§4.44.1tribunicia primum comitia sunt habita.
First, the elections for military tribunes were held.
creati tribuni consulari potestate omnes patricii, L. Quinctius Cincinnatus tertium, L. Furius Medullinus iterum, M. Manlius, A. Sempronius Atratinus.
All the military tribunes with consular power who were elected were patricians: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus for the third time, Lucius Furius Medullinus for the second time, Marcus Manlius, and Aulus Sempronius Atratinus.
§4.44.2hoc tribuno comitia quaestorum habente petentibusque inter aliquot plebeios filio A. Antisti tribuni plebis et fratre alterius tribuni plebis Sex. Pompili nec potestas nec suffragatio horum valuit, quin, quorum patres avosque consules viderant, eos nobilitate praeferrent.
While this tribune was holding the election of quaestors, and among several plebeian candidates the son of the tribune of the plebs Aulus Antistius and the brother of another tribune of the plebs Sextus Pompilius were seeking office, neither the power nor the support of these tribunes was strong enough to prevent the voters from preferring, on account of their nobility, those whose fathers and grandfathers they had seen as consuls.
furere omnes tribuni plebi, §4.44.3ante omnes Pompilius Antistiusque repulsa suorum accensi;
All the tribunes of the plebs were furious, and Pompilius and Antistius above all, incensed by the rejection of their relatives.
§4.44.4quidnam id rei esse? non suis beneficiis, non patrum iniuriis, non denique uiris usurpandi libidine, cum liceat, quod ante non licuerit, si non tribunum militarem, ne quaestorem quidem quemquam ex plebe factum? §4.44.5non valuisse patris pro filio, fratris pro fratre preces, tribunorum plebis, potestatis sacrosanctae ad auxilium libertatis creatae.
"What on earth does this mean?" they asked. "That neither by their own favors, nor by the injuries done by the patricians, nor finally by the desire to exercise a right now that it is permitted—which was not permitted before—has anyone from the plebs been made even a quaestor, to say nothing of a military tribune?" They complained that the prayers of a father for his son, of a brother for his brother, and of the tribunes of the plebs, whose sacrosanct power had been created for the protection of liberty, had been of no avail.
fraudem profecto in re esse, et A. Sempronium comitiis plus artis adhibuisse quam fidei.
They asserted that there was indeed fraud in the matter, and that Aulus Sempronius had employed more artifice than honesty in the elections.
eius iniuria queri suos honore deiectos.
They grumbled that by his injustice their relatives had been cast down from office.
itaque cum in ipsum §4.44.6et innocentia tutum et magistratu, in quo tunc erat, impetus fieri non posset, flexere iras in C. Sempronium, patruelem Atratini, eique ob ignominiam Volsci belli adiutore collega M. Canuleio diem dixere.
And so, since an attack could not be made against him himself, as he was protected both by his innocence and by the magistracy which he then held, they turned their anger against Gaius Sempronius, the cousin of Atratinus, and, with the help of their colleague Marcus Canuleius, prosecuted him for the ignominy of the Volscian war.
§4.44.7subinde ab iisdem tribunis mentio in senatu de agris dividendis inlata est, cui actioni semper acerrime C. Sempronius restiterat, ratis, id quod erat, aut deposita causa leviorem futurum apud patres reum aut perseverantem sub iudicii tempus plebem offensurum.
Immediately after, a mention concerning the division of lands was brought forward in the senate by the same tribunes, to which proposal Gaius Sempronius had always resisted most fiercely; they thought—which was indeed the case—that either he would drop his opposition and thereby become less esteemed as a defendant among the patricians, or, by persisting, he would offend the plebs at the time of his trial.
§4.44.8adversae invidiae obici maluit et suae nocere causae quam publicae deesse; §4.44.9stetitque in eadem sententia, ne qua largitio cessura in trium gratiam tribunorum fieret; nec tum agrum plebi, sed sibi invidiam quaeri; se quoque subiturum eam tempestatem forti animo; nec senatui tanti se civem aut quemquam alium debere esse, ut in parcendo uni malum publicum fiat.
He preferred to be exposed to hostile unpopularity and to damage his own cause rather than to fail the public interest; and he stood firm in the same opinion, that no distribution should be made which would turn to the favor of the three tribunes; he asserted that at that time not land for the plebs, but hatred against himself was being sought; that he too would undergo that tempest with a brave heart; and that no citizen, neither himself nor anyone else, ought to be of such value to the senate that by sparing one individual a public harm should be done.
§4.44.10nihilo demissiore animo, cum dies venit, causa ipse pro se dicta nequiquam omnia expertis patribus, ut mitigarent plebem, quindecim milibus aeris damnatur.
With no less resolute a spirit, when the day arrived, having spoken his own defense, he was condemned to a fine of fifteen thousand copper asses, despite the patricians having tried everything in vain to appease the plebs.
§4.44.11eodem anno Postumia virgo Vestalis de incestu causam dixit crimine innoxia, ab suspicione propter cultum amoeniorem ingeniumque liberius, quam virginem decet, parum abhorrens.
In the same year, Postumia, a Vestal Virgin, pleaded her cause on a charge of unchastity. She was innocent of the crime, but was not far from suspicion on account of a rather elegant dress and a disposition more free than becomes a virgin.
§4.44.12eam ampliatam, deinde absolutam pro collegii sententia pontifex maximus abstinere iocis colique sancte potius quam scite iussit.
After her trial had been postponed and she was subsequently acquitted in accordance with the decision of the college, the pontifex maximus ordered her to abstain from jests and to conduct herself with sanctity rather than with smartness.
eodem anno a Campanis Cumae, quam Graeci tum urbem tenebant, capiuntur.
In the same year, Cumae, a city which the Greeks then held, was captured by the Campanians.
§4.44.13insequens annus tribunos militum consulari potestate habuit Agrippam Menenium Lanatum, P. Lucretium Tricipitinum, Sp. Nautium Rutilum.
The following year had Agrippa Menenius Lanatus, Publius Lucretius Tricipitinus, and Spurius Nautius Rutilus as military tribunes with consular power.