[6,0] BOOK VI.

[6,1] Aulus Sempronius Atratinus and Marcus Minucius, who assumed the consulship 
the following year, in the seventy-first Olympiad (the one in which Tisicrates of 
Croton won the foot-race), Hipparchus being archon at Athens, performed no action 
either of a military or administrative nature worthy of the notice of history during 
their term of office, since the truce with the Latins gave them ample respite from 
foreign wars, and the injunction decreed by the senate against the exaction of debts 
till the war that was expected should be safely terminated, quieted the disturbances 
raised in the city by the poor, who desired to be discharged of their debts by a public 
act;  but they caused the senate to pass a most reasonable decree which provided 
that any women of Roman birth who were married to Romans should have full power 
to decide for themselves (p241) whether they preferred to stay with their husbands or to 
return to their own cities, and also provided that the male children should remain 
with their fathers and the female and unmarried should follow their mothers. For it 
happened that a great many women, by reason of the kinship and friendship existing 
between the two nations, had been given in marriage each into the other's state. The 
women, having this liberty granted to them by the decree of the senate, showed how 
great was their desire to live at Rome;  for almost all the Roman women who lived in 
the Latin cities left their husbands and returned to their fathers, and all the Latin 
women who were married to Romans, except two, scorned their native countries and 
stayed with their husbands — a happy omen foretelling which of the two nations was 
to be victorious in the war. 
Under these consuls, they say, the temple was dedicated to Saturn upon the ascent 
leading from the Forum to the Capitol, and annual festivals and sacrifices were 
appointed to be celebrated in honour of the god at the public expense. Before this, 
they say, an altar built by Hercules was established there, upon which the persons 
who had received the holy rites from him offered the first-fruits as burnt-offerings 
according to the customs of the Greeks. Some historians state that the credit for 
beginning this temple was given to Titus Larcius, the consul of the previous year, 
others, that it was even given to King Tarquinius — the one who was driven from 
(p243) the throne — and that the dedication fell to Postumus Cominius pursuant to a 
decree of the senate. These consuls, then, had the opportunity, as I said, of enjoying a 
profound peace. 

[6,2] They  were succeeded in the consulship by Aulus Postumius and Titus Verginius, 
under whom the year's truce with the Latins expired; and great preparations for the 
war were made by both nations. On the Roman side the whole population entered 
upon the struggle voluntarily and with great enthusiasm; but the greater part of the 
Latins were lacking in enthusiasm and acted under compulsion, the powerful men in 
the cities having been almost all corrupted with bribes and promises by Tarquinius 
and Mamilius, while those among the common people who were not in favour of the 
war were excluded from a share in the public counsels; for permission to speak was 
no longer granted to all who desired it.   Indeed, many, resenting this treatment, were 
constrained to leave their cities and desert to the Romans; for the men who had got 
the cities in their power did not choose to stop them, but thought themselves much 
obliged to their adversaries for submitting to a voluntary banishment. These the 
Romans received, and such of them as came with their wives and children they 
employed in military services inside the walls, incorporating them in the centuries of 
citizens, and the rest they sent out to the fortresses near the city or distributed among 
their colonies, keeping them under guard, so that they should create no disturbance. 
  And since all men had come to the same conclusion, that the situation (p245) once 
more called for a single magistrate free to deal with all matters according to his own 
judgment and subject to no accounting for his actions, Aulus Postumius, the younger 
of the consuls, was appointed dictator by his colleague Verginius, and following the 
example of the former dictator, chose his own Master of the Horse, naming Titus 
Aebutius Elva. And having in a short time enlisted all the Romans who were of 
military age, he divided his army into four parts, one of which he himself 
commanded, while he gave another to his colleague Verginius, the third to Aebutius, 
the Master of the Horse, and left the command of the fourth to Aulus Sempronius, 
whom he appointed to guard the city. 

[6,3] After the dictator had prepared everything that was necessary for the war, his 
scouts brought him word that the Latins had taken the field with all their forces; and 
others in turn informed him that they had captured by storm a strong place called 
Corbio, in which there was stationed a small garrison of the Romans. The garrison 
they wiped out completely, and the place itself, now that they had gained possession 
of it, they were making a base for the war. They were not capturing any slaves or 
cattle in the country districts, except those taken at Corbio, since the husbandmen 
had long before removed into the nearest fortresses everything that they could drive 
or carry away; but they were setting fire to the houses that had been abandoned and 
laying waste the country.   After the Latins had (p247) already taken the field, an army of 
responsible size came to them from Antium, the most important city of the Volscian 
nation, with arms, grain, and everything else that was necessary for carrying on the 
war. Greatly heartened by this, they were in excellent hopes that the other Volscians 
would join them in the war, now that the city of Antium had set the example. 
Postumius, being informed of all this, set out hastily to the rescue before all the 
enemy's forces could assemble; and having led his army out by a forced march in the 
night, he arrived near the Latins, who lay encamped in a strong position near the lake 
called Regillus, and pitched his camp above them on a hill that was high and difficult 
of access, where, if he remained, he was sure to have many advantages over them. 

[6,4] The generals4 of the Latins, Octavius of Tusculum, the son-in-law or, as some state, 
the son of the son-in-law of King Tarquinius, and Sextus Tarquinius — for they 
happened at that time to be encamped separately — joined their forces, and 
assembling the tribunes and centurions, they considered with them in what manner 
they should carry on the war; and many opinions were expressed.   Some thought 
they ought to charge the troops under the dictator which had occupied the hill, while 
they could still inspire them with fear; for they regarded their occupation of the 
strong positions as a sign, not of assurance, but of cowardice. Others thought they 
ought to surround the camp of the Romans with a ditch, and keeping them hemmed 
in (p249) by means of a small guard, march with the rest of the army to Rome, which 
they believed might easily be captured now that the best of its youth had taken the 
field. Still others advised them to await the reinforcements from both the Volscians 
and their other allies, choosing safe measures in preference to bold; for the Romans, 
they say, would reap no benefit from the delay, whereas their own situation would be 
improved by it.   While they were still debating, the other consul, Titus Verginius, 
suddenly arrived from Rome with his army, after making the march during the very 
next night, and encamped apart from the dictator upon another ridge that was 
exceeding craggy and strongly situated. Thus the Latins were cut off on both sides 
from the roads leading into the enemy's country, the consul encamping on the left-
hand side and the dictator on the right. This still further increased the confusion of 
their commanders, who had chosen safety in preference to every other consideration, 
and also their fear that by delaying they should be forced to use up their supplies of 
food, which were not plentiful. When Postumius observed the inexperience of these 
commanders, he sent the Master of the Horse, Titus Aebutius, with the flower both of 
the horse and light-armed troops with orders to occupy a hill which lay close beside 
the road by which provisions were brought to the Latins from home; and before the 
enemy was aware of it, the forces sent with the Master of the Horse passed by their 
camp in the night, and marching through a pathless wood, gained possession of the 
hill. 

[6,5] (p251) The generals of the enemy, finding that the strong places which lay in their 
rear were also being occupied, and no longer feeling any confident hopes that even 
their provisions from home would get through to them safely, resolved to drive the 
Romans from the hill before they could fortify it with a palisade and ditch.   And 
Sextus, one of the two generals, taking the horse with him, rode up to them full speed 
in the expectation that the Roman horse would not await his attack. But when these 
bravely withstood their charge, he maintained the fight for some time, alternately 
retiring and renewing the attack; and then, since the nature of the ground offered 
great advantages to those who were already in possession of the heights, while 
bringing to those who attacked from below nothing but many blows and ineffectual 
hardships, and since, moreover, a fresh force of chosen legionaries, sent by 
Postumius to follow close upon the heels of the first detachment, came to the 
assistance of the Romans, he found himself unable to accomplish anything further 
and led the horse back to the camp; and the Romans, now secure in the possession of 
the place, openly strengthened the garrison there.   After this action Mamilius and 
Sextus determined not to let much time intervene, but to decide the issue by an early 
battle. The Roman dictator, who at first had not been of this mind, but had hoped to 
end the war without a battle, founding his hopes of doing so chiefly on the 
inexperience of the opposing generals, (p253) now resolved to engage. For some couriers 
had been captured by the horse that patrolled the roads, bearing letters from the 
Volscians to the Latin generals to inform them that numerous forces would come to 
their assistance in about two days, and still other forces from the Hernicans.   These 
were the considerations that reduced their  commanders to an immediate necessity of 
fighting, though until then they had not been of this mind. After the signals for battle 
had been raised on both sides, the two armies advanced into the space between their 
camps and drew up in the following manner: Sextus Tarquinius was posted on the left 
wing of the Latins and Octavius Mamilius on the right; Titus, the other son of 
Tarquinius, held the centre, where also the Roman deserters and exiles were posted. 
And, all their horse being divided into three bodies, two of these were placed on the 
wings and one in the centre of the battle-line.   The left of the Roman army was 
commanded by Titus Aebutius, the Master of the Horse, who stood opposite to 
Octavius Mamilius; the right by Titus Verginius, the consul, facing Sextus Tarquinius; 
the centre of the line was commanded by the dictator Postumius in person, who 
proposed to encounter Titus Tarquinius and the exiles with him. The number of the 
forces of each army which drew up for battle was: on the side of the Romans 23,700 
foot and 1000 horse, and (p255) on that of the Latins and their allies about 40,000 foot 
and 3000 horse. 

[6,6] When they were on the point of engaging, the Latin generals called their men 
together and said many things calculated to incite them to valour, and addressed long 
appeals to the soldiers. And the Roman dictator, seeing his troops alarmed because 
they were going to encounter an army greatly superior in number to their own, and 
desiring to dispel that fear from their minds, called them to an assembly, and place 
gate near him the oldest and most honoured members of the senate, addressed them 
as follows: 
"The gods by omens, sacrifices, and other auguries promise to grant to our 
commonwealth liberty and a happy victory, both by way of rewarding us for the piety 
we have shown toward them and the justice we have practised during the whole 
course of our lives, and also from resentment, we may reasonably suppose, against 
our enemies. For these, after having received many great benefits from us, being both 
our kinsmen and friends, and after having sworn to look upon all our enemies and 
friends as their own, have scorned all these obligations and are bringing an unjust 
war upon us, not for the sake of supremacy and dominion, to determine which of us 
ought more rightly to possess it, — that, indeed, would not be so terrible, — but in 
support of the tyranny of the Tarquinii, in order to make our commonwealth enslaved 
once more instead of free.   But it is necessary that you too, both officers and men, 
knowing that you have for allies the gods, (p257) who have always preserved our city, 
should acquit yourselves as brave men in this battle, remembering that the assistance 
of the gods is given to those who fight nobly and eagerly contribute everything in 
their power toward victory, not to those who fly from dangers, but to those who are 
willing to undergo hardships in their own behalf. We have many other advantages 
conducive to victory prepared for us by Fortune, but three in particular, which are the 
greatest and the most obvious of all. 

[6,7] "First, there is the confidence you have in one another, which is the thing most 
needed by men who are going to conquer their foes; for you do not need to begin 
to-day to be firm friends and faithful allies to one another, but your country has long 
since prepared this boon for you all. For you have been brought up together and have 
received the same education; you were wont to sacrifice to the gods upon the same 
altars; and you have both enjoyed many advantages and experienced many evils in 
common, by the sharing of which strong and indissoluble friendships are wont to be 
formed among all men.   Secondly, the struggle, in which your highest interests are at 
stake, is common to you all alike. For if you fall into the enemy's power it will not 
mean that some of you will meet with no severity while others suffer the worst of 
fates, but all of you alike will have lost your proud position, your sovereignty and your 
liberty, and will no longer have the enjoyment of (p259) your wives, your children, your 
property, or any other blessing you now have; and those who are at the head of the 
commonwealth and direct the public affairs will die the most miserable death 
accompanied by indignities and tortures.   For if your enemies,6 though they have 
received no injury, great or small, at your hands, have heaped many outrages of every 
sort upon all of you, what must you expect them to do if they now conquer you by 
arms, resentful as they are because you drove them from the city, deprived them of 
their property, and do not permit them even to set foot upon the land of their fathers? 
  And finally, of the advantages I have mentioned you cannot, if you consider the 
matter aright, call this one inferior to any other — that the forces of the enemy have 
not proved to be so formidable as we conceived them to be, but are far short of the 
opinion we entertained of them. For, with the exception of the support furnished by 
the Antiates, you see no other allies present to take part with them in the war; 
whereas we were expecting that all the Volscians and many of the Sabines and 
Hernicans would come to them as allies, and were conjuring up in our minds a 
thousand other vain fears.   But all these things, it appears, were only dreams of the 
Latins, holding out empty promises and futile hopes. For some of their allies have 
failed to send the promised aid, out of contempt for the inexperience of their 
generals; others, (p261) instead of assisting them, will keep delaying, wearing away the 
time by merely fostering their hopes; and those who are now engaged in making their 
preparations will arrive too late for the battle and will be of no further use to them. 

[6,8] "But if any of you, though convinced of the reasonableness of what I have said, 
nevertheless fear the numbers of the enemy, let them learn by a few words of 
instruction, or rather from their own memory, that what they dread is not formidable. 
Let them consider, in the first place, that the greater part of our enemies have been 
forced to take up arms against us, as they have often shown us by both actions and 
words, and that the number of those who willingly and eagerly fight for the tyrants is 
very small, in fact only an insignificant fraction of ours; and secondly, that all wars 
are won, not by the forces which are larger in numbers, but by those which are 
superior in valour.   It would tedious to cite as examples all the armies of the Greeks 
as well as barbarians which, though superior in numbers, were overcome by forces so 
very small that the reports about the numbers engaged are not even credible to most 
people. But, to omit other instances, how many wars have you yourselves won, with a 
smaller force than you now have, when arrayed against enemies more numerous than 
all these the enemy have now got together? Well, then, can it be that, though you 
indeed continue to be formidable to those whom you have repeatedly overcome in 
battle, you are nevertheless contemptible in the eyes of these Latins and their allies, 
the Volscians, because they have never experienced your prowess in battle? But you 
(p263) all knew that our fathers conquered both of these nations in many battles.   Is it 
reasonable, then, to suppose that the condition of the conquered has been improved 
after so many disasters and that of the conquerors impaired after so many successes? 
What man in his senses would say so? I should indeed be surprised if any of you 
feared the numbers of the enemy, in which there are few brave men, or scorned your 
own army, which is so numerous and so brave that none exceeding it either in 
courage or in numbers was ever assembled in any of our former wars. 

[6,9] "There is also this very great encouragement to you, citizens, neither to dread nor 
to shirk what is formidable, that the principal members of the senate are all present 
as you see, ready to share the fortunes of the war in common with you, though they 
are permitted by both their age and the law to be exempt from military service. 
  Would it not, then, be shameful if you who are in the vigour of life should flee from 
what is formidable, while these who are past the military age, pursue it, and if the zeal 
of the old men, since it lacks the strength to slay any of the enemy, should at least be 
willing to die for the fatherland, while the vigour of you young men, who have it in 
your power, if successful, to save both yourselves and them to be victorious, or, in 
case of failure, to suffer nobly while acting nobly, should neither make trial of 
Fortune nor leave behind you the renown that valour wins. (p265) Is it not an incentive 
to you, Romans, that just as you have before your eyes the record of the many 
wonderful deeds performed by your fathers,  whom no words can adequately praise, 
so your posterity while reap the fruits of many illustrious feats of your own, if you 
achieve success in this war also? To the end, therefore, that neither the bravery of 
those among you who have chosen the best course may go unrewarded, nor the fears 
of such as dread what is formidable more than is fitting go unpunished, learn from 
me, before we enter this engagement, what it will be the fate of each of them to 
receive.   To anyone who performs any great or brave deed in this battle, as proved by 
the testimony of those acquainted with his actions, I will not only give at once all the 
usual honours which it is in the power of every man to win in accordance with our 
ancestral customs, but will also add a portion of the land owned by the state, 
sufficient to secure him from any lack of the necessities of life. But if a cowardly and 
infatuate mind shall suggest to anyone an inclination to shameful flight, to him I will 
bring home the very death he endeavoured to avoid; for such a citizen were better 
dead, both for his own sake and for that of others. And it will be the fate of those put 
to death in such a manner to be honoured neither with burial nor with any of the 
other customary rites, but unenvied and unlamented, to be torn to pieces by birds 
and beasts of prey. (p267)  Knowing these things beforehand, then, do you all cheerfully 
enter the engagement, taking fair hopes as your guides to fair deeds, assured that by 
the hazard of this one battle, if it be attended by the best outcome and the one we all 
wish for, you will obtain the greatest of all advantages: you will free yourselves from 
the fear of tyrants, will repay to your country that gave you birth the gratitude she 
justly requires of you for your rearing, will save your children who are still infants and 
your wedded wives from suffering irreparable outrages at the hands of the enemy, 
and will render the short time your aged fathers have yet to live most agreeable to 
them.   Oh, happy those among you to whom it shall be given to celebrate the 
triumph for this war, while your children, your wives and your parents welcome you 
back! But glorious and envied for their bravery will those be who shall sacrifice their 
lives for their country. Death, indeed, is decreed to all men, both the cowardly and the 
brave; but an honourable and a glorious death comes to the brave alone." 

[6,10] While he was still speaking these words to spur them to valour, a kind of 
confidence inspired by Heaven seized the army and they all, as if with a single soul, 
cried out together, "Be of good courage and lead us on." Postumius commended their 
alacrity and made a vow to the gods that if the battle were attended with a happy and 
glorious outcome, he would offer great and expensive sacrifices and institute costly 
games to be celebrated annually by the Roman people; after which he dismissed his 
men to their ranks.   And when they had received the watchword from their 
commanders and the (p269) trumpets had sounded the charge, they gave a shout and 
fell to, first, the light-armed men and the horse on each side, then the solid ranks of 
foot, who were armed and drawn up alike; and all mingling, a severe battle ensued in 
which every man fought hand to hand.   However, both sides were extremely 
deceived in the opinion they had entertained of each other, for neither of them 
thought a battle would be necessary, but expected to put the enemy to flight at the 
first onset. The Latins, trusting in the superiority of their horse, concluded that the 
Roman horse would not be able even to sustain their onset; and the Romans were 
confident that by rushing into the midst of danger in a daring and reckless manner 
they should terrify their enemies. Having formed these opinions of one another in the 
beginning, they now saw everything turning out just the opposite. Each side, 
therefore, no longer founding their hopes of safety and of victory on the fear of the 
enemy, but on their own courage, showed themselves brave soldiers even beyond 
their strength. And various and sudden shifting fortunes marked their struggle. 

[6,11] First, the Romans posted in the centre of the line, where the dictator stood with a 
chosen body of horse about him, he himself fighting among the foremost, forced back 
that part of the enemy that stood opposite to them, after Titus, one of the sons of 
Tarquinius, had been wounded in the right shoulder (p271) with a javelin and was no 
longer able to sue his arm.  Licinius and Gellius, indeed, without inquiring into the 
probabilities or possibilities of the matter, introduce King Tarquinius himself, a man 
approaching ninety years of age, fighting on horseback and wounded. When Titus 
had fallen, those about him, after fighting a little while and taking him up while he 
was yet alive, showed no bravery after that, but retired by degrees as the Romans 
advanced. Afterwards they again stood their ground and advanced against the enemy 
when Sextus, the other son of Tarquinius, came to their relief with the Roman exiles 
and the flower of the horse.   These, therefore, recovering themselves, fought again. 
In the meantime Titus Aebutius and Mamilius Octavius, the commanders of the foot 
on either side,  fought the most brilliantly of all, driving their opponents before them 
wherever they charged and rallying those of their own men who had become 
disordered; and, then, challenging each other, they came to blows and in the 
encounter gave one another grievous wounds, though not mortal, the Master of the 
Horse driving his spear through the corslet of Mamilius into his breast, and Mamilius 
running the other through the middle of his right arm; and both fell from their 
horses. 

[6,12] Both of these leaders having been carried off (p273) the field, Marcus Valerius, who 
had again been appointed legate, took over the command of the Master of the Horse 
and with his followers attacked those of the enemy who confronted him; and after a 
brief resistance on their part he speedily drove them far out of the line. But to this 
body of the enemy also came reinforcements from the Roman exiles, both horse and 
light-armed men; and Mamilius, having by this time recovered from his wound, 
appeared on the field again at the head of a strong body both of horse and foot. In this 
action not only Marcus Valerius, the legate, fell, wounded with a spear (he was the 
man who had first triumphed over the Sabines and raised the spirit of the 
commonwealth when dejected by the defeat it had received at the hands of the 
Tyrrhenians), but also many other brave Romans at his side.   A sharp conflict took 
place over his body, as Publius and Marcus, the sons of publicola, protected their 
uncle with their shields; but they delivered him to their shield-bearers undespoiled 
and still breathing a little, and sent him back to the camp. For their own part, such 
was their courage and ardour, they thrust themselves into the midst of the enemy, 
and receiving many wounds, as the Roman exiles pressed closely round them, they 
perished together.   After this misfortune the line of the Romans was forced to give 
way on the left for a long distance and was being broken even to the (p275) centre. When 
the dictator learned of the rout of his men, he hastened to their assistance with the 
horse he had about him. And ordering the other legate, Titus Herminius, to take a top 
of horse, and passing behind their own lines, to force the men who fled to face about, 
and if they refused obedience to kill them, he himself with the best of his men pushed 
on towards the thick of the conflict; and when he came near the enemy, he spurred on 
ahead of the rest with a loose rein.   And as they all charged in a body in this 
terrifying manner, the enemy, unable to sustain their frenzied and savage onset, fled 
and many of them fell. In the meantime the legate Herminius also, having rallied 
from their route those of his men who had been put to flight, brought them up and 
attacked the troops arrayed under Mamilius; and encountering this general, who both 
for stature and strength was the best man of his time, he not only killed him, but was 
slain himself while he was despoiling the body, someone having pierced his flank with 
a sword.   Sextus Tarquinius, who commanded the left wing of the Latins, still held 
out against all the dangers that beset him, and was forcing the right wing of the 
Romans to give way. But when he saw Postumius suddenly appear with the flower of 
the horse, he gave over all hope and rushed into the midst of the enemy's ranks, 
where, being surrounded by the Romans, both horse and foot, and assaulted on all 
sides with missiles, (p277) like a wild beast, he perished, but not before he had killed 
many of those who came to close quarters with him. Their leaders having fallen, the 
Latins at once fled en masse, and their camp, abandoned by the men who had been 
left to guard it, was captured; from this camp the Romans took much valuable booty. 
6 Not only was this a very great defeat for the Latins, from the disastrous effects of 
which they suffered a very long time, but their losses were greater than ever before. 
For out of 40,000 foot and 3000 horse, as I have said, less than 10,000 survivors 
returned to their homes in safety. 

