had been stripped.
Peoples minds being inflamed by these representations
of the envoys, great numbers of the young men were
enlisted. Thus the youth of all the several nations were
drawn together to Antium, and there pitching their camp,
they waited the attack. These violent proceedings being
reported at Rome, and exaggerated beyond the truth, the
senate instantly ordered a dictator to be nominated, their
ultimate resource in all perilous conjunctures. We are
told that this measure gave great offence to Julius and
Cornelius, and was not accomplished without much ill
temper in others. The principal patricians, after many
fruitless complaints against the military tribunes, for
refusing to be directed by the senate, at last went so far as
to appeal to the tribunes of the commons, representing,
that compulsory measures had been used by that body
even to consuls in a similar case. The plebeian tribunes,
overjoyed at this dissension among the patricians, made
answer, that there was no support to be expected from
persons who were not accounted in the number of
citizens, and scarcely of the human race. If at any time
the posts of honour should cease [403] to be confined to
one party, and the people should be admitted to a share
in the administration of government, they would then
exert their endeavours to prevent the decrees of the
senate being invalidated by any arrogance of magistrates.
Until then, the patricians, who were under no restraint in
respect to the laws, might by themselves manage the
tribunitian office along with the rest.

LVII. This connection, at a most unseasonable time, and

when they had on their hands a war of such importance,
occupied every ones thoughts; until at length, after
Julius and Cornelius had for a long time descanted, by
turns, on the injustice done them in snatching out of their
hands the honourable employment entrusted to them by
the people, (they being sufficiently qualified to conduct
the war,) Servilius Ahala, one of the military tribunes,
said, that he had kept silence so long, not because he
was in doubt as to the part he ought to take; for what
good citizen would consider his own emolument, rather
than that of the public? but because he wished that his
colleagues would, of their own accord, yield to the
authority of the senate, rather than let supplications be
made to the college of tribunes, for support against them.
That notwithstanding what had passed, if the situations
of affairs would allow it, he would still give them time to
recede from an opinion, too obstinately maintained. But
as the exigences of war would not wait on the counsels of
men, he would prefer the interest of the commonwealth
to the regard of his associates; and if the senate
continued in the same sentiments, he would, on the
following night, nominate a dictator; and if any person
protested against the senate passing a decree, he would
consider a vote of that body as sufficient authority.* By
this conduct, having, deservedly, obtained the praises
and countenance of all, after he had
nominated [404] Publius Cornelius dictator, he was
himself appointed by him master of the horse, and
afforded an example to such as observed his case, and
that of his colleagues, that honours and public favour
sometimes offer themselves the more readily to those
who show no ambition for them. The war produced no
memorable event. In one battle, and that gained without
difficulty, the enemy were vanquished at Antium. The
victorious army laid the lands of the Volscians entirely
waste. Their fort, at the lake Fucinus, was taken by storm,
and in it three thousand men made prisoners; the rest of
the Volscians were driven into the towns, without making
any attempt to defend the country. The dictator having
conducted the war in such a manner as showed only that
he was not negligent of fortunes favours, returned to the
city with a greater share of success than of glory, and
resigned his office. The military tribunes, without making
any mention of an election of consuls, I suppose through
pique for the appointment of a dictator, issued a
proclamation for the choosing of military tribunes. The
perplexity of the patricians became now greater than
ever, when they saw their cause betrayed by men of their
own order. In like manner, therefore, as they had done
the year before, they set up as candidates the most
unworthy of the plebeians, thus creating a disgust against
all of these, even the deserving; and then, by engaging
those patricians who were most eminently distinguished
by the splendor of their character, and by their interest,
to stand forth as candidates, they secured every one of
the places according to their wish. There were four
military tribunes elected, Y. R. 348. BC 404. all of whom
had already served, Lucius Furius Medullinus, Caius
Valerius Potitus, Numerius Fabius Vibulanus, and Caius
Servilius Ahala: the last being continued in office, by re-
election, as well on account of his other deserts, as in
consequence of the popularity which he had recently
acquired by his singular moderation.

LVIII. In that year, the term of the truce with the

Veientian [405] nation being expired, ambassadors and
heralds were employed to make a demand of satisfaction
for injuries, who, on coming to the frontiers, were met by
an embassy from the Veientians. These requested that
the others would not proceed to Veii, until they should
first have access to the Roman senate. From the senate
they obtained, that, in consideration of the Veientians
being distressed by intestine dissensions, satisfaction
should not be demanded: so far were they from seeking,
in the troubles of others, an occasion of advancing their
own interests. In another quarter, and in the country of
the Volscians, a disaster was felt in the garrison at
Verrugo being lost. On which occasion so much depended
on time, that though the troops besieged there by the
Volscians had requested assistance, and might have been
succoured, if expedition had been used, the army sent to
their relief, came only in time to destroy the enemy, who,
just after putting the garrison to the sword, were
dispersed, in search of plunder. This dilatoriness was not
to be imputed to the tribunes, so much as to the senate;
who, because they were told that a very vigorous
resistance was made, never considered, that there are
certain limits to human strength, beyond which no
degree of bravery can proceed. These very gallant
soldiers, however were not without revenge, both before
and after their death, In the following year, Publius and
Cneius Cornelius Cossus, Y. R. 349. BC 403. Numerius
Fabius Ambustus, and Lucius Valerius Potitus being
military tribunes with consular power, war was
commenced against the Veientians, in resentment of an
insolent answer of their senate; who, when the
ambassadors demanded satisfaction, ordered them to be
told, that if they did not speedily quit the city, they would
give them the satisfaction which Lars Tolumnius had
given. The Roman senate being highly offended at this,
decreed, that the military tribunes should, as early as
possible, propose to the people the proclaiming war
against the Veientians. As soon as that [406] proposal was
made public, the young men openly expressed their
discontent. The war with the Volscians, they said, was
not yet at an end; it was not long since two garrisons were
utterly destroyed, and one of the forts was with difficulty
retained. Not a year passed, in which they were not
obliged to meet an enemy in the field, and, as if these
fatigues were thought too trifling, a new war was now set
on foot against a neighbouring and most powerful nation,
who would soon rouse all Etruria to arms. These
discontents, first suggested by themselves, were farther
aggravated by the plebeian tribunes, who affirmed, that
the war of greatest moment subsisting, was that between
the patricians and plebeians. That the latter were
designedly harassed by military service, and exposed to
the destructive weapons of enemies. They were kept at a
distance from the city, and in a state of banishment, lest,
should they enjoy rest at home, they might turn their
thoughts towards liberty, and the establishment of
colonies, and form plans, either for obtaining possession
of the public lands, or asserting their right of giving their
suffrages with freedom. Then taking hold of the
veterans, they recounted the years which each of them
had served, their wounds and scars, asking, where was
there room on their bodies to receive new wounds? what
quantity of blood had they remaining which could be
shed for the commonwealth? As they had by these
insinuations and remarks, thrown out in public
assemblies, rendered the commons averse from the war,
the determination on the proposition was adjourned,
because it was manifest, that, if it came before them,
during the present ill-humour it would certainly be
rejected.

LIX. It was resolved, that, in the mean time, the military

tribunes should lead an army into the territories of the
Volscians. Cneius Cornelius alone was left at Rome. The
three tribunes, finding that the Volscians had not any
where formed a camp, and that they were resolved not to
hazard a [407] battle, divided their forces into three parts,
and set out towards different quarters to waste the
enemys country. Valerius directed his march to Antium,
Cornelius to Ecetra, and wherever they came, they made
extensive depredations both on the lands and houses, in
order to separate the troops of the Volscians. Fabius
marched, without plundering, to attack Anxur, which was
the principal object in view. Anxur is the city which we
now call Tarracin, situated on a declivity adjoining a
morass. On this side, Fabius made a feint of attacking it,
but sent round four cohorts under Caius Servilius Ahala,
who, having seized on an eminence which commands the
city, assailed the walls, with great shouting and tumult,
and where there was no guard to defend them. Those,
who were employed in protecting the lower part of the
city against Fabius, being stunned and in amazement at
this tumult, gave him an opportunity of applying the
scaling ladders. Every place was quickly filled with the
Romans, and a dreadful slaughter continued a long time
without distinction of those who fled and those who
made resistance, of the armed or unarmed. The
vanquished therefore were under a necessity of fighting,
there being no hope for such as retired, until an order
was suddenly proclaimed, that no one should be injured
except those who were in arms, which induced all the
surviving multitude instantly to surrender. Of these,
there were taken alive, to the number of two thousand
five hundred. Fabius would not suffer his soldiers to
meddle with the spoil, until his colleagues arrived,
saying, that those armies had also a part in the taking of
Anxur, who had diverted the other troops of the
Volscians from the defence of the place. On their arrival
the three armies plundered the city, which a long course
of prosperity had filled with opulence; and this liberality
of the commanders first began to reconcile the commons
to the patricians: which end was soon after farther
promoted; for the principal nobility, with a generosity
towards [408] the multitude the most seasonable that ever
was shown, procured a decree of the senate, and before
such a scheme could be mentioned by the tribunes or
commons, that the soldiers should receive pay out of the
public treasury,* whereas hitherto every one had served
at his own expense.

LX. No measure, we are told, was ever received by the

commons with such transports of joy: they ran in crowds
to the senate-house, caught the hands of the senators as
they came out, declaring that they were fathers in reality,
and acknowledging that their conduct had been such,
that every man, whilst he had any share of strength
remaining, would risk his person, and property, in the
cause of a country so liberal to its citizens. Whilst they
were delighted with the comfortable prospect of their
private substance at all events resting unimpaired, during
such time as they should be consigned over to the
commonwealth, and employed in its service, their joy
received a manifold addition, and their gratitude was
raised to a higher pitch, from the consideration that this
had been a voluntary grant, having never been agitated
by the tribunes, nor attempted to be gained by any
requisitions of their own. The plebeian tribunes, alone,
partook not of the general satisfaction and harmony
diffused through every rank, but averred, that this would
not prove such matter of joy nor so honourable to the
patricians, as they themselves imagined. That the plan
appeared better on the first view, than it would prove on
experience. For how could that money be procured unless
by imposing a tax on the people? They were generous to
some, therefore, at others expense. Besides, even though
this should be borne, those who had served out their time
in the army would never endure, that their successors
should be retained on [409] better terms than they
themselves had been; and that they should bear the
expense first of their own service and then of that of
others. These arguments had an effect on great numbers
of the commons. At last, on the publication of the decree
for levying the tax, the tribunes went so far, as, on their
part, to give public notice, that they would give protection
to any person who should refuse his proportion, of the
tax for payment to the soldiers. The patricians persisted
in support of a matter so happily begun. They first of all
paid in their own assessment; and there being no silver
coined at that time, some of them conveying their
weighed brass to the treasury in wagons, gave a pompous
appearance to their payments. This being done by the
senate with the strictest punctuality, and according to
their rated properties, the principal plebeians, connected
in friendship with the nobility, in pursuance of a plan laid
down, began to pay; and, when the populace saw these
highly commended by the patricians, and also respected
as good citizens by those of military age, scorning the
support of the tribunes, they began at once to vie with
each other in paying the tax. The law being then passed,
for declaring war against the Veientians, a numerous
army, composed chiefly of volunteers, followed the new
military tribunes, with consular power, to Veii.

Y. R. 350. BC 402. LXI. These tribunes were Titus Quintius

Capitolinus, Publius Quintius Cincinnatus, Caius Julius
Iulus a second time, Aulus Manlius, Lucius Furius
Medullinus a second time, and Manius milius
Mamercinus. By these Veii was first invested. A little
before this siege began, a full meeting of the Etrurians
being held at the temple of Voltumna, the question
whether the Veientians should be supported by the joint
concurrence of the whole confederacy, was left
undecided. During the following year the siege was
prosecuted with less vigour, because some of the tribunes
and their troops were called away to [410] oppose the
Volscians. Y. R. 351. BC 401. The military tribunes, with
consular power, of this year were, Caius Valerius Potitus
a third time, Manius Sergius Fidenas, Publius Cornelius
Maluginensis, Cneius Cornelius Cossus, Cso Fabius
Ambustus, Spurius Nautius Rutilus, a second time. A
pitched battle was fought with the Volscians, between
Ferentinum and Ecetra, in which the Romans had the
advantage. Siege was then laid by the tribunes to Artena,
a town of the Volscians. After some time, the enemy
having attempted a sally, and being driven back into the
town, the besiegers got an opportunity of forcing their
way in, and made themselves masters of every place,
except the citadel. This fortress was naturally very strong,
and a body of armed men had thrown themselves into it.
Under its wall great numbers were slain and made
prisoners. The citadel was then besieged, but it neither
could be taken by storm, because it had a garrison
sufficient for the size of the place, nor did it afford any
hope of a surrender, because, before the city was taken,
all the public stores of corn had been conveyed thither, so
that the Romans would have grown weary of the attempt,
and retired, had not the fortress been betrayed to them
by a slave. He gave admittance, through a place of
difficult access, to some soldiers, who made themselves
masters of it; and while they were employed in killing the
guards, the rest of the multitude, losing all courage at the
sight of this unexpected attack, laid down their arms.
After demolishing both the citadel and city of Artena, the
legions were led back from the country of the Volscians,
and the whole power of Rome turned against Veii. The
traitor received as a reward, besides his liberty, the
property of two families, and was called Servius
Romanus. Some are of opinion, that Artena belonged to
the Veientians, not to the Volscians: a mistake occasioned
by there having been once a town of [411] that name,
between Cre and Veii. But that town the Roman kings
demolished; it was the property of the Critians, not of
the Veientians; this other of the same name, the
destruction of which we have related, was in the country
of the Volscians.

[412]

BOOK V.
On occasion of the siege of Veii, winter huts erected for
the troops; on account of which, being a new plan, the
tribunes of the people endeavour to excite discontent,
complaining that no repose is given to the soldiers, even
in winter. The cavalry, for the first time, serve on horses
of their own. Veii, after a siege of ten years, taken by
Furius Camillus, dictator. In the character of military
tribunes, he lays seige to Falisci; sends back the children
of the enemy, who were betrayed into his hands; being
charged with criminal conduct, goes into exile. The
Senonian Gauls lay siege to Clusium. Roman
ambassadors sent to mediate peace, take part with the
Clusians; provoked at which, the Gauls march directly
against Rome, and, after routing the Romans at the Allia,
take possession of the whole city, except the Capitol.
Having scaled the Capitol in the night, they are
discovered by the cackling of geese, and repulsed,
principally by the exertions of Marcus Manlius. The
Romans, compelled by famine, agree to ransom
themselves. While they are weighing the gold, Camillus
arrives with an army, beats off the Gauls, and destroys
their army. He prevents the design of moving to Veii.
 Y. R. 352. BC 400. I. PEACE now subsisted in all other
quarters; but the Romans and Veientians were still in
arms, and displayed such violent rancour and animosity
as made it evident that utter destruction would be the
fate of the party vanquished. The election of magistrates
in the two states was conducted in very different
methods. The Romans [413] augmented the number of
their military tribunes with consular power, electing
eight, a number greater than had hitherto been known.
These were Manius milius Mamercinus a second time,
Lucius Valerius Potitus a third time, Appius Claudius
Crassus, Marcus Quintilius Varus, Lucius Julius Iulus,
Marcus Postumius, Marcus Furius Camillus, Marcus
Postumius Albinus. The Veientians, on the other hand,
disgusted at the annual intrigues of candidates, which
were sometimes the cause of violent dissensions, elected
a king. This step gave great offence to all the states of
Etruria, as besides their abhorrence of kingly
government, they held the person elected in no less
detestation. He, out of the insolence of wealth, and the
arrogance of his temper, had before this rendered himself
obnoxious to the nation, by violently breaking off the
performance of certain annual games, the omission of
which was deemed an impiety: for instigated by pique,
because another candidate for the office of priest had
been preferred before him, by the suffrages of the twelve
states, in the middle of the solemnity, he abruptly carried
away the performers, of whom a great part were his
slaves. That nation, therefore devoted beyond all others
to religious performances, the more so, because they
excelled in the conduct of them, passed a decree, by
which all aid was refused to the Veientians, so long as
they should continue under the government of a king. At
Veii, all mention of this decree was suppressed by
peoples dread of the king, who would have treated any
person, reported to have mentioned such a matter, as a
leader of sedition, not as the author of an idle rumour.
Although the Romans received intelligence that all was
quiet in Etruria, yet being also informed that this
business was agitated in every one of their meetings, they
formed and strengthened their fortifications in such a
manner as gave them security on both sides. Some they
raised on the part next the town, against the irruptions of
the townsmen; [414] others, the side opposite Etruria, so
as to guard against any auxiliaries which might come
from thence.

II. The Roman generals, conceiving greater hopes from a

blockade, than from an assault, resolved to carry on their
operations during the whole winter; and accordingly they
began to erect huts, a proceeding quite new to Roman
soldiers. As soon as an account of this was brought to the
plebeian tribunes, who for a long time past found no
pretext for starting new disturbances, they flew out to
meet the people in assembly, and laboured to inflame the
minds of the commons, asserting, that this was the
purpose for which pay for the soldiery had been
established; nor had they been so blind, as not to see,
that such a present from their enemies was tainted with
poison. That the liberty of the commons had been sold;
their young men carried away without hope of return,
exposed to the severity of winter, excluded from their
houses and family affairs. What did they suppose was the
reason for keeping the troops on duty without
intermission? They would find it, in fact, to be no other
than the apprehension, lest in case of the attendance of
those youths, in whom the whole strength of the
commons consisted, some steps might be taken towards
promoting their interests. Besides, the men were more
harassed, and subjected to greater hardships than the
Veientians. For the latter passed the winter under their
own roofs, having their city secured by strong walls, and
its natural situation; while the Roman soldiers, in the
midst of labour and toils, lay perishing in tents,
overwhelmed by snow and frost; never laying their arms
out of their hands even in that severe season, which had
ever given a respite to all wars either on land or sea.
Neither kings nor consuls, overbearing as they were
before the institution of the tribunitian office; nor the
stern government of a dictator; nor the arbitrary
decemvirs; ever imposed such a pain as this of
unremitting military service. Yet military tribunes
assumed that degree of kingly power [415] over the
commons of Rome. What would have been the behaviour
of those men, in the office of consul or dictator, who have
exhibited a picture of proconsular power in colours of
such harshness and cruelty? but this was no worse than
what the people deserved. Among eight military tribunes,
they did not give room to one plebeian. Till of late, the
patricians used to find the utmost difficulty in filling up
three places; but, now they march in files, eight deep, to
take possession of the posts of government; and even in
such a crowd, no plebeian is found intermixed, who, if he
served no other purpose, might remind his colleagues,
that the army was composed not of slaves but of freemen;
of citizens who ought to be brought home, at least in
winter, to their habitations, and the comforts of their own
roofs, and allowed, at some time of the year, to visit their
parents, children, and wives; to exercise the rights of
Romans, and to take a part in the election of
magistrates. While they exclaimed in these, and such
like terms, they were not unequally matched in an
opponent, Appius Claudius, who had been left at home,
by his colleagues, for the purpose of repressing the
turbulent schemes of the tribunes; a man trained, from
his youth, in contentions with the plebeians; who some
years before, had recommended, as has been mentioned,
the disuniting the power of the tribunes by the protests of
their colleagues.

III. Endowed by nature with good abilities, and possessed

also of experience, from long practice, he spoke on this
occasion in the following manner: if it ever was a matter
of doubt, citizens, whether the motives which led the
plebeian tribunes to foment sedition, on every occasion,
regarded your interests or their own, I am confident that,
in the course of this year, every such doubt must have
vanished; and while I rejoice at your being at length
undeceived in respect of a mistake of long continuance, I
cannot, at the same time, refrain from congratulating
you, and on your account, the commonwealth, that the
delusion has been removed [416] by a train of prosperous
events, rather than by any other means. Is there a person
living, who is not convinced that the plebeian tribunes
were never so highly displeased and provoked by any
instance of the ill treatment felt by you, if any such ever
really existed, as by the generosity of the patricians
towards the commons, in establishing pay for the army?
What other event do ye think they either dreaded then,
with so much anxiety; or wish so ardently, at present to
obviate, as an union between the orders, which in their
opinion would prove the subversion of the tribunitian
power? Thus, in fact, as labourers in the field of iniquity,
they are at a loss for employment, and even wish, that
there may be always some diseased part in the
commonwealth, for the cure of which they may be
employed by you. For whether, tribunes, are ye at present
defending the commons, or making an attack on them?
Whether are ye adversaries of the soldiery, or patrons of
their cause. Perhaps ye will say thus, whatever the
patricians do, we disapprove, whether it be favourable or
prejudicial to the commons; and, just as masters forbid
their slaves to have any dealings with those belonging to
others, and think proper to cut off the commerce between
them either of kindness or unkindness, ye, in like
manner, interdict us, the patricians, from all intercourse
with the commons; lest by our civility and generosity, we
should challenge their regard, and they become obedient
and willing to be directed as we might see best. Would it
not much better become you, if ye had any of the
sentiments, or feelings, I say not, of fellow citizens, but of
human beings, rather to favour, and, as far as in your
power to cherish this kindness of the patricians, and the
tractable disposition of the commons? Were such
harmony once established, on a permanent footing, who
is there that would not venture to engage, that this
empire would soon arrive at a height of grandeur far
beyond all the neighbouring states?

