Liv. 2.4.1Vitelliīs Aquīliīsque frātribus prīmō commissa rēs est.The matter was first entrusted to the Vitellii and the Aquilii, two pairs of brothers. Liv. 2.4.1Vitelliōrum soror cōnsulī nūpta Brūtō erat, iamque ex eō mātrimōniō adulēscentēs erant līberī, Titus Tiberiusque;A sister of the Vitellii was married to the consul Brutus, and there were already grown-up children of that marriage, Titus and Tiberius; Liv. 2.4.1eōs quoque in societātem cōnsiliī avunculī adsūmunt.their uncles take these too into partnership in the plot. Liv. 2.4.2Praetereā aliquot nōbilēs adulēscentēs cōnsciī adsūmptī, quōrum vetustāte memoria abiit.Several young nobles were also taken in as accomplices, whose memory has faded through the passage of time. Liv. 2.4.2Interim cum in senātū vīcisset sententia, quae cēnsēbat reddenda bona, eamque ipsam causam morae in urbe habērent lēgātī, quod spatium ad vehicula conparanda ā cōnsulibus sūmpsissent, quibus rēgum asportārent rēs, omne id tempus cum coniūrātīs cōnsultandō absūmunt ēvincuntque īnstandō, ut litterae sibi ad Tarquiniōs darentur: nam aliter quī crēditūrōs eōs nōn vāna ab lēgātīs super rēbus tantīs adferrī?Meanwhile, since in the senate the view had prevailed that the property should be returned, and the envoys had this very reason for delay in the city, that they had obtained time from the consuls to procure vehicles in which to carry off the royal family's goods, they spend all that time in consultation with the conspirators and by pressing them they succeed in having letters given to them for the Tarquins: for how else would the Tarquins believe that the reports brought by the envoys on matters so important were not empty?
Liv. 2.4.4Datae litterae, ut pignus fideī essent, manifestum facinus fēcērunt.The letters, given to be a pledge of good faith, made the crime manifest. Liv. 2.4.5Nam cum prīdiē, quam lēgātī ad Tarquiniōs proficīscerentur, cēnātum forte apud Vitelliōs esset, coniūrātīque ibi remōtīs arbitrīs multa inter sē dē novō, ut fit, cōnsiliō ēgissent, sermōnem eōrum ex servīs ūnus excēpit, quī iam anteā id sēnserat agī, sed eam occāsiōnem, ut litterae lēgātīs darentur, quae dēprehēnsae rem coarguere possent, expectābat.For on the day before the envoys were to set out for the Tarquins, they had happened to dine at the house of the Vitellii, and the conspirators there, with witnesses sent away, had talked over much about their new plan, as tends to happen; their talk was overheard by one of the slaves, who had already sensed that this was going on but was waiting for the moment when the letters would be given to the envoys, since if seized they could prove the matter. Liv. 2.4.6Postquam datās sēnsit, rem ad cōnsulēs dētulit.When he perceived that they had been given, he reported the matter to the consuls.
Liv. 2.4.7Cōnsulēs ad dēprehendendōs lēgātōs coniūrātōsque profectī domō sine tumultū rem omnem oppressēre;The consuls, setting out from home to seize the envoys and the conspirators, crushed the whole affair without any disturbance; Liv. 2.4.7litterārum in prīmīs habita cūra, nē intercīderent.care was taken above all over the letters, that they should not be lost. Liv. 2.4.7Prōditōribus extemplō in vincla coniectīs dē lēgātīs paululum addubitātum est, et quamquam vīsī sunt commīsisse, ut hostium locō essent, iūs tamen gentium valuit.The traitors were at once thrown into chains; about the envoys there was some brief hesitation, and although they seemed to have behaved so as to be counted as enemies, the law of nations nevertheless prevailed.