[8,0] BOOK VIII.

[8,1] The consuls who were chosen after these were Gaius Julius Iulus and Publius 
Pinarius Rufus, who entered upon their magistracy in the seventy-third Olympiad
(the one in which Astylus of Croton won the foot-race), when Anchises was archon at 
Athens. These magistrates, who were not in the least warlike men and for that reason 
chiefly had obtained the consulship from the people, were involved against their will 
in many great dangers, a war having broken out as a result of their rule which came 
near destroying the commonwealth from its foundations.  For Marcius Coriolanus, 
the man who had been accused of aiming at tyranny and condemned to perpetual 
banishment, resented his misfortune and at the same time desired to avenge himself 
upon this enemies; and considering in what manner and with the aid of what forces 
he might accomplish this, he found that p5the only army which was then a match for 
the Romans was that of the Volscians, if these would agree together and make war 
upon them under an able general.  He reasoned, therefore, that if he could prevail on 
the Volscians to receive him and to entrust to him the command of the war, his 
purpose could easily be accomplished. On the other hand, he was disturbed by the 
consciousness that he had often brought calamities upon them in battle and had 
forced many cities to forsake their alliance with them. However, he did not desist 
from the attempt because of the greatness of the danger, but resolved to encounter 
these very perils and suffer whatever might be the consequence.  Having waited, 
therefore, for a night — and a dark one — he went to Antium, the most important city 
of the Volscians, at the hour when the inhabitants were at supper; and going to the 
house of an influential man named Tullus Attius, who by reason of his birth, his 
wealth and his military exploits had a high opinion of himself and generally led the 
whole nation, he became his suppliant by sitting down at his hearth.  Then, having 
related to him the dire straits which had forced him to take refuge with his enemies, 
he begged of him to entertain sentiments of moderation and humanity toward a 
suppliant and no longer to regard as an enemy one who was in his power, nor to 
exhibit his strength against the unfortunate and the humbled, bearing in mind that 
the fortunes of men are subject to change.  "And this," he said, "you may learn most 
clearly from my own case. For though I was once looked upon as the most powerful of 
all men in the greatest city, I am now cast aside, forsaken, exiled and abased, (p7) and 
destined to suffer any treatment you, who are my enemy, shall think fit to inflict upon 
me. But I promise you that I will perform as great services for the Volscians, if 
I become their friend, as I occasioned calamities to them when I was their enemy. 
However, if you have any other purpose concerning me, let loose your resentment at 
once and grant me the speediest death by sacrificing the suppliant with your own 
hand and at your own hearth." 

[8,2] While he was yet speaking these words Tullus gave him his hand and, raising him 
for the hearth, bade him be assured that he should not be treated in any manner 
unworthy of his valour, and said he felt himself under great obligations to him for 
coming to him, declaring that he looked upon even this as no small honour. He 
promised him also that he would make all the Volscians his friends, beginning with 
those of his own city; and not one of his promises did he fail to make good.  Soon 
afterwards Marcius and Tullus conferred together in private and came to a decision to 
begin war against the Romans. Tullus proposed to put himself immediately at the 
head of all the Volscians and march on Rome while the Romans were still at odds and 
had generals averse to war. But Marcius insisted that they ought first to establish a 
righteous and just ground for war; for he pointed out that the gods take a hand in all 
actions, and especially in those relating to war, in so far as these are of greater 
consequence than any others and their outcome is generally uncertain. It happened 
that there was at that time an armistice and a truce existing between the Romans and 
the Volscians and (p9) also a treaty for two years which they had made a short time 
before: "If, therefore, you make war upon them inconsiderately and hastily," he said, 
"you will be to blame for the breaking of the treaty, and Heaven will not be propitious 
to you; whereas, if you wait till they do this, you will seem to be defending yourselves 
and coming to the aid of a broken treaty. How this may be brought about and how 
they may be induced to violate the treaty first, while we shall seem to be waging a 
righteous and just war against them, I have discovered after long consideration. It is 
necessary that the Romans should be deceived by us, in order that they may be the 
first to commit unlawful acts.  The nature of this deceit, which I have hitherto kept 
secret while awaiting the proper occasion for its employment, but am now forced, 
because of your eagerness for action, to disclose sooner than I wished, is as follows. 
The Romans are intending to perform sacrifices and exhibit very magnificent games 
at vast expense, at which great numbers of strangers will be present as spectators. 
 Wait for this occasion, and then not only go thither yourself, but engage as many of 
the Volscians as you can to go also and see the games. And when you are in Rome, bid 
one of your closest friends go to the consuls and inform them privately that the 
Volscians are intending to attack the city by night and that it is for this purpose that 
they have come to Rome in so great numbers. For you may be assured that if they 
hear this they will expel you Volscians from the city without further hesitation and 
furnish you with a ground for just resentment." 

[8,3] When Tullus heard this, he was highly pleased, and letting that opportunity for his 
expedition pass, (p11) employed himself in preparing for the war. When the time for the 
beginning of the festival had come, Julius and Pinarius having already succeeded to 
the consulship, the flower of the Volscian youth came from every city, as Tullus 
requested, to see the games; and the greater part of them were obliged to quarter 
themselves in sacred and public places, as they could not find lodgings in private 
houses and with friends. And when they walked in the streets, they went about in 
small groups and companies, so that there was already talk about them in the city and 
strange suspicions. In the mean time the informer suborned by Tullus, pursuant to 
the advice of Marcius, went to the consuls, and pretending that he was going to reveal 
a secret matter to his enemies against his own friends, bound the consuls by oaths, 
not only to insure his own safety, but also to insure that none of the Volscians should 
learn who had given the information concerning the alleged plot. The consuls 
believed his story and immediately convened the senate, summoning the members 
individually; and the informer, being brought before them and receiving their 
assurances, gave to them also the same account. The senators even long before this 
had looked upon it as a circumstance full of suspicion that such numbers of young 
men should come to see the games from a single nation which was hostile to them, 
and now that information too was given, the duplicity of which they did not perceive, 
their opinion was turned into certainty. It was their unanimous decision, therefore, to 
send the men out of the city (p13) before sunset and to order proclamation to be made 
that all who did not obey should be put to death; and they decreed that the consuls 
should see to it that their departure took place without insult and in safety. 

[8,4] After the senate had passed this vote some went through the streets making 
proclamation that the Volscians should depart from the city immediately and that 
they should all go out by a single gate, the one called the Capuan gate,6 while others 
together with the consuls escorted them on their departure. And then particularly, 
when they went out of the city at the same time and by the same gate, it was seen how 
numerous they were and how fit all were for service. First of them to depart was 
Tullus, who went out in haste, and taking his stand in a suitable place not far from the 
city, picked up those who lagged behind.  And when they were all gathered together, 
he called an assembly and inveighed at length against the Roman people, declaring 
that it was an outrageous and intolerable insult that the Volscians had received at 
their hands in being the only strangers to be expelled from the city. He asked that 
each man should report this treatment in his own city and take measures to put a stop 
to the insolence of the Romans by punishing them for their lawless behaviour. After 
he had spoken thus and sharpened the resentment of the Volscians, who were already 
exasperated at the usage they had met with, he dismissed the assembly.  When they 
returned to their several cities and each related to his fellow citizens the insult they 
had received, exaggerating what had occurred, every city was angered and unable to 
restrain its resentment; and sending ambassadors (p15) to one another, they demanded 
that all the Volscians should meet together in a single assembly in order to adopt a 
common plan concerning war. All this was done chiefly at the instigation of Tullus. 
And the authorities from every city together with a great multitude of other people 
assembled at Ecetra; for this city seemed the most conveniently situated with respect 
to the others for a general assembly. After many speeches had been made by the men 
in power in each city, the votes of all present were taken; and the view which carried 
was to begin war, since the Romans had first transgressed in the matter of the treaty. 

[8,5] When the authorities had proposed to the assembly to consider in what manner 
they ought to carry on the war against them, Tullus came forward and advised them 
to summon Marcius and inquire of him how the power of the Romans might be 
overthrown, since he knew better than any man both the weakness and the strength 
of the commonwealth. This met with their approval, and at once they all cried out to 
summon the man. Then Marcius, having found the opportunity he desired, rose up 
with downcast looks and with tears in his eyes and after a brief pause spoke as follows: 
"If I thought you all entertained the same opinion of my misfortune, I should not 
think it necessary to make any defence of it; but when I consider that, as is to be 
expected among many men of different characters, there are some to whom will occur 
the notion, neither true nor deserved by me, that the (p17) people would not have 
banished me from my country without a real and just cause, I think it necessary 
above all things first to clear myself publicly before you all in the matter of my 
banishment. But have patience with me, I adjure you by the gods, even those of you 
who are beside acquainted with the facts, while I relate what I have suffered from my 
enemies and show that I have not deserved this misfortune which has befallen me; 
and do not be anxious to hear what you must do before you have inquired what sort 
of man I am who am now going to express my opinion. The account I shall give of 
these matters will be brief, even though I begin from far back. 
"The original constitution of the Romans was a mixture of monarchy and 
aristocracy. Afterwards Tarquinius, their last king, thought fit to make his 
government a tyranny; for which reason the leading men of the aristocracy, 
combining against him, expelled him from the state, and taking upon themselves the 
administration of public affairs, formed such a system of government as all men 
acknowledge to be the best and wisest. Not long ago, however, but only two or three 
years since, the poorest and idlest of the citizens, having bad men as their leaders, not 
only committed many other outrages, but at last endeavoured to overthrow the 
aristocracy. At this all the leaders of the senate were grieved and thought they ought 
to consider how the insolence of these disturbers of the government could be 
stopped; but more active in this regard than the other aristocrats, were, of the older 
senators, Appius, a man deserving of praise on many accounts, and, (p19) of the younger 
men, I myself. And the speeches which on every occasion we made before the senate 
were frank, not by way of making war upon the populace, but from a suspicion we 
had of government by the worst elements; nor again from a wish to enslave any of the 
Romans, but from a desire that the liberty of all might be preserved and the 
management of public affairs be entrusted to the best men. 

[8,6] "This being observed by those most unprincipled leaders of the populace, they 
resolved to remove first out of their way the two of us who most openly opposed them 
— not, however, by attacking us both at once, lest the attempt should appear 
invidious and odious, but beginning with me who was the younger and the easier to 
be dealt with. In the first place, then, they endeavoured to destroy me without a trial; 
and after that they demanded that I be delivered up by the senate in order to be put to 
death. But having failed of both purposes, they summoned me to a trial in which they 
themselves were to be my judges, and charged me with aiming at tyranny.  They had 
not learned even this much — that no tyrant makes war upon the populace by allying 
himself with the best men, but, on the contrary, destroys the best element in the state 
with the aid of the populace. And they did not give me the tribunal that was 
traditional, by summoning the centuriate assembly, but rather a tribunal which all 
admit to be most unprincipled — one set up in my case and mine alone — in which 
the working class and vagabonds and those who plot against the possessions of others 
were sure to prevail over good and just men and such as desire the safety of the 
commonwealth.  This profit, then, and no more did I gain from my (p21) innocence, 
that, though tried by the mob, of which the greater part were haters of the virtuous 
and for that reason hostile to me, I was condemned by two votes only, even though 
the tribunes threatened to resign their power if I were acquitted, alleging that they 
expected to suffer the worst at my hands, and though they displayed all eagerness and 
zeal against me during the trial. After meeting with such treatment at the hands of 
my fellow citizens I felt that the rest of my life would not be worth living unless I took 
revenge upon them; and for this reason, when I was at liberty to live free from 
vexations either in any of the Latin cities I pleased, because of our ties of kinship, or 
in the colonies lately planted by our fathers, I was unwilling to do so, but took refuge 
with you, though I knew you had suffered ever so many wrongs at the hands of the 
Romans and had conceived the greatest resentment against them, in order that in 
conjunction with you I might take revenge upon them to the utmost of my power, 
both by words what words were wanted, and by deeds, where deeds were wanted. 
And I feel very grateful to you for receiving me, and still more for the honour you 
show me, without either resenting or taking into account the injuries which you 
received from me, your erstwhile enemy, during the wars. 

[8,7] "Come now, what kind of man should I be if, deprived as I am of the glory and 
honours I ought to be receiving from my fellow citizens to whom I have rendered 
great services, and, in addition to this, driven away from my country, my family, my 
friends, from the gods and sepulchres of my ancestors and (p23) from every enjoyment, 
and if, finding all these things among you against whom I made war for their sake, 
I should not become harsh toward those whom have found enemies instead of fellow 
citizens, and helpful to those whom I have found friends instead of enemies? For my 
part, I could not count as a real man anyone who feels neither anger against those 
who make war upon him nor affection for those who seek his preservation. And 
I regard as my fatherland, not that state which has renounced me, but the one of 
which I, an alien, have become a citizen; and as a friendly land, not the one in which 
I have been wronged, but that in which I find safety. And if Heaven lends a hand 
and your assistance is as eager as I have reason to expect, I have hopes that there will 
be a great and sudden change. For you must know that the Romans, having already 
had experience of many enemies, have feared none more than you, and that there is 
nothing they continue to seek more earnestly than the means of weakening your 
nation.  And for this reason they hold a number of your cities which they have either 
taken by war or deluded with the hope of their friendship, in order that you may not 
all unite and engage in a common war against them. If, therefore, you will strive 
unceasingly to counteract their designs and will all be of one mind about war, as you 
are now, you will easily put an end to their power. 

[8,8] "As to the manner in which you will wage the contest and how you will handle the 
situation, since you ask me to express my opinion — whether this be a tribute to my 
experience or to my goodwill or to both — I shall give it without concealing anything. 
In the first place, therefore, I advise you to (p25) consider how you may provide 
yourselves with a righteous and just pretext for the war. And what pretext for war will 
be not only righteous and just but also profitable to you at the same time, you shall 
now learn from me.  The land which originally belonged to the Romans is of small 
extent and barren, but the acquired land which they possess as a result of robbing 
their neighbours is large and fertile; and if each of the injured nations should demand 
the return of the land that is theirs, nothing would be so insignificant, so weak, and so 
helpless as the city of Rome. In doing this I think you ought to take the lead.  Send 
ambassadors to them, therefore, to demand back your cities which they are holding, 
to ask that they evacuate all the forts they have erected in your country, and to 
persuade them to restore everything else belonging to you which they have 
appropriated by force. But do not begin war till you have received their answer. For if 
you follow this advice, you will obtain one of two things you desire: you will either 
recover all that belongs to you without danger and expense or will have found an 
honourable and a just pretext for war. For not to covet the possessions others, but to 
demand back what is one's own and, failing to obtain this, to declare war, will be 
acknowledged by all men to be an honourable proceeding. Well then, what do you 
think the Romans will do if you choose this course? Do you think they will restore the 
places to you? And if they do, what is to hinder them from relinquishing everything 
that belongs to others? For the Aequians, the Albans, the Tyrrhenians, and many 
others will come each to get back their own land. Or do you think they will retain 
these places and refuse all your just demands? (p27) That is my opinion. Protesting, 
therefore, that they wronged you first, you will of necessity have recourse to arms, 
and you will have for your allies all who, having been deprived of their possessions, 
despair of recovering them by any other means than by war.  This is a most 
favourable and a unique opportunity which Fortune has provided for the wronged 
nations, an opportunity for which they could not even have hoped, of attacking the 
Romans while they are divided and suspicious of one another and while they have 
generals who are inexperienced in war. These, then, Rome the considerations which it 
was fitting to suggest in words and urge upon friends, and I have offered them in all 
goodwill and sincerity. But when it comes to the actual deeds, what it will be 
necessary to foresee and contrive upon each occasion, leave the consideration of 
those matters to the commanders of the forces.  For my zeal also shall not be 
wanting in whatever post you may place me, and I shall endeavour to do my duty with 
no less bravery than any common soldier or captain or general. Pray take me and use 
me wherever I may be of service to you, and be assured that if, when I fought against 
you, I was able to do you great mischief, I shall also be able, when I fight on your side, 
to be of great service to you." 

[8,9] Thus Marcius spoke. And the Volscians not only made it clear while he was yet 
speaking that they were pleased with his words, but, after he had done, they all with a 
great shout signified that they found his advice most excellent; and permitting no one 
else to speak, they adopted his proposal. After the decree had been drawn up they at 
once chose the most important men out of every city and sent them (p29) to Rome as 
ambassadors. As for Marcius, they voted that he should be a member of the senate in 
every city and have the privilege of standing for the magistracies everywhere, and 
should share in all the other honours that were most highly prized among them. 
Then, without waiting for the Romans' answer, the all set to work and employed 
themselves in warlike preparations; and all of them who had hitherto been dejected 
because of their defeats in the previous battles now took courage, feeling confident 
that they would overthrow the power of the Romans. In the mean time the 
ambassadors they had sent to Rome, upon being introduced into the senate, said that 
the Volscians were very desirous that their complaints against the Romans should be 
settled and that for the future they should be friends and allies without fraud or 
deceit. And they declared that it would be a sure pledge of friendship if they received 
back the lands and the cities which had been taken from them by the Romans; 
otherwise there would be neither peace nor secure friendship between them, since the 
injured party is always by nature an enemy to the aggressor. And they asked the 
Romans not to reduce them to the necessity of making war because of their failure to 
obtain justice. 

[8,10] When the ambassadors had thus spoken, the senators ordered them to withdraw, 
after which they consulted by themselves. Then, when they had determined upon the 
answer they ought to make, they called them back into the senate and gave this 
decision: "We are not unaware, Volscians, that it is not friendship you want, but that 
you wish to find a specious pretext for war. For you well know that you will never 
obtain what you have come to demand (p31) of us, since you desire things that are 
unjust and impossible.  If, indeed, having made a present to us of these places, you 
now, having changed your minds, demand them back, you are suffering a wrong if 
you do not recover them; but if, having been deprived of them by war and no longer 
having any claim to them, you demand them back, you are doing wrong in coveting 
the possessions of others. As for us, we regard as in the highest degree our 
possessions those that we gain through victory in war. We are not the first who have 
established this law, nor do we regard it as more a human than a divine institution. 
Knowing, too, that all nations, both Greeks and barbarians, make use of this law, we 
will never show any sign of weakness to you or relinquish any of our conquests 
hereafter.  For it would be great baseness for one to lose through folly and cowardice 
what one has acquired by valour and courage. We neither force you to go to war 
against your will nor deprecate war if you are eager for it; but if you begin it, we shall 
defend ourselves. Return this answer to the Volscians, and tell them that, though they 
are the first to take up arms, we shall be the last to lay them down." 

[8,11] The ambassadors, having received this answer, reported it to the Volscian people. 
Another assembly was accordingly called and a decree of the whole nation was passed 
to declare war against the Romans. After this they appointed Tullus and Marcius 
generals for the war with full power and voted to levy troops, to raise money, and to 
prepare everything else they thought would be necessary for the war,  When the 
assembly was about to be dismissed, Marcius rose up (p33) and said: "What your league 
has voted is all well and good; and let each provision be carried out at the proper 
season. But while you are planning to enrol your armies and making other 
preparations which, in all probability, will involve some to and delay, let Tullus and 
me set to work. As many of you, therefore, as wish to plunder the enemy's territory 
and to gain much booty, come with us. I undertake, with the assistance of Heaven, to 
give you many rich spoils.  For the Romans, observing that your forces have not yet 
been assembled, are as yet unprepared; so that we shall have an opportunity of 
overrunning as large a part of their country as we please without molestation." 

