[9,17] Ταῖς δ´ ἑξῆς ἡμέραις ἀπειρηκότες ἤδη τοῖς κακοῖς οἱ Οὐιεντανοὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτάτους τῶν πολιτῶν ἱκετηρίας φέροντας ἀπέστειλαν ὡς τὸν ὕπατον ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρήνης διαλεξομένους. καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες ὀλοφυρόμενοί τε καὶ ἀντιβολοῦντες καὶ τἆλλ´, ὅσα ἐπαγωγὰ ἦν εἰς ἔλεον, μετὰ πολλῶν δακρύων διεξιόντες πείθουσι τὸν ὕπατον ἐπιτρέψαι σφίσι τοὺς πρεσβευτὰς εἰς Ῥώμην ἀποστεῖλαι τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς καταλύσεως τοῦ πολέμου πρὸς τὴν βουλὴν διαλεξομένους, ἕως δ´ ἂν οἱ πρέσβεις ἀφίκωνται φέροντες τὰς ἀποκρίσεις, μηδὲν αὐτῶν κακουργεῖν τὴν χώραν. ἵνα δ´ αὐτοῖς ἐγγένηται ταῦτα πράττειν, σῖτόν τε ὡμολόγησαν τῇ Ῥωμαίων στρατιᾷ διμήνου παρέξειν, καὶ χρήματα εἰς ὀψωνιασμὸν ἓξ μηνῶν, ὡς ὁ κρατῶν ἔταξε. καὶ ὁ μὲν ὕπατος λαβὼν τὰ κομισθέντα καὶ διαδοὺς τῇ στρατιᾷ ποιεῖται τὰς πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀνοχάς. ἡ δὲ βουλὴ τῆς πρεσβείας ἀκούσασα καὶ τὰ τοῦ ὑπάτου γράμματ´ ἀναλεξαμένη πολλὴν ποιουμένου παράκλησιν καὶ παραινοῦντος ὡς τάχιστα καταθέσθαι τὸν πρὸς τοὺς Τυρρηνοὺς πόλεμον, δόγμα ἐξήνεγκε διδόναι τὴν εἰρήνην, ὡς ᾐτοῦντο οἱ πολέμιοι· ἐφ´ οἷς δὲ δικαίοις αὕτη γενήσεται, τὸν ὕπατον καταστήσασθαι Λεύκιον Αἰμίλιον, ὡς ἂν αὐτῷ φανῇ κράτιστα ἕξειν. ταύτας λαβὼν τὰς ἀποκρίσεις ὁ ὕπατος σπένδεται πρὸς τοὺς Οὐιεντανούς, ἐπιεικεστέραν μᾶλλον ἢ συμφορωτέραν τοῖς κεκρατηκόσι ποιησάμενος εἰρήνην, οὔτε χώραν αὐτῶν ἀποτεμόμενος οὔτε χρημάτων ἄλλων ἐπιθεὶς ζημίαν, οὔτε ὁμήρων δόσει τὸ πιστὸν ἐν τοῖς συγκειμένοις βεβαιωσάμενος. τοῦτ´ αὐτῷ μέγαν ἤνεγκε φθόνον, καὶ τοῦ μὴ λαβεῖν παρὰ τῆς βουλῆς τὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς κατωρθωμένοις χάριτας αἴτιον ἐγένετο. ἐνέστησαν γὰρ αὐτῷ τὸν θρίαμβον αἰτουμένῳ τὴν αὐθάδειαν αἰτιώμενοι τῶν συνθηκῶν, ὅτι οὐ μετὰ κοινῆς γνώμης αὐτὰς ἔπραξεν. ἵνα δὲ μὴ πρὸς ὕβριν ἢ πρὸς ὀργὴν λάβῃ τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἐπὶ Οὐολούσκους αὐτὸν ἐψηφίσαντο τὴν δύναμιν ἀπάγειν ἐπικουρίας τοῦ συνάρχοντος ἕνεκα, εἰ δύναιτο κατορθώσας τὸν ἐκεῖ πόλεμον - ἦν γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ πολὺ τὸ ἀνδρεῖον - ἀφανίσαι τὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς προτέροις ἁμαρτήμασιν ὀργάς. ὁ δ´ ἀνὴρ ἀγανακτῶν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀτιμίᾳ πολλὴν ἐποιήσατο τῆς βουλῆς ἐν τῷ δήμῳ κατηγορίαν, ὡς ἀχθομένης ἐπὶ τῷ λελύσθαι τὸν πρὸς τοὺς Τυρρηνοὺς πόλεμον. ἔφη δὲ τοῦτ´ αὐτοὺς ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς καὶ ὑπεροψίας τῶν πενήτων ποιεῖν, ἵνα μὴ τῶν ὑπερορίων ἀπαλλαγέντες πολέμων ἀπαιτῶσι τὰς περὶ τῆς κληρουχίας ὑποσχέσεις, πολλοστὸν ἔτος ἤδη φενακιζόμενοι πρὸς αὐτῶν. ταῦτα καὶ πολλὰ τούτοις ὅμοια εἰπὼν καὶ δι´ ὀργῆς ἀκράτου τῶν πατρικίων ὀνείδη κατασκεδάσας, τήν τε συστρατευσαμένην αὐτῷ δύναμιν ἀπέλυσε τῶν σημείων καὶ τὴν μετὰ Φουρίου τοῦ ἀνθυπάτου διατρίβουσαν ἐν Αἰκανοῖς μεταπεμψάμενος ἀφῆκεν ἐπὶ τὰ σφέτερα· ἐξ ὧν πολλὴν πάλιν ἐποίησεν ἐξουσίαν τοῖς δημάρχοις κατηγορεῖν τῶν βουλευτῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις καὶ διιστάναι τοὺς πένητας ἀπὸ τῶν εὐπόρων.

