The multitude was now roused, and a contest seemed threatening. The lictors had taken their stand around Icilius; they did not, however, proceed beyond threats, while Appius said that it was not Verginia who was being defended by Icilius, but that, being a restless man, and even now breathing the spirit of the tribuneship, he was seeking an opportunity for creating a disturbance. That he would not afford him the chance of doing so on that day; but in order that he might now know that the concession had been made not to his petulance, but to the absent Verginius, to the name of father and to liberty, that he would not decide the case on that day, nor introduce a decree: that he would request Marcus Claudius to forego somewhat of his right, and to suffer the girl to be bailed till the next day. However, unless the father attended on the following day, he gave notice to Icilius and to men like Icilius, that, as the framer of it, he would maintain his own law, as a decemvir, his firmness: that he would certainly not assemble the lictors of his colleagues to put down the promoters of sedition; that he would be content with his own. When the time of this act of injustice had been deferred, and the friends of the maiden had retired, it was first of all determined that the brother of Icilius, and the son of Numitorius, both active young men, should proceed thence straight to the city gate, and that Verginius should be summoned from the camp with all possible haste: that the safety of the girl depended on his being present next day at the proper time, to protect her from wrong. They proceeded according to directions, and galloping at full speed, carried the news to her father. When the claimant of the maiden was pressing Icilius to lay claim to her, and give bail for her appearance, and Icilius said that that was the very thing that was being done, purposely wasting the time, until the messengers sent to the camp should finish their journey, the multitude raised their hands on all sides, and every one showed himself ready to go surety for Icilius. And he, with his eyes full of tears, said: "This is a great favour; to-morrow I will avail myself of your assistance: at present I have sufficient sureties." Thus Verginia was bailed on the security of her relations. Appius, having delayed a short time, that he might not appear to have sat on account of that case alone, when no one made application to him, all other concerns being set aside owing to the interest displayed in this one case, betook himself home, and wrote to his colleague in the camp, not to grant leave of absence to Verginius, and even to keep him in confinement. This wicked scheme was too late, as it deserved: for Verginius, having already obtained his leave had set out at the first watch, while the letter regarding his detention was delivered on the following morning without effect.

But in the city, at daybreak, when the citizens were standing in the forum on the tiptoe of expectation, Verginius, clad in mourning, conducted his daughter, also shabbily attired, attended by some matrons, into the forum, with a considerable body of supporters. He there began to go around and solicit people: and not only entreated their aid given out of kindness, but demanded it as a right: saying that he stood daily in the field of battle in defence of their wives and children, nor was there any other man, whose brave and intrepid deeds in war could be recorded in greater numbers. What availed it, if, while the city was secure from dangers, their children had to endure these calamities, which were the worst that could be dreaded if it were taken? Uttering these words just like one delivering a public harangue, he solicited the people individually. Similar arguments were put forward by Icilius: the attendant throng of women produced more effect by their silent tears than any words. With a mind stubbornly proof against all this—such an attack of frenzy, rather than of love, had perverted his mind—Appius ascended the tribunal, and when the claimant went on to complain briefly, that justice had not been administered to him on the preceding day through party influence, before either he could go through with his claim, or an opportunity of reply was afforded to Verginius, Appius interrupted him. The preamble with which he prefaced his decision, ancient authors may have handed down perhaps with some degree of truth; but since I nowhere find any that is probable in the case of so scandalous a decision, I think it best to state the bare fact, which is generally admitted, that he passed a sentence consigning her to slavery. At first a feeling of bewilderment astounded all, caused by amazement at so heinous a proceeding: then for some time silence prevailed. Then, when Marcus Claudius proceeded to seize the maiden, while the matrons stood around, and was met by the piteous lamentations of the women, Verginius, menacingly stretching forth his hands toward Appius, said: "To Icilius, and not to you, Appius, have I betrothed my daughter, and for matrimony, not for prostitution, have I brought her up. Would you have men gratify their lust promiscuously, like cattle and wild beasts? Whether these persons will endure such things, I know not; I do not think that those will do so who have arms in their hands." When the claimant of the girl was repulsed by the crowd of women and supporters who were standing around her, silence was proclaimed by the crier.

The decemvir, as if he had lost his reason owing to his passion, stated that not only from Icilius's abusive harangue of the day before, and the violence of Verginius, of which he could produce the entire Roman people as witnesses, but from authentic information also he had ascertained that secret meetings were held in the city throughout the night with the object of stirring up sedition: that he, accordingly, being aware of that danger, had come down with armed soldiers, not to molest any peaceable person, but in order to punish, as the majesty of the government demanded, those who disturbed the tranquility of the state. "It will, therefore," said he, "be better to remain quiet: go, lictor, disperse the crowd, and clear the way for the master to lay hold of his slave." After he had thundered out these words, full of wrath, the multitude of their own accord dispersed, and the girl stood deserted, a sacrifice to injustice. Then Verginius, when he saw no aid anywhere, said: "I beg you, Appius, first pardon a father's grief, if I have attacked you too harshly: in the next place, suffer me to ask the nurse here in presence of the maiden, what all this means, that, if I have been falsely called her father, I may depart hence with mind more tranquil." Permission having been granted, he drew the girl and the nurse aside to the booths near the chapel of Cloacina,[52] which now go by the name of the New Booths:[53] and there, snatching a knife from a butcher, "In this, the only one way I can, my daughter," said he, "do I secure to you your liberty." He then plunged it into the girl's breast, and looking back toward the tribunal, said "With this blood I devote thee,[54] Appius, and thy head!" Appius, aroused by the cry raised at so dreadful a deed, ordered Verginius to be seized. He, armed with the knife, cleared the way whithersoever he went, until, protected by the crowd of persons attending him, he reached the gate. Icilius and Numitorius took up the lifeless body and showed it to the people; they deplored the villainy of Appius, the fatal beauty of the maiden, and the cruel lot of the father.[55] The matrons, following, cried out: Was this the condition of rearing children? Were these the rewards of chastity? And other things which female grief on such occasions suggests, when their complaints are so much the more affecting, in proportion as their grief is more intense from their want of self-control. The men, and more especially Icilius, spoke of nothing but the tribunician power, and the right of appeal to the people which had been taken from them, and gave vent to their indignation in regard to the condition of public affairs.

The multitude was excited partly by the heinousness of the misdeed, partly by the hope of recovering their liberty on a favourable opportunity. Appius first ordered Icilius to be summoned before him, then, when he refused to come, to be seized: finally, when the officers were not allowed an opportunity of approaching him, he himself, proceeding through the crowd with a body of young patricians, ordered him to be led away to prison. Now not only the multitude, but Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius, the leaders of the multitude, stood around Icilius and, having repulsed the lictor, declared, that, if Appius should proceed according to law, they would protect Icilius from one who was but a private citizen; if he should attempt to employ force, that even in that case they would be no unequal match for him. Hence arose a violent quarrel. The decemvir's lictor attacked Valerius and Horatius: the fasces were broken by the people. Appius ascended the tribunal; Horatius and Valerius followed him. They were attentively listened to by the assembly: the voice of the decemvir was drowned with clamour. Now Valerius, as if he possessed the authority to do so, was ordering the lictors to depart from one who was but a private citizen, when Appius, whose spirits were now broken, alarmed for his life, betook himself into a house in the vicinity of the forum, unobserved by his enemies, with his head covered up. Spurius Oppius, in order to assist his colleague, rushed into the forum by the opposite side: he saw their authority overpowered by force. Distracted then by various counsels and by listening to several advisers from every side, he had become hopelessly confused: eventually he ordered the senate to be convened. Because the official acts of the decemvirs seemed displeasing to the greater portion of the patricians, this step quieted the people with the hope that the government would be abolished through the senate. The senate was of opinion that the commons should not be stirred up, and that much more effectual measures should be taken lest the arrival of Verginius should cause any commotion in the army.

Accordingly, some of the junior patricians, being sent to the camp which was at that time on Mount Vecilius, announced to the decemvirs that they should do their utmost to keep the soldiers from mutinying. There Verginius occasioned greater commotion than he had left behind him in the city. For besides that he was seen coming with a body of nearly four hundred men, who, enraged in consequence of the disgraceful nature of the occurrence, had accompanied him from the city, the unsheathed knife, and his being himself besmeared with blood, attracted to him the attention of the entire camp; and the gowns,[56] seen in many parts of the camp had caused the number of people from the city to appear much greater than it really was. When they asked him what was the matter, in consequence of his weeping, for a long time he did not utter a word. At length, as soon as the crowd of those running together became quiet after the disturbance, and silence ensued, he related everything in order as it had occurred.