[8,12] The Volscians having approved of this proposal also, the generals marched out in 
haste at the head of a numerous army of volunteers before the Romans were 
informed of their plans. With a part of this force Tullus invaded the territory of the 
Latins, in order to cut off from the enemy any assistance from that quarter; and with 
the remainder Marcius marched against the Romans' territory. As the calamity fell 
unexpectedly upon the inhabitants of the country, many Romans of free condition 
were taken and many slaves and no small number of oxen, beasts of burden, and 
other cattle; as for the corn that was found there, the iron tools and the other 
implements with which the land is tilled, some were carried away and others 
destroyed. For at the last the Volscians set fire to the country-houses, so that it would 
be a long time before those who had lost (p35) them could restore them.  The farms of 
the plebeians suffered most in this respect, while those of the patricians remained 
unharmed, or, if they received any damage, it seemed to fall only on their slaves and 
cattle. For Marcius thus instructed the Volscians, in order to increase the suspicion of 
the plebeians against the patricians and to keep the sedition alive in the state; and 
that is just what happened.  For when this raid upon the country was reported to the 
Romans and they learned that the calamity had not fallen upon all alike, the poor 
clamoured against the rich, accusing them of bringing Marcius against them, while 
the patricians endeavoured to clear themselves by declaring that this was some 
malicious trick on the part of the general. But neither of them, because of mutual 
jealousy and fear of treachery, thought fit either to come to the rescue of what was 
being destroyed or to save what was left; so that Marcius had full liberty to withdraw 
his army and to bring all his men home after they had done as much harm as they 
pleased, while suffering none themselves, and had enriched themselves with much 
booty.  Tullus also arrived a little later from the territory of the Latins, bringing with 
him many spoils; for there too the inhabitants had no army with which to engage the 
enemy, since they were unprepared and the calamity fell upon them unexpectedly. As 
a result of this every city of the Volscians was buoyed up with hope, and more quickly 
than anyone would have expected not only were the troops enrolled, but everything 
else was supplied that the generals needed. 

[8,13] When all their forces were now assembled, (p37) Marcius took counsel with his 
colleague how they should conduct their future operations; and he said to him: "In 
my opinion, Tullus, it will be best for us to divide our army into two bodies; then one 
of us, taking the most active and eager of the troops, should engage the enemy, and if 
they can bring themselves to come to close quarters with us, should decide the 
contest by a single battle, or, if they hesitate, as I think they will, to stake their all 
upon a newly raised army and inexperienced generals, then he should attack and lay 
waste their country, detach their allies, destroy their colonies, and do them any other 
injury he can. And the other should remain here and defend both the country and 
the cities, lest the enemy fall upon these unawares, if they are unguarded, and we 
ourselves suffer the most shameful of all disgraces in losing what we have while 
endeavouring to gain what we have not. But it is necessary that the one who remains 
here should at once repair the walls of the cities that have fallen in ruin, clear out the 
ditches, and strengthen the fortresses to serve as places of refuge for the 
husbandmen. He should also enrol another army, supply the forces that are in the 
field with provisions, forge arms, and speedily supply anything else that shall be 
necessary.  Now I give you the choice whether you will command the army that is to 
take the field, or the one which is to remain here." While he was speaking these words 
Tullus was greatly delighted with his proposal, and knowing the man's energy and 
good fortune in battle, yielded to him the command of the army that was to take the field. 

[8,14] (p39) Marcius, without losing any more time, came with his army to the city of 
Circeii, in which there were Roman colonists living intermingled with the native 
residents; and he took possession of the town as soon as he appeared before it. For 
when the Circeians saw their country in the power of the Volscians and their army 
approaching the walls, they opened their gates, and coming out unarmed to meet the 
enemy, asked them to take possession of the town — a course which saved them from 
suffering any irreparable mischief.  For the general put none of them to death nor 
expelled any from the city; but having taken clothing for his soldiers and provisions 
sufficient for a month, together with a moderate sum of money, he withdrew his 
forces, leaving only a small garrison in the town, not only for the safety of the 
inhabitants, lest they should suffer some harm at the hands of the Romans, but also 
to restrain them from beginning any rebellion in the future. 
When news of what had happened was brought to Rome, there was much greater 
confusion and disorder than before. The patricians reproached the populace with 
having driven from the state a man who was a great warrior, energetic, and full of 
noble pride, by involving him in a false charge and having thus caused him to become 
general of the Volscians;  and the leaders of the populace in turn inveighed against 
the senate, declaring that the whole affair was a piece of treachery devised by them 
and that the war was being directed, not against all the Romans in common, but 
against the plebeians only; and the most evil-minded element among the populace 
sided with them. But neither party gave so much as a p41thought to raising armies, 
summoning the allies, or making the necessary preparations, by reason of their 
mutual hatreds and their actions of one another in the meetings of the assembly. 

[8,15] This being observed by the oldest of the Romans, they joined together and sought 
to persuade the most seditious of the plebeians both in public and in private to put a 
stop to their suspicions and accusations against the patricians. If, they argued, by the 
banishment of one man of distinction the commonwealth had been brought into so 
great danger, what were they to expect if by their abusive treatment they forced the 
greater part of the patricians to entertain the same sentiments? Thus these men 
appeased the disorderliness of the populace. After the great tumult had been 
suppressed, the senate met and gave the following answer to the ambassadors who 
had come from the Latin League to ask for armed assistance: That it was not easy for 
them to send assistance for the time being; but that they gave the Latins leave to 
enrol their own army themselves and to send out their own generals in command of 
their forces until the Romans should send out a force; for by the treaty of friendship 
they had made with the Latins both these things were forbidden. The senate also 
ordered the consuls to raise an army by levy, to guard the city, and to summon the 
allies, but not to take the field with their forces till everything was in readiness. These 
resolutions were ratified by the people. Only a short time now remained of the 
consuls' term of office, so that they were unable to carry to completion any of the 
measures that had been voted, p43but handed over everything half finished to their 
successors. 

[8,16] Those who assumed office after them, Spurius Nautius and Sextus Furius, raised 
as large an army as they could from the register of citizens, and placed beacons and 
lookouts in the most convenient fortresses, in order that they might not be unaware 
of anything that passed in the country. They also got ready a great quantity of money, 
corn and arms in a short time.  These preparations at home, then, were made in the 
best manner possible, and nothing now seemed to be wanting; but the allies did not 
all obey their summons with alacrity nor were they disposed to assist them 
voluntarily in the war, so that the consuls did not think fit to use compulsion either 
with them, for fear of treachery. Indeed, some of the allies were already openly 
revolting from them and aiding the Volscians.  The Aequians had begun the revolt by 
going at once to the Volscians as soon as the war arose and entering into an alliance 
with them under oath; and these sent to Marcius a very numerous and zealous army. 
After these had taken the lead, many of the other allies also secretly assisted the 
Volscians and sent them reinforcements, though not in pursuance of any votes or 
general decree, but if any of their people desired to take part in the campaign of 
Marcius, they not only did not attempt to dissuade them, but even encouraged them. 
Thus in a short time the Volscians had got so large an army as they had never 
possessed when their cities had been in the most flourishing state. At the head of this 
(p45) army Marcius made another irruption into the territory of the Romans, and 
encamping there for many days, laid waste all the country which he had spared in his 
former incursion. He did not, it is true, capture many persons of free condition on 
this expedition; for the inhabitants had long since fled, after getting together 
everything that was most valuable, some to Rome and others to such of the 
neighbouring fortresses as were most capable of defence; but he took all the cattle 
they had not been able to driven away, together with the slaves who tended them, and 
carried off the corn, that still lay upon the threshing-floors, and all the other fruits of 
the earth, whether then gathering or already gathered. Having ravaged and laid 
everything waste, as none dared to come to grips with him, he led homeward his 
army, which was now heavily burdened with the great amount of its spoils and was 
proceeding in leisurely fashion. 

[8,17] The Volscians, seeing the vast quantity of booty that was being brought home and 
hearing reports of the craven spirit of the Romans who, though they had hitherto 
been wont to ravage their neighbours' country, could now bear to see their own laid 
waste with impunity, were filled with great boastfulness and entertained hopes of the 
supremacy, looking upon it as an easy undertaking, lying ready to their hands, to 
overthrow the power of their adversaries. They offered sacrifices of thanksgiving to 
the gods for their success and adorned their temples and market-places with 
dedications of spoils, and all passed their time in festivals and rejoicings; while as for 
Marcius, they continued to admire and celebrate him as the ablest of all men in 
warfare and a general (p47) without an equal either at Rome or in the Greek or 
barbarian world. But above all they admired him for his good fortune, observing 
that everything he undertook easily succeeded according to his desire; so that there 
was no one of military age who was willing to be left behind by him, but all were eager 
to share in his exploits and flocked to him from every city. The general, after he had 
strengthened the zeal of the Volscians and reduced the manly fortitude of the enemy 
to a helplessness that was abject and anything but manly, led his army against the 
cities of their allies that still remained faithful to them; and having promptly 
prepared everything that was necessary for a siege, he marched against the 
Tolerienses, who belonged to the Latin nation. These, having long before made the 
necessary preparations for war and transported all the effects they had in the country 
into the city, withstood his attack and held out for some time, fighting from their 
walls and wounding many of the enemy; then, after being driven back by the slingers 
and enduring hardships till the late afternoon, they abandoned many parts of the 
wall.  When Marcius was informed of this, he ordered some of the soldiers to plant 
ladders against those parts of the wall that were left unprotected, while he himself 
with the flower of his army hastened to the gates amid a shower of spears that were 
hurled at him from the towers; and breaking the bars asunder, he was the first to 
enter the city. Close to the gates stood a large and strong body of the enemy's troops, 
who stoutly withstood his attack and continued to fight for a long time; but p49 when 
many of them had been killed, the rest gave way and, dispersing themselves, fled 
through the streets. Marcius followed, putting to death all whom he overtook except 
those who threw away their arms and had recourse to supplications. In the meantime 
the men who had ascended by the ladders were making themselves masters of the 
wall. The town being taken in this manner, Marcius set aside such of the spoils as 
were to be consecrated to the gods and to adorn the cities of the Volscians, and the 
rest he permitted the soldiers to plunder. Many prisoners were taken there, also a 
great deal of money and much corn, so that it was not easy for the victors to remove 
everything in one day, but they were forced to consume much time while, working in 
relays, they drove or carried away the booty, either on their own backs or using beasts 
of burden. 

[8,18] The general, after all the prisoners and effects had been removed out of the city, 
left it desolate and drew off his forces to Bola, another town of the Latins. The Bolani 
also, as it chanced, had been apprised of his intended attack and had prepared 
everything necessary for the struggle. Marcius, who expected to take the town by 
storm, delivered his attacks upon many parts of the wall. But the Bolani, after 
watching for a favourable opportunity, opened their gates, and sallying out in force in 
regular array, engaged the front ranks of the enemy; then, after killing many of them 
and wounding still more and after forcing the rest to a shameful flight, they (p51) 
retired into the city.  When Marcius learned of rout of the Volscians — for it chanced 
that he was not present in the place where this defeat occurred — he came up in haste 
with a few of his men, and rallying those who were dispersed in the flight, he formed 
them into a body and encouraged them. Then, having got them back in their ranks 
and indicated what they were to do, he ordered them to attack the town at the same 
gates.  When the Bolani once more tried the same expedient, sallying out in force, 
the Volscians did not await them, but gave way and fled down hill, as their general 
had instructed them to do; and the Bolani, ignorant of the ruse, pursued them a 
considerable way. Then, when they were at a distance from the town, Marcius fell 
upon them with a body of chosen youth; and many of the Bolani fell, some while 
defending themselves and others while endeavouring to escape. Marcius pursued 
those who were being pushed back toward the town and forced his way inside the 
walls before the gates could be slammed shut. When the general had once made 
himself master of the gates, the rest of the Volscian host followed, and the Bolani, 
abandoning the walls, fled to their houses. Marcius, having possessed himself of this 
city also, gave leave to the soldiers to make slaves of the inhabitants and to seize their 
effects; and after carrying away all the booty at his leisure and with full liberty, as 
before, he set fire to the town. 

[8,19] From there he took his army and marched against the place called Labici. This 
city too belonged then to the Latins and was, like the others, a (p53) colony of the 
Albans. In order to terrify the inhabitants, as soon as he entered their territory he set 
fire to the part of the country from which the flames would most clearly be seen by 
them. But the Labicani, since they had well-constructed walls, neither became 
terrified at his invasion nor showed any sign of weakness, but made a brave 
resistance and often repulsed the enemy as they were attempting to scale the walls. 
Notwithstanding this, they were not able to resist to the end, fighting as the were 
few against many and without the least respite. For many attacks were made upon all 
parts of the city by the Volscians, who fought in shifts, those who were fatigued 
continually retiring and other forces that were fresh taking their place; and the 
inhabitants, contending against these all day, without any respite even at night, were 
forced through exhaustion to abandon at walls. Marcius, having taken this city also, 
made slaves of the inhabitants and allowed his soldiers to divide the spoils. Thence 
he marched to Pedum — this also was a city of the Latins — and advancing with his 
army in good order, he took the town by storm as soon as he came near the walls. And 
having treated it in the same manner as the cities he had captured earlier, he led his 
forces at break of day against Corbio. When he was near its walls, the inhabitants 
opened their gates and came to meet him, holding out olive-branches instead of 
weapons and offering to surrender their walls without striking a blow. Marcius, after 
commending them (p55) for adopting the course that was to their best interest, ordered 
them to come out bringing whatever his army required, both money and corn; and 
having obtained what he demanded, he led his forces to Corioli. When the 
inhabitants of this place also surrendered it without resistance and very readily 
supplied his army with provisions and money and everything else that he ordered, he 
led the army away through their territory as through a friendly land.  For this too 
was a matter about which he always took great care — that those who surrendered 
their cities to him should suffer none of the ills incident to war, but should get back 
their lands unravaged and recover all the cattle and slaves they had left behind on 
their farms; and he would not permit his army to quarter itself in the cities, limestone 
some mischief should result from their plundering or stealing, but he always 
encamped near the walls. 

[8,20] Departing from this city, he led his army to Bovillae, which was then a city of 
note and counted as one of the very few leading cities of the Latin nation. When the 
inhabitants would not receive him, but trusted in their ramparts, which were very 
strong, and in the multitude of defenders who would fight from them, Marcius 
exhorted his men to fight ardently, promising great rewards to those who should first 
mount the walls, and then set to work; and a sharp battle took place for this city. 
(p57) For the Bovillani not only repulsed the assailants from the walls, but even threw 
open their gates, and sallying out in a body, forcibly thrust back down hill those who 
opposed them. Here the Volscians suffered very heavy losses and the battle for the 
walls continued a long time, so that all despaired of taking the town. But the general 
caused the loss of those who were slain to pass unnoticed by replacing them with 
others, and inspired with fresh courage those who were spent with toil by pressing 
forward himself to that part of the army which was in distress. Thus not only his 
words, but his actions also were incentives to valour; for he faced every danger and 
was not found wanting in any attempt till the walls were taken. When at length he 
had made himself master of this city also and had summarily put to death some of the 
inhabitants and made prisoners of the rest, he withdrew his forces, having won a 
most glorious victory and carrying off great quantities of the finest spoils, besides 
enriching his army with vast amounts of money he had got possession of in this city, 
where it was found in greater quantity than in any of the places he had captured. 

[8,21] After this all the country he marched through submitted to him and no city made 
any resistance but Lavinium, which was the first city built by the Trojans who land in 
Italy with Aeneas, and the one from which the Romans derive their origin, as I have 
shown earlier. The inhabitants of this city thought they (p59) ought to suffer any 
extremity rather than fail to keep faith with their descendants.  Here, therefore, 
some stubborn fighting took place upon the walls and some sharp engagements 
before the ramparts; nevertheless, the walls were not carried by storm at the first 
assault, but their capture seemed to require time and unhurried persistence. Marcius 
accordingly gave over the attack on the walls and undertook to construct a ditch and a 
palisade around the town, while guarding all the roads so that neither provisions nor 
reinforcements might come to the inhabitants from outside. 
The Romans, being informed both of the destruction of the cities that were already 
taken and of the exigency which had influenced those who had joined Marcius, and 
importuned by the embassies which came to them daily from those who continued 
firm in their friendship and besought their aid, and being alarmed, moreover, by the 
investment of Lavinium then in progress and believing that if this stronghold should 
be taken the war would promptly come to their own gates, thought the only remedy 
for all these evils would be to pass a vote for the return of Marcius. The entire 
populace shouted for this and the tribunes too wished to introduce a law for the 
annulment of his condemnation; but the patricians opposed them, being determined 
not to reverse any part of the sentence which had been pronounced. And as no 
preliminary decree was passed by the senate, the tribunes too no longer thought fit to 
propose the matter to the populace. It may well excite wonder what the motive was 
that led the senate, which hitherto had (p61) so warmly espoused the cause of Marcius, 
to oppose the populace on this occasion when they wished to recall him — whether 
they were sounding out the sentiment of the populace and arousing them to greater 
zeal by their own reluctance to yield to them, or whether they wished to clear 
themselves of the accusations brought against them so that they might not be held to 
be either responsible for or accomplices in any of the acts of Marcius. For as their 
purpose was kept secret, it was difficult to conjecture what it was. 

[8,22] Marcius, being informed of these events by some deserters, was so angry that 
he broke camp at once and marched on Rome, leaving a sufficient force to keep guard 
over Lavinium; and he straightway encamped at the place called the Cluilian 
Ditches, at a distance of forty stades from the city. When the Romans heard of his 
presence there, such confusion fell upon them, in their belief that the war would at 
once come to their walls, that some seized their arms and ran to the walls without 
orders, others went in a body to the gates without anyone to command them, some 
armed their slaves and took their stand on the roofs of their houses, and still others 
seized the citadel and the Capitol and the other strong places of the city; and the 
women, with their hair dishevelled, ran to the sanctuaries and to the temples, 
lamenting and praying to the gods to avert the danger that threatened. But when the 
night had passed, as well as most of the following day, and none of the evils they had 
feared befell them, but Marcius remained (p63) quiet, all the plebeians flocked to the 
Forum and called upon the patricians to assemble in the senate-house, declaring 
that if they would not pass the preliminary decree for the return of Marcius, they 
themselves, as men who were being betrayed, would take measures for their own 
protection. Then at last the senators met in the senate-house and voted to send to 
Marcius five of their oldest members who were his closest friends, to treat for 
reconciliation and friendship. The men chosen were Marcus Minucius, Postumus 
Cominius, Spurius Larcius, Publius Pinarius and Quintus Sulpicius, all ex-consuls. 
When they came to the camp and Marcius was informed of their arrival, he seated 
himself in the midst of the most important of the Volscians and their allies, where 
very many would hear all that was said, and then ordered the envoys to be 
summoned. When these came in, Minucius, who during his consulship had been 
most active in his favour and had distinguished himself by his opposition to the 
plebeians, spoke first, as follows: 

[8,23] "We are all sensible, Marcius, that you have suffered injustice at the hands of the 
populace in having been banished from your country under a foul accusation, and we 
do not regard it as anything strange on your part if you feel anger and resentment at 
your misfortunes. For common to the nature of all men is this law — that the injured 
party is an enemy to the aggressor. But that you do not examine in the light of sober 
reason who those are whom you ought to requite and punish, nor show any 
moderation in exacting that punishment, but class together (p65) the innocent with the 
guilty and friends with enemies, and that you violate the inviolable laws of Nature, 
confound the duties of religion, and, even as to yourself, no longer remember from 
whom you are sprung and what sort of man you are — that has seemed strange to us. 
We have come now, the oldest of the patricians and the most zealous of your 
friends, sent by the commonwealth to present our defence mingled with entreaty, and 
to bring word upon what conditions we ask you to lay aside your enmity toward the 
populace; and furthermore, to advise you of the course which we believe will be the 
most honourable and advantageous for you. 

