Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities

§ 6.76.3 For these services what return did you make to us? One that was just and worthy of the dangers to which we had exposed ourselves? No, indeed; far from it! Why, you violated even the promises which you had ordered the consul to make to us in the name of the commonwealth; and this excellent man himself, whom you had basely used to trick us, you deprived of his triumph, though he of all men most deserved that honour, and you attached this disgrace to him for no other reason than because he asked you to perform the act of justice that you had promised and made it clear that he resented your deceit.

§ 6.77.1 “And just recently (for I shall add this one more instance to that part of my discourse which relates to justice before I make an end), when the Aequians, the Sabines, and the Volscians with one accord not only rose against you themselves, but invited others to do likewise, were not you, the proud and stern, obliged to fly to us, the mean and despised, and to promise everything in order to secure your safety at that time? And that you might not seem to be intending to deceive us again, as you had often done before, you made use of Manius Valerius here, the greatest friend of the people, as a cover for your deceit; confiding in whom and believing ourselves in no danger of being imposed upon by a dictator, and least of all by a man who had treated us well, we assisted you in this war also, and having fought not a few battles, and those neither inconsiderable nor obscure, we overcame your enemies.

§ 6.77.2 But, once the war was ended in a most glorious manner and sooner than anyone had expected, you were so far from rejoicing and feeling yourselves under great obligation to the people, that you thought fit to keep us still in arms and under our standards against our will, that you might violate your promises as you had determined from the beginning. Then, when Servilius would not submit to the deceit nor to the dishonour of your action, but brought the standards into the city and sent the forces to their homes, you, making this an excuse for not doing us justice, insulted him and kept not a single one of your promises to us, but at one and the same time committed three most lawless acts, in that you destroyed the prestige of the senate, you ruined the credit of Servilius, and you deprived your benefactors of the recompense that was due to their labours.

§ 6.77.3 Since, therefore, patricians, we have these and many other things of the like nature to allege against you, we do not think fit to have recourse to supplicating and entreating you, nor, like men guilty of heinous crimes, to secure our return by accepting impunity and amnesty. However, we do not feel that we ought to enter into a minute discussion of these grievances at present, since we are met to treat of an agreement, but leaving them to indifference and oblivion, we simply put up with them.

§ 6.78.1 ”But why do you not declare openly the terms of your mission and say plainly what you have come to ask? On the strength of what hopes do you ask us to return to the city? The prospect of what kind of fortune awaiting us are we to take to guide us on the way? The prospect of what cheer or joy that is going to receive us? For we have not as yet heard you promise any act of kindness or of benefit — no honours, no magistracies, no relief of our poverty, nor, in a word, anything else whatever. And yet it is not what you intend to do that you should tell us, but what you have already done, in order that, having already some action before us as an earnest of your goodwill, we may infer that the remaining actions will be of like nature.

§ 6.78.2 I suppose, though, that they will answer to this that they are come with full powers in all matters, so that whatever we can persuade one another to accept is to be valid. Grant this to be so, and let the natural results follow; I offer no objections. But I desire to learn from them what is to happen afterwards, when we have stated the conditions upon which we think fit to return and these conditions have been accepted by them: Who will stand surety to us for the carrying out of the terms?

§ 6.78.3 Trusting to what assurance shall we drop the arms from our hands and put our persons again in the power of these men? Shall we trust to the decrees of the senate that will be drawn up concerning these matters? For surely they have not been drawn up already. And what shall hinder these from being annulled in turn by other decrees, whenever Appius and those of his faction shall think fit? Or shall we trust to the high standing of the envoys who pledge their own good faith? But the senate has already made use of these men to deceive us. Or shall we trust to agreements sworn to by oaths taken in the name of the gods, gaining our assurance from these? But for my part, I am more afraid of this than of any other kind of assurance men can give, because I observe that it is treated contemptuously by those in positions of command, and because I understand, not now for the first time, but as the result of many experiences in the past, that forced agreements made by men desirous of ruling with those who strive to retain their freedom last only as long as the necessity exists which compelled those agreements.

§ 6.78.4 What kind of friendship, therefore, and good faith is that under which we shall be obliged to court one another against our will while we each are watching for our own opportunities? And after this will come suspicions and continual accusations of one another, jealousies and hatreds and every other kind of evil, and a constant struggle to see which of us shall first effect the destruction of his adversary, each believing that in delay lies disaster.

§ 6.79.1 “There is no greater evil, as all are aware, than civil war, in which the conquered are unfortunate and the conquerors are unjust, and it is the fate of the former to be destroyed by their dearest ones, and of the latter to destroy those who are dearest to them. To such misfortunes and to such abhorred calamities do not summon us, patricians, nor let us, plebeians, answer their summons, but let us acquiesce in the fate which has separated us. No, let them have the whole city to themselves and enjoy it without us, and let them reap alone every other advantage after they have driven the humble and obscure plebeians from the fatherland. As for us, let us depart whithersoever Heaven shall conduct us, feeling that we are leaving an alien place and not our own city.

§ 6.79.2 For there remains to none of us here either an allotment of land, or an ancestral hearth, or common sacrifices, or any position of dignity, such as one would possess in one's fatherland, the desire for which things might induce us to cling to this country even against our will; nay we have not even the liberty of our own persons which we have purchased with many hardships. For some of these advantages have been destroyed by the many wars, some have been consumed by the scarcity of the necessaries of daily life, and of others we have been robbed by these haughty money-lenders, for whom we poor wretches are at last obliged to till our own allotments, digging, planting, ploughing, tending flocks, and becoming fellow-slaves with our own slaves taken by us in war, some of us being bound with chains, some with fetters, and others, like the most savage of wild beasts, dragging wooden clogs and iron balls.

§ 6.79.3 I same nothing of the tortures and insults, the stripes, the labours from dawn till dark, and every other cruelty, violence, and insolence that we have undergone. Accordingly, now that we are freed by Heaven from so many and great evils, let us gladly fly from them with all the eagerness and ability each of us possesses, taking as the guides of our journey Fortune and the god who ever preserve us, and looking upon our liberty as our country and our valour as our wealth. For any land will receive us as partners, since we shall be no cause of offence in any case to those who receive us, and in some cases shall actually be of service.

