§9.26.1eodem anno prodito hostibus Romano praesidio Luceria Samnitium facta.
In the same year, Luceria became Samnite, the Roman garrison having been betrayed to the enemy.
§9.26.2nec diu proditoribus inpunita res fuit: haud procul inde exercitus Romanus erat, cuius primo impetu urbs sita in plano capitur.
Nor did this matter long go unpunished for the traitors: the Roman army was not far from there, by whose first assault the city, situated on a plain, was captured.
Lucerini ac Samnites ad internecionem caesi, §9.26.3eoque ira processit, ut Romae quoque, cum de colonis mittendis Luceriam consuleretur senatus, multi delendam urbem censerent.
The Lucerini and the Samnites were slaughtered to the point of extermination, and their anger proceeded to such a point that even at Rome, when the senate was consulted about sending colonists to Luceria, many were of the opinion that the city should be destroyed.
§9.26.4praeter odium, quod exsecrabile in bis captos erat, longinquitas quoque abhorrere a relegandis tam procul ab domo civibus inter tam infestas gentes cogebat.
Besides their hatred, which was execrable against those twice captured, the distance also forced them to shrink from sending citizens so far from home among such hostile nations.
§9.26.5vicit tamen sententia, ut mitterentur coloni.
The opinion prevailed, however, that colonists should be sent.
duo milia et quingenti missi.
Two thousand five hundred were sent.
eodem anno, cum omnia infida Romanis essent, Capuae quoque occultae principum coniurationes factae.
In the same year, when all things were untrustworthy to the Romans, secret conspiracies of the leading men were formed at Capua as well.
de quibus cum ad senatum relatum esset, §9.26.6haudquaquam neglecta res: quaestiones decretae, dictatoremque quaestionibus exercendis dici placuit.
When this had been reported to the senate, the matter was by no means neglected: inquiries were decreed, and it was resolved that a dictator should be named to conduct the inquiries.
§9.26.7C. Maenius dictus; is M. Folium magistrum equitum dixit.
C. Maenius was named; he named M. Folius master of the horse.
ingens erat magistratus eius terror.
The terror of that magistracy was immense.
itaque — sive is timor seu conscientia fuit — Calavios Ovium Noviumque — ea capita coniurationis fuerant —, priusquam nominarentur apud dictatorem, mors haud dubie ab ipsis conscita iudicio subtraxit.
Therefore—whether it was fear or consciousness of guilt—death, undoubtedly self-inflicted, withdrew the Calavii, Ovius and Novius—who had been the heads of the conspiracy—from trial before they could be named before the dictator.
deinde ut quaestioni Campanae materia decessit, §9.26.8versa Romam interpretando res: non nominatim qui Capuae, sed in universum qui usquam coissent coniurassentve adversus rem publicam, quaeri senatum iussisse; §9.26.9et coitiones honorum adipiscendorum causa factas adversus rem publicam esse.
Then, when the material for the Campanian inquiry was exhausted, the matter was turned toward Rome by interpretation: that the senate had ordered an inquiry, not specifically into those who at Capua, but universally into those who had assembled or conspired anywhere against the state; and that coalitions formed for the purpose of obtaining offices were against the state.
latiorque et re et personis quaestio fieri, haud abnuente dictatore sine fine ulla quaestionis suae ius esse.
The inquiry became wider both in matter and in persons, with the dictator not denying that his inquiry had unlimited power.
§9.26.10postulabantur ergo nobiles homines appellantibusque tribunos nemo erat auxilio, quin nomina reciperentur.
Therefore, noble men were accused, and though they appealed to the tribunes, no one was of assistance to prevent their names from being received.
§9.26.11inde nobilitas, nec ii modo, in quos crimen intendebatur, sed universi simul negare nobilium id crimen esse, quibus si nulla obstetur fraude, pateat via ad honorem, sed hominum novorum.
Thereupon the nobility, and not only those against whom the charge was directed, but all together, denied that this was a crime of the nobles—to whom, if no fraud stood in the way, the path to honor lay open—but of the new men.
§9.26.12ipsos adeo dictatorem magistrumque equitum reos magis quam quaesitores idoneos eius criminis esse intellecturosque ita id esse, simul magistratu abissent.
