with the concurrence of the people? were they nobles? who for now nearly
an entire year have not held a meeting of the senate; and then hold one
in such a manner, that they actually prevent numbers from expressing
their sentiments regarding the commonwealth; that they should not place
too much hope in the fears of others; that the grievances which they are
suffering now appear to men more oppressive than any they may have to
apprehend."
[Footnote 144: Livy's own account of the matter does not justify this
claim of the Horatii to having been at the head of the revolution which
banished the kings. But Dionysius of Halicarnassus informs us that it
was Marcus Horatius who made the army revolt against Tarquinius
Superbus, and that the same in his second consulate rendered unavailing
all the efforts of Porsenna to restore the Tarquins.]
40. Whilst Horatius was exclaiming in this manner, "and the decemvirs
could not discover any limit either to their anger or forbearance, nor
could they see to what the thing would come, Caius Claudius, who was
uncle to Appius the decemvir, delivered an address more like entreaties
than reproach, beseeching him by the shade of his own brother and of his
father, that he would hold in recollection the civil society in which he
had been born rather than the confederacy nefariously entered into with
his colleagues; that he besought this much more on Appius's own account,
than for the sake of the commonwealth. For that the commonwealth would
assert its rights in spite of them, if it could not obtain them with
their consent. But that from great contests great animosities arise; the
result of the latter he dreads." Though the decemvirs forbad them to
speak on any other subject than that which they had submitted to them,
they felt too much respect for Claudius to interrupt him. He therefore
concluded his address by moving that it was their wish that no decree of
the senate should be passed. And all understood the matter thus, that
they were judged by Claudius to be private citizens; and many of the men
of consular standing expressed their assent. Another measure proposed,
more harsh in appearance, possessed much less efficacy; one which
ordered the patricians to assemble to elect an interrex; for by passing
any resolution they judged, that those persons who convened the senate
were magistrates of some kind or other, whilst the person who
recommended that no decree of the senate should be passed, had thereby
declared them private citizens. When the cause of the decemvirs was now
sinking, Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis, brother of Marcus Cornelius the
decemvir, having been purposely reserved from among the consular men to
close the debate, by affecting an anxiety about the war, defended his
brother and his colleagues thus: saying, "he wondered by what fatality
it had occurred, that those who had been candidates for the decemvirate,
should attack the decemvirs, either as secondaries,[145] or as
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account