In the seventy and third year after the driving out of the kings the
strife between the nobles and the Commons grew to be fierce beyond
measure; for on the one hand the Consuls would have levied an army to
make war with the Volscians, and this the tribunes hindered; and on the
other hand the tribunes sought to establish a law that should set bounds
to the power of the Consuls, and this law the nobles hindered that
it should not be passed. Now among the nobles (who were mostly of the
younger sort, for the elders held aloof from the matter) the chief mover
was one Kæso Quinctius, a youth of singular strength and courage, and
that had won for himself great renown in war. This man was wont to drive
the tribunes from the market-place and scatter the people, and when
Virginius, that was one of the tribunes, named a day on which he should
be brought to judgment for his misdeeds, he was not one whit dismayed,
but bare himself as haughtily as before. Meanwhile Virginius stirred
up the people, saying, "See ye not, men of Rome, that if ye suffer this
Kæso to dwell in this city, it cannot be that this law which ye desire
should be established? But why speak I of laws? This man is the enemy of
liberty itself; not King Tarquin himself was so haughty and violent. He
is a very king already; what think ye will he be if he be made consul
or dictator?" To these words many gave assent, complaining that Kæso had
beaten them, and were urgent with the tribune that he should carry the
matter to an end. Then it came to pass that, when the day of trial was
come, the people were of one mind that Kæso should be condemned.
Then, indeed, the young man and his kinsfolk and friends turned to
supplications and prayers. Titus Quinctius, that had been three times
consul, affirmed, "Never in the home of Quinctius, never verily in this
city of Rome, has there been a soldier of so ripe a courage. When I was
captain of the host, he was ever the first; with these eyes have I seen
him fighting against the enemy." Also Lucretius, that had been consul
the year before, winning great glory from the Volscians and Æquians,
testified that Kæso had helped him to conquer as none other had done;
and one Furius that he had delivered him and his army from great
peril of defeat As for Lucius Quinctius, his father, whose surname was
Cincinnatus, he sought not to magnify the valour and brave deeds of his
son, lest haply he should so stir up the more jealousy against him,
but sought to make excuse for him, as one who had erred for want of
discretion, beseeching men that, if he himself had wronged no man by
word or deed, so they would grant him for a favour the pardon of his
son. But nothing availed with the people, some fearing the wrath of
their fellows if they should give ear to such words, and some making
complaint that they had suffered violence from the hands of Kæso, and
affirming that they would be avenged of him for his misdeeds. Now of
all things that were alleged against him the most grievous was the
accusation brought by a certain Volscius that had once been tribune of
the Commons; for Volscius bare this witness against him: "Not many days
after the plague had ceased from the city, I, with others in my company,
fell in with certain young men, of whom this Kæso was one, disporting
themselves in the street. These fell out with us, and Kæso smote my
elder brother with the fist, so that he fell fainting to the ground,
being then not wholly recovered from the plague. And being carried home,
he died by noon, as I doubt not, of this blow. But when I would have
brought Kæso to judgment for this offence, the Consuls would not suffer
it." At the hearing of this tale the wrath of the Commons waxed so hot
that they could scarcely be kept from falling on Kæso and slaying him.
At the last, after much debate between the nobles and the tribunes, it
was agreed that the young man should appear the next day to make his
answer to these accusations, giving sureties in the meanwhile lest he
should fail to do so. Ten sureties he gave, and each was bound in
three thousand pounds of copper. So being suffered to depart from
the market-place, he departed that same night from Rome, going into
banishment among the Etrurians. As for his sureties, the money was
exacted from his father to the uttermost farthing, so that he was
compelled to sell all his goods, and to dwell in a mean cottage on the
other side of the Tiber.
It came to pass in the third year after these things that the Æquians
brake the treaty of peace which they had made with Rome, and, taking one
Gracchus Cloelius for their leader, marched into the land of Tusculum;
and when they had plundered the country thereabouts, and had gathered
together much booty, they pitched their camp on Mount Ægidus. To them
the Romans sent three ambassadors, who should complain of the wrong
done, and seek redress. But when they would have fulfilled their errand,
Gracchus the Æquian spake, saying, "If ye have any message from the
Senate of Rome, tell it to this oak, for I have other business to do;"
for it chanced that there was a great oak that stood hard by, and made
a shadow over the general's tent. Then one of the ambassadors, as he
turned to depart, made reply, "Yes, let this sacred oak and all the
gods that are in heaven hear how ye have wrongfully broken the treaty of
peace; and let them that hear help us also in the day of battle, when we
shall avenge on you the laws both of gods and of men that ye have set at
nought."
When the ambassadors had returned to Rome the Senate commanded that
there should be levied two armies; and that Minucius the consul should
march with the one against the Æquians on Mount Ægidus, and that the
other should hinder the enemy from their plundering. This levying the
tribunes of the Commons sought to hinder; and perchance had done so, but
there also came well-nigh to the walls of the city a great host of
the Sabines plundering all the country. Thereupon the people willingly
offered themselves, and there were levied forthwith two great armies.