[6,13] It is said that in this battle two men on horseback, far excelling in both beauty 
and stature those our human stock produces, and just growing their first beard, 
appeared to Postumius, the dictator, and to those arrayed about him, and charged at 
the head of the Roman horse, striking with their spears all the Latins they 
encountered and driving them headlong before them. And after the flight of the 
Latins and the capture of their camp, the battle having come to an end in the late 
afternoon, two youths are said to have appeared in the same manner in the Roman 
Forum attired in military garb, very tall and beautiful and of the same age, 
themselves retaining on their countenances as having come from a battle, the look of 
combatants, and the horses they led being all in a sweat.   And when they had each of 
them watered their horses and washed them at the fountain which rises near the 
temple of Vesta and (p279) forms a small but deep pool, and many people stood about 
them and inquired if they brought any news from the camp, they related how the 
battle had gone and that the Romans were the victors. And it is said that after they 
left the Forum they were not seen again by anyone, though great search was made for 
them by the man who had been left in command of the city. The next day, when 
those at the head of affairs received the letters from the dictator, and besides the 
other particulars of the battle, learned also of the appearance of the divinities, they 
concluded, as we may reasonably infer, that it was the same gods who had appeared 
in both places, and were convinced that the apparitions had been those of Castor and 
Pollux. 
Of this extraordinary and wonderful appearance of these gods there are many 
monuments at Rome, not only the temple of Castor and Pollux which the city erected 
in the Forum at the place where their apparitions had been seen, and the adjacent 
fountain, which bears the names of these gods  and is to this day regarded as holy, 
but also the costly sacrifices which the people perform each year through their chief 
priests in the month called Quintilis,  on the day known as the Ides, the day on which 
they gained this victory. But above all these things there is the procession performed 
after the sacrifice by those who have a public horse and who, being arrayed by tribes 
and centuries, ride in regular ranks (p281) on horseback, as if they came from battle, 
crowned with olive branches and attired in the purple robes with stripes of scarlet 
which they call trabeae. They begin their procession from a certain temple of Mars 
built outside the walls, and going through several parts of the city and the Forum, 
they pass by the temple of Castor and Pollux, sometimes to the number even of five 
thousand, wearing whatever rewards for valour in battle they have received from 
their commanders, a fine sight and worthy of the greatness of the Roman dominion. 
These are the things I have found both related and performed by the Romans in 
commemoration of the appearance of Castor and Pollux; and from these, as well as 
from many other important instances, one may judge how dear to the gods were the 
men of those times. 

[6,14] Postumius encamped that night on the field and the next day he crowned those 
who had distinguished themselves in the battle; and having appointed guards to take 
care of the prisoners, he proceeded to offer to the gods the sacrifices in honour of the 
victory. While he still wore the garland on his head and was laying the first burnt 
offerings on the altars, some scouts, running down from the heights, brought him 
word that a hostile army was marching against them. It consisted of chosen youth of 
the Volscian nation who had been sent out, before the battle was ended, to assist the 
Latins.   Upon hearing of this he ordered all his men and to stay in the camp, each 
under his own standards, maintaining silence and keeping their ranks till he himself 
should (p283) give the word what to do. On the other side, the generals of the Volscians, 
encamping out of sight of the Romans, when they saw the field covered with dead 
bodies and both camps intact, and no one, either enemy or friend, stirring out of the 
entrenchments, were for some time amazed and at a loss to guess what turn of 
fortune had produced this state of affairs. But when they had learned all about the 
battle from those who were making their escape from the rout, they consulted with 
the other leaders what was to be done.   The boldest of them thought it best to 
attempt to take the camp of the Romans by assault, while many of the foe were still 
disabled from their wounds and all were exhausted by toil, and the arms of most of 
them were useless, some having their edges blunted and others being broken, and no 
fresh forces from home were yet at hand to relieve them, whereas their own army was 
large and valiant, splendidly armed and experienced in war, and by coming suddenly 
upon men who were not expecting it was sure to appear formidable even to the 
boldest. 

[6,15] But to the most prudent among them it did not seem a safe risk to attack without 
allies men who were valiant warriors and had just destroyed so great an army of the 
Latins, as they would be putting everything to the hazard in a foreign country where, 
if any misfortune happened, they would have no place of refuge. These advised, 
therefore, to provide rather for a safe retreat to their own country as soon (p285) as 
possible and to look upon it as a great gain if they sustained no loss from this 
expedition.  But still others disapproved of both these courses, declaring that 
readiness to rush into battle was mere youthful bravado, while unreasoning flight 
back to their own country was shameful; for, whichever of these courses they took, 
the enemy would regard it as being just what they desired. The opinion of these, 
therefore, was that at present they ought to fortify their camp and get everything in 
readiness for a battle, and that, dispatching messengers to the rest of the Volscians, 
they should ask them to do one of the two things, either to send another army that 
would be a match for that of the Romans or to recall the army they had already sent 
out. But the opinion that prevailed with the majority and received the sanction of 
those in authority was to send spies to the Roman camp, assured of safety under the 
title of ambassadors, who should greet the general and say that, as allies of the 
Romans sent by the Volscian nation, they were sorry they had come too late for the 
battle, since they would now received little or no thanks for their zeal; but anyway 
they congratulated the Romans upon their good fortune in having won a great battle 
without the assistance of allies; then, after the ambassadors had tricked the Romans 
by the friendliness of their words and had got them to confide in the Volscians as 
their friends, they were to spy out everything and bring back word concerning the 
Romans' strength, their arms, their preparations, and anything they were planning to 
do. And when the Volscians should be thoroughly acquainted with these matters, they 
should then take counsel whether (p287) it was better to send for another army and 
attack the Romans or to return home with their present force. 

[6,16] After they had adopted this proposal, the ambassadors they had chosen came to 
the dictator, and being brought before the assembly, delivered their messages that 
were intended to deceive the Romans. And Postumius, after a short pause, said to 
them: "You have brought with you, Volscians, evil designs clothed in good words, and 
while you perform hostile acts, you want us to regard you as friends.   For you were 
sent by your nation to assist the Latins against us, but arriving after the battle and 
seeing them overcome, you wish to deceive us by saying the very opposite of what you 
intended to do. And neither the friendliness of your words, simulated for the present 
occasion, nor the pretence under which you are come hither, is sincere, but is full of 
fraud and deceit. For you were sent, not to congratulate us upon our good fortune, 
but to spy out the weakness or the strength of our condition; and while you are 
ambassadors in name, you are spies in reality."   When the men denied everything, he 
said he would soon offer them the proof; and straightway he produced their letters 
which he had intercepted before the battle as they were being carried to the 
commanders of the Latins, in which they promised to send them reinforcements, and 
produced the persons who carried the letters. After these were read out and the 
prisoners had given an account of the orders they had received, the soldiers were 
eager to (p289) stone the Volscians as spies caught in the act; but Postumius thought 
that good men ought not to imitate the wicked, saying it would be better and more 
magnanimous to reserve their anger against the senders rather than against the sent, 
and to let the men go in consideration of their ostensible title of ambassadors rather 
than to put them to death because of their disguised task of spying, lest they should 
give either a specious ground for war to the Volscians, who would allege that their 
ambassadors had been put to death contrary to the law of nations, or an excuse to 
their other enemies for bringing a charge which, though false, would appear neither 
ill-grounded nor incredible. 

[6,17] Having thus checked the rash impulse of the soldiers, he commanded the men to 
depart without looking back, and put them in charge of a guard of horse, who 
conducted them to the camp of the Volscians. After he had expelled the spies, he 
commanded the soldiers to get everything ready for battle, as if he were going to 
engage the next day. But he had no need of a battle, for the leaders of the Volscians 
broke camp before dawn and returned home.   All things having now gone according 
to his wish, he buried his own dead, and having purified his army, returned to the city 
with the pomp of a magnificent triumph, together with huge quantities of military 
stores, followed by 5,500 prisoners taken in the battle. (p291) And having set apart the 
tithes of the spoils, he spent forty talents in performing games and sacrifices to the 
gods, and let contracts for the building of temples to Ceres, Liber and Libera,  in 
fulfilment of a vow he had made.   It seems that provisions for the army had been 
scarce in the beginning, and had caused the Romans great fear that they would fail 
entirely, as the land had borne no crops and food from outside was no longer being 
imported because of the war. Because of this fear he had ordered the guardians of the 
Sibylline books to consult them, and finding that the oracles commanded that these 
gods should be propitiated, he made vows to them, when he was on the point of 
leading out his army, that if there should be the same abundance in the city during 
the time of his magistracy as before, he would build temples to them and also appoint 
sacrifices to be performed every year.  These gods, hearing his prayer, caused the 
land to produce rich crops, not only of grain but also of fruits, and all imported 
provisions to be more plentiful than before; and when Postumius saw this, he 
himself  caused a vote to be passed for the building of these temples. The Romans, 
therefore, having through the favour of the gods repelled the war brought upon them 
by the tyrant, were engaged in feasts and sacrifices. 

[6,18] (p293) A few days later there came to them, as ambassadors from the Latin league, 
chosen out of all their cities. those who had been opposed to the war, holding out the 
olive branches and the fillets of suppliants. These men, upon being introduced into 
the senate, declared that the powerful men in every city had been responsible for 
beginning the war, and said that the people had been guilty of this one fault only, that 
they had listened to corrupt demagogues who had schemed for private gain.   And for 
this delusion, in which necessity had had the greatest share, they said every city had 
already paid a penalty not to be despised, in the loss of its young men, so that it was 
not easy to find a single household free from mourning. They asked the Romans to 
receive them now that they willingly submitted and neither disputed any longer about 
the supremacy nor strove for equality, but were ready to be for all future time subjects 
as well as allies and to add the good fortune of the Romans all the prestige which 
Fortune had taken from the Latins.   At the end of their speech they made an appeal 
to kinship, reminded them of their unhesitating services as allies in the past, and 
bewailed the misfortunes that would fall on the innocent, who were far more 
numerous than the guilty, accompanying everything they said with lamentations, 
embracing the knees of all the senators, and laying the olive branches at the feet of 
Postumius, so that the whole senate was more or less moved by their tears and 
entreaties. 

[6,19] (p295) When the ambassadors had left the senate and permission to speak was 
given to the members who were wont to deliver their opinions first,  Titus Larcius, 
who had been appointed the first dictator the year before,  advised them to use their 
good fortune with moderation, saying that the greatest praise that could be given a 
whole state as well as to an individual was not to be corrupted by prosperity, but to 
bear good fortune with decorum and moderation;   for all prosperity is envied, 
particularly that which is attended with arrogance and rigour toward those who had 
been humbled and subdued. And he advised them not to put any reliance on Fortune, 
since they had learned from their own experience in both adversity and prosperity 
how inconstant and quick to change she is. Nor ought they to reduce their adversaries 
to the necessity of running the supreme hazard, since such necessity renders some 
men daring beyond all expectation and warlike beyond their strength.   He said they 
had reason to be afraid of drawing upon themselves the common hatred of all those 
they proposed to rule, if they should exact harsh and relentless penalties from such as 
had erred; for they would seem to have abandoned their traditional principles, 
forgetting to what they owed their present splendour, and to have made their 
dominion a tyranny rather than a leadership and protectorship, as it had been 
aforetime. he said that the error is a moderate and venial one when states that cling 
to liberty and have once learned to rule (p297) are unwilling to give up their ancient 
prestige; and if men who aim at the noblest ends are to be punished beyond 
possibility of recovery when they fail of their hope, there will be nothing to prevent 
the whole race of mankind from being destroyed by one another, since all men have 
an innate craving for liberty.   He declared that a government is far better and more 
firmly established which seeks to rule its subjects by its benefits rather than by 
punishments; for the former course leads to goodwill and the latter to terror, and it is 
a fixed law of Nature that everything that causes terror should be particularly 
detested. And finally he asked them to take as examples the best actions of their 
ancestors for which they head won praise, recounting the many instances in which, 
after capturing cities by storm, they had not razed them nor put all the male 
population to the sword or enslaved them, but by making them Roman colonies and 
by giving citizenship to such of the conquered as desired to live at Rome, they had 
made their city great from a small beginning. The sum and substance of his opinion 
was this: to renew the treaty they had previously made with the Latin league and to 
retain no resentment against any of the cities for the errors they had been guilty of. 

[6,20] Servius Sulpicius opposed nothing the other had said concerning peace and the 
renewal of the treaty; but, since the Latins had been the first to violate the treaty, and 
not now for the first time either — in which case they might deserve some forgiveness 
(p299) when they put forward necessity and their own deception as excuses — but often 
in the past too, so that they needed correction, he proposed that impunity and their 
liberty should be granted to all of them because of their kinship, but that the should 
be deprived of one half of their land number that Roman colonists should be sent 
thither to enjoy its produce and see to it that the Latins created no further 
disturbances.   Spurius Cassius advised them to raze the Latin cities, saying he 
wondered at the simple-mindedness of those who urged letting their offences go 
unpunished, why they could not understand that, because of the inborn and 
ineradicable envy which the Latins felt towards the rising power of Rome, they were 
constantly fomenting one war after another against them and would never willingly 
give over their treacherous intent so long as this unfortunate passion dwelt in their 
hearts; indeed, they had finally endeavoured to bring a kindred people under the 
power of a tyrant more savage than any wild beast, thereby overturning all the 
covenants they had sworn by the gods to observe, induced by no other hopes than 
that, if the war did not succeed according to their expectation, they should incur 
either no punishment at all or a very slight one.   He too asked them to take as 
examples the actions of their ancestors, who, when they knew that the city of Alba, of 
which both they themselves and all the other Latin cities were colonies, was envious 
of their prosperity and had made use of the impunity it had obtained for its first 
transgressions as an opportunity for greater treachery, resolved to destroy it in a 
single day, believing that to punish none of (p301) those who had committed the greatest 
and the most irremediable crimes was no better than to show compassion to none of 
those who were guilty of moderate errors.   It would be an act of great folly and 
stupidity, surely not one of humanity and moderation, for those who would not 
endure the envy of their mother-city, when it appeared beyond measure grievous and 
intolerable, to submit now to that of their mere kinsman, and for those who had 
punished enemies convicted in milder attempts of being such, by depriving them of 
their city, to exact no punishment now from such as had often shown their hatred of 
them to be irreconcilable.   After he had spoken thus and had enumerated all the 
rebellions of the Latins and reminded the senators of the vast number of Romans 
who had lost their lives in the wars against them, he advised them to treat these also 
in the same manner as they had formerly treated the Albans, namely, to raze their 
cities and add their territory to that of the Romans; and as for the inhabitants, to 
make citizens of such as had shown any goodwill towards them, permitting them to 
retain their possessions, but to put to death as traitors the authors of the revolt by 
whom the treaty had been broken, and to make slaves of the poor, the lazy and the 
useless among the populace. 

[6,21] These were the opinions expressed by the leading men of the senate, but the 
dictator gave (p303) the preference to that of Larcius; and, no further opposition being 
made to it, the ambassadors were called in to the senate to receive their answer. 
Postumius, after reproaching them with an evil disposition never to be reformed, 
said: "It would be right that you should suffer the utmost severity, which is just the 
way you yourselves were intending to treat us, if you had succeeded in the many 
attempts you made against us." Nevertheless, he said, the Romans had not chosen 
mere rights in preference to clemency, bearing in mind that the Latins were their 
kinsmen and had had recourse to the mercy of those whom they had injured; but they 
were allowing these offences of theirs also to go unpunished, from a regard both to 
the gods of their race and to the uncertainty of Fortune, to whom they owed their 
victory.   "For the present, therefore, go your way," he said, "relieved of all fear; and 
after you have released to us the prisoners, delivering the deserters, and expelled the 
exile, then send ambassadors to us to treat of friendship and of an alliance, in the 
assurance that they shall fail of naught that is reasonable." The ambassadors, having 
received this answer, departed, and a few days later returned, having released the 
prisoners and expelled the exiles with Tarquinius from their cities, and bringing with 
them in chains all the deserters they had taken. In return for this they obtained of the 
senate their old treaty of friendship and alliance and renewed through the fetiales the 
oaths they had previously (p305) taken concerning it. Thus ended the war against the 
tyrants, after it had lasted fourteen years from their expulsion.   King Tarquinius — 
for he still survived of his family — being now about ninety years of age and having 
lost his children and the household of his relations by marriage,  dragged out a 
miserable old age, and that too among his enemies. For when neither the Latins, the 
Tyrrhenians, the Sabines, nor any other free people near by would longer permit him 
to reside in their cities, he retired to Cumae in Campania and was received by 
Aristodemus, nicknamed the Effeminate,  who was at that time tyrant of the 
Cumaeans; and after living a few days there, he died and was buried by him.  Some of 
the exiles who had been with him remained at Cumae; and the rest, dispersing 
themselves to various other cities, ended their days on foreign soil. 

[6,22] After the Romans had put an end to the foreign wars, the civil strife sprang up 
again. For the senate ordered the courts of justice to sit and that all suits which they 
had postponed on account of the war should be decided according to the laws. The 
controversies arising over contracts resulted in great storms and terrible instances of 
outrageous and shameless behaviour, the plebeians, on the one hand, pretending they 
were unable to pay their debts, since their land had been laid waste during the long 
war, their cattle destroyed, the number of their slaves (p307) reduced by desertion and 
raids, and their fortunes in the city exhausted by their expenditures for the campaign, 
and the money-lenders, on the other hand, alleging that these misfortunes had been 
common to all and not confined to the debtors only, and regarding it as intolerable 
that they should lose, not only what they had been stripped of by the enemy in the 
war, but also what they had lent in time of peace to some of the citizens who asked for 
their assistance.   And as neither the money-lenders were willing to accept anything 
that was reasonable nor the debtors to do anything that was just, but the former 
refused to abate even the interest, and the latter to pay even the principal itself, those 
who were in the same plight were already gathering in knots and opposing parties 
faced one another in the Forum and sometimes actually came to blows, and the whole 
established order of the state was thrown into confusion.   Postumius, observing this, 
while he still retained the respect of all alike for having brought a severe war to an 
honourable conclusion, resolved to avoid the civil storms, and before he had 
completed the whole term of his sovereign magistracy he abdicated the dictatorship, 
and having fixed a day for the election, he, together with his fellow-consul, restored 
the traditional  magistrates. 

[6,23] The consuls who next took over the (p309) annual and legal magistracy were 
Appius Claudius Sabinus and Publius Servilius Priscus. They saw, rightly, that to 
render the highest service to the state they must divert the uproar in the city to 
foreign wars; and they were arranging that one of them should lead an expedition 
against the Volscian nation, with the purpose both of taking revenge on them for the 
aid they had sent to the Latins against the Romans and of forestalling their 
preparations, which as yet were not far advanced. For they too were reported to be 
enrolling an army with the greatest diligence and sending ambassadors to the 
neighbouring nations to invite them to enter into alliance with them, since they had 
learned that the plebeians were standing aloof from the patricians and thought that it 
would not be difficult to captured a city suffering from civil war.   The consuls, 
therefore, having resolved to lead an expedition against this people, and their 
resolution being approved of by the whole senate, they ordered all the men of military 
age to present themselves on the day they had appointed for making the levies of 
troops. But when the plebeians, though repeatedly summoned to take the military 
oath, would not obey the consuls, these were no longer both of the same mind, but 
beginning from this point, they were divided and continued to oppose one another 
during the whole time of their magistracy.   For Servilius thought they ought to take 
the milder course, thereby adhering to the opinion of Manius Valerius, the most 
democratic of the senators, who advised them to cure the cause of the sedition, 
preferably by decreeing an abolition or diminution of the debts, or, failing that, by 
forbidding (p311) for the time being the haling to prison of the debtors whose obligations 
were overdue, and advised them to encourage rather than compel the poor to take the 
military oath, and not to make the penalties against the disobedient severe and 
inexorable, but moderate and mild. For there was danger, he said, that men in want 
of the daily necessities of life, if compelled to serve at their own expense, might get 
together and adopt some desperate course. 

