Ab urbe condita

The consuls sent a lictor to him. Volero appealed to the tribunes. None came to his assistance, so the consuls ordered him to be stripped and the rods got ready. “I appeal to the people,” he said, “since the tribunes would rather see a Roman citizen scourged before their eyes than be murdered in their beds by you.” The more excitedly he called out, the more violently did the lictor tear off his toga, to strip him.

Then Volero, himself a man of unusual strength, and helped by those to whom he called, drove the lictor off, and amidst the indignant remonstrances of his supporters, retreated into the thickest part of the crowd crying out, “I appeal to the plebs for protection. Help fellow citizens!

help fellow soldiers! You have nothing to expect from the tribunes, they themselves need your aid.”

The men greatly excited got ready as if for battle and a most critical struggle was evidently impending, where no one would show the slightest respect for either public or private rights The consuls tried to check the fury of the storm, but they soon found that there is little safety for authority without strength.

The lictors were mobbed, the fasces broken, and the consuls driven from the Forum into the Senate-house, uncertain how far Volero would push his victory.

As the tumult was subsiding they ordered the senate to be convened, and when it was assembled they complained of the outrage done to them, the violence of the plebeians, the audacious insolence of Volero.

After many violent speeches had been made, the opinion of the older senators prevailed; they disapproved of the intemperance of the plebs being met by angry resentment on the part of the patricians.

Volero was now in high favour with the plebs, and they made him a tribune at the next election. Lucius Pinarius and P. Furius were the consuls for that year.

Everybody supposed that Volero would use all the power of his tribuneship to harass the consuls of the preceding year. On the contrary, he sub-ordinated his private grievances to the interests of the State, and without uttering a single word which could reflect on the consuls, he