[10,59] Ἐν δὲ τῷ κατόπιν ἔτει παραλαβόντες τὴν ὑπατικὴν ἐξουσίαν οἱ σὺν Ἀππίῳ Κλαυδίῳ δέκα ἄνδρες εἰδοῖς μαΐαις, ἦγον δὲ τοὺς μῆνας κατὰ σελήνην, καὶ συνέπιπτεν εἰς τὰς εἰδοὺς ἡ πανσέληνος· πρῶτα μὲν ὅρκια τεμόντες ἀπόρρητα τῷ πλήθει συνθήκας σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἔθεντο περὶ μηδενὸς ἀλλήλοις ἐναντιοῦσθαι, ὅ τι δ´ ἂν εἷς ἐξ αὐτῶν δικαιώσῃ, τοῦθ´ ἅπαντες ἡγεῖσθαι κύριον τήν τ´ ἀρχὴν καθέξειν διὰ βίου καὶ μηδένα παρήσειν ἕτερον ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα ἰσότιμοί τε πάντες ἔσεσθαι καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἕξειν δυναστείαν, βουλῆς μὲν ἢ δήμου ψηφίσμασι σπανίως καὶ εἰς αὐτὰ τἀναγκαῖα χρώμενοι, τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα ἐπὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἐξουσίας ποιοῦντες. ἐνστάσης δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας, ἐν ᾗ παραλαβεῖν αὐτοὺς ἔδει τὴν ἀρχήν, τοῖς θεοῖς προθύσαντες ἃ νόμος - ἱερὰν δὲ ταύτην ἄγουσι Ῥωμαῖοι τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ παντὸς μάλιστα ὀττεύονται μήτ´ ἀκοῦσαι μηδὲν ἀηδὲς ἐν αὐτῇ μήτ´ ἰδεῖν - ἕωθεν εὐθὺς ἐξῄεσαν οἱ δέκα τὰ παράσημα τῆς βασιλικῆς ἐξουσίας ἅπαντες ἐπαγόμενοι. ὁ δὲ δῆμος ὡς ἔμαθεν αὐτοὺς οὐκέτι φυλάττοντας τὸ δημοτικὸν ἐκεῖνο καὶ μέτριον σχῆμα τῆς ἡγεμονίας οὐδὲ διαμειβομένους τὰ παράσημα τῆς βασιλικῆς ἀρχῆς ὡς πρότερον, εἰς πολλὴν ἦλθε δυσθυμίαν καὶ κατήφειαν. ἐφόβουν θ´ οἱ προσηρτημένοι ταῖς δέσμαις τῶν ῥάβδων πελέκεις, οὓς ἔφερον οἱ προηγούμενοι τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἑκάστου δώδεκα ὄντες ἀναστέλλοντες ἐκ τῶν στενωπῶν πληγαῖς τὸν ὄχλον, ὃ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων ἐγένετο πρότερον. κατελύθη γὰρ εὐθὺς τὸ ἔθος τοῦτο μετὰ τὴν ἐκβολὴν τῶν μονάρχων ὑπ´ ἀνδρὸς δημοτικοῦ Ποπλίου Οὐαλερίου τὴν ἐκείνων ἐξουσίαν μεταλαβόντος, ᾧ πάντες οἱ μετ´ ἐκεῖνον ὕπατοι καλοῦ πράγματος δόξαντι ἄρξαι τὰ ὅμοια πράττοντες οὐκέτι ταῖς δέσμαις τῶν ῥάβδων προσήρτων τοὺς πελέκεις, ὅτι μὴ κατὰ τὰς στρατείας καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἐξόδους τὰς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως. πόλεμον δ´ ἐξάγοντες ὑπερόριον ἢ τῶν ὑπηκόων πράγματα ἐπισκεψόμενοι, τότε καὶ τοὺς πελέκεις ταῖς ῥάβδοις προσελάμβανον, ἵνα τὸ τῆς ὄψεως φοβερόν, ὡς κατ´ ἐχθρῶν ἢ δούλων γινόμενον, ἥκιστα φαίνηται τοῖς πολίταις ἐπαχθές.

[10,59] The following year64 Appius Claudius and the other decemvirs, having received the consular power on the ides of May (for the Romans reckoned their months by the course of the moon, and the full moon fell on the ides), first of all took a solemn oath, without the knowledge of the populace, and made a compact among themselves not to oppose one another in anything, but that whatever was approved by any one of them should be ratified by all the others; and they agreed that they would hold their magistracy for life and admit no other person into the government, that they would all enjoy the same honours and possess the same power, and that they would rarely make use of the votes of the senate or populace and then only in absolutely necessary cases, but would do almost everything on their own authority. When the day came on which they were to enter upon their magistracy, after they had offered the usual initial sacrifices to the gods (for the Romans look upon this day as holy and particularly make it a point of religion neither to hear nor to see anything disagreeable during its course), the decemvirs set out early in the morning, each one accompanied by (p365) the insignia of royalty. When the people saw that they no longer preserved the same democratic and modest form of leadership or passed on the insignia of royalty from one to another, as before, they fell into great despair and dejection. They were terrified by the axes attached to the bundles of rods which were borne by the lictors, twelve of whom preceded each of the decemvirs and with blows forced the throng back from the streets, as had been the practice formerly under the kings. This custom, however, had been abolished, immediately after the expulsion of the kings, by Publius Valerius, a friend of the populace, who succeeded to their power, and all the consuls after him, following the good example he was felt to have set, no longer attached the axes to the bundles of rods except when they went out of the city either upon military expeditions or upon other occasions; but when they set out on a foreign war or inspected the affairs of their subjects, they then added the axes to the rods. This was in order that the terrifying sight, as one employed against their enemies or slaves, might give as little offence as possible to the citizens.