§2.23.1sed et bellum Volscum imminebat, et civitas secum ipsa discors intestino inter patres plebemque flagrabat odio, maxime propter nexos ob aes alienum.
But both the Volscian war was imminent, and the state, at variance with itself, was burning with internal hatred between the fathers and the plebs, chiefly because of those bound for debt.
fremebant se foris pro libertate §2.23.2et imperio dimicantes domi a civibus captos et oppressos esse, tutioremque in bello quam in pace et inter hostis quam inter civis libertatem plebis esse; invidiamque eam sua sponte gliscentem insignis unius calamitas accendit.
They were muttering that while fighting abroad for liberty and empire, they were captured and oppressed at home by their fellow citizens, and that the liberty of the plebs was safer in war than in peace and among enemies than among citizens; and a single illustrious man's calamity set fire to this hatred, which was growing of its own accord.
§2.23.3magno natu quidam cum omnium malorum suorum insignibus se in forum proiecit.
A certain man of great age threw himself into the forum with all the insignias of his misfortunes.
§2.23.4obsita erat squalore vestis, foedior corporis habitus pallore ac macie perempti; ad hoc promissa barba et capilli efferaverant speciem oris.
His clothing was covered with filth, the condition of his body was even more shocking, wasted by paleness and emaciation; in addition to this, his long beard and hair had made the appearance of his face wild.
noscitabatur tamen in tanta deformitate, et ordines duxisse aiebant aliaque militiae decora vulgo miserantes eum iactabant; ipse testes honestarum aliquot locis pugnarum cicatrices adverso pectore ostentabat.
He was recognized, however, in such great deformity, and they said he had led companies, and the crowd, pitying him, loudly recalled other military distinctions; he himself displayed scars on his breast as witnesses of honorable battles in several places.
§2.23.5sciscitantibus, unde ille habitus, unde deformitas, cum circumfusa turba esset prope in contionis modum, Sabino bello ait se militantem, quia propter populationes agri non fructu modo caruerit, sed villa incensa fuerit, direpta omnia, pecora abacta, tributum iniquo suo tempore imperatum, aes alienum fecisse.
To those asking whence that appearance, whence the deformity, while the surrounding crowd was almost in the manner of an assembly, he said that while serving in the Sabinian war, because he had not only lacked fruit on account of the devastating of his land, but his farmhouse had been burned, everything plundered, his cattle driven away, and a tax imposed at an unfavorable time for him, he had contracted debt.
§2.23.6id cumulatum usuris primo se agro paterno avitoque exuisse, deinde fortunis aliis, postremo velut tabem pervenisse ad corpus; ductum se ab creditore non in servitium, sed in ergastulum et carnificinam esse.
That this, increased by interest, had first stripped him of his paternal and ancestral land, then of his other fortunes, and finally had reached his body like a wasting disease; and that he had been led by his creditor not into slavery, but into a workhouse and a place of torture.
§2.23.7inde ostentare tergum foedum recentibus vestigiis verberum.
Then he showed his back, shocking with the fresh marks of lashes.
ad haec visa auditaque clamor ingens oritur.
At these sights and sounds a huge shout arose.
non iam foro se tumultus continet, sed passim totam urbem pervadit.
The uproar no longer confined itself to the forum, but spread everywhere throughout the whole city.
§2.23.8nexi, vincti solutique, se undique in publicum proripiunt, inplorant Quiritium fidem.
The bound, both those fettered and those released, rushed out into the public everywhere, imploring the protection of the citizens.
nullo loco deest seditionis voluntarius comes; multis passim agminibus per omnes vias cum clamore in forum curritur.
In no place was there lacking a voluntary companion of the sedition; in many columns everywhere through all the streets they ran with shouting into the forum.
§2.23.9magno cum periculo suo, qui forte patrum in foro erant, in eam turbam inciderunt;
With great danger to themselves, those of the fathers who happened to be in the forum fell into that crowd; nor would hands have been withheld, had not the consuls, P.
§2.23.10nec temperatum manibus foret, ni propere consules, P. Servilius et Ap.
Servilius and Ap.
Claudius, ad conprimendam seditionem intervenissent.
Claudius, quickly intervened to suppress the sedition.
at in eos multitudo versa ostentare vincula sua deformitatemque aliam.
But the multitude turned toward them, displaying their chains and other deformity.
§2.23.11haec se meritos dicere exprobrantes suam quisque alius alibi militiam; postulare multo minaciter magis quam suppliciter, ut senatum vocarent, curiamque ipsi futuri arbitri moderatoresque publici consilii circumsistunt.
They said they had deserved these things, each one reproaching them with his own military service, one here, another there; they demanded much more threateningly than suppliantly that they should call the senate, and they surrounded the senate house as if they themselves were to be the arbiters and directors of public counsel.
§2.23.12pauci admodum patrum, quos casus obtulerat, contracti ab consulibus; ceteros metus non curia modo sed etiam foro arcebat, nec agi quicquam per infrequentiam poterat senatus.
Very few of the fathers, whom chance had presented, were gathered by the consuls; fear kept the rest not only from the senate house but even from the forum, nor could anything be transacted because of the thin attendance of the senate.
§2.23.13tum vero eludi atque extrahi se multitudo putare, et patrum qui abessent, non casu, non metu, sed inpediendae rei causa abesse, et consules ipsos tergiversari, nec dubie ludibrio esse miserias suas.
Then indeed the multitude believed they were being mocked and put off, and that those of the fathers who were absent were absent not by chance, nor by fear, but for the purpose of obstructing the matter, and that the consuls themselves were prevaricating, and that their miseries were clearly a laughing-stock.
§2.23.14iam prope erat, ut ne consulum quidem maiestas coerceret iras hominum, cum incerti, morando an veniendo plus periculi contraherent, tandem in senatum veniunt; frequentique curia non modo inter patres sed ne inter consules quidem ipsos satis conveniebat.
Now it was almost at the point that not even the majesty of the consuls could restrain the anger of the men, when, uncertain whether they would incur more danger by staying away or by coming, they finally came into the senate; and even with a full senate house, there was no sufficient agreement not only among the fathers but not even between the consuls themselves.
§2.23.15Appius, vehementis ingenii vir, imperio consulari rem agendam censebat: uno aut altero adrepto quieturos alios; Servilius, lenibus remediis aptior, concitatos animos flecti quam frangi putabat cum tutius tum facilius esse.
Appius, a man of vehement character, thought the matter should be dealt with by consular authority: if one or two were seized, the others would be quiet; Servilius, more suited for gentle remedies, thought that excited minds were both more safely and more easily bent than broken.