liberties of the Valerius began Decemvirs, who "ten say, even in the uncertainties of the present period, that, through these two men, the purposes just mentioned as hatching against the Plebeians were utterly confounded. to address the Senate against the instantly interrupted him; at which Horatius, nothing daunted, called out to them that they were Tarquins," and bade them beware; for "men," he said, "were now thinking they suffered more than they could fear."4 The debate became tumultuous, and though without immediate result, it showed the Decemvirs their insecurity. As for the Plebeians, they seemed, for the moment, to be paralyzed. Never had any enlistment been more rapid than that which was presently ordered by the Decemvirs in the Forum; and never had any campaign than that which followed, though two armies took the field, been more disgraceful. To be routed by the enemy was not so uncommon, perhaps, as the writers of Roman history would have it seem; but defeat was small dishonor in comparison with the death of Sicinius Dentatus, a Plebeian, long distinguished in war and the Forum, who fell, slain by order of the Decemvirs, - though mourned, yet unavenged by his comrades, whom, in his last days, he had vainly endeavoured to rouse against their perils." Another tragedy was enacted in Rome. Appius 4 Liv., III. 39. 5 Pliny's account of his exploits is the portrait of every Roman hero of the times. Nat. Hist., VII. 29. So Val. Max., III. 2. 24. 6 Urging them to secession. Liv., III. 43. Dion. Hal., XI. 25 et seq. Claudius, to whom the authority he possessed was valuable only in its evil uses, had remained behind to pursue his designs against the daughter of a Centurion,' named Virginius, absent at the time, with one of the armies. No sketch has ever been or ever will be drawn of tyranny or wickedness more hateful than in the story which represents Appius, while his countrymen and colleagues were in the field against the enemy, as employing himself against an unprotected maiden, whose virtue was to him a fitter enemy to assail than legions or hosts of rugged men in arms. Virginia was brought before his tribunal to be adjudged the slave of his client, in other words, his own victim; and all that her lover, Icilius,8 could gain was the delay of a single day before the sentence and the lust of the Decemvir would take their course. Appius knew the motive for which Icilius simply pleaded to have the cause deferred, that it was to call Virginius to his daughter's protection, and therefore sent to bid his colleagues arrest their Centurion, before he could get away; but Virginius eluded their pursuit, and came to Rome. And none forget, how, when his hope of saving his child proved weak against the brutality of the Decemvir, he stabbed her dead, and fled, blood-stained, to implore his fellow-soldiers to revenge her horrible end. Appius Claudius hid himself, in terror, perhaps at 7 Diodorus (XII. 24) calls Virginius a Patrician. 8 The same whose law had bestowed the Aventine on the Plebeians. 9 As Alfieri says: "Un padre omai romano troppo." Virginia, Att. III. sc. 3. + the spectacle he had beheld, perhaps at the excitement increasing throughout the city. One One army in the field, returning with Virginius, soon appeared at the city gates, through which it marched on to the Aventine. Icilius and Numitorius, the lover and the uncle of the murdered maiden, followed the father's example and hurried to the other army, which, like the first, marched back to Rome and through the city to the Aventine. Both forces, though the name of armies be preserved, were undoubtedly composed of Plebeians, who left their officers and Patrician comrades to do as they saw fit, while they themselves returned, as is related, to revenge the outrage that had been done Virginia. The unanimity of the Plebeians and the spirit they showed, as will presently appear, seem to indicate some other purpose of theirs besides the punishment of any single crime, and reasonably magnify their occupation of the Aventine into the decisive step in some fierce contention between the two estates, ensuing upon the publication of the laws by the Decemvirs. However this may be, the soldiers were joined by the Plebeians from the city, equally decided to maintain their rights and liberties. Ten military Tribunes were chosen by each army, and of the twenty thus elected, two were appointed, by the advice of Virginius, to direct the negotiations whose proposal seemed already to be expected from the Senate. After some vain parleys, of which there could be no possible explanation, had the Plebeians taken arms to extort the abdication or even the punishment of the Decem virs alone, another measure, in that event still more unaccountable, was taken by those upon the Aven tine. They remembered what their fathers had done now five-and-forty years gone by; and at the suggestion of Marcus Duilius, the most trusted man amongst them,10 they marched down together from the Aventine, and took their way, soldiers, citizens, women, and children together, to the Sacred Hill, where they quietly encamped." In the city, or, as the city was now so empty that there were said to be more lictors visible than people, rather in the Senate, there appear to have been the most antagonistic opinions. Many held to the violent measures, that had failed, they would say, because never fairly tried; but a milder course was advocated by Valerius and Horatius, the same who had bearded the Decemvirs, with such success that they themselves were sent forth to make some terms with the seceders. The two were gladly welcomed to the hill, where they explained their own intents and listened to the reply which Icilius is reported to have made. In the old traditions he was described as having laid peculiar emphasis upon the vindication of the wrongs committed by the Decemvirs; his demands for the restoration of the tribunate and the great right of appeal being mentioned as quite subordinate. 12 If our interpretation of the indistinct 10 Elected Tribune twenty-two years before, at the first election by the Tribes. Liv., II. 58. 11 Liv., III. 52, 54. 12 Liv., III. 53. history we are reading be correct, the order of Icilius's claims must be reversed, and it may even be believed, besides, that the seceders would have exacted new rights in addition to those they had obtained of old.13 "Ye need a shield," replied Valerius or Horatius to the Plebeians, "more than a sword, just now"; with other words to persuade the multitude, or their leaders, to make more moderate proposals. As soon as these were obtained, the envoys returned. Straightway the Senate issued an edict declaring the decemvirate at an end, and providing for the instant restitution of the former magistracies, with amnesty to all the seceders. The Tribes, accordingly, were formally convoked to meet under the presidency of the chief Pontiff and elect their Tribunes; a summons that ended the secession. The whole band from the Sacred Hill marched back and up again to the Aventine, then crossed, still under arms, to the Capitol, and there, apparently, with such Patricians, perhaps, as chose to join them, elected ten good men, Virginius, Icilius, Numitorius, and Duilius being of the number, to be their Tribunes. 14 A more formal meeting of the Tribes was soon after held, in which, as the national assembly, the ratification of the terms lately granted by the Senate, and the convoca 13 Demanding, it is said, to have their share of the consulship: Tv δὲ ὑπάτων τὸν ἕνα πάντως ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους καθίστασθαι, κ. τ. λ. Diod. Sic., XII. 25. Corn., I.) supplies our narrative: "In Aventino consederunt; inde armati in Capitolium venerunt ; decem tribunos plebis per pontificem, quod magistratus nullus erat, creave14 A fragment of Cicero (Pro runt." Cf. De Rep., II. 37. |