Liv. 3.38.1Īdūs Māiae vēnēre.The Ides of May came. Liv. 3.38.1Nūllīs subrogātīs magistrātibus prīvātī prō decemvirīs neque animīs ad imperium inhibendum inminūtīs neque ad speciem honōris īnsignibus prōdeunt.No magistrates having been elected in their place, the decemvirs come forth as private citizens, with neither their resolve to exercise power nor the emblems that gave the appearance of office in any way diminished. Liv. 3.38.1Id vērō regnum haud dubiē vidērī.That indeed seemed beyond doubt to be kingship. Liv. 3.38.1Dēplōrātur in perpetuum lībertās, nec vindex quisquam existit aut futūrus vidētur.Liberty is mourned as lost for ever, and no champion appears or seems likely to appear. Liv. 3.38.2Nec ipsī sōlum dēsponderant animōs, sed contemnī coeptī erant ā fīnitimīs populīs imperiumque ibi esse, ubi nōn esset lībertās, indignābantur.Not only had they themselves lost heart, but they had begun to be despised by neighbouring peoples, who resented that dominion should rest where there was no liberty. Liv. 3.38.3Sabīnī magnā manū incursiōnem in agrum Rōmānum fēcēre lātēque populātī, cum hominum atque pecudum inultī praedās ēgissent, receptō ad Ērētum, quod passim vagātum erat, agmine castra locant spem in discordiā Rōmānā pōnentēs: eam inpedīmentum dīlēctuī fore.The Sabines made an incursion into Roman territory with a large force and ravaged far and wide; and when they had driven off plunder of men and cattle unpunished, they withdrew their column, which had straggled everywhere, to Eretum and pitched camp, placing their hope in Roman discord: it would hinder the levy.
Liv. 3.38.4Nōn nūntiī sōlum, sed per urbem agrestium fuga trepidātiōnem iniēcit.Not only the messengers but also the flight of country people through the city caused alarm. Liv. 3.38.4Decemvirī cōnsultant, quid opus factō sit, dēstitūtī inter patrum et plēbis odia, addit terrōrem īnsuper alium fortūna.The decemvirs consult about what must be done, left isolated between the hatred of senators and plebs; fortune adds yet another terror besides. Liv. 3.38.5Aequī aliā ex parte castra in Algidō locant dēpopulanturque inde excursiōnibus Tusculānum agrum.The Aequi pitch camp on Algidus on the other side and from there ravage Tusculan territory with raids. Liv. 3.38.5Lēgātī ea ab Tusculō praesidium ōrantēs nūntiant.Envoys from Tusculum, begging for protection, report this. Liv. 3.38.6Is pavor perculit decemvirōs, ut senātum simul duōbus circumstantibus urbem bellīs cōnsulerent.This panic so struck the decemvirs that they consulted the senate, with two wars surrounding the city at once. Liv. 3.38.7Citārī iubent in cūriam patrēs haud ignārī, quanta invidiae inminēret tempestās: omnēs vāstātī agrī perīculōrumque inminentium causās in sē congestūrōs, temptātiōnemque eam fore abolendī sibi magistrātūs, nī cōnsēnsū resisterent imperiōque inhibendō ācriter in paucōs praeferōcis animī cōnātūs aliōrum conprimerent.They order the senators to be summoned to the senate house, well aware how great a storm of resentment hung over them: everyone would heap upon them the blame for the devastation of the fields and for the dangers that threatened, and this would be an attempt to abolish their magistracy, unless they resisted with one accord and, by exercising their power sharply against a few of overbold spirit, crushed the attempts of the rest.
Liv. 3.38.8Postquam audīta vōx in forō est praecōnis patrēs in cūriam ad decemvirōs vocantis, velut nova rēs, quia intermīserant iam diū mōrem cōnsulendī senātūs, mīrābundam plēbem convertit, quidnam incidisset, cūr ex tantō intervallō rem dēsuētam ūsurpārent: hostibus bellōque grātiam habendam, quod solitum quicquam līberae cīvitātī fieret.When the voice of the herald was heard in the forum summoning the senators to the senate house before the decemvirs, it was like something new, because they had long since dropped the custom of consulting the senate, and it set the plebs wondering what on earth had happened that they should revive a disused practice after so long an interval: they had the enemy and the war to thank, they said, that anything customary in a free state was being done. Liv. 3.38.9Circumspectāre omnibus forī partibus senātōrem rārōque usquam nōscitāre;They looked round in every part of the forum for a senator and scarcely recognised one anywhere; Liv. 3.38.10cūriam inde ac sōlitūdinem circā decemvirōs intuērī, cum et ipsī cōnsēnsū invīsum imperium et plēbs, quia prīvātīs iūs nōn esset vocandī senātum, nōn convenīre patrēs interpretārentur;then they gazed at the senate house and the emptiness round the decemvirs, while both the decemvirs themselves took the senators' failure to assemble to mean that their power was hated by common consent, and the plebs to mean that private citizens had no right to call the senate; Liv. 3.38.10iam caput fierī lībertātem repetentium, sī sē plēbs comitem senātuī det et, quem ad modum patrēs vocātī nōn coeant in senātum, sīc plēbs abnuat dīlēctum.now a lead was being given to those who sought their liberty back, if the plebs would make itself the senate's companion, and, just as the senators when summoned did not assemble in the senate, so the plebs would refuse the levy.
Liv. 3.38.10Haec fremunt plēbēs.So the plebs murmur. Liv. 3.38.11Patrum haud ferē quisquam in forō, in urbe rārī erant.Of the senators hardly any were in the forum, and few were in the city. Liv. 3.38.11Indignitāte rērum cesserant in agrōs suārumque rērum erant omissā pūblicā cūrā, tantum ab iniūriā sē abesse ratī, quantum ā coetū congressūque inpotentium dominōrum sē āmōvissent.Disgusted with the state of affairs, they had withdrawn to the country and, neglecting the public interest, were attending to their own, thinking themselves as far removed from injury as they had removed themselves from the meetings and company of their unbridled masters. Liv. 3.38.11Postquam citātī nōn conveniēbant, dīmissī circā domōs adpāritōrēs simul ad pignera capienda scīscitandumque, num cōnsultō dētrectārent, referunt senātum in agrīs esse.When, after being summoned, they did not assemble, attendants were sent round to their houses, both to take pledges and to inquire whether they were refusing on purpose, and they report that the senate is in the country. Liv. 3.38.12Laetius id decemvirīs accidit, quam sī praesentēs dētrectāre imperium referrent.That was more welcome to the decemvirs than if they had reported that the senators were present and refusing their authority.
Liv. 3.38.13Iubent accīrī omnēs senātumque in diem posterum ēdīcunt;They order them all to be fetched, and proclaim a meeting of the senate for the next day; Liv. 3.38.13quī aliquantō spē ipsōrum frequentior convēnit.it assembled in considerably greater numbers than they themselves had hoped. Liv. 3.38.13Quō factō prōditam ā patribus plēbs lībertātem rata, quod iīs, quī iam magistrātū abīssent, prīvātīsque, sī vīs abesset, tamquam iūre cōgentibus senātus pāruisset.When this happened, the plebs thought their liberty betrayed by the senators, because the senate had obeyed, as though they had a lawful right to compel, men who had already gone out of office and were private citizens, if only force were absent.