[6,24] But the opinion of Appius, the chief man among the leaders of the aristocracy, 
was harsh and arrogant. He advised that they should show no leniency toward the 
people in anything, but should even allow the money-lenders to enforce payment of 
the obligations upon the terms agreed upon, and should cause the courts of justice to 
sit, and that the consul who remained in the city should, in accordance with ancestral 
custom and usage,  exact the punishments ordained by law against those who 
declined military service, and that they ought to yield to the people in nothing that 
was not just nor aid them in establishing a pernicious power.   "Why, even now," he 
said, "they are pampered beyond all measure in consequence of having been relieved 
of the taxes they formerly paid to the kings and freed from the corporal punishments 
they received from them when they did not yield prompt obedience to any of their 
commands. But if they go further and attempt any disturbance or uprising, let us 
restrain them with the aid of the sober and sound element (p313) among the citizens, 
who will be found more numerous than the disaffected.   We have on hand for the 
task no slight strength in the patrician youth who are ready to obey our commands; 
but the great weapon of all, and one difficult to be resisted, with which we shall 
subdue the plebeians, is the power of the senate; with this let us overawe them, taking 
our stand on the side of the laws. But if we yield to their demand, in the first place, we 
shall incur disgrace by entrusting the government to the people when we have it in 
our power to live under an aristocracy; and secondly, we shall run no little danger of 
being deprived of our liberty again, in case some man inclined toward tyranny should 
win them over and acquire a power superior to the laws." The consuls disputing in 
this manner, both by themselves alone and whenever the senate was assembled, and 
many siding with each, that body, after listening to their altercations and clamour 
and the unseemly speeches with which they abused one another, would adjourn 
without coming to any salutary decision. 

[6,25] Much time being consumed in this wrangling, one of the consuls, Servilius (for it 
had fallen to his lot to conduct the campaign), having, by much entreating and 
courting of the populace, prevailed upon them to assist in the war, took the field with 
an army not raised by a compulsory levy but consisting of volunteers, as the times 
required. Meanwhile the Volscians were still employed in their preparations (p315) and 
neither expected that the Romans, divided into factions as they were and engaged in 
mutual animosities, would march against them with an army, nor thought they would 
come to close quarters with any who attacked them, but imagined that they 
themselves were at full liberty to begin the war whenever they thought fit.   But when 
they found themselves attacked and perceived that they must attack in turn, then at 
last the oldest among them, alarmed by the speed of the Romans, came out of their 
cities with olive branches and surrendered themselves to Servilius, to be treated as he 
should think fit for their offences. And he, taking from them provisions and clothing 
for his army and choosing out of the most prominent families three hundred men to 
serve as hostages, departed, assuming that the war was ended.   In reality, however, 
this was not an end of the war, but rather a postponement, as it were, and an 
opportunity for those who had been surprised by the unexpected invasion to make 
their preparations; and the Roman army was no sooner gone than the Volscians again 
turned their attention to war by fortifying their towns and reinforcing the garrisons of 
any other places that were suitable to afford them security. The Hernicans and the 
Sabines assisted them openly in their hazardous venture, and many others secretly; 
but the Latins, when ambassadors went to them to ask for their assistance, bound the 
men and carried them to Rome.   The senate, in return for the Latins' steadfast 
adherence to their alliance and still more for the eagerness they showed to take part 
in the war (for they were ready to assist (p317) them of their own accord), granted to 
them a favour they thought they desired above all things but were ashamed to ask for, 
which was to release without ransom the prisoners they head taken from them during 
the wars, the number of whom amounted to almost six thousand, and that the gift 
might, so far as possible, take on a lustre becoming to their kinship, they clothed 
them all with the apparel proper to free men. As to the Latins' offer of assistance, the 
senate told them they had no need of it, since the national forces of Rome were 
sufficient to punish those who revolted. After they had given this answer to the Latins 
they voted for the war against the Volscians. 

[6,26] While  the senate was still sitting and considering what forces were to be taken 
into the field, an elderly man appeared in the Forum, dressed in rags, with his beard 
and hair grown long, and crying out, he called upon the citizens for assistance. And 
when all who were near flocked to him, he placed himself where he could be clearly 
seen by many and said: "Having been born free, and having served in all the 
campaigns while I was of military age, and fought in twenty-eight battles and often 
been awarded prizes for valour in the wars; then, won't oppressive times came that 
were reducing the commonwealth to the last straits, having been forced to contract a 
debt to pay the contributions levied upon me; and finally, when my farm was raided 
by the (p319) enemy and my property in the city exhausted owing to the scarcity of 
provisions, having no means with which to discharge my debt, I was carried away as a 
slave by the money-lender, together with my two sons; and when my master ordered 
me to perform some difficult task and I protested against it, I was given a great many 
lashes with the whip."   With these words he threw off his rags and showed his breast 
covered with wounds and his back still bleeding from the stripes. This raising a 
general clamour and lamentation on the part of all present, the senate adjourned and 
throughout the entire city the poor were running about, each bewailing his own 
misfortunes and imploring the assistance of the neighbours. At the same time all who 
had been enslaved for their debts rushed out of the houses of the money-lenders with 
their hair grown long and most of them in chains and fetters; and none dared to lay 
hold on them, and if anyone so much as touched them, he was forcibly torn in pieces, 
  such was the madness possessing the people at that time, and presently the Forum 
was full of debtors who had broken loose from their chains. Appius, therefore, fearing 
to be attacked by the populace, since he had been the cause of the evils and all this 
trouble was believed to be due to him, fled from the Forum. But Servilius, throwing 
off his purple-bordered robe and casting himself in tears at the feet of each of the 
plebeians, with difficulty prevailed upon them to remain quiet that day, and to come 
back the next (p321) day, assuring them that the senate would take some care of their 
interests. Having said this, he ordered the herald to make proclamation that no 
money-lender should be permitted to hale any citizen to prison for a private debt till 
the senate should come to a decision concerning them, and that all present might go 
with impunity whithersoever they pleased. Thus he allayed the tumult. 

[6,27] Accordingly, they left the Forum for that time. But the next day there appeared, 
not only the inhabitants of the city, but also the plebeians from the neighbouring 
country districts and the Forum was crowded by break of day. The senate having been 
assembled to consider what was to be done about the situation, Appius proceeded to 
call his colleague a flatterer of the people and the leader of the poor in their madness, 
while Servilius called Appius harsh and arrogant and the cause of the present evils in 
the state; and there was no end to their wrangling.   In the meantime some horsemen 
of the Latins came riding full speed into the Forum announcing that the enemy had 
taken the field with a great army and were already upon their own borders. Such were 
the tidings they brought. Thereupon the patricians and the whole body of the knights, 
together with all who were wealthy or of distinguished ancestry, since they had a 
great deal at stake, armed themselves in all haste.   But the poor among them, and 
particularly such as were hard pressed by debt, neither took up arms nor offered any 
other assistance to the common cause, but were pleased and received the news of the 
foreign war as an answer to their (p323) prayers, believing that it would free them from 
their present evils. To those who besought them to lend their aid they showed their 
chains and fetters and asked them in derision whether it was worth their while to 
make war in order to preserve those blessings; and many even ventured to say that it 
was better for them to be slaves to the Volscians than to bear the abuses of the 
patricians. And the city was filled with wailing, tumult, and all sorts of womanish 
lamentations. 

[6,28] The senators, seeing these things, begged of the other consul, Servilius, who 
seemed in the present juncture to have greater credit with the multitude, to come to 
the aid of the country. And he, calling the people together in the Forum, showed them 
that the urgency of the moment no longer admitted of quarrels among the citizens, 
and he asked them for the time being to march against the enemy with united 
purpose and not to view with indifference the overthrow of their country, in which 
were the gods of their fathers and the sepulchres of each man's ancestors, both of 
which are most precious in the eyes of all men; he begged them to show respect for 
their parents, who would be unable because of age to defend themselves, to have pity 
on their wives, who would soon be forced to submit to dreadful and intolerable 
outrages, and especially to show compassion for their infant children, who, after 
being reared for very different expectations, would be exposed to pitiless insults and 
abuses.   And when by a common effort they had averted the present danger, 
(p325) then would be the time, he said, to consider in what manner they should make 
their government fair, impartial and salutary to all, one in which neither the poor 
would plot against the possessions of the rich nor the latter insult those in humbler 
circumstances — for such behaviour was anything but becoming to citizens — but in 
which not only the needy should receive some assistance from the state, but the 
money-lenders too, at least those who were suffering injustice, should receive 
moderate relief, and thus the greatest of human blessings and the preserver of 
harmony in all states, good faith in the observance of contracts, would not be 
destroyed totally and forever in Rome alone.   After saying this and everything else 
that the occasion required, he spoke finally in his own behalf, about the goodwill 
which he had ever shown toward the people, and asked them to serve with him in this 
expedition in return for his zeal in their behalf; for the oversight of the city had been 
entrusted to his colleague and the command in war conferred upon himself, these 
duties having been determined for them by lot. He said also that the senate had 
promised him to confirm whatever agreements he should make with the people, and 
that he had promised the senate to persuade the people not to betray their country to 
the enemy. 

[6,29] Having said this, he ordered the herald to make proclamation that no person 
should be permitted to seize, sell, or retain as pledges the houses of those Romans 
who should march out with him against (p327) the enemy, or hale their family to prison 
for any debt, and that none should hinder any one who desired from taking part in 
the campaign; but as for those who should fail to serve, the money-lenders should 
have the right to compel them to pay their debts according to the terms which they 
had each advanced their money. When the poor heard this, they straightway 
consented, and all showed great ardour for the war, some induced by hopes of booty 
and others out of gratitude to the general, but the greater part to escape from Appius 
and the abusive treatment to which those who stayed in the city would be exposed. 
 Servilius,  having taken command of the army, lost no time, but marched with great 
expedition, that he might engage the enemy before they could invade the Romans' 
territory. And finding them encamped in the Pomptine district, pillaging the country 
of the Latins because these had refused their request to assist them in the war, he 
encamped in the late afternoon near a hill distant about twenty stades from the 
enemy's camp. And in the night his army was attacked by the Volscians, who thought 
they were few in number, tired out, as was to be expected after a long march, and 
lacking in zeal by reason of the disturbances raised by the poor over their debts, 
which seemed then to be at their height.   Servilius defended himself in his camp as 
long as the night lasted, but as soon as it was day, and he learned that the enemy were 
employed in pillaging the country without observing any order, he ordered several 
small gates of the camp to be opened secretly, and at a single signal hurled (p329) his 
army against the foe. When this blow fell suddenly and unexpectedly upon the 
Volscians, some few of them stood their ground, and fighting close to their camp, 
were cut down; but the rest, fleeing precipitately and losing many of their 
companions, got back safely inside the camp, the greater part of them being wounded 
and having lost their arms.   When the Romans, following close upon their heels, 
surrounded their camp, they made only a short defence and then delivered up the 
camp, which was full of slaves, cattle, arms and all sorts of military stores. There were 
also many free men taken in it, some of them being Volscians themselves and others 
belonging to the nations which had assisted them; and along with these a great 
quantity of valuables, such as gold and silver, and apparel, as if the richest city had 
been taken. All of this Servilius permitted the soldiers to divide among themselves, 
that every man might share in the booty, and he ordered them to bring no part of it 
into the treasury. Then, having set fire to the camp, he marched with his army to 
Suessa Pometia, which lay close by. For not only because of its size and the number of 
its inhabitants, but also because of its fame and riches, it far surpassed any city in 
that region and was the leader, so to speak, of the nation.   Investing this place and 
calling off his army neither by day nor by night, in order that the enemy might not 
have a (p331) moment's rest either in taking sleep or in gaining a respite from fighting, 
he wore them down by famine, helplessness and lack of reinforcements, and captured 
them in a short time, putting to death all the inhabitants who had reached manhood. 
And having given permission to the soldiers to pillage the effects that were found 
there also, he marched against the rest of the enemy's cities, none of the Volscians 
being able any longer to oppose him. 

[6,30] When the Volscians had been thus humbled by the Romans, the other consul, 
Appius Claudius, caused their hostages, three hundred men in all, to be brought into 
the Forum, and to the end that those who had once given the Romans hostages for 
their fidelity might beware of violating their treaties, he ordered them to be scourged 
in the sight of all and then beheaded.   And when his colleague returned a few days 
afterwards from his expedition and demanded the triumph usually granted by the 
senate to generals who had fought a brilliant battle, he opposed it, calling him a 
stirrer up of sedition and a partisan of a vicious form of government, and he charged 
him particularly with having brought no part of the spoils of war back to the public 
treasury, but with having instead made a present of it all to whom he thought fit; and 
he prevailed upon the senate not to grant him the triumph. Servilius, however, 
looking upon himself as insulted by the senate, behaved with an arrogance unusual to 
the Romans. For having assembled the people in the (p333) field  before the city, he 
enumerated his achievements in the war, told them of the envy of his colleague and 
the contumelious treatment he had received from the senate, and declared that from 
his own deeds and from the army which had shared in the struggle he derived the 
authority to celebrate a triumph in honor of glorious and fortunate achievements. 
3 Having prescription thus, he ordered the rods to be crowned, and then, having 
crowned himself and wearing the triumphal garb, he led the procession into the city 
attended by all the people; and ascending the Capitol, he performed his vows and 
consecrated the spoils. By this action he incurred the hatred of the patricians still 
further, but won the plebeians to himself. 

[6,31] While  the commonwealth was in such an unsettled condition a kind of truce that 
intervened on account of the traditional sacrifices, and the ensuing festivals, which 
were celebrated at lavish expense, restrained the sedition of the populace for the 
moment. While they were engaged in these celebrations the Sabines invaded them 
with a large force, having long waited for this opportunity. They began their march as 
soon as night came on, in order that they might get close to the city before those 
inside should be aware of their coming; and they might easily have conquered them if 
some of their light-armed men had not straggled from their places in the line and by 
attacking farm-houses given the alarm.  For an outcry arose at once and the 
husbandmen rushed inside the walls before the (p335) enemy approached the gates. 
Those in the city, learning of the invasion while they were witnessing the public 
entertainments and wearing the customary garlands, left the games and ran to arms. 
And, a sufficient army of volunteers rallying in good season about Servilius, he drew 
them up and with them fell upon the enemy, who were exhausted both by want of 
sleep and by weariness and were not expecting the attack of the Romans.   When the 
armies closed, a battle ensued which lacked order and discipline because of the 
eagerness of both sides, but, as if guided by some chance, they clashed line against 
line, company against company, or man against man, and the horse and foot fought 
promiscuously. And reinforcements came to both sides, as their cities were not far 
apart; these, by encouraging such of their comrades as were hard pressed, caused 
them to sustain the hardships of the struggle for a long time. After that the Romans, 
when the horse came to their assistance, once more prevailed over the Sabines, and 
having killed many of them, returned to the city with a great number of prisoners. 
Then, seeking out the Sabines who had come to Rome under the pretence of seeing 
the entertainments, while actually intending to seize in advance the strong places of 
the city in order to help their countrymen in their attack, as had been concerted 
between them, they threw them into prison. And having voted that the sacrifices, 
which had been interrupted by the war, should be performed with double 
magnificence, they were again passing the time in merriment. 

[6,32] While they were celebrating these festivals, (p337) ambassadors came to them 
from the Auruncans, who inhabited the fairest plains of Campania. These, being 
introduced into the senate, demanded that the Romans should restore to them the 
country of the Volscians called Ecetrans,  which they had taken from them and 
divided in allotments among the colonists they had sent thither to guard that people, 
and that they should withdraw their garrison from there; if they refused to do so, they 
might expect the Auruncans to invade the territory of the Romans promptly to take 
revenge for the injuries they had done to their neighbours.   To these the Romans 
gave this answer: "Ambassadors, carry back the word to the Auruncans that we 
Romans think it right that whatever anyone possesses by having won it from the 
enemy through valour, he should leave to his posterity as being his own. And we are 
not afraid of war from the Auruncans, which will be neither the first nor the most 
formidable war we have been engaged in; indeed, it has always been our custom to 
fight with all men for the supremacy, and as we see that this will be a contest, as it 
were, of valour, we shall await it without trepidation."   After this the Auruncans, who 
had set out from their own territory with a large army, and the Romans, with their 
own forces under the command of Servilius, met near the city of Aricia, which is 
distant one hundred and twenty stades from Rome; and each of them encamped on 
hills strongly situated, not far from one another. After they had fortified their camps 
they advanced to the plain for battle; and engaging early in the morning, they 
maintained (p339) the fight till noon, so that many were killed on both sides. For the 
Auruncans were a warlike nation and by their stature, their strength, and the 
fierceness of their looks, in which there was much of brute savagery, the were 
exceeding formidable. 

[6,33] In this battle the Roman horse and their commander Aulus Postumius Albus, 
who had held the office of dictator the year before, are said to have proved the 
bravest. It seems that the place where the battle was fought was most unsuitable for 
the use of cavalry, having both rocky hills and deep ravines, so that the horse could be 
of no advantage to either side.   Postumius, ordering his followers to dismount, 
formed a compact body of six hundred men, and observing where the Roman battle-
line suffered most, being forced down hill, he engaged the enemy at those points and 
promptly crowded their ranks together. The barbariansº being once checked, courage 
came to the Romans and the foot emulated the horse; and both forming one compact 
column, they drove the right wing of the enemy back to the hill. Some pursued that 
part of them which fled towards their camp and killed many, while others attacked in 
the rear those who still maintained the fight.   And when they had put these also to 
flight, they followed them in their difficult and slow retreat to the hilly ground, 
cutting asunder the sinews of both their feet and knees with side blows of their 
swords, till they came to their (p341) camp. And having overpowered the guards there 
also, who were not numerous, they made themselves masters of the camp and 
plundered it. However, they found no great booty in it, but only arms, horses and 
other equipment for war. These were the achievements of Servilius and Appius 
during their consulship. 

[6,34] After this  Aulus Verginius Caelimontanus and Titus Veturius Geminus assumed 
the office of consul, when Themistocles was archon at Athens, in the two hundred and 
sixtieth year after the foundation of Rome and the year before the seventy-second 
Olympiad  (the one in which Tisicrates of Croton won the prize  for the second time). 
In their consulship the Sabines prepared to lead out against the Romans a larger 
army than before, and the Medullini, revolting from the Romans, swore to a treaty of 
alliance with the Sabines.   The patricians, learning of their intention, were preparing 
to take the field immediately with all their forces; but the plebeians refused to obey 
their orders, remembering with resentment their repeated breaking of the promises 
which they had made to them respecting the poor who required relief, - - - the votes 
that were being passed - - -. And assembling (p343) together a few at a time, they 
bound one another by oaths that they would no longer assist the patricians in any 
war, and that to every one of the poor who was oppressed they would render aid 
jointly against all whom they met. The conspiracy was evident on many other 
occasions, both in verbal skirmishes and physical encounters, but it became 
especially clear to the consuls when those summoned to military service failed to 
present themselves.   For whenever they  ordered anyone of the people to be seized, 
the poor assembled in a body and endeavoured to rescue the one who was being 
carried away, and when the consuls' lictors refused to release them, they beat them 
and drove them off; and if any either of the knights or patricians who were present 
attempted to put a stop to these proceedings, they did not refrain from beating them 
too. Thus, in a short time the city was full of disorder and tumult. And as the sedition 
increased in the city, the preparations of the enemy for overrunning their territory 
increased also. When the Volscians again formed a plan to revolt, and the Aequians, 
as they were called, - - - ambassadors came from all the peoples who were 
(p345) subject to the Romans asking them to send aid, since their territories lay in the 
path of the war. For example, the Latins said that the Aequians had made an 
incursion into their country and were laying waste their lands and had already 
plundered some of their cities; the garrison in Crustumerium declared that the 
Sabines were near that fortress and full of eagerness to besiege it; and others came 
with word of still other mischief which either had happened or was going to happen, 
and to ask for prompt assistance. Ambassadors from the Volscians also appeared 
before the senate, demanding, before they began war, that the lands taken from them 
by the Romans should be restored to them. 

[6,35] The senate having been assembled to consider this business, Titus Larcius, 
esteemed a man of superior dignity and consummate prudence, was first called upon 
by the consuls to deliver his opinion. And coming forward, he said: 
"To me, senators, the things which others regard as terrible and as requiring speedy 
relief appear neither terrible nor very urgent, I mean, how we are to assist our allies 
or in what manner repulse our enemies. Whereas the things which they look upon 
neither as the greatest of evils nor pressing at present, but continue to ignore as not 
likely to do us any injury, are the very things that appear most terrible to me; and if 
we do not soon put a stop to them, they will prove to be the causes of the utter 
overthrow and ruin of the commonwealth. I refer to the disobedience of the 
plebeians, who refuse to carry out the orders of the consuls, as well as to our own 
severity (p347) against this disobedient and independent spirit of theirs.   It is my 
opinion, therefore, that we ought to consider nothing else at present than by what 
means these evils are to be removed from the state and how all of us Romans with 
one mind are to prefer public to private considerations in the measures we pursue. 
For the power of the commonwealth when harmonious will be sufficient both to give 
security to our allies and to inspire fear in our enemies, but when discordant, as at 
present, it can effect neither. And I should be surprised if it did not even destroy itself 
and yield the victory to the enemy without any trouble. Yes, by Jupiter and all the 
other gods, I believe this will soon happen if you continue to pursue such measures. 

[6,36] "For we are living apart from one another, as you see, and inhabit two cities, one 
of which is ruled by poverty and necessity, and the other by satiety and insolence; but 
modesty, order and justice, by which alone any civil community is preserved, remain 
in neither of these cities. For this reason we already exact justice from one another by 
force and make superior strength the measure of that justice, like wild beasts 
choosing rather to destroy our enemy though we perish with him, than, by consulting 
our own safety, to be preserved together with our adversary.   I ask you to give much 
thought to this matter and to hold a session for this very purpose as soon as you have 
dismissed the embassies. As to the answers to be now given to them, this is the advice 
I have to offer. Since the (p349) Volscians demand restitution of what we are in 
possession of by right of arms, and threaten us with war if we refuse to restore it, let 
our answer be, that we Romans look upon those acquisitions to be the most honest 
and the most just which we have acquired in accordance with the law of war, and that 
we will not consent to destroy the fruits of our valour by an act of folly. Whereas, by 
restoring to those who lost them these possessions, which we ought to share with our 
children and which we shall strive to leave to their posterity, we shall be depriving 
ourselves of what is already ours and be treating ourselves as harshly as we would our 
enemies.   As to the Latins, let us commend their goodwill and dispel their fears by 
assuring them that we will not abandon them in any danger they may incur on our 
account, so long as they keep faith with us, but will shortly send a force sufficient to 
defend them. These answers, I believe, will be the best and the most just. After the 
embassies have departed, I say we ought to devote the first meeting of the senate to 
the consideration of the tumults in the city and that this meeting ought not to be long 
deferred, but appointed for the very next day." 

