§11.49.1ταῦτα διαπραξάμενος ἀπῆγεν εἰς Ῥώμην τὰς δυνάμεις, καὶ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον Οὐαλέριος ἧκεν, ἦν τʼ ἀμφοτέροις μέγα φρονοῦσιν ἐπὶ ταῖς νίκαις ἐλπὶς ἐπιφανεῖς κατάξειν θριάμβους.
Having accomplished these things, he led his forces back to Rome, and at the same time Valerius returned, and both, being highly elated by their victories, hoped to celebrate brilliant triumphs.
§11.49.2οὐ μὴν ἐχώρησέ γε αὐτοῖς κατʼ ἐλπίδα τὸ ἔργον.
However, the matter did not turn out for them according to their hope.
συναχθεῖσα γὰρ κατʼ αὐτῶν ἡ βουλὴ κατεστρατοπεδευκότων ἔξω τῆς πόλεως εἰς τὸ καλούμενον Ἄρειον πεδίον, καὶ τὰ πραχθέντα ὑπʼ ἀμφοτέρων μαθοῦσα τὴν ἐπινίκιον οὐκ ἐπέτρεψε ποιήσασθαι θυσίαν πολλῶν μὲν καὶ ἄλλων ἐναντιωθέντων αὐτοῖς ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ, μάλιστα δὲ Κλαυδίου Γαΐου·
For the senate, having assembled against them while they were encamped outside the city in the so-called Campus Martius, and having learned what had been done by both of them, did not permit them to perform the victory sacrifice, as many others opposed them openly, and most of all Gaius Claudius.
§11.49.3θεῖος δʼ ἦν οὗτος, ὥσπερ ἔφην, Ἀππίῳ τῷ καταστησαμένῳ τὴν ὀλιγαρχίαν καὶ νεωστὶ ὑπὸ τῶν δημάρχων ἀναιρεθέντι· τούς τε κυρωθέντας ὑπʼ αὐτῶν νόμους προβαλλομένου, δι’ ὧν ἠλάττωσαν τὸ τῆς βουλῆς κράτος, καὶ τἆλλα πολιτεύματα, ὅσα οὗτοι πολιτευόμενοι διετέλεσαν· τελευταίαν δὲ τὴν τῶν δέκα ἀνδρῶν, οὓς προὔδωκαν τοῖς δημάρχοις, τῶν μὲν ἀπώλειαν, τῶν δὲ δήμευσιν, ὡς παρὰ τοὺς ὅρκους καὶ τὰς συνθήκας, §11.49.4διεξιόντος.
This man, as I have said, was the uncle of Appius, who had established the oligarchy and had recently been put to death by the tribunes; and he opposed them by putting forward the laws ratified by them, through which they had diminished the power of the senate, and the other political measures which they had continually pursued, and finally, by detailing the ruin of some of the decemvirs, whom they had betrayed to the tribunes, and the confiscation of the property of others, as being contrary to oaths and treaties.
τὰ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἱερῶν συνομολογηθέντα τοῖς πατρικίοις πρὸς τοὺς δημοτικοὺς ἐπʼ ἀδείᾳ τε πάντων γενέσθαι καὶ ἀμνηστίᾳ τῶν προτέρων· τόν τʼ Ἀππίου θάνατον οὐκ αὐτοχειρίᾳ γενέσθαι λέγοντος, ἀλλʼ ἐπιβούλως ὑπὸ τῶν δημάρχων πρὸ δίκης, ἵνα μήτε λόγου τύχῃ κρινόμενος μήτʼ ἐλέου, ὡς, εἰ κατέστη γοῦν εἰς κρίσιν ἁνὴρ, ἀπέφυγεν ἂν γένους ἀξίωμα παρεχόμενος καὶ πολλὰ τὸ κοινὸν εὖ πεποιηκὼς ὅρκους τε καὶ πίστεις ἐπιβοώμενος, αἷς ἅνθρωποι πιστεύοντες εἰς διαλλαγὰς συνέρχονται, τέκνα τε καὶ συγγένειαν καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ταπεινὸν σχῆμα καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ εἰς οἶκτον ἐφελκόμενα τὸ πλῆθος.
For he argued that the agreements made on sacred oaths by the patricians with the plebeians were meant to ensure impunity for all and amnesty for past events, and he declared that Appius' death was not by his own hand, but was treacherously contrived by the tribunes before his trial, in order that he might obtain neither a hearing nor mercy when judged; whereas, if the man had at least stood trial, he would have been acquitted by displaying the dignity of his family, by reminding them of his many services to the state, by invoking the oaths and pledges in which men trust when they come together for reconciliation, and by presenting his children, his relatives, his very garb of humiliation, and many other things that move the multitude to pity.
§11.49.5ταῦτα δὴ πάντα κατηγορήματα τῶν ὑπάτων τῶν παρόντων, ἔδοξεν ἀγαπᾶν αὐτοὺς εἰ μὴ δώσουσι δίκας· θριάμβων δὲ καταγωγῆς ἤ τινων τοιούτων συγχωρήσεων οὐδὲ κατὰ μικρὸν ἀξίους εἶναι τυγχάνειν.
Since all these were accusations against the present consuls, it was thought that they ought to be well-content if they did not suffer punishment; and that they did not deserve to obtain a triumph or any such concession even in the slightest degree.