CHAP. III
(Of the World, 3545—Of Rome, 245.)
[1]King Tarquin, with his [2]family, being [3]banished, [4]L. Junius Brutus, and [5]L. Tarquinius Collatinus were [6]made [7]consuls. [8]The former was so [9]severe, that he [10]scourged and [11]beheaded his own sons for [12]favouring [13]the banished kings, being a [14]greater [15]friend to the [16]public [17]liberty than to his own family. A [18]field of the Tarquins, which [19]lay [20]between the city and [21]the Tiber, was [22]consecrated to [23]Mars, and [24]from thence [25]called [26]Campus Martius. [27]Brutus [28]died in the [29]war [30]against the Tarquins, who [31]prevailed upon some of the [32]neighbouring [33]nations to [34]assist them; [35]amongst the [36]rest, Porsena, king of Etruria, [37]made war upon the Romans, in [38]favour of the Tarquins: in which war the [39]bravery of [40]Horatius Coccles was very [41]remarkable, who [42]maintained the [43]fight [44]against the [45]victorious [46]enemy [47]till the [48]bridge on the Tiber was [49]cut down, [50]when he [51]swam and crossed the [52]river. Nor [53]must we [54]pass over in silence the [55]noble [56]attempt of [57]Mutius Scævola, who [58]secretly [59]entered the [60]enemy’s [61]camp with a [62]resolution to [63]kill the king; [64]but having by [65]mistake [66]slain one of his nobles, he [67]thrust his [68]hand into the [69]fire that was upon the [70]altar; which so [71]terrified the king, that he [72]made [73]peace with the Romans, and [74]returned [75]home. [76]After this, the [77]Latins made [78]war upon the Romans, [79]under the [80]conduct of [81]Octavius Mamilius, Tarquin’s [82]son-in-law; [83]against whom [84]Posthumius being made [85]dictator, [86]vanquished them in a [87]memorable [88]battle at the [89]lake Regillus.
[90]Afterwards a war was [91]proclaimed [92]against the [93]Volsci, who had [94]raised some [95]troops, to [96]send to the [97]assistance of the [98]Latins in the [99]former war. The [100]fortune of [101]Caius Marcius Coriolanus was [102]remarkable in that war, who being [103]condemned in his [104]absence, [105]retired amongst the Volsci, and [106]advised them to [107]renew the war; for the [108]management of which, being [109]chosen [110]general with [111]Tullius Accius, after he had [112]routed the Romans in [113]several [114]engagements, and [115]advanced up [116]to the very walls of the city, he was [117]moved by the [118]prayers of his [119]mother, and he [120]raised the [121]siege. After the [122]death of [123]Coriolanus, the Volsci [124]continued the war, and [125]were [126]together with the [127]Æqui, [128]and Hernici, [129]soundly [130]beaten by [131]Spurius Cassius, who had been [132]thrice [133]consul. [134]He being elevated by his [135]success, [136]aspired to the [137]throne, [138]but was [139]prevented in his [140]design, and [141]thrown headlong from the [142]Tarpeian rock.
In the year 261 from the [143]building of the city, the [144]common people being very [145]much in [146]debt, and [147]provoked by the [148]cruelty of their [149]creditors, [150]retired [151]beyond the [152]Anien into the [153]sacred mount, but were [154]reconciled by the [155]pacific [156]persuasions of [157]Menenius Agrippa; having [158]first [159]obtained from the [160]fathers, that [161]officers should be [162]appointed to [163]screen them from the [164]violence of the [165]patricii, who were [166] called [167]tribunes of the [168]people.
After this, the Romans had a war with the [169]Veientes, which the [170]family of the [171]Fabii [172]undertook to [173]carry on by themselves; and having [174]pitched their camp by the [175]river [176]Cremera, were [177]trepanned by the [178]enemy, and [179]cut off in one [180]day, to the [181]number of 306.
The war with the [182]Volsci [183]continued. They were [184]often [185]vanquished, [186]especially by T. [187]Quintius Cincinnatus, who took [188]Antium, the [189]metropolis of their [190]nation. Cincinnatus being [191]afterwards [192]taken from the [193]plough, and [194]made [195]dictator [196]against the [197]Æqui, he [198]delivered the [199]consul [200]Minucius, who was [201]besieged by them, and [202]obliged the [203]enemy to [204]pass under the [205]yoke.
In the year 303, [206]after the [207]foundation of the city, and 451 years [208]before [209]Christ, the [210]form of the [211]government was [212]changed. [213]For [214]instead of [215]consuls, the [216]decemviri were [217]set up, with [218]supreme [219]power to [220]make [221]laws for the Roman [222]people, [223]from those which their ambassadors had the year before [224]brought from [225]Greece. But [226]abusing their [227]power, they were [228]obliged to [229]lay down their [230]authority; and the [231]consuls and [232]tribunes were [233]restored.
In the 315th year of the city, Sp. Melius, in the [234]time of a [235]famine, [236]endeavouring to [237]make his way to a [238]throne, by [239]sharing [240]corn [241]amongst the [242]people, was [243]slain by [244]order of [245]Quintius Cincinnatus the [246]dictator, by [247]C. Servilius Ahala [248]master of the horse. In the [249]following year the [250]Fidenates [251]revolted to [252]Lars Tolumnius, king of the [253]Veientes, and [254]put the Roman ambassadors to [255]death, who had their [256]statues [257]erected in the [258]forum. The [259]Veientes [260]in the next year were [261]subdued by [262]Mamercus Æmilius, [263]dictator. [264]Tolumnius was [265]slain by [266]Cornelius Cossus, who was the [267]second from [268]Romulus that [269]dedicated the [270]spoils [271]called [272]Opima to Jupiter [273]Feretrius.
[274]Censors were [275]set up at Rome in the 311th year of the city, who [276]held their [277]office [278]at first for [279]five [280]years, [281]but were [282]afterwards, in the year 320, [283]reduced by [284]Mamercus Æmilius, [285]dictator, to a year and a [286]half. In the year 323, the [287]dictator [288]A. Posthumius was very [289]successful [290]against the [291]Æqui and the [292]Volsci; but [293]stained the [294]victory with the [295]blood of his own [296]son, whom he [297]beheaded for having [298]fought [299]contrary to his [300]orders.