Livy's History of Rome - Table of Contents

esieged city. It would have led to the perishing of the slaves in any case, and probably the plebeians would have died, had
not the consuls provided for the emergency by sending men in various directions to buy corn. They penetrated not only
along the coast to the right of Ostia into Etruria, but also along the sea to the left past the Volscian country as far as
Cumae. Their search extended even as far as Sicily; to such an extent did the hostility of their neighbours compel them to
seek distant help. When corn had been bought at Cumae, the ships were detained by the tyrant Aristodemus, in lieu of the
property of Tarquin, to whom he was heir. Amongst the Volscians and in the Pomptine district it was even impossible to
purchase corn, the corn merchants were in danger of being attacked by the population. Some corn came from Etruria up
the Tiber; this served for the support of the plebeians. They would have been harassed by a war, doubly unwelcome when
provisions were so scarce, if the Volscians, who were already on the march, had not been attacked by a frightful pestilence.
This disaster cowed the enemy so effectually that even when it had abated its violence they remained to some extent in a
state of terror; the Romans increased the number of colonists at Velitrae and sent a new colony to Norba, up in the
mountains, to serve as a stronghold in the Pomptine district.
During the consulship of M. Minucius and A. Sempronius, a large quantity of corn was brought from Sicily, and the
question was discussed in the senate at what price it should be given to the plebs. Many were of opinion that the moment
had come for putting pressure on the plebeians, and recovering the rights which had been wrested from the senate through
the secession and the violence which accompanied it. Foremost among these was Marcius Coriolanus, a determined foe to
the tribunitian power. "If," he argued, "they want their corn at the old price, let them restore to the senate its old powers.
Why, then, do I, after being sent under the yoke, ransomed as it were from brigands, see plebeian magistrates, why do I see
a Sicinius in power? Am I to endure these indignities a moment longer than I can help? Am I, who could not put up with a
Tarquin as king, to put up with a Sicinius? Let him secede now! let him call out his plebeians, the way lies open to the
Sacred Hill and to other hills. Let them carry off the corn from our fields as they did two years ago; let them enjoy the
scarcity which in their madness they have produced! I will venture to say that after they have been tamed by these
sufferings, they will rather work as labourers themselves in the fields than prevent their being cultivated by an armed
secession." It is not so easy to say whether they ought to have done this as it is to express one's belief that it could have
been done, and the senators might have made it a condition of lowering the price of the corn that they should abrogate the
tribunitian power and all the legal restrictions imposed upon them against their will.
[2.35]The senate considered these sentiments too bitter, the plebeians in their exasperation almost flew to arms. Famine,
they said, was being used as a weapon against them, as though they were enemies; they were being cheated out of food
and sustenance; the foreign corn, which fortune had unexpectedly given them as their sole means of support, was to be
snatched from their mouths unless their tribunes were given up in chains to Cn. Marcius, unless he could work his will on
the backs of the Roman plebeians. In him a new executioner had sprung up, who ordered them either to die or live as
slaves. He would have been attacked on leaving the Senate-house had not the tribunes most opportunely fixed a day for his
impeachment. This allayed the excitement, every man saw himself a judge with the power of life and death over his
enemy. At first Marcius treated the threats of the tribunes with contempt; they had the right of protecting not of punishing,
they were the tribunes of the plebs not of the patricians. But the anger of the plebeians was so thoroughly roused that the
patricians could only save themselves by the punishment of one of their order. They resisted, however, in spite of the
odium: they incurred, and exercised all the powers they possessed both collectively and individually. At first they
attempted to thwart proceedings by posting pickets of their clients to deter individuals from frequenting meetings and
conclaves. Then they proceeded in a body - you might suppose that every patrician was impeached - and implored the
plebeians, if they refused to acquit a man who was innocent, at least to give up to them, as guilty, one citizen, one senator.
As he did not put in an appearance on the day of trial, their resentment remained unabated, and he was condemned in his
absence. He went into exile amongst the Volscians, uttering threats against his country, and even then entertaining hostile
designs against it. The Volscians welcomed his arrival, and he became more popular as his resentment against his
countrymen became more bitter, and his complaints and threats were more frequently heard. He enjoyed the hospitality of
Attius Tullius, who was by far the most important man at that time amongst the Volscians and a life-long enemy of the
Romans. Impelled each by similar motives, the one by old-standing hatred, the other by newly-provoked resentment, they
formed joint plans for war with Rome. They were under the impression that the people could not easily be induced, after
so many defeats, to take up arms again, and that after their losses in their numerous wars and recently through the
pestilence, their spirits were broken. The hostility had now had time to die down; it was necessary, therefore, to adopt
some artifice by which fresh irritation might be produced.
[2.36]It so happened that preparations were being made for a repetition of the "Great Games." The reason for their