LITERAL , TRANSLATION 
 
 FIRST THREE BOOKS 
 
 FRENDEVILLE'S LIVY. 
 
 GRADUATE-SCHOLAR OF THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 
 PRINTED FOR JOHN GUMMING, 
 
 16, LOWER ORMOND QUAY. 
 
 MDCCCXXX. 
 
DUBLIN: PRINTED BY THOMAS i. WHITE, 
 
 140, ABBEY STREET. 
 

 LIVY'S 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 antiquity, and has been already treated 
 by many others ; the latest writers always sup- 
 posing themselves capable, either of throwing 
 some new light on the subject, or, by the supe- 
 riority of their talents for composition, of excelr 
 ling 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 further observed, that such a subject 
 
 ^50426 
 
ii PREFACE. 
 
 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 in- 
 creased to such a magnitude, that it is now dis- 
 tressed by its own bulk; and that there is every 
 reason to apprehend that the generality of read- 
 ers will receive but little pleasure from the ac- 
 counts of its first origin, or of the times immedi- 
 ately succeeding, but will be impatient to arrive 
 at that period, in which the powers of this over- 
 grown state have been long employed in work- 
 ing 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 to- 
 tally occupied in investigating the transactions of 
 such distant ages, without being embarrassed by 
 any of those unpleasing considerations, in res- 
 pect of later days, which, though they might 
 not have power to warp a writer's mind from the 
 truth, would yet be sufficient to create uneasi- 
 ness, I shall withdraw myself from the sight of 
 the many evils to which our eyes have been so 
 long accustomed J As to the relations which have 
 been handed down of events prior to the found- 
 ing of the city, or to the circumstances that gave 
 occasion to its being founded, and which bear 
 the semblance rather of poetic fictions, than of 
 authentic records of history these, I have no 
 intention either to maintain or refute. Antiquity 
 
PREFACE. iii 
 
 is always indulged with the privilege of rendering 
 the origin of cities more venerable, by intermix- 
 ing divine with human agency; and if any nation 
 may claim the privilege of being allowed to con- 
 sider 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 repre- 
 sent Mars as their own parent, and that of their 
 founder, the other nations of the world may ac- 
 quiesce 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 consi- 
 der as very material. To the following consider- 
 ations, 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 far- 
 ther and farther, then beginning to fall precipi- 
 tate, until he arrives at the present times, when 
 our vices have attained to such a height of enor- 
 mity, that we can no longer endure either the 
 burden of them, or the sharpness of the neces- 
 sary 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 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 and salutary purpose ; for, being abundantly fur- 
 nished 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 in- 
 tended work mislaeds 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 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 circum- 
 stances. Of late years, indeed, opulance has 
 introduced a greediness for gain, and the bound- 
 less 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 reflec- 
 tions, which, when perhaps unavoidable, will 
 not, even then, be agreeable. If it were cus- 
 tomary 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 endea- 
 vours, in prosecution of so arduous a task. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE following translation of the first three 
 Books of Livy, has been undertaken from a con- 
 viction, that no version of that writer has yet ap- 
 peared in this country, which was at all calculated 
 to meet the exigencies of public schools, or private 
 students : that by Gordon being hitherto (at least 
 in the country parts of Ireland,) generally, if not 
 exclusively, adopted. Of that work, it will at 
 present be sufficient to observe, that neither 
 closeness, nor even accuracy, can be j ustly counted 
 amongst its characteristics. Nor are those defects 
 redeemed by that purity of style, and classical 
 energy of diction, which so strongly recommend 
 the pages ofJBaker to the gentleman, and the scho- 
 lar. But, independently of its high price, which 
 must always render it inaccessible to the generality 
 of young readers, Baker's work is not, nor indeed 
 does it profess to be, a literal translation. To the 
 advanced student, who has already mastered the 
 difficulties, and been acquainted with the frame of 
 the Latin language, it affords an excellent and 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 useful model of liberal translation ; but 
 school-boy, whose attainment in the fieh 
 sical labour has not extended beyond tl 
 acquirement of words, and these too in a limited 
 acceptation, it yields no relief whatsoever from the 
 drudgery of study, and but little incentive to its 
 vigorous prosecution. For though, with very few 
 exceptions indeed, it presents a true image of the 
 author's meaning, yet from its ambitious love of 
 ornament, it too often conceals beneath the rich- 
 ness of the drapery, that particular expression, 
 and those natural features of the original, from a 
 minute observance of which, the genuine beauties 
 of Livy can alone be traced and appreciated. To 
 deprive him, however, of even the decent simpli- 
 city of an English dress, and to submit him to an 
 English eye, in all the nakedness of uncouth bar- 
 barism, is an error of an opposite kind, and one 
 which, by presenting one of the most elegant his- 
 torians of antiquity in so repulsive a form, is no 
 less repugnant to good taste, than subversive of 
 that respect for the writer himself, without which 
 we approach him with reluctance or disgust. 
 
 Any endeavour to torture the stubbornness of 
 our own language into a pliant adhesion to the 
 idioms and forms of any of the ancient tongues, 
 must only produce such a violent dislocation of all 
 its members, as shall destroy the entire strength 
 and grace of the one, without giving the slightest 
 impress of the character of the other, the attempt, 
 however, has in the case of the author before us, 
 
PREFACE. v 
 
 been not long since actually made but it is not 
 too much to say, that the experiment has not been 
 such as to justify its repetition. Indeed, to pur- 
 sue any of the Roman writers, and Livy in parti- 
 cular, through the complicated, and often rugged 
 intricacies of phrase and construction, with which 
 the Latin language abounds, is a task utterly in- 
 compatible with the free current and easy flow of 
 English composition ; and the question only is, 
 Iww far we are justified in departing from the 
 strict letter of the original, without however trans- 
 gressing the limits of a literal translation. The 
 following attempt at an approximation to the just 
 line of boundary, and of affording a version at 
 once faithful and intelligible, is submitted to the 
 public, with the sole view of diminishing the toil 
 of the young student, in preparing so important a 
 part of the entrance course, as Livy has been, 
 more especially during the last few years, admitted 
 to constitute. 
 
 With the exception of a few explanatory words, 
 which have been occasionally added, wherever the 
 curtness or obscurity of the original rendered it 
 absolutely necessary, the translation has not been 
 permitted to deviate from the strictest conformity 
 with the measure of the Latin text ; and the turn 
 and structure of the sentences have been carefully 
 observed, as far as could be effected without vio- 
 lation of grammatical propriety. Very many pas- 
 sages in the original have, from the uncertainty of 
 the text, divided the opinions of the best commen- 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 tators, and several are also susceptible of more 
 than one explanation. These diversities of senti- 
 ments or meanings, though they have exercised the 
 best attention and judgment of the translator, are 
 wholly inadmissible in this work, as being quite 
 out of the scope of the present undertaking. These 
 will be found discussed at large, and with much 
 ability, in the modern editions of Walker and 
 Prendeville. The latter, perhaps, as being sup- 
 plied with English notes, will be found the more 
 convenient book of reference. 
 
 Should the following sheets possess the merit 
 of being in any respect auxiliary to the labours of 
 teachers, the Publisher will feel highly gratified, 
 in being so far instrumental in rendering service 
 to a class of individuals, to whom the cause of 
 classical literature is so much indebted for its ad- 
 vancement. 
 
LIVY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Now, first of all, it is sufficiently agreed on, that, 
 after the taking of Troy, great cruelty was used towards 
 the rest of the Trojans ; that the Greeks refrained 
 from exercising the full right of war against two, -<33neas 
 and Antenor, both on account of a tie of old hospitality 
 between them, and because these had been always 
 advocates for peace, and giving back Helen ; that after- 
 wards Antenor, after various adventures, with a large 
 body of Henetians, who, in an insurrection driven out 
 of Paphlagonia, were in search of a settlement and a 
 leader, having lost at Troy their king Pylcemenes, 
 arrived at the innermost bay of the Adriatic Sea ; and 
 that both Henetians and Trojans, having expelled the 
 Euganeans, who dwelt between the sea and the Alps, 
 retained possession of those districts. The place where 
 they first landed is called Troy, and hence the Trojan 
 canton derives its name : the entire nation is called 
 Venetians. That -5neas, driven from home by a simi- 
 lar calamity, but conducted by the fates to originate 
 more important events, first came to Macedonia ; thence, 
 in search of a settlement, arrived at Sicily ; from Sicily 
 sailed to the land of Laurentum : this place, too, gets 
 the name of Troy. There when the Trojans disem- 
 barked, and, as having nothing left after their almost 
 boundless wandering besides their arms and vessels, 
 began to drive off plunder from the country, Latinus, 
 the king, and the Aborigines who at that time occupied 
 these places, flock in arms, from the city and country, 
 
LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 to repel the outrage of the strangers. Of the subse- 
 quent event there are two reports. Some hand down 
 to us that Latinus, being defeated in battle, established 
 a peace, then a matrimonial alliance with .ZEneas : others 
 assert, that when the two armies stood ranged in order 
 of battle, before the signal was sounded, Latinus, 
 attended by his nobles, came forward, and called out 
 the leader of the strangers to a conference that then, 
 on inquiring what people they were, w r hence they came, 
 or through what casualty did tliey leave their home, or 
 in search of what did they land on the coast of Lauren- 
 turn, when he heard that the people were Trojans, that 
 their leader was u33neas, the son of Anchises and Venus, 
 that ; as their country and home were reduced to ashes, 
 they were wandering exiles in search of a settlement, 
 and a place on which to build a city ; struck with admi- 
 ration at the noble character of the nation and their 
 chief, and at the spirit that was ready either for peace 
 or war, he ratified a solemn pledge of future friendship 
 by giving him his right hand. Then that a league was 
 struck between the leaders greetings passed between 
 the armies. That J^neas became the guest of Latinus ; 
 that on this occasion Latinus, in presence of his house- 
 hold gods, superadded a family alliance to the public 
 one, by giving .ZEneas his daughter in marriage. This 
 event, in particular, confirms the Trojans in the hope 
 of ending their wandering by a permanent and fixed 
 abode. They build a city. JEneas calls it Lavinium, 
 after his wife's name. In a short time, too, a son was 
 the issue of the new marriage, to whom his parents 
 gave the name of Ascanius. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 THEN the Aborigines and Trojans conjointly were 
 attacked by war. Turnus, king of the Rutuli, to whom 
 Lavinia had been betrothed before the arrival of JSneas, 
 dissatisfied that a stranger should have been preferred 
 to bimself, waged war on ./Eneas and Latinus together. 
 Neither army came off from that conflict with joy. 
 The Rutuli were defeated. The victorious Trojans 
 and Aborigines lost their chief Latinus. Then Turnus 
 and the Rutuli, despairing of their affairs, fly for sue- 
 
CHAP. 3. LIVY. 3 
 
 cour to the flourishing state of the Etrurians and their 
 king Mezentius, who, reigning at Caere, a powerful 
 city in those days, and from the very commencement 
 not at all pleased at the foundation of the new city, and 
 at this time thinking that the Trojan power was increas- 
 ing to a much higher degree than was consistent with 
 the security of the neighbouring states, united without 
 reluctance his confederate arms with the Rutuli. -^Eneas, 
 in order to conciliate to him the affections of the Abo- 
 rigines, for the purpose of meeting the terrors of so 
 great a war, called both nations Latins ; so that they 
 should all not only have the same laws, but the same 
 name too : nor did the Aborigines from that time yield 
 to the Trojans, in zeal and fidelity towards their king 
 -^Eneas. Relying on these feelings of the two nations, 
 which were becoming more and more united every day, 
 notwithstanding that Etruria was so powerful, that it 
 had filled with the fame of its name not only the land, 
 but even the sea, throughout the whole length of Italy, 
 from the Alps to the Straits of Sicily, ^Eneas, how- 
 ever, though he might by his fortifications ward off attack, 
 led out his troops to battle. On this the Latins fought 
 a second battle, which was also the last of the earthly 
 achievements of ^neas. He lies buried on the bank 
 of the river Numicus, whatever designation the laws of 
 god and man require he should get. They call him 
 Jupiter Indiges. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 ASCANIUS, the son of ^Eneas, was not yet of age to 
 assume the sovereign power : that power, however, 
 remained secure for him until he arrived at the age of 
 manhood. In the interim (so great was Lavinia's ta- 
 lent), the Latin States and his grandfather and father's 
 kingdom stood firm in their allegiance to the boy. I 
 cannot but doubt (for who can affirm as true a matter 
 fair such high, antiquity?) whether this was the Asca- 
 Jiius, or one older than he, born of Creiisa while Troy 
 still flourished, and who afterwards was his father's 
 ^companion in his flight, the same whom, under the name 
 .of lulus, the Julian family represent as the founder of 
 Their name. This Ascanius, wheresoever and of what- 
 
4 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 soever mother lie was born (that he was the son of 
 ^Sneas is clearly agreed on), in consequence of the 
 superabundant population of Lavinium, left his mother, 
 or step-mother, the city now flourishing and wealthy, 
 considering the state of things at that time ; and founded 
 himself, at the Alban mount, another new one, which 
 from its situation, lying along the ridge of a hill, was 
 called Alba Longa. Between the building of Lavinium 
 and the colonization of Alba Longa there intervened 
 nearly thirty years ; yet so much had its power in- 
 creased, especially after the defeat of the Tuscans, that 
 not even on the death of 2Eneas, or afterwards, during 
 the regency of a woman and the first trial of a boy's 
 reign, did Mezentius and the Tuscans, or any other 
 neighbouring state, dare to attempt hostilities against 
 it. Peace was agreed on, on these terms : that the 
 river Albula, which they now call the Tiber, should be 
 the boundary between the Tuscans and Latins. Sil- 
 vius, Ascanius' son, who was born by some accident in 
 the woods, succeeds to the throne ; he begets JEneas 
 Silvius ; then he Latinus Silvius : by this king there 
 were some colonies planted, who were called the an- 
 cient Latins. The name of Silvius was ever after con- 
 tinued to all who reigned at Alba. From Latinus was 
 born Alba ; from Alba Atys ; from Atys Capys ; from 
 Capys Capetus ; from Capetus Tiberinus, who, being 
 drowned in crossing the river Albula, gave the stream 
 a name celebrated among posterity. After him Agrippa, 
 the son of Tiberinus, reigns ; after Agrippa, Romulus 
 Silvius, receiving the government from his father ; and 
 being himself struck with lightning, transmitted the 
 government to Aventinus, in regular order of succes- 
 sion : he, being buried on that hill, which is now part 
 of the Roman city, gave the hill its name. After him 
 reigns Proca ; he begets Numitor and Amulius. To 
 Numitor, who was the eldest born, he bequeaths the 
 ancient Idngdom of the Silvian family. However, 
 force had more weight than a father's wilL or tho n 
 rence due to seniority. Amulius deposes his brothJj 
 and ascends the throne. Hesuperadds crime to crime. 
 He murders his brother's male issue, and, under the 
 shew of conferring an honour, deprives Rhea Silvia, his \ 
 other's daughter, whom he made a vestal, by obliging" 
 ^nAnnl of all hopes of issue. 
 
CHAP. 4. LIVY. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 BUT, as I think, the origin of so great a city, and 
 the foundation of an empire which was next to the 
 power of the gods, was an event that was due to the 
 decrees of heaven. The virgin, heing forcibly deflow- 
 ered, declares, after she gave birth to twins, Mars to 
 be the father of her bastard offspring ; whether it was 
 that she fancied it, or that a divinity was a more credita- 
 ble cause of her misconduct. But neither god nor man 
 rescue herself or her offspring from the king's cruelty. 
 The priestess is bound, and put into custody : the boys 
 he orders to be thrown into the current of the river. By 
 some providential accident, the Tiber, having overflowed 
 its banks in stagnant sheets of water, could not be ap- 
 proached at its proper channel, and this gave those who 
 carried the infants hope that they could be drowned in 
 water however still : accordingly, as if they executed 
 the king's order, they leave the children exposed in the 
 next pool, just where the 7?W7rtw*o/ fig-tree stands at pre- 
 sent : they say it was then called the Romular. These 
 places, at that time, were a wild wilderness. There 
 prevails a tradition, that, when the water left on the 
 dry ground the floating basket in which the children 
 were left exposed, a she ivolfi driven by thirst from the 
 mountains that were all round, turned her course to the 
 cries of the children ; that she so gently held her sub- 
 missive paps under the infants, that the keeper of the 
 king's flocks found her licking the boys with her tongue : 
 his name, they say, was Faustulus ; that by him they 
 .were brought to the hut, to be reared by his wife Lau- 
 rentia. There are some who say that Laurentia was 
 called the she wolf among the shepherds, from her pub- 
 lic prostitution ; that from this the marvellous story 
 derives its source. Though born and reared in this 
 way, they did not, when they first grew up to maturity, 
 remain in indolence, within their folds or with their 
 flocks, but in hunting-parties traversed the woods that 
 were about them. Hence acquiring vigour of body 
 and mind, they not only began to withstand the wild 
 beasts, but attack robbers loaded with plunder, and 
 divide the spoil among their fellow-shepherds ; and with 
 B 3 
 
6 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 these, as the number of the young men grew every day 
 more numerous, they pursued their serious occupations 
 and amusements. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 THEY say that, even at that time, this festival of 
 ours, the Lupercalia, was solemnized on the Pala- 
 tine mount, and that the mountain was called Pallan- 
 tium from Palanteum, a city of Arcadia, and afterwards 
 Palatium ; that there Evander, who, belonging to that 
 tribe of Arcadians, occupied the place many years 
 before, instituted this anniversary game introduced 
 from Arcadia, in which young men were to run about 
 naked, in frolic and wantonness, in worship of Ly- 
 csean Pan, the protector of their flocks, whom the Ro- 
 mans afterwards called Inuus ; that, while they were 
 engaged in this amusement, some robbers, in resent- 
 ment for the loss of some plunder, attacked them by 
 surprise, and, as Romulus saved himself by a vigorous 
 defence, captured Remus, and gave him up a prisoner 
 to Amulius the king, having lodged the first accusation 
 against him. They made it particularly a charge, that 
 those made an attack on the king's territories, and then, 
 having collected a body of young men, were driving off 
 booty in a hostile manner. So Remus is handed over 
 to Numitor for punishment. Now Faustulus enter- 
 tained, from the very commencement, a hope that chil- 
 dren of the royal family were reared at his house ; for 
 he knew that the infants were exposed by the king's 
 order, and that the time when he had taken them up 
 corresponded with that very event : but he was unwil- 
 ling that the matter should be prematurely disclosed, 
 except through some opportunity or necessity. Neces- 
 sity occurred first : therefore, compelled by his appre- 
 hension, he discovers the thing to Romulus. It hap- 
 pened, too, that the recollection of his grandchildren 
 struck the mind of Numitor (as he held Remus in cus- 
 tody, and had heard that they were twin brothers), 
 from comparing their age, and their turn of mind, 
 which was by no means servile ; and by repeated inqui- 
 ries he came to the same conclusion, so that he was near 
 acknowledging Remus. Accordingly, a plot is formed 
 
CHAP. 6. LIVY. 7 
 
 on every side against the king. Romulus, not at- 
 tended by a body of young" men, but ordering the 
 shepherds to arrive at a certain time, by different 
 roads, at the palace, makes an attack on the king; 
 and Remus, having procured another band from Numi- 
 tor's house, supports him : so they murder the king. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 WHEN Numitor, after having, on the commencement 
 of the alarm, called away the Alban youth to take 
 possession of the citadel by an armed guard, asserting 
 that an enemy had entered the city and attacked the 
 palace, saw the young men, after having committed the 
 murder, advancing towards him, and congratulating him, 
 at once he summoned a public meeting, and exposes 
 his brother's atrocities towards himself, the birth of his 
 grandchildren, how they were born, how brought up, how 
 recognized ; then he avows the murder of the tyrant, and 
 that he himself was the abettor of it. After the young 
 princes came hi, attended by the body of their follow- 
 ers, through the middle of the assembly, and saluted 
 their grandfather as king, a shout of acclamation fol- 
 lowed from the whole multitude, and ratified for him 
 the name and title of sovereign. The government 
 of Alba being thus .committed to Numitor, Romulus 
 and Remus felt a desire of building a city in those 
 places where they were exposed and educated. There 
 was both a superabundance of the population of Al- 
 ba and Latium, and for that purpose there was an 
 accession of shepherds too ; all of whom easily enter- 
 tained a hope, that Alba would be insignificant, Lavi- 
 nium insignificant, in comparison to that city which was 
 to be built. The hereditary curse, the desire of kingly 
 power, interrupted these reflections. Then a bloody 
 dispute arose from a harmless origin enough, which 
 was, that, as they were twins, and respect for seniority 
 could establish no distinction, the gods, under whose 
 protection these places were, should choose by omens, 
 which of them should give the new city a name, and 
 should govern it, when built, with sovereign power. 
 Romulus selects the Palatium, Remus the Aventine, 
 as their consecrated stations to take the omens. It is 
 
8 LIVY. Book I. 
 
 reported that the first omen," six vultures, canle to Re- 
 mus. When this omen was announced, atici dotihje' the 
 number presented itself to Romulus, each^as- now 
 saluted king by his own partisans. One pAr-tyvclainied 
 the sovereign power from priority of time, the ether 
 from the superior number of the birds. - Then com- 
 mencing with bickering, in the conflict of aitgry. pas- 
 sions they turn to murder. There, in the riot, Remus 
 fell by a blow. The more common report is, that 
 Remus leaped over the new walls, in derision of his 
 brother ; and that thereupon Romulus, fired with Anger, 
 killed him, and tauntingly added, " So be it hencefor- 
 ward the lot of any other that shall leap over my 
 walls." 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 THUS Romulus alone obtained possession of the 
 sovereign power. The city that was built, was called 
 from its founder's name. He fortified the Palatine' hill 
 first, where he was reared : he institutes, in honour of 
 the other gods, religious worship according to the rites 
 of Alba, but in honour of Hercules according to those 
 of Greece, just as they were introduced by Evander. 
 They report that Hercules, after having killed Geryon, 
 drove off to these places his oxen, which were of sur- 
 prising beauty ; and near the river Tiber laid him down, 
 wearied from his journey, in a spot of rich herbage, to 
 which he swam over, driving his herd before him, in 
 order to refresh his cattle with rest and good pasture. 
 There when sleep overpowered him, loaded with wine 
 and food, a shepherd, named Cacus, a resident of that 
 place, full of daring confidence in his strength, caught 
 by the beauty of the cattle, wished to carry them off as 
 booty : but, because, if he drove the herd straight for- 
 ward into his den, their very tracks would lead thither 
 their owner, when in search of them, he dragged back 
 into his den, by the tail, every one of the oxen that was 
 most remarkable for beauty. Hercules, rising from his 
 sleep at the first dawn, on glancing his eyes over his 
 herd, and discovering that some were missing from the 
 number, proceeds to the next cave, to know if their 
 tracks should happen to lead in that direction ; but, 
 
CHAP. 7. LIVY. 9 
 
 when he saw them all pointing outwards, and not lead- 
 ing, to any other direction, then, perplexed and unde- 
 cided, he began to drive off his herd from that unfriendly 
 spot. Then, when some of the oxen, as they were 
 driven off, lowed, as is usual, for want of those that 
 were left behind ; the sound of those that were shut up, 
 re-echoed frorn the cave, brought Hercules back. As 
 Cacus with all his might endeavoured to prevent him 
 from going to the cave, he was struck with the club, 
 and stretched dead, as he shouted in vain for the friendly 
 assistance of the other shepherds. Evander, a fugitive 
 from the Peloponnessus, at that time governed these 
 places, more through the influence of his character than 
 any absolute power ; a man held in great veneration 
 for the miraculous introduction of letters, a thing quite 
 new among men utterly ignorant of the arts, and in 
 still higher veneration for the supposed divinity of his 
 mother Carmenta, whom these nations held in high 
 admiration, as a prophetess, before the arrival of the 
 Sybil in Italy. On this occasion, this Evander, being 
 summoned out by the flocking together of the shepherds, 
 that crowded tumult uoiisly about the stranger, who was 
 impeached of palpable murder, on hearing the deed and- 
 the cause of the deed, and eyeing his port and figure, 
 that were somewhat larger and more dignified than those 
 of man, inquires who he is. When he learned his 
 name, his father, and his country, he exclaims, " Hail, 
 Hercules, son of Jove ! my mother, the unerring inter- 
 preter of the gods, declared to me that you would in- 
 crease the number of the celestials, and that to you an 
 altar would be here dedicated, which in after times the 
 mightiest nation on earth will call the greatest, and 
 honour with your worship." Hercules, giving him his 
 right hand, says, " That he takes the omen, and will 
 fulfil the fates, by building and dedicating an altar." 
 There then, for the first time, a choice heifer being 
 taken from the herd, a sacrifice is offered to Hercules. 
 The Potitii and Pinarii, which were the most distin- 
 guished families that then inhabited these places, are 
 appointed to minister at the ceremony, and partake of 
 the feast. It so turned out by chance, that the Potitii 
 were present in time, and to these the entrails were 
 served up ; the Pinarii came in, after the entrails were 
 
10 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 eaten, for the rest of the feast. It ever after remained 
 a fixed rule, as long as the Pinarian family existed, that 
 they should not eat of the entrails of this anniversary 
 sacrifice. The Potitii, instructed by Evander, con- 
 tinued for many ages the priests of that sacred rite ; 
 until the whole clan of the Potitii perished, in conse- 
 quence of having delegated to public slaves the solemn 
 ministry of the family. These were the only foreign 
 rites of religion that Romulus then adopted out of all 
 others ; being, even at that early period, a respecter of 
 that immortality gained by merit, to which his own 
 destiny was conducting him. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 HAVING thus regularly performed the duties of reli- 
 gion, and summoned to a public assembly the multitude, 
 which could not become united into a corporation of 
 one people by any thing more than by laws, he laid 
 down some principles of legislation ; and thinking that 
 these, if he made himself venerable by the ensigns of 
 power, would be proportionally respected by a rude 
 class of peasants, he assumed a more majestic appear- 
 ance in all his conduct, and especially by taking twelve 
 attendants. Some imagine that he adopted that num- 
 ber, from the number of the birds which announced to 
 him the sovereign power by the omen ; but I am not 
 loth to be of their opinion, who maintain that both this 
 kind of public servants, and the number of them too, 
 was derived from the neighbouring Tuscans, from whom 
 the curule chair and the bordered gown were derived ; 
 and that the Tuscans used this number, because, as the 
 king was elected conjointly by the twelve states, each 
 single state gave a single lictor. Meantime the city 
 began to extend, by their taking in one place and another 
 within its fortifications, since they fortified it more in 
 the hopes of future inhabitants, than for the number of 
 persons that were then in it. Then, that it may not 
 be an empty sort of greatness, he opens for an asylum 
 the place called " between the two groves," which is 
 now enclosed, and on one's way as he goes down the 
 hill, for the purpose of increasing the population, ac- 
 cording to an old plan of the founders of cities, who, 
 
CHAP. 9. LIVY. 11 
 
 when they attracted to them an obscure and low rabble, 
 pretended that a body of citizens grew to them out 
 of the earth. Thither flocked, from the neighbour- 
 ing states, a throng of all sorts without distinction, 
 whether freeman or slave, who were fond of change ; 
 and this was the first accession of strength to its infant 
 greatness. When he was now satisfied with his power, 
 he provides a system of government for this power. He 
 creates a hundred senators, either because that number 
 was sufficient, or because there were only one hundred 
 who could tell their fathers. They were stiled fathers, 
 from their honourable station no doubt, and their 
 descendants patricians. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE Roman state was now so strong, that it was a 
 match for any of the neighbouring nations in war. But, 
 from a scarcity of women, its greatness was likely to 
 last only for the present generation ; as the inhabitants 
 had no hope of issue at home, or the privilege of inter- 
 marriage with the neighbouring states. Then Romulus, 
 out of the council of his senators, sent ambassadors 
 round the neighbouring nations, to solicit alliance and 
 the privilege of intermarriage, and say: "That cities too, 
 like every thing else, rose from a very low beginning; and 
 afterwards, as far as their own valour and the gods assist 
 them, secure for themselves great power and a great 
 name. That they well knew both that the gods favoured 
 the origin of the Romans, and that their own valour 
 would not be found wanting. Wherefore should they 
 be reluctant, as men, to mingle blood and kindred 
 with men ?" The embassy was no where kindly 
 received; so much did they both despise and dread, for 
 themselves and their posterity, so mighty a power 
 growing up among them. By most states, they were 
 contumeliously dismissed, who asked them, " If he had 
 opened a place of refuge for women too ? for that such 
 characters were the only suitable match for them." 
 This the Roman youth ill brooked, and the thing began 
 decidedly to assume an aspect of violence ; and, in order 
 to afford this a fit time and place, Romulus, concealing 
 his mortification of mind, intentionally prepares solemn 
 
12 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 games in honour of equestrian Neptune. He calls them 
 Consualia. Then he orders a proclamation of the spec- 
 tacle to be made among the neighbouring states. They 
 all prepare to celebrate them with all the pomp of pre- 
 paration they were then acquainted with, or were 
 capable of, in order to render the exhibition splendid 
 and calculated to raise expectation. Great numbers 
 assembled, even from a desire to see the new city, par- 
 ticularly all the next states, the Cceninenses, Crustu- 
 mini, and Antemnates. All the population of the Sa- 
 bines arrived, with their wives and children. Being 
 hospitably invited to the several houses, on beholding 
 the situation and the fortifications, and the city itself 
 crowded with dwellings, they are astonished that the 
 Roman power should have grown up in such a short 
 time. When the time of the exhibition arrived, and 
 the minds and eyes of all were engaged in it, then, 
 by a preconcerted plan, the work of violence com- 
 menced ; and, on a signal given, the Roman youth rush 
 in various directions to carry off the young women. 
 A great number were carried off at random, according 
 as each of them fell in each man's way ; but some of 
 them of superior beauty, who were intended for the 
 chiefs of the patricians, a few of the plebeians, to whom 
 this task was delegated, carry off to their houses. One 
 distinguished beyond the rest for her figure and beauty, 
 they report, was carried away by a body headed by 
 one Talasius; and when many repeatedly asked for 
 whom they were carrying her, they continually ex- 
 claimed she was carried for Talasius, lest any one 
 should offer her violence ; hence this expression became 
 adopted in marriage ceremonies. The sport being in- 
 terrupted by this consternation, the parents of the 
 young women fled in affliction, inveighing against this 
 breach of the laws of hospitality, and calling on the 
 divinity to whose solemn festival and games they had 
 come, betrayed under the semblance of religion and 
 honour. Nor did the ravished women entertain better 
 hopes of themselves, or feel less indignation. But Ro- 
 mulus went round among them, and told them, " That 
 such an event occurred in consequence of the haughti- 
 ness of their fathers, who declined an intermarriage 
 with their neighbours ; that notwithstanding they should 
 
CHAP. 10. LIVY. 13 
 
 enjoy the privileges of matrimony, and a partnership 
 of all property and of the rights of the state, and of 
 children, a tie than which there is none more dear to 
 mankind : let them but soften down their anger, and 
 bestow their affections on those on whom accident be- 
 stowed their persons ; that attachment often grew out 
 of injury ; and that they would find them on this account 
 better husbands ; that every one would to the utmost 
 of his individual power endeavour, by discharging his 
 duty as far as his part was concerned, to make amends 
 for the loss of their parents and their country." To 
 this address were added the blandishments of their hus- 
 bands, pleading in vindication of their conduct the feel- 
 ings of desire and love, which are the strongest appeals 
 that can be made to the heart of woman. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 THE angry passions of the ravished women were 
 now very much mitigated, but their parents proceeded 
 then more than ever, in the garb of affliction, to rouse 
 up the neighbouring states by their tears and lamenta- 
 tions. Nor did they confine their indignant complaints 
 to their own country, but flocked from all quarters to 
 Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines; to him, because 
 his name was the most powerful in these countries, the 
 embassies all came. The Cceninenses, Crustumini, 
 and Antemnates were those to whom the greatest share 
 of the injury was offered. To these Tatius and the 
 Sabines appeared to act dilatorily : so the three states, 
 forming a confederacy, prepare conjointly for war. 
 Even the Crustumini and Antemnates do not bestir 
 themselves with sufficient activity for the ardour and 
 fury of the Cceninenses ; accordingly the whole Ccenin- 
 ensian nation, by itself, attacks the Roman territory. 
 But while they ravage the country in scattered parties, 
 Romulus meets them with his army, arid by a slight 
 rencounter teaches them that fury without power is 
 ineffectual. He defeats and puts to flight their army 
 pursues it after its defeat kills their king in single 
 combat, and strips him of his arms. As the enemies' 
 general was slain, he takes their city at the first assault. 
 Having then ted back his victorious army, and being 
 
 c 
 
14 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 not only distinguished for his deeds, but anxious to 
 display these deeds, he goes up to the Capitol, car- 
 rying the spoils of the enemies' general, whom he 
 slew, supported on a frame properly constructed for 
 that purpose ; and after laying them down there, 
 before an oak-tree that was held sacred among the 
 shepherds, he sketched out, together with offering 
 tl;e gift, the limits of a temple to Jupiter, and gave 
 the god a new epitheK/ " O Jupiter Feretrius /" says 
 he, " to thee I the v^tonbus king Romulus offer these 
 royal arms ; and in this place, that I have just now 
 measured in my mind, dedicate a temple, as a reposi- 
 tory for those grand spoils that generals in future times, 
 folio wing me as their precedent, shall offer, on slaying the 
 kings or generals of their enemies.'' This is the origin 
 of the temple, which was the very first that was con- 
 secrated at Rome. Accordingly, it thenceforward 
 seemed proper to the gods, that that declaration of the 
 founder of the temple, in which he asserted that future 
 generals should offer such spoils, should not be false -; 
 and that the glory of offering such a gift should not be 
 be made common, by the number of those who were to 
 enjoy it. There were only two of these spoils gained 
 ever after, during so many years so many wars ; so 
 rare was the good fortune of obtaining that honour. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 WHILE the Romans are engaged in these events, the 
 army of the Antemnates, availing themselves of an 
 opportunity and the deserted state of the country, 
 makes an incursion in hostile array on the Roman ter- 
 ritories. The Roman legion, hastily led out against 
 these too, surprised them, as they were scattered about 
 the country. Accordingly, at the very first charge and 
 shout, the enemy were routed ; their town was taken. 
 While Romulus was elated at this double victory, 
 his wife Hersilia, importuned by the prayers of the 
 ravished women, implores him to pardon their parents, 
 and admit them to the privileges of the state, as in this 
 way their interest could become consolidated by union. 
 This request was easily obtained. He then set out 
 against the Crustumini, who were carrying on hostili- 
 
CHAP. 12. LIVY. 15 
 
 ties. With these he had ev r en less struggle, because 
 their courage was lost at the defeat of the others. 
 Colonies were sent to both places. A greater number 
 were found to enrol their names for Crustuminum, on 
 account of the fertility of the land, and because great 
 numbers, particularly of the parents and relations of 
 the ravished women, emigrated from that place to 
 Rome. The last war was waged by the Sabines, 
 and that was by far the most important ; for none of 
 their operations was prompted by rage or avarice, and 
 they did not evince a hostile intention until they ex- 
 ecuted it. They added stratagem too to their plan 
 of operation. Sp. Tarpeius had the command of 
 the Roman citadel. Tatius bribes his daughter, with 
 a sum of gold, to admit some armed men into the cita- 
 del. She happened at that time to be fetching water, 
 from outside the walls, for sacrifice. When admitted, 
 they overwhelmed her with their arms, and killed her ; 
 either in order that it should appear that the citadel 
 was rather taken by force ; or for the purpose of shew- 
 ing an example that no faith ought to be kept with a 
 traitor. This circumstance is added to the story? that, 
 as the Sabines wore golden bracelets of great weight 
 on the left arm, and rings set with jewels of great 
 beauty, she bargained for what they wore on their left 
 hands ; and that, accordingly, in place of the golden 
 ornaments, they thre\v their shields in a heap upon her. 
 There are some who say, that she expressly demanded 
 their arms, according to the agreement of delivering 
 her what was on their left hands ; and that, as she 
 appeared to act with treachery, she was destroyed by 
 the remuneration she required. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 HOWEVER, the Sabines occupied the citadel ; and on 
 the following day, though the Roman army drawn up 
 in order of battle filled the whole plain that lies between 
 the Palatine and Capitol, they did not come down from 
 that position to the level ground, until the Romans, 
 goaded by rage and a desire to recover the citadel, 
 advanced up against them. The battle is commenced 
 by principal officers on both sides : Mettus Curtius on 
 
16 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 the side of the Sabines, and Hostus Hostilius on that 
 of the Romans. This man, in front of the battle, 
 upheld the Roman cause, in their unfavourable position, 
 by his courage and boldness. When Hostus fell, the 
 Roman army at once gives way, and is routed as far as 
 the old gate of the Palatine. Romulus, who was him- 
 self too hurried along in the throng of the fugitives, 
 lifting up his hands towards heaven, exclaims, " O 
 Jupiter, it was by direction of thy omens, I laid 
 here on the Palatine the first foundation of this city. 
 Now the Sabines possess the citadel, purchased by vil- 
 lany. From thence they proceed hither in arms, 
 after passing the middle of the valley. But do thou, O 
 father of gods and men, from this place at least repel 
 the enemy. Remove this panic from the Romans, and 
 stop their shameful flight. I here vow to thee, as Jupi- 
 ter Stator, a temple which will be a memorial to poste- 
 rity, that the city was saved by thy immediate aid." 
 Having uttered this prayer, as if he felt that his prayers 
 were heard, he cries, " From this spot, O Romans, 
 the good, great Jove bids you stand and renew the 
 fight." The Romans stood, as if commanded by a 
 voice from heaven. Romulus himself flies forward to 
 the front. Mettus Curtius, a principal officer on the 
 side of the Sabines, had sallied down from the citadel, 
 and chased the routed Romans over the whole space 
 that the Forum now occupies, and was already near the 
 gate of the Palatine, crying aloud, " We have con- 
 quered these perfidious hosts, this cowardly enemy. 
 Now they are aware that it is a far different thing to 
 force away young girls, and to fight with men." 
 While vaunting in this strain, Romulus makes a charge 
 on him with a body of his bravest youths. Mettus at 
 that time happened to fight on horseback, and conse- 
 quently could be the more easily repulsed. He is re- 
 pulsed, and pursued by the Romans. Another Roman 
 battalion too, fired by the daring conduct of their king, 
 routs the Sabines. Mettus plunged into a marsh, as 
 his horse took fright at the uproar of the pursuers ; 
 and that circumstance directed the attention, even of 
 the Sabines, to the danger of so distinguished a per- 
 sonage. Having got additional courage from the 
 friendly disposition of the multitude, for his own 
 
CHAP. 13. LIVY. 17 
 
 party began to beckon and call to him, he makes his 
 escape. The Romans and Sabines renew the battle 
 in the centre of the valley between the two mountains ; 
 but the Roman cause was more successful. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 THEN the Sabine women, on account of whose 
 wrongs the war originated, with dissheveled hair and torn 
 garments, their female timidity being overcome by the 
 sense of their calamity, rushing across the combatants, 
 had the fearlessness to present themselves among the 
 flying weapons, to check the hostile armies check 
 their fury, imploring their fathers on one side, their 
 husbands on the other, " Not to imbrue their hands, as 
 fathers-in-law and sons-in-law, in unnatural blood, nor 
 stain their own offspring, the one their grandchildren, 
 the other their children, with the guilt of murder. If 
 you are mutually dissatisfied with this alliance and this 
 intermarriage, turn your fury on us : we are the cause 
 of this war, we the cause of wounds and bloodshed to 
 our husbands and fathers. It is better that we should 
 perish, than live without either of you, as orphans or 
 widows." This scene moves both the army and the 
 leaders. A calm and sudden cessation ensues. Then 
 the leaders step forward to ratify a treaty ; and they 
 not only make peace, but make one state of the two. 
 They form a united kingdom, and transfer the whole 
 government to Rome. The city being thus doubled, 
 in order, however, that some privilege may be con- 
 ferred on the Sabines, the citizens were called Quirites 
 from Cures. As a monument of that battle, they called 
 the place where his horse, after rising from the deep 
 marsh, set Curtius on firm ground, the Curtian lake. 
 The joyful peace that suddenly succeeded so deplorable 
 a war, rendered the Sabine women dearer to their hus- 
 bands and parents, and above all to Romulus himself: 
 and therefore, when he divided the people into thirty 
 Curiae, he gave their names to the Curise. As the 
 number of women was undoubtedly somewhat greater 
 than this of the Curise, it is not recorded whether they 
 who gave their names to the Curise were chosen on 
 account of their age, or their own rank or that of their 
 c 3 
 
18 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 husbands, or by lot. At the same time, there were 
 three centuries of horse also enrolled, the Ramnenses, 
 so called from Romulus the Titienses, from Titus Ta- 
 tius. The reason of the name and origin of the Luceres 
 is uncertain. From that time the kingdom was governed 
 by the two kings, not only in common, but with una- 
 nimity. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 AFTER the expiration of some years, the relations of 
 king Tatius assault ambassadors of the Laurentines ; 
 and when the Laurentines claimed the right of the 
 law of nations, the interest and intreaties of his friends 
 had greater weight with Tatius. Accordingly, he 
 brought their punishment on himself ; for, on going to 
 Lavinium to an anniversary sacrifice, he is killed there 
 by the people, who crowded together against him. 
 They say that Romulus bore that circumstance with 
 less concern than he ought, either on account of the 
 insincerity of their union in the kingdom, or because he 
 believed him to be justly murdered. Therefore he 
 refrained, indeed, from hostilities ; however, that the 
 outrage offered to the ambassadors and the king's mur- 
 der may be atoned for, the league was renewed between 
 the cities of Rome and Lavinium. With these there was 
 peace, which was indeed unexpected ; but another war 
 broke out much nearer, and almost at their very gates. 
 The Fidenates, thinking that a power was growing into 
 vigour too close to them, are before-hand in waging 
 Avar upon it, before it could acquire that degree of 
 strength which it was evident it would acquire: A 
 body of armed men being sent into the country, all the 
 land that lies between the city and Fidense is laid waste. 
 Then turning to the left, because the Tiber kept them 
 off on the right, they continue their devastations, to the 
 great consternation of the peasants ; and the sudden 
 alarm that was brought from the country to the city 
 was the courier of the event. Roused by this (for so 
 near a war could not brook delay), Romulus leads out 
 his army. He pitches his camp one mile from Fidena?. 
 Leaving a small guard there, and setting out with all his 
 forces, he bids a party of his infantry lie in ambush, in 
 
CHAP. 15. LIVY. 19 
 
 places that were shaded on account of the thick brush- 
 wood that grew about. Proceeding on with the main 
 body, and all his cavalry, by riding up almost to the 
 very gates, in a disorderly and menacing sort of hosti- 
 lity, he drew out the enemy, the very thing that he 
 wanted. This mode of attack on the part of the cavalry 
 rendered the reason of the flight too, which was to be 
 pretended, less surprising: and, when the foot also, 
 while the horse wavered as if between the resolution of 
 fighting or flying, began to retreat, the enemy, sud- 
 denly rushing out of the gates in crowds, force the Ro- 
 man lines, and are drawn, in the ardour of pressing on 
 and pursuing them, to the place of ambush. Then the 
 Romans quickly start up, and attack the enemies' line 
 in flank : the colours of those who had been left as a 
 guard, being brought forth from the camp, increase 
 their dismay. The Fidenates, being thus confounded 
 by their manifold terrors, turn their backs, before Ro- 
 mulus and those who rode with him could rein round 
 their horses ; and they, who a little before pursued 
 those who pretended flight, retreated back to the town 
 in much greater disorder, as it was now a real flight. 
 However, they did not save themselves from the enemy. 
 Romulus, hanging on their rear, rushes in along with 
 them, as if they all formed one body, before the gates 
 could be shut against him. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 IN the spreading infection of the Fidenatian war, the 
 minds of the Veientes were exasperated, both on 
 account of their proximity of blood (for the Fidenates 
 too were Etrurians), and because the very contiguity 
 of their situation, in case the Roman arms were to 
 become hostile to all their neighbours, urged them on. 
 They made an incursion into the Roman territories, 
 rather as marauders, than in a stile of regular warfare. 
 Accordingly, without pitching a camp, or waiting for 
 the enemies' army, they returned to Veii, carrying 
 with them the booty that they plundered from the 
 country. The Roman, on the contrary, on not finding 
 the enemy in the country, crossed the Tiber, prepared 
 and resolved for a final conflict. When the Veientes 
 
20 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 heard that he was pitching his camp, and about to 
 march to the city, they went out to meet him, in order 
 to decide the matter by a pitched battle, rather than be 
 blocked up and fight for their very dwellings and walls. 
 On this occasion, the Roman king, without aiding his 
 power with any stratagem, gained the victory merely 
 by the strength of his old army ; and having pursued 
 the routed enemy to their fortifications, he refrained 
 from attacking a strong city, fortified by its walls and 
 situation. On his return, he lays waste the country, 
 more from a desire of revenge than of plunder. The 
 Veientes, humbled by this calamity, no less than by 
 the disastrous battle, send ambassadors to Rome to ask 
 for peace. Being deprived of a part of their territory, 
 a truce was granted them for one hundred years. 
 These were nearly all the occurrences that happened 
 during the reign of Romulus, at home and in war ; not 
 one of which, neither his spirit in recovering his grand- 
 father's kingdom, nor his wisdom in founding the city, 
 and securing it in peace and war, did not harmonize 
 with the belief of his divine origin, and his supposed 
 divinity after his death. For, after that progress, it was 
 so powerful by the strength that he gave it, that for 
 forty years it enjoyed unmolested peace. However, he 
 was a greater favourite with the multitude than with 
 the patricians ; but, above all, he was dear to the hearts 
 of the soldiers. He kept three hundred armed men, 
 whom he called Celeres, to guard his person, not only 
 in war, but also in peace. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 HAVING achieved these immortal deeds, while he 
 held a public assembly in the plain at the goat's pond^ 
 for the purpose of reviewing his army, a tempest rising 
 on a sudden, with loud rattling and thunder, enveloped 
 the king in so thick a mist, as to deprive the assembly 
 of a view of him ; and Romulus never appeared on earth 
 after. The Roman youth, when their fears were at 
 length quieted, on the return of calm, clear sunshine 
 after such a stormy day, on seeing the king's seat empty, 
 though they implicitly believed the declaration of the 
 patricians, that he was carried up in the hurricane, 
 
'. 17. LIVY. 21 
 
 yet, as if struck with consternation at the loss of a 
 parent, kept for some time a melancholy silence. At 
 length, a few of them beginning-, they all toge- 
 ther bid Romulus, " a god, the son of a god, the king 
 and father of the Roman city," hail. They implore 
 his favours, in prayers " that he may willingly, propi- 
 tiously guard his own offspring." I believe there were 
 some, even then, who were silently convinced that he 
 was torn in pieces by the hands of the patricians ; for 
 this rumour too was circulated, but very secretly. Ad- 
 miration for the man, and the present panic, gave gene- 
 ral currency to the other. It is said that, by the stra- 
 tagem too of one man, additional credit was stamped on 
 the event ; for, while the citizens were in affliction for 
 the loss of the king, and full of animosity against the 
 patricians, Proculus Julius, grave authority, as it is 
 recorded, for any fact however important, comes for- 
 ward to a public assembly, and says, " Romans, this 
 day at the first light, Romulus the father of this city, 
 descending suddenly from heaven, presented himself 
 before me. When I stood by, filled with horror, and in 
 an attitude of adoration, beseeching him in prayer that 
 I may be allowed to look him in the face. < Go,' he 
 says, ' tell the Romans that the powers of heaven will 
 it so, that my Rome be the capital of the earthly globe. 
 Therefore let them cultivate the art of war ; and let 
 them know, and let them in the same way transmit the 
 fact to their posterity, that no human power can with- 
 stand the Roman arms.' Having spoken thus," he says, 
 " he went off on high." It is astonishing what credit 
 was attached to this man, when announcing this, and 
 how much the regret for Romulus was diminished 
 among the populace and the army, when the belief of 
 his immortality was established. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 IN the mean time, a contest for the sovereign power, 
 and ambition began to distract the minds of the patri- 
 cians. These had not as yet been confined to indivi- 
 duals ; for, as the state was but newly formed, no one 
 person possessed great pre-eminence. The struggle 
 was carried on between the parties of the two orders. 
 
22 LIV^. BOOK I. 
 
 The descendants of the Sabines were anxious that a 
 king should he elected out of their body, lest, as there 
 was no king of their party after the death of Tatius, 
 they may lose the possession of the sovereign power, 
 though entitled to an equal share of it. The old Romans 
 spurned the idea of a foreign king. However, all, 
 notwithstanding their diversity of choice, wished that a 
 king should he appointed, the sweets of liberty being 
 yet untried. Then the patricians were filled with 
 apprehension, lest, as the minds of many states around 
 were exasperated against them, some foreign power 
 should attack the state while destitute of a government, 
 and the army while destitude of a leader. Therefore 
 it was their wish that there should be some head, yet 
 no party thought of yielding to the other. Accordingly 
 the hundred senators share the administration between 
 them, having formed ten decuries, and appointed an in- 
 dividual for each decury, who was to preside over the 
 chief management of affairs. There were ten in power, 
 and one with the ensigns of power and the lictors. 
 Their power was limited to the space of ten days, and 
 went through all in rotation. This vacancy of kingly 
 power lasted one year, and from its nature was called 
 interreign, a name that continues even now. Then the 
 populace began to murmur, that their slavery was mul- 
 tiplied on them ; that there were a hundred masters set 
 over them, in place of one ; and they seemed resolved 
 to endure no longer any but a king, and a king ap- 
 pointed by themselves. When the patricians saw that 
 these measures were in agitation, thinking that what 
 they were likely to lose should be voluntarily surren- 
 dered, they oblige the people in such a way, by resign- 
 ing to them the supreme power, as not to give up more 
 privilege than they kept ; for they decreed that, when 
 the people would have appointed a king, this appoint- 
 ment should be so ratified, if the fathers gave it their 
 sanction. And to this day, in the making of laws and 
 magistrates, the same form is used, though its efficacy 
 is lost : the fathers at present, before the people com- 
 mence voting, give their sanction, even where the event 
 of the election is doubtful. Then the interrex, having 
 summoned a public assembly, said, " Romans, and may 
 the event be good, auspicious, and fortunate, elect a 
 
CHAP. 18. LIVY. 23 
 
 king ; so it lias seemed proper to the fathers. Then, 
 if you shall have elected one worthy to he counted suc- 
 cessor to Romulus, the fathers will give him their 
 sanction." This was so agreeahle to the people, that, 
 not to appear surpassed in generosity, they only enacted 
 and ordered that the senate should decide who should 
 reign at Rome. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 THE justice and religious character of Numa Pom- 
 pilius were famous at that time. He lived at Cures, a 
 :o\vn of the Sabines, a man profoundly skilled, as much 
 so as any man could be in that age, in all divine and 
 mman law. They falsely give out, that the author of 
 lis learning, because there is no record of any other, 
 was Pythagoras of Samos ; a person who, it is univer- 
 sally allowed, kept schools of young men who adopted 
 liis doctrines, about Metapontum, Heraclea, and Cro- 
 ton, in the extreme part of Italy, more than a hundred 
 years after this period, when Servius Tullius reigned 
 at Rome. From places so remote, what report about 
 him could have been brought to the Sabines, or through 
 what intercourse of language, that would draw any 
 one from home with a desire of learning ? or under 
 what protection could a person travel alone through so 
 many nations, differing in language and customs? 
 Therefore I rather think that his mind was attempered 
 with virtuous qualities, from its own genius, and that 
 he was not so much instructed in foreign arts, as in the 
 rude and austere discipline of the Sabines, than whom 
 there was no race of men at one time more pure. The 
 Roman fathers, on hearing of Numa's name, though it 
 appeared that power would lean to the old Sabines, if 
 the king were taken from among them, yet, as no one 
 dared to prefer himself, or any one else of his own 
 party, or any one of the fathers or citizens, to that 
 man, all to a man decide that the sovereign power 
 should be conferred on Numa Pompilius. When in- 
 vited, just as Romulus, on the building of the city, 
 obtained the kingdom by an omen, he commanded that 
 the gods should be consulted about himself too. Then, 
 being led to the citadel by an augur (on whom, as a 
 
24 LIVY. BOOK I- 
 
 mark of honour, that sacred office was thenceforward per- 
 petually conferred), sat down on a stone, with his face 
 to the south. The augur took his seat at his left, with 
 his head covered, holding in his right hand a crooked 
 staff without knots, which they called lituus. Then, 
 having taken a view towards the city and country, and 
 offered a prayer to the gods, he marked out the quar- 
 ters of the heavens from east to west : the right, he 
 said, was to the south, the left to the north. He 
 marked out in his mind a sign opposite him, at the 
 utmost extent to which his sight reached. Then, re- 
 moving the lituus to his left hand, his right being laid 
 on Numa's head, he prayed in this manner : " Father 
 Jove, if it be the divine will that this Numa, whose 
 head I now hold, should be king of Rome, I beseech 
 thee, display to us sure signs within these limits that I 
 have fixed." Then he stated in express words the 
 omens that he wished should be sent ; and these being 
 sent, Numa is declared king, and comes down from the 
 consecrated stand. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 HAVING thus got possession of the kingdom, he pre- 
 pares to establish afresh, by a system of jurisprudence, 
 by laws and moral institutions, the new city, originally 
 established by violence and arms. And as he saw that the 
 minds of the people, as being brutalized by a military 
 life, could not become habituated to these during the 
 occupations of war, he thought that the savage popula- 
 tion should be civilized by a disuse of arms : and built 
 a temple of Janus at the foot of Argiletus, as a sign of 
 peace and war ; to signify, when open, that the state 
 was in arms, and, when shut, that all the nations 
 around were at peace with it. From that period, it 
 has been twice shut since Numa's reign : once in the 
 consulship of T. Manlius, after the conclusion of the 
 first Punic war ; a second time by the emperor Caesar 
 Augustus, after the battle of Actium, when peace was 
 established by sea and land ; a blessing which the gods 
 have granted our age to witness. This temple being 
 shut ; after having secured by alliance and leagues the 
 affections of all the nearest states around, lest men's 
 
HAP. 20. LTVY. 
 
 minds, which the dread of an enemy and military disci- 
 pline had kept in subjection, may become licentious by 
 idleness, now that the anxiety about external danger 
 was removed, he thought that a fear of the gods should 
 be inspired into them, a thing of the utmost efficacy 
 for an ignorant and uncultivated multitude in those 
 times. As he saw that this could not be impressed on 
 their minds without some marvellous fiction, he pre- 
 tends that he held nocturnal interviews with the goddess 
 Egeria ; that by her advice he instituted the religious 
 rites that were most acceptable to the gods, and ap- 
 pointed their respective priests for each divinity. And, 
 first of all, he divides the year, according to the course 
 of the moon, into twelve months ; this year (because 
 the moon does not complete the number of thirty days 
 in each month, and there are some days wanting to 
 make up the full year which is brought round by the 
 sun's revolution) he so regulated, by inserting inter- 
 calary months, that every four-and twentieth year, the 
 space of all the intermediate years being then filled up, 
 the days would coincide with that position of the sun 
 from which they began. He also appointed days of 
 rest, and days of business, because it was sometimes 
 useful that no public business should be transacted with 
 the people. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 HE then turned his mind to the creation of priests, 
 although he performed most of the sacred duties himself, 
 particularly those that now appertain to the office of 
 the priest of Jupiter. But because he thought that 
 in a warlike state more kings would resemble Romu- 
 lus rather than Numa, and would march in person to 
 battle ; in order that the sacred rites of the king's office 
 should not be left neglected, he created a fiamen, a 
 constant priest for Jupiter, and decorated him with a 
 distinguished robe and a royal curule chair. In addi- 
 tion to him, he made two other flamens, one for Mars, 
 another for Romulus ; and appointed virgins for Vesta, 
 a sacerdotal order derived from Alba, and not uncon- 
 nected with the family of the founder of the city. To 
 these he gave a salary out of the public fund, in order 
 
26 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 that they may be constant attendants on the temple ; and 
 by an obligation of chastity, and other ceremonies, 
 rendered them venerable and sacred. He likewise 
 appointed twelve Salii for Mars Gradivus, and gave 
 them the distinguishing badge of an embroidered gown, 
 and over the gown a brazen breast-piece ; and ordered 
 them to carry the arms sent from heaven, that are called 
 ancilia, and go through the city cliaunting hymns, with 
 jumping and solemn dancing. He then chose from the 
 fathers Numa Marcius, the son of Marcus, as chief 
 pontiff, and delivered up to him all the religious insti- 
 tutions, written out and sealed ; with what victims, on 
 what days, and at what temples sacrifices should be 
 offered, and from what source money should be collected 
 to defray these expenses. He also subjected all other 
 religious rites, public and private, to the decrees of the 
 pontiff, in order that there may be a proper authority, 
 to which the people should come for advice (lest, by 
 the neglect of the national rites, and the adoption of 
 foreign ones, any irregularity might be introduced into 
 the laws of religion) ; and that the same pontiff should 
 instruct them, not only in the forms of worshipping 
 the powers of heaven, but also in funeral solemnities, 
 and the mode of appeasing the spirits below ; and what 
 prodigies, whether sent by lightning or any other phe- 
 nomenon, should be attended to and expiated. In 
 order to elicit this knowledge from the divine wisdom, 
 he dedicated an altar on the Aventine to Jupiter Eli- 
 cius ; and consulted the god, by augury, about what 
 prodigies should be attended to. 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 THE entire multitude being diverted from violence 
 and arms to the deliberation of these things and the 
 ceremonies of expiation, their minds were both occu- 
 pied with some pursuit, and a constant awe of the gods 
 engrossing their thoughts (since it appeared that the 
 divinity of heaven interfered in human affairs), imbued 
 their hearts with so much piety, that good faith and 
 respect for an oath governed the conduct of the citizens, 
 the dread of punishment and the laws becoming a subor- 
 dinate motive. And while men formed themselves by 
 
AP. 22. LIVY. 27 
 
 the manners of the king as their chief precedent, theu 
 even the neighbouring states, that before believed it 
 was a camp, riot a city, that was established among 
 them, to disturb the peace of all, were brought to feel 
 such respect for it, as to deem it impiety to offer vio- 
 lence to a state that became wholly devoted to the 
 worship of the gods. There was a grove, the middle 
 of which a fountain, issuing from a dark grotto, watered 
 with a perpetual stream ; and, as Numa often repaired 
 thither without witnesses, as if to an interview with 
 the goddess, he consecrated that grove to the muses, 
 because there their conferences with his spouse Egeria 
 were held. And he instituted, in honour of faith alone, 
 an annual festival : to that solemnity he commanded 
 that the priests should be carried in a roofed chariot, 
 and should perform divine worship with the hand muf- 
 fled up to the fingers, to signify that faith should be 
 defended, and that even its seat in the right hand was 
 made sacred. He instituted many other sacrifices, and 
 places for the performance of sacrifices, which the pon- 
 tiffs call argei. However, the greatest of all his works 
 was his preservation, no less of peace, than of his king- 
 dom, during the whole time of his reign. Thus two 
 kings in succession, each in a different way, enlarged 
 the state, one by war, the other by peace. Romulus 
 reigned thirty-seven years, Numa forty-three. At this 
 time the state was both powerful, and attempered by 
 the arts of war and peace. 
 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 ON the death of Numa, the administration again 
 returned to an interreign. Then the people elected 
 Tullus Hostilius king, the grandson of that Hostilius 
 whose fight with the Sabines, at the foot of the citadel, 
 was so distinguished. The fathers gave their sanction. 
 This man was not only unlike the former king, but was 
 even more violent than Romulus. His youth, his vigour, 
 and besides hereditary glory, urged him on. There- 
 fore, imagining that the state was lapsing into decay 
 from idleness, he sought every where for materials for 
 exciting war. It accidentally came to pass, that some 
 Roman peasants drove off booty from the Alban terri- 
 
28 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 tory, and Albans from the Roman territory by way of 
 reprisal. C. Cluilius at that time ruled over Alba. 
 Ambassadors were sent from both states, about the 
 same time, to demand restitution. Tullus had directed 
 his own not to mind any thing before his orders. He 
 knew well that the Alban would refuse ; consequently 
 that war could be proclaimed, consistently with the 
 dictates of religion. The business was managed more 
 carelessly by the Albans. Being courteously and gene- 
 rously received as guests by Tullus, they politely par- 
 take of his entertainment. In the mean time, the Ro- 
 mans made the first demand of restitution, and pro- 
 claimed war within thirty days on the Alban, who 
 refused. They bring back these tidings to Tullus. Then 
 Tullus gives the ambassadors an opportunity of stating 
 what they came to demand. They, ignorant of all 
 that occurred, waste time in first apologising, " That 
 they would unwillingly say any thing that would dis- 
 please Tullus; but that they were forced by their 
 orders ; that they came to demand restitution. If this 
 were not made, that they were commanded to proclaim 
 war." To this Tullas replies, " Tell your king, that 
 the Roman king calls the gods to witness, which nation 
 first dismissed with scorn the ambassadors who demanded 
 restitution, in order that all the calamities of this war 
 may light upon it." 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 THE Albans carry home these tidings ; and both 
 sides began with vigour to prepare for a war which 
 bore the closest resemblance to a civil war, one almost 
 between parents and children ; Trojan descendants both ; 
 since Lavinium owed its origin to Troy, Alba to Lavi- 
 nium, and the Romans to the stock of the Alban kings. 
 However, the event of the war rendered the conflict 
 less disastrous ; because the dispute was not decided by 
 a pitched battle, and the two nations were amalgamated 
 into one, by merely demolishing the houses of one of 
 the cities. The Albans first made an attack on the 
 Roman territory, with a large army, pitch their camp 
 not more than five miles from the city, surround it 
 with a foss. This was called, from their leader's name, 
 
CHAP. 23. LIVY. 29 
 
 tke Cluilian foss, for many ages after, until the name, 
 together with the work, perished by time. In this 
 camp, Cluilius, the Alban king, dies. The Albans 
 create Mettus Fuffetius dictator. In the mean time, 
 Tullus, full of courage, particularly after the king's 
 death, and frequently asserting that the great power of 
 the gods, which had already begun with the head, 
 would take vengeance on the whole Alban nation for 
 this impious war, passes the enemies' camp by night, 
 and proceeds with his army, that was burning with 
 rage, into the Alban territory. This circumstance 
 drew Mettus from his stationary camp. He leads his 
 forces as near the enemy as he can, and then bids an 
 ambassador, whom he dispatched, to tell Tullus that 
 he wanted a conference with him ; that lie well knew, 
 if he met him, that he would make such proposals as 
 would concern the Roman interest, not less than the 
 Alban. Tullus, though he supposed that it was an 
 idle proposal that was to be made, did not decline ; and 
 he leads out his troops to the field. The Albans too, on 
 the other side, march out. When they stood ranged 
 in order of battle on both sides, the leaders, with a 
 few of their chief officers, advance forward into the 
 centre. Then the Alban begins. " I think I heard our 
 king Cluilius declare that injuries, and a refusal to 
 make the restitution that was required according to 
 the terms of our league, have been the cause of this 
 war ; and I doubt not that you declare the same. But 
 if the truth, rather than plausible assertions, must be 
 stated, it is a love of power that goads on to arms these 
 kindred and neighbouring states : whether well or ill, I 
 do not decide ; let this consideration rest with him who 
 commenced this war. The Albans have chosen me 
 their leader, to conduct the war. Of this, Tullus, I 
 wish to warn you : how powerful is the Etrurian state 
 about us, and especially about you, you know better, 
 since ye are nearer them. They possess vast power by 
 land, vast power by sea. Remember, that, when you 
 giv T 8 the signal for batfle, these two armies will be an 
 amusing spectacle to them, in order that they may 
 attack the conqueror and the conquered together, when 
 tired and exhausted. Therefore, since, not content 
 with the sure enjoyment of liberty, we are going to 
 D 3 
 
30 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 cast the doubtful die of empire or slavery, let us, if we 
 enjoy the favour of heaven, adopt some course by 
 which it may be determined which is to rule over the 
 other, without much slaughter or much bloodshed of 
 either nation." The proposal is not disliked by Tullus, 
 though he was more inclined to violent measures, as 
 well from his natural temper of mind, as from his hopes 
 of victory. Both, searching out for a plan, adopt one, 
 for which even fortune herself afforded materials. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 THERE happened to be at that time in each army 
 three brothers, born at one birth, well matched in point 
 of age and strength. That they were called the Hora- 
 tii and Curatii, is agreed on well enough, nor is there 
 scarcely any fact of antiquity more celebrated ; how- 
 ever, in a fact so famous, there remains some doubt 
 about the names, to which nation the Horatii, and to 
 which the Curatii belonged. Authors variously lean to 
 each of them : however, I find a greater number to call 
 the Horatii Romans. My mind is inclined to follow 
 these. The kings manage with the brothers to fight in 
 arms, each for his country, " That dominion would be 
 on that side, by which victory would be gained." No 
 refusal is given. Time and place are agreed on. Before 
 they fought, a league was struck up between the Ro- 
 mans and Latins on these conditions, that whichever 
 nation's citizens should have conquered in that combat, 
 that nation should rule over the othert Different 
 leagues are ratified, on different conditions, but all in 
 the same form. This, we understand, was at that time 
 ratified in this way, and of none there is more ancient 
 record. The herald of the ceremonies thus asked king 
 Tullus, " Do you command me, O king, to strike up 
 a league with the ministering functionary of the Alban 
 people ?" The king commanding him, he says, " I 
 demand vervain of thee, O king." The king replies, 
 " Take a pure blade." The herald brought a pure 
 blade of grass from the citadel ; then he thus addressed 
 the king, " Do you, () king, authorize me as the royal 
 delegate of the Roman people the Quirites; my vessels 
 and attendants ?" The king replies, " So far as it may 
 