Then extending his hands toward heaven, addressing his fellow-soldiers, he begged of them, not to impute to him that which was the crime of Appius Claudius, nor to abhor him as the murderer of his child. To him the life of his daughter was dearer than his own, if she had been allowed to live in freedom and chastity. When he beheld her dragged to prostitution as if she were a slave, thinking it better that his child should be lost by death rather than by dishonour, through compassion for her he had apparently fallen into cruelty. Nor would he have survived his daughter had he not entertained the hope of avenging her death by the aid of his fellow-soldiers. For they too had daughters, sisters, and wives; nor was the lust of Appius Claudius extinguished with his daughter; but in proportion as it escaped with greater impunity, so much the more unbridled would it be. That by the calamity of another a warning was given to them to guard against a similar injury. As far as he was concerned, his wife had been taken from him by destiny; his daughter, because she could no longer have lived as a chaste woman, had met with an unfortunate but honourable death; that there was now no longer in his family an opportunity for the lust of Appius; that from any other violence of his he would defend his person with the same spirit with which he had vindicated that of his daughter: that others should take care for themselves and their children. While he uttered these words in a loud voice, the multitude responded with a shout that they would not be backward, either to avenge his wrongs or to defend their own liberty. And the civilians mixing with the crowd of soldiers, by uttering the same complaints, and by showing how much more shocking these things must have appeared when seen than when merely heard of, and also by telling them that the disturbance at Rome was now almost over—and others having subsequently arrived who asserted that Appius, having with difficulty escaped with life, had gone into exile—all these individuals so far influenced them that there was a general cry to arms, and having pulled up the standards, they set out for Rome. The decemvirs, being alarmed at the same time both by what they now saw, as well as by what they had heard had taken place at Rome, ran about to different parts of the camp to quell the commotion. While they proceeded with mildness no answer was returned to them: if any of them attempted to exert authority, the soldiers replied that they were men and were armed. They proceeded in a body to the city and occupied the Aventine, encouraging the commons, as each person met them, recover their liberty, and elect tribunes of the people; no other expression of violence was heard. Spurius Oppius held a meeting of the senate; it was resolved that no harsh measures should be adopted, inasmuch as occasion for sedition had been given by themselves.[57] Three men of consular rank, Spurius Tarpeius, Gaius Julius, Publius Sulpicius, were sent as ambassadors, to inquire, in the name of the senate, by whose order they had deserted the camp? Or what they meant by having occupied the Aventine in arms, and, turning away their arms from the enemy, having seized their own country? They were at no loss for an answer: but they wanted some one to give the answer, there being as yet no certain leader, and individuals were not bold enough to expose themselves to the invidious office. The multitude only cried out with one accord, that they should send Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius to them, saying that they would give their answer to them.

The ambassadors being dismissed, Verginius reminded the soldiers that a little while before they had been embarrassed in a matter of no very great difficulty, because the multitude was without a head; and that the answer given, though not inexpedient, was the result rather of an accidental agreement than of a concerted plan. His opinion was, that ten persons should be elected to preside over the management of state affairs, and that they should be called tribunes of the soldiers, a title suited to their military dignity. When that honour was offered to himself in the first instance, he replied, "Reserve for an occasion more favourable to both of us your kind recognition of me. The fact of my daughter being unavenged, does not allow any office to be agreeable to me, nor, in the present disturbed condition of the state, is it advantageous that those should be at your head who are most exposed to party animosity. If I am of any use, the benefit to be gained from my services will be just as great while I am a private individual." They accordingly elected military tribunes ten in number.

Meanwhile the army among the Sabines was not inactive. There also, at the instance of Icilius and Numitorius, a secession from the decemvirs took place, men's minds being no less moved when they recalled to mind the murder of Siccius, than when they were fired with rage at the recent account of the disgraceful attempt made on the maiden to gratify lust. When Icilius heard that tribunes of the soldiers had been elected on the Aventine, lest the election assembly in the city should follow the precedent of the military assembly, by electing the same persons tribunes of the commons, being well versed in popular intrigues and having an eye to that office himself, he also took care, before they proceeded to the city, that the same number should be elected by his own party with equal power. They entered the city by the Colline gate under their standards, and proceeded in a body to the Aventine through the midst of the city. There, joining the other army, they commissioned the twenty tribunes of the soldiers to select two out of their number to preside over state affairs. They elected Marcus Oppius and Sextus Manilius. The patricians, alarmed for the general safety, though there was a meeting of the senate every day, wasted the time in wrangling more frequently than in deliberation. The murder of Siccius, the lust of Appius, and the disgraces incurred in war were urged as charges against the decemvirs. It was resolved that Valerius and Horatius should proceed to the Aventine. They refused to go on any other condition than that the decemvirs should lay down the badges of that office, which they had resigned at the end of the previous year. The decemvirs, complaining that they were now being degraded, declared that they would not resign their office until those laws, for the sake of which they had been appointed, were passed.

The people being informed by Marcus Duillius, who had been tribune of the people, that by reason of their continual contentions no business was transacted, passed from the Aventine to the Sacred Mount, as Duillius asserted that no concern for business would enter the minds of the patricians, until they saw the city deserted: that the Sacred Mount would remind them of the people's firmness: that they would then know that matters could not be brought back to harmony without the restoration of the tribunician power. Having set out along the Nomentan way, which was then called the Ficulean,[58] they pitched their camp on the Sacred Mount, imitating the moderation of their fathers by committing no violence. The commons followed the army, no one whose age would permit him declining to go. Their wives and children attended them, piteously asking to whom they were leaving them, in a city where neither chastity nor liberty were respected. When the unusual solitude had created everywhere at Rome a feeling of desolation; when there was no one in the forum but a few old men: when, after the patricians had been summoned into the senate, the forum appeared deserted, by this time more besides Horatius and Valerius began to exclaim, "What will you now wait for, conscript fathers? If the decemvirs do not put an end to their obstinacy, will you suffer all things to go to wreck and ruin? What power is that of yours, decemvirs, which you embrace and hold so firmly? Do you mean to administer justice to walls and houses? Are you not ashamed that an almost greater number of your lictors is to be seen in the forum than of the other citizens? What are you going to do, in case the enemy should approach the city? What, if the commons should come presently in arms, in case we show ourselves little affected by their secession? Do you mean to end your power by the fall of the city? Well, then, either we must not have the commons, or they must have their tribunes. We shall sooner be able to dispense with our patrician magistrates, than they with their plebeian. That power, when new and untried, they wrested from our fathers; much less will they now, when once captivated by its charm, endure the loss of: more especially since we do not behave with such moderation in the exercise of our power that they are in no need of the aid of the tribunes." When these arguments were thrown out from every quarter, the decemvirs, overpowered by the united opinions of all, declared that, since such seemed to be the feeling, they would submit to the authority of the patricians. All they asked for themselves was that they might be protected from popular odium; they warned the senate, that they should not, by shedding their blood, habituate the people to inflict punishment on the patricians.

Then Valerius and Horatius, having been sent to bring back the people on such terms as might seem fit, and to adjust all differences, were directed to make provision also to protect the decemvirs from the resentment and violence of the multitude. They set forth and were received into the camp amid the great joy of the people, as their undoubted liberators, both at the beginning of the disturbance and at the termination of the matter. In consideration of these things, thanks were returned to them on their arrival. Icilius delivered a speech in the name of the people. When the terms came to be considered, on the ambassadors inquiring what the demands of the people were, he also, having already concerted the plan before the arrival of the ambassadors, made such demands, that it became evident that more hope was placed in the justice of their case than in arms. For they demanded the restoration of the tribunician office and the right of appeal, which, before the appointment of decemvirs, had been the supports of the people, and that it should be without detriment to any one to have instigated the soldiers or the commons to seek to recover their liberty by a secession. Concerning the punishment only of the decemvirs was their demand immoderate: for they thought it but just that they should be delivered up to them, and threatened to burn them alive. The ambassadors replied: "Your demands which have been the result of deliberation are so reasonable, that they should be voluntarily offered to you: for you demand therein safeguards for your liberty, not a means of arbitrary power to assail others. Your resentment we must rather pardon than indulge, seeing that from your hatred of cruelty you rush into cruelty, and almost before you are free yourselves, already wish to lord it over your opponents. Shall our state never enjoy rest from punishments, inflicted either by the patricians on the Roman commons, or by the commons on the patricians? You need a shield rather than a sword. He is sufficiently and abundantly humbled who lives in the state on an equal footing with his fellow-citizens, neither inflicting nor suffering injury. Should you, however, at any time wish to render yourselves formidable, when, after you have recovered your magistrates and laws, decisions on our lives and fortunes shall be in your hands, then you shall determine according to the merits of each case: for the present it is sufficient that your liberty be recovered."

