3.65
The new tribunes of the
plebs studied the wishes of the senate in co-opting
colleagues; they even admitted two patricians of
consular rank, Sp. Tarpeius and A. Aeternius. The
new consuls were Spurius Herminius and T. Verginius
Caelimontanus, who were not violent partisans of
either the patricians or the plebeians. They
maintained peace both at home and abroad. L.
Trebonius, a tribune of the plebs, was angry with
the senate because, as he said, he had been
hoodwinked by them in the co-optation of tribunes,
and left in the lurch by his colleagues. He brought
in a measure providing that when tribunes of the
plebs were to be elected, the presiding magistrate
should continue to hold the election until ten
tribunes were elected. He spent his year of office
in worrying the patricians, which led to his
receiving the nickname of "Asper " (i.e. "the
Cantankerous"). The next consuls were M. Geganius
Macerinus and C. Julius. They appeased the quarrels
which had broken out between the tribunes and the
younger members of the nobility without interfering
with the powers of the former or compromising the
dignity of the patricians. A levy had been decreed
by the senate for service against the Volscians and
Aequi, but they kept the plebs quiet by holding it
over, and publicly asserting that when the City was
at peace everything abroad was quiet, whereas civil
discord encouraged the enemy. Their care for peace
led to harmony at home. But the one order was always
restless when the other showed moderation. Whilst
the plebs was quiet it began to be subjected to acts
of violence from the younger patricians. The
tribunes tried to protect the weaker side, but they
did little good at first, and soon even they
themselves were not exempt from ill-treatment,
especially in the later months of their year of
office. Secret combinations amongst the stronger
party resulted in lawlessness, and the exercise of
the tribunitian authority usually slackened towards
the close of the year. Any hopes the plebeians might
place in their tribunes depended upon their having
men like Icilius; for the last two years they had
had mere names. On the other hand, the older
patricians realised that their younger members were
too aggressive, but if there were to be excesses
they preferred that their own side should commit
them rather than their opponents. So difficult is it
to observe moderation in the defence of liberty,
while each man under the presence of equality raises
himself only by keeping others down, and by their
very precautions against fear men make themselves
feared, and in repelling injury from ourselves we
inflict it on others as though there were no
alternative between doing wrong and suffering it.