CHAP. 25. LIVY. 31 
 
 be done without injury to myself, and the Roman people 
 the Quirites, I do." The herald was M. Valerius. He 
 appointed Sp.Fusius the ministering functionary, touch- 
 ing his head and hair with the vervain. The ministering 
 functionary is appointed to administer the oath, that is, 
 to ratify the league ; and this he does in a great many 
 words, which, being expressed in a long set form, it is 
 not worth while to repeat. Then, the conditions being 
 read over, he says, " Hear, O Jupiter ; hear, O minis- 
 tering functionary of the Alban people ; hear, O people 
 of Alba : according as these conditions have been pub- 
 licly read from first to last, out of these tablets or that 
 wax, without evil guile, and according as they have 
 been here this day most correctly understood, from 
 these conditions the Roman people shall not first swerve. 
 If they shall first swerve from them, with evil guile, by 
 public authority, do thou, O Jupiter, on that day 
 smite the Roman people thus, as I shall this day here 
 smite this swine ; and smite them the more, in propor- 
 tion as thou art the more powerful and potent." When 
 he said this, he struck a sow with a large flint-stone. 
 In the same way the Albans went through their forms 
 and oath, by their dictator and priests. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 THE league being struck, the three brothers on either 
 side, as had been agreed on, take their arms. When 
 their friends exhorted them to recollect, " That their 
 national gods, their country, and their parents, all their 
 fellow-citizens, at home and in the army, were at that 
 moment spectators of their arms of their might of 
 hand ;" they advance into the centre of the two armies, 
 both fierce by nature, and animated by the shouts of 
 tJfctataLorthig friends. The two armies on each side 
 had already sat down before their camps, free rather 
 from immediate danger, than anxiety ; since dominion 
 was at stake, risked on the valour and fortune of so 
 few. So then, wound up to excitement and in suspense, 
 /, their souls on this spectacle, which was far from 
 pli i^inp The signal is given ; and the three combat- 
 
 ks on either side, inspired with the courage of mighty 
 , rush with deadly arms, like marshalled legions, 
 
32 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 to the shock. Not their own danger, but public domi- 
 nion and slavery, and such a future condition of their 
 country as they should have gained for it, are present 
 to the minds of the one side and the other. The very 
 moment their arms clashed in the first encounter, and 
 their glittering sabres flashed, big horror thrills through 
 the spectators ; and, as hope leaned to neither side, 
 every voice and breath was hushed. Then mingling 
 hands in the thick of battle, when not only the motions 
 of their bodies, and the rapid quiverings of their wea- 
 pons and arms, but their wounds, also, and blood, 
 were the objects of anxious gaze ; the two Romans sunk 
 down gasping one upon the other, while the three 
 Albans were wounded. On their fall, the Alban army 
 raised a shout of joy ; while all hope, though not anx- 
 iety as yet, had left the Romans, who were breathless 
 with alarm at the situation of the single combatant, 
 whom the Curatii had surrounded. He was happily 
 unhurt. As he was, alone, not at all a match for them 
 collectively, so he was boldly confident against them 
 individually. In order, then, to divide their joint 
 attack, he takes to flight, supposing they would follow 
 him, according as his disabled body would suffer each 
 of them. He had now fled a little way from that place 
 where they fought, when, looking back, he sees them 
 following him at considerable distances asunder, and 
 one of them not far off from him. On him he returns 
 with great fury ; and while the Alban army cries out 
 to the Curatii to assist their brother, Horatius, having 
 slain his enemy, was now sallying to a second encoun- 
 ter. Then the Romans with a shout of acclamation, 
 such as raised by men expressing unexpected joy, cheer 
 on their champion ; and he hastens to get rid of this 
 combat. So, before the other, who was not far <e>fF, 
 could overtake him, he dispatches the other Cwatiu* 
 too. The chance of war thus rendered equal, there 
 now remained two single combatants, but not matched 
 in hope and strength. A body unhurt by a weapon, 
 and a double victory, sent one with bold confidence to 
 a third conflict : the other, dragging along a lody en- 
 feebled by wounds, enfeebled by running, is ^^HH| 
 to a victorious foe. Neither was there a combat. The 
 Roman with exultation exclaims, " I have ottered two 
 
CHAP. 26. LIVY. 33 
 
 to the manes of my brothers. The third I will offer to 
 the cause of this war, in order that the Roman may 
 rule the Alban." While his adversary could scarcely 
 support his arms, he plunges his sword down his throat. 
 He strips him as he lay prostate. The Romans receive 
 Horatius with triumph and congratulations, with the 
 greater joy in proportion as the event followed so 
 closely after fear. Then both parties apply themselves 
 to the burying of their dead, with very different emo- 
 tions : since one was exalted by the acquisition of do- 
 minion, and the other was brought under foreign sub- 
 jection. Their tombs are still extant, in the place 
 where each of them fell : those of the two Romans 
 almost in one place, nearer Alba ; those of the three 
 Albans towards Rome, but in separate places, and 
 according as they fought. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 BEFORE they parted from that ground, Tullus com- 
 mands M ettus, who asked him what he would command 
 him to do in virtue of the league struck up between 
 them, to keep his troops under arms ; that he would 
 use his services, if there were a war with the Veientes. 
 So the armies were led off to their homes. Horatius 
 marched at the head of the Romans, carrying before 
 him the triple spoils. His sister, a maiden who had 
 been betrothed to one of the Curatii, met him before 
 the gate Capena ; and recognizing on her brother's 
 shoulders her spouse's military cloak, which she herself 
 had made, she tears her hair, and with mournful cries 
 calls on her dead spouse by his name. The lamenta- 
 tion of a sister, in the midst of his victory and the great 
 public joy, rouses the passion of the fierce young war- 
 rior ; so, drawing his sword, he stabs the young girl 
 through, at the same time reproaching her in these 
 words : " Begone," he cries, " to your spouse, with 
 your ill-timed affection, you who have forgotten your 
 dead brothers and your living one have forgotten your 
 country : so perish every woman that will bewail a 
 Roman foe." This appeared to the senate and the peo- 
 ple an atrocious deed, but his recent merit outweighed 
 the act. However, he was dragged to justice before 
 
34 LIVY. BOOK I. | 
 
 the king. The king, in order not to be the author of a ! 
 sentence so melancholy and disagreeable to the popu- i 
 lace, or of his punishment according to that sentence, 
 summons an assembly of the people, and says, " I ap- I 
 point, according to law, two commissioners, to pass 
 sentence on Horatius for murder." The law was one 
 of horrible form " Let two commissioners pass sen- 
 tence for murder. If the accused shall have appealed 
 from the commissioners, try the case by appeal. If 
 they shall succeed, cover his head ; hang him with a 
 rope from the gallows-tree ; flog him within the pomae- 
 rium, or outside the pomcerium" By this law were 
 the two commissioners appointed, who thought they 
 could not under this law acquit even an innocent person, 
 after they had found him guilty. Then says one of 
 them, " I pass judgment on you for murder. Go, lie- 
 tor, bind his hands." The lictor had advanced, and 
 began to tie on the cord. Then Horatius, by the ad- 
 vice of Tullus, who wished to give a mild construction 
 to the law, says, " I appeal." So the case was at last 
 tried by appeal before the people. During that trial 
 people were much aifected, particularly by P. Horatius, 
 his father, who declared that his daughter was deserv- 
 edly put to death ; for, if it were not so, that he him- 
 self would by his own authority as a father punish his 
 son. Then he implored them not to render him, whom 
 they saw a short time before with a noble family, now 
 utterly childless. Amid these supplications, the old ' 
 man, embracing the youth, and pointing to the spoils 
 of the Curatii, hung up in the place that is now called 
 the Horatian arms, exclaimed, " Romans ! can you see 
 this man, whom you have just now seen decked out 
 with victory and marching in triumph, bound to the 
 stake, amidst stripes and torture ? a sight so hideous, 
 that the eyes even of the Alban could scarcely bear ! 
 Go, lictor, bind those hands, that a little before armed 
 gained dominion for the Roman people. Go, muffle the 
 head of the liberator of this city ; hang him from the 
 gallows-tree ; flog him either inside the pomaerium, 
 provided it be amid those arms and spoils of the enemy ; 
 or outside the pomaerium, provided it be among the 
 tombs of the Curatii. For whither can you lead this 
 youth, where his glories will not save him from the 
 
CHAP. 27. LIVY. 35 
 
 foul stain of such a punishment ?" The people could 
 not withstand either the tears of the father, or his own 
 spirit always the same under every danger ; and they 
 acquitted him, more from admiration of his hravery, 
 than the justice of his cause. Therefore, that the mani- 
 fest murder may be atoned for by some expiation, the 
 father was ordered to make expiation for his son out of 
 the public money. So, having offered certain expiatory 
 sacrifices, which were ever after transmitted down 
 through the Horatian family, he laid a beam across the 
 road, and, muffling the young man's head, sent him as 
 it were under the yoke. That remains even to this day, 
 being always kept repaired at the public expense. They 
 call it the sisters beam. A tomb was erected of square 
 stone to Horatia, in the place where she sunk by the 
 blow. 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 THE peace with Alba did not continue long. The 
 dissatisfaction of the rabble, that the public fortune 
 was made depend on three soldiers, perverted the natu- 
 rally fickle disposition of the dictator; and as straight- 
 forward measures had not succeeded well, he set about 
 recovering the affection of his countrymen by dishonest 
 ones. Accordingly, as he before in war was anxious 
 for peace, so now in peace he was anxious for war. And 
 since he saw that his own state possessed more spirit 
 than power, he incites other nations to wage war pub- 
 licly and by regular proclamation. To his own people he 
 reserves the work of treachery, under the mask of 
 alliance. The Fidenates, a Roman colony, taking the 
 Veientes as accomplices in the plot, are excited, by an 
 agreement that the Albans would desert to them, to war 
 and arms. When the Fidenates openly revolted, Tul- 
 lus, having summoned Mettus and his army from Alba, 
 leads out against the enemy. When he crossed the 
 Anio, he pitches his camp at the conflux of that and the 
 Tiber. Between that place and Fidense the army of 
 the Veientes had crossed the Tiber. These occupied 
 the right wing in the battle too. The Fidenates are 
 posted on the left, nearer the mountains. Tullus draws 
 out his own forces opposite the Fidenates. He stations 
 
36 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 the Albans over against the Veientes. The Alban had 
 no more courage than he had honesty : therefore, not 
 having the spirit either to keep his ground, or openly 
 desert, he retires gradually towards the mountains. 
 Then, when he imagined he withdrew far enough, he 
 makes his whole army halt ; and still irresolute, he be- 
 gins to draw out his lines, in order to waste time. His 
 design was, to lean with all his force to the side that 
 fortune would favour At first it appeared surprising 
 to the Romans, who were posted next them, when they 
 perceived their flank exposed by the departure of their 
 allies ; then a horseman, riding at full gallop, announces 
 to the king that the Albans were going off. Tullus, in 
 this alarming situation, vowed twelve Salii and shrines 
 to Paleness and Terror. Rebuking the horseman with a 
 loud voice, so that the enemy may overhear him, he 
 bids him return to the attack ; " That there was no 
 occasion for alarm ; that the Alban army was wheel- 
 ing round by his orders, in order to fall on the defence- 
 less rear of the Fidenates." He also commands him to 
 bid the cavalry hold their spears erect. This expedient 
 intercepted, from a great part of the Roman infantry, 
 the sight of the Alban army retiring; and those wfro saw 
 it, thinking it to be as they heard from the king, fight 
 with the greater ardour. The terror is transferred to 
 the enemy. The Fidenates both heard what was spo- 
 ken in such a loud voice, and many of them understood 
 Latin, as they were intermixed with Romans in the 
 colony. Therefore, for fear they may be cut off from 
 the town by the sudden descent of the Albans from the 
 hills, they take to flight. Tullus presses on them ; and, 
 having routed the Fidenatian wing, returns on the Ve- 
 ientians, who were confounded at the dismay of the 
 others. Neither did they withstand the charge ; but 
 the river, which lay on their rear, prevented them from 
 flying in disorder. When they reached it in their 
 flight, some, shamefully throwing away their arms, 
 rushed blindly into the water. Others, while they are 
 hesitating on the bank, between the resolution of fight- 
 ing or flying, are overwhelmed. The Romans were 
 never before engaged in a more bloody % 
 
CHAP. 28. IE IVY. 37 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 THEN the Alban army, which remained spectator of 
 the action, was led down into the plain. Mettus con- 
 gratulates Tullus on the defeat of the enemy : Tullus, 
 in answer, addresses Mettus civilly. He commands 
 the Albans to join their camp to the Roman, in the 
 name of good fortune ; he makes preparation for a 
 purificatory sacrifice on the following day. As soon as 
 it dawned, all things being prepared in the usual way, 
 he commands both armies to be convoked to an assem- 
 bly. The heralds, beginning at the outside, summoned 
 the Albans first. These, actuated also by the novelty 
 of the thing, to hear a Roman king deliver a harangue, 
 stood next him. By a previous arrangement, the Ro- 
 man forces under arms are drawn round them ; the 
 centurions get a charge to execute their orders without 
 delay. Then Tullus begins thus, " Romans, if there 
 was ever at any other time before, in any war, an 
 occasion that you should thank first the immortal gods, 
 and secondly your own valour, it was that of yesterday's 
 battle. For we fought not more against the enemy, 
 but what was a greater and more dangerous fight, 
 against the treason and treachery of our allies. For let 
 no false notion possess you ; it was without my direc- 
 tions the Albans withdrew to the mountains ; nor was 
 that a command of mine, but a stratagem, and the pre- 
 tence of issuing a command, in order that, while you 
 remained ignorant that you were deserted, your thoughts 
 should not be diverted from the combat ; and that the 
 enemy may be struck with terror and dismay, while 
 they thought that they were surrounded on the rear. 
 Nor does this wickedness, that I arraign, rest with all 
 the Albans they followed their leader, just as you 
 would have done, if I chose to wheel off my army to 
 ^any position from that ground. That Mettus is the 
 director of that rout ; the same Mettus is the contriver 
 of this war, Mettus the violator of the Roman and 
 Alban league. May another attempt the same atroci- 
 ties hereafter, if I do not now make of him a signal ex- 
 ample to mankind." The centurions stand armed round 
 Mettus. The king proceeds, as he began, with the 
 1 dress " So may it be good, auspicious, 
 
 E ' 
 
38 LIVY.' BOOK I. 
 
 and fortunate for the Romans and myself, and you, O 
 Albans ; I have it in contemplation to remove all the 
 Alban people to Rome to give the commons the 
 privileges of the state to elect the nobles into the 
 senate to make one city, one commonwealth. As the 
 Alban state was formerly divided into two nations, so 
 now let it again become one." At these words, the 
 Alban youth unarmed, hemmed round by armed troops, 
 though actuated by different emotions, yet, being com- 
 pelled by one common fear, maintained a silence. 
 Then Tullus says, " Mettus Fuffetius, if you were ca- 
 pable of keeping faith and treaties, I would suffer you 
 to live, and would afford you instruction in that. Now, 
 since your natural principle is irreclaimable, teach man- 
 kind, at least by your punishment, to consider as 
 sacred those things that you have violated. As you did 
 then, a little before, bear a mind divided between the 
 interest of the Romans and Fidenatians, so shall you 
 now give your body to be torn in pieces." Then two 
 teams of four horses being brought up, he ties to their 
 chariots Mettus stretched at full length; then the 
 horses, being driven furiously in different directions, 
 carried off the body on either chariot, torn asunder 
 where the limbs had been fastened by the cords. All 
 turned away their eyes from such a hideous spectacle. 
 That was the first and last punishment, among the 
 Romans, that shewed an instance of disregard to the 
 laws of humanity. In other cases they may boast, that 
 no nation was satisfied with milder punishments. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 DURING these proceedings, the cavalry had been 
 already dispatched to Alba, to remove the population 
 to Rome. Then the legions were led forth to demolish 
 the city. When they entered the gates, there was not 
 that tumult or consternation that is usual in captured 
 cities, when, the gates being broken open, or the walls 
 laid level with the battering-ram^/ or the citadel taken 
 by storm, the cries of the enemy, and the running of 
 armed troops through the city, renders all a mingled 
 scene of havoc and conflagration. But a sullen silence 
 and mute affliction so rivetted the souls of all that, for 
 
CHAP. 30. LIVY. 
 
 getting in their trepidation what they were leaving 
 behind what they were carrying with them all re- 
 flection lost, and asking one another incessant questions, 
 they would at one time stand on their thresholds, at 
 another run wandering up and down through their 
 houses, to look at them for that last time. When the 
 shouts of the horsemen, ordering them to march out, 
 now became urgent, and the crashing of the houses that 
 were demolished in the skirts of the city was overheard, 
 and the dust rising from these distant quarters filled all 
 places, as if a cloud were spread over them. Carrying 
 off in a hurry whatever each person could, they marched 
 out, leaving their domestic and tutelar gods behind 
 them. One continued band of emigrants now filled all 
 the roads ; and the sight of others renewed their tears, 
 while they condoled with one another. And heart- 
 rending cries were heard, particularly from the women, 
 as they passed by their venerable temples, now blocked 
 up by armed troops, and were leaving their gods behind 
 them, as it were captives of war. When the Albans 
 left the city, the Roman army lays all their buildings, 
 public and private, in every quarter, level with the 
 ground : and one hour consigned to destruction and 
 ruin the work of four hundred years, during which 
 Alba stood. However, they spared the temples of the 
 gods, for it was so ordered by the king. 
 
 CHAP. XXX, 
 
 IN the mean time, Rome rises into power on the 
 ruins of Alba. The number of the citizens is doubled. 
 Mount Caelius is added to the city ; and, in order that 
 it may be more thickly inhabited, Tullus selects it as 
 the seat of his palace, and resides there. He elects the 
 chiefs of the Albans, the Tullii, the Servilii, Quinctii, 
 Geganii, Curiatii, and Cla3lii, into the number of the 
 patricians, so that that part too of the state may be 
 increased : and built a senate-house, as a consecrated 
 place of meeting for the order thus augmented by him, 
 which was called Hostilius's senate-house up to the time 
 of our fathers. And, in order that the strength of all 
 the orders may derive some accession from the new 
 people, he chose ten troops of horse from the Albans : 
 
40 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 he filled up the old legions with the same reinforcement, 
 and enrolled new ones. Tullus, in this confidence in 
 his power, proclaims war on the Sabines, at that time 
 the most powerful nation, next to the Etrurians, in 
 men and arms. Outrages were committed on both 
 sides, and restitution demanded in vain. Tullus com- 
 plained that some Roman traders had been seized in an 
 open market, at the temple of Feronia. The Sabines, 
 that prior to that, their countrymen had fled to the 
 asylum for refuge, and were detained at Rome : these 
 were alleged as the causes of the war. The Sabines, 
 fully recollecting that a portion of their own strength 
 had been located at Rome by Tatius, and that the Ro- 
 man power had also been recently increased by the 
 accession of the population of Alba, looked round them- 
 selves too for foreign aid. Etruria was in their neigh- 
 bourhood, and of the Etrurians the Veientians were the 
 nearest. From these they brought over some volun- 
 teers, principally on account of the surviving animosity 
 of war, their feelings being excited to revolt; and, 
 with some vagrants of the indigent populace, pay had 
 its effect also. They were aided by no national assis- 
 tance ; and with the Veientians (for, with regard to the 
 other states of Etruria, it is less surprising), the faith 
 of treaties stipulated with Romulus prevailed. As they 
 were making preparations for war at both sides with 
 the utmost vigour, and success seemed to hinge on this 
 point, which of the two should be the aggressors, Tul- 
 lus is first to pass over into the Sabine territory. A 
 furious battle was fought at the wood called Mcditiosa, 
 where the Roman army was victorious, both indeed by 
 the strength of their infantry, but most particularly by 
 their cavalry, which had been lately augmented. The 
 Sabine ranks were disordered by a sudden charge of the 
 cavalry ; nor could a battle be afterwards maintained by 
 them, nor a retreat facilitated without great slaughter. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 THE Sabines being subdued, when the government of 
 Tullus, and the Roman state in general, were in high 
 renown and great power, it was announced to the king 
 and the senators, that it had rained stones on the Alban 
 
CHAP. 31. LIVY. 41 
 
 mount. As this could scarcely be credited, some per- 
 sons were sent to witness the prodigy, in whose view 
 there fell from heaven showers of stones, in the same 
 manner as when the winds sweep to the earth a dense 
 shower of hail. They also fancied that they heard, 
 from a grove on the highest summit of the mount, a 
 loud voice, directing that the Albans should perform 
 religious rites according to the solemn custom of their 
 country, which, as if they had abandoned their gods 
 also along with their native home, they had consigned 
 to oblivion ; and had either adopted the Roman religion, 
 or, incensed, as it generally happens, with fortune, had 
 renounced the worship of the gods. In consequence of 
 the same prodigy, a nine-day festival was also, with the 
 sanction of government, instituted by the Romans, in 
 obedience either to a celestial mandate issued from the 
 Alban mount (for that too is mentioned), or to the 
 advice of the augurs. Certain however it is, it con- 
 tinued a solemn custom, that, whenever a similar pro- 
 digy was announced, festivals should be held for nine 
 days. In no very considerable time after, they were 
 afflicted with a pestilence, from which though a disin- 
 clination to military service arose, yet no respite from 
 arms was granted by the warlike monarch, who even 
 believed that the bodies of the young men were in a 
 more healthful state in war than at home ; until he was 
 himself also seized with a tedious distemper. Then so 
 much were his haughty spirits broken down with his 
 body, that he, who before deemed nothing less befitting 
 a king than to apply his mind to religious matters, sud- 
 denly became a slave to all superstitions, great and 
 small; and even filled the people with religious feelings. 
 People now in general, desiderating that state of affairs 
 which had existed under king Numa, believed that the 
 only relief which remained to their sick bodies was to 
 be had, if favour and forgiveness were obtained from 
 the gods. They report, that the king himself turning 
 over the commentaries of Numa, when he had there 
 found that certain solemn sacrifices had been performed 
 to Jupiter Elicius, shut himself up for the ministration 
 of these solemnities ; but that the rite was neither duly 
 commenced nor solemnized, and that not only was. no- 
 celestial appearance offered to his view, but, through 
 E 3 
 
42 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 the anger of Jupiter invoked in an irregular form of 
 religion, lie was struck with lightning, and burned to 
 ashes with his house. Tullus reigned thirty-two years, 
 with great military glory. 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 ON the death of Tullus, the government, as it had 
 been already ordained from the commencement, de- 
 volved on the senators ; and they nominated an inter- 
 rex, who presiding at the election, the people created 
 Ancus Martius king, and the senators sanctioned the 
 choice. Ancus Martius was the grandson of king Numa 
 Pompilius, being born of his daughter. As soon as he 
 began to reign, holding in remembrance his grand- 
 father's glory, and because the late reign, in other re- 
 spects highly distinguished, had not been sufficiently 
 fortunate in one particular, either from the neglect or 
 undue observance of religious rites, he deemed it a 
 matter of by far the most important concern to perform 
 the sacrifices, as they had been ordained by Numa. 
 He orders the pontifex to set up to public view all the 
 ceremonies, transcribed on white tablets, from the 
 commentaries of that king. From these proceedings, 
 his own subjects, who were desirous of peace, and the 
 neighbouring states, were inspired with a belief that the 
 monarch would conform to the manners and institutions 
 of his grandfather. Accordingly the Latins, with 
 whom a treaty had been concluded in the reign of Tul- 
 lus, assumed haughty airs ; and having made an incur- 
 sion into the Roman territory, return a contemptuous 
 answer to the Romans demanding restitution, imagining 
 that the king of Rome would spend his reign in indo- 
 lence, amidst shrines . and altars. Ancus possessed an 
 intermediate disposition, participating both in that of 
 Numa and Romulus; and besides his believing that 
 peace had been more necessary to his grandfather's 
 reign, amongst a people both newly incorporated and 
 savage, it was also his conviction that he could not him- 
 self, without submitting to insult, easily enjoy that 
 peace which had fallen to the lot of the other ; that his 
 patience was tried, and after trial despised ; and that 
 the times were more suited for a king like Tullus than 
 
CHAP. 32. LIVY. 43 
 
 Numa. That, however, as Numa had instituted reli- 
 gious rites to be observed in time of peace, ceremonials 
 of war should be ordained by himself; and that wars 
 should not only be conducted, but also proclaimed with 
 some formality ; he copied from the ^Kquicolae, an an- 
 cient people, that form of demanding* restitution which 
 the heralds observe at this day. The ambassador, 
 when he reaches the frontiers of that people from whom 
 the satisfaction is required, having his head covered 
 with a list (the covering is of wool), says, " Hear me, 
 
 Jupiter, hear, ye frontiers" (to whatsoever state 
 they belong, he names that), " let divine justice hear. 
 
 1 am the public messenger of the Roman people. I 
 'come duly and solemnly an ambassador, and let credit 
 
 attach to my words." He then recites his demands. 
 Afterwards he calls Jupiter to witness " If I claim 
 those men and those effects to be delivered up to me, 
 the messenger of the Roman people, contrary to j ustice 
 and religion ; then mayest thou suffer me never to 
 enjoy my native country." This he repeats, when he 
 crosses the frontiers ; the same, to the first man who 
 meets him; the same, on entering the gate; the same, on 
 having entered the Forum; having changed a few words 
 in framing the form of demand and imprecation. If those 
 which he claims be not delivered up at the expiration of 
 three-and-thirty days (for such is the established num- 
 ber), he declares war in the following form. " Hear, O 
 Jupiter, and thou, Juno, Quirinus, and all you celestial, 
 and you terrestrial, and you infernal gods, hear me. I call 
 you to witness that this people (whoever they are, he 
 names them,) are unjust, and do not discharge the claims 
 of equity. But on these matters we will consult the elders 
 in our own country, by what means we may obtain our 
 right." With this information the messenger returns to 
 Rome, to consult the senate. The king immediately 
 consulted the senators, nearly in these words : " Touching 
 those matters, controversies, and questions, on which 
 the Pater Patratus of the Roman people, Quirites, has 
 I conferred with the Pater Patratus of the ancient Latins, 
 I and the ancient Latin men ; which matters ought to 
 have been granted, performed, and discharged, but 
 which matters they have neither granted, performed, 
 nor discharged, declare," says he to him whose vote he 
 
44 LIVY. BOOK!. 
 
 first asked, " what is your opinion." Then the other 
 replied, "I am of opinion that they should be sought in 
 a fair and righteous war ; and accordingly I consent and 
 unite in a vote to that effect." The rest were then 
 asked in rotation ; and when the majority of the mem- 
 bers who were present, declared themselves of the same 
 opinion, the war was undertaken by common consent. 
 It was a usual practice, that the herald should carry to 
 the frontiers of the people in question a blood-stained 
 spear, pointed with iron or burned at the top, and, in 
 the presence of not less than three grown persons, say, 
 Whereas the people of the ancient Latins and the 
 ancient Latin inhabitants against the Roman people of 
 the Quirites have acted and transgressed, and whereas 
 the Roman people of the Quirites have ordered that 
 there should be a war with the ancient Latins ; and the 
 senate of the Roman people of the Quirites have de- 
 clared, consented, and united in voting that war should 
 be made with the ancient Latins : for this reason, I and 
 the Roman people do declare and make war against the 
 people of the ancient Latins and the ancient Latin in- 
 habitants." Whenjie had thus spoken, he discharged 
 the spear into their territories. In this manner was 
 restitution sought from the Latins at that time, and 
 war declared : after ages adopted the same custom. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 ANGUS having delegated the care of religious affairs 
 to the flamens and other priests, and having levied a 
 new army, set out to the war, and took by storm Poli- 
 torium, a city of the Latins; and in accordance with the 
 custom of former kings, who had augmented the Ro- 
 man power by the admission of the enemy into the 
 city, he transferred the entire population to Rome ; and 
 as the Sabines had entirely occupied the Capitol and the 
 citadel ; and the Albans mount Cselius, being the places 
 round the Palatium, the residence of the old Romans; 
 mount Aventine was assigned to the new inhabitants. 
 There was, not long afterwards, additionally settled in 
 the same place a new body of citizens, on the capture 
 of Tellense and Ficana. Politorium was afterwards a 
 second time attacked by war, which city being deserted, 
 
CHAP. 34. LIVY. 45 
 
 was occupied by the ancient Latins; and this furnished 
 the Romans with a reason for demolishing that city, 
 that it should not always serve for a receptacle for the 
 enemy. At length the entire weight of the Latin war 
 being concentrated at Medullia, they fought there for 
 a considerable time with various success, and alternate 
 victory, for the city was defended by fortifications, and 
 strengthened with a powerful garrison; and their camp 
 being pitched in the open plain, the Latin army some- 
 times engaged the Romans in close combat. Ultimately, 
 Ancus having made an effort with all his forces, con- 
 quers for the first time in a pitched battle ; then having 
 made himself master of a great booty, he returns to 
 Rome, having then also admitted into the city many 
 thousands of the Latins, to whom a residence was assigned 
 near the temple of Venus, in order that mount Aven- 
 tine should be united to the Palatium. The Janiculum 
 was also annexed, not from scarcity of space, but lest 
 it may serve at any time, as a fortress for the enemy. 
 It was resolved that it should be united to the city not 
 only by a wall, but also, for the convenience of passage, 
 by a wooden bridge, then for the first time constructed 
 over the Tiber. The Quiritian fosse also, no incon- 
 siderable defence to those places which were more 
 level of approach, is the work of king Ancus. The 
 state having been augmented by a vast accession, since in 
 so numerous a population many clandestine outrages were 
 committed, the distinction of right and wrong being 
 confounded, a prison is built in the centre of the city, 
 adjoining the Forum, to check by its terror the in- 
 creasing audacity. Nor was the city alone extended 
 under this monarch, but the lands and boundaries also. 
 The Msesian forest was taken from the Veientians, the 
 Roman dominion was extended to the sea, and a city 
 called Ostia, built at the mouth of the Tiber; around 
 this, salt works were established; and in consequence 
 of the distinguished successes in war, the temple of 
 Jupiter Feretrius was enlarged. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 DURING the reign of Ancus, Lucumo, an enterprising 
 man, and powerful in riches, transferred his residence 
 
 \ 
 
46 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 to Rome, principally from a desire and expectation of 
 exalted honour, for the attainment of which he had no 
 facility at Tarquinii, for there too he was descended of 
 an alien family. He was the son of Demaratus a Co- 
 rinthian, who being obliged to quit his home on ac- 
 count of an insurrectionary tumult, happening to settle 
 at Tarquinii, he there married, and had two sons. 
 Their names were Lucumo and Aruns. Lucumo sur- 
 vived his father, the heir of all his fortune: Aruns dies 
 before his father, leaving his wife pregnant. Nor does 
 the father long survive his son, who as he had died 
 with remembering his grandson in his will, not being 
 aware that his daughter-in-law was with child, the boy 
 being born after his grandfather's death to no share in 
 the inheritance, had the name Egerius given him from 
 his poverty. On the other hand, when riches inspired 
 Lucumo, who was heir to all the fortune, with high 
 notions ; Tanaquil whom he married, a woman of the 
 highest family, and a person who could not easily brook 
 a rank beneath that in which she was born, raised these 
 notions still higher. When this lady had married him, 
 as the Etrurians scorned Lucumo as the offspring of a 
 foreign exile, she could not endure the indignity? and 
 forgetful of her natural love of country, provided only she 
 could see her husband raised to honour, she formed the 
 design of emigrating from Tarquinii. Rome appeared 
 particularly adapted for her purpose; observing, "that 
 in a new state, where all nobility was of sudden growth, 
 and the reward of merit, there would be room, for a 
 spirited and active man: that Tatius, a Sabine, had 
 ascended the throne; that Numa was invited from 
 Cures to assume the crown ; and that Ancus was of 
 Sabine descent by the mother, and was ennobled by 
 the single image of Numa." She easily prevails on him, 
 being a man ambitious of honours and to whom Tarqui- 
 nii was only his mother's native home. Having there- 
 fore packed up their effects, they remove to Rome. 
 They happened to have arrived at the Janiculum; 
 there as he was seated in a chariot with his wife, an 
 eagle gently descending on poised wiigs, takes off his 
 bonnet, and fluttering above the chariot with loud 
 screaming, as if sent from heaven for the performance 
 of the office, replaces it in due form on IMS head: and 
 
CHAP. 35. LIVY. 47 
 
 then soaring aloft disappeared. Tanaquil is said to 
 have received the omen with joy, being a lady, as the 
 Etrurians are in general, well skilled in celestial pro- 
 digies. Embracing her husband, she bids him enter- 
 tain sublime and exalted hopes, for that such was the 
 bird, that appeared in such a region of the air too, and 
 the messenger of such a deity ; that it exhibited the 
 omen upon the most elevated point of the human per- 
 son ; that it lifted off the ornament placed upon the 
 human head, in order to replace it there by divine com- 
 mission. Bringing with them these hopes and notions, 
 they entered the city ; and having purchased a house, 
 there they announced his name L. Tarquinius (Priscus.) 
 The fact of his being a stranger, and his riches made 
 him a conspicuous character to the Romans, and he him. 
 self assisted his good fortune by gaining over to his inte- 
 rest whomsoever he could by his courteous address, po- 
 liteness of invitations, and acts of kindness; until his re- 
 putation had reached even the palace: and that acquain- 
 ;ance he advanced in a short time to the privilege of an 
 intimate friendship, by a polite and dexterous perform- 
 ance of his duty about the king's person, so that he 
 took a part as well in public as in private deliberations 
 on foreign and domestic subjects ; and having proved 
 himself faithful in all, was, in the end, even appointed 
 guardian by will to the king's children. 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 ANGUS reigned twenty-four years, equal to any of 
 the former kings in the arts and glory of peace and 
 war. His sons were now approaching the age of man- 
 hood; for which reason, Tarquin the more eagerly 
 urged that the election for creating a king should be 
 held as soon as possible. This being announced by 
 proclamation, at the approach of the time he sent away 
 the boys to hunt; and he is said to be the first to have 
 canvassed for the throne, and to have made a speech to 
 win over the affections of the populace, observing, 
 " that he did not seek a thing unprecedented, as he 
 was not the first, (a circumstance which any person 
 might regard with indignation and surprise) but the 
 third foreigner who aspired to the throne of Rome ; 
 
48 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 and that Tatius was made king from being not only a 
 foreigner, but an enemy ; that Numa, a stranger to 
 the city, was, without soliciting it, invited to the 
 kingdom by their own free will; that he had himself, 
 as soon as he became his own master, removed to 
 Rome, with his wife arid all his fortunes; that he had 
 lived a greater part of that time of life, during which 
 men discharge civil duties, at Rome than in his origi- 
 nal country ; that he had learned the Roman laws, and 
 Roman customs, at home, and abroad, under a master of 
 whom he need not be ashamed, king Ancus himself; 
 that in dutiful submission and respect towards the king 
 he had contended with all men, in kindness towards 
 others with the king himself." Whilst recounting 
 those, by no means false statements, the Roman people 
 with great unanimity appointed him to reign. For 
 this reason, the same love of popularity which he had 
 evinced in seeking the kingdom, followed even to the 
 throne, this man in every other respect of distinguished 
 merit. Nor less attentive to the strengthening of his 
 own power than the encreasing of the commonwealth, 
 he raises a hundred to the rank of senators, who were 
 afterwards called, " minorum gentium" i. e. of the les- 
 ser families, the undoubted party of the king by whose 
 kindness they had got into the senate. His first war 
 he waged with the Latins, and took by storm Apiolse, 
 a town in their country ; and having brought home 
 from thence a booty greater than had been the charac- 
 ter of the war, he celebrated the games in a more ex- 
 pensive and elegant style than the former kings. Then 
 a site was first marked out for the circus, which is now 
 called, " maximus ;" places were distributed to the 
 senators and knights, where each was to build seats 
 for himself; these were called benches. They wit- 
 nessed the games by means of props supporting the 
 seats, which were each twelve feet high from the 
 ground. The entertainment consisted in horses and 
 pugilists, brought principally from Etruria. The games 
 from that time continued regularly annual, they were 
 indiscriminately called "the Roman," and "the great." 
 By the same monarch building lots were also parcelled 
 out to private persons round the Forum, porticoes and 
 shops were erected. 
 
CHAP. 36. LIVY. 49 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 HE also designed to surround the city with a stone 
 wall, when the Sabine war interrupted the undertak- 
 ing. And so very sudden was that event, that the 
 enemy were crossing the Anio before the Roman army 
 could march out, and check them. Rome was conse- 
 quently in alarm, and in the first battle, they fought 
 with great slaughter on both sides, the victory being 
 undecided. The enemy's troops being then marched 
 back to their camp, and time given to the Romans to 
 prepare anew for the war, Tarquin, being of opinion 
 that his forces were principally deficient in cavalry, re- 
 solved to add other centuries to the Ramnes, Titienses, 
 and Luceres which Romulus had created, and to leave 
 them distinguished by his own name. As Romulus 
 had executed that measure in obedience to augury, 
 Attus Navius, an eminent augur, at that time, denied 
 that any change could be made, or any thing new in- 
 stituted, unless the birds had permitted it. By this, 
 this king's anger was excited, and ridiculing, as they 
 report, the science, "come, you diviner," says he. "de- 
 clare by your augury if what I now contemplate in my 
 mind can be accomplished." When the other, having 
 tried the matter by the test of augury, replied, that it 
 certainly might. " But," says he, " I have been re- 
 volving this in my mind, if you could cut a whet- 
 stone in two with a razor; take these, and perform 
 what your birds portend to be possible." Thereupon, 
 they say, that he unhesitatingly cut the whetstone in 
 two. There was a statue of Attus with his head 
 veiled in the comitium, in which place the deed was 
 performed, just on the steps, at the left of the senate- 
 house. They report also that the whetstone was de- 
 posited in the same place, to serve as a monument of 
 that miracle to posterity. Certain it is, so great an 
 accession of honor was accorded to auguries, arid the 
 sacred office of augurs, that thenceforward nothing was 
 done in war or peace, unless by the sanction of aus- 
 pices ; the assemblies of the people, the embodying of 
 armies, the highest concerns of the state were put off 
 when the birds had not permitted them. Nor did 
 Tarquin then make any change in respect to the cen- 
 F 
 
50 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 turies of the knights, the number he doubled, so that 
 there should be 1800 knights in the three centuries. 
 Only those who were added were called juniors, but 
 still under the same original name, and these they now 
 call, because they have been doubled, the six centuries. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 THIS branch of his forces being augmented, he has a 
 second engagement with the Sabines. But, besides that 
 the Roman army had ericreased in strength, a stratagem 
 is also clandestinely added, persons being sent to throw 
 into the river a great quantity of timber when set on 
 fire, which lay on the bank of the Anio, and the wind 
 favouring the burning of the timber, when a great part 
 of it driven against the piles, attached itself to the 
 planks, it burns down the bridge. That circumstance 
 also struck terror into the Sabines during the engage- 
 ment ; and when they were routed, the same impeded 
 their flight; and many persons after having escaped 
 from the enemy, perished in the river itself, whose 
 arms floating on the Tiber, being recognized at the 
 city, made the victory known almost before it would 
 be announced by a messenger. In that battle the cav- 
 alry gained a principal share of the glory. It is said, 
 that being stationed on both wings, when the centre of 
 their own infantry was now forced, they charged so 
 effectively on the flanks, as not only to check the Sa- 
 bine legions, who were furiously pressing the troops 
 that gave way, but put them immediately to flight. 
 The Sabines sought the mountains in a disordered 
 flight, and few of them gained them ; the greatest por- 
 tion, as has been before stated, were driven by the 
 cavalry into the river.. Tarquin judging it proper to 
 pursue them during their consternation, having sent 
 the plunder and prisoners to Rome, and burned the 
 enemy's spoil in a great heap (that had been devoted 
 to Neptune), he proceeds to lead his army further on 
 into the Sabine territory ; and though the Sabines had 
 been defeated and could not hope for better success, 
 yet, as the business did not allow them time for delibe- 
 ration, they went forward to meet them with an army 
 collected in a hurry, and being on that occasion routed 
 
CHAP. 38. LIVY. 51 
 
 a second time, their affairs being now almost ruined, 
 they sued for peace. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 COLL ATI A, and whatever land was around Collatia, 
 was taken from the Sabines. Egerius (he was son to 
 the king's brother) was left in garrison at Collatia. I 
 am informed that the people were thus surrendered up, 
 and that the following is the form of the surrender : 
 " Are you commissioners and ambassadors sent by the 
 people of Collatia, to surrender yourselves and the peo- 
 ple of Collatia?" "We are." "Are the people of Collatia 
 at their own disposal ?" " They are." " Do you surren- 
 der yourselves, the people of Collatia, your city, lands, 
 water, boundaries, temples, utensils, every thing, di- 
 vine and human, into my dominion and that of the Ro- 
 man people ?" " We surrender them." " Then I receive 
 them." The Sabine war being concluded, Tarquin 
 returns in triumph to Rome. He next made war on 
 the ancient Latins, in which they never came to a gene- 
 ral engagement : by leading about his army to the re- 
 spective towns, he brought the whole Latin race under 
 subjection. Corniculum, old Ficulea, Cameria, Crus- 
 tumerium, Ameriola, Medullia, Momentum all these 
 towns belonging to the ancient Latins, or such as had 
 revolted to the Latins, were taken. The works of 
 peace were then commenced, with spirit greater than 
 the exertion with which he had conducted the wars, in 
 order that his people should not enjoy more rest at 
 home than in foreign service. For he prepares to en- 
 close the city, where he had not yet fortified it, with a 
 stone wall, the commencement of which work had been 
 interrupted by the Sabine war ; and he dries the low 
 parts of the city round the Forum, and the other vallies 
 that were situated between the hills, by sewers con- 
 tinued into the Tiber from the elevated grounds, be- 
 cause they did not easily drain off the water from the 
 flats ; and by laying foundations he secures a site for a 
 temple to Jupiter in the Capitol, which he had vowed in 
 the Sabine war, his mind already presaging the future 
 magnificence of the place. 
 
52 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 AT that time there was seen in the palace a prodigy, 
 wonderful in its appearance and its event. It is related 
 that the head of a boy, whose name was Servius Tul- 
 lius, blazed with fire, in the sight of many, as he lay 
 asleep ; that the royal pair were in consequence alarmed, 
 by the exceedingly great cries which were raised at the 
 miraculous nature of such an appearance ; and that, 
 when one of the domestics was fetching water to extin- 
 guish it, he was prevented by the queen ; and that, 
 when the tumult had subsided, she would not allow the 
 boy to be disturbed until he should awake of his own 
 accord. Then Tanaquil, having called her husband 
 aside to a private room, says, " Do you see this boy, 
 whom we are educating in such humble style ? You 
 may be assured that he will hereafter be a light to our 
 emergencies, and a support to the court in distress. 
 Let us therefore with all our indulgence rear him up, 
 who is the source of great honour to the state and to 
 ourselves." That the boy from that time began to be 
 treated as one of their own children, and to be instructed 
 in the accomplishments by which minds are elevated to 
 the dignity of high fortune. Whatever is the pleasure 
 of the gods is easily brought to pass. He turned out 
 a yoi*th of a truly royal disposition ; nor, when a son- 
 in-law was sought for Tarquin, could any one of the 
 Roman youth compete with him in any accomplishment, 
 and to him the king betrothed his daughter. This so 
 high an honour, for whatever cause granted him, pre- 
 cludes us from believing that he was the son of a bond- 
 woman, and that he had himself been a slave when 
 young. I am rather of opinion with those who assert, 
 that on the taking of Corniculum, the wife of Ser. 
 Tullius, who had .been the principal man in that city, 
 being pregnant when her husband was slain, was, when 
 she had been discovered among the other female cap- 
 tives, exempted from slavery by the Roman queen, on 
 account of her distinguished rank, and was delivered of 
 a son at Rome, in the family of Tarquinius Priscus. 
 That in consequence of such great kindness the inti- 
 macy between the ladies eiicreased, and the boy, as 
 being educated in the house from his infancy, was held 
 
 
CHAP. 40. LiVY. S'l 
 
 in affection and honour ; and that his mother's misfor- 
 tune, because on the taking of her native city, she fell 
 into the enemy's hands, had caused him to be believed 
 the son of a slave. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 IN about the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Tar- 
 quin, Ser. Tullius was in by far the highest estimation 
 not only with the king, but with the senators and the 
 commons. At that time, although the two sons of 
 Ancus had before always held it as the highest indig- 
 nity, that they should be excluded from their father's 
 throne, by the perfidy of their guardian; that an alien, 
 not only not of a citizen family, but not even of Ita- 
 lian origin should reign at Rome : yet then their indig- 
 nation encr eased more vehemently, if the throne was 
 not even to revert to themselves after Tarquin, but 
 was after him to sink headlong in succession to slaves ; 
 so, that within about a hundred years after Romulus, 
 descended from a deity, himself a deity, occupied the 
 throne, a slave, and the son of a slave, should in the 
 same state get possession of it ; that it would be both 
 the national disgrace of the Roman name, and of their 
 own family in particular, if, while the male issue of 
 king Ancus was living, the crown of Rome should be 
 open not only to strangers, but to slaves. They re- 
 solve therefore to avert that ignominy by the sword. 
 But their resentment of the injury stimulated them 
 against the king himself more than against Servius ; 
 both because the king, if he survived, was likely to 
 be a heavier avenger of the murder, and besides, if 
 Servius were put to death, whatever other man he 
 would chose to be his son-in-law, the same individual 
 he appeared likely to make heir to the crown. For 
 these reasons the plot is formed against the king him- 
 self. Two of the most determined of the shepherds 
 being chosen for the purpose, each with the rustic im- 
 plements of iron which they had been accustomed to 
 carry, by the most outrageous conduct of which they 
 were capable, at the porch of the palace, turn upon 
 themselves the attention of all the king's attendants, 
 under pretence of a quarrel. As both appealed to the 
 F 3 
 
54 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 king, and their vociferations had penetrated even to 
 the palace, being summoned they proceed from thence 
 to the royal presence. At first they both began to be 
 obstreporous, and mutually to cry out against each 
 other. Being checked by the lictor, and ordered to 
 speak in their turn, they at length desist from their 
 abuse. One by a previous arrangement opens the case. 
 Whilst the king was entirely turned away in attention 
 to him, the other struck his uplifted axe into his head, 
 and leaving the weapon in the wound, they both rush 
 out of the house. 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 WHILST those who were in attendance support the 
 expiring Tarquin, the lictors apprehend the murderers 
 in their flight ; then arose an uproar and a gathering of 
 the people, wondering what could be the matter. Dur- 
 ing the tumult, Tanaquil orders the palace to be 
 closed turns out the strangers, and at the same time, 
 as if hope remained, industriously procures whatever is 
 necessary for dressing the wound ; at the same time, in 
 case her expectation should disappoint her, she provides 
 other safeguards. After having pointed out her almost 
 lifeless husband to Tullus who was hastily summoned, 
 holding his right hand she beseeches him not to suffer 
 his father-in-law's murder to pass unrevenged, nor his 
 mother-in-law to become a laughing-stock to her ene- 
 mies. " Servius," says she, " if you be a man, the 
 kingdom is yours, and not theirs who have perpetrated 
 the most wicked deed by the hands of others. Arouse 
 yourself, and follow the guidance of the gods who 
 foretold, by the divine light that was formerly shed 
 round it, that this head would be illustrious. Now 
 let that celestial flame excite you; now aw^\<? indeed. 
 We too, though foreigners, have ascended the throne, 
 consider who you are, not whence you are descended. 
 If your own resolutions are paralysed by the sudden- 
 ness of the event, at least follow mine." When the 
 clamour and violence of the populace could be scarcely 
 sustained, Tanaquil addresses the people from the up- 
 per part of the palace, through the window which 
 faced the new street, for the king was residing near 
 
 
CHAP. 42. LIVY. 55 
 
 the temple of Jupiter Stator. She bids them " be 
 comforted, that the king- had been stunned by the sud- 
 den blow, that the weapon had not entered deeply into 
 his body, that he had now recovered his senses. That 
 the wound had been examined, the blood having been 
 wiped off, and that all the appearances promised a re- 
 covery. That she confidently hoped he would shortly 
 see them in person ; that, in the mean time, he desired 
 the people to yield obedience to Ser. Tullius ; that he 
 would administer justice, and discharge all the other 
 functions of royalty." Servius comes forth with the 
 regal robe, and the lictors ; and taking his seat on the 
 king's throne, determines some questions, and pretends 
 that he will consult the king on others. Having thus 
 concealed the death for some days after Tarquin had 
 already expired, he strengthens his own interest under 
 the pretext of discharging the duty of another. The 
 fact being then at length made public, and lamenta- 
 tions being raised in the palace, Servius supported by 
 a strong guard, ascended the throne with the approba- 
 tion of the senate, being the first who reigned without 
 the orders of the people. The children of Ancus, on 
 the agents of their guilt being arrested, when they 
 were informed that the king was living, and that the 
 power of Servius was so great, had already gone into 
 exile to Suessa Pometia. 
 
 CHAP. XL1I. 
 
 NOR did Servius now strengthen his interest more 
 by policy of a public, than of a family nature ; and in 
 order that the feeling of Tarquin's children should not 
 be the same towards himself, as that of the children of 
 Ancus had been towards Tarquin, he marries his two 
 daughters to the royal youths, Lucius and A runs Tar- 
 quin. Nor did he, however, break through the unal- 
 terable decree of fate by human policy, so far as to pre- 
 vent the jealousy of regal power from rendering every 
 thing treacherous and hostile, even amongst the mem- 
 bers of his own family. Very opportunely for the 
 tranquillity of the present state of affairs, war was re- 
 sumed with the Veientiaris (for the truce had now ex- 
 pired) and the other Etrurians. In that war the val- 
 
56 LIVY. BOOK L 
 
 our and fortune of Tullus shone forth conspicuous, and 
 after routing a numerous army of the enemy, he re- 
 turned to Rome an unquestionable king, whether he 
 chose to make the experiment on the disposition of the 
 senators or the commons. He then proceeds to a work 
 of peace, of by far the highest importance ; that as 
 Numa had been the founder of sacred jurisprudence, so 
 posterity should celebrate Servius as the author of 
 every distinction, and of all those classifications in the 
 state, by which some difference is clearly visible be- 
 tween the grades of dignity and fortune. For he in- 
 stitutes the census, a most salutary ordinance to a king- 
 dom, likely to be so powerful ; according to which the 
 duties of war and peace were to be performed, not in 
 reference to the number of individuals, as before, but 
 in proportion to the amount of property. He then 
 traced out, according to the census, the classes and 
 centuries, and the present arrangement calculated to 
 give respectability either to peace or war. 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. 
 
 OF those who had a property of 100,000 asses, or 
 more, he formed eighty centuries, forty each, of seni- 
 ors and juniors. Both together were called the first 
 class. The seniors were to be ready to guard the city, 
 the juniors, to carry on the Avars abroad. The armour 
 ordered to be provided by these was a helmet, shield, 
 greaves, coat of mail, all of brass ; these to protect 
 the person ; the (offensive) weapons to be used against 
 the enemy, were a spear and sword. To this class 
 were added two centuries of artificers, who were to 
 serve without arms, the duty assigned to them was to 
 carry the engines in war. The second class was fixed 
 from below a property of 100,000, down to 75,000, and 
 from these, including seniors and juniors, were formed 
 twenty centuries; the arms ordered to be provided by 
 these were a buckler instead of a shield, and all the 
 rest, except the coat of mail, were the same as before. 
 He ordained the fortune of the third class to be equal 
 to 50,000. The centuries of this class also were the 
 same, (i. e. 20,) and formed with regard to the same 
 distinction of age; neither was any change made in 
 
CHAP. 43. LIVY. 57 
 
 their arms, only the greaves were taken away. In the 
 fourth class, the property was 25,000 ; the same num- 
 ber of centuries was formed, the arms were different, 
 nothing- was allowed them but a spear and short javelin. 
 The fifth class was encreased, thirty centuries were 
 formed out of it; these carried slings and stones as 
 missile weapons ; amongst these were the supernume- 
 raries, the horn-blowers, and trumpeters, distributed 
 into three centuries. This class was rated at 11,000. 
 The rate of property below this comprised the rest of 
 the people, of whom one century was composed, ex- 
 empt from military service. The infantry forces being 
 thus armed and classed, he enrolled twelve centuries of 
 knights from the principal men of the state. He also 
 formed out of the three centuries instituted by Romu- 
 lus, six others under the same names by which they 
 were incorporated. Ten thousand asses each were 
 granted them out of the public money to purchase 
 horses, and widows were appointed to pay them two 
 thousand <t.ws each, every year, for the maintenance of 
 their horses. All these burthens leaned from the poor 
 upon the rich. Distinction was then annexed to the 
 latter, for the right of individual suffrage was not (as 
 had been ordained by Romulus, and observed by the 
 other kings) granted to all indiscriminately with equal 
 efficacy, and equal privilege: but gradations were crea- 
 ted in such a manner, that none might appear excluded 
 from voting, and yet all the weight rested with the 
 chief men of the state. For the knights were called first, 
 then the eighty centuries of the first class ; if there was 
 a diversity of opinion amongst these, which seldom 
 happened, the custom was that those of the second class 
 were called up ; nor did they scarcely ever descend 
 below this so far as to call on the lowest. Nor ought 
 we be surprised that this arrangement which exists at 
 present, after the completion of thirty-five tribes, (their 
 original number being doubled) does not coincide with 
 the centuries of juniors and seniors according to the 
 total number instituted by Ser. Tullius. For the city 
 being divided into four districts according to the quar- 
 ters and hills, which were the parts inhabited, these 
 he called tribes, from the word "tribute" as I ima- 
 gine ; for the system of contributing that also propor- 
 
58 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 tionably according to property, originated with the 
 same king. Nor had these tribes any reference to the 
 number and distribution of the centuries. 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. 
 
 THE census being completed, which he had expedited 
 by the terror of a law enacted concerning the non- 
 assessed, with denunciations of chains and death, he 
 issued a proclamation that all the citizens of Rome 
 should attend at day-break in the Campus Martins, 
 each in their respective centuries. There he purified 
 his whole army, drawn up in order, with the lustral 
 sacrifices called Suovetaurilia ; and this ceremony was 
 called the closing of the lustrum, because that concluded 
 the assessment. In that census, eighty thousand were 
 said to have been rated. Fabius Pictor, the most an- 
 cient historian, adds, that this was the number of those 
 who were able to bear arms. For the accommodation 
 of that number, the city too seemed necessarily to 
 require enlargement. He adds to it two hills, the 
 Quirinal and Viminal ; in immediate continuation he 
 extends the Esquilise, and there he fixes his own resi- 
 dence, to give dignity to the place. He surrounds the 
 city with a mound, trenches, and wall; thus he ad- 
 vances the pomserium. Those who look to the mere 
 etymology of the word, interpret pomcerium, a place 
 on the outside of the wall. But it is more properly a 
 place at each side of the wall, which the Etrurians for- 
 merly, in building their cities, used, wherever they 
 were to run the wall, to consecrate with augural cere- 
 monies, within certain limits round ; that on the inside, 
 the buildings should not be continued to the walls, 
 which at present they generally even join to them ; and, 
 on the outside, that some space should lie open, free 
 from human improvement. This space, which it was 
 lawful neither to be inhabited nor cultivated, the Ro- 
 mans called pomcerium, not more because it was behind 
 the wall, than the wall behind it ; and always, on the 
 enlargement of the city, as far as the walls were in- 
 tended to be advanced, so far were these consecrated 
 limits extended. 
 
CHAP. 45. L1VY. 59 
 
 CHAP. XLV. 
 
 THE state being enlarged by the greatness of the 
 city, and all things at home adapted to the occasions of 
 war and of peace ; in order that power should not 
 always be acquired by arras, he endeavoured to extend 
 his dominion by policy, and at the same time to add 
 some ornament to the city. The temple of the Ephe- 
 sian Diana was celebrated, even at that time. Tradi- 
 tion reported that it was built jointly by the states of 
 Asia. When Servius, in the company of the Latin 
 chiefs with whom he had intentionally established con- 
 nections of hospitality and friendship, was highly com- 
 mending concord and a union of gods, by frequently 
 renewing the same topics, he at length so far prevailed, 
 that the Latin states, in conjunction with the Roman 
 people, built a temple to Diana at Rome. This was 
 an admission that Rome was the sovereign state, a 
 point for which they had so often contended in arms. 
 Although that question seemed now to have been dis- 
 carded from the consideration of all the Latins, on 
 account of the matter having been so often unsuccess- 
 fully attempted by arms, a chance of recovering domi- 
 nion by personal prudence seemed to present itself to 
 one of the Sabines. It is said that a cow, of surprising 
 size and beauty, was bred for a certain householder 
 among the Sabines. The horns, which were for many 
 ages fixed up in the porch of Diana's temple, served as 
 a record of that prodigy. The circumstance was re- 
 garded as a phenomenon, as in truth it was ; and the 
 soothsayers declared that sovereignty would rest with 
 that state whose subject should sacrifice that animal to 
 Diana : and that prediction had reached the ears of the 
 priest of Diana's temple. The Sabine, on the earliest 
 day that appeared appropriate for the sacrifice, drove 
 the cow to Rome, and leads her to the temple of Diana, 
 and sets her before the altar. Hereupon the Roman 
 priest, when the size of the victim celebrated by report 
 had excited his attention, and remembering the predic- 
 tion, thus addresses the Sabine : " Stranger," says he, 
 " what do you mean to do ? Is it to sacrifice to Diana, 
 without being first purified ? Why are you not first 
 immersed in running water ? The Tiber flows through 
 
60 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 the bottom of that valley." The stranger, touched 
 with the scruple, and wishing all things to he duly 
 performed, in order that the event should correspond 
 with the prodigy, goes down from the temple to the 
 Tiber. The Roman, in the mean time, sacrifices the 
 beast to Diana. That circumstance was extremely gra- 
 tifying to the king, and to the state. 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. 
 
 SERVIUS, although he had now by right of possession 
 unquestionably gained the kingdom, yet, as he heard 
 that hints were occasionally thrown out by young Tar- 
 quin, that he reigned without the orders of the people ; 
 having first gained over the good will of the commons, 
 by dividing among them individually the land taken 
 from the enemy, ventured to propose to the people, 
 " Did they will and order that he should be king ?" and 
 was declared sovereign with such unanimity as no other 
 before had obtained. Nor yet did that circumstance 
 diminish Tarquin's hopes of obtaining the kingdom; 
 nay, even the more earnestly on that account (as he 
 had been sensible that the measure of the commons' 
 land was introduced against the will of the senators), 
 did he believe that a fit opportunity was afforded him 
 of criminating Servius before the fathers, and of ad- 
 vancing his own influence in the senate, being himself 
 a young man of ardent spirit, and his wife Tullia sti- 
 mulating his restless disposition at home. For the 
 Roman court also exhibited an example of tragic guilt ; 
 in order that liberty may make its appearance in a 
 more matured state from their disgust of kings, and 
 that reign should be the last which was the growth of 
 wickedness. This L. Tarquin (whether he was the 
 son or grandson of king Tarquinius Priscus is not clear, 
 however, under the sanction of the greatest number of 
 authorities, I may pronounce him his son,) had a bro- 
 ther, Aruns Tarquin, a young man of a meek disposi- 
 tion. The two Tullise, 'the king's daughters, and they 
 also of widely different tempers, had been married, as 
 has been before said, to these two princes. It chanced 
 to have so happened that the two violent tempers 
 were not united in marriage, by the good fortune, I 
 
CHAP. 47. LIVY. 61 
 
 suppose, of the Roman people, that the reign of Ser- 
 vius might be of longer continuance, and the manners 
 of the state fully established. The violent Tullia was 
 chagrined, that in her husband there were no elements 
 either for ambition or enterprise ; turning her regard 
 altogether to the other Tarquin, him she admired, him 
 she called a man, and descended of royal blood ; she 
 scorned her sister, for that, having had a man for her 
 husband, she was deficient in the courage of a woman. 
 Similarity of disposition quickly unites them in inti- 
 macy, as evil is generally most congenial to evil ; but 
 the commencement of confounding every thing origi- 
 nated with a woman. Accustomed to the private con- 
 versations of another's husband, she spared no insolence 
 of language against a husband to his brother, against a 
 sister to that sister's husband ; and insisted that herself 
 would be more properly a widow, and he a widower, 
 than be united to an ill-matched consort, to pine away 
 their lives through the inactivity of others. If the gods 
 had given her as a husband him of whom she was 
 worthy, she would shortly see at her own house that 
 crown which she now saw at her father's. She quickly 
 inspires the young man with her own daring rashness. 
 When Aruns Tarquin and the younger Tullia had, by 
 their almost successive deaths, left their houses open 
 for new nuptials, the other two are united in marriage, 
 Servius rather not hindering than approving of it. 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. 
 
 THEN indeed the old age of Tullius began to be daily 
 more disquieted, his reign more disquieted. For the 
 woman now looked forward from one crime to another, 
 and did not suffer her husband to rest either by night 
 or day, lest their past murders should go unrewarded. 
 " That she wanted not a man to whom she should be 
 reputed to be married, nor with whom she should live 
 in silent bondage ; she wanted a man who would deem 
 himself worthy of a kingdom ; who would bear in mind 
 that he was the son of Tarquinius Priscus ; who would 
 rather possess than expect a throne. If you be the man 
 to whom I deem myself to have been married, I address 
 you both as husband and king ; if not, matters are now 
 
62 LIVY BOOK L 
 
 so far changed for the worse, because, in your* present 
 Condition, there is a union of crime with pusillanimity. 
 Why are you not prepared to act ? You are not neces- 
 sitated, as your father was, to struggle for a foreign 
 kingdom, as a stranger from Corinth or from Tarqui- 
 mi. Your domestic and country gods, and your father's 
 image (exalted rank), and your royal house, and the 
 royal throne in that house, and the name of Tarquin, 
 constitute and hail you king*. Or, if you have too lit- 
 tle spirit fbr this enterprise, why deceive you the na- 
 tion ? why suffer yourself to he regarded as a royal 
 youth ? Away hence to Tarquinii or Corinth. Sink 
 fcack to your original rank, more like your hrother 
 than your father." By rebuking him in these and such 
 other expressions, she goads on the young man ; nor 
 can she herself remain quiet, being mortified if, when 
 Tanaquil, a foreign woman, could accomplish so much 
 by her spirit, as to have bestowed two thrones in suc- 
 cession on her husband, and next on her son-in-law, 
 she herself, descended from royal blood, could create 
 no influence in giving and taking away a kingdom. 
 Stung with those phrenzies of the woman, Tarquin 
 went round and caressed the senators, especially those 
 of the lesser families ; he put them in mind of his fa- 
 ther's kindness, and in return for that claimed their 
 gratitude ; he allured the young men with presents ; 
 and grew into popularity in all places, both by promis- 
 ing mighty things of himself, and also by criminations 
 against the king. At length, when it now seemed the 
 season for action, he burst into the Forum, attended 
 by a band of armed followers ; then, when all were 
 struck with dismay, taking his seat on the royal throne 
 in front of the senate-house, he ordered the senators to he 
 summoned by a herald to king Tarquin. They assem- 
 bled immediately, some being already prepared for the 
 occasion, others from terror, lest it might be dangerous 
 for them not to have co'me, being amazed at the novelty 
 and miraculous aspect of the thing, and supposing that 
 it was now all over with Servius. Then Tarquin be- 
 ginning his invectives from the earliest origin of Servius, 
 observed that, being a slave, arid the son of a slave, 
 he possessed himself of the kingdom after the unme- 
 rited death of his own parent, without an interregnum 
 
CHAP. 48. LIVY. 63 
 
 being established as usual, without an election being 
 held ; not by the suffrages of the people, not by the 
 sanction of the senators, but as the gift of a woman. 
 That being thus born, and thus created king, the fa- 
 vourer of the lowest class of persons, from which ho 
 himself sprung, he had, from an antipathy to the re- 
 spectability of others, partitioned out to every vilest 
 person that land which was taken away from the prin- 
 cipal citizens ; that all the burdens, which were for- 
 merly borne in common, now leaned on the chief men 
 of the state ; that he had instituted the census, in order 
 that the property of the more opulent might be a more 
 conspicuous object of envy ; and a fund prepared, from 
 which he might, whenever he pleased, deal out his 
 Jargess to the most indigent. 
 
 CHAP. XLVIII. 
 
 SERVIUS, when he had come up at this harangue, 
 being roused by the alarming intelligence, immediately 
 calls out from the vestibule of the senate-house, with a 
 loud voice, " What work is this, Tarquin ? by what 
 assurance have you dared to summon the senators, 
 while I am alive, or to sit on my throne ?" When the 
 other in a violent tone replied to this, " That he was in 
 possession of the throne of his father, being, as a king's 
 son, a much more suitable heir to the kingdom than a 
 slave; that he (Servius) had insulted over his masters 
 long enough, mocking their claims by his uncontrolled 
 insolence." A clamour commences with the partisans 
 of each, and a crowding together of the people into the 
 senate-house ensued ; and it was evident that the victo- 
 rious party would be king. Then Tarquin, necessity 
 itself now obliging him to proceed to the extreme of 
 daring, being much the more powerful man in point of 
 years and physical strength, seizes Servius by the mid- 
 dle ; and, lifting him up out of the senate-house, he 
 flung him down the steps into the place below. He- 
 then returns into the senate-house, to convene the patri- 
 cians. The flight of the king's officers and attendants 
 ensues. The king himself, almost lifeless, when he 
 was retiring home with his royal retinue half dead 
 with terror, and had reached the top of the Cyprian 
 
64 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 street, is slain by those who, sent by Tarquin, had 
 overtaken him in his flight. It is believed, because it 
 is not abhorrent from the rest of her wickedness, that 
 the act was done by the advice of Tullia. Certain it 
 is (being a fact which is sufficiently agreed on), that 
 having rode into the Forum in her chariot, and not 
 being abashed at such a multitude of men, she called 
 out her husband from the senate-house, and was the 
 first to salute him king ; by whom being ordered to 
 withdraw from such a scene of confusion, when she 
 was on her way home, and had reached the top of the 
 Cyprian street, where Diana's sacred enclosure lately 
 . stood, as she was turning the coach to the right, to- 
 wards the Orbian ascent, in order to drive to the hill 
 of Esquiliee, he who drove the horses stopped short in 
 amazement, drew in the reins, and pointed out to his 
 mistress the murdered Servius lying on the ground. 
 A shocking and inhuman crime is reported to be the 
 consequence, and the place is a memorial of it. They 
 call it the " wicked street," where Tullia frantic, the 
 avenging furies of her husband and sister torturing her, 
 is said to have driven her chariot over her father's 
 body ; and, being herself polluted and bespattered, to 
 have carried away on her bloody vehicle a portion of a 
 parent's blood and corse, to her own and her husband's 
 domestic gods, through the anger of whom events were 
 shortly to follow, similar to the wicked commencement 
 of their reign. Servius Tullius reigned forty-four 
 years, in such a manner, that a competition with his 
 virtues must be difficult, even to a good and moderate 
 successor. But this was also an accession to his glory, 
 that with him also perished equitable and legitimate 
 sovereignty. Some authors are of opinion, that he had 
 in contemplation to abdicate even that regal power, so 
 mild and moderate, because it was vested in an indi- 
 vidual ; had not domestic wickedness interrupted him, 
 while meditating designs for the liberation of his 
 country. 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. 
 
