§3.35.1postquam vero comitia decemviris creandis in trinum nundinum indicta sunt, §3.35.2tanta exarsit ambitio, ut primores quoque civitatis — metu, credo, ne tanti possessio imperii vacuo ab se relicto loco haud satis dignis pateret — prensarent homines, honorem summa ope a se impugnatum ab ea plebe, cum qua contenderant, suppliciter petentes.
Indeed, after the assembly for electing decemvirs had been proclaimed for the third market day, such great ambition flared up that even the foremost men of the state—from fear, I believe, lest the possession of so great a power, if the place were left vacant by them, should lie open to those not sufficiently worthy—canvassed the people, humbly seeking from that plebs, with whom they had contended, the honor that had been most strenuously opposed by themselves.
§3.35.3demissa iam in discrimen dignitas ea aetate iisque honoribus actis stimulabat Ap. Claudium.
His dignity, now brought into danger at that age and after having held those honors, stimulated Appius Claudius.
nescires, utrum inter decemviros an inter candidatos numerares.
You would not have known whether to count him among the decemvirs or among the candidates.
§3.35.4propior interdum petendo quam gerendo magistratui erat: criminari optimates, extollere candidatorum levissimum quemque humillimumque, §3.35.5ipse medius inter tribunicios, Duillios Iciliosque, in foro volitare, per illos se plebi venditare, donec collegae quoque, qui unice illi dediti fuerant ad id tempus, coniecere in eum oculos, mirantes, quid sibi vellet.
He was at times closer to seeking than to holding the magistracy: he slandered the optimates, and extolled every lightest and lowest of the candidates, while he himself, in the midst of former tribunes, the Duillii and Icilii, flitted about the forum, selling himself through them to the plebs, until his colleagues also, who had been uniquely devoted to him up to that time, cast their eyes upon him, wondering what he wanted for himself.
§3.35.6apparere nihil sinceri esse; profecto haud gratuitam in tanta superbia comitatem fore; nimium in ordinem se ipsum cogere et vulgari cum privatis non tam properantis abire magistratu quam viam ad continuandum magistratum quaerentis esse.
It became apparent that nothing was sincere; surely his affability amidst such great pride would not be without a price; he was forcing himself too much into a lower rank, and his mingling with private citizens was characteristic not of one hastening to depart from office, but of one seeking a way to continue his magistracy.
§3.35.7propalam obviam ire cupiditati parum ausi obsecundando mollire impetum adgrediuntur.
Hardly daring openly to oppose his desire, they attempted to soften his impulse by compliance.
comitiorum illi habendorum, quando minimus natu sit, munus consensu iniungunt.
They unanimously imposed on him the duty of holding the assembly, since he was the youngest.
ars haec erat, §3.35.8ne semet ipse creare posset, quod praeter tribunos plebi, et id ipsum pessimo exemplo, nemo umquam fecisset.
This was a trick, lest he himself should be able to elect himself, which no one, except for the tribunes of the plebs, and that very thing by a worst example, had ever done.
ille enimvero, quod bene vertat, habiturum se comitia professus, §3.35.9impedimentum pro occasione arripuit deiectisque honore per coitionem duobus Quinctiis, Capitolino et Cincinnato, et patruo suo C. Claudio, constantissimo viro in optimatium causa, et aliis eiusdem fastigii civibus, nequaquam splendore vitae pares decemviros creat, §3.35.10se in primis, quod haud secus factum inprobabant boni, quam nemo facere ausurum crediderat.
But he, praying that it might turn out well, having declared that he would hold the assembly, seized the obstacle as an opportunity, and having rejected from the honor through a coalition the two Quinctii, Capitolinus and Cincinnatus, and his uncle Gaius Claudius, a most steadfast man in the cause of the optimates, and other citizens of the same rank, he elected as decemvirs men by no means equal in the splendor of their lives, and himself in the first place, an action which the good men disapproved of no less than everyone had believed no one would dare to do.
§3.35.11creati cum eo M. Cornelius Maluginensis, M. Sergius, L. Minucius, Q. Fabius Vibulanus, Q. Poetilius, T. Antonius Merenda, K. Duillius, Sp. Oppius Cornicen, M’. Rabuleius.
Elected with him were Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis, Marcus Sergius, Lucius Minucius, Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, Quintus Poetilius, Titus Antonius Merenda, Kaeso Duillius, Spurius Oppius Cornicen, and Manius Rabuleius.