Liv. 3.11.1At ex parte alterā cōnsulēs in cōnspectū eōrum positīs sellīs dīlēctum habēbant.But on the other side the consuls, having placed their chairs in full view of the tribunes, were holding the levy. Liv. 3.11.1Eō dēcurrunt tribūnī contiōnemque sēcum trahunt.There the tribunes hurried down and dragged the assembly with them. Liv. 3.11.1Citātī paucī velut reī experiundae causā, et statim vīs coorta.A few men were called up, as if to test the matter, and at once violence broke out. Liv. 3.11.2Quemcumque līctor iussū cōnsulis prēndisset, tribūnus mittī iubēbat;Whomever the lictor seized at the consul's order, the tribune ordered to be released; Liv. 3.11.2neque suum cuique iūs modum faciēbat, sed vīrium spēs, et manū obtinendum erat, quod intenderēs.nor did each man's right set the limit, but his hope of strength, and what you claimed had to be maintained by force. Liv. 3.11.3Quem ad modum sē tribūnī gessissent in prohibendō dīlēctū, sīc sē patrēs in lēge, quae per omnēs comitiālēs diēs ferēbātur, impedienda gerēbant.Just as the tribunes had conducted themselves in preventing the levy, so the patricians conducted themselves in obstructing the law, which was brought forward on every day on which assemblies could be held.
Liv. 3.11.4Initium erat rixae, cum discēdere populum iussissent tribūnī, quod patrēs sē submovērī haud sinēbant.The brawling would begin when the tribunes had ordered the people to separate, because the patricians would not allow themselves to be moved aside. Liv. 3.11.4Nec ferē seniōrēs reī intererant, quippe quae nōn cōnsiliō regenda, sed permissa temeritātī audāciaeque esset.The older men hardly took part in the matter, since it was not something to be governed by counsel but had been abandoned to recklessness and audacity. Liv. 3.11.5Multum et cōnsulēs sē abstinēbant, nē cui in conluuiōne rērum maiestātem suam contumēliae offerrent.The consuls too largely kept themselves away, so as not to expose their dignity to insult amid the confusion of affairs. Liv. 3.11.6Caesō erat Quīnctius, ferōx iuvenis quā nōbilitāte gentis, quā corporis magnitūdine et vīribus.There was one Caeso Quinctius, a young man high-spirited both from the nobility of his family and from the size and strength of his body. Liv. 3.11.6Ad ea mūnera data ā diīs et ipse addiderat multa bellī decora fācundiamque in forō, ut nēmō nōn linguā, nōn manū promptior in cīvitāte habērētur.To these gifts given by the gods he had himself added many honours in war and eloquence in the Forum, so that no one in the state was thought readier either with tongue or with hand.
Liv. 3.11.7Hic cum in mediō patrum agmine cōnstitisset ēminēns inter aliōs, velut omnēs dictātūrās cōnsulātūsque gerēns in vōce ac vīribus suīs, ūnus impetūs tribūniciōs populārēsque procellās sustinēbat.When he had taken his stand in the middle of the patrician throng, towering above the others, as if he bore all dictatorships and consulships in his voice and his strength, he alone withstood the onslaughts of the tribunes and the storms of the people. Liv. 3.11.8Hōc duce saepe pulsī forō tribūnī, fūsa ac fugāta plēbēs est;Under his leadership the tribunes were often driven from the Forum, and the plebs routed and put to flight; Liv. 3.11.8quī obvius fuerat, mulcātus nūdātusque abībat, ut satis appārēret, sī sīc agī licēret, victam lēgem esse.anyone who had got in his way went off beaten and stripped, so that it was quite clear that, if things could be done like this, the law was defeated. Liv. 3.11.9Tum prope iam perculsīs aliīs tribūnīs A. Verginius ex collēgiō ūnus Caesōnī capitis diem dīcit.Then, when the other tribunes were now almost crushed, Aulus Verginius, one of the college, indicted Caeso on a capital charge.
Liv. 3.11.9Atrōx ingenium accenderat eō factō magis quam conterruerat;By this action he had inflamed his violent nature rather than frightened it; Liv. 3.11.9eō ācrius obstāre lēgī, agitāre plēbem, tribūnōs velut iūstō persequī bellō.all the more fiercely he opposed the law, harried the plebs and pursued the tribunes as if in a regular war. Liv. 3.11.10Accūsātor patī reum ruere invidiaeque flammam ac māteriam crīminibus suīs suggerere;The accuser let the defendant rush headlong and feed the flame of resentment and supply material for the charges against himself; Liv. 3.11.10lēgem interim nōn tam ad spem perferendī quam ad lacessendam Caesōnis temeritātem ferre.meanwhile he pressed the law not so much in hope of carrying it as to provoke Caeso's rashness. Liv. 3.11.11Ibi multa saepe ab iuventūte incōnsultē dicta factaque in ūnīus Caesōnis suspectum incidunt ingenium.Then many things often said and done thoughtlessly by the young men were laid to the suspected temper of Caeso alone. Liv. 3.11.12Tamen lēgī resistēbātur.Still, the law was resisted. Liv. 3.11.12Et A. Verginius identidem plēbī: "ecquid sentītis iam vōs, Quirītēs, Caesōnem simul cīvem et lēgem, quam cupitis, habēre nōn posse?And Aulus Verginius said again and again to the plebs: 'Do you not see now, Quirites, that you cannot have Caeso as a fellow citizen and the law you long for at the same time?
Liv. 3.11.13Quamquam quid ego lēgem loquor?And yet why do I speak of the law? Liv. 3.11.13Lībertātī obstat;He stands in the way of liberty; Liv. 3.11.13omnēs Tarquiniōs superbia exsuperat.he outdoes all the Tarquins in arrogance. Liv. 3.11.13Expectāte, dum cōnsul aut dictātor fīat, quem prīvātum vīribus et audāciā regnantem vidētis."Wait until he becomes consul or dictator, whom you see playing the king as a private citizen by his strength and audacity.' Liv. 3.11.13Adsentiēbantur multī pulsātōs sē querentēs et tribūnum ad reum peragendum ultrō incitābant.Many agreed, complaining that they had been beaten, and even urged the tribune on to carry the prosecution through.