as empty, went on to ask how the
consuls were going to lead out an army, seeing that no one would allow
them to hold a levy? "But," replied Quinctius, "we have no need of a
levy, since, at the time Publius Valerius gave arms to the commons to
recover the Capitol, they all took an oath to him, that they would
assemble at the command of the consul, and would not depart without
his permission. We therefore publish an order that all of you, who
have sworn, attend to-morrow under arms at the Lake Regillus." The
tribunes then began to quibble, and wanted to absolve the people from
their obligation, asserting that Quinctius was a private person at the
time when they were bound by the oath. But that disregard of the gods,
which possesses the present generation, had not yet gained ground:
nor did every one accommodate oaths and laws to his own purposes, by
interpreting them as it suited him, but rather adapted his own conduct
to them. Wherefore the tribunes, as there was no hope of obstructing
the matter, attempted to delay the departure of the army the more
earnestly on this account, because a report had gone out, both that
the augurs had been ordered to attend at the Lake Regillius and that a
place was to be consecrated, where business might be transacted with
the people by auspices: and whatever had been passed at Rome by
tribunician violence, might be repealed there in the assembly.[28]
That all would order what the consuls desired: for that there was no
appeal at a greater distance than a mile [29] from the city: and that
the tribunes, if they should come there, would, like the rest of the
Quirites, be subjected to the consular authority. This alarmed them:
but the greatest anxiety which affected their minds was because
Quinctius frequently declared that he would not hold an election of
consuls. That the malady of the state was not of an ordinary nature,
so that it could be stopped by the ordinary remedies. That the
commonwealth required a dictator, so that whoever attempted to disturb
the condition of the state, might feel that from the dictatorship
there was no appeal.

The senate was assembled in the Capitol. Thither the tribunes came
with the commons in a state of great consternation: the multitude,
with loud clamours, implored the protection, now of the consuls,
now of the patricians: nor could they move the consul from his
determination, until the tribunes promised that they would submit to
the authority of the sena