 L. TARQUINIUS then commenced his reign. On 
 whom his conduct has affixed the surname of " Super- 
 
CHAP. 49. LIVY. 65 
 
 bus," because as son-in-law lie excluded his father-in- 
 law from interment; alleging "that Romulus also per- 
 ished without burial." He put to death the principal 
 men of the patricians whom he believed to have fa- 
 voured the interest of Servius. Being then conscious 
 that a precedent of usurping the kingdom might be 
 taken from his own conduct against himself, he sur- 
 rounded his person with armed guards ; for to the 
 rightful possession of the crown he had no title but 
 that of force, as being a person who reigned neither by 
 the order of the people, nor the sanction of the sena- 
 tors. To this was added the consideration that, by 
 one who placed no confidence in the affection of his 
 subjects, his throne must be defended by terror: which 
 that he might infuse into the greatest numbers, he su- 
 perintended the cognizance of capital offences by him- 
 self alone, without the assistance of counsellors ; and 
 by that pretext he was able to put to death, send into 
 exile, and strip of their property not only such as were 
 suspected or obnoxious, but those from whom he could 
 expect nothing but plunder. Having thus diminished 
 the number of the patricians in particular, he deter- 
 mined to raise none to the rank of senators, that the 
 order miy<it be more contemptible from mere paucity 
 of numbers, and should shew the less indignation that 
 nothing was done by their instrumentality. For he 
 was the first king who abrogated the custom handed 
 down by his predecessors, of consulting the senate on 
 all questions. He administered the government by 
 domestic counsels. War, peace, treaties, alliances, he 
 contracted with whomsoever he chose, and annulled of 
 himself, without the authority of the people or senate. 
 He gained over to his interest the nation of the Latins 
 in particular, that by foreign assistance also he might 
 be more safe amongst his subjects ; nor did he estab- 
 lish relations of hospitality only, but affinities also with 
 the leading men of that people. To Octavius Mami- 
 lius of Tusculum (this was by far the first man of the 
 Latin state, being descended, if we may credit tradi- 
 tion, from Ulixes and the goddess Circe), to this Mami- 
 lius he gives his daughter in marriage ; and by that 
 connection he gains over to his own interest his nume- 
 rous relatives and friends. 
 
 G 3 
 
86 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 CHAP. L. 
 
 THE influence of Tarquin was now great amongst 
 the chiefs of the Latins ; when he issues a proclama- 
 tion that they should meet hefore a certain day at the 
 grove of Ferentina ; that there were some points 
 which he wished to discuss relative to the general in- 
 terest. They assemble in great numbers at the first 
 dawn of day. Tarquin himself, it is true, observed the 
 day, but arrived a little before the sun had set. Many 
 topics were then started during the whole day in vari- 
 ous conversations. Turnus Herdonius, from Aricia, 
 inveighed violently against Tarquin during his absence, 
 " Tljat it was no wonder the surname 'Superbus' had 
 been given him at Rome," for so they now, in private 
 whispers, indeed, but yet generally called him. " Was 
 any thing more supercilious, than that the entire Latin 
 community should be thus sported with ? That, after 
 summoning the chiefs from their homes at a vast dis- 
 tance, the man himself who appointed the meeting did 
 not attend : that their patience was certainly tried, in 
 order that, if they submitted to the yoke, he should 
 crush them when at his mercy. For to whom was it 
 not evident, that he aimed at dominion over the Latins? 
 But if his own countrymen were wise in entrusting him 
 with power, or if that was entrusted, and not seized on 
 by murder; then that the Latins also ought confide in 
 him, though indeed not even so, as he was a stranger. 
 But if his own subjects grew tired of him, (as being 
 men who were butchered one over the other, were 
 deprived of their properties, and driven into exile) 
 what better prospects were foreboded to the Latins ? 
 If they listened to him, (Turnus) they would depart 
 thence each to his own home, and pay no more regard 
 to the day of assembly than this person himself did 
 who appointed it." Whilst this turbulent and daring 
 man, and who by these qualities had obtained power in 
 his own country, was in the height of his dissertation 
 v on these and other topics of the same tendency, Tar- 
 quin made his appearance. This put an end to the 
 harangue. All were turned away from the speaker to 
 salute Tarquin, who, on silence being observed, being 
 advised by those who stood next him to exculpate him- 
 
CHAP. 51. LIVY. 67 
 
 self for having come at so late an hour, said, " That lie 
 was chosen arbitrator between a father and son ; that 
 he delayed from his anxiety to reconcile them in 
 friendship ; and, as that business had consumed the 
 present day, that he would on the morrow deliberate 
 on the matters he had proposed." It is said, that he 
 did not even state this, Avithout an observation from 
 Turnus ; for the latter remarked, " That no controversy 
 was shorter than one between father and son, and that 
 it might be disposed of in a few words; if he (the son) 
 did not submit to his father, he should meet ill luck." 
 
 CHAP. LI. 
 
 THE Arician, uttering these reflections against the 
 Roman king, quitted the assembly. At which conduct 
 Tarquin being somewhat more mortified than he seemed 
 to be, immediately plans the destruction of Turnus, 
 that he might strike the same terror into the Latins, 
 by which he had kept the minds of his own country- 
 men in subjection at home. And as he could not 
 openly be put to death, by virtue of his authority ; he 
 ruined him, though innocent, by the allegation of a 
 false charge. By means of some Aricians of the ad- 
 verse faction, he bribed the slave of Turnus with gold, 
 to allow a great quantity of swords to be privately con- 
 veyed into his lodging. When these matters were 
 completed, in one night, Tarquin, having summoned 
 to his presence the chief men of the Latins a little be- 
 fore daylight, as if alarmed by some strange event, 
 says, " That his delay yesterday, as if occasioned by 
 some providential interference of the gods, had been 
 the means of safety to himself and to them. That he 
 was informed, death was intended for himself and the 
 principal men of both nations, by Turnus ; in order 
 that he might enjoy alone the chief authority of the 
 Latins. That he intended to attack them yesterday in 
 the assembly ; that the attempt was deferred, because 
 the person who called the meeting, (whom he particu- 
 larly made his object,) was absent. Hence arose that 
 vituperation against himself behind his back, because 
 by tarrying away he disappointed his expectations. 
 That he himself did not doubt, if the information given 
 
68 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 were true ; that, early in the morning, as soon as they 
 should have gone into the assembly, he would come 
 prepared and armed with a body of conspirators. That 
 he was told that a vast number of swords had been 
 conveyed to his apartments, that whether that was 
 false or not, might be immediately ascertained. That 
 he requested them to go with him from the spot to 
 Turnus." The violent genius of Turnus, the harangue 
 of the former day, and the delay of Tarquin rendered 
 the case suspicious ; because the murder, by possibility, 
 seemed likely to be deferred on account of that delay. 
 They set out with minds disposed indeed to believe it, 
 at the same time, if the swords were not found, deter- 
 mined to look upon all the rest as groundless. As 
 soon as they arrived there, guards surround Turnus, 
 who was startled from his sleep, and the slaves, who, 
 from affection to their master, were preparing for re- 
 sistance, being secured, when the concealed swords 
 were drawn forth from al] parts of the lodging ; the 
 affair then truly appeared manifest, fetters were placed 
 upon Turnus, and an assembly of the Latins is forth- 
 with summoned, amidst great confusion. Then so 
 violent was the odium that arose, particularly when the 
 swords were openly produced, that without allowing 
 him to make a defence, by a new species of capital 
 punishment, being plunged headlong at the source of the 
 Ferentine stream, a hurdle thrown over him, and large 
 stones heaped upon it, he was drowned. 
 
 CHAP. LII. 
 
 TARQUIN having then recalled the Latins to the as- 
 sembly, and publicly eulogized them, for having visited 
 with condign punishment for his manifest treason Tur- 
 nus, who was plotting a revolution, addresses them in 
 these words, " That he might indeed proceed by virtue 
 of a long-established right, because, as all the Latins 
 were descended from Alba, they were included in that 
 treaty by which the whole Alban state, with its colo- 
 nies, was brought under the Roman dominion, by 
 Tullus. But that in consideration of the general ad- 
 vantage, he was rather of this opinion, that the treaty 
 should be renewed; and that the Latins should rathe 
 
CHAP. 53. LIVY. 69 
 
 share in the enjoyment of the good fortune of the 
 Roman people, than continually apprehend, or actually 
 suffer the demolition of their cities, and the desola- 
 tion of their lands, which they had suffered, first in the 
 reign of Ancus, and next of his own father." The 
 Latins were prevailed upon without difficulty ; though 
 in that treaty the Roman interest predominated. But 
 they perceived hoth that the heads of the Latin state 
 sided and concurred with the king, and Turnus was to 
 each individual a recent proof of his own danger, if he 
 should have opposed it. Thus was the treaty renewed, 
 and it was announced to the younger men of the Latins, 
 that they should, in pursuance of the treaty, on a cer- 
 tain day, assemble in a body under arms, at the grove 
 of Ferentina. And when in obedience to the edict of 
 the Roman king, they assembled from all the commu- 
 nities ; in order that they should neither have a general 
 of their own, nor a separate command, nor exclusive 
 colours ; he mixed up the companies* of Latins and Ro- 
 mans, so as out of every pair to make a single com- 
 pany, and out of a single company a pair : having by 
 this means doubled the companies, he appointed centu* 
 rions to command them. 
 
 CHAP. Lill. 
 
 NEITHER, though an unjust king in peace, was he 
 equally a bad commander in war. Nay, even he would 
 in that quality have equalled the former kings, had not 
 his degeneracy in other respects counterbalanced even 
 this merit. He was the first that began the war with 
 the Volscians, a war which lasted more than 200 years 
 after his own age ; and took from them Suessa Pometia 
 by storm - r in which place when, by the sale of the 
 booty, he reserved forty talents of silver (and gold,) 
 he conceived in his mind such a grandeur of a temple 
 to Jupiter, as should be worthy of the king of gods 
 and men, worthy of the Roman empire, and of the 
 majesty even of the place itself. He set apart the 
 captive money for the building of this temple. A war 
 more protracted than was expected, next engaged his 
 attention, in which, having in vain assailed Gabii, a 
 neighbouring city, by storm, when blockading the town 
 
70 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 also, he was deprived of all hope of success, being re- 
 pulsed from the walls, he attacked it, in the end, with 
 perfidy and stratagem, arts by no means befitting a 
 Roman. For when, the war being as it were laid 
 aside, he pretended he was engaged in laying the foun- 
 dations of the temple, and in other city improvements, 
 his son Sextus, who was the youngest of the three, 
 flies over according to a preconcerted plan to Gabii, 
 complaining of his father's intolerable severity towards 
 him, saying, " That he now turned his arrogance from 
 strangers against his own family ; and that he was dis- 
 pleased at the number even of his own children, that 
 he might create also in his own family the same soli- 
 tude which he had created in the senate, so as to leave 
 after him no offspring, no heir to the kingdom. That 
 himself had indeed escaped amidst the weapons and 
 swords of his father, and deemed nothing secure to 
 him any where unless with the enemies of L. Tarquin. 
 For, that they should not deceive themselves, the war 
 still awaited them which was pretended to be given up, 
 and he would on a fair opportunity attack them off 
 their guard. But if there would be no room for sup- 
 pliants with them, that he would traverse all Latium ; 
 and would then apply to the Volsci, and Acqui, and 
 Hernici, until he should find his way to those who 
 would know to protect children from the cruel and un- 
 natural vengeance of parents. Perhaps too he may 
 find some spirit for war and arms against a most tyran- 
 nical king, and most insolent people." When, in the 
 event of their paying him no attention, he seemed dis- 
 posed to depart from thence further on, furious with 
 resentment, he is kindly received by the people of 
 Gabii ; they bid him not be surprised, if such as he 
 behaved towards his subjects such as towards his 
 allies, such he should in the end behave towards his 
 own children ; that he would, if other objects were 
 wanted, vent his rage against himself at last. But 
 that to them his coming was welcome, and they trusted 
 that it would shortly come to pass, that, with his assis- 
 tance, the seat of war would be transferred from the 
 gates of Gabii to the walls of Rome, 
 
CHAP. 54. LIVY. 71 
 
 CHAP. LIV. 
 
 HE was then admitted into their public councils, 
 where, when on other matters he declared that he 
 would agree in opinion with the Gabian elders, to 
 whom these matters were better known, he was him- 
 self occasionally the adviser of war. On that subject 
 he claimed to himself superior knowledge, because he 
 was acquainted with the resources of both nations r and 
 knew that the king's pride was unquestionably odious 
 to his subjects, which even his children could not en- 
 dure. When he thus gradually excited the principal 
 men of the Gabians to renew the war, and himself with 
 the most determined of the young men went forth to 
 plunder and to hostile enterprises, and an ill-grounded 
 confidence increased to all his words arid actions, which 
 were artfully framed for deception, he is in the end 
 chosen general of the war. There when, the multitude 
 being ignorant of what was in contemplation, some 
 slight engagements were fought between Rome and 
 Gabii, in which the fortune of Gabii generally pre- 
 vailed, then the highest and lowest of the Gabians vied 
 with each other, in believing that Sex. Tarquinius was 
 sent them as leader by the favour of the gods. But 
 with the soldiers he was held in such affection, by 
 undergoing dangers and fatigues, and by generously 
 bestowing the booty in equal shares, that Tarquin the 
 father was not more powerful at Rome, than the son 
 was at Gabii. When therefore he saw that he had 
 acquired sufficient strength for all efforts, he then sends 
 one of his adherents to Rome to his father, to inquire 
 what he would have him do, since the gods had granted 
 that he alone was all-powerful at Gabii. To this mes- 
 senger, because, I suppose, he was looked upon as of 
 doubtful fidelity, no verbal answer was given. The 
 king, as if in a deliberating mood, passes into the gar- 
 den of the palace, his son's messenger following ; there 
 walking about in silence, he is said to have struck off 
 with his cane the tallest heads of the poppies. The 
 messenger, wearied out with asking an answer and 
 Availing, returns to Gabii, as it were without accom- 
 plishing his business. He reports what he himself 
 said, and what he saw; and that the other, either 
 
72 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 through anger, or hatred, or that pride naturally inhe- 
 rent in his disposition, had not uttered a single word. 
 As soon as it became evident to Sextus what his father 
 meant, and what instructions he would convey by those 
 silent intimations, he cut off the head men of the state, 
 some, by accusing them before the people, others, 
 being fit subjects for his purpose, by their own unpo- 
 pularity. Many were openly executed ; several, in 
 whose cases an impeachment was likely to be less plau- 
 sible, were murdered privately. Flight was permitted 
 to some who desired it, or they were driven into exile ; 
 and the goods of the absentees, as well as of the slain, 
 became funds for partition. By the sweets of bribery, 
 plunder and individual gain resulting from thence, the 
 sense of the public calamities was banished ; until the 
 government of Gabii, destitute of counsel and support, 
 is given up into the hands of the Roman king without 
 a single struggle. 
 
 CHAP. LV. 
 
 GABII having been recovered, Tarquin made peace 
 with the nation of the ^Bqui ; the treaty with the 
 Etrurians he renewed. He then turned his attention 
 to the affairs of the city, the principal of which was to 
 leave after him a temple to Jupiter on the Tarpeian 
 mount, a memorial of his own reign and name that 
 of the two king Tarquins, -the father had vowed, the 
 son had accomplished it. And in order that the ground, 
 freed from the service of all other gods, should belong 
 exclusively to Jupiter and his temple, which was to be 
 built thereon, he determined to abolish the inaugura- 
 tion of the fanes and chapels, several of which, vowed 
 first by king Tatius in that very critical period of the 
 battle against Romulus, had been afterwards consecrated 
 and inaugurated in that place. In the commencement 
 of the foundation of this work, it is related that the 
 gods exerted their divine power, to intimate the immo- 
 bility of so great an empire. For, whilst the birds 
 permitted the desecration of a]l the chapels, with re- 
 spect to the shrine of Terminus they did not give their 
 assent. That omen and augury was thus interpreted : 
 that the fact of Terminus' residence being not disturbed, 
 
CHAP. 55. LIVY. 73 
 
 and his being the only deity not evoked from the pre- 
 cincts consecrated to him, portended all things to be 
 solid and permanent. This omen of its perpetuity 
 being received, there followed another prodigy, indi- 
 cative of the great extent of the empire. A human 
 head, with the face entire, is said to have appeared to 
 those who were opening the foundations of the temple. 
 The appearance of which portended, not by mysterious 
 hints, that that would become the strong-hold of the 
 empire and the head of the world : and thus the sooth- 
 sayers interpreted, both those who were in the city, 
 and those whom they had sent for from Etruria to 
 deliberate on the subject. The king's mind was en- 
 larged to a high scale of expenditure. Accordingly 
 the spoils of Pometia, which had been appropriated for 
 bringing the work to its full height, scarcely supplied 
 sufficient funds for the foundation. On this account, I 
 should rather believe Fabius, independently of his being 
 the more ancient writer, that that sum was only forty 
 talents, than Piso, who writes that forty thousand 
 pounds weight of silver were set apart for that object ; 
 a sum of money not to be expected from the plunder of 
 any one city of those times, and which would be more 
 than sufficient for the foundation of any, even the 
 magnificence of modern structures. Being intent on 
 finishing the temple, and having sent for workmen 
 from all parts of Etruria, he not only employed for 
 that purpose the public money, but also labourers from 
 among the commons ; which labour, of itself not incon- 
 siderable, though it was added to military service, yet 
 the commons were less discontented, that they were 
 building with their own hands the temples of the gods, 
 which (commons) were afterwards degraded to other 
 works also, in appearance as much less, as in labour 
 somewhat greater ; such as, building benches in the 
 Forum, and continuing under ground the principal 
 sewer, the receptacle of all the offscourings of the city, 
 which two undertaking's this modern magnificence can 
 scarcely equal. The common people being employed 
 in these labours, as he believed that the multitude was 
 a burden to the city> when he could not employ them, 
 and wished that the frontiers of the empire should be 
 more widely occupied by sending colonies, he sent colo- 
 
74 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 nists to Signia and Circeii, to serve as defences to the 
 city by land and sea. 
 
 CHAP. LVI. 
 
 AN awful prodigy appeared to him, meditating these 
 works. A snake sliding from a wooden pillar, after 
 having caused terror and a flight into the palace, struck 
 the heart of the king himself not so much with sudden 
 trepidation, as it filled it with anxious concern. Ac- 
 cordingly, though the Etrurian soothsayers alone were 
 applied to on public prodigies, being terrified with this, 
 as if it were a domestic apparition, he resolved to send 
 to Delphi, to the most celebrated oracle in the world ; 
 and not venturing to entrust the answer of the oracle 
 to any other person, he sent his two sons into Greece, 
 through lands at that time unknown, and seas still 
 more unknown. Titus and Aruns set out as their 
 companion was added, L. Junius Brutus, the son of 
 Tarquinia the king's sister, a young man far dif- 
 ferent from that character of which he had assumed 
 the disguise. He, on having heard that the principal 
 men of the state, and amongst them his own brother, 
 had been put to death by his uncle, resolved to leave 
 nothing either to be dreaded by the king in his talents, 
 or coveted in his fortunes ; and to seek safety in con- 
 tempt, since there was little security in justice. Hav- 
 ing therefore designedly fashioned himself to the repre- 
 sentation of folly, as he permitted himself and his for- 
 tune to become a prey to the king, he did not even 
 decline the surname of Brutus, that, concealing itself 
 under the disguise of that surname, that spirit which 
 achieved the liberty of the Roman people should wait 
 for its own opportunity. This person being then taken 
 by the Tarquinii to Delphi, more properly as a sport 
 than a companion, is reported to have carried, as a gift 
 to Apollo, a wand of gold enclosed in a cornel cane, 
 hollowed for the purpose, being mystically the emblem 
 of his own mind. Whither when they had arrived, 
 after executing their father's commands, a curiosity 
 seized the minds of the young men, of inquiring to 
 which of them the kingdom of Rome was to descend. 
 It is reported that an answer was sent forth from the 
 
CHAP. 57. LIVY. 75 
 
 bottom of the cave, " O young men, whichever of you 
 shall have first kissed his mother, he shall enjoy the 
 sovereign authority at Rome." The Tarquins, in order 
 that Sextus, who had been left behind at Rome, might 
 remain ignorant of the answer, and without a chance of 
 the sovereignty, direct the matter to be kept secret 
 with the utmost attention ; between themselves they 
 leave it to be decided by lot which of them, on their 
 return to Rome, should first kiss his mother. Brutus, 
 judging that the Pythian response had a different 
 tendency, as if he had stumbled and fallen, touched the 
 earth with his lips, undoubtedly because she was the 
 common mother of all mankind. They then returned 
 to Rome, where they were preparing for war against 
 the Rutuli with the greatest vigour. 
 
 CHAP. LVII. 
 
 THE Rutuli, a nation eminently powerful in wealth, 
 considering that country and that age, were in posses- 
 sion of Ardea ; and that circumstance was the very 
 cause of the war, because the Roman king, exhausted 
 by the magnificence of the public works, was anxious 
 both to be enriched himself, and also to soothe down 
 the minds of his subjects, exasperated also with his 
 government, independently of his other tyrannical con- 
 duct, because they were indignant they were so long 
 kept by the king in the occupation of mechanics, and 
 in servile labour. The experiment was made, if Ardea 
 could be taken in the first assault ; when that did not 
 succeed, the enemy were began to be distressed with a 
 siege and circumvallations. In these quarters furloughs 
 were, as is usual in a war rather tedious than vigorous, 
 granted with sufficient liberality, more so, however, to 
 the principal officers than to the soldiers. The youths 
 of the royal family, especially, used to spend their 
 leisure hours in f eastings and convivial parties amongst 
 themselves. It happened, as they were drinking with 
 Sex. Tarquinius, where also Collatinus Tarquinius, the 
 son of Egerius, was supping, that mention was made 
 of their wives; each praised his own to a surprising 
 degree ; the dispute then growing warm, Collatinus says, 
 " That there was no need of words that it could indeed 
 
76 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 be easily ascertained how much his Lucretia excelled 
 the rest. Why do we not, as we possess the vigour of 
 youth, mount our horses, and inspect in person the 
 disposition of our wives ? That that must be the 
 strongest proof to each which shall meet his eyes, when 
 the husband's arrival is unexpected." They were 
 heated with wine. " Come then," say they all. They 
 fly off to Rome, with their horses at full speed. Whi- 
 ther when they arrived, as the first shades of night 
 were overspreading the earth, they proceed forthwith 
 to Collatia ; where they find Lucretia, not like the 
 king's daughters-in-law, whom they had seen wasting 
 their time in banquetting and luxurious indulgence 
 with those of their own class, but sitting in the middle 
 of her house, at that late hour of night, attentive to 
 her wool, amidst her maids, who were working by 
 candle-light. The honour of this female competition 
 was awarded to Lucretia. Her consort, on his arrival, 
 and the Tarquins were courteously received the suc- 
 cessful husband politely invites the royal youths. There 
 a criminal passion of violating Lucretia by force takes 
 possession of Sex. Tarquin ; her beauty, as well as 
 approved chastity, incite him to the act. And for that 
 time indeed they return to the camp, after this noctur- 
 nal frolic of youth. 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. 
 
 AFTER the lapse of a few days, Sex. Tarquinius, 
 unknown to Collatinus, came to Collatia with a single 
 attendant ; where being kindly received by those who 
 were ignorant of his design, when he had been shewn 
 in after supper to the strangers' apartment, being fired 
 with passion, when every thing around seemed secure 
 and all buried in sleep, he approached Lucretia with a 
 drawn sword, as she lay asleep ; and, having pressed 
 the lady's bosom with his left hand, said, " Hush, 
 Lucretia, I am Sextus Tarquinius ; my sword is in my 
 hand ; you shall die if you utter a word." When the 
 female, being affrighted out of her sleep, saw no suc- 
 cour nigh, and death immediately threatening her ; 
 then Tarquin declared his love, intreated, mingled 
 threats with prayers, and worked upon her female 
 
CHAP. 58. LIVY. 77 
 
 feelings on every side ; when he saw her inflexible, and 
 not yielding even from the dread of death, he adds dis- 
 honour to fear he declares he will place his murdered 
 slave naked by her dead body, that she might be said 
 to have been slain in base adultery. By which terror 
 when his lust, as it were triumphant, had overcome 
 her obstinate chastity, and Tarquin departed from 
 thence, elated at having overpowered a female's 
 honour, Lucretia, distressed at so heavy a misfortune, 
 dispatches one and the same messenger to Rome to her 
 father, and to Ardea to her husband, with directions 
 to come each with one trusty friend ; that such was the 
 occasion of action and expedition, that an atrocious 
 deed had happened. Sp. Lucretius came with P. Vale- 
 rius, the son of Volesus Collatinus, with L. Junius 
 Brutus, with whom as he happened to be on his return 
 to Rome, he was met by his wife's messenger. They 
 find Lucretia sitting disconsolate in her chamber ; on 
 the arrival of her friends, a flood of tears burst forth ; 
 and on her husband inquiring, " Is all well ?" " Far 
 from it," she replies ; " for what can be well with a 
 woman, when she has lost her chastity ? Collatinus, 
 the traces of another man are in your bed. But my 
 person alone is violated, my heart is pure death shall 
 be witness. But give me your right hands and faith, 
 that the adulterer shall not go unpunished. Sextus 
 Tarquinius is the man who, an enemy in the disguise 
 of a guest, has last night in arms obtained hence by 
 force a triumph fatal to me, and, if you be men, to 
 himself." They all pledge their honour in succession. 
 They console her sick at heart, by turning the culpa- 
 bility from her, who suffered by compulsion, to the 
 perpetrator of the oifence ; that it is the mind that 
 transgresses, not the body ; arid that guilt is wanting, 
 where intention is wanting. " You," said she, " will 
 look to what is due to him ; but I, though I acquit my- 
 self of the offence, do not release myself from the 
 punishment ; nor shall any woman hereafter live with 
 sullied chastity by the example of Lucretia." She 
 plunges into her heart a knife, which she kept con- 
 cealed under her garment ; and falling forward on the 
 wound, she dropped down lifeless. Her husband and 
 father shriek out together. 
 H 3 
 
78 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 CHAP. LIX. 
 
 BRUTUS, whilst the others were occupied in mourn- 
 ing, holding up the knife, drawn out of Lucretia's 
 wound, reeking with blood, says, " I swear by this 
 blood most chaste, before the commission of this royal 
 outrage ; and you, gods, I call to witness, that I will 
 pursue L. Tarquinius Saperbus, with his accursed wife, 
 and the entire family of children, with sword, fire, and 
 with whatever further violence I may be able ; and 
 that I will neither suffer him, nor any one else, to 
 reign at Rome." He then hands the knife to Collati- 
 nus, after him to Lucretius' and Valerius, lost in amaze- 
 ment at the miraculous circumstance, how there came a 
 new spirit in the breast of Brutus. They swear as 
 they were directed, and having turned all their thoughts 
 from sorrow to resentment, they follow Brutus as their 
 leader, calling upon them instantly to annihilate mon- 
 archy. They convey into the Forum the dead body of 
 Lucretia, removed from the house, and collect the peo- 
 ple together by reason of their astonishment, as is 
 usual, at so strange a business, and their indignation ; 
 they complain, each respectively, of the royal villany 
 and outrage. As well the grief of her father affects 
 them, as Brutus, the reprover of their tears and idle 
 complaints, and the adviser of the measure of taking 
 up arms, as it became men and Romans, against those 
 who audaciously commenced hostilities. Every most 
 spirited of the young men appears in arms as a volun- 
 teer, and the rest of the youth follow the example. 
 Then, having left an equally strong garrison at Colla- 
 tia, to guard the gates, and guards being placed, that 
 no person should give intel]igence of that commotion 
 to the royal faction ; the rest, under the conduct of 
 Brutus, set out for Rome. When they arrived there, 
 the armed youth, wherever they proceed, cause terror 
 and confusion ; on the other hand, when they see the 
 chief men of the state marching at their head, they 
 judge, whatever it be, that it was no rash undertaking. 
 Nor does so atrocious an act produce a less agitation 
 of the public mind at Rome, than it had done at Colla- 
 tia. Wherefore, they flock into the Forum from all 
 parts of the city. Whither, as soon as they arrived, a 
 
CHAP. 60. LIVY. 79 
 
 crier summoned the people to the tribune of the Cele- 
 res ; which office Brutus, at that time, happened to 
 fill. There a speech was delivered, by no means in 
 unison with that spirit and genius which had been as- 
 sumed up to that day, on the subject of the violence 
 and lust of Sex. Tarquin, the shocking violation of 
 Lucretia, and her lamentable death ; on the childless 
 condition of Tricipitinus, to whom the cause of his 
 daughter's death must be a source of greater indigna- 
 tion and misery, than the death itself: the haughtiness 
 of the king himself was added, and the miseries and 
 sufferings of the commons, who were buried under 
 ground, in sinking ditches and sewers. " That Roman 
 citizens, the conquerors of all the nations around, were 
 become workmen, and hewers of stones, instead of 
 warriors." The unnatural murder of king Ser. Tullius 
 was mentioned, and a daughter's driving in her cursed 
 carriage over the dead body of her father ; and the 
 gods, the avengers of parents were invoked. By re- 
 counting these things and others, I suppose, still more 
 atrocious, which present indignation of feeling sug- 
 gests, though by no means easy to be recorded by 
 historians, he prevailed on the incensed multitude to 
 depose the king from his sovereignty, and to decree the 
 banishment of L. Tarquin, with his wife and children. 
 He set out himself to the camp at Ardea, to excite the 
 army there against the king, after having collected and 
 armed the younger men, who voluntarily gave in their 
 names. The command in the city he leaves to Lucre- 
 tius, who had been already appointed prefect of the 
 city, by the king. During this commotion Tullia flies 
 from home, both men and women execrating her where- 
 ver she passed, and invoking the furies, the avengers 
 of parents' injuries. 
 
 CHAP. LX. 
 
 NEWS of these proceedings having been conveyed to 
 the camp, when the king, alarmed by the strange 
 event, was proceeding to Rome to suppress the com- 
 motion, Brutus (for he had been apprized of his ap- 
 proach) changed his route, that he should not meet him; 
 and almost at one and the same time, they arrived by 
 
80 LIVY. BOOK I. 
 
 different roads, Brutus at Ardea, and Tarquiri at Rome. 
 The gates were closed against Tarquin, and a sentence 
 of banishment pixmounced against him ; the overjoyed 
 camp received the liberator of the city, and the king's 
 children were thence driven out. Two of them fol- 
 lowed their father, who went into exile to Csere, 
 amongst the Etrurians. Sex. Tarquinius having re- 
 tired to Gabii, as if to his own kingdom, was slain by 
 the avengers of some old animosities, which he had 
 provoked against himself by his own murders and ra- 
 pines. L. Tarquinius Superbus reigned five-and-twenty 
 years. The regal form of government continued at 
 Rome, from the foundation to the liberation of the 
 city, 244 years. After that, two consuls, L. Junius 
 Brutus, and L. Tarquinius Collatinus, were created in 
 the comitia centuriata, (election by centuries,) by the 
 prefect of the city, conformably to the commentaries of 
 Ser. Tullius. 
 
CHAP. 1. LIVY. 81 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 I SHALL now treat of the civil and military transac- 
 tions of the Romans, henceforward a free people ; their 
 annual magistrates, and the dominion of the laws more 
 powerful than that of men. Which liberty the inso- 
 lence of the late king had made more welcome; for the 
 former kings governed in such a manner, that they were 
 all deservedly accounted the successive founders of 
 those parts, at least, of the city, which they added to 
 it as a residence for the population encreased by them- 
 selves. Nor is it questioned, but that the same Brutus, 
 who earned so much glory by the expulsion of king 
 Superbus, would have accomplished that, to the preju- 
 dice of the public weal, if through a passion for pre- 
 mature liberty, he had wrested the government from 
 any of the former sovereigns. For what must have 
 been the consequence, if that mob of shepherds and 
 emigrants, deserters from their own countries, hav- 
 ing, under the protection of an inviolable sanctuary, 
 obtained either liberty, or at least impunity, and freed 
 from the terrors of a king, had begun to be agitated by 
 tribunic storms, and in a strange city to generate 
 contentions with the patricians, before the pledges of 
 wives and children, and an affection for the soil itself, 
 to which one is familiarized only after a long time, had 
 harmonized their minds? The elements of power, not 
 yet matured, would be frittered away by disunion, which 
 tranquil moderation of government cherished, and by 
 fostering them brought to such perfection that they 
 were able, their strength being now ripened, to pro- 
 duce a good harvest of liberty. But you may date the 
 rise of their liberty rather from this circumstance, that 
 the consular government was made annual, than that 
 any thing had been curtailed from the regal power. 
 
82 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 The first consuls possessed all the privileges, all the 
 ensigns of kingly authority. Precaution only was ta- 
 ken, that, by both having the fasces, the terror should 
 not be doubled. Brutus obtained the fasces first with 
 the concession of his colleague, who (Brutus) had not 
 been a more spirited assertor of liberty, than he was 
 afterwards its guardian. First of all, in order that they 
 could not hereafter be influenced by royal entreaties or 
 gifts, he bound by oath the people, passionately fond 
 of their infant liberty, that they should suffer no per- 
 son to reign at Rome. Next, that the fulness too of 
 the order should create more strength in the senate, 
 he filled up the number of patricians which was dimin- 
 ished by the late king's murders, by electing the heads 
 of the equestrian order, to the full total of 300 : and 
 hence, is said to have been handed down the practice 
 of summoning to the senate those who were "patres" 
 and those who were " conscripti :" those, no doubt, 
 who were elected into the new senate, they termed 
 " conscripti." It is surprising how much that contribu- 
 ted to the harmony of the state, and to uniting the 
 minds of the commons to the patricians. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 REGARD was then had to matters of religion, and as 
 some public rites were habitually performed by the 
 kings in person, and lest in any particular whatsoever 
 there should be a want of kings, they create a king of 
 the sacrifices. That sacred office they made subordi- 
 nate to the pontiff, lest the honour attached to the title 
 should prove any detriment to their liberty, which was 
 then their principal concern; and I am not sure, but 
 they transgressed the proper limit, by fencing it round 
 too much, even in the smallest matters. For when 
 nothing else could give them offence, the very name of 
 one of the consuls was displeasing to the state, arguing, 
 " That the Tarquinii had been too much habituated to 
 power ; that a commencement was made by Priscus ; 
 that then, it was true, Ser. Tullius reigned ; that, not- 
 withstanding that interruption, Tarquinius Superb us 
 did not lose sight of the kingdom (as he ought to do), > 
 being the property of another ; that he recovered it, as 
 
CHAP. 2. LIVY. 83 
 
 if the inheritance of his family, by guilt and violence. 
 That, on the expulsion of Superbus, the chief power 
 fell into the hands of Collatinus. That the Tarquins 
 knew not how to live in a private station ; that the 
 name was displeasing ; that it was dangerous to li- 
 berty." This language, proceeding from persons first 
 gradually sounding the people's inclinations, was spread 
 throughout the entire community, and the commons 
 being agitated by suspicion, Brutus summons them to 
 an assembly. There first of all he recites the oath of 
 the people: "That they would allow no one to reign, 
 nor any person to remain at Rome, from whom liberty 
 might be in jeopardy; that that resolution must be 
 supported with their utmost efforts, and that no cir- 
 cumstance which had a tendency to that subject should 
 be overlooked. That he was himself unwilling to speak, 
 from his regard for the individual ; nor would he speak, 
 did not his love for the republic predominate, That 
 the Roman people did not think their entire liberty 
 recovered. That the regal family, the regal name con- 
 tinued, not only in the state, but in authority also : 
 that this circumstance counteracted this stood in the 
 way of liberty. Remove," says he, " this apprehen- 
 sion, L. Tarquin, of your own free will. We have it 
 in recollection we acknowledge you have expelled 
 kings. Crown your kindness: remove hence the regal 
 name. Your fellow citizens shall not only give you up 
 your property, by my recommendation ; but if any 
 thing more be wanting, will make a liberal augmenta- 
 tion to it ; depart as a friend ; relieve the state from, 
 perhaps, a groundless apprehension. They are im- 
 pressed with this conviction, that the regal power will 
 depart hence only with the Tarquinian family." At first, 
 astonishment at so strange and unexpected a circum- 
 stance had stopped up the consul's utterance, afterwards 
 when he began to speak, the principal men of the state 
 stand around him, and make the same request, with 
 many entreaties. And indeed others affected him less; 
 but when S. Lucretius, more respectable in point of 
 years and dignity, his own father-in-law besides, began 
 to resort to various arguments, by alternately beseech- 
 ing and admonishing him to allow himself to be pre- 
 vailed upon by the unanimous wish of the state ; then 
 
84 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 the consul, fearing lest the same fate should hereafter 
 befal him in a private station, with the loss of his pro- 
 perty, together with the addition of some further dis- 
 grace, resigned the consulship ; and having removed all 
 his effects to Lavinium, withdrew from the state. 
 Brutus, in pursuance of a decree of the senate, moved 
 the people that all of the Tarquinian family should be 
 exiled ; he elected as colleague to himself, in the as- 
 sembly of centuries, P. Valerius, by whose co-operation 
 he had expelled the royal family. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 THOUGH it was a matter of doubt to no person, that 
 a war originating with the Tarquins was impending*, 
 that event was indeed more distant than the general 
 expectation ; but, a circumstance of which they enter- 
 tained no apprehension, liberty was nearly lost by fraud 
 and treachery. There were amongst the Roman youth 
 some young men, and those descended of no humble 
 family, whose passions were more unrestrained during 
 the monarchical government, being accustomed to live 
 in kingly style, as the equals and companions of the 
 young Tarquins. Being then, that the privileges of 
 all were on an equality, at a loss for that licentiousness, 
 they united in complaints amongst themselves, that the 
 liberty of others became their own slavery : " That a 
 king was a human being, from whom you could obtain 
 a favour, where justice, where injustice may be re- 
 quired ; that with him there was room for interces- 
 sion, room for kindness ; that he could be angry, and 
 pardon ; that he knew the distinction between a friend 
 and an enemy. That law is a deaf, inexorable thing, 
 more salutary and better for the poor man than the 
 rich ; that it admitted of no relaxation nor indul- 
 gence, if you transgress its limits ; that it was dange- 
 rous, amidst so many human errors, to live on the 
 security of innocence alone." In this state, their minds 
 being of themselves discontented, ambassadors oppor- 
 tunely arrive from the Tarquins, claiming their effects 
 only, without mention of a return. When their pro- 
 posal was heard in the senate, the deliberation on tha 
 subject engaged them for several days, considering 
 
CHAP. 4. LIVY. 85 
 
 lest, if not restored, they might be the cause of war, 
 if restored, the materials and sinews of war. In the 
 mean time, the ambassadors were severally pursuing 
 other measures ; avowedly demanding a restoration of 
 goods, they were secretly contriving plans for recover- 
 ing the throne ; and canvassing them, as if for the 
 business which seemed to be under consideration, they 
 sound the dispositions -of the young noblemen ; by 
 whom when their proposal was favourably received, 
 they deliver their letters from the Tarquins, and con- 
 fer with them on the subject of secretly admitting the 
 kings into the city by night. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 THE business was first entrusted to the brothers 
 Vitellii and Aquilii. The sister of the Vitellii had 
 been married to the consul Brutus, and the children of 
 that marriage, Titus and Tiberius, were now young 
 men ; these also their uncles admit into a participation 
 of the design ; and many young noblemen besides were 
 taken in as confederates, the recollection of whose 
 names has been lost by length of time. XMeanwhile, 
 when the opinion which recommended the restoration 
 of the property preponderated in the senate, and the 
 ambassadors made that very circumstance a pretext for 
 delaying in the city, because they had obtained time 
 from the consuls for procuring vehicles, in which to 
 carry away the effects of the royal family ; they spend 
 all that time in deliberating with the conspirators ; and, 
 by urgently persevering, they succeed in a request that 
 a letter should be given them directed to the Tarquins ; 
 for how otherwise could they (the Tarquins) believe 
 that false reports might not have been conveyed to 
 them by the ambassadors on matters so important ? 
 The letter, which was given as a pledge of sincerity, 
 detected the plot ; for on the day before the ambas- 
 sadors were to set out to the Tarquins, when they 
 happened to have dined with the Vitellii, and the con- 
 spirators, in the absence of strangers, had many dis- 
 cussions, as is usual, relative to their new enterprise, 
 one of the slaves, who had already perceived that such 
 a business was in contemplation, overheard the con- 
 i 
 
86 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 versation ; but he waited for that opportunity, that a 
 letter might be given to the ambassadors, the seizure 
 of which should prove the fact to conviction. After he 
 found that it had been delivered, he gave information 
 of the business to the consuls. The consuls, setting 
 out from home for the purpose of apprehending the 
 ambassadors and conspirators, extinguish the entire 
 affair without any tumult. Attention was in the first 
 place paid to the letter, that it should not slip through 
 their hands. The traitors being forthwith thrown into 
 chains, they hesitate for some time with regard to the 
 ambassadors ; and although they were considered to 
 have furnished grounds for being treated as enemies, 
 still the law of nations prevailed. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 WITH respect to the goods of the king, for the 
 restoration of which they had previously voted, the 
 question is referred anew to tbe fathers, who, over- 
 come by resentment, forbade them to be restored 
 forbade them to be converted to public use. They are 
 given up to the commons, to be plundered ; that, being 
 infected with a share of the royal booty, they should 
 give up for ever the hope of a reconciliation with those 
 persons. The land of the Tarquins, which lay between 
 the city and th.e Tiber, being consecrated to Mars, became 
 afterwards the " Campus Martins." It is said that there 
 happened to have been there at that time a crop of corn 
 ripe for mowing, which produce of the field as a scruple 
 of religion did not allow them to use, a great number of 
 persons let into it at once cut it down, ears as well as 
 straw, and threw it with baskets into the Tiber, flow- 
 ing in a shallow current, as is usual in the middle of 
 the warm season ; and that thus heaps of the corn stick- 
 ing in the shallows, being covered over with mud, 
 became fixed : that from this an island was formed by 
 degrees, other materials also, which the river com- 
 monly bears with it, being conveyed to the same spot. 
 I believe that mounds were afterwards added, and 
 manual aid employed, that it should become a founda- 
 tion so elevated and strong, for supporting temples also 
 and porticoes. The goods of the royal family being 
 
CHAP. 6. LIVY. 87 
 
 plundered, the traitors Were condemned, and punish- 
 ment inflicted ; the more conspicuous on this account, 
 because the consulship imposed upon the father the official 
 duty of executing the penalty of justice on his children ; 
 and fortune appointed him in particular to exact the 
 punishment, who should be removed from being a spec- 
 tator of it. The young men of the most noble rank 
 stood bound to a stake, but the consul's sons had 
 turned away the attention of all from the rest, as from 
 unknown persons, upon themselves ; and people pitied 
 their punishment, not less than the crime for which 
 they deserved it : lamenting that such men, and in that 
 year in particular, should have entertained the design 
 of betraying, to a person once a tyrannical king, but 
 now an enraged exile, their liberated country, their 
 father its liberator, the consulship originating in the 
 Junian family, the patricians, the commons, whatever 
 of Roman gods and men there existed. The consuls 
 moved forward to their proper place, and the lictors, 
 being sent to execute the punishment, scourge them 
 naked with rods and behead them ; whilst, during all 
 the time, the father, and his looks, and features, 
 afforded a spectacle, the affection of a parent shining 
 out amidst the execution of public punishment. Next 
 to the punishment of the guilty, a sum of money from 
 the treasury, freedom, and the privilege of citizenship 
 were granted to the informer, in order that there may 
 be a signal example both ways for the prevention of 
 crimes. He is said to have been the first person made 
 free by the " vindicta" (i. e. the wand) ; some also sup- 
 pose that the term " vindicta' was derived from him, 
 and that his own name was Vindicius. After him, it 
 was observed as a rule, that such as were liberated in 
 this manner were considered as admitted to citizenship. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THESE proceedings being reported as they occurred, 
 Tarquin, fired not only with grief at so great a hope 
 ending in disappointment, but also with hatred and 
 rage ; as soon as he saw the avenue closed up against 
 secret plots, judging it necessary to prepare for open 
 war, went round the cities of Etruria as a suppliant. 
 
88 L1VY. BOOK II, 
 
 He besought the Veientians and Tarquinienses prin- 
 cipally, " That they would not allow him, a man sprung 
 from themselves, of the same blood, a destitute exile 
 from a kingdom lately so powerful, to perish before 
 their eyes with his children now approaching maturity. 
 That others were invited from foreign countries to the 
 throne of Rome ; that he, a reigning king, extending 
 in war the Roman empire, was expelled by his intimate 
 friends, in consequence of a villanous conspiracy ; that 
 those, because no one person was deemed worthy of 
 the crown, had partitioned among them the several 
 portions of the government, and had given away his own 
 property to the populace to be plundered, in order 
 that no one should be free from guilt. That he now 
 wished to recover his native country and his crown, 
 and to be avenged on his ungrateful subjects. That 
 they ought to give him support and assist him avenge 
 their own ancient injuries also their legions so often 
 slain, their lands taken from them." These arguments 
 moved the Veientians, and they menacingly exclaim, 
 each with all his earnestness, that their disgraces should 
 be wiped away, and their losses in war repaired, at 
 least under a Roman commander. The name and rela- 
 tionship influence the Tarquinienses ; it was regarded 
 as honourable that their kindred should reign at Rome. 
 Thus two armies, belonging to two different states, 
 followed Tarquin to recover his throne and prosecute 
 the Romans in war. As soon as they penetrated into 
 the Roman territory, the consuls go forth to meet the 
 enemy. Valerius leads the infantry in a square body. 
 Brutus advanced before him with the cavalry to recon- 
 noitre. In the same manner, the cavalry formed the 
 van of the enemy's army ; A runs Tarquinius, the king's 
 son, had the command ; the king himself followed with 
 the legions. Aruns perceiving at a distance, by the 
 lictors, that it was the consul ; when afterwards, at a 
 nearer and more certain view, he recognized Brutus 
 by his face also, burning with rage, " This is the man," 
 said he, " who has driven us out as exiles from our 
 country ; behold, this same pompously moves on, deco- 
 rated with our ensigns ! You gods, the avengers of 
 kings, second me." He spurs on his horse, and drives 
 furiously against the consul himself. Brutus perceived 
 
CHAP. 7. LIVY. 89 
 
 he was advancing against him. It was then honou- 
 rable in the generals themselves to engage in action : 
 each therefore eagerly presents himself to the combat ; 
 and they charged each other with such fury (neither 
 thinking of protecting himself, provided he could 
 wound his adversary), that transfixed each through the 
 buckler by an adverse stroke, they fell down lifeless 
 from their horses, entangled together by the two spears; 
 at the same time, the rest of the cavalry began to en- 
 gage ; and in no long time after, the infantry also came 
 up. There they fought with alternate victory, and, as 
 it were, with equal success ; the right wings of both 
 armies were victorious, the left were worsted. The 
 Veientians, accustomed to be vanquished by the Roman 
 soldiers, were routed and put to flight. The Tarqui- 
 nierisian, a new enemy, not only kept his ground, but 
 on his side even repulsed the Romans. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 THOUGH the battle had been thus fought, such great 
 terror seized Tarquin and the Etrurians, that, having 
 given up the attempt as impracticable, both armies, 
 the Veientian and Tarquiniensian, retired in the night 
 each to its respective home. They add miracles to this 
 battle ; saying, that during the silence of the following- 
 night, a loud voice was sent forth from the Arsiau 
 wood ; it was believed the voice of Silvanus ; the fol- 
 lowing were the words, " That more of the Etrurians 
 by one had fallen in the engagement, that the Romans 
 were conquerors in the war." It is certain that the 
 Romans departed from thence as victors ; the Etruri- 
 ans as vanquished. For when the daylight dawned, 
 and none of the enemy appeared in sight, P. Valerius 
 the consul collects the spoils, and returns thence in 
 triumph to Rome. The funeral obsequies of his col- 
 league, he performed with as much magnificence as in 
 those days he was able. But a far higher honour to 
 his death, was the public sorrow, distinguished on this 
 account, above all others, that the matrons mourned for 
 him a year, as for a parent, because he had been so 
 vigorous an avenger of violated chastity. After that, 
 not only did jealousy succeeding to populai'ity, but 
 i 3 
 
90 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 suspicion also attended with a heinous accusation, arise 
 against the consul who had survived, so fickle are the 
 minds of the populace. Report circulated that he was 
 aspiring to sovereign power, because he had not sub- 
 stituted a colleague in the place of Brutus ; and he was 
 building a house on the summit of mount Velia, that 
 there he might have an impregnable fortress in that 
 high and fortified situation. As these reports com- 
 monly circulated and credited, were torturing the con- 
 sul's mind with indignation, having summoned the peo- 
 ple to an assembly, he goes up to the meeting with the 
 fasces lowered. It was a gratifying sight to the peo- 
 ple, that the ensigns of sovereign power were humbled 
 before them, and an admission made that the majesty 
 and power of the people were paramount to those of 
 the consul. When they were ordered to pay attention, 
 the consul extolled the good fortune of his colleague, 
 because he had met his death, after having liberated his 
 country, filling the highest honour, fighting for the re- 
 public, his glory being fully matured, and not yet turn- 
 ing into jealousy; that himself surviving his own glory 
 outlived him to be the object of accusation and envy, 
 and from being the deliverer of his country, had sunk 
 to the level of the Aquillii and Vitellii. " Shall then," 
 said he, "no merit be ever so much approved by you, 
 as to be incapable of being sullied by suspicion ? Could 
 I appreheiul that myself, the most determined enemy of 
 kings, should incur the charge of wishing for kingly 
 power? Could I suppose, even if I dwelt in the very 
 citadel and Capitol, that I could be dreaded by my fel- 
 low citizens ? Does my reputation with you depend on 
 a matter of such light moment ? Is your confidence in 
 me so slightly founded, that it becomes a matter of 
 higher concern, where I may dwell, than who I am ? 
 The habitation of P. Valerius, Romans, shall be no ob- 
 stacle to your liberties ; Velia shall be secured to you. 
 I shall not only remove my house to a plain, but even 
 place it at the foot of a hill, that you may reside above 
 me, your suspected countryman. Let those build on 
 Velia to whom your liberties are more safely entrusted 
 than to P. Valerius." All the materials were immedi- 
 ately removed below Velia ; and the house was built at 
 the foot of the hill, where now stands the temple of 
 victory. 
 
CHAP. 8. LIVY. 91 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 LAWS were then proposed, which not only acquitted 
 the consul of the suspicion of aspiring to sovereign * 
 power, but gave matters so much a contrary turn, as 
 even to make him popular : hence the surname of 
 " Publicola" was given him. Above all others, the 
 laws respecting an appeal to the people against the 
 magistrates, arid for devoting the life and property of 
 him who should enter into any designs for assuming 
 regal power, were grateful to the populace ; which 
 laws, when he had singly carried, in order that the 
 merit arising from them should be exclusively his own, 
 he then afterwards held an assembly for the election of 
 a colleague. Sp. Lucretius was created consul, who, 
 being of great age, and of strength no longer sufficient 
 for the discharge of the consular duties, dies within a 
 few days after. M. Horatius Pulvillus was substituted 
 in the place of Horatius. In some authors I do not 
 find Lucretius a consul ; they place Horatius immedi- 
 ately after Brutus. I suppose that, as no achievement 
 signalized his consulate, it faded away from recollec- 
 tion. The temple of Jupiter, in the Capitol, was not yet 
 consecrated ; the consuls, Valerius and Horatius, cast 
 lots who should dedicate it : it fell to Horatius by lot. 
 Publicola set out to the Veientian war. The friends of 
 Valerius shewed more dissatisfaction than they ought, 
 that the dedication of so renowned a temple was given 
 to Horatius. This they endeavoured to prevent by all 
 means ; when other expedients were tried in vain, as 
 the consul was already holding the door-post, during 
 his prayer to the gods, they announce the melancholy 
 tidings, " that his son was dead, and that he could not 
 dedicate the temple while his family was thus defiled." 
 Whither he discredited the fact, or that his strength of 
 mind was so great, is not handed down to us as certain, 
 nor is it an easy conjecture. Turning away his attention 
 to that message, from his purpose, no farther than to 
 order the dead body to be buried, still holding the 
 door-post, he concludes the prayer, and dedicates the 
 temple. These were the transactions at home and 
 abroad, in the first year after the expulsion of the 
 
92 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 royal family* The consuls who were next appointed, 
 were P Valerius, a second time, and Lucretius. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE Tarquins had already fled for succour to Lars 
 Porsenna, king of Clusium : there mingling advice and 
 entreaties, at one time they besought him " not to suf- 
 fer them, who were descended from the Etrurians, of 
 the same blood and name, to remain destitute exiles ;" 
 at another time they also warned him, " not to allow 
 this rising custom of expelling kings to pass unpun- 
 ished: that liberty had sufficient charms of itself; that 
 if kings did not defend regal power with the same vi- 
 gour as states asserted it (liberty), the highest rank 
 would be brought to the same level with the lowest ; 
 that there would be nothing elevated in states nothing 
 which would be pre-eminent above the rest : that there 
 would be an end to kingly government, an institution 
 the most beautiful amongst gods and men." Porsenna 
 judging it honourable to the Etrurians, that there should 
 both be a king at Rome, and also a prince of Etrurian 
 family, marches to Rome with a hostile army. Never 
 before, on any other occasion, did such terror pervade 
 the senate: so powerful at that time was the state of 
 Clusium, and so formidable the name of Porsenna. 
 Nor was it the enemy alone they dreaded, but their 
 own fellow-citizens themselves, lest the commons of 
 Rome, struck with dismay, by admitting the royalists 
 into the city, should accept peace even accompanied 
 with servitude. Many blandishments therefore were 
 heaped on the commons by the senate during that sea- 
 son ; attention was first paid to the price of provisions, 
 and persons sent to procure corn, some amongst the 
 Volscians, others to Cuma3. The exclusive privilege of 
 selling salt, because it was sold at an exorbitant price, 
 being taken away from individuals, was put entirely 
 under government controul. The commons were ex- 
 empted from port-duties and taxes, that the rich who 
 were able to bear the burden, should defray them by 
 contribution, it being held, that the poor paid tax 
 enough, if they brought up their children. Accord- 
 ingly this indulgence of the patricians, on a subsequent 
 
CHAP. 10. LIVY. 93 
 
 occasion, in circumstances of distress, during a siege 
 and famine, preserved the state in such harmony, that 
 the highest, not more than the lowest, abhorred the 
 name of king ; nor was any single individual in after 
 times so popular by bad practices, as the entire senate 
 then was by governing well. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 WHEN the enemy were approaching, they remove 
 with all expedition, from the country into the city ; the 
 city itself they enclose with fortifications ; some parts 
 seemed secure by walls, others by the Tiber, which 
 was interposed. The wooden bridge nearly furnished 
 the enemy with a passage ; had there not been one 
 man, Horatius Codes (such a defence the good for- 
 tune of the Roman people possessed on that day), who 
 happening to be stationed on guard at the bridge, when 
 he beheld the Janiculum taken by a sudden assault, and 
 the enemy running from thence with rapidity, and the 
 affrighted crowd of his countrymen quitting their arms 
 and ranks, pulling them back individually ; throwing 
 himself in their way, and appealing to the faith of gods 
 and men, he called them to witness, " that it was in 
 vain for them to run away after deserting the post of 
 strength ; if they passed the bridge, and left it behind 
 them, there would be presently more of the enemy in 
 the Palatium and Capitol, than in the Janiculum. That 
 therefore he advised and warned them, to break down 
 the bridge by the sword, fire, or by whatever means 
 they could. That he would himself sustain the enemy's 
 shock, as far as it could be withstood by a single per- 
 son." He then advances to the head of the entrance to 
 the bridge, and being conspicuous amongst the backs of 
 those that were seen as they retreated from the fight, 
 with his arms opposed to engage in close action, he 
 astonished the enemy by the mere prodigy of his cour- 
 age. Shame however kept two others w^ith him, Sp. 
 Lartius and T. Heraiinius, both of them illustrious by 
 birth and actions. With these he sustained for a time 
 the first storm of the danger, and the most tumultuous 
 part of the fight ; he then obliged even those two to 
 make a secure retreat, a small part of the bridge still 
 
94 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 remaining, and those who were cutting it down calling 
 them back. Then rolling his fierce eyes in a menacing 
 manner round the leaders of the Etrurians, he now 
 challenged them singly, now rebuked them collectively, 
 " that slaves to tyrannical kings, regardless of their 
 own liberty, they were come to attack that of others." 
 They hesitated for some time, while each looked round 
 to the other to commence the combat ; then shame ex- 
 cited the troops, and having raised a shout they show- 
 ered their weapons from all sides against their single 
 adversary ; all which sticking in the shield opposed to 
 them, and he with no less obstinacy keeping possession 
 of the bridge with spacious stride, they now endea- 
 voured by their onset to shove off the man ; while at 
 one and the same time the crash of the broken bridge, 
 and the shout of the Romans which was raised with 
 joy for having finished the work, checked their assault 
 by the sudden consternation. Then says Codes, 
 " Holy father Tiberinus, I beseech thee that thou re- 
 ceive these arms and this soldier in thy propitious 
 stream." Thus, armed as he was, he plunged off into 
 the Tiber ; and amidst the many darts which were de- 
 scending around him, he swam safe across to his coun- 
 trymen, having attempted an enterprise which was to 
 obtain more celebrity than credit with after ages. The 
 state proved grateful towards such distinguished merit: 
 a statue was erected to him in the Comitium, and as 
 much land given him as he enclosed with a plough in 
 one day. The zeal of private persons too was conspi- 
 cuous amidst the national honours. For in a time of 
 great scarcity every one contributed something to him, 
 in proportion to his domestic store, defrauding himself 
 of his own proper sustenance. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 PORSENNA being repulsed in his first attempt, chang- 
 ing his plan from storming to besieging the city, and 
 having stationed a garrison in the Janiculum, pitched 
 his camp himself in the plain and the banks of the 
 Tiber : having collected ships from all quarters both as 
 a coast-guard, not to allow any corn to be imported to 
 Rome, and that he might send his soldiers across the 
 
CHAP. 11. LIVY. 95 
 
 Tiber in various and different places, as occasion may 
 require, to carry off plunder : and in a short time he 
 so harassed the entire Roman territory, that not only 
 were all other moveables, but the entire of their cattle 
 also crowded tog-ether from the lands into the city, nor 
 could any one venture to drive them outside the gates. 
 This so great a licence was allowed the Etrurians, not 
 more from fear than from policy ; for Valerius the 
 consul, intent on an opportunity of making an unexpec- 
 pected attack on them, numerous as they were, and in 
 dispersed bodies ; being in small matters a careless 
 avenger, reserved his weighty vengeance for greater 
 occasions. In order, therefore, to allure the depreda- 
 tors, he issues orders to his men to drive out their cat- 
 tle in great numbers on the following day by the Esqui- 
 line gate, which was at the side completely opposite 
 from the enemy ; judging that the enemy would obtain 
 intelligence of it, because in time of siege and famine 
 traitorous slaves were deserting. And they were made 
 acquainted with it by the information of a deserter, and 
 they cross the river in far greater numbers, as in ex- 
 pectation of the entire booty. P. Valerius then orders 
 T. Hermiriius to sit down in ambush with a few troops 
 at the second mile-stone on the Gabinian road ; and Sp. 
 Lartius to take his stand with the light-armed youth at 
 the Colline gate until the enemy should pass by, then 
 to place himself in their rear to intercept their return 
 to the river. The other consul, T. Lucretius, marched 
 out with some companies of soldiers by the Nsevian 
 gate. Valerius himself leads down his chosen cohorts 
 from mount Cselius, and these were the first that were 
 seen by the enemy : Herminius, as soon as he perceives 
 the enemy's confusion, rushes from his ambush, and 
 falls upon the rear of the Etrurians, who were turned 
 against Valerius ; the shout was returned from the 
 right and left, from the Colline gate on one side, from 
 the Nsevian on the other. The plunderers were thus 
 cut to pieces between them, being not adequate in 
 strength for combat, and all the avenues for flight being 
 closed against them : and this put an end to the Etru- 
 rians straggling so extensively. 
 
