The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08
that was done to obstruct the law, and a desperate contest was at hand.
Lo! (that the same circle of events may revolve every year) the
Hernicians bring word that the Volscians and the Æquans, though their
strength was much impaired, were recruiting their armies: that their
chief dependence was Antium; that the inhabitants of Antium openly held
councils at Ecetra: that that was the source--there the strength--for
the war. As soon as this announcement was made in the senate, a levy was
ordered: the consuls were commanded to divide the management of the war
between them; that the Volscians should be the province of the one, the
Æquans that of the other. The tribunes cried out to their faces in the
forum, "That the Volscian war was all a concerted farce: that the
Hernicians were instructed to act their parts; that the liberty of the
Roman people was now no longer crushed by manly efforts, but that it was
baffled by cunning; because all probability was now gone that the
Volscians, who were almost exterminated, and the Æquans, would of
themselves commence hostilities, new enemies were sought for: that a
loyal colony, and one in their very vicinity, was being rendered
infamous: that war was proclaimed against the unoffending people of
Antium, and in reality waged with the commons of Rome, which after
loading them with arms they were determined to drive out of the city
with precipitous haste, wreaking their vengeance on the tribunes, by the
exile and expulsion of their fellow-citizens. That by these means, and
let them not think that there was any other object contemplated, the law
was defeated; unless, whilst the matter was still in abeyance, whilst
they were still at home and in the garb of citizens, they would take
precaution that they may not be driven out of possession of the city,
and be subjected to the yoke. If they only had spirit, that support
would not be wanting; that all the tribunes were unanimous; that there
was no apprehension from abroad, no danger. That the gods had taken
care, on the preceding year, that their liberty could now be defended
with safety." Thus far the tribunes.
[Footnote 115: Niebuhr, ii. n. 631, asks whether it was worms. Sa????
??a?sµata. Dion. x. 2.]
[Footnote 116: The Sibylline books.]
11. But, on the other side, the consuls, having placed their chairs
within view of them, were proceeding with the levy; thither the tribunes
hasten, and draw the assembly along with them; a few were cited, by way
of making an experiment, and instantly violence commenced. Whomsoever
the lictor laid hold of by order of the consul, him the tribune ordered
to be discharged; nor did his own proper jurisdiction set a limit to
each, but whatever you set your mind upon, was to be attained by the
hope of strength and by force. Just as the tribunes had behaved in
impeding the levy, in the same manner did the consuls conduct themselves
in obstructing the law which was brought on every assembly day. The
commencement of the riot was, when the tribunes ordered the people to
proceed to the vote, because the patricians refused to withdraw. The
elder citizens scarcely attended the contest, inasmuch as it was one
likely not to be directed by prudence, but abandoned to temerity and
daring. The consuls also generally kept out of the way, lest in the
general confusion they should expose their dignity to any insult. There
was a young man, Cæso Quintius, a daring youth, as well by the nobility
of his descent, as by his personal size and strength; to those
endowments granted by the gods he himself had added many military
honours, and eloquence in the forum; so that no person in the state was
considered more efficient either in speaking or in acting. When this
person took his place in the centre of a body of the patricians,
conspicuous above the rest, carrying as it were in his eloquence and
bodily strength dictatorships and consulships combined, he alone
withstood the storms of the tribunes and the populace. Under his
guidance the tribunes were frequently driven from the forum, the commons
routed and dispersed; such as came in his way, went off after being
ill-treated and stripped; so that it became sufficiently evident, that,
if he were allowed to proceed in this way, the law would be defeated.
Then the other tribunes being now almost thrown into despair, Aulus
Virginius, one of the college, institutes a criminal prosecution on a
capital charge against Cæso. By this proceeding he rather irritated than
intimidated his violent temper: so much the more vigorously did he
oppose the law, annoyed the commons, and persecuted the tribunes, as it
were by a regular war. The prosecutor suffered the accused to rush on
headlong, and to heighten the charges against him by the flame and
material of the popular odium thus incurred: in the mean time he
proceeded with the law, not so much in the hope of carrying it through,
as to provoke the temerity of Cæso. There many inconsiderate expressions
and actions passing among the young men, are charged on the temper of
Cæso, through the prejudice raised against him; still the law was
resisted. And Aulus Virginius frequently remarks to the people, "Are you
even now sensible that you cannot have Cæso, as a fellow-citizen, with
the law which you desire? Though why do I say law? he is an opponent of
your liberty; he surpasses all the Tarquins in arrogance. Wait till he
is made consul or dictator, whom, though but a private citizen, you now
see exercising kingly sway over you by his strength and audacity." Many
assented, complaining that they had been beaten by him: and strongly
urged on the tribune to go through with the prosecution.
