[69] Having said this, he ended. When the opinions of the older senators agreed with that of Menenius and it came to the turn of the younger members to speak, the whole senate being on tip-toe with suspense, Spurius Nautius rose up, the heir of a most illustrious family. For Nautius, the founder of the line, was one of those who took out the colony with Aeneas, being a priest of Athena Polias; and when he removed from Troy, he brought with him the wooden statue of that goddess, which the family of the Nautii guarded thereafter, receiving it in succession one from another. This man was esteemed the most illustrious of all the younger senators for his own merits as well, and it was expected that he would soon obtain the consulship. [2] He began by making a general defence of all the younger senators, declaring that neither a spirit of rivalry towards their elders nor arrogance had induced them to adopt a position opposed to that of the others at the last meeting of the senate, and if they had committed any error, it had been a mistake in judgment due to their youth; and in conclusion he said that they would now give proof of this by changing their opinion. They consented at any rate that the others, as men of better judgment, should decree whatever they thought most conducive to the welfare of the state, assuring them that they, at least, would offer no opposition in this matter, but would follow the advice of their elders. [3] And when all the other younger members made the same declaration, except a very small number who were related to Appius, the consuls commended their dignified behaviour and exhorted them to conduct themselves in the same manner in all public matters; after which they chose as envoys ten men who were the most distinguished of the older senators, all but one being former consuls. Those appointed were the following: Agrippa Menenius Lanatus, the son of Gaius, Manius Valerius [Volusus], the son of Volusus, . . ., Publius Servilius [Priscus], the son of Publius, . . ., Publius Postumius Tubertus, the son of Quintus, Titus Aebutius Flavus, the son of Titus, Servius Sulpicius Camerinus, the son of Publius, Aulus Postumius Balbus, the son of Publius, and Aulus Verginius Caelimontanus, the son of Aulus. [4] After this, the senate being dismissed, the consuls went to the assembly of the people, and having ordered the decree of the senate to be read, presented the envoys. And as everyone desired to be informed of the instructions which the senate had given them, the consuls declared openly that they had ordered them to reconcile the people to the patricians by any means they could without fraud or deceit and to bring the fugitives home speedily.
[70.1] The envoys, having received these instructions from the senate, when out of the city the same day. But the news of everything that had passed in the city reached those in the camp ahead of them, and presently all the plebeians left the encampment and met the envoys while they were still upon the road. Now there was in the camp a very turbulent and seditious man who had a shrewd mine for foreseeing something of the future far in advance, and he was not lacking in ability to express his thoughts, being a great talker and babbler. He had the same name, Lucius Junius, as the man who had overthrown the kings, and desiring to make the similarity of their names complete, he wished also to be called Brutus. To most people, it seems, he was a laughing-stock because of his vain pretentiousness, and when they wished to make sport of him, they called him by the nickname Brutus. [2] This man now showed Sicinius, who was the commander of the camp, that it was not to the best interest of the people to submit readily to the proposals that were offered, lest by beginning with too moderate a demand, they might find their return home less honourable, but to oppose them for a long time and to inject into the negotiations an element of play-acting; and after promising to take upon himself the defence of the people and suggesting everything else that was to be done and said, he prevailed upon Sicinius. Thereupon Sicinius, assembling the people, asked the envoys to state their reason for coming.
