§2.29.1utraque re satis experta tum demum consules: “ne praedictum negetis, patres conscripti, adest ingens seditio.
Both matters having been sufficiently experienced, then at last the consuls said: "Lest you deny that you were forewarned, conscript fathers, a huge sedition is at hand.
postulamus, ut ii, qui maxime ignaviam increpant, adsint nobis habentibus dilectum.
We demand that those who most severely upbraid our cowardice be present with us as we hold the levy.
acerrimi cuiusque arbitrio, quando ita placet, rem agemus. ” redeunt in tribunal; §2.29.2citari nominatim unum ex iis, qui in conspectu erant, dedita opera iubent.
We will conduct the business according to the judgment of each of the fiercest, since it so pleases you." They returned to the tribunal; they ordered one of those who were in sight to be summoned by name on purpose.
cum staret tacitus et circa eum aliquot hominum, ne forte violaretur, constitisset globus, lictorem ad eum consules mittunt.
When he stood silent and a crowd of some men had stood around him lest by chance he should be harmed, the consuls sent a lictor to him.
§2.29.3quo repulso tum vero indignum facinus esse clamitantes, qui patrum consulibus aderant, devolant de tribunali, ut lictori auxilio essent.
When the lictor was repulsed, then indeed crying out that it was an shameful outrage, those of the senators who were standing by the consuls rushed down from the tribunal to be of assistance to the lictor.
§2.29.4sed ab lictore nihil aliud quam prendere prohibito cum conversus in patres impetus esset, consulum intercursu rixa sedata est, in qua tamen sine lapide, sine telo plus clamoris atque irarum quam iniuriae fuerat.
But when, though the lictor had been prohibited from nothing other than seizing him, the attack was turned upon the senators, the brawl was quieted by the intervention of the consuls, in which, however, without stone, without weapon, there had been more of clamor and anger than of injury.
§2.29.5senatus tumultuose vocatus tumultuosius consulitur quaestionem postulantibus iis, qui pulsati fuerant, decernente ferocissimo quoque non sententiis magis quam clamore et strepitu.
The senate, having been summoned tumultuously, was consulted still more tumultuously, while those who had been struck demanded an inquiry, and each of the most fierce decreed not so much by votes as by clamor and noise.
§2.29.6tandem cum irae resedissent, exprobrantibus consulibus nihilo plus sanitatis in curia quam in foro esse, ordine consuli coepit.
At length, when the anger had subsided, while the consuls reproached them that there was no more of sanity in the senate-house than in the forum, they began to be consulted in order.
§2.29.7tres fuere sententiae.
There were three opinions.
P. Verginius rem non vulgabat; de iis tantum, qui fidem secuti P. Servili consulis Volsco, Aurunco Sabinoque militassent bello, agendum censebat.
Publius Verginius did not make the matter general; he thought that action should be taken only regarding those who, trusting the promise of the consul Publius Servilius, had served in the Volscian, Auruncan, and Sabine wars.
T. Larcius non id tempus esse, §2.29.8ut merita tantummodo exsolverentur; totam plebem aere alieno demersam esse, nec sisti posse, ni omnibus consulatur; quin, si alia aliorum sit condicio, accendi magis discordiam quam sedari.
Titus Larcius thought that it was not the time for only services to be paid; that the entire plebs was submerged in debt, and that the situation could not be arrested unless provision were made for all; indeed, if the condition of some should be different from that of others, discord would be inflamed rather than quieted.
§2.29.9Ap. Claudius, et natura inmitis et efferatus hinc plebis odio, illinc patrum laudibus, non miseriis ait, sed licentia tantum concitum turbarum, et lascivire magis plebem quam saevire.
Appius Claudius, both harsh by nature and driven wild, on the one hand by the hatred of the plebs, on the other by the praises of the patricians, said that the disturbances had been excited not by miseries, but by licentiousness alone, and that the plebs was growing wanton rather than raging.
§2.29.10id adeo malum ex provocatione natum; quippe minas esse consulum, non imperium, ubi ad eos, qui una peccaverint, provocare liceat.
This evil, indeed, had arisen from the right of appeal; for there were only threats of the consuls, not power, where it was permitted to appeal to those who had sinned together.
§2.29.11“agedum” inquit “dictatorem, a quo provocatio non est, creemus, iam hie, quo nunc omnia ardent, conticiscet furor.
"Come now," he said, "let us create a dictator, from whom there is no appeal; immediately this madness, by which all things are now on fire, will grow silent.
§2.29.12pulset tum mihi lictorem, qui sciet ius de tergo vitaque sua penes unum illum esse, cuius maiestatem violarit. ”
Let him then, if he dares, strike a lictor, who will know that the right over his back and life is in the power of that single man whose majesty he has violated."