Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor), 2.56

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[1]

Volero, having been taken into favour by ¹ the plebs, was at the next election made plebeian tribune for that year which had Lucius Pinarius and Publius Furius for consuls.

[2] And contrary to the expectation of all, who believed that he would employ his tribuneship in persecuting the consuls of the preceding year, he set the general welfare above his private grievance, and without attacking the consuls by so much as a word, brought a bill before the people providing that plebeian magistrates should be chosen in the tribal assembly. ²

[3] It was no trivial matter which he proposed under this form, which at first sight appeared so harmless, but one that ³ completely deprived the patricians of the power of using their clients' votes to select what tribunes they liked.

[4] This measure was extremely welcome to the plebs; the Fathers opposed it with all their might, yet the only effectual resistance —to wit, a veto by some member of the tribunician college —neither consuls nor nobles were sufficiently influential to command. Nevertheless the legislation, which its very importance rendered difficult, was drawn out by party strife to the end of the year.

[5] The plebs re-elected Volero tribune: the senators, thinking the quarrel was sure to proceed to extremities, made Appius Claudius, son of Appius, consul, a man whose unpopularity with the plebs and hostility towards them went back to the struggles between their fathers. For colleague they gave him Titus Quinctius.

[6] The new year was no sooner begun than discussion of the law took precedence of everything else, and it was urged not only by its author, Volero, but by his colleague Laetorius as well, whose advocacy of it was at once fresher and more acrimonious.

[7] He was emboldened by the great reputation he enjoyed as a soldier, since no one of that generation surpassed him in physical prowess. While Volero spoke of nothing but the law, and forbore to inveigh against the consuls' persons, Laetorius launched out into an arraignment of Appius and his family, as most cruel and arrogant towards the Roman plebs.

[8] But when he strove to show that the patricians had elected, not a consul, but an executioner, to harass and torture the plebeians, the inexperienced tongue of the soldier was inadequate to express his audacity and spirit.

[9] Accordingly when words began to fail him he cried,

Since speech is not so easy for me, Quirites, as it is ⁴ to make good what I have spoken, be at hand tomorrow. I will either die here in your sight or carry through the law.

[10] The tribunes were the first on the scene next day, and possessed themselves of the rostra; ⁵ the consuls and nobles took their stand in the assembly, with the purpose of obstructing the passage of the law. Laetorius ordered the removal of all but those who were voting.

[11] The youthful nobles stayed where they were and would not give way at the officer's behest. Then certain of them were ordered by Laetorius to be seized.

[12] The consul Appius declared that the tribune had no authority over anybody but a plebeian, seeing that he was not a magistrate of the people, but of the plebs; and even if he were, he could not, consistently with the custom of the Fathers, command the removal of anyone, by virtue of his authority, since the formula ran thus:

If it seems good to you, depart, Quirites.

It was an easy matter to throw Laetorius into a passion by these contemptuous remarks about his rights.

[13] It was therefore in a blaze of anger that the tribune dispatched his attendant to the consul;

[14] while the consul sent his lictor to the tribune, crying out that Laetorius was a private citizen, without power, and no magistrate; and the tribune would have been mishandled, had not the whole assembly rallied fiercely to his support against the consul, while men rushed into the Forum from all over the City, in an excited throng.

[15] Still, Appius was obstinately holding out, despite the fury of the tempest, and a sanguinary battle would have ensued, if Quinctius, the other consul, had not entrusted the senators of consular rank with the task of getting his colleague out of the Forum, by force, if they could not achieve ⁶ it otherwise; while he himself now appealed to the raging populace with soothing entreaties, and now besought the tribunes to dismiss the council.

[16] Let them give their anger time: time would not rob them of their power, but would add wisdom to their strength; the Fathers would be subject to the people, and the consul to the Fathers.

Ab urbe condita. Titus Livius (Livy). Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor). Medford, MA. .

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

History of Rome (English) (Foster, Benjamin Oliver; Moore, Frank Gardener; Sage, Evan T.; Schlesinger, Alfred C., translators. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919-1959. (Loeb Classical Library))

Editions (3)

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.) — 2.56 focus

[1] Voleronem amplexa favore plebs proximis comitiis tribunum plebi creat in eum annum, qui L. Pinarium P. Furium consules habuit.

[2] contraque omnium opinionem, qui eum vexandis prioris anni consulibus permissurum tribunatum credebant, post publicam causam privato dolore habito, ne verbo quidem violatis consulibus, rogationem tulit ad populum, ut plebei magistratus tributis comitiis fierent.

