Liv. 3.15.1Accipiunt cīvitātem placidiōrem cōnsulēs C. Claudius, Appī fīlius, et P. Valerius Pūblicola.The consuls Gaius Claudius, son of Appius, and Publius Valerius Publicola take over a calmer city. Liv. 3.15.1Nihil novī novus annus attulerat;The new year had brought nothing new; Liv. 3.15.1lēgis ferendae aut accipiendae cūra cīvitātem tenēbat.concern with carrying or accepting the law preoccupied the citizens. Liv. 3.15.2Quantum iūniōrēs patrum plēbī sē magis īnsinuābant, eō ācrius contrā tribūnī tendēbant, ut plēbī suspectōs eōs crīminandō facerent: coniūrātiōnem factam;The more the younger patricians ingratiated themselves with the plebs, the more keenly the tribunes strove against them, so as to make them suspect to the plebs by their accusations: a conspiracy, they said, had been formed; Liv. 3.15.3Caesōnem Rōmae esse;Caeso was in Rome; Liv. 3.15.3interficiendōrum tribūnōrum, trucīdandae plēbis cōnsilia inita;plans had been laid for killing the tribunes and butchering the plebs; Liv. 3.15.3id negōtiī datum ab seniōribus patrum, ut iuventūs tribūniciam potestātem ē rē pūblicā tolleret fōrmaque eadem cīvitātis esset, quae ante Sacrum montem occupātum fuerat.the task had been given by the older patricians that the young men should remove the tribunician power from the state, and that the form of the state should be the same as it had been before the Sacred Mount was occupied.
Liv. 3.15.3Et ā Volscīs et Aequīs statum iam ac prope sollemne in singulōs annōs bellum timēbātur, propiusque aliud novum malum necopīnātō exortum.War with the Volsci and Aequi, by now regular and almost an annual fixture, was feared, and another, new evil had arisen unexpectedly closer at hand. Liv. 3.15.5Exulēs servīque, ad duo mīlia hominum et quīngentī, duce Ap. Herdōniō Sabīnō nocte Capitōlium atque arcem occupāvēre.Exiles and slaves, about two thousand five hundred men, led by Appius Herdonius, a Sabine, seized the Capitol and the citadel by night. Liv. 3.15.6Cōnfestim in arce facta caedēs eōrum, quī coniūrāre et simul capere arma nōluerant;At once there was a slaughter in the citadel of those who had refused to join the conspiracy and take up arms with them; Liv. 3.15.6aliī inter tumultum praecipitēs pavōre in forum dēvolant;others, amid the confusion, rush headlong in panic down into the Forum; Liv. 3.15.6alternae vōcēs "ad arma!"cries of 'To arms!' Liv. 3.15.6Et "hostēs in urbe sunt" audiēbantur.and 'The enemy is in the city!' were heard by turns. Liv. 3.15.7Cōnsulēs et armāre plēbem et inermem patī timēbant incertī, quod malum repentīnum, externum an intestīnum, ab odiō plēbis an ab servīlī fraude, urbem invāsisset.The consuls were afraid both to arm the plebs and to leave them unarmed, uncertain what sudden evil, foreign or domestic, arising from the hatred of the plebs or from the treachery of slaves, had fallen upon the city.
Liv. 3.15.7Sēdābant tumultūs, sēdandō interdum movēbant;They tried to quieten the uproar, and by quietening it sometimes stirred it up; Liv. 3.15.7nec enim poterat pavida et cōnsternāta multitūdō regī imperiō.for a frightened and dismayed crowd could not be controlled by command. Liv. 3.15.8Dant tamen arma, nōn vulgō, tantum ut incertō hoste praesidium satis fīdum ad omnia esset.Still, they hand out arms, not to all and sundry, but only so that, while the enemy was unknown, there might be a guard reliable enough for any emergency. Liv. 3.15.8Sollicitī reliquum noctis incertīque, quī hominēs, quantus numerus hostium esset, in statiōnibus dispōnendīs ad opportūna omnis urbis loca ēgēre.The rest of the night they spent, anxious and uncertain who the men were and how great the number of the enemy, in posting guards at all the suitable places in the city. Liv. 3.15.8Lūx deinde aperuit bellum ducemque bellī.Daylight then revealed the war and the leader of the war. Liv. 3.15.9Servōs ad lībertātem Ap. Herdōnius ex Capitōliō vocābat: sē miserrimī cuiusque suscēpisse causam, ut exulēs iniūriā pulsōs in patriam redūceret et servitiīs grave iugum dēmeret.From the Capitol Appius Herdonius was calling the slaves to freedom: he had taken up, he said, the cause of all the most wretched, in order to bring back to their native land the exiles unjustly driven out, and to lift the heavy yoke from the slaves.
Liv. 3.15.9Id mālle populō Rōmānō auctōre fierī;He preferred that this should be done with the sanction of the Roman people; Liv. 3.15.9sī ibi spēs nōn sit, sē Volscōs et Aequōs et omnia extrēma temptātūrum et concitātūrum.if there were no hope there, he would try and rouse the Volsci and Aequi and resort to every extreme.