96 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 THE siege continued notwithstanding, and the scar- 
 city of corn, attended with exceedingly high prices ; and 
 Porsenna entertained a hope that he should take the 
 city by sitting down before it : when C. Mucius, a 
 noble youth, to whom it appeared disgraceful, that 
 while the Roman people in a state of slavery, during 
 their living under a kingly government, had been be- 
 sieged in no war, nor by any enemy ; the same people, 
 now in the enjoyment of freedom, should be besieged 
 by the same Etrurians whose armies they had so often 
 routed : accordingly, judging that such an indignity 
 should be wiped away by some great and bold enter- 
 prise, he first resolved to penetrate of his own accord into 
 the camp of the enemy, afterwards, being apprehensive 
 lest perhaps, if he went without the order of the con- 
 suls, and unknown to x all, he should, if detected by the 
 Roman centinels, be dragged back as a deserter, the 
 present circumstances of the city strengthening the ac- 
 cusation, he waits upon the senate " Fathers," said he, 
 " I mean to cross over the Tiber, and enter the enemy's 
 camp, if 1 am able, not as a plunderer, nor to revenge 
 their depredations in my turn. I have in contempla- 
 tion, if the gods assist, a greater enterprise." The 
 senators give their approbation. Having concealed a 
 dagger under his garment, he sets forward. When he 
 reached the place, he takes his stand in the very thick 
 of the crowd, near the king's tribunal. As it then 
 happened that pay was being distributed to the soldiers, 
 and a secretary sitting beside the king, nearly in the 
 same dress, was much employed, and the soldiers gene- 
 rally addressing themselves to him ; Mucius fearing to 
 enquire which was Porsena, lest by his ignorance of the 
 king's person he should himself betray who he was, 
 slays the secretary instead of the king, to whom (the 
 secretary) chance blindly directed the stroke. Making 
 his escape then, where he had opened a way for him- 
 self through the crowd with his bloody poignard, when, 
 a concourse having taken place at the noise, the king's 
 life-guards had apprehended and brought him back, 
 standing alone before the king's tribunal, then too, 
 amidst such severe menaces of fortune, more to be 
 
CHAP. 12. LIVY. 97 
 
 dreaded than dreading, he says, " I am a Roman citi- 
 zen ; my name is C. Mucius ; as an enemy I intended 
 to slay an enemy ; nor do I possess less resolution to 
 meet death, than to inflict it. Both to act and to suf- 
 fer bravely is the character of a Roman. Nor is it I 
 alone who have harboured those feelings against you : 
 there is after me a long list of persons aspiring to the 
 same honour. Be prepared therefore, if it so please 
 you, for this emergency, that you are every single 
 hour to run the risk of your life, and to have a sword 
 and enemy in the porch of your pavilion. This is the 
 war we, the Roman youth, declare against you. You 
 shall fear no regular army,- no war. The contest shall 
 be for you alone, and with us individually." When 
 the king, at once fired with rage, and terrified at the 
 danger, ordered with a menacing air that fires should 
 be placed round him, unless he quickly discovered what 
 threats of plots he threw out against him by those 
 mysterious hints. " Behold," said he, " that you may 
 perceive how worthless the body is to those who look 
 forward to great glory ;" and thrusts his right hand into 
 a chafing-dish made red hot for a sacrifice, which when 
 he was burning with a resolution as it were remote 
 from the sense of pain, the king almost thunderstruck 
 at the miracle, after leaping forward from his seat, and 
 ordering the young man to be removed from the altars, 
 says, " Do thou then begone, having dared hostilities 
 against yourself rather than me. I would bid you 
 prosper in valour, if such valour were exerted for my 
 own country. I now dismiss you hence released from 
 the law of war, unmolested and uninjured." Then 
 Mucius, as if remunerating the good office, says, " In 
 as much as merit has its honour with you, that you 
 may obtain from me by kindness, what you have not 
 been able to do by threats, three hundred of us, the 
 principal youths of Rome, have bound ourselves by oath 
 to proceed against you in this manner; my lot was first, 
 the rest, as it shall fall to the lot of each before the 
 other, will be here, every one in his proper time, until 
 fortune shall give you up an easy victim." 
 K 
 
98 UVY. BOOK II. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 AMBASSADORS from Porsenna followed to Rome 
 Mucius, thus dismissed, to whom the surname " Scse- 
 vola" was afterwards given, from the loss of his right 
 hand. So much had the fortuitous nature of the first 
 danger, from which nothing but the mistake of the as- 
 sailant could have saved him, and the certainty of un* 
 dergoing the same risk as often as there remained con- 
 spirators, affected him, that he proposed terms of peace 
 of his own accord to the Romans. Amongst the terms, 
 a proposition was in vain made for the restoration of 
 the Tarquins to the throne, more because he could not 
 himself deny that favour to the Tarquins, than that he 
 was ignorant of the probability of its being denied him 
 by the Romans. With respect to restoring their lands 
 to the Veientians, that point was conceded ; and the 
 unavoidable condition of giving hostages was wrested 
 from the Romans, if they would have the garrison 
 withdrawn from the Janiculum. Peace having been 
 concluded upon these terms, Porsenna marched off his 
 army from the Janiculum, and evacuated the Roman 
 territory. In compliment to his valour, the senators 
 gave C. Mucius, as a gift, a tract of land beyond the 
 Tiber, which was afterwards called the Mucian mea- 
 dows. Courage having been thus honoured, the fe- 
 males were in consequence excited to merit public dis- 
 tinctions ; and the virgin Cloelia, one of the hostages, 
 when it happened that the camp of the Etrurians was 
 not situated far from the bank of the Tiber, having 
 eluded her guards, swam across the Tiber at the head 
 of a band of virgins, and restored all her followers safe 
 to their relations at Rome. When this was told to the 
 king, at first inflamed with anger, he sent envoys to 
 Rome to claim back the hostage Cloalia ; the others he 
 did not value much. Afterwards converted into admi- 
 ration, he pronounced " that enterprise to be superior 
 to the Cocleses and Mucii ; and openly declared that. 
 as he would hold the treaty as violated if the hostage 
 were not given up, so he would, if she were surren- 
 dered, return her uninjured to her friends." Faith 
 was maintained on both sides, and the Romans restored 
 the guarantee of peace, pursuant to the treaty ; and 
 
CHAP. 14. LIVY. 99 
 
 with the Etrurian monarch merit was not only safe but 
 honoured ; and having commended the virgin, he de- 
 clared that he would make her a present of half the 
 hostages ; that she might choose whom she pleased her- 
 self. When they were all brought forward, she is 
 said to have chosen those under the age of puberty, a 
 selection which was both honourable to her virgin de- 
 licacy, and in the unanimous opinion of the hostages 
 themselves, likely to be approved, that that age in 
 particular should be delivered from an enemy which 
 was most liable to injury. Peace being re-established, 
 the Romans rewarded this new species of merit in a 
 female with a new kind of honour, an equestrian statue. 
 A virgin on horseback was erected at the head of the 
 " via sacra" 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 A CUSTOM, inconsistent with such a peaceful depar- 
 ture of the Etrurian king from the city, transmitted 
 Tom ancient times, continues up to our own age among 
 the other usages established in selling property, i. e. 
 that of selling the property of king Porsenria. The 
 origin of which custom must have either grown up 
 during war, and not discontinued in peace, or have 
 sprung from a precedent more pacific than this title of 
 selling an enemy's goods imports. Of those accounts 
 which are handed down to us, the nearest to truth is, 
 that Porsenna on his departure from the Janiculum, 
 liad made the Romans a present of his camp, rich in 
 provisions conveyed from the adjacent and fertile fields 
 of Etruria, the city being then poorly supplied, in con- 
 sequence of the long siege ; that this camp, to prevent 
 its being plundered in a hostile manner by the people 
 let loose upon it, was sold, and called the property of 
 Porsenna, the title indicating rather gratitude for the 
 gift, than a sale of the royal property which had not 
 been even under the power of the Roman people. The 
 Roman war having been given up, Porsenna, that his 
 army should not appear to have been led into those 
 countries without effecting something, detached his 
 son Aruns, with a part of his forces, to lay siege to 
 Aricia. This unexpected measure had at first struck 
 
100 LIVY. BOOK II 
 
 terror into the Aricians. Afterwards the auxiliaries, 
 which were sent for from the Latin states, and from 
 Cumse, inspired them with such hope that they ven- 
 tured to engage in the field. In the beginning of the 
 battle, the Etrurians charged with such furious impe- 
 tuosity, that they routed the Aricians at the very first 
 onset. The cohorts of Cunise, employing art against 
 force, gave way a little, and having wheeled about, at- 
 tacked on the rear the enemy who had advanced beyond 
 them in disorder. Thus the Etrurians, already nearly 
 victorious, were cut to pieces in the midst. A very 
 small portion of them, after losing their general, as no 
 other place of refuge was nearer, reached Rome with- 
 out arms, in the condition and appearance of suppliants. 
 There they were kindly received and distributed in 
 lodgings. Their wounds being healed, some returned 
 home, proclaiming the hospitable kindnesses they expe- 
 rienced. An affection for their guests and for the city 
 retained many at Rome ; to these a place was assigned 
 for their habitation, which people afterwards called 
 " the Tuscan street." 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 P. LUCRETIUS and P. Valerius Publicola were next 
 created consuls. In this year, ambassadors came for 
 the last time, about the restoring of Tarquin to the 
 throne ; to whom when it had been answered that the 
 senate would send ambasssadors to the king, all of the 
 highest dignity among the senators were immediately 
 deputed to say, " It was not because an answer, that 
 the royal family could not be re-admitted, might not 
 be briefly returned, that the select deputation of the 
 senators was sent to him, rather than the same answer 
 given to his ambassadors at Rome, but that all mention 
 of the thing should be for ever at an end, and that in 
 the interchange of such great mutual favours, their 
 minds should not be disturbed ; as the king should re- 
 quest what would be contrary to the liberty of the Ro- 
 man people, and the Romans should, unless they would 
 be compliant to their own ruin, refuse a man to whom 
 they would wish to refuse nothing. That the Roman 
 people did not exist under a monarchy, but in a free 
 
CHAP. 16. LIViT. tOT 
 
 government. That they had come to the resolution of 
 opening their gates to an enemy, rather than to kings : 
 that the determination of all was this, that the end of 
 liberty in that city should be the end of the city itself. 
 That they therefore requested him, if he wished the 
 existence of Rome, to allow it to be free." The king, 
 overcome by his respect for them, replies, " Since that 
 is your fixed and unalterable resolution, I will neither 
 teaze you, by repeatedly introducing the same subject 
 to no purpose, nor delude the Tarquins with the hope 
 of assistance, none of which is in my power. Let them, 
 whether they need war or repose, seek some other 
 place of exile than this, in order that nothing should 
 sever my pacific relations with you." To these ex- 
 pressions he added acts more friendly still ; he sent 
 back the hostages that remained; and restored the 
 Veientian land of which they were deprived by the 
 treaty concluded at the Janiculum. Tarquin, all hope 
 of his restoration being cut off, departed into exile to 
 Tusculum to his son-in-law, Mamilius Octavius. Thus 
 the Romans enjoyed a sincere peace with Porsenna< 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 THE next consuls were M. Valerius and P. Postu- 
 ius. In that year they fought successfully with the 
 Sabines ; the consuls had the honour of a triumph. 
 The Sabines then prepared for war with greater exer- 
 tion. To meet those, and at the same time, lest any 
 sudden danger might arise from Tusculum (from 
 whence a war, though not openly declared, was yet ap- 
 prehended), P. Valerius, a fourth, and T. Lucretius, a 
 second time, were elected consuls. A sedition which 
 arose amongst the Sabines, between the advocates of 
 war and those of peace, transferred a portion of the 
 strength of that people to the Romans ; for Attus 
 Clausus, who was afterwards called A p. Claudius, at 
 Rome, when, being himself an adviser of peace, he was 
 overpowered by the agitators of war, and unable to 
 make head against that faction, came over from Regil- 
 lum to Rome, accompanied by a numerous body of his 
 adherents. To those the freedom of the city was given, 
 together with land beyond the Anio. They were 
 K 3 
 
10:> LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 called the old Claudian tribe, some new members who 
 eame from the same country being afterwards added. 
 Appius being elected into the senate, not long after 
 attained to the dignity of the first men in the state. 
 The consuls having marched into the Sabine territory 
 with a formidable army, after having reduced the 
 power of the enemy so much by devastations, and 
 afterwards by battle, that they could dread no renewal 
 of hostilities from that quarter for a long time, returned 
 in triumph to Rome. The year after, in the consulship 
 of A. Menenius and P. Postumius, P. Valerius, who 
 was first, with general consent, in the attainments of 
 war and peace, dies, with glory immense, but domestic 
 circumstances so slender, that the expense of his fune- 
 ral was wanting : he was buried at the public charge. 
 The matrons mourned for him as for Brutus. During 
 the same year two Latin colonies, Pometia and Cora, 
 revolt to the Aurunci ; war was undertaken against the 
 Aurunci ; and a great army of theirs, which had coura- 
 geously opposed itself to the consuls entering their 
 frontiers, being routed, the entire Auruncian war was 
 concentrated at Pometia; nor did they refrain from 
 carnage more after, than during the battle ; and some- 
 what a greater number was slain than taken prisoners : 
 and the prisoners they every where put to death ; the 
 enemy did riot withhold the fury of war even from the 
 hostages, who had been received to the number of threfc 
 hundred. This year also there was a triumph at Rome. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 THE succeeding consuls, Opiter Virginius and Sp. 
 Cassius, attacked Pometia, first by storm, then by en- 
 gines and other operations. Against these, the Aurunci 
 rising up, more from an irreconcilable animosity than 
 any hope or favourable opportunity, (as they sallied 
 forth more of them armed with fire than the sword), 
 fill every place with slaughter and conflagration ; and 
 having burned the engines, and wounded and slain se- 
 veral of their enemies, they also dismounted with a 
 severe wound, and nearly slew one of the consuls, but 
 which, authors do not authenticate. The troops, after 
 this defeat, return to Rome ; the consul was left behind 
 
CHAP. 18. LIVY. 103 
 
 with a faint hope of life amongst the multitude of the 
 wounded. After a short interval, which was merely 
 sufficient for healing the wounds and recruiting the 
 army, their arms were directed against Pometia, as 
 well with great fury of war, as also with augmented 
 forces ; and, having repaired the vinece and the other 
 engines of war, when the soldiers were just on the 
 point of scaling the walls, a capitulation took place. 
 But the Auruncian chiefs were every where beheaded, 
 with no less ferocity, notwithstanding the surrender of 
 the city, than if it had been taken by assault : the rest 
 being colonists were sold by public auction ; the town 
 was razed to the ground the land was sold. The 
 consuls obtained a triumph, more on account of the 
 sanguinary gratification of the people's resentment, than 
 the magnitude of the terminated war. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 THE following year had Postumius Cominius and T. 
 Lartius, as consuls. In that year, at Rome, when 
 some courtezans were wantonly carried off by the Sa- 
 bine youth, during the games, a riot, and nearly a battle 
 took place in consequence of the great concourse of 
 persons, and from a trifling incident the affair seemed 
 to tend to a renewal of hostilities. Along with the 
 terror of the Latin war, this too had been added, that 
 it was sufficiently known that thirty states had already 
 formed a confederacy, at the instigation of Octavius 
 Mamilius. In this apprehension of such important 
 events, the community being perplexed, mention first 
 arose of creating a dictator. But it is not sufficiently 
 agreed, either in what year, or what consuls were dis- 
 trusted, because they were of the Tarquinian party, 
 (for that too is handed down) or who it was that was 
 first created dictator. In the most ancient authors, 
 however, I find T. Lartius created first dictator, and 
 Sp. Cassius, master of the horse. Men of consular 
 dignity elected him, for so the law, passed for creating 
 a dictator, directed. For this reason I am the more 
 inclined to believe that Lartius, who was of consular 
 dignity, rather than Manius Valerius, the son of Mar- 
 cus, and grandson of Volesus, who had not yet been 
 
104 LIVY, BOOK II. 
 
 consul, was appointed as director and master over the 
 consuls, who, if they wished that a dictator should he 
 chosen from that family in particular, would have much 
 rather made choice of M. Valerius the father, a man of 
 approved merit and consular dignity. A dictator hav- 
 ing heen for the first time created at Rome, when they 
 saw the axes carried before him, a great dread per- 
 vaded the populace, so that they were more attentive 
 to yield ohedience ; for there neither was, as in the 
 case of the consuls, who were invested with equal 
 power, the aid of one of the two, nor an appeal ; nor 
 was there any where a resource, except in promptitude 
 of obedience. The creation of a dictator at Rome 
 struck terror even into the Sabines, more especially as 
 they believed that he had been created to oppose them- 
 selves ; accordingly they send ambassadors to treat of 
 peace ; to whom imploring the dictator and senate to 
 grant pardon of an error to young persons, answer was 
 made, " That pardon might be granted to young men, 
 but could not to their seniors, who were sowing the 
 seed of wars after wars." They treated however of 
 peace, and it would have been obtained, if the Sabines 
 could have brought themselves to defray what costs 
 had been expended on the war, for that was the de- 
 mand made. War was declared ; a tacit truce kept 
 the year tranquil. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 THE consuls were Ser. Sulpicius and Manius Tul- 
 lius ; nothing was done worthy of being mentioned : 
 after them came T. -^Ebutius and C. Vetusius. In their 
 consulate Fidense was besieged, Crustumeria taken, and 
 Prseneste revolted from the Latins to the Romans, nor 
 was the Latin war, which had been kindling now for 
 several years, longer deferred. A. Postumius, the dic- 
 tator, and T. JEbutius, master of horse, setting out with 
 great forces of infantry and cavalry, met the troops of 
 the enemy at lake Regillus, in the territory of Tuscu- 
 lum ; and as it was reported that the Tarquins were in 
 the army of the Latins, their rage could not be re- 
 strained from engaging immediately Wherefore, also 
 this battle was somewhat more obstinate and bloody 
 
20. LIVY. 105 
 
 than the others ; for the generals were present, not 
 only to direct the affair by their prudence, but risking 
 their own individual persons, they joined in the con- 
 flict ; nor did scarcely any of the commanders escape 
 either from the one army or the other without a wound, 
 except the Roman dictator. Tarquinius Superbus, 
 though now more enfeebled in age and strength, furi- 
 ously spurred his horse against Postumius, encourag- 
 ing and marshalling his troops in the first line, and 
 being wounded by a side blow, was carried off into a 
 place of security by the interposition of his own troops ; 
 and on the other wing, ^Ebutius, master of horse, had 
 directed an attack against Octavius Mamilius, nor did 
 he advance unperceived by the Tusculan chief, against 
 whom the latter too spurs on his horse, and so great 
 was the shock of them charging with hostile spears, 
 that the arm of ^Ebutius was pierced through, and the 
 breast of Mamilius wounded. The Latins indeed bear 
 him safely off to the second line ; ^Ebutius, disabled 
 from holding his spear, by the wound in his arm, with- 
 drew from the fight. The Latin commander, in no re- 
 spect daunted by his wound, excites the battle, and as 
 he saw his own countrymen dispirited, brings up the 
 cohort of Roman exiles, which L. Tarquin's son headed ; 
 this battalion, as it fought with greater animosity, on 
 account of the privation of their property, and the loss 
 of their native home, restored the battle for a short 
 time. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 As the Romans were now giving way on that side, 
 M. Valerius, the brother of Publicola, having espied the 
 young and resolute Tarquin, displaying his prowess in 
 the front of the exiles, and being fired even with do- 
 mestic glory, that the destruction of kings might be an 
 honour to the same family, to which their expulsion 
 had been so also, sets spurs to his horse, and with his 
 javelin presented, charges Tarquin. Tarquin fell back 
 into the ranks of his friends from his furious adversary. 
 As Valerius rashly rode into the line of the exiles, 
 some person attacking him. by a side charge, ran him 
 through, and his horse being nothing checked by the 
 
106 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 wound of its rider, the expiring Roman sunk to the 
 ground, his arms falling over his body. The dictator, 
 Postumius, when he sees so distinguished a man 
 fallen the exiles furiously rushing on in an impetuous 
 charge, and his own troops giving way in consterna- 
 tion, gives the signal to his own cohort, which chosen 
 hand he kept as a guard round his person, to treat as 
 an enemy whomsoever of their own troops they should 
 see flying ; thus the Romans were turned against the 
 enemy by a twofold terror, and the battle was restored. 
 The dictator's cohort then, for the first time, engaged, 
 attacking with unbroken spirits and strength the wea- 
 ried exiles, they slaughter them. On this occasion 
 another engagement takes place between the chieftains. 
 The Latin general, when he sees the battalion of the 
 exiles nearly surrounded by the Roman dictator, ra- 
 pidly brings up with him to the front some companies 
 of the reserve. T. Herminius, the lieutenant-general, 
 perceiving those advancing in a body, and amongst 
 them, recognizing Mamilius, conspicuous by his dress 
 and arms, joined battle with the general of the enemy 
 with a strength so much greater than did the master of 
 horse a little before, that he slew Mamilius, transfixed 
 by a single blow through the side, and being himself, 
 while stripping the enemy's body, struck with a jave- 
 lin, as soon as he had been brought back victorious to 
 the camp, he expired during the first dressing of his 
 wound. Then the dictator flies up to the cavalry, im- 
 ploring them, as the infantry were now fatigued, to 
 dismount and share the combat. They obeyed the 
 order ; they leaped from their horses, fly forward to 
 the van, and oppose their bucklers as a front line. The 
 infantry immediately resume courage, when they see 
 the young men of the first families sustaining half the 
 danger with them, the manner of fighting being brought 
 to an equality. Then at length the Latins were forced, 
 and their terrified lines gave way. Their horses were 
 brought up to the cavalry, that they might pursue the 
 enemy, and the infantry also followed. On this occa- 
 sion, the dictator, omitting nothing either of divine or 
 human aid, is reported to have vowed a temple to Cas- 
 tor, and to have proclaimed rewards to that soldier who 
 should be first or second to enter the enemy's camp ; 
 
CHAP. 21. LIVY. 107 
 
 and so great was their impetuosity, that the Romans 
 took the camp by the same charge whereby they had 
 routed the enemy. In this manner they fought at lake 
 Regillus. The dictator and master of horse returned 
 in triumph to the city. 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 DURING the space of three years after, there was 
 neither certain peace nor war. The consuls were Q. 
 Ckelius and T. Lartius; after them, A. Sempronius and 
 M. Minucius : in the consulate of the latter, the temple 
 of Saturn was dedicated ; and a festival day called 
 " Saturnalia' instituted. A. Postnmius and T. Virgi- 
 nius were then made consuls. I find in some writers, 
 that it was only in this year the battle at lake Regillus 
 was fought ; that A. Postumius resigned the consul- 
 ship, because his colleague appeared to be a man of 
 questionable fidelity, and that he was then created dic- 
 tator. Such great mistakes of dates perplex one, the 
 magistrates being placed in different order, by different 
 persons, that you cannot, in such an antiquity not only 
 of facts, but even of writers, either arrange what con- 
 suls came after certain others, or what transactions 
 took place in each successive year. Ap. Claudius and 
 P. Servilius were next made consuls. This year is re- 
 markable by the intelligence of the death of Tarquin ; 
 he died at Cumse, whither he had retired to the tyrant 
 Aristodemus, after the reduction of the power of the 
 Latins. By this news the patricians were elated, the 
 commons elated; but that joy of the patricians was too 
 intemperate : insults began to be offered by the nobi- 
 lity to the commons, whom, up to that day, they had 
 courted with the utmost assiduity. In the same year, 
 the colony of Signia, which king Tarquin had planted, 
 was a second time established, the number of the colo- 
 nists being filled up. On e-and- twenty tribes were in- 
 corporated at Rome ; and the temple of Mercury dedi- 
 cated on the 15th of May. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 DURING the Latin war, there had been neither peace 
 
108 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 nor war with the nation of the Volsci for the Volsci 
 had collected reinforcements which they would send the 
 Latins, had not expedition been used by the Roman 
 dictator, and the Roman did employ expedition, that 
 he should not have to contend in one battle with the 
 Latin and Volscian. Under the influence of this re- 
 sentment, the consuls led their troops into the Volscian 
 territory. This unexpected measure struck with dis- 
 may the Volsci, who did not apprehend punishment for 
 what was merely a design. Giving up all thoughts of 
 arms, they give three hundred hostages, the children 
 of the principal men from Cora and Pometia : thus the 
 troops were brought off from thence without an en- 
 gagement. In no long time after, their natural disposi- 
 tion returned to the Volsci, being now relieved from 
 apprehension ; a second time they make preparations 
 for secret war, having associated to them the Hernici 
 in a confederacy of arms. They also send ambassadors 
 in every direction to solicit the aid of Latium ; but 
 the recent disaster which they sustained at lake Regil- 
 lus, caused the Latins not to refrain even from the 
 violation of the ambassadors, from their rage and de- 
 testation of any person who should recommend hostili- 
 ties. They seized the Volscians, and conducted them 
 to Rome, there they were given up to the consuls ; and 
 information communicated that the Volsci and Hernici 
 were preparing war against the Romans. The subject 
 being referred to the senate, their conduct was so ac- 
 ceptable to the patricians, that they restored six thou- 
 sand of their prisoners to the Latins, and submitted to 
 the new magistrates the question of a treaty which had 
 been refused them almost for ever. Then indeed did 
 the Latins exult in their conduct ; the advisers of peace 
 were in high reputation. They send to the Capitol a 
 golden crown as a present to Jupiter ; a vast congre- 
 gated multitude, consisting of those prisoners who had 
 been sent back to their friends, arrived in company 
 with the ambassadors and the present ; they return 
 thanks for having been generously received and treated 
 in their distress ; they then unite in ties of hospitality. 
 Never on any other occasion was the Latin state more 
 closely connected by public and private relations with 
 the Roman government. 
 
CHAP. 23. LIVY. 109 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 BUT the Sabine war was still impending, and the 
 state disunited within itself, was inflamed with intes- 
 tine animosity between the patricians and commons, 
 principally on account of those confined for debt. They 
 murmured that, " fighting for liberty and dominion 
 abroad, they were themselves enslaved and oppressed 
 by their fellow- citizens at home, and that the liberty of 
 the commons was more secure in war than in peace, 
 amongst their enemies than their own countrymen." 
 And this jealousy kindling of its own accord, the sin- 
 gular misfortune of one individual blew up into a blaze. 
 A certain man advanced in years threw himself into the 
 Forum with the marks of all his sufferings ; his raiment 
 was covered over with squalid poverty, more shocking 
 still the condition of his person, which was wasted with 
 paleness and emaciation, along with this, a long beard 
 and hair had given a savage appearance to his features. 
 Amidst so much wretchedness, however, lie was known, 
 and people said that he had been a centurion, and com- 
 passionating him, they mentioned generally his other 
 military distinctions ; he himself was displaying the 
 scars on his breast, as witnesses of honourable engage- 
 ments in several places. To those inquiring how came 
 that appearance, that wretchedness, whilst a crowd col- 
 lected round him, nearly in the manner of an assembly, 
 he said, " That while serving in the Sabine war he had 
 got into debt, because, by reason of-the depopulations, 
 he not only lost the produce of his land, but his house 
 was also burned, all his goods plundered, his cattle 
 driven away, and a tax imposed on him in the season of 
 his distress ; that this debt, accumulating by usury, first 
 stripped him of his farm, derived from his father and 
 grandfather, and next, of all his other substance : that 
 in the end, like a contagion, it reached his person: that 
 he was dragged by his creditor, not into servitude, but 
 to a work-house and place of execution." He then exhi- 
 bited his back disfigured with the recent mai'ks of stripes. 
 On seeing and hearing this, a great uproar ensues. 
 The tumult no longer confines itself to the Forum, but 
 pervades the whole city in every direction. The con- 
 fined and discharged debtors burst forward from all 
 
110 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 quarters into the public streets, and implore the pro- 
 tection of Romans. In no place is wanting a volunteer 
 associate of sedition : they rush in many bodies through 
 all the streets with shouts into the Forum. Such of the 
 patricians as happened to be in the Forum, fell in with 
 that mob, to their great personal hazard ; nor would 
 they refrain from acts of violence, had not the consuls, 
 P. Servilius and Ap. Claudius, speedily come up to 
 quell the insurrection. The multitude turning to them r 
 exhibited their chains and other marks of wretchedness. 
 This they declared they merited, reproaching them 
 each with his own military service in the respective 
 wars. They demanded, with a far greater air of me- 
 nace than of supplication, that they should summon the 
 senate ; and they surround the senate-house themselves, 
 determined to be the arbiters and regulators of the 
 public counsels. A very small number of the patri- 
 cians, whom chance had thrown in the way, were 
 brought together to meet the consuls ; fear kept the 
 rest not only from the senate-house, but also from the 
 Forum ; and no business could be done by reason of 
 the thinness of the senate. Then particularly the popu- 
 lace believed that they were deceived and put off, and 
 that such of the patricians as did not attend, were ab- 
 sent not from chance nor fear, but with a view of ob- 
 structing the business ; and that the consuls themselves 
 were tergiversating; and their own sufferings were, 
 beyond doubt, a mockery. The matter now went so 
 far, that even the majesty of the consuls could not con- 
 troul the rage of the people, when the members, un- 
 certain whether they should incur more danger by 
 staying away or attending, at length came to the senate, 
 and the house being at length full, there was not only 
 not sufficient unanimity amongst the senators, but not 
 even between the consuls themselves. Appius, a man 
 of violent character, was of opinion that the point should 
 bo carried by the consular authority, and that if one or 
 two were arrested, the rest would remain quiet. Ser- 
 vilius, more adapted for gentle remedies, thought it 
 both safer and easier that their excited spirits should 
 be bent than broken. 
 
CHAP. 24. LIVY. Ill 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 DURING these perplexities, another and greater ap- 
 prehension arose. Some Latin horsemen fly to Rome, 
 with the alarming intelligence, " That the Volsci were 
 approaching with a formidable army to lay siege to the 
 city;" the news of which (so much had disunion made 
 two cities out of one) affected the patricians and com- 
 mons in a far different way. The commons exulted with 
 joy, said, " the gods, the avengers of the arrogance of 
 the senators, were coming." They exhorted each other 
 not to give in their names, saying, " that they should 
 perish rather in the general ruin, than by themselves. 
 That the patricians should serve, the patricians take 
 up arms, in order that they should sustain the perils of 
 war, who enjoyed its rewards." But on the other 
 hand, the senate, sad and in consternation at the double 
 danger, proceeding both from fellow-citizens and ene- 
 mies, entreated the consul, Servilius, who had a dispo- 
 sition more popular, to extricate the republic environed, 
 as it was, by such great apprehensions. Thereupon 
 the consul, having dismissed the senate, goes forth to 
 a public assembly, and gives them to understand " That 
 the patricians were solicitous to consult the interests of 
 the commons, but that their anxiety for the entire re- 
 public had interrupted their deliberation, for that cer- 
 tainly most respectable portion, but still a portion of 
 the community ; neither could any subject take prece- 
 dence of war, when the enemy was present at the 
 gates : nor, if there were any respite, was it either 
 creditable to the commons, not to have taken up arms 
 in defence of their country, unless on the condition of 
 first receiving pay, nor sufficiently honourable to the 
 senators themselves to have redressed the afflicted situ- 
 ation of their countrymen from fear, rather than after- 
 wards from inclination." To this harangue he then at- 
 tached a reliance by an edict, by which he proclaimed, 
 " that no one should keep a Roman citizen in chains or 
 confinement, whereby he could not have an opportu- 
 nity of enrolling his name with the consuls ; that no 
 person should seize or sell the goods of a soldier as 
 long as he should be in camp ; or detain his children or 
 grand-children." This edict being published, such of 
 
112 LIVY. BOOK II 
 
 trie debtors as were present immediately gave in their 
 names, and there ensued a concourse into the Forum, 
 for the purpose of taking the military oath, of the rest 
 rushing out of their secret confinement on all sides of 
 the entire city, as now the creditors had not a right of 
 detaining them. That constituted a powerful body, 
 nor did the valour and exertions of any other class 
 shine out more conspicuous in the Volscian war. The 
 consul leads out his forces against the enemy ; he 
 pitches his camp, a small interval separating him from 
 the foe. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 ON the ensuing night after, the Volsci, relying on the 
 dissension of the Romans, make an attempt on the 
 camp, to try if any desertion or treachery might take 
 place. The centinels perceived them ; the army was 
 called up ; on a signal given, they ran to arms. Thus 
 the Volsci were frustrated in that attempt; the re- 
 mainder of the night was devoted by both armies to 
 repose. On the following day, at the first dawn, the 
 Volsci having filled up the trenches, assault the ram- 
 part ; and now the fortifications were being torn down 
 on every side, when the consul, although they were 
 all on every side, but particularly the debtors, calling 
 out to him to give the signal, delayed for some time in 
 order to sound the feelings of his men, and when their 
 great ardour was sufficiently apparent, giving them at 
 length the signal to rush forth, he lets out his army, 
 panting for the engagement. Immediately on the first 
 charge, the'enemy were routed, the rear of the fugitives 
 was put to the sword, as far as the infantry were able 
 to continue the pursuit : the cavalry drove them panic- 
 struck as far as their camp ; shortly after the camp 
 itself, the troops being drawn round it, when conster- 
 nation drove the Volsci even from thence, was taken 
 and pillaged. On the following day, the legions being 
 inarched to Suessa Pometia, whither the enemy had 
 fled for safety, the town is taken in the space of a few 
 days: being taken, it is given up for pillage, the needy 
 soldiers were by that means somewhat relieved. The 
 consul, with the greatest glory, brings back to Rome his 
 
CHAP. 26. LIVY. 1 13 
 
 victorious army. As he was departing for Rome, am- 
 bassadors wait upon him from the Volsci of Ecetra, 
 who, after the capture of Pometia, were apprehensive 
 for their safety. Peace was granted them pursuant to 
 a decree of the senate ; their lands were taken from 
 them. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 IMMEDIATELY after, the Sahines also gave some 
 alarm to the Romans, for it was more properly an in- 
 surrection than a war. News was conveyed by night 
 into the city, that a Sabine army had reached the river 
 Anio in a predatory manner, and that the farm-houses 
 were there in all directions pillaged and set on fire. 
 A. Postumius, who had been dictator in the Latin war, 
 was immediately dispatched thither with the whole 
 strength of the cavalry ; Servilius, the consul, followed 
 with a select body of infantry. The cavalry surrounded 
 most of them straggling ; neither did the Sabine legion 
 resist the approaching body of the infantry. Being 
 fatigued both by their march, and also by their nightly 
 depredations, a great number being sated with meat 
 and wine, they had scarcely strength sufficient for 
 flight. The Sabine war being announced and termina- 
 ted in one and the same night, on the next day Aurun- 
 cian ambassadors, in full expectation of peace, which 
 was now on all sides procured, wait upon the senate ; 
 declaring war if the Volscian territory were not eva- 
 cuated. At the same time with the ambassadors, the 
 army of the Aurunci had set out from home ; the intel- 
 ligence of which being now seen not far from Aricia, 
 agitated the Romans with so great alarm, that the se- 
 nate could neither be regularly consulted, nor could 
 they taking up arms themselves, give a pacific answer 
 to those who were committing hostilities. They pro- 
 ceed to Aricia in a hostile body, and not far from thence 
 a general engagement was fought with the Aurunci ; 
 and the war terminated in a single battle. 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 THE Aurunci having been defeated, the Roman 
 L 3 
 
114 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 people, victorious in so many wars within a few days, 
 were expecting the promises of the consul and the faith 
 of the senate to he redeemed ; when Appius, from the 
 pride inherent in his heart, and also in order to render 
 null his colleague's credit, administered the law on the 
 subject of debts with the utmost rigour possible. 
 Thenceforward those who had been previously in con- 
 finement, were given up to their creditors, and others 
 were imprisoned. When this had happened to any 
 soldier, he used to appeal to Appius' colleague ; they 
 crowded to Servilius, they repeated his promises, they 
 reproached him, each with his own services in war, 
 and the scars he received ; they required that he would 
 either refer the matter to the senate, or support his 
 fellow-citizens as consul, or his soldiers as general. 
 These appeals had an effect on the consul, but the 
 situation of affairs obliged him to temporize ; so much 
 had not only his colleague, but the whole party of the 
 nobility, gone headlong the other way. Thus by tak- 
 ing a middle course, he neither escaped the displeasure 
 of the commons, nor obtained favour with the patri- 
 cians. The senators deemed him a consul weak and 
 fond of popularity the commons, a deceiver ; and it 
 shortly appeared that he equalled Appius in unpopu- 
 larity. A dispute had occurred between the consuls, 
 which should dedicate the temple of Mercury. The 
 senate threw the question from themselves upon the 
 people ; and ordained that to whichever of them the 
 dedication should be granted by order of the people, 
 he should preside over the market, institute a guild of 
 merchants, and undertake the performance of the usual 
 ceremonies in the presence of the pontiff. The people 
 confer the dedication of the temple on M. Lsetorius, a 
 centurion of the first rank ; which easily appeared to 
 have been done, not so much for his honour, on whom 
 a superintendence above his rank was conferred, as for 
 the degradation of the consuls, Then particularly one 
 of the consuls and the patricians raged ; but the spirit 
 of the commons increased, and they proceeded by a far 
 different course from what they at first intended. For 
 having despaired of any aid from the consuls and senate, 
 they rushed together from all quarters whenever they 
 saw a debtor led to justice ; and neither could the deci- 
 
CHAP. 28. LIVY. 115 
 
 sion of the consul be heard, on account of the bustle and 
 clamour, nor, when he did decide, did any one obey 
 him. They were proceeding by force ; and all the 
 apprehension and danger respecting liberty, were trans- 
 ferred from the debtors to the creditors, when in view 
 of the consul they were individually assaulted by num- 
 bers. In addition to this, the fear of a Sabine war 
 pervaded them ; and a levy of troops being held, not 
 one gave in his name Appius storming and inveighing 
 against his colleague's love of popularity, who, to please 
 the people, was betraying the commonwealth by his 
 silence ; and to his culpability in not administering 
 justice, was adding that of not even holding the levy, 
 in obedience to the senate's decree. " That, however, 
 the commonwealth was not entirely deserted, and the 
 consular authority prostituted. That he would himself 
 singly become the assertor of his own and the patri- 
 cian's dignity." When the daily mob, furious by licen- 
 tiousness, surrounded him, he caused one distinguished 
 leader of the insurrection to be arrested. The latter, 
 when he was being dragged off by the lictors, appealed : 
 nor would the consul have yielded to the appeal, be- 
 cause the decision of the people was not doubtful, had 
 not his pertinacity been reluctantly overcome, more by 
 the advice and authority of the nobility, than by the 
 clamours of the people ; so redundant were his spirits 
 to sustain popular indignation. The mischief hence- 
 forward increased every day, not only by open cla- 
 mours, but, what was far more pernicious, by seces- 
 sion and secret conferences. At length those consuls, 
 odious to the people, go out of office ; Appius, a won- 
 derful favourite with the patricians Servilius, with 
 neither party. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 A. VIRGINIUS and T. Vetusius next enter on the 
 consulship. Then the commons, uncertain what sort 
 of consuls they were now to have, hold nightly 
 meetings, some on Esquilise, others on Aventine ; lest 
 in the Forum they might be confused by hurried coun- 
 sels, and do every thing rashly and fortuitously. The 
 consuls, judging such a proceeding pernicious, as it 
 
116 L1YY. BOOK II. 
 
 really was, submit it to the senate : but, when sub- 
 mitted, they \vere not allowed to take their opinions re- 
 gularly, so tumultuously was it received every where by 
 the clamours and indignation of the patricians, that the 
 consuls should throw on the senate the odium of an act 
 which ought to have been executed by the consular 
 authority. " That really, if there were magistrates 
 in the state, there would be no council at Rome but 
 the public one. That at present the commonwealth was 
 divided, and dispersed into a thousand senate-houses 
 and assemblies ; some councils being held on Esquiliae, 
 others on Aventine. That, by Hercules, one man of 
 spirit (for that was more than a consul), such as Ap- 
 pius Claudius was, would in one moment of time dis- 
 perse those meetings." When the rebuked consuls 
 inquired, what then they would have them do (for 
 they would do nothing more remissly or indulgently 
 than pleased the patricians), the senate decree, that 
 they should proceed with the levy in the strictest man- 
 ner ; that the commons were become licentious through 
 want of employment. The senate being dismissed, the 
 consuls mount the tribunal ; they call over the juniors 
 by name ; when none answered to his name, the popu- 
 lace, which thronged round in the manner of an assem- 
 bly, denied, " That the commons could be any longer 
 deceived : that they should never have a single soldier, 
 unless the public engagement was fulfilled ; that liberty 
 should be restored to every single individual before 
 arms were given him, so that they might fight for their 
 country and fellow-citizens, not for their masters." 
 The consuls saw what had been commanded them to 
 do by the senate ; but that not one of those, who talked 
 so daringly within the walls of the senate-house, was 
 present to share the odium with themselves, and a 
 desperate struggle w r ith the commons w r as contemplated. 
 They agree, therefore, before they should resort to 
 extremities, to consult the senate a second time. Then 
 particularly every younger patrician flew almost in a 
 body to the seats of the consuls, ordering them to 
 abdicate the consulship, and divest themselves of an 
 authority which they wanted spirit to maintain. 
 
CHAP. 29. LIVY. 117 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 THE consuls, having sufficiently tried the disposition 
 of each party, now at length exclaim, " Conscript fa- 
 thers, lest you should deny that you were previously 
 warned, we now tell you, a dangerous sedition is at 
 hand. We request that those who most loudly censure 
 our inactivity, should attend us while we hold the levy. 
 We will execute the task according to the pleasure of 
 the most rigorous individual, since such is your plea- 
 sure." They return to the tribunal ; they intentionally 
 order one of those who were within sight to be cited 
 by name. When he stood mute, and around him w r as 
 collected a circle of several persons, lest perhaps he 
 might be forced, the consuls send a lictor to him ; and 
 on his being beaten back, then particularly such of the 
 patricians as were attending the consuls, exclaiming 
 that it was shocking conduct, fly down from the tri- 
 bunal to support the lictor. But when the popular 
 fury was directed against the patricians from the lictor, 
 who was hindered from .arresting him and no further, 
 the riot was quelled by the intervention of the consuls ; 
 a riot in which, however, without stone or weapon, 
 there had been more clamour and rage than mischief. 
 The senate, tumultuously convened, is still more tumul- 
 tuously consulted, those who had been maltreated de- 
 manding an investigation ; all the most violent of them 
 supporting it not more by their votes, than by clamour 
 and confusion. At length, when their rage subsided, 
 the consuls alleging by way of reproach, that there was 
 no more good sense in the senate-house than in the 
 Forum, they (the senate) began to be consulted regu- 
 larly. There were three opinions. P. Virginius 
 would not make it a general question, and moved, 
 " That they should deliberate only with respect to those 
 who, relying on the engagement of the consul, P. Ser- 
 vilius, had served in the Volscian, Auruncian, and Sabine 
 wars." T. Lartius, " That this was not the time when 
 services alone should be requited ; that the entire body 
 of the commons was overwlielmed with debt ; and that 
 the evil could not be arrested, if they did not consult 
 for the relief of all ; nay more, if the condition of some 
 were different from that of others, that the dissension 
 
118 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 would be enflamed rather than allayed." Ap. Clau- 
 dius, naturally harsh, and rendered furious on one side 
 by the hatred of the commons, on the other by the 
 commendations of the patricians, says, " That so much 
 disturbance was not excited by distress, but by licen- 
 tiousness ; and that the commons were more wanton 
 than enraged ; that, moreover, that evil arose from the 
 right of appeal, since menaces, not authority, belonged 
 to the consuls, when it was permitted to appeal to 
 those who were fellow-offenders. Come," said he, 
 " let us create a dictator, from whom there is no appeal ; 
 immediately this fury, by which all things are in a 
 blaze, will subside. Let me then see the man who 
 shall assault a lictor, when he must know that the 
 power over his back and life is solely in the hands of 
 that individual whose majesty he shall have insulted." 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 THE proposal of Appius appeared to many, as in 
 truth it was, barbarous and sanguinary ; on the other 
 hand, those of Virginius and Lartius not safe as a pre- 
 cedent: Lartius' opinion they considered particularly 
 so, which would abolish all credit. The counsel of 
 Virginius was deemed most moderate, and happily 
 compounded of the other two. But Appius prevailed 
 through the spirit of faction, and regard to private in- 
 terests, motives which ever have obstructed, and will 
 obstruct public councils ; and he was himself near being 
 created dictator, which circumstance would have par- 
 ticularly alienated the commons at this most perilous 
 juncture, when the Volsci, and ^Bqui, and Sabines, 
 happened to be all at once inarms. But the consuls 
 and the senior part of the patricians were solicitous, 
 that a power, arbitrary of itself, should be entrusted to 
 a person of mild disposition. They create Manius 
 Valerius, the son of Volesus, dictator. The commons, 
 although they perceived that the dictator was created 
 in opposition to themselves, yet as it was by his bro* 
 ther's law that they enjoyed the right of appeal, appre- 
 hended nothing either harsh or oppressive from that 
 family. Afterwards, an edict issued by the dictator, 
 coinciding almost with the edict of Servilius, confirmed 
 
CHAP. 30. LIVY. 119 
 
 their minds : but judging that both the individual and 
 the power were more safely relied on in the present 
 instance, having given up the controversy, they en- 
 rolled their names. Ten legions were embodied, such 
 an army as had never before been raised ; of these, 
 three were assigned to each of the two consuls, the 
 dictator commanded four. Nor could war be longer 
 deferred. The ^Bqui had invaded the Latin territory ; 
 the deputies of the Latins requested of the senate, that 
 they would either send them relief, or allow themselves 
 to take up arms for the purpose of defending their ter- 
 ritories. It appeared more advisable, that the Latins 
 should be defended unarmed, than to allow them to 
 take up arms once more. The consul, Vetusius, was 
 sent thither; that put an end to the depredations. 
 The ^Equi retired from the plains, and relying more 
 on the nature of the ground than on their arms, were 
 securing themselves within the highest ridges of the 
 mountains. The other consul having marched against 
 the Volsci, that he should not himself also waste time, 
 provoked the enemy, particularly by laying waste their 
 iands, to encamp nearer, and come to a regular engage- 
 ment. They halted in a hostile attitude in the inter- 
 mediate plain, each army before its own rampart. The 
 Volsci were somewhat superior in numbers. Accord- 
 ngly they advanced to battle in a loose and contemp- 
 tuous manner. The Roman consul neither moved for- 
 ward his line, nor suffered the shout to be returned ; 
 ordered his troops to stand still, with their javelins 
 ixed in the ground, and as soon as the enemy should 
 lave come to close action, to spring forward with their 
 utmost might, and engage with their swords. The 
 Volsci, fatigued with running and shouting, when they 
 bore down on the Romans, as if paralyzed with fear, as 
 soon as they perceived an impression made from the 
 enemy's side, and the swords glittering before their 
 ?yes, turn their backs in confusion, just as if they had 
 "alien into an ambuscade ; and they had not strength 
 enough, even for flight, as they had advanced to battle 
 u a running pace. The Romans, on the contrary, as 
 hey had stood quiet in the commencement of the ac- 
 ton, being vigorous in their bodies, having easily over- 
 aken the wearied fugitives, took the camp by assault, 
 
120 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 and pursuing as far as Velitrse the enemy, dispossessed 
 of their camp, they rushed into the city, victors and 
 vanquished, almost in one continued body: and more 
 blood was spilled there, in the indiscriminate slaughter 
 of all ranks, than in the engagement itself. Pardon 
 Was granted to a few, who surrendered themselves 
 unarmed. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 WHILST these things are going on in the country of 
 the Volsci, the dictator routs, puts to flight, and strips 
 of their camp the Sabines, with whom there lay by far 
 the weightiest part of the war. Having charged with 
 his cavalry, he had thrown into disorder the centre of 
 the enemy's line, where, whilst the wings extend them- 
 selves too widely, they had not adequately strength- 
 ened it by files internally : the infantry fell upon them 
 in their disorder : and by the same onset the camp was 
 taken, and the war ended. Since the battle at lake 
 Regillus, no other engagement during those years was 
 more glorious. The dictator rides triumphant into the 
 city. In addition to the usual honours, a place was 
 assigned to him and his posterity in the circus, to view 
 the games, and in that place a curule chair was fixed. 
 The lands of Velitrse were taken from the subjugated 
 Volsci ; colonists were sent to Velitrse from the city, 
 and a colony established. In some time after, a battle 
 was fought with the^Equi, not certainly with the consul's 
 will, for they had to advance up to the enemy through 
 disadvantageous ground ; but the soldiers complaining 
 that the business was protracted, in order that the dic- 
 tator might go out of office, before they could them- 
 selves return, and his promises, like those of the consul 
 before, prove ineffectual, prevailed on him to march 
 up his army, at all hazards, against the opposite moun- 
 tains. That rash undertaking turned out successful, 
 through the cowardice of the enemy, who, before they 
 came within a javelin's throw, being panic-struck at the 
 boldness of the Romans, and deserting their camp, which 
 they had occupied in the most secure position, leaped 
 down into the vallies behind them, on which occasion 
 there was abundance of booty, and an unbloody victory. 
 
CHAP. 32. LIVY. 121 
 
 Matters being thus successful in war in three different 
 places ; the anxiety for the event of domestic affairs 
 had departed neither from the patricians nor commons ; 
 with so much influence, as well as dexterity, had the 
 usurers concerted measures, which should disappoint, 
 not only the commons, hut also the dictator himself. 
 For Valerius, after the return of the consul Vetusius, 
 introduced, first of all other measures in the senate, 
 that relating to the victorious people, and proposed 
 what they would be pleased to have done respecting 
 the condemned debtors ; which proposition being re- 
 jected, " I do not please you," he says, " by being the 
 adviser of concord ; by Hercules, you shall shortly 
 wish that the commons of Rome had patrons like me. 
 As to what regards myself, I will neither delude my 
 fellow-citizens longer, nor will I be myself a dictator 
 to no effect. Internal dissensions and foreign war 
 have caused the commonwealth to require this magis- 
 trate ; peace has been procured abroad, at home it is 
 obstructed : I shall witness sedition as a private man, 
 rather than as dictator." Thus, having retired from 
 the senate-house, he abdicated the dictatorship. It 
 appeared a clear case to the commons, that he resigned 
 office, indignant at their own condition. Wherefore, 
 as if he had fully discharged his engagement, since it 
 had not been his fault that it was not fulfilled, they ac- 
 companied him home with approbation and applause. 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 AN apprehension then seized the patricians, that, if 
 the army were disbanded, secret meetings and conspira- 
 cies would be again held ; for which reason, though the 
 levies had been made by the dictator, still judging that the 
 soldiers had been bound by their oath, as they had sworn 
 obedience to the consuls, they ordered the legions to 
 be marched out of the city, under a pretext of the war 
 being renewed by the ^Bqui, by which proceeding the 
 sedition was brought to maturity. And at first, it is 
 said, they entertained the subject of murdering the 
 consuls, that they might be released from their solemn 
 oath ; but being afterwards informed that no religious 
 obligation could be discharged by guilt, they seceded, 
 M 
 
122 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 by the advice of one Sicinius, without the order of the 
 consuls, to mount Sacer (it lies beyond the Anio), 
 three miles from the city. This account is more gene- 
 rally received than that of which Piso is the author, 
 that the secession was made to mount Aventine. There, 
 having fortified their camp with a rampart and trench, 
 they kept themselves quiet for several days, without 
 any leader, by taking nothing, except what was neces- 
 sary for their sustenance, neither provoked, nor pro- 
 voking. There was great consternation in the city, 
 and all things were suspended through mutual fear. 
 The commons, who were left behind by their friends, 
 dreaded the violence of the patricians ; the patricians 
 dreaded the commons who remained in the city ; un- 
 certain whether they should allow them to remain or 
 depart : but how long would the multitude who de- 
 parted, remain tranquil? and what then would be the 
 consequence, if in the meantime any foreign war should 
 arise ? they really considered no hope left, unless in the 
 unanimity of citizens ; that this should be restored to 
 the state by fair or foul means. They resolved there- 
 fore, that Menenius Agrippa should be sent as com- 
 missioner to the commons ; an eloquent man, and a fa- 
 vourite with the commons, because he had been de- 
 scended from that class. He, being introduced into the 
 camp, is reported, in that antiquated and unpolished 
 style of speech, to have said no more than this ; " At a 
 time when all parts in the human body did not harmo- 
 nize, as at present, but every individual member had 
 had its own policy, its own language, the other parts 
 felt indignant that every thing was procured for the 
 belly by their own care, their own toil, and ministry ; 
 that the belly, at its ease in the midst of them, did no- 
 thing else than enjoy the provided pleasures. They 
 therefore conspired that the hands should not convey 
 food to the mouth, nor the mouth receive it if offered, 
 nor the teeth chew it. Under the influence of this an- 
 ger, whilst they would subdue the belly by hunger, the 
 members themselves along with it, and the entire body, 
 had sunk to the last stage of consumption. From 
 whence it appeared, that the service of the belly too, 
 was not one of sloth ; and that it was not more nour- 
 ished, than it supplied nourishment; conveying to all 
 
CHAP. 33. LlVY. 123 
 
 parts of the body that blood by which we have life and 
 vigour, distributed equally through the veins in its 
 matured state, after the digestion of the food." And 
 that, by instituting a comparison from this example, 
 how very like the intestine sedition of the body was to 
 the fury of the commons against the patricians, he had 
 changed the people's minds. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 THEY then began to treat of a reconciliation; and it 
 was conceded among the terms, that the commons 
 should have magistrates of their own, of inviolable 
 persons, who should have the power of affording assis- 
 tance against the consuls ; and that it should not be 
 lawful for any patrician to hold that office. Thus two 
 tribunes of the commons were created, C. Licinius and 
 L. Albinus : these elected three colleagues to them- 
 selves ; amongst these was Sicinius, the author of the 
 sedition : with respect to the other two, it is not so 
 well agreed who they were. There are some who say 
 that two tribunes only were created on mount Sacer, 
 and that there the law of inviolability was passed. 
 During the secession of the commons, Sp. Cassius and 
 Postumius Cominius entered on the consulship ; in 
 their consulate a treaty was concluded with the Latins ; 
 for the ratification of this, one consul remained at 
 Rome ; the other, being sent to the Volscian war, routs 
 and puts to flight the Volscians of Antium ; and having 
 pursued them, in their retreat, into the town of Lon- 
 gula, he makes himself master of the town. He next 
 took Polusca, another town of the Volsci ; he then 
 assaulted Corioli with great fury. There was then in 
 the camp, among the young men of the first rank, C. 
 Marcius, a youth prompt in counsel and action, who 
 afterwards obtained the surname Coriolanus. When 
 the Volscian legions, having marched from Antium, 
 had suddenly attacked the Roman army, besieging Co- 
 rioli, and having their attention fixed on the townsmen, 
 whom they kept shut up inside, without any apprehen- 
 sion of an attack impending from without; and at the 
 same time the garrison sallied forth from the town 
 C. Marcius happened to be then on guard. He with a 
 
124 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 chosen body of troops, not only repelled the attack of 
 the sallying party, but furiously dashed in through the 
 open gate ; and having made a slaughter in the adjacent 
 parts of the city, he seized some fire at random, and 
 threw it into the buildings adjoining the wall : then 
 the cries of the townsmen, mingling with the shrieks 
 of women and boys, arising, as is usual, at the first 
 alarm, added courage to the Romans, and dispirited 
 the Volsci, in as much as the city was now taken, to the 
 relief of which they had come. Thus the Volsci from 
 Antium were defeated, and the town of Corioli taken ; 
 and so much did Marcius by his own merit eclipse the 
 fame pf the consul, that had not the treaty with the 
 Latins, engraven on a brazen pillar, served as a testi- 
 monial that it was concluded by Sp. Cassius alone, 
 because his colleague had been absent ; it would have 
 ceased to be remembered that Postumius Cominius had 
 conducted a war with the Volsci. In the same year, 
 Agrippa Menenius dies ; a man throughout his whole 
 life equally beloved by the patricians and commons, 
 but who after the secession, became still more endeared 
 to the plebeians. To this umpire and mediator of the 
 harmony amongst his fellow-citizens, this ambassador 
 of the senate to the plebeians, this bringer-back of the 
 commons into the city, the expenses of a funeral were 
 wanting ; the commons buried him, having contributed 
 a sextans (the sixth part of an ass) a head. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 T. GEGANIUS and P. Minucius were then elected 
 consuls. In that year, when all was undisturbed by 
 war abroad, and dissension healed at home, another 
 much more weighty calamity invaded the state first, a 
 scarcity of provisions, arising from the uncultivated 
 state of the lands during the secession of the commons, 
 and then a famine, such as generally awaits a besieged 
 people ; and matters would have proceeded to the de- 
 struction of the slaves in particular, and of the plebe- 
 ians, had not the consuls provided against it, by send- 
 ing out persons in all directions to purchase up corn, 
 not only into Etruria, along the shores to the right of 
 Ostia, and by the sea on the left, through the country 
 
CHAP. 34. LIVY. 125 
 
 of the Volsci, as far as Cumae, but also into Sicily, to 
 procure it : so much had the hatred entertained by 
 their neighbours obliged tbem to require the aid of 
 remote people. When the corn had been purchased up 
 at Cumae, the ships were detained in lieu of the effects 
 of the Tarquins, by the tyrant Aristodemus, who was 
 their heir. Among the Volsci and in the Pomptine 
 district, it could not be bought at all. The corn-com- 
 missioners themselves were also in danger, from the 
 violence of the inhabitants. Corn arrived by the Tiber 
 from the Etrurians ; by this the people were supported. 
 They would be harassed by a war, unseasonable during 
 such a restricted supply of provisions, had not a great 
 pestilence attacked the Volsci just taking up arms. 
 The spirits of the enemy being afflicted by this cala- 
 mity, that they might also, when that abated, be re- 
 strained by some terror, the Romans augmented the 
 number of colonists at Velitrse, and sent a new colony 
 to the mountains of Norba, to serve as a garrison in 
 the Pomptine territory. > In the succeeding consulate 
 of M. Minucius and A. Sempronius, a great quantity 
 of corn was imported from Sicily ; and it was discussed 
 in the senate, at what price it should be given to the 
 commons. Many were of opinion that the time had 
 now arrived for crushing the plebeians, and recovering 
 those privileges which had been extorted from the 
 patricians by the secession and violence. Marcius Co- 
 riolanus amongst the foremost, an enemy of the tri- 
 bunic power, says, " If they wish to have provisions 
 at the old price, let them restore their former rights 
 to the patricians. Why do I, sent under the yoke, 
 ransomed as it were from robbers, behold plebeian 
 magistrates ? why, Sicinius in authority ? Shall I sub- 
 mit to these indignities longer than is necessary ? Shall 
 I, who could not endure Tarquin on the throne, endure 
 Sicinius ? Let him now secede, let him call off the 
 commons ; the way is open to mount Sacer and other 
 hills. Let them carry off the corn from our lands, as 
 they did three years ago. Let them enjoy that state of 
 the market which they have caused by their own fury. 
 I venture to affirm that, humbled by this privation, 
 they will become themselves tillers of the lands, rather 
 than, with arms in their hands, hinder them from being 
 M 3 
 
126 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 cultivated by a secession." It is not so easy to say 
 whether it ought to be done, as that, in my opinion, 
 it was practicable, that the patricians, on condition of 
 lowering the price of provisions, might get rid of the 
 tribunic power and all the laws imposed upon them 
 against their will. 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 THAT proposition appeared too harsh even to the 
 senate, and rage almost drove the commons to arms ; 
 complaining, " That they were now assailed by famine, 
 as if they were public enemies ; that they were de- 
 frauded of food and sustenance ; that the foreign corn, 
 which was the only sustenance that fortune gave them, 
 and that unexpectedly, was to be snatched from their 
 mouths, unless the tribunes were given up in chains to 
 C. Marcius, unless he were appeased at the expense 
 of the backs of the Roman commons. That he started 
 up to them a new executioner, who commanded them 
 either to die or be slaves." An assault would have 
 been made on him as he came out of the senate-house, 
 had not the tribunes very opportunely appointed him a 
 day to stand his trial. Thereupon their rage was sup- 
 pressed : each of them saw himself appointed judge, and 
 master of the life and death of his personal enemy. 
 At first Marcius heard the threats of the tribunes with 
 contempt, alleging, " That the right of protection, not 
 of punishment, was granted to that office ; and they 
 were tribunes of the commons, and not of the patri- 
 cians." But the commons rose up in a body with such 
 animosity, that the patricians were obliged to avert 
 the danger by the punishment of one. They made a 
 stand, however, though the public odium was against 
 them, and exerted, as well each his own power as that 
 of the entire order. And first an attempt was tried, 
 if, by a judicious disposition of their clients, they could 
 quash the business, by deterring individuals from meet- 
 ings and cabals. They then went forward in a body 
 (you would say that all the patricians were arraigned), 
 requesting of the commons with intreaties, " That they 
 would grant them, as a favour, the pardon of one citi- 
 zen, one senator, supposing him guilty, if they were 
 
CHAP. 36. LIVY. 127 
 
 unwilling to acquit him as innocent." When he him- 
 self did riot appear on the day appointed, they perse- 
 vered in their resentment. Being condemned in his 
 absence, he went off into exile into the country of the 
 Volsci, threatening his native country, and even then 
 breathing a hostile spirit. The Volsci kindly received 
 him on his arrival, and treated him every day more 
 kindly, the more his resentment against his country- 
 men became prominent, and occasionally his complaints, 
 occasionally his menaces were perceived. He lodged 
 in the house of Attius Tullus. The latter was, at that 
 time, by far the first man of the Volscian state, and 
 always an inveterate enemy to the Romans. Thus 
 when an old animosity stimulated the one, and recent 
 anger the other, they concert plans relative to a Roman 
 war. They did not believe that their own people could 
 be easily prevailed upon to take up arms, which were 
 so often unsuccessfully tried ; that their spirits were 
 broken down by many wars on frequent occasions, and 
 lastly, by the loss of their young men in the pestilence ; 
 that, as their hatred was now forgotten by length of 
 time, they should proceed by artifice, in order that 
 their feelings might be exasperated by some fresh 
 resentment. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 IT happened that they were making preparations at 
 Rome for the great games, owing to their renewal ; 
 the cause of renewing them was this on the morning 
 of the games, the entertainment having not yet com- 
 menced, a certain master of a family had driven his 
 slave flogged in a neck-yoke through the middle of the 
 circus. The games were afterwards begun, as if that 
 affair had had no relation to religion. In no long time 
 after, T. Autinius, a plebeian, had a dream : Jupiter 
 seemed to say, " That the dancer who ushered in the 
 games did not please him; that, unless these games 
 were magnificently renewed, the city would be in dan- 
 ger ; that he should go immediately, and report this to 
 the consuls." Although the man's mind was certainly 
 not free from superstition, respect, however, for the 
 dignity of the magistrates, lest he might get into the 
 
128 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 mouths of all as a subject for ridicule, overcame his 
 religious fears. That delay cost him dearly ; for he 
 lost his son within a few days after ; of which sudden 
 affliction that the cause might not be doubtful, that 
 self-same phantom, appearing to him in his sleep, as he 
 was troubled in mind, seemed to ask him, " Whether 
 he got a sufficiently high reward for his contempt of 
 the deity ? that a greater awaited him soon, if he did 
 not quickly go and tell the consuls." The matter was 
 now more manifest : a great violence of distemper at- 
 tacked him with sudden debility, as he was still delay- 
 ing and procrastinating. Then indeed the anger of the 
 gods awoke his attention. Being therefore oppressed 
 by past and approaching calamities, when, after calling 
 a council of his near relatives, he had stated what he 
 had seen and heard, and the fact of Jupiter's appearing 
 to him so often in his sleep, and the menaces and dis- 
 pleasure of the deity exemplified in his own sufferings ; 
 he was then, with the undoubted consent of all who 
 were present, conveyed in a litter into the Forum to 
 the consuls. Being from thence carried by order of 
 the consuls into the senate-house, after he had minutely 
 related the same accounts to the patricians, to the great 
 astonishment of every one ; behold another miracle ! 
 it is handed down on record that he, who had been 
 carried into the senate-house, impotent in all his limbs, 
 had, after discharging his duty, returned home on his 
 own feet. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 THE senate decreed that the games should be cele- 
 brated in the most splendid manner possible. To those 
 games a great number of the Volsci resorted, by the 
 advice of Attius Tullus. Before the entertainments 
 commenced, Tullus, as had been concerted at home 
 with Marcius, waited upon the consuls, and tells them, 
 that there were some matters , respecting the common- 
 wealth, on which he would confer with them in private; 
 strangers having withdrawn ; " It is with reluctance," 
 says he, " I speak any thing discreditable of my coun- 
 trymen. I came not, however, to charge them with 
 the actual commission of any thing, but to take pre- 
 

 CHAP. 38. LIVY. 
 
 caution that they do not commit it. The dispositions 
 of my countrymen are much more fickle than I could 
 wish ; we have been made sensible of that by many 
 disasters ; as being persons who exist not by any merit 
 of our own, but by your forbearance. There is here at 
 present, a vast number of the Volsci ; the games are 
 going on ; the people will be intent on the exhibition. 
 I remember what has been committed in this city by 
 the Sabine youth, on a similar occasion : my mind 
 shudders, lest any thing be done inconsiderately and 
 rashly. I have judged it proper, consuls, for our own 
 sake and yours, that these things should be communi- 
 cated to you before-hand. As to what regards myself, 
 I am resolved to return home immediately from this 
 place, lest by being present, I might be tainted with 
 ihe contagion of any act or word." Having thus spo- 
 ken, he took his leave. When the consuls had re- 
 ported to the senate a doubtful matter on an unques- 
 tionable authority, the author, rather than the statement 
 itself, induced them to take precaution, even though 
 unnecessarily ; and a decree having been passed that 
 the Volsci should retire out of the city, criers are sent 
 round in every direction, to order them all to set out 
 before night. At first, a great panic seized them, as 
 they ran up and down to their lodgings, to carry off 
 their effects ; afterwards, as they were setting out, a 
 feeling of indignation rose up, " that they should have 
 been driven away from the games, like iniquitous and 
 contaminated wretches, on festival days, out of an as- 
 semblage, as it were, of men and gods." 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 As they proceeded almost in a continuous body, 
 Tullus, who went before them to the fountain of Fe- 
 rentina, accosting the chief men amongst them, accord- 
 ing as each arrived, by complaining, and testifying his 
 indignation, brought off both those persons themselves, 
 who anxiously listened to language that favoured their 
 resentment, and through them, the rest of the multi- 
 tude, into a plain that lay adjoining the road. There, 
 having commenced an address in the manner of a public 
 harangue, " Though," says he, " you should forget the 
 
130 LIVY BOOK II. 
 
 former wrongs inflicted by the Roman people, and the 
 calamities of the Volscian nation, and all other offences, 
 with what feelings, pray, do you bear this insult of to- 
 day, with which they have opened the games, to our 
 ignominy ? Have you not felt, that you have this day 
 been triumphed over? that, at your departure, you 
 have been a spectacle to all ; citizens, foreigners, and 
 so many neighbouring states? that your wives, your 
 children, have been degradingly exhibited before the 
 eyes of the public. What do you suppose those to 
 have thought, who heard the voice of the crier? what, 
 who saw you departing ? what, those who met this 
 ignominious procession? except, that there was cer- 
 tainly something impious about us, by which, if we 
 were to be present at the exhibition, we should conta- 
 minate the games, and deserve an expiation ; and, that 
 therefore, we were driven out from the habitations, 
 society, and assemblage of pious men. What next? 
 does not this strike you, that we are alive, because 
 we have expedited our departure ; if this be a depar- 
 ture, and not a flight ? And do you not look upon 
 this as an enemy's city, in which, if you had tarried a 
 single day, you should have all perished? War has 
 been declared against you, to the great detriment of 
 those who have declared it, if you be men." Thus, 
 being of themselves fraught with resentment, and 
 moreover incited, they thence separated to their homes, 
 and, by instigating, each his respective community, 
 they caused the entire Volscian nation to revolt. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 THE commanders chosen, for that war, by the vote 
 of all the states, were Attius Tullus, and C. Marcius, 
 the Roman exile, in whom somewhat greater hope 
 was reposed : which expectation, he, by no means dis- 
 appointed, so that, it easily appeared, that the Roman 
 commonwealth was more powerful in its generals, than 
 its army. Having marched to Circeii, he first expelled 
 from thence the Roman colonists, and delivered it up 
 independent, to the Volsci. Then crossing over, by 
 indirect paths, to the Latin road, he recovered from the 
 Romans Sabricum, Longula, Polusca, Corioli ; these 
 
CHAP. 39. LIVY. 131 
 
 were towns which they lately acquired. He then re- 
 ceived the submission of Lavinium, and afterwards took 
 Corbio, Vitellia, Trebia, Lavici, Pedum, in succession. 
 Lastly, he leads his army from Pedum to the city, and 
 having encamped at the Cluilian trenches, five miles 
 from the city, he from thence lays waste the Roman 
 territory ; having sent out guards among the depreda- 
 tors, who were to preserve unmolested the lands of the 
 patricians; whether it was, that he was more enraged 
 with the commons, or in order that from that source a 
 dissension might arise between the patricians and ple- 
 beians : which certainly would have arisen, so much did 
 the tribunes by their accusations excite the commons, 
 already sufficiently violent of themselves, against the 
 principal men of the state ; but a foreign dread, the 
 strongest bond of concord, united their minds, how- 
 ever mutually suspected and enraged. This point only 
 was not agreed on ; that the senate and consuls placed 
 their hope in nothing else than in arms; the commons 
 preferred every thing to a war. Sp. Nantius and Sex. 
 Furius were now consuls. These, whilst reviewing the 
 legions, and stationing guards along the walls, arid in 
 other places, where they agreed that posts and watches 
 should be established, an immmense multitude of per- 
 sons clamouring for peace, at first affrighted by their 
 insurrectionary cries, and afterwards obliged them to 
 convene the senate, and propose a motion for sending 
 ambassadors to C. Marcius. The senators entertained 
 the question, after it became manifest that the minds of 
 the commons were disaffected ; and a deputation being 
 sent to Marcius to treat of peace, brought back this 
 haughty answer, " That, if the land were restored to 
 the Volsci, they might then treat of peace ; but if they 
 wished to enjoy in tranquillity the plunder of war, 
 that he, mindful of the injustice of his own country- 
 men, and of the kindness of his hosts, should endea- 
 vour to make it appear, that his own spirit was irrita- 
 ted, not broken, by exile." The same persons being 
 afterwards sent a second time, are not admitted into his 
 camp. It is recorded, that the priests also, dressed out 
 in their sacerdotal robes, went as suppliants to the ene- 
 my's camp : and that they made no more impression on 
 his mind than the ambassadors. 
 