[71.1] Then Manius Valerius, who was the oldest of the envoys and most in sympathy with the common people, came forward, while the crowd testified their affection for him by the friendliest expressions and appellations; and when he had secured silence, he spoke as follows:
“Nothing now hinders you, plebeians, from returning to your homes and being reconciled to the senators. [2] For the senate has voted you an honourable and advantageous return, and has decreed an amnesty for all that has happened. They have also sent us as envoys, men whom they knew to be the greatest friends of the people and deservedly honoured by you, giving us full powers with respect to the accommodation, so that we may not judge of your sentiments by appearances or conjectures, but may learn from you yourselves upon what terms you think fit to put an end to the sedition, and, if there is any moderation in your demands and they are not impossible or precluded by some irreparable dishonour attached to them, we may grant them to you without waiting for the opinion of the senate or exposing the negotiations to long delays and to the jealousy of your adversaries. [3] Since, then, the senate has passed this decree, do you receive their favours, plebeians, joyfully, with the greatest alacrity and enthusiasm, setting a high value upon so great good fortune and returning profound thanks therefor to the gods, in that the Roman commonwealth, which rules over so many people, and the senate, which has the command of all the blessings therein, though it is an established custom with them to yield to none of their adversaries, nevertheless willingly yield some of their dignity in favour of you alone. For they neither thought fit to enter into such a minute discussion of the rights of each side as might be expected from superiors when treating with their inferiors, but instead took the initiative themselves in sending envoys to propose an accommodation, nor did they receive with anger the haughty answers you gave to their former envoys, but endured this insolent and puerile exhibition of your arrogance as good parents would endure that of their foolish children; and they thought they ought to send another embassy and accept less than their full rights, and to submit to anything, citizens, that is reasonable. [4] Now that you have met with so great good fortune, do not delay, plebeians, to tell us what you desire and do not mock at us. But when you have put an end to the sedition, return with joy to your country which gave you your birth and rearing, blessings for which you made her a sorry recompense and return when you left her, as far as in you lay, to be desolate and a pasture for flocks. But if you let this opportunity slip, you will wish time and again for another.”
[72.1] When now Valerius had done speaking, Sicinius came forward and said that those who deliberated wisely ought not to examine the expediency of any measure from a single point of view, but should suggest to themselves the opposite view as well, particularly when affairs of so great moment were under consideration. Then he asked any who pleased to answer these proposals, laying aside all modesty and caution; for their situation, now that they were reduced to such distress, did not permit of their yielding to either hesitation or undue modesty. [2] When there was silence, they all looked at one another to find out who would prospect for the common cause; but none appeared, though Sicinius repeated the same request several times. At last Lucius Junius, the man who wanted Brutus to be added to his name, came forward in accordance with his promise, and being received with general applause from the crowd, delivered a speech of the following tenor:
[3] “It seems, plebeians, that the dread of the patricians is still so firmly rooted in your minds that it holds you in terror, and, humbled on that account, you shrink from uttering in public the arguments that you are wont to use to one another. For each one openly, perhaps, thinks that his neighbour will plead the common cause and that all the others rather than he will undergo any danger there may be, while he himself, standing in a place of safety, will enjoy, free from fear, his share of the benefit arising from the boldness of the other. But in this he is mistaken; for if we should all hold this opinion, the cowardice of each one of you will prove a common injury to all, and while every man consults his own safety, he will be destroying the common safety of all. [4] But even if you did not know before that you are freed from this dread and that you have your liberty secure as long as you have your arms, learn
it now at least, taking these men as your teachers. For these arrogant and stern men have not come with orders for you, as before, or with threats, but begging and beseeching you to return to your homes, and now begin to deal with you as with free men upon equal terms. [5] Why, then, are you any longer in awe of them and why are you silent? Why do you not assume the spirit of free men, and having now broken at last the curb which held you, tell all men what you have suffered at their hands? Unhappy men, of what are you afraid? That you will suffer some harm if you follow my lead in giving free rein to the tongue? For I shall expose myself to the danger of declaring to them frankly the justice of your cause, concealing nothing. And since Valerius has said that nothing hinders you from going back to your homes, the senate having given you leave to return and having decreed you an amnesty besides, I shall give him this answer — that which is the very truth and must needs be told.
