The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08

returned to the matrons, and to this was added the honour of their having funeral orations pronounced on them after death, in the same manner as the men. Those things being finished which appertained to the gods, and such measures as could be transacted through the senate, then, at length, as the tribunes were teasing the commons by their unceasing harangues, to leave the ruins, to remove to Veii, a city ready prepared for them, being escorted by the entire senate, he ascends the tribunal, and spoke as follows: 51. "Romans, so disagreeable to me are contentions with the tribunes of the people, that in my most melancholy exile, whilst I resided at Ardea, I had no other consolation than that I was removed from these contests; and for this same reason I would never have returned, even though you recalled me by a decree of the senate, and by order of the people. Nor has it been any change in my own sentiments, but in your fortune, that has persuaded me to return now. For the question was that my country should remain in its own established seat, not that I should reside in my country. And on the present occasion I would gladly remain quiet and silent, were not the present struggle also appertaining to my country's interests, to be wanting to which, as long as life lasts, were base in others, in Camillus impious. For why have we recovered it? Why have we rescued it when besieged out of the hands of the enemy, if we ourselves desert it when recovered? And when, the Gauls being victorious, the entire city captured, both the gods and the natives of Rome still retained and inhabited the Capitol and citadel, shall even the citadel and the Capitol be deserted, now when the Romans are victorious and the city has been recovered? And shall our prosperous fortune cause more desolation to this city than our adverse caused? Truly if we had no religious institutions established together with the city, and regularly transmitted down to us, still the divine power has so manifestly interested itself in behalf of the Roman state on the present trying occasion, that I should think that all neglect of the divine worship was removed from the minds of men. For consider the events of these latter years one after the other, whether prosperous or adverse; you will find that all things succeeded favourably with us whilst we followed the gods, and unfavourably when we neglected them. Now, first of all the Veientian war--of how many years' duration, with what immense labour waged!--was not brought to a termination, until the water was discharged from the Alban lake by the admonition of the gods. What, in the name of heaven, regarding this recent calamity of our city? did it arise, until the voice sent from heaven concerning the approach of the Gauls was treated with slight? until the law of nations was violated by our ambassadors, and until such violation was passed over by us with the same indifference towards the gods, when it should have been punished by us? Accordingly vanquished, made captives and ransomed, we have suffered such punishments at the hands of gods and men, as that we are now a warning to the whole world. Afterwards our misfortunes reminded us of our religious duties. We fled for refuge to the gods, to the seat of Jupiter supremely good and great; amid the ruin of all our effects our sacred utensils we partly concealed in the earth; part of them we carried away to the neighbouring cities and removed from the eyes of the enemy. Though deserted by gods and men, still we intermitted not the worship of the gods. Accordingly they have restored to us our country, and victory, our ancient renown in war which had been lost, and on our enemies, who, blinded by avarice, have violated the faith of a treaty with respect to the weight of gold, they have turned dismay, and flight, and slaughter. 52. "When you behold such striking instances of the effects of honouring or neglecting the deity, do you perceive what an act of impiety we are about to perpetrate, scarcely emerging from the wreck of our former misconduct and calamity? We possess a city founded under auspices and auguries; not a spot is there in it that is not full of religious rites and of the gods: the days for the anniversary sacrifices are not more definitely stated, than are the places in which they are to be performed. All these gods, both public and private, do ye, Romans, pretend to forsake. What similarity does your conduct bear [to that] which lately during the siege was beheld with no less admiration by the enemy than by yourselves in that excellent Caius Fabius, when he descended from the citadel amid the Gallic weapons, and performed on the Quirinal hill the solemn rites of the Fabian family? Is it your wish that the family religious rites should not be intermitted even during war, but that the public rites and the Roman gods should be deserted even in time of peace, and that the pontiffs and flamens should be more negligent of public religious ceremonies, than a private individual in the anniversary rite of a particular family? Perhaps some one may say, that we will either perform these duties at Veii, or that we will send our priests hither from thence in order to perform them; neither of which can be done, without infringing on the established forms. For not to enumerate all the sacred rites severally and all the gods, whether in the banquet of Jupiter can the lectisternium be performed in any other place, save in the Capitol? What shall I say of the eternal fire of Vesta, and of the statue, which, as the pledge of empire, is kept under the safeguard of her temple? What, O Mars Gradivus, and you, father Quirinus, of your Ancilia? Is it right that these sacred things, coeval with the city, some of them more ancient than the origin of the city, should be abandoned to profanation? And, observe the difference existing