Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities

§ 8.81.3 To punish these aggressors, then, they brought out the war standards and began to enrol the forces of the commonwealth. And when the poor did not come forward to enlist, the consuls, being unable to make use of the compulsion of the laws against the disobedient — for the tribunes defended the plebeians and were prepared to prevent any attempt to seize either the persons or the goods of those who failed to serve — made many threats that they would not yield to those who were stirring up the multitude, leaving with them a lurking suspicion that they would appoint a dictator, who would set aside the other magistracies and alone by himself possess a tyrannical and irresponsible power.

§ 8.81.4 As soon as the plebeians had entertained this suspicion, fearing that Appius, a harsh and stern man, would be the one appointed, they were ready to submit to anything rather than that.

§ 8.82.1 When the armies had been enrolled, the consuls took command and led them out against their foes. Cornelius invaded the territory of the Veientes and drove off all the booty that was found there, and later, when the Veientes sent ambassadors, he released their prisoners for a ransom and made a truce with them for a year. Fabius, at the head of the other army, marched into the country of the Aequians, and from there into that of the Volscians.

§ 8.82.2 For a short time the Volscians permitted their lands to be plundered and laid waste; then, conceiving contempt for the Romans, as they were not present in any great force, they snatched up their ams and set out from the territory of the Antiates in a body to go to the rescue of their lands, having formed their plans with greater precipitancy than regard for their own safety. Now if they had surprised the Romans by appearing unexpectedly to them while they were dispersed, they might have inflicted a severe defeat upon them; but as it was, the consul, being informed of their approach by those he had sent out to reconnoitre, by a prompt recall drew in his men, then dispersed in pillaging, and put them back into the proper order for battle.

§ 8.82.3 As for the Volscians, who were advancing contemptuously and confidently, when the entire army of the enemy unexpectedly appeared, drawn up in orderly array, they were struck with fear at the unlooked-for sight, and no longer was there any thought for their common safety, but every man consulted his own. Turning about, therefore, they fled, each with all the speed he could, some one way and some another, and the greater part got back safely to their city. A small body of them, however, which had been best kept in formation, ran up to the top of a hill, and standing to their arms, remained there during the following night; but when in the course of the succeeding days the consul placed a guard round the hill and closed all the exits with armed troops, they were compelled by hunger to surrender and to deliver up their arms.

§ 8.82.4 The consul, after ordering the quaestors to sell the booty he had found, together with the spoils and the prisoners, brought the money back to the city. And not long afterwards, withdrawing his forces from the enemy's country, he returned home with them, as the year was now drawing to its close. When the election of magistrates was at hand, the patricians, perceiving that the people were exasperated and repented of having condemned Cassius, resolved to guard against them, lest they should create some fresh disturbance when encouraged to hope for bribes and a distribution of allotments by some man skilful in the arts of the demagogue who should have gained the prestige of the consulship. And it seemed to them that the people would be most easily prevented from realizing any of these desires if a man who was at least democratic in his sympathies should become consul.

§ 8.82.5 Having come to this decision, they ordered Caeso Fabius, one of the two persons who had accused Cassius, and brother to Quintus, who was consul at the time, and, from among the other patricians, Lucius Aemilius, one of the aristocratic party, to stand for the consulship. When these offered themselves for the office, the plebeians, though they could do nothing to prevent it, did leave the comitia and withdraw from the Field.

§ 8.82.6 For in the centuriate assembly the balance of power in voting lay with the most important men and those who had the highest property ratings, and it was seldom that those of middling fortunes determined a matter; the last century, in which the most numerous and poorest part of the plebeians voted, had but one vote, as I stated before, which was always the last to be called for.

§ 8.83.1 Accordingly, Lucius Aemilius, the son of Mamercus, and Caeso Fabius, the son of Caeso, succeeded to the consulship in the two hundred and seventieth year after the settlement of Rome, when Nicodemus was archon at Athens. It chanced fortunately that their consulship was not disturbed at all by strife, since the state was beset by foreign wars.

§ 8.83.2 Now in all nations and places, both Greek and barbarian, respites from evils from abroad are wont to provoke civil and domestic wars; and this happens especially among those peoples who choose a life of warfare and its hardships from a passion for liberty and dominion. For natures which have learned to covet more than they have find it difficult, when restrained from their usual employments, to remain patient, and for this reason the wisest leaders are always stirring up the embers of some foreign quarrels in the belief that wars waged abroad are better than those fought at home.

§ 8.83.3 Be that as it may, at the time in question, as I said, the uprisings of the subject nations occurred very fortunately for the consuls. For the Volscians, either relying on the domestic disquiet of the Romans, in the belief that the plebeians had been brought to a state of war with the authorities, or stung by the shame of their former defeat received without striking a blow, or priding themselves on their own forces, which were very numerous, or induced by all these motives, resolved to make war upon the Romans.

§ 8.83.4 And assembling the youth from every city, they marched with one part of their army against the cities of the Hernicans and Latins, while with the other, which was very numerous and powerful, they proposed to await the forces which should come against their own cities. The Romans, being informed of this, determined to divide their army into two bodies, with one of which they would keep guard over the territory of the Hernicans and Latins and with the other lay waste that of the Volscians.

§ 8.84.1 The consuls having drawn lots for the armies according to their custom, the army that was to aid their allies fell to Caeso Fabius, while Lucius at the head of the other marched upon Antium. When he drew near the border and caught sight of the enemy's army, he encamped for the time opposite to them upon a hill. In the days that followed the enemy frequently came out into the plain, challenging the consul to fight; and when he thought he had the suitable opportunity, he led out his army. Before they engaged, he exhorted and encouraged his troops at length, and then ordered the trumpets to sound the charge; and the soldiers, raising their usual battle-cry, attacked in close array both by cohorts and by centuries.