132 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 THEN the matrons come together in a hody to Vetu- 
 ria, the mother of Coriolanus, and Volumnia his wife : 
 whether this was a government measure or the effect of 
 female apprehension, I do not discover with certainty. 
 It is certain they so far carried their point, that Veturia, 
 a woman of advanced age, and Volumnia, carrying with 
 her her two young sons by Marcius, should go with 
 them into the camp of the enemy ; and, women as they 
 were, defend by supplications and tears that city which 
 men were not able to defend by arms. When they 
 arrived at the camp, and it was told to Coriolanus that 
 a great train of females was approaching ; at first (as he 
 was a person who had been moved neither by the pub- 
 lic majesty, in the persons of the ambassadors, nor by 
 such great religious reverence as overspread his eyes 
 and mind in those of the priests), he was much more 
 inflexible against the tears of the women. Afterwards 
 one of his intimate friends, who recognized Veturia, 
 who was distinguished amongst the rest by her sorrow, 
 standing between her daughter-in-law and grandchil- 
 dren, observed, " If my eyes do not deceive me, here 
 are your mother, wife, and children." When Coriola- 
 nus, confounded almost like a man distracted, quitting 
 his seat, offered to embrace his mother, who approached, 
 the woman, turning from prayers to anger, says, " Let 
 me know, before I accept your embrace, whether I 
 have come to an enemy or to a son whether I am a 
 captive or a mother in your camp. Has a long and 
 unfortunate old age brought me to this, that I should 
 see you first an exile, then an enemy ? Could you lay 
 waste this land, which gave you birth and nurtured 
 you? However vindictive and menacing the disposi- 
 tion with which you had approached, did not your rage 
 subside on entering the borders ? Did it not, when 
 Rome was in sight, suggest itself to you * Within those 
 walls are my house and domestic gods, my mother, 
 my wife, and my children ?' Then, if I had not been 
 a mother, Rome would not be besieged if I had not a 
 son, I might have died free in a free country. But I 
 can now suffer nothing which is not more disgraceful 
 to you than miserable to myself; nor, though I am 
 
SAP. 41. LIVY. 133 
 
 wretched to the highest degree, am I likely to be long 
 so. You will now look to these, whom, if you persist, 
 either premature death or a long servitude awaits.*' 
 Then his wife and children embraced him ; and the la- 
 mentation set up by the whole group of females, and 
 their wailing for themselves and native country, at 
 length broke down the man's resolution : then embrac- 
 ing his relatives, he dismisses them ; he himself re- 
 moves back his camp from the city. His legions being 
 afterwards withdrawn from the Roman territory, they 
 report that lie perished, having sunk beneath the resent- 
 ment excited by his conduct ; different writers say, by 
 a different death. I find in Fabius, by far the most 
 ancient writer, that he lived to an old age : he certainly 
 mentions that, at an advanced period of life, he fre- 
 quently repeated this saying, " That exile was much 
 more distressing to an old man." The men of Rome 
 did not envy the women their honours, so free did 
 they live from the practice of detracting from the glory 
 of others. To serve also as a memorial of their grati- 
 tude, a temple was built and dedicated to female For- 
 tune. After this the Volsci, in conjunction with the 
 qui, returned into the Roman territory ; but the 
 qui no longer endured Attius Tullus as their com- 
 mander. Hence, from a dispute whether the Volsci 
 or ^Equi should give a general to the combined army, 
 a disunion arose, and afterwards a bloody battle. On 
 that occasion, the good fortune of the Roman people 
 destroyed two hostile armies by a contest no less fatal 
 than obstinate. T. Sicinius and C. Aquilius were 
 created consuls. To Sicinius the Volsci were allotted 
 as his province ; to Aquilius the Hernici, for the latter 
 too were up in arms. In that year the Hernici were 
 thoroughly subdued ; with the Volsci they came off 
 with equal advantage on both sides. 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 SP. CASSIUS and Proculus Virginius were then made 
 consuls. A treaty was concluded with the Hernici ; 
 two-thirds of their lands were taken from them ; of 
 this the consul Cassius was about to distribute one 
 moiety to the Latins, the other moiety to the commons. 
 
134 LIVY. BOOK II, 
 
 To this gift lie would add a considerable tract of land, 
 which being public property, he complained of as being 
 possessed by private persons. This measure alarmed 
 many of the patricians, the actual possessors, by the 
 danger in which it placed their properties ; but the 
 patricians felt also an apprehension on public grounds, 
 that the consul was, by that donation, erecting for him- 
 self a power hazardous to liberty. Then for the first 
 time the agrarian law was proposed, which was never 
 agitated, even up to our own times, without the great- 
 est commotions in the state. The other consul resisted 
 the donative, supported by the patricians, and not 
 opposed by the entire body of the commons, who first 
 began to be disgusted that a gift, being thus rendered 
 common, should pass from citizens to allies ; often 
 afterwards too they used to hear the consul Virginius 
 in the public assemblies, as it were prophesying, " That 
 the gift of his colleague was pestilential. That the 
 lands in question would entail slavery on those who 
 should accept them that a way was being paved to 
 despotism. For why were the allies and the Latin 
 nation included ? to what purpose could it serve, that a 
 third part of the land taken in war should be restored 
 to the Hernici, who were shortly before their enemies, 
 unless that these nations should have Cassius, instead 
 of Coriolanus, their leader?" The enemy and opposer 
 of the agrarian law now began to be popular ; afterwards 
 each of the consuls humoured the commons. Virginius 
 declared, that he would allow the lands to be assigned, 
 provided they were assigned to none but a Roman citi- 
 zen. Cassius, because by the agrarian donative he was 
 courting popularity with the allies, and on that account 
 of less repute amongst his fellow-citizens ; in order 
 that he might once more gain over to himself the affec- 
 tions of his countrymen by another gift, proposed, that 
 the money received for the Sicilian corn should be re- 
 funded to the people. This, however, the commons re- 
 jected with scorn, as the immediate price of arbitrary 
 powe?; so thoroughly, on account of their inveterate 
 jealousy of single government, were his donations 
 spurned in the hearts of the people, as if they enjoyed 
 every thing in abundance. It is universally agreed 
 that, as soon as he went out of office, he was condemned 
 
c. 
 
 AP. 42. LIVY. 135 
 
 and put to death. There are some who state that his 
 father was the author of that punishment ; and that, 
 having tried him at home, he scourged him and put 
 him to death, and consecrated his son's private property 
 to Ceres ; that out of this a statue was erected, and 
 inscribed with these words, " Presented from the Cas- 
 sian property." I find in some writers, and that is the 
 more credible, that an impeachment for treason was 
 instituted against him by the quaestors, R. Fabius and 
 L. Valerius, and that he was condemned by the judg- 
 ment of the people ; that his house was demolished by 
 public authority : that is now the space in front of the 
 bemple of Tellus. But whether that was a domestic or 
 public sentence, he was condemned in the consulate of 
 Ser. Cornelius and Q. Fabius. 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 
 
 THE anger of the people against Cassius was not of 
 long continuance. The charms of the agrarian law of 
 themselves, its author being put out of the way, were 
 taking possession of their minds ; and that eagerness 
 was enflamed by the parsimony of the patricians, who, 
 the Volsci and ^Equi being subdued that year, de- 
 frauded the soldiers of the plunder. Whatever was 
 taken from the enemy, the consul Fabius sold and 
 reduced to public property. The name of Fabius was 
 odious to the commons, on account of the late consul ; 
 the patricians however succeeded, that R. Fabius should 
 be created consul with L. ^Bmilius. By this the com- 
 mons being more incensed, encouraged a foreign war 
 by their domestic sedition ; again their civil dissensions 
 were discontinued during the war. The patricians and 
 commons with united accord, under the command of 
 ^Emilius, overthrew in a successful battle, the Volsci 
 and ^35qui who renewed hostilities. Retreat however 
 destroyed more of the enemy than battle, so persever- 
 ingly did the cavalry pursue them when routed. The 
 temple of Castor was dedicated in the same year, on 
 the 13th of July. It had been vowed during the Latin 
 war, by Postumius the dictator ; his son, being created 
 decemvir for that purpose, dedicated it. In this year, 
 also, the minds of the commons were solicited by the 
 
136 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 sweets of the agrarian law. The tribunes of the com- 
 mons were recommending a power already popular, by 
 a popular law. The patricians, believing that there 
 was more than enough of spontaneous violence in the 
 multitude, regarded with horror those donatives and 
 allurements of temerity. The consuls were to the pa- 
 tricians, the most determined leaders, in resisting the 
 measure. Consequently, that portion of the common- 
 wealth prevailed, and not for the present only ; but for 
 the following year also, it furnished as consuls, M. 
 Fabius, the brother of Kseso, and a second, L. Valerius, 
 still more odious to the commons, by the prosecution of 
 Sp. Cassius. In that year too, there was a struggle 
 with the tribunes. The law fell into discredit, and the 
 proposers of the law into discredit, by holding out an 
 impracticable donation. The name of Fabius was then 
 held in high estimation, after three successive consul- 
 ships, and all of them, as if in one uniform tenour, 
 proved in tribunic contests : wherefore, the dignity, as 
 if placed in good hands, continued for a considerable 
 time in that family. Soon after, a Veientian war was 
 undertaken, and the Volsci renewed hostilities : but 
 they had almost a superabundance of strength for fo- 
 reign wars, and that strength they abused, by contend- 
 ing with each other. In addition to the present dis- 
 quietude of all men's minds, there appeared celestial 
 prodigies, exhibiting menacing portents, almost every 
 day, in the city and country. And the soothsayers 
 having informed themselves, in public and private sa- 
 crifices, now by entrails, now by birds, declared the 
 cause of the divinity's being moved by anger, to be no 
 other than, that the rites were not duly solemnized. 
 Which terrors, however, ended in this, that Oppia, a 
 vestal virgin, being convicted of a violation of chastity, 
 suffered punishment. 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. 
 
 Q. FABIUS and C. Julius were then created consuls. 
 In this year, the dissensions at home were not more 
 languid, and there was a more furious war abroad. 
 Arms were taken up by the .^Equi ; the Veientians also 
 inva4ed the territory of the Romans in a predatory 
 
CHAP. 43. LIVY. 137 
 
 manner ; their solicitude for these wars encreasing, K. 
 Fabius and Sp. Furius are created consuls. The /Equi 
 were laying siege to Ortona, a Latin city. The Veien- 
 tians, now sated with depredations, were threatening 
 that they would besiege Rome itself. Which alarms, 
 when they ought to check, only encreased the passions 
 of the commons still more, and the habit of declining 
 military service returned upon the plebeians, not of 
 their own accord ; but Sp. Licinius, a tribune of the 
 commons, judging that the time had now come, of 
 forcing the agrarian law on the patricians, by the last- 
 degree of necessity, had undertaken the task of imped- 
 ing the military preparations. But the whole odium of 
 the tribunic power was turned against the author : nor 
 did the consuls stand up to oppose him with more vi- 
 gour, than did his own very colleagues : and by their 
 support, the consuls finish the levy. An army is raised, 
 to meet these two simultaneous wars : that one to be 
 headed against the JEqui, is given to Fabius ; that 
 against the Veientians, to Furius. Against the Veien- 
 tians, indeed, nothing worthy of being mentioned was 
 achieved. Fabius had somewhat more trouble with 
 his countrymen, than with the enemy : that very indi- 
 vidual consul sustained the republic, which his army, 
 J through hatred of the consul, was betraying, as far as 
 Jin it lay. For when this consul, in addition to the 
 Jother abilities of a commander, very many of which he 
 displayed, in making preparations for, and conducting 
 the war, had disposed his army in such a manner, that 
 lie put the enemy to rout by a charge of his cavalry 
 alone, the infantry refused to pursue them when routed; 
 nor could, if not the exhortation of a commander whom 
 they hated, their own infamy even, and the public dis- 
 grace, at the present, and danger hereafter, should the 
 courage of the enemy revive, prevail upon them to ac- 
 celerate their pace, or, if nothing else, to stand in order 
 of battle. They face round their colours without orders, 
 ind return to their camp dejected (you would believe 
 them to have been conquered), and execrating, now, 
 ;heir general, now, the exertion made by the cavalry. 
 Neither were any remedies sought by the general, for 
 ;o pestilential an example, so much sooner do transcen- 
 lent characters fail in the art of governing a fellow- 
 N 3 
 
138 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 citizen, than in that of conquering an enemy. The 
 consul returned to - Rome, his military renown being 
 not so much encreased, as was the hatred of the soldiers 
 to himself inflamed and exasperated. The patricians, 
 however, gained their point, that the consulship should 
 continue in the Fabian family. They create M. Fabius 
 consul ; Cn. Manlius is assigned as colleague to Fabius. 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. 
 
 THIS year also had a tribune, the supporter of the 
 agrarian law. This was Ti. Pontificius ; he having en- 
 tered upon the same course, as if it had succeeded with 
 Sp. Licinius, for a short time obstructed the levy. The 
 patricians being once more perplexed, Ap. Claudius 
 asserted, " that the tribunic power was subdued the 
 year before, for that present time by the fact itself, and 
 for the future by the precedent established; since it 
 was discovered, that it might be paralyzed by its own 
 strength : for that there never would be wanted a per- 
 son, who would desire to procure for himself a victory 
 over his colleague, and the gratitude of the more re- 
 spectable class, by promoting the public good : and that 
 more tribunes than one, if there were occasion for 
 more, would be prepared to assist the consuls: and 
 that one was quite sufficient, even against all the others. 
 Only, let the consuls, and the principal patricians, ex- 
 ert themselves to gain over to the side of the common- 
 wealth and senate, if not all, at least some of the tri- 
 bunes." The patricians, advised by the instructions of 
 Appius, addressed the tribunes courteously and kindly, 
 both in their aggregate capacity, and those of consular 
 dignity amongst them, according as each had personally 
 any influence with individuals, succeeded partly by fa- 
 vour, partly by the respect due to their rank, in re- 
 questing, that they (the tribunes) would be pleased, 
 that the strength of the tribunic power should be ex- 
 erted for the safety of the commonwealth : and, by the 
 aid of four tribunes, against one opposer of the public 
 interest, the consuls complete the levy. They then 
 set out to the Veientian war, whither auxiliaries had 
 collected from all parts of Etruria, incited not so much 
 by affection for the Veientians, as because they had 
 
CHAP. 45. LIVY. 139 
 
 been led into a hope, that the power of Rome might he 
 destroyed by intestine dissensions. And the chiefs, in 
 the councils of all the states of Etruria, were exclaim- 
 ing*, " that the Roman power was everlasting, unless 
 they raged against each other in civil dissensions ; that 
 that was discovered, as the only poison for opulent 
 states, the only infection, whereby mighty empires 
 were rendered perishable. That this evil, so long 
 sustained, partly by the wisdom of the patricians, 
 partly by the patience of the commons, had now pro- 
 ceeded to its extreme height. That two states were 
 made out of one ; that each party had its own magis- 
 trates, its own laws. At first they were wont to in- 
 dulge their fury only during the levies ; yet the very 
 same men obeyed their commanders in war: that in 
 any state whatsoever of the city, matters might be 
 supported, if military discipline continued ; but that 
 now, the habit of disobeying his magistrates followed 
 the Roman soldier, even into the camp. That during 
 the last war, in the very battle, in the moment of ac- 
 tion, victory was, with the consent of the army, volun- 
 tarily surrendered to the vanquished ^Equi; that their 
 standards were deserted, their general abandoned in 
 the field, and a retreat made, without orders, to the 
 camp. Assuredly, if exertions were continued, Rome 
 might be conquered by its own soldiers; nothing more 
 was necessary, than that a declaration and show of war 
 should be made ; the fates and gods would of them- 
 selves accomplish the rest." This expectation had 
 armed the Etrurians, who were, by many vicissitudes, 
 vanquished and victors in turn. 
 
 CHAP. XLV. 
 
 THE Roman consuls, also, were in dread of nothing 
 besides their own forces, their own arms ; the recollec- 
 tion of the very bad precedent in the late war terri- 
 fied them, lest they should bring the matter to this situ- 
 ation, in which two armies should be dreaded by them 
 at the same time. Accordingly, they confined them- 
 selves to their camp, averse from such a double danger, 
 hoping that time and circumstances would, perhaps of 
 themselves, allay their resentment, and bring back to 
 
140 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 their minds a wholesome mode of thinking. The Vei- 
 entian enemy, and the Etrurians, acted with the more 
 precipitancy, on this account, and were provoking them 
 to an engagement, first, hy riding up to their camp, 
 and challenging them ; lastly, when they were produc- 
 ing no effect, by taunting as well the consuls them- 
 selves, as the army, " That the pretence of internal 
 discord, was a contrivance to conceal their cowardice, 
 and that the consuls rather distrusted the valour, than 
 disbelieved the fidelity of their soldiers ; that silence 
 and tranquillity among armed men, was a novel kind 
 of sedition ;" in addition to this, they threw out re- 
 proaches, as well false as true, against the newness of 
 their family and origin. The consuls patiently bore 
 these invectives, though they were uttering them at the 
 very rampart and gates ; but, at one time, indignation, 
 at another time shame, agitated the breasts of the un- 
 informed multitude, and diverted their attention from 
 intestine evils ; they wished not the enemy to go unre- 
 venged ; they wished not success, either to the consuls 
 or the patricians ; external and domestic animosities 
 struggled in their minds. At length the external ani- 
 mosity prevails, so haughtily and insolently did the 
 enemy scoff them. They collect in crowds to the gene- 
 ral's tent ; they demand a battle, they require the sig- 
 nal to be given. The consuls, as if to deliberate, hold 
 a consultation, and confer with each other for a long 
 time ; they were eager to fight, but that eagerness 
 was to be restrained and disguised ; that, by opposing 
 and retarding, they might give additional impulse to 
 the soldiery once excited. An answer is returned, that 
 the measure in contemplation was premature ; that it 
 was not yet the season for battle; that they should 
 confine themselves to their camp. They then issue 
 orders, that they should abstain from battle ; that if 
 any should fight without orders, they would punish 
 him as an enemy. Being thus dismissed, their ardour 
 for engaging increases in proportion as they believe 
 the consuls to be less inclined to it. To add to their 
 impatience, the enemy approach much more daringly, 
 when it was ascertained that the consuls had resolved 
 not to give battle. They argued, forsooth, " That 
 they might insult them with impunity; that arms 
 
JAP. 45. LIVY. 141 
 
 would not be entrusted to the soldiers ; that the matter 
 would burst out into the last stage of sedition ; and 
 that a period had arrived to the Roman empire." Re- 
 lying on these hopes, they press forward to the gates,' 
 heap reproaches, and hardly refrain from assaulting 
 the camp. Now indeed the Roman army could no 
 longer endure the insult ; they rush from all parts 
 throughout the entire camp to the consuls ; they no 
 longer, as before, make their demand successively 
 through the principals of the centurions, but they all 
 urge it in every quarter with clamours. The matter 
 was now ripe for execution, yet still they shew a back- 
 wardness. Then Fabius, his colleague yielding on 
 account of the fear of a mutiny, now increasing with 
 the tumult, when he had caused silence by sound of 
 trumpet, says, " I am convinced, Cneius Manlius, those 
 fellows can conquer ; they themselves have caused me 
 not to be certain that they wish to do so. I am there- 
 fore fixed and resolved not to give the signal, unless 
 they swear that they will return victorious from this 
 battle. This army has once deceived in the field a 
 Roman consul : the gods they will deceive never." 
 There was a centurion, named M. Flavelejus, a cla- 
 mourer for battle amongst the foremost ; he says, " M. 
 Fabius, I will return victorious from battle." If he 
 should deceive, he imprecates on himself the anger of 
 Jove, Mars Gradivus, and the other gods. The entire 
 army takes the same oath in succession, each severally. 
 The signal is given to them being sworn ; they take up 
 arms, they go into battle full of rage and confidence. 
 They bid the Etrurians now utter reproaches ; they bid 
 the enemy, prompt at the tongue, now meet them in 
 arms man for man. On that day the valour of all, as 
 well commoners as patricians, was distinguished. The 
 Fabian name, the Fabian family shone out with bright- 
 est lustre. They are resolved to conciliate to them- 
 selves, in that battle, the minds of the commons, 
 which were incensed by many civil conflicts. The line 
 of battle is formed, nor do the Veientian enemy or 
 Etrurian legions decline the engagement. 
 
142 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. 
 
 THEY had almost a certain expectation that they 
 would no more fight with themselves, than they had 
 fought with the Mqm : even some event still more 
 extraordinary was not to be despaired of, considering 
 that their minds were so much incensed, and the occa- 
 sion so doubtful. The thing turned out far otherwise ; 
 for in no other previous war (so much had the enemy 
 exasperated them by their insults on one side, the 
 consuls by their delaying, on the other.,) did the Ro- 
 man engage with more fury. Scarcely was time given 
 the Etrurians for forming their ranks; when, their 
 javelins in the first hurry having been carelessly thrown 
 away rather than discharged, the affair was imme- 
 diately brought to close action, immediately to the 
 sword, where Mars is most sanguinary. The Fabian 
 family, distinguished amongst the nobility, served as 
 a spectacle and model to their fellow-citizens. Of these, 
 as Q. Fabius was rushing before the rest into the thick 
 of the Veientians, (he had been consul three years 
 before), a Tuscan, confident in his strength and skill 
 in arms, transfixes him with his sword through the 
 breast, incautiously engaged amidst several battalions 
 of the enemy ; the weapon having been extracted, 
 Fabius sunk forward on the wound. Each army felt 
 the fall of a single man, and from that moment, the 
 Roman was giving way ; when M. Fabius leaped across 
 his body as he lay, and opposing his buckler, exclaims, 
 " Is this what you have sworn, soldiers ; to return as 
 fugitives to your camp ? Are you so much more in 
 dread of a most dastardly enemy, than of Jove arid 
 Mars, by whom you have sworn ? But I, who have 
 not sworn, will either return victorious, or will here 
 fall, Quintus Fabius, fighting by your side." Then 
 says K. Fabius, the consul of the preceding year, to 
 the consul, " Do you suppose, brother, that you will 
 by such words prevail upon them to fight ? The gods, 
 by whom they have sworn, will prevail upon them. 
 And let us, as becomes chieftains, as is worthy of the 
 Fabian name, animate the spirits of the soldiers by 
 fighting rather than by exhorting." Thus the two 
 
 
CHAP. 47. LIVY. 143 
 
 Fabii fly forward to the front with their spears pre- 
 sented, and with them put the whole line into motion. 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. 
 
 THE engagement being restored on one side, Cn. 
 Manlius the consul was exciting the battle, with no 
 less intrepidity, on the other wing, where nearly a 
 similar train of events was going forward : for as on 
 one wing, the soldiers with alacrity followed Q. Fabius, 
 so on this also did they follow Manlius the consul him- 
 self, who was now pursuing the enemy as if routed ; 
 and when the latter, wounded by a severe blow, re- 
 tired from the field, they measured back their steps, 
 thinking him slain. And they would have retreated 
 from their ground, had not the other consul, riding up 
 at full speed to that quarter with some troops of horse, 
 exclaiming that his colleague was living, and that him- 
 self was come victorious after routing the other wing, 
 supported their declining fortune. Manlius also pre- 
 sents himself before them, to restore the fight. The 
 features of the two consuls, being known, kindle the 
 spirits of the soldiers ; at the same time also the 
 enemy's line was now too thin, while, relying on their 
 superiority of numbers, they send some detached re- 
 inforcements to storm the camp. On which having 
 made an assault without much opposition, whilst they 
 waste their time, more attentive to plunder than battle ; 
 the Roman triarii (the third line), who had not been 
 able to sustain the first shock, having sent messengers 
 to the consul, informing him in w r hat situation aifairs 
 were, return in a compact body to the quarter in which 
 was the general's tent ( 'prcetorium ) ', and renew the 
 fight themselves, without orders ; and the consul Man- 
 lius, having rode back into the camp, had blocked up 
 the enemy's retreat, by posting troops in opposition at 
 all the gates. This their desperate situation inspired 
 the Etrurians with rage more than courage ; for when 
 they had several times advanced with unavailing impe- 
 tuosity, rushing forward wherever hope pointed out a 
 passage, one body of their young men attacks the con- 
 sul himself, conspicuous by his arms. The first dis- 
 charge of weapons was received by those who stood 
 
144 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 round him ; afterwards the shock could not be resisted* 
 The consul, wounded by a mortal blow, falls, and all 
 about him were thrown into disorder. The spirit of 
 the Etrurians increases : terror drives the Romans in 
 dismay throughout the entire camp, and matters would 
 have ended in utter ruin, had not the lieutenants, 
 hastily carrying off the consul's body, opened a way 
 for the enemy through one of the gates. Through this 
 they burst forth, and retreating in a disordered body, 
 fall in with the other consul, who was victorious : there 
 again they were cut down and put to rout. A splendid 
 victory was gained, saddened, however, by two such 
 illustrious deaths. The consul, therefore, when the 
 senate was decreeing a triumph, replied, " If an army 
 could triumph without its general, that he would wil- 
 lingly consent to it, in consideration of their eminent 
 service in that war ; but that himself, while his family 
 was in mourning for the death of his brother, Q. Fa- 
 bius, and the state reduced to partial orphanage by the 
 loss of one of its consuls, could not, disfigured as he 
 was with public and private sorrow, accept the laurel." 
 This triumph declined conferred more lustre than any 
 triumph enjoyed, so much does glory, seasonably re- 
 jected, return occasionally with accumulated splendour. 
 He then celebrates the two funerals, those of his col- 
 league and brother, in succession. He also pronounced 
 the funeral oration over both ; whilst, by conceding to 
 them their respective honours, he bore away the great- 
 est share of them himself. And not losing sight of the 
 determination, which he impressed on his mind, in the 
 commencement of his consulate, of gaining over the 
 affections of the commons, he distributes the wounded 
 soldiers among the patricians, to be taken care of. 
 The greatest number was quartered on the Fabii ; nor 
 were they treated any where else with more attention. 
 Henceforward the Fabii became popular ; and this by 
 no art that was not salutary to the commonwealth. 
 
 CHAP. XL VIII. 
 
 THEREFORE, K. Fabius, who was elected consul with 
 T. Virginius, not more by the favour of the patricians, 
 than of the commons, would attend neither to wars, 
 
CHAP. 48. LIVY. 145 
 
 nor levies, nor to any other concern preferably to this, 
 viz. that, as now the hope of concord had in some de- 
 gree commenced, the minds of the commons should, on 
 the very earliest opportunity, be perfectly united with 
 the patricians. Accordingly, in the beginning of the 
 year, before any tribune should stand forward as the 
 mover of the agrarian law, he proposed that the sena- 
 tors should, by anticipating the measure, make the 
 boon their own, and divide the conquered land among 
 the commons as fairly as possible ; " As it was just that 
 those should occupy it, by whose blood and labour it 
 had been won." The patricians rejected the proposal 
 with disdain ; they also complained somewhat, that the 
 once ardent spirit of Kaeso was becoming indolent, and 
 sinking into decay by an excess of glory. After this, 
 there were no city factions. The Latins were harassed 
 by the inroads of the ^Equi; Ka?so, being sent thither 
 with an army, crossed over into the lands of the ^Kqui 
 themselves, to commit depredations. The ^Equi re- 
 treated into their towns, and confined themselves within 
 their walls ; for which reason there was no battle 
 worth mentioning. J}ut from the Veientian enemy a 
 defeat was sustained, by the rashness of the other con- 
 sul; and the army should have been totally destroyed, 
 had not K. Fabius seasonably arrived to its support. 
 From that time, there was neither peace nor war with 
 the Veientians ; the thing had approximated very 
 closely to the form of a predatory attack. They used 
 to retreat before the Roman legions into the city ; 
 when they had perceived the legions drawn oif, they 
 made incursions into the country ; alternately evading 
 war by repose, and repose again by war. Thus the 
 business could neither be wholly laid aside, nor yet 
 concluded ; and other wars were either immediately 
 pressing on them, such as from the JEqui and Volsci, 
 who remained no longer quiet, than until the recent 
 smart of their late overthrow should pass away ; or it 
 was evident that the Sabines, who were ever hostile, 
 and all Etruria, would presently put themselves in mo- 
 tion. But the Veientian foe, more persevering than 
 formidable, was annoying their minds, more generally 
 by insults than by danger ; which at no time could be 
 overlooked, or allow them to turn their attention to 
 o 
 
146 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 any other subject. Then the Fabian family waited 
 upon the senate ; the consul, in the name of the entire 
 family, thus addresses them : " Conscript fathers, the 
 Veientian war, as you know, requires rather a perma- 
 nent, than a strong defensive force. Do you attend to 
 the other wars leave the Fabii as opponents to the 
 A r eientians ; we are guarantees that the majesty of the 
 Roman name shall be safe in that quarter. It is our 
 intention to conduct that, to us, as it were, a family war, 
 at our own proper expense. In that war let the com- 
 monwealth be relieved from soldiers and money." Un- 
 bounded thanks were given to them. The consul, 
 having come out of the senate, returns home, attended 
 by a body of the Fabii, who had been standing in the 
 porch of the senate-house, waiting the decree. Being 
 commanded to attend at the consul's door on the fol- 
 lowing day, in arms, they then depart to their homes. 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. 
 
 THE report spreads over the entire city; they extol 
 the Fabii, in their praises, to the skies. " That a sin- 
 gle family had undertaken the burden of the whole 
 state ; that the Veientian war had changed to a private 
 concern, a private hostility. If there were in. the city 
 two families of the same strength, they might claim for 
 their own management, the one the Volsci, the other 
 the J3qui ; and thus all the neighbouring nations could 
 be subdued, while the Roman people were in the en- 
 joyment of undisturbed peace." On the ensuing day 
 the Fabii take up arms, and assemble where they were 
 ordered. The consul, coming forth in his military 
 robe, sees his entire family at his porch, drawn up in 
 marching order ; being received into the centre, he 
 orders the standards to be moved forward. Never did 
 an army march through the city, either inferior in 
 numbers, or more illustrious in fame and the admira-. 
 tion of all people. Three hundred and six soldiers, 
 all patricians, all of one clan, not one of whom an 
 honourable senate at any period could reject as a gene- 
 ral, were proceeding onward, threatening destruction 
 to the Veientian nation from the prowess of a single 
 family. A crowd followed them, one portion consisting 
 
CHAP. 49. LIVY. 147 
 
 exclusively of their own relatives and acquaintances, 
 revolving in their thoughts nothing moderate, neither 
 hope nor anxiety, but every thing transcendant, the 
 other portion, an indiscriminate body, excited by their 
 solicitude, and lost in esteem and admiration. They bi(T 
 them " proceed with fortitude, proceed with good 
 fortune, and exhibit results commensurate with their 
 undertaking ; and afterwards to expect from themselves 
 consulships, triumphs, all rewards, all honours." As. 
 they passed by the Capitol, the citadel, and other tem- 
 ples, whatever gods present themselves to their eyes, 
 whatever, to their imagination, to them they pray? that 
 they would send out that band happy and prosperous, 
 and bring them back soon in safety into their country, 
 to their parents. These prayers were sent up in vain.. 
 Setting out by an unlucky road, through the right arch 
 of the gate Carmentalis, they arrive at the river Cre- 
 mera ; this appeared a favourable situation for fortify- 
 ing a garrison. L. ^Emilius and C. Servilius were 
 soon after made consuls ; and as long as the affair con- 
 sisted in nothing else than predatory attacks, the Fabii 
 were not only equal to the defence of the garrison, but 
 throughout that entire district, where the Etrurian ad- 
 joins the Roman land, making excursions along both 
 frontiers, they secured all their own possessions, and 
 annoyed those of the enemy. Afterwards there was a 
 short interruption to the depredations, whilst the Vei- 
 entians, having collected an army out of Etruria, attack 
 the fortress at the Cremera; and the Roman legions, 
 brought up by L. JEmilius, the consul, engage in close 
 action with the Etrurians in the field ; although the 
 Veientians had scarcely time for forming their line, so 
 completely, during the first consternation (whilst the 
 files are marching to their ground behind the colours, 
 and they are stationing the reserve), did a Roman 
 squadron of cavalry, suddenly charging them on the 
 flank, deprive them of the means, not only of com- 
 mencing battle, but even of standing their ground. 
 Thus, being beaten back to the Red Rocks, where they 
 had their camp, they sue for peace as suppliants ; for 
 the attainment of which, from the levity inherent in 
 their dispositions, they felt sorry, before the garrison 
 was withdrawn from the Cremera. 
 
148 LIA^Y. BOOK II. 
 
 CHAP. L. 
 
 THE Veientian state had again a contest with the 
 Fabii, without any greater preparations of war; nor 
 was it incursions only into the lands, or sudden attacks 
 of the invading parties, that took place, but they some- 
 times fought in the open field, and in pitched battles ; 
 and a single family of the Roman people often obtained 
 the victory over an Etrurian state, a most opulent one 
 as affairs then were. At first, that was regarded with 
 sorrow and indignation by the Veientians ; afterwards 
 they formed a plan, suggested by the occasion, of en- 
 trapping their fierce enemy by stratagem : they even 
 rejoiced that the confidence of the Fabii was increasing 
 by their frequent success. Accordingly, their cattle 
 were occasionally driven out to meet the marauders, as 
 if it had occurred by chance ; their lands were left deso- 
 late, by the flight of the peasants ; and armed succours 
 sent to repel the depredations retreated, oftener with 
 pretended, than real fear. And now the Fabii had so 
 thoroughly despised the enemy, that they thought their 
 own invincible arms could be withstood neither in any 
 place, nor on any occasion. This confidence carried 
 them so far, that upon seeing some herds of cattle at a 
 distance from the Cremera, a large tract of country in- 
 tervening, they ran down, although some scattered 
 bodies of the enemy made their appearance ; and when, 
 in their disordered course, they had incautiously passed ' 
 the ambush which was placed near the very road, and 
 in straggling parties were carrying off the cattle, which 
 ran up and down, as is usual, upon being affrighted ; 
 the Veientians suddenly start up from the place of am- 
 buscade, and the enemy were at once in their front and 
 at every side of them. At first the shouts raised all 
 round, terrified them, immediately after, weapons were 
 showering down upon them from every quarter; and 
 now, as the Etrurians were closing upon them, being 
 hemmed in by one unbroken line of armed troops, the 
 more the enemy was pressing forward, they were them- 
 selves obliged also to contract their circle within a nar- 
 rower space : which circumstance made the paucity of 
 their own numbers apparent, as also the great numeri- 
 
CHAP. 51. LIVY. UV 
 
 cal superiority of the Etrurians, their lines being mul- 
 tiplied in the close compass. Then, giving up the resis- 
 tance which they had directed against all sides alike, 
 they all bend their force to one point ; in this direction, 
 exerting themselves with their bodies and arms, they 
 burst their way in the form of a wedge. Their course 
 led to a hill of gentle ascent ; there they first made a 
 halt ; presently after, when the more elevated ground 
 gave them time for breathing and recovering their spi- 
 rits after so great a consternation, they even repulsed 
 the enemy advancing up hill ; and this handful of men 
 would, with the aid of the ground, have been victorious, 
 had not the Veientian, sent round the ridge of the hill, 
 made his way to the very summit : thus the enemy be- 
 came once more superior. All the Fabii were cut off 
 to a man, and their fortress taken by assault. It is 
 quite agreed, that the three hundred and six perished ; 
 and that one only, who was approaching the years of 
 puberty, remained, as a stock for the propagation of 
 the Fabian family, and, in after times, to become even 
 the greatest support, in the many emergencies of the 
 Roman people, at home arid in war. 
 
 
 CHAP. LL 
 
 WHEN this disaster was sustained, C. Horatius and 
 P. Menenius were then consuls. Menenius was sent 
 'orthwith against the Etrurians elated with victory. 
 Then also they fought without success, and the enemy 
 ook possession of the Janiculum ; and the city should 
 lave been besieged, a scarcity of provisions distressing 
 hem in addition to the war (for the Etrurians had 
 crossed the Tiber), had not the consul Horatius been 
 ^ecalled from the country of the Volsci ; and so closely 
 lid this war press on the very walls, that they first 
 ought at the temple of Hope with doubtful success, and 
 secondly, at the Colline gate. In that engagement, 
 hough the Romans had the superiority only by a slight 
 idvantage, that contest, however, rendered the soldiers, 
 tvho now recovered their former spirit, better for fu- 
 ure battles. A. Virginias and Sp. Servius then be- 
 iame consuls. The Veientians, after their loss in the 
 ate encounter, refrained from a general engagement ; 
 o 3 
 
150 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 depredations were committed, and they were making 
 incursions every where into the Roman lands from the 
 Janiculum, as if it were a fortress. In no place were 
 the cattle secure, nor the peasantry. They were after- 
 wards entrapped by the same stratagem by which they 
 entrapped the Fabii: pursuing the cattle, which were 
 designedly driven out in all directions as a lure, they 
 fell headlong into an ambuscade. The more numerous 
 were they than the Fabii, the greater was the slaugh- 
 ter. Their furious resentment, consequent upon this 
 overthrow, became the cause and origin of a greater : 
 for having crossed the Tiber by night, they attempted 
 to storm the camp of the consul Servilius; being routed 
 from this with great slaughter, they retreated with 
 difficulty to the Janiculum. The consul himself, also, 
 immediately crosses the Tiber, and fortifies a camp at 
 the foot of the Janiculum. The following day, at sun- 
 rise, partly being elated by the success of the former 
 day's battle, chiefly, however, because the scarcity of 
 corn drove him upon plans, no matter how hazardous, 
 provided they were expeditious, he inconsiderately 
 marched his army up the Janiculum to the enemy's 
 camp, and being thence repulsed more disgracefully 
 than he had repulsed them the day before, he was saved, 
 himself and his army, by the intervention of his col- 
 league. The Etrurians, between the two armies, as 
 they turned their backs upon the one and the other al- 
 ternately, were cut down with great slaughter. Thus 
 was the Veientian war put down, by a fortunate act of 
 temerity. 
 
 CHAP. LII. 
 
 ALONG with peace, a more plentiful supply of pro- 
 visions returned to the city ; corn having been impor- 
 ted from Campania, and, after the apprehension of a 
 future scarcity departed from each individual respec- 
 tively, that which was concealed being brought into 
 the market. From the effects of plenty and ease, men's 
 minds became again licentious, and they sought at 
 home their old evils, when they were wanting- abroad. 
 The tribunes stimulated the commons with their usual 
 poison, the agrarian laws ; excited them against the pa- 
 
CHAP. 53. LIVY. 151 
 
 tricians, who opposed it ; not only against them collec- 
 tively, but individually also. Q. Considius and T. Ge- 
 nucius, the proposers of the agrarian law, appoint a 
 day for the impeachment of T. Menenius ; the subject 
 of accusation was the loss of the fortress at the Cre- 
 mera, whilst he, the consul, had his quarters stationary 
 not far from that place. Him they ruined. As the 
 patricians had exerted themselves not less than for Co- 
 riolanus, and as his father Agrippa's popularity had not 
 been yet forgotten, the tribunes acted with moderation, 
 by only imposing a tine: though they prosecuted him 
 for a capital offence, when found guilty, they fixed the 
 fine at 2000 asses : that cost him his life. They say, 
 that he could not support the ignominy and chagrin ; 
 and that, from this cause, he was carried off by a dis- 
 ease. After him, another man. Sp. Servius, being im- 
 peached, as soon as he went out of the consulship, hav- 
 ing had a day of trial named by the tribunes L. Codi- 
 cius and T. Statins, during the consulate of C. Nantiua 
 and P. Valerius, in the very commencement of the 
 year, did not meet the tribunic attacks, like Menenius, 
 with his own supplications, or those of the patricians, 
 but with the utmost confidence in his innocence and 
 popularity. The battle with the Etrurians at the Jani- 
 culum, was the charge also against him ; but being a 
 man of an ardent spirit, as well in the public peril be- 
 fore, as now in his own, he dissipated the danger by 
 his dauntless conduct ; by retorting in haughty lan- 
 guage, not only upon the tribunes, but also on the 
 commons, and upbraiding them with the condemnation 
 and death of T. Menenius, by the kindness of whose 
 father, on a former occasion, these very commons being 
 redressed, were in the enjoyment of those self-same 
 magistrates, by whom they were now actuated to rage, 
 and of the present laws. His colleague, Virginius, being 
 produced as a witness, aided him also, by sharing with 
 him his own merits : the condemnation of Menenius, 
 however, (so much had they changed their minds), 
 proved the greatest service. 
 
 CHAP. LIII. 
 
 THE contests at home were ended. A war arose 
 
152 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 with the Veientians, with whom the Sahines had united 
 their arms. P. Valerius, the consul, auxiliaries having 
 been called in from the Latins and Hernici, being sent 
 with an army to Veii, immediately attacks the Sabine 
 camp, which had been pitched before the city of their 
 allies ; and introduced so much consternation, that, 
 whilst they run out in a scattered manner, by compa- 
 nies, some by different ways, to repel the enemy's as- 
 sault, that gate, against which he first advanced the 
 standards, was taken, after that, it was rather a car- 
 nage, within the rampart, than a battle : the confusion 
 penetrates also from the camp to the city : the Veien- 
 tians, as much panic-struck as if Veii had been taken, 
 run to arms ; some go to the assistance of the Sabines; 
 others fall upon the Romans, who were intent on the 
 camp, with their whole fury. The Romans were for 
 a little time turned from their purpose, and put into 
 disorder; then they too make resistance by turning 
 their standards both ways (i. e. by forming two fronts), 
 and the cavalry sent in amongst them by the consul, 
 routs and disperses the Etrurians ; and in one and the 
 same hour, two neighbouring states, the greatest and 
 most powerful, were overcome. Whilst these transac- 
 tions are going forward at Veii, the Volsci and ^Equi 
 had encamped in the Latin territory, and laid the coun- 
 try waste. These, the Latins, having united with the 
 Hernici, dislodged from their camp, by themselves, 
 without either a Roman general or assistance. Besides 
 the recovery of their own property, they made them- 
 selves masters of a great booty ; the consul Nantius 
 was, notwithstanding, sent from Rome against the 
 Volsci. I suppose, they were not pleased with the 
 custom, that the allies should conduct wars, by their 
 own strength, and their own direction, without a Ro- 
 man general and army. There was no species of in- 
 jury and insult that was not practiced against the 
 Volsci, nor still could they be driven to engage in the 
 field. 
 
 CHAP. L1V. 
 
 L. FURIUS and C. Manlius were then created consuls. 
 The Veientians fell to the lot of Manlius, as his pro- 
 
. 54. LIVY. 153 
 
 vince: there was no fighting however: a truce was 
 granted them for forty years, at their request; corn 
 and pay being imposed upon them as a tribute. Dis- 
 cord at home follows external peace, in uninterrupted 
 succession. The commons were goaded to fury by the 
 tribunic stimulants of the agrarian law. The consuls, 
 daunted in nought, by the condemnation of Menenius, 
 in nought, by the danger of Servilius, oppose it with 
 all their might : on their going out of office, Cn. Genu- 
 cius, a tribune of the commons, arraigned them with- 
 out notice. L. ^Emilius and Opiter Virginius enter 
 on the consulship. In some annals, instead of Virgi- 
 nius, I find \ r opiscus Julius to be consul." In this year 
 (whoever were the consuls it had), Furius and Manlius 
 being indicted before the people, solicit, in the garb of 
 suppliants, not more the commons, than the younger 
 patricians ; they recommend and warn them, " to ab- 
 stain from the honours and administration of the state; 
 and, moreover, look on the consular fasces, the prse- 
 texta, and curule chair, as nothing more than the pomp 
 of a funeral : for that those who were adorned with 
 these splendid decorations, as it were, with fillets, were 
 doomed to death. But, if the charms of the consul- 
 ship be so great, let them now be convinced, that the 
 consulship was held in captivity, and overpowered by 
 the tribunic power : that every thing must be done by 
 the consul, as if he were a tribunic beadle, at the nod 
 and mandate of a tribune. If he should exert himself, 
 if he should pay any regard to the patricians, if he 
 should suppose that there was in the commonwealth 
 any other body but the commons, let him set before his 
 eyes, the exile of C. Marcius, the condemnation and 
 death of Menenius." Fired by these addresses, the 
 patricians henceforward held deliberations, not public, 
 but in private, and remote from the knowledge of many 
 persons ; there, when the only thing agreed on was, 
 that the accused should be saved, by right, or by 
 wrong; each most violent proposition was the most 
 acceptable : nor was there wanting an author for any 
 enterprise, however daring. Accordingly, on the day 
 of trial, when the commons were standing in the Forum 
 on the tiptoe of expectation, they were first surprised 
 that the tribune did not come down ; afterwards, when 
 
154 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 the delay became now more suspicious, they believed 
 that he was deterred by the nobles, and complained 
 that the public cause was deserted and betrayed. At 
 length, those who appeared at the entrance to the 
 tribune's door, bring intelligence that he was found 
 dead in his house : which news when report had con- 
 veyed through the entire assembly, as an army is dis- 
 persed on the death of its leader, so they separated 
 every where, each in a different direction. A parti- 
 cular panic had seized the tribunes, being taught by 
 the death of their colleague, what little security the 
 laws of personal inviolability possessed. Neither did 
 the patricians bear their joy with sufficient moderation; 
 and so far was any of them from feeling sorrow for the 
 crime, that even those who were innocent, wished to 
 be considered as having perpetrated it; and it was 
 openly declared by them, that the tribunic power must 
 be subdued, even by criminal means. 
 
 CHAP. LV. 
 
 IMMEDIATELY after this victory, which afforded the 
 very worst precedent, a levy of soldiers is announced 
 by proclamation ; and the tribunes being panic-struck, 
 the consuls go through the business without any inter- 
 ruption. < Then the commons were particularly enraged, 
 more on account of the sikince of the tribunes, than the 
 mandate of the consuls, and asserted " that their liberty 
 was at an end ; that matters again reverted to their 
 former condition ; that the tribunic power had expired, 
 and was buried, with Genucius ; that some other expe- 
 dient must be considered and devised, whereby the 
 patricians should be opposed : that this was the only 
 method, that the commons, since they had no other 
 support, should defend themselves. That four-and- 
 twenty lictors only, attended on the consuls, and these 
 same, plebeians ; that there was nothing more contemp- 
 tible, or more feeble, if there were those who would 
 despise it : that every one made that power great and 
 formidable to himself." When they had excited each 
 other by those discourses, a lictor was sent by the con- 
 suls to arrest Volero Publius, a plebeian, because, as 
 he had been a centurion, he denied that he ought ta 
 
I CHAP. 56. LIVY. 155 
 
 I enlist as a soldier. Volero appeals to the tribunes. 
 As none of them came to his aid, the consuls order the 
 I man to be stript, and rods to be got ready: " I appeal," 
 I says Volero, " to the people, since the tribunes choose 
 I rather that a Roman citizen should be flogged with 
 I rods in their view, than that themselves should be 
 I murdered by you in their beds." The more vehemently 
 lie exclaimed, the more furiously was the lictor tearing 
 off his clothes, and stripping him. Then Volero, being 
 himself of powerful strength, and those whom he ap- 
 pealed to, giving their assistance, having repulsed the 
 lictor, retires thither into the thickest throng, where 
 the outcry of those, who were indignant in his own 
 behalf, was most violent ; exclaiming, " I appeal, and 
 implore the protection of the commons : support me, 
 fellow-citizens! support me, fellow-soldiers! there is 
 no reason that you should wait for the aid of the tri- 
 bunes, who themselves stand in need of your assist- 
 ance." The people being inflamed, prepare themselves, 
 as, if for a regular battle; and it was obvious, that a 
 complete crisis was at hand ; that nothing, either of 
 public or private right, would be held sacred by any 
 person. When the consuls had opposed themselves to 
 this, so violent a storm, they soon found by experience, 
 that dignity is but little secure, when unsupported by 
 strength. The lictors being maltreated, and the fasces 
 broken, they are driven from the Forum into the 
 .senate-house ; not knowing how far Volero might use 
 his victory. Afterwards, the tumult subsiding, when 
 they ordered the fathers to be summoned to the senate, 
 they complain of their own injuries, the violence of the 
 commons, and Volero's audacity. Many opinions of a 
 violent nature being expressed, the elders prevailed, 
 who were not satisfied, that they should struggle against 
 the temerity of the commons, by the rage of the pa- 
 tricians. 
 
 CHAP. LVI. 
 
 THE commons embracing with zeal the interest of 
 Volero, create him, at the election, tribune of the peo- 
 ple, for that year which had L. Pinarius and P. Furius 
 consuls : and contrary to the opinion of all, who sup- 
 
156 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 posed that he would give loose rein to his tribuneship, 
 in harassing the consuls of the preceding year, having 
 postponed his personal resentment to the public cause, 
 and without having injured the consuls even in word, 
 he proposed a bill to the people, that plebeian magis- 
 trates should be chosen in elections by tribes. Under 
 a designation, at first view, by no means formidable, 
 was proposed this measure, not at all unimportant, but 
 such as would strip the patricians of all power of elect- 
 ing, by means of the votes of their dependents, what- 
 ever tribunes they pleased. As the fathers were op- 
 posing with their utmost might this bill, which was 
 most acceptable to the commons ; nor could any of his 
 colleagues (which was the only power that could resist 
 it) be prevailed on, by the influence either of the con- 
 suls, or the nobles, to protest against it; yet being 
 by its own very magnitude a weighty affair, it was 
 protracted by contentions for a year. The commons 
 re-elect Volero, tribune. The patricians, judging that 
 the matter would proceed to a desperate contest, create 
 as consul Ap. Claudius, the son of Appius, already 
 odious to, and enraged against the commons on ac- 
 count of his father's contentions. T. Quinctius is given 
 to him as a colleague. In the immediate commence- 
 ment of the year, no other measure was agitated prior 
 to the law ; but as Volero was the originator of the 
 law, so was his colleague, Lsetorius, its more recent as 
 well as more vigorous promoter; his great military re- 
 nown rendered him proud, for there was no one of 
 that age more prompt in personal valour. This man, 
 as Volero spoke nothing except on the subject of the 
 law, abstaining from any invectives against tbe consuls, 
 broke out himself into an accusation of Appius, and bis 
 family, the most arrogant and cruel to the commons of 
 Rome ; whilst he contended that he was created by the 
 patricians, not as a consul, but as an executioner, to 
 torment and torture the people : the power of speech 
 being rude in a military man, was not adequate to his 
 freedom of thought and spirit. Therefore, language 
 failing him, he says, " Since, Romans, I do not speak 
 with the same facility, as 1 engage to perform what I 
 have spoken ; attend here to-morrow ; I shall either 
 die here in your presence, or I shall carry the law." 
 
LIVY. 157 
 
 On the following day, the tribunes pre-occupy the 
 place of meeting ; the consuls and the nobility stand 
 together in the assembly to obstruct the bill. Laeto- 
 rius orders all to be removed, except those who were 
 to vote. The young men of the nobility were keeping 
 their places, not submitting to the officer ; then Lseto- 
 rius commands some of them to be apprehended. The 
 consul, Appius, denied that a tribune had authority over 
 any person, except a plebeian, for that he was riot a 
 magistrate of the people at large, but of the commons ; 
 nor could he himself, according to the usage of their 
 ancestors, remove a person by virtue of his authority, 
 because, it is thus expressed, " If you think fit, Ro- 
 mans, retire." By arguing flippantly and disdainfully 
 about his authority, he was able to disconcert Lseto- 
 rius. The tribune, therefore, burning with rage, sends 
 his officer to the consul ; the consul sends his lictor to 
 the tribune, exclaiming, that he was a private person, 
 without authority, without civil office ; and the tribune 
 should have been abused, had not the whole assembly 
 rose up furious, in behalf of the tribune, and against 
 the consul; and a concourse of persons, consisting of 
 the excited multitude, was rushing from all parts of 
 the city to the Forum. Appius, notwithstanding, was 
 sustaining this great storm with obstinacy ; and they 
 would have contended in a battle not Avithout bloodshed, 
 had not Quinctius, the other consul, having given 
 charge to those of consular dignity to remove his col- 
 league from the Forum, by force, if they could not do 
 it otherwise, himself now soothed with entreaties the 
 enraged commons, now besought the tribunes to dis- 
 miss the assembly : " That they should give their 
 anger time to cool ; that delay would not deprive them 
 of their power, but add wisdom to their strength ; and 
 that the patricians would be still subject to the authority 
 of the people, and the consul to that of the patricians." 
 
 CHAP. LVIL 
 
 THE commons were with difficulty appeased by 
 Quinctius ; the other consul, with much more difficulty, 
 by the patricians. The assembly of the people being 
 at length dismissed, the consuls convene a meeting of 
 p 
 
158 LIVY BOOK II. 
 
 the senate ; where, when fear and anger alternately had 
 produced a variety of opinions, the more their minds, 
 during the interval that elapsed, were called off from 
 violence to deliberation, the more they were averse 
 from contention : so much so, that they returned thanks 
 to Quinctius, because the dissension was softened down 
 by his exertion. From Appius it is requested, " that 
 he would permit the consular dignity to be only so 
 great, as could exist compatibly with the harmony of 
 the state. Whilst the tribunes and consuls were 
 respectively drawing all power to themselves, no 
 strength was left in the body of the community. 
 That the question was more, in whose disposal the dis- 
 tracted and mangled commonwealth should be placed, 
 than that it should be safe." Appius, on the other 
 hand, appealed to gods and men, " that the republic- 
 was betrayed through cowardice, and deserted : that it 
 was not a consul that was wanting to the senate, but a 
 senate to the consul : that more oppressive laws were 
 now being accepted, that had been accepted on mount 
 Sacer." Being, however, overcome by the unanimous 
 feeling of the senators, he desisted : the ]aw is carried 
 through in silence. 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. 
 
 THEN the tribunes were created, for the first time, 
 in the assemblies by tribes. Piso is an authority, that 
 three were also added to the number, as if there were 
 only two before. He even names the tribunes, viz. C. 
 Sicmius, L. Numitorius, M. Duilius, Sp. Icilius, L. 
 Msecilius During the Roman dissension, a war arose 
 with the Volsci and JEqui ; they laid waste the lands, 
 in order, that if any secession took place on the part of 
 the commons, they might have a place of retreat with 
 themselves. Matters being afterwards adjusted, they 
 moved back their camp. Ap. Claudius was sent against 
 the Volsci. The JEqui fell to Quinctius, as his pro- 
 vince. Appius' severity, the same which he exercised 
 at home, was more uncontrolled in war, because it was 
 free from the tribunic restrictions. He hated the com- 
 mons, with more than his father's animosity ; " that 
 by them he was conquered, that though he was him- 
 
CHAP. 59. LIVY. 159 
 
 self set up a special consul, to oppose the tribunic 
 power, yet the law was carried, which the former con- 
 suls had impeded, with less exertions, the confidence 
 of the patricians being by no means so high." This 
 resentment and indignation stimulated his haughty 
 spirit to harass the army, by a rigorous exercise of 
 his authority : nor yet could it (the army), be subdued, 
 so determined an opposition had they imbibed into 
 their minds. They performed every thing with indo- 
 lence, carelessness, negligence, and stubbornness ; nei- 
 ther shame nor dread restrained them. If he wished 
 the march of the army to be expedited, they took care 
 to march more slowly : if he were present, exhorting 
 them in their work, they all relaxed the diligence ex- 
 ercised of their own accord ; they cast down their 
 countenance, if he were present ; they silently execra- 
 ted him, as he passed them by ; so that his spirit, un- 
 subdued by plebeian animosity, was occasionally moved* 
 Every kind of severity being in vain resorted to, he 
 now held no intercourse with the soldiers ; he declared, 
 that the army was corrupted by the centurions ; these, 
 he used sometimes, in a gibing manner, to call tribunes 
 of the commons, and Voleroes, 
 
 CHAP. LIX. 
 
 THE Volsci were ignorant of none of these proceed- 
 ings, and urged on their operations the more, on that 
 account, hoping, that the Roman army would maintain 
 the same conflict of passion against Appius, that they 
 had maintained against Fabius, when consul. But, in 
 truth, it was much more violent against Appius, than 
 Fabius. For it was not only unwilling to conquer, as 
 Fabius's army, but it wished to be conquered. Being 
 brought into the field, it sought its camp in disgraceful 
 flight, nor made any resistance, until it beheld the 
 Volscians advancing to the fortifications, and the shame- 
 ful slaughter of its own rear. Then was an effort to 
 fight wrung from them by necessity, that the victorious 
 enemy should now be repelled from the rampart, in 
 such a manner, however, that it should sufficiently 
 appear, that, as Roman soldiers, they were only un- 
 willing that their camp should be taken ; some even 
 
160 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 rejoiced in their own disaster and ignominy. By 
 which, the stubborn spirit of Appius, being in no re- 
 spect broken, when he would indulge his fury still fur- 
 ther, and called an assembly, the lieutenant-generals 
 and tribunes gather round him in a body, advising him, 
 that he should not, above all things, make trial of an 
 authority, the entire efficacy of which depended on the 
 consent of those who obeyed it : saying, " that the sol- 
 diers, in general, declared they would not go to the 
 assembly, and that there were heard in all directions, 
 the voices of those demanding, that the camp should 
 be removed from the Volscian country ; that a victori- 
 ous army had been, very lately, almost at the gates 
 and rampart, and that, not merely the apprehension, 
 but the manifest features of a great calamity, were pre- 
 sent to their view." Being at length prevailed upon, 
 (since they could gain nothing but a respite of their 
 punishment), and having prorogued the assembly, after 
 he had commanded the order of march to be announced 
 for the ensuing clay, at the first dawn, he gave the 
 signal for departure, by sound of trumpet. At that 
 particular time, when the army were getting clear of 
 the camp, the Volsci, as if roused by the same signal, 
 attack their rear. The alarm being conveyed from 
 these to the front, disordered the battalions and com- 
 panies with such a consternation, that neither could 
 orders be heard, nor the lines formed ; no one thought 
 of any thing but flight. They retreated in so confused 
 a body, through the mingled heaps of dead bodies and 
 arms, that the enemy ceased to pursue sooner than the 
 Romans to fly. The soldiers being at length collected 
 together from their dispersed flight, the consul, after 
 he had in vain persisted in calling back his men, en- 
 camped in a peaceful part of the country ; and having 
 called together an assembly, and inveighed with truth 
 against the army, as the betrayer of military discipline, 
 the deserter of its colours ; frequently asking individu- 
 als of them, where were their standards ? where were 
 their arms ? he scourged with rods, and beheaded the 
 soldiers who had not retained their arms, the standard- 
 bearers who had lost their colours, besides the centu- 
 rions, and privates, (those who received double ra- 
 tions) who had quitted their ranks ; of the rest of the 
 
CHAP. 60. LIVY. 161 
 
 multitude, every tenth man was singled out by lot for 
 punishment. 
 
 CHAP. LX. 
 
 CONTRARY to this, in the country of the ^Equi, the 
 consul and soldiers vied with each other in civility and 
 acts of kindness : besides, Quinctius was naturally the 
 milder man, and the unfortunate severity of his col- 
 league, had caused him to indulge the more readily his 
 native disposition. The ^Equi, not daring to meet this 
 so great harmony between the commander and his 
 army, suffered the enemy to spread themselves in pre- 
 datory bodies over the country. Nor in any former 
 war, was plunder carried on from that country to a 
 greater extent ; it was all given to the soldiers. 
 Praises were also added, in which, no less than booty, 
 the minds of soldiers exult. The army returns home 
 more reconciled as well to their general, as also, on 
 their general's account, to the patricians ; declaring 
 that to themselves was given, by the senate, a parent, 
 to the other army, a master. This year, which was 
 spent with varied success in war, and in violent dissen- 
 sions at home, the elections by tribes rendered parti- 
 cularly remarkable : a matter more important from the 
 victory of the undertaken contest, than from any prac- 
 tical advantage : for there was more dignity taken 
 away from the assemblies themselves, by excluding the 
 patricians from the councils, than real strength either 
 added to the plebeians, or taken from the senators. 
 
 CHAP. LXI. 
 
 AFTER this a more turbulent year succeeded, in the 
 consulate of L. Valerius and Ti. ^Emilius, both on ac- 
 count of the contests of the two orders, on the subject 
 of the agrarian law, and also on account of the trial of 
 Ap. Claudius : against whom, being a most vigorous 
 opposer of the law, and supporting, as if he were a 
 third consul, the cause of the possessors of the public 
 land, M. Duilius and C. Sicinius instituted a prosecu- 
 tion. Never before was a defendant so hostile to the 
 commons, called before the tribunal of the people; 
 p 3 
 
162 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 being full of resentment for his own and lik father's 
 account. The patricians also rarely exerted themselves 
 so strenuously, in hehalf of any one, seeing that this 
 champion of the senate, the assertor of their own dig- 
 nity, who opposed himself to all the tumults of the 
 tribunes and plebeians, was exposed to an enraged po- 
 pulace, for having only a little outstepped the bounds 
 of moderation in the contest. Ap. Claudius himself 
 was the only one of the patricians who disregarded 
 both tribunes, and commons, and his own trial. Nei- 
 ther the menaces of the commons, nor the prayers of 
 the patricians could ever prevail upon him, not only to 
 change his attire, or, as a suppliant, to court the favour 
 of the people, but not even to soften any thing, and 
 descend from the wonted harshness of his language ; 
 though he had to plead his cause before the people. 
 The expression of his countenance was the same, the 
 same stubbornness was in his looks, the same spirit in 
 his address ; so much so, that a great portion of the 
 commons dreaded Appius no less, as defendant, than 
 they had dreaded him as consul. He pleaded his cause 
 once, in that spirit of accusation, in which he had been 
 accustomed to do every thing ; and so astounded the 
 tribunes and commons by his intrepidity, that, of their 
 own free will, they prolonged the day of trial ; and 
 afterwards, were disposed to suffer the matter to die 
 away. The interval of time was not long : before, 
 however, the adjourned day arrived, he dies of a dis- 
 temper: whose funeral oration, when the tribunes of 
 the commons were endeavouring to prevent, the com- 
 mons themselves would not allow the last day of so 
 great a man, to be defrauded of the customary honours; 
 and they listened with as much attention to his pane- 
 gyric when dead, as they did to his prosecution while 
 alive ; and in great numbers attended his obsequies. 
 
 CHAP. LX1I. 
 
 IN the same year, the consul, Valerius, having set 
 out with an army against the ^Equi, when he could not 
 draw out the enemy to an engagement, attempted to 
 storm their camp. A frightful tempest, which poured 
 down from the firmament, accompanied by hail and 
 
CHAP. ( 
 
 AP. 63. LIVY. 163 
 
 thunder, prevented its execution. The return of calm 
 serenity, on the signal for retreat being given, increased 
 their astonishment so much, that they felt a religious 
 scruple to attack the camp a second time, as if it were 
 defended by some divinity. The entire fury of the war 
 was turned to the desolation of their lands. -^Emilius, 
 the other consul, conducted the war in the country of 
 the Sabines ; and there also, as the enemy kept himself 
 within his walls, the lands were laid waste. The Sa- 
 bines, being afterwards provoked by the burning, not 
 only of their country-houses, but also of their villages, 
 in which they dwelt in great numbers, when they had 
 met the marauders, and came off from the battle with 
 doubtful success, on the following day removed their 
 camp to a more secure position. This was looked upon 
 by the consul as a sufficient reason, why he should give 
 up the enemy as conquered ; departing from thence, 
 though the war was in its original state. 
 
 CHAP. LXIII. 
 
 DURING these wars, the dissensions at home still 
 continuing : T. Numicius Priscus and A. Virginius were 
 elected consuls. The commons did not appear likely 
 to endure any longer the deferring of the agrarian law, 
 and the last degree of violence was intended, when it 
 was discovered, by the smoke from the burning of the 
 farm-houses, and the flight of the peasants, that the 
 Volsci were approaching ; that event checked the sedi- 
 tion now matured, and on the point of breaking out. 
 The consuls, being immediately ordered out to the war 
 by the senate, having led the young men out of the 
 city, made the rest of the commons more quiet ; and 
 indeed the enemy, without doing any more than filling 
 the Romans with groundless apprehension, depart in a 
 precipitate march. Numicius set forward to Antium 
 against the Volsci ; Virginius against the ^Equi. Here, 
 a great disaster being nearly sustained in consequence 
 of an ambuscade, the valour of the soldiers restored the 
 affair, which was nearly ruined by the neglect of the 
 consul. The duties of commander were more judiciously 
 fulfilled in the country of the Volsci. The enemy were 
 routed in the first engagement, and driven by flight 
 
164 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 into Antium, a most opulent city, considering the then 
 state of affairs ; which the consul not daring to attempt 
 by assault, he took from the Antians, Ceno, another 
 town, but by no means so rich. Whilst the JBqui and 
 Volsci engage the attention of the Roman armies, the 
 Sabines advanced up to the gates of the city, commit- 
 ting depredations ; they themselves, in a few days after, 
 suffered from the two armies a greater loss than they 
 inflicted, both the consuls having penetrated into their 
 territories, under the influence of resentment. 
 
 CHAP. LXIV. 
 
 AT the close of the year there was some peace, but 
 disturbed, as was always the case before, by the con- 
 tentions of the patricians and commons. The commons, 
 being enraged, would not attend the consular elections. 
 T. Quinctius and Q. Servilius were created consuls, by 
 the patricians and the dependents of the patricians. 
 These consuls experienced a year similar to the preced- 
 ing one ; the commencement turbulent, afterwards re- 
 duced to tranquillity by external war. The Sabines, 
 having traversed the plains of Crustuminum in a rapid 
 march, after they caused slaughter and conflagration 
 on both sides of the river Anio, were repulsed from 
 near the Colline gate and the walls of Rome ; yet they 
 carried off a vast booty of men and cattle. Servilius, 
 pursuing them with a hostile army, was not indeed able 
 to overtake the main body in the level country ; but he 
 committed devastations so extensively, that he left 
 nothing unmolested by the war, and returned home, 
 after gaining a booty several times greater than what 
 the enemy had carried off. In the country of the 
 Volsci, also, the business of the state was remarkably 
 well conducted, by the exertion as well of the comman- 
 der as of the soldiers. They first fought in the level 
 plain, in a pitched battle, with great slaughter on both 
 sides, and much effusion of blood ; and the Romans, 
 because the paucity of their numbers was nearer feeling 
 the loss (i. e. made them feel the loss more sensibly), 
 would have retreated, had not the consul, calling out, 
 that the enemy were flying on the other wing, animated 
 the troops by the salutary falsehood : having made a 
 
CHAP. 65. LIVY. 165 
 
 charge, while they fancy themselves to be victorious, 
 they became victors. The consul, apprehensive lest, 
 by pressing them too much, he might only renew the 
 engagement, gave the signal for retreat. A few days 
 elapsed, repose being taken on both sides, as if from a 
 tacit cessation of arms, during which a vast number of 
 men, from all the states of the Volsci and ^Equi, came 
 into the camp, not doubting that the Romans, if they 
 discovered it, would retire by night. Nearly at the 
 third watch, therefore, they come to assault the camp : 
 Quinctius, having appeased the tumult, which the sud- 
 den alarm had excited, when he had ordered the sol- 
 diers to remain quiet in their tents, leads out a cohort 
 of the Hernici to form an out-post ; he commands the 
 horn-blowers and trumpeters, mounted on horseback, 
 to sound their instruments before the rampart, and to 
 keep the enemy in suspense till day-break. During 
 the remainder of the night, every thing was so very 
 tranquil in the camp, that the Romans had even an 
 opportunity for repose. The appearance of the armed 
 infantry, whom they believed to be more numerous 
 than they really were, and also Romans, and the snort- 
 ing and neighing of the horses, which were intractable, 
 both on account of the strange riders that sat them, 
 and moreover the sound annoying their ears, engaged 
 the attention of the Volsci. 
 
 CHAP. LXV. 
 