[6,37] When Larcius had delivered this opinion and it had received the approval of all, 
the embassies then received the answers that I have reported, and departed. The next 
day the consuls assembled the senate and proposed that it consider how the civil 
disorders might be corrected. Thereupon Publius Verginius, a man devoted to the 
people, being asked (p351) his opinion first, took the middle course and said: "Since the 
plebeians last year showed the greatest zeal for the struggles in behalf of the 
commonwealth, arraying themselves with us against the Volscians and Auruncans 
when they attacked us with a large army, I think that all who then assisted us and 
took their share in those wars ought to be let off, and that neither their persons nor 
their property ought to be in the power of the money-lenders; and that the same 
principle of justice ought to extend to their parents as far as their grandfathers, and to 
their posterity as far as their grandchildren; but that all the rest ought to be liable to 
imprisonment at the suit of the money-lenders upon the terms of their respective 
obligations."   After this Titus Larcius said: "My opinion, senators, is that to those 
who proved themselves good men in the wars, but all the rest of the people as well, 
should be released from their obligations; for only thus can we make the whole state 
harmonious." The third speaker was Appius Claudius, the consul of the preceding 
year, who came forward and said: 

[6,38] "Every time these matters have been up for debate, senators, I have always been 
of the same opinion, never to yield to the people any one of their demands that is not 
lawful and honourable, nor to lower the dignity of the commonwealth; nor do I even 
now change the opinion which I entertained from the beginning. For I should be the 
most foolish of all men, if last year, when I was consul and my colleague opposed me 
and stirred up the people against me, I resisted and adhered to my (p353) resolutions, 
undeterred by fear and yielding neither to entreaties nor to favour, only to demean 
myself now, when I am a private citizen, and to prove utterly false to the principle of 
free speech.   You may cal this independence of mind on my part nobility or 
arrogance, as each of you prefers; but, as long as I live, I will never propose an 
abolition of debts as a favour to wicked men, but will go so far as to resist with all the 
earnestness of which I am capable those who do propose it, reasoning as I do that 
every evil and corruption and, in a word, the overthrow of the state, begins with the 
abolition of debts.   And whether anyone shall think that what I say proceeds from 
prudence, or from a kind of madness (since I see fit to consider, not my own security, 
but that of the commonwealth), or from any other motive, I give him leave to think as 
he pleases; but to the very last I will oppose those who shall introduce measures that 
are not in accord with our ancestral traditions. And since the times require, not an 
abolition of debts, but relief on a large scale, I will state the only remedy for the 
sedition at the present time: choose speedily a dictator, who, subject to no accounting 
for the use he shall make of his authority, will force both the senate and the people to 
entertain such sentiments as are most advantageous to the commonwealth. For there 
will be of other deliverance from so great an evil." 

[6,39] This speech of Appius was received by the young senators with tumultuous 
applause, as proposing just the measures that were needed; but (p355) Servilius and 
some others of the older senators rose up to oppose it. They were defeated, however, 
by the younger men, who arrived for that very purpose and used much violence; and 
at last the motion of Appius carried.   After this, when most people expected that 
Appius would be appointed dictator as the only person who would be capable of 
quelling the sedition, the consuls, acting with one mind, excluded him and appointed 
Manius Valerius, a brother of Publius Valerius, the first man to be made consul, who, 
it was thought, would be most favourable to the people and moreover was an old 
man. For they thought the terror alone of the dictator's power was sufficient, and that 
the present situation required a person equitable in all respects, that he might 
occasion no fresh disturbances. 

[6,40] After Valerius had assumed office and had appointed Quintus Servilius, a 
brother of the Servilius who had been the colleague of Appius in the consulship, to be 
his Master of the Horse, he summoned the people to an assembly. And a great crowd 
coming together then for the first time since Servilius had resigned his magistracy 
and the people who were being forced into the service had been driven to open 
despair, he came forward to the tribunal and said: 
"Citizens, we are well aware that you are always pleased at being governed by any of 
the Valerian family, by whom you were freed are a harsh tyranny, and perhaps you 
would never expect to fail of obtaining anything that was reasonable when once you 
had entrusted yourselves to those who (p357) are regarded as being, and are, the most 
democratic of men.   So that you to whom my words will be addressed do not need to 
be informed that we shall confirm to the people the liberty which we bestowed upon 
them in the beginning, but you need only moderate encouragement to have 
confidence in us that we shall perform whatever we promise you. For I have attained 
to that maturity of age which is the least capable of trickiness, and have been 
sufficiently honoured with public office, which carries it a minimum of shiftiness; and 
I am not intending to pass the remainder of my life anywhere else but among you, 
where I shall be ready to stand trial for any deception you may think I have practised 
against you.  Of this, then, I shall speak no further, since, as I have said, no lengthy 
arguments are needed for those who are acquainted with the facts. But there is one 
thing which, having suffered from others, you seem with reason to suspect of all: you 
have ever observed that one or another of the consuls, when they want to engage you 
to march against the enemy, promises to obtain for you what you desire of the senate, 
but never carries out any of his promises. That you can have no just grounds for 
entertaining the same suspicions of me also, I can convince you chiefly by these two 
considerations: first, that the senate would never have made the mistake of 
employing me, who am regarded as the greatest friend of the people, for this service, 
when there are others better suited to it, and second, that they would not have 
honoured me with an absolute magistracy by which I shall be able to enact whatever 
I think best, even without their participation. 

[6,41] "For surely you do not imagine that I am (p359) joining in their deception knowingly 
and that I have concerted with them to do you some injury. For if it occurs to you to 
entertain these thoughts of me, do to me what you will, treating me as the most 
depraved of all men. Believe, then, what I say and banish this suspicion from your 
minds. Turn your anger from your friends to your enemies, who have come with the 
purpose of taking your city and making you slaves instead of free men, and are 
striving to inflict on you every other severity which mankind holds in the greatest 
fear, and are now said to be not far from your confines.   Withstand them, therefore, 
with alacrity and show them that the power of the Romans, though weakened by 
sedition, is superior to any other when harmonious; for either they will not sustain 
your united attack or they will suffer condign punishment for their boldness. Bear in 
mind that those who are making war against you are Volscians and Sabines, whom 
you have often overcome in battle, and that they have night larger bodies nor braver 
hearts now than their ancestors had, but have conceived a contempt for you because 
they thought you were at odds with one another. When you have taken revenge on 
your enemies, I myself pledge that the senate will reward you, both by composing 
these controversies concerning the debts and by granting everything else you can 
reasonably ask of them, in a (p361) manner adequate to the valour you shall show in the 
war.  In the mean time let every possession, every person, and every right of a 
Roman citizen be left secure are seizure for either debt or any other obligation. To 
those who shall fight zealously their most glorious crown will be that this city, which 
gave them birth, still stands intact, and glorious praise also from their fellow-soldiers 
will be theirs; and the rewards bestowed by us will be sufficient both to restore their 
fortunes by their value and to render their families illustrious by the honours 
bestowed. I desire also that my zeal in exposing myself to danger may be your 
example; for I will fight for my country as stoutly as the most robust among you." 

[6,42] While he was speaking, all the people listened with great pleasure, and believing 
that they were no longer to be imposed upon, promised their assistance in the war; 
and ten legions were raised, each consisting of four thousand men. Of these each of 
the consuls took three, and as many of the horse as belonged to the several legions; 
the other four, together with the rest of the horse, were commanded by the dictator. 
And having straightway got everything ready, they set out in haste, Titus Veturius 
against the Aequians, Aulus Verginius against the Volscians, and the dictator Valerius 
himself against the Sabines, while the city was guarded by Titus Larcius together with 
the older men and a small body of troops of military age.   The Volscian war was 
speedily decided. For these foes, looking upon themselves as much superior in 
number and (p363) recalling  the wrongs they had suffered, were driven to fight with 
greater hasten than prudence, and were the first to attack the Romans, which they did 
too impetuously, as soon as the latter had encamped within sight of them. There 
ensued a sharp battle, in which, though they performed many brave deeds, they 
nevertheless suffered greater losses and were put to flight; and their camp was taken, 
and a city of note, Velitrae by name, reduced by siege.  In like manner the pride of 
the Sabines was also humbled in a very short time, both nations having wished to win 
the war by a single pitched battle. After this their country was plundered and some 
small towns were captured, from which the soldiers took many persons and great 
store of goods. The Aequians, distrusting their own weakness and learning that the 
war waged by their allies was at an end, not only encamped in strong positions and 
would not come out to give battle, but also effected their retreat secretly, wherever 
they could, through mountains and woods, and thus dragged out and prolonged the 
war for some time; but they were not able to preserve their army unscathed to the 
last, since the Romans boldly fell upon them in their rugged fastnesses and took their 
camp by storm. Then followed the flight of the Aequians from the territory of the 
Latins and the surrender of the cities they had seized in their first invasion, as well as 
the captured of some of the men who in a spirit of rivalry had refused to abandon the 
citadels. 

[6,43] (p365) Valerius, having succeeded in this war according to his desire and celebrated 
the customary triumph in honour of his victory, discharged the people from the 
service, though the senate did not regard it as the proper time yet, fearing the poor 
might demand the fulfilment of their promises. After this he se out colonists to 
occupy the land they had taken from the Volscians, choosing them from among the 
poor; these would not only guard the conquered country but would also leave the 
seditious element in the city diminished in number.  Having made these 
arrangements,  he asked the senate to fulfil for him the promises they had made, now 
that they had received the hearty co-operation of the plebeians in the later 
engagements. However, the senate paid no regard to him, but, just as before the 
young and violent men, who were superior to the other party in number, had joined 
together to oppose his motion, so on this occasion also they opposed it and raised a 
great outcry against him, calling his family flatterers of the people and the authors of 
vicious laws, and charging that by the very measure on which the Valerii prided 
themselves most, the one concerning the function of the assembly as a court of 
justice, they had totally destroyed the (p367) power of the patricians. Valerius became 
very indignant at this, and after reproaching them with having exposed him to the 
unjust resentment of the people, he lamented the fate which would come upon them 
for taking such a course, as might be expected in such an unhappy situation, uttered 
some dire prophecies, inspired in part by the emotion he was then under and in part 
by his superior sagacity. Then he flung himself out of the senate chamber; and 
assembling the people, he said: 
"Citizens, feeling myself under great obligations to you both for the zeal you showed 
in giving me your voluntary assistance in the war, and still more for the bravery you 
displayed in the various engagements, I was very desirous of making a return to you, 
not only in other ways, by particularly by not breaking the promises I kept giving you 
in the name of the senate, and, as an adviser and umpire between the senate and you, 
by changing at last the discord that now exists between you into harmony. But I am 
prevented from accomplishing these things by those who prefer, not what is most 
advantageous to the commonwealth, but what is pleasing to themselves at the present 
moment, and who, being superior to all the rest both in number and in the power 
they derive from their youth rather than from the present situation, have prevailed. 
Whereas I, as you see, an old man, and so are all my associates, whose strength 
consists in counsel which they are incapable of carrying out in action; and what was 
regarded as our concern for the commonwealth has turned out to have the 
appearance of a private grudge against both sides. For I am censured by the senate 
for courting your faction and misrepresented to you as showing greater goodwill to 
them. 

[6,44] (p369) "If, now, the people, after being treated well, had failed to keep the promises 
made by me to the senate in their name, my defence to that body must have been that 
you had violated your word, but that there was no deceit on my part. But since it is 
the promises made to you by the senate that have not been fulfilled, I am now under 
the necessity of stating to the people that the treatment you have met with does not 
have my approval, but that both of us alike have been cheated and misled, and I more 
than you, inasmuch as I am wronged, not alone in being deceived in common with 
you all, but am also hurt in my own reputation. For I am accused of having turned 
over to the poor among you, without the consent of the senate, the spoils taken from 
the enemy, in the desire to gain a private advantage for myself, and of demanding 
that the property of the citizens be confiscated, though the senate forbade me to act in 
violation of the laws, and of having disbanded the armies in spite of the opposition of 
the senators, when I ought to have kept you in the enemy's country occupied in 
sleeping in the open and in endless marching.   I am also reproached in the matter of 
sending the colonists into the territory of the Volscians, on the ground that I did not 
bestow a large and fertile country upon the patricians or even upon the knights, but 
allotted it to the poor among you. But the thing in particular which has occasioned 
the greatest indignation against me is that, in raising the army, more than four 
hundred well-to-do plebeians were added to the knights.   If, now, I had been thus 
treated when I was in the vigour of my youth, I should have made it clear to my 
enemies by my deeds what kind of man they had (p371) abused; but as I am now above 
seventy years old and no longer capable of defending myself, and since I perceive that 
your discord can no longer be allayed by me, I am laying down my office and putting 
myself in the hands of any who may desire it in the belief that they have been 
deceived by me in any respect, to be treated in such manner as they shall think fit." 

[6,45] With these words Valerius aroused the sympathy of all the plebeians, who 
accompanied him when he left the Forum; but he increased the resentment of the 
senate against him. And immediately afterwards the following events happened: The 
poor, no longer meeting secretly and by night, as before, but openly now, were 
planning a secession from the patricians; and the senate, with the purpose of 
preventing this, ordered the consuls not to disband the armies as yet. For each consul 
still had command of his three legions, which were restrained by their military oaths, 
and none of the soldiers cared to desert their standards, so far did the fear of violating 
their oaths prevail with all of them. The pretext contrived for leading out the forces 
was that the Aequians and Sabines had joined together to make war upon the 
Romans.  After the consuls had marched out of the city with their forces and pitched 
their camps near one another, the soldiers all assembled together, having in their 
possession both the arms and the standards, and at the instigation of one Sicinius 
Bellutus they seized the standards and revolted from the consuls (these standards are 
held in the greatest honour by the Romans on a campaign (p373) and like statues of the 
gods are accounted holy); and having appointed different centurions and made 
Sicinius their leader in all matters, they occupied a certain mount situated near the 
river Anio, not far from Rome, which from that circumstance is still called the Sacred 
Mount.   And when the consuls and the centurions called upon them to return, 
mingling entreaties and lamentations, and making many promises, Sicinius replied: 
"With what purpose, patricians, do you now recall those whom you have driven from 
their country and transformed from free men into slaves? What assurances will you 
give us for the performance of those promises which you are convicted of having often 
broken already? But since you desire to have sole possession of the city, return thither 
undisturbed by the poor and humble. As for us, we shall be content to regard as our 
country any land, whatever it be, in which we may enjoy our liberty." 

[6,46] When these things were reported to those in the city, there was great tumult and 
lamentation and running through the streets, as the populace prepared to leave the 
city and the patricians endeavoured to dissuade them and offered violence to those 
who refused to obey. And there was great clamour and wailing at the gates, and 
hostile words were exchanged and hostile acts committed, as no one paid heed any 
longer to either age, comradeship, or the respect due to virtue.  When those 
appointed by the senate to guard the exits, being few in number and unable any 
longer to resist them, were forced by the people to desert their post, then at last the 
(p375) populace rushed out in great multitudes and the commotion resembled the 
capture of a city; there were the lamentations of those who remained behind and their 
mutual recriminations as they saw the city being deserted. After this there were 
frequent meetings of the senate and accusations against those who were responsible 
for the secession. At the same time the enemy nations also attacked them, plundering 
their territory up to the very city. However, the seceders, taking the necessary 
provisions from the fields that lay near them, without doing any other mischief to the 
country, remained in the open and received such as resorted to them from city and 
the fortresses round about, who were already coming to them in great numbers.   not 
only those who were desirous of escaping their debts and the sentences and 
punishments they expected, flocked to them, but many others also who led lazy or 
dissolute lives, or whose fortunes were not sufficient to gratify their desires, or who 
were devoted to vicious practices, or were envious of the prosperity of others, or 
because of some other misfortune or reason were hostile to the established 
government. 

[6,47] At first great confusion and consternation fell upon the patricians, who feared 
that the seceders would at once come against the city together with the foreign 
enemies. Then, as if at a single signal, snatching up arms and attended each by his 
own clients, some went to defend the roads by which they expected the enemy would 
approach, others marched out to the fortresses in order to secure them, while still 
others encamped on the plains before the city; (p377) and those who by reason of age 
were unable to anything of the kind took their places upon the walls.   But when they 
heard that the seceders were neither joining the enemy, laying waste the country, nor 
doing any other mischief worth speaking of, they gave up their fear, and changing 
their minds, proceeded to consider upon what terms they might come to an 
agreement with them. And speeches of every kind, directly opposed to one another, 
were made by the leading men of the se; but the most moderate speeches and those 
most suitable to the existing situation were delivered by the oldest senators, who 
showed that the people had not made this secession from them with any malicious 
intent, but partly compelled by irresistible calamities and partly deluded by their 
advises, and judging of their interest by passion rather than reason, as is wont to 
happen with an ignorant populace; and furthermore, that the greater part of them 
were conscious of having been ill advised and were seeking an opportunity of 
redeeming their offences if they could find plausible excuses for doing so. At any rate 
their actions were those of men who had already repented, and if they should be given 
good hope for the future by a vote of the senate granting them impunity and offering 
an honourable accommodation, they would cheerfully take back what was their own. 
In urging this course they demanded that men of superior worth should not be more 
implacable than their inferiors, nor defer an accommodation till the senseless crowd 
should be either brought to their (p379) senses by necessity or induced by it to cure a 
smaller evil by a greater, in depriving themselves of liberty as the result of delivering 
up their arms and surrendering their persons at discretion; for these things were next 
to impossible. But by treating the people with moderation they ought to set the 
example of salutary counsels, and to anticipate the others in proposing an 
accommodation, bearing in mind that while governing and administering the state 
was the duty of the patricians, the promoting of friendship and peace was the part of 
good men.  They declared that the prestige of the senate would be most diminished, 
not by a policy of administering the government safely while bearing nobly the 
calamities that were unavoidable, but by a policy whereby, in showing resentment 
toward the vicissitudes of fortune, they would overthrow the commonwealth. It was 
the part of folly, while aiming at appearances, to neglect security; it was desirable of 
course, to obtain both, but if one must do without either, safety ought to be regarded 
as more necessary than appearances. The final proposal of those who gave these 
advice was that ambassadors should be sent to the seceders to treat of peace, since 
they had been guilty of no irreparable mischief. 

[6,48] This met with the approval of the senate. Thereupon they chose the most 
suitable persons and sent them to the people in the camp with orders to inquire of 
them what they desired and upon what terms they would consent to return to the 
city; for if any of their demands were moderate and possible to be complied with, the 
senate would not oppose them. If, therefore, they would now lay down their (p381) arms 
and return to the city they would be granted impunity for their past offences and 
amnesty for the future; and if they showed the best will for the commonwealth and 
cheerfully exposed themselves to danger in the service of their country, they would 
receive honourable and advantageous returns. The ambassadors, having received 
these instructions, communicated them to the people in the camp and spoke in 
conformity to them. But the seceders, rejecting these invitations, reproached the 
patricians with haughtiness, severity, and great dissimulation in pretending, on the 
one hand, to be ignorant of the demands of the people and of the reasons which had 
compelled them to secede from them, and, again, in granting them impunity from all 
prosecution for their secession, just as if they were still masters of the situation, 
though themselves standing in need of the assistance of their fellow-citizens against 
their foreign enemies, who would soon come with all their forces — enemies who 
could not be withstood by men who looked upon their preservation as not so much 
their own advantage as the good fortune of those who should assist them. They ended 
with the statement that when the patricians themselves understood better the 
difficulties that beset the commonwealth, they would know what kind of adversaries 
they had to deal with; and they added many violent threats.  To all of which the 
ambassadors made no further answer, but departed and informed the patricians of 
the representations made by the seceders. When those in the city received this 
answer, they were in much more serious confusion and fear than before; (p383) and 
neither the senate was able to find a solution of the difficulties or any means of 
postponing them, but, after listening to the taunts and accusations which the leading 
men directed at one another, adjourned day after day; nor were the plebeians who 
still remained in the city, constrained by their goodwill toward the patricians or their 
affection for their country, of the same mind as before, but a large part even of these 
were trickling away both openly and secretly, and it seemed that no reliance could be 
placed upon those who were left. In this state of affairs the consuls — for the period 
that still remained of their magistracy was short — appointed a day for the election of 
magistrates. 

