Plutarch · Life of Camillus Κάμιλλος

Plutarch, Life of Camillus 11.1–14.2: The trial and exile of Camillus, and the voice heard by Marcus Caedicius

The soldiers who were denied the plunder of Falerii denounce Camillus, and the Roman people are angry when he again turns them from the law to divide the city, even after the death of one of his sons. Lucius Apuleius accuses him of taking Tuscan goods, and when his friends will only help pay a fine, he leaves Rome and prays that the Romans soon feel the need of him; he is fined fifteen thousand asses in his absence. Plutarch tells of signs of coming evil, the death of Julius the censor and a voice heard by Marcus Caedicius that warns of the coming of the Gauls.

Sections 11.1–14.2 · 720 words · click a number to copy its link

οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται διαρπάσειν προσδοκήσαντες τοὺς Φαλερίους, ὡς ἐπανῆλθον εἰς Ῥώμην κεναῖς χερσί, κατηγόρουν τοῦ Καμίλλου πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους πολίτας ὡς μισοδήμου καὶ φθονήσαντος ὠφεληθῆναι τοῖς πένησιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν περὶ τοῦ διοικισμοῦ νόμον οἱ δήμαρχοι προθέντες αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν ψῆφον ἐκάλουν τὸν δῆμον, ὁ δὲ Κάμιλλος οὐδεμιᾶς ἀπεχθείας οὐδὲ παρρησίας φεισάμενος ἐφάνη μάλιστα πάντων ἐκβιαζόμενος τοὺς πολλούς, τὸν μὲν νόμον ἄκοντες ἀπεψηφίσαντο,

But the soldiers thought to have had the sacking of Falerii, and when they came back to Rome empty-handed, they denounced Camillus to the rest of the citizens as a hater of the common people, and as begrudging to the poor the enjoyment of their rightful booty. And when the tribunes once more put forward the law for the division of the city and summoned the people to vote upon it, then Camillus, shunning no hatred nor any boldness of utterance, was manifestly the chief one in forcing the multitude away from its desires.

τὸν δὲ Κάμιλλον διʼ ὀργῆς εἶχον, ὥστε καὶ δυστυχήσαντος αὐτοῦ περὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα τῶν γὰρ υἱῶν ἀπέβαλε τὸν ἕτερον νοσήσαντα μηδὲν οἴκτῳ τῆς ὀργῆς ὑφέσθαι. καίτοι τὸ πάθος οὐ μετρίως ἤνεγκεν ἀνὴρ ἥμερος φύσει καὶ χρηστός, ἀλλὰ τῆς δίκης προγεγραμμένης αὐτῷ διὰ πένθος οἰκούρει καθειργμένος μετὰ τῶν γυναικῶν.

Therefore, they did indeed reject the law, much against their will, but they were wroth with Camillus, so that even when he met with domestic affliction and lost one of his two sons by sickness, their wrath was in no wise softened by pity. And yet he set no bounds to his sorrow, being by nature a gentle and kindly man, but even after the indictment against him had been published, he suffered his grief to keep him at home, in close seclusion with the women of his household.

ὁ μὲν οὖν κατήγορος ἦν Λεύκιος Ἀπουλήιος, ἔγκλημα δὲ κλοπῆς περὶ τὰ Τυρρηνικὰ χρήματα, καὶ δῆτα καὶ θύραι τινὲς ἐλέγοντο χαλκαῖ παρʼ αὐτῷ φανῆναι τῶν αἰχμαλώτων, ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἐξηρέθιστο καὶ δῆλος ἦν ἐκ πάσης προφάσεως κατʼ αὐτοῦ τῇ ψήφῳ χρησόμενος.

Well, then, his accuser was Lucius Apuleius, and the charge was theft of Tuscan goods. It was said, forsooth, that certain bronze doors belonging to the booty had been seen at his house. But the people were exasperated, and would plainly lay hold of any pretext whatever for condemning him.

οὕτως οὖν συναγαγὼν τούς τε φίλους καὶ τούς συστρατευσαμένους οὐκ ὀλίγους τὸ πλῆθος ὄντας, ἐδεῖτο μὴ περιιδεῖν αὐτὸν ἀδίκως ἐπʼ αἰτίαις πονηραῖς ὀφλόντα καὶ καταγέλαστον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν γενόμενον. ἐπεὶ δʼ οἱ φίλοι βουλευσάμενοι καὶ διαλεχθέντες ἑαυτοῖς ἀπεκρίναντο, πρὸς μὲν τὴν κρίσιν αὐτῷ μηδὲν οἴεσθαι βοηθήσειν, τὴν δὲ ζημίαν ὀφλόντι συνεκτίσειν, οὐκ ἀνασχόμενος ἔγνω μεταστῆναι καὶ φυγεῖν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως πρὸς ὀργήν.

So then he assembled his friends and comrades in arms, who were many in number, and begged them not to suffer him to be convicted on base charges and to be made a laughingstock by his foes. When his friends had laid their heads together and discussed the case, they answered that, as regarded his trial, they thought they could be of no help to him; but if he were punished with a fine, they would help him pay it. This he could not endure, and in his wrath determined to depart the city and go into exile.

