Liv. 3.52.1Per M. Duillium, quī tribūnus plēbis fuerat, certior facta plēbs contentiōnibus adsiduīs nihil trānsigī, in Sacrum montem ex Aventīnō trānsit adfirmante Duilliō nōn prius, quam dēserī urbem videant, cūram in animōs patrum dēscēnsūram;Informed through Marcus Duillius, who had been a tribune of the plebs, that nothing was being settled by the constant disputes, the plebs moves from the Aventine to the Sacred Mount, Duillius assuring them that concern would not sink into the fathers' minds until they saw the city being deserted; Liv. 3.52.2admonitūrum Sacrum montem cōnstantiae plēbis, scītūrōsque sine restitūtā potestāte tribūniciā redigī in concordiam rēsne queant.the Sacred Mount would remind them of the plebs' steadfastness, and they would learn whether affairs could be brought back to harmony without the tribunes' power being restored. Liv. 3.52.2Via Nōmentāna, cui tum Ficulēnsī nōmen fuit, profectī castra in monte Sacrō locāvēre modestiam patrum suōrum nihil violandō imitātī.Setting out by the Via Nomentana, which was then called the Ficulensis, they pitched camp on the Sacred Mount, imitating the restraint of their fathers by harming nothing. Liv. 3.52.3Secūta exercitum plēbs nūllō, quī per aetātem īre posset, retractante.The plebs followed the army, with no one who was of an age to go holding back.
Liv. 3.52.4Prōsecuntur coniugēs līberīque, cuinam sē relinquerent in eā urbe, in quā nec pudīcitia nec lībertās sāncta esset, miserābiliter rogitantēs.Their wives and children escort them, asking piteously again and again to whom they were leaving them, in a city where neither chastity nor liberty was sacred. Liv. 3.52.4Cum vāsta Rōmae omnia īnsuēta sōlitūdō fēcisset, in forō praeter paucōs seniōrum nēmō esset, vocātīs utique in senātum patribus dēsertum appāruisset forum, plūrēs iam quam Horātius ac Valerius vōciferābantur: "quid exspectābitis, patrēs cōnscrīptī?When an unaccustomed emptiness had made everything at Rome desolate, when there was no one in the Forum except a few of the older men, and, once the fathers had been called into the senate, the Forum had been seen to be deserted, more men now than Horatius and Valerius began to cry out: 'What will you wait for, conscript fathers? Liv. 3.52.6Sī decemvirī fīnem pertināciae nōn faciunt, ruere ac dēflagrāre omnia passūrī estis?If the decemvirs do not make an end of their obstinacy, will you let everything fall in ruins and go up in flames?
Liv. 3.52.6Quod autem istud imperium est, decemvirī, quod amplexī tenētis?And what is this authority of yours, decemvirs, that you embrace and cling to? Liv. 3.52.7Tēctīs ac parietibus iūra dictūrī estis?Are you going to dispense justice to roofs and walls? Liv. 3.52.7Nōn pudet līctōrum vestrōrum maiōrem prope numerum in forō cōnspicī quam togātōrum aliōrum?Are you not ashamed that almost a greater number of your lictors is seen in the Forum than of other citizens in togas? Liv. 3.52.7Quid, sī hostēs ad urbem veniant, factūrī estis?What are you going to do if enemies come to the city? Liv. 3.52.7Quid, sī plēbs mox, ubi parum sēcessiōne moveāmur, armāta veniat?What if the plebs soon come in arms, when they see that we are little moved by their secession? Liv. 3.52.8Occāsūne urbis vultis fīnīre imperium?Do you want to end your authority with the fall of the city? Liv. 3.52.8Atquī aut plēbs nōn est habenda, aut habendī sunt tribūnī plēbis.And yet either we must do without the plebs, or we must have tribunes of the plebs. Liv. 3.52.8Nōs citius caruerimus patriciīs magistrātibus quam illī plēbēīs.We would sooner do without patrician magistrates than they without plebeian ones.
Liv. 3.52.9Novam inexpertamque eam potestātem ēripuēre patribus nostrīs;That power, new and untried, they wrested from our fathers; Liv. 3.52.9nēdum hāc dulcēdine semel captī ferant dēsīderium, cum praesertim nec nōs temperēmus imperiīs, quō minus illī auxiliī egeant?"much less, now that they have once been captivated by its sweetness, will they bear the loss of it, especially when we do not restrain ourselves in our use of authority so that they have no need of help.' Liv. 3.52.10Cum haec ex omnī parte iactārentur, victī cōnsēnsū decemvirī futūrōs sē, quandō ita videātur, in potestāte patrum adfirmant.When these things were being thrown out on every side, the decemvirs, overcome by the general agreement, declare that, since it seems best, they will put themselves in the fathers' hands. Liv. 3.52.11Id modo simul ōrant ac monent, ut ipsīs ab invidiā caveātur nec suō sanguine ad supplicia patrum plēbem adsuēfaciant.They only beg and at the same time warn that they themselves should be protected from hatred, and that the fathers should not by their blood accustom the plebs to punishing patricians.