[3] this opinion was first offered by Lucius Quintius, who at that time had the greatest authority in the senate. Only one person, Gaius Claudius, spoke against it. He was the son of Appius Claudius, who had on every occasion opposed the measures of the plebeians when any of them were contrary to law; he had inherited the political principles of his father, and when he himself was consul, had prevented the inquiry concerning the knights accused of conspiracy from being committed to the tribunes. This man made a long speech, pointing out that the populace, if their magistracy were doubled, would not be any more moderate or worthy, but more stupid and more troublesome.
[4] οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς τισι παραλήψεσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν τοὺς ὕστερον ἀποδειχθησομένους, ὥστε μένειν ἐπὶ τοῖς καθεστηκόσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν περὶ τῆς κληρουχίας αὖθις θις προθήσειν λόγον καὶ τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἰσοτιμίας, καὶ [p. 57] πάντας ἑξῆς ζητήσειν, ὅ τι λέγοντες ἢ πράττοντες τὸ μὲν τοῦ δήμου κράτος αὐξήσουσι, τὰς δὲ τῆς βουλῆς τιμὰς καταλύσουσι. καὶ σφόδρα ἐκίνησε τοὺς πολλοὺς ὁ λόγος. ἔπειτα μετήγαγεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Κοίντιος διδάσκων,
[4] For the tribune seem to be chosen thereafter, he said, would not receive the magistracy upon certain definite terms, so as to adhere to the established customs, but would again bring up the question of the allotment of lands and that of an equality of privileges, and all of them in turn would seek both by their words and by their actions to increase the power of the populace and abolish the privileges of the senate. This speech had a great effect upon most of the senators.
[5] ὅτι πρὸς τῆς βουλῆς ἐστι τὸ πολλοὺς εἶναι τοῦ δήμου προστάτας. ἧττον γὰρ ὁμονοήσειν τοὺς πλείους τῶν ἐλαττόνων, μίαν δὲ βοήθειαν εἶναι τοῖς κοινοῖς, ἣν Ἄππιον Κλαύδιον τὸν Γαΐου πατέρα πρῶτον ἰδεῖν, ἐὰν στασιάζῃ τὸ ἀρχεῖον καὶ μὴ πᾶσι τὸ αὐτὸ δοκῇ.
[5] Then Quintius brought them over again by showing that it was to the interest of the senate that there should be many champions of the populace. For there would be less harmony among many than among a few, and there was just one way of relieving the commonwealth, a way that Appius Claudius, the father of Gaius, had been the first to perceive — namely, if there should be dissension and lack of unanimity in the college of tribunes.
[6] ἐδόκει τε δὴ ταῦτα καὶ γίνεται δόγμα βουλῆς: ἐξεῖναι τῷ δήμῳ δέκα δημάρχους καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτὸν ἀποδεικνύναι, τῶν δὲ τότε ὄντων ἐν ἀρχῇ μηθένα. τοῦτο τὸ προβούλευμα οἱ περὶ τὸν Οὐεργίνιον λαβόντες ἐξήνεγκαν καὶ κυρώσαντες τὸν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ γραφέντα νόμον δέκα δημάρχους εἰς τὸν ἐπιόντα ἐνιαυτὸν ἀπέδειξαν.
[6] This opinion prevailed, and the senate passed a decree that the populace should be permitted to appoint ten tribunes each year, but that no one of the men then in office should be eligible. Verginius and his colleagues, having got this preliminary decree from the senate, laid it before the populace; and when they had secured the ratification of the law embodying the measure, they chose ten tribunes for the following year.
[7] παυσαμένης δὲ τῆς στάσεως καταγράψαντες τὰς δυνάμεις οἱ ὕπατοι διεκληρώσαντο τὰς ἐξόδους: Μηνυκίῳ μὲν οὖν ὁ κατὰ Σαβίνων πόλεμος ἐδόθη, Ὁρατίῳ δὲ ὁ κατ᾽ Αἰκανῶν, καὶ κατὰ σπουδὴν ἐξῄεσαν ἀμφότεροι. Σαβῖνοι μὲν οὖν τὰς πόλεις διὰ φυλακῆς ἔχοντες ὑπερεῖδον ἀγομένων τε καὶ φερομένων ἁπάντων τῶν κατὰ τοὺς ἀγρούς, Αἰκανοὶ δὲ τὴν ἐναντιωσομένην Ῥωμαίοις δύναμιν ἀπέστειλαν.
[7] After the sedition was appeased the consuls enrolled their forces and drew lots for their commands. To Minucius fell the war against the Sabines and to Horatius that against the Aequians; and both set out in haste. The Sabines garrisoned their cities and permitted everything in the country districts to be pillaged; but the Aequians sent an army to oppose the Romans.
