rize
for valour or some especial mark of distinction. Other men were brave in
order to win glory, but Marcius won glory in order to please his mother.
That she should hear him praised, see him crowned, and embrace him
weeping for joy, was the greatest honour and happiness of his life.
Epameinondas is said to have had the same feelings, and to have
considered it to be his greatest good-fortune that his father and mother
were both alive to witness his triumphant success at the battle of
Leuktra. He, however, enjoyed the sympathy and applause of both parents,
but Marcius, being fatherless, lavished on his mother all that affection
which should have belonged to his father, besides her own share. So
boundless was his love for Volumnia that at her earnest desire he even
married a wife, but still continued to live in the house of his mother.

V. At this time, when his reputation and influence were very
considerable because of his prowess, there was a party-quarrel going on
in Rome between the patricians, who wished to defend the privileges of
men of property, and the people, who were suffering terrible
ill-treatment at the hands of their creditors. Those who possessed a
small property were forced either to pledge or to sell it, while those
who were absolutely destitute were carried off and imprisoned, though
they might be scarred and enfeebled from the wars in which they had
served in defence of their country. The last campaign was that against
the Sabines, after which their rich creditors promised to treat them
with less harshness. In pursuance of a decree of the Senate, Marcus
Valerius the consul was the guarantee of this promise. But when, after
serving manfully in this campaign and conquering the enemy, they met
with no better treatment from their creditors, and the Senate seemed
unmindful of its engagements, allowing them to be imprisoned and
distresses to be levied upon their property as before, there were
violent outbreaks and riots in the city. This disturbed condition of the
commonwealth was taken advantage of by the enemy, who invaded the
country and plundered it. When the consuls called all men of military
age to arms, no one obeyed, and then at last the patricians hesitated.
Some thought that they ought to yield to the lower classes, and make
some concessions instead of enforcing the strict letter of the law
against them; while others, among whom was Marcius, opposed this idea,
not because he thought the money of g