ἀλλὰ διʼ ἐκεῖνα μᾶλλον ἤχθοντο τῷ Οὐαλλερίῳ καὶ προσέκρουον, ὅτι Βροῦτος μέν, ὃν πατέρα τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἐνόμιζεν ὁ δῆμος, οὐκ ἠξίωσε μόνος ἄρχειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρῶτον αὐτῷ συνάρχοντα προσείλετο καὶ δεύτερον οὑτοσὶ δʼ, ἔφασαν, εἰς αὐτόν ἅπαντα συνενεγκάμενος οὐκ ἔστι τῆς Βρούτου κληρονόμος ὑπατείας μηδὲν αὐτῷ προσηκούσης, ἀλλὰ τῆς Ταρκυνίου τυραννίδος.
But that which the rather displeased and offended the people in Valerius was this. Brutus, whom they regarded as the father of their liberties, would not consent to rule alone, but once and again chose a colleague to rule with him. But this Valerius, they said, in concentrating all power upon himself, is not a successor to the consulate of Brutus, to which he has no right, but to the tyranny of Tarquin.
καίτοι τί δεῖ λόγῳ μὲν Βροῦτον ἐγκωμιάζειν, ἔργῳ δὲ μιμεῖσθαι Ταρκύνιον, ὑπὸ ῥάβδοις ὁμοῦ πάσαις καὶ πελέκεσι κατιόντα μόνον ἐξ οἰκίας τοσαύτης τὸ μέγεθος ὅσην οὐ καθεῖλε τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως; καὶ γὰρ ὄντως ὁ Οὐαλλέριος ᾤκει τραγικώτερον ὑπὲρ τὴν καλουμένην Οὐελίαν οἰκίαν ἐπικρεμαμένην τῇ ἀγορᾷ καὶ καθ ο ρ ῶς αν ἐξ ὕψους ἅπαντα, δυσπρόσοδον δὲ πελάσαι καὶ χαλεπὴν ἔξωθεν, ὥστε καταβαίνοντος αὐτοῦ τὸ σχῆμα μετέωρον εἶναι καὶ βασιλικὸν τῆς προπομπῆς τὸν ὄγκον.
Yet why should he extol Brutus in words, while in deeds he imitates Tarquin, descending to the forum alone, escorted by all the rods and axes together, from a house no less stately than the royal house which he demolished? For, as a matter of fact, Valerius was living in a very splendid house on the so-called Velia. It hung high over the forum, commanded a view of all that passed there, and was surrounded by steeps and hard to get at, so that when he came down from it the spectacle was a lofty one, and the pomp of his procession worthy of a king.
ὅσον οὖν ἐν ἀρχῇ καὶ πράγμασι μεγάλοις ἀγαθὸν ἦν ἔχειν ὦτα παρρησίαν ἀντὶ κολακείας προσιέμενα καὶ λόγους ἀληθεῖς, ἔδειξεν. ἀκούσας γὰρ ὅτι τοῖς πολλοῖς ἁμαρτάνειν ἐδόκει τῶν φίλων διεξιόντων, οὐκ ἐφιλονείκησεν, οὐδʼ ἠγανάκτησεν, ἀλλὰ ταχὺ πολλοὺς συναγαγὼν τεχνίτας ἔτι νυκτὸς οὔσης κατέβαλε τὴν οἰκίαν καὶ κατέσκαψεν εἰς ἔδαφος πᾶσαν,
Accordingly, Valerius showed what a good thing it is for men in power and high station to have ears which are open to frankness and truth instead of flattery. For when he heard from his friends, who spared him no detail, that he was thought by time multitude to be transgressing, he was not obstinate nor exasperated, but quickly got together a large force of workmen, and while it was still night tore the house down, and razed it all to the ground.