ἀσπασάμενος οὖν τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας προῄει σιωπῇ μέχρι τῆς πύλης· ἐκεῖ δὲ ἐπέστη, καὶ μεταστραφεὶς ὀπίσω καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἀνατείνας πρὸς τὸ Καπιτώλιον ἐπεύξατο τοῖς θεοῖς, εἰ μὴ δικαίως, ἀλλʼ ὕβρει δήμου καὶ φθόνῳ προπηλακιζόμενος ἐκπίπτει, ταχὺ Ῥωμαίους μετανοῆσαι καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις φανεροὺς γενέσθαι δεομένους αὐτοῦ καὶ ποθοῦντας Κάμιλλον.

Accordingly, after he had kissed his wife and son good-bye, he went from his house in silence as far as the gate of the city. There he stopped, turned himself about, and stretching his hands out towards the Capitol, prayed the gods that, if with no justice, but through the wantonness of the people and the abuse of the envious he was now being driven from his country, the Romans might speedily repent, and show to all men that they needed and longed for Camillus.

ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν, ὥσπερ ὁ Ἀχιλλεὺς, ἀρὰς θέμενος ἐπὶ τοὺς πολίτας καὶ μεταστὰς ὦφλε τὴν δίκην ἐρήμην, τίμημα μυρίων καὶ πεντακισχιλίων ἀσσαρίων ἔχουσαν. ὃ γίνεται πρὸς ἀργυρίου λόγον χίλιαι δραχμαὶ καὶ πεντακόσιαι· ἀσσάριον γὰρ ἦν τὸ ἀργύριον, καὶ τὸ δεκάχαλκον οὕτως ἐκαλεῖτο δηνάριον.

After he had thus, like Achilles, invoked curses upon his fellow citizens, he removed from out the city. His case went by default, and he was fined fifteen thousand asses. This sum, reduced to our money, is fifteen hundred drachmas. For the as was the current copper coin, and the silver coin worth ten of these pieces was for that reason called the denarius, which is equivalent to the drachma.

οὐδεὶς δʼ ἔστι Ῥωμαίων, ὃς οὐ νομίζει τὰς εὐχὰς τοῦ Καμίλλου ταχὺ τὴν Δίκην ὑπολαβεῖν, καὶ γενέσθαι τιμωρίαν αὐτῷ τῆς ἀδικίας οὐκ ἡδεῖαν, ἀλλʼ ἀνιαράν, ὀνομαστὴν δὲ καὶ περιβόητον· τοσαύτη περιῆλθε τὴν Ῥώμην νέμεσις, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἄγων φθόρον καὶ κίνδυνον ἅμα μετʼ αἰσχύνης ἐφάνη καιρὸς ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν, εἴτε τῆς τύχης οὕτω συνελθούσης, εἴτε καὶ θεῶν τινος ἔργον ἔστι μὴ παραμελεῖν ἀρετῆς ἀχαριστουμένης.

Now there is no Roman who does not believe that justice followed hard upon the imprecations of Camillus, and that he received a requital for his wrongs which was not pleasing to him, but painful; certainly it was notable and famous. For a great retribution encompassed Rome, and a season of dire destruction and peril not unmixed with disgrace assailed the city, whether fortune so brought things to pass, or whether it is the mission of some god not to neglect virtue that goes unrequited.

πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ἔδοξε σημεῖον γεγονέναι κακοῦ μεγάλου προσιόντος ἡ Ἰουλίου τοῦ τιμητοῦ τελευτή· μάλιστα γὰρ δὴ Ῥωμαῖοι σέβονται καὶ νομίζουσιν ἱερὰν τὴν τῶν τιμητῶν ἀρχήν, δεύτερον δὲ πρὸ τῆς Καμίλλου φυγῆς ἀνὴρ οὐκ ἐπιφανὴς μὲν οὐδὲ ἐκ τῆς βουλῆς, ἐπιεικὴς δὲ καὶ χρηστὸς εἶναι δοκῶν, Μᾶρκος Καιδίκιος, ἀνήνεγκε πρὸς τοὺς χιλιάρχους πρᾶγμα φροντίδος ἄξιον.

In the first place, then, it seemed to be a sign of great evil impending when Julius the censor died. For the Romans specially revere and hold sacred the office of censor. In the second place, before Camillus went into exile, a man who was not conspicuous, to be sure, but who was esteemed honest and kindly, Marcus Caedicius, informed the military tribunes of a matter well worth their attention.

ἔφη γὰρ ἐν τῇ παρῳχημένῃ νυκτὶ καθʼ ὁδὸν βαδίζων, ἣν Καινὴν ὀνομάζουσι, κληθεὶς ὑπό τινος φθεγξαμένου μεταστραφῆναι, καὶ θεάσασθαι μὲν οὐδένα, φωνῆς δὲ μείζονος ἢ κατʼ ἀνθρωπίνην ἀκοῦσαι τάδε λεγούσης· ἄγε, Μᾶρκε Καιδίκιε, λέγε πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἕωθεν ἐλθὼν ὀλίγου χρόνου Γαλάτας προσδέχεσθαι. ταῦτʼ ἀκούσαντες οἱ χιλίαρχοι γέλωτα καὶ παιδιὰν ἐποιοῦντο. καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγον συνέβη τὰ περὶ Κάμιλλον.

He said that during the night just passed, as he was going along the so-called New Street, he was hailed by someone in clear tones, and turned, and saw no man, but heard a voice louder than man’s saying: Hark thou! Marcus Caedicius, early in the morning go and tell the magistrates that within a little time they must expect the Gauls. At this story the tribunes mocked and jested. And a little while after, Camillus suffered his disgrace.

English translation by Bernadotte Perrin (1914). Original text: Bernadotte Perrin (ed. and trans.), Plutarch's Lives, vol. 2, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1914 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.