Liv. 3.19.1Pāce partā īnstāre tum tribūnī patribus, ut, P. Valerī fidem exsolverent, īnstāre C. Claudiō, ut collēgae mānēs fraude līberāret, agī dē lēge sineret.Now that peace had been won, the tribunes pressed the senators to fulfil Publius Valerius' pledge, and pressed Gaius Claudius to free his colleague's shade from the charge of deceit and allow the law to be dealt with. Liv. 3.19.1Cōnsul, antequam collēgam sibi subrogāsset, negāre passūrum agī dē lēge.The consul said he would not allow the law to be dealt with before he had had a colleague elected in his place. Liv. 3.19.2Hae tenuēre contentiōnēs ūsque ad comitia cōnsulis subrogandī.These disputes lasted right up to the election for the replacement consul. Liv. 3.19.2Decembrī mēnse summō patrum studiō L. Quīnctius Cincinnātus, pater Caesōnis, cōnsul creātur, quī magistrātum statim occiperet.In the month of December, amid the greatest enthusiasm of the senators, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, the father of Caeso, was elected consul, to take up office immediately. Liv. 3.19.3Perculsa erat plēbēs cōnsulem habitūra īrātum, potentem favōre patrum, virtūte suā, tribus līberīs, quōrum nēmō Caesōnī cēdēbat magnitūdine animī, cōnsilium et modum adhibendō, ubi rēs posceret, priōrēs erant.The plebs was dismayed at the prospect of a consul who was angry with them, powerful through the senators' favour, through his own courage and through his three sons, none of whom yielded to Caeso in greatness of spirit, while in applying judgement and restraint, when the situation demanded, they were his superiors.
Liv. 3.19.4Is ut magistrātum iniit, adsiduīs contiōnibus prō tribūnālī nōn in plēbe coercendā quam senātū castīgandō vehementior fuit, cuius ōrdinis languōre perpetuī iam tribūnī plēbis, nōn ut in rē pūblicā populī Rōmānī, sed ut in perditā domō, linguā crīminibusque regnārent.As soon as he entered office, in constant speeches from the tribunal he was no more vehement in restraining the plebs than in rebuking the senate, through the slackness of which order the tribunes of the plebs, now perpetual, were reigning by their tongues and their accusations, not as in the republic of the Roman people, but as in a ruined household. Liv. 3.19.5Cum Caesōne fīliō suō virtūtem, cōnstantiam, omnia iuventūtis bellī domīque decora pulsa ex urbe Rōmānā et fugāta esse;With his son Caeso, he said, courage, steadfastness and all the glories of youth in war and at home had been driven out of the city of Rome and put to flight; Liv. 3.19.5loquācēs, sēditiōsōs, sēmina discordiārum, iterum ac tertium tribūnōs pessimīs artibus rēgiā licentiā vīvere.talkative, seditious men, seeds of discord, made tribunes a second and a third time by the worst of arts, were living with the licence of kings.
Liv. 3.19.5"Aulus" inquit "ille Verginius, quia in Capitōliō nōn fuit, minus suppliciī quam Ap. Herdōnius meruit?'Did that Aulus Verginius,' he said, 'because he was not on the Capitol, deserve less punishment than Appius Herdonius? Liv. 3.19.6Plūs herculē aliquantō, quī vērē rem aestimāre velit.Rather more, by Hercules, if one would judge the matter truly. Liv. 3.19.6Herdōnius, sī nihil aliud, hostem sē fatendō prope dēnūntiāvit, ut arma caperētis;Herdonius, if nothing else, by acknowledging himself an enemy all but gave you notice to take up arms; Liv. 3.19.6hic negandō bellum esse arma vōbīs adēmit nūdōsque servīs vestrīs et exulibus obiēcit.this man, by denying that there was a war, took your arms away from you and exposed you defenceless to your slaves and exiles. Liv. 3.19.7Et vōs — C. Claudī pāce et P. Valerī mortuī loquar — prius in clīvum Capitōlīnum signa intulistis, quam hōs hostīs dē forō tollerētis?And did you — I shall speak with all respect to Gaius Claudius and the dead Publius Valerius — carry your standards up the Capitoline slope before you removed these enemies from the Forum? Liv. 3.19.7Pudet deōrum hominumque.It is a shame before gods and men.