between us and our ancestors. They handed down to us certain sacred rites to be performed by us on the Alban and on the Lavinian mounts. Was it in conformity with religion that these sacred rites were transferred to us to Rome from the cities of our enemies? shall we transfer them hence to Veii, an enemy's city, without impiety? Come, recollect how often sacred rites are performed anew, because some ceremony of our country had been omitted through negligence or accident. On a late occasion, what circumstance, after the prodigy of the Alban lake, proved a remedy to the state distressed by the Veientian war, but the repetition of the sacred rites and the renewal of the auspices? But further, as if duly mindful of ancient religious usages, we have both transferred foreign deities to Rome, and have established new ones. Very recently, imperial Juno was transferred from Veii, and had her dedication performed on a day how distinguished for the extraordinary zeal of the matrons, and with what a full attendance! We have directed a temple to be erected to Aius Locutius, in consequence of the heavenly voice heard in the New Street. To our other solemnities we have added the Capitoline games, and, by direction of the senate, we have founded a new college for that purpose. Which of these things need we have done, if we were to leave the Roman city together with the Gauls? if it was not voluntarily we remained in the Capitol for so many months of siege; if we were retained by the enemy through motives of fear? We are speaking of the sacred rites and of the temples; what, pray, of the priests? Does it not occur to you, what a degree of profaneness would be committed in respect of them. The Vestals, forsooth, have but that one settlement, from which nothing ever disturbed them, except the capture of the city. It is an act of impiety for the flamen Dialis to remain for a single night without the city. Do ye mean to make them Veientian instead of Roman priests? And shall the virgins forsake thee, O Vesta? And shall the flamen by living abroad draw on himself and on his country such a weight of guilt every night? What of the other things, all of which we transact under auspices within the Pomærium, to what oblivion, to what neglect do we consign them? The assemblies of the Curias, which comprise military affairs; the assemblies of the Centuries, at which you elect consuls and military tribunes, when can they be held under auspices, unless where they are wont [to be held]? Shall we transfer them to Veii? or whether for the purpose of holding their elections shall the people assemble at so great inconvenience into a city deserted by gods and men? 53. "But the case itself forces us to leave a city desolated by fire and ruin, and remove to Veii, where all things are entire, and not to distress the needy commons by building here. But that this is only held out as a pretext, rather than that it is the real motive, I think is evident to you, though I should say nothing on the subject; for you remember that before the arrival of the Gauls, when the buildings, both public and private, were still unhurt, and the city still stood in safety, this same question was agitated, that we should remove to Veii. Observe then, tribunes, what a difference there is between my way of thinking and yours. Ye think that though it may not have been advisable to do it then, still that now it ought certainly to be done; I, on the contrary, (and be not surprised until you shall have heard the state of the case,) admitting it were advisable to remove when the entire city was safe, would not vote for relinquishing these ruins now. For then victory would be the cause of our removing into a captured city, one that would be glorious to ourselves and our posterity; whilst now this same removal would be wretched and disgraceful to us, and glorious to the Gauls. For we shall appear not to have left our country as conquerors, but to have lost it from having been vanquished; the flight at Allia, the capture of the city, the blockading of the Capitol, [will seem] to have imposed this necessity on us of forsaking our household gods, of having recourse to exile and flight from that place which we were unable to defend. And have the Gauls been able to demolish Rome, which the Romans shall be deemed to have been unable to restore? What remains, but that if they should now come with new forces, (for it is evident that their number is scarcely credible,) and should they feel disposed to dwell in this city, captured by them, and deserted by you, would you suffer them? What, if not the Gauls, but your old enemies, the Æquans and Volscians, should form the design of removing to Rome; would you be willing that they should become Romans, you Veientians? Would ye prefer that this should be a desert in your possession, or a city of the enemy? For my part I can see nothing more impious. Is it because ye are averse to building, ye are prepared to incur this guilt, this disgrace? Even though no better, no more ample structure could be erected throughout the entire city than that cottage of our founder, is it not better to dwell in cottages, like shepherds and rustics, amid your sacred places and your household gods, than to go publicly into exile? Our forefathers, strangers and shepherds, when there was nothing in these places but woods and marshes, erected a new city in a very short time; do we, with a Capitol and citadel safe, and the temples of the gods still standing, feel it irksome to build up what has been burnt? and what we individually would have done, if our private residence had been burned down, shall we as a body refuse to do in the case of a public conflagration? 54. "What, if by some evil design of accident a fire should break out at Veii, and the flames spread by the wind, as may happen, should consume a considerable portion of the city; are we then to seek Fidenæ, or Gabii,