25.4
After the
Assembly of the plebs was dismissed a meeting of the senate was called, and
the consuls brought forward the question of "the disturbance of a meeting of
the plebs through the violence and audacity of the public contractors." "M.
Furius Camillus," they said, "whose exile was followed by the downfall of
Rome, submitted to condemnation at the hands of the irate citizens; before
his time the decemvirs -whose laws are in force today -and after him many
of our foremost citizens have bowed to the sentence of the people. Whereas
Postumius Pyrgensis has deprived the people of their right to vote, broken
up a meeting of the plebs, destroyed the authority of the tribunes, levied war
upon the people of Rome, made forcible seizure of a position in the City to
cut off the plebs from its tribunes, and prevented the tribes from being called
to vote. There was nothing to restrain men from fighting and bloodshed
except the forbearance of the magistrates, who for the time being yielded to
the furious audacity of a few men and allowed themselves and the Roman
people to be successfully defied, and, rather than give any occasion for a
conflict to those who were seeking one, they voluntarily closed the elections
which the accused was going to stop by armed force." This indictment was
listened to by all good citizens with feelings of indignation proportioned to
the atrocity of the outrage, and the senate passed a decree affirming that
"that violent conduct was an offence against the republic and set a most
vicious precedent." Immediately on this the two Carvilii dropped the
proposal for a fine and indicted Postumius for high treason, and ordered him
to find sureties for his appearance on the day of trial, or failing that to be at
once arrested and taken to prison. He found sureties, but did not appear. The
resolution proposed by the tribunes and adopted by the plebs was in the
following terms: "If M. Postumius does not enter an appearance before the
first day of May and when cited into court does not answer his name on that
day, and has not been lawfully excused from so appearing, he shall be
deemed to be an exile, his goods shall be sold, and he himself placed under
outlawry." Then all those who had taken the lead in the riotous disturbance
were one by one indicted on the same charge and ordered to find sureties.
Those who did not find them and afterwards even those who could find them
were alike cast into prison. Most of them, to escape the danger, went into
exile.
