This year will be noteworthy for the first consulship held by
a plebeian, and also for two new magistracies, the praetorship,
and the curule aedileship. These offices the patricians created
in their own interest as an equivalent for their concession of
one consulship to the plebs, who bestowed it on L. Sextius, the
man who had secured it for them. The patricians secured the
praetorship for Sp. Furius, the son of old Camillus, and the two
aedileships for Gnaeus Quinctius Capitolinus and P. Cornelius
Scipio, members of their own order. L. Aemilius Mamercus was
elected from the patricians as colleague to L. Sextius.
The main themes of discussion at the beginning of the year
were the Gauls, about whom it was rumoured that after wandering
by various routes through Apulia they had reunited their forces,
and the Hernici, who were reported to have revolted. All
preparations were deferred with the sole purpose of preventing
any action from being taken by the plebeian consul; everything
was quiet and silent in the City, as though a suspension of all
business had been proclaimed, with the one exception of the
tribunes of the plebs. They did not silently submit to the
procedure of the nobility in appropriating to themselves three
patrician magistrates, sitting in curule chairs and clothed in the
praetexta like consuls, as a set-off against one plebeian consul
the praetor even administering justice, as though he were a
colleague of the consuls and elected under the same auspices.
The senate felt somewhat ashamed of their resolution by which
they had limited the curule aediles to their own order; it had
been agreed that they should be elected in alternate years from
the plebs; afterwards it was left open.
307 The consuls for the
following year were L. Genucius and Q. Servilius. Matters were
quiet as regarded domestic troubles or foreign wars, but, lest
there should be too great a feeling of security, a pestilence broke
aediles, and three tribunes of the plebs fell victims, and in the
population generally there was a corresponding proportion of
deaths. The most illustrious victim was M. F. Camillus, whose
death, though occurring in ripe old age, was bitterly lamented.
He was, it may be truly said, an exceptional man in every change
of fortune; before he went into exile foremost in peace and war,
rendered still more illustrious when actually in exile by the
regret which the State felt for his loss, and the eagerness with
which after its capture it implored his assistance, and quite as
much so by the success with which, after being restored to his
country, he restored his country's fortunes together with his
own. For five-and-twenty years after this he lived fully up to
his reputation, and was counted worthy to be named next to
Romulus, as the second founder of the City.
Ch. 2