All assenting that they should act just as they thought proper, the ambassadors assured them that they would speedily return, having brought everything to a satisfactory termination. When they had gone and laid before the patricians the message of the commons—while the other decemvirs, since, contrary to their own expectation, no mention was made of their punishment—raised no objection, Appius, being of a truculent disposition and the chief object of detestation, measuring the rancour of others toward him by his own toward them, said: "I am not ignorant of the fate which threatens me. I see that the contest against us is only deferred until our arms are delivered up to our adversaries. Blood must be offered up to popular rage. I do not even hesitate to resign my decemvirate." A decree of the senate was then passed: that the decemvirs should as soon as possible resign their office; that Quintus Furius, chief pontiff, should hold an election of plebeian tribunes, and that the secession of the soldiers and commons should not be detrimental to any one. These decrees of the senate being completed, and the senate dismissed, the decemvirs came forth into the assembly, and resigned their office, to the great joy of all. News of this was carried to the commons. All those who remained in the city escorted the ambassadors. This crowd was met by another joyous body from the camp; they congratulated each other on the restoration of liberty and concord to the state. The deputies spoke as follows before the assembly: "Be it advantageous, fortunate, and happy for you and the republic—return to your country, to your household gods, your wives and children; but carry into the city the same moderation which you observed here, where in spite of the pressing need of so many things necessary for so large a number of persons, no man's field has been injured. Go to the Aventine, whence you set out. There, in that auspicious place, where you laid the first beginnings of your liberty, you shall elect tribunes of the people. The chief pontiff will be at hand to hold the elections." Great was their approval and joy, as evinced in their assent to every measure. They then pulled up their standards, and having set out for Rome, vied in exultation with all they met. Silently, under arms, they marched through the city and reached the Aventine. There, the chief pontiff holding the meeting for the elections, they immediately elected as their tribunes of the people, first of all Lucius Verginius, then Lucius Icilius, and Publius Numitorius, the uncle of Verginius, who had recommended the secession: then Gaius Sicinius, the offspring of him who is recorded to have been elected first tribune of the commons on the Sacred Mount; and Marcus Duillius, who had held a distinguished tribuneship before the appointment of the decemvirs, and never failed the commons in their contests with the decemvirs. Marcus Titinius, Marcus Pomponius, Gaius Apronius, Appius Villius, and Gaius Oppius, were elected more from hope entertained of them than from any actual services. When he entered on his tribuneship, Lucius Icilius immediately brought before the people, and the people enacted, that the secession from the decemvirs which had taken place should not prove detrimental to any individual. Immediately after Duillius carried a proposition for electing consuls, with right of appeal[59]. All these things were transacted in an assembly of the commons in the Flaminian meadows, which are now called the Flaminian Circus.[60]

Then, through an interrex, Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius were elected consuls, and immediately entered on their office; their consulship, agreeable to the people, although it did no injury to the patricians, was not, however, without giving them offence; for whatever measures were taken to secure the liberty of the people, they considered to be a diminution of their own power. First of all, when it was as it were a disputed point of law, whether patricians were bound by regulations enacted in an assembly of the commons, they proposed a law in the assembly of the centuries, that whatever the commons ordered in the assembly of the tribes, should be binding on the entire people; by which law a most keen-edged weapon of offence was given to the motions introduced by tribunes. Then another law made by a consul concerning the right of appeal, a singularly effective safeguard of liberty, that had been upset by the decemviral power, was not only restored but also guarded for the time to come, by the passing of a new law, that no one should appoint any magistrate without appeal:[61] if any person should so appoint, it should be lawful and right that he be put to death; and that such killing should not be deemed a capital offence. And when they had sufficiently secured the commons by the right of appeal on the one hand by tribunician aid on the other, they revived for the tribunes themselves the privilege that their persons should be considered inviolable—the recollection of which was now almost forgotten—by renewing after a long interval certain ceremonies which had fallen into disuse; and they rendered them inviolable by religion, as well as by a law, enacting that whosoever should offer injury to tribunes of the people, aediles, or judicial decemvirs, his person should be devoted to Jupiter, and his property be sold at the Temple of Ceres, Liber, and Libera. Expounders of the law deny that any person is by this law inviolable, but assert that he, who may do an injury to any of them, is deemed by law accursed: and that, accordingly, an aedile may be arrested and carried to prison by superior magistrates, which, though it be not expressly warranted by law (for an injury is done to a person to whom it is not lawful to do an injury according to this law), is yet a proof that an aedile is not considered as sacred and inviolable; the tribunes, however, are sacred and inviolable according to the ancient oath of the commons, when first they created that office. There have been some who supposed that by this same Horatian law provision was made for the consuls also and the praetors, because they were elected under the same auspices as the consuls; for a consul was called a judge. This interpretation is refuted, because at this time it had not yet been customary for the consul to be styled judge, but praetor.[62] These were the laws proposed by the consuls. It was also arranged by the same consuls, that decrees of the senate, which before that used to be suppressed and altered at the pleasure of the consuls, should be deposited in the Temple of Ceres, under the care of the aediles of the commons. Then Marcus Duillius, tribune of the commons, brought before the people and the people enacted, that whoever left the people without tribunes, and whoever caused a magistrate to be elected without appeal, should be punished with stripes and beheaded. All these enactments, though against the feelings of the patricians, passed off without opposition from them, because as yet no severity was aimed at any particular individual.

Then, both the tribunician power and the liberty of the commons having been firmly established, the tribunes, now deeming it both safe and seasonable to attack individuals, singled out Verginius as the first prosecutor and Appius as defendant. When Verginius had appointed a day for Appius to take his trial, and Appius had come down to the forum, accompanied by a band of young patricians, the recollection of his most profligate exercise of power was instantly revived in the minds of all, as soon as they beheld the man himself and his satellites. Then said Verginius: "Long speeches are only meant for matters of a doubtful nature. Accordingly, I shall neither waste time in dwelling on the guilt of this man before you, from whose cruelty you have rescued yourselves by force of arms, nor will I suffer him to add impudence to his other crimes in defending himself. Wherefore, Appius Claudius, I pardon you for all the impious and nefarious deeds you have had the effrontery to commit one after another for the last two years; with respect to one charge only, unless you shall choose a judge who shall acquit you that you have not sentenced a free person to slavery, contrary to the laws, I shall order that you be taken into custody." Neither in the aid of the tribunes, nor in the judgment of the people, could Appius place any hope: still he both appealed to the tribunes, and, when no one heeded him, being seized by the officer, he exclaimed, "I appeal." The hearing of this one word that safeguard of liberty, and the fact that it was uttered from that mouth, by which a free citizen was so recently consigned to slavery, caused silence. And, while they loudly declared, each on his own behalf, that at length the existence of the gods was proved, and that they did not disregard human affairs; and that punishments awaited tyranny and cruelty, which punishments, though late, were, however, by no means light; that that man now appealed, who had abolished all right of appeal; and that he implored the protection of the people, who had trampled under foot all the rights of the people: and that he was being dragged off to prison, destitute of the rights of liberty, who had doomed a free person to slavery, the voice of Appius himself was heard, amid the murmurs of the assembly, imploring the protection of the Roman people. He enumerated the services of his ancestors to the state, at home and abroad: his own unfortunate anxiety for the interests of the Roman commons, owing to which he had resigned the consulship, to the very great displeasure of the patricians, for the purpose of equalizing the laws; he then went on to mention those laws of his, the framer of which was dragged off to prison, though the laws still remained in force. However, in regard to what bore especially on his own case, his personal merits and demerits, he would make trial of them, when an opportunity should be afforded him of stating his defence; at present, he, a Roman citizen, demanded, by the common right of citizenship, that he be allowed to speak on the day appointed, and to appeal to the judgment of the Roman people: he did not dread popular odium so much as not to place any hope in the fairness and compassion of his fellow-citizens. But if he were led to prison without being heard, that he once more appealed to the tribunes of the people, and warned them not to imitate those whom they hated. But if the tribunes acknowledged themselves bound by the same agreement for abolishing the right of appeal, which they charged the decemvirs with having conspired to form, then he appealed to the people, he implored the aid of the laws passed that very year, both by the consuls and tribunes, regarding the right of appeal. For who would there be to appeal, if this were not allowed a person as yet uncondemned, whose case had not been heard? What plebeian or humble individual would find protection in the laws, if Appius Claudius could not? That he would be a proof whether tyranny or liberty was established by the new laws, and whether the right of appeal and of challenge against the injustice of magistrates was only held out in idle words, or really granted.

