[6,45] Ταῦτ´ εἰπὼν τὸ μὲν δημοτικὸν ἅπαν εἰς συμπάθειαν ὑπηγάγετο, καὶ προὔπεμψαν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀπιόντα· τὴν δὲ βουλὴν ἔτι χαλεπωτέραν αὐτῷ γενέσθαι παρεσκεύασεν. εὐθὺς δὲ μετὰ τοῦτο τάδε ἐγίνετο· οἱ μὲν πένητες οὐκέτι κρύφα οὐδὲ νύκτωρ ὡς πρότερον, ἀλλ´ ἀναφανδὸν ἤδη συνιόντες ἐβούλευον ἀπόστασιν ἐκ τῶν πατρικίων· ἡ δὲ βουλὴ κωλύειν διανοουμένη τοῖς ὑπάτοις ἐπέταξε μήπω λύειν τὰ στρατεύματα. τῶν γὰρ τριῶν ταγμάτων ἑκάτερος ἔτι κύριος ἦν τοῖς στρατιωτικοῖς ὅρκοις κατειργομένων καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀπολείπεσθαι τῶν σημείων ἠξίου· τοσοῦτον ἴσχυσεν ὁ τῶν ὅρκων ἐν ἑκάστῳ φόβος. πρόφασις δὲ κατεσκευάσθη τῆς στρατείας, ὡς Αἰκανῶν καὶ Σαβίνων συνεληλυθότων εἰς ἓν ἐπὶ τῷ κατὰ Ῥωμαίων πολέμῳ. ὡς δὲ προῆλθον ἔξω τῆς πόλεως οἱ ὕπατοι τὰς δυνάμεις ἔχοντες καὶ τὰς παρεμβολὰς οὐ πρόσω ἀπ´ ἀλλήλων ἔθεντο, συνελθόντες οἱ στρατιῶται εἰς ἓν ἅπαντες, ὅπλων τε καὶ σημείων ὄντες κύριοι, Σικιννίου τινὸς Βελλούτου παροξύναντος αὐτοὺς ἀφίστανται τῶν ὑπάτων ἁρπάσαντες τὰ σημεῖα· τιμιώτατα γὰρ Ῥωμαίοις ταῦτ´ ἐπὶ στρατείας καὶ ὥσπερ ἱδρύματα θεῶν ἱερὰ νομίζονται· λοχαγούς τε ἑτέρους καὶ περὶ πάντων ἄρχοντα τὸν Σικίννιον ἀποδείξαντες, ὄρος τι καταλαμβάνονται πλησίον Ἀνίητος ποταμοῦ κείμενον, οὐ πρόσω τῆς Ῥώμης, ὃ νῦν ἐξ ἐκείνου Ἱερὸν ὄρος καλεῖται. τῶν δ´ ὑπάτων καὶ λοχαγῶν μετακαλούντων αὐτοὺς ἅμα δεήσει καὶ οἰμωγῇ καὶ πολλὰ ὑπισχνουμένων ἀπεκρίνατο ὁ Σικίννιος· Τίνα γνώμην ἔχοντες, ὦ πατρίκιοι, οὓς ἀπηλάσατε ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος καὶ ἀντ´ ἐλευθέρων δούλους ἐποιήσατε, νῦν μετακαλεῖτε; ποίᾳ δὲ πίστει τὰς ὑποσχέσεις ἡμῖν ἐμπεδώσετε, ἃς πολλάκις ἤδη ψευσάμενοι ἐλέγχεσθε; ἀλλ´ ἐπειδὴ μόνοι τὴν πόλιν ἀξιοῦτε κατέχειν, ἄπιτε μηδὲν ὑπὸ τῶν πενήτων καὶ ταπεινῶν ἐνοχλούμενοι· ἡμῖν δ´ ἀρκέσει πᾶσα γῇ, ἐν ᾗ ἂν τὸ ἐλεύθερον ἔχωμεν, ὁποία ποτ´ ἂν ᾖ, νομίζεσθαι πατρίς.

[6,45] With these words Valerius aroused the sympathy of all the plebeians, who accompanied him when he left the Forum; but he increased the resentment of the senate against him. And immediately afterwards the following events happened: The poor, no longer meeting secretly and by night, as before, but openly now, were planning a secession from the patricians; and the senate, with the purpose of preventing this, ordered the consuls not to disband the armies as yet. For each consul still had command of his three legions, which were restrained by their military oaths, and none of the soldiers cared to desert their standards, so far did the fear of violating their oaths prevail with all of them. The pretext contrived for leading out the forces was that the Aequians and Sabines had joined together to make war upon the Romans. After the consuls had marched out of the city with their forces and pitched their camps near one another, the soldiers all assembled together, having in their possession both the arms and the standards, and at the instigation of one Sicinius Bellutus they seized the standards and revolted from the consuls (these standards are held in the greatest honour by the Romans on a campaign (p373) and like statues of the gods are accounted holy); and having appointed different centurions and made Sicinius their leader in all matters, they occupied a certain mount situated near the river Anio, not far from Rome, which from that circumstance is still called the Sacred Mount. And when the consuls and the centurions called upon them to return, mingling entreaties and lamentations, and making many promises, Sicinius replied: "With what purpose, patricians, do you now recall those whom you have driven from their country and transformed from free men into slaves? What assurances will you give us for the performance of those promises which you are convicted of having often broken already? But since you desire to have sole possession of the city, return thither undisturbed by the poor and humble. As for us, we shall be content to regard as our country any land, whatever it be, in which we may enjoy our liberty."