He, not only endowed with good natural powers, but well trained also by experience, on that particular occasion, delivered the following address: "If, Romans, there was ever reason to doubt, whether the tribunes of the people have ever promoted sedition for your sake or their own, I am certain that in the course of this year that doubt must have ceased to exist; and while I rejoice that an end has at length come of a mistake of such long continuance, I in the next place congratulate you, and on your account the republic, that this delusion has been removed during a course of prosperous events. Is there any person who can feel a doubt that the tribunes of the commons were never so highly displeased and provoked by any wrongs done to you, if ever such did happen, as by the munificence of the patricians to the commons, when pay was established for those serving in the army. What else do you suppose that they either then dreaded, or now wish to disturb, except the union between the orders, which they think contributes most to the dissolution of the tribunitian power? Thus, by Jove, like workers in iniquity, they are seeking for work, who also wish that there should be always some diseased part in the republic, that there may be something for the cure of which they may be employed by you. For, [tribunes,] whether do you defend or attack the commons? whether are you the enemies of those in the service, or do you plead their cause? Unless perhaps you say, whatever the patricians do, displeases us; whether it is for the commons, or against the commons; and just as masters forbid their slaves to have any dealing with those belonging to others, and deem it right that they should equally refrain from having any commerce with them, either for kindness or unkindness; ye, in like manner, interdict us the patricians from all intercourse with the people, lest by our courteousness and munificence we may challenge their regard, and they become tractable and obedient to our direction. And if there were in you any thing of the feeling, I say not of fellow-citizens, but of human beings, how much more ought you to favour, and, as far as in you lay, to promote rather the kindly demeanour of the patricians and the tractability of the commons! And if such concord were once permanent, who would not venture to engage, that this empire would in a short time become the highest among the neighbouring states?
"I shall hereafter explain to you how not only expedient, but even necessary has been this plan of my colleagues, according to which they would not draw off the army from Veii until the business has been completed. For the present I am disposed to speak concerning the condition of the soldiers. Which observations of mine I think would appear reasonable not only before you, but even, if they were delivered in the camp, in the opinion of the soldiers themselves; on which subject if nothing could suggest itself to my own mind to say, I certainly should be satisfied with that which is suggested by the arguments of my adversaries. They lately said, that pay should not be given to the soldiers because it had never been given. How then can they now feel displeased, that additional labour should be imposed in due proportion on those to whom some addition of profit has been added? In no case is there either labour without emolument, nor emolument in general without the expense of labour. Toil and pleasure, in their natures most unlike, are yet linked together by a sort of natural connexion. Formerly the soldier thought it a hardship that he gave his labour to the commonwealth at his own expense; at the same time he was glad for a part of the year to till his own ground; to acquire that means whence he might support himself and family at home and in war. Now he feels a pleasure that the republic is a source of advantage to him, and gladly receives his pay. Let him therefore bear with patience that he is a little longer absent from home and his family affairs, to which no heavy expense is now attached. Whether if the commonwealth should call him to a settlement of accounts, would it not justly say, You have pay by the year, perform labour by the year? do you think it just to receive a whole year's pay for six months' service? Romans, with reluctance do I dwell on this topic; for so ought those persons proceed who employ mercenary troops. But we wish to treat as with fellow-citizens, and we think it only just that you treat with us as with the country. Either the war should not have been undertaken, or it ought to be conducted suitably to the dignity of the Roman people, and brought to a close as soon as possible. But it will be brought to a conclusion if we press on the besieged; if we do not retire until we have consummated our hopes by the capture of Veii. In truth, if there were no other motive, the very discredit of the thing should impose on us perseverance. In former times a city was kept besieged for ten years, on account of one woman, by all Greece. At what a distance from their homes! how many lands, how many seas distant! We grumble at enduring a siege of a year's duration within twenty miles of us, almost within sight of our own city; because, I suppose, the cause of the war is trifling, nor is there resentment sufficiently just to stimulate us to persevere. Seven times they have rebelled: in peace they never acted faithfully. They have laid waste our lands a thousand times: the Fidenatians they forced to revolt from us: they have put to death our colonists there: contrary to the law of nations, they have been the instigators of the impious murder of our ambassadors: they wished to excite all Etruria against us, and are at this day busily employed at it; and they scarcely refrained from violating our ambassadors when demanding restitution. With such people ought war to be conducted in a remiss and dilatory manner?