[6,49] When the time came for them to assemble in the field to elect their 
magistrates, and no one either sought the consulship or would consent to accept it if 
offered, the people themselves chose two consuls from among those who had already 
held this magistracy and who were acceptable to both the people and the aristocracy, 
namely Postumus Cominius and Spurius Cassius, Cassius being the one through 
whose efforts the Sabines had been conquered and had resigned their claims to the 
leadership. This was in the seventy-second Olympiad, the year in which Tisicrates of 
Croton won the short-distance foot-race, Diognetus being then archon at Athens. 
 Upon assuming office on the calends of September, earlier than had been customary 
with the former consuls, they convened the senate before attending to any other 
business and asked for an expression of (p5) its opinion concerning the return of the 
plebeians. The first senator they called upon to declare his views was a man, then in 
the maturity of his age, who was looked upon as a person of superior wisdom and was 
particularly commended for his political principles, since he pursued a middle course, 
being inclined and to increase the arrogance of the aristocratic party nor to permit the 
people to have their own way in everything — namely Agrippa Menenius. It was he 
who now urged the senate to an accommodation, speaking as follows: 
"If all who are present, senators, chanced to be of the same opinion, and no one 
were going to oppose the accommodation with the people, but only the terms of it, be 
these just or unjust, on which we are to be reconciled with them were before you for 
consideration, I could have expressed my thoughts to you in few words. But since 
some consider that even this very point should be a matter for further consultation, 
whether it is better for us to come to an agreement with the seceders or go to war with 
them, I do not think it easy for me in a brief exposition of my views to advise you 
what ought to be done. On the contrary, a speech of some length is necessary, in 
order to show those among you who are opposed to the accommodation that they 
contradict themselves if, while intending to frighten you by playing on your far of 
those difficulties that are the most trivial and easily corrected, they at the same time 
neglect to consider the evils that are greatest and incurable. And they have fallen 
(p7) into this predicament for no other reason than that in judging what is expedient 
they do not use reason but rather passion and frenzy. For how can these men be said 
to foresee in their minds any course that is profitable or possible, when they imagine 
that a state so powerful and mistress of so extensive a dominion, a state that is 
calendar becoming an object of hatred, and a cause of offence to her neighbours, will 
easily be able either without the plebeians to hold and preserve the subject nations or 
else to bring some other people into the commonwealth, a better people in place of 
one most knavish, who will fight to preserve their supremacy for them and will live 
with them under the same government in profound quiet, behaving themselves with 
self-restraint in both peace and war? For there is no other possibility they could name 
that would justify their asking you not to accept the accommodation. 

[6,50] "How utterly silly either of those two expedients is, I would have you consider 
from the facts themselves, bearing in mind that since the humbler citizens grew 
disaffected toward you because of those who treated their misfortunes as neither 
fellow-citizens nor men of self-restraint should, and withdrew, indeed, from the city, 
yet neither are doing to you, nor have any thought of doing, any other mischief, but 
are considering only by what means they may be reconciled to you without 
dishonour, many of those who are not well disposed toward you, joyfully seizing upon 
this incident presented to them by Fortune, have become elated in their minds and 
look upon this as the long-desired opportunity for breaking up your empire.  Thus, 
the Aequians and Volscians, the Sabines and (p9) Hernicans, who in any case have 
missed no opportunity to make war against us, being now exasperated also at their 
late defeats, are plundering our fields. As to the parts of Campania and Tyrrhenia 
which have continued to be doubtful in their allegiance to us, some of them are 
openly revolting and others are secretly preparing to do the same. Not even the 
kindred race of Latins, as it seems, longer remains steadfastly loyal to us, though it 
entered into relations of confidence with us, but a large part even of this people is 
reported to be disaffected, succumbing to the passion for change which all men crave. 
And we who used to besiege the cities of others now ourselves sit at home, pent 
within our walls, having left our lands unsown and seeing our farm-houses 
plundered, our cattle driven off as booty, and our slaves deserting, without knowing 
how to deal with these misfortunes. while we suffer all this, do we still hope that the 
plebeians will become reconciled to us, even though we know that it is in our own 
power to put an end to the sedition by a single decree? 

[6,51] "While our affairs in the open country are in this unhappy state, the situation 
within the walls is no less terrible. For we have neither provided ourselves with allies 
well in advance, as if we expected to be besieged, nor are we, unaided, sufficiently 
numerous to resist so many hostile nations; and even of this small and inadequate 
army the greater part consists of plebeians — labourers, clients, and artisans — not 
altogether trustworthy guardians for a tottering (p11) aristocracy. Moreover, the 
continual desertion of these now to the seceders has rendered all the rest liable to 
suspicion.  But more than all these things, the impossibility of bringing in provisions 
while the country is in the power of the enemy already terrifies us, and when we are 
once in actual want, will terrify us still more; and, apart from this, the war allows not 
a moment's peace of mind. Yet surpassing all these calamities are the wretched wives, 
the infant children, and aged parents of the seceders wandering to and fro in the 
Forum and through every street, in pitiful garb and postures of mourning, weeping, 
supplicating, clinging to the hands and knees of everyone and bewailing the forlorn 
condition that afflicts them now and will according to them even more — a dreadful 
and intolerable sight! No one, surely, is of so cruel a nature as not to have his heart 
touched at seeing these things, or to feel some sympathy for the misfortunes of his 
fellow-creatures. So that, if we are not going to trust the good faith of the plebeians, 
we shall have to get rid of these persons also, since some of them will be of no use 
while we are under siege and the others cannot be relied on to remain friendly. But 
when these too are driven away, what forces will be left to defend the city? And 
depending upon what assistance shall we dare to encounter these perils? Yet as for 
our natural refuge and our only trustworthy hope, the patrician youth, they are few, 
as you see, and it behooves us not to let our spirits rise because of them. Why, then, 
do (p13) those who propose that we submit to war indulge in nonsense and deceive us, 
instead of openly advising us to deliver up the city at once to our enemies without 
bloodshed and without trouble? 

[6,52] "But perhaps I myself am infatuated when I speak thus, and am asking you to 
fear things that are not formidable. The commonwealth is very likely threatened with 
no other danger as yet than a change of inhabitants, a matter of no serious 
consequence; and it would be very easy for us to receive into the body politic a 
multitude of labourers and clients from every nation and place. For this is the plan 
which many of the opponents of the plebeians keep prating of, and these by no means 
the most unimportant of them; to such a pitch of folly, indeed, have some already 
come, that instead of expressing salutary opinions they utter wishes impossible of 
realization. But I should like to ask these men: What superabundance of time will be 
afforded us to carry out these plans when the enemy is so near the city? What 
allowance will be made for the tarrying and delay of our auxiliaries who are to come, 
though we are in the midst of perils that do not tarry or delay? What man or what god 
will grant us security and will without molestation get together reinforcements from 
every quarter and conduct them hither? Besides, who are the people who will leave 
their own countries and remove to us? Are they such as have habitations, families, 
fortunes, and the respect of their fellow-citizens because of the distinction of their 
ancestors or a reputation for their own merit? And yet who would consent to leave 
behind his own (p15) blessings in order to share ignominiously the misfortunes of 
others? For they will come hither to share, not in peace and luxury, but in dangers 
and war, the successful issue of which cannot be foreseen. Or shall we bring in a 
multitude of homeless plebeians, like those driven from hence, who because of debts, 
judgments, and other like misfortunes will gladly remove to any place that may offer? 
But these, even though otherwise of a good and modest disposition — to concede 
them this much — yet just because of their being neither native born nor of like habits 
with us, and because they will not be acquainted with our customs, laws, and training, 
would no doubt be far, nay infinitely, worse than our own plebeians. 

[6,53] "The natives have here their wives, children, parents, and many others that are 
dear to them, to serve as pledges; yes, and there is their fondness for the soil that 
reared them, a passion that is implanted in all men and not to be eradicated; but as 
for this multitude which we propose to invite here, this people without roof or home, 
if they should take up their abode with us having none of these pledges here, in 
defence of what blessing would they care to face dangers, unless one were to promise 
to give them portions land and some part or other of the city, after first dispossessing 
the present owners — things we refuse to grant to our own citizens who have often 
fought in their defence? And possibly they might not be content with even these 
grants alone, but would also insist upon an equal share of honours, of magistracies, 
and of all the (p17) other advantages with the patricians. If, therefore, we do not grant 
them every one of their demands, shall we not have them as our enemies when they 
fail to obtain what they ask? And if we grant their demands, our country and our 
constitution will be lost, destroyed by our own hands. I do not add here that what we 
need at the present time is men trained to war, men of disciplined bodies; not 
husbandmen, labourers, merchants, or followers of menial trades, who will be obliged 
to learn military discipline and to give proof of their skill at one and the same time 
(and skill in any unwonted activity is difficult), such as a promiscuous collection of 
men resorting hither from every nation is bound to be. As for a military alliance, 
I neither see any formed to assist us, nor, if any allies unexpectedly appeared, 
should I advise you to admit them inconsiderately within your walls, since I know 
that many a city has been enslaved by troops introduced to garrison it. 

[6,54] "When you consider these things as well as those that I have mentioned earlier, 
and recall, further, the considerations which encourage you to make the 
accommodation, namely, that we are not the only people, nor the first, among whom 
poverty has raised sedition against wealth, and lowliness against eminence, but that 
in nearly all states, both great and small, the lower class is generally hostile to the 
upper (and in all these states the men in power, when they have shown moderation, 
have saved their countries, but when they have acted arrogantly, have lost not only 
their goods, but their lives as well);  and when you remember that everything that 
(p19) is composed of many parts is generally affected with a disorder in some one of 
them, and, furthermore, that neither the ailing part of a human body ought always to 
be lopped off (for that would be to render the appearance of the rest ugly and its term 
of life brief) nor the disordered part of a civil community to be driven out (since that 
would be the quickest way of destroying the whole in time through the loss of its 
separate parts); and when you consider also how great is the power of necessity, the 
one thing to which even the gods yield, be not vexed at your misfortunes nor allow 
yourselves to be filled with arrogance and folly, as if everything were going to succeed 
according to our wishes, but relent and yield, deriving examples of prudence, not 
from the actions of others, but from our own. 

[6,55] "For the individual man and the state as a whole ought to emulate the most 
illustrious of their own actions and to consider how all their any other actions may 
correspond with these. Thus you yourselves, when in times past you subdued many of 
your enemies at whose hands you had suffered the greatest injuries, desired neither 
to destroy them nor to dispossess them of what was theirs, but restored their houses 
and lands to them and permitted them to live in the countries that had given them 
birth, and actually granted to some of them the privilege both of being your fellow-
citizens and of exercising equal rights of suffrage.  But I have yet a more wonderful 
act of yours to relate, which is, that you have permitted many even of your own 
fellow-citizens who commit grievous offences against you to go unpunished, while 
you have visited your resentment solely upon those who were (p21) guilty. Of this 
number were the colonies sent out to Antemnae, Crustumerium, Medullia, Fidenae, 
and to many other places. But why should I now enumerate all those whom, after you 
had taken their towns by storm, you admonished mildly and as became fellow-
citizens? And so far has the commonwealth been from incurring either danger or 
censure from this course, that your clemency is applauded and at the same time your 
security is not at all diminished. After that will you, who spare your enemies, make 
war upon your friends? Will you, who permit the conquered to go unpunished, 
punish those who aided you in acquiring your dominion? Will you, who offer your 
own city as a safe refuge for all who stand in need of it, bring yourselves to drive out 
of that city the natives with whom you have been reared and educated and with whom 
you have shared many experiences both evil and good in peace as well as in war? No, 
not if you desire to act with justice and in conformity with your traditions, and if 
without passion you judge what is to your interest. 

[6,56] "But, someone may say, we know as well as you that the sedition ought to be 
appeased, and we have laboured earnestly to that end. Undertake not to tell us how 
we may appease it. For you see how headstrong the people are grown: though they 
themselves are the offenders, they neither send to us to treat of an accommodation 
nor give to the men we have sent to them answers that are those of fellow-citizens or 
considerate, but indulge in haughtiness and threats, so that it is not easy to guess 
what they want. Hear, then, in what manner I advise you to act now in this situation. 
For my part, I do not believe either that the people are irreconcilable (p23) toward us 
or that they will carry out any of their threats. My reason is that their actions do not 
agree with their words, and I judge that they are far more in earnest than we about 
the accommodation. For while we continue to live in our own country, which is most 
dear to us, and have in our own power our fortunes, our houses, our families, and 
everything that means most to us, they are without country or habitation, are bereft 
of their dearest relations, and lack for their daily bread. If anyone should ask me for 
what reason, then, the people even under these miseries do not accept our invitations 
and why they do not on their own initiative send to treat with us, I should answer: 
Because, most assuredly, they thus far hear words from the senate, but see no act of 
kindness or moderation follow the words; and the feel that they have been often 
deceived by us, in that we are always promising to take some measures of relief for 
them, but taking none. They are unwilling to send envoys to us because of those who 
are accustomed to inveigh against them here and because they fear they may fail of 
some of their demands. Perhaps too they may be possessed by some feeling of 
senseless rivalry. And no wonder; since there are some even among us ourselves in 
whom this quarrelsome and contentious spirit resides, both in private and in public 
matters, men who cannot bear to be overcome by their adversaries, but are always 
seeking by any means whatever to get the better of them and never to confer a favour 
before they have subdued those who are to have the benefit of it. In view of these 
considerations (p25) I think an embassy should be sent to the plebeians consisting of 
persons in whom they have the greatest confidence; and I advise that those to be sent 
be invested with full power to put an end to the sedition upon such terms as they 
themselves shall think fit, without again referring anything to the senate. For if the 
plebeians, who now seem to be scornful and sullen, shall become aware of this, 
learning that you are in earnest regarding the accommodation, they will condescend 
to more moderate condition stone will demand nothing of us that is either 
dishonourable or impossible. For all men, when inflamed with anger, particularly 
those of humble condition, are wont to be enraged against those who treat them 
haughtily, but to be mild toward those who court their favour." 

[6,57] When Menenius had thus spoken, a great murmuring broke out in the senate and 
the members consulted together, each with their own groups. Those who were 
favourably disposed toward the plebeians exhorted one another to devote every 
energy toward bringing the people back to their country, now that they had got as the 
champion of their present view the most distinguished man of the aristocratic party. 
The aristocrats, in turn, who above everything wished no change to be made in the 
traditional form of government, were at a loss how to act in the present juncture, 
being unwilling to change their principles and yet unable to persist in their 
resolutions. And those, again, who were neutral and sided with neither of the parties 
in their (p27) strife, desired to see peace prevail and demanded that the senate should 
consider means to prevent the city from being besieged. When silence reigned, the 
elder of the consuls praised Menenius for his magnanimity and asked the rest to show 
themselves equally loyal defenders of the state, not only by expressing their opinions 
frankness, but also by carrying out their resolutions without fear; and then he called 
upon a second senator by name in the same manner to deliver his opinion. This was 
Manius Valerius, a brother of the Valerius who had assisted in delivering his country 
from the kings, a man acceptable to the people beyond any other member of the 
aristocratic party. 

[6,58] He, rising up, first called the attention of the senate to the policies he himself had 
pursued and reminded them that, though he had often foretold the dangers they 
would incur, they had made light of his predictions. He then requested that those who 
opposed the accommodation should not at this time inquire into the reasonableness 
of the terms, but, since they had been unwilling to allow the sedition to be appeased 
while the disputes in the state were still unimportant, that they would now at least 
consider by what means it might be speedily terminated and might not, by going on 
still further, insensibly become perhaps incurable, or in any case hard to be cured, 
and the cause of great evils to them. He told them that the demands of the plebeians 
would no longer be the same as before, and he did not imagine that the people would 
enter into a compact upon the same terms, asking merely for an abolition of their 
debts, but that they would possibly call for some assistance also, by which they might 
(p29) for the future live in safety. For since the institution of the dictatorship, he said, 
the law that safeguarded their liberty had been abolished, the law which allowed no 
citizen to be put to death by the consuls without a trial, nor any of the plebeians who 
had been tried and condemned by the patricians, to be delivered up to those who had 
condemned them, but granted to those who desired it the right of appealing the 
decisions from the patricians to the people, and that the judgment of the people 
should be final. He added that almost all the other privileges enjoyed in former times 
by the plebeians had been taken away, since they had been unable to obtain from the 
senate even the usual military triumph for Publius Servilius Priscus, who had 
deserved this honour more than any other man. At this, he said, most of the people 
were distressed, as was to be expected, and entertained slender hopes of their 
security, since neither a consul nor a dictator had been able, even when they wished, 
to take care of their interests, but the zeal and care they showed for the people had 
actually gained for some of them abuse and ignominy. He declared that these things 
had been brought about by plotting, not on the part of the more cultivated men 
among the patricians, but on the part of some insolent and avaricious men 
desperately eager for unjust gain, who, having advanced a large amount of money at a 
high rate of interest and made slaves of many of their fellow-citizens, had, by treating 
these with cruel and arrogant harshness, alienated the whole (p31) body of the plebeians 
from the aristocracy, and having formed a faction and place at the head of it Appius 
Claudius, an enemy of the people and a champion of oligarchy, were through him 
throwing all the affairs of the commonwealth into confusion; and he declared that if 
the sober part of the senate did not oppose these men, the state was in danger of 
being enslaved and destroyed. He ended by saying that he concurred in the opinion of 
Menenius, and asked that the envoys might be sent immediately, and that upon 
arriving they should endeavour to appease the sedition upon such terms as they 
desired, but if these were not granted, they should accept such as were offered. 

[6,59] After him, Appius Claudius, who was leader of the faction that opposed the 
people, being called upon to express his opinion, rose up, a man who set a great value 
upon himself and not without just cause; for his private life was sober and dignified, 
while his political principles were noble and calculated to preserve the dignity of the 
aristocracy. He, taking as his starting point the speech of Valerius, spoke as follows: 
"Valerius would have deserved less censure if he had merely expressed his own 
opinion, without inveighing against those who hold the opposite view, for in that case 
he would have had the advantage of not hearing an exposition of his own faults. 
However, since he has not been content with advising such a course as can end in 
nothing else than in making us slaves to the worst of the citizens, but has also 
attacked his opponents and had levelled some of (p33) his shafts at me, I find it quite 
necessary for me also to speak of these matters, and first to clear myself of the 
charges he has brought against me. For has reproached me with conduct neither 
seemly nor becoming to a citizen, charging that I have chosen to get money by every 
possible means and have deprived many of the poor of their liberty, and that the 
secession of the people took place chiefly because of me. Now it is an easy matter for 
you to learn that none of these allegations is true or well grounded. For come, tell 
us, Valerius: Who are the people whom I have enslaved on account of their debts? 
Who are the citizens I have kept, or now keep, in prison? Which of the seceders is 
deprived of his country through my cruelty or avarice? Why, you can name none. For 
I am so far from having enslaved any one of the citizens for debt that, after advancing 
my own money to very great numbers, I have caused none of those who defrauded me 
to be either handed over  to me or disfranchised, but all of them are free and all are 
grateful to me and are numbered among my closest friends and clients. I do not say 
this by way of accusing those who have not acted as I have, nor do I think any men 
guilty of wrong-doing because they have done what was permitted by law; I am 
merely attempting to clear myself of the accusations brought against me. 

[6,60] "As to my severity and my having acted as the patron of wicked men, with which 
he has reproached me, calling me an enemy of the people and a champion of 
oligarchy because I adhere to the (p35) aristocracy, these accusations apply equally to all 
those among you who, as men of superior worth, think it beneath you to be governed 
by your inferiors or to allow the form of government you have inherited from your 
ancestors to be overthrown by the worst of all constitutions, a democracy. For if this 
man sees fit to call the government of the best men an oligarchy, it does not therefore 
follow that the thing itself, because it is traduced by that appellation, will be 
destroyed. But we can bring a much juster and truer reproach against him, that of 
flattering the people and desiring tyrannical measures; for all the world knows that 
every tyrant springs from a flatterer of the people and that the direct road for those 
who wish to enslave their country is that which leads to domination through the 
favour of the worst citizens — the very ones whom this man has ever courted and 
does not cease even to this day to court. For you know full well that these vile and 
low wretches would not have dared to commit such offences, had they not been urged 
on by this high and mighty man, this lover of his country, and made to believe that 
the act would be attended with no danger and that not only would they go 
unpunished, but their lot would even be improved by it. You will be convinced of the 
truth of what I say if you will recall that, while he was frightening you with a war and 
showing the necessity of an accommodation, he we are told you at the same time also 
that the poor would not be contented with an abolition of their debts, but would also 
call for some assistance, and would (p37) no longer submit to be governed by you as 
before. And in closing he exhorted you to acquiesce in the present state of affairs and 
to grant everything the people should think fit to demand as the conditions of their 
return, without distinguishing whether those demands were honourable or shameful, 
just or unjust. With so much arrogance has the senseless multitude been inspired by 
this old man who has enjoyed every honour you could confer upon him. Did it, then, 
become you, Valerius, to utter against others the reproaches they have not deserved, 
when you yourself lie open to such accusations? 

[6,61] "As for the calamities which this man has uttered against me, what I have said 
suffices. But concerning the subject which you have met to discuss, it seems to me 
that what I not only proposed at first, but even now, continuing of the same opinion, 
still propose, was just, worthy of the commonwealth, and advantageous for 
yourselves, namely, not to disturb the form of our government nor to alter the 
unalterable customs of our ancestors, nor to banish from among men good faith, a 
sacred thing, through the possession of which every state dwells in security, nor to 
give way to a stupid populace which desires unjust and unlawful things.   And not 
only do I not retract any part of my opinion through fear of my adversaries, who 
endeavour to frighten me by rousing the plebeians in the city against me, but I am 
much more than ever confirmed in my resentment, and my indignation at the 
demands of the people is doubled. And I am surprised, senators, at the inconsistency 
of your judgment, in that, after refusing to grant to the people at their request an 
abolition of their debts and a discharge from the (p39) judgments against them before 
they were as yet openly your enemies, you now, when they are in arms and are 
committing acts of hostility, deliberate whether you will grant these demands and 
anything else they may think fit. They will think fit, of course, and will make it the 
first of their demands to have an equal share of honours with us and to enjoy the 
same privileges.  Will not the government then be transformed into a democracy, 
which of all human constitutions, as I said, is the most senseless and the least 
expedient for you who presume to rule over others? It will not be, if you are in your 
right senses. Otherwise you would be the most foolish of all men if, after regarding it 
as intolerable to be governed by one tyrant, you should now deliver yourselves up to 
the populace, a many-headed tyranny, and grant these things to them, not as a 
gracious concession to their pleading, but constrained by necessity and, on the 
assumption that it is not in our power to do anything else now, yielding against your 
will.  And when this senseless multitude, instead of being punished for its offences, 
even obtains honours as a reward for those offences, how headstrong and arrogant do 
you think it will become? For do not encourage yourselves with the hope that the 
people will moderate their demands if it becomes known to them that you all 
concurred in this resolution. 

