The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08
soon as possible. But it will be brought to a conclusion if we press on
the besieged; if we do not retire until we have consummated our hopes by
the capture of Veii. In truth, if there were no other motive, the very
discredit of the thing should impose on us perseverance. In former times
a city was kept besieged for ten years, on account of one woman, by all
Greece. At what a distance from their homes! how many lands, how many
seas distant! We grumble at enduring a siege of a year's duration within
twenty miles of us, almost within sight of our own city; because, I
suppose, the cause of the war is trifling, nor is there resentment
sufficiently just to stimulate us to persevere. Seven times they have
rebelled: in peace they never acted faithfully. They have laid waste our
lands a thousand times: the Fidenatians they forced to revolt from us:
they have put to death our colonists there: contrary to the law of
nations, they have been the instigators of the impious murder of our
ambassadors: they wished to excite all Etruria against us, and are at
this day busily employed at it; and they scarcely refrained from
violating our ambassadors when demanding restitution. With such people
ought war to be conducted in a remiss and dilatory manner?
5. "If such just resentment have no influence with us, will not, I
entreat you, the following considerations influence you? Their city has
been enclosed with immense works, by which the enemy is confined within
their walls. They have not tilled their land, and what was previously
tilled has been laid waste in the war. If we withdraw our army, who is
there who can doubt that they will invade our territory not only from a
desire of revenge, but from the necessity also imposed on them of
plundering from the property of others, since they have lost their own?
By such measures then we do not put off the war, but admit it within our
own frontiers. What shall I say of that which properly interests the
soldiers, for whose interests those worthy tribunes of the commons, all
on a sudden, are now so anxious to provide, after they have endeavoured
to wrest their pay from them? How does it stand? They have formed a
rampart and a trench, both works of great labour, through so great an
extent of ground; they have erected forts, at first only a few,
afterwards very many, when the army became increased; they have raised
defenders not only towards the city, but towards Etruria also, against
any succours which may come from thence. What need I mention towers,
vineæ, and testudines, and the other apparatus used in attacking towns?
When so much labour has been expended, and they have now at length
reached the end of the work, do you think that all these preparations
should be abandoned that, next summer, the same course of toil may have
to be undergone again in forming them anew? How much less trouble to
support the works already done, and to press on and persevere, and to
get rid of our task! For certainly the matter is of short duration, if
it be conducted with a uniform course of exertions; nor do we by these
intermissions and interruptions expedite the attainment of our hopes. I
am now speaking of labour and of loss of time. What? do these such
frequent meetings in Etruria on the subject of sending aid to Veii
suffer us to disregard the danger which we encounter by procrastinating
the war? As matters stand now, they are incensed, they dislike them,
they refuse to send any; as far as they are concerned, we are at liberty
to take Veii. Who can promise that their temper will be the same
hereafter, if the war is suspended? when, if you suffer any relaxation,
more respectable and more frequent embassies will go; when that which
now displeases the Etrurians, the establishment of a king at Veii, may,
after an interval, be done away with, either by the joint determination
of the state that they may recover the good will of the Etrurians, or by
a voluntary act of the king, who may be unwilling that his reign should
stand in the way of the welfare of his countrymen. See how many
circumstances, and how detrimental, follow that line of conduct: the
loss of works formed with so great labour; the threatening devastation
of our frontiers; an Etruscan excited instead of a Veientian war. These,
tribunes, are your measures, pretty much the same, in truth, as if a
person should render a disease tedious, and perhaps incurable, for the
sake of present meat or drink, in a patient who, by resolutely suffering
himself to be treated, might soon recover his health.
