6.15
Whilst
matters were in this state of suspense the Dictator had been summoned from
the army and arrived in the City. After satisfying himself as to the state of
public feeling he called a meeting of the senate for the following day and
ordered them to remain in constant attendance upon him. He then ordered
his chair of office to be placed on the tribunal in the Comitium and,
surrounded by the senators as a bodyguard, sent his officer to M. Manlius.
On receiving the Dictator's summons Manlius gave his party a signal that a
conflict was imminent and appeared before the tribunal with an immense
crowd round him. On the one side the senate, on the other side the plebs,
each with their eyes fixed on their respective leaders, stood facing one
another as though drawn up for battle. After silence was obtained, the
Dictator said: "I wish the senate and myself could come to an understanding
with the plebs on all other matters as easily as, I am convinced, we shall
about you and the subject on which I am about to examine you. I see that
you have led your fellow-citizens to expect that all debts can be paid without
any loss to the creditors out of the treasure recovered from the Gauls, which
you say the leading patricians are secreting. I am so far from wishing to
hinder this project that, on the contrary, I challenge you, M. Manlius, to take
off from their hidden hordes those who, like sitting hens, are brooding over
treasures which belong to the State. If you fail to do this, either because you
yourself have your part in the spoils or because your charge is unfounded, I
shall order you to be thrown into prison and will not suffer the people to be
excited by the false hopes which you have raised.
Manlius said in reply that he had not been mistaken in his
suspicions; it was not against the Volscians who were treated as enemies
whenever it was in the interest of the patricians so to treat them, nor against
the Latins and Hernici whom they were driving to arms by false charges, that
a Dictator had been appointed, but against him and the Roman plebs. They
had dropped their pretended war and were now attacking him; the Dictator
was openly declaring himself the protector of the usurers against the
plebeians; the gratitude and affection which the people were showing
towards himself were being made the ground for charges against him which
would ruin him. He proceeded: "The crowd which I have round me is an
offence in your eyes, A. Cornelius, and in yours, senators. Then why do you
not each of you withdraw it from me by acts of kindness, by offering
security, by releasing your fellow-citizens from the stocks, by preventing
them from being adjudged to their creditors, by supporting others in their
necessity out of the superabundance of your own wealth? But why should I
urge you to spend your own money? Be content with a moderate capital,
deduct from the principal what has already been paid in interest, then the
crowd round me will be no more noticeable than that round any one else.
But do I alone show this anxiety for my fellow-citizens? I can only answer
that question as I should answer another -Why did I alone save the Capitol
and the Citadel? Then I did what I could to save the body of citizens as a
whole, now I am doing what I can to help individuals. As to the gold of the
Gauls, your question throws difficulties round a thing which is simple
enough in itself. For why do you ask me about a matter which is within your
own knowledge? Why do you order what is in your purse to be shaken out
from it rather than surrender it voluntarily, unless there is some dishonesty at
bottom? The more you order your conjuring tricks to be detected, the more,
I fear, will you hoodwink those who are watching you. It is not I who ought
to be compelled to discover your plunder for you, it is you who ought to be
compelled to publicly produce it."
The Dictator ordered him to drop all subterfuge, and insisted upon
his either adducing trustworthy evidence or admitting that he had been guilty
of concocting false accusations against the senate and exposing them to
odium on a baseless charge of theft. He refused, and said he would not speak
at the bidding of his enemies, whereupon the Dictator ordered him to be
taken to prison. When apprehended by the officer he exclaimed: "Jupiter
Optimus Maximus, Queen Juno, Minerva, all ye gods and goddesses who
dwell in the Capitol, do ye suffer your soldier and defender to be thus
persecuted by his enemies? Shall this right hand with which I drove the
Gauls from your shrines be manacled and fettered?" None could endure to
see or hear the indignity offered him, but the State, in its absolute submission
to lawful authority, had imposed upon itself limits which could not be
passed; neither the tribunes of the plebs nor the plebeians themselves
ventured to cast an angry look or breathe a syllable against the action of the
Dictator. It seems pretty certain that after Manlius was thrown into prison, a
great number of plebeians went into mourning; many let their hair grow, and
the vestibule of the prison was beset by a depressed and sorrowful crowd.
The Dictator celebrated his triumph over the Volscians, but his triumph
increased his unpopularity; men complained that the victory was won at
home, not in the field, over a citizen, not over an enemy. One thing alone
was lacking in the pageant of tyranny, Manlius was not led in procession
before the victor's chariot. Matters were rapidly drifting towards sedition,
and the senate took the initiative in endeavouring to calm the prevailing
unrest. Before any demand had been put forward they ordered that 2000
Roman citizens should be settled as colonists at Satricum, and each receive
two and a half jugera of land. This was regarded as too small a grant,
distributed amongst too small a number; it was looked upon, in fact, as a
bribe for the betrayal of Manlius, and the proposed remedy only inflamed the
disease. By this time the crowd of Manlian sympathisers had become
conspicuous for their dirty garments and dejected looks. It was not till the
Dictator laid down his office after his triumph and so removed the terror
which he inspired that the tongues and spirits of men were once more free.