"If such just resentment have no influence with us, will not, I entreat you, the following considerations influence you? Their city has been enclosed with immense works, by which the enemy is confined within their walls. They have not tilled their land, and what was previously tilled has been laid waste in the war. If we withdraw our army, who is there who can doubt that they will invade our territory not only from a desire of revenge, but from the necessity also imposed on them of plundering from the property of others, since they have lost their own? By such measures then we do not put off the war, but admit it within our own frontiers. What shall I say of that which properly interests the soldiers, for whose interests those worthy tribunes of the commons, all on a sudden, are now so anxious to provide, after they have endeavoured to wrest their pay from them? How does it stand? They have formed a rampart and a trench, both works of great labour, through so great an extent of ground; they have erected forts, at first only a few, afterwards very many, when the army became increased; they have raised defenders not only towards the city, but towards Etruria also, against any succours which may come from thence. What need I mention towers, vineæ, and testudines, and the other apparatus used in attacking towns? When so much labour has been expended, and they have now at length reached the end of the work, do you think that all these preparations should be abandoned that, next summer, the same course of toil may have to be undergone again in forming them anew? How much less trouble to support the works already done, and to press on and persevere, and to get rid of our task! For certainly the matter is of short duration, if it be conducted with a uniform course of exertions; nor do we by these intermissions and interruptions expedite the attainment of our hopes. I am now speaking of labour and of loss of time. What? do these such frequent meetings in Etruria on the subject of sending aid to Veii suffer us to disregard the danger which we encounter by procrastinating the war? As matters stand now, they are incensed, they dislike them, they refuse to send any; as far as they are concerned, we are at liberty to take Veii. Who can promise that their temper will be the same hereafter, if the war is suspended? when, if you suffer any relaxation, more respectable and more frequent embassies will go; when that which now displeases the Etrurians, the establishment of a king at Veii, may, after an interval, be done away with, either by the joint determination of the state that they may recover the good will of the Etrurians, or by a voluntary act of the king, who may be unwilling that his reign should stand in the way of the welfare of his countrymen. See how many circumstances, and how detrimental, follow that line of conduct: the loss of works formed with so great labour; the threatening devastation of our frontiers; an Etruscan excited instead of a Veientian war. These, tribunes, are your measures, pretty much the same, in truth, as if a person should render a disease tedious, and perhaps incurable, for the sake of present meat or drink, in a patient who, by resolutely suffering himself to be treated, might soon recover his health.
"If, by Jove, it were of no consequence with respect to the present war, yet it certainly would be of the utmost importance to military discipline, that our soldiers should be accustomed not only to enjoy the victory obtained by them; but even though matters should proceed more slowly than was anticipated, to brook the tediousness and await the issue of their hopes, however tardy; and if the war be not finished in the summer, to wait for the winter, and not, like summer birds, in the very commencement of autumn look out for shelter and a retreat. I pray you, the eagerness and pleasure of hunting hurries men into snow and frost, over mountains and woods; shall we not employ that patience on the exigencies of war, which even sport and pleasure are wont to call forth? Are we to suppose that the bodies of our soldiers are so effeminate, their minds so feeble, that they cannot hold out for one winter in a camp, and be absent from home? that, like persons who wage a naval war, by taking advantage of the weather, and observing the season of the year, they are able to endure neither heat nor cold? They would certainly blush, should any one lay these things to their charge; and would maintain that both their minds and their bodies were possessed of manly endurance, and that they were able to conduct war equally well in winter and in summer; and that they had not consigned to the tribunes the patronage of indolence and sloth, and that they remembered that their ancestors had created this very power, neither in the shade nor beneath their roofs. Such sentiments are worthy of the valour of your soldiers, such sentiments are worthy of the Roman name, not to consider merely Veii, nor this war which is now pressing us, but to seek a reputation for hereafter for other wars and for other states. Do you consider the difference of opinion likely to result from this matter as trivial? Whether, pray, are the neighbouring states to suppose that the Roman people is such, that if any one shall sustain their first assault, and that of very short continuance, they have nothing afterwards to fear? or whether such should be the terror of our name, that neither the tediousness of a distant siege, nor the inclemency of winter, can dislodge the Roman army from a city once invested, and that they know no other termination of war than victory, and that they carry on wars not more by briskness than by perseverance; which is