[11,25] Πολλὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα καὶ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἄππιον ἐγίνετο. τῶν μὲν οὖν ἄλλων καίτοι συχνῶν ἀναιρουμένων ἐλάττων τοῖς πλήθεσι λόγος ἦν, ἑνὸς δ´ ἀνδρὸς ἐπιφανεστάτου τῶν δημοτικῶν καὶ πλείστας ἀρετὰς ἐν τοῖς κατὰ πόλεμον ἔργοις ἀποδειξαμένου θάνατος ὠμὸς καὶ ἀνόσιος ἐπιτελεσθεὶς ἐν θατέρῳ τῶν στρατοπέδων, ἔνθα οἱ τρεῖς ἡγεμόνες ἦσαν, ἅπαντας ἑτοίμους ἐποίησε πρὸς τὴν ἀπόστασιν τοὺς ἐκεῖ. ἦν δ´ ὁ φονευθεὶς Σίκκιος, ὁ τὰς ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι μάχας ἀγωνισάμενος καὶ ἐξ ἁπασῶν ἀριστεῖα λαβών, ὃν ἔφην ἀπολελυμένον ἤδη στρατείας διὰ τὸν χρόνον ἑκούσιον τοῦ πρὸς Αἰκανοὺς συνάρασθαι πολέμου, σπεῖραν ἀνδρῶν ὀκτακοσίων ἐκπεπληρωκότων ἤδη τὰς κατὰ νόμον στρατείας εὐνοίᾳ τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπαγόμενον· μεθ´ ὧν ἀποσταλεὶς ὑπὸ θατέρου τῶν ὑπάτων ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον τῶν πολεμίων εἰς πρόδηλον ὄλεθρον, ὡς πᾶσιν ἐδόκει, τοῦ τε χάρακος ἐκράτησε καὶ τῆς ὁλοσχεροῦς νίκης αἴτιος ἐγένετο τοῖς ὑπάτοις. τοῦτον δὴ τὸν ἄνδρα πολλοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει διεξιόντα λόγους κατὰ τῶν ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου στρατηγῶν, ὡς ἀνάνδρων τε καὶ ἀπείρων πολέμου, ἐκποδῶν ποιῆσαι σπεύδοντες οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἄππιον εἰς ὁμιλίας προὐκαλοῦντο φιλανθρώπους καὶ συνδιαπορεῖν σφίσιν ἠξίουν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου, καὶ πῶς ἂν ἐπανορθωθείη τὰ τῶν στρατηγῶν ἁμαρτήματα λέγειν παρεκάλουν, καὶ τελευτῶντες ἔπεισαν ἐξελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὸν ἐν Κρουστομερείᾳ χάρακα αὐτὸν ἐξουσίαν ἔχοντα πρεσβευτικήν. ἔστι δὲ πάντων ἱερώτατόν τε καὶ τιμιώτατον ὁ πρεσβευτὴς παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις ἐξουσίαν μὲν ἄρχοντος ἔχων καὶ δύναμιν, ἀσυλίαν δὲ καὶ σεβασμὸν ἱερέως. ὡς δ´ ἀφίκετο, φιλοφρονουμένων αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ τῶν ἡγεμόνων καὶ δεομένων συστρατηγεῖν μένοντα, καί τινας καὶ δωρεὰς τὰς μὲν διδόντων ἤδη, τὰς δ´ ὑπισχνουμένων, ἐξαπατηθεὶς ὑπ´ ἀνθρώπων πονηρῶν καὶ τῇ γοητείᾳ τῶν λόγων οὐ συνειδὼς ὡς ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς ἐγίνετο, στρατιωτικὸς ἀνὴρ καὶ τὸν τρόπον ἁπλοῦς τά τ´ ἄλλα ἐπείθετο αὐτοῖς, ὅσα συμφέρειν ὑπελάμβανε, καὶ πρῶτον ἁπάντων παρῄνει μετάγειν τὴν παρεμβολὴν εἰς τὴν πολεμίαν ἐκ τῆς σφετέρας· τάς τε βλάβας διεξιὼν τὰς τότε γινομένας καὶ τὰς ὠφελείας ἐπιλογιζόμενος, ὅσας ἔμελλον ἕξειν μεταστρατοπεδευσάμενοι.

[11,25] Many crimes of this nature were committed in the city also by Appius and his colleague. The destruction of most of the victims, numerous as they were, was a matter of no great concern to the masses; but the cruel and wicked death of one man, who was the most distinguished of the plebeians and had performed the most gallant exploits in war, only to be murdered now in that one of the camps where the three generals commanded, disposed everyone there to revolt.The man assassinated was that Siccius who had fought the hundred and twenty battles and had received prizes for valour in all of them, a man of whom I have said that, when he was exempt from military service by reason of his age, he voluntarily engaged in the war against the Aequians at the head of a cohort of eight hundred men who had already completed the regular term of service and followed him out of affection for him; and having been sent with these men by one of the consuls against the enemy's camp, to manifest destruction, as everyone thought, he not only made himself master of their camp, but enabled the consuls to gain the complete victory they did. This man, who kept making many speeches in the city against the generals in the field, accusing them of both cowardice and inexperience in warfare, Appius and his colleague were eager to remove out of the way, and to that end they invited him to friendly conversations and asked him to consult with them concerning affairs in camp, urging him (p85) to tell how the mistakes of the generals might be corrected; and at last they prevailed upon him to go out to the camp at Crustumerium invested with the authority of a legate. The position of legate is the most honourable and the most sacred of all dignities among the Romans, possessing as it does the power and authority of a magistrate and the inviolable and holy character of a priest. When he arrived at the camp and the generals there gave him a friendly greeting and asked him to remain and command in conjunction with them, also offering him some presents on the spot and promising others, Siccius, deceived by these wicked men and not conscious that the charm of their conversation was due to a plot, he being a military man and of a simple nature, not only made other recommendations, such as he thought advantageous, but, first of all, advised them to move their camp from their own territory to that of the enemy, recounting the losses they were then suffering and also estimating the advantages they would gain by shifting their camp.