§ 6.80.1 ”Of this let many Greeks and many barbarians serve us as examples, particularly the ancestors of both these men and ourselves; some of whom, leaving Asia with Aeneas, came into Europe and built a city in the country of the Latins, and others, coming as colonists from Alba under the leadership of Romulus, built in these parts the city we are now leaving.

§ 6.80.2 We have with us forces not merely a left larger than they had, but actually three times their number, and a more just cause for removing. For those who removed from Troy were driven out by enemies, but we are driven hence by friends; and it is a more pitiable experience doubtless to be expelled by one's own people than by foreigners.

§ 6.80.3 Those who took part in the expedition of Romulus scorned the country of their ancestors in the hope of acquiring a better; but we, who are abandoning the life which had for us no city and no hearth, are going forth as a colony that will be neither hateful to the gods nor troublesome to men nor grievous to any country, and moreover we have not inflicted blood-shed and slaughter upon the kinsmen who are driving us forth, nor have we laid waste with fire and sword the country we are leaving, nor left behind any other memorial of an everlasting hatred, as is the usual practice of people who are driven into exile in violation of treaties and reduced to unenviable straits.

§ 6.80.4 And calling to witness the gods and other divinities who direct all human affairs with justice, and leaving it to them to avenge our wrongs, we make but this one request, that those of us who have left in the city infant children and parents, and wives, in case these shall be willing to share our fortunes, may get them back. We are satisfied to receive these, and we ask for naught else besides from our fatherland. But fare you well and lead the life you choose, you who are so unwilling to associate as fellow-citizens and to share your blessings with those of humbler estate."

§ 6.81.1 With these words Brutus ended his speech. All who were present regarded as true everything he said about principles of justice, as also the charges he made respecting the arrogance of the senate, but particularly what he said to show that the assurance offered for the performance of the agreement was full of fraud and deceit. But when at the last he described the abuses which the people had suffered at the hands of the money-lenders, and put every man in mind of his own misfortunes, no one was so stout of heart as not to be melted away by tears and to bewail their common calamities. And not only the people were affected in this manner, but likewise those who had come from the senate; for even the envoys could not restrain their tears when they considered the misfortunes that had arisen from the breaking up of the city, and for a long time they stood with eyes downcast and full of tears, and at a loss what to say.

§ 6.81.2 But after this great lamentation had ceased and silence fell upon the assembly, there came forward to answer these accusations a man who seemed to excel the rest of the citizens in both age and rank. This was Titus Larcius, who had twice been chosen consul and had of all men made the best use of the power called the dictatorship, causing that invidious magistracy to be looked upon as sacred and worthy of all respect.

§ 6.81.3 He, undertaking to speak to the point of justice, now censured the money-lenders for having acted with cruelty and inhumanity, and now reproached the poor for unjustly demanding to be relieved of their debts through violence rather than as a favour, and told them they were in the wrong to direct their anger against the senate for their failure to obtain any reasonable concession from that body, instead of against those who were really to blame,

§ 6.81.4 He also endeavoured to show that, while there was a small part of the people whose offence was involuntary and who were forced by their extreme poverty to demand the remission of their debts, yet the greater part of them were abandoned to licence and insolence and a life of pleasure, and were prepared to gratify their desires by robbing others; and he thought a difference ought to be made between the unfortunate and the depraved, and between those who needed kindness and those who deserved hatred. And though he advanced other arguments of this kind, which, while true enough, were not pleasing to all his hearers, he could not persuade them; but everything he said was received with a great murmur, some being indignant at his opening their griefs afresh, and others owning that he concealed no part of the truth; but the latter group was much smaller than the other, so that it was drowned out by numbers, and the clamour of the indignant group prevailed.

§ 6.82.1 After Larcius had added a few more remarks to those I have reported and had reproached the people for their uprising and the precipitancy of their resolutions, Sicinius, who was then at the head of the populace, replied and inflamed their passions still more, saying that from these words of Larcius in particular they might learn what honours and gratitude would await them when they returned to their country.

§ 6.82.2 “For if to those who are in the direst straits, who are imploring the assistance of the people, come hither for that purpose, it does not occur even now to speak words of moderation and humanity, what sentiments must we expect them to entertain when things have succeeded according to their wishes, and when those who are now insulted by their words become subject to their deeds? From what arrogance, from what abusive treatment, from what tyrannical cruelty will they refrain?

§ 6.82.3 But if you are contented to be slaves all your lives, to be bound, scourged, and destroyed by fire, sword, famine, and every other abuse, don't waste any time, but throw down your arms, offer your hands to be bound behind you, and follow them. But if you have any craving for liberty, do not bear with them. And as for you, envoys, either state the terms upon which you summon us or, if you will not do so, withdraw from the assembly. For after this we shall not give you leave to speak.”

§ 6.83.1 When he had ceased speaking, all present shouted uproariously, showing that they approved of his reasoning and agreed with him. Then, when silence prevailed, Menenius Agrippa, he who had delivered the speech in the senate in behalf of the people and had, more than any other, brought about, by the motion he had offered, the sending of the envoys clothed with full powers, signified that he too wished to speak. The people looked upon this as the best thing they could ask, and now at least expected to hear proposals tending to a sincere accommodation and advice salutary to both parties.