 WHEN day dawned, the Roman, being brought into 
 the field, fresh and quite satisfied with sleep, over- 
 powered at the first onset the Volscian, fatigued from 
 standing and want of rest ; though the enemy rather 
 retired than were routed, because there were in their 
 rear some acclivities, to which there was a secure re- 
 treat for the unbroken ranks behind the first line. The 
 consul, when he came to the unfavourable ground, halts 
 his army ; the soldiers were with difficulty restrained ; 
 they called out, and demanded that they might be 
 allowed to press home upon them in their dismay. 
 The cavalry behave themselves with more forwardness ; 
 crowding round their general, they declare that they 
 would advance before the front line themselves. 
 
166 LIVY. BOOK II. 
 
 While the consul hesitates, confident in the valour of 
 his soldiers, but distrusting the ground, they cry out 
 simultaneously, that they will proceed ; and the act fol- 
 lowed the words. Having struck their javelins in the 
 ground, that they might be the lighter to get up to the 
 heights, they ascend in a running pace. The Volscians, 
 having, at the first onset, showered down their missive 
 weapons, poured upon them in heaps, as they ascend, 
 the rocks that lay at their feet, and urge them from the 
 higher ground, when disordered by the frequent blows ; 
 the left wing of the Romans was thus nearly overpow- 
 ered, had not the consul, as they were just giving 
 ground, by reproaching them at the same time with 
 rashness, and also with inactivity, displaced their fear 
 by shame. At first, they stood their ground with ob- 
 stinate resolution ; afterwards, when their strength 
 supported them against those who were in possession 
 of the vantage ground, they venture to advance on the 
 offensive, and the war-shout being renewed, they put 
 the whole line into motion ; then again, the impetuosity 
 being communicated, they force their way up, and 
 overcome the disadvantage of situation. They were 
 now on the point of getting up to the highest ridge of 
 the hill, when the enemy turned their backs, and in a 
 disordered course, the fugitives and pursuers entered 
 the camp, almost in a continuous body. In this con- 
 sternation, the camp is taken ; such of the Volsci as 
 were able to escape, seek their way to Antium. The 
 Roman army too was led to Antium. Being besieged 
 for a few days, it is surrendered, not because of any 
 new attack of the besiegers, but because their spirits 
 had drooped, from the very time of the unsuccessful 
 battle and the loss of their carnp.. 
 
CHAP. L LIVY. 167 
 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 AFTER the taking of Antium, Ti. ^Emilius and Q. 
 Fabius are made consuls. This was Quintus Fabius, 
 who alone survived his family, that was extinguished 
 at the Cremera. ^Emilius already, in his former con- 
 sulship, had been the proposer of giving the lands to 
 the commons. Therefore, in his second consulate also, 
 the agrarian advocates had buoyed themselves up with 
 the hope of obtaining the law ; and the tribunes, judg- 
 ing that the measure often attempted in opposition to 
 the consuls could be gained, especially when a consul 
 was its supporter, bring the matter forward ; and the 
 consul continued in his former sentiments. The owners, 
 and a great portion of the patricians, complaining that 
 the first man of the state was advancing himself into 
 favour by tribunic measures, and was becoming popular 
 by being liberal of the property of others, had trans- 
 ferred the odium of the entire business from the tri- 
 bunes to the consul. A furious contest awaited them, 
 had not Fabius facilitated the matter, by a plan which 
 was disagreeable to neither party, saying, " That a 
 considerable tract of land was taken from the Volsci in 
 the preceding year, under the conduct and auspices of 
 T. Quinctius ; that a colony might be established at 
 Antium, a neighbouring, convenient, and maritime 
 city ; that by these means the commons would come 
 into possession of lands, without the complaints of the 
 present occupiers, and the state be continued in har- 
 mony." This proposal is accepted ; he procures the 
 appointment of T. Quinctius, A. Virginius, and P. 
 Furius, as triumvirs for distributing the land. Those 
 who chose to accept the grant were ordered to give in 
 their names. Abundance, as is always the case begot 
 
168 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 fastidiousness, and so very few sent in their names, that 
 some Volscian settlers were added to complete the 
 number ; ^the rest of the multitude chose rather to claim 
 lands in Rome, than to accept them elsewhere. The 
 Jqui sued for peace from Q. Fabius, for he had 
 marched thither with an army ; and they themselves 
 rendered it of no effect, by a sudden excursion into the 
 Latin territory. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 IN the following year, Q. Servilius (for he was con- 
 sul with Sp. Postumius), being sent against the ^Equi, 
 took up his quarters in the Latin territory : an unavoid- 
 able inactivity detained the army, seized with disease, 
 within their camp. The war was protracted to the 
 third year ; Q. Fabius and T. Quinctius being consuls. 
 That province was given to Fabius by special appoint- 
 ment, because, by being victorious, he had given peace 
 to the ^Bqui. This general, setting out with a certain 
 hope that the renown of his name would bring the 
 ^qui to peace, orders the ambassadors, whom he sent 
 to the diet of that nation, to announce, " That Q. Fa- 
 bius the consul declared, that he had brought peace to 
 Rome from the JEqui, and was now bringing war to 
 the ^Equi from Rome, the same right hand being now 
 armed, which he had formerly held out to them in 
 peace ; and that by w r hose perfidy and perjury that was 
 caused, the gods were now witnesses, and would pre- 
 sently be avengers. That, however, be that as it may, 
 he himself rather wished, even now, that the ^Equi 
 should repent of their own accord, than suffer the 
 rigours of war. If they repented, they should find a 
 secure refuge in that clemency which they had already 
 experienced ; but if they exulted in their perjury, they 
 should carry on the w r ar, more under the resentment of 
 the gods, than of mortal enemies." These words were 
 so far from having had an effect on any of them, that 
 the ambassadors were almost insulted, and an army was 
 sent to Algidum against the Romans. When these 
 things were reported at Rome, indignation at such con- 
 duct, rather than a sense of danger, called out the 
 other consul from the city : thus two consular armies 
 
CHAP. 3. LIVY. 169 
 
 approached the enemy, in order of battle, that they 
 might engage immediately. But, as it happened that 
 only a small portion of the day remained, a person calls 
 out from the enemy's out-posts, " Romans, this is to 
 make a display of, and not to wage, war ; when the 
 night is at hand, you draw up your army; we have 
 need of a greater length of day-light for the contest 
 which is approaching ; to-morrow, with the rising sun, 
 return into the field ; you shall have an opportunity of 
 fighting, never fear." The soldiers, incensed at those 
 expressions, are brought back into their camp till the 
 ensuing day ; deeming that a tedious night was coming 
 on, as it would cause a delay to the combat. Then 
 indeed they refresh their bodies with food and sleep. 
 As soon as it dawned, on the following day, the Ro- 
 man army took its ground somewhat before the Mqui ; 
 at length, the ^Bqui also came forward. The battle 
 was furious on both sides ; for the Roman fought under 
 the influence of anger and hatred ; and a consciousness 
 of the danger's being incurred by their own fault, and 
 despair of any confidence being placed in them hereaf- 
 ter, impelled the ^Equi to dare and try the last exer- 
 tions. The jEqui, however, did not withstand the 
 Roman troops ; and when, after being routed, they 
 retired to their own territories, the furious multitude, 
 with minds in no respect more disposed to peace, re- 
 proached their leaders, because their fortune was com- 
 mitted to a pitched battle, in which the Roman, from 
 his military science, had the advantage. They say, 
 " That the ^Equi were superior in predatory attacks 
 and incursions ; and that many dispersed bodies waged 
 wars with more success, than the vast mass of a single 
 army." 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 HAVING therefore left a guard for the camp, they 
 marched out, and invaded the Roman territories with 
 such fury, that they carried terror even as far as the 
 city ; the unexpected nature of the enterprise also 
 caused the more alarm, because nothing could be less 
 apprehended, than that an enemy who were vanquished, 
 Q 
 
170 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 and almost besieged in their camp, could think of depre- 
 dations ; and the peasants, pouring into the gates in a 
 panic, cried out that it was not a marauding party, nor 
 small bands of pillagers, but (exaggerating every thing 
 in their groundless terror,) armies and legions of ene- 
 mies that were approaching, and rushing in a furious 
 body to the city. Such as were nearest conveyed from 
 those alarmists to others these reports, which were un- 
 certain, as being only heard, and therefore more ground- 
 less : the hurry and clamour of those summoning to 
 arms, was not much short of the consternation of a cap- 
 tured city. It happened that the consul, Quinctius, had 
 returned to Rome from Algidum (this proved a remedy 
 for their fear), and having calmed the tumult, telling 
 them by way of reproach, that an enemy whom they 
 conquered were become an object of terror, stationed 
 a guard at the gates. Having then convened the senate, 
 and a suspension of civil business being announced by 
 proclamation, pursuant to the directions of the senate; 
 when he set out to defend the frontiers, leaving Q. Ser- 
 vilius governor of the city, he did not find the enemy 
 in the country. Matters were nobly conducted by the 
 other consul, who having attacked the enemy, on the 
 road where he knew they were to come, being laden 
 with plunder, and therefore moving on in a more em- 
 barrassed march, he made that a calamitous depreda- 
 tion to them. Few of the enemy escaped from the am- 
 buscade ; all the booty was recovered ; thus the return 
 of the consul, Quinctius, to the city, put an end to the 
 suspension of civil business, which lasted four days. A 
 census was then taken, and the lustrum closed^ by 
 Quinctius. The number of citizens rated, is said to 
 have been one hundred and twenty-four thousand, two 
 hundred and fourteen, besides male and female orphans. 
 Nothing memorable was after done in the country of 
 the ^Equi ; they retired within their towns, suffering 
 their properties to be burned and plundered. The 
 consul, after he had frequently traversed the entire of 
 the enemy's country, laying it waste in his hostile ca- 
 reer, returned to Rome with vast glory and plunder. 
 
CHA 
 
 HAP. 4. LIVY. 171 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 A. POSTUMIUS ALBUS and Sp. Furius Fusius were 
 made consuls. The Furii, some writers have Fusii : 
 This I mention, lest any should think that to be a dif- 
 ference in the men themselves, which is only in the 
 names. There was no doubt) that one of the consuls 
 would carry on war with the ^Equi. Accordingly the 
 JEqui sought protection from the Volsci of Ecetra ; 
 which being eagerly offered (so much did these states 
 vie with each other in interminable hatred towards the 
 Romans), preparations were made for war with the 
 utmost vigour. The Hernici understand, and give no- 
 tice to the Romans, that the inhabitants of Ecetra had 
 revolted to the ^Bqui: the colony at Antium was also 
 suspected, because a great number of persons, when 
 the town had been taken, had fled thence for protec- 
 tion to the ^Equi ; and these were even the most deter- 
 mined soldiers during the war with the ^Equi. The 
 ^Equi being afterwards forced into their towns, when 
 that multitude, dropping oif, had returned to Antium, 
 they detached from tfie interest of the Romans the set- 
 tlers, who were already faithless of themselves. The 
 business being not yet ripe, when it was reported to 
 the senate that a defection was intended, instructions 
 were given to the consuls, that, summoning oif the 
 chiefs of the colony to Rome, they should inquire what 
 was the matter ; who, after having come without reluc- 
 tance, being introduced into the senate by the consuls, 
 replied to the questions put to them, in such a manner, 
 that they were sent away more suspected than they had 
 come. War was then deemed inevitable. Sp. Furius, 
 one of the consuls, to whose lot that province had fal- 
 len, having marched against the JBqui, found the enemy 
 committing depredations in the country of the Hernici ; 
 and being ignorant of their numbers, because they were 
 never seen in one entire body, he rashly committed his 
 army, which was unequal to their forces, to the chance 
 of a battle. Being routed at the first onset, he re- 
 treated to his camp ; nor was that the termination of 
 the danger ; for on the ensuing night and following 
 day, the camp was surrounded and assaulted with so 
 
172 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 much vigour, that not even could a messenger he sent 
 thence to Rome. The Hernici brought intelligence, 
 both that they were defeated, and that the consul and 
 his army were besieged ; and struck such terror into 
 the patricians, that charge was given to the other con- 
 sul, Postumius, " To see that the commonwealth should 
 receive no detriment :" which form of decree was always 
 reserved for the last necessity. It appeared most ad- 
 visable that the consul himself should remain at Rome, 
 to enlist all who were capable of bearing arms ; and 
 that T. Quinctius should be sent as pro-consul, with the 
 allied army, to the relief of the camp ; and to complete 
 this army, the Latins, and Hernici, and the colony at 
 Antium were ordered to supply Quinctius with subitary 
 soldiers ; by this name they then called auxiliaries 
 raised on an emergency. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 DURING those days, there were many movements 
 and many attacks made on one side and the other, be- 
 cause the enemy, having a superiority of numbers, en- 
 deavoured to weaken, by multifarious attacks, the 
 strength of the Romans, as not likely to be sufficient 
 for resistance every where ; at the same time the camp 
 was attacked, and a detachment of the army also sent 
 to lay waste the Roman lands, and, if any favourable 
 opportunity offered, to make an attempt on the city 
 itself. L. Valerius was left for the defence of the city; 
 the consul, Postuniius, was sent to repel the depreda- 
 tions of the frontiers. No attention or labour was 
 omitted on the part of either. Watches were sta- 
 tioned in the city, out-posts before the gates, and 
 guards along the walls ; and, as was necessary in so 
 great an alarm, a suspension of civil business was ob- 
 served for some days. In the meantime, at the camp, 
 the consul, Furius, though at first he quietly endured 
 the siege, burst out through the Decuman gate on the 
 unguarded enemy, and though he might have pursued 
 them, he stopped short through fear, lest any attack 
 might be made on the camp from the opposite side. 
 Furius, the lieutenant-general (the same was brother 
 to the consul), the fury of his charge carried away too 
 
CHAP. 5. LIVY. 173 
 
 far ; nor, in the ardour of his pursuit, did he either 
 observe his own friends returning, nor a charge of the 
 enemy in his rear ; being thus intercepted, after fre- 
 quently making many efforts in vain to force his way 
 to the camp, he ft 11 fighting with bravery. And the 
 consul, on the news of his brother being surrounded, 
 turning back to the engagement, whilst he rushes into 
 the centre of the fight, with more of rashness than due 
 caution, having received a wound, and being with dif- 
 ficulty rescued by his attendants, both dispirited the 
 hearts of his own men, and rendered the enemy more 
 furious ; who elated by the death of the lieutenant- 
 general, and the consul's wound, could no longer be 
 resisted by any effort ; whilst the Romans, forced back* 
 into their camp, were again besieged, being equal to what 
 they were before, neither in confidence nor strength ; 
 and their very existence would have been in jeopardy, 
 had not T. Quinctius come up to their relief, with the 
 foreign troops, consisting of the Latin and Hernician 
 army. He attacked the Mqui on the rear, as they 
 were intent on the Roman camp, and insultingly exhi- 
 biting the lieutenant-general's head, and, at the same 
 time, a sally being made from the camp, on a signal 
 held up by him from a distance, he surrounded a great 
 number of the enemy. The slaughter of the Mqui in 
 the Roman territory was less, their flight more disor- 
 derly ; on whom, divided into straggling parties, and 
 carrying off plunder, Postumius had made attacks in 
 several places, where he had established strong posts ; 
 these, wandering up and down, and flying in a dispersed 
 body, fell in with the victorious Quinctius, returning with 
 the wounded consul. Then did the consular army 
 avenge, by a splendid battle, the wound of the consul, 
 and the loss of the lieutenant-general, and the cohorts. 
 Great overthrows were, during those days, both given 
 and received, on one side and the other. It is difficult, 
 in so remote a matter, to affirm in precise numbers, 
 to a certainty, how many either fought or fell: yet 
 Valerius of Antium ventures to calculate the sum 
 total. He states that five thousand three hundred of 
 the Romans fell in the Hernician country ; that of the 
 plundering parties of the ^Equi, who were spread over 
 the Roman territories, committing depredations, two 
 Q 3 
 
174 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 thousand four hundred were cut off by A. Postumins, 
 the consul ; that the other body of them, who, as they 
 were driving off plunder, fell in with Quinctius, by no 
 means escaped with the same loss ; for of them were 
 slain four thousand, (and by following up the calcula- 
 tion with precise exactness) two hundred and thirty. 
 After they returned to Rome, and the suspension of 
 civil business had ceased, the sky appeared to blaze 
 with a vast profusion of fire, and other portents either 
 presented themselves to people's eyes, or exhibited 
 their ideal forms to their affrighted imaginations. To 
 avert these terrific forebodings, holidays to continue 
 three days were proclaimed, during which, all the tem- 
 ples were filled with crowds of men and women, im- 
 ploring the favour of the gods. The Latin and Her- 
 nician cohorts were then dismissed to their homes by 
 the senate, thanks having been given them for their 
 active military exertions. A thousand soldiers from 
 Antium, who had come a late reinforcement after the 
 battle was over, were sent away almost with ignominy. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THE elections were then held ; L. ^Ebutius and P. 
 Servilius, being created consuls, enter on their office, 
 as it was then the beginning of the consular year. The 
 season itself was unwholesome, and the year happened 
 to be pestilential to the city and country, and not more 
 to men than to cattle ; and they encreased the malig- 
 nity of the disease, by having admitted the cattle and 
 peasants into the city, through a fear of the depreda- 
 tion. Such a collection of animals of every kind mixed 
 up together, was tormenting both the townsmen, by 
 the unusual stench, and the peasants, who were cooped 
 up in narrow apartments, by the heat and want of rest; 
 and the mutual attendance on each other, and their 
 contact itself, were spreading the infection. While 
 they were sustaining with difficulty their pressing cala- 
 mities, the ambassadors of the Hernici suddenly bring 
 intelligence, that the ^Equi and Volsci, with their com- 
 bined forces, had encamped in their territory, and from 
 thence were ravaging their country with a numerous 
 army. Besides, that the thinness of the senate served 
 
CHAP. 7. LIVY. 175 
 
 as an indication to the allies, that the state was afflicted 
 by the pestilence, they also received a sorrowful answer, 
 " that the Hernici themselves, in conjunction with the 
 Latins, should defend their own possessions ; that the 
 city of Rome was, through the sudden anger of the 
 gods, depopulated by disease. If any respite from that 
 calamity should arrive, that then they would give as- 
 sistance to their allies, as they had done in the year 
 before, and on every other occasion." The allied am- 
 bassadors took their departure, and carry back to their 
 home, in return for their melancholy intelligence, tidings 
 still more melancholy ; in as much as they had to sus- 
 tain of themselves a war, which they had scarcely sus- 
 tained, when supported by the Roman power. The 
 enemy no longer confined himself to the Hernician 
 territory, he proceeds from thence, with hostile pur- 
 pose, into the Roman country, which was desolated, 
 even without the ravages of war. Where, when no 
 one, not even unarmed, met them, and they passed 
 through every place, not only destitute of garrisons, 
 but even of rural culture, they reached the third mile- 
 stone on the Gabinian road. ^Ebutius, the Roman 
 consul, was dead : his colleague, Servilius, was lingering 
 out life, with slender hope of recovery. Most of the 
 leading men, the greater part of the senators, and 
 nearly all the military age were affected ; so that they 
 were not only not sufficient in strength for the expe- 
 ditions, which, in a case of so much alarm, the occa- 
 sion required, but scarcely even for the quiet duty of 
 out-posts. The senators, such of them as were capable 
 by age and health to do so, performed of themselves 
 the duty of the watches. The visiting and taking care 
 of these, was the province of the sediles of 'the com- 
 mons : on them had devolved the chief administration 
 and the dignity of the consular authority. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 THE tutelary gods, and the fortune of the city, saved 
 every thing thus deserted, without a head, without 
 strength; which (fortune) inspired the Volsci and ^Equi 
 with the spirit of robbers, rather than of enemies. For 
 so far was any hope, not only of possessing, but even 
 
176 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 of approaching the Roman walls, from entering their 
 minds, and so much did the houses and overhanging 
 hills, seen from afar, divert their thoughts ; that, a mur- 
 mur arising in all quarters of the camp, "why they should 
 throw away their time, inactive, without any booty, in 
 a waste and desolate country, amidst an infection of 
 cattle and men, when they might repair to places yet 
 undamaged, to the land of Tusculum, which abounded 
 in opulence ;" they suddenly plucked up their colours, 
 and passed over to the Tusculan hills, by cross marches, 
 through the lands of the Lavici : thither is directed the 
 whole fury and storm of war. In the mean time, the 
 Hernici and Latins, moved even by shame, and not 
 merely by compassion ; if they should neither have op- 
 posed the common enemy advancing in a hostile body 
 to the Roman city, nor borne any succour to their be- 
 sieged allies, proceed towards Rome with their com- 
 bined army. Where, when they had not found the 
 enemy, having followed them where their intelligence 
 and tracks conducted, they met them as they were de- 
 scending from the Tusculan heights into the Alban 
 valley. There a battle was fought with success by no 
 means equal, and their fidelity proved unfortunate to 
 the Roman allies for the present. No less havock was 
 made at Rome by the distemper, than had been made 
 amongst the allies by the sword. The only surviving 
 consul dies, other illustrious men also died, namely, 
 M. Valerius, and T. Virginius Rutilus, augurs ; Ser. 
 Sulpicius, principal curio (priest) ; the virulence of the 
 disease spread widely amongst obscure individuals, and 
 the senate, destitute of human- aid, turned the atten- 
 tion of the people to the gods and to vows ; they were 
 ordered to go with their wives and children to offer up 
 supplications, and implore the favour of heaven. In 
 addition to what his own private calamities urged each 
 to do, being now called out by public authority, they 
 fill all the temples. Matrons every where prostrate, 
 sweeping the places of worship with their hair, implore 
 a remission of the celestial displeasure, and a termina- 
 tion to the pestilence. 
 
CHAP. 
 
 8. LIVY. 177 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 FROM that time forward, whether it was that the 
 favour of the gods was obtained, or that the more un- 
 healthy season of the year had passed over, their bodies 
 being relieved from the distempers, gradually began to 
 be in a more healthful condition ; and their minds being 
 now turned to matters of public concern, after several 
 interregna had expired, P. Valerius Publicola, on the 
 third day after he had entered on the office of interrex, 
 creates L. Lucretius Tricipitinus and T. Veturius Ge- 
 minus (or if he was called Vetusius,) consuls. They 
 enter on the consulship on the third day of the ides of 
 August (11 August,) the state being now sufficiently 
 strong, not only to repel war, but even to wage it 
 offensively. Accordingly to the Hernici, bringing in- 
 telligence that the enemy had crossed over into their 
 frontiers, aid was promptly promised, and two consu- 
 lar armies were levied. Veturius was sent into the 
 Volscian country, to carry on an offensive war. Trici- 
 pitinus, being stationed to repel the ravaging incursions 
 from the territory of the allies, does not proceed be- 
 yond the country of the Hernici. Veturius routs and 
 disperses the enemy in the first engagement ; a body 
 of plunderers, being led over the mountains of Prse- 
 neste, and thence sent down into the plains, escaped 
 the observation of Lucretius, whilst he sat down in the 
 territory of the Hernici. They laid waste the lands of 
 Praaneste and Gabii ; from those of Gabii they turned 
 off towards the Tusculan hills ; great alarm was also 
 given to the city of Rome, more on account of the sud- 
 denness of the thing, than that there was not strength 
 enough to repel the attack. Q. Fabius was gover- 
 nor of the city : he, by arming the young men, and 
 stationing guards, made every thing secure and tran- 
 quil. The enemy, therefore, having hastily carried off 
 plunder from the nearest places, and not daring to ap- 
 proach the city, when they were returning by a circui- 
 Jous rout, and with the more remiss attention, the far- 
 ther they were removing from an enemy's city, fall in 
 with the consul Lucretius, who, having already ex- 
 plored their marches, was in battle array, and intent on 
 
178 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 an engagement. Having therefore, their minds being 
 prepared, attacked those who were struck with a sud- 
 den dismay, though somewhat fewer in number, they 
 rout and disperse the vast multitude of the enemy, and 
 after driving them into the deep vallies, when an escape 
 was not easy, they surround them. In that place the 
 Volscian name was almost annihilated. In some annals 
 I find that there fell in the field and in the pursuit, 
 thirteen thousand four hundred and seventy; that 
 one thousand two hundred and fifty were taken alive, 
 arid that twenty-seven military standards were brought 
 home ; in those accounts, though there be something 
 added to the real number, the slaughter was certainly 
 great. The victorious consul, having made himself 
 master of a great booty, returned to the same station- 
 ary camp. Both consuls then unite their camps ; and 
 the Volsci and ^Equi also brought their shattered forces 
 into one body. This was the third battle in that year; 
 the same good fortune gave them the victory ; the 
 enemies being routed, their camp was even taken. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THUS the Roman affairs returned to their ancient 
 state ; and success in war immediately led to city com- 
 motions. C/ Terentillus Arsa was tribune of the com- 
 mons in that year ; this man judging that, in the ab- 
 sence of the consuls, an opportunity was given for tri- 
 bunic prosecutions, in censuring for several days before 
 the commons the arrogance of the patricians, he in- 
 veighed principally against the consular authority as 
 being too arbitrary, and not to be endured by a free 
 state. " For it was less odious in name only, but in 
 reality almost more oppressive than that of a king, as 
 instead of one master, two were admitted, of immode- 
 rate and unbounded power, who, being unrestrained 
 and unchecked themselves, directed all the terrors, all 
 the penalties of the laws against the commons. Which 
 licence, that they should not perpetually enjoy, he 
 would propose a bill, that five persons should be cho- 
 sen for framing a code of laws regarding the consular 
 authority. Whatever jurisdiction over themselves the 
 people should entrust him with, such the consul should 
 
SHAP. 9. LIVY. 179 
 
 exercise; but that they (the consuls) should not hold 
 their own pleasure and licentiousness as law." On 
 the promulgation of which law, when the patricians 
 were apprehensive, lest, in the absence of the consuls, 
 they should submit to the yoke ; the senate is sum- 
 moned by Q. Fabius, governor of the city, who in- 
 veighed so violently against the bill itself, and its 
 mover, that no menace or terror was omitted, which 
 could be employed, if both the consuls surrounded the 
 tribune with an air of defiance. " That this man had 
 lain in ambush, and, having seized his opportunity, had 
 attacked the republic. If the gods, in their anger, had 
 fiven any one tribune like him, in the preceding year, 
 luring a period of sickness and war, their ruin could 
 not be arrested. That whilst the two consuls were 
 dead, and the state lying distempered in the confusion 
 of all things, he would probably introduce laws to 
 abolish the consular power from the constitution, and 
 would become a leader to the Volsci and .^Equi, for 
 attacking the city. And what, pray ! if the consuls 
 had committed any act of oppression or cruelty against 
 any citizen, was it not in their power to impeach him, 
 to prosecute him ? those very persons being his judges, 
 against any one of whom he might have committed the 
 outrage. That was to render odious and intolerable, 
 not the consular authority, but the tribunic power, 
 which, after being restored to peace and favour with 
 the patricians, was now to be brought back anew to its 
 ancient vices ; and that he would not beseech the man 
 not to proceed, as he commenced. You, the other 
 tribunes," said Fabius, " we implore, that first of all 
 you reflect, that that office was designed for the aid of 
 individuals, not for universal destruction ; that you 
 were created tribunes of the commons, not enemies to 
 the patricians. To us it is melancholy, to yourselves 
 reproachful, that the constitution should be attacked in 
 its deserted state. You shall not diminish your own 
 privileges, but the odium of the act. Prevail with 
 your colleague, that he postpone the matter in its ori- 
 ginal state, until the arrival of the consuls. Even the 
 JEqui and Volsci, when last year the consuls were car- 
 ried off by sickness, did not press upon us with an un- 
 feeling and oppressive war." The tribunes expostulate 
 
180 LIVY. BOOK IIL 
 
 with Terentillus, and the measure being put off in ap- 
 pearance, but in reality given up, the consuls were 
 immediately called home. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 LUCRETIUS returns home with a vast booty, and much 
 greater renown ; and adds to his renown on his arrival, 
 by exposing all the plunder in the Campus Martius, that 
 each person, during three days, might carry away his 
 own property, when recognized : the remainder, for 
 which owners did not appear, was sold. A triumph 
 was due to the consul, with universal consent ; but the 
 matter was postponed, the tribune agitating the subject 
 of the law : that was to the consul a matter of more 
 importance. The subject was discussed for several days, 
 both in the senate, and before the people ; the tribune 
 at length gave way to the dignity of the consul, and 
 desisted : then the due honour was paid to the general 
 and the army. He triumphed for his victory over the 
 Volsci and ^Equi; his own legions followed him in the 
 triumphal procession : it was granted to the other con- 
 sul, to enter the city in an ovation, without his sol- 
 diers. In the year next ensuing, the law of Teren- 
 tillus, supported by the whole body of tribunes, as- 
 sailed the new consuls : the consuls were P. Volum- 
 nius and Ser. Sulpicius. In that year the sky ap- 
 peared to be in a blaze, the earth was moved by a great 
 agitation ; and that a cow had spoken, a fact to which ' 
 credit was not given in the preceding year, was be- 
 lieved. Amongst other prodigies also, it rained flesh : 
 which shower, a vast number of birds, by flying amidst 
 it, is said to have carried away, and what escaped them, 
 to have lain for several days scattered in such a man- 
 ner, that its smell did not change. The Sibylline books 
 were consulted by the decemviri of sacred rites ; dan- 
 gers were predicted from a concourse of foreigners, 
 lest any attacks should be made on the high places of 
 the city, and bloodshed be the consequence : amongst 
 other things, warning was given that they should re- 
 frain from seditious tumults. The tribunes alleged as 
 a charge, that that was done to impede the law, and a 
 violent contest was approaching. Lo ! (that the same 
 
!HAP. 11. LIVY. 181 
 
 circle of events should revolve every year,) the Her- 
 nici bring news that the Volsci and jEqui, though 
 their strength was curtailed, were recruiting their ar- 
 mies ; that their principal strength lay at Antium ; that 
 the colonists of Antium were openly holding their 
 councils at Ecetra ; that these were the head, these the 
 support of the war. As soon as these things were de- 
 clared in the senate, a levy of troops is ordered hy 
 proclamation : the consuls were directed to divide the 
 management of the war between themselves, so that the 
 one might have the Volsci, the other the ^Bqui, as his 
 province. The tribunes exclaimed in the Forum to their 
 faces, " that the farce of the Volscian war was a made 
 up one ; that the Hernici were instructed to act their 
 parts ; that the liberty of the Roman people was now 
 no longer overpowered by manly courage, but entrap- 
 ped by stratagem ; that new enemies were sought for, 
 as the belief was now vanished, that the Volsci, who 
 were almost annihilated, and the ^Equi, could of them- 
 selves take up arms; that a faithful and neighbouring 
 colony was being branded with infamy ; that war was 
 declared against the unoffending Antians, but actually 
 waged against the commons of Rome, whom, loaded 
 with arms, they were about to drive out of the city by 
 a precipitate movement ; avenging themselves on the 
 tribunes, by the banishment and expulsion of their 
 fellow-citizens. That thus (and let not people think 
 that any thing else was contemplated) the law would 
 be quashed, unless, while the matter was yet in its 
 primary state, while they were at home, and in the 
 garb of peace, they took care not to be expelled from 
 the possession of the city, and not to submit to the 
 yoke. That if they had spirit, they should not sup- 
 port it; that all the tribunes were unanimous; that 
 there was no external alarm, no danger. That the 
 gods had, in the preceding year, taken providential 
 care, that their liberty might be defended with safety." 
 Thus spoke the tribunes. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 BUT on the other side, the consuls, having fixed 
 their chairs in their presence, were proceeding with 
 R 
 
182 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 the levy ; thither the trihuiies run down, and draw 
 the assembly with them ; a few w r ere cited to answer, 
 as if for the purpose of making an experiment, and a 
 general riot immediately arose. Whomsoever the lie- 
 tor had arrested by order of the consul, him the tri- 
 bune commanded to be released, nor did his respective 
 jurisdiction set a limit to either party ; but whatever 
 object one would arrive at, should be attained by a 
 confidence in strength, and actual force. In the same 
 manner as the tribunes had conducted themselves in 
 obstructing the levy, so the patricians were behaving in 
 impeding the law, which was brought forward during 
 every assembly-day. The commencement of the riot 
 was occasioned, as, when the tribunes had^ordered the 
 people to retire to give their votes, the patricians would 
 not suffer themselves to be removed ; nor did the elder 
 citizens scarcely interfere in the business ; as being a 
 matter which was not to be directed by prudence, but 
 abandoned to rashness and audacity. The consuls, too, 
 generally kept themselves clear of the business, lest in 
 such a confusion of affairs, they should expose their 
 dignity to any insult. There was one Kseso Quinctius, 
 a young man, daring, both on account of the nobility 
 of his family, and also his bodily size and strength; to 
 these advantages given by the gods, he himself also 
 united many distinctions in war, and eloquence in the 
 Forum, so that no person in the state was looked upon 
 to be more prompt in speech or action. This man, 
 when he had taken his stand in the midst of the body 
 of the patricians, being conspicuous amongst the rest, 
 as if carrying in his own voice and prowess all dictator- 
 ships and consulships, singly sustained the tribunic as- 
 saults and popular tempests. By the exertions of this 
 leader, the tribunes were frequently repulsed from thf 
 Forum, and the commons routed and put to flight : 
 whoever fell in his way came off with being drubbed and 
 stripped : so that it was sufficiently manifest, if he were 
 allowed to proceed thus, that the law was put down. 
 Then A. Virginius, one of the society of tribunes, when 
 the others were almost struck with dismay, indicts 
 Kseso for a capital offence ; by this proceeding he had 
 more exasperated than intimidated his impetuous dis- 
 position : on this, he the more furiously opposed the 
 
12. LIVY. 183 
 
 law, harassed the commons, and persecuted the tri- 
 bunes, in a manner, by a regular war. The prosecu- 
 tor allowed the defendant to rush to his own ruin, and 
 to supply flame to the public jealousy, and materials 
 for his own charges ; in the mean time he brought for- 
 ward the law, not so much with the hope of carrying 
 it, as to provoke the rashness of Kaeso. On that occa- 
 sion, many things that were frequently said and done 
 inconsiderately by the young men, are imputed to the 
 unpopular temper of Kseso alone; the law 'however 
 was opposed. In addition, A. Virginius occasionally 
 observed to the commons, " Are you sensible, Ro- 
 mans, that you cannot have, at the same time, Kseso 
 your fellow-citizen, and the law which you desire ? 
 Though, why do I speak of the law ? he opposes your 
 liberties ; he transcends all the Tarquins in arrogance. 
 Wait until he, whom you see, though a private man, 
 tyrannizing by force and assurance, becomes a consul, 
 or dictator." Many assented to his words, and com- 
 plaining that they had been assaulted, wantonly stimu- 
 lated the tribune to persevere in the prosecution. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 AND now the day of trial was at hand, and it was 
 evident that men in general believed their liberty to be 
 involved in the condemnation of Kseso. Being then at 
 length compelled, with much indignation, he solicited 
 the favour of each : his relations, the leading men of 
 the state attended him. T. Quinctius Capitolinus, who 
 had been three times consul, in recounting the many 
 honourable deeds of himself and his family, declared, 
 " that neither in the Quinctian family, nor in the Ro- 
 man state, did there ever appear so powerful a talent 
 for such early valour. That in his own army, he first 
 became a soldier ; that he had often fought against the 
 enemy in his sight." Sp. Furius, " that being sent by 
 Quinctius Capitolinus, the defendant had come to his. 
 own support, in his critical emergency ; and that there 
 was no other individual, by whose exertion, he thought 
 the fortune of the state more effectually restored." L. 
 Lucretius, the consul of the preceding year, resplen- 
 dent in his recent glory, shared his own merits with 
 
184 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 Kseso ; he recounted his battles, he related his distin- 
 guished exploits, now in expeditions, now in the field ; 
 he advised and warned them, " that they should pre- 
 fer, that an extraordinary young 1 man, endowed with 
 all the advantages of nature and fortune, the greatest 
 acquisition to the interest of that state, to which he 
 might happen to come, should he a citizen of their own, 
 rather than one of a foreign state. That advancing 
 age was every day removing what was offensive in his 
 character, fervour and presumption; and that prudence, 
 which was wanted, was every day on the increase. 
 That, as his faults were declining, and his virtues ad- 
 vancing to maturity, they should allow so great a man 
 to grow old in the state." Amongst these, his father*, 
 L. Quinctius, who was surnamed Cincinnatus, not by 
 recapitulating his praises, lest he should heighten the 
 public jealousy, but by entreating forgiveness for his 
 errors and his youth, besought them " to pardon the 
 son, in compliment to himself, who had not offended a 
 single individual by word, or act." But some turned 
 away from these entreaties, either from respect, or 
 from fear ; others complaining that themselves and their 
 friends were maltreated, gave a previous intimation of 
 their sentence, by their stern answer. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 BESIDES his notorious offensive conduct, one charge, 
 in particular, bore heavily on the accused : since M. 
 Volscius Fictor, who had been some years before a 
 tribune of the commons, stood forth as a witness, " that 
 not long after the pestilence had been in the city, he 
 fell in with some young men rioting in the Subura ; 
 that thereupon a scuffle ensued ; and that his brother, 
 who was advanced in years, and not yet sufficiently re- 
 covered from the disease, being struck by Kseso with 
 his fist, fell neaily lifeless to the ground ; that he was 
 carried home between hands, and that he believed he 
 died from that blow; nor was. he himself allowed by 
 the consuls of the preceding years, to prosecute so hei- 
 nous an offence." Whilst Volscius was exclaiming in 
 this language, the men were so much excited, that 
 Keeso was near perishing by the fury of the people. 
 
CHAP. 14. LIVY* 185 
 
 Virginius orders the man to be arrested, and conducted 
 to prison ; the patricians, on the other side, resist the 
 attempt by force. T. Quinctius cries out, " that a man, 
 for whom a day of trial for a capital offence was ap- 
 pointed, and on whom, judicial sentence was shortly to 
 be passed, ought not suffer violence, uncondemned, and 
 without a hearing." The tribune denies "that he 
 meant to inflict punishment on him before condemna- 
 tion ; that he would, however, detain him in custody 
 until the day of trial, that the Roman people might 
 have an opportunity of taking vengeance on the man 
 who had murdered a human creature." The tribunes 
 being appealed to, compromise their right of protec- 
 tion by an intermediate decree ; they forbid his being 
 thrown into prison, they pronounce it to be their will, 
 that the accused should be bound to appear, and that, 
 unless he did make his appearance, a sum of money 
 should be secured to the people. It became a question 
 of doubt, in what amount of money it were proper that 
 security should be given ; that question is referred to 
 the senate. The accused, whilst the opinion of the se- 
 nators is taken, is kept in public custody. It was 
 agreed that he should give sureties ; each surety, they 
 bound under an obligation of three thousand asses; 
 the number to be given was left to the discretion of the 
 tribunes : they limited it to ten ; on this number of 
 sureties, the prosecutor admitted the accused to bail. 
 This man was the first who entered into public recog- 
 nizances ; being discharged from the Forum, on the 
 following night he went into exile among the Etrurians. 
 On the day of trial, when it was pleaded in mitigation 
 that he quitted his native soil, for the purpose of exile, 
 nevertheless, Virginius presiding at the assembly, his 
 colleagues, on being appealed to, dismissed the meeting; 
 and the penalty was so rigorously exacted from his fa- 
 ther, that, after selling all his property, he lived for a 
 long time, in a certain secluded cottage, beyond the 
 Tiber, as if he were a banished man. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 THIS trial, and the promulgated law, employed the 
 state ; there was a repose from external wars. When 
 R 3 
 
186 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 the tribunes, as it were victorious, the patricians being 
 dismayed by the banishment of Kseso, believed that the 
 law was carried, and when, as far as appertained to the 
 elder senators, they had retired from the administra- 
 tion of the commonwealth; the juniors of them (parti- 
 cularly that portion of them that were Kseso's compa- 
 nions,) increased their (own) resentment against the 
 patricians ; and did not let their spirits sink ; but in 
 this point they made the greatest proficiency, that they 
 moderated, in some degree, their violence. When, 
 for the first time, after Kseso's banishment, the law be- 
 gan to be introduced ; being organised and prepared 
 with a vast troop of their dependants, they so assailed 
 the tribunes, as soon as the latter, by ordering them 
 off, had furnished a pretext, that no one individual car- 
 ried thence home any pre-eminent share of glory, or of 
 ill-will ; the commons were complaining that a thou- 
 sand Keesos had started up instead of one. During 
 the intermediate days, on which the tribunes were not 
 agitating the subject of the law, nothing was more mild 
 or peaceable than these same persons ; they kindly sa- 
 luted the commons, held conversations with them, in- 
 vited them to their houses, became their advocates in 
 the Forum, and allowed the tribunes themselves to 
 hold their other meetings without interruption : they 
 never behaved harshly to any one, either in public or 
 private, unless when the subject of the law began to 
 be agitated. On other occasions the young men were 
 popular, and not only did the tribunes carry their other 
 measures in quietness, but they were even re-elected 
 for the ensuing year. Without even an offensive word, 
 much less without any violence being offered, they (the 
 young patricians,) had rendered the commons gradu- 
 ally tractable, by soothing and managing them. By 
 these contrivances, the law was evaded during the 
 whole year. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 C. CLAUDIUS, the son of Appius, and P. Valerius 
 Publicola, receive the government in a more tranquil 
 state. The new year had brought with it no new mea- 
 sure ; the anxiety for either proposing or receiving the 
 
CHAP. 15. LIVY. 187 
 
 law occupied the community. By how much the more 
 the younger patricians were ingratiating themselves 
 with the commons, by so much the more vigorously 
 were the tribunes, on the other hand, exerting them- 
 selves, to render them obnoxious to the commons by 
 accusations ; alleging, " that a conspiracy had been 
 formed ; that Kaeso was at Rome ; that schemes had 
 been concerted for murdering the tribunes, and mas- 
 sacreing the commons. That instructions had been given 
 by the elder patricians to this effect, that the younger 
 men should abolish the tribunic power from the state, 
 and that the form of government should be the same, 
 as existed before the occupation of mount Sacer." War 
 also, which was now become stated, and almost perio- 
 dical every year, was apprehended from the Volsci and 
 JEiqui ; and another new evil, nearer home, unexpec- 
 tedly started up. The exiles and slaves, to the num- 
 ber of four thousand five hundred men, under the com- 
 mand of A p. Herdonius, a Sabine, possessed themselves 
 by night, of the Capitol and citadel. Immediately, a 
 massacre took place in the citadel, of those who refused 
 to join the conspiracy, and take up arms along with 
 them ; others, during the tumult, running headlong, in 
 their consternation, fly down into the Forum : the cries, 
 " to arms," and, " the enemy are in the city," were 
 alternately heard. The consuls were both afraid to 
 arm the commons, and to leave them unarmed. Un- 
 certain what unexpected danger had invaded the city, 
 whether external or internal, proceeding from the re- 
 sentment of the plebeians, or the treachery of the slaves, 
 they were quelling the tumults, and by their attempts 
 to quell, were sometimes exciting them ; for an affrighted 
 and dismayed populace could not be directed by autho- 
 rity. They give them arms however, but not indis- 
 criminately; so far only, that, the enemy being un- 
 known, there might be a secure defence against all 
 emergencies. The remainder of the night they passed 
 in stationing guards at the proper places over the entire 
 city, uncertain who the persons were, or how great was 
 the number of the enemy. The day-light afterwards 
 discovered the war, and the leader of the war. Ap. 
 Herdonius was inviting from the Capitol, the slaves to 
 liberty : exclaiming, " that himself espoused the cause 
 
188 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 of every unfortunate person, that he might restore to 
 their native country those exiles who were illegally 
 banished, and remove an oppressive yoke from the 
 slaves ; that he had rather this should be done by the 
 original act of the Roman people ; but if there were no 
 expectation of that, that he would have recourse to, 
 and excite the Volsci and J3qui, and all extremities." 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 THE matter appeared now in a clear light to the 
 patricians and consuls ; in addition, however, to what 
 was openly announced, they dreaded lest that might be 
 a scheme of the Veientians or Sabines, and lest, at a 
 time when there were so many enemies in the city, the 
 Sabine and Etrurian legions should presently make 
 their appearance, by a concerted plan ; and then their 
 eternal enemies, the Volsci and ^Equi, march, not, as 
 before, to riivage their territory, but to the city itself, 
 as being partially taken. Many and various were their 
 apprehensions ; their dread of the slaves was conspicu- 
 ous amongst the rest, lest each should have in his house 
 an enemy of his own, whom it was neither sufficiently 
 safe to trust, nor, by distrusting, to pronounce un- 
 worthy of confidence, lest then he might become more 
 irritated ; and the ruin of the state seemed scarcely 
 possible to be arrested by unanimity : only, as other 
 evils predominated and became prominent, no one 
 dreaded the tribunes or the commons. That appeared 
 a mild evil, and one always springing up during the 
 repose of other evils, and then set to rest by the foreign 
 alarm. But this, almost alone, leaned with the hea- 
 viest pressure on their sinking affairs. For such 
 phrenzy took possession of the tribunes, that they main- 
 tained that it was not a war, but a false appearance of 
 war, that had seized upon the Capitol, for the purpose 
 of diverting the minds of the commons from attending 
 to' the law ; that the guests and dependents of the pa- 
 tricians, if they feel that they have been tumultuous to 
 no purpose, by the law's being carried, will depart with 
 more secrecy than they came. They then held an as- 
 sembly for passing the law, having called off the people 
 from their arms. In the mean time, the consuls hold 
 
IAP. 17. LIVY. 189 
 
 a meeting of the senate: another and a greater dread 
 manifesting itself from the tribunes, than that which 
 the nocturnal foe had inspired. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 WHEN it was reported that their arms had been laid 
 down, and that the men had deserted their posts ; P. 
 Valerius, his colleague keeping the senate sitting, bursts 
 forward from the senate-house, thence comes into the 
 place of meeting to the tribunes, and says, " What 
 affair is this, tribunes ? Are you about to overthrow 
 the commonwealth, under the command and auspices 
 of Ap. Herdonius ? Has he, who has not by his autho- 
 rity influenced your slaves, been so successful in cor- 
 rupting yourselves ? Are you determined that arms 
 shall be laid aside, and laws introduced, when the enemy 
 is over our heads ?" Then, directing his discourse to 
 the multitude, " If, Romans, no concern for the city, 
 none for yourselves moves you, respect at least your 
 gods, which are taken captive by the enemy. Jupiter 
 supremely good and great, Juno queen, Minerva, and 
 the other gods and goddesses are besieged ; the camp of 
 slaves holds in confinement your national tutelary gods. 
 Does this appear to you to be the condition of a whole- 
 some constitution? Such an immense force of the 
 enemy is not only within your walls, but even in the 
 citadel, above the Forum and senate-house ; and, in 
 the mean time, assemblies are held in the Forum ; the 
 senate is sitting ; and, just as if tranquillity abounded, 
 the senator declares his opinion, the other Romans pro- 
 ceed to the vote. Ought not every single patrician 
 and commoner, the consuls, tribunes, gods, and men, 
 all give their aid in arms, rush to the Capitol, bring 
 deliverance and peace to that most august habitation of 
 the supremely good and great Jupiter ? O father Ro- 
 mulus, grant thou to thy descendants thy spirit, by 
 which thou didst formerly recover the citadel, when 
 taken by these self-same Sabines by gold ; bid them to 
 pursue this course which thou, their leader, and thy 
 army have pursued. Lo ! I, the consul, will be the 
 first to follow thee and thy footsteps, as far as a mortal 
 can a divinity." The conclusion of his speech was, 
 
190 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 "That he now took up arms, and summoned all Ro- 
 mans to arms ; if any one should interfere to prevent 
 it, that he at that moment, disregarding the extent of 
 the consular authority, and also the tribunic power, and 
 laws of personal inviolability, would treat that person 
 as an enemy, whoever he may be, wherever he may 
 appear, in the Capitol, or in the Forum. Let the tri- 
 bunes order arms to be taken up against P.Valerius, the 
 consul, since they had forbidden it against Ap. Herdo- 
 riius ; and he would attempt against the tribunes, what 
 the founder of his family had put into execution against 
 kings." It was now evident that the last degree of vio- 
 lence would be resorted to, and that the Roman dissen- 
 sions would be an entertainment to the enemy. Yet 
 neither could the law be carried, nor the consul proceed 
 to the Capitol : night put a stop to the commencing 
 contests ; the tribunes withdrew at the coming of night, 
 fearing the arms of the consuls. The fomenters of the 
 sedition having then retired, the patricians went round 
 amongst the commons, and introducing themselves into 
 their circles, they threw out conversational subjects 
 adapted to the juncture ; they advised them " to look 
 into what a jeopardy they were bringing the common- 
 wealth ; that the contest was not between the patricians 
 and commons, but that the patricians and commons 
 together, the fortress of the city, the temples of the 
 gods, the public and private tutelary deities were all 
 surrendered up to the enemy." Whilst these proceed- 
 ings are going forward in the Forum, for the purpose 
 of appeasing the dissension, the consuls, in the mean 
 time, had gone their rounds about the gates and walls, 
 lest the Sabines, or the Veientian enemy, should put 
 themselves into motion. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 THE same night, messengers arrive at Tuseulum, 
 with accounts of the citadel being taken, the Capitol 
 being seized, and the other circumstances of the alarmed 
 city. L. Mamilius was at that time dictator at Tuseu- 
 lum. He, having immediately convened the senate, 
 and introduced the messengers, with great earnestness 
 moves, " That they should not wait until ambassadors 
 
CHAP. 18. LIVY. 191 
 
 should come from Rome suing for aid ; that the danger 
 itself and emergency, and the gods who witnessed their 
 alliance, and the faith of treaties demanded it. That 
 the gods might never again afford a like opportunity of 
 laying so powerful and so neighbouring a state under 
 obligation, by an act of kindness." It is agreed that 
 assistance should be granted ; the young men are en- 
 rolled, arms are given them. Coming to Rome at 
 day-break, they exhibit at a distance the appearance 
 of enemies. The /Equi or Volsci were thought to be 
 approaching. Afterwards, when the groundless alarm 
 passed away, being admitted into the city, they march 
 down in a body into the Forum ; there P. Valerius was 
 at that time forming his line of battle, having left his 
 colleague for the defence of the gates. The respecta- 
 bility of the man had influenced them, affirming, " That 
 when the Capitol should have been recovered, and the 
 city tranquillized, if they allowed themselves to be in- 
 formed what secret deception was introduced in the 
 law by the tribunes, he would not then obstruct the 
 assemblage of the commons, being mindful of his ances- 
 tors, mindful of his surname, by which the study of 
 courting the favour of the people was transmitted to 
 him as an inheritance by his ancestors." Following 
 this man as their leader, they march up the Capitoline 
 ascent, the tribunes protesting against it in vain ; the 
 Tusculan legion, also, is united with them. The allies 
 and citizens vied with each other, who should make the 
 honour of recovering the citadel their own ; each com- 
 mander exhorts his respective followers. The enemy 
 were then alarmed, nor had they sufficient reliance on 
 any thing, except the advantage of their position ; 
 whilst they are disconcerted, the Romans and allies 
 push forward their colours (advance to the assault). 
 They had already burst into the porch of the temple, 
 when P. Valerius, animating to combat amongst the 
 foremost, is slain. P. Volumnius, a man of consular 
 dignity, saw him fall : he, having given his own men 
 charge to protect the body, flies forward himself to the 
 post and duty of the consul. The perception of so 
 great a loss did not reach the soldiers, such was their 
 ardour and impetuosity ; and they conquered, before 
 they perceived that they were fighting without their 
 
192 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 leader. Many of the exiles defiled the temple with their 
 own blood, many were taken alive ; Herdonius was 
 slain. Thus was the Capitol recovered. Punishment 
 was inflicted by them severally on the prisoners, suita- 
 ble to their respective condition, according as each hap- 
 pened to be a freeman or slave. Thanks were given 
 to the Tusculans : the Capitol was cleansed and purified. 
 The commons are reported to have thrown into the 
 consul's house a qtfndrans each (the fourth part of an 
 ass), that he might be buried with more splendid 
 obsequies. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 PEACE being attained, then the tribunes pressed the 
 patricians to fulfil the engagement of Valerius ; they 
 pressed Claudius, to acquit the sacred manes of his 
 colleague of deceit, and suffer the law to be discussed. 
 The consul denied that, until he had elected to himself 
 a new colleague, he could allow the business of the 
 law to be entertained. These disputes lasted up to the 
 assembly which was held for substituting a consul. In 
 the month of December, L. Quinctius Cincinnatus, 
 Kseso's father, is created consul with the highest appro- 
 bation of the patricians ; he entered forthwith on the 
 duties of his magistracy. The commons were terrified, 
 as they were to have a consul enraged with themselves, 
 powerful in the favour of the patricians, his own merits, 
 and his three sons, not one of whom was inferior to 
 Kaeso in greatness of spirit ; and were his superiors in 
 using prudence and moderation, when occasion required. 
 This consul, as soon as he entered on his office, in his 
 continual harangues before the tribunal, was not more 
 vehement in curbing the commons, than in reproving 
 the senate ; " By the indolence of which body, the tri- 
 bunes, now become perpetual, were exercising sove- 
 reign power by their language and prosecutions, not as 
 in a republic of Roman people, but in a profligate fa- 
 mily. That with Kseso, his own son, fortitude, firm- 
 ness, and all the ornaments of a youth, in war and in 
 peace, were expelled and put to flight from the city of 
 Rome. That brawling and seditious men, the origina- 
 ters of discords, having become tribunes for the second 
 
LIVY. 193 
 
 and third time by the worst practices, were living with 
 all the licentiousness of kings. " Has that A. Virginius," 
 said he, " because he was not in the Capitol, deserved 
 less punishment than Ap. Herdonius? Considerably 
 more, by Hercules, if one would judge fairly of the 
 matter. Herdonius, if he had no other merit, by avow- 
 ing himself an enemy, almost gave you notice to take 
 up arms ; the other, by denying the existence of the 
 war, took the arms out of your hands, and exposed 
 you defenceless to your own slaves and to exiles. And 
 have you (I will speak it without offence to C. Claudius 
 and the deceased P. Valerius,) directed your attack 
 against the Capitoline hill, before you dislodged those 
 other enemies from the Forum ? I am ashamed of 
 gods and men ; that, when an enemy was in the citadel 
 -in the Capitol, the leader of exiles and slaves, after 
 profaning every thing, should take up his residence in 
 the chapel of the supremely good and great Jupiter, 
 and that arms should be sooner taken up at Tusculuni 
 than at Rome. It became a matter of doubt whether 
 L. Marnilius, a Tusculan commander, or P. Valerius 
 and C. Claudius, the consuls, should deliver the Roman 
 citadel ; and we, who heretofore did not permit the 
 Latins to lay a hand on arms, not even in their own 
 defence, though they had the enemy within their terri- 
 tories, would have now been made prisoners, and utterly 
 destroyed, had not the Latins taken up arms of their 
 own accord. Tribunes, is this affording aid to the 
 commons, to expose them unarmed to the enemy to be 
 butchered ? Assuredly, if any, even the humblest of 
 your favourite commons (which class, as if severed 
 from the rest of the community, you have made your 
 country and your peculiar commonwealth), if any of 
 these, I say, should report to you that his house was 
 besieged by a band of armed slaves, you would think 
 it proper that assistance should be afforded him ; and 
 was the supremely good and great Jupiter, when en- 
 compassed by the arms of exiles and slaves, worthy of 
 no human aid ? And do those persons demand to be 
 held sacred and inviolable, in whose eyes the gods 
 themselves are neither sacred nor inviolable? But, 
 really, overwhelmed as you are with crimes against 
 gods and men, do you boast that you will carry the 
 s 
 
194 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 law this year ? Then, by Hercules, on that day on 
 which I have been created consul, the administration 
 was badly provided for nay, much worse than when 
 the consul, P. Valerius, perished, if you shall even have 
 proposed it. Now then, first of all, Romans, it is my 
 own and my colleague's intention to lead the legions 
 against the Volsci and ^3Equi. We find the gods, I 
 know not by what fatality, more propitious to us when 
 we are at war, than in peace ; how great the danger 
 would have been from those nations, if they had known 
 that the Capitol was besieged by exiles, it is better that 
 we should conjecture from the past, than feel from 
 experience." 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 THE consul's speech had an effect on the commons ; 
 the patricians, buoyed up with hope, deemed the com- 
 monwealth re-established ; the second consul, more spi- 
 rited as a follower than an original proposer, readily 
 allowed his colleague to have undertaken the preli- 
 minary management of so weighty an affair, but in the 
 execution of it, he claimed to himself a share of the 
 consular duty. Then the tribunes, mocking their words 
 as if they were nugatory, persisted in inquiring, " By 
 what means did the consuls intend to lead out an army, 
 as no one would allow them to hold a levy ?" " But," 
 says Quinctius, " we have no occasion for a levy ; since, 
 at the time that P. Valerius gave arms to the commons, 
 for the recovery of the Capitol, they all took the pre- 
 scribed oath, that they would assemble by the consul's 
 order, and would not depart without his permission. 
 We therefore proclaim, that all of you, who have sworn 
 the oath, do attend to-morrow in arms at the lake Re- 
 gillus." The tribunes then were disposed to cavil, and 
 to release the people from their solemn obligation ; al- 
 leging, " That, at the time when they incurred the 
 obligation of the military oath, Quinctius had been in a 
 private station." But this disregard of the gods, which 
 at present pervades the age, had not yet arrived ; nor 
 did every person, by interpreting an oath his own way, 
 make the laws to suit his conduct, but rather adapted his 
 conduct to them. The tribunes, therefore, when there 
 
CHAP. 21. LIVY. 195 
 
 was no hope of impeding- the measure, exerted them- 
 selves to delay the marching- of the army ; the more 
 particularly for this reason, as a report had gone abroad, 
 " That the augurs also were ordered to attend at the 
 lake Regillus, and to consecrate a place, where business 
 might be transacted with the people, under the sanction 
 of auspices ; so that whatever was enacted at Rome, by 
 the violence of the tribunes, the same might be repealed 
 in. an assembly there. That all would ratify whatever 
 the consuls pleased ; for neither did the right of appeal 
 exist at a greater distance than one mile from the city ; 
 and the tribunes, if they came there, would, amongst 
 the crowd of other Romans, be subject to the consular 
 authority." These accounts alarmed them ; but the 
 greatest terror which agitated their minds was this, 
 that Quinctius used frequently to say, " That he would 
 not hold assemblies for the election of consuls ; that the 
 state was not so slightly distempered, as to be capable 
 of being recovered by the usual remedies ; that the 
 commonwealth had need of a dictator, in order that he 
 who would busy himself to disturb the existing- quiet 
 of the government, should feel that the dictatorship 
 was a jurisdiction from which there lay no appeal." 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 THE senate was in the Capitol ; thither the tribunes 
 come, accompanied by the agitated commons ; the mul- 
 titude, with great clamour, implores now the protection 
 of the consuls, now of the patricians ; nor did they dis- 
 lodge the consul from his resolution, until the tribunes 
 promised that they would themselves be amenable to 
 the authority of the senators. Then the consuls bring 
 forward a motion, on the demands of the tribunes and 
 commons decrees are passed; "that the tribunes should 
 not in that year introduce the law, nor the consuls lead 
 out the army from the city. That the senate pro- 
 nounced it, henceforward, to be contrary to the interest 
 of the commonwealth, that the magistrates should be 
 continued in office, and the same tribunes re-elected." 
 The consuls submitted to the authority of the patri- 
 cians ; the tribunes were re-elected, the consuls pro- 
 testing against the measure. The patricians too, that 
 
196 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 they should not submit in any respect to the commons, 
 would re-appoint L. Quinctius, consul. No motion of 
 the consul, during the whole year, was more strenu- 
 ously advocated. " Can I he surprised," says he, 
 " conscript fathers, if your authority be of no weight 
 with the commons ? It is you who make light of it 
 yourselves ; because, as the commons have violated the 
 decree of the senate, in re-electing their magistrates, 
 you also wish to violate it, that you should not yield to 
 the populace in rashness ; as if to have more capricious- 
 ness and licence, were to have the greater power in the 
 state : for assuredly, it is an act of more capriciousness 
 arid levity, to nullify one's own decrees, than those of 
 others. Imitate, conscript fathers, the inconsiderate 
 multitude, and do you, who ought to be an example to 
 others, do wrong by their example, rather than that 
 others should do right by yours : provided that I nei- 
 ther imitate the tribunes, nor allow myself to be de- 
 clared consul, contrary to the decree of the senate. 
 And you, C. Claudius, I exhort, that you save the 
 Roman people from this licentiousness ; and as far as I 
 am concerned, be persuaded of this that I will so re- 
 ceive it, as not to deem my promotion opposed by you, 
 but the glory of rejecting the honour, augmented, and 
 the weight of jealousy which should await me from its 
 continuance lightened." They then issue their joint 
 orders, " that no person should appoint L. Quinctius 
 consul ; if any one should do so, that they would pay 
 no regard to the vote." 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 THE consuls then created were, Q. Fabius Vibula- 
 nus, for the third time, and L. Cornelius Maluginensis. 
 The census was taken in that year ; there was a reli- 
 gious scruple about closing the lustrum, on account of 
 the taking of the Capitol, and the loss of the consul. 
 In the consulship of Q. Fabius and L. Cornelius, and 
 in the very commencement of the year, matters were 
 in a state of disturbance. The tribunes were stimula- 
 ting the commons ; the Latins and Hernici brought in- 
 telligence of a great war proceeding from the Volsci 
 and JSqui ; the troops of the Volsci were already at 
 
LIVY. 197 
 
 Antium, and there was a great apprehension that the 
 colony itself would revolt ; and it was with difficulty, 
 permission was obtained from the tribunes, to allow 
 the war to take precedency. The consuls then divided 
 the provinces between them. Orders were given to 
 Fabius, to lead the legions to Antium ; and to Corne- 
 lius, to remain at home for the defence of Rome, lest 
 any portion of the enemy (which was a practice with 
 the JEqui,) should come to ravage the country. The 
 Hernici and Latins were ordered to supply soldiers, in 
 conformity with the treaty ; arid, in the army, there 
 were two-third parts consisting of allies, one-third of 
 Roman citizens. When the allies arrived at the day 
 appointed, the consul encamps outside the gate Capena, 
 thence, after purifying his army, setting out to Antium, 
 lie sat down not far from the town, and the enemy's 
 quarters. Where, when the Volsci, not daring to risk 
 an engagement, as the army had not yet arrived from 
 the Alqui, were making preparations, whereby they 
 might defend themselves, in quiet by their rampart'; 
 Fabius, on the following day, drew up round the ene- 
 my's trenches, not one commingled body of allies and 
 citizens, but three bodies of the three nations sepa- 
 rately. He was himself in the centre, with the Roman 
 legions ; from this point he ordered them (the allies), 
 to observe the signal, in order that they too should be- 
 gin the engagement at the same time with the Romans, 
 and retreat, if he should sound a retreat : he also posts 
 its own cavalry behind the first line of each respective 
 division. Thus attacking the camp in three different 
 places, he surrounds it, and as he pressed them on. 
 every side, he beats down from the rampart the Volsci 
 not sustaining the assault. Having then crossed over 
 the fortifications, he drives them out of their camp, in 
 a dismayed body, and forced in their retreat towards 
 one point. After this the cavalry, for whom it had 
 been no easy matter to pass over the rampart, after 
 having, up to that period, stood as spectators of the 
 battle, coming up with them in their disordered flight 
 in the open plain, enjoy a share in the victory, by cut- 
 ting them down in their consternation. Great havoc 
 was made of the fugitives, both in the camp, and out- 
 side the fortifications : but the spoil was still greater, 
 s 3 
 
198 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 because the enemy were scarce able to carry with them 
 their arms ; and the army would have been annihilated, 
 had not the woods sheltered them in their flight. 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 WHILST these things are going forward at Antium, 
 the JEqui, in the mean while, having sent forward the 
 strength of their youth, take the fortress of Tusculum 
 in the night by surprise ; they sit down with the rest 
 of their army, not far from the walls of Tusculum, in 
 order to divide the enemy's forces. These tidings being 
 quickly conveyed to Rome, and from Rome to the 
 camp at Antium, affect the Romans no less, than if it 
 were reported that the Capitol was taken; so fresh in 
 their minds was the service rendered by the Tusculans, 
 and so much did the very similarity of the danger appear 
 to claim from them a return of the aid which was given. 
 Fabius, laying aside all other business, hastily conveys 
 the plunder from the camp to Antium. Having left a 
 small garrison there, he hurries his army by rapid 
 inarches to Tusculum : the soldiers were allowed to 
 take nothing but their arms, and whatever dressed food 
 was ready at hand. The consul, Cornelius, conveys pro- 
 visions to them from Rome, the war continued at Tus- 
 culum for some months ; the consul, with part of his 
 army, was besieging the camp of the -^Equi, part he 
 had given to the Tusculans to recover possession of the 
 fortress. They could never get into it by assault ; fa- ' 
 mine at last forced the enemy away from it. To which 
 extremity, when they were reduced at last, they were 
 all sent unarmed, and naked, by the Tusculans, under 
 the yoke : these, as they were retreating homeward in 
 an ignominious flight, the Roman consul having over- 
 taken in Algidum, slew them all to a man. The con- 
 .queror, having led back his army to Columen, (for so 
 the place was called,) pitches his camp there. The 
 other consul too, when now all danger to the Roman 
 city had ceased to exist, by the discomfiture of the 
 enemy, set out himself also from Rome. The consuls 
 having thus penetrated into the enemy's territories in 
 two different places, commit depredations, the one on 
 the Volsci ? the other on the ^Equi, in a spirit of vehe- 
 