[417]

IV. I shall hereafter explain to you, not only the

expediency, but the necessity, of the plan adopted by my
colleagues, of not drawing off the troops from Veii, until
the business shall be completed. At present I choose to
confine my observations to the state of the soldiery: and
if what I shall say on that head were to be spoken, not
only before you, but also in the camp, I am persuaded,
that it would appear reasonable, to the army themselves.
Indeed, if my own understanding were incapable of
suggesting any arguments on the subject, I might be well
content with those which have been thrown out in the
discourses of our adversaries. They lately insisted that
pay ought not to be given to the soldiers, because it had
never been given before. Upon what grounds, therefore
can they now be displeased, if persons who have received
an addition of profit, beyond what was usual, are
enjoined to perform some additional labour proportioned
thereto? In no case is labour to be procured without
emolument, nor emolument, in general, without the
expense of labour. Toil and pleasure, in their natures
opposite, are yet linked together in a kind of necessary
connection. Formerly, the soldier deemed it a hardship to
give up his labour to the commonwealth, and to bear his
own expenses. At the same time, he found pleasure in
having it in his power, for a part of the year, to till his
own ground, and to acquire the means of supporting
himself and his family, at home, and in the field. At
present, he has a source of pleasure in the profits set
apart for him by the commonwealth, and he no doubt
receives his pay with joy. Let him, therefore, bear with
resignation the being detained a little longer from his
home, and from his family affairs, which are not now
burthened with his expenses. Suppose the
commonwealth called him to a statement of accounts,
might it not justly say, you receive pay by the year, give
me your labour by the year. Do you think it just, that for
half a-years service, you should receive a whole years
pay? It is disagreeable [418] to me, Romans, to dwell on
this topic; for this kind of proceeding suits only those,
who employ mercenary soldiers; but we wish to deal, as
with our fellow-citizens. Either, then, the war ought not
to have been undertaken, or it ought to be conducted in a
manner suited to the dignity of the Roman people, and to
be brought to a conclusion as soon as possible. Now it
will certainly be brought to a conclusion, if we press
forward the siege; if we do not retire, until we have
attained the object of our hopes, in the capture of Veii. In
truth, if there were no other motive, the very discredit of
acting otherwise ought to urge us to perseverance. In
former times, a city was held besieged for ten years on
account of one woman, by the united force of all the
Greeks. At what a distance from their homes! What tracts
of land and sea lying between! Yet we grumble at the
fatigue of a siege of one years continuance, within less
than twenty miles of us, almost within sight of our city;
because, I suppose, the ground of our quarrel is not
sufficiently just to stimulate us to persevere. This is the
seventh time that the people have rebelled. During peace,
they never were faithful to their engagements. They have
laid waste our territories a thousand times. They have
compelled the Fidenatians to revolt from us; have put to
death our colonists in that district; and have been the
instigators of the impious murder of our ambassadors, in
violation of the laws of nations: they have endeavoured,
in short, to stir up all Etruria against us; and, at this day,
are busy in the same attempt: and scarcely did they
refrain from offering violence to our ambassadors who
demanded satisfaction. Against such people, ought war to
be waged in a remiss and dilatory manner?
V. If such just causes of resentment have no weight with
us, have, I beseech you, the following considerations
none? The city has been inclosed with immense works, by
which the enemy are confined within their walls. Of
late [419] they have not tilled their lands; and what were
cultivated before, have been laid waste in the course of
the war. If we withdraw our army, who can doubt that not
only through desire of revenge, but even through the
necessity imposed on them of plundering the property of
others, since they have lost their own, they will make an
invasion on our territories? By such conduct, therefore,
we should not defer the war, but open it a passage into
our own frontiers. What shall we say, as to the
circumstances immediately affecting the soldiers, of
whose interests your worthy tribunes have, all on a
sudden, grown so careful, after having attempted to wrest
their pay out of their hands? How do they stand? They
have formed a rampart and a trench, both works of
immense labour, through so great an extent of ground:
they have erected forts, at first only a few, afterwards a
great number, when the army was augmented; and they
have raised defences, not only on the side next to the city,
but also opposite Etruria, against any succours which
should arrive from thence. Why need I mention towers,
covered approaches, and the like; together with all the
various machines used in attacking towns? Now, that
such a quantity of labour has been expended, and that
they have just come to the finishing of the work, do ye
think it would be prudent to abandon all these
preparations, that, the next summer, they may be obliged
to undergo again the same course of toil and labour in
forming them a-new? How much less difficult would it
be, to support the works already formed, to press
forward, to persevere, and thus at once to be set at rest?
The business might soon be accomplished by an uniform
course of exertions; for it is certain, that by thus
interrupting and suspending all proceedings, we
absolutely hinder the attainment of our own hopes. What
I have said, regards only the labour, and the loss of time.
But let me ask farther, can we disregard the danger which
we incur by procrastination, while we see so frequent
meetings held by the Etrurians on the subject
of [420] sending aid to Veii? As matters stand at present,
they are displeased and angry with that people; declare
that they will not send them aid; and, for any concern
which they take in the affair, we are at liberty to take Veii.
But who can promise that if we suspend our operations,
they will be in the same temper hereafter? For, if you
allow any relaxation, more respectable, and more
frequent, embassies will be despatched; and the very
circumstance which now disgusts the Etrurians, the
establishment of a king at Veii, may, in the interim, be
done away, either by the joint determination of the
several members of the state, for the sake of recovering
the friendship of Etruria, or by a voluntary act of the king
himself, who may be unwilling to continue on the throne,
when he finds it an obstruction to the welfare of his
countrymen. See now how many consequences, and how
detrimental, attend that method of proceeding; the loss
of works formed with so great labour; the consequent
devastation of our frontiers; and, instead of the
Veientians, the whole nation of Etruria united against us.
These, tribunes, are your plans, much indeed, of the same
kind, as if, in the case of a sick person, who by submitting
to a regimen with resolution, might quickly recover his
health, should render his disorder tedious, and perhaps
incurable, for the sake of the present pleasure which
eating and drinking would afford him.

VI. I insist, that, though it were of no consequence, with

respect to the present war, yet it is certainly of the utmost
importance to military discipline, that our soldiers be
accustomed, not only to enjoy the fruits of victory, but,
should the business prove tedious, to endure the
irksomeness of delay; to wait the issue of their hopes,
though tardy; and, if the summer did not finish the war,
to try what the winter might produce; and not, like birds
of spring, to look about for hiding places and shelter, the
moment autumn arrived. Consider, I beseech you, how
the pleasure of hunting and eagerness in the chace hurry
men through woods and [421] over mountains, in the
midst of frost and snow; and shall we not bestow on the
necessary exigences of war, the same degree of patience,
which is usually called forth, even by sport and
amusement? Do we suppose the bodies of our soldiers so
effeminate, their minds so feeble, that they cannot for
one winter, endure the fatigue of a camp, and absence
from home? That, like those who carry on war by sea,
they must regulate their operations by taking advantage
of the weather, and observing the seasons of the year?
That they are incapable of enduring either heat or cold? I
am convinced they would blush, if such things were laid
to their charge, and would maintain that both their
minds and bodies were possessed of manly firmness: that
they were able to perform the duties of war, as well in
winter as in summer: that they never had commissioned
the tribunes to patronize sloth and effeminancy; and
remembered very well, that it was not under their own
roofs, nor in the shade, that their ancestors established
the tribuneship. Such sentiments are worthy of the valour
of soldiers, such are worthy of the Roman name; not to
consider merely the city of Veii, nor the present war, in
which ye are employed, but to seek a reputation which
may last during other wars, and among all other nations.
Do ye look on the difference between the characters
which will be applied to you, according to your conduct in
this affair, as a matter of trivial importance? Whether the
neighbouring nations deem the Romans to be soldiers of
such a kind, that any town which can withstand their first
assault, and that of very short continuance, has nothing
farther to apprehend; or, whether our name be terrible
on this account, that neither the fatigue of a tedious siege,
nor the severity of winter, can remove a Roman army
from a place, which it has once invested; that it knows no
other termination of war, than victory; and that its
operations are not more distinguished by briskness of
action, than by steady perseverance? a qualification
which, as it is highly requisite in every kind of
military [422] service, is most particularly so in carrying
on sieges of towns; because these being generally, from
the nature of their situation, and the strength of their
works, impregnable by assault, time alone overpowers
and reduces them by means of hunger and thirst, as it
will certainly reduce Veii, unless the tribunes of the
commons supply aid to the enemy, and the Veientians
find in Rome that support, which they seek in vain in
Etruria. Could any other event so fully accord to the
wishes of the Veientians, as that the city of Rome first,
and then, by the spreading of the contagion, the camp,
should be filled with sedition? But now, among the
enemy, such a temperate disposition prevails, that
neither through disgust at the length of the siege, nor
even at the establishment of kingly government, has one
change of measures been attempted; nor has the refusal
of aid, from the Etrurians, soured their temper; because,
if any one there proposes seditious measures, he will be
instantly put to death; nor will any person be suffered to
utter such things, as are uttered among you without any
fear of punishment. He deserves the bastinade who
forsakes his colours, or quits his post: yet men are heard,
openly in public assembly, recommending, not to one or
two particular soldiers, but to whole armies, to leave their
colours, and desert their camp. With such partiality are
ye accustomed to listen to whatever a plebeian tribune
advances, although it manifestly tends to the ruin of your
country, and the dissolution of the commonwealth; and
so captivated are ye by the charms of that office, that,
under shelter of it, ye suffer every kind of wickedness to
lurk unnoticed. They have but one step farther to take, to
engage the soldiers in camp, in the same measures which
they urge here with so much clamour, to debauch the
troops, and allow them no longer to obey their officers,
since liberty, according to the present notion of it at
Rome, consists in casting off all reverence for the senate,
for the magistrates, for the laws, for [423] the practices of
our ancestors, for the institutions of our fathers, and for
military discipline.

VII. Appius was now fully equal to a contention with the

plebeian tribunes, even in the assemblies of the people,
when a misfortune suffered before Veii, by an effect
which no one could have expected, threw the superiority
at once on his side, and produced both an unusual
harmony between the orders of the state, and a general
ardour to push on the siege of Veii with greater vigour.
For when the trenches had been advanced almost to the
very town, and the machines were just ready to be
applied to the walls, the troops, employing greater
assiduity in forming their works by day, than in guarding
them by night, one of the gates was thrown open on a
sudden, and a vast multitude, armed chiefly with torches,
sallied forth, and set fire to them on all sides; so that the
flames destroyed in an instant both the rampart and the
machines, the construction of which had cost so much
time; and great numbers of men, attempting, in vain, to
save them, perished by fire and the sword. When news of
this disaster arrived at Rome, it diffused a general
sadness through all ranks of men, and filled the senate
also with anxiety and strong apprehensions, lest they
should find it impossible to withstand any longer the
machinations of the seditious, either in the city or the
camp, and lest the tribunes of the commons should insult
over the commonwealth, as if it lay vanquished at their
feet. At this juncture, those persons who possessed
equestrian fortunes, and had not had horses assigned
them by the public, after previously consulting together,
went in a body to the senate, and having obtained
permission to speak, declared their resolution to serve in
the army, on horses provided at their own expense. On
which the senate returning them thanks, in the most
honourable terms, and the report of this proceeding
having spread through the Forum, and all parts of the
city, there immediately ensued a general concourse of the
commons to the [424] senate-house, where they declared,
that they were now the infantry of that army; and that,
though it was not their turn to serve, yet they freely
engaged in the cause of the commonwealth, whether it
should be thought proper to lead them to Veii, or to any
other place. If they should be led to Veii, they affirmed
that they would never return from thence until that city
should be taken from the enemy. The senate now scarce
set any bounds to the torrent of joy which flowed in upon
them; for they did not, as in the case of the horsemen,
pass an order for thanks to be conveyed by the
magistrates, neither were the people called into the
senate-house to receive an answer; nor did the senators
confine themselves within their house; but, from the
eminence adjoining, every one of them eagerly, with voice
and hands, testified the public satisfaction, to the
multitude who stood below in the assembly; declared,
that, by such unanimity, the city of Rome was rendered
happy, invincible, and everlasting; praised the horsemen,
praised the commons; blessed even the day, as a day of
happiness, and acknowledged that the courtesy and
kindness of the patricians were now outdone, while,
through excess of joy, tears flowed in abundance, both
from the patricians and commons; until the senators,
being called back into their house, passed a decree, that
the military tribunes, summoning an assembly, should
give thanks to the infantry, and to the horsemen, and
should assure them, that the senate would keep in
remembrance the dutiful affection which they had shown
towards their country; and had come to a resolution that
every one of those who had, out of turn, voluntarily
undertaken the service, should enjoy rank and pay from
that date. A certain stipend was also assigned to the
horsemen. This was the first instance of the cavalry
serving on their own horses. This army of volunteers,
being led to Veii, not only restored the works which had
been destroyed, but erected new ones. Greater care than
ever was used, in sending them supplies [425] from the
city, that no kind of accommodation should be wanting to
troops who merited so highly.

Y. R. 353. BC 399. VIII. The ensuing year had military

tribunes with consular power, Caius Servilius Ahala a
third time, Quintus Servilius, Lucius Virginius, Quintus
Sulpicius, Aulus Manlius a second time, Manius Sergius a
second time. In their tribunate, whilst all mens attention
was directed to the Veientian war, the security of the
garrison at Anxur was neglected, the soldiers obtaining
leave of absence, and the Volscian traders being freely
admitted: the consequence of which was, that the guards
at the gates were suddenly overpowered, and the place
taken by surprize. The number of soldiers slain was the
less, because, except the sick, they were all employed like
suttlers, in trafficking about the country and the
neighbouring cities. Nor did better success attend the
operations before Veii, which were then the grand object
which engrossed all the public solicitude; for the Roman
commanders showed a stronger disposition to quarrel
among themselves, than to act with spirit against the
enemy. Besides, the power of their adversaries received
an addition, by the unexpected arrival of the Capenatians
and Faliscians. These two states of Etruria, contiguous in
situation to Veii, judged that, should that city be
conquered, they should be the next exposed to the attacks
of the Romans. The Faliscians were farther induced, by a
reason particularly affecting themselves, to enter into the
quarrel, as having been formerly a party in the war of the
Fidenatians: wherefore, after having, by reciprocal
embassies, ratified their engagements with an oath, they
advanced with their forces to Veii, at a moment when no
one thought of their coming. They happened to attack the
camp on that quarter, where Manius Sergius, military
tribune, commanded, which caused a violent alarm; for
the Romans imagined that all Etruria had been set in
motion, and had come out in a mass against them. The
same opinion roused to action [426] the Veientians in the
city. Thus the camp was attacked on both sides; and the
troops, in opposing the attempts of the enemy, being
obliged to wheel round their battalions from one post to
another, could neither effectually confine the Veientians
within their fortifications, nor repel the assault from their
own works, nor even defend themselves on the outer side.
Their only hope was, that they might be reinforced from
the greater camp, and then the several different legions
would support the different parts of the fight, some
against the Capenatians and Faliscians, others against
the sallies from the town. But that camp was commanded
by Virginius, between whom and Sergius subsisted a
personal hatred: on being informed that most of the forts
were attacked, the fortifications scaled, and that the
enemy poured in on both sides, he kept his men within
his own works, under arms, saying, that if there were
need of a reinforcement, his colleague would send to him.
His arrogance was equalled by the obstinacy of the other;
who, rather than appear to have asked any assistance
from a person with whom he was at variance, chose to be
conquered by the enemy. His troops inclosed on either
side, suffered great slaughter for a long time; at last,
abandoning the works, a very small part of them made
their way to the principal camp; the greater number, with
Sergius himself, proceeded to Rome; here, as he threw
the entire blame on his colleague, it was determined that
Virginius should be called home, and that in the mean
time the lieutenant-generals should hold the command.
The affair was taken into consideration by the senate,
where the dispute between the colleagues was carried on
with mutual recriminations. Few of the members
regarded the interests of the commonwealth, each
adhered to one, or the other, just as he happened to be
prejudiced by private regard, or interest.

IX. The principal senators were of opinion, that whether

the misconduct, or the misfortune of the commanders,
had [427] been the cause of such an ignominious
overthrow, they ought not to wait for the regular time of
election, but to create immediately new military tribunes,
who should enter into office on the calends of October.
While the members were proceeding to show their assent
to this opinion, the other military tribunes offered no
objection; but Sergius and Virginius, to whose behaviour
it was evidently owing that men wished to get rid of the
magistrates of that year, at first deprecated the ignominy
which would hereby be thrown upon them, and
afterwards protested against the passing of the decree,
and declared that they would not retire from office before
the ides of December, the usual day for others entering
into office. On this the tribunes of the commons, who,
during the general harmony and the prosperity of public
affairs, had unwillingly kept silence, at once assuming
confidence, threatened the military tribunes, that, unless
they submitted to the direction of the senate, they would
order them to be carried to prison. Then Caius Servilius
Ahala, one of the military tribunes, said, As to your part,
tribunes of the people, I assure you I would with great
pleasure put it to the proof, whether your threats are
more destitute of authority, or yourselves of spirit. But I
consider it as impious to act in opposition to the will of
the senate; wherefore on the one hand, I desire that ye
may desist from seeking in our disputes for an
opportunity of doing mischief; and on the other hand,
either my colleagues shall act according to the order of
the senate, or if they persist any farther in opposition, I
will instantly nominate a dictator, who will compel them
to retire from office. This discourse being received with
universal approbation, and the senators rejoicing that
another power had been thought of, which, by its
superior authority, might reduce the magistrates to order
without the terrors of the tribunitian office, those
magistrates yielded to the universal desire of the public,
and held an election of military tribunes, who were to
enter into office on [428] the calends of October; and
before that day, they devested themselves of the
magistracy.

Y. R. 354. BC 398. X. This military tribunate with consular

power, of Lucius Valerius Potitus a fourth time, Marcus
Furius Camillus a second, Manius milius Mamercinus a
third, Cneius Cornelius Cossus a second, Cso Fabius
Ambustus and Lucius Julius Iulus, was occupied by a
multiplicity of business both civil and military: for the
operations of war were to be carried on in many different
places at once, at Veii, and at Capena; at Falerii, and
among the Volscians for the recovery of Anxur. Then at
Rome, there was great uneasiness, occasioned by the
levying of troops, and at the same time by the paying in of
the tax. There was also a struggle about the appointment
of the plebeian tribunes; while the trials of two of those,
who had lately been invested with consular power excited
no trifling disturbance. The military tribunes applied
themselves, first of all, to the raising of troops, and not
only the younger men were enlisted, but the elder citizens
also were compelled to give in their names, to serve as a
garrison to the city. Now, in proportion as the number of
soldiers was augmented, so much the more money
became necessary for their pay, and this was made up by
a tax, which was very unwillingly paid by those who
remained at home, because, as the guard of the city lay
upon them, they must also perform military duty, and
give their labour to the public. These circumstances,
grievous in themselves, were set forth in more provoking
terms, in the seditious harangues of the plebeian
tribunes, who insisted, that the establishment of pay to
the soldiers was intended for the purpose of ruining one-
half of the commons, by the fatigues of war, and the other
half, by a tax. That one war had now been protracted to
the fifth year; and was conducted, without success,
designedly, in order that it might afford them the longer
employment. Besides armies had been enlisted at one
levy for four different expeditions, and even [429] boys
and old men dragged from their homes. That no
distinction was made between summer and winter, lest
any respite should be allowed to the wretched commons;
who, now, as the finishing stroke, had been made subject
to a tax; so that when they should return, with their
bodies wasted through toils, wounds, and even age, and
find every thing at home in disorder, from the long
absence of the owners, would at the same time be
obliged, out of their ruined property, to refund in a
manifold proportion, to the state, the money which they
had received as pay, as if it had been taken up at usurious
interest. Between the levy, and the tax, and from mens
thoughts being occupied by more important concerns,
the number of plebeian tribunes could not be filled up on
the day of election. A violent effort was afterwards made
to have patricians assumed into the vacant places, but
that being found impracticable, another plan was
adopted, for the purpose of weakening at least the
authority of the Trebonian law, by the assumption of
Caius Lacerius and Marcus Acutius as plebeian tribunes;
and this was effected evidently by the influence of the
patricians.