[6,62] "But in this matter Menenius, a prudent man who imputes good intentions to 
others judging them by himself, is very much mistaken. For they will urge you with an 
importunity grievous beyond all measure, encouraged both by arrogance, which tends 
always to accompany victory, and by folly, (p41) of which the multitude has so great a 
share. And if not at first, then certainly later, upon every occasion when their 
demands are not granted, they will take up arms and attack you violently in the same 
way as before. So that if you yield to their first demands as a matter of expediency, 
you will presently have something worse imposed upon you, and then something else 
still harsher than that, upon the supposition that your first concessions too flowed 
from fear, till at last they drive you out of the city, as has happened in many other 
places, and, most recently, at Syracuse, where the landowners were expelled by their 
clients.  If, then, in your indignation in those circumstances you intend to oppose 
their demands, why do you not from this instant begin to assume the spirit of free 
men? For it is better the display your proud spirit on a slighter provocation to start 
with and before suffering any injury, than, after submitting to many injuries, than, 
after submitting to many injuries, to be indignant only then at what had happened, 
refuse to endure any more, and begin too late to be prudent. Let none of you be 
terrified either by the threatening clamour of the seceders or by this foreign war; and 
do not disparage our domestic forces as being insufficient to preserve the 
commonwealth. For the strength of the fugitives is slight, and they will not be able 
to hold out long in the open in huts during the winter season, as they are now doing; 
and far from being able to go on securing provisions by plundering when they have 
consumed their present store, they will not be able even to purchase any elsewhere 
and convey them to their camp, by reason of their poverty, since they have no money, 
either individually or in common, and wars, (p43) as a rule, can only be kept up by 
plenty of money. Besides, anarchy, in all probability, and sedition, growing out of 
anarchy, will seize them and soon confound and bring to naught their counsels. For 
surely they will not consent to deliver themselves up to either the Sabines or the 
Tyrrhenians or any other foreigners and become slaves to those whom they 
themselves together with you once deprived of their liberty; and, most important of 
all, men who have wickedly and shamefully endeavoured to destroy their own country 
will not even be trusted by these other nations, for fear they might treat the country 
that receives them in the same manner. For all the nations round us are governed by 
aristocracies, and the plebeians in no state lay claim to an equal share in the 
government; so that the leading men in every state, who do not permit their own 
populace to make any innovations, will doubtless never receive this foreign and 
seditious multitude into their country, lest, by permitting them to enjoy equal rights 
and privileges, they themselves should one day be deprived of their own position of 
equality. But if I am mistaken after all, and any state should receive them, they 
would thereupon reveal themselves as enemies and men deserving to be treated as 
such. We have, as hostages for them, their parents, their wives, and the rest of their 
relations, and better hostages we could not ask of the gods in our prayers; let us place 
these in the sight of their relations, threatening, in case they dare to attack (p45) us, to 
put them to death under the most ignominious tortures. And once they understand 
this, be assured you will find them resorting to entreaties and lamentations, and 
delivering themselves up to you unarmed, and ready to submit to anything whatever. 
For such natural ties have remarkable power to upset all arrogant calculations and 
bring them to naught. 

[6,63] "These are the reasons why I do not think we should fear a war on the part of the 
fugitives. As to the dangers from foreign nations, this is not the first time those 
dangers will have been proved to be such in words only, but even before this, 
whenever they have given us the opportunity of putting them to the test, they have 
been found less terrible than we apprehended. And let those who believe our 
domestic forces to be inadequate and dread war chiefly for this reason learn that they 
are not sufficiently acquainted with them.  So far indeed as the seceders among the 
citizens are concerned, we shall have an adequate force to cope with them if we see fit 
to choose out the most vigorous of our slaves and give them their freedom. For it is 
better to grant these their freedom than to be deprived of our supremacy by the 
others. The slaves are already possessed of sufficient military skill by having attended 
us in many campaigns. Against our foreign enemies let us not only march out 
ourselves with all possible alacrity, but let us take along all our clients and such 
plebeians as remain; and in order that they may be eager for the struggle, let us grant 
them an abolition of their debts, not to all collectively, but to each one individually. 
For if we must yield to the times and show some moderation, (p47) let not that 
moderation be extended toward such of the citizens as are our enemies, but towards 
such as are our friends, on whom we shall then seem to be bestowing favours, not 
under compulsion, but as the result of persuasion. And if still other assistance shall 
be needed, this being thought insufficient, let us send for the garrisons of the 
fortresses and recall the men from the colonies. How large the number of these is 
may be easily learned from the last census, when there were assessed 
130,000 Romans of military age, of which the fugitives would not make a seventh 
part. I say nothing of the thirty cities of the Latin nation, which would be only too 
glad to fight our battles by reason of their kinship, if you would but grant them equal 
rights of citizenship, which they have constantly sought. 

[6,64] "But the greatest advantage in war is one which neither you yourselves have yet 
thought of nor any of your advisers mentions. This I will add to those I have named, 
and then make an end. There is nothing so essential to those who are to have their 
wars crowned with success as good generals. In these our commonwealth is rich, 
while there is a scarcity of them among our enemies. For very numerous armies, 
when led by generals who know not how to command, disgrace themselves and bring 
about their own defeat as a rule, and the larger their bulk is, the more liable they are 
to this fate; whereas good generals, even though the armies they receive are small, 
soon make them large. Hence, as long as we have generals able to command, we shall 
never lack men ready to obey. Bearing these things in mind, therefore, and recalling 
the (p49) achievements of the commonwealth, vote for nothing mean, ignoble, or 
unworthy of yourselves. What course of action, then, if anyone should ask me, do I 
advise you to take? For this is what you have probably long been eager to know. My 
advice, then, is neither to send ambassadors to the seceders nor to decree an abolition 
of their debts, nor to do anything else that might seem to betray fear or perplexity. 
But if they lay down their arms, return to the city, and leave it to you to consult about 
them at leisure, I advise you first to examine the situation and then to treat them with 
moderation, knowing as you do that all senseless creatures, particularly a rabble, 
behave themselves with arrogance toward the meek and with meekness toward the 
arrogant." 

[6,65] When Claudius had done speaking, a great clamour and prodigious tumult filled 
the senate-chamber for a long time. For those who were reputed to be of the 
aristocratic party and thought they ought to consider the more just course in 
preference to the unjust concurred in the opinion of Claudius, and asked the consuls 
preferably to join the better side, considering that the power of the magistracy they 
held derived from the kings, not from the people; but if they could not do this, then to 
keep themselves neutral and not bring pressure to bear upon either faction, but after 
counting the opinions of the senators, to align themselves with the majority. And if 
they scorned both these courses and themselves assumed the sole power of 
concluding the accommodation, they said they would not permit it, but would 
(p51) oppose them with the utmost vigour, with words as far as they could, and, if it 
should prove necessary, with arms. these were a powerful group, and almost all the 
young patricians adhered to this policy. But all the lovers of peace espoused the 
opinion of Menenius and Valerius, particularly those who were advanced in years and 
remembered all the calamities which come upon states as the result of civil wars. 
Nevertheless, being overborne by the clamour and disorderly behaviour of the young 
men and viewing with concern their spirit of rivalry and fearing lest the insolence 
with which they treated the consuls might come close to violence unless some 
concession were made to them, they at last had recourse to weeping and entreating 
their opponents. 

[6,66] The tumult being appeased and silence restored at last, the consuls after some 
consultation together pronounced their decision, as follows: "As for us, senators, 
what we desired most was that you should all be of one mind, particularly when you 
were deliberating about the public safety; but if that could not be, then we desired 
that the younger senators should yield to the older men among you and not contend 
with them, bearing in mind that when they have come to the same age they will 
received the same deference from their juniors. But since we observe that you have 
fallen into strife, the most baneful of all human maladies, and that the arrogance 
dwelling in the young men among you is great, for the present, since the remaining 
part of the day is short and there is not time for you to reach a final decision, leave the 
senate-chamber and go home; and you will come to the next session more 
(p53) moderate in spirit and with better counsels.  But if your contentiousness shall 
persist, we will no longer make use of young men either as judges or counsellors 
concerning what is advantageous, but for the future shall restrain their disorderly 
behaviour by fixing a legal age that senators must have reached. As to the older 
members, we shall again give them an opportunity of delivering their opinions; and if 
they do not agreed, we shall put an end to their strife by a speedy method which it is 
better you should hear of and learn beforehand. You are doubtless aware that we 
have had a law, as long as we have inhabited this city, by which the senate is invested 
with sovereign power in everything except the appointing of magistrates, the enacting 
of laws, and declaring or terminating of wars, and that the power of determining 
these three matters rests with the people, by their votes. Now at the present time we 
are discussing nothing other than war or peace, so that there is every necessity that 
the people should be given the opportunity to vote and confirm our resolutions. We 
shall therefore summon them to present themselves in the Forum pursuant to this 
law, and after you have delivered your opinions, we shall take their votes, believing 
this to be the best means of putting an end to your strife; and whatever the majority 
of the people shall determine, we shall regard that as valid. this honour, I presume, is 
deserved by those who have remained loyal to the commonwealth and are to share 
both out good and bad fortune." 

[6,67] Having said this, they dismissed the session; and during the following days they 
ordered proclamation to be made that all who were in the (p55) country and in the 
fortresses should present themselves, and they gave notice to the senate to assemble 
on the same day. When they found the city was thronged with people and that the 
sentiments of the patricians had yielded to the entreaties, tears and lamentations 
both of the parents and infant children of the seceders, they went on the appointed 
day to the Forum, which was completely packed with a concourse of all sorts of 
people who had been there from far back in the night. And proceeding to the 
sanctuary of Vulcan, where it was custom for the people to hold their assemblies, they 
first commended them for their alacrity and zeal in attending en masse, and then 
advised them to wait quietly till the preliminary decree of the senate should be 
passed; and they exhorted the kinsmen of the seceders to entertain good hopes of 
getting back in a short time those who were dearest to them. After that they went to 
the senate-house, where they not only themselves spoke with reasonableness and 
moderation, but also asked the rest to deliver opinions that were expedient and 
humane. And ahead of all the others they called upon Menenius, who, rising up, 
spoke to the same effect as before, exhorting the senate to make the accommodation, 
and expressed the same opinion, asking that envoys should speedily be sent to the 
seceders with full powers in regard to the accommodation. 

[6,68] After him the others who had held the office of consul, being called upon 
according to their age, rose up and all favoured adopting the opinion of Menenius, till 
it came to the turn of Appius to speak. He, rising up, said: "I see, senators, that it is 
the pleasure both of the consuls and of almost (p57) all the rest of you to bring back the 
people upon their own terms; and I alone am left of all those who opposed the 
accommodation, with the result that I continue to be hated by them and at the same 
time am no longer of any use to you. Nevertheless, I shall not on this account depart 
from my former opinion nor willingly desert my post as a citizen; but the more I am 
abandoned by those who formerly espoused the same sentiments, the more I shall 
one day be esteemed by you; while I live, I shall be praised by you, and when I am 
dead, I shall be remembered by posterity. But do thou, Jupiter Capitolinus, and ye 
guardian gods of our city, ye heroes and divinities who keep watch over the land of 
the Romans, grant that the return of the fugitives may be honourable and 
advantageous to all, and that I may be mistaken in my forebodings regarding the 
future. But if any misfortune should come upon the commonwealth as a result of 
these measures — and this will soon be manifest — may ye yourselves speedily correct 
them and grant safety and security to the commonwealth! And to me, who neither 
upon any other occasion ever chose to say the things that were most agreeable instead 
of those that were most profitable, nor am now betraying the state while securing my 
own safety, may ye be favourable and propitious! These are the prayers I address to 
the gods; for speeches are of no further use. The opinion I express is the same as 
before, namely, to relieve of their debts the people who remain in the city, but to 
make war upon the seceders with the utmost vigour as long as they remain in arms." 

[6,69] (p59) Having said this, he ended. When the opinions of the older senators agreed 
with that of Menenius and it came to the turn of the younger members to speak, the 
whole senate being on tip-toe with suspense, Spurius Nautius rose up, the heir of a 
most illustrious family. For Nautius,  the founder of the line, was one of those who 
took out the colony with Aeneas, being a priest of Athena Polias;  and when he 
removed from Troy, he brought with him the wooden statue of that goddess, which 
the family of the Nautii guarded thereafter, receiving it in succession one from 
another. This man was esteemed the most illustrious of all the younger senators for 
his own merits as well, and it was expected that he would soon obtain the consulship. 
 He began by making a general defence of all the younger senators, declaring that 
neither a spirit of rivalry towards their elders nor arrogance had induced them to 
adopt a position opposed to that of the others at the last meeting of the senate, and if 
they had committed any error, it had been a mistake in judgment due to their youth; 
and in conclusion he said that they would now give proof of this by changing their 
opinion. They consented at any rate that the others, as men of better judgment, 
should decree whatever they thought most conducive to the welfare of the state, 
assuring them that they, at least, would offer no opposition in this matter, but would 
follow the advice of their elders.  And when all the other younger members made the 
same declaration, except a very small number who were related to Appius, the 
consuls commended their dignified behaviour and exhorted p61them to conduct 
themselves in the same manner in all public matters; after which they chose as 
envoys ten men who were the most distinguished of the older senators, all but one 
being former consuls. Those appointed were the following: Agrippa Menenius 
Lanatus, the son of Gaius, Manius Valerius {Volusus}, the son of Volusus, - - -, Publius 
Servilius {Priscus}, the son of Publius,- - -, Publius Postumius Tubertus, the son of 
Quintus, Titus Aebutius Flavus, the son of Titus, Servius Sulpicius Camerinus, the son 
of Publius, Aulus Postumius Balbus, the son of Publius, and Aulus Verginius 
Caelimontanus, the son of Aulus. After this, the senate being dismissed, the 
consuls went to the assembly of the people, and having ordered the decree of the 
senate to be read, presented the envoys. And as everyone desired to be informed of 
the instructions which the senate had given them, the consuls declared openly that 
they had ordered them to reconcile the people to the patricians by any means they 
could without fraud or deceit and to bring the fugitives home speedily. 

[6,70] The envoys, having received these instructions from the senate, when out of the 
city the (p63) same day. But the news of everything that had passed in the city reached 
those in the camp ahead of them, and presently all the plebeians left the encampment 
and met the envoys while they were still upon the road. Now there was in the camp a 
very turbulent and seditious man who had a shrewd mine for foreseeing something of 
the future far in advance, and he was not lacking in ability to express his thoughts, 
being a great talker and babbler. He had the same name, Lucius Junius, as the man 
who had overthrown the kings, and desiring to make the similarity of their names 
complete, he wished also to be called Brutus. To most people, it seems, he was a 
laughing-stock because of his vain pretentiousness, and when they wished to make 
sport of him, they called him by the nickname Brutus.  This man now showed 
Sicinius, who was the commander of the camp, that it was not to the best interest of 
the people to submit readily to the proposals that were offered, lest by beginning with 
too moderate a demand, they might find their return home less honourable, but to 
oppose them for a long time and to inject into the negotiations an element of play-
acting; and after promising to take upon himself the defence of the people and 
suggesting everything else that was to be done and said, he prevailed upon Sicinius. 
Thereupon Sicinius, assembling the people, asked the envoys to state their reason for 
coming. 

[6,71] Then Manius Valerius, who was the oldest of the envoys and most in sympathy 
with the common people, came forward, while the crowd testified their affection for 
him by the friendliest expressions and appellations; and when he had secured silence, 
he spoke as follows: 
(p65) "Nothing now hinders you, plebeians, from returning to your homes and being 
reconciled to the senators.  For the senate has voted you an honourable and 
advantageous return, and has decreed an amnesty for all that has happened. They 
have also sent us as envoys, men whom they knew to be the greatest friends of the 
people and deservedly honoured by you, giving us full powers with respect to the 
accommodation, so that we may not judge of your sentiments by appearances or 
conjectures, but may learn from you yourselves upon what terms you think fit to put 
an end to the sedition, and, if there is any moderation in your demands and they are 
not impossible or precluded by some irreparable dishonour attached to them, we may 
grant them to you without waiting for the opinion of the senate or exposing the 
negotiations to long delays and to the jealousy of your adversaries. Since, then, the 
senate has passed this decree, do you receive their favours, plebeians, joyfully, with 
the greatest alacrity and enthusiasm, setting a high value upon so great good fortune 
and returning profound thanks therefor to the gods, in that the Roman 
commonwealth, which rules over so many people, and the senate, which has the 
command of all the blessings therein, though it is an established custom with them to 
yield to none of their adversaries, nevertheless willingly yield some of their dignity in 
favour of you alone. For they neither thought fit to enter into such a minute 
discussion of the rights of each side as might be expected from superiors when 
treating with their inferiors, but instead took the initiative themselves p67in sending 
envoys to propose an accommodation, nor did they receive with anger the haughty 
answers you gave to their former envoys, but endured this insolent and puerile 
exhibition of your arrogance as good parents would endure that of their foolish 
children; and they thought they ought to send another embassy and accept less than 
their full rights, and to submit to anything, citizens, that is reasonable. Now that you 
have met with so great good fortune, do not delay, plebeians, to tell us what you 
desire and do not mock at us. But when you have put an end to the sedition, return 
with joy to your country which gave you your birth and rearing, blessings for which 
you made her a sorry recompense and return when you left her, as far as in you lay, to 
be desolate and a pasture for flocks. But if you let this opportunity slip, you will wish 
time and again for another." 

[6,72] When now Valerius had done speaking, Sicinius came forward and said that 
those who deliberated wisely ought not to examine the expediency of any measure 
from a single point of view, but should suggest to themselves the opposite view as 
well, particularly when affairs of so great moment were under consideration. Then he 
asked any who pleased to answer these proposals, laying aside all modesty and 
caution; for their situation, now that they were reduced to such distress, did not 
permit of their yielding to either hesitation or undue modesty. When there was 
silence, they all looked at one another to find out who would prospect for the 
common cause; but none appeared, though Sicinius repeated the same request 
several times. At last Lucius Junius, the man who wanted Brutus to be added to 
p69his name, came forward in accordance with his promise, and being received with 
general applause from the crowd, delivered a speech of the following tenor: 
"It seems, plebeians, that the dread of the patricians is still so firmly rooted in your 
minds that it holds you in terror, and, humbled on that account, you shrink from 
uttering in public the arguments that you are wont to use to one another. For each 
one openly, perhaps, thinks that his neighbour will plead the common cause and that 
all the others rather than he will undergo any danger there may be, while he himself, 
standing in a place of safety, will enjoy, free from fear, his share of the benefit arising 
from the boldness of the other. But in this he is mistaken; for if we should all hold this 
opinion, the cowardice of each one of you will prove a common injury to all, and 
while every man consults his own safety, he will be destroying the common safety of 
all. But even if you did not know before that you are freed from this dread and that 
you have your liberty secure as long as you have your arms, learn it now at least, 
taking these men as your teachers. For these arrogant and stern men have not come 
with orders for you, as before, or with threats, but begging and beseeching you to 
return to your homes, and now begin to deal with you as with free men upon equal 
terms. Why, then, are you any longer in awe of them and why are you silent? Why 
do you not assume the spirit of free men, and having now broken at last the curb 
which held you, tell all men what you have suffered at their hands? Unhappy men, of 
what are you afraid? That you will suffer some harm if you follow my lead in giving 
free rein to the tongue? For I shall expose myself to the danger of (p71) declaring to 
them frankly the justice of your cause, concealing nothing. And since Valerius has 
said that nothing hinders you from going back to your homes, the se having given you 
leave to return and having decreed you an amnesty besides, I shall give him this 
answer — that which is the very truth and must needs be told. 

[6,73] "As for us, Valerius, there are many other reasons that hinder us from laying 
down our arms and putting ourselves in your power, but these three are the most 
important and the most obvious: First, because you have come to accuse us as if we 
had offended, and when you give us leave to return you count it as a favor to us; next, 
because when you invite us to an accommodation you do not give any hint upon what 
terms of justice and humanity we are to enter into it; and lastly, because there is no 
certainty of your fulfilling your promises to us, since time and again you have 
consistently deceived and deluded us. I shall speak to each of these points 
separately, beginning with the matter of justice; for it is the duty of all who speak 
either in private or in public to begin with justice. Well then, if we are doing you any 
injustice, we do not ask for either impunity or an amnesty; though we do not choose 
even to share the same city with you any longer, but will live wherever Fate shall lead 
us, leaving it to Fortune and to the gods to direct our course. But if, suffering injustice 
at your hands, we have been compelled to experience this condition in which we now 
are, why do you not acknowledge that, having yourselves wronged us, you stand in 
need of pardon and an amnesty? But as it is, you profess to be giving the pardon for 
which you ought to be asking, (p73) and prate boastfully of acquitting us of the 
resentment of which you yourselves seek to be acquitted, thereby confusing the very 
essence of truth and reversing the very meaning of justice.  That you are not the 
victims, but the doers of injustice, and that you have not made handsome returns for 
the many great services you have received from the people in respect both to your 
liberty and to your sovereignty, learn from me now. I shall begin my argument with 
the matters you yourselves are acquainted with, and I beg of you in the name of the 
gods, if I make any false statement, that you will not tolerate it, but will promptly 
refute me. 