§ 8.84.2 After they had used up all their spears and javelins with the rest of their missile weapons, they drew their swords and rushed upon each other, both sides showing equal intrepidity and eagerness for the struggle. Their manner of fighting, as I said before, was similar, and neither the skill and experience of the Romans in engagements, because of which they were generally victorious, nor their steadfastness and endurance of toil, acquired in many battles, now gave them any advantage, since the same qualities were possessed by the enemy also from the time that they had been commanded by Marcius, not the least distinguished general among the Romans; but both sides stood firm, without quitting the ground on which they had first taken their stand.

§ 8.84.3 Afterwards the Volscians began to retire, a little at a time, but in order and keeping their ranks, while receiving the Romans' onset. But this was a ruse designed to draw the enemy's ranks apart and to secure a position above them.

§ 8.85.1 The Romans, supposing that they were beginning flight, kept pace with them as they slowly withdrew, they too maintaining good order as they followed, but when they saw them running toward their camp, they also pursued swiftly and in disorder; and the centuries which were last and guarded the rear fell to stripping the dead, as if they had already conquered the enemy, and turned to plundering the country.

§ 8.85.2 When the Volscians perceived this, not only did those who had feigned flight face about and stand their ground as soon as they drew near the ramparts of their camp, but those also who had been left behind in the camp opened the gates and ran out in great numbers at several points. And now weight fortune of the battle was reversed; for the pursuers fled and the fugitives pursued. Here many brave Romans lost their lives, as may well be imagined, being driven down a declivity as they were and surrounded a few by many.

§ 8.85.3 And a like fate was suffered by those who had turned to despoiling the dead and to plundering and now found themselves deprived of the opportunity of making an orderly and regular retreat; for these too were overtaken by the enemy, and some of them were killed and others taken prisoner. As many as came through safely, both of these and of the others, who had been driven from the hill, returned to their camp when the horse came to their relief late in the day. It seemed, moreover, that their escape from utter destruction had been due in part to a violent rainstorm that burst from the sky and to a darkness like that occurring in thick mists, which made the enemy reluctant to pursue them any farther, since they were unable to see things at a distance.

§ 8.85.4 The following night the consul broke camp and led his army away in silence and in good order, taking care to escape the notice of the enemy; and late in the afternoon he encamped near a town called Longula, having chosen a hill strong enough to keep off any who might attack him. While he remained there, he employed himself both in restoring with medical attention those who suffered from wounds and in raising the spirits of those who were disheartened at the unexpected disgrace of defeat by speaking words of encouragement to them.

§ 8.86.1 While the Romans were thus occupied, the Volscians, as soon as it was day and they learned that the enemy had left their entrenchments, came up and made camp. Then, having stripped the dead, taken up those whom, though half dead, there was hope of saving, and buried their own men, they retired to Antium, the nearest city; and there, signing songs of triumph for their victory and offering sacrifices in all their temples, they devoted themselves during the following days to merry-making and pleasures.

§ 8.86.2 Now if they had rested content with their present victory and had attempted nothing further, their struggle would have had a glory end. For the Romans would not have dared to come out again from their camp to give battle, but would have been glad to withdraw from the enemy's country, considering inglorious flight better than certain death. But as it was, the Volscians, aiming at still more, threw away the glory of their former victory.

§ 8.86.3 For hearing both from scouts and from those who escaped from the enemy's camp that the Romans who had saved themselves were very few, and the greater part of these wounded, they conceived great contempt for them, and immediately seizing their arms, ran to attack them. Many unarmed people also followed them out of the city to witness the struggle and at the same time to secure plunder and booty.

§ 8.86.4 But when, after attacking the hill and surrounding the camp, they endeavoured to pull down the palisades, first the Roman horse, obliged, from the nature of the ground, to fight on foot, sallied out against them, and, behind the horse, those they call the triarii, with their ranks closed. These are the oldest soldiers, to whom they commit the guarding of the camp when they go out to give battle, and they fall back of necessity upon these as their last hope when there has been a general slaughter of the younger men and they lack other reinforcements.

§ 8.86.5 The Volscians at first sustained their onset and continued to fight stubbornly for a long time; then, being at a disadvantage because of the nature of the ground, they began to give way and at last, after inflicting slight and negligible injuries upon the enemy, while suffering more themselves, they retired to the plain. And encamping there, during the following days they repeatedly drew up in order of battle, challenging the Romans to fight; but these did not come out against them.

§ 8.86.6 When the Volscians saw this, they held them in contempt, and summoning forces from their cities, made preparations to capture the stronghold by their very numbers. And they might easily have performed a great exploit by taking both the consul and the Roman army either by force or even by capitulation, since the place was no longer well supplied with provisions either; but reinforcements came in time to the Romans, thus preventing the Volscians from bringing the war to the most glorious conclusion. 7 It seems that the other consul, Caeso Fabius, learning to what straits the army had been reduced which had been arrayed against the Volscians, proposed to march as quickly as possible with all his forces and fall at once upon those who were besieging the stronghold. Since, however, the victims and omens were not favourable when he offered sacrifice and consulted the auspices, but the gods opposed his setting out, he himself remained behind, but chose out and sent his best cohorts to his colleague. 8 These, making their way covertly through the mountains and generally by night, entered the camp without being perceived by the enemy. Aemilius, therefore, had become emboldened by the arrival of these reinforcements, while the enemy, rashly trusting to their numbers and elated because the Romans did not come out to fight, proceeded to march up the hill in close order. The Romans permitted them to come up at their leisure and to spend their strength on the palisade; but when the signals for battle were raised, they pulled down the ramparts in many places and fell upon the enemy. Some of them, coming to close quarters, fought with their swords, while others from the ramparts hurled at their assailants stones, javelins and spears; and no missile failed of a mark where many combatants were crowded together in a limited space. 9 Thus the Volscians were hurled back from the hill after losing many of their number, and turning to flight, barely got safely back to their own camp. The Romans, feeling themselves secure at last, now made descents into the enemy's fields, from which they took provisions and everything else of which there was a dearth in the camp.

