Ab urbe condita

The senators followed this advice, and whilst, as a body, they treated the tribunes with courtesy and kindness, the men of consular rank, in each private suit which they instituted, succeeded, partly by personal influence, partly by the authority their rank gave them, in getting the tribunes to exert their power for the welfare of the

State. Four of the tribunes were opposed to the one who was a hindrance to the public good; by their aid the consuls raised the

levy. Then they set out for the campaign against Veii. Succours had reached this city from all parts of Etruria, not so much out of regard for the Veientines as because hopes were entertained of the possible dissolution of the Roman State through intestine

discord. In the public assemblies throughout the cities of Etruria the chiefs were loudly proclaiming that the Roman power would be eternal unless its citizens fell into the madness of mutual

strife. This, they said, had proved to be the one poison, the one bane in powerful states which made great empires mortal. That mischief had been for a long time checked, partly by the wise policy of the senate, partly by the forbearance of the plebs, but now things had reached extremities. The one State had been severed into two, each with its own magistrates and its own