[8] ἀγωνισάμενοι δὲ λαμπρῶς οὐχ οἷοί τε ἐγένοντο τὴν Ῥωμαίων ὑπερβαλέσθαι δύναμιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἠναγκάσθησαν εἰς τὰς πόλεις ἀπελθεῖν ἀποβαλόντες τὸ πολίχνιον, ὑπὲρ οὗ τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐποιοῦντο. Ὁράτιος δὲ τρεψάμενος τοὺς πολεμίους [p. 58] καὶ πολλὰ τῆς χώρας αὐτῶν κακώσας τοῦ τε Κορβιῶνος τὰ τείχη κατασπάσας καὶ τὰς οἰκήσεις ἐκ θεμελίων ἀνελὼν ἀπῆγε τὴν δύναμιν ἐπ᾽ οἴκου.
[8] Though they fought brilliantly, they were unable to overcome the Roman army, but were compelled to retire to their cities after the loss of the small town in defence of which they were fighting. Horatius, after putting the enemy to flight, ravaged a large part of their country, razed the walls of Corbio and demolished the houses to their foundations, then led his army home.
[1] τῷ δ᾽ ἑξῆς ἔτει Μάρκου Οὐαλερίου καὶ Σπορίου Οὐεργινίου τὴν ὑπατείαν ἐχόντων στρατιὰ μὲν ὑπερόριος οὐδεμία ἐξῆλθε Ῥωμαίων, πολιτικὰ δέ τινα προσκρούσματα τοῖς δημάρχοις πρὸς τοὺς ὑπάτους συνέστη πάλιν, ἐξ ὧν ἔσχον οἱ δήμαρχοι παρασπάσαντές τι τῆς ὑπατικῆς δυναστείας. τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἔμπροσθεν χρόνον ἐκκλησίας μόνον ἦσαν οἱ δήμαρχοι κύριοι, βουλὴν δὲ συνάγειν ἢ γνώμην ἀγορεύειν οὐκ ἐξῆν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ἦν τῶν ὑπάτων τοῦτο τὸ γέρας.
[31.1] The following year, when Marcus Valerius and Spurius Verginius were consuls, no army of the Romans went out of their borders, but there were fresh outbreaks of civil strife between the tribunes and the consuls, as a result of which the former wrested away some part of the consular power. Before this time the power of the tribunes was limited to the popular assembly and they had no authority either to convene the senate or to express an opinion there, that being a prerogative of the consuls.
[2] οἱ δὲ τότε δήμαρχοι πρῶτοι συγκαλεῖν ἐπεβάλοντο τὴν βουλὴν Ἰκιλλίου τὴν πεῖραν εἰσηγησαμένου, ὃς ἡγεῖτο μὲν τοῦ ἀρχείου, δραστήριος δέ τις ἦν ἀνὴρ καὶ ὡς Ῥωμαῖος εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἀδύνατος. εἰσέφερε γάρ τι καὶ οὗτος πολίτευμα καινὸν ἀξιῶν ἀπομερισθῆναι τοῖς δημόταις τόπον εἰς οἰκιῶν κατασκευὰς τὸν καλούμενον Αὐεντῖνον. ἔστι δὲ λόφος ὑψηλὸς ἐπιεικῶς, οὐκ ἐλάττων ἢ δώδεκα σταδίων τὴν περίμετρον, ἐμπεριεχόμενος τῇ πόλει, ὃς οὐχ ἅπας τότε ᾠκεῖτο, ἀλλ᾽
[2] The tribunes of the year in question were the first who undertook to convene the senate, the experiment being made by Icilius, the head of their college, a man of action and, for a Roman, not lacking in eloquence. For he too was at that time proposing a new measure, asking that the region called the Aventine be divided among the plebeians for the building of house
s. This is a hill of moderate height, not less than twelve stades in circuit, and is included within the city; not all of it was then inhabited, but it was public land and thickly wooded.
[3] ἦν δημόσιός τε καὶ ὕλης ἀνάπλεως. τοῦτο τὸ πολίτευμα εἰσάγων ὁ δήμαρχος τοῖς τότε ὑπάτοις καὶ τῇ βουλῇ προσῄει δεόμενος τὸν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ γραφέντα νόμον προβουλεῦσαί τε καὶ εἰς τὸν δῆμον ἐξενεγκεῖν. ἀναβαλλομένων [p. 59] δὲ καὶ παρελκόντων τῶν ὑπάτων τὸν χρόνον πέμψας τὸν ὑπηρέτην ὡς αὐτοὺς ἐκέλευσεν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀκολουθεῖν καὶ τὴν βουλὴν συγκαλεῖν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν ῥαβδούχων τις ἀπήλασε τὸν ὑπηρέτην κελευσθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων, ἀγανακτήσας ὁ Ἰκίλλιος καὶ οἱ συνάρχοντες αὐτοῦ, συνέλαβον τὸν ῥαβδοῦχον καὶ ἀπῆγον ὡς ῥίψοντες κατὰ τῆς πέτρας.