§ 8.87.1 When the time for the election of magistrates arrived, Aemilius remained in camp, being ashamed to enter the city after his ignominious defeat, in which he had lost the best part of his army. But his colleague, leaving his subordinate officers in camp, went to Rome; and assembling the people for the election, he declined to propose for the voting those among the ex-consuls on whom the populace wished the consulship to be bestowed, since even these men were not voluntary candidates, but he called the centuries and took their votes in favour of such as sought the office.

§ 8.87.2 These were men the senate had selected and ordered to canvass for the office, men not very acceptable to the populace. Those elected consuls for the ensuing year were Marcus Fabius, son of Caeso, the younger brother of the consul who conducted the election, and Lucius Valerius, the son of Marcus, the man who had accused Cassius, who had been thrice consul, of aiming at tyranny and caused him to be put to death.

§ 8.87.3 These men, having taken office, asked for the levying of fresh troops to replace those who had perished in the war against the Antiates, in order that the gaps in the various centuries might be filled; and having obtained a decree of the senate, they appointed a day on which all who were of military age must appear. Thereupon there was a great tumult throughout the city and seditious speeches were made by the poorest citizens, who refused either to comply with the decrees of the senate or to obey the authority of the consuls, since they had violated the promises made to them concerning the allotment of land. And going in great numbers to the tribunes, they charged them with treachery, and with loud outcries demanded their assistance. 4 Most of the tribunes did not regard it as a suitable time, when a foreign war had arisen, to fan domestic hatreds into flame again; but one of them, named Gaius Maenius, declared that he would not betray the plebeians or permit the consuls to levy an army unless they should first appoint commissioners for fixing the boundaries of the public land, draw up the decree of the senate for its allotment, and lay it before the people. When the consuls opposed this and made the war they had on their hands an excuse he says not granting anything he desired, the tribune replied that he would pay no heed to them, but would hinder the levy with all his power. 5 And this he attempted to do; nevertheless, he could not prevail to the end. For the consuls, going outside the city, ordered their generals' chairs to be placed in the near-by field; and there they not only enrolled the troops, but also fined those who refused obedience to the laws, since it was not in their power to seize their persons. If the disobedient owned estates, they laid them waste and demolished their country-houses; and if they were farmers who tilled fields belonging to others, they stripped them of the yokes of oxen, the cattle, and the beasts of burden that were on hand for the work, and all kinds of implements with which the land is tilled and the crops gathered. 6 And the tribune who opposed the levy was no longer able to do anything. For those who are invested with the tribuneship possess no authority over anything outside the city, since their jurisdiction is limited by the city walls, and it is not lawful for them even to pass a night away from the city, save on a single occasion, when all the magistrates of the commonwealth ascended the Alban Mount and offer up a common sacrifice to Jupiter in behalf of the Latin nation. 7 This custom by which the tribunes possess no authority over anything outside the city continues to our times. And indeed the motivating cause, among many others, of the civil war among the Romans which occurred in my day and was greater than any war before it, the cause which seemed more important and sufficient to divide the commonwealth, was this — that some of the tribunes, complaining that they had been forcibly driven out of the city by the general who was then in control of affairs in Italy, in order to deprive them henceforth of any power, fled to the general who commanded the armies in Gaul, as having no place to turn to. 8 And the latter, availing himself of this excuse and pretending to come with right and justice to the aid of the sacrosanct magistracy of the people which had been deprived of its authority contrary to the oaths of the forefathers, entered the city himself in arms and restored the men to their office.

§ 8.88.1 But on the occasion of which we are now speaking the plebeians, receiving no assistance from the tribunician power, moderated their boldness, and coming to the persons appointed to raise the levies, took the sacred oath and enlisted under their standards. When the gaps in the several centuries had been filled, the consuls drew lots for the command of the legions; as a result, Fabius took over the army which had been sent to the assistance of the allies, while Valerius received the one which lay encamped in the country of the Volscians, and took with him the new levies.

§ 8.88.2 When the enemy were informed of his arrival, they resolved to send for another army and to encamp in a place of greater strength, and no longer out of contempt for the Romans to expose themselves to reckless danger, as before. These resolutions were quickly carried out; and the commanders of the two armies both came to the same decision regarding the war, namely, to defend their own entrenchments if they were attacked, but to make no attempt upon those of the enemy in the expectation of carrying them by assault.

§ 8.88.3 And meanwhile not a little time was wasted, because of their fear of making any attack upon each other. Nevertheless, they were not able to abide by betray resolutions to the end. For whenever any detachments were sent out to bring in provisions or anything else that was necessary to the two armies, there were encounters and blows were exchanged, and the victory did not always rest with the same side; and since they frequently clashed, not a few men were killed and more wounded.

§ 8.88.4 For the Romans the wastage of their army was made good by no replacements from any quarter; but the army of the Volscians was greatly increased by the arrival of one effort after another, and their generals, elated at this, led out the army from the camp ready for battle.

§ 8.89.1 When the Romans also came out and drew up their forces, a sharp engagement ensued, not only of the horse, but of the foot and the light-armed troops as well, all showing equal ardour and experience and every man placing his hopes of victory in himself alone.

§ 8.89.2 At last, however, the bodies of the dead on both sides lay in great numbers where they had fallen at the posts assigned to them, and the men who were barely alive were even more numerous than the dead, while those who still continued the fight and faced its dangers were but few, and even these were unable to perform the tasks of war; for their shields, because of the multitude of spears that had stuck in them, weighed down their left arms and would not permit them to sustain the enemy's onsets, and their daggers had their edges blunted or in some cases were entirely shattered and no longer of any use, and the great weariness of the men, who had fought the whole day, slackened their sinews and weakened their blows, and sweat, thirst, and want of breath afflicted both armies, as is wont to happen when men fight long in the stifling heat of summer. Thus the battle came to an end that was anything but remarkable; but both sides, as soon as their generals ordered a retreat to be sounded, gladly returned to their camps. After that neither army any longer ventured out for battle, but lying over against one another, they kept watch on each other's movements when any detachments went out for supplies.