[8,24] "Let me speak first concerning the point of justice. The plebeians, inflamed by 
the tribunes, conspired against you and came with the intention of putting you to 
death without a trial, because they feared you. This attempt we of the senate 
prevented, and we permitted you to suffer no injustice on that occasion. Afterwards 
the same men who had been prevented from destroying you summoned you to trial, 
charging you with having uttered malicious words about them in the senate. We 
opposed this too, as you know, and would not permit you to be brought to trial either 
for your opinion or for your words. Disappointed dints also, they came to us at last, 
accusing you at aiming at tyranny. This charge you yourself consented to answer, 
since you were far from guilty of it, and you permitted the plebeians to give their 
votes concerning you. The senate was present on this occasion also and made many 
pleas in your behalf. Of which of the misfortunes, then, that have befallen you have 
we (p67) patricians been the cause? And why do you make war upon us who showed so 
much goodwill toward you during that contest? But, for that matter, not even all the 
plebeians were found to desire your banishment; at any rate, you were condemned by 
two votes only, so that you could not with justice be an enemy to those plebeians, 
either, who acquitted you as guilty of no wrongdoing. I will assume, however, if you 
wish, that it was pursuant to the vote of a l the plebeians and the judgement of the 
entire senate that you suffered this misfortune, and that your hatred against us all is 
just; but the women, Marcius, what wrong have they done to you that you should 
make war upon them? By what vote di they condemn you to banishment, or what 
malicious words did they utter against you? And our children, what wrong have they 
done or contemplated doing that they should be exposed to captivity and to all the 
other misfortunes which they would presumably suffer if the city should be taken? 
You are not just in your judgements, Marcius; and if you think you ought to hate 
those who are guilty and your enemies in such a manner as not to spare even those 
who are innocent and your friends, then your way of thinking is not such as becomes 
a good man. But, to omit all these considerations, what, in Heaven's name, could 
duty answer if anyone should ask you what injure you have received from your 
ancestors to induce you to destroy their sepulchres and to deprive them of the 
honours they receive from men? Or resentment at what injury has led you to despoil, 
burn and demolish the altars of the gods, their shrines and their temples, and to 
prevent them from receiving their customary worship? What could you say in answer 
to this? (p69) For my part, I see nothing that you could say. Let these considerations of 
justice suffice, Marcius, both in behalf of us of the senate and of the other citizens 
whom you are eager to destroy, even though you have suffered no wrong at their 
hands, and in behalf of the sepulchres, the sanctuaries and the city to which you owe 
both your birth and your rearing. 

[8,25] "Come now, even if it were fitting that all men, even those who have not wronged 
you at all, together with their wives and children should make atonement to you, and 
that all the gods, the heroes and the lesser divinities, the city and the country, should 
reap the benefit of the tribunes' folly, and that nothing whatever should be exempted, 
nothing go unrevenged by you, have you not already exacted sufficient punishment 
from us all you slaying so many people, ravaging so much territory by fire and sword, 
razing to the ground so many cities, and doing away in many places with the festivals, 
the sacrifices and the worship of the gods and other divinities and compelling them to 
go without their festivals and sacrifices and to have no part in their customary 
honours?  For my part, I should have refused to believe that a man who had the least 
regard for virtue would either destroy his friends along with his enemies or show 
himself harsh and inexorable in his anger toward those who offend him in any way, 
especially after he has already exacted from them many severe retributions. These, 
then, are the considerations we had to offer you by way of both clearing ourselves and 
asking to be lenient toward the plebeians; and the advice which we, your most valued 
friends, were ready to give you out of goodwill if you were bent on (p71) strife, and the 
promises we could make if you were ready to be reconciled to your country, are as 
follows: While your power is greatest and Heaven still assists you, we advise you to 
act with moderation and to husband your good fortune, bearing in mind that all 
things are subject to change and that nothing is apt to continue long in the same 
state. All things that wax too great, when they reach the peak of eminence, incur the 
displeasure of the gods and are brought to naught again. And this is the fate which 
comes especially to stubborn and haughty spirits and those that overstep the bounds 
of human nature. It is in your power now to put an end to the war on the best 
possible terms; for the whole senate is eager to pass a vote for your return, and the 
populace is ready by a law ratifying the senate's vote to annul your sentence of 
perpetual banishment. What is there, then, to prevent you any longer from enjoying 
once more the most dear and precious sight of your nearest of kin, from recovering 
your fatherland that is so well worth fighting for, from ruling, as you ought, over 
rulers and commanding those who cdm others, and from bequeathing to children and 
descendants the greatest glory? Moreover, we are the sureties that all these 
promises will be performed forthwith. For though at present it would not be well for 
the senate or the people to pass any mild or lenient vote in your favour while you are 
encamped against us and are committing hostile acts, yet if you lay down your arms, 
the decree for your return will soon come to you, brought by us. 

[8,26] "These, then, are the advantages you will reap by becoming reconciled; whereas, 
if you psi in your resentment and do not give up your (p73) hatred toward us, many ids 
agreeable things will befall you, of which I shall now mention two as the most 
important and the most obvious. The first is that you have an evil passion for a thing 
that is difficult of accomplishment, or rather, impossible — the overthrow of the 
power of Rome, and that too by the arms of the Volscians; the second is that, alike if 
you succeeded and if you fail, it will be your lot to be looked upon as the most 
unfortunate of all men. Hear now, Marcius, the reasons that induce me to entertain 
this opinion concerning you, and take no offence at my frankness of speech. 
Consider, first, the impossibility of the thing. The Romans, as you yourself know, 
have a numerous body of youth of their own nation, whom, if the sedition is once 
banished from among them — and banished it will now inevitably be by this war, 
since a common fear is wont to reconcile all differences — surely not the Volscians, 
nay, no other Italian nation either, will ever overcome. Great also is the power of the 
Latins and of our other allies and colonies, and that power, be assured, will soon 
come to our assistance. We have generals too of the same ability as yourself, both 
older men and young, in greater number than are to be found in any other states. 
But the greatest assistance of all, and one which in times of danger has never 
betrayed our hopes, and better too than all human strength combined, is the favour of 
the gods, by whom this city which we inhabit not only continues to this day to 
preserve her liberty for already the eighth generation, but is also flourishing and the 
ruler over many nations. And do not liken us to the (p75) Pedani, the Tolerienses, or 
the peoples of the other petty towns you have seized; for a general less able than 
yourself and with a smaller army than this great host of yours could have reduced 
small garrisons and slight defences. But consider the greatness of our city, the 
brilliance of her achievements in war, and the good fortune that abides with her 
through the favour of the gods, by which she has been raised from a small beginning 
to her present grandeur. As for your own forces, at the head of which you are 
undertaking so great an enterprise, do not imagine that they have changed, but bear 
clearly in mind that you are leading against us an army of mere Volscians and 
Aequians, whom we here who are still living were wont to defeat in many battles, yes, 
as often as they dared to come to an engagement with us. Know, then, that you are 
going to fight with inferior troops against those that are superior to them, and with 
troops that are accustomed to defeat every time against those that are always 
victorious. Yet even if the contrary of this were true, it would still be a matter for 
wonder how you, who are experienced in warfare, could have failed to observe that 
courage in the face of danger is not apt to be felt in equal measure by those who fight 
for their own blessings and by those who set out after what belongs to others. For the 
latter, if they do not succeed, suffer no loss, whereas the others, if they are defeated, 
have nothing left. And this is the chief reason why large armies have often been 
beaten by smaller ones and superior forces by inferior ones. For necessity is 
formidable, and a struggle in which life itself is at stake is capable of inspiring 
boldness in a man which was not already his by nature. I had many other things to 
(p77) say concerning the impossibility of your undertaking, but this is enough. 

[8,27] "I still have one argument left which, if you will judge of it by reason rather than 
in anger, will not only seem to you to have been well made, but will also cause you to 
repent of what you are doing. What is this argument? That the gods have not given it 
to any mortal creature to possess sure knowledge of future events, and you will not 
find in all past time a man for whom all his undertakings succeeded according to his 
plan and whom Fortune thwarted in none. For this reason alone those who excel 
others in prudence — the fruit of a long life and many lessons from experience — 
think that they ought, before beginning any enterprise whatever, first to consider its 
possible outcome — not only the one which they desire for themselves, but also the 
one which will be contrary to their judgement. And this is particularly true of 
commanders in wars, the more so because the affairs of which they have charge are of 
greater importance and because everybody imputes to them the responsibility for 
both victories and defeats. Then, if they find that no loss inheres in failure, or few and 
small losses, they set about their undertakings, but if the losses might be many and 
serious, they abandon them. Do you too, then, follow their example, and before you 
resort to action, consider what it will be your fate to suffer if you fail in this war and 
all conditions do not favour you. You will be reproached by those who have received 
you and you will also blame yourself for having undertaken greater things than are 
possible; and when our army in turn marches into their territory and lays it waste 
(p79)— for we shall never submit to such injuries without avenging ourselves on our 
aggressors — you will not be able to avoid one of these two fates: you will be put to 
death in a shameful manner either by those very men, in whose eyes you will be to 
blame the great misfortunes, or by us, whom you came to slay and to enslave. But 
perhaps those others, before they become involved in any misfortune, may, in the 
attempt to effect an accommodation with us, think fit to deliver up to us to be 
punished — a course to which many, both barbarians and Greeks, have been obliged 
to submit when reduced to such extremities. Do you look upon these as small matters 
unworthy of your consideration and believe that you ought to overlook them, or 
rather as the worst evils of all to suffer? 

[8,28] "Come now, if you do succeed, what wonderful, what enviable advantage will be 
yours, or what glory will you gain? For this also you must consider. In the first place, 
it will be your fate to be deprived of those who are dearest and nearest of kin to you — 
of an unhappy mother, to whom you are making no honourable return for your birth 
and rearing and for all the hardships she underwent on your account; and again, of a 
faithful wife, who through yearning for you sits in solitude and widowhood, 
lamenting every day and night your banishment; and furthermore of two sons who 
ought, being descendants of worthy ancestors, to benefit from their honours by being 
held in high esteem in a flourishing fatherland. But you will be forced to behold the 
pitiable and unhappy deaths of all these if you dare to bring the war to our walls. For 
surely no mercy will be shown to any of your family by those (p81) who are in danger of 
losing their own and are treated by you with the same cruelty. On the contrary, they 
will proceed to inflict on them dreadful tortures, pitiless indignities and every other 
kind of abuse, if they are forced thereto by their calamities. And for all these things it 
will not be those who do them that are to blame, but you, who impose the necessity 
upon them. Such will be the pleasures you will reap if this enterprise of yours 
succeeds; but as for praise and emulation and honours, which good men ought to 
strive for, consider of what nature they will be. You will be called the slayer of your 
mother, the murderer of your children, the assassin of your wife, and the evil genius 
of your country; wherever you go, no man who is pious and just will be willing to let 
you partake with him in sacrifices or libations or in the hospitality of his home; and 
even by those for whom out of friendliness you perform these services you will not be 
held in honour, but every one of them, after reaping some advantage from your 
impious actions, will detest your arrogant manner. I forbear to add that, besides the 
hatred which you will encounter on the part of the most fair-minded men, you will 
have to face much envy from your equals and fear from your inferiors and, in 
consequence of both the envy and the fear, plots and many other disagreeable things 
which are likely to befall a man destitute of friends and living in a foreign land. I say 
nothing, indeed, of the Furies sent by the gods and other divinities to punish those 
who have been guilty of impious and dreadful deeds — those Furies tormented by 
whom in both soul and body they drag out a miserable life while awaiting a pitiable 
death. Bearing these things in mind, (p83) Marcius, repent of your purpose and give up 
your grudge against your country; and regarding Fortune as having been the cause of 
all the evils you have suffered at our hands or have inflicted on us, return with joy to 
your family, receive a mother's most affectionate embraces, a wife's sweetest 
welcome, and give yourself back to your country as a most honourable repayment of 
the debt you owe to her for having given birth and rearing to so great a man." 

[8,29] Minucius having spoken in this manner, Marcius after a short pause replied: 
"To you, Minucius, and to all others who have been sent here with him by the senate 
I am a friend and am ready to do you any service in my power, because not only 
earlier, when I was your fellow citizen and had a share in the administration of public 
affairs, you assisted me in many times of need, but also after my banishment you did 
not turn from me in contempt of my then unhappy fate, as if I were no longer able 
either to serve my friends or to hurt my enemies, but you continued to show 
yourselves good and staunch friends by taking care of my mother, my wife and my 
children, and alleviating their misfortune by your personal attentions. But to the 
rest of the Romans I am as hostile as I can be and am at war with them, and I shall 
never cease to hate them; for they, in return for the many glorious achievements for 
which I deserved honour, drove me out of my country with ignominy, as being guilty 
of the most grievous crimes against the commonwealth, and showed neither respect 
for my mother, nor compassion (p85) for my children, nor any other humane field in 
view of my misfortunes. Now that you have been informed of this, if you desire 
anything from me for yourselves, declare it without hesitation, in the assurance that 
you shall fail of naught that is in my power; but as regards friendship and a 
reconciliation, which you desire me to enter into with the populace in the hope that 
they will let me return, discuss it no more. Great indeed would be the satisfaction 
with which I should accept restoration to a city like this, in which vice receives the 
rewards of virtue and the innocent await the punishment of criminals!  For come, 
tell me, in Heaven';s name, with what crime am I charged that I should have 
experienced this misfortune? Or what course have I pursued that is unworthy of my 
ancestors? I made my first campaign when I was very young, at the time we fought 
against the kings who were endeavouring to bring about their restoration by force. As 
a result of that battle I was crowned by the general with a wreath of valour for having 
saved a citizen and slain an enemy. After that, in every other action I was engaged 
in, whether of the horse or foot, I distinguished myself in all and from all received the 
rewards for valour. And there was neither any town taken by storm whose walls I was 
not the very first or among the first few to mount, nor any flight of the enemy from 
the field of battle where all who were present did not acknowledge that I had been the 
chief cause of it, nor any other signal or brave action performed in war without the 
assistance of either my valour or my good fortune. 

[8,30] "These are exploits, it is true, that some (p87) other brave man also might perhaps 
be able to cite in his favour, even if not so many of them; but what general or captain 
could boast of capturing an entire city, as I captured Corioli, and also of putting to 
flight the enemy's army on that very same day, as I did that of the Antiates when it 
came to the assistance of the besieged? I refrain from adding that after I had given 
such proofs of my valour, when I might have received out of the spoils a large amount 
of gold and silver, as well as slaves, beasts of burden and cattle, and much fertile land, 
I refused, but desiring to secure myself as far as possible against envy, took only a 
single war-horse out of the spoils and my personal friend from among the captives, 
and all the rest of the wealth I brought and turned over to the state. Did I, then, for 
these actions deserve to suffer punishments, or to receive honours? To become 
subject to the basest of the citizens, or myself to issue orders to my inferiors? Or 
perhaps it was not for these reasons that the populace banished me, but rather 
because in my private life I was unrestrained, extravagant and lawless? And yet who 
can point to anyone who because of my lawless pleasures has either been banished 
from his country, or lost his liberty, or been deprived of his money, or met with any 
other misfortune? On the contrary, no one even of my enemies ever accused or 
charged me any of these things, but all bore witness that even my daily life was 
irreproachable. 'But, great heavens, man,' some one may say, 'it was your political 
principles that aroused hatred and brought this misfortune upon you. For when you 
had it in your power to choose the better side, you chose the (p89) worse, and you 
continued to say and do everything calculated to effect the overthrow of the 
established aristocracy and to put the whole power of the commonwealth into the 
hands of an ignorant and base municipal.' But I, Minucius, pursued a course the very 
reverse of that, and sought to provide that the senate should always administer the 
public business and that the established constitution should be maintained. In 
return, however, for these honourable principles, which our forefathers thought 
worthy of emulation, I have received this happy, this blessed reward from my country 
— to have been banished, not by the populace alone, Minucius, but, long before that, 
by the senate, which encouraged me at first with vain hopes while I was opposing the 
tribunes in their efforts to establish a tyranny, promising that it would itself provide 
for my security, and then, upon the first suspicion of any danger from the plebeians, 
abandoned me and delivered me up to my enemies! But you yourself were consul at 
the time, Minucius, when the senate passed the preliminary decree concerning my 
trial and when Valerius, who advised delivering me up to the populace, gained great 
applause by his speech, and I, fearing that, if the question were put, I should be 
condemned by the senators, acquiesced and promised of appear voluntarily for trial. 

[8,31] "Come, answer me, Minucius, did I seem to the senate also to deserve 
punishment for having promoted and pursued the best measures, or to the populace 
only? For if you were all of the same opinion at that time and if all of you banished 
me, it is plain that all of you who were of this mind hate virtue and that there is no 
place in your city for p91loyalty to principle. But if the senate was forced to yield to the 
populace and its action was the result of compulsion, not of conviction, you senators 
admit, I take it, that you are governed by the baser element and that the senate has 
not the power to act in any matter as it thinks fit. After this do you ask me to return 
to such a city, in which the better element is governed by the worse? Then you have 
judged me capable of an act of sheer madness! But come, suppose that I have been 
persuaded, and having put an end to the war as you desire, have returned home; what 
sentiments shall I entertain after this, and what manner of life shall I live? Shall I 
choose the safe and secure course, and, in order to obtain magistracies, honours and 
the other advantages of which I think myself worthy, consent to court the mob which 
has the power of bestowing them? In that case I shall change from a worthy to a base 
citizen and shall reap no benefit from my former virtue. Or, maintaining the same 
character and observing the same political principles, shall I oppose those who do not 
make the same choice? Then is it not obvious that the populace will again make war 
upon me and insist on exacting fresh penalties, making this very point their first 
charge against me, that after obtaining my return at their hands I do not humour 
them in the measures I pursue? You cannot deny it.  Then some other bold 
demagogue, an Icilius or a Decius, will appear who will accused me of setting the 
citizens at variance with one another, of forming a plot against the populace, of 
betraying the commonwealth to the enemy, or of aiming at tyranny, even as Decius 
charged me, or of any other crime that may occur to him; for hatred will never be at a 
loss to find an (p93) accusation.  And, besides the other charges, there will also be 
brought up presently all the things I have done in this war — that I have laid waste 
your country, driven off booty, taken your towns, slain some of those who defended 
them and delivered up others to the enemy. If my accusers charge me with these 
things, what shall I say to them in my defence, or on what assistance shall I rely? 

