History of Rome, books 1-10

These formed a considerable force, and none were more conspicuous for courage and activity in the Volscian war. The consul led his troops against the enemy and encamped a short distance from them.

The very next night the Volscians, trusting to the dissensions amongst the Romans, made an attempt on the camp, on the chance of desertions taking place, or the camp being betrayed, in the darkness.

The outposts perceived them, the army was aroused, and on the alarm being sounded they rushed to arms, so the Volscian attempt was foiled; for the rest of the night both sides kept quiet. The following day, at dawn, the Volscians filled up the trenches and attacked the rampart.

This was already being torn down on all sides while the consul, in spite of the shouts of the whole army — of the debtors most of all —demanding the signal for action, delayed for a few minutes, in order to test the temper of his men. When he was quite satisfied as to their ardour and determination, he gave the signal to charge and launched his soldiery, eager to engage, upon the foe.

They were routed at the very first onset, the fugitives were cut down as far as the infantry could pursue them, then the cavalry drove them in confusion to their camp. They evacuated it in their panic, the legions soon came up, surrounded it, captured and plundered it.

The following day the legions marched to Suessa Pometia, whither the enemy had fled, and in a few days it was captured and given up to the soldiers to pillage. This to some extent relieved the poverty of the soldiers.

The consul, covered with glory, led his victorious army back to Rome. Whilst on the march he was visited by envoys from the Volscians of Ecetra, who were concerned for their own safety after the capture of Pometia. By a decree of the senate, peace was granted to them, some territory was taken from them.

Immediately afterwards a fresh alarm was created at Rome by the Sabines, but it was more a sudden raid than a regular war. News was brought during the night that a Sabine army had advanced as far as the Anio on a predatory expedition, and that the farms in that neighbourhood were being harried and burnt.

A. Postumius, who had been the Dictator in the Latin war, was at once sent there with the whole of the cavalry force; the consul Servilius followed with a picked body of infantry.

Most of the enemy were surrounded by the cavalry while scattered in the fields; the Sabine legion offered no resistance to the advance of the infantry. Tired out with their march and the nocturnal plundering-a large proportion of them were in the farms full of food and wine —they had hardly sufficient strength to flee.

The Sabine war was announced and concluded in one night, and strong hopes were entertained that peace had now been secured everywhere. The next day, however, envoys from the Auruncans came with a demand for the evacuation of the Volscian territory, otherwise they were to proclaim war.

The army of the Auruncans had begun their advance when the envoys left home, and the report of its having been seen not far from Aricia created so much excitement and confusion amongst the Romans that it was impossible either for the senate to take the matter into formal consideration, or for a favourable reply to be given to those who were commencing hostilities, since they were themselves taking up arms to repel them.

They marched to Aricia; not far from there they engaged the Auruncans and in one battle finished the war.

After the defeat of the Auruncans, the Romans, who had, within a few days, fought so many successful wars, were expecting the fulfillment of the promises which the consul had made on the authority of the senate. Appius, partly from his innate love of tyranny and partly to undermine confidence felt in his colleague, gave the harshest sentences he could when debtors were brought before him.

One after another those who had before pledged their persons as security were now handed over to their creditors, and others were compelled to give such security. A soldier to whom this happened appealed to the colleague of Appius. A crowd gathered round Servilius, they reminded him of his promises, upbraided him with their services in war and the scars they had received, and demanded that he should either get an ordinance passed by the senate, or, as consul, protect his people; as commander, his soldiers.

The consul sympathised with them, but under the circumstances he was compelled to temporise; the opposite policy was so recklessly insisted on not only by his colleague but by the entire party of the nobility. By taking a middle course he did not escape the odium of the plebs nor did he win the favour of the patricians.

These regarded him as a weak popularity-hunting consul, the plebeians considered him false, and it soon became apparent that he was as much detested as Appius.

A dispute had arisen between the consuls as to which of them should dedicate the temple of Mercury. The senate referred the question to the people, and issued orders that the one to whom the dedication was assigned by the people should preside over the corn-market and form a guild of merchants and discharge functions in the presence of the Pontifex Maximus.

The people assigned the dedication of the temple to M. Laetorius, the first centurion of the legion, a choice obviously made not so much to honour the man, by conferring upon him an office so far above his station, as to bring discredit on the consuls.