§ 8.89.3 It was believed, however, according to the report common in Rome, that the tendency, though it was then in their power to conquer, deliberately refused to perform any brilliant action because of hatred for the consul and the resentment they felt against the patricians for having played a tricking of them in the matter of the allotment of land. Indeed, the soldiers themselves, in letters they sent to their friends, accused the consul of being unfit to command. While these things were happening in the camp, in Rome itself many prodigies in the way of unusual voices and sights occurred as indications of divine wrath.

§ 8.89.4 And they all pointed to this conclusion, as the augurs and the interpreters of religious matters declared, after pooling their experiences, that some of the gods were angered because they were not receiving their customary honours, as their rites were not being performed in a pure and holy manner. Thereupon strict inquiry was made by everyone, and at last information was given to the pontiffs that one of the virgins who guarded the sacred fire, Opimia by name, had lost her virginity and was polluting the holy rites.

§ 8.89.5 The pontiffs, having by tortures and other proofs found that the information was true, took from her head the fillets, and solemnly conducting her through the Forum, buried her alive inside the city walls. As for the two men who were convicted of violating her, they ordered them to be scourged in public and then put to death at once. Thereupon the sacrifices and the auguries became favourable, as if the gods had given up their anger against them.

§ 8.90.1 When the time for the election of magistrates arrived and the consuls had returned to Rome, there was great rivalry and marshalling of forces between the populace and the patricians concerning the persons who were to receive the chief magistracy. For the patricians desired to promote to the consulship those of the younger men who were energetic and least inclined to favour the plebeians; and at their behest the son of the Appius Claudius who was regarded as the greatest enemy of the plebeians stood for the office, a man full of arrogance and daring and by reason of his friends and clients the most powerful man of his age. The populace, on their part, named from among the older men who had already given proof of their reasonableness those who were likely to consult the common good, and desired to make them consuls. The magistrates also were divided and sought to invalidate one another's authority.

§ 8.90.2 For whenever the consuls called an assembly of the multitude, to announce the candidates for the consulship, the tribunes, by virtue of their power to intervene, would dismiss the comitia; and whenever the tribunes, in turn, called an assembly of the people to elect magistrates, the consuls, who had the power of calling the centuries together and of taking their votes, would not permit them to proceed. There were mutual accusations and continual skirmishes between them, each side uniting in factional groups, with the result that even angry blows were exchanged and the sedition stopped little short of armed violence. The senate, being informed of all this, deliberated for a long time how it should deal with the situation, being neither able to force the populace to submit or willing to yield. The bolder opinion in that body was for appointing a dictator, whomever they should considered to be the best, for the purpose of the election, and that the one receiving this power should banish the trouble-makers from the state, and if the former magistrates had been guilty of any error, that he should correct it, and then, after establishing the form of government he desired, should hand over the magistracies to the best men. 4 The more moderate opinion was for choosing oldest and most honoured senators as interreges to have charge of the election and see that it was carried out in the best manner, just as elections were formerly carried out upon the demise of their kings. The latter opinion having been approved by the majority, Aulus Sempronius Atratinus was appointed interrex by the senate and all the other magistracies were suspended. 5 After he had administered the commonwealth without any sedition for as many days as it was lawful, he appointed another interrex, according to their custom, naming Spurius Larcius. And Larcius, summoning the centuriate assembly and taking their votes according to the valuation of their property, named for consuls, with the approval of both sides, Gaius Julius surnamed Iulus, one of the men friendly to the populace and, to serve for the second time, Quintus Fabius, the son of Caeso, who belonged to the aristocratic party. 6 The populace, who had suffered naught at his hands in the former consulship, permitted him to obtain this power for the second time because they hated Appius and were greatly pleased that he seemed to have been deprived of an honour; while those in authority, having succeeded in advancing to the consulship a man of action and one who would show no weakness toward the populace, thought the dissension had taken a course favourable to their designs.

§ 8.91.1 During the consulship of these men the Aequians, making a raid into the territory of the Latins after the manner of brigands, carried off a great number of slaves and cattle; and the people of Tyrrhenia called the Veientes injured a large part of the Roman territory by their forays. The senate voted to put off the war against the Aequians to another time, but to demand satisfaction of the Veientes. The Aequians, accordingly, since their first attempts had been successful and there appeared to be no one to prevent their further operations, grew elated with an unreasoning boldness, and resolving no longer to send out a mere marauding expedition, marched with a large force to Ortona and took it by storm; then, after plundering everything both in the country and in the city, they returned home with rich booty.

§ 8.91.2 As for the Veientes, they returned answer to the ambassadors who came from Rome that those who were ravaging their country were not from their city, but from the other Tyrrhenian cities, and then dismissed them without giving them any satisfaction; and the ambassadors fell in with the Veientes as these were driving off booty from the Roman territory. The senate, learning of these things from the ambassadors, voted to declare war against the Veientes and that both consuls should lead out the army.

§ 8.91.3 There was a controversy, to be sure, over the decree, and there were many who opposed engaging in the war and reminded the plebeians of the allotment of land, of which they had been defrauded after a vain hope, though the senate had passed the decree four years before; and they declared that there would be a general war if all Tyrrhenia by common consent should assist their countrymen.

§ 8.91.4 However, the arguments of the seditious speakers did not prevail, but the populace also confirmed the decree of the senate, following the opinion and advice of Spurius Larcius. Thereupon the consuls marched out with their forces and encamped apart at no great distance from the city; but after they had remained there a good many days and the enemy did not lead their forces out to meet them, they ravaged as large a part of their country as they could and then returned home with the army. Nothing else worthy of notice happened during their consulship.