ὥστε μεθʼ ἡμέραν τούς Ῥωμαίους ὁρῶντας καὶ συνισταμένους τοῦ μὲν ἀνδρὸς ἀγαπᾶν καὶ θαυμάζειν τὴν μεγαλοφροσύνην, ἄχθεσθαι δὲ τῆς οἰκίας καὶ ποθεῖν τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὸ κάλλος, ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπου, διὰ φθόνον οὐ δικαίως καταλελυμένης, τοῦ δὲ ἄρχοντος, ὥσπερ ἀνεστίου, παρʼ ἑτέροις οἰκοῦντος. ἐδέχοντο γὰρ οἱ φίλοι τὸν Οὐαλλέριον ἄχρι οὗ τόπον ἔδωκεν ὁ δῆμος αὐτῷ καὶ κατεσκεύασεν οἰκίαν ἐκείνης μετριωτέραν, ὅπου νῦν ἱερόν ἐστιν Οὐίκας Πότας ὀνομαζό μενον.
In the morning, therefore, the Romans saw what had happened, and came flocking together. They were moved to love and admiration by the man’s magnanimity, but were distressed for the house, and mourned for its stately beauty, as if it had been human, now that envy had unjustly compassed its destruction. They were also distressed for their ruler, who, like a homeless man, was now sharing the homes of others. For Valerius was received into the houses of his friends until the people gave him a site and built him a house, of more modest dimensions than the one he had lived in before, where now stands the temple of Vica Pota, so-called.
βουλόμενος δὲ μὴ μόνον ἑαυτὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀντὶ φοβερᾶς χειροήθη καὶ προσφιλῆ ποιεῖν τοῖς πολλοῖς, τούς τε πελέκεις ἀπέλυσε τῶν ῥάβδων, αὐτάς τε τὰς ῥάβδους εἰς ἐκκλησίαν παριὼν ὑφῆκε τῷ δήμῳ καὶ κατέκλινε, μέγα ποιῶν τὸ πρόσχημα τῆς δημοκρατίας, καὶ τοῦτο μέχρι νῦν διαφυλάττουσιν οἱ ἄρχοντες.
Wishing now to make not only himself but also the government, instead of formidable, submissive and agreeable to the multitude, he removed the axes from the lictors’ rods, and when he came into the assembly, inclined and lowered the rods themselves to the people, emphasizing the majesty of the democracy. This custom the consuls observe to this day.
ἐλάνθανε δὲ τούς πολλοὺς οὐχ ἑαυτὸν, ὡς ᾤοντο, ποιῶν ταπεινόν, ἀλλὰ τὸν φθόνον τῇ μετριότητι ταύτῃ καθαιρῶν καὶ κολούων, αὐτῷ δὲ προστιθεὶς τοσοῦτον μέγεθος δυνάμεως ὅσον ἀφαιρεῖν ἐδόκει τῆς ἐξουσίας, ὑποδυομένου μεθʼ ἡδονῆς αὐτῷ τοῦ δήμου καὶ φέροντος ἑκουσίως, ὥστε καὶ Ποπλικόλαν ἀνηγόρευσεν αὐτόν σημαίνει δὲ τοὔνομα δημοκηδῆ· καὶ τοῦτο μᾶλλον ἴσχυσε τῶν ἀρχαίων ὀνομάτων, ᾧ καὶ ἡμεῖς χρησόμεθα τὸν λοιπὸν βίον τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἱστοροῦντες.
And before the multitude were aware of it he had succeeded, not by humbling himself, as they thought, but by checking and removing their envious feelings through such moderation on his part, in adding to his real influence over them just as much as he had seemed to take away from his authority, and the people submitted to him with pleasure and bore his yoke willingly. They therefore called him Publicola, a name which signifies people-cherisher. This name prevailed over the older names which he had borne, and it is the name which I shall use for him in the remainder of this Life.
ὑπατείαν μὲν γὰρ ἔδωκε μετιέναι καὶ παραγγέλλειν τοῖς βουλομένοις· πρὸ δὲ τῆς καταστάσεως τοῦ συνάρχοντος οὐκ εἰδὼς τὸν γενησόμενον, ἀλλὰ δεδιὼς ἀντίπραξιν ὑπὸ φθόνου τινὸς ἢ ἀγνοίας, ἐχρήσατο τῇ μοναρχίᾳ πρὸς τὰ κάλλιστα καὶ μέγιστα τῶν πολιτευμάτων, πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἀνεπλήρωσε τὴν βουλὴν ὀλιγανδροῦσαν ἐτεθνήκεσαν γὰρ οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ Ταρκυνίου πρότερον, οἱ δὲ ἔναγχος ἐν τῇ μάχῃ.