[3] In order to get this measure introduced, the tribune went to the consuls of the year and to the senate, asking them to pass the preliminary vote for the law embodying the measure and to submit it to the populace. But when the consuls kept putting it off and protracting the time, he sent his attendant to them with orders that they should follow him to the office of the tribunes and call together the senate. And when one of the lictors at the orders of the consuls drove away the attendant, Icilius and his colleagues in their resentment seized the lictor and led him away with the intention of hurling him down from the rock.
[4] οἱ δὲ ὕπατοι βιάσασθαι μὲν ἢ τὸν ἀγόμενον ἀφελέσθαι, καίτοι δεινὰ δοκοῦντες ὑβρίσθαι, ἀδύνατοι ἦσαν, ἐπεκαλοῦντο δὲ τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων δημάρχων βοήθειαν. οὐθὲν γὰρ τῶν πραττομένων ὑπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐκείνης ἐπισχεῖν ἢ κωλῦσαι τῶν ἄλλων τινὶ ἔξεστιν, ἀλλ᾽
[4] The consuls, though they looked upon this as a great insult, were unable to use force or to rescue the man who was being led away, but invoked the assistance of the other tribunes; for no one but another tribune has a right to stop or hinder any of the actions of those magistrates.
[5] ἑτέρου δημάρχου τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶ τὸ κράτος. τοῖς δ᾽ ἄρα πᾶσιν ἦν ταῦτα κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς δεδογμένα μήτ᾽ εἰσηγήσασθαί τινα καινὸν πολίτευμα μηθὲν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ βαλόμενον, ἐὰν μὴ πᾶσι τὸ αὐτὸ δοκῇ, μήτε ἐναντιωθῆναί τινα τοῖς πραττομένοις, ὅσ᾽ ἂν αἱ πλείους γνῶμαι δοκιμάσωσι: καὶ περὶ τούτων εὐθὺς ἅμα τῷ παραλαβεῖν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἱερὰ θύσαντες ὅρκους ἔδοσαν ἀλλήλοις: οὕτως οἰόμενοι μάλιστα τὸ τῆς δημαρχίας ἀκατάλυτον ἔσεσθαι κράτος, ἐὰν τὸ στασιάζον ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀναιρεθῇ.
[5] Now the tribunes had all come to this decision at the outset, that no one of their number should either introduce any new measure on his own initiative, unless they all concurred in it, or oppose any proceedings which met with the approval of the majority; and just as soon as they had assumed their magistracy they had confirmed this agreement by sacrifices and mutual oaths, believing that the power of the tribuneship would be most effectively rendered impregnable if dissension were banished from it.
[6] τοῦτο δὴ φυλάττοντες τὸ συνωμόσιον εἶπον ἀπάγεσθαι τὸν φύλακα τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν ὑπάτων, κοινὴν ἁπάντων εἶναι λέγοντες τὴν γνώμην, οὐ μὴν διέμεινάν γ᾽ ἐπὶ τῆς ὀργῆς, ἀλλὰ τοῖς πρεσβυτάτοις τῶν ἐκ τοῦ [p. 60] συνεδρίου παραιτουμένοις τὸν ἄνδρα ἀφῆκαν, τόν τε φθόνον ὑφορώμενοι τοῦ πράγματος, ὅτι πρῶτοι ἔμελλον θανάτῳ ζημιῶσαι τὸν ἄνδρα τὸ κελευσθὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων ποιήσαντα, καὶ δεδοικότες, μὴ ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς προφάσεως εἰς ἀπόνοιαν ἀναγκασθῶσιν οἱ πατρίκιοι τραπέσθαι.
[6] It was in pursuance, then, of this sworn compact that they ordered the consuls’ guardian to be led away, declaring this to be the unanimous decision of their body. Nevertheless, they did not persist in their resentment, but released the man at the intercession of the oldest senators; for they were not only concerned about the odium that would attend such a procedure, if they should be the first to punish a man by death for obeying an order of the magistrates, but also feared that with this provocation the patricians might be driven to take desperate measures.