[3] haud parva res sub titulo prima specie minime atroci ferebatur, sed quae patriciis omnem potestatem per clientium suffragia creandi, quos vellent, tribunos auferret.

[4] huic actioni gratissimae plebi cum summa vi resisterent patres, nec, quae una vis ad resistendum erat, ut intercederet aliquis ex collegio auctoritate aut consulum aut principum adduci posset, res tamen suo ipsa molimine gravis certaminibus in annum extrahitur.

[5] plebs Voleronem tribunum reficit; patres, ad ultimum dimicationis rati rem venturam, Ap. Claudium, Appi filium, iam inde a paternis certaminibus invisum infestumque plebi, consulem faciunt. collega ei T. Quinctius datur.

[6] principio statim anni nihil prius quam de lege agebatur. sed ut inventor legis Volero, sic Laetorius, collega eius, auctor cum recentior, tum acrior erat. ferocem faciebat belli gloria ingens,

[7] quod aetatis eius haud quisquam manu promptior erat. is, cum Volero nihil praeterquam de lege loqueretur, insectatione abstinens consulum, ipse accusationem Appi familiaeque superbissimae ac crudelissimae in plebem Romanam exorsus,

[8] cum a patribus non consulem, sed carnificem ad vexandam et lacerandam plebem creatum esse contenderet, rudis in militari homine lingua non suppetebat libertati animoque.

[9] itaque deficiente oratione “quando quidem non tam facile loquor” inquit, “Quirites, quam, quod locutus sum, praesto, crastino die adeste. ego hic aut in conspectu vestro moriar aut perferam legem.” occupant tribuni templum postero die;

[10] consules nobilitasque ad inpediendam legem in contione consistunt. submoveri Laetorius iubet, praeterquam qui suffragium ineant.

[11] adulescentes nobiles stabant nihil cedentes viatori. tum ex his prendi quosdam Laetorius iubet. consul Appius negare ius esse tribuno in quemquam nisi in plebeium;

[12] non enim populi, sed plebis eum magistratum esse; nec illum ipsum submovere pro imperio posse more maiorum, quia ita dicatur “si vobis videtur, discedite, Quirites.” facile contemptim de iure disserendo perturbare Laetorium poterat.

[13] ardens igitur ira tribunus viatorem mittit ad consulem, consul lictorem ad tribunum, privatum esse clamitans, sine imperio, sine magistratu;

[14] violatusque esset tribunus, ni et contio omnis atrox coorta pro tribuno in consulem esset, et concursus hominum in forum, ex tota urbe concitatae multitudinis, fieret. sustinebat tamen Appius pertinacia tantam tempestatem;

[15] certatumque haud incruento proelio foret, ni Quinctius, consul alter, consularibus negotio dato, ut collegam vi, si aliter non possent, de foro abducerent, ipse nunc plebem saevientem precibus lenisset, nunc orasset tribunos, ut concilium dimitterent;

[16] darent irae spatium: non vim suam illis tempus adempturum, sed consilium viribus additurum, et patres in populi et consulem in patrum fore potestate.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Conway, Robert Seymour; Walters, Charles Flamstead; Johnson, Stephen Keymer, editors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1914-1935. (Oxford Classical Texts)) — 2.56 focus

[1]

Uoleronem amplexa fauore plebs proximis comitiis tribunum plebi creat in eum annum qui L. Pinarium P. Furium consules habuit.

[2] contraque omnium opinionem, qui eum uexandis prioris anni consulibus permissurum tribunatum credebant, post publicam causam priuato dolore habito, ne uerbo quidem uiolatis consulibus, rogationem tulit ad populum ut plebeii magistratus tributis comitiis fierent.

[3] haud parua res sub titulo prima specie minime atroci ferebatur, sed quae patriciis omnem potestatem per clientium suffragia creandi quos uellent tribunos auferret.

[4] huic actioni gratissimae plebi cum summa ui resisterent patres, nec quae una uis ad resistendum erat, ut intercederet aliquis ex collegio, auctoritate aut consulum aut principum adduci posset, res tamen suo ipsa molimine grauis certaminibus in annum extrahitur.

[5] plebs Uoleronem tribunum reficit: patres, ad ultimum dimicationis rati rem uenturam, Ap. Claudium Appi filium , iam inde a paternis certaminibus inuisum infestumque plebi, consulem faciunt. collega ei T. Quinctius datur.

[6] principio statim anni nihil prius quam de lege agebatur. sed ut inuentor legis Uolero, sic Laetorius, collega eius, auctor cum recentior tum acrior erat.