[6,74] "Our earliest government was monarchy, under which constitution we lived till 
the seventh generation. And during all these reigns the people never suffered any loss 
of rights at the hands of their kings, and least of all from those who reigned last, to 
say nothing of the many important advantages they enjoyed from their rule.  For, 
besides the other methods the kings used of courting and flattering the people in 
order to win them to themselves and make them enemies to you — which is the 
practice of all rulers who aim at extending their power to tyranny — when they had 
made themselves masters of Suessa, a very prosperous city, after a long war, and had 
it in their power to grant no part of the spoils to anyone, but to appropriate the whole 
to themselves and surpass all other kings in riches, they did not think fit to do so, but 
brought out all the booty and placed it at the disposal of the army, so that, besides the 
slaves, cattle and the other spoils, which were many and of great value, every one of 
us received five minae of silver for his share. But we (p75) disregarded all this when 
they used their power more in the manner of tyrants to injure, not us, to be sure, but 
you; and resenting their behaviour, we gave up our affection for our kings and joined 
you, and rising with you against them, both those of us who were in the city and those 
in camp, we drove them out, and bringing to you their power, entrusted it to you. And 
though it was often possible for us to go over to the side of the expelled kings, yet we 
scorned to accept the lavish gifts they offered us to induce us to violate our pledge to 
you, but patiently endured many great and continuous wars and dangers on your 
account. And up to this time, which is the seventeenth year, we have been worn out 
with fighting against all mankind for our common liberty. For while the government 
was still unsettled — as often happens in the case of sudden revolutions — we 
ventured to contend with the two most renowned cities of the Tyrrhenians, Tarquinii 
and Veii, when they sought with a large army to restore the kings; and fighting, a few 
against many, and displaying the greatest enthusiasm, we not only overcame and 
drove back these foes, but preserved the power for the surviving consul. Not long 
afterwards, when Porsena, king of the Tyrrhenians, was also endeavouring to restore 
the exiles both with the united forces of all Tyrrhenia commanded by himself and 
with those which the others had long before raised, we, though unprovided with an 
adequate army, and for that (p77) reason forced to undergo a siege and reduced to the 
last extremity and to a dearth of everything, yet by enduring all these hardships 
forced him to depart after first becoming our friend. And last of all, when the kings 
for the third time sought to effect their restoration with the aid of the Latin nation 
and brought against us thirty cities, we, seeing you entreating, lamenting, calling 
upon every one of us, and reminding us of our friendship, our common rearing, and 
the campaigns we had shared together, could not bear to abandon you. But looking 
upon it as a most honourable and glorious thing to give your battles, we rushed into 
the midst of perils and hazarded on that occasion surely the greatest danger of all, in 
which, after we had received many wounds and lost many of our relations, 
companions and comrades in arms, we overcame the enemy, killed their generals, 
and destroyed the whole royal family. 

[6,75] "These are the services we rendered to assist you in freeing yourselves from the 
tyrants, exerting ourselves beyond our strength because of our enthusiasm, and 
engaging in the struggle quite as much through the promptings of our own valour as 
because of necessity. Now hear what we have done to gain for you the respect of and 
the rule over others, and to acquire for you a power greater than was at first expected; 
and, as I said before, if I deviate from the truth, you will contradict me. For you, 
when it seemed that your liberty was firmly (p79) assured, were not contented to stop 
there, but intent upon bold and new undertakings, and regarding as a possible enemy 
every creature who clung to liberty, and declaring war against almost all the world, in 
all the perils and in all the battles fought to support that greed for power you thought 
fit to waste our bodies. I say nothing of all the cities that sometimes singly, 
sometimes two jointly, fought with you in defence of their liberty, some of which we 
overcame in pitched battles and others we took by storm and compelled them to 
become subjects to you. For what need is there to relate these actions in detail when 
we have such an abundance of material? But who were they who assisted you in 
acquiring and subjecting to you all Tyrrhenia, a country divided into twelve 
principalities and exceeding powerful on both land and sea? Whose assistance 
rendered the Sabines, this powerful nation which had ever contended with you for the 
primacy, unable any longer to contend for equality? And again, who subdued the 
thirty cities of the Latins, which not only gloried in the superiority of their forces but 
prided themselves on the superior justice of their demands? And who compelled 
them to fly to you imploring you to prevent their enslavement and the razing of their 
cities? 

[6,76] "I omit the other dangers in which we engaged along with you while we were not 
yet at odds with you and indeed laid claim ourselves to some share of the expected 
profits of empire. But when p81at last it was clear that the empire that you had gained 
was a tyranny, that you abused us like slaves, and that we no longer continued to 
entertain the same feelings towards you, and when almost all your subjects revolted, 
the Volscians setting the example, which was followed by the Aequians, the 
Hernicans, the Sabines, and many others, and a unique opportunity seemed to offer 
itself, if we chose to take advantage of it, to accomplish one of two things, either to 
overthrow your empire or to render it more moderate for the future, do you 
remember into what despair of your domination you fell and how you were in the last 
stage of discouragement lest we should either not assist you in the war or, indulging 
in our resentment, should go over to the enemy, and what entreaties and promises 
you made? What did we, the humble folk who had been treated outrageously by you, 
do then? We allowed ourselves to be overcome by the entreaties and prevailed upon 
by the promises which the excellent Servilius here, who was consul at the time, made 
to the people, and retained no resentment against you for the wrongs of the past, but 
conceiving good hopes of the future, we entrusted ourselves to you; and having 
subdued all your enemies in a short time, we returned with many prisoners and rich 
spoils. For these services what return did you make to us? One that was just and 
worthy of the dangers to which we had exposed ourselves? No, indeed; far from it! 
Why, you violated even the promises which you had ordered the consul to make to us 
in the name of the commonwealth; and this excellent man himself, whom you p83had 
basely used to trick us, you deprived of his triumph, though he of all men most 
deserved that honour, and you attached this disgrace to him for no other reason than 
because he asked you to perform the act of justice that you had promised and made it 
clear that he resented your deceit. 

[6,77] "And just recently (for I shall add this one more instance to that part of my 
discourse which relates to justice before I make an end), when the Aequians, the 
Sabines, and the Volscians with one accord not only rose against you themselves, but 
invited others to do likewise, were not you, the proud and stern, obliged to fly to us, 
the mean and despised, and to promise everything in order to secure your safety at 
that time? And that you might not seem to be intending to deceive us again, as you 
had often done before, you made use of Manius Valerius here, the greatest friend of 
the people, as a cover for your deceit; confiding in whom and believing ourselves in 
no danger of being imposed upon by a dictator, and least of all by a man who had 
treated us well, we assisted you in this war also, and having fought not a few battles, 
and those neither inconsiderable nor obscure, we overcame your enemies. But, once 
the war was ended in a most glorious manner and sooner than anyone had expected, 
you were so far from rejoicing and feeling yourselves under great obligation to the 
people, that you thought fit to keep us still in arms and under our standards against 
our will, that you might violate your promises as you had determined from (p85) the 
beginning. Then, when Servilius would not submit to the deceit nor to the dishonour 
of your action, but brought the standards into the city and sent the forces to their 
homes, you, making this an excuse for not doing us justice, insulted him and kept not 
a single one of your promises to us, but at one and the same time committed three 
most lawless acts, in that you destroyed the prestige of the senate, you ruined the 
credit of Servilius, and you deprived your benefactors of the recompense that was due 
to their labours. Since, therefore, patricians, we have these and many other things of 
the like nature to allege against you, we do not think fit to have recourse to 
supplicating and entreating you, nor, like men guilty of heinous crimes, to secure our 
return by accepting impunity and amnesty. However, we do not feel that we ought to 
enter into a minute discussion of these grievances at present, since we are met to 
treat of an agreement, but leaving them to indifference and oblivion, we simply put 
up with them. 

[6,78] "But why do you not declare openly the terms of your mission and say plainly 
what you have come to ask? On the strength of what hopes do you ask us to return to 
the city? The prospect of what kind of fortune awaiting us are we to take to guide us 
on the way? The prospect of what cheer or joy that is going to receive us? For we have 
not as yet heard you promise any act of kindness or of benefit — no honours, no 
magistracies, no relief of our poverty, nor, in a word, anything else whatever. And yet 
it is not what you intend to do that you should tell us, but what you have already 
done, in (p87) order that, having already some action before us as an earnest of your 
goodwill, we may infer that the remaining actions will be of like nature. I suppose, 
though, that they will answer to this that they are come with full powers in all 
matters, so that whatever we can persuade one another to accept is to be valid. Grant 
this to be so, and let the natural results follow; I offer no objections. But I desire to 
learn from them what is to happen afterwards, when we have stated the conditions 
upon which we think fit to return and these conditions have been accepted by them: 
Who will stand surety to us for the carrying out of the terms?  Trusting to what 
assurance shall we drop the arms from our hands and put our persons again in the 
power of these men? Shall we trust to the decrees of the senate that will be drawn up 
concerning these matters? For surely they have not been drawn up already. And what 
shall hinder these from being annulled in turn by other decrees, whenever Appius 
and those of his faction shall think fit? Or shall we trust to the high standing of the 
envoys who pledge their own good faith? But the senate has already made use of 
these men to deceive us. Or shall we trust to agreements sworn to by oaths taken in 
the name of the gods, gaining our assurance from these? But for my part, I am more 
afraid of this than of any other kind of assurance men can give, because I observe that 
it is treated contemptuously by those in positions of command, and because 
I understand, not now for the first time, but as the result of many experiences in the 
past, that forced agreements made by men desirous of ruling with those who strive to 
retain their freedom last only as long as the necessity exists which p89compelled those 
agreements. What kind of friendship, therefore, and good faith is that under which 
we shall be obliged to court one another against our will while we each are watching 
for our own opportunities? And after this will come suspicions and continual 
accusations of one another, jealousies and hatreds and every other kind of evil, and a 
constant struggle to see which of us shall first effect the destruction of his adversary, 
each believing that in delay lies disaster. 

[6,79] "There is no greater evil, as all are aware, than civil war, in which the conquered 
are unfortunate and the conquerors are unjust, and it is the fate of the former to be 
destroyed by their dearest ones, and of the latter to destroy those who are dearest to 
them. To such misfortunes and to such abhorred calamities do not summon us, 
patricians, nor let us, plebeians, answer their summons, but let us acquiesce in the 
fate which has separated us. No, let them have the whole city to themselves and enjoy 
it without us, and let them reap alone every other advantage after they have driven 
the humble and obscure plebeians from the fatherland. As for us, let us depart 
whithersoever Heaven shall conduct us, feeling that we are leaving an alien place and 
not our own city. For there remains to none of us here either an allotment of land, 
or an ancestral hearth, or common sacrifices, or any position of dignity, such as one 
would possess in one's fatherland, the desire for which things might induce us to cling 
to this country even against our will; nay we have not even the liberty of our own 
persons which we (p91) have purchased with many hardships. For some of these 
advantages have been destroyed by the many wars, some have been consumed by the 
scarcity of the necessaries of daily life, and of others we have been robbed by these 
haughty money-lenders, for whom we poor wretches are at last obliged to till our own 
allotments, digging, planting, ploughing, tending flocks, and becoming fellow-slaves 
with our own slaves taken by us in war, some of us being bound with chains, some 
with fetters, and others, like the most savage of wild beasts, dragging wooden clogs 
and iron balls. I same nothing of the tortures and insults, the stripes, the labours 
from dawn till dark, and every other cruelty, violence, and insolence that we have 
undergone. Accordingly, now that we are freed by Heaven from so many and great 
evils, let us gladly fly from them with all the eagerness and ability each of us 
possesses, taking as the guides of our journey Fortune and the god who ever preserve 
us, and looking upon our liberty as our country and our valour as our wealth. For any 
land will receive us as partners, since we shall be no cause of offence in any case to 
those who receive us, and in some cases shall actually be of service. 

[6,80] "Of this let many Greeks and many barbarians serve us as examples, particularly 
the ancestors of both these men and ourselves; some of whom, leaving Asia with 
Aeneas, came into Europe and built a city in the country of the Latins, and others, 
coming as colonists from Alba under the leadership of Romulus, built in these parts 
the city we are now (p93) leaving. We have with us forces not merely a left larger than 
they had, but actually three times their number, and a more just cause for removing. 
For those who removed from Troy were driven out by enemies, but we are driven 
hence by friends; and it is a more pitiable experience doubtless to be expelled by one's 
own people than by foreigners. Those who took part in the expedition of Romulus 
scorned the country of their ancestors in the hope of acquiring a better; but we, who 
are abandoning the life which had for us no city and no hearth, are going forth as a 
colony that will be neither hateful to the gods nor troublesome to men nor grievous to 
any country, and moreover we have not inflicted blood-shed and slaughter upon the 
kinsmen who are driving us forth, nor have we laid waste with fire and sword the 
country we are leaving, nor left behind any other memorial of an everlasting hatred, 
as is the usual practice of people who are driven into exile in violation of treaties and 
reduced to unenviable straits. And calling to witness the gods and other divinities 
who direct all human affairs with justice, and leaving it to them to avenge our wrongs, 
we make but this one request, that those of us who have left in the city infant children 
and parents, and wives, in case these shall be willing to share our fortunes, may get 
them back. We are satisfied to receive these, and we ask for naught else besides from 
our fatherland. But fare you well and lead the life you choose, you who are so 
unwilling to associate as fellow-citizens and to share your blessings with those of 
humbler estate." 

[6,81] (p95) With these words Brutus ended his speech. All who were present regarded as 
true everything he said about principles of justice, as also the charges he made 
respecting the arrogance of the senate, but particularly what he said to show that the 
assurance offered for the performance of the agreement was full of fraud and deceit. 
But when at the last he described the abuses which the people had suffered at the 
hands of the money-lenders, and put every man in mind of his own misfortunes, no 
one was so stout of heart as not to be melted away by tears and to bewail their 
common calamities. And not only the people were affected in this manner, but 
likewise those who had come from the senate; for even the envoys could not restrain 
their tears when they considered the misfortunes that had arisen from the breaking 
up of the city, and for a long time they stood with eyes downcast and full of tears, and 
at a loss what to say.  But after this great lamentation had ceased and silence fell 
upon the assembly, there came forward to answer these accusations a man who 
seemed to excel the rest of the citizens in both age and rank. This was Titus Larcius, 
who had twice been chosen consul and had of all men made the best use of the power 
called the dictatorship, causing that invidious magistracy to be looked upon as sacred 
and worthy of all respect. He, undertaking to speak to the point of justice, now 
censured the money-lenders for having (p97) acted with cruelty and inhumanity, and 
now reproached the poor for unjustly demanding to be relieved of their debts through 
violence rather than as a favour, and told them they were in the wrong to direct their 
anger against the senate for their failure to obtain any reasonable concession from 
that body, instead of against those who were really to blame, He also endeavoured 
to show that, while there was a small part of the people whose offence was 
involuntary and who were forced by their extreme poverty to demand the remission 
of their debts, yet the greater part of them were abandoned to licence and insolence 
and a life of pleasure, and were prepared to gratify their desires by robbing others; 
and he thought a difference ought to be made between the unfortunate and the 
depraved, and between those who needed kindness and those who deserved hatred. 
And though he advanced other arguments of this kind, which, while true enough, 
were not pleasing to all his hearers, he could not persuade them; but everything he 
said was received with a great murmur, some being indignant at his opening their 
griefs afresh, and others owning that he concealed no part of the truth; but the latter 
group was much smaller than the other, so that it was drowned out by numbers, and 
the clamour of the indignant group prevailed. 

[6,82] After Larcius had added a few more remarks to those I have reported and had 
reproached the people for their uprising and the precipitancy of their resolutions, 
Sicinius, who was then at the head of the populace, replied and inflamed their 
passions still p99more, saying that from these words of Larcius in particular they 
might learn what honours and gratitude would await them when they returned to 
their country. "For if to those who are in the direst straits, who are imploring the 
assistance of the people, come hither for that purpose, it does not occur even now to 
speak words of moderation and humanity, what sentiments must we expect them to 
entertain when things have succeeded according to their wishes, and when those who 
are now insulted by their words become subject to their deeds? From what arrogance, 
from what abusive treatment, from what tyrannical cruelty will they refrain? But if 
you are contented to be slaves all your lives, to be bound, scourged, and destroyed by 
fire, sword, famine, and every other abuse, don't waste any time, but throw down 
your arms, offer your hands to be bound behind you, and follow them. But if you have 
any craving for liberty, do not bear with them. And as for you, envoys, either state the 
terms upon which you summon us or, if you will not do so, withdraw from the 
assembly. For after this we shall not give you leave to speak." 

[6,83] When he had ceased speaking, all present shouted uproariously, showing that 
they approved of his reasoning and agreed with him. Then, when silence prevailed, 
Menenius Agrippa, he who had delivered the speech in the senate in behalf of the 
people and had, more than any other, brought about, by the motion he had offered, 
the sending of the envoys clothed with full powers, signified that he too wished to 
speak. The people looked upon this as the best thing they could ask, and now at least 
expected to hear proposals tending to a sincere (p101) accommodation and advice 
salutary to both parties. And first they all roared their approval, calling to him with 
a great shout to speak; then they became quiet, and so great silence prevailed in the 
assembly that the place was as hushed as a desert. He seemed to employ in general 
the most persuasive arguments possible and those which gauged well the inclinations 
of his audience; and at the end of his speech he is said to have related a kind of fable 
that he composed after the manner of Aesop and that bore a close resemblance to the 
situation of the moment, and by this means chiefly to have won them over. For this 
reason his speech is thought worthy of record and it is quoted in all the ancient 
histories. His discourse was as follows: 
"We have been sent to you by the senate, plebeians, neither to excuse them nor to 
accuse you (for neither of these courses seemed to be opportune or suited to the 
conditions now disturbing the commonwealth), but to use every effort and every 
means to put an end to the sedition and to restore the government to its original 
form; and for that purpose we are invested with full powers. So that we do not think it 
at all necessary to discourse at great length, as Junius here has done, concerning 
principles of justice; but as regards the humane terms on which we think we ought to 
put an end to the sedition, and the assurance you shall have for the performance of 
our agreement, we shall tell you the decisions to which we have come.  When we 
considered that (p103) every sedition in any state is cured only when the causes that 
produced the disagreement are removed, we thought it necessary both to discover 
and to put an end to the primary causes of this dissension. And having found that the 
harsh exactions of debts have been the cause of the present ills, we are reforming 
those exactions as follows: We think it just that all those who have contracted debts 
and are unable to pay them should be relieved of their obligations; and if the persons 
of any who are default in their payments are already held under restraint by the limit 
for payment prescribed by law, it is our decision that these also shall be free. As for 
those who have been convicted in private suits and handed over to the creditors who 
won their suits against them, it is our wish that these also shall be free, and we set 
aside their sentences.  With regard to your debts of the past, therefore, which 
seemed to us to have led to your secession, we redress them in this manner; as to 
your future debts, whatever shall be approved of both by you, the people, and by the 
senate in joint consultation, after a law has been passed for that purpose, let it be so 
ordered. are not these the things, plebeians, that divided you from the patricians? 
And did you not think it enough if you obtained these, without aiming at anything 
else? They are now granted to you. Return, then, to your country with joy. 

[6,84] "The assurances which shall confirm this agreement and secure to you the 
performance of it shall all be according to law and conformable to (p105) the practice of 
those who put an end to their enmities. The senate will confirm these arrangements 
by a vote and give the force of law to the conditions that shall be drawn up, But rather 
let your demands be drawn up by you here, and the senate will agree to them. That 
the concessions now made to you will stand firm and unchanged and that nothing 
contrary to them shall be carried out later by the senate, first, we envoys are your 
sureties, giving you our persons, our lives, and our families as pledges; and in the 
next place, all the other senators who shall be named in the decree. For no decree will 
ever be drawn up contrary to the interests of the people so long as we oppose it, since 
we are the leading members of the senate and always deliver our opinions first. The 
last assurance we shall give you is that in use among all men, both Greeks and 
barbarians, which no lapse of time shall ever overthrow, namely, the one which 
through oaths and treaties makes the gods sureties for the performance of 
agreements. Under this assurance many bitter enmities between private individuals 
and many wars that have arisen between states have been composed. Come now, 
accept this assurance also, whether you permit a few of the principal members of the 
senate to give your their oaths in the name of their whole body, or think fit that all the 
senators who are named in the decree shall swear over the sacrificial victims to 
maintain the agreement inviolable. Do not traduce, Brutus, assurances given under 
the sanction of the gods and confirmed by the pledging of hands and by treaties, 
p107nor destroy the noblest of all human institutions; and as for you, plebeians, do 
not permit him to mention the wicked deeds of impious and tyrannical men, deeds 
far removed from the virtue of the Romans. 