XI. It so happened, that this year Caius Trebonius was a

plebeian tribune: and he considered it as a duty
incumbent on his name and family, to patronize the
Trebonian law. He therefore complained loudly, that a
measure which had been attempted by some patricians,
and in which they were baffled at their first setting out,
had been violently carried by the military tribunes:that
the Trebonian law had been subverted, and plebeian
tribunes elected, not in conformity to the suffrage of the
people, but to the mandate of the patricians. That the
matter was brought to this issue, that people must be
content to see the office of plebeian tribune filled either
by patricians or their dependants:that all the
advantages of the devoting laws were wrested from them,
and the tribunitian power forcibly transferred to other
hands. And he insisted, that this must have been
effected, either by some [430] artifices of the patricians, or
by the villainy and treachery of his colleagues. The
public being inflamed with an high degree of resentment,
not only against the patricians, but the tribunes of the
people also; as well those who had been elected, as those
who had elected them; three of that body, Publius
Curatius, Marcus Metilius, and Marcus Minucius, greatly
alarmed for their own interests, made an attack on
Sergius and Virginius, military tribunes of the former
year, and, by a prosecution which they commenced,
turned off upon them the anger of the commons, and the
resentment of the public. They desired people to take
notice, that such as felt themselves aggrieved by the levy,
by the tax, by long service in the army, and the distance
of the seat of war; such as lamented the loss sustained at
Veii; such as had their houses in mourning for the loss of
children, brethren, kinsmen, and relations; all these had
now, by their means, both the right and the power
afforded them, of avenging the public and private
calamities on the two persons who were the guilty causes
of them. For to Sergius and Virginius were owing, they
asserted, all their misfortunes. And that was not more
fully evinced by the charge of the prosecutor, than by the
acknowledgment of the defendants; who, being equally
conscious of crime, each imputed it to the other;
Virginius charging Sergius with cowardice; Sergius,
Virginius with treachery. The absurdity of whose conduct
was so great, that there was a high degree of probability
that the whole affair had been transacted by concert, and
according to a wicked design of the patricians, who, for
the purpose of protracting the war, first gave the
Veientians an opportunity to burn the works, and now,
had delivered up an army to the sword of the enemy, and
surrendered a Roman camp to the Faliscians. The
management of all affairs was directed to one end, that
the young men should grow old before Veii; and that the
tribunes should be thereby deprived of the power of
taking the sense of the people, either concerning [431] the
lands, or any other advantages of the commons; of having
their plans supported by a numerous attendance of
citizens, or of making head against the conspiracy of the
patricians. That the cause of the defendants had been
already prejudged by the senate, by the Roman people,
and by their own colleagues. For, by a decree of the
senate, they had been removed from the administration
of government; and, refusing to resign their office, had
been constrained to submit, by their colleagues, who
threatened them with a dictator, and that the Roman
people had elected tribunes, who were to assume the
government, not on the usual day, the ides of December,
but instantly on the calends of October; because the
continuance of the former in office was incompatible with
the safety of the commonwealth. Yet, after all this, those
men, censured, and overwhelmed by so many decisions
against them, presented themselves for trial before the
people, and imagined that they were discharged, and had
undergone sufficient punishment, because they had been
reduced to the rank of private citizens, two months
sooner than ordinary; never considering, that this was
only taking out of their hands the power of doing farther
mischief, not inflicting punishment; their colleagues, who
were manifestly clear of all share of the blame, being
deprived of authority as well as themselves. They
requested that the citizens of Rome would resume the
same sentiments, which they had felt when the disastrous
event was recent, when they beheld the army flying in
consternation, covered with wounds, and filled with
dismay; pouring into the gates, accusing not fortune, nor
any of the gods, but these their comrades. They were
confident, that there was not a man present in the
assembly who did not, on that day, utter execrations and
curses against the persons, the families, and fortunes of
Lucius Virginius and Marcus Sergius. And it would be the
highest inconsistency if they did not now, when it was not
only lawful but their duty, exert their own power against
those, [432] on whom each of them had imprecated the
vengeance of the gods. The gods themselves never laid
their hands on the guilty, it was enough if they armed the
injured with power to take revenge.

XII. Instigated by such discourses, the commons

condemned the accused in a fine of ten thousand asses in
weight;* while Sergius in vain alleged that the
miscarriage was to be imputed to fortune, and the
common chance of war; and Virginius made earnest
supplications that they would not render him more
unfortunate at home, than he had been in the field. The
current of popular resentment, having been thus turned
against them, almost obliterated the remembrance of the
assumption of tribunes, and the fraudulent infraction of
the Trebonian law. The victorious tribunes, in order that
the commons might reap an immediate advantage from
their effort, published a proposal of an agrarian law, and
forbade the tax to be paid, since pay was required for
such a number of troops, while the success of their arms
in any of the wars, had been no more than sufficed to
keep their hopes in suspense. At Veii, the camp which
had been lost, was recovered, and strengthened with forts
and a garrison. Here Marcus milius and Cso Fabius,
military tribunes, commanded. Marcus Furius in the
territory of the Faliscians, and Cneius Cornelius in that of
the Capenatians, meeting with none of the enemy in the
field, drove off the spoil and ravaged the country, burning
all the houses and the fruits of the earth. The towns they
neither assaulted nor besieged. But in the country of the
Volscians, after the lands had been wasted, Anxur was
assaulted, though without success. Being seated on a lofty
eminence, and force being found ineffectual, it was
determined to surround it with a rampart and trench.
This province of the Volscians had fallen to Valerius
Potitus. While the business of the campaign was in this
state, [433] a sedition burst out at home, with more
formidable violence than appeared in the operations
against the enemy. And as the tribunes would not suffer
the tax to be paid, and consequently no remittances were
made to the generals for the payment of the troops, and
as the soldiers clamorously demanded their due, there
was the greatest danger that the contagion of sedition
might spread from the city, and the camp also be
involved in confusion. Though the commons were so
much incensed against the patricians, and though the
plebeian tribunes asserted, that the time was now come
for establishing liberty, and transferring the supreme
dignity from such as Sergius and Virginius, to men of
plebeian rank, men of fortitude and industry, yet they
proceeded no farther in gratification of their passion, Y.
R. 355. BC 397. than the election of one plebeian, Publius
Licinius Calvus, to the office of military tribune with
consular power, for the purpose of establishing their right
by a precedent. The others elected were patricians,
Publius Mnius, Lucius Titinius, Publius Mlius, Lucius
Furius Medullinus, and Lucius Publius Volscus. The
commons themselves were surprised at having carried
such an important point, no less than the man himself
who had been elected, a person who had no post of
honour before, although a senator of long standing, and
now far advanced in years. Nor does it sufficiently appear
why he was chosen in preference to others, to taste the
first sweets of this new dignity. Some are of opinion, that
he was appointed to so high a station by the influence of
his brother Cneius Cornelius, who had been military
tribune the preceding year, and had given triple pay to
the cavalry. Others, that it was owing to a seasonable
discourse, made by himself, recommending harmony
between the orders of the state, which was equally
acceptable to the patricians and plebeians. The plebeian
tribunes, filled with exultation by this victory in the
election, remitted their opposition with respect to the tax,
which was the principal obstruction to the public
business. [434] It was then paid in without murmuring,
and sent to the army.

XIII. In the country of the Volscians, Anxur was quietly

retaken, through the neglect of the guards on a festival
day. This year was remarkable for a cold winter and great
fall of snow, so that the roads were impassable, and the
navigation of the Tiber shut up. There was no change in
the price of provisions, considerable stores having been
previously collected. As Publius Licinius had obtained his
office without any riotous proceeding, to the great joy of
the commons, and the no less mortification of the
patricians, so the same regularity was preserved through
the whole course of his administration. Hence the people
became enraptured with the thoughts of choosing
plebeians at the next election of military tribunes. Y. R.
356. BC 396. Of the patrician candidates Marcus Veturius
alone carried his election. The centuries almost
unanimously appointed the following plebeians military
tribunes with consular power: Marcus Pomponius, Caius
Duilius, Volero Publilius, Cneius Genutius, and Lucius
Atilius. The severe winter, whether from the ill
temperature of the air, occasioned by the sudden
transition from one extreme to the other, or from some
other cause, was succeeded by a sickly summer, fatal to
all kinds of animals, and as neither the beginning nor end
of the virulence of the disorder could be discovered, the
Sibylline books were consulted, in pursuance of a decree
of the senate. The decemvirs who had the direction of
religious matters, then first introduced the
lectisternium* in the city of Rome, and decking out three
couches with the utmost magnificence which [435] those
times could afford, implored thus the favour of Apollo,
Latona, and Diana; and of Hercules, Mercury, and
Neptune, for the space of eight days. The same solemn
rites were performed by private persons. We are told,
that the doors were thrown open in every part of the city;
that every thing was exposed in public to be used in
common; that passengers, whether known or unknown,
were universally invited to lodgings; and even that people
at variance, refraining from animosity and ill language,
conversed together with camplaisance and kindness.
During those days too, such as were in confinement were
set at liberty; and that afterwards, people were deterred,
by a religious scruple, from imprisoning those persons to
whom the gods had brought such deliverance. Meanwhile
dangers multiplied at Veii, to which point the operations
of three different wars were concentred, for the
Capenatians and Faliscians coming up unexpectedly to
the relief of the town, the troops were obliged, in the
same manner as formerly, to make head against three
different armies, on different sides, through the whole
extent of their works. What contributed to their safety
beyond every thing else, was the recollection of the
sentence passed on Sergius and Virginius: so that a
reinforcement was quickly led round from the principal
camp, where the delay had been made in the former case,
and these fell upon the rear of the Capenatians, while
their front was engaged against the rampart of the
Romans. The fight no sooner began here, than it struck
terror into the Faliscians also, and a seasonable sally,
made from the camp while they were thus disordered,
obliged them to turn their backs. The victors then,
pursuing them in their retreat, made vast slaughter
among them; and, in a short time after, a party, which
had been employed in ravaging the territory of Capena,
accidentally meeting them as they fled in confusion,
entirely cut off those who had survived the fight. Great
numbers of the Veientians also, in their retreat to the
city, were slain before the gates; for, dreading lest the
Romans should [436] force in along with them, they
closed the gates, and shut out the hindmost of their own
men. These were the transactions of that year.

XIV. And now approached the election of military

tribunes, which seemed to engross a greater share of the
attention of the patricians, than even the business of the
war: for they saw that the sovereign power was not only
shared with the commons, but almost entirely lost to
themselves. They therefore, by concert, engaged the most
illustrious characters to stand candidates, such as they
believed people would be ashamed to pass by; the others,
nevertheless, put in practice every possible expedient, as
if they had all been aiming at the same object, and
endeavoured to draw to their side, not only men, but the
gods, representing the election held two years before in a
light offensive to religion: that in the former of those
years, a winter came on with intolerable severity, such as
bore every appearance of a prodigy sent from the gods. In
the following, no longer portents but events ensued; a
pestilence fell on both country and city, manifestly
displaying the wrath of heaven; whom, as was discovered
in the books of the fates, it was necessary to appease, in
order to avert that plague. It appears to the immortals as
an affront, that, in an election held under their auspices,
honours should be prostituted, and the distinctions of
birth confounded. The people being deeply struck, both
by the high dignity of the candidates, and also by a sense
of religion, chose all the military tribunes with consular
power from among the patricians, the greater part of
them men who had been highly distinguished by public
honours: Lucius Valerius Potitus a fifth time, Marcus
Valerius Maximus, Y. R. 357. BC 395. Marcus Furius
Camillus a third time, Lucius Furius Medullinus a third
time, Quintus Servilius Fidenas a second time, Quintus
Sulpicius Camerinus a second time. During their
tribunate, nothing very memorable was performed at
Veii: the forces were wholly employed [437] in wasting the
country: two commanders of consummate abilities did
nothing more than carry off vast quantities of spoil,
Potitus from Falerii, and Camillus from Capena, leaving
nothing undestroyed that could be injured either by
sword or fire.

XV. In the mean time, many prodigies were reported to

have happened, the greater part of which met with little
credit, and were generally disregarded; partly, because
the accounts rested on the testimony of single persons;
and partly because, while they were at war with the
Etrurians, they could not procure aruspices to perform
the expiations. One of them, however, attracted universal
attention; the lake in the Alban forest swelled to an
unusual height, without any rain or other cause, so that
the fact could only be accounted for by a miracle.
Commissioners were sent to the oracle at Delphi, to
inquire what the gods portended by this prodigy; but an
interpreter of the will of the fates was thrown in their way
nearer home: a certain aged Veientian, amidst the scoffs
thrown out by the Roman and Etrurian soldiers, from the
outposts and guards, pronounced, in the manner of one
delivering a prophesy, that the Roman would never be
master of Veii, until the water were discharged from the
Alban lake. This, at first, was disregarded, as thrown out
at random; afterwards it became the subject of
conversation: at length one of the Roman soldiers on
guard asked a townsman on the nearest post, as from the
long continuance of the war they had come into the
practice of conversing with each other, who that person
was, that threw out those ambiguous expressions
concerning the Alban lake; and, on hearing that he was
an aruspex, the man, whose mind was not without a
tincture of religion, pretending that he wished to consult
him on the expiation of a private portent, enticed the
prophet to a conference. When they had proceeded free
from any apprehensions, being both without arms, to a
considerable distance from their parties, the young
Roman, having the superiority [438] in strength, seized
the feeble old man in the view of all, and, in spite of the
bustle made by the Etrurians, carried him off to his own
party. Being conducted to the general, he was sent by him
to Rome to the senate; and, on their inquiring the
meaning of the information which he had given
concerning the Alban lake, he answered, that certainly
the gods had been incensed against the Veientian nation,
on that day when they prompted him to disclose the
decree of the fates, which doomed his native country to
destruction. What, therefore, he had then delivered
under the influence of divine inspiration, he could not
now recall, so as to render it unsaid; and perhaps the
guilt of impiety might be contracted in as high a degree,
by concealing what it was the will of the gods should be
published, as by publishing what ought to be concealed.
Thus, therefore, it was denounced in the books of the
fates, and the Etrurian doctrine, that whensoever the
Alban water should rise to an unusual height, if the
Romans should then discharge it in a proper manner,
victory would be granted them over the Veientians; but
until that should be done, the gods would never abandon
the walls of Veii. He then gave directions with respect to
the proper method of draining it; but the senate, deeming
his authority of but little weight, and not to be entirely
relied on in a case of such importance, determined to
wait for the deputies, with the answer of the Pythian
oracle.

Y. R. 358. BC 394. XVI. Before the commissioners returned

from Delphi, or the method of expiating the Alban
prodigy was discovered, the new military tribunes with
consular power came into office. These were Lucius
Julius Iulus, and Lucius Furius Medullinus a fourth time,
Lucius Sergius Fidenas, Aulus Postumius Regillensis,
Publius Cornelius Maluginensis, and Aulus Manlius. This
year there started up a new enemy, the Tarquinians; who,
seeing the Romans embroiled in so many wars at once,
against the Volscians at Anxur, where the garrison was
besieged; at Lavici against [439] the quans, who were
besieging the colony there; and also against the
Veientians and the Faliscians, and the Capenatians, while
their affairs within the walls were not less embarrassed
by dissensions, thought this a favourable season to attack
them with effect. They sent their light-armed cohorts to
make depredations on the Roman territories, concluding
that the people would either suffer that affront to pass
unrevenged, rather than burthen themselves with an
additional war, or if they resented it, would send out an
army neither numerous nor strong. The Romans felt
greater indignation at the affront than concern for the
loss sustained by the inroads of the Tarquinians. They,
therefore, undertook the business without either much
preparation or long delay. Aulus Postumius and Lucius
Julius having collected a body of troops, not by a regular
levy, for in that they were prevented by the tribunes of
the commons, but mostly volunteers, whom by
persuasions they had prevailed on to follow them,
directed their march by cross roads through the territory
of Cre, and came upon the Tarquinians unawares, as
they were returning from their depredations, heavily
laden with booty: they slew great numbers of their men,
got possession of all their baggage; and, having re-taken
the spoils of their lands, returned to Rome. The space of
two days was allowed to the owners to reclaim their
property; on the third, what remained unclaimed, the
greatest part of which had belonged to the enemy, was
sold by auction, and the produce distributed among the
soldiers. The issue of the other wars, particularly that of
Veii, still remained doubtful. And now the Romans,
despairing of success through human aid, began to look
for succour towards the fates and the gods, when the
deputies arrived from Delphi, bringing with them the
decision of the oracle, which corresponded with the
answer of the captive prophet. Roman, beware lest the
Alban water be confined in the lake; beware lest thou
suffer it to flow into the [440] sea in a stream. Thou shalt
form for it a passage over the fields; and, by dispersing it
in a multitude of channels, consume it. Then press thou
boldly on the walls of the enemy; assured, that over the
city which thou besiegest through so many years,
conquest is granted by these orders of the fates, which are
now disclosed. The war concluded, do thou, possessed of
victory, bring ample offerings to my temples, and
renewing the religious rites of thy country, the
observation of which has been neglected, perform them
in the usual manner.

XVII. The captive prophet, upon this, began to be held in

very high esteem, and the military tribunes, Cornelius
and Postumius, thenceforward consulted with him
concerning the expiation of the Alban prodigy, and the
proper method of appeasing the gods. It was at length
discovered what was that neglect of ceremonies, and
omission of customary rites, for which they were blamed
by the gods. It was, in fact, nothing else than that the
magistrates, their election being defective, had not, with
due regularity, directed the Latine festival,* and the
anniversary solemnities on the Alban mount. The only
mode of expiation in this case was, that the military
tribunes should resign the government, the auspices be
taken anew, and an interregnum appointed. All which
was performed, pursuant to a decree [441] of the senate.
There were three interreges in succession: Lucius
Valerius, Quintus Servilius Fidenas, and Marcus Furius
Camillus. In the meantime the city was a scene of
unceasing confusion and disorder, the plebeian tribunes
refusing to let the elections proceed, unless a previous
stipulation were agreed to, that the greater number of the
military tribunes should be chosen out of the commons,
During these transactions, a general assembly of Etruria
was held at the temple of Voltumna, and the Capenatians
and Faliscians demanding that all the states of Etruria
should unite in the design of raising the siege of Veii, the
answer returned was, that they had formerly given a
refusal of the same request to the Veientians, because
these ought not to apply for succour, where in a case of
such consequence, they had not applied for advice. That
at present, though they of themselves would not refuse it,
yet the situation of their affairs compelled them so to do:
especially, as in that part of Etruria, the Gauls, a race of
men with whom they were unacquainted, had lately
become their neighbours, and with whom they were not
on a footing, either of secure peace, or of determined war.
Nevertheless, in consideration of the blood, the name,
and the present dangers of their kinsmen, they would go
so far, as that if any of their young men chose to go to
that war, they would not hinder them. The arrival of
these was announced at Rome, as of a formidable
number of enemies; and, through the apprehensions
which this excited for the public safety, the violence of
their intestine quarrels of course began to subside.

XVIII. Without causing any displeasure to the patricians,

the prerogative tribe,* at the election, chose for
military [442] tribune Publius Licinius Calvus, although
he had not declared himself a candidate; this honour was
done him, because in his former administration he had
approved himself a man of moderation; but he was now
in extreme old age. It was observed, that those who had
been his colleagues, in that year, were re-elected in order;
Lucius Titinius, Publius Mnius, Publius Mlius, Cneius
Genutius, and Lucius Atilius. Before these were
proclaimed to the tribes, who were to vote in the ordinary
course, Publius Licinius Calvus, with permission of the
interrex, spoke to this effect: I consider it, Romans, as
an omen of concord, a thing essentially requisite to the
state at the present juncture, that, from the remembrance
of our former administration, ye are desirous of re-
electing the same colleagues, improved by experience. As
to me, ye no longer see me the same, but the shadow and
the name of Publius Licinius. The powers of my body are
decayed, my senses of sight and hearing are grown dull,
my memory falters, and the vigour of my mind is blunted.
Behold here a youth, pursued he, holding his son, the
representation and image of him whom ye formerly made
a military tribune, the first plebeian that was ever so
honoured. Him, formed under my own discipline, I
present and dedicate to the commonwealth as a
substitute in my stead. And I beseech you, Romans, that
the honour, which of your own motion, ye offered to me,
ye will vouchsafe to grant to his petition, and to my
prayers, which I add in his behalf. This request of the
father was complied with, and his son Publius Licinius
was declared military tribune with consular power,
together with those whom we mentioned before. Y. R.
359. BC 393. The military tribunes, Titinius and
Genucius, marched against the Faliscians and
Capenatians, and acting with more courage than conduct,
fell into an ambush. Genucius atoned for his rashness by
an honourable death, falling among the foremost, and in
the front of the standards. Titinius after rallying his men,
who had been thrown into [443] the utmost confusion,
and leading them to a rising ground, formed them again
in order of battle; but did not venture to come down and
meet the enemy. The disgrace was greater than the loss,
and had like to have proved the cause of grievous
misfortunes, so great was the alarm which it excited not
only at Rome, where it was highly exaggerated by report,
but also in the camp before Veii. Here the soldiers were,
with difficulty, restrained from flight, on a rumour having
spread, that the generals and the army had been cut to
pieces; and that the Capenatians and Faliscians, flushed
with victory, and all the youth of Etruria, were at no great
distance from their posts. Accounts still more dreadful
had gained credit at Rome: that the camp at Veii was
already attacked, and that part of the enemy were already
on their march to the city prepared for an assault. The
men ran in crowds to the walls, and the matrons, called
out from their houses by the public distraction, offered
supplications for protection in all the temples, beseeching
the gods to repel destruction from the Roman walls, from
the houses of the city, and the temples, and to turn back
such terrors on Veii, if the sacred rites had been renewed,
and the prodigies expiated in due manner.

XIX. The games and the Latine festival had now been
performed anew, the water from the Alban
lake* discharged on the fields and the fates demanded the
ruin of Veii. Accordingly a general, selected both for the
destruction of that city, and the preservation of his native
country, Marcus Furius Camillus, was nominated
dictator, and he appointed Publius Cornelius Scipio his
master of the horse. The change of the commander at
once produced a change in every particular: even the
fortune of the city seemed to have assumed a new face; so
that men felt themselves inspired with different hopes
and different [444] spirits. He first of all put in force the
rules of military discipline against such as had fled from
Veii, on the alarm excited there, and took effectual care
that the enemy should not be the principal object of the
soldiers fears. Then having, by proclamation, appointed
a certain day for holding a levy of troops, he made, in the
mean time, a hasty excursion in person to Veii, in order
to strengthen the courage of the soldiers. From thence he
returned to Rome to enlist the new army, and not a man
declined the service. Young men came even from foreign
states, Latines and Hernicians, offering their service in
the war: to whom the dictator returned thanks in the
senate. And now, having completed all necessary
preparations for the campaign, he vowed, in pursuance of
a decree of the senate, that he would, on the capture of
Veii, celebrate the great games: and would repair and
dedicate the temple of Mother Matuta, which had been
formerly consecrated by king Servius Tullius. Marching
out of the city at the head of his army, while peoples
anxiety was stronger than their hopes, he came to the
first engagement with the Faliscians and Capenatians, in
the district of Nepote, on which occasion every particular
was conducted with consummate prudence and skill;
success of course ensued. He not only routed the enemy
in battle, but took possession of their camp, and seized a
vast quantity of spoil, the greatest part of which was put
into the hands of the qustor, and no great share
distributed to the soldiers. From thence the troops were
led to Veii, where additional forts were erected at smaller
distances from each other, and by an edict, forbidding
any to fight without orders, the soldiers were taken off
from skirmishing, which had hitherto been frequently
practised between the walls and the rampart of the camp,
and their labour applied to the works. Of these, the
greatest by far and most laborious was a mine, which
they undertook to carry into the citadel of the enemy. In
order that there should be no interruption in this, and at
the same time that the same [445] set of persons should
not, by unintermitted labour under ground, be spent with
fatigue, he formed the whole number of pioneers into six
divisions, and six hours were allotted for each division to
work in rotation; nor did they stop, either by night or day,
until they formed a passage into the citadel.