For he permitted any who wished to enter the lists and sue for the consulship. But before the installation of his colleague, not knowing who he would be, but fearing an opposition due to some jealousy or ignorance, he used his sole authority for the enactment of his best and most important measures. In the first place, he filled up the senate, which was much reduced in numbers; for some had long before been put to death by Tarquin, and others had recently fallen in the battle with the Tuscans.
τοὺς δʼ ἐγγραφέντας ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λέγουσιν ἑκατὸν καὶ ἑξήκοντα τέσσαρας γενέσθαι. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα νόμους ἔγραψεν, ὧν μάλιστα μὲν ἰσχυροὺς ἐποίησε τοὺς πολλοὺς ὁ τὸν δῆμον ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων τῷ φεύγοντι δίκην ἐπικαλεῖσθαι διδούς· δεύτερος ὁ τοὺς ἀρχὴν ἀναλαβόντας, ἣν ὁ δῆμος οὐκ ἔδωκεν, ἀποθνῄσκειν κελεύων·
Those who were enrolled in this body by him amounted, they say, to a hundred and sixty-four. After this he enacted several laws, one of which especially strengthened the position of the commons by allowing a defendant to appeal to the people from the judgement of the consuls. A second made it a capital offence to assume a magistracy which the people had not bestowed.
τρίτος δὲ μετὰ τούτους, ὃς ἐβοήθησε τοῖς πένησιν, ᾧ τάτελη τῶν πολιτῶν ἀφεῖλε καὶ προθυμότερον ἅπτεσθαι τῶν ἐργασιῶν ἐποίησεν ἅπαντας. ὁ δὲ γραφεὶς κατὰ τῶν ἀπειθούντων τοῖς ὑπάτοις οὐχ ἧττον ἔδοξε δημοτικὸς εἶναι, καὶ πρὸς τῶν πολλῶν μᾶλλον ἢ δυνατῶν γεγράφθαι. ζημίαν γὰρ ἀπειθείας ἔταξε βοῶν πέντε καὶ δυεῖν προβάτων ἀξίαν.
A third, following these, came to the relief of the poor; it lifted the taxes from the citizens, so that all engaged more zealously in manufactures and commerce. And the one which was enacted against disobedience to the consuls was thought to be no less popular in its character, and to be in the interest of the many rather than of the powerful.
ἦν δὲ τιμὴ προβάτου μὲν ὀβολοὶ δέκα, βοὸς δὲ ἑκατόν, οὔπω νομίσματι χρωμένων πολλῷ τότε Ῥωμαίων, ἀλλὰ προβατείαις καὶ κτηνοτροφίαις εὐθηνούντων. διὸ καὶ τὰς οὐσίας ἄχρι νῦν ἀπὸ τῶν προβάτων πεκούλια καλοῦσι, καὶ τῶν νομισμάτων τοῖς παλαιοτάτοις βοῦν ἐπεχάραττον ἢ πρόβατον ἢ σῦν. ἐτίθεντο δὲ καὶ παισὶν αὑτῶν Συΐλλους καὶ Βουβούλκους καὶ Καπραρίους ὀνόματα καὶ Πορκίους· κάπρας μὲν τὰς αἶγας, πόρκους δὲ τοὺς χοίρους ὀνομάζοντες.
For the fine which it imposed on disobedience was only the worth of five oxen and two sheep. Now the value of a sheep was ten obols and that of an ox, a hundred, for the Romans at that time did not use much coined money, but their wealth consisted in flocks and herds. Therefore to this day they call their substance peculium, from pecus, cattle; and their oldest coins are stamped with time figure of an ox, a sheep, or a hog. And they actually gave their own sons such surnames as Suillius, Bubulcus, Caprarius, and Porcius; the last two from capra and porcus, their words for goat and pig.
