[9,27] Καταλυθέντων δὲ τῶν ὑπαιθρίων πολέμων ἡ πολιτικὴ στάσις αὖθις ἀνεκαίετο τῶν δημάρχων πάλιν ταραττόντων τὸ πλῆθος, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα πολιτεύματα διεσκέδασαν αὐτῶν ἀντιταττόμενοι πρὸς ἕκαστον οἱ πατρίκιοι, τὴν δὲ κατὰ Μενηνίου δίκην τοῦ νεωστὶ ὑπατεύσαντος καίτοι πολλὰ πραγματευθέντες ἀδύνατοι ἐγένοντο διαλῦσαι· ἀλλ´ ὑπαχθεὶς ὁ ἀνὴρ εἰς δίκην ὑπὸ δυεῖν δημάρχων Κοίντου Κωνσιδίου καὶ Τίτου Γενυκίου, καὶ λόγον ἀπαιτούμενος τῆς στρατηγίας τοῦ πολέμου τέλος οὔτ´ εὐτυχὲς οὔτ´ εὐπρεπὲς λαβούσης, μάλιστα δὲ διαβαλλόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ Φαβίων ὀλέθρῳ καὶ τῇ Κρεμέρας ἁλώσει, δικάζοντος τοῦ δημοτικοῦ ὄχλου κατὰ φυλάς, οὐ παρ´ ὀλίγας ψήφους ὦφλεν, υἱὸς ὢν Ἀγρίππα Μενηνίου τοῦ καταγαγόντος ἐκ τῆς φυγῆς τὸν δῆμον καὶ διαλλάξαντος πρὸς τοὺς πατρικίους, ὃν ἀποθανόντα ἡ βουλὴ ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων χρημάτων λαμπροτάταις ἐκόσμησε ταφαῖς, αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες αἱ Ῥωμαίων ἐνιαύσιον ἐπένθησαν χρόνον πορφύραν καὶ χρυσὸν ἀποθέμεναι. οὐ μέντοι θανάτου γ´ αὐτὸν οἱ καταδικασάμενοι ἐτίμησαν, ἀλλ´ ἐκτίσματος, ὃ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς νῦν ἐξεταζόμενον βίους γέλωτος ἂν ἄξιον φανείη, τοῖς δὲ τότ´ ἀνθρώποις αὐτουργοῖς οὖσι καὶ πρὸς αὐτὰ τὰ ἀναγκαῖα ζῶσι, μάλιστα δ´ ἐκείνῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ πενίαν κληρονομήσαντι παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀφειδὲς ἦν καὶ βαρύ, δισχιλίων ἀριθμὸς ἀσσαρίων. ἦν δ´ ἀσσάριον τότε χάλκεον νόμισμα βάρος λιτριαῖον, ὥστε τὸ σύμπαν ὄφλημα ταλάντων ἑκκαίδεκα εἰς ὁλκὴν χαλκοῦ γενέσθαι. καὶ τοῦτ´ ἐπίφθονον ἐφάνη τοῖς τότ´ ἀνθρώποις, καὶ ἐπανορθώσασθαι βουλόμενοι αὐτὸ τὰς μὲν χρηματικὰς ἔπαυσαν ζημίας, μετήνεγκαν δ´ εἰς προβάτων ἐκτίσματα καὶ βοῶν, τάξαντες καὶ τούτων ἀριθμὸν ταῖς ὕστερον ἐσομέναις ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῖς ἰδιώταις ἐπιβολαῖς. ἐκ δὲ τῆς Μενηνίου καταδίκης ἀφορμὴν αὖθις εἰλήφεσαν οἱ πατρίκιοι τῆς πρὸς τὸ δημοτικὸν ὀργῆς καὶ οὔτε τὴν κληρουχίαν ἐπέτρεπον ἔτι αὐτῷ ποιεῖσθαι, οὔτ´ ἄλλο ἐβούλοντο ἐνδιδόναι μαλακὸν οὐδέν. μετ´ οὐ πολὺ δὲ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ μετέμελε τῶν δεδικασμένων, ἐπειδὴ τὴν τελευτὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐπύθετο· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰς ἀνθρώπων ἔτι συνῆλθεν ὁμιλίας, οὐδ´ ἐν δημοσίῳ τινὶ πρὸς οὐδενὸς ὤφθη τόπῳ, ἐξόν τ´ αὐτῷ τὴν ζημίαν ἐκτίσαντι μηδενὸς ἀπελαύνεσθαι τῶν κοινῶν - ἕτοιμοι γὰρ ἦσαν οὐκ ὀλίγοι τῶν ἐπιτηδείων αὐτοῦ τὴν καταδίκην ἀπαριθμεῖν - οὐκ ἠξίωσεν, ἀλλὰ θανάτου τὴν συμφορὰν τιμησάμενος οἴκοι μένων καὶ οὐδένα προσιέμενος ὑπό τ´ ἀθυμίας καὶ σίτων ἀποχῆς μαρανθεὶς ἀπέστη τοῦ βίου. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν τούτῳ πραχθέντα τῷ ἐνιαυτῷ τοιάδε ἦν.

[9,27] The foreign wars31 being now ended, the civil dissensions began to flare up again as the tribunes once more stirred up the populace. And though all their other measures were defeated as the result of marshalling their forces against every proposal, yet they were unable to suppress the accusation against Menenius, the late consul, in spite of all their efforts,but he was brought to trial by Quintus Considius and Titus Genucius, two of the tribunes. And being called upon to give an accounting of his (p13) conduct of the war, the outcome of which had been neither fortunate nor honourable, and being blamed particularly for the destruction of the Fabii and the capture of Cremera, he was condemned by no small majority of the votes when the plebeians passed judgement upon him by tribes — even though he was the son of Agrippa Menenius who had brought the populace home after their secession and reconciled them with the patricians, the son of a man whom the senate after his death had honoured with a most magnificent funeral at the public expense and for whom the Roman matrons had mourned for a whole year, laying aside their purple and gold. However, those who convicted him did not impose death as the penalty, but rather a fine — one which if compared with the fortunes of to-day would appear ridiculous, but to the men of that age, who worked their own farms and aimed at no more than the necessaries of life, and particularly to Menenius, who had inherited poverty from his father, was excessive and oppressive, amounting to 2000 asses. The as was at that time a copper coin weighing a pound, so that the whole fine amounted to sixteen talents of copper in weight. And this appeared invidious to the men of those days, who, in order to redress it, abolished all pecuniary fines, changing them to payments in sheep and oxen, and limiting the number even of these in the case of all fines to be imposed thereafter by the magistrates upon private persons. From this condemnation of Menenius the patricians took fresh occasion for resentment against the plebeians and would neither permit them to carry out the allotment (p15) of lands nor make any other concession in their favour.And not long afterwards even the populace repented of having condemned him, when they learned of his death. For from that time he no longer entered into any intercourse with his fellow men nor was seen by anyone in any public place; and though it was his privilege by paying his fine not to be excluded from any public doings — for not a few of his friends were ready to pay the fine — he would not accept their offer, but rating his misfortune as a capital sentence and remaining at home and admitting no one, wasted away through dejection and abstinence from food, and so perished. These were the events of that year.