Volume 19, 2007 - Brown University

72 Amy Hall Goins
Once again, the plebeians rejected this offer, recognizing it as an attempt to buy
power. At the end of his consulship, Cassius was tried, convicted, and put to
death. Livy reports that one account had Cassius punished and executed by his
own father (Livy 2.41).
Spurius Maelius attempted a similar plot forty-six years later. In an effort
to gain the loyalty of the commons, Maelius bought grain from Etruria and gave
it away to the poor. Livy notes that the commons were at first won over by his
generosity. Seeing his public image improve among the plebeians, Maelius eyed
the throne. He began assembling a cache of weapons and making secret plans.
Lucius Minucius, the Controller of Supplies, caught wind of Maelius’ plot and
alerted the Senate to his treacherous intentions. The consul Titus Quinctius Capitolinus
appointed Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus as dictator so that he would
have the power to squelch the political threat posed by Maelius. Gaius Servilius
Ahala, whom Cincinnatus appointed as his Master of Horse, attempted to apprehend
Maelius in order to bring him to trial, but was forced to kill him when he
fled. Cincinnatus’ speech in the aftermath of Maelius’ death is a perfect example
of how Livy’s earlier exempla manifested themselves in the actions and words
of later Romans. The dictator reminded the crowd that Maelius should have
known better than to covet the throne, since he knew as well as any Roman what
the consequences would be. Cincinnatus recalls the expulsion of Tarquin, the
execution of Tarquin’s nephews, the forced resignation of the consul Tarquinius
Collatinus, and, most recently, the execution of Spurius Cassius. “All of this
Maelius knew, yet in this same city of ours he himself dared hoped to reign”
(Livy 4.14).
Both of these exempla show that Livy intended to give a firm warning to
his readers about the dangers of monarchy. Livy included these anecdotes to
demonstrate that Rome’s commitment to republicanism was strengthened by the
city’s collective remembrance of and aversion to the monarchy (especially the
tyrannical reign of Tarquin the Proud). In case there was any threat of a return to
monarchy in the late Republican era, Livy wanted his leaders to learn from the
experience of their predecessors and maintain an aversion to the throne.
The anecdote about Spurius’ plot also reinforces the idea of putting Rome
before the interest of one’s self or social class, another theme Livy emphasizes
throughout his history. Although the plebeians would have benefited from the
gift of land and money, they valued their liberty too much to accept a gift which
could pave the way for a return to monarchy. The citizens of the early republic
had not forgotten their forefathers’ experience of Tarquin the Proud and the dangers
of monarchy. Livy’s narrative of the “struggle of the orders” includes
several other exempla intended to highlight the importance of unity above class
interests.
During a war with Rome’s Latin neighbors in 494 B.C.E., there was growing
discontent among Rome’s commons due to a debt crisis. The conflict escalated
until many of them left the city in protest, taking refuge on the Sacred
Mount north of Rome. Since Rome could not raise an army without the coopera-