Verginius, on the other hand, affirmed that Appius Claudius was the only person who had no part or share in the laws, or in any covenant civil or human. Men should look to the tribunal, the fortress of all villainies, where that perpetual decemvir, venting his fury on the property, person, and life of the citizens, threatening all with his rods and axes, a despiser of gods and men, surrounded by men who were executioners, not lictors, turning his thoughts from rapine and murder to lust, tore a free-born maiden, as if she had been a prisoner of war, from the embraces of her father, before the eyes of the Roman people, and gave her as a present to a dependent, the minister to his secret pleasures: where too by a cruel decree, and a most outrageous decision, he armed the right hand of the father against the daughter: where he ordered the betrothed and uncle, on their raising the lifeless body of the girl, to be led away to prison, affected more by the interruption of his lust than by her death: that the prison was built for him also which he was wont to call the domicile of the Roman commons. Wherefore, though he might appeal again and again, he himself would again and again propose a judge, to try him on the charge of having sentenced a free person to slavery; if he would not go before a judge, he ordered him to be taken to prison as one already condemned. He was thrown into prison, though without the disapprobation of any individual, yet not without considerable emotion of the public mind, since, in consequence of the punishment by itself of so distinguished a man, their own liberty began to be considered by the commons themselves as excessive.[63]

The tribunes adjourned the day of trial.

Meanwhile, ambassadors from the Hernicans and Latins came to Rome to offer their congratulations on the harmony existing between the patricians and commons, and as an offering on that account to Jupiter, best and greatest, they brought into the Capitol a golden crown, of small weight, as money at that time was not plentiful, and the duties of religion were performed rather with piety than splendour. On the same authority it was ascertained that the Aequans and Volscians were preparing for war with the utmost energy. The consuls were therefore ordered to divide the provinces between them. The Sabines fell to the lot of Horatius, the AEquans to Valerius. After they had proclaimed a levy for these wars, through the good offices of the commons, not only the younger men, but a large number, consisting of volunteers from among those who had served their time,[64] attended to give in their names: and hence the army was stronger not only in the number but also in the quality of its soldiers, owing to the admixture of veterans. Before they marched out of the city, they engraved on brass, and fixed up in public view, the decemviral laws, which are named "the twelve tables." There are some who state that the aediles discharged that office by order of the tribunes.

Gaius Claudius, who, detesting the crimes of the decemvirs and, above all, incensed at the arrogant conduct of his brother-in-law, had retired to Regillum, his ancestral home. Though advanced in years, he now returned to the City, to deprecate the dangers threatening the man whose vicious practices had driven him into retirement. Going down to the Forum in mourning garb, accompanied by the members of his house and by his clients, he appealed to the citizens individually, and implored them not to stain the house of the Claudii with such an indelible disgrace as to deem them worthy of bonds and imprisonment. To think that a man whose image would be held in highest honour by posterity, the framer of their laws and the founder of Roman jurisprudence, should be lying manacled amongst nocturnal thieves and robbers! Let them turn their thoughts for a moment from feelings of exasperation to calm examination and reflection, and forgive one man at the intercession of so many of the Claudii, rather than through their hatred of one man despise the prayers of many. So far he himself would go for the honour of his family and his name, but he was not reconciled to the man whose distressed condition he was anxious to relieve. By courage their liberties had been recovered, by clemency the harmony of the orders in the State could be strengthened. Some were moved, but it was more by the affection he showed for his nephew than by any regard for the man for whom he was pleading. But Verginius begged them with tears to keep their compassion for him and his daughter, and not to listen to the prayers of the Claudii, who had assumed sovereign power over the plebs, but to the three tribunes, kinsmen of Verginia, who, after being elected to protect the plebeians, were now seeking their protection. This appeal was felt to have more justice in it. All hope being now cut off, Appius put an end to his life before the day of trial came.

Soon after Sp. Oppius was arraigned by P. Numitorius. He was only less detested than Appius, because he had been in the City when his colleague pronounced the iniquitous judgment. More indignation, however, was aroused by an atrocity which Oppius had committed than by his not having prevented one. A witness was produced, who after reckoning up twenty-seven years of service, and eight occasions on which he had been decorated for conspicuous bravery, appeared before the people wearing all his decorations. Tearing open his dress he exhibited his back lacerated with stripes. He asked for nothing but a proof on Oppius' part of any single charge against him; if such proof were forthcoming, Oppius, though now only a private citizen, might repeat all his cruelty towards him. Oppius was taken to prison and there, before the day of trial, he put an end to his life. His property and that of Claudius were confiscated by the tribunes. Their colleagues changed their domicile by going into exile; their property also was confiscated. M. Claudius, who had been the claimant of Verginia, was tried and condemned; Verginius himself, however, refused to press for the extreme penalty, so he was allowed to go into exile to Tibur. Verginia was more fortunate after her death than in her lifetime; her shade, after wandering through so many houses in quest of expiatory penalties, at length found rest, not one guilty person being now left.

Great alarm seized the patricians; the looks of the tribunes were now as menacing as those of the decemvirs had been. M. Duillius the tribune imposed a salutary check upon their excessive exercise of authority. "We have gone," he said, "far enough in the assertion of our liberty and the punishment of our opponents, so for this year I will allow no man to be brought to trial or cast into prison. I disapprove of old crimes, long forgotten, being raked up, now that the recent ones have been atoned for by the punishment of the decemvirs. The unceasing care which both the consuls are taking to protect your liberties is a guarantee that nothing will be done which will call for the power of the tribunes." This spirit of moderation shown by the tribune relieved the fears of the patricians, but it also intensified their resentment against the consuls, for they seemed to be so wholly devoted to the plebs, that the safety and liberty of the patricians were a matter of more immediate concern to the plebeian than they were to the patrician magistrates. It seemed as though their adversaries would grow weary of inflicting punishment on them sooner than the consuls would curb their insolence. It was pretty generally asserted that they had shown weakness, since their laws had been sanctioned by the senate, and no doubt was entertained that they had yielded to the pressure of circumstances.

After matters had been settled in the City and the position of the plebs firmly assured, the consuls left for their respective provinces. Valerius wisely suspended operations against the armies of the Aequans and the Volscians, which had now united at Algidum: whereas, if he had immediately intrusted the issue to fortune, I am inclined to think that, considering the feelings both of the Romans and of their enemies at that time, after the unfavourable auspices of the decemvirs,[65] the contest would have cost him heavy loss. Having pitched his camp at the distance of a mile from the enemy, he kept his men quiet. The enemy filled the space lying between the two camps with their army in order of battle, and not a single Roman made answer when they challenged them to fight. At length, wearied with standing and waiting in vain for a contest, the Aequans and Volscians, considering that the victory was almost yielded to them, went off some to Hernican, others to Latin territory, to commit depredations. There was left in the camp rather a garrison for its defence than sufficient force for a contest. When the consul perceived this, he in turn inspired the terror which his own men had previously felt, and having drawn up his troops in order of battle on his side, provoked the enemy to fight. When they, conscious of their lack of forces, declined battle, the courage of the Romans immediately increased, and they considered them vanquished, as they stood panic-stricken within their rampart. Having stood throughout the day eager for the contest, they retired at night. And the Romans, now full of hope, set about refreshing themselves. The enemy, in by no means equal spirits, being now anxious, despatched messengers in every direction to recall the plundering parties.

Those in the nearest places returned: those who were farther off were not found. When day dawned, the Romans left the camp, determined on assaulting the rampart, unless an opportunity of fighting presented itself; and when the day was now far advanced, and no movement was made by the enemy, the consul ordered an advance; and the troops being put in motion, the Aequans and Volscians were seized with indignation, at the thought that victorious armies had to be defended by a rampart rather than by valour and arms. Wherefore they also earnestly demanded the signal for battle from their generals, and received it. And now half of them had got out of the gates, and the others in succession were marching in order, as they went down each to his own post, when the Roman consul, before the enemy's line, supported by their entire strength, could get into close order, advanced upon them; and having attacked them before they were all as yet led forth, and before those, who were, had their lines properly drawn out, he fell upon them, a crowd almost beginning to waver, as they ran from one place to another, and gazed around upon themselves, and looked eagerly for their friends, the shouts and violent attack adding to the already panic-stricken condition of their minds. The enemy at first gave way; then, having rallied their spirits, when their generals on every side reproachfully asked them, whether they intended to yield to vanquished foes, the battle was restored.

