§25.3.1Q. Fulvius Flaccus tertium Appius Claudius consulatum ineunt.
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, for the third time, and Appius Claudius entered upon the consulship.
§25.3.2et praetores provincias sortiti sunt P. Cornelius Sulla urbanam et peregrinam, quae duorum ante sors fuerat, Cn. Fulvius Flaccus Apuliam, C. Claudius Nero Suessulam, M. Iunius Silanus Tuscos.
And the praetors drew lots for their provinces: Publius Cornelius Sulla received the urban and foreign jurisdiction, which had previously been the allotment of two; Gnaeus Fulvius Flaccus, Apulia; Gaius Claudius Nero, Suessula; Marcus Junius Silanus, the Etruscans.
§25.3.3consulibus bellum cum Hannibale et binae legiones decretae: alter a Q. Fabio superioris anni consule, alter a Fulvio Centumalo acciperet; §25.3.4praetorum Fulvi Flacci quae Luceriae sub Aemilio praetore, Neronis Claudi, quae in Piceno sub C. Terentio fuissent, legiones essent supplementum in eas ipsi scriberent sibi.
To the consuls, the war with Hannibal and two legions each were decreed: the one was to receive his legions from Quintus Fabius, the consul of the previous year, the other from Fulvius Centumalus; As for the praetors, the legions which had been at Luceria under the praetor Aemilius were to belong to Fulvius Flaccus, and those which had been in Picenum under Gaius Terentius to Claudius Nero; they themselves were to enlist reinforcements for these legions.
M. Iunio in Tuscos legiones urbanae prioris anni datae.
To Marcus Junius, for the Etruscans, the urban legions of the previous year were given.
§25.3.5Ti. Sempronio Graccho et P. Sempronio Tuditano imperium provinciaeque Lucani et Gallia cum suis exercitibus prorogatae, §25.3.6item P. Lentulo qua vetus provincia in Sicilia esset, M. Marcello Syracusae et qua Hieronis regnum fuisset; T. Otacilio classis, Graecia M. Valerio, Sardinia Q. Mucio Scaevolae, Hispaniae P. et Cn. Corneliis.
To Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and Publius Sempronius Tuditanus, their command and provinces, Lucania and Gaul, were prorogued with their respective armies, likewise to Publius Lentulus where the old province in Sicily was, to Marcus Marcellus Syracuse and what had been the kingdom of Hiero; to Titus Otacilius the fleet, to Marcus Valerius Greece, to Quintus Mucius Scaevola Sardinia, and to Publius and Gnaeus Cornelius the Spains.
§25.3.7ad veteres exercitus duae urbanae legiones consulibus scriptae, summaque trium et viginti legionum eo anno effecta est.
In addition to the old armies, two urban legions were enlisted for the consuls, and the total of twenty-three legions was reached for that year.
§25.3.8dilectum consulum M. Postumi Pyrgensis cum magno prope motu rerum factum impediit.
An affair of Marcus Postumius of Pyrgi, which almost caused a great disturbance, hindered the enlistment of the consuls.
§25.3.9publicanus erat Postumius, qui multis annis parem fraude avaritiaque neminem in civitate habuerat praeter T. Pomponium Veientanum, quem populantem temere agros in Lucanis ductu Hannonis priore anno ceperant Carthaginienses.
Postumius was a publican, who for many years had had no equal in the state for fraud and avarice, except Titus Pomponius of Veii, whom the Carthaginians had captured the previous year while he was recklessly plundering fields in Lucania under the leadership of Hanno.
§25.3.10hi, quia publicum periculum erat a vi tempestatis in iis, quae portarentur ad exercitus, et ementiti erant falsa naufragia et ea ipsa, quae vera renuntiaverant, fraude ipsorum facta erant, non casu.
These men, because the public risk lay in damage from storms on those things which were being transported to the armies, had both fabricated false shipwrecks, and even those shipwrecks which they had reported as true had occurred by their own fraud, not by accident.
in veteres quassasque naves paucis §25.3.11et parvi pretii rebus impositis, cum mersissent eas in alto exceptis in praeparatas scaphas nautis, multiplices fuisse merces ementiebantur.
Into old and shattered ships, with a few and cheap goods loaded, when they had sunk them in the deep, after the sailors had been taken off into prepared skiffs, they would falsely declare that the cargoes had been of many times the value.
§25.3.12ea fraus indicata M. Aemilio praetori priore anno fuerat ac per eum ad senatum delata nec tamen ullo senatus consulto notata, quia patres ordinem publicanorum in tali tempore offensum nolebant.
This fraud had been reported to Marcus Aemilius, the praetor, the previous year, and through him laid before the senate, but it was not censured by any decree of the senate, because the fathers did not want to alienate the class of publicans at such a critical time.
§25.3.13populus severior vindex fraudis erat, excitatique tandem duo tribuni plebis Spurius et L. Carvilii cum rem invisam infamemque cernerent, ducentum milium aeris multam M. Postumio dixerunt.
The people were a more severe avenger of the fraud; and at last, two tribunes of the plebs, Spurius and Lucius Carvilius, having been aroused when they saw that the matter was detestable and infamous, imposed a fine of two hundred thousand asses of bronze upon Marcus Postumius.
§25.3.14cui certandae cum dies advenisset, conciliumque tam frequens plebis adesset, ut multitudinem area Capitolii vix caperet, §25.3.15perorata causa una spes videbatur esse, si C. Servilius Casca tribunus plebis, qui propinquus cognatusque Postumio erat, priusquam ad suffragium tribus vocarentur, intercessisset.
When the day for contesting this fine had arrived, and the assembly of the plebs was present in such numbers that the area of the Capitol could scarcely contain the multitude, after the case had been fully pleaded, the only hope seemed to be if Gaius Servilius Casca, a tribune of the plebs, who was a close relative and kinsman of Postumius, should intercede before the tribes were called to vote.
§25.3.16testibus datis tribuni populum summoverunt, sitellaque lata est, ut sortirentur, ubi Latini suffragium ferrent.
After the witnesses had been produced, the tribunes cleared the crowd, and the urn was brought out, so that they might draw lots to determine in which tribe the Latins should cast their votes.
§25.3.17interim publicani Cascae instare, ut concilio diem eximeret; populus reclamare; et forte in cornu primus sedebat Casca, cui simul metus pudorque animum versabat.
Meanwhile, the publicans pressed Casca to adjourn the assembly for the day; the people shouted against it; and by chance Casca was sitting first on the wing, whose mind fear and shame were tossing at the same time.
§25.3.18cum in eo parum praesidii esset, turbandae rei causa publicani per vacuum summoto locum cuneo inruperunt iurgantes simul cum populo tribunisque.
Since there was little reliance to be placed in him, for the purpose of throwing the business into confusion, the publicans, having formed a wedge, rushed in through the open space which had been cleared, wrangling at the same time with the people and the tribunes.
§25.3.19nec procul dimicatione res erat, cum Fulvius consul tribunis “nonne videtis” inquit “vos in ordinem coactos esse et rem ad seditionem spectare, ni propere dimittitis plebis concilium?”
And the matter was not far from a fight, when Fulvius the consul said to the tribunes: "Do you not see that you have been reduced to the ranks, and that the matter is heading toward a riot, unless you quickly dismiss the assembly of the plebs?"