They even asserted that the dictator and the master of the horse themselves were more fit to be defendants than inquisitors of that charge, and that they would realize this as soon as they had abdicated their office.
tum enim vero Maenius, §9.26.13iam famae magis quam imperii memor, progressus in contionem ita verba fecit: §9.26.14“et omnes ante actae vitae vos conscios habeo, Quirites, et hic ipse honos delatus ad me testis est innocentiae meae; neque enim, quod saepe alias, quia ita tempora postulabant rei publicae, qui bello clarissimus esset, sed qui maxime procul ab his coitionibus vitam egisset, dictator deligendus exercendis quaestionibus fuit.
Then indeed Maenius, now more mindful of his reputation than of his power, went forward into the assembly and spoke as follows: “I have all of you as witnesses of my past life, Quirites, and this very honor conferred upon me is a witness of my innocence; for a dictator was to be chosen to conduct the inquiries, not, as often at other times, because the times of the state so demanded, one who was most illustrious in war, but one who had lived his life furthest from these coalitions.
§9.26.15sed quoniam quidam nobiles homines — qua de causa, vos existimare quam me pro magistratu quicquam inconpertum dicere melius est — §9.26.16primum ipsas expugnare quaestiones omni ope adnisi sunt, dein, postquam ad id parum potentes erant, ne causam dicerent, in praesidia adversariorum, appellationem et tribunicium auxilium, §9.26.17patricii confugerunt, postremo repulsi inde — adeo omnia tutiora, quam ut innocentiam suam purgarent, visa — in nos inruerunt et privatis dictatorem poscere reum verecundiae non fuit, ut omnes di hominesque sciant ab illis etiam, §9.26.18quae non possint, temptari, ne rationem vitae reddant, me obviam ire crimini et offerre me inimicis reum, dictatura me abdico.
But since certain noble men—for what reason, it is better for you to judge than for me to say anything unconfirmed on account of my office— first strove with all their might to destroy the inquiries themselves, and then, after they were too weak for that, lest they should plead their cause, fled to the protections of their adversaries, appeal and tribunician aid, patricians though they were, and finally, being repulsed from there—so much did all things seem safer than to clear their own innocence—they rushed upon us, and did not feel shame, though private citizens, to demand the dictator as a defendant, so that all gods and men may know that by them even those things which are impossible are attempted, lest they should render an account of their life, I, to meet the charge and to offer myself as a defendant to my enemies, abdicate my dictatorship.
§9.26.19vos quaeso, consules, si vobis datum ab senatu negotium fuerit, in me primum et hunc M. Folium quaestiones exerceatis, ut appareat innocentia nostra nos, non maiestate honoris tutos a criminationibus istis esse.
I beg you, consuls, if this task is given to you by the senate, to conduct inquiries first against me and this M.
” abdicat inde se dictatura §9.26.20et post eum confestim Folius magisterio equitum; primique apud consules — iis enim ab senatu mandata res est — rei facti adversus nobilium testimonia egregie absolvuntur.
Folius, so that it may appear that we are safe from those accusations of yours by our innocence, and not by the majesty of our office.” He then abdicated his dictatorship, and after him immediately Folius abdicated his mastership of the horse; and being made defendants first before the consuls—for the matter was committed to them by the senate—against the testimony of the nobles they were brilliantly acquitted.
§9.26.21Publilius etiam Philo multiplicatis summis honoribus post res tot domi belloque gestas, ceterum invisus nobilitati, causam dixit absolutusque est.
Publilius Philo also, after many highest honors had been multiplied following so many deeds done at home and in war, but hated by the nobility, pleaded his cause and was acquitted.
§9.26.22nec diutius, ut fit, quam dum recens erat, quaestio per clara nomina reorum viguit; inde labi coepit ad viliora capita, donec coitionibus factionibusque, adversus quas conparata erat, oppressa est.
Nor did the inquiry flourish through the famous names of the defendants any longer, as usually happens, than while it was fresh; from there it began to glide to viler heads, until it was crushed by the coalitions and factions against which it had been prepared.