XX. When the dictator now saw conquest within his

reach and that he was on the point of getting possession
of a city of the greatest opulence, the spoil of which would
exceed in quantity whatever had been obtained in all
former wars taken together, fearing lest he might incur
either the resentment, of the soldiers, as being too
sparing in his distribution of it, or the displeasure of the
senators as being profusely lavish, he despatched a letter
to the senate, that through the favour of the immortal
gods, his own conduct, and the persevering courage of
the troops, Veii would immediately be in the power of the
Roman people, and requested their directions with
regard to the spoil. Two opinions divided the senate; one
was that of the elder Publius Licinius, who being first
called upon by his son, as we are told, proposed a
resolution, that public notice should be given to the
people by proclamation, that whosoever chose to share in
the spoil should retire to the camp before Veii. The other
that of Appius Claudius, who censured such profusion as
unprecedented, extravagant, and partial; and which
would also be productive of ill consequences, if people
should once conceive an opinion that it would be criminal
to deposit in the treasury, when exhausted by wars, the
money taken from the enemy. He therefore
recommended it to them to make that a fund for the
payment of the soldiers wages, to the end that the
commons might be eased of part of the tax. For every
mans family, he said, would feel its share of such a
bounty in equal proportion, and the hands of the idle city
rabble, ever greedy of rapine, would not then snatch away
the prizes due to men who had showed their bravery in
war: it being [446] generally the case, that the man who is
most ready, on every occasion, to undertake the largest
share of toil and danger, is the least active in plundering.
Licinius, on the other hand, argued, that in that case the
money would be an eternal cause of jealousy and ill-
humour, would afford grounds for invidious
representations to the commons, and, in consequence,
for seditions, and the enacting of new laws. It was
therefore more to be desired, he said, that the affection
of the commons might be conciliated by a bounty of that
kind; that this resource should be afforded them, after
they had been exhausted and entirely drained, by the
payment of the tax for so many years; and that they
should enjoy the fruits arising from a war, in which they
had employed, one might say, the better part of their
lives. That what a man took with his own hand from the
enemy, and brought home with him, would afford him
more satisfaction and delight, than a share many times
larger conferred on him by another. That the dictator
himself was aware of the odium and the disagreeable
reflections to which this business might subject him, and
had for that reason transferred the determination of it
from himself to the senate: and that the senate ought, on
their part, since the business had been thus thrown upon
them, to hand it over to the commons, and let every man
enjoy what the chance of war should give him. This plan
was deemed the safer, as it promised to procure
popularity to the senate. Accordingly proclamation was
made, that all such as chose might go to the camp of the
dictator, to share in the plunder of Veii. The vast
multitude who went entirely filled the camp.

XXI. Then the dictator, after taking the auspices, came

forth, and having previously ordered the soldiers to take
arms, spoke thus: O Pythian Apollo, under thy guidance,
and inspired by thy divinity, I am now proceeding to
destroy the city of Veii, and I devote to thee the tenth part
of the spoil thereof. Thee also, imperial Juno, who now
dwellest [447] in Veii, I beseech, that when we shall have
obtained the victory, thou wilt accompany us into our
city, soon to be thine own, where a temple shall receive
thee, worthy of thy majesty. After these prayers, having
more than a sufficient number of men, he assaulted the
city on every quarter; in order to prevent their perceiving
the danger which threatened from the mine. The
Veientians, ignorant that they had been already doomed
to ruin by their own prophets, and likewise by foreign
oracles; that the gods had been already invited to a share
in their spoil; that some of them, listening to the vows by
which they had been solicited to forsake their city, began
to look towards the temples of the enemy, and new
habitations, and that this was the last day of their
existence; fearing nothing less, than their walls being
already undermined, and the citadel filled with enemies,
ran briskly in arms to the ramparts, wondering what
could be the reason, that when for so many days not one
Roman had stirred from his post, they should now run up
to the walls without apprehension, as if struck with a
sudden fit of madness. A fabulous account has been given
of an incident happening at this juncture; it is, that while
the king of the Veientians was offering sacrifice, the
words of the aruspex were heard in the mine,
denouncing, that whoever should cut up the entrails of
that victim should obtain the victory, and that this incited
the Roman soldiers to burst open the mine, seize the
entrails, and carry them to the dictator. But in matters of
such remote antiquity, I think it enough, if relations
which carry a resemblance of truth, be received as true;
stories of this kind, better calculated for the extravagant
exhibitions of the stage, which delights in the marvellous,
than for gaining belief, it is needless either to affirm or
refute. The mine at this time, full of chosen men,
suddenly discharged its armed bands in the temple of
Juno, which stood in the citadel of Veii, some of whom
attacked the rear of the enemy on the walls, some tore
down the bars of the gates, some set fire to the
houses, [448] from the roofs of which stones and tiles
were thrown by females and slaves. Every place was filled
with confused clamour, composed of the terrifying shouts
of the assailants, and the cries of the affrighted joined to
the lamentations of the women and children. Those who
defended the works were in an instant beaten off, and the
gates forced open, where some entering in bodies, others
scaling the deserted walls, the town was filled with the
enemy, and a fight commenced in every quarter. After
great slaughter the ardour of the combatants began to
abate, and the dictator, proclaiming orders by the
heralds, that no injury should be done to the unarmed,
put an end to the effusion of blood. The townsmen then
began to lay down their arms and surrender, and the
soldiers, with permission of the dictator, dispersed in
search of booty. When the spoil was collected before his
eyes, far exceeding both in quantity and in the value of
the effects all his calculations and hopes, the dictator is
said to have raised his hands towards heaven, and
prayed, that if any gods or men looked on his success
and that of the Roman people as excessive, such jealousy
might be appeased by some calamity peculiar to himself
alone, rather than by the slightest detriment to the
Roman people. It is recorded, that as he turned himself
about, during this address to the gods, he stumbled and
fell; and this was considered afterwards, by such as
judged of the matter by the events which followed, to be
an omen portending Camilluss own condemnation, and
the disaster of the city of Rome being taken, which
happened a few years after. The subduing of the enemy,
and the plundering of this very opulent city, employed
that whole day.

XXII. Next day the dictator sold the inhabitants of free

condition by auction: the money arising from this sale
was all that was applied to the use of the public, and even
that was resented by the commons. As to what spoil they
brought home, they did not think themselves under any
obligation, [449] in applying it, either to the general who,
with design to procure their countenance to his own
parsimony, had referred to the senate a business which
properly belonged to his own jurisdiction, or to the
senate, but to the Licinian family, of which the son had
laid the affair before the senate, and the father first
proposed the popular resolution. When the wealth,
belonging to the inhabitants, had been carried away from
Veii, they then began to remove the treasures of the gods,
and the gods themselves, but with the demeanor of
worshippers rather than of ravishers: for certain young
men selected out of the army, to whom was assigned the
charge of conveying imperial Juno to Rome, after
thoroughly washing their bodies, and clothing themselves
in white garments, entered her temple with tokens of
adoration, and approaching, laid hands upon her with
religious awe, because, according to the Etrurian rules,
no person but a priest of a particular family, had been
usually allowed to touch that statue. Afterwards one of
them, either prompted by divine inspiration, or in a fit of
youthful jocularity, saying, Juno, art thou willing to go
to Rome, the rest cried out at once, that the goddess had
assented. To this fable an addition was made, that she
was heard to utter the words, I am willing. However we
are informed, that she was raised from the place whereon
she stood by machines, with slight efforts, and was found
light and easy to be removed, as if she accompanied them
with her own consent; that she was brought safe to the
Aventine, her eternal seat, to which the vows of the
Roman dictator had invited her, where the same Camillus
who had vowed it afterwards dedicated her temple. Thus
fell Veii, the most powerful city of the Etrurian nation,
even in its final overthrow demonstrating its greatness;
for, after having withstood a siege during ten summers
and winters, without intermission, after inflicting on its
enemy losses considerably greater than itself had felt;
even now, even when fate at last [450] urged its doom, yet
still it was vanquished not by force, but by the art of
engineers.
XXIII. When the news arrived at Rome that Veii was
taken, notwithstanding that the prodigies had been
expiated, that the answers of the prophets and the
responses of the Pythian oracle were known to all, and
that they had used the most effectual means which
human wisdom could suggest, for insuring success, in
giving the command to Marcus Furius, the greatest
general of the age; yet, as they had for so many years
experienced such a variety of fortune in that war, and had
sustained so many losses, their joy was as unbounded as
if they had entertained no hopes of that event. And before
the senate passed any decree to the purpose, every
temple was filled with the Roman matrons returning
thanks to the gods. The senate ordered supplications for
the space of four days, a longer term than had ever been
appointed in the case of any former war. The dictator also
on his arrival was more numerously attended than any
general had ever been before; all ranks pouring out to
meet him, while the honours, conferred on him in his
triumph, far surpassed the compliments usually paid on
such occasions. He himself was the most conspicuous
object of all, riding through the city in a chariot drawn by
white horses, which was deemed unbecoming, not to say
a member of a commonwealth, but a human being,
people deeming it an affront to religion, that the dictator
should emulate the equipage of Jupiter and Apollo; and
on account chiefly of that single circumstance, his
triumph was more splendid than pleasing. He then
contracted for the building of a temple to imperial Juno
on the Aventine, and dedicated that of mother Matuta:
after performing these services to the gods, and to
mankind, he laid down his office of dictator. The offering
to be made to Apollo came then under consideration, and
Camillus declaring that he had vowed the tenth part of
the spoil to that use, and the pontiffs having given their
opinion that the people [451] ought to dischage that vow,
it was found difficult to strike out a proper mode of
obliging them to refund the spoil, in order that the due
proportion might be set apart for that religious purpose.
At length, recourse was had to a method which seemed
least troublesome, that every man who wished to acquit
himself and his family of the obligation of the vow,
making his own estimate of his share of the spoil, should
pay into the treasury the tenth part of the value, in order
that a golden offering might be made, worthy of the
grandeur of the temple, the divinity of the god, and the
dignity of the Roman people: this contribution also
helped to alienate the affection of the commons from
Camillus. During these transactions, ambassadors had
come from the Volscians and quans to sue for peace,
and peace was granted them rather out of a desire that
the state, wearied with so tedious a war, might enjoy
some repose, than in consideration of the desert of the
persons petitioning.

Y. R. 360. BC 392. XXIV. The year which followed the

taking of Veii had six military tribunes, with consular
power, the two Publii Cornelii, Cossus, and Scipio,
Marcus Valerius Maximus a second time, Cso Fabius
Ambustus a third time, Lucius Furius Medullinus a fifth
time, and Quintus Servilius a third time. The war with the
Faliscians fell by lot to the Cornelii; that with the
Capenatians to Valerius and Servilius. These latter made
no attempt on the towns, either by assault or siege, but
spread devastation over the lands, and carried off as spoil
every thing found in the country; not a fruit tree, nor any
useful vegetable, was left in the whole territory. These
losses reduced the people of Capena to submission, and
on their suing for peace, it was granted. The war with the
Faliscians still continued. Meanwhile seditions multiplied
at Rome, and in order to assuage their violence it was
resolved, that a colony should be sent to the country of
the Volscians, for which three thousand Roman citizens
should be enrolled, and the triumvirs, [452] appointed to
conduct it, distributed three acres and seven twelths to
each man. This donation was looked on with scorn,
because they considered the offer as intended to pacify
them, on the disappointment of higher expectations: for
why, said they, should the commons be sent into exile
among the Volscians, when the beautiful city of Veii lay
within view, and the territory belonging to it being more
fertile and more extensive than the territory of Rome?
This city, too, they extolled as preferable even to that of
Rome, both in point of situation, and the magnificence of
its edifices and inclosures, both public and private. Nay,
they went so far as to propose the scheme which, after the
taking of Rome by the Gauls, was more generally
adopted, of removing to Veii. But their plan now was,
that half of the commons, and half of the senate, should
fix their habitations at Veii; and thus two cities,
composing one commonwealth, might be inhabited by
the Roman people. The nobles opposed these measures
with such warmth, as to declare, that they would sooner
die in the sight of the Roman people, than that any of
those matters should be put to the vote: for, when one
city at present supplied such abundance of dissensions,
what would be the case with two? Was it possible that any
one could prefer a vanquished, to a victorious city, and
suffer Veii, after being captured, to enjoy a greater degree
of prosperity than ever it had known in its most
flourishing days? In short, they might be forsaken in their
native country by their fellow citizens, but no force ought
ever to compel them to forsake that country and those
citizens, and to follow Titus Sicinius, (for he was the
plebeian tribune who had brought forward the
proposition,) as a founder to Veii, abandoning the divine
Romulus, the son of a god, the parent and founder of the
city of Rome. These disputes proceeded to a shameful
height: for the patricians had drawn over one half of the
plebeian tribunes to their sentiments; so that no other
circumstance obliged the [453] commons to refrain from
outrage, but that after a clamour had been set up as the
prelude to a riot, the principal members of the senate,
throwing themselves foremost in the way of the crowd,
desired that they might be the persons attacked, struck,
or put to death. On this the populace not only abstained
from offering violence to their age, their dignity, and
honourable characters, but in respect for their opinions
restrained their rage even from any such attempts on
others.

XXV. Camillus on every occasion, and in every place,

publicly asserted, that there was nothing surprizing in
all these commotions; that the state was actually gone
mad; for though it was engaged by a vow, yet it bestowed
more concern on every other kind of business, than on
acquitting itself of the obligation. He would say nothing
of the contribution of an alms in reality, rather than of a
tenth. However, as each man had bound himself, in his
private capacity, the public was set free. But his
conscience would not suffer him to be silent on another
head,that the tenth of that part only of the spoil was set
apart, which consisted of moveable effects, and no
mention was made of the city, or of the lands, which as
well as the rest were comprehended in the vow. The
senate, finding it difficult to come to a determination on
this point, referred it to the pontiffs in conjunction with
Camillus; and that body gave their opinion, that
whatsoever had been the property of the Veientians
before the uttering of the vow, and after the vow was
made, came into the power of the Roman people; of that
the tenth part was sacred to Apollo. Thus the city and the
land were brought into the estimate. The money was
issued from the treasury, and the consular military
tribunes were commissioned to lay it out in the purchase
of gold. A sufficient quantity of this metal could not be
procured; on which the matrons, after holding some
meetings to deliberate on the subject, with unanimous
consent, engaged to supply the military tribunes with
gold, and actually carried all their ornaments [454] into
the treasury. Nothing ever happened which gave greater
pleasure to the senate, and it is said, that in return for
this generosity, these women were honoured with the
privilege of using covered chariots, when going to public
worship or games, and open chaises on any day whether
festival or common. The gold being received from each by
weight, and a valuation being made, in order that the
price might be repaid, it was resolved that a golden bowl
should be made thereof, to be carried to Delphi as an
offering to Apollo. No sooner were mens minds
disengaged from religious concerns, than the plebeian
tribunes renewed their seditious practices, stimulating
the resentment of the populace against all the nobility,
but especially against Camillus; alleging that, by his
confiscations and consecrations, he had reduced the
spoils of Veii to nothing; daringly abusing the nobles, in
their absence; yet, on their appearing, as they sometimes
threw themselves in the way of their fury, showing them
some respect. When they perceived that the business
would be protracted beyond the present year, they re-
elected for the year following such tribunes of the
commons, as had promoted the passing of the law, and
the patricians exerted themselves to effect the same with
regard to such of them as had protested against it. By
these means the same persons mostly were re-elected
plebeian tribunes.

Y. R. 361. BC 391. XXVI. At the election of military

tribunes, the patricians, by straining their interest to the
utmost, prevailed to have Marcus Furius Camillus
chosen. They pretended, that on account of the wars in
which they were engaged, they wished to have him as a
commander: but, in fact, they wanted him as an
antagonist to the tribunes, to check their corrupt
profusion. Together with Camillus were elected military
tribunes with consular power, Lucius Furius Medullinus
a sixth time, Caius milius, Lucius Valerius Poplicola,
Spurius Postumius and Publius Cornelius a second time.
In the beginning of the year, the plebeian
tribunes [455] declined proceeding on the business, until
Marcus Furius Camillus should set out against the
Faliscians: for he had been appointed to the command in
that war. In consequence of this delay, the ardour of the
pursuit was cooled, and Camillus, whom they had chiefly
dreaded as an opponent, found an increase of glory in the
country of the Faliscians: for the enemy at first confining
themselves within their walls, which appeared to be the
safest plan, he, by ravaging the country and burning the
houses, compelled them to come forth from the city. But
still their fears prevented them from advancing to any
considerable length. At the distance of about a mile from
the town, they pitched their camp, for the security of
which they confided entirely in the difficulty of the
approaches, all the roads on every side being rough and
craggy, in some parts narrow, in others steep: but
Camillus, following the directions of a prisoner taken in
the country, who acted as his guide, decamped in the
latter end of the night, and, at break of day, showed
himself on ground much higher than theirs. The Romans
were formed into three divisions, each of which, in turn,
worked on the fortifications of the camp, while the rest of
the troops stood in readiness for battle. The enemy then
making an attempt to interrupt his works, he attacked
and put them to flight; and with such consternation were
the Faliscians struck, that in their haste, they passed by
their own camp, which lay in their way, and pushed
forward to the city. Great numbers were slain and
wounded before they reached the gates, through which
they rushed in great confusion and dismay. Their camp
was taken, and the spoil given up by Camillus to the
qustors, to the great dissatisfaction of the soldiers: but
such was the influence of his strictness in discipline, that
the same propriety of conduct which excited their
resentment, raised also their admiration. The town was
then invested, and the approaches carried on, while
sometimes occasional attacks were made by the
townsmen [456] on the Roman posts, and trifling
skirmishes ensued. Thus time was spent without either
party gaining a prospect of success, and as the beseiged
were more plentifully supplied than the beseigers, with
corn and all other necessaries, from magazines which
they had formed some time before, the affair, to judge
from appearances, would have been as laborious and
tedious as at Veii, had not fortune, together with an
instance of meritorious conduct, which, in respect of
military matters, he had already sufficiently displayed,
procured to the Roman commander a speedy victory.

XXVII. It was the custom among the Faliscians, to

employ the same person as master and private tutor to
their children; and, as it continues to be the practice to
this day in Greece, several were intrusted at the same
time to the care of one man. The teacher who appeared to
have the greater share of knowledge, had of course the
instruction of the children of the first rank. The person
supposed to possess this knowledge, and now so
intrusted, having made it a custom in time of peace, to
carry the boys out of the city for the sake of exercise and
play, and having never discontinued the practice since
the war began, drew them away from the gate, sometimes
in shorter, sometimes in longer excursions. At length, he
found an opportunity of straying farther than usual; and,
by introducing a variety of plays and conversations, he
led them on between the advanced guards of the enemy,
and then through the Roman camp, into the tent of
Camillus; and there, to this atrocious act, added a speech
still more atrocious: that he had delivered Falerii into
the hands of the Romans, by putting into their power
those boys, whose parents were there at the head of
affairs. On hearing which, Camillus told him, Neither
the people, nor the commander, to whom thou hast
come, thou wretch, with thy villainous offer, is like unto
thyself. Between us and the Faliscians there subsists not,
it is true, that kind of society which is formed by human
compact, but that which nature has implanted [457] in
both, does, and ever will subsist. War has its laws as well
as peace; and we have learned in waging it, to be as
observant of those laws, as we are brave. We carry arms,
not against persons of such age as these, who, even in the
storming of towns, are exempted from injury, but against
men who have arms in their hands, as well as ourselves,
and who, without being either injured or provoked by us,
made an attack on a Roman camp at Veii. Those thou
hast conquered as far as in thee lay, by an act of
unexampled villainy. I shall conquer them as I conquered
Veii, by Roman methods, by valour, by labour, and by
arms. Then ordering him to be stripped naked, and his
hands to be tied behind his back, he delivered him to the
boys to be conducted back to Falerii, and gave them rods
with which they should scourge the traitor, and drive him
into the city. Such a spectacle first attracting a concourse
of people, and the senate being afterwards summoned by
the magistrates on the extraordinary case, so great an
alteration was hereby effected in their sentiments, that
they, who a short time before were so outrageous in their
hatred and anger, as almost to have chosen the
catastrophe of the Vientians, rather than the truce
obtained by the Capenatians; these same persons now,
through every rank in the state, universally called out for
peace. The faith of the Romans, and the justice of their
general, were extolled by every mouth in the Forum, and
in the senate-house: and in compliance with the universal
desire, ambassadors went to the camp to Camillus, and
from thence, with permission of Camillus, to Rome, to
make a surrender of Falerii. On being introduced to the
senate, they are said to have spoken in this manner:
Conscript fathers! overcome by you and your general, by
a victory of such a kind, as neither God nor man can view
with displeasure we surrender ourselves into your hands,
and in an expectation which redounds in the highest
degree to the honour of the conqueror, that we shall live
more happily under your government than [458] under
our own laws. In the issue of this war, two salutary
examples have been held out to mankind. Ye have
preferred good faith in war, to present victory. We,
challenged to emulation in the observance of faith, have
voluntarily presented you with conquest. We are your
subjects: send persons to receive our arms, hostages, and
our city, whose gates they will find open. Ye will never
have reason to complain of our fidelity, or we of your
government. Camillus received the thanks both of the
enemy and of his countrymen. The Faliscians were
ordered to furnish that years pay for the soldiers, that
the Roman people might enjoy a respite from the tax. As
soon as peace was acceded to, the troops were brought
home to Rome.

