Liv. 3.40.1Haec vōciferante Horātiō cum decemvirī nec īrae nec ignōscendī modum reperīrent nec, quō ēvāsūra rēs esset, cernerent, C. Claudī, quī patruus Appī decemvirī erat, ōrātiō fuit precibus quam iūrgiō similior, ōrantis per suī frātris parentisque eius mānēs, ut cīvīlis potius societātis, in quā nātus esset, quam foederis nefāriē ictī cum collēgīs meminisset.While Horatius was shouting this, and the decemvirs could find no limit either to their anger or to forgiveness, nor see how the affair would turn out, Gaius Claudius, who was the uncle of the decemvir Appius, made a speech more like an entreaty than a reproach, begging him by the shades of his own brother, Appius' father, to remember rather the civil fellowship into which he had been born than the pact wickedly struck with his colleagues. Liv. 3.40.3Multō id magis sē illīus causā ōrāre quam reī pūblicae;He begged this, he said, much more for Appius' sake than for the state's; Liv. 3.40.4quippe rem pūblicam, sī ā volentibus nequeat, ab invītīs iūs expetītūram;for the state would claim its rights from them unwilling, if it could not from them willing; Liv. 3.40.4sed ex magnō certāmine magnās excitārī ferme īrās;but from a great struggle great passions were usually aroused; Liv. 3.40.4eārum ēventum sē horrēre.it was their outcome that he dreaded.
Liv. 3.40.5Cum aliud, praeterquam dē quō rettulissent, decemvirī dīcere prohibērent, Claudium interpellandī verēcundia fuit.Although the decemvirs forbade anyone to speak on anything other than what they had put before the house, they felt shame at interrupting Claudius. Liv. 3.40.5Sententiam igitur perēgit nūllum placēre senātūs cōnsultum fierī.So he completed his motion, that he was in favour of no decree of the senate being passed. Liv. 3.40.6Omnēsque ita accipiēbant, prīvātōs eōs ā Claudiō iūdicātōs;And everyone took it to mean that Claudius had judged them to be private citizens; Liv. 3.40.6multīque ex cōnsulāribus verbō adsēnsī sunt.and many of the former consuls assented in a word. Liv. 3.40.7Alia sententia, asperior in speciem, vim minōrem aliquantō habuit, quae patriciōs coīre ad prōdendum interrēgem iubēbat.Another motion, harsher in appearance, had considerably less force: the one which bade the patricians meet to appoint an interrex. Liv. 3.40.7Cēnsendō enim quodcumque magistrātūs esse quī senātum habērent iūdicābant, quōs prīvātōs fēcerat auctor nūllīus senātūs cōnsultī faciendī.For by proposing any decision at all they were judging those who were holding the senate to be magistrates, whereas the man who proposed that no decree of the senate be passed had made them private citizens.
Liv. 3.40.8Ita lābente iam causā Decemvirōrum L. Cornēlius Maluginēnsis, M. Cornēlī decemvirī frāter, cum ex cōnsulāribus ad ultimum dīcendī locum cōnsultō servātus esset, simulandō cūram bellī frātrem collēgāsque eius tuēbātur, quōnam fātō incidisset, mīrārī sē dictitāns, ut decemvirōs, quī decemvirātum petīssent, aut sōlī aut hī maximē oppugnārent;So, with the decemvirs' cause already slipping, Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis, brother of the decemvir Marcus Cornelius, having been deliberately kept back to speak last of the former consuls, defended his brother and his colleagues by pretending concern for the war, saying repeatedly that he wondered by what fate it had come about that the decemvirs were being attacked either solely or chiefly by those who had themselves sought the decemvirate; Liv. 3.40.10aut quid ita, cum per tot mēnsēs vacuā cīvitāte nēmō, iūstīne magistrātūs summae rērum praeessent, contrōversiam fēcerit, nunc dēmum, cum hostēs prope ad portās sint, cīvīlīs discordiās serant, nisi quod in turbidō minus perspicuum fore putent, quid agātur.or why it was that, when for so many months, with the state at leisure, nobody had disputed whether lawful magistrates were at the head of affairs, they should only now, when the enemy were almost at the gates, sow civil discord, unless it was because they thought that in confusion what they were doing would be less clear.
Liv. 3.40.11Cēterum — nec enim maiōre cūrā occupātīs animīs vērum esse praeiūdicium reī tantae fierī — sibi placēre dē eō, quod Valerius Horātiusque ante īdūs Māiās decemvirōs abīsse magistrātū īnsimulent, bellīs, quae inmineant, perfectīs, rē pūblicā in tranquillum redāctā, senātū disceptante agī et iam nunc ita sē parāre Ap. Claudium, ut comitiōrum, quae decemvirīs creandīs decemvir ipse habuerit, sciat sibi ratiōnem reddendam esse, utrum in ūnum annum creātī sint, an dōnec lēgēs, quae dēessent, perferrentur.For the rest — since it was not right that a judgment on so great a matter should be prejudged while minds were occupied with a greater care — his view was that the charge Valerius and Horatius were bringing, that the decemvirs had gone out of office by the Ides of May, should be dealt with in a senate debate once the wars that threatened were finished and the state restored to calm; and that Appius Claudius should even now prepare himself in the knowledge that he must render account of the elections which he himself, as decemvir, had held for electing decemvirs, as to whether they had been elected for one year or until the laws that were lacking had been carried.
Liv. 3.40.13In praesentiā omnia praeter bellum omittī placēre;For the present, he proposed that everything except the war should be set aside; Liv. 3.40.13cuius sī falsō fāmam volgātam vānaque nōn nūntiōs sōlum, sed Tusculānōrum etiam lēgātōs adtulisse putent, speculātōrēs mittendōs cēnsēre, quī certius explōrāta referant;and if they thought the report of it had been spread falsely, and that not only the messengers but even the envoys of the Tusculans had brought empty tales, he proposed that scouts be sent to bring back more reliable information; Liv. 3.40.14sīn fidēs et nūntiīs et lēgātīs habeātur, dīlēctum prīmō quōque tempore habērī et decemvirōs quō cuique eōrum videātur exercitūs dūcere nec rem aliam praevertī.but if credit were given to both messengers and envoys, the levy should be held at the earliest opportunity, the decemvirs should lead the armies wherever each of them thought fit, and no other business should take precedence.