[7] ferocem faciebat belli gloria ingens, quod aetatis eius haud quisquam manu promptior erat. is, cum Uolero nihil praeterquam de lege loqueretur, insectatione abstinens consulum, ipse incusationem Appi familiaeque superbissimae ac crudelissimae in plebem Romanam exorsus, cum a patribus non consulem,

[8] sed carnificem ad uexandam et lacerandam plebem creatum esse contenderet, rudis in militari homine lingua non suppetebat libertati animoque.

[9] itaque deficiente oratione, 'quando quidem non facile loquor' inquit, 'Quirites, quam quod locutus sum praesto, crastino die adeste; ego hic aut in conspectu uestro moriar aut perferam legem'.

[10] occupant tribuni templum postero die; consules nobilitasque ad impediendam legem in contione consistunt. summoueri Laetorius iubet, praeterquam qui suffragium ineant.

[11] adulescentes nobiles stabant nihil cedentes uiatori. tum ex his prendi quosdam Laetorius iubet. consul Appius negare ius esse tribuno in quemquam nisi in plebeium;

[12] non enim populi sed plebis eum magistratum esse; nec illam ipsam submouere pro imperio posse more maiorum, quia ita dicatur: 'si uobis uidetur, discedite, Quirites.' facile contemptim de iure disserendo perturbare Laetorium poterat.

[13] ardens igitur ira tribunus uiatorem mittit ad consulem, consul lictorem ad tribunum, priuatum esse clamitans, sine imperio, sine magistratu;

[14] uiolatusque esset tribunus, ni et contio omnis atrox coorta pro tribuno in consulem esset, et concursus hominum in forum ex tota urbe concitatae multitudinis fieret. sustinebat tamen Appius pertinacia tantam tempestatem,

[15] certatumque haud incruento proelio foret, ni Quinctius, consul alter, consularibus negotio dato ut collegam ui, si aliter non possent, de foro abducerent, ipse nunc plebem saeuientem precibus lenisset, nunc orasset tribunos ut concilium dimitterent; darent irae spatium;

[16] non uim suam illis tempus adempturum, sed consilium uiribus additurum; et patres in populi et consulem in patrum fore potestate.

Ab urbe condita Perseus (Livy in Fourteen Volumes. Foster, Benjamin Oliver; Moore, Frank Gardener; Schlesinger, Alfred C., editors. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919-1959 (printing).) — 2.56 focus

[1]

Voleronem amplexa favore plebs proximis ¹ comitiis tribunum plebi creat in eum annum qui L. Pinarium P. Furium consules habuit.

[3] haud parva res sub titulo prima specie minime atroci ferebatur, sed quae patriciis omnem ² potestatem per clientium suffragia creandi quos vellent tribunos auferret.

[4] huic actioni gratissimae plebi cum summa vi resisterent patres nec, quae una vis ad resistendum erat, ut intercederet aliquis ex collegio, auctoritate aut consulum aut principum adduci posset, res tamen suo ipsa molimine gravis certaminibus in annum extrahitur.

[5] plebs Voleronem tribunum reficit: patres, ad ultimum dimicationis rati rem venturam, Ap. Claudium Appi filium, iam inde a paternis certaminibus invisum infestumque plebi, consulem faciunt. collega ei T. Quinctius datur.

[6] principio statim anni nihil prius quam de lege agebatur. sed ut inventor legis Volero, sic Laetorius collega eius auctor cum recentior tum acrior erat.

[7] ferocem faciebat belli gloria ingens, quod aetatis eius haud quisquam manu promptior erat. is , cum Volero nihil praeterquam de lege loqueretur, insectatione abstinens consulum, ipse accusationem ³ Appi familiaeque superbissimae ac crudelissimae in plebem Romanam exorsus,

[8] cum a patribus non consulem, sed carnificem ad vexandam et lacerandam plebem creatum esse contenderet, rudis in militari homine lingua non suppetebat libertati animoque.

[9] itaque deficiente oratione,

quando quidem non tam ⁴ facile loquor,

inquit,

Quirites , quam quod ⁵ locutus sum praesto, crastino die adeste. ego hic aut in conspectu vestro moriar aut perferam legem.

occupant tribuni templum postero die;

[10] consules nobilitasque ad impediendam legem in contione consistunt. summoveri Laetorius iubet, praeterquam qui suffragium ineant.

