Liv. 2.29.1Utrāque rē satis expertā tum dēmum cōnsulēs: "nē praedictum negētis, patrēs cōnscrīptī, adest ingēns sēditiō.Having tried both courses well enough, the consuls then at last said: 'So that you may not say you were not warned, conscript fathers, a great sedition is upon us. Liv. 2.29.1Postulāmus, ut iī, quī maximē ignāviam increpant, adsint nōbīs habentibus dīlēctum.We demand that those who most loudly denounce our cowardice should stand by us as we hold the levy. Liv. 2.29.1Ācerrimī cuiusque arbitriō, quandō ita placet, rem agēmus."Since that is your wish, we shall act at the discretion of the fiercest among you.' Liv. 2.29.1Redeunt in tribūnal;They return to the tribunal; Liv. 2.29.2citārī nōminātim ūnum ex iīs, quī in cōnspectū erant, dēditā operā iubent.they deliberately order one of those in full view to be called by name. Liv. 2.29.2Cum stāret tacitus et circā eum aliquot hominum, nē forte violārētur, cōnstitisset globus, līctōrem ad eum cōnsulēs mittunt.When he stood silent, and a knot of men had gathered round him to prevent his being harmed, the consuls send a lictor to him. Liv. 2.29.3Quō repulsō tum vērō indignum facinus esse clāmitantēs, quī patrum cōnsulibus aderant, dēvolant dē tribūnālī, ut līctōrī auxiliō essent.When the lictor was driven off, then indeed those of the senators who were attending the consuls, crying out that it was an outrage, rush down from the tribunal to help the lictor.
Liv. 2.29.4Sed ab līctōre nihil aliud quam prēndere prohibitō cum conversus in patrēs impetus esset, cōnsulum intercursū rixa sēdāta est, in quā tamen sine lapide, sine tēlō plūs clamōris atque īrārum quam iniūriae fuerat.But when the attack had turned from the lictor, who had been prevented only from making the arrest, upon the senators, the brawl was settled by the consuls' intervention; in it, however, without stone or weapon, there had been more shouting and anger than injury. Liv. 2.29.5Senātus tumultuōsē vocātus tumultuōsius cōnsulitur quaestiōnem postulantibus iīs, quī pulsātī fuerant, dēcernente ferōcissimō quōque nōn sententiīs magis quam clamōre et strepitū.The senate, summoned in tumult, is consulted in still greater tumult, those who had been struck demanding an inquiry and all the fiercest voting not so much by speeches as by shouting and din. Liv. 2.29.6Tandem cum īrae resēdissent, exprobrantibus cōnsulibus nihilō plūs sānitātis in cūriā quam in forō esse, ōrdine cōnsulī coepit.At length, when tempers had subsided and the consuls had reproached them that there was no more sanity in the senate-house than in the forum, the debate began to proceed in order.
Liv. 2.29.7Trēs fuēre sententiae.There were three proposals. Liv. 2.29.7P. Verginius rem nōn vulgābat;Publius Verginius did not extend the matter to all; Liv. 2.29.7dē iīs tantum, quī fidem secūtī P. Servīlī cōnsulis Volscō, Auruncō Sabīnōque mīlitāssent bellō, agendum cēnsēbat.he proposed that action should be taken only about those who, trusting the pledge of the consul Publius Servilius, had served in the Volscian, Auruncan and Sabine wars. Liv. 2.29.7T. Larcius nōn id tempus esse, ut merita tantummodo exsolverentur;Titus Larcius said it was not the time for merely repaying services; Liv. 2.29.8tōtam plēbem aere aliēnō dēmersam esse, nec sistī posse, nī omnibus cōnsulātur;the whole plebs was sunk in debt, and the trouble could not be checked unless all were provided for; Liv. 2.29.8quīn, sī alia aliōrum sit condiciō, accendī magis discordiam quam sēdārī.indeed, if some were in one condition and others in another, discord would be inflamed rather than calmed. Liv. 2.29.9Ap. Claudius, et nātūrā inmītis et efferātus hinc plēbis odiō, illinc patrum laudibus, nōn miseriīs ait, sed licentiā tantum concitum turbārum, et lascīvīre magis plēbem quam saevīre.Appius Claudius, harsh by nature and made savage besides by the plebs' hatred on the one side and the senators' praises on the other, said that such turmoil had been stirred up not by misery but by licence, and that the plebs were running riot rather than raging.
Liv. 2.29.10Id adeō malum ex prōvocātiōne nātum;This evil had sprung precisely from the right of appeal; Liv. 2.29.10quippe minās esse cōnsulum, nōn imperium, ubi ad eōs, quī ūnā peccāverint, prōvocāre liceat.for consuls had threats, not authority, when it was permitted to appeal to those who had shared in the offence. Liv. 2.29.11"Agedum" inquit "dictātōrem, ā quō prōvocātiō nōn est, creēmus, iam hic, quō nunc omnia ārdent, conticīscet furor.'Come,' he said, 'let us appoint a dictator, from whom there is no appeal; this frenzy with which everything is now ablaze will at once fall silent. Liv. 2.29.12Pulset tum mihi līctōrem, quī sciet iūs dē tergō vītāque suā penes ūnum illum esse, cuius maiestātem violārit."Let me see anyone strike a lictor then, when he knows that the right over his back and his life lies with that one man whose majesty he has violated.'