Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79)

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [32.1] “But concerning the senate and the patricians I wish to say a few words to you, since the general hatred you plebeians bear toward them because they prevented the allotment of land hurts me also, and since my accuser too did not conceal this hatred, but made it no small part of his accusation against me. [2] And I shall prospect with frankness; for I could not speak in any other fashion, nor would it be to your interest to hear me if I did. You are not doing right in the eyes of men or the gods, plebeians, if, on the one hand, you show no gratitude for the many great benefits you have received from the senate, but, on the other hand, because, when you demanded a measure the concession of which would bring great harm to the public, the senate, not in any spirit of animosity toward you, but having in view the welfare of the commonwealth, opposed it, you angrily resent its action. [3] But what you ought to have done was, preferably, to accept the senate’s decisions as having been made with the best of motives and for the good of all and then to have desisted from your selfish striving; but if you were unable to restrain your inexpedient desire by means of sober reason, you should have sought to obtain these same ends by persuasion and not by violence. [4] For voluntary gifts are not only more pleasing to those who grant them than such as are extorted by force, but are also more lasting to those who receive them than those which are not freely given. Of this truth you, however, as Heaven is my witness, take no account, but you are continually stirred up by your demagogues and roused to fury even as is the sea by winds that spring up one after another, and you do not permit the commonwealth to remain calm and serene for even the briefest space of time. The result, therefore, is that we prefer war to peace; at any rate, when we Romans are at war, we hurt our enemies, but when at peace, our friends. [5] And yet, plebeians, if you regard all the resolutions of the senate as excellent and advantageous, as they really are, why do you not assume this also to be one of them? If, however, you believe that the senate takes no thought at all for the things it should, but governs the commonwealth dishonourably and basely, why in the world do you not abolish it bag and baggage and yourselves govern and deliberate and wage wars in defence of our empire, rather than pare it down and destroy it by degrees by making away with its most important members in your trials? For it would be better for all of us to be attacked together in war than for each one separately to be the victim of false accusations. [6] However, it is not you, as I said, who are the authors of these disorders, but rather the demagogues, who keep you stirred up and who are neither willing to be ruled nor capable of ruling. Indeed, so far as their imprudence and inexperience could accomplish it, this ship of yours would have foundered many times over; but as it is, the power which corrects their errors and enables your commonwealth to sail on an even keel is the senate, so greatly maligned by them. [7] These remarks, whether they are pleasant for you to hear or vexatious, have been uttered and hazarded by me in all sincerity; and I had rather lose my life by using a freedom of speech that is advantageous for the commonwealth than save it by flattering you.”

  [33.1] Having spoken in this manner and without either resorting to lamentations and wailings over his misfortune or abasing himself by entreaties and unseemly grovelling at the feet of anyone, and without displaying any other mark of an ignoble nature, he yielded the floor to those who desired to speak or bear witness in his favour. Many came forward and sought to clear him of the charge, and particularly Verginius, who had been consul at the same time with him and was regarded as having been the cause of the victory. He not only declared Servilius to be innocent, but argued that, as the bravest of men in war and the most prudent of generals, he deserved to be praised and honoured by all. [2] He said that if they thought the war had ended favourably, they ought to feel grateful to both commanders, but if unfavourably, they ought to punish them both; for not only their plans, but also their actions and the fortunes meted out to them by Heaven had belonged to them both. Not only were the man’s words convincing, but his whole life as well, which had been tested in all manner of good deeds. [3] He had moreover — and this it was that stirred the greatest compassion — a look of fellow-suffering, such a look as one is apt to see on the faces of those who themselves have suffered calamities or are about to suffer them. Hence even the relations of the men who had lost their lives in the battle and seemed irreconcilable to the au of their misfortune became softened and laid aside their resentment, as they presently made evident. For when the votes had been taken, not a single tribe condemned him. Such was the outcome of the jeopardy in which Servilius had been placed.

