[3,5] Παραδόξου δὲ τοῦ πάθους ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἅπασι φαινομένου καὶ ζητουμένης τῆς αἰτίας (οὐδὲ γὰρ νόσον προηγησαμένην εἶχέ τις αἰτιάσασθαι) οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν θείαν πρόνοιαν ἁπάσας τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ἀναφέροντες τύχας κατὰ χόλον δαιμόνιον ἔλεγον αὐτὸν ἀποθανεῖν, ὅτι πόλεμον ἐξέκαυσε τῇ μητροπόλει πρὸς τὴν ἀπόκτισιν οὔτε δίκαιον οὔτε ἀναγκαῖον· οἱ δὲ χρηματισμὸν ἡγούμενοι τὸν πόλεμον καὶ μεγάλων ἀπεστερῆσθαι νομίζοντες ὠφελειῶν εἰς ἐπιβουλὴν καὶ φθόνον ἀνθρώπινον τὸ ἔργον μετέφερον αἰτιώμενοι τῶν ἀντιπολιτευομένων τινὰς ἀφανῆ καὶ δυσεξέλεγκτα ἐξευρόντας φάρμακα διὰ τούτων τὸν ἄνδρα ἀνῃρηκέναι· οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ λύπης τε καὶ ἀμηχανίας κρατούμενον ἑκουσίῳ χρήσασθαι τελευτῇ αὐτὸν ἔφασαν, ἐπειδὴ πάντα χαλεπὰ καὶ ἄπορα συνέβαινεν αὐτῷ καὶ οὐδὲν ἐχώρει κατὰ νοῦν τῶν ἐν ἀρχαῖς, ὅτε εἰς τὰ πράγματα εἰσῄει, προσδοκηθέντων· τοῖς δ´ ἐκτὸς οὖσι φιλίας τε καὶ ἔχθρας τῆς πρὸς τὸν στρατηγὸν καὶ ἀπὸ παντὸς τοῦ βελτίστου κρίνουσι τὸ συμβεβηκὸς οὔτε ἡ θεία νέμεσις οὔτε ὁ τῶν ἀντιπολιτευομένων φθόνος οὔθ´ ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπόγνωσις ἀνῃρηκέναι τὸν ἄνδρα ἐδόκει, ἀλλ´ ἡ τῆς φύσεως ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸ χρεὼν ὡς ἐκπεπληρωκότα τὴν ὀφειλομένην μοῖραν, ἧς ἅπασι τοῖς γινομένοις πέπρωται τυχεῖν. Κλοίλιος μὲν δὴ πρὶν ἢ γενναῖον ἀποδείξασθαί τι τοιαύτης τελευτῆς ἔτυχεν, εἰς δὲ τὸν ἐκείνου τόπον ἀποδείκνυται στρατηγὸς αὐτοκράτωρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου Μέττιος Φουφέττιος, ἀνὴρ οὔτε πολέμου ἡγεμὼν ἱκανὸς οὔτε εἰρήνης βέβαιος φύλαξ, ὃς οὐδενὸς ἧττον Ἀλβανῶν πρόθυμος ὢν κατ´ ἀρχὰς διαστῆσαι τὰς πόλεις καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς ἀρχῆς μετὰ τὸν Κλοιλίου θάνατον ἀξιωθείς, ἐπειδὴ τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἔτυχε καὶ ὅσα ἦν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασι δυσχερῆ καὶ ἄπορα συνεῖδεν, οὐκέτι διέμεινεν ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς βουλεύμασιν, ἀλλ´ εἰς ἀναβολὰς καὶ διατριβὰς ἄγειν ἠξίου τὰ πράγματα ὁρῶν οὔτε τοὺς Ἀλβανοὺς ἅπαντας ὁμοίαν ἔχοντας ἔτι προθυμίαν πρὸς πόλεμον οὔτε τὰ σφάγια ὁπότε θύοιτο περὶ μάχης καλὰ γινόμενα· τελευτῶν δὲ καὶ εἰς καταλλαγὰς ἔγνω προκαλεῖσθαι τοὺς πολεμίους πρότερος ἐπικηρυκευσάμενος, μαθὼν τὸν ἐπικρεμάμενον ἔξωθεν Ἀλβανοῖς τε καὶ Ῥωμαίοις κίνδυνον, εἰ μὴ σπείσονται τὸν πρὸς ἀλλήλους πόλεμον, ἀφύλακτον ὄντα, ὃς ἔμελλεν ἀμφοτέρας ἀναρπάσασθαι τὰς δυνάμεις. ἦν δὲ τοιόςδε·

[3,5] This unfortunate event appearing extraordinary to everybody, as one would naturally expect, and the cause of it being enquired into — for no preceding illness could be alleged — those who ascribed all human fortunes to divine providence said that this death had been due to the anger of the gods, because he had handled an unjust and unnecessary war between the mother-city and her colony. But others, who looked upon war as a profitable business and thought they had been deprived of great gains, attributed the event to human treachery and envy, accusing some of his fellow citizens of the opposing faction of having made away with him by secret and untraceable poisons that they had discovered. (p19) Still others alleged that, being overcome with grief and despair, he had taken his own life, since all his plans were becoming difficult and impracticable and none of the things that he had looked forward to in the beginning when he first took hold of affairs was succeeding according to his desire. But those who were not influenced by either friendship or enmity for the general and based their judgment of what had happened on the soundest grounds were of the opinion that neither the anger of the gods nor the envy of the opposing faction nor despair of his plans had put an end to his life, but rather Nature's stern law and fate, when once he had finished the destined course which is marked out for everyone that is born. Such, then, was the end that Cluilius met, before he had performed any noble deed. In his place Mettius Fufetius was chosen general by those in the camp and invested with absolute power; he was a man without either ability to conduct a war or constancy to preserve a peace, one who, though he had been at first ass zealous as any of the Albans in creating strife between the two cities and for that reason had been honoured with the command after the death of Cluilius, yet after he had obtained it and perceived the many difficulties and embarrassments with which the business was attended, no longer adhered to the same plans, but resolved to delay and put off matters, since he observed that not all the Albans now had the same ardour for war and also that the victims, whenever he offered sacrifice concerning battle, were unfavourable. And at last he even determined to invite the (p21) enemy to an accommodation, taking the initiative himself in sending heralds, after he had been informed of a danger from the outside which threatened both the Albans and Romans, a danger which, if they did not terminate their war with each other by a treaty, was unavoidable and bound to destroy both armies. The danger was this: