Chapter 16
V. As they formed in their journey almost one continued train, Tullus, who had proceeded to the fountain of Farentina, accosted the chief persons among them as each arrived, and by asking questions, and expressing indignation, while they greedily listened to expressions which favoured their resentment, led them on, and by their means, the rest of the multitude, to a plain that lay near the road, and there began to harangue them, as if at a general
assembly. Although, said he, ye should forget all the injurious treatment which ye formerly received from the Roman people, the calamities of the Volscian race, and every other matter of the kind, with what degree of patience do ye bear this insult thrown on you, when they commenced their games by exhibiting us to public ignominy? Did ye not perceive that they performed a triumph
over you this day? That, as ye were retiring, ye served as a spectacle to all their citizens, to foreigners, to so many of the neighboring nations? That your wives and your children were led captives before the eyes of the public? What do you suppose were the sentiments of those who heard the words of the crier, of those who beheld you departing, or of those who met this disgraceful cavalcade? What else but that we must be some polluted wretches, whose presence at the
shows would contaminate the games, and render an expiation necessary, and that therefore we were driven away from the mansions of a people of such purity of character from their meeting and converse. And besides, does it not strike you that we should not now be alive, if we had not hastened our departure? If indeed it ought to be called a departure, and not a flight? And do you not consider as enemies the inhabitants of that city, wherein, had you delayed for one day,
ye must, every one of you, have perished? It was a declaration of war against you, for which those who made it will suffer severely, if you have the spirit of men. Their anger, which was hot before, was by this discourse kindled to a flame, in which temper they separated to their several homes, and each taking pains to rouse those of his own state to vengeance,
they soon effected a general revolt of the whole Volscian nation. The commanders appointed for this war, by the unanimous choice of all the states, were Adius Tullus and Caius Marcius the Roman exile, on the latter of whom they reposed by far the greater part of their hopes. Nor did he disappoint their expectations, but gave a convincing proof that the Commonwealth
was once more indebted for power to its generals than to its troops. Marching to Circe, he first expelled the Roman colonists, and then delivered the city, after restoring it to freedom, into the hands of the Volscians. Turning thence across the country towards the Latin road, he deprived the Romans of their late acquisitions, Cetrichum, Longula, Polusca, and Corioli.
he then took lavinium and afterwards made a conquest of corbio vitellia trebia lavissi and petum one after another from petum lastly he led his forces towards rome and pitching his camp at the cleulian trenches five miles from the city sent parties to ravage the lands at the same time appointing persons among the plunderers to take care that the possessions of the patricians should be left unmolested either because his anger was levelled principally against the plebeians or with the design of thereby causing a greater dissension between these different orders and this would no doubt have been the consequence so powerfully did the tribunes by their invectives against the patricians excite the resentment of the commons which was sufficiently too violent before but that however full their minds were of mutual distrust and rancor their dread of a foreign enemy the strongest tie of concord obliged them to unite in one point only did they disagree the senate and the consuls placing their hopes entirely in arms the commons preferring all other measures to war by this time spurius nautius and sextus furius were consuls while they were employed in reviewing the legions and posting troops upon the walls and in other places where it was thought proper to fix guards and watches
a vast multitude of people assembling and insisting on peace terrified them at first by their seditious clamors and at length compelled them to assemble the senate and there proposed the sending of ambassadors to caius marcius the senate finding that they could not depend on the support of the commons took the matter into consideration and sent deputies to marsyas to treat of an accommodation to these he replied in harsh terms that if the lands were restored to the volskians a treaty might then be opened for an accommodation but if they were resolved to enjoy at their ease what they had plundered from their neighbors in war he would not forget either the injustice of his countrymen or the kindness of his hosts but would take such steps as should show the world that his courage was irritated by exile not depressed the same persons being sent a second time were refused admittance into the camp it is related that the priests afterwards in their sacred vestments went as suppliants to the camp of the enemy but had no more influence on him than the ambassadors the matrons then assembled in a body about vetturia the mother of coriolanus and volumnia his wife whether this was a scheme of government or the result of the women's own fears i cannot discover
it is certain that they carried their point and vitturia who was far advanced in years and volumnia leading two little sons whom she had by marsyas went to the camp of the enemy so that women by tears and prayers preserved the city which the men were not able to preserve by arms when they arrived at the camp and coriolanus was informed that a great procession of women was approaching he who had not been moved either by the majesty of the state represented in its ambassadors or by the awful address made by the ministers of religion both to his sight and his understanding at first resolved to show himself still more inflexible against female tears but soon after one of his acquaintance knowing vituria who was distinguished above the rest by an extraordinary degree of sadness as she stood between her daughter-in-law and grandchildren said to him unless my eyes deceive me your mother with your wife and children are coming coriolanus in a transport of amazement and almost distracted sprang from his seat to embrace his mother as she advanced who instead of entreaties addressed him with angry reproofs let me know said she before i receive your embrace whether i am come to an enemy or to a son whether i am in your camp a prisoner or a mother was it for this that age has been lengthened out that i might behold you in exile and afterwards an enemy
could you lay waste this land which gave you birth and education whatever degree of anger whatever thirst of vengeance might have occupied your mind on your march did you not on entering its borders feel your passion when you came within sight of rome did it not recur to you within those walls are my house and guardian gods my mother my wife my children had i never been a mother then rome would not have been now besieged had i not a son i might have died free and left my country free but for my part there is no suffering to which i can be exposed that will not reflect more dishonor on you than misery on me and be my lot as wretched as it may i am not to endure it long let these claim your regard who if you persist can have no other prospect but either untimely death or lasting slavery his wife and children embraced him and the whole crowd of women uttering bitter lamentations and deploring their own and their country's fate at length got the better of his obstinacy so that after embracing and dismissing his family he removed his camp to a greater distance from the city in a short time he drew off the troops entirely from the roman territories which is said to have incensed the volscians so highly against him that he perished under the effects of their resentment
by what kind of death writers do not agree in the account given by fabius the most ancient writer by far i find that he lived even to old age he mentions positively that when marcius became far advanced in years he used frequently to utter this remark that the evils of exile bore much the heavier on the aged the men of rome were not sparing in bestowing on the women the honors which they had earned so distant were the manners of that age from the practice of detracting from the merits of others they even erected and dedicated a temple to female fortune as a lasting monument of their meritorious conduct the volscians afterward in conjunction with the equians made another inroad into the roman territories but the equians soon became dissatisfied at being commanded by attius and in consequence of the dispute whether the volscians or the equians should give a general to the combined army a separation ensued and soon after a furious battle there the good fortune of the roman people wasted the two armies of its enemies in a contest no less bloody than obstinate the consuls of the next year were titus sicinius and caius aquilus the volscians were allotted as a province to sicinius the hernicians for they were also in arms to aquilus
the hernicians were subdued in that year the operations against the volscians ended without any advantage being gained on either side the next consuls elected were spurius cassius and proculus virginius a league was made with the hernicians two-thirds of their lands were taken from them one half of which the consul caucius intended to distribute among the lateens the other half among the commons to this donation he proposed to add a considerable tract of land which belonged he said to the public though possessed by private persons many of the patricians who were themselves in possession of this land were hereby alarmed for their property and besides that body in general was seized with anxiety for the safety of the people observing that the consul by these donatives was forming an influence at once dangerous to liberty and to right this was the first proposal of the agrarian law which from that time to the present age has never been agitated without the most violent commotions in the state the other consul opposed the donations and in this he was supported by the patricians nor did all the commons oppose him at first they began to despise a gift which was not confined to themselves but extended to the allies in common with the citizens
then they were accustomed to hear the consul virginius in the assemblies frequently as it were prophesying that the donatives of his colleagues were full of infectious poison that those lands would bring slavery on such as should receive them that he was paving the way to arbitrary power for why should the allies and the lateen nation be thus included what was the intent of restoring a third part of the lands taken in war to the hernicians who so lately were enemies only that these nations might set cassius at their head as a leader instead of coriolanus whoever argued and protested against the agrarian law as thus proposed was sure of popularity and from that time both the consuls vied with each other in humoring the commons virginius declared that he would allow the lands to be assigned provided they were not made over to any other than citizens of rome cassius finding that by his pursuit of popularity among the allies which he had betrayed in the proposed distribution of the lands he had lowered himself in the estimation of his countrymen and hoping to recover their esteem by another donative proposed in order that the money received for the sicilian corn should be refunded to the people but this the commons rejected with as much disdain as if he were avowedly bartering for arbitrary power so strongly were they influenced by their inveterate suspicions of his ambition
that they spurned at all his presence as if they were in a state of affluence and no sooner did he go out of office than he was condemned and executed as we are informed by undoubted authority some say that it was his father who inflicted this punishment on him that having at home held an inquiry into his conduct he scourged him and put him to death and consecrated the allowance settled on his son to ceres that out of this a statue was erected with this inscription given from the cassian family and it is the more credible account that he was prosecuted for treason by the questors caeso fabius and lucius valerius that he was found guilty on a trial before the people and his house razed by a public decree it stood on the spot which is now the area before the temple of telus however whether the trial was private or public he was condemned in the consulate of servius cornelius and quintus fabius the anger which the people had conceived against cassius was not of long continuance the alluring prospects held out by the agrarian law were sufficient of themselves now the proposer of it was removed out of the way to make a lively impression on their minds and their eagerness in pursuit of them was inflamed by an act of unreasonable parsimony in the patricians