§ 6.83.2 And first they all roared their approval, calling to him with a great shout to speak; then they became quiet, and so great silence prevailed in the assembly that the place was as hushed as a desert. He seemed to employ in general the most persuasive arguments possible and those which gauged well the inclinations of his audience; and at the end of his speech he is said to have related a kind of fable that he composed after the manner of Aesop and that bore a close resemblance to the situation of the moment, and by this means chiefly to have won them over. For this reason his speech is thought worthy of record and it is quoted in all the ancient histories. His discourse was as follows:

§ 6.83.3 “We have been sent to you by the senate, plebeians, neither to excuse them nor to accuse you (for neither of these courses seemed to be opportune or suited to the conditions now disturbing the commonwealth), but to use every effort and every means to put an end to the sedition and to restore the government to its original form; and for that purpose we are invested with full powers. So that we do not think it at all necessary to discourse at great length, as Junius here has done, concerning principles of justice; but as regards the humane terms on which we think we ought to put an end to the sedition, and the assurance you shall have for the performance of our agreement, we shall tell you the decisions to which we have come.

§ 6.83.4 When we considered that every sedition in any state is cured only when the causes that produced the disagreement are removed, we thought it necessary both to discover and to put an end to the primary causes of this dissension. And having found that the harsh exactions of debts have been the cause of the present ills, we are reforming those exactions as follows: We think it just that all those who have contracted debts and are unable to pay them should be relieved of their obligations; and if the persons of any who are default in their payments are already held under restraint by the limit for payment prescribed by law, it is our decision that these also shall be free. As for those who have been convicted in private suits and handed over to the creditors who won their suits against them, it is our wish that these also shall be free, and we set aside their sentences.

§ 6.83.5 With regard to your debts of the past, therefore, which seemed to us to have led to your secession, we redress them in this manner; as to your future debts, whatever shall be approved of both by you, the people, and by the senate in joint consultation, after a law has been passed for that purpose, let it be so ordered. Are not these the things, plebeians, that divided you from the patricians? And did you not think it enough if you obtained these, without aiming at anything else? They are now granted to you. Return, then, to your country with joy.

§ 6.84.1 ”The assurances which shall confirm this agreement and secure to you the performance of it shall all be according to law and conformable to the practice of those who put an end to their enmities. The senate will confirm these arrangements by a vote and give the force of law to the conditions that shall be drawn up, But rather let your demands be drawn up by you here, and the senate will agree to them.

§ 6.84.2 That the concessions now made to you will stand firm and unchanged and that nothing contrary to them shall be carried out later by the senate, first, we envoys are your sureties, giving you our persons, our lives, and our families as pledges; and in the next place, all the other senators who shall be named in the decree. For no decree will ever be drawn up contrary to the interests of the people so long as we oppose it, since we are the leading members of the senate and always deliver our opinions first.

§ 6.84.3 The last assurance we shall give you is that in use among all men, both Greeks and barbarians, which no lapse of time shall ever overthrow, namely, the one which through oaths and treaties makes the gods sureties for the performance of agreements. Under this assurance many bitter enmities between private individuals and many wars that have arisen between states have been composed. Come now, accept this assurance also, whether you permit a few of the principal members of the senate to give your their oaths in the name of their whole body, or think fit that all the senators who are named in the decree shall swear over the sacrificial victims to maintain the agreement inviolable.

§ 6.84.4 Do not traduce, Brutus, assurances given under the sanction of the gods and confirmed by the pledging of hands and by treaties, nor destroy the noblest of all human institutions; and as for you, plebeians, do not permit him to mention the wicked deeds of impious and tyrannical men, deeds far removed from the virtue of the Romans.

§ 6.85.1 “I shall mention one other assurance which no man fails to know or questions, and then have done. And what is that? It is the assurance that introduces the common advantage and preserves both parts of the state through their mutual assistance. This, after all, is the first and only assurance that draws us together, and it will never permit us to be sundered from each other. For the ignorant multitude will always need and never cease to need prudent leadership, while the senate, which is capable of leadership, will always need multitudes willing to be ruled. This we know, not merely as a matter of opinion and conjecture, but also by actual experience.

§ 6.85.2 Why, then, do we terrify and trouble one another? Why do we speak evil words when we have kindly deeds in our power? Why do we not rather open our arms and, embracing one another, return to our country to find there our old-time enjoyment of the dearest pleasures and the satisfaction of a yearning that is sweetest of all, instead of seeking securities that come to naught and faithless assurances, as do the deadliest foes who suspect the worst of everything? As for us of the senate, plebeians, one assurance suffices, that you will never, if you return, behave yourselves badly toward us, and that is the knowledge we have of your excellent rearing, of your law-abiding habits, and of all your other virtues, of which you have given many proofs both in peace and in war.

§ 6.85.3 And if, in consequence of the need of assurance and hope, the contracts should be revised by us jointly, we are confident that in all other respects at least you will be good citizens, and we have no need of either oaths or hostages or any other assurances from the people. However, we shall oppose you in nothing you desire. Concerning the matter of assurances, then, upon which subject Brutus endeavoured to malign us, this is enough. But if any groundless hatred is implanted in your minds, causing you to entertain a bad opinion of the senate, I desire to speak to that point also, plebeians, and I beg of you in the name of the gods to hear me with silence and attention.

§ 6.86.1 ”A commonwealth resembles in some measure a human body. For each of them is composite and consists of many parts; and no one of their parts either has the same function or performs the same service as the others.

§ 6.86.2 If, now, these parts of the human body should be endowed, each for itself, with perception and a voice of its own and a sedition should then arise among them, all of them uniting against the belly alone, and the feet should say that the whole body rests on them; the hands, that they ply the crafts, secure provisions, fight with enemies, and contribute many other advantages toward the common good; the shoulders, that they bear all the burdens; the mouth, that it speaks; the head, that it sees and hears and, comprehending the other senses, possesses all those by which the thing is preserved; and then all these should say to the belly,'And you, good creature, which of these things do you do? What return do you make and of what use are you to us? Indeed, you are so far from doing anything for us or assisting us in accomplishing anything useful for the common good that you are actually a hindrance and a trouble to us and — a thing intolerable — compel us to serve you and to bring things to you from everywhere for the gratification of your desires.

§ 6.86.3 Come now, why do we not assert our liberty and free ourselves from the many troubles we undergo for the sake of this creature?' If, I say, they should decide upon this course and none of the parts should any longer perform its office, could the body possibly exist for any considerable time, and not rather be destroyed within a few days by the worst of all deaths, starvation No one can deny it. Now consider the same condition existing in a commonwealth.