12. The day of trial now approached, and it was evident that persons in
general considered that their liberty depended on the condemnation of
Cæso: then, at length being forced to it, he addressed the commons
individually, though with a strong feeling of indignation; his relatives
followed him, the principal members of the state. Titus Quintius
Capitolinus, who had been thrice consul, after he recounted many
splendid achievements of his own, and of his family, stated, that
neither in the Quintian family, nor in the Roman state, had there
appeared such promising genius of such early valour. "That he had first
been his soldier, that he had often in his sight fought against the
enemy." Spurius Furius declared, that "he having been sent to him by
Quintius Capitolinus, had come to his aid when in the midst of danger;
that there was no individual by whose exertions he considered the common
weal more effectually re-established." Lucius Lucretius, the consul of
the preceding year, in the full splendour of recent glory, shared his
own services with Cæso; he recounted his battles, detailed his
distinguished exploits, both on expeditions and in the field; he advised
and recommended that they would prefer this extraordinary young man,
endowed with all the advantages of nature and of rank, and (one who
would prove) of the utmost importance to the interest of that state into
which he should come, to be their fellow-citizen, rather than the
citizen of a foreign state. "That with respect to that which may be
offensive in him, heat and vehemence, time would diminish daily; that
the prudence, which may be wanting in him, was increasing daily; that as
his faults were declining and his virtues ripening to maturity, they
should allow so distinguished a man to become old in their state." Among
these his father, Lucius Quintius, who bore the surname of Cincinnatus,
without dwelling on his merits, lest he should heighten public hatred,
but soliciting pardon for his errors and his youth, implored of them to
forgive his son for his sake, who had not given offence to any one by
either word or deed. But some, through respect or fear, turned away from
listening to his entreaties; others complaining that themselves and
their friends had been ill-treated, by the harshness of their answer
declared their sentence beforehand.
13. Independently of the general odium, one charge bore heavily on the
accused; that Marcus Volscius Fictor, who some years before had been
tribune of the people, had come forward as a witness: "that not long
after the pestilence had been in the city, he had fallen in with a party
of young men rioting in the Suburra; that a scuffle arose there; and
that his elder brother, not yet perfectly recovered from his illness,
had fallen down almost dead, being struck with the fist by Cæso; that he
was carried home between the hands of some persons, and that he
considered that he died from that blow; and that it had not been
permitted to him by the consuls of former years to follow up the
matter." In consequence of Volscius vociferating these charges, the
people became so excited, that Cæso was near being killed through the
violence of the people. Virginius orders him to be seized and carried to
prison. The patricians oppose force to force. Titus Quintius exclaims,
"that a person for whom a day of trial for a capital offence has been
appointed, and whose trial was now at hand, ought not to be outraged
before trial and without sentence being passed." The tribune says, "that
he would not inflict punishment[117] on him before condemnation, that he
would however keep him in prison until the day of trial; that the Roman
people may have an opportunity of inflicting punishment on one who had
killed a man." The tribunes being appealed to, secure their prerogative
by adopting a middle course;[118] they forbid his being thrown into
confinement, and declare it to be their wish that the accused should
appear on his trial, and that a sum of money should be promised to the
people, in case he should not appear. How large a sum of money ought to
be promised, came under discussion: that is referred to the senate. The
accused was detained in the public assembly, until the patricians should
be consulted: it was determined that he should give bail:[119] each bail
they bound to the amount of three thousand _asses_; how many should be
given, was left to the tribunes; they limited the number to ten; for ten
sureties the prosecutor discharged the accused. He was the first who
gave public sureties. Being discharged from the forum, he went the
following night into exile among the Etrurians. When on the day of trial
it was pleaded that he had quitted his home in order to go into exile,
Virginius notwithstanding holding the comitia, his colleagues when
appealed to dismissed the assembly: the fine was rigorously exacted[120]
from the father; so that after selling all his effects, he lived for a
considerable time in a solitary cottage on the other side of the Tiber,
as if in exile. This trial and the proposing of the law gave full
employment to the state: there was quiet from foreign arms.
[Footnote 117: Niebuhr denies that the tribunes had the power before the
establishment of the decemviri to commit patricians to prison. See
however Dion. vii. 17.]
[Footnote 118: In the original the words are, _Medio decreto jus auxilii
sui expediunt_. The tribunes were afraid lest, if they allowed Cæso to
go entirely at large, the commons might become irritated; whilst if they
refused to listen to the application of a patrician when he craved their
assistance, they feared lest they should lose an excellent opportunity
of establishing their influence and increasing their power. By adopting
a line of conduct then which conceded something both to the commons and
to Cæso, they as it were _extricate_ (expediunt) their power from this
double danger.]
[Footnote 119: _Vadis publicos_. According to Gronovius, _publico_,
scil. _plebi_. Niebuhr prefers this reading.]
[Footnote 120: _Rigorously exacted_. See Niebuhr ii. p. 289, who
expresses a different opinion on the matter.]