ity.

Emboldened by this success, the Plebeians now demanded a share in the
public land. And in this they found an unexpected supporter among the
Patricians themselves. Sp. Cassius, one of the most distinguished men in
the state, who had formed the league between the Romans, Latins, and
Hernicans, brought forward in his third consulship a law, by which a
portion of the public land was to be divided among the Plebeians (B.C.
486). This was the first Agrarian Law mentioned in Roman history. It
must be recollected that all the Agrarian laws dealt only with the
public land, and never touched the property of private persons.
Notwithstanding the violent opposition of the Patricians, the law was
passed; but it was never carried into execution, and the Patricians soon
revenged themselves upon its author. In the following year he was
accused of aiming at the kingly power, and condemned to death. He was
scourged and beheaded, and his house razed to the ground.

We now turn to the external history of Rome. Under the kings Rome had
risen to a superiority over her neighbors, and had extended her dominion
over the southern part of Etruria and the greater part of Latium. The
early history of the republic presents a very different spectacle. For
the next 100 years she is engaged in a difficult and often dubious
struggle with the Etruscans on the one hand, and the Volscians and
AEquians on the other. It would be unprofitable to relate the details of
these petty campaigns; but there are three celebrated legends connected
with them which must not be passed over.

1. CORIOLANUS AND THE VOLSCIANS, B.C. 488.--C. Marcius, surnamed
Coriolanus, from his valor at the capture of the Latin town of Corioli,
was a brave but haughty Patrician youth. He was hated by the Plebeians,
who refused him the consulship. This inflamed him with anger; and
accordingly, when the city was suffering from famine, and a present of
corn came from Sicily, Coriolanus advised the Senate not to distribute
it among the Plebeians unless they gave up their Tribunes. Such
insolence enraged the Plebeians, who would have torn him to pieces on
the spot had not the tribunes summoned him before the Comitia of the
Tribes. Coriolanus himself breathed nothing but defiance; and his
kinsmen and friends interceded for him in vain. He was condemned to
exile. He now turned his steps to Antium, the capital of the Volscians,
and offered to lead them against Rome. Attius Tullius, king of t