History of Rome

​Therefore, K. Fabius, having been made consul along with T. Verginius by the support of the plebeians no less than that of the patricians, attended to neither war, nor enlistment, nor any other care prior to this: that the minds of the plebeians should coalesce with the patricians at the very first opportunity, through the hope of harmony already in some measure begun.

​And so, at the beginning of the year, he proposed that, before any tribune should appear as a promoter of an agrarian law, the patricians themselves should forestall them by doing their own duty, and should give the captured land to the plebeians as equally as possible:

​that it was just for those to possess it by whose blood and sweat it had been won. The patricians rejected this; some also complained that the once vigorous talent of Caeso was growing wanton and fading away through excessive glory. After that, there were no urban factions. The Latins were being harassed by the incursions of the Aequi.

​Caeso, having been sent thither with an army, crossed over into the territory of the Aequi themselves to lay it waste. The Aequi retreated into their towns and kept themselves within their walls. Consequently, there was no memorable battle there.

​But a defeat was sustained from the Veientine enemy through the rashness of the other consul, and it would have been all over with the army had not K. Fabius come to its assistance in time. From that time on, there was neither peace nor war with the Veientines; the matter had come very near to the form of brigandage:

​they yielded to the Roman legions into their city; when they perceived that the legions were withdrawn, they raided the fields, eluding war by quiet and quiet by war in turn. Thus the whole business could neither be abandoned nor finished. And other wars were either threatening immediately, as from the Aequi and Volsci, who remained quiet no longer than until the fresh pain of their recent defeat should pass away, or it was apparent that the always hostile Sabines and all Etruria would soon be in motion.

​But the Veientine enemy, persistent rather than formidable, harassed their minds more often with insults than with danger, which could at no time be neglected nor allowed their attention to be turned elsewhere. Then the Fabian clan went to the senate.

​The consul spoke on behalf of the clan: “The Veientine war, as you know, conscript fathers, requires a constant rather than a large force. Do you attend to the other wars, and give the Fabii as enemies to the Veientines. We guarantee that the majesty of the Roman name will be safe there.

​It is our intention to wage this war as if it were a family war, at our own private expense; let the republic be free from both soldier and money there.”

​Immense thanks were returned. The consul, having gone out of the senate house, returned home, accompanied by the train of the Fabii, who had stood in the vestibule of the senate house waiting for the decree of the senate. They were ordered to attend armed at the consul’s threshold on the following day; thence they departed to their homes.