Roman History, Books I III - Titus Livius
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Then Aulus Verginius and Titus Vetusius entered on the consulship.
Upon this the commons, uncertain what sort of consuls they were likely
to have, held nightly meetings, some of them upon the Esquiline, and
others upon the Aventine, lest, when assembled in the forum, they
should be thrown into confusion by being obliged to adopt hasty
resolutions, and proceed inconsiderately and at hap-hazard. The
consuls, judging this proceeding to be of dangerous tendency, as it
really was, laid the matter before the senate. But, when it was laid
before them, they could not get them to consult upon it regularly; it
was received with an uproar on all sides, and by the indignant shouts
of the fathers, at the thought that the consuls threw on the senate
the odium for that which should have been carried out by consular
authority. Assuredly, if there were real magistrates in the republic,
there would have been no council at Rome but a public one. As it was,
the republic was divided and split into a thousand senate-houses and
assemblies, some meetings being held on the Esquiline, others on the
Aventine. One man, like Appius Claudius--for such a one was of more
value than a consul--would have dispersed those private meetings in a
moment. When the consuls, thus rebuked, asked them what it was that
they desired them to do, declaring that they would carry it out with
as much energy and vigour as the senators wished, the latter issued
a decree that they should push on the levy as briskly as possible
declaring that the people had become insolent from want of employment.
When the senate had been dismissed, the consuls assembled the tribunal
and summoned the younger men by name. When none of them answered to
his name, the people, crowding round after the manner of a general
assembly, declared that the people could no longer be imposed on: that
they should never enlist one single soldier unless the engagement made
publicly with the people were fulfilled: that liberty must be restored
to each before arms should be given, that so they might fight for
their country and fellow-citizens, and not for lords and masters. The
consuls understood the orders of the senate, but saw none of those who
talked so big within the walls of the senate-house present themselves
to share the odium they would incur. In fact, a desperate contest with
the commons seemed at hand. Therefore, before they had recourse to
extremities, they thought it advisable to consult the senate a second
time. Then indeed all the younger senators almost flew to the chairs
of the consuls, commanding them to resign the consulate, and lay aside
an office which they lacked the courage to support.
Both plans having been sufficiently made proof of, the consuls at
length said: "Conscript fathers, that you may not say that you have
not been forewarned, know that a great disturbance is at hand. We
demand that those who accuse us most loudly of cowardice shall assist
us when holding the levy; we will proceed according to the resolution
of the most intrepid among you, since it so pleases you." Returning
to their tribunal, they purposely commanded one of the leaders of the
disturbance, who were in sight, to be summoned by name. When he stood
without saying a word, and a number of men stood round him in a ring,
to prevent violence being offered, the consuls sent a lictor to seize
him, but he was thrust back by the people. Then, indeed, those of
the fathers who attended the consuls, exclaiming against it as an
intolerable insult, hurried down from the tribunal to assist the
lictor. But when the violence of the people was turned from the
lictor, who had merely been prevented from arresting the man, against
the fathers, the riot was quelled by the interposition of consuls,
during which, however, without the use of stones or weapons, there was
more noise and angry words than actual injury inflicted. The senate,
summoned in a tumultuous manner was consulted in a manner still more
tumultuous, those who had been beaten demanding an inquiry, and the
most violent of them attempting to carry their point, not so much by
votes as by clamour and bustle. At length, when their passion had
subsided, and the consuls reproached them that there was no more
presence of mind in the senate than in the forum, the matter began to
be considered in order. Three different opinions were held. Publius
Verginius was against extending relief to all. He voted that they
should consider only those who, relying on the promise of Publius
Servilius the consul, had served in the war against the Volscians,
Auruncans, and Sabines. Titus Larcius was of opinion, that it was not
now a fitting time for services only to be rewarded: that all the
people were overwhelmed with debt, and that a stop could not be put to
the evil, unless measures were adopted for the benefit of all: nay,
further, if the condition of different parties were different discord
would thereby rather be inflamed than healed. Appius Claudius, being
naturally of a hard disposition, and further infuriated by the hatred
of the commons on the one hand, and the praises of the senators on the
other, insisted that such frequent riots were caused not by distress,
but by too much freedom: that the people were rather insolent than
violent: that this mischief, in fact, took its rise from the right of
appeal; since threats, not authority, was all that remained to the
consuls, while permission was given to appeal to those who were
accomplices in the crime. "Come," added he, "let us create a dictator
from whom there lies no appeal, and this madness, which has set
everything ablaze, will immediately subside. Then let me see the man
who will dare to strike a lictor, when he shall know that that person,
whose authority he has insulted, has sole and absolute power to flog
and behead him."
To many the opinion of Appius appeared, as in fact it was, harsh and
severe. On the other hand, the proposals of Verginius and Larcius
appeared injurious, from the precedent they established: that of
Larcius they considered especially so, as one that would destroy all
credit. The advice of Verginius, was reckoned to be most moderate, and
a happy medium between the other two. But through party spirit and
men's regard for their private interest, which always has and always
will stand in the way of public councils, Appius prevailed, and was
himself near being created dictator--a step which would certainly
have alienated the commons at a most dangerous juncture, when the
Volscians, the Aequans, and the Sabines all happened to be in arms at
the same time. But the consuls and elders of the senate took care that
this command, in its own nature uncontrollable, should be intrusted
to a man of mild disposition. They elected Marcus Valerius son of
Volesus, dictator. The people, though they saw that this magistrate
was appointed against themselves, yet, as they possessed the right of
appeal by his brother's law, had nothing harsh or tyrannical to fear
from that family. Afterward an edict published by the dictator, which
was almost identical in terms with that of the consul Servilius,
further inspirited them. But, thinking reliance could be more safely
placed both in the man and in his authority,[29] they abandoned the
struggle and gave in their names. Ten legions were raised, a larger
army than had ever been raised before.[30] Of these, each of the
consuls had three legions assigned him; the dictator commanded four.
The war could not now be any longer deferred. The Aequans had invaded
the territory of the Latins: the deputies of the latter begged the
senate either to send them assistance, or to allow them to arm
themselves for the purpose of defending their own frontiers. It seemed
safer that the Latins should be defended without their being armed,
than to allow them to handle arms again. Vetusius the consul was sent
to their assistance: thereby a stop was put to the raids. The Aequans
retired from the plains, and depending more on the advantages of
position than on their arms, secured themselves on the heights of the
mountains. The other consul, having set out against the Volscians,
lest he in like manner might waste time,[31] provoked the enemy to
pitch their camp nearer, and to risk a regular engagement, by ravaging
their lands. Both armies stood ready to advance, in front of their
lines, in hostile array, in a plain between the two camps. The
Volscians had considerably the advantage in numbers: accordingly, they
entered into battle in loose order, and in a spirit of contempt. The
Roman consul neither advanced his forces, nor allowed the enemy's
shouts to be returned, but ordered his men to stand with their spears
fixed in the ground, and whenever the enemy came to a hand-to-hand
encounter, to draw their swords, and attacking them with all their
force, to carry on the fight. The Volscians, wearied with running and
shouting attacked the Romans, who appeared to them paralyzed with
fear; but when they perceived the vigorous resistance that was made,
and saw the swords glittering before their eyes, just as if they had
fallen into an ambuscade, they turned and fled in confusion. Nor had
they sufficient strength even to flee as they had entered into action
at full speed. The Romans, on the other hand, as they had quietly
stood their ground at the beginning of the action, with physical
vigour unimpaired, easily overtook the weary foe, took their camp by
assault, and, having driven them from it, pursued them to Velitrae,
[32] into which city conquered and conquerors together rushed in one
body. By the promiscuous slaughter of all ranks, which there ensued,
more blood was shed than in the battle itself. Quarter was given to a
few, who threw down their arms and surrendered.
While these operations were going on among the Volscians, the dictator
routed the Sabines, among whom by far the most important operations
of the war were carried on, put them to flight, and stripped them of
their camp. By a charge of cavalry he had thrown the centre of the
enemy's line into confusion, in the part where, owing to the wings
being extended too widely, they had not properly strengthened their
line with companies in the centre. The infantry fell upon them in
their confusion: by one and the same charge the camp was taken and the
war concluded. There was no other battle in those times more memorable
than this since the action at the Lake Regillus. The dictator rode
into the city in triumph. Besides the usual honours, a place in the
circus was assigned to him and his descendants, to see the public
games: a curule chair.[33] was fixed in that place. The territory of
Velitrae was taken from the conquered Volscians: colonists were sent
from Rome to Velitrae, and a colony led out thither. Some considerable
time afterward an engagement with the Aequans took place, but against
the wish of the consul, because they had to approach the enemy on
unfavourable ground: the soldiers, however, complaining that the
affair was being purposely protracted, in order that the dictator
might resign his office before they themselves returned to the city,
and so his promises might come to nothing, like those of the consul
before, forced him at all hazards to march his army up the hills.