LIVY. 199 
 
 jnent rivalry. In the same year, I find in most authors 
 that the people of Antium revolted ; that the consul, L. 
 Cornelius, conducted that war, and took their town. 
 This I could not presume to affirm as an authentic fact, 
 because there is no mention of such a transaction in the 
 more ancient writers. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 THIS war being brought to a conclusion, a tribunic 
 war at home alarms the patricians. The tribunes ex- 
 claim, "that the army's being detained abroad was 
 contrived by an artifice ; that that was a deception de- 
 signed to get rid of the law ; that they would, notwith- 
 standing, go through the business they had underta- 
 ken." However, P. Lucretius, prsefect of the city, pre- 
 vailed that the tribunic measures should be deferred 
 until the arrival of the consuls. Then sprung up also 
 a new cause of commotion. A. Cornelius and Q. Ser- 
 vilius, quaestors, had impeached M. Volscius, for hav- 
 ing appeared an undoubtedly false witness against Kseso. 
 For it was notorious by many informations, that not 
 only had not Volscius' brother been ever seen in public, 
 since first he became ill, but that he had not even risen 
 from his sick bed ; and that he died, after a wasting* 
 distemper of many months : neither was Kseso seen at 
 Rome, at the time at which the witness had alleged the 
 commission of the crime : those who had served with 
 him affirming, that then he had been with themselves, 
 regularly attending at his post, without having obtained 
 any leave of absence. Many in private stations, pro- 
 posed to join issue with Volscius (offered Volscius 
 judges, if the fact were not so,) in support of the fact. 
 As he did not dare to go to trial, all these circumstan- 
 ces concurring together, made the condemnation of 
 Volscius no more uncertain, than Kseso's had been after 
 the testimony of Volscius. The tribunes were retard- 
 ing it, who affirmed they would not allow the quaestors 
 to hold an assembly in the case of the defendant, unless 
 it were first held on the subject of the law : thus both 
 questions are protracted till the arrival of the consuls. 
 When these entered the city in triumph with their vic- 
 torious army, as silence was observed with respect to 
 
200 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 the law, great numbers believed that the tribunes were 
 terrified. But the latter (for it was now the close of 
 the year,) aspiring to a fourth tribuneship, had changed 
 the subject of dispute from the law, to a discussion on 
 the election ; and although the consuls had struggled 
 against the continuation of the tribuneship (in the same 
 hands) no less strenuously, than if the act proposed 
 were introduced for the purpose of diminishing their 
 own dignity, the victory in the contest was with the 
 tribunes. In the same year, peace was granted to the 
 <ZEqui, suing for it. The census, a matter commenced 
 in the preceding year, is perfected ; and that was the 
 tenth lustrum closed since the foundation of the city. 
 The number of citizens assessed, was one hundred and 
 seventeen thousand, three hundred and nineteen. In 
 that year, the consuls acquired great glory at home, 
 and in war : because they secured peace from without ; 
 and at home, the state, though not in concord, was yet 
 less harassed by dissension, than on other occasions. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 L. MINUCIUS, and C. Nautius, who were next made 
 consuls, found on their hands, the two undecided ques- 
 tions of the preceding year. By the same means the 
 consuls were opposing the law, and the tribunes, the 
 trial of Volscius : but there was more energy, more 
 influence in the new quaestors. T. Quinctius Capito- 
 linus, who had been three times consul, was quaestor 
 with M. Valerius, the son of Valerius, the grandson of 
 Volesus. The former, as Kseso could neither be re- 
 stored to the Quinctian faniily, nor, in his person, a 
 most distinguished young man to the state, prosecuted 
 with just and legitimate hostility, the false witness, 
 who had deprived an innocent man of the privilege of 
 making his defence. When Virgin ius, in particular, 
 and the other tribunes, were agitating the subject of 
 the law, the space of two months was allowed the con- 
 suls to examine the law, on condition that, when they 
 informed the people what secret danger was contained 
 in it, they would then allow them to proceed to give 
 their votes. This interval being granted, made mat- 
 ters tranquil in the city. Nor did the ^Bqui allow them 
 
LIVY. 201 
 
 a long repose, who, violating 1 the treaty which had 
 heen, the year before, concluded with the Romans, 
 transfer the chief command to Gracchus Clcelius ; he 
 was, at that time, by far the first man amongst the 
 JEqui. Under the conduct of Gracchus, they proceed 
 into the country of Lavici, and thence to that of Tus- 
 culum, with hostile depredations, and being loaded with 
 plunder, pitch their camp in Algidum. Into this camp 
 Q. Fabius, P. Volumnius, and A. Postumius, came 
 from Rome as ambassadors, to complain of those inju- 
 ries, and to demand restitution, pursuant to the treaty. 
 These, the general of the Mqui orders to state at the 
 oak, what commands they had from the Roman senate ; 
 " that he should, in the meantime, attend to other bu- 
 siness." A very large oak tree was overhanging the 
 prsetorium, under whose shade there was a cool seat. 
 Then one of the ambassadors, as he was departing, 
 says, " let both this sacred oak, and all the deities that 
 are, hear that the treaty has been broken by you; 
 and favour our complaints now, and our arms hereafter, 
 when we shall avenge at once the violated rights of 
 gods and men." As soon as the ambassadors returned 
 to Rome, the senate orders one consul to lead an army 
 to Algidum against Gracchus, to the other it assigns as 
 his province, the ravaging of the territories of the 
 uEqui. The tribunes, according to their usual custom, 
 were obstructing the levy, and probably would have 
 obstructed it to the last, but that a new alarm is sud- 
 denly superadded. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 A VAST number of the Sabines came almost to the 
 walls of the city, committing destructive depredations ; 
 the fields were laid desolate, terror was struck into the 
 city. Then the commons cordially took up arms ; two 
 great armies were enlisted, the tribunes protesting 
 against it in vain. Nautius led one against the Sabines : 
 having pitched his camp at Eretum, by means of small 
 detachments, generally by nocturnal incursions, he 
 caused such devastation in the Sabine country, that 
 compared with that, the Roman territories seemed 
 almost untouched by the war. Minucius had neither 
 
202 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 the same success, nor energy of mind in conducting 
 business ; for, though he had encamped not far from 
 the enemy, without having received any very conside- 
 rable loss, he timidly kept himself within his camp, 
 Which when the enemy had perceived, their boldness, 
 as is usual, encreased from the other's fear, and attack- 
 ing the camp by night, when open force had not suc- 
 ceeded, they draw lines of circumvallation round it on 
 the next day ; but, before these shut up the egress, by 
 opposing a barrier all round, five horsemen, having 
 made their way between the enemy's out-posts, con- 
 veyed intelligence to Rome that the consul and his 
 army were besieged. Nothing could happen so unex- 
 pected, nor so unhoped-for. The consternation, there- 
 fore, was so great, tke alarm so great, as if the enemy 
 were besieging the city, not the camp. They call home 
 the consul Nautius ; in whom, as there appeared not 
 sufficient protection, and as they agreed that a dictator 
 should be appointed, who might restore their afflicted 
 fortune, L. Quinctius Cincinnatus is named with uni- 
 versal approbation. This is a circumstance worthy of 
 the attention of all, who despise every thing in com- 
 parison to riches, and who fancy there is no place for 
 high honour, or merit, except where opulence affluently 
 abounds. L. Quinctius, the sole hope of the empire of 
 the Roman people, cultivated a farm of four acres, 
 which is now called the " Quinetian meadows," beyond 
 the Tiber, opposite the very place where the dock- 
 yards now are. There, leaning on a stake, while dig- 
 ging a ditch, or being in the act of ploughing, (certain 
 it is, as is agreed on all sides, that he was employed in 
 agricultural labour,) a salutation being mutually offered 
 and returned, being requested " that, in the name of 
 good luck to himself and the commonwealth, he would 
 put on his gown, and hear the commands of the senate;" 
 being surprised, and asking, " was all well ?" he orders 
 his wife, Racilia, to bring him his gown quickly from the 
 cottage. Attired in which, when he came forward, 
 after wiping off the dust and perspiration, the deputies 
 congratulating him, salute him dictator ; invite him to 
 the city, and state to him what great terror pervaded 
 the army. A vessel had been prepared for Quinctius 
 by the government, and his three sons going out to 
 
CHAP. 27. LIVY. 203 
 
 meet him, receive him when landed on the other side, 
 after them, his other relatives and friends ; and then, 
 the major part of the senate. Attended by this nume- 
 rous train, and preceded by the lictors, he is conducted 
 to his house, and a great concourse of the commons 
 took place. But the latter by no means beheld Quinc- 
 tius with so much satisfaction, deeming both the power 
 itself excessive, and the man invested with that power 
 too arbitrary. And on that night indeed, nothing more 
 was done, than watch kept in the city. 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 ON the following day, the dictator, when he had 
 come into the Forum before day-light, names as his 
 master of horse L. Tarquitius, of a patrician family, 
 but who, though on account of his poverty he had 
 served as a foot-soldier, was accounted by far the first 
 among the Roman youths. Attended by his master of 
 the horse, he came into the public assembly ; proclaims 
 a suspension of civil business, orders the shops to be 
 closed throughout the entire city, and forbids any per- 
 son to attend to any private business. He next orders 
 that as many as were of the military age should attend, 
 under arms, in the Campus Martins, before sun-set, 
 with dressed victuals for five days, and twelve stakes 
 each ; those whose age was too unfit for military ser- 
 vice, he ordered to dress his victuals for the neighbour- 
 ing soldier, whilst the latter was preparing his arms, 
 and procuring stakes. Thus the young men run in all 
 directions, to look for palisades. They took them 
 Prom whatever place was most convenient to each ; no 
 one was prevented ; and they all attended with alacrity, 
 pursuant to the dictator's proclamation. After that, 
 the dictator himself leads forward the legions, and the 
 master of horse his cavalry, in a regularly formed body, 
 being prepared not more for a march than a battle, if the 
 occasion should so require it. In both divisions there 
 were used those exhortations which the juncture itself 
 demanded " That they should quicken their pace ; 
 that there was need of expedition, that they might be 
 able to reach the enemy in the night ; that a Roman 
 consul and his army were besieged ; that they were 
 
204 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 now shut up for the third day ; that it was unknown 
 what a single night or day may bring about ; that the 
 issue of the most important affairs often turned on a 
 moment of time." They also called out to each other, 
 gratifying their leaders, " Standard-bearer, hasten ; 
 soldier, follow." At midnight they arrive at Algidum ; 
 and when they perceived that they were now close to 
 the enemy, they plant their standards (i. e. halt). 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 THE dictator then, having rode round, and examined, 
 as far as his view could extend by night, what was the 
 situation, and what the form of their camp, commanded 
 the tribunes of the soldiers to order the baggage to be 
 heaped together in one place, and the soldiers with 
 their arms and stakes to return into their respective 
 ranks ; what he commanded was executed. He then 
 draws his whole army in a long line round the enemy's 
 camp, in the same order that had been observed in the 
 march ; and orders that, when the signal were given, 
 they should all raise a shout, and that on the shout 
 being raised, every man should dig a trench in front 
 of himself, and fix his stakes. This order being issued, 
 the signal immediately followed ; the soldiers executed 
 their orders : the shout resounds round the enemy ; it 
 then passes the enemy's camp, and reaches the camp of 
 the consul ; in the one place it produces consternation, 
 in the other, immense joy. The Romans, congratulat- 
 ing each other, that it was the shout of their country- 
 men, and that relief was at hand, terrify the enemy in 
 their turn from the out-posts and watch-stations. The 
 consul declares, " That the attack should not be de- 
 ferred ; for that by that shout their arrival alone was 
 not indicated, but also the commencement of the action 
 by their friends ; and that it was surprising, if the 
 enemy's camp was not assaulted on the outer side :" he 
 therefore orders his soldiers to take up arms and follow 
 him. The engagement was begun by the consular le- 
 gions during the night ; they intimate to the dictator, 
 by their shout, that the affair was at issue on that side 
 also. The ^Equi were now making preparations to pre- 
 vent lines of circumvallution from being drawn round 
 
'. 29. LIVY. 205 
 
 them ; when, the engagement being begun by the 
 enemy inside them, turning their attention from those 
 engaged in the works to the combatants within, lest a 
 sally might be made through the midst of their camp, 
 they left the night at the dictator's disposal for the 
 work ; and the fight with the consul continued till day- 
 light. At break of day, they were now surrounded by 
 the dictator's works, and scarcely supported the fight 
 against one army ; then their rampart is assaulted by 
 Quinctius's army, which had just returned to their arms, 
 after the completion of their work : here a new attack 
 was pressing upon them, and the former had in no de- 
 gree slackened its fury. Then, being turned by the 
 urgency of the double danger from resistance to prayers, 
 they entreated, on one side, the dictator, on the other, the 
 consul, not to make victory consist in their entire de- 
 struction, and to allow them to retire from the place 
 with the loss of their arms. Being ordered by the con- 
 sul to apply to the dictator, the latter, being highly 
 incensed, added ignominy to defeat. He commands 
 Gracchus Clcelius, their general, and the other princi- 
 pal persons, to be brought before him in chains, and 
 the town of Corbio to be evacuated ; " That he did not 
 want the blood of the JEqui ; that they, were at liberty 
 to depart ; but, in order that an acknowledgment that 
 their nation had been subdued and vanquished should 
 at length be extorted, that they must pass under the 
 yoke." The yoke is formed of three spears, two of 
 them being fixed in the ground, and over these one 
 being tied across : under this yoke the dictator sent 
 the Mqui. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 HAVING gained possession of the enemy's camp, which 
 abounded in every thing, for he had sent them away 
 quite bare, he gave all the plunder to his own soldiers 
 exclusively ; rebuking the consular army and the consul 
 himself, he says, " Soldiers, you shall have no share of 
 the spoil taken from that enemy to whom you have al- 
 most become a prey yourselves : and you, L. Minucius, 
 shall command these legions as lieutenant-general, until 
 
206 LIVY. BOOK III, 
 
 you begin to have a spirit worthy of a consul." Thus 
 Minucius resigns the consulship, and, being so ordered, 
 remains with the army. But at that time, so submis- 
 sively obedient was the mind to more skilful command, 
 that this army, more mindful of the benefit conferred 
 than the disgrace inflicted, both voted a golden crown, 
 a pound in weight, to the dictator, and, at his departure, 
 hailed him as their patron. At Rome, the senate, being 
 convened by Q. Fabius, prsefect of the city, ordained, 
 that Quinctius should enter the city in triumph, in the 
 same line of march in which he was coming : the leaders 
 of the enemy were led before his chariot ; the military 
 ensigns were borne before him ; the army, laden with 
 plunder, followed after. Banquets are said to have 
 been laid out before the houses of all the citizens ; and, 
 partaking of the feast, they followed the chariot, with 
 the triumphal hymn and customary jests, in the manner 
 of revellers. On that day, the freedom of the state was, 
 with the approbation of all, conferred on L. Mamilius, 
 of Tusculum. The dictator would have resigned his 
 office forthwith, had not the assembly for the trial of 
 M. Volscius, the false witness, obliged him to continue : 
 the dread of the dictator prevented the tribunes from 
 opposing that assembly. Volscius, being found guilty, 
 went into exile to Lanuvium. Quinctius, on the six- 
 teenth day, abdicated the dictatorship, which he had 
 received for six months. During those days the consul, 
 Nautius, fought a successful battle with the Sabines, at 
 Eretum. In addition to the devastation of their lands, 
 this calamity also befel the Sabines. Fabius Quintus 
 was sent to Algidum, as successor to Minucius. At the 
 close of the year, the subject of the law was agitated 
 by the tribunes ; but as two armies were from home, 
 the patricians succeeded in their request, that no mea- 
 sure should be brought before the people. The com- 
 mons gained their point so far, as to create the same 
 men tribunes for the fifth time. They report, that 
 wolves were seen in the Capitol, and were put to flight 
 by dogs; and that, on account of this prodigy, the 
 Capitol was purified. These were the transactions in 
 that year. x 
 
LIVY. 207 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 Q. MINUCIUS and C. Horatins Pulvillus succeed, as 
 consuls. In the commencement of this year, whilst 
 there was peace abroad, the same tribunes and same law 
 were causing seditions at home ; and they would have 
 proceeded to greater lengths (so much had they been 
 inflamed by passion), had not news been brought, as if 
 by concerted design, that the garrison at Corbio was 
 lost by a nocturnal attack of the ^Equi. The consuls 
 convene the senate : they are ordered to enrol a subita- 
 neous army, and lead it to Algidum. Then, the con- 
 test about the law being laid aside, a new contention 
 arose respecting the levy ; and the consular authority 
 was on the point of being overpowered by the tribunic 
 aid, when another alarm is added, namely, that a Sabine 
 army had come down into the Roman territory to com- 
 mit depredations, and were thence coming to the city. 
 This terror so far prevailed, that the tribunes allowed 
 the soldiers to be enlisted, not, however, without a 
 stipulation that, since they had themselves been baffled 
 for the space of five years, and the present proved a 
 small protection to the commons, ten tribunes of the 
 commons should henceforward be created. Necessity 
 wrung this concession from the patricians : this only 
 they excepted, that they should not in future re-elect 
 the same tribunes. The elections for tribunes (lest that 
 boon also as well as others should, after the war, be 
 nugatory,) are held immediately. In the thirty-sixth 
 year from the first institution of tribunes, ten were 
 created, two out of each of the classes : and provision 
 was made, that they should be elected in future, in the 
 same manner. The levy being then held, Minucius, 
 marching out against the Sabines, did not find the ene- 
 my. Horatius, when now the ^Equi, having put the 
 garrison of Corbio to the sword, had also taken Ortona, 
 gives them battle in Algidum ; he kills a great number 
 of men: he routs the enemy, not only out of Algidum, 
 but from Corbio and Ortona also. He even razes Cor- 
 bio to the ground, on account of the traitorous surren- 
 der of the garrison. 
 
208 LIVT& BOOK III. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 M. VALERIUS and Sp. Virginius were then made 
 consuls. There was peace at home and abroad ; they 
 were distressed for provisions on account of an exces- 
 sive fall of rain. A law was introduced for making 
 Aventine public property. The same tribunes of the 
 commons, being re-elected the ensuing year, in the con- 
 sulship of T. Romilius and C. Veturius, were advocat- 
 ing the law in all their public meetings, saying, " that 
 they ought to be ashamed of the useless increase of 
 their number, if that measure should be equally dor- 
 mant during their two years of office, as it had lain 
 during the entire last five years." When they were 
 most sedulously engaged in these matters, messengers 
 came in a hurry from Tusculum, with information that 
 the -#3qui were in the Tusculan country. The recent 
 services of that people made them ashamed of stopping 
 the succours. Both the consuls, being sent forward at 
 the head of an army, find the enemy in their usual post 
 in Algidum. There a battle was fought ; over seven 
 thousand of the enemy were slain ; the rest were dis- 
 persed ; great plunder was obtained. This the consuls 
 sold on account of the low state of the treasury. That 
 act however was the source of jealousy with the army: 
 and it finally afforded to the tribunes materials for cri- 
 minating the consuls before the commons. Wherefore, 
 as soon then as they went out of office, in the consul- 
 ship of Sp. Tarpeius and A. Aterius, a prosecution 
 was instituted against Romilius, by C. Claudius Cicero, 
 tribune of the commons ; and against Veturius, by L. 
 Alienus, plebeian eedile. Both were condemned, to 
 the great indignation of the patricians, Romilius in ten 
 thousand asses, Veturius in fifteen thousand. Nor had 
 this punishment of the former consuls made the new 
 consuls less active ; they said, " that they also might be 
 condemned ; and that the commons and tribunes would 
 be yet unable to carry the law." Then, having thrown 
 aside the law, which, after being proposed, had fallen 
 into neglect, the tribunes managed more mildly with 
 the patricians ; begging, " that they would at length 
 put an end to those quarrels ; if plebeian laws displeased 
 
CHAP. 32. ^IVY. 209 
 
 them, that they would at least allow legislators to be 
 created in common from the plebeians, and from the 
 patricians, who would propose laws advantageous to 
 both parties, and such as would be the means of equa- 
 lizing their liberties." The patricians do not reject the 
 proposal, but declared, that no person, except he were 
 of the patricians, should frame the laws. When they 
 were agreed on the laws, and only differed on the law- 
 maker; Sp. Postumius Albus, A. Manlius, and P. 
 Sulpicius Camerinus, were sent as commissioners to 
 Athens, and ordered to transcribe the famous laws of 
 Solon, and to make themselves acquainted with the in- 
 stitutions, manners, and jurisprudence of the other 
 states of Greece. 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 THE year was undisturbed by foreign wars ; the en- 
 suing, being the consulate of P. Curatius and Sex. 
 Quinctilius, more quiet still, by reason of the continued 
 silence of the tribunes ; which, in the first place, the 
 expectation of the commissioners who had gone to 
 Athens, and of the foreign laws caused ; and in the 
 next, two heavy calamities which rose up at once, fa- 
 mine and pestilence, destructive to man, destructive to 
 beast. The lands were desolated : the city exhausted 
 by continual deaths ; many and illustrious families in 
 mourning. Ser. Cornelius, high-priest of Quirinus, 
 was dead, and C. Horatius Pulvillus, augur ; in whose 
 place, the augurs elected C. Veturius, the more eagerly 
 for this reason, as he had been condemned by the com- 
 mons. The consul, Quinctilius, also died, and four tri- 
 bunes of the commons. The year was rendered dismal 
 by a multiplicity of losses. They had peace from the 
 enemy. C. Menenius and P. Sestius Capitolinus were 
 then made consuls. Neither was there any foreign war 
 in this year; commotions sprung up at home. The 
 commissioners had now returned with the Athenian 
 laws ; on which account the tribunes pressed the more 
 earnestly that a beginning should at length be made in 
 compiling the laws. It is agreed that ten commission- 
 ers (decemvirs) should be chosen, from whom there 
 lay no appeal ; and that there should be no other ma- 
 T 3 
 
210 LIVY.' BOOK III. 
 
 gist rate in that year. There was a dispute for a long 
 time, whether plebeians should be admitted amongst 
 them : the point was at length conceded to the patri- 
 cians, on condition that the Icilian law respecting the 
 Aventine, and other devoting laws should not be re- 
 pealed. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 TN the three hundred and second year after Rome was 
 built, the form of government is changed for the second 
 time ; the chief power being transferred from consuls to 
 decemvirs ; as it had passed before from kings to consuls. 
 The change was less remarkable, because it was not of 
 long continuance : for the happy commencements of 
 that magistracy sunk into excessive licentiousness, and 
 hence the institution fell more rapidly to decay, and 
 the custom was resumed, that the title and authority 
 of consuls should be conferred on two persons. The 
 decemvirs created were, Ap. Claudius, T. Genucius, 
 P. Sestius, L. Veturius, C. Julius, A. Manlius, Ser. 
 Sulpicius, P. Curiatius, T. Romilius, and Sp. Postu- 
 mius. To Claudius and Genucius, as they had been 
 consuls elect for that year, this honour was given in 
 compensation for the other dignity : and to Sestius, 
 who was one of the consuls of the preceding year, be- 
 cause he had, against the will of his colleague, proposed 
 the measure to the senate. Next to these were consi- 
 dered the three commissioners who had gone to Athens ; 
 at the same time, that the dignity might be as a re- 
 ward for so distant an embassy, and also, as they be- 
 lieved that these persons, being skilled in foreign laws, 
 should be serviceable in digesting a new code. The 
 rest completed the number. It is said, that men re- 
 spectable by age also, were elected by the last votes, 
 that they should oppose with less violence the decisions 
 of the others. The direction of the entire authority 
 was in the hands of Appius, through the favour of the 
 people ; and so completely had he assumed to himself 
 a new character, that, from being a stern and unre- 
 lenting persecutor of the commons, he suddenly became 
 a courter of the plebeians, and one who caught at every 
 breath of popularity. They administer justice singly 
 
CHAP. 34. L1VY. 211 
 
 to the people, each in his tenth day : on that day the 
 twelve fasces were at the command of that decemvir, 
 who was president of justice ; one beadle attended each 
 of his nine colleagues ; and with singular unanimity 
 amongst themselves, (which harmony might sometimes 
 be prejudicial to private individuals) there was the 
 highest equity observed to others. It will be sufficient 
 to have instanced a proof of their moderation, by the 
 example of a single fact. Though they were created 
 not subject to an appeal, yet, on a dead body being 
 found buried in the house of P. Sestius, a man of pa- 
 trician family, in a case equally manifest and shocking, 
 C. Julius, the decemvir, instituted a prosecution against 
 Sestius, and appeared before the people as prosecutor 
 of an act (or of a defendant of whom) of which he was 
 himself the legal judge ; and he relinquished his right, 
 that he might add to the liberty of the people, what 
 was taken away from the power of the magistracy. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 WHILST the highest and the lowest were obtaining 
 from them this prompt justice, pure as if from an oracle, 
 their attention was at the same time given to the fram- 
 ing of laws; and having, with the highest expectation 
 of all, produced before the public ten tables, they sum- 
 moned the people to an assembly, and ordered them, 
 " which may be good, fortunate, and prosperous to the 
 commonwealth, to themselves, and their children, to go 
 and read the laws exhibited. That they themselves, as 
 far as that could be provided for, by the abilities of ten 
 individuals, had equalized the rights of all, both high- 
 est and lowest; but that the abilities and wisdom of a 
 greater number were more efficient. That they should 
 turn over every single enactment in their minds by 
 themselves, and then discuss them in their conversations, 
 and bring before the public notice, whatever should be 
 excessive or deficient in each article. That the Roman 
 people should have only those laws which the general 
 consent might seem not more to have ratified, when 
 proposed by others, than to have proposed themselves." 
 When, according to the reports of the people, on each 
 head of the laws, as it was published, they appeared 
 
212 LIVY'. BOOK III. 
 
 sufficiently amended ; the laws of the ten tables were 
 passed in the assembly by centuries : which code is, 
 even at this day, amidst this immense pile of laws ac- 
 cumulated one above the other, the fountain of all our 
 public and private jurisprudence. A report is after- 
 wards circulated that two tables were still wanting, by 
 the addition of which, this body, as it were, of the 
 entire Roman law, would be completed. The expec- 
 tation of this, when the day of election approached, 
 created a desire for the re-appointment of decemvirs. 
 At this period, the commons, besides that they detested 
 the name of consuls not less than that of kings, did not 
 even require the tribunic aid, the decemvirs mutually 
 conceding the right of appeal. 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 HOWEVER, when the assembly for creating decemvirs 
 was announced by proclamation, for the third market- 
 day following, such an ardent canvass was excited, that 
 even the principal men of the state (apprehensive, I 
 suppose, lest, if the ground were abandoned by them- 
 selves, it might be left open to persons not sufficiently 
 worthy,) paid their court to the electors, humbly soli- 
 citing an honour which was opposed by themselves with 
 their utmost might, from those very plebeians against 
 whom they had contended. The dignity of such men, 
 which was lowered to the hazard of a competition, at 
 so advanced an age, and after filling such high honours, 
 stimulated Ap. Claudius. You could not know whether 
 to rank him among the decemvirs or the candidates. 
 He was sometimes more like a man suing for, than nil- 
 ing office ; he accused the noblemen, he extollerj every 
 most insignificant and humble person among the candi- 
 dates ; he himself bustled about in the Forum amidst 
 the tribunic agitators, the Duilii, and Icilii, and through 
 them, recommended himself to the commons: until 
 even his colleagues, who were singularly attached to 
 him, up to that time, stared at him, wondering what 
 he could mean. It was obvious that there was no pu- 
 rity in his intentions, " for that courtesy in a person of 
 so much arrogance, could not be disinterested ; that his 
 reducing himself too far to the common level, and low- 
 
LIVY. 213 
 
 ering himself to a familiarity with private citizens, was 
 the conduct, not so much of a man hastening to go out 
 of office, as of one seeking means to obtain its continu- 
 ance." Not daring openly to oppose his ambition, they 
 attempt to soften down his violence, by humouring it ; 
 by an agreement between themselves, they enjoin on 
 him, as he was the youngest, the duty of presiding at 
 the election ; this was a contrivance, that he could not 
 be able to elect himself; an act, which no one had ever 
 done, except the tribunes of the commons, and that too 
 by establishing the worst precedent. He, however, 
 declaring that, in the name of good fortune, he would 
 preside at the election, seized on the obstruction to his 
 designs, as an opportunity of accomplishing them. 
 Having, by means of a coalition, thrown out of the 
 honour the two Quinctii, Capitolinus and Cincinnatus, 
 and his own uncle, C. Claudius, a man of the utmost 
 firmness in the cause of the nobility, and others of the 
 same high rank, he procures the appointment of decem- 
 virs, by no means their equals in respectability of life ; 
 and of himself amongst the first ; an act which, when 
 committed, good men condemned, no less than every 
 one had disbelieved that he would dare to commit. 
 With him were created M. Cornelius Maluginensis, M. 
 Sergius, L. Minncius, Q. Fabius Vibulanus, Q. Pcete- 
 lius, T. Antonius Meranda, K. Duilius, Sp. Oppicen 
 Cornicen, and Manius Rabulleius. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 THIS was the end of Appius's wearing an assumed 
 character : henceforward, he began to live according to 
 his own natural disposition, and to form his new col- 
 leagues to his own habits, before they should enter on 
 their magistracy. They used to meet together every 
 day, witnesses being put out of the way; being then 
 furnished with schemes of tyranny, which they were 
 concocting unknown to others, and no longer disguis- 
 ing their arrogance, but becoming of rare access, and 
 morose in conversation ; they carried on the plot to the 
 ides (fifteenth) of May. The ides of May was then the 
 stated time for entering on magisterial duties. In the 
 commencement, therefore, of office, they made the first 
 
214 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 day of their dignity remarkable, by an exhibition of 
 vast terror ; for, whereas the former decemvirs had ob- 
 served the rule, that only one should have the fasces, 
 and this royal distinction should pass through them all 
 in rotation, according to each man's turn, they all came 
 forth suddenly with twelve lictors each. The one hun- 
 dred and twenty lictors had filled the Forum, and car- 
 ried before them axes, bound up in the fasces; and 
 they explained it by saying, that it was of no use that 
 the axe should be taken out, when they were them- 
 selves created not subject to appeal. They had the ap- 
 pearance of ten kings, and terror was multiplied not 
 only amongst the lowest orders, but even the principal 
 patricians, who imagined that a cause and origin of 
 bloodshed was sought ; in order that, if any one had 
 expressed a word that savoured of liberty, either in the 
 senate, or before the people, the rods and axes should 
 be immediately got ready, even for the intimidation of 
 others. For, besides that there was no succour in the 
 people, the right of appealing to them having been 
 abolished, they had also by mutual agreement abolished 
 the interference with each other's decrees : whilst the 
 former decemvirs had allowed the legal decisions pro- 
 nounced by themselves, to be rectified by an appeal to 
 their colleague, and referred some questions to the 
 people, which might appear to belong to their own 
 jurisdiction. For a considerable time, the terror was 
 equally shared between all ; but it began by degrees to 
 be directed entirely against the commons. They ab- 
 stained from attacking the patricians ; against the more 
 humble classes, proceedings were taken more caprici- 
 ously and cruelly. They were altogether influenced by 
 men, not measures ; as being creatures, with whom in- 
 terest had the force of equity. They made up their de- 
 cisions at home, they pronounced them in the Forum. 
 If any one should have appealed from him before whom 
 he had come, to his colleague, he came off in such a 
 manner, as to repent that he had not abided by the for- 
 mer's decree. A surmise had also gone abroad, but 
 without authority, that they had not only conspired to 
 acts of injustice for the present time, but that a clan- 
 destine league had been ratified between them, by an 
 oath, that no elections should be held, and that they 
 
LIVY. 215 
 
 should retain the authority once in their possession, by 
 making* the decemvirate perpetual. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 THEN the plebeians looked round to the countenances 
 of the patricians, and caught a breath of freedom from 
 that quarter, by apprehending servitude from which, 
 they had brought the commonwealth to its present situ- 
 ation. The leading men of the patricians hated the 
 decemvirs, and hated the commons : they did not ap- 
 prove of what was going forward, and yet they thought 
 that these things happened to them deservedly : they 
 were unwilling to assist persons who, by rushing too 
 eagerly into liberty, had escaped only to slavery : they 
 even heaped additional insults ; that from their disgust 
 with their present situation, two consuls, and the ojd 
 state of things, might become the objects of their desire. 
 And now the greater part of the year had passed over, 
 and two tables of laws were added to the ten tables of 
 the preceding year, nor did there now remain any 
 grounds, on which, if these additional laws were also 
 passed in the assembly by centuries, the state could 
 have need of that magistracy. They were expecting 
 how soon an assembly might be proclaimed for the 
 election of consuls. This only the commons were con- 
 sidering, by what means they might restore the tribu- 
 nic power, the bulwark of their liberties, an institution 
 now discontinued. Whilst, in the mean time, no men- 
 tion was made of the election, and the decemvirs, who 
 at first had ostentatiously exhibited to the commons, 
 about their persons, men who had been tribunes, be- 
 cause that was deemed popular, had now encompassed 
 their persons with the young men of the patricians ; 
 whole troops of whom had blocked up the tribunals. 
 These carried oif, and drove about, the commons, and 
 the effects of the commons ; whilst fortune, by which 
 whatever had been coveted was obtained, favoured the 
 more powerful. And now the decemvirs did not even 
 abstain from personal injury ; some were mangled with 
 rods, others made to submit to the axe ; and that their 
 cruelty should not be without its reward, a grant of 
 the effects followed the punishment of the owner. 
 
216 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 Corrupted by these wages, the young nobility not only 
 did not oppose the injustice, but avowedly preferred 
 their own licentiousness to the general liberty. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 THE ides of May arrived. No magistrates being 
 chosen to succeed, private men go forth as decemvirs, 
 without a diminution either of spirit to exercise the 
 authority, or of the ensigns for its display. This, of 
 course, was looked upon, beyond all doubt, as arbitrary 
 government. Liberty is deplored as lost for ever ; 
 neither did any champion stand forward, or appear likely 
 to do so ; nor had they only sunk into despondency 
 themselves, but they had begun to be despised by the 
 neighbouring nations ; arid these latter were indignant, 
 that dominion should abide with those, with whom 
 liberty did not exist. The Sabines, in a vast body, 
 made an incursion into the Roman territories ; and 
 having committed extensive depredations, when they 
 had driven off great booties of men and cattle with im- 
 punity : recalling to Eretum their forces, which had 
 overspread the country in all directions, they encamp 
 there, grounding on the Roman dissension a hope, that 
 that would be an obstruction to a levy of troops. It 
 was not the messengers alone, but the flight of the pea- 
 sants all over the city, that filled them with consterna- 
 tion. The decemvirs deliberate on what was necessary 
 to be done, and being left destitute, between the ani- 
 mosity of the patricians, and of the commons, fortune 
 furnished another additional terror. The ^Equi, on the 
 other side, pitch their camp in Algidum ; and ambassa- 
 dors from Tusculum, imploring assistance, bring intel- 
 ligence that the Tusculan land was laid waste by excur- 
 sions from that station. This alarm obliged the decem- 
 virs, now that two wars environed the city, to consult 
 the senate. They order the fathers to be summoned to 
 the senate-house ; by no means ignorant what a storm 
 of odium was suspended over them, that all men would 
 heap on their own heads the blame of the devastation 
 of the country, and of the impending dangers, and that 
 that would lead to an attempt to abolish their magis- 
 tracy, if they did not oppose it with their united efforts, 
 
CHA 
 
 AP. 38. LIVY. 217 
 
 and by a vigorous exercise of authority against some 
 few of an excessively violent temper, check the attempts 
 of others. As soon as the crier's voice was heard in 
 the Forum, summoning the senators into the senate- 
 house, to attend the decemvirs, the novelty, as it were, 
 of the thing, as they had for a long time discontinued 
 the custom of consulting the senate, engages the atten- 
 tion of the commons, asking with astonishment, " what 
 could have happened, why, after so long an interval, 
 they should resume a custom which had fallen into dis- 
 use ? that thanks should be given to the enemies and 
 the war, that any usual practice of a free state was re- 
 sorted to." They looked round in all parts of the Fo- 
 rum for a senator, and seldom did they perceive one 
 any where ; from thence they gazed on the senate- 
 house, and the solitude that surrounded the decemvirs ; 
 whilst those magistrates themselves understood the 
 non-attendance of the senators to mean, that their power 
 was universally odious, and the commons, that being 
 in a private station, they had no authority to convene 
 the senate. " That those who would recover their 
 liberties had now got a head, if the commons would 
 give themselves as followers to the senate ; and as the 
 patricians, when summoned, did not assemble into the 
 senate-house, so the plebeians refuse to enlist." These 
 sentiments the commons loudly declare ; scarcely did 
 any of the patricians appear in the Forum few even in 
 the city ; through indignation at what was going for- 
 ward, they had retired into the country; and were 
 attending to their own concerns, having lost the public 
 administration : judging themselves to be so far out of 
 the reach of injuries, as they had removed themselves 
 from the society and meeting of those licentious mas- 
 kers. When, on being summoned, they did not assem- 
 ble ; the beadles who were sent about to their houses, 
 both to seize pledges, and enquire whether they inten- 
 ionally declined to comply, bring back word, that the 
 ienators were in the country. That happened more 
 iatisfactory to the decemvirs, than if they reported 
 ;hat they were present, and refused to obey the orders, 
 hey command them all to be sent for, and issue a 
 reclamation for a meeting of the senate, for the ensu- 
 ng day. These assembled somewhat more numerous 
 u 
 
218 LIVY. BOOK IIL 
 
 than their expectation; by which conduct, the com- 
 mons judged the cause of liberty to be betrayed by the 
 patricians ; as the senate had obeyed those, as if they 
 called them together legally, who had already gone out 
 of office, and who, if force were not resorted to, were 
 merely private individuals, 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 BUT they cane to the senate-house, with an obedi- 
 ence greater than the servility with which we have 
 heard their sentiments were delivered. It is handed 
 down to memory, that after the motion of A p. Clau- 
 dius, and before the votes were demanded in order, L. 
 Valerius Potitus excited a ferment, by demanding to 
 be allowed to speak on the state of the commonwealth, 
 and declaring, when the decemvirs w r ere preventing 
 him with menaces, that he would go forth to the com- 
 mons : and that M. Horatius Baibatus entered into the 
 contest with no less boldness, calling them " ten Tar- 
 quins," and reminding them that kings were expelled, 
 under the guidance of Valerii and Horatii. IS T or was 
 it merely with the name that people were dissatisfied, 
 as it was one by which it was deemed proper that Ju- 
 piter should be addressed ; by which Romulus, the 
 founder of the city, and the succeeding monarchs have 
 been addressed ; and which has been even retained in 
 sacred institutions, as a solemn \vord. That it was the 
 arrogance and violence of the king which they then ab- , 
 horred, which if they were not then to be endured in 
 the individual king aforesaid, or in the king's son, who 
 would endure them in so many private citizens? Let 
 them take care, lest by preventing men from speaking 
 with freedom within the senate-house, they might even 
 excite their speech without the house : nor did he see 
 how it was less lawful for himself, a private man, to 
 call the people to an assembly, than for them to con- 
 vene the senate. Let them try, as soon as they pleased, 
 how much more forcible was resentment in vindicating 
 his own liberties, than ambition in supporting unjust 
 domination. They moved the question of the Sabine 
 war, as if any war could be more important to the Ro- 
 man people, thaii one against those who, being created 
 
LIVY. 219 
 
 for the purpose of framing laws, have left no justice 
 remaining in the state ; who have abolished elections, 
 abolished annual magistrates, abolished rotation of au* 
 thority, which was the only means of balancing liberty : 
 and who, being men in private capacities, kept posses- 
 sion of the fasces, and of regal authority. That, on 
 the expulsion of kings, there were created patrician 
 magistrates ; and subsequently, after the secession of 
 the commons, plebeian magistrates. To which class, 
 he asked, did they belong ? Were they of the popular 
 party? but what have they ever done by the co-opera- 
 tion of the people ? Of the nobility ? they who, du- 
 ring now almost a whole year, have not held a meeting 
 of the senate, and then hold it in such a mariner, as to 
 prevent men from speaking on the state of the com- 
 monwealth! Let them not place too much hope in the 
 timidity of others ; for what people actually suffer, ap- 
 pears to them more intolerable, than what they only 
 apprehend. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 HORATIUS vociferating these sentiments, whilst the 
 decemvirs could neither discover the just limit of their 
 anger, or their forgiveness, nor judge how the business 
 was likely to terminate ; the language of C. Claudius, 
 who was the uncle of Appius, the decemvir, resembled 
 supplication more than reproach, as he besought him, 
 by the manes of his own brother, and his father, " that 
 he would think more of the society in which he was 
 born, than of a confederacy, impiously concluded with 
 his colleagues ; that he requested this, much more on 
 his (Appius') account, than that of the commonwealth; 
 as the commonwealth would vindicate its right from 
 them against their will, if it could not do so, with their 
 consent. But that great animosities generally spring 
 out of an arduous contest that he himself viewed the 
 issue of these with horror." Though the decemvirs 
 did not allow persons to speak on any other subject, 
 except that on which they introduced the motion, they 
 felt a reverential delicacy in interrupting Claudius* 
 He, therefore, went through with his resolution, that 
 it was their opinion that no decree should be passed. 
 
220 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 All understood it in this way, that they (the decemvirs) 
 were considered by Claudius as private citizens ; and 
 in any of the consular memhers assented hy a verbal 
 declaration. Another proposition, apparently more 
 harsh, possessed considerably less efficacy, which re- 
 commended the patricians to meet for the nomination 
 of an interrex ; for, by this motion, the proposer pro- 
 nounced those who were holding the senate to be ma- 
 gistrates of some kind or other ; whom he, who pro- 
 posed that no decree should be passed, had made pri- 
 vate citizens altogether. The cause of the decemvirs, 
 thus tojtteririg to ruin, L. Cornelius Maluginensis, the 
 brother of M. Cornelius, the decemvir, being reserved 
 out of the consular members, for the last stage of the 
 debate, by pretending an anxiety about the war, was. 
 supporting his brother and his colleagues ; observing, 
 " that he wondered by what fatality it had happened, 
 that they who had been candidates for the decemvirate, 
 or their associates, or the last speakers, in particular, 
 should attack the decemvirs; or why, when during so 
 many months, while the state was unembarrassed, no 
 one had made it a matter of question, whether legal 
 magistrates pi'esided over the chief administration, they 
 should now at length sow the seeds of civil dissensions, 
 when the enemy were almost at the gates, unless they 
 imagined, that the object they had in view would be 
 less clearly observed in a state of turbulence. But 
 that it was proper that no one, while their minds were 
 engaged in a more important concern, should bring 
 with him a prejudiced opinion on so serious a subject. 
 That it was his own advice that, with respect to what 
 Valerius and Horatius pretended, that the decemvirs 
 had gone out of office on the ides of May ; that point 
 should be considered, when the wars which threatened 
 them were brought to a conclusion, the state restored 
 to tranquillity, and the senate could entertain the sub- 
 ject : and that, from this instant, Ap. Claudius should 
 be so prepared, as to know that an account must be 
 rendered by him of the election, at which he himself 
 presided for creating decemvirs ; whether they have 
 been created for one year only, or until the laws, which 
 were wanting, should be passed. That, for the pre- 
 sent, he was of opinion, every thing should be laid 
 
UHAP. 41. LIVY. 221 
 
 aside, except the war ; of which, if they should suspect 
 that a report had been falsely circulated, and that, not 
 only the messengers, hut also the ambassadors of the 
 Tusculans, had brought unfounded intelligence ; he 
 the,n recommended, that scouts should be sent out, to 
 bring back what was more accurately discovered. But 
 if reliance was placed both in the messengers and the 
 ambassadors, that a levy of troops should be held at the 
 very first opportunity: that the decemvirs should lead 
 out armies, whithersoever each of them thought proper, 
 and that no other business should take the precedency." 
 
 CHAP. XLL 
 
 THE younger patricians were succeeding in having 
 this resolution agreed to. Valerius and Horatius, start- 
 ing up a second time, with more vehemence, exclaimed, 
 "that they should be allowed to speak on the state of the 
 commonwealth ; that they would address themselves to 
 the people, if they were prohibited, by faction, from 
 speaking in the senate. For that, neither in the senate- 
 house, nor in the assembly, could private citizens pre- 
 vent them, nor would they submit to the imaginary 
 fasces of those persons." TheorAppms, judging that it 
 was now nearly come to this, that their own authority 
 was overpowered, if their violence were not resisted 
 with equal intrepidity, said, " Woe shall be to him, 
 who will have uttered a word, unless on the subject on 
 which we are debating," and ordered his lictor to ad- 
 vance to Valerius, who was declaring he would not be 
 silenced by a private man. As Valerius was now im- 
 ploring the protection of Roman citizens from the en- 
 trance of the senate-house, L. Cornelius, embracing 
 Appius, put an end to the contest, by consulting the 
 interest, not of him whom he pretended to be concerned 
 for: and permission to speak his sentiments being pro- 
 cured for Valerius, through the interference of Corne- 
 lius, provided that liberty should not exceed freedom 
 of speech, the decemvirs carried their purpose. The 
 consular members too, and the elder senators, from 
 their still surviving hatred of the tribunic power, for 
 which, they imagined, the commons had a far more 
 ardent longing, than for the consular government, were 
 u 3 
 
222 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 almost better pleased, that the decemvirs themselves 
 should voluntarily go out of office hereafter, than that 
 the commons, hy reason of the odium against them, 
 should again have the ascendancy : hoping, " if the 
 power quietly continued, should have reverted to the 
 consuls, without any popular ferment, that, hy the in- 
 terposition of wars, or the moderation of the consuls 
 themselves in the exercise of their authority, the com- 
 mons might be brought to forget the tribunes." A 
 levy is proclaimed, with the tacit assent of the patri- 
 cians : the younger men, as the authority was not sub- 
 ject to appeal, answer to their names. The legions 
 being enrolled, the decemvirs settled among themselves, 
 who it were proper should go to the war, and who 
 command the several armies. The leading men among 
 the decemvirs were Q. Fabius and A p. Claudius ; a 
 greater war was anticipated at home than abroad. 
 They judged the violence of Appius better calculated 
 to restrain the commotions in the city ; and that Fabius 
 possessed a disposition rather inconstant in a good 
 cause, than strenuous in evil. For this man, formerly 
 distinguished at home and in war, the decemvirate and 
 his colleagues had so entirely changed, that he chose 
 rather to resemble Appius than his former self. To 
 him the war amongst the Sabines was entrusted, Man. 
 Rabuleius and Q. Poetelius being added as his col- 
 leagues. M. Cornelius was sent to Algidum with L. 
 Minucius, T. Antonius, K. Duilius, and M. Sergius. 
 They appoint Sp. Oppius assistant to Ap. Claudius, for 
 the defence of the city, with an authority equal to that 
 of all the decemvirs. 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 
 
 THE public aifairs were managed in no respect better 
 in war, than at home. This blame only was in the 
 generals, that they had behaved themselves so as to be 
 detested by their fellow-citizens ; the remaining fault 
 rested entirely with the soldiers, who, in order that 
 nothing should any where be prosperously conducted, 
 under the direction and auspices of the decemvirs, 
 allowed themselves to be conquered, to the disgrace of 
 themselves, and of them. The armies were routed by 
 
CHAP. 43. LIVY. 223 
 
 the Sabines, at Eretum, and by the J5qui, in Algidum. 
 Escaping from Algidum, during the silent tranquillity 
 of night, they fortified their camp in an elevated posi- 
 tion, nearer to the city, between Fidense and Crustu- 
 meria ; never risking themselves in equal battle with 
 the enemy, who pursued them, they defended them- 
 selves by the nature of the ground, and a rampart, not 
 by courage or arms. A greater disgrace, and even a 
 greater loss, were sustained in Algidum. Their camp 
 also was taken, and the soldiers, deprived of all their 
 necessaries, betook themselves to Tusculum, to live on 
 the honour and mercy of their hosts, which, however, 
 did not disappoint them. So great were the terrors 
 conveyed to Rome, that, all animosity against the de- 
 cemvirs being laid aside, the patricians ordered watches 
 to be kept within the city ; all who were capable, by 
 their age, of bearing arms, to guard the walls, and to 
 do the duty of out-posts before the gates ; decreed 
 arms to be sent to Tusculum in addition to a reinforce- 
 ment of troops, and that the decemvirs, after having 
 come down from the citadel of Tusculum, should keep 
 the soldiers in camp ; that the other camp should be 
 removed from Fidenae to the Sabine district, and the 
 enemy deterred from any design of attacking the city, 
 by waging against them an offensive war. 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. 
 
 To the disasters sustained from the enemy, the de- 
 cemvirs added two flagitious outrages, one in war, the 
 other at home. In the country of the Sabines, they 
 send out L. Siccius, wlio, taking advantage of the ha- 
 tred against the decemvirs, was disseminating hints of 
 creating tribunes, and of a secession, in secret conver- 
 sations, amongst the common soldiers, to make obser- 
 vations for the purpose of choosing a place for encamp- 
 ment: instructions were given to the soldiers whom 
 they had sent to accompany that expedition, that fall- 
 ing upon him, in some convenient place, they should put 
 him to death. They did not slay him unrevenged. 
 For several of the assassins fell round him, offering 
 resistance, whilst, being a powerful man, and possess- 
 ing courage equal to his strength, he defended himself 
 
224 LIVY BOOK III. 
 
 though surrounded. The rest bring back a report into 
 the camp, that they had fallen into an ambuscade : that 
 Siceius, after bravely fighting, and some others with 
 him, were lost. Credit was at first given to the re- 
 porters. Afterwards, a cohort which set out to bring 
 off those who had fallen, with the permission of the de- 
 cemvirs, when they saw at the place no dead body 
 stripped, and Siccius lying in the middle, and his ar- 
 mour on, all the other bodies being turned towards 
 him ; and no dead body of the enemy, nor traces of 
 their departure, brought back the body ; declaring, 
 that he was assuredly murdered by his own men. The 
 camp was full of indignation, and it was resolved that 
 Siccius should be forthwith conveyed to Rome ; had 
 not the decemvirs made haste to give him military in- 
 terment, at the public expense. He was buried to the 
 great sorrow of the soldiers, and with the worst suspi- 
 cions against the decemvirs, with the army in general. 
 
 CHAR XLIV. 
 
 THEN follows another outrage in the city, originat- 
 ing from lust, with a result no less tragical than that 
 which, by the violation and death of Lucretia, had ex- 
 pelled the Tarquins from the city and from the throne ; 
 so that there might be not only the same end to the 
 decemvirs as to the kings, but even the cause of losing 
 their power the same. A passion for violating a ple- 
 beian young woman seized Ap. Claudius. The vir- 
 gin's father, L. Virginius, led an honourable rank in 
 Algidum; a man of correct, exemplary conduct, at 
 home and in war. His wife had been educated, and 
 his children were being educated, in the same principles. 
 He had betrothed his daughter to L. Icilius, who had 
 been a tribune, a man of spirit, and of tried courage in 
 the cause of the commons. Appius, burning with pas- 
 sion, having attempted to seduce, by money and pro- 
 mises, this young woman, grown up to maturity, and 
 transcendant in personal beauty, after finding all ave- 
 nues fenced by chastity, turns his thoughts to unfeeling 
 and oppressive violence. He gave instructions to M. 
 Claudius, his dependant, to claim the girl as his slave, 
 and not to submit to those who might demand a writ of 
 
p. 44. LIVY. 225 
 
 possession on the side of liberty ; deeming that there 
 was an opportunity for oppression, as the young wo- 
 man's father was absent. The minister of the decem- 
 vir's lust laid his hand on the virgin, as she was com- 
 ing into the Forum, (for the schools of literature were 
 then held in sheds,) stating that she was born of his 
 own bonds- woman, and calling her his slave ; com- 
 manded her to follow him, or that, if she hesitated, he 
 would carry her off by force. The affrighted young 
 woman, being struck dumb with amazement, a crowd is 
 collected at the cries of her nurse, who implored the 
 protection of Roman citizens. The popular name of 
 her father, Virginius, and betrothed husband, Icilius, is 
 frequently repeated. The personal influence of those 
 two wins over their acquaintances, and indignation at 
 the attempt itself, the multitude to the young woman's 
 side. She was now secure from violence, when the 
 claimant said, there was no occasion for an excited 
 mob, that he was proceeding by course of law, and not 
 by force. He summons the young maiden to a court 
 of justice, those who were her supporters, advising her 
 to follow him. They arrived at the tribunal of Ap- 
 pius ; the demandant repeats this story, which was 
 already known to the judge, as being the very person 
 who suggested the argument, " that the girl was born 
 in his own house, and being thence surreptitiously re- 
 moved to the family of Virginius, became his supposi- 
 tions child. That he made this allegation after having 
 ascertained it by evidence, and that he would prove it 
 even before Virginius himself as judge, to whom the 
 greater share of that injury appertained ; that it was 
 only reasonable, that in the mean time the slave should 
 follow her master." The young maiden's advocates 
 having pleaded, that Virginius was absent on the ser- 
 vice of the state, and would appear within two days, if 
 he were informed of it ; and that it was unreasonable, 
 that a parent, being absent, should run the risk of los- 
 ing his children, demand that he (Appius,) should de- 
 fer the case altogether until the father's arrival ; that 
 he should, in conformity to the law introduced by him- 
 self, grant the possession on the side of liberty ; nor 
 suffer a grown up maiden to incur the risk of her re- 
 putation, before that of her freedom. 
 
226 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 CHAP. XLV. 
 
 APPIUS prefaced his decree, by observing, "that 
 that very law which the friends of Virginius were put- 
 ting forward, as a ground for their demand, clearly 
 shewed how much he was himself a favourer of liberty. 
 But that in it, there would be a firm security for liberty 
 in this way only, if it did not vary either in causes or 
 in persons. For that, in the case of those who (from 
 being slaves) were claimed to freedom, the right in 
 question, maintained, because any citizen may pro- 
 ceed under the act ; but with regard to her, who was in 
 the hands of a father, there was no other person to 
 whom the master should yield up the possession. That 
 it was therefore his decision, that the father be sent 
 for : and, in the mean time, that the claimant do sus- 
 tain no loss of his right, but do take the girl into his 
 custody, and engage to have her forth-coming on the 
 arrival of him who was reputed her father." Against 
 the injustice of this decree when several were murmur- 
 ing, rather than any one in particular daring to oppose 
 its execution, P. Numitorious, the girl's maternal un- 
 cle, and Icilius, her betrothed husband, come up : and 
 a passage being made for them through the crowd, as 
 the multitude supposed that Appius might be resisted 
 chiefly by the interference of Icilius, the lietor says, 
 that " the decree was passed," and removes Icilius, who 
 was loudly exclaiming. Such shocking injustice would 
 have inflamed even a mild temper. " Am I, Appius/' 
 said he, " to be removed hence by you with the sword, 
 that you may get off without hearing what you wish 
 should be concealed ? I intend to marry this young 
 maiden, and to have her as my wedded and chaste wife. 
 Call together then, all the lictors of your colleagues 
 also ; order rods and axes to be got ready ; the spouse 
 of Icilius shall not remain out of her father's house. 
 Though you have taken away the tribunic aid, and the 
 privilege of appeal, the two fortresses for the security 
 of the liberty of the Roman commons, an absolute do- 
 minion has not, for that reason, been granted to your 
 lust, over our children also, and our wives. Vent 
 your rage on our backs and our necks, let chastity at 
 
'. 46. LIVY. 227 
 
 least be secure. If violence be offered to her, I will 
 implore the protection of the Roman citizens here pre- 
 sent, in behalf of my spouse ; Virginius, that of the 
 soldiers, in behalf of his only daughter, and all of us, 
 the protection of gods and of men. Nor shall you ever 
 carry such a shameful decree, without taking our lives, 
 I beg, Appius, that you will again and again consider, 
 to what lengths you are proceeding. Let Virginius, 
 when he shall arrive, see what he is to do with regard 
 to his daughter ; only let him be assured of this, that 
 if he shall yield to this man's claim of possession, he 
 must look out for another match for his daughter ; as 
 for myself, while vindicating the liberty of my spouse, 
 my life shall forsake me sooner than my honour." 
 
 CHAP. XL VI. 
 
 THE multitude was excited, and a contest seemed 
 likely to ensue ; the lictors had stood round Icilius, 
 however, they did not proceed further than menaces, 
 whilst Appius alleged, " that it was not the defence of 
 Virginia that was undertaken by Icilius, but that being 
 a turbulent man, and breathing even yet the spirit of 
 the tribuneship, he was seeking an occasion of sedition ; 
 that he himself would on that day supply him with ma- 
 terials ; but in order that he should now be convinced 
 that the fact of his not pronouncing judgment on that 
 day, nor interposing his decree, was a concession made, 
 not to his petulance, but to the absent Virginius, to the 
 name of father, and to liberty ; he would himself re- 
 quest of M. Claudius to forego his right, and allow the 
 maiden to be kept at liberty until the ensuing day. 
 But if the father should not have appeared on the fol- 
 lowing day, that he gave notice to Icilius, and those 
 like Icilius, that as its framer, he would neither be 
 wanting to his own law, nor resolution be wanting 
 to him in his capacity of decemvir: nor should he, 
 moreover, call together the lictors of his colleagues to 
 restrain the promoters of sedition ; that he would be 
 content with his own lictors." When the period of in- 
 justice was thus deferred, and the girl's supporters had 
 retired; they first of all agreed that the brother of 
 Icilius, and the son of Numitorius, active young men, 
 
228 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 should proceed thence by the direct way to the gate ; 
 and that Virghrius should be called home from the camp 
 with as much expedition as possible : that the maiden's 
 safety turned upon this point, if her protector from in- 
 jury were present on the next day at the time appointed. 
 On being ordered, they set forward, and with their 
 horses at full speed, convey the intelligence to her 
 father. When the claimant of the young woman was 
 urging Icilius to declare himself her defender, and give 
 sureties, and Icilius answered, that he was employed in 
 that very business, studiously wasting the time until 
 the messengers who were sent to the camp should pre- 
 viously dispatch their journey, the multitude on all 
 sides held up their hands, and each individual declared 
 himself ready to become surety for Icilius. He then, 
 bursting into tears, replied, " I am grateful ; to-mor- 
 row I will avail myself of your assistance, at present 
 there are sureties enough." In this manner, Virginia 
 is discharged on bail, her relations becoming security 
 for her. Appius delaying for a short time, that he 
 should not appear to have sat merely for the sake of 
 the present business, when no one applied to him, all 
 other concerns having been laid by, from their anxiety 
 on this subject alone, retired home, and writes to 
 the camp to his colleagues, not to give Virgiriius leave 
 of absence, and even to keep him in confinement. The 
 wicked scheme was too late, as it deserved ; and Vir- 
 ginius, having already obtained his furlough, had set 
 out at the first watch, whilst, on the morning of the 
 ensuing day, the letter for his detention is delivered, 
 to no purpose, 
 
 CHAP. XL VII. 
 
 BUT, in the city, at day-break, when the citizens 
 stood in the Forum, on the tip-toe of expectation, Vir- 
 ginius clad in mourning, conducts his daughter in sordid 
 attire into the Forum, attended by several matrons, 
 with a vast body of supporters. There he began to go 
 about and solicit the interest of the people, and not 
 only to request their voluntary assistance, but to de- 
 mand it as his due, saying, " that he stood daily in the 
 field of battle, in defence of their children and wives, 
 
. 47. LIVY. 229 
 
 and that there was no other man, whose bold and spi- 
 rited achievements in war could be mentioned in 
 greater numbers. But what did that avail, if, while 
 the state was safe, their children should have to endure 
 those outrages, which, if it were taken, might be ap- 
 prehended as the last calamities ?" Uttering these dis- 
 courses, almost in the manner of an harangue, he went 
 his rounds among the people. Similar arguments to 
 these were advanced by Icilius ; the female attendants 
 moved them more by their silent weeping, than any 
 language could. In opposition to all which, Appius 
 ascended the tribunal with an unyielding resolution, so 
 great was the force of madness, more properly than of 
 love, which had distracted his reason : and, on the 
 claimant impudently urging a short complaint, that, 
 " justice had not been, the day before, pronounced in 
 his favour, from a desire to obtain popularity :" before 
 he could finish the statement of his claim, or an oppor- 
 tunity of reply be given to Virginius, Appius inter- 
 poses his decision. As to the speech, with which he 
 prefaced his decree, probably ancient writers might 
 have given some true report of it : but as I no where 
 find any, likely to have been used on the occasion of a 
 decree of such monstrous turpitude, it seems to me 
 better, that the naked fact, as it is universally admitted, 
 should be stated, which is, that he decreed possession 
 on the side of slavery. At first, amazement struck 
 them all motionless with astonishment, at such atro- 
 cious conduct : then silence for some time prevailed ; 
 afterwards, when M. Claudius, the matrons standing 
 jfound, was proceeding to seize the maiden, and a piti- 
 ful lamentation of the females greeted his approach, 
 Virginius, stretching forth his hand towards Appius, 
 says, " I have betrothed my daughter, Appius, to 
 Icilius, not to thee, and have educated her for marri- 
 age, not for concubinage. Do you intend that persons 
 should rush promiscuously into sexual intercourse, like 
 cattle and savage beasts ? Whether these present will 
 endure such things, I know not ; but I hope that those 
 will not endure them, who have arms in their hands." 
 When the demandant of the virgin was repulsed, by the 
 crowd of women and supporters who were standing 
 round her, silence was procured by the crier. 
 x 
 
230 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 CHAP. XLV1II. 
 
 THE decemvir, being distracted in mind for the gra- 
 tification of his lust, declares that it was not merely by 
 the abusive language of Icilius, and the violence of 
 Virginius, of which he had the entire Roman people as 
 witnesses, but by undoubted information also, that he 
 had ascertained, that cabals were held in the city 
 throughout the entire night, for the purpose of exciting 
 sedition. That accordingly, being not unapprised of 
 such a struggle, he had come down witli an armed 
 force ; not to molest any peaceable individual, but to 
 coerce, by virtue of the majesty of his authority, those 
 who were disturbing the tranquillity of the state. It 
 will therefore be their better way to have remained 
 quiet. " Go, lictor," says he, " and (disperse that crowd, 
 and make way for a master to possess himself of his 
 slave." When, fraught with rage, he had thundered 
 out these words, the multitude itself separated of its 
 own accord, and the maiden stood deserted, a prey to 
 injustice, Then Virginius, when he beheld no support 
 any where, says, " Appius, first, I beseech you, for- 
 give a father's grief, if I have inveighed in any respect 
 too intemperately against you ; and next, allow me 
 here, in the girl's presence, to ask her nurse, what can 
 be the nature of this business ? that, if I have been 
 falsely called her father, I may depart hence with the 
 more "resignation." Permission being granted, he takes 
 his daughter and the nurse aside, to the sheds near the 
 temple of Cloacina, which are now called the new sheds, 
 and having there snatched up a knife from a butcher, 
 " In this manner, my child," says he, " the only one 
 in my power, I assert your freedom." Thereupon, he 
 transfixes the maiden's bosom ; and looking back to- 
 wards the tribunal, exclaims, " With this blood, Ap- 
 pius, I devote thee and thy life to the infernal gods/' 
 Appius, being alarmed by the cry raised at such a hor- 
 rible act, orders Virginius to be seized. The latter 
 was clearing a passage with the knife, wherever he 
 went, until, the multitude of his followers also pro- 
 tecting him, he made his way to the gate. Icilius and 
 Sumitorius lift up the lifeless body, and exhibit it to 
 
JAP. 49. LIVY. 231 
 
 the people; they deplore the villany of Appius, the 
 fatal beauty of the young maiden, and the necessity 
 which actuated the father. The matrons who follow 
 cry aloud, " Is this the consequence of rearing 1 up chil- 
 dren ? are these the rewards of chastity ?" and other 
 exclamations, which, on such an occasion, female grief 
 suggests to those who are in sorrow, the more pitiful 
 in proportion, as that grief is more acutely felt in a 
 weak mind. The language of the men, and particu- 
 larly of Icilius, turned altogether on the privation of 
 the tribunic power, and the right of appeal to the peo- 
 ple, and on indignities of a public nature. 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. 
 
 THE multitude is excited partly by the atrocity of 
 the crime, partly by the hope of recovering their li- 
 berty, by this opportunity. Appius now orders Icilius 
 to be summoned ; now, on his refusing to appear, to be 
 arrested ; and finally, when a facility of approaching 
 his person was not given to the beadles, going himself 
 through the crowd, with a band of young patricians, he 
 commands him to be dragged into confinement. At 
 this time, there was collected round Icilius, not only 
 the multitude, but leaders also of the multitude, L. 
 Valerius, and M. Horatius ; who, having repulsed the 
 lictor, observed, " That, if he were proceeding by law, 
 they themselves became security for Icilius against his 
 claim, as a private man ; and if he should attempt to use 
 violence, that, in that point too, they would not be his 
 inferiors." From this, a furious scuffle arises. The 
 decemvir's lictor assails Valerius and Horatius : the 
 fasces were broken by the people. Appius goes up to 
 the assembly ; Valerius and Horatius follow him ; to 
 these, the assembly listens ; the decemvir's voice is 
 drowned in its murmurs. Valerius now, by virtue of 
 his own authority, commanded the lictors to depart 
 from one who was a private citizen ; whilst Appius, his 
 spirits being broken down, and in fear of his life, be- 
 takes himself, unknown to his adversaries, with his 
 head muffled up, into a house adjoining the Forum ; Sp. 
 Oppius, from the other side, rushes into the Forum, 
 to the support of his colleague ; he sees their authority 
 
232 LIVY. BOOK 111. 
 
 overpowered by force. Being then perplexed by the 
 variety of expedients that were suggested, and confused 
 by assenting to several advisers, on every side, he ulti- 
 mately ordered the senate to be convened. This pro- 
 ceeding, in as much as the acts of the decemvirs ap- 
 peared to displease a great portion of the patricians, 
 appeased the multitude, by the hope of putting an end 
 to that office, by means of the senate. The senate were 
 of opinion, that the commons should not be exaspe- 
 rated, and that still more precaution should be taken, 
 that the arrival of Virginius should not create any com- 
 motion in the army. t 
 
 CHAP. L. 
 
