39.17
They
then ordered the resolutions of the senate to be read, and offered a reward
for any one who should bring a guilty person before the consuls, or give in
his name if he were not forthcoming. In the case of any one who had been
denounced and then taken to flight, they would fix a day for him to answer
the charge, and if he failed to appear, he would be condemned in his absence;
for any one who was abroad at the time they would extend the date should
he wish to make his defence. They then published an edict forbidding any
one to sell or buy anything for the purpose of flight, or to receive, harbour,
or in any way assist those who fled. After the Assembly had broken up, the
whole of the City was thoroughly alarmed. Nor was the alarm confined
within the walls of the City or the frontiers of Rome; there was uneasiness
and consternation throughout the whole of Italy when letters began to arrive
announcing the resolutions of the senate, the proceedings in the Assembly
and the edict of the consuls. During the night following the disclosure of the
affair in the Assembly, guards were posted at all the gates, and many who
tried to escape were arrested by the police commissioners and brought back.
Many names were handed in, and some of these, both men and women,
committed suicide. It was asserted that more than 7000 of both sexes were
implicated in the conspiracy. The ringleaders were, it appears, the two Atinii,
Marcus and Caius, both members of the Roman plebs; L. Opiternius of
Falerium, and Minius Cerrinius, a Campanian. They were the authors of all
the crime and outrage, the high priests and founders of the cult. Care was
taken that they should be arrested as soon as possible, and when brought
before the consuls they at once made a complete confession.