One of them, at all events, was excessively angry, as were the senate, but the courage of the plebs had risen, and they went to work in a very different method from that which they had adopted at first.

For as any prospect of help from the consuls or the senate was hopeless, they took matters into their own hands, and whenever they saw a debtor brought before the court, they rushed there from all sides, and by their shouts and uproar prevented the consul's sentence from being heard, and when it was pronounced no one obeyed it.

They resorted to violence, and all the fear and danger to personal liberty was transferred from the debtors to the creditors, who were roughly handled before the eyes of the consul.

In addition to all this there were growing apprehensions of a Sabine war. A levy was decreed, but no one gave in his name. Appius was furious; he accused his colleague of courting the favour of the people, denounced him as a traitor to the common-wealth because he refused to give sentence where debtors were brought before him, and moreover he refused to raise troops after the senate had ordered a levy.

Still, he declared, the ship of State was not entirely deserted nor the consular authority thrown to the winds; he, single-handed, would vindicate his own dignity and that of the senate.

Whilst the usual daily crowd were standing round him, growing ever bolder in licence, he ordered one conspicuous leader of the agitation to be arrested. As he was being dragged away by the lictors, he appealed. There was no doubt as to what judgment the people would give, and he would not have allowed the appeal had not his obstinacy been with great difficulty overcome more by the prudence and authority of the senate than by the clamour of the people, so determined was he to brave the popular odium.

From that time the mischief became more serious every day, not only through open clamour but, what was far more dangerous, through secession and secret meetings. At length the consuls, detested as they were by the plebs, went out of office —Servilius equally hated by both orders, Appius in wonderful favour with the patricians.

Then A. Verginius and T. Vetusius took office. As the plebeians were doubtful as to what sort of consuls they would have, and were anxious to avoid any precipitate and ill-considered action which might result from hastily adopted resolutions in the Forum, they began to hold meetings at night, some on the Esquiline and others on the Aventine.

The consuls considered this state of things to be fraught with danger, as it really was, and made a formal report to the senate. But any orderly discussion of their report was out of the question, owing to the excitement and clamour with which the senators received it, and the indignation they felt at the consuls throwing upon them the odium of measures which they ought to have carried on their own authority as consuls.

“Surely,” it was said, “if there were really magistrates in the State, there would have been no meetings in Rome beyond the public Assembly; now the State was broken up into a thousand senates and assemblies, since some councils were being held on the Esquiline and others on the Aventine.

Why, one man like Appius Claudius, who was worth more than a consul, would have dispersed these gatherings in a moment.” When the consuls, after being thus censured, asked what they wished them to do,

as they were prepared to act with all the energy and determination that the senate desired, a decree was passed that the levy should be raised as speedily as possible, for the plebs was waxing wanton through idleness.

After dismissing the senate, the consuls ascended the tribunal and called out the names of those liable to active service. Not a single man answered to his name. The people, standing round as though in informal assembly, declared that the plebs could no longer be imposed upon, the consuls should not get a single soldier until the promise made in the name of the State was fulfilled.

Before arms were put into their hands, every man's liberty must be restored to him, that they might fight for their country and their fellow-citizens and not for tyrannical masters.

The consuls were quite aware of the instructions they had received from the senate, but they were also aware that none of those who had spoken so bravely within the walls of the Senate-house were now present to share the odium which they were incurring.

A desperate conflict with the plebs seemed inevitable. Before proceeding to extremities they decided to consult the senate again. Thereupon all the younger senators rushed from their seats, and crowding round the chairs of the consuls, ordered them to resign their office and lay down an authority which they had not the courage to maintain.

Having had quite enough of trying to coerce the plebs on the one hand and persuading the senate to adopt a milder course on the other, the consuls at last said: “Senators, that you may not say you have not been forewarned, we tell you that a very serious disturbance is at hand. We demand that those who are the loudest in charging us with cowardice shall support us whilst we conduct the levy.

We will act as the most resolute may wish, since such is your pleasure.” They returned to the tribunal and purposely ordered one of those who were in view to be called up by name.