Nevertheless when the consul Minucius had marched to Mount Ægidus, and
had pitched his camp not far from the Æquians, he did nought for fear of
the enemy, but kept himself within his entrenchments. And when the
enemy perceived that he was afraid, growing the bolder for his lack of
courage, they drew lines about him, keeping him in on every side. Yet
before that he was altogether shut up there escaped from his camp five
horsemen, that bare tidings to Rome how that the Consul, together with
his army, was besieged. The people were sorely dismayed to hear such
tidings; nor, when they cast about for help, saw they any man that might
be sufficient for such peril, save only Cincinnatus. By common consent,
therefore, he was made Dictator for six months, a thing that may well be
noted by those who hold that nothing is to be accounted of in comparison
of riches, and that no man may win great honour or show forth singular
virtue unless he be well furnished with wealth. For here in this great
peril of the Roman people there was no hope of safety but in one who was
cultivating with his own hand a little plot of scarcely three acres of
ground. For when the messengers of the people came to him they found him
ploughing, or, as some say, digging a ditch. When they had greeted each
the other, the messengers said, "May the Gods prosper this thing to
the Roman people and to thee. Put on thy robe and hear the words of the
people."
[Illustation: Cincinnatus called to be Dictator 180]
Then said Cincinnatus, being not a little astonished, "Is all well?"
and at the same time he called to his wife Racilia that she should bring
forth his robe from the cottage. So she brought it forth, and the man
wiped from him the dust and the sweat, and clad himself in his robe, and
stood before the messengers. These said to him, "The people of Rome make
thee Dictator, and bid thee come forthwith to the city." And at the same
time they told how the Consul and his army were besieged by the Æquians.
So Cincinnatus departed to Rome; and when he came to the other side
of the Tiber there met him first his three sons, and next many of his
kinsfolk and friends, and after them a numerous company of the nobles.
These all conducted him to his house, the lictors, four and twenty
in number, marching before him. There was also assembled a very great
concourse of the people, fearing much how the Dictator might deal with
them, for they knew what manner of man he was, and that there was no
limit to his power, nor any appeal from him.
The next day before dawn the Dictator came into the market-place,
and appointed one Lucius Tarquinius to be Master of the Horse. This
Tarquinius was held by common consent to excel all other men in
exercises of war; only, though, being a noble by birth, he should have
been among the horsemen, he had served, for lack of means, as a foot
soldier. This done he called an assembly of the people and commanded
that all the shops in the city should be shut; that no man should
concern himself with any private business, but all that were of an age
to go to the war should be present before sunset in the Field of Mars,
each man having with him provisions of cooked food for five days, and
twelve stakes. As for them that were past the age, they should prepare
the food while the young men made ready their arms and sought for the
stakes. These last they took as they found them, no man hindering
them; and when the time appointed by the Dictator was come, all were
assembled, ready, as occasion might serve, either to march or to give
battle. Forthwith they set out, the Dictator leading the foot soldiers
by their legions, and Tarquinius the horsemen, and each bidding them
that followed make all haste. "We must needs come," they said, "to our
journey's end while it is yet night. Remember that the Consul and his
army have been besieged now for three days, and that no man knows what
a day or a night may bring forth." The soldiers themselves also were
zealous to obey, crying out to the standard-bearers that they should
quicken their steps, and to their fellows that they should not lag
behind. Thus they came at midnight to Mount Ægidus, and when they
perceived that the enemy was at hand they halted the standards. Then the
Consul rode forward to see, so far as the darkness would suffer him, how
great was the camp of the Æquians and after what fashion it was pitched.
This done he commanded that the baggage should be gathered together into
a heap, and that the soldiers should stand every man in his own place.
After this he compassed about the whole army of the enemy with his own
army, and commanded that at a set signal every man should shout, and
when they had shouted should dig a trench and set up therein the stakes.
This the soldiers did, and the noise of the shouting passed over the
camp of the enemy and came into the city, causing therein great joy,
even as it caused great fear in the camp. For the Romans cried, "These
be our countrymen, and they bring us help." Then said the Consul, "We
must make no delay. By that shout is signified, not that they are come
only, but that they are already dealing with the enemy. Doubtless the
camp of the Æquians is even now assailed from without. Take ye your arms
and follow me." So the legion went forth, it being yet night, to the
battle, and as they went they shouted, that the Dictator might be aware.
Now the Æquians had set themselves to hinder the making of a ditch and
rampart which should shut them in; but when the Romans from the camp
fell upon them, fearing lest these should make their way through the
midst of their camp, they left them that were with Cincinnatus to finish
their entrenching, and fought with the Consul. And when it was now
light, lo! they were already shut in, and the Romans, having finished
their entrenching, began to trouble them. And when the Æquians perceived
that the battle was now on either side of them, they could withstand
no longer, but sent ambassadors praying for peace, and saying, "Ye have
prevailed; slay us not, but rather permit us to depart, leaving our arms
behind us." Then said the Dictator, "I care not to have the blood of the
Æquians. Ye may depart, but ye shall depart passing under the yoke, that
ye may thus acknowledge to all men that ye are indeed vanquished." Now
the yoke is thus made. There are set up in the ground two spears, and
over them is bound by ropes a third spear. So the Æquians passed under
the yoke.
In the camp of the enemy there was found abundance of spoil. This the
Dictator gave wholly to his own soldiers. "Ye were well-nigh a spoil to
the enemy," said he to the army of the Consul, "therefore ye shall
have no share in the spoiling of them. As for thee, Minucius, be thou a
lieutenant only till thou hast learnt how to bear thyself as a consul."
Meanwhile at Rome there was held a meeting of the Senate, at which it
was commanded that Cincinnatus should enter the city in triumph, his
soldiers following him in order of march.
Before his chariot there were led the generals of the enemy; also the
standards were carried in the front; and after these came the army,
every man laden with spoil. That day there was great rejoicing in the
city, every man setting forth a banquet before his doors in the street.
After this, Volscius, that had borne false witness against Kæso, was
found guilty of perjury, and went into exile. And when Cincinnatus
saw that justice had been done to this evil-doer, he resigned his
dictatorship, having held it for sixteen days only.