[8,32] "Is it not therefore plain, Minucius, that your envoys are indulging in fair words 
and dissimulation, cloaking with a specious name a wicked design? For surely it is not 
my restoration that you are offering me, but you are taking me back to the populace 
as a sacrificial victim, perhaps because you have actually planned to do this (for it no 
longer occurs to me to hold any good opinion of you);  but if you wish it so — I am 
merely assuming this — that it is because you do not foresee any of the things that 
I shall suffer, what advantage shall I gain from your ignorance or folly, since you will 
not be able to prevent anything even if you are so disposed, but are compelled to 
gratify the populace in this too, as in everything else? Now to show that from the 
point of view of my safety there will be no gain to me in this — 'restoration,' as you 
call it, but I a quick road to destruction, not many more words are called for, I think; 
but to prove that I will not enhance my reputation, either, or my honour, or my piety 
— for you, Minucius, asked me to take these into consideration, and rightly — but 
that, on the contrary, I shall be acting in a most shameful and impious manner if 
I follow your advice, pray hear in turn what I have to say. I became an enemy to 
these men here and did them many injuries during the war while I (p95) was acquiring 
sovereignty, power and glory for my country. Was it not fitting, therefore, that 
I should be honoured by those I had benefited and hated by those I had injured? 
Certainly, if what one could reasonably expect had happened. But Fortune upset both 
these expectations and reversed the two principles. For you Romans, on whose 
account I was an enemy to these men, deprived me of all my possessions, and making 
a nobody of me, cast me off; while they, who had suffered those dire evils at my 
hands, received me into their cities, the resourceless, homeless, humbled outcast. 
4 And not content with doing this only, an action so splendid and magnanimous, they 
also conferred on me citizenship in all their cities, as well as the magistracies and 
honours that in their country are highest. To omit the rest, they have now appointed 
me supreme commander of the expeditionary force and have committed to me alone 
all the interests of their state. Look you, with what heart would I now betray these 
men by whom I have been decked with such honours, when I have suffered no injury, 
great or small, at their hands? Unless, indeed, their favours are injurious to me, as 
mine are to you! A fine reputation forsooth, throughout all the world will such double 
treachery bring me, when it shall be known! Who would not praise me on hearing 
that when I found my friends, from whom I had the right to expect kindness, to be my 
enemies, and my foes, by whom I should have been put to death, to be my friends, 
instead of hating those who hate me and loving those who love me, I took the 
opposite view! 

[8,33] "Come now, Minucius, consider next (p97) the matter of the gods' treatment of me, 
what it has shown itself to be at present and, if I do let you persuade me to betray the 
trust reposed in me by these people, what it will be for the rest of my life. At present 
they assist me in every enterprise I undertake against you and in no attempt am I 
unsuccessful. And how weighty a testimony to my piety do you consider that? For 
surely, if I had undertaken an impious war against my country, the gods ought to 
have opposed me in everything; but since I enjoy the favouring breeze of Fortune in 
the wars I wage and everything that I attempt goes steadily forward for me, it is 
evident that I am a pious man and that my choice of conduct has been honourable. 
What, then, will be my fate if I change my course and endeavour to increase your 
power and humble theirs? Will it not be just the reverse, and shall I not incur the dire 
wrath of Heaven which avenges the injured, and just as by the help of the gods I from 
a low estate have become great, shall I not in turn from a being be brought again to a 
low estate, and my sufferings become lessons to the rest of the world? these are the 
thoughts that occur to me concerning the gods; and I am persuaded that those Furies 
you mentioned, Minucius, so frightful and inexorable toward those who have 
committed any impious deed, will dog my steps and torment both my soul and body 
only when I abandon and betray those who preserved me after you had ruined me, 
and, at the same time as they preserved me, conferred upon me many fine marks of 
their favour, and to whom I gave the gods as guarantors of my pledge that I had not 
come among them with the purpose of doing them any injury and (p99) that I would 
keep with them the faith which I have hitherto preserved pure and untarnished. 

[8,34] "When you call those still my friends, Minucius, who banished me and that 
nation my country which has renounced me, when you appeal to the laws of Nature 
and discuss the obligations of religion, you seem to me to be ignorant of the most 
common facts, of which no one but you is ignorant — namely, that a friend or an 
enemy is not determined either by the lineaments of a face or by the giving of a name, 
but both are made manifest by their services and by their deeds, and that we all love 
those who do us good and hate those who do us harm. No men laid down this law for 
us nor will men ever annul it if the opposite course seems to them better; on the 
contrary, it has been enacted from the beginning of time by the universal nature for 
all creatures endowed with sense, a heritage of man to remain in force forever. for 
this reason we renounce our friends when they injure us and make friends of our 
enemies when some kindly service is done for us by them; and we cherish the country 
that gave us birth when it helps us, but abandon it when it harms us, since our 
affection is based, not on the place, but on the benefit it confers. These are the 
sentiments not merely of individual persons in private life, but of whole cities and 
nations. Consequently, whoever applies this principle demands nothing not 
sanctioned by religion usage and does nothing that contravenes the common 
judgement of all mankind. I, therefore, consider that in doing these things I am doing 
what is just, advantageous (p101) and honourable, and at the same time what is most 
holy in the eyes of the gods; and I do not care to take as judges of my conduct mere 
men who infer the truth from guesswork and opinion, since the gods are pleased with 
what I do. Nor do I agreed that I am undertaking impossible things when I have the 
gods as my guides therein — not, at least, if one is to judge of the future by the past. 

[8,35] "As regards the moderation which you recommend to me and your plea that 
I should not utterly destroy the Roman race or overthrow the city from its 
foundations, I might answer, Minucius, that this is not in my power to decide, nor 
should your plea be addressed to me. No, I am general of the army, but as to war and 
peace these men here have the decision; so apply to them for a truce as a step toward 
reconciliation, and not to me. Nevertheless, because I revere the gods of my fathers 
and respect the sepulchres of my ancestors and the land which gave me birth, and feel 
compassion for your wives and children, on whom, though undeserving, will fall the 
errors of their fathers and husbands, and, not least of all, on account of you men, 
Minucius, who have been chosen envoys by the commonwealth, I answer as follows: 
If the Romans will return to the Volscians the land they have taken from them and 
the cities they hold, first recalling their colonists, and if they will enter into a league of 
perpetual friendship with them and give them equal rights of citizenship, (p103) as they 
have done in the case of the Latins, confirming their covenant by oaths and by 
imprecations against those who may violate it, I will put an end to the war against 
them, and not until then. So carry this report back to them, and discuss very 
earnestly with them also, in the same way as you have with me, these considerations 
of justice — how fine a thing it is for everyone to enjoy his own possession stone to 
live in peace, but how disgraceful it is for a people, by clinging to the possessions of 
others, to expose themselves to an unnecessary war, in which they will run the hazard 
of losing even all their own blessings. Point out to them also how unequal are the 
prizes street reward success and failure when men covet the territory of others. Add 
too, if you please, that people who desire to seize the cities of those they have 
wronged, if they do not overcome them, are deprived of both their own territory and 
city, and in addition to this see their wives suffer the greatest indignities, their 
children led away to contumely, and their parents upon the threshold of old age 
become slaves instead of free men.  And at the same time point out to the senators 
that they would not be able to impute the blame for these evils to Marcius, but to 
their own folly; for though they have it in their power to practise justice and to incur 
no disaster, they will hazard their all by their continual fondness for the possessions 
of others. "You have my answer, and you will get nothing (p105) further from me. Depart, 
then, and consider what you must do. I will allow you thirty days for your deliberation. in 
the meantime, to show my regard for you, Minucius, as well as for the rest of you 
envoys, I will withdraw my army from your territory, since it would cause you great 
injury if it remained here. And on the thirtieth day expect my return in order to 
receive your answer." 

[8,36] Having thus spoken, Marcius rose up and dismissed the conference; and the 
following night he broke camp about the last watch and led his army against the rest 
of the Latin cities, either having actually learned that some reinforcements were to 
come from them to the Romans, as he declared at the time in his harangue to the 
Romans, or having invented the report himself, in order that he might not seem to 
have given up the war to gratify the enemy. And attacking the place called Longula, 
he gained possession of it without any difficulty, and treated it in the same manner as 
he had treated the others, by making slaves of the inhabitants and plundering the 
town. Then he marched to the city of Satricum, and having taken this also, after a 
short resistance by the townspeople, and ordered a detachment of his army to convey 
the booty taken in these two towns to Ecetra, he marched with the rest of his forces to 
another town, called Cetia. After gaining possession of this place also and pillaging 
it, he made an irruption into the territory of the Poluscini; and when these were 
unable to withstand him, he took their city also by (p107) storm, and then proceeded 
against the others in order: the Albietes and the Mugillani he took by assault and the 
Chorielani by capitulation. Having thus made himself master of seven cities in 
thirty days, he returned toward Rome with an army much larger than his former 
force, and encamped at a distance of a little more than thirty stades from the city, on 
the road that leads to Tusculum 
When Marcius was capturing or conciliating the cities of the Latins, the Romans, 
after long deliberation over his demands, resolved to do nothing unworthy of the 
commonwealth, but if the Volscians would depart from their territory and from that 
of their allies and subjects and, putting an end to the war, send ambassadors to treat 
for friendship, the senate would pass a preliminary vote fixing the terms on which 
they should become friends and would lay its resolution before the people; but as 
long as the Volscians remained in their territory and in that of their allies committing 
hostile acts they would pass no friendly vote. For the Romans always made it a great 
point never to do anything at the dictation of an enemy or to yield to fear of him, but 
when once their adversaries had made peace and acknowledged themselves their 
subjects, to gratify them and concede (p109) anything in reason that they asked. And 
this proud spirit the commonwealth had continued to preserve down to our own time 
amid many great dangers in both their foreign and their domestic wars. 

[8,37] The senate, having passed this decree, chosen ten other men from among the 
ex-consuls as envoys to ask Marcius not to make any demand that was severe or 
unworthy of the commonwealth, but laying aside his resentment and withdrawing his 
forces from their territory, to endeavour to obtain his demands by persuasion and 
conciliatory language, if he wished to make the compact between the two states firm 
and enduring, since all concessions made either to individuals or to state under 
compulsion of some necessity or crisis become void at once when the crisis or the 
necessity changes. The envoys appointed by the senate, as soon as they were 
informed of the arrival of Marcius, repaired to him and used many tempting 
arguments, preserving also in their discussions, however, the dignity of the 
commonwealth. But Marcius gave them no answer except to advise them to reach 
some better decision and then return within three days; for they should have a truce 
from war for that period only. And when the envoys desired to make some answer to 
this, he would not permit it, but ordered them to quit the camp immediately, 
threatening, if they refused, to treat them as spies. Thereupon they at once withdrew 
in silence. The senators, upon being informed by the envoys of the haughty answer 
and (p111) threats of Marcius, did not even then vote to send out an expeditionary force, 
either because they feared the inexperience of their troops, most of whom were new 
recruits, or because they regarded the timidity of the consuls — there was indeed no 
boldness for action in them at all — as a serious risk in undertaking so great a 
struggle, or perhaps too because Heaven opposed their expedition by means of 
auspices, Sibylline oracles, or some traditional religious scruple — warnings which 
the men of that age did not think fit to neglect as do those of to-day. However, they 
resolved to guard the city with greater diligence and to repel from their ramparts any 
who should attack them. 

[8,38] While they were so engaged and were making their preparations, and were not 
yet ready to give up all hope, believing that Marcius could still be persuaded to relent 
if they sent a larger and more dignified embassy to intercede with him, they voted to 
send the pontiffs, the augurs, and all the others who were invested with any sacred 
dignity or public ministry relating to divine worship (there are among them large 
numbers of priests and ministers religion, these also being distinguished beyond their 
fellows not only for their ancestry, but for their reputation for personal merit as well), 
and that these, carrying with them the symbols of the gods whose rites and worship 
they performed, and wearing their priestly robes, should go in a body to the enemy's 
camp bearing the same message as the former envoys. When they arrived and 
delivered the message with which the senate had charged them, Marcius returned no 
other answer even to them concerning their demands, but advised them either to 
depart and do (p113) as he commanded, if they wished to have peace, or to expect the 
war to come to their very gates; and he forbade them to attempt any negotiations with 
him for the future. When the Romans failed in this attempt also, they gave up all 
hope of reconciliation and prepared for a siege, disposing the ablest of their men 
beside the moat and at the gates, and stationing upon the walls those who had been 
discharged from military service but whose bodies were still capable of enduring hardships. 

[8,39] In the meantime their wives, seeing the danger now at hand and abandoning 
the sense of propriety that kept them in the seclusion of their homes, ran to the 
shrines of the gods with lamentations and threw themselves at the feet of their 
statues. And every holy place, particularly the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, was 
filled with the cries and supplications of women.  Then it was that one of them, a 
matron distinguished in birth and rank, who was then in the vigour of life and quite 
capable of discreet judgement, Valeria by name and sister to Publicola, one of the 
men who had freed the commonwealth from the kings, moved by some divine 
inspiration, took her stand upon the topmost step of the temple, and calling the rest 
of the women to her, first comforted and encouraged them, bidding them not to be 
alarmed at the danger that threatened. Then she assured them that there was just one 
hope of safety for the commonwealth and that this hope rested in them alone, if they 
would do what required to be done.  Upon this one of them asked: "And what can we 
women do to save our country, when the men have given it up for lost? What strength 
so (p115) great do we weak and miserable women possess?" "A strength," replied 
Valeria, "that calls, not for weapons or hands — for Nature has excused us from the 
use of these — but for goodwill and speech." And when all cried out and begged of her 
to explain what this assistance was, Valeria said:  "Wearing this squalid and shabby 
garb and taking with us the rest of the women and our children, let us go to the house 
of Veturia, the mother of Marcius; and placing the children at her knees, let us 
entreat her with tears to have compassion both upon us, who have given her no cause 
for grief, and upon our country, now in the direst peril, and beg of her to go to the 
enemy's camp, taking along her grandchildren and their mother and all of us — for 
we must attend her with our children — and becoming the suppliant of her son, to ask 
and implore him not to inflict any irreparable mischief on his country. For while she 
is lamenting and entreating, a feeling of compassion and a tender reasonableness will 
come over the man. His heart is not so hard and invulnerable that he can hold out 
against a mother who grovels at his knees." 

[8,40] This advice having been approved of by all the women who were present, she 
prayed to the gods to invest their plea with persuasion and charm, and then set out 
from the sanctuary, followed by the others. Afterwards, taking with them the rest of 
the women, they went in a body to the house of Marcius' mother. His wife Volumnia 
saw them approaching as she sat near her mother-in-law, and being surprised at their 
coming, asked: "What is it you want, (p117) women, that so many of you have come to a 
household that is distressed and in humiliation?" Then Valeria replied:  "Because we 
are in the direst peril, both we ourselves and these children have turned as suppliants 
to you, Veturia, our one and only succour, entreating you, first, to take compassion on 
our common country and not to permit this land, which has never fallen under any 
man's hand, to be robbed of its freedom by the Volscians — even supposing that they 
will spare it after subduing it and not endeavour to destroy it utterly; and next, 
imploring you in our own behalf and in behalf of these unfortunate children that we 
may not be exposed to the insolence of the enemy, since we are the cause of none of 
the evils that have befallen your family.  If there remains in you any portion of a 
gentle and humane spirit, do you, Veturia, as a woman, have mercy on women who 
once shared with you the same sacrifices and rites, and taking with you Volumnia, the 
good wife of Marcius, and her children, and us suppliant women — ourselves too of 
noble birth — carrying in our arms these infants, go to your son and try to persuade 
him, implore him, and cease not to entreat him, asking of him this one favour in 
return for many — to make peace with his fellow citizens and return to his country 
that longs to get him back. For you will persuade him, be assured; a man of his piety 
will not permit you to lie prostrate at his feet. And when you have brought your son 
back to Rome, not only will you yourself most likely gain immortal glory for having 
rescued your country from so great a danger and terror, but you will be the cause to 
us also of some honour in the eyes of our (p119) husbands for having ourselves put an 
end to a war which they had been unable to stop; and we shall show ourselves to be 
the true descendants of those women who by their own intercession put an end to the 
war that had arisen between Romulus and the Sabines and by bringing together both 
the commanders and the nations thatº made this city great from a small beginning. 
It is a glorious venture, Veturia, to recover your son, to free your native land, to save 
your countrywomen, and to leave to posterity an imperishable reputation for virtue. 
Grant us this favour willingly and cheerfully, and make haste, Veturia; for the danger 
is acute and admits of no deliberation or delay." 

[8,41] Having said this and shed many tears, she became silent. And when the other 
women also lamented and added many entreaties, Veturia, after pausing a short time 
and weeping, said: 
"It is a weak and slender hope, Valeria, to which you have turned for refuge — the 
assistance of us wretched women who feel indeed affection for ought to country and a 
desire for the preservation of the citizens, no matter what their character, but lack the 
strength and power to do what we wish. For Marcius has turned away from us, 
Valeria, ever since the people passed that bitter sentence against him, and has hated 
his whole family together with his country. This we can tell you as a thing we learned 
from the lips of none other than Marcius himself. For when, after his condemnation, 
he came home, escorted by his friends, and found us sitting there in garments of 
mourning, (p121) abased, clasping his children upon our knees, uttering such 
lamentations as one would expect in the circumstances and bewailing the unhappy 
fate which would come upon us when bereft of him, he stood at a little distance from 
us, tearless as a stone and unmoved, and said: 'Marcius is lost to you, mother, and to 
you also, Volumnia, best of wives, having been exiled by his fellow citizens because he 
was a brave man and a lover of his country and undertook many struggles for her 
sake. But bear this calamity as befits good women, doing nothing unseemly or 
ignoble, and with these children as a consolation for my absence, rear them in a 
manner worthy both of yourselves and of their lineage; and when they have come to 
manhood, may the gods grant them a fate better than their father's and valour not 
inferior to his. Farewell. I am departing now and leaving this city in which there is no 
longer any room for good men. And ye too, my household gods and hearth of my 
fathers, and ye other divinities who preside over this place, farewell.'  When he had 
thus spoken, we unhappy women, uttering the cries which our plight called for, and 
beating our breasts, clung to him to receive his last embraces. I led the elder of these 
his sons by the hand, and the younger his mother carried in her arms. But he turned 
away, and thrusting us back, said: 'No longer shall Marcius be your son henceforth, 
mother, but our country has deprived you of the support of your old age; nor shall he 
be your husband, Volumnia, from this day, but may you be happen with another 
husband more fortunate than I; near shall he be your father, dearest children, but, 
orphans and forsaken, you will be reared by these women till you come to manhood.' 
(p123) With these words and nothing else — without arranging any of his affairs, 
sending any messages, or saying whither he was going — he went out of the house 
alone, women, without a servant, without means, and without taking from his own 
stores, wretched man, even a day's supply of food. And for the fourth year now, ever 
since he was banished from the country, he has looked upon us all as strangers to 
him, neither writing anything nor sending any messages nor caring to have news of 
us.  On such a mind, so hard and invulnerable, Valeria, what force will the entreaties 
of us women have, to whom he gave neither embraces nor kisses nor any other mark 
of affection when he left his house for the last time? 

[8,42] "But if you desire it so, women, and firmly wish to see us act an unbecoming 
part, just imagine that I and Volumnia with these children have come into his 
presence. What words shall I, his mother, first address to him and what request 
shall I make of my son? Tell me and instruct me. Shall I exhort him to spare his fellow 
citizens, by whom he was exiled from his country though guilty of no crime? To be 
merciful and compassionate to the plebeians, from whom he received neither mercy 
nor compassion? Or perhaps to abandon and betray those who received him when an 
east and, notwithstanding the many calamities he had previously inflicted on them, 
showed to him, not the hatred of enemies, but the affection of friends and relations? 
What courage can I pluck up to ask my son to love those who have ruined him and 
to injure those who have preserved him? These are not the words of a sane mother to 
her son nor of (p125) a wife who reasons as she should to her husband; nor ought you, 
either, women, to compel us to ask of him things that are neither just in the sight of 
men nor right in the eyes of the gods, but permit us miserable women to lie abased as 
we have been cast down by Fortune, committing no further unseemly act." 