§ 6.86.4 For this also is composed of many classes of people not at all resembling one another, every one of which contributes some particular service to the common good, just as its members do to the body. For some cultivate the fields, some fight against the enemy in defence of those fields, others carry on much useful trade by sea, and still others ply the necessary crafts. If, then, all these different classes of people should rise against the senate, which is composed of the best men, and say,'As for you, senate, what good do you do us, and for what reason do you presume to rule over others? Not a thing can you name. Well then, shall we not now at last free ourselves from this tyranny of yours and live without a leader?'

§ 6.86.5 If, I say, they should take this resolution and quit their usual employments, what will hinder this miserable commonwealth from perishing miserably by famine, war and every other evil? Learn, therefore, plebeians, that just as in our bodies the belly thus evilly reviled by the multitude nourishes the body even while it is itself nourished, and preserves it while it is preserved itself, and is a kind of feast, as it were, provided by joint contributions, which as a result of the exchange duly distributes that which is beneficial to each and all, so in commonwealths the senate, which administers the affairs of the public and provides what is expedient for everyone, preserves, guards, and corrects all things. Cease, then, uttering those invidious remarks about the senate, to the effect that you have been driven out of your country by it and that because of it you wander about like vagabonds and beggars. For it neither has done you any harm nor can do you any, but of its own accord calls you and entreats you, and opening all hearts together with the gates, is waiting to welcome you."

§ 6.87.1 While Menenius was thus speaking, many and various were the cries uttered by the audience throughout his whole speech. But when at the close of it he had recourse to lamentations, and enumerating the calamities that would befall both those who remained in the city and those who were driven out of it, bewailed the misfortunes of both, tears flowed from the eyes of all and they cried out to him with one mind and voice to lead them back to the city without waste of time. And they came very near quitting the assembly that moment and entrusting all their affairs to the envoys without settling anything else relating to their security. But Brutus, coming forward, restrained their eagerness, saying that, while in general the promises made by the senate were advantageous to the people and he thought it very proper that the latter should feel very grateful to them for those concessions, he nevertheless feared the time to come and the tyrannical men who might one day if occasion offered, again attempt to make the people feel their resentment for what they had done.

§ 6.87.2 There was one safeguard only, he said, any who were afraid of their superiors, and that was for them to be convinced that those who desired to injure them had not the power to do so; for as long as there was the power to do evil, evil men would never lack the will. If, therefore, the plebeians could obtain this safeguard, they would need nothing more.

§ 6.87.3 And Menenius, having replied and asked him to name the safeguard he thought the people still needed, he said: “Give us leave to choose out of our own body every year a certain number of magistrates who shall be invested with no other power than to relieve those plebeians to whom any injury or violence is offered, and to permit none of them to be deprived of their rights. This favour we entreat and beg you to add to those you have already granted us, if our accommodation is not one in word only, but a reality.”

§ 6.88.1 When the people heard these words, they cheered Brutus loud and long, and asked the envoys to grant them this also. These, having withdrawn from the assembly and conferred briefly, returned after a short time. And when silence prevailed, Menenius came forward and said: “This is a matter of great moment, plebeians, and one full of strange suspicions, and we feel some alarm and concern lest we shall form two states in one. However, so far as we ourselves are concerned, we do not oppose even this request of yours.

§ 6.88.2 But grant us this privilege, which is also for your own interest. Allow some of the envoys to go to the city and inform the senate of these matters; for even though we have the power from them to conclude the accommodation in such a manner as we think fit and may at our own discretion make such promises in their name as we please, yet we do not think proper to take this upon ourselves, but since a new matter has been unexpectedly proposed to us, we will divest ourselves of our own power and refer the matter to the senate. However, we are persuaded that the senate will be of the same opinion as we are. I, therefore, will remain here together with some of the other envoys, and Valerius with the rest shall go to the senate.”

§ 6.88.3 This was agreed upon, and the persons appointed to inform the senate of what had happened took horse and rode in all haste to Rome. When the consuls had proposed the matter to the senators, Valerius expressed the opinion that this favour also should be granted to the people. On the other hand, Appius, who from the first had opposed the accommodation, spoke openly in opposition on this occasion also, crying out, calling the gods to witness, and foretelling what seeds of future evils to the commonwealth they were about to sow. But he was not able to prevail with the majority of the senate, who, as I said, were determined to put an end to the sedition. Accordingly, a decree of the senate was passed confirming all the promises made by the envoys to the people and granting the safeguard they desired.

§ 6.88.4 The envoys, having transacted this business, returned to the camp the next day and made known the decision of the senate. Thereupon Menenius advised the plebeians to send some persons to receive the pledges which the senate was to give; and pursuant to this, Lucius Junius Brutus, whom I mentioned before, was sent, and with him Marcus Decius and Spurius Icilius. Of the envoys who had come from the senate one half returned to the city with Brutus and his associates; but Agrippa with the rest remained in the camp, having been asked by the plebeians to draw up the law for the creation of their magistrates.

§ 6.89.1 The next day Brutus and those who had been sent with him returned, having effected the agreement with the senate through the arbiters of peace who are called by the Romans fetiales. And the people, dividing themselves into the clans of that day, or whatever one wishes to term the divisions which the Romans call curiae, chose for their annual magistrates the following persons: Lucius Junius Brutus and Gaius Sicinius Bellutus, whom they had had as their leaders up to that time, and, in addition to these, Gaius and Publius Licinius and Gaius Visellius Ruga.

§ 6.89.2 These five persons were the first who received the tribunician power, on the fourth day before the ides of December, as is the custom even to our time. The election being over, the envoys of the senate considered that everything for which they had been sent was now properly settled. But Brutus, calling the plebeians together, advised them to render this magistracy sacred and inviolable, insuring its security by both a law and an oath.