This imprudent step, through the cowardice of the enemy, turned out
successful: for, before the Romans came within range, the Aequans,
amazed at their boldness, abandoned their camp, which they had pitched
in a very strong position, and ran down into the valleys that lay
behind them. There abundant plunder was found: the victory was a
bloodless one. While military operations had thus proved successful
in three quarters, neither senators nor people had dismissed their
anxiety in regard to the issue of domestic questions. With such
powerful influence and such skill had the usurers made arrangements,
so as to disappoint not only the people, but even the dictator
himself. For Valerius, after the return of the consul Vetusius, of all
the measures brought before the senate, made that on behalf of the
victorious people the first, and put the question, what it was their
pleasure should be done with respect to the debtors. And when his
report was disallowed, he said: "As a supporter of reconciliation, I
am not approved of. You will ere long wish, depend on it, that the
commons of Rome had supporters like myself. For my part, I will
neither further disappoint my Fellow-citizens, nor will I be dictator
to no purpose. Intestine dissensions and foreign wars have caused the
republic to stand in need of such a magistrate. Peace has been secured
abroad, it is impeded at home. I will be a witness to the disturbance
as a private citizen rather than as dictator." Accordingly, quitting
the senate-house, he resigned his dictatorship. The reason was clear
to the people: that he had resigned his office from indignation at
their treatment. Accordingly, as if his promise had been fully kept,
since it had not been his fault that his word had not been made
good, they escorted him on his return home with favouring shouts of
acclamation.
Fear then seized the senators lest, if the army was disbanded, secret
meetings and conspiracies would be renewed; accordingly, although the
levy had been held by the dictator, yet, supposing that, as they had
sworn obedience to the consuls, the soldiers were bound by their oath,
they ordered the legions to be led out of the city, under the pretext
of hostilities having been renewed by the Aequans. By this course of
action the sedition was accelerated. And indeed it is said that it was
at first contemplated to put the consuls to death, that the legions
might be discharged from their oath: but that, being afterward
informed that no religious obligation could be rendered void by a
criminal act, they, by the advice of one Sicinius, retired, without
the orders of the consuls, to the Sacred Mount,[34] beyond the river
Anio, three miles from the city: this account is more commonly adopted
than that which Piso[35] has given, that the secession was made to the
Aventine. There, without any leader, their camp being fortified with
a rampart and trench, remaining quiet, taking nothing but what was
necessary for subsistence, they remained for several days, neither
molested nor molesting. Great was the panic in the city, and through
mutual fear all was in suspense. The people, left by their fellows in
the city, dreaded the violence of the senators: the senators dreaded
the people who remained in the city, not feeling sure whether they
preferred them to stay or depart. On the other hand, how long would
the multitude which had seceded, remain quiet? What would be the
consequences hereafter, if, in the meantime, any foreign war should
break out? They certainly considered there was no hope left, save in
the concord of the citizens: that this must be restored to the state
at any price. Under these circumstances it was resolved that Agrippa
Menenius, an eloquent man, and a favourite with the people, because
he was sprung from them, should be sent to negotiate with them. Being
admitted into the camp, he is said to have simply related to them the
following story in an old-fashioned and unpolished style: "At the time
when the parts of the human body did not, as now, all agree together,
but the several members had each their own counsel, and their own
language, the other parts were indignant that, while everything was
provided for the gratification of the belly by their labour and
service, the belly, resting calmly in their midst, did nothing but
enjoy the pleasures afforded it. They accordingly entered into a
conspiracy, that neither should the hands convey food to the mouth,
nor the mouth receive it when presented, nor the teeth have anything
to chew: while desiring, under the influence of this indignation, to
starve out the belly, the individual members themselves and the entire
body were reduced to the last degree of emaciation. Thence it became
apparent that the office of the belly as well was no idle one, that it
did not receive more nourishment than it supplied, sending, as it did,
to all parts of the body that blood from which we derive life and
vigour, distributed equally through the veins when perfected by the
digestion of the food." [36] By drawing a comparison from this, how
like was the internal sedition of the body to the resentment of the
people against the senators, he succeeded in persuading the minds of
the multitude.
Then the question of reconciliation began to be discussed, and a
compromise was effected on certain conditions: that the commons should
have magistrates of their own, whose persons should be inviolable, who
should have the power of rendering assistance against the consuls,
and that no patrician should be permitted to hold that office.
Accordingly, two tribunes of the commons were created, Gaius Licinius
and Lucius Albinus. These created three colleagues for themselves.
It is clear that among these was Sicinius, the ring-leader of the
sedition; with respect to the other two, there is less agreement who
they were. There are some who say that only two tribunes were elected
on the Sacred Mount and that there the lex sacrata [37] was passed.
During the secession of the commons, Spurius Cassius and Postumus
Cominius entered on the consulship. During their consulate, a treaty
was concluded with the Latin states. To ratify this, one of the
consuls remained at Rome: the other, who was sent to take command
in the Volscian war, routed and put to flight the Volscians of
Antium,[38] and pursuing them till they had been driven into the town
of Longula, took possession of the walls. Next he took Polusca, also
a city of the Volscians: he then attacked Corioli [39] with great
violence. There was at that time in the camp, among the young nobles,
Gnaeus Marcius, a youth distinguished both for intelligence and
courage, who was afterward surnamed Coriolanus. While the Roman army
was besieging Corioli, devoting all its attention to the townspeople,
who were kept, shut up within the walls, and there was no apprehension
of attack threatening from without, the Volscian legions, setting out
from Antium, suddenly attacked them, and the enemy sallied forth at
the same time from the town. Marcius at that time happened to be on
guard. He, with a chosen body of men, not only beat back the attack
of those who had sallied forth, but boldly rushed in through the
open gate, and, having cut down all who were in the part of the city
nearest to it, and hastily seized some blazing torches, threw them
into the houses adjoining the wall. Upon this, the shouts of the
townsmen, mingled with the wailings of the women and children
occasioned at first by fright, as is usually the case, both increased
the courage of the Romans, and naturally dispirited the Volscians
who had come to bring help, seeing that the city was taken. Thus the
Volscians of Antium were defeated, and the town of Corioli was taken.
And so much did Marcius by his valour eclipse the reputation of the
consul, that, had not the treaty concluded with the Latins by Spurius
Cassius alone, in consequence of the absence of his colleagues, and
which was engraved on a brazen column, served as a memorial of it, it
would have been forgotten that Postumus Cominius had conducted the war
with the Volscians. In the same year died Agrippa Menenius, a man all
his life equally a favourite with senators and commons, endeared still
more to the commons after the secession. This man, the mediator and
impartial promoter of harmony among his countrymen, the ambassador of
the senators to the commons, the man who brought back the commons to
the city, did not leave enough to bury him publicly. The people buried
him by the contribution of a sextans [40] per man.