XXVIII. Camillus returning home, crowned with honours

of far greater value than when white horses had drawn
him in triumph through the city, being distinguished by a
conquest acquired through the means of justice and good
faith, the senate did not conceal their sense of the
respectful attention due to his concerns, but hastened the
measures for acquitting him of his vow. Lucius Valerius,
Lucius Sergius, and Aulus Manlius were sent
ambassadors with one ship of war, to carry the golden
bowl to Delphi, as an offering to Apollo. These falling in
with some Liparensian pirates, not far from the Sicilian
streight, were taken and carried to Lipar. It was the
custom of this state, to make a general division of all
booty acquired, as if piracy were the public act of the
government. It happened that the office of chief
magistrate was filled by one Timasitheus, a man more
like the Romans than his own countrymen, who, being
touched himself with reverence for the character of
ambassadors, for the offering, for the god to whom it was
sent, and the cause for which it was presented, impressed
the multitude likewise, who almost in all cases resemble
their ruler, with proper sentiments of religion on the
occasion; and, after entertaining the ambassadors at the
public expense, convoyed them with some of his
own [459] ships to Delphi, and from thence conducted
them in safety to Rome. By decree of senate, a league of
hospitality was formed with him, and presents were
made him by order of the state. During this year, the war
with the quans was attended with advantages pretty
equal on both sides; so that it was a matter of doubt, both
at Rome and even among the troops themselves, whether
they were victorious or vanquished. The Roman
commanders were Caius milius and Spurius
Postumius, two of the military tribunes. At first they
acted in conjunction, but after having defeated the enemy
in the field, they came to a determination that milius,
with a sufficient force, should keep possession of
Verrugo, and that Postumius should lay waste the
country. In performance of this, the latter, since the late
success, thinking less caution requisite, and marching in
an unguarded manner, was attacked by the quans, who
threw his troops into confusion, and drove them to the
next hills. The panic spread from thence even to Verrugo,
to the other part of the army posted there. Postumius
having withdrawn his men to a place of safety, called
them to an assembly, where he upbraided them with
their fright, and with having fled from the field, being
routed by an enemy heretofore remarkable for cowardice
and running away. On which the whole army cried out
together, that they deserved to hear such reproaches, and
that they acknowledged the shamefulness of their
behaviour; but that they were at the same time
determined to make amends for it, and that the
conquerors joy on the occasion should be but of short
duration. They requested earnestly that he would lead
them thence directly to the camp of the enemy, which lay
in the plain within their view, offering to submit to any
punishment if they did not take it before night. After
commending their resolution, he ordered them to refresh
themselves, and to be in readiness at the fourth watch:
the enemy on the other side, with design to prevent the
Romans from flying from the hill by [460] night, through
the road which led to Verrugo, were there prepared to
receive them, and the battle began at the first hour.
However, the moon was up through the whole night, so
that the fight was managed with as little confusion as it
could have been by day. But the shout reaching Verrugo,
where it was imagined that the Roman camp had been
attacked, the troops were seized with such terror, that in
spite of the intreaties of milius, and all his endeavours
to detain them, they fled to Tusculum in the utmost
disorder. From thence a report was carried to Rome, that
Postumius and his army were cut to pieces. However, as
soon as day-light had removed the danger of falling into
ambuscades, in case of a hasty pursuit, riding through the
ranks, and demanding the performance of their
promises, the general infused into the men such a degree
of ardour, that the quans could no longer withstand
their efforts, but betook themselves to flight, when a
slaughter of them ensued (as in a case where anger was
more concerned than courage,) that ended in the entire
destruction of their army; and the afflicting news from
Tusculum, which had caused a great, though groundless,
alarm in the city, were followed by a letter from
Postumius decked with laurel,*that victory had fallen to
the Roman people, and that the army of the quans was
wholly destroyed.

XXIX. As no determination had yet been made, with

respect to the plans introduced by the plebeian tribunes,
the commons on the one hand laboured to continue in
office such of them as had promoted the passing of the
law, and the patricians on the other, to procure the re-
election of those who had protested against it. But the
commons had the superior influence in the election of
their own magistrates: for which disappointment the
patricians revenged themselves by passing a decree of
senate, that consuls (magistrates ever odious to the
commons) should be elected. Thus, after an interval of
fifteen [461] years, consuls were again appointed, Lucius
Lucretius Flavus, and Servius Sulpicius Camerinus. Y. R.
362. BC 390. In the beginning of this year, while the
plebeian tribunes, uniting their efforts, pressed the
passing of their law with great confidence, because there
was not any of their body who would protest against it,
and while the consuls for that very reason were no less
active in opposing it, (the whole attention of the public
being taken up with this business,) the quans made
themselves masters of Vitellia, a Roman colony in their
territory. The general part of the colonists escaped with
safety to Rome; for the town being betrayed to the enemy
in the night, there was nothing to hinder their flight from
the contrary side of the city. That province fell to the lot
of the consul Lucius Lucretius. He marched thither with
an army, defeated the enemy in the field, and returned to
Rome, where he was to encounter a contest of much
greater difficulty. A prosecution had been commenced
against Aulus Virginius, and Quintus Pomponius,
plebeian tribunes of the two preceding years, whom the
senate was bound in honour to defend with the joint
exertions of all the patricians; for no one laid any other
charge against them, with respect either to their conduct
in life, or their behaviour in office, than that, to gratify
the nobles, they had protested against the law proposed
by the tribunes. However, the resentment of the
commons overpowered the influence of the senate, and
by a sentence, of most pernicious example, those men,
convicted of no crime, were condemned to pay a fine of
ten thousand asses in weight.* This highly incensed the
patricians: Camillus openly reproached the commons
with violating the duty which they owed to their own
order, telling them, that while they thus vented their
spleen on their own magistrates, they did not perceive
that by their iniquitous sentence they had abolished the
privilege of protesting, [462] and by taking away that
privilege, had overturned the tribunitian power. For they
were much mistaken if they imagined, that the patricians
would endure the unbridled licentiousness of that office.
If tribunitian violence could not be repelled by
tribunitian aid, the patricians would find out a weapon of
some other kind. He censured the consuls also, for
silently suffering those tribunes, who had complied with
the directions of the senate, to be disappointed in their
reliance on the faith of the public. By such discourses,
uttered in public, he exasperated people daily more and
more against him.

XXX. As to the senate, he never ceased urging them to a

vigorous opposition to the passing of the law; exhorting
them, that when the day arrived on which it was to be
put to the vote, they should go down to the Forum with
no other sentiments than such as became men who knew
they were to contend for their religion and liberty; for the
temples of their gods, and the soil that gave them birth.
As to his own particular part, if it were allowable for him,
during a contest wherein the interest of his country lay at
stake, to consider the aggrandizement of his own
character, it would even redound to the increase of his
fame, that a city which he had taken should be filled with
inhabitants, that he should every day enjoy that
monument of his own glory, and have before his eyes a
people whom he himself had led in his triumph, and that
all men, at every step they took, should meet with
testimonies of his valour. But in his opinion, it would be
an impious proceeding, if a city forsaken and abandoned
by the immortal gods were to be inhabited; if the Roman
people were to reside in a captivated soil, and to
exchange a victorious for a vanquished country.
Stimulated by such arguments, uttered by the first man
in the state, the patricians, both old and young, when the
law was to be debated, came in a body to the Forum, and
dispersing themselves through the tribes, each
endeavoured to influence the members [463] of his own
body; beseeching them, with tears, not to abandon the
country, in defence of which themselves, and their
fathers, had fought with the greatest bravery and the
greatest success, pointing at the same time to the capitol,
the temple of Vesta, and the other temples of the gods
which stood within view; that they would not drive the
Roman people, as exiles and outcasts, away from their
native soil and guardian deities, into a once hostile city,
and bring matters to such a conclusion, that it would be
better if Veii had never been taken, lest Rome should be
abandoned. As they made use of no violence, but of
entreaties only, and among these entreaties made
frequent mention of the gods, the greatest part of the
people were impressed with an opinion that religion was
concerned in the case, and the tribes, by a majority of
one, rejected the law. The patricians were so highly
gratified by this success, that next day, the consuls
holding a meeting for the purpose, a decree of senate was
passed, that a distribution should be made to the
commons of the Veientian lands, in the proportion of
seven acres to each, and that this distribution should be
extended not only to the fathers of families, but to every
person in their houses of free condition, that they might
have satisfaction in rearing children with the hope of
such an establishment.

Y. R. 363. BC 389. XXXI. This generosity had such a

conciliatory effect on the minds of the commons, that no
opposition was made to the election of consuls. Lucius
Valerius Potitus and Marcus Manlius, afterwards
surnamed Capitolinus, were appointed to that office. In
their consulate were celebrated the great games which
Marcus Furius when dictator had vowed, on occasion of
the war with the Veientians. In this year also, the temple
of imperial Juno, vowed by the same dictator, during the
same war, was dedicated, and it is mentioned that the
matrons displayed an extraordinary degree of zeal in
their attendance on the dedication. In the campaign
against the quans, the seat whereof was at
Algidum. [464] nothing memorable occurred; the enemy
scarcely waiting for the engagement to begin, before they
betook themselves to flight. To Valerius, because he
continued the pursuit and slaughter with great
earnestness, a triumph was decreed; to Manlius an
ovation. This year there sprung up a new enemy, the
Volsinians, against whom no army could be sent on
account of a famine and pestilence which raged in the
Roman territories, in consequence of extraordinary
drought and heat. On these circumstances the Volsinians
presumed with such confidence, that, forming a junction
with the Salpinians, they made incursions on the lands of
the Romans. War was then proclaimed against those two
nations. Caius Julius died in the office of censor, and
Marcus Cornelius was substituted in his room, which
proceeding came afterwards to be considered as
displeasing to the gods, because in that lustrum Rome
was taken. Nor since that time is a censor ever
substituted in the room of one dying. The consuls being
seized by the distemper, it was resolved that an
interregnum should be constituted, and auspices taken a-
new.

Y. R. 364. BC 388. XXXII. In pursuance therefore of a

decree of the senate, the consuls having resigned their
office, Marcus Furius Camillus was created interrex, who
appointed Publius Cornelius Scipio interrex, and he,
afterwards, Lucius Valerius Potitus. By him were elected
six military tribunes with consular power, to the end that
in case any of them should be disabled by bad health, the
commonwealth might still have a sufficient number of
magistrates. These were Lucius Lucretius, Servius
Sulpicius, Marcus milius, Lucius Furius Medullinus a
seventh time, Agrippa Furius, and Caius milius a
second time, who entered into office on the calends of
July. Of these Lucius Lucretius and Caius milius had
the Volsinians as their province; Agrippa Furius and
Servius Sulpicius the Salpinians. The first battle
happened with the Volsinians. This war, formidable in
appearance, from the great number [465] of the enemy,
was terminated without any difficulty: at the first onset,
their army was put to flight, and eight thousand of their
soldiers, being surrounded by the cavalry, laid down their
arms, and surrendered. The account which they received
of that battle, made the Salpinians determine not to
hazard an engagement; their troops secured themselves
in the towns. The Romans, meeting no opposition,
carried off the spoil from all parts, both of the Volsinian
and Salpinian territories, until the Volsinians, becoming
weary of the war, had a truce for twenty years granted
them, on condition that they should make restitution to
the Roman people, and furnish the pay of the army for
that year. During this year, Marcus Cdicius, a plebeian,
gave information to the tribunes, that in the new street,
where the chapel now stands, above the temple of Vesta,
he had heard in the dead of the night, a voice louder than
that of a man, ordering notice to be given to the
magistrates, that the Gauls were approaching. This
intelligence, on account of the mean condition of the
author, was, as frequently happens, disregarded; and
also, because that nation, lying at a great distance, was
therefore very little known. They not only slighted the
warnings of the gods, at this crisis of impending fate, but
the only human aid which could have availed them,
Marcus Furius, they drove away to a distance from the
city: for, having been cited by Apuleius, a plebeian
tribune, to answer a charge concerning the plunder of
Veii, and having about the same time suffered the loss of
a son, who had almost arrived at the years of manhood,
he called together to his house the members of his tribe
and dependants, who composed a great part of the
commons, and asked their sentiments on the occasion;
when being told, in answer, that they would make up by a
contribution whatever fine he should be condemned to
pay, but to effect his acquittal was out of their power, he
went into exile, after praying to the immortal gods, that if
he was underserving of such injurious [466] treatment,
they would speedily give that ungrateful state reason to
regret his absence. On his not appearing, he was fined
fifteen thousand asses in weight.*

XXXIII. Having thus driven away the citizen, whose

presence, if in any case we can pronounce with certainty
on human affairs, would have effectually saved Rome
from falling into the hands of an enemy, the destined ruin
now approached the city with hasty steps: at this time
ambassadors arrived from the people of Clusium,
soliciting aid against the Gauls. According to some
reports, that nation was allured to cross the Alps, and
take possession of the country formerly cultivated by the
Etrurians, by the deliciousness of its productions, and
especially of the wine, a luxury then new to them: and
Aruns of Clusium having introduced it into Gaul for the
purpose of enticing that people, that he might, by their
means, gratify his resentment for his wifes being
debauched by Lucumo, (whose guardian he himself had
been,) a young man of overgrown power, on whom it
would have been impossible to inflict punishment
without foreign assistance. He acted as their guide, in
passing the Alps, and advised them to lay siege to
Clusium. I do not indeed take upon me to deny, that the
Gauls were conducted to Clusium by Aruns, or some
other Clusian, but that those who laid siege to Clusium,
were not the first who crossed the Alps, is certain; for the
Gauls went over into Italy, two hundred years before they
besieged that town, and took the city of Rome. Nor were
these the first of the Etrurians with whom they waged
war; for long before this, the Gallic armies fought many
battles with those who dwelt between the Apennines and
the Alps. The Tuscans, before the growth of the Roman
empire, possessed very extensive sway both by land and
sea: how great their power was in the upper and lower
seas, by which Italy is almost surrounded, as an island,
the names of those [467] seas demonstrate; one being
called by the Italian nations, the Tuscan, the general
appellation of that people; the other the Adriatic, from
Adria, a colony of Tuscans. The Greeks also call those
seas the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic. This people inhabited
both the tracts of territory which stretch from each side
of the mountain, to the two seas, having founded twelve
cities on either, first on the hither side towards the lower
sea, and afterwards sending to the other side of the
Apennines as many colonies as there were capital cities in
the mother country. These acquired possession of the
whole region beyond the Po, all the way to the Alps,
except the corner of the Venetians who dwell round the
extreme point of the Adriatic. The Alpine nations also,
without doubt, derived their origin from them,
particularly the Rhetians, who were rendered savage
merely by their situation, so as to retain no mark of their
original, except the accent of their language, and not even
that without corruption.

XXXIV. Concerning the passage of the Gauls into Italy,

what we have learned is this: when Tarquinius Priscus
reigned at Rome, the supreme government of the Celts,
who composed one-third part of Gaul, lay in the hands of
the Biturigians. These gave a king to the Celtic nation.
Ambigatus, a man very eminently distinguished by his
own merit, and by the extraordinary degree of prosperity
which attended him, both in his own private concerns,
and in those of the public; in his time Gaul was so
fruitful, and so numerously peopled, that it seemed
scarcely practicable to retain such an enormous
multitude under the direction of one government. Being
far advanced in years, and wishing to exonerate his realm
of a crowd with which it was overburthened, he declared
his intention of sending away his sisters sons, Bellovesus
and Sigovesus, two spirited young men, to whatever
settlements the gods should point out by their auguries;
and that they should carry with them any [468] number of
men, which they themselves should choose; so that no
nation which lay in their way should be able to obstruct
their course. Sigovesus was then directed by the oracle to
the Hercinian forest: to Bellovesus the gods showed a
much more delightful route into Italy. He carried with
him from the Biturigians, the Arvernians the Senonians,
the duans, the Ambarrians the Carnutians, and the
Aulercians, all their superfluous numbers: and setting
out, at the head of an immense body of horse and foot,
arrived in the country of the Tricastinians. The Alps then
stood in his way, which I do not wonder that these people
should consider as impassable, having never been
climbed over by any path, at least as far as we have been
able to learn, unless we choose to believe the fables told
of Hercules. Whilst the height of the mountains kept the
Gauls penned up as it were, and while they were looking
about for some route between those lofty summits which
joined the sky, an ominous incident also gave them some
delay; for an account was brought to them, that some
strangers, who had come in search of lands, were
attacked by the nation of the Salyans: these were the
Massilians who had come by sea from Phocea. * The
Gauls, considering this as prognostic of their own
fortune, gave them their assistance, in fortifying the
ground, which they had first seized on their landing,
covered with wide extended woods. They themselves
climbed over the pathless Alps, through the forest of
Taurinum, routed the Tuscans in battle, not far from the
river Ticinus; and, hearing that the district in which they
had posted themselves, was called Insubria, the same
name by which one of [469] the cantons of the Insubrian
duans was distinguished, they embraced the omen
which the place presented, and founded there a city
which they called Mediolanum,

XXXV. Some time after, another body, composed of the

Cenomanians, under the conduct of Elitovius, following
the tracks of the former, made their way over the Alps,
through the same forest, Bellovesus favouring their
march, and settled themselves where the cities Brixia and
Verona now stand, places then possessed by the Libuans.
After these, came the Salluvians, who fixed their abode
near the ancient canton of the Ligurians, called Lvi,
who inhabited the banks of the Ticinus. The next who
came over were the Boians and Lingonians, through the
Penine pass, who, finding all the space between the Alps
and the Po already occupied, crossed the Po on rafts, and
drove out of the country, not only the Etrurians, but the
Umbrians also. They confined themselves however within
the Apennines. After them the Senonians, the latest of
these emigrants, possessed themselves of the track which
reaches from the river Utens to the sis. This latter
people, I find, it was, who came to Clusium, and from
thence to Rome. But whether alone, or assisted by all the
nations of Cisalpine Gauls, is not known with certainty.
The Clusians, on observing so great a multitude, the
appearance of the men, too, being different from any
which they had seen before, and also the kind of arms
which they carried, were terrified at the approach of this
strange enemy; and having heard that the legions of the
Etrurians had been often defeated by them, on both sides
of the Po, determined, although they had no claim on the
Romans, either in right of alliance or friendship, except
that they had not protected their relations the Veientians
in opposition to the Roman people, to send ambassadors
to Rome, to solicit aid from the senate; which request was
not complied with. The three Fabii, sons of Ambustus,
were sent to mediate with the Gauls, in the name of the
senate and commons [470] of Rome; who recommended
to them not to attack the allies and friends of the Roman
people, from whom they had received no injury, and
whom they would be obliged to support even by force of
arms, if matters went so far; but who, at the same time,
would be better pleased, that hostile proceedings should
be avoided if possible, and that their acquaintance with
the Gauls, a nation to whom they were as yet strangers,
should commence in an amicable rather than in an
hostile manner.
XXXVI. This was an embassy mild in its import, but
intrusted to men of tempers too ferocious, more
resembling Gauls than Romans. These, having explained
their commission in an assembly of the Gauls, received
for answer, that although this was the first time that they
had heard the name of the Romans, yet they supposed,
that they were men of bravery, whose assistance the
Clusians had implored in a conjuncture so perilous; and
in consideration of their having chosen to interfere
between their allies and them, in the way of negociation,
rather than that of arms, they would make no objection to
the amicable terms which they proposed, provided that
the Clusians, who possessed a greater portion of land
than they turned to use, would give up a part of it to the
Gauls, who wanted it. On no other terms, they said, was
peace to be obtained: that they wished to receive an
answer in presence of the Romans, and if the land were
refused them, would also decide the matter by arms in
the presence of the same Romans, that they might inform
their countrymen, how far the Gauls excelled the rest of
mankind in bravery. The Romans asking, by what right
they could demand land from the possessors, and in case
of refusal threaten war; and what concern the Gauls had
in Etruria? The others fiercely replied, that they carried
their right on the points of their swords, and that all
things were the property of the brave. Thus, with minds
inflamed on both sides, they hastily separated to prepare
for battle, which began without delay. Here, [471] fate now
pressing the city of Rome, the ambassadors, contrary to
the law of nations, took a part in the action; a fact which
could not be concealed, for three of the noblest and
bravest of the Roman youth fought in the van of the
Etrurian army; and the valour of these foreigners was
eminently conspicuous. Besides, Quintus Fabius rode
forward beyond the line, and slew a general of the Gauls,
who was making a furious charge against the standards of
the Etrurians, running him through the side with his
spear. He was known by the Gauls, while he was stripping
him of his spoils; on which notice was conveyed round
through the whole army, that he was one of the Roman
ambassadors. Dropping therefore their resentment
against the Clusians, they sounded a retreat, threatening
to wreak their vengeance on the Romans. Some advised
that they should march instantly to Rome. But the
opinion of the elders prevailed; that ambassadors should
first be sent to complain of the ill treatment, which they
had received, and to demand that the Fabii should be
delivered into their hands as a satisfaction for having
violated the law of nations. When the ambassadors of the
Gauls had explained those matters according to their
commission, the senate were highly displeased at the
behaviour of the Fabii, and thought the demand of the
barbarians just: but in the case of nobles, of such exalted
rank, partial favour prevented their passing a decree
conformable to their judgment. Lest, therefore, they
might be chargeable with any misfortune, which might
perhaps be sustained in a war with the Gauls, they
referred the determination, on the demands of the Gauls,
to the assembly of the people: where so prevalent was the
influence of interest and wealth, that the very persons
whose punishment was the subject of deliberation, were
appointed military tribunes with consular power for the
ensuing year. At which proceeding the Gauls being justly
enraged, and openly denouncing war, returned to their
countrymen. Y. R. 365. BC 387. Together with the three
Fabii, were appointed military tribunes, [472] Quintus
Sulpicius Longus, Quintus Servilius a fourth time, and
Servius Cornelius Maluginensis.