On the other side, the consul desired the Romans to remember that on that day, for the first time, they fought as free men in defence of Rome, now a free city. That it was for themselves they were about to conquer, not to become, when victorious, the prize of the decemvirs. That it was not under the command of Appius that operations were being conducted, but under their consul Valerius, descended from the liberators of the Roman people, himself their liberator. Let them show that in former battles it had been the fault of the generals and not of the soldiers, that they did not conquer. That it was shameful to have exhibited more courage against their own countrymen than against their enemies, and to have dreaded slavery more at home than abroad. That Verginia was the only person whose chastity had been in danger in time of peace; that Appius had been the only citizen of dangerous lust. But if the fortune of war should turn against them, the children of all would be in danger from so many thousands of enemies; that he was unwilling to forebode what neither Jupiter nor their father Mars would be likely to suffer to befall a city built under such auspices. He reminded them of the Aventine and the Sacred Mount; that they should bring back dominion unimpaired to that spot, where their liberty had been won but a few months before; and that they should show that the Roman soldiers retained the same disposition after the expulsion of the decemvirs, as they had possessed before they were appointed, and that the valour of the Roman people had not deteriorated after the laws had been equalized. After he uttered these words among the battalions of the infantry, he hurried from them to the cavalry. "Come, young men," said he, "show yourselves superior to the infantry in valour, as you already are their superiors in honour and in rank. The infantry at the first onset have made the enemy give way; now that they have given way, do you give reins to your horses and drive them from the field. They will not stand your charge; even now they rather hesitate than resist." They spurred on their horses, and charged at full speed against the enemy, who were already thrown into confusion by the attack of the infantry: and having broken through the ranks, some dashing on to the rear of their line, others wheeling about in the open space from the flanks, turned most of them away from the camp as they were now flying in all directions, and by riding beyond them headed them off. The line of infantry, the consul himself, and the whole onset of the battle was borne toward the camp, and having taken it with considerable slaughter, he got possession of still more considerable booty. The fame of this battle, carried not only to the city, but to the other army also in Sabine territory, was welcomed in the city with public rejoicing; in the camp, it inspirited the soldiers to emulate such glory. Horatius, by training them in sallies, and making trial of them in slight skirmishes, had accustomed them to trust in themselves rather than remember the ignominy incurred under the command of the decemvirs, and these trifling engagements had greatly contributed to the successful consummation of their hopes. The Sabines, elated at their success in the preceding year, ceased not to provoke and urge them to fight, constantly asking why they wasted time, sallying forth in small numbers and returning like marauders, and why they distributed the issue of a single war over a number of engagements, and those of no importance. Why did they not meet them in the field, and intrust to fortune the decision of the matter once and for all?

Besides that they had already of themselves recovered sufficient courage, the Romans were fired with exasperation at the thought that the other army would soon return victorious to the city; that the enemy were now wantonly affronting them with insolence: when, moreover, would they be a match for the enemy, if they were not so then? When the consul ascertained that the soldiers loudly expressed these sentiments in the camp, having summoned an assembly, he spoke as follows: "How matters have fared in Algidum, I suppose that you, soldiers, have already heard. As became the army of the free people to behave, so have they behaved; through the good judgment of my colleague and the valour of the soldiers, the victory has been gained. For my part, I shall display the same judgment and determination as you yourselves, O soldiers, display. The war may either be prolonged with advantage, or be brought to a speedy conclusion. If it is to be prolonged, I shall take care, by employing the same method of warfare with which I have begun, that your hopes and your valour may increase every day. If you have now sufficient courage, and it is your wish that the matter be decided, come, raise here a shout such as you will raise in the field of battle, in token both of your wishes and your valour." Whenthe shout was raised with great alacrity, he assured them that he would comply with their wishes—and so might Heaven prosper it—and lead them next day into the field. The remainder of the day was spent in getting ready their arms. On the following day, as soon as the Sabines saw the Roman army being drawn up in order of battle, they too, having long since been eager for the encounter, advanced. The battle was one such as would be fought between two armies who both had confidence in themselves, the one on account of its long-standing and unbroken career of glory, the other recently elated by its unusual success. The Sabines aided their strength also by stratagem; for, having formed a line equal to that of the Romans, they kept two thousand men in reserve, to make an attack on the left wing of the Romans in the heat of the battle. When these, by an attack in flank, were on the point of overpowering that wing, now almost surrounded, about six hundred of the cavalry of two legions leaped down from their horses, and, as their men were giving way, rushed forward in front, and at the same time both opposed the advance of the enemy, and roused the courage of the infantry, first by sharing the danger equally with them, and then by arousing in them a sense of shame. It was a matter of shame that the cavalry should fight in their own proper fashion and in that of others, and that the infantry should not be equal to the cavalry even when dismounted.[66]

They marched therefore to the fight, which had been suspended on their part, and endeavoured to regain the ground which they had lost, and in a moment not only was the battle restored, but one of the wings of the Sabines gave way. The cavalry, protected between the ranks of the infantry, remounted their horses; they then galloped across to the other division to announce their success to their party; at the same time also they charged the enemy, now disheartened by the discomfiture of their stronger wing. The valour of none shone forth more conspicuous in that battle. The consul provided for all emergencies; he applauded the brave, rebuked wherever the battle seemed to slacken. When reproved, they displayed immediately the deeds of brave men; and a sense of shame stimulated these, as much as praises the others. The shout being raised anew, all together making a united effort, drove the enemy back; nor could the Roman attack be any longer resisted.

The Sabines, driven in every direction through the country, left their camp behind them for the enemy to plunder. There the Romans recovered the effects, not of the allies, as at Algidum, but their own property, which had been lost by the devastations of their lands. For this double victory, gained in two battles, in two different places, the senate in a niggardly spirit merely decreed thanksgivings in the name of the consuls for one day only. The people went, however, on the second day also, in great numbers of their own accord to offer thanksgiving; and this unauthorized and popular thanksgiving, owing to their zeal, was even better attended. The consuls by agreement came to the city within the same two days, and summoned the senate to the Campius Martius.[67] When they were there relating the services performed by themselves, the chiefs of the patricians complained that the senate was designedly convened among the soldiers for the purpose of intimidation. The consuls, therefore, that there might be no room for such a charge, called away the senate to the Flaminian meadows, where the Temple of Apollo now is (even then it was called the Apollinare). There, when a triumph was refused by a large majority of the patricians, Lucius Icilius, tribune of the commons, brought a proposition before the people regarding the triumph of the consuls, many persons coming forward to argue against the measure, but in particular Gaius Claudius, who exclaimed, that it was over the senate, not over the enemy, that the consuls wished to triumph; and that it was intended as a return for a private service to a tribune, and not as an honour due to valour. That never before had the matter of a triumph been managed through the people; but that the consideration of that honour and the disposal of it, had always rested with the senate; that not even the kings had infringed on the majesty of this most august body. The tribunes should not so occupy every department with their own authority, as to allow the existence of no public council; that the state would be free, and the laws equalized by these means only, if each order retained its own rights and its own dignity. After much had been said by the other senior patricians also to the same purpose, all the tribes approved the proposition. Then for the first time a triumph was celebrated by order of the people, without the authority of the senate.

This victory of the tribunes and people was well-nigh terminating in an extravagance by no means salutary, a conspiracy being formed among the tribunes that the same tribunes might be re-elected, and, in order that their own ambition might be the less conspicuous, that the consuls also might have their office prolonged. They pleaded, in excuse, the combination of the patricians by which the privileges of the commons were attempted to be undermined by the affronts of the consuls. What would be the consequence, when the laws were as yet not firmly established, if they attacked the new tribunes through consuls of their own party? Men like Horatius and Valerius would not always be consuls, who would regard their own interests as secondary after the liberty of the people. By some concurrence of circumstances, useful in view of the situation, it fell by lot to Marcus Duillius before all others to preside at the elections, a man of prudence, and who perceived the storm of public odium that was hanging over them from the continuance of their office. And when he declared that he would take no account of any of the former tribunes, and his colleagues struggled to get him to allow the tribes to vote independently, or to give up the office of presiding at the elections, which he held by lot, to his colleagues, who would hold the elections according to law rather than according to the pleasure of the patricians; a contention being now excited, when Duillius had sent for the consuls to his seat and asked them what they contemplated doing with respect to the consular elections, and they answered that they would appoint new consuls; then, having secured popular supporters of a measure by no means popular, he proceeded with them into the assembly. There the consuls were brought forward before the people, and asked what they would do if the Roman people mindful of their liberty recovered at home through them, mindful also of their services in war, should again elect them consuls: and when they in no way changed their opinions, he held the election, after eulogizing the consuls, because they persevered to the last in being unlike the decemvirs; and five tribunes of the people having been elected, when, through the zealous exertions of the nine tribunes who openly pressed their canvass, the other candidates could not make up the required number of tribes, he dismissed the assembly; nor did he hold one afterward for the purpose of an election. He said that the law had been satisfied, which, without any number being anywhere specified, only enacted that tribunes who had been elected should be left to choose their colleagues and confirmed those chosen by them. He then went on to recite the formula of the law, in which it was laid down: "If I shall propose for election ten tribunes of the commons, if from any cause you shall elect this day less than ten tribunes of the people, then that those whom they may have chosen as colleagues for themselves, that these, I say, be legitimate tribunes of the people on the same conditions as those whom you shall on this day have elected tribunes of the people." When Duillius persevered to the last, stating that the republic could not have fifteen tribunes of the people, having baffled the ambition of his colleagues, he resigned office, equally approved of by patricians and commons.

