5.12
The passions of the plebs
were roused by these speeches, and they sentenced
the accused to a fine of 10,000 "ases" each, in
spite of Sergius' attempt to throw the blame on
Fortune and the chances of war, and Verginius'
appeal that he might not be more unfortunate at home
than he had been in the field. The turning of the
popular indignation in this direction threw into the
shade the memories of the co-optation of tribunes
and the evasion of the Trebonian Law. As a reward to
the plebeians for the sentence they had passed, the
victorious tribunes at once gave notice of an
agrarian measure. They also prevented contributions
being paid in for the war-tax, though pay was
required for all those armies, and such successes as
had been gained only served to prevent any of the
wars from being brought to a close. The camp at Veii
which had been lost was recaptured and strengthened
with forts and men to hold them. The consular
tribunes, Manius Aemilius and Kaeso Fabius, were in
command. M. Furius in the Faliscan territory and
Cnaeus Cornelius in that of Capenae found no enemy
outside his walls; booty was carried off and the
territories were ravaged, the farms and crops being
burnt. The towns were attacked, but not invested;
Anxur, however, in the Volscian territory, and
situated on high ground, defied all assaults, and
after direct attack had proved fruitless, a regular
investment by rampart and fosse was commenced. The
conduct of the Volscian campaign had fallen to
Valerius Potitus.
Whilst military affairs were in this
position, internal troubles were more difficult to
manage than the foreign wars. Owing to the tribunes,
the war-tax could not be collected, nor the
necessary funds remitted to the commanders; the
soldiers clamoured for their pay, and it seemed as
though the camp would be polluted by the contagion
of the seditious spirit which prevailed in the City.
Taking advantage of the exasperation of the plebs
against the senate, the tribunes told them that the
long wished for time had come for securing their
liberties and transferring the highest office in the
State from people like Sergius and Verginius to
strong and energetic plebeians. They did not,
however, get further in the exercise of their rights
than to secure the election of one member of the
plebs as consular tribune, viz., P. Licinius Calvus
-the rest were patricians -P. Manlius, L. Titinus,
P. Maelius, L. Furius Medullinus, and L. Popilius
Volscus. The plebeians were no less surprised at
such a success than the tribune-elect himself; he
had not previously filled any high office of State,
and was only a senator of long standing, and now
advanced in years. Our authorities are not agreed as
to the reason why he was selected first and foremost
to taste the sweets of this new dignity. Some
believe that he was thrust forward to so high a
position through the popularity of his brother,
Cnaeus Cornelius, who had been consular tribune the
previous year, and had given triple pay to the
"knights." Others attribute it to a well-timed
speech he delivered on the agreement of the two
orders, which was welcomed by both patricians and
plebeians. In their exultation over this electoral
victory, the tribunes of the plebs gave way over the
war-tax, and so removed the greatest political
difficulty. It was paid in without a murmur and
remitted to the army.