οὕτω δὲ περὶ ταῦτα δημοτικὸς γενόμενος νομοθέτης καὶ μέτριος, ἐν τῷ μὴ μετρίῳ τὴν τιμωρίαν ὑπερέτεινεν. ἔγραψε γὰρ νόμον ἄνευ κρίσεως κτεῖνια διδόντα τὸν βουλόμενον τυραννεῖν κτείναντα δὲ φόνου καθαρὸν ἐποίησεν, εἰ παράσχοιτο τοῦ ἀδικήματος τοὺς ἐλέγχους. ἐπεὶ γὰρ οὐ δυνατὸν ἐπιχειροῦντα τηλικούτοις λαθεῖν ἅπαντας, οὐκ ἀδύνατον δὲ τὸ μὴ λαθόντα τοῦ κριθῆναι φθάσαι κρείττονα γενόμενον, ἣν ἀναιρεῖ τὸ ἀδίκημα κρίσιν, προλαβεῖν ἔδωκε τῷ δυναμένῳ κατὰ τοῦ ἀδικοῦντος.
But although in these particulars he showed himself a popular and moderate lawgiver, in the case of an immoderate offence he made the penalty severe. For he enacted a law by which any one who sought to make himself tyrant might be slain without trial, and the slayer should be free from blood-guiltiness if he produced proofs of the crime. For although it is impossible for one who attempts so great a task to escape all notice, it is not impossible for him to do so long enough to make himself too powerful to be brought to trial, which trial his very crime precludes. He therefore gave any one who was able to do so the privilege of anticipating the culprit’s trial.
ἐπῃνέθη δὲ καὶ διὰ τὸν ταμιευτικὸν νόμον. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔδει χρήματα πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον εἰσενεγκεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν οὐσιῶν τοὺς πολίτας, οὔτʼ αὐτὸς ἅψασθαι τῆς οἰκονομίας οὔτε τοὺς φίλους ἐᾶσαι βουλόμενος οὔθʼ ὅλως εἰς οἶκον ἰδιώτου παρελθεῖν δημόσια χρήματα, ταμιεῖον μὲν ἀπέδειξε τὸν τοῦ Κρόνου ναόν, ᾧ μέχρι νῦν χρώμενοι διατελοῦσι, ταμίας δὲ τῷ δήμῳ δύο τῶν νέων ἔδωκεν ἀποδεῖξαι·
He also received praise for his law concerning the public treasury. When it was necessary for the citizens to contribute from their substance means for carrying on the war, he was unwilling to assume the administration of it himself, or to allow his friends to do so, or, indeed, to have the public moneys brought into any private house. He therefore made the temple of Saturn a treasury, as it is to this day, and gave the people the privilege of appointing two young men as quaestors, or treasurers.
καὶ ἀπεδείχθησαν οἱ πρῶτοι Πούπλιος Ο ὐετούριος καὶ Μινούκιος Μᾶρκος καὶ χρήματα συνήχθη πολλά, τρισκαίδεκα γὰρ ἀπεγράψαντο μυριάδες, ὀρφανοῖς παισὶ καὶ χήραις γυναιξὶν ἀνεθείσης τῆς εἰσφορᾶς.
The first to be thus appointed were Publius Veturius and Marcus Minucius, and large sums of money were collected. For one hundred and thirty thousand names were on the assessment lists, orphans and widows being excused from the contribution.
ταῦτα δὲ διοικήσας ἀπέδειξεν ἑαυτῷ συνάρχοντα τὸν Λουκρητίας πατέρα Λουκρήτιον, ᾧ τῆς ἡγεμονικωτέρας ἐξιστάμενος ὄντι πρεσβυτέρῳ τάξεως παρέδωκε τοὺς καλουμένους φάσκης καὶ τοῦτο διέμεινεν εἰς ἡμᾶς τὸ πρεσβεῖον ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τοῖς γεραιτέροις φυλαττό μενον. ἐπεὶ δʼ ὀλίγαις ἡμέραις ὕστερον ἐτελεύτησεν ὁ Λουκρήτιος, πάλιν ἀρχαιρεσιῶν γενομένων ᾑρέθη Μᾶρκος Ὡράτιος, καὶ συνῆρχε τῷ Ποπλικόλᾳ τὸν ὑπολειπόμενον χρόνον τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ.
This matter regulated, he caused Lucretius, the father of Lucretia, to be appointed his colleague in the consulship. To him he yielded the precedence, as the elder man, and committed to him the so-called fasces, a privilege of seniority which has continued from that day to this. But Lucretius died a few days afterwards, and in a new election Marcus Horatius was chosen consul, and shared the office with Publicola for the remainder of the year.
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