necessary no doubt in every kind of war, but more especially in besieging cities; most of which, impregnable both by their works and by natural situation, time itself overpowers and reduces by famine and thirst; as it will reduce Veii, unless the tribunes of the commons shall afford aid to the enemy, and the Veientians find in Rome reinforcements which they seek in vain in Etruria. Is there any thing which can happen so much in accordance with the wishes of the Veientians, as that first the Roman city, then the camp, as it were by contagion, should be filled with sedition? But, by Jove, among the enemy so forbearing a state of mind prevails, that not a single change has taken place among them, either through disgust at the length of the siege nor even of the kingly form of government; nor has the refusal of aid by the Etrurians aroused their tempers. For whoever will be the abettor of sedition, will be instantly put to death; nor will it be permitted to any one to utter those sentiments which amongst you are expressed with impunity. He is sure to receive the bastinade, who forsakes his colours or quits his post. Persons advising not one or two soldiers, but whole armies to relinquish their colours or to forsake their camp, are openly listened to in your public assemblies. Accordingly whatever a tribune of the people says, although it tends to the ruin of the country or the dissolution of the commonwealth, you are accustomed to listen to with partiality; and captivated with the charms of that authority, you suffer all sorts of crimes to lie concealed beneath it. The only thing that remains is, that what they vociferate here, the same projects do they realize in the camp and among the soldiers, and seduce the armies, and not suffer them to obey their officers; since that and that only is liberty in Rome, to show no deference to the senate, nor to magistrates, nor laws, nor the usages of ancestors, nor the institutions of our fathers, nor military discipline."
Even already Appius was a match for the tribunes of the people in the popular assemblies; when suddenly a misfortune sustained before Veii, from a quarter whence no one could expect it, both gave Appius the superiority in the dispute, produced also a greater harmony between the different orders, and greater ardour to carry on the siege of Veii with more pertinacity. For when the trenches were now advanced to the very city, and the machines were almost about to be applied to the walls, whilst the works are carried on with greater assiduity by day, than they are guarded by night, a gate was thrown open on a sudden, and a vast multitude, armed chiefly with torches, cast fire about on all sides; and after the lapse of an hour the flames destroyed both the rampart and the machines, the work of so long a time, and great numbers of men, bearing assistance in vain, were destroyed by the sword and by fire. When the account of this circumstance was brought to Rome, it inspired sadness into all ranks; into the senate anxiety and apprehension, lest the sedition could no longer be withstood either in the city or in the camp, and lest the tribunes of the commons should insult over the commonwealth, as if vanquished by them; when on a sudden, those who possessed an equestrian fortune, but to whom horses had not been assigned by the public, having previously held a meeting together, went to the senate; and having obtained permission to speak, promise that they will serve on their own horses. And when thanks were returned to them by the senate in the most complimentary terms, and the report of this proceeding spread through the forum and the city, there suddenly ensues a concourse of the commons to the senate-house. They say that "they are now of the pedestrian order, and they preferred their services to the commonwealth, though not compelled to serve, whether they wished to march them to Veii, or to any other place. If they were led to Veii, they affirm, that they would not return from thence, until the city of the enemy was taken." Then indeed they with difficulty set bounds to the joy which now poured in upon them; for they were not ordered, as in the case of the horsemen, to be publicly eulogized, the order for so doing being consigned to the magistrates, nor were they summoned into the senate-house to receive an answer; nor did the senate confine themselves within the threshold of their house, but every one of them individually with their voice and hands testified from the elevated ground the public joy to the multitude standing in the assembly; they declared that by that unanimity the Roman city would be happy, and invincible and eternal; praised the horsemen, praised the commons; extolled the day itself by their praises; they acknowledged that the courtesy and kindness of the senate was outdone. Tears flowed in abundance through joy both from the patricians and commons; until the senators being called back into the house, a decree of the senate was passed, "that the military tribunes, summoning an assembly, should return thanks to the infantry and cavalry; and should state that the senate would be mindful of their affectionate attachment to their country. But that it was their wish that their pay should go on for those who had, out of their turn, undertaken voluntary service." To the horsemen also a certain stipend was assigned. Then for the first time the cavalry began to serve on their own horses. This army of volunteers being led to Veii, not only restored the works which had been lost, but also erected new ones. Supplies were conveyed from the city with greater care than before; lest any thing should be wanting for the accommodation of an army who deserved so well.