§4.13.1tum Sp. Maelius ex equestri ordine, ut illis temporibus praedives, rem utilem pessimo exemplo peiore consilio est adgressus.
At that time, Spurius Maelius, of the equestrian order, very wealthy for those times, undertook a useful undertaking with the worst precedent and a worse purpose.
§4.13.2frumento namque ex Etruria privata pecunia per hospitum clientiumque ministeria coempto, quae, credo, ipsa res ad levandam publica cura annonam impedimento fuerat, largitiones frumenti facere instituit plebemque hoc munere delinitam, quacumque incederet, §4.13.3conspectus elatusque supra modum hominis privati secum trahere, haud dubium consulatum favore ac spe despondentem.
For, having bought up grain from Etruria with his private money through the agency of his guest-friends and clients—which very thing, I believe, had itself been an obstacle to the alleviation of the grain supply by public care—he began to make distributions of grain, and to draw along with him the plebeians, who had been caressed by this gift, wherever he went, conspicuous and elevated beyond the measure of a private citizen, promising to himself an indubitable consulship through their favor and his own hope.
§4.13.4ipse, ut est humanus animus insatiabilis eo, quod fortuna spondet, ad altiora et non concessa tendere et, quoniam consulatus quoque eripiendus invitis patribus esset, de regno agitare: id unum dignum tanto apparatu consiliorum et certamine, quod ingens exsudandum esset, praemium fore.
He himself, as the human mind is insatiable for that which fortune promises, began to aim at higher and forbidden things, and, since the consulship also would have to be wrested from the unwilling patricians, to plot for a kingdom: that this alone would be a reward worthy of so great a preparation of plans and of a struggle which would have to be sweat out immensely.
§4.13.5iam comitia consularia instabant; quae res eum necdum compositis maturisve satis consiliis oppressit.
Already the consular comitia were pressing; which event surprised him while his plans were not yet sufficiently arranged or ripe.
consul sextum creatus T. Quinctius Capitolinus, §4.13.6minime opportunus vir novanti res; collega additur ei Agrippa Menenius, cui Lanato erat cognomen; §4.13.7et L. Minucius praefectus annonae seu refectus seu, quoad res posceret, in incertum creatus; nihil enim constat, nisi in libros linteos utroque anno relatum inter magistratus praefecti nomen.
Titus Quinctius Capitolinus was elected consul for the sixth time, a man least convenient for one attempting a revolution; as a colleague there was added to him Agrippa Menenius, whose cognomen was Lanatus; and Lucius Minucius was appointed prefect of the grain supply, whether re-elected or appointed for an indefinite period as long as the situation should demand; for nothing is certain except that the name of the prefect was entered among the magistrates in the linen books for both years.
§4.13.8hic Minucius eandem publice curationem agens, quam Maelius privatim agendam susceperat, cum in utraque domo genus idem hominum versaretur, rem conpertam ad senatum defert: tela in domum Maelii conferri,
This Minucius, conducting in public the same administration which Maelius had undertaken to conduct in private, since the same class of people frequented both houses, laid the discovered matter before the senate: that weapons were being collected into the house of Maelius, and that he was holding assemblies at home, and that his plans for a kingdom were not doubtful.
§4.13.9eumque contiones domi habere ac non dubia regni consilia esse. tempus agendae rei nondum stare; cetera iam convenisse; et tribunos mercede emptos ad prodendam libertatem et partita ducibus multitudinis ministeria esse.
That the time for executing the deed was not yet fixed; that other things were already agreed upon; and that tribunes had been bought with money to betray liberty, and the duties had been partitioned among the leaders of the multitude.
serius se paene, quam tutum fuerit, ne cuius incerti vanique auctor esset, ea deferre. quae postquam sunt audita,
That he reported these things almost later than was safe, lest he should be the author of anything uncertain and groundless.
§4.13.10cum undique primores patrum et prioris anni consules increparent, quod eas largitiones coetusque plebis in privata domo passi essent fieri, et novos consules, quod expectassent, donec a praefecto annonae tanta res ad senatum deferretur, quae consulem non auctorem solum desideraret, sed etiam vindicem; §4.13.11tum Quinctius consules immerito increpari ait, qui constricti legibus de provocatione ad dissolvendum imperium latis nequaquam tantum virium in magistratu ad eam rem pro atrocitate vindicandam quantum animi haberent.
After these things were heard, when on all sides the leading men of the patricians and the consuls of the previous year blamed them because they had allowed those distributions and gatherings of the plebeians to take place in a private house, and the new consuls because they had waited until so great a matter was reported to the senate by the prefect of the grain supply, which required a consul not only as an informer but also as an avenger; then Quinctius said that the consuls were blamed undeservedly, who, bound by the laws concerning appeal which were passed to weaken their power, had by no means as much strength in their magistracy to punish that matter in proportion to its atrocity as they had courage.
opus esse non forti solum viro, sed etiam libero exsolutoque legum vinclis.
That there was need of a man not only brave, but also free and released from the bonds of the laws.
§4.13.12itaque se dictatorem L. Quinctium dicturum; ibi animum parem tantae potestati esse.
Therefore, he would name Lucius Quinctius dictator; in him, there was a spirit equal to so great a power.
adprobantibus cunctis primo Quinctius abnuere et, quid sibi vellent, rogitare, qui se aetate exacta tantae dimicationi obicerent.
When all approved, at first Quinctius refused, and kept asking what they meant by exposing him, at his advanced age, to so great a conflict.
§4.13.13dein cum undique plus in illo senili animo non consilii modo, sed etiam virtutis esse quam in omnibus aliis dicerent laudibusque haud inmeritis onerarent et consul nihil remitteret, precatus tandem deos inmortales Cincinnatus, §4.13.14ne senectus sua in tam trepidis rebus damno dedecorive rei publicae esset, dictator a consule dicitur.
Then, when on all sides they said that there was more not only of counsel but also of valor in that aged mind than in all the others, and loaded him with well-deserved praises, and the consul would yield nothing, Cincinnatus, having finally prayed to the immortal gods, lest his old age should be a source of loss or disgrace to the republic in such turbulent affairs, he was named dictator by the consul.
ipse deinde C. Servilium Ahalam magistrum equitum dicit.
He himself then named Gaius Servilius Ahala master of the horse.