§3.31.1deinde M. Valerius, Sp. Verginius consules facti.
Then M. Valerius and Sp. Verginius were made consuls.
domi forisque otium fuit; annona propter aquarum intemperiem laboratum est.
There was peace at home and abroad; but because of the inclemency of the weather, trouble was experienced with the grain supply.
de Aventino publicando lata lex est.
A law was passed for making the Aventine public land.
tribuni plebis iidem refecti.
The same tribunes of the plebs were re-elected.
§3.31.2hi sequente anno T. Romilio, C. Veturio consulibus legem omnibus contionibus suis celebrabant: pudere se numeri sui nequiquam aucti, si ea res aeque suo biennio iaceret, ac toto superiore lustro iacuisset.
In the following year, during the consulship of T. Romilius and C. Veturius, these tribunes in all their public meetings kept urging the law: they said they were ashamed of their number having been increased in vain, if that matter should lie idle during their own two years of office just as it had lain idle during the whole of the previous five years.
cum maxime haec agerent, §3.31.3trepidi nuntii ab Tusculo veniunt Aequos in agro Tusculano esse.
While they were most active in these matters, alarming messages came from Tusculum that the Aequi were in Tusculan territory.
fecit pudorem recens eius populi meritum morandi auxilii.
The recent merit of that people made it a matter of shame to delay assistance.
ambo consules cum exercitu missi hostem in sua sede, in Algido inveniunt.
Both consuls, sent with an army, find the enemy in their own stronghold on Mount Algidus.
§3.31.4ibi pugnatum.
There the battle was fought.
supra septem milia hostium caesa, alii fugati, praeda parta ingens.
Over seven thousand of the enemy were slain, others routed, and a vast booty was acquired.
eam propter inopiam aerarii consules vendiderunt.
On account of the emptiness of the treasury, the consuls sold it.
invidiae tamen res ad exercitum fuit eademque tribunis materiam criminandi ad plebem consules praebuit.
This act, however, was a source of resentment to the army and provided the tribunes with material for accusing the consuls before the plebs.
§3.31.5itaque ergo, ut magistratu abiere, Sp.
And so indeed, as soon as they went out of office, during the consulship of Sp.
Tarpeio, A. Aternio consulibus dies dicta est, Romilio ab C. Calvio Cicerone tribuno plebis, Veturio ab L. Alieno aedile plebis.
Tarpeius and A. Aternius, a day for trial was appointed: for Romilius by C. Calvius Cicero, tribune of the plebs, and for Veturius by L. Alienus, plebeian aedile.
§3.31.6uterque magna patrum indignatione damnatus, Romilius decem milibus aeris, Veturius quindecim.
Both were condemned, to the great indignation of the patricians, Romilius to a fine of ten thousand asses, Veturius to fifteen thousand.
nec haec priorum calamitas consulum segniores novos fecerat consules; et se damnari posse aiebant, et plebem et tribunos legem ferre non posse.
Nor had this calamity of their predecessors made the new consuls any less active; they declared that though they themselves might be condemned, the plebs and the tribunes could not carry the law.
§3.31.7tum abiecta lege, quae promulgata consenuerat, tribuni lenius agere cum patribus: finem tandem certaminum facerent.
Then, having abandoned the law, which had grown old after being proposed, the tribunes began to deal more mildly with the patricians: they urged them to put an end at last to their disputes.
si plebeiae leges displicerent, at illi communiter legum latores et ex plebe et ex patribus, qui utrisque utilia ferrent quaeque aequandae libertatis essent, sinerent creari.
If plebeian laws were displeasing to them, they should at least allow joint lawmakers, chosen both from the plebs and from the patricians, to be appointed, who would propose measures advantageous to both sides and tending to equalize liberty.
§3.31.8rem non aspernabantur patres; laturum leges neminem nisi ex patribus aiebant.
The patricians did not reject the proposal; they only maintained that no one but a patrician should propose laws.
cum de legibus conveniret, de latore tantum discreparet, missi legati Athenas Sp.
Since they agreed about the laws but differed only about the proposer, ambassadors—Sp.
Postumius Albus, A. Manlius, P. Sulpicius Camerinus iussique inclitas leges Solonis describere et aliarum Graeciae civitatium instituta, mores iuraque noscere.
Postumius Albus, A. Manlius, and P. Sulpicius Camerinus—were sent to Athens and ordered to copy the famous laws of Solon and to study the institutions, customs, and laws of other Greek states.