Ab urbe condita

to support the consul, in spite of their colleague's veto, whether he imposed fines or adopted other modes of coercion on those who refused to serve in the

field. Armed with this decree the consul ordered a few who were claiming the tribune's protection to be seized and brought before him; this cowed the rest and they took the

oath. The army was marched to the citadel of Carventum, and though disaffected and embittered against the consul, they no sooner arrived at the place than they drove out the defenders and recaptured the citadel. The attack was facilitated by the absence of some of the garrison, who had through the laxity of their generals stolen away on a plundering

expedition. The booty which had been gathered in their incessant raids and stored here for safety was considerable. This the consul ordered to be sold “under the spear,” [*](See note chap. xxix.) the proceeds to be paid by the quaestors into the treasury. He announced that the army would only have a share in the spoils when they had not declined to

serve. This increased the exasperation of the plebs and the soldiers against the consul. The senate decreed him an “ovation,” and whilst he made his formal entry into the City, rude verses were bandied by

the soldiers with their accustomed licence in which the consul was abused and Menenius extolled in alternate couplets, whilst at every mention of the tribune the voices of the soldiers were drowned in the cheers and applause of the

bystanders. This latter circumstance occasioned more anxiety to the senate than the licence of the soldiers, which was almost a regular practice, and as there was no doubt that if Menenius became a candidate he would be elected as a consular tribune, he was shut out by the election of consuls.

The[*](The Plebeian Quaestors.) two who were elected were Cnaeus Cornelius Cossus and L. Furius Medullinus.