§2.44.1et hic annus tribunum auctorem legis agrariae habuit. Tib. Pontificius fuit.
This year also had a tribune as the author of the agrarian law, Tiberius Pontificius.
is eandem viam, velut processisset Sp. Licinio, ingressus dilectum paulisper inpediit.
He, entering upon the same path, as if it had succeeded for Spurius Licinius, obstructed the levy for a short time.
§2.44.2perturbatis iterum patribus Ap. Claudius victam tribuniciam potestatem dicere priore anno, in praesentia re, exemplo in perpetuum, quando inventum sit suis ipsam viribus dissolvi.
When the patricians were again thrown into confusion, Appius Claudius said that the tribunician power had been overcome in the previous year, in reality for the present, and by example for the future, since it had been found that it could be dissolved by its own strength.
§2.44.3neque enim umquam defuturum, qui et ex collega victoriam sibi et gratiam melioris partis bono publico velit quaesitam; et plures, si pluribus opus sit, tribunos ad auxilium consulum paratos fore, et unum vel adversus omnes satis esse.
For there would never be wanting someone who would wish for victory over his colleague and the gratitude of the better party, sought for the public good; and more tribunes, if there should be need of more, would be ready to assist the consuls, and even one was sufficient against all.
darent modo et consules et primores patrum operam, §2.44.4ut, si minus omnes, aliquos tamen ex tribunis rei publicae ac senatui conciliarent.
Let only the consuls and the leaders of the patricians take care that, if not all, they might at least win over some of the tribunes to the republic and the senate.
§2.44.5praeceptis Appii moniti patres et universi comiter ac benigne tribunos appellare, et consulares, ut cuique eorum privatim aliquid iuris adversus singulos erat, partim gratia partim auctoritate obtinuere, ut tribuniciae potestatis vires salubres vellent rei publicae esse; §2.44.6novemque tribunorum adversus unum moratorem publici commodi auxilio dilectum consules habent.
Admonished by the precepts of Appius, the patricians all addressed the tribunes in a friendly and kind manner; and the consulars, according as each of them had privately some influence over individual tribunes, obtained, partly by favor and partly by authority, that they should wish the strength of the tribunician power to be salutary to the republic; and the consuls, with the help of nine tribunes against one obstructor of the public good, held the levy.
§2.44.7inde ad Veiens bellum profecti, quo undique ex Etruria auxilia convenerant, non tam Veientium gratia concitata, quam quod in spem ventum erat discordia intestina dissolvi rem Romanam posse.
Thence they set out for the Veientine war, to which auxiliary forces had assembled from all sides of Etruria, not so much excited by favor toward the Veientes, as because they had come into the hope that the Roman state could be dissolved by internal discord.
§2.44.8principesque in omnium Etruriae populorum conciliis fremebant aeternas opes esse Romanas, nisi inter semet ipsi seditionibus saeviant.
And the leading men in the councils of all the peoples of Etruria were murmuring that the Roman power would be eternal, unless they themselves raged against one another with seditions.
id unum venenum, eam labem civitatibus opulentis repertam, ut magna imperia mortalia essent.
This was the only poison, this the ruin found for wealthy states, so that great empires were mortal.
§2.44.9diu sustentatum id malum partim patrum consiliis partim patientia plebis, iam ad extrema venisse.
This evil, sustained for a long time partly by the counsels of the patricians and partly by the patience of the plebs, had now come to the extreme.
duas civitates ex una factas, suos cuique parti magistratus, suas leges esse.
Two states had been made out of one; each party had its own magistrates and its own laws.
§2.44.10primum in dilectibus saevire solitos, eosdem in bello tamen paruisse ducibus.
At first, they were accustomed to rage in the levies, yet they obeyed their leaders in war.
qualicumque urbis statu manente disciplina militari sisti potuisse; iam non parendi magistratibus morem in castra quoque Romanum militem sequi.
While the state of the city remained of whatever kind, it could be maintained by military discipline; now the Roman soldier followed the custom of not obeying magistrates even into the camp.
§2.44.11proximo bello in ipsa acie, in ipso certamine consensu exercitus traditam ultro victoriam victis Aequis, signa deserta, imperatorem in acie relictum, iniussu in castra reditum.
In the last war, in the very line of battle, in the very contest, by the consensus of the army, victory had been voluntarily handed over to the defeated Aequians, the standards deserted, the commander left in the battle-line, and the return to the camp made without orders.
profecto, si instetur, suo milite vinci Romam posse.
Assuredly, if pressure were applied, Rome could be conquered by her own soldier.
nihil aliud opus esse quam indici ostendique bellum; §2.44.12cetera sua sponte fata et deos gesturos.
Nothing else was needed than that war be declared and shown; the fates and the gods would perform the rest of their own accord.
hae spes Etruscos armaverant multis in vicem casibus victos victoresque.
These hopes had armed the Etruscans, who had been defeated and victors in turn through many vicissitudes.