[8,43] After she had done speaking there was so great lamentation on the part of the 
women present and such wailing pervaded the household that their cries were heard 
over a great part of the city and the streets near the house were crowded with people. 
Then Valeria again indulged in fresh entreaties that were long and affecting, and all 
the rest of the women who were connected by friendship or kindred with either of 
them remained there, beseeching her and embracing her knees, till Veturia, not 
seeing how she could help herself in view of their lamentations and their many 
entreaties, yielded and promised to perform the mission in behalf of their country, 
taking with her the wife of Marcius and his children and as many matrons as wished 
to join them. The women rejoiced exceedingly at this and invoked the gods to aid in 
the accomplishment of their hopes; then, departing from the house, entreaty 
informed the consuls of what had passed. These, having commended their zeal, 
assembled the senate and called upon the members to deliver their opinions one after 
the other whether they ought to permit the women to go out on this mission. Many 
speeches were made by many senators, and they continued debating till (p127) the 
evening what they ought to do. For some argued that it was no small risk to the 
commonwealth to permit the women with the children to go to the enemy's camp; for 
if the Volscians, in contempt of the recognized rights of ambassadors and suppliants, 
should decide not to let them go afterwards, their city would be taken without a blow. 
These men, therefore, advised permitting only the women who were related to 
Marcius to go, accompanied by his children. Others believed that not even these 
should be allowed to go out, and advised that they too should be carefully guarded, 
considering that in them they had hostages from the enemy, to secure the city from 
suffering any irreparable injury at their hands.  Still others advised giving leave to all 
the women to go who so desired, in order that the kinswomen of Marcius might 
intercede more impressively for their country; and to insure that no harm should 
befall them, they said they would have as sureties, first, the gods, to whom the women 
would be consecrated before making their petition, and next, the man himself to 
whom they were going, who had kept his life pure and unstained by any act of 
injustice or impiety.  However, the proposal to allow the women to go prevailed, 
implying against compliment to both parties — to the senate for its wisdom, in that it 
perceived best what was going to happen, without being disquieted at all by the 
danger, though it was great, and to Marcius for his piety, inasmuch as it was not 
believed that he would, even though an enemy, do anything impious toward the 
weakest element of the state when he should have them in his power.  After (p129) the 
decree had been drawn up, the consuls proceeded to the Forum, and summoning an 
assembly when it was already dark, announced the senate's decision and gave notice 
that all should come early the next morning to the gates to accompany the women 
when they went out; and they said that they themselves would attend to all urgent business. 

[8,44] When it was now break of day, the women, leading the children, went with 
torches to the house of Veturia, and taking her with them, proceeded to the gates. In 
the meantime the consuls, having got ready spans of mules, carts, and a great many 
other conveyances, seated the women in them and accompanied them for a long 
distance. The women were attended by the senators and many other citizens, who by 
their vows, commendations and entreaties lent distinction to their mission. As soon 
as the women, while still approaching at a distance, could be clearly seen by those in 
the camp, Marcius sent some horsemen with orders to learn what multitude it was 
that advanced from the city and what was the occasion of their coming. And being 
informed that the wives of the Romans together with their children had come to him 
and twenty they were led by his mother, his wife and his sons, he was at first 
astonished at the assurance of the women in resolving to come with their children 
into an enemy's camp without a guard of men, neither showing regard any longer for 
the modesty becoming to free-born and virtuous women, which forbids them to be 
seen by men who are strangers, nor becoming alarmed at the dangers which they 
would run if his soldiers, preferring their (p131) own interests to justice, should think fit 
to make a profit and advantage of them. But when they were near, he resolved to go 
out of the camp with a few of his men and to meet his mother, after first ordering his 
lictors to lay aside the axes which were customarily carried before generals, and when 
he should come near his mother, to lower the rods. This is a custom observed by the 
Romans when inferior magistrates meet those who are their superiors, which 
continues even to our time; and it was in observance of this custom that Marcius, as if 
he were going to meet a superior power, now laid aside all the insignia of his own 
office. So great was his reverence and his concern to show his veneration for the tie of 
kinship. 

[8,45] When they came near to one another, his mother was the first to advance toward 
him to greet him, clad in rent garments of mourning and with her eyes melting with 
tears, an object of great compassion. Upon seeing her, Marcius, who till then had 
been hard-hearted and stern enough to cope with any distressing situation, could no 
longer keep any of his resolutions, but was carried away by his emotions into human 
kindness, and embracing her and kissing her, he called her by the most endearing 
terms, and supported her for a long time, weeping and caressing her as her strength 
failed and she sank to the ground. After he had had enough of caressing his mother, 
he greeted his wife when with their children she approached him, and said: "You 
have acted the part of a good wife, Volumnia, in living with my mother and not 
abandoning her in her solitude, and to me you have done the dearest of all favours." 
After this, drawing each of his children to him, he (p133) gave them a father's caresses, 
and then, turning again to his mother, begged her to state what she had come to ask 
of him. She answered that she would speak out in the presence of all, since she had no 
impious request to make of him, and bade him be seated where he was wont to sit 
when administering justice to his troops. Marcius willingly agreed to her proposal, 
thinking, naturally, that he should have a great abundance of just arguments to use in 
combating his mother's intercession and that he should be giving his answer where it 
was convenient for the troops to hear. When he came to the general's tribunal, he first 
ordered the lictors to remove the seat that stood there and to place it on the ground, 
since he thought he ought not to occupy a higher position than his mother or use 
against her any official authority. Then, causing the most prominent of the 
commanders and captains to sit by him and permitting any others to be present who 
wished, he bade his mother speak. 

[8,46] Thereupon Veturia, having placed the wife of Marcius with his children and the 
most prominent of the Roman matrons near her, first wept, fixing her eyes on the 
ground for a long time, and roused great compassion in all who were present. Then, 
recovering herself, she said:  "These women, Marcius, my son, mindful of the 
outrages and other calamities which will come upon them if our city falls into the 
power of the enemy, and despairing of all other assistance, since you gave haughty 
and harsh answers to their husbands when they asked you to end the (p135) war, took 
their children, and clad in these rent garments of mourning, turned for refuge to me, 
your mother, and to Volumnia, your wife, begging us not to permit them to suffer the 
greatest of all human evils at your hands, as they have never done us any injury, great 
or slight, but showed much affection for us while we were still prosperous, and 
compassion when we met with adversity. For we can bear them witness that since 
you withdrew from your country and we were left desolate and no longer of any 
account, they constantly visited us, alleviated our misfortunes, and condoled with us. 
So, remembering all this, neither I nor your wife, who lives with me, rejected their 
entreaties, but brought ourselves to come to you, as they asked, and to make our 
supplications in behalf of our country." 

[8,47] While she was yet speaking Marcius interrupted her and said: "You have come 
demanding the impossible, mother, when you ask me to betray those who have cast 
me out those who have received me, and to those who have deprived me of all my 
possessions those who have conferred on me the greatest of human blessings — men 
to whom, when I accepted this command, I gave the gods and other divinities as 
sureties that I would neither betray their state nor end the war unless all the 
Volscians agreed to do so.  Both out of reverence, then, for the gods by whom I swore 
and out of respect for the men to whom I gave my pledges I shall continue to make 
war upon the Romans to the last. But if they will (p137) restore to the Volscians the 
lands of theirs which they hold by force, and will make them their friends, giving 
them an equal share in all privileges as they have to the Latins, I will put an end to the 
war against them, otherwise not. As for you women, then, depart and carry this 
word to your husbands; and persuade them to cease their unjust fondness for 
possessions of others and to be content if they are permitted to keep what is their 
own, and not, just because they now hold the possessions of the Volscians which they 
took in war, to wait till they are in turn deprived of them in war by the Volscians. For 
the conquerors will not be satisfied with merely recovering their own possessions, but 
will think themselves entitled also to those that belong to the conquered. And if, by 
clinging to what is not theirs at all, the Romans persist in their arrogance and are 
willing to suffer anything whatever, you will impute to them, rather than to Marcius, 
the Volscians or anyone else, the blame for the miseries that shall befall them. And 
of you, mother, I, who am your son, beg in my turn that you will not urge me to 
wicked and unjust actions, nor, ranging yourself on the side of those who are the 
bitterest foes both to me and to yourself, regard as enemies your nearest of kin, but 
that, taking your place at my side, as is right, you will make the land where I dwell 
your fatherland, and your home the house I have acquired, and that you will enjoy my 
honours and share in my glory, looking upon my friends and enemies as your own; 
also that you will lay aside the mourning which, unhappy (p139) woman, you have 
endured because of my banishment, and cease to avenge yourself upon me by this 
garb. For though all other blessings, mother, have been conferred on me both by the 
gods and men above my hopes and beyond my prayers, yet the concern I have felt for 
you, whose old age I have not cherished in return for all your pains, has so sunk into 
my inmost being as to render my life bitter and incapable of enjoying all my blessings. 
But if you will take your place by my side and consent to share all I possess, no longer 
will any of the blessings which fall to the lot of man be lacking to me." 

[8,48] When he had ended, Veturia, after waiting a short time till the great and long-
continued applause of the bystanders ceased, spoke to him as follows: 
"But I, Marcius, my son, neither ask you to become a traitor to the Volscians who 
received you when an exile and, among other honours, entrusted you with the 
command of their army, nor do I desire that, contrary to the agreements and to the 
sworn pledges you gave them when you took command of their forces, you should 
arbitrarily, without the general consent, put an end to enmity. do not imagine that 
your mother has been filled with such fatuousness as to urge her dear and only son to 
shameful and wicked actions. On the contrary, I ask you to withdraw from the war 
only with the general consent of the Volscians, after you have persuaded them to use 
moderation with regard to an accommodation and to make such a peace as shall be 
honourable and seemly for both nations. This may be done if you will now withdraw 
your forces, first making a truce for a year, and will in the meantime, by sending and 
receiving (p141) ambassadors, work to bring about a genuine friendship and a firm 
reconciliation. And be well assured of this: the Romans, in so far as no impossible 
condition or any dishonour attaching to the terms prevents, will consent to perform 
them all if won over by persuasion and exhortation, but if compulsion is attempted, 
as you now think proper, they will never make any concession, great or small, to 
please you, as you may learn from many other instances and particularly from the 
concessions they recently made to the Latins after these had laid down their arms. As 
to the Volscians, on the other hand, their arrogance is now great, as happens to all 
who have met with signal success; but if you point out to them that 'any peace is 
preferable to any war,' that 'a voluntary agreement between friends is more secure 
than concession extorted by necessity,' and that 'it is the part of wise men, when they 
seem to be prosperous, to husband their good fortune, but when their fortunes 
become low and paltry, to submit to nothing that is ignoble,' and if you make use of 
such other instructive maxims conducive to moderation and reasonableness as have 
been devised, maxims with which you politicians in particular are familiar, be 
assured that they will voluntarily recede from their present boastfulness and give you 
authority to do anything you believe will be to their advantage. But if they oppose 
you and refuse to accept your proposals, being elated by the successes they have (p143) 
gained through you and your leadership, as if these would always continue, resign 
publicly the command of their army and make yourself neither a traitor to those who 
have trusted you nor an enemy to those who are nearest to you; for to do either is 
impious. These are the favours I have come begging you to grant me, Marcius, my 
son, and they are not only not impossible to grant, as you assert, but are free from any 
consciousness on my part of an unjust or impious intent. 

[8,49] "But come, you are afraid perhaps that if you do what I urge you will incur a 
shameful reputation, believing that you will stand convicted of ingratitude to your 
benefactors, who received you, an enemy, and shared with you all the advantages to 
which their native-born citizens are entitled; for these are the things you constantly 
stress in your remarks. Have you the, then, made them many fine returns, and have 
you not by the favours you have bestow wed, while nigh limitless in magnitude and 
number, surpassed the kindnesses received from them? Though they regarded it as 
enough and as the greatest of all blessings if they could continue to live as freemen in 
their native cities, you have not only made them securely their own masters, but have 
also brought it about that they are already considering whether it is better for them to 
destroy the dominion of the Romans or to have an equal share in it by forming a joint 
commonwealth. I say nothing of all the spoils of war with which you have adorned 
their cities nor of the great riches you have bestowed upon those who accompanied 
you on your expeditions. Do you believe that those who through your aid have 
become so great and have entered upon such prosperity (p145) will not be content with 
the blessings they have, but will be angry with you and indignant if you do not also 
spill by their hands your country's blood? For my part, I do not believe so. I have 
still one point left to speak of — a strong one if you judge of it by reason, but weak if 
you judge by passion. I refer to the unjust hatred you bear toward your country. For 
the commonwealth was neither in a state of health nor governed according to the 
established constitution when she pronounced that unjust sentence against you, but 
was diseased and tossed in a violent tempest; nor did the state as a whole entertain 
this opinion at that time, but only the baser element in it, which had followed evil 
leaders. Yet supposing not only the worst of the citizens, but all the rest of as well 
had been of this mind, and you had been banished by them as not acting for the best 
interests of the state, not even in that case did it become you to bear any resentment 
against your country. For it has fallen to the lot of many others, you know, of those 
whose policies were prompted by the best motives, to have the same experience, and 
few indeed are those who have not, because of their reputation for virtue, felt the 
breath of unjust envoy on the part of their political rivals. But all who are high-
minded, Marcius, bear their misfortunes like men and with moderation, and remove 
to other cities in which they can dwell without causing harm to their fatherland. This 
was the case with Tarquinius, surnamed Collatinus. (A single instance and one from 
our own history will suffice. He had assisted in freeing his fellow citizens from the 
tyrants, but was later accused (p147) before them of attempting in turn to restore these 
tyrants and for that reason was himself banished from his country; yet he retained no 
resentment against those who had exiled him, nor would he march against his 
country bringing with him the tyrants nor commit acts that would substantiate the 
charges made against him, but retiring to Lavinium, our mother-city, he spent the 
remainder of his life there, continuing loyal to his country and its friend. 

[8,50] "Conceding the point nevertheless, and granting the right to all who have 
suffered grievous l not to distinguish whether those who have injured them are 
friends or aliens but to direct their anger against all impartially, even so have you not 
taken a sufficient revenge on such as abused you, now that you have turned their best 
land into a sheep-walk, have utterly destroyed the cities of their allies, which they had 
acquired and held at the cost of many hardships, and have reduced them now for the 
third year to a great scarcity of provisions? But you carry your wild and mad 
resentment even to the point of enslaving them and razing their city; and you 
showed no regard even for the envoys sent to you by the senate, men of worth and 
your friends, who came to offer you a dismissal of the charges and leave to return 
home, nor yet for the priests whom the commonwealth sent at the last to you, old 
men holding before them the holy garlands of the gods; but these also you drove 
away, giving a haughty and imperious answer to them as (p149) to men who had been 
conquered.  For my part, I cannot commend these harsh and overbearing claims, 
which overstep the bounds of human nature, when I observe that a refuge for all men 
and the means of securing forgiveness for their offences one against another have 
been devised in the form of suppliant boughs and prayers, by which all anger is 
softened and instead of hating one's enemy one pities him; and when I observe also 
that those who act arrogantly and treat with insolence the prayers of suppliants all 
incur the indignation of the gods and in the end come to a miserable state. For the 
gods themselves, who in the first place instituted and delivered to us these customs, 
are disposed to forgive the offences of men and are easily reconciled; and many have 
there been ere now who, though greatly sinning against them, have appeased their 
anger by prayers and sacrifices. Unless you think it fitting, Marcius, that the anger of 
the gods should be mortal, but that of men immortal! You will be doing, then, what is 
just and becoming both to yourself to your country if you forgive her her offences, 
seeing that she is repentant and ready to be reconciled and to restore to you now 
everything that she took away from you before. 

[8,51] "But if you are indeed irreconcilable to her, grant, my son, this honour and favour 
to me, at least, from whom you have received, not the boons that are of least value 
nor those to which another also might lay claim, but rather those that are the greatest 
and most precious and have enabled you to acquire everything else you possess —
 namely, your body and your soul. These are loans you have from me, and neither 
(p151) place nor time will ever deprive me of them, nor will the benefactions of the 
Volscians or of all the rest of mankind together, even if they should reach the heavens 
in magnitude, avail to efface and surpass the rights of Nature; but you will be mine 
forever, and to me before all others you will owe gratitude for your life, and you will 
oblige me in everything I ask without alleging any excuse.  For this is a right which 
the law of Nature has prescribed for all who partake of sense and reason; and putting 
my trust in this law, Marcius, my son, I too beg of you not to make war upon your 
country, and I stand in your way if you resort to violence. Either, therefore, first 
sacrifice with your own hand to the Furies your mother who opposes you and then 
begin the war against your country, or, if you shrink from the guilt of matricide, yield 
to your mother, my son, and grant this favour willingly. Having this law, then, which 
no lapse of time will ever repeal, to avenge my wrongs and be my ally, I cannot 
consent, Marcius, to be alone deprived by you of honours to which it entitles me. But 
leaving this law aside, consider in turn the reminders I have to give you of the good 
offices you have received from me, human many and how great they are. When you 
were left an orphan by your father, I took you as an infant, and for your sake 
I remained a widow and underwent the labours of rearing you, showing myself not 
only a mother to you, but also a father, a nurse, a sister, and everything that is 
dearest. When you reached manhood and it was in my power to be freed from these 
cares by marrying again, to rear other children, and lay up many hopes (p153) to support 
me in my old age, I would not do so, but remained at the same hearth and put up with 
the same kind of life, placing all my pleasures and all my advantages in you alone. Of 
these you have disappointed me, partly against your will and partly of your own 
accord, and have made me the most wretched of all mothers. For what time, since 
I brought you up to manhood, have I passed free from grief or fear? Or when have I 
possessed a spirit cheerful on your account, seeing you always undertaking wars upon 
wars, engaged in battles upon battles, and receiving wounds upon wounds? 

[8,52] "But from the time when you took up the life of a statesman and engaged in 
public affairs have I, your mother, enjoyed any pleasure on your account? Nay, it was 
then that I was most unhappy, seeing you placed in the midst of civil strife. For those 
very measures which seemed to make you flourish and blow strong in popularity as 
you opposed the plebeians in behalf of the aristocracy filled me with fear, as I called 
to mind what the life of man is, how it hangs nicely suspended as in a balance, and 
had learned from many instances what I had heard and experienced that a kind of 
divine vengeance opposes men of prominence or a certain envy of men makes war 
upon them; and I proved a true prophet of what was to be — would to Heaven I had 
not! At any rate, you were overpowered by the ill-will of your fellow citizens, which 
burst upon you violently and snatched you away from your country; and my life 
thereafter — if, indeed I ought to call it life since you departed leaving me and these 
children, too, desolate — has been spent in this squalor and in these rent garments of 
mourning.  In return for all this I, (p155) who was never a burden to you nor ever shall 
be as long as I live, ask this favour of you — that you will be at last be reconciled to 
your fellow citizens and cease nursing that implacable anger against your country. In 
doing this I am but asking to receive what will be a boon common to us both, and not 
mine alone. For you, if you hearken to me and commit no irreparable deed, will 
have a mind free and unvexed by any heaven-sent wrath and disquiet, while as for 
me, the honour I shall receive from the men and women of the city, attending me 
while I live, will make my life happen, and being paid to my memory after my death, 
as I may well expect, will bring me everlasting fame. And if there is in very truth a 
place which will receive men's souls when released from the body, it is not that 
subterranean and gloomy place where, men say, the unhappy dwell, that will receive 
mine, nor the region called the Plain of Lethe, but the pure ether high up in the 
heavens, where, as report has it, those who are sprung from the gods dwell, enjoying 
a happy and a blessed life; and to them my soul will relate your piety and the acts of 
kindness with which you honoured her, and will ever ask the gods to requite you with 
glorious rewards. 

[8,53] "If, however, you treat your mother with indignity and send her away 
unhonoured, what you yourself will have to suffer for this I cannot say, though 
I presage no happiness. But even if you should be fortunate in all other respects — for 
let that be assumed — yet your compunction because of me and my afflictions, 
haunting you and never giving respite to your soul, will rob your life of the enjoyment 
(p157) of all its blessings; this I do know full well. Veturia, for one thing, after this cruel 
and irreparable ignominy received before so many witnesses, will not bear to live for 
a moment; nay, I will kill myself before the eyes of all of you, both friends and 
enemies, leaving to you in my stead a grievous curse and dire furies to be my 
avengers. May there be no occasion for this, O gods who guard the empire of the 
Romans, but inspire Marcius with sentiments of piety and honour; and just as a little 
while ago at my approach he ordered the axes to be laid aside, the rods to be lowered, 
and his chair to be taken from the tribunal and placed on the ground, and as for all 
the other observances by which it is the custom to honour supreme magistrates, he 
moderated some and did away with others altogether, desiring to make it clear to all 
that though it was fitting that he should rule all others, by his mother he should be 
ruled, even so may he now also make me honoured and conspicuous, and by giving 
me back our common country as a favour, render me, instead of the most ill-starred, 
the most fortunate of all women. And if it is right and lawful for a mother to grovel 
at the feet of her son, even to this and every other posture and office of humility will I 
submit in order to save my country." 

[8,54] With these words she threw herself upon the ground, and embracing the feet of 
Marcius with both her hands, she kissed them, As soon as she fell prostrate, all the 
women cried out together, raising a loud and prolonged wailing; and the Volscians 
who (p159) were present at the assembly could not bear the unusual sight, but turned 
away their eyes. Marcius himself, leaping up from his seat, took his mother in his 
arms, and raising her up from the ground scarcely breathing, embraced her, and 
shedding many tears, said: "Yours is the victory, mother, but a victory which will be 
happy for neither you nor me. For though you have saved your country, you have 
ruined me, your dutiful and affectionate son: After saying this, he retired to his 
tent, bidding his mother, his wife, and his children follow him; and there he passed 
the rest of the day in considering with them what should be done. The decisions they 
reached were as follows: That the senate should lay no proposal before the people 
providing for his return nor should the latter pass any vote till the Volscians should 
be ready to consider friendship and the termination of the war; that Marcius should 
break camp and lead his army away as through friendly territory; and that after he 
had given an accounting to the Volscians of his conduct in the command of their army 
and recounted the services he had done them, he should ask those who had entrusted 
him with the army, preferably to admit their enemies into friendship and to conclude 
a just treaty with them, commissioning them to see that the terms of the agreement 
were fair and free from guile; but if, becoming puffed up with arrogance over their 
successes, they should reject an accommodation, he should resign the command they 
had given him. For they thought that the Volscians would either not bring themselves 
to choose another commander, for want of a good general, or, if they did run the 
hazard of handing over their forces to any chance person, they would learn through 
heavy losses (p161) to choose what was advantageous. Such were the subjects of their 
deliberation and such were the decisions they reached as just and right and calculated 
to win the good opinion of all men — a thing which Marcius had most at heart. But 
they were troubled by a suspicion, not unmixed with fear, that an unreasoning mob, 
now buoyed up with the hope that they had completely crushed their foes, might take 
their disappointment with uncontrolled anger and as a result put Marcius to death 
with their own hands as a traitor without even granting him a hearing. However, they 
determined to submit even to this or to any other danger still more formidable which 
they might incur in honourably keeping faith.  When it was now near sunset, they 
embraced one another and left the tent, after which the women returned to the city. 
Then Marcius in an assembly of the troops laid before those present the reasons why 
he intended to put an end to the war; and after earnestly beseeching the soldiers both 
to forgive him and, when they returned home, to remember the benefits they had 
received from him and to strive with him to prevent his suffering any irreparable 
injury at the hands of the other citizens, and after saying many other things 
calculated to win their support, he ordered them to make ready to break camp  the 
following night. 

[8,55] When the Romans heard that their peril was over — for the report of it was 
brought before the arrival of the women — they left the city with great joy, and 
running out to meet them, embraced them, sang songs of triumph, and now all 
together and now one by one showed all the signs of joy which men who emerge out 
of great dangers into unexpected good fortune exhibit in both their words and 
actions. That (p163) night, then, they passed in festivities and merry-making. The next 
day the senate, having been assembled by the consuls, resolved, in the case of 
Marcius, to postpone to a more suitable occasion such honours as were to be given to 
him, but as for the women, that not only praise should be bestowed upon them for 
their zeal, the same to be expressed by a public decree which should gain for them 
eternal remembrance on the part of future generations, but also a gift of honour, 
whatever to those receiving it would be most pleasing and most highly prized; and the 
people ratified this resolution. It occurred to the women after some deliberation to 
ask for no invidious gift, but to request of the senate permission to found a temple to 
Fortuna Muliebris on the spot where they had interceded for their country, and to 
assemble and perform annual sacrifices to her on the day on which they had put an 
end to the war. However, the senate and people decreed that from the public funds a 
precinct should be purchased and consecrated to the goddess, and a temple and alter 
erected upon it, in such manner as the pontiffs should direct, and that sacrifices 
should be performed (p165) at the public expense, the initial ceremonies to be conducted 
by a woman, whichever one the women themselves should choose to officiate at the 
rites. The senate having passed this decree, the woman then chosen by the others to 
be priestess for the first time was Valeria, who had proposed to them the embassy 
and had persuaded the mother of Marcius to join the others in going out of the city. 
The first sacrifice was performed on behalf of the people by the women, Valeria 
beginning the rites, upon the altar raised in the sacred precinct, before the temple 
and the statue were erected, in the month of December of the following year, on the 
day of the new moon, which the Greeks call noumênia and the Romans calends;31 for 
this was the day which had put an end to the war. The year after the first sacrifice 
the temple built at public expense was finished and dedicated about the seventh army 
of the month Quintilis, reckoning by the course of the moon; this, according to the 
Romans' calendar, is the day before the nones of Quintilis. The man who dedicated 
the temple was Proculus Verginius, one of the consuls. 

[8,56] It would be in harmony with a formal history and in the interest of correcting 
those who think that the gods are neither pleased with the honours they receive from 
men nor displeased with impious and unjust actions, to make known the epiphany of 
the goddess at that time, not once, but twice, as it is recorded in the books of the 
pontiffs, to the end that (p167) by those who are more scrupulous about preserving the 
opinions concerning the god which they have received from their ancestors such 
belief may be maintained firm and undisturbed by misgivings, and that those who, 
despising the customs of their forefathers, hold that the gods have no power over 
man's reason, may, preferably, retract their opinion, or, if they are incurable, that the 
may become still more odious to the gods and more wretched. It is related, then, 
that when the senate had ordered that the whole expense both of the temple and of 
the statue should be defrayed from the public treasury, and the women had caused 
another statue to be made with the money they themselves had contributed, and both 
statues had been set up together on the first day of the dedication of the temple, one 
of them, the one which the women had provided, uttered some words in Latin in a 
voice both distinct and loud, when many were present. The meaning of the words 
when translated is as follows: "You have conformed to the holy law of the city, 
matrons, in dedicating me." The women who were present were very incredulous, 
as usually happens in the case of unusual voices and sights, believing that it was not 
the statue that had spoken, but some human voice; and those particularly who 
happened at the moment to have their mind on something else and did not see what 
it was that spoke, showed this incredulity toward those who had seen it. Later, on a 
second occasion, when the (p169) temple was full and there chanced to be a profound 
silence, the same statue pronounced the same words in a louder voice, so that there 
was no longer any doubt about it. The senate, upon hearing what had passed, 
ordered other sacrifices and rites to be performed every year, such as the interpreters 
of religious rites should direct. And the women upon the advice of their priestess 
established it as a custom that no women who had been married a second time should 
crown this statue with garlands or touch it with their hands, but that all the honour 
and worship paid to it should be committed to the newly-married women. But 
concerning these matters it was fitting that I should neither omit the native account 
nor dwell too long upon it. I now return to the point from which I digressed. 

[8,57] After the departure of the women from the camp Marcius roused his army about 
daybreak and led it away as thor a friendly country; and when he came into the 
territory of the Volscians, he divided among the soldiers all the booty he had taken, 
without reserving the least thing for himself, and then dismissed them to their 
homes. The army, accordingly, which had shared in the battles with him, returning 
loaded with riches, was not displeased with the respite from war and felt well 
disposed toward him and thought he deserved to be forgiven for not having brought 
the war to a successful end out of regard for the lamentations and entreaties of his 
mother. But the young men who had remained at home, envying those who had 
seen active service the great booty they had won, and being disappointed in their 
hopes of seeing the pride of the Romans humbled by (p171) the capture of their city, 
were incensed against the general and very bitter; and at last, when they found as 
leaders of their hatred the men of the greatest power in the nation, they grew wild 
with rage and committed an impious deed. The one who in particular whetted their 
anger again Marcius was Tullus Attius, who had about him a large faction collected 
out of every city. This man had, in fact, long since resolved, being unable to control 
his jealousy, that if Marcius succeeded and returned to the Volscians after destroying 
Rome, he would make away with him secretly and by guile, or if, failing in his 
attempt, he came back leaving the task unfinished, he would deliver him over to his 
faction as a traitor and have him put to death — a plan which he now proceeded to 
carry out. And getting together a considerable band, he brought charges against 
him, drawing false inferences from things that were true and, from what had 
happened, surmising things street were not going to happen; and he kept bidding him 
resign his command and give an account of his conduct. For, as I said before, Tullus 
was general of the forces which had been left in the cities, and had authority both to 
call an assembly and to summon to trial any man he pleased. 

[8,58] Marcius did not think proper to oppose either of these demands, but objected to 
their order, insisting he ought first to give an account of his conduct in the war, after 
which he would resign his command if all the Volscians should so decide. But he 
thought that no single city in which the greater part of the citizens had been 
corrupted by Tullus (p173) ought to be given sole authority in the matter, but rather the 
whole nation meeting in their lawful assembly, to which it was the custom for them to 
send deputies from every city when they were to deliberate upon affairs of the 
greatest importance. This Tullus opposed, well knowing that Marcius, eloquent as 
he was, when he came to give an account of the many splendid actions he had 
performed, if he still retained a general's prestige, would persuade the multitude, and 
would be so far from suffering the punishment of a traitor that he would actually 
become still more illustrious and be more highly honoured by them, and would be 
authorized by general consent to put an end to the war in such manner as he pleased. 
And for a long time there was great strife as they daily engaged in arguing and 
wrangling with one another in the assemblies and the forum; for it was not possible 
for either of them to employ force against the other, since both were protected by the 
prestige of an equal command. But when there was no end to their contention, 
Tullus appointed a day on which he commanded Marcius to appear for the purpose of 
laying down his office and standing trial for treason; and having encouraged some of 
the most daring, by hopes of rewards, to be the ringleaders in an impious deed, he 
appeared at the assembly on the day appointed, and coming forward to the tribunal, 
inveighed at length against Marcius and exhorted the people to use all the force at 
their command to depose him if he would not voluntarily resign his power. 

[8,59] When Marcius had ascended the tribunal in order to make his defence, a great 
clamour arose from the faction of Tullus, hindering him from speaking; (p175) then, 
with cries of "Hit him," "Stone him," the most daring surrounded him and stoned him 
to death. While he lay where he had been hurled upon the ground in the forum, both 
those who had been present at the tragedy and those who came there after he was 
dead bewailed the misfortune of the man who had found so ill a return from them, 
recounting all the services he had rendered to their state, and they longed to 
apprehend the murderers for having set the example of a deed that was lawless and 
prejudicial to their cities, in killing a man, and him a general, by an act of violence 
without a trial. But most indignant were the men who had taken part in his 
campaigns; and since they had been unable, while he was living, to prevent his 
misfortune, they resolved to show fitting gratitude after his death by bringing into the 
forum everything that was necessary for the honour owed to brave men. When all 
was ready, they laid him, dressed in the garb of a supreme commander, on a couch 
adorned in a most sumptuous manner, and ordered the booty, the spoils and the 
crowns, together with the representations of the cities he had taken, to be carried 
before his bier; and the young men who were the most distinguished for their military 
achievements took up the bier, and carrying it to the most conspicuous suburb, 
placed it on the funeral pile that had been prepared, the whole population of the city 
accompanying the body with lamentations and tears. Then, when they had slain a 
large number of victims in his honour and offered up all the first-offerings that people 
make at the funeral piles of kings and commanders of armies, those who had been 
most closely attached to him (p177) remained there till the flames died down, after 
which they gathered together his remains and buried them in that very place, 
constructing an imposing monument by heaping up a high mound with the assistance 
of many hands. 

[8,60] Such was the end of Marcius, who was not only the greatest general of his age, 
but was superior to all the pleasures that dominate young men, and practised justice, 
not so much through compulsion of the law with its threat of punishment and against 
his will, but voluntarily and from a natural propensity to it. He did not regard it as a 
virtue to do no injustice, and not only was eager to abstain from all vice himself, but 
thought it his duty to compel others to do so too. He was both high-minded and 
open-handed and most ready to relieve the wants of his friends as soon as he was 
informed of them. In his talent for public affairs he was inferior to none of the 
aristocratic party, and if the seditious element of the city had not hindered his 
measures, the Roman commonwealth would have received the greatest accession of 
power from those measures. But it was impossible that all the virtue should be found 
together in a human being's nature, nor will anyone ever be created by Nature from 
mortal and perishable seed who is good in all respects. 

[8,61] In any case the divinity who bestowed these virtues upon him added to them 
unfortunate blemishes and fatal flaws. For there was no mildness or cheerfulness in 
his character, no affability in greeting and addressing people that would win those 
whom he (p179) met, nor yet any disposition to conciliate or placate others when he was 
angry with them, nor that charm which adorns all human actions; but he was always 
harsh and severe. And it was not alone these qualities that hurt him in the minds of 
many, but, most of all, his immoderate and inexorable sternness in the matter of 
justice and the observance of the laws, and a strictness which would make no 
concessions to reasonableness. Indeed, the dictum of the ancient philosophers seems 
to be true, that the moral virtues are means and not extremes, particularly in the 
case of justice. For by its nature it not only may fall short of the mean, but also may 
go beyond it, and is not profitable to its possessors, but is sometimes the cause of 
great calamities and leads to miserable deaths and irreparable disasters. In the case 
of Marcius, at any rate, it was nothing else but his passion for exact and extreme 
justice that drove him from his country and deprived him of the enjoyment of all his 
other blessings. For when he ought to have made reasonable concessions to the 
plebeians, and by yielding somewhat to their desires to have gained the foremost 
place among them, he would not do so, by opposing them in everything that was not 
just he incurred their hatred and was banished by them. And when it was in his 
power to resign the command of the Volscian army the moment he had put an end to 
the war, and to remove his habitation to some other place till his country had granted 
him leave to return, instead of offering himself as a target for the plotting of his 
enemies and the folly of the masses, he did not think fit to do so; but regarding it as 
his duty to put his (p181) person at the disposal of those who had entrusted him with the 
command and after giving an account of his conduct during his generalship, if he 
were found guilty of any misconduct, to undergo the punishment ordained by the 
laws, he received a sorry reward for his extreme justice. 

[8,62] Now if when the body perishes the soul also, whatever that is, perishes together 
with it and no longer exists anywhere, I do not see how I can conceive to seem to be 
happy who have received no advantage from their virtue but, on the contrary, have 
been undone by this very quality. Whereas, if our souls are perchance forever 
imperishable, as some think, or if they continue on for a time after their separation 
from the body, those of good men for a very long time and those of the wicked for a 
very short period, a sufficient reward for those who, though they have practised 
virtue, have suffered the enmity of Fortune, would seem to be the praise of the living 
and the continuance of their memory for the longest period of time. And that was the 
case with this man. For not only the Volscians mourned his death and still hold him 
in honour as having proved himself one of the best of men, but the Romans also, 
when they were informed of his fate, looked upon it as a great calamity to the 
commonwealth and mourned for him both in private and in public; and their wives, 
as it is their custom to do at the loss of those who are nearest and dearest to them, 
laid aside their gold and purple and all their other adornment, and dressing 
themselves in black, mourned for him for the full period of a year. And though 
nearly five hundred years have already elapsed since his death down to the present 
time, his memory has not become (p183) extinct, but he is still praised and celebrated by 
all as a pious and just man. 
Thus ended the danger with which the Romans had been threatened by the 
expedition of the Volscians and Aequians under the command of Marcius, a danger 
that was greater than any to which they had ever been exposed before and came very 
near destroying the whole commonwealth from its foundations. 

[8,63] A few days later the Romans took the field with a large army commanded by 
both consuls, and advancing to the confines of their own territory, encamped on two 
hills, each of the consuls placing his camp in the strongest position. Nevertheless, 
they accomplished nothing, either great or little, but returned unsuccessful, though 
excellent opportunities had been afforded them by the enemy for performing some 
gallant action. It seems that even before their expedition the Volscians and the 
Aequians had led an army against the Roman territory, having resolved not to let the 
opportunity slip, but to attack their adversaries while they seemed to be sit panic-
stricken; for they thought that in their fear they would surrender of their own accord. 
But quarrelling among themselves over the command, they rushed to arms, and 
falling upon one another, fought without keeping their ranks or receiving orders, but 
in confusion and disorder, so that many were killed on both sides; and if the sun had 
not set in time to prevent it, all their forces would have been utterly destroyed. But 
yielding reluctantly to the night which put an (p185) end to the quarrel, they separated 
and retired to their own camps; and rousing their forces at dawn, both sides returned 
home. The consuls, though they learned both from deserters and from prisoners 
who had escaped during the action itself what fury and madness had possessed the 
enemy, neither embraced an opportunity so desirable when it offered, though they 
were no more than thirty stades distant, nor pursued them in their retreat — 
a situation in which their own troops, being fresh and following in good order, might 
easily have destroyed to a man those of the enemy, who were fatigued, wounded, 
reduced from a large to a small number, and were retiring in disorder. But they too 
broke camp and returned to Rome, either being contented with the advantage 
Fortune had given them, or having no confidence in their troops, who were 
undisciplined, or considering it very important not to lose even a few of their own 
men. When they got back to Rome, however, they found themselves in great disgrace 
and had to bear the stigma of cowardice for their behaviour. And without undertaking 
any other expedition they surrendered their magistracy to their successors. 

[8,64] The next year Gaius Aquilius and Titus Siccius, men experienced in war, 
succeeded to the consulship. the senate, when the consuls had brought up the war for 
consideration, voted, first, to send an embassy to the Hernicans to demand, as from 
friends and allies, the customary satisfaction; for the commonwealth had suffered 
wrongs at their hands at the time of the attack of the Volscians and Aequians through 
brigandage and incursions into the part of (p187) the Roman territory that bordered on 
their own; and they voted further that while waiting to receive their answer the 
consuls should enrol all the forces they could, summon the allies by sending out 
embassies, and great ready corn, arms, money, and all the other things necessary for 
the war, by employing a large number of men and using haste. When the 
ambassadors returned from the Hernicans, they reported to the senate the answer 
they had received from them, to the following effect: They denied that there had ever 
been a treaty between them and the Romans by act of the public, and they charged 
that the compact they had made with King Tarquinius had been dissolved both by his 
expulsion from power and by his death in a foreign land; but if any depredations had 
been committed or incursions made into the territory of the Romans by bands of 
robbers, they said these had not been made by the general consent of their nation, but 
were the misdeeds of individuals pursuing their private ends, and street they were 
unable to deliver up to justice even the men who had done these things, since they 
claimed that they themselves had also suffered similar wrongs and had the same 
complaints to make; and they said that they cheerfully accepted the war. The senate, 
upon hearing this, voted that the youth already enrolled should be divided into three 
bodies, and that with one of these the consul Gaius Aquilius should march against the 
army of the Hernicans (for these were already in arms), that Titus Siccius, the other 
consul, should lead the second against the Volscians, and that Spurius Larcius, who 
had been appointed prefect of the city by the consuls, should with the remaining third 
part defend the portion of the country that lay (p189) nearest to the city; that those who 
were above the military age but were still capable of bearing arms should be arrayed 
under their standards and guard the citadels of the city and the walls, to prevent any 
sudden attack by the enemy while all the youth were in the field, and that Aulus 
Sempronius Atratinus, one of the ex-consuls, should have the command of this force. 
These orders were presently carried out. 

[8,65] Aquilius, one of the consuls, finding the army of the Hernicans waiting for him in 
the country of the Praenestines, encamped as near to them as he could, at a distance 
of a little more than two hundred stades from Rome. The second day after he had 
pitched his camp the Hernicans came out of their camp into the plain in order of 
battle and gave the signal for combat; whereupon Aquilius also marched out to meet 
them with his army duly drawn up and disposed in their several divisions. When 
they drew near to one another, they uttered their war-cries and ran to the encounter; 
and first to engage were the light-armed men, who, fighting with javelins, arrows, and 
stones from their slings, gave one another many wounds. Next, horsemen clashed 
with horsemen, charging in troops, and infantry with infantry, fighting by cohorts. 
then there was a glorious struggle as both armies fought stubbornly; and for a long 
time they stood firm, neither side yielding to the other the ground where they were 
posted. At length the Romans' line began to be in distress, this being the first 
occasion in a long time that they had been forced to engaged in war. Aquilius, 
observing this, ordered that the troops which were still fresh and were being reserved 
for this very purpose should (p191) come up to reinforce the parts of the line that were in 
distress and that the men who were wounded and exhausted should retire to the rear. 
The Hernicans, learning that their troops were being shifted, imagined that the 
Romans were beginning flight; and encouraging one another and closing their ranks, 
they fell upon those parts of the enemy's army that were in motion, and the fresh 
troops of the Romans received their onset. Thus once more, as both sides fought 
stubbornly, there was a strenuous battle all over again; for the ranks of the Hernicans 
were also continually reinforced with fresh troops sent up by their generals to the 
parts of the line that were in distress. At length, late in the afternoon, the consul, 
encouraging the horsemen now at least to acquit themselves as brave men, led the 
squadron in a charge at the enemy's right wing. This, after resisting them for a short 
time, fell back, and a great slaughter ensued. While the Hernicans' right wing was 
now in difficulties and no longer keeping its ranks, their left still held out and was 
superior to the Romans' right; but in a short time this too gave way. For Aquilius, 
taking with him the best of the youth, hastened to the rescue there also, and 
exhorting his men and calling by name upon those who had been wont to distinguish 
themselves in former battles, and seizing from their bearers the standards of any 
centuries that did not seem to be fighting resolutely, he hurled them into the midst of 
the enemy, in order that their fear of the punishment prescribed by the laws in the 
case of failure to recover the standards might compel them to be brave men; and he 
himself continually came to (p193) the relief of any part that was in distress, till he 
dislodged the other wing also from its position. Their flanks being now exposed, even 
the centre did not stand its ground. It became a flight then for the Hernicans, a 
flight back to their camp in confusion and disorder; and the Romans pursued, cutting 
them down. Such ardour, indeed, came upon the Roman army in that struggle that 
some of the men endeavoured even to mount the ramparts of the enemy's camp in the 
hope of taking it by storm. But the consul, perceiving that their ardour was hazardous 
and detrimental, ordered the signal for a retreat to be sounded and thus brought 
down from the ramparts against their will those who were coming to blows with the 
enemy; for he feared that they would be forced by the missiles hurled down upon 
them from above to retire with shame and great loss and would thus efface the glory 
of their earlier victory. On that occasion, then, it being now near sunset, the Romans 
made their camp rejoicing and singing songs of triumph. 

[8,66] The following night there was much noise and shouting heard in the camp of the 
Hernicans, and the lights of many torches were seen. For the enemy, despairing of 
being able to hold their own in another engagement, had resolved to leave their camp 
of their own accord; and this was the cause of the disorder and shouting. For they 
were fleeing with all the strength and speed which each man was capable of, calling to 
and being called by one another, without showing the least regard for the 
lamentations and entreaties of those who were being left behind on account of their 
wounds and sickness. The Romans, who knew nothing of this but had been 
(p195) informed earlier by the prisoners that another army of Hernicans was intending 
to come to the aid of their countrymen, imagined that this shouting and tumult had 
been occasioned by the arrival of those reinforcements, and they accordingly took up 
their arms once more, and forming a circle about their entrenchments, for fear some 
attack might be made upon them in the night, they would now make a din by all 
clashing their weapons together at the same time and now raise their war-cry 
repeatedly as if they were going into battle. The Hernicans were greatly alarmed at 
this also, and believing themselves pursued by the enemy, dispersed and fled, some 
by one road and some by another. When day came and the horse sent out to 
reconnaitre had reported to the Romans that not only was there no fresh force 
coming to the enemy's assistance, but that even those who had been arrayed in battle 
the day before had fled, Aquilius marched out with his army and seized the enemy's 
camp, which was full of beasts of burden, provisions, and arms, and also took captive 
their wounded, not fewer in number than those who had fled; and sending the horse 
in pursuit of such as were scattered along the roads and in the woods, he captured 
many of them. Thereafter he overran the Hernican's territory and laid it waste with 
impunity, no one any longer daring to encounter him. These were the exploits of 
Aquilius. 

[8,67] The other consul, Titus Siccius, who had been sent against the Volscians, took 
with him the flower of the army and made an irruption into the territory of Velitrae. 
For Tullus Attius, the Volscian general, was there with the most vigorous part of the 
army, which he had assembled with the intention of (p197) first harassing the Romans' 
allies as Marcius had done when he began the war, thinking that the Romans still 
continued in the same state of fear and would not send any assistance to those who 
were incurring danger for their sake. As soon as the two armies were seen by and saw 
each other, they engaged without delay. The ground between their camps on which 
the battle would have to take place was a rocky hill broken away in many parts of its 
circuit, where the horse could be of no use to either side. The Roman cavalry, 
observing this, thought it would be a shame for them to be present at the action 
without assisting in it; and coming to the consul in a body, they begged him to permit 
them to quit their horses and fight on foot, if this seemed best to him. He 
commended them heartily, and ordering them to dismount, drew them up and kept 
them with him to observe any part of the line that might be hard pressed and to go to 
its relief; and they proved to be the cause of the very brilliant victory which the 
Romans then gained. For the foot on both sides were remarkably alike both in 
numbers and in armament, and were very similar in the tactical formation of their 
lines and in their experience in fighting, whether in attacking or retreating, or again 
in dealing blows or in warding them off. For the Volscians had changed all their 
military tactics after securing Marcius as their commander, and had adopted the 
customs of the Romans. 
Accordingly, the legion aries of the two armies continued fighting the greater part of 
the day with equal success; and the unevenness of the terrain afforded each side 
many advantages against the other. The (p199) Roman horsemen having divided 
themselves into two bodies, one of these attacked the enemy's right wing in flank, 
while the other, going round the hill, stormed across it against their rear. Thereupon 
some of them hurled their spears at the Volscians, and others with their cavalry 
swords, which are longer than those of the infantry, struck all whom they 
encountered on the arms and slashed them down to the elbows, cutting off the 
forearms of many together with the clothing that covered them and their weapons of 
defence, and by inflicting deep wounds on the knees and ankles of many others, 
hurled them, no matter how firmly they had stood, half dead upon the ground. And 
now danger encompassed the Volscians on every side, the foot pressing them in front 
and the horse on their flank in the rear; so that, after having displayed bravery 
beyond their strength and given many proofs of hardihood and experience, nearly all 
who held the right wing were cut down. When those arrayed in the centre and on the 
other wing saw their right wing broken and the Roman horse charging them in the 
same manner, they caused their files to countermarch and retired slowly to their 
camp; and the Roman horse followed, keeping their ranks. 
When they were near the ramparts, there ensued another battle, as the horsemen 
endeavoured to surmount the breastworks of the camp in my different places — 
a battle that was sharp and of shifting fortunes. When the Romans found themselves 
hard pressed, the consul ordered the foot to bring brushwood and fill up the ditches; 
then, putting himself at the head of the bravest horsemen, he advanced (p201) over the 
passage they had made to the strongest gate of the camp, and having driven back the 
defenders in front of it and cut asunder the portcullis, he got inside the ramparts and 
let in those of his foot who followed. Here Tullus Attius encountered him with the 
sturdiest and most daring of the Volscians, and after performing many gallant deeds 
— for he was a very valiant warrior, though not competent as a general — at last, 
overcome by weariness and the many wounds he had received, he fell dead. As for the 
other Volscians, as soon as their camp was being taken, some were slain while 
fighting, others threw down their arms and turned to supplicating the conquerors, 
while some few took to flight and got safely home. 
When the couriers sent by the consuls arrived in Rome, the people were filled with 
the greatest joy, and they immediately voted sacrifices of thanksgiving for the gods 
and decreed the honour of a triumph to the consuls, though not the same to both. For 
as Siccius was thought to have freed the state from the greater fear by destroying the 
insolent army of the Volscians and killing their general, they granted to him the 
greater triumph. He accordingly drove into the city with the spoils, the prisoners, and 
the army that had fought under him, he himself riding in a chariot drawn by horses 
with golden bridles and being arrayed in the royal robes, as is the custom in the 
greater triumphs. To Aquilius they decreed the lesser triumph, which they call an 
ovation (I have earlier shown the difference between this and the (p203) greater 
triumph); and he entered the city on foot, bringing up the remainder of the 
procession. Thus that year ended. 

[8,68] These consuls were succeeded by Proculus Verginius and Spurius Cassius (the 
latter being then chosen consul for the third time), who took the field with both the 
citizen forces and those of the allies. It fell to the lot of Verginius to lead his army 
against the Aequians and to that of Cassius to march against the Hernicans and the 
Volscians. The Aequians, having fortified their cities and removed thither out of the 
country everything that was most valuable, permitted their land to be laid waste and 
their country-houses to be set on fire, so that Verginius with great ease ravaged and 
ruined as much of their country as he could, since no one came out to defend it, and 
then led his army home. The Volscians and the Hernicans, against whom Cassius 
took the field, had resolved to permit their land to be laid waste and had taken refuge 
in their cities. Nevertheless, they did not persist in their resolution, being overcome 
with regret at seeing the desolation of a fertile country which they could not expect to 
restore easily to its former condition, and at the same time distrusting the defences in 
which they had taken refuge, as these were not very strong; but they sent 
ambassadors to the consul to sue for a termination of the war. The Volscians were the 
first to send envoys and they obtained peace the sooner by giving as (p205) much money 
as the consul ordered and furnishing everything else the army needed; and they 
agreed to become subject to the Romans without making any further claims to 
equality. After them the Hernicans, seeing themselves isolated, treated with the 
consul for peace and friendship. But Cassius made many accusations against them to 
their ambassadors, and said that they ought first to act like men conquered and 
subjects and then treat for friendship. When the ambassadors agreed to do everything 
that was possible and reasonable, he ordered them to furnish the amount of money it 
was customary to give each soldier as pay for six months, as well as provisions for two 
months; and in order that they might raise these supplies he granted them a truce, 
appointing a definite number of days for it to run. When the Hernicans, after 
supplying them with everything promptly and eagerly, sent ambassadors again to 
treat for friendship, Cassius commended them and referred them to the senate. The 
senators after much deliberation resolved to receive this people into their friendship, 
but as to the terms on which the treaty with them should be made, they voted that 
Cassius the consul should decide and settle these, and that whatever he approved of 
should have their sanction. 

[8,69] The senate having passed this vote, Cassius returned to Rome and demanded a 
second triumph, as if he had subdued the greatest nations, thus attempting to seize 
the honour as a favour rather than (p207) to receive it as a right, since, though he had 
neither taken any cities by storm nor put to rout an army of enemies in the field, he 
was of lead home captives and spoils, the adornments of a triumph. Accordingly, this 
action first brought him a reputation for presumption and for no longer entertaining 
thoughts like those of his fellow citizens. Then, when he had secured for himself the 
granting of a triumph, he produced the treaty he had made with the Hernicans, which 
was a copy of the one that had been made with the Latins. At this the oldest and most 
honoured of the senators were very indignant and regarded him with suspicion; for 
they were unwilling that the Hernicans, an alien race, should obtain the same honour 
as their kinsmen, the Latins, and that those who had done them the least service 
should be treated with the same kindness as those who had shown them many 
instances of their goodwill. They were also displeased at the arrogance of the man, 
who, after being honoured by the senate, had not shown equal honour to that body, 
but had produced a treaty drawn up according to his own pleasure and not with the 
general approval of the senate. But it seems that to be successful in many 
undertakings is a dangerous and prejudicial thing for a man; for to many it is the 
hidden source of senseless price en the secret author of desires that are too ambitious 
for our human nature. And so it was with Cassius. For, being the only man at that 
time who had been honoured by his country with three consulships and two 
triumphs, he now conducted himself in a more pompous manner and conceived a 
desire for monarchical power. And bearing in mind that the easiest and safest way of 
all for those who aim at (p209) monarchy or tyranny is to draw the multitude to oneself 
by sundry gratifications and to accustom them to feed themselves out of the hands of 
the one who distributes the possessions of the public, he took that course; and at 
once, without communicating this intention to anyone, he determined to divide 
among the people a certain large tract of land belonging to the state which had been 
neglected and was then in the possession of the richest men. Now if he had been 
content to stop there, the business might perhaps have gone according to his wish; 
but as it was, by grasping for more, he raised a violent sedition, the outcome of which 
proved anything but fortunate for him. For he thought fit in assigning the land to 
include not only the Latins, but also the Hernicans, who had only recently been 
admitted to citizenship, and thus to attach these nations to himself. 

[8,70] Having formed this plan, the day after his triumph he called the multitude 
together in assembly, and coming forward to the tribunal, according to the custom of 
those who have triumphed, he first gave his account of his achievements, the sum of 
which was as follows: that in his first consulship he had defeated in battle the 
Sabines, who were laying claim to the supremacy, and compelled them to become 
subject to the Romans; that upon being chosen consul for the second time he had 
appeased the sedition in the state and restored the populace to the fatherland, and 
had caused the Latins, who, though kinsmen of the Romans, had always envied them 
their supremacy (p211) and glory, to become their friends by conferring upon them equal 
rights of citizenship, so that they looked upon Rome no longer as a rival, but as their 
fatherland; that being for the third time invested with the same magistracy, he had 
not only compelled the Volscians to become their friends instead of enemies, but had 
also brought about the voluntary submission of the Hernicans, a great and warlike 
nation situated near them and quite capable of doing them either the greatest 
mischief or the greatest service. After recounting these and similar achievements he 
asked the populace to pay good heed to him, as to one who then had and always 
would have a greater concern for the commonwealth than any others. He concluded 
his speech by saying that he would confer upon the populace so many benefits and so 
great as to surpass all those who were commended for befriending and saving the 
plebeians; and these things he said he would soon accomplish. He then dismissed 
the assembly, and without even the slightest delay called a meeting the next day of 
the senate, which was already in suspense and terrified at his words. And before 
taking up any other subject he proceeded to lay before them openly the purpose 
which he had kept concealed in the popular assembly, asking of the senators that, 
inasmuch as the populace had rendered the commonwealth great service by aiding it, 
not only to retain its liberty, but also to rule over other peoples, they should show 
their concern for them by dividing among them the land conquered in war, which, 
though nominally the property of the state, was in reality possessed by the most 
shameless patricians, who had occupied it without any legal claim; and that the price 
paid for the corn sent (p213) them by Gelon, the tyrant of Sicily, as a present, which, 
though it ought to have been divided among all the citizens as a free gift, the poor had 
got by purchase, should be repaid to the purchasers from the funds held in the public 
treasury. 

[8,71] At once, while he was still speaking, a great tumult arose, the senators to a man 
disliking his proposal and refusing to countenance it. And when he had done, not 
only his colleague Verginius, but the oldest and the most honoured of the senators as 
well, particularly Appius Claudius, inveighed against him vehemently for attempting 
to stir up a sedition; and until a late hour these men continued to be beside 
themselves with rage and to utter the severest reproaches against one another. 
During the following days Cassius assembled the populace continually and 
attempted to win them over by his harangues, introducing the arguments in favour of 
the allotment of the land and laying himself out in invectives against his opponents. 
Verginius, for his part, assembled the senate every day and in concert with the 
patricians prepared legal safeguards and hindrances against the other's designs. 
Each of the consuls had a strong body of men attending him and guarding his 
person; the needy and the unwashed and such as were prepared for any daring 
enterprise were ranged under Cassius, and those of the noblest birth and the most 
immaculate under Verginius. For some time the baser element prevailed in the 
assemblies, being far more numerous than the others; then they became evenly 
balanced when the tribunes joined the better element. This change of front on the 
part of the tribunes was due perhaps to their feeling that it was not best for the 
commonwealth (p215) that the multitude should be corrupted by bribes of money and 
distributions of the public lands and so be idle and depraved, and perhaps also to 
envy, since it was not they themselves, the leaders of the populace, who had been the 
authors of this liberality, but someone else; however, there is no reason why their 
action was not due also to the fear they felt at the increase in Cassius' power, which 
had grown greater than was to the interest of the commonwealth. At any rate, these 
men in the meetings of the assembly now began to oppose with all their power the 
laws which Cassius was introducing, showing the people that it was not fair if the 
possessions which they had acquired in the course of many wars were not to be 
distributed among the Romans alone, but were to be shared equally not only by the 
Latins, who had not been present in those wars, but also by the Hernicans, who had 
but lately entered into friendship with them, and having been brought to it by war, 
would be content not to be deprived of their own territory. The people, as they 
listened, would now assent to the representations of the tribunes, when they recalled 
that the portion of the public land which would fall to the lot of each man would be 
small and inconsiderable if they shared it with the Hernicans and the Latins, and 
again would change their minds as Cassius in his harangues charged that the tribunes 
were betraying them to the patricians and using his proposal to give an equal share of 
the land to the Hernicans and the Latins as a specious pretence for their opposition; 
whereas, he said, he had included these (p217) peoples in his law with a view to adding 
strength to the poor and of hindering any attempt that might thereafter be made to 
deprive them of what had been once granted to them since he regarded it as better 
and safer for the masses to get little, but to keep that little undiminished, than to 
expect a great deal and to be disappointed of everything. 

[8,72] While Cassius by these arguments frequently changed the minds of the multitude 
in the meetings of the assembly, one of the tribunes, Gaius Rabuleius, a man not 
lacking in intelligence, came forward and promised that he would soon put an end to 
the dissension between the consuls and would also make it clear to the populace what 
they ought to do. And when a great demonstration of approval followed, down then 
silence, he said: "Are not these, Cassius and Verginius, the chief issues of this law — 
first, whether the public land should be distributed with an equal portion for 
everyone, and second, whether the Latins and the Hernicans should receive a share of 
it?" And when they assented, he continued: "Very well. You, Cassius, ask the people 
to vote for both provisions. But as for you, Verginius, tell us, for Heaven's sake, 
whether you oppose that part of Cassius' proposal which relates to the allies, believing 
that we ought not to make the Hernicans and the Latins equal sharers with us, or 
whether you oppose the other also, holding that we should not distribute the property 
of the state even among ourselves. Just answer these questions for me without 
concealing anything." When Verginius said that he opposed giving an equal share of 
the land to the Hernicans (p219) and the Latins, but consented to its being divided 
among the Roman citizens, if all were of that opinion, the tribune, turning to the 
multitude, said: "Since, then, one part of the proposed measure is approved of by 
both consuls and the other is opposed by one of them, and as both men are equal in 
rank and neither can use compulsion on the other, let us accept now the part which 
both are ready to grant us, and postpone the other, concerning which they differ." 
The multitude signified by their acclamations that his advice was most excellent and 
demanded that he strike out of the law that part which gave occasion for discord; 
whereupon Cassius was at a loss what to do, and being neither willing to withdraw his 
proposal nor able to adhere to it while the tribunes opposed him, he dismissed the 
assembly for that time. During the following days he feigned illness and no longer 
went down to the Forum; but remaining at home, he set about getting the law passed 
by force and violence, and sent for as many of the Latins and Hernicans as he could to 
come and vote for it. These assembled in great numbers and presently the city was 
full of strangers. Verginius, being informed of this, ordered proclamation to be made 
in the streets that all who were not residents of the city should depart; and he set an 
early time limit. But Cassius ordered the contrary to be proclaimed — that all who 
possessed the rights of citizens should remain till the law was passed. 

[8,73] There being no end of these contests, the patricians, fearing that when the law 
came to be proposed there would be stealing of votes, recourse to violence, and all the 
other forcible means that are wont to be employed in factious assemblies, met in 
(p221) the senate-house to deliberate concerning all these matters once and for all. 
Appius, upon being asked his opinion first, refused to grant the distribution of land 
to the people, pointing out that an idle multitude accustomed to devour the public 
stores would prove troublesome and unprofitable fellow citizens and would never 
allow any of the common possessions, whether property or money, to continue to be 
held in common. He did note that it would be a shameful thing if the senators, who 
had been accusing Cassius of introducing mischievous and disadvantageous measures 
and of corrupting the populace, should then themselves by common consent ratify 
these measures as just and advantageous. He asked them also to bear in mind that 
even the gratitude of the poor, if they should divide up among themselves the public 
possessions, would not be shown to those who gave their consent and sanction to this 
law, but to Cassius alone, who had proposed it and was believed to have compelled 
the senators to ratify it against their will. After saying this and other things to the 
same purport, he ended by giving them this advice — to choose ten46 of the most 
distinguished senators to go over the public land and fix its bounds, and if they found 
that any private persons were by fraud or force grazing or tilling any part of it, to take 
cognizance of this abuse and restore the land to the state. And he further advised that 
when the land thus delimited by them had been divided into allotments, of whatever 
number, and marked off by pillars duly inscribed, one part of it should be sold, 
particularly the part about which there was any dispute with private persons, so 
(p223) that the purchasers might be involved in litigation over it with any who should 
lay claim to it, and the other part should be let for five years; and that the money 
coming in from these rents should be used for the payment of the troops and the 
purchase of the supplies needed for the wars. "For, as things now stand," he said, 
"the envy of the poor against the rich who have appropriated and continue to occupy 
the public possessions is justified, and it is not at all to be wondered at if they demand 
that the public property should be divided among all the citizens rather than held by a 
few, and those the most shameless. Whereas, if they see the persons who are now 
enjoying them give them up and the public possessions become really public, they 
will cease to envy us and will give up their eagerness for the distribution of our fields 
to individuals, once they have learnt that joint ownership by all the citizens will be of 
greater advantage to them than the small portion that would be allotted to each. Let 
us show them, in fact," he said, "what a great difficult it makes, and that if each one of 
the poor receives a small plot of ground and happens to have troublesome 
neighbours, he neither will be able to cultivate it himself, by reason of his poverty, nor 
will he find anyone to lease it of him but that neighbour, whereas if large allotments 
offering varied and worthwhile tasks for the husbandmen are let out by the state, they 
will bring in large revenues; and that it is better for them, when they set out for the 
wars, to receive both their provisions and their pay from the public treasury than to 
pay in their individual contributions (p225) each time to the treasury out of their private 
estates, when, as sometimes happens, their means of livelihood are scanty and will be 
still further cramped by providing this money." 

[8,74] After Appius had introduced this motion and appeared to win great approval, 
Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, who was called upon next, said: 
"This is not the first time that I have had occasion to praise Appius as a man highly 
capable of grasping eventualities long in advance, and as one always offering the most 
excellent and useful opinions, a man who is firm and unshaken in his judgements and 
neither yields to fear nor is swayed by favour. For I have never ceased to praise and 
admire him both for his prudence and the noble spirit he shows in the presence of 
danger. And it is not a different motion that I offer, but I too make the same one, 
merely adding a few details which Appius seemed to me to omit. As regards the 
Hernicans and the Latins, to whom we recently granted equal rights of citizenship, 
I too think they ought not to share in the allotment of our lands; for it was not after 
they entered into friendship with us that we acquired this land which we now occupy, 
but still earlier, when by our own perilous efforts, without the assistance of anyone 
else, we took it from our enemies. Let us give them this answer: that the possessions 
which each of us already had when we entered into the treaty of friendship must 
remain the peculiar and inalienable property of each, but that in the case of all that 
we may come to possess through war when taking the field together, from the time we 
made this treaty, each shall have his share. For this arrangement will (p227) neither 
afford our allies any just excuses for anger, as being wronged, nor cause the populace 
any fear of appearing to prefer their own interests to their good name. As to the 
appointment of the men proposed by Appius to delimit the public land, I quite agree 
with him. For this will afford us great frankness in dealing with the plebeians, since 
they are now displeased on both accounts — because they themselves reap no benefit 
from the public possessions and because some of us enjoy them contrary to justice. 
But if they see them restored to the public and the revenues therefrom applied to the 
necessary uses of the commonwealth, they will not suppose that it makes any difficult 
to them whether it is the land or its produce that they share. I need not mention, of 
course, that some of the poor are more delighted with the losses of others with now 
their own advantages. However, I do not regard the entering of these two provisions 
in the decree as enough; but we ought in my opinion to gain the goodwill of the 
populace and relieve them by another moderate favour also, one which I shall 
presently name, after I have first shown you the reason, or rather the necessity, for 
our doing this also. 

[8,75] "You are aware, no doubt, of the words spoken by the tribune in the assembly 
when he asked one of the consuls, Verginius here, what his opinion was concerning 
the allotment of the land, whether he consented to divide the public possessions 
among the citizens but not among the allies, or would not consent that even we 
should receive a share of what belongs to us all in common. And Verginius admitted 
that he was not attempting to hinder the allotting of the (p229) land so far as it related to 
us Romans, if this seemed best to everybody. This concession not only caused the 
tribunes to espouse our cause, but also rendered the populace more reasonable. 
What has come over us, then, that we are now to change our mind about what we 
then conceded? Or what advantage shall we gain by pursuing our noble and excellent 
principles of government, principles worthy of our supremacy, if we cannot persuade 
those who are to make use of them? But we shall not persuade them, and this not one 
of you fails to know. for, of all who fail to get what they want, those will feel the 
harshest resentment who are cheated of their hopes and are not getting what has 
been agreed upon. Surely the politician whose principle it is to please will run off with 
them again, and after that not one even of the tribunes will stand by us. Hear, 
therefore, what I advise you to do, and the amendment I add to the motion of Appius; 
but do not rise up or create any disturbance before you have heard all I have to say. 
After you have appointed commissioners, whether ten or whatever number, to 
inspect the land and fix its boundaries, empower them to determine which and how 
great a part of it should be held in common and, by being let for five years, increase 
the revenues of the treasury, and again, how great a part and which should be divided 
among our plebeians. And whatever land they appoint to be allotted you should allot 
after determining whether it shall be distributed among all the citizens, or among 
those who have no land as yet, or among those who have the lowest property rating, 
or in whatever manner you shall (p231) think proper. As regards the men who are to fix 
the bounds of the land and the decree you will publish concerning its division and 
everything else that is necessary, I advise, since the present consuls have but a short 
time to continue in office, that their successors shall carry out these purposes in such 
manner as they think will be for the best. For not only do matters of such moment 
require no little time, but the present consuls, who are at variance, can hardly be 
expected to show greater insight in discovering what is advantageous than their 
successors, if, as we hope, the latter shall be harmonious. For delay is in many cases a 
useful thing and anything but danger, and time brings about many changes in a single 
day; furthermore, the absence of dissension among those who preside over the public 
business is the cause of all the blessings enjoyed by states. As for me, this is the 
opinion I have to express; but if anyone has anything better to propose, let him speak." 

[8,76] When Sempronius had ended, there was much applause from those present, and 
not one of the senators who were asked their opinion after him expressed any 
different view. Thereupon the decree of the senate was drawn up to this effect: that 
the ten oldest ex-consuls should be appointed to determine the boundaries of the 
public land and to declare how much of it ought to be let and how much divided 
among the people; that those enjoying the rights of citizens and the allies, in case 
they later acquired more land by a joint campaign, should each have their allotted 
share, according to the treaties; and that the appointment of the decemvirs, the 
distribution of the allotments, and everything else that was necessary should be 
carried out by the incoming (p233) consuls. When this decree was laid before the 
populace, it not only put a stop to the demagoguery of Cassius, but also prevented the 
sedition that was being rekindled by the orator from going any farther. 

[8,77] The following year, at the beginning of the seventy-fourth Olympiad (the one at 
which Astylus of Syracuse won the foot-race), when Leostratus was archon at Athens, 
and Quintus Fabius and Servius Cornelius had succeeded to the consulship, two 
patricians, young indeed in years, but the most distinguished of their body because of 
the prestige of their ancestors, men of great influence both on account of their bands 
of supporters and because of their wealth, and, for young men, inferior to none of 
mature age for their ability in civil affairs, namely, Caeso Fabius, brother of the then 
consul, and Lucius Valerius Publicola, brother to the man who overthrew the kings, 
being quaestors at the same time and therefore having authority to assemble the 
populace, denounced before them Spurius Cassius, the consul of the preceding year, 
who had dared to propose the laws concerning the distribution of land, charging him 
with having aimed at tyranny; and appointing a day, they summoned him to make his 
defence before the populace. When a very large crowd has assembled upon the day 
appointed, the two quaestors called the multitude together in assembly, and 
recounting all his overt actions, showed that they were calculated for no good 
purpose. First, in the case of the Latins, who would have been content with being 
accounted worthy of a common citizenship with the Romans, esteeming it a great 
piece of good luck to (p235) get even so much, he had as consul not only bestowed on 
them the citizenship they asked for, but had furthermore caused a vote to be passed 
that they should be given also the third part of the spoils of war on the occasion of any 
joint campaign. Again, in the case of the Hernicans, who, having been subdued in 
war, ought to have been content not to be punished by the loss of some part of their 
territory, he had made them friends instead of subjects, and citizens instead of 
tributaries, and had ordered that they should receive the second third of any land and 
booty that the Romans might acquire from any source. Thus the spoils were to be 
divided into three portions, the subjects of the Romans and aliens receiving two of 
them and the natives and dominant race the third part. They pointed out that as a 
result of this procedure one or the other of two most absurd situations would come 
about in case they should choose to honour any other nation, in return for many great 
services, by granting the same privileges with which they had honoured not only the 
Latins, but also the Hernicans, who had never done them the least service. For, as 
there would be but one third left for them, they would either have no part to bestow 
upon their benefactors or, if they granted them the like favour, they would have 
nothing for themselves. 

[8,78] Besides this they went on to relate that Cassius, in proposing to give to the people 
the common possessions of the state without a decree of the senate or the consent of 
his colleague, had intended to get the law passed by force — a law that was 
inexpedient and unjust, not for this reason alone, that, though the senate ought to 
have considered the measure first, (p237) and, in case they approved of it, it ought to 
have been a joint concession on the part of all the authorities, he was making it the 
favour of one man, but also for the further reason — the most outrageous of all — 
that, though it was in name a grant of the public land to the citizens, it was in reality a 
deprivation, since the Romans, who had acquired it, were to receive but one third, 
while the Hernicans and the Latins, who had no claim to it at all, would get the other 
two thirds. They further charged that even when the tribunes opposed him and asked 
him to strike out the part of the law granting equal shares to the aliens, he had paid 
no heed to them, but continued to act in opposition to the tribunes, to his colleague, 
to the senate, and to all who consulted the best interests of the commonwealth. 
After they had enumerated these charges and named as witnesses to their truth the 
whole body of the citizens, they then at length proceeded to present the secret 
evidences of his having aimed at tyranny, showing that the Latins and the Hernicans 
had contributed money to him and provided this with arms, and that the most daring 
young men from their cities were resorting to him, making secret plans, and serving 
him in many other ways besides. And to prove the truth of these charges they 
produced many witnesses, both residents of Rome and others from the cities in 
alliance with her, persons who were neither mean nor obscure. In these the 
populace put confidence; and without either being moved now by the speech which 
the man delivered — a speech which he had prepared with much care,— or yielding to 
compassion when (p239) his three young sons contributed much to his appeal for 
sympathy and many others, both relations and friends, joined in bewailing his fate, or 
paying any regard to his exploits in war, by which he had attained to the greatest 
honour, they condemned him. Indeed, they were so exasperated at the name of 
tyranny that they did not moderate their resentment even in the degree of his 
punishment, but sentenced him to death. For they were afraid that if a man who was 
the ablest general of his time should be driven from his country into exile, he might 
follow the example of Marcius in dividing his own people and uniting their enemies, 
and bring a relentless war upon his country. This being the outcome of his trial, the 
quaestors led him to the top of the precipice that overlooks the Forum and in the 
presence of all the citizens hurled him down from the rock. For this was the 
traditional punishment at that time among the Romans for those who were 
condemned to death. 

[8,79] Such is the more probable of the accounts that have been handed down 
concerning this man; but I must not omit the less probable version, since this also has 
been believed by many and is recorded in histories of good authority. It is said, then, 
by some that while the plan of Cassius to make himself tyrant was as yet concealed 
from all the world, his father was the first to suspect him, and that after making the 
strictest inquiry into the matter he went to the senate; then, ordering his son to 
appear, he became both informer and accuser, and when the senate also had 
condemned him, he took him home and put him to death. The harsh and inexorable 
(p241) anger of fathers against their offending sons, particularly among the Romans of 
that time, does not permit us to reject even this account. For earlier Brutus, who 
expelled the kings, condemned both his sons to die in accordance with the law 
concerning malefactors, and they were beheaded because they were believed to have 
been helping to bring about the restoration of the kings. And at a later time Manlius, 
when he was commander in the Gallic war and his son distinguished himself in battle, 
honoured him, indeed, for his bravery with the crowns given for superior valour, but 
at the same time accused him of disobedience in not staying in the fort in which he 
was posted but leaving it, contrary to the command of his general, in order to take 
part in the struggle; and he put him to death as a deserter. And many other fathers, 
some for greater and others for lesser faults, have shown neither mercy nor 
compassion to their sons. For this reason I do not feel, as I said, that this account 
should be rejected as improbable. But the following considerations, which are 
arguments of no small weight and are not lacking in probability, draw me in the other 
direction and lead me to agree with the first tradition. In the first place, after the 
death of Cassius his house was razed to the ground and to this day its site remains 
vacant, except for that part of it on which the state afterwards built the temple of 
Tellus, which stands in the street leading to the Carinae; and again, his goods were 
confiscated by the state, which dedicated first-offerings for them in various temples, 
especially the bronze statues to Ceres, which by their (p243) inscriptions show of whose 
possessions they are the first-offerings. But if his father had been at once the 
informer, the accuser and the executioner of his son, neither his house would have 
been razed nor his estate confiscated. For the Romans have no property of their own 
while their fathers are still living, but fathers are permitted to dispose both of the 
goods and the persons of their sons as they wish. Consequently the state would surely 
never have seen fit, because of the crimes of the son, to take away and confiscate the 
estate of his father who had given information of his plan to set up a tyranny. For 
these reasons, therefore, I agree rather with the former of the two accounts; but 
I have given both, to the end that my readers may adopt whichever one they please. 

[8,80] When the attempt was made by some to put to death the sons of Cassius also, 
the senators looked upon the custom as cruel and harmful; and having assembled, 
they voted that the penalty should be remitted in the case of the boys and that they 
should live in complete security, being punished by neither banishment, 
disfranchisement, nor any other misfortune. And from that time this custom has 
become established among the Romans and is observed down to our day, that the 
sons shall be exempt from all punishment for any crimes committed by their fathers, 
whether they happen to be the sons of tyrants, of parricides, or of traitors — treason 
being among the Romans the greatest crime. And those who attempted to abolish 
this custom in our times, after the end of the Marsic and civil wars, (p245) and took 
away from the sons of fathers who had been proscribed under Sulla the privilege of 
standing for the magistracies held by their fathers and of being members of the 
senate as long as their own domination lasted, were regarded as having done a thing 
deserving both the indignation of men and the vengeance of the gods. Accordingly, in 
the course of time a justifiable retribution dogged their steps as the avenger of their 
crimes, by which the perpetrators were reduced from the greatest height of glory they 
had once enjoyed to the lowest depths, and not even their posterity, except of the 
female line, now survives;  but the custom was restored to its original status by the 
man who brought about their destruction. Among some of the Greeks, however, this 
is not the practice, but certain of them think it proper to put to death the sons of 
tyrants together with their fathers; and others punish them with perpetual 
banishment, as if Nature would not permit virtuous sons to be the offspring of wicked 
fathers or evil sons of good fathers. But concerning these matters, I leave to the 
consideration of anyone who is so minded the when whether the practice prevalent 
among the Greeks is better or the custom of the Romans (p247) is superior; and I now 
return to the events that followed. 

[8,81] After the death of Cassius those who sought to extend the power of the 
aristocracy had grown more daring and more contemptuous of the plebeians, while 
those of obscure reputation and fortune were humbled and abased, and feeling that 
they ad lost the best guardian of the plebeian order, accused themselves of great folly 
in having condemned him. The reason for this was that the consuls were not carrying 
out the decree of the senate regarding the allotting of the land, though it was their 
duty to appoint the decemvirs to fix the boundaries of the land and to present a 
proposal as to how much of it ought to be distributed, and to whom. Many met in 
groups, always discussing this duplicity and accusing the former tribunes of having 
betrayed the commonwealth; and there were continual meetings of the assembly 
called by the tribunes then in office, and demands for the fulfilment of the promise. 
The consuls, perceiving this, determined to repress the turbulent and disorderly 
element in the city, taking the wars as a pretext. For it chanced that their territory 
was at that very time harassed by bands of robbers and forays from the neighbouring 
cities. 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 (p249) 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. 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] 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. 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 (p251) in pillaging, and put them back into the 
proper order for battle. 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. 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 (p253) easily prevented from realizing any of 
these desires if a man who was at least democratic in his sympathies should become 
consul. 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. 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] Accordingly, Lucius Aemilius, the son of Mamercus, and Caeso Fabius, the son of 
Caeso, succeeded to the consulship in the two hundred and seventieth year60 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. 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 (p255) 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. 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. And assembling the youth from every city, 
they marched with one a 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] 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 (p257) 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. 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. 
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] 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 (p259) conquered the enemy, and turned to plundering the country. 
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. 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. 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 (p261) 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] 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. 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. 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. But when, after attacking the hill and 
surrounding the (p263) 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. 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. 
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. 
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 (p265) 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. 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] When the time for the election of (p267) 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. 
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. 
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 (p269) 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. 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. And this he attempted to do; 
nevertheless, he could 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. 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 (p271) 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. 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. 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] 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 
(p273) 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. 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. 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. 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, (p275) elated at this, led out the army from the camp ready for battle. 

[8,89] 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. 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. It was believed, 
however, according to the report common (p277) 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. 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.  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 (p279) 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] 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.  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. (p281) 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. 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. 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. The populace, who had suffered naught at 
his hands in the former consulship, permitted him to obtain this (p283) 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] 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. 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 (p285) the army. 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. 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;76 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.