§ 6.89.3 This was approved of by all, and a law was drawn up by him and his colleagues, as follows: “Let no one compel a tribune of the people, as if he were an ordinary person, to do anything against his will; let no one whip him or order another to whip him; and let no one kill him or order another to kill him. If anybody shall do any one of these things that are forbidden, let him be accursed and let his goods be consecrated to Ceres; and if anybody shall kill one who has done any of these things, let him be guiltless of murder.”

§ 6.89.4 And to the end that the people might not even in future be at liberty to repeal this law, but that it might forever remain unalterable, it was ordained that all the Romans should solemnly swear over the sacrificial victims to observe it for all time, both they and their posterity; and a prayer was added to the oath that the heavenly gods and the divinities of the lower world might be propitious to those who observed it, and that the displeasure of the gods and divinities might be visited upon those who violated it, as being guilty of the greatest sacrilege. From this the custom arose among the Romans of regarding the persons of the tribunes of the people as sacrosanct, which custom continues to this day.

§ 6.90.1 After they had passed this vote they erected an altar upon the summit of the mount where they had encamped, which they named in their own language the altar of Jupiter the Terrifier, from the terror which had possessed them at that time; and when they had performed sacrifices to this god and had consecrated the place which had received them, they returned to the city with the envoys.

§ 6.90.2 After this they also returned thanks to the gods worshipped in the city, and prevailed upon the patricians to pass a vote for the confirmation of their new magistracy. And having obtained this also, they asked further that the senate should allow them to appoint every year two plebeians to act as assistants to the tribunes in everything the latter should require, to decide such causes as the others should refer to them, to have the oversight of public places, both sacred and profane, and to see that the market was supplied with plenty of provisions.

§ 6.90.3 Having obtained this concession also from the senate, they chose men whom they called assistants and colleagues of the tribunes, and judges. Now, however, they are called in their own language, from one of their functions, overseers of sacred places or aediles, and their power is no longer subordinate to that of other magistrates, as formerly; but many affairs of great importance are entrusted to them, and in most respects they resemble more or less the agoranomoi or “market-overseers” among the Greeks.

§ 6.91.1 When affairs had been settled and the commonwealth restored to its former state, an army was raised by the generals against their foreign foes, as the people now displayed great alacrity and in a short time got everything ready that was necessary for the war. The consuls having drawn lots for their official duties according to custom, Spurius Cassius, to whom the oversight of affairs in the city fell, remained at home, retaining a sufficient part of the forces which had been raised, while Postumus Cominius took the field with the rest of the army, consisting of not only an adequate part of the Romans themselves but also no small auxiliary force of Latins.

§ 6.91.2 And deciding to attack the Volscians first, he took a city of theirs called Longula at the first assault, though the inhabitants undertook to make some show of bravery and sent some forces into the field in hopes of holding back the enemy; but these were put to shameful flight before they had performed any brilliant action and did not display the least courage even during the assault on their walls. At all events the Romans in one day not only possessed themselves of their country without effort, but also took their city by storm without much difficulty.

§ 6.91.3 The Roman general permitted the soldiers to divide all the goods left in the city, and then, leaving a garrison there, led his army against another city of the Volscians called Polusca, not far distant from Longula. When none dared to oppose him, he marched through the country with great ease and assaulted the walls; and then, some of the soldiers forcing open the gates and others scaling the walls, they made themselves masters of this city also that same day.

§ 6.91.4 After the consul had taken the city he chose out a few of the inhabitants who had been the authors of the revolt and put them to death; and having punished the rest by taking away their effects and disarmed them, he obliged them to be subjects of the Romans for the future.

§ 6.92.1 He left in this city also a small part of the army as a garrison, and the next day marched with the rest to Corioli, a city of very great note and the mother-city, so to speak, of the Volscians. Here a strong force had been assembled, the walls were not easy to be taken, and everything necessary for war had been prepared long before by the inhabitants. The consul undertook to storm the walls and persisted in his efforts till late in the afternoon, but was repulsed by the enemy after he had lost many of his men.

§ 6.92.2 The next day he got ready battering rams, mantlets, and scaling-ladders and was preparing to make an attempt against the city with his entire forces; but learning that the Antiates were planning to come with a large force to the assistance of the Coriolani because of their kinship with them, and that those chosen to make the expedition were already upon the march, he divided his army and determined to continue the assault on the city with one half of it, leaving Titus Larcius in command, with the other half to stop the advance of the approaching force.

§ 6.92.3 Thus two actions took place on the same day, and the Romans gained the victory in both, as all of them fought with great ardour and one man in particular displayed incredible bravery and performed deeds that beggar description. This man was of patrician rank and of no obscure lineage, Gaius Marcius by name; he was sober and restrained in his private life and had the spirit of a freeman in full measure. The circumstances of the two actions were as follows: Larcius, having marched out of the camp with his army at break of day, advanced to the walls of Corioli and assault the city in many places. The Coriolani, for their part, elated by their expectation of aid from the Antiates, which they were convinced would son reach them, opened all their gates and made a general sally against the enemy.

§ 6.92.4 The Romans sustained their first attack and wounded many of those who engaged them, but later, as the number of the assailants increased, they were forced down hill and gave way. Marcius, whom I mentioned before, upon seeing this, stood his ground with a few followers and awaited the solid mass of the enemy as they attacked. When he had struck down many of them and the rest gave way and fled toward the city, he followed, slaying, one after another, all who came within reach, and calling out without intermission to those of his own men who fled to face about, to take courage, and to follow him.

§ 6.92.5 These, ashamed of their behaviour, rallied and pressed hard upon their opponents, smiting and pursuing them; and in a short time they had all routed their antagonists and were attacking the walls of the city. Marcius, exposing himself now with greater boldness, kept advancing farther and farther, and coming to the very gates, entered along with those who were fleeing inside the walls. And when many others also forced their way inside with him, there ensued a great slaughter on both sides in many parts of the city, some fighting in the streets and others in defence of the houses that were being taken.