Liv. 3.19.7Cum hostēs in arce, in Capitōliō essent, exulum et servōrum dux profānātīs omnibus in cellā Iovis optimī maximī habitāret, Tusculī ante quam Rōmae sūmpta sunt arma;When enemies were in the citadel, on the Capitol, and the leader of exiles and slaves, having profaned everything, was living in the shrine of Jupiter Best and Greatest, arms were taken up at Tusculum before they were at Rome; Liv. 3.19.8in dubiō fuit, utrum L. Mamilius, Tusculānus dux, an P. Valerius et C. Claudius cōnsulēs Rōmānam arcem līberārent;it was in doubt whether Lucius Mamilius, the Tusculan leader, or Publius Valerius and Gaius Claudius, the consuls, would free the Roman citadel; Liv. 3.19.8et quī ante Latīnōs nē prō sē quidem ipsīs, cum in fīnibus hostem habērent, attingere arma passī sumus, nunc, nisi Latīnī suā sponte arma sūmpsissent, captī et dēlētī erāmus.and we, who formerly would not let the Latins touch arms even in their own defence, when they had an enemy within their borders, would now, had the Latins not taken up arms of their own accord, have been captured and destroyed. Liv. 3.19.9Hoc est, tribūnī, auxilium plēbī ferre, inermem eam hostī trucīdandam obicere?Is this, tribunes, bringing help to the plebs, to throw it unarmed before the enemy to be butchered?
Liv. 3.19.9Scīlicet, sī quis vōbīs humillimus homō dē vestrā plēbe, quam partem velut abruptam ā cēterō populō vestram patriam pecūliāremque rem pūblicam fēcistis, sī quis ex hīs domum suam obsessam ā familiā armātā nūntiāret, ferendum auxilium putārētis: Iuppiter optimus maximus exulum atque servōrum saeptus armīs nūllā hūmānā ope dignus erat?Of course, if some man, the humblest of your plebs — that part which you have broken off, as it were, from the rest of the people and made into your own fatherland and private republic — if one of these reported that his house was besieged by an armed band of slaves, you would think that help must be brought: was Jupiter Best and Greatest, hemmed in by the arms of exiles and slaves, worthy of no human help? Liv. 3.19.11Et hī postulant, ut sacrōsānctī habeantur, quibus ipsī Diī neque sacrī neque sānctī sunt?And do these men demand to be held sacrosanct, to whom the gods themselves are neither sacred nor holy? Liv. 3.19.11At enim dīvīnīs hūmānīsque obrutī sceleribus lēgem vōs hōc annō perlātūrōs dictitātis.But no, overwhelmed though you are by crimes against gods and men, you keep declaring that you will carry your law this year.
Liv. 3.19.11Tum herculē illō diē, quō ego cōnsul sum creātus, male gesta rēs pūblica est, peius multō, quam cum P. Valerius cōnsul periit, sī tuleritis.Then, by Hercules, the day on which I was elected consul was a disastrous day for the state, far worse than when Publius Valerius the consul fell, if you do carry it. Liv. 3.19.12Iam prīmum omnium" inquit, "Quirītēs, in Volscōs et Aequōs mihi atque collēgae legiōnēs dūcere in animō est.Now first of all,' he said, 'Quirites, my colleague and I intend to lead the legions against the Volsci and Aequi. Liv. 3.19.12Nesciō quō fātō magis bellantēs quam pācātī propitiōs habēmus deōs.By some fate or other we find the gods more favourable when we are at war than when we are at peace. Liv. 3.19.12Quantum perīculum ab illīs populīs fuerit, sī Capitōlium ab exulibus obsessum scīssent, suspicārī dē praeteritō quam rē ipsā experīrī est melius."How great the danger from those peoples would have been, had they known that the Capitol was besieged by exiles, it is better to guess from the past than to learn by actual experience.'