[73.1] “As for us, Valerius, there are many other reasons that hinder us from laying down our arms and putting ourselves in your power, but these three are the most important and the most obvious: First, because you have come to accuse us as if we had offended, and when you give us leave to return you count it as a favor to us; next, because when you invite us to an accommodation you do not give any hint upon what terms of justice and humanity we are to enter into it; and lastly, because there is no certainty of your fulfilling your promises to us, since time and again you have consistently deceived and deluded us. [2] I shall speak to each of these points separately, beginning with the matter of justice; for it is the duty of all who speak either in private or in public to begin with justice. Well then, if we are doing you any injustice, we do not ask for either impunity or an amnesty; though we do not choose even to share the same city with you any longer, but will live wherever Fate shall lead us, leaving it to Fortune and to the gods to direct our course. But if, suffering injustice at your hands, we have been compelled to experience this condition in which we now are, why do you not acknowledge that, having yourselves wronged us, you stand in need of pardon and an amnesty? But as it is, you profess to be giving the pardon for which you ought to be asking, and prate boastfully of acquitting us of the resentment of which you yourselves seek to be acquitted, thereby confusing the very essence of truth and reversing the very meaning of justice. [3] That you are not the victims, but the doers of injustice, and that you have not made handsome returns for the many great services you have received from the people in respect both to your liberty and to your sovereignty, learn from me now. I shall begin my argument with the matters you yourselves are acquainted with, and I beg of you in the name of the gods, if I make any false statement, that you will not tolerate it, but will promptly refute me.
[74.1] “Our earliest government was monarchy, under which constitution we lived till the seventh generation. And during all these reigns the people never suffered any loss of rights at the hands of their kings, and least of all from those who reigned last, to say nothing of the many important advantages they enjoyed from their rule. [2] For, besides the other methods the kings used of courting and flattering the people in order to win them to themselves and make them enemies to you — which is the practice of all rulers who aim at extending their power to tyranny — when they had made themselves masters of Suessa, a very prosperous city, after a long war, and had it in their power to grant no part of the spoils to anyone, but to appropriate the whole to themselves and surpass all other kings in riches, they did not think fit to do so, but brought out all the booty and placed it at the disposal of the army, so that, besides the slaves, cattle and the other spoils, which were many and of great value, every one of us received five minae of silver for his share. [3] But we disregarded all this when they used their power more in the manner of tyrants to injure, not us, to be sure, but you; and resenting their behaviour, we gave up our affection for our kings and joined you, and rising with you against them, both those of us who were in the city and those in camp, we drove them out, and bringing to you their power, entrusted it to you. And though it was often possible for us to go over to the side of the expelled kings, yet we scorned to accept the lavish gifts they offered us to induce us to violate our pledge to you, but patiently endured many great and continuous wars and dangers on your account. And up to this time, which is the seventeenth year, we have been worn out with fighting against all mankind for our common liberty. [4] For while the government was still unsettled — as often happens in the case of sudden revolutions — we ventured to contend with the two most renowned cities of the Tyrrhenians, Tarquinii and Veii, when they sought with a large army to restore the kings; and fighting, a few against many, and displaying the greatest enthusiasm, we not only overcame and drove back these foes, but preserved the power for the surviving consul. [5] Not long afterwards, when Porsena, king of the Tyrrhenians, was also endeavouring to restore the exiles both with the united forces of all Tyrrhenia commanded by himself and with those which the others had long before raised, we, though unprovided with an adequate army, and for that reason forced to undergo a siege and reduced to the last extremity and to a dearth of everything, yet by enduring all these hardships forced him to depart after first becoming our friend. [6] And last of all, when the kings for the third time sought to effect their restoration with the aid of the Latin nation and brought against us thirty cities, we, seeing you entreating, lamenting, calling upon every one of us, and reminding us of our friendship, our common rearing, and the campaigns we had shared together, could not bear to abandon you. But looking upon it as a most honourable and glorious thing to give your battles, we rushed into the midst of perils and hazarded on that occasion surely the greatest danger of all, in which, after we had received many wounds and lost many of our relations, companions and comrades in arms, we overcame the enemy, killed their generals, and destroyed the whole royal family.