who when the volskians and equians were vanquished in that year deprived the troops of the booty the whole of what was taken from the enemy the consul fabius sold and lodged the produce of it in the treasury the name of fabius was odious to the commons on account of this conduct yet the patricians had influence enough to procure the election of chesophabius to the consulship with lucius amelius this farther exasperated the people who by raising a sedition at home encouraged foreign enemies to attack them but war put a stop to intestine dissensions the patricians and plebeians united under the conduct of amelius with little loss to themselves overthrew and battered the volskians and equians who had revived hostilities on this occasion the enemy lost greater numbers during their retreat than in the battle for after they were broken they were pursued by the cavalry to a vast distance in the same year on the ides of july the temple of castor was dedicated
it had been vowed during the lateen war by postumius the dictator and his son being appointed dumvir for the purpose performed the dedication this year also the people were tempted to new exertions by the charms of the agrarian law the tribunes wished to enhance the importance of their office by promoting that popular decree the patricians convinced that the multitude were of themselves too much inclined to desperate measures looked with horror on such largesses as incitements to acts of temerity and they found in the consuls leaders as active as they could wish in opposing those proceedings their party consequently prevailed and that not only for the present but they were unable to appoint as consuls for the approaching year marcus fabius brother to caeso and lucius who was still more odious to the plebeians on account of his having been the persecutor of spurious cassius in that consulship there was another contest with the tribunes the law in question was considered as a vain project and the proposers of it disregarded as claiming merit from holding out to the people's view advantages which were not attainable the name of fabius was now held in the highest estimation after three successive consulates all of which had been uniformly distinguished by opposition to the tribunitian power
and for that reason this dignity was continued in the same family for a considerable time from a general persuasion that it could not be placed in better hands soon after this war was undertaken against the viennettians the volscians also renewed hostilities for security against foreign enemies the strength of the romans was more than sufficient but they perverted it to a bad purpose namely to the support of quarrels among themselves to add to the general disquiet several prodigies appeared the sky almost daily exhibiting threatening portents both in the city and in the country the soothsayers employed as well by the state as by private persons after consulting both entrails and birds declared that no other cause of the displeasure of the city existed than that the worship of the gods was not duly performed all their apprehensions however ended in this oppia a vestal was convicted of a breach of chastity and suffered punishment quintus fabius a second time and caius julius then succeeded to the consulship during this year the domestic dissensions abated not of their acrimony and the war abroad wore a more dangerous aspect
the equians took up arms the viennettians even carried their depredations into the territories of the romans and as these wars appeared every day more alarming caeso fabius and spurious furius were made consuls the equians laid siege to ortona a latine city the viantians now satiated with booty threatened to besiege rome itself yet all these dangers which surrounded them instead of restraining the ill-humour of the commons only served to augment it they resumed the practice of refusing to enlist as soldiers not indeed of their own accord but by the advice of spurius lacinius a plebeian tribune who thinking that this was the time to force the agrarian law on the patricians when it would be impossible for them to make opposition had undertaken to obstruct the preparations for war however all the odium excited by this exertion of the tribunatean power rested solely on the author nor did the consuls unite their efforts against him with more eager zeal than did his own colleagues by whose assistance the levy was completed armies were raised for the two wars at the same time the command of one was given to fabius to be led against the equians of the other to furius against the vienneteans
in the expedition against the latter nothing memorable was performed fabius met with a great deal more trouble from his countrymen than from the enemy that single man by his conduct as consul supported the commonwealth which the troops out of aversion to him as far as lay in their power treacherously betrayed to ruin for after numberless other instances of his military skill which he had displayed both in his preparatory measures and in his operations on the field and when he had made such a disposition of his forces that by a charge of his cavalry alone he put the enemy to rout the infantry refused to pursue their broken troops nor could any motive not to mention the exhortations of the general whom they hated nor even the immediate consequence of infamy to themselves and disgrace to the public nor the danger to which they would be exposed should the enemy resume their courage prevail on them to quicken their pace or even to stand in order of battle so as to resist an attack without orders they faced about and with countenances as dejected as though they had been vanquished retired to their camp execrating at one time the general at another the exertions of the cavalry
the consul however sought not any remedy against so pestilent an example showing by one instance among many that men of the most transcendent abilities are more apt to be deficient in regard to the discipline of their own troops than in conquering an enemy fabius returned to rome having reaped little fresh glory from the war but having irritated and exasperated to a high degree the hatred of the soldiers against him the patricians notwithstanding had influence enough to continue the consulship in the fabian family they elected marcus fabius to that office and ceneus manlius was appointed as colleague end of book two part seven
