§2.9.1iam Tarquinii ad Lartem Porsinnam, Clusinum regem, perfugerant.
Already the Tarquins had fled to Lars Porsinna, the king of Clusium.
ibi miscendo consilium precesque nunc orabant, ne se, oriundos ex Etruscis, eiusdem sanguinis nominisque, §2.9.2egentes exulare pateretur, nunc monebant etiam, ne orientem morem pellendi reges inultum sineret.
There, mingling advice and entreaties, they now begged that he would not allow them, descended from the Etruscans, of the same blood and name, to live in exile in destitution, and now also warned him not to leave unpunished the rising custom of expelling kings.
§2.9.3satis libertatem ipsam habere dulcedinis. nisi, quanta vi civitates eam expetant, tanta regna reges defendant, aequari summa infimis; nihil excelsum, nihil, quod supra cetera emineat, in civitatibus fore;
They argued that liberty itself possessed sweetness enough; unless kings defended their kingdoms with as great a force as states sought after liberty, the highest would be leveled with the lowest, and there would be nothing lofty, nothing that stood out above the rest, in states.
§2.9.4adesse finem regnis, rei inter deos hominesque pulcherrimae.
The end was at hand for kingship, the most beautiful thing among gods and men.
Porsinna cum regem esse Romae tum Etruscae gentis regem amplum Tuscis ratus Romam infesto exercitu venit.
Porsinna, thinking both that it was a glorious thing for there to be a king at Rome, and especially a king of the Etruscan race for the Tuscans, came to Rome with a hostile army.
§2.9.5non umquam alias ante tantus terror senatum invasit; adeo valida res tum Clusina erat magnumque Porsinnae nomen.
Never at any other time before did so great a terror seize the senate; so powerful was the Clusian state at that time, and so great was the name of Porsinna.
nec hostes modo timebant, sed suosmet ipsi cives, ne Romana plebs metu perculsa receptis in urbem regibus vel cum servitute pacem acciperet.
Nor did they fear the enemy only, but even their own citizens, lest the Roman plebeians, stricken with fear, should receive the kings back into the city and accept peace even at the cost of servitude.
§2.9.6multa igitur blandimenta plebi per id tempus ab senatu data.
Therefore, many conciliatory measures were granted to the plebeians by the senate during that time.
annonae in primis habita cura, et ad frumentum conparandum missi alii in Volscos, alii Cumas.
Above all, care was taken of the grain supply, and some were sent among the Volscians, others to Cumae, to procure grain.
salis quoque vendendi arbitrium, quia inpenso pretio venibat, in publicum omni suscepto sumptu ademptum privatis; portoriisque et tributo plebes liberata, ut divites conferrent, qui oneri ferendo essent: §2.9.7pauperes satis stipendii pendere, si liberos educarent.
Also, the monopoly of selling salt, because it was being sold at an exorbitant price, was taken away from private individuals and assumed by the state, which took upon itself all the expense; and the plebeians were freed from harbor dues and taxes, so that the rich, who were able to bear the burden, should contribute: the poor paid enough tribute if they reared their children.
itaque haec indulgentia patrum asperis postmodum rebus in obsidione ac fame adeo concordem civitatem tenuit, ut regium nomen non summi magis quam infimi horrerent, §2.9.8nec quisquam unus malis artibus postea tam popularis esset, quam tum bene imperando universus senatus fuit.
And so this indulgence of the senators kept the state so united during the subsequent hardships of the siege and famine, that the name of king was not more dreaded by the highest than by the lowest; nor was any single individual afterwards so popular by evil arts as the entire senate was then by ruling well.