As he stood silent, and a number of men had closed round him to prevent his being seized, the consuls sent a lictor to him. The lictor was pushed away, and those senators who were with the consuls exclaimed that it was an outrageous insult and rushed down from the tribunal to assist the lictor.

The hostility of the crowd was diverted from the lictor, who had simply been prevented from making the arrest, to the senators. The interposition of the consuls finally allayed the conflict. There had, however, been no stones thrown or weapons used, it had resulted in more noise and angry words than personal injury.

The senate was summoned and assembled in disorder; its proceedings were still more disorderly. Those who had been roughly handled demanded an inquiry, and all the more violent members supported the demand by shouting and uproar quite as much as by their votes.

When at last the excitement had subsided, the consuls censured them for showing as little calm judgment in the senate as there was in the Forum. Then the debate proceeded in order.

Three different policies were advocated. P. Valerius did not think the general question ought to be raised; he thought they ought only to consider the case of those who, in reliance on the promise of the consul P. Servilius, had served in the Volscian, Auruncan, and Sabine wars.

Titus Larcius considered that the time had passed for rewarding only men who had served, the whole plebs was overwhelmed with debt, the evil could not be arrested unless there was a measure for universal relief. Any attempt to differentiate between the various classes would only kindle fresh discord instead of allaying it.

Appius Claudius, harsh by nature, and now maddened by the hatred of the plebs on the one hand and the praises of the senate on the other, asserted that these riotous gatherings were not the result of misery but of licence, the plebeians were actuated by wantonness more than by anger.

This was the mischief which had sprung from the right of appeal, for the consuls could only threaten without the power to execute their threats as long as a criminal was allowed to appeal to his fellow criminals.

“Come,” said he, “let us create a Dictator from whom there is no appeal, then this madness which is setting everything on fire will soon die down.

Let me see any one strike a lictor then, when he knows that his back and even his life are in the sole power of the man whose authority he attacks.”

To many the sentiments which Appius uttered seemed cruel and monstrous, as they really were. On the other hand, the proposals of Verginius and Larcius would set a dangerous precedent, that of Larcius at all events, as it would destroy all credit. The advice given by Verginius was regarded as the most moderate, being a middle course between the other two.

But through the strength of his party, and the consideration of personal interests which always have injured and always will injure public policy, Appius won the day.

He was very nearly being himself appointed Dictator, an appointment which would more than anything have alienated the plebians, and that too at a most critical time when the Volscians, the Aequi, and the Sabines were all in arms together.

The consuls and the older patricians, however, took care that a magistracy clothed with such tremendous powers should be entrusted to a man of moderate temper.

They created M. Valerius, the son of Volesus, Dictator. Though the plebeians recognised that it was against them that a Dictator had been created, still, as they held their right of appeal under a law which his brother had passed, they did not fear any harsh or tyrannical treatment from that family.

Their hopes were confirmed by an edict issued by the Dictator, very similar to the one made by Servilius.

That edict had been ineffective, but they thought that more confidence could be placed in the person and power of the Dictator, so, dropping all opposition, they gave in their names for enrolment.

Ten legions, were formed, a larger army than had ever before been assembled. Three of them were assigned to each of the consuls, the Dictator took command of four. The war could no longer be delayed. The Aequi had invaded the Latin territory.

Envoys sent by the Latins asked the senate either to send help or allow them to arm for the purpose of defending their frontier. It was thought safer to defend the unarmed Latins than to allow them to rearm themselves. The consul Vetusius was despatched, and that was the end of the raids.

The Aequi withdrew from the plains, and trusting more to the nature of the country than to their arms, sought safety on the mountain ridges.

The other consul advanced against the Volscians, and to avoid loss of time, he devastated their fields with the object of forcing them to move their camp nearer to his and so bringing on an engagement.

The two armies stood facing each other, in front of their respective lines, on the level space between the camps. The Volscians had considerably the advantage in numbers, and accordingly showed their contempt for their foe by coming on in disorder.

The Roman consul kept his army motionless, forbade their raising an answering shout, and ordered them to stand with their spears fixed in the ground, and when the enemy came to close quarters, to spring forward and make all possible use of their swords. The Volscians, wearied with their running and shouting, threw themselves upon the Romans as upon men benumbed with fear, but when they felt the strength of the counter-attack and saw the swords flashing before them, they retreated in confusion just as if they had been caught in an ambush, and owing to the speed at which they had come into action, they had not even strength to flee.

