When, therefore, the revolt of the Tusculans was reported, they
gave Camillus the charge of reducing them, choosing one of his five
colleagues to go with him. And when every one was eager for the place,
contrary to the expectation of all, he passed by the rest and chose
Lucius Furius, the very same man who lately, against the judgment of
Camillus, had rashly hazarded and nearly lost a battle; willing, at it
should seem, to dissemble that miscarriage, and free him from the shame
of it. The Tusculans, hearing of Camillus's coming against them, made
a cunning attempt at revoking their act of revolt; their fields, as
in times of highest peace, were full of ploughmen and shepherds; their
gates stood wide open, and their children were being taught in the
schools; of the people, such as were tradesmen, he found in their
workshops, busied about their several employments, and the better sort
of citizens walking in the public places in their ordinary dress; the
magistrates hurried about to provide quarters for the Romans, as if they
stood in fear of no danger and were conscious of no fault. Which arts,
though they could not dispossess Camillus of the conviction he had of
their treason, yet induced some compassion for their repentance; he
commanded them to go to the senate and deprecate their anger, and
joined himself as an intercessor in their behalf, so that their city was
acquitted of all guilt and admitted to Roman citizenship. These were the
most memorable actions of his sixth tribuneship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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