§ 9.1.1 BOOK 9 The following year, a dispute having arisen between the populace and the senate concerning the men who were to be elected consuls, the senators demanding that both men promoted to that magistracy should be of the aristocratic party and the populace demanding that they be chosen from among such as were agreeable to them, after an obstinate struggle they finally convinced each other that a consul should be chosen from each party. Thus Caeso Fabius, who had accused Cassius of aiming at a tyranny, was elected consul, for the second time, on the part of the senate, and Spurius Furius on the part of the populace, in the seventy-fifth Olympiad, Calliades being archon at Athens, at the time when Xerxes made his expedition against Greece.

§ 9.1.2 They had no sooner taken office than ambassadors of the Latins came to the senate asking them to send to them one of the consuls with an army to put a check to the insolence of the Aequians, and at the same time word was brought that all Tyrrhenia was aroused and would soon go to war. For that nation had been convened in a general assembly and at the urgent solicitation of the Veientes for aid in their war against the Romans had passed a decree that any of the Tyrrhenians who so desired might take part in the campaign; and it was a sufficiently strong body of men that voluntarily aided the Veientes in the war. Upon learning of this the authorities in Rome resolved to raise armies and also that both consuls should take the field, one to make war on the Aequians and to aid the Latins, and the other to march with his forces against Tyrrhenia.

§ 9.1.3 All this was opposed by Spurius Icilius, one of the tribunes, who, assembling the populace every day, demanded of the senate the performance of its promises relating to the allotment of land and said that he would allow none of their decrees, whether they concerned military or civil affairs, to take effect unless they should first appoint the decemvir so fix the boundaries of the public land and divide it among the people as they had promised.

§ 9.1.4 When the senate was at a loss and did not know what to do, Appius Claudius suggested that they should consider how the other tribunes might be brought to dissent from Icilius, pointing out that there is no other method of putting an end to the power of a tribune who opposes and obstructs the decrees of the senate, since his person is sacred and this authority of his legal, than for another of the men of equal rank and possessing the same power to oppose him and to order to be done what the other tries to obstruct.

§ 9.1.5 And he advised all succeeding consuls to do this and to consider how they might always have some of the tribunes well disposed and friendly to them, saying that only method of destroying the power of the college was to sow dissension among its members.

§ 9.2.1 When Appius had expressed this opinion, both the consuls and the more influential of the others, believing his advice to be sound, courted the other four tribunes so effectually as to make them well disposed toward the senate.

§ 9.2.2 These for a time endeavoured by argument to persuade Icilius to desist from his course with respect to the allotment of land till the wars should come to an end. But when he kept opposing them and swore that he would continue to do so, and had the assurance to make a rather insolent remark in the presence of the populace to the effect that he had rather see the Tyrrhenians and their other enemies masters of the city than leave unpunished those who were occupying public land, they thought they had got an excellent opportunity for opposing so great insolence both by their words and by their acts, and since even the populace showed displeasure at his remark, they said they interposed their veto; and they openly pursued such measures as were agreeable to both the senate and the consuls. Thus Icilius being deserted by his colleagues, no longer had any authority.

§ 9.2.3 After this the army was raised and everything that was necessary for the war was supplied, partly from public and partly from private sources, with all possible alacrity; and the consuls, having drawn lots for the armies, set out in haste, Spurius Furius marching against the cities of the Aequians and Caeso Fabius against the Tyrrhenians.

§ 9.2.4 In the case of Spurius everything succeeded according to his wish, the enemy not daring to come to an engagement, so that in this expedition he had the opportunity of taking much booty in both money and slaves. For he overran almost all the territory that the enemy possessed, carrying and driving off everything, and he gave all the spoils to the soldiers.

§ 9.2.5 Though he had been regarded even before this time as a friend of the people, he gained the favour of the multitude still more by his conduct in this command; and when the season for military operations was over, he brought his army home intact and unscathed, and made the fatherland rich with the money he had taken.

§ 9.3.1 Caeso Fabius, the other consul, though as a general his performance was second to none, was nevertheless deprived of the praise that his achievements deserved, not through any fault of his own, but because he did not enjoy the goodwill of the plebeians from the time when he had denounced and put to death the consul Cassius for aiming at a tyranny.

§ 9.3.2 For they never showed any alacrity either in those matters in which men under authority ought to yield a prompt obedience to the orders of their general, or when they should through eagerness and a sense of duty seize positions by force, or when it was necessary to occupy advantageous positions without the knowledge of the enemy, or in anything else from which the general would derive any honour and good repute. Most of their conduct, to be sure, by which they were continually insulting their general was neither very troublesome to him nor the occasion of any great harm to the commonwealth; but their final action brought no small danger and great disgrace to both.

§ 9.3.3 For when the two armies had arrayed themselves in battle order in the space between the hills on which their camps were placed, using all the forces on either side, and the Romans had performed many gallant deeds and forced the enemy to begin flight, they neither pursued them as they retreated, notwithstanding the repeated exhortations of the general, nor were they willing to remain and think the enemy's camp by siege; on the contrary, they left a glorious action unfinished and returned to their own camp.

§ 9.3.4 And when some of the soldiers attempted to salute the consul as imperator, all the rest joined in a loud outcry, reproaching and taunting their commander with the loss of many of their brave comrades through his want of ability to command; and after many other insulting and indignant remarks they demanded that he break camp and lead them back to Rome, pretending that they would be unable, if the enemy attacked them, to sustain a second battle.

§ 9.3.5 And they neither gave heed when their commander endeavoured to show them the error of their course, nor were moved by his entreaties when he turned to lamentations and supplications, nor were they alarmed by the violence of his threats when he made use of these too; but they continued exasperated in the face of all these appeals. Indeed, some of them were possessed with such a spirit of disobedience and such contempt for their general that they rose up about midnight and without orders from anyone proceeded to strike their tents, take up their arms, and carry off their wounded.