[75.1] “These are the services we rendered to assist you in freeing yourselves from the tyrants, exerting ourselves beyond our strength because of our enthusiasm, and engaging in the struggle quite as much through the promptings of our own valour as because of necessity. Now hear what we have done to gain for you the respect of and the rule over others, and to acquire for you a power greater than was at first expected; and, as I said before, if I deviate from the truth, you will contradict me. [2] For you, when it seemed that your liberty was firmly assured, were not contented to stop there, but intent upon bold and new undertakings, and regarding as a possible enemy every creature who clung to liberty, and declaring war against almost all the world, in all the perils and in all the battles fought to support that greed for power you thought fit to waste our bodies. [3] I say nothing of all the cities that sometimes singly, sometimes two jointly, fought with you in defence of their liberty, some of which we overcame in pitched battles and others we took by storm and compelled them to become subjects to you. For what need is there to relate these actions in detail when we have such an abundance of material? But who were they who assisted you in acquiring and subjecting to you all Tyrrhenia, a country divided into twelve principalities and exceeding powerful on both land and sea? Whose assistance rendered the Sabines, this powerful nation which had ever contended with you for the primacy, unable any longer to contend for equality? And again, who subdued the thirty cities of the Latins, which not only gloried in the superiority of their forces but prided themselves on the superior justice of their demands? And who compelled them to fly to you imploring you to prevent their enslavement and the razing of their cities?
[76.1] “I omit the other dangers in which we engaged along with you while we were not yet at odds with you and indeed laid claim ourselves to some share of the expected profits of empire. But when at last it was clear that the empire that you had gained was a tyranny, that you abused us like slaves, and that we no longer continued to entertain the same feelings towards you, and when almost all your subjects revolted, the Volscians setting the example, which was followed by the Aequians, the Hernicans, the Sabines, and many others, and a unique
opportunity seemed to offer itself, if we chose to take advantage of it, to accomplish one of two things, either to overthrow your empire or to render it more moderate for the future, do you remember into what despair of your domination you fell and how you were in the last stage of discouragement lest we should either not assist you in the war or, indulging in our resentment, should go over to the enemy, and what entreaties and promises you made? [2] What did we, the humble folk who had been treated outrageously by you, do then? We allowed ourselves to be overcome by the entreaties and prevailed upon by the promises which the excellent Servilius here, who was consul at the time, made to the people, and retained no resentment against you for the wrongs of the past, but conceiving good hopes of the future, we entrusted ourselves to you; and having subdued all your enemies in a short time, we returned with many prisoners and rich spoils. [3] For these services what return did you make to us? One that was just and worthy of the dangers to which we had exposed ourselves? No, indeed; far from it! Why, you violated even the promises which you had ordered the consul to make to us in the name of the commonwealth; and this excellent man himself, whom you had basely used to trick us, you deprived of his triumph, though he of all men most deserved that honour, and you attached this disgrace to him for no other reason than because he asked you to perform the act of justice that you had promised and made it clear that he resented your deceit.
[77.1] “And just recently (for I shall add this one more instance to that part of my discourse which relates to justice before I make an end), when the Aequians, the Sabines, and the Volscians with one accord not only rose against you themselves, but invited others to do likewise, were not you, the proud and stern, obliged to fly to us, the mean and despised, and to promise everything in order to secure your safety at that time? And that you might not seem to be intending to deceive us again, as you had often done before, you made use of Manius Valerius here, the greatest friend of the people, as a cover for your deceit; confiding in whom and believing ourselves in no danger of being imposed upon by a dictator, and least of all by a man who had treated us well, we assisted you in this war also, and having fought not a few battles, and those neither inconsiderable nor obscure, we overcame your enemies. [2] But, once the war was ended in a most glorious manner and sooner than anyone had expected, you were so far from rejoicing and feeling yourselves under great obligation to the people, that you thought fit to keep us still in arms and under our standards against our will, that you might violate your promises as you had determined from the beginning. Then, when Servilius would not submit to the deceit nor to the dishonour of your action, but brought the standards into the city and sent the forces to their homes, you, making this an excuse for not doing us justice, insulted him and kept not a single one of your promises to us, but at one and the same time committed three most lawless acts, in that you destroyed the prestige of the senate, you ruined the credit of Servilius, and you deprived your benefactors of the recompense that was due to their labours. [3] Since, therefore, patricians, we have these and many other things of the like nature to allege against you, we do not think fit to have recourse to supplicating and entreating you, nor, like men guilty of heinous crimes, to secure our return by accepting impunity and amnesty. However, we do not feel that we ought to enter into a minute discussion of these grievances at present, since we are met to treat of an agreement, but leaving them to indifference and oblivion, we simply put up with them.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 58