The new tribunes of the people, in electing their colleagues endeavoured to gratify the wishes of the patricians; they even elected two who were patricians,[68] and men of consular rank Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aternius. The consuls elected, Spurius Herminius, Titus Verginius Caelimontanus, not being specially inclined to the cause either of the patricians or commons, had perfect tranquillity both at home and abroad. Lucius Trebonius, tribune of the commons, incensed against the patricians, because, as he said, he had been imposed on by them in the matter of choosing tribunes, and betrayed by his colleagues, brought forward a proposal, that whoever proposed he election of tribunes of the people before the commons, should go on taking the votes, until he elected ten tribunes of the people; and he spent his tribuneship in worrying the patricians, whence the surname of Asper was given him. Next Marcus Geganius Macerinus, and Gaius Julius, being elected consuls, quieted some disputes that had arisen between the tribunes and the youth of the nobility, without displaying any harshness against that power, and at the same time preserving the dignity of the patricians. By proclaiming a levy for the war against the Volscians and AEquans, they kept the people from riots by keeping matters in abeyance, affirming that everything was also quiet abroad, owing to the harmony in the city, and that it was only through civil discord that foreign foes took courage. Their anxiety for peace abroad was also the cause of harmony at home. But notwithstanding, the one order ever attacked the moderation of the other. Acts of injustice began to be committed by the younger patricians on the commons, although the latter kept perfectly quiet. Where the tribunes assisted the more humble, in the first place it accomplished little: and thereafter they did not even themselves escape ill-treatment: particularly in the latter months, when injustice was committed through the combinations among the more powerful, and the power of the office became considerably weaker in the latter part of the year. And now the commons placed some hopes in the tribuneship, if only they could get tribunes like Icilius: for the last two years they declared that they had only had mere names. On the other hand, the elder members of the patrician order, though they considered their young men to be too overbearing, yet preferred, if bounds were to be exceeded, that a superabundance of spirit should be exhibited by their own order rather than by their adversaries. So difficult a thing is moderation in maintaining liberty, while every one, by pretending to desire equality, exalts himself in such a manner as to put down another, and men, by their very precautions against fear, cause themselves to become objects of dread: and we saddle on others injustice repudiated on our own account, as if it were absolutely necessary either to commit injustice or to submit to it. Titus Quinctius Capitolinus for the fourth time and Agrippa Furius being then elected consuls, found neither disturbance at home nor war abroad; both, however, were impending. The discord of the citizens could now no longer be checked, both tribunes and commons being exasperated against the patricians, while, if a day of trial was appointed for any of the nobility, it always embroiled the assemblies in new struggles. On the first report of these the AEquans and Volscians, as if they had received a signal, took up arms; also because their leaders, eager for plunder, had persuaded them that the levy proclaimed two years previously could not be proceeded with, as the commons now refused obedience to military authority: that for that reason no armies had been sent against them; that military discipline was subverted by licentiousness, and that Rome was no longer considered a common country for its citizens; that whatever resentment and animosity they might have entertained against foreigners, was now directed against themselves; that now an opportunity offered itself for destroying wolves blinded by intestine rage. Having united their forces, they first utterly laid waste the Latin territory: when none met them to avenge the wrong, then indeed, to the great exultation of the advisers of the war, they approached the very walls of Rome, carrying their depredations into the district around the Esquiline gate[69] pointing out to the city in mocking insult the devastation of the land. When they marched back thence to Corbio unmolested and driving their booty before them, Quinctius the consul summoned the people to an assembly.

There I find that he spoke to this effect: "Though I am conscious to myself of no fault, Quirites, yet it is with the greatest shame I have come forward to your assembly. To think that you should know this, that this should be handed down on record to posterity, that the AEquans and Volscians a short time since scarcely a match for the Hernicans, have with impunity come with arms in their hands to the walls of Rome, in the fourth consulate of Titus Quinctius! Had I known that this disgrace was reserved for this year, above all others, though we have now long been living in such a manner, and such is the state of affairs, that my mind can forebode nothing good, I would have avoided this honour either by exile or by death, if there had been no other means of escaping it. Then, if men of courage had held those arms, which were at our gates, Rome could have been taken during my consulate. I have had sufficient honours, enough and more than enough of life: I ought to have died in my third consulate. Whom, I pray, did these most dastardly enemies despise? Us, consuls, or you, Quirites? If the fault lies in us, take away the command from those who are unworthy of it; and, if that is not enough, further inflict punishment on us. If the fault is yours, may there be none of gods or men to punish your offences: do you yourselves only repent of them. It is not your cowardice they have despised, nor their own valour that they have put their trust in: having been so often routed and put to flight, stripped of their camp, mulcted in their land, sent under the yoke, they know both themselves and you. It is the discord among the several orders that is the curse of this city, the contests between the patricians and commons. While we have neither bounds in the pursuit of power, nor you in that of liberty, while you are wearied of patrician, we of plebeian magistrates, they have taken courage. In the name of Heaven, what would you have? You desired tribunes of the commons; we granted them for the sake of concord. You longed for decemvirs; we suffered them to be created. You became weary of decemvirs; we compelled them to resign office. Your resentment against these same persons when they became private citizens still continuing, we suffered men of the highest family and rank to die or go into exile. You wished asecond time to create tribunes of the commons; you created them. You wished to elect consuls attached to your party; and, although we saw that it was unjust to the patricians, we have even resigned ourselves to see a patrician magistracy conceded as an offering to the people. The aid of tribunes, right of appeal to the people, the acts of the commons made binding on the patricians under the pretext of equalizing the laws, the subversion of our privileges, we have endured and still endure. What end is there to be to our dissensions? When shall it be allowed us to have a united city, one common country? We, when defeated, submit with greater resignation than you when victorious. Is it enough for you, that you are objects of terror to us? The Aventine is taken against us: against us the Sacred Mount is seized. When the Esquiline was almost taken by the enemy, no one defended it, and when the Volscian foe was scaling the rampart, no one drove him off: it is against us you behave like men, against us you are armed.

"Come, when you have blockaded the senate-house here, and have made the forum the seat of war, and filled the prison with the leading men of the state, march forth through the Esquiline gate, with that same determined spirit; or, if you do not even venture thus far, behold from your walls your lands laid waste with fire and sword, booty driven off, houses set on fire in every direction and smoking. But, I may be told, it is only the public weal that is in a worse condition through this: the land is burned, the city is besieged, the glory of the war rests with the enemy. What in the name of Heaven—what is the state of your own private affairs? Even now to each of you his own private losses from the country will be announced. What, pray, is there at home, whence you can recruit them? Will the tribunes restore and re-establish what you have lost? Of sound and words they will heap on you as much as you please, and of charges against the leading men, laws one after another, and public meetings. But from these meetings never has one of you returned home more increased in substance or in fortune. Has any one ever brought back to his wife and children aught save hatred, quarrels, grudges public and private, from which you may ever be protected, not by your own valour and integrity, but by the aid of others? But, by Hercules! When you served under the command of us consuls, not under tribunes, in the camp and not in the forum, and the enemy trembled at your shout in the field of battle, not the Roman patricians in the assembly, having gained booty and taken land from the enemy, loaded with wealth and glory, both public and private, you used to return home in triumph to your household gods: now you allow the enemy to go off laden with your property. Continue fast bound to your assemblies, live in the forum; the necessity of taking the field, which you strive to escape, still follows you. It was hard on you to march against the AEquans and the Volscians: the war is at your gates: if it is not driven from thence, it will soon be within your walls, and will scale the citadel and Capitol, and follow you into your very houses. Two years ago the senate ordered a levy to be held, and an army to be marched out to Algidum; yet we sit down listless at home, quarrelling with each other like women, delighting in present peace, and not seeing that after that short-lived inactivity war will return with interest. That there are other topics more pleasing than these, I well know; but even though my own mind did not prompt me to it, necessity obliges me to speak the truth rather than what is pleasing. I would indeed like to meet with your approval, Quirites; but I am much more anxious that you should be preserved, whatever sentiments you shall entertain toward me. It has been so ordained by nature, that he who addresses a crowd for his own private interest, is more welcome than the man whose mind has nothing in view but the public interest unless perhaps you suppose that those public sycophants those flatterers of the commons, who neither suffer you to take up arms nor to live in peace, excite and work you up for your own interests. When excited, you are to them sources either of position or of profit: and, because, when the orders are in accord, they see that they themselves are of no importance in anything, they prefer to be leaders of a bad cause, of tumults and sedition, rather than of no cause at all. If you can at last become wearied of all this, and if you are willing to resume the habits practised by your forefathers of old, and formerly by yourselves, in place of these new ones, I am ready to submit to any punishment, if I do not in a few days rout and put to flight, and strip of their camp those devastators of our lands, and transfer from our gates and walls to their cities this terror of war, by which you are now thrown into consternation."

