Ab urbe condita

They did not meet with similar materials out of which to build a reputation, nor did they study the interests of their country so much as their own or those of the political factions in the republic The Latins resumed hostilities to recover the domain they had lost, but were routed in the Fenectane plains and driven out of their camp.

There Publilius, who had achieved this success, received into surrender the Latin cities who had lost their men there, whilst Aemilius led his army to Pedum. This place was defended by a combined force from Tibur, Praeneste, and Velitrae, and help was also sent from Lanuvium and Antium.

In the various battles the Romans had the advantage, but at the city itself, and at the camp of the allied forces which adjoined the city, their work had to be done all over again.

The consul suddenly abandoned the war before it was brought to a close, because he heard that a

triumph had been decreed to his colleague, and he actually returned to Rome to demand a triumph before he had won a victory.

The senate were disgusted at this selfish conduct, and made him understand that he would have no triumph till Pedum had either been taken or surrendered. This produced a complete estrangement between Aemilius and the senate, and he thenceforth administered his consulship in the spirit and temper of a seditious tribune.

As long as he was consul he perpetually traduced the senate to the people, without any opposition from his colleague, who himself also belonged to the plebs.

Material for his charges was afforded by the dishonest allocation of the Latin and Falernian domain amongst the plebs, and after the senate, desirous of restricting the consul's authority, had issued an order for the nomination of a Dictator to act against the Latins, Aemilius, whose turn

it then was to have the fasces, nominated his own colleague, who named Junius Brutus as his Master of the Horse.

He made his Dictatorship popular by delivering incriminatory harangues against the senate and also by carrying three measures [*](These measures practically annihilated the Assembly of Curies as a political power. The first appears to have been a more stringent reenactment of the Valerian and Horatian Law (see Vol. I. p. 201). The second “abolished the right of the patrician senate to reject a decree of the community as unconstitutional...in so far that it had to bring forward its constitutional objections, if it had any such, when the list of candidates was exhibited or the project of law brought in; which practically amounted to a regular announcement of its consent beforehand” (Mommsen, I. 297). The third deprived the patricians of the chance of misusing the uncontrolled powers of the censorship as in the case of Mamercus (Vol. I. pp. 247-8). ) which were directed against the nobility and were most advantageous to the

plebs. One was that the decisions of the plebs should be binding on all the Quirites; the second, that measures which were brought before the Assembly of centuries should be sanctioned by the patricians before being finally put to the

vote; the third, that since it had come about that both censors could legally be appointed from the plebs, one should in any case be always chosen from that

order. The patricians considered that the consul and the Dictator had done more to injure the State by their domestic policy than to strengthen its power by their successes in the field.