 THE younger patricians, being therefore sent to the 
 camp, which at that time was stationed on mount Ve- 
 cilius, convey instructions to the decemvirs, to restrain 
 the soldiers, with all their exertions, from meeting : in 
 which place, Virginius excites a greater commotion, 
 than he had left behind him in the city. For, besides 
 that, coming with a train of nearly four hundred men, 
 who, fired with indignation at his treatment, had pre- 
 sented themselves as his companions, from the city, he 
 was a conspicuous object ; the unsheathed weapon also, 
 and himself, being besmeared with blood, turn the at- 
 tention of the entire camp upon him ; and gowns being 
 seen in various parts, in the camp, had rendered the 
 appearance of the city multitude considerably more 
 numerous, than it really was. When people enquired 
 what was the matter, weeping, he did not utter a word, 
 for a long time ; at length, when now, after the hurry 
 of crowding together, the multitude became composed, 
 and silence took place, he stated all things in order as 
 they had taken place. Then, stretching forth his hands 
 supine, and calling upon his fellow-soldiers, he im- 
 plored them, " That they would not impute to him, 
 that which was the guilt of Ap. Claudius, nor hold him 
 in abhorrence, as the murderer of his child : that to him 
 his daughter's life had been dearer than his own, had 
 she been allowed to live free and chaste ; but when he 
 saw her forced away for violation, like a slave, judging 
 it better that his children should be lost by death than 
 
CHAP. 50. LIVY. 233 
 
 dishonour, he had fallen, through compassion, into what 
 wore the semblance of cruelty. Neither would he sur- 
 vive his daughter, had he not, in the support of his 
 fellow-soldiers, a hope of avenging her death. For 
 they too had daughters, sisters, and wives, nor was the 
 lust of Ap. Claudius extinguished with the life of his 
 own daughter, but would become the more uncon- 
 trolled, as it met with the more impunity. That warn- 
 ing was given them, by the calamity of another, to 
 guard against a like injury to themselves ; that, as far 
 as regarded himself, his wife had been torn away from 
 him by fate ; that his daughter, because she could no 
 longer live in chastity, had met a melancholy, but ho- 
 nourable death. That there was no longer room for 
 the gratification of Appius's death in his own family ; 
 and that, from any other act of violence of his, he 
 would defend his own person with the same spirit, with 
 which he had defended his daughter. Let others take 
 care of themselves, and their children." To Virginius, 
 uttering these words, in a loud voice, the multitude 
 acclaimed, that " they would neither be wanting to 
 vindicate his grief, nor their own liberty." The gowns- 
 men, also, intermixed with the crowd of soldiers, both 
 by complaining of the same conduct, and informing- 
 them how much more shocking they were capable of 
 appearing when seen, than when only heard, and also 
 by acquainting them that the destruction of the decem- 
 vir's power was already far advanced at Rome ; and 
 others following it up, reported that Appius, being 
 -nearly put to death, had gone into banishment: all 
 these so prevailed on them, that they cried out, " to 
 arms," plucked up their standards, and set out to Rome. 
 The decemvirs, alarmed, as well by these things which 
 they witnessed, as by those which they heard were 
 done at Rome, run about, each in a different direction, 
 to quell the commotion:, and while they acted with 
 mildness, no answer was given them, but if any would 
 enforce his authority, he is answered, that, "they 
 were men, and were armed." They proceed in one 
 body to the city, and take possession of the Aventine, 
 exhorting the commons, as each had met them, to re- 
 cover their liberty, and to create plebeian tribunes. 
 No other violent expression was heard. Sp. Oppius 
 x 3 
 
234 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 holds a meeting of the senate ; they resolve, that no 
 harsh measures should he adopted ; since the grounds 
 of sedition had been furnished hy themselves. Three 
 consular members, Sp. Tarpeius, C. Julius, P. Sulpi- 
 cius, are sent as deputies, to enquire in the name of 
 the senate, "by whose orders they had quitted the 
 camp ? or what was their object, in having occupied the 
 Aventine in arms ; and having turned the war from 
 the national enemy, in having seized upon their native 
 country?" They were not at a loss what reply to make, 
 they were at a loss for a person to make the reply ; 
 there being yet no ascertained leader, and no indivi- 
 duals heing sufficiently adventurous to expose them- 
 selves to the invidious responsibility. This only the 
 multitude with one voice exclaimed, " that they should 
 send L. Valerius and M. Horatius, to them ; for to 
 them they would give their answer." 
 
 CHAP. LI. 
 
 THE deputies heing dismissed, Virginius reminds the 
 soldiers, that "they w r ere embarrassed a little while 
 ago, in a matter not of the most important nature ; in 
 consequence of the multitude heing without a head ; 
 and that the answer given, though not without its ad- 
 vantage, was more the result of fortuitous concurrence, 
 than of general counsel. That it was his opinion, that 
 ten officers should he appointed, who should have the 
 chief direction of affairs, and he called tribunes of the 
 soldiers, of military dignity." When that honour was 
 being conferred on himself first, "Reserve," said he, 
 " these expressions of your opinion of me, for my bet- 
 ter circumstances, and your own. Neither does the 
 unavenged death of my daughter suffer any dignity to 
 be gratifying to me, nor, in an agitated state, is it ser- 
 viceable, that those should head you, who are them- 
 selves the most obnoxious to jealousy. If there be 
 any service in my power, it will be obtained from me, 
 no less in a private capacity." Thus they create tri- 
 bunes of the soldiers, ten in number. Neither did the 
 army remain quiet in the Sabine country ; there also, 
 by the advice of Icilius and Numitorius, a secession 
 from the decemvirs took place ; the recollection of Sic- 
 
 
CHAP. 52. LIVY. 235 
 
 cius' assassination being recalled to memory, with no 
 less agitation of feelings, than that which the late re- 
 port of the maiden's being assailed for the gratification 
 of lust had excited. Icilins, when he heard that tri- 
 bunes of the soldiers had been elected on the Aventine, 
 lest the elective assembly in the city should follow the 
 precedent of the military elections, by appointing the 
 same men tribunes of the commons, being expert in 
 popular intrigues, and looking forward to that office, 
 takes care himself also, that before they proceeded to 
 the city, an equal number should be created by his own 
 party, and of equal power. They entered the city by 
 the Colline gate, under their respective colours, and 
 proceed in a body through the middle of the city to the 
 Aventine ; there, being united with the other army, 
 they gave instructions to the twenty tribunes of the 
 soldiers, to elect two out of their number, who should 
 have the chief direction of affairs. They elect M. Op- 
 pius and Sex. Mamilius. The patricians, alarmed for 
 the general safety, though the senate sat every day, 
 spend the time more frequently in altercations, than in 
 deliberation. The murder of Siceius was charged upon 
 the decemvirs; also, the lust of Appius, and the dis- 
 graces incurred in war. They agree that Valerius and 
 Horatius should proceed to the Aventine. These re- 
 fused to go on any other terms, than the decemvirs 
 laying by the ensigns of that office, of which they were 
 divested the year before. The decemvirs, complaining 
 that they were sought to be reduced to the common 
 level, declared, they would not resign their authority 
 before the laws, for the purpose of which they had been 
 created, were first passed. 
 
 CHAP. LII. 
 
 THE commons being informed by M. Duilius, who 
 had been plebeian tribune, that no business was trans- 
 acted, in consequence of those continual disputes, pass 
 over from the Aventine to mount Sacer ; Duilius as- 
 suring them, that " solicitude would not sink deeply 
 into the minds of the patricians, until they should see 
 the city deserted: that mount Sacer would remind 
 them of the perseverance of the commons : that they 
 
036 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 would then know, that matters could not be restored 
 to harmony, without the re-establishment of the tribu- 
 nic power." Setting out by the Nomentan road, which 
 was then called the Ficulensian, they pitched their 
 camp on mount Sacer, imitating the forbearance of their 
 fathers, in committing no violence. The commons fol- 
 lowed the army, not one, who was able by age to go, 
 refusing to join them. Their wives and children ac- 
 company them, asking in pitiful accents, " To whom 
 were they leaving themselves in that city, in which 
 neither chastity nor liberty was inviolate." When the 
 unusual solitude had rendered all places at Rome deso- 
 late, and none was seen in the Forum except a few of 
 the elder people, on the patricians going at that special 
 time into the senate-house, the Forum appeared quite 
 deserted ; more persons now, than Horatius and Vale- 
 rius, cried out, " What do you wait for, conscript 
 fathers ? If the decemvirs do not put an end to their 
 obstinacy, do you mean to suffer every thing to sink 
 into ruin, and be consumed to ashes ? But, decemvirs, 
 what is this power, which you so tenaciously hold ? 
 Do you intend to administer laws to empty houses, and 
 bare walls ? Are you not ashamed that a greater nunv 
 ber of your lictors should be seen in the Forum, than 
 of gownsmen, and other citizens ? What do you pur- 
 pose doing, should the enemy come to the city? what, 
 if the commons should presently come in arms, when 
 we are not moved by their secession ? Do you wish 
 to terminate your power with the fall of the city? But 
 we must either not have the commons, or they have 
 plebeian tribunes : we will sooner be deprived of patri- 
 cian, than they of plebeian magistrates. That office, 
 when new and untried, they extorted from our fathers ; 
 and much less now, when once charmed with its sweets, 
 can they bear its loss, especially when we, in the ex- 
 ercise of power, do not behave with such moderation, 
 as that they may not stand in need of tribunic support." 
 When these arguments were advanced on every side, 
 the decemvirs, overpowered by the unanimous feeling, 
 declare that, since it so seemed fit, they would be sub- 
 ject to the orders of the senate. This only, they, at 
 the same time, beseech and warn, that protection should 
 be given themselves against animosity, and that they 
 
CHAP. 53. LIVY, 237 
 
 should not, by spilling their own blood, habituate the 
 commons to the punishment of the patricians. 
 
 CHAP. LIU. 
 
 THEN Valerius and Horatius, being sent to recall the 
 commons, and adjust matters, on such terms as should 
 seem proper, are ordered also to take measures for the 
 security of the decemvirs from the resentment and vio- 
 lence of the commons. Having set out, they are re- 
 ceived into the camp, to the great joy of the commons ; 
 as being unquestionably liberators, both at the com- 
 mencement of the disturbance, and the conclusion of 
 the business. For these reasons, thanks were given 
 them on their arrival ; Icilius speaks for the multitude. 
 The same man, when the subject of conditions was un- 
 der discussion, on the deputies enquiring what were 
 the demands of the commons, made, according to a 
 plan already arranged before the arrival of the deputa- 
 tion, such demands, as made it appear, that more con- 
 fidence was reposed in the equity of their cause, than 
 in arms. For they only demanded a restoration of the 
 tribunic power, and the privilege of appeal, which had 
 been the supports of the commons before decemvirs had 
 been created ; and that, it should not be detrimental to 
 any one, to have instigated the soldiers, or the ple- 
 beians, to recover their liberty by a secession. Only, in 
 reference to the punishment of the decemvirs, their 
 demand was sanguinary. For they deemed it but right, 
 that those persons should be given up to them, and 
 they were threatening to burn them alive with fire. 
 To this the deputies reply, " Those demands, which 
 were the result of cool deliberation, you have made so 
 equitable, that they should have been granted to you 
 without asking ; for in these you seek securities for 
 your own liberty, not for a licence to assail others. 
 Your resentment must be rather pardoned, than grati- 
 fied, as you are persons who, through detestation of 
 cruelty, are rushing headlong into cruelty, and already 
 wish to act the tyrant over your adversaries, almost 
 before you are yourselves free. Shall then our state 
 never repose from punishments, inflicted either by the 
 patricians on the commons of Rome, or by the com- 
 
238 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 mons on the patricians ? You have more need of the 
 shield, than of the sword. That man is sufficiently 
 quiet, sufficiently humbled, who lives on an equality of 
 right in the community, without either offering injury, 
 or suffering it. Besides, if you are disposed, at any 
 future time, to render yourselves objects of terror, 
 when, after having recovered your magistrates, and 
 your laws, the judicial power over our lives and for- 
 tunes shall be in your hands, then you will determine, 
 as each case shall require ; at present it is enough that 
 your liberty is restored." 
 
 CHAP. LIV. 
 
 ALL giving them permission to act as they wished, 
 the deputies assure them that they would return after 
 transacting their business. When, having set out, they 
 had reported to the patricians the commands of the 
 commons ; the other decemvirs, in as much as, contrary 
 to their expectation, there was no mention made of 
 their own punishment, made 110 objection. Appius, 
 being a man of stern nature, and a principal object of 
 detestation, measuring the hatred of others towards 
 himself, by his own hatred towards them, says, " My 
 doom awaits me, not unapprised of it. I see that the 
 contest against us, is only deferred until our arms are 
 surrendered to our adversaries ; our blood must be 
 given up as an offering to resentment. I indeed make 
 no difficulty in resigning the decemvirate." A decree 
 of the senate was passed, " That the decemvirs should, 
 on the very earliest occasion, resign the magistracy : 
 that Q. Furitis, chief pontiff, should hold an election 
 for creating tribunes of the commons, and that the se- 
 cession of the soldiers and plebeians should not be de- 
 trimental to any one." These decrees having been car- 
 ried, and the senate dismissed, the decemvirs come 
 forth to a public assembly, and resign office, to the vast 
 delight of the people. These proceedings are reported 
 to the commons ; whatever people there were remaining 
 in the city, accompany the deputies. Another joyful 
 multitude from the camp meets this ; and they congra- 
 tulate each other on the restoration of freedom and 
 harmony to the state. The deputies, in presence of the 
 
p. 55. LIVY. 239 
 
 assembly, thus spoke, "May it be salutary, prospe- 
 rous, and liappy, to yourselves, and to the common- 
 wealth, return to your native home, to your tutelary 
 gods, to your wives, and to your children ; but carry 
 with you into the city, that moderation which you have 
 observed here, when no person's land, during the ne- 
 cessary consumption of so many things, has been in- 
 jured by so great a multitude : proceed to the Aven- 
 tine, from which you set out. There, in that auspici- 
 ous spot, where you commenced the first rudiments of 
 your liberty, you shall elect tribunes of the commons: 
 the chief pontiff will be in attendance, to preside at the 
 election." Great was the concurrence, and the cheer- 
 ful approbation of the meeting, approving of every 
 thing. They then pluck up the standards, and setting 
 out for Rome, they vie with those whom they met, in 
 feelings of joy: proceeding under arms, in silence, 
 through the city, they arrive at mount Aventine. 
 There the chief pontiff, presiding at the election, they 
 immediately created tribunes of the commons, first of 
 all, A. Yirginius, then L. Icilius, and P. Numitorius, 
 Virginia's uncle, the advisers of the secession ; then C. 
 Sicinius, the descendant of him, who, it is recorded, 
 had been created first tribune of the commons on mount 
 Sacer ; and M. Duilius, who had conducted a remarka- 
 ble tribuneship before the creation of decemvirs, and 
 had not deserted the commons, in the decemviral con- 
 tests. M. Titinius, M. Pomponius, C. Apronius, P. 
 Villius, and C. Oppius, were then elected, more on the 
 ground of hope, than actual services. L. Icilius, im- 
 mediately, on entering on the tribuneship, proposed to 
 the commons, and the commons ordained, that the se- 
 cession from the decemvirs should not be detrimental 
 to any one. Presently after, M. Duilius carried a pro- 
 position for electing consuls subject to appeal. All 
 these things were transacted in an assembly of the com- 
 mons, in the Flaminian meadows, which they now call 
 the Flaminian circus. 
 
 CHAP. LV. 
 
 CONSULS were then created by the interrex L. Va- 
 lerius and M. Horatius, who entered on their office 
 
240 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 forthwith, and whose consulship being popular, without 
 doing any injury to the patricians, was not without 
 giving them offence, for whatever provision was made 
 for the liberty of the commons, this they looked upon 
 to be a diminution of their own power. First of all, 
 as it was a matter, as it were, of disputed right, whe- 
 ther the patricians were bound by plebeian ordinances, 
 they passed a law in the assembly by centuries, " that 
 whatever the commons had ordained by their tribes, 
 should be obligatory on the whole people ;" by which 
 enactment, the keenest weapon was supplied to tribu- 
 nic propositions. Another law afterwards, introduced 
 by a consul, on the privilege of appeal (a special secu- 
 rity of liberty,) which had been subverted by the de- 
 cemviral power, they not only revive, but guard even 
 for the time to come, by enacting a new law, " that no 
 person should create any magistrate without being sub- 
 ject to appeal, and that him who should have created 
 any such, it should be lawful and right to have put to 
 death and that the killing of such a person, should 
 not be deemed an act of capital criminality." And, 
 when they had sufficiently secured the commons, on 
 one side by the right of appeal, on the other, by the 
 tribunic aid, they revived for the tribunes themselves 
 the reputation of being considered sacro-sanct (the re- 
 collection of which character had been now almost for- 
 gotten), by renewing certain ceremonies, after a long 
 interval of disuse ; and as they were inviolate by reli- 
 gion, they also made them so then by law, by enacting, 
 " that whosoever should have injured the tribunes of 
 the commons, sediles, judges, or decemvirs, his head 
 should be devoted to Jupiter, and his chatties publicly 
 sold at the temple of Ceres, Liber, and Libera." The 
 expounders of law deny, that any person is rendered 
 sacro-sanct by that enactment ; but, that he who should 
 injure any one of those persons (the tribunes), is 
 deemed by law accurst. That accordingly, an eedile is 
 arrested and carried off by the superior magistrates, 
 which, though it be not done with strict legality (for a 
 person is thereby injured, who could not be so by the 
 provisions of this law), is yet a proof, that an sedile is 
 not accounted as sacro-sanct ; but that tribunes were 
 sacro-sanct, by an ancient oath taken by the commons, 
 
-HAP. 56. LIVY. 241 
 
 when first they created that office. There were some, 
 who understood it, that by this same law of Horatius, 
 the same provision had been made in favour of consuls 
 also, and praetors, because the latter were created un- 
 der the same auspices as the consuls ; for that a consul 
 is called a judge. Which exposition is refuted by the 
 fact, that in those times it was not yet the custom, that 
 a consul should be denominated judge, but praetor. 
 These were the laws passed by the consuls. It was 
 also established by the same consuls, that the decrees 
 of the senate should be deposited in the temple of 
 Ceres, with the eediles of the commons, which (decrees) 
 were before this time habitually suppressed and cor- 
 rupted, at the pleasure of the consul. After that, M. 
 Duilius, a plebeian tribune, proposed to the commons, 
 and the commons ordained, that, " Whosoever should 
 leave the commons without tribunes, or create any new 
 magistrate, without the benefit of appeal, should be 
 punished with flogging and death." All these things 
 were transacted, as much without the opposition, as 
 against the approbation of the patricians, because no 
 harsh measures had yet been taken against any particu- 
 lar individual. 
 
 CHAP. LVI. 
 
 THE tribunic power and the liberty of the commons, 
 being then established, the tribunes, now judging it 
 both safe and seasonable to assail individuals, single 
 out Virginius as the first prosecutor, and Appius first 
 defendant. When Virginius had named a day against 
 Appius, and Appius, escorted by the patrician young- 
 men, had come down into the Forum, there was im- 
 mediately revived in all, the recollection of his most 
 shocking abuse of power, as soon as they beheld him- 
 self and his satellites. Then Virginius said, " speech- 
 making has been only invented for difficult cases. 
 Wherefore, I will neither waste time in accusing before 
 you this man, from whose oppression you have rescued 
 yourselves by arms ; nor allow him to add to his other 
 crimes, that of impudence, in defending himself. For 
 all the offences therefore, Ap. Claudius, which for the 
 space of two years you have impiously and nefariously 
 
242 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 dared to commit, one after the other, I grant you par- 
 don ; only with respect to one charge, unless you will 
 name a judge, for the purpose of proving, that you 
 have not adjudged possession against freedom, and in 
 favour of slavery, contrary to the laws, I hereby order 
 you to be led to prison." Appius had no hope either 
 in the tribunic aid, or in the sentence of the people ; 
 still, however, he appealed to the tribunes ; and w r hen ? 
 no one regarding his words, he was seized by the bea- 
 dle, he cries out, " I appeal." That single word, the 
 safe-guard of liberty, being heard, and uttered too, out 
 of that mouth by which judgment had so lately been 
 pronounced against freedom, caused silence. And 
 whilst they exclaim, each for himself, that gods at 
 length existed, and did not disregard human actions, 
 and that punishments, though tardy, yet not light, 
 awaited arrogance and cruelty ; that he now appealed, 
 who had abolished the privilege of appeal ; and im- 
 plored the support of the people, who trampled under 
 foot all the rights of that people; and that he was 
 dragged to prison, in need of the privilege of freedom, 
 who had doomed a free person to slavery. The voice 
 of Appius himself was heard, amidst the murmur of 
 the assembly, supplicating the protection of the Roman 
 people. He recited the services of his ancestors to the 
 commonwealth, at home and in war ; his own unfortu- 
 nate zeal towards the Roman commons, alleging, " That 
 for the sake of equalizing the laws, he had himself re- 
 signed the consulship, to the highest displeasure of the 
 patricians ; also his own laws, which remaining still in 
 force, he, their framer, was dragged to prison. But 
 that he would then try the peculiar merits and demerits 
 of his own case, when the opportunity of making his 
 defence should be allowed him. For the present, that 
 as a Roman citizen, he demanded by the common right 
 of the constitution, that, being accused, he would be 
 allowed to speak, and avail himself of the judicial sen- 
 tence of the Roman people ; that he did not dread their 
 displeasure so much as to have no hope in the justice 
 and mercy of his fellow-citizens. But if he should be 
 led to prison, without the liberty of being heard, that 
 he again appealed to the tribunes of the commons, and 
 warned them not to imitate those whom they detested. 
 
CHAP. 57. LIVY. 243 
 
 But if the tribunes should confess that they were bound 
 down by the same confederacy, with reference to the 
 right of appeal, against which they charged the decem- 
 virs with having conspired," he says, " that then he 
 appealed to the people at large, and implored the bene- 
 fit of the consular and tribunic laws, on the subject of 
 appeal, which were passed in that very year. For who 
 is it that would appeal, if this were not allowed to a 
 person not yet condemned, and who had not been 
 heard in his defence ? What plebeian and humble man 
 could find a security in the laws, if Appius Claudius 
 found none ? That he would himself be a proof, whe- 
 ther tyranny or liberty was established by the late en- 
 actments ; or whether the application to co-ordinate 
 tribunes, or the appeal to the people at large, was 
 merely displayed in empty words, or effectually given." 
 
 CHAP. LVIL 
 
 IN answer to this, Virginius observed, "that Ap. 
 Claudius alone was out of the pale of the laws ; and of 
 the civil and social compact. Let men but look to the 
 tribunal, the fortress of all his abominations, where 
 that perpetual decemvir, the furious enemy of the pro* 
 perties, persons, and lives of his fellow-citizens, menac- 
 ing every one with rods and axes, the contemner of 
 gods and men, attended by executioners, not lictors 
 his passions now changed from rapine and murders, to 
 the gratification of lust, gave up as a present to his 
 client, the minister of his criminal pleasures, a free- 
 born young maiden, torn from the embrace of her fa- 
 ther, like a captive in war, before the eyes of the Ro- 
 man people. Where, by his inhuman decree, and 
 scandalous decision, he armed the right-hand of a fa- 
 ther against his daughter ; where he ordered her be- 
 trothed husband and uncle to be dragged to prison, as 
 they were carrying off the lifeless body of the maid ; 
 being more strongly affected by the interruption of his 
 guilty passion, than by her violent death. That that 
 prison was built for him also, which he was in the 
 habit of calling the abode of the commons of Rome. 
 Wherefore, though he should again, and repeatedly ap- 
 peal, that he himself, in like manner again and repeat- 
 
244 L1VY. BOOK III. 
 
 edly engaged to establish against him (offered him a 
 judge if it were not so), that he gave sentence of pos- 
 session against liberty, and in favour of slavery ; if he 
 did not appear before a judge, that he now ordered 
 him, as convicted, to be carried into confinement." He 
 is thrown into prison, though without the disapproba- 
 tion of any, yet with much agitation of feelings, as by 
 the punishment of so great a man, their liberty now 
 appeared to the commons themselves to be excevssive : 
 the tribune prolonged the day of his trial. During 
 these proceedings, ambassadors arrived at Rome from 
 the Latins and Hernici, to congratulate them on the 
 reconciliation of the patricians and commons, and 
 brought into the Capitol, as an offering to the supremely 
 good and great Jupiter, on that event, a golden crown, 
 of small weight, in as much as their circumstances were 
 not opulent, and religious worship was then performed 
 with more of devotion than magnificence. It was as- 
 certained on the same authority, that the JEqui and 
 Volsci were preparing for war with the utmost exer- 
 tions. Accordingly, the consuls were ordered to di- 
 vide the provinces between them. The Sabines fell to 
 the lot of Horatius, the ^Bqui and Volsci, to that of 
 Valerius. When they had issued a proclamation for a 
 levy for these wars, in consequence of their popularity 
 with the commons, not only all the younger men, but 
 those who had served the legal time, a great part, as 
 volunteers, came forward to give in their names ; and 
 by this means, the army became, by the intermixture 
 of the veterans, more powerful, not only in the number, 
 but also the character of the soldiers. Before they 
 took their departure from the city, they set up in pub- 
 lic view the decemviral laws, which are called the 
 " twelve tables," engraven on brass. There are some 
 who write that the sediles discharged that duty, by 
 order of the tribunes. 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. 
 
 C. CLAUDIUS (who, detesting the crimes of the de- 
 cemvirs, and above all, incensed at the arrogance of his 
 own brother, had retired to Regillum, into his native 
 country), being now of advanced age, when he had re- 
 
CHAP. 58. LIVY. 245 
 
 turned to avert, by his entreaties, the perils of that man, 
 whose vices he had fled from, attired in mourning-, 
 with his clansmen and dependents, was courting the 
 support of every individual in the Forum, and implor- 
 ing them, " Not to allow such a stain to be branded 
 upon the Claudian family, as that they should appear 
 deserving of a prison and chains: and a man who was 
 likely to be of the most honoured character with pos- 
 terity, the framer of laws, and the founder of Roman 
 jurisprudence, to lie in chains among nocturnal thieves, 
 and highway-robbers. Let them turn their thoughts 
 for a short time, from resentment, to cool examination 
 and reflection, and rather pardon one man at the inter- 
 cession of so many of the Claudii, than reject the pray- 
 ers of many, through their hatred of one. That him- 
 self too made that concession to the family and name, 
 and had not returned to friendship with him whose 
 distressed fortune he was disposed to succour. That 
 liberty had been already recovered by fortitude, and 
 that concord amongst all orders could be now estab- 
 lished by clemency." There were some whom he 
 moved, more, however, by his own dutiful affection, 
 than the merit of his cause, for whom he pleaded. But 
 Virginius entreated them, " to have compassion rather 
 on himself, and on his daughter, and to listen to the 
 prayers, not of the Claudian family, who had obtained 
 sovereign dominion over the commons, but of those 
 who were at once the near friends of Virginia, and 
 the three tribunes ; who, being created for the support 
 of the commons, were now themselves imploring the 
 protection and support of those same commons*" 
 These tears were considered more entitled to respect : 
 accordingly Appius, all hope being cut off, put himself 
 to death, before the adjourned day of trial arrived. 
 Immediately after, Sp. Oppius is fastened upon by P. 
 Numitorious, being the next object of hatred, as he 
 had been in the city when the unjust sentence was pro- 
 nounced by his colleague. However, a positive injury, 
 committed by Oppius, created more odium against him 
 than the non-prevention of one. A witness was pro- 
 duced, who, having counted up seven-and-twenty cam- 
 paigns, being eight times specially rewarded, arid wear- 
 ing those rewards in the presence of the Roman people, 
 Y 3 
 
246 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 and having torn open his garment, shewed his back 
 mangled with rods, not requesting the least exemption 
 from the defendant's again, though in a private station, 
 venting his fury upon him, if he could name a single 
 offence of his. Oppius also is led to confinement, and 
 there, before the day of trial, he put an end to his own 
 life. The tribunes confiscated the goods of Claudius 
 and Oppius. Their colleagues quitted the country for 
 banishment; their goods were confiscated. M. Clau- 
 dius also, the claimant of Virginia, being brought to 
 trial, and condemned, was let off, and went into ban- 
 ishment to Tibur, Virginius himself remitting the capi- 
 tal punishment: and the shade of Virginia, who was 
 more fortunate dead than living, having roamed through 
 so many families to seek for vengeance, reposed at 
 length, no guilty person being left unpunished. 
 
 CHAP. LIX. 
 
 GREAT terror had seized the patricians, and the as- 
 pects of the tribunes was the same now, as those of the 
 decemvirs had been, when M. Duilius, a tribune of the 
 commons, having applied a salutary limit to their ex- 
 cessive power, says, " There has been enough of our 
 own liberty, and of vengeance on our enemies : where- 
 fore, I intend to allow, that neither a day of trial shall 
 be named for any one, nor any person put into confine- 
 ment, during the present year. For neither is it my 
 wish that old offences, already erased from our memory, 
 should be revived, when the recent ones have been ex- 
 piated by the punishment of the decemvirs ; and the 
 unremitting attention of both the consuls in defending 
 your liberty, is a guarantee that nothing shall be com- 
 mitted, that will require the interposition of the tribu- 
 nic power." That moderation of the tribune first re- 
 moved fear from the patricians, and the same encreased 
 their animosity against the consuls ; because they had 
 been so much altogether devoted to the commons, that 
 more prompt attention to the safety and liberty of the 
 patricians was evinced by a plebeian than a patrician 
 magistrate : and a satiety of their own (the patricians) 
 punishment had seized their enemies, before there was 
 any appearance of the consul's disposition to oppose 
 
IAP. 60. LIVY. 247 
 
 their licentiousness. And there were many who as- 
 serted, that the patricians acted with too much weak- 
 ness, in having sanctioned the laws introduced by them : 
 nor was there a doubt, that, in the disturbed state of 
 the commonwealth, they had yielded to the times. 
 
 CHAP. LX. 
 
 THE city affairs having been regulated, and the con- 
 dition of the commons fundamentally ascertained, the 
 consuls departed respectively to their provinces. Va- 
 lerius opposed to the armies of the ^Bqui and Volsci, 
 now combined in Algidum, suspended the war by pru- 
 dence. But if he had committed the business to the 
 chance of a battle, I am not certain, but (such was then, 
 the feelings with the Romans and the enemy on ac- 
 count of the unfortunate command of the decemvirs,) a 
 contest would cost him a heavy loss. Having encamped 
 a thousand paces from the enemy, he kept in his troops ; 
 the enemy filled up the intermediate space between the 
 two camps, with their lines in order of hattle ; and to 
 them, challenging to the fight, no Roman returned an 
 answer. The ^Equi and Volsci being at length fatigued 
 from standing, and waiting in vain for an engagement, 
 after they believed that victory was almost conceded to 
 them, depart, some amongst the Hernici, others amongst 
 the Latins, to commit depredations. There is left be- 
 hind, what was rather a protection for the camp, than 
 a sufficient force for an engagement ; which when the 
 consul perceived, he repaid the terror which they be- 
 fore inspired, and having drawn out his troops in order 
 of battle, he provoked the enemy in turn. When the 
 latter, from a consciousness of the deficiency of their 
 forces, declined the battle, the courage of the Romans 
 immediately encreased, and they looked upon them, 
 intimidated within their camp, as conquered. After 
 they had been standing the entire day, prepared for the 
 fight, they retired at the approach of night : and in- 
 deed the Romans, full of confidence, refreshed their 
 bodies. The enemy, with by no means the same sen- 
 sations, send messengers in a hurry in all directions, to 
 recall the depredators ; they run back from the nearest 
 places, those more remote were not found. When day 
 
248 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 dawned, the Roman marches out of his camp, resolved 
 -to assault the rampart, if an opportunity for battle 
 should not be given ; and when now a great portion of 
 the day was passed, and -no movement made by the 
 enemy, the consul orders the standards to be borne 
 forward (i. e. the troops to advance), and his whole 
 line being put into motion, indignation seized the ^Equi 
 and Volsci, if a rampart, rather than courage and arms 
 should defend victorious armies; wherefore, they them- 
 selves also received the signal for battle, which they 
 had so earnestly solicited from their leaders. And 
 now some had gone out of the gates, and others fol- 
 lowing after, were maintaining regularity, falling in, 
 each to his respective place, when the Roman consul, 
 before the enemy's army should be drawn up, supported 
 by their entire force, advanced to the charge, and hav- 
 ing fallen upon them, whilst they were not, as yet, all 
 led forth, and such as were, not having their lines suffi- 
 ciently formed, he attacked them almost a fluctuating 
 multitude of persons, hurrying hither and thither, and 
 throwing their eyes round upon themselves and their 
 friends, a shout, and impetuous onset, conveying addi- 
 tional terror to their affrighted minds. The enemy at 
 first gave ground ; afterwards, when they had collected 
 their spirits, and the generals were on all sides crying 
 out, " Were they going to yield to a vanquished ene- 
 my," the battle is restored, 
 
 CHAP. LXI. 
 
 THE consul, on the other side, bade the Romans re- 
 member, that " On that day they fought for the first 
 time as free men, and in defence of Rome, as a free 
 city. That they were to conquer for themselves, and 
 not that they might be, when victorious, a prize to the 
 decemvirs ; that the business was not now conducted 
 under the direction of Appius, but of the consul, Vale- 
 rius, descended from the liberators of the Roman peo- 
 ple, and himself a liberator. Let them prove that, in 
 the former wars, it had been the fault of the comman- 
 ders, not of the soldiers, that they did not conquer ; 
 that it was disgraceful to have evinced more spirit 
 against their countrymen, than against their enemies, 
 
CHAP. 
 
 AP. 61. LIVY. 249 
 
 and to have dreaded slavery more at home, than 
 abroad. That Virginia was the only female, whose 
 chastity was in danger in time of peace ; Appius, the 
 only citizen of formidable lust : but, if the fortune of 
 war should turn against them, that the children of all 
 of them would be in danger from so many thousands of 
 the enemy. That he was unwilling to forebode what 
 neither Jupiter nor father Mars would permit to befall 
 a city, founded under such fortunate auspices." He 
 put them in mind of mounts Averitine and Sacer, 
 " that they should bring back dominion unsullied, to 
 that spot ; where liberty had been only a few months 
 before acquired ; and shew that Roman soldiers pos- 
 sessed the same abilities after the expulsion of the de- 
 cemvirs, which they had before their creation ; and 
 that the valour of the Roman people was not dimin- 
 ished, after the equalization of the laws." When he 
 spoke these words, amidst the standards of the infan- 
 try ; he then flies off; to the cavalry, he says, " Come 
 on, young men, excel the infantry in courage, as you 
 excel them in dignity and rank. The infantry, at the 
 first shock, has made an impression on the enemy, do 
 you, giving the reins to your horses, drive them out of 
 the field, being already in confusion. They will not 
 sustain the charge, and even now they rather hesitate 
 than resist." They spur on their horses, and give them 
 loose rein against the enemy, already disordered by the 
 attack of the infantry, and, having broken through their 
 ranks, charging forward to the rere, some of them 
 wheeling round in the open space, cut off several of the 
 enemy from the camp, who were now betaking them- 
 selves to flight in all quarters ; and by riding on before 
 them, frighten them away from it. The line of infan- 
 try, and the consul himself, and the whole fury of the 
 war, are directed against the camp, and having taken 
 it with great slaughter, they make themselves masters 
 of still greater booty. The news of this battle was not 
 only conveyed to the city, but even as far as the Sa- 
 bine country, to the other army. In the city it was 
 only celebrated with joy, but in the camp, it fired the 
 minds of the soldiers to an emulation of glory. Hora- 
 tius had now, by seasoning them with excursions, and 
 making trial of them in light skirmishes, habituated 
 
250 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 them rather to place confidence in themselves, than to 
 remember the disgrace sustained under the command of 
 the decemvirs ; and those slight encounters had contri- 
 buted beneficially to the sum of their ultimate expecta- 
 tion. Neither did the Sabines, who were elated with 
 their success in the preceding year, cease to provoke 
 and urge them ; asking, " Why they consumed the 
 time invading and retreating in small numbers, in the 
 manner of predatory warfare ; and were frittering away, 
 in many and insignificant encounters, the final decision 
 of a single war ? Why not rather come to a general 
 engagement in the field, and allow the thing, once for 
 all, to be decided by fortune?" 
 
 CHAP. LXII. 
 
 IN addition to that ardour which had been acquired 
 in a sufficient degree of itself, the Romans were also 
 fired with indignation, " That now the other army 
 would return to the city victorious, whilst the enemy 
 were wantonly insulting themselves by their insolence : 
 but when should they be a match for the enemy, if they 
 were not so then ?" When the consul perceived that 
 the soldiers were generally uttering this language in 
 the camp, having called an assembly, he says, " Sol- 
 diers, I imagine you have heard in what way business 
 has been conducted in Algidum : such as the army of a 
 free nation ought to be, such it has been : by the pru- 
 dence of my colleague, and the valour of his soldiers, 
 victory has been won. As to what appertains to 
 myself, as much of wisdom and spirit as you will 
 enable me to exert, so much I am resolved to exert: 
 the war can be prolonged with advantage, or speedily 
 terminated. If it is to be protracted, I will take care, 
 by the same discipline with which I have set out, that 
 your hopes and courage must every day increase. If 
 already you possess spirit enough, and wish the matter 
 to be brought to an issue, come, raise here a shout such 
 as you are prepared to raise in the field of battle, as an 
 indication of your will and courage." When the shout 
 was raised with vast alacrity, he assures them, that 
 " In the name of good fortune, he would comply wit' 
 their wishes, and on the following day lead them out f 
 
CHAP. 63, LIVY. 251 
 
 the field." The remainder of the day is spent in pre- 
 paring their arms. On the next day, as soon as the 
 Sabines behold the Roman line of battle in the act of 
 being formed, they themselves too, being a long time 
 eager for the fight, march forward. The battle was 
 such as might be expected between armies both confi- 
 dent in themselves, the one elated on account of its 
 ancient and uninterrupted career of glory? the other 
 lately elated by its new victory. The Sabines also 
 aided their strength by stratagem ; for, after they had 
 drawn up their army equal to that of the enemy, they 
 reserved two thousand extra-troops, who were to make 
 an impression on the left wing of the Romans, in the 
 very heat of the action : when these, by charging one 
 flank, were overpowering the almost surrounded wing, 
 the cavalry of two legions, about six hundred in num- 
 ber, spring down from their horses, and fly forward 
 to the front of their friends, who were now giving way ; 
 and at the same time they oppose themselves to the 
 enemy, and stimulate the minds of the infantry, first 
 by making the danger equal, and then by a feeling of 
 shame. It was a matter of shame, that the cavalry 
 should fight their own battle and that of others, and 
 that the infantry should not be equal to the cavalry, 
 even when dismounted. 
 
 CHAP. LXIII. 
 
 THEY press forward, therefore, to the fight, which 
 was on their own part suspended, and seek to recover 
 the ground from which they had retired ; and in an 
 instant, not only was the battle restored, but the Sabine 
 wing even gives way. The cavalry, sheltered between 
 the ranks of the foot, return to their horses ; then fly 
 across to the other side, the messengers of victory to 
 their friends, and at the same time make a charge on 
 the enemy, now dispirited, as the stronger wing of their 
 army was routed : in that engagement, the valour of 
 none others was more conspicuous. The consul pro- 
 vided for every exigency he praised, and rebuked 
 wherever the battle was more remiss. Those repri- 
 manded instantly exhibited the efforts of men of spirit ; 
 and shame excited these, as much as praises did the 
 
252 LIVY. BOOK III- 
 
 others. The war-shout being renewed, they all, exert- 
 ing themselves on every side, force the enemy from 
 their ground, nor could the Roman impetuosity be any 
 longer sustained. The Sabines, being routed in all 
 directions over the country, leave their camp a prey to 
 the enemy. There the Romans recover, not the pro- 
 perty of their allies, as in Algidum, but their own 
 effects, which were lost by the depredations of the 
 lands. A double victory being thus gained, in two 
 battles, fought in two different places, the senate illi- 
 berally decreed thanksgiving in the name of the consuls, 
 for one day. The people, unordered, went on the se- 
 cond day also to offer their supplications ; and this irre- 
 gular and popular thanksgiving was, from their zeal, 
 almost more numerously attended. The consuls, ac- 
 cording to concert, reached the city within the same 
 two days (i. e. within a day of each other), and called 
 out the senate to the Campus Martius ; where, when 
 they were debating on the services which they per- 
 formed, the principal men of the patricians complained, 
 that the senate was purposely assembled in the midst of 
 armed soldiers, for the sake of inspiring terror. Ac- 
 cordingly, the consuls, that there might be no ground 
 for inculpation, called away the senate into the Flami- 
 nian meadows, where now stands the temple of Apollo ; 
 even at that time, they called the place Apollinaris. 
 Where, when a triumph was refused with the vast con- 
 currence of the patricians, L. Icilius, tribune of the 
 commons, introduced a motion to the people, on the 
 subject of a triumph to the consuls : many persons 
 coming forward to the assembly to vote against it, and 
 (J. Claudius, in particular, exclaiming, that " the con- 
 suls wished to triumph over the patricians, not over the 
 enemy ; that a requital for a private service to a tribune 
 was sought, not an honour due to valour; that the 
 question of a triumph was never before entertained by 
 the people ; that the consideration and decision of that 
 honour were in the hands of the senate ; that even 
 kings had not curtailed the dignity of that exalted 
 order. Let not the tribunes so fill up every department 
 with their own power, as not to allow any national 
 council to exist : that by these means alone the state 
 would be free, by these means the laws equalized, if 
 
CHAP. 64. LIVY. 253 
 
 every order maintained its own rights, and its own 
 dignity." Though much was said by the other elder 
 patricians also, to the same purport, all the tribes 
 adopted that proposition. Then, for the first time, a 
 triumph was celebrated by the mere order of the peo- 
 ple, without the authority of the senate. 
 
 CHAP. LXIV. 
 
 THIS victory of the tribunes and commons almost 
 ended in pernicious licentiousness ; a conspiracy being 
 formed amongst the tribunes, that the same tribunes 
 should be re-elected, and also to continue the magi- 
 stracy to the same consuls, that their own ambition 
 might appear the less conspicuous. They alleged as a 
 cause the combination of the patricians, by which, 
 through the insult offered to the consuls, the rights of 
 the commons were undermined. " What would be the 
 consequence, if, before the laws were yet established, 
 the consuls should have attacked the new tribunes, by 
 means of their factious confederacies ? for such men as 
 Valerius and Horatius would not be consuls always, 
 men who would postpone their own interests to the 
 liberty of the commons." By some fortunate circum- 
 stance, serviceable at that juncture, it fell to the lot of 
 M. Duilius, above all others, to preside at the elective 
 assembly ; a prudent man, and seeing clearly the envy 
 which would impend from the continuation of office. 
 When this man declared that he would pay no regard 
 to any of the former tribunes, and his colleagues con- 
 tended that he should either send the tribes uncon- 
 trouled to the vote, or give up his turn of presiding at 
 the election to his colleagues, who would hold the assem- 
 bly according to law, rather than according to the plea- 
 sure of the patricians. A contest being thus excited, 
 Duilius, when he had asked the consuls, who were 
 summoned to the bench, what was their intention with 
 respect to the consular election, and when they had 
 replied that they would appoint new consuls ; having 
 thus found popular supporters of his unpopular mea- 
 sures, went forth with them into the assembly. Where, 
 when the consuls, being brought forward to the people, 
 and asked how they would act, should the Roman peo- 
 
254 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 pie, mindful of the liberty recovered at home by their 
 means, and mindful of the services achieved in Avar, 
 elect them consuls a second time, had altered nought 
 of their original resolution ; having applauded the con- 
 suls, for having persevered to the last in being unlike 
 the decemvirs, he held the election : and five tribunes 
 of the commons being created, whilst the other candi- 
 dates did not complete the requisite number of tribes, 
 on account of the zeal of the nine other tribunes, who 
 were openly canvassing, he dismissed the assembly, nor 
 did he hold one afterwards for the purpose of the elec- 
 tion. He declared that the law was fulfilled, which, 
 without having any where prescribed a definite number 
 to the tribunes, merely enacted that they (the tribunes) 
 should be left in existence ; and directed colleagues to 
 be chosen by those who had been duly elected. And 
 he recited the stated words of the law, in which it is 
 said, " If I shall propose ten tribunes of the commons, 
 and if you from any cause shall this day elect less than 
 ten tribunes of the commons, then that those whom 
 they shall have chosen as colleagues to themselves, the 
 same be legal tribunes of the commons, on the same 
 terms as those whom you shall on this day have elected 
 plebeian tribunes." Duilius, when he had persevered 
 to the last in denying that the commonwealth could 
 have fifteen tribunes of the commons, having defeated 
 the ambition of his colleagues, resigned his office, being 
 equally beloved by the patricians and plebeians. 
 
 CHAP. LXV. 
 
 THE new tribunes of the commons, in choosing col- 
 leagues, gratified the will of the patricians ; they even 
 made choice of two who were of patrician and consular 
 dignity, Sp. Tarpeius and A. Aterius. Lar. Hermi- 
 nius and T. Virginius Ccelimontanus, who were created 
 consuls, being not violently attached to the cause of the 
 patricians or the commons, enjoyed peace at home and 
 abroad, L. Trebonius, a tribune of the commons, 
 being a bitter enemy to the patricians, because, he said, 
 that, in the business of choosing tribunes, he had been 
 over-reached by them, and betrayed by his colleagues, 
 introduced a bill, that " whosoever should propose to 
 
CHAP. 65. LIVY. 255 
 
 the commons of Rome the election of plebeian tribunes, 
 he should continue to propose it until he elected ten 
 tribunes of the commons ;" and he passed his tribune- 
 ship in annoying the patricians, whence the surname 
 " Asper" was even given him. Afterwards, M. Gega- 
 nius Macerinus and C. Julius, being elected consuls, 
 checked the combinations of the tribunes formed against 
 the young nobility, without attacking that authority 
 (the tribunic), and maintaining at the same time the 
 dignity of the patricians. A levy having been decreed 
 for the war with the ^Equi and Volsei, they restrained 
 the commons from turbulence, by suspending that mea- 
 sure ; affirming, " That, on every occasion of tranquil- 
 lity in the commonwealth, all things were pacific abroad 
 that then their foreign enemies raised their spirits, 
 during their intestine discords." An attention to peace 
 was also the cause of civil concord. But one or other 
 of the two orders was always harassing to the forbear- 
 ance of the other. When the commons were quiescent, 
 insults began to be offered them by the younger patri- 
 cians ; when the tribunes came to the support of the 
 humbler classes, at first their interference was of little 
 service, subsequently they were not uninjured them- 
 selves, especially in the latter months of office, as, by 
 the combinations of the more powerful, injury was 
 offered them, and the energy of every magistracy is 
 generally somewhat relaxed in the concluding part of 
 the year ; and now the commons placed some hope in 
 the tribuneship, only in this case, if they should have 
 tribunes like to Icilius : for that, during the last two 
 years, they had only the name of tribunes. The elder 
 patricians, on the other hand, though they considered 
 the young men of their party to be too violent, choose 
 rather, if a proper limit were to be at all exceeded, 
 that a redundancy of spirit should be found in their 
 own friends, than in their adversaries ; so difficult a 
 thing is moderation in maintaining liberty, whilst every 
 one, by pretending that he wishes for equality, elevates 
 himself in such a manner as to depress another ; and 
 men, by taking measures that they should not fear 
 others, render themselves objects of fear in turn ; and 
 every injury averted from ourselves, we fasten on 
 
256 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 others, as if it were absolutely necessary either to in- 
 flict wrong or to suffer it. 
 
 CHAP. LXVI. 
 
 T. QUINCTIUS CAPITOLINUS, for the fourth time, 
 and Agrippa Furius, being then elected consuls, found 
 neither sedition at home nor war abroad ; but both 
 were impending. The discord of fellow-citizens could 
 now no longer be repressed ; both the tribunes and the 
 commons being stimulated against the patricians, whilst 
 the impeachment of any one of the nobility always agi- 
 tated the assemblies with fresh contentions : at the first 
 noise of which, as if on a signal received, the ^Equi 
 and Volsci took up arms, as well because their lead- 
 ers, eager for plunder, had persuaded them that the 
 levy which had been proclaimed two years before could 
 not be raised, the commons now rejecting all autho- 
 rity ; " That it was for this reason, that armies were 
 not sent out against themselves ; that their military 
 discipline was destroyed by licentiousness, and that 
 Rome was no longer as a common country ; that what- 
 ever resentment and ill-will had once existed towards 
 foreign enemies, was now turned against themselves ; 
 and that there was a fair opportunity of destroying 
 those wolves, who were blinded by intestine rage." 
 They first ravaged the Sabine territory with their com- 
 bined armies : afterwards, when no avenger appeared 
 there, then indeed, the promoters of the war exulting, 
 they approached in a predatory manner up to the very 
 walls of Rome, in the quarter of the Esquiline gate ; 
 insolently exhibiting to the city the depredations of the 
 lands ; from which when they marched back to Corbio 
 with impunity, in a regular body, driving the prey 
 before them, the consul Quinctius called the people to 
 an assembly. 
 
 CHAP. LXVII. 
 
 THERE, I understand, he spoke to the following 
 purport : " Though conscious to myself of no offence, 
 1 have notwithstanding come forward, Romans, to 
 
CHAP. 67. LIVY. 257 
 
 your assembly, with feelings of the utmost shame. 
 That you yourselves should be cognizant of this that 
 this should be transmitted on record to posterity, that 
 the ./Equi and Volsci, who were lately scarcely able to 
 compete with the Hernici, should have come with im- 
 punity in arms to the city of Rome, in the fourth con- 
 sulate of T. Quinctius ! Could I have known that this 
 ignominy was reserved for this year, in particular, 
 (though now for a long time, such is the manner in 
 which we live, and such is the condition of affairs, that 
 my mind could presage no good,) I would have avoided 
 the consulship by exile or by death, if there were no 
 other way of escaping the honour. Then, if men of 
 spirit had had those arms which have been at our gates, 
 could Rome be taken in my consulship ? I had enjoyed 
 enough of honours enough, quite enough of life ; I 
 ought to have died in my third consulate ! And whom, 
 pray, have the most dastardly enemy despised? us, 
 consuls ? or you, Romans ? If the fault be in us, de- 
 prive us of our power, as unworthy to hold it ; and if 
 that be not enough, punish us in addition. But if in 
 you, may there be no god or man to chastise your 
 transgressions, Romans ; only may you repent of them 
 yourselves. It is not your cowardice which they have 
 despised nor their own valour in which they have con- 
 fided ; because, being so frequently routed and dis- 
 persed, stripped of their camp, mulcted of their lands, 
 and sent under the yoke, they were well acquainted with 
 themselves and with you. The discord of orders is the 
 bane of this city the contentions between patricians 
 and commons ; whilst neither we observe a proper limit 
 of authority, nor you of liberty ; whilst you are dissa- 
 tisfied with patrician, and they with plebeian magi- 
 strates, the enemy have exalted their spirits. By the 
 faith of gods, what would you have ? You desired 
 tribunes of the commons for the sake of concord, we 
 granted them. You longed for decemvirs we allowed 
 them to be created. You grew tired of the decemvirs 
 we obliged them to abdicate their office. Your re- 
 sentment still continuing against them also in a private 
 station, we allowed men of the most exalted rank, and , 
 of the highest honour, to perish and go into banishment. 
 Once more you wished to create tribunes of the com- 
 z 3 
 
258 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 mons you have created them. Though we saw it was 
 unjust to the patricians, to elect consuls from among 
 your party, yet we have witnessed a patrician dignity 
 also conceded, as a boon, to the commons. The trihunic 
 support, the privilege of appeal to the people, the ordi- 
 nances of the commons imposed on the patricians, and 
 our own rights overthrown under the specious title of 
 equalizing the laws all this we have endured, and do 
 still endure. What end shall there he to our discords ? 
 Shall we be ever allowed to inhabit one city shall this 
 ever Become our common country ? We submit with 
 more resignation when conquered, than you when con- 
 querors. Is it enough that you are to us objects of ter- 
 ror? To oppose us, the Aventine is taken to oppose us, 
 mount Sacer is occupied. But Esquiliae indeed, when 
 almost taken by the enemy, no one defends ; and the 
 Volscian foeman, mounting up the rampart, no one 
 repulses. Against us you are men against us you 
 take up arms." 
 
 CHAP. LXVIII. 
 
 " COME then, since you have invested the senate* 
 house, and made the Forum a scene of hostility, and 
 filled the prison with the principal citizens, march out 
 beyond the Esquiline gate with the same ardent cou- 
 rage ; or, if you do not even dare thus much, behold 
 from the walls your lands laid desolate with sword and 
 fire the plunder carried off the burning houses smok- 
 ing all round. But (it will be said), the public pro- 
 perty only is, by those means, in a worse condition ; 
 the country is burned, the city is besieged, the glory 
 of war is in the possession of the enemy. What then ? 
 in what situation are your private properties ? Imme- 
 diately will his own individual losses be announced to 
 each of you from the country ; and, pray, what is there 
 at home from which you can supply them ? Will the 
 tribunes bring back will they restore to you what you 
 have lost ? They will pile up as much of declamation 
 and words as you will please, and of accusations against 
 the nobility, and of enactments one over the other, and 
 of public assemblies. But out of those assemblies not 
 one of you has ever returned more improved in sub 
 
CHAP. 68. LIVY. 259 
 
 stance, or in fortune. Which of you has brought back 
 any thing to his wife and children, except animosities, 
 angry collisions, public and private grudges ; from 
 which you have not been always secured by your own 
 virtue and innocence, but by the assistance of others ? 
 But, by Hercules, when you served your campaigns, 
 with us, the consuls, and not the tribunes at your head, 
 and in the camp, not in the Forum, and the enemy 
 dreaded your shouts in the field, and not the Roman 
 senators your clamours in the assembly then, after 
 acquiring plunder, and stripping the enemy of his ter- 
 ritory, you used to return home full of wealth and 
 glory, as well public as private, triumphant to your 
 homes and domestic gods ; but now you allow the enemy 
 to depart laden with your fortunes. Cling with riveted 
 attachment to your assemblies, and spend your lives in 
 the Forum ; the necessity of fighting, from which you 
 fly, still pursues you. It was a hardship to march 
 against the ^Equi and Volsci ! The war is at your 
 gates ; if it be not repelled from thence, it will shortly 
 be within your walls it will scale both the citadel and 
 the Capitol, and will follow you into your houses. Two 
 years ago, the senate ordered a levy to be held, and an 
 army to be led out to Algidum ; yet here we sit inactive 
 at home, scolding each other like women, quite happy 
 in our present peace, and not perceiving that from this 
 temporary peace manifold wars must arise. I am well 
 aware that other language is more palatable than this ; 
 but necessity obliges, though even my own disposition 
 should not prompt me, to speak what is true, instead 
 of what is agreeable. I would indeed, Romans, wish 
 to please you ; but I wish much more that you should 
 be safe, whatever feelings you may entertain towards 
 me hereafter. This is so ordained by nature, that the 
 man who addresses himself to a multitude, with a view 
 to his own particular interest, is a greater favourite 
 than he whose mind contemplates nothing but the gene- 
 ral advantage ; unless, perhaps, you imagine that those 
 public sycophants those flatterers of the commons, 
 who suffer you neither to be under arms, nor to enjoy 
 peace, incite and stimulate you for your own interest. 
 When thus excited, you become to them a source either 
 of honour or of emolument ; and because, in the con- 
 
60 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 cord of the orders, they see themselves of no conse- 
 quence any where, they choose rather to be the leaders 
 of a bad cause, than of none at all- of turbulence and 
 seditions. Of which proceedings if a loathing can at 
 length possess you, and if, instead of these modern 
 habits of action, you are willing to resume those ancient 
 ones practised by your fathers and yourselves, I object 
 to no species of punishment, if 1 shall not in a few 
 days dislodge from their camp those ravagers of our 
 lands, first routed and dispersed, and transfer from 
 our gates and walls to their own cities this terror of 
 war, by which you are at present affrighted." 
 
 CHAP. LXIX. 
 
 SELDOM, on any other occasion, was the speech of a 
 popular tribune more acceptable to the commons, than 
 was then that of a most strict consul. The young 
 men also, who, during such alarms, were wont to con- 
 sider a refusal to enlist as their keenest weapon against 
 the patricians, looked forward to arms and war : the 
 flight of the peasants also, and those who had been 
 robbed and w r ounded in the country, reporting facts 
 more shocking than those which were presented to the 
 view, filled the entire city with resentment. When 
 the members came into the senate, then particularly, 
 all turning their eyes on Quinctius, looked upon him 
 as the only champion of Roman ascendancy ; and the 
 principal men of the senators pronounced his discourse 
 " worthy of the consular dignity, worthy of so many 
 consulships already administered, worthy of his whole 
 life filled with honours, often enjoyed, but oftener 
 merited. That other consuls had either flattered the 
 commons by betraying the dignity of the patricians, or 
 by harshly maintaining the privileges of their order, 
 had made the multitude more intractable by the attempt 
 to subdue them: that T. Quinctius, above all others, 
 had delivered a speech, which was suited to the dignity 
 of the patricians, the harmony of the different estates, 
 and the particular juncture. They entreated him and 
 his colleague to assert the cause of the commonwealth ; 
 they entreated the tribunes, that they would be pleased, 
 by a union of sentiment with the consuls, to repel the 
 
 
CHAP. 70, LIVY. 261 
 
 war from the city, and the walls, and to render the 
 commons submissive to the patricians on so perilous an 
 emergency; that their common country appealed to the 
 tribunes, and implored their official support, the lands 
 being now laid waste, and the city almost besieged.-' 
 With the unanimous concurrence of all, a levy is de- 
 creed and held. When the consuls had publicly de- 
 clared in the assembly, " that there was no time at 
 present for examining excuses ; that all the younger 
 men should attend on the following day, at the first 
 dawn, in the Campus Martius; that, when the war 
 should be concluded, they would themselves afford time 
 for taking cognizance of the excuses of those who 
 should not have enrolled their names ; and that he, 
 whose excuse they should not have approved of, should 
 be considered as a deserter :" all the young men on the 
 ensuing day attended. The cohorts chose, each its 
 own centurions ; two senators were placed at the head 
 of each cohort. We have heard that all this was 
 transacted so expeditiously, that the standards brought 
 out of the treasury on that very day by the quaestors, 
 and carried down to the field of Mars, were moved 
 from that field at the fourth hour of the day ; and the 
 new army, a few cohorts of veteran soldiers following 
 them as volunteers, halted at the tenth mile-stone. 
 The next day presented the enemy in view, and the 
 Roman camp is pitched close to their camp at Corbio. 
 On the third day, when revenge stimulated the Ro- 
 mans, and a consciousness of guilt, together with de- 
 spair (as they had so often rebelled), the others, there 
 was no delay to an engagement. 
 
 CHAP. LXX. 
 
 THOUGH there were in the Roman army two consuls 
 of co-ordinate power, the chief command was, by the 
 concession of Agrippa, lodged in the hands of his col- 
 league ; a measure which is most salutary in the admi- 
 nistration of important concerns ; and he who was thus 
 raised to a precedency, made a polite return to the 
 condescension of the other, who humbled himself, by 
 making him a sharer in his counsels and honours, and 
 by raising him, though subordinate, to an equality with 
 
262 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 himself. In the field, Quinctius commanded the right 
 wing, Agrippa the left ; the centre line is entrusted to 
 the lieutenant-general, Sp. Postumius Albus, to be de- 
 fended; the other lieutenant-general, Ser. Sulpicius, 
 they appoint to the command of the cavalry. The in- 
 fantry on the right wing fought with distinguished gal- 
 lantry, the Volscians making a vigorous resistance. 
 Ser. Sulpicius forced his way, at the head of the cavalry, 
 through the centre of the enemy's line ; whence, though 
 he might return back by the same way to his own 
 army, it seemed to him more adviseable to attack the 
 rear of the enemy before the latter could repair their dis- 
 ordered ranks ; and in an instant of time, by making a 
 charge on their line in the rear, he would have routed 
 the enemy by the terror of a double attack, had not 
 the cavalry of the ^Equi and Volsci kept him for a con- 
 siderable time, engaged in a conflict of the same nature 
 as his own, (i. e. a cavalry conflict). Then particularly 
 Sulpicius observed, that " there was no time for hesi- 
 tation," crying out, that, " they were surrounded and 
 intercepted from their friends, if exerting themselves 
 with all their might, they did not finish the cavalry 
 contest. Nor was it enough to rout the cavalry, with- 
 out disabling them; they should kill horses and riders, 
 that none might return again to the battle, or renew 
 the fight, that such troops were not able to resist his 
 men, to whom the compact body of infantry had given 
 way." These words were not addressed to deaf ears, 
 and by one charge they routed the entire cavalry, dis- 
 mounted a vast number, and transfixed both men and 
 horses with their lances : this put an end to the horse 
 engagement. Then falling upon the line of infantry, 
 they despatch an account of what they achieved to the 
 consuls, where the enemy's forces were now giving 
 way. The intelligence immediately added fresh cou- 
 rage to the Romans, who were conquering, and dis- 
 pirited the -^Equi, who were already giving ground. 
 They began first to be defeated in the centre, where 
 the cavalry, charging in upon them, had thrown the 
 ranks into disorder. Then the left wing began to be 
 routed by the consul Quinctius ; the greatest struggle 
 was on the right. There Agrippa, vigorous in years 
 and strength, when he beheld the battle more success- 
 
CHAP. 71. LIVY. 263 
 
 fully fought in every part of the field, than with him- 
 self, bore on the standards himself, which he snatched 
 from the standard-bearers, and some he even began to 
 fling into the very thick of the enemy. Animated by 
 the dread of .which disgrace, the soldiers rushed upon 
 the enemy : thus the victory is equally gained in every 
 quarter. A message just then arrived from Quinctius, 
 41 that he himself, being victorious, was now ready to 
 attack the enemy's camp ; that he did not wish to force 
 it, until he ascertained that the battle was ended on the 
 left wing also. If he had already routed the enemy, 
 that he then should unite his forces with himself, in 
 order that the entire army should enjoy the plunder 
 at the same time." Agrippa, now victorious, came up 
 to his victorious colleague, and to the enemy's camp, with 
 mutual congratulations ; there, a few only making de- 
 fence, and these being in a moment put to rout, they 
 force their way without resistance into the fortifica- 
 tions ; and they bring back their army, after gaining 
 vast plunder, and having also recovered their own 
 effects, which had been lost by the ravaging of the 
 country. I do not understand, that they either de- 
 manded a triumph themselves, or that it was volunta- 
 rily bestowed upon them by the senate, neither is the 
 cause of the honour's being rejected, or not expected, 
 handed down to us. As far as I can myself conjecture, 
 at such a vast distance of time ; since a triumph had 
 been refused by the senate to the consuls Valerius and 
 Horatius, who, besides the victory over the Volsci and 
 JEqui, had also acquired the glory of terminating the 
 Sabine war ; the consuls were ashamed to demand a 
 triumph for only one half of these achievements, lest 
 even, should they have obtained it, respect might ap- 
 pear to have been had rather to the men, than their 
 services. 
 
 CHAP. LXXI. 
 
 A DISGRACEFUL decision at home, respecting some 
 boundaries of their allies, sullied this honourable vic- 
 tory, which was gained over the enemy. The inhabi- 
 tants of Aricia and Ardea, after having often contended 
 in war for some disputed land, being wearied by many 
 
64 LIVY BOOK III. 
 
 overthrows mutually received, selected the Roman peo- 
 ple to act as umpire. When they had come to plead 
 their cause, a general council of the people being 
 granted by the magistrates, the suit was conducted 
 with great vehemence ; and witnesses having been now 
 brought forward, when it was proper that the tribes 
 should be called, and the people proceed to the vote ; 
 P. Scaptius, a plebeian, and of advanced age, rises up, 
 and says, " Consuls, if it be permitted me to speak on 
 a question of public concernment, I will not allow the 
 people to fall into error in this case." When the con- 
 suls denied that he should be listened to, as being a 
 person of no credit, and had ordered him, vociferating 
 that " the public interest was betrayed," to be removed, 
 he appeals to the tribunes. The tribunes, as they are 
 almost always governed by the populace, more than 
 they govern them, granted permission to the commons, 
 anxious to hear him, that Scaptius might state what he 
 pleased. He then begins, by saying, " That he was 
 then in his eighty-third year, and had served as a sol- 
 dier in that very land which was in dispute, and not a 
 young man either, being then serving his twentieth 
 campaign, when the war was conducted at Corioli. 
 That therefore, he alleged a fact obliterated by time, 
 but deeply imprinted on his own memory ; that the 
 land in dispute belonged to the territory of Corioli ; 
 and, on the taking of Corioli, became, by right of war, 
 the public property of the Roman people. That he 
 w r as surprised, in what manner the people of Aricia 
 and Ardea could hope fraudulently to seize from the 
 Roman people, whom, instead of being proprietor, they 
 made umpire, that land, of which they never claimed 
 the right, whilst the state of Corioli existed. That a 
 short period of life now remained for himself, that he 
 could not, however, reconcile it to himself, not to claim 
 in his old age also, by his voice, the only means he had 
 then in his power, that land, which, as a soldier, he 
 had won in action, as far as his individual exertion 
 could go. That he strongly recommended the people, 
 not to pronounce sentence against their own interest, 
 through a false sense of delicacy." 
 
CHAP. 72. LIVY. 265 
 
 CHAP. LXXII. 
 
 WHEN the consuls had perceived, that Scaptius was 
 heard, not only with attention, but even with appro- 
 bation; protesting to gods and men, that an act of 
 enormous turpitude was about to take place, they send 
 for the principal men of the patricians ; in company 
 with these, they went round amongst the tribunes, and 
 besought them, " not to commit, in their capacity of 
 judges, the worst crime, and one affording a still worse 
 precedent, by turning the matter in dispute to their 
 advantage ; when especially, even though it were right 
 for a judge to pay attention to his own personal emolu- 
 ment, by no means so much could be gained by inter- 
 cepting the land, as should be lost by alienating the 
 affections of their allies, by that act of injustice. For 
 the losses indeed of reputation and credit were greater 
 than what could be calculated. That the ambassadors 
 should carry this home! that this should be published 
 to the world ! that our allies should hear this, our ene- 
 mies hear this ! with what sorrow the former ? with 
 what delight the latter ? Did they suppose, that the 
 neighbouring states would attribute this act to Scap- 
 tius, an old babbler in assemblies? That Scaptius 
 would become celebrated by this image, but that the 
 Roman people would bear the character of interested 
 informers and usurpers of the disputed claim of others. 
 For what judge of a private case had acted so as to ad- 
 judge to himself the property in controversy ? That 
 indeed Scaptius himself, though he had already survived 
 his shame, would not act so." Thus the consuls, thus 
 the patricians were exclaiming ; but covetousness, and 
 Scaptius the promoter of that covetousness, have greater 
 influence. The tribes, being called, decided that the 
 land was the public property of the Roman people. 
 Nor is it denied, that such it had been, if recourse 
 were had to other judges ; as it now stands, certainly 
 the disgrace of the decision is in no respect extenuated 
 by the merits of the case ; and it did not appear more 
 scandalous, and more cruel to the people of Aricia and 
 2 A 
 
266 LIVY. BOOK III. 
 
 of Ardea, than ,to the Roman senate. The remainder 
 of the year continued tranquil from domestic and from 
 foreign commotions. 
 
 FJNIS. 
 
 DUBLIN : PRINTED BY THOMAS I. WHITE, 149, ABBEY STREET. 
 
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 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY