History of Rome, books 1-10

For it was a settled rule amongst the augurs that their number was bound to consist of threes, so that the three ancient tribes of the Ramnes, Titienses, and Luceres might each have their own augur, or if more were needed, the same number should be added for each. This was the principle on which they proceeded when by adding five to four the number was made up to nine, so that three were assigned to each tribe.

But the co-optation of the additional priests from the plebs created almost as much indignation amongst the patricians as when they saw the consulship made open.

They pretended that the matter concerned the gods more than it concerned them; as for their own sacred functions they would see for themselves that these were not polluted; they only hoped and prayed that no disaster might befall the republic.

Their opposition, however, was not so keen, because they had become habituated to defeat in these political contests, and they saw that their opponents in striving for the highest honours were not, as formerly, aiming at what they had little hopes of winning; everything for which they had striven, though with doubtful hopes of success, they had hitherto gained —numberless consulships, censorships, triumphs.

Appius Claudius and P. Decius are said to have been the leaders in this controversy, the former as the opponent, the latter as the supporter of the proposed measure.

The arguments they advanced were practically the same as those employed for and against the Licinian Laws when the demand was made for the consulship to be thrown open to the plebeians. After going over much of the old ground, Decius made a final appeal on behalf of the proposals.

He began by recalling the scene which many of those present had witnessed, when the elder Decius, his father, vested in the Gabine cincture and standing upon a spear, solemnly devoted himself on behalf of the legions and people of Rome.

He proceeded, “The offering which the consul Decius made on that occasion was in the eyes of the immortal gods as pure and holy as that of his colleague, T. Manlius, would have been if he had devoted himself. Could not that Decius also have been fitly chosen to exercise priestly functions on behalf of the Roman people?

And for me, are you afraid that the gods will not listen to my prayers as they do to those of Appius Claudius? Does he perform his private devotions with a purer mind or worship the gods in a more religious spirit than I do?

Who has ever had occasion to regret the vows which have been made on behalf of the commonwealth by so many plebeian consuls, so many plebeian Dictators, when they were going to take command of their armies, or when they were actually engaged in battle?

Count up the commanders in all the years since war was for the first time waged under the leadership and auspices of plebeians, you will find as many triumphs as commanders. The plebeians, too, have their nobility and have no cause to be dissatisfied with them.

You may be quite certain that, if a war were suddenly to break out now, the senate and people of Rome would not put more confidence in a general because he was a patrician than in one who happened to be a plebeian.

Now, if this is the case, who in heaven or earth could regard it as an indignity that the men whom you have honoured with curule chairs, with the toga praetexta, the tunica palmata, and the toga picta, with the triumphal crown and the laurel wreath, the men upon whose houses you have conferred special distinction by affixing to them the spoils taken from the enemy —that these men, I say, should have in addition to their other marks of rank the insignia of the pontiffs and

the augurs? A triumphing general drives through the City in a gilded chariot, apparelled in the splendid vestments of Jupiter Optimus Maximus After this he goes up to the Capitol; is he not to be seen there with capis and lituus ? Is it to be regarded as an indignity, if he with veiled head slay a victim, or from his place on the citadel take

an augury? And if in the inscription on his bust the words “consulship,” “censorship,” “triumph” are read without arousing any indignation, in what mood will the reader regard the words which you are going to add, “augurship”

and “pontificate”? I do indeed hope, please heaven, that, thanks to the good will of the Roman people, we now possess sufficient dignity to be capable of conferring as much honour on the priesthood as we shall receive. For the sake of the gods as much as for ourselves let us insist that as we worship them now as private individuals so we may worship them for the future as officials of the State.”

“But why have I so far been assuming that the question of the patricians and the priesthood is still an open one, and that we are not yet in possession of the highest of all offices?

We see plebeians amongst the ten keepers of the Sacred Books, acting as interpreters of the Sibyl's runes and the Fates of this people; we see them, too, presiding over the sacrifices and other rites connected with Apollo.

No injustice was inflicted on the patricians when an addition was made to the number of the keepers of the Sacred Books on the demand of the plebeians.

None has been inflicted now, when a strong and capable tribune has created five more posts for augurs and four more for priests, which are to be filled by plebeians, not, Appius, with the design of ousting you patricians from your places, but in order that the plebs may assist you in the conduct of divine matters as they do to the utmost of their power in the administration of human affairs.”

“Do not blush, Appius, to have as your colleague in the priesthood a man whom you might have had as colleague in the censorship or in the consulship, who might be Dictator with you as his Master of Horse, just as much as you might be Dictator with him for your Master of the Horse.

A Sabine immigrant, Attius Clausus, or if you prefer it, Appius Claudius, the founder of your noble house, was admitted by those old patricians into their number;

do not think it beneath you to admit us into the number of the priests.

We bring with us many distinctions, all those, in fact, which have made you so proud. L. Sextius was the first plebeian to be elected consul, C. Licinius Stolo was the first plebeian Master of the Horse, C. Marcius Rutilus the first plebeian who was both Dictator and censor, Q. Publilius Philo was the first praetor.

We have always heard the same objection raised —that the auspices were solely in your hands, that you alone enjoy the privileges and prerogatives of noble birth, that you alone can legitimately hold sovereign command and take the auspices either in peace or war.

Have you never heard the remark that it was not men sent down from heaven who were originally created patricians, but those who could cite a father, which is nothing more than saying that they were

freeborn. I can now cite a consul as my father, and my son will be able to cite him as his grandfather. It simply comes to this, Quirites, that we can get nothing without a struggle. It is only a quarrel that the patricians are seeking, they do not care in the least about the

result. I for my part support this measure, which I believe will be for your good and happiness and a blessing to the State, and I hold that you ought to pass it.”

The Assembly was on the point of ordering the voting to proceed, and it was evident that the measure would be adopted, when, on the intervention of some of the tribunes, all further business was adjourned for the day.

On the morrow, the dissentient tribunes having given way, the law was passed amid great enthusiasm. The co-opted pontiffs were P. Decius Mus, the supporter of the measure, P. Sempronius Sophus, C. Marcius Rutilus, and M. Livius Denter. The five augurs who were also taken from the plebs were C. Genucius, P. Aelius Paetus, M. Minucius Faesus, C. Marcius, and T. Publilius.

So the number of the pontiffs was raised to eight and that of the augurs to nine. In this year the consul, M. Valerius, carried a proposal to strengthen the provisions of the law touching the right of appeal.

This was the third time since the expulsion of the kings that this law was re-enacted, and always by the same family. I think that the reason for renewing it so often was solely the fact that the excessive power exercised by a few men was dangerous to the liberties of the plebs.

The Porcian law, however, seems to have been passed solely for the protection of the citizens in life and limb, for it imposed the severest penalties on any one who killed or scourged a Roman citizen.

The Valerian law, it is true, forbade any one who had exercised his right of appeal to be scourged or beheaded, but if any one transgressed its provisions it added no penalty, but simply declared such transgression to be a “wicked act.”

Such was the self-respect and sense of shame amongst the men of those days, that I believe that declaration to have been a sufficiently strong barrier against violations of the law.

Nowadays there is hardly a slave who would not use stronger language against his master. Valerius also conducted a war against the Aequi, who had recommenced hostilities, but who retained nothing of their earlier character except their restless temper. The other consul, Apuleius, invested the town of Nequinum in Umbria.

It was situated where Narnia now stands, on high ground which on one side was steep and precipitous, and it was impossible to take it either by assault or by regular siege works.

It was left to the new consuls, M. Fulvius Paetus and T. Manlius Torquatus, to carry the siege to a successful issue.

According to Licinius Macer and Tubero, all the centuries intended to elect Q. Fabius consul for this year, but he urged them to postpone his consulship until some more important war broke out, for he considered that he would be more useful to the State as a City magistrate. So without dissembling his real wishes or ostensibly seeking the post, he was elected curule aedile along with L. Papirius Cursor.

I cannot, however, be certain on this point, for the earlier annalist, Piso, states that the curule aediles for this year were Cn. Domitius, Cn. F. Calvinus, Sp. Carvilius, and Q. F. Maximus I think that the cognomen of the last-mentioned aedile —Maximus

—was the cause of the error, and that a story in which the lists of both elections were combined was constructed to fit in with the mistake.

The lustrum was closed this year by the censors, P. Sempronius Sophus and P. Sulpicius Saverrio, and two new tribes were added, the Aniensis and the Teretina. These were the principal events of the year in Rome.

Meantime the siege of Nequinum was dragging slowly on and time was being wasted. At length two of the townsmen, whose houses abutted on the city wall, made a tunnel, and came by that secret passage to the Roman outposts.

They were conducted to the consul, and undertook to admit a detachment of soldiers within the fortifications and the city walls. It did not seem right to reject their proposal, nor yet to accept it offhand.

One of them was instructed to conduct two spies through the underground passage; the other was detained as a hostage.

The report of the spies was satisfactory, and 300 soldiers, led by the deserter, entered the city by night and seized the nearest gate. This was broken open, and the consul with his army took possession of the place without any fighting. Thus Nequinum passed into the power of Rome.

A colony was sent there as an outpost against the Umbrians, and the place was called Narnia from the river Nar. The army marched back to Rome with a large amount of spoil. This year the Etruscans determined to break the truce, and began to make preparations for war.

But the invasion of their country by an enormous army of Gauls —the last thing they were expecting —turned them for a time from their purpose.

Trusting to the power of money, which with them was very considerable, they endeavoured to convert the Gauls from enemies into allies in order that they might combine their forces in an attack on Rome. The barbarians did not object to an alliance, the only question was as to the amount of pay.

After this had been agreed upon and all the other preparations for war had been completed, the Etruscans called upon the Gauls to follow them. They refused to do so, and asserted that they had not taken the money to make war on Rome.

Whatever they had received had been accepted as compensation for not devastating the land of Etruria or subjecting its inhabitants to armed violence.

However, they expressed their willingness to serve if the Etruscans really wished them to do so, but only on one condition, namely that they should be admitted to a share of their territory and be able to settle at last in a permanent home.

Many councils were held in the various cantons to discuss this proposal, but it was found impossible to accept the terms, not so much because they would not consent to any loss of territory as because they dreaded the prospect of having as their neighbours men belonging to such a savage race.

The Gauls were accordingly dismissed, and carried back with them an enormous sum of money gained without labour and without risk. The rumour of a Gaulish invasion in addition to the Etruscan war created alarm in Rome, and there was less hesitation in concluding a treaty with the Picentes.

The campaign in Etruria fell to the consul T. Manlius. He had scarcely entered the hostile territory when, as he was wheeling his horse round in some cavalry exercises, he was flung off and almost killed on the spot.

Three days later the consul ended his life. The Etruscans derived encouragement from this incident, for they took it as an omen, and declared that the gods were fighting for them.

When the sad news reached Rome, not only was the loss of the man severely felt, but also the inopportuneness of the time when it occurred.

The senate were prepared to order the nomination of a Dictator, but refrained from doing so as the election of a successor to the consul went quite in accordance with the wishes of the leading patricians. Every vote was given in favour of M. Valerius, the man whom the senate had decided upon as Dictator.

The legions were at once ordered to Etruria. Their presence acted as such a check upon the Etruscans that no one ventured outside their lines; their fears shut them up as closely as though they were blockaded.

Valerius devastated their fields and burnt their houses, till not only single farms but numerous villages were reduced to smoking ashes, but he failed to bring the enemy to action.

While this war was progressing more slowly than had been anticipated, apprehensions were felt as to another war which, from the numerous defeats sustained formerly on both sides, was not unreasonably regarded with dread. The Picentes had sent information that the Samnites were arming for war, and that they had approached the Picentes to induce them to join them.

The latter were thanked for their loyalty, and the public attention was diverted to a large extent from Etruria to Samnium.

The dearness of provisions caused widespread distress amongst the citizens. Those writers who make Fabius Maximus a curule aedile for that year assert that there would have been actual famine if he had not shown the same wise care in the control of the market and the accumulation of supplies which he had so often before displayed in war. An interregnum occurred this year —tradition assigns no reason for it.

The interreges were Ap. Claudius and P. Sulpicius. The latter held the consular elections, at which L. Cornelius Scipio and Cn. Fulvius were returned. At the beginning of their year a deputation came from the Lucanians to lay a formal complaint against the Samnites.

They informed the senate that that people had tried to allure them into forming an offensive and defensive alliance with them, and, finding their efforts futile, they invaded their territory and were laying it waste, and so, by making war upon them, trying to drive them into a war with Rome.

The Lucanians, they said, had made too many mistakes already; they had now quite made up their minds that it would be better to bear and suffer everything than to attempt anything against Rome.

They implored the senate to take them under its protection and to defend them from the wanton aggressions of the Samnites. They were fully aware that it Rome declared war against Samnium their loyalty to her would be a matter of life and death, but, notwithstanding that, they were prepared to give hostages as a guarantee of good faith.

The discussion in the senate was brief. The members unanimously decided that a treaty of close alliance should be made with the Lucanians and satisfaction demanded from the Samnites.

When the envoys were readmitted, they received a favourable reply and a treaty was concluded with them. The fetials were sent to insist upon the evacuation by the Samnites of the territories of the allies of Rome and the withdrawal of their forces from the Lucanian frontiers.

They were met by emissaries from the Samnites, who warned them that if they appeared in any of the Samnite councils their inviolability would be no longer respected. On this being reported in Rome, the Assembly confirmed the resolution passed by the senate and ordered war to be made upon the Samnites In the allotment of their respective commands Etruria fell to Scipio and the Samnites to Fulvius.

Both consuls took the field. Scipio, who was anticipating a tedious campaign similar to the one of the previous year, was met by the enemy in battle formation at Volaterrae.

The contest lasted the greater part of the day, with heavy loss on both sides.

Night came on whilst they were still uncertain with whom the victory lay; the following morning made it clear, for the Etruscans had abandoned their camp in the dead of the night. When the Romans marched out to battle and saw that the enemy had by their action admitted their defeat, they went on to the deserted camp.

This they took possession of, and as it was a standing camp and had been hurriedly abandoned, they secured a considerable amount of booty. The troops were marched back into the neighbourhood of Falerii, and after leaving the baggage with a small escort there they proceeded, in light marching order, to harry the Etruscan land.

Everything was laid waste with fire and sword; prey was driven in from all sides. Not only was the soil left an absolute waste for the enemy, but their fortified posts and villages were burnt.

The Romans refrained from attacking the cities in which the terrified Etruscans had sought shelter. Cnaeus Fulvius sought a brilliant action at Bovianum in Samnium, and gained a decisive victory. He then carried Bovianum by storm, and not long afterwards Aufidena.

During the year a colony was settled at Carseoli, in the country of the Aequicoli. The consul Fulvius celebrated a triumph over the Samnites.

Just as the consular elections were coming on, a rumour spread that the Etruscans and Samnites were levying immense armies.

According to the reports which were sent, the leaders of the Etruscans were attacked in all the cantonal council meetings for not having brought the Gauls over on any terms whatever to take part in the war; the Samnite government were abused for having employed against the Romans a force which was only raised to act against the Lucanians;

the enemy was arising in his own strength and in that of his allies to make war on Rome, and matters would not be settled without a conflict on a very much larger scale than formerly.

Men of distinction were amongst the candidates for the consulship, but the gravity of the danger turned all eyes to Quintus Fabius Maximus . He at first simply declined to become a candidate, but when he saw the trend of popular feeling he distinctly refused to allow his name to stand:

“Why,” he asked, “do you want an old man like me, who has finished his allotted tasks and gained all the rewards they have brought? I am not the man I was either in strength of body or mind, and I fear lest some god should even deem my good fortune too great or too unbroken for human nature to enjoy.

I have grown up to the measure of the glory of my seniors, and I would gladly see others rising to the height of my own renown.

There is no lack of honours in Rome for the strongest and most capable men, nor is there any lack of men to win the honour.” This display of modesty and unselfishness only made the popular feeling all the keener in his favour by showing how rightly it was directed.

Thinking that the best way of checking it would be to appeal to the instinctive reverence for law, he ordered the law to be rehearsed which forbade any man from being re-elected consul within ten years.

Owing to the clamour the law was hardly heard, and the tribunes of the plebs declared that there was no impediment here; they would make a proposition to the Assembly that he should be exempt from its provisions.

He, however, persisted in his refusal, and repeatedly asked what was the object in making laws if they were deliberately broken by those who made them; “we,” said he,“are now ruling the laws instead of the laws ruling us.”

Notwithstanding his opposition the people began to vote, and as each century was called in, it declared without the slightest hesitation for Fabius. At last, yielding to the general desire of his countrymen, he said, “May the gods approve what you have done and what you are going to do. Since, however, you are going to have your own way as far as I am concerned, give me the opportunity of using my influence with you so far as my colleague is concerned.