XXXVII. When fortune is determined upon the ruin of a

people, she can so blind them, as to render them
insensible to danger, even of the greatest magnitude:
accordingly the Roman state, which, in its wars with the
Fidenatians and Veientians and other neighbouring
enemies, had left no means untried to procure aid, and
had, on many occasions, nominated a dictator; yet now,
when an enemy whom they had never met, or even heard
of, was, from the ocean and the remotest coasts,
advancing in arms against them, they looked not for any
extraordinary command or assistance. Tribunes, whose
temerity had brought on the troubles, were intrusted with
the reins of government, and they used no greater
diligence in levying forces, than was usual in case of a
rupture with any of their neighbours, extenuating the
importance which fame gave to the war. Meanwhile the
Gauls, hearing that the violators of the rights of mankind
had even been recompensed with honours, and that their
embassy had been slighted, inflamed with anger, a
passion which that nation knows not how to control,
instantly snatched up their ensigns, and began to march
with the utmost expedition. When their precipitate
movement caused such an alarm wherever they passed,
that the inhabitants of the cities ran together to arms,
and the peasants betook themselves to flight, they
signified to them, by loud shouts, that it was to Rome
they were going, while the space covered by their men
and horses was immense, the troops spreading widely on
every side. But report outstripped them; and messengers
also from the Clusian, and from several other states, one
after another, and the quickness of the enemys
proceedings, caused the utmost consternation among the
Romans, whose army, composed, in a manner, of
tumultuary troops, with all the haste which they could
make, scarce advanced so far as the eleventh stone before
they met them, where the river [473] Allia, running down
from the Crustuminian mountains in a very deep
channel, joins the Tiber, a little way below the road.
Already every place, in front, and on each side, was
occupied by numerous bodies of Gauls; and, as that
nation has a natural turn for aggravating terror by
confusion, by their harsh music and discordant clamours,
they filled the air with a horrible din.

XXXVIII. There the military tribunes, without having

previously formed a camp, without the precaution of
raising a rampart which might secure a retreat,
regardless of duty to the gods, to say nothing of that to
man, without taking auspices, without offering a
sacrifice, drew up their line, which they extended on
towards the flanks, lest they should be surrounded by the
numerous forces of the enemy. Still they could not show
an equal front, and at the same time thinned their line in
such a manner, as weakened the centre, and left it scarce
sufficient to fill up the ranks without a breach. There was
a small eminence on the right, which they determined to
occupy with a body of reserve; which measure, as it gave
the first cause to their dismay and desertion of the field,
so it proved the only means of safety in their flight.
Brennus, the chieftain of the Gauls, thinking, that as his
enemies were few, their skill was what he had chiefly to
guard against; and supposing, that the eminence had
been seized with design, that when the Gauls should be
engaged in front with the line of the legions, that reserved
body might make an attack on their rear and flank,
turned his force against the reserve, not doubting, that if
he could dislodge them from their post, his troops, so
much superior in number, would find an easy victory in
the plain: thus not only fortune, but judgment also stood
on the side of the barbarians. In the opposite army there
appeared nothing like Romans, either among the
commanders, or the soldiers. Terror and dismay had
taken possession of their minds, and such a total
unconcern for the rest of mankind, that
greater [474] numbers by far fled to Veii, a city of their
enemy, though the Tiber lay across the way, than by the
direct road to Rome, to their wives and children. The
situation of the ground for some time defended the
reserve: but those who composed the rest of the line, on
their flank, and on their rear, no sooner heard the shout,
than, not only without attempting to fight, but without
even returning the shout, fresh as they were, and unhurt,
they ran away from an untried enemy, and at whom they
had scarcely ventured to look. Thus, no lives were lost in
battle; but their rear was cut to pieces while they crowded
on one another, in such hurry and confusion, as retarded
their retreat. Great slaughter was made on the bank of
the Tiber, whither the whole left wing, after throwing
away their arms, had directed their flight; and great
numbers who knew not how to swim, or were not very
strong, being burthened with their coats of mail and
other defensive armour, were swallowed up in the
current. However the greatest part escaped safe to Veii,
from whence they neither sent any reinforcement to
Rome, nor even a courier to give notice of their defeat.
Those of the right wing which had been posted at a
distance from the river, near the foot of the mountain, all
took the way to Rome, and without even shutting the
gates of the city, made their way into the citadel.

XXXIX. On the other hand, the attainment of such a

speedy, such an almost miraculous victory, astonished
the Gauls. At first, they stood motionless through
apprehension for their own safety, scarcely knowing what
had happened; then, they dreaded some stratagem; at
length, they collected the spoils of the slain, and piled the
arms in heaps, according to their practice. And now,
seeing no sign of an enemy any where, they at last began
to march forward, and a little before sun-set arrived near
the city of Rome, where receiving intelligence by some
horsemen who had advanced before, that the gates were
open without any troops posted to [475] defend them, nor
any soldiers on the walls, this second incident, not less
unaccountable than the former, induced them to halt:
and, apprehending danger from the darkness of the
night, and their ignorance of the situation of the city, they
took post between Rome and the Anio, sending scouts
about the walls, and the several gates, to discover what
plans the enemy would pursue in this desperate state of
their affairs. The Roman soldiers, who were living, their
friends lamented as lost; the greater part of them having
gone from the field of battle to Veii, and no one
supposing that any survived, except those who had come
home to Rome. In fine, the city was almost entirely filled
with sorrowings. But on the arrival of intelligence that
the enemy were at hand, the apprehensions excited by
the public danger stifled all private sorrow; soon after,
the barbarians patroling about the walls in troops, they
heard their yells and the dissonant clangour of their
martial instruments. During the whole interval, between
this and the next morning, they were held in the most
anxious suspense, every moment expecting an assault to
be made on the city. At the enemys first approach, it was
supposed that they would begin the attack as soon as they
should arrive at the city, since, if this were not their
intention, they would probably have remained at the
Allia. Their fears were various and many; first, they
imagined that the place would be instantly stormed,
because there was not much of the day remaining; then
that the design was put off until night, in order to strike
the greater terror. At last, the approach of light sunk
them in dismay, and the evil itself which they dreaded,
closed this scene of unremitted apprehension, the enemy
marching through the gates in hostile array. During that
night, however, and also the following day, the state
preserved a character, very different from that which
such a dastardly flight at the Allia had indicated: for there
being no room to hope that the city could possibly be
defended by the small number of troops remaining, a
resolution [476] was taken, that the young men who were
fit to bear arms, and the abler part of the senate, with
their wives and children, should go up into the citadel
and the capitol; and having collected stores of arms and
corn, should, in that strong post, maintain the defence of
the deities, of the inhabitants, and of the honour of
Rome. That the Flamen Quirinalis, and the vestal
priestesses, should carry away, far from slaughter and
conflagration, all that appertained to the gods of the
state; and that their worship should not be intermitted,
until there should be no one left to perform it. If the
citadel and the capitol, the mansion of the gods; if the
senate, the source of public counsel; if the youth of
military age, should survive the ruin which impended
over the city, they must deem the loss of the aged light, as
of a crowd whom they were under the necessity of leaving
behind, though with a certain prospect of their
perishing. That such of this deserted multitude as
consisted of plebeians, might bear their doom with the
greater resignation, the aged nobles, formerly dignified
with triumphal honours and consulships, openly
declared, that they would meet death along with them,
and would not burthen the scanty stores of the fighting
men, with bodies incapable of carrying arms, and of
protecting their country. Such were the consolations
addressed to each other by the aged who were destined to
death.

XL. Their exhortations were then turned to the band of

young men, whom they escorted to the capitol and
citadel, commending to their valour and youthful vigour
the remaining fortune of their city, which, through the
course of three hundred and sixty years, had ever been
victorious in all its wars. When those who carried with
them every hope and every resource, parted with the
others, who had determined not to survive the capture
and destruction of the city, the view which it exhibited
was sufficient to call forth the liveliest feelings, the
women at the same time running up and down in
distraction, now following one party, then the
other, [477] asking their husbands and their sons, to what
fate they would consign them? All together formed such a
picture of human wo as could admit of no aggravation. A
great part, however, of the women followed their
relations into the citadel, no one either hindering or
inviting them; because, though the measure of lessening
the number of useless persons in a siege, might doubtless
be advisable in one point of view, yet it was a measure of
extreme inhumanity. The rest of the multitude, consisting
chiefly of plebeians, for whom there was neither room on
so small a hill, nor a possibility of support in so great a
scarcity of corn, pouring out of the city in one continued
train, repaired to the Janiculum. From thence some
dispersed through the country, and others made their
way to the neighbouring cities, without any leader, or any
concert, each pursuing his own hopes and his own plans,
those of the public being deplored as desperate. In the
mean time, the Flamen Quirinalis, and the Vestal virgins,
laying aside all concern for their own affairs, and
consulting together which of the sacred deposits they
should take with them, and which they should leave
behind, for they had not strength sufficient to carry all,
and what place they could best depend on for preserving
them in safe custody, judged it the most eligible method
to inclose them in casks, and to bury them under ground,
in the chapel next to the dwelling-house of the Flamen
Quirinalis, where at present it is reckoned profane even
to spit. The rest they carried, distributing the burthens
among themselves, along the road which leads over the
Sublician bridge, to the Janiculum. On the ascent of that
hill, Lucius Albinius, a Roman plebeian, was conveying
away in a wagon his wife and children, but observing
them among the crowd of those who being unfit for war
were retiring from the city, and retaining, even in his
present calamitous state, a regard to the distinction
between things divine and human, he thought it would
betray a want of respect to religion, if the public priests of
the Roman people were to go [478] on foot, thus holily
laden, whilst he and his family were seen mounted in a
carriage; ordering his wife and children then to alight, he
put the virgins and the sacred things into the wagon, and
conveyed them to Cre, whither the priests had
determined to go.

XLI. Meanwhile, at Rome, when every disposition for the

defence of the citadel had been completed, as far as was
possible in such a conjuncture, the aged crowd withdrew
to their houses, and there, with a firmness of mind not to
be shaken by the approach of death, waited the coming of
the enemy: such of them as had held curule offices,
choosing to die in that garb which displayed the emblems
of their former fortune, of their honours, or of their
merit, put on the most splendid robes worn, when they
draw the chariots of the gods in procession, or ride in
triumph. Thus habited, they seated themselves in their
ivory chairs at the fronts of their houses. Some say that
they devoted themselves for the safety of their country
and their fellow citizens; and that they sung a hymn upon
the occasion, Marcus Fabius, the chief pontiff, dictating
the form of words to them. On the side of the Gauls, as
the keenness of their rage, excited by the fight, had
abated during the night; and, as they had neither met any
dangerous opposition in the field, nor were now taking
the city by storm or force; they marched next day,
without any anger or any heat of passion, into the city,
through the Colline gate, which stood open, and
advanced to the Forum, casting round their eyes on the
temples of the gods, and on the citadel, the only place
which had the appearance of making resistance. From
thence, leaving a small guard to prevent any attack from
the citadel or capitol, they ran about in quest of plunder.
Not meeting a human being in the streets, part of them
rushed in a body to the houses that stood nearest; part
sought the most distant, as expecting to find them
untouched and abounding with spoil. Afterwards, being
frightened from thence, by the very solitude, and
fearing [479] lest some secret design of the enemy might
be put in execution against them, while they were thus
dispersed, they formed themselves into bodies, and
returned again to the Forum, and places adjoining to it.
Finding the houses of the plebeians shut up, and the
palaces of the nobles standing open, they showed rather
greater backwardness to attack these that were open,
than such as were shut: with such a degree of veneration
did they behold men sitting in the porches of those
palaces, who, beside their ornaments and apparel, more
splendid than became mortals, bore the nearest
resemblance to gods, in the majesty displayed in their
looks, and the gravity of their countenances. It is said,
that while they stood gazing as on statues, one of them,
Marcus Papirius, provoked the anger of a Gaul, by
striking him on the head with his ivory sceptre, while he
was stroaking his beard, which at that time was
universally worn long; that the slaughter began with him,
and that the rest were slain in their seats. The nobles
being put to death, the remainder of the people met the
same fate. The houses were plundered, and then set on
fire.

XLII. However, whether it was, that they were not all

possessed with a desire of reducing the city to ruins, or
whether the design had been adopted by the chiefs of the
Gauls, that some fires should be presented to the view of
the besieged, for the purpose of terrifying them, and to
try if they could be compelled to surrender, through
affection to their own dwellings, or that they had
determined that all the houses should not be burned
down, because whatever remained, they could hold as a
pledge, by means of which they might work upon the
minds of the garrison, the fire did not, during the first
day, spread extensively, as is usual in a captured city. The
Romans, beholding the enemy from the citadel, who ran
up and down through every street, while some new scene
of horror arose to their view in every different quarter,
were scarcely able to preserve their presence [480] of
mind. To whatever side the shouts of the enemy, the cries
of women and children, the crackling from the flames;
and the crash of falling houses called their attention,
thither, deeply shocked at every incident, they turned
their eyes, their thoughts, as if placed by fortune to be
spectators of the fall of their country;left, in short, not
for the purpose of protecting any thing belonging to
them, but merely their own persons, much more
deserving of commiseration, indeed, than any before who
were ever beleaguered; as by the siege which they had to
sustain they were excluded from their native city, whilst
they saw every thing which they held dear in the power of
the enemy. Nor was the night, which succeeded such a
shocking day, attended with more tranquillity. The
morning appeared with an aspect equally dismal; nor did
any portion of time relieve them from the sight of a
constant succession of new distresses. Loaded and
overwhelmed with such a multiplicity of evils, they
notwithstanding remitted nought of their firmness;
determined, though they should see every thing in
flames, and levelled with the dust, to defend by their
bravery the hill which they occupied, small and ill
provided as it was, yet being the only refuge of their
liberty. And as the same events recurred every day, they
became so habituated, as it were, to disasters, that,
abstracting their thoughts as much as possible from their
circumstances, they regarded the arms, and the swords in
their hands, as their only hopes.

XLIII. On the other side, the Gauls, having for several

days waged only an ineffectual war against the buildings,
and perceiving that among the fires and ruins of the city
nothing now remained but a band of armed enemies, who
were neither terrified in the least, nor likely to treat of a
capitulation unless force were applied, resolved to have
recourse to extremities, and to make an assault on the
citadel. On a signal given, at the first light, their whole
multitude was marshalled in the Forum, from whence,
after raising the [481] shout, and forming a testudo,* they
advanced to the attack. The Romans in their defence did
nothing rashly, nor in a hurry; but having strengthened
the guards at every approach, and opposing the main
strength of their men on the quarter where they saw the
battalions advancing, they suffered them to mount the
hill, judging that the higher they should ascend, the more
easily they might be driven back, down the steep. About
the middle of the ascent they met: and there making their
charge down the declivity, which of itself bore them
against the enemy, routed the Gauls with such slaughter,
and such destruction, occasioned by their falling down
the precipice, that they never afterwards, either in
parties, or with their whole force, made another trial of
that kind of fight. Laying aside therefore the hope of
effecting their approaches by force of arms, they resolved
to form a blockade, for which, having never until this
time thought of making provision, they were ill prepared.
With the houses, all was consumed in the city; and in the
course of the days they had passed there, the produce of
the country round about had been hastily carried off to
Veii. Wherefore dividing their forces, they determined
that one part should be employed in plundering among
the neighbouring nations, while the other carried on the
siege of the citadel, in order that the ravagers of the
country might supply the besiegers with corn.

XLIV. The party of Gauls, which marched away from the

city, were conducted merely by the will of fortune, who
chose to make a trial of Roman bravery, to Ardea, where
Camillus dwelt in exile, pining in sorrow, and more
deeply grieving at the distresses of the public, than at his
own; accusing gods and men, burning with indignation,
and wondering where were now those men who with him
had taken Veii, and Falerii; those men who, in other
wars, had ever [482] been more indebted to their own
courage, than to chance. Thus pondering, he heard, on a
sudden, that the army of the Gauls was approaching, and
that the people of Ardea in consternation were met in
council on the subject. On which, as if moved by divine
inspiration, he advanced into the midst of their assembly,
having hitherto been accustomed to absent himself from
such meetings, and said, People of Ardea, my friends of
old, of late my fellow-citizens also, a relation encouraged
by your kindness, and formed by my fortune; let not any
of you imagine, that my coming hither to your council is
owing to my having forgotten my situation; but the
present case, and the common danger, render it
necessary that every one should contribute to the public
every kind of assistance in his power. And when shall I
repay so great obligations as I owe you, if I am now
remiss? On what occasion can I ever be serviceable to
you, if not in war? By my knowledge in that line, I
supported a character in my native country, and though
never overcome by an enemy in war, I was banished in
time of peace by my ungrateful countrymen. To you, men
of Ardea, fortune has presented an opportunity of making
a recompense for all the valuable favours which the
Roman people have formerly conferred on you. How
great these have been, ye yourselves remember; nor need
I, who know you to be grateful, remind you of them. At
the same time you may acquire, for this your city, a high
degree of military renown, by acting against the common
enemy. The nation, which is now approaching, in a
disorderly march, is one to whom nature has given minds
and bodies of greater size than strength: for which
reason, they bring to every contest more of terror, than of
real vigour. The disaster of Rome may serve as a proof of
this; they took the city, when every avenue lay open; but
still a small band in the citadel and capitol are able to
withstand them. Already tired of the slow proceedings of
the siege, they retire and spread themselves over the face
of the country. [483] When gorged by food, and greedy
draughts of wine, as soon as night comes on, they stretch
themselves promiscuously, like brutes, near streams of
water, without intrenchment, and without either guards
or advanced posts; using at present, in consequence of
success, still less caution than usual. If it is your wish to
defend your own walls, and not to suffer all this part of
the world to become a province of Gaul, take arms
unanimously at the first watch. Follow me, to kill, not to
fight. If I do not deliver them into your hands,
overpowered with sleep, to be slaughtered like cattle, I
am content to meet the same issue of my affairs at Ardea
which I found at Rome.

XLV. Every one who heard him, had long been possessed
with an opinion, that there was not any where in that age
a man of equal talents for war. The meeting then being
dismissed, they took some refreshment, and waited with
impatience for the signal being given. As soon as that was
done, during the stillness of the beginning of the night,
they attended Camillus at the gates: they had not
marched far from the city, when they found the camp of
the Gauls, as had been foretold, unguarded and neglected
on every side, and, raising a shout, attacked it. There was
no fight any where, but slaughter every where: being
naked, and surprised in sleep, they were easily cut to
pieces. However, those who lay most remote, being
roused from their beds, and not knowing how or by
whom the tumult was occasioned, were by their fears
directed to flight, and some of them even into the midst
of the enemy, before they perceived their mistake. A great
number, flying into the territory of Antium, were
attacked on their straggling march by the inhabitants of
that city, surrounded and cut off. A like carnage was
made of the Tuscans in the territory of Veii: for they were
so far from feeling compassion for a city, which had been
their neighbour now near four hundred years, and which
had been overpowered by a strange and unheard of
enemy, that they made incursions [484] at that very time
on the Roman territory: and, after loading themselves
with booty, purposed even to lay siege to Veii, the
bulwark, and the last remaining hope of the whole
Roman race. The soldiers there, who had seen them
straggling over the country, and also collected in a body,
driving the prey before them, now perceived their camp
pitched at no great distance from Veii. At first, their
minds were filled with melancholy reflections on their
own situation; then with indignation, afterwards with
rage. Must their misfortunes, they said, be mocked even
by the Etrurians, from whom they had drawn off the
Gallic war on themselves? Scarce could they curb their
passions so far as to refrain from attacking them that
instant; but, being restrained by Quintus Cdicius, a
centurion, whom they had appointed their commander,
they consented to defer it until night. The action which
ensued wanted nothing to render it equal to the former,
except that it was not conducted by a general equal to
Camillus: in every other respect the course of events was
the same, and the issue equally fortunate. Not content
with this blow, but taking, as guides, some prisoners who
had escaped the slaughter, and advancing to Salin
against another body of Tuscans, they surprised them on
the night following, slew a still greater number, and then
returned to Veii, exulting in their double victory.