Scarcely ever was the speech of a popular tribune more acceptable to the commons than this of a most austere consul on that occasion. The young men also, who, during such alarms, had been accustomed to employ the refusal to enlist as the sharpest weapon against the patricians, began to turn their attention to war and arms: and the flight of the rustics, and those who had been robbed and wounded in the country, by announcing events more revolting even than what was before their eyes, filled the whole city with exasperation. When they came into the senate, there all, turning to Quinctius, looked upon him as the only champion of the majesty of Rome: and the leading senators declared that his harangue was worthy of the consular authority, worthy of so many consulships formerly borne by him, worthy of his whole life, full of honours frequently enjoyed, more frequently deserved. That other consuls had either flattered the commons by betraying the dignity of the patricians, or by harshly maintaining the rights of their order, had rendered the multitude more exasperated by their efforts to subdue them: that Titus Quinctius had delivered a speech mindful of the dignity of the patricians, of the concord of the different orders, and above all, of the needs of the times. They entreated him and his colleague to assume the management of the commonwealth; they entreated the tribunes, by acting in concert with the consuls, to join in driving back the war from the city and the walls, and to induce the commons to be obedient to the senate at so perilous a conjuncture: declaring that, their lands being devastated, and their city in a manner besieged, their common country appealed to them as tribunes, and implored their aid. By universal consent the levy was decreed and held. When the consuls gave public notice that there was no time for considering claims for exemption; that all the young men should attend on the following morning at dawn in the Campus Martius; that when the war was over, they would afford time for inquiring into the excuses of those who had not given in their names; that the man should be held as a deserter, whose excuse they found unsatisfactory; all the youth attended on the following day. The cohorts [70] chose each their centurions: two senators were placed at the head of each cohort. We have read that all these measures were carried out with such expedition that the standards, which had been brought forth from the treasury on that very day by the quaestors and conveyed to the Campus, started from thence at the fourth hour; and the newly-raised army halted at the tenth milestone, followed only by a few cohorts of veteran soldiers as volunteers. The following day brought the enemy within sight, and camp was joined to camp near Corbio. On the third day, when resentment urged on the Romans, and a consciousness of guilt for having so often rebelled and a feeling of despair, the others, there was no delay in coming to an engagement.

In the Roman army, though the two consuls were invested with equal authority, the supreme command was, by the concession of Agrippa, resigned to his colleague, an arrangement most salutary in the conduct of matters of great importance; and he who was preferred made a polite return for the ready condescension of the other, who thus lowered himself, by making him his confidant in all his plans and sharing with him his honours, and by putting him on an equality with him although he was by no means as capable. On the field of battle Quinctius commanded the right, Agrippa the left wing; the command of the centre was intrusted to Spurius Postumius Albus, as lieutenant-general. Publius Sulpicius, the other lieutenant-general, was placed at the head of the cavalry. The infantry on the right wing fought with distinguished valour, while the Volscians offered a stout resistance. Publius Sulpicius with his cavalry broke through the centre of the enemy's line; and, though he might have returned thence in the same way to his own party, before the enemy restored their broken ranks, it seemed more advisable to attack them in the rear, and in a moment, charging the line in the rear, he would have dispersed the enemy by the double attack, had not the cavalry of the Volscians and AEquans kept him for some time engaged by a mode of fighting like his own. Then indeed Sulpicius declared that there was no time for delay, crying out that they were surrounded and would be cut off from their own friends, unless they united all their efforts and despatched the engagement with the cavalry. Nor was it enough to rout the enemy without disabling them; they must slay horses and men, that none might return to the fight or renew the battle; that these could not resist them, before whom a compact body of infantry had given way. His orders were addressed to no deaf ears; by a single charge they routed the entire cavalry, dismounted great numbers, and killed with their javelins both the riders and the horses. Thus ended the cavalry engagement. Then, having attacked the enemy's infantry, they sent an account to the consuls of what had been done, where the enemy's line was already giving way. The news both gave fresh courage to the Romans who were now gaining the day, and dismayed the AEquans who were beginning to give way. They first began to be beaten in the centre, where the furious charge of the cavalry had broken their ranks. Then the left wing began to lose ground before the consul Quinctius; the contest was most obstinate on the right. Then Agrippa, in the vigour of his youth and strength, seeing matters going more favourably in every part of the battle than in his own quarter, snatched some of the standards from the standard-bearers and carried them on himself, some even he began to throw into the thick of the enemy.[71]

The soldiers, urged on by the fear of this disgrace, attacked the enemy; thus the victory was equalized in every quarter. News then came from Quinctius that he, being now victorious, was about to attack the enemy's camp; that he was unwilling to break into it, before he learned that they were beaten in the left wing also. If he had routed the enemy, let him now join him, that all the army together might take possession of the booty. Agrippa, being victorious, with mutual congratulations advanced toward his victorious colleague and the enemy's camp. There, as there were but few to defend it, and these were routed in a moment they broke into the fortifications without a struggle, and marched back the army, in possession of abundant spoil, having recovered also their own effects, which had been lost by the devastation of the lands. I have not heard that they either themselves demanded a triumph, or that one was offered to them by the senate; nor is any cause assigned for the honour being either overlooked or not hoped for. As far as I can conjecture at so great a distance of time, since a triumph had been refused to the consuls Horatius and Valerius, who, in addition to the victory over the AEquans and Volscians, had gained the glory of having also finished the Sabine war, the consuls were ashamed to demand a triumph for one half of the services done by them, lest, even if they should have obtained it, regard might appear to have been paid to persons rather than to merit.

A disgraceful decision of the people regarding the boundaries of their allies marred the honourable victory obtained over their enemies. The people of Aricia [72] and of Ardea, who had frequently contended in arms concerning a disputed piece of land, wearied out by many losses on either side, appointed the Roman people as arbitrators. When they arrived to support their claims, an assembly of the people being granted them by the magistrates, the matter was debated with great warmth. The witnesses being now produced, when it was time for the tribes to be called, and for the people to give their votes, Publius Scaptius, a plebeian advanced in years, rose up and said, "Consuls, if it is permitted me to speak on the public interest, I will not suffer the people to be led into a mistake in this matter." When the consuls said that he, as unworthy of attention, ought not to be heard, and, on his shouting that the public interest was being betrayed, ordered him to be put aside, he appealed to the tribunes. The tribunes, as they are nearly always directed by the multitude rather than direct it, granted Scaptius leave to say what he pleased in deference to the people, who were anxious to hear him. He then began: That he was now in his eighty-third year, and that he had served in that district which was now in dispute, not even then a young man, as he was already serving in his twentieth campaign, when operations were going on at Corioli. He therefore brought forward a fact forgotten by length of time—one, however, deeply fixed in his memory, namely, that the district now in dispute had belonged to the territory of Corioli, and, after the taking of Corioli, it had become come by right of war the public property of the Roman people. That he was surprised how the states of Ardea and Aricia could have the face to hope to deprive the Roman people, whom instead of lawful owners they had made arbitrators; of a district the right of which they had never claimed while the state of Corioli existed. That he for his part had but a short time to live; he could not, however, bring himself, old as he now was, to desist claiming by his voice, the only means he now had, a district which, as a soldier, he had contributed to acquire, as far as a man could. That he strenuously advised the people not to ruin their own interest by an idle feeling of delicacy.

The consuls, when they perceived that Scaptius was listened to not only in silence, but even with approbation, calling gods and men to witness, that a disgraceful enormity was being committed, summoned the principal senators: with them they went round to the tribes, entreated, that, as judges, they would not be guilty of a most heinous crime, with a still worse precedent, by converting the subject of dispute to their own interest, more especially when, even though it may be lawful for a judge to look after his own interest, so much would by no means be acquired by keeping the land, as would be lost by alienating the affections of their allies by injustice; for that the loss of reputation and confidence was of greater importance than could be estimated. Was this the answer the ambassadors were to carry home; was this to go out to the world; were their allies to hear this; were their enemies to hear it—with what sorrow the one—with what joy the other? Could they suppose that the neighbouring states would ascribe this proceeding to Scaptius, an old babbler at assemblies? That Scaptius would be rendered distinguished by this statue: but that the Roman people would assume the character of a corrupt informer [73] and appropriator of the claims of others. For what judge in a private cause ever acted in such a way as to adjudge to himself the property in dispute? That even Scaptius himself would not act so, though he had now outlived all sense of shame. Thus the consuls, thus the senators exclaimed; but covetousness, and Scaptius, the adviser of that covetousness, had more influence. The tribes, when convened, decided that the district was the public property of the Roman people. Nor can it be denied that it might have been so, if they had gone to other judges; but, as it is, the infamy of the decision is not in any way diminished by the justice of the cause: nor did it appear more disgraceful or more repulsive to the people of Aricia and of Ardea, than it did to the Roman senate. The remainder of the year continued free from disturbances both at home and abroad. [74]

Footnotes:

[Footnote 1: The ager publicus or public land consisted of the landed estates which had belonged to the kings, and were increased by land taken from enemies who had been captured in war. The patricians had gained exclusive occupation of this, for which they paid a nominal rent in the shape of produce and tithes: the state, however, still retained the right of disposal of it. By degrees the ager publicus fell into the hands of a few rich individuals, who were continually buying up smaller estates, which were cultivated by slaves, thus reducing the number of free agricultural labourers.]

