§9.42.1ἐπέσχε δʼ αὐτοῦ τὰ βουλεύματα ὄντα τυραννικὰ ἑτέρα συμπεσοῦσα θεήλατος συμφορά.
But another calamity sent by heaven, which occurred at this time, checked his designs, which were of a tyrannical nature.
νόσος γὰρ ἥψατο λοιμικὴ τῆς πόλεως, γενομένη μὲν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἄλλην Ἰταλίαν, μάλιστα δὲ πλεονάσασα κατὰ τὴν Ῥώμην·
For a pestilential disease attacked the city, which, though it occurred also throughout the rest of Italy, raged most of all in Rome.
καὶ οὔτʼ ἀνθρωπίνη βοήθεια ἤρκει τοῖς κάμνουσιν οὐδεμία, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ ἴσῳ οἵ τε σὺν πολλῇ θεραπευόμενοι φροντίδι, καὶ οἷς μηδὲν ἐγίνετο τῶν δεόντων, ἀπέθνησκον· οὔτε λιτανεῖαι θεῶν καὶ θυσίαι καὶ ἐφʼ οὓς ἄνθρωποι τελευταίους ἐν ταῖς τοιαῖσδε ἀναγκάζονται καταφεύγειν συμφοραῖς, οἱ κατʼ ἄνδρα τε γινόμενοι καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινοῦ καθαρμοὶ τότε προσωφέλουν, διέκρινέ τε τὸ πάθος οὐχ ἡλικίαν, οὐ φύσιν, οὐ ῥώμην ἢ ἀσθένειαν σωμάτων, οὐ τέχνην οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν δοκούντων κουφίζειν τὴν νόσον, ἀλλὰ γυναιξί τʼ ἐνέπιπτε καὶ ἀνδράσι καὶ γηραιοῖς καὶ νέοις. §9.42.2οὐ μὴν πολὺν κατέσχε χρόνον, ὅπερ αἴτιον ἐγένετο τοῦ μὴ σύμπασαν διαφθαρῆναι τὴν πόλιν· ἀλλὰ ποταμοῦ δίκην ἢ πυρὸς ἀθρόα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐμπεσοῦσα τήν τε προσβολὴν ὀξεῖαν καὶ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν ταχεῖαν ἔλαβεν.
And no human aid was of any avail to the sick, but those who were treated with great care and those for whom none of the necessary things was done died alike; nor did the supplications and sacrifices to the gods, nor those purifications to which men are forced to fly as a last resort in such calamities, whether performed by individuals or on behalf of the public, afford any help at that time. And the affliction made no distinction of age, of constitution, of strength or weakness of body, of art, or of any other thing that is thought to alleviate the disease, but fell upon women and men, old and young alike. It did not, indeed, last for a long time, which was the reason why the entire city was not destroyed; but, falling upon the people in a mass like a torrent or a fire, it made its attack sharp and its departure swift.
ὡς δὲ τὸ δεινὸν ἐλώφησεν, ἐπʼ ἐξόδῳ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὢν ὁ Πόπλιος, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐδύνατο κυρῶσαι τὸν νόμον ἐν τῷ περιόντι χρόνῳ τῶν ἀρχαιρεσίων ἐπιστάντων, μετῄει πάλιν τὴν δημαρχίαν εἰς τὸν ἐπιόντα ἐνιαυτόν, πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα τοῖς δημόταις ὑπισχνούμενος· καὶ ἀποδείκνυται πάλιν δήμαρχος ὑπʼ αὐτῶν καὶ δύο τῶν συναρχόντων. §9.42.3οἱ δὲ πατρίκιοι πρὸς τοῦτʼ ἀντεμηχανήσαντο πικρὸν ἄνδρα καὶ μισόδημον καὶ μηδὲν ἐλαττώσοντα τῆς ἀριστοκρατίας ἐπὶ τὴν ὑπατείαν προαγαγεῖν, Ἄππιον Κλαύδιον, υἱὸν Ἀππίου, τοῦ πλεῖστα τῷ δήμῳ περὶ τὴν κάθοδον ἐναντιωθέντος.
When the danger subsided, Publius, being at the end of his office, since he was unable to pass the law in the remaining time as the elections were at hand, sued again for the tribuneship for the following year, making many great promises to the plebeians; and he was again chosen tribune by them, as were also two of his colleagues. In opposition to this, the patricians devised a counter-scheme to advance to the consulship a harsh man who hated the plebeians and who would yield nothing of the aristocracy's power, Appius Claudius, the son of that Appius who had most of all opposed the plebeians concerning their return.
καὶ αὐτὸν πολλὰ ἀντειπόντα καὶ οὐδʼ εἰς τὸ πεδίον ἐλθεῖν βουληθέντα ἕνεκα τῶν ἀρχαιρεσίων, οὐδὲν ἧττον προὐβούλευσάν τε καὶ ἐψηφίσαντʼ ἀπόντα ὕπατον.
And though he made many objections and was not even willing to go to the Campus for the elections, they nevertheless passed a preliminary decree and voted him consul in his absence.