Liv. 2.55.1Sub hanc pessimī exemplī victōriam dīlēctus ēdīcitur, paventibusque tribūnīs sine intercessiōne ūllā cōnsulēs rem peragunt.Directly after this victory, which set the worst of examples, a levy is proclaimed, and as the tribunes are cowed the consuls carry it through without any veto. Liv. 2.55.2Tum vērō īrāscī plēbs tribūnōrum magis silentiō quam cōnsulum imperiō et dīcere āctum esse dē lībertāte suā, rūrsus ad antīqua reditum;Then indeed the plebs grew angry, more at the silence of the tribunes than at the command of the consuls, and said that it was all over with their liberty, that things had gone back to the old ways; Liv. 2.55.2cum Genuciō ūnā mortuam ac sepultam tribūniciam potestātem.the tribunician power had died and been buried with Genucius. Liv. 2.55.2Aliud agendum ac cōgitandum, quō modō resistātur patribus;Something else must be done and planned, some way of resisting the senators; Liv. 2.55.3id autem ūnum cōnsilium esse, ut sē ipsa plēbs, quandō aliud nihil auxiliī habeat, dēfendat.and the one plan was this, that the plebs, since it had no other help, should defend itself. Liv. 2.55.3Quattuor et vīgintī līctōrēs appārēre cōnsulibus et eōs ipsōs plēbis hominēs;Twenty-four lictors attended the consuls, and these were themselves men of the plebs; Liv. 2.55.3nihil contemptius neque īnfirmius, sī sint, quī contemnant;nothing was more contemptible or weaker, if there were men to hold them in contempt; Liv. 2.55.3sibi quemque ea magna atque horrenda facere.it was each man himself who made them great and terrible.
Liv. 2.55.4Hīs vōcibus aliī aliōs cum incitāssent, ad Volerōnem Pūblilium, dē plēbe hominem, quia, quod ōrdinēs dūxisset, negāret sē mīlitem fierī dēbēre, līctor missus est ā cōnsulibus.When they had roused one another with such words, a lictor was sent by the consuls to Volero Publilius, a man of the plebs, because he said that, having been a centurion, he ought not to be enrolled as a common soldier. Liv. 2.55.5Volerō appellat tribūnōs.Volero appeals to the tribunes. Liv. 2.55.5Cum auxiliō nēmō esset, cōnsulēs spoliārī hominem et virgās expedīrī iubent.When no one came to his help, the consuls order the man to be stripped and the rods to be made ready. Liv. 2.55.5"Prōvocō" inquit "ad populum" Volerō, "quoniam tribūnī cīvem Rōmānum in cōnspectū suō virgīs caedī mālunt quam ipsī in lectō suō ā vōbīs trucīdārī."'I appeal to the people,' said Volero, 'since the tribunes prefer to see a Roman citizen flogged with rods before their eyes than to be butchered by you in their own beds.' Liv. 2.55.5Quō ferōcius clāmitābat, eō īnfestius circumscindere et spoliāre līctor.The more fiercely he shouted, the more violently the lictor tore at his clothes and stripped him.
Liv. 2.55.6Tum Volerō, et praevalēns ipse et adiuvantibus advocātīs repulsō līctōre, ubi indignantium prō sē ācerrimus erat clamor, eō sē in turbam cōnfertissimam recipit clāmitāns "prōvocō et fidem plēbis inplōrō.Then Volero, being himself very strong and helped by those who had come to his support, thrust back the lictor, and where the shouting of those indignant on his behalf was loudest, he retreated into the thickest of the crowd, crying: 'I appeal, and I implore the protection of the plebs. Liv. 2.55.7Adeste cīvēs, adeste commīlitōnēs;Stand by me, citizens, stand by me, fellow soldiers; Liv. 2.55.7nihil est, quod expectētis tribūnōs, quibus ipsīs vestrō auxiliō opus est."there is no reason for you to wait for the tribunes, who themselves need your help.' Liv. 2.55.8Concitātī hominēs velutī ad proelium sē expediunt;The men, roused, make ready as if for battle; Liv. 2.55.8appārēbatque omne discrīmen adesse, nihil cuiquam sānctum nōn pūblicī fore, nōn prīvātī iūris.and it was clear that the whole crisis was at hand, that nothing would be sacred to anyone, neither public nor private right. Liv. 2.55.8Huic tantae tempestātī cum sē cōnsulēs obtulissent, facile expertī sunt parum tūtam maiestātem sine vīribus esse.When the consuls confronted this great storm, they readily found that majesty without strength is hardly safe.
Liv. 2.55.9Violātīs līctōribus, fascibus frāctīs ē forō in cūriam conpelluntur, incertī, quātenus Volerō exercēret victōriam.Their lictors manhandled, their fasces broken, they are driven from the Forum into the senate house, uncertain how far Volero would press his victory. Liv. 2.55.10Conticīscente deinde tumultū cum in senātum vocārī iussissent, queruntur iniūriās suās, vim plēbis, Volerōnis audāciam.Then, as the uproar died down, they had the senate summoned and complained of the wrongs done to them, the violence of the plebs, and Volero's audacity. Liv. 2.55.11Multīs ferōciter dictīs sententiīs vīcēre seniōrēs, quibus īrā patrum adversus temeritātem plēbis certārī nōn placuit.Many fierce opinions were expressed, but the older men prevailed, who did not want the senators' anger to contend with the rashness of the plebs.