6. "If, by Jove, it were of no consequence with respect to the present
war, yet it certainly would be of the utmost importance to military
discipline, that our soldiers should be accustomed not only to enjoy the
victory obtained by them; but even though matters should proceed more
slowly than was anticipated, to brook the tediousness and await the
issue of their hopes, however tardy; and if the war be not finished in
the summer, to wait for the winter, and not, like summer birds, in the
very commencement of autumn look out for shelter and a retreat. I pray
you, the eagerness and pleasure of hunting hurries men into snow and
frost, over mountains and woods; shall we not employ that patience on
the exigencies of war, which even sport and pleasure are wont to call
forth? Are we to suppose that the bodies of our soldiers are so
effeminate, their minds so feeble, that they cannot hold out for one
winter in a camp, and be absent from home? that, like persons who wage a
naval war, by taking advantage of the weather, and observing the season
of the year, they are able to endure neither heat nor cold? They would
certainly blush, should any one lay these things to their charge; and
would maintain that both their minds and their bodies were possessed of
manly endurance, and that they were able to conduct war equally well in
winter and in summer; and that they had not consigned to the tribunes
the patronage of indolence and sloth, and that they remembered that
their ancestors had created this very power, neither in the shade nor
beneath their roofs. Such sentiments are worthy of the valour of your
soldiers, such sentiments are worthy of the Roman name, not to consider
merely Veii, nor this war which is now pressing us, but to seek a
reputation for hereafter for other wars and for other states. Do you
consider the difference of opinion likely to result from this matter as
trivial? Whether, pray, are the neighbouring states to suppose that the
Roman people is such, that if any one shall sustain their first assault,
and that of very short continuance, they have nothing afterwards to
fear? or whether such should be the terror of our name, that neither the
tediousness of a distant siege, nor the inclemency of winter, can
dislodge the Roman army from a city once invested, and that they know no
other termination of war than victory, and that they carry on wars not
more by briskness than by perseverance; which is necessary no doubt in
every kind of war, but more especially in besieging cities; most of
which, impregnable both by their works and by natural situation, time
itself overpowers and reduces by famine and thirst; as it will reduce
Veii, unless the tribunes of the commons shall afford aid to the enemy,
and the Veientians find in Rome reinforcements which they seek in vain
in Etruria. Is there any thing which can happen so much in accordance
with the wishes of the Veientians, as that first the Roman city, then
the camp, as it were by contagion, should be filled with sedition? But,
by Jove, among the enemy so forbearing a state of mind prevails, that
not a single change has taken place among them, either through disgust
at the length of the siege nor even of the kingly form of government;
nor has the refusal of aid by the Etrurians aroused their tempers. For
whoever will be the abettor of sedition, will be instantly put to death;
nor will it be permitted to any one to utter those sentiments which
amongst you are expressed with impunity. He is sure to receive the
bastinade, who forsakes his colours or quits his post. Persons advising
not one or two soldiers, but whole armies to relinquish their colours or
to forsake their camp, are openly listened to in your public assemblies.
Accordingly whatever a tribune of the people says, although it tends to
the ruin of the country or the dissolution of the commonwealth, you are
accustomed to listen to with partiality; and captivated with the charms
of that authority, you suffer all sorts of crimes to lie concealed
beneath it. The only thing that remains is, that what they vociferate
here, the same projects do they realize in the camp and among the
soldiers, and seduce the armies, and not suffer them to obey their
officers; since that and that only is liberty in Rome, to show no
deference to the senate, nor to magistrates, nor laws, nor the usages of
ancestors, nor the institutions of our fathers, nor military
discipline."
7. Even already Appius was a match for the tribunes of the people in the
popular assemblies; when suddenly a misfortune sustained before Veii,
from a quarter whence no one could expect it, both gave Appius the
superiority in the dispute, produced also a greater harmony between the
different orders, and greater ardour to carry on the siege of Veii with
more pertinacity. For when the trenches were now advanced to the very
city, and the machines were almost about to be applied to the walls,
whilst the works are carried on with greater assiduity by day, than they
are guarded by night, a gate was thrown open on a sudden, and a vast
multitude, armed chiefly with torches, cast fire about on all sides; and
after the lapse of an hour the flames destroyed both the rampart and the
machines, the work of so long a time, and great numbers of men, bearing
assistance in vain, were destroyed by the sword and by fire. When the
account of this circumstance was brought to Rome, it inspired sadness
into all ranks; into the senate anxiety and apprehension, lest the
sedition could no longer be withstood either in the city or in the camp,
and lest the tribunes of the commons should insult over the
commonwealth, as if vanquished by them; when on a sudden, those who
possessed an equestrian fortune, but to whom horses had not been
assigned by the public, having previously held a meeting together, went
to the senate; and having obtained permission to speak, promise that
they will serve on their own horses. And when thanks were returned to
them by the senate in the most complimentary terms, and the report of
this proceeding spread through the forum and the city, there suddenly
ensues a concourse of the commons to the senate-house. They say that
"they are now of the pedestrian order, and they preferred their services
to the commonwealth, though not compelled to serve, whether they wished
to march them to Veii, or to any other place. If they were led to Veii,
they affirm, that they would not return from thence, until the city of
the enemy was taken." Then indeed they with difficulty set bounds to the
joy which now poured in upon them; for they were not ordered, as in the
case of the horsemen, to be publicly eulogized, the order for so doing
being consigned to the magistrates, nor were they summoned into the
senate-house to receive an answer; nor did the senate confine themselves
within the threshold of their house, but every one of them individually
with their voice and hands testified from the elevated ground the public
joy to the multitude standing in the assembly; they declared that by
that unanimity the Roman city would be happy, and invincible and
eternal; praised the horsemen, praised the commons; extolled the day
itself by their praises; they acknowledged that the courtesy and