It is said that the memory of his venerated father, Cincinnatus, stood him in good stead, as also did the now aged Capitolinus Quinctius, who earnestly entreated them not to allow him, with so brief a span of life left to him, to be the bearer of such sad tidings to Cincinnatus.
The plebs elected as their tribunes, in their absence, Sex. Tempanius, A.
Sellius, Sextus Antistius, and Sp. Icilius, all of whom had, on the
advice of Tempanius, been selected by the cavalry to act as
centurions.
The exasperation against Sempronius made the very name of consul offensive, the senate therefore ordered consular tribunes to be elected.
Their names were L. Manlius Capitolinus, Q. Antonius Merenda, and L. Papirius Mugilanus. At the very beginning of the year, L. Hortensius, a tribune of the plebs, appointed a day for the trial of C. Sempronius, the consul of the previous year. His four colleagues begged him, publicly, in full view of the Roman people, not to prosecute their unoffending commander, against whom nothing but ill-luck could be alleged.
Hortensius was angry, for he looked upon this as an attempt to test his resolution, he regarded the entreaties of the tribunes as meant simply to save appearances, and
he was convinced that it was not to these the consul was trusting, but to their interposing their veto. Turning to Sempronius he asked: “Where is your patrician spirit, and the courage which is supported by the consciousness of innocence?
An ex-consul actually sheltering under the wing of the tribunes!” Then he addressed his colleagues: “You, what will you do, if I carry the prosecution through?
Are you going to deprive the people of their jurisdiction and subvert the power of the tribunes?” They replied that the authority of the people was supreme over Sempronius and over everybody else;
they had neither the will nor the power to do away with the people's right to judge, but if their entreaties on behalf of their commander, who was a second father to them, proved unavailing, they would appear by his side in suppliant garb.
Then Hortensius replied: “The Roman plebs shall not see its tribunes in mourning; I drop all proceedings against C. Sempronius, since he has succeeded, during his command, in becoming so dear to his soldiers.”
Both plebeians and patricians were pleased with the loyal affection of the four tribunes, and quite as much so with the way in which Hortensius had yielded to their just remonstrances.
The
The campaign against them fell to Fabius, but nothing worth mention took place. Their dispirited army had but shown itself when it was routed and put to a disgraceful flight, without the consul gaining much glory from it.
A triumph was in consequence refused him, but as he had removed the
disgrace of Sempronius' defeat he was allowed to enjoy an ovation.
patricians. It began with the doubling of the number of quaestors. It was proposed to create in addition to the two City quaestors two others to assist the consuls in the various duties arising from a state of war. When this proposal was laid by the consuls before the senate and had received the warm support of that body, the tribunes of the plebs insisted that half the number should be taken from the plebeians; up to that time only patricians had been
chosen. This demand was at first opposed most resolutely by the consuls and the senate; afterwards they yielded so far as to allow the same freedom of choice in the election of quaestors as the people already enjoyed in that of consular tribunes. As they gained nothing by this, they dropped the proposal to augment the number