§ 6.92.6 Even women assisted the inhabitants in their struggle by hurling down tiles upon the enemy from the roofs; and everyone according to his strength and power bravely defended his native city. However, they did not hold out long against these perils, but were obliged to surrender to the conquers. The city having been taken in this manner, most of the Romans turned to plundering the property found there, and continued for a long time intent on the booty, as there was a large quantity of money and a great number of slaves in the place.

§ 6.93.1 But Marcius, who had been the first and only man to sustain the shock of the enemy and had distinguished himself above all the Romans both in the storming of the city and in the struggles which took place inside the walls, gained greater distinction in the second battle, which was fought against the Antiates. For he resolved not to be absent from this action either, but as soon as the city was captured, he took with him the small number of men who were able to follow him, and advancing at a run, found the two armies already drawn up and on the point of engaging. He was the first to inform the Romans of the capture of the city, and as a proof of it showed them the smoke which was rising in great volume from the houses that had been set on fire. And having obtained leave of the consul, he drew up his men in a compact body opposite the strongest force of the enemy.

§ 6.93.2 As soon as the battle signals were raised, he was the first to come to grips with his opponents, and having killed many of those he encountered, he forced his way into the midst of their ranks. The Antiates no longer ventured to engaged him hand to hand, but leaving their ranks where he attacked, they surrounded him in a body, and retreating as he advanced and pursued them, they assailed him with their missiles. Postumus, being informed of this and fearing lest the man, thus isolated, might meet with some disaster, sent the bravest of the youth to his relief. These, doubling their files, charged the enemy; and when the first line failed to sustain their charge, but turned to flight, they pressed forward and found Marcius covered with wounds and saw many lying round him, some dead and others dying.

§ 6.93.3 Thereupon they advanced together under Marcius as leader against those of the enemy who still kept their ranks, killing all who made any resistance and treating them like slaves. Though all the Romans displayed notable valour in this action, and the bravest of them were those who defended Marcius, yet brave beyond all the rest was Marcius himself, who was without any doubt the chief cause of the victory. When at last it grew dark, the Romans retired to their camp greatly exulting in their victory, having killed many of the Antiates and carrying with them a great number of prisoners.

§ 6.94.1 The next day Postumus, having assembled the army, spoke at length in praise of Marcius and crowned him with the crowns of valour, as rewards for his behaviour in both the actions. He also presented him with a war- horse adorned with the trappings belonging to that of a general, together with ten captives, leaving it to him to take such as he wished, and also as much silver as he could carry away himself, and many other fine first-fruits of the booty.

§ 6.94.2 When all raised a great shout in token of their approval and congratulation, Marcius came forward and said that he was very grateful both to the consul and to all the others for the honours of which they held him worthy; however, he would not avail himself of them all, but would be content with the horse, for the sake of the splendid trappings, and with one captive, who chanced to be a personal friend of his. The soldiers, who even before this had admired the man for his valour, now marvelled at him still more for his contempt of riches and for his moderation in such good fortune. From this action he was surnamed Coriolanus and became the most illustrious man of his age.

§ 6.94.3 Such having been the outcome of the battle with the Antiates, the rest of the Volscian cities proceeded to give up their hostility to the Romans; and all who had sympathized with them, both those already in arms and those making their preparations for war, refrained. Postumus treated them all with moderation, and then, returning home, disbanded the army. Cassius, the other consul, who had been left at Rome, in the mean time consecrated the temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera, which stands at the end of the Circus Maximus, being erected directly above the starting-places. Aulus Postumius the dictator had made a vow, when he was on the point of engaging the army of the Latins, to dedicate it to the gods in the name of the commonwealth, and the senate after the victory having decreed that this temple should be built entirely out of the spoils, the work was now completed.

§ 6.95.1 At the same time, a new treaty of peace and friendship was made with all the Latin cities, and confirmed by oaths, inasmuch as they had not attempted to create any disturbance during the sedition, had openly rejoiced at the return of the populace, and seemed to have been prompt in assisting the Romans against those who had revolted from them.

§ 6.95.2 The provisions of the treaty were as follows: “Let there be peace between the Romans and all the Latin cities as long as the heavens and the earth shall remain where they are. Let them neither make war upon another themselves nor bring in foreign enemies nor grant a safe passage to those who shall make war upon either. Let them assist one another, when warred upon, with all their forces, and let each have an equal share of the spoils and booty taken in their common wars. Let suits relating to private contracts be determined within ten days, and in the nation where the contract was made. And let it not be permitted to add anything to, or take anything away from these treaties except by the consent both of the Romans and of all the Latins.” 3 This was the treaty entered into by the Romans and the Latins and confirmed by their oaths sworn over the sacrificial victims. The senate also voted to offer sacrifices to the gods in thanksgiving for their reconciliation with the populace, and added one day to the Latin Festival, as it was called, which previously had been celebrated for two days. The first day had been set apart as holy by Tarquinius when he conquered the Tyrrhenians; the second the people added after they had freed the commonwealth by the expulsion of the kings; and to these the third was now added because of the return of the seceders. 4 The superintendence and oversight of the sacrifices and games performed during this festival was committed to the tribunes' assistants, who held, as I said, the magistracy now called the aedileship; and they were honoured by the senate with a purple robe, an ivory chair, and the other insignia that the kings had had.

§ 6.96.1 Not long after this festival Menenius Agrippa, one of the ex-consuls, died. It was he who had overcome the Sabines and had celebrated a most notable triumph for that victory; and it was through his persuasion that the senate had allowed the seceders to return and that the populace, because of their confidence in him, had given up their arms. He was buried at the expense of the public and his funeral was the most honourable and the most splendid that has fallen to any man. His estate, it seems, was not sufficient to defray the expense of a magnificent funeral and burial, so that even the guardians of his children resolved after consultation to carry him out of the city and bury him like any ordinary person at little expense.