  [34.1] Not long afterwards an army of the Romans marched out against the Tyrrhenians under the command of Publius Valerius, one of the consuls. For the forces of the Veientes had again assembled and had been joined by the Sabines. The latter had hitherto hesitated to assist them in the war, fearing that they were aiming at the impossible; but now, when they learned both of the flight of Menenius and of the fortifying of the hill close to the city, concluding that the forces of the Romans had been humbled and that the spirit of the commonwealth had been broken, they proceeded to aid the Tyrrhenians, sending them a large body of troops. [2] The Veientes, relying night on their own forces and on those of the Sabines which had just come to them, and expecting reinforcements from the rest of the Tyrrhenians, were eager to march on Rome with the greater part of their army, in the belief that none would oppose them, but that they should either take the city by storm or reduce it by famine. [3] But Valerius forestalled their plan, while they were still delaying and waiting for the allies who tarried, by setting out himself with the flower of the Roman youth and with the auxiliary force from the allies, not openly, but in such a manner as would conceal his march from the enemy so far as possible. For, advancing from Rome in the later afternoon and crossing the Tiber, he encamped at a short distance from the city; then, rousing the army about midnight, he marched in haste and, before it was day, attacked one of the enemy’s camps. [4] For there were two camp s, separate but at no great distance from one another, one of the Tyrrhenian and the other of the Sabines. The first camp he attacked was that of the Sabines, where most of the men were still asleep and there was no guard worth mentioning, inasmuch as they were in friendly territory and felt great contempt for the enemy, whose presence had not been reported from any quarter; and he took it by storm. Some of the Sabines were slain in their beds, others just as they were getting up and arming themselves, and still others, who, though armed, were dispersed and fighting in disorder; but the larger part of them were intercepted and destroyed by the Roman horse while they were endeavouring to escape to the other camp.

  [35.1] The camp of the Sabines having thus been taken, Valerius led his forces to the other camp, where the Veientes lay, having occupied a position that was not very strong. Here it was not possible for the attackers to approach the camp without being seen, since it was now broad daylight and the fleeing Sabines had informed the Tyrrhenians both of their own disaster and of the advance of the Romans against the others; hence it was necessary to attack the enemy with might and main. [2] Then, as the Tyrrhenians ought to before their camp with all possible vigour, a sharp action ensued, with great slaughter on both sides; and the decision of the battle was equally balanced, shifting to and fro for a long time. At last the Tyrrhenians, forced back by the Roman horse, gave way and retired to their camp. The consul followed, and when he came near their ramparts — these had been poorly constructed and the place, as I said, was not very secure — he attacked them in many places at once, continuing his exhausting efforts all the rest of that day and not even resting the following night. [3] The Tyrrhenians, exhausted by their continual hardships, left their camp at break of day, some fleeing to their city and others dispersing themselves in the neighbouring woods. The consul, having made himself master of this camp also, rested his army that day; then, on the next day he distributed to the men who had shared in the fighting the spoils, great in quantity, which he had taken in both camps, and honoured with the customary crowns those
who had distinguished themselves in the battles. [4] The man who was regarded as having fought with the better bravery of all and put the troops of the Veientes to flight was Servilius, the consul of the preceding year, who had been acquitted in his trail before the populace and now had been sent along as legate to Valerius; and in consideration of the superior valour he showed upon this occasion he was the first to receive the rewards which among the Romans are the most esteemed. After that the consul, having stripped the enemy’s dead and buried his own, marched away with his army, and encamping near the city of the Veientes, challenged those inside to give battle. [5] But when none ventured out to fight and he saw that it would be a difficult matter to capture them by assault, occupying as they did a city that was exceedingly strong, he overran a great part of their country and then invaded that of the Sabines. For many days he plundered their territory too, which was still untouched, and then, since his baggage train was now heavily laden with booty, he led his troops homeward. While he was yet a long way from the city he was met by the people, who, crowned with garlands, perfumed the route with frankincense as he entered and received the army with bowls of honeyed wine. And the senate decreed to him the celebration of a triumph.