[11] adulescentes nobiles stabant nihil cedentes viatori. tum ex his prendi quosdam Laetorius iubet. Consul Appius negare ius esse tribuno in quemquam nisi in plebeium; non enim populi sed plebis eum magistratum esse;

[12] nec illum ipsum ⁶ summovere pro imperio posse more maiorum, quia ita dicatur:

si vobis videtur, discedite, Quirites.

facile⁷ contemptim de iure disserendo perturbare Laetorium poterat.

[13] ardens igitur ira tribunus viatorem mittit ad consulem, consul lictorem ad tribunum, privatum esse clamitans, sine imperio, sine magistratu;

[14] violatusque esset tribunus, ni et contio omnis atrox coorta pro tribuno in consulem esset, et concursus hominum in forum ex tota urbe concitatae multitudinis fieret. sustinebat tamen Appius pertinacia tantam tempestatem;

[15] certatumque haud incruento proelio foret, ni Quinctius, consul alter, consularibus negotio dato ut collegam vi, si aliter non possent, de foro abducerent, ipse nunc plebem ⁸ saevientem precibus lenisset, nunc orasset tribunos ut concilium dimitterent:

[16] darent irae spatium; non vim suam illis tempus adempturum, sed consilium viribus additurum, et patres in populi et consulem in patrum fore potestate.

Translations (2)

History of Rome Perseus (Spillan, D.; Edmonds, Cyrus; McDevitte, William A., translators. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849-1868. (Bohn's Classical Library)) — 2.56 focus

[1]

The commons having espoused the interest of Volero, with great warmth choose him, at the next election, tribune of the people for that year, which had Lucius Pinarius and Publius Furius for consuls;

[2] and, contrary to the opinion of all men, who thought that he would let loose his tribuneship in harassing the consuls of the preceding year, postponing private resentment to the public interest, without assailing the consuls even by a single word, he proposed a law to the people that plebeian magistrates should be elected at the comitia by tribes.

[3] A matter of no trifling moment was now being brought forward, under an aspect at first sight by no means alarming; but one which in reality deprived the patricians of all power to elect whatever tribunes they pleased by the suffrages of their clients.

[4] The patricians used all their energies in resisting this proposition, which was most pleasing to the commons; and though none of the college could be induce by the influence either of the consuls or of the chief member of the senate to enter a protest against it, the only means of resistance which now existed; yet the matter, important as it was by its own weight, is spun out by contention till the following year.

[5] The commons re-elect Volero as tribune. The senators, considering that the question would be carried to the very extreme of a struggle, elect to the consulate Appius Claudius, the son of Appius, who was both hated by and hated the commons, ever since the contests between them and his father.

[6] Titus Quintius is assigned to him as his colleague. In the very commencement of the year no other question took precedence of that regarding the law.

[7] But though Volero was the inventor of it, his colleague, Laetorius, was both a more recent abettor of it, as well as a more energetic one. Whilst Volero confined himself to the subject of the law, avoiding all abuse of the consuls, he commenced with accusing Appius and his family, as having ever been most overbearing and cruel towards the Roman commons, contending that he had been elected by the senators, not as consul, but as executioner, to harass and torture the people;

[8] his rude tongue, he being a military man, was not sufficient to express the freedom of his sentiments.

[9] Language therefore failing him, he says,

Romans, since I do not speak with as much readiness as I make good what I have spoken, attend here tomorrow. I will either die here before your eyes, or will carry the law.

[10] On the following day the tribunes take possession of the temple; the consuls and the nobility take their places in the assembly to obstruct the law. Laetorius orders all persons to be removed, except those going to vote; the young nobles kept their places, paying no regard to the officer; then Laetorius orders some of them to be seized.

[11] The consul Appius insisted

that the tribune had no jurisdiction over any one except a plebeian; for that he was not a magistrate of the people in general, but only of the commons;

[12]

for that even he himself could not, according to the usage of their ancestors, by virtue of his authority remove any person; because the words run thus, if ye think proper, depart, Romans.

He was able to disconcert Laetorius by arguing fluently and contemptuously concerning the right.

[13] The tribune therefore, burning with rage, sends his beadle to the consul; the consul sends his lictor to the tribune, exclaiming that he was a private individual, without power and without magistracy;

[14] and the tribune would have been roughly treated, had not both the entire assembly risen up with great warmth in behalf of the tribune against the consul, and a rush of persons belonging to the multitude, which was now much excited, taken place from the entire city into the forum.

[15] Appius, however, withstood so great a storm with obstinacy, and the contest would have ended in a battle, not without blood, had not Quintius, the other consul, after giving it in charge to the men of consular dignity to remove his colleague from the forum by force, if they could not do it otherwise, himself assuaged the enraged people by entreaties, and implored the tribunes to dismiss the assembly.