§ 6.96.2 This, however, the people would not permit; but the tribunes, having assembled them and paid lengthy tributes to the achievements of Agrippa in both war and peace, lauding to the highest degree his moderation and his frugal manner of life, and, above all, his refraining from amassing riches, said it would be the most dishonourable thing imaginable that such a man should be buried in an obscure and humble manner by reason of his poverty; and they advised the people to take the expense of his funeral upon themselves and every man to contribute towards it such an amount as they, the tribunes, should assess.

§ 6.96.3 His audience gladly heard this proposal, and when each man had presently contributed the amount he was assessed, a large sum was collected. The senate, being informed of this, was ashamed of the business and resolved not to allow the most illustrious of all the Romans to be buried by private contributions, but thought it fitting that the expense should be defrayed from the public funds; and it entrusted the care of the matter to the quaestors. These let the contract for the furnishing of his funeral for a very large sum of money; and having arrayed his body in the most sumptuous manner, and furnished everything else that could tend to magnificence, they buried him in a manner worthy of his virtue.

§ 6.96.4 Thereupon the people, in emulation of the senate, refused on their part to receive back the sum they had contributed, when the quaestors offered to return it, but presented it to the children of the deceased in compassion for their poverty and to prevent them from engaging in any pursuits unworthy of their father's virtue. There was also a census taken at this time by the consuls, according to which the number of the citizens who registered was found to amount to more than 110,000. These were the acts of the Romans in this consulship.

§ 7.1.1 BOOK 7 After Titus Geganius Macerinus and Publius Minucius had entered upon their consulship, Rome suffered from a great scarcity of corn, which had its origin in the secession. For the populace seceded from the patricians after the autumnal equinox, just about the beginning of seed-time, and the husbandmen left their farms at the time of this uprising and divided, the more prosperous joining the patricians, while the labourers went over to the plebeians; and from that time the two classes remained aloof from each other till the commonwealth was composed and reunited, the reconciliation being effected not long before the winter solstice.

§ 7.1.2 During that interval, which is the season in which all pointing of corn is best done, the land was destitute of people to cultivate it, and remained so for a long time. So that even when the husbandmen returned, it was no longer easy for them to bring it back under cultivation, inasmuch as it had suffered both from the desertion of slaves and the loss of animals with which they were to cultivate it, and as few of the husbandmen had any store of grain on hand for the next year for either seed or food.

§ 7.1.3 The senate, being informed of this, sent ambassadors to the Tyrrhenians and to the Campanians and also to the Pomptine plain, as it is called, to buy up all the corn they could, while Publius Valerius and Lucius Geganius were sent to Sicily; Valerius was a son of Publicola, and Geganius was brother to one of the consuls.

§ 7.1.4 Tyrants ruled in the various cities at that time, and the most illustrious was Gelon, the son of Deinomenes, who had lately succeeded to the tyranny of Hippocrates, — not Dionysius of Syracuse, as Licinius and Gellius and many others of the Roman historians have stated, without having made any careful investigation of the dates involved, as the facts show of themselves, but rashly relating the first account that offered itself.

§ 7.1.5 For the embassy appointed to go to Sicily set sail in the second year of the seventy-second Olympiad [491 BCE], when Hybrilides was archon at Athens, seventeen years after the expulsion of the kings, as these and almost all the other historians agree; whereas Dionysius the Elder, having made an uprising against the Syracusans in the eighty-fifth year after this, possessed himself of the tyranny in the third year of the ninety-third Olympiad [406 BCE], Callias, the successor of Antigenes, being then archon at Athens.

§ 7.1.6 Now an error of a few years in their dates might be allowed to historians who are composing works dealing with ancient events extending over many years, but a deviation from the truth by two or three generations would not be permissible. But it is probable that the first writer to record this event in his annals — whom all the rest then followed — finding in the ancient records only this, that ambassadors were sent under these consuls to Sicily to buy corn and returned from thence with the present of corn which the tyrant had given them, did not proceed further to discover from the Greek historians who was tyrant of Sicily at that time, but without examination and at random set down Dionysius.

§ 7.2.1 The ambassadors who were sailing to Sicily, having met with a storm at sea and being obliged to sail round the island, were a long time in reaching the tyrant; then, after spending the winter season there, they returned to Italy in the summer bringing with them a great quantity of provisions.

§ 7.2.2 But those who had been sent to the Pomptine plain came very near being put to death by the Volscians as spies, the Roman exiles having accused them of being such. And having with very great difficulty been able to escape with their lives, through the zealous efforts of their personal friends there, they returned to Rome without their funds and without having effected anything.

§ 7.2.3 The same fate happened to those who went to Cumae. For many Roman exiles who had escaped with Tarquinius from the last battle, and were now residing in that city, at first endeavoured to prevail upon the tyrant to deliver up the ambassadors to them to be put to death; and when they failed to gain this request, they asked that they might detain their persons as pledges till they should receive from the city that had sent them their own fortunes, which they declared had been unjustly confiscated by the Romans; and they thought it proper that the tyrant should be the judge of their cause.

§ 7.2.4 The tyrant of Cumae at that time was Aristodemus, the son of Aristocrates, a man of no obscure birth, who was called by the citizens Malacus or “Effeminate” — a nickname which in time came to be better known than his own name — either because when a boy he was effeminate and allowed himself to be treated as a woman, as some relate, or because he was of a mild nature and slow to anger, as others state.

§ 7.2.5 It seems to me that it is not out of place to interrupt my account of Roman affairs at this point for a short time in order to relate briefly what opportunities he had to seek the tyranny, by what methods he attained to it, how he conducted the government, and to what end he came.

§ 7.3.1 In the sixty-fourth Olympiad, when Miltiades was archon at Athens, the Tyrrhenians who had inhabited the country lying near the Ionian Sea, but had been driven from thence in the course of time by the Gauls, joined themselves to the Umbrians, Daunians, and many other barbarians, and undertook to overthrow Cumae, the Greek city in the country of the Opicans founded by Eretrians and Chalcidians, though they could allege no other just ground for their animosity than the prosperity of the city.

