[9,48] Ταῦτ´ εἰπὼν ὅρκον, ὅσπερ μέγιστος αὐτοῖς ἦν, διομοσάμενος ἢ τὸν νόμον ἐπικυρώσειν ἢ τοῦ ζῆν μεθήσεσθαι, σιωπῆς γενομένης ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους καὶ ἐναγωνίου προσδοκίας, ἐφ´ ᾧ μέλλει δρᾶν, ἐκέλευσε μεταχωρεῖν ἐκ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τὸν Ἄππιον. ὡς δ´ οὐκ ἐπείθετο, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ῥαβδούχους παραστησάμενος καὶ τὸν ὄχλον, ὃν ἦγε παρασκευασάμενος οἴκοθεν, ἀπεμάχετο μὴ παραχωρῆσαι τῆς ἀγορᾶς, σιωπὴν ὑποκηρυξάμενος ὁ Λαιτώριος ἀνεῖπεν, ὅτι τὸν ὕπατον εἰς φυλακὴν κελεύουσιν ἀπάγειν οἱ δήμαρχοι. καὶ ὁ μὲν ὑπηρέτης κελευσθεὶς ὑπ´ αὐτοῦ προσῆγεν ὡς τοῦ σώματος ἐπιληψόμενος· τῶν δὲ ῥαβδούχων ὁ πρῶτος ἐπιτυχὼν παίων αὐτὸν ἀπήλασε. κραυγῆς δ´ ἐκ τῶν παρόντων γενομένης μεγάλης καὶ ἀγανακτήσεως ἵεται αὐτὸς ὁ Λαιτώριος παρακελευσάμενος τοῖς ὄχλοις ἀμύνειν, καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἄππιον στῖφος ἔχοντες νέων πολὺ καὶ καρτερὸν ὑφίστανται. καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο λόγοι τ´ ἀσχήμονες ἐγένοντο εἰς ἀλλήλους καὶ καταβοαὶ καὶ σωμάτων ὠθισμοί· καὶ τελευτῶσα εἰς χεῖρας ἀπέσκηψεν ἡ ἔρις, καὶ εἰς λίθων ἤρξατο προβαίνειν βολάς. ἐπέσχε δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τοῦ μὴ προσωτέρω χωρῆσαι τὰ δεινὰ Κοίντιος ἅτερος τῶν ὑπάτων αἴτιος ἐγένετο, δεόμενός τε πάντων καὶ λιπαρῶν σὺν τοῖς πρεσβυτάτοις τῶν ἐκ τοῦ συνεδρίου καὶ εἰς μέσους τοὺς ἁψιμαχοῦντας ὠθούμενος. ἦν δὲ καὶ τῆς ἡμέρας τὸ λειπόμενον βραχὺ μέρος, ὥστ´ ἀκούσιοι ἀπ´ ἀλλήλων διελύθησαν. ταῖς δ´ ἑξῆς ἡμέραις αἵ τ´ ἀρχαὶ ἀλλήλαις ἐνεκάλουν, ὁ μὲν ὕπατος τοῖς δημάρχοις, ὅτι καταλύειν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἠξίουν ἐς τὸ δεσμωτήριον τὸν ὕπατον ἀπάγειν κελεύσαντες, τῷ δ´ ὑπάτῳ οἱ δήμαρχοι, ὡς ἐμβεβληκότι πληγὰς σώμασιν ἱεροῖς καὶ καθωσιωμένοις ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου - καὶ ὁ Λαιτώριος τὰ ἴχνη τῶν πληγῶν εἶχεν ἐπὶ τῆς ὄψεως ἔτι φανερά - ἥ τε πόλις ὅλη διοιδοῦσα καὶ ἀγριαινομένη διειστήκει. ἔπειτα ὁ μὲν δῆμος ἐφρούρει τὸ Καπιτώλιον ἅμα τοῖς δημάρχοις, οὔθ´ ἡμέρας οὔτε νυκτὸς ἐκλείπων τὴν φυλακήν· ἡ δὲ βουλὴ συνιοῦσα πολλὴν καὶ ἐπίπονον ἐποιεῖτο ζήτησιν, ὅπως χρὴ παῦσαι τὴν διχοστασίαν, τοῦ τε κινδύνου τὸ μέγεθος ἐνθυμουμένη, καὶ ὅτι οὐδὲ τοῖς ὑπάτοις τὰ αὐτὰ παρειστήκει φρονεῖν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Κοίντιος εἴκειν τῷ δήμῳ τὰ μέτρια ἠξίου, ὁ δ´ Ἄππιος μέχρι θανάτου ἀντέχειν.

[9,48] Having said this and sworn the strongest oath in use among the Romans that he would either p81get the law ratified or abandon life, the multitude meanwhile having become silent and being in an agony of expectation concerning what he was going to do, he ordered Appius to leave the assembly. And when Appius, instead of obeying, placed the lictors about him, together with the crowd which he had brought from home for that purpose, and obstinately refused to leave the Forum, Laetorius, after bidding the heralds to command silence, announced that the tribunes ordered the consul to be led away to prison. Upon this the assist by his command advanced in order to seize the person of Appius, but the foremost lictor with a successful blow drove him back. When those present raised a great outcry and showed their resentment, Laetorius himself rushed forward after appealing to the crowds to assist him, while Appius, supported by a numerous and vigorous body of young men, stood his ground. There followed unseemly words between the factions and shouting and the pushing of body against body; and at last the strife broke out into blows and they began to throw stones.But a stop was put to this and the mischief was prevented from proceeding farther by Quintius, the other consul, who together with the oldest senators implored and entreated them all to desist, and thrust himself into the midst of the contending parties. Moreover, there was little of the day left, so that, albeit reluctantly, they separated. During the following days not only did the magistrates indulge in accusations against one another, the consul charging the tribunes with a desire to invalidate his authority by ordering a consul to be led away to prison, and the tribunes charging the consul with having struck those whose persons were (p83) sacred and made inviolate by the law — Laetorius, indeed, bore on his face the marks, still visible, of the blows — but the whole city, filled with rage and fury, was rent with faction.Then the populace together with the tribunes proceeded to guard the Capitol both day and night without intermission. The senate assembled and entered into a long and difficult consideration of the proper means of putting a stop to the sedition, being sensible not only of the magnitude of the danger but also that not even the consuls had succeeded in being of one mind; for Quintius advised yielding to the populace in everything that was reasonable, whereas Appius proposed to resist till death.