The Romans, on the other hand, who at the beginning of the battle had remained quietly standing, were fresh and vigorous, and easily overtook the exhausted Volscians, rushed their camp, drove them out, and pursued them as far as Velitrae, victors and vanquished bursting pell-mell into the city.

A greater slaughter of all ranks took place there than in the actual battle; a few who threw down their arms and surrendered received quarter.

Whilst these events were occurring amongst the Volscians, the Dictator, after entering the Sabine territory; where the most serious part of the war lay, defeated and routed the enemy and chased them out of their camp.

A cavalry charge had broken the enemy's centre which, owing to the excessive lengthening of the wings, was weakened by an insufficient depth of files, and while thus disordered the infantry charged them.

In the same charge the camp was captured and the war brought to a close. Since the battle at Lake Regillus no more brilliant action had been fought in those years. The Dictator rode in triumph into the City. In addition to the customary distinctions, a place was assigned in the Circus Maximus to him and to his posterity, from which to view the Games, and the sella curulis was placed there.

After the subjugation of the Volscians, the territory of Velitrae was annexed and a body of Roman citizens was sent out to colonise it. Some time later, an engagement took place with the Aequi. The consul was reluctant to fight as he would have to attack on unfavourable ground, but his soldiers forced him into action.

They accused him of protracting the war in order that the Dictator's term of office might expire before they returned home, in which case his promises would fall to the ground, as those of the consul had previously done.

They compelled him to march his army up the mountain at all hazards; but owing to the cowardice of the enemy this unwise step resulted in success. They were so astounded at the daring of the Romans that before they came within range of their weapons they abandoned their camp, which was in a very strong position, and dashed down into the valley in the rear.

So the victors gained a bloodless victory and ample spoil. Whilst these three wars were thus brought to a successful issue, the course which domestic affairs were taking continued to be a source of anxiety to both the patricians and the plebeians. The moneylenders possessed such influence and had taken such skillful precautions that they rendered the commons and even the Dictator himself powerless.

After the consul Vetusius had returned, Valerius introduced, as the very first business of the senate, the treatment of the men who had been marching to victory, and moved a resolution as to what decision they ought to come to with regard to the debtors.

His motion was negatived, on which he said, “I am not acceptable as an advocate of concord. Depend upon it, you will very soon wish that the Roman plebs had champions like me. As far as I am concerned, I will no longer encourage my fellow-citizens in vain hopes nor will I be Dictator in vain.

Internal dissensions and foreign wars have made this office necessary to the commonwealth; peace has now been secured abroad, at home it is made impossible. I would rather be involved in the revolution as a private citizen than as Dictator.” So saying, he left the House and resigned his dictatorship.

The reason was quite clear to the plebs; he had resigned office because he was indignant at the way they were treated. The non-fulfilment of his pledge was not due to him, they considered that he had practically kept his word and on his way home they followed him with approving cheers.

The senate now began to feel apprehensive lest on the disbandment of the army there should be a recurrence of the secret conclaves and conspiracies. Although the Dictator had actually conducted the enrolment, the soldiers had sworn obedience to the consuls. Regarding them as still bound by their oath, the senate ordered the legions to be marched out of the City on the pretext that war had been recommenced by the Aequi.

This step brought the revolution to a head. It is said that the first idea was to put the consuls to death that the men might be discharged from their oath; then, on learning that no religious obligation could be dissolved by a crime, they decided, at the instigation of a certain Sicinius, to ignore the consuls and withdraw to the Sacred Mount, which lay

on the other side of the Anio, three miles from the City. This is a more generally accepted tradition than the one adopted by Piso that the secession was made to the Aventine.

There, without any commander, in a regularly entrenched camp, taking nothing with them but the necessaries of life, they quietly maintained themselves for some days, neither receiving nor giving any provocation.

A great panic seized the City, mutual distrust led to a state of universal suspense. Those plebeians who had been left by their comrades in the City feared violence from the patricians; the patricians feared the plebeians who still remained in the City, and could not make up their minds whether they would rather have them go or stay.