[Footnote 2: Directly, rather than by lot as was usual.]

[Footnote 4: In later times the censor performed this office.—D.O.]

[Footnote 5: This decree was practically a bestowal of absolute power.—D.O.]

[Footnote: In later times the proconsul was the consul of the previous year, appointed to act as such over one of the provinces.—D.O.]

[Footnote 7: This gate was on the west side, in the rear, farthest from the enemy: it was so called from the decumanus, a line drawn from east to west, which divided the camp into two halves: see note in revised edition of Prendeville's Livy.]

[Footnote 8: August 1st]

[Footnote 9: The consular year, not the civil one, which began in January: the time at which the consuls entered upon office varied very much until B.C. 153, when it was finally settled that the date of their doing so should be January 1st.]

[Footnote 10: Called "Via Praenestina" beyond Gabii.]

[Footnote 11: That is, broke up camp.—D.O.]

[Footnote 12: The people of Rome had been divided in early times into thirty curies: each of these had an officiating priest, called curio, and the whole body was under the presidency of the curio maximus.]

[Footnote 13: The ten leading senators held the office in rotation for five days each, until the consular comitia were held.—D.O.]

[Footnote 14: August 11th]

[Footnote 15: A lesser form of triumph.]

[Footnote 16: The Sibylline books, supposed to have been sold to Tarquinius Superbus by the Sibyl of Cumae: they were written in Greek hexameter verses. In times of emergency and distress they were consulted and interpreted by special priests (the duumviri here mentioned).]

[Footnote 17: It will be frequently observed that the patricians utilized their monopoly of religious offices to effect their own ends.—D.O.]

[Footnote 18: Curule chairs of office.]

[Footnote 19: That is, recruits.—D.O.]

[Footnote 20: The worst quarter of the city—its White chapel as it were. It lay, roughly speaking, from the Forum eastward along the valley between Esquiline and Viminial Hills.—D.O.]

[Footnote 21: That is, to insure punishment and practically abnegate the right an accused person had of escaping sentence by voluntary exile.—D.O.]

[Footnote 22: Perhaps the first bail-bond historically noted.—D.O.]

[Footnote 23: That is, refused to accept the plea.]

[Footnote 24: That is, defended them in court.]

[Footnote 25: The Temple of Jupiter in the Capitol was divided into three parts: the middle was sacred to Jupiter, the right to Minerva, the left to Juno. By "other gods" are meant Terminus, Fides, Juventas.]

[Footnote 26: Publicola, the father of Brutus.]

[Footnote 27: That is, personal violence from the young patricians.—D.O.]

[Footnote 28: Their control over the auspices was a favourite weapon of the patricians, and one which could naturally be better used at a distance from Rome. The frequency of its use would seem to argue adaptability in the devotional feelings of the nobles at least, which might modify our reliance upon the statement made above as to the respect for the gods then prevalent in Rome.—D.O.]

[Footnote 29: This was the limit of the tribunes' authority.—D.O.]

[Footnote 30: This gate, from which at a later date the Via Appia and the Via Latina started, stood near what is now the junction of the Via S. Gregorio with the Vi di Porta S. Sebastiano.—D.O.]

[Footnote 31: By drawing part of the Roman army to the defence of the allied city.—D.O.]

[Footnote 32: Two spears were set upright and a third lashed across. To pass through and under this "yoke" was, among the Italian states, the greatest indignity that could be visited upon a captured army. It symbolized servititude in arms.—D. O.]

[Footnote 33: This would seem to augur some treachery, unless we are to believe that only the young men taken in the citadel were sent under the yoke, the slaughter took place among the flying besiegers.—D.O.]

[Footnote 34: "Quaestors," these officers are first mentioned in Book II, ch. xii. In early times it appears to have been part of their duty to prosecute those guilty of treason, and to carry the punishment into execution.]

[Footnote 35: Evidently a new pretext for delay.—D.O.]

[Footnote 36: A little beyond Crustumerium, on the Via Salaria.—D.O.]

[Footnote 37: Possibly to one assigned to him officially. Freese regards the expression as inconsistent with his alleged poverty.—D.O.]

[Footnote 38: A curious feature of a triumph were the disrespectful and often scurrilous verses chanted by the soldiers at the expense of their general—D.O.]

[Footnote 39: The meaning of this passage is obscure. Many explanations have been attempted, none of which, to my mind, is quite satisfactory.—D.O.]

[Footnote 40: Priest of Quirinus.—D. O.]

[Footnote 41: The law forbade burial within the limits of the city except in certain cases.—D.O.]

[Footnote 42: That is, relinquished his right of acting as judge in favour of the people and of popular trial.—D.O.]

[Footnote 43: A new law was hung up in the Forum for public perusal.—D.O.]

[Footnote 44: As in the case of a dictator. At first half, and finally all, of the consular lictors carried only the fasces.—D.O.]

[Footnote 45: That is, the incumbents of the past year, now of right private persons, their term of office having expired.—D. O.]

[Footnote 46: The fine for non-attendance.—D.O.]

[Footnote 47: As being out of order, the senate having been convened to consider the war.]

[Footnote 48: Rex Sacrificulus (see note, page 73).—D.O.]

[Footnote 49: As having been improperly convened.—D.O.]

[Footnote 50: That is, of Valerius, but rather of Appius himself in restraining him from precipitating matters.—D.O.]

[Footnote 51: Appius's argument is that, if Verginia was living in a state of slavery under Claudius, as any one might institute an action to establish her liberty, she would be entitled to her liberty until the matter was settled: but as she was now living under her father's protection, and was his property by the right of the patria potestas, and he was absent, and as other person had a right to keep or defend her, she ought to be given up to the man who claimed to be her master, pending her father's return.]

[Footnote 52: Venus Cloacina (she who cleanses).—D.O.]

[Footnote 53: On two sides of the forum were colonnades, between the pillars of which were tradesmen's booths known as "the Old Booths" and "the New Booths."]

[Footnote 54: That is, to the infernal gods.]

[Footnote 55: See Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome: Verginia."]

[Footnote 56: The civilian togas.—D. O.]

[Footnote 57: Appius Claudius, a member of their order.—D. O.]

[Footnote 58: From the Colline gate.—D.O.]

[Footnote 59: From whose decision an appeal would lie.]

[Footnote 60: The church of S. Caterina de' Fernari now stands within its lines.—D.O.]

[Footnote 61: Evidently this could not apply to a dictator.—D. O.]

[Footnote 62: The name consul, although used by Livy (Bk. I, ch. Ix), was not really employed until after the period of the decemvirs. The title in early use was praetor: it is not definitely known when the name judex was attached to the office.]

[Footnote 63: I question the rendering of this sentence. To read plebis for plebi would very much improve the sense.—D.O.]

[Footnote 64: Twenty years.—D.O.]

[Footnote 65: The misfortunes of the previous campaign were supposed to exert an influence on the present one.—D.O.]

[Footnote 66: The cavalry at this period wore no defensive armour, and carried only an ox-hide buckler and a light lance.—D.O.]

[Footnote 67: A victorious general who had entered the city could not afterward triumph.—D.O.]

[Footnote 68: It was first necessary for these to be adopted into plebeian families, as none but plebeians were eligible.—D.O.]

[Footnote 69: It stood about where the Arch of Gallienus now stands.—D.O.]

[Footnote 70: Each legion was divided into ten cohorts.—D.O.]

[Footnote 71: A not unusual method of forcing the charge, as not only military honour but religious sentiment forbade the loss of the standards.—D. O.]

[Footnote 72: About twenty miles from Rome in the Alban Mountains. The village of Ariccia occupies the site of the ancient citadel.—D. O.]

[Footnote 73: Quadruplatores were public informers, so called because they received a fourth part of the fine imposed: also used in a general sense of those who tried to promote their interests by underhand means.]

[Footnote 74: This is one of the best of Livy's books. The story of Verginia and of the deposition and punishment of the decemvirs is unexcelled in historical narrative.—D.O.]

THE END