  [6] The other consul, Gaius Nautius, to whom the defence of their allies the Latins and the Hernicans had fallen by lot, had delayed taking the field, not because he was swayed by any irresolution or fear of danger, but because he was awaiting the uncertain outcome of the war with the Veientes, to the end that, if any misfortune should befall the army employed against them the commonwealth might have another force assembled in readiness to hinder the enemy from making an irruption into the country, in case this foe, like those who had earlier marched against Rome, should attempt to fortify any places as a threat to the city. [7] In the meantime the war brought upon the Latins by the Aequians and the Volscians had been happily concluded and messengers had arrived announcing that the enemy, defeated in battle, had left the territory of the Latins and that these allies no longer stood in any need of assistance for the present. Nevertheless, Nautius, after affairs in Tyrrhenia had taken a happy turn for the Romans, marched out with his army. [8] Then, having invaded the country of the Volscians and overrun a great part of it which they had left deserted, he possessed himself of a very few slaves and cattle, and having set fire to their fields, the corn being then ripe, and done not a little other damage to their farmsteads, as none came to oppose him, he led his army home. These were the things accomplished in the consulship of those men.

  [36.1] Their successors in the consulship, Aulus Manlius and Lucius Furius, after the senate had voted that one of them should march against the Veientes, drew lots, according to their custom, to determine which should command the expedition. And the lot falling to Manlius, he speedily led out the troops and encamped near the enemy. The Veientes, being shut up within their walls, defended themselves for some time; and sending ambassadors both to the other cities of Tyrrhenia and to the Sabines who had lately assisted them, they asked them to send them aid promptly. [2] But when they failed of everything they asked for and had consumed all their provisions, the oldest and most honoured among them, compelled by necessity, came out of the city to the consul with the tokens of suppliants, begging for an end to the war. Manlius ordered them to bring money for a year’s pay for the army and provisions for two months and after doing this to send envoys to Rome to treat with the senate for peace. And they, having approved these conditions and speedily brought the pay for the army, together with the money which the consul permitted them to pay in lieu of the corn, came to Rome; and being introduced into the senate, they sought to obtain forgiveness for the past and for the future to be freed from the war. [3] After many arguments on both sides, the motion prevailed to put an end to the war by a treaty, and a truce was granted to them for forty years. Then the envoys departed, feeling very grateful to the commonwealth for the peace. And Manlius, coming to the city, requested and received an ovation for having put an end to the war. There was also a census in this consulship; the number of the citizens who registered their own names, their wealth, and the names of their sons who had reached manhood was a little over 103,000.

  [37.1] These consuls were succeeded by Lucius Aemilius Mamercus (elected for the third time) and Vopiscus Julius, in the seventy-seventh Olympiad (the one at which Dandes of Argos won the foot-race), when Chares was archon at Athens. The administration of the new consuls was very difficult and turbulent; they enjoyed peace, it is true, from foreign wars — for all their quarrels were in a state of quiet — but through the dissensions at home they were not only themselves exposed to dangers, but came near destroying the commonwealth as well. For as soon as the populace had a respite from military expeditions, they at once became eager for a distribution of the public lands. [2] It seems there was among the tribunes a certain bold man, not wanting in eloquence, Gnaeus Genucius, who whetted the passions of the poor. This man, by assembling the populace on every occasion and cajoling the needy, was endeavouring to force the consuls to carry out the decree of the senate concerning the allotment of lands. But the consuls kept refusing to do, alleging that this duty had been assigned by the senate, not to them, but to the consuls who immediately followed Cassius and Verginius, with reference to whom the preliminary decree had been drawn up. At the same time they pointed out that decrees of the senate were not laws continuing in force forever, but measures designed to meet temporary needs and having validity for one year only. [3] When the consuls put forward these excuses, Genucius, finding himself unable to employ compulsion against them, since they were invested with a superior authority, took a bold course. He brought a public suit against Manlius and Lucius, the consuls of the preceding year, and summoned them to appear before the populace and make their defence, specifying openly the ground for the action, which was that they had wronged the populace in not appointing the decemvirs directed by the senate to distribute the allotments of land. [4] And he advanced plausible reasons for not bringing to trail some of the other consuls, though there had been twelve consulships in the interval since the senate had drawn up this decree, and for accusing only these men of violating the promise. He ended by saying that the only way the present consuls could be compelled to allot the land would be for them to see some others punished by the populace and thus be reminded that it would be their fate to meet with the same treatment.