[1] μετὰ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον συναχθείσης τῆς βουλῆς οἱ μὲν ὕπατοι κατηγορίαν πολλὴν τῶν δημάρχων ἐποιήσαντο: παραλαβὼν δὲ τὸν λόγον ὁ Ἰκίλλιος περί τε τῆς εἰς τὸν ὑπηρέτην ὀργῆς ἀπελογεῖτο τοὺς ἱεροὺς προφερόμενος νόμους, καθ᾽ οὓς οὔτε ἄρχοντι οὔτ᾽ ἰδιώτῃ συνεχωρεῖτο πράττειν οὐδὲν ἐναντίον δημάρχῳ, καὶ περὶ τοῦ συγκαλεῖν τὴν βουλὴν ἐδίδασκεν, ὡς οὐθὲν εἴη πεποιηκὼς ἄτοπον, πολλοὺς καὶ
[32.1] After this action the senate was assembled and the consuls indulged in many accusations against the tribunes. Then Icilius took the floor and attempted to justify the tribunes’ resentment against the lictor, citing the sacred laws which did not permit either a magistrate or a private citizen to offer any opposition to a tribune; and as for his attempt to convene the senate, he showed them that he had done nothing out of the way, using for this purpose many arguments of every sort, which he had prepared beforehand.
[2] παντοδαποὺς εἰς τοῦτο παρασκευασάμενος λόγους. ὡς δ᾽ ἀπελύσατο ταύτας τὰς κατηγορίας, τὸν ὑπὲρ τοῦ λόφου νόμον εἰσέφερεν. ἦν δὲ τοιόσδε: ὅσα μὲν ἰδιῶταί τινες εἶχον ἐκ τοῦ δικαίου κτησάμενοι, ταῦτα τοὺς κυρίους κατέχειν: ὅσα δὲ βιασάμενοί τινες ἢ κλοπῇ λαβόντες ᾠκοδομήσαντο, κομισαμένους τὰς δαπάνας, ἃς ἂν οἱ διαιτηταὶ γνῶσι, τῷ δήμῳ παραδιδόναι: τὰ δὲ ἄλλα, ὅσα ἦν δημόσια, χωρὶς ὠνῆς τὸν δῆμον παραλαβόντα διελέσθαι.
[2] After answering these accusations, he proceeded to introduce his law concerning the hill. It was to this effect: All the parcels of land held by private citizens, if justly acquired, should remain in the possession of the owners, but such parcels as had been taken by force or fraud by any persons and built upon should be turned over to the populace and the present occupants reimbursed for their expenditures according to the appraisal of the arbitrators; all the remainder, belonging to the public, the populace should receive free of cost and divide up among themselves.
[3] ἐδίδασκέ τε, ὅτι τοῦτο τὸ πολίτευμα εἰς πολλὰ μὲν καὶ ἄλλα συνοίσει τῇ πόλει, μάλιστα δὲ εἰς τὸ μὴ στασιάζειν ἔτι περὶ τῆς δημοσίας χώρας τοὺς πένητας, ἣν οἱ πατρίκιοι κατεῖχον. ἀγαπήσειν γὰρ αὐτοὺς τῆς πόλεως λαχόντας [p. 61] μέρος, ἐπειδὴ τῆς χώρας οὐκ ἔξεστι διὰ τοὺς ἐσφ�
�τερισμένους αὐτὴν πολλοὺς ὄντας καὶ δυνατούς.
[3] He also pointed out that this measure would be advantageous to the commonwealth, not only in many other ways, but particularly in this, that it would put an end to the disturbances raised by the poor concerning the public land that was held by the patricians. For he said they would be contented with receiving a portion of the city, inasmuch as they could have no part of the land lying in the country because of the number and power of those who had appropriated it.
[4] τοιούτων ῥηθέντων ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ λόγων ὁ μὲν ἀντιλέγων Γάιος Κλαύδιος ἦν μόνος, οἱ δὲ συγκαταινοῦντες πολλοί, καὶ ἔδοξε διδόναι τῷ δήμῳ τὸν τόπον. μετὰ τοῦτο ἱεροφαντῶν τε παρόντων καὶ οἰωνοσκόπων καὶ ἱεροποιῶν δυεῖν καὶ ποιησαμένων τὰς νομίμους εὐχάς τε καὶ ἀρὰς ἐν τῇ λοχίτιδι ἐκκλησίᾳ συναχθείσῃ ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων ὁ νόμος ἐκυρώθη, ὅς ἐστιν ἐν στήλῃ χαλκῇ γεγραμμένος, ἣν ἀνέθεσαν ἐν τῷ Αὐεντίνῳ
[4] After he had spoken thus, Gaius Claudius was the only person who opposed the law, while many gave their assent; and it was voted to give this district to the populace. Later, at a centuriate assembly called by the consuls, the pontiffs being present together with the augurs and two sacrificers and offering the customary vows and imprecations, the law was ratified. It is inscribed on a column of bronze, which they set up on the Aventine after taking it into the sanctuary of Diana.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 671