[9,17] In the course of the following days the Veientes, yielding at last to their misfortunes, sent their oldest citizens to the consul with the tokens of suppliants to treat for peace. These men, resorting to lamentations and entreaties and with many tears rehearsing every argument calculated to arouse compassion, endeavoured to persuade the consul to let (p349) them send ambassadors to Rome to treat with the senate for a termination of the war, and until the ambassadors should return with the senate's answer, to do no injury to their country. In order to obtain these concessions, they promised to supply the Roman army with corn for two months and with money for their pay for six months, as the victor commanded. And the consul, after receiving what they brought and distributing it among his men, made the truce with them. The senate, having heard the ambassadors and received the letter of the consul, in which he earnestly recommended and urged putting an end to the war with the Tyrrhenians as soon as possible, passed a decree to grant peace as the enemy desired; as to the terms on which the peace should be made, they left them for the consul Lucius Aemilius to determine in such manner as he should think best.The consul, having received this answer, concluded a peace with the Veientes that was more equitable than advantageous to the conquerors; for he neither took far from them any part of their territory, nor imposed on them any further fine of money, nor compelled them to give hostages as security for the performance of their agreement.This action brought upon him great odium and was the reason for his not receiving from the senate the rewards due for his success; for when he requested the customary triumph, they opposed it, censuring his arbitrary behaviour in the matter of the treaty, in that he had concluded it without their concurrence. But lest he should take this action as an insult and evidence of their anger, (p351) they ordered him to march with his army against the Volscians in order to bear aid to his colleague, on the chance that if he succeeded in the war there — for he was a man of great bravery — he might blot out the resentment for his former errors. But Aemilius, angry at this slight upon his honour, inveighed violently against the senate in the popular assembly, accusing them of being displeased that the war against the Tyrrhenians was ended, He declared that they were doing this with treacherous intent and through contempt of the poor, lest these, when freed from foreign wars, should demand the performance of the promises concerning the allotment of land with which they had been cajoled by them for so many years already.After he had in his ungovernable resentment poured forth these and many similar reproaches against the patricians, he not only dismissed from the standards the army that had served under him, but also sent for the forces that were tarrying in the country of the Aequians under Furius the proconsul and dismissed them to their homes. Thereby he once more gave the tribunes a considerable warrant for accusing the senators in the meetings of the assembly and sowing dissension between the poor and the rich.