Titus Geganius and Publius Minucius were next elected consuls. In
this year, when abroad there was complete rest from war, and at home
dissensions were healed, another far more serious evil fell upon the
state: first, dearness of provisions, a consequence of the lands lying
untilled owing to the secession of the commons; then a famine, such as
attacks those who are besieged. And matters would certainly have ended
in the destruction of the slaves and commons, had not the consuls
adopted precautionary measures, by sending persons in every direction
to buy up corn, not only into Etruria on the coast to the right of
Ostia, and through the territory of the Volscians along the coast on
the left as far as Cumae, but into Sicily also, in quest of it. To
such an extent had the hatred of their neighbours obliged them to
stand in need of assistance from distant countries. When corn had
been bought up at Cumae, the ships were detained as security for the
property of the Tarquinians by the tyrant Aristodemus, who was their
heir. Among the Volscians and in the Pomptine territory it could not
even be purchased. The corn dealers themselves incurred danger from
the violence of the inhabitants. Corn was brought from Etruria by way
of the Tiber: by means of this the people were supported. In such
straitened resources they would have been harassed by a most
inopportune war, had not a dreadful pestilence attacked the Volscians
when on the point of beginning hostilities. The minds of the enemy
being so terrified by this calamity, that they felt a certain alarm,
even after it had abated the Romans both augmented the number of their
colonists at Velitrae, and despatched a new colony to the mountains Of
Norba [41] to serve as a stronghold in the Pomptine district. Then
in the consulship of Marcus Minucius and Aulus Sempronius a great
quantity of corn was imported from Sicily and it was debated in the
senate at what price it should be offered to the commons. Many were
of opinion that the time was come for crushing the commons, and
recovering those rights which had been wrested from the senators by
secession and violence. In particular, Marcius Coriolanus, an enemy to
tribunician power, said: "If they desire corn at its old price, let
them restore to the senators their former rights. Why do I, like a
captive sent under the yoke, as if I had been ransomed from robbers,
behold plebeian magistrates, and Sicinius invested with power? Am I to
submit to these indignities longer than is necessary? Am I, who have
refused to endure Tarquin as king, to tolerate Sicinius? Let him now
secede, let him call away the commons. The road lies open to the
Sacred Mount and to other hills. Let them carry off the corn from our
lands, as they did three years since. Let them have the benefit
of that scarcity which in their mad folly they have themselves
occasioned. I venture to say, that, overcome by these sufferings, they
will themselves become tillers of the lands, rather than, taking up
arms, and seceding, prevent them from being tilled." It is not so easy
to say whether it should have been done, but I think that it might
have been practicable for the senators, on the condition of lowering
the price of provisions, to have rid themselves of both the
tribunician power, and all the regulations imposed on them against
their will.
This proposal both appeared to the senate too harsh and from
exasperation well-nigh drove the people to arms: they complained that
they were now being attacked with famine, as if they were enemies,
that they were being robbed of food and sustenance, that the corn
brought from foreign countries, the only support with which fortune
had unexpectedly furnished them, was being snatched from their mouth,
unless the tribunes were delivered in chains to Gnaeus Marcius, unless
satisfaction were exacted from the backs of the commons of Rome. That
in him a new executioner had arisen, one to bid them either die or
be slaves. He would have been attacked as he was leaving the
senate-house, had not the tribunes very opportunely appointed him a
day for trial: thereupon their rage was suppressed, every one saw
himself become the judge, the arbiter of the life and death of his
foe. At first Marcius listened to the threats of the tribunes with
contempt, saying that it was the right of affording aid, not of
inflicting punishment that had been conferred upon that office: that
they were tribunes of the commons and not of the senators. But the
commons had risen with such violent determination, that the senators
felt themselves obliged to sacrifice one man to arrive at a
settlement. They resisted, however, in spite of opposing odium, and
exerted, collectively, the powers of the whole order, as well as,
individually, each his own. At first, an attempt was made to see if,
by posting their clients [42] in several places, they could quash the
whole affair, by deterring individuals from attending meetings and
cabals. Then they all proceeded in a body--one would have said that
all the senators were on their trial--earnestly entreating the commons
that, if they would not acquit an innocent man, they would at least
for their sake pardon, assuming him guilty, one citizen, one senator.
As he did not attend in person on the day appointed, they persisted in
their resentment. He was condemned in his absence, and went into exile
among the Volscians, threatening his country, and even then cherishing
all the resentment of an enemy.[43] The Volscians received him kindly
on his arrival, and treated him still more kindly every day, in
proportion as his resentful feelings toward his countrymen became more
marked, and at one time frequent complaints, at another threats, were
heard. He enjoyed the hospitality of Attius Tullius, who was at that
time by far the chief man of the Volscian people, and had always been
a determined enemy of the Romans. Thus, while long-standing animosity
stimulated the one and recent resentment the other, they concerted
schemes for bringing about a war with Rome. They did not readily
believe that their own people could be persuaded to take up arms, so
often unsuccessfully tried, seeing that by many frequent wars, and
lastly, by the loss of their youth in the pestilence, their spirits
were now broken; they felt that in a case where animosity had now died
away from length of time they must proceed by scheming, that their
feelings might become exasperated under the influence of some fresh
cause for resentment.