[6,85] "I shall mention one other assurance which no man fails to know or questions, 
and then have done. And what is that? It is the assurance that introduces the 
common advantage and preserves both parts of the state through their mutual 
assistance. this, after all, is the first and only assurance that draws us together, and it 
will never permit us to be sundered from each other. For the ignorant multitude will 
always need and never cease to need prudent leadership, while the senate, which is 
capable of leadership, will always need multitudes willing to be ruled. This we know, 
not merely as a matter of opinion and conjecture, but also by actual experience. 
Why, then, do we terrify and trouble one another? Why do we speak evil words 
when we have kindly deeds in our power? Why do we not rather open our arms and, 
embracing one another, return to our country to find there our old-time enjoyment of 
the dearest pleasures and the satisfaction of a yearning that is sweetest of all, instead 
of seeking securities that come to naught and faithless assurances, as do the deadliest 
foes who suspect the worst of everything? As for us of the senate, plebeians, one 
assurance suffices, that you will never, if you return, behave yourselves badly toward 
us, and that is the knowledge we have of your excellent rearing, of your law-abiding 
habits, (p109) and of all your other virtues, of which you have given many proofs both in 
peace and in war. And if, in consequence of the need of assurance and hope, the 
contracts should be revised by us jointly, we are confident that in all other respects at 
least you will be good citizens, and we have no need of either oaths or hostages or any 
other assurances from the people. However, we shall oppose you in nothing you 
desire. Concerning the matter of assurances, then, upon which subject Brutus 
endeavoured to malign us, this is enough. But if any groundless hatred is implanted 
in your minds, causing you to entertain a bad opinion of the senate, I desire to speak 
to that point also, plebeians, and I beg of you in the name of the gods to hear me with 
silence and attention. 

[6,86] "A commonwealth resembles in some measure a human body. For each of them 
is composite and consists of many parts; and no one of their parts either has the same 
function or performs the same service as the others. If, now, these parts of the 
human body should be endowed, each for itself, with perception and a voice of its 
own and a sedition should then arise among them, all of them uniting against the 
belly alone, and the feet should say that the whole body rests on them; the hands, that 
they ply the crafts, secure provisions, fight with enemies, and contribute many other 
advantages toward the common good; the shoulders, that they (p111) bear all the 
burdens; the mouth, that it speaks; the head, that it sees and hears and, 
comprehending the other senses, possesses all those by which the thing is preserved; 
and then all these should say to the belly, 'And you, good creature, which of these 
things do you do? What return do you make and of what use are you to us? Indeed, 
you are so far from doing anything for us or assisting us in accomplishing anything 
useful for the common good that you are actually a hindrance and a trouble to us and 
— a thing intolerable — compel us to serve you and to bring things to you from 
everywhere for the gratification of your desires.  Come now, why do we not assert 
our liberty and free ourselves from the many troubles we undergo for the sake of this 
creature?' If, I say, they should decide upon this course and none of the parts should 
any longer perform its office, could the body possibly exist for any considerable time, 
and not rather be destroyed within a few days by the worst of all deaths, starvation 
No one can deny it. Now consider the same condition existing in a commonwealth. 
For this also is composed of many classes of people not at all resembling one 
another, every one of which contributes some particular service to the common good, 
just as its members do to the body. For some cultivate the fields, some fight against 
the enemy in defence of those fields, others carry on much useful trade by sea, and 
still others ply the necessary crafts. If, then, all these different classes of people 
should rise against the senate, which is (p113) composed of the best men, and say, 'As for 
you, senate, what good do you do us, and for what reason do you presume to rule over 
others? Not a thing can you name. Well then, shall we not now at last free ourselves 
from this tyranny of yours and live without a leader?' If, I say, they should take this 
resolution and quit their usual employments, what will hinder this miserable 
commonwealth from perishing miserably by famine, war and every other evil? Learn, 
therefore, plebeians, that just as in our bodies the belly thus evilly reviled by the 
multitude nourishes the body even while it is itself nourished, and preserves it while 
it is preserved itself, and is a kind of feast, as it were, provided by joint contributions, 
which as a result of the exchange duly distributes that which is beneficial to each and 
all, so in commonwealths the senate, which administers the affairs of the public and 
provides what is expedient for everyone, preserves, guards, and corrects all things. 
Cease, then, uttering those invidious remarks about the senate, to the effect that you 
have been driven out of your country by it and that because of it you wander about 
like vagabonds and beggars. For it neither has done you any harm nor can do you 
any, but of its own accord calls you and entreats you, and opening all hearts together 
with the gates, is waiting to welcome you." 

[6,87] While Menenius was thus speaking, many and various were the cries uttered by 
the audience (p115) throughout his whole speech. But when at the close of it he had 
recourse to lamentations, and enumerating the calamities that would befall both 
those who remained in the city and those who were driven out of it, bewailed the 
misfortunes of both, tears flowed from the eyes of all and they cried out to him with 
one mind and voice to lead them back to the city without waste of time. And they 
came very near quitting the assembly that moment and entrusting all their afters to 
the envoys without settling anything else relating to their security. But Brutus, 
coming forward, restrained their eagerness, saying that, while in general the promises 
made by the senate were advantageous to the people and he thought it very proper 
that the latter should feel very grateful to them for those concessions, he nevertheless 
feared the time to come and the tyrannical men who might one day if occasion 
offered, again attempt to make the people feel their resentment for what they had 
done. There was one safeguard only, he said, any who were afraid of their superiors, 
and that was for them to be convinced that those who desired to injure them had not 
the power to do so; for as long as there was the power to do evil, evil men would never 
lack the will. If, therefore, the plebeians could obtain this safeguard, they would need 
nothing more. And Menenius, having replied and asked him to name the safeguard 
he thought the people still needed, he said: "Give us leave to choose out of our own 
body every year a certain number of (p117) magistrates who shall be invested with no 
other power than to relieve those plebeians to whom any injury or violence is offered, 
and to permit none of them to be deprived of their rights. This favour we entreat and 
beg you to add to those you have already granted us, if our accommodation is not one 
in word only, but a reality." 

[6,88] When the people heard these words, they cheered Brutus loud and long, and 
asked the envoys to grant them this also. These, having withdrawn from the assembly 
and conferred briefly, returned after a short time. And when silence prevailed, 
Menenius came forward and said: "This is a matter of great moment, plebeians, and 
one full of strange suspicions, and we feel some alarm and concern lest we shall form 
two states in one. However, so far as we ourselves are concerned, we do not oppose 
even this request of yours. But grant us this privilege, which is also for your own 
interest. Allow some of the envoys to go to the city and inform the senate of these 
matters; for even though we have the power from them to conclude the 
accommodation in such a manner as we think fit and may at our own discretion make 
such promises in their name as we please, yet we do not think proper to take this 
upon ourselves, but since a new matter has been unexpectedly proposed to us, we will 
divest ourselves of our own power and refer the matter to the senate. However, we are 
persuaded that the senate will be of the same opinion as we are. I, therefore, will 
remain here together with some of the other envoys, and Valerius with the rest shall 
go to the senate." (p119) This was agreed upon, and the persons appointed to inform 
the senate of what had happened took horse and rode in all haste to Rome. When the 
consuls had proposed the matter to the senators, Valerius expressed the opinion that 
this favour also should be granted to the people. On the other hand, Appius, who 
from the first had opposed the accommodation, spoke openly in opposition on this 
occasion also, crying out, calling the gods to witness, and foretelling what seeds of 
future evils to the commonwealth they were about to sow. But he was not able to 
prevail with the majority of the senate, who, as I said, were determined to put an end 
to the sedition. Accordingly, a decree of the senate was passed confirming all the 
promises made by the envoys to the people and granting the safeguard they desired. 
The envoys, having transacted this business, returned to the camp the next day and 
made known the decision of the senate. Thereupon Menenius advised the plebeians 
to send some persons to receive the pledges which the senate was to give; and 
pursuant to this, Lucius Junius Brutus, whom I mentioned before, was sent, and with 
him Marcus Decius and Spurius Icilius. Of the envoys who had come from the senate 
one half returned to the city with Brutus and his associates; but Agrippa with the rest 
remained in the camp, having been asked by the plebeians to draw up the law for the 
creation of their magistrates. 

[6,89] The next day Brutus and those who had been sent with him returned, having 
effected the agreement with the senate through the arbiters of (p121) peace who are 
called by the Romans fetiales. And the people, dividing themselves into the clans of 
that day, or whatever one wishes to term the divisions which the Romans call "curiae", 
chose for their annual magistrates the following persons: Lucius Junius Brutus and 
Gaius Sicinius Bellutus, whom they had had as their leaders up to that time, and, in 
addition to these, Gaius and Publius Licinius and Gaius Visellius Ruga. These five 
persons were the first who received the tribunician power, on the fourth day before 
the ides of December, as is the custom even to our time. The election being over, the 
envoys of the senate considered that everything for which they had been sent was 
now properly settled. But Brutus, calling the plebeians together, advised them to 
render this magistracy sacred and inviolable, insuring its security by both a law and 
an oath. This was approved of by all, and a law was drawn up by him and his 
colleagues, as follows: "Let no one compel a tribune of the people, as if he were an 
ordinary person, to do anything against his will; let no one whip him or order another 
to whip him; and let no one kill him or order another to kill him. If anybody shall do 
any one of these things that are forbidden, let him be accursed and let his goods be 
consecrated to Ceres; and if anybody shall kill one who has done any of these things, 
let him be guiltless of murder." And to the end that the people might not even in 
future (p123) be at liberty to repeal this law, but that it might forever remain unalterable, 
it was ordained that all the Romans should solemnly swear over the sacrificial victims 
to observe it for all time, both they and their posterity; and a prayer was added to the 
oath that the heavenly gods and the divinities of the lower world might be propitious 
to those who observed it, and that the displeasure of the gods and divinities might be 
visited upon those who violated it, as being guilty of the greatest sacrilege. From this 
the custom arose among the Romans of regarding the persons of the tribunes of the 
people as sacrosanct, which custom continues to this day. 

[6,90] After they had passed this vote they erected an altar upon the summit of the 
mount where they had encamped, which they named in their own language the altar 
of Jupiter the Terrifier, from the terror which had possessed them at that time; and 
when they had performed sacrifices to this god and had consecrated the place which 
had received them, they returned to the city with the envoys.  After this they also 
returned thanks to the gods worshipped in the city, and prevailed upon the patricians 
to pass a vote for the confirmation of their new magistracy. And having obtained this 
also, they asked further that the senate should allow them to appoint every year two 
plebeians to act as assistants to the tribunes in everything the latter should require, to 
decide such causes as the others should refer to them, to (p125) have the oversight of 
public places, both sacred and profane, and to see that the market was supplied with 
plenty of provisions. Having obtained this concession also from the senate, they 
chose men whom they called assistants and colleagues of the tribunes, and judges. 
Now, however, they are called in their own language, from one of their functions, 
overseers of sacred places or aediles,64 and their power is no longer subordinate to 
that of other magistrates, as formerly; but many affairs of great importance are 
entrusted to them, and in most respects they resemble more or less the agoranomoi or 
"market-overseers" among the Greeks. 

[6,91] When affairs had been settled and the commonwealth restored to its former 
state, an army was raised by the generals against their foreign foes, as the people now 
displayed great alacrity and in a short time got everything ready that was necessary 
for the war. The consuls having drawn lots for their official duties according to 
custom, Spurius Cassius, to whom the oversight of affairs in the city fell, remained at 
home, retaining a sufficient part of the forces which had been raised, while Postumus 
Cominius took the field with the rest of the army, consisting of not only an adequate 
part of the Romans themselves but also no small auxiliary force of Latins. And 
deciding to attack the Volscians first, he took a city of theirs called Longula at the first 
assault, though the inhabitants undertook to make some show of bravery and sent 
some forces into the field in hopes of holding back the enemy; but these were (p127) put 
to shameful flight before they had performed any brilliant action and did not display 
the least courage even during the assault on their walls. At all events the Romans in 
one day not only possessed themselves of their country without effort, but also took 
their city by storm without much difficulty. The Roman general permitted the 
soldiers to divide all the goods left in the city, and then, leaving a garrison there, led 
his army against another city of the Volscians called Polusca, not far distant from 
Longula. When none dared to oppose him, he marched through the country with 
great ease and assaulted the walls; and then, some of the soldiers forcing open the 
gates and others scaling the walls, they made themselves masters of this city also that 
same day. After the consul had taken the city he chose out a few of the inhabitants 
who had been the authors of the revolt and put them to death; and having punished 
the rest by taking away their effects and disarmed them, he obliged them to be 
subjects of the Romans for the future. 

[6,92] He left in this city also a small part of the army as a garrison, and the next day 
marched with the rest to Corioli, a city of very great note and the mother-city, so to 
speak, of the Volscians. Here a strong force had been assembled, the walls were not 
easy to be taken, and everything necessary for war had been prepared long before by 
the inhabitants. The consul undertook to storm the walls and persisted in his efforts 
till late in the afternoon, but was (p129) repulsed by the enemy after he had lost many of 
his men. The next day he got ready battering rams, mantlets, and scaling-ladders 
and was preparing to make an attempt against the city with his entire forces; but 
learning that the Antiates were planning to come with a large force to the assistance 
of the Coriolani because of their kinship with them, and that those chosen to make 
the expedition were already upon the march, he divided his army and determined to 
continue the assault on the city with one half of it, leaving Titus Larcius in command, 
with the other half to stop the advance of the approaching force. Thus two actions 
took place on the same day, and the Romans gained the victory in both, as all of them 
fought with great ardour and one man in particular displayed incredible bravery and 
performed deeds that beggar description. This man was of patrician rank and of no 
obscure lineage, Gaius Marcius by name; he was sober and restrained in his private 
life and had the spirit of a freeman in full measure. The circumstances of the two 
actions were as follows: Larcius, having marched out of the camp with his army at 
break of day, advanced to the walls of Corioli and assault the city in many places. The 
Coriolani, for their part, elated by their expectation of aid from the Antiates, which 
they were convinced would son reach them, opened all their gates and made a general 
sally against the enemy.  The Romans sustained their first attack and wounded many 
of those who engaged them, but later, as the number of the assailants increased, they 
were forced down hill and gave way. Marcius, whom I mentioned before, upon seeing 
this, stood his ground with a few followers and awaited the solid mass of the enemy 
(p131) as they attacked. When he had struck down many of them and the rest gave way 
and fled toward the city, he followed, slaying, one after another, all who came within 
reach, and calling out without intermission to those of his own men who fled to face 
about, to take courage, and to follow him. These, ashamed of their behaviour, rallied 
and pressed hard upon their opponents, smiting and pursuing them; and in a short 
time they had all routed their antagonists and were attacking the walls of the city. 
Marcius, exposing himself now with greater boldness, kept advancing farther and 
farther, and coming to the very gates, entered along with those who were fleeing 
inside the walls. And when many others also forced their way inside with him, there 
ensued a great slaughter on both sides in many parts of the city, some fighting in the 
streets and others in defence of the houses that were being taken.  Even women 
assisted the inhabitants in their struggle by hurling down tiles upon the enemy from 
the roofs; and everyone according to his strength and power bravely defended his 
native city. However, they did not hold out long against these perils, but were obliged 
to surrender to the conquers. The city having been taken in this manner, most of the 
Romans turned to plundering the property found there, and continued for a long time 
intent on the booty, as there was a large quantity of money and a great number of 
slaves in the place. 

[6,93] But Marcius, who had been the first and (p133) only man to sustain the shock of the 
enemy and had distinguished himself above all the Romans both in the storming of 
the city and in the struggles which took place inside the walls, gained greater 
distinction in the second battle, which was fought against the Antiates. For he 
resolved not to be absent from this action either, but as soon as the city was captured, 
he took with him the small number of men who were able to follow him, and 
advancing at a run, found the two armies already drawn up and on the point of 
engaging. He was the first to inform the Romans of the capture of the city, and as a 
proof of it showed them the smoke which was rising in great volume from the houses 
that had been set on fire. And having obtained leave of the consul, he drew up his 
men in a compact body pi the strong est force of the enemy. As soon as the battle 
signals were raised, he was the first to come to grips with his opponents, and having 
killed many of those he encountered, he forced his way into the midst of their ranks. 
The Antiates no longer ventured to engaged him hand to hand, but leaving their 
ranks where he attacked, they surrounded him in a body, and retreating as he 
advanced and pursued them, they assailed him with their missiles. Postumus, being 
informed of this and fearing lest the man, thus isolated, might meet with some 
disaster, sent the bravest of the youth to his relief. These, doubling their files, charged 
the enemy; and when the first line failed to sustain their charge, but turned to flight, 
they pressed forward and found Marcius covered with wounds and saw (p135) many 
lying round him, some dead and others dying. Thereupon they advanced together 
under Marcius as leader against those of the enemy who still kept their ranks, killing 
all who made any resistance and treating them like slaves. Though all the Romans 
displayed notable valour in this action, and the bravest of them were those who 
defended Marcius, yet brave beyond all the rest was Marcius himself, who was 
without any doubt the chief cause of the victory. When at last it grew dark, the 
Romans retired to their camp greatly exulting in their victory, having killed many of 
the Antiates and carrying with them a great number of prisoners. 

[6,94] The next day Postumus, having assembled the army, spoke at length in praise of 
Marcius and crowned him with the crowns of valour, as rewards for his behaviour in 
both the actions. He also presented him with a war-horse adorned with the trappings 
belonging to that of a general, together with ten captives, leaving it to him to take 
such as he wished, and also as much silver as he could carry away himself, and many 
other fine first-fruits of the booty. When all raised a great shout in token of their 
approval and congratulation, Marcius came forward and said that he was very 
grateful both to the consul and to all the others for the honours of which they held 
him worthy; however, he would not avail himself of them all, but would be content 
with the horse, for the sake of the splendid trappings, and with one captive, who 
chanced to be a personal friend of his. The soldiers, who even before this (p137) had 
admired the man for his valour, now marvelled at him still more for his contempt of 
riches and for his moderation in such good fortune. From this action he was 
surnamed Coriolanus and became the most illustrious man of his age.  Such having 
been the outcome of the battle with the Antiates, the rest of the Volscian cities 
proceeded to give up their hostility to the Romans; and all who had sympathized with 
them, both those already in arms and those making their preparations for war, 
refrained. Postumus treated them all with moderation, and then, returning home, 
disbanded the army. 
Cassius, the other consul, who had been left at Rome, in the mean time consecrated 
the temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera, which stands at the end of the Circus Maximus, 
being erected directly above the starting-places. Aulus Postumius the dictator had 
made a vow, when he was on the point of engaging the army of the Latins,68 to 
dedicate it to the gods in the name of the commonwealth, and the senate after the 
victory having decreed that this temple should be built entirely out of the spoils, the 
work was now completed. 

[6,95] At the same time, a new treaty of peace and friendship was made with all the 
Latin cities, and confirmed by oaths, inasmuch as they had not attempted to create 
any disturbance during the sed, had openly rejoiced at the return of the populace, and 
seemed to have been prompt in assisting the Romans against those who had revolted 
from them. (p139) The provisions of the treaty were as follows: "Let there be peace 
between the Romans and all the Latin cities as long as the heavens and the earth shall 
remain where they are. Let them neither make war upon another themselves nor 
bring in foreign enemies nor grant a safe passage to those who shall make war upon 
either. Let them assist one another, when warred upon, with all their forces, and let 
each have an equal share of the spoils and booty taken in their common wars. Let 
suits relating to private contracts be determined within ten days, and in the nation 
where the contract was made. And let it not be permitted to add anything to, or take 
anything away from these treaties except by the consent both of the Romans and of 
all the Latins." This was the treaty entered into by the Romans and the Latins and 
confirmed by their oaths sworn over the sacrificial victims. The senate also voted to 
offer sacrifices to the gods in thanksgiving for their reconciliation with the populace, 
and added one day to the Latin festival, as it was called, which previously had been 
celebrated for two days. The first day had been set apart as holy by Tarquinius when 
he conquered the Tyrrhenians; the second the people added after they head freed the 
commonwealth by the expulsion of the kings; and to these the third was now added 
because of the return of the seceders. The superintendence and oversight of the 
sacrifices and games performed during this festival was committed to the tribunes' 
assistants, who held, as I said, the magistracy now called the aedileship; and they 
were honoured by (p141) the senate with a purple robe, an ivory chair, and the other 
insignia that the kings had had. 

[6,96] Not long after this festival Menenius Agrippa, one of the ex-consuls, died. It was 
he who had overcome the Sabines and had celebrated a most notable triumph for that 
victory; and it was through his persuasion that the senate had allowed the seceders to 
return and that the populace, because of their confidence in him, had given up their 
arms. He was buried at the expense of the public and his funeral was the most 
honourable and the most splendid that has fallen to any man. His estate, it seems, 
was not sufficient to defray the expense of a magnificent funeral and burial, so that 
even the guardians of his children resolved after consultation to carry him out of the 
city and bury him like any ordinary person at little expense.  This, however, the 
people would not permit; but the tribunes, having assembled them and paid lengthy 
tributes to the achievements of Agrippa in both war and peace, lauding to the highest 
degree his moderation and his frugal manner of life, and, above all, his refraining 
from amassing riches, said it would be the most dishonourable thing imaginable that 
such a man should be buried in an obscure and humble manner by reason of his 
poverty; and they advised the people to take the expense of his funeral upon 
themselves and every man to contribute towards it such an amount as they, the 
tribunes, should assess. His audience gladly heard this proposal, and when each 
man had presently contributed the amount he was assessed, a large sum was 
collected. The senate, being informed (p143) of this, was ashamed of the business and 
resolved not to allow the most illustrious of all the Romans to be buried by private 
contributions, but thought it fitting that the expense should be defrayed from the 
public funds; and it entrusted the care of the matter to the quaestors. These let the 
contract for the furnishing of his funeral for a very large sum of money; and having 
arrayed his body in the most sumptuous manner, and furnished everything else that 
could tend to magnificence, they buried him in a manner worthy of his virtue. 
Thereupon the people, in emulation of the senate, refused on their part to receive 
back the sum they had contributed, when the quaestors offered to return it, but 
presented it to the children of the deceased in compassion for their poverty and to 
prevent them from engaging in any pursuits unworthy of their father's virtue. there 
was also a census taken at this time by the consuls, according to which the number of 
the citizens who registered was found to amount to more than 110,000.