  [38.1] After he had said this and exhorted them all to be present at the trial and had solemnly sworn over the victims that he would persist in his resolution and prosecute the men with all possible vigour, he appointed a day for holding the trail. The patricians, upon learning of this, felt great fear and concern, wondering what course they ought to take to secure the men’s acquittal of the charge and also to put a stop to the boldness of the demagogue. And they resolved, in case the populace should pass any vote to the prejudice of the consular power, to prevent them from carrying it out, by opposing them with all their power and even resorting to arms if that should be necessary. [2] But they had no need to use any violent means, as the danger was dispelled in a sudden and unexpected manner. For when only one day remained till the trial, Genucius was found dead on his bed without the least sign of stabbing, strangling, poisoning, or any of the other means of killing as the result of a plot. As soon as this unhappy occurrence was known and the body had been brought into the Forum, the event was looked upon as a kind of providential obstacle to the trial, which was straightway dismissed. [3] For none of the other tribunes dared to revive the sedition, but they even looked upon Genucius as having been guilty of great madness. Now if the consuls had not committed any further act of officiousness, but had let the dissension, as Heaven had put it to sleep, remain so, no further danger would have beset them; but as it was, by turning to arrogance and contempt for the plebeians and by desiring to display the extent of their power, they brought about great mischiefs. For, having appointed a day for levying troops and endeavouring to coerce the disobedient by various puni
shments, including even scourging with rods, they drove the greater part of the plebeians to desperation. This was caused particularly by the incident I shall now relate.

  [39.1] A certain man of the plebeians, famous for his exploits in war, Volero Publius, who had commanded centuries in the late campaigns, was now listed by the consuls as a common soldier instead of a centurion. Upon his objecting to this and refusing to take a lower rank when he had been guilty of misconduct in the former campaigns, the consuls, offended at his frankness, ordered the lictors to strip him and lash his body with their rods. [2] The young man called upon the tribunes for assistance, and asked, if he were guilty of any crime, to stand trial before the plebeians. When the consuls paid no heed to him but repeated their orders to the lictors to take him away and flog him, he regarded the insult as intolerable and took justice into his own hands. [3] The first lictor who approached him he struck squarely in the face with his fists, and being a young man and vigorous, he knocked him down; and the next one likewise. When the consuls in their anger ordered all their attendants to approach him at the same time, the plebeians who were present thought it an outrageous thing. And immediately gathering together in a body and shouting the cry used to incite one another’s resentment, they snatched the young man away and repulsed the lictors with blows, and at last made a rush against the consuls; and if those magistrates had not left the Forum and fled, the mob would have done some irreparable mischief. [4] As a result of this incident the whole city was divided, and those tribunes who till then had remained quiet grew wild with rage and inveighed against the consuls. Thus the dissensions over the land-allotment had turned into another quarrel of greater consequence because of the contest concerning the form of government. On the one hand the patricians, believing that the power of the consuls was being destroyed, shared their indignation and demanded that the man who had dared to lay hands on their attendants should be hurled down from the precipice. [5] On the other hand the plebeians, assembling together, raised a loud clamour and exhorted one another not to betray their liberty, but to carry the matter before the senate, to accuse the consuls and to endeavour to ought to be some justice from them because they had refused to permit a man who had invoked the assistance of the tribunes and asked to be tried before the populace, in case he were guilty of any wrongdoing, to obtain either of these rights, but had treated him like a slave, though he was free born and a citizen, when they ordered him to be beaten. [6] The two parties being thus arrayed against one another and neither being willing to yield to the other, all the remaining time of this consulship was consumed without being marked either by any glorious exploits in war or by achievements at home worthy of mention.