§6.14.1dictator exercitum in stativis tenebat minime dubius bellum cum iis populis patres iussuros, cum maior domi exorta moles coegit acciri Romam eum gliscente in dies seditione, quam solito magis metuendam auctor faciebat.
The dictator was keeping his army in permanent camp, in no doubt that the senate would order war with those peoples, when a greater trouble arising at home forced him to be summoned to Rome on account of a sedition that was growing day by day, which its author rendered more to be dreaded than usual.
§6.14.2non enim iam orationes modo M. Manli sed facta popularia in speciem, tumultuosa eadem, qua mente fierent, intuenti erant.
For now not only the speeches of M. Manlius, but his deeds, popular in appearance but at the same time tumultuous, were clear to anyone who observed with what mind they were done.
§6.14.3centurionem, nobilem militaribus factis, iudicatum pecuniae cum duci vidisset, medio foro cum caterva sua accurrit et manum iniecit vociferatusque de superbia patrum ac crudelitate faeneratorum et miseriis plebis, virtutibus eius viri fortunaque, §6.14.4“tum vero ego” inquit “nequiquam hac dextra Capitolium arcemque servaverim, si civem commilitonemque meum tamquam Gallis victoribus captum in servitutem ac vincula duci videam. ” §6.14.5inde rem creditori palam populo solvit libraque et aere liberatum emittit, deos atque homines obtestantem, ut M. Manlio, liberatori suo, parenti plebis Romanae, gratiam referant.
When he saw a centurion, distinguished for his military deeds, led away after being judged liable for debt, he ran up to the middle of the forum with his crowd and laid hand on him, crying out against the pride of the patricians, the cruelty of the usurers, the miseries of the plebs, and about the virtues and fortune of that man: "Then indeed," he said, "should I in vain have saved the Capitol and the citadel with this right hand, if I were to see my fellow-citizen and fellow-soldier led away into slavery and chains, as though captured by the victorious Gauls." Thereupon he paid the money to the creditor openly before the people, and released the man, set free by the scales and bronze, who implored gods and men to return thanks to M. Manlius, his deliverer and the father of the Roman plebs.
§6.14.6acceptus extemplo in tumultuosam turbam et ipse tumultum augebat, cicatrices acceptas Veienti, Gallico aliisque deinceps bellis ostentans: §6.14.7se militantem, se restituentem eversos penates, multiplici iam sorte exsoluta mergentibus semper sortem usuris obrutum faenore esse;
Having been immediately received into the turbulent crowd, he himself also increased the tumult, showing the scars received in the Veientine, the Gallic, and other successive wars: saying that while serving in the army and rebuilding his destroyed household gods, though the principal had already been paid many times over, he had been overwhelmed by interest which always sank the principal, and was crushed by debt; that it was by the help of M.
§6.14.8videre lucem, forum, civium ora M. Manli opera; omnia parentium beneficia ab illo se habere; illi devovere corporis vitaeque ac sanguinis quod supersit; quodcumque sibi cum patria, penatibus publicis ac privatis iuris fuerit, id cum uno homine esse.
Manlius that he beheld the light, the forum, and the faces of his fellow-citizens; that from him he held all the benefits of parents; to him he devoted what remained of his body, life, and blood; whatever right he had had with his country, and with his public and private household gods, was now with this one man.
§6.14.9his vocibus instincta plebes cum iam unius hominis esset, addita alia commodioris ad omnia turbanda consilii res.
When the plebs, incited by these words, already belonged to this one man, another matter of a counsel more convenient for throwing everything into confusion was added.
§6.14.10fundum in Veienti, caput patrimonii, subiecit praeconi;
He put up for auction his estate in the Veientine territory, the chief part of his patrimony.
“ne quem vestrum” inquit, “Quirites, donec quidquam in re mea supererit, iudicatum addictumve duci patiar. ” id vero ita accendit animos, ut per omne fas ac nefas secuturi vindicem libertatis viderentur.
"Lest any of you," he said, "Quirites, as long as anything remains of my property, should suffer anyone who has been judged or assigned for debt to be led away." This indeed so inflamed their minds, that they seemed ready to follow the champion of their liberty through all right and wrong.
ad hoc domi, §6.14.11contionantis in modum, sermones pleni criminum in patres; inter quos, omisso discrimine, vera an vana iaceret, thensauros Gallici auri occultari a patribus iecit, nec iam possidendis publicis agris contentos esse, nisi pecuniam quoque publicam avertant; ea res si palam fiat, exsolvi plebem aere alieno posse.
In addition to this, at his house, after the manner of one holding a public assembly, speeches were made full of accusations against the patricians; among which, throwing out without distinction whether they were true or false, he cast the charge that treasures of Gallic gold were being hidden by the patricians, and that they were no longer content with possessing public lands unless they also embezzled public money; if that matter should be made public, the plebs could be released from their debt.
§6.14.12quae ubi obiecta spes est, enimvero indignum facinus videri: cum conferendum ad redimendam civitatem a Gallis aurum fuerit, tributo conlationem factam, idem aurum ex hostibus captum in paucorum praedam cessisse.
When this hope was held out, it indeed seemed a shameful deed: that when gold had to be collected to ransom the state from the Gauls, the contribution was made by a tribute, but that the same gold, captured from the enemy, had fallen into the booty of a few.
§6.14.13itaque exsequebantur quaerendo, ubi tantae rei furtum occultaretur; differentique et tempore suo se indicaturum dicenti ceteris omissis eo versae erant omnium curae, apparebatque nec veri indicii gratiam mediam nec falsi offensionem fore.
Therefore they persisted in asking where the theft of so great a matter was hidden; and since he delayed and said that he would disclose it in his own time, all other things being set aside, the attention of all was turned thither, and it was evident that neither the gratitude for a true disclosure nor the offense of a false one would be moderate.