XLVI. Meanwhile, at Rome the siege, in general, was

carried on slowly, and both parties lay quiet; for the
attention of the Gauls was solely employed in preventing
any of the enemy from escaping between their posts;
when, on a sudden, a Roman youth drew on himself the
attention and admiration both of his countrymen and the
enemy. There was a sacrifice always solemnized by the
Fabian family at stated times, on the Quirinal hill; to
perform which, Caius Fabius Dorso having come down
from the capitol, dressed in the form called the Gabine
cincture, and carrying in his hands the sacred utensils
requisite for the ceremony, passed [485] out through the
midst of the enemys posts, without being moved in the
least by any of their calls or threats. He proceeded to the
Quirinal hill, and after duly performing there the solemn
rites, returned by the same way, preserving the same
firmness in his countenance and gait, confident of the
protection of the gods, whose worship, even the fear of
death, had not power to make him neglect, and came
back to his friends in the capitol, while the Gauls were
either held motionless with astonishment at his amazing
confidence, or moved by considerations of religion, of
which that nation is by no means regardless. Meanwhile,
those at Veii found not only their courage, but their
strength also increasing daily. Not only such of the
Romans repaired thither, who, in consequence either of
the defeat in the field, or of the disaster of the city being
taken, had been dispersed in various parts, but
volunteers also flowed in from Latium, with a view to
share in the spoil; so that it now seemed high time to
attempt the recovery of their native city, and rescue it out
of the hands of the enemy. But this strong body wanted a
head: the spot where they stood reminded them of
Camillus; a great number of the soldiers having fought
with success under his banners and auspices. Besides,
Cdicius declared, that he would not take any part which
might afford occasion, either for god or man, to take
away his command; but rather, mindful of his own rank,
would himself insist on the appointment of a general.
With universal consent it was resolved, that Camillus
should be invited from Ardea; but that first the senate at
Rome should be consulted: so carefully did they regulate
every proceeding by a regard to propriety, and, though in
circumstances nearly desperate, maintained the
distinctions of the several departments of government. It
was necessary to pass through the enemys guards, which
could not be effected without the utmost danger. A
spirited youth, called Pontius Cominius, offered himself
for the undertaking, and supporting himself on pieces of
cork, was carried [486] down the stream of the Tiber to
the city. From thence, where the distance from the bank
was shortest, he made his way into the capitol over a part
of the rock which was very steep and craggy, and
therefore neglected by the enemys guards; and being
conducted to the magistrates, delivered the message of
the army. Then, having received a decree of the senate,
that Camillus should both be recalled from exile in an
assembly of the Curias, and instantly nominated dictator
by order of the people, and that the soldiers should have
the general whom they wished, going out of the same
way, he proceeded with his despatches to Veii; from
whence deputies were sent to Ardea to Camillus, who
conducted him to Veii: or else, the law was passed by the
Curians, and he was nominated dictator in his absence;
for I am inclined to believe, that he did not set out from
Ardea until he found, that this was done, because he
could neither change his residence without an order of
the people, nor hold the privilege of the auspices in the
army, until he was nominated dictator.

XLVII. Thus they were employed at Veii, whilst, in the

mean time, the citadel and capitol at Rome were in the
utmost danger. The Gauls either perceived the track of a
human foot, where the messenger from Veii had passed;
or, from their own obeservation, had remarked the easy
ascent at the rock of Carmentis: on a moon-light night,
therefore, having first sent forward a person unarmed to
make trial of the way, handing their arms to those before
them; when any difficulty occurred, supporting and
supported in turns, and drawing each other up according
as the ground required, they climbed to the summit in
such silence, that they not only escaped the notice of the
guards, but did not even alarm the dogs, animals
particularly watchful with regard to any noise at night.
They were not unperceived however by some geese,
which being sacred to Juno, the people had spared, even
in the present great scarcity of food; a circumstance to
which they owed their preservation; for by the cackling
of [487] these creatures, and the clapping of their wings,
Marcus Manlius was roused from sleep,a man of
distinguished character in war, who had been consul the
third year before; and snatching up his arms, and at the
same time calling to the rest to do the same, he hastened
to the spot: where, while some ran about in confusion, he
by a stroke with the boss of his shield tumbled down a
Gaul who had already got footing on the summit; and this
mans weight, as he fell, throwing down those who were
next, he slew several others, who in their consternation,
threw away their arms, and caught hold of the rocks, to
which they clung. By this time many of the garrison had
assembled at the place, who by throwing javelins and
stones, beat down the enemy, so that the whole band,
unable to keep either their hold or footing, were hurled
down the precipice in promiscuous ruin. The alarm then
subsiding, the remainder of the night was given to
repose, as much at least as could be enjoyed after such
perturbation, when the danger though past, kept up the
agitation of peoples minds. As soon as day appeared, the
soldiers were summoned by sound of trumpet, to attend
the tribunes in assembly, when due recompense was to
be made both to merit and demerit. Manlius was first of
all commended for the bravery which he had displayed,
and was presented with gifts, not only by the military
tribunes, but by the soldiers universally; for every one
carried to his house, which was in the citadel, a
contribution of half a pound of corn, and half a pint of
winea present which appears trifling in the relation, yet
the scarcity which prevailed rendered it a very strong
proof of esteem, since each man contributed, in honour
of a particular person, a portion subtracted from his
necessary supplies. Those who had been on guard at the
place where the enemy climbed up unobserved, were now
cited; and though Quintus Sulpicius, military tribune had
declared, that he would punish every man according to
the rules of military discipline, yet being deterred by the
unanimous remonstrances [488] of the soldiers, who
threw all the blame on one particular man of the guard,
he spared the rest. The one who was manifestly guilty he
with the approbation of all threw down from the rock.
From this time forth, the guards on both sides became
more vigilant: on the side of the Gauls, because a rumour
spread that messengers passed between Veii and Rome;
and on that of the Romans, from their recollection of the
danger to which they had been exposed in the night.

XLVIII. But beyond all the evils of the war and the siege,
famine distressed both armies. To which was added on
the side of the Gauls, a pestilential disorder, occasioned
by their lying encamped in low ground surrounded with
hills, which besides having been heated by the burning of
the buildings, and filled with exhalations, when the wind
rose ever so little, sent up not only ashes but embers.
These inconveniencies that nation, of all others, is the
worst qualified to endure, as being accustomed to cold
and moisture. In a word, they suffered so severely from
the heat and suffocation, that they died in great numbers,
disorders spreading as among a herd of cattle. And now
growing weary of the trouble of burying separately, they
gathered the bodies in heaps promiscuously, and burned
them, and this rendered the place remarkable by the
name of the Gallic piles. A truce was now made with the
Romans, and conferences held with permission of the
commanders: in which, when the Gauls frequently made
mention of the famine to which the former were reduced,
and thence inferred the necessity of their surrendering, it
is said, that in order to remove this opinion, bread was
thrown from the capitol into their advanced posts,
though the famine could scarcely be dissembled or
endured any longer. But whilst the dictator was employed
in person in levying forces at Ardea, in sending his
master of the horse, Lucius Valerius, to bring up the
troops from Veii, and in making such preparations and
arrangements [489] as would enable him to attack the
enemy on equal terms, the garrison of the capitol was
worn down with the fatigue of guards and watches. They
had hitherto stood superior to all evils, yet famine was
one which nature would not allow to be overcome, so that
looking out day after day for some assistance from the
dictator, and at last, not only provisions, but hope failing,
their arms in the course of relieving the guards at the
same time almost weighing down their feeble bodies,
they insisted that either a surrender should be made, or
the enemy bought off, on such terms as could be
obtained: for the Gauls had given plain intimations, that,
for a small compensation, they might be induced to
relinquish the siege. The senate then met, and the
military tribunes were commissioned to conclude a
capitulation. The business was afterwards managed in a
conference between Quintus Sulpicius a military tribune,
and Brennus the chieftain of the Gauls, and a thousand
pounds weight of gold* was fixed as the ransom of that
people, who were afterwards to be rulers of the world. To
a transaction so very humiliating in itself, insult was
added. False weights were brought by the Gauls, and on
the tribune objecting to them, the insolent Gaul threw in
his sword in addition to the weights, and was heard to
utter an expression intolerable to Roman ears, wo to the
vanquished.

XLIX. But both gods and men stood forth to prevent the
Romans living under the disgrace of being ransomed.
For, very fortunately, before the abominable payment
was completed, the whole quantity of gold being not yet
weighed in consequence of the altercation, the dictator
came up to the spot, ordered the gold to be carried away
from thence, and the Gauls to clear the place. And when
they made opposition, and insisted on the agreement, he
affirmed that such an agreement could have no validity,
being made [490] after he had been created dictator,
without his order, by a magistrate of subordinate
authority; and he gave notice to the Gauls to prepare for
battle. His own men he ordered to throw their baggage in
a heap, to get ready their arms, and to recover their
country with steel, not with gold; having before their eyes
the temples of the gods, their wives and children, the site
of their native city, disfigured with rubbish through the
calamities of war, and every object which they were
bound by the strongest duties to defend, to recover, and
to revenge. He then drew up his forces for battle, as far as
the nature of the ground would allow, on the site of the
half demolished city, which was in itself naturally
uneven, having made every previous arrangement and
preparation, which could be suggested by knowledge in
war, to secure all possible advantages to himself. The
Gauls, alarmed at this unexpected event, took up arms,
and with more rage than conduct rushed upon the
Romans. Fortune had now changed sides; and both
divine favour and human wisdom aided the Roman
cause. At the first onset, therefore, the Gauls were put to
the route with no greater difficulty than they had
themselves found, when they gained the victory at the
Allia. They were afterwards defeated, under the conduct
and auspices of the same Camillus, in a more regular
engagement at the eighth stone on the Gabine road,
where they rallied after their flight. Here the slaughter
was immense; their camp was taken, and not even a
single person left to carry the news of the defeat. The
dictator, having thus recovered his country from the
enemy, returned in triumph, and among the rough jokes
which the soldiers throw out on such occasions, received
the appellations of a Romulus, a second founder of the
city,praises certainly not unmerited. His country thus
saved by arms, he evidently saved it a second time in
peace, when he hindered the people from removing to
Veii, a scheme pressed by the tribunes with greater
earnestness after the burning of the city, and
which [491] the commons, of themselves, were then more
inclined to pursue; and for that reason he did not resign
the dictatorship immediately after his triumph, being
entreated by the senate not to leave the commonwealth in
that unsettled state.
L. The first business which he laid before the senate was
that which respected the immortal gods; for he was
remarkably attentive to all matters in which religion was
concerned. He procured a decree of senate, that all the
temples having been in possession of the enemy should
be restored, their bounds traced, and expiation made for
them, and that the form of expiation should be sought in
the books by the duumvirs. That a league of hospitality
should be formed by public authority with the people of
Cre, because they had afforded a reception to the sacred
utensils, and to the priests of the Roman people; and
because to the kindness of that nation it was owing, that
the worship of the immortal gods had not been
intermitted; that Capitoline games should be exhibited in
honour of Jupiter, supremely good and great, for having,
in time of danger, protected his own mansion, and the
citadel of Rome; and that a certain number of citizens, for
the due performance thereof, should be incorporated by
the dictator, out of those who resided in the capitol and
fort. Mention was also introduced of expiating the voice
which had been heard by night, giving notice of the
calamity before the Gallic war, and which had been
neglected; and an order was made that a temple should
be erected to Aius Locutius, in the new street. The gold,
which had been rescued from the Gauls, and also what
had been, during the hurry of the alarm, carried from the
other temples into the recess of Jupiters temple, was
altogether judged to be sacred, and ordered to be
deposited under the throne of Jupiter, because no one
could recollect to what temples it ought to be returned.
The state had, before this, manifested a high regard to
religion, in accepting a contribution of gold from the
matrons, when the public fund was found
insufficient [492] to make up the sum stipulated to be
paid to the Gauls, rather than meddle with the sacred
gold. To the matrons public thanks were given, and also
the privilege of having funeral orations delivered in
honour of them on their death, the same as on that of the
men. When he had finished such business as respected
the gods, and such as could be determined by the
authority of the senate, and as the tribunes never ceased
teasing the commons in their harangues to abandon the
ruins, and remove to Veii, a city ready for their reception,
being attended by the whole body of the senate, he
mounted the tribunal and spoke to this effect.

LI. Romans, so strong is my aversion from holding

contentions with the tribunes of the people, that while I
resided at Ardea, I had no other consolation in my
melancholy exile than that I was at a distance from such
contests; and, on account of these, I was fully determined
never to return, even though ye should recall me by a
decree of senate and order of the people. Nor was it any
change of my sentiments, which induced me now to
revisit Rome, but the situation of your affairs. For the
point in question was, not whether I should reside in my
native land, but whether that land, (if I may so express
myself,) should keep in its own established seat? And on
the present occasion most willingly would I remain silent,
did not this struggle also affect the essential interests of
my country; to be wanting to which, as long as life
remains, were base in others, in Camillus infamous. For
to what purpose have we laboured its recovery? Why
have we rescued it out of the hands of the enemy? After it
has been recovered, shall we voluntarily desert it?
Notwithstanding that the capitol and citadel continued to
be held and inhabited by the gods and the natives of
Rome, even when the Gauls were victorious, and in
possession of the whole city; notwithstanding that the
Romans are now the victors; shall that capitol and citadel
be abandoned with all [493] the rest, and our prosperity
become the cause of greater desolation, than our
adversity was? In truth, if we had no religious institutions
which were founded together with the city, and regularly
handed down from one generation to another; yet the
divine power has been so manifestly displayed at this
time in favour of the Roman affairs, that I should think
all disposition to be negligent in paying due honour to the
gods effectually removed from the minds of men. For,
take a review of the transactions of these latter years in
order,prosperous and adverse,ye will find that in
every instance prosperity constantly attended submission
to the immortals, and adversity the neglect of them. To
begin with the war of Veii: for what a number of years,
and with what an immensity of labour, was it carried on?
Yet it could not be brought to a conclusion, until, in
obedience to the admonition of the gods, the water was
discharged from the Alban lake. Consider, did this
unparalleled train of misfortunes, which ruined our city,
commence until the voice sent from heaven, concerning
the approach of the Gauls, had been disregarded; until
the laws of nations had been violated by our
ambassadors; and until we, with the same indifference
towards the deities, passed over that crime which we
were bound to punish? Vanquished, therefore, made
captives, and ransomed, we have suffered such
punishments at the hands of gods and men, as render us
a warning to the whole world. After this, our misfortunes
again reminded us of our duty to the heavens. We fled for
refuge into the capitol, to the mansion of Jupiter,
supremely good and great. The sacred utensils, amidst
the ruin of our own properties, we partly concealed in the
earth, partly conveyed out of the enemys sight, to the
neighbouring cities. Abandoned by gods and men, yet we
did not intermit the sacred worship. The consequence
was, they restored us to our country, to victory, and to
our former renown in war, which we had forfeited; and
on the heads of the enemy, who, blinded by avarice,
broke the faith of a treaty [494] in respect to the weight of
the gold, they turned dismay, and flight, and slaughter.

LII. When ye reflect on these strong instances of the

powerful effects produced on the affairs of men by their
either honouring or neglecting the deity, do ye not
perceive, Romans, what an act of impiety we are about to
perpetrate, even in the very moment of emerging from
the wreck and ruin which followed our former
misconduct? We are in possession of a city built under
the direction of auspices and auguries, in which there is
not a spot but is full of gods and religious rites. The days
of the anniversary sacrifices are not more precisely
stated, than are the places where they are to be
performed. All these gods, both public and private, do ye
intend, Romans, to forsake? What similitude does your
conduct bear to that, which lately, during the siege, was
beheld, with no less admiration by the enemy than by
yourselves, in that excellent youth Caius Fabius, when he
went down from the citadel through the midst of Gallic
weapons, and performed on the Quirinal hill the
anniversary rites pertaining to the Fabian family? Is it
your opinion that the religious performances of particular
families should not be intermitted, though war obstruct,
but that the public rites and the Roman gods should be
forsaken even in time of peace; and that the pontiffs and
flamens should be more negligent of those rites of
religion than was a private person? Some, perhaps, may
say, we will perform these at Veii; we will send our priests
thither for that purpose: but this cannot be done without
an infringement of the established forms. Even in the
case of the feast of Jupiter, (not to enumerate all the
several gods, and all the different kinds of sacred rites,)
can the ceremonies of the lectisternium be performed in
any other place than the capitol? What shall I say of the
eternal fire of Vesta; and of the statue, that pledge of
empire, which is kept under the safeguard of her temple?
What, O Mars Gradivus, and [495] thou, Father Quirinus,
of thy Ancilia?* Is it right that those sacred things, coeval
with the city, nay some of them more ancient than the
city itself, should all be abandoned to profanation? Now,
observe the difference between us and our ancestors.
They handed down to us certain sacred rites to be
performed on the Alban, and on the Lavinian mounts.
Was it then deemed not offensive to the gods, that such
rites should be brought to Rome, and from the cities of
our enemies; and shall we, without impiety, remove them
from hence to an enemys city, to Veii? Recollect, I
beseech you, how often sacred rites are performed anew,
because some particular ceremony of our country has
been omitted through negligence or accident. In a late
instance, what other matter, after the prodigy of the
Alban lake, proved a remedy for the distresses brought on
the commonwealth by the war of Veii, but the repetition
of them, and the renewal of the auspices? But besides, as
if zealously attached to religious institutions, we have
brought not only foreign deities to Rome, but have
established new ones. It was but the other day that
imperial Juno was removed hither from Veii; and with
what a crowded attendance was her dedication on the
Aventine celebrated? And how greatly was it
distinguished by the extraordinary zeal of the matrons?
We have passed an order for the erecting of a temple to
Aius Locutius in the new street, out of regard to the
heavenly voice which was heard there. To our other
solemnities we have added Capitoline games, and have,
by direction of the senate, founded a new college for the
performance thereof. Where was there occasion for any
of these institutions, if [496] we were to abandon the city
at the same time with the Gauls; if it was against our will
that we resided in the capitol for the many months that
the seige continued; if it was through a motive of fear that
we suffered ourselves to be confined there by the enemy?
Hitherto we have spoken of the sacred rites and the
temples, what are we now to say of the priests? Does it
not occur to you, what a degree of profaneness would be
committed with respect to them? For the vestals have but
that one residence, from which nothing ever disturbed
them, except the capture of the city. It is deemed impious
if the Flamen Dialis remain one night out of the city. Do
ye intend to make them Veientian priests instead of
Roman? And, O Vesta, shall thy virgins forsake thee? And
shall the flamen, by foreign residence, draw every night
on himself and the commonwealth so great a load of
guilt? What shall we say of other kinds of business which
we necessarily transact under auspices, and almost all
within the Pomrium? To what oblivion, or to what
neglect, are we to consign them? The assemblies of the
curias, which have the regulation of military affairs; the
assemblies of the centuries, in which ye elect consuls and
military tribunes; where can they be held under auspices,
except in the accustomed place? Shall we transfer these
to Veii? Or shall the people, in order to hold their
meetings, lawfully crowd together here, with so great
inconvenience, and into a city deserted by gods and men?

LIII. But it is urged that the case itself compels us to

leave a city desolated by fire and ruin, and remove to Veii,
where every thing is entire, and not to distress the needy
commons by building here. Now, I think, Romans, it
must be evident to most of you, though I should not say a
word on the subject, that this is but a pretext held out to
serve a purpose, and not the real motive. For ye
remember, that this scheme of our removing to Veii was
agitated before the coming of the Gauls, when the
buildings, both [497] public and private, were unhurt, and
when the city stood in safety. Observe, then, tribunes, the
difference between my way of thinking and yours. Ye are
of opinion, that even though it were not advisable to
remove at that time, yet it is plainly expedient now. On
the contrary, and be not surprised at what I say until ye
hear my reasons, even allowing that it had been advisable
so to do, when the whole city was in a state of safety, I
would not vote for leaving these ruins now. At that time,
removing into a captured city from a victory obtained,
had been a cause glorious to us and our posterity; but
now, it would be wretched and dishonourable to us, while
it would be glorious to the Gauls. For we shall appear not
to have left our country in consequence of our successes,
but from being vanquished; and by the flight at the Allia,
the capture of the city, and the blockade of the capitol, to
have been obliged to forsake our dwellings, and fly from a
place which we had not strength to defend. And have the
Gauls been able to demolish Rome, and shall the Romans
be deemed unable to restore it? What remains, then, but
that ye allow them to come with new forces, for it is
certain they have numbers scarcely credible, and make it
their choice to dwell in this city, once captured by them,
and now forsaken by you? What would you think, if, not
the Gauls, but your old enemies the quans or Volscians,
should form the design of removing to Rome? Would ye
be willing that they should become Romans, and you
Veientians? Or would ye that this should be either a
desert in your possession, or a city in that of the enemy?
Any thing more impious I really cannot conceive. Is it out
of aversion from the trouble of rebuilding, that ye are
ready to incur such guilt and such disgrace? Supposing
that there could not be erected a better or more ample
structure than that cottage of our founder, were it not
more desirable to dwell in cottages, after the manner of
shepherds and rustics, in the midst of your sacred places
and tutelar deities, than [498] to have the commonwealth
go into exile? Our forefathers, a body of uncivilized
strangers, when there was nothing in these places but
woods and marshes, erected a city in a very short time.
Do we, though we have the capitol and citadel safe, and
the temples of the gods standing, think it too great a
labour to rebuild one that has been burned? What each
particular man would have done, if his house had been
destroyed by fire, should the whole of us refuse, in the
case of a general conflagration?

