Did not the people appoint him “with all the customary powers and privileges” that a censor can possess? Or are you the solitary exception in whom all these powers and privileges reside?
Whom then can you appoint as “king for sacrifices”? He will cling to the name of “king” and say that he was ap- pointed with all the powers that the Kings of Rome possessed. Who do you suppose would be contented with a six months' dictatorship or a five days' interregnum?
Whom would you venture to nominate as Dictator for the purpose of driving in the nail or presiding at the Games? How stupid and spiritless, Quirites, you must consider those men to have been who after their magnificent achievements resigned their dictatorship in twenty days, or vacated their office owing to some flaw in their appointment!
But why should I recall instances of old time? It is not ten years since C. Maenius as Dictator was conducting a criminal process with a rigour which some powerful people con- sidered dangerous to themselves, and in consequence his enemies charged him with being tainted with the very crime he was investigating.
He at once resigned his dictatorship in order to meet, as a private citizen, the charges brought against him. I am far from wishing to see such moderation in you, Appius . Do not show yourself a degenerate scion of your house; do not fall short of your ancestors in their craving for power, their love of tyranny; do not vacate your office a day or an hour sooner than you are obliged, only see that you do not exceed the fixed term.
Perhaps you will he satisfied with an additional day or an additional month?
“No,” he says, “I shall hold my censorship for three years and a half beyond the period fixed by the Aemilian Law and I shall hold it alone.”
This sounds very much like an absolute monarch. Or will you co-opt a colleague, a pro- ceeding forbidden by divine laws even where one has been lost by death?” “There is a sacred function going back to the very earliest times, the only one actually initiated by the deity in whose honour it is performed, which has always been discharged by men of the highest rank and most blameless character.
You, conscientious censor that you are, have transferred this ministry to servants, and a House older than this City, hallowed by the hospitality they showed to immortal gods, has become extinct in one short year owing to you and your censorship.
But this is not enough for you, you will not rest till you have involved the whole commonwealth in a sacrilege the consequences of which I dare not contemplate.
The capture of this City occurred in that lustrum in which the censor, L. Papirius Cursor, after the death of his colleague, C. Julius, co-opted as his colleague M. Cornelius Maluginensis sooner than abdicate his office. And yet how much more moderation did he show even then than you Appius; he did not continue to hold his censorship alone nor beyond the legal term.
L. Papirius did not, however, find any one to follow his example, all succeeding censors resigned office on the death of their colleague. But nothing restrains you, neither the expiry of your term of office nor the resignation of your colleague nor the Law nor any feeling of self-respect.
You consider it a merit to show arrogance, effrontery, contempt of gods and men. When I consider the majesty and reverence which surround the office that you have held, Appius Claudius, I am most reluctant to subject you to personal restraint or even to address you in severe terms.
But your obstinacy and arrogance have compelled me to speak as I have done, and now I warn you that if you do not comply with the Aemilian Law I shall order you to be taken to prison.
Our ancestors made it a rule that if at the election of censors two candidates did not get the requisite majority of votes one should not be returned alone, but the election should be adjourned. Under this rule, as you cannot be appointed sole censor, I will not allow you to remain in office alone.”
He then ordered the censor to be arrested and taken to prison. Appius formally appealed to the protection of the tribunes, and though Sempronius was supported by six of his colleagues, the other three vetoed any further proceedings. Appius continued to hold his office alone amidst universal indignation and disgust.
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