§ 9.4.1 When the general was informed of this, he was forced to give the command for all to depart, so great was his fear of their disobedience and audacity. And the soldiers retired with as great precipitation as if they were saving themselves from a rout, and reached the city about daybreak. The guards upon the walls, not knowing that it was an army of friends, began to arm themselves and call out to one another, while all the rest of the city was full of confusion and turmoil, as if some great disaster had occurred; and the guards did not open the gates to them till it was broad day and they could distinguish their own army.

§ 9.4.2 Thus, in addition to the ignominy they incurred in deserting their camp, they also exposed themselves to great danger in returning in the dark through the enemy's country, without observing any order. Certainly, if the Tyrrhenians had learned of it and had followed close on their heels as they departed, nothing could have prevented the army from being utterly destroyed. The motive of this unaccountable withdrawal or flight was, as I have said, the hatred of the populace against the general and the begrudging of any honour to him, lest he should be granted a triumph and so acquire the greatest glory.

§ 9.4.3 The next day the Tyrrhenians, having learned of the withdrawal of the Romans, stripped their dead, took up and carried off their wounded, and plundered all the stores they had left in their camp, which were very abundant as having been prepared for a long war; then, like conquerors, they laid waste the adjacent territory of the enemy, after which they returned home with their army.

§ 9.5.1 The succeeding consuls, Gnaeus Manlius and Marcus Fabius (the latter chosen for the second time), in pursuance of a decree of the senate ordering them to march against the Veientes with as large an army as they could raise, appointed a day for levying the troops. When Tiberius Pontificius, one of the tribunes, opposed them by forbidding the levy and called upon them to carry out the decree relating to the allotment of land, they courted some of his colleagues, as their predecessors had done, and thus divided the college of tribunes, after which they proceeded to carry out the will of the senate with full liberty.

§ 9.5.2 The levy being completed in a few days, the consuls took the field against the enemy, each of them having with him two legions of Romans raised in the city itself a force no less numerous sent by their colonies and subjects. Indeed, there came to them from the Latin and the Hernican nations double the number of auxiliaries they had called for; they did not, however, make use of this entire force, by stating that they were very grateful for their zeal, they dismissed one half of the army that had been sent.

§ 9.5.3 They also drew up before the city a third army, consisting of two legions of the younger men, to serve as a garrison for the country in case any other hostile force should unexpectedly make its appearance; the men who were above the military age but still had strength sufficient to bear arms they left in the city to guard the citadels and the walls.

§ 9.5.4 When the consuls had led their forces close to the city of Veii, they encamped on two hills not far apart. The enemy's army, which was both large and valiant, had also taken the field and lay encamped before the city. For the most influential men from all Tyrrhenia had joined them with their dependents, with the result that the Tyrrhenians' army was not a little larger than that of the Romans. 5 When the consuls saw the numbers of the enemy and the lustre of their arms, great fear came upon them lest, with their own forces rent by faction, they might not be able to prevail when arrayed against the harmonious forces of the enemy; and they determined to fortify their camps and to prolong the war in the hope that the boldness of the enemy, encouraged by an ill-advised contempt for them, might afford them some opportunity of acting with advantage. After this there were continual skirmishes and brief clashes of the light-armed troops, but no important or signal action.

§ 9.6.1 The Tyrrhenians, being irked by the prolongation of the war, taunted the Romans with cowardice because they would not come out for battle, and believing that their foes had abandoned the field to them, they were greatly elated. They were still further inspired with scorn for the Roman army and contempt for the consuls when they thought that even the gods were fighting on their side.

§ 9.6.2 For a thunderbolt, falling upon the headquarters of Gnaeus Manlius, one of the consuls, tore the tent in pieces, overturned the hearth, and tarnished some of the weapons of war, while scorching or completely destroying others. It killed also the finest of his horses, the one he used in battle, and some of his servants.

§ 9.6.3 And when the augurs declared that the gods were foretelling the capture of the camp and the death of the most important persons in it, Manlius roused his forces about midnight and led them to the other camp, where he took up quarters with his colleague.

§ 9.6.4 The Tyrrhenians, learning of the general's departure and hearing from some of the prisoners the reasons for his action, grew still more elated in mind, since it seemed that the gods were making war upon the Romans; and they entertained great hopes of conquering them. For their augurs, who are reputed to have investigated with greater accuracy than those anywhere else the signs that appear in the sky, determining where the thunderbolts come from, what quarters receive them when they depart after striking, to which of the gods each kind of bolt is assigned, and what good or evil it portends, advised them to engage the enemy, interpreting the omen which had appeared to the Romans on this wise:

§ 9.6.5 Since the bolt had fallen upon the consul's tent, which was the army's headquarters, and had utterly destroyed it even to its hearth, the gods were foretelling to the whole army the wiping out of their camp after it should be taken by storm, and the death of the principal persons in it.

§ 9.6.6 “If, now,” they said, “the occupants of the place where the bolt fell had remained there instead of removing their standards to the other army, the divinity who was wroth with them would have satisfied his anger with the capture of a single camp and the destruction of a single army; but since they endeavoured to be wiser than the gods and changed their quarters to the other camp, leaving the place deserted, as if the god has signified that the calamities should fall, not upon the men, but upon the places, the divine wrath will come upon all of them alike, both upon those who departed and upon those who received them.

§ 9.6.7 And since, when destiny had foretold that one camp should be taken by storm, they did not wait for their fate, but of their own accord handed their camp over to the enemy, the camp which received the deserted camp shall be taken by storm instead of the one that was abandoned.”

§ 9.7.1 The Tyrrhenians, hearing this from their augurs, sent a part of their army to take possession of the camp deserted by the Romans, with the intention of making it a fort to serve against the other camp. For the place was a very strong one and was conveniently situated for intercepting any who might come from Rome to the enemy's camp. After they had also made the other dispositions calculated to give them an advantage over the enemy, they led out their forces into the plain.

§ 9.7.2 Then, when the Romans remained quiet, the boldest of the Tyrrhenians rode up and, halting near the camp, called them all women and taunted their leaders, likening them to the most cowardly of animals; and they challenged them to do one of two things — either to descend into the plain, if they laid claim to any warlike valour, and decide the contest by a single battle, or, if they owned themselves to be cowards, to deliver up their arms to those who were their betters, and after paying the penalty for their deeds, never again to hold themselves worthy of greatness.

§ 9.7.3 This they did every day, and when it had no effect, they resolved to block them off by a wall with the purpose of starving them into surrender. The consuls permitted this to go on for a considerable time, not through any cowardice or weakness — for they were both men of spirit and fond of war — but because they feared the soldiers' wilful shirking of duty and their apathy, which had persisted among the plebeians ever since the sedition over the allotment of land. For they still had ringing in their ears and fresh before their eyes the shameful behaviour, unworthy of the commonwealth, which the soldiers, because of their begrudging the honour that would come to the consul, had been guilty of the year before, when they had yielded up the victory to the vanquished and endured the false reproach of flight in order that their general might not celebrated the triumph awarded for victory.

§ 9.8.1 Desiring, therefore, to banish sedition from the army once and for all and to restore the whole rank and file to their original harmony, and devoting to this single end all their counsel and all their thought, since it was not in their power by punishing some of them to reform the rest, who were numerous, bold, and had arms in their hands, or to attempt by the persuasion of words to win over those who did not even wish to be persuaded, they assumed that the following two motives would bring about the reconciliation of the seditious: first, for those of a more reasonable disposition (for there was an admixture of these also among the mass of the troops), the shame of being taunted by the enemy, and second, for those who were not easily led to adopt the honourable course, the thing of which all human nature stands in dread — necessity.

§ 9.8.2 In order, however, to accomplish both these results, they allowed the enemy not only to shame them by words, but also by repeated deeds of scorn and contempt to compel those to show themselves brave men who were not disposed to be so of their own accord. For if these insults should be continued, they had great hopes that all the soldiers would come to headquarters, giving vent to their indignation, reproaching the consuls, and demanding that they lead them against the enemy; and that is just what happened.

§ 9.8.3 For when the enemy began to block the outlets of the camp with ditches and kinds, the Romans, growing indignant at their action, ran to the tents of the consuls, first in small numbers and then in a body, and crying out, accused them of treachery, and declared that if no one would lead them in a sortie, they themselves would take their arms and without their generals sally out against the enemy.

§ 9.8.4 This being the general cry, the consuls thought the opportunity for which they had been waiting had now come, and they ordered the lictors to call the troops to an assembly. Then Fabius, coming forward, spoke as follows:

§ 9.9.1 “Long delayed is your indignation at the insults you are receiving from the enemy, soldiers and officers, and the eagerness which you one and all have to come to grips with your opponents, by showing itself much too late, is untimely. For you should have done this still earlier, when you first saw them come down from their entrenchments and eager to begin battle. Then, no doubt, the contest for the supremacy would have been glorious and worthy of the Roman spirit; as things are, it is already becoming a matter of necessity, and however successful its outcome may be, it will not be equally glorious.

§ 9.9.2 Yet even now you do well in desiring to atone for your slowness and to retrieve what you have lost by neglect, and great thanks are due to you for your eagerness to follow the best course, whether this springs from valour — for it is better to begin late to do one's duty than never — or whether indeed you have all come to the same logical conclusions as to what is example, and the same eagerness for rushing into battle has seized all of you.

§ 9.9.3 But as it is, we are afraid that the grievances of the plebeians against the authorities over the allotment of land may be the cause of great mischief to the commonwealth. And the suspicion has come to us that this clamour and indignation about a sortie do not spring from the same motive with all of you, but that while some desire to go out of the camp in order to take revenge on the enemy, others do so in order to run away.

§ 9.9.4 As for the reasons which have induced us to entertain these suspicions, they are neither divinations nor conjectures, but overt deeds, and deeds, too, that happened, not long ago, but only last year, as you all know. For when a large and excellent army had taken the field against this very enemy and the first battle had had the most successful outcome for us, so that your commander at the time, the consul Caeso, my brother here, could not only have taken the enemy's camp, but also have brought back a most glorious victory for the fatherland, some of the soldiers, begrudging him the glorious because he was not a friend of the people and did not constantly pursue such a course as was pleasing to the poor, struck their tents the first night after the battle and without orders ran away from the camp, neither taking thought for the danger they would incur in retreating from a hostile country in disorderly fashion and without a general, and that too in the night, nor taking into account all the disgrace that was sure to come upon them for yielding the supremacy to the enemy, as far at least as in them lay, and yielding it, moreover, as victors to the vanquished.

§ 9.9.5 Being afraid, therefore, tribunes, centurions, and soldiers, of these men who are neither able to command nor willing to obey, who are numerous and bold and have their weapons in their hands, we have been unwilling hitherto to join battle and dare not even now, with such men to support us, engage in a life-and-death struggle, lest they prove hindrances and detriments to those who are displaying all the alacrity in their power.

§ 9.9.6 If, however, Heaven is turning the minds of even these men to better ways at the present time, and if, laying aside their seditious spirit, from which the commonwealth is suffering very great harm, or at least postponing it till times of peace, they wish to redeem their pas disgraces by their present valour, let there be no further hindrance to your advancing against the foe, setting before your eyes the fair hopes of victory.