LIV. Let me ask you, if, through some ill design or

accident, a fire should break out at Veii, and the flames
being spread by the wind, as might be the case, should
consume a great part of the city: must we seek Fiden, or
Gabii, or some other city, to remove to? Has our native
soil so slight a hold of our affections; and this earth,
which we call our mother? Or does our love for our
country extend no farther than the surface, and the
timber of the houses? I assure you, for I will confess it
readily, that during the time of my absence, (which I am
less willing to recollect, as the effect of ill treatment from
you, than of my own hard fortune,) as often as my
country came into my mind, every one of these
circumstances occurred to me; the hills, the plains, the
Tiber, the face of the country to which my eyes had been
accustomed, and this sky, under which I had been born
and educated; and it is my wish, Romans, that these may
now engage you, by the ties of affection, to remain in your
own established settlements, rather than hereafter prove
the cause of your pining away in anxious regret at having
left them. Not without good reason did gods and men
select this spot for the building of Rome, where are most
healthful hills, a commodious river, whose stream brings
down the produce of the interior countries, while it opens
a passage for foreign commerce; the sea, so near as to
answer every purpose of convenience, yet at such a
distance as not to expose it to danger from the fleets of
foreigners: and in the centre of the [499] regions of Italy, a
situation singularly adapted by its nature to promote the
increase of a city. Of this the very size, as it was, must be
held a demonstration. Romans, this present year is the
three hundred and sixty-fifth of the city; during so long a
time have ye been engaged in war, in the midst of nations
of the oldest standing: yet, not to mention single nations,
neither the quans in conjunction with the Volscians,
who possess so many and so strong towns, nor the whole
body of Etruria, possessed of such extensive power by
land and sea, and occupying the whole breadth of Italy,
from one sea to the other, have shown themselves equal
to you in war. This being the case, where can be the
wisdom in making trial of a change, when, though your
valour might accompany you in your removal to another
place, the fortune of this spot could not certainly be
transferred? Here is the capitol, where a human head
being formerly found, it was foretold that in that spot
should be the head of the world, and the seat of sovereign
empire. Here, when the capitol was to be cleared by the
rites of augury, Juventas and Terminus, to the very great
joy of our fathers, suffered not themselves to be moved.
Here is the fire of Vesta, here the Ancilia sent down from
heaven, here all the gods, and they, too, propitious to
your stay. Camillus is said to have affected them much
by other parts of his discourse, but particularly by that
which related to religious matters. But still the affair
remained in suspense, until an accidental expression,
seasonably uttered, determined it. For in a short time
after this, the senate sitting on this business in the Curia
Hostilia, it happened that some cohorts, returning from
relieving the guards, passed through the Forum in their
march, when a centurion in the Comitium called out,
Standard-bearer, fix your standard. It is best for us to
stay here. On hearing which expression, the senate,
coming forth from the Curia, called out with one voice,
that they embraced the omen; and the surrounding
crowd of commons joined [500] their approbation. The
proposed law being then rejected, they set about
rebuilding the city in all parts at once. Tiles were supplied
at the public expense, and liberty granted to hew stones
and fell timber, wherever each person chose, security
being taken for their completing the edifices within the
year. Their haste took away all attention to the regulation
of the course of the streets: for setting aside all regard to
distinction of property, they built on any spot which they
found vacant. And that is the reason that the old sewers,
which at first were conducted under the public streets, do
now, in many places, pass under private houses, and that
the form of the city appears as if force alone had directed
the distribution of the lots.

END OF VOL. I.

*
Annal. iv. 34.

Ep. II. 3.

Bolingbroke.

Quintil. Instit. i. 5. viii. 1.

B. iii. 46.

B. x. 40.

B. xxiv. 10.

B. xxvii. 4.

B. xxx. 2.


B. xxxix. 22.

B. xxvii. 23.

Ib. 37.

**

B. xxix. 14.

B. xxiv. 44.

Ibid.

B. xxv. 1.

B. xxxiv. 55.

*
B. xxxiv. 55.

B. xli. 15.

B. xlii. 13.

Cic. de Orat.

B. i. 19.

B. iv. 20.

B. xxvii. 47, 48, 49.

B. iii. 26.

Y. R. 310.


B. iv. 4.

B. xxi. 30.

B. ix. 19.

B. xxi. 47.

Lib. x.

B. xxi. 19.

B. xxxiii. 27, 28.

B. xxxi. 46.

*
Lib. x.

B. xxxvi. 50.

Lib. vi. 7.

The Trojans were in number about six hundred.

Indiges is the term applied to deified heroes, otherwise

called gods terrestrial.

It was called Alba, from a white sow with a litter of thirty

young ones, found there by neas.

For an account of the vestal virgins, see Dr. Adams

Roman Antiquities, p. 314.

See Adam, p. 312.

*

For an account of augurs, auspices &c. see Adam, p. 296.

Ara Maxima: it stood in the cattle market, where it

remained in the time of Augustus.

Without doubt, he framed the government, and the laws,

nearly on the model of those established at Alba.

About 3000 foot, and 300 horsemen.

This expression must be understood in a qualified sense,

in the same manner as when a magistrate, presiding at an
election, is said to elect such and such persons. Romulus
nominated one senator; each tribe, and each curia, chose
three; and thus the number was made up.

So called, from his having produced the first horse from

the earth by a stroke of his trident. Romulus called him
Consus, the god of counsel, as having suggested the
scheme of seizing the women. The games, which he called
Consualia, were afterwards termed the Roman, or the
great games; they lasted, at first, one day, then two, three,
and at length, nine days.

So called, from the feretrum, or frame, supporting the

spoils. The second spolia opima, or grand spoils, were
offered by Cornelius Cossus, who killed Tolumnius, king
of the Veientians; and the third by Claudius Marcellus,
who killed Viridomarus, a king of the Gauls. The spoils,
called spolia opima, or grand, or chief spoils, were so
denominated when they were taken from a king or
general-in-chief, commanding an army.

So called from legere, to choose, to select. The legion

consisted, at this time, of 3,000 foot and 300 horse. The
number afterwards was generally 4,000 foot and 300
horse, and sometimes augmented to 6,000 foot and 400
horse. It was divided into 10 cohorts, 30 companies, and
60 centuries.

From stare, to halt.

This name it retained long after it was filled up, and

became a part of the Forum.

He divided the city into three tribes: the Ramnenses, so

called from Romulus, being his original followers; the
Titienses, from Titus Tatius, composed of the Sabines;
and the Luceres, of those who had assembled in the
Lucus, or sanctuary, or afterwards joined the Romans.
Each tribe, he divided into ten curias, or wards. Each
curia had its own priest, called curio, and its own place of
worship, where, on certain stated days, sacrifices were
offered to particular deities; and the people of the curia
feasted together. The centuries of knights were named
after the tribes out of which they were taken.

Or, the Swift, if we suppose them to derive their name

from the Latin word, celer. This must be allowed to be
the most probable origin of the appellation, although it
must be admitted to be by no means certain, that they
were not so called, as some allege, from the name of their
captain, Celer; while others contend that they were so
called from the Greek word which signifies a
horseman.

He was the son of a Sabine nobleman, and had been

married to a daughter of king Tatius, but was now a
widower.

Janus is the most ancient king in Italy, of whom any

knowledge has been handed down to posterity; he was
the first who introduced civilization, and the useful arts,
among the wild inhabitants of that country. He is
represented with two faces, as knowing both the past and
the future; sometimes with four; in which latter form, one
of the many temples dedicated to him at Rome, was
erected; having four equal sides, on each side one door
and three windows; the four doors were emblematical of
the seasons; the twelve windows, of the months; and the
whole, of the year.

A small hill, to the east of the Palatine.

For a full account of the duty and office of the different

flamens, see Dr. Adams Roman Antiquities. Also for
those of the vestal virgins, and the salii, mentioned in this
chapter, see the same learned work, which may be
considered as a perpetual commentary upon the Roman
historians, in general, and Livy, in particular.

From elicere, to solicit information.

The duty of the Pater Patratus was, to attend the making

of the treaty, and to ratify it by oath.

*
The Comitium was a part of the Roman Forum, where, in
early times, assemblies of the people were held; and the
assemblies of the Curi always.

This is the first instance of a regular triumph mentioned

in the Roman History; the invention of which ceremony
is, by some, ascribed to Tarquinius. For a full account of
the Roman triumph, see Dr. Adam.

322l. 18s. 4d. according to Dr. Arbuthnots calculation.

The elder, consisted of those who had attained to forty-

six years of age; the younger, from seventeen to forty-six.

242l. 3s. 9d.

161l. 9s. 2d.

80l. 14s. 7d.

35l. 10s. 5d.

32l. 5s. 10d.

6l. 9s. 2d.

So called from the victims, sus, ovis, taurus, a swine, a

sheep, and bull; which, after being three times led round
the army, were offered in sacrifice to Mars. See Adam.

7,750l.

7,750l.

129,166l.

The prfect of the city was, in these times, a magistrate

extraordinary, appointed to administer justice, and
transact other necessary business, in the absence of the
king, or consuls.

Between the Janiculum and the city. It was afterwards

called the Holy Island, from the number of temples built
upon it.

The vindicta was a rod, or wand, with which the consul,

in early times, afterwards the city-prtor, struck the slave
presented to him for enfranchisement, the owner having
previously given him a slight blow, and let him go out of
his hands. The prtor then gave the rod to a lictor, who
likewise struck the person manumitted. He was then
registered as a freeman, and assumed the cap, the symbol
of liberty, with much ceremony, in the temple of Feronia.

At the same time, he took the axes out of the fasces, and
they were never, afterwards, carried in the fasces of the
consuls within the city.

Not less than five thousand families accompanied him.

*
Orig, Vi, deinde vineis, alusque operibus. The great
difficulty of translation consists in the impossibility of
finding corresponding terms. The modern art of war
differs, so entirely, from the ancient, owing to the various
improvements that have been introduced into that
destructive science, during a period of more than two
thousand years, and principally to the invention of
gunpowder, that the ancient modes of attack and defence,
as well as the various military machines, are not only now
disused, but even no equivalent terms can, in any of the
modern languages, be found for them. Thus, in the above
passage, wherein the translator has taken the liberty,
rather of describing the operation, than translating the
original, the word vinea occurs; this, as Vegetius informs
us, was a machine constructed of timbers, strongly
framed together, mounted on wheels and covered with
hurdles, over which was put a quantity of earth; the
assailants, thus protected against the missile weapons of
the enemy, moved forward the machine; and, under
cover of it, endeavoured to beat down, or undermine, the
walls. The translator here begs leave, once for all, to
observe, that he will often take the liberty he has done in
this place, of dropping terms, which cannot be translated;
and which, if left untranslated in the text, could convey
no idea whatever to the English reader: endeavouring
however, he hopes not unsuccessfully, by a short
description, or slight circumlocution, to make his
authors meaning sufficiently intelligible.

The dictator was an officer endued with absolute

authority over all orders and bodies of men whatever;
and from whom there was, in the early times of the
republic, no appeal. He could not hold the office longer
than six months, nor go out of Italy, nor could he march
on horseback without leave previously obtained from the
people. It became the practice, that one of the consuls, in
the night, within the territory of the republic, named the
dictator; and it was required that the nomination should
be confirmed by auspices.

If a debtor did not discharge his debt, within thirty days

after it was demanded, he was summoned before the
prtor, who gave him up into the hands of the creditor.
He was kept in chains by him for sixty days; and then, on
three successive market days, was brought to the prtors
tribunal, where a crier proclaimed the debt, and
sometimes, wealthy persons redeemed the poor, by
discharging their debts; but, if that did not happen, the
creditor, after the third market day, had a right to sell
him, or keep him a slave in his own house. This slavery
was afterwards changed into imprisonment.

Which declared, that any person who should violate the

person or privileges of a plebeian tribune, should be
devoted to Ceres, with his property; and any one might
put him to death with impunity. These tribunes, at their
first institution, could not properly be called magistrates,
having no particular tribunal, nor any jurisdiction over
their fellow citizens. Dressed like private men, and
attended only by one officer, or beadle, called Viator, they
sat on a bench without the senate, into which they were
not admitted, except when the consuls required their
attendance, to give their opinion on some affair which
concerned the interest of the plebeians. Their sole
function was to protect the plebeians, by interposing in
case of any grievance or imposition attempted by their
superiors; and their power extended no farther than one
mile round the city. Yet they afterwards found means,
under various pretences, and by almost imperceptible
degrees, to draw to themselves, and to the commons, the
larger share of the power of government; introducing a
great degree of democracy into the polity of the state,
which, since the expulsion of the kings, had been a kind
of aristocracy. They were not allowed to be absent from
the city one whole day, except during the Latine festivals,
and were obliged to keep their doors open, night and day,
to admit complainants. At the same time were elected
two other plebeian officers, called assistants to the
tribunes; but being afterwards charged with the care of
the public buildings, and the cognizance of a like nature,
which had before belonged to the consuls, they got the
title diles; (ab dibus curandis,) from inspecting the
public edifices.

About one half-penny each.

By the Roman law, a father had full and absolute power,

even to life and death, over his children, who were in a
state of absolute slavery; even what property they might
acquire, belonged not to them, but to their father.

The generals quarters.

The Triarii were veteran soldiers, of approved valour:

they formed the third line, hence their name.

Before a consul set out on any expedition, he offered

sacrifices and prayers in the Capitol; and then, laying
aside his consular gown, marched out of the city, dressed
in a military robe of state, called Paludamentum.

Five pounds sterling.

It was usual for persons under accusation to put on a

mourning dress, and to let their hair and beard grow.

Justitium; quia jus sistebatur. In cases of great and

immediate danger, all proceedings at law were
suspended; the shops also were shut, and all civil
business stopped, until the alarm was over.

The lustrum was a period of five years, at the expiration

of which a general review of the people was held, and
their number, state, and circumstances inquired into. The
senate also was reviewed by one of the censors: and if any
one, by his behaviour, had rendered himself unworthy of
a place in that body, or had sunk his fortune below the
requisite qualification, his name was passed over by the
censor, in reading the roll of senators; and thus he was
held to be excluded from the senate. When the business
was done, the censor, to whose lot it fell, condidit
lustrum, closed the lustrum, by offering a solemn
sacrifice in the Campus Martius.

The Decuman gate was in the rear of the encampment.

For the order and disposition of a Roman camp, see
Adams Roman Antiquities.

The ovation was an inferior kind of triumph, in which the

victorious general entered the city, crowned with myrtle,
not with laurel; and instead of bullocks, as in the
triumph, sacrificed a sheep, ovis; hence the name.

*
These were the famous sibylline books, purchased, it was
said, by Tarquinius Superbus, from an old woman whom
nobody knew, and who was never seen again. These
books, which were supposed to contain prophetic
information of the fate and fortune of the Roman state,
were carefully reposited in a stone chest, in a vault under
the Capitol, and two officers chosen from the order of
patricians, called duumviri sacrorum, appointed to take
care of them. The number of these was afterwards in
creased to ten, half of whom were plebeians; then to
fifteen, upon which occasion they were called
Quindecemviri; which name they retained when
augmented to sixty. Upon occasions of extreme danger,
of pestilence, or the appearance of any extraordinary
prodigies, these officers were ordered by the senate to
consult, or to pretend to consult, the books, and they
reported what expiations and other rites were necessary
to avert the impending evil.

A part of the town, so called.

9l. 13s. 6d.

As the prtors could not attend the trial of every cause,

they always had a list of persons properly qualified,
called judices selecti, out of whose number, as occasion
required, they delegated judges to act in their stead.
These select judges were chosen in an assembly of the
tribes, five out of each tribe; and the prtor, according to
the importance or the difficulty of the cause in dispute,
appointed one or more of them to try it. This office was,
at first, confined to the senators; but was, afterwards,
transferred to the knights; and was, at different times,
held sometimes by one of these bodies, sometimes by the
other, and sometimes in common between them both.
The usual method of proceeding was this: the plaintiff
either named the judge, before whom he summoned the
defendant to appear, which was termed feire judicem; or
he left the nomination to the defendant, ut judicem
diceret, and when they had agreed on the judge, quum
judicem convenisset, they presented a joint petition to
the prtor, praying that he would appoint, ut daret, that
person to try the cause; and, at the same time, they
bound themselves to pay a certain sum of money, the
plaintiff, ni ita esset, if he should not establish his charge;
the defendant, if he should not acquit himself.

25l.

37l. 10s.

The citizens dress, different from that of the military.

*
The records, in which the names of the magistrates in
succession, and the most memorable events were
recorded.

The annals were a compendious registry of events, as

they occurred, made by the pontiffs, who likewise had the
care of the records, and kept both carefully shut up from
the inspection of the lower order.

The first in a family who attained any of the curule

offices, that is, any of the superior magistracies, was
called novus homo, a new man.

In the performance of such rites, the slightest mistake of

a word or syllable was deemed highly inauspicious; to
prevent which, the regular form of words was
pronounced by a priest, and repeated after him by the
persons officiating.

Villa publica. It was destined to public uses, such as

holding the census or survey of the people, the reception
of ambassadors, &c.

*
The division of the people into tribes, made by Romulus,
regarded the stock, or origin, of the constituent members;
the subsequent one, by Servius, was merely local, and a
tribe then signified nothing more than a certain space of
ground with its inhabitants: but as the tribes increased in
number, which they did at last to thirty-five, this kind of
division was set aside, and a tribe became, not a quarter
of the city, but a fraternity of citizens, connected by a
participation in the common rights of the tribe, without
any reference to their places of residence. The rustic
tribes were always reckoned more honourable than the
city tribes, because the business of agriculture was held in
the highest estimation, and because the lowest of the
people were enrolled in the latter. The difference of rank,
among the rustic tribes, depended, partly on their
antiquity, and, partly, on the number of illustrious
families contained in each. In many cases, the tribes took
their names from some of those distinguished families.

rarium facere, signifies to strip a person of all the

privileges of a citizen, on which he became civis
rarius, a citizen so far only as he paid taxes.

To rub it with chalk, in order to increase its whiteness,

and render themselves more conspicuous. It was the
practice of those who solicited any public office, thus to
make their garments more white, candidam: hence they
were called candidati; candidates, a word still in use.
*

The fines imposed in early times were certain numbers of

sheep or oxen: afterwards it was ordered by law that
these fines might be appraised, and the value paid in
money. Another law fixed a certain rate at which the
cattle should be estimated, 100 asses for an ox, 10 for a
sheep.

32l. 5s. 10d.

A prosecution before the people was a very tedious

business, and afforded the person accused many chances
of escaping, even though he should not be able to prove
his innocence: he might prevail on the prosecutor to
relinquish the charge, or on a plebeian tribune to
interpose, or on the augurs to report ill omens on the day
of the assembly for the decision; or, at the worst, he
might go into voluntary exile: vertere solum exilii
grati. A magistrate, who intended to impeach a person
before the people, mounted the rostrum, and gave notice
that on such a day he intended to accuse that person of
such a crime; on which the party accused was obliged to
give bail for his appearance, which if he failed to do, he
was thrown into prison. On the day appointed, the people
being assembled (by centuries if the crime charged was
capital, by tribes if fineable,) the person accused was
summoned by the crier, and if he did not appear, was
punished at the pleasure of the prosecutor. If he
appeared, the accuser mounted the rostrum, and began
his charge, which he carried on through that and two
other days, allowing an interval of one day between each.
On the third day he made a recapitulation of the charge,
and mentioned the punishment specified in the law for
such an offence. This was expressed in writing, and
exhibited to public view during three market-days. This
proceeding was termed rogatio in respect of the people,
and irrogatio in respect of the accused. On the day after
the third market-day, the accuser finished the business of
the prosecution, and concluded with giving notice of the
day on which the assembly should meet to pass
judgment. The accused was then at liberty to make his
defence, either by himself, or by advocates.

48l. 8s. 9d.

32l. 5s. 10d.

Many circumstances might prevent the senates passing a

decree; in such cases the opinion of the majority was
recorded, and was called senatus auctoritas. It might be
referred to the people for confirmation.

*
The foot soldiers only. The horse did not receive pay until
three years after. The pay of a foot soldier, in the time of
the second Punick war, was three asscs; too small, if they
had not received an allowance of corn and sometimes of
clothes.

32l. 5s. 10d.

From lectus, a bed, or rather couch, and sterno, to

spread. Upon couches of this kind the Romans reclined at
their meals, but especially at entertainments. Upon this
occasion these couches were brought out into the streets,
and being decorated in the most magnificent manner, the
statues of the gods and goddesses were laid thereupon,
and sumptuous banquets placed before them. Of these
repasts all comers were allowed to partake.

The Romans, Latines, and some states of the Hernicians

and Volscians, met annually on the Alban mount to
celebrate this festival, in commemoration of the treaty
made with those states by Tarquin the Proud. It was
attended by the deputies of forty-seven states, who,
under the direction of the Roman consul, or other chief
magistrate, offered joint sacrifices to Jupiter, whom they
termed Latialis. In particular, they offered a white bull,
of which the deputies of each state received a piece. The
public festivals, feri, were of four
kinds: stativ immoveable; conceptiv, or indict, mov
eable; imperativ, commanded on particular occasions;
and nundin, for holding markets; so called, because the
time was fixed by proclamation: they were generally
celebrated by the consuls, before departure for their
provinces.

The prerogative tribe was that to which the lot fell to vote
first, at the election of magistrates. Anciently, the
centuries were called to give their votes according to the
order established among them by Servius Tullius, first
the equites, then the centuries of the first class, &c. It was
afterwards (at what time is not known) determined by
lot, sortitio, in what order they should vote.

The remains of the sewer, a stupendous work, by which

the water was discharged, still subsist, at the bottom of
the hill on which stands Castel Gandolpho, the elegant
country-retirement of the Pope.

It was the custom when the Roman generals sent

intelligence of a victory, to wrap their letters up in laurel.

32l. 5s. 10d.

*

48l. 8s. 3d.

A city of Asia Minor, built by a colony of Athenians. Being

besieged and hard pressed by Harpagus, an officer of
Cyrus king of Persia, the inhabitants resolved to abandon
the town, and seek another residence. Accordingly, after
uttering heavy imprecations on themselves, if they should
ever return, they carried their effects on board their
ships, and sailing to the coast of Provence, founded the
city of Marseilles.

Forming themselves into a compact body, with their

shields joined together, and held over their heads to
protect them from the missile weapons of the enemy.

45,000l.

Ancile, a shield, supposed to be of the god Mars, said to

have fallen from heaven in the reign of Numa. It was
reposited in the sanctuary, and kept with great care by
the priests of Mars, called Salii. Being considered as a
symbol of the perpetual duration of the empire to prevent
its being stolen, eleven others were made, exactly
resembling it, and laid up with it.