[16]

That they should give their passion time to cool; that delay would not deprive them of their power, but would add prudence to strength; and that the senators would be under the control of the people, and the consul under that of the senators.

History of Rome Perseus (Volumes 1-2. Roberts, Canon, Rev, translator. London, New York: J. M. Dent and Sons; E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912.) — 2.56 focus

[1] Volero was now in high favour with the plebs, and they made him a tribune at the next election. Lucius Pinarius and P. Furius were the consuls for that year.

[2] Everybody supposed that Volero would use all the power of his tribuneship to harass the consuls of the preceding year. On the contrary, he sub-ordinated his private grievances to the interests of the State, and without uttering a single word which could reflect on the consuls, he

[3] proposed to the people a measure providing that the magistrates of the plebs should be elected by the Assembly of the Tribes. At first sight this measure appeared to be of a very harmless description, but it would deprive the patricians of all power of electing through their clients' votes those whom they wanted as tribunes.

[4] It was most welcome to the plebeians, but the patricians resisted it to the utmost. They were unable to secure the one effectual means of resistance, namely, inducing one of the tribunes, through the influence of the consuls or the leading patricians, to interpose his veto.

[5] The weight and importance of the question led to protracted controversy throughout the year. The plebs re-elected Volero. The patricians, feeling that the question was rapidly approaching a crisis, appointed Appius Claudius, the son of Appius, who, ever since his father's contests with them, had been hated by them and cordially hated them in return.

[6] From the very commencement of the year the Law took precedence of all other matters. Volero had been the first to bring it forward, but his colleague, Laetorius, though a later, was a still more energetic supporter of it.

[7] He had won an immense reputation in war, for no man was a better fighter, and this made him a stronger opponent. Volero in his speeches confined himself strictly to discussing the Law and abstained from all abuse of the consuls.

[8] But Laetorius began by accusing Appius and his family of tyranny and cruelty towards the plebs; he said it was not a consul who had been elected, but an executioner, to harass and torture the plebeians.

[9] The untrained tongue of the soldier was unable to express the freedom of his sentiments; as words failed him, he said, “I cannot speak so easily as I can prove the truth of what I have said; come here to-morrow, I will either perish before your eyes or carry the Law.”

[10] Next day the tribunes took their places on the “ templum,” ¹ the consuls and the nobility stood about in the Assembly to prevent the passage of the

[11] Law. Laetorius gave orders for all, except actual voters, to withdraw. The young patricians kept their places and paid no attention to the tribune's officer, whereupon Laetorius ordered some of them to be

[12] arrested. Appius insisted that the tribunes had no jurisdiction over any but plebeians, they were not magistrates of the whole people, but only of the plebs; even he himself could not, according to the usage of their ancestors, remove any man by virtue of his authority, for the formula ran, “If it seems good to you, Quirites,

[13] depart!” By making contemptuous remarks about his jurisdiction, he was easily able to disconcert Laetorius. The tribune, in a burning rage, sent his officer to the consul, the consul sent a lictor to the tribune, exclaiming that he was a private citizen without any magisterial

[14] authority. The tribune would have been treated with indignity had not the whole Assembly risen angrily to defend the tribune against the consul, whilst people rushed from all parts of the City in excited crowds to the

[15] Forum. Appius braved the storm with inflexible determination, and the conflict would have ended in bloodshed had not the other consul, Quinctius, entrusted the consulars² with the duty of removing, by force if necessary, his colleague from

[16] the Forum. He entreated the furious plebeians to be calm, and implored the tribunes to dismiss the Assembly; they should give their passions time to cool, delay would not deprive them of their power, but would add prudence to their strength; the senate would submit to the authority of the people, and the consuls to that of the senate.

Notes on the current edition

Ab Urbe Condita With An English Translation, books 1-10, 21-45, with periochae 11-20

1. B.C. 472-471

2. It is not clear how Livy supposed that these officials had formerly been elected. Perhaps Volero merely aimed at securing by legal sanction what the state had always recognized in practice, viz. that plebeian magistrates should be chosen by none but plebeians. But this was not Livy's view, as is clear from lviii. 1.

3. B.C. 472-471

4. B.C. 472-471

5. The word templum might be applied to any space duly marked off by augural ceremonies. Here it means the speakers' platform in the comitium.

6. B.C. 472-471

Titus Livius (Livy) Ab urbe condita 2.56

Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D. (Editor), Frank Gardener Moore (Editor), Evan T. Sage, Ph.D. (Editor), Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D. (Editor)

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