§ 9.9.7 ”We have many resources for winning, but greatest and most decisive are those afforded us by the folly of the enemy. For though they far exceed us in the size of their army, and for that reason alone might have withstood our courage and experience, they have deprived themselves of their only advantage by using up the greater part of their forces in garrisoning the forts. 8 In the next place, when they ought to act with caution and sober reason in everything they do, bearing in mind against what kind of men, actually far superior to them in valour, the hazard will be, they enter the struggle recklessly and incautiously, as if forsooth they were some invincible warriors and as if we stood in terror of them. At any rate, their digging of ditches round our camp, their riding up to our entrenchments, and their many insults both in word and actions indicate this. 9 Bearing these thoughts in mind, then, and remembering the many glorious battles of the past in which you have overcome them, enter with alacrity into this contest also. And let every one of you look upon the spot in which he shall be posted as his house, his lot of land, and his country. Let him who saves the man beside him feel that he is effecting his own safety, and let him who forsakes his comrade feel that he is delivering himself up to the enemy. But, above all, you should remember this, that when men stand their ground and fight their losses are small, but when they give way and flee very few are saved."

§ 9.10.1 While he was yet uttering these encouragements to bravery and accompanying his words with many tears, calling by name each one of the centurions, tribunes, and common soldiers whom he knew to have performed some gallant action in battle, and promising to those who should distinguish themselves in this engagement many great rewards in proportion to the magnitude of their deeds, such as honours, riches, and all the other advantages, shouts arose from all of them as they bade him be of good cheer and demanded that he lead them to battle.

§ 9.10.2 As soon as he had done speaking, there came forward from the throng a man named Marcus Flavoleius, a plebeian and a small farmer, though not one of the rabble but one celebrated for his merits and valiant in war and on both these accounts honoured with the most conspicuous command in one of the legions — a command which the sixty centuries are enjoined by the law to follow and obey. These officers the Romans call in their own tongue primipili.

§ 9.10.3 This man, who, besides his other recommendations, was tall and fair to look upon, taking his stand where he would be in full view of all, said: “Since this is what you fear, consuls, that our actions will not agree with our words, I will be the first to give you in my own name the greatest pledge I can give. And you too, fellow citizens and sharers of the same fortune, as many of you as are resolved to make your actions match your words, will make no mistake in following my example.”

§ 9.10.4 Having said this, he held up his sword and took the oath traditional among the Romans and regarded by them as the mightiest of all, swearing by his own good faith that he would return to Rome victorious over the enemy, or not at all. After Flavoleius had taken this oath there was great applause from all; and immediately both the consuls did the same, as did also the subordinate officers, both tars and centurions, and last of all the rank and file.

§ 9.10.5 When this had been done, great cheerfulness came upon them all and great affection for one another and also confidence and ardour. And going from the assembly, some bridled their horses, others sharpened their swords and spears, and still others cleaned their defensive arms; and in a short time the whole army was ready for the combat.

§ 9.10.6 The consuls, after invoking the gods by vows, sacrifices, and prayers to be their guides as they marched out, led the army out of the camp in regular order and formation. The Tyrrhenians, seeing them come down from their entrenchments, were surprised and marched out with their whole force to meet them.

§ 9.11.1 When both armies had come into the plain and the trumpets had sounded the charge, they raised their war-cries and ran to close quarters; and engaging, horse with horse and foot with foot, they fought there, and great was the slaughter on both sides. The troops on the right wing of the Romans, commanded by Manlius, one of the consuls, repulsed the part of the enemy that stood opposite to them, and quitting their horses, fought on foot. But those on the left wing were being surrounded by the enemy's right wing,

§ 9.11.2 since the Tyrrhenians' line at this point outflanked that of the Romans and was considerably deeper. Thus the Roman army was being broken in this sector and was receiving many blows. This wing was commanded by Quintus Fabius, who was a legate and proconsul and had been twice consul. He maintained the fight for a long time, receiving wounds of all kinds till, being struck in the breast by a spear, the point of which pierced his bowels, he fell through loss of blood.

§ 9.11.3 When Marcus Fabius, the other consul, who commanded in the centre, was informed of this, he took with him the best of the centuries, and summoning Caeso Fabius, his other brother, he passed beyond his own line, and advancing a long way, till he had got beyond the enemy's right wing, he turned upon those who were encircling his men, and charging them, caused great slaughter among all whom he encountered, and also put to flight those who were at a distance; and finding his brother still breathing, he took him up.

§ 9.11.4 The man lived only a short time after that; but his death filled his avengers with still more and greater anger against the foe and, heedless now of their own lives, they rushed with a few followers into the densest ranks of the enemy and made large heaps of their dead bodies.

§ 9.11.5 In this part of their line, therefore, the Tyrrhenians were hard pressed, and those who earlier had forced their enemies to give ground were now repulsed by those they had conquered; but those on the left wing, where Manlius was, though they were already in distress and beginning to flee, put their opponents to flight. For when Manlius had been struck in the knee with a javelin by an opponent who thrust the point through to the hamstrings, and those about him took him up and were carrying him back to the camp, the enemy, believing the Roman commander to be dead, took heart and, the rest coming to their assistance, pressed hard upon the Romans who now had no commander.

§ 9.11.6 This obliged the Fabii to quit their left wing once more and rush to the relief of the right; and the Tyrrhenians, learning that they were approaching in a strong body, gave over further pursuit, and closing their ranks, fought in good order, losing a large number of their own men, but also killing many of the Romans.

§ 9.12.1 In the meantime the Tyrrhenians who had possessed themselves of the camp abandoned by Manlius, as soon as the signal for battle was given at headquarters, ran with great haste and alacrity to the other camp of the Romans, suspecting that it was not guarded by a sufficient force. And their belief was correct. For, apart from the triarii and a few younger troops, the rest of the crowd then in the camp consisted of merchants, servants and artificers; and with many crowded into a small space — for the struggle was for the gates of the camp — a sharp and severe engagement followed, and there were many dead on both sides.

§ 9.12.2 During this action the consul Manlius was coming out with the cavalry to the relief of his men, when his horse fell; and he, falling with him and being unable to rise because of his many wounds, died there, and likewise many brave young men at his side. After this disaster the camp was soon taken, and the Tyrrhenians' prophecies had their fulfilment.