§ 7.3.2 For Cumae was at that time celebrated throughout all Italy for its riches, power, and all the other advantages, as it possessed the most fertile part of the Campanian plain and was mistress of the most convenient havens round about Misenum. The barbarians, accordingly, forming designs upon these advantages, marched against this city with an army consisting of no less than 500,000 foot and 18,000 horse. While they lay encamped not far from the city, a remarkable prodigy appeared to them, the like of which is not recorded as ever having happened anywhere in either the Greek or the barbarian world.

§ 7.3.3 The rivers, namely, which ran near their camp, one of which is called the Volturnus and the other the Glanis, abandoning their natural course, turned their streams backwards and for a long time continued to run up from their mouths toward their sources.

§ 7.3.4 The Cumaeans, being informed of this prodigy, were then at last encouraged to engage with the barbarians, in the assurance that Heaven designed to bring low the lofty eminence of their foes and to raise their own fortunes, which seemed at low ebb. And having divided all their youth into three bodies, with one of these they defended the city, with another they guarded their ships, and the third they drew up before the walls to await the enemy's attack. These consisted of 600 horse and of 4500 foot. And though so few in number, they sustained the attack of so many myriads.

§ 7.4.1 When the barbarians learned that they were ready to fight, they uttered their war-cry and came to close quarters, in the barbarian fashion, without any order, the horse and the foot intermingled, in the expectation of utterly annihilating them. The place before the city where they engaged was a narrow defile surrounded by mountains and lakes, a terrain favourable to the valour of the Cumaeans and unfavourable to the multitude of the barbarians.

§ 7.4.2 For they were knocked down and trampled upon by one another in many parts of the field, but particularly around that the marshy edges of the lake, so that the greater part of them were destroyed by their own forces without even engaging the battle-line of the Greeks. Thus their huge army of foot defeated itself, and without performing any brave action dispersed and fled in every direction. The horse, however, engaged and gave the Greeks great trouble; yet being unable to surround their enemies by reason of the narrow space, and Heaven also rendering the Greeks some assistance with lightning, rain and thunder, they were seized with fear and turned to flight.

§ 7.4.3 In this action all the Cumaean horse fought brilliantly, and they were allowed to have been the chief cause of the victory; but Aristodemus, nicknamed Malacus, distinguished himself above all the rest, for he alone sustained the attack of the enemy and slew their general as well as many other brave men. When the war was at an end and the Cumaeans had offered sacrifices to the gods in thanksgiving for their victory and had given a splendid burial to those who had been slain in the battle, they fell into great strife concerning the prize for valour, disputing to whom they ought to award the first crown.

§ 7.4.4 For the impartial judges wished to bestow this honour upon Aristodemus, and the people were all on his side; but the men in power desired to confer it upon Hippomedon, the commander of the horse, and the whole senate championed his cause. The Cumaeans were at that time governed by an aristocracy, and the people were not in control of many matters. And when a sedition arose because of this strife, the older men, fearing that the rivalry might proceed to arms and bloodshed, prevailed on both parties to consent that each of the men should receive equal honours.5 From this beginning Aristodemus became a champion of the people, and having cultivated proficiency in political oratory, he seduced the mob by his harangues, improved their condition by popular measures, exposed the powerful men who were appropriating the public property, and relieved many of the poor with his own money. By this means he became both odious and formidable to the leading men of the aristocracy.

§ 7.5.1 In the twentieth year after the engagement with the barbarians ambassadors from the Aricians came to the Cumaeans with the tokens of suppliants to beg their assistance against the Tyrrhenians who were making war upon them. For, as I related in an earlier book, Porsena, king of the Tyrrhenians, after making peace with Rome, had sent out his son Arruns with one half of the army when the youth desired to acquire a dominion for himself. Arruns, then, at the time in question was besieging the Aricians, whom he had forced to take refuge inside their walls, and he expected to capture the city soon by famine.

§ 7.5.2 When this embassy arrived, the leading men of the aristocracy, who hated Aristodemus and feared he might do some harm to the established government, thought they had got a very fine opportunity to get rid of him under a specious pretence. They accordingly persuaded the people to send two thousand men to the aid of the Aricians and appointed Aristodemus as general, ostensibly because of his brilliant military achievements; after which they took such measures as they supposed would result in his either being destroyed in battle by the Tyrrhenians or perishing at sea.

§ 7.5.3 For being empowered by the senate to raise the forces that were to be sent as auxiliaries, they enrolled no men of distinction or reputation; but choosing out the poorest and the most unprincipled of the common people from whom they were under continual apprehension of some uprisings, they made up out of these the complement of men who were to be sent upon the exception. And launching ten old ships that were most unseaworthy and were commanded by the poorest of the Cumaeans, they embarked the forces on board these ships, threatening with death anyone who should fail to enlist.

§ 7.6.1 Aristodemus, merely remarking that he was not ignorant of the purpose of his enemies, namely, that in word they were sending him to the assistance of the Aricians, but in fact to manifest destruction, accepted the command, and hastily setting sail with the ambassadors of the Aricians, and accomplishing the voyage over the intervening sea with great difficulty and danger, came to anchor at points along the coast nearest to Aricia. And leaving a sufficient number of men on board to guard the ships, on the first night he made the march, which was not a long one, from the sea to the city and appeared unexpectedly to the inhabitants at dawn.

§ 7.6.2 Then, encamping near the city and persuading the citizens who had fled for refuge inside the walls to come out into the open, he promptly challenged the Tyrrhenians to battle. And a sharp engagement ensuing, the Aricians after a very short resistance all gave way and again fled inside the walls. But Aristodemus with a small body of chosen Cumaeans sustained the united shock of the enemy, and having slain the general of the Tyrrhenians with his own hand, put the rest to flight and gained the most glorious of all victories.

§ 7.6.3 After he had performed these achievements and been honoured with many presents by the Aricians, he sailed home immediately, desiring to be himself the messenger to the Cumaeans of his victory. He was followed by a great number of merchantmen belonging to the Aricians, laden with the spoils and prisoners taken from the Tyrrhenians.